• Net loss narrows by $2.4 million to ($3.8 million) while full year Adjusted EBITDA reached ($0.4 million)
• Excluding a one-time litigation settlement expense of $2.2 million, full year Adjusted EBITDA reached $1.8 million
• Company continued migration to recurring software licensing revenue and focus on technology innovations to its enterprise platform to enable expansion into larger end markets

Newport Beach, CA – March 23, 2017 – Accelerize Inc. (OTCQB: ACLZ) (OTCBB: ACLZ), a leader in marketing technology solutions, today announced financial results for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2016.

Accelerize owns and operates CAKE, a marketing technology provider of solutions that track, attribute and optimize the performance of digital marketing spend, in real-time. CAKE’s powerful software-as-a-service (SaaS) enterprise platform is an industry standard for affiliate networks, advertisers, publishers and agencies to measurably improve campaign performance and return on advertising spend.

Business Highlights for 2016

• Continued Growth of Monthly Recurring License Fees, Customers and Platform Usage: Full year 2016 software license fee revenues increased 25% year-over-year to $18.3MM and comprised 77% of total revenue compared to 69% in 2015. Average revenue per customer increased by 5% year over year through broader usage of the Company’s SaaS platform while the Company progressively transitioned from lower quality revenue streams in the second half of 2016. The Company’s revenue was well distributed across its customer base with no single customer representing more than 5% of total revenue in 2016. The Company intends to continue to focus its sales and development efforts on recurring revenue opportunities in larger end-markets.
• Technology Investment Expands Market Opportunity for its Enterprise Software Platform: The Company completed a series of innovations to its CAKE platform in 2016 to enter into more expansive end-market opportunities with large brands, networks and publishers, by providing more actionable insights and granular data required to help those customers optimize campaigns and drive revenue. The innovations include more sophisticated algorithmic attribution for predictive analytics, deeper reporting dimension to maximize return on ad spend, and extensive integrations with Google AdWords, Bing, Facebook, DoubleClick Campaign Manager (DCM), Marketo and others. Additionally, CAKE migrated to Amazon Web Services (AWS) in the second half of 2016 to efficiently and cost-effectively scale according to demand to support future growth. The Company expects this technology innovation to progressively drive future revenue growth beginning in 2017.
• Continued International Expansion: The Company achieved significant global diversification in 2016 with 38% of overall revenue derived outside the U.S., up from 29% in 2015. During 2016, CAKE added over 100 new clients to its growing international customer base, achieving a greater than 200% year over year increase in the number of customers it services outside the United States and now serves customers in more than 40 countries worldwide.
• Litigation Settlement: During Q4 2016, the Company entered into a settlement agreement to end an ongoing legal dispute that began in 2014. The settlement resulted in the cancellation of1,890,000 shares of the Company’s common stock and preserves the previous cancellation of 6.6 million stock options at exercise prices ranging from $0.15 to $0.31 per share, in exchange for a series of payments totaling $2.7MM over 48 months. The Company believes that in addition to reducing share count, the settlement is very favorable in that it eliminates the business risks and uncertainties associated with prolonged litigation and the potential dilution associated with the 6.6 million options. The Company took a one-time charge of $2.2MM in Q4 2016 to cover the entire series of settlement payments while its insurance carrier contributed the remaining $500,000.

“Our entire team has made significant strides throughout 2016 to position Accelerize for continued growth in both top and bottom line performance in 2017,” said Brian Ross, Chairman CEO of Accelerize.  “We have invested heavily in transitioning our business to expand into the multi-billion-dollar Mar-Tech market, while hitting record highs in our revenue, traffic and adjusted EBITDA. We have been laser focused on developing a cutting-edge software product to service this expansive market that is now ripe to move into the digital age. As the shift from traditional to digital marketing continues to grow at a rapid pace, our CAKE enterprise software takes the guesswork out of understanding the customer journey through the use of sophisticated data analytics across the digital spectrum. Simply put, CAKE enables marketers in this multi-billion-dollar industry to optimize digital ad spend and marketing performance in order to drive revenue growth and improve their bottom line results. As we move through 2017, our technology innovation and increased demand for our product provide a solid platform for growth and we are committed to delivering improved performance to build lasting value for our stockholders for years to come.”

Financial Highlights for FY 2016

• Revenues: Total revenues for fiscal 2016 rose to a record $23.8MM, an 11% increase from revenues of $21.4MM recorded in fiscal 2015. Moreover, revenue derived from the Company’s recurring software licensing fees increased by 25% year over year. The revenue increase was driven by a 6% increase in the number of customers on the CAKE SaaS platform and a 5% year-over-year increase in average revenue per customer. This reflects the Company’s success in adding larger customer opportunities throughout 2016 that progressively grow in overall usage while the Company transitioned from lower-quality and non-recurring revenue streams. The Company expects future revenues to be driven by ongoing organic growth, international expansion, product innovation, as well as increased sales and marketing efforts.
• Operating Income (Loss): For the full year 2016, the Company recorded an operating loss of ($2.7MM), inclusive of a one-time expense of ($2.2 MM) related to the aforementioned litigation settlement. Excluding this one-time expense, the Company’s operating loss was ($0.5 MM), a $5.6MM improvement compared to an operating loss of ($6.1 MM) in 2015. Excluding the one-time litigation expense is a non-GAAP measure management believes provides important insight into the Company’s operating results (see “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information” and the reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures later in the press release). The significant improvement in operating results was largely attributable to streamlining efforts that led to a $3.8MM reduction in sales and marketing expense while continuing to drive revenue growth, coupled with a $0.7MM reduction in G&A costs.
• Net Income (Loss): Net loss for fiscal 2016 was ($3.9MM), inclusive of one-time expenses, or $(0.06) per share, compared to a net loss of ($6.3MM) or ($0.10) per share in 2015.
• Adjusted EBITDA:Company achieved significant positive adjusted EBITDA growth in 2016. Adjusted EBITDA improved to $1.8MM, excluding one-time litigation settlement expense, compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of ($2.6MM) recorded in 2015. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure management believes provides important insight into the Company’s operating results (see “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information” and the reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures later in the press release).

 “In 2016 we have begun to see the power of our SaaS business model become evident throughout our financials,” said Andy Mazzarella, CFO of Accelerize. “In 2016, we have achieved a number of significant financial milestones including record revenue, full year cash flow from operations and record Adjusted EBITDA numbers. At the same time, we transitioned from non-core business revenue and invested in technology improvements that position the Company’s enterprise software for much larger market opportunities in the quarters and years to come.”

About Accelerize

Accelerize Inc. (OTCQB: ACLZ) (OTCBB: ACLZ) offers marketing technology solutions that revolutionize the way advertisers leverage their digital advertising data. For more information, visit www.accelerize.com.

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