A solo founder's Shopify app uses AI to suggest bundles and upsells that raise merchants' order values, and its revenue more than doubled over the past year.
Ask $3M · Profit $520K · 5.8x · Acquire.com
Oct 28
- Ask
- $3M
- Revenue
- $624K
- Profit
- $520K
- Margin
- 83%
- Multiple
- 5.8x
- Age
- 4 yrs (Jan 2022)
- Label
- Worth Studying
- Reason
- Very profitable and growing fast, but founded in January 2022 it is too young to rate as a purchase.
Why it's interesting
- An 83% margin: $520K of profit on $624K of revenue over the last 12 months, and last month alone brought $76.4K of revenue and $62.8K of profit.
- Listed ARR has reached $1.1M with 110% annual growth, so current months are running well ahead of the trailing year; churn is listed at a stable 5-10%.
- Between 1,000 and 5,000 merchants on a freemium model, which the seller describes as a diversified merchant base with strong organic acquisition; the business was bootstrapped.
What to watch
- Run entirely by one founder in the UAE, so development, support and merchant onboarding all leave with the seller, and the 83% margin likely includes no paid replacement.
- Everything runs through Shopify: App Store ranking, Shopify billing and API changes, and any native bundling features Shopify adds could all hit revenue.
- At 5.8x the last 12 months' profit, the price leans on the recent monthly pace rather than earned results; if growth slows, the buyer has paid for growth that never arrives.
- The seller's claim of seven-figure ARR within 15 months and about 130% growth does not line up with a January 2022 start, $624K of revenue in the last 12 months and the listed 110%.
Who it fits
A Shopify app developer or SaaS operator with multi-million capital who can take over product, support and App Store marketing from day one.
Ask the seller
- Which 15 months does the seven-figure ARR claim cover, given $624K of revenue in the last 12 months?
- How many merchants pay versus use the free plan, and what share of revenue comes from the top 10?
- Which jobs would a new owner need to hire for to replace you, and at what cost?
Growth plays
- Add a higher tier for Shopify Plus stores, priced on order volume, where a lift in average order value is worth the most in dollars.
- Build integrations with complementary Shopify apps such as Klaviyo email and review apps, and co-market through their partner directories.
Oct 28Added to Acumen Wire