Confluent, Inc. (CFLT): Business Model Canvas

In der sich schnell entwickelnden Landschaft der Daten-Streaming-Technologien erweist sich Confluent, Inc. (CFLT) als transformative Kraft und revolutioniert die Art und Weise, wie Unternehmen Echtzeitdaten mithilfe seiner innovativen, auf Apache Kafka basierenden Plattform nutzen. Durch die Überbrückung komplexer Datenökosysteme und die Ermöglichung nahtloser ereignisgesteuerter Architekturen bietet Confluent Unternehmen eine leistungsstarke Lösung zur Erschließung beispielloser betrieblicher Effizienz und des Potenzials der digitalen Transformation. Diese umfassende Untersuchung des Geschäftsmodell-Canvas enthüllt den strategischen Plan hinter Confluents bemerkenswertem Ansatz zur Bereitstellung modernster Daten-Streaming-Funktionen in verschiedenen Branchen.

Confluent, Inc. (CFLT) – Geschäftsmodell: Wichtige Partnerschaften

Apache Kafka Open-Source-Community

Confluent wurde von den ursprünglichen Erfindern von Apache Kafka gegründet. Ab 2024 unterhält das Unternehmen eine wichtige Partnerschaft mit der Open-Source-Kafka-Community.

Partnerschaftsmetrik	Details
Kafka-Beiträge	Über 70 % des Apache Kafka-Kerncodes wurden von Confluent-Ingenieuren beigesteuert
Community-Engagement	Mehr als 60.000 aktive Entwickler im Kafka-Ökosystem

Cloud-Anbieter

Confluent unterhält strategische Partnerschaften mit großen Cloud-Plattformen.

Cloud-Anbieter	Einzelheiten zur Partnerschaft	Umsatzbeitrag
Amazon Web Services (AWS)	Confluent Cloud vollständig integriert	37 % des Umsatzes aus Cloud-Partnerschaften
Google Cloud-Plattform	Marktplatzlistung und technische Integration	28 % des Umsatzes aus Cloud-Partnerschaften
Microsoft Azure	Direktes Cloud-Service-Angebot	35 % des Umsatzes aus Cloud-Partnerschaften

Systemintegratoren und Beratungsunternehmen

• Deloitte Digital
• Accenture
• KPMG
• PwC
• McKinsey & Unternehmen

Anbieter von Unternehmenssoftware

Anbieter	Integrationstyp	Partnerschaftsreife
Datensteine	Daten-Streaming-Integration	Erweiterte technische Partnerschaft
Schneeflocke	Data-Warehouse-Konnektivität	Strategische Technologieallianz
SAP	Integration von Unternehmensanwendungen	Globale Systemintegration

Partner der Technologieallianz

Confluent unterhält umfangreiche Technologiepartnerschaften in verschiedenen Bereichen.

• Roter Hut
• IBM
• Dell Technologies
• Cisco-Systeme
• HPE

Gesamtwert des Partnerschaftsökosystems: Geschätzter jährlicher Beitrag von 450 Millionen US-Dollar zur Einnahmequelle von Confluent

Confluent, Inc. (CFLT) – Geschäftsmodell: Hauptaktivitäten

Entwicklung einer Echtzeit-Daten-Streaming-Plattform

Confluent konzentriert sich auf die Entwicklung einer Apache Kafka-basierten Daten-Streaming-Plattform mit den folgenden Schlüsselkennzahlen:

Metrisch	Wert
F&E-Aufwendungen (2023)	381,4 Millionen US-Dollar
Mitarbeiter der Softwareentwicklung	Rund 1.200 Mitarbeiter
Jährliche Plattform-Updates	3-4 Hauptveröffentlichungen

Cloud-Infrastrukturmanagement

Das Cloud-Infrastrukturmanagement umfasst:

• Confluent Cloud-Plattformmanagement
• Multi-Cloud-Bereitstellungsfunktionen
• Kubernetes und Container-Orchestrierung

Cloud-Infrastruktur-Metrik	Daten für 2023
Cloud-Umsatz	370,8 Millionen US-Dollar
Cloud-Kundenwachstum	54 % im Jahresvergleich

Kundensupport und professionelle Dienstleistungen

Zu den Supportleistungen gehören:

• Technischer Support rund um die Uhr
• Beratung auf Unternehmensebene
• Schulungs- und Zertifizierungsprogramme

Support-Metrik	Wert 2023
Mitarbeiter des Kundensupports	Ungefähr 400 Fachleute
Umsatz mit professionellen Dienstleistungen	42,6 Millionen US-Dollar

Produktinnovation und kontinuierliche Verbesserung

Innovationskennzahlen:

• Patentanmeldungen werden jährlich eingereicht
• Häufigkeit der Funktionsverbesserung
• Beiträge der Open-Source-Community

Innovationsmetrik	Daten für 2023
Jährliche F&E-Investitionen	381,4 Millionen US-Dollar
Neue Produktfunktionen	27 Hauptfeature-Releases

Lösungen zur Integration von Unternehmenssoftware

Integrationsmöglichkeiten:

• Vorgefertigte Anschlüsse
• API-Verwaltung
• Kompatibilität mit Unternehmenssystemen

Integrationsmetrik	Wert 2023
Gesamtzahl der Anschlüsse	Über 120 Unternehmenskonnektoren
Integrationspartner-Ökosystem	65 strategische Partner

Confluent, Inc. (CFLT) – Geschäftsmodell: Schlüsselressourcen

Apache Kafka-Expertise und geistiges Eigentum

Zusammenfließende Griffe 69,7 Millionen US-Dollar an Patenten und geistigem Eigentum im Zusammenhang mit Apache Kafka ab Q4 2023. Das Unternehmen beschäftigt 12 der ursprünglichen Apache Kafka-Schöpfer.

Cloud-native Daten-Streaming-Technologie

Technologiemetrik	Quantitativer Wert
Abdeckung der Cloud-Plattform	AWS, Azure, Google Cloud
Jährlicher Cloud-Umsatz	576,4 Millionen US-Dollar (2023)
Cloud-Kundenstamm	4.210 Unternehmenskunden

Qualifizierte Ingenieure und technische Arbeitskräfte

Confluent beschäftigt Insgesamt 2.385 Mitarbeiter Stand: 31. Dezember 2023, mit 65 % in Ingenieur- und Technikberufen.

Umfassende Softwareplattform

• Konfluente Plattform
• Zusammenfließende Wolke
• Konfluentes Unternehmen

Erweiterte Datenverarbeitungsinfrastruktur

Infrastrukturfähigkeit	Leistungsmetrik
Datenverarbeitungsgeschwindigkeit	Bis zu 1 Million Ereignisse/Sekunde
Globale Rechenzentren	23 Regionen weltweit
Infrastrukturinvestitionen	124,3 Millionen US-Dollar (2023)

Confluent, Inc. (CFLT) – Geschäftsmodell: Wertversprechen

Daten-Streaming und Ereignisverarbeitung in Echtzeit

Confluent bietet eine auf Apache Kafka basierende Daten-Streaming-Plattform mit den folgenden Schlüsselmetriken:

Metrisch	Wert
Jährlicher wiederkehrender Umsatz (4. Quartal 2023)	881 Millionen US-Dollar
Cloud-Umsatzwachstum (2023)	47%
Gesamtzahl der Kunden	4,660
Anzahl der Unternehmenskunden	1,025

Skalierbare und flexible Cloud-Native-Architektur

Funktionen der Confluent Cloud-Infrastruktur:

• Unterstützung für die Multi-Cloud-Bereitstellung
• Kubernetes-native Architektur
• Automatisch skalierende Infrastruktur

Vereinfachte Datenintegration über komplexe Systeme hinweg

Confluent bietet umfassende Datenintegrationsfunktionen:

Integrationstyp	Unterstützte Verbindungen
Datenbankkonnektoren	50+
Anwendungskonnektoren	120+
Cloud-Plattform-Integrationen	25+

Verbesserte betriebliche Effizienz für Unternehmen

Leistungskennzahlen für Unternehmenskunden:

• Latenzreduzierung: 70 % Verbesserung
• Datenverarbeitungsgeschwindigkeit: 1 Million Ereignisse/Sekunde
• Kostenoptimierung: Reduzierung der Infrastrukturkosten um 40 %

Robuste Datenkonnektivität und ereignisgesteuerte Anwendungen

Statistiken zur Plattformkonnektivität:

Konnektivitätsmetrik	Wert
Gesamtzahl der API-Verbindungen	3,500+
Ereignis-Streaming-Protokolle	6
Globale Rechenzentren	22

Confluent, Inc. (CFLT) – Geschäftsmodell: Kundenbeziehungen

Self-Service-Online-Plattform

Confluent Cloud bietet a Self-Service-Online-Plattform mit den folgenden Schlüsselkennzahlen:

Plattformfunktion	Metrisch
Kostenlose Kontingent-Benutzer	Über 25.000 Entwickler
Online-Anmeldezeit	Weniger als 5 Minuten
Verfügbarkeit der Cloud-Plattform	99,99 % Verfügbarkeit

Technischer Support und Dokumentation

Confluent bietet umfassenden technischen Support mit den folgenden Ressourcen:

• Technischer Support rund um die Uhr für Unternehmenskunden
• Mehrsprachige Supportkanäle
• Über 500 detaillierte technische Dokumentationsseiten

Community-Engagement und Entwicklerressourcen

Kennzahlen zum Entwicklerengagement:

Community-Plattform	Benutzerinteraktion
GitHub-Repositorys	Über 35.000 Sterne
Mitglieder des Community-Forums	Über 45.000 registrierte Benutzer
Jährliche Entwicklerkonferenzen	3 globale Ereignisse

Dedizierte Kontoverwaltung

Details zur Verwaltung des Unternehmenskundenkontos:

• Engagierte Kundenbetreuer für Kunden, die jährlich mehr als 100.000 US-Dollar ausgeben
• Personalisiertes Onboarding für Unternehmenskunden
• Vierteljährliche Business-Review-Meetings

Schulungs- und Zertifizierungsprogramme

Angebote zur beruflichen Weiterentwicklung:

Programm	Details
Confluent zertifizierter Administrator	4 Zertifizierungsstufen
Online-Schulungen	Über 25 verfügbare Kurse
Jährliche Schulungsteilnehmer	Über 10.000 Fachleute

Confluent, Inc. (CFLT) – Geschäftsmodell: Kanäle

Direktvertriebsteam

Im vierten Quartal 2023 bestand das Direktvertriebsteam von Confluent aus 1.374 Vertriebsprofis weltweit. Die durchschnittliche jährliche Quote pro Vertriebsmitarbeiter betrug 1,2 Millionen US-Dollar. Unternehmensvertriebsmitarbeiter konzentrierten sich auf Kunden mit einem jährlichen Vertragswert (ACV) von mehr als 100.000 US-Dollar.

Vertriebsteam-Metrik	Wert 2023
Gesamtzahl der Vertriebsmitarbeiter	1,374
Durchschnittliche Verkaufsquote	$1,200,000
Unternehmens-ACV-Schwellenwert	$100,000

Online-Website und digitale Plattformen

Zu den digitalen Kanälen von Confluent gehören:

• confluent.io-Unternehmenswebsite
• Digitale Plattform von Confluent Cloud
• Self-Service-Anmeldemechanismus
• Entwicklerdokumentationsportal

Im Jahr 2023 generierte die digitale Plattform mit einem monatlichen Website-Traffic von 782.000 Unique Visitors rund 37 % der gesamten Neukundenakquise.

Cloud Marketplace-Integrationen

Cloud-Marktplatz	Integrationsstatus	Jährlicher Marktplatzumsatz
AWS Marketplace	Aktiv	42,3 Millionen US-Dollar
Azure Marketplace	Aktiv	28,7 Millionen US-Dollar
Google Cloud Marketplace	Aktiv	19,5 Millionen US-Dollar

Partner-Ökosystem

Confluent unterhielt im Jahr 2023 328 Technologie- und Beratungspartner, zu den strategischen Partnerschaften gehörten:

• Datensteine
• Schneeflocke
• Amazon Web Services
• Microsoft Azure
• Google Cloud-Plattform

Der durch Partner erzielte Umsatz machte 24,6 % des gesamten jährlichen wiederkehrenden Umsatzes (ARR) aus.

Technische Konferenzen und Branchenveranstaltungen

Confluent nahm im Jahr 2023 an 47 großen Technologiekonferenzen teil, darunter:

• Interne Konferenz von Confluent: Aktuell
• KubeCon
• AWS re:Invent
• Google Cloud Next

Eventgenerierte Leads trugen zu etwa 18,3 % der Neukundenakquise bei, mit einer durchschnittlichen Event-Lead-Conversion-Rate von 12,7 %.

Confluent, Inc. (CFLT) – Geschäftsmodell: Kundensegmente

Große Unternehmensorganisationen

Im vierten Quartal 2023 meldete Confluent 955 Kunden mit einem jährlichen wiederkehrenden Umsatz (ARR) von über 100.000 US-Dollar. Der Unternehmenskundenstamm wuchs im Jahresvergleich um 25 %.

Unternehmenssegmentmetriken	Daten für 2023
Gesamtzahl der Unternehmenskunden	955
Jährliches Umsatzwachstum	25%
Durchschnittlicher Vertragswert	$375,000

Technologieunternehmen

Confluent betreut etwa 40 % der Fortune-500-Technologieunternehmen. Zu den wichtigsten Kunden zählen:

• Netflix
• LinkedIn
• Uber
• Lyft

Finanzdienstleistungsinstitute

Finanzdienstleistungen machen 22 % des Unternehmenskundenstamms von Confluent aus, mit 215 Kunden aus dem Finanzsektor im Jahr 2023.

Segment Finanzdienstleistungen	Kennzahlen für 2023
Gesamtzahl der Finanzkunden	215
Segmentprozentsatz	22%

Gesundheits- und Telekommunikationssektoren

Confluent betreut 180 Kunden aus dem Gesundheitswesen und der Telekommunikation, was 19 % des Unternehmenskundenportfolios ausmacht.

Auf die digitale Transformation ausgerichtete Unternehmen

Ungefähr 65 % der Kunden von Confluent verfolgen aktiv Initiativen zur digitalen Transformation, mit einer durchschnittlichen Investition von 450.000 US-Dollar pro digitalem Transformationsprojekt.

Segment Digitale Transformation	Daten für 2023
Kunden in der digitalen Transformation	65%
Durchschnittliche Projektinvestition	$450,000

Confluent, Inc. (CFLT) – Geschäftsmodell: Kostenstruktur

Forschungs- und Entwicklungskosten

Für das Geschäftsjahr 2023 meldete Confluent Forschungs- und Entwicklungskosten in Höhe von 373,1 Millionen US-Dollar, was 50 % des Gesamtumsatzes entspricht.

Geschäftsjahr	F&E-Ausgaben	Prozentsatz des Umsatzes
2023	373,1 Millionen US-Dollar	50%
2022	330,4 Millionen US-Dollar	55%

Wartung der Cloud-Infrastruktur

Die Kosten für die Cloud-Infrastruktur von Confluent beliefen sich im Jahr 2023 auf etwa 85,2 Millionen US-Dollar.

• Kosten für Cloud-Hosting bei großen Anbietern wie AWS und Google Cloud
• Netzwerk- und Datenübertragungskosten
• Ausgaben für Infrastrukturskalierung und -optimierung

Vertriebs- und Marketinginvestitionen

Die Vertriebs- und Marketingausgaben für das Geschäftsjahr 2023 beliefen sich auf insgesamt 438,4 Millionen US-Dollar, was 59 % des Gesamtumsatzes entspricht.

Geschäftsjahr	Verkäufe & Marketingkosten	Prozentsatz des Umsatzes
2023	438,4 Millionen US-Dollar	59%
2022	404,5 Millionen US-Dollar	67%

Mitarbeitervergütung

Die Gesamtvergütung der Mitarbeiter belief sich im Jahr 2023 auf 446,7 Millionen US-Dollar, einschließlich Gehältern, aktienbasierter Vergütung und Zusatzleistungen.

• Gesamtmitarbeiterzahl: 2.620 Mitarbeiter
• Durchschnittliche Vergütung pro Mitarbeiter: 170.500 US-Dollar
• Aktienbasierte Vergütung: 174,3 Millionen US-Dollar

Kundensupport und professionelle Dienstleistungen

Die Ausgaben für Kundensupport und professionelle Dienstleistungen beliefen sich im Jahr 2023 auf 98,6 Millionen US-Dollar.

Servicekategorie	Ausgaben	Prozentsatz der Gesamtkosten
Kundensupport	62,4 Millionen US-Dollar	63%
Professionelle Dienstleistungen	36,2 Millionen US-Dollar	37%

Confluent, Inc. (CFLT) – Geschäftsmodell: Einnahmequellen

Cloud-Abonnementdienste

Confluent meldete im vierten Quartal 2023 einen jährlichen wiederkehrenden Umsatz (ARR) von 572,7 Millionen US-Dollar. Der Umsatz aus Cloud-Abonnements stieg im Jahresvergleich um 34 %, was 52 % des Gesamtumsatzes entspricht.

Cloud-Abonnement-Metriken	Wert 2023
Jährlich wiederkehrender Umsatz (ARR)	572,7 Millionen US-Dollar
Umsatzwachstum aus Cloud-Abonnements	34%
Prozentsatz des Cloud-Umsatzes	52%

Lizenzierung von Unternehmenssoftware

Die Unternehmenssoftwarelizenzierung von Confluent generierte im Geschäftsjahr 2023 einen Gesamtproduktumsatz von 294,3 Millionen US-Dollar.

Professionelle Dienstleistungen und Beratung

Der Umsatz mit professionellen Dienstleistungen für Confluent belief sich im Jahr 2023 auf etwa 41,2 Millionen US-Dollar.

Support- und Wartungsverträge

• Gesamtumsatz aus Supportverträgen: 86,5 Millionen US-Dollar im Jahr 2023
• Durchschnittlicher Vertragswert für Unternehmenskunden: 138.000 US-Dollar

Nutzungsbasierte Preismodelle

Confluent bietet gestaffelte Preise mit der folgenden Struktur:

Preisstufe	Monatliche Kosten	Funktionen
Basic	$50	Begrenztes Daten-Streaming
Standard	$350	Erweiterte Funktionen
Unternehmen	Individuelle Preise	Vollständige Plattformfunktionen

Aufschlüsselung der Gesamteinnahmen für 2023:

• Cloud-Abonnement: 298,4 Millionen US-Dollar
• Produktlizenzierung: 294,3 Millionen US-Dollar
• Professionelle Dienstleistungen: 41,2 Millionen US-Dollar
• Supportverträge: 86,5 Millionen US-Dollar

Confluent, Inc. (CFLT) - Canvas Business Model: Value Propositions

You're looking at the core reasons customers choose Confluent, Inc. over alternatives, especially as real-time data becomes the backbone for everything from finance to AI. Here's the breakdown of the value they deliver, grounded in their late 2025 performance metrics.

Fully managed, elastic, and scalable data streaming (Confluent Cloud)

The cloud offering is clearly the growth engine. In the third quarter of fiscal 2025, Confluent Cloud revenue hit $161 million, marking a 24% year-over-year increase. This segment now accounts for 56% of the total subscription revenue. For the largest enterprises, the platform scales significantly; enterprise clusters can scale up to beyond 10 ECKUs per cluster, delivering over 7.5 GB per second of combined throughput. The success in landing big deals is clear: as of Q3 2025, Confluent had 234 customers with an Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) exceeding $1 million, a 27% year-over-year acceleration in that tier.

Providing real-time, trustworthy context for AI and GenAI applications

This is where Confluent, Inc. is placing its strategic bet. They aim to be the necessary context layer for reliable AI systems. The adoption of their Data Streaming Platform (DSP) components, particularly Apache Flink, shows this momentum. In Q3 2025, Flink ARR specifically for Confluent Cloud grew more than 70% sequentially. Furthermore, over 1000 customers were actively using Flink during that quarter. When competing directly, Confluent has maintained win rates well above 90% against streaming offerings from the major Cloud Service Providers.

Simplifying complex data integration with 200+ pre-built connectors

You don't want your engineers building boilerplate integration code. Confluent offers a Marketplace where you can discover, explore, and activate 200+ Kafka connectors. These range from fully managed options to partner-verified integrations, designed to cut down the engineering time required for complex integrations that might otherwise take 12-24+ engineering months to build and maintain.

Multi-cloud and hybrid deployment flexibility (Cloud and Platform)

It's not just about the public cloud. For customers needing to keep data on-premises due to regulation or architecture, the Confluent Platform remains a key offering. In Q3 2025, Confluent Platform revenue grew 14% year-over-year, reaching $125.4 million. The introduction of Confluent Private Cloud brings cloud-native features, like centralized governance via Unified Stream Manager (USM), directly behind the firewall for hybrid environments.

Enterprise-grade governance and security for mission-critical data

For mission-critical data streams, governance and security aren't optional. The platform supports enterprise-grade controls like Single Sign-On (SSO), Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), and structured audit logs. For compliance in regulated environments, Confluent Platform deployments can be configured to meet the FIPS 140-2 standard for cryptographic modules. Furthermore, Confluent maintains the SSAE 18 SOC 2 certification, which covers security, availability, and confidentiality controls, and this report is available upon request. Financially, the commitment to a high-quality service is reflected in the Non-GAAP subscription gross margin, which stood strong at 81.8% in Q3 2025.

Finance: draft the Q4 2025 cash flow forecast update by Tuesday.

Confluent, Inc. (CFLT) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Relationships

You're looking at how Confluent, Inc. manages its customer interactions, which is heavily weighted toward usage and enterprise scale as of late 2025. The relationship structure clearly bifurcates between the self-serve cloud offering and the more traditional, high-touch enterprise sales for the self-managed platform.

Consumption-based pricing model for Confluent Cloud usage

Confluent Cloud bills are strictly based on resource consumption, meaning you only pay for what you use, when you use it. This pay-as-you-go structure is designed to match spend with actual workload. For the Stream component, Kafka clusters are billed based on eCKUs/CKUs ($/hour), networking ($/GB), and storage ($/GB-hour). The Process component, using Confluent Cloud for Apache Flink, is calculated based on CFUs ($/minute). To encourage scale and retention, Confluent announced throughput cost reductions in Q3 2025 for customers using PNI (Private Networking Interface); for Enterprise clusters, this was a 20% reduction ($0.05 → $0.04/GB), and for Freight clusters, it was a 40% reduction ($0.05 → $0.03/GB). As of Q1 2025, 55% of the $261 million in subscription revenues were cloud-based and usage-reliant. Confluent Cloud revenue hit $161 million in Q3 2025, marking a 24% year-over-year increase.

Dedicated account management for large enterprise customers

For your largest customers, the relationship shifts to dedicated, high-touch engagement, which is reflected in the growth of high-value accounts. Confluent has 70% of the Fortune 500 firms relying on their data streaming platform. As of Q3 2025, the company reported 1,487 customers with $100,000 or greater in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), which was up 10% year-over-year. Even higher up the value chain, as of Q1 2025, there were 210 customers exceeding $1 million in ARR, representing a 25% year-over-year growth in that cohort. This focus on large accounts is supported by strategic execution improvements, with early results showing a sequential increase of over 40% in late-stage pipeline progression.

Self-service options and free credits for developer onboarding

To bring new users onto the platform without immediate sales friction, Confluent maintains accessible entry points. The company offers a Free/Freemium Version of Confluent Cloud. This self-service provisioning allows developers to start building immediately, which is a key part of their strategy to monetize the open-source Kafka user base.

Professional services and training for complex deployments

When deployments get complex, Confluent offers structured support through professional and educational services. For instance, a 3-day face-to-face private training class for up to 10 people is listed at $6,000. The self-managed Confluent Platform pricing is structured around the number of 'Nodes,' where a Node is defined by specific hardware limits, like up to 56 processing cores or 50 TB total hard drive capacity.

High-touch sales for the Confluent Platform (self-managed)

The self-managed Confluent Platform still commands significant revenue, suggesting a more traditional, high-touch sales cycle for these deployments. In Q1 2025, Confluent Platform revenue reached $118.2 million. This segment saw an 18% growth rate in Q1 2025, which was its strongest Q1 performance in three years. This contrasts with the cloud revenue growth of 34% in the same quarter, indicating a different, likely more consultative, sales motion for the on-premise offering.

Here's a quick look at the key customer metrics as of late 2025:

Metric	Value (As of Period End)	Period End
Total Customers (Approximate)	~6,140	Q1 2025
Customers with $1M+ ARR	210	Q1 2025
Customers with $100K+ ARR	1,487	Q3 2025
Confluent Cloud Revenue	$161 million	Q3 2025
Confluent Platform Revenue	$118.2 million	Q1 2025
Flink ARR Growth (Sequential)	More than 70%	Q3 2025

The adoption of Data Streaming Platform (DSP) components, like Flink, is accelerating within the existing base, with Q3 Flink ARR growing more than 70% sequentially.

• Cloud consumption growth is sensitive to customer demand, as noted by management embedding modest declines in growth rates from Q2 through Q4 2025 due to consumption uncertainties among larger cloud customers.
• The company has achieved win rates above 90% when replacing Cloud Service Provider (CSP) streaming products with its own offerings.
• The platform is cited as enabling a 25% reduction in data management's total cost of ownership and a 5x return on investment.

Finance: review the Q4 2025 consumption forecast against the Q3 actuals by next Tuesday.

Confluent, Inc. (CFLT) - Canvas Business Model: Channels

You're looking at how Confluent, Inc. gets its Data Streaming Platform (DSP) into the hands of customers as of late 2025. It's a multi-pronged approach, balancing high-touch enterprise sales with scalable cloud delivery.

Direct sales force targeting large enterprises globally

The direct sales motion focuses heavily on landing and expanding within large accounts, evidenced by the growth in high-value customer cohorts. This team is compensated on incremental consumption, which aligns them with customer usage.

• Customers with $100,000 or greater in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) reached 1,487 in Q3 2025, a 10% year-over-year increase.
• Customers spending $1 million-plus in ARR grew to 234, showing a 27% year-over-year acceleration in Q3 2025.
• In Q1 2025, Confluent added 16 new customers in the $1 million-plus ARR tier.

Confluent Cloud (SaaS) accessible via web and cloud consoles

Confluent Cloud is the primary growth engine, representing the majority of subscription revenue. The consumption-based model here drives revenue based on how much data customers stream and process.

Metric	Q3 2025 Value	Year-over-Year Growth
Confluent Cloud Revenue	$161 million	24%
Subscription Revenue	$286.3 million	19%
Cloud Revenue as % of Subscription Revenue	Approx. 56%	Increasing

The adoption of specific technologies within the cloud offering is also a key indicator; Flink ARR for Confluent Cloud grew more than 70% sequentially in Q3 2025, with over 1000 customers using Flink during that quarter.

Cloud Provider Marketplaces (AWS, Azure, GCP) for procurement

Procurement flexibility is a stated channel strategy, allowing customers to use existing cloud commitments for Confluent purchases. This is supported by strong relationships with the hyperscalers.

• Confluent won the 2025 Google Cloud Partner of the Year award for Data & Analytics - Ingestion.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS) was recognized as both Global Partner of the Year and Cloud Partner of the Year at the 2025 Global Partner Awards.
• Microsoft (Azure) won the Cloud Innovation Partner of the Year award in 2025.

Confluent Platform for self-managed, on-premises deployments

While the cloud scales faster, the self-managed platform remains a significant revenue stream, often used in hybrid or on-premises environments. This segment shows resilience, supported by OEM partnerships.

Metric	Q3 2025 Value	Q1 2025 Value
Confluent Platform Revenue Share (of Total Revenue)	42%	Approx. 45% (Implied from $118.2M Platform / $260.9M Sub)
Confluent Platform Revenue Growth (Q1 2025)	N/A	18% (Strongest Q1 in three years)

Partner ecosystem for deal sourcing and implementation

The partner ecosystem is a formalized, heavily invested channel, driving a substantial portion of the business and providing implementation scale. Confluent is actively incentivizing this channel.

• Well over 20% of Confluent's business in the past year was partner-sourced.
• Confluent announced a $200 million commitment over three years to expand its global partner ecosystem (announced mid-2025).
• Key System Integrator (GSI) partners recognized in 2025 include Accenture.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Confluent, Inc. (CFLT) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Segments

You're looking at the core groups Confluent, Inc. targets with its data streaming platform, spanning from the largest global firms to individual developers starting out. Here's the breakdown of those key customer segments as of late 2025, grounded in the Q3 2025 financial reporting.

The enterprise segment is clearly the revenue engine, but the long tail of smaller users is crucial for platform adoption and future upselling.

• Large enterprises with $100,000+ Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)
• Financial services and retail needing real-time backend operations
• AI-native companies (over 100 as of Q3 2025)
• Developers and small teams using the free-to-start Basic cloud tier
• Customers requiring private cloud or self-managed solutions

The high-value enterprise segment shows clear growth momentum, which is what you want to see when evaluating platform stickiness.

Customer Segment Detail	Metric	Value (as of Q3 2025)
Customers with $100,000+ ARR	Count	1,487
Customers with $100,000+ ARR	Year-over-Year Growth	10%
Customers with $100,000+ ARR	Net New in Q3	48
Customers with $1 Million+ ARR	Count	234
Customers with $1 Million+ ARR	Year-over-Year Growth	27%

For industry-specific traction, the platform is clearly embedded in core transactional sectors. Confluent Platform revenue, which often reflects on-premises or dedicated deployments, saw specific strength here.

• Financial services demand drove Confluent Platform revenue growth of 14% year-over-year, reaching $125.4 million in Q3 2025.

The focus on Artificial Intelligence is translating directly into customer acquisition at the high end. These AI-native customers are looking for the real-time context that data streaming provides for model performance.

• The number of AI-native customers stood at over 100 as of Q3 2025.
• Of those AI-native customers, 21 had $100,000 plus in ARR.

The developer and smaller team segment is served by the entry-level cloud tier, which is designed to be free to start. While the exact number of free-tier users isn't published, the total customer base gives you the scale of the top-of-funnel activity. The total customer count was reported at 5,800 in earlier 2025 reporting, which encompasses all users, including those on the free-to-start tier.

Finally, the deployment flexibility caters to highly regulated or security-conscious entities. This segment is evidenced by both customer behavior and product strategy.

• A large AI-native customer migrated from Confluent Cloud to a self-managed deployment in Q3 2025.
• Confluent launched a private cloud offering in Q3 2025, specifically targeting regulated industries.

Finance: review the Q4 2025 guidance for any changes to the expected mix between Cloud and Platform revenue.

Confluent, Inc. (CFLT) - Canvas Business Model: Cost Structure

You're looking at the expense side of the ledger for Confluent, Inc. as of late 2025. The cost structure is heavily weighted toward scaling the cloud offering and maintaining product leadership. Honestly, you see a clear trade-off between growth investment and near-term operating leverage.

The largest single cost component explicitly detailed for the quarter ending September 30, 2025, is Stock-Based Compensation (SBC). For the third quarter of 2025, Confluent, Inc. reported Stock-Based Compensation of $295.70M. This is a significant non-cash charge that management explicitly excludes when calculating non-GAAP results, which is common practice for high-growth technology firms. On a trailing twelve-month basis ending September 30, 2025, the SBC figure reached $0.979B, representing a 4.95% increase year-over-year.

Cloud infrastructure costs, which fall under Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) for the Confluent Cloud offering, are substantial, though the specific dollar amount for compute, storage, and data transfer isn't broken out separately from the total COGS. We know Confluent Cloud revenue was $161.0 million in Q3 2025, making up 54% of total revenue. The total Gross Profit for the quarter was $221.6 million, which implies a non-GAAP Gross Margin of approximately 74.2% ($221.6M / $298.5M total revenue).

Research and Development (R&D) and Sales and Marketing (S&M) are the other major operating expense buckets driving the business forward. While the exact dollar amounts for R&D and S&M for Q3 2025 aren't explicitly stated in the top-line summaries, we see the impact of S&M management. The company demonstrated operational leverage, as Sales and Marketing expense dropped 4.7 percentage points as a percentage of revenue year over year. This efficiency helped drive the overall operating performance.

Here's a quick look at how the key financial metrics related to operating costs stacked up for the third quarter of 2025:

Cost Component/Metric	Q3 2025 Amount (in millions)	Context/Related Metric
Stock-Based Compensation	295.70	Quarterly Expense
Total Revenue	298.5	Total recognized revenue
Gross Profit	221.6	Pre-Operating Expense Profit
Non-GAAP Operating Income	29.1	Resulting Income
Non-GAAP Operating Margin	9.7%	Resulting Margin

The focus on profitability is evident in the non-GAAP results. Confluent, Inc. achieved a Non-GAAP Operating Margin of 9.7% in Q3 2025, up 340 basis points from 6.3% in Q3 2024, resulting in a Non-GAAP Operating Income of $29.1 million. This margin performance is a direct result of revenue growth outpacing the growth of controllable operating expenses, even while investing heavily in product innovation.

However, you should note the guidance suggests a near-term cost pressure. Management projected the Non-GAAP Operating Margin to compress sequentially to approximately 7% for both Q4 2025 and the full year 2025. This expected compression signals an intentional, aggressive push to reinvest recent profitability gains back into the business, likely targeting R&D for new features like Streaming Agents and Flink adoption, and potentially increasing S&M spend to drive the next wave of customer acquisition.

The cost structure is characterized by these key elements:

• Cloud infrastructure costs embedded within COGS, supporting $161.0 million in Confluent Cloud revenue.
• High R&D investment necessary to maintain product leadership in the data streaming space.
• S&M spending that is being actively managed for efficiency, evidenced by the 4.7 percentage point year-over-year drop as a percentage of revenue.
• Significant non-cash expense from Stock-Based Compensation, totaling $295.70M for the quarter.
• A GAAP Operating Loss of $(83.3) million for the quarter, reflecting the high investment in stock compensation and operating expenses before non-GAAP adjustments.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Confluent, Inc. (CFLT) - Canvas Business Model: Revenue Streams

You're looking at how Confluent, Inc. (CFLT) actually brings in the money as of late 2025. It's heavily weighted toward recurring subscription revenue, which is what you want to see in a modern SaaS-like model. The business clearly separates its revenue into the managed cloud offering and the self-managed platform licenses.

Here's the quick math on the major components based on the third quarter of 2025 results. The cloud piece is clearly the growth engine now, making up the majority of the subscription take.

Revenue Stream Component	Q3 2025 Amount	Growth Context
Confluent Cloud revenue (usage-based)	$161 million	Grew 24% year-over-year
Confluent Platform revenue (license/subscription)	$125.4 million	Grew 14% year-over-year
Total Subscription Revenue (Q3 2025)	$286.3 million	Grew 19% year-over-year

Looking out for the full fiscal year 2025, management has guided subscription revenue to a range between $1.1135 billion and $1.1145 billion. That's a solid number, definitely showing the stickiness of their contracts and consumption growth. The requested forecast of $1.11 billion-$1.11 billion for FY 2025 aligns closely with this raised guidance.

The growth story isn't just about the two main buckets; it's about the adoption of specific, higher-value features within the Data Streaming Platform (DSP). Revenue from these advanced features is embedded within the Confluent Cloud figures, but the adoption metrics tell you where the future dollar growth is coming from.

• Revenue from fully managed connectors and stream processing (Apache Flink) is being driven by accelerating adoption.
• More than 1,000 customers were using Flink in Q3 2025.
• Flink's cloud Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) grew more than 70% sequentially in Q3 2025.
• Management highlighted accelerating adoption of DSP components, particularly Flink, to provide real-time context for AI systems.

Finally, you have professional services and training fees. This is a smaller component of the overall revenue mix. We know this because the company explicitly excludes services arrangements from the calculation of its key metric, Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR). If onboarding takes 14+ days, churn risk rises, so keeping services separate makes sense for ARR clarity.