Annual report 2025

Dear Shareholders,

2025 was a defining year for Appear delivering our strongest final financial year to-date and becoming a publicly listed company, a key milestone in our journey. The long-term strategy we committed to several years ago is now proving itself at scale.

When I joined Appear, the live production industry was entering a structural transition. We saw three powerful forces converging: the migration from SDI (digital professional video interface) to IP-based infrastructure, the permanent adoption of remote and distributed production models, and sustained growth in the value of premium live sport content.

We foresaw that infrastructure capable of delivering ultra-low latency, high density, energy efficiency and architectural flexibility would become mission critical and that broadcasters, rights holders and connectivity providers would demand operational efficiency, greater performance, and systems designed for hybrid hardware–software environments.

Most importantly, we knew Appear could lead in that environment. In 2025, our conviction translated into execution.

A market driven by structural investment
The global addressable market for live production infrastructure across Acquisition, Processing and Consumption stands at approximately USD 5.5 billion. Structural growth is concentrated in Acquisition and Processing, precisely where Appear has its biggest market share, while traditional Consumption infrastructure continues to decline.

This market is driven by structural triggers. Each media rights renewal cycle acts as a recurring investment catalyst. When leagues renegotiate broadcast agreements, production standards increase, it means more cameras, higher resolutions, lower latency, increased redundancy and improved viewer personalisation. The winning bidders must invest accordingly in infrastructure capable of delivering that quality at scale. As global sports media rights values continue to expand, so too does the need for resilient, scalable production technology infrastructure.

Appear operates precisely at this intersection, where production value, operational reliability and economic efficiency converge. Over the past decade, we built leadership in Contribution and Acquisition. In 2025, we extended our reach into Processing. The launch of the X5 Platform expanded our reach into Tier 2 and distributed production environments.

Later in the year, the introduction of the VX Media Gateway marked our deliberate entry into software-defined production processing, bridging edge connectivity and centralized workflows through an open and scalable framework. VX addresses our customer adoption of generalized hardware and virtual/cloud infrastructure for more agile and distributed workflows. VX is also a strategic expansion into a larger portion of the live production value chain, unlocking bundling opportunities, cross-sell potential and software-based recurring revenue growth across our installed base.

Performance with structural quality
In 2025, Appear delivered revenue of NOK 800.9 million, representing 32.3 percent year-on-year growth. Since 2021, we have achieved a revenue CAGR exceeding 30 percent. Underlying EBITDAC reached NOK 142.2 million, corresponding to a margin of 17.8 percent. Gross margins remained strong at approximately 72 percent. Net profit reached NOK 129.2 million.

The Acquisition segment represents the majority of our revenue mix, validating our strategic pivot toward high-value live production infrastructure. The Processing segment continues to grow as VX gains traction. Recurring service and support revenues continue to expand, strengthening earnings visibility.

Our modular architecture creates a structural flywheel. Once deployed, customers can expand capacity through additional hardware modules, license unlocks and software upgrades. Mandatory service and support agreements, typically representing 6–18% of net purchase value, provide recurring revenue stability while ensuring long-term operational reliability. This installed base dynamic strengthens customer lifetime value and reinforces margin resilience. Growth to us must be durable and structural.

In 2021, we fundamentally redesigned our commercial model. We moved from a reseller-led approach toward a direct sales organisation focused on the largest and most strategic customers, supported by regional technical expertise and offices. This required investment, discipline and organisational change.

Since implementing the new model, average deal size has increased more than fourfold. Support agreement durations have more than doubled. Gross margin per deal has expanded materially. The U.S exemplifies this transformation. By establishing a local entity in Los Angeles and deploying highly specialised technical sales teams, we moved from opportunistic transactions to long-term strategic infrastructure partnerships. America now represents the majority of our revenue mix.

We are replicating this proven commercial playbook across EMEA, Latin America and Asia Pacific. The establishment of our Singapore office in 2025 reflects both regional commitment and long-term ambition.

Key customer momentum
Our technology now powers some of the world’s most demanding live productions. In 2025, we deepened relationships with leading broadcasters, production companies and connectivity providers globally. A notable milestone was our involvement in the LaLiga Distribution Network, where Appear technology supports upgraded production hubs in Madrid and Barcelona and enables scalable live acquisition across stadium infrastructure.

These deployments are not isolated equipment deliveries. They are long-term infrastructure commitments supported by multi-year service agreements. Across our customer base, we continue to observe a consistent pattern: initial deployment in Contribution, followed by expansion into Processing, and subsequently broader adoption across additional venues and workflows. That land-and-expand dynamic underpins our confidence in sustained growth.

The team behind the technology
None of this progress would be possible without the people building Appear. At our core, we are an engineering-driven company. A significant proportion of our organisation is dedicated to technology and product development, spanning compression algorithms, FPGA architecture, IP transport, software-defined processing and operational security.

This depth reflects more than two decades of accumulated domain expertise. It also reflects a deliberate decision: to compete on performance, architectural integrity and long-term intellectual property. When our platforms are deployed in Tier 1 live sports environments, performance is non-negotiable. That standard defines our technical culture. But Appear’s transformation over the past years extends well beyond engineering.

In 2021, we fundamentally changed our commercial operating model that required not only structural change, but talent change. We have since attracted some of the strongest global sales and commercial leaders in our industry, building regional teams in North America, EMEA and Asia-Pacific capable of engaging with the most demanding customers in live production. This transition has elevated Appear from a technology supplier to a strategic infrastructure partner. It has increased deal sizes, deepened customer relationships and strengthened our market position in the highest-value segments.

At the same time, we have built an operations function designed for scalability. As growth accelerated, it became clear that engineering excellence alone was not enough. We needed supply chain resilience, structured governance, stronger internal controls and disciplined execution across procurement, logistics, quality assurance and compliance.

The operations team established over the past years has been instrumental in transforming Appear into a scalable global organisation. Leadership has also evolved. In recent years and 2025, we have strengthened our executive team with experienced leaders across technology, commercial, finance and operations. Our Board of Directors has been expanded with individuals bringing international governance experience, capital markets expertise and industry depth. These additions have increased both strategic rigor and organisational maturity.

Appear today is fundamentally different from the company it was five years ago. We are increasingly becoming a talent magnet within our industry. Engineers, commercial leaders and operational experts are drawn to Appear because we operate at the forefront of live production technology. Our growth trajectory is clear and we offer the opportunity to build something enduring. As we scale, preserving culture remains critical. Appear is a company where technical debate is encouraged, where commercial ambition is matched by accountability, and where long-term architectural decisions take precedence over short-term optics. We are building durable intellectual property, global commercial depth and operational muscle. Talent is our ultimate differentiator.

Our ability to attract, develop and retain exceptional people, across engineering, commercial, operations and leadership, will determine how we lead this industry transformation.

Becoming a public company
In November 2025, Appear listed on Euronext Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker “APR”. The IPO was a structural milestone. Becoming a public company strengthens governance, reporting discipline and operational infrastructure. It enhances transparency, broadens our shareholder base and build the muscle required to scale responsibly.

It also provides strategic flexibility. As we expand the VX roadmap and deepen our position in the Processing segment, we see targeted acquisition opportunities that can accelerate our software capabilities and shorten development cycles. Access to capital markets enables disciplined execution of such opportunities.

Risk, discipline and long-term focus
We operate in a competitive and technologically dynamic environment. Competitive displacement, supplier concentration, geopolitical uncertainty and fluctuations in broadcaster capital expenditure cycles remain inherent risks. We mitigate these through supplier diversification, proactive inventory management, disciplined pricing governance and continuous innovation

We maintain a strong balance sheet, ending the year with substantial liquidity and no interest-bearing debt. Artificial intelligence is beginning to influence analytics and workflow optimisation in live production. We approach AI pragmatically, integrating it where it enhances operational value, but not for narrative appeal alone.

Looking ahead
The structural drivers shaping our industry remain intact. IP migration continues. Remote production is permanent. Media rights values remain elevated. Sustainability increasingly influences procurement decisions. Infrastructure refresh cycles are accelerating.
For 2026, we guide toward approximately NOK 1.0 billion in revenue, representing around 25 percent year-on-year growth. Our medium-term ambition remains annual revenue growth of 25–30 percent combined with EBITDAC margins between 17 and 20 percent. As our portfolio evolves, we expect software and services to represent a larger share of revenue over time, strengthening recurring contribution and earnings visibility.

Our ambition is clear: to become the leader in live production technology and preferred technology partner across the live production value chain, from on-venue acquisition to hybrid and cloud-connected production processing.
We are building Appear to be pervasive in the workflows that power the world’s most valuable live content. 2025 demonstrated that our strategy works. The next phase is about scaling it, with discipline, clarity and conviction. We are building Appear for structural leadership.