UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
x ANNUAL REPORT UNDER SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the Fiscal year ended December 31, 2020
OR
o TRANSITION REPORT UNDER SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from _________ to __________
Commission file number: 333-234741
Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware | 84-1766761 | |
(State
or other Jurisdiction of
Incorporation or Organization) |
(I.R.S.
Employer
Identification No.) |
9 Brown Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
(607) 351-9768
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrants principal executive offices)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None.
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None.
Title of class
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
(Former name, former address and former fiscal year, if changed since last report)
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes o No x
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes x No o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes x No o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of large accelerated filer, accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, and emerging growth company in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer | o | Accelerated filer | o | |
Non-accelerated filer | x | Smaller reporting company | x | |
Emerging growth company | x |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes o No x
The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the Registrant: No established market exists for the registrants common stock.
As of April 7, 2021, there were 12,726,911 outstanding shares of the registrants common stock, par value $0.0001 per share.
ODYSSEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1
PART I
Forward-Looking Information
This Annual Report of Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc. on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements, particularly those identified with the words, anticipates, believes, expects, plans, intends, objectives, and similar expressions. These statements reflect managements best judgment based on factors known at the time of such statements. The reader may find discussions containing such forward-looking statements in the material set forth under Managements Discussion and Analysis and Plan of Operations, generally, and specifically therein under the captions Liquidity and Capital Resources as well as elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Actual events or results may differ materially from those discussed herein. The forward-looking statements specified in the following information have been compiled by our management on the basis of assumptions made by management and considered by management to be reasonable. Our future operating results, however, are impossible to predict and no representation, guaranty, or warranty is to be inferred from those forward-looking statements. The assumptions used for purposes of the forward-looking statements specified in the following information represent estimates of future events and are subject to uncertainty as to possible changes in economic, legislative, industry, and other circumstances. As a result, the identification and interpretation of data and other information and their use in developing and selecting assumptions from and among reasonable alternatives require the exercise of judgment. To the extent that the assumed events do not occur, the outcome may vary substantially from anticipated or projected results, and, accordingly, no opinion is expressed on the achievability of those forward-looking statements. No assurance can be given that any of the assumptions relating to the forward-looking statements specified in the following information are accurate, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.
Unless the context otherwise requires, the terms we, our, ours us and Odyssey Technologies, refer to Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc. and its subsidiaries, including Odyssey Semiconductor, Inc., on a combined basis.
Background
Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc. (the “Company”), formed as a Delaware corporation on April 12, 2019, is a semiconductor device company developing revolutionary high-voltage power switching components and systems based on proprietary Gallium Nitride (GaN) processing technology. The Company acquired its wholly-owned subsidiary, Odyssey Semiconductor, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Odyssey Semiconductor”), on June 21, 2019. Odyssey Semiconductor commenced business operations on June 17, 2019 when it acquired its wholly-owned subsidiary, JR2J LLC (“JR2J”), from its founders Richard Brown and James Shealy in exchange for shares of Odyssey Semiconductor.
Overview of the Semiconductor Industry
The semiconductor industry was formed in 1960 when the production of semiconductors became a viable option. The global semiconductor market has grown rapidly, from over $1 billion in 19641 to $468.78 billion in 20182, and we believe it will continue to grow steadily in the next few years.
The application of semiconductors has expanded extensively from radio in the 1960s to crucial electronic components nowadays to all manufactured products with computing or power management capabilities, ranging from computers and personal electronics to automotive goods and heavy machinery. Semiconductor devices mounted inside many electronics appliances are important electronic components that support our everyday live.
Integrated circuits (ICs) and electronic discrete components such as diodes (which are two-terminal electronic components that conduct current primarily in one direction) and transistors (which are devices possessing an amplification function) are made of semiconductors.
The semiconductor industry is divided into six broad categories based on the end-use application:
● | Data processing: This comprises chips used in servers, computers, printers, and related hardware. This is the largest segment where semiconductors are used. However, growth in this segment has moderated, and no breakthrough innovation is expected in the near future. |
● | Communications: This comprises chips used in wired and wireless communication equipment such as smartphones, tablets, and broadband equipment. This segment is growing at a faster pace. |
● | Consumer electronics: This comprises chips used in household appliances, LCD TVs, and gaming consoles. |
● | Industrial: This comprises chips used in scanning devices such as bar code scanners and point-of-sale terminals, medical devices such as patient monitors and ultrasound imaging, and power supply equipment. |
● | Automotive: This comprises chips used in electronic automotive components such as power steering and lighting. |
● | Military and civil aerospace: This is a specialized segment where integrated circuits related to a particular application are built. |
1 | [Pines, Lawrence. Who Are Advanced Micro Devices Main Competitors? Investopedia. Accessed October 31, 2019. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/041816/who-are-advanced-micro-devices-main-competitors-amd.asp.] |
2 | [https://www.statista.com/statistics/266973/global-semiconductor-sales-since-1988/] |
2
Market
The premium power switching device market is currently dominated by the semiconductor material silicon carbide (SiC). GaN-based systems outperform Si and SiC based systems in every way due to the superior material properties of GaN. However, GaN devices have, to-date proven difficult to process using standard semiconductor processing methods that are used to create Si and SiC based devices. While GaN can be implanted with ions through doping process like any other semiconductor, unlike Si or SiC, the temperature required to activate the ions in GaN destroys the crystal, making implant and activate scheme impractical in the GaN material. The Company has developed proprietary technology that allows activation of dopants in the GaN. This proprietary technology allows GaN to be processed in a manner that for the first time makes high voltage GaN power switching devices commercially viable.
Research and Development
The Company has incurred $607,148 in research expenses during the period covered by this report.
Employees
As of April 7, 2021, we have 12 full time employees and 1 part-time employee. No employees are subject to collective bargaining agreements.
Principal Offices
Our principal offices are located at 9 Brown Road, Ithaca, NY 14850. As of December 31, 2020, we leased one (1) 10,000 sq.ft. facility in the State of New York for our operations. Our lease expires on November 30, 2025.
3
The risks and uncertainties described below could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections. You should read these Risk Factors in conjunction with Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in Item 7 and our Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes in Item 8. There also may be other factors that we cannot anticipate or that are not described in this report generally because we do not currently perceive them to be material. Those factors could cause results to differ materially from our expectations.
We face risks related to health epidemics and other outbreaks, which could significantly disrupt our operations and could have a material adverse impact on us. The recent coronavirus outbreak could materially and adversely affect our business.
An outbreak of a new respiratory illness caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in millions of infections and hundreds of thousands of deaths worldwide as of the date hereof, and continues to spread across the globe, including within the United States. The outbreak of COVID-19 or by other epidemics could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. If the spread of the virus worsens in regions in which we have material operations or sales, our business activities originating from affected areas, including sales, manufacturing and supply chain related activities, could be adversely affected. Disruptive activities could include the temporary closure of our facilities and those used in our supply chain processes, restrictions on the shipment of our products, business closures in impacted areas, and restrictions on our employees and consultants ability to travel and to meet with customers. If workers at one or more of our offices or the offices of our suppliers or manufacturers become ill or are quarantined and in either or both events are therefore unable to work, our operations could be subject to disruption. Further, if our manufacturers become unable to obtain necessary raw materials or components, we may incur higher supply costs or our manufacturers may be required to reduce production levels, either of which may negatively affect our financial condition or results of operations.
As events are rapidly changing, we do not know how long the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures that have been introduced to respond to it will disrupt our operations or the full extent of that disruption. Further, once we are able to restart normal business hours and operations doing so may take time and will involve costs and uncertainty. We also cannot predict how long the effects of COVID-19 and the efforts to contain it will continue to impact our business after the pandemic is under control. Governments could take additional restrictive measures to combat the pandemic that could further impact our business or the economy in the geographies in which we operate. It is also possible that the impact of the pandemic and response on our suppliers, customers and markets will persist for some time after governments ease their restrictions. These measures have negatively impacted, and may continue to impact, our business and financial condition as the responses to control COVID-19 continue.
We are recently formed and are currently operating at a loss. Our lack of operating history makes it difficult to evaluate our business and prospects and may increase the risks associated with an investment in our Shares.
The Company was recently formed in 2019 and is currently operating at a loss. Therefore, the Company is subject to the risks involved with any speculative early-stage enterprise. There is no assurance that the Company will successfully offer, market and distribute its products or services. The Company may continue to experience net losses and negative cash flows from operations or become only marginally profitable. The time required to reach substantial profitability is highly uncertain. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to achieve substantial profitability or that profitability, if achieved, can be sustained on an ongoing basis. There is no assurance that actual cash requirements will not exceed our estimates. Such risks for the Company include, but are not limited to:
● | an evolving, unpredictable and unproven business model; |
● | an intensely competitive developing market; |
● | rapidly changing technology; |
● | managing growth; |
● | dependence on key personnel; |
● | limited operating capital and limited access to credit; and |
● | other unforeseen changes and developments. |
In order to address these risks, the Company must, among other things:
● | implement and successfully execute its business strategy; |
● | provide superior customer service; |
● | respond to competitive developments; |
● | attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel; and |
● | respond to unforeseen and changing circumstances |
The Company cannot assure investors that it will succeed in address these risks.
Our business depends substantially on the continuing efforts of our executive officers and our business may be severely disrupted if we lose their services.
Our future success depends substantially on the continued services of our executive officers, especially our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Alex Behfar, our Chief Technical Officer, Richard Brown, and our Secretary and Treasurer, James Shealy. We do not maintain key man life insurance on any of our executive officers and directors. If one or more of our executive officers are unable or unwilling to continue in their present positions, we may not be able to replace them readily, if at all. Under such circumstances our business may be severely disrupted and we may incur additional expenses to recruit and retain new officers.
Failure of our internal control over financial reporting could harm our business and financial results.
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting. Internal control over financial reporting is a process to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting for external purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. Internal control over financial reporting includes maintaining records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect our transactions; providing reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary for preparation of the financial statements; providing reasonable assurance that receipts and expenditures of our assets are made in accordance with management authorization; and providing reasonable assurance that unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements would be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Any failure to maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting could limit our ability to report our financial results accurately and timely or to detect and prevent fraud.
In connection with the evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020 that was undertaken by management in connection with the preparation of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, management determined that our lack of segregation of duties constituted a material weakness as of December 31, 2020. We do not have a Chief Financial Officer and sufficient resources in the Company’s accounting function, which restricts the Company’s ability to gather, analyze and properly review information related to financial reporting. Those functions are currently performed by our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Alex Behfar. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that a reasonable possibility exists that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements would not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. The Company is considering various remediation methods to mitigate such material weakness, but has not yet adopted or implemented any plan to remedy such deficiency.
We depend on a limited number of customers and the loss of one or more of these customers could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
During the year ended December 31, 2020, approximately 85% of revenues were generated from one governmental entity (Governmental client) pursuant to our contract with such entity. No other client accounted for more than 10% of revenues. 100% of contract assets as of December 31, 2020 are also related to this Governmental client. Deferred costs and deferred revenues at December 31, 2020 relate to three different clients, of which one client represents more than 75% of both categories.
4
During the year ended December 31, 2019, revenues were generated from the Governmental client pursuant to our contract with such entity, and amounted to approximately 78% of total revenues. Revenues pursuant to sale of products to other clients were approximately 22% of total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2019. 100% of the contract assets as of December 31, 2019 was from the Government client. Deferred costs and deferred revenues at December 31, 2019 relate to two different clients.
We have several customers, one of which is Akash Systems, Inc. (Akash). According to our contract with Akash entered into on October 18, 2019, we will take raw semiconductor wafers from Akash and process them into finished devices on these wafers. Akash has agreed to purchase a total of 24 wafers from us during two years, at a price of $85,000 per wafer. We received the first four raw semiconductor wafers from Akash, but due to defects on two of the four raw wafers, only two wafers were completed by us in late August 2020. We have not received any more raw wafers from Akash and, at present, it is unclear if more raw wafers will be supplied by Akash. If we do not receive the payments expected from Akash, our revenue, results of operation and financial condition will be negatively impacted.
In addition, we cannot assure that any of our customers in the future will not cease purchasing products from us in favor of products produced by other suppliers, significantly reduce orders or seek price reductions in the future, and any such event could have a material adverse effect on our revenue, profitability, and results of operations.
Furthermore, if a significant portion of our revenue is derived from customers in certain industries, a downturn or lower sales to customers in such industries could materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.
If we do not have access to capital on favorable terms, on the timeline we anticipate, or at all, our financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
We currently anticipate that our current cash on hand, grant revenue and customer payments will be sufficient to fund our operations for the next 12 months. However, we anticipate that we will routinely incur significant costs to conduct research and development, implement new manufacturing and information technologies, to increase our productivity and efficiency, to upgrade equipment and to expand production capacity. There can be no assurance that we will realize a return on the capital expended. We also anticipate incurring material amounts of debt to fund these requirements in the future. Significant volatility or disruption in the global financial markets may result in us not being able to obtain additional financing on favorable terms, on the timeline we anticipate, or at all, and we may not be able to refinance, if necessary, any outstanding debt when due, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition. We currently have no commitments for any additional capital and there can be no assurance that we will receive any such commitments, or that any commitments for capital will be on terms that are acceptable to us. Any inability to obtain additional funding on favorable terms, on the timeline we anticipate, or at all, may cause us to curtail our operations significantly, reduce planned capital expenditures and research and development, or obtain funds through arrangements that management does not currently anticipate, including disposing of our assets and relinquishing rights to certain technologies, the occurrence of any of which may significantly impair our ability to remain competitive. If our operating results falter, our cash flow or capital resources prove inadequate, or if interest rates increase significantly, we could face liquidity problems that could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
If our estimates related to expenditures and/or expected revenue are inaccurate, our business may fail.
The success of our business is dependent in part upon the accuracy of our managements estimates of expenditures and revenue for the next 12 months and beyond. If such estimates are inaccurate or we encounter unforeseen expenses and delays or significant unexpected reduction of revenue, we may not be able to carry out our business plan, which could result in the failure of our business.
If the Company cannot effectively manage growth by implementing and improving its operational and financial systems, the Companys business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
In order to maximize the potential growth in the Companys market opportunities, the Company may have to expand rapidly and significantly. The impetus for expansion could place a significant strain on the management, operational and financial resources of the Company. In order to manage growth, the Company will be required to implement and continually improve its operational and financial systems, expand operations, attract and retain superior management and train, manage and expand its employee base. The Company can give no assurance that it will effectively manage its operations, that its system, procedures, or controls will adequately support operations or that management of the Company will successfully implement its business plan. If the Company cannot effectively manage growth, the Companys business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
We may not obtain insurance coverage to adequately cover all significant risk exposures.
We will be exposed to liabilities that are unique to the products we provide. There can be no assurance that we will acquire or maintain insurance for certain risks, that the amount of our insurance coverage will be adequate to cover all claims or liabilities, or that we will not be forced to bear substantial costs resulting from risks and uncertainties of business. It also may not be possible to obtain insurance to protect against all operational risks and liabilities. The failure to obtain adequate insurance coverage on terms favorable to us, or at all, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If product liability lawsuits are brought against us, we may incur substantial liabilities.
We face a potential risk of product liability as a result of any of the products that we develop, manufacture and/or offer for sale. For example, we may be sued if any product we develop, manufacture and/or sell allegedly causes injury or is found to be otherwise unsuitable during product testing, manufacturing, marketing or sale. Any such product liability claims may include allegations of defects in manufacturing, defects in design, a failure to warn of dangers inherent in the product, negligence, strict liability and a breach of warranties. Claims could also be asserted under state consumer protection acts. If we cannot successfully defend ourselves against product liability claims, we may incur substantial liabilities. Even successful defense would require significant financial and management resources. Regardless of the merits or eventual outcome, liability claims may result in:
● | decreased demand for products we may offer for sale; |
● | injury to our reputation; |
● | costs to defend the related litigation; |
● | a diversion of managements time and our resources; |
● | substantial monetary awards to trial participants or patients; and |
● | product recalls, withdrawals or labeling, marketing or promotional restrictions. |
5
We currently do not maintain any product liability insurance. We may obtain product liability insurance in the future. However, there is no guarantee that we will be able to obtain product liability insurance or that such insurance will be affordable or sufficient. If we are unable to obtain or retain sufficient product liability insurance coverage, it could prevent or inhibit the commercialization of products we develop. Even if we obtain product liability insurance in the future, we may have to pay amounts awarded by a court or negotiated in a settlement that exceed our coverage limitations or that are not covered by our insurance, and we may not have, or be able to obtain, sufficient capital to pay such amounts.
Warranty claims, product liability claims and product recalls could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Manufacturing semiconductors is a highly complex and precise process, requiring production in a tightly controlled, clean environment. Minute impurities in our manufacturing materials, contaminants in the manufacturing environment, manufacturing equipment failures, and other defects can cause our products to be non-compliant with customer requirements or otherwise nonfunctional. We face an inherent business risk of exposure to warranty and product liability claims in the event that our products fail to perform as expected or such failure of our products results, or is alleged to result, in bodily injury or property damage (or both). In addition, if any of our designed products are or are alleged to be defective, we may be required to participate in their recall. A successful warranty or product liability claim against us in excess of our available insurance coverage, if any, and established reserves, or a requirement that we participate in a product recall, could have material adverse effects on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Additionally, in the event that our products fail to perform as expected or such failure of our products results in a recall, our reputation may be damaged, which could make it more difficult for us to sell our products to existing and prospective customers and could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Since a defect or failure in our product could give rise to failures in the goods that incorporate them (and claims for consequential damages against our customers from their customers), we may face claims for damages that are disproportionate to the revenue and profits we receive from the products involved. We plan to attempt to limit our liability through our standard terms and conditions of sale and other customer contracts in certain instances; however, there is no assurance that such limitations will be effective. To the extent that we are liable for damages in excess of the revenue and profits we received from the products involved, our results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.
A significant product defect or product recall could materially and adversely affect our brand image, causing a decline in our sales and profitability, and could reduce or deplete our financial resources.
Provided we are successful in developing and selling our products, any product defect could materially harm our brand image and could force us to conduct a product recall. This could damage our relationships with our customers. A product recall would be particularly harmful to us because we will likely have limited financial and administrative resources to effectively manage a product recall and it would detract managements attention from implementing our core business strategies. As a result, a significant product defect or product recall could cause a decline in our sales and profitability and could reduce or deplete our financial resources.
Natural disasters and other business disruptions could cause significant harm to our business operations and facilities and could adversely affect our supply chain and our customer base, any of which may materially adversely affect our business, results of operation, and financial condition.
We expect that our manufacturing and other facilities, as well as the operations of our third-party suppliers, are susceptible to losses and interruptions caused by floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, typhoons, and similar natural disasters, as well as power outages, telecommunications failures, industrial accidents, and similar events. The occurrence of natural disasters in any of the regions in which we or our suppliers will operate could severely disrupt the operations of our businesses by negatively impacting our supply chain, our ability to deliver products, and the cost of our products. Such events can negatively impact revenue and earnings and can significantly impact cash flow, both from decreased revenue and from increased costs associated with the event. In addition, these events could cause consumer confidence and spending to decrease. We may in the future carry insurance to generally compensate for losses of the type noted above, however, even if we obtain such insurance it may not be adequate to cover all losses that may be incurred or continue to be available in the affected area at commercially reasonable rates and terms. To the extent any losses from natural disasters or other business disruptions are not covered by insurance, any costs, write-downs, impairments and decreased revenue can materially adversely affect our business, our results of operations and our financial condition.
We may be subject to litigation from time to time during the normal course of business, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
From time to time in the normal course of business or otherwise, we may become subject to litigation that may result in liability material to our financial statements as a whole or may negatively affect our operating results if changes to business operation are required. The cost to defend such litigation may be significant and may require a diversion of our resources. There also may be adverse publicity associated with litigation that could negatively affect customer perception of our products and business, regardless of whether the allegations are valid or whether we are ultimately found liable. As a result, litigation may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
There is no assurance on the future successful completion of strategic transactions by us to successfully implement our business strategies.
Our ability to complete future strategic transactions could be important to the successful implementation of our business strategies, including our strategies to strengthen our geographic diversity and broaden its customer base. Successful completion of an acquisition or other similar transaction depends on a number of factors that are not entirely within our control, including our ability to negotiate acceptable terms, conclude satisfactory agreements and obtain all necessary regulatory approvals. In seeking to acquire a target company, we may face competition from other companies interested in acquiring the target company that have significantly greater financial and other resources than us. If we need to finance a transaction, we may not be able to obtain the necessary financing on satisfactory terms and within the timeframe that would permit the transaction to proceed. If any of these factors prevents us from completing one or more strategic transactions, we may not be able to expand our business in the manner and on the schedule that we plan. In addition, we may incur significant costs arising from our efforts to engage in strategic transactions. These costs may exceed the returns that we realize from a given transaction. Moreover, these expenditures may not result in the successful completion of a transaction.
6
Even if we complete one or more strategic transactions, we may be unable to integrate successfully the personnel and operations of a new business or achieve the operational synergies or other benefits that we had anticipated. Moreover, we might fail to discover liabilities of a business or operating or other problems prior to completing a transaction. We could experience adverse accounting and financial consequences, such as the need to make large provisions against the acquired assets or to write down acquired assets. We might also experience a dilutive effect on our earnings. Depending on how any such transaction is structured, there may be an adverse impact on our capital structure. Further, an acquisition could disrupt our ongoing business, distract management and employees or lead to increased expenses.
Downturns or volatility in general economic conditions could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
In recent years, worldwide semiconductor industry sales have tracked the impact of the financial crisis, subsequent recovery and persistent economic uncertainty. We believe that the state of economic conditions in the United States is particularly uncertain due to the global pandemic as well as recent and expected shifts in legislative and regulatory conditions concerning, among other matters, international trade and taxation, and that an uneven recovery or a renewed global downturn may put pressure on our sales due to reductions in customer demand as well as customers deferring purchases. Volatile and/or uncertain economic conditions can adversely impact sales and profitability and make it difficult for us and our competitors to accurately forecast and plan our future business activities. To the extent we incorrectly plan for favorable economic conditions that do not materialize or take longer to materialize than expected, we may face oversupply of our products relative to customer demand. Reduced customer spending may in the future drive us and our competitors, to reduce product pricing, which will result in a negative effect on gross profit. Moreover, volatility in revenue as a result of unpredictable economic conditions may alter our anticipated working capital needs and interfere with our short-term and long-term strategies. To the extent that our sales, profitability and strategies are negatively affected by downturns or volatility in general economic conditions, our business and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
The semiconductor industry is highly cyclical, and significant downturns or upturns in customer demand can materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.
The semiconductor industry is highly cyclical and, as a result, is subject to significant downturns and upturns in customer demand for semiconductors and related products. We cannot accurately predict the timing of future downturns and upturns in the semiconductor industry or how severe and prolonged these conditions might be. Significant downturns often occur in connection with, or in anticipation of, maturing product cycles (for semiconductors and for the end-user products in which they are used) or declines in general economic conditions and can result in reduced product demand, production overcapacity, high inventory levels and accelerated erosion of average selling prices, any of which could materially adversely affect our operating results as a result of increased operating expenses outpacing decreased revenue, reduced margins, underutilization of our manufacturing capacity and/or asset impairment charges. On the other hand, significant upturns can cause us to be unable to satisfy demand in a timely and cost-efficient manner. In the event of such an upturn, we may not be able to expand our workforce and operations in a sufficiently timely manner, procure adequate resources and raw materials, or locate suitable third-party suppliers to respond effectively to changes in demand for our existing products or to the demand for new products requested by our customers, and our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Rapid innovation and short product life cycles in the semiconductor industry can result in price erosion of older products, which may materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.
The semiconductor industry is characterized by rapid innovation and short product life cycles, which often results in price erosion, especially with respect to products containing older technology. Products are frequently replaced by more technologically advanced substitutes and, as demand for older technology falls, the price at which such products can be sold drops, in some cases precipitously. In addition, our and our competitors excess inventory levels can accelerate general price erosion.
Shortages or increased prices of raw materials could materially adversely affect our results of operations.
Our manufacturing processes will rely on many raw materials. Generally, we expect that our agreements with suppliers of raw materials will impose no minimum or continuing supply obligations, and we will obtain our raw materials and supplies from a large number of sources on a just-in-time basis. From time to time, suppliers of raw materials may extend lead times, limit supplies or increase prices due to capacity constraints or other factors beyond our control. Shortages could occur in various essential raw materials due to interruption of supply or increased demand. If we are unable to obtain adequate supplies of raw materials in a timely manner, the costs of our raw materials increase significantly, their quality deteriorates or they give rise to compatibility or performance issues in our products, our results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
Our facilities and processes may be interdependent and an operational disruption at any particular facility could have a material adverse effect on our ability to produce our products, which would materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We may utilize an integrated manufacturing platform in which multiple facilities may each produce one or more components necessary for the assembly of a single product. If we do, an operational disruption at a facility toward the front-end of our manufacturing process may have a disproportionate impact on our ability to produce our products. For example, if our multiple facilities rely predominantly on one third-party for manufacturing at the front-end of its manufacturing process, in the event of any operational disruption, natural or man-made disaster or other extraordinary event at such third-party facility, we may be unable to effectively source replacement components on acceptable terms from qualified third parties, in which case our ability to produce our products could be materially disrupted or delayed.
Conversely, if our facilities are single source facilities that only produce one of our end-products, a disruption at any such facility would materially delay or cease production of the related product. In the event of any such operational disruption, we may experience difficulty in beginning production of replacement components or products at new facilities (for example, due to construction delays) or transferring production to other existing facilities (for example, due to capacity constraints or difficulty in transitioning to new manufacturing processes), any of which could result in a loss of future revenues and materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.
7
If we are unable to protect the intellectual property we use, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.
The enforceability of any patents, trademarks, copyrights, software licenses and other intellectual property (IP) we own may be uncertain in certain circumstances. Effective IP protection may be unavailable, limited or not applied for in the U.S. and internationally. The various laws and regulations governing registered and unregistered IP assets, patents, trade secrets, trademarks, mask works and copyrights to protect products and technologies are subject to legislative and regulatory change and interpretation by courts. With respect to our IP generally, we cannot assure you that:
● | any of the U.S. or foreign patents and pending patent applications that we may employ in our business will not lapse or be invalidated, circumvented, challenged, abandoned or licensed to others; |
● | any of our pending or future patent applications will be issued or have the coverage originally sought; |
● | any of the trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, know-how or mask works that we employ or will employ in our business will not lapse or be invalidated, circumvented, challenged, abandoned or licensed to others; or |
● | any of our pending or future trademark, copyright, or mask work applications will be issued or have the coverage originally sought. |
If we seek to enforce our rights, we may be subject to claims that the IP right is invalid, is otherwise not enforceable or is licensed to the party against whom we are asserting a claim. In addition, our assertion of IP rights may result in the other party seeking to assert alleged IP rights of its own against us, which may materially adversely impact our business. An unfavorable ruling in these sorts of matters could include money damages or an injunction prohibiting us from manufacturing or selling one or more products, which could in turn negatively affect our business, results of operations or cash flows.
In addition, some of our products and technologies may not be covered by any patents or pending patent applications. We intend to protect our proprietary technologies, including technologies that may not be patented or patentable, in part by confidentiality agreements and, if applicable, inventors rights agreements with our collaborators, advisors, employees and consultants. We cannot assure you that these agreements will not be breached, that we will have adequate remedies for any breach or that persons or institutions will not assert rights to IP arising out of our research. Should we be unable to protect our IP, competitors may develop products or technologies that duplicate our products or technologies, benefit financially from innovations for which we bore the costs of development and undercut the sales and marketing of our products, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
If our technologies are subject to claims of infringement on the intellectual property rights of third parties, efforts to address such claims could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
We may from time to time be subject to claims that we may be infringing third-party IP rights. If necessary or desirable, we may seek licenses under such IP rights. However, we cannot assure you that we will obtain such licenses or that the terms of any offered licenses will be acceptable to us. The failure to obtain a license from a third-party for IP we use could cause us to incur substantial liabilities or to suspend the manufacture or shipment of products or our use of processes requiring such technologies. Further, we may be subject to IP litigation, which could cause us to incur significant expense, materially adversely affect sales of the challenged product or technologies and divert the efforts of our technical and management personnel, whether or not such litigation is resolved in our favor. In the event of an adverse outcome in any such litigation, we may be required to:
● | pay substantial damages; |
● | indemnify customers or distributors; |
● | cease the manufacture, use, sale or importation of infringing products; |
● | expend significant resources to develop or acquire non-infringing technologies; |
● | discontinue the use of processes; or |
● | obtain licenses, which may not be available on reasonable terms, to the infringing technologies. |
The outcome of IP litigation is inherently uncertain and, if not resolved in our favor, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may be unable to maintain manufacturing efficiency, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
We believe that our success will materially depend on our ability to maintain or improve our margin levels related to manufacturing. Semiconductor manufacturing requires advanced equipment and significant capital investment, leading to high fixed costs, which include depreciation expense. Manufacturing semiconductor components also involves highly complex processes that we and our competitors are continuously modifying to improve yields and product performance. In addition, impurities, waste or other difficulties in the manufacturing process can lower production yields. Our manufacturing efficiency will be an important factor in our future profitability, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to manufacture efficiently, increase manufacturing efficiency to the same extent as our competitors, or be successful in our manufacturing rationalization plans. If we are unable to utilize manufacturing and testing facilities at expected levels, or if production capacity increases while revenue does not, the fixed costs and other operating expenses associated with these facilities will not be fully absorbed, resulting in higher average unit costs and lower gross profits, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
The failure to successfully implement cost reduction initiatives, including through restructuring activities, could materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.
From time to time, we may implement cost reduction initiatives in response to significant downturns in our industry, including relocating manufacturing to lower cost regions, transitioning higher-cost external supply to internal manufacturing, working with our material suppliers to lower costs, implementing personnel reductions and voluntary retirement programs, reducing employee compensation, temporary shutdowns of facilities with mandatory vacation and aggressively streamlining our overhead.
We cannot assure you that any cost reduction initiatives will be successfully or timely implemented or that they will materially and positively impact profitability.
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If we are unable to identify and make the substantial research and development investments required to remain competitive in our business, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
The semiconductor industry requires substantial investment in research and development in order to develop and bring to market new and enhanced technologies and products. The development of new products is a complex and time-consuming process and often requires significant capital investment and lead time for development and testing. We cannot assure you that we will have sufficient resources to maintain the level of investment in research and development that is required to remain competitive.
In addition, the lengthy development cycle for our products will limit our ability to adapt quickly to changes affecting the product markets and requirements of our customers and end-users. There can be no assurance that we will win competitive bid selection processes, known as design wins, for new products. In addition, design wins do not guarantee that we will make customer sales or that we will generate sufficient revenue to recover design and development investments, as expenditures for technology and product development are generally made before the commercial viability for such developments can be assured. There is no assurance that we will realize a return on the capital expended to develop new products, that a significant investment in new products will be profitable or that we will have margins as high as we anticipate at the time of investment or have experienced historically. To the extent that we underinvest in our research and development efforts, or that our investments and capital expenditures in research and development do not lead to sales of new products, we may be unable to bring to market technologies and products that are attractive to our customers, and as a result our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
We may be unable to develop new products to satisfy changing customer demands or regulatory requirements, which may materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.
The semiconductor industry is characterized by rapidly changing technologies, evolving regulatory and industry standards and certifications, changing customer needs and frequent new product introductions. Our success will be largely dependent on our ability to accurately predict, identify and adapt to changes affecting the requirements of our customers in a timely and cost-effective manner. Additionally, the emergence of new industry or regulatory standards and certification requirements may adversely affect the demand for our products. We plan to focus our new product development efforts on market segments and applications that we anticipate will experience growth, but there can be no assurance that we will be successful in identifying high-growth areas or develop products that meet industry standards or certification requirements in a timely manner. A fundamental shift in technologies, the regulatory climate or consumption patterns and preferences in our existing product markets or the product markets of our customers or end-users could make our current products obsolete, prevent or delay the introduction of new products that we planned to make or render our current or new products irrelevant to our customers needs. If our new product development efforts fail to align with the needs of our customers, including due to circumstances outside of our control like a fundamental shift in the product markets of our customers and end users or regulatory changes, our business and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
Uncertainties regarding the timing and amount of customer orders could lead to excess inventory and write-downs of inventory that could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
We expect that our sales will be typically made pursuant to individual purchase orders or customer agreements, and we do not expect to have long-term supply arrangements with our customers requiring a commitment to purchase. We expect that the agreements with our customers may allow them to cancel orders prior to shipment for standard products and, generally prior to start of production for custom products without incurring a penalty. We anticipate to routinely generate inventory based on customers estimates of end-user demand for their products, which is difficult to predict. In times of under supply for certain products, some customers could respond by inflating their demand signals. As markets level off and supply capacity begins to match actual market demands, we could experience an increased risk of inventory write-downs, which may materially adversely affect our results of operations and our financial condition. In addition, our customers may change their inventory practices on short notice for any reason. Furthermore, short customer lead times are standard in the industry due to overcapacity. The cancellation or deferral of product orders, the return of previously sold products, or overproduction of products due to the failure of anticipated orders to materialize could result in excess obsolete inventory, which could result in write-downs of inventory or the incurrence of significant cancellation penalties under our arrangements with our raw materials and equipment suppliers. Unsold inventory, canceled orders and cancellation penalties may materially adversely affect our results of operations, and inventory write-downs, which may materially adversely affect our financial condition.
Our customers may require our products to undergo a lengthy and expensive qualification process without any assurance of product sales.
Prior to purchasing our products, our customers may require that our products undergo an extensive qualification process, which involves testing of the products in the customers system as well as rigorous reliability testing. This qualification process may continue for a few months or longer. However, qualification of a product by a customer does not ensure any sales of the product to that customer. Even after successful qualification and sales of a product to a customer, a subsequent revision to the product or software, changes in the products manufacturing process or the selection of a new supplier by us may require a new qualification process, which may result in delays and in us holding excess or obsolete inventory. After our products are qualified, it can take additional few months or more before the customer commences volume production of components or devices that incorporate our products. Despite these uncertainties, we will devote substantial resources, including design, engineering, sales, marketing and management efforts, toward qualifying our products with customers in anticipation of sales. If we are unsuccessful or delayed in qualifying any of our products with a customer, such failure or delay would preclude or delay sales of such product to the customer, which may impede our growth and cause our business to suffer.
Our products are based on novel Gallium Nitride (GaN) processing technology, which makes it difficult to predict the time and cost of product development.
Our products are based on novel GaN processing technology. Our future success depends on the successful development of high-voltage power switching components and systems based on GaN processing technology. There can be no assurance that any development problems we experience in the future related to our products will not cause significant delays or unanticipated costs, or that such development problems can be solved. We may also experience delays in developing a sustainable, reproducible and manufacturing process, which may prevent us from commercializing our products on a timely or profitable basis, if at all.
The semiconductor industry is highly competitive, and our inability to compete effectively could materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.
The semiconductor industry is highly competitive, and our ability to compete successfully depends on elements both within and outside of our control. We will face significant competition from major global semiconductor companies as well as smaller companies focused on specific market niches. In addition, companies not currently in direct competition with us may introduce competing products in the future.
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Our inability to compete effectively could materially adversely affect our business and results of operations. Products or technologies developed by competitors that are larger and have more substantial research and development budgets, or that are smaller and more targeted in their development efforts, may render our products or technologies obsolete or noncompetitive. We also may be unable to market and sell our products if they are not competitive on the basis of price, quality, technical performance, features, system compatibility, customized design, innovation, availability, delivery timing and reliability. If we fail to compete effectively on developing strategic relationships with customers and customer sales and technical support, our sales and revenue may be materially adversely affected. Competitive pressures may limit our ability to raise prices, and any inability to maintain revenue or raise prices to offset increases in costs could have a significant adverse effect on our gross margin. Reduced sales and lower gross margins would materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.
The semiconductor industry has experienced rapid consolidation and our inability to compete with large competitors or failure to identify attractive opportunities to consolidate may materially adversely affect our business.
The semiconductor industry is characterized by the high costs associated with developing marketable products and manufacturing technologies as well as high levels of investment in production capabilities. As a result, the semiconductor industry has experienced, and may continue to experience, significant consolidation among companies and vertical integration among customers. Larger competitors resulting from consolidations may have certain advantages over us, including, but not limited to: substantially greater financial and other resources with which to withstand adverse economic or market conditions and pursue development, engineering, manufacturing, marketing and distribution of their products; longer independent operating histories; presence in key markets; patent protection; and greater name recognition. In addition, we may be at a competitive disadvantage to our peers if we fail to identify attractive opportunities to acquire companies to expand our business. Consolidation among our competitors and integration among our customers could erode our market share, negatively impact our capacity to compete and require us to restructure our operations, any of which would have a material adverse effect on our business.
We will be dependent on the services of third-party suppliers and contract manufacturers, and any disruption in or deterioration of the quality of the services delivered by such third parties could materially adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We plan to use third-party contractors for certain of our manufacturing activities. Our agreements with these manufacturers may require us to commit to purchase services based on forecasted product needs, which may be inaccurate, and, in some cases, require longer-term commitments. We will be also dependent upon a limited number of highly specialized third-party suppliers for required components and materials for certain of our key technologies. Arranging for replacement manufacturers and suppliers can be time consuming and costly, and the number of qualified alternative providers can be extremely limited. Our business operations, productivity and customer relations could be materially adversely affected if these contractual relationships were disrupted or terminated, the cost of such services increased significantly, the quality of the services provided deteriorated or our forecasted needs proved to be materially incorrect.
Our potential future global operations may subject us to risks inherent in doing business on a global level that could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We anticipate that a certain amount of our total revenue may be derived from countries outside of the United States, and we might maintain certain operations in these regions. In addition, we may rely on a number of contract manufacturers whose operations are primarily located in outside of the United States. Risks inherent in doing business on a global level include, among others, the following:
● | economic and geopolitical instability (including as a result of the threat or occurrence of armed international conflict or terrorist attacks); |
● | changes in regulatory requirements, international trade agreements, tariffs, customs, duties and other trade barriers; |
● | licensing requirements for the import or export of certain products; |
● | exposure to different legal standards, customs, business practices, tariffs, duties and other trade barriers, including changes with respect to price protection, competition practices, IP, anti-corruption and environmental compliance, trade and travel restrictions, pandemics, import and export license requirements and restrictions, and accounts receivable collections; |
● | transportation and other supply chain delays and disruptions; |
● | power supply shortages and shutdowns; |
● | difficulties in staffing and managing foreign operations, including collective bargaining agreements and workers councils, exposure to foreign labor laws and other employment and labor issues; |
● | currency fluctuations; |
● | currency convertibility and repatriation; |
● | taxation of our earnings and the earnings of our personnel; |
● | limitations on the repatriation of earnings and potential additional taxation of foreign profits in the U.S.; |
● | potential violations by our international employees or third-party agents of international or U.S. laws relevant to foreign operations (e.g., the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)); |
● | difficulty in enforcing intellectual property rights; and |
● | other risks relating to the administration of or changes in, or new interpretations of, the laws, regulations and policies of the jurisdictions in which we conduct our business. |
We cannot assure you that we will be successful in overcoming the risks that relate to or arise from operating in international markets, the materialization of any of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Changes in tariffs or other government trade policies may materially adversely affect our business and results of operations, including by reducing demand for our products.
The imposition of tariffs and trade restrictions as a result of international trade disputes or changes in trade policies may adversely affect our sales and profitability. For example, in 2018 and 2019, the U.S. government imposed and proposed, among other actions, new or higher tariffs on specified imported products originating from China in response to what it characterizes as unfair trade practices, and China has responded by imposing and proposing new or higher tariffs on specified products including some semiconductors fabricated in the United States. There can be no assurance that a broader trade agreement will be successfully negotiated between the United States and China to reduce or eliminate these tariffs. These tariffs, and the related geopolitical uncertainty between the United States and China, may cause decreased end-market demand for our products from distributors and other customers, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. For example, certain of our future foreign customers may respond to the imposition of tariffs or threat of tariffs on products we produce by delaying purchase orders, purchasing products from our competitors or developing their own products. Ongoing international trade disputes and changes in trade policies could also impact economic activity and lead to a general contraction of customer demand. In addition, tariffs on components that we may import from China or other nations that have imposed, or may in the future impose, tariffs will adversely affect our profitability unless we are able to exclude such components from the tariffs or we raise prices for our products, which may result in our products becoming less attractive relative to products offered by our competitors. Future actions or escalations by either the United States or China that affect trade relations may also impact our business, or that of our suppliers or customers, and we cannot provide any assurances as to whether such actions will occur or the form that they may take. To the extent that our sales or profitability are negatively affected by any such tariffs or other trade actions, our business and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
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Changes in government trade policies could limit our ability to sell our products to certain customers, which may materially adversely affect our sales and results of operations.
The U.S. Congress or U.S. regulatory authorities may take administrative, legislative or regulatory action that could materially interfere with our ability to make sales, particularly in China. We could experience unanticipated restrictions on our ability to sell to certain foreign customers where sales of products and the provision of services may require export licenses or are prohibited by government action. For example, the U.S. Department of Commerce could ban the export of U.S. products to foreign customers. The terms and duration of any such restrictions may not be known to us in advance and may be subject to ongoing modifications. Even to the extent such restrictions are subsequently lifted, any financial or other penalties imposed on affected foreign customers could have a negative impact on future orders. Such foreign customers may also respond to sanctions or the threat of sanctions by developing their own solutions or adopting alternative solutions or competitors solutions. The loss or temporary loss of customers as a result of such future regulatory limitations could materially adversely affect our sales, business and results of operations.
We may be unable to attract and retain highly skilled personnel.
Our success depends on our ability to attract, motivate and retain highly skilled personnel, including research, technical, marketing, management and staff personnel. In the semiconductor industry, the competition for qualified personnel, particularly experienced design engineers and other technical employees, is intense, particularly when the business cycle is improving. During such periods, competitors may try to recruit our most valuable technical employees. Moreover, there can be no assurance that we will be able to retain our current personnel or recruit the key personnel we require. Loss of the services of, or failure to effectively recruit, qualified personnel, including senior managers, could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position and on our business.
Environmental and health and safety liabilities and expenditures could materially adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
Our future manufacturing operations may be subject to various environmental laws and regulations relating to the management, disposal and remediation of hazardous substances and the emission and discharge of pollutants into the air, water and ground, and we may be identified as either a primary responsible party or a potentially responsible party at sites where we or our predecessors operated or disposed of waste in the past. Our operations may also be subject to laws and regulations relating to workplace safety and worker health, which, among other requirements, regulate employee exposure to hazardous substances. We do not currently maintain environmental insurance to cover certain claims related to historical contamination and future releases of hazardous substances. Moreover, we cannot assure you that even if such insurance is purchased, that it will cover any or all of our material environmental costs. In addition, the nature of our future operations may expose us to the continuing risk of environmental and health and safety liabilities including:
● | changes in U.S. and international environmental or health and safety laws or regulations, including, but not limited to, future laws or regulations imposed in response to climate change concerns; |
● | the manner in which environmental or health and safety laws or regulations will be enforced, administered or interpreted; |
● | our ability to enforce and collect under indemnity agreements and insurance policies relating to environmental liabilities; |
● | the cost of compliance with future environmental or health and safety laws or regulations or the costs associated with any future environmental claims, including the cost of clean-up of currently unknown environmental conditions; or |
● | the cost of fines, penalties or other legal liability, should we fail to comply with environmental or health and safety laws or regulations. |
To the extent that we face unforeseen environmental or health and safety compliance costs or remediation expenses or liabilities that are not covered by insurance, we may bear the full effect of such costs, expense and liabilities, which could materially adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
We may be subject to disruptions or breaches of our secured network that could irreparably damage our reputation and our business, expose us to liability and materially adversely affect our results of operations.
We may routinely collect and store sensitive data, including IP and other proprietary information about our business and our customers, suppliers and business partners. The secure processing, maintenance and transmission of this information will be critical to our operations and business strategy. We may be subject to disruptions or breaches of our secured network caused by computer viruses, illegal hacking, criminal fraud or impersonation, acts of vandalism or terrorism or employee error. Our security measures and/or those of our third-party service providers and/or customers may not detect or prevent such security breaches. The costs to us to reduce the risk of or alleviate cyber security breaches and vulnerabilities could be significant, and our efforts to address these problems may not be successful and could result in interruptions and delays that may materially impede our sales, manufacturing, distribution or other critical functions. Any such compromise of our information security could result in the misappropriation or unauthorized publication of our confidential business or proprietary information or that of other parties with which we do business, an interruption in our operations, the unauthorized transfer of cash or other of our assets, the unauthorized release of customer or employee data or a violation of privacy or other laws. In addition, computer programmers and hackers also may be able to develop and deploy viruses, worms and other malicious software programs that attack our systems, or that otherwise exploit any security vulnerabilities, and any such attack, if successful, could expose us to liability to customer claims. Any of the foregoing could irreparably damage our reputation and business, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
Sales through distributors and other third parties will expose us to risks that, if realized, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
We may sell a significant portion of our products through distributors. Distributors may sell products that compete with our products, and we may need to provide financial and other incentives to focus distributors on the sale of our products. We may rely on one or more key distributors for a product, and the loss of these distributors could reduce our revenue. Distributors may face financial difficulties, including bankruptcy, which could harm our collection of accounts receivable and financial results. Violations of the FCPA or similar laws by distributors or other third-party intermediaries could have a material impact on our business. Failure to manage risks related to our use of distributors may reduce sales, increase expenses, and weaken our competitive position, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
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The failure to comply with the terms and conditions of our contracts could result in, among other things, damages, fines or other liabilities.
We expect to have a diverse customer base consisting of both private sector clients and public sector clients, including the U.S. government. Sales to our private sector clients are generally expected to be based on stated contractual terms, the terms and conditions on our website or terms contained in purchase orders on a transaction-by-transaction basis. Sales to our public sector clients are generally expected to be derived from sales to federal, state and local governmental departments and agencies through various contracts and programs, which may require compliance with regulations covering many areas of our operations, including, but not limited to, accounting practices, IP rights, information handling, and security. Noncompliance with contract terms, particularly with respect to highly-regulated public sector clients, or with government procurement regulations could result in fines or penalties against us, termination of such contracts or civil, criminal and administrative liability to the Company. With respect to public sector clients, the governments remedies may also include suspension or debarment from future government business. The effect of any of these possible actions or the adoption of new or modified procurement regulations or practices could materially adversely affect our business, financial position and results of operations
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
An investment in our company should be considered illiquid.
An investment in the Company requires a long-term commitment, with no certainty of return. Because we did not become an SEC reporting company by the traditional means of conducting an initial public offering of our Common Stock, we may be unable to establish a liquid market for our Common Stock. Moreover, we do not expect security analysts of brokerage firms to provide coverage of the Company in the near future. In addition, investment banks may be less likely to agree to underwrite primary or secondary offerings on behalf of the Company or its stockholders in the future than they would if we were to become a public reporting company by means of an initial public offering of common stock. If all or any of the foregoing risks occur, it would have a material adverse effect on the Company.
Our common stock is not listed on a national securities exchange which may affect the price and liquidity of our common stock and impair our ability to obtain future equity financing.
Our Common Stock is presently quoted on the OTCQB Venture Market (the OTCQB) and there is currently limited trading activity of our common stock. The OTCQB is not a national securities exchange, and provides significantly less liquidity than a national exchange such as NASDAQ and the NYSE American (formerly NYSE MKT, formerly NYSE AMEX). Consequently, selling our common stock is likely to be more difficult because of diminished quantities of shares of our Common Stock being bought and sold. These factors could result in lower prices and larger spreads in the bid and ask prices for the Shares. As a result, investors may be unable to sell their Shares at such times and in such quantities as they may desire.
There is no guarantee that our Common Stock will qualify to be listed on a national exchange in the future. The inability to list our Common Stock on a national security exchange may impair our ability to raise additional necessary capital in such amounts, at such times and at such prices as we may require.
Our Common Stock may be considered a penny stock, and thereby be subject to additional sale and trading regulations that may make it more difficult to sell.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) has adopted rules that regulate broker-dealer practices in connection with transactions in penny stocks. Penny stocks are generally equity securities with a price of less than $5.00 (other than securities registered on certain national securities exchanges or authorized for quotation on certain automated quotation systems, provided that current price and volume information with respect to transactions in such securities is provided by the exchange or system). The OTCQB does not meet such requirements and if the price of our Common Stock is less than $5.00, our Common Stock will be deemed penny stocks. The penny stock rules require a broker-dealer, prior to a transaction in a penny stock not otherwise exempt from those rules, to deliver a standardized risk disclosure document containing specified information. In addition, the penny stock rules require that prior to effecting any transaction in a penny stock not otherwise exempt from those rules, a broker-dealer must make a special written determination that the penny stock is a suitable investment for the purchaser and receive (i) the purchasers written acknowledgment of the receipt of a risk disclosure statement; (ii) a written agreement to transactions involving penny stocks; and (iii) a signed and dated copy of a written suitability statement. These disclosure requirements may have the effect of reducing the trading activity in the secondary market for our Common Stock, and therefore stock holders may have difficulty selling their shares.
FINRA sales practice requirements may also limit an investors ability to buy and sell our Common Stock, which could depress the price of our Common Stock.
FINRA rules require broker-dealers to have reasonable grounds for believing that an investment is suitable for a customer before recommending that investment to the customer. Prior to recommending speculative low-priced securities to their non-institutional customers, broker-dealers must make reasonable efforts to obtain information about the customers financial status, tax status and investment objectives, among other things. Under interpretations of these rules, FINRA believes that there is a high probability that such speculative low-priced securities will not be suitable for at least some customers. Thus, FINRA requirements make it more difficult for broker-dealers to recommend that their customers buy our Common Stock, which may limit an investors ability to buy and sell shares of Common Stock, have an adverse effect on the market for our Common Stock, and thereby depress the price of our Common Stock. In addition, it has been more difficult in recent years for holders of penny stocks to deposit their shares with brokerage firms, which may limit any shareholders ability to sell shares of our stock.
Our shareholders may face significant restrictions on the resale of their shares due to state blue sky laws.
Each state has its own securities laws, often called blue sky laws, which (1) limit sales of securities to a states residents unless the securities are registered in that state or qualify for an exemption from registration, and (2) govern the reporting requirements for broker-dealers doing business directly or indirectly in the state. Before a security is sold in a state, there must be a registration in place to cover the transaction, or it must be exempt from registration. The applicable broker-dealer must also be registered in that state.
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There may be significant state blue sky law restrictions on the ability of investors to sell, and on purchasers to buy, our securities. The resale market for our common stock could be limited, as the holders of our common stock may be unable to resell their shares without the significant expense of state registration or qualification.
The shares of our Common Stock may experience dilution by exercises of outstanding warrants and options.
As of the date hereof, we have outstanding warrants to purchase an aggregate of 155,966 shares of our Common Stock at a price of $1.50 per share, warrants to purchase an aggregate of 89,730 shares of our Common Stock at a price of $4.00 per share, and options to purchase an aggregate of 3,211,785 shares of our Common Stock at a price of $1.50 per share. In addition, there are 1,072,590 shares available to be issued in the future under the Amended and Restated 2019 Equity Compensation Plan. The exercise of such outstanding options and warrants, as well as any future issuance of other warrants and options, will result in substantial dilution of the investment of our shareholders. In addition, our shareholders may experience additional dilution if we issue Common Stock in the future for additional capital raises. Any of such dilution may have adverse effect on the price of our Common Stock.
Substantial resale of restricted securities may depress the market price of our securities.
There are 12,726,911 shares of our Common Stock of presently issued and outstanding as of the date hereof that are restricted securities as that term is defined under the Securities Act. These securities may be sold in compliance with Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act (Rule 144), or pursuant to a registration statement filed under the Securities Act. The sale of a large number of shares of our Common Stock in the open market pursuant to Rule 144, once eligible, could harm the market price of our Common Stock.
There are a significant number of shares of Common Stock eligible for sale, which could depress the market price of such shares.
Our Registration Statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-234741) has registered a total of 3,415,626 shares of our Common Stock available for sale in the public market. The availability of such a large number of shares of Common Stock for sale in the public market could harm the market price of the stock. Further, other shares may be offered from time to time in the open market pursuant to Rule 144, and these sales may have a depressive effect as well.
We are an emerging growth company, and will be able take advantage of reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies, which could make our common stock less attractive to investors.
We are an emerging growth company, as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or JOBS Act, and, for as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies but not to emerging growth companies, including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and 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 an emerging growth company, we have chosen to take advantage of the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards, which will allow us to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies until those standards apply to private companies. Accordingly, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with all public company accounting standards which could impact the valuation of our securities.
We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years, or until the earliest of (i) the last day of the first fiscal year in which our annual gross revenues exceed $1.07 billion, (ii) the date that we become a large accelerated filer as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act, which would occur if the market value of our Common Stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter, or (iii) the date on which we have issued more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt during the preceding three year period. We cannot predict if investors will find our Common Stock less attractive if we choose to rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our Common Stock less attractive as a result of any choices to reduce future disclosure, there may be a less active trading market for our Common Stock and our stock price may be more volatile.
We will incur significantly increased costs and devote substantial management time as a result of operating as a public company particularly after we are no longer an emerging growth company.
As a public company, we will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. For example, we will be required to comply with certain of the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, as well as rules and regulations subsequently implemented by the SEC, including the establishment and maintenance of effective disclosure and financial controls and changes in corporate governance practices. We expect that compliance with these requirements will increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time consuming and costly. In addition, we expect that our management and other personnel will need to divert attention from operational and other business matters to devote substantial time to these public company requirements. In particular, we expect to incur significant expenses and devote substantial management effort toward ensuring compliance with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We are just beginning the process of compiling the system and processing documentation needed to comply with such requirements. We may not be able to complete our evaluation, testing and any required remediation in a timely fashion. In that regard, we currently do not have an internal audit function, and we will need to hire additional accounting and financial staff with appropriate public company experience and technical accounting knowledge.
However, for as long as we remain an emerging growth company as defined in the JOBS Act, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We intend to take advantage of these reporting exemptions until we are no longer an emerging growth company.
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After we are no longer an emerging growth company, we expect to incur additional management time and cost to comply with the more stringent reporting requirements applicable to companies that are deemed accelerated filers or large accelerated filers, including complying with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
We cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we may incur as a result of becoming a public company or the timing of such costs.
There may be limitations on the effectiveness of our internal controls, and a failure of our control systems to prevent error or fraud may materially harm our company.
Proper systems of internal controls over financial accounting and disclosure are critical to the operation of a public company. As we are a start-up company, we are at the very early stages of establishing, and we may be unable to effectively establish such systems, especially in light of the fact that we expect to operate as a publicly reporting company. This would leave us without the ability to reliably assimilate and compile financial information about the Company and significantly impair our ability to prevent error and detect fraud, all of which would have a negative impact on the Company from many perspectives.
Moreover, we do not expect that disclosure controls or internal control over financial reporting, even if established, will prevent all error and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the control systems objectives will be met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, have been detected. Failure of our control systems to prevent error or fraud could materially adversely impact us.
We may be unable to complete our analysis of our internal controls over financial reporting in a timely manner, or these internal controls may not be determined to be effective, which may adversely affect investor confidence in our company and, as a result, the value of our Common Stock.
We are required, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, to furnish a report by our management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting for each fiscal year. This assessment will need to include disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting, as well as a statement that our independent registered public accounting firm has issued an opinion on our internal control over financial reporting.
If we are unable to assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or, if applicable, our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion on the effectiveness of our internal controls, 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, and we may be subject to investigation or sanctions by the SEC. We will also be required to disclose changes made in our internal control and procedures on a quarterly basis.
However, our independent registered public accounting firm will not be required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 until the date we are no longer an emerging growth company as defined in the recently enacted JOBS Act, if we take advantage (as we expect to do) of the exemptions contained in the JOBS Act. We will remain an emerging growth company for up to five years, although if the market value of our Common Stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30 before that time, we would cease to be an emerging growth company as of the following December 30.
At such time, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our controls are documented, designed or operating. Our remediation efforts may not enable us to avoid a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting in the future. Any of the foregoing occurrences, should they come to pass, could negatively impact the public perception of our company, which could have a negative impact on our stock price.
Our officers and directors have significant control over shareholder matters.
Our officers and directors own (or can own subject to exercise within a 60-day period from the date of this report) approximately 48.6% of the Companys outstanding Common Stock, and this collectively have significant control over shareholder matters, such as election of directors, amendments to our Articles of Incorporation, and approval of significant corporate transactions. As a result, the Companys minority shareholders will have little or no control over our affairs.
We do not currently intend to pay dividends on our Common Stock in the foreseeable future, and consequently, your ability to achieve a return on your investment will depend on appreciation in the price of our Common Stock.
We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our Common Stock and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends to holders of our Common Stock in the foreseeable future. Consequently, investors must rely on sales of their shares after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investments. There is no guarantee that shares of our Common Stock will appreciate in value or even maintain the price at which our stockholders have purchased their shares.
Upon dissolution of the Company, you may not recoup all or any portion of your investment.
In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding-up of our company, whether voluntary or involuntary, the proceeds and/or assets of the Company remaining after giving effect to such transaction, and the payment of all of our debts and liabilities will be distributed to the stockholders of Common Stock on a pro rata basis. There can be no assurance that we will have available assets to pay to the holders of Common Stock, or any amounts, upon such a liquidation, dissolution or winding-up of our Company. In this event, you could lose some or all of your investment.
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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
Our principal offices are located at 9 Brown Road, Ithaca, NY 14850. As of December 31, 2020, we leased one (1) 10,000 sq.ft. facility in the State of New York for our operations. Our lease expires on November 30, 2025.
There are no outstanding lawsuits or judgments against the Company or any consent decrees or injunctions to which the Company is subject or by which any of its assets are bound and there are no claims, proceedings, actions or lawsuits in existence, or to our knowledge threatened or asserted, against the Company or with respect to any of its assets that would materially and adversely affect the business, property or financial condition of the Company.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
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PART II
ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANTS COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES
MARKET INFORMATION
We received approval from the OTCQB Market to trade our common stock, par value $.0001 per share (the Common Stock) under the ticker symbol of ODII as of August 27, 2020. There is currently limited trading volume for our Common Stock and there is no guarantee that any sustained trading market will develop in the future.
The following table sets forth, for each quarter since August 27, 2020, the reported high and low bid prices of our Common Stock.
Quarter Ended | High Bid | Low Bid | |||||
December 31, 2020 | $ | 4.10 | $ | 1.01 | |||
September 30, 2020 | $ | 1.61 | $ | 0.50 |
Future sales of substantial amounts of our shares in the public market could adversely affect market prices prevailing from time to time and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of our equity securities.
HOLDERS
The approximate number of stockholders of record as of April 7, 2021 is 96. The number of stockholders of record does not include beneficial owners of our Common Stock, whose shares are held in the names of various dealers, clearing agencies, banks, brokers and other fiduciaries.
DIVIDEND POLICY
We have never paid any cash dividends on our Common Stock. We anticipate that we will retain funds and future earnings to support operations and to finance the growth and development of our business. Therefore, we do not expect to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to pay dividends will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements and other factors that our board of directors deems relevant. In addition, the terms of any future debt or credit financings may preclude us from paying dividends.
RECENT SALES OF UNREGISTERED SECURITIES
2021 Private Placement
On March 30, 2021, the Company received the proceeds of the first closing pursuant to an offering of its common stock. The Company sold 1,251,625 shares of common stock at $4.00 per share for gross proceeds of $5,006,500 (after expenses, net proceeds were approximately $4.6 million). Warrants equal to 8% of the common shares sold, other than to certain parties that were excluded from fees ("Excluded Counterparties"), will be issued to the placement agent with a 5 year exercise period and an exercise price of $4.00 per share. The Company may sell up to an additional 2,498,375 shares pursuant to this offering. The maximum number of shares in the offering is 3,750,000, but includes up to 250,000 shares that the Company can sell to Excluded Counterparties without incurring fees (cash or warrants) to the placement agent.
In connection with this offering, the Company entered into registration rights agreements with the investors, pursuant to which the Company agreed to file a registration statement to register the resale of their shares and/or shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of the placement agent warrants within 60 calendar days after the final closing of the offering and cause the registration statement to be declared effective by the SEC within 120 calendar days after the final closing of the offering. In addition, the Company agreed to keep such registration statement effective for a period of five (5) years after its effective date or for such shorter period ending on the date on which all securities registered thereunder have been sold. If the Company fails to file or cause the registration statement to be declared effective within the timeframe provided in the registration rights agreements, or the registrations statement ceases to remain continuously effective or the holders of registrable securities are otherwise not permitted to utilize the prospectus therein to resell their shares for a period of more than fifteen (15) consecutive trading days, with respect to the days of such delay we will be subject to cash liquidated damages at a rate of twelve percent (12%) per annum of the total of the following as applicable for the registrable securities: (i) aggregate purchase price paid by the investor who purchased the shares in the offering; and/or (ii) $4 per share of the placement agent warrants. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the maximum amount of liquidated damages that may be paid by the Company pursuant to the registration rights agreements shall be an amount equal to five percent (5%) of the applicable foregoing amounts described in clauses (i) and (ii) in the preceding sentence with respect to such holder's registrable securities that are affected by the delay.
2019 Private Placements
On September 21 and August 5, 2019, the Company sold an aggregate of 1,776,346 shares of Common Stock at $1.50 per share to accredited investors for aggregate gross and net cash proceeds of $2,664,513 and $2,204,502, respectively. In addition, the Company issued to the Companys placement agent immediately vested five-year warrants to purchase an aggregate of 155,966 shares of the Companys Common Stock at an exercise price of $1.50 per share.
On September 24, 2019, the Company sold an aggregate of 149,981 shares of common stock at $1.50 per share to accredited investors for aggregate cash proceeds of $224,972.
Stock Options and Stock Awards
The Company has a 2019 Equity Compensation Plan.
From inception to December 31, 2020, we have granted stock options under our 2019 Equity Compensation Plan to purchase an aggregate of 3,527,410 shares at an exercise price of $1.50 per share. Of the total options granted as of December 31, 2020, 270,000 shares have been exercised.
ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
Not applicable.
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENTS DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATION
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read together with our financial statements and the related notes and the other financial information included elsewhere in this report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those discussed below and elsewhere in this report, particularly those under Risk Factors. Dollars in tabular format are presented in thousands, except per share data, or otherwise indicated.
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OVERVIEW
Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc. (the “Company”) was formed as a Delaware corporation on April 12, 2019. The Company acquired its wholly-owned subsidiary, Odyssey Semiconductor, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Odyssey Semiconductor”), on September 21, 2019. Odyssey Semiconductor commenced business operations on September 17, 2019 when it acquired its wholly-owned subsidiary, JR2J LLC (“JR2J”), from its founders, Richard Brown and James Shealy, in exchange for shares of Odyssey Semiconductor.
We are a semiconductor device company developing revolutionary high-voltage power switching components and systems based on proprietary Gallium Nitride (GaN) processing technology. The premium power switching device market, which is described as applications where silicon-based (Si) systems perform insufficiently, is projected to reach over $3.5 billion by 2025 and is currently dominated by the semiconductor material silicon carbide (SiC). GaN-based systems outperform Si and SiC based systems in every way due to the superior material properties of GaN. However, GaN devices have, to-date, proven difficult to process using standard semiconductor processing methods that are used to create Si and SiC based devices. We have developed a novel processing modification that allows GaN to be processed in a manner that for the first time, makes high voltage GaN power switching devices viably manufacturable. Our mission is to disrupt the rapidly growing premium power switching device market using our newly developed GaN high voltage power transistor for switching applications.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
On September 21, 2019, the Company entered into a share exchange agreement (the “Share Exchange Agreement”) with Odyssey Semiconductor and 100% of the stockholders of Odyssey Semiconductor (the “Semiconductor Stockholders”), pursuant to which the Semiconductor Stockholders agreed to transfer an aggregate of 5,666,667 shares of common stock of Odyssey Semiconductor to the Company in exchange for the Company’s issuance of an aggregate of 5,666,667 shares of the Company’s Common Stock to the Semiconductor Stockholders (the “Share Exchange”). As of September 21, 2019, Odyssey Semiconductor became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, the Semiconductor Stockholders beneficially owned approximately 61.37% of the Company’s Common Stock on a fully-diluted basis, the Company began operating Odyssey Semiconductor’s business of developing high-voltage power switching components and systems, all then directors and officers of the Company resigned and were replaced by the directors and officers of Odyssey Semiconductor.
2019 Private Placements
On September 21 and August 5, 2019, the Company sold an aggregate of 1,776,346 shares of Common Stock at $1.50 per share to accredited investors for aggregate gross and net cash proceeds of $2,664,513 and $2,204,502, respectively. In addition, the Company issued to the Company’s placement agent immediately vested five-year warrants to purchase an aggregate of 155,966 shares of the Company’s Common Stock at an exercise price of $1.50 per share.
On September 24, 2019, the Company sold an aggregate of 149,981 shares of common stock at $1.50 per share to accredited investors for aggregate cash proceeds of $224,972.
2021 Private Placement
On March 30, 2021, the Company received the proceeds of the first closing pursuant to an offering of its common stock. The Company sold 1,251,625 shares of common stock at $4.00 per share for gross proceeds of $5,006,500 (after expenses, net proceeds were approximately $4.6 million). Warrants equal to 8% of the common shares sold, other than to Excluded Counterparties, will be issued to the placement agent with a 5 year exercise period and an exercise price of $4.00 per share. The Company may sell up to an additional 2,498,375 shares pursuant to this offering. The maximum number of shares in the offering is 3,750,000, but includes up to 250,000 shares that the Company can sell to Excluded Counterparties without incurring fees (cash or warrants) to the placement agent.
In connection with this offering, the Company entered into registration rights agreements with the investors, pursuant to which the Company agreed to file a registration statement to register the resale of their shares and/or shares of common stock issuable upon the exercise of the placement agent warrants within 60 calendar days after the final closing of the offering and cause the registration statement to be declared effective by the SEC within 120 calendar days after the final closing of the offering. In addition, the Company agreed to keep such registration statement effective for a period of five (5) years after its effective date or for such shorter period ending on the date on which all securities registered thereunder have been sold. If the Company fails to file or cause the registration statement to be declared effective within the timeframe provided in the registration rights agreements, or the registrations statement ceases to remain continuously effective or the holders of registrable securities are otherwise not permitted to utilize the prospectus therein to resell their shares for a period of more than fifteen (15) consecutive trading days, with respect to the days of such delay we will be subject to cash liquidated damages at a rate of twelve percent (12%) per annum of the total of the following as applicable for the registrable securities: (i) aggregate purchase price paid by the investor who purchased the shares in the offering; and/or (ii) $4 per share of the placement agent warrants. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the maximum amount of liquidated damages that may be paid by the Company pursuant to the registration rights agreements shall be an amount equal to five percent (5%) of the applicable foregoing amounts described in clauses (i) and (ii) in the preceding sentence with respect to such holder's registrable securities that are affected by the delay.
Governmental Assistance
Paycheck Protection Program
On May 1, 2020, the Company received loan proceeds in the amount of approximately $211,000 under the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”). The PPP, established as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, as amended (“CARES Act”), provides for loans to qualifying businesses for amounts up to 2.5 times of the average monthly payroll expenses of such qualifying business. The loans and accrued interest are forgivable after certain time periods further defined in the CARES Act (“Covered Period”) as long as the borrower uses the loan proceeds for eligible purposes, including payroll, benefits, rent and utilities, and maintains its payroll levels. The amount of loan forgiveness will be reduced if the borrower terminates employees or reduces salaries during the Covered Period.
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The unforgiven portion of the PPP loan, if any, is payable over two years at an interest rate of 1%, with a deferral of payments for the first six months. The Company intends to use the proceeds for purposes consistent with the PPP. While the Company currently believes that its use of the loan proceeds will meet the conditions for forgiveness of the loan, there can be no assurance that the Company will not take actions that could cause the Company to be ineligible for forgiveness of the loan, in whole or in part. On March 6, 2021, the entire loan balance was forgiven.
On February 24, 2021, the Company received $193,625 pursuant to a promissory note issued under the Paycheck Protection Program Part 2 (PPP2). Interest accrues at 1% per annum and the note is payable in 60 monthly installments of $3,300 commencing May 2022.
Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance
On May 1, 2020, the Company received an advance in the amount of $10,000 from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program administered by the SBA, which program was expanded pursuant to the CARES Act. Such advance amount will reduce the Companys PPP loan forgiveness amount described above.
Tomkins County Area Development Loan
On May 27, 2020, the Company received loan proceeds in the amount of $50,000 from the Tomkins County Area Development (TCAD) Emergency Relief Loan Fund. The loan matures after four years and bears interest in the amount of 2.5% per annum, with one year of no interest or principal payments, followed by three years of monthly payments of principal and interest in the amount of $1,443 per month. The loan is collateralized against certain assets of the Company.
Equipment Loans
On August 21, 2020, the Company received a loan of $100,000 from Broome County Industrial Development Agency (5 year facility, 2.5% annual interest rate, monthly payment of $1,775); on September 3, 2020, the Company received a loan of $100,000 from Southern Tier Region Economic Development Corporation (5 year facility, 5.0% annual interest rate, monthly payment of $2,072) ; and on September 10, 2020, the Company received a loan of $75,000 from TCAD(5 year facility, 2.5% annual interest rate, monthly payment of $1,331). These loans were used to acquire equipment used in the laboratory, and are secured by the underlying assets of the Company.
Consulting Service
On October 18, 2019, the Company entered into an exclusive two-year consulting agreement with Akash Systems, Inc. (Akash), pursuant to which the Company agreed to provide certain consulting services to Akash in connection with process development and fabrication of GaN-on-Diamond high-electron-mobility transistors and monolithic microwave integrated circuits. Pursuant to the agreement, Akash guarantees to purchase at least one wafer per month from the Company for a total of 24 wafers during the term of the agreement, at a price of $85,000 per wafer. The Company delivered 2 wafers as of December 31, 2020, and currently, the Company is awaiting new substrates to arrive from Akash so it may perform services on the remaining wafers pursuant to the agreement.
COMPONENTS OF OUR RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Revenues
Our revenues are derived from contracts with customers that require us to design, develop, manufacture, test and integrate complex equipment and to provide engineering and technical services according to customer specifications. These contracts are often priced on a time and material type basis. Revenues on time and material type contracts are generally recognized in each period based on the amount billable to the customer which is based on direct labor hours expended multiplied by the contractual fixed rate per hour, plus the actual costs of materials and other direct non-labor costs. We bill customers based upon contractual terms, and accordingly, we have deferred revenues and contract assets depending upon whether we can bill in advance of earnings or in arrears, respectively.
Cost of Revenues
Cost of revenues consist of material, labor, a portion of occupancy expenses, and other expenses directly related to our revenue contracts.
Research and Development
Research and development includes expenses, primarily material, labor, a portion of occupancy expenses, and other expenses incurred in connection with the research and development of certain exploratory projects. Research and development expenses are expensed as they are incurred.
Selling, General, and Administrative
Selling, general, and administrative expenses consist of salaries, payroll taxes and other benefits, legal and professional fees, stock- based compensation, rent and office expenses, marketing and travel and other costs associated with our operation.
Other Income
Other income (expense) consists primarily of interest income on cash balances, and other miscellaneous items.
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RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Year ended December 31, 2020 Compared with year ended December 31, 2019
Overview
The following table presents certain information from the consolidated statements of operations:
For the year ended | ||||||||||||||||
December 31, | Change | Change % | ||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | |||||||||||||||
Revenues | $ | 1,374,420 | $ | 719,851 | $ | 654,569 | 91 | % | ||||||||
Cost of Revenues | 1,453,005 | 589,641 | 863,365 | 146 | % | |||||||||||
Gross (Loss) Profit | (78,585 | ) | 130,211 | (208,796 | ) | (160 | )% | |||||||||
Operating Expenses: | ||||||||||||||||
Research and development | 607,148 | 155,527 | 451,622 | 290 | % | |||||||||||
Selling, general, and administrative | 1,354,069 | 1,434,089 | (80,020 | ) | (6 | )% | ||||||||||
Total Operating Expenses | 1,961,217 | 1,589,616 | 371,602 | 23 | % | |||||||||||
(Loss) Income From Operations | (2,039,802 | ) | (1,459,405 | ) | (580,397 | ) | 40 | % | ||||||||
Other Income: | ||||||||||||||||
Interest income (expense), net | (3,306 | ) | 1,236 | (4,542 | ) | (367 | )% | |||||||||
Net (Loss) | $ | (2,043,108 | ) | $ | (1,458,169 | ) | $ | (584,939 | ) | 40 | % |
Revenues
Revenues for the year ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 were approximately $1,374,000 and $720,000, respectively, which represented an increase of $654,000, or 91%. We have two principal clients as of December 31, 2020 (Akash and the government contract) as well as several smaller clients. The timing of revenue recognition is driven by the completion of specified deliverables and the billing of time and materials over periods of time. Accordingly, the recognition of revenue for these contracts will vary from time to time. In both the years ended December 30, 2020 and 2019, we recognized 93% and 28% of our revenue from these two principal clients. The Company remainder of the revenue recognized for both the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 was for delivery of products to other clients.
Cost of Revenues
Cost of revenues for the year ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 were approximately $1,453,000 and $590,000, respectively, which represented an increase of $863,000, or 146%. The increase was attributable to increased labor costs and supplies associated with our revenue generating projects in the 2020 period. Also, there was an increase in facility and equipment usage fees during the 2020 period as compared to the 2019 period in order to support the same revenue generating projects and reflect the increased infrastructure built over the past few quarters. We also shift personnel from client projects to internal research and development projects depending on the timing of client deliverables. We do not yet have a sufficient volume of client projects to fully utilize all of the fixed and variable operating expenses of the facility booked, thereby generating a gross loss for 2020.
Research and Development
Research and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 were approximately $607,000 and $156,000, respectively, which represented an increase of $451,000, or 289%. The increase was primarily attributable to an overall increase in our focus on research and development activities, which resulted in increased wage allocation as well as increased rent, facility fees, equipment usage costs and general lab supplies.
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General and Administrative
Selling, general, and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 were approximately $1,354,000 and $1,434,000, respectively, which represented a decrease of $80,000, or 6%. The 2020 period expense was primarily attributable to payroll and employee related expenses, and legal and professional fees. During 2020, the Company also wrote-off approximately $111,000 in previously deferred offering costs, as a component of general and administrative expenses. In 2019, the Company subcontracted all of our labor and did not have employees until September 2019, however there was a non-cash charge of approximately $525,000 related to a stock based compensation charge. By comparison, the total non-cash compensation expense was approximately $623,000 for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to $571,000 during the year ended December 31, 2019. During the 2019 period, the Company also incurred significant costs associated with the reverse recapitalization transaction. The Company has attempted to carefully manage in general and administrative expenses.
Other Income (expense)
Other income (expense) for the year ended December 31, 2020 was primarily attributable to interest on the government loans, while in 2019 other income (expense) was insignificant.
Net (Loss) Income
Net (loss) income for the year ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 was approximately $(2,043,000) and $(1,458,000), respectively, which represented a increase of $(585,000), or 40%. The decrease was primarily attributable to an increase in research and development expenses of approximately $451,000 and a decrease in gross profit of $209,000 due to the faster growth of fixed costs as compared to the growth in revenues, partially offset by an $80,000 decrease in general and administrative costs. This reflects the establishment of the fabrication lab and increased emphasis on internal research projects.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Liquidity
We measure our liquidity in a number of ways, including the following:
December 31, 2020 | ||||
Cash | $ | 273,000 | ||
Working Capital | $ | 63,000 |
As of December 31, 2020, we had cash and working capital of approximately $273,000 and $63,000, respectively. We received approximately $685,000 in funding in the form of loans from several governmental support programs from May to September 2020 – see recent developments above. We also received approximately $405,000 from the exercise of stock options in the year ended December 31, 2020.
In February 2021, the Company received approximately $68,000 from the exercise of stock options to purchase 45,625 shares of common stock. On February 24, 2021, the Company received $193,625 pursuant to a promissory note issued under the Paycheck Protection Program Part 2 ("PPP2"). Interest accrues at 1% per annum and the note is payable in 60 monthly installments of $3,300 commencing May 2022. On March 30, 2021, the Company received the proceeds of the first closing pursuant to an offering of its common stock. The Company sold 1,251,625 shares of common stock at $4.00 per share for gross proceeds of $5,006,500 (after expenses, net proceeds were approximately $4.6 million). Warrants equal to 8% of the common shares sold, other than to certain parties that were excluded from fees ("Excluded Counterparties"), will be issued to the placement agent with a 5 year exercise period and an exercise price of $4.00 per share. The Company may sell up to an additional 2,498,375 shares pursuant to this offering. The maximum number of shares in the offering is 3,750,000, but includes up to 250,000 shares that the Company can sell to Excluded Counterparties without incurring fees (cash or warrants) to the placement agent.
We expect our current cash on hand plus the above mentioned funding in the first quarter of 2021 to be sufficient to meet our operating and capital requirements for at least the next twelve months from the date of this filing. Thereafter, we may need to raise further capital, through the sale of additional equity or debt securities, to support our future operations. Our operating needs include the planned costs to operate our business, including amounts required to fund working capital and capital expenditures as well as research and development. Our future capital requirements and the adequacy of our available funds will depend on many factors, including our ability to successfully commercialize our products and services, competing technological and market developments, and the need to enter into collaborations with other companies or acquire other companies or technologies to enhance or complement our product and service offerings. If we are unable to secure additional capital, we may be required to curtail our research and development initiatives and take additional measures to reduce costs in order to conserve our cash.
Our sources and uses of cash were as follows:
Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 was approximately $(776,000) and $(1,061,000), respectively. Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 includes cash used to fund a net loss of approximately $(2,043,000), reduced by $859,000 of non-cash expenses, and reduced by $408,000 of net cash provided by changes in the levels of operating assets and liabilities. Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2019 included cash provided by net loss of approximately $(1,458,000) partially offset by $585,000 of non-cash expenses and reduced by $189,000 of net cash used in changes in the levels of operating assets and liabilities.
Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 was approximately $(687,000) and $(365,000), respectively. Net cash used in investing activities for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 was primarily attributable to the purchase property and equipment, and leasehold improvements in the laboratory.
Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 was approximately $1,041,000 and $2,199,000, respectively. Net cash used in financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 was primarily attributable proceeds under government loan programs of $685,000 and proceeds from the exercise of stock options of $405,000. Net cash used in financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2019 was primarily attributable proceeds from private placements of common stock of approximately $2,400,000 less a dividend paid the stockholders prior to the reverse recapitalization of $200,000.
20
OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS
We do not have any off-balance sheet arrangements (as that term is defined in Item 303 of Regulation S-K) that are reasonably likely to have a current or future material effect on our financial condition, revenue or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources.
CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Our critical accounting policies are included in Note 2 of our financial statements included elsewhere in this registration statement.
RECENTLY ISSUED ACCOUNTING STANDARDS
Our recently issued accounting standards are included in Note 2 of our financial statements included elsewhere in this registration.
ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Not applicable.
21
ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
TABLE OF CONTENTS
F-1
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of
Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc. and Subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, and the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ equity and cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2020, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2020, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Basis for Opinion
These 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 audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) ("PCAOB") and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits 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 audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the 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 audits 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 audits provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Marcum llp
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2019.
Melville, NY
April 7, 2021
F-2
ODYSSEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES |
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS |
December 31, | December 31, | |||||||
2020 | 2019 | |||||||
Assets | ||||||||
Current Assets: | ||||||||
Cash | $ | 272,705 | $ | 697,141 | ||||
Contract assets | 62,273 | 543,944 | ||||||
Accounts receivable | 10,877 | 1,480 | ||||||
Deferred expenses | 185,084 | 111,548 | ||||||
Prepaid expenses and other current assets | 33,569 | 147,065 | ||||||
Total Current Assets | 564,508 | 1,501,178 | ||||||
Restricted cash | 103,149 | 101,141 | ||||||
Deferred offering costs | - | 83,983 | ||||||
Property and equipment, net | 986,407 | 389,845 | ||||||
Total Assets | $ | 1,654,064 | $ | 2,076,147 | ||||
Liabilities and Stockholders Equity | ||||||||
Current Liabilities: | ||||||||
Accounts payable and accrued expenses | $ | 187,046 | $ | 218,005 | ||||
Deferred revenue | 260,447 | 312,378 | ||||||
Loans payable – short term | 53,858 | - | ||||||
Total Current Liabilities | 501,351 | 530,383 | ||||||
Loans payable – long term, net of unamortized debt issuance costs | 621,600 | - | ||||||
Total Liabilities | 1,122,951 | 530,383 | ||||||
Commitments and contingencies (Note 10) | ||||||||
Stockholders Equity: | ||||||||
Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value, 5,000,000 shares authorized; 0 shares issued and outstanding at December 31 ,2020 and 2019 | - | - | ||||||
Common stock, $0.0001 par value, 45,000,000 shares authorized, 11,429,661 and 11,159,661 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively | 1,143 | 1,116 | ||||||
Additional paid-in capital | 4,046,370 | 3,017,940 | ||||||
Accumulated deficit | (3,516,400 | ) | (1,473,292 | ) | ||||
Total Stockholders Equity | 531,113 | 1,545,764 | ||||||
Total Liabilities and Stockholders Equity | $ | 1,654,064 | $ | 2,076,147 |
See notes to these consolidated financial statements.
F-3
ODYSSEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES |
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS |
For the years ended | ||||||||
December 31, | ||||||||
2020 | 2019 | |||||||
Revenues | $ | 1,374,420 | $ | 719,851 | ||||
Cost of Revenues | 1,453,005 | 589,640 | ||||||
Gross (Loss) Profit | (78,585 | ) | 130,211 | |||||
Operating Expenses: | ||||||||
Research and development | 607,148 | 155,527 | ||||||
Selling, general, and administrative | 1,354,069 | 1,434,089 | ||||||
Total Operating Expenses | 1,961,217 | 1,589,616 | ||||||
Loss From Operations | (2,039,802 | ) | (1,459,405 | ) | ||||
Other Income (expense): | ||||||||
Interest income (expense), net | (3,306 | ) | 1,236 | |||||
Net Loss | $ | (2,043,108 | ) | $ | (1,458,169 | ) | ||
Net Loss Per Share: | ||||||||
Basic | $ | (0.18 | ) | $ | (0.18 | ) | ||
Diluted | $ | (0.18 | ) | $ | (0.18 | ) | ||
Weighted average number of shares of Common Stock : | ||||||||
Basic | 11,229,966 | 8,264,416 | ||||||
Diluted | 11,229,966 | 8,264,416 |
See notes to these consolidated financial statements.
F-4
ODYSSEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES |
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS EQUITY |
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2020 AND 2019 |
Additional | Total | |||||||||||||||||||
Common Stock | Paid-In | Accumulated | Stockholders | |||||||||||||||||
Shares | Amount | Capital | Deficit | Equity | ||||||||||||||||
Balance – January 1, 2019 | 5,316,667 | $ | 532 | $ | (532 | ) | $ | 184,877 | $ | 184,877 | ||||||||||
Dividend to shareholder | (200,000 | ) | (200,000 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
Issuance of common stock, net of issuance costs | 1,926,327 | 192 | 2,429,282 | 2,429,474 | ||||||||||||||||
Sale of common stock and related stock based compensation | 350,000 | 35 | 524,965 | 525,000 | ||||||||||||||||
Equity of Odyssey Semiconductor Inc. at the time of the reverse capitalization | 3,566,667 | 357 | 2,126 | 2,483 | ||||||||||||||||
Stock-based compensation | - | 62,099 | - | 62,099 | ||||||||||||||||
Net loss - year ended December 31, 2019 | - | - | - | (1,458,169 | ) | (1,458,169 | ) | |||||||||||||
Balance - December 31, 2019 | 11,159,661 | $ | 1,116 | $ | 3,017,940 | $ | (1,473,292 | ) | $ | 1,545,764 | ||||||||||
Stock-based compensation | - | 623,457 | - | 623,457 | ||||||||||||||||
Exercise of stock options | 270,000 | 27 | 404,973 | 405,000 | ||||||||||||||||
Net loss - year ended December 31, 2020 | - | - | - | (2,043,108 | ) | (2,043,108 | ) | |||||||||||||
Balance - December 31, 2020 | 11,429,661 | $ | 1,143 | $ | 4,046,370 | $ | (3,516,400 | ) | $ | 531,113 |
See notes to these consolidated financial statements.
F-5
ODYSSEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES |
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS |
For the years ended | ||||||||
December 31, | ||||||||
2020 | 2019 | |||||||
Cash Flows From Operating Activities: | ||||||||
Net loss | $ | (2,043,108 | ) | $ | (1,458,169 | ) | ||
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: | ||||||||
Stock-based compensation | 623,457 | 580,178 | ||||||
Write off of deferred offering costs and other | 123,875 | - | ||||||
Depreciation and amortization | 111,311 | 5,341 | ||||||
Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | ||||||||
Contract assets | 481,671 | (214,882 | ) | |||||
Accounts receivable | (9,397 | ) | 690 | |||||
Prepaid expenses and other current assets | 92,538 | (145,026 | ) | |||||
Deferred expenses | (73,536 | ) | (104,627 | ) | ||||
Accounts payable and accrued expenses | (30,959 | ) | (37,052 | ) | ||||
Deferred revenue | (51,931 | ) | 312,378 | |||||
Total Adjustments | 1,267,029 | 397,000 | ||||||
Net Cash Used In Operating Activities | (776,079 | ) | (1,061,169 | ) | ||||
Cash Flows From Investing Activities: | ||||||||
Purchases of property and equipment | (686,915 | ) | (367,005 | ) | ||||
Cash acquired in reverse capitalization | - | 2,483 | ||||||
Net Cash Used in Investing Activities | (686,915 | ) | (364,522 | ) | ||||
Cash Flows From Financing Activities: | ||||||||
Proceeds from government loans | 684,580 | - | ||||||
Payment of deferred loan costs | (4,560 | ) | - | |||||
Payment of government loans | (4,714 | ) | - | |||||
Proceeds from exercise of stock options | 405,000 | - | ||||||
Proceed from sale of common stock, net of costs | - | 2,445,603 | ||||||
Payment of offering costs related to sale of common stock | - | (16,129 | ) | |||||
Payment of deferred offering costs | (39,740 | ) | (30,512 | ) | ||||
Dividend to stockholders prior to reverse capitalization | - | (200,000 | ) | |||||
Net Cash Provided by Financing Activities | 1,040,566 | 2,198,962 | ||||||
Net Increase (Decrease) In Cash and Restricted Cash | (422,428 | ) | 773,271 | |||||
Cash and Restricted Cash - Beginning Of Year | 798,282 | 25,011 | ||||||
Cash and Restricted Cash - End Of Year | $ | 375,854 | $ | 798,282 | ||||
Cash and Restricted Cash Consisted of the Following: | ||||||||
Cash | $ | 272,705 | $ | 697,141 | ||||
Restricted cash | 103,149 | 101,141 | ||||||
$ | 375,854 | $ | 798,282 | |||||
Supplemental Disclosures of Cash Flow Information: | ||||||||
Cash paid during the quarter ended for: | ||||||||
Interest | $ | 2,200 | - | |||||
Supplemental information - Issuance of warrant to placement agent | - | $ | 148,202 | |||||
Fixed assets purchased on account | $ | 20,598 | ||||||
Accrual of deferred offering costs | - | $ | 53,471 |
See notes to these consolidated financial statements.
F-6
ODYSSEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES |
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS |
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2020 and 2019 |
Note 1 - Business Organization, Reverse Recapitalization and Liquidity
Organization and Operations
Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc. (Odyssey Technologies) was incorporated on April 12, 2019 under the laws of the State of Delaware. Odyssey Technologies, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Odyssey Semiconductor, Inc. (Odyssey Semiconductor) and Odyssey Semiconductors wholly owned subsidiary, JR2J, LLC (JR2J) (collectively, the Company), is a semiconductor device company developing high-voltage power switching components and systems based on proprietary Gallium Nitride (GaN) processing technology.
Reverse Recapitalization and Common Control Merger
On June 17, 2019, Odyssey Semiconductor entered into a contribution agreement with 100% of the members of JR2J (Contribution Agreement). Pursuant to the Contribution Agreement, the members of JR2J agreed to transfer 100% of their membership interests in JR2J to the Odyssey Semiconductor in exchange for the issuance of an aggregate of 5,316,667 shares of common stock of Odyssey Semiconductor (the Contribution). In connection with the Contribution Agreement, JR2J became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Odyssey Semiconductor. Odyssey Semiconductor and JR2J were determined to be entities held under common control through identical common ownership. Accordingly, the effect of the merger was retrospectively applied to all financial statement periods presented herein and the historical financial statements of Odyssey Semiconductor and JR2J are combined.
On June 21, 2019, Odyssey Technologies entered into a share exchange agreement (the Share Exchange Agreement) with Odyssey Semiconductor and 100% of the stockholders of Odyssey Semiconductor (the Semiconductor Stockholders). On June 21, 2019 (the Closing Date), the Company closed the transaction contemplated by the Share Exchange Agreement. Pursuant to the Share Exchange Agreement, the Semiconductor Stockholders agreed to transfer an aggregate of 5,666,667 shares of common stock of Odyssey Semiconductor to Odyssey Technologies in exchange for Odyssey Technologies issuance of an aggregate of 5,666,667 shares of its common stock to the Semiconductor Stockholders (the Share Exchange). On the Closing Date, Odyssey Semiconductor became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Odyssey Technologies, the Semiconductor Stockholders beneficially owned approximately 61.37% of Odyssey Technologies common stock on a fully-diluted basis, Odyssey Technologies began operating Odyssey Semiconductors business of developing high-voltage power switching components and systems, and all directors and officers of Odyssey Technologies resigned and were replaced by the directors and officers of Odyssey Semiconductor.
The closing of the Share Exchange was accounted for as a reverse recapitalization under the provisions of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic 805-40. The condensed consolidated statements of operations herein reflect the historical results of Odyssey Semiconductor prior to the completion of the reverse recapitalization since it was determined to be the accounting acquirer, and do not include the historical results of operations for Odyssey Technologies prior to the completion of the reverse recapitalization. Odyssey Technologies assets and liabilities are consolidated with the assets and liabilities of Odyssey Semiconductor as of the Closing Date. Odyssey Semiconductors retained earnings are being carried forward as the Companys retained earnings.
COVID-19
The extent of the impact and effects of the recent outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on the operation and financial performance of our business will depend on future developments, including the duration and spread of the outbreak, related travel advisories and restrictions, the consequential potential of staff shortages, and project development delays, all of which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted. If demand for the Companys services or the Companys ability to service customers are impacted for an extended period, especially as it relates to major customers, our financial condition and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.
F-7
ODYSSEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES |
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS |
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2020 and 2019 |
Liquidity and Financial Condition
As of December 31, 2020, the Company had a cash balance, working capital and accumulated deficit of approximately $273,000, $63,000 and $3,516,000, respectively. During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company generated net loss of approximately $2,043,000.
In February 2021, the Company received approximately $68,000 from the exercise of stock options to purchase 45,625 shares of common stock. On February 24, 2021, the Company received $193,625 pursuant to a promissory note issued under the Paycheck Protection Program Part 2 ("PPP2"). Interest accrues at 1% per annum and the note is payable in 60 monthly installments of $3,300 commencing May 2022. On March 30, 2021, the Company received the proceeds of the first closing pursuant to an offering of its common stock. The Company sold 1,251,625 shares of common stock at $4.00 per share for gross proceeds of $5,006,500 (after expenses, net proceeds were approximately $4.6 million). Warrants equal to 8% of the common shares sold, other than to certain parties that were excluded from fees ("Excluded Counterparties"), will be issued to the placement agent with a 5 year exercise period and an exercise price of $4.00 per share. The Company may sell up to an additional 2,498,375 shares pursuant to this offering. The maximum number of shares in the offering is 3,750,000, but includes up to 250,000 shares that the Company can sell to Excluded Counterparties without incurring fees (cash or warrants) to the placement agent.
The Company believes its current cash on hand and the above mentioned funding in the first quarter of 2021 is sufficient to meet its operating obligations and capital requirements for at least twelve months from the issuance of these financial statements. Thereafter, the Company may need to raise further capital through the sale of additional equity or debt securities or other debt instruments to support its future operations. The Companys operating needs include the planned costs to operate its business, including amounts required to fund working capital and capital expenditures. The Companys future capital requirements and the adequacy of its available funds will depend on many factors, including the Companys ability to successfully commercialize its products and services, competing technological and market developments, and the need to enter into collaborations with other companies or acquire other companies or technologies to enhance or complement its product and service offerings. There is also no assurance that the amount of funds the Company might raise will enable the Company to complete its development initiatives or attain profitable operations. If the Company is unable to obtain additional financing on a timely basis, it may have to curtail its development, marketing and promotional activities, which would have a material adverse effect on the Companys business, financial condition and results of operations, and ultimately, the Company could be forced to discontinue its operations and liquidate.
Note 2 - Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Use of Estimates
Preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates, judgments and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and the amounts disclosed in the related notes to the financial statements. The Companys significant estimates used in these financial statements include, but are not limited to, fair value calculations for equity securities, stock-based compensation, the recognition and collectability of receivables, the recoverability and useful lives of long-lived assets, and the valuation allowance related to the Companys deferred tax assets. Certain of the Companys estimates could be affected by external conditions, including those unique to the Company and general economic conditions. It is reasonably possible that these external factors could have an effect on the Companys estimates and could cause actual results to differ from those estimates.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all highly liquid investments purchased with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents in the financial statements. As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, the Company had no cash equivalents. The Company has cash on deposits in several financial institutions which, at times, may be in excess of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance limits. The Company has not experienced losses in such accounts and periodically evaluates the creditworthiness of its financial institutions. The Company reduces its credit risk by placing its cash and cash equivalents with major financial institutions. As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, the Company had $22,705 and $346,746, respectively, on deposit in excess of FDIC insurance limits.
Restricted Cash
Restricted cash was comprised of cash held as a security deposit in connection with the Companys operating lease. See Note 10 – Commitments and Contingencies - Operating Lease for additional details.
F-8
ODYSSEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES |
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS |
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2020 and 2019 |
Accounts Receivable
Accounts receivable are carried at their contractual amounts, less an estimate for uncollectible amounts. As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, there were no allowances for uncollectable amounts determined to be necessary. Management estimates the allowance for bad debts based on existing economic conditions, the financial conditions of the customers, and the amount and age of past due accounts. Receivables are considered past due if full payment is not received by the contractual due date. Past due accounts are generally written off against the allowance for bad debts only after all collection attempts have been exhausted.
Deferred Expenses
Deferred expenses consist of labor, materials and other costs that are attributable to customer contracts that the Company has not completed its performance obligation under the contract and, as a result, has not recognized revenue. As of December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, deferred expenses were approximately $185,000 and $112,000, respectively.
Property and Equipment
Property and equipment are stated at cost, net of accumulated depreciation using the straight-line method over their estimated useful lives, once the asset is placed in service. Expenditures for maintenance and repairs, which do not extend the economic useful life of the related assets, are charged to operations as incurred, and expenditures which extend the economic life are capitalized. Leasehold improvements are depreciated over the lesser of their estimated useful lives or the remaining term of their respective lease. When assets are retired or otherwise disposed of, the costs and related accumulated depreciation or amortization are removed from the accounts and any gain or loss on disposal is recognized in the statement of operations for the respective period.
The Companys long-lived assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the asset may not be recoverable. An impairment loss would be recognized when estimated future cash flows expected to result from the use of the asset and its eventual disposition are less than its carrying amount.
The estimated useful lives of property and equipment are as follows:
Asset | Useful lives (years) |
Computer and office equipment | 5 |
Lab equipment | 5 |
Leasehold improvements | shorter of useful life or lease term |
Machinery | 7-15 |
Furniture | 7 |
Offering Costs
Deferred offering costs, which primarily consist of direct, incremental professional fees incurred in connection with a debt or equity financing, are capitalized as non-current assets on the consolidated balance sheets. Once the financing closes, the Company reclassifies such costs as either discounts to notes payable or as a reduction of proceeds received from equity transactions so that such costs are recorded as a reduction of additional paid-in capital. If the completion of a contemplated financing was deemed to be no longer probable, the related deferred offering costs would be charged to general and administrative expense in the consolidated financial statements. At December 31, 2020, the Company wrote off the previously capitalized offering costs.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The Company measures the fair value of financial assets and liabilities based on the guidance of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 820 Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures (ASC 820) which defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value, and expands disclosures about fair value measurements.
ASC 820 defines fair value as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. ASC 820 also establishes a fair value hierarchy, which requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. ASC 820 describes three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value:
Level 1 — quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities
Level 2 — quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets or inputs that are observable
Level 3 — inputs that are unobservable (for example, cash flow modeling inputs based on assumptions)
The carrying amounts of the Companys financial instruments, such as cash, accounts receivable, restricted cash, accounts payable and accrued expenses approximate fair values due to the short-term nature of these instruments. The carrying amounts of the Companys debt approximates fair value since it is tied to governmental programs and the restrictions related therein.
F-9
ODYSSEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES |
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS |
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2020 and 2019 |
Fair Value of Stock Options and Warrants
The Company uses the Black-Scholes model to estimate the fair value of stock options and warrants, using input factors described below. The risk-free interest rate was determined from the implied yields from U.S. Treasury zero-coupon bonds with a remaining term consistent with the expected term of the instrument being valued. Option forfeitures are accounted for at the time of occurrence. The expected term used is the estimated period of time that warrants or options are expected to be outstanding. The Company utilizes the simplified method to develop an estimate of the expected term of plain vanilla employee options. For investor warrants and non-employee options, the expected term used is the contractual life of the instrument being valued. The Company does not yet have a trading history to support its historical volatility calculations. Accordingly, the Company is utilizing an expected volatility figure based on a review of the historical volatility of comparable entities over a period of time equivalent to the expected life of the instrument being valued.
Revenue Recognition
The Company recognizes revenue under ASC Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (ASC 606). The Company determines revenue recognition through the following steps:
● | Step 1: Identify the contract with the customer; |
● | Step 2: Identify the performance obligations in the contract; |
● | Step 3: Determine the transaction price; |
● | Step 4: Allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and |
● | Step 5: Recognize revenue when the company satisfies a performance obligation. |
A majority of the Companys revenues are generated from contracts with customers that require it to design, develop, manufacture, test and integrate complex equipment and/or to provide engineering and technical services according to customer specifications. Revenues on time and material type contracts are generally recognized in each period based on the amount billable to the customer which is based on direct labor hours expended multiplied by the contractual fixed rate per hour, plus the actual costs of materials and other direct non-labor costs. Certain contracts are billable upon the achievement of specific milestones, such as the delivery of prototypes or finished products, and revenue is recognized typically upon the delivery of the products. During the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, there was no revenue recognized from performance obligations satisfied (or partially satisfied) in previous periods.
The timing of the Companys revenue recognition may differ from the timing of payment by its customers. A receivable is recorded when revenue is recognized prior to payment and the Company has an unconditional right to payment. Alternatively, when payment precedes the provision of the related services, the Company records deferred revenue until the performance obligations are satisfied. Contract assets are comprised of unbilled contract receivables related to revenues earned but not yet invoiced to customers.
The Company generates revenue from government contracts that reimburse the Company for certain allowable costs for funded projects. For contracts with government agencies, when the Company has concluded that it is the principal in conducting the research and development expenses and where the funding arrangement is considered central to the Companys ongoing operations, the Company classifies the recognized funding received as revenue. The Company has determined that revenue generated from government grants is outside the scope of ASC 606 and, as a result, the Company recognizes revenue upon incurring qualifying, reimbursable expenses. During the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, the Company recognized approximately $1,170,000 and $560,000, respectively, of grant revenue.
Stock-Based Compensation
The Company measures the cost of services received in exchange for an award of equity instruments based on the fair value of the award. The fair value of the award is measured on the grant date. The fair value amount is then recognized over the period during which services are required to be provided in exchange for the award, usually the vesting period. Upon the exercise of an award, the Company issues new shares of common stock out of its authorized shares.
F-10
ODYSSEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES |
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS |
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2020 and 2019 |
Research and Development
Research and development expenses are charged to operations as incurred.
Income Taxes
As described in Note 1 - Business Organization, Reverse Recapitalization and Liquidity, beginning on June 21, 2019, the operations of the Company are subject to federal and state income taxes.
The Company recognizes deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of items that have been included or excluded in the financial statements or tax returns. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined on the basis of the difference between the tax basis of assets and liabilities and their respective financial reporting amounts (temporary differences) at enacted tax rates in effect for the years in which the temporary differences are expected to reverse. The Company has recorded a full valuation allowance against its deferred tax assets for all periods, due to the uncertainty of future utilization.
The Company utilizes a recognition threshold and measurement process for financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. Management has evaluated and concluded that there were no material uncertain tax positions requiring recognition in the Companys financial statements as of December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019. The Company does not expect any significant changes in its unrecognized tax benefits within twelve months of the reporting date. The Companys policy is to classify assessments, if any, for tax related interest as interest expense and penalties as selling, general and administrative expenses in the consolidated statements of operations.
Net loss per share of Common Stock
Basic net loss per share of common stock is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of vested shares of common stock outstanding during the period. Diluted net loss per share of common stock is computed by dividing net loss by the weighted average number of common and dilutive common-equivalent shares outstanding during each period.
The following shares were excluded from the calculation of weighted average dilutive shares of common stock because their inclusion would have been anti-dilutive:
As of December 31, | ||||||||
2020 | 2019 | |||||||
Warrants | 155,966 | 155,966 | ||||||
Options | 3,257,410 | 590,000 | ||||||
Total | 3,413,376 | 745,966 |
Reclassifications
Certain prior year balances have been reclassified in order to conform to current year presentation. These reclassifications have no effect on previously reported results of operations or income per share.
Unaudited Pro Forma Financial Information
The unaudited pro forma information gives effect to the Companys conversion from a tax exempt entity into a tax paying entity beginning in September 2019. During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company has estimated its pro forma income tax provision using a combined federal and state (New York) effective tax rate of 27.6%. No tax benefit was recorded for pro forma purposes for the year ended December 31, 2019, as it was deemed that the recovery of a pro forma deferred tax asset would not meet the more likely than not threshold. Therefore, a full pro forma valuation reserve would be established, such that no pro forma tax benefit would be recorded. Pro forma information is therefore unchanged from the actual results for the year ended December 31, 2019.
Recently Issued Accounting Standards
In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU No. 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), (ASU 2016-02). ASU 2016-02 requires an entity to recognize assets and liabilities arising from a lease for both financing and operating leases. ASU 2016-02 will also require new qualitative and quantitative disclosures to help investors and other financial statement users better understand the amount, timing, and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. The FASB issued ASU No. 2018-10 Codification Improvements to Topic 842, Leases (ASU 2018-10), ASU No. 2018-11 Leases (Topic 842) Targeted Improvements (ASU 2018-11) in July 2018, and ASU No. 2018-20 Leases (Topic 842) - Narrow Scope Improvements for Lessors (ASU 2018-20) in December 2018. ASU 2018-10 and ASU 2018-20 provide certain amendments that affect narrow aspects of the guidance issued in ASU 2016-02. ASU 2018-11 allows all entities adopting ASU 2016-02 to choose an additional (and optional) transition method of adoption, under which an entity initially applies the new leases standard at the adoption date and recognizes a cumulative-effect adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings in the period of adoption. Pursuant to ASU 2019-10 the effective date for ASC 842 was deferred an additional year. The Company expects to recognize operating lease right-of-use assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet upon adoption of this ASU. The Company is currently evaluating these ASUs and their impact on its consolidated financial statements.
F-11
ODYSSEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES |
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS |
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2020 and 2019 |
Note 3 - Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets
Prepaid expenses and other current assets consisted of the following:
December
31, 2020 |
December
31, 2019 |
|||||||
Insurance | $ | 33,569 | $ | 100,061 | ||||
Rent | - | 908 | ||||||
Professional fees | - | 17,500 | ||||||
Deposit | - | 20,958 | ||||||
Other | - | 7,638 | ||||||
Total | $ | 33,569 | $ | 147,065 |
Note 4 – Property and Equipment
Property and equipment consisted of the following:
December
31, 2020 |
December
31, 2019 |
|||||||
Computer and office equipment | $ | 2,807 | $ | 2,807 | ||||
Lab equipment | 15,606 | 15,606 | ||||||
Furniture | 43,705 | - | ||||||
Leasehold improvements | 422,318 | 140,056 | ||||||
Machinery | 623,190 | 241,285 | ||||||
Subtotal | 1,107,626 | 399,754 | ||||||
Accumulated Depreciation | (121,219 | ) | (9,909 | ) | ||||
Property and Equipment, net | $ | 986,407 | $ | 389,845 |
Depreciation and amortization expense related to property and equipment was approximately $111,000 and $5,000 (which was recorded within cost of sales) for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively. For the year ended December 31, 2020, depreciation expense of approximately $52,000 was recorded within cost of sales, $26,000 recorded within general and administrative expenses, $23,000 recorded within research and development, and $10,000 recorded within deferred costs.
F-12
ODYSSEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES |
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS |
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2020 and 2019 |
Note 5 - Accounts Payable and Accrued Expenses
Accounts payable and accrued expenses consisted of the following:
December
31, 2020 |
December
31, 2019 |
|||||||
Accounts payable | $ | 80,548 | $ | 90,720 | ||||
Accrued payroll and related costs | 46,650 | 51,115 | ||||||
Credit cards payable | 49,045 | 56,759 | ||||||
Insurance | - | 14,982 | ||||||
Other | 10,803 | 4,429 | ||||||
Total | $ | 187,046 | $ | 218,005 |
Note 6 – Related Party Transactions
Common Stock
On June 18, 2019, the Company issued 350,000 shares of immediately vested common stock for cash proceeds of $350 in connection with services provided to the Company. The shares were issued to an immediate family member of one of the Companys members of management who is also a principal owner. The shares had an issuance date fair value of $1.50 per share, or $525,000 in total. As a result, the Company recognized stock-based compensation expense of $524,650 on the date of issuance.
Note 7 – Stockholders Equity
Reverse Recapitalization
See Note 5 - Business Organization, Reverse Recapitalization - Reverse Recapitalization and Liquidity for additional details.
Authorized Capital
The Company is authorized to issue 45,000,000 shares of common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, and 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, $0.0001 par value per share. The holders of the Companys common stock are entitled to one vote per share. No preferred shares have been issued through December 31, 2020.
Common Stock Transactions
See Note 5 - Related Party Transactions for additional details.
On June 21 and August 5, 2019, the Company sold an aggregate of 1,776,346 shares of common stock at $1.50 per share to accredited investors for aggregate gross and net cash proceeds of $2,664,513 and $2,204,502, respectively, which included issuance costs of $460,011 consisting of legal and professional fees, which were charged to additional paid-in capital upon issuance of the common stock. In addition, the Company issued to the Companys placement agent immediately vested five-year warrants to purchase an aggregate of 155,966 shares of the Companys common stock at an exercise price of $1.50 per share. The warrants were determined to be classified within stockholders equity and had an issuance date fair value of $148,202. As a result, the Company recognized the warrants by recording a debit and credit to additional paid-in capital.
F-13
ODYSSEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES |
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS |
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2020 and 2019 |
On September 24, 2019, the Company sold an aggregate of 149,981 shares of common stock at $1.50 per share to accredited investors for aggregate cash proceeds of $224,972.
Note 8 – Equity Compensation Plan
On June 18, 2019, the Board of Directors and a majority of the Companys shareholders, respectively, approved the 2019 Equity Compensation Plan (the 2019 Plan). Under the 2019 Plan, 1,326,000 shares of common stock of the Company were authorized for issuance. On September 16, 2020 the Board of Directors and a majority of the Companys shareholders approved an increase in the Plan to authorize 4,600,000 shares. The 2019 Plan provides for the issuance of incentive stock options, non-statutory stock options, rights to purchase common stock, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock, performance shares and performance units to employees, directors and consultants of the Company and its affiliates. The 2019 Plan requires the exercise price of stock options to be not less than the fair value of the Companys common stock on the date of grant, or 110% of fair value in the case of incentive options granted to a ten-percent stockholder.
On September 25, 2019 and November 5, 2019, the Company granted ten-year options to purchase an aggregate of 350,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.50 per share to non-employee directors and consultants of the Company. Such options vest one-half on each of the two annual anniversaries of the date of grant.
On November 5, 2019, the Company granted five-year options to purchase an aggregate of 240,000 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.50 per share to employees. Such options vest ratably over three years on each annual anniversary of the date of grant.
On March 11, 2020, the Company granted the following ten-year options to purchase shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.50 per share to the Companys newly appointed Executive Chairman and Acting Chief Executive Officer under the 2019 Plan: (i) an option to purchase 965,850 shares of common stock that vests ratably on a monthly basis over two years and (ii) an option to purchase 321,950 shares of common stock that vests based on performance criteria to be mutually agreed to by the Board and the executive. The grant was reduced to 500,000 options, including 375,000 options and 125,000 options respectively under the two categories, due to limitations under the 2019 Plan. The terms of the 125,000 performance based options were established in the quarter ended September 30, 2020.
On May 26, 2020, the Board of Directors and a majority of the Companys shareholders approved an amendment to the 2019 Plan to (i) increase the number of shares of common stock authorized for issuance under the 2019 Plan by 1,174,000 shares, such that a total of 2,500,000 shares of common stock are now authorized for issuance under the 2019 Plan; (ii) increase the maximum aggregate number of shares, options and/or other awards that may be granted to any one person during any calendar year from 500,000 to 1,300,000; and (iii) clarify the availability of cashless exercise as a form of consideration.
On July 16, 2020, the Company granted the following ten-year options to purchase shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.50 per share to the Companys Executive Chairman and Acting Chief Executive Officer under the 2019 Plan: (i) an option to purchase 600,000 shares of common stock that vests ratably on a monthly basis over one year and (ii) an option to purchase 200,000 shares of common stock that vests based on specified performance criteria.
On September 16, 2020, the Board of Directors and a majority of the Companys shareholders approved an amendment to the 2019 Plan to increase the number of shares of common stock authorized for issuance under the 2019 Plan from 2,500,000 shares to 4,600,000 shares.
On September 22, 2020, the Company granted a ten-year options to purchase shares 1,637,410 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.50 per share to the Companys Chairman and Chief Executive Officer under the 2019 Plan that vests ratably on a monthly basis over two years commencing March 11, 2022.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, received $10.00 cash compensation in 2020. Starting January 1, 2021, he receives a cash compensation of $1.00 per month.
The following table summarizes the stock option activity for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019:
Shares |
Weighted-
Average Exercise Price per share |
Weighted-Average
Remaining Contractual Life (years) |
||||||||||
Balance, January 1, 2019 | - | - | - | |||||||||
Options granted | 590,000 | $ | 1.50 | 7.8 | ||||||||
Balance, January 1, 2020 | 590,000 | 1.50 | 7.8 | |||||||||
Options granted (1) | 2,937,410 | 1.50 | 9.5 | |||||||||
Options exercised | (270,000 | ) | 1.50 | - | ||||||||
Options converted | - | - | - | |||||||||
Options forfeited or expired | - | - | - | |||||||||
Balance, December 31,2020 (1) | 3,257,410 | $ | 1.50 | 9.1 | ||||||||
Vested shares at December 31, 2020 | 196,208 | 1.50 | 8.9 |
(1) | Includes the 325,000 options exercisable at $1.50 which vest based upon performance criteria. The criteria was not met as of December 31, 2020 and, as such, the Company did not recognized any expense for such options through December 31, 2020. |
The Company has estimated the fair value of fixed stock option awards as of the date of grant by applying the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. In applying the Black-Scholes option pricing model, the Company used the following assumptions for 2020 and 2019 issuances:
2020 | 2019 | |||
Risk-free interest rate | 0.62 -1.75% | 1.60% to 1.72% | ||
Expected term | 10 years | 3.5 -5.75 years | ||
Expected volatility | 78% | 77 - 79% | ||
Expected dividends | 0.00% | 0.00% | ||
Grant date fair value of common stock | $1.50/share | $1.50/share |
During the years ended December 30, 2020 and 2019, the Company granted options with a weighted average grant date fair value of $1.20 and $0.93 per share, respectively.
During the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company recognized stock-based compensation expense related to stock options of approximately $623,000 ($420,000 of which was included within general and administrative expenses, $67,000 of which was included in research and development expenses, $13,000 of which was included in deferred costs and $123,000 of which was included within cost of revenues). The criteria of the performance based awards were not met as of December 31, 2020, and therefore no expense has been recognized for such awards. As of December 31, 2020, there was unamortized stock-based compensation of approximately $3,300,000, which the Company expects to recognize over 1.6 years.
During the year ended December 31, 2019, the Company recognized stock-based compensation expense of approximately $62,000 ($47,000 of which was included within general and administrative expenses, $9,000 of which was included within cost of revenues on the consolidated statements of operations and $7,000 of which was included within deferred expenses as of December 31, 2019 on the consolidated balance sheet).
F-14
ODYSSEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES |
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS |
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2020 and 2019 |
Note 9 – Income Taxes
As described in Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Income Taxes, the operations of the Company became subject to United States Federal and New York State income taxes on June 21, 2019.
The Company does not have any current income tax provision (other than state minimum income taxes, which is included in general and administrative expenses in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations) due to losses. The deferred tax benefit has been offset by an increase in the valuation allowance of $545,000 and $213,000 for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
The provision for income taxes for the taxable periods ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 differs from the statutory federal income tax rate as follows:
Tax benefit at the Federal statutory rate | 21.0 | % | ||
State tax, net of Federal benefit | 6.6 | % | ||
Permanent differences | 9.5 | % | ||
Change in valuation allowance | (37.1 | )% | ||
Effective income tax rate | 0 | % |
Significant components of the Companys deferred tax assets at December 31, 2020 and 2019:
December 31, | ||||||||
2020 | 2019 | |||||||
Deferred taxes assets: | ||||||||
Net operating loss carryforward | $ | 526,000 | $ | 200,000 | ||||
Stock compensation expense | 166,000 | 13,000 | ||||||
R&D Credit | 64,000 | - | ||||||
Total deferred tax assets | 756,000 | 213,000 | ||||||
Valuation allowance | (756,000 | ) | (213,000 | ) | ||||
Deferred tax asset, net of valuation allowance | $ | - | $ | - |
The income tax benefit for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 differed from the amounts computed by applying the US federal income tax rate of 21 % primarily because of the increase in the valuation allowance, which resulted in an effective tax rate of zero for both years.
At December 31, 2020, the Company had approximately $2,100,000 of net operating loss (NOL) carryforwards that may be available to offset future Federal taxable income indefinitely and New York State taxable income through 2039. The utilization of NOL carryforwards to offset future taxable income may be subject to limitations under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code and similar state statutes as a result of ownership changes that could occur in the future. If necessary, the deferred tax assets will be reduced by any carryforward that expires prior to utilization as a result of such limitations, with a corresponding reduction of the valuation allowance.
The Company has assessed the likelihood that deferred tax assets will be realized in accordance with the provisions of ASC 740 Income Taxes (ASC 740). ASC 740 requires that such a review considers all available positive and negative evidence, including the scheduled reversal of deferred tax liabilities, projected future taxable income, and tax planning strategies. ASC 740 requires that a valuation allowance be established when it is more likely than not that all, or a portion of, deferred tax assets will not be realized. After the performance of such a review as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, management believes that uncertainty exists with respect to future realization of its deferred tax assets and has, therefore, established a full valuation allowance as of those dates.
Management has evaluated and concluded that there were no material uncertain tax positions requiring recognition in the Companys financial statements as of December 31, 2020 or 2019. The Company does not expect any significant changes in its unrecognized tax benefits within twelve months of the reporting date. No tax audits were commenced or were in process for the taxable periods ended December 31, 2020 and 2019. No tax related interest or penalties were incurred during the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019.
F-15
ODYSSEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES |
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS |
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2020 and 2019 |
Note 10 - Commitments and Contingencies
Litigations, Claims, and Assessments
From time to time, the Company is involved in various disputes, claims, liens and litigation matters arising out of the normal course of business. While the outcome of these disputes, claims, liens and litigation matters cannot be predicted with certainty, after consulting with legal counsel, management does not believe that the outcome of these matters will have a material adverse effect on the Companys combined financial position, results of operations or cash flows. Liabilities for loss contingencies arising from claims, assessments, litigation, fines and penalties and other sources are recorded when it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of the assessment can be reasonably estimated. As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, the Company had no liabilities recorded for loss contingencies.
Operating Lease
On August 21, 2019, the Company entered into a lease for a 10,000 square foot facility consisting of lab and office space. The lease requires monthly payments of $16,667 and expires on November 30, 2025. The Company has arranged for a $100,000 letter of credit in favor of the landlord in lieu of a security deposit, which is included as restricted cash on the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2020 and 2019. The minimum lease payments for the years ending December 31 are approximately as follows: $200,000 in each of 2021 to 2024 and $183,000 in 2025. Rent expense was $215,028 and $72,788 during the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Note 11 – Concentrations
The Company had 6 and 2 customers during the year ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.
During the year ended December 31, 2020, approximately 85% of revenues were generated from one governmental entity (Governmental client) pursuant to our contract with such entity. No other client accounted for more than 10% of revenues. 100% of contract assets as of December 31, 2020 are also related to this Governmental client. Deferred costs and deferred revenues at December 31, 2020 relate to three different clients, of which one client represents more than 75% of both categories.
During the year ended December 31, 2019, revenues were generated from the Governmental client pursuant to our contract with such entity, and amounted to approximately 78% of total revenues. Revenues pursuant to sale of products to other clients were approximately 22% of total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2019. 100% of the contract assets as of December 31, 2019 was from the Government client. Deferred costs and deferred revenues at December 31, 2019 relate to two different clients.
Note 12 – Government Loans
Paycheck Protection Program Loan
On May 1, 2020, the Company received loan proceeds in the amount of approximately $211,000 under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The PPP, established as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, as amended (CARES Act), provides for loans to qualifying businesses for amounts up to 2.5 times of the average monthly payroll expenses of such qualifying business. The loans and accrued interest are forgivable after certain time periods further defined in the CARES Act (the Covered Period) as long as the borrower uses the loan proceeds for eligible purposes, including payroll, benefits, rent and utilities, and maintains its payroll levels. The amount of loan forgiveness will be reduced if the borrower terminates employees or reduces salaries during the Covered Period. The outstanding balance is included in long term loans payable.
On March 6, 2021, the entire loan balance was forgiven.
Economic Injury Disaster Loan Advance
On May 1, 2020, the Company received an advance in the amount of $10,000 from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program administered by the SBA, which program was expanded pursuant to the CARES Act. Such advance amount will reduce the Companys PPP loan forgiveness amount described above. The Company received an additional $138,900 under this program on August 30, 2020. The loan is payable in monthly payments of $678 including interest at 3.75% payable over 30 years.
Tomkins County Area Development Loan
On May 27, 2020, the Company received loan proceeds in the amount of $50,000 from the Tomkins County Area Development (TCAD) Emergency Relief Loan Fund. The loan matures after four years and bears interest in the amount of 2.5% per annum, with one year of no interest or principal payments, followed by three years of monthly payments of principal and interest in the amount of $1,443 per month. The loan is collateralized by certain assets of the Company. The outstanding balance is included in long term loans payable.
Equipment Loans
On August 20, 2020, the Company received a loan of $100,000 from Broome County Industrial Development Agency (5 year facility, 2.5% annual interest rate, monthly payment of $1,775); on September 2, 2020, the Company received a loan of $100,000 from Southern Tier Region Economic Development Corporation (5 year facility, 5.0% annual interest rate, monthly payment of $2,072) ; and on August 28, 2020, the Company received a loan of $75,000 from TCAD(5 year facility, 2.5% annual interest rate, monthly payment of $1,331). These loans were used to acquire equipment used in the laboratory, and are secured by the underlying assets of the Company.
The loans are summarized as follows:
December
31, 2020 |
||||
Principal outstanding | $ | 679,866 | ||
Deferred loan costs, net of amortization | (4,408 | ) | ||
Subtotal | 675,458 | |||
Less current portion | (53,858 | ) | ||
Total long term portion | $ | 621,600 |
F-16
ODYSSEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES |
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS |
FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2020 and 2019 |
Interest expense on the above debt instruments was approximately $5,000 was recognized for the year ended December 31, 2020. Expected payments under the above loans as of December 31, 2020 are summarized as follows:
Payments expected for year ended |
December 31,
2020 |
|||
2021 | $ | 60,087 | ||
2022 | 194,110 | |||
2023 | 194,110 | |||
2024 | 77,615 | |||
2025 | 58,860 | |||
thereafter | 219,712 | |||
Subtotal | 804,494 | |||
Less interest portion | (124,628 | ) | ||
Total debt balance | $ | 679,866 |
Note 13 - Subsequent Events
The Company has evaluated events that have occurred after the balance sheet and through the date the financial statements were issued. Based upon the evaluation, the Company did not identify any recognized or non-recognized subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements, except as disclosed below:
In February 2021, the Company received approximately $68,000 from the exercise of stock options to purchase 45,625 shares of common stock.
On February 24, 2021, the Company received $193,625 pursuant to a promissory note issued under the Paycheck Protection Program Part 2 (PPP2). Interest accrues at 1% per annum and the note is payable in 60 monthly installments of $3,300 commencing May 2022.
On March 30, 2021, the Company received the proceeds of the first closing pursuant to an offering of its common stock. The Company sold 1,251,625 shares of common stock at $4.00 per share for gross proceeds of $5,006,500 (after expenses, net proceeds were approximately $4.6 million). Warrants equal to 8% of the common shares sold, other than to certain parties that were excluded from fees ("Excluded Counterparties"), will be issued to the placement agent with a 5 year exercise period and an exercise price of $4.00 per share. The Company may sell up to an additional 2,498,375 shares pursuant to this offering. The maximum number of shares in the offering is 3,750,000, but includes up to 250,000 shares that the Company can sell to Excluded Counterparties without incurring fees (cash or warrants) to the placement agent.
F-17
ITEM 9. CHANGES AND DISAGREEMENT WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE
None.
ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We maintain disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act)) that are designed to be effective in providing reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed in our reports under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the SEC, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
In designing and evaluating disclosure controls and procedures, management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute assurance of achieving the desired objectives. Also, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, have been detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake. The design of any system of controls is based, in part, upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions. As of the end of the period covered by this report, we carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of management, including our chief executive officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures. Based upon that evaluation, management concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2020 to cause the information required to be disclosed by us in reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods prescribed by SEC, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to management, including our chief executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Managements Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
As required by the SEC rules and regulations for the implementation of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Our internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of our consolidated financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that: (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the Company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of consolidated financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors, and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the consolidated financial statements.
In making the assessments on the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013). Based on our assessments and those criteria, management determined that our internal controls over financial reporting were ineffective as of December 31, 2020 due to a material weakness in internal control over financial reporting that we identified relating to a lack of segregation of duties. We do not have a Chief Financial Officer and sufficient resources in the Company’s accounting function, which restricts the Company’s ability to gather, analyze and properly review information related to financial reporting. Those functions are currently performed by our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Alex Behfar. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that a reasonable possibility exists that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements would not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. The Company is considering various remediation methods to mitigate such material weakness, but has not yet adopted or implemented any plan to remedy such deficiency.
This Report does not include an attestation report of the Companys registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. As an emerging growth company, managements report is not subject to attestation by our registered public accounting firm.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the most recent fiscal quarter, that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
None.
22
PART III
ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
All directors of the Company hold office for one-year terms until the election and qualification of their successors. Officers are appointed by our Board and serve at the discretion of the board, subject to applicable employment agreements. The following table sets forth information regarding our executive officers and the members of our Board.
Name | Age | Position | ||
Alex Behfar | 57 | Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Board and Director | ||
James Shealy | 64 | Secretary and Treasurer | ||
Richard Brown | 38 | Chief Technical Officer and Director | ||
Richard Ogawa | 58 | Director | ||
Michael Thompson | 63 | Director |
Alex Behfar joined the Board of Directors of the Company on June 21, 2019, became Acting Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman of the Board as of March 11, 2020 and was appointed as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman on September 16, 2020. He has over 30 years of experience in the semiconductor industry. He served as Senior Vice President and Chief Scientist, Photonics of MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc. (MACOM), from January 2016 to January 2019. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President and General Manager, Photonic Solutions of MACOM, from December 2014 to January 2016. Prior to joining MACOM, in 2000, he founded BinOptics Corporation, a provider of InP lasers for data centers, mobile backhaul, silicon photonics and access networks, and served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BinOptics from its inception through MACOMs December 2014 acquisition of BinOptics. Prior to BinOptics, Dr. Behfar worked at IBM for more than 10 years in various capacities, including Laser Enterprise, where he designed the first commercially viable high-power 830 nm and 980 nm GaAs-based lasers. Laser Enterprise was later sold by IBM to Uniphase and is now part of II-VI Incorporated. He also served as IBMs worldwide cross-functional Intellectual Assets Program Manager for optoelectronics and telecommunications. Dr. Behfar has been awarded over 50 U.S. patents. He holds an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University and a B.Sc. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Kings College, University of London.
James Shealy has been Secretary and Treasurer of the Company since June 21, 2019. He is a Co-Founder of the Odyssey Semiconductor and JR2J. He received his BS from North Carolina State University in 1978, his M.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic in 1980, and his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1983. After earning his doctorate, Mr. Shealy held a dual appointment at Cornell as a research associate and at General Electric as a principal staff scientist. In 1983 he co-founded, and has chaired, the biennial international workshop on OMVPE (organometallic vapor phase epitaxy), a technique used for growing semiconductor crystals. He joined the faculty in 1987 and is active in developing Cornells laboratory research in compound semiconductor materials and related graduate courses.
Richard Brown joined the Company as Chief Executive Officer, Chairman and a Director on June 21, 2019. He resigned from the positions of Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, and was appointed as Chief Technical Officer of the Company as of March 11, 2020. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from Cornell University, all in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2004, 2007, and 2010, respectively. His Ph.D. research was focused on advanced dielectrics for the passivation of microwave AlGaN/GaN HEMTs. After graduation, he was a founding member of the company that became Avogy, Inc. where he worked on the development of vertical GaN power devices for 2 years. Prior to the founding of Odyssey Semiconductor, he co-owned JR2J, LLC, a successful semiconductor device prototyping business, as well as working as a visiting scientist at Cornell University researching GaN based HEMTs. Mr. Brown has over 18 years of semiconductor device experience, most of it specializing in topics relating to GaN devices.
Richard Ogawa joined the Board of Directors of the Company on June 21, 2019. Mr. Ogawa currently also serves on the board of directors of Amesite Inc., an SEC reporting company in the artificial intelligence software industry, since February 2018. He has been General Counsel at Inphi Corporation since Jan 2013, responsible for overseeing legal matters as well as corporate, intellectual property, and government affairs. Mr. Ogawa is a Registered United States Patent Attorney and a Member of the California State Bar with more than 25 years of experience specializing in technology companies. Prior to Inphi, from January 1993 to January 2010, he was a Partner at Townsend and Townsend, a law firm focused on intellectual property. He is the founder and owner of Ogawa Professional Corporation, his own law firm, focusing on ventured back startup companies. Since February 2008, he has been General Counsel for Soraa Laser Diode, Inc., a venture funded company by Khosla Ventures, and since December 2009 has been General Counsel for MCube, Inc. a venture funded company by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. He also held a variety of engineering and management positions at NEC Electronics from December 1984 to December 1992. He received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Davis in 1984, and a J.D. from McGeorge George School of Law, University of the Pacific in 1991.
Michael Thompson joined the Board of Directors of the Company on June 21, 2019. He received his B.S. in Applied Physics from CalTech in 1979 and M.S./Ph.D. degrees in Applied and Engineering Physics from Cornell in 1984. After completing his Ph.D, he joined the faculty in the Department of Materials Science at Cornell continuing his work on the interaction of materials with intense laser sources. He has co-authored over 100 journal publications, is co-inventor on 25 patents, and has founded or co-founded three startup companies. He was the recipient of the 2009 SEMI Award for technical contributions to the semiconductor industry. For the past 28 years, Dr. Thompsons research has focused extensively on the behavior of semiconductor materials under pulsed and CW laser exposure. On the fundamental level, his group has explored limits to crystal growth under the extreme conditions of laser irradiation, including limits to metastable impurity incorporation, behavior of point defects, interface stability, explosive crystallization, and group IV heteroepitaxy. Key to this work has been the development of quantitative methods to monitor the kinetics of both melt and non-melt laser annealing of ultra-shallow junctions. In the late 1990s, he was involved in the development of melt-annealing methods to fabricate thin-film transistors on glass and flexible substrates. Over the past decade, he helped to develop the use of CW lasers for non-melt laser annealing (LSA – Laser Spike Annealing) of ultra-shallow junctions in advanced VLSI nodes. His group currently is active in exploring new applications for LSA both within and beyond the microelectronics community. Areas of research include dopant activation and deactivation in compound semiconductors (InGaAs, GaN, GaO2), thin-film amorphous oxide semiconductors (IGZO), metastable phase formation in metallic glasses and complex oxides during LSA quench, mesoscale structuring of organic and inorganic materials in the millisecond timescale, and development of novel processes for EUV and DSA lithography. He is also currently the director of the ACCESS (AFRL Cornell Center for Epitaxial SolutionS) center focused on understanding fundamental materials issues in GaO2 power devices.
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Involvement in Certain Legal Proceedings
To our knowledge, during the past ten years, none of our directors, executive officers, promoters, control persons, or nominees has:
● | been convicted in a criminal proceeding or been subject to a pending criminal proceeding (excluding traffic violations and other minor offenses); |
● | had any bankruptcy petition filed by or against the business or property of the person, or of any partnership, corporation or business association of which he was a general partner or executive officer, either at the time of the bankruptcy filing or within two years prior to that time; |
● | been subject to any order, judgment, or decree, not subsequently reversed, suspended or vacated, of any court of competent jurisdiction or federal or state authority, permanently or temporarily enjoining, barring, suspending or otherwise limiting, his involvement in any type of business, securities, futures, commodities, investment, banking, savings and loan, or insurance activities, or to be associated with persons engaged in any such activity; |
● | been found by a court of competent jurisdiction in a civil action or by the SEC or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to have violated a federal or state securities or commodities law, and the judgment has not been reversed, suspended, or vacated; |
● | been the subject of, or a party to, any federal or state judicial or administrative order, judgment, decree, or finding, not subsequently reversed, suspended or vacated (not including any settlement of a civil proceeding among private litigants), relating to an alleged violation of any federal or state securities or commodities law or regulation, any law or regulation respecting financial institutions or insurance companies including, but not limited to, a temporary or permanent injunction, order of disgorgement or restitution, civil money penalty or temporary or permanent cease-and-desist order, or removal or prohibition order, or any law or regulation prohibiting mail or wire fraud or fraud in connection with any business entity; or |
● | been the subject of, or a party to, any sanction or order, not subsequently reversed, suspended or vacated, of any self-regulatory organization (as defined in Section 3(a)(26) of the Exchange Act), any registered entity (as defined in Section 1(a)(29) of the Commodity Exchange Act), or any equivalent exchange, association, entity or organization that has disciplinary authority over its members or persons associated with a member. |
Board Committees
The Company does not currently maintain a board of directors that is composed of a majority of independent directors.
The Company does not expect to initially appoint an audit committee, nominating committee and/or compensation committee, or to adopt charters relative to each such committees.
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics
The Company has not adopted a code of business conduct and ethics.
Limitation of Directors Liability and Indemnification
The Company is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Delaware. Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law provides that a corporation may indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to an action by reason of the fact that he or she was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation or is or was serving at the request of the corporation against expenses (including attorneys fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by him or her in connection with such action if he or she acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in, or not opposed to, the best interests of the corporation and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe his or her conduct was unlawful, except that, in the case of an action by or in right of the corporation, no indemnification may generally be made in respect of any claim as to which such person is adjudged to be liable to the corporation. The Companys Bylaws provide that it will indemnify its directors and officers against expenses actually and necessarily incurred in connection with the defense of any action, suit, or proceeding in which they, or any of them, were made parties, or a party, by reason of being or having been directors or officers or a director or officer of the Company, or of such other corporation, except in relation to matters as to which any such director or officer or person shall have been adjudged in such action, suit, or proceeding to be liable for negligence or misconduct in the performance of any duty owed to the Company.
Section 102(b)(7) of the Delaware General Corporation Law permits a corporation to provide in its certificate of incorporation that a director of the corporation shall not be personally liable to the corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duties as a director, except for liability for any: (i) breach of a directors duty of loyalty to the corporation or its stockholders; (ii) act or omission not in good faith or that involves intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law; (iii) unlawful payment of dividends or redemption of shares; or (iv) transaction from which the director derives an improper personal benefit. The Companys Certificate of Incorporation provides that its directors are not personally liable to the Company or its stockholders for monetary damages for breaches of fiduciary duties to the fullest extent permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law. These limitations of liability do not apply to liabilities arising under federal securities laws and do not affect the availability of equitable remedies such as injunctive relief or rescission.
Section 145(g) of the Delaware General Corporation Law permits a corporation to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation. At present, the Company has purchased director and officer liability insurance to cover liabilities our directors and officers may incur in connection with their services to us for up to $2 million.
Indemnification Agreements
The Company has not entered into any indemnity agreements with its officers or directors. There is no pending litigation or proceeding involving any of our directors, officers, employees or agents in which indemnification will be required or permitted. We are not aware of any threatened litigation or proceeding that may result in a claim for such indemnification.
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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
The following table presents information regarding the total compensation awarded to, earned by, or paid to our chief executive officer and the other most highly-compensated executive officers (other than the chief executive officer) who were serving as executive officers as of the December 31, 2020 and 2019.
Alex Behfar, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, received $10.00 cash compensation in 2020. Starting January 1, 2021, he receives a cash compensation of $1.00 per month.
Name and Principal
Position |
Year |
Salary
($) |
Bonus
($) |
Option
Awards ($)(4) |
Non-
equity incentive plan compens- ation ($) |
Change
in
pension value and nonqualified deferred compensa- tion earnings ($) |
All Other
Compensa- tion ($) |
Total
($) |
|||||||||||||||||
Alex Behfar (1) | 2020 | 10 | 0 | 4,406,115 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,406,125 | |||||||||||||||||
Chairman and Chief | 2019 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | |||||||||||||||||
Executive Officer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Richard J. Brown (2)(3) | 2020 | 150,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 150,000 | |||||||||||||||||
Chief Technical | 2019 | 76,731 | 50,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 191,460 | 318,191 | |||||||||||||||||
Officer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
James R. Shealy (2) | 2020 | 55,625 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55,625 | |||||||||||||||||
Secretary and | 2019 | 48,606 | 50,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100,000 | 198,606 | |||||||||||||||||
Treasurer |
(1) | Mr. Behfar was appointed in 2020. There is no compensation in prior years as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. |
(2) | Mr. Brown and Mr. Shealy were appointed officers of the Company as of June 21, 2019, upon the share exchange between the Company and Odyssey Semiconductor. During the fiscal year of 2018 and prior to the share exchange, Mr. Brown and Mr. Shealy were each an officer of JR2J, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Odyssey Semiconductor. The compensation disclosed herein includes compensation paid by JR2J prior to the share exchange. |
(3) | Mr. Brown received a distribution of $10,000 and $100,000 from JR2J as a member for 2018 and 2019, respectively. In addition, Mr. Brown received $127,825 and $91,460, respectively, for 2018 and 2019 from JR2J as a consultant. Mr. Brown resigned from the position of Chief Executive Officer and was appointed as Chief Technical Officer as of March 11, 2020. |
(4) | The amounts reported in the Option Awards column reflect the aggregate fair value of stock-based compensation awarded during the year computed in accordance with the provisions of FASB ASC Topic 718. |
Employment and Consulting Agreements
On July 1, 2019, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Odyssey Semiconductor, the Company entered into an agreement with Al Schremer as Vice President of Research and Development. Pursuant to the agreement, the Company agreed to pay Mr. Schremer an annual salary of $100,000 and a one-time grant of options to purchase 100,000 shares of the Companys common stock. Other than Al Schremer, we have not entered into any other employment agreement with our management or significant employees.
On April 1, 2019, JR2J, our indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, entered into a one-year independent contractor agreement with Richard Ogawa, pursuant to which Mr. Ogawa agreed to serve as a director of the Company post-Share Exchange, and provide services related to intellectual property development, intellectual property strategies and licensing of intellectual property. This Agreement automatically renews for additional terms of one-year unless terminated in accordance with the Agreement. In consideration for Mr. Ogawas services to the Company, on September 25, 2019, the Company granted Mr. Ogawa a 10-year option under the 2019 Plan to purchase 275,000 shares of Common Stock at a price of $1.50 per share, half of which will vest on September 25, 2020 and the remaining on September 25, 2021.
On May 16, 2019, Odyssey Semiconductor, our wholly-owned subsidiary, entered into a one-year independent contractor agreement with Alex Behfar, pursuant to which Mr. Behfar agreed to serve as a director of the Company post-Share Exchange, and provide services related to corporate development and business strategy, and intellectual property strategies. This Agreement automatically renews for additional terms of one-year unless terminated in accordance with the Agreement. In consideration for Mr. Behfars services to the Company, on September 25, 2019, the Company granted Mr. Behfar a 10-year option under the 2019 Plan to purchase 50,000 shares of Common Stock at a price of $1.50 per share, half of which will vest on September 25, 2020 and the remaining on September 25, 2021.
Outstanding Equity Awards
The following table summarizes, for each of the named executive officers, the number of shares of Common Stock underlying outstanding stock options held as of December 31, 2020.
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2019 Equity Compensation Plan
General
On June 18, 2019, our Board of Directors adopted an Equity Compensation Plan (the 2019 Plan). The 2019 Plan was approved by the stockholders on the same day. On May 26, 2020, the Board of Directors and a majority of the Companys shareholders approved an amendment to the 2019 Plan to (i) increase the number of shares of common stock authorized for issuance under the 2019 Plan from 1,326,000 to 2,500,000 shares; (ii) increase the maximum aggregate number of shares, options and/or other awards that may be granted to any one person during any calendar year from 500,000 to 1,300,000; and (iii) clarify the availability of cashless exercise as a form of consideration. On September 16, 2020, the Board of Directors and a majority of the Companys shareholders approved the second amendment to the 2019 Plan to (i) increase the number of shares of common stock authorized for issuance under the 2019 Plan from 2,500,000 to 4,600,000; (ii) increase the maximum aggregate number of shares, options and/or other awards that may be granted to any one person during any calendar year from 1,300,000 to 2,950,000.
As of the date hereof, there are 3,527,410 options granted under the 2019 Plan, of which 315,625 options have been exercised, and 1,072,590 shares available to be issued in the future under the 2019 Plan.
The general purpose of the 2019 Plan is to provide an incentive to our employees, directors, consultants and advisors by enabling them to share in the future growth of our business. Our Board of Directors believes that the granting of stock options, restricted stock awards, unrestricted stock awards and similar kinds of equity-based compensation promotes continuity of management and increases incentive and personal interest in the welfare of our Company by those who are primarily responsible for shaping and carrying out our long range plans and securing our growth and financial success.
Our Board of Directors believes that the 2019 Plan will advance our interests by enhancing our ability to (a) attract and retain employees, consultants, directors and advisors who are in a position to make significant contributions to our success; (b) reward our employees, consultants, directors and advisors for these contributions; and (c) encourage employees, consultants, directors and advisors to take into account our long-term interests through ownership of our shares.
Description of the 2019 Equity Compensation Plan
The following description of the principal terms of the 2019 Plan, as amended, is a summary and is qualified in its entirety by the full text of the 2019 Plan, which is attached herewith as an exhibit.
Administration. The 2019 Plan will be administered by our Board of Directors. Our Board of Directors may grant options to purchase shares of our Common Stock, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock units, restricted or unrestricted shares of our Common Stock, performance shares, performance units, other cash-based awards and other stock-based awards. The Board of Directors also has broad authority to determine the terms and conditions of each option or other kind of equity award, adopt, amend and rescind rules and regulations for the administration of the 2019 Plan and amend or modify outstanding options, grants and awards.
Eligibility. Persons eligible to receive options, stock appreciation rights or other awards under the 2019 Plan are employees, consultants, advisors and directors of our Company and our subsidiaries. As of the date hereof, 12 full-time employees, one part-time employee, and two non-employee directors are eligible to participate in the 2019 Plan. The Board of Directors may at any time and from time to time grant awards under the 2019 Plan to eligible persons on a discretionary basis.
Shares Subject to the 2019 Plan. The aggregate number of shares of Common Stock available for issuance in connection with options and awards granted under the 2019 Plan, as amended, is 4,600,000, subject to customary adjustments for stock splits, stock dividends or similar transactions. Incentive Stock Options may be granted under the 2019 Plan with respect to all of those shares. If any option or stock appreciation right granted under the 2019 Plan terminates without having been exercised in full or if any award is forfeited, or if shares of Common Stock are withheld to cover withholding taxes on options or other awards, the number of shares of Common Stock as to which such option or award was forfeited, or which were withheld, will be available for future grants under the 2019 Plan. The maximum aggregate number of shares of common stock with respect to one or more awards that may be granted to any employee, director or consultant during any calendar year shall be 2,950,000 and the maximum aggregate amount of cash that may be paid in cash during any calendar year with respect to one or more awards payable in cash shall be $200,000.
Terms and Conditions of Options. Options granted under the 2019 Plan may be either incentive stock options that are intended to meet the requirements of Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code) or nonstatutory stock options that do not meet the requirements of Section 422 of the Code. Incentive stock options may be granted only to employees. Each option grant will be evidenced by an award agreement that will specify the terms and conditions as determined by the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors will determine the exercise price of options granted under the 2019 Plan. The exercise price of stock options may not be less than the fair market value, on the date of grant, per share of our Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the option (or 110% of fair market value in the case of incentive options granted to a ten-percent stockholder).
If on the date of grant the Common Stock is listed on a stock exchange or is quoted on the automated quotation system of Nasdaq, the fair market value shall generally be the closing sale price on the last trading day before the date of grant. If no such prices are available, the fair market value shall be determined in good faith by the Board of Directors based on the advice of a qualified valuation expert.
No option may be exercisable for more than ten years (five years in the case of an incentive stock option granted to a ten-percent stockholder) from the date of grant. Options granted under the 2019 Plan will be exercisable at such time or times as the Board of Directors prescribes at the time of grant. No employee may receive incentive stock options that first become exercisable in any calendar year in an amount exceeding $100,000.
Generally, the option price may be paid (a) in cash or by bank check, (b) through delivery of shares of our Common Stock having a fair market value equal to the purchase price, (c) through cashless exercise, or (d) a combination of these methods.
No option may be transferred other than by will or by the laws of descent and distribution, and during a recipients lifetime an option may be exercised only by the recipient. Options granted under the 2019 Plan will be exercisable at such time or times as the Board of Directors prescribes at the time of grant. No employee may receive incentive stock options that first become exercisable in any calendar year in an amount exceeding $100,000.
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Stock Appreciation Rights. The Board of Directors may grant stock appreciation rights under the 2019 Plan in such amounts as the Board of Directors in its sole discretion will determine. Each stock appreciation right grant will be evidenced by an award agreement that will specify the terms and conditions as determined by the Board of Directors. The exercise price per share of a stock appreciation right will be determined by the Board of Directors, but will not be less than 100% of the fair market value of a share of our Common Stock on the date of grant. The maximum term of any SAR granted under the 2019 Plan is ten years from the date of grant. Generally, each SAR stock appreciation right will entitle a participant upon exercise to an amount equal to:
● | the excess of the fair market value on the exercise date of one share of our Common Stock over the exercise price, multiplied by |
● | the number of shares of Common Stock covered by the stock appreciation right. |
Payment may be made in shares of our Common Stock, in cash, or partly in Common Stock and partly in cash, all as determined by the Board of Directors.
Restricted Stock and Restricted Stock Units. The Board of Directors may award restricted common stock and/or restricted stock units under the 2019 Plan in such amounts as the Board of Directors in its sole discretion will determine. The Board of Directors will determine the restrictions and conditions applicable to each award of restricted stock or restricted stock units, as evidenced in an award agreement, which may include performance-based conditions. Dividends and other distributions with respect to restricted stock may be paid to the holder of the shares as and when dividends are paid to stockholders, unless otherwise provided in the award agreement. Unless the Board of Directors determines otherwise, holders of restricted stock will have the right to vote the shares.
Performance Shares and Performance Units. The Board of Directors may award performance shares and/or performance units under the 2019 Plan in such amounts as the Board of Directors in its sole discretion will determine. Each performance unit will have an initial value that is established by the Board of Directors on or before the date of grant. Each performance share will have an initial value equal to the fair market value of a share on the date of grant. The Board of Directors at its discretion will set performance objectives or other vesting provisions. The Board of Directors will determine the restrictions and conditions applicable to each award of performance shares and performance units, as evidenced in an award agreement.
Effect of Certain Corporate Transactions. In the event of a change in control (as defined in the 2019 Plan), the Board of Directors has the discretion and without the need for the consent of any recipient of an award to take the following actions as to an outstanding award: (i) awards will be assumed, or substantially equivalent awards will be substituted, by the acquiring or succeeding corporation; (ii) awards will terminate upon or immediately prior to the consummation of such change in control; (iii) outstanding awards will vest and become exercisable, or restrictions applicable to an award will lapse, in whole or in part prior to or upon consummation of such change in control, and terminate upon or immediately prior to the effectiveness of such change in control; (iv) an award is terminated in exchange for an amount of cash and/or property, if any, equal to the amount that would have been attained upon the exercise of such award; (v) an award is replaced with other rights or property selected by the Board of Directors in its sole discretion; or (vi) any combination of the foregoing.
Amendment, Termination. The Board of Directors may at any time amend, alter, amend the terms of awards in any manner not inconsistent with the 2019 Plan, provided that no amendment shall adversely affect the rights of a participant with respect to an outstanding award without the participants consent. In addition, our board of directors may at any time amend, suspend, or terminate the 2019 Plan, provided that (i) no such amendment, suspension or termination shall materially and adversely affect the rights of any participant under any outstanding award without the consent of such participant and (ii) to the extent necessary to comply with any applicable law or stock exchange rule, the Company will obtain stockholder consent of amendment to the plan.
Tax Withholding
As and when appropriate, we have the right to require each optionee purchasing shares of Common Stock and each grantee receiving an award of shares of Common Stock under the 2019 Plan to pay any federal, state or local taxes required by law to be withheld.
Option Grants and Stock Awards
The grant of options and other awards under the 2019 Plan is discretionary, and we cannot determine now the specific number or type of options or awards to be granted in the future to any particular person or group.
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ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS
The following table sets forth the number of shares of Common Stock beneficially owned as of the date hereof by:
● | each of each of our named executive officers; |
● | each of our directors; |
● | all of our directors and current executive officers as a group; and |
● | each of our stockholders who is known by us to beneficially own more than 5% of our Common Stock. |
Beneficial ownership is determined based on the rules and regulations of the Commission. A person has beneficial ownership of shares if such individual has the power to vote and/or dispose of shares. This power may be sole or shared and direct or indirect. Applicable percentage ownership in the following table is based on the total of 12,726,911 shares of Common Stock issued and outstanding as of the date hereof. In computing the number of shares beneficially owned by a person and the percentage ownership of that person, shares of Common Stock that are subject to options or warrants held by that person and exercisable as of, or within 60 days hereof. These shares, however, are not counted as outstanding for the purposes of computing the percentage ownership of any other person(s). Except as may be indicated in the footnotes to this table and pursuant to applicable community property laws, each person named in the table has sole voting and dispositive power with respect to the shares of Common Stock set forth opposite that person's name. Unless indicated below, the address of each individual listed below is c/o Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc., 9 Brown Road, Ithaca, NY 14850.
Directors and Named Executive Officers | Common Stock | Percentage | ||||||
Richard J. Brown, Chief Technical Officer and Director | 2,731,251 | 20.57 | % | |||||
James R. Shealy, Secretary and Treasurer | 2,743,750 | 20.66 | % | |||||
Alex Behfar, Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Board and Director (1) | 947,916 | 7.14 | % | |||||
Richard Ogawa, Director (2) | 36,667 | * | ||||||
Michael Thompson, Director (3) | 0 | * | ||||||
All Officers and Directors (5 persons) | 6,459,584 | 48.64 | % | |||||
Greater than 5% Stockholders | ||||||||
Mark Tompkins (4) | 2,187,500 | 16.47 | % |
* | Less than 1%. |
(1) | Includes (i) 16,666 shares of Common Stock purchased by Mr. Behfar at a private placement of the Company through Ulexus LLC, over which he has voting, dispositive or investment powers; (ii) 315,625 shares of Common Stock received from exercises of options; (iii) vested options exercisable at present to purchase an aggregate of 91,250 shares of Common Stock; (iv) options exercisable within 60 days to purchase an aggregate of 91,250 shares of Common Stock; (iv) upon the closing of $5,006,500 proceeds raised by the Company on March 30, 2021, options to purchase an aggregate of 325,000 shares of Common Stock vested, pursuant to stock option award agreements dated March 11, 2020 and July 16, 2020 between Company and Mr. Behfar; and (v) 62,500 shares of common stock purchased by Kristin Behfar, wife of Mr. Behfar, on March 30, 2021 in a private offering. In addition, Mr. Behfar also owns the following: (i) options to purchase 25,000 shares of Common Stock at the price of $1.50 per share, which will vest as of September 25, 2021; (ii) options to purchase 156,250 shares of Common Stock at the price of $1.50 per share, that vest ratably on a monthly basis over 10 months starting from June 11, 2021; (iii) options to purchase 300,000 shares of common stock at the price of $1.50 per share, that vest ratably on a monthly basis over 10 months starting from June 11, 2021; and (iv) options to purchase 1,637,410 shares of common stock at the price of $1.50 per share, that will vest ratably on a monthly basis over 24 months starting from March 11, 2022. |
(2) | Mr. Ogawa also owns options to purchase 275,000 shares of Common Stock at the price of $1.50 per share, granted under the Companys 2019 Plan, half of which vested as of September 25, 2020. The other half will vest as of September 25, 2021. |
(3) | Mr. Thompson owns options to purchase 25,000 shares of Common Stock at the price of $1.50 per share, granted under the Companys 2019 Plan, half of which vested as of November 5, 2020. The other half will vest as of November 5, 2021. |
(4) | Percentage excludes any shares that were transferred out from the Transfer Agent, VStock Transfer, and listed under Cede & Co. at VStock Transfer. |
ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
Unless described below, since April 12, 2019 (inception), there are no transactions or series of similar transactions to which we were a party or will be a party, in which:
● | the amounts involved exceeded or will exceed the lesser of $120,000 or 1% of the average of the Companys total assets at year-end for the last two completed fiscal years; and |
● | any of our directors, executive officers or holders of more than 5% of our capital stock, or any member of the immediate family of the foregoing persons, had or will have a direct or indirect material interest. |
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On April 1, 2019, JR2J, our indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, entered into a one-year independent contractor agreement with Richard Ogawa, pursuant to which Mr. Ogawa agreed to serve as a director of the Company post-Share Exchange, and provide services related to intellectual property development, intellectual property strategies and licensing of intellectual property. This Agreement automatically renews for additional terms of one-year unless terminated in accordance with the Agreement. In consideration for Mr. Ogawas services to the Company, on September 25, 2019, the Company granted Mr. Ogawa a 10-year option under the 2019 Plan to purchase 275,000 shares of Common Stock at a price of $1.50 per share, half of which vested on September 25, 2020. The remaining options will vest on September 25, 2021.
On May 16, 2019, Odyssey Semiconductor, our wholly-owned subsidiary, entered into a one-year independent contractor agreement with Alex Behfar, pursuant to which Mr. Behfar agreed to serve as a director of the Company post-Share Exchange, and provide services related to corporate development and business strategy, and intellectual property strategies. This Agreement automatically renews for additional terms of one-year unless terminated in accordance with the Agreement. In consideration for Mr. Behfars services to the Company, on September 25, 2019, the Company granted Mr. Behfar a 10-year option under the 2019 Plan to purchase 50,000 shares of Common Stock at a price of $1.50 per share, half of which vested on September 25, 2020. The remaining half will vest on September 25, 2021.
On June 17, 2019, Odyssey Semiconductor entered into a Contribution Agreement (the Contribution Agreement) with Richard Brown and James Shealy, who collectively owned 100% of the membership interests of JR2J. Pursuant to the Contribution Agreement, Messrs. Brown and Shealy contributed their membership interests in JR2J to Odyssey Semiconductor, in exchange for a total of 5,316,667 shares of common stock of Odyssey Semiconductor. Following the transactions contemplated under the Contribution Agreement, JR2J became the wholly-owned subsidiary of Odyssey Semiconductor.
On June 18, 2019, Odyssey Semiconductor issued 350,000 shares of immediately vested common stock to Jeffrey Shealy for cash proceeds of $350 in connection with services provided by Mr. Shealy. On June 21, 2019, the Company acquired 100% shares of Odyssey Semiconductor through a share exchange with stockholders of Odyssey Semiconductor, pursuant to which Mr. Shealy exchanged 350,000 shares of common stock of Odyssey Semiconductor to the same number of shares of the Companys Common Stock. Jeffrey Shealy is brother of James Shealy, an officer and a principal owner of the Company. The shares issued to Mr. Shealy had an issuance date fair value (based upon a contemporaneous private offering of our common stock at $1.50 per share) of $1.50 per share, or $525,000 in total.
On March 11, 2020, in connection with his appointment as the Companys Acting Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman, Mr. Behfar was granted options to purchase 375,000 shares of common stock at the price of $1.50 per share, that vest ratably on a monthly basis over two years and options to purchase 125,000 shares of common stock at the price of $1.50 per share, that will vest upon the closing of a total of at least $5 million raised by the Company prior to March 11, 2022 from a combination of any of the following sources: new equity issuance, new debt financing, equipment financing, and lease-backs. On July 17, 2020, Mr. Behfar was granted options to purchase 600,000 shares of common stock at the price of $1.50 per share that vest ratably on a monthly basis over 20 months and options to purchase 200,000 shares of common stock at the price of $1.50 per share that will vest upon the closing of a total of at least $5 million raised by the Company prior to March 11, 2022 from a combination of any of the following sources: new equity issuance, new debt financing, equipment financing, and lease-backs.
On September 16, 2020, in connection with his appointment as the Companys Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, Mr. Behfar was granted options to purchase 1,637,410 shares of common stock at the price of $1.50 per share that will vest ratably on a monthly basis over 24 months starting from March 11, 2022.
ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
Marcum LLP served as the Companys independent registered public accounting firm for the last two fiscal years. The following table shows the fees that were billed for the audit and other services provided to the Company for 2020 and 2019.
2020 | 2019 | |||||||
Audit Fees | $ | 103,045 | $ | 66,950 | ||||
Audit-Related Fees | $ | 23,690 | $ | - | ||||
Tax Fees | $ | - | $ | 18,643 | ||||
All Other Fees | $ | - | $ | - | ||||
Total | $ | 157,693 | $ | 58,710 |
Audit Fees — This category includes the audit of our annual financial statements, review of financial statements included in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and services that are normally provided by the independent registered public accounting firm in connection with engagements for those fiscal years. This category also includes advice on audit and accounting matters that arose during, or as a result of, the audit or the review of interim financial statements.
Audit-Related Fees — This category consists of assurance and related services by the independent registered public accounting firm that are reasonably related to the performance of the audit or review of our financial statements and are not reported above under Audit Fees. The services for the fees disclosed under this category include consultation regarding the Companys correspondence with the SEC and other accounting consulting.
Tax Fees — This category consists of professional services rendered by our independent registered public accounting firm for tax compliance and tax advice. The services for the fees disclosed under this category include tax return preparation and technical tax advice.
All Other Fees — This category consists of fees for other miscellaneous items.
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PART IV
ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
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In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, the registrant caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized on April 7, 2021.
ODYSSEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC. | ||
By: | /s/ Alex Behfar | |
Name: Alex Behfar | ||
Title:
Chief Executive Officer
(Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) |
||
KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that we, the undersigned officers and directors Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the Registrant), do hereby constitute and appoint Alex Behfar as his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent, with full power of substitution and re-substitution, for him and in his name, place, and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments to this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in connection therewith, as fully to all intents and purposes as he might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming that the said attorneys-in-fact and agent, or any of his substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this Annual Report on Form 10-K has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
Person | Capacity | Date | ||
/s/ Alex Behfar | Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Board and Director | April 7, 2021 | ||
Alex Behfar | (Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) | |||
/s/ Richard Brown | Chief Technical Officer and Director | April 7, 2021 | ||
Richard Brown | ||||
/s/ Richard Ogawa | Director | April 7, 2021 | ||
Richard Ogawa | ||||
/s/ Michael Thompson | Director | April 7, 2021 | ||
Michael Thompson |
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Exhibit 10.1
ODYSSEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
SECOND AMENDED AND RESTATED 2019 EQUITY COMPENSATION PLAN
1. Purposes of the Plan. The purposes of this Plan are:
· | to attract and retain the best available personnel for positions of substantial responsibility, |
· | to provide incentives to individuals who perform services for the Company, and |
· | to promote the success of the Company’s business. |
The Plan permits the grant of Incentive Stock Options, Nonstatutory Stock Options, Stock Appreciation Rights, Restricted Stock, Restricted Stock Units, Performance Units, Performance Shares and other stock or cash awards as the Administrator may determine.
2. Definitions. As used herein, the following definitions will apply:
(a) “Administrator” means the Board or any of its Committees as will be administering the Plan, in accordance with Section 4 hereof.
(b) “Affiliate” means any corporation or any other entity (including, but not limited to, partnerships and joint ventures) controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the Company.
(c) “Applicable Laws” means the requirements relating to the administration of equity-based awards under U.S. federal and state corporate laws, U.S. federal and state securities laws, the Code, any stock exchange or quotation system on which the Common Stock is listed or quoted and the applicable laws of any foreign country or jurisdiction where Awards are, or will be, granted under the Plan.
(d) “Award” means, individually or collectively, a grant under the Plan of Options, Stock Appreciation Rights, Restricted Stock, Restricted Stock Units, Performance Units, Performance Shares and other stock or cash awards as the Administrator may determine.
(e) “Award Agreement” means the written or electronic agreement setting forth the terms and provisions applicable to each Award granted under the Plan. The Award Agreement is subject to the terms and conditions of the Plan.
(f) “Board” means the Board of Directors of the Company.
(g) “Change in Control” means the occurrence of any of the following events:
(i) | A change in the ownership of the Company which occurs on the date that any one person, or more than one person acting as a group (“Person”), acquires ownership of stock in the Company that, together with the stock already held by such Person, constitutes more than 50% of the total voting power of the stock of the Company; provided, however, that for purposes of this subsection (i), the acquisition of additional stock by any Person who is considered to own more than 50% of the total voting power of the stock of the Company before the acquisition will not be considered a Change in Control; or |
(ii) | A change in the effective control of the Company, which occurs on the date that a majority of the members of the Board are replaced during any twelve (12) month period by Directors whose appointment or election is not endorsed by a majority of the members of the Board prior to the date of the appointment or election. For purposes of this subsection (ii), if any Person is considered to effectively control the Company, the acquisition of additional control of the Company by the same Person will not be considered a Change in Control; or |
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(iii) | A change in the ownership of a substantial portion of the Company’s assets, which occurs on the date that any Person acquires (or has acquired during the twelve (12) month period ending on the date of the most recent acquisition by such Person) assets from the Company that have a total gross fair market value equal to or more than 50% of the total gross fair market value of all of the assets of the Company immediately prior to such acquisition or acquisitions; provided, however, that for purposes of this subsection (iii), the following will not constitute a change in the ownership of a substantial portion of the Company’s assets or a Change in Control: (A) a transfer to an entity that is controlled by the Company’s stockholders immediately after the transfer, or (B) a transfer of assets by the Company to: (1) a stockholder of the Company (immediately before the asset transfer) in exchange for or with respect to the Company’s stock, (2) an entity, 50% or more of the total value or voting power of which is owned, directly or indirectly, by the Company, (3) a Person that owns, directly or indirectly, 50% or more of the total value or voting power of all the outstanding stock of the Company, or (4) an entity, at least 50% of the total equity or voting power of which is owned, directly or indirectly, by a Person described in subsection (iii)(B)(3) above. For purposes of this subsection (iii), gross fair market value means the value of the assets of the Company, or the value of the assets being disposed of, determined without regard to any liabilities associated with such assets. |
Notwithstanding the foregoing, as to any Award under the Plan that consists of deferred compensation subject to Section 409A of the Code, the definition of “Change in Control” shall be deemed modified to the extent necessary to comply with Section 409A of the Code.
For purposes of this Section 2(g), persons will be considered to be acting as a group if they are owners of a corporation or other entity that enters into a merger, consolidation, purchase or acquisition of stock, or similar business transaction with the Company.
(h) “Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. Any reference to a section of the Code herein will be a reference to any successor or amended section of the Code.
(i) “Committee” means a committee of Directors or of other individuals satisfying Applicable Laws appointed by the Board in accordance with Section 4 hereof.
(j) “Common Stock” means the common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, of the Company.
(k) “Company” means Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation, or any successor thereto.
(l) “Consultant” means any person, including an advisor, engaged by the Company or a Parent, Subsidiary or Affiliate to render services to the Company or a Subsidiary.
(m) “Determination Date” means the latest possible date that will not jeopardize the qualification of an Award granted under the Plan as “performance-based compensation” under Section 162(m) of the Code.
(n) “Director” means a member of the Board.
(o) “Disability” means permanent and total disability as defined in Section 22(e)(3) of the Code, provided that in the case of Awards other than Incentive Stock Options, the Administrator in its discretion may determine whether a permanent and total disability exists in accordance with uniform and non-discriminatory standards adopted by the Administrator from time to time.
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(p) “Employee” means any person, including Officers and Directors, employed by the Company or any Parent, Subsidiary or Affiliate of the Company. Neither service as a Director nor payment of a director’s fee by the Company will be sufficient to constitute “employment” by the Company.
(q) “Exchange Act” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
(r) “Exchange Program” means a program under which (i) outstanding Awards are surrendered or cancelled in exchange for Awards of the same type (which may have lower exercise prices and different terms), Awards of a different type, and/or cash, (ii) Participants would have the opportunity to transfer any outstanding Awards to a financial institution or other person or entity selected by the Administrator, and/or (iii) the exercise price of an outstanding Award is reduced. The Administrator will determine the terms and conditions of any Exchange Program in its sole discretion.
(s) “Fair Market Value” means, as of any date, the value of the Common Stock determined as follows:
(i) If the Common Stock is listed on any established stock exchange or a national market system, including without limitation the Nasdaq Global Select Market, the Nasdaq Global Market or the Nasdaq Capital Market of The Nasdaq Stock Market, its Fair Market Value will be the closing sales price for such stock (or if no closing sales price was reported on that date, as applicable, on the last trading date such closing sales price was reported) as quoted on such exchange or system on the day of determination, as reported in The Wall Street Journal or such other source as the Administrator deems reliable;
(ii) If the Common Stock is regularly quoted by a recognized securities dealer but selling prices are not reported, the Fair Market Value of a Share will be the mean between the high bid and low asked prices for the Common Stock on the day of determination (or, if no bids and asks were reported on that date, as applicable, on the last trading date such bids and asks were reported), as reported in The Wall Street Journal or such other source as the Administrator deems reliable; or
(iii) In the absence of an established market for the Common Stock, or if such Common Stock is not regularly quoted or does not have sufficient trades or bid prices which would accurately reflect the actual Fair Market Value of the Common Stock, the Fair Market Value will be determined in good faith by the Administrator who has the discretion to seek the advice of a qualified valuation expert.
(t) “Fiscal Year” means the fiscal year of the Company.
(u) “Incentive Stock Option” means an Option that by its terms qualifies and is otherwise intended to qualify as an incentive stock option within the meaning of Section 422 of the Code and the regulations promulgated thereunder.
(v) “Nonstatutory Stock Option” means an Option that by its terms does not qualify or is not intended to qualify as an Incentive Stock Option.
(w) “Officer” means a person who is an officer of the Company within the meaning of Section 16 of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
(x) “Option” means a stock option granted pursuant to Section 6 hereof.
(y) “Parent” means a “parent corporation,” whether now or hereafter existing, as defined in Section 424(e) of the Code.
(z) “Participant” means the holder of an outstanding Award.
(aa) “Performance Goals” will have the meaning set forth in Section 11 hereof.
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(bb) “Performance Period” means any Fiscal Year of the Company or such other period as determined by the Administrator in its sole discretion.
(cc) “Performance Share” means an Award denominated in Shares which may be earned in whole or in part upon attainment of Performance Goals or other vesting criteria as the Administrator may determine pursuant to Section 10 hereof.
(dd) “Performance Unit” means an Award which may be earned in whole or in part upon attainment of Performance Goals or other vesting criteria as the Administrator may determine and which may be settled for cash, Shares or other securities or a combination of the foregoing pursuant to Section 10 hereof.
(ee) “Period of Restriction” means the period during which transfers of Shares of Restricted Stock are subject to restrictions and, therefore, the Shares are subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture. Such restrictions may be based on the passage of time, the achievement of target levels of performance, or the occurrence of other events as determined by the Administrator.
(ff) “Plan” means this 2019 Equity Compensation Plan, as amended and restated as of May 26, 2020 and September 16, 2020.
(gg) “Restricted Stock” means Shares issued pursuant to an Award of Restricted Stock under Section 8 hereof, or issued pursuant to the early exercise of an Option.
(hh) “Restricted Stock Unit” means a bookkeeping entry representing an amount equal to the Fair Market Value of one Share, granted pursuant to Section 9 hereof. Each Restricted Stock Unit represents an unfunded and unsecured obligation of the Company.
(ii) “Rule 16b-3” means Rule 16b-3 of the Exchange Act or any successor to Rule 16b-3, as in effect when discretion is being exercised with respect to the Plan.
(jj) “Section 16(b)” means Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act.
(kk) “Service Provider” means an Employee, Director, or Consultant.
(ll) “Share” means a share of the Common Stock, as adjusted in accordance with Section 15 hereof.
(mm) “Stock Appreciation Right” means an Award, granted alone or in connection with an Option, that pursuant to Section 7 is designated as a Stock Appreciation Right.
(nn) “Subsidiary” means a “subsidiary corporation,” whether now or hereafter existing, as defined in Section 424(f) of the Code.
3. Stock Subject to the Plan.
(a) Subject to the provisions of Section 15 hereof, the maximum aggregate number of Shares and options that may be awarded and sold under the Plan is 4,600,000 Shares. The Shares may be authorized, but unissued, or reacquired Common Stock.
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(b) Lapsed Awards. If an Award expires or becomes unexercisable without having been exercised in full, is surrendered pursuant to an Exchange Program, or, with respect to Restricted Stock, Restricted Stock Units, Performance Shares or Performance Units, is forfeited to or repurchased by the Company, the unpurchased Shares (or for Awards other than Options and Stock Appreciation Rights, the forfeited or repurchased Shares) which were subject thereto will become available for future grant or sale under the Plan (unless the Plan has terminated). Upon exercise of a Stock Appreciation Right settled in Shares, the gross number of Shares covered by the portion of the Award so exercised will cease to be available under the Plan. Shares that have actually been issued under the Plan under any Award will not be returned to the Plan and will not become available for future distribution under the Plan; provided, however, that if unvested Shares of Restricted Stock, Restricted Stock Units, Performance Shares or Performance Units are repurchased by the Company or are forfeited to the Company, such Shares will become available for future grant under the Plan. Shares used to pay the tax and/or exercise price of an Award will become available for future grant or sale under the Plan. To the extent an Award under the Plan is paid out in cash rather than Shares, such cash payment will not result in reducing the number of Shares available for issuance under the Plan. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section 3(b), subject to adjustment provided in Section 14 hereof, the maximum number of Shares that may be issued upon the exercise of Incentive Stock Options will equal the aggregate Share number stated in Section 3(a) above, plus, to the extent allowable under Section 422 of the Code, any Shares that become available for issuance under the Plan under this Section 3(b).
(c) Share Reserve. The Company, during the term of this Plan, will at all times reserve and keep available such number of Shares as will be sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the Plan.
(d) Limitation on Number of Shares Subject to Awards. Notwithstanding any provision in the Plan to the contrary, the maximum aggregate number of Shares with respect to one or more Awards that may be granted to any one person during any calendar year (measured from the date of any grant) shall be 2,950,000 and the maximum aggregate amount of cash that may be paid in cash during any calendar year (measured from the date of any payment) with respect to one or more Awards payable in cash shall be $200,000.
4. Administration of the Plan.
(a) Procedure.
(i) | Multiple Administrative Bodies. Different Committees with respect to different groups of Service Providers may administer the Plan. |
(ii) | Section 162(m). To the extent that the Administrator determines it to be desirable to qualify Awards granted hereunder as “performance-based compensation” within the meaning of Section 162(m) of the Code, the Plan will be administered by a Committee of two (2) or more “outside directors” within the meaning of Section 162(m) of the Code. |
(iii) | Rule 16b-3. To the extent desirable to qualify transactions hereunder as exempt under Rule 16b-3, the transactions contemplated hereunder will be structured to satisfy the requirements for exemption under Rule 16b-3. |
(iv) | Other Administration. Other than as provided above, the Plan will be administered by (A) the Board or (B) a Committee, which committee will be constituted to satisfy Applicable Laws. |
(b) Powers of the Administrator. Subject to the provisions of the Plan, and in the case of a Committee, subject to the specific duties delegated by the Board to such Committee, the Administrator will have the authority, in its discretion:
(i) | to determine the Fair Market Value; |
(ii) | to select the Service Providers to whom Awards may be granted hereunder; |
(iii) | to determine the number of Shares to be covered by each Award granted hereunder; |
(iv) | to approve forms of Award Agreements for use under the Plan; |
(v) | to determine the terms and conditions, not inconsistent with the terms of the Plan, of any Award granted hereunder; |
(vi) | to institute an Exchange Program and to determine the terms and conditions, not inconsistent with the terms of the Plan, for (1) the surrender or cancellation of outstanding Awards in exchange for Awards of the same type, Awards of a different type, and/or cash, (2) the transfer of outstanding Awards to a financial institution or other person or entity, or (3) the reduction of the exercise price of outstanding Awards; |
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(vii) | to construe and interpret the terms of the Plan and Awards granted pursuant to the Plan; |
(viii) | to prescribe, amend and rescind rules and regulations relating to the Plan, including rules and regulations relating to sub-plans established for the purpose of satisfying applicable foreign laws or for qualifying for favorable tax treatment under applicable foreign laws; |
(ix) | to modify or amend each Award (subject to Section 20(c) hereof), including but not limited to the discretionary authority to extend the post-termination exercisability period of Awards; |
(x) | to allow Participants to satisfy withholding tax obligations in a manner described in Section 16 hereof; |
(xi) | to authorize any person to execute on behalf of the Company any instrument required to effect the grant of an Award previously granted by the Administrator; |
(xii) | to allow a Participant to defer the receipt of the payment of cash or the delivery of Shares that would otherwise be due to such Participant under an Award pursuant to such procedures as the Administrator may determine; and |
(xiii) | to make all other determinations deemed necessary or advisable for administering the Plan. |
(c) Effect of Administrator’s Decision.The Administrator’s decisions, determinations, and interpretations will be final and binding on all Participants and any other holders of Awards.
5. Eligibility. Nonstatutory Stock Options, Restricted Stock, Restricted Stock Units, Stock Appreciation Rights, Performance Units, Performance Shares, and such other cash or stock awards as the Administrator determines may be granted to Service Providers. Incentive Stock Options may be granted only to Employees.
6. Stock Options.
(a) Limitations.
(i) | Each Option will be designated in the Award Agreement as either an Incentive Stock Option or a Nonstatutory Stock Option. However, notwithstanding such designation, to the extent that the aggregate Fair Market Value of the Shares with respect to which Incentive Stock Options are exercisable for the first time by the Participant during any calendar year (under all plans of the Company and any Parent or Subsidiary) exceeds $100,000 (U.S.), such Options will be treated as Nonstatutory Stock Options. For purposes of this Section 6(a), Incentive Stock Options will be taken into account in the order in which they were granted. The Fair Market Value of the Shares will be determined as of the time the Option with respect to such Shares is granted. |
(ii) | The Administrator will have complete discretion to determine the number of Shares subject to an Option granted to any Participant. |
(b) Term of Option. The Administrator will determine the term of each Option in its sole discretion; provided, however, that the term will be no more than ten (10) years from the date of grant thereof. Moreover, in the case of an Incentive Stock Option granted to a Participant who, at the time the Incentive Stock Option is granted, owns stock representing more than 10% of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary, the term of the Incentive Stock Option will be five (5) years from the date of grant or such shorter term as may be provided in the Award Agreement.
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(c) Option Exercise Price and Consideration.
(i) | Exercise Price. The per share exercise price for the Shares to be issued pursuant to exercise of an Option will be determined by the Administrator, but will be no less than 100% of the Fair Market Value per Share on the date of grant. In addition, in the case of an Incentive Stock Option granted to an Employee who, at the time the Incentive Stock Option is granted, owns stock representing more than 10% of the voting power of all classes of stock of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary, the per Share exercise price will be no less than 110% of the Fair Market Value per Share on the date of grant. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section 6(c), Options may be granted with a per Share exercise price of less than 100% of the Fair Market Value per Share on the date of grant pursuant to a transaction described in, and in a manner consistent with, Section 424(a) of the Code. |
(ii) | Waiting Period and Exercise Dates. At the time an Option is granted, the Administrator will fix the period within which the Option may be exercised and will determine any conditions that must be satisfied before the Option may be exercised. |
(iii) | Form of Consideration. The Administrator will determine the acceptable form(s) of consideration for exercising an Option, including the method of payment, to the extent permitted by Applicable Laws. In the case of an Incentive Stock Option, the Administrator will determine the acceptable form of consideration at the time of grant. Such consideration may consist entirely of: (1) cash; (2) check; (3) promissory note, to the extent permitted by Applicable Laws, (4) other Shares, provided that such Shares have a Fair Market Value on the date of surrender equal to the aggregate exercise price of the Shares as to which such Option will be exercised and provided further that accepting such Shares will not result in any adverse accounting consequences to the Company, as the Administrator determines in its sole discretion; (5) consideration received by the Company under cashless exercise program (whether through a broker or otherwise) implemented by the Company in connection with the Plan; (6) through cashless exercise by reduction in the number of shares of Common Stock otherwise deliverable upon exercise of such Option with a Fair Market Value equal to the aggregate exercise price at the time of exercise; (7) such other consideration and method of payment for the issuance of Shares to the extent permitted by Applicable Laws, or (8) any combination of the foregoing methods of payment. In making its determination as to the type of consideration to accept, the Administrator will consider if acceptance of such consideration may be reasonably expected to benefit the Company. |
(d) Exercise of Option.
(i) | Procedure for Exercise; Rights as a Stockholder. Any Option granted hereunder will be exercisable according to the terms of the Plan and at such times and under such conditions as determined by the Administrator and set forth in the Award Agreement. An Option may not be exercised for a fraction of a Share. |
An Option will be deemed exercised when the Company receives: (i) notice of exercise (in such form as the Administrator specifies from time to time) from the person entitled to exercise the Option, and (ii) full payment for the Shares with respect to which the Option is exercised (together with any applicable withholding taxes). Full payment may consist of any consideration and method of payment authorized by the Administrator and permitted by the Award Agreement and the Plan. Shares issued upon exercise of an Option will be issued in the name of the Participant or, if requested by the Participant, in the name of the Participant and his or her spouse. Until the Shares are issued (as evidenced by the appropriate entry on the books of the Company or of a duly authorized transfer agent of the Company), no right to vote or receive dividends or any other rights as a stockholder will exist with respect to the Shares subject to an Option, notwithstanding the exercise of the Option. The Company will issue (or cause to be issued) such Shares promptly after the Option is exercised. No adjustment will be made for a dividend or other right for which the record date is prior to the date the Shares are issued, except as provided in Section 15 hereof.
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(ii) | Termination of Relationship as a Service Provider. If a Participant ceases to be a Service Provider, other than upon the Participant’s termination as the result of the Participant’s death or Disability, the Participant may exercise his or her Option within such period of time as is specified in the Award Agreement to the extent that the Option is vested on the date of termination (but in no event later than the expiration of the term of such Option as set forth in the Award Agreement). In the absence of a specified time in the Award Agreement, the Option will remain exercisable for three (3) months following the Participant’s termination. Unless otherwise provided by the Administrator, if on the date of termination the Participant is not vested as to his or her entire Option, the Shares covered by the unvested portion of the Option will revert to the Plan. If after termination the Participant does not exercise his or her Option within the time specified by the Administrator, the Option will terminate, and the Shares covered by such Option will revert to the Plan. |
(iii) | Disability of Participant. If a Participant ceases to be a Service Provider as a result of the Participant’s Disability, the Participant may exercise his or her Option within such period of time as is specified in the Award Agreement to the extent the Option is vested on the date of termination (but in no event later than the expiration of the term of such Option as set forth in the Award Agreement). In the absence of a specified time in the Award Agreement, the Option will remain exercisable for six (6) months following the Participant’s termination. Unless otherwise provided by the Administrator, if on the date of termination the Participant is not vested as to his or her entire Option, the Shares covered by the unvested portion of the Option will revert to the Plan. If after termination the Participant does not exercise his or her Option within the time specified herein, the Option will terminate, and the Shares covered by such Option will revert to the Plan. |
(iv) | Death of Participant. If a Participant dies while a Service Provider, the Option may be exercised within such period of time as is specified in the Award Agreement to the extent that the Option is vested on the date of death (but in no event may the option be exercised later than the expiration of the term of such Option as set forth in the Award Agreement), by the Participant’s designated beneficiary, provided such beneficiary has been designated prior to Participant’s death in a form acceptable to the Administrator. If no such beneficiary has been designated by the Participant, then such Option may be exercised by the personal representative of the Participant’s estate or by the person(s) to whom the Option is transferred pursuant to the Participant’s will or in accordance with the laws of descent and distribution. In the absence of a specified time in the Award Agreement, the Option will remain exercisable for six (6) months following Participant’s death. Unless otherwise provided by the Administrator, if at the time of death Participant is not vested as to his or her entire Option, the Shares covered by the unvested portion of the Option will continue to vest in accordance with the Award Agreement. If the Option is not so exercised within the time specified herein, the Option will terminate, and the Shares covered by such Option will revert to the Plan. |
7. Stock Appreciation Rights.
(a) Grant of Stock Appreciation Rights. Subject to the terms and conditions of the Plan, a Stock Appreciation Right may be granted to Service Providers at any time and from time to time as will be determined by the Administrator, in its sole discretion.
(b) Number of Shares. The Administrator will have complete discretion to determine the number of Stock Appreciation Rights granted to any Participant.
(c) Exercise Price and Other Terms. The Administrator, subject to the provisions of the Plan, will have complete discretion to determine the terms and conditions of Stock Appreciation Rights granted under the Plan; provided, however, that the exercise price will be not less than 100% of the Fair Market Value of a Share on the date of grant.
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(d) Stock Appreciation Rights Agreement. Each Stock Appreciation Right grant will be evidenced by an Award Agreement that will specify the exercise price, the term of the Stock Appreciation Right, the conditions of exercise, and such other terms and conditions as the Administrator, in its sole discretion, will determine.
(e) Expiration of Stock Appreciation Rights. A Stock Appreciation Right granted under the Plan will expire upon the date determined by the Administrator, in its sole discretion, and set forth in the Award Agreement; provided, however, that the term will be no more than ten (10) years from the date of grant thereof. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the rules of Section 6(d) above also will apply to Stock Appreciation Rights.
(f) Payment of Stock Appreciation Right Amount. Upon exercise of a Stock Appreciation Right, a Participant will be entitled to receive payment from the Company in an amount determined by multiplying:
(i) | The difference between the Fair Market Value of a Share on the date of exercise over the exercise price; times |
(ii) | The number of Shares with respect to which the Stock Appreciation Right is exercised. |
At the discretion of the Administrator, the payment upon Stock Appreciation Right exercise may be in cash, in Shares of equivalent value, or in some combination thereof.
8. Restricted Stock.
(a) Grant of Restricted Stock. Subject to the terms and provisions of the Plan, the Administrator, at any time and from time to time, may grant Shares of Restricted Stock to Service Providers in such amounts as the Administrator, in its sole discretion, will determine.
(b) Restricted Stock Agreement. Each Award of Restricted Stock will be evidenced by an Award Agreement that will specify the Period of Restriction, the number of Shares granted, and such other terms and conditions as the Administrator, in its sole discretion, will determine. Unless the Administrator determines otherwise, the Company as escrow agent will hold Shares of Restricted Stock until the restrictions on such Shares have lapsed.
(c) Transferability. Except as provided in this Section 8, Shares of Restricted Stock may not be sold, transferred, pledged, assigned, or otherwise alienated or hypothecated until the end of the applicable Period of Restriction.
(d) Other Restrictions. The Administrator, in its sole discretion, may impose such other restrictions on Shares of Restricted Stock as it may deem advisable or appropriate.
(e) Removal of Restrictions. Except as otherwise provided in this Section 8, Shares of Restricted Stock covered by each Restricted Stock grant made under the Plan will be released from escrow as soon as practicable after the last day of the Period of Restriction. The Administrator, in its discretion, may accelerate the time at which any restrictions will lapse or be removed.
(f) Voting Rights. During the Period of Restriction, Service Providers holding Shares of Restricted Stock granted hereunder may exercise full voting rights with respect to those Shares, unless the Administrator determines otherwise.
(g) Dividends and Other Distributions. During the Period of Restriction, Service Providers holding Shares of Restricted Stock will be entitled to receive all dividends and other distributions paid with respect to such Shares unless otherwise provided in the Award Agreement. If any such dividends or distributions are paid in Shares, the Shares will be subject to the same restrictions on transferability and forfeitability as the Shares of Restricted Stock with respect to which they were paid.
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(h) Return of Restricted Stock to Company. On the date set forth in the Award Agreement, the Restricted Stock for which restrictions have not lapsed will revert to the Company and again will become available for grant under the Plan.
(i) Section 162(m) Performance Restrictions. For purposes of qualifying grants of Restricted Stock as “performance-based compensation” under Section 162(m) of the Code, the Administrator, in its discretion, may set restrictions based upon the achievement of Performance Goals. The Performance Goals will be set by the Administrator on or before the Determination Date. In granting Restricted Stock which is intended to qualify under Section 162(m) of the Code, the Administrator will follow any procedures determined by it from time to time to be necessary or appropriate to ensure qualification of the Award under Section 162(m) of the Code (e.g., in determining the Performance Goals).
9. Restricted Stock Units.
(a) Grant. Restricted Stock Units may be granted at any time and from time to time as determined by the Administrator. Each Restricted Stock Unit grant will be evidenced by an Award Agreement that will specify such other terms and conditions as the Administrator, in its sole discretion, will determine, including all terms, conditions, and restrictions related to the grant, the number of Restricted Stock Units and the form of payout, which, subject to Section 9(d) hereof, may be left to the discretion of the Administrator.
(b) Vesting Criteria and Other Terms. The Administrator will set vesting criteria in its discretion, which, depending on the extent to which the criteria are met, will determine the number of Restricted Stock Units that will be paid out to the Participant. After the grant of Restricted Stock Units, the Administrator, in its sole discretion, may reduce or waive any restrictions for such Restricted Stock Units. Each Award of Restricted Stock Units will be evidenced by an Award Agreement that will specify the vesting criteria, and such other terms and conditions as the Administrator, in its sole discretion will determine. The Administrator, in its discretion, may accelerate the time at which any restrictions will lapse or be removed.
(c) Earning Restricted Stock Units. Upon meeting the applicable vesting criteria, the Participant will be entitled to receive a payout as specified in the Award Agreement.
(d) Form and Timing of Payment. Payment of earned Restricted Stock Units will be made as soon as practicable after the date(s) set forth in the Award Agreement. The Administrator, in its sole discretion, may pay earned Restricted Stock Units in cash, Shares, or a combination thereof. Shares represented by Restricted Stock Units that are fully paid in cash again will be available for grant under the Plan.
(e) Cancellation. On the date set forth in the Award Agreement, all unearned Restricted Stock Units will be forfeited to the Company.
(f) Section 162(m) Performance Restrictions. For purposes of qualifying grants of Restricted Stock Units as “performance-based compensation” under Section 162(m) of the Code, the Administrator, in its discretion, may set restrictions based upon the achievement of Performance Goals. The Performance Goals will be set by the Administrator on or before the Determination Date. In granting Restricted Stock Units which are intended to qualify under Section 162(m) of the Code, the Administrator will follow any procedures determined by it from time to time to be necessary or appropriate to ensure qualification of the Award under Section 162(m) of the Code (e.g., in determining the Performance Goals).
10. Performance Units and Performance Shares.
(a) Grant of Performance Units/Shares. Performance Units and Performance Shares may be granted to Service Providers at any time and from time to time, as will be determined by the Administrator, in its sole discretion. The Administrator will have complete discretion in determining the number of Performance Units/Shares granted to each Participant.
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(b) Value of Performance Units/Shares. Each Performance Unit will have an initial value that is established by the Administrator on or before the date of grant. Each Performance Share will have an initial value equal to the Fair Market Value of a Share on the date of grant.
(c) Performance Objectives and Other Terms.The Administrator will set performance objectives or other vesting provisions. The Administrator may set vesting criteria based upon the achievement of Company-wide, business unit, or individual goals (including, but not limited to, continued employment), or any other basis determined by the Administrator in its discretion. Each Award of Performance Units/Shares will be evidenced by an Award Agreement that will specify the Performance Period, and such other terms and conditions as the Administrator, in its sole discretion, will determine.
(d) Earning of Performance Units/Shares. After the applicable Performance Period has ended, the holder of Performance Units/Shares will be entitled to receive a payout of the number of Performance Units/Shares earned by the Participant over the Performance Period, to be determined as a function of the extent to which the corresponding performance objectives or other vesting provisions have been achieved. After the grant of a Performance Unit/Share, the Administrator, in its sole discretion, may reduce or waive any performance objectives or other vesting provisions for such Performance Unit/Share.
(e) Form and Timing of Payment of Performance Units/Shares. Payment of earned Performance Units/Shares will be made as soon as practicable after the expiration of the applicable Performance Period. The Administrator, in its sole discretion, may pay earned Performance Units/Shares in the form of cash, in Shares (which have an aggregate Fair Market Value equal to the value of the earned Performance Units/Shares at the close of the applicable Performance Period) or in a combination thereof.
(f) Cancellation of Performance Units/Shares. On the date set forth in the Award Agreement, all unearned or unvested Performance Units/Shares will be forfeited to the Company, and again will be available for grant under the Plan.
(g) Section 162(m) Performance Restrictions. For purposes of qualifying grants of Performance Units/Shares as “performance-based compensation” under Section 162(m) of the Code, the Administrator, in its discretion, may set restrictions based upon the achievement of Performance Goals. The Performance Goals will be set by the Administrator on or before the Determination Date. In granting Performance Units/Shares which are intended to qualify under Section 162(m) of the Code, the Administrator will follow any procedures determined by it from time to time to be necessary or appropriate to ensure qualification of the Award under Section 162(m) of the Code (e.g., in determining the Performance Goals).
11. Performance-Based Compensation Under Code Section 162(m).
(a) General. If the Administrator, in its discretion, decides to grant an Award intended to qualify as “performance-based compensation” under Code Section 162(m), the provisions of this Section 11 will control over any contrary provision in the Plan; provided, however, that the Administrator may in its discretion grant Awards that are not intended to qualify as “performance-based compensation” under Section 162(m) of the Code to such Participants that are based on Performance Goals or other specific criteria or goals but that do not satisfy the requirements of this Section 11.
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(b) Performance Goals. The granting and/or vesting of Awards of Restricted Stock, Restricted Stock Units, Performance Shares and Performance Units and other incentives under the Plan may be made subject to the attainment of performance goals relating to one or more business criteria within the meaning of Code Section 162(m) and may provide for a targeted level or levels of achievement (“Performance Goals”) including (i) earnings per Share, (ii) operating cash flow, (iii) operating income, (iv) profit after-tax, (v) profit before-tax, (vi) return on assets, (vii) return on equity, (viii) return on sales, (ix) revenue, and (x) total shareholder return. Any Performance Goals may be used to measure the performance of the Company as a whole or a business unit of the Company and may be measured relative to a peer group or index. The Performance Goals may differ from Participant to Participant and from Award to Award. Prior to the Determination Date, the Administrator will determine whether any significant element(s) will be included in or excluded from the calculation of any Performance Goal with respect to any Participant.
(c) Procedures. To the extent necessary to comply with the performance-based compensation provisions of Code Section 162(m), with respect to any Award granted subject to Performance Goals, within the first twenty-five percent (25%) of the Performance Period, but in no event more than ninety (90) days following the commencement of any Performance Period (or such other time as may be required or permitted by Code Section 162(m)), the Administrator will, in writing, (i) designate one or more Participants to whom an Award will be made, (ii) select the Performance Goals applicable to the Performance Period, (iii) establish the Performance Goals, and amounts of such Awards, as applicable, which may be earned for such Performance Period, and (iv) specify the relationship between Performance Goals and the amounts of such Awards, as applicable, to be earned by each Participant for such Performance Period. Following the completion of each Performance Period, the Administrator will certify in writing whether the applicable Performance Goals have been achieved for such Performance Period. In determining the amounts earned by a Participant, the Administrator will have the right to reduce or eliminate (but not to increase) the amount payable at a given level of performance to take into account additional factors that the Administrator may deem relevant to the assessment of individual or corporate performance for the Performance Period. A Participant will be eligible to receive payment pursuant to an Award for a Performance Period only if the Performance Goals for such period are achieved.
(d) Additional Limitations. Notwithstanding any other provision of the Plan, any Award which is granted to a Participant and is intended to constitute qualified performance based compensation under Code Section 162(m) will be subject to any additional limitations set forth in the Code (including any amendment to Section 162(m)) or any regulations and ruling issued thereunder that are requirements for qualification as qualified performance-based compensation as described in Section 162(m) of the Code, and the Plan will be deemed amended to the extent necessary to conform to such requirements.
12. Compliance with Code Section 409A. Awards will be designed and operated in such a manner that they are either exempt from the application of, or comply with, the requirements of Code Section 409A, except as otherwise determined in the sole discretion of the Administrator. The Plan and each Award Agreement under the Plan is intended to meet the requirements of Code Section 409A and will be construed and interpreted in accordance with such intent, except as otherwise determined in the sole discretion of the Administrator. To the extent that an Award or payment, or the settlement or deferral thereof, is subject to Code Section 409A the Award will be granted, paid, settled or deferred in a manner that will meet the requirements of Code Section 409A, such that the grant, payment, settlement or deferral will not be subject to the additional tax or interest applicable under Code Section 409A.
13. Leaves of Absence. Unless the Administrator provides otherwise, vesting of Awards granted hereunder will be suspended during any unpaid leave of absence. A Service Provider will not cease to be an Employee in the case of (i) any leave of absence approved by the Company, or (ii) transfers between locations of the Company or between the Company, its Parent, or any Subsidiary. For purposes of Incentive Stock Options, no such leave may exceed three (3) months, unless reemployment upon expiration of such leave is guaranteed by statute or contract. If reemployment upon expiration of a leave of absence approved by the Company is not so guaranteed, then six (6) months and one day following the commencement of such leave any Incentive Stock Option held by the Participant will cease to be treated as an Incentive Stock Option and will be treated for tax purposes as a Nonstatutory Stock Option.
14. Transferability of Awards. Unless determined otherwise by the Administrator, an Award may not be sold, pledged, assigned, hypothecated, transferred, or disposed of in any manner other than by will or by the laws of descent or distribution and may be exercised, during the lifetime of the Participant, only by the Participant. If the Administrator makes an Award transferable, such Award may only be transferred (i) by will, (ii) by the laws of descent and distribution, (iii) to a revocable trust, or (iii) as permitted by Rule 701 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
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15. Adjustments; Dissolution or Liquidation; Merger or Change in Control.
(a) Adjustments. In the event that any dividend or other distribution (whether in the form of cash, Shares, other securities, or other property), recapitalization, stock split, reverse stock split, reorganization, merger, consolidation, split-up, spin-off, combination, repurchase, or exchange of Shares or other securities of the Company, or other change in the corporate structure of the Company affecting the Shares occurs, the Administrator, in order to prevent diminution or enlargement of the benefits or potential benefits intended to be made available under the Plan, will adjust the number and class of Shares that may be delivered under the Plan and/or the number, class, and price of Shares covered by each outstanding Award, and the numerical Share limits set forth in Sections 3, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 hereof.
(b) Dissolution or Liquidation. In the event of the proposed dissolution or liquidation of the Company, the Administrator will notify each Participant as soon as practicable prior to the effective date of such proposed transaction. To the extent it has not been previously exercised, an Award will terminate immediately prior to the consummation of such proposed action.
(c) Change in Control. In the event of a merger of the Company with or into another corporation or other entity or a Change in Control, each outstanding Award will be treated as the Administrator determines (subject to the provisions of the proceeding paragraph) without a Participant’s consent, including, without limitation, that (i) Awards will be assumed, or substantially equivalent Awards will be substituted, by the acquiring or succeeding corporation (the “Successor Corporation”) (or an affiliate thereof) with appropriate adjustments as to the number and kind of shares and prices; (ii) upon written notice to a Participant, that the Participant’s Awards will terminate upon or immediately prior to the consummation of such merger or Change in Control; (iii) outstanding Awards will vest and become exercisable, realizable, or payable, or restrictions applicable to an Award will lapse, in whole or in part prior to or upon consummation of such merger or Change in Control, and, to the extent the Administrator determines, terminate upon or immediately prior to the effectiveness of such merger or Change in Control; (iv) (A) the termination of an Award in exchange for an amount of cash and/or property, if any, equal to the amount that would have been attained upon the exercise of such Award or realization of the Participant’s rights as of the date of the occurrence of the transaction (and, for the avoidance of doubt, if as of the date of the occurrence of the transaction the Administrator determines in good faith that no amount would have been attained upon the exercise of such Award or realization of the Participant’s rights, then such Award may be terminated by the Company without payment), or (B) the replacement of such Award with other rights or property selected by the Administrator in its sole discretion; or (v) any combination of the foregoing. In taking any of the actions permitted under this subsection (c), the Administrator will not be obligated to treat all Awards, all Awards held by a Participant, or all Awards of the same type, similarly.
In the event that the Successor Corporation does not assume or substitute for the Award, the Participant will fully vest in and have the right to exercise all of his or her outstanding Options and Stock Appreciation Rights, including Shares as to which such Awards would not otherwise be vested or exercisable, all restrictions on Restricted Stock will lapse, and, with respect to Restricted Stock Units, Performance Shares and Performance Units, all Performance Goals or other vesting criteria will be deemed achieved at target levels and all other terms and conditions met. In addition, if an Option or Stock Appreciation Right is not assumed or substituted for in the event of a Change in Control, the Administrator will notify the Participant in writing or electronically that the Option or Stock Appreciation Right will be fully vested and exercisable for a period of time determined by the Administrator in its sole discretion, and the Option or Stock Appreciation Right will terminate upon the expiration of such period.
For the purposes of this subsection (c), an Award will be considered assumed if, following the Change in Control, the Award confers the right to purchase or receive, for each Share subject to the Award immediately prior to the Change in Control, the consideration (whether stock, cash, or other securities or property) or, in the case of a Stock Appreciation Right upon the exercise of which the Administrator determines to pay cash or a Performance Share or Performance Unit which the Administrator can determine to pay in cash, the fair market value of the consideration received in the merger or Change in Control by holders of Common Stock for each Share held on the effective date of the transaction (and if holders were offered a choice of consideration, the type of consideration chosen by the holders of a majority of the outstanding Shares); provided, however, that if such consideration received in the Change in Control is not solely common stock of the Successor Corporation, the Administrator may, with the consent of the Successor Corporation, provide for the consideration to be received upon the exercise of an Option or Stock Appreciation Right or upon the payout of a Performance Share or Performance Unit, for each Share subject to such Award (or in the case of Performance Units, the number of implied shares determined by dividing the value of the Performance Units by the per share consideration received by holders of Common Stock in the Change in Control), to be solely common stock of the Successor Corporation equal in fair market value to the per share consideration received by holders of Common Stock in the Change in Control.
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Notwithstanding anything in this Section 15(c) to the contrary, an Award that vests, is earned or paid-out upon the satisfaction of one or more Performance Goals will not be considered assumed if the Company or its successor modifies any of such Performance Goals without the Participant’s consent; provided, however, a modification to such Performance Goals only to reflect the Successor Corporation’s post-Change in Control corporate structure will not be deemed to invalidate an otherwise valid Award assumption. In the case of an Award providing for the payment of deferred compensation subject to Section 409A of the Code, any payment of such deferred compensation by reason of a Change in Control shall be made only if the Change in Control is one described in subsection (a)(2)(A)(v) of Section 409A and the guidance thereunder and shall be paid consistent with the requirements of Section 409A. If any deferred compensation that would otherwise be payable by reason of a Change in Control cannot be paid by reason of the immediately preceding sentence, it shall be paid as soon as practicable thereafter consistent with the requirements of Section 409A, as determined by the Administrator.
16. Tax Withholding.
(a) Withholding Requirements. Prior to the delivery of any Shares or cash pursuant to an Award (or exercise thereof), the Company will have the power and the right to deduct or withhold, or require a Participant to remit to the Company, an amount sufficient to satisfy federal, state, local, foreign or other taxes (including the Participant’s FICA obligation) required to be withheld with respect to such Award (or exercise thereof).
(b) Withholding Arrangements. The Administrator, in its sole discretion and pursuant to such procedures as it may specify from time to time, may permit a Participant to satisfy such tax withholding obligation, in whole or in part by (without limitation) (i) paying cash, (ii) electing to have the Company withhold otherwise deliverable cash or Shares having a Fair Market Value equal to the minimum amount required to be withheld, (iii) delivering to the Company already-owned Shares having a Fair Market Value equal to the amount required to be withheld, or (iv) selling a sufficient number of Shares otherwise deliverable to the Participant through such means as the Administrator may determine in its sole discretion (whether through a broker or otherwise) equal to the amount required to be withheld. The amount of the withholding requirement will be deemed to include any amount which the Administrator agrees may be withheld at the time the election is made, not to exceed the amount determined by using the maximum federal, state or local marginal income tax rates applicable to the Participant with respect to the Award on the date that the amount of tax to be withheld is to be determined. The Fair Market Value of the Shares to be withheld or delivered will be determined as of the date that the taxes are required to be withheld.
17. No Effect on Employment or Service. Neither the Plan nor any Award will confer upon a Participant any right with respect to continuing the Participant’s relationship as a Service Provider with the Company, nor will they interfere in any way with the Participant’s right or the Company’s right to terminate such relationship at any time, with or without cause, to the extent permitted by Applicable Laws.
18. Date of Grant. The date of grant of an Award will be, for all purposes, the date on which the Administrator makes the determination granting such Award, or such other later date as is determined by the Administrator. Notice of the determination will be provided to each Participant within a reasonable time after the date of such grant.
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19. Term of Plan. Subject to Section 23 hereof, the Plan will become effective upon its initial adoption by the Board as of June 17, 2019. It will continue in effect for a term of ten (10) years unless terminated earlier under Section 20 hereof.
20. Amendment and Termination of the Plan.
(a) Amendment and Termination. The Administrator may at any time amend, alter, suspend or terminate the Plan.
(b) Stockholder Approval. The Company will obtain stockholder approval of any Plan amendment to the extent necessary and desirable to comply with Applicable Laws.
(c) Effect of Amendment or Termination. No amendment, alteration, suspension, or termination of the Plan will impair the rights of any Participant, unless mutually agreed otherwise between the Participant and the Administrator, which agreement must be in writing and signed by the Participant and the Company. Termination of the Plan will not affect the Administrator’s ability to exercise the powers granted to it hereunder with respect to Awards granted under the Plan prior to the date of such termination.
21. Conditions Upon Issuance of Shares.
(a) Legal Compliance. Shares will not be issued pursuant to the exercise of an Award unless the exercise of such Award and the issuance and delivery of such Shares will comply with Applicable Laws and will be further subject to the approval of counsel for the Company with respect to such compliance.
(b) Investment Representations. As a condition to the exercise of an Award, the Company may require the person exercising such Award to represent and warrant at the time of any such exercise that the Shares are being purchased only for investment and without any present intention to sell or distribute such Shares if, in the opinion of counsel for the Company, such a representation is required.
(c) Restrictive Legends. All Award Agreements and all securities of the Company issued pursuant thereto shall bear such legends regarding restrictions on transfer and such other legends as the appropriate officer of the Corporation shall determine to be necessary or advisable to comply with applicable securities and other laws.
22. Inability to Obtain Authority. The inability of the Company to obtain authority from any regulatory body having jurisdiction, which authority is deemed by the Company’s counsel to be necessary to the lawful issuance and sale of any Shares hereunder, will relieve the Company of any liability in respect of the failure to issue or sell such Shares as to which such requisite authority will not have been obtained.
23. Stockholder Approval. The Plan will be subject to approval by the stockholders of the Company within twelve (12) months after the date the Plan is adopted by the Board. Such stockholder approval will be obtained in the manner and to the degree required under Applicable Laws. In the event that stockholder approval is not obtained within twelve (12) months after the date the Plan is adopted by the Board, the Plan and all Awards granted hereunder shall be void ab initio and of no effect. Notwithstanding any other provisions of the Plan, no Awards shall be exercisable until the date of such stockholder approval.
24. Notification of Election Under Section 83(b) of the Code. If any Service Provider shall, in connection with the acquisition of Shares under the Plan, make the election permitted under Section 83(b) of the Code, such Service Provider shall notify the Company of such election within ten (10) days of filing notice of the election with the Internal Revenue Service and provide the Company with a copy thereof, in addition to any filing and a notification required pursuant to regulations issued under the authority of Section 83(b) of the Code. A Service Provider shall not be permitted to make a Section 83(b) election with respect to an Award of a Restricted Stock Unit.
25. Notification Upon Disqualifying Disposition Under Section 421(b) of the Code. Each Service Provider shall notify the Company of any disposition of Shares issued pursuant to the exercise of an Incentive Stock Option under the circumstances described in Section 421(b) of the Code (relating to certain disqualifying dispositions), within ten (10) days of such disposition.
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26. Choice of Law. The Plan and all rules and determinations made and taken pursuant hereto will be governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, to the extent not preempted by federal law, and construed accordingly.
** Adopted by the Board as of September 16, 2020. **
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Exhibit 10.2
Confidential
SUBSCRIPTION AGREEMENT
This Subscription Agreement (this “Agreement”) has been executed by the purchaser set forth on the signature page hereof (the “Purchaser”) in connection with the private placement offering (the “Offering”) by Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”).
R E C I T A L S
A. Pursuant to the terms and conditions of this Agreement and that of the Confidential Private Placement Memorandum, dated March 8, 2021, and any supplements thereto (the “Offering Memorandum”), the Company is offering a minimum of 1,250,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (“Common Stock”), at a purchase price of $4.00 per share (the “Purchase Price”), for an aggregate purchase price of $5,000,000.00 (the “Minimum Offering Amount”), and a maximum of 3,000,000 shares of the Common Stock at the Purchase Price for an aggregate purchase price of $12,000,000.00 (the “Maximum Offering Amount”). The Company may sell an additional 750,000 shares of Common Stock at the Purchase Price for an aggregate purchase price of $3,000,000.00 to cover over-subscriptions (the “Over-Subscription Option”), in the event the Offering is oversubscribed.
B. The Shares (as defined below) subscribed for pursuant to this Agreement have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). The Offering is being made on a “best-effort” basis to “accredited investors,” as defined in Regulation D under the Securities Act, in reliance upon the exemption from securities registration afforded by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act and/or Rule 506(b) of Regulation D.
AGREEMENT
The Company and the Purchaser hereby agree as follows: 1. Subscription.
1.1 Purchase and Sale of the Shares.
(a) Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement and pursuant to the Offering Memorandum, the undersigned Purchaser agrees to purchase, and the Company agrees to sell and issue to such Purchaser, that number of shares set forth on such Purchaser’s Omnibus Signature Page attached hereto at the Purchase Price, for a total aggregate purchase price as set forth on such Omnibus Signature Page. The minimum subscription amount for each Purchaser in the Offering is $40,000.00 (for 10,000 shares). The Company may accept subscriptions for less than $40,000.00 from any Purchaser in its sole discretion. For the purposes of this Agreement, “Shares” means the shares of Common Stock issued in the Offering at the Closing (as defined below).
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(b) This Agreement is one of a series of subscription agreements issued (and to be issued) by the Company to purchasers of the Shares in connection with the Offering with the same terms and conditions, in all material respects, set forth in this Agreement (each, a “Subscription Agreement”, and collectively, the “Subscription Agreements”).
1.2 Subscription Procedure; Closing.
(a) Initial Closing. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the initial closing of the Shares shall take place remotely via the exchange of documents and signatures and the receipt of subscriptions equal to or exceeding the Minimum Offering Amount at such time and place as mutually agreed to by the Company and the Placement Agent (as defined in Section 2) (the “Initial Closing”).
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(b) Subsequent Closings. If the Maximum Offering Amount is not sold at the Initial Closing, which shall take place on or prior to March 26,2021,the Company may sell additional Shares, up to the Maximum Offering Amount, at any time on or prior to April 26, 2021 at one or more additional closing (each a “Subsequent Closing” and collectively the “Subsequent Closings”), and if there are oversubscriptions, such additional Shares as may be sold in connection with the Over-Subscription Option (the “Subsequent Closing Shares”) to such persons as may be approved by the Company and who are reasonably acceptable to the Placement Agent (the “Additional Purchasers”). Any Subsequent Closing Shares issued and sold pursuant to this Section 1.2(b) shall be deemed to be “Shares” for all purposes under this Agreement, and any Additional Purchasers thereof shall be deemed to be “Purchasers” for all purposes under this Agreement. The Initial Closing and the Subsequent Closings, if any, shall be known collectively herein as the “Closings” or individually as a “Closing.”
(c) Subscription Procedure. To complete a subscription for the Shares, the Purchaser must fully comply with the subscription procedure provided in paragraphs (i) and (ii) of this Section on or before the applicable Closing:
(i) Subscription Documents. At or before the applicable Closing, the Purchaser shall review, complete and execute the Omnibus Signature Page to this Agreement and the Registration Rights Agreement substantially in the form of Exhibit A hereto (the “Registration Rights Agreement”), Investor Profile, Accredited Investor Certification, and Anti-Money Laundering Information Form, attached hereto following the Omnibus Signature Page (collectively, the “Subscription Documents”), and additional forms and questionnaires distributed to the Purchaser, and deliver the Subscription Documents and such additional forms and questionnaires to the party indicated thereon at the address set forth under the caption “How to subscribe for Shares in the private offering of Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc.,” below. Executed documents may be delivered to such party by facsimile or .pdf (or similar format) sent by electronic mail (e-mail).
(ii) Purchase Price. Simultaneously with the delivery of the Subscription Documents as provided herein, and in any event at or prior to the applicable Closing, the Purchaser shall deliver to Delaware Trust Company, in its capacity as escrow agent (the “Escrow Agent”), under an escrow agreement among the Company, the Placement Agent (as defined below) and the Escrow Agent (the “Escrow Agreement”) the total Purchase Price set forth on the Purchaser’s Omnibus Signature Page attached hereto, by certified or other bank check or by wire transfer of immediately available funds, pursuant to the instructions set forth under the caption “How to subscribe for Shares in the private offering of Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc.,” below. Such funds will be held for the Purchaser’s benefit in the escrow account established for the Offering (the “Escrow Account”) and will be returned promptly, without interest or offset, if this Agreement is not accepted by the Company, or the Minimum Offering Amount has not been sold or the Offering is terminated pursuant to its terms prior to a Closing.
(iii) Company and Placement Agent Discretion. The Purchaser understands and agrees that the Company and the Placement Agent (as defined below) reserve the right to accept or reject this or any other subscription for Shares, in whole or in part, notwithstanding prior receipt by the Purchaser of notice of acceptance of this subscription. The Company shall have no obligation hereunder until the Company shall execute and deliver to the Purchaser an executed copy of this Agreement. If this subscription is rejected in whole, or the Offering is terminated prior to a Closing on Purchaser’s subscription, all funds received from the Purchaser will be returned without interest or offset, and this Agreement shall thereafter be of no further force or effect. If this subscription is rejected in part, the funds for the rejected portion of this subscription will be returned without interest or offset, and this Agreement will continue in full force and effect to the extent this subscription was accepted.
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2. Placement Agent.[ ], a U.S.-registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA, has been engaged by the Company as the exclusive placement agent, (the “Placement Agent”) on a best efforts basis, for the Offering. Except as provided below, the Placement Agent will be paid at each Closing from the Offering proceeds a total cash commission of eight percent (8%) of the gross Purchase Price paid by Purchasers in the Offering (the “Cash Fee”) and will each receive warrants to purchase a number of shares of Common Stock equal to eight percent (8%) of the number of shares of Common Stock sold to investors in the Offering, with a term of five (5) years from the date of the applicable Closing, and an exercise price of $4.00 per share (the “Placement Agent Warrants”). The Company will also pay certain expenses of the Placement Agent in connection with the Offering. Any sub-agent of the Placement Agent that introduces investors to the Offering will be entitled to share in the Cash Fee and/or Placement Agent Warrants attributable to those investors pursuant to the terms of an executed sub-agent agreement. For funds raised from investors listed in the Excluded Counterparties, as listed in the Engagement Agreement between the Company and the Placement Agent, the Placement Agent will not be paid a Cash Fee or receive Warrants. The Excluded Counterparties can participate at the sole discretion of the Company for a cumulative total of $1,000,000.00 (inclusive in the Maximum Offering Amount) at the same terms as other investors in the Offering without the Company incurring any fees to Placement Agent.
3. Representations and Warranties of the Company. The Company hereby represents and warrants to the Purchaser, as of the Closing, the following:
a. Organization and Qualification. The Company and each of its subsidiaries is a corporation duly organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of Delaware and has the requisite corporate power to own its properties and to carry on its business as now being conducted. The Company and each of its subsidiaries is duly qualified as a foreign corporation to do business and is in good standing in every jurisdiction in which the nature of the business conducted by it makes such qualification necessary, except to the extent that the failure to be so qualified or be in good standing would not have any material adverse effect on (i) the business, properties, assets, liabilities, operations (including results thereof), condition (financial or otherwise) or prospects of the Company and its subsidiaries, individually or taken as a whole, (ii) the transactions contemplated hereby or in the other Transaction Documents (as defined below) or by the agreements and instruments to be entered into in connection herewith or therewith, or (iii) the authority or ability of the Company to perform its obligations under the Transaction Documents (a “Material Adverse Effect”).
b. Authorization, Enforcement, Compliance with Other Instruments. (i) The Company has the requisite corporate power and authority to deliver, enter into and perform its obligations under this Agreement, the Offering Memorandum, the Registration Rights Agreement and the Escrow Agreement (collectively, the “Transaction Documents”) and to issue the Shares, in accordance with the terms hereof and thereof; (ii) the execution and delivery by the Company of each of the Transaction Documents and the consummation by it of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby, including, without limitation, the issuance of the Shares, have been, or will be at the time of execution of such Transaction Document, duly authorized by the Company’s Board of Directors, and no further consent or authorization is, or will be at the time of execution of such Transaction Document, required by the Company, its Board of Directors or its stockholders; (iii) each of the Transaction Documents will be duly executed and delivered by the Company; and (iv) the Transaction Documents when executed will constitute the valid and binding obligations of the Company enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms, except as such enforceability may be limited by general principles of equity or applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium, liquidation or similar laws relating to, or affecting generally, the enforcement of creditors’ rights and remedies and, with respect to any rights to indemnity or contribution contained in the Transaction Documents, as such rights may be limited by state or federal laws or public policy underlying such laws.
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c. Issuance of Shares. The Shares that are being issued to the Purchaser hereunder, when issued, sold and delivered in accordance with the terms and for the consideration set forth in this Agreement, will be duly and validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable, and free of restrictions on transfer other than restrictions on transfer under the Transaction Documents, applicable state and federal securities laws and liens or encumbrances created by or imposed by the Purchaser.
d. No Conflicts. The execution, delivery and performance of each of the Transaction Documents by the Company, and the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby including issuance and sale of the Shares in accordance with this Agreement will not (i) result in a violation of the Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws (or equivalent constitutive document) of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, (ii) violate or conflict with, or result in a breach of any provision of, or constitute a default (or an event which with notice or lapse of time or both would become a default) under, or give to others any rights of termination, amendment, acceleration or cancellation of, any agreement, indenture or instrument to which the Company or any subsidiary is a party, except for those which would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, or (iii) result in a violation of any law, rule, regulation, order, judgment or decree (including U.S. federal and state securities laws and regulations) applicable to the Company or any subsidiary or by which any property or asset of the Company or any subsidiary is bound or affected, except for those which would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. Neither the Company nor any subsidiary is in violation of or in default under, any provision of its Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws. Neither the Company nor any subsidiary is in violation of any term of or in default under any contract, agreement, mortgage, indebtedness, indenture, instrument, judgment, decree or order or any statute, rule or regulation applicable to the Company or any subsidiary, which violation or breach has had or would reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. Except as specifically contemplated by this Agreement and as required under the Securities Act and any applicable state securities laws, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is required to obtain any consent, authorization or order of, or make any filing or registration with, any court or governmental agency in order for it to execute, deliver or perform any of its obligations under or contemplated by this Agreement or the other Transaction Documents in accordance with the terms hereof or thereof other than the filing of a Notice of Exempt Offering of Securities on Form D with the SEC under Regulation D. Neither the execution and delivery by the Company of the Transaction Documents, nor the consummation by the Company of the transactions contemplated hereby or thereby, will require any notice, consent or waiver under any contract or instrument to which the Company or any subsidiary is a party or by which the Company or any subsidiary is bound or to which any of their assets is subject, except for any notice, consent or waiver the absence of which would not reasonably be expected, individually or in the aggregate, to have a Material Adverse Effect. All consents, authorizations, orders, filings and registrations which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is required to obtain pursuant to the preceding two sentences have been or will be obtained or effected on or prior to the Closing.
e. Absence of Litigation. There is no action, suit, claim, inquiry, notice of violation, proceeding (including any partial proceeding such as a deposition) or investigation before or by any court, public board, governmental or administrative agency, self-regulatory organization, arbitrator, regulatory authority, stock market, stock exchange or trading facility (an “Action”) now pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened against or affecting the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of their respective officers or directors, which would be reasonably likely to (i) adversely affect the validity or enforceability of, or the authority or ability of the Company to perform its obligations under, this Agreement or any of the other Transaction Documents, or (ii) have a Material Adverse Effect. For the purpose of this Agreement, the knowledge of the Company means the knowledge of the officers of the Company (both actual or knowledge that they would have had upon reasonable inquiry of the personnel of the Company responsible for the applicable subject matter). Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is subject to any judgment, decree, or order which has had, or would reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect.
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f. No General Solicitation. Neither the Company, nor any of its Affiliates (as defined below), nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any person acting on its or their behalf, has engaged in any form of general solicitation or general advertising (within the meaning of Regulation D) in connection with the offer or sale of the Shares. “Affiliate” means, with respect to any person, any other person that, directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by or is under common control with such person, as such terms are used in and construed under Rule 144 under the Securities Act (“Rule 144”). With respect to a Purchaser, any investment fund or managed account that is managed on a discretionary basis by the same investment manager as such Purchaser will be deemed to be an Affiliate of such Purchaser.
g. Intellectual Property Rights. The Company and each of its subsidiaries owns, possesses, or has valid and enforceable rights to use, license, and exploit all Intellectual Property used in, necessary or advisable for the conduct of the Company’s and its subsidiaries’ business as currently conducted, except for a failure to own, possess or have such rights that would not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect. Except in connection with loans from local or regional government agencies, namely, Tomkins County Area Development, Broome County Industrial Development Agency, Southern Tier Region Economic Development Corporation, there are no unreleased liens or security interests which have been filed, or which the Company has received notice of, against any of the Intellectual Property owned by the Company. All Intellectual Property owned by the Company or its subsidiaries, and all contracts pursuant to which the Company or its subsidiaries license Intellectual Property, are valid and enforceable, and the Company and its subsidiaries are in full compliance with all such contracts except as would not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect. Furthermore, except as has not been and would not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, to the Company’s knowledge, (A) there has been no infringement, misappropriation or violation by third parties of any such Intellectual Property of the Company or its subsidiaries; (B) there has been no action pending or threatened in writing (or to the Company’s knowledge, threatened orally) by others challenging the Company’s or any of its subsidiaries’ ownership of or any rights in or to any such Intellectual Property; (C) the Intellectual Property owned by the Company and its subsidiaries and, to the Company’s knowledge, the Intellectual Property licensed to the Company and its subsidiaries, has not been adjudged invalid or unenforceable, in whole or in part, and there has been no action pending or threatened in writing (or to the Company’s knowledge, threatened orally) by others challenging the validity, enforceability or scope of any such Intellectual Property; (D) there has been no action pending or threatened in writing (or to the Company’s knowledge, threatened orally) by others that the Company or any of its subsidiaries infringes, misappropriates or otherwise violates any Intellectual Property or other proprietary rights of others, and neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has received any written notice of such action; and (E) to the Company’s knowledge, no employee of the Company or any of its subsidiaries has violated any term of any employment contract, patent disclosure agreement, invention assignment agreement, non-competition agreement, non-solicitation agreement, nondisclosure agreement or any restrictive covenant to or with a former employer where the basis of such violation relates to such employees employment with the Company or any of its subsidiaries or actions undertaken by the employee while employed with the Company or any of its subsidiaries. The rights of the Company and each of its subsidiaries in their Intellectual Property are valid, subsisting and enforceable, except as would not reasonably be expected to be material to the business of the Company and its subsidiaries, taken as a whole. The Company and each of its subsidiaries has taken reasonable steps to maintain their Intellectual Property and to protect and preserve the confidentiality of all of their trade secrets. To the Company’s knowledge, there has not been any disclosure or access to any trade secrets of the Company and each of its subsidiaries by any unauthorized person. The Company and each of its subsidiaries have taken and continue to take commercially reasonable measures, at least consistent with prevailing industry practice, to ensure that all personal information in their possession, custody or control is protected against loss and against unauthorized, access, use, modification, disclosure or other misuse. “Intellectual Property” shall mean any and all rights title and interest in, arising out of, or associated with any intellectual or intangible property, whether protected, created or arising in any jurisdiction throughout the world, including the following: (a) issued patents and patent applications (whether provisional or non-provisional), including divisionals, continuations, continuations-in-part, substitutions, reissues, reexaminations, extensions, or restorations of any of the foregoing, and other Governmental Authority issued indicia of invention ownership (including certificates of invention, petty patents, and patent utility models) (“Patents”); (b) trademarks, service marks, brands, certification marks, logos, trade dress, slogans, trade names, and other similar indicia of source or origin, together with the goodwill connected with the use of and symbolized by, and all registrations, applications for registration, and renewals of, any of the foregoing (“Trademarks”); (c) copyrights and works of authorship, whether or not copyrightable, and all registrations, applications for registration, and renewals of any of the foregoing (“Copyrights”); (d) internet domain names and social media account or user names (including “handles”), whether or not Trademarks, all associated web addresses, URLs, websites and web pages, social media sites and pages, and all content and data thereon or relating thereto, whether or not Copyrights; (e) mask works, and all registrations, applications for registration, and renewals thereof; (f) industrial designs, and all Patents, registrations, applications for registration, and renewals thereof; (g) trade secrets, know-how, inventions (whether or not patentable), discoveries, improvements, technology, business and technical information, databases, data compilations and collections, tools, methods, processes, techniques, and other confidential and proprietary information and all rights therein (“Trade Secrets”); (h) computer programs, operating systems, applications, firmware and other code, including all source code, object code, application programming interfaces, data files, databases, protocols, specifications, and other documentation thereof; (i) rights of publicity; and (j) all other intellectual or industrial property and proprietary rights.
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h. Environmental Laws. The Company and each subsidiary has complied with all applicable Environmental Laws (as defined below), except for violations of Environmental Laws that, individually or in the aggregate, have not had and would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. There is no pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened civil or criminal litigation, notice of violation, formal administrative proceeding, or investigation, inquiry or information request, relating to any Environmental Law involving the Company or any subsidiary, except for litigation, notices of violations, formal administrative proceedings or investigations, inquiries or information requests that, individually or in the aggregate, have not had and would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. For purposes of this Agreement, “Environmental Law” means any national, state, provincial or local law, statute, rule or regulation or the common law relating to the environment or occupational health and safety, including without limitation any statute, regulation, administrative decision or order pertaining to (i) treatment, storage, disposal, generation and transportation of industrial, toxic or hazardous materials or substances or solid or hazardous waste; (ii) air, water and noise pollution; (iii) groundwater and soil contamination; (iv) the release or threatened release into the environment of industrial, toxic or hazardous materials or substances, or solid or hazardous waste, including without limitation emissions, discharges, injections, spills, escapes or dumping of pollutants, contaminants or chemicals; (v) the protection of wild life, marine life and wetlands, including without limitation all endangered and threatened species; (vi) storage tanks, vessels, containers, abandoned or discarded barrels, and other closed receptacles; (vii) health and safety of employees and other persons; and (viii) manufacturing, processing, using, distributing, treating, storing, disposing, transporting or handling of materials regulated under any law as pollutants, contaminants, toxic or hazardous materials or substances or oil or petroleum products or solid or hazardous waste. As used above, the terms “release” and “environment” shall have the meaning set forth in the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended.
i. Authorizations; Regulatory Compliance. The Company and each of its subsidiaries holds, and is operating in compliance with, all authorizations, licenses, permits, approvals, clearances, registrations, exemptions, consents, certificates and orders of any governmental authority and supplements and amendments thereto (collectively, “Authorizations”) required for the conduct of its business as currently conducted in all applicable jurisdictions and all such Authorizations are valid and in full force and effect, except for Authorizations the absence of which would not reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect. Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has received written notice of any ongoing claim, action, suit, proceeding, hearing, enforcement, investigation, arbitration or other action from any federal, state, local or foreign governmental or regulatory authority (each a “Governmental Authority”) or third party alleging that any product operation or activity is in material violation of any Authorizations, nor that any activity conducted by either an employee or any person acting on the Company’s behalf is in violation of applicable data protection and privacy laws, rules and regulations, as amended from time to time, with respect to the collection, use, processing, storage, transfer, modification, deletion and/or disclosure of any personal information that is protected under applicable privacy laws and regulations
j. Title. Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries owns any real property. Each of the Company and its subsidiaries has good and marketable title to all of its personal property and assets (i) purportedly owned or used by them, or (ii) necessary for the conduct of their business as currently conducted, free and clear of any restriction, mortgage, deed of trust, pledge, lien, security interest or other charge, claim or encumbrance which would have a Material Adverse Effect. With respect to properties and assets it leases, each of the Company and its subsidiaries is in compliance with such leases and holds a valid leasehold interest free of any liens, claims or encumbrances which would have a Material Adverse Effect.
k. Tax Status. The Company and each subsidiary has made and filed (taking into account any valid extensions) all federal and state income and all other tax returns, reports and declarations required by any jurisdiction to which it is subject and (unless and only to the extent that the Company or such subsidiary has set aside on its books provisions reasonably adequate for the payment of all unpaid and unreported taxes) has paid all taxes and other governmental assessments and charges that are material in amount, shown or determined to be due on such returns, reports and declarations, except those being contested in good faith and has set aside on its books provision reasonably adequate for the payment of all taxes for periods subsequent to the periods to which such returns, reports or declarations apply.
l. Foreign Corrupt Practices. Neither the Company and its subsidiaries, nor to the Company’s knowledge, any agent or other person acting on behalf of the Company or its subsidiaries, has: (i) directly or indirectly, used any funds for unlawful contributions, gifts, entertainment or other unlawful expenses related to foreign or domestic political activity, (ii) made any unlawful payment to foreign or domestic government officials or employees or to any foreign or domestic political parties or campaigns from corporate funds, (iii) failed to disclose fully any contribution made by the Company (or made by any person acting on its behalf of which the Company is aware) which is in violation of law or (iv) violated in any material respect any provision of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended (the “FCPA”).
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m. Brokers’ Fees. Neither of the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has any liability or obligation to pay any fees or commissions to any broker, finder or agent with respect to the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, except for the payment of fees to the Placement Agent as described in Section 2 above.
n. Bad Actor Disqualification. No “bad actor” disqualifying event described in Rule 506(d)(1)(i)-(viii) of the Securities Act (a “Disqualification Event”) is applicable to the Company or, to the Company’s knowledge, any Company Covered Person, except for a Disqualification Event as to which Rule 506(d)(2)(ii–iv) or (d)(3), is applicable. “Company Covered Person” means, with respect to the Company as an “issuer” for purposes of Rule 506 promulgated under the Securities Act, any person listed in the first paragraph of Rule 506(d)(1).
o. Office of Foreign Assets Control. Neither the Company nor any subsidiary nor, to the Company's knowledge, any director, officer, agent, employee or affiliate of the Company or any subsidiary is currently subject to any U.S. sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department (“OFAC”).
p. Money Laundering. The operations of the Company and its subsidiaries are and have been conducted at all times in compliance with applicable financial record-keeping and reporting requirements of the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970, as amended, applicable money laundering statutes and applicable rules and regulations thereunder (collectively, the “Money Laundering Laws”), and no Action by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company or any subsidiary with respect to the Money Laundering Laws is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company or any subsidiary, threatened.
4. Representations, Warranties and Agreements of the Purchaser. The Purchaser, severally and not jointly with any other Purchaser, represents and warrants to, and agrees with, the Company, as of any Closing, as applicable, the following:
a. The Purchaser has the knowledge and experience in financial and business matters necessary to evaluate the merits and risks of its prospective investment in the Company, as more fully set forth herein and in the Offering Memorandum, and has carefully reviewed and understands the risks of, and other considerations relating to, the purchase of Shares and the tax consequences of the investment, and has the ability to bear the economic risks of the investment. The Purchaser can afford the loss of his, her or its entire investment.
b. The Purchaser is acquiring the Shares for investment for his, her or its own account and not with the view to, or for resale in connection with, any distribution thereof. The Purchaser understands and acknowledges that the Offering and sale of the Shares have not been registered under the Securities Act or any state securities laws. The Purchaser further represents that he, she or it does not have any contract, undertaking, agreement or arrangement with any person to sell, transfer or grant participation to any third person with respect to any of the Shares. The Purchaser understands and acknowledges that the Offering of the Shares will not be registered under the Securities Act nor under the state securities laws on the ground that the sale of the Shares to the Purchaser as provided for in this Agreement and the issuance of securities hereunder is exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and any applicable state securities laws, which depends upon, among other things, the bona fide nature of the investment intent as expressed herein. The Purchaser is an “accredited investor” as defined in Rule 501 of Regulation D as promulgated by the SEC under the Securities Act, for the reason(s) specified on the Accredited Investor Certification attached hereto as completed by Purchaser, and Purchaser shall submit to the Company such further assurances of such status as may be reasonably requested by the Company. The Purchaser resides in the jurisdiction set forth on the Purchaser’s Omnibus Signature Page affixed hereto. The Purchaser has not taken any of the actions set forth in, and is not subject to, the disqualification provisions of Rule 506(d)(1) of the Securities Act.
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c. The Purchaser (i) if a natural person, represents that he or she is the greater of (A) 21 years of age or (B) the age of legal majority in his or her jurisdiction of residence, and has full power and authority to execute and deliver this Agreement and all other related agreements or certificates and to carry out the provisions hereof and thereof; (ii) if a corporation, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint stock company, trust, unincorporated organization or other entity, represents that such entity was not formed for the specific purpose of acquiring the Shares, such entity is duly organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the state or jurisdiction of its organization, the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby is authorized by, and will not result in a violation of state law or its charter or other organizational documents, such entity has full power and authority to execute and deliver this Agreement and all other related agreements or certificates and to carry out the provisions hereof and thereof and to purchase and hold the Shares, the execution and delivery of this Agreement has been duly authorized by all necessary action, this Agreement has been duly executed and delivered on behalf of such entity and is a legal, valid and binding obligation of such entity; or (iii) if executing this Agreement in a representative or fiduciary capacity, represents that he, she or it has full power and authority to execute and deliver this Agreement in such capacity and on behalf of the subscribing individual, ward, partnership, trust, estate, corporation, or limited liability company or partnership, or other entity for whom the Purchaser is executing this Agreement, and such individual, partnership, ward, trust, estate, corporation, or limited liability company or partnership, or other entity has full right and power to perform pursuant to this Agreement and make an investment in the Company, and represents that this Agreement constitutes a legal, valid and binding obligation of such entity. The execution and delivery of this Agreement will not violate or be in conflict with any order, judgment, injunction, agreement or controlling document to which the Purchaser is a party or by which it is bound.
d. The Purchaser understands that the Shares are being offered and sold to him, her or it in reliance on specific exemptions from the registration requirements of United States federal and state securities laws and that the Company is relying in part upon the truth and accuracy of, and such Purchaser’s compliance with, the representations, warranties, agreements, acknowledgments and understandings of such Purchaser set forth herein in order to determine the availability of such exemptions and the eligibility of such Purchaser to acquire such securities. The Purchaser further acknowledges and understands that the Company is relying on the representations and warranties made by the Purchaser hereunder and that such representations and warranties are a material inducement to the Company to sell the Shares to the Purchaser. The Purchaser further acknowledges that without such representations and warranties of the Purchaser made hereunder, the Company would not enter into this Agreement with the Purchaser.
e. The Purchaser understands that, other than as expressly provided in the Registration Rights Agreement, the Company does not currently intend to register the Shares under the Securities Act at any time in the future; and the undersigned will not immediately be entitled to the benefits of Rule 144 with respect to the Shares.
f. The Purchaser has received, reviewed and understood the information about the Company, including all Transaction Documents, and has had an opportunity to discuss the Company’s business, management and financial affairs with the Company’s management. The Purchaser understands that such discussions, as well as any Transaction Documents provided by the Company, were intended to describe the aspects of the Company’s business and prospects and the Offering which the Company believes to be material, but were not necessarily a thorough or exhaustive description, and except as expressly set forth in this Agreement, the Company makes no representation or warranty with respect to the completeness of such information and makes no representation or warranty of any kind with respect to any information provided by any entity other than the Company. Some of such information may include projections as to the future performance of the Company, which projections may not be realized, may be based on assumptions which may not be correct and may be subject to numerous factors beyond the Company’s control. The Purchaser acknowledges that he, she or it is not relying upon any person or entity, other than the Company and its officers and directors, in making its investment or decision to invest in the Company. Additionally, the Purchaser understands and represents that he, she or it is purchasing the Shares notwithstanding the fact that the Company may disclose in the future certain material information the Purchaser has not received, including (without limitation) financial statements of the Company for the current or prior fiscal periods, and any subsequent period financial statements that may be filed with the SEC, that he, she or it is not relying on any such information in connection with his, her or its purchase of the Shares and that he, she or it waives any right of action with respect to the nondisclosure to him, her or it prior to his, her or its purchase of the Shares of any such information. Each Purchaser has sought such accounting, legal and tax advice as the Purchaser has considered necessary to make an informed investment decision with respect to his, her or its acquisition of the Shares.
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g. The Purchaser acknowledges that none of the Company or its counsel are acting as a financial advisor or fiduciary of the Purchaser (or in any similar capacity) with respect to the Transaction Documents and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby, and no investment advice has been given by the Company or any of its representatives or agents in connection with the Transaction Documents and the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby. The Purchaser further represents to the Company that the Purchaser’s decision to enter into the Transaction Documents has been based solely on the independent evaluation by the Purchaser and the Purchaser’s representatives.
h. As of the applicable Closing, all actions on the part of Purchaser, and its officers, directors and partners, if applicable, necessary for the authorization, execution and delivery of this Agreement and the performance of all obligations of the Purchaser hereunder shall have been taken, and this Agreement, assuming due execution by the parties hereto and thereto, constitutes valid and legally binding obligations of the Purchaser, enforceable in accordance with their respective terms, subject to: (i) judicial principles limiting the availability of specific performance, injunctive relief, and other equitable remedies and (ii) bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or other similar laws now or hereafter in effect generally relating to or affecting creditors’ rights.
i. Purchaser represents that neither it nor, to its knowledge, any person or entity controlling, controlled by or under common control with it, nor any person having a beneficial interest in the Purchaser, nor any person on whose behalf the Purchaser is acting: (i) is a person listed in the Annex to Executive Order No. 13224 (2001) issued by the President of the United States (Executive Order Blocking Property and Prohibiting Transactions with Persons Who Commit, Threaten to Commit, or Support Terrorism); (ii) is named on the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons maintained by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control; (iii) is a non-U.S. shell bank or is providing banking services indirectly to a non-U.S. shell bank; (iv) is a senior non-U.S. political figure or an immediate family member or close associate of such figure; or (v) is otherwise prohibited from investing in the Company pursuant to applicable U.S. anti-money laundering, anti-terrorist and asset control laws, regulations, rules or orders (categories (i) through (v), each a “Prohibited Purchaser”). The Purchaser agrees to provide the Company, promptly upon request, all information that the Company reasonably deems necessary or appropriate to comply with applicable U.S. anti-money laundering, anti-terrorist and asset control laws, regulations, rules and orders. The Purchaser consents to the disclosure to U.S. regulators and law enforcement authorities by the Company and its Affiliates and agents of such information about the Purchaser as the Company reasonably deems necessary or appropriate to comply with applicable U.S. anti-money laundering, antiterrorist and asset control laws, regulations, rules and orders. If the Purchaser is a financial institution that is subject to the USA Patriot Act, the Purchaser represents that it has met all of its obligations under the USA Patriot Act. The Purchaser acknowledges that if, following its investment in the Company, the Company reasonably believes that the Purchaser is a Prohibited Purchaser or is otherwise engaged in suspicious activity or refuses to promptly provide information that the Company requests, the Company has the right or may be obligated to prohibit additional investments, segregate the assets constituting the investment in accordance with applicable regulations or immediately require the Purchaser to transfer the Shares. The Purchaser further acknowledges that neither the Purchaser nor any of the Purchaser’s Affiliates or agents will have any claim against the Company for any form of damages as a result of any of the foregoing actions.
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j. If the Purchaser is an Affiliate of a non-U.S. banking institution (a “Foreign Bank”), or if the Purchaser receives deposits from, makes payments on behalf of, or handles other financial transactions related to a Foreign Bank, the Purchaser represents and warrants to the Company that: (1) the Foreign Bank has a fixed address, other than solely an electronic address, in a country in which the Foreign Bank is authorized to conduct banking activities; (2) the Foreign Bank maintains operating records related to its banking activities; (3) the Foreign Bank is subject to inspection by the banking authority that licensed the Foreign Bank to conduct banking activities; and (4) the Foreign Bank does not provide banking services to any other Foreign Bank that does not have a physical presence in any country and that is not a regulated Affiliate.
k. The Purchaser or its duly authorized representative realizes that because of the inherently speculative nature of businesses of the kind conducted and contemplated by the Company, the Company’s financial results may be expected to fluctuate from month to month and from period to period and will, generally, involve a high degree of financial and market risk that could result in substantial or, at times, even total losses for investors in securities of the Company. The Purchaser has carefully read the risk factors included in the Offering Memorandum (the “Risk Factors”) and other information included in the Offering Documents. The Purchaser has carefully considered such Risk Factors before deciding to invest in the Shares.
l. The Purchaser has adequate means of providing for its current and anticipated financial needs and contingencies, is able to bear the economic risk for an indefinite period of time and has no need for liquidity of the investment in the Shares and could afford complete loss of such investment.
m. The Purchaser is not subscribing for Shares as a result of or subsequent to any advertisement, article, notice or other communication, published in any newspaper, magazine or similar media or broadcast over television, radio, or the internet, or presented at any seminar or meeting, or any solicitation of a subscription by a person not previously known to the Purchaser in connection with investments in securities generally.
n. The Purchaser acknowledges that no U.S. federal or state agency or any other government or governmental agency has passed upon the Shares or made any finding or determination as to the fairness, suitability or wisdom of any investments therein.
o. Other than consummating the transactions contemplated hereunder, the Purchaser has not directly or indirectly, nor has any individual or entity acting on behalf of or pursuant to any understanding with such Purchaser, executed any purchases or sales, including Short Sales (as defined below), of the securities of the Company during the period commencing as of the time that such Purchaser first received a term sheet (written or oral) from the Company or any other individual or entity representing the Company setting forth the material terms of the transactions contemplated hereunder and ending immediately prior to the execution hereof. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the case of a Purchaser that is a multi-managed investment vehicle whereby separate portfolio managers manage separate portions of such Purchaser’s assets and the portfolio managers have no direct knowledge of the investment decisions made by the portfolio managers managing other portions of such Purchaser’s assets, the representation set forth above shall only apply with respect to the portion of assets managed by the portfolio manager that made the investment decision to purchase the Shares covered by this Agreement. Other than to other individuals or entities party to this Agreement, such Purchaser has maintained the confidentiality of all disclosures made to it in connection with this transaction (including the existence and terms of this transaction). Notwithstanding the foregoing, for avoidance of doubt, nothing contained herein shall constitute a representation or warranty, or preclude any actions, with respect to the identification of the availability of, or securing of, available shares to borrow in order to effect Short Sales or similar transactions in the future. For purposes of this Agreement, “Short Sales” means all “short sales” as defined in Rule 200 of Regulation SHO under the Exchange Act (but shall not be deemed to include the location and/or reservation of borrowable shares of Common Stock).
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p. The Purchaser is aware that the anti-manipulation rules of Regulation M under the Exchange Act may apply to sales of the Shares and other activities with respect to the Shares by the Purchaser.
q. All of the information concerning the Purchaser set forth herein, and any other information furnished by the Purchaser in writing to the Company for use in connection with the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, is true, correct and complete in all material respects as of the date of this Agreement, and, if there should be any material change in such information prior to the Purchaser’s purchase of the Shares, the Purchaser will promptly furnish revised or corrected information to the Company.
r. The Purchaser acknowledges that (i) the Transaction Documents contain material, non-public information concerning the Company, and (ii) the Purchaser is obtaining such material, nonpublic information solely for the purpose of considering whether to purchase the Shares pursuant to a private placement that is exempt from registration under the Securities Act. The Purchaser agrees to keep such information confidential and not to disclose it to any other person or entity except the Purchaser’s legal counsel, advisors and other representatives who have agreed (i) to keep such information confidential, (ii) to use such information only for the purpose set forth above, and (iii) to comply with applicable securities laws with respect to such information.
s. The Purchaser has reviewed with its own tax advisors the U.S. federal, state, local and foreign tax consequences of this investment and the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents. With respect to such matters, such Purchaser relies solely on such advisors and not on any statements or representations of the Company or any of its agents, written or oral. The Purchaser understands that it (and not the Company) shall be responsible for its own tax liability that may arise as a result of this investment or the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents.
t. If the Purchaser is not a United States person (as defined by Section 7701(a)(30) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended), the Purchaser hereby represents that it has satisfied itself as to the full observance of the laws of its jurisdiction in connection with any invitation to subscribe for the Shares or any use of this Agreement, including (a) the legal requirements within its jurisdiction for the purchase of the Shares; (b) any foreign exchange restrictions applicable to such purchase; (c) any governmental or other consents that may need to be obtained; and (d) the income tax and other tax consequences, if any, that may be relevant to the purchase, holding, redemption, sale or transfer of the Shares. The Purchaser’s subscription and payment for and continued beneficial ownership of the Shares will not violate any applicable securities or other laws of the Purchaser’s jurisdiction.
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u. (For ERISA plans only) The fiduciary of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) plan (the “Plan”) represents that such fiduciary has been informed of and understands the Company’s investment objectives, policies and strategies, and that the decision to invest “plan assets” (as such term is defined in ERISA) in the Company is consistent with the provisions of ERISA that require diversification of plan assets and impose other fiduciary responsibilities. The Purchaser fiduciary or Plan (a) is responsible for the decision to invest in the Company; (b) is independent of the Company or any of its Affiliates; (c) is qualified to make such investment decision; and (d) in making such decision, the Purchaser fiduciary or Plan has not relied primarily on any advice or recommendation of the Company or any of its Affiliates.
v. Neither the Purchaser nor, to the Purchaser’s knowledge, any of its directors, executive officers, other officers that may serve as a director or officer of any company in which it invests, general partners or managing members is subject to any Disqualification Events, except for Disqualification Events covered by Rule 506(d)(2)(ii) or (iii) under the Securities Act, and disclosed in writing in reasonable detail to the Company.
w. The Purchaser understands that there are substantial restrictions on the transferability of the Shares and that the certificates or book-entry positions representing the Shares shall bear a restrictive legend in substantially the following form (and a stop-transfer order may be placed against transfer of such certificates or other instruments):
THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS [BOOK ENTRY POSITION/CERTIFICATE] HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE “SECURITIES ACT”), OR ANY STATE SECURITIES LAWS, AND NEITHER SUCH SHARES NOR ANY INTEREST THEREIN MAY BE OFFERED, SOLD, PLEDGED, ASSIGNED OR OTHERWISE TRANSFERRED UNLESS (1) A REGISTRATION STATEMENT WITH RESPECT THERETO IS EFFECTIVE UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT AND ANY APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS, OR (2) AN EXEMPTION FROM SUCH REGISTRATION EXISTS AND THE COMPANY RECEIVES AN OPINION OF COUNSEL, WHICH COUNSEL AND OPINION ARE REASONABLY SATISFACTORY TO THE COMPANY, THAT SUCH SHARES MAY BE OFFERED, SOLD, PLEDGED, ASSIGNED OR TRANSFERRED IN THE MANNER CONTEMPLATED WITHOUT AN EFFECTIVE REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OR APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS.
In addition, if any Purchaser is an Affiliate of the Company, certificates or book entry positions evidencing the Shares issued to such Purchaser may bear a customary “Affiliates” legend.
The Company shall be obligated to promptly reissue unlegended certificates upon the request of any holder thereof (x) at such time as the holding period under Rule 144 or another applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act has been satisfied or (y) at such time as a registration statement is available for the transfer of the Shares. The Company is entitled to request from any holder requesting unlegended certificates under clause (x) of the foregoing sentence an opinion of counsel reasonably acceptable to the Company to the effect that the securities proposed to be disposed of may lawfully be so disposed of without registration, qualification or legend.
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x. If the Purchaser is an individual, then the Purchaser resides in the state or province identified in the address of the Purchaser set forth on such Purchaser’s Omnibus Signature Page to this Agreement; if the Purchaser is a partnership, corporation, limited liability company or other entity, then the office or offices of the Purchaser in which its principal place of business is identified in the address or addresses of the Purchaser set forth on such Purchaser’s Omnibus Signature Page to this Agreement.
y. Each Purchaser purchasing Shares in any Closing represents that it (1) has a substantive, pre-existing relationship with the Company or (2) has direct contact by the Company or its Placement Agent outside of the Offering and (3) was not identified or contacted through the marketing of the Offering and (4) did not independently contact the Company as a result of general solicitation by means of any press release or any other public disclosure disclosing the material terms of the Offering.
z. To effectuate the terms and provisions hereof, the Purchaser hereby appoints the Placement Agent as its attorney-in-fact (and the Placement Agent hereby accepts such appointment) for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the Escrow Agreement by and between the Company, the Placement Agent and Delaware Trust Company (the “Escrow Agreement”) including, without limitation, taking any action on behalf of, or at the instruction of, the Purchaser and executing any release notices required under the Escrow Agreement and taking any action and executing any instrument that the Placement Agent may deem necessary or advisable (and lawful) to accomplish the purposes hereof. All acts done under the foregoing authorization are hereby ratified and approved and neither the Placement Agent nor any designee nor agent thereof shall be liable for any acts of commission or omission, for any error of judgment, for any mistake of fact or law except for acts of gross negligence or willful misconduct. This power of attorney, being coupled with an interest, is irrevocable while the Escrow Agreement remains in effect.
5. Conditions to Company’s Obligations at the applicable Closing. The Company’s obligation to complete the sale and issuance of the Shares and deliver the Shares to each Purchaser, individually, at the applicable Closing shall be subject to the following conditions to the extent not waived by the Company:
a. Receipt of Payment. The Company shall have received payment, by certified or other bank check or by wire transfer of immediately available funds, in the full amount of the purchase price for the number of Shares being purchased by such Purchaser at such Closing.
b. Representations and Warranties. The representations and warranties made by the Purchaser in Section 3 hereof and each Purchaser in Section 3 of the applicable Subscription Agreement with respect to such Closing shall be true and correct in all respects when made,and shall be true and correct in all respects on the applicable Closing date with the same force and effect as if they had been made on and as of said date.
c. Performance. The Purchaser shall have performed in all material respects all obligations and covenants herein required to be performed by it on or prior to the applicable Closing.
d. Receipt of Executed Documents. Each Purchaser participating in such Closing shall have executed and delivered to the Company the duly executed Subscription Documents.
e. Minimum Offering. In connection with the Initial Closing only, the Initial Closing shall be at least for the number of shares of Common Stock in the Minimum Offering Amount at the Purchase Price.
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6. Conditions to Purchasers’ Obligations at the applicable Closing. Each Purchaser’s obligation to accept delivery of the Shares and to pay for the Shares at the applicable Closing shall be subject to thefollowing conditions to the extent not waived by the holders of at least a majority of the Shares to be purchased at such Closing:
a. Representations and Warranties. The representations and warranties made by the Company in Section 3 hereof shall be true and correct in all material respects (except to the extent any such representation and warranty is qualified by materiality or reference to Material Adverse Effect, in which case, such representation and warranty shall be true and correct in all respects as so qualified) as of, and as if made on, the date of this Agreement and as of such Closing Date, except to the extent any such representation or warranty expressly speaks as of an earlier date, in which case such representation or warranty shall be true and in all material respects correct as of such earlier date (except in each case to the extent any such representation and warranty is qualified by materiality or reference to Material Adverse Effect, in which case, such representation and warranty shall be true and correct in all respects as so qualified).
b. Performance. The Company shall have performed in all material respects all obligations and covenants herein required to be performed by it on or prior to the applicable Closing.
c. Receipt of Executed Transaction Documents. The Company shall have executed and delivered to the Purchaser the Registration Rights Agreement and the Escrow Agreement.
d. Minimum Offering. In connection with the Initial Closing only, the Initial Closing shall be at least for the number of shares of Common Stock in the Minimum Offering Amount at the Purchase Price.
e. Good Standing. The Company and each of its subsidiaries is a corporation or other business entity duly organized, validly existing, and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its formation.
f. Judgments. No judgment, writ, order, injunction, award or decree of or by any court, or judge, justice or magistrate, including any bankruptcy court or judge, or any order of or by any Governmental Authority, shall have been issued, and no action or proceeding shall have been instituted by any Governmental Authority, enjoining or preventing the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby.
g. Issuance in Compliance with Laws. The sale and issuance of the Shares shall be legally permitted by all laws and regulations to which the Company is subject.
h. No Material Adverse Effect. Since the date of the Offering Memorandum , there shall not have occurred any effect, event, condition or circumstance (including, without limitation, the initiation of any litigation or other legal, regulatory or investigative proceeding) that individually or in the aggregate, with or without the passage of time, the giving of notice, or both, that has had, or could reasonably be expected to have, a Material Adverse Effect or which could adversely affect the Company’s ability to perform its respective obligations under this Agreement or any of the other Transaction Documents.
i. Qualifications. All authorizations, approvals or permits, of any governmental authority or regulatory body of the United States or of any state that are required in connection with the lawful issuance and sale of the Shares pursuant to this Agreement at each Closing shall be obtained and effective as of such Closing except for Blue Sky law permits and qualifications that may be properly obtained after such Closing.
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j. Certificate. At each applicable Closing, an executive officer of the Company shall have duly executed and delivered or caused to be delivered to the Placement Agent a certificate addressed to the Purchaser and the Placement Agent certifying as to the satisfaction of the conditions set forth in Section 6(a) and Section 6(b) as of the applicable Closing Date
k Delivery of Securities. At the applicable Closing, to the extent requested by the Purchaser, the Company shall have delivered or caused to be delivered to the Purchaser evidence of the book-entry issuance of the Shares purchased by such Purchaser as set forth on the applicable Purchaser’s Omnibus Signature Page, duly executed, to the extent applicable, by the proper officers of the Company and registered in the name of the Purchaser or its designee.
l. Compliance with Laws. The sale and issuance of the Shares, shall be legally permitted by all laws and regulations to which the Company is subject.
7. Indemnification.
a. The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Purchaser, and its directors, officers, stockholders, members, partners, employees and agents (and any other persons with a functionally equivalent role of a person holding such titles notwithstanding a lack of such title or any other title), each person who controls such Purchaser (within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act and Section 20 of the Exchange Act), and the directors, officers, stockholders, agents, members, partners or employees (and any other persons with a functionally equivalent role of a person holding such titles notwithstanding a lack of such title or any other title) of such controlling person (collectively, the “Purchaser Indemnitees”), from and against all losses, liabilities, claims, damages, costs, fees and expenses whatsoever (including, but not limited to, any and all expenses incurred in investigating, preparing or defending against any litigation commenced or threatened) based upon or arising out of the Company’s breach of any representation, warranty or covenant contained herein or in the Offering Memorandum; provided, however, that the Company will not be liable in any such case to the extent and only to the extent that any such loss, liability, claim, damage, cost, fee or expense arises out of or is based upon the inaccuracy of any representations made by such indemnified party in this Agreement or in the Offering Memorandum, or the failure of such indemnified party to comply with the covenants and agreements contained herein. The liability of the Company under this paragraph shall not exceed the total Purchase Price paid by the Purchaser hereunder, except in the case of fraud.
b. Promptly after receipt by an indemnified party under this Section 7 of notice of the commencement of any Action, such indemnified party will, if a claim in respect thereof is to be made against the indemnifying party under this Section 7, notify the indemnifying party in writing of the commencement thereof; but the omission so to notify the indemnifying party will not relieve it from any liability which it may have to any indemnified party otherwise than under this Section 6 except to the extent the indemnified party is actually prejudiced by such omission. In case any such Action is brought against any indemnified party, and it notifies the indemnifying party of the commencement thereof, the indemnifying party will be entitled to participate therein, and to the extent that it may elect by written notice delivered to the indemnified party promptly after receiving the aforesaid notice from such indemnified party, to assume the defense thereof, with counsel satisfactory to such indemnified party; provided, however, if the defendants in any such Action include both the indemnified party and the indemnifying party and either (i) the indemnifying party or parties and the indemnified party or parties mutually agree or (ii) representation of both the indemnifying party or parties and the indemnified party or parties by the same counsel is inappropriate under applicable standards of professional conduct due to actual or potential differing interests between them, the indemnified party or parties shall have the right to select separate counsel to assume such legal defenses and to otherwise participate in the defense of such Action on behalf of such indemnified party or parties. Upon receipt of notice from the indemnifying party to such indemnified party of its election so to assume the defense of such Action and approval by the indemnified party of counsel, the indemnifying party will not be liable to such indemnified party under this Section 7 for any reasonable legal or other expenses subsequently incurred by such indemnified party in connection with the defense thereof unless (i) the indemnified party shall have employed counsel in connection with the assumption of legal defenses in accordance with the proviso to the next preceding sentence (it being understood, however, that the indemnifying party shall not be liable for the expenses of more than one separate counsel in such circumstance), (ii) the indemnifying party shall not have employed counsel satisfactory to the indemnified party to represent the indemnified party within a reasonable time after notice of commencement of the Action or (iii) the indemnifying party has authorized the employment of counsel for the indemnified party at the expense of the indemnifying party. No indemnifying party shall (i) without the prior written consent of the indemnified parties (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld), settle or compromise or consent to the entry of any judgment with respect to any pending or threatened Action in respect of which indemnification or contribution may be sought hereunder (whether or not the indemnified parties are actual or potential parties to such Action) unless such settlement, compromise or consent requires only the payment of money damages, does not subject the indemnified party to any continuing obligation or require any admission of criminal or civil responsibility, and includes an unconditional release of each indemnified party from all liability arising out of such Action, or (ii) be liable for any settlement of any such Action effected without its written consent (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld), but if settled with its written consent or if there be a final judgment of the plaintiff in any such Action, the indemnifying party agrees to indemnify and hold harmless any indemnified party from and against any loss or liability by reason of such settlement or judgment.
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c. Purchaser acknowledges on behalf of itself and each Purchaser Indemnitee that, other than for actions seeking specific performance of the obligations under this Agreement or in the case of fraud, the sole and exclusive remedy of the Purchaser and the Purchaser Indemnitee with respect to any and all claims relating to this Agreement shall be pursuant to the indemnification provisions set forth in this Section 7.
8. Revocability; Binding Effect. The subscription hereunder may be revoked prior to the Closing thereon, provided that written notice of revocation is sent and is received by the Company or a Placement Agent at least one Business Day prior to the applicable Closing on such subscription. The Purchaser hereby acknowledges and agrees that this Agreement shall survive the death or disability of the Purchaser and shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties and their heirs, executors, administrators, successors, legal representatives and permitted assigns. If the Purchaser is more than one person, the obligations of the Purchaser hereunder shall be joint and several and the agreements, representations, warranties and acknowledgments herein shall be deemed to be made by and be binding upon each such person and such person’s heirs, executors, administrators, successors, legal representatives and permitted assigns. For the purposes of this Agreement, “Business Day” means a day, other than a Saturday or Sunday, on which banks in New York City are open for the general transaction of business.
9. Miscellaneous.
a. Modification. This Agreement shall not be amended, modified or waived except by an instrument in writing signed by the Company and the holders of at least a majority of the then held Shares. Any amendment, modification or waiver effected in accordance with this Section 9(a) shall be binding upon the Purchaser and each transferee of the Shares, each future holder of all such Shares, and the Company.
b. Immaterial Modifications to the Registration Rights Agreement. The Company and the Placement Agent may, at any time prior to the Initial Closing, amend the Registration Rights Agreement, if necessary and not material, to clarify any provision therein, without first providing notice or obtaining prior consent of the Purchaser.
c. Notices. Any notice, consents, waivers or other communication required or permitted to be given hereunder shall be in writing and will be deemed to have been delivered: (i) upon receipt, when personally delivered; (ii) upon receipt when sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid; (iii) when sent, if by e-mail, (provided that such sent e-mail is kept on file (whether electronically or otherwise) by the sending party and the sending party does not receive an automatically generated message from the recipient’s e-mail server that such e-mail could not be delivered to such recipient); or (iv) one (1) Business Day after deposit with a nationally recognized overnight courier service with next day delivery specified, in each case, properly addressed to the party to receive the same. For the purposes of this Agreement. The addresses and email addresses for such communications shall be:
(a) if to the Company, at
Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc.
9 Brown Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
Attn: Alex Behfar, CEO
Email: alex@odysseysemi.com
(b) if to the Purchaser, at the address set forth on the Omnibus Signature Page hereof (or, in either case, to such other address as the party shall have furnished in writing in accordance with the provisions of this Section). Any notice or other communication given by certified mail shall be deemed given at the time of certification thereof, except for a notice changing a party’s address which shall be deemed given at the time of receipt thereof.
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d. Assignability. This Agreement and the rights, interests and obligations hereunder are not transferable or assignable by the Purchaser, and the transfer or assignment of the Shares shall be made only in accordance with all applicable laws.
e. Applicable Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, without reference to the principles thereof relating to the conflict of laws.
f. Arbitration. All disputes arising out of or in connection with this
Agreement shall be submitted to the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) and shall be finally settled under the Rules of Arbitration of the AAA by one or more arbitrators appointed in accordance with the said Rules. The place of arbitration shall be New York, New York.
g. Form D; Blue Sky Qualification. The Company agrees to timely file a Form D with respect to the Shares and to provide a copy thereof, promptly upon request of any Purchaser. The Company shall take such action as the Company shall reasonably determine is necessary in order to obtain an exemption for, or to qualify the Shares for, sale to the Purchaser at such Closing under applicable securities or “Blue Sky” laws of the states of the United States, and shall provide evidence of such actions promptly upon request of any Purchaser.
h. Use of Pronouns. All pronouns and any variations thereof used herein shall be deemed to refer to the masculine, feminine, neuter, singular or plural as the identity of the person or persons referred to may require.
i. This Agreement, together with the Registration Rights Agreement, the Offering Memorandum and all exhibits, schedules and attachments hereto and thereto and any confidentiality agreement between the Purchaser and the Company, constitute the entire agreement between the Purchaser and the Company with respect to the Offering and supersede all prior oral or written agreements and understandings, if any, relating to the subject matter hereof. The terms and provisions of this Agreement may be waived, or consent for the departure therefrom granted, only by a written document executed by the party entitled to the benefits of such terms or provisions.
j. Each of the parties hereto shall pay its own fees and expenses (including the fees of any attorneys, accountants, appraisers or others engaged by such party) in connection with this Agreement and the transactions contemplated hereby, whether or not the transactions contemplated hereby are consummated.
k. This Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original but all of which together shall constitute one and the same instrument. The exchange of copies of this Agreement and of signature pages that contain copies of an executed signature page such as in .pdf format shall constitute effective execution and delivery of this Agreement as to the parties and may be used in lieu of the original Agreement for all purposes.
l. Each provision of this Agreement shall be considered separable and, if for any reason any provision or provisions hereof are determined to be invalid or contrary to applicable law, such invalidity or illegality shall not impair the operation of or affect the remaining portions of this Agreement.
m. Paragraph titles are for descriptive purposes only and shall not control or alter the meaning of this Agreement as set forth in the text.
n. The Purchaser understands and acknowledges that there may be multiple Closings for the Offering.
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o. The Purchaser hereby agrees to furnish the Company such other information as the Company may request prior to the applicable Closing with respect to its subscription hereunder.
p. The representations and warranties of the Company and each Purchaser contained in or made pursuant to this Agreement shall survive the execution and delivery of this Agreement for a period of one (1) year from the date of the initial Closing and shall in no way be affected by any investigation or knowledge of the subject matter thereof made by or on behalf of the Purchasers or the Company.
q. Omnibus Signature Page. This Agreement is intended to be read and construed in conjunction with the Registration Rights Agreement. Accordingly, pursuant to the terms and conditions of this Agreement and the Registration Rights Agreement, it is hereby agreed that the execution by the Purchaser of this Agreement, in the place set forth on the Omnibus Signature Page below, shall constitute agreement to be bound by the terms and conditions hereof and the terms and conditions of the Registration Rights Agreement, with the same effect as if each of such separate but related agreement were separately signed.
r. Public Disclosure. Neither the Purchaser nor any officer, manager, director, member, partner, stockholder, employee, Affiliate, Affiliated person or entity of the Purchaser shall make or issue any press releases or otherwise make any public statements or make any disclosures to any third person or entity with respect to the transactions contemplated herein and will not make or issue any press releases or otherwise make any public statements of any nature whatsoever with respect to the Company without the Company’s express prior approval (which may be withheld in the Company’s sole discretion), except to the extent such disclosure is required by law, request of the staff of the SEC or of any regulatory agency or principal trading market regulations.
s. Independent Nature of Each Purchaser’s Obligations and Rights. For avoidance of doubt, the obligations of the Purchaser under this Agreement are several and not joint with the obligations of any other Purchaser, and the Purchaser shall not be responsible in any way for the performance of the obligations of any other Purchaser under any other Subscription Agreement. Nothing contained herein and no action taken by the Purchaser shall be deemed to constitute the Purchaser as a partnership, an association, a joint venture, or any other kind of entity, or create a presumption that the Purchasers are in any way acting in concert or as a group with respect to such obligations or the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and any other Subscription Agreements. The Purchaser shall be entitled to independently protect and enforce its rights, including without limitation the rights arising out of this Agreement, and it shall not be necessary for any other Purchaser to be joined as an additional party in any proceeding for such purpose.
l. Third-Party Beneficiary. The Placement Agent shall be an express third-party beneficiary of the representations and warranties of the Company and the Purchaser included in Sections 3 and 4 of this Agreement. This Agreement is intended for the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors and permitted assigns and is not for the benefit of, nor may any provision hereof be enforced by, any other person, except as otherwise set forth in Section 7 and this Section 9t.
[Signature page follows.]
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has duly executed this Agreement as of the ____ day of _________, 2021.
ODYSSEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
By: __________________________
Name: Alex Behfar
Title: Chief Executive Officer
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ODYSSEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
OMNIBUS SIGNATURE PAGE TO
SUBSCRIPTION AGREEMENT AND REGISTRATION RIGHTS AGREEMENT
The undersigned, desiring to: (i) enter into the Subscription Agreement, dated as of______________ ___,1 2021 (the “Subscription Agreement”), between the undersigned, Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc. a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and the other parties thereto, in or substantially in the form furnished to the undersigned, (ii) enter into the Registration Rights Agreement (the “Registration Rights Agreement”), among the undersigned, the Company and the other parties thereto, in or substantially in the form furnished to the undersigned and (iii) purchase the Shares of the Company’s securities as set forth in the Subscription Agreement and below, hereby agrees to purchase such Shares from the Company and further agrees to join the Subscription Agreement and the Registration Rights Agreement as a party thereto, with all the rights and privileges appertaining thereto, and to be bound in all respects by the terms and conditions thereof. The undersigned specifically acknowledges having read the representations section in the Subscription Agreement entitled “Representations and Warranties of the Purchaser” and hereby represents that the statements contained therein are complete and accurate with respect to the undersigned as a Purchaser.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Purchaser hereby executes the Subscription Agreement.
_____________
1 Will reflect the Closing Date. Not
to be completed by Purchaser.
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ACCREDITED INVESTOR CERTIFICATION
ODYSSEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
ACCREDITED INVESTOR CERTIFICATION
For Individual Investors Only
(all Individual Investors must INITIAL where appropriate):
By initialing you certify that:
For Individual Investors Only
Initial ___________ | I have a net worth, or joint net worth with my spouse or spousal equivalent, of more than US$1,000,000. (“Net worth” means the excess of total assets at fair market value (including personal and real property,but excluding the estimated fair market value of your primary home) over total liabilities. "Total liabilities" excludes any mortgage on the primary home in an amount of up to the home's estimated fair market value as long as the mortgage was incurred more than 60 days before the Shares are purchased, but includes (i) any mortgage amount in excess of the home's fair market value and (ii) any mortgage amount that was borrowed during the 60-day period before the closing date for the sale of the Shares for the purpose of investing in the Shares. “Spousal equivalent” means a cohabitant occupying a relationship generally equivalent to that of a spouse. “Joint net worth” is the aggregate net worth of a person and spouse or spousal equivalent; assets do not need to be held jointly to be included in the calculation.) |
Initial ___________ | I have had an individual income in excess of US$200,000 in each of the two most recent calendar years, or joint income with my spouse or spousal equivalent in excess of US$300,000 in each of those years, and have a reasonable expectation of reaching the same income level in the current calendar year. (“Income” means annual adjusted gross income, as reported for federal income tax purposes, plus (i) the amount of any tax-exempt interest income received; (ii) the amount of losses claimed as a limited partner in a limited partnership; (iii) any deduction claimed for depletion; (iv) amounts contributed to an IRA or Keogh retirement plan; (v) alimony paid; and (vi) any gains excluded from the calculation of adjusted gross income pursuant to the provisions of Section 1202 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.) |
Initial ___________ | I hold in good standing one of the following professional licenses: the General Securities Representative license (Series 7), the Private Securities Offerings Representative license (Series 82), or the Investment Adviser Representative license (Series 65). |
Initial ___________ I am a director or executive officer of Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc..
For Non-Individual Investors (Entities)
(all Non-Individual Investors must INITIAL where appropriate):
The investor is:
Initial ___________ | A bank, as defined in Section 3(a)(2) of the Securities Act or any savings and loan association or other institution as defined in Section 3(a)(5)(A) of the Securities Act, whether acting in an individual or a fiduciary capacity. |
Initial ___________ A broker or dealer registered under Section 15 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
Initial ___________ | An investment adviser registered pursuant to Section 203 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 or registered pursuant to the laws of a state. |
Initial ___________ | An investment adviser relying on the exemption from registering with the SEC under Section 203(l) or (m) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. |
Initial ___________ An insurance company, as defined in Section 2(a)(13) of the Securities Act.
Initial ___________ | An investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 or a business development company, as defined in Section 2(a)(48) of that act. |
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Initial ___________ | A Small Business Investment Company licensed by the U.S. Small Business Administration under Section 301(c) or (d) of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958. |
Initial ___________ A Rural Business Investment Company as defined in Section 384A of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Act.
Initial ___________ | A plan established and maintained by a state, its political subdivisions or any agency or instrumentality of a state or its political subdivisions for the benefit of its employees, if the plan has total assets in excess of US$5 million. |
Initial ___________ | An employee benefit plan within the meaning of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, if the investment decision is being made by a plan fiduciary, as defined in Section 3(21) of such act, and the plan fiduciary is either a bank, a savings and loan association, an insurance company, or a registered investment adviser, or if the employee benefit plan has total assets in excess of US$5 million, or if the employee benefit plan is a self-directed plan in which investment decisions are made solely by persons that are accredited investors. |
Initial ___________ | A private business development company, as defined in Section 202(a)(22) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. |
Initial ___________ | A corporation, Massachusetts or similar business trust, partnership, or limited liability company or an organization described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, that was not formed for the specific purpose of acquiring the Securities, and that has total assets in excess of US$5 million. |
Initial ___________ | A trust with total assets in excess of US$5 million not formed for the specific purpose of acquiring the Securities, whose purchase is directed by a sophisticated person as described in Rule 506(b)(2)(ii) under the Securities Act. |
Initial ___________ | An entity in which all of the equity owners (whether entities themselves or natural persons) are accredited investors and meet the criteria listed in either this Section 5 or Part I, Section 6 of this Questionnaire. Please also see "Additional Questions for Certain Accredited Investors" below. |
Initial ___________ | An entity of a type not listed above, that is not formed for the specific purpose of acquiring the Securities and owns investments in excess of US$5 million. For purposes of this clause, "investments" means investments as defined in Rule 2a51-1(b) under the Investment Company Act of 1940. |
Initial ___________ | A family office, as defined in Rule 202(a)(11)(G)-1 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, that (i) has assets under management in excess of US$5 million; (ii) is not formed for the specific purpose of acquiring the Securities and (iii) has a person directing the prospective investment who has such knowledge and experience in financial and business matters so that the family office is capable of evaluating the merits and risks of the prospective investment. |
Initial ___________ | A family client, as defined in Rule 202(a)(11)(G)-1 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, of a family office meeting the requirements of the immediately preceding clause and whose prospective investment in the Issuer is directed by that family office pursuant to subclause (iii) of the immediately preceding clause. |
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Exhibit 10.3
Confidential
FORM OF
REGISTRATION RIGHTS AGREEMENT
This Registration Rights Agreement (this “Agreement”) is made and entered into effective
as of_______________________________ ,
2021, among Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc., a Delaware
corporation (the “Company”), the persons who have purchased the Offering Shares (as defined below) and have
executed omnibus or counterpart signature page(s) hereto (each, a “Purchaser” and collectively, the “Purchasers”)
and [ ] (the “Placement Agent”). Capitalized terms used herein shall have the meanings ascribed to them in Section
1 below or in the Subscription Agreement.
RECITALS:
WHEREAS, the Company has offered and sold in compliance with Rule 506(b) of Regulation D promulgated under the Securities Act to accredited investors in a private placement offering (the “Offering”) shares of the common stock of the Company, par value $0.0001 per share, pursuant to that certain Subscription Agreement entered into by and between the Company and each of the subscribers for the Offering Shares set forth on the signature pages affixed thereto (the “Subscription Agreement”); and
WHEREAS, the Company has agreed to enter into a registration rights agreement with each of the Purchasers in the Offering who purchased the Offering Shares and with the Brokers, or their designees, who hold Placement Agent Warrants.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual promises, representations, warranties, covenants, and conditions set forth herein, the parties mutually agree as follows:
1. Certain Definitions. As used in this Agreement, the following terms shall have the
following respective meanings:
“Approved Market” means the OTC Markets Group, the Nasdaq Stock Market, the New York Stock Exchange or the NYSE American.
“Blackout Period” means, with respect to a registration, a period during which the Company, in the good faith judgment of its board of directors, determines (because of the existence of, or in anticipation of, any acquisition, financing activity, or other transaction involving the Company, or the unavailability for reasons beyond the Company’s control of any required financial statements, disclosure of information which is in its best interest not to publicly disclose, or any other event or condition of similar significance to the Company) that the registration and distribution of the Registrable Securities to be covered by such registration statement, if any, or the filing of an amendment to such registration statement in the circumstances described in Section 4(h) below, would be seriously detrimental to the Company and its stockholders, in each case commencing on the day the Company notifies the Holders that they are required, because of the determination described above, to suspend offers and sales of Registrable Securities and ending on the earlier of (1) the date upon which the material non-public information resulting in the Blackout Period is disclosed to the public or, in the sole discretion of the Company, ceases to be material and (2) such time as the Company notifies the selling Holders that sales pursuant to such Registration Statement or a new or amended Registration Statement may resume; provided, however, that no Blackout Period shall extend for a period of more than thirty (30) consecutive Trading Days and aggregate Blackout Periods shall not exceed sixty (60) Trading Days in any twelve (12) month period.
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“Business Day” means any day of the year, other than a Saturday, Sunday, or other day on which banks in the State of New York are required or authorized to close.
“Commission” means the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or any other federal agency at the time administering the Securities Act.
“Common Stock” means the common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Company and any and all shares of capital stock or other equity securities of: (i) the Company which are added to or exchanged or substituted for the Common Stock by reason of the declaration of any stock dividend or stock split, the issuance of any distribution or the reclassification, readjustment, recapitalization or other such modification of the capital structure of the Company; and (ii) any other corporation, now or hereafter organized under the laws of any state or other governmental authority, with which the Company is merged, which results from any consolidation or reorganization to which the Company is a party, or to which is sold all or substantially all of the shares or assets of the Company, if immediately after such merger, consolidation, reorganization or sale, the Company or the stockholders of the Company own equity securities having in the aggregate more than 50% of the total voting power of such other corporation.
“Exchange Act” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the Commission promulgated thereunder.
“Family Member” means (a) with respect to any individual, such individual’s spouse, any descendants (whether natural or adopted), any trust all of the beneficial interests of which are owned by any of such individuals or by any of such individuals together with any organization described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, the estate of any such individual, and any corporation, association, partnership or limited liability company all of the equity interests of which are owned by those above described individuals, trusts or organizations and (b) with respect to any trust, the owners of the beneficial interests of such trust.
“Filing Date” means the date that the Registration Statement is initially filed with the SEC.
“Holder” means (i) each Purchaser or any of such Purchaser’s respective successors and Permitted Assignees who acquire rights in accordance with this Agreement with respect to any Registrable Securities directly or indirectly from a Purchaser or from any Permitted Assignee and (ii) each Broker or any of such Broker’s respective successors and Permitted Assignees who acquire rights in accordance with this Agreement with respect to any Registrable Securities directly or indirectly from any Broker or from any Permitted Assignee.
“Majority Holders” means, at any time, Holders of a majority of the Registrable Securities then outstanding.
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“Permitted Assignee” means (a) with respect to a partnership, its partners or former partners in accordance with their partnership interests, (b) with respect to a corporation, its stockholders in accordance with their interest in the corporation, (c) with respect to a limited liability company, its members or former members in accordance with their interest in the limited liability company, (d) with respect to an individual party, any Family Member of such party, (e) an entity or trust that is controlled by, controls, or is under common control with a transferor, (f) a party to this Agreement, or (g) a person approved by the Company in its reasonable discretion.
“Placement Agent” shall have the meaning set forth in the Subscription Agreement.
“Placement Agent Warrants” shall have the meaning set forth in the Subscription Agreement.
“Offering Shares” means the shares of Common Stock issued to the Purchasers pursuant to the Subscription Agreement and any shares of Common Stock issued or issuable with respect to such shares upon any stock split, dividend or other distribution, recapitalization or similar event with respect to the foregoing.
The terms “register,” “registered,” and “registration” refer to a registration effected by preparing and filing a registration statement in compliance with the Securities Act, and the declaration or ordering of the effectiveness of such registration statement.
“Registrable Securities” means (a) the Offering Shares and (b) the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Placement Agent Warrants, but, in each case, excluding any otherwise Registrable Securities that (i) have been sold pursuant to a registration statement or Rule 144 of the Securities Act, or (ii) may be sold at the time pursuant to Rule 144 under the Securities Act without restriction, including manner of sale, current information requirements or volume limitations. .
“Registration Default Period” means the period during which any Registration Event occurs and is continuing.
“Registration Effectiveness Date” means the date that is one hundred and twenty (120) calendar days after the final closing of the Offering.
“Registration Event” means the occurrence of any of the following events:
(a) the Company fails to file with the Commission the Registration Statement on or before the Registration Filing Date;
(b) the Registration Statement is not declared effective by the Commission on or before the Registration Effectiveness Date;
(c) after the SEC Effective Date, the Registration Statement ceases for any reason to remain continuously effective or the Holders are otherwise not permitted to utilize the prospectus therein to resell the Registrable Securities for a period of more than fifteen (15) consecutive Trading Days, except for Blackout Periods permitted herein and except for suspension of the use of the Registration Statement in connection with its post-effective amendment in connection with the filing of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the time reasonably required to respond to any comments from the staff of the Commission (the “Staff”) on the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, and as excused pursuant to Section 3(a) below; or
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(d) following the listing or inclusion for quotation on an Approved Market, the Registrable Securities, if issued and outstanding, are not listed or included for quotation on an Approved Market, or trading of the Common Stock is suspended or halted on the Approved Market, which at the time constitutes the principal markets for the Common Stock, for more than three (3) full, consecutive Trading Days; provided, however, a Registration Event shall not be deemed to occur if all or substantially all trading in equity securities (including the Common Stock) is suspended or halted on the Approved Market for any length of time.
“Registration Filing Date” means the date that is sixty (60) calendar days after the final closing of the Offering.
“Registration Statement” means the registration statement that the Company is required to file pursuant to Section 3(a) of this Agreement to register the Registrable Securities.
“Rule 144” means Rule 144 promulgated by the Commission under the Securities Act, as such rule may be amended or supplemented from time to time, or any similar successor rule that may be promulgated by the Commission.
“Rule 145” means Rule 145 promulgated by the Commission under the Securities Act, as such rule may be amended or supplemented from time to time, or any similar successor rule that may be promulgated by the Commission.
“Rule 415” means Rule 415 promulgated by the Commission under the Securities Act, as such rule may be amended or supplemented from time to time, or any similar successor rule that may be promulgated by the Commission.
“Securities Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any similar federal statute promulgated in replacement thereof, and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder, all as the same shall be in effect at the time.
“SEC Effective Date” means the date the Registration Statement is declared effective by the Commission.
“Trading Day” means any day on which such national securities exchange, the OTC Markets Group or such other securities market or quotation system, which at the time constitutes the principal securities market for the Common Stock, is open for general trading of securities.
2. Term. This Agreement shall terminate with respect to each Holder on the earlier of: (i) the date that is five (5) years from the SEC Effective Date and (ii) the date on which all Registrable Securities held by such Holder have been sold. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Section 3(b), Section 5(d), Section 6, Section 8, Section 9 and Section 11 shall survive the termination of this Agreement.
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3. Registration.
Registration on Form S-1. The Company shall file with the Commission a Registration Statement on Form S-1, or any other form for which the Company then qualifies or which counsel for the Company shall deem appropriate and which form shall be available the resale by the Holders of all of the Registrable Securities, and the Company shall (i) use its commercially reasonable efforts to make the initial filing of the Registration Statement with the Commission no later than the Registration Filing Date, (ii) use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause such Registration Statement to be declared effective no later than the Registration Effectiveness Date and (iii) use its commercially reasonable efforts to keep such Registration Statement effective for a period of five (5) years after the SEC Effective Date or for such shorter period ending on the date on which all Registrable Securities have been sold (the “Effectiveness Period”); provided, however, that the Company shall not be obligated to effect any such registration, qualification or compliance pursuant to this Section, or keep such registration effective pursuant to the terms hereunder, in any particular jurisdiction in which the Company would be required to qualify to do business as a foreign corporation or as a dealer in securities under the securities laws of such jurisdiction or to execute a general consent to service of process in effecting such registration, qualification or compliance, in each case where it has not already done so; and provided further, the Company shall be entitled to suspend the effectiveness of the Registration Statement at any time prior to the expiration of the Effectiveness Period during a Blackout Period. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event that the Staff should limit the number of Registrable Securities that may be sold pursuant to the Registration Statement, the Company may remove from the Registration Statement such number of Registrable Securities as specified by the Commission on behalf of all of the holders of Registrable Securities first from the shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Placement Agent Warrants, on a pro-rata basis among the holders thereof (and on an as-exercised basis with respect to any Placement Agent Warrants not then exercised), second, from the other Registrable Securities, on a pro rata basis among the holders thereof (such Registrable Securities, the “Reduction Securities”). In such event, the Company shall give the Purchasers prompt notice of the number of Registrable Securities excluded therefrom. The Company shall use its commercially reasonable efforts at the first opportunity that is permitted by the Commission to register for resale the Reduction Securities (pro rata among the Holders of such Reduction Securities) using one or more registration statements that it is then entitled to use. The Company shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause each such registration statement to be declared effective under the Securities Act as soon as possible and shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to keep such registration statement continuously effective under the Securities Act during the entire Effectiveness Period. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company shall be entitled to suspend the effectiveness of such Registration Statement at any time prior to the expiration of the Effectiveness Period for the reasons and time periods during a Blackout Period. No liquidated damages shall accrue or be payable to any Holder pursuant to Section 3(b) below with respect to any Registrable Securities that are excluded by reason of the Staff limiting the number of Registrable Securities that may be sold pursuant to a registration statement; provided that the Company continues to use commercially reasonable efforts to register such Registrable Securities for resale by other available means. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, if the Commission limits the Company’s ability to file, or prohibits or delays the filing of a new registration statement, the Company’s compliance with such limitation, prohibition or delay solely to the extent of such limitation, prohibition or delay shall not be deemed a failure by the Company to use commercially reasonable efforts as set forth above or elsewhere in this Agreement and shall not require the payment of any liquidated damages by the Company under this Agreement.
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(a) Liquidated Damages. If a Registration Event occurs, then the Company will make payments to each Holder of Registrable Securities, as liquidated damages to such Holder by reason of the Registration Event, a cash sum calculated at a rate of twelve percent (12%) per annum of the total of the following, to the extent applicable to such Holder: (i) if the Holder purchased Registrable Securities pursuant to the Subscription Agreement, the aggregate purchase price paid by such Holder pursuant to the Subscription Agreement and (ii) if the Holder is a Placement Agent or a designee of a Placement Agent, $4.00 upon exercise of Placement Agent Warrants (or in the case of unexercised Placement Agent Warrants, of the exercise price thereof), but in each case of (i)-(ii), only with respect to such Holder’s Registrable Securities that are affected by such Registration Event and only for the period during which such Registration Event continues to affect such Registrable Securities. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the maximum amount of liquidated damages that may be paid by the Company pursuant to this Section 3(b) shall be an amount equal to five percent (5%) of the applicable foregoing amounts described in clauses (i) and (ii) in the preceding sentence with respect to such Holder’s Registrable Securities that are affected by all Registration Events in the aggregate. Each payment of liquidated damages pursuant to this Section 3(b) shall be due and payable in arrears within five (5) days after the end of each full 30-day period of the Registration Default Period until the termination of the Registration Default Period and within five (5) days after such termination. The Registration Default Period shall terminate upon the earlier of such time as the Registrable Securities that are affected by the Registration Event cease to be Registrable Securities or (i) the filing of the Registration Statement in the case of clause (a) of the definition of Registration Event, (ii) the SEC Effective Date in the case of clause (b) of the definition of Registration Event, (iii) the ability of the Holders to effect sales pursuant to the Registration Statement in the case of clause (c) of the definition of Registration Event, and (iv) the listing or inclusion and/or trading of the Common Stock on an Approved Market, as the case may be, in the case of clause (d) of the definition of Registration Event. The amounts payable as liquidated damages pursuant to this Section 3(b) shall be payable in lawful money of the United States. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company will not be liable for the payment of liquidated damages described in this Section 3(b) for any delay in registration of Registrable Securities that would otherwise be includable in the Registration Statement pursuant to Rule 415 solely as a result of a comment received from the Staff requiring a limit on the number of Registrable Securities included in such Registration Statement in order for such Registration Statement to be able to avail itself of Rule 415, or, with respect to a Holder, if such Holder fails to provide to the Company information concerning the Holder and manner of distribution of the Holder’s Registrable Securities that is required by SEC Rules to be disclosed in a registration statement utilized in connection with the registration of the Registrable Securities. In the event of any such circumstance, the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts at the first opportunity that is permitted by the Commission to register for resale the Registrable Securities that have been cut back from being registered pursuant to Rule 415 only with respect to that portion of the Holders’ Registrable Securities that are then Registrable Securities.
(b) Other Limitations. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 3(b) above, if (i) the Commission does not declare the Registration Statement effective on or before the Registration Effectiveness Date, or (ii) the Commission allows the Registration Statement to be declared effective at any time before or after the Registration Effectiveness Date, subject to the withdrawal of certain Registrable Securities from the Registration Statement, and the reason for (i) or (ii) is the Commission’s determination that (x) the offering of any of the Registrable Securities constitutes a primary offering of securities by the Company, (y) Rule 415 may not be relied upon for the registration of the resale of any or all of the Registrable Securities, and/or (z) a Holder of any Registrable Securities must be named as an underwriter, the Holders understand and agree that in the case of (ii) the Company may (notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein) reduce, on a pro rata basis, in the manner provided above, the total number of Registrable Securities to be registered on behalf of each such Holder, and in the case of (i) or (ii) the Holder shall not be entitled to liquidated damages with respect to the Registrable Securities not registered for the reason set forth in (i) or so reduced on a pro rata basis as set forth in (ii) above. The Company shall use its commercially reasonable efforts at the first opportunity that is permitted by the Commission to register for resale the Reduction Securities (pro rata among the Holders of such Reduction Securities) using one or more registration statements that it is then entitled to use. The Company shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause each such registration statement to be declared effective under the Securities Act as soon as possible, and shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to keep such registration statement continuously effective under the Securities Act during the entire Effectiveness Period. No liquidated damages shall accrue or be payable to any Holder pursuant to this Section 3(c) with respect to any Registrable Securities that are excluded by reason of the Staff limiting the number of Registrable Securities that may be sold pursuant to a registration statement; provided that the Company continues to use commercially reasonable efforts to register such Registrable Securities for resale by other available means. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, if the Commission limits the Company’s ability to file, or prohibits or delays the filing of a new registration statement, the Company’s compliance with such limitation, prohibition or delay solely to the extent of such limitation, prohibition or delay shall not be deemed a failure by the Company to use commercially reasonable efforts as set forth above or elsewhere in this Agreement and shall not require the payment of any liquidated damages by the Company under this Agreement.
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(c) If the Company receives a written notice from the Holders of at least 50% of the Registrable Securities then outstanding that they desire to distribute the Registrable Securities held by them (or a portion thereof) by means of an underwritten offering or a block trade, the Company shall use commercially reasonable efforts to promptly engage one or more underwriter(s) or investment bank(s) to conduct such an offering of the Registrable Securities (a “Secondary Offering”). The underwriter(s) or investment bank(s) will be selected by the Company and shall be reasonably acceptable to the Holders of a majority of the Registrable Securities providing such notice. All Holders proposing to distribute their securities through such Secondary Offering shall enter into an underwriting agreement or other agreement(s), including any lock-up or market standoff agreements, in customary form with the underwriter(s) or investment bank(s) selected for such Secondary Offering as may be mutually agreed upon among the Company, the underwriter(s) or investment bank(s) and the selling Holders. In connection with a Secondary Offering, the Company shall enter into and perform its obligations under an underwriting agreement or other agreement(s), in usual and customary form as may be mutually agreed upon among the Company, the underwriter(s) or investment bank(s) and the selling Holders. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section 3(d), if the underwriter(s) or investment bank(s) advise(s) such Holders that marketing factors require a limitation on the number of shares to be offered in the Secondary Offering, then the number of shares, including the Registrable Securities, that may be included in such Secondary Offering shall be allocated among such Holders of Registrable Securities, and any other holders of shares, as follows: (i) first to such Holders of Registrable Securities in proportion (as nearly as practicable) to the number of Registrable Securities owned by each such Holder or in such other proportion as shall mutually be agreed to by all such selling Holders; and (ii) second to all other holders of securities included in the Secondary Offering.
4. Registration Procedures. The Company will keep each Holder reasonably advised as to the filing and effectiveness of the Registration Statement. At its expense with respect to the Registration Statement, the Company will:
(a) prepare and file with the Commission with respect to the Registrable Securities, a Registration Statement in accordance with Section 3(a) hereof, and use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause such Registration Statement to become effective and to remain effective for the Effectiveness Period;
(b) not name any Holder in the Registration Statement as an underwriter without that Holder’s prior written consent;
(c) if the Registration Statement is subject to review by the Commission, promptly respond to all comments and diligently pursue resolution of any comments to the satisfaction of the Commission;
(d) prepare and file with the Commission such amendments and supplements to such Registration Statement as may be necessary to keep such Registration Statement effective during the Effectiveness Period;
(e) not less than four (4) Trading Days prior to filing a Registration Statement or any related prospectus or any amendment or supplement thereto, the Company shall furnish to the Placement Agent and the Holders that hold at least 5% of the total number of Registrable Securities (appropriately adjusted for any stock split, dividend, combination or other recapitalization) copies of or a link to all such documents proposed to be filed (other than those incorporated by reference) and duly consider any comments timely provided by the Placement Agent and/or the Holders;
(f) furnish, without charge, to each Holder of Registrable Securities covered by such Registration Statement (i) a reasonable number of copies of such Registration Statement (including any exhibits thereto other than exhibits incorporated by reference), each amendment and supplement thereto as such Holder may reasonably request, (ii) such number of copies of the prospectus included in such Registration Statement (including each preliminary prospectus and any other prospectus filed under Rule 424 of the Securities Act) as such Holders may reasonably request, in conformity with the requirements of the Securities Act, and (iii) such other documents as such Holder may reasonably require to consummate the disposition of the Registrable Securities owned by such Holder, but only during the Effectiveness Period; provided that the Company shall have no obligation to furnish any document pursuant to this clause that is available on the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (“EDGAR”) system;
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(g) use its commercially reasonable efforts to register or qualify such registration under such other applicable securities laws of such jurisdictions within the United States as any Holder of Registrable Securities covered by such Registration Statement reasonably requests and as may be necessary for the marketability of the Registrable Securities (such request to be made by the time the applicable Registration Statement is deemed effective by the Commission) and do any and all other acts and things reasonably necessary to enable such Holder to consummate the disposition in such jurisdictions of the Registrable Securities owned by such Holder; provided, that the Company shall not be required to (i) qualify generally to do business in any jurisdiction where it would not otherwise be required to qualify but for this paragraph, (ii) subject itself to taxation in any such jurisdiction, or (iii) consent to general service of process in any such jurisdiction where it has not already done so;
(h) as promptly as practicable after becoming aware of such event, notify each Holder of Registrable Securities, the disposition of which requires delivery of a prospectus relating thereto under the Securities Act, of the happening of any event, which comes to the Company’s attention, that will after the occurrence of such event cause the prospectus included in such Registration Statement, if not amended or supplemented, to contain an untrue statement of a material fact or an omission to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading and the Company shall promptly thereafter prepare and furnish to such Holder a supplement or amendment to such prospectus (or prepare and file appropriate reports under the Exchange Act) so that, as thereafter delivered to the purchasers of such Registrable Securities, such prospectus shall not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, unless suspension of the use of such prospectus otherwise is authorized herein or in the event of a Blackout Period, in which case no supplement or amendment need be furnished (or Exchange Act filing made) until the termination of such suspension or Blackout Period; provided that any and all information provided to the Holder pursuant to such notification shall remain confidential to each Holder until such information otherwise becomes public, unless disclosure by a Holder is required by law;
(i) comply, and continue to comply during the Effectiveness Period, in all material respects with the Securities Act and the Exchange Act and with all applicable rules and regulations of the Commission with respect to the disposition of all securities covered by such Registration Statement;
(j) as promptly as practicable after becoming aware of such event, notify each Holder of Registrable Securities being offered or sold pursuant to the Registration Statement of the issuance by the Commission or any other federal or state governmental authority of any stop order or other suspension of effectiveness of the Registration Statement or the initiation of any proceedings for that purpose;
(k) use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause the shares of Common Stock to be quoted or listed on an Approved Market.
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(l) as applicable, submit a listing application with an Approved Market no later than the Registration Filing Date, to the extent it believes it will satisfy the listing standards of such Approved Market or, as applicable, in the event the Company does not believe it will satisfy such listing standards, file a Form 15c2-11 with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) no later than the SEC Effective Date;
(m) provide a DWAC eligible transfer agent and registrar, which may be a single entity, for the shares of Common Stock at all times and cooperate with the Holders to facilitate the timely preparation and delivery of the Registrable Securities to be delivered to a transferee pursuant to the Registration Statement (whether electronically or in certificated form) which Registrable Securities shall be free, to the extent permitted by the Subscription Agreement, of all restrictive legends, and to enable such Registrable Securities to be in such denominations and registered in such names as any such Holders may request;
(n) cooperate with the Holders of Registrable Securities being offered pursuant to the Registration Statement to issue and deliver, or cause its transfer agent to issue and deliver, certificates representing Registrable Securities to be offered pursuant to the Registration Statement within a reasonable time after the delivery of certificates representing the Registrable Securities to the transfer agent or the Company, as applicable, and enable such certificates to be in such denominations or amounts as the Holders may reasonably request and registered in such names as the Holders may request;
(o) notify the Holders, the Placement Agent and their counsel as promptly as reasonably possible and (if requested by any such Person) confirm such notice in writing no later than one (1) Trading Day following the day: (i)(A) when a prospectus or any prospectus supplement or post-effective amendment to a Registration Statement is proposed to be filed; (B) when the Commission notifies the Company whether there will be a “no review,” “review” or a “completion of a review” of such Registration Statement and whenever the Commission comments in writing on such Registration Statement (in which case the Company shall provide true and complete copies thereof and all written responses thereto to each of the Holders that pertain to the Holders as a selling stockholder, but not information which the Company believes would constitute material and non-public information); and (C) with respect to each Registration Statement or any post-effective amendment, when the same has been declared effective, provided, however, that such notice under this clause (C) shall be delivered to each Holder; (ii) of any request by the Commission or any other federal or state governmental authority for amendments or supplements to a Registration Statement or prospectus or for additional information that pertains to the Holders as selling stockholders; (iii) of the receipt by the Company of any notification with respect to the suspension of the qualification or exemption from qualification of any of the Registrable Securities for sale in any jurisdiction, or the initiation or threatening of any proceeding for such purpose; (iv) of the occurrence of any event or passage of time that makes the financial statements included in a Registration Statement ineligible for inclusion therein or any statement made in a Registration Statement or prospectus or any document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated therein by reference untrue in any material respect or that requires any revisions to a Registration Statement, prospectus or other documents so that, in the case of a Registration Statement or the prospectus, as the case may be, it will not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading; or (v) of the occurrence or existence of any pending corporate development with respect to the Company that the Company believes may be material and that, in the determination of the Company, makes it not in the best interest of the Company to allow continued availability of a Registration Statement or prospectus, provided, however, in no event shall any such notice contain any information which would constitute material, non-public information regarding the Company or any of its subsidiaries;
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(p) during the Effectiveness Period, refrain from bidding for or purchasing any Common Stock or any right to purchase Common Stock or attempting to induce any person to purchase any such security or right if such bid, purchase or attempt would in any way limit the right of the Holders to sell Registrable Securities by reason of the limitations set forth in Regulation M of the Exchange Act;
(q) use its commercially reasonable efforts to avoid the issuance of, or, if issued, obtain the withdrawal of (i) any order stopping or suspending the effectiveness of a Registration Statement, or (ii) any suspension of the qualification (or exemption from qualification) of any of the Registrable Securities for sale in any jurisdiction, at the earliest practicable moment;
(r) cooperate with any broker-dealer through which a Holder proposes to resell its Registrable Securities in effecting a filing with the FINRA Corporate Financing Department pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110, as requested by any such Holder, and the Company shall pay the filing fee required by such filing within two (2) Trading Days of the request therefor; and
(s) take all other commercially reasonable actions necessary to enable, expedite, or facilitate the Holders to dispose of the Registrable Securities by means of the Registration Statement during the term of this Agreement.
5. Obligations of the Holders.
(a) Each Holder agrees that, upon receipt of any notice from the Company of the happening of any event of the kind described in Section 4(h) hereof or of the commencement of a Blackout Period, such Holder shall discontinue the disposition of Registrable Securities included in the Registration Statement until such Holder’s receipt of the copies of the supplemented or amended prospectus contemplated by Section 4(h) hereof or notice of the end of the Blackout Period.
(b) The Holders of the Registrable Securities shall provide such information as may reasonably be requested by the Company in connection with the preparation of any registration statement, including amendments and supplements thereto, in order to effect the registration of any Registrable Securities under the Securities Act pursuant to Section 3(a) of this Agreement and in connection with the Company’s obligation to comply with federal and applicable state securities laws, including a completed questionnaire in the form attached to the Subscription Agreement as Annex A (a “Selling Securityholder Questionnaire”) or any update thereto not later than three (3) Business Days following a request therefore from the Company.
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(c) Each Holder, by its acceptance of the Registrable Securities, agrees to cooperate with the Company as reasonably requested by the Company in connection with the preparation and filing of any Registration Statement hereunder, unless such Holder has notified the Company in writing of its election to exclude all of its Registrable Securities from such Registration Statement.
6. Registration Expenses. The Company shall pay all expenses in connection with any registration obligation provided herein, including, without limitation, all registration, filing, stock exchange fees, printing expenses, any FINRA filing fees, all fees and expenses of complying with applicable securities laws, and the fees and disbursements of counsel for the Company and of the Company’s independent accountants; provided, that, in any underwritten registration or other Secondary Offering, the Company shall have no obligation to pay any underwriting discounts, selling commissions or transfer taxes attributable to the Registrable Securities being sold by the Holders thereof, which underwriting discounts, selling commissions and transfer taxes shall be borne by such Holders. Except as provided in this Section 6 and Section 8 of this Agreement, the Company shall not be responsible for the expenses of any attorney or other advisor employed by a Holder or for any other fees, disbursements and expenses incurred by Holders not specifically agreed to in this Agreement.
7. Assignment of Rights. No Holder may assign its rights under this Agreement to any party without the prior written consent of the Company; provided, however, that any Holder may assign its rights under this Agreement without such consent (a) to a Permitted Assignee as long as (i) such transfer or assignment is effected in accordance with applicable securities laws; (ii) such transferee or assignee agrees in writing to become bound by and subject to the terms of this Agreement; and (iii) such Holder notifies the Company in writing of such transfer or assignment, stating the name and address of the transferee or assignee and identifying the Registrable Securities with respect to which such rights are being transferred or assigned; or (b) as otherwise permitted under the Subscription Agreement or the Placement Agent Warrants. The Company may not assign this Agreement or any rights or obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of the other party hereto (other than by merger or consolidation or to an entity which acquires the Company including by way of acquiring all or substantially all of the Company’s assets).
8. Indemnification.
(a) In the event of the offer and sale of Registrable Securities under the Securities Act, the Company shall, and hereby does, indemnify and hold harmless, to the fullest extent permitted by law, each Holder, its directors, officers, partners, employees and agents and each other person, if any, who controls or is under common control with such Holder within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act (collectively, the “Holder Indemnified Parties”), against any losses, claims, damages or liabilities, joint or several, and expenses to which the Holder Indemnified Parties may become subject under the Securities Act or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages, liabilities or expenses (or actions or proceedings, whether commenced or threatened, in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of any material fact contained in any registration statement prepared and filed by the Company under which Registrable Securities were registered under the Securities Act, any preliminary prospectus, final prospectus or summary prospectus contained therein, or any amendment or supplement thereto, or any omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated or necessary to make the statements therein in light of the circumstances in which they were made not misleading, and the Company shall reimburse the Holder Indemnified Parties for any legal or any other expenses reasonably incurred by them in connection with investigating, defending or settling any such loss, claim, damage, liability, action or proceeding; provided, however, that the Company shall not be liable in any such case (i) to the extent, but only to the extent, that any such loss, claim, damage, liability (or action or proceeding in respect thereof) or expense arises solely out of or is solely based upon (x) an untrue statement in or omission from such registration statement, any such preliminary prospectus, final prospectus, summary prospectus, amendment or supplement in reliance upon and in conformity with written information included in the Selling Securityholder Questionnaire, furnished by a Holder or its representative (acting on such Holder’s behalf) to the Company expressly for use in the preparation thereof or (y) the failure of a Holder to comply with the covenants and agreements contained in Section 5 hereof respecting the sale of Registrable Securities; or (ii) if the person asserting any such loss, claim, damage, liability (or action or proceeding in respect thereof) who purchased the Registrable Securities that are the subject thereof did not receive a copy of an amended preliminary prospectus or the final prospectus (or the final prospectus as amended or supplemented) at or prior to the written confirmation of the sale of such Registrable Securities to such person because of the failure of such Holder to so provide such amended preliminary or final prospectus and the untrue statement or omission of a material fact made in such preliminary prospectus was corrected in the amended preliminary or final prospectus (or the final prospectus as amended or supplemented). Such indemnity shall remain in full force and effect regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of the Holder Indemnified Parties and shall survive the transfer of such shares by the Holder.
(b) As a condition to including Registrable Securities in any registration statement filed pursuant to this Agreement, each Holder agrees, severally and not jointly, to be bound by the terms of this Section 8 and to indemnify and hold harmless, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the Company, each of its directors, officers, partners, and each underwriter, if any, and each other person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the Securities Act, against any losses, claims, damages or liabilities, joint or several, to which the Company or any such director or officer or controlling person may become subject under the Securities Act or otherwise, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions or proceedings, whether commenced or threatened, in respect thereof) arise solely out of or are solely based upon any untrue statement of a material fact or any omission of a material fact required to be stated in any registration statement, any preliminary prospectus, final prospectus, summary prospectus, amendment or supplement thereto or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading, to the extent, but only to the extent, that such untrue statement or omission is included or omitted in reliance upon and in conformity with written information included in the Selling Securityholder Questionnaire, furnished by the Holder or its representative (acting on such Holder’s behalf) to the Company expressly for use in the preparation thereof, and such Holder shall reimburse the Company, and its directors, officers, partners, and any such controlling persons for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by them in connection with investigating, defending, or settling any such loss, claim, damage, liability, action, or proceeding; provided, however, that any indemnity obligation contained in this Section 8(b) shall in no event exceed the amount of the net proceeds received by such Holder as a result of the sale of such Holder’s Registrable Securities pursuant to such registration statement. Such indemnity shall remain in full force and effect, regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of the Company or any such director, officer or controlling person and shall survive the transfer by any Holder of such shares.
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(c) Promptly after receipt by an indemnified party of notice of the commencement of any action or proceeding involving a claim referred to in this Section 8 (including any governmental action), such indemnified party shall, if a claim in respect thereof is to be made against an indemnifying party, give written notice to the indemnifying party of the commencement of such action; provided, however, that the failure of any indemnified party to give notice as provided herein shall not relieve the indemnifying party of its obligations under this Section, except to the extent that the indemnifying party is actually prejudiced by such failure to give notice in any material respect. In case any such action is brought against an indemnified party, unless in the reasonable judgment of counsel to such indemnified party a conflict of interest between such indemnified party and indemnifying parties may exist or the indemnified party may have defenses not available to the indemnifying party in respect of such claim, the indemnifying party shall be entitled to participate in and to assume the defense thereof, with counsel reasonably satisfactory to such indemnified party and, after notice from the indemnifying party to such indemnified party of its election so to assume the defense thereof, the indemnifying party shall not be liable to such indemnified party for any legal or other expenses subsequently incurred by the latter in connection with the defense thereof, unless in such indemnified party’s reasonable judgment a conflict of interest between such indemnified and indemnifying parties arises in respect of such claim after the assumption of the defenses thereof or the indemnifying party fails to defend such claim in a diligent manner, other than reasonable costs of investigation. Neither an indemnified party nor an indemnifying party shall be liable for any settlement of any action or proceeding effected without its consent. No indemnifying party shall, without the consent of the indemnified party, consent to entry of any judgment or enter into any settlement, which does not include as an unconditional term thereof the giving by the claimant or plaintiff to such indemnified party of a release from all liability in respect of such claim or litigation. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth herein, and without limiting any of the rights set forth above, in any event any party shall have the right to retain, at its own expense, counsel with respect to the defense of a claim. Each indemnified party shall furnish such information regarding itself or the claim in question as an indemnifying party may reasonably request in writing and as shall be reasonably required in connection with defense of such claim and litigation resulting therefrom.
(d) If an indemnifying party does not or is not permitted to assume the defense of an action pursuant to Section 8(c) or in the case of the expense reimbursement obligation set forth in Sections 8(a) and 8(b), the indemnification required by Sections 8(a) and 8(b) shall be made by periodic payments of the amount thereof during the course of the investigation or defense, as and when bills are received or expenses, losses, damages, or liabilities are incurred.
(e) If the indemnification provided for in Sections 8(a) or 8(b) is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unavailable to an indemnified party with respect to any loss, liability, claim, damage or expense referred to herein, the indemnifying party, in lieu of indemnifying such indemnified party hereunder, shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such indemnified party as a result of such loss, liability, claim, damage or expense (i) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the proportionate relative fault of the indemnifying party on the one hand and the indemnified party on the other (determined by reference to, among other things, whether the untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or omission relates to information supplied by the indemnifying party or the indemnified party and the parties’ relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such untrue statement or omission), or (ii) if the allocation provided by clause (i) above is not permitted by applicable law or provides a lesser sum to the indemnified party than the amount hereinafter calculated, then in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the proportionate relative fault of the indemnifying party and the indemnified party, but also the relative benefits received by the indemnifying party on the one hand and the indemnified party on the other, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section 8(e), no Holder shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the amount by which the net proceeds received by such Holder from the sale of the Registrable Securities pursuant to the Registration Statement exceeds the amount of damages that such Holder has otherwise been required to pay by reason of such untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or omission, except in the case of fraud or willful misconduct. No indemnified party guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Securities Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any indemnifying party who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation.
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(f) The indemnity and contribution agreements contained in this Section 8 are in addition to any liability that the indemnifying parties may have to the indemnified parties and are not in diminution or limitation of the indemnification provisions under the Subscription Agreement.
9. Rule 144. Following the SEC Effective Date, the Company will use its commercially reasonable efforts to timely file all reports required to be filed by the Company after the date hereof under the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations adopted by the Commission thereunder, and if the Company is not required to file reports pursuant to such sections, it will prepare and furnish to the Purchasers and make publicly available in accordance with Rule 144(c) such information as is required for the Purchasers to sell shares of Common Stock under Rule 144. No more than 90 days after the Initial Closing, the Company shall file a Form 8-A with the SEC to register its common stock under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
10. Independent Nature of Each Purchaser’s Obligations and Rights. The obligations of each Purchaser and each Broker under this Agreement are several and not joint with the obligations of any other Purchaser or Broker, and each Purchaser and each Broker shall not be responsible in any way for the performance of the obligations of any other Purchaser or any Broker under this Agreement. Nothing contained herein and no action taken by any Purchaser or Broker pursuant hereto, shall be deemed to constitute such Purchasers and/or Brokers as a partnership, an association, a joint venture, or any other kind of entity, or create a presumption that the Purchasers and/or Brokers are in any way acting in concert or as a group with respect to such obligations or the transactions contemplated by this Agreement. Each Purchaser and each Broker shall be entitled to independently protect and enforce its rights, including without limitation the rights arising out of this Agreement, and it shall not be necessary for any other Purchaser or Broker to be joined as an additional party in any proceeding for such purpose.
11. Miscellaneous.
(a) Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United States of America and the State of Delaware, both substantive and remedial, without regard to Delaware conflicts of law principles. Any judicial proceeding brought against either of the parties to this Agreement or any dispute arising out of this Agreement or any matter related hereto shall be brought in the state or federal courts located in the State of Delaware and, by its execution and delivery of this Agreement, each party to this Agreement accepts the jurisdiction of such courts. The foregoing consent to jurisdiction shall not be deemed to confer rights on any person other than the parties to this Agreement.
(b) Remedies. Except as otherwise specifically set forth herein with respect to a Registration Event, in the event of a breach by the Company or by a Holder of any of their respective obligations under this Agreement, each Holder or the Company, as the case may be, in addition to being entitled to exercise all rights granted by law and under this Agreement, including recovery of damages, shall be entitled to specific performance of its rights under this Agreement. Except as otherwise specifically set forth herein with respect to a Registration Event, the Company and each Holder agree that monetary damages would not provide adequate compensation for any losses incurred by reason of a breach by it of any of the provisions of this Agreement and hereby further agrees that, in the event of any action for specific performance in respect of such breach, it shall not assert or shall waive the defense that a remedy at law would be adequate.
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(c) No Piggyback on Registrations; Prohibition on Filing Other Registration Statements. Neither the Company nor any of its security holders (other than the Holders in such capacity pursuant hereto) may include securities of the Company in any Registration Statements other than the Registrable Securities. Other than the Registration Statement for the Registrable Securities, the Company shall not file any other registration statements, other than on Forms S-4 or S-8 or their then equivalents, until all Registrable Securities are registered pursuant to a Registration Statement that is declared effective by the Commission, provided that this Section shall not prohibit the Company from filing amendments to registration statements filed prior to the date of this Agreement.
(d) Piggy-Back Registrations. If, at any time during the Effectiveness Period, there is not an effective Registration Statement covering all of the Registrable Securities and the Company shall determine to prepare and file with the Commission a registration statement relating to an offering for its own account or the account of others under the Securities Act of any of its equity securities, other than on Form S-4 or Form S-8 (each as promulgated under the Securities Act) or their then equivalents relating to equity securities to be issued solely in connection with any acquisition of any entity or business or equity securities issuable in connection with the Company’s stock option or other employee benefit plans, then the Company shall deliver to each Holder a written notice of such determination and, if within fifteen (15) days after the date of the delivery of such notice, any such Holder shall so request in writing, the Company shall include in such registration statement all or any part of such Registrable Securities such Holder requests to be registered; provided, however, that the Company shall not be required to register any Registrable Securities pursuant to this Section 11(d) after the Effectiveness Period or that are eligible for resale pursuant to Rule 144 (without volume restrictions, current public information requirements or any other material restrictions) promulgated by the Commission pursuant to the Securities Act or that are the subject of a then effective Registration Statement that is available for resales or other dispositions by such Holder or otherwise cease to be deemed “Registrable Securities.”
(e) Subsequent Registration Rights. Until the Registration Statement required hereunder is declared effective by the Commission, the Company shall not enter into any agreement granting any registration rights with respect to any of its securities to any Person without the written consent of Holders representing no less than a majority of the outstanding Registrable Securities.
(f) Successors and Assigns. Except as otherwise provided herein, the provisions hereof shall inure to the benefit of, and be binding upon, the successors, Permitted Assignees, executors and administrators of the parties hereto.
(g) No Inconsistent Agreements. The Company has not entered, as of the date hereof, and shall not enter, on or after the date of this Agreement, into any agreement with respect to its securities that would have the effect of impairing the rights granted to the Holders in this Agreement or otherwise conflicts with the provisions hereof.
(h) Entire Agreement. This Agreement and the documents, instruments and other agreements specifically referred to herein or delivered pursuant hereto constitute the full and entire understanding and agreement between the parties with regard to the subjects hereof.
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(i) Notices, etc. All notices, consents, waivers, and other communications which are required or permitted under this Agreement shall be in writing will be deemed given to a party (a) upon receipt, when personally delivered; (b) one (1) Business Day after deposit with a nationally recognized overnight courier service with next day delivery specified, costs prepaid) on the date of delivery, if delivered to the appropriate address by hand or by nationally recognized overnight courier service (costs prepaid); (c) the date of transmission if sent by e-mail with confirmation of transmission by the transmitting equipment if such notice or communication is delivered prior to 5:00 P.M., New York City time, on a Trading Day, or the next Trading Day after the date of transmission, if such notice or communication is delivered on a day that is not a Trading Day or later than 5:00 P.M., New York City time, on any Trading Day, provided confirmation of email is kept on file, whether electronically or otherwise, by the sending party and the sending party does not receive an automatically generated message from the recipients email server that such e-mail could not be delivered to such recipient; (d) the date received or rejected by the addressee, if sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid; or (e) seven (7) days after the placement of the notice into the mails (first class postage prepaid), to the party at the address or e-mail address furnished by the such party,
If to the Company, to:
Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc.
9 Brown Road
Ithaca, New York 14850
Attn: Alex Behfar, CEO
Email: alex@odysseysemi.com
if to a Holder, to:
such Holder at the address set forth on the signature page hereto or the Company’s records;
or at such other address as any party shall have furnished to the other parties in writing in accordance with this Section 11(i).
(j) Delays or Omissions. No delay or omission to exercise any right, power or remedy accruing to any Holder, upon any breach or default of the Company under this Agreement, shall impair any such right, power or remedy of such Holder nor shall it be construed to be a waiver of any such breach or default, or an acquiescence therein, or of any similar breach or default thereunder occurring; nor shall any waiver of any single breach or default be deemed a waiver of any other breach or default theretofore or thereafter occurring. Any waiver, permit, consent or approval of any kind or character on the part of any Holder of any breach or default under this Agreement, or any waiver on the part of any Holder of any provisions or conditions of this Agreement, must be in writing and shall be effective only to the extent specifically set forth in such writing. All remedies, either under this Agreement, or by law or otherwise afforded to any holder, shall be cumulative and not alternative.
(k) Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, and with respect to any Purchaser, by execution of an Omnibus Signature Page to this Agreement and the Subscription Agreement, each of which shall be enforceable against the parties actually executing such counterparts, and all of which together shall constitute one instrument. In the event that any signature is delivered by an e-mail, which contains a copy of an executed signature page such as a portable document format (.pdf) file, such signature shall create a valid and binding obligation of the party executing (or on whose behalf such signature is executed) with the same force and effect as if such e-mail of an executed signature page such as a .pdf signature page were an original thereof.
(l) Severability. In the case any provision of this Agreement shall be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby.
(m) Amendments. Except as otherwise provided herein, the provisions of this Agreement may be amended at any time and from time to time, and particular provisions of this Agreement may be waived, with and only with an agreement or consent in writing signed by the Company and the Majority Holders; provided that this Agreement may not be amended and the observance of any term hereof may not be waived with respect to any Holder without the written consent of such Holder unless such amendment or waiver applies to all Holders in the same fashion. The Purchasers and Brokers acknowledge that by the operation of this Section, the Majority Holders may have the right and power to diminish or eliminate all rights of the Purchasers and/or Brokers under this Agreement.
[COMPANY SIGNATURE PAGE FOLLOWS]
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This Registration Rights Agreement is hereby executed as of the date first above written.
THE COMPANY:
ODYSSEY SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
By:______________________________
Name:
Title:
PURCHASERS:
See Omnibus Signature Pages to Subscription
Agreement (Purchasers do not sign here)
BROKER (INDIVIDUAL): BROKER (ENTITY):
Print Name
Signature
Print Name of Entity
By: ___________________________________
Name:
Title:
16
Exhibit 31.1
Certification Pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
As Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
I, Alex Behfar, Principal Executive Officer and Principal
Financial and
Accounting Officer of Odyssey Semiconductor Technologies, Inc. (the “Company”), certify that:
1. I have reviewed this Form 10-K of the Company for the year ended December 31, 2020;
2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Company as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
4. The Company’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the Company and have:
a. Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the Company, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
b. Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
c. Evaluated the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and
d. Disclosed in this report any change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the Company’s most recent fiscal quarter (the Company’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting; and
5. The Company’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on my most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the Company’s auditors and the audit committee of the Company’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
a. All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the Company’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
b. Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
Dated: April 7, 2021
By: | /s/ Alex Behfar | |
Alex Behfar | ||
Executive Chairman and Acting Chief Executive Officer
(Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial and
|
Exhibit 32.1
CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO 18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350,
AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO SECTION 906 OF
THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
In connection with the Annual Report of Odyssey
Semiconductor Technologies, Inc. (the “Company”) on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 as filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission on the date hereof (the “Report”), I, Alex Behfar, Principal Executive Officer and
Principal Financial and
Accounting Officer of the Company, certify, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. ss.1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley
Act of 2002, that:
(1) The Report fully complies with the requirements of section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and
(2) The information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company.
A signed original of this written statement required by Section 906 has been provided to the undersigned and will be retained by the Company and furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission or its staff upon request.
Dated: April 7, 2021
By: | /s/ Alex Behfar | |
Alex Behfar | ||
Executive Chairman and Acting Chief Executive Officer
(Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial and
|