# Mathison Financial Model

End-to-end SaaS platform for enterprise diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI) hiring - analytics, bias reduction, candidate sourcing, and team training in one system.

- Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/mathison
- Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/mathison.xlsx
- Category: Enterprise/Security
- Model type: SaaS ARR / Valuation
- Funding round: Series A
- Funding: $25M
- Founded: 2022
- Geography: North America (US/Canada implied by client profiles and team locations; "global" recruiting market cited but no explicit international expansion stated).
- Customer: B2B

## About the company

Mathison is an enterprise DEI platform combining analytics, bias reduction, candidate sourcing, and team training. It is built for employers that want to manage diversity, equity, and inclusion hiring through a more connected operating system.

The company sells recurring B2B subscriptions to mid-market and enterprise customers. Its materials cite 4.3 times year-on-year growth and net revenue retention above 100%, supporting a land-to-expand approach across hiring teams, programmes, and employee groups.

The model separates new-logo ARR from expansion and churn. Customer count, ACV, seats or programme scope, sales conversion, retention, delivery costs, gross margin, and operating investment show the economics of scaling an enterprise HR-tech platform.

## 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

Four integrated modules sold as one platform:
1. Measure DEI Gaps & Priorities - diversity score dashboard, quarterly benchmarking, peer comparison, automated recommendations.
2. Reduce Hiring Bias - bias scanner / Equal Hiring Index measurement.
3. Source Diverse Candidates - diverse candidate pipeline sourcing.
4. Mobilize & Train Team - DEI training rolled out to the full team, not just HR.

Differentiation vs. point solutions: competitors require 4+ disconnected systems at $175k+ annual cost; Mathison replaces all in one platform. Moat: system embedded across employer's ATS/HRIS stack and broader team workflows, generating continuous DEI data that creates switching costs.

## Market

- DEI technology market today: $25B.
- Global recruiting market today: $284B.
- Combined market by 2027: ~$450B.
- DEI tech CAGR to 2027: 25%; DEI tech projected value 2027: $78B.
- Recruiting market CAGR to 2027: 6%; projected value 2027: $370B.
- Sources cited: NAICS, McKinsey, SHRM, Triliant (recruiting); QY Research (DEI tech).

## Revenue model

- Model: B2B SaaS subscription - platform seat licences + supported roles + expanded platform features (Land → Expand → Evangelize motion).
- Channels: Direct enterprise sales (6-week avg sales cycle); future channel partner strategy flagged as a use-of-funds item.
- Expansion levers: more platform seats, more supported roles, additional features, ATS/HRIS integration upsells.

## Traction & metrics

All figures as of January 2022:
- ARR: $2.4M.
- ARR trajectory: $121k (Q1 2020) → $544k (Q4 2020) → $2.4M (Q3 2021).
- ARR projection shown: $7.1M (Q4 2022 - shown as next bar, likely forward projection).
- YoY ARR growth: 4.3x for last 2 years.
- Clients: 140.
- NRR: 145%+.
- Avg sales cycle: 6 weeks.
- Logo retention: 90%.
- CAC payback period: <3.5 months.
- Set-up time: within 24 hours.

## Unit economics

- Payback period: <3.5 months.
- NRR: 145%+ (implies strong net expansion - customers grow revenue year-over-year).
- Logo retention: 90%.
- Implied LTV/CAC: Very strong - <3.5 month payback with 145% NRR and 90% logo retention indicates high LTV.

## Competition / moat

Competitive landscape:
- DEI measurement: Pulsely, Eskalera ($25–40k/yr).
- Bias reduction: Textio, Datapeople ($40–60k/yr).
- Diverse candidate sourcing: Seekout, Canvas ($30–70k/yr).
- Team mobilization / training: Traliant, Korn Ferry ($40–70k/yr).
- Manual consulting: $40–100k/yr.
- Total incumbent cost: at least 4 disconnected systems, at least $175k/yr.

Moat claimed:
1. Full-team engagement - tools embedded in everyone's workflow, not just HR.
2. Deep system integrations - across talent lifecycle, ATS, HRIS, LinkedIn.
3. Continuous measurement - ongoing DEI benchmarking creates data flywheel and switching cost.
4. Predictive DEI analytics - integrates employee feedback, representation data, behavior, and talent policies for 360-degree view.

## Team & funding ask / use of funds

Team:
- Dave Walsh, Co-Founder & CEO - HR Tech serial entrepreneur (Indeed, Jobbio).
- Arthur Woods, Co-Founder - 3x founder, HR Tech leader & author (Google, YouTube); co-authored "Hiring for Diversity" (#1 New Release on Amazon, Wiley).
- Elizabeth Spenko, CPO - former SVP Northern Trust, IDEO.
- Daniel Brown, VP Engineering - Edmodo, Accuray.
- 6 additional senior hires across Sales, Customer Impact, People Ops, Design, Operations, Product.
- Team diversity: 50% PoC, 50% Women, 60% Working Parents.

Existing investors (logos shown): Bain Capital Ventures, SemperVirens, Animo Ventures, Gaingels, Springbank Collective.

Funding ask: Series A (amount not stated in deck).

Use of funds:
- Ramp sales team (primary growth driver).
- Grow engineering & product (expand platform + integrations).
- Build marketing team; invest in outbound and channel partner strategy.

Key 2022 goals:
- Expand existing customers by $1M+.
- Build 20 new ATS/HRIS integrations.
- 35 new critical hires (sales, marketing, engineering, product).

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## Recommended financial model

**Archetype + why:** SaaS ARR model with seat/account expansion. Revenue is recurring subscription; NRR >100% means the model must capture new logo growth + net expansion from existing customers separately. The 4.3x YoY growth trajectory and clear Land→Expand GTM make a bottoms-up ARR waterfall (new logos × ACV + expansion − churn) the right structure.

**Forecast horizon & granularity:** Monthly for Year 1–2, quarterly for Year 3–4. 3-year operating model (2022–2024) is appropriate for a Series A; extend to 4 years for an exit/IRR view.

**Key drivers & assumptions:**

| Driver | Value / Rationale |
| -- | -- |
| Starting ARR (Jan 2022) | $2.4M |
| Starting logo count | 140 |
| Implied avg ACV | ~$17k ($2.4M ÷ 140) |
| ARR growth rate (base) | 4.3x YoY maintained for 1 more year → ~$10M ARR end-2022; then decelerates to ~2.5x in 2023, ~2x in 2024 |
| NRR | 145% - model gross expansion + gross churn separately |
| Gross logo churn | 10% annually (= 1 − 90% logo retention) |
| Net expansion (same-store) | Derived: NRR 145% with 10% logo churn implies ~60–65% gross expansion from surviving customers |
| Sales cycle | 6 weeks - pipeline conversion lag in monthly model |
| CAC payback | <3.5 months - constrains implied S&M spend per new dollar of ARR |
| Headcount - sales | Ramp per use-of-funds; 35 total new hires across all functions |
| ATS/HRIS integrations | 20 new in 2022 - operational milestone, affects product stickiness |

**Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):**
- Base: 4.3x YoY in 2022, decelerating to 2.5x in 2023, 2x in 2024. NRR 145%, churn 10%.
- Bull: Raise closes Q1 2022, sales team ramps on schedule; NRR expands to 150%+; new logo adds accelerate; ACV climbs as enterprise penetration deepens.
- Bear: Sales ramp delayed; NRR compresses to 120% (macro-driven DEI budget cuts); churn ticks up to 15%; ARR growth slows to 2.5x in 2022.

**Required sheets / outputs:**
1. ARR Waterfall - new logos, expansion, churn, net new ARR per month/quarter.
2. P&L - revenue, COGS (gross margin), S&M, R&D, G&A; EBITDA bridge.
3. Headcount plan - by function (sales, engineering, product, marketing, ops); ties to opex.
4. Unit Economics dashboard - blended ACV, CAC, CAC payback, LTV, LTV/CAC, NRR, gross margin.
5. Cash & runway - cash consumed per quarter; implied Series A sizing to reach next milestone (e.g., $10M ARR).
6. KPI summary - ARR, logo count, NRR, gross margin, burn multiple, Rule of 40.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is the Mathison financial model free?

Yes. The Mathison 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.