# Knak Financial Model

Drag-and-drop campaign creation platform (emails & landing pages) built for enterprise marketing teams to use in-house, eliminating agency dependency.

- Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/knak
- Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/knak.xlsx
- Category: Enterprise/Security
- Model type: SaaS ARR / Valuation
- Funding round: Series A
- Funding: $25M
- Founded: 2021
- Geography: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; selling to enterprise globally [DECK slide 5]
- Customer: B2B

## About the company

Knak lets enterprise marketing teams create emails and landing pages through a drag-and-drop platform. It is positioned as a way to bring campaign production in-house, reducing dependency on agencies while maintaining brand and workflow control.

The company sells enterprise MarTech subscriptions, where customers can start with one team or workflow and expand as more marketers and campaigns use the product. The economic comparison is against recurring agency spend rather than a one-time design project.

The model tracks new logos, ACV, expansion ARR, gross and net retention, and contribution margin by cohort. Sales capacity, implementation, customer success, gross margin, and operating expenses determine the investment required to scale the enterprise land-and-expand motion.

## 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

- Codeless drag-and-drop builder for enterprise marketing emails and landing pages
- Integrates with all major marketing automation platforms (Marketo, Eloqua, HubSpot, etc.) - platform-agnostic
- Brand control enforced at the asset-creation level; no coding or outside agency required
- Claims up to 95% faster time-to-market vs. agency-led creation
- Collaboration features (@ mentions, review workflows visible in product screenshot)

## Market

- Marketing automation market: $15.6B in 2019 → $25.1B by 2023 (CAGR ~12.7%)
- Agency email creation cost per email: $1K–$75K - used as proxy for addressable spend displaced
- No explicit TAM/SAM/SOM framework presented; market framing is top-down via automation market size + agency cost displacement

## Revenue model

- SaaS subscription - enterprise seat/usage-based
- Sold direct to enterprise marketing teams
- Channel: likely direct sales + inbound
- No pricing tiers, ACV, or ARPU disclosed in deck

## Traction & metrics

- Self-described "fast-growing"
- External funding to date: $0 (bootstrapped)
- Product-market fit claimed; "reliable data" on spend impact
- No revenue, ARR, customer count, NRR, churn, or growth rate figures presented in deck

## Competition / moat

- Indirect competition: legacy marketing automation platforms (Marketo, Eloqua, etc.) described as "decades old, templated, rigid"
- Direct competition: agencies (framed as the incumbent workflow to replace, not a software competitor)
- Moat claims: codeless platform, MAP-agnostic integrations, enterprise brand governance, built-in collaboration
- No competitive matrix or named software competitors shown

## Team & funding ask / use of funds

- Pierce Ujjainwalla - Co-Founder & CEO; serial entrepreneur, 4x Marketo Champion, consulted IBM, Microsoft, NVIDIA, SAP
- Brendan Farnand - Co-Founder & COO; career enterprise marketer, led global MAP implementation at Trend Micro
- Patrick Proulx - Co-Founder & CTO; career full-stack developer, multi-startup tech founder
- Chris Davies - Chief Creative Officer; career marketer and agency creative director
- Ask: $25M USD
- Use of funds: new headcount, marketing, new office, war chest
- No valuation, ownership %, or term sheet details disclosed

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## Recommended financial model

**Archetype + why:** SaaS ARR model (enterprise, land-and-expand). Knak is a pure B2B SaaS subscription displacing agency spend; the right model tracks new logos, ACV, expansion ARR, gross/net retention, and contribution margins by cohort. No transactional or marketplace dynamics present.

**Forecast horizon & granularity:** 5 years (Year 0 actuals stub + Years 1–5), quarterly in Years 1–2, annual in Years 3–5. Monthly not warranted given no monthly data in deck.

**Key drivers & assumptions:**

| Driver | Value |
| -- | -- |
| Starting ARR | Unknown - use $X as placeholder |
| New logo adds per quarter (Y1) | 8–15 enterprise logos/qtr |
| Average Contract Value (ACV) | $50K–$150K/yr |
| Logo growth rate (Y1→Y3) | 30–50% YoY |
| Net Revenue Retention (NRR) | 110–120% |
| Gross margin | 70–80% |
| S&M as % of revenue (Y1–Y2) | 40–55% |
| R&D as % of revenue (Y1–Y2) | 20–30% |
| G&A as % of revenue (Y1–Y2) | 10–15% |
| Headcount ramp | Significant Y1 |
| Marketing automation market CAGR | ~12.7% (2019–2023) |

**Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):**
- **Base:** 12 new logos/qtr Y1, $80K ACV, 115% NRR, 75% gross margin
- **Bull:** faster logo ramp (20/qtr by Y2), $120K ACV via upsell, 125% NRR
- **Bear:** sales cycle elongation (8 logos/qtr), $50K ACV, 105% NRR, margin pressure from office/headcount

**Required sheets / outputs:**
1. Assumptions - all drivers, toggle for scenarios
2. Revenue Build - new logos × ACV + expansion (cohort waterfall)
3. P&L - ARR → Revenue → Gross Profit → EBITDA by year
4. Headcount Plan - linked to S&M/R&D/G&A opex
5. Cash & Runway - burn rate post-raise, months of runway, breakeven year
6. KPI Dashboard - ARR, logo count, NRR, CAC payback, LTV/CAC, Rule of 40

## Frequently asked questions

### Is the Knak financial model free?

Yes. The Knak 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.