Technology
Waystar Reports First Quarter 2025 Results
Published
1 year agoon
By
Q1 revenue growth of 14% year-over-year
Q1 net income of $29.3 million and non-GAAP net income of $58.7 million
Q1 net income margin of 11%; adjusted EBITDA margin of 42%
Raising revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance for 2025
LEHI, Utah and LOUISVILLE, Ky., April 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Waystar Holding Corp. (Nasdaq: WAY), a provider of leading healthcare payment software, today reported results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2025.
“Waystar sustained strong momentum in the first quarter of 2025, delivering net income margins exceeding 10%, adjusted EBITDA margins exceeding 40%, and our fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth as a public company,” said Matt Hawkins, Chief Executive Officer of Waystar. “We also advanced our innovation roadmap with the launch of Waystar AltitudeAI, equipping clients with powerful AI capabilities that streamline workflows and improve financial performance. With a resilient foundation and durable growth model, we have the visibility and confidence to raise our full-year revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance.”
First Quarter 2025 Financial Highlights
Revenue of $256.4 million, up 14% year-over-yearNet income of $29.3 million, GAAP net income per diluted share of $0.16, and net income margin of 11%Non-GAAP net income of $58.7 million and non-GAAP net income per diluted share of $0.32Adjusted EBITDA of $107.7 million and adjusted EBITDA margin of 42%Cash flow from operations of $64 million and unlevered free cash flow of $79 million
Key Metrics and Revenue Disaggregation
1,244 clients contributed over $100,000 in LTM revenue, up 15% year-over-yearNet revenue retention rate (NRR) of 114% over LTM ending March 31, 2025Subscription revenue of $125.0 million, up 18% year-over-yearVolume-based revenue of $129.9 million, up 11% year-over-year
Financial Outlook
As of April 30, 2025, Waystar provides the following guidance for its full fiscal year 2025.1
Total revenue is expected to be between $1.006 billion and $1.022 billionAdjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $406 million and $414 millionNon-GAAP net income is expected to be between $241 million and $247 millionDiluted non-GAAP net income per share is expected to be between $1.31 and $1.34
Webcast Information
Waystar’s financial results will be discussed on a conference call scheduled at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time today, April 30, 2025. A live audio conference call will be available on Waystar’s website at https://investors.waystar.com/news-events/events. The webcast will be archived on the site for those unable to listen in real time. This earnings release and the related Current Report on Form 8-K filed April 30, 2025, can be accessed on the Investor Relations page of the company’s website. We routinely post important information on our website, including corporate and investor presentations and financial information. We intend to use our website as a means of disclosing material, non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Such disclosures will be included in the Investor Relations section of our website. Accordingly, investors should monitor this portion of our website, in addition to following our press releases, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings, and public conference calls and webcasts.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
To supplement the consolidated financial statements prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), this press release contains certain non-GAAP financial measures as defined below. We present non-GAAP financial measures as supplemental measures of financial performance that are not required by, or presented in accordance with, GAAP. We believe they assist investors and analysts in comparing our operating performance across reporting periods on a consistent basis by excluding items that we do not believe are indicative of our core operating performance. Management believes these non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors in highlighting trends in our operating performance, while other measures can differ significantly depending on long-term strategic decisions regarding capital structure, the tax jurisdictions in which we operate, and capital investments. Management uses adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin to supplement GAAP measures of performance in the evaluation of the effectiveness of our business strategies, to make budgeting decisions, to establish discretionary annual incentive compensation, and to compare our performance against that of other peer companies using similar measures. Management supplements GAAP results with non-GAAP financial measures to provide a more complete understanding of the factors and trends affecting the business than GAAP results alone provide.
Adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP net income per share and unlevered free cash flow are not recognized terms under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to net income (loss) or net income (loss) margin as measures of financial performance or cash provided by operating activities as a measure of liquidity, or any other performance measure derived in accordance with GAAP. Additionally, these measures are not intended to be a measure of free cash flow available for management’s discretionary use, as they do not consider certain cash requirements such as interest payments, tax payments, and debt service requirements. The presentations of these measures have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation, or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Because not all companies use identical calculations, the presentations of these measures may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies and can differ significantly from company to company. A reconciliation is provided below for our non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable financial measure stated in accordance with GAAP. Investors are encouraged to review the related GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate our business.
The following non-GAAP financial measures and key performance metrics are defined below:
Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA Margin
We define adjusted EBITDA as net income / (loss) before interest expense, net, income tax expense / (benefit), depreciation and amortization, and as further adjusted for stock-based compensation expense, acquisition and integration costs, asset and lease impairments, costs related to amended debt agreements and IPO and secondary offering costs. Adjusted EBITDA margin represents adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenue.
Non-GAAP Net Income / (loss) and Non-GAAP Net Income / (loss) Per Share
We define non-GAAP net income as GAAP net income / (loss) excluding the impact of stock-based compensation, acquisition and integration costs, asset and lease impairments, costs related to our IPO, and the Secondary Offering, and costs related to amended debt agreements and amortization of intangibles. The tax effects of the adjustments are calculated using a management estimated annual effective non-GAAP tax rate of 21%, which is based on our statutory federal tax rate and provides consistency across interim reporting periods by eliminating the effects of non-recurring and period specific items. Due to the differences in the tax treatment of items excluded from non-GAAP net income, our estimate tax rate on non-GAAP net income may differ from our GAAP tax rate. Non-GAAP net income per share is shown on both a basic and diluted basis and is defined as non-GAAP net income divided by the basic or diluted weighted-average shares, respectively.
Unlevered Free Cash Flow
We define unlevered free cash flow as cash from operations plus cash interest paid less capital expenses.
Net Debt
We define net debt as the sum of the current portion of long-term debt, long-term debt, and accounts receivable securitization less cash and equivalents and investment securities.
Adjusted Net Leverage Ratio
We define adjusted net leverage ratio as net debt divided by adjusted EBITDA over the preceding twelve months.
Key Performance Metrics
Net Revenue Retention Rate
Our Net Revenue Retention Rate compares twelve months of client invoices for our solutions at two period end dates. To calculate our Net Revenue Retention Rate, we first accumulate the total amount invoiced during the twelve months ending with the prior period-end or Prior Period Invoices. We then calculate the total amount invoiced to those same clients for the twelve months ending with the current period-end, or Current Period Invoices. Current Period Invoices are inclusive of upsell, downsell, pricing changes, clients that cancel or chose not to renew, and discontinued solutions with continuing clients. The Net Revenue Retention Rate is then calculated by dividing the Current Period Invoices by the Prior Period Invoices. Our total invoices included in the analysis are greater than 98% of reported revenue. We use Net Revenue Retention Rate to evaluate our ongoing operations and for internal planning and forecasting purposes. Acquired businesses are included in the last-twelve-month Net Revenue Retention Rate in the ninth quarter after acquisition, which is the earliest point that comparable post-acquisition invoices are available for both the current and prior twelve-month period.
Customer Count with >$100,000 of Revenue
We regularly monitor and review our count of clients who generate more than $100,000 of revenue.
Our count of clients who generate more than $100,000 of revenue is based on an accumulation of the amounts invoiced to clients over the preceding twelve months. The invoices for acquired clients are included starting in the first full calendar quarter after the date of acquisition.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that reflect our current views with respect to, among other things, statements regarding Waystar’s expectations relating to future operating results and financial position, including full year 2025, and future periods; the performance of our new product offerings; our industry and market opportunities, business strategy, goals, and expectations concerning our market position, future operations, margins and profitability, capital expenditures, liquidity, and capital resources and other financial and operating information. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts. These statements may include words such as “anticipate,” “assume,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “future,” “will,” “seek,” “foreseeable,” “outlook,” the negative version of these words or similar terms and phrases to identify forward-looking statements in this press release, including the discussion of outlook for full fiscal year 2025.
The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on management’s current expectations and are not guarantees of future performance. The forward-looking statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties, assumptions, or changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict or quantify. Our expectations, beliefs, and projections are expressed in good faith, and we believe there is a reasonable basis for them. However, there can be no assurance that management’s expectations, beliefs, and projections will result or be achieved. The following factors are among those that may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements: our operation in a highly competitive industry; our ability to retain our existing clients and attract new clients; our ability to successfully execute on our business strategies in order to grow; our ability to accurately assess the risks related to acquisitions and successfully integrate acquired businesses; our ability to establish and maintain strategic relationships; the growth and success of our clients and overall healthcare transaction volumes; consolidation in the healthcare industry; our selling cycle of variable length to secure new client agreements; our implementation cycle that is dependent on our clients’ timing and resources; our dependence on our senior management team and certain key employees, and our ability to attract and retain highly skilled employees; the accuracy of the estimates and assumptions we use to determine the size of our total addressable market; our ability to develop and market new solutions, or enhance our existing solutions, to respond to technological changes, or evolving industry standards; the interoperability, connectivity, and integration of our solutions with our clients’ and their vendors’ networks and infrastructures; the performance and reliability of internet, mobile, and other infrastructure; the consequences if we cannot obtain, process, use, disclose, or distribute the highly regulated data we require to provide our solutions; our reliance on certain third-party vendors and providers; any errors or malfunctions in our products and solutions; failure by our clients to obtain proper permissions or provide us with accurate and appropriate information; the potential for embezzlement, identity theft, or other similar illegal behavior by our employees or vendors, and a failure of our employees or vendors to observe quality standards or adhere to environmental, social, and governance standards; our compliance with the applicable rules of the National Automated Clearing House Association and the applicable requirements of card networks; increases in card network fees and other changes to fee arrangements; the effect of payer and provider conduct which we cannot control; privacy concerns and security breaches or incidents relating to our platform; the complex and evolving laws and regulations regarding privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity; our ability to adequately protect and enforce our intellectual property rights; our ability to use or license data and integrate third-party technologies; our use of “open source” software; legal proceedings initiated by third parties alleging that we are infringing or otherwise violating their intellectual property rights; claims that our employees, consultants, or independent contractors have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information of third parties; the heavily regulated industry in which we conduct business; the uncertain and evolving healthcare regulatory and political framework; healthcare laws and data privacy and security laws and regulations governing our processing of personal information; reduced revenues in response to changes to the healthcare regulatory landscape; legal, regulatory, and other proceedings that could result in adverse outcomes; consumer protection laws and regulations; contractual obligations requiring compliance with certain provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering laws and regulations; existing laws that regulate our ability to engage in certain marketing activities; our full compliance with website accessibility standards; any changes in our tax rates, the adoption of new tax legislation, or exposure to additional tax liabilities; limitations on our ability to use our net operating losses to offset future taxable income; losses due to asset impairment charges; restrictive covenants in the agreements governing our credit facilities; interest rate fluctuations; unavailability of additional capital on acceptable terms or at all; the impact of general macroeconomic conditions; actions of certain of our significant investors, who may have different interests than the interests of other holders of our securities; and each of the other factors discussed under the heading of “Risk Factors” in the Company’s 10K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on February 18, 2025, and in other reports filed with the SEC, all of which are available on the Investor Relations page of our website at investors.waystar.com.
Any forward-looking statements made by us in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release and are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements included in this press release. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. You should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise, except as may be required by any applicable securities laws.
About Waystar
Waystar’s mission-critical software is purpose-built to simplify healthcare payments so providers can prioritize patient care and optimize their financial performance. Waystar serves approximately 30,000 clients, representing over 1 million distinct providers, including 16 of 20 institutions on the U.S. News Best Hospitals list. Waystar’s enterprise-grade platform annually processes over 6 billion healthcare payment transactions, including over $1.8 trillion in annual gross claims and spanning approximately 50% of U.S. patients. Waystar strives to transform healthcare payments so providers can focus on what matters most: their patients and communities. Discover the way forward at waystar.com.
1 We have not reconciled the forward-looking adjusted EBITDA, non- GAAP net income, and non-GAAP net income per share guidance included above to the most directly comparable GAAP measure because this cannot be done without unreasonable effort due to the variability and low visibility with respect to certain costs, the most significant of which are incentive compensation (including stock-based compensation), transaction-related expenses, and certain fair value measurements, which are potential adjustments to future earnings. We expect the variability of these items to have a potentially unpredictable, and a potentially significant, impact on our future GAAP financial results.
Waystar Holding Corp.
Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
(in Thousands, Except for Share and Per Share Data)
Three months ended March 31,
2025
2024
Revenue
$
256,435
$
224,792
Operating expenses
Cost of revenue (exclusive of depreciation and amortization expenses)
83,345
75,192
Sales and marketing
40,123
33,780
General and administrative
23,300
26,135
Research and development
11,078
10,320
Depreciation and amortization
33,380
44,174
Total operating expenses
191,226
189,601
Income from operations
65,209
35,191
Other expense
Interest expense
(18,257)
(55,812)
Related party interest expense
(643)
(1,372)
Income/(loss) before income taxes
46,309
(21,993)
Income tax expense/(benefit)
17,040
(6,061)
Net income/(loss)
$
29,269
$
(15,932)
Net income/(loss) per share:
Basic
$
0.17
$
(0.13)
Diluted
$
0.16
$
(0.13)
Weighted-average shares outstanding:
Basic
172,188,237
121,675,298
Diluted
180,691,994
121,675,298
Waystar Holding Corp.
Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(in Thousands, Except for Share and Per Share Data)
March 31, 2025
December 31, 2024
Assets
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents
$
223,995
$
182,133
Restricted cash
25,723
22,449
Investment securities
24,419
—
Accounts receivable, net of allowance of $5,897 at March 31, 2025 and
$5,885 at December 31, 2024
147,264
145,235
Income tax receivable
—
2,838
Prepaid expenses
16,900
14,414
Other current assets
2,249
3,972
Total current assets
440,550
371,041
Property, plant and equipment, net
46,645
46,731
Operating lease right-of-use assets, net
9,896
10,820
Intangible assets, net
1,010,933
1,039,049
Goodwill
3,019,999
3,019,999
Deferred costs
85,088
82,815
Other long-term assets
6,067
6,549
Total assets
$
4,619,178
$
4,577,004
Liabilities and stockholders’ equity
Current liabilities
Accounts payable
$
45,064
$
47,365
Accrued compensation
15,857
31,589
Aggregated funds payable
25,253
22,059
Other accrued expenses
25,646
15,930
Deferred revenue
11,348
10,527
Current portion of long-term debt
11,228
11,311
Related party current portion of long-term debt
440
357
Current portion of operating lease liabilities
5,538
5,591
Current portion of finance lease liabilities
926
904
Total current liabilities
141,300
145,633
Long-term liabilities
Deferred tax liability
104,927
100,523
Long-term debt, net, less current portion
1,174,879
1,185,411
Related party long-term debt, net, less current portion
43,356
35,211
Operating lease liabilities, net of current portion
11,785
13,133
Finance lease liabilities, net of current portion
11,049
11,290
Deferred revenue–LT
5,692
5,739
Other long-term liabilities
278
278
Total liabilities
1,493,266
1,497,218
Commitments and contingencies (Note 20)
Stockholders’ equity
Preferred stock $0.01 par value – 100,000,000 shares authorized as of
March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively; zero shares issued
or outstanding as of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively
—
—
Common stock $0.01 par value – 2,500,000,000 shares authorized at
March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively; 172,963,709 and
172,108,240 shares issued and outstanding at March 31, 2025 and
December 31, 2024, respectively
1,730
1,722
Additional paid-in capital
3,315,497
3,298,083
Accumulated other comprehensive income
316
881
Accumulated deficit
(191,631)
(220,900)
Total stockholders’ equity
3,125,912
3,079,786
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity
$
4,619,178
$
4,577,004
Waystar Holding Corp.
Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(in Thousands)
Three months ended March 31,
2025
2024
Cash flows from operating activities
Net income/(loss)
$
29,269
$
(15,932)
Adjustments to reconcile net income/(loss) to net cash provided by operating activities
Depreciation and amortization
33,380
44,174
Stock-based compensation
6,744
2,528
Provision for bad debt expense
1,255
556
Loss on extinguishment of debt
—
8,869
Deferred income taxes
4,569
(19,591)
Amortization of debt discount and issuance costs
667
1,680
Changes in:
Accounts receivable
(3,284)
(10,274)
Income tax refundable
2,838
6,811
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
(1,460)
(3,538)
Deferred costs
(2,222)
(4,230)
Other long-term assets
324
(325)
Accounts payable and accrued expenses
(8,130)
(1,280)
Deferred revenue
775
1,711
Operating lease right-of-use assets and lease liabilities
(476)
(429)
Net cash provided by operating activities
64,249
10,730
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchase of property and equipment and capitalization of internally developed software costs
(5,426)
(5,560)
Purchase of investment securities
(24,431)
—
Net cash used in investing activities
(29,857)
(5,560)
Cash flows from financing activities
Change in aggregated funds liability
3,194
3,538
Repurchase of shares
—
(225)
Proceeds from exercise of common stock options
10,686
71
Proceeds from issuances of debt, net of creditor fees
—
535,209
Payments on debt
(2,917)
(516,774)
Third-party fees paid in connection with issuance of new debt
—
(1,410)
Finance lease liabilities paid
(219)
(199)
Net cash provided by financing activities
10,744
20,210
Increase in cash and cash equivalents during the period
45,136
25,380
Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash–beginning of period
204,582
45,428
Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash–end of period
$
249,718
$
70,808
Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information
Interest paid
$
19,960
$
40,513
Cash taxes paid (refunds received), net
532
(54)
Non-cash investing and financing activities
Fixed asset purchases in accounts payable
56
518
Reconciliation of Balance Sheet Cash Accounts to Cash Flow Statement
Balance sheet
Cash and cash equivalents
223,995
57,337
Restricted cash
25,723
13,471
Total
249,718
70,808
Waystar Holding Corp.
Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA
(in Thousands)
(Unaudited)
Three months ended March 31,
2025
2024
Net income/(loss)
29,269
(15,932)
Interest expense
18,900
57,184
Income tax expense/(benefit)
17,040
(6,061)
Depreciation and amortization
33,380
44,174
Stock-based compensation expense
6,744
2,528
Acquisition and integration costs
229
302
Costs related to amended debt agreements
—
10,402
IPO and Secondary Offering expenses
1,430
164
Other (a)
754
—
Adjusted EBITDA
107,746
92,761
Revenue
256,435
224,792
Net income/(loss) margin
11.4 %
(7.1 %)
Adjusted EBITDA margin
42.0 %
41.3 %
(a) Adjustments relate to additional lease costs due to the relocation of our Louisville office totaling $0.2 million and executive severance totaling $0.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025.
Waystar Holding Corp.
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Operating Expenses
(in Thousands)
(Unaudited)
Three months ended March 31,
2025
2024
Cost of revenue (exclusive of depreciation and amortization expenses)
83,345
75,192
Less: Stock-based compensation expense
(231)
(122)
Less: Acquisition and integration costs
—
(31)
Cost of revenue (exclusive of depreciation and amortization expenses), adjusted
83,114
75,039
Sales and marketing
40,123
33,780
Less: Stock-based compensation expense
(1,392)
(478)
Sales and marketing, adjusted
38,731
33,302
General and administrative
23,300
26,135
Less: Stock-based compensation expense
(4,106)
(1,540)
Less: Acquisition and integration costs
(107)
(83)
Less: Costs related to amended debt agreements
—
(10,402)
Less: IPO and Secondary Offering expenses
(1,430)
(164)
Less: Other (a)
(754)
—
General and administrative, adjusted
16,903
13,946
Research and development
11,078
10,320
Less: Stock-based compensation expense
(1,015)
(388)
Less: Acquisition and integration costs
(122)
(188)
Research and development, adjusted
9,941
9,744
Depreciation and amortization
33,380
44,174
Less: Intangible amortization
(28,115)
(39,080)
Depreciation and amortization, adjusted
5,265
5,094
Income tax expense/(benefit)
17,040
(6,061)
Plus: Tax effect of adjustments
7,827
11,020
Income tax expense, adjusted
24,867
4,959
(a) Adjustments relate to additional lease costs due to the relocation of our Louisville office totaling $0.2 million and executive severance totaling $0.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025.
Waystar Holding Corp.
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Net Income
(in Thousands, Except Share and Per Share Amounts)
(Unaudited)
Three months ended March 31,
2025
2024
Net income/(loss)
29,269
(15,932)
Stock based compensation expense
6,744
2,528
Acquisition and integration costs
229
302
Costs related to amended debt agreements
—
10,402
IPO and Secondary Offering expenses
1,430
164
Other (a)
754
—
Intangible amortization
28,115
39,080
Tax effect of adjustments
(7,827)
(11,020)
Non-GAAP net income
58,714
25,524
Non-GAAP net income per share, basic
0.34
0.21
Non-GAAP net income per share, diluted
0.32
0.20
Weighted average shares used in computing basic Non-GAAP net income per share
172,188,237
121,675,298
Weighted average shares used in computing diluted Non-GAAP net income per share
180,691,994
127,095,087
(a) Adjustments relate to additional lease costs due to the relocation of our Louisville office totaling $0.2 million and executive severance totaling $0.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025.
Waystar Holding Corp.
Reconciliation of Unlevered Free Cash Flow
(in Thousands)
(Unaudited)
Three months ended March 31,
2025
2024
Net cash provided by operating activities
64,249
10,730
Interest paid
19,960
40,513
Purchase of property and equipment and capitalization of internally developed software costs
(5,426)
(5,560)
Unlevered free cash flow
78,783
45,683
Waystar Holding Corp.
Reconciliation of Net Debt
(in Thousands)
(Unaudited)
March 31,
2025
2024
First lien term loan facility outstanding debt, current
11,668
22,000
First lien term loan facility outstanding debt, net of current portion
1,148,960
2,178,000
Receivables facility outstanding debt
80,000
70,000
Cash and cash equivalents
(223,995)
(57,337)
Investment securities
(24,419)
—
Net debt
992,214
2,212,663
Trailing Twelve Months Adjusted EBITDA
398,481
343,753
Adjusted Gross leverage ratio
3.1x
6.6x
Adjusted Net leverage ratio
2.5x
6.4x
Waystar Holding Corp.
Reconciliation of Trailing Twelve Months (TTM) Adjusted EBITDA
(in Thousands)
(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended
TTM
March 31,
December 31,
September 30,
June 30,
March 31,
2025
2024
2024
2024
2025
Net income/(loss)
29,269
19,079
5,413
(27,685)
26,076
Interest expense
18,900
20,086
18,459
50,541
107,986
Income tax expense/(benefit)
17,040
13,978
3,274
(14,611)
19,681
Depreciation and amortization
33,380
37,996
60,185
44,276
175,837
Stock-based compensation expense
6,744
7,037
7,903
36,969
58,653
Acquisition and integration costs
229
163
188
206
786
Costs related to amended debt agreements
—
1,262
106
2,368
3,736
IPO and Secondary Offering expenses
1,430
26
109
1,841
3,406
Other (a)
754
526
1,040
—
2,320
Adjusted EBITDA
107,746
100,153
96,677
93,905
398,481
(a) Adjustments relate to additional lease costs due to the relocation of our Louisville office and executive severance.
Media Contact
Kristin Lee
kristin.lee@waystar.com
Investor Contact
Sandy Draper
investors@waystar.com
502-238-9511
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SOURCE Waystar
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September 1, 2026By
Nairobi-based appointment strengthens Pepperstone’s investment in Africa as mobile trading grows and regulators across the continent raise standards.
MELBOURNE, Australia, Sept. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Pepperstone, a global online trading provider serving clients in more than 160 countries, has appointed Andrew Turnbull as Head of Africa, strengthening its focus on one of the world’s fastest-evolving online trading regions. Based in Nairobi, Turnbull will lead Pepperstone’s strategy across the continent as traders increasingly turn to mobile-first platforms and regulators move to strengthen oversight of the sector.
Turnbull brings more than 20 years of experience in financial services, including senior roles at ODL Securities and FXCM Europe, where he led institutional sales and partnerships. His experience spans regulated FX and CFD markets, institutional relationships and business development across international markets.
The appointment also comes as Pepperstone invests in owning more of its technology, giving the business greater control over the trading experience and allowing it to respond more closely to the different needs of clients across individual markets.
“Africa is dozens of distinct regulatory environments and trader profiles,” said Marc Boever, Head of EMEA at Pepperstone. “That is why we are putting more resources on the ground and investing in people who understand the region. Andrew’s experience across regulated financial services and institutional partnerships, combined with his growing first-hand understanding of markets like Kenya, makes him the right person to lead our growth across the continent.”
Kenya, where Pepperstone is licensed under the Capital Markets Authority (CMA)*, was one of the first African countries to introduce a formal regulatory framework for online forex trading. That early move has helped create a more mature market, with regulated, licensed brokers increasingly trusted by traders, while Kenya’s experience offers a model for other African regulators looking to bring greater oversight to the sector.
“Kenya’s traders were among the first in Africa to get a properly regulated market to trade in, and that head start shows,” said Andrew Turnbull, Head of Africa at Pepperstone. “There is a growing appetite for online trading across the continent, but every market is different. I’m looking forward to building on Pepperstone’s presence here and working with our teams and partners to better understand and serve the different trading communities across Africa.”
Ends
* Pepperstone Markets Kenya Limited is licensed and regulated by Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority under licence number 128.
About Pepperstone: Pepperstone is a global fintech and CFD broker serving traders in more than 160 countries. The company provides access to forex, indices, commodities, shares, ETFs and digital asset markets through industry-leading platforms, competitive pricing and a strong regulatory framework.
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Technology
Cherubic Ventures Closes $68.88 Million Fund VI as AUM Surpasses $500 Million
Published
10 minutes agoon
September 1, 2026By
Early Investment Sudo AI Valued at Nearly $2B
TAIPEI, Sept. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Cherubic Ventures today announced the close of its sixth fund (Fund VI) at $68.88 million. The fund size reflects the auspicious meaning of the number eight in East Asian cultures, where it is traditionally associated with prosperity and good fortune. With this close, assets under management across the firm’s six funds have surpassed US$500 million.
Investors across all six funds include leading global institutional investors and foundations, as well as publicly listed companies, family offices, successful entrepreneurs and high-net-worth individuals.
Fund VI maintains the firm’s early-stage focus, investing in AI-native companies across infrastructure, developer tools, enterprise software, healthcare, physical AI and robotics. Sudo AI, a robotics startup in the portfolio, has reached a valuation of nearly $2 billion two years after its founding, joining the ranks of unicorns.
“After ten years, I am more certain than ever about why I chose to invest at the earliest stages,” said Matt Cheng, Founder & Solo GP of Cherubic Ventures. “Working alongside exceptional founders, finding a path through uncertainty, and ultimately changing an industry is what keeps driving me.”
Investing Across AI, From Infrastructure to Industry Applications
As AI reshapes industries, Cherubic Ventures continues to look for founders using the technology to build new products and redefine markets. Since 2024, the firm’s AI-native investments have spanned infrastructure, developer tools, enterprise software, healthcare, physical AI and robotics.
In robotics, Sudo AI was co-founded by Hao Su, a leading researcher in embodied AI and 3D vision and co-author of PointNet, and serial entrepreneur Robin Han. Its sudo R1 robotic system is trained through virtual simulation and can reliably handle objects it has never encountered without relying on real-world manipulation data. This addresses a key bottleneck to deploying robotics at scale. Cherubic Ventures was its earliest institutional investor.
Cherubic Ventures is also an early investor in Entire, the developer platform founded by former GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke. The company raised US$60 million earlier this year, the largest seed round ever for a developer tools startup.
While Fund VI is still at an early stage, its portfolio companies have already raised more than $500 million in subsequent funding. Other notable investments include AI-powered patent technology platform Patlytics, along with healthcare and drug development companies Max AI, Generation Lab and therapiAI.
A Decade Alongside Founders, Supporting the Next Generation
Founded in 2015, Cherubic Ventures was among the first venture firms in the world to adopt the solo GP model. It has invested in more than 200 companies globally, with early investments including Hims & Hers, Flexport, Calm, Paidy, 91APP and Astranis.
Across its portfolio, Cherubic Ventures has been the earliest institutional investors in dozens of companies that went on to become unicorns. Hims & Hers is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and 91APP on the Taipei Exchange, while Paidy was acquired by PayPal for US$2.7 billion.
Fund VI marks the beginning of Cherubic Ventures’ second decade. “The past ten years have made me more certain that believing in founders before the answers are clear, and backing them through uncertainty, is at the heart of early-stage investing,” Cheng said. “In the next decade, we will continue to ‘Stay Early’ and work with the most exceptional founders to build the future we want to see.”
About Cherubic Ventures
Founded in 2015, Cherubic Ventures is a global early-stage venture capital firm that started in Taipei and has built a strong presence in the U.S. market. The firm backs outstanding founders from day one and was among the first venture firms in the world to adopt the solo GP model. Notable investments include Hims & Hers, Calm, Flexport, 91APP, Paidy, Formation Bio and Astranis. To date, Cherubic Ventures has invested in more than 200 startups and brings together more than 500 founders and investors in a distinctive global community.
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SOURCE Cherubic Ventures
Technology
Agentic AI Has Arrived. Is Your Workforce Ready to Leverage It?
Published
10 minutes agoon
September 1, 2026By
Enterprises are deploying AI agents faster than they are building the certified talent to run them. Closing that gap is now the real differentiator.
Authored by, Vikas Mathur, Vice President, Trainocate India
MUMBAI, India, Sept. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Across the enterprise programs we run every week at Trainocate, the conversation has changed. A year ago, leaders asked us what generative AI could do. Today they ask why their agentic pilot has not reached production. Agentic AI has arrived — the question is no longer whether it works, but whether the workforce is ready to leverage it.
The platforms have done their part. AWS, Microsoft, Google Cloud, Databricks and others have moved agent frameworks, orchestration layers and governance tooling into general availability. What has not kept pace is the workforce. Adoption forecasts keep climbing; the cancellation forecasts climb with them, and for reasons that have little to do with the models themselves.
40%+
of agentic AI projects are forecast to be scrapped by the end of 2027 — on escalating cost, unclear business value and inadequate risk controls.
Source: Gartner
Our own view, formed across thousands of enterprise learners, is simpler than any forecast: Technology is not the constraint. The certified, deployment-ready workforce is.
India’s AI Talent Equation: One Million Roles, One in Six Skilled
India has the demand and the ambition. The constraint is supply. Estimates put the national AI talent pool at 1.25 million by 2027 — real growth, but well short of a market compounding at 25–35% a year. On current trajectories the gap widens before it closes.
We see the consequence directly in client conversations. Skills mismatch, not headcount, is what delays deployment — and on most enterprise shortlists, demonstrable and certified capability now outranks the degree.
Figure: The agentic readiness gap — adoption is outpacing certified capability.
From Prompt Engineering to Agent Orchestration: Three Capability Shifts
From operator to orchestrator. Every prior automation wave asked people to use a tool. Agentic AI asks them to direct one. The working skill is decomposition — mapping a process into the steps an agent may own, the tool-calling boundaries it must respect and the human-in-the-loop checkpoints between them. That is delegation and process design before it is programming, which makes it teachable well beyond the engineering bench.
From reviewing output to governing outcomes. When AI drafts an email, a human reads it before it goes. When an agent provisions infrastructure or triggers a payment, reading it afterwards is too late. Enterprises need people fluent in least-privilege identity, data lineage and governance, evaluation harnesses, escalation thresholds, observability and cost control. In our experience, this is where most agentic programs are thinnest.
From individual courses to cross-functional readiness. One production agentic workflow touches data engineering, application development, identity and security, LLMOps and the business function it serves. Certifying one persona while the rest stand still guarantees the pilot dies at handover. The unit of skilling must become the team.
What we see
Agentic pilots rarely stall on model quality. They stall because too few people can scope what an agent may own, design its guardrails, and stay accountable when it acts alone.
Trainocate enterprise delivery experience
Why Vendor-Authorized Certification Is the New Deployment Prerequisite
Credentials are often said to date quickly in a field moving this fast. We find the opposite. Agentic concepts are universal; implementation is not. Identity and access design, data governance, retrieval and grounding, model selection, evaluation and cost management behave differently on AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Databricks — and those differences decide whether an agent survives production.
Vendor-authorized certification remains the only independently verifiable proof that an engineer can build and operate on a given stack. Foundational credentials also give HR, finance, risk and procurement a shared vocabulary with engineering — and agentic decisions are risk decisions as much as technical ones.
2 in 5
Employers now prefer demonstrable AI skills and certifications over academic degrees. Skills-based hiring is no longer emerging — it is the default.
Source: NASSCOM–Indeed India AI Talent Report, 2026
Experiential Learning: Turning Training Investment into Production Capability
Nobody learns to supervise an autonomous system from a slide. Trainocate’s Experiential Learning Model was built on that premise — one continuous journey rather than a catalog of courses:
Learn from practitioners. Instructor-led and virtual instructor-led training delivered by vendor-authorized, actively certified instructors.Reinforce on demand. Self-paced digital learning and curated learning paths that keep pace with quarterly platform releases.Build in live environments. Hands-on labs in real cloud sandboxes — agents, tool-calling, guardrails and failure modes, not screenshots.Prove it on real work. Capstone projects mapped to the organization’s own agentic and cloud use cases.Certify the capability. Structured exam preparation and readiness checks that convert learning into a verifiable credential.Measure the outcome. Governance dashboards tracking completion, certification attainment and skill progression for L&D and business sponsors.
That model now runs through our AI Mastery Program, which spans foundational to advanced tracks for both business and technical roles across AWS, Microsoft, Google Cloud, Databricks and vendor-neutral content — with agentic system design, multi-agent orchestration and AI governance sitting in the advanced tiers, and sandbox labs and industry capstones throughout.
The results hold up: Close to 80% certification attainment across enterprise programs and a 4.90/5.00 delivery CSAT. As an authorized training partner for AWS, Microsoft, Google Cloud, Databricks and more, operating across 24 countries, we have run this model at scale — over one lakh professionals certified within a single global enterprise account, and agentic AI labs delivered across six Indian cities this year. Four consecutive AWS Global Training Partner of the Year awards and six appearances on the Training Industry Top 20 suggest the model travels.
30%
of enterprise application software revenue will be driven by agentic AI by 2035 — up from 2% in 2025.
Source: Gartner
A Twelve-Month Skilling Blueprint for CHROs and L&D Leaders
Assess against use cases, not catalogs. Benchmark capability against the specific agentic workflows the business intends to run.Build a spine, not a stack. Foundational AI and cloud fluency organization-wide; certified specialization for those who will design, secure and govern agents.Skill the workflow, not the individual. Move cross-functional cohorts together — data, application, security, business — so nothing stalls at handover.Instrument on outcomes. Track certification attainment, time-to-productivity and pilot-to-production conversion. Seat-hours measure activity, not readiness.
Two Budget Cycles: The Window for Workforce Readiness
15%
of day-to-day work decisions will be made autonomously by 2028 — up from effectively zero in 2024.
Source: Gartner
That is not a distant horizon. It is two budget cycles away.
Models are becoming a commodity; every enterprise buys them at roughly the same price. The durable differentiator is the depth of certified talent that can point those models at the right problems and stay accountable for what they do. Treat skilling as infrastructure — continuous, measured, certified — and your agents scale. Treat it as an event and the pilot stays a pilot.
Agentic AI has arrived. The question every board should be asking is whether its workforce is ready to leverage it.
Build a Certified, Agent-Ready Workforce
Trainocate partners with enterprises to build agentic AI and cloud capability at scale — from foundational fluency to certified specialization across AWS, Microsoft, Google Cloud, Databricks and more, delivered through our Experiential Learning Model and AI Mastery Program. To design a skilling roadmap for your workforce, write to cloudacademy@trainocate.com or call +91 9223361686.
About Trainocate
Trainocate is a global IT training and workforce skilling organization and an authorized training partner for AWS, Microsoft, Google Cloud, Databricks and more, operating across 24 countries. Trainocate delivers cloud, data and AI capability to enterprises through its Experiential Learning Model and AI Mastery Program, combining instructor-led training, self-paced digital learning, hands-on sandbox labs, industry capstones and vendor-authorized certification. The company is a four-time consecutive AWS Global Training Partner of the Year and has appeared six times on the Training Industry Top 20. Trainocate India operates as Networks India Pvt Ltd. For more information, visit www.trainocate.com/in.
About the Author
Vikas Mathur is Vice President at Trainocate India, where he leads the Cloud, Data & AI competency business. He works with enterprise L&D and technology leaders across India and Asia on cloud and AI workforce readiness, and can be reached at cloudacademy@trainocate.com or +91 9223361686.
Data sources referenced: Gartner (agentic AI adoption, project cancellation, governance maturity, autonomous-decision and market-share forecasts, 2025–26); McKinsey (State of AI, agent pilot-to-production); NASSCOM and MeitY (India AI job demand and AI-skilled share); NASSCOM–Deloitte (AI talent pool projection); NASSCOM–Indeed India AI Talent Report 2026 (skills-based hiring). Trainocate figures are from our own enterprise delivery data.
Contact: cloudacademy@trainocate.com | +91 9223361686
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/in/news-releases/agentic-ai-has-arrived-is-your-workforce-ready-to-leverage-it-302865800.html
Pepperstone Appoints Andrew Turnbull to Lead Africa Strategy as Trading Markets Mature
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