I introduced SOBRsafe™ (NASDAQ: SOBR) to the CNA Finance community recently because I was interested in the company’s technology and how it may save the US economy billions of dollars each year in spending on alcohol-related accidents.
As I continue to dig deeper into the company, I’m becoming more and more impressed with the opportunity it represents. Much of this excitement hit when I came across the company’s 2022 recap.
SOBRsafe Is Delivering in a Big Way
There’s no question that SOBRsafe made significant progress from a financial and operational standpoint in 2022. Find a breakdown of both below.
SOBRsafe Financial Progress
Since its uplist to the NASDAQ in June 2022, SOBRsafe has raised $19.5 million resulting in total paid-in capital since 2019 of $25 million. As a result of the company’s fundraising efforts, it has enough money on hand to execute on its goals through 2023 and moving into 2024.
SOBRsafe Operational Progress
The company is also impressive from an operational standpoint. Since it was listed on the NASDAQ, the company has entered the early stages of revenue generation, building a book of six paying clients and entering into agreements with 9 distributors. As a result of these agreements, the company now has access to well over 50,000 potential customers.
SOBRsafe also took part in 10 alcohol and drug detection-related conferences, conducted thousands of product demonstrations, and collected more than 600 leads.
However, what I find most interesting is that the company doubled its sales staff. That’s exciting news as SOBRsafe actively works to turn the leads it has generated over the year into sales.
What Is SOBRsafe?
SOBRsafe is a technology company that has developed two devices in the alcohol detection space:
- Stationary Device: The first device is a small one that looks like a computer mouse with two sensors. One is a biometric reader to verify identity, while the other analyzes the vapor emitted from the user’s finger to determine the absence or presence of alcohol.
- Wearable Device: The company has also developed a wearable device that looks somewhat like a fitness band. When someone wears the device on their wrist, it employs the same alcohol detection technology, but with continuous monitoring and both GPS tracking and band removal alerts.
For more information on SOBRsafe, check out the first SOBR article I posted.
Why This Technology Is Important
I touched on the fact that SOBRsafe got my attention because it was solving a problem that costs the United States economy billions of dollars per year. However, it’s hard to see just how important this technology is without diving into the numbers.
Alcohol abuse results in $70 billion in costs to the United States economy between crashes, increased healthcare costs, and justice department needs each year. That’s staggering enough but it’s not the end of the story. Alcohol abuse also leads to $179 billion in workplace productivity losses each year.
All told, the United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) suggests that excessive alcohol use costs the United States economy $249 billion annually – that’s just shy of a quarter trillion dollars!
Of course, no single solution is going to cut that cost completely, but SOBRsafe has the potential to make a significant dent in it. Companies who take advantage of the technology to ensure their employees aren’t under the influence while on the job won’t experience the extreme losses other companies might.
Moreover, the technology has already been proven to reduce insurance rates, which in many cases means it pays for itself.
Building Residual Revenue
SOBRsafe’s revenue model is hard to ignore. The company has built a system that allows it to generate revenue from the sale of its technology, but its primary focus is a SaaS subscription service that’s likely to generate substantial residual revenue ahead. Here’s how their revenue model works:
- Device Revenue: Companies pay $600 for each stationary device they purchase and $450 for each wearable device they purchase.
- Residual Revenue: Once they’ve purchased the devices, companies also pay $30 per user per month. This fee connects the device to the Internet of Things making it possible for employers to track data and act on-demand when the technology detects the presence of alcohol.
The Bottom Line
The bottom line here is simple SOBRsafe is the first to market with a touch-based alcohol detection system. The company’s technology has the potential to put a significant dent in the massive $249 billion economic loss excessive alcohol use represents.
But having the technology is only half of the story. After all, it doesn’t matter how great a company’s product is if it’s not executing for its investors.
That’s where SOBRsafe really shines. The company had several WOW moments in 2022 and is likely to have several more as 2023 progresses.
Article Resources
- https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sobrsafe-ceo-provides-recap-commercial-130000284.html
- https://sobrsafe.com/
- https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/onlinemedia/infographics/cost-excessive-alcohol-use.html
- https://smallbusiness.chron.com/residual-revenue-work-51928.html
Disclosure: CNA Finance is not an investment advisor or broker-dealer. This article was written by Joshua Rodriguez and expresses his personal opinion of SOBRsafe but should not be construed as a solicitation to buy, sell, or otherwise trade any specific security. This is a sponsored article and should not be considered investment advice. Investing comes with risk and CNA Finance strongly advises investors to seek advice from licensed professionals before making any investment decisions.