Item 1. Business
Our Company
Matterport is leading the digitization and datafication of the built world. We believe the digital transformation of the built world will fundamentally change the way people interact with buildings and the physical spaces around them.
Since its founding in 2011, Matterport’s pioneering technology has set the standard for digitizing, accessing and managing buildings, spaces and places online. Our platform’s innovative software, spatial data-driven data science, and 3D capture technology have broken down the barriers that have kept the largest asset class in the world, buildings and physical spaces, offline and underutilized for many years. We believe the digitization and datafication of the built world will continue to unlock significant operational efficiencies and property values, and that Matterport is the platform to lead this enormous global transformation.
The world is rapidly moving from offline to online. Digital transformation has made a powerful and lasting impact across every business and industry today. According to International Data Corporation, or IDC, approximately 65% of global GDP will be digitized by 2022 and over $6.8 trillion of direct investments will be made on digital transformation from 2020 to 2023. With this secular shift, there is also growing demand for the built world to transition from physical to digital. Nevertheless, the vast majority of buildings and spaces remain offline and undigitized. The global building stock, estimated by Savills to be $228 trillion in total property value as of 2017, remains largely offline today, and we estimate that less than 0.1% is penetrated by digital transformation.
Matterport was among the first to recognize the increasing need for digitization of the built world and the power of spatial data, the unique details underlying buildings and spaces, in facilitating the understanding of buildings and spaces. In the past, technology advanced physical road maps to the data-rich, digital maps and location services we all rely on today. Matterport now digitizes buildings, creating a data-rich environment to vastly increase our understanding and the full potential of each and every space we capture. Just as we can instantly, at the touch of a button, learn the fastest route from one city to another or locate the nearest coffee shops, Matterport’s spatial data for buildings unlocks a rich set of insights and learnings about properties and spaces worldwide. In addition, just as the geo-spatial mapping platforms of today have opened their mapping data to industry to create new business models such as ridesharing, e-commerce, food delivery marketplaces, and even short-term rental and home sharing, open access to Matterport’s structured spatial data is enabling new opportunities and business models for hospitality, facilities management, insurance, construction, real estate and retail, among others.
We believe the total addressable market opportunity for digitizing the built world is over $240 billion, and could be as high as $1 trillion as the market matures at scale. This is based on our analysis, modeling and understanding of the global building stock of over 4 billion properties and 20 billion spaces in the world today. With the help of artificial intelligence (“AI”), machine learning (“ML”) and deep learning (“DL”) technologies, we believe that, with the additional monetization opportunities from powerful spatial data-driven property insights and analytics, the total addressable market for the digitization and datafication of the built world will reach more than $1 trillion.
Our spatial data platform delivers value across a diverse set of industries and use cases. Large retailers can manage thousands of store locations remotely, real estate agencies can provide virtual open houses for hundreds of properties and thousands of visitors at the same time, property developers can monitor the entirety of the construction process with greater detail and speed, and insurance companies can more precisely document and evaluate claims and underwriting assessments with efficiency and precision. Matterport delivers the critical digital experience, tools and information that matter to our subscribers about properties of virtually any size, shape, and location worldwide.
For nearly a decade, we have been growing our spatial data platform and expanding our capabilities in order to create the most detailed, accurate, and data-rich digital twins available. Moreover, our 3D reconstruction process is fully automated, allowing our solution to scale with equal precision to millions of buildings and spaces of any type, shape, and size in the world. The universal applicability of our service provides Matterport significant scale and reach across diverse verticals and any geography. By December 31, 2021, our subscriber base had grown to over 503,000 subscribers, with our digital twins reaching more than 170 countries. We have digitized more than 20 billion square feet of space across multiple industries, representing significant scale and growth over the rest of the market.
As we continue to transform buildings into data worldwide, we are extending our spatial data platform to further transform property planning, development, management and intelligence for our subscribers across industries to become the de facto building and business intelligence engine for the built world. We believe the demand for spatial data and resulting insights for enterprises, businesses and institutions across industries, including real estate, architecture, engineering and construction (“AEC”), retail, insurance and government, will continue to grow rapidly.
We believe digitization and datafication represent a tremendous greenfield opportunity for growth across this massive category and asset class. From the early stages of design and development to marketing, operations, insurance and building repair and maintenance, our platform’s software and technology provide subscribers critical tools and insights to drive cost savings, increase revenues and optimally manage their buildings and spaces. We believe that hundreds of billions of dollars in unrealized utilization and operating efficiencies in the built world can be unlocked through the power of our spatial data platform. Our platform and data solutions have universal applicability across industries and building categories, giving Matterport a significant advantage as we can address the entirety of this large market opportunity and increase the value of what we believe to be the largest asset class in the world.
With a demonstrated track record of delivering value to our subscribers, our offerings include software subscription, data licensing, services and product hardware. As of December 31, 2021, our subscriber base included over 20% of Fortune 1000 companies, with less than 10% of our total revenue generated from our top 10 subscribers. We expect more than 80% of our revenue to come from our software subscription and data license solutions by 2025. Our innovative 3D capture product, the Pro2 Camera, has played an integral part in shaping the 3D building and property visualization ecosystem. The Pro2 Camera has driven adoption of our solutions and has generated the unique high-quality and scaled data set that has enabled Cortex, our proprietary AI software engine, to become the pioneering engine for digital twin creation. With this data advantage initially spurred by the Pro2 Camera, we have developed a capture device agnostic platform that scales and can generate new building and property insights for our subscribers across industries and geographies.
We have recently experienced rapid growth. Our subscribers have grown approximately 36-fold from December 31, 2018 to December 31, 2021. Our revenue increased from approximately $85.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 to approximately $111.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, representing approximately 29% year-over-year growth. Our gross profit increased by $12.0 million or 25%, to $60.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, from $47.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. Our ability to retain and grow the subscription revenue generated by our existing subscribers is an important measure of the health of our business and our future growth prospects. We track our performance in this area by measuring our net dollar expansion rate from the same set of customers across comparable periods. Our net dollar expansion rate of 110% for the three months ended December 31, 2021 demonstrates the stickiness and growth potential of our platform.
Our Industry and Market Opportunity
Today, the vast majority of buildings and spaces remain undigitized. We estimate our current serviceable addressable market includes approximately 1.3 billion spaces worldwide, primarily from the real estate and travel and hospitality sectors. With approximately 6.7 million spaces under management as of December 31, 2021, we are continuing to penetrate the global building stock and expand our footprint across various end markets, including residential and commercial real estate, facilities management, retail, AEC, insurance and repair, and travel and hospitality. We estimate our total addressable market to be more than 4 billion buildings and 20 billion spaces globally, yielding a more than $240 billion market opportunity. We believe that as Matterport’s unique spatial data library and property data services continue to grow, this opportunity could increase to more than $1 trillion based on the size of the building stock and the untapped value creation available to buildings worldwide. The constraints created by the COVID-19 pandemic have only reinforced and accelerated the importance of our scaled 3D capture solution that we have developed for diverse industries and markets over the past decade.
Our Spatial Data Platform
Overview
Our technology platform uses spatial data collected from a wide variety of digital capture devices to transform physical buildings and spaces into dimensionally accurate, photorealistic digital twins that provide our subscribers access to previously unavailable building information and insights.
As a first mover in this massive market for nearly a decade, we have developed and scaled our industry-leading 3D reconstruction technology powered by Cortex, our proprietary AI-driven software engine that uses machine learning to
recreate a photorealistic, 3D virtual representation of an entire building structure, including contents, equipment and furnishings. The finished product is a detailed and dynamic replication of the physical space that can be explored, analyzed and customized from a web browser on any device, including smartphones. The power to manage even large-scale commercial buildings is in the palm of each subscriber’s hands, made possible by our advanced technology and breakthrough innovations across our entire spatial data technology stack.
Key elements of our spatial data platform include:
•Bringing offline buildings online. Traditionally, our customers needed to conduct in-person site visits to understand and assess their buildings and spaces. While photographs and floor plans can be helpful, these forms of two-dimensional (“2D”) representation have limited information and tend to be static and rigid, and thus lack the interactive element critical to a holistic understanding of each building and space. With the AI-powered capabilities of Cortex, our proprietary AI software, representation of physical objects is no longer confined to static 2D images and physical visits can be eliminated. Cortex helps to move the buildings and spaces from offline to online and makes them accessible to our customers in real-time and on demand from anywhere. After subscribers scan their buildings, our visualization algorithms accurately infer spatial positions and depths from flat, 2D imagery captured through the scans and transform them into high- fidelity and precise digital twin models. This creates a fully automated image processing pipeline to ensure that each digital twin is of professional grade image quality.
•Driven by spatial data. We are a data-driven company. Each incremental capture of a space grows the richness and depth of our spatial data library. Spatial data represents the unique and idiosyncratic details that underlie and compose the buildings and spaces in the human- made environment. Cortex uses the breadth of the billions of data points we have accumulated over the years to improve the 3D accuracy of our digital twins. We help our subscribers pinpoint the height, location and other characteristics of objects in their digital twin. Our sophisticated algorithms also deliver significant commercial value to our subscribers by generating data-based insights that allow them to confidently make assessments and decisions about their properties. For instance, property developers can assess the amount of natural heat and daylight coming from specific windows, retailers can ensure each store layout is up to the same level of code and brand requirements, and factories can insure machinery layouts meet specifications and location guidelines. With approximately 6.7 million spaces under management as of December 31, 2021, our spatial data library is the clearinghouse for information about the built world.
•Powered by AI and ML. Artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies effectively utilize spatial data to create a robust virtual experience that is dynamic, realistic, interactive, informative and permits multiple viewing angles. AI and ML also make costly cameras unnecessary for everyday scans—subscribers can now scan their spaces by simply tapping a button on their smartphones. As a result, Matterport is a device agnostic platform, helping us more rapidly scale and drive towards our mission of digitizing and indexing the built world.
Our value proposition to subscribers is designed to serve the entirety of the digital building lifecycle, from design and build to maintenance and operations, promotion, sale, lease, insure, repair, restore, secure and finance. As a result, we believe we are uniquely positioned to grow our revenue with our subscribers as we help them to discover opportunities to drive short- and long-term return on investment by taking their buildings and spaces from offline to online across their portfolios of properties.
Ubiquitous Capture
Matterport has become the standard for 3D space capture. Our technology platform empowers subscribers worldwide to quickly, easily and accurately digitize, customize and manage interactive and dimensionally accurate digital twins of their buildings and spaces.
The Matterport platform is designed to work with a wide range of LiDAR, spherical, 3D and 360 cameras, as well as smartphones, to suit the capture needs of all of our subscribers. This provides the flexibility to capture a space of any size, scale, and complexity, at anytime and anywhere.
•Matterport Pro2 is our proprietary 3D camera that has been used to capture millions of spaces around the world with a high degree of fidelity, precision, speed and simplicity. Capable of capturing buildings more than 500,000 square feet in size, it has become the camera of choice for many residential, commercial, industrial and large-scale properties.
•360 Cameras. Matterport supports a selection of 360 cameras available in the market. These affordable, pocket sized devices deliver precision captures with high fidelity and are appropriate for capturing smaller homes,
condos, short-term rentals, apartments, and more. The spherical lens image capture technology of these devices gives Cortex robust, detailed image data to transform panoramas into our industry-leading digital twins.
•LEICA BLK360. Through our partnership with Leica, our 3D reconstruction technology and our AI powered software engine, Cortex, transform this powerful LiDAR camera into an ultra-precise capture device for creating Matterport digital twins. It is the solution of choice for AEC professionals when exacting precision is required.
•Smartphone Capture. Our capture apps are commercially available for both iOS and Android now. Matterport’s smartphone capture solution has democratized 3D capture, making it easy and accessible for anyone to digitize buildings and spaces with a recent iPhone device since the initial introduction of Matterport for iPhone in May 2020. In April 2021, we announced the official release of the Android Capture app, giving Android users the ability to quickly and easily capture buildings and spaces in immersive 3D.
Cortex and 3D Reconstruction (the Matterport Digital Twin)
With a spatial data library, as of December 31, 2021, of approximately 6.7 million spaces under management, representing approximately 20 billion captured square feet of space, we use our advanced ML and DL technologies to algorithmically transform the spatial data we capture into an accurate 3D digital reproduction of any physical space. This intelligent, automated 3D reconstruction is made possible by Cortex, our AI-powered software engine that includes a deep learning neural network that uses our spatial data library to understand how a building or space is divided into floors and rooms, where the doorways and openings are located, and what types of rooms are present, such that those forms are compiled and aligned with dimensional accuracy into a dynamic, photorealistic digital twin. Other components of Cortex include AI-powered computer vision technologies to identify and classify the contents inside a building or space, and object recognition technologies to identify and segment everything from furnishings and equipment to doors, windows, light fixtures, fire suppression sprinklers and fire escapes. Our highly scalable artificial intelligence platform enables our subscribers to tap into powerful, enhanced building data and insights at the click of a button.
The Science Behind the Matterport Digital Twin: Cortex AI Highlights
Matterport Runs on Cortex
Cortex is our AI-powered software engine that includes a precision deep learning neural network to create digital twins of any building or space. Developed using our proprietary spatial data captured with our Pro2 camera, Cortex delivers a high degree of precision and accuracy while enabling 3D capture using everyday devices.
Generic neural networks struggle with 3D reconstruction of the real world. Matterport-optimized networks deliver more accurate and robust results. More than just raw training data, Matterport’s datasets allow us to develop new neural network architectures and evaluate them against user behavior and real-world data in millions of situations.
•Deep learning: Connecting and optimizing the detailed neural network data architecture of each space is key to creating robust, highly accurate 3D digital twins. Cortex evaluates and optimizes each 3D model against Matterport’s rich spatial data aggregated from millions of buildings and spaces and the human annotations of those data provided by tens of thousands of subscribers worldwide. Cortex’s evaluative abilities and its data-driven optimization of 3D reconstruction yield consistent, high-precision results across a wide array of building configurations, spaces and environments.
•Dynamic 3D reconstruction: Creating precise 3D spatial data at scale from 2D visuals and static images requires a combination of photorealistic, detailed data from multiple viewpoints and millions of spaces that train and optimize Cortex’s neural network and learning capabilities for improved 3D reconstruction of any space. Cortex’s capabilities combined with real-time spatial alignment algorithms in our 3D capture technology create an intuitive “preview” of any work in progress, allowing subscribers to work with their content interactively and in real-time.
•Computer Vision: Cortex enables a suite of powerful features to enhance the value of digital twins. These include automatic measurements for rooms or objects in a room, automatic 2D-from-3D high-definition photo gallery creation, auto face blurring for privacy protection, custom videos, walkthroughs, auto room labeling and object recognition.
•Advanced image processing: Matterport’s computational photography algorithms create a fully automated image processing pipeline to help ensure that each digital twin is of professional grade image quality. Our patented technology makes 3D capture as simple as pressing a single button. Matterport’s software and technology manage the remaining steps, including white balance and camera-specific color correction, high dynamic range tone mapping, de-noising, haze removal, sharpening, saturation and other adjustments to improve image quality.
Spatial Data and AI-Powered Insights
Every Matterport digital twin contains extensive information about a building, room or physical space. The data using our AI-powered Cortex engine. In addition to the Matterport digital twin itself, our spatial data consists of precision building geometry and structural detail, building contents, fixtures and condition, along with high-definition imagery and photorealistic detail from many vantage points in a space. Cortex employs a technique we call deep spatial indexing. Deep spatial indexing uses artificial intelligence, computer vision and deep learning to identify and convey important details about each space, its structure and its contents with precision and fidelity. We have created a robust spatial data standard that enables Matterport subscribers to harness an interoperable digital system of record for any building.
In addition to creating a highly interactive digital experience for subscribers through the construction of digital twins, we ask ourselves two questions for every subscriber: (1) what is important about their building or physical space and (2) what learnings and insights can we deliver for this space? Our AI-powered Cortex engine helps us answer these questions using our spatial data library to provide aggregated property trends and operational and valuation insights. Moreover, as the Matterport platform ecosystem continues to expand, our subscribers, partners and other third-party developers can bring their own tools to further the breadth and depth of insights they can harvest from our rich spatial data layer.
Extensible Platform Ecosystem
Matterport offers the largest and most accurate library of spatial data in the world, with, as of December 31, 2021, approximately 6.7 million spaces under management and approximately 20 billion captured square feet. The versatility of our spatial data platform and extensive enterprise software development kit and application programming interfaces (“APIs”) has allowed us to develop a robust global ecosystem of channels and partners that extend the Matterport value proposition by geography and vertical market. We intend to continue to deploy a broad set of workflow integrations with our partners and their subscribers to promote an integrated Matterport solution across our target markets. We are also developing a third-party software marketplace to extend the power of our spatial data platform with easy-to-deploy and easy-to-access Matterport software add-ons. The marketplace enables developers to build new applications and spatial data mining tools, enhance the Matterport 3D experience, and create new productivity and property management tools that supplement our core offerings. These value-added capabilities created by third-party developers enable a scalable new revenue stream, with Matterport sharing the subscription and services revenue from each add-on that is deployed to subscribers through the online marketplace. The network effects of our platform ecosystem contributes to the growth of our business, and we believe that it will continue to bolster future growth by enhancing subscriber stickiness and user engagement.
Examples of Matterport add-ons and extensions include:
•Add-ons: Encircle (easy-to-use field documentation tools for faster claims processing); WP Matterport Shortcode (free Wordpress plugin that allows Matterport to be embedded quickly and easily with a Matterport shortcode), WP3D Models (WordPress + Matterport integration plugin); Rela (all-in-one marketing solution for listings); and CAPTUR3D (all-in-one Content Management System that extends value to Matterport digital twins).
•Services: Matterport ADA Compliant Digital Twin (solution to provide American Disability Act compliant digital twins).
Our Competitive Strengths
We believe that we have a number of competitive strengths that will enable our market leadership to grow. Our competitive strengths include:
•Breadth and depth of the Matterport platform. Our core strength is our all-in-one spatial data platform with broad reach across diverse verticals and geographies. From capture to processing to industries without customization. With the ability to integrate seamlessly with various enterprise systems, our platform delivers value across the property lifecycle for diverse end markets, including real estate, AEC, travel and hospitality, repair and insurance, and industrial and facilities. As of December 31, 2021, our global reach extended to subscribers in more than 170 countries, including over 20% of Fortune 1000 companies.
•Market leadership and first-mover advantage. Matterport defined the category of digitizing and datafying the built world almost a decade ago, and we have become the global leader in the category. As of December 31, 2021, we had over 503,000 subscribers on our platform and approximately 6.7 million spaces under management. Our leadership is primarily driven by the fact that we were the first mover in digital twin creation. As a result of our
first mover advantage, we have amassed a deep and rich library of spatial data that continues to compound and enhance our leadership position.
•Significant network effect. With each new capture and piece of data added to our platform, the richness of our dataset and the depth of insights from our spaces under management grow. In addition, the combination of our ability to turn data into insights with incremental data from new data captures by our subscribers enables Matterport to develop features for subscribers to our platform. We were a first mover in building a spatial data library for the built world, and our leadership in gathering and deriving insights from data continues to compound and the relevance of those insights attracts more new subscribers.
•Massive spatial data library as the raw material for valuable property insights. The scale of our spatial data library is a significant advantage in deriving insights for our subscribers. Our spatial data library serves as vital ground truth for Cortex, enabling Matterport to create powerful 3D digital twins using a wide range of camera technology, including low-cost digital and smartphone cameras. As of December 31, 2021, our data came from approximately 6.7 million spaces under management and approximately 20 billion captured square feet. As a result, we have taken property insights and analytics to new levels, benefiting subscribers across various industries. For example, facilities managers significantly reduce the time needed to create building layouts, leading to a significant decrease in the cost of site surveying and as-built modeling. AEC subscribers use the analytics of each as-built space to streamline documentation and collaborate with ease.
•Global reach and scale. We are focused on continuing to expand our AI-powered spatial data platform worldwide. We have a significant presence in North America, Europe and Asia, with leadership teams and a go-to-market infrastructure in each of these regions. We have offices in London, Singapore and several across the United States, and we are accelerating our international expansion. As of December 31, 2021, we had over 503,000 subscribers in more than 170 countries. We believe that the geography-agnostic nature of our spatial data platform is a significant advantage as we continue to grow internationally.
•Broad patent portfolio supporting 10 years of R&D and innovation. As of December 31, 2021, we had 50 issued and 24 pending patent applications. Our success is based on almost 10 years of focus on innovation. Innovation has been at the center of Matterport, and we will continue to prioritize our investments in R&D to further our market leading position.
•Superior capture technology. Matterport’s capture technology platform is a software framework that enables support for a wide variety of capture devices required to create a Matterport digital twin of a building or space. This includes support for LiDAR cameras, 360 cameras, smartphones and the Matterport Pro2 camera. The Pro2 camera was foundational to our spatial data advantage, and we have expanded that advantage with an array of Matterport-enabled third-party capture devices. Matterport is democratizing the 3D capture experience, making high-fidelity and high-accuracy 3D digital twins readily available for any building type and any subscriber need in the property life cycle. While there are other 3D capture solution providers, very few can produce true, dimensionally accurate 3D results, and fewer still can automatically create a final product in photorealistic 3D, and at global scale. This expansive capture technology offering would not be possible without our rich spatial data library available to train the AI-powered Cortex engine to automatically generate accurate digital twins from photos captured with a smartphone or 360 camera.
Our Growth Strategies
We believe that Matterport has tremendous growth potential ahead. After securing market leading positions in a variety of geographies and vertical markets, we have demonstrated our repeatable value proposition and the ability of our sales growth model to scale. The magnitude of our total addressable market is so large that even with leading market share, we believe our penetration rates today are a small fraction of the opportunity for Matterport. With a mature and tested go-to-market playbook and team in place, we are focused on scaling execution across a carefully selected set of growth vectors. These include:
•Scale the enterprise across industry verticals. Matterport will continue to drive subscriber growth by expanding use cases and introducing new applications. We are particularly focused on acquiring and retaining enterprise subscribers. With our massive spatial data library and pioneering AI-powered capabilities, we pride ourselves on our ability to deliver value across the property lifecycle to subscribers from various end markets, including residential and commercial real estate, facilities management, retail, AEC, insurance and repair, and travel and hospitality. Going forward, we will continue to improve our proprietary data library and AI-powered platform to address the workflows of the industries we serve, while expanding our solutions and reaching new industries such as manufacturing and oil and gas. We also plan to increase investments in industry-specific sales and marketing
initiatives to increase sales efficiency and drive subscriber and recurring revenue growth, particularly from large enterprise subscribers.
•Expand Internationally. The global building stock, with an estimated $228 trillion in total property value, remains largely undigitized today as we estimate that less than 0.1% is penetrated by digital transformation. With the vast majority of the world’s buildings outside of the United States, we expect significant opportunities in pursuing the digitization and datafication of the building stock worldwide. We use a “land and expand” model to capitalize on the potential for geographic expansion. As of December 31, 2021, we served subscribers in more than 170 countries, and we will seek to further penetrate these existing geographies in order to add their unique spatial data to our platform. This creates a powerful network effect that we believe will allow us to expand further into under-penetrated countries and unlock additional properties and spaces. With multiple sales attachment points and a global marketing effort, we believe that we can further penetrate enterprises and businesses worldwide through channel partnerships and direct sales. We are rapidly growing our presence in Asia, and believe there is a large opportunity for growth in that region, with approximately seven billion buildings and spaces in India and China alone.
•Invest in research and development. We will continue to invest in research and development to improve our Cortex AI-powered software engine, expand our solutions portfolio, and support seamless integration of our platform with third-party systems. We plan to concentrate on in-house innovation and expect to consider acquisitions on an opportunistic basis. We have a robust pipeline of new product releases. For example, in May 2020, we launched Matterport for iPhone, which gave every recent iPhone owner the ability to capture and collaborate on 3D spaces, and resulted in a significant number of new subscribers and new spaces under management. In April 2021, Matterport announced the official release of the Android Capture app, giving Android users the ability to quickly and easily capture buildings and spaces in immersive 3D. We see significant potential for future subscriber growth as we release more products and create additional upselling opportunities. We will also strengthen our AI and ML capabilities as we enlarge our spatial data library, enabling continuous improvement of the fidelity and accuracy of digital twins and enhancing the commercial value from data-driven analytics. In June 2021, Matterport announced a collaboration with Facebook AI (now known as Meta) to release the world’s largest dataset of 3D spaces for academic research and a partnership with Apex, a national provider of advanced store surveys, to enable retail brands across the U.S. and Canada to access, collect and evaluate building data and information. In August 2021, we announced a new integration with Xactimate that allows property professionals to order a TruePlan of a Matterport 3D model with a single click in Versik’s Xactimate solution. Also in August 2021, we launched Notes, an interactive collaboration and communication tool for its digital twins to unlock big productivity gains for teams. In October 2021, we launched Matterport for Mobile, making 3D capture freely available to more than one billion Android mobile device users worldwide.
•Expand partner integrations and third-party developer platform. We aim to foster a strong network of partners and developers around our Matterport platform. Through integration with our open, scalable and secure enterprise platform, organizations across numerous industries have been able to automate workflows, enhance subscriber experiences and create custom extensions for high-value vertical applications. For example, in May 2020, we rolled out integration capability with Autodesk to help construction teams streamline documentation across workflows and collaborate virtually. In July 2021, by partnering with PTC, we offer a joint solution that gives customers a highly visual and interactive way to deliver digital content onto the environments capture by our platform. Going forward, we plan to develop additional strategic partnerships with leading software providers to enable more effective integrations and enlarge our marketplace of third-party applications. In November 2021, we launched a new plugin for Autodesk Revit customers, allowing them to upload a Matterport Scan-to-BIM file into Autodesk Revit and start creating and managing information on a construction or design project across its different stages. In December 2021, we extended the availability of the Matterport platform in AWS Marketplace so that AWS customers will be able to access Matterport’s digital twin technology with AWS add-ons that potentially increase the value of digitization.
Our Subscribers
We primarily sell to enterprises, ranging from Fortune 100 companies to small- and medium-sized businesses. Our subscriber base is global and spans numerous categories, as we have expanded beyond the residential and commercial real estate verticals to AEC, travel and hospitality, repair and insurance, and industrial, facilities and retail. As of December 31, 2021, we served over 503,000 subscribers across these verticals, and we are building significant market share in each of them. We have long-standing relationships with many of the largest companies in these industries. The biggest companies in each of the verticals we serve represent billions of square feet of property that could become part of Matterport’s global
spatial data library. We expect our global subscriber base to continue to grow rapidly as Matterport continues to establish itself as the digital standard of the built world and an integral component of managing a building’s lifecycle.
To help accelerate subscriber adoption, in May 2020, we introduced Matterport for iPhone, which gives every recent iPhone owner the ability to capture and collaborate on 3D spaces. In April 2021, we announced the official release of the Android Capture app, giving Android users the ability to quickly and easily capture buildings and spaces in immersive 3D. In October 2021, we launched Matterport for Mobile, making 3D capture freely available to more than one billion Android mobile device users worldwide. Smartphone capture is an important innovation driving significant adoption and the democratization of 3D capture across industries while also appealing to homeowners and tenants, property hosts and agents, and property managers, further expanding our subscriber base, engagement and entrenchment.
Our Go-to-Market Strategy
Matterport’s fundamental go-to-market model is built upon a subscription first, capture device agnostic approach. We have invested aggressively to unlock a scalable subscription flywheel for subscriber adoption with multiple on-ramps to Matterport and a variety of ways to expand subscriber engagement. We will continue to invest in these subscription first on-ramps and cross-sell opportunities to accelerate our growth. The key benefit to this approach is to offer our current and future subscriber a frictionless, cost effective way to start and then scale with Matterport. Our subscription plans are priced from free for a single space captured with an iPhone to custom plans tailored to large scale enterprise subscriber needs.
We have developed a scalable go-to-market process built upon the strength of our platform and an efficient approach that opens our sales funnel to reach across industries and geographies, targeted at large enterprise subscribers, small businesses and mid-market opportunities. We have deployed a multi-channel sales approach to efficiently reach each of our subscriber segments, from small businesses to enterprise-level subscribers. In general, we employ a direct sales approach for subscribers with the largest number of spaces or square feet under management, a channel partner approach to expand our reach where channel partners offer strong networks in particular verticals or geographies, and an online self-service approach for a frictionless, convenient entry point to Matterport for all potential subscribers. This structure allows us to effectively and efficiently market our solutions to businesses of all sizes across the world.
•Online direct sales and downloads. We are increasing our investment across our online distribution channel to make it easy and frictionless for our subscribers to get started and grow with Matterport. Our software, a variety of subscription plans, and multiple capture device options are available online for purchase today. Our Matterport for iPhone capture solution requires just a simple app download and free account sign up to get started, enabling enterprises, small businesses and individual property owners to experience the Matterport solution in just minutes.
•Direct sales. With sales teams distributed across the United States, Europe and Asia, we strive to increase adoption among large enterprise subscribers across various end markets, including residential and commercial real estate, facilities management, retail, AEC, insurance and repair, and travel and hospitality. Matterport’s direct sales teams have domain expertise in specific industries, and are organized by verticals in order to address the unique needs of our subscribers. We also have a dedicated technical support team that works closely with subscribers to ensure that the Matterport application programming interface can be integrated seamlessly with each enterprise system.
•Subscriber success. Our account management teams work directly with our subscribers and our sales teams to onboard subscribers, articulate the value and scope of our services and drive engagement and cross-selling of our products and services.
•Channel sales. In addition to our online and direct sales efforts, we maintain a robust ecosystem of channel partnerships, which enable us to reach a wider network of enterprise and small business subscribers. Our channel partners are technology and systems integrators with domain expertise in key industries and deep understanding of the unique requirements of their respective markets. Training and education are a cornerstone of our partnerships, and we work closely with our channel partners to ensure they are knowledgeable in addressing our subscribers’ requirements. For example, our channel partners help make our 3D cameras available to subscribers in a wide range of industries and geographies. Our partners in the specialized immersive technology space introduce real estate and travel and hospitality subscribers to Matterport’s spatial data platform to address their unique 3D capturing needs. Specialty construction contractors connect with Matterport through their suppliers to improve the efficiency of construction projects with the help of digital twins.
Competition
We primarily compete with traditional methods of managing buildings and spaces, including 2D photography, paper-based building plans, labor- intensive computer-aided design drawings, and other static methods of visualizing and analyzing properties. We are leading a transformation from offline to an online, data-driven approach to interacting with buildings and spaces. Matterport is a fully automated end-to-end system that turns buildings into robust spatial data and digital twins. Our solution has been developed over the years to deliver consistent, precision results for any building or space. This universality differentiates Matterport from vendors that offer industry-specific and building-specific point solutions geared toward narrow parts of the market.
These point solutions address only a portion of the functionality and value that the Matterport platform provides. For example, traditional virtual tour companies create pre-recorded video tours and photo montages with background music to promote properties online. Such vendors do not capture or produce 3D spatial data for analysis and property insights. Point solution providers also offer targeted solutions for specific markets such as specialized solutions for surveying daily documentation for construction projects, and insurance claims documentation and processing. However, these point solutions do not represent a comprehensive and extensible platform solution with broad applicability to all industries, geographies and vertical markets. Matterport provides a unique platform solution expressly designed to fulfill the needs of managing every building type across the property lifecycle.
We believe the principal competitive factors in our market include:
•Scale of data. Our vast spatial data library is a significant competitive advantage. Our spatial data library enhances our solutions and improves the accuracy, dependability and insights available to our subscribers.
•Automation and scale of spaces under management. The ability to consistently and accurately create a digital twin of any building or space at scale, thousands of buildings at a time, requires a unique combination of spatial data, data science, and automation of the entire digitization process.
•Capture ubiquity. The ability to easily capture spatial data removes friction to adoption and scale. We have created a capture technology platform to democratize 3D capture and eliminate camera hardware dependencies to make it easy and affordable for anyone to adopt Matterport. For example, the Matterport for iPhone launch in May 2020 contributed significantly to our subscriber growth. Easier adoption unlocks the flywheel with our ubiquitous capture strategy.
•Open ecosystem. Creating an open ecosystem for our platform is increasingly key to our strategy. An open ecosystem enables enterprises from various verticals to run on top of Matterport’s spatial data layer. Our third party software marketplace has created a platform where developers and partners can tap into our APIs and incorporate Matterport into their own workflows.
•Brand recognition. A trusted brand attracts and maintains subscribers. As of December 31, 2021, we served over 503,000 subscribers and we believe we are the clear market leader. We will continue to leverage our leading position and increasing brand awareness to grow our subscriber base and spaces under management. We believe we compete favorably with respect to these factors.
Intellectual Property
Our ability to drive innovation in our business depends in part upon our ability to protect our core technology and intellectual property. We attempt to protect our intellectual property rights, both in the United States and abroad, through a combination of patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws, as well as nondisclosure and invention assignment agreements with our consultants and employees and through non-disclosure agreements with our commercial partners and vendors. Unpatented research, development, know-how and engineering skills make an important contribution to our business, but we pursue patent protection when we believe it is possible and consistent with our overall strategy for safeguarding intellectual property.
As of December 31, 2021, we had 50 issued and 24 pending patent applications. In addition, as of such date we had 18 issued trademarks and 52 pending trademark applications.
Employees and Human Capital Resources
Our employees are critical to our success. As of December 31, 2021, we had 485 full-time employees. We also engage consultants and contractors to supplement our permanent workforce. To date, we have not experienced any work
stoppages and consider our relationship with our employees to be in good standing. None of our employees are represented by a labor union or subject to a collective bargaining agreement.
Our human capital goals are based on maximizing employee value through talent acquisition, employee onboarding, talent management, total rewards, the employee experience and company culture, and internal communications. As a global company, we are committed to creating a diverse, multicultural workforce reflective of our users, customers and the communities where we live and work.
Our total rewards programs are designed to attract, retain and motivate our employees. In addition to base compensation, we provide a myriad of programs that vary by country in which we operate. Such programs include variable compensation (commissions or performance-based cash rewards), equity awards, an employee stock purchase program, health and welfare benefits for employees, retirement, charitable gift matching through MatterportCares, and various others. Our goal is to facilitate the attraction and retention of top talent while balancing the interests of our stakeholders.
Location
We are a Delaware corporation with corporate headquarters in Sunnyvale, California and a globally distributed workforce. Since March 2020, the vast majority of our workforce has been working remotely. The remote work environment has given us an advantage in attracting top talent from around the world without being tied to specific locations. We recruit and hire employees globally based on a range of factors, including the available talent pool, the type of work being performed, the relative cost of labor, regulatory requirements and costs, among other considerations.
Our Values and Commitment to Inclusion
We understand that achieving a diverse and inclusive workplace is a journey that requires action, trust, fairness, empathy, respect, transparency and accountability. We strive to be diverse and inclusive in every aspect of our business. Our success depends on it. We don’t just value differences. We prefer them.
We have invested substantial time and resources in building our team and our culture. Employee Resource Groups, a platform for Courageous Conversations, company wide recognition and celebrations of important cultural events, and an open forum to ask questions of leadership are all important aspects of our culture.
In 2021, we adopted the 3 Dimensions of Matterport as the foundation of our culture and success:
•Be a Leader: Generate Energy, Create Clarity, Deliver Success
•Be Inclusive: Seek Different Perspectives, Foster an Open Dialog, Create a Sense of Belonging
•Be the Customer: Understand Them, Delight Them, Help Them Win
Privacy and Data Security
We collect, use, store, transfer, share or otherwise process a variety of personal information in the ordinary course of business. As such, we are subject to a number of U.S. and international laws, regulations, and industry standards governing data privacy and security, including with respect to the collection, storage, use, transmission, sharing, processing and protection of personal information and other sensitive data. Such laws and regulations may be inconsistent among countries or conflict with other rules.
In the United States, numerous federal and state laws and regulations, including federal and state consumer protection laws and regulations (e.g., Section 5 of the FTC Act), govern the collection, use, storage, transfer, sharing, or other processing of personal information could apply to our operations. In addition, certain state laws govern the privacy and security of personal information, many of which differ from each other in significant ways and may not have the same effect, thus complicating compliance efforts. These laws include, without limitation, the CCPA, CPRA, VCDPA, and COCPA.
In the EEA and the UK, the GDPR and the UK GDPR are law instruments seeking to strengthen individuals’ fundamental rights and to facilitate business by clarifying rules for companies and public bodies by setting a high standard for the protection of personal data and by imposing a strict data protection compliance regime. The GDPR and the UK GDPR apply to the processing of personal data and the term ‘processing’ is defined broadly to include collection, recording, organization, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, transfer, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or
destruction of personal data. In addition, as regards transfers of personal data outside the EEA and/or the UK, a recent decision from the Court of Justice of the European Union and the related regulatory guidance may impact/limit our ability to conduct such transfers to the United States and other jurisdictions.
The foregoing description does not include an exhaustive list of the laws and regulations governing or impacting our business. See the discussion contained in the “Risk Factors” section for information regarding how actions by regulatory authorities or changes in legislation and regulation in the jurisdictions in which we operate or failure to comply with such legislation and regulations may have a material adverse effect on our business.
Government Regulations
We are subject to various laws, regulations and permitting requirements of federal, state and local authorities, including those related to health and safety; environmental, anti-corruption and export controls. We believe that we are in material compliance with all such laws, regulations and permitting requirements.
Export and Trade Matters
We are subject to various trade restrictions, including trade and economic sanctions and export controls, imposed by governments around the world with jurisdiction over our operations. For example, in accordance with trade sanctions administered by the U.S. Treasury Department, the Office of Foreign Assets Control and the U.S. Department of Commerce, we are prohibited from engaging in transactions involving certain persons and certain countries or territories targeted by U.S. comprehensive sanctions, including currently Cuba, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Crimea Region of Ukraine, the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, and the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic regions of Ukraine. Changes in these laws or regulations, or shifts in the approach to their enforcement or scope, could impact our ability to sell our product to existing or potential customers. In particular, sanctions imposed by the U.S., EU, UK, and other jurisdictions in response to Russian activities in Ukraine, and any counter-sanctions enacted in response, could restrict our ability to operate, generate or collect revenue in certain other countries, such as Russia, which could adversely affect our business.
In addition, our products are subject to export regulations that can involve significant compliance and administrative time to address. In recent years the United States government has a renewed focus on export matters. Our current and future products may be subject to these heightened regulations, which could increase our compliance costs. We are subject to anti-corruption laws and regulations imposed by governments around the world with jurisdiction over our operations, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act 2010, as well as the laws of the countries where we do business.
Our global operations expose us to the risk of violating, or being accused of violating, economic and trade sanctions laws and regulations. Our failure to comply may expose us to reputational harm as well as significant penalties, including criminal fines, imprisonment, civil fines, disgorgement of profits, injunctions and debarment from government contracts, as well as other remedial measures. Investigations of alleged violations can be expensive and disruptive. Despite our compliance efforts and activities we cannot assure compliance by our employees or representatives for which we may be held responsible, and any such violation could materially adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.
Seasonality
Our capture services tend to generate higher revenue following the seasonal pattern of the U.S. residential real estate industry, with volume increases typically occurring in the spring and summer months compared to the fall and winter months. Such seasonal impacts have in the past and may in the future be reduced or changed due to changes in the composition of subscribers, uses of the Matterport digital twins, structure of subscription plans.
Available Information
We file electronically with the SEC our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements and other information. Our SEC filings are available to the public at the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. We make available on our website at www.matterport.com, free of charge, copies of these reports and any amendments as soon as reasonably practicable after filing or furnishing them with the SEC.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Our business is subject to numerous risks. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below and the other information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K before making an investment decision regarding our Class A common stock. Our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects could be materially and adversely affected if any of these risks occurs, and as a result, the market price of our Class A common stock could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment. This Annual Report on Form 10-K also contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. See “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.” Our actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including those set forth below.
Risks Related to Our Business
We have experienced rapid growth and expect to invest in growth for the foreseeable future. If we fail to manage growth effectively, our business, operating results and financial condition would be adversely affected.
We have experienced rapid growth in recent periods. For example, the number of our employees has grown from three employees as of December 31, 2011 to 485 employees as of December 31, 2021, and we expect to continue to experience rapid growth over the near term. The growth and expansion of our business has placed and continues to place a significant strain on our management, operations, financial infrastructure and corporate culture.
In the event of further growth, our information technology systems and internal controls over financial reporting and procedures may not be adequate to support our operations and may introduce opportunities for data security incidents that may interrupt business operations or permit bad actors to obtain unauthorized access to business information or misappropriate funds.
To manage growth in operations and personnel, we will need to continue to improve our operational, financial and management controls and reporting systems and procedures. Failure to manage growth effectively could result in difficulties or delays in attracting new customers, declines in quality or customer satisfaction, increases in costs, difficulties in introducing or enhancing products and services, loss of customers, information security vulnerabilities or other operational difficulties, any of which could adversely affect our business performance and operating results.
Our forecasts and projections are based upon assumptions, analyses and internal estimates developed by our management. If these assumptions, analyses or estimates prove to be incorrect or inaccurate, our actual operating results may differ materially from those forecasted or projected.
Our forecasts and projections, including forecasts and estimates relating to the expected sizes and growth of the markets in which we seek to operate, are subject to significant uncertainty and are based on assumptions, analyses and internal estimates developed by our management, any or all of which may not prove to be correct or accurate. If these assumptions, analyses or estimates prove to be incorrect or inaccurate, our actual operating results may differ materially from those forecasted or projected.
We have a history of losses and expect to incur significant expenses and continuing losses at least for the near term.
We incurred net losses of approximately $338.1 million and $14.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. We had accumulated deficits of approximately $468.1 million and $130.0 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. We believe we will continue to incur operating and net losses each quarter at least for the near term. Even if we achieve profitability, there can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain profitability in the future. Our potential profitability is particularly dependent upon the continued adoption of spatial data and the use of our platform by commercial and individual consumers, which may not occur at the levels we currently anticipate or at all.
Certain of our estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth may prove to be inaccurate.
This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes estimates of the addressable market for our products and services which are based in part on our internal analyses. Market opportunity estimates and growth forecasts, whether obtained from third-party sources or developed internally, are subject to significant uncertainty and are based on assumptions and estimates that may prove to be inaccurate. This is especially so at the present time due to the uncertain and rapidly changing projections
of the severity, magnitude and duration of the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The estimates and forecasts in this Annual Report on Form 10-K relating to the size and expected growth of the target market, market demand and adoption, capacity to address this demand and pricing may also prove to be inaccurate. In particular, estimates regarding the current and projected market opportunity are difficult to make. The estimated addressable market may not materialize for many years, if ever, and even if the markets meet the size estimates and growth forecasted in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, our business could fail to grow at similar rates.
We currently face competition from a number of companies and expect to face significant competition in the future as the market for spatial data develops.
The spatial data market is relatively new and competition is still developing. We currently face competition from other companies, generally with different competitors in each of our vertical markets, as well as from traditional, offline methods of interacting with and managing buildings and their spaces. Additionally, we have a number of competitors in the spatial data market with limited funding, which could cause poor experiences and hamper consumer confidence in the spatial data market and adoption or trust in providers. We may also face competition from new market entrants with significantly greater resources, or our current competitors may be acquired by third parties with greater resources, either of which could put us at a competitive disadvantage. Future competitors could also be better positioned to serve certain segments of our current or future target markets, which could create price pressure. In light of these factors, current or potential customers may accept competitive solutions. If we fail to adapt to changing market conditions or continue to compete successfully with current or new spatial data competitors, our growth will be impacted, which would adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We operate in a new market, and global economic conditions and instability related to COVID-19 and otherwise may adversely affect our business if existing and prospective clients reduce or postpone discretionary spending significantly.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including changes in consumer and business behavior, pandemic fears and market downturns, and restrictions on business and individual activities, has created significant volatility in the global and domestic economy and has led to reduced economic activity. The spread of COVID-19 has also created a disruption in discretionary spending by consumers and businesses. While this disruption in discretionary spending has to date not materially impacted us, any sustained downturn in discretionary spending by our current subscribers could harm our business and negatively impact the growth of our platform.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have modified our business practices (including employee travel, recommending that all non-essential personnel work from home and canceling or reducing physical participation in meetings, events and conferences), have implemented additional safety protocols for essential workers, and may take further actions if required by government authorities or if required in the interest of our employees, subscribers, suppliers, vendors and business partners. There is no certainty that such actions will be sufficient to mitigate the risks posed by the pandemic or otherwise be satisfactory to government authorities. If significant portions of our workforce are unable to work effectively, including due to illness, quarantines, social distancing, government actions or other restrictions in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, our operations will be negatively impacted.
The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic impacts our business, prospects and results of operations will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with certainty, including, but not limited to, the duration and spread of the pandemic, its severity, the emergence of new variants such as the Delta or Omicron variants, the actions to contain the virus or treat its impact, and when and to what extent normal economic and operating activities can resume. The COVID-19 pandemic could limit the ability of our suppliers, vendors and business partners to perform, including third-party suppliers’ ability to provide components and materials used in our capture devices or the services used through our platform. Even after the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided, we may experience an adverse impact to our business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic’s global economic impact, including any recession that has occurred or may occur in the future.
We rely on a limited number of suppliers for certain supplied hardware components, and availability of supplied hardware components may be affected by factors such as tariffs or supply disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We may not be able to obtain sufficient components to meet our needs, or obtain such materials on favorable terms or at all, which could impair our ability to fulfill orders in a timely manner or increase our costs of production.
We rely on a limited number of suppliers to supply our hardware components, including in some cases only a single supplier for some products and components. This reliance on a limited number of manufacturers increases our risks, since we do not currently have proven reliable alternative or replacement manufacturers beyond these key parties. In the event of
interruption, we may not be able to increase capacity from other sources or develop alternate or secondary sources, and if such sources become available, they may result in material additional costs and substantial delays.
Unexpected changes in business conditions, materials pricing, labor issues, wars, trade policies, natural disasters, health epidemics such as the global COVID-19 pandemic, trade and shipping disruptions, port congestions and other factors beyond our or our suppliers’ control could also affect these suppliers’ ability to deliver components to us or to remain solvent and operational. Further, our suppliers are subject to government restrictions, including stay-at-home orders, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Such restrictions may have a material adverse effect on our suppliers’ ability to manufacture and supply such components in a timely manner. Such disruptions could adversely affect our business if it is not able to meet customer demands. In addition, some of our suppliers are located in China. Our access to suppliers in China may be limited or impaired as a result of tariffs or other government restrictions in response to geopolitical factors. Additionally, global shortage of semiconductors has been reported since early 2021 and has caused challenges in the manufacturing industry and impacted our supply chain and production as well. We have used alternative suppliers and alternative parts from time to time to mitigate the challenges caused by these shortages, but there is no guarantee we may be able to continually do so as we scale production to meet our growth targets. Additionally, if our suppliers do not accurately forecast and effectively allocate production or if they are not willing to allocate sufficient production to us, it may reduce our access to components and require us to search for new suppliers. The unavailability of any component or supplier could result in production delays, idle manufacturing facilities, product design changes and loss of access to important technology and tools for producing and supporting our products, as well as impact our capacity expansion and our ability to fulfill our obligations under customer contracts. Moreover, new product launch or product design changes by us have required and may in the future require us to procure additional components in a short amount of time. Our suppliers may not be willing or able to sustainably meet our timelines or our cost, quality and volume needs, or to do so may cost us more, which may require us to replace them with other sources.
If we face supply constraints for any of the reasons described above, it may not be possible to obtain or increase supplies on acceptable terms, which may undermine our ability to satisfy customer demands in a timely manner. For example, it may take a significant amount of time to identify a manufacturer that has the capability and resources to build and supply necessary hardware components in sufficient volume. Identifying suitable suppliers can be an extensive process that requires us to become satisfied with our suppliers’ quality control, technical capabilities, responsiveness and service, financial stability, regulatory compliance, and labor and other ethical practices. Accordingly, a loss of any significant suppliers or manufacturers would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
If we are unable to attract and retain key employees and hire qualified management, technical, engineering and sales personnel, our ability to compete and successfully grow our business would be adversely affected.
Our success depends, in part, on our continuing ability to identify, hire, train and retain highly qualified personnel. Any inability to do so effectively would adversely affect our business. Competition for employees is intense and the ability to attract, hire, train and retain them depends on our ability to provide competitive compensation. We may not be able to attract, hire or retain qualified personnel in the future due to a very competitive labor market for talented individuals with technology experience, or any negative publicity related to us. If we are not successful in managing these risks, our business, financial condition, and operating results may be adversely impacted.
Some of our facilities are located in an active earthquake zone or in areas susceptible to wildfires and other severe weather events. An earthquake, wildfire or other natural disaster or resource shortage, including public safety power shut-offs that have occurred and will continue to occur in California or other states, could disrupt and harm our operations.
Our headquarter and largest facility is located in California, an active earthquake zone. The occurrence of a natural disaster such as an earthquake, drought, flood, fire (such as the recent extensive wildfires in California, Washington, Oregon and Colorado), localized extended outages of critical utilities (such as California’s public safety power shut-offs) or transportation systems, or any critical resource shortages could cause a significant interruption in our business, damage or destroy our facilities or inventory, or cause us to incur significant costs, any of which could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Any insurance we maintain against such risks may not be adequate to cover losses in any particular case.
If we fail to retain current subscribers or add new subscribers, our business would be seriously harmed.
We had over 503,000 free and paid subscribers as of December 31, 2021. Our future revenue growth will depend in significant part on our ability to retain our existing customers and increase the number of our subscribers. Spatial data is an
emerging market, and consumers may not adopt the use of spatial data or our platform on a widespread basis or on the timelines we anticipate. It is possible that our paid subscriber growth rate could decline over time if we achieve higher market penetration rates. If current and potential subscribers do not perceive our platform and products as useful, we may not be able to attract new subscribers or retain existing subscribers.
There are many factors that could negatively affect subscriber retention and growth, including if:
• our competitors attempt to mimic our products, which could harm our subscriber engagement and growth;
• we fail to introduce new products and services or those we introduce are poorly received;
• we are unable to continue to develop products that work with a variety of mobile operating systems, networks, smartphones and computers;
• there are changes in subscriber sentiment about the quality or usefulness of our existing products;
• there are concerns about the privacy implications, safety, or security of our platform or products;
• there are changes in our platform or products that are mandated by legislation, regulatory authorities or litigation, including settlements or consent decrees that adversely affect the subscriber’s experience;
• technical or other problems frustrate subscribers’ experiences with our platform or products, particularly if those problems prevent us from delivering our products in a fast and reliable manner; or
• we fail to provide adequate service to subscribers.
Decreases to our subscriber retention or growth could seriously harm our business and results of operation.
We may be unable to build and maintain successful relationships with our strategic alliances and reseller partners, and such alliances and partnerships may fail to perform, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.
We employ a go-to-market business model whereby a material portion of our revenue is generated by sales through our channel partners, such as resellers and value-added resellers, which further expand the reach of our direct sales force into additional geographies, sectors and industries. In particular, we have entered, and intend to continue to enter, into strategic alliance and reseller relationships in certain international markets where we do not have a local presence. If our channel partners are unsuccessful in marketing and selling access to our platform, it would limit our expansion into certain geographies, sectors and industries. If we are unable to develop and maintain effective sales incentive programs for our channel partners, we may not be able to incentivize these partners to sell access to our platform to customers.
Some of these partners may also market, sell and support offerings that are competitive with ours, may devote more resources to the marketing, sales and support of such competitive offerings, may have incentives to promote our competitors’ offerings to the detriment of our own or may cease selling access to our products altogether. Our channel partners could subject us to lawsuits, potential liability and reputational harm if, for example, any of our channel partners misrepresents the functionality of our platform to customers or violates laws or our or their corporate policies. In addition, in circumstances where we do not enter into a direct agreement with end customers, we cannot be sure that on every occasion each channel partner has required end customers to agree to our standard terms which are protective of our solutions and technology, nor that the channel partners will enforce each failure by an end customer to comply with such terms. Our ability to achieve revenue growth in the future will depend, in significant part, on our success in maintaining successful relationships with our channel partners, identifying additional channel partners and training our channel partners to independently sell access to our platform. If our channel partners are unsuccessful in selling access to our platform, or if we are unable to enter into arrangements with or retain a sufficient number of high quality channel partners in each of the regions in which we market and sell our platform and keep them motivated to market and sell our platform, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and growth prospects would be adversely affected.
Our business strategy includes growing our portfolio through potential future acquisitions, strategic investments, partnerships or alliances that could be difficult to identify and integrate. Such projects may divert the attention of key management personnel, disrupt our business, dilute our existing stockholders’ value and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
As part of our business strategy, we have in the past acquired, and may in the future acquire, additional assets, products, technologies or businesses that are complementary to our existing business. The process of identifying and consummating acquisitions and the subsequent integration of new assets and businesses into our existing business would
require attention from management and could result in a diversion of resources from our existing business, which in turn could have an adverse effect on our operations.
Acquired assets or businesses may not generate the expected financial results. Acquisitions could also result in significant cash expenditures, potentially dilutive issuance of equity securities, amortization expenses for other intangible assets, exposure to potential unknown liabilities of acquired businesses, and potential goodwill impairment. We may not successfully evaluate or use the acquired technology or personnel, or accurately forecast the financial impact of an acquisition transaction, including accounting charges and tax liabilities. Further, the issuance of equity or securities convertible to equity to finance any such acquisitions could result in dilution to our shareholders and the issuance of debt could subject us to covenants or other restrictions that would impede our ability to manage our operations. We could become subject to legal claims following an acquisition or fail to accurately forecast the potential impact of any claims. Any of these issues could have a material adverse impact on our business and results of operations. Failure to successfully identify, complete, manage and integrate acquisitions could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
On January 5, 2022, we consummated the acquisition of 100% of the issued and outstanding equity interests in Enview, Inc., a privately-held company engaged in the development of artificial intelligence algorithms to identify natural and man-made features in geospatial data using various techniques, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately 1.59 million shares of the Company’s Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share and $35.5 million in cash (the “Acquisition”). The completion of the Acquisition does not guarantee that we will ultimately strengthen our competitive position or achieve our goals or expected growth, and the Acquisition could be viewed negatively by our customers, analysts and investors, or experience unexpected competition from market participants. Any integration process may require significant time and resources. We may not be able to manage the process successfully and may experience a decline in our profitability as we incur expenses prior to fully realizing the benefits of the Acquisition. We could expend significant cash and incur acquisition related costs and other unanticipated liabilities associated with the Acquisition, the product or the technology, such as contractual obligations, potential security vulnerabilities of the acquired company and its products and services and potential intellectual property infringement. In addition, any acquired technology or product may not comply with legal or regulatory requirements and may expose us to regulatory risk and require us to make additional investments to make them compliant. Further, we may not be able to provide the same support service levels to the acquired technology or product that we generally offer with our other products.
Additional risks we may face in connection with acquisitions include:
•diversion of management time and focus from operating our business to addressing acquisition integration challenges;
•coordination of research and development and sales and marketing functions;
•integration of products and service offerings;
•retention of key employees from acquired companies;
•changes in relationships with strategic partners as a result of product acquisitions or strategic positioning resulting from acquisitions;
•cultural challenges associated with integrating employees from acquired companies into our organization;
•integration of acquired companies’ accounting, management information, human resources and other administrative systems in our existing operations;
•the need to implement or improve controls, procedures, and policies at a business that prior to acquisition may have lacked sufficiently effective controls, procedures and policies;
•additional legal, regulatory or compliance requirements;
•financial reporting, revenue recognition or other financial or control deficiencies of acquired companies that we do not adequately address and that cause our reported results to be incorrect;
•liability for activities of acquired companies, including intellectual property infringement claims, violations of laws, commercial disputes, tax liabilities and other known and unknown liabilities;
•unanticipated write-offs or charges; and
•litigation or other claims in connection with acquired companies, including claims from terminated employees, customers, former stockholders or other third parties.
Our failure to address these risks or other problems encountered in connection with acquisitions and investments could cause us to fail to realize the anticipated benefits of these acquisitions or investments, cause us to incur unanticipated liabilities and cause other harm to our business.
We may need to raise additional funds to finance our operations and these funds may not be available when needed.
We may need to raise additional funds in the future to further scale our business and expand to additional markets. We may raise additional funds through the issuance of equity, equity-related or debt securities, or by obtaining credit from financial institutions. We cannot be certain that additional funds will be available on favorable terms when required, or at all. If we cannot raise additional funds when needed, our financial condition, results of operations, business and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. If we raise funds through the issuance of debt securities or other loan transactions, we could face significant interest payments, covenants that restrict our business, or other unfavorable terms. In addition, to the extent we raise funds through the sale of additional equity securities, our stockholders would experience additional dilution.
We expect to incur research and development costs in developing new products, which could significantly reduce our profitability and may never result in revenue.
Our future growth depends on penetrating new markets, adapting existing products to new applications and customer requirements, and introducing new projects that achieve market acceptance. We plan to incur significant research and development costs in the future as part of our efforts to design, develop, manufacture and introduce new products and enhance existing products. Our research and development (“R&D”) expense was approximately $55.4 million and $17.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and is expected to grow substantially in the future. Our R&D efforts may not produce successful results, and any of our new products may not achieve market acceptance, create additional revenue or become profitable.
We have identified material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting. If we are unable to remediate these material weaknesses or if management identifies additional material weaknesses in the future or otherwise fail to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting, we may not be able to accurately or timely report our financial position or results of operations, which may adversely affect our business and stock price or cause our access to the capital markets to be impaired.
As disclosed in Item 9A of this report, we identified material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal controls over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of a company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Our failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could result in errors in our financial statements that could result in a material restatement of our financial statements, and could cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations, any of which could diminish investor confidence in us and cause a decline in the price of our common stock. Failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could also subject us to potential delisting from the stock exchange on which we are listed or to other regulatory investigations and civil or criminal sanctions.
As a public company, we are required pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to furnish a report by management on the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting for each annual report on Form 10-K to be filed with the SEC. This assessment will need to include disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by management in internal controls over financial reporting. Once we cease to be an emerging growth company, our independent registered public accounting firm will also be required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting in each annual report on Form 10-K to be filed with the SEC. We will be required to disclose material changes made in our internal controls over financial reporting on a quarterly basis. Failure to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could potentially subject us to sanctions or investigations by the SEC, the stock exchange on which our securities are listed or other regulatory authorities, which would require additional financial and management resources.
Risks Related to Litigation
We are currently involved in litigation with one of our stockholders relating to the lock-up restrictions included in our Amended and Restated Bylaws.
On July 23, 2021, plaintiff William J. Brown, a former employee and a shareholder of Matterport, Inc. (now known as Matterport Operating, LLC) (“Legacy Matterport”), sued Legacy Matterport, Gores Holdings VI, Inc. (now known as Matterport, Inc.), Maker Merger Sub Inc., Maker Merger Sub II, LLC, and Legacy Matterport directors R.J. Pittman, David Gausebeck, Matt Bell, Peter Hebert, Jason Krikorian, Carlos Kokron and Michael Gustafson (collectively, the “Defendants”) in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware. The plaintiff’s complaint claims that Defendants imposed invalid transfer restrictions on his shares of Matterport stock in connection with the merger transactions between Matterport, Inc. and Legacy Matterport (the “Transfer Restrictions”), and that Legacy Matterport’s board of directors violated their fiduciary duties in connection with a purportedly misleading letter of transmittal. The plaintiff is seeking damages and costs, as well as a declaration from the court that he may freely transfer his shares of Class A common stock of Matterport received in connection with the merger transactions.
An expedited trial regarding the facial validity of the Transfer Restrictions took place from December 1-2, 2021. On January 11, 2022, the court issued a ruling that the Transfer Restrictions did not apply to the plaintiff. The opinion did not address the validity of the Transfer Restrictions. Matterport filed a notice of appeal of the court’s ruling on February 8, 2022. Separate proceedings regarding plaintiff’s remaining claims are pending.
We are currently and may from time to time be involved in lawsuits and other litigation matters that are expensive and time-consuming. If resolved adversely, lawsuits and other litigation matters could seriously harm our business.
We are currently involved in several lawsuits and other litigation proceedings, and we anticipate that we may from time to time be involved in other lawsuits and similar proceedings. Any such lawsuits or other proceedings to which we are a party may result in an onerous or unfavorable outcomes or judgment that may not be reversed on appeal, or we may decide to settle lawsuits or other proceedings on unfavorable terms. Any such negative outcome could result in payments of substantial monetary damages or fines, or changes to our products or business practices, and accordingly our business could be seriously harmed.
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property, Information Technology, Data Privacy, Data Security and Regulatory Issues
Legacy Matterport received a voluntary request for information from the Division of Enforcement of the SEC in an investigation relating to certain sales and repurchases of its securities in the secondary market. Although we believe we have cooperated fully with the request, we cannot predict the duration or ultimate resolution of the investigation, and cooperating with the request may require significant management time and resources, which could have an adverse effect on our business and financial position.
On January 29, 2021, Legacy Matterport received a voluntary request for information from the Division of Enforcement of the SEC relating to certain sales and repurchases of our securities in the secondary market. Although we believe we have cooperated fully with the request, we have not received any updates from the SEC and we cannot predict the duration or ultimate resolution of the investigation. Cooperating with any additional requests from the SEC may require significant management time and resources, which could have an adverse effect on our business and financial position.
We rely significantly on the use of information technology. Cybersecurity risks – any technology failures causing a material disruption to operational technology or cyber-attacks on our systems affecting our ability to protect the integrity and security of customer and employee information – could harm our reputation and/or could disrupt our operations and negatively impact our business.
We increasingly rely on information technology systems to process, transmit and store electronic information. A significant portion of the communication between personnel, customers, business partners and suppliers depends on information technology. We use information technology systems and networks in our operations and supporting departments such as marketing, accounting, finance, and human resources. We also rely on third party technology and systems for a variety of reasons, including, without limitation, authentication technology, employee email, content delivery to customers, back-office support, and other functions. The future operation, success and growth of our business depends
on streamlined processes made available through our uninhibited access to information systems, global communications, internet activity and other network processes.
Like most companies, despite our current security measures, our information technology systems, and those of our third-party service providers, may be vulnerable to information security breaches, malware, viruses, physical or electronic break-ins and similar disruptions, which could lead to interruption and delays in our services and operations and loss, misuse or theft of data. Computer malware, viruses, hacking and phishing attacks against online networks have become more prevalent and may occur on our systems in the future. Ransomware attacks, including those from organized criminal threat actors, nation-states, and nation-state supported actors, are becoming increasingly prevalent and severe, and can lead to significant interruptions in our operations, loss of data and income, reputational loss, diversion of funds, and may result in fines, litigation and unwanted media attention. Extortion payments may alleviate the negative impact of a ransomware attack, but we may be unwilling or unable to make such payments due to, for example, applicable laws or regulations prohibiting payments. Further, stored data might be improperly accessed due to a variety of events beyond our control, including, but not limited to, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, hackers and other security issues.
Hackers and data thieves are increasingly sophisticated and operate large-scale and complex automated attacks which may remain undetected until after they occur. Any attempts by cyber attackers to disrupt our services or systems or those of our third party service providers could result in mandated user notifications, litigation, government investigations, significant fines and expenditures; product fulfillment delays, key personnel being unable to perform duties or communicate throughout the organization, loss of internet sales, significant costs for data restoration; damage our brand and reputation; and materially adversely affect our business and results of operations. Efforts to prevent cyber attackers from entering computer systems are expensive to implement, and we may not be able to avoid attacks that arise through computer systems of our third-party vendors. Despite our existing security procedures and controls, if our network were compromised, it could give rise to unwanted media attention, materially damage our customer relationships, harm our business, reputation, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition, result in fines or litigation, and may increase the costs we incur to protect against such information security breaches, such as increased investment in technology, the costs of compliance with consumer protection laws and costs resulting from consumer fraud.
We have not experienced any material attacks, disruptions, outages and other performance problems, but may do so in the future, due to a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes, third-party service providers, human or software errors and capacity constraints. When we have experienced such incidents, we have implemented controls and taken other
preventative actions to further strengthen our systems against future attacks. However, we cannot assure you that such measures will provide absolute security, that we will be able to react in a timely manner, or that our remediation efforts following an attack will be successful.
We have processes and procedures in place designed to enable us to recover from a disaster or catastrophe and continue business operations and have tested this capability under controlled circumstances. However, there are several factors ranging from human error to data corruption that could materially impact the efficacy of such processes and procedures, including by lengthening the time services are partially or fully unavailable to customers and users. It may be difficult or impossible to perform some or all recovery steps and continue normal business operations due to the nature of a particular disaster or catastrophe, especially during peak periods, which could cause additional reputational damages, or loss of revenues, any of which would adversely affect our business and financial results.
Moreover, while we maintain cyber insurance that may help provide coverage for these types of incidents, we cannot assure you that our insurance will be adequate to cover costs and liabilities related to security incidents or breaches. The successful assertion of one or more large claims against us that exceeds our available insurance coverage, or results in changes to our insurance policies (including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements), could have an adverse effect on our business. In addition, we cannot be sure that our existing insurance coverage will continue to be available on acceptable terms or that our insurers will not deny coverage as to any future claim.
Because we store, process, and use data, some of which contains personal information, we are subject to complex and evolving federal, state and foreign laws, regulations, industry standards, and other legal obligations regarding data privacy and security matters. Failure to comply with such laws, regulations, industry standards, and legal obligations could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, results of operations or financial condition, or have other adverse consequences.
As part of our normal business activities, we collect, store, retain, process, transmit, and use data, some of which contains personal information. As such, we are subject to various federal, state, and foreign laws and regulations, industry standards, and other legal obligations regarding data privacy and security matters. In addition, these existing laws and regulations are constantly evolving, and new laws and regulations that apply to our business are being introduced at every level of government in the United States, as well as internationally. As we seek to expand our business, we are, and may increasingly become subject to various laws, regulations, standards, and regulatory guidance relating to data privacy and security in the jurisdictions in which we operate. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with any federal or state privacy or security laws, regulations, regulatory guidance, industry standards, or other legal obligations relating to data privacy or security could adversely affect our reputation, results of operations or financial condition, and may result in claims, liabilities, proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities, customers or others.
In the United States, there are numerous federal and state data privacy and security laws, rules, and regulations governing the collection, storage, retention, transmission, use, retention, security, transfer, storage, and other processing of personal information, including federal and state data privacy laws, data breach notification laws, and consumer protection laws. For example, the FTC and many state attorneys general are interpreting federal and state consumer protection laws to impose standards for the online collection, use, dissemination, and security of data. Such standards require us to publish statements that describe how we handle personal data and choices individuals may have about the way we handle their personal data. If such information that we publish is considered untrue or inaccurate, we may be subject to government claims of unfair or deceptive trade practices, which could lead to significant liabilities and consequences. Moreover, according to the FTC, violating consumers’ privacy rights or failing to take appropriate steps to keep consumers’ personal data secure may constitute unfair acts or practices in or affecting commerce in violation of Section 5(a) of the Federal Trade Commission Act. State consumer protection laws provide similar causes of action for unfair or deceptive practices. Some states, such as California and Massachusetts, have passed specific laws mandating reasonable security measures for the handling of consumer data. Further, privacy advocates and industry groups have regularly proposed and sometimes approved, and may propose and approve in the future, self-regulatory standards with which we must legally comply or that contractually apply to us.
Our communications with our customers are subject to certain laws and regulations, including the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (“CAN-SPAM”) Act of 2003, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (the “TCPA”), and the Telemarketing Sales Rule and analogous state laws, that could expose us to significant damages awards, fines and other penalties that could materially impact our business. For example, the TCPA imposes various consumer consent requirements and other restrictions in connection with certain telemarketing activity and other communication with consumers by phone, fax or text message. The CAN-SPAM Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule and analogous state laws also impose various restrictions on marketing conducted use of email, telephone, fax or text message. As laws and regulations, including FTC enforcement, rapidly evolve to govern the use of these communications and marketing platforms, the failure by us, our employees or third parties acting at our direction to abide by applicable laws and regulations could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations or subject us to fines or other penalties.
In addition, many state legislatures have adopted legislation that regulates how businesses operate online, including measures relating to privacy, data security, and data breaches. Such legislation includes the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), which increases privacy rights for California consumers and imposes obligations on companies that process their personal information. Among other things, the CCPA gives California consumers expanded rights related to their personal information, including the right to access and delete their personal information and receive detailed information about how their personal information is used and shared. The CCPA also provides California consumers the right to opt-out of certain sales of personal information and may restrict the use of cookies and similar technologies for advertising purposes. The CCPA prohibits discrimination against individuals who exercise their privacy rights, and provides for civil penalties for violations enforceable by the California Attorney General as well as a private right of action for certain data breaches that result in the loss of personal information. This private right of action is expected to increase the likelihood of, and risks associated with, data breach litigation. Additionally, in November 2020, California passed the California Privacy Rights Act (the “CPRA”), which expands the CCPA significantly, including by expanding California consumers’ rights with respect to certain personal information and creating a new state agency to oversee implementation and enforcement
efforts, potentially resulting in further uncertainty and requiring us to incur additional costs and expenses in an effort to comply. Many of the CPRA’s provisions will become effective on January 1, 2023. The costs of compliance with, and the other burdens imposed by, these and other laws or regulatory actions may increase our operational costs, and/or result in interruptions or delays in the availability of systems.
Other states have enacted similar bills. For example, the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (the “VCDPA”) gives consumers rights similar to the CCPA and also requires covered businesses to implement security measures and conduct data protection assessments. In addition, the Colorado Privacy Act (the “COPA”) closely resembles the VCDPA. The VCDPA and COPA will become effective in 2023 and be enforceable by their respective states’ Attorney General and/or district attorneys. We must comply with the VCDPA and COPA if our operations fall within the scope of these laws, which may increase our compliance costs and potential liability. Similar laws have been proposed in other states and at the federal level, reflecting a trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in the United States. This legislation may add additional complexity, variation in requirements, restrictions and potential legal risk, require additional investment in resources to compliance programs, could impact strategies and availability of previously useful data, and could result in increased compliance costs and/or changes in business practices and policies.
In addition, some laws may require us to notify governmental authorities and/or affected individuals of data breaches involving certain personal information or other unauthorized or inadvertent access to or disclosure of such information. We may need to notify governmental authorities and affected individuals with respect to such incidents. For example, laws in all 50 U.S. states may require businesses to provide notice to consumers whose personal information has been disclosed as a result of a data breach. These laws are not consistent with each other, and compliance in the event of a widespread data breach may be difficult and costly. We also may be contractually required to notify consumers or other counterparties of a security incident, including a breach. Regardless of our contractual protections, any actual or perceived security incident or breach, or breach of our contractual obligations, could harm our reputation and brand, expose us to potential liability or require us to expend significant resources on data security and in responding to any such actual or perceived breach. In the EEA, we are subject to the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (“GDPR”) and in the United Kingdom, we are subject to the United Kingdom data protection regime consisting primarily of the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the UK Data Protection Act 2018. The GDPR, and national supplementing legislation in EEA member states, and the United Kingdom regime, impose a strict data protection compliance regime.
For example, we are subject to European Union and United Kingdom rules with respect to cross-border transfers of personal data out of the EEA and the United Kingdom, respectively. Recent legal developments in Europe have created complexity and uncertainty regarding transfers of personal information from the EEA and the United Kingdom to the United States. Most recently, on July 16, 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) invalidated the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework (“Privacy Shield”) under which personal information could be transferred from the EEA to US entities who had self-certified under the Privacy Shield scheme. Use of the standard contractual clauses must now be assessed on a case-by-case basis taking into account the legal regime applicable in the destination country, in particular applicable surveillance laws and rights of individuals, and additional measures and/or contractual provisions may need to be put in place. The European Commission has published revised standard contractual clauses for data transfers from the EEA: the revised clauses have been mandatory for relevant transfers since September 27, 2021, and in the United Kingdom, the Information Commissioner’s Office has published new data transfer standard contracts for transfers from the UK under the UK GDPR, which will be mandatory for relevant transfers from September 21, 2022. These recent developments mean we have to review and may need to change the legal mechanisms by which we transfer data outside of the European Union and United Kingdom, including to the United States. As supervisory authorities issue further guidance on personal data export mechanisms, we could suffer additional costs, complaints and/or regulatory investigations or fines, and/or if we are otherwise unable to transfer personal data between and among countries and regions in which we operate, it could affect the manner in which we provide our services, and could adversely affect our financial results.
We are also subject to evolving EU and UK privacy laws on cookies, tracking technologies and e-marketing. In the EU and the UK under national laws derived from the ePrivacy Directive, informed consent is required for the placement of a cookie or similar technologies on a user’s device and for direct electronic marketing to individuals (as opposed to businesses). The current national laws that implement the ePrivacy Directive are highly likely to be replaced across the EU (but not directly in the UK) by an EU regulation known as the ePrivacy Regulation which will significantly increase fines for non-compliance. Recent European court and regulatory decisions, as well as actions by NYOB (a not-for-profit privacy activist group), are driving increased attention to cookies and tracking technologies, and if this continues, this could lead to substantial costs, require significant systems changes, limit the effectiveness of our marketing activities, increase costs and subject us to additional liabilities.
We are subject to the supervision of local data protection authorities in the United Kingdom and those EEA jurisdictions where we are established or otherwise subject to the GDPR. Fines for certain breaches of the GDPR and the UK data protection regime are significant: up to the greater of €20 million / £17.5 million or 4 % of total global annual turnover. In addition to the foregoing, a breach of the GDPR or UK GDPR could result in regulatory investigations, reputational damage, orders to cease/ change our processing of our data, enforcement notices, and/ or assessment notices (for a compulsory audit). We may also face civil claims including representative actions and other class action type litigation (where individuals have suffered harm), potentially amounting to significant compensation or damages liabilities, as well as associated costs, diversion of internal resources, and reputational harm.
Outside of the US and EU, many countries and territories have laws, regulations, or other requirements relating to privacy, data protection, information security, localized storage of data, and consumer protection, and new countries and territories are adopting such legislation or other obligations with increasing frequency. Many of these laws may require consent from consumers for the use of data for various purposes, including marketing, which may reduce our ability to market our products. There is no harmonized approach to these laws and regulations globally. Consequently, we would increase our risk of non-compliance with applicable foreign data protection laws by expanding internationally. We may need to change and limit the way we use personal information in operating our business and may have difficulty maintaining a single operating model that is compliant.
Further, because we accept debit and credit cards for payment, we are subject to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, or the PCI Standard, issued by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council, with respect to payment card information. The PCI Standard contains compliance guidelines with regard to our security surrounding the physical and electronic storage, processing and transmission of cardholder data. Compliance with the PCI Standard and implementing related procedures, technology and information security measures requires significant resources and ongoing attention. Costs and potential problems and interruptions associated with the implementation of new or upgraded systems and technology, such as those necessary to achieve compliance with the PCI Standard or with maintenance or adequate support of existing systems could also disrupt or reduce the efficiency of our operations. Any material interruptions or failures in our payment related systems could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. If there are amendments to the PCI Standard, the cost of recompliance could also be substantial and we may suffer loss of critical data and interruptions or delays in our operations as a result. If we are unable to comply with the security standards established by banks and the payment card industry, we may be subject to fines, restrictions and expulsion from card acceptance programs, which could materially and adversely affect our business.
Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with our posted privacy policies, our privacy-related obligations to users or other third parties, or any other legal obligations or regulatory requirements relating to privacy, data protection, or data security, may result in governmental investigations or enforcement actions, litigation (including customer class actions), claims, or public statements against us by consumer advocacy groups or others and could result in significant liability, cause our users to lose trust in us, and otherwise materially and adversely affect our reputation and business. Furthermore, the costs of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, the laws, regulations, other obligations, and policies that are applicable to the businesses of our users may limit the adoption and use of, and reduce the overall demand for, our platform. Additionally, if third parties we work with violate applicable laws, regulations, or contractual obligations, such violations may put our users’ data at risk, could result in governmental investigations or enforcement actions, fines, litigation, claims, or public statements against us by consumer advocacy groups or others and could result in significant liability, cause our users to lose trust in us, and otherwise materially and adversely affect our reputation and business.
Our products are highly technical and may contain undetected software bugs or hardware errors, which could manifest in ways that could seriously harm our reputation and our business.
Our products and services are highly technical and complex. Our platform and any products we may introduce in the future may contain undetected software bugs, hardware errors, and other vulnerabilities. These bugs and errors can manifest in any number of ways in our products and services, including through diminished performance, security vulnerabilities, malfunctions, or even permanently disabled products. We have a practice of rapidly updating our products and some errors in our products may be discovered only after a product has been shipped and used by customers. Any errors, bugs or vulnerabilities discovered in our code after release could damage our reputation, drive away customers, lower revenue, and expose us to damages claims, any of which could seriously harm our business.
We could also face claims for product liability, tort, or breach of warranty. In addition, our contracts with subscribers contain provisions relating to warranty disclaimers and liability limitations, which may not be upheld. Defending a lawsuit, regardless of its merit, is costly and may divert management’s attention and seriously harm our
reputation and business. In addition, if our liability insurance coverage proves inadequate or future coverage is unavailable on acceptable terms or at all, our business could be seriously harmed.
Our products contain third-party open source software components, and failure to comply with the terms of the underlying open source software licenses could restrict our ability to deliver our platform or subject us to litigation or other actions.
Our products contain software modules licensed to us by third-party authors under “open source” licenses, and we expect to continue to incorporate such open source software in our products in the future. Use and distribution of open source software may entail greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open source licensors generally do not provide support, warranties, indemnification, or other contractual protections regarding infringement claims or the quality of the code. In addition, the public availability of such software may make it easier for others to compromise our platform.
Some open source licenses contain requirements that we make available source code for modifications or derivative works we create based upon the type of open source software we use, or grant other licenses to our intellectual property. We seek to ensure that our proprietary software is not combined with, and does not incorporate, open source software in ways that would require the release of the source code of our proprietary software to the public. However, if we combine our proprietary software with open source software in a certain manner, we could, under certain open source licenses, be required to release the source code of our proprietary software to the public. This would allow our competitors or new entrants to create similar offerings with lower development effort and time and ultimately could result in a loss of our competitive advantages. Alternatively, to avoid the public release of the affected portions of our source code, we could be required to expend substantial time and resources to re-engineer some or all of our software. Our platform incorporates software that is licensed under open source licenses which could require release of proprietary code if such platform was released or distributed in any manner that would trigger such a requirement to third parties. We take steps to ensure that our platform is not released or distributed. Additionally, some open source projects have vulnerabilities and architectural instabilities and are provided without warranties or support services to actively provide us patched versions when available, and which, if not properly addressed, could negatively affect the performance of our platform.
Although we have certain processes in place to monitor and manage our use of open source software to avoid subjecting our platform to conditions we do not intend, the terms of many open source licenses have not been interpreted by U.S. or foreign courts, and there is a risk that these licenses could be construed in a way that could impose unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to provide or distribute our platform. From time to time, there have been claims challenging the ownership of open source software against companies that incorporate open source software into their platform, and the licensors of such open source software provide no warranties or indemnities with respect to such claims. As a result, we could be subject to lawsuits by parties claiming ownership of what we believe to be open source software. Moreover, we cannot assure you that our processes for monitoring and managing our use of open source software in our platform will be effective. If we are held to have breached or failed to fully comply with all the terms and conditions of an open source software license, or if an author or other third party that distributes such open source software were to allege that we had not complied with the conditions of one or more of these licenses, we could be required to incur significant legal expenses defending against such allegations, could be subject to significant damages, enjoined from the sale of subscriptions to our platform or other liability, or be required to seek costly licenses from third parties to continue providing our platform on terms that, if available at all, are not economically feasible, to re-engineer our platform, to discontinue or delay the provision of our platform if re-engineering could not be accomplished on a timely basis, or to make generally available, in source code form, our proprietary code, any of which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our future growth and success are dependent upon the continuing rapid adoption of spatial data.
Our future growth is highly dependent upon the adoption of spatial data by businesses and consumers. The market for spatial data is relatively new and rapidly evolving, characterized by rapidly changing technologies, competitive pricing and other competitive factors, evolving government regulation and industry standards and changing consumer demands and behaviors. Although demand for spatial data has grown in recent years, there is no guarantee that such growth will continue. If the market for spatial data develops more slowly than expected, or if demand for spatial data decreases, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results would be harmed.
The spatial data market is characterized by rapid technological change, which requires us to continue to develop new services, products and service and product innovations. Any delays in such development could adversely affect market adoption of our products and services and could adversely affect our business and financial results.
Continuing technological changes in spatial data could adversely affect adoption of spatial data and/or our platform or products. Our future success will depend upon our ability to develop and introduce new capabilities and innovations to our platform and other existing product offerings, as well as introduce new product offerings, to address the changing needs of the spatial data market.
As the market for spatial data changes, we may need to upgrade or adapt our platform and introduce new products and services in order to serve our customers, which could involve substantial expense. Even if we are able to keep pace with changes in technology and develop new products and services, our research and development expenses could increase, our gross margins could be adversely affected in some periods and our prior products could become obsolete more quickly than expected.
We cannot assure that any new products and services will be released in a timely manner, or at all, or achieve market acceptance. Delays in delivering new products and services that meet customer needs could damage our relationships with customers and lead them to seek alternative products or services. Delays in introducing products and innovations or the failure to offer innovative products or services at competitive prices may cause our subscribers to use our competitors’ products or services.
If we are unable to devote adequate resources to develop products or cannot otherwise successfully develop products or services that meet customer needs on a timely basis, our platform and other products could lose market share, our revenue could decline, we may experience higher operating losses and our business and prospects could be adversely affected.
We may need to defend against intellectual property infringement or misappropriation claims, which may be time-consuming and expensive, and adversely affect our business.
Technology companies are frequently subject to litigation based on allegations of infringement or other violations of intellectual property rights. From time to time, the holders of intellectual property rights have previously and may in the future assert their rights and urge us to take licenses, and/or bring suits alleging infringement or misappropriation of such rights. There can be no assurance that we will be able to mitigate the risk of potential suits or other legal demands by such third parties. Although we may have meritorious defenses, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in defending against these allegations or in reaching business resolutions that are satisfactory to us. In addition, if we are determined to have infringed, or believe there is a high likelihood that we have infringed upon a third party’s intellectual property rights, we may be required to cease making, selling or incorporating key components or intellectual property into the products and services we offer, to pay substantial damages and/or royalties, to redesign our products and services, and/or to establish and maintain alternative branding. Any litigation may also involve non-practicing entities or other adverse patent owners that have no relevant solution revenue, and therefore, our patent portfolio may provide little or no deterrence as we would not be able to assert our patents against such entities or individuals. To the extent that our subscribers and business partners become the subject of allegations or claims regarding the infringement or misappropriation of intellectual property rights related to our products and services, we have previously and may in the future be required to indemnify such subscribers and business partners. For example, we are currently indemnifying our client Redfin Corporation in a lawsuit brought by Appliance Computing III d/b/a Surefield. Specifically, Appliance Computing III d/b/a Surefield has asserted that Redfin’s use of our 3D-Walkthrough technology infringes four patents. Redfin has asserted defenses in the litigation that the asserted patents are invalid and not infringed. Despite such defenses, we cannot guarantee a favorable outcome in the litigation or that our other clients’ use of the 3D-Walkthrough technology does not infringe the asserted patents.
Our agreements with customers, channel partners and certain vendors include indemnification provisions under which we agree to indemnify them for losses suffered or incurred as a result of claims of intellectual property infringement pertaining to our products and technology. Some of these indemnity agreements provide for uncapped liability and some indemnity provisions survive termination or expiration of the applicable agreement. Any claim of infringement by a third party, even one without merit, whether against us or for which we are required to provide indemnification, could cause us to incur substantial costs defending against the claim, could distract our management from our business, and could require us to cease use of such intellectual property or develop a non-infringing design-around. Further, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, we risk compromising our confidential information during this type of litigation. Any dispute with a customer with respect to these intellectual property
indemnification obligations could have adverse effects on our relationship with that customer and other existing or new customers, and harm our business and operating results. We may be required to make substantial payments for legal fees, settlement fees, damages, royalties, or other fees in connection with a claimant securing a judgment against us, we may be subject to an injunction or other restrictions that cause us to cease selling subscriptions to our products, we may be subject to an injunction or other restrictions that cause us to rebrand or otherwise cease using certain trademarks in specified jurisdictions, or we may be required to redesign any allegedly infringing portion of our products or we may agree to a settlement that prevents us from distributing our platform or a portion thereof, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, although we carry insurance, our insurance may not be adequate to indemnify us for all liability that may be imposed, or otherwise protect us from liabilities or damages, and any such coverage may not continue to be available to us on acceptable terms or at all.
Even if we are not a party to any litigation between a subscriber or business partner and a third party relating to infringement by our products, an adverse outcome in any such litigation could make it more difficult for us to defend our products against intellectual property infringement claims in subsequent litigation in which we are a named party. If we are required to take one or more such actions, our business, prospects, brand, operating results and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, any litigation or claims, whether or not valid, could result in substantial costs, negative publicity and diversion of resources and management attention.
With respect to any intellectual property rights claim, we may have to seek a license to continue operations that are found or alleged to violate such rights. Such licenses may not be available, or if available, may not be available on favorable or commercially reasonable terms and may significantly increase our operating expenses. Some licenses may be non-exclusive, and therefore our competitors may have access to the same technology licensed to us. If a third party does not offer us a license to its intellectual property on reasonable terms, or at all, we may be required to develop alternative, non-infringing technology, which could require significant time (during which we would be unable to continue to offer our affected offerings), effort and expense and may ultimately not be successful. Any of these events could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Our business may be adversely affected if we are unable to protect our spatial data technology and intellectual property from unauthorized use by third parties.
Our success depends, at least in part, on our ability to protect our core spatial data technology and intellectual property. To accomplish this, we rely on, and plan to continue relying on, a combination of patents, trade secrets, employee and third-party nondisclosure agreements, copyright, trademarks, intellectual property licenses and other contractual rights to retain ownership of, and protect, our technology. Such agreements may not effectively prevent unauthorized use or disclosure of our confidential information, intellectual property or technology and may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure of our confidential information, intellectual property or technology, and we may fail to consistently obtain, police and enforce such agreements. Failure to adequately protect our technology and intellectual property could result in competitors offering similar products, potentially resulting in the loss of some of our competitive advantage and a decrease in revenue, which would adversely affect our business prospects, financial condition and operating results.
The measures we take to protect our intellectual property from unauthorized use by others may not be effective for various reasons, including the following:
• any patent applications we submit may not result in the issuance of patents;
• the scope of issued patents may not be broad enough to protect proprietary rights;
• any issued patents may be challenged by competitors and/or invalidated by courts or governmental authorities;
• the costs associated with enforcing patents or other intellectual property rights may make aggressive enforcement impracticable;
• current and future competitors may circumvent patents or independently develop similar proprietary designs or technologies; and
• know-how and other proprietary information we purport to hold as a trade secret may not qualify as a trade secret under applicable laws.
Patent, trademark, and trade secret laws vary significantly throughout the world. Some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States, and effective intellectual property
protection may not be available in every country in which we operate or intend to operate our business. Further, policing the unauthorized use of our intellectual property in foreign jurisdictions may be difficult or impossible. Therefore, our intellectual property rights may not be as strong or as easily enforced outside of the United States.
Changes to applicable U.S. tax laws and regulations or exposure to additional income tax liabilities could affect our business and future profitability.
We are a U.S. corporation that will be subject to U.S. corporate income tax on our worldwide operations. Moreover, most of our operations and customers are located in the United States, and as a result, we are subject to various U.S. federal, state and local taxes. New U.S. laws and policy relating to taxes may have an adverse effect on our business and future profitability. Further, existing U.S. tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be interpreted, changed, modified or applied adversely to us.
As a result of plans to expand our business operations, including to jurisdictions in which tax laws may not be favorable, our tax rates may fluctuate, tax obligations may become significantly more complex and subject to greater risk of examination by taxing authorities and we may be subject to future changes in tax law, the impacts of which could adversely affect our after-tax profitability and financial results.
In the event that our business expands domestically or internationally, our effective tax rates may fluctuate widely in the future. Future effective tax rates could be affected by operating losses in jurisdictions where no tax benefit can be recorded under U.S. law, changes in deferred tax assets and liabilities, or changes in tax laws. Factors that could materially affect our future effective tax rates include, but are not limited to, changes in tax laws or the regulatory environment, changes in accounting and tax standards or practices, changes in the composition of operating income by tax jurisdiction and pre-tax operating results of our business.
We may be subject to significant income, withholding and other tax obligations in the United States and may become subject to taxation in numerous additional state, local and non-U.S. jurisdictions with respect to income, operations and subsidiaries related to those jurisdictions. Our after-tax profitability and financial results could be subject to volatility or be affected by numerous factors, including the following:
• the availability of tax deductions, credits, exemptions, refunds and other benefits to reduce tax liabilities,
• changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, if any,
• expected timing and amount of the release of any tax valuation allowances, the tax treatment of stock-based compensation,
• changes in the relative amount of earnings subject to tax in the various jurisdictions,
• the potential business expansion into, or otherwise becoming subject to tax in, additional jurisdictions,
• changes to existing intercompany structure (and any costs related thereto) and business operations,
• the extent of intercompany transactions and the extent to which taxing authorities in relevant jurisdictions respect those intercompany transactions and
• the ability to structure business operations in an efficient and competitive manner.
Outcomes of audits or examinations by taxing authorities could have an adverse effect on our after-tax profitability and financial condition. Additionally, the IRS and several foreign tax authorities have increasingly focused attention on intercompany transfer pricing with respect to sales of products and services and the use of intangibles. Tax authorities could disagree with our intercompany charges, cross-jurisdictional transfer pricing or other matters and assess additional taxes. If we do not prevail in any such disagreements, our profitability may be affected.
Our after-tax profitability and financial results may also be adversely affected by changes in relevant tax laws and tax rates, treaties, regulations, administrative practices and principles, judicial decisions and interpretations thereof, in each case, possibly with retroactive effect.
Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.
As of December 31, 2021, we had $169.4 million of U.S. federal and $89.4 million of state net operating loss carryforwards available to reduce future taxable income. Certain of these carryforwards may be carried forward indefinitely for U.S. federal tax purposes, while others are subject to expiration beginning in 2031. It is possible that we will not
generate taxable income in time to use all or a portion of these net operating loss carryforwards before their expiration or at all. Under legislative changes made in December 2017, U.S. federal net operating losses incurred in 2018 and in future years may be carried forward indefinitely, but the deductibility of such net operating losses is limited. In addition, our net operating loss carryforwards are subject to review and possible adjustment by the IRS, and state tax authorities. The federal and state net operating loss carryforwards and certain other attributes, such as research tax credits, may be subject to significant limitations under Section 382 and Section 383 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), respectively, and similar provisions of U.S. state law. Under those sections of the Code, if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change net operating loss carryforwards and other pre-change attributes to offset its post-change income or tax may be limited. In general, an “ownership change” would occur if the percentage of our equity interests held by one or more of our “5-percent shareholders” (as such term is used in Section 382 of the Code) increased by more than 50 percentage points over the lowest percentage of our equity held by such 5-percent shareholders at any time during the relevant testing period (usually three years). Similar rules may apply under state tax laws. We have not undertaken an analysis of whether the Merger constituted an “ownership change” for purposes of Section 382 and Section 383 of the U.S. Tax Code. Our ability to utilize our net operating loss carryforwards and other tax attributes to offset future taxable income or tax liabilities may be limited as a result of ownership changes, including potential changes in connection with the Merger (as defined herein) or other transactions. As of December 31, 2021, the Company has not undertaken any analyses in respect of Section 382 to determine the annual limitation and if any of the tax attributes are subject to a permanent limitation.
We are an “emerging growth company” and a “smaller reporting company” within the meaning of the Securities Act, and we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from disclosure requirements available to emerging growth companies and/or smaller reporting companies, which could make our common stock less attractive to investors and may make it more difficult to compare performance with other public companies.
We are an emerging growth company (“EGC”) as defined in the JOBS Act, and we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not EGCs, including not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in 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. Investors may find our common stock less attractive because we will continue to rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock, and the stock price may be more volatile.
An EGC may elect to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards, and under Section 102(b)(2) of the JOBS Act, we have elected to delay adoption of new or revised accounting standards until those standards apply to non-public business entities. As a result, the financial statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and those that we will file in the future may not be comparable to companies that comply with public business entities revised accounting standards effective dates.
We are also a “smaller reporting company” as defined under the Securities Act and Exchange Act. We may continue to be a smaller reporting company so long as either (i) the market value of shares of our common stock held by non-affiliates is less than $250 million or (ii) our annual revenue was less than $100 million during the most recently completed fiscal year and the market value of shares of our common stock held by non-affiliates is less than $700 million. If we are a smaller reporting company at the time we cease to be an EGC, we may continue to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements that are available to smaller reporting companies. Specifically, as a smaller reporting company, we may choose to present only the two most recent fiscal years of audited financial statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and have reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation, and, similar to emerging growth companies, if we are a smaller reporting company under the requirements of clause (ii) above, we would not be required to obtain an attestation report on internal control over financial reporting issued by our independent registered public accounting firm.
We have incurred and will continue to incur significant expenses and administrative burdens as a public company, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We have incurred and will continue to incur increased legal, accounting, administrative and other costs and expenses as a public company that we did not incur as a private company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, including the requirements of Section 404 thereof, as well as rules and regulations subsequently implemented by the SEC, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 and the rules and regulations promulgated and to be promulgated
thereunder, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and the securities exchanges, impose additional reporting and other obligations on public companies. Compliance with public company requirements increases costs and makes certain activities more time-consuming. A number of those requirements require us to carry out activities we had not done previously. In addition, expenses associated with SEC reporting requirements have been and will continue to be incurred. Furthermore, if any issues in complying with those requirements are identified (for example, if we identify a significant deficiency or additional material weaknesses in the internal control over financial reporting), we could incur additional costs to rectify those issues, and the existence of those issues could adversely affect our reputation or investor perceptions. In addition, we have purchased directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, which has substantial premiums. The additional reporting and other obligations imposed by these rules and regulations has increased and will continue to increase legal and financial compliance costs and the costs of related legal, accounting and administrative activities. Advocacy efforts by stockholders and third parties may also prompt additional changes in governance and reporting requirements, which could further increase costs.
Failure to comply with laws relating to employment could subject us to penalties and other adverse consequences.
We are subject to various employment-related laws in the jurisdictions in which our employees are based. We face risks if we fail to comply with applicable United States federal or state employment laws, or employment laws applicable to our employees outside of the United States. In addition, we implemented a reduction in force and furloughed employees in 2020, and the attendant layoffs and/or furloughs could create an additional risk of claims being made on behalf of affected employees. Any violation of applicable wage laws or other employment-related laws could result in complaints by current or former employees, adverse media coverage, investigations, and damages or penalties which could have a materially adverse effect on our reputation, business, operating results and prospects. In addition, responding to any such proceedings may result in a significant diversion of management’s attention and resources, significant defense costs, and other professional fees.
Provisions in the Amended and Restated Bylaws designate the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit the ability of our stockholders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or with our directors, officers or employees and may discourage stockholders from bringing such claims.
The Amended and Restated Bylaws provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, and subject to the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware having subject matter jurisdiction or personal jurisdiction over the parties named as defendants therein, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for:
• any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of us;
• any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees or our stockholders;
• any action asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL, the Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation or the Amended and Restated Bylaws; or
• any action asserting a claim against us, our directors, officers or employees governed by the internal affairs doctrine.
This exclusive forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or any of our directors, officers, or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims. However, this provision would not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act, which provides for the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal courts with respect to all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Notwithstanding the foregoing, this exclusive forum provision will apply to other state and federal law claims including actions arising under the Securities Act. However, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Accordingly, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this exclusive forum provision as written in connection with claims arising under the Securities Act, and investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. If a court were to find the exclusive forum provision contained in the Amended and Restated Bylaws to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Unanticipated changes in effective tax rates or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of our income or other tax returns could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to income taxes in the United States and other jurisdictions, and our tax liabilities are subject to the allocation of expenses in differing jurisdictions. Our future effective tax rates could be subject to volatility or adversely affected by a number of factors, including:
• changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities;
• expected timing and amount of the release of any tax valuation allowances;
• tax effects of stock-based compensation;
• costs related to intercompany restructurings;
• changes in tax laws, regulations or interpretations thereof; or
• lower than anticipated future earnings in jurisdictions where we have lower statutory tax rates and higher than anticipated future earnings in jurisdictions where we have higher statutory tax rates.
In addition, we have been and may be subject to audits of our income, sales and other transaction taxes by taxing authorities. Outcomes of these audits could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Changes in laws, regulations or rules, or a failure to comply with any laws, regulations or rules, may adversely affect our business, investments and results of operations.
We are subject to laws, regulations and rules enacted by national, regional and local governments and Nasdaq. In particular, we are required to comply with certain SEC, Nasdaq and other legal or regulatory requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws, regulations and rules may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws, regulations or rules and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws, regulations or rules, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
The Warrants and Earn-out Shares to Legacy Matterport stockholders are accounted for as liabilities and are recorded at fair value upon issuance/grant with changes in fair value each period reported in our earnings, which could have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock and/or an adverse effect on our financial results.
Management evaluated the terms of the warrants issued, including the private placement warrants (“Private Placement Warrants”) and the publicly-traded warrants (“Public Warrants,” together with the Private Placement Warrants, the “Warrants”) in accordance with ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging, and concluded that the Warrants are accounted for as a derivative liability and that derivative liability was recorded at fair value at their initial fair value on the date of issuance, and each balance sheet date thereafter, as determined based upon a valuation report obtained from an independent third-party valuation firm. Changes in the estimated fair value of the warrants are recognized as a non-cash gain or loss on the statements of operations. The Earn-out Shares are recorded at fair value and the impact of changes in fair value on earnings may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Common Stock. Due to the recurring fair value measurement, we expect that we will recognize non-cash gains or losses for each future reporting period and that the amount of such gains or losses could be material. For example, for the year ended December 31, 2021, we recognized non-cash losses on the change in fair value of approximately $48.4 million on the Warrants and $140.5 million on the Earn-out Shares. The impact of changes in fair value on earnings may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock and/or our financial results.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock
Our financial condition and results of operations are likely to fluctuate on a quarterly basis in future periods, which could cause our results for a particular period to fall below expectations, resulting in a decline in the price of our common stock.
Our financial condition and results of operations have fluctuated in the past and may continue to fluctuate in the future due to a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control. Our results may vary from period to period as a result of fluctuations in the number of subscribers using our products as well as fluctuations in the timing and amount of
our expenses. As a result, comparing our results of operations on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful, and the results of any one period should not be relied on as an indication of future performance. In addition to the other risks described herein, the following factors could also cause our financial condition and results of operations to fluctuate on a quarterly basis:
• our ability to attract new subscribers and retain existing subscribers, including in a cost-effective manner;
• our ability to accurately forecast revenue and losses and appropriately plan our expenses;
• the timing of new product introductions, which can initially have lower gross margins;
• the effects of increased competition on our business;
• our ability to successfully maintain our position in and expand in existing markets as well as successfully enter new markets;
• our ability to protect our existing intellectual property and to create new intellectual property;
• supply chain interruptions and manufacturing or delivery delays;
• the length of the installation cycle for a particular location or market;
• the impact of COVID-19 on our workforce, or those of our customers, suppliers, vendors or business partners;
• disruptions in sales, production, service or other business activities or our inability to attract and retain qualified personnel; and
• the impact of, and changes in, governmental or other regulation affecting our business.
Fluctuations in operating results and cash flow could, among other things, give rise to short-term liquidity issues. In addition, revenue and other operating results in future quarters may fall short of the expectations of investors and financial analysts, which could have an adverse effect on our stock price.
We do not intend to pay cash dividends for the foreseeable future.
We currently intend to retain our future earnings, if any, to finance the further development and expansion of our business and do not intend 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 future agreements and financing instruments, business prospects and such other factors as our board of directors deems relevant.
General Risk Factors
Our quarterly operating results may fluctuate significantly and could fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors due to seasonality and other factors, some of which are beyond our control, resulting in a decline in our stock price.
Our quarterly operating results may fluctuate significantly because of several factors, including:
•labor availability and costs for hourly and management personnel;
•profitability of our products, especially in new markets and due to seasonal fluctuations;
•changes in interest rates;
•impairment of long-lived assets;
•macroeconomic conditions, both nationally and locally;
•negative publicity relating to products we serve;
•changes in consumer preferences and competitive conditions;
•expansion to new markets; and
•fluctuations in commodity prices.
The market price and trading volume of our common stock may be volatile and could decline significantly.
The stock markets, including Nasdaq, on which we list our shares of common stock under the symbol “MTTR,” have from time to time experienced significant price and volume fluctuations. Even if an active, liquid and orderly trading market develops and is sustained for our common stock, the market price of our common stock may be volatile and could decline significantly. In addition, the trading volume of our common stock may fluctuate and cause significant price variations to occur. If the market price of our common stock declines significantly, you may be unable to resell your shares at an attractive price (or at all). We cannot assure you that the market price of our common stock will not fluctuate widely or decline significantly in the future in response to a number of factors, including, among others, the following:
• the realization of any of the risk factors presented in this Annual Report on Form 10-K;
• actual or anticipated differences in our estimates, or in the estimates of analysts, for our revenues, results of operations, level of indebtedness, liquidity or financial condition;
• additions and departures of key personnel;
• failure to comply with the requirements of Nasdaq;
• failure to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act or other laws or regulations;
• future issuances, sales, resales or repurchases or anticipated issuances, sales, resales or repurchases, of our securities;
• publication of research reports about us;
• the performance and market valuations of other similar companies;
• commencement of, or involvement in, litigation involving us;
• broad disruptions in the financial markets, including sudden disruptions in the credit markets;
• speculation in the press or investment community;
• actual, potential or perceived control, accounting or reporting problems;
• changes in accounting principles, policies and guidelines; and
• other events or factors, including those resulting from infectious diseases, health epidemics and pandemics (including the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency), natural disasters, war, acts of terrorism or responses to these events.
In the past, securities class-action litigation has often been instituted against companies following periods of volatility in the market price of their shares. This type of litigation could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention and resources, which could have a material adverse effect on us.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish or cease publishing research or reports about us, our business, or our market, or if they change their recommendations regarding our common stock adversely, then the price and trading volume of our common stock could decline.
The trading market for our common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts may publish about us, our business, our market, or our competitors. Securities and industry analysts do not currently, and may never, publish research on us. If no securities or industry analysts commence coverage of us, our stock price and trading volume would likely be negatively impacted. If any of the analysts who cover us change their recommendation regarding our stock adversely, or provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors, the price of our common stock would likely decline. If any analyst who may cover us were to cease coverage of us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.
Future issuances of debt securities and equity securities may adversely affect us, including the market price of our common stock and may be dilutive to existing stockholders.
In the future, we may incur debt or issue equity-ranking senior to our common stock. Those securities will generally have priority upon liquidation. Such securities also may be governed by an indenture or other instrument containing covenants restricting its operating flexibility. Additionally, any convertible or exchangeable securities that we issue in the future may have rights, preferences and privileges more favorable than those of our common stock. Because our decision to
issue debt or equity in the future will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing, nature or success of our future capital raising efforts. As a result, future capital raising efforts may reduce the market price of our common stock and be dilutive to existing stockholders.