Pushpay Holdings, the mobile payments app developer, says it will acquire a church app business from Bluebridge Digital for US$3.1 million (NZD$4.3m), continuing an expansion that saw revenue soar 308 per cent in the first half while its net loss widened.
Bluebridge is one of the leading providers of church apps in the world and provides churches with "high-quality mobile apps, a scalable platform, intuitive content management system and mobile expertise". Pushpay will pay cash for the business after raising A$40m in a private placement last month, ahead of its secondary listing on the ASX. It cited Giving USA figures showing US$119.3 billion was given to religious organisations in 2015, which it said amounted to a US$2.2b revenue opportunity that's expected to rise to US$3.1b in 2020.
Pushpay's operating revenue rose to $12m in the six months ended September 30, from US$2.9m a year earlier, the Auckland-domiciled, Redmond, United States-headquartered company said in a statement. Its net loss widened to US$11.3m from US$2.9m.
Annualised committed monthly revenue rose to US$33.9m from US$8.9m, while total merchants rose to 5,286 from 2,102, it said. The company affirmed it is on track to reach ACMR of US$72m ($100m) and "breakeven on a monthly cash flow basis" in calendar 2017.
Puspay is targeting US churches with technology that makes it easy for congregations to make donations using their mobile phones and is also expanding its mobile payment app beyond the faith sector to helping people pay their utility bills such as water and insurance. Its headcount rose to 280 in the first half from 143 a year earlier while total expenses jumped by 158 per cent to $23.4m, including sales & marketing costs of $8.3m.
