# Hologram Financial Model IoT cellular connectivity platform that abstracts SIM management, carrier selection, and device fleet operations into a single software layer. - Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/hologram - Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/hologram.xlsx - Category: Logistics/Mobility - Model type: SaaS ARR / Valuation - Funding round: Series B - Funding: $65M - Founded: 2021 - Geography: Global - claims coverage on "472 carriers" across Earth [DECK, slide 6]. - Customer: B2B ## About the company Hologram is an IoT cellular-connectivity platform that abstracts SIM management, carrier selection, and fleet operations. It gives device businesses a unified software layer for global connectivity. Forecast the connected-device base, data usage, and platform fees, separating recurring connectivity demand from the costs paid to carriers. Device growth and usage are the central volume drivers. Track carrier cost, gross margin, expansion, and churn as the customer fleet scales. The model should show how a larger global device base converts into platform revenue while preserving connectivity economics. It should retain the link between SIM management, carrier selection, and the operating needs of device fleets. ## 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 - Single SIM connects to any carrier globally via automatic carrier switching. - Single API to manage entire device fleet (provision, pause, deactivate, monitor usage). - Automatic carrier switching delivers "unprecedented uptime". - Use-case agnostic; supports any hardware/chipset/radio tech, any industry vertical. - Target verticals: AgTech, Mobility (scooters shown in dashboard demo), Healthcare, Infrastructure, Drones, Retail Analytics, Point of Sale. - Core value prop framing: "Turning Connectivity into Software" - positions cellular as a software-defined, manageable resource rather than a telecom commodity. ## Market - Market described qualitatively as "huge and growing" - bubble chart shows connectivity market growing significantly from 2021 to 2026, but no dollar figures are legible (both bubble sizes use "$" / "$$$" symbols only, no numeric labels). - Growth thesis: smartphone drove down sensor/processing costs; AWS made cloud ingestion cheap; cellular/5G made connectivity ubiquitous → these three forces drive connected-device proliferation across old and new industries. - No TAM/SAM/SOM dollar figures in deck. No third-party market research cited. ## Revenue model - Implied dual-revenue model: 1. **Connectivity / usage fees**: customers pay per MB consumed; SIM provisioned per device. Dashboard screenshot shows per-device monthly MB usage tracked. 2. **Software / platform fee**: SaaS layer for fleet management (API, dashboard, carrier switching logic). Specific pricing tiers not disclosed. - Channel: self-serve / developer-led (API-first) with enterprise sales (VP Revenue role on team). - Billing period appears to be monthly (references "Usage This Billing Period" and "Last Period" comparisons). - "We grow as they grow" - revenue scales with customer device deployments (usage-based expansion). ## Traction & metrics - **ARR milestones**: Three ARR points ($X ARR, $Y ARR, $Z ARR) plotted on a combo bar/line chart showing accelerating growth trajectory - all values redacted in deck. - **Device growth**: X devices/year (5 years prior average), Y devices (past year), Z devices (next 12 months forecast) - bar chart 2015–2022; strong upward curve visible; all values redacted. - **Gross MRR Churn**: X% - redacted. - **Platform usage growth**: Yx - redacted. - **Avg cohort expansion**: X% - redacted. - **Net Dollar Retention (NDR)**: A% - redacted. - **LTV/CAC**: B - redacted. - **Magic Number**: C - redacted. - **Team size**: 68 FTEs. - **Awards**: Inc. Best Workplaces 2021; Glassdoor 5.0. - Note: all financial/metric figures in this deck are deliberately masked with alphabetic placeholders. No concrete numbers can be cited from images. ## Unit economics - LTV/CAC ratio disclosed as "B" (redacted). - Magic Number disclosed as "C" (redacted). - Gross MRR Churn disclosed as "X%" (redacted). - No gross margin figures shown. - No CAC or payback period in absolute dollars shown. ## Competition / moat - Problem framing implies incumbents have: coverage gaps, complex supply chains, poor performance/downtime, and opaque pricing. - Moat implied by: - 472-carrier network breadth (carrier aggregation layer). - Automatic carrier switching (technical switching intelligence, not just resale). - Single SIM / single API abstraction removing customer switching costs. - Usage-based model aligned with customer growth - high retention implied by low churn and cohort expansion. - No named competitors cited in deck. ## Team & funding ask / use of funds - **CEO / Co-founder**: Benjamin Forgan - serial founder, companies on 3 continents. - **CTO / Co-founder**: Pat Wilbur - PhD Computer Science, hypervisor author, former IBM, phone phreaker background. - **CFO**: Annie Rosen - former Fidelity investor. - **CPO**: Mike Georgoff - three successful startup exits. - **VP Partnerships**: Rich Knapp - decades of experience, TripAdvisor. - **VP People**: Courtney Seiter - former Head of People at Buffer. - **VP Revenue**: Derrick Wolbert - engineering-minded revenue exec, Northwestern MMM. - **Headcount**: 68 FTEs total. - **Use of funds**: Slide 12 title is "Investment drives Accelerating Growth" - implies raise is to accelerate sales/marketing (Magic Number and LTV/CAC metrics framed as investment efficiency proof), but no specific use-of-funds breakdown shown. --- ## Recommended financial model - **Archetype + why**: Usage-based SaaS / IoT connectivity ARR model. Revenue has two intertwined components: (1) connectivity consumption (data volume per device × per-MB rate) and (2) platform SaaS fee. The cohort expansion dynamic ("we grow as they grow") and NDR metric confirm the primary growth engine is expansion within existing customers as they deploy more devices - classic usage-based ARR. A pure MRR/ARR SaaS model with a usage consumption overlay is most appropriate. - **Forecast horizon & granularity**: 3 years monthly (36 months), with quarterly rollup for outputs. Growth phase company - monthly granularity needed to track cohort expansion and device ramp dynamics. - **Key drivers & assumptions**: - New customers added per month - Avg devices per new customer at signing - Device ramp curve per cohort (months to full deployment) - Avg monthly data consumption per device (MB) - Revenue per MB (connectivity rate) - Platform/software fee per device per month - Gross MRR Churn (customer-level) - Avg cohort expansion rate (% MRR growth per month within cohort) - NDR - Gross margin on connectivity (carrier cost pass-through vs. markup) - Sales & marketing spend as % of revenue - LTV/CAC - Headcount growth curve - COGS components: carrier fees (variable), SIM hardware (one-time per device), cloud infrastructure - **Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex)**: - **Base**: Cohort expansion at deck rate, churn at deck rate, connectivity pricing stable. - **Bull**: Faster device ramp per customer, higher NRR from expansion into new verticals, margin improvement as software mix grows. - **Bear**: Pricing pressure from telecom incumbents compresses connectivity margin; slower customer acquisition; higher churn in one vertical. - Primary flex variables: devices/customer ramp speed, per-MB rate, gross margin, new logo adds per month. - **Required sheets / outputs**: 1. **Assumptions** - all drivers with / tags and scenario toggles. 2. **Cohort Model** - monthly new customer cohorts × device ramp × ARPU → MRR by cohort; waterfall to total MRR/ARR. 3. **Revenue Build** - split connectivity revenue vs. platform fee; blended ARPU per device. 4. **P&L** - Gross profit by revenue stream; OpEx (S&M, R&D, G&A) headcount-driven; EBITDA. 5. **Headcount Plan** - by department, linked to OpEx. 6. **Unit Economics Summary** - CAC, LTV, LTV/CAC, payback period, Magic Number, NDR - all derived from model, comparable to deck metrics. 7. **ARR Bridge** - new ARR, expansion ARR, churned ARR, net new ARR per period. 8. **Dashboard / Summary** - KPI cards (ARR, NDR, gross margin, Magic Number, devices connected). ## Frequently asked questions ### Is the Hologram financial model free? Yes. The Hologram 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.