First-quarter revenue at Fiverr International Ltd. (NYSE: FVRR), a global talent platform, rose 1.5% to nearly $88.0 million, near the top end of guidance. Gross margin improved.

“We started off the year with strong execution, which has successfully helped us navigate through the current macro environment while we continue to make progress towards our long-term vision for the future of work,” Fiverr founder and CEO Micha Kaufman said. “We are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead of us, particularly around AI technology, and believe we are well positioned to unlock the combined potential of human talent and AI tools in the freelancing industry.”

The number of active buyers on the platform rose 0.3% year over year in the first quarter to nearly 4.3 million. In addition, spend per buyer rose to $262 in the first quarter from $251 in the year-ago quarter.

Guidance

Fiverr forecast second-quarter revenue will be up between 4% and 6% year over year to between $88.0 million and $90.0 million.

It also forecast full-year 2023 revenue to be up between 5% and 8% to between $355.0 million and $365.0 million.

Share price and market cap

Shares in Fiverr were down 2.48% to $27.97 as of 11:52 a.m. Eastern time today; they were 6.94% above their 52-week low, according to FT.com. The company had a market cap of $1.08 billion.