10-K
Table of Contents
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024
OR
Commission File Number 001-39489
NUBURU, INC.
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its Charter)
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: +393351824956
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class TradingSymbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share BURU NYSE American
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. YES ☐No☒
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes☐No☒
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes☒ NO ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to submit such files). Yes☒No☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer ☐ Accelerated filer ☐
Non-accelerated filer ☒ Smaller reporting company ☒
Emerging growth company ☒
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☒
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). YES ☐ NO ☒
The aggregate market value of the voting Common Stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant at June 30, 2024 was approximately $3,700,000. Shares of common stock beneficially owned by each executive officer and director have been excluded in that such persons may be deemed to be affiliates. This determination of executive officers and directors as affiliates is not necessarily a conclusive determination for any other purposes.
The number of shares of Registrant's Common Stock outstanding as of April 11, 2025 was 48,833,664 shares.
Documents Incorporated by Reference
Portions of the Registrant’s definitive proxy statement for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held in 2025, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission no later than 120 days after the end of the Registrant’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, are incorporated by reference into Part III hereof.
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS 1
PART I 3
ITEM 1. BUSINESS 3
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS 9
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS 19
ITEM 1C. CYBERSECURITY 20
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES 20
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS 20
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES 20
ITEM 6. [RESERVED] 21
ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK 32
ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA 32
ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES 33
ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION 33
ITEM 9C. DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTION THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS. 34
PART III 35
ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 35
ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION 35
ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES 35
ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENTS SCHEDULES 36
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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), which statements involve substantial risk and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or our future financial or operating performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “could,” “intends,” “target,” “projects,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” or “continue” or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern our expectations, strategy, plans, or intentions. Forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K include, but are not limited to, statements about:
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our ability to obtain required financing;
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our ability to maintain the listing of our common stock, par value of $0.0001 per share (the "Common Stock") on a securities exchange;
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our ability to successfully implement key acquisitions;
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our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees, or directors, including the transition to a new management team in the first half of 2025;
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our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;
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our ability to implement our announced business plan, including diversifying our assets;
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the fact that we have not achieved commercialization and our ability to achieve commercialization in the future;
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the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against us related to the Business Combination;
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existing regulations and regulatory developments in the United States and other jurisdictions;
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the need to hire additional personnel and our ability to attract and retain such personnel;
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our plans and ability to obtain, maintain, enforce, or protect intellectual property rights;
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our business, operations and financial performance, including:
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expectations with respect to financial and business performance, including financial projections and business metrics and any underlying assumptions thereunder;
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expectations regarding future acquisitions, partnerships, or other relationships with third parties;
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future business plans and growth opportunities;
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expectations regarding product development and pipeline;
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expectations regarding research and development efforts;
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expectations regarding market size;
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expectations regarding the competitive landscape;
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future capital requirements and sources and uses of cash, including the ability to obtain additional capital in the future; and
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other statements detailed under the section entitled “Risk Factors” and in other sections of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. You should not put undue reliance on these statements which speak only as of the date hereof. You should understand that the following important factors, in addition to those discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, could affect our future results, and could cause those results or other outcomes to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K:
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our ability to obtain financing;
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our ability to meet NYSE American’s continued listing standards;
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our ability to protect our intellectual property;
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whether the market embraces our products and investments;
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whether we achieve commercialization in a timely manner;
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the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against us;
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our ability to retain or recruit key employees;
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costs related to being a public company;
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changes in applicable laws or regulations;
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the possibility that we may be adversely affected by economic, business, or competitive factors;
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volatility in the markets caused by geopolitical and economic factors; and
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other risks and uncertainties set forth in the section titled “Risk Factors” and in other sections of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
These and other factors that could cause actual results to differ from those implied by the forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are more fully described under the heading “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The risks described under the heading “Risk Factors” are not exhaustive. Other sections of this Annual Report on Form 10-K describe additional factors that could adversely affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations. New risk factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible to predict all such risk factors, nor can we assess the impact of all such risk factors on our business, or the extent to which any factor or combination of factors may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on their behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements. We undertake no obligations to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
In addition, statements of belief and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions, as applicable, on the relevant subject. These statements are based upon information available to us, as applicable, as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain and you are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements.
Frequently Used Terms
Unless otherwise stated in the Financial Statements and accompanying footnotes, or the context otherwise requires, references in this Annual Report to:
“Business Combination” are to the business combination of Legacy Nuburu with a subsidiary of Tailwind, with Legacy Nuburu surviving such business combination as a wholly owned subsidiary of Tailwind;
“Business Combination Agreement” are to that certain Business Combination Agreement, dated as of August 5, 2022, by and among Tailwind, Nuburu, and Merger Sub, Inc., as the same has been or may be amended, modified, supplemented, or waived from time to time;
“Closing” are to the consummation of the Transactions;
“Closing Date” are to January 31, 2023, the date on which the Transactions were consummated;
"Common Stock" are to the Company's common stock, par value of $0.0001 per share, listed on the New York Stock Exchange after the Business Combination;
“Exchange Ratios” are to the quotients as defined in, and calculated in accordance with, the Business Combination Agreement, which was included as an exhibit to our Current Report on Form 8-K (File No. 001-39489) filed with the SEC on February 6, 2023;
“Legacy Nuburu” are to Nuburu Subsidiary, Inc., a Delaware corporation (f/k/a Nuburu, Inc. before the Closing Date);
“Public Warrants” are to the 16,710,785 whole warrants of the Company sold to public investors in the Tailwind IPO (defined below);
“SEC” is the Securities and Exchange Commission;
“Tailwind” are to Tailwind Acquisition Corp, a Delaware corporation and our predecessor company prior to the consummation of the Transactions, which changed its name to Nuburu, Inc. following the consummation of the Transactions, and its consolidated subsidiaries;
“Tailwind IPO” are to the initial public offering by Tailwind which closed on September 9, 2020; and
“Transactions” are to the Business Combination, together with the other transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement and the related agreements.
Unless the context otherwise requires, all references in this section to “Nuburu,” the “Company,” “we,” “us,” “our,” and other similar terms refer to: (i) Legacy Nuburu and its subsidiaries prior to the Closing, and (ii) Nuburu, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and its consolidated subsidiary, Nuburu Subsidiary, Inc., after the Closing.
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PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Unless the context requires otherwise, references to “Nuburu,” “we,” “us,” or “our” in this section are to the business and operations of Legacy Nuburu prior to the Business Combination and to the Company and its subsidiaries following the Business Combination.
Corporate History and Background
We were originally incorporated in Delaware on July 21, 2020 under the name “Tailwind Acquisition Corp.” as a special purpose acquisition company, formed for the purpose of effecting an initial business combination with one or more target businesses. On September 9, 2020 (the “IPO Closing Date”), we consummated our initial public offering (the “IPO”). On January 31, 2023, we consummated a business combination with Nuburu Subsidiary, Inc. f/k/a Nuburu, Inc. (“Legacy Nuburu”), a privately held operating company which merged into our subsidiary Compass Merger Sub, Inc. (the “Business Combination”) and changed our name to “Nuburu, Inc.,” and we became the owner, directly or indirectly, of all of the equity interests of Nuburu Subsidiary, Inc. and its subsidiaries.
Overview
During the reporting period, our focus was on developing and delivering high-power, high-brightness blue laser technology with a broad range of high value applications that include welding and 3D printing, which is described in greater detail below. During the second quarter of 2024, we announced that we intend to diversify our asset base by investing in other businesses that include potential synergies with our existing business. In the fourth quarter of 2024, our senior secured lenders provided notice of default with respect to our outstanding secured indebtedness and initiated a foreclosure process with respect to our patent portfolio that served as collateral for our outstanding secured indebtedness (the “Foreclosure”). In the first quarter of 2025, such secured lenders completed the Foreclosure sale and obtained such patents in exchange for extinguishing our outstanding secured indebtedness, while we retained our non-patent intellectual property, including trade secrets and know-how. As a result of the Foreclosure, we are adjusting our laser business to focus on licensing and joint development within specific verticals, as described below. Also in the first quarter of 2025, we announced several acquisitions that are part of our previously announced strategy to diversify our assets and expand our business through acquisition, each of which is described in greater detail below.
Laser Business
Prior to the Foreclosure, Nuburu had approximately 220 granted and pending patents and patent applications globally, which included: blue laser applications such as welding, blue laser technologies, single mode blue laser technology, blue Raman laser technologies, addressable array technologies, and 3D printing using blue lasers. A fundamental physical characteristic is that metals absorb blue laser light better than infrared (“IR”) laser light. In the case of materials such as gold, copper, silver, and aluminum, the advantage of blue laser light is substantial. The better absorption results in substantial improvements in the quality of the part produced, the yield of parts during production and the speed at which the part can be produced. We believe that these characteristics are advantageous to users, whether upgrading existing manufacturing processes or enabling entirely new approaches to manufacturing through the use of blue laser systems.
During the reporting period, we shipped blue laser systems for applications including EV batteries, medical device production, large screen displays, and cell phone components. Following the Foreclosure, we anticipate licensing certain intellectual property, as well as using retained intellectual property primarily for purposes of product development specific to the defense industry.
Industry Background
Industrial markets have been a major focus for laser applications ever since the invention of the laser. In the early 1970s, lasers emerged as a useful source for cutting and welding. However, the material systems were limited to steel and other materials with low reflectivity given the long wavelengths of the Infrared Carbon Dioxide (IR CO2) lasers that were the mainstay of that era.
The first era was followed by the introduction of lamp-pump yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) lasers in the late 1970s with a shorter wavelength and more compact size, which resulted in an expansion of applications into cutting, welding, and drilling. The lamp pumped lasers were superseded in the 1980s by the invention of diode pumped solid state lasers which offered higher efficiency and superior reliability.
However, the lamp pump lasers still had poor absorption in materials such as aluminum and copper given the IR wavelength of these lasers.
In the early 2000s, the fiber laser was introduced into the industrial laser market and offered superior efficiency, reliability, and scalability than the diode pumped solid state lasers and was rapidly adopted because of its compact size. The fiber laser with its improved performance displaced the CO2 lasers in welding and ushered in a new era for additive manufacturing (3D printing).
Key Trends
Over time, manufacturing operations have begun to integrate lasers into material processing applications. In addition to such long-standing trends of manufacturing ecosystems in converting to superior production technologies, there are two global macro trends that we believe will serve as powerful tailwinds driving growth in the market for laser systems, including (i) energy de-carbonization and electrification and (ii) supply chain improvements and manufacturing reshoring. Nuburu believes both of these trends will serve as drivers to the attractiveness and adoption of blue laser products.
With respect to the trend of energy de-carbonization and electrification, many nations with large economies have announced and begun implementing, in varying degrees, energy policies directed at decreasing carbon emissions. The paths to executing these policies include increasing the electrification of certain modes of transportation. We expect to benefit from this trend, as key applications of laser technology are included in these policies.
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There is also a global trend towards making supply chain improvements and reshoring manufacturing to domestic production. The COVID-19 pandemic, and the related widespread lockdowns, combined with global military actions, exposed vulnerabilities and weaknesses in global supply chains across an array of products. This has led companies and governments to reconsider their existing supply chains and has led to an uptick in business planning and policy-making that aims to relocate the manufacturing of key components and sub-assembly lines within domestic markets, closer to downstream assembly and manufacturing plants. Laser products offer meaningful solutions to this trend, as such technology can help provide the means to cost effectively produce parts on demand.
Key Advantages
Blue industrial laser provides the following key advantages:
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High energy process efficiency due to the high absorption of the blue laser light;
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Higher speed because there is no need for pre-heating;
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Greater part strength due to minimal voids;
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Lower electrical resistance due to minimal voids;
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Superior part quality due to lack of ejected material during the welding process; and
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Smaller part size as the blue laser can be focused on a tighter spot size.
Legacy Products
In 2017, Nuburu launched the world’s first commercially available high-power blue industrial laser, the Nuburu AO-150. This laser demonstrated the ability to weld the thin foils used in lithium-ion batteries.
In 2018, Nuburu launched the higher power AO-500 and additional supporting hardware, extending the range of applications for the blue industrial laser. A single blue industrial laser can perform multiple welds with straightforward adjustments of laser power and other parameters. This provides the direct advantage of high-quality connections produced at high speeds, and the indirect advantages associated with reduced production line footprint, and decreased maintenance and training costs.
In 2019, Nuburu was able to integrate the next generation of laser diodes into the AO-150 and AO-500 products producing 200 Watt and 650 Watts respectively, which enabled us to introduce the AO-200 and the AO-650.
Subsequently, an entirely new product design approach was adopted, focused on providing higher brightness and rapid scalability to multi-kilowatt (“kW”) power levels. This is the BLTMseries laser, where the beam quality has been improved by a factor of 3x and the output power of the base model has been upgraded to 250 Watts. Nuburu announced the commercial launch of the first laser in the NUBURU BLTM Series, the BL-250, in January 2023. BL-250 can serve as the base building block for additional products. For example, combining four BL-250 modules into a single laser system would allow for a product with over 1,000 Watts of continuous power.
In light of the Foreclosure, we are adapting our research and development to focus on strategic licensing and applications in the defense (including defense-related vehicles) space.
Manufacturing and Supply
Nuburu is located in Centennial, Colorado and previously conducted manufacturing operations at such location. Following the Foreclosure, it is anticipated that manufacturing operations will be discontinued and we will instead focus on licensing and joint development of our intellectual property, as well as outsourced production. We anticipate continuing existing underlying manufacturing and supply arrangements with respect to our recently announced agreements to acquire controlling interests in certain target entities.
Research and Development
Research
During the reporting period, we conducted research and development efforts on our laser technology for new products at our headquarters in Colorado. We anticipate coordinating future research and development through our partnerships and key subsidiaries.
Product Development
During the reporting period, Nuburu’s product development activities were focused on the BLTM product line, which consisted of a high brightness 250-Watt laser system. Nuburu focused on developing laser modules that are intended to be scalable. This modularity means that the system output power can be rapidly scaled from today’s single module system to a system that would encompass 16 modules and produce over 4-5kW of laser power. Nuburu designed all of the mechanical components and electronic components with system scalability in mind. This modular design approach means that the next generation of higher power products that are needed to address a broad market need can be rapidly and efficiently developed. Following the Foreclosure, Nuburu will shift its focus to laser applications specific to defense industry applications.
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Competition
The laser system industry in which we have operated historically has significant price and technological competition. Mature competitors include Coherent, Inc., nLight, Inc., IPG Photonics Corporation, Laserline GmbH, Lumentum Holdings Inc., Raycus Fiber Laser Technologies Co., Ltd. and Trumpf SE + Co. KG, which are well established and have longer operating histories, significantly greater financial and operational resources, and name recognition, which we do not have. Development-stage competitors include TeraDiode Inc. and others. A number of these competitors are seeking to improve conventional IR lasers or to develop new laser technologies, including blue laser technology. Competition includes not only companies providing conventional lasers, but also companies offering non-laser solutions. Examples of current technologies used or expected to be used as alternatives to conventional lasers include:
Infrared Fiber and Disc Lasers: Infrared lasers are the current predominant incumbent technology. However, when used on reflective material, the laser intensity must be increased to a level where the metal vaporizes, which creates spatter on the surface and pores in the weld itself. A higher intensity also results in a smaller spot size and smaller melt area. In order to increase the melt area a scan head is used to “wobble” the beam in a pattern on the workpiece. This technique still creates a weld with excessive porosity and spatter. In addition, the need for a scan head for wobbling increases weld time by up to 10x compared with blue and the capital cost of the scan head and driving software is substantial.
Infrared Fiber Ring Lasers: Another way to improve the absorption of infrared wavelength into reflective material is to increase the temperature of the material prior to welding. A specially developed custom fiber laser or processing head is used to produce a ring of laser light around the main processing beam. This enables pre-heating of the metal before the processing beam. This is still a keyhole process but with some reduction in the heat input. However, this method also produces spatter in the melt area and voids in the weld. This approach also increases the cost of the equipment, as additional power is required. In some cases, two lasers are used, which further increases costs. The resulting process relies on a very precise balance of power in the ring and core and can be difficult to maintain in a production environment. While the ring output approach can show acceptable results in thicker sections it still struggles in foil welding and fine feature applications.
Green Lasers: A more recent introduction in the laser market is the green laser, which can be generated from both a fiber laser and a solid-state laser by using a method called frequency doubling. A non-linear crystal is used to change the color of the laser from the IR to the green. These high-power green lasers are relatively new to the market and are still under evaluation by customers for 3D printing and welding applications. However, green lasers have significant drawbacks. While the wavelength is closer to blue and improvement in absorption is seen compared with IR lasers in typically reflective materials, the improvement is not as large as with blue. Typically, a 20% improvement in absorption is seen in blue compared with green. But the most significant drawback of green lasers is their complexity and poor electrical conversion efficiency. An optical technique known as “frequency doubling” is used to take the output of an IR laser and convert the output to green (i.e., a 2kW IR laser is used to make a 1kW green laser). This requires an additional process of putting the IR beam through a crystal. This is complicated, inefficient and the conversion crystal is considered a consumable, which requires frequent maintenance or replacement due to the deterioration of the non-linear crystals. These characteristics increase the capital and running costs for the manufacturer and also compromise the reliability of the green lasers.
Other Blue Lasers: In general, blue lasers based on an array of diodes in a bar produce lower brightness compared to individual devices because of the limitations of the spacing of the diodes on the bar array. In general, bar arrays thus result in a larger spot size or shorter standoff distance than could easily be achieved with individual devices such as our single chip approach used in our BLTM line of products.
In addition to the technical aspects outlined above, we believe principal competitive factors include technology capabilities, materials, process and application know-how, cost of operation, product reliability, and the ability to provide a full range of products to meet customer needs. We believe that our future success depends on our ability to provide high-quality products, introduce new products to meet evolving customer needs and market opportunities, and extend our technologies to new applications.
Government Regulation and Compliance
The products sold during the reporting period are subject to regulations governing their safe operation. The lasers we produced are listed as Class IV lasers according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Disease and Radiological Health (“CDRH”) and must meet all government guidelines for safe operation. Each laser system design must be registered with the CDRH prior to its release to the marketplace. Nuburu lasers also receive the CE mark (signaling that we have checked that our products meet applicable EU safety, health and environmental requirements) once they pass all of the CE certification testing on safety and radiofrequency emissions. This mark is required by most foreign countries.
Nuburu is also subject to the export regulations of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”). We worked with BIS to classify the suite of products sold during the reporting period, and new products would be classified prior to being released. Nuburu also has established an export manual that clearly articulates our policies and procedures used to confirm that we are in compliance with applicable U.S. export regulations. All of our employees and distributors worldwide are required to confirm that they will adhere to these policies. Nuburu expects to update its policy and export manual from time to time to reflect any changes required by new export controls or developments in best practices.
Sales and Marketing
Given the size, complexity and value of our technology, products and services, our sales to date have come from long-term discussions between our management team and customers. Based on our experiences, approximate adoption timelines from first contact to first purchase order to range up to 18-24 months and require sales and marketing personnel with significant training and expertise. We anticipate significant changes to our sales and marketing programs in the future to align with our licensing and joint development strategy, along with our onboarding of key acquisitions.
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Employees and Human Capital
As of March 31, 2025, Nuburu had 8 full-time employees. We view our human capital investments as crucial for our success; however, we have had to implement furloughs of employees during the year ended December 31, 2024 due to lack of funding as described in greater detail below. None of our employees are either represented by a labor union or subject to a collective bargaining agreement. We anticipate that in order to reach our strategic objectives, we will be required to recruit and retain additional management, human resources, accounting, finance, technical, engineering and sales personnel.
Recent Developments
Liquidity Constraints and Outstanding Obligations
We have not yet achieved commercialization and expect continued losses until we can do so. We must rely on capital from investors to support operations. From inception through December 31, 2024, have incurred operating losses and negative cash flows from operating activities. For the year ended December 31, 2024, we incurred operating losses, including net losses of $34,515,754, and we had an accumulated deficit of $131,806,605 as of December 31, 2024. We anticipate that we will incur net losses for the foreseeable future and, even if we generate revenue, there is no guarantee that we will ever become profitable. Unless we are able to implement our Transformation Plan described below, these factors raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.
During 2024, management negotiated several funding agreements with multiple financing parties. Certain of these investors never fully performed their obligations under such agreements. As a result, we have not yet received the funding necessary to maintain operations. Given the lack of funding, management initiated measures designed to reduce costs, which included implementing a furlough of employees during the last two quarters of 2024. This significantly impacted commercialization and operations. In response to the furloughs and financing challenges, several employees resigned entirely. If we are unable to obtain additional financing through investments or strategic transactions, or otherwise implement our Transformation Plan, we will not be able to sustain operations and will need to consider alternatives, which could include a sale, liquidation, or dissolution of the business.
On March 5, 2025, Nuburu’s secured lenders concluded the previously disclosed Foreclosure sale, which resulted in the transfer of Nuburu’s patent portfolio to an affiliate of the senior secured lenders in exchange for a full discharge and extinguishment of Nuburu’s junior and senior secured notes. All of our long-term, secured indebtedness has now been eliminated through a combination of our conversion of outstanding indebtedness over the course of the last year and the discharge and extinguishment of debt resulting from the lender’s collateral sale.
Our remaining outstanding obligations include overdue payables incurred in the ordinary course, as well as our redemption obligations with respect to the outstanding Series A Preferred Stock, which will become payable at such time as we have funds legally available to pay such amounts.
2025 Funding Agreements
On January 13, 2025, we entered into a letter agreement with S.F.E. Equity Investments SARL (“SFE EI”), pursuant to which SFE EI agreed to engage in efforts and commit capital to finance our operations for the next twelve months pursuant to a business plan focused on building a stable foundation for the future business (the “Transformation Plan”). In connection with the Transformation Plan, the Company agreed to certain governance changes.
On January 14, 2025, we entered into a settlement (the “Settlement”) and mutual release agreement with Liqueous LP (“Liqueous”) pursuant to which the parties provided an immediate mutual release of claims and obligations and Liqueous agreed to provide us with (i) payments for an aggregate of $1,000,000 in three installments, and (ii) a payment of $500,000 at such time as the parties are able to negotiate the amendment of the terms of outstanding pre-funded warrants held by Liqueous to reflect current market price. Following the Settlement with Liqueous, as amended, the ELOC provided for under the Master Agreement with Liqueous will not be implemented and no additional equity will be sold to Liqueous, other than as set forth in the Settlement, as amended.
On February 17, 2025, the Company entered into an amendment ("the Amendment") to the Settlement with Liqueous, pursuant to which the parties agreed to (i) settle the Promissory Note, described further in Note 8 to the consolidated financial statements, through the issuance of 6,406,225 pre-funded warrants exercisable into common stock (the "February 2025 Pre-Funded Warrants"), (ii) modify certain outstanding Pre-Funded Warrants issued in connection with the Program, described further in Note 10 to the consolidated financial statements, resulting in 3,647,416 pre-funded warrants (the "Modified Pre-Funded Warrants"), together with the February 2025 Pre-Funded Warrants, (the "2025 Warrants") exercisable into common stock outstanding following the transaction and (iii) modify the remaining outstanding Pre-Funded Warrants issued in connection with the Program and concurrently issue 9,360,888 common shares of the Company as consideration for the settlement of such Pre-Funded Warrants. The exercise price for the 2025 Pre-Funded Warrants is substantially paid by the purchaser and, as a result, such warrants may be exercised into common stock in the future with a nominal exercise price payment. The Modified Pre-Funded Warrants and February 2025 Pre-Funded Warrants are exercisable anytime through September 2029 and February 2030, respectively. As of April 15, 2025, the Modified Pre-Funded Warrants, February 2025 Pre-Funded Warrants and common shares of the Company required to be issued in connection with the Amendment of the Settlement were not yet issued by the Company.
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Acquisition Plan
TCEI Acquisition
On February 19, 2025, we entered into a commitment letter with Trumar Capital LLC to acquire through the acquisition of interests in TCEI S.a.r.l., a subsidiary formed to facilitate the transaction (“TCEI”): (i) a controlling interest in a defense-tech company that specializes in the design, production, and outfitting of a diverse range of vehicles, including industrial and military applications, as well as electronic devices for defense and security, advanced telecommunications, and tracking systems; and (ii) a controlling interest in a software as a service ("SaaS") startup focused on operational resilience. Nuburu’s Executive Chairperson owns a controlling interest in the SaaS startup, and as a result, the proposed investment will be negotiated by, and authorized only with approval from, the independent board members, and will be subject to stockholder approval.
The defense-tech company's focus is on integrating its two business units: electronics and vehicles. It boasts over 30 years of experience in jamming and telecommunications, as well as the capability to produce a fully finished specialty vehicle, from design/engineering to physical realization (including both mechanical and electronic components). The ability to create tailor-made solutions based on the customer's needs is the defense-tech company's competitive advantage. Its products include (i) special vehicles for the defense industry, oil and mining industry, public transportation, electric minibus, Armored SUVs/vehicles, transformations on commercial vehicles, and lightweight fittings and (ii) RF / Counter IED (Improvised Explosive Devices) / Counter UAV-UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) Jammers, system integrations, and CBRN (Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense) systems. It currently has approximately 155 employees around the globe.
The SAAS company focuses on an award-winning proprietary software platform and Operational Resilience (“OR”), which helps customers navigate an increasingly complex regulatory landscape and maintain a secure and stable operating environment, while improving compliance with applicable regulations and standards, and reducing the risk of business disruptions. The platform is a cloud-based SaaS solution that offers a suite of modules and features enabling businesses to achieve OR more efficiently and effectively. By leveraging the cloud, the platform is able to offer flexibility, scalability, and easy access for businesses of all sizes, sectors and geographies. The SAAS company has over 1,000 daily users from 19 customers of the platform, principally in the financial services sector, including banks, insurance providers, public administrators and telecommunications companies across Europe, the Middle East and South America. It currently has approximately 20 employees.
The anticipated investments will occur in stages. The first stage, which has been completed, involved the purchase of a 20% ownership interest in TCEI for an aggregate price of $1.5 million in cash plus $23.5 million in notes. Such notes carry a five-year maturity, a 10% annual interest rate, and a three-month grace period, followed by a monthly payment structure, and are cancellable if the full transaction does not close. The $1.5 million cash portion of the purchase price was provided by Indigo Capital LLC, to whom Nuburu issued a promissory note with a face amount of $1,578,495, maturity date of March 1, 2026, and conversion price equal to a 20% discount to the lowest VWAP during the 5 days prior to the conversion date.
The second stage, which will require both stockholder and regulatory approval, will involve the investment in additional ownership interests, resulting in Nuburu (i) having a controlling interest in the target entities and (ii) issuing Common Stock in excess of 19.9% of its outstanding Common Stock as part of the purchase price. Nuburu would also receive rights to appoint directors for each target entity, consistent with its percentage of ownership in each entity.
We also agreed to issue 6,086,957 shares of common stock to SFE EI as consideration for SFE EI escrowing approximately $4.2 million in assets for purposes of guaranteeing our performance obligations in connection with the TCEI acquisition. Issuances to SFE EI may not exceed 19.9% of the outstanding Common Stock until approved by stockholders.
Consummation of the full TCEI acquisition is subject to continued due diligence, receipt of an acceptable valuation from a third-party valuation firm, regulatory approvals, and stockholder consent.
On March 31, 2025, we also entered into a Joint Pursuit Agreement with the defense-tech company to allow both parties to jointly develop and market certain defense-related vehicles and services in advance of closing the full TCEI acquisition.
SYME Strategic Investment
On March 14, 2025, we entered into an up to $5.15 million in aggregate convertible facility with Supply@ME Capital Plc (“SYME”), a fintech platform focused on Inventory Monetisation© solutions for manufacturing and trading companies. This investment in SYME is anticipated to be funded by SFE EI (in exchange for approximately $3 million of convertible notes issued by Nuburu to SFE EI), and upon conversion is expected to result in Nuburu holding a controlling interest in SYME. Following approval by SYME stockholders, the Financial Conduct Authority, and The Panel on Takeovers and Mergers (collectively, the “Approvals”), we may convert amounts outstanding under the facility into ordinary shares of SYME at a fixed conversion rate of £0.00003 per ordinary share, with conversion shares accompanied by a warrant to acquire one additional ordinary share of SYME for every two ordinary shares of SYME issued on any conversion, with an exercise price of £0.000039, as well as the ability to exercise on a cashless basis. The Company’s Executive Chairman is the founder and current Chief Executive Officer of SYME, and as a result, the proposed investment was negotiated and approved by the independent board members.
SYME and its operating subsidiaries provide its platform for use by manufacturing and trading companies to access inventory trade solutions, enabling their businesses to generate cashflow, through a non-credit arrangement and without incurring debt. This is achieved by their existing eligible inventory being added to the platform and then monetised through purchases by third-party inventory funders. The inventory to be monetised can include warehoused goods waiting to be sold to end-customers or goods that are part of a typical import/export transaction. As of September 20, 2024, SYME had a pipeline of approximately £391.0m and approximately 15 employees.
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Future Acquisitions
If we are able to resolve our outstanding obligations and obtain acquisition funding, we plan to continue to acquire controlling interests in strategic targets in the future, with a goal of returning value to our stockholders through receipt of distributions from our controlled subsidiaries and the eventual sale or spin-off of such subsidiaries.
Available Information
Our internet address is https://nuburu.net. We will file or furnish periodic reports and amendments thereto, including our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K (and amendments to those reports), proxy and information statements and other information filed or furnished pursuant to Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Exchange Act with the SEC. The SEC maintains a website that contains reports, proxy and information statement, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically, which may be accessed through the SEC at http://www.sec.gov. Our reports, amendments thereto, proxy statements and other information are also made available, free of charge, on our investor relations website at https://ir.nuburu.net as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file or furnish such information with the SEC. The information contained on the websites referenced in this Annual Report on Form 10-K is not incorporated by reference into this filing. Further, our references to website URLs are intended to be inactive textual references only. All statements made in any of our securities filings, including all forward-looking statements or information, are made as of the date of the document in which the statement is included, and we do not assume or undertake any obligation to update any of those statements or documents unless we are required to do so by law.
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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
An investment in our Common Stock or Preferred Stock involves risks. Prior to making a decision about investing in our Common Stock or Preferred Stock, you should consider carefully the risks together with all of the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including any risks described below. Each of the referenced risks and uncertainties could adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition, as well as adversely affect the value of an investment in our securities. Additional risks not known to us or that we believe are immaterial may also adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition and the value of an investment in our securities.
Risks Relating to Our Business and Operations
We are an early-stage company with a history of losses. We have not been profitable historically and may not be able to achieve profitability in the future.
Our financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2024 included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K have been prepared assuming we will continue as a going concern. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flow to sustain our operations or raise additional capital in the form of debt or equity financing, this could affect our ability to continue as a going concern in the future. Since its inception in 2015, Nuburu has incurred significant net losses and has used significant cash in its business. As of December 31, 2024, Nuburu had an accumulated deficit of approximately $131.8 million, and for the year ended December 31, 2024, Nuburu had a net loss of approximately $34.5 million. We anticipate that we will incur net losses for the foreseeable future and, even if we increase our revenues, there is no guarantee that we will ever become profitable. Our ability to achieve profitability in the future will depend on a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control.
Even if we do achieve profitability, we may be unable to sustain or increase our profitability in the long term. Our business may be disrupted at any time due to numerous factors outside of our control, including changes in the general macroeconomic outlook, local and regional volatility, global trade disputes, political instability, expropriation or nationalization of property, public health emergencies, and related government policies and restrictions designed to mitigate the effects of such emergencies, civil strife, strikes, insurrections, acts of terrorism, hostilities or the perception that hostilities may be imminent, military conflict, acts of war, including sanctions or other restrictive actions, by the United States or other countries, and natural disasters.
We will require additional capital to finance our operations and implement our business plan and strategy and if we are unable to raise such capital when needed, or on acceptable terms, that could have a material adverse effect on our ability to meet our financial obligations and support continued growth and development.
Consummating and implementing strategic acquisitions and commercializing products and services will require a significant amount of capital. As a result, we expect for some time to continue to incur substantial operating expenses without generating sufficient revenues to cover expenditures. In addition, changing circumstances, some of which may be beyond our control, could cause us to consume capital significantly faster than we currently anticipate, and we may need to seek additional funds sooner than planned.
We may obtain funding through public or private equity offerings, private investment in public equity ("PIPE"), offerings, debt financings, joint ventures, partnerships, collaborations, and licensing arrangements, through obtaining credit from financial institutions or other sources. If we raise additional funds through future issuances of equity or convertible debt securities, our then existing stockholders could suffer significant dilution, and any new equity securities we issue could have rights, preferences, and privileges superior to those of holders of our Common Stock. If we raise additional funds through issuances of debt, we may be subject to restrictions on our operating activities. However, if we are unable to raise capital when needed or on acceptable terms, that could have a material adverse effect on our continued growth and development and/or we may be forced to cease operations. In addition, if adequate capital is not available to us, it may create substantial doubt among third parties, including suppliers and potential customers. Such doubt could adversely impact our business, reputation, prospects, and our financial statements. The report from our auditors for our financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2024 included a qualification expressing substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The inclusion of a going concern qualification could materially limit our ability to raise additional funds through the issuance of equity or debt securities or otherwise.
To achieveour growth objectives, our management will rely on a rapid succession of strategic acquisitions, investments and procurement arrangements, the pace and scope of which may have the potential to adversely affect the day-to-day operation of our business, and our cash flows, financial condition and results of operations.
We are aggressively pursuing our growth strategy through a series of acquisitions, investments and procurement arrangements. For a company of our size and resources, the rapid pace and volume of deal-making activity may create risks and uncertainties that can have a material adverse effect on the daily conduct of our business, and negatively impact our cash flows, financial condition and results of operations. For example, we are exposed to the risk that the day-to-day management, oversight, and operation of our business and our financial results may be adversely affected by:
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the time and attention spent by our senior management and leadership in the identification and evaluation of prospective strategic initiatives, and the negotiation, funding and closing of those we choose to pursue;
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the time, attention and resources diverted to the integration of acquired businesses;
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the need to secure funding for new acquisitions and strategic investments or transactions;
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the exposure to successor liabilities not sufficiently identified, quantified or understood prior to the closing of a strategic transaction;
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the financial needs and management and operational improvements that may be necessary with respect to targets that are start-ups or emerging growth investments; and
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the potential loss of valuable existing employees or customers as a result of our entering into a strategic transaction with a counterparty with whom they may not wish to continue in an employment or commercial relationship.
We have incurred and may continue to incur substantial indebtedness to finance acquisitions. We have also issued equity and may issue additional equity, or convertible securities in connection with such acquisitions. Debt service requirements could represent a significant burden on our results of operations and financial condition, and the issuance of additional equity or convertible securities could be dilutive to our existing stockholders.
Our growth objectives require substantial capital that we may be unable to obtain, or may only obtain at a cost or under terms that adversely affect our cash flows, financial condition and results of operations.
In the event that our acquisitions or capital expenditure requirements are greater than the amounts then available to us, we may not be able to obtain funding from such alternative sources of capital, and may be required to curtail or eliminate contemplated activities. Even if we can obtain capital from alternative sources, the terms of such fundings may not be favorable to us. In particular, the terms of any debt financing may include covenants that significantly restrict our operations. Our inability to grow as planned may reduce our chances of maintaining and improving profitability.
We may have difficulty managing growth in our business, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Growth in accordance with our business strategy, if achieved, could place a significant strain on our financial, operational and management resources. As we expand the scope of our activities and our geographic coverage through both organic growth and acquisitions, there will be additional demands on our financial, legal, accounting, technical, operational and management resources. The failure to continue to upgrade our technical, administrative, operating and financial control systems or the occurrence of unexpected expansion difficulties, including the failure to recruit and retain experienced managers and other professionals, could have a material adverse effect on our business, liquidity positions, financial condition, results of operations and prospects and our ability to successfully or timely execute our business strategy.
We may experience difficulties in integrating acquired assets into our business and in realizing the expected benefits of an acquisition.
The success of an acquisition, if achieved, will depend in part on our ability to realize anticipated business opportunities and benefits from combining the acquired assets with our business in an effective and efficient manner. The integration process could take longer than anticipated and could result in the loss of key employees, the disruption of each company’s ongoing businesses, tax costs or inefficiencies or inconsistencies in standards, controls, information technology systems, procedures and policies, any of which could adversely affect our ability to maintain relationships with customers, employees or third parties or our ability to achieve the anticipated benefits, and could harm our financial performance. If we are unable to successfully or timely integrate acquired assets with our business, we may incur unanticipated liabilities and be unable to realize the anticipated benefits, and our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.
Antitrust and other legal challenges
We may face antitrust and other legal challenges when acquiring controlling interests in other businesses, which could negatively impact our ability to close acquisition transactions. Antitrust enforcement is currently a priority of the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice and many state agencies. The increasingly challenging antitrust enforcement environment and other regulatory review or approval processes could significantly delay or even prevent our ability to acquire controlling interests in other businesses and increase our acquisition costs, which could adversely affect our overall growth strategy.
Our limited operating history make evaluating our business, the risks and challenges we may face and our future prospects difficult.
From our inception in 2015 to the present, we have focused principally on developing our blue laser systems. As a result, we have a limited history operating our business, and therefore a limited history upon which you can base an investment decision.. If actual results differ from our estimates or we adjust our estimates in future periods, our operating results and financial position could be materially and adversely affected. You should consider our prospects in light of the risks and uncertainties emerging companies encounter when introducing new technologies into a competitive landscape.
Our products and services involve a lengthy sales and installation cycle, and if we fail to close sales on a regular and timely basis it could harm our business. The long sales cycles for our products may cause us to incur significant expenses without offsetting revenues.
In order to make a sale, we must typically provide a significant level of education to prospective customers regarding the use and benefits of our products and our technology. The period between initial discussions with a potential customer and the sale of our product typically depends on a number of factors, including the potential customer’s attitude towards innovative products, the potential customer’s budget and whether the potential customer requires financing arrangements. Prospective customers often undertake a significant evaluation process, which may further extend the sales cycle. While our customers are evaluating our products we may incur substantial sales, marketing and research and development expenses in exploring and demonstrating the suitability of our products to a customer’s needs. Once a customer makes a formal decision to purchase our product, the fulfillment of the sales order by us requires a substantial amount of time. This lengthy sales and installation cycle is subject to a number of significant risks over which we have little or no control. Because of both the long sales and installation cycles, we may expend significant resources on attracting prospective customers without having certainty of generating sales.
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These lengthy sales and installation cycles also increase the risk that our customers fail to satisfy their payment obligations or cancel orders before the completion of the transaction or delay the planned date for installation. If a customer terminates for convenience, we may be unable to recover some of our costs that we incurred prior to cancellation. We may need to procure long lead time items or place large order lot quantities for critical material well in advance of a termination leaving us with excess inventory. Our operating expenses are based on anticipated sales levels, and certain of our expenses are fixed. If we are unsuccessful in closing sales after expending significant resources or if we experience delays or cancellations, we may incur significant expenses without ever receiving revenue to offset those expenses, which would materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.
If we fail to meet our customers’ price expectations, demand for our products could be negatively impacted and our business and results of operations could suffer.
Our long-term success will depend in part on our ability to price our products competitively. Many factors, including our production and personnel costs and our competitors’ pricing and marketing strategies, can significantly impact our pricing strategies. If we fail to meet our customers’ price expectations in any given period, demand for our products could be negatively impacted and our business and results of operations could suffer.
We anticipate that we will derive a portion of our revenue from government entities, and significant changes in the contracting or fiscal policies of such government entities could have an adverse effect on our business and operating results.
The growth of our business may be impacted by our partnerships with government entities and on our successful procurement of additional government contracts. However, demand is often unpredictable from government entities, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to generate revenue from the public sector. Factors that could impede our ability to generate revenue from government contracts, include, but are not limited to:
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public sector budgetary cycles and funding authorizations;
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changes in fiscal or contracting policies;
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decreases in available government funding;
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changes in government programs or applicable requirements; and
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potential delays or changes in the government appropriations or other funding authorization processes.
We are highly dependent on key executives and if we are unable to attract and retain key employees and hire qualified management, technical, engineering, and sales personnel, our ability to compete and successfully grow our business could suffer.
We believe that our success and our ability to reach our strategic objectives are highly dependent on our ability to recruit and retain key management, technical, engineering, production and sales personnel. If we are unable to recruit or retain any of our key employees, this could disrupt our operations, delay the development and introduction of our products and services and negatively impact our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.
If we lose a member of our management team or other key employee, it may prove difficult for us to replace him or her with a similarly qualified individual with experience in the laser industry, which could impact our business and operating success. In addition, we do not have “key person” life insurance policies covering any of our officers or other key employees.
Our expectations and targets regarding the times when we will launch our products depend in large part upon assumptions, estimates, measurements, testing, analyses and data developed and performed by us, which if incorrect or flawed, could have a material adverse effect on our actual operating results and performance.
Our expectations and targets regarding the times when we will launch our products reflect our current expectations and estimates. Whether we will achieve these objectives when we expect depends on a number of factors, many of which are outside our control, including, but not limited to:
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success and timing of our development activity and ability to develop systems that achieve our desired performance metrics and achieve any requisite industry validations;
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unanticipated technical or manufacturing challenges or delays;
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adverse developments in relationships with any partners, including termination of any partnerships or changes in our partners’ timetables and business plans, which could hinder our development efforts; and
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whether we can manage relationships with key suppliers and the availability of the raw materials and components we need;
Unfavorable changes in any of these or other factors, most of which are beyond our control, could materially and adversely affect our ability to achieve our objectives when planned and our business, results of operations and financial results.
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We expect to incur significant research and development expenses and devote substantial resources to commercializing new products, which could increase our losses and negatively impact our ability to achieve or maintain profitability.
We will require significant capital to develop products and expect to incur significant expenses, including, but not limited to, those relating to research and development, procurement of raw materials and components, capital spending, leases, sales and distribution as we build our brand and market our products and services, and general and administrative costs as we scale our operations. If we are unable to efficiently design, appropriately price, and cost-effectively produce, sell and distribute our products and services, our anticipated margins, profitability and prospects would be materially and adversely affected.
Our insurance coverage may not adequately protect us from harm or losses we may suffer.
We may be subject, in the ordinary course of business, to losses resulting from product liability, accidents, acts of God, and other claims against us, for which we may have no insurance coverage. As a general matter, the policies that we do or may have may include significant deductibles, and we cannot be certain that our insurance coverage will be sufficient to cover future losses or claims against us. A loss that is uninsured or which exceeds policy limits may require us to pay substantial amounts, which could adversely affect our financial condition and operating results. Furthermore, although we plan to obtain and maintain insurance for damage to our property and the disruption of our business, this insurance may be challenging to obtain and maintain on terms acceptable to us and may not be sufficient to cover all of our potential losses.
There is no assurance that we will be able to execute on our business model.
Investors should be aware of the difficulties normally encountered by a new enterprise, many of which are beyond our control, including substantial risks and expenses in the course of establishing or entering new markets, developing and commercializing new products and technologies, organizing operations and undertaking marketing activities. The likelihood of our success must be considered in light of these risks, expenses, complications, delays and the competitive environment in which we operate. We will continue to encounter risks and difficulties frequently experienced by pre-commercial and early-commercial stage companies, including scaling up our infrastructure and headcount, and may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties or delays in connection with our growth. Any investment in our Company is therefore highly speculative and could result in the loss of your entire investment.
Expanding operations internationally will subject us to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could adversely affect our business and operating results.
As we expand our business we may seek to partner with customers, suppliers and other partners around the world. Managing further international expansion will require additional resources and controls. Any expansion internationally could subject our business to risks associated with international operations, including:
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difficulties in staffing and managing foreign operations due to differences in culture, laws and customer expectations, and the increased travel, infrastructure, and legal and compliance costs associated with international operations;
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compliance with multiple, potentially conflicting and changing governmental laws, regulations, and permitting processes including environmental, banking, employment, tax, privacy, safety, security and data protection laws and regulations;
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compliance with U.S. and foreign anti-bribery laws including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Anti-Bribery Act;
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greater difficulties in securing or enforcing our intellectual property rights in certain jurisdictions, or in potential infringement of third-party intellectual property rights in new jurisdictions;
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difficulties in collecting payments in foreign currencies and associated foreign currency exposure;
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increases or decreases in our expenses caused by fluctuation in foreign currency exchange rates;
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restrictions on repatriation of foreign earnings;
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compliance with potentially conflicting and changing laws of taxing jurisdictions where we conduct business and compliance with applicable U.S. tax laws as they relate to international operations, including product transfer pricing, the complexity and adverse consequences of such tax laws, and potentially adverse tax consequences due to changes in such tax laws;
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changes in import and export controls and tariffs imposed by the United States or foreign governments;
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changes in regulations that would prevent us from doing business in specified countries; and
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regional economic and political conditions
We use novel technologies to produce blue wavelength lasers, and potential customers may be hesitant to make a significant investment in our technology or switch from the technology they are currently using.
We use novel technologies that are deployed in a novel way and will compete with currently existing technologies, such as infrared fiber lasers. Even if our products are superior to existing lasers, potential customers may choose products from our competitors that are based on existing technologies, such as infrared fiber laser technology, due to wider market acceptance and familiarity with such technologies. Moreover, given the limited history of our technology, potential customers may be hesitant to make a significant investment in our products. If our technology does not achieve market acceptance then our business and results of operations would be materially adversely affected.
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Our market is characterized by rapid technological changes demanding a significant investment in research and development, and, if we fail to address changing market conditions, our business and operating results will be harmed.
Our market is subject to rapid innovation and technological change. While we intend to invest substantial resources to remain on the forefront of technological development, continuing advances in technology, changes in customer requirements and preferences and the emergence of new standards, regulations and certifications could adversely affect adoption of our products either generally or for particular applications. Our ability to compete depends, in large part, on our success in developing and introducing our products in a timely fashion, in improving our existing products and technology and finding new applications for our technology. We believe that we must continuously enhance and expand the functionality and features of our products and technologies in order to remain competitive. However, we may not be able to develop cost-effective new products and technologies that address the increasingly complex needs of prospective customers.
Risks Relating to Litigation and Regulation
Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional, and local governments. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming, and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments, and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Laws, regulations, and rules relating to privacy, information security, and data protection could increase our costs and adversely affect our business opportunities. In addition, the ongoing costs of complying with such laws, regulations, and rules could be significant.
We are subject to various laws regarding privacy, information security and data protection. In particular, our handling of data relating to individuals is subject to a variety of laws and regulations relating to privacy, data protection, and information security, and it may become subject to additional obligations, including contractual obligations, relating to our maintenance and other processing of this data. For example, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, and similar legislation adopted in the U.K., impose stringent data protection requirements and provides for significant penalties for noncompliance. In the United States, California has enacted legislation, the California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA, that, among other things, requires covered companies to provide disclosures to California consumers, and afford such consumers abilities to opt-out of certain sales of personal information.
Additionally, we may be bound by contractual requirements applicable to our collection, use, processing, and disclosure of various types of data, and may be bound by, or voluntarily comply with, self-regulatory or other industry standards relating to these matters. These laws, regulations, and other obligations, and changes in their interpretation, could require us to modify our operations and practices, restrict our activities, and increase our costs in the future, and it is possible that these laws, regulations, and other obligations may be inconsistent with one another or be interpreted or asserted to be inconsistent with our business or practices. Any actual or perceived inability to adequately address privacy and security concerns or to comply with applicable laws, rules, regulations, and other actual or asserted obligations relating to privacy, data protection, and information security could result in claims, demands, and litigation by private parties, investigations and other proceedings by regulatory authorities, fines, penalties, and other liabilities, and have an adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial position, and reputation.
We must comply with and could be impacted by various export controls and trade and economic sanctions laws and regulations that could negatively affect our business and may change due to diplomatic and political considerations outside of our control.
We expect to do business throughout the world. Doing business on a global basis requires us to comply with anti-corruption laws and regulations imposed by governments around the world with jurisdiction over our operations, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act 2010, as well as the laws of the countries where we do business. We are also subject to various trade restrictions, including trade and economic sanctions and export controls, imposed by governments around the world with jurisdiction over our operations. For example, in accordance with trade sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control and the U.S. Department of Commerce, we are subject to limitations on or are prohibited from engaging in transactions involving certain persons and certain designated countries or territories, including Belarus, Cuba, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Russia, and certain occupied territories in Ukraine. In addition, our products are subject to export regulations that can involve significant compliance time and may add additional overhead cost to our products. In recent years the U.S. government has had a renewed focus on export matters. For example, the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 and regulatory guidance have imposed additional controls, and may result in the imposition of further additional controls, on the export of certain “emerging and foundational technologies.” Our current and future products may be subject to these heightened regulations, which could increase our compliance costs.
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We could be liable for environmental damages resulting from our operations, which could impact our reputation, our business, and our operating results.
We are subject to federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations and may become subject to environmental laws in foreign jurisdictions in which we may operate or into which we ship our products. Environmental laws and regulations can be complex and may often change. These laws can give rise to liability for administrative oversight costs, cleanup costs, property damage, bodily injury, fines, and penalties. Capital and operating expenses needed to comply with environmental laws and regulations can be significant, and violations may result in substantial fines and penalties or third-party damages. In addition, environmental laws and regulations such as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act in the United States impose liability on several grounds including for the investigation and cleanup of contaminated soil and ground water, for building contamination, for impacts to human health and for damages to natural resources. If contamination is discovered in the future at properties formerly owned or operated by us or currently owned or operated by us, or properties to which hazardous substances were sent by us, it could result in our liability under environmental laws and regulations. Many of our current and future customers have high sustainability standards, and any environmental noncompliance by us could harm our reputation and impact a customer’s buying decision. The costs of complying with environmental laws, regulations, and customer requirements, and any claims concerning noncompliance or liability with respect to contamination in the future, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or our operating results.
Risk Relating to Intellectual Property
We may be unable to protect, defend, maintain, or enforce our intellectual property rights for the intellectual property on which our business depends, including against existing or future competitors. Failure to protect defend, maintain and enforce that intellectual property could result in our competitors offering similar products, potentially adversely affecting our growth and success.
Our commercial success will depend in part on our success in obtaining and maintaining trademarks and other intellectual property rights in the United States and elsewhere and protecting our proprietary technology. If we do not adequately protect our intellectual property and proprietary technology, competitors may be able to use our technologies we have acquired in the marketplace and erode or negate any competitive advantage we may have, which could harm our business and ability to achieve profitability.
Our intellectual property is critical to our business and although we have taken many measures to protect our trade secrets, including agreements, limited access, segregation of knowledge, password protections, and other measures, policing unauthorized use of proprietary technology can be difficult and expensive. Also, litigation may be necessary to enforce our intellectual property rights, protect our trade secrets, or determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others. Such litigation may result in our intellectual property rights being challenged, limited in scope, or declared invalid or unenforceable. We cannot be certain that the outcome of any litigation will be in our favor, and an adverse determination in any such litigation could impair our intellectual property rights and may harm our business, prospects and reputation.
We have already and expect to continue to incur substantial expense and costs in protecting, enforcing and defending our intellectual property rights against third parties. Future litigation relating to protecting our rights could be time consuming and expensive. We rely primarily on copyright, patent, trade secret, and trademark laws, and non-disclosure, confidentiality, and other types of contractual restrictions to establish, maintain, and enforce our intellectual property and proprietary rights. However, our rights under these laws and agreements afford us only limited protection and the actions we take to establish, maintain, and enforce our intellectual property rights may not be adequate. For example, our trade secrets and other confidential information could be disclosed in an unauthorized manner to third parties, our owned or licensed intellectual property rights could be challenged, invalidated, circumvented, infringed, or misappropriated or our intellectual property rights may not be sufficient to provide us with a competitive advantage, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or operating results. In addition, the laws of some countries do not protect proprietary rights as fully as do the laws of the United States or may even formally or tacitly encourage the piracy of foreign intellectual property. As a result, we may not be able to protect our proprietary rights adequately abroad.
We rely, in part, on our ability to obtain, maintain, expand, enforce, and defend the scope of our intellectual property portfolio or other proprietary rights, including the amount and timing of any payments we may be required to make in connection with the licensing, filing, defense, and enforcement of intellectual property rights. The process of applying for and obtaining a patent is expensive, time-consuming, and complex, and we may not be able to file, prosecute, maintain, enforce, or license all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost, in a timely manner, or in all jurisdictions where protection may be commercially advantageous, or we may not be able to protect our proprietary rights at all. We may not be successful in protecting our proprietary rights, and unauthorized parties may be able to obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary.
Though an issued patent is presumed valid and enforceable, its issuance is not conclusive as to its validity or its enforceability and future patents may not provide us with adequate proprietary protection or competitive advantages against competitors with similar products. Patents, if issued, may be challenged, deemed unenforceable, invalidated, or circumvented. Proceedings challenging patents could result in either loss of the patent, or denial or the patent application or loss or reduction in the scope of one or more of the claims of the patent or patent application. In addition, such proceedings may be costly. Thus, any patents that we may own may not provide any protection against competitors. Furthermore, an adverse decision may result in a third party receiving a patent right sought by us, which in turn could affect our ability to commercialize our products.
Competitors could purchase our products and attempt to replicate or reverse engineer some or all of the competitive advantages we derive from our development efforts, willfully infringe our intellectual property rights, design around our patents, or develop and obtain patent protection for more effective technologies, designs or methods. We may be unable to prevent the unauthorized disclosure or use of our technical knowledge or trade secrets by consultants, suppliers, vendors, former employees and current employees.
Further, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect our proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States.
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In addition, proceedings to enforce or defend our patents could put our patents at risk of being invalidated, held unenforceable or interpreted narrowly. Such proceedings could also provoke third parties to assert claims against us, including that some or all of the claims in one or more of our patents are invalid or otherwise unenforceable. If any of our patents covering our products are invalidated or found unenforceable, or if a court found that valid, enforceable patents held by third parties covered one or more of our products, our competitive position could be harmed or we could be required to incur significant expenses to enforce or defend our rights. The degree of future protection for our proprietary rights is uncertain.
Our secured lenders obtained our existing patent portfolio in connection with the Foreclosure sale. While we retain our trademarks, trade secrets, know-how, and other intellectual property rights, we may have to initiate legal action in order to clearly establish ownership rights with respect to such intellectual property. Further, the former secured lenders may sue us for infringement if they believe our continued participation in the laser industry is in violation of the patents they acquired through the Foreclosure.
We may be subject to third-party claims of infringement, misappropriation or other violations of intellectual property rights, or other claims challenging our agreements related to intellectual property, which may be time consuming and costly to defend, and could result in substantial liability.
Companies, organizations, or individuals, including our competitors and former secured lenders, may hold or obtain patents, trademarks, or other proprietary rights that they may in the future allege are infringed by our products or services. These companies holding patents or other intellectual property rights allegedly relating to our technologies could, in the future, make claims or bring suits alleging infringement, misappropriation, or other violations of such rights, or otherwise assert their rights and by seeking royalties, lost profits, treble damages, attorney fees and injunctions. If a claim is successfully brought in the future and we or our products are determined to have infringed, misappropriated, or otherwise violated a third party’s intellectual property rights, we may be required to do one or more of the following:
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cease selling or using our products that incorporate the challenged intellectual property;
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pay substantial damages, including lost profits of the holder of the intellectual property rights (as well as, increased damages up to treble damages and attorneys’ fees if our infringement is determined to be willful);
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obtain a license from the holder of the intellectual property right, which may not be available on reasonable terms or at all; or
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redesign our products or means of production, which may not be possible or cost-effective.
Any of the foregoing could adversely affect our business, prospects, operating results, and financial condition. In addition, any litigation, whether to protect our intellectual property to defend against the claims of others, whether or not valid, could harm our reputation, result in substantial costs and can be disruptive to our business operations by diverting attention and energies of management and key technical personnel and by increasing our costs of doing business.
We may also license technology from third parties and incorporate components supplied by third parties into our products, which could result in our having to incur significant costs. If we are unable to enter into the necessary licenses on acceptable terms or at all, if any necessary licenses are subsequently terminated, if the licensors fail to abide by the terms of the licenses or fail to prevent infringement by third parties, or if the licensed patents or other rights are found to be invalid or unenforceable, our business may suffer. We may in the future face claims that our use of such technology or components infringes or otherwise violates the rights of others, which would subject us to the risks described above. We may in some cases seek indemnification from our licensors or suppliers under our contracts with them, but our rights to indemnification or our suppliers’ resources may be unavailable or insufficient to cover our costs and losses.
In addition, we generally indemnify our customers with respect to infringement by our products of the proprietary rights of third parties. However, third parties may assert infringement claims against our customers. These claims may require us to initiate or defend protracted and costly litigation on behalf of our customers, regardless of the merits of these claims. If any of these claims succeed or settle, we may be forced to pay damages or settlement payments on behalf of our customers or may be required to obtain licenses for the products they use. If we cannot obtain all necessary licenses on commercially reasonable terms, our customers may be forced to stop using our products.
We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights throughout the world.
A company may attempt to commercialize competing products utilizing our proprietary design, trademarks or trade names in foreign countries where we do not have any patents or patent applications and where legal recourse may be limited. This may have a significant commercial impact on our foreign business operations.
Filing, prosecuting and defending patents or trademarks on our current and future products in all countries throughout the world would be prohibitively expensive. The requirements for patentability and trademarking may differ in certain countries, particularly developing countries. The laws of some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as laws in the United States.
Consequently, we may not be able to prevent third parties from utilizing our inventions and trademarks in all countries outside the United States. Competitors may use our technologies or trademarks in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent or trademark protection to develop or market their own products and further, may export otherwise infringing products to territories where we have patent and trademark protection, but enforcement on infringing activities is inadequate. These products or trademarks may compete with our products or trademarks, and our patents, trademarks or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from competing.
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Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents, trademarks and other intellectual property protection, which could make it difficult for us to stop the infringement of our patents and trademarks or marketing of competing products in violation of our proprietary rights generally. Proceedings to enforce our patent and trademarks rights in foreign jurisdictions could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our patents and trademarks in those jurisdictions, as well as elsewhere at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and our patent or trademark applications at risk, and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Certain countries in Europe and certain developing countries, including India and China, have compulsory licensing laws under which a patent owner may be compelled to grant licenses to third parties. In those countries, we may have limited remedies if our patents are infringed or if we are compelled to grant a license to our patents to a third party, which could materially diminish the value of those patents. This could limit our potential revenue opportunities. Accordingly, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we own or license. Finally, our ability to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights may be adversely affected by unforeseen changes in foreign intellectual property laws.
We may be subject to claims that we or our employees have misappropriated the intellectual property of a third party, including trade secrets or know-how, or are in breach of non-competition or non-solicitation agreements with our competitors.
Many of our employees and consultants were previously employed at or engaged by other technology-based companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. Some of these employees, consultants and contractors, may have executed proprietary rights, non-disclosure and non-competition agreements in connection with such previous employment. Our efforts to ensure that our employees and consultants do not use the intellectual property, proprietary information, know how or trade secrets of others in their work for us may not be successful, and we may be subject to claims that we or these individuals have, inadvertently or otherwise, misappropriated the intellectual property or disclosed the alleged trade secrets or other proprietary information, of these former employers or competitors.
Additionally, we may be subject to claims from third parties challenging our ownership interest in intellectual property we regard as our own, based on claims that our employees or consultants have breached an obligation to assign inventions to another employer, to a former employer, or to another person or entity. Litigation may be necessary to defend against any other claims, and it may be necessary or we may desire to enter into a license to settle any such claim; however, there can be no assurance that we would be able to obtain a license on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. If our defense to those claims fails, in addition to paying monetary damages, a court could prohibit us from using technologies or features that are essential to our products, if such technologies or features are found to incorporate or be derived from the trade secrets or other proprietary information of the former employers. An inability to incorporate technologies or features that are important or essential to our products could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, and may prevent us from selling our products. In addition, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel. Even if we are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and could be a distraction to management. Any litigation or the threat thereof may adversely affect our ability to hire employees or contract with independent sales representatives. A loss of key personnel or their work product could hamper or prevent our ability to commercialize our products, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our other proprietary information, our business and competitive position may be harmed.
We rely on protection of trade secrets, know-how and other proprietary information that is not patentable or that we elect not to patent. However, trade secrets can be difficult to protect and some courts are less willing or unwilling to protect trade secrets. To maintain the confidentiality of our trade secrets and proprietary information, we rely heavily on confidentiality provisions that we have in contracts with our employees, consultants, collaborators and others upon the commencement of their relationship with us. We cannot guarantee that we have entered into such agreements with each party that may have or have had access to our trade secrets or proprietary technology and processes. We may not be able to prevent the unauthorized disclosure or use of our technical knowledge or other trade secrets by such third parties, despite the existence generally of these confidentiality restrictions. These contracts may not provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets, know-how, or other proprietary information in the event the unwanted use is outside the scope of the provisions of the contracts or in the event of any unauthorized use, misappropriation, or disclosure of such trade secrets, know-how, or other proprietary information. There can be no assurance that such third parties will not breach their agreements with us, that we will have adequate remedies for any breach, or that our trade secrets will not otherwise become known or independently developed by competitors. The protections we place on our intellectual property or other proprietary rights may not be sufficient. Monitoring unauthorized use and disclosure of our intellectual property is difficult, and we do not know whether the steps we have taken to protect our intellectual property or other proprietary rights will be adequate. In addition, the laws of many foreign countries will not protect our intellectual property or other proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. Consequently, we may be unable to prevent our proprietary technology from being exploited abroad, which could affect our ability to expand to international markets or require costly efforts to protect our technology. To the extent our intellectual property or other proprietary information protection is incomplete, we are exposed to a greater risk of direct competition. A third party could, without authorization, copy or otherwise obtain and use our products or technology, or develop similar technology. Our competitors could purchase our products and attempt to replicate some or all of the competitive advantages we derive from our development efforts or design around our protected technology. Our failure to secure, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could substantially harm the value of our products, brand and business. The theft or unauthorized use or publication of our trade secrets and other confidential business information could reduce the differentiation of our products and harm our business, the value of our investment in development or business acquisitions could be reduced and third parties might make claims against us related to losses of their confidential or proprietary information. Any of the foregoing could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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Further, it is possible that others will independently develop the same or similar technology or products or otherwise obtain access to our unpatented technology, and in such cases we could not assert any trade secret rights against such parties. Costly and time-consuming litigation could be necessary to enforce and determine the scope of our trade secret rights and related confidentiality and nondisclosure provisions. If we fail to obtain or maintain trade secret protection, or if our competitors obtain our trade secrets or independently develop technology or products similar to ours or competing technologies or products, our competitive market position could be materially and adversely affected.
Other Risks
Cyber-attacks and other disruptions, security breaches, and incidents could have an adverse effect on our business, harm our reputation, and expose us to liability.
Computer malware, viruses, physical or electronic break-ins, and similar disruptions and security breaches or incidents could lead to interruption and delays in our services and operations and loss, misuse or theft of data, financial information, and Company funds. Computer malware, viruses, ransomware and other malicious code, and hacking and phishing attacks have become more prevalent and may occur on our systems in the future. Threats to and vulnerabilities in our systems and infrastructure and those of our third-party service providers may result from human error, fraud, or malice on the part of our employees or third-party service providers or by malicious third parties, including state-sponsored organizations with significant financial and technological resources, or from accidental technological failure. Attempts by cyber attackers or others to disrupt our services or systems or those of our third-party service providers, as well as employee or service provider error or malfeasance, technical failures, or other causes of security breaches and incidents could harm our business, result in a loss of intellectual property, result in claims, demands, and litigation by private parties, investigations and other proceedings by regulatory authorities, fines, penalties, and other liabilities, introduce liability to data subjects, result in the misappropriation of funds, be expensive to remedy and damage our reputation or brand. Efforts to prevent cyber attackers from entering and disrupting computer systems are expensive to implement, and we may not be able to cause the implementation or enforcement of such preventions with respect to our third-party service providers. Despite the security measures that we and our service providers utilize, our infrastructure and that of our service providers may be vulnerable to physical break-ins, ransomware, computer viruses, other malicious code attacks by hackers, phishing attacks, social engineering, or similar disruptive problems. Though it is difficult to determine what, if any, harm may directly result from any specific interruption, attack or other security breach or incident, any failure to maintain performance, reliability, security and availability of systems and technical infrastructure may, in addition to other losses and liabilities, harm our reputation, brand and ability to attract customers.
Costs, expenses, and other liabilities relating to any actual or perceived disruption or security breach or incident may not be covered adequately by insurance, and may result in an increase in our costs for insurance or insurance not being available to us on economically feasible terms, or at all. Insurers may also deny us coverage as to any future claim. Any of these results could harm our financial condition, business and reputation.
Natural disasters, unusual weather conditions, epidemic outbreaks, terrorist acts, and political events could disrupt our business. Interruption or failure of our infrastructure could hurt our ability to effectively perform our daily operations and provide and produce our products and services, which could damage our reputation and harm our operating results.
We are vulnerable to natural disasters and significant disruptions including floods, earthquakes, fires, hail storms, snow storms, water shortages, other extreme or unusual weather conditions, epidemics or pandemics, acts of terrorism, war or disruptive political events where our facility is located, or where our third-party suppliers’ facilities are located, power shortages, and blackouts and aging infrastructures. Furthermore, climate change appears to have increased, and may continue to increase, the rate, size, and scope of these natural disasters. In the event of such a natural disaster or other disruption, we could experience disruptions to our operations or the operations of suppliers, subcontractors, distributors or customers, which could affect our ability to fulfill our customer contracts or damage our reputation, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Risks Relating to Being a Public Company
We are an “emerging growth company,” and our election to comply with the reduced disclosure requirements as a public company may make our Common Stock less attractive to investors.
For so long as we remain an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”), we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various requirements that are applicable to public companies that are not “emerging growth companies,” including not being required to comply with the independent auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, being required to provide fewer years of audited financial statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. Accordingly, the information we provide to our stockholders may be different than the information you receive from other public companies in which you hold stock.
If we fail to maintain an effective system of disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable regulations could be impaired.
We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the rules and regulations of NYSE American’s listing standards. We expect that the requirements of these rules and regulations will continue to increase our legal, accounting, and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming, and costly and place significant strain on our personnel, systems, and resources.
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Our management has limited experience in operating a public company.
Our executive officers have limited experience in the management of a publicly traded company. Our management team may not be successful or effective in managing a public company that is subject to significant regulatory oversight and reporting obligations under federal securities laws. We may not have adequate personnel with the appropriate level of knowledge, experience, and training in the accounting policies, practices, or internal controls over financial reporting required of public companies in the United States. The development and implementation of the standards and controls necessary for us to achieve the level of accounting standards required of a public company in the United States may require costs greater than expected. It is possible that we will be required to expand our employee base and hire additional employees to support our operations as a public company, which will increase our operating costs in future periods.
The redemption of our Preferred Stock may require a significant amount of cash and may result in adverse tax consequences.
Pursuant to the Certificate of Designations, on January 31, 2025, which was the two-year anniversary of the issuance of our Preferred Stock, because the conversion price exceeded the VWAP of Common Stock, we became obligated to redeem all outstanding shares of Preferred Stock for $10.00 in cash per share, subject to the Company having legally available funds to pay such amount. In connection with any such redemption, we may also be required, pursuant to the IRA, to pay an excise tax of 1% on the fair market value of any Preferred Stock redeemed. The redemption of the Preferred Stock and the payment of any excise tax would adversely affect the Company’s business, financial position and results of operations. While certain holders of Preferred Stock have issued a demand for redemption, we do not believe that we currently have funds legally available to pay the redemption amount.
NYSE American may delist the Company’s securities from trading on its exchange, which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in its securities and subject the Company to additional trading restrictions.
The Company’s Common Stock is publicly traded on the NYSE American under the symbol “BURU.” In order to continue listing its securities on the NYSE American, the Company is required to maintain certain financial, distribution and stock price levels. We cannot assure you that the Company will be able to continue to meet those listing requirements or come back into compliance with those listing requirements.
If the NYSE American delists the Company’s Common Stock from trading on its exchange and the Company is not able to list its securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including: a limited availability of market quotations for our securities; reduced liquidity for our securities; brokers declining to transact in our stock; limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.
The Company’s stock price may change significantly and you could lose all or part of your investment as a result.
The trading price of the Common Stock is likely to be volatile. The stock market recently has experienced extreme volatility.
These broad market and industry fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of Common Stock, regardless of the Company’s actual operating performance. In addition, price volatility may be greater if the public float and trading volume of Common Stock is low.
In the past, following periods of market volatility, stockholders have instituted securities class action litigation. If the Company was involved in securities litigation, it could have a substantial cost and divert resources and the attention of executive management from the Company’s business regardless of the outcome of such litigation.
If securities analysts do not publish research or reports about the Company’s business or if they downgrade the Company’s stock or the Company’s industry, the Company’s stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for Common Stock will rely in part on the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about the Company or its business. The Company will not control these analysts. In addition, some financial analysts may have limited expertise with Nuburu’s model and operations. Furthermore, if one or more of the analysts who do cover the Company downgrade its stock or industry, or the stock of any of its competitors, or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about its business, the price of the Company’s stock could decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of the Company or fails to publish reports on it regularly, the Company could lose visibility in the market, which in turn could cause its stock price or trading volume to decline.
Future sales of substantial amounts of our Common Stock in the public markets, or the perception that such sales could occur, could cause the market price of our Common Stock to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well, and certain selling securityholders still may receive significant proceeds.
The sale of shares of our Common Stock in the public market, or the perception that such sales could occur, could harm the prevailing market price of our Common Stock. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, also might make it more difficult for the Company to sell equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that it deems appropriate.
As disclosed in this Report and prior filings with the SEC, the Company has issued a significant number of shares of Common Stock and warrants and convertible notes that may be converted into shares of Common Stock. Certain of these securities were or may be purchased at prices that are significantly below the current trading price of our Common Stock and the resale of such shares could result in the selling securityholder realizing a significant gain. Resales of our Common Stock or other securities under such circumstances may make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that we deem appropriate. These sales could also cause the market price of our Common Stock to decline if such equity holders sell or are perceived by the market as intending to sell any such securities, and make it more difficult for you to sell your shares of Common Stock at a time and price that you deem appropriate.
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In addition, we have reserved a total of up to 66,000 and 10,000 shares of our Common Stock for future issuance under the Nuburu, Inc. 2022 Equity Incentive Plan (the "Equity Incentive Plan") and the Nuburu, Inc. 2022 Employee Stock Purchase (the "ESPP"), respectively, which will become eligible for sale in the public market once those shares are issued, subject to provisions relating to various vesting agreements, lock-up agreements and, in some cases, limitations on volume and manner of sale applicable to affiliates under Rule 144, as applicable.
In the future, the Company may also issue its securities in connection with investments or acquisitions. The amount of shares of Common Stock issued in connection with an investment or acquisition could constitute a material portion of the Company’s then-outstanding shares of Common Stock. Any issuance of additional securities in connection with investments or acquisitions may result in additional dilution to the Company’s stockholders.
Anti-takeover provisions in our Governing Documents could delay or prevent a change of control.
Certain provisions of our Governing Documents may have an anti-takeover effect and may delay, defer or prevent a merger, acquisition, tender offer, takeover attempt or other change of control transaction that a stockholder might consider in its best interest, including those attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares held by the Company’s stockholders. The provisions include, among others, those summarized in the “Description of Registrant’s Securities” filed as Exhibit 4.6 to this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
The Company may amend the terms of the Public Warrants in a manner that may be adverse to holders of Public Warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding Public Warrants. As a result, the exercise price of the Public Warrants could be increased, the exercise period could be shortened and the number of shares of Common Stock purchasable upon exercise of a Public Warrant could be decreased, all without your approval.
The Public Warrants were issued in registered form under the Public Warrant Agreement. The Public Warrant Agreement provides that the terms of the Public Warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding Public Warrants to make any change that adversely affects the interests of the registered holders of the Public Warrants. Accordingly, the Company may amend the terms of the Public Warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least 65% of the then outstanding Public Warrants approve of such amendment. Although the Company’s ability to amend the terms of the Public Warrants with the consent of at least 65% of the then outstanding warrants is broad, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, convert the warrants into cash or stock, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares of Common Stock purchasable upon exercise of a warrant.
The Company may redeem your unexpired Public Warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to you, thereby making your Public Warrants worthless.
The Company has the ability to redeem outstanding Public Warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the last reported sales price of Common Stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any twenty (20) trading days within a thirty (30) trading-day period commencing once the Public Warrants become exercisable and ending on the third trading day prior to the date on which the Company gives proper notice of such redemption and provided certain other conditions are met. Shares of the Common Stock have never traded above $18.00 per share. If and when the Public Warrants become redeemable by the Company, the Company may not exercise its redemption right.
Redemption of the outstanding Public Warrants could force you (i) to exercise your Public Warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for you to do so, (ii) to sell your Public Warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your Public Warrants or (iii) to accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding Public Warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your Public Warrants.
In addition, the Company may redeem outstanding Public Warrants after they become exercisable for $0.10 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption provided that holders will be able to exercise their Public Warrants prior to redemption for a number of Common Stock determined based on the redemption date and the fair market value of the Common Stock. The value received upon exercise of the Public Warrants (i) may be less than the value the holders would have received if they had exercised their Public Warrants at a later time where the underlying share price is higher and (ii) may not compensate the holders for the value of the Public Warrants, including because the number of shares of common stock received is capped at 0.361 shares of Common Stock per warrant (subject to adjustment) irrespective of the remaining life of the Public Warrants.
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
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ITEM 1C. CYBERSECURITY
We have developed and implemented a cybersecurity risk management program intended to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our critical systems and information. Our cybersecurity risk management program is aligned with the Company’s business strategy.It shares common methodologies, reporting channels, and governance processes that apply to other areas of enterprise risk, including legal, compliance, strategic, operational, and financial risk. Key elements of our cybersecurity risk management program include:
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risk assessments designed to help identify material cybersecurity risks to our critical systems, information, products, services, and our broader enterprise information technology environment;
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the use of external service providers, where appropriate, to assess, test, or otherwise assist with aspects of our security controls;
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training and awareness programs for team members that include periodic and ongoing assessments to drive adoption and awareness of cybersecurity processes and controls;
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a cybersecurity incident response plan that includes procedures for responding to cybersecurity incidents; and
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a third-party risk management process for service providers, suppliers, and vendors.
In the last three fiscal years, the Company has not experienced any material cybersecurity incidents. We describe whether and how risks from identified cybersecurity threats have or that are reasonably likely to affect our financial position, results of operations, and cash flows, under the heading “Cyber-attacks and other disruptions, security breaches, and incidents could have an adverse effect on our business, harm our reputation, and expose us to liability” included as part of our Item 1A. "Risk Factors" of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, which disclosures are incorporated by reference herein.
The Company outsources around-the-clock coverage to a third-party managed service provider who provides timely alerting and notification of potential cybersecurity issues. We continually work with third-party experts to advise on new threats and cybersecurity strategy best practices for specific capabilities.
Our Audit Committee of the Board of Directors is responsible for oversight of our risk assessment, risk management, disaster recovery procedures, and cybersecurity risks.Periodically each year, the Audit Committee receives an overview from our Chief Executive Officer of our cybersecurity threat risk management and strategy processes, including potential impact on the Company, the efforts of management to manage the risks that are identified, and our disaster recovery preparations.Members of the Board of Directors regularly engage in discussions with management on cybersecurity-related news events and discuss any updates to our cybersecurity risk management and strategy programs.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Our corporate headquarters are located in Centennial, Colorado where we lease approximately 30,000 square feet of space pursuant to a lease that expires in 2025. When the lease expires, we will seek alternate facilities for our operations, including utilizing space owned or leased by strategic partners and subsidiaries.
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Nuburu has been and expects to continue to become involved in litigation or other legal proceedings from time to time. Regardless of outcome on the merits, litigation and other legal proceedings can have an adverse impact on Nuburu because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management resources, possible restrictions on our business as a result of settlement or adverse outcomes, and other factors.
Nuburu is subject to two separate actions seeking default judgments for the alleged failure to pay amounts when due. CFGI, LLC is seeking a total judgment in the amount of $86,826 through the Superior Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Centennial Tech Industrial Owner, LLC is seeking a total judgment in the amount of $409,278 through the Arapahoe County Colorado District Court.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
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PART II
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
Market Price and Ticker Symbol
Our Common Stock has traded on the NYSE American under the symbol “BURU” since January 31, 2023. The Public Warrants were traded on the NYSE American under the symbol "BURU WS." On December 12, 2023, the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) notified the Company, and publicly announced, that the NYSE had determined to (a) commence proceedings to delist the Company’s Public Warrants, and (b) immediately suspend trading in the Public Warrants due to “abnormally low” trading price levels. As such, the Public Warrants are no longer trading on a public exchange. Prior to January 31, 2023, Tailwind's Class A Common Stock and Public Warrants were listed on the NYSE American under the symbols "TWND" and "TWND WS" respectively.
Holders
As of April 11, 2025, there were 46 holders of record of our Common Stock. The actual number of stockholders of our Common Stock is greater than this number of record holders and includes holders who are beneficial owners but whose shares of Common Stock are held in street name by banks, brokers and other nominees.
Dividends
We do not intend to declare or pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
Our stockholders approved our Equity Incentive Plan and ESPP in connection with the Closing of the Business Combination. The Nuburu, Inc. 2015 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Legacy Plan”) of Legacy Nuburu was terminated as of immediately prior to the closing of the Business Combination; however, the Legacy Plan continues to govern the terms and conditions of the outstanding awards previously granted thereunder.
The information required to be provided regarding Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans is incorporated by reference to our definitive proxy statement for our 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, which we intend to hold during the second quarter of 2025.
Performance Graph
Not applicable.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities; Use of Proceeds from Registered Offerings
Descriptions of unregistered issuances of securities related to the April 2024 SPA Agreement, Warrant Issuances, Note Extinguishments and August 2024 Convertible Notes described below under "Recent Developments", unregistered issuances of securities described below under “Financing Transactions”, as well as share-based compensation arrangements described in Note 11, Stock-Based Compensation, to the consolidated financial statements are incorporated into this Item 5 by reference. Such transactions were conducted as private placements to accredited investors exempt from registration under Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act.
Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
None.
ITEM 6. RESERVED
Not applicable.
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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Unless otherwise indicated, references in this section to "Nuburu," "we," "us," "our" and "the Company" refer to Nuburu, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiary, Nuburu, Subsidiary, Inc.
The following discussion and analysis of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our audited financial statements and the notes related thereto which are included in “Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Certain information contained in the discussion and analysis set forth below includes forward-looking statements. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including those set forth under “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
A comparison of the results for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 is provided below. An analysis of our financial condition and results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 and can be found under Part II, Item 7. "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation" of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, as amended, for the year ended December 31, 2023, which is available through the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at www.sec.gov.
As we have disclosed previously, we have not yet achieved commercialization and expect continued losses until we can do so. We must rely on capital from investors to support our operations. During 2024 and early 2025, management negotiated several funding agreements with multiple investors. Certain of these investors have not fully performed their obligations under such agreements. As a result, the Company has not received the funding necessary to maintain operations, fill orders or implement its sales and marketing program. Given the lack of funding, management initiated measures designed to reduce costs, which included implementing a furlough of employees. This significantly impacted commercialization and operations, particularly in the second half of 2024. In response to the furloughs and financing challenges, several key employees have resigned entirely.
We generated total revenue of $152,127 and $2,085,532 and had net losses of $34,515,754 and $20,710,446 during the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
We expect to incur significant expenses and operating losses for the foreseeable future, as we:
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continue our research and development efforts;
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devote substantial resources to implement our announced strategic plan and related acquisitions; and
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operate as a public company.
Accordingly, we may seek to fund our operations through public or private equity financings, debt financings, or other sources. However, we may be unable to raise additional funds or enter into such other arrangements when needed on favorable terms or at all. Our failure to raise capital or enter into such other arrangements as and when needed would have a negative impact on our financial condition.
Restatement
See Note 15, “Restatement of Previously Issued Consolidated Financial Statements and Previously Issued Unaudited Interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements”, to the consolidated financial statements for additional information regarding the restatement of amounts included in the Company's previously issued financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2023 and for each of the quarterly periods ended March 31, 2024, June 30, 2024 and September 30, 2024.
The Business Combination
On January 31, 2023, we consummated the Business Combination. We received net proceeds from the Business Combination totaling $3,243,079, prior to deducting transaction and issuance costs.
The Business Combination is accounted for as a reverse recapitalization for financial statement reporting purposes with Legacy Nuburu deemed to be the acquirer and Tailwind deemed to be the acquiree. Under this method of accounting, Tailwind will be treated as the acquired company for financial statement reporting purposes.
Being an SEC-registered and publicly traded company has required us to hire additional personnel and to implement procedures and processes to address public company regulatory requirements and customary practices. Compared to the operations of Legacy Nuburu, we have incurred and expect to incur additional annual expenses as a public company for, among other things, directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, director fees, and additional internal and external accounting, legal, and administrative resources, including increased personnel costs, audit, and other professional service fees.
Reverse Stock Split
On February 22, 2024, we held a special meeting of stockholders where stockholders approved proposals to authorize the Company to effect a reverse stock split of the Company's issued and outstanding Common Stock within a range from 1-for 30 to 1-for-75, with the exact ratio of the reverse stock split to be determined by the Company's board of directors. On July 23, 2024, the Company effected a 1-for-40 reverse stock split (the "Reverse Stock Split").
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Financing Transactions
April 2024 SPA Agreement
On April 3, 2024, we entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “SPA”) with certain accredited investors named therein pursuant to which the investors agreed to purchase from the Company $3,000,000 of newly issued shares (the “Shares”) of the Company’s Common Stock, at a per Share purchase price of $5.00 per Share. Only a portion of the purchase price ($644,936) has been advanced. In October 2024, a notification of default was sent to the investors for failure to provide the remainder of the purchase price.
Warrant Issuances and Note Extinguishments
Pre-Funded Warrants
On May 1, 2024, we entered into a Pre-Funded Warrant Purchase Program (the “Program”) with strategic investors, pursuant to which from time-to-time the Company sold and the investors acquired pre-funded warrants. The exercise price for the pre-funded warrants is substantially paid by the purchaser at closing and, as a result, such warrants may be exercised in the future with a nominal exercise price payment. Investors also received a warrant to acquire the same number of shares covered by the pre-funded warrant for a purchase price equal to 150% of the relevant pre-funded warrant purchase price exercisable for a period of 5 years. Each specific transaction was entered into on terms agreed by the parties; provided however, that in no case was the purchase price per share to be less than 110% of the closing price per share of the Company’s common stock on the trading day immediately preceding the date of purchase. Contemporaneously with the acquisition of pre-funded warrants, the investors were also permitted to voluntarily convert outstanding notes previously issued by the Company; provided that such transactions, as a whole, did not result in an effective direct or indirect discount to market price to the investors of greater than 30%.
During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company issued 837,116 pre-funded warrants, for total cash proceeds of $2,139,866 in pre-funded warrants pursuant to the Program. Each pre-funded warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share of common stock at an exercise price ranging from 125% to 140% of the relevant pre-funded warrant purchase price. The pre-funded warrant is exercisable any time after issuance through five years. No pre-funded warrants were exercised during the year ended December 31, 2024. The proceeds from the issuance of the pre-funded warrants were recorded to additional paid-in capital in the consolidated balance sheets. In early 2025, the Company entered into an amendment (the “Amendment”) to the Settlement with Liqueous, which among other things modified the Company's Pre-Funded Warrants. For additional information, see Note 16 to the consolidated financial statements included herein. The Program is no longer being utilized.
Additional Warrant Issuances
Further, during the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company issued certain additional warrants. For additional information, see notes 8 and 10 to the consolidated financial statements.
Note Extinguishments
During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company issued 19,234,912 shares to noteholders to extinguish an aggregate $5,645,471 of principal and accrued interest under the Senior Notes and Junior Notes.
August 2024 Convertible Notes
On August 6, 2024 and August 19, 2024, the Company entered into the August 2024 Convertible Note Agreement with Esousa for the sale of the August 2024 Convertible Notes in the aggregate principal amount of $673,000, issued at a discount of $25,000. The August 2024 Convertible Notes bear interest at 15% per annum, with principal and accrued interest due at maturity on February 6, 2025, unless earlier paid or converted into common stock. The notes are prepayable at any time prior to the maturity date without penalty. Upon the occurrence and continuance of an event of default or spin-off of a subsidiary, a default interest rate of an additional 5% per annum may be applied to any outstanding borrowings and the investor may declare all outstanding principal plus accrued interest immediately due. Additionally, at any point after issuance, the investor has the option to convert the August 2024 Convertible Notes into common stock at the lower of (i) a fixed price of $2.03 or (ii) 80% of the lowest daily volume weighted-average price in the 10 trading days prior to such conversion date, subject to certain adjustments. Esousa also purchased $687,315 of outstanding principal and accrued interest under the Senior Convertible Notes from an existing investor and subsequently exchanged such notes for the Additional August 2024 Convertible Notes. The Additional August 2024 Convertible Notes may be prepaid at any time without penalty, do not accrue interest, mature on February 6, 2025 and may be converted at any time on or after the issuance date into common stock at a conversion price of 25% of the closing price of the common stock on the trading day prior to such conversion date, subject to certain adjustments.
The August 2024 Convertible Notes and Additional August 2024 Convertible Notes are unsecured and subordinated to the Company’s outstanding senior convertible notes and junior bridge notes in right of payment, whether in respect to payment or redemptions, interest, damages, upon liquidation or dissolution or otherwise.
In March 2025, the remaining August 2024 Convertible Notes were purchased by Indigo Capital and subsequently extinguished, as further described in Note 16 to the consolidated financial statements.
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Promissory Note
In October 2024, the Company entered into an unsecured promissory note (the "Promissory Note") with an investor for a principal amount of $1,053,824. The Promissory Note is subordinated to the Company's other outstanding debt instruments, accrues interest at 8% per annum and matures in October 2025. The notes are prepayable at any time prior to the maturity date without penalty. Upon an event of default, the investor may require all outstanding and accrued interest immediately due and payable. In early 2025, the Company entered into the Amendment with Liqueous, pursuant to which the parties agreed to settle the Promissory Note through the issuance of the February 2025 Pre-Funded Warrants, as defined and further described in Note 16 to the consolidated financial statements included herein.
Master Agreement
On October 1, 2024, the Company entered into the Master Agreement with Liqueous LP (the “Investor”) pursuant to which, the Company and the Investor established a strategic financing framework for short-term and long-term financing for the Company. The Master Agreement provided for: (i) an immediate capital infusion from the Investor of $3.0 million at the current market price, (ii) subsequent weekly capital infusions of $1,250,000 at market price until an additional $10 million has been invested; (iii) the acquisition and conversion of certain outstanding notes, with each $1.00 of debt converted into $2.00 of common stock at market price; (iv) an adjustment to current market price of certain outstanding pre-funded warrants held by the Investor having a current cash value of approximately $2.2 million; and (v) the implementation of a $50 million equity line of credit ("ELOC") pursuant to which the Company may require the Investor to purchase common stock from time-to-time in the amounts and for the prices determined in accordance with the terms of the ELOC. Following the Settlement with Liqueous, as amended, the ELOC will not be implemented and no additional equity will be sold to Liqueous, other than as set forth in the Settlement, as amended.
NYSE American Delisting and Reinstatement
On June 13, 2024, NYSE American LLC announced that it had determined to commence proceedings to delist our Common Stock. Trading of our stock on NYSE American was immediately suspended and we commenced trading on the over-the-counter market.
On July 29, 2024, we received a notification from NYSE American informing us that we had resolved the continued listing deficiency with respect to low selling price as described in Section 1003(f)(v) of the NYSE American Company Guide. As a result, the staff of NYSE Regulation withdrew its delisting determination and lifted the trading suspension on Nuburu’s Common Stock. The Common Stock re-commenced trading on NYSE American on Friday, August 2, 2024 under the symbol “BURU.”
Recent Developments
SFE EI Senior Note Settlement Agreement and Company Funding
On January 13, 2025, the Company entered into a letter agreement with S.F.E. Equity Investments SARL (“SFE EI”), pursuant to which SFE EI agreed to engage in efforts and commit capital to finance the operations of the Company for the next twelve months pursuant to a business plan focused on building a stable foundation for the future business (the “Transformation Plan”) to be agreed by the parties. In connection with the Transformation Plan, the Company agreed to certain governance changes.
Liqueous Settlement Agreement
On January 14, 2025, the Company entered into a settlement and mutual release agreement (the “Settlement”) with Liqueous LP (“Liqueous”), pursuant to which the parties provided an immediate mutual release of claims and Liqueous agreed to provide to the Company (i) payments for an aggregate of $1,000,000 in three installments, and (ii) a payment of $500,000 at such time as the parties are able to negotiate the amendment of the terms of outstanding Pre-Funded Warrants held by Liqueous to reflect current market price. Such payments are conditioned on the Company’s continued performance under funding arrangements executed by the Company with Liqueous before July 31, 2024.
On February 17, 2025, the Company entered into an amendment to the Settlement with Liqueous, pursuant to which the parties agreed to (i) settle the Promissory Note, described further in Note 8 to the consolidated financial statements, through the issuance of 6,406,225 pre-funded warrants exercisable into common stock (the "February 2025 Pre-Funded Warrants"), (ii) modify certain outstanding Pre-Funded Warrants issued in connection with the Program, described further in Note 10 to the consolidated financial statements, resulting in 3,647,416 pre-funded warrants (the "Modified Pre-Funded Warrants"), together with the February 2025 Pre-Funded Warrants, (the "2025 Warrants") exercisable into common stock outstanding following the transaction and (iii) modify the remaining outstanding Pre-Funded Warrants issued in connection with the Program and concurrently issue 9,360,888 common shares of the Company as consideration for the settlement of such Pre-Funded Warrants. The exercise price for the 2025 Pre-Funded Warrants is substantially paid by the purchaser and, as a result, such warrants may be exercised into common stock in the future with a nominal exercise price payment. The Modified Pre-Funded Warrants and February 2025 Pre-Funded Warrants are exercisable anytime through September 2029 and February 2030, respectively. As of April 15, 2025, the Modified Pre-Funded Warrants, February 2025 Pre-Funded Warrants and common shares of the Company required to be issued in connection with the Amendment of the Settlement were not yet issued by the Company.
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Trumar Capital LLC Acquisition Agreement
On February 19, 2025, the Company entered into a commitment letter with Trumar Capital LLC to acquire: (i) a license of certain technology that would allow the Company to expand its existing business within the defense sector; (ii) a controlling interest in a defense-tech company that specializes in the design, production, and outfitting of a diverse range of vehicles, including industrial and military applications, as well as electronic devices for defense and security, advanced telecommunications, and tracking systems; and (iii) a controlling interest in a Software as a Service (SaaS) startup focused on operational resilience. The Company’s Executive Chairperson owns a controlling interest in the SaaS target entity, and as a result, the proposed investment will be negotiated by, and authorized only with approval from, the independent board members, and will be subject to stockholder approval.
The anticipated investments will occur in stages. The first stage, which has been completed, involved the purchase of a 20% ownership interest in TCEI for an aggregate price of $1.5 million in cash plus $23.5 million in notes. Such notes carry a five-year maturity, a 10% annual interest rate, and a three-month grace period, followed by a monthly payment structure, and are cancellable if the full transaction does not close. The $1.5 million cash portion of the purchase price was provided by Indigo Capital LLC, to whom Nuburu issued a promissory note with a face amount of $1,578,495, maturity date of March 1, 2026, and conversion price equal to a 20% discount to the lowest VWAP during the 5 days prior to the conversion date.
The second stage, which will require both stockholder and regulatory approval, will involve the investment in additional ownership interests, resulting in Nuburu (i) having a controlling interest in the target entities and (ii) issuing Common Stock in excess of 19.9% of its outstanding Common Stock as part of the purchase price. Nuburu would also receive rights to appoint directors for each target entity, consistent with its percentage of ownership in each entity.
We also agreed to issue 6,086,957 shares of common stock to SFE EI as consideration for SFE EI escrowing approximately $4.2 million in assets for purposes of guaranteeing our performance obligations in connection with the TCEI acquisition. Issuances to SFE EI may not exceed 19.9% of the outstanding Common Stock until approved by stockholders.
Consummation of the full TCEI acquisition is subject to continued due diligence, receipt of an acceptable valuation from a third-party valuation firm, regulatory approvals, and stockholder consent.
On March 31, 2025, we also entered into a Joint Pursuit Agreement with the defense-tech company to allow both parties to jointly develop and market certain defense-related vehicles and services in advance of closing the full TCEI acquisition.
Humbl Share Exchange Agreement
On February 28, 2025, the Company entered into a share exchange agreement (“Equity Swap Agreement”) and master distribution agreement with HUMBL, Inc. (“HUMBL”). Under the terms of the Equity Swap Agreement, the Company agreed to issue $2 million in common stock to HUMBL and HUMBL agreed to issue an equal amount of Series C Preferred Stock to the Company. The issuance of shares by each party was contingent upon obtaining any required regulatory, exchange, or stockholder approvals and satisfying any applicable registration requirements. Subsequently, the parties have terminated such agreements and have no further obligations to each other in connection with such agreements.
Indigo Capital Convertible Notes
On March 3, 2025, the Company entered into the following transactions:
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in exchange for a capital infusion of $1,500,000, the Company issued to Indigo Capital LLC ("Indigo Capital") a $1,578,495 face amount unsecured, convertible note. The note bears no interest for so long as it is not in default and has a March 1, 2026 maturity date and a conversion price equal to a 20% discount to the lowest VWAP during the 5 days prior to the conversion date;
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in exchange for the extinguishment of existing senior convertible notes of the Company held by Indigo Capital, the Company issued to Indigo Capital a $894,708 face amount unsecured, convertible note that bears no interest for so long as it is not in default, and has March 1, 2026 maturity date and a conversion price equal to 33.33% of the lowest VWAP during the 5 days prior to the conversion date.
Issuances of common stock on conversion of such notes are limited to an amount equal to 19.9% of the outstanding common stock as of the date of execution, until such time as the transaction is approved by stockholders.
The transaction documents contain customary representations, warranties, and covenants, and the notes include customary events of default including, but not limited to, failure to pay amounts due when required, default in covenants, bankruptcy events, and suspension or delisting from trading of the common stock on an eligible exchange. The Company is also obligated to register for resale the shares issuable upon conversion of the notes.
Foreclosure Collateral Sale
On March 5, 2025, lenders holding certain outstanding Senior Convertible Notes held an auction for the sale of collateral securing the Company’s repayment obligations to such lenders. The auction resulted in the transfer of collateral to an affiliate of the senior secured lenders in exchange for a full discharge and extinguishment of the Company’s Junior and Senior Convertible Notes. All of the Company’s outstanding long-term indebtedness has been eliminated through a combination of the Company’s conversion of outstanding indebtedness over the course of the last year and the discharge and extinguishment of debt resulting from the lender’s collateral sale.
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Components of Statements of Operations
Revenue
Revenue consists of revenue recognized from sales and installation services of high-powered lasers. We have customers in the United States, Europe, and Asia. In all sales arrangements, revenue is recognized when control of the promised goods or services is transferred to customers, in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to be entitled to receive in exchange for those goods or services.
Cost of Revenue
Cost of revenue primarily consists of the cost of materials, overhead and employee compensation associated with the manufacturing of our high-powered lasers. Product cost also includes lower of cost or net realizable value inventory (“LCNRV”) adjustments if the carrying value of the inventory is greater than its net realizable value as well as adjustments for excess or obsolete inventory.
Operating Expenses
Research and Development
Research and development expenses consist primarily of compensation and related costs for personnel, including stock-based compensation, employee benefits, training, travel, third-party consulting services, laboratory supplies, and research and development equipment depreciation incurred to further our commercialization development efforts. We expense research and development costs as incurred. We anticipate research and development expenses to increase significantly as we expand our product portfolio.
As described above, during 2024, management initiated measures designed to reduce costs, which included implementing a furlough of employees. This significantly impacted commercialization and operations, particularly in the second half of 2024.
Selling and Marketing
Selling and marketing expenses consist primarily of compensation and related costs for our direct sales force, sales management, and marketing and include stock-based compensation, employee benefits, and travel for selling and marketing employees as well as costs related to trade shows, marketing programs. third-party consulting expenses, and application lab depreciation expenses. We expense selling and marketing costs as incurred. We expect selling and marketing expenses to increase in future periods as we expand our sales force, marketing, and customer support organizations and increase our participation in trade shows and marketing programs.