Blackboard Revenues Quadruple to $46.5 million in 2001

Fiscal Year Results Expand Company’s Position as the Largest Provider of e-Education Software Solutions to the Academic Marketplace

Washington, D.C. – March 11, 2002 – Blackboard Inc., the leading software infrastructure company for e-Education, today announced record revenues for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2001.  Blackboard Inc. is a privately held company.

In the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2001, Blackboard’s total revenues were a record $14.1 million, representing a 244% increase year-over-year.  Of the company’s $14.1 million in quarterly revenue, product revenue accounted for $12.5 million or 89% of total revenue, while services revenue was $1.6 million, or 11% of total revenue.  

For the year ending December 31, 2001, Blackboard’s revenues were a record $46.5 million, a 291% increase over year 2000 revenues of $11.9 million.  Of the company’s $46.5 million in 2001 revenue, product revenue accounted for $38.5 million of total revenue or 83%, while services revenue were $8.0 million or 17% of total revenue.  Total bookings for 2001, defined as closed contract value, exceeded $70 million.

Blackboard continued to closely manage its expenses during the quarter by reducing its cash burn 52% from the previous quarter.  Blackboard ended the fourth quarter with $20.3 million of cash and remains on target to achieve EBITDA profitability in 2002.

“The value of e-Education solutions to the global academic marketplace took a substantial leap forward in 2001,” said Michael L. Chasen CEO of Blackboard Inc.  “In exceeding our key financial milestones, we are in the fortunate position to fund future product innovations and client services that will only further reinforce our leadership position in the industry.”

According to Eduventures, the industry’s leading market research firm, Blackboard is the largest provider of e-Education software solutions as measured by total revenues.  

“Our revenue expectations for 2002 and beyond remain on track despite a relatively challenging economic environment,” said Peter Repetti CFO of Blackboard Inc.  “We expect revenues will grow in excess of $70 million in 2002, for which we already have upwards of 60% visibility heading into the year.”

Summary of Blackboard Revenues by Quarter

Blackboard’s 2001 audit has been completed.  Outlined below are the company’s quarterly revenues for FY 2001:

Key Highlights from the Fourth Quarter & Year 2001

• During the quarter the company added more than 216 new customers, 28 of which utilized Blackboard’s ASP Hosting services.  New Blackboard clients include: Cardiff University [UK]; Dartmouth College; EDHEC School of Management [France]; Louisiana State University; JP Morgan; Manulife Financial; National Labor College; Novartis Nutrition; Nuevo Leon Department of Education [Mexico], Nagoya University of Foreign Studies [Japan];  San Diego State University; Universiteit Maastricht [The Netherlands]; University of Nevada-Las Vegas; University of North Carolina System; and University of Tulsa; UnumProvident; Washington Association of Community and Technical Colleges

• Blackboard rapidly expanded its Building Blocks program for Independent Software Vendors (ISV’s), with over 500 developers from leading academic institutions and commercial partners downloading the Building Blocks SDK.  To date, more than 25 third-party companies are committed to writing applications for Blackboard.

• Blackboard’s International market presence increased nearly 100% in 2001 to 417 institution-wide licenses to lead the global academic e-Education market. 

• Blackboard expanded its unique global alliance with Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT) as preferred technology partners, with a 23 event road show, joint development projects and full coordination of sales and marketing activities. 

• Blackboard now offers over 1,000 digital content cartridges from more than 25 publishers and imprints, covering a wide range of academic and professional disciplines.

• Blackboard’s Learning Solutions Consultants provided training to over 570 client groups, and converted over 500 existing courses from competitive software products into Blackboard.  More than 80 client integrations were completed with major ERP applications such as Datatel, PeopleSoft, SCT and SITS as well as a myriad of homegrown systems. 

 About Blackboard Inc.

Blackboard Inc. was founded to transform the Internet into a powerful environment for teaching and learning. The company offers a complete suite of enterprise software products and services that power a total “e-Education Infrastructure” for schools, colleges, universities and other education providers. Blackboard solutions deliver the promise of the Internet for online teaching and learning, campus communities, auxiliary services and integration of Web-enabled student services and back office systems.

Blackboard’s Learning, Community Portal and Transaction Systems are consistently ranked by industry analysts as the market share and client satisfaction leaders for thousands of academic institutions and a leading number of the Internet’s most popular consumer education sites. The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices and staff across North America, Europe and Asia. Please visit www.blackboard.com  for more information.

A privately-held company based in Washington, D.C., Blackboard Inc. has raised more than $100 million in capital from top-tier strategic, venture capital, and private equity investors.  Blackboard maintains close partnerships with its investors to fully leverage their industry relationships, financial expertise, and strategic guidance.  Blackboard strategic investors include AOL-Time Warner (NYSE: AOL), Dell Computer Corporation (Nasdaq: DELL), Kaplan Ventures, Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT), and Pearson Education.  Blackboard’s financial investors include The Aurora Funds, The Carlyle Group, Dain Rauscher, Edelson Technology Partners, Internet Capital Group (Nasdaq: ICGE), Merrill Lynch (NYSE: ML), Morgan Keegan, Novak Biddle and Oak Hill Capital Partners.