Item 1A. Risk Factors
Summary of Risk Factors
The following is a summary of some of the risks and uncertainties that could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. You should read this summary together with the more detailed risk factors contained below.
Risks Related to the Restatement, Internal Controls and Related Matters
•We and our directors and certain of our former officers have been named in lawsuits related to the circumstances that gave rise to the Restatement and may be named in further proceedings.
•We are subject to an ongoing investigation by the SEC and may be named in future governmental or other regulatory investigations and proceedings.
•Because our securities are traded on the OTC Expert Market, there is a minimal public market for our securities, which negatively affects the value of our securities and may make it difficult or impossible for you to sell or buy them.
•Matters relating to or arising from the Restatement and the Investigation have had, and could continue to have, an adverse effect on our business and financial condition and reputation.
•We have material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting.
Risks Related to our Business and Industry
•The presence of various risks and uncertainties associated with the Company’s liquidity position may adversely affect its ability to sustain its operations.
•We are an early-stage company with a history of losses, we may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future, and our operating results and financial condition may continue to fluctuate.
•Our growth and the markets in which we operate make it difficult to evaluate our current business and future prospects.
•Our restructuring and associated workforce reductions resulted in the loss of institutional knowledge.
•We face various risks related to our HelloTech business, many of which are difficult to predict while the business is being integrated into the Company.
•Our future operating results will rely in part upon the successful execution of our strategic partnerships.
•If our security controls are breached, or unauthorized or inadvertent access to user information or other data or to control or view systems are otherwise obtained, we may incur significant liabilities.
•We may be unable to attract new customers and maintain customer satisfaction with current customers.
•We rely on our channel partner network and certain third-party providers of licensed software and services that are important to our business.
•Customer turnover or costs we incur to retain and upsell our customers could adversely affect our financial performance.
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•If we are unable to develop new solutions, adapt to technological change, sell our software, services and products into new markets or further penetrate our existing markets, our revenue may not grow as expected.
•We operate in the emerging and evolving smart building technology industry, which may develop more slowly than we expect and may become more competitive.
•We may not realize the anticipated benefits of the HDW Acquisition, the HelloTech Merger or other acquisitions.
•Changes in effective tax rates, adverse outcomes resulting from examination of our income or other tax returns and an inability to use some or all of our net operating loss carryforwards could adversely affect our results of operations.
•We may require additional capital to pursue our business objectives and to operate our business.
•If we are unable to acquire or adequately protect intellectual property, we could be competitively disadvantaged.
•Accusations of infringement of third-party intellectual property rights could materially and adversely affect our business.
•Some of our products and services contain open source software, which may pose particular risks to our business.
•Our products and services may be affected from time to time by design and manufacturing defects.
•If we fail to continue to develop our brands, our business may suffer.
•We must successfully upgrade and maintain our information technology systems, and problems with our information systems, third-party systems and infrastructure upon which we rely could interfere with our business and operations.
•We collect, store, process and use personal information, which subjects us to legal obligations and laws and regulations related to security and privacy.
•We rely on a limited number of suppliers, manufacturers and logistics partners that we do not control.
•Increases in component costs, long lead times, supply shortages and changes, labor shortages and construction delays could disrupt our supply chain and operations.
•Our operating results could be adversely affected if we are unable to accurately forecast customer demand for our products and services and adequately manage our inventory.
•From time to time, we may be subject to legal proceedings, regulatory disputes and governmental inquiries that could cause us to incur significant expenses, divert our management’s attention and materially harm our business.
•Our smart building technology is subject to varying state and local regulations, and we must also comply with import and export, bribery and money laundering laws, regulations and controls.
•If we are unable to sustain pricing levels, our business could be adversely affected.
•Insurance policies may not cover all of our operating risks, and a casualty loss beyond the limits of our coverage could negatively impact our business.
•Downturns in general economic and market conditions and reductions in spending may reduce demand for our software, services and products, which could harm our revenue, results of operations and cash flows.
•We are dependent upon relationships with manufacturers in Taiwan and China, which exposes us to complex regulatory regimes, logistical challenges and business risk.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Securities
•Our common stock price may be volatile or may decline regardless of our operating performance.
•We do not intend to pay dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future.
•Our issuance or sale of additional shares of common stock or convertible securities could make it difficult for another company to acquire us, may dilute your ownership of us and could adversely affect our stock price.
•Our warrants are subject to various limitations and features that could adversely impact the holders of such warrants.
•Anti-takeover provisions in our governing documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of us more difficult or limit attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management.
•Our governing documents provide a sole and exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us.
Risks Related to the Investigation, Restatement, Internal Controls and Related Matters
We and certain of our current and former officers and directors have been named in stockholder class action lawsuits and derivative lawsuits related to the circumstances that gave rise to the Restatement and extended filing delay in filing our periodic reports with the SEC and may be named in further litigation, government investigations and proceedings, which could require significant additional management time and attention, has resulted and could result in significant
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additional legal expenses or result in government enforcement actions, any of which could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations, financial condition, liquidity and cash flows.
We and certain of our current and former officers and directors have been named in, or are required to indemnify certain defendants of, stockholder class action lawsuits and derivative lawsuits (collectively, the “Stockholder Lawsuits”) relating to the matters identified in the Investigation and audit and compliance efforts and may become subject to further litigation, government investigations or proceedings arising out of the Restatement. The pending litigation has been, and any future litigation, investigation or other actions that may be filed or initiated against us or our current or former officers or directors may be, time consuming and expensive. We cannot predict what losses we may incur in these litigation matters and contingencies related to our obligations under the federal and state securities laws, or in other legal proceedings or governmental investigations or proceedings related to the Restatement.
To date, we have incurred significant costs in connection with the Stockholder Lawsuits and other pending litigation. Any legal proceedings will likely involve significant defense and other costs and, if decided adversely to us or settled, could result in significant monetary damages, penalties and reputational harm. We have also agreed to contribute towards certain settlements related to the Stockholder Lawsuits, which remain subject to court approval. These cash outflows have negatively impacted, and will continue to negatively impact, our cash position, liquidity and profitability.
We have entered into indemnification agreements with each of our current and former directors, certain of our current and former officers and certain third parties, and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires us to indemnify each of our directors and officers, to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law, who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding by reason of the fact that he or she is or was a director or officer of the Company. Although we maintain insurance coverage in amounts and with deductibles that we believe are appropriate for our operations, our insurance coverage does not cover all claims that have been or may be brought against us, and insurance coverage may not be available to us at a reasonable cost. As a result, we have been and may continue to be exposed to substantial uninsured liabilities, including pursuant to our indemnification obligations, which could materially adversely affect our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition.
See Part I, Item 3. “Legal Proceedings” and Note 12. Commitments and Contingencies, in Part II, Item 8. “Financial Statements” for additional discussion of these matters.
We are subject to an ongoing SEC investigation and may be named in future governmental or other regulatory investigations and proceedings, each of which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operation, cash flows and reputation.
Since being contacted by the Staff of the SEC in March 2023, the Company has been cooperating with the Staff’s investigation into issues related to the Company’s key performance indicators and revenue recognition practices that led to the Restatement and related issues. We cannot predict the duration or outcome of the SEC Investigation or whether the SEC will bring an enforcement action against us.
We cannot predict or provide any assurance as to the timing, outcome or consequences of the SEC Investigation. If the SEC were to conclude that enforcement action is appropriate, we could be required to pay civil penalties and fines, and the SEC could impose other sanctions against us or against our current and former officers and directors. We have incurred, and may continue to incur, significant expenses related to legal and other professional services in connection with matters relating to or arising from the SEC Investigation. These cash outflows have, and will continue to, negatively impact our cash position and profitability. We cannot predict if the SEC will impose any penalty or fine and, if it does, the magnitude or timing of such penalty or fine; however, any penalty or fine would also negatively impact our cash position, profitability and liquidity.
In addition, our Board, management and employees have expended, and may continue to expend, a substantial amount of time on the SEC Investigation, diverting resources and attention that would otherwise be directed toward our operations and implementation of our business strategy, all of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Publicity surrounding the foregoing, or any SEC enforcement action or settlement as a result of the SEC Investigation, even if ultimately resolved favorably for us, could have an adverse impact on our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, although we have completed the Restatement, we could receive additional inquiries from the SEC or other regulatory authorities regarding our restated financial statements or matters relating thereto, and we could be subject to future claims, investigations or proceedings. Any future inquiries from regulatory authorities, or future claims or proceedings as a
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result of the Restatement or any related regulatory investigation, will, regardless of the outcome, consume a significant amount of our internal resources and result in additional legal and accounting costs.
Because our securities are trading on the OTC Expert Market, there is a minimal public market for our securities, which negatively affects the value of our securities and may make it difficult or impossible for you to sell them. We cannot assure you that our common stock and warrants will be traded on the OTCQX, OTCQB or OTC Pink markets or listed on Nasdaq or any other national securities exchange in the future.
On February 7, 2023, the Company received a Staff Delisting Determination (the “Staff Determination”) from the Listing Qualifications Department of Nasdaq (the “Nasdaq Staff”) notifying the Company that Nasdaq had initiated a process that could result in the delisting of the Company’s securities from Nasdaq as a result of the Company’s failure to timely file all required periodic financial reports with the SEC. The Company presented a Compliance Plan (the “Compliance Plan”) at a March 23, 2023 hearing before a Nasdaq Hearings Panel (the “Panel”). As set forth in the Compliance Plan, the Company intended to regain compliance with its periodic filing obligations under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1) (the “Listing Rule”) by filing with the SEC, on or before August 4, 2023, (i) the 2022 Annual Report, (ii) its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarterly periods ended June 30, 2022 and September 30, 2022 (together, the “Delinquent Quarterly Reports”) and (iii) the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2023 (the “First Quarter 2023 Report”). On April 5, 2023, the Company received a decision from the Panel granting the Company’s request for continued listing on Nasdaq, subject to the Company demonstrating compliance with the Listing Rule on or before August 4, 2023.
On July 31, 2023, the Company notified the Panel that the Company did not anticipate filing the required reports to regain compliance with the Listing Rule on or before August 4, 2023. On August 8, 2023, the Company received a notice from the Panel stating that it had determined to suspend trading of the Company’s securities on August 10, 2023 and commence delisting procedures because of the Company’s failure to regain compliance with the Listing Rule by August 4, 2023. On March 21, 2024, Nasdaq filed a Form 25 with the SEC notifying the SEC of Nasdaq’s determination to remove the Company’s securities from listing on Nasdaq. The delisting was effective April 1, 2024. Since the suspension of trading in the Company’s common stock and warrants on Nasdaq, the Company’s securities have been traded on the OTC Expert Market.
Quotes in the OTC Expert Market are “Unsolicited Only.” This means broker-dealers may only use the OTC Expert Market to publish unsolicited quotes representing limit orders from retail and institutional investors who are not affiliates or insiders of the Company. Quotations in OTC Expert Market securities are restricted from public viewing. Only broker-dealers and professional or sophisticated investors are permitted to view quotations in OTC Expert Market securities. Because of these restrictions, there is a minimal public market for our securities, which negatively affects the value of our securities and may make it difficult or impossible for you to sell them. We cannot assure you that our common stock and warrants will be traded on the OTC Pink markets or the OTCQX or OTCQB markets, which generally offer greater liquidity than the OTC Expert Market, in the future.
Over-the-counter markets are generally considered to be less efficient than, and not as broad as, a national stock exchange. In addition, our ability to raise additional capital may be impaired because of the less liquid nature of the over-the-counter markets. While we cannot guarantee that we would be able to complete an equity financing on acceptable terms, or at all, we believe that dilution from any equity financing while our shares are quoted on an over-the-counter market would likely be substantially greater than if we were to complete a financing while our common stock is traded on a national securities exchange.
Our common stock may also be subject to penny stock rules, which impose additional sales practice requirements on broker-dealers who sell our common stock. The SEC generally defines “penny stock” as an equity security that has a market price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exceptions. The ability of broker-dealers to sell our common stock and the ability of our stockholders to sell their shares in the secondary market will be limited and, as a result, the market liquidity for our common stock will likely be adversely affected. Further, certain brokerage firms have implemented rules regarding the deposit of penny stock shares into new or existing accounts where such stocks do not meet minimum price and volume requirements. Such rules may make it difficult or even prevent stockholders from timely selling their shares through such brokerage firms unless the shares meet such minimum requirements.
No assurance can be provided that an active trading market for our securities will develop or, if one develops, will continue. The lack of an active trading market for our securities may limit the liquidity of an investment in our common stock or warrants, meaning you may not be able to sell any shares of common stock or warrants you own at times, or at prices, attractive to you. Any of these factors may materially adversely affect the price of our common stock and warrants.
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We may not ever be able to satisfy the initial or continued listing requirements for our common stock to be listed on any stock exchange, including Nasdaq, which are often more widely-traded and liquid markets. Some, but not all, of the factors that may delay or prevent the listing of our common stock on a more widely-traded and liquid market include the following: our stockholders’ equity may be insufficient; the market value of our outstanding securities may be too low; our net income from operations may be too low; our common stock may not be sufficiently widely held; we may not be able to secure market makers for our common stock; the SEC Investigation may remain ongoing; and we may fail to regain or maintain compliance with the relevant listing rules and requirements.
In the future, if eligible to do so, we could elect to deregister our securities under the Exchange Act. Deregistration would result in less disclosure about us and may negatively affect the liquidity and trading prices of our securities.
In the future, if eligible to do so, our Board may elect to voluntarily deregister our securities under the Exchange Act and suspend our reporting obligations. While no Board approval of deregistration has taken place, in the future, the Board may consider and/or authorize the Company to file with the SEC a Form 15 to voluntarily deregister our securities under Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act and suspend our reporting obligations under Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act, if eligible to do so. If the Board approves such deregistration, we would file a Form 15 and our obligations to file periodic reports, such as annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, would be suspended immediately upon the filing of the Form 15 with the SEC, and our proxy statement, Section 16 and other Section 12(g) reporting responsibilities would terminate effective 90 days after the filing of the Form 15. Following any deregistration, we would not expect to publish periodic financial information or furnish such information to our stockholders except as may be required by applicable laws or stock exchange rules. As a result of the foregoing factors, deregistration may result in less disclosure about us and may negatively affect the liquidity and trading prices of our securities.
Matters relating to or arising from the Restatement and the Investigation, including adverse publicity and potential concerns from our customers, have had, and could continue to have, an adverse effect on our business and financial condition.
We have been, and could continue to be, the subject of negative publicity focusing on the Investigation and the Restatement and have been, and may continue to be, adversely impacted by negative reactions from our customers or others with whom we do business. Concerns include the perception of the effort required to address our accounting and control environment and the ability for us to be a long-term provider to our customers. The continued occurrence of any of the foregoing could harm our business and have an adverse effect on our financial condition.
We have identified deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting that resulted in material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting and have concluded that our internal control over financial reporting and our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of December 31, 2023. If we fail to properly remediate these or any future material weaknesses or deficiencies or to maintain proper and effective internal controls, further material misstatements in our financial statements could occur and impair our ability to produce accurate and timely financial statements and could adversely affect investor confidence in our financial reports, which could negatively affect our business.
A material weakness is a deficiency or combination of deficiencies in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the financial statements would not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. We have concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2023 due to the existence of material weaknesses, and we have also concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of December 31, 2023 due to material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, all as described in Part II, Item 9A. “Controls and Procedures.” Our management has determined that we have material weaknesses in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023 related to (i) control environment, (ii) risk assessment, (iii) control activities, (iv) information and communication and (v) monitoring activities. All of these material weaknesses existed as of December 31, 2022, and certain of these material weaknesses also existed as of December 31, 2021.
As of the date of this Form 10-K, our remediation efforts are on-going. We cannot assure you that additional material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting will not arise or be identified in the future. We intend to continue our control remediation activities and to continue to improve our operational, information technology, financial systems and infrastructure procedures and controls, as well as to continue to expand, train, retain and manage our personnel who are essential to effective internal controls. In doing so, we will continue to incur expenses and expend management time on
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compliance-related issues. We may be unable to hire or retain such personnel, including qualified accounting and financial reporting personnel.
If our remediation measures are insufficient to address the identified deficiencies, or if additional deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting are discovered or occur in the future, our consolidated financial statements may contain material misstatements, and we could be required to restate our financial results. Moreover, because of the inherent limitations of any control system, material misstatements due to error or fraud may not be prevented or detected on a timely basis, or at all. Although we are working to remedy the ineffectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting, there can be no assurance as to when the remediation plan will be fully implemented, the aggregate cost of implementation or whether the remediation plan will be adequate and effective. Until our remediation plan is fully implemented, our management will continue to devote significant time and attention to these efforts. If we do not complete our remediation in a timely fashion, or at all, or if our remediation plan is inadequate or ineffective, there is an increased risk that we will be unable to timely file future periodic reports with the SEC and that our future consolidated financial statements could contain errors that will be undetected. If we are unable to provide reliable and timely financial reports in the future, our business and reputation may be further harmed. Restated financial statements and failures in internal controls may also cause us to fail to meet reporting obligations, result in the delisting of our securities, negatively affect investor confidence in our management and the accuracy of our financial statements and disclosures, or result in adverse publicity and concerns from investors, any of which could have a negative effect on the price of our common stock, subject us to further regulatory investigations and penalties or stockholder litigation, and materially adversely impact our business and financial condition.
If we identify any new material weaknesses in the future, any such weakness could limit our ability to prevent or detect a misstatement of our financial statements. In addition, if we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an unqualified opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, we may be unable to maintain compliance with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of periodic reports in addition to applicable stock exchange listing requirements, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy of our financial reporting and our stock price may decline as a result. We cannot assure you that the measures we have taken to date, or any measures we may take in the future, will be sufficient to avoid potential future material weaknesses.
Risks Related to our Business and Industry
The presence of various risks and uncertainties associated with the Company’s liquidity position may adversely affect its ability to sustain its operations.
As of the date of this Form 10-K (the “Filing Date”), the presence of the following risks and uncertainties associated with the Company’s liquidity position may adversely affect its ability to sustain its operations:
•The continued incurrence of significant expenses related to legal and other professional services in connection with the SEC Investigation and the possibility that the SEC may levy civil penalties or fines against the Company;
•Potential expenditures associated with defending, negotiating or resolving the service provider demand described in Note 12. Commitments and Contingencies, in Part II, Item 8. “Financial Statements;”
•Unexpected expenditures related to the Stockholder Lawsuits in the event the agreed-to settlements are not approved by the respective courts, or otherwise;
•The incurrence of significant expenses related to other legal or regulatory proceedings, whether actual or threatened;
•The failure of the Company to achieve its revenue expectations, including as a result of:
◦Pricing compression for the Company’s SaaS products;
◦Market adoption of the DOOR application;
◦The success of the HelloTech business;
◦The impact of elevated interest rates on the Company’s potential customers, who may eliminate or delay expenditures for the products or services the Company offers; and
◦Market perception of the Company and its offerings;
•Costs of revenue and operating expenses exceeding the Company’s expectations;
•The Company’s failure to maintain the liquidity ratio required by the Loan Agreement with Customers Bank;
•The Company’s inability to fully leverage its prepaid inventory; or
•The catastrophic loss of inventory due to theft, natural disaster or otherwise.
Due to the risks and uncertainties described above, the Company continues to monitor its liquidity position. The Company recognizes the challenge of maintaining sufficient liquidity to sustain its operations and remain in compliance with the
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liquidity ratio required by the Loan Agreement. However, notwithstanding its liquidity position as of the Filing Date, and while it is difficult to predict its future liquidity requirements with certainty, the Company currently expects it will be able to generate sufficient liquidity to fund its operations over the 12 months beyond the Filing Date.
In response to the risks and uncertainties described above, the Company may attempt to secure additional outside capital. However, the Company has not sought any commitments of additional outside capital and can provide no assurance it will be able to secure any outside capital in the future at all, or on terms that are acceptable to the Company. Additionally, the Company’s securities are currently traded on the OTC Expert Market. Because of applicable restrictions, there is a minimal public market for the Company’s securities, and the Company’s ability to raise additional capital may be impaired because of the less liquid nature of the over-the-counter markets. The Company also plans to continue to closely monitor its cash flow forecast and, if necessary, may implement certain incremental cost savings measures to preserve its liquidity beyond the 2022 RIFs and the July 2023 RIF. See Note 20. Restructuring, in Part II, Item 8. “Financial Statements.”
As of December 31, 2023 and 2024, the Company’s unrestricted cash and cash equivalents and current and non-current available-for-sale securities were approximately $179.5 million and $75.5 million, respectively. Current financial information regarding the Company, including its results of operations and statement of cash flows, will not be available until we file our 2024 financial statements.
We are an early-stage company with a history of losses. We have not been profitable historically and may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future.
We have experienced net losses in each year since inception, including a net loss of $107.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. We believe we will continue to incur operating losses and negative cash flow in the near term as we continue to invest significantly in our business, in particular to enhance and develop new Latch Platform features, services and products to position us for future growth. Additionally, we have incurred substantial losses and expended significant resources to market, promote and sell our solutions and products and expect to continue to do so in the future. We also expect to continue to invest for future growth, including for customer acquisition, technology infrastructure and services development. As noted above, we have also incurred significant costs in connection with the Stockholder Lawsuits and SEC Investigation.
We expect to continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future and will have to generate and sustain increased revenues to achieve future profitability. Achieving profitability will require us to increase revenues, manage our cost structure and avoid significant liabilities. Revenue growth may slow, revenues may decline or we may incur significant losses in the future for a number of possible reasons, including general macroeconomic conditions, increasing competition (including competitive pricing pressures), a decrease in the growth of the markets in which we compete or if we fail for any reason to continue to capitalize on growth opportunities. Additionally, we may encounter unforeseen operating expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and service quality problems or other unknown factors that may result in losses in future periods. If these losses exceed our expectations or our revenue growth expectations are not met in future periods, our financial performance will be harmed and our stock price could be volatile or decline.
Our operating results and financial condition may fluctuate from period to period.
Our operating results and financial condition fluctuate from quarter-to-quarter and year-to-year and are likely to continue to vary due to a number of factors, many of which are not within our control. Both our business and the smart building technology industry are changing rapidly, and our historical operating results may not be useful in predicting our future operating results. If our operating results, guidance or projections we provide to the marketplace do not meet previous guidance or projections or the expectations of securities analysts or investors, or we adjust such guidance or projections downward, the market price of our common stock will likely decline. We have experienced declines in our common stock since 2021. Fluctuations in our operating results and financial condition may occur due to a number of factors, including:
•the portion of our revenue attributable to SaaS versus hardware and other sales;
•the impact of organizational changes, including any reductions in force and the transition of Mr. Siminoff into an advisory role in 2025;
•fluctuations in demand for our platform and solutions;
•changes in pricing by us in response to competitive pricing actions or otherwise;
•the ability of our hardware vendors to continue to manufacture high-quality products and to supply sufficient products to meet our demands;
•the timing and success of introductions of new solutions, products or upgrades by us or our competitors;
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•changes in our business and pricing policies or those of our competitors;
•our ability to accurately forecast demand and revenue;
•our ability to control costs, including our operating expenses and the costs of the hardware we purchase;
•competition, including entry into the industry by new competitors and new offerings by existing competitors;
•our ability to successfully manage and integrate the HDW Acquisition, the HelloTech Merger and any future acquisitions of businesses;
•issues related to introductions of new or improved products such as shortages of prior generation products or decreased demand for next generation products;
•the amount and timing of expenditures, including those related to expanding our operations, increasing research and development, introducing new services, solutions or products or paying litigation or similar expenses, including those related to the Stockholder Lawsuits and the SEC Investigation;
•the ability to effectively manage growth within existing and new markets;
•changes in the payment terms for our products and services;
•the strength of regional, national and global economies;
•the impact of the any economic disruption, such as those caused by disruptions in access to bank deposits or lending commitments due to bank failures, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, increasing interest rates, the implementation of tariffs on imports, inflationary pressures and the threat of a recession;
•changes in the fair values of our financial instruments (including certain warrants that we assumed in connection with the Business Combination); and
•the impact of natural disasters or man-made problems such as terrorism.
Due to the foregoing factors, and the other risks discussed in this Form 10-K, you should not rely on quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year comparisons of our operating results as indicators of our future performance.
Our growth and the quickly changing markets in which we operate make it difficult to evaluate our current business and future prospects, which may increase the risk of investing in our common stock.
We have grown since 2017 when we introduced our smart building technology. We have encountered and expect to continue to encounter risks and uncertainties frequently experienced by growing companies in rapidly changing markets. If our assumptions regarding these uncertainties are incorrect or change in reaction to changes in our markets, or if we do not manage or address these risks successfully, our results of operations could differ materially from our expectations, and our business could suffer.
Our restructuring and associated workforce reductions in May and August 2022 and July 2023 resulted in the loss of institutional knowledge and could disrupt our business.
The reductions in force conducted in 2022 (the “2022 RIFs”) and the July 2023 RIF, and attrition following the restructurings, resulted in the loss of institutional knowledge and expertise and the reallocation and combination of certain roles and responsibilities across the Company, all of which could adversely affect our operating results and financial condition. Additionally, we are subject to service-level agreements (“SLAs”) with certain customers, and we may be unable to comply with such agreements as a result of the restructuring, attrition or other factors.
We cannot guarantee that we will not have to undertake additional workforce reductions or restructuring activities in the future. Furthermore, strategic restructuring may be disruptive to our operations. For example, any workforce reduction could impair our ability to achieve our current or future business objectives and yield unanticipated consequences, such as attrition beyond planned staff reductions, increased difficulties in our day-to-day operations and reduced employee morale. We believe the organizational restructuring of our sales and marketing teams as part of the 2022 RIFs and the July 2023 RIF negatively impacted our revenue. Restructurings could also cause us to delay, limit, reduce or eliminate certain product development plans, each of which could have an adverse impact on our operating results and financial condition. Any workforce reduction could also harm our ability to attract and retain qualified management and other personnel who are critical to our business. Any failure to attract or retain qualified personnel could significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our development and strategic objectives.
We engage some individuals classified as independent contractors, not employees, and if U.S. or international regulatory authorities mandate that they be classified as employees, our business would be adversely impacted.
We engage independent contractors and are subject to U.S. and international regulations and guidelines regarding independent contractor classification. For instance, the technicians that provide services through the HelloTech platform are
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engaged as independent contractors. These classification regulations and guidelines vary by jurisdiction, are highly fact sensitive and are subject to judicial and agency interpretation, and it could be determined that our current or former independent contractor classifications are inapplicable. Further, if legal standards for classification of independent contractors change, it may be necessary to modify our compensation structure for these personnel, including by paying additional compensation or reimbursing expenses. In addition, if our independent contractors are determined to have been misclassified as independent contractors, we would incur additional exposure under U.S. and international law, workers’ compensation, unemployment benefits, labor, employment and tort laws, including for prior periods, as well as potential liability for employee benefits and tax withholding. Any of these outcomes could result in substantial costs to us, could significantly impair our financial condition and our ability to conduct our business as we choose and could damage our reputation and our ability to attract and retain other personnel.
In addition to the harms listed above, a determination in, resolution of, or settlement of, any legal proceeding related to the classification of HelloTech technicians may require us to significantly alter the existing HelloTech business model and/or operations (including suspending or ceasing operations in impacted jurisdictions), increase our costs and impact our ability to add qualified technicians to our platform and grow our business, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and our ability to achieve or maintain profitability in the future.
We rely on third-party background check providers to screen potential and existing HelloTech technicians, and if such providers fail to provide accurate information, or if providers are unable to complete background checks because of data access restrictions, court closures or other unforeseen government shutdowns, or if we do not maintain business relationships with them, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
We rely on third-party background check providers to screen the records of potential and existing HelloTech technicians to help identify those that are not qualified to utilize our platform pursuant to applicable laws or any internal standards. Our HelloTech business may be adversely affected to the extent we cannot attract or retain qualified technicians as a result of such providers being unable to complete certain background checks, or being significantly delayed in completing certain background checks, because of data access restrictions, or to the extent that they do not meet their contractual obligations, our expectations or the requirements of applicable laws or regulations. If any of our third-party background check providers terminates its relationship with us, we may need to find an alternate provider, and may not be able to secure similar terms or replace such partners in an acceptable time frame.
If we cannot find alternate third-party background check providers on terms acceptable to us, we may not be able to timely onboard potential technicians, and as a result, our platform may be less attractive to qualified technicians. Further, if the background checks conducted by our third-party background check providers do not meet our expectations or the requirements under applicable laws and regulations, unqualified technicians may be permitted to provide services on the HelloTech platform, and as a result, our reputation and brand could be adversely affected and we could be subject to increased regulatory or litigation exposure.
We are also subject to a number of laws and regulations applicable to background checks for potential and existing technicians on the HelloTech platform. If we or technicians on our platform fail to comply with applicable laws, rules and legislation, our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Any negative publicity related to any of our third-party background check providers, including publicity related to safety incidents or data security breaches or incidents, could adversely affect our reputation and brand and could potentially lead to increased regulatory or litigation exposure. Any of the foregoing risks could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Any failure to offer high-quality support of our HelloTech platform may harm our relationships with merchants, consumers, and technicians and could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our ability to attract and retain merchants, consumers, and technicians to our HelloTech platform is dependent in part on our ability to provide high-quality support. Merchants, property owners, consumers and technicians depend on our support organization to resolve any issues relating to our platform. As we continue to grow our HelloTech business and improve our offerings, we will face challenges related to providing high-quality support services at scale. Any failure to maintain high-quality support, or a market perception that we do not maintain high-quality support, could harm our reputation and adversely affect our ability to scale our platform and business, financial condition and results of operations.
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If HelloTech platform users engage in, or are subject to, criminal, violent, inappropriate or dangerous activity that results in safety incidents, our ability to attract and retain technicians, consumers and merchants may be harmed, which could have an adverse impact on our reputation, business, financial condition and operating results.
We are not able to control or predict the actions of HelloTech platform users and third parties, either during their use of the HelloTech platform or otherwise, and we may be unable to protect or provide a safe environment for technicians, consumers and customers as a result of certain actions by technicians, consumers, merchants and third parties. Such actions may result in injuries, loss of life, property damage, theft, unauthorized use of credit and debit cards or bank accounts, business interruption, brand and reputational damage or other significant liabilities. Although we administer certain qualification processes for technicians on our HelloTech platform, including background checks through third-party service providers, these qualification processes and background checks may not expose all potentially relevant information and are limited in certain jurisdictions according to national and local laws, and our third-party service providers may fail to conduct such background checks adequately or disclose information that could be relevant to a determination of eligibility. In addition, we do not independently verify technicians’ skills.
At the same time, if the measures we have taken to guard against illegal, improper or otherwise inappropriate activities by HelloTech technicians, such as our requirement that all technicians undergo a background check, are too restrictive and inadvertently prevent technicians otherwise in good standing from using our platform, or if we are unable to implement and communicate these measures fairly and transparently or are perceived to have failed to do so, the growth of technicians on our platform could be adversely affected.
If HelloTech technicians, or individuals impersonating technicians, engage in criminal activity, misconduct or inappropriate conduct or use our HelloTech platform as a conduit for criminal activity, customers may not consider our service offerings safe. Furthermore, if consumers or other customers engage in criminal activity or misconduct while using our HelloTech platform, technicians may be unwilling to use our platform.
The success of our HelloTech platform depends, in substantial part, on our ability to establish and maintain relationships with quality and trustworthy service professionals.
We must continue to attract, retain and grow the number of skilled and reliable service professionals who can provide services on our HelloTech platform. If we do not offer innovative services that resonate with customers and technicians generally, as well as provide technicians with attractive economics, the number of technicians affiliated with our platform would decrease. Any such decrease would result in smaller and less diverse networks and directories of technicians, and in turn, decreases in service requests, which could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The success of our HelloTech platform depends in part on our ability to cost-effectively attract and retain technicians who satisfy our screening criteria and procedures and to increase the use of our platform by existing technicians. Technicians have the ability to decline service orders or stop using our platform entirely at any time, and we do not have exclusivity provisions with technicians. Accordingly, if we do not continue to provide technicians with flexibility on our platform and compelling opportunities to earn income, we may fail to attract new technicians or retain existing technicians or increase their use of our platform, or we may experience complaints, negative publicity or work stoppages that could adversely affect our users and our business.
Relatedly, if customers choose to use competing offerings, we may lack sufficient opportunities for technicians to earn, which may reduce the perceived utility of our platform and impact our ability to attract and retain technicians. Changes in certain laws and regulations, including immigration and labor and employment laws, or laws that require us to make changes to our platform that decrease the flexibility provided to technicians in certain markets, may result in a decrease in the pool of technicians, which may result in increased competition for technicians or higher costs of recruitment and engagement. Other factors outside of our control, such as increases in the price of gasoline, vehicles or insurance, may also reduce the number of technicians that utilize our platform or the use of our platform by technicians. If we fail to attract technicians, retain existing technicians on favorable terms or maintain or increase the use of our HelloTech platform by existing technicians, we may not be able to meet the demand of customers, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Our future operating results will rely in part upon the successful execution of our strategic partnerships, which may not be successful. If these companies choose not to partner with us, our business and results of operations may be harmed.
Establishing a strategic partnership between two independent businesses is a complex, costly and time-consuming process that requires significant management attention and resources. Realizing the benefits of our strategic partnerships, particularly
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our relationships with RealPage, Yardi, Entrata, Townsteel and YoSmart, among others, will depend in part on our ability to work with our strategic partners to develop, integrate, market and sell co-branded or connected solutions. In particular, working with major technology platforms and their products and services may take an extended period of time to deliver. Setting up and maintaining the operations and processes necessary for these strategic partnerships may cause us to incur significant costs and disrupt our business and, if implemented ineffectively, would limit the expected benefits to us. In addition, the process of bringing solutions that rely on third-party technology to market may take longer than anticipated, which could negate or reduce any anticipated benefits and revenue opportunities, and it may be necessary in the future to renegotiate agreements relating to various aspects of these solutions or other third-party solutions. The failure to successfully and timely implement and operate our strategic partnerships could harm our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of these partnerships and could adversely affect our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. In addition, if these third-party solution providers choose not to partner with us, choose to integrate their solutions with our competitors’ platforms or are unable or unwilling to update their solutions, our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations could be harmed.
If our security controls are breached, or unauthorized or inadvertent access to user information or other data or to control or view systems are otherwise obtained, our products, software or services may be perceived as insecure, our business may be harmed and we may incur significant liabilities.
Use of our solutions and services involves the storage, transmission and processing of personal information of our end users, and may in certain cases help secure, or permit access to, our end users’ homes or properties. We also maintain and process confidential, proprietary and personal information in our business, including our employees’ and contractors’ personal information and confidential business information. We rely on proprietary and commercially available systems, software, tools and monitoring to protect against unauthorized use or access of the information we process and maintain. Our services and the networks and information systems we utilize in our business are at risk for breaches as a result of third-party action, employee or partner error, malfeasance or other factors. Although we have established security measures to protect customer information, our or our partners’ security and testing measures may not prevent security breaches. Further, advances in computer capabilities, new discoveries in the field of cryptography, inadequate facility security or other developments may result in a compromise or breach of the technology we use to protect personal information.
Criminals and other nefarious actors are using increasingly sophisticated methods, including cyberattacks, phishing, malicious code, computer viruses, malware (e.g., ransomware), social engineering and other illicit acts to capture, access or alter various types of information, to engage in illegal activities such as fraud and identity theft and to expose and exploit potential security and privacy vulnerabilities in corporate systems and websites. In addition, our information technology systems are vulnerable to attack, damage and interruption from employee theft or misuse, human error, fraud, denial or degradation of service attacks, sophisticated nation-state and nation-state-supported actors or unauthorized access or use by persons inside our organization, or persons with access to systems inside our organization. Unauthorized intrusion into the portions of our systems and networks and data storage devices that process and store confidential and private end-user information, the loss of such information or the deployment of malware or other harmful code to our services or our networks or systems may result in negative consequences, including the actual or alleged malfunction of our products, software or services. In addition, third parties, including our partners, could also be sources of security risks to us in the event of a failure of their own security systems and infrastructure. The threats we and our partners face continue to evolve and are difficult to predict due to advances in computer capabilities, new discoveries in the field of cryptography and new and sophisticated methods used by criminals. There can be no assurances that our defensive measures will prevent cyberattacks or that we will discover network or system intrusions or other breaches on a timely basis or at all. We may suffer a compromise or breach of the technology protecting the systems or networks that house or access our software, services and products or on which we or our partners process or store personal information or other sensitive information or data, or any such incident may be believed or reported to have occurred. Any such actual or perceived compromises or breaches to systems, or unauthorized access to our customers’ data, products, software or services, or acquisition or loss of data, whether suffered by us, our partners or other third parties, whether as a result of employee error or malfeasance or otherwise, could harm our business. They could, for example, cause interruptions in operations, loss of data, loss of confidence in our services, software and products and damage to our reputation and could limit the adoption of our software, services and products. They could also subject us to costs, regulatory investigations and orders, litigation, breach notification obligations or regulatory or administrative sanctions, contract damages, indemnity demands and other liabilities and materially and adversely affect our customer base, sales, revenues and profits. Any of these could, in turn, have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.
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We and certain of our service providers are from time to time subject to cyberattacks and security incidents. While we do not believe that we have experienced any significant system failure, accident or security breach to date, if such an event were to occur it could result in unauthorized access to or loss of any data, which could subject us to data privacy and security laws and regulations and substantial fines by U.S. federal and state authorities or foreign data privacy authorities and private claims by companies or individuals. A cyberattack may cause us to incur additional costs, such as investigative and remediation costs, the costs of providing individuals and/or data owners with notice of any breach, legal fees and the costs of any additional fraud detection activities required by law, a court, a regulator or a third party. Additionally, some of our customer contracts require us to indemnify customers from damages they may incur as a result of a breach of our systems. There can be no assurance that the limitation of liability provisions in our contracts for a security breach would be enforceable or would otherwise protect us from any such liabilities or damages with respect to any particular claim.
Further, if a high profile security breach occurs with respect to another provider of smart building solutions, customers and potential customers may lose trust in the security of our services or in the smart building technology industry generally, which could adversely impact our ability to retain or attract customers. Even in the absence of any security breach, customer concerns about security, privacy or data protection may deter them from using our software, services and products.
Our insurance policies covering errors and omissions and certain security and privacy damages and claim expenses may not be sufficient to compensate for all potential liability. Although we maintain cyber liability insurance, we cannot be certain that our coverage will be adequate for liabilities actually incurred or that insurance will continue to be available to us on economically reasonable terms, or at all.
Direct selling may subject us to additional risks.
Historically, our channel partners have contracted with building owners to own the full scope of installation and service of our smart access products. However, during 2021, we launched an integrated direct selling and deployment strategy targeted at certain larger enterprise accounts in which Latch directly owns the full scope of installation and service of our products with the building. Additionally, in 2023, we launched direct sales to customers through our e-commerce platform. These strategies involve significant risks and uncertainties, including distraction of management from other business operations, significant research and development, sales and marketing and other resources dedicated to the strategies at the expense of resources being dedicated to other business operations, generation of insufficient revenue to offset expenses associated with the strategies, inadequate return of capital, increased exposure to liability for improper installation (where applicable) and other risks that we may not have adequately anticipated. Because new strategies and initiatives are inherently risky, our direct selling strategy may not be successful and could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We may be unable to attract new customers and maintain customer satisfaction with current customers, which could have an adverse effect on our business and rate of growth.
Our business and revenue growth is dependent on our ability to continuously attract and retain customers, and we cannot be sure that we will be successful in these efforts, or that customer retention levels will not materially decline. There are a number of factors that could lead to a decline in customer levels or that could prevent us from increasing our customer levels, including:
•our failure to introduce new features, products or services that customers find engaging or our introduction of new products or services, or changes to existing products and services, that are not favorably received;
•harm to our brand and reputation, including as a result of the Investigation, the Restatement, the SEC Investigation, the 2022 RIFs and the July 2023 RIF, delisting from Nasdaq or otherwise;
•pricing and perceived value of our products, software and services;
•our inability to deliver quality products, software and services;
•our customers engaging with competitive software, services and products;
•technical or other problems preventing customers from using our software, services and products in a rapid and reliable manner or otherwise affecting the customer experience;
•deterioration of the real estate industry, including declining levels of, or significant delays in, new construction of multifamily rental buildings and reduced spending in the real estate industry;
•unsatisfactory experiences with the delivery, installation or service of our products; and
•deteriorating general economic conditions or a change in consumer spending preferences or buying trends.
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As a result of these factors, we cannot be sure that our customer levels will be adequate to maintain or permit the expansion of our operations. A decline in customer levels could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We rely on certain third-party providers of licensed software and services that are important to the operation of our business.
Certain aspects of the operation of our business depend on third-party software and service providers, such as cloud infrastructure services. We rely on certain software technology that we license from third parties and use in our software, services and products to perform key functions and provide critical functionality. With regard to licensed software technology, we are, to a certain extent, dependent upon the ability of third parties to maintain, enhance or develop their software and services on a timely and cost-effective basis, to meet industry technological standards and innovations to deliver software and services that are free of defects or security vulnerabilities and to ensure their software and services are free from disruptions or interruptions and claims of intellectual property infringement. These third-party services and software licenses may not always be available to us on commercially reasonable terms or at all.
If our agreements with third-party software or service vendors are not renewed or the third-party software or services become obsolete, fail to function properly, no longer include features or functionality our customers expect, are incompatible with future versions of our products or services, are defective or otherwise fail to address our needs, there is no assurance that we would be able to replace the functionality provided by the third-party software or services with software or services from alternative providers, and we may be unable to meet the requirements of certain SLAs. Furthermore, even if we obtain licenses to alternative software or services that provide the functionality we need, we may be required to replace hardware installed at our customers’ properties to effect our integration of or migration to alternative software products. Any of these factors could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.
We rely on our channel partner network to sell and deploy our products, and the inability of our channel partners to effectively perform to our standards, or the loss of key channel partners, could adversely affect our operating results.
Our channel partners are third-party onsite product specialists that provide specific knowledge and expertise to assist in the sale and deployment of Latch products. We provide our channel partners with specific training and programs to assist them in selling our software, services and products, but there can be no assurance that these steps will be effective. In addition, our channel partners may be unsuccessful in selling and supporting our software, services and products. In the future, these partners may also market, sell and support products and services that are competitive with ours and may devote more resources to the marketing, sales and support of such competitive products. We cannot assure you that we will retain these channel partners or that we will be able to secure additional or replacement channel partners. The loss of one or more of our significant channel partners, or a decline in the number or size of orders from any of them, could harm our results of operations. In addition, any new channel partner requires training and may take several weeks or more to achieve productivity. Our channel partner sales structure could subject us to lawsuits, potential liability and reputational harm if, for example, any of our channel partners misrepresents the functionality of our software, services or products to customers or violates laws or our corporate policies. If we fail to effectively manage our existing sales channels, if our channel partners are unsuccessful in fulfilling orders for our products or if we are unable to enter into arrangements with, retain and incentivize a sufficient number of high quality channel partners in each of the regions in which we sell products and services, our ability to sell our products and results of operations will be harmed.
We recently significantly reduced the number of channel partners to whom we directly sell our products, and we cannot guarantee that our existing channel partners can service our current and future customer base.
Potential customer turnover, or costs we incur to retain and upsell our customers, could materially and adversely affect our financial performance.
Our customers have no obligation to renew their contracts for our software services after the expiration of the initial term. In the event that these customers do renew their contracts, they may choose to renew for fewer units, shorter contract lengths or less expensive subscriptions. We cannot predict the renewal rates for customers that have entered into software contracts with us.
Customer turnover and reductions in the number of units for which a customer subscribes each could have a significant impact on our results of operations, as does the cost we incur to retain our customers and to encourage them to upgrade their services and increase the number of their units that use our software, services and products. Our turnover rate could increase if customers are not satisfied with our software, services and products, the value proposition of our services or our ability to
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meet their needs and expectations. The number of units contracted by a customer could also decrease due to factors beyond our control, including the failure or unwillingness of customers to pay for our software, services and products due to financial constraints or macroeconomic factors. If a significant number of customers terminate, reduce or fail to renew their software contracts, it could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, cash flows or results of operations. Furthermore, we may be required to incur significantly higher marketing expenditures in order to increase the number of new customers or to upsell existing customers, which could harm our business and results of operations.
Our future success also depends in part on our ability to sell additional functionalities to our customers and to sell into our customers’ future projects. This may require a longer sales cycle and increasingly sophisticated and more costly sales efforts, technologies and tools. Any increase in the costs necessary to upgrade, expand and retain existing customers could materially and adversely affect our financial performance. If our efforts to convince customers to add units and purchase additional functionalities are not successful, our business may suffer. In addition, such increased costs could cause us to increase our prices, which could increase our customer turnover rate.
If we are unable to develop new solutions, adapt to technological change, sell our software, services and products into new markets or further penetrate our existing markets, our revenue may not grow as expected.
Our ability to increase sales will depend, in large part, on our ability to enhance and improve our platforms, software, services and products, introduce new software, services and products in a timely manner, sell into new markets and further penetrate our existing markets. The success of any enhancement or new platform, software, services and products depends on several factors, including the timely completion, introduction and market acceptance of enhanced or new software, services and products, the ability to maintain and develop relationships with partners and vendors, the ability to attract, retain and effectively train sales and marketing personnel, the effectiveness of our marketing programs and the ability of our software, services and products to maintain compatibility with a wide range of connected devices. Any new product or service we develop, acquire or offer, such as property management services or services for residents or consumers, may not be introduced in a timely or cost-effective manner and may not achieve the broad market acceptance necessary to generate significant revenue. Any new markets into which we attempt to sell our software, services and products, including new vertical markets and new regions, may not be receptive. Our ability to further penetrate our existing markets depends on the quality, availability and reliability of our software, services and products and our ability to design our software, services and products to meet customer demand. Similarly, if any of our competitors implement new technologies before we are able to implement ours, those competitors may be able to provide more effective products, possibly at lower prices. Any delay or failure in the introduction of new or enhanced solutions could harm our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
We operate in the emerging and evolving smart building technology industry, which may develop more slowly or differently than we expect. If the smart building technology industry does not grow as we expect, or if we cannot expand our platforms and solutions to meet the demands of this market, our revenue may decline, fail to grow or fail to grow at an accelerated rate, and we may incur operating losses.
The market for integrated smart apartment solutions, such as home automation, security monitoring, video monitoring, energy management and building services, is in an early stage of development, and it is uncertain how rapidly or how consistently this market will develop and the degree to which our platforms and solutions will be accepted. Some customers may be reluctant or unwilling to use our platforms and solutions for a number of reasons, including satisfaction with traditional solutions, concerns about additional costs, concerns about data privacy or lack of awareness of the benefits of our platforms and solutions. Our ability to expand into new markets depends on several factors, including the reputation and recognition of our platforms and solutions, the timely completion, introduction and market acceptance of our platforms and solutions, our ability to attract, retain and effectively train sales and marketing personnel, our ability to develop relationships with service providers, the effectiveness of our marketing programs, the costs of our platforms and solutions and the success of our competitors. If we are unsuccessful in developing and marketing our platforms and solutions into new markets, or if customers do not perceive or value the benefits of our platforms and solutions, the market for our platforms and solutions might not continue to develop or might develop more slowly than we expect, either of which would harm our revenue and growth prospects.
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The markets in which we participate could become more competitive, and many companies, including large technology companies, point solution providers such as traditional lock companies and other managed service providers, may target the markets in which we do business, including the smart building technology industry. If we are unable to compete effectively with these potential competitors, our sales and profitability could be adversely affected.
The smart building technology industry in which we participate may become more competitive, and competition may intensify in the future. Our ability to compete depends on a number of factors, including:
•our platforms’ and solutions’ functionality, performance, ease of use, reliability, availability and cost effectiveness relative to our competitors’ products;
•our success in utilizing new and proprietary technologies to offer solutions and features previously not available;
•our success in identifying new markets, applications and technologies;
•our ability to attract and retain partners;
•our name recognition and reputation;
•our ability to recruit hardware and software engineers and sales and marketing personnel; and
•our ability to protect our intellectual property.
Potential customers may prefer to purchase from existing suppliers rather than a new supplier regardless of product performance or features. In the event a customer decides to evaluate a smart apartment solution, the customer may be more inclined to select a competitor if such competitor’s product offerings are broader or at a better price point than those that we offer.
Many vendors have emerged, and may continue to emerge, to provide point products with advanced functionality for use in buildings, such as video doorbells, thermostats or lights that can be controlled by an application on a smartphone. We expect a significant increase in the number of electronics and appliance products that are network-aware and connected, with each likely having its own smart device (phone or tablet) application. Customers may be attracted to the relatively low costs of these point solution products and the ability to expand their building control solution over time with minimal upfront costs, which may reduce demand for our integrated solutions. If so, building managers may offer the point products and services of competitors, which would adversely affect our sales and profitability. If a significant number of customers in our target market chooses to adopt point products rather than our integrated solutions, then our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations will be harmed, and we may not be able to achieve sustained growth, or our business may decline.
We may expand through acquisitions of, or investments in, other companies, each of which may divert our management’s attention, result in additional dilution to our stockholders, increase expenses, disrupt our operations and harm our results of operations.
Our business strategy may, from time to time, include acquiring or investing in complementary services, technologies or businesses, such as the HDW Acquisition or the HelloTech Merger. We cannot assure you that we will successfully identify suitable acquisition candidates, integrate or manage disparate technologies, lines of business, personnel and corporate cultures, realize our business strategy or the expected return on our investment, or manage a geographically dispersed company. Any such acquisition or investment could materially and adversely affect our results of operations. Acquisitions and other strategic investments involve significant risks and uncertainties, including:
•the potential failure to achieve the expected benefits of the combination or acquisition;
•unanticipated costs and liabilities;
•difficulties in integrating new software, services and products, businesses, operations and technology infrastructure in an efficient and effective manner;
•difficulties in maintaining customer relations;
•the potential loss of key employees of the acquired businesses;
•the diversion of the attention of our senior management from the operation of our daily business;
•the potential adverse effect on our cash position to the extent that we use cash for the purchase price;
•the potential significant increase of our interest expense, leverage and debt service requirements if we incur additional debt to pay for an acquisition;
•the potential issuance of securities that would dilute our stockholders’ percentage ownership;
•the potential to incur large and immediate write-offs and restructuring and other related expenses; and
•the inability to maintain uniform standards, controls, policies and procedures.
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Moreover, we cannot assure you that we will realize the anticipated benefits of any acquisition or investment, including the HDW Acquisition and HelloTech Merger. In addition, our inability to successfully operate and integrate newly acquired businesses appropriately, effectively and in a timely manner could impair our ability to take advantage of future growth opportunities and other advances in technology and could adversely affect our revenues, gross margins and expenses.
New lines of business or new products and services may subject us to additional risks.
From time to time, we may implement new lines of business or offer new products and services within existing lines of business. For instance, in 2023, we launched the James ride sharing application and, in 2024, we launched Door Property Management and acquired HelloTech. In addition, we will continue to make investments in research, development, and marketing for new products and services. There are substantial risks and uncertainties associated with these efforts, particularly in instances where the markets are not fully developed. In developing and marketing new lines of business or new products and services, we may invest significant time and resources. Initial timetables for the development and introduction of new lines of business or new products or services may not be achieved and price and profitability targets may not prove feasible. New regulatory and compliance regimes, such as those related to transportation, ride sharing or property management operations, may be found to apply to new lines of business, and we may not be in compliance. Furthermore, if customers do not perceive our new offerings as providing significant value, they may fail to accept our new lines of business or products and services. External factors, such as competitive alternatives and shifting market preferences, may also impact the successful implementation of a new line of business or a new product or service. Furthermore, the burden on management and our information technology of introducing any new line of business or new product or service could have a significant impact on the effectiveness of our system of internal controls. Failure to successfully manage these risks in the development and implementation of new lines of business or new products or services could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Claims from riders, drivers, residents, guests or third parties that allege harm, whether or not our products or services are in use, could adversely affect our business, brand, financial condition and results of operations.
In connection with the James app, property management business or HelloTech platform, we may become subject to claims, lawsuits, investigations and other legal proceedings relating to injuries to, or deaths of, riders, drivers, pedestrians, residents, guests or other third-parties that are attributed to our operations or applications. We may also be subject to claims alleging that we are directly or vicariously liable for the acts of the drivers on the James app or technicians on our HelloTech platform or for harm related to the actions of drivers, technicians, riders or third parties, or the management and safety of the James app or HelloTech platform, including harm caused by criminal activity. We may be subject to personal injury claims whether or not such injury actually occurred as a result of activity on the James app or HelloTech platform or is attributable to our operations. We may incur expenses to settle personal injury claims. Regardless of the outcome of any legal proceeding, any injuries to, or deaths of, any riders, drivers, residents, guests or third parties could result in negative publicity and harm to our brand, reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations. Insurance policies and programs are not available for all possible claims we may face, may not be economically feasible and may not provide any coverage or sufficient coverage to mitigate potential liability. We may have to pay high premiums or deductibles for coverage and, for certain situations or categories of claims, we may not be able to secure coverage at all.
If we determine that our goodwill has become impaired, we may incur impairment charges, which would negatively impact our operating results.
Goodwill represents the excess of cost over the fair value of net assets acquired in business combinations, such as the HDW Acquisition. At December 31, 2023, we had approximately $25.3 million of goodwill on our consolidated balance sheet. We assess potential impairment of our goodwill annually, or more frequently if an event or circumstance indicates an impairment loss may have been incurred. Impairment may result from significant changes in the manner or use of the acquired assets, in connection with the sale, spin off or other divestiture of a business unit, a decrease in our market capitalization, or negative industry or economic trends. Our impairment analysis was performed retrospectively as of December 31, 2023, leveraging inputs that were both known and knowable as of such date. While we did not identify any impairment of our goodwill as of December 31, 2023, we continue to monitor Company performance, along with the risks related to our business and industry, to evaluate if the carrying value of the Company exceeds its estimated fair value. We expect that some or all of the goodwill on our consolidated balance sheet could be impaired during the year ended December 31, 2024 due to various factors, including lower revenue projections based on current business performance, a reduced cash position resulting from financing our ongoing operations and a decline in the trading price of our common stock during 2024. Because we have not completed the accounting, or finalized our financial statements, for the year ended December 31, 2024, including the quarterly periods
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therein, we have not yet determined the amount of any additional goodwill on our balance sheet as of December 31, 2024 related to any other business combinations, such as the HelloTech Merger, or any related impairment.
Changes in effective tax rates or tax laws, or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of our income or other tax returns, could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
Our future effective tax rates could be subject to volatility or adversely affected by a number of factors, including:
•changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities;
•expiration of, or lapses in, the research and development tax credit laws;
•expiration or non-utilization of net operating loss carryforwards;
•tax effects of share-based compensation;
•expansion into new jurisdictions;
•potential challenges to and costs related to implementation and ongoing operation of the intercompany arrangements among our domestic and foreign entities;
•changes in tax laws and regulations and accounting principles, or interpretations or applications thereof; and
•certain non-deductible expenses as a result of acquisitions.
Any changes in our effective tax rate could adversely affect our results of operations.
Moreover, changes in applicable tax laws could increase our costs and adversely affect our operating results. The OECD has announced an accord to set a minimum global corporate tax rate of 15%, which is being or may be implemented in many jurisdictions, including the United States. The OECD is also issuing tax-related guidelines that are different, in some respects, than current tax principles. If countries amend their tax laws to adopt all or part of the OECD guidelines, this may increase tax uncertainty and increase taxes applicable to us or our stockholders. We cannot predict whether the U.S. Congress or any other governmental body, whether in the United States or in other jurisdictions, will enact new tax legislation (including increases to tax rates), whether the U.S. Internal Revenue Service or any other tax authority will issue new regulations or other guidance, whether the OECD or any other intergovernmental organization will publish any further guidelines on taxation or whether member states will implement such guidelines, nor can we predict what effect such legislation, regulations or international guidelines might have.
We may be unable to use some or all of our net operating loss carryforwards, which could materially and adversely affect our reported financial condition and results of operations.
As of December 31, 2023, we had approximately $18.2 million in federal net operating loss (“NOL”) carryforwards available to offset future taxable income that will begin to expire in 2034 and approximately $387.0 million in federal NOL carryforwards available to offset future taxable income that have an indefinite life. As of December 31, 2023, we had approximately $354.8 million in state NOL carryforwards available to offset future taxable income. Some of these state NOLs have an indefinite life and others are subject to different expiration rules.
In addition, under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), our ability to utilize NOL carryforwards or other tax attributes in any taxable year may be limited if we experience an “ownership change.” A Section 382 “ownership change” generally occurs if one or more stockholders or groups of stockholders, who each own at least 5% of our common stock, increase their collective ownership by more than 50 percentage points over their lowest ownership percentage within a rolling three-year period. Similar rules may apply under state tax laws. Because the limitations on utilization of NOLs and other tax attributes that are triggered in connection with an ownership change are generally based on the value of the issuer at the time of the ownership change, if we have undergone an ownership change (whether in connection with the HDW Acquisition or any other changes in our ownership) at a time when the stock price of our common stock is limited in relation to the size of our NOLs, it could materially limit the future potential value of our NOLs. We have not completed a Section 382 analysis of the potential ownership changes that may have occurred prior to the date of this Form 10-K.
It is possible that we will not generate taxable income in time to use our NOL carryforwards that are subject to expiration (or that we will not generate taxable income at all). If, in the event that it is determined that we have experienced an “ownership change” in the past, or if we experience one or more Section 382 “ownership changes” in the future, we may not be able to utilize a material portion of our NOLs, even if we achieve profitability. If we are limited in our ability to use our NOLs in future years in which we have taxable income, we will pay more taxes than if we were able to fully utilize our NOLs. This could materially and adversely affect our results of operations.
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A 1% U.S. federal excise tax could be imposed on us in connection with any redemptions we undertake.
On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the “IRA”) was signed into federal law. The IRA provides for, among other things, a U.S. federal 1% excise tax on certain repurchases (including redemptions) of stock by publicly traded U.S. corporations and certain other persons (a “covered corporation”). Because we are a Delaware corporation and our securities have traded on Nasdaq (and may in the future be listed on a stock exchange), we may be a “covered corporation” for this purpose. The excise tax is imposed on the repurchasing corporation itself, not its stockholders from which shares are repurchased. The amount of the excise tax is generally 1% of the fair market value of the shares repurchased at the time of the repurchase. However, for purposes of calculating the excise tax, repurchasing corporations are permitted to net the fair market value of certain new stock issuances against the fair market value of stock repurchases during the same taxable year. In addition, certain exceptions apply to the excise tax. The U.S. Treasury Department has been given authority to provide regulations and other guidance to carry out, and prevent the abuse or avoidance of, the excise tax. If we were to conduct repurchases of our stock or other transactions covered by the excise tax described above, we could potentially be subject to this excise tax, which could increase our costs and adversely affect our operating results.
We may require additional capital to pursue our business objectives and to respond to business opportunities, challenges or unforeseen circumstances. If capital is not available to us, our business, results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.
We intend to continue to make expenditures and investments to support the growth of our business and may require additional capital to pursue our business objectives and respond to business opportunities, challenges or unforeseen circumstances, including the need to develop new products or software or enhance our existing products and software, enhance our operating infrastructure or acquire complementary businesses and technologies. Accordingly, we may need to engage in equity or debt financings to secure additional funds. However, additional funds may not be available when we need them on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all. Any debt financing that we secure could involve restrictive covenants, such as those in our Loan Agreement with Customers Bank, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital or to pursue business opportunities. In addition, the restrictive covenants in any credit facilities or debt instruments may restrict us from being able to conduct our operations in a manner required for our business and may restrict our growth, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
In addition, volatility in the credit markets may have an adverse effect on our ability to obtain debt financing, and the increasing interest rates observed since 2022 would increase the cost of any such debt financing. Any future issuances of equity or convertible debt securities could result in significant dilution to our existing stockholders, and any new equity securities we issue could have rights, preferences and privileges superior to those of holders of our common stock. Any offering of equity will be made significantly more difficult, and result in less proceeds, to the extent our common stock is not trading on a national securities exchange at the time of such offering. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us, when we require it, our ability to continue to pursue our business objectives and to respond to business opportunities, challenges or unforeseen circumstances could be significantly limited, and our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects could be materially and adversely affected.
If we are unable to acquire intellectual property or adequately protect intellectual property, we could be competitively disadvantaged.
Our intellectual property, including our patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and other proprietary rights, constitutes a significant part of our value. Our success depends, in part, on our ability to protect our proprietary technology, brands and other intellectual property against dilution, infringement, misappropriation and competitive pressure by defending our intellectual property rights. To protect our intellectual property rights, we rely on a combination of patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws of the United States, Canada and countries in Europe and Asia and a combination of confidentiality procedures, contractual provisions and other methods, all of which offer only limited protection. In addition, we make efforts to acquire rights to intellectual property necessary for our operations. However, there can be no assurance that these measures will be successful in any given case, particularly in those countries where the laws do not protect our proprietary rights as fully as in the United States.
We own a portfolio of issued U.S. patents and pending U.S. and foreign patent applications that relate to a variety of smart building technology utilized in our business. We may file additional patent applications in the future in the United States or internationally. The process of obtaining patent protection is expensive and time-consuming, and we may not be able to prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner all the way through to the successful issuance of a patent. We may choose not to seek patent protection for certain innovations and may choose not to
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pursue patent protection in certain jurisdictions. In addition, issuance of a patent does not guarantee that we have an absolute right to practice the patented invention.
If we fail to acquire the necessary intellectual property rights or adequately protect or assert our intellectual property rights, competitors may dilute our brands or manufacture and market similar software, services and products or convert our customers, which could adversely affect our market share and results of operations. We may not receive patents or trademarks for all our pending patent and trademark applications, and existing or future patents or licenses may not provide competitive advantages for our software, services and products. Furthermore, it is possible that our patent applications may not issue as granted patents, that the scope of our issued patents will be insufficient or not have the coverage originally sought or that our issued patents will not provide us with any competitive advantages. Our competitors may challenge, invalidate or avoid the application of our existing or future intellectual property rights that we obtain or license. In addition, patent rights may not prevent our competitors from developing, using or selling products or services that are similar to or address the same market as our software, services and products. The loss of protection for our intellectual property rights could reduce the market value of our brands and our software, services and products, reduce new customer originations or upgrade sales to existing customers, lower our profits and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.
Our policy is to require our employees to execute written agreements in which they assign to us their rights in potential inventions and other intellectual property created within the scope of their employment (or, with respect to consultants and service providers, their engagement to develop such intellectual property), but we cannot assure you that we have adequately protected our rights in every such agreement or that we have executed an agreement with every such party. Finally, in order to benefit from the protection of patents and other intellectual property rights, we must monitor and detect infringement, misappropriation or other violations of our intellectual property rights and pursue infringement, misappropriation or other claims in certain circumstances in relevant jurisdictions, all of which are costly and time-consuming. As a result, we may not be able to obtain adequate protection or to effectively enforce our issued patents or other intellectual property rights.
In addition to patents and registered trademarks, we rely on trade secret rights, copyrights and other rights to protect our unpatented proprietary intellectual property and technology. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary technologies and our intellectual property rights, unauthorized parties, including our employees, consultants, service providers or subscribers, may attempt to copy aspects of our products or obtain and use our trade secrets or other confidential information. We generally enter into confidentiality agreements with our employees, contractors and third parties that have access to our material confidential information and generally limit access to and distribution of our proprietary information and proprietary technology through certain procedural safeguards. These agreements may not effectively prevent unauthorized use or disclosure of our intellectual property or technology, could be breached or otherwise may not provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets and know-how related to the design, manufacture or operation of our products and may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure. We cannot assure you that the steps taken by us will prevent misappropriation of our intellectual property or technology or infringement of our intellectual property rights. Competitors may independently develop technologies or products that are substantially equivalent or superior to our solutions or that inappropriately incorporate our proprietary technology into their products, or they may hire our former employees who may misappropriate our proprietary technology or misuse our confidential information. In addition, the laws of foreign countries where we engage service providers or may do business in the future may not protect intellectual property rights and technology to the same extent as the laws of the United States, and these countries may not enforce these laws as diligently as government agencies and private parties in the United States.
From time to time, legal action by us may be necessary to enforce our patents and other intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets, to determine the validity and scope of the intellectual property rights of others or to defend against claims of infringement, misappropriation or invalidity. Such litigation could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could negatively affect our business, operating results and financial condition. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property and technology, we may find ourselves at a competitive disadvantage to others who need not incur the additional expense, time and effort required to create our products.
Accusations of infringement of third-party intellectual property rights could materially and adversely affect our business.
There has been substantial litigation in the areas in which we operate regarding intellectual property rights. In some instances, we have agreed to indemnify our customers for expenses and liability resulting from claimed intellectual property infringement by our solutions. From time to time, we may receive requests for indemnification in connection with allegations of intellectual property infringement, and we may choose, or be required, to assume the defense and/or reimburse our customers for their expenses, settlement and/or liability. We cannot assure you that we will be able to settle any future claims
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or, if we are able to settle any such claims, that the settlement will be on terms favorable to us. Our broad range of technology may increase the likelihood that third parties will claim that we or our customers infringe their intellectual property rights. We cannot be certain that our products and services or those of third parties that we incorporate into our offerings do not and will not infringe the intellectual property rights of others. Some competitors and others may now and in the future have larger and more mature patent portfolios than we have and may therefore have an advantage over us in the event of patent litigation.
We have in the past been sued for infringement and received, and may in the future be sued for or receive, notices of allegations of infringement, misappropriation or misuse of other parties’ proprietary rights, including by special purpose or so-called “non-practicing” entities that focus solely on extracting royalties and settlements by enforcing intellectual property rights and against whom our patents may therefore provide little or no deterrence or protection. Furthermore, regardless of their merits, accusations and lawsuits like these may require significant time and expense to defend, may negatively affect customer relationships, may divert management’s attention away from other aspects of our operations and, upon resolution, may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Certain technology necessary for us to provide our solutions may, in fact, be patented by other parties either now or in the future. If such technology were validly patented by another person, we may have to negotiate a license for the use of that technology. We may not be able to negotiate such a license at a price that is acceptable to us or at all. The existence of such a patent, or our inability to negotiate a license for any such technology on acceptable terms, could force us to cease using the technology and cease offering subscriptions incorporating the technology, which could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.
If we, or any of our solutions, were found to be infringing on the intellectual property rights of any third party, we could be subject to liability for such infringement, which could be material. We could also be prohibited from using or selling certain subscriptions, prohibited from using certain processes or required to redesign certain products, each of which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
These and other outcomes may:
•result in the loss of a substantial number of existing customers or inhibit the acquisition of new customers;
•cause us to pay license fees for intellectual property we are alleged or deemed to have infringed;
•cause us to incur costs and devote valuable technical resources to redesigning our products;
•cause our cost of revenue to increase;
•cause us to accelerate expenditures to preserve existing revenues;
•materially and adversely affect our brand in the marketplace and cause a substantial loss of goodwill;
•cause us to change our business methods or subscriptions; and
•require us to cease certain business operations or offering certain products or features.
Some of our products and services contain open source software, which may pose particular risks to our proprietary software, technologies, products and services in a manner that could harm our business.
We use open source software in our products and services and anticipate using open source software in the future. Some open source software licenses require those who distribute open source software as part of their own software product to publicly disclose all or part of the source code to such software product or to make available any derivative works of the open source code on unfavorable terms or at no cost; and all open source software licenses contain conditions and restrictions. Some open source software may include generative artificial intelligence (AI) software or other software that incorporates or relies on generative AI. The use of such software may expose us to risks as the intellectual property ownership and license rights, including copyright, of generative AI software and tools has not been fully interpreted by U.S. courts or been fully addressed by federal, state or international regulations, and there is a risk that open source software licenses, including those that incorporate or rely on generative AI, could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to provide or distribute our products or services. Additionally, we could face claims from third parties claiming ownership of, or demanding release of, the open source software or derivative works that we developed using such software, which could include our proprietary source code, or otherwise seeking to enforce, or alleging copyright infringement on the basis that we have failed to comply with, the terms of the applicable open source license. These claims could result in litigation and statutory damages for copyright infringement and could require us to make our software source code freely available, purchase a costly license or cease offering the implicated products or services unless and until we can re-engineer them to avoid infringement. This re-engineering process could require us to expend significant additional research and development resources, and we cannot guarantee that we would be successful.
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Additionally, the use of certain open source software can lead to greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open source licensors generally do not provide warranties or controls on the origin of software. There is typically no support available for open source software, and we cannot ensure that the authors of such open source software will implement or push updates to address security risks or will not abandon further development and maintenance. Many of the risks associated with the use of open source software and the use of generative AI, such as the lack of warranties or assurances of title or performance, cannot be eliminated and could negatively affect our business. We cannot be sure that all open source software is identified or submitted for approval prior to use in our products and services. Any of these risks could be difficult to eliminate or manage, and, if not addressed, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
Our products and services may be affected from time to time by design and manufacturing defects that could adversely affect our business and result in harm to our reputation.
We offer complex software and hardware products and services that can be affected by design and manufacturing defects. Sophisticated full building operating system software and applications, such as those offered by us, have issues that can unexpectedly interfere with the intended operation of hardware or software products. Defects may also exist in components and products that we source from third parties. Any such defects could make our software, services and products unsafe, create a risk of property damage and personal injury and subject us to the hazards and uncertainties of product liability claims and related litigation. In addition, from time to time, we may experience outages, service slowdowns or errors that affect our software and full building operating system offerings. As a result, our services may not perform as anticipated and may not meet customer expectations. There can be no assurance that we will be able to detect and fix all issues and defects in the hardware, software and services we offer. Failure to do so could result in widespread technical and performance issues affecting our products and services and could lead to claims against us. Design and manufacturing defects, and claims related thereto, may subject us to judgments or settlements that result in damages that are either not covered by our insurance policies or are materially in excess of the limits of our insurance coverage. In addition, we may be exposed to recalls, product replacements or modifications, write-offs of inventory, property, plant and equipment or intangible assets, and significant warranty and other expenses such as litigation costs and regulatory fines. If we cannot successfully defend against any large claim, maintain our applicable liability insurance on acceptable terms or maintain adequate coverage against potential claims, our financial results could be adversely impacted. Further, given that some of our solutions are considered security systems, quality problems could subject us to substantial liability, adversely affect the experience for users of our software, services and products and result in harm to our reputation, loss of competitive advantage, poor market acceptance, reduced demand for our software, services and products, delay in new product and service introductions and lost revenue.
Our new software, services and products may not be successful.
We launched our first smart building products in 2017. Since that time, we have launched a number of other offerings and may launch additional software, services and products in the future, such as expanding into new verticals or introducing new features or applications for residents. The software, services and products we launch in the future may not be well-received by our customers, may not help us to generate new customers, may adversely affect the attrition rate of existing customers, may increase our customer acquisition costs and may increase the costs to service our customers. Any profits we may generate from these or other new products, software or services may be lower than profits generated from our existing software, services and products and may not be sufficient for us to recoup our development or customer acquisition costs incurred. New software, services and products may also have lower gross margins, particularly to the extent that they do not fully utilize our existing infrastructure. In addition, new software, services and products may require increased operational expenses or customer acquisition costs and present new and difficult technological and intellectual property challenges that may subject us to claims or complaints if subscribers experience service disruptions or failures or other quality issues. To the extent our new software, services and products are not successful, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
If we fail to continue to develop our brands, our business may suffer.
We believe that continuing to strengthen our brand will be critical to achieving widespread acceptance of our software, services and products and will require continued focus on active marketing efforts. The demand for and cost of online and traditional advertising have been increasing and may continue to increase. Furthermore, in September 2023, the Company announced plans to rebrand to DOOR. Accordingly, we may need to increase our investment in, and devote greater resources to, advertising, marketing and other efforts to create and maintain brand loyalty among users. Brand promotion activities may not yield increased revenues, and even if they do, any increased revenues may not offset the expenses incurred in building our brand. In addition, if we do not handle customer complaints effectively, our brand may suffer, we may lose our customers’
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confidence and they may choose to terminate, reduce or not renew their subscriptions. Many of our customers also participate in social media and online blogs about smart building technology solutions, including our products, and our success depends in part on our ability to minimize negative, and generate positive, customer feedback through such online channels where existing and potential customers seek and share information. If we fail to promote and maintain our brand, or our rebranding efforts are not successful, our business could be materially and adversely affected.
Our applications run on mobile operating systems, networks and devices that we do not control.
Our customers can access our platform through the Latch App and Latch Manager App (collectively, the “Latch Apps”). There is no guarantee that popular mobile devices and operating systems will continue to support the Latch Apps. We are dependent on the interoperability of the Latch Apps with popular mobile operating systems that we do not control, such as Android and iOS, and any changes in such systems that degrade the functionality of our digital offering or give preferential treatment to competitors could adversely affect our platform’s usage on mobile devices. Additionally, in order to deliver high-quality mobile content, it is important that our digital offering is designed effectively and works well with a range of mobile technologies, systems, networks and standards that we do not control. We may not be successful in developing relationships with key participants in the mobile industry or in developing products that operate effectively with these technologies, systems, networks or standards, which could harm our business.
We must successfully upgrade and maintain our information technology systems.
We rely on various information technology systems to manage our operations and to provide services to our customers. We are currently in the process of optimizing, overhauling and reducing our existing information technology systems, and we may subsequently implement modifications and upgrades to these systems and replace certain of our legacy systems with successor systems with new functionality. There are inherent costs and risks associated with modifying or changing these systems and implementing new systems, including potential disruption of our internal control structure, substantial capital expenditures, additional administrative and operating expenses, retention of sufficiently skilled personnel to implement and operate the new systems, demands on management time and other risks and costs of delays or difficulties in transitioning to new systems or of integrating new systems into our current systems. While management seeks to identify and remediate issues, we can provide no assurance that our identification and remediation efforts will be successful or that we will not encounter additional issues as we complete the implementation of these and other systems. In addition, our information technology system implementations may not result in productivity improvements at a level that outweighs the costs of implementation, or at all. The implementation of new information technology systems may also cause disruptions in our business operations and have an adverse effect on our business, cash flows and operations.
Potential problems with our information systems, third-party systems and infrastructure upon which we rely could interfere with our business and operations.
We rely on our information systems and third-party information systems and infrastructure (such as cloud computing platforms and databases) for hosting and making our software products available, processing customer orders, distribution of our products, billing customers, processing credit card transactions, customer relationship management, supporting financial planning and analysis, accounting functions and financial statement preparation and otherwise running our business. Information systems may experience interruptions, including interruptions of related services from third-party providers, which may be beyond our control. Such business interruptions could cause us to fail to meet customer requirements, including SLAs. All information systems, both internal and external, are vulnerable to damage or interruption from a variety of sources, including computer viruses, security breaches, energy blackouts, natural disasters, terrorism, war, telecommunication failures, employee or other theft and third-party provider failures. Any errors or disruption in our information systems and those of the third parties upon which we rely could have a significant impact on our business. In addition, we may implement additional information systems in the future to meet the demands resulting from our growth and to provide additional capabilities and functionality. The implementation of new systems and enhancements is frequently disruptive to the underlying business of an enterprise and can be time-consuming and expensive, increase management responsibilities and divert management attention.
We collect, store, process and use personal information, which subjects us to legal obligations and laws and regulations related to security and privacy, and any actual or perceived failure to meet those obligations could harm our business.
We collect, store, process and use a wide variety of data from current and prospective customers and end-users of our products and services, including personal information, such as names, home addresses, email addresses and access events. Federal, state and international laws and regulations governing privacy and data protection require us to safeguard our
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customers’ personal information. The scope of such laws and regulations is rapidly changing. We are also subject to the terms of our privacy policies and contractual obligations to third parties related to privacy, data protection and information security. We strive to comply with applicable laws, regulations, policies and other legal obligations relating to privacy, data protection and information security. However, the regulatory framework for privacy, data protection and information security is, and is likely to remain, uncertain for the foreseeable future, and it is possible that these or other actual or alleged obligations may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with other rules or our practices.
We also expect that there will continue to be new laws, regulations and industry standards concerning privacy, data protection, information security and the use of generative AI proposed and enacted in various jurisdictions. States throughout the United States are increasingly adopting or revising laws and regulations relating to the processing of personal data that could have a significant impact on our current and planned privacy, data protection and information security-related practices, our collection, use, sharing, retention and safeguarding of customer, consumer and/or employee information, as well as any other third-party information we receive, our use of generative AI to enhance our operations, and some of our current or planned business activities. For example, California enacted the CCPA, which requires covered businesses that process the personal information of California residents to, among other things: (i) provide certain disclosures to California residents regarding the business’s collection, use and disclosure of their personal information; (ii) receive and respond to requests from California residents to access, delete and correct their personal information, or to opt out of certain disclosures of their personal information; and (iii) enter into specific contractual provisions with service providers that process California resident personal information on the business’s behalf. Many additional states have passed similar laws, several of which have taken effect or will take effect in 2024 and 2025, and privacy bills are moving through the legislative process in a number of other states. We expect that some of these bills will be passed as laws, thereby further increasing our state privacy obligations.
In addition to state privacy bills, local regulation is also increasing. For instance, in 2021, New York City passed into law the TDPA, regulating how building access data is collected, processed and disposed of by property managers and smart access system operators. The TDPA went into effect in July 2021, and we had to make certain adjustments to our retention of data collected from New York City users of the Latch Platform to comply with its requirements. Similar local legislation in other cities where we operate is likely, which will further increase the complexity and expense of ensuring that our privacy practices are compliant.
Additionally, the interpretations of existing federal and state consumer protection laws relating to online collection, use, dissemination and security of personal information adopted by the FTC, state attorneys general, private plaintiffs and courts have evolved, and may continue to evolve, over time. Consumer protection laws require us to publish statements that describe how we handle personal information and choices individuals may have about the way we handle their personal information. If such information that we publish is deemed untrue, we may be subject to government claims of unfair or deceptive trade practices, which could lead to significant liabilities and consequences. Furthermore, according to the FTC, violating consumers’ privacy rights or failing to take appropriate steps to keep consumers’ personal information secure may constitute unfair acts or practices in or affecting commerce and thus violate Section 5(a) of the FTC Act. The FTC expects a company’s data security measures to be reasonable and appropriate in light of the sensitivity and volume of consumer information it holds, the size and complexity of its business and the cost of available tools to improve security and reduce vulnerabilities.
In Canada, PIPEDA and similar provincial laws impose obligations with respect to processing personal information. PIPEDA requires companies to obtain an individual’s consent prior to collecting, using or disclosing that individual’s personal information. Individuals have the right to access and challenge the accuracy of their personal information held by an organization, and personal information may only be used for the purposes for which it was collected. If an organization intends to use personal information for another purpose, it must again obtain that individual’s consent to the proposed processing. Failure to comply with PIPEDA and similar provincial laws could result in significant fines and penalties.
With data privacy and security laws and regulations imposing new and relatively burdensome obligations, and with substantial uncertainty over the interpretation and application of these and other laws and regulations, we may face challenges in addressing their requirements and making necessary changes to our policies and practices and may incur significant costs and expenses in an effort to do so. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with our privacy policies, our data privacy or security related obligations to our customers or any of our other legal obligations relating to data privacy or security may result in governmental investigations or enforcement actions, litigation, claims or public statements against us by consumer advocacy groups or others and could result in significant liability, loss of relationships with key third parties or loss of customers’ trust, which could have an adverse effect on our reputation and business.
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Furthermore, we may be required to disclose personal information pursuant to demands from individuals, privacy advocates, regulators, government agencies and law enforcement agencies in various jurisdictions with conflicting privacy and security laws. This disclosure or refusal to disclose personal information may result in a breach of privacy and data protection policies, notices, laws, rules, court orders and regulations and could result in proceedings or actions against us in the same or other jurisdictions, damage to our reputation and brand and inability to provide our products and services to customers in certain jurisdictions. Additionally, changes in the laws and regulations that govern our collection, use and disclosure of personal information could impose additional requirements with respect to the retention and security of personal information, limit our marketing activities and have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
We rely on a limited number of suppliers, manufacturers and logistics partners for our products. A loss of any of these partners could negatively affect our business.
We rely on a limited number of suppliers to manufacture and transport our products, including in some cases only a single supplier for some of our products and components. Our reliance on a limited number of manufacturers increases our risks, since we do not currently have alternative or replacement manufacturers. In the event of interruption of any of our manufacturers, we may not be able to increase capacity from other sources or develop alternate or secondary sources without incurring material additional costs and substantial delays. Furthermore, many of these manufacturers’ primary facilities are located in Asia. Thus, our business could be adversely affected if one or more of our suppliers is impacted by a natural disaster or other interruption at a particular location.
If we experience a significant increase in demand for our products, or if we need to replace an existing supplier or logistics partner, we may be unable to supplement or replace them on terms that are acceptable to us, which may undermine our ability to deliver our products to customers in a timely manner. For example, it may take a significant amount of time to identify a manufacturer that has the capability and resources to build our products to our specifications in sufficient volume. Identifying suitable suppliers, manufacturers and logistics partners is an extensive process that requires us to become satisfied with their quality control, technical capabilities, responsiveness and service, financial stability, regulatory compliance and labor and other ethical practices, particularly with respect to conflict minerals. Accordingly, a loss of any of our significant suppliers, manufacturers or logistics partners could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
We have limited control over our suppliers, manufacturers and logistics partners, which may subject us to significant risks, including the potential inability to produce or obtain quality products and services on a timely basis or in sufficient quantity.
We have limited control over our suppliers, manufacturers and logistics partners, which subjects us to risks, such as the following:
•inability to satisfy demand for our products;
•reduced control over delivery timing and product reliability;
•reduced ability to monitor the manufacturing process and components used in our products;
•limited ability to develop comprehensive manufacturing specifications that take into account any material shortages or substitutions;
•variance in the manufacturing capability of our third-party manufacturers;
•price increases;
•failure of a significant supplier, manufacturer or logistics partner to perform its obligations to us for technical, market or other reasons;
•insolvency, bankruptcy or liquidation of a significant supplier, manufacturer or logistics partner;
•difficulties in establishing additional supplier, manufacturer or logistics partner relationships if we experience difficulties with our existing suppliers, manufacturers or logistics partners;
•shortages of materials or components;
•misappropriation of our intellectual property;
•exposure to natural catastrophes, political unrest, terrorism, labor disputes and economic instability resulting in the disruption of trade from Taiwan, China or foreign countries in which our products are manufactured or the components thereof are sourced;
•changes in local economic conditions in Taiwan, China or other jurisdictions where our suppliers, manufacturers and logistics partners are located;
•the imposition of new laws and regulations, including those relating to labor conditions, quality and safety standards, imports, duties, tariffs, including those imposed against China by the Trump Administration in February 2025, taxes
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and other charges on imports, as well as trade restrictions and restrictions on currency exchange or the transfer of funds; and
•insufficient warranties and indemnities on components supplied to our manufacturers or performance by our partners.
The occurrence of any of these risks, especially during seasons of peak demand, could cause us to experience a significant disruption in our ability to produce and deliver our products to our customers.
Increases in component costs, long lead times, supply shortages and changes, labor shortages and construction delays could disrupt our supply chain and operations and have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
Meeting customer demand partially depends on our ability to obtain timely and adequate delivery of components for our smart building products. All of the components that go into the manufacturing of our products are sourced from a limited number of third-party suppliers, and some of these components are provided by a single supplier. Our manufacturers generally purchase these components on our behalf, subject to certain supplier lists we approve, and we do not have long-term arrangements with some of our component suppliers. We are therefore subject to the risk of shortages and long lead times in the supply of these components and the risk that our suppliers discontinue or modify components used in our products. In addition, the lead times associated with certain components are lengthy and preclude rapid changes in design, quantities and delivery schedules. During the year ended December 31, 2022, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and other general economic factors, we experienced, and may continue to experience in the future, component shortages, and the predictability of the future availability of these components is limited. Such component shortages resulted in higher component costs, particularly where we paid spot market prices for such components. The COVID-19 pandemic and other general economic factors also affected the supply chain for many of our product components, creating shipping and logistical challenges, delays and elevated shipping costs for us.
From time-to-time, industry-wide supply chain disruptions have created shortages of certain construction materials and other products. Additionally, our customers have also experienced trade labor availability constraints and delays. These factors have caused our customers to experience construction delays, which have and may continue to delay the timing of the installation of our products and our recognition of hardware and software revenue.
In the event of a component shortage or supply interruption from suppliers of these components, we may not be able to develop alternate sources in a timely manner. Developing alternate sources of supply for these components may be time-consuming, difficult and costly, and we may not be able to source these components on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all, which may undermine our ability to fill our orders in a timely manner. Any interruption or delay in the supply of any of these parts or components, or the inability to obtain these parts or components from alternate sources at acceptable prices and within a reasonable amount of time, would harm our ability to meet our scheduled product deliveries to our customers.
Moreover, volatile economic conditions may make it more likely that our suppliers may be unable to timely deliver supplies, or at all, and there is no guarantee that we will be able to timely locate alternative suppliers of comparable quality at an acceptable price. Increases in our component costs could have a material effect on our gross margins. The loss of a significant supplier, an increase in component costs or delays or disruptions in the delivery of components could adversely impact our ability to generate future revenue and earnings and have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
Regulations related to “conflict minerals” require us to incur additional expenses and could limit the supply and increase the cost of certain metals used in manufacturing our products.
We are subject to the requirements under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) that require us to determine and disclose whether our products contain “conflict minerals.” The rules require disclosure related to sourcing of certain minerals that are necessary to the functionality or production of products we manufacture or contract to be manufactured. Our products contain some of the specified minerals. As a result, we have incurred and may continue to incur additional expenses in connection with complying with the rules, including with respect to the due diligence that is required under the rules. In addition, compliance with the rules could adversely affect the sourcing, supply and pricing of materials used in our products. There may only be a limited number of suppliers offering “conflict free” conflict minerals, and we cannot be certain that we will be able to obtain necessary “conflict free” minerals from such suppliers in sufficient quantities or at competitive prices. We may not be able to sufficiently verify the origins of
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the relevant minerals used in certain components of our products through the due diligence procedures that we implement, which could harm our reputation.
Our operating results could be adversely affected if we are unable to accurately forecast customer demand for our products and services and adequately manage our inventory.
To ensure adequate inventory supply, we must forecast inventory needs and expenses and place orders sufficiently in advance with our suppliers and contract manufacturers based on our estimates of future demand for particular products and services. Failure to accurately forecast our needs may result in manufacturing delays or increased costs. Our ability to accurately forecast demand could be affected by many factors, including changes in customer demand for our products and services, changes in demand for the software, services and products of our competitors, unanticipated changes in general market conditions and the weakening of economic conditions or customer confidence in future economic conditions, such as those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This risk will be exacerbated by the fact that we may not carry a significant amount of inventory for certain products and may not be able to satisfy short-term demand increases. If we fail to accurately forecast customer demand, we may experience excess inventory levels or a shortage of products available for sale.
Inventory levels in excess of customer demand may result in inventory write-downs or write-offs and the sale of excess inventory at discounted prices, which would cause our gross margins to suffer and could impair the strength of our brand. Further, lower than forecasted demand could also result in excess manufacturing capacity or reduced manufacturing efficiencies, which could result in lower margins.
Furthermore, if we cancel all or part of our inventory or component orders, we may be liable to our suppliers and manufacturers for the cost of the unused component orders or components purchased by our manufacturers. For instance, the Company materially reduced its demand plan in the second quarter of 2022, resulting in non-cancellable purchase commitments to certain manufacturers. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we accrued $0.6 million for non-cancellable inventory purchase commitments.
Net inventories not expected to be sold according to a one year forecasted sales projection are classified as other non-current assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Inventory on hand that exceeds a three year forecasted sales projection is recorded as an excess and obsolete inventory reserve. This reserve is comprised of inventory greater than can be used to meet future needs (excess) or for which the product is outdated or otherwise not expected to be sold (obsolete).
Both the one year and three year sales forecasts were lower as of December 31, 2023 than as of December 31, 2022. The total excess and obsolete inventory reserve increased by $9.1 million as of December 31, 2023, $6.9 million of which was due to these lower forecasts and $2.2 million of which represents inventory the Company had determined had become obsolete during the period. The total excess and obsolete inventory reserve as of December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 was $12.9 million and $3.8 million, respectively. During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company underwent significant leadership changes, both at the executive level and sales department level, which impacted the business and related sales projections. See Note 5. Inventories, Net, in Part II, Item 8. “Financial Statements.”
Conversely, if we underestimate customer demand, our suppliers and manufacturers may not be able to deliver products to meet our requirements, or we may be subject to higher costs in order to secure the necessary production capacity. Our inability to meet customer demand and delays in the delivery of our products to customers could result in reputational harm, damage customer relationships and have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
From time to time, we may be subject to legal proceedings, regulatory disputes and governmental inquiries that could cause us to incur significant expenses, divert our management’s attention and materially harm our business, financial condition and operating results.
In addition to the Stockholder Lawsuits and the ongoing SEC Investigation described above, from time to time, we may be subject to claims, lawsuits, government investigations and other proceedings involving products liability, competition and antitrust, intellectual property, privacy, consumer protection, securities, tax, labor and employment, commercial disputes and other matters that could adversely affect our business operations and financial condition. As our business grows, we may see a rise in the number and significance of these disputes and inquiries. Litigation, regulatory proceedings and any intellectual property infringement matters that we could face may be protracted and expensive, and the results are difficult to predict. Additionally, our litigation costs could be significant. Adverse outcomes with respect to litigation or any of these legal proceedings may result in significant settlement costs or judgments, penalties and fines, require us to modify our products or services, make content unavailable or require us to stop offering certain features, all of which could negatively affect our revenue growth.
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The results of litigation, investigations, claims and regulatory proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty, and determining reserves for pending litigation and other legal and regulatory matters requires significant judgment. There can be no assurance that our expectations will prove correct, and even if these matters are resolved in our favor or without significant cash settlements, these matters, and the time and resources necessary to litigate or resolve them, could harm our business, financial condition and operating results.
Our smart building technology is subject to varying state and local regulations, which are updated from time to time.
Our smart building technology is subject to certain state and local regulations, which are updated from time to time. For example, our software, services and products are subject to regulations relating to building and fire codes, public safety, access control systems and data privacy and security. The regulations to which we are subject may change, additional regulations may be imposed or existing regulations may be applied in a manner that creates special requirements for the implementation and operation of our software, services and products that may significantly impact or even eliminate some of our revenues or markets. In addition, we may incur material costs or liabilities in complying with any such regulations. Furthermore, some of our customers must comply with numerous laws and regulations, which may affect their willingness and ability to purchase our software, services and products. The modification of existing laws and regulations or interpretations thereof or the adoption of future laws and regulations could adversely affect our business, cause us to modify or alter our methods of operations and increase our costs and the price of our software, services and products. In addition, we cannot provide any assurance that we will be able, for financial or other reasons, to comply with all applicable laws and regulations. If we fail to comply with these laws and regulations, we could become subject to substantial penalties or restrictions that could materially and adversely affect our business.
We may fail to comply with import and export, bribery and money laundering laws, regulations and controls.
We sell our products and services in the United States and Canada and source our products from Asia and the United States. We are subject to regulation by various federal, state, local and foreign governmental agencies, including, but not limited to, agencies and regulatory bodies or authorities responsible for monitoring and enforcing product safety and consumer protection laws, data privacy and security laws and regulations, employment and labor laws, workplace safety laws and regulations, environmental laws and regulations, antitrust laws, federal securities laws and tax laws and regulations.
Our operations require us to import from Asia and export to Canada, which geographically stretches our compliance obligations. We are also subject to anti-money laundering laws such as the USA PATRIOT Act and may be subject to similar laws in other jurisdictions. Our products are subject to export control and import laws and regulations, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, U.S. Customs regulations and various economic and trade sanctions regulations administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. We may also be subject to import/export laws and regulations in other jurisdictions in which we conduct business or source our products. If we fail to comply with these laws and regulations, we and certain of our employees could be subject to substantial civil or criminal penalties, including the possible loss of export or import privileges, fines, which may be imposed on us and responsible employees or managers and, in extreme cases, the incarceration of responsible employees or managers.
Changes in laws that apply to us could result in increased regulatory requirements and compliance costs, which could harm our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. In certain jurisdictions, regulatory requirements may be more stringent than in the United States. Noncompliance with applicable regulations or requirements could subject us to whistleblower complaints, investigations, sanctions, settlements, mandatory product recalls, enforcement actions, disgorgement of profits, fines, damages, civil and criminal penalties or injunctions, suspension or debarment from contracting with certain governments or other customers, the loss of export privileges, multi-jurisdictional liability, reputational harm and other collateral consequences. If any governmental or other sanctions are imposed, or if we do not prevail in any possible civil or criminal litigation, our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations could be materially harmed. In addition, responding to any action will likely result in a materially significant diversion of management’s attention and resources and an increase in legal costs and other professional fees.
If we are unable to sustain pricing levels for our software, services and products, our business could be adversely affected.
If we are unable to sustain pricing levels for our software, services and products, whether due to competitive pressure or otherwise, our gross margins could be significantly reduced. Further, our decisions around the development of new software, services and products are grounded in assumptions about eventual pricing levels. If there is price compression in the market after these decisions are made, it could have a negative effect on our business.
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Insurance policies do not cover all of our operating risks, and a casualty loss beyond the limits of our coverage could negatively impact our business.
We are subject to all of the operating hazards and risks normally incidental to the provision of our products and services and business operations. While we maintain insurance policies in such amounts and with such coverage and deductibles as required by law and that we believe are reasonable and prudent, such insurance is not adequate to protect us from all the liabilities and expenses that may arise from claims for personal injury, death or property damage arising in the ordinary course of our business, the SEC Investigation or the pending Stockholder Lawsuits, and we may not be able to maintain our current levels of insurance at economical prices. We may choose to self-insure certain liabilities either by bearing such liabilities fully or by selecting a higher deductible in exchange for reduced premiums. If a significant liability claim is brought against us that is not covered by insurance, or we incur numerous smaller claims that do not meet applicable deductibles, then we may have to pay such claims with our own funds, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.
Downturns in general economic and market conditions and reductions in spending may reduce demand for our software, services and products, which could harm our revenue, results of operations and cash flows.
Our revenue, results of operations and cash flows depend on the overall demand for our software, services and products. Negative conditions in the general economy both in the United States and abroad could cause a decrease in consumer discretionary spending and business investment and diminish growth expectations in the U.S. economy and abroad. Such conditions include those resulting from a pandemic or other global health crisis, the impact of the economic disruption caused by the recent and potential future disruptions in access to bank deposits or lending commitments due to bank failures, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, increasing interest rates, inflationary pressures and the threat of a recession, changes in gross domestic product growth, financial and credit market fluctuations, construction slowdowns, energy costs, international trade relations and other geopolitical issues, the availability and cost of credit and changes in the global housing and mortgage markets.
During weak economic times, the pool of potential customers may decline as the prospects for multifamily apartment construction and renovation projects diminish, which may have a corresponding impact on our growth prospects. Increasing interest rates have significantly impacted the multifamily industry, particularly property owners or developers subject to variable rate loans. These property owners or developers may be unable to refinance loans at attractive rates, or at all, and may have to reduce their capital expenditures accordingly. In addition, there is a risk that a higher percentage of property developers will file for bankruptcy protection, which may harm our revenue, profitability and results of operations, and we may determine that the cost of pursuing any claim in bankruptcy outweighs the recovery potential of such claim.
Recent macroeconomic conditions have caused significant uncertainty and volatility in global markets, which has caused, and may continue to cause, consumer discretionary spending to decline. A prolonged economic slowdown and a material reduction in new multifamily apartment construction and renovation projects may result in diminished sales of our platforms and solutions. Further worsening, broadening or protracted extension of the economic downturn could have a negative impact on our business, revenue, results of operations and cash flows.