# Contractbook Financial Model

AI-powered contract lifecycle management platform (draft, sign, store, automate) for SMBs.

- Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/contractbook
- Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/contractbook.xlsx
- Category: Enterprise/Security
- Model type: SaaS ARR / Valuation
- Funding round: Series A
- Funding: $9.4M
- Founded: 2020
- Geography: Headquartered Copenhagen, Denmark; team 60+ across Europe; expanding to US [DECK, slide 11]. Primary markets: Europe (25.1M SMEs) and US (28.8M SMEs) [DECK, slide 9].
- Customer: B2B

## About the company

Contractbook is an AI-powered contract lifecycle management platform for small and mid-sized businesses. It brings drafting, signing, storage, and workflow automation into one product rather than leaving contracts spread across documents and inboxes.

The company has an inbound-led SaaS motion, with self-serve customers complemented by larger accounts. Its materials show fourfold year-on-year ARR growth, 110% net dollar retention, and increasing realised ASP, indicating both customer acquisition and account expansion.

The model uses a standard ARR waterfall by cohort, separating new bookings, upgrades, churn, and ending ARR. It ties inbound conversion, sales-assisted deal flow, pricing tiers, retention, gross margin, marketing spend, and hiring to the P&L and cash runway.

## What's included

- 5-year monthly revenue build with stage-appropriate growth assumptions
- Full P&L, headcount plan, and operating-expense schedule
- Cash-flow statement, runway, and burn-rate tracking
- Valuation via exit multiple with a DCF cross-check
- Returns analysis with MOIC and IRR
- Unit economics including CAC, LTV, payback, and cohort retention

## Product & value proposition

- All-in-one contract platform replacing five discrete tools: contract drafter (ContractExpress, HotDocs), editor/collaboration (Word, Google Docs, PDF/email), e-signature (DocuSign, HelloSign, Adobe Sign), storage (Dropbox, Box, Google Drive), and task management (Calendars, Conga).
- Core differentiator: stores contracts as raw JSON with full metadata rather than PDFs - enables AI-driven analytics, pattern identification, issue prevention, smart reminders, and automation at scale.
- Positioned as "the Legal Automation Platform for the remote generation" - comparable to Salesforce for sales or Xero for accountants.
- Low-friction onboarding: typically under one hour; immediate value from simplification and storage even with few contracts.
- Self-service model for SMBs with geographic edge: limited European competition and fast US deployment capability.

## Market

- TAM: $124B - calculated as 53.9M US & EU SMEs × $2,300 annual ASP.
  - Europe: 25.1M SMEs.
  - US: 28.8M SMEs.
- Annual ASP (realized today): $2,300, growing +104% YTD 2020.

## Revenue model

- SaaS subscription: annual contracts billed to SMB customers; ASP $2,300/year and rising.
- ASP grew +104% YTD 2020, implying successful up-tier / seat expansion.
- Channels: primarily inbound/self-service (organic usage growing 22% QoQ); +81% inbound bookings growth. International sales expansion is stated use of Series A funds.
- No usage-based, transactional, or marketplace revenue disclosed.

## Traction & metrics

- ARR: grown ~4x YoY. No absolute ARR figure disclosed; bar chart shows actuals Q1'19–Q3'20 with projections through Q3'21 - absolute scale not labeled.
- YoY Revenue Growth: +300%.
- Net Dollar Retention (NDR): 110%.
- Inbound Bookings growth: +81%.
- Contracts created: growing from Q2'17 through Q2'20; GDPR spike in Q2'18, then resumed upward trend.
- Contracts stored (uploaded): +5x increase in the last year (to Q2'20).
- Organic platform usage: +22% quarter over quarter.
- ASP realized: +104% YTD 2020.
- Team size: 60+.
- Deck date: December 2020.

## Unit economics

- NDR 110% confirms net expansion beyond churn.
- ASP $2,300/year growing +104% - implied LTV expansion via upsell.

## Competition / moat

- Replaces fragmented point solutions: DocuSign (signature), ContractExpress/HotDocs (drafting), Dropbox/Google Drive (storage), Word/Google Docs (editing).
- Moat drivers stated: (1) JSON metadata architecture enables AI features competitors using PDFs cannot match; (2) geographic edge - limited competition in Europe; (3) immediate value / low implementation friction locks in SMBs; (4) 110% NDR suggests strong retention and expansion.
- No explicit competitor matrix or pricing comparison provided.

## Team & funding ask / use of funds

- Founders:
  - Niels Martin Brochner - CEO & co-founder; BA/MA Int. Management, Westminster Business School.
  - Jarek Owczarek - CPO & co-founder; BA Digital Concept Dev., Copenhagen School of Design & Technology.
  - Viktor Heide - COO & co-founder; AP Degree in Service Economy, Copenhagen Business Academy.
- Team: 60+ across engineering, sales, and support in Europe.
- Investors and advisers: Gradient Ventures (GP Darian Shirazi), Bessemer Venture Partners (Mary D'Onofrio, David Cowan), byFounders (Eric Lagier), Lars Floe Nielsen (founder Sitecore, acquired $1B+), Tim Schumacher (founder Sedo.com).
- Seed: $4M - Gradient Ventures, byFounders (October 2019).
- Series A ask: $9.4M - led by Bessemer Venture Partners + Gradient Ventures.
- Use of funds: international sales expansion (stated). No detailed breakdown.

## Recommended financial model

- **Archetype + why:** SaaS ARR model with seat/tier-based expansion. Classic B2B subscription with disclosed ARR growth (4x YoY), NDR (110%), inbound-dominant motion, and an ASP that is actively expanding (+104% YTD). Standard SaaS ARR waterfall is the right spine.

- **Forecast horizon & granularity:** Quarterly for Year 1–2 (matching deck's quarterly ARR chart); annual summary for Years 3–5. Total horizon: 5 years from Series A close (2021–2025).

- **Key drivers & assumptions:**

| Driver | Value |
| -- | -- |
| YoY ARR growth - Year 1 (2021) | ~300% (matching stated metric) |
| YoY ARR growth - Year 2 (2022) | 150% |
| YoY ARR growth - Year 3 (2023) | 100% |
| YoY ARR growth - Years 4–5 | 60% / 40% |
| Net Dollar Retention | 110% |
| Annual ASP | $2,300 |
| ASP growth YoY | +20% Year 1, tapering to +10% by Year 3 |
| Gross margin | 70–75% |
| Sales & marketing % of revenue | 40–50% |
| R&D % of revenue | 25–30% |
| G&A % of revenue | 10–15% |
| Churn rate (gross logo) | 10% annual |
| New logo growth QoQ | 22% |
| Series A cash raised | $9.4M |
| Seed already raised | $4.0M (Oct 2019) |

- **Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):**
  - **Base:** 300% growth Year 1 decelerating to 40% by Year 5; NDR 110%; ASP +15% YoY; gross margin 72%.
  - **Bull:** Faster US market penetration; ARR growth 350%/200%/120%/80%/55%; NDR lifts to 120%; ASP expansion accelerates with enterprise up-tier.
  - **Bear:** US expansion slower than expected; growth 200%/100%/60%/35%/25%; NDR compresses to 105%; CAC increases as inbound slows.

- **Required sheets / outputs:**
  1. **ARR Waterfall** - New ARR, Expansion ARR, Churned ARR, Net New ARR, Ending ARR per quarter.
  2. **Customer Count** - New logos, churned logos, total customers, implied ASP.
  3. **P&L** - Revenue, gross profit, S&M, R&D, G&A, EBITDA, net income (annual + quarterly).
  4. **Cash & Runway** - Opening cash, Series A proceeds, operating burn, ending cash, months of runway.
  5. **Unit Economics** - LTV (NDR-adjusted), CAC (assumed), LTV/CAC, payback months.
  6. **Scenario Toggle** - single input cell switching Base / Bull / Bear.
  7. **KPI Dashboard** - ARR, MRR, NDR, logo count, ASP, gross margin, runway (monthly view).

## Frequently asked questions

### Is the Contractbook financial model free?

Yes. The Contractbook model is a free Excel download with live formulas.

### Can I change the assumptions?

Yes. The workbook is editable and its live formulas recalculate when assumptions change.