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ORLANDO, FL (August 12, 2021) – IZEA Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ: IZEA), the premier provider of influencer marketing technology, data, and services for the world’s leading brands, reported its financial and operational results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021.

Q2 2021 Financial Summary Compared to Q2 2020

  • Total revenue increased 109% to $6.5 million, compared to $3.1 million.
  • Managed Services unit revenue increased 146% to $6.1 million, compared to $2.5 million.
  • SaaS Services unit revenue decreased 34% to $425,000, compared to $645,000.
  • Total costs and expenses increased 74% to $8.6 million, compared to $4.9 million.
  • Net loss was $0.1 million, compared to a net loss of $1.8 million.
  • Adjusted EBITDA* decreased to $(1.4) million, compared to $(1.3) million.

Q2 2021 Operational Highlights

  • Managed Services bookings reached 187% year over year growth in Q2 to hit an all-time record of $11.1 million.
  • Hit all-time record count of customers licensing IZEA SaaS products.
  • Company joined Russell Microcap® Index.
  • Unveiled next generation of IZEAx® Unity Suite.
  • Announced BrandGraph Compare, Themes, and TikTok Support.
  • Added four partners to IZEA’s Talent Partner Program.
  • Completed sale of $35 Million of common stock through its ATM offering at an average of $4.98 per share.

* Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. Refer to the definition and reconciliation of this measure under “Use of Key Metrics and Non-GAAP Financial Measures”.

Management Commentary

“The second quarter was a continuation and acceleration of the strong sales momentum we first started to see at the end of 2020,” said Ted Murphy, IZEA’s Chairman and CEO. “The record $11.1 million in Managed Services bookings we saw in this quarter will have a positive impact on revenue this year and carry over into early 2022.”

“On our first quarter investor call I shared that our goal was to deliver at least 30% annual revenue growth per year for each of the next three years, or a 30% compound annual growth rate,” continued Murphy. “That remains our longer term goal, but based on current bookings and first half revenue numbers it is clear that we will far exceed this goal in 2021. As of July, Managed Services bookings for 2021 have already exceeded all that of 2020. We will likely exceed 30% year over year bookings growth again in Q3. Our pipeline remains very strong and we have been building on the success and momentum with expansion of key accounts as well as new customer acquisition.”

“We saw record customer counts for software licenses once again this quarter, driven by increases for Unity Suite, BrandGraph, and IZEAx Discovery. We are still in the midst of absorbing the pricing and overall strategic change we made with Unity Suite last year, but we did see 130% bookings growth in combined Unity Suite and BrandGraph licensing YoY, with nearly two-thirds coming from new customers. We will continue to see some lumpiness with licensing revenue until we get fully through the pricing transition but expect to see some normalization and revenue growth that reflects the steady climb in software customer counts on the other side of this year.”

Q2 2021 Financial Results

Total revenue in the second quarter of 2021 increased 109% to $6.5 million, compared to $3.1 million in the second quarter of 2020, with revenue from Managed Services increasing by $3.6 million, or 146%, to $6.1 million in the second quarter of 2021 compared to the  second  quarter of 2020 and revenue from SaaS Services decreasing by $220,000, or 34%, to $424,920 in the  second  quarter of 2021 compared to the  second  quarter of 2020. 

Revenue from managed services improved on the strength of recent prior quarter bookings growth and an increase in completed campaigns during the quarter; demand for managed services continues to increase as many customers are shifting more of their marketing spend to influencer marketing campaigns.

Revenue from SaaS Services decreased primarily as a result of lower license fees and lower margins on self-service marketplace spending.  Licensee counts on all platforms are growing, however average license fees are lower due to competitive changes we implemented in the summer of 2020 in response to COVID-related churn. We also lowered our pricing on selected self-service offerings during the third quarter of 2020, which impacted our current quarter margins on marketplace spending.  Gross billings (a key metric, as further defined below) for SaaS Services decreased 42% to $1.2 million in Q2 2021, compared to $2.0 million in Q2 2020. Certain of our SaaS marketers decreased their spend levels as they transitioned from the TapInfluence platform to IZEAx and curtailed spending throughout 2020. 

Cost of revenue exclusive of amortization was $3.3 million in Q2 2021, or 50% of Revenue, compared to $1.4 million, or 45% in the prior year quarter, higher primarily due to a heavier mix of larger deals that carry lower overall margins.  Costs and expenses other than cost of revenue totaled $5.3 million for the current quarter compared to $3.5 million for the prior year quarter.  Sales and marketing costs were $2.3 million during the quarter, $1.1 million or 87% above the comparative quarter due to sales compensation, which varies with higher bookings and marketing costs associated with driving customer growth. General and administrative costs totaled $2.7 million during the quarter, $739,086 or 38% above the prior year quarter, due primarily to higher compensation and contractor costs to support operations and IT investments.

Net loss in the second quarter of 2021 was $0.1 million, or $0.00 per share, as compared to a net loss of $1.8 million, or $(0.05) per share in the second quarter of 2020, based on 61.4 million and 36.1 million average shares outstanding, respectively.

Adjusted EBITDA (a non-GAAP measure management uses as a proxy for operating cash flow, as defined below) declined 12%, or $154,072, to $(1.4) million in the second quarter of 2021 compared to $(1.3) million in the second quarter of 2020. Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenue in the second quarter of 2021 was negative (22)% compared to negative (40)% in the second quarter of 2020. 

We raised $12.2 million from sale of securities through our at-the-market offering in Q2 2021 and our cash balance as of June 30, 2021 was $75.0 million. From June 2020 to July 2021, we have raised total gross proceeds of $75.0 million through at-the-market offerings.

Conference Call

IZEA will hold a conference call to discuss its second quarter 2021 results on Thursday, August 12th at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. IZEA’s Chairman and CEO Ted Murphy, CFO Peter Biere, and COO Ryan Schram will host the call, followed by a question and answer period.

Date: Thursday, August 12, 2021

Time: 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time

Toll-free dial-in number: 1-800-786-6705

International dial-in number: 1-212-231-2931

The conference call will be webcast live and available for replay via the investors section of our website at https://izea.com/. Please call the conference telephone number five minutes prior to the start time. An operator will register your name and organization. A replay of the call will be available after 8:00 p.m. EDT on the same day through August 19, 2021.

Toll-free replay number: 1-844-512-2921

International replay number: 1-412-317-6671

Replay ID: 21996359

Q2 Financial Results (PDF)