Acme
Make small businesses count
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Investment proposal
About Acme
Simplifying small business
Founded in 2010, Acme is a global provider of small business invoicing software. With more than 800,000 subscribers, we’re used by small businesses in more than 180+ countries.
Since our early days, we’ve grown from our two founders working in their garage to more than 600 staff across 4 offices, have grown revenue from naught to $400 million a year and established ourselves as one of the premier technology companies in Australia.
Our mission is to help small business owners manage their operations, get paid faster and get on with doing what they love. We believe that the future of small business is online, where data flows freely and automation is part of daily workflows.
Product
Cloud-based small business software
Purely cloud-based, Acme is a complete invoicing and accounting software solution for small business owners and their accountants.
Work in real-time with your adviser
Connecting directly with bank feeds and enabling small business owners and accountants to work together on the same set of numbers, the software can be used across mobile, tablet and desktop devices. It enables small business owners to invoice on the go, keep track of payments and get a real-time view of how their business is tracking.
Open API framework with hundreds of app partners
We've established strategic partnerships with some of the world's largest tech companies, including Microsoft, Google and Apple so you can benefit from connecting all the tools you use everyday. There are hundreds of tech partners and solutions to choose from in our app store, including payroll providers, workflow management solutions and time tracking apps.
"Acme helped me get on top of my accounts so I could get paid faster and sleep better knowing I wouldn't have to spend my Saturday chasing unpaid invoices."
— John Base, Blue Base Building Co, London
Market
Making small businesses count
It's estimated there are about 115 million small businesses around the world. Collectively, they’re the largest employers, job creators and GDP generators. Their contribution to the global economy cannot be understated.
However, these enterprises have for such a long time been underserved when it comes to technology. Solutions in the past have been either too expensive, too complicated or both. Of those small businesses around the world, only a small portion has transitioned to the cloud so the opportunity is wide open. We believe this is the largest monetisable opportunity in tech right now. Acme aims to provide simple financial software to help these enterprises get online and thrive. Because if small business wins, we all win.
Competitive landscape
With several incumbents in the market, they’ve been slow to make the move to the cloud. But now the opportunity has been clearly defined and small business owners are starting to switch from their clunky desktop software, these well-funded slow movers are indeed on the move and shouldn't be underestimated.
Our advantage is that we've been all-in on the cloud from day one. We have no legacy software issues to contend with or old, costly versions to support. Here's a look at how the current cloud small business market is divvied up:
Business model
How we make this work
Acme’s business model is based on the traditional Software as a Service concept. With a starting price of about $30 a month, we are a subscription-based technology company which harnesses the power of recurring revenue. We also offer several add-on services for an additional cost including accounting advice. And, through our ecosystem of more than 500 technology and financial partners, our subscribers benefit from the power of the network where they can apply for a loan or find an employee right within the Acme software.
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|
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Total |
|
Target |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$130 |
|
Jan |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$120 |
|
Feb |
$0 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$110 |
|
Mar |
$0 |
$0 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$100 |
|
Apr |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$90 |
|
May |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$80 |
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Jun |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$70 |
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Jul |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$60 |
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Aug |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$50 |
|
Sep |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$40 |
|
Oct |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
$30 |
|
Nov |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$30 |
$30 |
$20 |
|
Dec |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
$30 |
$10 |
Funding requirements
What we're looking for
We are seeking an investment of $110 million to fund further innovation efforts as we move our platform to the AWS environment and look to invest heavily in big data, automation and artificial intelligence. The funds would be used to make potential acquisitions, fund engineering efforts and help identify solid technology partners to help propel us into hyper-growth.
We see this as necessary for our business as being all-in on the cloud was just stage one of the small business software journey, now we need to bring the benefits of big data and automation to these enterprises to not only stay ahead of the curve but also help these businesses leverage technology that was once only available to their enterprise-level counterparts.
Exit strategy and estimated returns
With several incumbents in the market, they’ve been slow to make the move to the cloud. As a high margin business that’s performing well, we see ourselves as a prime M&A target for these enterprises. This is a win-win situation as we can save resources by combining. It’s also a more efficient way for these companies to grow their cloud customer base and solidify revenue in what will be key market going forward.
We expect this exit strategy would deliver 10X multiple on earnings. Time to this exit would be in the medium term of 3-5 years.
Our Team
Riley Burgess
CEO / Founder
Riley is the Founder & CEO of Acme. He created Acme while running his own small business in 2010 when he felt there were limited software options to help people in his situation run their companies on any device. He’s the voice of the customer at Acme, a champion for small business and is the reason Acme has managed to connect with so many smbs globally.
Rex Jordan
CTO / Founder
Rex was Acme's original developer. Riley's best mate from high school, he was brought up-to-speed with the idea of Acme over a few beers and decided his friend may be onto something so set about building version 1.0. Today, our devs take great pride in spotting "founder code" in the Acme product and making it better. Rex is a design nut, everything needs to have a purpose and it's part of why Acme provides such a beautiful, simple user experience.
Bessie Geneven
COO
Bessie looks after everything in operations, partnerships, sales and support. She's a former Googler so gets how tech companies should be run and knows a thing or two about scale.
Anna Miller
CFO
Our leader of the numbers, Anna is in charge or revenue, performance and all the complicated spreadsheets. Formerly a Macquarie Banker, she's spent a lot of time on the other side of transactions but is relishing the opportunity to help Acme mature into a disciplined global technology company.