Important Business Update
Dear Investor:
It goes without saying that these are extraordinary times. Our hearts continue to go out to everyone affected by COVID-19 and our gratitude to all of our stakeholders who have continued to show unrelenting support as we navigate through this. As always, our first responsibility during these uncertain times is the health and safety of our employees and the company's financial security. At the onset of the crisis, Moro took action to enable our employees to work from home as we closed our offices.
With all of our sellers, domestic and abroad, unable to fulfill orders at different times, and on the market side, with the designers and architects forced to put their projects on hold, like many businesses, we had to adjust our short-term strategy quickly. We were decisive in our actions to ensure survival, even in the worst of scenarios. We cut operating costs, delayed the relaunch, and minimized reliance on cashflow from an uncertain market. But we wanted to achieve far more than just coming out of these difficult times on our own two feet. We looked at how to best serve our stakeholders based on the new market conditions. Two of the developments we're most excited about are:
- Substantial Marketplace Growth - With in-store retail taking one of the hardest hits during the pandemic, sellers needed new channels for exposure and distribution. Accordingly, we focused resources on accelerating seller acquisition. In total, over four hundred of the best category-brands have joined Moro, growing our marketplace product-offering to levels rivaling the leading competing platforms.
- User Stories - Recognizing that most of us have changed the way we live, limiting our physical interactions and spending far more time in our homes (which often double as our offices), we looked for meaningful ways to foster connection and improve our experiences. Through public profiles and stories, we're opening up the platform for individual users to share their environments and their experiences within them, furthering our mission to inspire and inform improvements in others' lives. Based on early testing, we project this initiative will drive millions of end-users to the platform.
While the challenges brought on by the global pandemic are still before us, the activities on which we rely, on both on the market and supply side, to drive revenue, are opening back up. Accordingly, we believed this was the appropriate time to launch Moro and recommence our user growth initiatives.
We couldn't be more excited. And while User Stories will initially only be available by invitation, we'd love to include some of you. Please visit moro.com to register using the email address where you received this letter, and we'll share an invitation link.
For our official Moro launch announcement, please visit https://www.instagram.com/p/CERpbXdpufh/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link. Follow https://www.instagram.com/morocommunity/ while you're there for access to some of the best in design: spaces, objects, and living.
The Moro launch will mark the recommencement of user acquisition initiatives, and the launch of the ~400 (and growing) marketplace sellers. We're getting off to a delayed start with a market still in turmoil, however, we see relatively substantial opportunities to grow revenues. We will drive primary revenue through our marketplace model while simultaneously experimenting with advertising and affiliate models, which may enable us to more broadly monetize the massive amounts of content being published to Moro.com.
Thanks to our fiscal discipline, we have great liquidity and access to capital, when and if we need it. It's also important to remember that we have grown key components of Moro, including marketplace and content to levels comparable to the leading platforms in the space, some of which are valued in the multi-billions. Again, these are unpredictable times, and the extent of the pandemic's economic impact is still uncertain. But with the precautions we are taking, our investments in technologies adjusted for current market conditions, special accommodations for our customers, and our continued fiscal discipline, I believe Moro is well-positioned to serve all stakeholders during this critical time – and well into the future. When this crisis has abated, I believe that we will emerge in an even better position to lead the category with image-based search and shopping.
Lastly, I also want to acknowledge that many of you have reached out directly, and I apologize for not being able to respond individually. In addition to how we have dealt with the pandemic and general progress we've made, which I've addressed through the two letters I've shared, many of you have been asking about our Series A. While still not final, we intend to allocate a piece of the next round, to existing stakeholders. Details will be provided as we firm things up over the next couple of months.
If you have any questions that I have not addressed here, please feel free to reach out, and I will do my best to respond as quickly as possible.
I am looking forward to sharing our results with you at the end of our first complete quarter later this year. Thank you for your continued support of Moro.
Sincerely,<br>Andrew Christodoulides<br>Founder and CEO