TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--VerticalScope Holdings Inc. (“VerticalScope” or the “Company”) (TSX: FORA), a technology company that has built and operates a cloud-based digital platform for online enthusiast communities, today announced that its total monthly active users (MAU) in Q1 2022 were a record breaking 113.4 Million, an increase of 12.6% compared to prior year supported by momentum from acquisitions made in Q4 2021.
“We are very pleased with the growth we are experiencing in the business and the scale our platform continues to build as we execute our growth strategy,” commented Rob Laidlaw, Founder and CEO of VerticalScope. “Surpassing 113 million MAU is a great milestone for VerticalScope. In line with our expectations, organic MAU declined in Q1 2022 by 4.6% compared to the prior year due to increased competition for user attention from the war in Ukraine, and some unwinding of pandemic-induced traffic patterns that drove impressive numbers last year.”
VerticalScope also announced that it made eight acquisitions of communities in Q1 2022 for total consideration of $1.2 million and covering interest categories including music, gourmet cooking, photography and Tesla vehicle owners. Since June of 2021, VerticalScope has completed 29 acquisitions and deployed over $100 million of capital.
About VerticalScope
Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, VerticalScope is a technology company that has built and operates a cloud-based digital platform for online enthusiast communities in high-consumer spending categories. VerticalScope's mission is to enable people with common interests to connect, explore their passions and share knowledge about the things they love. Through targeted acquisitions and development, VerticalScope has built a portfolio of over 1,200 online communities and over 100 million monthly active users. VerticalScope is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: FORA).
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation that reflects the Company's current expectations regarding future events. When used in this news release, words such as “should”, “could”, “intended”, “expect”, “plan” or “believe” and similar expressions indicate forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information, including the Company’s plans for organic growth and financially-accretive M&A, deployment of capital and performance of the Company’s acquisitions, is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's control. Although the Company believes that its expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties and no assurances can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the factors discussed under "Risk Factors" in the Company’s Annual Information Form dated March 31, 2022, which is available on the Company’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Actual results could differ materially from our expectations. VerticalScope does not undertake any obligation to update such forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required under applicable securities laws.
Non-IFRS Measures
This press release references certain non-IFRS measures, including reference to MAU, which is an operating metric used in our industry. These non-IFRS measures are not recognized measures under IFRS and do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and are therefore unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. Rather, these measures are provided as additional information to complement those IFRS measures by providing further understanding of the Company’s results of operations from management’s perspective. Accordingly, these measures should not be considered in isolation nor as a substitute for analysis of the Company’s financial information reported under IFRS.
