Pearl Engine outperforms leading generalist AI models by 25 times on lead-finding efficiency according tobenchmark*
Blackpearl Group Limited(NZX/ASX:BPG) today announces its results for the year ended 31 March 2026. TheGroup delivered another record result, with Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)growing 114% year-on-year to $26.8 million, supported by the rapid scaling ofData-as-a-Service (DaaS) at 0% churn and a strong post-acquisition trajectory from B2B Rocket.
With the growth case proven, the Group enters FY27pursuing ARR growth and cash conversion as equal priorities.
— Record $26.8m ARR, up 114% from $12.5m at 31 March 2025
— Pearl Engine benchmark: 25× more A-grade commercial records per dollar than leading generalist AI models; 87.3% output quality versus ~70%;5× lower cost per quality record*
— $13.7m subscription revenue, up 77% from$7.7m in FY25
— 69% gross profit margin (FY25:67.8%); fixed-cost data supply now fully in place
— 3.5 months CAC payback, 33%improvement YoY; within Bessemer best-in-class range of
0–6 months
— $346,000 ARR per employee, up 41% from $245,000 at Q4 FY25
— Revenue churn: DaaS at 0% for the full year; SaaS at 4.9% (FY25: 5.3%)
— B2B Rocket fully integrated into the Pearl Engine ecosystem; $1.8m of annualised cost synergies now identified for FY27
— EBITDAF loss of $15.7m
— $10.2m of one-off non-recurring costs –B2B Rocket acquisition, ASX listing, offer costs[KC3] [NL4] [KC5]
— $9.6m cash at 31 March 2026; BNZ NZ$5m facility refinanced to March2028; ASX dual-listing completed November 2025
Read the full NZX announcement here.
Chair Tim Crown said:
“FY26 validates the thesis Blackpearl Group has been building toward for more than a decade. Vertical AI, models trained on proprietary commercial data and tuned to specific revenue outcomes, is now the highest-value category in enterprise technology, and Blackpearl Group sits squarely within it.
With the growth case proven at scale, the Group is rebalancing operational priorities for FY27. Whilst ARR growth remains core, cash conversion is being raised alongside it as an equal-weighted priority.”
*Proto-GTM Bench, a third-party benchmark commissioned by Blackpearl Group across five ICP-based lead-finding tasks. LLM identities withheld. Results preliminary. Full methodology in theFY26 Annual Report.
Rapid growth for ARR
Blackpearl Group more than doubled ARR in FY26, adding $14.3 million in net new contracted revenue across the year, with strong growth across all four quarters (Q1 +63%, Q2 +87%,Q3 +114%, Q4 +114% YoY).
CAC payback of 3.5 months and ARR per employee of $346,000 both improved materially and both sit within global best-in-class ranges for the category.
DaaS scaled materially and delivered 0% revenue churn for the full year. DaaS clients embed the Pearl Engine directly into their commercial operations, generating substantially higher contracted revenue per client than the SaaS base and significantly improving retention metrics.
B2B Rocket, acquired in August 2025, has performed strongly through its first eight months in the Group. Integration into thePearl Engine ecosystem is complete, customer outcomes have improved, and $1.8m of annualised cost synergies have been identified for FY27. The acquisition is tracking ahead of the case modelled at the time of purchase.
Pearl Engine – The benchmark
The Pearl Engine is Blackpearl Group’s core asset: a vertically specific AI model trained on more than a decade of real commercial outcomes, processing 31 billion data signals dailyfrom more than 330 data partners.
Blackpearl recently commissioned Proto-GTM Bench for a benchmark of the Pearl Engine against two leading generalist AI models on five commercial go-to-market tasks. The Pearl Engine produced 25 times more A-grade commercial records per dollar than the generalist models tested, at 5 times lower cost per quality record, and with an18-percentage-point output quality advantage. Refer to the FY26 Annual Report for full methodology.
Subscription revenue of $13.7 million grew 77%year-on-year. The gap between contracted ARR ($26.8m) and recognised revenue($13.7m) reflects FY26-specific timing differences: typical SaaS revenue recognition lag in a fast-growing customer base, 90-day DaaS ramp pricing terms during the growth phase, and B2B Rocket contributing only a partial year of recognised revenue post-acquisition. Recognised revenue is expected to start to track more closely with contracted ARR through FY27 as commercial settings are recalibrated.
Gross margin strengthened to 69% in FY26 as the crossover between variable and fixed data supply agreements was completed. With the fixed-cost structure now in place, cost will not scale with revenue, which is the primary driver of margin expansion expected in FY27 and beyond.
EBITDAF loss of $15.7 million for FY26 reflects continued investment in Pearl Engine development, the rollout ofBebop, growth-stage operating costs and temporary operating costs for B2BRocket pre-optimisation. Operating leverage is expected to strengthenmaterially through FY27.[KC7]
The Group ended FY26 with $9.6million in cash. Capital raised during the year broadened the institutional shareholder base, including new Australia-based institutions, and funded theB2B Rocket acquisition, platform investment, and the ASX listing.
In April 2026, the Group refinanced its NZ$5 million BNZ debt facility to March 2028. This facility nowprovides committed non-dilutive funding through to FY28.
With the growth model validated,ARR growth remains a core objective alongside cash conversion as an equal-weighted priority. Where the two are in tension, the choices that bringcash forward will be preferred. Five operational levers are being executed:
— Shorter ramp cycles. Reducing the 90-day DaaS ramp accelerates the conversion of contracted ARR to recognised revenue.
— Tighter customer profiles. More disciplined ICP criteria improve customer quality, reduce churn, lower cost-to-serve, and increase lifetime value.
— Post-acquisition cost optimisation. Permanent cost reductions from rationalising structural duplicates created by the B2B Rocket integration.
— Improved cash collection. Back-office process improvements across billing, invoicing, and accounts receivable.
— Fixed-cost infrastructure leverage. As revenue scales against the fixed data supply cost base, gross margin expands mechanically.
Each lever was piloted and validated in H2 FY26.
CEO Nick Lissette said:
“FY26 was the year the Pearl Engine was proven at scale.114% ARR growth, 0% DaaS churn, and the third-party benchmark performance all reflect the same underlying fact: our vertical AI model delivers commercial outcomes that generalist approaches cannot replicate.
“This shows the Pearl Engine itself is the real value in this Group. It processes 31 billion signals daily, has been trained on real commercial outcomes across thousands of customers, and the gap between it and generalist AI on revenue-generating tasks is structural, not marginal. FY27 is about converting what we have built into durable returns.
“We have an impressive track record of hitting our targets. Our $30 million ARR milestone is inevitable in the near term, and $50million remains our medium-term target.”
Blackpearl Group enters FY27with a strengthened balance sheet, a broadened institutional investor base across NZX and ASX, and a validated venture model. The near-term focus is converting contracted ARR into recognised revenue, deepening unit economics, and accelerating ARR and cash generation.
ENDS
