Samsara continues to scale as its customers keep the world running in turbulent times

(Pixabay )

The world of physical operations represents more than 40% of the global GDP and keeps our world running. We want our Connected Operations Cloud to be the foundation supporting digital transformation in this space for decades to come. 

So said Sanjit Biswas, CEO of Samsara, as the firm yesterday turned in Q1 revenue of $142.6 million, up 63% year-on-year, with annual recurring revenue (ARR) now running at $607.2 million, up 59% year-on-year.

The firm now has 897 customers with ARR of more than $100,000 each, representing 73% year-on-year growth. And the number of $100,000+ ARR customers added in Q1 overtook the number of sub-$5,000 ARR customers for the first time, a trend which the firm expects to see continuing.

There’s also a bias towards multi-product engagements, with seven of the 10 largest deals in Q1 involving subscriptions to two or more products, while more than 70% of core customers and more than 90% of $100,000+ ARR customers are subscribed to multiple applications.

Milestone

It’s a great milestone as the company scales, said Biswas:

Samsara is operating at a scale that’s hard to replicate. The amount of IoT data we process in our Connected Operations Cloud more than doubled last year to about 4.6 trillion data points. In addition, API calls grew to 33 billion last year, an increase of more than 4x year-over-year. We use this massive amount of data to regularly train our AI models and enhance our benchmarking data.

He added:

Our customers come from every segment of the world of physical operations. They help keep the world running, whether it’s constructing infrastructure, maintaining utilities, clearing snow off the streets or managing the global supply chain. Many have been around for over half a century and weathered challenging cycles in the past.

Today, the world is a facing particularly challenging macro environment with inflation, rising interest rates, tightening supply chains, tight labor markets and geopolitical uncertainty. These challenges represent Samsara’s biggest opportunities to add value for our customers.

Changed days

The Vaccine Economy is a different place to the world of a few years back, said Biswas:

When effectively a lot of the world froze or shut down, it was just uncertain what was going to happen and what turned out to be the case was that the industries we serve are the essential industries. They are the ones that keep the energy utilities running, keep the water running and so on. So they sprang back very quickly. I think that was just not clear at the beginning of 2020.

Whereas right now what we’re seeing is, even with inflation, even with macro-uncertainty, people still need waste management, they still need energy utilities to run, they still need the local governments and they need food and beverage to continue to operate. So I think while everyone is keeping their ear to the ground to understand what might happen in the future, these industries are really robust, and they are truly essential industries.

He drilled down on a number of use cases to back up his point:

GP Transco is a trucking logistics company with over 400 drivers, 410 tractors and 550 trailers. They use Samsara to improve fuel efficiency and reduce vehicle idling by 35%. They’ve saved an estimated 205,000 gallons of fuel. That’s over $350,000 in savings. GP Transco used these savings to fund driver pay increases and bonus programs, giving them a competitive edge in this market.

Second, Heniff Transportation Systems, a leader in liquid bulk transportation is using our video-based safety with 1,800 drivers and Site Visibility across their 80 terminal locations nationwide. They are proactively coaching drivers and employees to reduce spend on insurance claims. Heniff estimates a 50% reduction in liabilities because of our technologies.

And third, UFP Industries, the leading manufacturer and distributor of wood products is using the connected operations cloud to streamline worker productivity. They wanted to improve operational visibility, driver safety and customer service. Our solutions are used in 350 private fleet trucks to complete over 200,000 deliveries a year. By going paperless with Samsara, UFPI estimates they saved $600,000 annually.

He concluded:

These examples show how Samsara’s Connected Operations Cloud is being used by our customers to improve worker productivity, streamline their operations and reduce their cost tax. It’s these kinds of cost savings that are helping our customers combat inflation and maintain competitive footholds in their industries.

My take

A strong performance in the firm’s first year as a public company. Samsara’s Connected Operations Cloud is in the right place at the right time, with the use cases that Biswas cites being powerful proof points. Expect more of this to come in a couple of weeks at the firm’s inaugural Samsara Beyond customer conference.