ITEM 7 – MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Company Overview
IZEA Worldwide, Inc. (“IZEA”, “we”, “us” or “our”) creates and operates online marketplaces that connect marketers, including brands, agencies, and publishers, with content creators such as bloggers and tweeters (“creators”). Our technology brings the marketers and creators together, enabling their transactions to be completed at scale through the management of custom content workflow, creator search and targeting, bidding, analytics, and payment processing.
We help power the creator economy, allowing everyone from college students and stay-at-home individuals to celebrities and accredited journalists the opportunity to monetize their content, creativity and influence through our marketers. These creators are compensated by IZEA for producing unique content such as long and short form text, videos, photos, status updates, and illustrations for marketers or distributing such content on behalf of marketers through their personal websites, blogs, and social media channels.
Marketers engage us to gain access to our industry expertise, technology, data, analytics, and network of creators. The majority of the marketers engage us to perform these services on their behalf, but they also have the ability to use our marketplaces on a self-service basis by licensing our technology. Our technology is used for two primary purposes: the engagement of creators for influencer marketing campaigns, or the engagement of creators to create stand-alone custom content for the marketers’ own use and distribution. Marketers receive influential consumer content and engaging, shareable stories that drive awareness.
Our primary technology platform, The IZEA Exchange (“IZEAx”), enables transactions to be completed at scale through the management of custom content workflow, creator search and targeting, bidding, analytics, and payment processing. IZEAx is designed to provide a unified ecosystem that enables the creation and publication of multiple types of custom content through a creator’s personal websites, blogs, or social media channels including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, among others. Until December 2019 when it was merged into IZEAx, we operated the Ebyline technology platform, which we acquired in January 2015. The Ebyline platform was originally designed as a self-service content marketplace to replace in-house editorial newsrooms in news agencies with a “virtual newsroom” to source and handle their content workflow with outside creators. After the acquisition, we began to utilize the creators in the Ebyline platform to produce professional custom content for brands, in addition to the self-service functionality used by newspapers. In July 2016, we acquired the ZenContent technology platform to use as an in-house workflow tool that enables us to produce highly scalable, multi-part production of content for both e-commerce entities and brand customers. The TapInfluence technology platform, acquired in 2018, performed in a similar manner to IZEAx and was being utilized by the majority of the TapInfluence customers as a self-service platform via a licensing arrangement, allowing access to the platform and its creators for self-managed marketing campaigns. After the migration of the last customers to IZEAx from the Ebyline platform in December 2019 and from the TapInfluence platform in February 2020, all marketplace revenue was solely generated from the IZEAx platform until the launch of Shake in November 2020.
In 2020, we launched two new platforms, BrandGraph and Shake. BrandGraph is a social media intelligence platform that is heavily integrated with IZEAx and both platforms rely heavily on data from each other, but it is also available as a stand-alone platform. The platform maps and classifies the complex hierarchy of corporation-to-brand relationships by category and associates social content with brands through a proprietary content analysis engine. Shake is a new online marketplace where buyers can quickly and easily hire creators of all types for influencer marketing, photography, design, and other digital services. The Shake platform is aimed at digital creatives seeking freelance “gig” work. Creators list available “Shakes” on their accounts in the platform and marketers select and purchase creative packages from them through a streamlined chat experience, assisted by ShakeBot - a proprietary, artificial intelligence assistant.
Impact of COVID-19 on our Business
Our operations, sales, and finances were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020. In an effort to protect the health and safety of our employees, we took precautionary action and directed all staff to work from home effective March 16, 2020. During this work-from-home period, which is ongoing, the term of our leases for our headquarters and temporary office spaces expired. When and if we determine it prudent to end or modify our work-from-home policy, we may need to enter into a new lease for office space and/or arrangements for the use of co-working facilities.
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While we are able to maintain full operations remotely, the economic conditions caused by COVID-19 have negatively impacted the business activity of our customers. We observed changes in advertising decisions, timing, and spending priorities from brand and agency customers, which have resulted in a negative impact to our revenue.
In light of the adverse economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we implemented certain cost-reduction measures for the three months ended June 30, 2020, including hiring restrictions and temporary salary and wage reductions. Salary reductions averaged 20%, including a 21% reduction in the base salary for our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer and in the fees of our directors. We also nearly eliminated travel expense for the remainder of 2020. In March 2020, we incurred debt by drawing on our secured credit facility and receiving a loan under the U.S. Small Business Association’s Paycheck Protection Program. After we were able to secure additional capital through sales of our common stock through an at the market offering program in June 2020, the secured credit facility was paid down by June 30, 2020, and the employee salary reductions and hiring restrictions were removed effective July 1, 2020.
In an effort to contain COVID-19 or slow its spread, governments around the world have from time to time enacted various measures, including orders to close all businesses not deemed “essential,” isolate residents to their homes or places of residence, and practice social distancing when engaging in essential activities. These measures have impacted the method and timing of certain business meetings and our attendance at industry events. Rather than attending events in-person, as we have done historically, these events have been held virtually. We believe such events still are a valuable business opportunity, but their relative value without in-person networking is uncertain.
When COVID-19 is demonstrably contained, we anticipate a rebound in economic activity, depending on the rate, pace, and effectiveness of the containment efforts deployed by various national, state, and local governments; however, the timing and extent of any such rebound is uncertain. In the fourth quarter of 2020, we began to see a dramatic year over year increase in Managed Services bookings, our net orders from customers, resulting in 48% growth compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. That growth in bookings led to a 10% growth in overall revenue for the fourth quarter of 2020. While we have seen a continuation of that positive momentum for Managed Services bookings in the first quarter of 2021, there is still risk that bookings will not be recognized as revenue if customers cancel prior to the performance of service.
We will continue to actively monitor the situation and may take further actions altering our business operations that we determine are in the best interests of our employees, customers, partners, suppliers, and stakeholders, or as required by federal, state, or local authorities. It is not clear what the potential effects any such alterations or modifications may have on our business, including the effects on our customers, employees, and prospects, or on our future financial results.
Key Components of Results of Operations
Overall consolidated results of operations are evaluated based on Revenue, Cost of Revenue, Sales and Marketing expenses, General and Administrative expenses, Depreciation and Amortization, and Other Income (Expense), net.
Revenue
We historically generated revenue from five primary sources: (1) revenue from our managed services when a marketer (typically a brand, agency or partner) pays us to provide custom content, influencer marketing, amplification or other campaign management services (“Managed Services”); (2) revenue from fees charged to software customers on their marketplace spend within our IZEAx, Shake, and TapInfluence platforms (“Marketplace Spend Fees”); (3) revenue from fees charged to access the IZEAx, BrandGraph, Ebyline, and TapInfluence platforms (“License Fees”); (4) revenue from transactions generated by the self-service use of our Ebyline platform for professional custom content workflow (“Legacy Workflow Fees”); and (5) revenue derived from other fees such as inactivity fees, early cash-out fees, and subscription plan fees charged to users of our platforms (“Other Fees”). After the migration of the last customers from the Ebyline platform to IZEAx in December 2019, there is no longer any revenue generated from Legacy Workflow Fees and all such revenue is reported as Marketplace Spend Fees under the IZEAx platform.
As discussed in more detail within “Critical Accounting Policies and Use of Estimates” under “Note 1. Company and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,” under Part I, Item 1 herein, revenue from Marketplace Spend Fees and Legacy Workflow Fees is reported on a net basis and revenue from all other sources, including Managed Services, License Fees, and Other Fees are reported on a gross basis. We further categorize these sources into two primary groups: (1) Managed Services and (2) SaaS Services, which includes revenue from Marketplace Spend Fees, License Fees, Legacy Workflow Fees, and Other Fees.
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Cost of Revenue
Our cost of revenue consists of direct costs paid to our third-party creators who provide the custom content, influencer marketing or amplification services for our Managed Service customers where we report revenue on a gross basis. It also includes internal costs related to our campaign fulfillment and SaaS support departments. These costs include salaries, bonuses, commissions, stock-based compensation, employee benefit costs, and miscellaneous departmental costs related to the personnel who are primarily responsible for providing support to our customers and ultimately fulfillment of our obligations under our contracts with customers. Where appropriate, we capitalize costs that were incurred with software that is developed or acquired for our revenue supporting platforms and amortize these costs over the estimated useful lives of those platforms. This amortization is separately stated under depreciation and amortization in our consolidated statements of operations.
Sales and Marketing
Our sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of salaries, bonuses, commissions, stock-based compensation, employee benefit costs, travel and miscellaneous departmental costs for our marketing, sales and sales support personnel, as well as marketing expenses such as brand marketing, public relation events, trade shows and marketing materials, and travel expenses.
General and Administrative
Our general and administrative expense consists primarily of salaries, bonuses, commissions, stock-based compensation, employee benefit costs, and miscellaneous departmental costs related to our executive, finance, legal, human resources, and other administrative personnel. It also includes travel, public company and investor relations expenses, as well as accounting and legal professional services fees, leasehold facilities, and other corporate-related expenses. General and administrative expense also includes our technology and development costs consisting primarily of our payroll costs for our internal engineers and contractors responsible for developing, maintaining, and improving our technology, as well as hosting and software subscription costs. These costs are expensed as incurred, except to the extent that they are associated with internal use software that qualifies for capitalization, which are then recorded as software development costs in the consolidated balance sheet. We also capitalize costs that are related to our acquired intangible assets. Depreciation and amortization related to these costs are separately stated under depreciation and amortization in our consolidated statements of operations. General and administrative expense also includes current period gains and losses on our acquisition costs payable, as well as gains and losses from the sale of fixed assets. Impairments on fixed assets, intangible assets and goodwill, are included as part of general and administrative expense when they are not material and broken out separately in our consolidated statements of operations when they are material.
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation and amortization expense consists primarily of amortization of our internal use software and acquired intangible assets from our business acquisitions. To a lesser extent, we also have depreciation and amortization on equipment and leasehold improvements used by our personnel. Costs are amortized or depreciated over the estimated useful lives of the associated assets.
Other Income (Expense)
Interest Expense. Interest expense is mainly related to the imputed interest on our acquisition costs payable and interest when we use our secured credit facility.
Other Income (Expense). Other income (expense) consists primarily of interest income for interest earned or changes in the value of our foreign assets and liabilities and foreign currency exchange gains and losses on foreign currency transactions, primarily related to the Canadian Dollar.
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Results of Operations for the Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
The following table sets forth a summary of our consolidated statements of operations and the change between the periods:
Twelve Months Ended December 31,
Costs and expenses:
Other income (expense):
Revenue
The following table illustrates our revenue by type, the percentage of total revenue by type, and the change between the periods:
Twelve Months Ended December 31,
Managed Services revenue during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020, increased 4% from the same period in 2019, primarily due to several customers completing larger fourth quarter projects based on their marketing objectives as compared to the prior year period.
SaaS Services revenue is generated by the self-service use of our technology platforms by marketers to manage their own content workflow and influencer marketing campaigns. It consists of fees earned on the marketer’s spend within the IZEAx,BrandGraph, TapInfluence, and Ebyline platforms, along with the license and support fees to access the platform services.
•Legacy Workflow Fees are no longer generated after the migration of the last customers from the Ebyline platform to IZEAx in December 2019. Any activity from former legacy workflow customers is now generated under the IZEAx platform and reported as Marketplace Spend Fees.
•Marketplace Spend Fees decreased by $648,629 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 when compared with the same period in 2019, primarily as a result of lower spend levels from our marketers and lower fees assessed on those spends as a result of competitive pricing efforts and the incorporation of lower margin legacy
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workflow customers into IZEAx. Revenue from Marketplace Spend Fees represents our net margins received on this business. After the migration of the last customers from the TapInfluence platform to IZEAx in February 2020, all revenue was solely generated from the IZEAx platform until the launch of Shake in November 2020.
•License Fees revenue decreased during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 to $1,507,336 compared to $1,986,285 in the same period of 2019. The decrease was partly due to former TapInfluence customers who churned during the second half of 2019. Additionally, we implemented a competitive standardized pricing system for all IZEAx license fee customers that was at a lower price point than the former TapInfluence licensing contracts.
•Other Fees revenue increased 94% for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 due to increases in the number of subscriptions for certain new self-service offerings such as IZEAx Discovery and BrandGraph.
Cost of Revenue
Cost of revenue for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 decreased by $521,315, or approximately 6%, compared to the same period in 2019 primarily as a result of the decrease in Managed Services revenue. Cost of revenue as a percentage of revenue remained consistent at 45% in 2019 and 44% in 2020.
Sales and Marketing
Sales and marketing expense for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 decreased by $240,592, or approximately 4%, compared to the same period in 2019. Our payroll and personnel related expenses and stock compensation for sales and marketing personnel decreased $52,000 as a result of the cost reductions and operating changes implemented after the outbreak of COVID-19. Travel related expenses decreased by $176,000 due to the impact of COVID-19 restricting travel beginning in March 2020 and subscription based software expenses decreased by $10,000 due to the non-renewal of non-essential software as part of our operating changes.
General and Administrative
General and administrative expense for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 decreased by $581,609, or approximately 6%, compared to the same period in 2019. General and administrative expense for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 decreased due to a $802,000 reduction in payroll and personnel related expenses as a result of a 13% decrease in the number of employees compared to the prior year period and the 20% average decrease in salaries that was implemented for the second quarter of 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 cost reduction efforts. Rent expense also decreased by $370,000 due to the non-renewal of expiring office facility leases and travel costs decreased by $142,000 as our employees continue to work from home. These decreases were offset by an increase of $133,000 in contractor expenses as we began to increase the number of engineers working on our technology offerings. We also recorded a gain of $602,410 related to the settlement of our acquisition cost liabilities in 2019 that did not recur in 2020. The gain resulted due to the actual closing market price of our common stock on the date of settlement being lower than the 30-day volume weighted average price used to calculate the number of shares used to pay for the liability pursuant to the terms of the purchase agreements.
Impairment of Goodwill and Intangible Assets
In March 2020, we identified triggering events due to the reduction in our projected revenue due to adverse economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the continuation of a market capitalization below our carrying value, and uncertainty for recovery given the volatility of the capital markets surrounding COVID-19. We performed an interim assessment of goodwill, using the discounted cash flow method under the income approach and the guideline transaction method under the market approach, and determined that the carrying value of our Company’s reporting unit as of March 31, 2020 exceeded the fair value. As a result of the valuation, we recorded a $4.3 million impairment of goodwill resulting in an expense for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020.
For the twelve months ended December 31, 2019, we recorded impairment charges of $418,099 associated with our reduction in use of certain developed technology upon implementation of IZEAx 3.0 and the migration of TapInfluence customers and creators into the IZEAx platform.
Depreciation and Amortization
Depreciation and amortization expense for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 decreased by $98,503, or approximately 6%, compared to the same period in 2019.
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Depreciation and amortization expense on property and equipment was $135,077 and $131,121 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Depreciation expense has increased slightly due to the purchase of new equipment in the fourth quarter of 2019 and first quarter of 2020.
Amortization expense was $1,517,049 and $1,619,508 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Amortization expense related to intangible assets acquired in the Ebyline, ZenContent, and TapInfluence acquisitions was $1,105,960 and $1,228,433 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively, while amortization expense related to internal use software development costs was $411,089 and $391,075 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Amortization on our intangible acquisition assets decreased in 2020 as several of these assets were fully amortized during 2020. Amortization on our internal use software increased due to the release of IZEAx 3.0 in April 2019.
Other Income (Expense)
Interest expense decreased by $170,642 to $63,012 during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 compared to the same period in 2019 due primarily to the elimination of amounts owed on our acquisition costs payable and amortization thereon after July 2019 and partly to the reduction in our average borrowings on our secured credit facility during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.
The $64,530 decrease in other income during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 when compared to the same period in 2019 resulted primarily from reduced interest income received on cash balances as short term interest rates declined to near zero in 2020 after the outbreak of COVID-19 and currency exchange losses on our Canadian transactions in 2020.
Net Loss
Net loss for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 was $10,250,007, a $2,959,887 increase in the net loss of $7,290,120 for the same period in 2019. The increase in net loss was primarily the result of the impairment on intangible assets discussed above offset by reductions in operating expenses.
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Key Metric
We review information provided by our key financial metric, gross billings, to assess the progress of our business and make decisions on where to allocate our resources. As our business evolves, we may make changes to the key financial metrics that we consider to measure our business in future periods.
Gross Billings by Revenue Type
Company management evaluates our operations and makes strategic decisions based, in part, on our key metric of gross billings from our two primary types of revenue, Managed Services and SaaS Services. We define gross billings as the total dollar value of the amounts charged to our customers for the services we perform and the amounts billed to our SaaS customers for their self-service purchase of goods and services on our platforms. The amounts billed to our SaaS customers are on a cost plus basis. Gross billings are the amounts of our reported revenue plus the cost of payments we made to third-party creators providing the content or sponsorship services, which are netted against revenue for generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”) reporting purposes.
Gross billings for Managed Services are the same as revenue reported for those services in our consolidated statements of operations on a GAAP basis, as there is no requirement to net the costs of revenue against the revenue. Gross billings for SaaS Services differ from revenue reported for these services in our consolidated statements of operations on a GAAP basis, as revenue for these services are presented net of the amounts we collect and pay to the third-party creators providing the content or sponsorship services to the self-service SaaS customer.
We consider gross billings to be an important indicator of our potential performance as it measures the total dollar volume of transactions generated through our marketplaces. Tracking gross billings allows us to monitor the percentage of gross billings that we are able to retain after payments to our creators. Additionally, tracking gross billings is critical as it pertains to our credit risk and cash flow. We invoice our customers based on our services performed or based on their self-service transactions plus our fee. Then we remit the agreed-upon transaction price to the creators. If we do not collect the money from our customers prior to the time of payment to our creators, we could experience large swings in our cash flows. Finally, gross billings allow us to evaluate our transaction totals on an equal basis in order for us to see our contribution margins by revenue stream so that we can better understand where we should be allocating our resources.
The following tables set forth our gross billings by revenue type, the percentage of total gross billings by type, and the change between the periods:
Twelve Months Ended December 31,
Non-GAAP Financial Measure
Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA is a “non-GAAP financial measure” as defined under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). We define Adjusted EBITDA as earnings or loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, non-cash stock-based compensation, gain or loss on asset disposals or impairment, changes in acquisition cost estimates, and certain other unusual or non-cash income and expense items such as gains or losses on settlement of liabilities and exchanges, and changes in the fair value of derivatives, if applicable.
We use Adjusted EBITDA as a measure of operating performance, for planning purposes, to allocate resources to
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enhance the financial performance of our business, and in communications with our Board of Directors regarding our financial performance. We believe that Adjusted EBITDA also provides useful information to investors as it excludes transactions not related to our core cash-generating operating business activities, and it provides consistency to facilitate period-to-period comparisons. We believe that excluding these transactions allows investors to meaningfully trend and analyze the performance of our core cash-generating operations.
All companies do not calculate Adjusted EBITDA in the same manner, and Adjusted EBITDA as presented by us may not be comparable to Adjusted EBITDA presented by other companies, which limits its usefulness as a comparative measure. Moreover, Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for an analysis of our results of operations as under GAAP. These limitations are that Adjusted EBITDA:
•does not include stock-based compensation expense, which is a non-cash expense, but has been, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future, a significant recurring expense for our business and an important part of our compensation strategy;
•does not include stock issued for payment of services, which is a non-cash expense, but has been, and is expected to be for the foreseeable future, an important means for us to compensate our directors, vendors and other parties who provide us with services;
•does not include changes in acquisition cost estimates as a result of the allocation of acquisition costs payable to compensation expense which may be a significant recurring expense for our business if we continue to make business acquisitions;
•does not include gains or losses on the settlement of acquisition costs payable or liabilities when the stock value, as agreed upon in the agreement, varies from the market price of our stock on the settlement date. This is a non-cash expense, but was a recurring expense for our business on certain business contracts where the amounts could vary;
•does not include depreciation and intangible assets amortization expense, impairment charges and gains or losses on disposal of equipment, which is not always a current period cash expense, but the assets being depreciated and amortized may have to be replaced in the future; and
•does not include interest expense and other gains, losses, and expenses that we believe are not indicative of our ongoing core operating results, but these items may represent a reduction or increase in cash available to us.
Because of these limitations, Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as a measure of discretionary cash available to us to invest in the operation and growth of our business or as a measure of cash that will be available to us to meet our obligations. You should compensate for these limitations by relying primarily on our GAAP results and using these non-GAAP financial measures as supplements. In evaluating these non-GAAP financial measures, you should be aware that in the future, we may incur expenses similar to those for which adjustments are made in calculating Adjusted EBITDA. Our presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures should also not be construed to infer that our future results will be unaffected by unusual or non-recurring items.
The following table sets forth a reconciliation from the GAAP measurement of net loss to our non-GAAP financial measure of Adjusted EBITDA for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019:
Twelve Months Ended December 31,
Non-cash stock issued for payment of services 125,000 141,665
Gain on settlement of acquisition costs payable — (602,410)
Increase in value of acquisition costs payable — 6,222
Adjusted EBITDA as a % of Revenue (20) % (25) %
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Liquidity and Capital Resources
We had cash and cash equivalents of $33,045,225 as of December 31, 2020 as compared to $5,884,629 as of December 31, 2019, an increase of $27,160,596, primarily due to net proceeds received from the sale of our common stock in our at the market offering program, offset by operating losses. We have incurred significant net losses and negative cash flow from operations for most periods since our inception, which has resulted in a total accumulated deficit of $70,634,776 as of December 31, 2020. To date, we have financed our operations through revenue from operations, borrowings under our secured credit facility, the PPP Loan (described below) and the sale of our equity securities.
Twelve Months Ended December 31,
Net cash (used for)/provided by:
Cash used for operating activities was $2,095,651 during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and is primarily the result of continued use of cash to cover operating losses. Net cash used for investing activities was $354,407 during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 primarily due to the payment of $363,793 in the development of our proprietary software. Net cash provided by financing activities during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 was $29,610,654, which consisted primarily of net proceeds of approximately $27.7 million from the sale of our common stock in our at the market offering program and approximately $1.9 million from the PPP Loan (described below).
Secured Credit Facility
We have a secured credit facility agreement with Western Alliance Bank, the parent company of Bridge Bank, National Association. Pursuant to this agreement, we may submit requests for funding up to 80% of our eligible accounts receivable up to a maximum credit limit of $5 million. As of December 31, 2020, we had no amounts outstanding under this agreement. Assuming that our unfunded remaining trade accounts receivable balance was eligible for funding, we had approximately $4.1 million in available credit under the agreement as of December 31, 2020.
PPP Loan
On April 23, 2020, we received a loan from Western Alliance Bank (the “Lender”) in the principal amount of $1,905,100 (the “PPP Loan”) under the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”), which was established under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (the “SBA”). The term of the promissory note (the “Note”) issued in respect of the loan is two years, though it may be payable sooner in connection with an event of default under the Note. The PPP Loan carries a fixed interest rate of one percent per year. Certain amounts received under the PPP Loan may be forgiven if the loan proceeds are used for eligible purposes, including payroll costs and certain rent or utility costs, and we meet other requirements regarding, among other things, the maintenance of employment and compensation levels. Loan payments on the PPP Loan may be deferred to either (1) the date that the SBA remits our loan forgiveness amount to the Lender or (2) ten months after the end of our loan forgiveness covered period, if we do not apply for loan forgiveness. We submitted our forgiveness application for the entire amount of the loan in December 2020 and, as of the date of this Annual Report, are awaiting approval from the SBA. The forgiveness of the PPP Loan is based on our adherence to the forgiveness criteria under the CARES Act, and no assurance is provided that we will obtain forgiveness of the PPP Loan in whole or in part.
At the Market (ATM) Offering
On June 4, 2020 and January 25, 2021, we entered into ATM Sales Agreements (as amended, the “Sales Agreements”) with National Securities Corporation, as sales agent (“National Securities”), pursuant to which we may offer and sell, from time to time, through National Securities, shares of our common stock, by any method deemed to be an “at the market offering” as defined in Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “ATM Offering”), for aggregate purchase prices of up to $40,000,000 and $35,000,000, respectively. As of December 31, 2020, we had sold 14,819,740 shares at an average price of $1.92 per share for total gross proceeds of $28,455,096. From January 1, 2021 to March 26, 2021, we sold 8,691,391 shares at an average price of $3.95 per share for gross proceeds of $34,311,634. Thus, total proceeds raised in the ATM Offering under our shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-238619) as of March 26, 2021 were $62,766,730.
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Financial Condition
We have seen impacts on our operations due to changes in advertising decisions, timing and spending priorities from our customers as a result of COVID-19, which has had and may continue to have a negative impact to our expected future sales and valuation estimates. With our cash on hand as of December 31, 2020, we expect to have sufficient cash reserves and financing sources available to cover expenses at least one year from the issuance of this Annual Report based on our current estimates of revenue and expenses for the next twelve months. While the disruption caused by COVID-19 is currently expected to be temporary, it is generally outside of our control and there is uncertainty around the duration and the total economic impact. Therefore, this matter could have a further material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, and financial position in future periods.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
The Company did not engage in any “off-balance sheet arrangements” (as that term is defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K) as of December 31, 2020.
Critical Accounting Policies and Use of Estimates
We prepare our financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). Certain of our accounting policies require that we apply significant judgment in defining the appropriate assumptions for calculating financial estimates. By their nature, these judgments will be subject to an inherent degree of uncertainty. Our judgments are based upon the historical experience of the Company, terms of existing contracts, observance of trends in the industry, information provided by our customers and information available from other outside sources, as appropriate. For a summary of our significant accounting policies, please refer to Note 1 — Company and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies included in Item 8 of this Annual Report. We consider accounting estimates to be critical accounting policies when:
•The estimates involve matters that are highly uncertain at the time the accounting estimate is made; and
•different estimates or changes to estimates could have a material impact on the reported financial position, changes in financial position, or results of operations.
When more than one accounting principle, or method of its application, is generally accepted, we select the principle or method that we consider to be the most appropriate when given the specific circumstances. Application of these accounting principles requires us to make estimates about the future resolution of existing uncertainties. Due to the inherent uncertainty involving estimates, actual results reported in the future may differ from our estimates. The following critical accounting policies are significantly affected by judgments, assumptions and estimates used in the preparation of the financial statements.
Accounts Receivable and Concentration of Credit Risk
Accounts receivable are customer obligations due under normal trade terms. We consider an account to be delinquent when the customer has not paid its balance due by the associated due date. Uncollectibility of accounts receivable is not significant since most customers are bound by contract and are required to fund us for all the costs of an “opportunity,” defined as an order created by a marketer for a creator to develop or share content on behalf of a marketer. If a portion of the account balance is deemed uncollectible, we will either write-off the amount owed or provide a reserve based on our best estimate of the uncollectible portion of the account. Management estimates the collectibility of accounts by regularly evaluating individual customer receivables and considering a customer’s financial condition, credit history, and current economic conditions. We have a reserve of $155,000 for doubtful accounts as of December 31, 2020. We believe that this estimate is reasonable, but there can be no assurance that the estimate will not change as a result of a change in economic conditions or business conditions within the industry, the individual customers or our Company. Any adjustments to this account are reflected in the consolidated statements of operations as a general and administrative expense. Bad debt expense was less than 1% of revenue for each of the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019.
Concentrations of credit risk with respect to accounts receivable were typically limited, because a large number of geographically diverse customers make up our customer base, thus spreading the trade credit risk. However, with our acquisition of TapInfluence, we have increased credit exposure on certain customers who carry significant credit balances related to their Marketplace Spend. We control credit risk through credit approvals, credit limits, and monitoring procedures.
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We perform credit evaluations of our customers, but generally do not require collateral to support accounts receivable. We had no customer that accounted for more than 10% of total accounts receivable at December 31, 2020 and 2019. We had one customer that accounted for 12% of our revenue during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and no customer that accounted for more than 10% of our revenue during the twelve months ended December 31, 2019.
Software Development Costs and Acquired Intangible Software
In accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 350-40, Internal Use Software, we capitalize certain internal use software development costs associated with creating and enhancing internally developed software related to our platforms. Software development activities generally consist of three stages (i) the research and planning stage, (ii) the application and development stage, and (iii) the post-implementation stage. Costs incurred in the research and planning stage and in the post-implementation stage of software development, or other maintenance and development expenses that do not meet the qualification for capitalization, are expensed as incurred. Costs incurred in the application and infrastructure development stage, including significant enhancements and upgrades, are capitalized. These costs include personnel and related employee benefits expenses for employees or consultants who are directly associated with and who devote time to software projects, and external direct costs of materials obtained in developing the software. We also capitalize certain costs associated with cloud computing arrangements ("CCAs"). We have capitalized software development costs of $3,036,810 in the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2020. We also have additional proprietary software platforms valued at $820,000 from our acquisitions of Ebyline, ZenContent, and TapInfluence. These costs are reflected as intangible assets in the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2020. We do not transfer ownership of our software to third parties. These software development, acquired technology and CCA costs are amortized on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful life of five years upon initial release of the software or additional features. We review the software development costs for impairment when circumstances indicate that their carrying amounts may not be recoverable. If the carrying value of an asset group is not recoverable, we recognize an impairment loss for the excess of carrying value over the fair value in our consolidated statements of operations.
Goodwill and Business Combinations
Goodwill represents the excess of the consideration transferred for an acquired business over the fair value of the underlying identifiable net assets. We have goodwill in connection with our acquisitions of Ebyline, ZenContent, and TapInfluence. Goodwill is not amortized, but instead it is tested for impairment at least annually. In the event that management determines that the value of goodwill has become impaired, we will record a charge for the amount of impairment during the fiscal quarter in which the determination is made.
We perform our annual impairment tests of goodwill as of October 1 of each year, or more frequently, if certain indicators are present. For instance, in March 2020, we identified triggering events, including the reduction in our projected revenue due to adverse economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the continuation of a market capitalization below our carrying value, and uncertainty for recovery given the volatility of the capital markets surrounding COVID-19. Therefore, we performed an interim assessment of goodwill, using the discounted cash flow method under the income approach and the guideline transaction method under the market approach, and determined that the carrying value of our Company’s reporting unit as of March 31, 2020 exceeded the fair value. As a result of the March 2020 valuation, we recorded a $4.3 million impairment of goodwill which is reflected as an expense in the consolidated statements of operations for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020.
Goodwill is required to be tested for impairment at the reporting unit level. A reporting unit is an operating segment or one level below the operating segment level, which is referred to as a component. Management identifies its reporting units by assessing whether components (i) have discrete financial information available; (ii) engage in business activities; and (iii) whether a segment manager regularly reviews the component's operating results. Net assets and goodwill of acquired businesses are allocated to the reporting unit associated with the acquired business based on the anticipated organizational structure of the combined entities. If two or more components are deemed economically similar, those components are aggregated into one reporting unit when performing the annual goodwill impairment review. We have determined that we have one reporting unit.
Revenue Recognition
We historically generated revenue from five primary sources: (1) revenue from our managed services when a marketer (typically a brand, agency or partner) pays us to provide custom content, influencer marketing, amplification or other campaign management services (“Managed Services”); (2) revenue from fees charged to software customers on their marketplace spend
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within our IZEAx, Shake, and TapInfluence platforms (“Marketplace Spend Fees”); (3) revenue from fees charged to access the IZEAx, BrandGraph, Ebyline, and TapInfluence platforms (“License Fees”); (4) revenue from transactions generated by the self-service use of our Ebyline platform for professional custom content workflow (“Legacy Workflow Fees”); and (5) revenue derived from other fees such as inactivity fees, early cash-out fees, and subscription plan fees charged to users of our platforms (“Other”). After the migration of the last customers from the Ebyline platform to IZEAx in December 2019, there is no longer any revenue generated from Legacy Workflow Fees and all such revenue is reported as Marketplace Spend Fees under the IZEAx platform.
We recognize revenue in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”). Under ASC 606, revenue is recognized based on a five-step model as follows: (i) identify the contract with the customer; (ii) identify the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price; (iv) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (v) recognize revenue when (or as) performance obligations are satisfied. The core principle of ASC 606 is that revenue is recognized when the transfer of promised goods or services to customers is made in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. We apply the five-step model to contracts when it is probable that it will collect the consideration it is entitled to in exchange for the goods or services it transfers to the customer. At contract inception, once the contract is determined to be within the scope of ASC 606, we assess the goods or services promised within each contract and determine those that are distinct performance obligations. We also determine whether we act as an agent or a principal for each identified performance obligation. The determination of whether we act as the principal or the agent is highly subjective and requires us to evaluate a number of indicators individually and as a whole in order to make our determination. For transactions in which we act as a principal, revenue is reported on a gross basis as the amount paid by the marketer for the purchase of content or sponsorship, promotion and other related services and we record the amounts we pay to third-party creators as cost of revenue. For transactions in which we act as an agent, revenue is reported on a net basis as the amount we charged to the self-service marketer using our platforms, less the amounts paid to the third-party creators providing the service.
We maintain separate arrangements with each marketer and content creator either in the form of a master agreement or terms of service, which specify the terms of the relationship and access to its platforms, or by statement of work, which specifies the price and the services to be performed, along with other terms. The transaction price is determined based on the fixed fee stated in the statement of work and does not contain variable consideration. Marketers who contract with us to manage their advertising campaigns or custom content requests may prepay for services or request credit terms. Payment terms are typically 30 days from the invoice date. The agreement typically provides for either a non-refundable deposit, or a cancellation fee if the agreement is canceled by the customer prior to completion of services. Billings in advance of completed services are recorded as a contract liability until earned. We assess collectibility based on a number of factors, including the creditworthiness of the customer and payment and transaction history.
Managed Services Revenue
For Managed Services Revenue, we enter into an agreement to provide services that may include multiple distinct performance obligations in the form of: (i) an integrated marketing campaign to provide influencer marketing services, which may include the provision of blogs, tweets, photos or videos shared through social network offerings and content promotion, such as click-through advertisements appearing in websites and social media channels; and (ii) custom content items, such as a research or news article, informational material or videos. Marketers typically purchase influencer marketing services for the purpose of providing public awareness or advertising buzz regarding the marketer’s brand and they purchase custom content for internal and external use. We may provide one type or a combination of all types of these performance obligations on a statement of work for a lump sum fee. We allocate revenue to each performance obligation in the contract at inception based on its relative standalone selling price. These performance obligations are to be provided over a stated period that generally ranges from one day to one year. Revenue is accounted for when the performance obligation has been satisfied depending on the type of service provided. We view our obligation to deliver influencer marketing services, including management services, as a single performance obligation that is satisfied over time as the customer receives the benefits from the services. Revenue is recognized using an input method of costs incurred compared to total expected costs to measure the progress towards satisfying the overall performance obligation of the marketing campaign. The delivery of custom content represents a distinct performance obligation that is satisfied over time as we have no alternative for the custom content, and we have an enforceable right to payment for performance completed to date under the contracts. We consider custom content to be a series of distinct services that are substantially the same and that have the same pattern of transfer to the customer, and revenue is recognized over time using an output method based on when each individual piece of content is delivered to the customer. Based on our evaluations, revenue from Managed Services is reported on a gross basis because we have the primary obligation to fulfill the performance obligations and we create, review, and control the services. We take on the risk of payment to any third-party creators, and we establish the contract price directly with our customers based on the services requested in the statement of work.
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Marketplace Spend Fees and Legacy Workflow Fees Revenue
For Marketplace Spend Fees and Legacy Workflow Fees Revenue, the self-service customer instructs creators found through the Company’s platforms to provide and/or distribute custom content for an agreed upon transaction price. Our platforms control the contracting, description of services, acceptance of and payment for the requested content. This service is used primarily by news agencies or marketers to control the outsourcing of their content and advertising needs. We charge the self-service customer the transaction price plus a fee based on the contract. Revenue is recognized when the transaction is completed by the creator and accepted by the marketer or verified as posted by the system. Based on our evaluations, this revenue is reported on a net basis since we are acting as an agent solely arranging for the third-party creator or influencer to provide the services directly to the self-service customer through the platform or by posting the requested content.
License Fees Revenue
License Fees Revenue is generated through the granting of limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable licenses to customers for the use of the IZEAx, BrandGraph, and until February 2020, the TapInfluence technology platforms for an agreed-upon subscription period. Customers license the platforms to manage their own influencer marketing campaigns. Fees for subscription or licensing services are recognized straight-line over the term of the service.
Other Fees Revenue
Other Fees Revenue is generated when fees are charged to our platform users primarily related to monthly plan fees, inactivity fees, and early cash-out fees. Plan fees are recognized within the month they relate to, inactivity fees are recognized at a point in time when the account is deemed inactive, and early cash-out fees are recognized when a cash-out is either below certain minimum thresholds or when accelerated payout timing is requested.
We do not typically engage in contracts that are longer than one year. Therefore, we do not capitalize costs to obtain our customer contracts as these amounts generally would be recognized over a period of less than one year and are not material.
Changes in how we control and manage our platforms, our contractual terms, our business practices, or other changes in accounting standards or interpretations, may change the reporting of our revenue.
Stock-Based Compensation
Stock-based compensation is measured at the grant date, based on the fair value of the award, and is recognized as an expense over the employee’s requisite service period. We estimate the fair value of each stock option as of the date of grant using the Black-Scholes pricing model. Options typically vest ratably over four years with one-fourth of options vesting one year from the date of grant and the remaining options vesting monthly, in equal increments over the remaining three-year period and generally have five or ten-year contract lives. We use the simplified method to estimate the expected term of employee stock options, because we do not believe historical exercise data will provide a reasonable basis for estimating the expected term for the current share options granted. The simplified method assumes that employees will exercise share options evenly between the period when the share options are vested and ending on the date when the options would expire.We use the closing stock price of our common stock on the date of the grant as the associated fair value of our common stock. For issuances after June 30, 2019, we estimate the volatility of our common stock at the date of grant based on the volatility of our stock during the period. For issuances on or prior to June 30, 2019, we estimated the volatility of our common stock at the date of grant based on the volatility of comparable peer companies that were publicly traded and had a longer trading history than us. We determine the expected life based on historical experience with similar awards, giving consideration to the contractual terms, vesting schedules and post-vesting forfeitures. We use the risk-free interest rate on the implied yield currently available on U.S. Treasury issues with an equivalent remaining term approximately equal to the expected life of the award. We have never paid any cash dividends on our common stock and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. We estimate forfeitures when recognizing compensation expense and this estimate of forfeitures is adjusted over the requisite service period based on the extent to which actual forfeitures differ, or are expected to differ, from such estimates. Changes in estimated forfeitures are recognized through a cumulative catch-up adjustment, which is recognized in the period of change, and a revised amount of unamortized compensation expense to be recognized in future periods.
The following table shows the number of stock options granted under our 2011 Equity Incentive Plans and the assumptions used to determine the fair value of those options during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019:
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Total stock-based compensation expense recorded in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations for restricted stock, restricted stock units, stock options, and employee stock purchase plan issuance during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 was $477,993 and $634,651, respectively.
There were outstanding options to purchase 1,712,806 shares with a weighted average exercise price of $2.56 per share, of which options to purchase 997,320 shares were exercisable with a weighted average exercise price of $3.84 per share, as of December 31, 2020. The intrinsic value on outstanding options as of December 31, 2020 was $1,127,194. The intrinsic value on exercisable options as of December 31, 2020 was $364,866.
As of December 31, 2020, we had unvested restricted stock units representing 970,349 shares of common stock with an intrinsic value of $1,766,035 and 13,666 unvested shares of issued restricted stock with an intrinsic value of $24,872.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
See “Note 1. Company and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,” under Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report for information on additional recent pronouncements.
ITEM 7A – QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Not applicable to smaller reporting companies.
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ITEM 8 – FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
Stockholders and Board of Directors
IZEA Worldwide, Inc.
Winter Park, Florida
Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of IZEA Worldwide, Inc. and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, the related consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2020, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company at December 31, 2020 and 2019 and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2020, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Basis for Opinion
These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Critical Audit Matters
The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.
Revenue Recognition - Estimated Costs to Complete for Managed Services Revenue
As described in Notes 1 and 10 to the consolidated financial statements, for Managed Services Revenue, the Company enters into an agreement to provide services that may include multiple distinct performance obligations in the form of: (i) an integrated marketing campaign to provide influencer marketing services, which may include the provision of blogs, tweets, photos or videos shared through social network offerings and content promotion, such as click-through advertisements appearing in websites and social media channels; and (ii) custom content items, such as a research or news article, informational material or videos. The Company views its obligation to deliver influencer marketing services, including management services, as a single performance obligation that is satisfied over time as the customer receives the benefits from the services. Revenue is
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recognized using an input method of costs incurred compared to total expected costs to measure the progress towards satisfying the overall performance obligation of the marketing campaign. The delivery of custom content represents a distinct performance obligation that is satisfied over time as the Company has no alternative for the custom content and the Company has an enforceable right to payment for performance completed to date under the contracts. The Company considers custom content to be a series of distinct services that are substantially the same and that have the same pattern of transfer to the customer, and revenue is recognized over time based on an output model method based on when each individual piece of content is delivered to the customer.
We identified the estimation of costs to complete on the Company’s obligation to deliver influencer marketing services, including management services, on Managed Services contracts to be a critical audit matter. The determination of the total estimated cost and progress toward completion on contracts not completed requires management to make significant estimates and assumptions primarily related to estimated direct labor and applicable subcontract costs needed to complete contracts. Changes in these estimated direct labor and applicable subcontract costs can have a significant impact on the revenue recognized in each period. Auditing such estimates involved especially challenging and subjective auditor judgment to determine the reasonableness of management’s assumptions and estimates that ultimately determine the amount of revenue to recognize.
The primary procedures we performed to address this critical audit matter included:
•Evaluating management’s ability to accurately estimate total costs to complete by (i) performing a retrospective review to compare prior year estimates of costs to complete for open Managed Services contracts to actual costs incurred upon completion of the contract or updated estimated costs at completion if the contract is still not complete and (ii) evaluating whether contracts which were previously completed earned any additional revenues after the contract was assumed to be completed.
•Assessing the reasonableness of the estimated costs to complete on open contracts as of December 31, 2020 through evaluation of the consistency of expected margins on open contracts to historical margins on completed contracts.
Goodwill Impairment
As described in Notes 1 and 3 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company has goodwill of $4.0 million as of December 31, 2020, all of which relates to the Company’s single reporting unit. The Company’s goodwill is the result of the acquisitions of Ebyline, ZenContent, and TapInfluence in previous years. Goodwill is not amortized, but instead is tested for impairment at least annually, or more frequently, if certain indicators are present. In the event that management determines that the value of goodwill has become impaired, they will record a charge for the amount of impairment during the fiscal quarter in which the determination is made. During the first quarter of 2020, the Company identified triggering events related to the reduction in its projected revenue due to adverse economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the continuation of a market capitalization below the Company’s carrying value and uncertainty for recovery given the volatility of the capital markets surrounding COVID-19 and performed an interim valuation to estimate the fair value of the reporting unit. As a result of the impairment assessment performed by the Company a $4.3 million impairment of goodwill was recorded during the year ending December 31, 2020. The Company used the discounted cash flow method under the income approach and the guideline transaction method under the market approach to estimate the fair value of the reporting unit.
We identified the estimate of the fair value of the Company’s single reporting unit as a critical audit matter. Estimation of the fair value of the Company’s single reporting unit requires management to make significant estimates and assumptions related to future cash flows, growth rates for the business, future economic conditions, and discount rates. Auditing management’s assumptions used in the determination of the fair value of the single reporting unit was especially challenging due to the nature of audit effort required to address the subjective estimates, including the extent of specialized skill and knowledge needed.
The primary procedures we performed to address this critical audit matter included:
•Assessing the reasonableness of estimated future cash flows based on the growth rates for the business and future economic conditions, including the impact of COVID-19, by comparing the estimated future cash flows to (i) historical operating results of the Company, and (ii) information included in industry reports and publicly available information related to the industry in which the Company operates.
•Utilizing personnel with specialized knowledge and skill in valuation to assist in: (i) evaluating the reasonableness of the valuation methodologies utilized by the Company, (ii) testing the reasonableness of the Company-specific discount rate used against other comparable publicly traded companies, and (iii) evaluating the appropriateness of the revenue multiple used, including testing the source information utilized.
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/s/ BDO USA, LLP
We have served as the Company's auditor since 2015.
Orlando, Florida
March 30, 2021
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IZEA Worldwide, Inc.
Consolidated Balance Sheets
Assets
Current assets:
Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity
Current liabilities:
Current portion of notes payable 1,477,139 —
Finance obligation, less current portion 43,808 45,673
Notes payable, less current portion 459,383 —
Commitments and Contingencies (Note 7) — —
Stockholders’ equity:
See accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.
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IZEA Worldwide, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss
Twelve Months Ended December 31,
Costs and expenses:
Other income (expense):
Basic and diluted loss per common share $ (0.25) $ (0.29)
See accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.
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IZEA Worldwide, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity
Common Stock AdditionalPaid-In Accumulated TotalStockholders’
Shares Amount Capital Deficit Equity
See accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.
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IZEA Worldwide, Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
Twelve Months Ended December 31,
Cash flows from operating activities:
(Gain) loss on disposal of equipment (22,598) 18,786
Provision for losses on accounts receivable 154,576 5,510
Fair value of stock issued for payment of services 125,000 141,665
Gain on settlement of acquisition costs payable — (602,410)
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Prepaid expenses and other current assets 171,620 (87,323)
Right-of-use asset and lease liability, net 24,024 (24,024)
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from stock purchase plan and option exercise issuances 7,634 6,979
Proceeds from notes payable 1,936,522 —
Net repayments on line of credit — (1,526,288)
Payments on acquisition liabilities — (156,111)
Supplemental cash flow information:
Non-cash financing and investing activities:
Equipment acquired with financing arrangement $ 43,003 $ 98,648
Common stock issued for payment of acquisition liability $ — $ 4,004,397
Operating right-of-use asset $ — $ 410,852
Fair value of common stock issued for future services $ 125,000 $ 192,550
See accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.
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IZEA Worldwide, Inc.
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements
NOTE 1. COMPANY AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Nature of Business
IZEA Worldwide, Inc. (together with its wholly-owned subsidiaries, “we,” “us,” “our,” “IZEA” or the “Company”) is a public company incorporated in the state of Nevada. In January 2015, IZEA purchased all of the outstanding shares of capital stock of Ebyline, Inc. (“Ebyline”). In March 2016, the Company formed IZEA Canada, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary, incorporated in Ontario, Canada, to operate as a sales and support office for IZEA’s Canadian customers. In July 2016, IZEA purchased all the outstanding shares of capital stock of ZenContent, Inc. (“ZenContent”) and in July 2018, a subsidiary of the Company merged with TapInfluence, Inc. (“TapInfluence”). The legal entity of ZenContent was dissolved in December 2017, Ebyline was dissolved in December 2019 and TapInfluence was dissolved in December 2020.
The Company creates and operates online marketplaces that connect marketers with content creators. The creators are compensated by the Company for producing unique content such as long and short form text, videos, photos, status updates, and illustrations for marketers or distributing such content on behalf of marketers through their personal websites, blogs, and social media channels. Marketers receive influential consumer content and engaging, shareable stories that drive awareness.
The Company’s primary technology platform, the IZEA Exchange (“IZEAx”), enables transactions to be completed at scale through the management of custom content workflow, creator search and targeting, bidding, analytics, and payment processing. IZEAx is designed to provide a unified ecosystem that enables the creation and publication of multiple types of custom content through a creator’s personal websites, blogs, or social media channels including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, among others. Until December 2019 when it was merged into IZEAx, the Company operated the Ebyline technology platform, which was originally designed as a self-service content marketplace to replace in-house editorial newsrooms in news agencies with a “virtual newsroom” to source and handle their content workflow with outside creators. In July 2016, the Company acquired the ZenContent technology platform to use as an in-house workflow tool that enables the Company to produce highly scalable, multi-part production of content for both e-commerce entities and brand customers. The TapInfluence technology platform, acquired in 2018, performed in a similar manner to IZEAx and was being utilized by the majority of the TapInfluence customers as a self-service platform via a licensing arrangement, allowing access to the platform and its creators for self-managed marketing campaigns. After the migration of the last customers to IZEAx from the Ebyline platform in December 2019 and from the TapInfluence platform in February 2020, all marketplace revenue was solely generated from the IZEAx platform until the launch of Shake in November 2020.
In 2020, the Company launched two new platforms, BrandGraph and Shake. BrandGraph is a social media intelligence platform that is heavily integrated with IZEAx and both platforms rely heavily on data from each other, but it is also available as a stand-alone platform. The platform maps and classifies the complex hierarchy of corporation-to-brand relationships by category and associates social content with brands through a proprietary content analysis engine. Shake is a new online marketplace where buyers can quickly and easily hire creators of all types for influencer marketing, photography, design, and other digital services. The Shake platform is aimed at digital creatives seeking freelance “gig” work. Creators list available “Shakes” on their accounts in the platform and marketers select and purchase creative packages from them through a streamlined chat experience, assisted by ShakeBot - a proprietary, artificial intelligence assistant.
Impact of COVID-19
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) as a global pandemic and recommended containment and mitigation measures worldwide. As the spread continued throughout the United States, the Company directed all of its staff to work from home effective March 16, 2020. All of the Company’s business operations and ability to support its customers is fully functional while its employees are working from remote locations. However, the Company has seen impacts on its operations due to changes in advertising decisions, timing and spending priorities from customers, which resulted in a negative impact to Company bookings, its net orders from customers, and timing of future revenue. While the disruption caused by COVID-19 is currently expected to be temporary, it is generally outside of the Company’s control and there is uncertainty around the duration and the total economic impact. Therefore, this matter could have a material adverse impact on the Company’s business, results of operations, and financial position in future periods. As a result, the Company leveraged its balance sheet by drawing on its secured credit facility and obtaining a loan under the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) established under the CARES Act as administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) to increase the Company’s cash position and help preserve its financial flexibility. The secured credit facility was paid down by June 30, 2020 after the Company was able to secure additional capital as described in Note 8.
In light of the adverse economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company implemented temporary salary and wage reductions averaging 20%, including a 21% reduction in base salary for the Company’s Chief Executive
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IZEA Worldwide, Inc.
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements
Officer and Chief Operating Officer. These salary reductions were effective as of April 6, 2020 until the earlier of December 31, 2020 or the Company’s restoring normal payroll rates to the majority of its employees. Members of the Company’s Board of Directors also agreed to a similar temporary reduction to their fees. In addition to the salary reductions, the Company also temporarily reduced certain employee benefits and implemented a new employee hiring freeze, during the three months ended June 30, 2020. The employee salary reductions and hiring restrictions were removed effective July 1, 2020 after the Company was able to secure additional capital as described in Note 8.
The Company did not renew leases for its headquarters and temporary office spaces as additional means to reduce fixed costs and the Company intends to have all employees work from home for the foreseeable future to protect the health and safety of its workers. There can be no assurance that the Company will return to a typical office environment in the future, nor can the Company say what that office environment may look like. The Company also reduced and shifted marketing expenses and eliminated travel for the near-term future. These measures may not be sustainable and could prove detrimental long term. Therefore, management reviews these initial actions and other options in conjunction with the changing internal and external economic conditions on an ongoing basis.
Principles of Consolidation
The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of IZEA Worldwide, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, subsequent to the subsidiaries’ individual acquisition, merger or formation dates, as applicable. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
The extent to which COVID-19 impacts the Company’s business and financial results will depend on numerous evolving factors including, but not limited to: the magnitude and duration of COVID-19, the extent to which it impacts worldwide macroeconomic conditions, the speed of the anticipated recovery, access to capital markets, and governmental and business reactions to the pandemic. The Company assessed certain accounting matters that generally require consideration of forecasted financial information in context with the information reasonably available to the Company and the unknown future impacts of COVID-19 as of December 31, 2020 and through the date of the filing of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The accounting matters assessed included, but were not limited to estimates related to revenue, the accounting for potential liabilities and accrued expenses, the assumptions utilized in valuing stock-based compensation issued for services, the realization of deferred tax assets, and assessments of impairment related to long-lived assets, intangible assets, and goodwill. The Company’s future assessment of the magnitude and duration of COVID-19, as well as other factors, could result in additional material impacts to the Company’s consolidated financial statements in future reporting periods.
Despite the Company’s efforts, the ultimate impact of COVID-19 depends on factors beyond the Company’s knowledge or control, including the duration and severity of the outbreak, as well as third-party actions taken to contain its spread and mitigate its public health effects. As a result, the Company is unable to estimate the full extent to which COVID-19 will negatively impact its financial results or liquidity. However, in consideration of the effect of COVID-19 on the assumptions and estimates used in the preparation of the December 31, 2020 financial statements, the Company identified the goodwill impairment disclosed in Note 3 as a material adverse effect on its results of operations and financial position in the first quarter of fiscal 2020 that was caused by COVID-19’s effect on economic conditions.
Reclassifications
Certain items have been reclassified in the 2019 financial statements to conform to the 2020 presentation. The Company has reclassified its 2019 impairment on intangible assets and software development costs (see Notes 3 and 4) out of general and administrative expense and into a separately stated line item labeled impairment of goodwill and intangible assets within the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.
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Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all highly liquid investments purchased with an original maturity of three months or less from the date of purchase to be cash equivalents. Deposits in our banks are insured by the FDIC up to a maximum amount of $250,000. Deposit balances exceeding this limit were approximately $31.4 million and $4.1 million as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Accounts Receivable and Concentration of Credit Risk
The Company’s accounts receivable balance consists of trade receivables, unbilled receivables, and a reserve for doubtful accounts. Trade receivables are customer obligations due under normal trade terms. Unbilled receivables represent amounts owed for work that has been performed, but not yet billed. The Company had trade receivables of $5,148,213 and unbilled receivables of $58,992 at December 31, 2020. The Company had trade receivables of $5,106,314 and unbilled receivables of $490,405 at December 31, 2019. Management considers an account to be delinquent when the customer has not paid an amount due by its associated due date. Uncollectibility of accounts receivable is not significant since most customers are bound by contract and are required to fund the Company for all the costs of an “opportunity,” defined as an order created by a marketer for a creator to develop or share content on behalf of a marketer. If a portion of the account balance is deemed uncollectible, the Company will either write-off the amount owed or provide a reserve based on its best estimate of the uncollectible portion of the account. Management determines the collectibility of accounts by regularly evaluating individual customer receivables and considering a customer’s financial condition, credit history, and current economic conditions. The Company had a reserve for doubtful accounts of $155,000 and $145,000 as of December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively. Management believes that this estimate is reasonable, but there can be no assurance that the estimate will not change as a result of a change in economic conditions or business conditions within the industry, the individual customers or the Company. Any adjustments to this account are reflected in the consolidated statements of operations as a general and administrative expense. Bad debt expense was less than 1% of revenue for each of the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019.
Concentrations of credit risk with respect to accounts receivable have been typically limited because a large number of geographically diverse customers make up the Company’s customer base, thus spreading the trade credit risk. However, with the Company’s addition of SaaS customers, it has increased credit exposure on certain customers who carry significant credit balances related to their marketplace spend. The Company controls credit risk through credit approvals, credit limits, and monitoring procedures. The Company performs credit evaluations of its customers, but generally does not require collateral to support accounts receivable. The Company had no customer that accounted for more than 10% of total accounts receivable at December 31, 2020 and 2019. The Company had one customer that accounted for 12% of its revenue during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and no customer that accounted for more than 10% of its revenue during the twelve months ended December 31, 2019.
Property and Equipment
Property and equipment are recorded at cost, or if acquired in a business combination, at the acquisition date fair value. Depreciation is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets as follows:
Computer Equipment 3 years
Office Equipment 3 - 10 years
Furniture and Fixtures 5 - 10 years
Leasehold improvements are amortized over the shorter of the term of the lease or the estimated useful lives of the improvements. Expenditures for repairs and maintenance are charged to expense as incurred. Expenditures for betterments and major improvements are capitalized and depreciated over the remaining useful lives of the assets. The carrying amounts of assets sold or retired and the related accumulated depreciation are eliminated in the year of disposal, with resulting gains or losses included in general and administrative expense in the consolidated statements of operations. There were no material impairment charges associated with the Company’s long-lived tangible assets during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019.
Goodwill
Goodwill represents the excess of the consideration transferred for an acquired business over the fair value of the underlying identifiable net assets. The Company has goodwill in connection with its acquisitions of Ebyline, ZenContent and TapInfluence. Goodwill is not amortized but instead it is tested for impairment at least annually. In the event that management
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determines that the value of goodwill has become impaired, the Company will record a charge for the amount of impairment during the fiscal quarter in which the determination is made.
The Company performs its annual impairment tests of goodwill as of October 1 of each year, or more frequently, if certain indicators are present. For instance, in March 2020, the Company identified triggering events, including the reduction in its projected revenue due to adverse economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the continuation of a market capitalization below the Company’s carrying value, and uncertainty for recovery given the volatility of the capital markets surrounding COVID-19. Therefore, the Company performed an interim assessment of goodwill, as described in Note 3. Goodwill is required to be tested for impairment at the reporting unit level. A reporting unit is an operating segment or one level below the operating segment level, which is referred to as a component. Management identifies its reporting units by assessing whether components (i) have discrete financial information available; (ii) engage in business activities; and (iii) whether a segment manager regularly reviews the component’s operating results. Net assets and goodwill of acquired businesses are allocated to the reporting unit associated with the acquired business based on the anticipated organizational structure of the combined entities. If two or more components are deemed economically similar, those components are aggregated into one reporting unit when performing the annual goodwill impairment review. The Company had one reporting unit as of December 31, 2020.
In January 2017, the FASB issued ASU No. 2017-04, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other (Topic 350): Simplifying the Test for Goodwill Impairment (“ASU 2017-04”). To address concerns over the cost and complexity of the two-step goodwill impairment test, the new standard removes the requirement for the second step of the goodwill impairment test for certain entities. An entity may apply a one-step quantitative test and record the amount of goodwill impairment as the excess of a reporting unit's carrying amount over its fair value, not to exceed the total amount of goodwill allocated to the reporting unit. The Company adopted this method in the third quarter of 2019 and there were no changes to its financial statements at the time of the adoption.
Intangible Assets
The Company acquired the majority of its intangible assets through its acquisitions of Ebyline, ZenContent, and TapInfluence. The Company is amortizing the identifiable intangible assets over periods of 12 to 60 months. See Note 3 for further details.
Management reviews long-lived assets, including property and equipment, software development costs and other intangible assets, for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their carrying amounts may not be recoverable. If an evaluation is required, the estimated future undiscounted cash flows associated with the asset are compared with the asset's carrying amount to determine if there has been an impairment, which is calculated as the difference between the fair value of the asset and the carrying value. Estimates of future undiscounted cash flows are based on expected growth rates for the business, anticipated future economic conditions and estimates of residual values. Fair values take into consideration management estimates of risk-adjusted discount rates, which are believed to be consistent with assumptions that marketplace participants would use in their estimates of fair value. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2019, the Company recorded impairment charges of $418,099 associated with the Company's reduction in use of certain developed technology upon implementation of IZEAx 3.0 and the migration of TapInfluence customers and creators into the IZEAx platform. There were no impairment charges associated with the Company’s acquired intangible assets in the twelve months ended December 31, 2020.
Software Development Costs
In accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 350-40, Internal Use Software, the Company capitalizes certain internal use software development costs associated with creating and enhancing internally developed software related to its platforms. Software development activities generally consist of three stages (i) the research and planning stage, (ii) the application and development stage, and (iii) the post-implementation stage. Costs incurred in the research and planning stage and in the post-implementation stage of software development, or other maintenance and development expenses that do not meet the qualification for capitalization, are expensed as incurred. Costs incurred in the application and infrastructure development stage, including significant enhancements and upgrades, are capitalized. These costs include personnel and related employee benefits expenses for employees or consultants who are directly associated with and who devote time to software projects, and external direct costs of materials obtained in developing the software. The Company also capitalizes certain costs associated with cloud computing arrangements ("CCAs"). These software development, acquired technology, and CCA costs are amortized on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful life of five years upon initial release of the software or additional features. The Company reviews the software development costs for impairment when circumstances indicate that their carrying amounts may not be recoverable. If the carrying value of an asset group is not recoverable, the Company recognizes an impairment loss for the excess of carrying value over the fair value in its consolidated statements of operations. See Note 4 for further details.
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Leases
On January 1, 2019, the Company adopted Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which established a right-of-use model that requires a lessee to record a right-of-use asset and a right-of-use liability on the balance sheet for all leases with terms longer than 12 months. Leases are classified as either finance or operating, with classification affecting the pattern of expense recognition in the income statement. The Company does not record leases on the balance sheet that have a lease term of 12 months or less at the commencement date.
Revenue Recognition
The Company historically generated revenue from five primary sources: (1) revenue from its managed services when a marketer (typically a brand, agency or partner) pays the Company to provide custom content, influencer marketing, amplification or other campaign management services (“Managed Services”); (2) revenue from fees charged to software customers on their marketplace spend within the Company's IZEAx, Shake, and TapInfluence platforms (“Marketplace Spend Fees”); (3) revenue from fees charged to access the IZEAx, BrandGraph, Ebyline, and TapInfluence platforms (“License Fees”); (4) revenue from transactions generated by the self-service use of the Company's Ebyline platform for professional custom content workflow (“Legacy Workflow Fees”); and (5) revenue derived from other fees such as inactivity fees, early cash-out fees, and subscription plan fees charged to users of the Company's platforms (“Other”). After the migration of the last customers from the Ebyline platform to IZEAx in December 2019, there is no longer any revenue generated from Legacy Workflow Fees and all such revenue is reported as Marketplace Spend Fees under the IZEAx platform.
The Company recognizes revenue in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”). Under ASC 606, revenue is recognized based on a five-step model as follows: (i) identify the contract with the customer; (ii) identify the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price; (iv) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (v) recognize revenue when (or as) performance obligations are satisfied. The core principle of ASC 606 is that revenue is recognized when the transfer of promised goods or services to customers is made in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. The Company applies the five-step model to contracts when it is probable that it will collect the consideration it is entitled to in exchange for the goods or services it transfers to the customer. At contract inception, once the contract is determined to be within the scope of ASC 606, the Company assesses the goods or services promised within each contract and determines those that are distinct performance obligations. The Company also determines whether it acts as an agent or a principal for each identified performance obligation. The determination of whether the Company acts as the principal or the agent is highly subjective and requires the Company to evaluate a number of indicators individually and as a whole in order to make its determination. For transactions in which the Company acts as a principal, revenue is reported on a gross basis as the amount paid by the marketer for the purchase of content or sponsorship, promotion and other related services and the Company records the amounts it pays to third-party creators as cost of revenue. For transactions in which the Company acts as an agent, revenue is reported on a net basis as the amount the Company charged to the self-service marketer using the Company’s platforms, less the amounts paid to the third-party creators providing the service.
The Company maintains separate arrangements with each marketer and content creator either in the form of a master agreement or terms of service, which specify the terms of the relationship and access to its platforms, or by statement of work, which specifies the price and the services to be performed, along with other terms. The transaction price is determined based on the fixed fee stated in the statement of work and does not contain variable consideration. Marketers who contract with the Company to manage their advertising campaigns or custom content requests may prepay for services or request credit terms. Payment terms are typically 30 days from the invoice date. The agreement typically provides for either a non-refundable deposit, or a cancellation fee if the agreement is canceled by the customer prior to completion of services. Billings in advance of completed services are recorded as a contract liability until earned. The Company assesses collectibility based on a number of factors, including the creditworthiness of the customer and payment and transaction history.
Managed Services Revenue
For Managed Services Revenue, the Company enters into an agreement to provide services that may include multiple distinct performance obligations in the form of: (i) an integrated marketing campaign to provide influencer marketing services, which may include the provision of blogs, tweets, photos or videos shared through social network offerings and content promotion, such as click-through advertisements appearing in websites and social media channels; and (ii) custom content items, such as a research or news article, informational material or videos. Marketers typically purchase influencer marketing services for the purpose of providing public awareness or advertising buzz regarding the marketer’s brand and they purchase custom content for internal and external use. The Company may provide one type or a combination of all types of these performance obligations on a statement of work for a lump sum fee. The Company allocates revenue to each performance obligation in the contract at inception based on its relative standalone selling price. These performance obligations are to be
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provided over a stated period that generally ranges from one day to one year. Revenue is accounted for when the performance obligation has been satisfied depending on the type of service provided. The Company views its obligation to deliver influencer marketing services, including management services, as a single performance obligation that is satisfied over time as the customer receives the benefits from the services. Revenue is recognized using an input method of costs incurred compared to total expected costs to measure the progress towards satisfying the overall performance obligation of the marketing campaign. The delivery of custom content represents a distinct performance obligation that is satisfied over time as the Company has no alternative for the custom content, and the Company has an enforceable right to payment for performance completed to date under the contracts. The Company considers custom content to be a series of distinct services that are substantially the same and that have the same pattern of transfer to the customer, and revenue is recognized over time using an output method based on when each individual piece of content is delivered to the customer. Based on the Company’s evaluations, revenue from Managed Services is reported on a gross basis because the Company has the primary obligation to fulfill the performance obligations and it creates, reviews, and controls the services. The Company takes on the risk of payment to any third-party creators, and it establishes the contract price directly with its customers based on the services requested in the statement of work.
Marketplace Spend Fees and Legacy Workflow Fees Revenue
For Marketplace Spend Fees and Legacy Workflow Fees Revenue, the self-service customer instructs creators found through the Company’s platforms to provide and/or distribute custom content for an agreed upon transaction price. The Company’s platforms control the contracting, description of services, acceptance of and payment for the requested content. This service is used primarily by news agencies or marketers to control the outsourcing of their content and advertising needs. The Company charges the self-service customer the transaction price plus a fee based on the contract. Revenue is recognized when the transaction is completed by the creator and accepted by the marketer or verified as posted by the system. Based on the Company’s evaluations, this revenue is reported on a net basis since the Company is acting as an agent solely arranging for the third-party creator or influencer to provide the services directly to the self-service customer through the platform or by posting the requested content.
License Fees Revenue
License Fees Revenue is generated through the granting of limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable licenses to customers for the use of the IZEAx, BrandGraph, and until February 2020, the TapInfluence technology platforms for an agreed-upon subscription period. Customers license the platforms to manage their own influencer marketing campaigns. Fees for subscription or licensing services are recognized straight-line over the term of the service.
Other Fees Revenue
Other Fees Revenue is generated when fees are charged to the Company’s platform users primarily related to monthly plan fees, inactivity fees, and early cash-out fees. Plan fees are recognized within the month they relate to, inactivity fees are recognized at a point in time when the account is deemed inactive, and early cash-out fees are recognized when a cash-out is either below certain minimum thresholds or when accelerated payout timing is requested.
The Company does not typically engage in contracts that are longer than one year. Therefore, the Company does not capitalize costs to obtain its customer contracts as these amounts generally would be recognized over a period of less than one year and are not material.
Advertising Costs
Advertising costs are charged to expense as they are incurred, including payments to content creators to promote the Company. Advertising costs charged to operations for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 were approximately $749,000 in each year. Advertising costs are included in sales and marketing expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.
Income Taxes
The Company has not recorded federal income tax expense due to its history of net operating losses. Deferred income taxes are accounted for using the balance sheet approach, which requires recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future consequences of temporary differences between the financial reporting basis and the tax basis of assets and liabilities. A valuation allowance is provided when it is more likely than not that a deferred tax asset will not be realized. The Company incurs minimal state franchise tax in four states, which is included in general and administrative expense in the consolidated statements of operations.
The Company identifies and evaluates uncertain tax positions, if any, and recognizes the impact of uncertain tax positions for which there is a less than more-likely-than-not probability of the position being upheld when reviewed by the
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Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements
relevant taxing authority. Such positions are deemed to be unrecognized tax benefits and a corresponding liability is established on the balance sheet. The Company has not recognized a liability for uncertain tax positions. If there were an unrecognized tax benefit, the Company would recognize interest accrued related to unrecognized tax benefits in interest expense and penalties in operating expenses. The Company’s tax years subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service are 2016 through 2019.
In March 2020, the CARES Act was signed into law. The CARES Act, among other things, includes provisions relating to refundable payroll tax credits, deferment of employer side social security payments, net operating loss carryback periods, alternative minimum tax credit refunds, modifications to the net interest deduction limitations, increased limitations on qualified charitable contributions, and technical corrections to tax depreciation methods for qualified improvement property. It also appropriated funds for the PPP loans that are forgivable in certain situations to promote continued employment, as well as Economic Injury Disaster Loans to provide liquidity to small businesses harmed by COVID-19. The Company is currently seeking forgiveness of its PPP loan which, if approved, would result in non-taxable income on the forgiveness of debt.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The Company’s financial instruments are recorded at fair value. Fair value is defined as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. The valuation techniques are based on observable and unobservable inputs. Observable inputs reflect readily obtainable data from independent sources, while unobservable inputs reflect certain market assumptions. There are three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value:
•Level 1 – Valuation based on quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets and liabilities.
•Level 2 – Valuation based on quoted market prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets.
•Level 3 – Valuation based on unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity, therefore requiring management’s best estimate of what market participants would use as fair value.
Fair value estimates discussed herein are based upon certain market assumptions and pertinent information available to management. The Company does not have any Level 1, 2 or 3 financial assets or liabilities. The respective carrying values of certain on-balance-sheet financial instruments approximated their fair values due to the short-term nature of these instruments. These financial instruments include cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable, contract liabilities, and accrued expenses. Unless otherwise disclosed, the fair values of the Company’s long-term debt obligations approximate their carrying value based upon current rates available to the Company.
Stock-Based Compensation
Stock-based compensation cost related to stock options granted under the 2011 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended, and the 2011 B Equity Incentive Plan (together, the “2011 Equity Incentive Plans”) (see Note 8) is measured at the grant date, based on the fair value of the award, and is recognized as expense over the employee’s requisite service period on a straight-line basis. The Company estimates the fair value of each option award on the date of grant using a Black-Scholes option-pricing model that uses the assumptions noted in the table below. The Company uses the simplified method to estimate the expected term of employee stock options, because it does not believe historical exercise data will provide a reasonable basis for estimating the expected term for the current share options granted. The simplified method assumes that employees will exercise share options evenly between the period when the share options are vested and ending on the date when the options would expire. The Company uses the closing stock price of its common stock on the date of the grant as the associated fair value of its common stock. For issuances after June 30, 2019, the Company estimates the volatility of its common stock at the date of grant based on the volatility of its stock during the period. For issuances on or prior to June 30, 2019, the Company estimated the volatility of its common stock at the date of grant based on the volatility of comparable peer companies that were publicly traded and had a longer trading history than the Company. The Company determines the expected life based on historical experience with similar awards, giving consideration to the contractual terms, vesting schedules and post-vesting forfeitures. The Company uses the risk-free interest rate on the implied yield currently available on U.S. Treasury issues with an equivalent remaining term approximately equal to the expected life of the award. The Company has never paid any cash dividends on its common stock and does not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.
The Company used the following assumptions for stock options granted under the 2011 Equity Incentive Plans during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019:
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Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements
Twelve Months Ended
Expected term 6 years 6 years
Weighted average risk-free interest rate 0.46% 1.92%
Expected dividends — —
Weighted average expected forfeiture rate 7.72% 9.26%
The Company estimates forfeitures when recognizing compensation expense and this estimate of forfeitures is adjusted over the requisite service period based on the extent to which actual forfeitures differ, or are expected to differ, from such estimates. Changes in estimated forfeitures are recognized through a cumulative catch-up adjustment, which is recognized in the period of change, and a revised amount of unamortized compensation expense to be recognized in future periods.
The Company may issue shares of restricted stock or restricted stock units which vest over future periods. The value of shares is recorded as the fair value of the stock or units upon the issuance date and is expensed on a straight-line basis over the vesting period. See Note 8 for additional information related to these shares.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements
Fair Value Measurements: In August 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU No. 2018-13, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework—Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement (“ASU 2018-13”). The new guidance amends the disclosure requirements for recurring and nonrecurring fair value measurements by removing, modifying, and adding certain disclosures on fair value measurements in ASC 820. The amendments on changes to the range and weighted average of significant unobservable inputs used to develop Level 3 fair value measurements and the narrative description of measurement uncertainty should be applied prospectively for only the most recent interim or annual period presented in the initial fiscal year of adoption. All other amendments should be applied retrospectively to all periods presented upon their effective date. The adoption of ASU 2018-13 on January 1, 2020 was not material to the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
Collaborative Arrangements: In November 2018, the FASB issued ASU No. 2018-18, Collaborative Arrangements (Topic 808): Clarifying the interaction between Topic 808 and Topic 606 (“ASU 2018-18”). The guidance makes targeted improvements to GAAP for collaborative arrangements including: (i) clarifying that certain transactions between collaborative arrangement participants should be accounted for as revenue under ASC 606 when the collaborative arrangement participant is a customer in the context of a unit of account, (ii) adding unit-of-account guidance in ASC 808 to align with the guidance in ASC 606 (that is, a distinct good or service) when an entity is assessing whether the collaborative arrangement or a part of the arrangement is within the scope of ASC 606, and (iii) requiring that in a transaction with a collaborative arrangement participant that is not directly related to sales to third parties, presenting the transaction together with revenue recognized under ASC 606 is precluded if the collaborative arrangement participant is not a customer. The amendments in this update are effective for public entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, and interim periods within those fiscal years. The amendments should be applied retrospectively to the date of initial application of ASC 606. An entity may elect to apply the practical expedient for contract modifications that is permitted for entities using the modified retrospective transition method in ASC 606. The Company adopted ASU 2018-18 on January 1, 2020 and applied the amendments only to contracts that were not completed as of such date. The adoption of ASU 2018-18 was not material to the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement: On January 1, 2020, we adopted ASU No. 2018-15 ("ASU 2018-15"), Customer's Accounting Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That is a Service Contract, which requires a customer in a cloud computing arrangement that is a service contract to follow the internal-use software guidance in Accounting Standards Codification 350-40 to determine which implementation costs to defer and recognize as an asset. ASU 2018-15 generally aligns the guidance on recognizing implementation costs incurred in a cloud computing arrangement that is a service contract with that for implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software, including hosting arrangements that include an internal-use software license. This ASU was adopted using the retrospective approach. The adoption of ASU 2018-15 was not material to the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
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Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted
Credit Losses: In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments (“ASU 2016-13”). ASU 2016-13 replaces the incurred loss impairment methodology under current GAAP with a methodology that reflects expected credit losses and requires a consideration of a broader range of reasonable and supportable information to inform credit loss estimates. ASU 2016-13 requires use of a forward-looking expected credit loss model for accounts receivables, loans, and other financial instruments. In May 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-05, which provides transition relief for entities adopting ASU 2016-13. For entities that have adopted ASU 2016-13, the amendments in ASU 2019-05 are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods therein. An entity may early adopt the ASU in any interim period after its issuance if the entity has adopted ASU 2016-13. For all other entities, the effective date will be the same as the effective date of ASU 2016-13. ASU 2016-13 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company is currently evaluating the expected impact of adopting ASU 2016-13 on its consolidated financial statements and disclosures.
Income Taxes:In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU No. 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes (“ASU 2019-12”), which is intended to simplify various aspects related to accounting for income taxes. ASU 2019-12 removes certain exceptions to the general principles in Topic 740 and also clarifies and amends existing guidance to improve consistent application. This guidance is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2020, with early adoption permitted. The Company believes this guidance will not have a material impact on its financial statements.
Investments - Equity Securities: In January 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-01, Investments - Equity Securities (Topic 321), Investments - Equity Method and Joint Ventures (Topic 323), and Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815): Clarifying the Interactions between Topic 321, 323 and Topic 815 (“ASU 2020-01”) to clarify the scope and interaction between these standards for equity securities, equity method and certain derivatives. ASU 2020-01 is effective for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2020, with early adoption permitted. The Company believes this guidance will not have a material impact on its financial statements.
Reference Rate Reform: In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting (“ASU 2020-04”). ASU 2020-04 provides optional guidance for a limited time to ease the potential burden in accounting for reference rate reform. It also provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying U.S. GAAP to contracts, hedging relationships and other transactions affected by reference rate reform if certain criteria are met. ASU 2020-04 applies only to contracts and hedging relationships that reference LIBOR or another reference rate expected to be discontinued due to reference rate reform. ASU 2020-04 is effective immediately and may be applied prospectively to contract modifications made and hedging relationships entered into or evaluated on or before December 31, 2022. The Company believes this guidance will not have a material impact on its financial statements.
Convertible Instruments:In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-06, Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity (“ASU 2020-06”). ASU 2020-06 simplifies the guidance on the issuer’s accounting for convertible debt instruments by removing the separation models for (1) convertible debt with a cash conversion feature and (2) convertible instruments with a beneficial conversion feature. As a result, entities will not separately present in equity an embedded conversion feature in such debt. Instead, they will account for a convertible debt instrument wholly as debt, unless certain other conditions are met. The elimination of these models will reduce reported interest expense and increase reported net income for entities that have issued a convertible instrument that was within the scope of those models before the adoption of ASU 2020-06. Also, ASU 2020-06 requires the application of the if-converted method for calculating diluted earnings per share and the treasury stock method will be no longer available. The provisions of ASU 2020-06 are applicable for the Company as a smaller reporting company for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, with early adoption permitted no earlier than fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of ASU 2020-06 on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.
Codification Improvements: In October 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-08, Codification Improvements to Subtopic 310-20, Receivables - Nonrefundable Fees and Other Costs ("ASU 2020-08"), and ASU No. 2020-10, Codification Improvements ("ASU 2020-10"). ASU 2020-08 and ASU 2020-10 provide changes to clarify or improve existing guidance. This guidance is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is not permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact that ASU 2020-08 and ASU 2020-10 will have on its consolidated financial statements and disclosures.
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NOTE 2. PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT
Property and equipment consist of the following:
Leasehold improvements — 338,018
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization (571,992) (868,335)
Depreciation and amortization expense on property and equipment recorded in depreciation and amortization expense in the consolidated statements of operations was $135,077 and $131,121 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
NOTE 3. INTANGIBLE ASSETS
The identifiable intangible assets, other than Goodwill, consists of the following assets:
Total identifiable intangible assets from the Company’s acquisitions and other acquired assets net of accumulated amortization thereon consists of the following:
The Company is amortizing the identifiable intangible assets over a remaining weighted-average period of 7 months. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2019, the Company recorded an impairment charge of $310,000 reflected as an expense under impairment of goodwill and intangible assets in the consolidated statements of operations. The Company recorded the impairment on the TapInfluence developed technology to the extent that future cash flows after the Company's migration of TapInfluence customers and creators into the IZEAx platform were not expected to exceed the carrying value of the asset. There were no impairment charges associated with the Company’s identifiable intangible assets in the twelve months ended December 31, 2020.
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Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements
Amortization expense recorded in depreciation and amortization in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations was $1,105,960 and $1,228,433 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
The portion of this amortization expense specifically related to the costs of acquired technology that is excluded from cost of revenue and recorded in depreciation and amortization was $197,833 and $226,000 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
As of December 31, 2020, future estimated amortization expense related to identifiable intangible assets is set forth in the following schedule:
Intangible AssetAmortization Expense
The Company’s goodwill balance changed as follows:
Amount
Acquisitions, impairments or other changes during 2019 —
Acquisitions, impairments or other changes during 2020 (4,300,000)
In March 2020, the Company identified triggering events due to the reduction in its projected revenue due to adverse economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the continuation of a market capitalization below the Company’s carrying value, and uncertainty for recovery given the volatility of the capital markets surrounding COVID-19. The Company performed an interim assessment of goodwill, using the discounted cash flow method under the income approach and the guideline transaction method under the market approach, and determined that the carrying value of our Company’s reporting unit as of March 31, 2020 exceeded the fair value. As a result of the valuation, the Company recorded a $4.3 million impairment of goodwill, which is reflected as an expense under impairment of goodwill and intangible assets in the consolidated statements of operations for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020.
NOTE 4. SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT COSTS
Software development costs consists of the following:
The Company developed its web-based influencer marketing platform, IZEAx, to enable influencer marketing and content creation campaigns on a greater scale. The Company continues to add new features and additional functionality to IZEAx and developed additional platforms in 2020, BrandGraph and Shake, to facilitate the contracting, workflow, and delivery or posting of content as well as provide for invoicing, collaborating, and direct payments for the Company’s customers and creators. The Company capitalized software development costs of $363,793 and $590,549 during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. As a result, the Company has capitalized a total of $3,036,810 in direct materials, consulting, payroll and benefit costs to its internal use software development costs in the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2020.
The Company amortizes its software development costs, commencing upon initial release of the software or additional features, on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful life of five years, which is consistent with the amount of time its legacy platforms were in service. Amortization expense on software development costs that is excluded from cost of revenue and recorded in depreciation and amortization expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations was
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$411,089 and $391,075 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. After the transfer of customers to the new workflow features implemented in the IZEAx 3.0 release, the Company discontinued use of previously developed technology totaling $234,047 and recorded an impairment charge of $108,099 under impairment of goodwill and intangible assets in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations during the twelve months ended December 31, 2019.
As of December 31, 2020, future estimated amortization expense related to software development costs is set forth in the following schedule:
Software Development Amortization Expense
NOTE 5. ACCRUED EXPENSES
Accrued expenses consist of the following:
Current portion of finance obligation 30,487 26,837
NOTE 6. NOTES PAYABLE
Canada Emergency Business Account (“CEBA”) Loan
On April 22, 2020, the Company received a Canadian dollar loan in the principal amount of 40,000 CAD ($31,422 USD as of December 31, 2020), from TD Canada Trust Bank pursuant to a CEBA term loan agreement (the “CEBA Loan”). The CEBA Loan has an initial term from inception through December 31, 2022 (the “Initial Term”) and an extended term from January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2025 (the “Extended Term”). No interest is accrued and no payments are due on the loan during the Initial Term. If the Company repays 75% of the CEBA Loan (30,000 CAD) on or prior to December 31, 2022, the remaining 10,000 CAD balance will be forgiven. Otherwise, interest will begin to accrue on the unpaid balance on January 1, 2023 with monthly interest payments commencing on January 31, 2023 until the CEBA Loan is paid in full on or before the end of the Extended Term.
Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) Loan
On April 23, 2020, the Company received a loan from Western Alliance Bank (the “Lender”) in the principal amount of $1,905,100, under the PPP evidenced by a promissory note issued by the Company (the “Note”) to the Lender.
The term of the Note is two years, though it may be payable sooner in connection with an event of default under the Note. The PPP Loan carries a fixed interest rate of one percent per year. Certain amounts received under the PPP Loan may be forgiven if the loan proceeds are used for eligible purposes, including payroll costs and certain rent or utility costs, and the Company meets other requirements regarding, among other things, the maintenance of employment and compensation levels.
Loan payments on the PPP Loan may be deferred to either (1) the date that the SBA remits the Company’s loan forgiveness amount to the Lender or (2) ten months after the end of the Company’s loan forgiveness covered period, if the Company does not apply for loan forgiveness. The Company submitted its forgiveness application for the entire amount of the loan in December 2020 and is awaiting approval from the SBA. The forgiveness of the PPP Loan is dependent on the Company
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qualifying for the forgiveness of the PPP Loan based on its adherence to the forgiveness criteria under the CARES Act, and no assurance is provided that the Company will obtain forgiveness of the PPP Loan in whole or in part.
Finance Obligation
The Company has two long term payment plans with a vendor to pay for its computer equipment in four annual payments between October 2019 and February 2023. The Company used an imputed interest rate of 9.5%, based on its incremental borrowing rate, to determine the present value of its finance obligation. The total balance owed was $74,295 and $72,510 as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively, with the short-term portion of $30,487 and $26,837 recorded under accrued expenses in the consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Secured Credit Facility
The Company has a secured credit facility agreement (also referred to herein as “line of credit”) with Western Alliance Bank, the parent company of Bridge Bank, N.A. of San Jose, California, which it obtained on March 1, 2013 and expanded on April 13, 2015. Pursuant to the secured credit facility agreement, as amended, the Company may submit requests for funding up to 80% of its eligible accounts receivable up to a maximum credit limit of $5 million. This agreement is secured by the Company’s accounts receivable and substantially all of the Company’s other assets. The agreement automatically renews in April of each year and requires the Company to pay an annual facility fee of $20,000 (0.4% of the credit limit) and an annual due diligence fee of $1,000. Interest accrues on the advances at the rate of prime plus 1.5% per annum and the default rate of interest is prime plus 7%.
The Company had no amounts outstanding under this secured credit facility as of December 31, 2020 and 2019. Assuming that all of the Company’s trade accounts receivables were eligible for funding, the Company would have approximately $4.1 million in available credit under the agreement as of December 31, 2020.
The annual fees are capitalized in the Company’s consolidated balance sheet within other current assets and are amortized to interest expense over one year. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, the Company amortized $21,000 and $25,215, respectively, of the secured credit facility costs through interest expense. The remaining value of the capitalized loan costs related to the secured credit facility as of December 31, 2020 is $7,000; this amount will be amortized to interest expense over the next four months.
Interest expense on financing arrangements recorded in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations was $36,125 and $60,155 during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. As of December 31, 2020, the future contractual maturities of our debt obligations by year is set forth in the following schedule:
NOTE 7. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Lease Commitments
The Company’s corporate headquarters were located at 480 N. Orlando Avenue, Suite 200 in Winter Park, Florida until its lease expired on April 30, 2020. Due to its current work from home policy enacted on March 16, 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company has not yet entered into any new lease agreement for its headquarters and does not intend to do so until advisable. The Company also occupied flexible office space under monthly, quarterly or semi-annual membership contracts in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, and Toronto during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020. These contracts were not renewed upon expiration of their terms during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020.
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Upon the January 1, 2019 adoption of ASU No. 2016-02, Leases, the Company elected the short-term lease exemption policy, applying the requirements of ASU No. 2016-02 to only long-term (greater than 1 year) leases. Upon adoption, the Company had one material lease greater than 12 months in duration. This was the lease associated with its corporate headquarters in Winter Park, Florida. The adoption of this standard resulted in the Company recording an operating right-of-use asset of $410,852 and an associated lease liability of $399,892. The operating lease liability was determined based on the present value of the remaining minimum rental payments using the Company’s incremental borrowing rate of 9.5% and the operating lease right-of-use asset was determined based on the value of the lease liabilities, adjusted for a deferred rent balance, which was previously included in current liabilities.
The Company had an operating right-of-use asset of $107,831 under other current assets and a lease liability of $83,807 in the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2019. These were fully recognized upon expiration of the lease in April 2020. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, the Company recorded $1,330 and $24,462, respectively, of accretion on its lease liability through rent expense in general and administrative expenses.
The Company has no obligations under finance leases as of December 31, 2020. Total operating lease expense and other short-term lease expense recorded in general and administrative expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations was $264,048 and $627,101 for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Cash paid for the one operating lease was $113,516 and $340,548 during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Retirement Plans
The Company offers a 401(k) plan to all of its eligible employees. The Company matches participant contributions in an amount equal to 50% of each participant’s contribution up to 8% of the participant’s salary. The participants become vested in 20% annual increments after two years of service. Total expense for employer matching contributions during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 was recorded in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations as follows:
Twelve Months Ended
Litigation
A securities class action lawsuit, Julian Perez, individually, and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. IZEA, Inc., et al., case number 2:18-cv-02784-SVW-GJS was instituted April 4, 2018 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against the Company and certain of its executive officers on behalf of certain purchasers of its common stock. The plaintiffs sought to recover damages for investors under federal securities laws. The Company estimated and accrued a potential loss of $500,000 relating to its potential liability arising from the Perez lawsuit and accrued for such amount in its financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018.
On April 15, 2019, a stipulation of settlement was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California that contained settlement terms as agreed upon by the parties to the Perez class action lawsuit described above. The motion for preliminary approval of the settlement was granted on May 7, 2019. According to the terms of the settlement, as agreed upon by the parties, the Company’s insurer deposited $800,000 into the settlement fund and the Company paid the remainder of the Company’s previously accrued insurance deductible of $400,000 into escrow to be used as settlement funds, inclusive of lead plaintiff awards and lead counsel fees. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued an order approving the settlement of the Perez class action lawsuit on September 26, 2019, which required that the lawsuit be dismissed with prejudice.
On July 3, 2018, a shareholder derivative lawsuit, Korene Stuart v. Edward H. Murphy et al., case number A-18-777135-C was instituted in the Eighth Judicial District Court of the State of Nevada, Clark County against certain executive officers and members of the Board of Directors for IZEA. IZEA was named as a nominal defendant. The plaintiff sought to recover damages on behalf of the Company for purported breaches of the individual defendants’ fiduciary duties as
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directors and/or officers of IZEA, unjust enrichment, abuse of control, gross mismanagement, and waste of corporate assets in violation of state common law.
Additionally, on October 19, 2018, a shareholder derivative lawsuit, Dennis E. Emond v. Edward H. Murphy et al., case number 2:18-cv-9040, was instituted in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against certain executive officers and members of the Board of Directors for IZEA. IZEA was named as a nominal defendant. An amended complaint was filed on October 31, 2018. The plaintiff sought to recover damages on behalf of the Company for purported breaches of the individual defendants’ fiduciary duties as directors and/or officers of IZEA, and gross mismanagement, and under federal securities laws.
On March 6, 2019, a stipulation of settlement was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California that contained settlement terms as agreed upon by the parties to the Stuart and Emond shareholder derivative lawsuits described above (the “Settlement”). The Settlement terms agreed upon by the parties included that IZEA would direct its insurers to make a payment of $300,000 as a fee and service award to the plaintiffs and their counsel in the Stuart and Emond lawsuits and further that IZEA would enact certain corporate governance reforms. The motion for preliminary approval of the Settlement was granted on August 28, 2019 by the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued an order on January 13, 2020, which required that the Emond lawsuit be dismissed with prejudice. According to the terms of the Settlement, as agreed upon by the parties, following the approval of the Settlement by the U. S. District Court for the Central District of California and on or before February 26, 2020, the parties were required to seek an order from the Eighth Judicial District Court of the State of Nevada dismissing the Stuart lawsuit with prejudice. On or about March 6, 2020, the Eighth Judicial District Court of the State of Nevada issued an order dismissing the Stuart lawsuit with prejudice.
From time to time, the Company may become involved in various other lawsuits and legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of its business. Litigation is, however, subject to inherent uncertainties, and an adverse result in these or other matters may arise from time to time that may harm the Company’s business. The Company is currently not aware of any legal proceedings or claims that it believes would or could have, individually or in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on the Company. Regardless of final outcomes, however, any such proceedings or claims may nonetheless impose a significant burden on management and employees and may come with costly defense costs or unfavorable preliminary interim rulings.
NOTE 8. STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Authorized Shares
The Company has 200,000,000 authorized shares of common stock and 10,000,000 authorized shares of preferred stock, each with a par value of $0.0001 per share.
Sale of Securities
May 10, 2019 Public Offering
On May 10, 2019, the Company closed on its underwritten registered public offering of 14,285,714 shares of common stock at a public offering price of $0.70 per share, for total gross proceeds of approximately $10 million. The net proceeds to the Company were approximately $9.2 million. Mr. Edward Murphy, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and a Company director, and Mr. Troy J. Vanke, the Company’s former Chief Financial Officer, participated in the public offering and purchased 21,428 and 42,857 shares of stock, respectively.
This offering was made pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-230688) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on April 2, 2019, which became effective on May 8, 2019.
At the Market (ATM) Offering
On June 4, 2020, the Company entered into an ATM Sales Agreement (the “2020 Sales Agreement”) with National Securities Corporation, as sales agent (“National Securities”), pursuant to which the Company may offer and sell, from time to time, through National Securities, shares of the Company's common stock, by any method deemed to be an “at the market offering” (the “ATM Offering”).
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On June 12, 2020, the Company entered into an amendment to the 2020 Sales Agreement to increase the amount of common stock that may be offered and sold in the ATM Offering to $40,000,000 in the aggregate. As of December 31, 2020, the Company had sold 14,819,740 shares at an average price of $1.92 per share for total gross proceeds of $28,455,096.
Stock Issued for Acquisitions
TapInfluence
On July 26, 2018, the Company completed its merger with TapInfluence, Inc., pursuant to the terms of the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of July 11, 2018, by and among the Company, IZEA Merger Sub, Inc., TapInfluence, certain stockholders of TapInfluence and the stockholders’ representative, as amended by Amendment No. 1 thereto, dated as of July 20, 2018 (the “Merger Agreement”). The merger was consummated, in part, to further consolidate the influencer marketing industry for the Company, and for the Company to obtain benefits from the acquisition of the TapInfluence technology platform and existing customer base, particularly from TapInfluence’s self-service customers. The aggregate consideration paid at closing for the acquisition of TapInfluence consisted of a cash payment of $1,500,000 and the issuance of 1,150,000 shares of the Company’s common stock valued at $1,759,500, or $1.53 per share. Aggregate post-acquisition date consideration consisted of additional payments totaling $4,500,000, less $115,417 related to the final working capital adjustment calculation.
On January 26, 2019, pursuant to the Merger Agreement, the Company issued 660,136 shares of its common stock valued at $884,583, or $1.34 per share, using the 30-day Volume Weighted Average Price (“VWAP”) as reported by the Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”) prior to the issuance date, to settle amounts due under its acquisition cost payable. The Company recorded a $191,439 loss on the settlement of this acquisition cost payable as a result of the difference between the actual closing market price of the common stock of $1.63 on the settlement date and the 30-day VWAP of $1.34 required by the Merger Agreement.
On July 26, 2019, pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement with TapInfluence, the Company issued 6,908,251 shares of its common stock valued at $3,500,000, or $0.50664 per share, using the 30-day VWAP as reported by Nasdaq prior to the issuance date, to settle amounts due under its acquisition cost payable. The Company recognized a gain of $752,591 on the settlement of this acquisition cost payable as a result of the difference between the actual closing market price of the common stock of $0.3977 on the settlement date and the 30-day VWAP of $0.50664 required by the Merger Agreement.
ZenContent
On July 31, 2016, the Company purchased all of the outstanding shares of capital stock of ZenContent pursuant to the terms of a Stock Purchase Agreement, by and among IZEA, ZenContent and the stockholders of ZenContent (the “ZenContent Stock Purchase Agreement”) for a maximum purchase price to be paid over three years of $4,500,000. Upon closing, the Company paid a cash payment of $400,000 and issued 86,207 shares of the Company’s common stock valued at $600,000. The ZenContent Stock Purchase Agreement also required (i) three equal annual installment payments totaling $1,000,000, subject to a working capital adjustment, commencing 12 months following the closing and (ii) contingent performance payments of up to an aggregate of $2,500,000 over the three consecutive 12-month periods following the closing, based upon ZenContent achieving certain minimum revenue thresholds. Of these payments, 33% of each such annual installment or contingent performance payment were to be in the form of cash and the remainder of such payment was to be in the form of either cash or additional shares of the Company’s common stock (determined at the Company’s option).
On July 31, 2019, the Company made the third and final annual installment payment under the ZenContent Stock Purchase Agreement, comprised of $111,111 in cash and 447,489 shares of its common stock valued at $222,223 or $0.4966 per share, using the 30-day VWAP as reported by Nasdaq prior to the issuance date. The Company recognized a gain of $41,258 on the settlement of this acquisition cost payable as a result of the difference between the actual closing market price of the common stock of $0.4044 on the settlement date and the 30-day VWAP of $0.4966 required by the ZenContent Stock Purchase Agreement.
Equity Incentive Plans
In May 2011, the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) adopted the 2011 Equity Incentive Plan of IZEA Worldwide, Inc. (as amended, the “May 2011 Plan”). The stockholders approved an amendment and restatement of the Company’s May 2011 Plan at its 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders held on December 18, 2020, to allow the Company to award restricted stock, restricted stock units and stock options covering up to 7,500,000 shares of common stock as incentive
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compensation for its employees and consultants. As of December 31, 2020, the Company had 3,812,928 remaining shares of common stock available for issuance pursuant to future grants under the May 2011 Plan.
In August 2011, the Company adopted the 2011 B Equity Incentive Plan (the “August 2011 Plan”) reserving 4,375 shares of common stock for issuance under the August 2011 Plan. As of December 31, 2020, the Company had 4,375 remaining shares of common stock available for future grants under the August 2011 Plan.
Restricted Stock
Under both the May 2011 Plan and the August 2011 Plan (together, the “2011 Equity Incentive Plans”), the Board determines the terms and conditions of each restricted stock issuance, including any future vesting restrictions.
The Company issued 27,184 shares of restricted stock on March 28, 2019 to Mr. Edward Murphy, its Chief Executive Officer, for amounts owed on his fourth quarter 2018 performance bonus. The stock was initially valued at $36,427 and vests in equal monthly installments over 12 months from issuance. The Company issued 4,570 shares of restricted stock on March 28, 2019 to Mr. Ryan Schram, its Chief Operating Officer, for amounts owed on his fourth quarter 2018 performance bonus. The stock was initially valued at $6,124 and vests in equal monthly installments over 48 months from issuance.
On January 31, 2019, the Company issued its six independent directors a total of 88,758 shares of restricted common stock initially valued at $150,000 for their annual service as directors of the Company. The stock vested in equal monthly installments from January through December 2019. One director forfeited 4,932 of these shares valued at $8,335 upon their resignation from the board of directors in September 2019.
On January 31, 2020, the Company issued its five independent directors a total of 390,625 shares of restricted common stock initially valued at $125,000 for their annual service as directors of the Company. The stock vests in equal monthly installments from January through December 2020.
The following table contains summarized information about restricted stock issued during the years ended December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2020:
Forfeited —
Although restricted stock is issued upon the grant of an award, the Company excludes restricted stock from the computations within the financial statements of total shares outstanding and basic earnings per share until such time as the restricted stock vests.
Expense recognized on restricted stock issued to non-employees for services was $125,000 and $141,665 during twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. Expense recognized on restricted stock issued to employees was $33,677 and $169,534 during the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
On December 31, 2020, the fair value of the Company’s common stock was approximately $1.82 per share and the intrinsic value on the non-vested restricted stock was $24,872. Future compensation expense related to issued, but non-vested, restricted stock awards as of December 31, 2020 is $31,202. This value is estimated to be recognized over the weighted-average vesting period of approximately five months.
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Restricted Stock Units
The Board determines the terms and conditions of each restricted stock unit award issued under the May 2011 Plan.
The Company issued 131,235 restricted stock units on May 17, 2019 to Mr. Murphy under the terms of his amended employment agreement. The restricted stock units were initially valued at $76,510 and vest in equal monthly installments over 36 months from issuance. The Company issued 258,312 restricted stock units on August 29, 2019 to Mr. Murphy under the terms of his amended employment agreement. The restricted stock units were initially valued at $82,660 and vest in equal monthly installments over 48 months from issuance.
The Company issued 890 restricted stock units on May 14, 2019 to Mr. Troy Vanke, the Company’s then Chief Financial Officer, under the terms of his employment agreement. The restricted stock units were initially valued at $578 and vest in equal monthly installments over 12 months from issuance. Upon his departure in August 2019, 667 of these shares were forfeited.
The Company issued 84,994 restricted stock units on January 3, 2020 to Mr. Schram under the terms of his employment agreement. The restricted stock units were initially valued at $23,739 and vest in equal monthly installments over 48 months from issuance. The Company also issued 100,000 restricted stock units on January 3, 2020 to Mr. Schram as additional incentive compensation. The restricted stock units were initially valued at $27,930 and vest in a lump sum 12 months from issuance.