OutStart, provider of the only proven, content-centric product family for learning, today disclosed record growth for Q4 2002. Highlights for the quarter included:
The company’s total orders for Q4 2002 increased by 369% over Q4 2001, and increased by 61% compared to Q3 2002.
95 new customers licensed software from OutStart in Q4 ’02.
The company successfully acquired Trainersoft Corporation and seamlessly integrated the organizations together.
“In a year when many learning software vendors announced revenues that were flat or down, we are proud to have achieved dramatic record growth in 2002,” said Massood Zarrabian, CEO and President of OutStart. “Our record fourth quarter, powerful growth in license revenue, and exploding customer base cap a year in which OutStart solidified its position as a leader in the learning software market,” he said.
“More and more organizations are selecting OutStart’s product family as a way to increase their performance through learning,” said Michael Brennan, corporate learning and performance analyst at IDC, a leading technology research firm. “2002 was a year in which OutStart clearly proved that companies with a strong value proposition, and the technology and services to back it up, can flourish despite a challenging IT spending environment. This can certainly not be said for all learning technology companies.”
2002 was marked by OutStart’s establishment of a leadership position in its core business of helping organizations capture unique business know-how, and make that know-how available and accessible to anyone, anywhere, anytime.
OutStart’s total orders for 2002 increased by 200% over total orders for 2001.
Other 2002 highlights include:
Software licenses orders for 2002 was 57% of total orders, verses 24% of total orders in 2001, executing a strong shift toward license revenue in accordance with OutStart’s business plan.
OutStart successfully completed two acquisitions.
OutStart successfully expanded its offering from one product at the end of 2001, to an integrated product family of six products that meets the diverse needs of individuals, workgroups, and the enterprise.
OutStart announced two major software releases.
OutStart signed partnership agreements with THINQ, Siebel, Information Handling Services (IHS), Malam (Israel), and KPMG.
In addition to Sigma Partners, OutStart attracted three new top-tier investors: General Catalyst Partners, Boston University’s Community Technology Fund, and GrandBanks Capital.
OutStart successfully established European operations that made a significant contribution to revenue in 2002.
OutStart received several awards and recognition including the Gold Medal Award at brandon-hall.com and Online Learning Magazine’s Excellence in E-Learning Awards, and Trainersoft being named to the list of Inc. 500 companies.
Customers selecting OutStart’s product family to drive their learning initiatives in 2002 included leading organizations such as the U.S. Navy, Empire Blue Cross, Westland Helicopters and Verizon.
“We had strong execution against our business plan in 2002 and are in great shape as we enter 2003,” said Dan Kossmann, OutStart’s Chief Financial Officer. “We are well capitalized, have a significant back log, have a large and growing customer base, and have adequate cash to reach profitability according to our current plan,” he said.
OutStart’s integrated product family differentiates it from other learning software vendors by providing the only learning technology that:
Meets the diverse needs of developers, workgroups and the enterprise with a single product family.
Gives learners the freedom to learn when, where and how they want.
Lets companies implement from the bottom up or top down.
About OutStart
OutStart provides a proven, content-centric product family for corporations seeking to increase individual and organizational performance to create a sustainable competitive advantage. Our content-centric approach enables an organization to transform its unique business knowledge into practical learning assets, deliver those learning assets to the right person, the right way, at the right time, and capitalize on those assets throughout the extended enterprise to drive sustainable competitive advantage.
Approximately 5,000 customers, including 35% of the Fortune 500, use OutStart’s learning software to realize improvements in sales force and services productivity, call center efficiencies, customer and partner education and technology adoption. Founded in 1999, OutStart is headquartered in Boston, Mass. and has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Dublin, Lake Mary, Fla., London, Los Angeles, New York City, Raleigh, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.outstart.com.
