Agora, Inc. (API): Business Model Canvas [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're looking to see how the real-time engagement giant is actually making money now, and honestly, the story for Agora, Inc. in 2025 is all about the pivot to high-margin AI layered onto their rock-solid global Software Defined Real-Time Network (SD-RTN). We're not just talking about simple voice and video anymore; this is about embedding conversational AI tools that drive efficiency for their 1,880 active global customers, pushing the core segment revenue up 17.7% to $18.6 million in Q1 2025 while maintaining a strong 66.0% gross margin in Q3. If you want to see exactly how they structure partnerships, what keeps their costs lean, and where the next dollar is coming from, dive into the full Business Model Canvas below; it lays out the entire engine.

Agora, Inc. (API) - Canvas Business Model: Key Partnerships

You're looking at how Agora, Inc. (API) builds its platform by leaning on external expertise, which is critical when you're pushing conversational AI this hard. The partnerships aren't just nice-to-haves; they are woven into the technology that generated $35.4 million in revenue in Q3 2025. The focus is clearly on accelerating AI capabilities and expanding reach beyond the 1,880 active customers Agora, Inc. had as of June 30, 2025.

The core of the AI strategy involves integrating best-in-class foundational models. The expanded support for OpenAI's Realtime API is a prime example, incorporating what the company called the first multimodal large language model into the Agora platform. This combination is already seeing real-world use; for instance, robotics startup Carbon Origins is using the combined technology to enable hands-free control of its autonomous robot fleet.

The company is actively building out its visual and interactive AI stack through specific collaborations. Here's a look at some of the key announcements made in the latter half of 2025:

These integrations are happening while the company maintains a strong balance sheet, ending Q3 2025 with $374.3 million in cash, cash equivalents, bank deposits and financial products issued by banks. This financial buffer supports the investment in these strategic, technology-heavy partnerships.

For regional expansion, specifically in APAC, while I don't have specific financial commitments or user numbers tied directly to partners like Tevi or KUMU in the latest filings, the underlying network infrastructure is clearly scaled for global reach. Agora, Inc.'s Software-Defined Real-Time Network (SDRTN®) powers over 80 billion minutes of global engagement per month, which is the foundation that allows these localized expansions to scale reliably.

The need for robust global infrastructure is non-negotiable for a real-time PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) provider. You can infer the importance of cloud infrastructure partners by looking at the network scale and the focus on latency. The company's core real-time engagement PaaS business saw year-over-year growth of 15.9% in Q3 2025, which directly translates to increased demand on co-located global networks.

The push into hardware integration is also evident, supporting the category of hardware manufacturers. The September 24, 2025, update mentioned bringing 4G connectivity and Visual Intelligence to the Smart Hardware Kit. This signals a direct effort to partner or integrate deeply with device makers, moving beyond pure software APIs.

The success of these integrations is reflected in the Q3 2025 results, where R&D expenses were $13.8 million, representing 39.1% of total revenues, showing defintely that investment in these technological building blocks is a priority, even as the company achieved GAAP profitability of $2.7 million for the quarter.

Agora, Inc. (API) - Canvas Business Model: Key Activities

You're looking at the core things Agora, Inc. has to do every day to make this business run, especially now that they're consistently profitable. It's all about keeping the real-time engine humming and pushing the new AI features.

Research and development (R&D) in Conversational AI Engine 2.0. This is where a lot of the future value is being built. For the third quarter of 2025, R&D expenses came in at $13.8 million. That's a big drop, down 52.8% from the same quarter last year, which shows they've streamlined costs while still investing heavily in the new AI stack. Honestly, R&D spending represented just 39.1% of total revenues for the quarter, a huge shift from 92.7% in Q3 2024.

Maintaining and optimizing the global SD-RTN (Software Defined Real-Time Network). This network is the backbone, and keeping it fast globally is non-negotiable. The Software-Defined Real-Time Network (SDRTN®) powers over 80 billion minutes of global engagement monthly. They're also focused on expanding global infrastructure to keep latency consistent everywhere.

Developer advocacy and ecosystem growth. You can't just build great tech; people have to use it. A key activity here is pushing the open-source project TEN framework, which has seen adoption by multiple cloud providers and enterprises. Plus, they introduced a conversational AI studio and benchmarking platform to help developers get started fast.

Global sales expansion in high-value sectors like live shopping. The core Agora business is definitely rebounding, and live shopping is a big driver. Revenues for the Agora segment hit $18.2 million in Q3 2025, which is a 15.9% year-over-year increase, directly tied to growth in that sector.

Technical support for 1,880 active Agora segment customers. Keeping the existing base happy is crucial for retention. An active customer, by their definition, is one that generated over $100 in revenue over the last 12 months.

Here's a quick look at the key operational metrics supporting these activities as of the end of Q3 2025:

Finance: draft the Q4 2025 expense budget variance analysis by next Wednesday.

Agora, Inc. (API) - Canvas Business Model: Key Resources

You're looking at the core assets Agora, Inc. (API) relies on to power its real-time engagement and conversational AI platforms. These aren't just ideas; they are quantifiable technologies and financial buffers that support their current operations as of late 2025.

The financial foundation is solid, which is key when you're investing heavily in new AI capabilities. Agora ended Q3 2025 with a strong cash position of $374.3 million in cash, cash equivalents, bank deposits, and financial products issued by banks as of September 30, 2025. This liquidity supported a Q3 2025 GAAP net income of $2.7 million, marking their fourth consecutive quarter of GAAP profitability. The operating cash flow for that quarter was positive at $0.7 million.

Here's a quick look at some key financial and operational metrics from the Q3 2025 period:

The proprietary SD-RTN (Software-Defined Real-Time Network) is central to their low-latency promise. This network is built to deliver real-time engagement experiences with reliability that surpasses the public internet. The network powers over 80 billion minutes of global engagement per month. Furthermore, the SD-RTN is measured by Agora's standard of achieving less than or equal to 0.5% data packet loss per minute. This underlying network is what the new Conversational AI Engine 2.0 is built upon, enabling ultra-low latency for human-AI interaction.

The focus on AI is clearly a major resource investment, evidenced by the launch of the Conversational AI Engine 2.0 and the zero-code AI Studio. Usage for their conversational AI products accelerated by more than 150% quarter-over-quarter leading into Q3 2025. The engine itself targets sub-second end-to-end latency for natural AI interaction.

The developer ecosystem is supported by an extensive library of APIs and SDKs. As of September 2025, Agora is trusted by over 1,700 leading organizations globally. The core offerings accessible via these tools include:

• Voice Calling API
• Video Calling API
• Interactive Live Streaming API
• Chat and Signaling APIs
• Interactive Whiteboard API

Also available are specialized add-ons that developers can integrate, which form part of the overall resource base:

• Real-Time Speech-To-Text
• AI Noise Suppression
• Agora Analytics
• Cloud Recording options

The global real-time inference cloud is implied by the network's global reach and the need to support the Conversational AI Engine across various regions. The company has been expanding its global infrastructure to maintain consistent latency and reliability for these AI solutions. The ability to support high peak concurrent usage is a proven capability, which is a critical resource for scaling AI deployments.

Agora, Inc. (API) - Canvas Business Model: Value Propositions

You're building the next generation of interactive apps, and you need real-time engagement that just works. Here's what Agora, Inc. (API) is offering as a core value proposition.

Embed real-time voice/video/chat with simple APIs/SDKs.

Agora, Inc. is the global leader in real-time engagement, giving developers the tools to put voice, video, interactive live streaming, and chat right into their applications and IoT devices. Honestly, they've built a platform trusted by over 1,700 leading organizations across the globe to power these experiences.

Low-latency, high-quality global connectivity for all applications.

The backbone of this is the Software-Defined Real-Time Network (SDRTN®). This network is seriously robust, powering over 80 billion minutes of global engagement every single month. That kind of scale is what lets you promise high quality everywhere. You can see the growth in their core business, with the Agora division reporting revenues of $18.6 million in the first quarter of 2025.

Here's a quick look at how their customer base is growing, which shows adoption of this connectivity:

• Active Customers (Agora) as of March 31, 2025: 1,806.
• Active Customers (Agora) as of June 30, 2025: 1,880.
• Active Customers (Agora) as of September 30, 2025: 1,968.

Conversational AI tools to build natural human-machine interactions.

They rolled out the Conversational AI Engine in March 2025. This engine is designed to make talking to an AI feel natural, offering sub-second end-to-end latency for interactions. It includes features like intelligent interruption handling and built-in noise suppression so the AI can hear the user clearly, even in noisy spots.

Cost efficiency and reduced manual tasks for enterprise clients.

While we don't have a direct cost-saving percentage for every client, the focus on efficiency is reflected in their margins. The company's gross margin improved substantially to 68.0% in the first quarter of 2025. This margin expansion reflects the focus on higher-value products, like the AI engine, and operational efficiencies. Use cases like providing 24/7 Customer Support via voice agents point directly to reducing manual tasks.

The financial performance in Q1 2025 shows this strategic shift:

Developer-first platform winning the 2025 Best Communications API award.

The platform's developer focus earned it the Best Communications API award at the 2025 API World Conference. This award recognizes the seamless, scalable, and natural communication experiences the platform delivers. The platform provides flexible, modular APIs that let you build unique experiences fast.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Agora, Inc. (API) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Relationships

You're building real-time applications, so you know the relationship with the developer community is everything. Agora, Inc. leans heavily on a self-service foundation to onboard the next wave of users.

The developer portal is the primary touchpoint, offering access to 350+ API endpoints as of 2024. This self-service approach is supported by community resources and a generous free tier, which includes 10,000 free minutes per product monthly.

For larger deployments, the model shifts to a high-touch approach. As of June 30, 2025, the Agora segment served 1,880 active customers. This segment, which focuses on the global market, saw its active customer count increase by 12.4% from the prior year.

Technical support and expert consulting become critical when integrating advanced features like the Conversational AI Engine, which saw several solutions enter real-world production in Q2 2025 across call centers and AI-powered companion toys. This complexity necessitates more than just documentation; it requires expert guidance for complex integrations.

Customer stickiness is measured by the dollar-based net retention rate. The high dollar-based net retention rate of 108% for the Agora segment, reported for the third quarter of 2025, marks the fourth consecutive quarter of improvement, showing existing customers are expanding their usage significantly.

Direct engagement keeps the platform top-of-mind within the developer ecosystem. Agora, Inc. was recognized for its Conversational AI Engine by winning the Best Communications API at the 2025 API Awards, which was presented during the API World conference in Santa Clara, California, in September 2025.

Agora, Inc. (API) - Canvas Business Model: Channels

You're looking at how Agora, Inc. (API) gets its Real-Time Engagement Platform-as-a-Service (RTE-PaaS) technology into the hands of developers and enterprises. The channel strategy clearly leans heavily on a self-service, developer-first motion, supported by direct enterprise sales.

Direct sales team focused on enterprise accounts

The direct sales effort is supported by a Sales and marketing expense base. For the second quarter of 2025, Sales and marketing expenses were reported at $6.5 million, an increase of 4.0 % from the same period last year. For the third quarter of 2025, this expense was also $6.5 million, though this represented a decrease of 5.6% year-over-year, primarily due to a decrease in personnel costs as the Company optimized its global workforce. While specific enterprise sales team size isn't public, the company served 8,700 enterprise clients worldwide back in 2023, which gives you a sense of the scale they target with this channel.

Online developer portal for API/SDK downloads and documentation

This is the engine room for the global segment. The developer-first approach is evidenced by the growth in the active customer base, which is defined as an organization or individual developer generating more than $100 of revenue in the preceding 12 months. As of June 30, 2025, the Agora segment had 1,880 active customers, a 12.4% increase from June 30, 2024. This channel shows strong stickiness, with the Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate for the trailing 12-month period ended June 30, 2025, sitting at 97%. For the quarter ended September 30, 2025, the active customer count for the Agora segment grew to 1,968.

Global network of solution partners and system integrators

While specific partner revenue contribution isn't broken out, the global reach is supported by partnerships in regions like Southeast Asia. For example, the company has collaborations with entities like Tevi (Vietnam), KUMU (Philippines), and Fastwork.co (Thailand) to cater to localized needs. The overall global segment revenue grew by 15.9% year-over-year to $18.2 million in the third quarter of 2025, showing the international strategy, which includes partners, is gaining traction.

Cloud marketplaces and app stores for distribution

Distribution via cloud marketplaces and app stores is not explicitly quantified in the latest reports. However, the overall revenue growth in the core global segment suggests broad accessibility is maintained. The total revenue for the Agora segment in Q2 2025 was $18.2 million, up 16.7% year-over-year. This indicates that while direct and developer portal channels are primary, indirect digital distribution routes are likely integrated into the overall go-to-market strategy.

Regional sales and support teams in North America, Europe, and APAC

The operational footprint supports global sales, though specific regional expense breakdowns are not provided. The company is clearly focused on international growth, as evidenced by the Q3 2025 revenue outlook projecting year-over-year growth between 7.2% and 10.1% for the fourth quarter. The Sales and marketing expenses for Q3 2025 were $6.5 million, reflecting the cost to support these global teams and promotion activities. The company's cash position as of June 30, 2025, was $377.3 million, which provides the capital to maintain these regional structures.

Here's a quick look at the key customer metrics supporting the channel effectiveness:

The channel mix is clearly weighted toward developer adoption, which is a scalable approach for a PaaS model. Still, you see the investment in direct sales through the Sales and marketing spend.

• Developer-first approach drives customer base growth.
• Active customers for the Agora segment grew by 12.4% year-over-year as of June 30, 2025.
• The company reported GAAP net income of $1.5 million in Q2 2025.
• Total cash, cash equivalents, bank deposits and financial products issued by banks was $377.3 million as of June 30, 2025.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Agora, Inc. (API) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Segments

You're looking at the core audience for Agora, Inc. (API) as of late 2025. This isn't just one group; it's a split between the global platform and the China-focused operation, Shengwang.

The global developers and enterprises segment, referred to as the Agora segment, is the primary focus for international growth, especially with the push into new AI-driven use cases. The active customer count for this segment was reported at 1,880 as of June 30, 2025. By the end of the third quarter of 2025, this number had grown further to 1,968 active customers.

The customer base is segmented by geography and focus, which is key to understanding their revenue dynamics. The Shengwang business, focused on the China market, had 1,976 active customers as of September 30, 2025.

Here is a look at the key segment metrics as of the latest reported quarter, Q3 2025:

The platform's utility spans several high-engagement verticals. Developers and enterprises use the Real-Time Engagement PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) to embed core capabilities into their applications. The growth in the Agora segment revenue, which increased 15.9% year-over-year to $18.2 million in Q3 2025, is directly tied to usage in these areas.

The specific industries and use cases driving adoption for Agora, Inc. (API) include:

• Live shopping platforms.
• Entertainment and social media applications.
• Education use cases, such as tutoring.
• IoT applications, including companionship toys.
• Customer service and call center industries, increasingly powered by new AI features.

The pivot toward conversational AI is a major driver for new customer engagement. Conversational AI usage saw growth of over 150% quarter-over-quarter in Q3 2025, indicating heightened developer interest in building voice AI agents.

For the China market, the Shengwang segment serves real-time engagement PaaS providers there. While this segment is facing market headwinds, its Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate improved to 90% for the trailing 12-month period ended September 30, 2025.

Finance: review Q3 DBNRR vs. Q2 DBNRR for both segments by end of week.

Agora, Inc. (API) - Canvas Business Model: Cost Structure

You're looking at the core expenses Agora, Inc. (API) is managing to keep its real-time engagement and conversational AI platforms running as of late 2025. Honestly, the cost structure shows a significant shift toward efficiency, especially in R&D spend compared to the prior year.

The primary direct cost tied to service delivery is the Cost of revenues. For the third quarter of 2025, this stood at $12.0 million. This figure is largely driven by the necessary Bandwidth and co-location costs required to maintain low latency across their global network.

Operating expenses reveal where the company is focusing its investment and where it has streamlined operations. Here's a breakdown of the key components for Q3 2025:

The R&D spend of $13.8 million in Q3 2025 represented 39.1% of total revenues for the quarter. This substantial year-over-year decrease was largely due to optimization in personnel costs, including a significant drop in share-based compensation.

Sales and Marketing (S&M) expenses were $6.5 million in the third quarter. This spend accounted for 18.3% of total revenues, down from 21.7% in Q3 2024.

Beyond these reported categories, the cost structure inherently includes other significant operational expenses:

• Network infrastructure maintenance and optimization costs.
• Personnel costs for engineering and global support teams.

The reduction in overall R&D expenses suggests a conscious effort to manage the Personnel costs for engineering and global support teams, though specific figures for these groups outside the R&D total aren't explicitly itemized in the same way as the main expense lines. The focus on expanding global infrastructure for consistent latency suggests ongoing, material Network infrastructure maintenance and optimization costs, even as the company shows cost discipline.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Agora, Inc. (API) - Canvas Business Model: Revenue Streams

You're looking at how Agora, Inc. (API) actually brings in the money as of late 2025. It's a mix, but the core real-time engagement platform-as-a-service (PaaS) remains the backbone, supplemented by newer AI-driven offerings.

The primary mechanism for the established business is usage-based fees. This is your classic pay-as-you-go model, charging based on the real-time minutes or data volume consumed by developers using Agora, Inc.'s infrastructure for video, voice, and data streaming. This model scales directly with customer activity.

To give you a concrete look at the performance of that core business, check out the first quarter of 2025. The Core Agora segment revenue grew 17.7% year-over-year, hitting $18.6 million. That growth shows the underlying platform is still finding traction, especially in areas like live shopping, which was specifically called out as a driver.

While the usage model is clear, Agora, Inc. is also pushing into new areas, which suggests a move toward subscription revenue streams. The company is significantly increasing investment in conversational AI, launching things like Conversational AI Engine 2.0 and a Studio. While the prompt mentions AI companion toys, the financial reports focus on the platform and AI engine adoption; any subscription fees for end-user products like that would fall under this emerging category, though specific subscription revenue amounts aren't broken out in the latest figures.

Here's a quick summary of the key financial metrics from the most recent reported quarters to show you the scale of the revenue generation:

The efficiency behind that revenue is also worth noting. The gross margin of 66.0% in Q3 2025 shows defintely strong efficiency, even with a slight dip from the prior year, mainly due to product mix changes. This high margin on the core service is what funds the new AI bets.

You can see the revenue mix is still heavily weighted toward the established platform, but the strategic direction points to future recurring revenue from these new AI capabilities. Key revenue drivers include:

• Usage-based fees for real-time PaaS consumption.
• Growth in live shopping and IoT verticals.
• Increasing adoption of conversational AI tools.
• Shengwang segment revenue of RMB122.4 million ($17.2 million) in Q3 2025.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.