PRISM NextGen Tech and AI Key Takeaways from the HC Wainwright Conference
This year PRISM attended the investment bank HC Wainwright’s 26th Annual Global Investment Conference which was hosted at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel from September 9th to September 11th. The conference included hundreds of publicly traded companies providing further insight and updates to the investor community in a presentation format. Some of the companies who attended are included in the PRISM NextGen Tech and AI Index. Below are some takeaways from some of the presenting companies who attend the conference.
SoundHound AI
The global leader in conversational intelligence, SoundHound (SOUN) offers voice AI solutions that allow businesses to offer incredible conversational experiences to their customers. At the conference the company’s CFO Nitesh Sharan showcased their technology and discussed the company’s journey that started over 15 years ago and the company’s most recent acquisition of Amelia AI. The company anticipates it should get to breakeven by next year. When asked about current margins being lower than the 70-plus gross and 30-plus EBIT profile, Sharan explained that is the longer term margin objective they plan to achieve however, when the company acquired its SYNQ3 restaurant acquisition they had a call center business that was a drag on margin but are willing to revolutionize its call center to migrate to AI which they anticipate to be value accretive. There will be near term pressure that has kept them in the 60s rather than 70s on gross margin to get more data, to get customer traction, to get deep competitive moat, that they are willing to trade-off a little bit of a lower margin profile. However, SoundHound believes it is still on a pathway to north of 70 in the longer term. Shares are up over 134% YTD and trading at a price of approximately $4.88 per share.
FiscalNote Holdings
The leader in policy and global intelligence FiscalNote (NOTE) helps organizations stay ahead of political and business risk by empowering its customers with critical insights and the tools to turn them into action. The platform is used to look up legislation, regulations, court cases, government filings, and government documents from 80 different countries around the world. This aggregation and then utilization is powered by AI technology. The company’s CEO Tim Hwang highlighted they have over $100M in recurring revenue and currently service over half the fortune 100. FiscalNote anticipates to post about $120M of GAAP revenue this year. In its most recent quarter the company reported about $30M in non-GAAP revenues, just under $2M in adjusted EBITDA and just under $40M in cash. as a company. In the second quarter of 2024 the company posted its fourth consecutive quarter of profitability on an adjusted EBITDA basis and expects adjusted EBITDA to continue to compound upwards given the fact that they have recurring revenues over 85% adjusted gross margins and that incremental growth effectively drops straight down to the bottom line. Shares are up over 20% YTD and are trading at a price of about $1.28.
Roadzen, Inc
The emerging insurance technology company Roadzen (RDZN) aims to democratize auto insurance through AI technology allowing for safer roads and policies that cover the proper risk at an efficient price. The company partners with insurers, automakers and fleets all over the world to bring our mission to life. Roadzen CEO Rohan Malhotra illustrated the company’s ability to operate in three geographies which include India, the UK and the United States. Roadzen looks to continue operating in those three markets and intends to grow its footprint further in the US. The company has two facets of revenue generation via its IaaS technology platform and its insurance brokerage. Roadzen’s AI powered technology empowers leading insurers, intermediaries, fleets and vehicle manufacturers (OEMs) to make drivers safer, launch new insurance products to their captives and resolve claims faster. Its brokerage licenses allows the company to embed and sell auto insurance through a B2B2C partnership-led approach while providing a seamless customer experience from quote to claim.
