Item 1A. Risk Factors
An investment in our securities is highly speculative and involves a high degree of risk. We face a variety of risks that may affect our operations or financial results and many of those risks are driven by factors that we cannot control or predict. You should carefully consider the risks described below together with all of the other information in this Report, including our consolidated financial statements and the related notes and the information described in the section entitled “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and in our other filings with the SEC. If any of the risks described below occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially adversely affected. In that case, the market price of our common stock would likely decline, and investors could lose all or a part of their investment. Only those investors who can bear the risk of loss of their entire investment should consider an investment in our securities. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our operations.
Summary of Risk Factors
● We incur significant costs as a result of operating as a public company.
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Risks Related to our Business and the Industry in Which We Operate
We have a history of losses, anticipate continued operating losses in the future, and may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability. If we cannot achieve or maintain profitability, stockholders could lose all or part of their investment.
Since our inception, we have generated substantial net losses as we have devoted our resources to the development of our technology, and our business model has not been proven. As of December 31, 2023, we had an accumulated deficit of $95.1 million. For the years ended December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 our total comprehensive loss was $9.6 million and $10.6 million, respectively. We expect our operating losses to continue for the foreseeable future as we continue to invest in our infrastructure and research and development of our technologies. These efforts may be more costly than we expect, and we may not be able to generate revenue to offset our increased operating expenses. If we are unable to generate substantial revenue, we may never become profitable or be able to maintain any future profitability. If this were to occur, our stockholders could lose all or part of their investment.
We have recorded recurring losses from operations and will likely require additional capital to support our business and objectives.
We have incurred recurring losses since inception and, as of December 31, 2023, had an accumulated deficit of $95.1 million. We anticipate operating losses to continue for the foreseeable future due to, among other things, costs related to research funding, further development of our technology and products and expenses related to the commercialization of our products, and it is possible we will never achieve profitability.
We believe that our existing cash will be sufficient to fund our operations through the end of April 2025 and that we will require additional capital to continue our operations and research and development activity thereafter. There can be no assurance, however, that such financing will be available by the end of April 2025, if at all, or on acceptable terms and conditions. The precise amount and timing of the funding needs cannot be determined accurately at this time, and will depend on a number of factors, including our ability to generate significant revenue, the market demand for our products, the quality of product development efforts including potential joint collaborations, management of working capital, and the continuation of normal payment terms and conditions for purchase of services.
Until such time, if ever, as we can generate substantial product revenue, we expect to finance our working capital requirements through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations, strategic alliances and marketing, distribution or licensing arrangements. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms of these securities may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a common stockholder. Debt financing and preferred equity financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making acquisitions or capital expenditures or declaring dividends. If we raise additional funds through collaborations, strategic alliances or marketing, distribution or licensing arrangements with third parties, we may have to relinquish valuable rights to our technologies, future revenue streams, research programs or products, or grant licenses on terms that may not be favorable to us. If we are unable to raise additional funds through equity or debt financings or other arrangements when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate commercialization, our research and product development, or grant rights to develop and market our products that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves, it may also impact our ability to continue as a going concern. The perception that we may not be able to continue as a going concern may cause others to choose not to deal with us due to concerns about our ability to meet our contractual obligations.
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Our quarterly results of operations are likely to vary from period to period, which could cause the market price of our common stock to fluctuate or decline.
Our results of operations have varied from period to period, and we expect that our quarterly results of operations will continue to vary as a result of a number of factors, many of which are outside of our control and may be difficult to predict, including:
● the budgeting cycles and purchasing practices of customers;
● our ability to execute our growth strategy and operating plans;
● our ability to successfully compete with other companies in our market;
● changes in our pricing policies or those of our competitors;
● any disruption in, or termination of, our relationship with channel partners;
● the cost and potential outcomes of potential future litigation;
● general economic conditions; and
Any of the above factors, individually or in the aggregate, may result in significant fluctuations in our quarterly operating results. As a result of this variability, our historical results of operations should not be relied upon as an indication of future performance. Moreover, this variability and unpredictability could result in our failure to follow through on our operating plans or meet the expectations of investors for any period. If we fail to follow through on our operating plans or meet such expectations for these or other reasons, the market price of our common stock could fall substantially.
We may not be able to develop technologies and products to satisfy changes in customer demand or industry standards, and our competitors could develop products that decrease the demand for our products.
Rapidly changing technologies and industry standards, along with frequent new product introductions, characterize the industries of many of our customers and potential customers. Our financial performance depends, in part, on our ability to design, develop, manufacture, assemble, test, market and support new products and enhancements on a timely and cost-effective basis.
We have not commercialized any of our products. Our principal focus has been on research and development activities to improve our technology and make our product offerings more attractive to potential customers. These projects are subject to various risks and uncertainties we are not able to control, including changes in customer demand or industry standards and the introduction of new or superior technologies by others. Moreover, any failure by us in the future to develop new technologies or timely react to changes in existing technologies could materially delay our development of new products, which could result in product obsolescence, decreased revenues and a loss of our market share to our competitors. In addition, products or technologies developed by others may render our products or technologies obsolete or non-competitive. Further, if our products are not in compliance with prevailing industry standards, such non-compliance could materially and adversely affect our financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.
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We compete in highly competitive markets characterized by rapid technological changes, and existing and new companies may introduce products that compete with ours, which may adversely affect our business and operating results.
The markets in which we compete are highly competitive. We expect competition to intensify in the future as existing competitors and new market entrants introduce new products into our markets. This competition could result in increased pricing pressure, reduced profit margins, increased sales and marketing expenses, and the loss of market share, any of which could seriously harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Additionally, our competitors may develop technology that would make ours non-competitive or obsolete. If we do not keep pace with product and technology advances and otherwise keep our product offerings competitive, there could be a material and adverse effect on our competitive position, revenue and prospects for growth. Many of our existing competitors, have, and some of our potential competitors could have, substantial competitive advantages such as:
● larger sales and marketing budgets and resources;
● broader and deeper product lines;
● greater customer support resources;
● greater resources to make acquisitions;
● lower labor and research and development costs;
● substantially greater financial and other resources; and
● larger scale manufacturing operations.
Some of our larger competitors have substantially broader product offerings and may be able to leverage their relationships with channel partners and customers based on other products to gain business in a manner that discourages users from purchasing our products, including by selling at zero or negative margins or product bundling. Potential customers may also prefer to purchase from their existing suppliers rather than a new supplier regardless of product performance or features. As a result, even if the features of our products are superior, customers may not purchase our products. In addition, innovative start-up companies, and larger companies that are making significant investments in research and development, may invent similar or superior products and technologies that compete with our products. Our current and potential competitors may also establish cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties that may further enhance their resources. If we are unable to compete successfully, or if competing successfully requires us to take costly actions in response to the actions of our competitors, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected.
If we are unable to establish sales capabilities on our own or through third parties, we may not be able to market and sell our existing or future products or generate product revenue.
We do not currently have a fully staffed sales organization. We intend to commercialize our products with a direct sales force. To achieve this, we will be required to build a direct sales organization. We also will have to build our marketing, sales, managerial and other non-technical capabilities or make arrangements with third parties for distribution and to perform certain of these other services, and we may not be successful in doing so. Building an internal sales organization is time-consuming and expensive and will significantly increase our compensation expense. We may be unable to secure contracts with distributors on favorable terms or at all. We have no prior experience in the marketing, sale and distribution of our products and there are significant risks involved in building and managing a sales organization, including our ability to hire, retain and motivate qualified individuals, generate sufficient sales leads, provide adequate training to sales and marketing personnel, and effectively oversee a geographically dispersed sales and marketing team. If we are unable to build an effective sales organization and/or if we are unable to secure relationships with third-party distributors, we will not be able to successfully commercialize our products, our future product revenue will suffer, and we would incur significant additional losses.
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We rely on CPI and ITRI for access to fabrication and expect to enter into arrangements with third-party fabricators to produce our products at commercial scale. The loss of access to the CPI facility and/or the ITRI facilities, or our inability to enter into agreements with third-party fabricators could have a material adverse effect on our business development.
We do not have our own fabrication facility and rely on CPI and ITRI for access to its facility for fabrication of prototypes and demonstration products. If we lost access to CPI’s fabrication facility and/or ITRI’s fabrication facility, it could materially and adversely affect our ability to manufacture prototypes and demonstrate products for potential customers. The loss of access may also significantly impede our ability to engage in product development and process improvement activities. We expect to enter into arrangements with third-party fabricators to produce products for customers for demonstration products or for commercial product sale, other than for our formulated materials. The third-party fabricators are often located in Asia but could also be in the United States. No assurance can be given that we will be able to negotiate agreements with third-party fabricators on terms that are acceptable to us. Third-party fabricators may not have the ability to provide us with access to adequate capacity for our needs and our customers’ needs. We will also have less control over delivery schedules and overall support compared to competitors who have commercial fabrication operations. If the fabricators we use are unable or unwilling to manufacture our products in our required volumes, or at specified times, we may have to identify and qualify acceptable additional or alternative fabricators. This qualification process could typically take three to six months and we may not find sufficient capacity in a timely manner or at an acceptable cost to satisfy our production requirements. Some companies that supply products to our customers are similarly dependent on a limited number of suppliers. These other companies’ products may represent important components of the displays into which our products are designed. If these companies are unable to produce the volumes demanded by our customers, our customers may be forced to slow down or halt production on the equipment for which our products are designed, which could materially impact our order levels and our results of operations.
The transfer of our technology and manufacturing know-how to a third-party commercial manufacturer may result in unanticipated costs and delays that could have a material and adverse effect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We do not have the ability to produce our flexible transistors at commercial scale. We have engaged ITRI, a third-party foundry service in Taiwan, to assist us in developing a commercial manufacturing process for our products with the ultimate goal of enabling one or more third parties to manufacture our products at commercial scale for customers that do not have their own facilities. While we believe that display products utilizing our proprietary OTFTs can be made using existing commercial processes, we expect that transferring our technology and manufacturing know-how to a third-party manufacturer will be a time-intensive and costly process. We may also be required to adapt our manufacturing processes to enable our display products to be made at commercial scale. Any contract manufacturer will be required to manufacture products to our customers’ specifications. We may be required to expend significant management and financial resources to enable contract manufacturers to meet those specifications. In addition, any contract manufacturer may not be able to manufacture products meeting the required specifications at the cost, in the volume or on the schedule that we expect. As a result, we may be subject to unanticipated costs and delays that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations
Because we will depend on third-party fabricators to manufacture products for us, we will be susceptible to manufacturing delays and pricing fluctuations that could prevent us from shipping customer orders on time, if at all, or on a cost-effective basis, which may result in the loss of sales, income and customers.
We expect to rely on third-party fabricators to manufacture products containing our proprietary inks for certain of our future customers. Our reliance on these third-party fabricators reduces our control over the manufacturing process and exposes us to risks, including reduced control over quality assurance, product costs, and product supply and timing. Any manufacturing disruption by these third-party fabricators could severely impair our ability to fulfill orders. Our reliance on third-party fabricators also creates the potential for infringement or misappropriation of our intellectual property. If we are unable to manage our relationships with third-party fabricators effectively, or if our third-party fabricators experience delays or disruptions for any reason, increased manufacturing lead-times, capacity constraints or quality control problems in their fabrication operations, or if they otherwise fail to meet our future requirements for
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timely delivery, our ability to ship products to our customers would be severely impaired, and our business and results of operations would be seriously harmed.
We expect that our sales cycles will be long and unpredictable, and our sales efforts will require considerable time and expense. As a result, our revenue is difficult to predict and may vary substantially from period to period, which may cause our results of operations to fluctuate significantly.
Our results of operations may fluctuate, in part, because of the resource intensive nature of our sales efforts, the length and variability of our expected sales cycle and the short-term difficulty in adjusting our operating expenses. We provide reference designs and prototypes intended to demonstrate our ability to satisfy customer requirements and we expect that we will be required to continue to do so before receiving sales orders, which will result in a relatively long sales cycle. Because we expect that the length of time required to close a sale will vary substantially from customer to customer and each customer has its own requirements, it is difficult to predict exactly when, or even if, we will make a sale with a potential customer after significant work has been put in to create a model or prototype. As a result, we expect that individual sales will, in some cases, occur in quarters subsequent to or in advance of those we anticipated, or will not occur at all, which makes it difficult for us to forecast our revenue accurately in any quarter. Because a substantial portion of our expenses are relatively fixed in the short term, our results of operations will suffer if our revenue falls below expectations in a particular quarter, which could cause the market price of our common stock to decline. Additionally, to the extent our competitors develop products that our prospective customers view as equivalent or superior to ours, the average duration of our sales cycles may increase, and our sales efforts may be less successful.
Our current operations are concentrated, and in the event of an earthquake, terrorist attack or other disaster affecting these locations or those of our major suppliers, our operations may be interrupted, and our business may be harmed.
Our principal executive offices and primary operating facilities are situated in England and Asia, and most of our major suppliers, which are wafer foundries and assembly houses, are located in areas that have been subject to severe earthquakes and are susceptible to other disasters such as tropical storms, typhoons or tsunamis. In the event of a disaster, such as an earthquake and tsunami in Japan, we or one or more of our major suppliers may be temporarily unable to continue operations and may suffer significant property damage. Any interruption in our ability, or that of our major suppliers, to continue operations could delay the development and shipment of our products and have a substantial negative impact on our financial results. As part of our risk management policy, we maintain insurance coverage at levels that we believe are appropriate for our business. However, in the event of an accident or incident at these facilities, we cannot assure you that the amounts or coverage of insurance will be sufficient to satisfy any damages and losses.
We rely on our management team and other key employees and will need additional personnel to grow our business. The loss of one or more key employees or our inability to attract and retain qualified personnel could harm our business.
Our future success is substantially dependent on our ability to attract, retain and motivate the members of our management team and other key employees throughout our organization. The loss of one or more members of our management team or other key employees could materially impact our sales or our research and development programs and materially harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. We do not maintain key person life insurance policies on any of our management team members or key employees. Competition for highly skilled personnel is intense. We may not be successful in attracting or retaining qualified personnel to fulfill our current or future needs. Our competitors may be successful in recruiting and hiring members of our management team or other key employees, and it may be difficult for us to find suitable replacements on a timely basis, on competitive terms, or at all.
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If we fail to effectively manage our growth, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be harmed.
We are a development stage company and are subject to the strains of ongoing development and growth, which has placed significant demands on our management and our operational and financial infrastructure. To manage any growth effectively, we must continue to improve our operational, financial and management systems and controls by, among other things:
● appropriately documenting and testing our IT systems and business processes.
These and other improvements in our systems and controls will require significant capital expenditures and the allocation of valuable management and employee resources. If we fail to implement these improvements effectively, our ability to manage growth and ensure ongoing operation of key business systems would be impaired, and our business, financial condition and results of operations would be harmed.
The COVID-19 global pandemic and resulting adverse economic conditions adversely impacted our business. Future pandemics or similar events could also have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
The COVID-19 global pandemic adversely impacted us by disrupting our operations and increasing our costs as a result of, among other things, measures to address the health and safety of our employees, government work from home directives, quarantines, worker absenteeism as a result of illness, social distancing and travel restrictions that prevented face to face meetings with joint development partners, prospects and suppliers. Future pandemics and similar events could also materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The COVID-19 global pandemic also resulted in severe disruptions and volatility in the global economy and financial markets. At various times during the outbreak, the countries in which we operate and do business took dramatic action including, without limitation, ordering all nonessential workers to stay home, mandating the closure of schools and nonessential business premises and imposing isolation measures on large portions of the population.
Future pandemics and similar events could materially increase our costs, severely negatively impact business development and commercialization, net income, and other results of operations, and impact our liquidity position. The duration of any such impacts cannot be predicted, and such impacts may also have the effect of heightening many of the other material risks we face.
The COVID-19 pandemic and a supply shortage experienced by the semiconductor industry disrupted normal business activity and similar events may have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
The global spread of COVID-19 and the efforts to control disrupted, and reduced the efficiency of, normal business activities in much of the world. The pandemic resulted in authorities around the world implementing numerous unprecedented measures such as travel restrictions, quarantines, shelter in place orders, factory and office shutdowns and vaccine mandates. COVID-19 measures adversely impacted our operations and those of our customers, contract manufacturers, suppliers and logistics providers. At the same time, and to some extent relatedly, the global silicon semiconductor industry is experiencing a shortage in supply and difficulties in ability to meet customer demand and led to an increase in lead-times of the production of semiconductor chips and components.
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In 2023 we experienced, and expect to continue to experience, disruption to parts of our semiconductor supply chain, including procuring necessary components and inputs, such as wafers and substrates, in a timely fashion, with suppliers increasing lead times or placing products on allocation and raising prices. We have also incurred higher costs to secure available inventory or have extended our purchase commitments or placed non-cancellable orders with suppliers, which introduces inventory risk if our forecasts and assumptions are inaccurate. In addition, disruptions to commercial transportation infrastructure have increased delivery times for materials and components to our facilities and, in some cases, our ability to timely ship our products to customers.
We believe the global supply chain challenges and their adverse impact on our business will persist and the degree to which the future pandemics and similar events ultimately impact our business and results of operations will depend on future developments beyond our control.
We are subject to a number of risks associated with international sales and operations.
We have small teams that are engaged in marketing, selling and supporting our products internationally. As a result, we must hire and train experienced personnel to staff and manage our foreign operations. To the extent that we experience difficulties in recruiting, training, managing and retaining international employees, particularly managers and other members of our international sales team, we may experience difficulties in sales productivity in, or market penetration of, foreign markets. We also enter into strategic distributor and reseller relationships with companies in certain international markets where we do not have a local presence. If we are not able to maintain successful strategic distributor and reseller relationships with our international channel partners or recruit additional channel partners, our future success in these international markets could be limited.
We are subject to risks associated with international operations.
We have operations in the United Kingdom and Asia and expect that most of our sales revenue will result from sales to customers in Asia. A number of risks inherent in international operations could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, including:
● difficulties in staffing and managing multi-national operations;
● limitations on our ability to enforce legal rights and remedies;
● restrictions on the repatriation of funds;
● tariff regulations;
● the risk of government financed competition;
activities of companies abroad; and
We face political and other risks conducting business in Taiwan, particularly due to its tense relationships with China.
Certain of our partners are located in Taiwan, including ITRI, and we expect many of our customers will be located in Taiwan. Therefore, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be affected by changes in governmental and economic policies in Taiwan, social instability, and diplomatic and social developments in or
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affecting Taiwan due to its international political status, including current tensions with China. Any deterioration in the relations between Taiwan and China, and other factors affecting military, political or economic conditions in Taiwan, could disrupt our business operations and materially and adversely affect our results of operations.
The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has negatively impacted and may continue to negatively impact the global economy and economic markets, which could have a materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine had an immediate impact on the global economy and economic markets. Financial and economic sanctions imposed on certain industry sectors and parties in Russia by the U.S., U.K. and European Union, as well as potential retaliatory actions by Russia, could also have a negative impact on the global economy. There can be no certainty regarding the impacts stemming from the conflict, including the imposition of additional sanctions, embargoes, asset freezes or other economic or military measures resulting from the invasion. The impact of these developments, and additional events that may occur as a result could adversely affect our business, supply chain, suppliers and customers and potential customers. It is not possible to predict the broader consequences of this conflict, which could include further sanctions, embargoes, regional instability, geopolitical shifts and adverse effects on macroeconomic conditions, the availability and cost of materials, supplies, labor, currency exchange rates and financial markets, all of which could negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Failure to comply with anti-bribery, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws as well as export control laws, import and customs laws, trade and economic sanctions laws and other laws governing our operations could subject us to penalties and other adverse consequences.
We are subject to anti-bribery, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws and regulations including the U.K. Bribery Act 2010 (“Bribery Act”), the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) and other anti-corruption, anti-bribery, and anti-money laundering laws in the jurisdictions in which we do business from time to time, both domestic and abroad. These laws generally prohibit us and our employees from improperly influencing government officials or commercial parties in order to obtain or retain business, direct business to any person or gain any improper advantage. The Bribery Act, FCPA and similar applicable anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws also prohibit our third-party business partners, representatives and agents from engaging in corruption and bribery. We and our third-party business partners, representatives and agents may have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or state-owned or affiliated entities. We may be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of these third-party business partners and intermediaries, our employees, representatives, contractors, channel partners and agents, even if we do not explicitly authorize such activities. These laws also require that we keep accurate books and records and maintain internal controls and compliance procedures designed to prevent any such actions.
We are also subject to other laws and regulations governing international operations, including regulations administered by the governments of the U.K and the U.S., and authorities in the European Union, including applicable export control regulations, economic sanctions and embargoes on certain countries and persons, anti-money laundering laws, import and customs requirements and currency exchange regulations, collectively referred to as the Trade Control laws.
Any violation of the Bribery Act, FCPA or other applicable anti-bribery, anti-corruption laws and anti-money laundering laws including Trade Control laws could result in whistleblower complaints, adverse media coverage, investigations, imposition of significant legal fees, loss of export privileges, severe criminal or civil sanctions or suspension or debarment from government contracts, substantial diversion of management’s attention, drop in stock price or overall adverse consequences to our business, all of which may have an adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition, and results of operations.
In order to comply with environmental laws and regulations, we may need to modify our activities or incur substantial costs, and such laws and regulations, including any failure to comply with such laws and regulations, could subject us to substantial costs, liabilities, obligations and fines.
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We must comply with federal, state, local and foreign governmental regulations related to the use, storage, discharge and disposal of materials used in our products and manufacturing processes. Our failure to comply with such regulations could result in significant fines, suspension of production, cessation of operations or future liabilities. Such regulations could also require us in the future to incur significant expenses to comply with such regulations. Our use of potentially hazardous materials could also restrict our ability to manufacture or sell our products to certain countries, require us to modify our logistics, or require us to incur other significant costs and expenses. For example, in February 2023 the Member States Committee of the European Chemicals Agency, or the ECHA, published a report and supporting annexes related to a proposal to ban the manufacturing, placing on the market, and use of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) in the European Union. In this regulatory process, more than 10,000 substances, including chemicals we use, are being considered for potential broad regulatory action. We submitted evidence in September 2023 supporting requests to be exempt from the ban for specific uses of PFAS, both in materials formulations and packaging materials for chemicals. If the PFAS ban in the EU is ultimately enacted, and our derogation requests are not granted, we will not be able to manufacture and sell our products in the EU as they are currently manufactured, and our business would be adversely affected. In addition, any exemptions may be limited in time, and in such case, we would eventually be required to eliminate the use of PFAS in our products, which may make it more expensive for us to manufacture, sell and ship our products. Environmental laws and regulations continue to expand with a focus on reducing or eliminating hazardous substances in electronic products and it may be difficult for us to timely comply with any future environmental laws applicable to us. In addition, we may have to write off inventory if we hold unsaleable inventory as a result of changes to regulations. These requirements may increase our own costs, as well as those passed on to us by our supply chain
Our business may be affected by litigation and government investigations.
We may from time to time receive inquiries and subpoenas and other types of information requests from government authorities and others and we may become subject to claims and other actions related to our business activities. While the ultimate outcome of investigations, inquiries, information requests and legal proceedings is difficult to predict, defense of litigation claims can be expensive, time-consuming, and distracting, and adverse resolutions or settlements of those matters may result in, among other things, modification of our business practices, costs and significant payments, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Security breaches, computer malware, computer hacking attacks and other security incidents could harm our business, reputation, brand and operating results.
Security incidents have become more prevalent across industries and may occur on our systems. Security incidents may be caused by, or result in but are not limited to, security breaches, computer malware or malicious software, computer hacking, unauthorized access to confidential information, denial of service attacks, security system control failures in our own systems or from vendors we use, email phishing, software vulnerabilities, social engineering, sabotage and drive-by downloads. Such security incidents, whether intentional or otherwise, may result from actions of hackers, criminals, nation states, vendors, employees or customers.
We rely on our internal technology systems for development, marketing, operational, support and sales activities. A disruption or failure of these systems or in those of our external service providers, in the event of a major storm, earthquake, fire, telecommunications failure, cyber-attack, terrorist attack or other catastrophic event could cause system interruptions, reputational harm, delays in our product development and loss of critical data and could materially and adversely affect our ability to operate our business.
We may experience disruptions, data loss, outages and other performance problems on our systems due to service attacks, unauthorized access or other security related incidents. Any security breach or loss of system control caused by hacking, which involves efforts to gain unauthorized access to information or systems, or to cause intentional malfunctions or loss, modification or corruption of data, software, hardware or other computer equipment and the inadvertent transmission of computer malware could harm our business.
In addition, our software stores and transmits customers’ confidential business information in our facilities and on our equipment, networks, corporate systems and in the cloud. Security incidents could expose us to litigation, remediation
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costs, increased costs for security measures, loss of revenue, damage to our reputation and potential liability. Our customer data and corporate systems and security measures may be compromised due to the actions of outside parties, employee error, malfeasance, capacity constraints, a combination of these or otherwise and, as a result, an unauthorized party may obtain access to our data or our customers’ data. Outside parties may attempt to fraudulently induce our employees to disclose sensitive information in order to gain access to our customers’ data or our information. We must continuously examine and modify our security controls and business policies to address new threats, the use of new devices and technologies, and these efforts may be costly or distracting.
Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems change frequently or may be designed to remain dormant until a predetermined event and often are not recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement sufficient control measures to defend against these techniques. Though it is difficult to determine what harm may directly result from any specific incident or breach, any failure to maintain confidentiality, availability, integrity, performance and reliability of our systems and infrastructure may harm our reputation and our ability to retain existing customers and attract new customers. If an actual or perceived security incident occurs, the market perception of the effectiveness of our security controls could be harmed, our brand and reputation could be damaged, we could lose customers, and we could suffer financial exposure due to such events or in connection with remediation efforts, investigation costs, regulatory fines and changed security control, system architecture and system protection measures.
Risks Related to our Intellectual Property
Any failure by us to protect our proprietary technologies or maintain the right to use certain technologies may negatively affect our ability to compete.
To compete effectively, we must protect our intellectual property. We rely on a combination of patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secret laws, confidentiality procedures and licensing arrangements to protect our intellectual property rights. We hold numerous patents and have a number of pending patent applications. However, our portfolio of patents evolves as new patents are issued and older patents expire, and the expiration of patents could have a negative effect on our ability to prevent competitors from duplicating certain or all of our products.
We might not succeed in obtaining patents from any of our pending applications. Even if we are awarded patents, they may not provide any meaningful protection or commercial advantage to us, as they may not be of sufficient scope or strength or may not be issued in all countries where our products can be sold. In addition, our competitors may be able to design around our patents.
There can be no assurance that an issued patent will remain valid and enforceable in a court of law through the entire patent term. Should the validity of a patent be challenged, the legal process associated with defending the patent can be costly and time consuming. Issued patents can be subject to oppositions, interferences and other third-party challenges that can result in the revocation of the patent or limit patent claims such that patent coverage lacks sufficient breadth to protect subject matter that is commercially relevant. Competitors may be able to circumvent our patents. In cases where market ramp of our products may encounter delays it is possible that some patents or licensed patents covering the product has expired or will be in force for only a short period of time following such market ramp. We cannot predict with any certainty if any third-party patent rights, or other proprietary rights, will be deemed infringed by the use of our technology. Nor can we predict with certainty which, if any, of these rights will or may be asserted against us by third parties.
To protect our product technology, documentation and other proprietary information, we enter into confidentiality agreements with our employees, customers, consultants and strategic partners. We require our employees to acknowledge their obligation to maintain confidentiality with respect to our products. Despite these efforts, we cannot guarantee that these parties will maintain the confidentiality of our proprietary information in the course of future employment or working with other business partners. We develop, manufacture and sell our products in Asia and other countries that may not protect our intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the U.K. and the U.S. This makes piracy of our technology and products more likely. Steps we take to protect our proprietary
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information may not be adequate to prevent theft of our technology. We may not be able to prevent our competitors from independently developing technologies and products that are similar to or better than ours.
Vigorous protection and pursuit of intellectual property rights or positions characterize the semiconductor industry. This often results in expensive and lengthy litigation. We, and our customers or suppliers, may be accused of infringing patents or other intellectual property rights owned by third parties in the future. An adverse result in any litigation against us or a customer or supplier could force us to pay substantial damages, stop manufacturing, using, and selling the infringing products, spend significant resources to develop non-infringing technology, discontinue using certain processes or obtain licenses to use the infringing technology. In addition, we may not be able to develop non-infringing technology or find appropriate licenses on reasonable terms or at all.
Patent disputes in the semiconductor industry between industry participants are often settled through cross-licensing arrangements. Our portfolio of patents may not have the breadth to enable us to settle an alleged patent infringement claim through a cross-licensing arrangement, especially for patent disputes brought by non-practicing entities (patent holders who do not manufacture products but only seek to monetize patent rights) that cannot be settled through cross-licensing and cannot be avoided through cross-licensing with industry practitioners. We may therefore be more exposed to third-party claims than some of our larger competitors and customers.
Customers may make claims against us in connection with infringement claims made against them that are alleged to relate to our products or components included in our products, even where we obtain the components from a supplier. In such cases, we may incur monetary losses due to the cost of defense, settlement or damage award and non-monetary losses as a result of diverting valuable internal resources to litigation support. To the extent that claims against us, or our customers relate to third-party intellectual property integrated into our products, there is no assurance that we will be fully or even partially indemnified by our suppliers against any losses.
Furthermore, we may initiate claims or litigation against third parties for infringing our proprietary rights or to establish the validity of our proprietary rights. This could consume significant resources and divert the efforts of our technical and management personnel, regardless of the litigation’s outcome.
Risks Related to our Financial Control Environment
We incur significant costs as a result of operating as a public company.
As a public company, we incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses. For example, we are subject to the information and reporting requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), the Exchange Act and other federal securities laws, rules and regulations related thereto, including compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. In addition, the Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”) listing requirements and other applicable securities rules and regulations impose various requirements on public companies. Our management and other personnel are required to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives. Moreover, these rules and regulations significantly increase our legal and financial compliance costs and make some activities more time-consuming and costly. Among other things, we are required to:
● maintain policies relating to disclosure controls and procedures;
The costs of preparing and filing annual and quarterly reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC and furnishing audited reports to stockholders is expensive and compliance with these rules and regulations involves a material increase in regulatory, legal and accounting expenses and the attention of our board of directors and
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management. In addition, being a public company makes it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance. In the future, we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain this coverage. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified executives and members of our board of directors. Furthermore, if we are unable to satisfy our obligations as a public company, we could be subject to fines, sanctions and other regulatory action and potentially civil litigation.
If we fail to maintain effective internal controls, we may not be able to report financial results accurately or on a timely basis, or to detect fraud, which could have a material adverse effect on our business or share price.
As a public company, we are required to maintain internal control over financial reporting and to report any material weaknesses in those controls. A material weakness is defined as a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected and corrected on a timely basis.
In connection with our preparation of our financial statements for the second quarter of 2023, a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting was identified relating to the complex financial reporting and accounting associated with the June 2023 PIPE (as defined below), a non-cash item. None of our filed financial statements were impacted. Management implemented measures designed to ensure that the control deficiency contributing to the material weakness was remediated, such that the controls are designed, implemented, and operating effectively. The remediation actions included the enhancement of control activity evidence, improvement of management review controls, and recording of the fair value of the warrant liability.
Our management evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as defined in Rule 13a-15 and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act, as of December 31, 2023. Based on this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective at a reasonable assurance level as of December 31, 2023. See “Item 9A Controls and Procedures.”
Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reasonable assurance with respect to our financial reports and to effectively prevent financial fraud. Pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, we are required to periodically evaluate the effectiveness of the design and operation of our internal controls. Internal controls over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements because of inherent limitations, including the possibility of human error or collusion, the circumvention or overriding of controls, or fraud. If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, our business and operating results could be harmed, and we could fail to meet our reporting obligations, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and our share price. Additionally, for as long as we are a “smaller reporting company” under the U.S. securities laws, our independent registered public accounting firm will not be required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. An independent assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting could detect problems that management’s assessment might not. Undetected material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting could lead to further financial statement restatements and require us to incur the expense of remediation.
If we fail to maintain proper disclosure controls and procedures or have additional material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, we may be unable to accurately report our financial results or report them within the timeframes required by law or any stock exchange regulations, and we could lose investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, which would cause the price of our common stock to decline. Failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting also could potentially subject us to sanctions or investigations by the SEC or other regulatory authorities or stockholder lawsuits, which could require additional financial and management resources.
The terms of the June 2023 PIPE contain restrictions on our operations and on our ability to raise additional capital that may have an adverse effect on us.
The terms of the June 2023 PIPE include a number of restrictions on our operations and on our ability to raise additional capital. The Purchase Agreement (as defined below), among other things, provides that, for a period ending
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on June 14, 2024, we may not use cash from operating activities (as defined under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles) of more than an average of $2.8 million for any consecutive three-month period (subject to certain exceptions). This provision may cause us to delay certain actions that may benefit our business and may prevent us from pursuing potentially favorable business opportunities, even if a majority of our board of directors believes such actions or opportunities are in the best interest of our company and our stockholders.
Under the terms of the Purchase Agreement, as amended, for a period ending on December 15, 2025, in the event that we issue common stock or common stock equivalents in a subsequent financing (as defined in the Purchase Agreement), the significant purchasers (defined in the Purchase Agreement as a purchaser acquiring at least 1,000 shares of Series A-1 Preferred Stock) will have the right to purchase up to 40% of the securities sold in the subsequent financing. This provision may make it more difficult for us to raise additional capital because other investors may want to provide all, or a larger portion of the capital provided in the subsequent financing or may be unwilling to co-invest with one or more of the significant purchasers or may be unwilling to commit to provide financing without knowing how much of the subsequent financing will be provided by the significant purchasers.
In addition, during such period, we may not issue common stock or common stock equivalents in a subsequent financing with an effective price per share of common stock that is or may become lower than the then-effective conversion price of the Series A-1 Preferred Stock without the consent of the significant purchasers, which must include AIGH Investment Partners LP and its affiliates for so long as they are holding at least $1,500,000 in aggregate stated value of Series A-1 Preferred Stock acquired pursuant to the Purchase Agreement. This provision may prevent us from obtaining additional capital on market terms even if a majority of our board of directors believes that the terms of the subsequent financing are in the best interests of our company and our stockholders. This provision may also have the effect of increasing the cost of obtaining additional capital either because the significant purchasers refuse to consent to any such subsequent financing unless provided by them on terms approved by them or because we are required to provide additional consideration to such significant purchasers in exchange for their consent.
In the event that we issue common stock or common stock equivalents in a subsequent financing prior to the time our common stock is listed on a national securities exchange, the Purchase Agreement provides that if a significant purchaser reasonably believes that any of the terms and conditions of the subsequent financing are more favorable to an investor in the subsequent financing than the terms of the June 2023 PIPE, such significant purchaser has the right to require us to amend the terms of the June 2023 PIPE to include such more favorable term for such significant purchaser. This provision may make it more expensive to obtain additional capital prior to an uplisting because it permits any significant purchaser to “cherry pick” the terms of the subsequent financing and to require any term deemed to be more favorable to be included retroactively in the terms of the June 2023 PIPE. This provision also potentially creates uncertainty around the terms of a subsequent financing because the significant purchasers have the right to review terms of a completed subsequent financing before deciding which, if any, of the terms thereof they find more favorable to them.
The Purchase Agreement provides that, until June 14, 2025, a significant purchaser may participate in a subsequent transaction by exchanging some or all of its Series A-1 Preferred Stock having a stated value equal to its subscription amount in the subsequent financing. This provision may adversely affect the amount of capital we raise in a subsequent financing, as it permits a significant purchaser to roll its existing investment into the new financing rather than being required to invest cash. This provision also has the potential to make it more difficult for us to raise additional capital as other investors may want to provide all or a larger portion of the capital provided in the subsequent financing or may require us to raise a minimum amount of new capital or may be unwilling to commit to provide financing without knowing how much of the subsequent financing will be provided by the significant purchasers in cash.
If we are unable to raise additional capital when needed, we may be required to delay, limit, reduce or terminate commercialization, our research and product development, or grant rights to develop and market our products that we would otherwise prefer to develop and market ourselves and may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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The Series A-1 Preferred Stock contains certain terms and restrictions that may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The Series A-1 Preferred Stock provides that if the volume weighted average price of our common stock for the 30-day period ending on December 14, 2024 is less than the then-current conversion price of the Series A-1 Preferred Stock, the Series A-1 Preferred Stock will accrue dividends at an annual rate of 19.99% of the stated value thereof. Those dividends must be paid in cash unless certain equity conditions are met, in which case we may pay such dividends by issuing shares of common stock having a per share value equal to 90% of the volume weighted average price of our common stock for the 10-day period ending on the date of payment. No assurance can be given that we would satisfy the conditions permitting us to pay dividends on the Series A-1 Preferred Stock in shares of common stock. Any cash dividends required to be paid would materially and adversely affect our financial condition. Even if we are able to pay such dividends in shares of common stock, the issuance of such shares would have a dilutive effect on the ownership interests of the holders of our common stock.
Among other things, the Series A-1 Preferred Stock prohibits us from (i) issuing additional shares of preferred stock ranking on a parity as to dividends or upon liquidation, (ii) incurring more than $1,000,000 in new debt, (iii) granting liens and security interests on our assets (subject to certain exceptions), or (iv) repurchasing shares of common stock, common stock equivalents or junior securities (as defined in the certificate of designation) subject to certain exceptions, or paying dividends on junior securities debt, without the vote or consent of the holders of a majority of the then outstanding shares of Series A-1 Preferred Stock which must include AIGH Investment Partners LP and its affiliates for so long as they are holding at least $1,500,000 in aggregate stated value of Series A-1 Preferred Stock acquired pursuant to the Purchase Agreement. These restrictions have the potential to limit our ability to issue shares of preferred stock to raise capital as investors are unlikely to invest in preferred stock which is structurally subordinated to the Series A-1 Preferred Stock or to make the use of preferred stock more expensive as investors are likely to demand premium terms to invest in a series of junior preferred stock. These provisions may also have the effect of increasing the cost of obtaining additional capital either because the holders of the Series A-1 Preferred Stock refuse to consent to the issuance of a parity series of preferred stock unless issued to them on terms approved by them or because we are required to provide additional consideration to such holders in exchange for their consent. The restrictions on our ability to incur debt or grant liens on our assets may prevent us from acquiring equipment or other assets using purchase price financing or leasing even if the acquisition of such equipment or other assets is in the best interests of our stockholders.
The terms and restrictions summarized above may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If our estimates or judgments relating to our critical accounting policies are based on assumptions that change or prove to be incorrect, our results of operations could fall below the expectations of investors, resulting in a decline in the market price of our common stock.
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“US GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in our financial statements. Significant assumptions and estimates used in preparing our financial statements include those related to assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses, and related disclosures. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets, liabilities, equity, revenue and expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. Our results of operations may be adversely affected if our assumptions change or if actual circumstances differ from those in our assumptions, which could cause our results of operations to fall below the expectations of investors, resulting in a decline in the market price of our common stock.
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Changes in accounting rules and regulations, or interpretations thereof, could result in unfavorable accounting charges or require us to change our compensation policies.
Accounting methods and policies for companies such as ours, including policies governing revenue recognition, leases, research and development and related expenses, and accounting for stock-based compensation, are subject to review, interpretation and guidance from our auditors and relevant accounting authorities, including the SEC. Changes to accounting methods or policies, or interpretations thereof, may require us to reclassify, restate or otherwise change or revise our historical financial statements, including those contained in this Report.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
We are an “emerging growth company” and we cannot be certain if the reduced reporting requirements applicable to emerging growth companies will make our common stock less attractive to investors.
We are an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act. For as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including (1) not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (2) reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in this Report and our periodic reports and proxy statements, and (3) exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. In addition, as a smaller reporting company, we are only required to provide two years of audited financial statements and two years of selected financial data in this Report. We could be an emerging growth company until the fifth anniversary of the first sale of our common stock pursuant to a registration statement occurs, although circumstances could cause us to lose that status earlier, including if the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700.0 million as of June 30 of any year or if we have total annual gross revenue of $1.235 billion or more during any fiscal year, in which cases we would no longer be an emerging growth company as of the following December 31, or if we issue more than $1.0 billion in nonconvertible debt during any three-year period, in which case we would no longer be an emerging growth company immediately. Even after we no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, we may still qualify as a “smaller reporting company” which would allow us to take advantage of many of the same exemptions from disclosure requirements including not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in this Report and our periodic reports and proxy statements. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our share price may be more volatile.
Under the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies can also delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies. We have elected to use the extended transition period under the JOBS Act until the earlier of the date we (i) are no longer an emerging growth company or (ii) affirmatively and irrevocably opt out of the extended transition period provided in the JOBS Act. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
We are a smaller reporting company, and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to smaller reporting companies will make our common stock less attractive to investors.
We are currently a “smaller reporting company,” meaning that we are not an investment company, an asset-backed issuer, or a majority-owned subsidiary of a parent company that is not a smaller reporting company, and we have a public float of less than $250 million and annual revenues of less than $100 million during our most recently completed fiscal year. In the event that we are still considered a smaller reporting company at such time as we cease being an “emerging growth company,” we will be required to provide additional disclosure in our SEC filings. However, similar to emerging growth companies, smaller reporting companies are able to provide simplified executive compensation disclosures in their filings; are exempt from the provisions of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requiring that independent registered public accounting firms provide an attestation report on the effectiveness of internal control
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over financial reporting; and have certain other decreased disclosure obligations in their SEC filings, including, among other things, only being required to provide two years of audited financial statements in annual reports and in a registration statement under the Exchange Act on Form 10. Decreased disclosures in our SEC filings due to our status as a smaller reporting company may make it harder for investors to analyze our results of our operations and financial prospects.
An active trading market for our common stock may not develop or be sustained, which may make it difficult for investors to sell shares of our common stock and may make it difficult for us to raise capital.
An active trading market for our common stock may not develop or be sustained. Because of the lack of an active trading market, shares of our common stock trade infrequently and in low volumes, meaning that the number of persons interested in purchasing our common stock at or near bid prices at any given time may be relatively small or non-existent and the trading price of our common stock may be extremely volatile. The lack of an active market for our common stock may impair investors’ ability to sell their common stock at the time they wish to sell them or at a price that they consider reasonable, may reduce the fair market value of their shares of common stock and may impair our ability to raise capital to continue to fund operations by selling securities. No assurance can be given that an active trading market for our common stock will develop or be sustained. The lack of an active market for our common stock may make it difficult for investors to sell shares of our common stock and may make it difficult for us to raise capital.
We may never be able to satisfy the listing requirements for our common stock to be listed on a national securities exchange, which may cause the trading of our common stock to suffer, cause the trading market for our common stock to be less liquid and subject our common stock price to increased volatility.
We may not ever be able to satisfy the listing requirements for our common stock to be listed on a national securities exchange, which is often a more widely traded and liquid market. Some, but not all, of the factors which 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; and we may fail to meet the rules and requirements mandated by the several exchanges and markets to have our common stock listed. Should we fail to satisfy the initial listing standards of the national exchanges, or our common stock is otherwise rejected for listing, the trading price of our common stock could suffer, the trading market for our common stock may be less liquid and our common stock price may be subject to increased volatility.
The designation of our common stock as a “penny stock” limits the liquidity of our common stock.
Our common stock is deemed a “penny stock” (as that term is defined under Rule 3a51-1 of the Exchange Act). Generally, “penny stock” is common stock that is not listed on a securities exchange and trades for less than $5.00 a share. Prices often are not available to buyers and sellers and the market may be very limited. Penny stocks in start-up companies are among the riskiest equity investments. Broker-dealers who sell penny stocks must provide purchasers of these stocks with a standardized risk-disclosure document prepared by the SEC. The document provides information about penny stocks and the nature and level of risks involved in investing in the penny stock market. A broker must also provide purchasers with bid and offer quotations and information regarding broker and salesperson compensation and make a written determination that the penny stock is a suitable investment for the purchaser and obtain the purchaser’s written agreement to the purchase. Many brokers and investors choose not to participate in penny stock transactions, which may result in further liquidity constraints and declines in the trading price of our common stock. Because of the penny stock rules, there may be less trading activity in penny stocks in any market that develops for our common stock in the future and stockholders are likely to have difficulty selling their shares of our common stock.
We do not anticipate paying dividends on our common stock, and investors may lose the entire amount of their investment.
Cash dividends have never been declared or paid on our common stock, and we do not anticipate such a declaration or payment for the foreseeable future. Any future determination about the payment of dividends will be made at the
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discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon our earnings, if any, capital requirements, operating and financial conditions, contractual restrictions, including any loan or debt financing agreements, and on such other factors as our board of directors deems relevant. In addition, we may enter into agreements in the future that could contain restrictions on payments of cash dividends. We expect to use future earnings, if any, to fund business growth. Therefore, stockholders will not receive any funds absent a sale of their shares of our common stock. If we do not pay dividends, our common stock may be less valuable because a return on your investment will only occur if our stock price appreciates. We cannot assure stockholders of a positive return on their investment when they sell their shares of our common stock, nor can we assure that stockholders will not lose the entire amount of their investment.
FINRA sales practice requirements may limit a stockholder’s ability to buy and sell our stock.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has adopted rules requiring that, in recommending an investment to a customer, a broker-dealer must have reasonable grounds for believing that the investment is suitable for that customer. Prior to recommending speculative or low-priced securities to their non-institutional customers, broker-dealers must make reasonable efforts to obtain information about the customer’s financial status, tax status, investment objectives and other information. Under interpretations of these rules, FINRA has indicated its belief that there is a high probability that speculative or low-priced securities will not be suitable for at least some customers. If these FINRA requirements are applicable to us or our securities, they may make it more difficult for broker-dealers to recommend that at least some of their customers buy our common stock, which may limit the ability of our stockholders to buy and sell our common stock and could have an adverse effect on the market for and price of our common stock.
Substantial future sales of shares of our common stock could cause the market price of our common stock to decline.
A substantial portion of outstanding shares of our common stock has been registered for resale by the holders thereof. The resale, or expected or potential resale, of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market could adversely affect the market price for our common stock and make it more difficult for you to sell shares of our common stock at times and prices that you feel are appropriate. Furthermore, we expect that selling stockholders holding shares that have been registered by us for resale will continue to offer such shares of our common stock for a significant period of time, the precise duration of which cannot be predicted. Accordingly, the adverse market and price pressures resulting from these sales may continue for an extended period of time and continued negative pressure on the market price of our common stock could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise additional equity capital.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or if they issue an adverse or misleading opinion regarding our stock, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. We do not currently have and may never obtain research coverage by securities and industry analysts. In addition, because we did not become a reporting company by conducting an underwritten initial public offering of our common stock, security analysts of brokerage firms may not provide coverage of our company. We cannot assure you that brokerage firms will provide analyst coverage of our company in the future or continue such coverage if started. In addition, investment banks may be less likely to agree to underwrite secondary offerings on our behalf than they might if we became a public reporting company by means of an underwritten initial public offering, because they may be less familiar with our company as a result of more limited coverage by analysts and the media, which could harm our ability to raise additional funding in the future. The failure to receive research coverage or support in the market for shares of our common stock will have an adverse effect on our ability to develop a liquid market for our common stock, which will negatively impact the trading price of our common stock.
In the event we obtain securities or industry analyst coverage, if any of the analysts who cover us issue an adverse or misleading opinion regarding us, or if our operating results fail to meet the expectations of analysts, our stock price
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would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.
Our principal stockholders and management have substantial control over us and could delay or prevent a change in corporate control.
Our executive officers and directors, together with holders of 5% or more of our outstanding common stock and their respective affiliates, beneficially own 58.4% of our common stock. As a result, these stockholders, acting together have the ability to significantly impact the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of directors and any merger, consolidation, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. In addition, these stockholders, acting together, have the ability to significantly impact the management and affairs of our company. The interests of these stockholders may not be the same as or may even conflict with your interests. The concentration of ownership might decrease the market price of our common stock by:
The significant concentration of stock ownership may also adversely affect the trading price of our common stock due to investors’ perception that conflicts of interest may exist or arise.
Provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and Delaware law might discourage, delay or prevent a change of control of our company or changes in our management and, therefore, depress the trading price of our common stock.
Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that could depress the trading price of our common stock by acting to discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company or changes in our management that the stockholders of our company may deem advantageous. These provisions:
● provide that directors may only be removed “for cause”;
Such provisions could impede any merger, consolidation, takeover or other business combination involving the Company or discourage a potential acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of the Company.
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Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit the ability of our stockholders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requires that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum:
● any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf;
● any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine;
The Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the exclusive forum or if the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware does not have subject matter jurisdiction thereof, the federal district court of the State of Delaware.
Furthermore, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all such Securities Act actions. Accordingly, both state and federal courts have jurisdiction to entertain such claims. To prevent having to litigate claims in multiple jurisdictions and the threat of inconsistent or contrary rulings by different courts, among other considerations, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the federal district courts of the United States of America are the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act.
The exclusive forum provisions described above do not apply to claims arising under the Exchange Act.
While the Delaware courts have determined that such choice of forum provisions are facially valid, a stockholder may nevertheless seek to bring such a claim arising under the Securities Act against us, our directors, officers, or other employees in a venue other than in the federal district courts of the United States of America. In such an instance, we would expect to vigorously assert the validity and enforceability of the exclusive forum provisions of our certificate of incorporation. Although we believe this provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, this provision may limit or discourage a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or other employees, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provision contained in the amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business and financial condition.
We note that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce the provision and that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Although we believe this provision will benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law in the types of lawsuits to which it applies, the provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.
Because we became a reporting company under the Exchange Act by means other than a traditional underwritten initial public offering, we may not be able to attract the attention of research analysts at major brokerage firms.
Because we did not become a reporting company by conducting an underwritten initial public offering of our common stock, security analysts of brokerage firms may not provide coverage of our company. In addition, investment banks may be less likely to agree to underwrite secondary offerings on our behalf than they might if we became a public reporting company by means of an underwritten initial public offering, because they may be less familiar with our company as a result of more limited coverage by analysts and the media, and because we became public at an early
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stage in our development. The failure to receive research coverage or support in the market for shares of our common stock will have an adverse effect on our ability to develop a liquid market for our common stock.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
Not Applicable.
Item 1C. Cybersecurity
We rely on our information technology to operate our business. As such, we have policies and processes designed to protect our information technology systems, some of which are managed by third parties, and resolve issues in a timely manner in the event of a cybersecurity threat or incident.
We have designed our business applications and hosting services to minimize the impact that cybersecurity incidents could have on our business and have identified back-up systems where appropriate. We seek to further mitigate cybersecurity risks through a combination of monitoring and detection activities, use of anti-malware applications, employee training, quality audits and communication and reporting structures, among other processes. We engage a third-party consultant to assist us with our cybersecurity risk management framework, including the monitoring and detection of cybersecurity threats and responding to any cybersecurity threats or incidents. . Our third-party consultant team is managed by our Chief Financial Officer who reports to the Audit Committee at the board-level, as appropriate.
As of December 31, 2023, we have not identified an indication of a cybersecurity incident that would have a material impact on our business and consolidated financial statements.
Item 2. Properties
Our headquarters are located in Manchester, England, where we lease approximately 10,000 square feet of commercial space for research and development, engineering, testing and corporate offices pursuant to a lease that expires in 2025. We also have a leased office in Hsinchu City Taiwan where we lease approximately 1,000 square feet of office space pursuant to a lease which expires in 2025. We use the CPI facility in Sedgefield, England for virtually all of our fabrication activities. In addition, we lease two offices at CPI pursuant to leases which expire in 2024 and two offices at NetPark, Sedgefield pursuant to leases which expire in March 2024. On March 22, 2024 we executed a new Framework Agreement with CPIIS for a twelve-month term commencing on April 1, 2024. We also maintain access to additional office space on a temporary or as-needed basis. We believe that our facilities are suitable to meet our current needs and that suitable space will be available on acceptable terms as may be required to support the expected growth in our business.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
From time to time, we may become involved in litigation or other legal proceedings. We are not currently a party to any litigation or legal proceedings that, in the opinion of our management, are likely to have a material adverse effect on our business. Regardless of outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on us because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management resources and other factors.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not Applicable.
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PART II
Item 5.Market For Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases Of Equity Securities
Market Information
Our common stock is traded on the OTC Market Group’s OTCQB® Market (“OTCQB”) under the ticker symbol “SMTK.”
Holders of Record
As of March 27, 2024, there were 1,355,361 shares of our common stock outstanding which were held by 210 stockholders of record as reported by our transfer agent. This number does not include beneficial owners whose shares are held in street name. The actual number of holders of our common stock is greater than this number of record holders and includes stockholders who are beneficial owners, but whose shares are held in street name by brokers or held by other nominees.
Dividend Policy
Cash dividends have never been declared or paid on our common stock, and we do not anticipate such a declaration or payment for the foreseeable future. Any future determination about the payment of dividends will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon our earnings, if any, capital requirements, operating and financial conditions, contractual restrictions, including any loan or debt financing agreements, and on such other factors as our board of directors deems relevant. In addition, we may enter into agreements in the future that could contain restrictions on payments of cash dividends. We expect to use future earnings, if any, to fund business growth.
Item 6.[Reserved]
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Our Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (MD&A) is provided in addition to the accompanying consolidated financial statements and notes to assist readers in understanding our results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows. The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes and other financial information included in this Report. Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis or set forth elsewhere in this Report, including information with respect to our plans and strategy for our business, includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties as described under the heading “Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements” above. You should review the disclosure under the heading “Item1A. Risk Factors” in this Report for a discussion of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results described in or implied by the forward-looking statement.
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Overview
We are seeking to reshape the world of electronics with our disruptive organic thin-film transistors (“OTFTs”) that we believe have the potential to drive the next generation of displays. Our patented TRUFLEX® semiconductor and dielectric inks, or electronic polymers, are used to make a new type of transistor that we believe have the capability to potentially revolutionize the display industry. Our inks enable low temperature printing processes that are compatible with existing manufacturing infrastructure to deliver low-cost displays that outperform existing technologies. Our electronic polymer platform can be used in a range of display technologies including microLED, miniLED and AMOLED displays for next generation televisions, laptops, augmented reality (“AR”) and virtual reality (“VR”) headsets, smartwatches and smartphones.
Our loss before income taxes was $8.5 million and $11.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, and 2022, respectively. As of December 31, 2023, our accumulated deficit was $95.1 million. Substantially all our operating losses have resulted from expenses incurred in connection with research and development activities and from general and administrative costs associated with our operations.
Key Factors Affecting Our Performance
There are a number of industry factors that affect our business which include, among others:
Overall Demand for Products and Applications using Organic thin film transistors
Our potential for growth depends significantly on the adoption of OTFT materials in the display and sensor markets and our ability to capture a significant share of any market that does develop. We expect that demand for our technology will also fluctuate based on various market cycles, continuously evolving industry supply chains, trade and tariff terms, as well as evolving competitive dynamics in each of the respective markets. These uncertainties make demand difficult to forecast for us and our customers.
Intense and Constantly Evolving Competitive Environment
Competition in the industries we serve is intense. Many companies have made significant investments in product development and production equipment. To remain competitive, market participants must continuously increase product performance, reduce costs, and develop improved ways to serve their customers. To address these competitive pressures, we have invested in research and development activities to support new product development, improve ease of use, lower product costs and deliver higher levels of performance to differentiate our products in the market.
Governmental Trade and Regulatory Conditions
Our potential for growth depends on a balanced and stable trade, political, economic and regulatory environment among the countries where we do business. Changes in trade policy such as the imposition of tariffs or export bans to specific customers or countries could reduce or limit demand for our products in certain markets.
Technological Innovation and Advancement
Innovations and advancements in organic materials continue to expand the potential commercial application for our products. However, new technologies or standards could emerge, or improvements could be made in existing technologies that could reduce or limit the demand for our products in certain markets.
Intellectual Property Issues
We rely on patented and non-patented proprietary information relating to product development, manufacturing capabilities and other core competencies of our business. Protection of intellectual property is critical. Therefore, steps such as additional patent applications, confidentiality, and non-disclosure agreements, as well as other security measures are important. While we believe we have a strong patent portfolio and there is no actual or, to our knowledge,
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threatened litigation against us for patent-related matters, litigation or threatened litigation is a common method to effectively enforce or protect intellectual property rights. Such action may be initiated by or against us and would require significant management time and expenses.
Components of Results of Operations
Revenue
Revenue. Our revenue consists of revenue from the sale of TRUFLEX® inks and demonstration products.
Cost of Revenues. Cost of revenues consists of (1) direct product costs incurred for the raw materials and manufacturing services for our products, (2) fixed product costs primarily relating to production, manufacturing and personnel and (3) depreciation consisting primarily of expenses related to our fixed assets. We expect our cost of goods sold attributable to direct product costs to increase proportionately with increases in revenue, and our cost of goods sold attributable to fixed product costs to remain substantially flat or moderately increase in connection with increases in revenue.
Other Operating Income. Our Other Operating Income includes government grants received for qualifying research and development projects, and research and development tax credits related to the United Kingdom’s Research and Development tax relief for small and medium-sized enterprises, which is a government tax incentive designed to reward innovative companies for investing in research and development. The income associated with these items is recognized in the period which the research and development expenses occurred.
Operating Expenses
Research and Development. Research and development expenses consist primarily of compensation and related costs for personnel, including share-based compensation and employee benefits as well as costs associated with design, fabrication and testing of OTFT devices. In addition, research and development expenses include depreciation expenses related to our fixed assets. We expense research and development expenses as incurred. As we continue to invest in developing our technology for new products, we expect research and development expenses to remain flat or moderately increase in absolute dollars but to decline as a percentage of revenue. We do not believe that it is possible at this time to accurately project total program-specific expenses through commercialization. There are numerous factors associated with the successful commercialization of our technology, many of which cannot be determined with accuracy at this time based on our stage of development. Additionally, future commercial and other factors beyond our control will impact our development programs and plans.
Selling, General and Administrative. Selling, general and administrative expenses consist primarily of allocated compensation and related costs for personnel, including share-based compensation, employee benefits and travel. In addition, general and administrative expenses include third-party consulting, legal, audit, accounting services, allocations of overhead costs, such as rent, facilities and information technology. We expect general and administrative expenses to increase in absolute dollars in future periods due to additional legal, accounting, insurance, investor relations and other costs associated with being a public company, as well as other costs associated with growing our business.
Non-Operating Income (Expense)
Non-operating income/expense aggregates the following amounts:
Foreign Currency Translation. Foreign currency translation reflects adjustments made due to currency fluctuations.
Transaction Costs. Costs for equity contracts that are classified as a liability.
Fair Value of Warrant Liability. The fair value of equity contracts that are classified as a liability.
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Interest Income. Interest income is interest on our cash deposits.
Income Tax Expense. Income tax expense consists primarily of income taxes in jurisdictions in which we conduct business.
Results of Operations
Twelve months ended December 31, 2023 compared with the twelve months ended December 31, 2022
Revenue and Cost of Revenue
Our revenue and cost of revenue reflects sales of TRUFLEX® inks and demonstration products and the direct costs associated with those sales.
Revenues were $27.0 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to $40.0 thousand for the same period of 2022. Cost of revenue was $23.0 thousand for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, compared to $33.0 thousand for the same period of 2022. The decrease is mainly the results of less unit sales in 2023 compared to 2022, reflecting the largely one-off nature of these sales, consistent with our current stage of commercialization.
Other Operating Income
Other operating income was $0.8 million and $1.2 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The primary sources of the other operating income in these periods were a research grant and research and development tax credits. The decrease is mostly attributable to a reduction in the allowable research and development expenses and a lowering of the tax credit rate to be applied to the allowable expenses of which both went into effect in 2023.
Operating Expenses
Operating expenses decreased by $0.1 million to $10.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to $10.9 million for the comparable period of 2022.
Research and development expense, which represents 51.3% and 53.4% of our total operating expenses for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, decreased by $0.2 million to $5.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to $5.8 million for the same period of 2022. The decrease is mainly due to lower personnel costs related to reductions in force effected in December 2022 and September 2023 and lower technical research and development costs, including consulting, testing and lab supplies.
Selling, general and administrative expense, which represents 47.9% and 46.6% of our total operating expenses for the twelve months ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, increased by $0.1 million to $5.2 million for year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to $5.1 million for the same period in 2022. There was an increase in personnel costs due to severance costs and the accrual of bonus payments in 2023. This was offset by a reduction in investor relations cost and other professional service fees.
Non-Operating Income/(Expenses) and Net Loss
The increase of $3.0 million in gain on foreign currency transactions was due to fluctuations in U.S. dollar/U.K. pound value arising from transactions denominated in foreign currencies and the translation of foreign currency denominated balances on intra-group loans.
Issuance costs of $0.2 million allocated to the warrant liability were expensed in full during the year ended December 31, 2023. The majority of costs were legal, placement and consulting fees specifically related to the private placement transaction. There were no similar gains or losses recorded during the prior year.
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A gain of $0.5 million related to the valuation of the warrant liability was recorded during the year ended December 31, 2023. There were no similar gains or losses recorded during the prior year.
The loss before income taxes was $8.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, a decrease of $3.0 million, compared to a loss before income taxes of $11.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The decrease in the 2023 period was attributable increases in gains on foreign currency transactions and lower operating expenses as described in the preceding paragraphs.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2023, our cash and cash equivalents were $8.8 million compared with $4.2 million as of December 31, 2022. We believe this will be sufficient to fund our operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements through the end of April 2025. It is possible this period could be shortened if there are any significant increases in planned spending or development programs or more rapid progress of development programs than anticipated.
Our future viability is dependent on our ability to raise additional capital to fund our operations. We will need to obtain additional funds to satisfy our operational needs and to fund our sales and marketing efforts, research and development expenditures, and business development activities. Until such time, if ever, as we can generate sufficient cash through revenue, management’s plans are to finance our working capital requirements through a combination of equity offerings, debt financings, collaborations, strategic alliances and marketing, distribution or licensing arrangements. If we raise additional funds by issuing equity securities, our existing security holders will likely experience dilution. If we borrow money, the incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased debt service obligations and could require us to agree to operating and financial covenants that could restrict our operations. If we enter into a collaboration, strategic alliance or other similar arrangement, we may be forced to give up valuable rights. There can be no assurance however that such financing will be available in sufficient amounts, when and if needed, on acceptable terms or at all. The precise amount and timing of the funding needs cannot be determined accurately at this time, and will depend on a number of factors, including the market demand for the Company’s products and services, the quality of product development efforts, management of working capital, and continuation of normal payment terms and conditions for purchase of services. If the Company is unable to substantially increase revenues, reduce expenditures, or otherwise generate cash flows for operations, then the Company will need to raise additional funding.
Cash Flow from Operating Activities
Net cash used in operating activities was $8.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to $9.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, a decrease of $1.0 million. The decrease resulted primarily from a decrease in our net loss of $3.0 million, partially offset by an increase of non-cash activities of $3.3 million and a net increase in operating assets and liabilities of $1.3 million.
Cash Flow from Investing Activities
Net cash used in investing activities was $18.0 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to $79.0 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2022, a decrease of $61.0 thousand. The decrease resulted from a reduced level of investment in laboratory and capital equipment purchases in 2023.
Cash Flow from Financing Activities
Net cash flows provided by financing activities was $12.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to $1.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, an increase of $10.9 million. In June 2023, we completed a private placement of our preferred stock and warrants resulting in net proceeds of $12.4 million with an additional $1.8 million related to the issuance of warrants. We incurred $1.5 million in issuance costs in connection with this private placement.
Contractual Payment Obligations
Our principal commitments primarily consist of obligations under leases for office space and purchase commitments in the normal course of business for research & development facilities and services, communications infrastructure, and administrative services. We expect to fund these commitments from our cash balances and working capital.
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Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
For recently issued accounting announcements, see “Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements” in Note 2, Significant Accounting Policies and Recent Accounting Pronouncements, in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Critical Accounting Estimates
We prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, which require our management to make estimates that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the balance sheet dates, as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. To the extent that there are material differences between these estimates and actual results, our financial condition or results of operations would be affected. We base our estimates on our own historical experience and other assumptions that we believe are reasonable after taking account of our circumstances and expectations for the future based on available information. We evaluate these estimates on an ongoing basis.
We consider an accounting estimate to be critical if: (i) the accounting estimate requires us to make assumptions about matters that were highly uncertain at the time the accounting estimate was made, and (ii) changes in the estimate that are reasonably likely to occur from period to period or use of different estimates that we reasonably could have used in the current period, would have a material impact on our financial condition or results of operations.
Management has discussed the development and selection of these critical accounting estimates with the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors. In addition, there are other items within our financial statements that require estimation but are not deemed critical as defined above. Changes in estimates used in these and other items could have a material impact on our financial statements.
Share-Based Compensation
The Company determines the fair value of certain share-based awards using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model which uses both historical and current market data to estimate the fair value. This method incorporates various assumptions such as the risk-free interest rate, expected volatility, expected dividend yield, and expected life of the options. Prior to February 2022, the Company’s common stock was not traded on an over the counter or national securities exchange and consequently the Company developed estimates for the inputs to the option-pricing model.
Warrant Liability
The valuation of the warrant liability was determined using an option pricing model. This model uses inputs such as the underlying price of the shares issued at the measurement date, expected volatility, risk free interest rate and expected life of the instrument. Since our common stock was not publicly traded until February 2022 there has been insufficient volatility data available. Accordingly, we have used an expected volatility based on historical common stock volatility of our peers. In addition, we used the probability of uplisting as an input in the model to determine the fair value of the warrant liability.
JOBS Act Accounting Election
We are an emerging growth company, as defined in the JOBS Act. The JOBS Act provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards. This provision allows an emerging growth company to either early adopt or delay the adoption of some accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have elected to use the extended transition period under the JOBS Act until the earlier of the date we (i) are no longer an emerging growth company or (ii) affirmatively and irrevocably opt out of the extended transition period provided in the JOBS Act. As a result, our consolidated financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk.
We are a smaller reporting company as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act; therefore, pursuant to Item 301(c) of Regulation S-K, we are not required to provide the information required by this Item.
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Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
SmartKem, Inc.
Index to Consolidated Financial Statements
Page
Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2023, and 2022 49
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements 53
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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Stockholders and Board of Directors of
SmartKem, Inc.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheet of SmartKem, Inc. and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2023,the related consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2023, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2023, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2023, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) ("PCAOB") and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ Marcum llp
Marcum llp
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2023.
New York, NY
March 27, 2024
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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
Shareholders and Board of Directors
SmartKem, Inc.
Manchester, United Kingdom
Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheet of SmartKem, Inc. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2022, the related consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2022, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company at December 31, 2022, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2022, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Going Concern Uncertainty
The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company has suffered recurring losses from operations and has a net capital deficiency that raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 2. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Basis for Opinion
These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s consolidated financial statements based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audit included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ BDO LLP
BDO LLP
We have served as the Company's auditor from 2020 through to 2023.
Manchester, United Kingdom
March 30, 2023, except for the effects of the reverse stock split as described in Notes 2 and 8, which is dated March 27, 2024
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SMARTKEM, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(in thousands, except number of shares and per share data)
December 31, December 31,
Assets
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents $ 8,836 $ 4,235
Accounts receivable 268 30
Research and development tax credit receivable 610 1,121
Prepaid expenses and other current assets 811 1,056
Property, plant and equipment, net 455 602
Right-of-use assets, net 285 475
Other assets, non-current 7 6
Liabilities and stockholders’ equity
Current liabilities
Accounts payable and accrued expenses $ 1,178 $ 931
Lease liabilities, current 230 206
Income tax payable — 22
Other current liabilities 360 244
Total current liabilities 1,768 1,403
Lease liabilities, non-current 19 239
Warrant liability 1,372 —
Commitments and contingencies (Note 7) — —
Stockholders’ equity:
Accumulated other comprehensive loss (1,578) (483)
Total stockholders' equity 8,113 5,883
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 11,272 $ 7,525
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.
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SMARTKEM, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss
(in thousands, except number of shares and per share data)
Year Ended December 31,
Revenue $ 27 $ 40
Cost of revenue 23 33
Gross profit 4 7
Other operating income 836 1,172