Volpara with another positive announcement to the market today regrading an amended (and extended) contract, you can find it here.

Small in the scheme of things but this is the second contract/win or extension in less than a month.

Keeping a closer eye on this in light of these recent announcements, and with the company pushing towards profitability.

Has been a good start to 2023 CY.

Held across SM and IRL.

Very good announcement from Volpara today, this is on the back of some positive news in recent weeks regarding contract wins. Their aim on the back of the new CEO seems to now be coming to fruition - could this be a turning point?

Full announcement can be found here.

Cash Highlights:

• First positive net cash flow quarter on record. Net operating and investing cash inflow1 in Q3FY23 of NZ$1.3M, an improvement of 134% from a net outflow of NZ$3.8M in Q3FY22
• Record quarterly cash receipts from customers of NZ$11.2M, up over 60% compared to Q3FY22 (or approx. 42% constant currency)
• Cash receipts from customers YTD are NZ$28.6M (unaudited), up over 39% compared to Q3FY22 (or over 23% constant currency)

Software as a Service (SaaS) Highlights:

• Contracted Annual Recurring Revenue (CARR) now ~US$25.6M (~NZ$40.2M2), up approx. US$1.5M on the prior quarter (Q2FY23) – equal largest increase on record
• Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) now ~US$19.9M (~NZ$31.2M2), up from US$19.1M in the prior quarter (Q2FY23)

Personally, I find it a little frustrating that they separate SaaS highlights - just seems very 2020/2021....

Regardless good news! And looks like the market likes it.

Held in Strawman and IRL - will review and now contemplate taking a another bite.

Volpara Health today announcing that Teri Thomas will be moving into the CEO role and Dr. Ralph Highnam (founder) will be moving into the Chief Science and Innovation Officer. He will also be stepping down as company director.

Teri comes from a long career at Epic (some 20 years) - a leading Healthcare systems provider and has a "long history of executive management in the healthcare industry, ranging from strategy and operations to running global sales and marketing teams".

Whilst it's not always looked upon favourably seeing a founder step down or aside for another CEO or MD, in this case I support and agree with the decision for Dr. Highnam to transition into a different role. He has always been heavily focused and passionate on the science and product-offering side of the business which, personally, I believe detracted from overall business growth and sales.

The company has made some inroads in recent years particularly in the US, yet this has not been reflected in the share price with it trending sideways for quite some time now. It's a slow burn and will continue to be for a little while yet until they near profitability. What I'll be looking at now is how Teri Thomas will focus on growth, specifically in their ARPU which should expedite this process in nearing profitability (hopefully), and of course get their costs under control.

Cap raise very likely within the next 12-months IMO.

Interested to hear other's thoughts; founder-led businesses are always something that get a tick of approval when looking at smaller companies, yet sometimes it can be argued that there may be better people to lead the company into the next stage.

Announcement here.

Held IRL and SM.

Interesting update from Volpara yesterday regarding their agreement with Riverain Technologies to drive expansion into US lung cancer screening market. Lung cancer screening seems to be a growth strategy of the company, as this adds to their 2019 acquisition of Aspen Lung. 

I haven't looked into the specifics of this but it appears they may be applying current software to lung cancer screening, in an effort to gain market share - currently this is sitting around 8%. 

Lung cancer causes around 130,000 deaths each year in the US alone, including around 60,000 women. Lung cancer CT screening programs are expanding and developing globally, with around 15 million people now eligible in the US and reimbursement set at around US$250 per scan.

The company seems to be broadening their scope and horizon of late particularly with this update and their recent partnership with Invitae.

Whilst I find the news positive, I can't help but think they're detracting a little from their core offering of breast cancer detection; an area that has somewhat stagnanted for them recently according to their mosy recent annual report.