Treasure Global Inc: Form 10-K for the period ended Jun 30, 2023

Our Mission

Our mission is to bring together the worlds of online e-commerce and offline physical retailers; widening consumer choice and rewarding loyalty, while sustaining and enhancing our earning potential.

Our Company

We have created an innovative online-to-offline (“O2O”) e-commerce platform business model offering consumers and merchants instant rebates and affiliate cashback programs, while providing a seamless e-payment solution with rebates in both e-commerce (i.e., online) and physical retailers/merchant (i.e., offline) settings.

Our proprietary product is an internet application (or “App”) branded “ZCITY App,” which was developed through our wholly owned subsidiary, ZCity Sdn. Bhd. (formerly known as Gem Reward Sdn. Bhd, name change effected on July 20, 2023) (“ZCITY”). The ZCITY App was successfully launched in Malaysia in June 2020. ZCITY is equipped with the know-how and expertise to develop additional/add-on technology-based products and services to complement the ZCITY App, thereby growing its reach and user base.

Through simplifying a user’s e-payment gateway experience, as well as by providing great deals, rewards and promotions with every use, we aim to make the ZCITY App Malaysia’s top reward and payment gateway platform. Our longer-term goal is for the ZCITY App and its ever-developing technology to become one of the most well-known commercialized applications more broadly in Southeast Asia and Japan.

As of September 25, 2023, we had 2,642,404 registered users and 2,025 registered merchants.

Corporate Structure

Treasure Global Inc is a Delaware corporation that was incorporated on March 20, 2020. We issued 10,000,000 shares to Kok Pin “Darren” Tan, our founder and former Chief Executive Officer on July 1, 2020, who as a result became our sole shareholder.

ZCity Sdn. Bhd. (formerly known as Gem Reward Sdn. Bhd, name change effected on July 20, 2023), a Malaysia private limited company was incorporated on June 6, 2017. Prior to the incorporation of ZCITY, Kok Pin “Darren” Tan entered into a Beneficial Shareholding Agreement (“Beneficial Shareholding Agreement 1”) with two individuals, one of which is a vice president of the Company (the “Initial ZCITY Shareholders”), which provided for the Initial Shareholders to hold the ZCITY shares issued to them in equal amounts and for the sole benefit of Kok Pin “Darren” Tan and provided Kok Pin “Darren” Tan with control over the voting and disposition over such shares as well as control over the issuance of additional ZCITY shares in consideration for equity in a company that had not been determined on the date of Beneficial Shareholding Agreement 1. On November 10, 2020, Kok Pin “Darren” Tan instructed the Initial ZCITY Shareholders to issue one million additional ZCITY shares to Chong Chan “Sam” Teo, currently our Chief Executive Officer, and as a result each Initial ZCITY Shareholder and Chong Chan “Sam” Teo held one million shares of ZCITY. On November 10, 2020. Chong Chan “Sam” Teo entered into a Beneficial Shareholding Agreement with Kok Pin “Darren” Tan with terms similar to Beneficial Shareholding Agreement 1 (“Beneficial Shareholding Agreement 2” and together with the Beneficial Shareholding Agreement 1, the “Beneficial Shareholding Agreements”). As a result of Kok Pin “Darren” Tan’s 100% ownership of our common stock and the Beneficial Shareholding Agreements, TGL and ZCITY were both under the sole control of Kok Pin “Darren” Tan.

TGL and ZCITY were reorganized into a parent subsidiary structure pursuant to a Share Swap Agreement, dated March 11, 2021, as amended on March 11, 2021 among TGL, the Initial ZCITY Shareholders and Chong Chan “Sam” Teo (the “Share Swap Agreement”), in which TGL exchanged 321,585 shares of its common stock (the “Swap Shares”) for all equity of ZCITY. Pursuant to the Share Swap Agreement, the purchase and sale of the Swap Shares was completed on March 11, 2021, but the issuance of the Swap Shares did not occur until October 27, 2021 when TGL amended its certificate of incorporation to increase the number of its authorized common stock to a number that was sufficient to issue the Swap Shares. As a result of the Share Swap Agreement, (i) ZCITY became the 100% subsidiary of TGL and Kok Pin “Darren” Tan no longer had any control over ZCITY’s ordinary shares; and (ii) Kok Pin “Darren” Tan, the Initial ZCITY Shareholders and Chong Chan “Sam” Teo owned 100% of the TGL common stock (Darren Tan owning 97%). Subsequent to the date of the Share Swap Agreement, Kok Pin “Darren” Tan transferred 9,529,002 of his 10,000,000 shares of TGL common stock to 16 individuals and entities and currently owns less than 5% of our common stock.

We operate solely through our subsidiaries: (i) ZCITY; (ii) AY Food Ventures Sdn Bhd; (iii) Morgan Global Sdn. Bhd; and (iv) Foodlink. ZCITY owns all intellectual property rights to copyrightable, patentable, and other protectable intangible assets relating to our business, including trademarks.

Corporate Information

Our principal executive offices are located at 276 5th Avenue, Suite 704 #739, New York, New York 10001 and No.29, Jalan PPU 2A, Taman Perindustrian Pusat Bandar Puchong, 47100 Puchong, Selangor, Malaysia.

Business Developments

The following highlights recent material developments in our business:

• In November 2022, we announced that we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with iPay88 Holding Sdn Bhd (“iPay88”), a leading payment company that offers e-commerce, retail, online banking, e-wallets solutions and more to its merchants in Southeast Asia, to become TGL’s exclusive payment gateway partner for ZCITY, as well as a partner for TGL’s digital food and beverage (“F&B”) management platform, TAZTE.
• In January 2023, we announced that we signed a Memorandum of Understanding to discuss a new strategic partnership in Malaysia with Boost, a regional full spectrum fintech player.
• In March 2023, we announced that our Board of Directors (“Board”) appointed Ho Yi Hui as a member of the Board effective on March 20, 2023.
• In May 2023, we announced that we entered into a licensing agreement with Morganfield’s Holding Sdn Bhd (“Morganfield’s”), a restaurant chain specializing in comfort food and American-style barbecue, in which Morganfield’s granted TGL an exclusive worldwide license to grant sub-licensees to third parties to use Morganfield’s trademarks for the restaurant business.
• In May 2023, we announced that we entered into an exclusive partnership with enogy, a health and wellness brand, to expand the range of products available on our e-commerce marketplace, Zstore, targeting the large and growing health and wellness industry.
• In June 2023, we announced that we entered into a licensing agreement with Sigma Muhibah Sdn Bhd (“Abe Yus”), a fast-growing Malaysian group of F&B brands, in which Abe Yus granted TGL the exclusive worldwide right to grant sub-licensees to third parties to use Abe Yus’ trademarks for the F&B business chain, in line with our strategic plan to become a leading franchisor of F&B companies in Southeast Asia.
• In July 2023, we announced that we signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a collaboration agreement with the Malaysia Retail Chain Association for TAZTE to become its exclusive partner as the recommended digital F&B management solution to its members in Malaysia.
• In July 2023, we entered into a Collaboration Agreement (the “Collaboration Agreement”) with VCI Global Limited (NASDAQ: VCIG) (“VCI Global”), a multi-disciplinary consulting group focused on business and technology, in which VCI Global and us shall collaborate to develop an artificial intelligence (“AI”)-powered travel platform (“Platform”) which utilizes advanced technology, including high-tech and predictive technology, to assist its users in discovering the best places to visit, explore, dine and engage in various activities during their travel in Malaysia.

2

• In July 2023, we announced that we will collaborate with Borderland Music Festival 2023 to provide the first cashless and ticketing platform-powered music festival in Malaysia.
• In August 2023, we announced that we signed a letter of intent to form an e-commerce venture in Indonesia, PT Harmoni Bagi Dunia (“HBD”) with industry pioneers Ariadi Anaya and Budihardjo Iduansjah, in which we will hold a 70% major stake in HBD.

Recent Developments

• In July 2023, we engaged WWC, P.C. to serve as our independent registered public accounting firm, effective July 3, 2023.
• In August 2023, we received a letter from the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Staff of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) therein stating that for the 30 consecutive business day period between July 6, 2023 through August 16, 2023, the common stock of the Company had not maintained a minimum closing bid price of $1.00 per share required for continued listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) (the “Bid Price Rule”). Pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A), the Company was provided an initial period of 180 calendar days, or until February 13, 2024 (the “Compliance Period”), to regain compliance with the Bid Price Rule. To regain compliance, the closing bid price of the Company’s common stock must meet or exceed $1.00 per share for a minimum of 10 consecutive trading days, unless extended by Nasdaq under Nasdaq Rule 5810(c)(3)(H), prior to February 13, 2024. The notice from Nasdaq has no immediate effect on the listing of the Company’s common stock and its common stock will continue to be listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “TGL.” The Company is currently evaluating its options for regaining compliance. There can be no assurance that the Company will regain compliance with the Bid Price Rule or maintain compliance with any of the other Nasdaq continued listing requirements.

Market Opportunity

We expect that continued strong economic expansion, robust population growth, rising level of urbanization, the emergence of the middle class and the increasing rate of adoption of mobile technology provide market opportunities for our Company in Southeast Asia (“SEA”). SEA is a large economy and, as of 2022, its gross domestic product (“GDP”) was US$3.66 trillion.1 In comparison, the respective GDP for both the European Union (“EU”) and the United States (“US”) totaled EUR$15.8 trillion and US$25.5 trillion2 in 2022. SEA has experienced rapid economic growth rates in recent years, far exceeding growth in major world economies such as Japan, the EU and the US. According to the International Monetary Fund (“IMF”), Malaysia’s GDP growth averaged more than 4.5% from 2016 to 2019. However, it experienced a deficit of -5.5% in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, it rebounded to 3.1% and 8.7% in 2021 and 2022 respectively, and it is expected to maintain an average annual growth rate of 4.5% for the next five years, including 2023.3 The GDP of Malaysia amounted to US$337 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach approximately US$500 billion by 2025.4 Malaysia registered a strong post-pandemic recovery in 2022. Its strong macroeconomic policy frameworks, including a track record of fiscal prudence and a credible monetary policy framework, have served the country well.

SEA continues to enjoy robust population growth. The United Nations Population Division estimates that the population of the SEA countries in 2000 was approximately 525 million people, growing to 681 million in 2022. According to the World Bank, Malaysia had a population of approximately 33 million people in 2022 compared to 23 million people in 2000.5

1 https://www.statista.com/statistics/796245/gdp-of-the-asean-countries/

2 https://www.statista.com/statistics/279447/gross-domestic-product-gdp-in-the-european-union-eu/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/263591/gross-domestic-product-gdp-of-the-united-states/

3 https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/05/31/pr23191-malaysia-imf-executive-board-concludes-2023-article-iv-consultation-with-malaysia

4 IMF Staff Report March 2021

5 https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/south-eastern-asia-population/

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=MY

A high percentage of Malaysians have lived in cities for the last decade and that percentage is increasing. Since 2011, Malaysia’s urbanization has increased from approximately 71.61% to approximately 77.7% in 2022.6 By comparison, in 2021 the urbanization rates for China, Vietnam and India were approximately 62.51%, 37% and 35%, respectively.7

Urbanization is highly correlated with the size and growth of the middle class. Simply put, urbanization drives middle class consumption demand. According to the World Bank, Malaysia is likely to transition from an upper-middle-income economy to a high-income economy between 2024 and 2028, a reflection of the country’s economic transformation development trajectory over the past decades.8 In fact, Malaysia’s gross national income per capita is at US$11,200 according to latest estimates, only US$1,335 short of the current threshold level that defines a high-income economy.9

And despite the ongoing effects from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Internet economy continues to boom in SEA. According to a Google Temasek e-Conomy SEA 2022 Report (the “Google Report”), internet usage in the region increased with 20 million new users added in 2022 for a total of 460 million compared to 360 million in 2019 and 440 million in 2021. An additional 100 million internet users have come online in the last three years since 2020.10 In year 2022, 94% of Malaysia’s population is now online, compared to approximately 62% in 2013.11 It is forecasted to continuously increase between 2024 and 2028, totaling a growth of 0.4 percentage points. 81% and 80% of Malaysia and SEA’s internet users, respectively, have made at least one purchase online. E-commerce, online media and food delivery adoption and usage surged with the total value of goods and services sold via the Internet, or gross merchandise value (“GMV”), in SEA, expected to reach approximately US$200 billion by year end 2022 according to the Google Report. In fact, according to the Google Report, the SEA Internet sector GMV is forecast to grow to over US$360 billion by 2025 up from the $300 billion forecast in the Google, Temasek, Bain SEA Report 2022.12

Malaysia’s internet economy has grown from $14 billion in 2020 to $21 billion in 2021 (47% growth) and is expected to grow to $35 billion in 2025.13

As consumers in these markets gradually shift towards the online platform model, the total value of internet-based transactions has grown tremendously and is expected to keep doing so. According to the Google Report, total the GMV of South Asia’s Internet economy is expected to skyrocket from US$174 billion in 2021 to US$363 billion in 2025.

We believe that these ongoing positive economic and demographic trends in SEA and South Asia propel demand for our e-commerce platform.

6 https://www.statista.com/statistics/455880/urbanization-in-malaysia/

7 https://www.statista.com/

8 https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/malaysia/overview#1

9 The World Bank Press Release dated March 16, 2021, https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2021/03/16/aiminghighmalaysia

10 https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/e\_conomy\_sea\_2022\_report.pdf

11 https://www.statista.com/statistics/975058/internet-penetration-rate-in-malaysia/

12 https://www.bain.com/globalassets/noindex/2021/e\_conomy\_sea\_2021\_report.pdf https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/e\_conomy\_sea\_2022\_report.pdf

13 https://www.digitalnewsasia.com/digital-economy/e-conomy-sea-report-2021-malaysias-internet-economy-crosses-us21-bil

About the ZCITY App

SEA consumers have access to a plethora of smart ordering, delivery and “loyalty” websites and apps, but in our experience, SEA consumers very rarely receive personalized deals based on their purchases and behavior.

The ZCITY App targets consumers through the provision of personalized deals based on consumers’ purchase history, location and preferences. Our technology platform allows us to identify the spending trends of our customers (the when, where, why, and how much). We are able to offer these personalized deals through the application of our proprietary artificial intelligence (or “AI”) technology that scours the available database to identify and create opportunities to extrapolate the greatest value from the data, analyze consumer behavior and roll out attractive rewards-based campaigns for targeted audiences. We believe this AI technology is currently a unique market differentiator for the ZCITY App.

We operate our ZCITY App on the hashtag: “#RewardsOnRewards.” We believe this branding demonstrates to users the ability to spend ZCITY App-based Reward Points (or “RP”) and “ZCITY Cash Vouchers” with discount benefits at checkout. Additionally, users can use RP while they earn rewards from selected e-Wallet or other payment methods.

ZCITY App users do not require any on-going credit top-up or need to provide bank card number with their binding obligations. We have partnered with Malaysia’s leading payment gateway, iPay88, for secure and convenient transactions. Users can use our secure platform and enjoy cashless shopping experiences with rebates when they shop with e-commerce and retail merchants through trusted and leading e-wallet providers such as Touch’n Go eWallet, Boost eWallet, GrabPay eWallet and credit card/online banking like the “FPX” (the Malaysian Financial Process Exchange) as well as more traditional providers such as Visa and Mastercard.

Our ZCITY App also provides the following functions:

1. Registration and Account verification

Users may register as a ZCITY App user simply, using their mobile device. They can then verify their ZCITY App account by submitting a valid email address to receive new user “ZCITY Newbie Rewards”.

2. Geo-location-based Homepage

Based on the users’ location, nearby merchants and exclusive offers are selected and directed to them on their homepage for a smooth, user-friendly interaction.

3. Affiliate Partnership

Our ZCITY App is affiliated with more than five local services providers such as Shopee and Lazada. The ZCITY App allows users to enjoy more rewards when they navigate from the ZCITY App to a partner’s website.

4. Bill Payment & Prepaid service

Users can access and pay utility bills, such as water, phone, internet and TV bills, while generating instant discounts and rewards points with each payment.

5. Branded e-Vouchers

Users can purchase their preferred e-Vouchers with instant discounts and rewards points with each checkout.

6. User Engagement through Gamification

Users can earn daily rewards by playing our ZCITY App minigame “Spin & Win” where they can earn further ZCITY RP, ZCITY e-Vouchers as well as monthly grand prizes.

7. ZCITY RAHMAH Package

ZCITY has collaborated with the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) for the launch of the ‘Payung Rahmah’ program (ZCITY RAHMAH Package). This program offers a comprehensive package of living essential e-vouchers on the ZCITY app for items such as petrol, food, and bills. ZCITY users will be able to purchase vouchers for these items at reduced prices, thereby assisting low-income Malaysians and helping to address this societal challenge.

8. TAZTE Smart F&B system

ZCITY App offers a “Smart F&B” system that provides a one stop solution and digitalization transformation for all registered Food and Beverage (“F&B”) outlets located in Malaysia. It also allows merchants to easily record transactions with QR Digital Payment technology, set discounts and execute RP redemptions and rewards online on the ZCITY App.

By utilizing our CRM analytics software to attract and retain consumers through personalized promotions, we believe that data-driven engagement can be more efficiently harnessed to generate greater profitability.

9. Zstore

Zstore is ZCITY App’s e-mall service that offers group-buys and instant rebate to users with embedded AI and big data analytics to provide an express shopping experience. The functionality and benefit of users to use the Zstore can be summarized within the chart below:

Set out below is an illustration of some of our key partnerships by category:

Retail Merchant Agreements. We have retail merchant agreements with Morganfield’s Holdings Sdn. Bhd, and the Alley which together own more than 100 offline food and beverage franchises in Malaysia. Each of these retail merchants have signed our standard retail merchant agreement which allow merchants to sell their products on the ZCITY App for which we receive a commission ranging from 1% to 10% depending on the category of goods or services being purchased on the ZCITY App. These agreements also provide that each party may use the intellectual property marks of the other party without charge. These agreements may be terminated by either party with 30 days’ notice. On June 6, 2023, TGL entered into a licensing agreement with the fast-growing Malaysian F&B brand, Abe Yus. This agreement grants TGL the exclusive worldwide right to sublicense third parties to use Abe Yus’ trademarks for their F&B business chain. Serving as the master franchisor, TGL will oversee brand loyalty and raw material supply. Additionally, all Abe Yus F&B outlets will be required to adopt TAZTE, TGL’s digital F&B management system, across all their operations and generating more revenue through monthly licensing fees, start-up fees for new location and supply chain management.

Services Partners Agreements. We have service provider agreements with Coup Marketing Asia Pacific Sdn. Bhd. D/B/A Pay’s Gift and MOL Access Portal Sdn. Bhd. D/B/A Razer Gold in which Pay’s Gift and Razer Gold provide us with e-vouchers for use on the ZCITY App that provide users with discounts on goods and services of many top multinational and lifestyle brands, including gas, clothing, fast food, movie theaters and others. We pay the service partner for the cost of the e-voucher plus a service fee. These contracts provide for the use by us of the trademarks of the service providers and may be terminated at any time with 30 days’ notice. ZCITY has also entered into an agreement with Apigate Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Axiata Digital, branded as Boost Connect. This agreement was entered into on July 28, 2023, and commenced on the same date, July 28, 2023. It shall continue until March 1, 2024. Apigate Sdn Bhd is a global digital monetization and customer growth platform ecosystem provider, which offers us the services for the reselling of digital vouchers.

Local Strategic Partner Agreements. We have local strategic partner agreements with iPay88. The agreements we enter into with these local strategic partners provide us with payment gateways (i.e, online “checkout” portals) used to enter credit card information for payment of goods and services.

The iPay88 agreement was entered into on August 6, 2021 and provides our users with payment gateways that include credit card processing, online banking services from certain banks in Malaysia and eWallet payment processing such as Touch’ N Go eWallet, Grabpay, ShopeePay, Boost eWallet etc for which iPay88 receives a fee ranging from 1.0% to 1.6% of the processed transaction depending on the credit card used or if the transaction is online banking or eWallet.

ZCity Sdn Bhd (formerly known as Gem Reward Sdn Bhd), has entered into a business partner agreement with CIMB Bank to establish a payment gateway. This agreement enables users to conveniently make payments using their CIMB Bank credit and debit cards. Additionally, users have the added benefit of enjoying rewards for their spending at ZCITY through this partnership.

Local Demands Agreements. We have local demand agreements with Digi Telecommunication Sdn. Bhd. (“Digi”) and ATX Distribution Sdn. Bhd. (“ATX”) which provide ZCITY App users bill payment services.

The Digi agreement was entered on December 16, 2021 and provides our users with bill payment services for all of its telecommunication products and services to postpaid subscribers. We receive a commission from Digi of 0.5% for each transaction. ZCITY App users may also use Digi’s prepaid automatic internet payment service for which we receive a commission from Digi of 2.5% for each reload. The Digi agreement may be terminated by either party with 30 days’ notice. CelcomDigi kicked off full-scale integration of Digi & Celcom network in December 2022. This marks one of the largest telecommunications network deployment projects in Malaysia.

The ATX agreement was entered into on November 8, 2021 whereby ATX and provides our users with bill payment services for many companies in Malaysia, including but not limited to, certain utilities, telecommunication companies, insurance companies, entertainment companies and charities. We receive a commission on each transaction from ATX at different rates depending on the company for which the bill is being paid. The ATX agreement may be terminated by either party with 30 days’ notice.

The Company has both direct and indirect relationships with merchants and service providers. In terms of the Company’s indirect relationships, through the service partner’s agreement the Company is able to offer e-vouchers for leading brands including, among others, Shell, Lazada FamilyMart and Watsons; while via the iPay88 agreement, the Company gains access to other e-wallet providers, such as Boost and Grabpay. Additionally, through the Company’s agreement with ATX Distribution, it is able to gain access to bill payment services provided by Malaysia’s telco service provider such as, among others, CelcomDigi, U Mobile, Astro and Air Selangor.

Download ZCITY App

ZCITY App is free to download from the Google Play Store, Apple iOS Store, and Huawei AppGallery.

ZCITY Apps’s Reward Points Program

Operating under the hashtag #RewardsOnRewards, we believe the ZCITY App reward points program encourages users to sign up the app, as well as increasing user engagement and spending on purchases/repeat purchases and engenders user loyalty.

Furthermore, we believe the simplicity of the steps to obtaining Reward Points (or “RP”) is an attractive incentive to user participation in that participants receive:

• 200 RP for registration as a new user;
• 100 RP for referral of a new user;
• Conversion of Malaysian ringgit spent into RP;
• 50% RP of every user paid amount; and
• 25% RP of every referred user paid amount as a result of the referral.

8

The key objectives of our RP are:

• Social Engagement;
• RP are offered to users for increased social engagement.
• Spending;
• RP incentivizes users with every MYR spent in order to increase the spending potential and to build users loyalty.
• Sign-up; and
• Drives loyalty and greater customer engagement. Every new user onboarded will get 200 RP as welcoming gift.
• Referral Program;
• Rewards users with RP when they refer a new user.

Offline Merchant

When using our ZCITY App to make payment to a registered physical merchant, the system will automatically calculate the amount of RP to deduct. The deducted RP amount is based on the percentage of profit sharing as with the merchant and the available RP of the user.

Online Merchant

When using our ZCITY App to pay utility bills or purchase any e-vouchers, our system shows the maximum RP deduction allowed and the user determines the amount of discount deducted subject to maximum deductions described below and the number of RP owned by such user.

Different features have different maximum deduction amounts. For example, for bill payments, the maximum deduction is up to 3% of the bill amount. For e-vouchers, the maximum deduction is up to 5% of the voucher amount.

In order to increase the spending power of the user, our ZCITY App RP program will credit RP to the user for all MYR paid.

Merchant Facing Business

At present, our ZCITY merchants are concentrated in the F&B and lifestyle sectors. Moving forward, we plan to expand our product/service offering to include grocery stores, convenience stores, “micro-SME” (“small to medium size enterprises”) loan programs, affiliate programs and advertising agencies.

We believe that ZCITY’s TAZTE Smart F&B System, launched in the fourth quarter of 2022, provides merchants with a one-stop automated solution to digitalize their business. It offers an innovative and integrated technology ecosystem that addresses and personalizes each merchant’s technological needs and aims to be at the forefront of creating a smart consumer experience, thereby eliminating conventional and outdated standalone point of sale (or “POS”) systems.

TAZTE allows merchants to effortlessly record transactions with online payment or QR digital payment technology, set discounts and execute RP redemptions and rewards online, all via our ZCITY App. It utilizes ZCITY App’s CRM analytics software to attract and retain consumers through personalized, data-driven engagement to generate greater profitability.

TAZTE Smart F&B System also features a ‘Deviceless Queue System’ that reduces staff headcount and a private domain delivery service that will allow merchants access to multiple dedicated delivery partners to ensure outstanding delivery service to consumers.

Licensing Agreements

Abe Yus

On June 6, 2023, AY Food Ventures Sdn Bhd (“AYFV”), one of our wholly owned subsidiaries entered into a licensing agreement with Sigma Muhibah Sdn Bhd, a food & beverage company, in which Abe Yus granted AYFV the exclusive worldwide right to grant sub-licensees to any third parties to use Abe Yus’ trademarks for its food & beverage business chain (the “Abe Yus Licensing Agreement”). As the master franchisor, AYFV will manage brand loyalty and raw material supply. Under the Abe Yus Licensing Agreement, all the Abe Yus F&B outlets will be obligated to adopt TAZTE, our digital F&B management system, across all our businesses.

Morganfield’s

On May 1, 2023, through our subsidiary, Morgan Global Sdn. Bhd. and Morganfield’s Holdings Sdn. Bhd., a restaurant chain specializing in comfort food and American-style barbecue, entered into a Worldwide Master License Agreement (the “Morganfield’s License Agreement”), in which Morganfield’s granted us an exclusive worldwide license to grant sub-licensees to third parties to use Morganfield’s trademarks for the restaurant business. Pursuant to the Morganfield’s License Agreement, Morganfield’s will also adopt our digital food & beverage management system, TAZTE, in its nine franchisees in Malaysia, China and Singapore, accelerating the rollout of TAZTE in the region.

The term of the Morganfield’s License Agreement is for a period of five years, from May 1, 2023 to May 1, 2028, and will automatically renew for another five years upon expiration of the initial term unless the Morganfield’s License Agreement is terminated. We will be entitled the right to collect payment of the total monthly collections from our sub-licensees, namely current licensees and the newly-appointed sub-licensees provided that we pay to Morganfield’s the monthly management fees, the amount of which will range depending on our total monthly collection from our sublicensees in any given period, with a minimum monthly payment of RM 90,000 in year 1, RM 100,000 in year 2, RM 110,000 in year 3, RM 120,000 in year 4 and RM 130,000 in year 5.

Foodlink

As we became closer to the F&B industry and increased our understanding, we saw a significant opportunity that would not only support the distribution of TAZTE, but establish several new revenue streams for us. Our strategic plan is to establish synergies with our technology solutions by becoming a master licensor of F&B companies in Southeast Asia. We will adopt TAZTE into new restaurants, while also receiving revenue from monthly licensing fees and start-up fees with little barrier to entry.

Under the subsidiary named “Foodlink” that TGL has established to house F&B master franchisor activity, the subsidiary will manage all brand royalties and related IP through lease, ownership or JV agreements; and provide F&B consulting including market & product optimization as well as supply chain monetization. TAZTE Smart F&B System shall be adopted in Morgan Global and AY Food Venture licensee holder.

Marketing Strategy - Consumer

With the number of available apps for download from the world’s leading app stores totaling over four million, we believe that structured and innovative user marketing strategy is the only way to stand out in today’s app market. Aside from focusing on app development and building our app features properly, we believe we need to get our app featured on the leading platforms to most successfully extend our reach and user base.

We believe that our ZCITY App marketing strategy covers the user from when they first learn about our ZCITY App, to when they become a regular repeat user. The marketing strategy for the ZCITY App involves defining our target audience, learning how best to reach them, how best to communicate with them, and analyzing their “in-app” behavior to make continuous AI driven improvements as users move through the recruitment funnel.

Ultimately, the goal of our ZCITY App marketing strategy is to acquire users that will not only drive repeat engagement, but will also become loyal advocates for the ZCITY App.

At the initial launch of the ZCITY App in June 2020, we combined both online and offline strategies in branding and marketing, which we believed would effectively communicate our objectives, reaching a prospective target audience and turning that target audience into users of our ZCITY App.

Other than just user experience and features offered in the app itself, we believe consumers are choosing brands whose messaging, marketing and values go beyond the product, and have a potentially deeper meaning to the user. For example, they may consider brand trustworthiness and identity to be major influences on their market decisions. As a result, we have focused on building brand loyalty to drive on going marketing success, increase repeat users and attain greater market share.

In this regard, we have chosen to adapt various marketing strategies, such as re-targeting users and enticing current users to use our app on multiple occasions, by providing what users look for when they choose our app in order to increase engagement and retention. The diagram below reflects the strategies we engage in to promote marketing success and avoid missed opportunities.

We adopt a multi-pronged approach to user outreach through outdoor digital billboards, radio commercials, third party editorials and advertorials, social media postings on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, as well as the targeting of users through Google ads and direct email marketing to encourage downloads and promote various campaigns.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been very focused on reaching our target audience through digital media due to movement restrictions and retail closures. Advertisements especially on social media have become more routine.

Social media-based advertising can be very targeted, helping to convert new users into repeat users and building brand loyalty. We reach potential users based on criteria, including, among others, job title, interests, marital status, and recent locations. We believe that it is much easier to measure and optimize social media campaigns while they are active. If an advertisement isn’t producing the expected results, we can suspend the campaign or reallocate funds on demand.

Another key media vehicle that we utilize is Universal App Campaign (or “UAC”) by Google. UAC helps promote our ZCITY App across Google’s largest properties including Google Search, Google Play Store, YouTube, and the Google Display Network. It combines information Google has on users’ tendencies and perceived intents outside of the app (such as what they have searched for, what other apps they have downloaded and what they watched on YouTube) with advertisers’ information on user actions in the app.

UAC then uses machine learning technology to make decisions for each ad by analyzing potential data signal combinations in real-time, including the platform where users are most likely to engage with our ad (such as YouTube or Gmail), the right ad format (whether video, text, or combination of the two) and keywords that will perform best for our marketing goals.

In addition, in order to obtain more accurate data for analysis, AppsFlyer SDK is installed in our ZCITY App, where it provides conversion data of user acquisition and retention campaigns. Through AppsFlyer SDK, we can monitor digital media activities to optimize our marketing budget. The data can be utilized and turned into actionable insights (to run campaigns and promotions which users are more favorable to) that will share our strategic and tactical business decisions, while boosting the ZCITY App brand presence.

Marketing Strategy - Merchants “6Cs” Strategy

In order to roll out our system, we plan to implement our 6Cs marketing strategy: clients, convenience, competition, consistency with creative content, corporate social responsibilities and credibility.

Clients (Soon-to-be F&B Owners). We have forecast potential merchants by category, which will enable us to create a marketing plan that will attract them by aligning our promotional content with their business interests and ideals. We will initiate advertisements that connect with their preferences and generate brand loyalty. We have developed “The PILOT” program where we plan offer prospective merchant F&B owners a free TAZTE Smart F&B system to facilitate their O2O business.

Convenience. We plan to demonstrate the convenience provided by our ZCITY App by launching a digitalization initiative which can get a merchant up and running on our platform within 24 hours. We believe this strategy emphasizes the ease of onboarding potential merchants and the potential positive transformation of their business in the shortest amount of time.

Competition. To further differentiate our system from our competitors, we expect to identify, compare and discover issues within their business model of operations against our own business model. The “SWITCH 180” program is where we plan to offer F&B owners not only a free TAZTE Smart F&B system, but we will also offer additional support such as artificial intelligence inventory management system and discount vouchers.

Consistency with Creative Content. We plan to maintain a consistent brand image across all our current marketing approaches with creative and innovative content. We strive to make our brand recognizable to stand out among competitors to increase brand awareness and recognition.

Corporate Social Responsibilities. We expect to integrate social and environmental concerns in our business operations to gain positive publicity and recognition and greater market exposure. For example, our “Love Delivery” program under TAZTE will allow consumers to donate food through our merchant family to charitable establishments such as orphanages and senior centers and similar charitable organizations. Our “Green Oil” program will allow our merchants to contribute to zero pollution by recycling used cooking oil with one of our strategic partners.

Credibility. We expect to prove our credibility by presenting our expertise to potential merchants who are seeking alternative business strategies in the ever-expanding technological age. We believe that promoting a credible and reliable system for merchants will increase referrals and positive reviews. Our “TAZTE Cares <3” program offers F&B owners free business operations “health checks” and offers troubleshooting solutions by introducing TAZTE Smart F&B System into their business.

Revenue Model

ZCITY’s revenues are generated from a diversified mix of:

• e-commerce activities for users;
• services to merchants to help them grow their businesses; and
• membership subscription fees.

The revenue streams consist of “Consumer Facing” revenues and “Merchant Facing” revenues.

The revenue streams can be further categorized as following: (1) product and loyalty program revenue, (2) transaction revenue, and (3) agent subscription revenue. Please see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis ̶ Revenue Recognition.”

Our Competitive Strengths

Powerful, Unique and Integrated App. We have designed an application – the ZCITY App – which serves both consumers and merchants in ways that concurrently maximize value creation and enhance the shopping experience. Furthermore, through the application of our proprietary developed AI technology, we can offer consumers a more personalized and targeted rewards offering/experience.

Unique Loyalty Program. Operating under our hashtag #RewardsOnRewards, we believe our RP program increases user engagement and loyalty. Through consumer redemption and platform issuance of RP, we believe our system is advantageous to both consumers and merchants.

Attractive Markets. We currently operate in Malaysia, which according to the IMF is expected to average annual growth rate of 4.5% GDP growth over the next five years.14 See Part I, Item 1.“Business—Market Opportunity.”

As we scale our operations, we intend to expand to other countries in Southeast Asia, which possesses solid economic fundamentals, fast growing middle classes, favorable demographic trends and accelerating adoption of mobile technology.

Experienced Management Team. Our executives and directors combine decades of on-the-ground local e-commerce operations and social media marketing experience, as well as professional expertise in the global finance field.

Our Growth Strategy

Our main goal is focused on the recruitment of new consumers and the registration of as many TAZTE merchants as possible in the most efficient way in the shortest amount of time. We believe that this approach establishes a cycle where more consumers lead to more merchants and more merchants lead to more consumers. External partnerships play an important part in our business, as we will continue sourcing more delivery partners to offer our merchants greater flexibility.

Consumer Growth. We strive to provide consumers with a smarter shopping experience from ordering to receiving goods and services as one seamless process. Our marketing efforts will focus on attracting consumers by awarding RP upon the execution of successful transactions (where they can redeem instant rebates).

Merchant Growth. We believe that our TAZTE program is an example of an O2O platform focusing on transforming traditional ways of operating F&B business with digitalized smart ecosystems which better streamline merchant business operations and directly contribute to higher revenues. We feel TAZTE has the potential for our ZCITY App to pioneer a generation of technologically astute “Smart Merchants,” effectively encouraging more merchants to join the technological trend. Apart from the technological advantages, merchants would be able to gain access to a significant consumer database of nearly one million registered users currently for their own brand marketing.

Partner Growth. We are continuously enhancing the ZCITY App through adding further strategic partnerships. We believe that collaborations will enable merchants and consumers to have more options to choose from and the delivery speed and rates related to transparency will benefit all parties.

Expansion Growth. With our proven systems and by leveraging our large network, leading technology, operational excellence, and product expertise, we expect the ZCITY App to launch and scale our expansion plans to neighboring countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, and Japan, by partnering with or acquiring local establishments.

Acquisition Growth. In order to complement our organic growth strategy, we will continue to evaluate investment and acquisition opportunities that will enable us to become market leaders. Our anticipated investments and acquisitions of other e-commerce platforms in different verticals are expected to expand our service offerings and attract new consumers and merchants. We expect negotiations with acquisition targets in the e-Commerce industries. Furthermore, we would expect to finance such acquisitions through internal and potential financings from the stock market.

14 IMF: https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/05/31/pr23191-malaysia-imf-executive-board-concludes-2023-article-iv-consultation-with-malaysia

Strategic Partnerships

We have entered into agreements with various Malaysian companies i.e.: Touch’nGo e-wallet marketing, iPay88, Boost eWallet, Digi and Grabpay eWallet to provide essential services to our ZCITY App platform.

Strategic partnerships are vital to our strategy and operations, as they enable the ZCITY App to offer more value-added services to both our consumers and merchants. Through our partnerships, we intend to gain low-cost access to our partners’ users, where possible, to drive user conversion. Our marketing approach to acquire strategic partners focuses on the benefits of brand awareness, stressing the ability to access a larger pool of consumers and clients while reducing marketing expenses via joint marketing efforts like crossover marketing campaigns, digital marketing and affiliate programs.

Competitive Outlook

We compete with other online platforms and apps for merchants, who can sell their products/services on other online shopping marketplaces and other food ordering platforms. We also compete with other e-commerce platforms and apps, fashion and lifestyle retailers and restaurants for the attention of consumers. Consumers have the choice of shopping with any online or offline retailer, large marketplaces or restaurant chain. We compete for consumers and merchants based on our ability to deliver a personalized e-commerce experience with an easy-to-use mobile app, unique cross-business reward system, instant rebate & cashback, and a trusted payment gateway which is both secure and convenient.

Within the Malaysian market, we believe the principal competitors to the ZCITY App to include, but not limited to Fave and Shopback. We have set out below how we perceive the ZCITY App differentiates our offering from these competitors in the Malaysian market both downstream (services provided to consumers) and upstream (services provided to merchants).

The information with respect to Fave was obtained from Fave’s website at https://help.myfave.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000181194-How-do-I-pay-with-FavePay-.

The information with respect to Shop Back was obtained from Shop Back’s website at https://support.shopback.my/hc/en-us/articles/360037382453-Is-there-a-payment-method-not-eligible-for-Cashback-.

We expect to be able to successfully compete for merchants based on our unique cross-business reward system, reward points module, instant rebate and cashback program, upcoming new features, which we expect will build lasting customer loyalty for our merchants, as well as our personalized, data-driven approach to customer engagement, both of which ensure that our success is aligned with that of our merchants.

Intellectual Property Matters

Our technology and ZCITY App are comprised of copyrightable and/or patentable subject matter licensed by our Malaysian subsidiaries, ZCITY. Our intellectual property assets include trade secrets associated with our software platform. We have successfully carried out development of our multilayer cloud-based software platform based upon our reliance on third parties for payment and reward points deployment. As a result, we can monetize our software by making it available in locations such as the Apple iOS Store, Google Play Store, Huawei AppGallery and compatible with existing payment systems depending on the country’s regulatory requirements. We are currently focusing on using our intellectual property in Malaysia and plan to expand further into Southeast Asia as part of our strategy. The loss of all of these third-party payment facilitators could not be easily replaced and therefore could materially affect our business and results of operations.

Trademarks. ZCITY has filed one trademark application stylized as “” with the trademark offices of Malaysia. The name and mark, ZCITY App and other trade names and service marks of ZCITY in this prospectus are our property.

Patents. ZCITY has filed one patent application entitled “A Revenue Allocation System” with the Patents Registration Office of Malaysia.

We manage all our intellectual property matters in Malaysia including the registration of patents, trademarks, trade names, and service marks in the name of ZCITY, our subsidiary in Malaysia. While we have not delineated each of our trademarks, the foregoing constitutes our material trademarks. Without prejudice to the generality of foregoing, ZCITY is, inter alia, the direct owner of the registered trademark “ZCITY” in connection with artificial intelligence software, electronic payment services, loyalty programs, SaaS platforms, and other subsets of our business.

Information Technology Protection. All of our software development professionals are required to sign and are bound by the IT Infrastructure, Security, Email, Intranet Usage Policy Manual (the “IT Policy Manual”), which governs use of our hardware, software, code, source code, data, computational data, screen data, analytics dashboards, data displayed on screens, emails, intranet and internet. This IT Policy Manual establishes standard practices and rules for responsible, safe, and productive use of our intellectual property, information and assets and is expected to ensure the protection of information and prevention of any misuse.

We have internally implemented the “Active Directory and VPN” to manage access to our assets in order to prevent any intentional or unintentional leaks of sensitive data, documentation or information, as well as to prevent users from installing irrelevant software or malware viruses.

Our ZCITY App’s server is hosted on the AWScloud and is compliant with SOC2, which we believe securely manages our data across six aspects:

• Security – protects the system resources against unauthorized access. Apply security group rules as security control. Enabled AWS WAF rule for more protection. AWS WAF (Web Application Firewall) is a managed security service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that helps protect web applications from various web-based attacks. It acts as a protective layer between your web applications and the internet, allowing you to control and monitor incoming traffic to your web applications.
• Availability – makes sure the server accessibility meets the SLA. Regularly review and report on server availability metrics to track performance against SLA targets. Provide transparent reporting to stakeholders, including customers, about server uptime and downtime. Moreover, continuously monitor and analyze server performance data (AWS) to identify areas for improvement. Implement optimizations to enhance server availability and performance over time.
• Processing integrity– data process monitoring couple with quality assurance procedures can help ensure processing integrity.
• Confidentiality – data is encrypted during network transmission. Subscripted to the cloud flare service, which offers a range of services to protect websites, applications, and company data.
• Privacy – data collection, use, retention, disclosure and disposal of personal information in conformity.
• Backup – Enabled AWS Backup service. It helps you centralize and automate the backup of data across various AWS services and on-premises resources. AWS Backup is designed to be efficient, scalable, and reliable.

18

We practice Disaster Recovery SOP to easily overcome disaster events efficiently. We have in place a “Disaster Recovery” (“DR”) initiative, which we rely on the “AWS” cloud facilities to ensure as described below:

The architecture diagram shows how “AWS” cloud architect is powered by distributed servers and database services across multiple zones to ensure disaster recovery on deployment across multiple data centers, once the Application Load Balancer (ALB) detects the primary unavailable then it will direct all traffic to other in-service data centers.29

29 Disaster Recovery – First-in-class automated disaster recovery mechanism with multi-AZ support https://docs.aws.amazon.com/whitepapers/latest/disaster-recovery-workloads-on-aws/disaster-recovery-options-in-the-cloud.html

The controls for restricting user access to our system and data, include:

1) User authorization

2) Maintaining the user access log

3) Periodic review user access

4) Revoking user access

5) Managing Privileged User access

6) Separation of Duties to reduce the risk of misuse of client code and assets

7) Change management, risk management and issue management are exercised as part of Management Reviews

Litigation

From time to time, we may become involved in legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of our business. We believe that we do not have any pending or threatened litigation which, individually or in the aggregate, would have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, and/or cash flows.

Properties

We lease and maintain our offices at located at 276 5th Avenue, Suite 704 #739, New York, New York 10001 and No.29, Jalan PPU 2A, Taman Perindustrian Pusat Bandar Puchong, 47100 Puchong, Selangor, Malaysia.

Human Capital Resources

As of June 30, 2023, we had a total of 103 full-time employees and a total of [*] independent contractors and consultants. We engage consultants on an as-needed basis to supplement existing staff. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have taken an integrated approach to helping our employees manage their work and personal responsibilities, with a strong focus on employee well-being, health, and safety.

Our human capital resources objectives include, as applicable, identifying, recruiting, retaining, incentivizing and integrating our existing and new employees, advisors and consultants. The principal purposes of our equity and cash incentive plans are to attract, retain and reward personnel through the granting of stock-based and cash-based compensation awards, in order to increase stockholder value and the success of our Company by motivating such individuals to perform to the best of their abilities and achieve our objectives.

Available Information

Our corporate website address is https://treasureglobal.co. Our ZCITY website address is https://zcity.io. Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, any amendments to those reports, and registration statements filed or furnished with the SEC, are available free of charge through our website. We make these materials available through our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such materials with, or furnish such materials to, the SEC. The reports filed with the SEC by our executive officers and directors pursuant to Section 16 under the Exchange Act are also made available, free of charge on our website, as soon as reasonably practicable after copies of those filings are provided to us by those persons. These materials can be accessed through the “Investors” section of our website. The information contained in, or that can be accessed through, our website is not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Investing in our common stock is highly speculative and involves a significant degree of risk. Before you invest in our securities, you should give careful consideration to the following risk factors, in addition to the other information included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including our financial statements and related notes, before deciding whether to invest in our securities. The occurrence of any of the adverse developments described in the following risk factors could materially and adversely harm our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects. In that case, the trading price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Related to Our Business

There is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

We have incurred substantial operating losses since our inception. For the year ended June 30, 2023, we had approximately $4.6 million cash on hand, an accumulated deficit of approximately $31.4 million at June 30, 2023, a net loss of approximately $11.7 million for the year ended June 30, 2023, and approximately $9.6 million net cash used by operating activities for the year ended June 30, 2023. The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, which contemplates the realization of assets and satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. We anticipate incurring additional losses until such time, if ever, that we will be able to effectively market our products.

Also, we will seek to obtain additional capital through the sale of debt or equity financing or other arrangements to fund operations; however, there can be no assurance that we will be able to raise needed capital under acceptable terms, if at all. The sale of additional equity may dilute existing stockholders and newly issued shares may contain senior rights and preferences compared to currently outstanding shares of common stock. Issued debt securities may contain covenants and limit our ability to pay dividends or make other distributions to stockholders. If we are unable to obtain such additional financing, future operations would need to be scaled back or discontinued. Due to these factors, management believes that there is substantial doubt in our ability to continue as a going concern for twelve months from the issuance of these consolidated financial statements.

If we have insufficient capital to operate our business under our current business plan, we have contingency plans for our business that include, among other things, the delay of the introduction of new products and a reduction in headcount which is expected to substantially reduce revenue growth and delay our profitability. There can be no assurance that our implementation of these contingency plans will not have a material adverse effect on our business.

We have a limited operating history in an evolving industry, which makes it difficult to evaluate our future prospects and may increase the risk that we will not be successful.

We have a limited operating history on which to base an evaluation of our business and prospects. We are subject to all the risks inherent in a small company seeking to develop, market and distribute new services, particularly companies in evolving markets such as the internet, technology and payment systems. The likelihood of our success must be considered, in light of the problems, expenses, difficulties, complications and delays frequently encountered in connection with the development, introduction, marketing and distribution of new products and services in a competitive environment.

Such risks for us include, but are not limited to, dependence on the success and acceptance of our services, the ability to attract and retain a suitable client base and the management of growth. To address these risks, we must, among other things, generate increased demand, attract a sufficient clientele base, respond to competitive developments, increase the “ZCITY” brand names’ visibility, successfully introduce new services, attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel and upgrade and enhance our technologies to accommodate expanded service offerings. In view of the rapidly evolving nature of our business and our limited operating history, we believe that period-to-period comparisons of our operating results are not necessarily meaningful and should not be relied upon as an indication of future performance.

We are therefore subject to many of the risks common to early-stage enterprises, including under-capitalization, cash shortages, limitations with respect to personnel, financial and other resources and lack of revenues.

If we fail to raise capital when needed it will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We have limited revenue-producing operations and will require the proceeds from our recently concluded offering to execute our full business plan. We believe the proceeds from our previous offering will be sufficient to cover our funding needs until part way through the first calendar quarter of 2024. Further, no assurance can be given if additional capital is needed as to how much additional capital will be required or that additional financing can be obtained, or if obtainable, that the terms will be satisfactory to us, or that such financing would not result in a substantial dilution of shareholder interest. A failure to raise capital when needed would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, debt and other equity financing may involve a pledge of assets and may be senior to interests of equity holders. Any debt financing secured in the future could involve restrictive covenants relating to capital raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital or to pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. If adequate funds are not obtained, we may be required to reduce, curtail or discontinue operations.

None of our material contracts are long term and if not renewed could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We have entered into material contracts with a number of companies that directly or indirectly provide the goods and services that appear on our ZCITY App. The majority of these contracts can be terminated by any party with 30 days’ notice. The contract with iPay88 (the “iPay88 Agreement”), which provides the payment gateway for many of the brands that can be accessed through the ZCITY App, has no termination clause which means that iPay88 could terminate the iPay88 Agreement without any notice. If one or more of these contracts were not renewed or were terminated and we were not able to enter into agreements with others that could replace these services, the ZCITY App could lose material features and in turn we could find it harder to maintain and grow our user base, which would have a material adverse effect on our business. For a description of these material contracts See “Business—About ZCITY App.”

We rely on email, internet search engines and application marketplaces to drive traffic to our ZCITY App, certain providers of which offer products and services that compete directly with our products. If links to our applications and website are not displayed prominently, traffic to our ZCITY App could decline and our business would be adversely affected.

Email continues to be a verification source of organic traffic for us. If email providers or internet service providers implement new or more restrictive email or content delivery or accessibility policies, including with respect to net neutrality, it may become more difficult to deliver emails to our users or for user verification process. For example, certain email providers, including Google, categorize our emails as “promotional,” and these emails are directed to an alternate, and less readily accessible, section of a users’ inbox. If email providers materially limit or halt the delivery of our emails, or if we fail to deliver emails to users in a manner compatible with email providers’ email handling or authentication technologies, our ability to contact users through email could be significantly restricted. In addition, if we are placed on “spam” lists or lists of entities that have been involved in sending unwanted, unsolicited emails, marketing campaigns and business updates could be substantially harmed.

We rely heavily on Internet search engines, such as Google, to drive traffic to our ZCITY App through their unpaid search results and on application marketplaces to drive downloads of our applications. Although search results and application marketplaces have allowed us to attract a large audience with low organic traffic acquisition costs to date, if they fail to drive sufficient traffic to our ZCITY App, we may need to increase our marketing spend to acquire additional traffic. We cannot assure you that the value we ultimately derive from any such additional traffic would exceed the cost of acquisition, and any increase in marketing expense may in turn harm our operating results.

The amount of traffic we attract from search engines is due in large part to how and where information from and links to our website are displayed on search engine result pages. The display, including rankings, of unpaid search results can be affected by a number of factors, many of which are not in our direct control, and may change frequently. Search engines have made changes in the past to their ranking algorithms, methodologies and design layouts that may have reduced the prominence of links to our ZCITY App and negatively impacted our traffic, and we expect they will continue to make such changes from time to time in the future. Similarly, marketplace operators may make changes to their marketplaces that make access to our products more difficult. For example, our applications may receive unfavorable treatment compared to the promotion and placement of competing applications, such as the order in which they appear within marketplaces.

We may not know how or otherwise be in a position to influence search results or our treatment in application marketplaces. With respect to search results in particular, even when search engines announce the details of their methodologies, their parameters may change from time to time, be poorly defined or be inconsistently interpreted. For example, Google previously announced that the rankings of sites showing certain types of app install interstitials could be penalized on its mobile search results pages. While we believe the type of interstitial we currently use is not being penalized, we cannot guarantee that Google will not unexpectedly penalize our app install interstitials, causing links to our mobile website to be featured less prominently in Google’s mobile search results and harming traffic to our ZCITY App as a result.

In some instances, search engine companies and application marketplaces may change their displays or rankings in order to promote their own competing products or services or the products or services of one or more of our competitors. For example, Google has integrated its local product offering with certain of its products, including search and maps. The resulting promotion of Google’s own competing products in its web search results has negatively impacted the search ranking of our website. Because Google in particular is the most significant source of traffic to our website, accounting for a substantial portion of the visits to our website, our success depends on our ability to maintain a prominent presence in search results for queries regarding local businesses on Google. As a result, Google’s promotion of its own competing products, or similar actions by Google in the future that have the effect of reducing our prominence or ranking on its search results, could have a substantial negative effect on our business and results of operations.

The ecommerce market is highly competitive and if we do not have sufficient resources to maintain research and development, marketing, sales and client support efforts on a competitive basis our business could be adversely affected.

The internet-based ecommerce business is highly competitive and we compete with several different types of companies that offer some form of user-vendor connection experience, as well as marketing data companies. Certain of these competitors may have greater industry experience or financial and other resources than us.

To become and remain competitive, we will require research and development, marketing, sales and client support. We may not have sufficient resources to maintain research and development, marketing, sales and client support efforts on a competitive basis which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We intend to differentiate ourselves from competitors by developing a payments platform that allows consumers and merchants to accept and use bonus points.

The market for consumer’s lifestyle is rapidly evolving and intensely competitive, and we expect competition to intensify further in the future. There is no guarantee that any factors that differentiate us from our competitors will give us a market advantage or continue to be a differentiating factor for us in the foreseeable future. Competitive pressures created by our direct or indirect competitors could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

The market for our ZCITY App is new and unproven.

We were founded in 2020 and ZCITY was founded in 2017 and since our inception have been creating products for the developing and rapidly evolving market for API-based software platforms, a market that is largely unproven and is subject to a number of inherent risks and uncertainties. We believe that our future success will depend in large part on the growth, if any, in the market for software platforms that provide features and functionality to create the entire lifestyle ecosystem. It is difficult to predict customer adoption and renewal rates, customer demand for our solutions, the size and growth rate of the overall market that our ZCITY App addresses, the entry of competitive products or the success of existing competitive products. Any expansion of the market our ZCITY App addresses depends upon a number of factors, including the cost, performance and perceived value associated with such solutions. If the market our ZCITY App addresses does not achieve significant additional growth or there is a reduction in demand for such solutions caused by a lack of customer acceptance, technological challenges, competing technologies and products or decreases in corporate spending, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

If we are unable to expand our systems or develop or acquire technologies to accommodate increased volume or an increased variety of operating systems, networks and devices broadly used in the marketplace our ZCITY App could be impaired.

We seek to generate a high volume of traffic and transactions through our technologies. Accordingly, the satisfactory performance, reliability and availability of our website and platform, processing systems and network infrastructure are critical to our reputation and our ability to attract and retain large numbers of users who transact sales on our platform through a variety of operating systems, networks and devices while maintaining adequate customer service levels. Our revenues depend, in substantial way, on the volume of user transactions that are successfully completed. Any system interruptions that result in the unavailability of our service or reduced customer activity would ultimately reduce the volume of transactions completed. Interruptions of service may also diminish the attractiveness of our company and our services. Any substantial increase in the volume of traffic on our ZCITY App, the number of transactions being conducted by customers or substantial increase in the variety of operating systems, networks or devices that are broadly used in the market will require us to expand and upgrade our technology, transaction processing systems and network infrastructure. There can be no assurance that we will be able to accurately project the rate or timing of increases, if any, in the use of the ZCITY App or timely expand and upgrade our systems and infrastructure to accommodate such increases or increases in the variety of operating systems, networks or devices in a timely manner. Any failure to expand or upgrade our systems could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We use internally developed systems to operate our service and for transaction processing. We must continually enhance and improve these systems in order to accommodate the level of use of our products and services and increase our security. Furthermore, in the future, we may add new features and functionality to our services that would result in the need to develop or license additional technologies. Our inability to add new software and hardware to develop and further upgrade our existing technology, transaction processing systems or network infrastructure to accommodate increased traffic on our platforms or increased transaction volume through our processing systems or to accommodate new operating systems, networks or devices broadly used in the marketplace or to provide new features or functionality may cause unanticipated system disruptions, slower response times, degradation in levels of customer service, impaired quality of the user’s experience on our service, and delays in reporting accurate financial information. There can be no assurance that we will be able in a timely manner to effectively upgrade and expand our systems or to integrate smoothly any newly developed or purchased technologies with our existing systems. Any inability to do so would have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

As we increase our reliance on cloud-based applications and platforms to operate and deliver our products and services, any disruption or interference with these platforms could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

We rely on cloud-based applications and platforms for critical business functions. We also are migrating a significant portion of our computing infrastructure to third party hosted cloud-based computing platforms. If we are not able to complete this migration on our expected timeline, we could incur additional costs. Further, these migrations can be risky and may cause disruptions to the availability of our products due to service outages, downtime or other unforeseen issues that could increase our costs. We also may be subject to additional risk of cybersecurity breaches or other improper access to our data or confidential information during or following migrations to cloud-based computing platforms. In addition, cloud computing services may operate differently than anticipated when introduced or when new versions or enhancements are released. As we increase our reliance on cloud-based computing services, our exposure to damage from service interruptions may increase. In the event any such issues arise; it may be difficult for us to switch our operations from our primary cloud-based providers to alternative providers. Further, any such transition could involve significant time and expense and could negatively impact our ability to deliver our products and services, which could harm our financial condition and results of operations.

Our failure to successfully market our ZCITY App could result in adverse financial consequences.

We believe that continuing to strengthen our ZCITY App is critical to achieving our widespread acceptance, particularly in light of the competitive nature of our market. Promoting and positioning our ZCITY App will depend largely on the success of our marketing efforts and our ability to provide high quality services. In order to promote our ZCITY App, we will need to increase our marketing budget and otherwise increase our financial commitment to creating and maintaining brand loyalty among users. There can be no assurance that ZCITY App promotion activities will yield increased revenues or that any such revenues would offset the expenses incurred by us in building our ZCITY App. Further, there can be no assurance that any new users attracted to us will conduct transactions over the ZCITY App on a regular basis. If we fail to promote and maintain our brand or incur substantial expenses in an attempt to promote and maintain our brand or if our existing or future strategic relationships fail to promote the ZCITY App or increase awareness, our business, results of operations and financial condition would be materially adversely affected.

We may not be able to successfully develop and promote new products or services which could result in adverse financial consequences.

We plan to expand our operations by developing and promoting new or complementary services, products or transaction formats or expanding the breadth and depth of services. There can be no assurance that we will be able to expand our operations in a cost-effective or timely manner or that any such efforts will maintain or increase overall market acceptance. Furthermore, any new business or service launched by us that is not favorably received by consumers could damage our reputation and diminish the value of our brand. Expansion of our operations in this manner would also require significant additional expenses and development, operations and other resources and would strain our management, financial and operational resources. The lack of market acceptance of such services or our inability to generate satisfactory revenues from such expanded services to offset their cost could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

In addition, if we are unable to keep up with changes in technology and new hardware, software and services offerings, for example, by providing the appropriate training to out account managers, sales technology specialists, engineers and consultants to enable them to effectively sell and deliver such new offerings to customers, our business, results of operations or financial condition could be adversely affected.

A decline in the demand for goods and services of the merchants included in the ZCITY App could result in adverse financial consequences.

We expect to derive most of our revenues from fees from successfully completed transactions on our consumer facing platforms. Our future revenues will depend upon continued demand for the types of goods and services that are offered by the merchants that are included on such platforms. Any decline in demand for the goods offered through our services as a result of changes in consumer trends could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

The effective operation of our platform is dependent on technical infrastructure and certain third-party service providers.

Our ability to attract, retain and serve customers is dependent upon the reliable performance of our ZCITY App and the underlying technical infrastructure. We may fail to effectively scale and grow our technical infrastructure to accommodate these increased demands. In addition, our business will be reliant upon third party partners such as financial service providers and cash-out providers, payment terminals and equipment providers. Any disruption or failure in the services from third party partners used to facilitate our business could harm our business. Any financial or other difficulties these partners face may adversely affect our business, and we exercise little control over these partners, which increases vulnerability to problems with the services they provide.

There is no assurance that we will be profitable.

There is no assurance that we will earn profits in the future or that profitability will be sustained. There is no assurance that future revenues will be sufficient to generate the funds required to continue our business development and marketing activities. If we do not have sufficient capital to fund our operations, we may be required to reduce our sales and marketing efforts or forego certain business opportunities.

We could lose the right to the use of our domain names.

We have registered domain names for our website that we use in our business. If we lose the ability to use a domain name, whether due to trademark claims, failure to renew the applicable registration, or any other cause, we may be forced to market our products under a new domain name, which could cause us substantial harm, or to incur significant expense in order to purchase rights to the domain name in question. In addition, our competitors and others could attempt to capitalize on our brand recognition by using domain names similar to ours, especially in light of our expected expansion in SEA countries and East Asia. Domain names similar to ours may be registered in the United States and elsewhere. We may be unable to prevent third parties from acquiring and using domain names that infringe on, are similar to, or otherwise decrease the value of our brand or our trademarks or service marks. Protecting and enforcing our rights in our domain names may require litigation, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of management’s attention.

We may be required to expend resources to protect ZCITY App information or we may be unable to launch our services.

From time to time, other companies may copy information from our ZCITY App, through website scraping, robots or other means, and publish or aggregate it with other information for their own benefit. We have no assurance other companies will not copy, publish or aggregate content from our ZCITY App in the future. When third parties copy, publish or aggregate content from our ZCITY App, it makes them more competitive, and decreases the likelihood that consumers will visit our website or use our mobile app to find the information they seek, which could negatively affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. We may not be able to detect such third-party conduct in a timely manner and, even if we could, we may not be able to prevent it. In some cases, particularly in the case of websites operating outside of the United States, our available remedies may be inadequate to protect us against such practices. In addition, we may be required to expend significant financial or other resources to successfully enforce our rights.

Breaches of our online commerce security could occur and could have an adverse effect on our reputation.

A significant barrier to online commerce and communications is the secure transmission of confidential information over public networks. There can be no assurance that advances in computer capabilities, new discoveries in the field of cryptography and cybersecurity or other events or developments will not result in a compromise or breach of the technology used by us to protect customer transaction data. If any such compromise of our security were to occur, it could have a material adverse effect on our reputation and, therefore, on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Furthermore, a party who is able to circumvent our security measures could misappropriate proprietary information or cause interruptions in our operations. We may be required to expend significant capital and other resources to protect against such security breaches or to alleviate problems caused by such breaches. Concerns over the security of transactions conducted on the Internet and other online services and the privacy of users may also inhibit the growth of the Internet and other online services generally, and the Web in particular, especially as a means of conducting commercial transactions. To the extent that our activities involve the storage and transmission of proprietary information, security breaches could damage our reputation and expose us to a risk of loss or litigation and possible liability. There can be no assurance that our security measures will prevent security breaches or that failure to prevent such security breaches will not have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We may not have the ability to manage our growth.

We anticipate that significant expansion will be required to address potential growth in our customer base and market opportunities. Our anticipated expansion is expected to place a significant strain on our management, operational and financial resources. To manage any material growth of our operations and personnel, we may be required to improve existing operational and financial systems, procedures and controls and to expand, train and manage our employee base. There can be no assurance that our planned personnel, systems, procedures and controls will be adequate to support our future operations, that management will be able to hire, train, retain, motivate and manage required personnel or that our management will be able to successfully identify, manage and exploit existing and potential market opportunities. If we are unable to manage growth effectively, our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations may be materially adversely affected.

We rely on the performance of highly skilled personnel, and if we are unable to attract, retain and motivate well-qualified employees, our business could be harmed.

We are, and will be, heavily dependent on the skill, acumen and services of our management and other employees. Our future success depends on our continuing ability to attract, develop, motivate and retain highly qualified and skilled employees. Qualified individuals are in high demand, and we may incur significant costs to attract them. In addition, the loss of any of our senior management or key employees could materially adversely affect our ability to execute our business plan, and we may not be able to find adequate replacements. All of our officers and employees are at-will employees, which means they may terminate their employment relationship with us at any time, and their knowledge of our business and industry would be extremely difficult to replace. We cannot ensure that we will be able to retain the services of any members of our senior management or other key employees. If we do not succeed in attracting well-qualified employees or retaining and motivating existing employees, our business could be harmed.

Illegal use of our ZCITY App could result in adverse consequences to us.

Despite measures we will implement to detect and prevent identify theft or other fraud, our ZCITY App remains susceptible to potentially illegal or improper uses. Despite measures we will take to detect and lessen the risk of this kind of conduct, we cannot assure that these measures will succeed. Our business could suffer if customers use the ZCITY App for illegal or improper purposes.

If merchants on our ZCITY App are operating illegally, we could be subject to civil and criminal lawsuits, administrative action and prosecution for, among other things, money laundering or for aiding and abetting violations of law. We would lose the revenues associated with these accounts and could be subject to material penalties and fines, both of which would seriously harm our business.

We are subject to certain risks by virtue of our international operations.

We operate and expand internationally. We expect to expand our international operations significantly by accessing new markets abroad and expanding our offerings in new languages: not less than all languages in SEA countries and Japan. Our platform is now available in English and several other languages. However, we may have difficulty modifying our technology and content for use in non-English-speaking markets or fostering new communities in non-English-speaking markets. Our ability to manage our business and conduct our operations internationally requires considerable management attention and resources, and is subject to the particular challenges of supporting a rapidly growing business in an environment of multiple languages, cultures, customs, legal systems, alternative dispute systems, regulatory systems and commercial infrastructures. Furthermore, in most international markets, we would not be the first entrant, and our competitors may be better positioned than we are to succeed. Expanding internationally may subject us to risks that we have either not faced before or increase our exposure to risks that we currently face, including risks associated with:

• recruiting and retaining qualified, multi-lingual employees, including customer support personnel;
• increased competition from local websites and guides and potential preferences by local populations for local providers;
• compliance with applicable foreign laws and regulations, including different privacy, censorship and liability standards and regulations and different intellectual property laws;
• providing solutions in different languages for different cultures, which may require that we modify our solutions and features to ensure that they are culturally relevant in different countries;
• the enforceability of our intellectual property rights;
• credit risk and higher levels of payment fraud;
• compliance with anti-bribery laws;
• currency exchange rate fluctuations;
• foreign exchange controls that might prevent us from repatriating cash earned outside the United States;
• political and economic instability in some countries;
• double taxation of our international earnings and potentially adverse tax consequences due to changes in the tax laws of the United States or the foreign jurisdictions in which we operate; and
• higher costs of doing business internationally.

We do not have liability business interruption, litigation or natural disaster insurance.

We do not have any business liability, disruption insurance or any other forms of insurance coverage for our operations in Malaysia because our business is still in planning and early stage. Any potential liability, business interruption, litigation or natural disaster may result in our business incurring substantial costs and the diversion of resources.

The economy of Malaysia in general might not grow as quickly as expected, which could adversely affect our revenues and business prospects.

Our business and prospects depend on the continuing development of the economy in Malaysia. We cannot assure you that the Malaysian economy will continue to grow at the same pace as in the past. Economic growth is determined by countless factors, and it is extremely difficult to predict with any level of absolute certainty. In the event that the Malaysian economy suffers, demand for the services and/or products of our wholly owned subsidiaries may diminish, which would in turn result in decreased likelihood of profitability. This could in turn result in a substantial need for restructuring of our business objectives and could result in a partial or entire loss of an investment in our Company.

We face the risk that changes in the policies of the Malaysian government could have a significant impact upon the business we may be able to conduct in Malaysia and the profitability of such business.

Policies of the Malaysian government can have significant effects on the economic conditions of Malaysia. A change in policies by the Malaysian government could adversely affect our interests by, among other factors: changes in laws, regulations or the interpretation thereof, confiscatory taxation, restrictions on currency conversion, imports or sources of supplies or the expropriation or nationalization of private enterprises. We cannot assure you that the government will continue to pursue current policies or that such policies may not be significantly altered, especially in the event of a change in leadership, social or political disruption, or other circumstances affecting Malaysia’s political, economic and social environment.

We are subject to foreign exchange control policies in Malaysia.

The ability of our subsidiaries to pay dividends or make other payments to us may be restricted by the foreign exchange control policies in the countries where we operate. For example, there are foreign exchange policies in Malaysia which support the monitoring of capital flows into and out of the country in order to preserve its financial and economic stability. The foreign exchange policies are administered by the Foreign Exchange Administration, an arm of Bank Negara Malaysia (“BNM”), the central bank of Malaysia. The foreign exchange policies monitor and regulate both residents and non-residents. Under the current Foreign Exchange Administration rules issued by BNM, non-residents are free to repatriate any amount of funds from Malaysia in foreign currency other than the currency of Israel at any time (subject to limited exceptions), including capital, divestment proceeds, profits, dividends, rental, fees and interest arising from investment in Malaysia, subject to any withholding tax. In the event BNM or any other country where we operate introduces any restrictions in the future, we may be affected in our ability to repatriate dividends or other payments from our subsidiaries in Malaysia or in such other countries. Since we are a holding company and rely principally on dividends and other payments from our subsidiaries for our cash requirements, any restrictions on such dividends or other payments could materially and adversely affect our liquidity, financial condition and results of operations.

Malaysia is experiencing substantial inflationary pressures which may prompt the governments to take action to control the growth of the economy and inflation that could lead to a significant decrease in our profitability.

While the Malaysian economy has experienced rapid growth over the last two decades, they have also experienced inflationary pressures. As governments take steps to address inflationary pressures, there may be significant changes in the availability of bank credits, interest rates, limitations on loans, restrictions on currency conversions and foreign investment. There also may be imposition of price controls. If our revenues rise at a rate that is insufficient to compensate for the rise in our costs, it may have an adverse effect on our profitability. If these or other similar restrictions are imposed by a government to influence the economy, it may lead to a slowing of economic growth, which may harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If inflation increases significantly in SEA countries, our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects could be materially and adversely affected.

Should inflation in SEA countries, including Malaysia, increase significantly, our costs, including our staff costs are expected to increase. Furthermore, high inflation rates could have an adverse effect on the countries’ economic growth, business climate and dampen consumer purchasing power. As a result, a high inflation rate in SEA countries, including Malaysia, could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.

Any potential disruption in and other risks relating to our merchants’ supply chain could increase the costs of their products or services to consumers, potentially causing consumers to limit their spending or seek products or services from alternative businesses that may not be registered as a merchant with us, which may ultimately affect the total number of users using our platform and harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our offline and online merchants obtain their products, or the raw materials comprised of their products or used in their services, from manufacturers and distributors located around the world, and may have entered into long-term contracts or exclusive agreements that would ensure their ability to acquire the types and quantities of products or raw materials they desire at acceptable prices and in a timely manner. Any potential disruption in and other risks relating to the offline or online merchants’ supply chain as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic or Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, could increase the costs of their products or services to consumers, potentially causing consumers to limit their spending or seek products or services from alternative businesses that may not be registered as a merchant with us, which may ultimately affect the total number of users using our platform and harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our business will be exposed to foreign exchange risk.

We derive most of our revenue from the operations of our ZCITY App in Malaysia and expect to derive our revenue from Malaysia, other SEA countries and Japan in the future. Our functional currencies will by necessity be the currencies of the countries of SEA and Japan. Our reporting currency is the U.S. dollar. We translate our results of operations using the average exchange rate for the period, unless the average is not a reasonable approximation of the cumulative effect of the rates prevailing on the transaction dates, in which case income and expenses are translated at the rate on the dates of the transactions, and we translate our financial position at the period-end exchange rate. Accordingly, any significant fluctuation between the currencies of countries of SEA and Japan on the one hand and the U.S. dollar on the other could expose us to foreign exchange risk.

Some of the currencies of the countries of SEA are not freely convertible. The foreign exchange management regime of many SEA countries has transitioned from a system of fixed multiple exchange rates controlled by the state banks to a system of flexible exchange rates regulated largely by market forces, though transfers of currency is regulated and controlled in some countries. A significant depreciation in many of the currencies of countries of SEA against major foreign currencies may have a material adverse impact on our results of operations and financial condition because our reporting currency is the U.S. dollar. There can be no assurance, that the governments will continue to relax their foreign exchange regulations, that they will maintain the same foreign exchange policy or that there will be sufficient foreign currency available in the market for currency conversions. If, in the future, the regulations restrict our ability to convert local currencies or there is insufficient foreign currency available in the market, we may be unable to meet any foreign currency payment obligations.

Fluctuations in exchange rates in the Malaysian Ringgit (“RM”) could adversely affect our business and the value of our securities.

The value of the RM against the U.S. dollar and other currencies may fluctuate and is affected by, among other things, changes in Malaysia’s political and economic conditions. The value of our common stock will be indirectly affected by the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollars and RM and between those currencies and other currencies in which our revenue may be denominated. Appreciation or depreciation in the value of the RM relative to the U.S. dollar would affect our financial results reported in U.S. dollar terms without giving effect to any underlying change in our business or results of operations. As we rely entirely on revenues earned in Malaysia, any significant revaluation of RM may materially and adversely affect our cash flows, revenues and financial condition. For example, to the extent that we need to convert U.S. dollars we receive from an offering of our securities into RM for our operations, appreciation of the RM against the U.S. dollar could cause the RM equivalent of U.S. dollars to be reduced and therefore could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Conversely, if we decide to convert our RM into U.S. dollars for the purpose of making dividend payments on our common stock or for other business purposes and the U.S. dollar appreciates against the RM, the U.S. dollar equivalent of the RM we convert would be reduced. In addition, the depreciation of significant U.S. dollar denominated assets could result in a change to our operations and a reduction in the value of these assets.

We may not be able to maintain the listing of our common stock on Nasdaq, which could adversely affect our liquidity and the trading volume and market price of our common stock and decrease or eliminate your investment.

On August 17, 2023, we received a letter from Nasdaq notifying us that we were no longer in compliance with the $1.00 minimum bid price requirement for continued listing on Nasdaq under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2). Although Nasdaq has granted us 180 calendar days, or until February 13, 2024, to regain compliance with the Bid Price Rule, there can be no assurance that we will regain such compliance and Nasdaq could make a determination to delist our common stock.

Any delisting determination by Nasdaq could seriously decrease or eliminate the value of an investment in our common stock and other securities linked to our common stock. While a listing on an over-the-counter exchange could maintain some degree of a market in our common stock, we could face substantial material adverse consequences, including, but not limited to, the following: limited availability for market quotations for our common stock; reduced liquidity with respect to and decreased trading prices of our common stock; a determination that shares of our common stock are “penny stock” under the SEC rules, subjecting brokers trading our common stock to more stringent rules on disclosure and the class of investors to which the broker may sell the common stock; limited news and analyst coverage for our Company, in part due to the “penny stock” rules; decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future; and potential breaches under or terminations of our agreements with current or prospective large stockholders, strategic investors and banks. The perception among investors that we are at heightened risk of delisting could also negatively affect the market price of our securities and trading volume of our common stock.

Geopolitical conditions, including acts of war or terrorism or unrest in the regions in which we operate could adversely affect our business.

Most of our operations and business activities are conducted in Malaysia, whose economy and legal system remain susceptible to risks associated with an emerging economy and which is subject to higher geopolitical risks than developed countries. Social and political unrest could give rise to various risks, such as loss of employment and safety and security risks to persons and property. Additionally, our operations could be disrupted by acts of war, terrorist activity or other similar events, including the current or anticipated impact of military conflict and related sanctions imposed on Russia, Belarus and certain individuals and entities connected to Russian or Belarusian political, business, and financial organizations by the United States and other countries due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It is not possible to predict the broader consequences of the conflict, including related geopolitical tensions, and the measures and retaliatory actions taken by the U.S. and other countries in respect thereof as well as any counter measures or retaliatory actions by Russia or Belarus in response, including, for example, potential cyberattacks or the disruption of energy exports, is likely to cause regional instability, geopolitical shifts, and could materially adversely affect global trade, currency exchange rates, regional economies and the global economy. Any such event may in turn have a material and adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial position.

Because our principal assets are located outside of the United States and all of our directors and all our officers reside outside of the United States, it may be difficult for you to enforce your rights based on U.S. Federal Securities Laws against us and our officers and directors or to enforce a judgment of a United States court against us or our officers and directors.

All of our directors and officers reside outside of the United States. In addition, substantially all of our assets are located outside of the United States. It may therefore be difficult for investors in the United States to enforce their legal rights based on the civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal securities laws against us in the courts of either the U.S. or Malaysia and, even if civil judgments are obtained in U.S. courts, to enforce such judgments in Malaysian courts.

Our failure to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting could have an adverse impact on us.

We are required to establish and maintain appropriate internal controls over financial reporting. Failure to establish those controls, or any failure of those controls once established, could adversely impact our public disclosures regarding our business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, management’s assessment of internal controls over financial reporting may identify weaknesses and conditions that need to be addressed in our internal controls over financial reporting or other matters that may raise concerns for investors. Any actual or perceived weaknesses and conditions that need to be addressed in our internal control over financial reporting, disclosure of management’s assessment of our internal controls over financial reporting or disclosure of our public accounting firm’s attestation to or report on management’s assessment of our internal controls over financial reporting may have an adverse impact on the price of our common stock.

In preparing our consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended June 30, 2023, we and our independent registered public accounting firms identified 2 material weaknesses and other control deficiencies including significant deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting, as defined in the standards established by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. A “material weakness” is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

The material weaknesses identified included the following: (1) Inadequate U.S. GAAP expertise. The current accounting staff is inexperienced in applying U.S. GAAP standard as they are primarily engaged in ensuring compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) accounting and reporting requirement for our consolidated operating entities, and thus require substantial training. The current staff’s accounting skills and understanding as to how to fulfill the requirements of U.S. GAAP-based reporting, including subsidiary financial statements consolidation, are inadequate; and (2) Inadequate internal audit function. We lack of a functional internal audit department or personnel that monitors the consistencies of the preventive internal control procedures and lack of adequate policies and procedures in internal audit function to ensure that our policies and procedures have been carried out as planned.

Following the identification of the material weaknesses and control deficiencies, we plan to take remedial measures including (i) hiring more qualified accounting personnel with relevant U.S. GAAP and SEC reporting experience and qualifications to strengthen the financial reporting function and to set up a financial and system control framework; (ii) implementing regular and continuous U.S. GAAP accounting and financial reporting training programs for our accounting and financial reporting personnel; (iii) establishing internal audit function by engaging an external consulting firm to assist us with assessment of Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance requirements and improvement of overall internal control; and (iv) strengthening corporate governance. However, the implementation of these measures may not fully address the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. Our failure to correct the material weaknesses or our failure to discover and address any other material weaknesses or control deficiencies could result in inaccuracies in our consolidated financial statements and could also impair our ability to comply with applicable financial reporting requirements and related regulatory filings on a timely basis. As a result, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects, as well as the trading price of our common stocks, may be materially and adversely affected. Moreover, ineffective internal control over financial reporting significantly hinders our ability to prevent fraud.

A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. In addition, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefit of controls must be relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no system of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within our Company have been detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake. Further, controls can be circumvented by individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more persons, or by management override of the controls. The design of any system of controls is also based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions. Over time, a control may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or the degree of compliance with policies or procedures may deteriorate. Because of inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and may not be detected.

If we fail to have effective controls and procedures for financial reporting in place, we could be unable to provide timely and accurate financial information which could result in an investigation by the SEC and civil or criminal sanctions; investors losing confidence in the accuracy of our periodic reports filed under the Exchange Act; and a decline in our stock price.

We are an “emerging growth company” under the JOBS Act and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies will make our common stock less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are not applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile.

In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have chosen to take advantage of the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards.

We will remain an “emerging growth company” until the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date of the first sale of our common stock pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act, although we will lose that status sooner if our revenues exceed $1.235 billion, if we issue more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt in a three year period, or if the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter.

The elimination of personal liability against our directors and officers under Delaware law and the existence of indemnification rights held by our directors, officers and employees may result in substantial expenses.

Our certificate of incorporation, as amended (“Certificate of Incorporation”) eliminates the personal liability of our directors and officers to us and our stockholders for damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director or officer to the extent permissible under Delaware law. Further, our bylaws (“Bylaws”) provide that we are obligated to indemnify each of our directors or officers to the fullest extent authorized by the Delaware law and, subject to certain conditions, advance the expenses incurred by any director or officer in defending any action, suit or proceeding prior to its final disposition. Those indemnification obligations could expose us to substantial expenditures to cover the cost of settlement or damage awards against our directors or officers, which we may be unable to afford. Further, those provisions and resulting costs may discourage us or our stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against any of our current or former directors or officers for breaches of their fiduciary duties, even if such actions might otherwise benefit our stockholders.

We have not paid dividends in the past and do not expect to pay dividends in the future, and any return on investment may be limited to the value of our stock.

We have never paid cash dividends on our common stock and do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. We currently intend to retain any future earnings to support the development of our business and do not anticipate paying cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Our payment of any future dividends will be at the discretion of our Board after taking into account various factors, including, but not limited to, our financial condition, operating results, cash needs, growth plans and the terms of any credit agreements that we may be a party to at the time. In addition, our ability to pay dividends on our common stock may be limited by Delaware state law. Accordingly, investors must rely on sales of their common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize a return on their investment. Investors seeking cash dividends should not purchase our common stock.

Regulatory Risks

Failure to comply with laws and regulations applicable to our business could subject us to fines and penalties and could also cause us to lose customers or otherwise harm our business.

Our business is subject to regulation by various governmental agencies in Malaysia, including agencies responsible for monitoring and enforcing compliance with various legal obligations, such as privacy and data protection-related laws and regulations, intellectual property laws, employment and labor laws, workplace safety, governmental trade laws, import and export controls, anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws, and tax laws and regulations. These laws and regulations impose added costs on our business. Noncompliance with applicable regulations or requirements could subject us to:

• investigations, enforcement actions, and sanctions;
• mandatory changes to our network and products;
• disgorgement of profits, fines, and damages;
• civil and criminal penalties or injunctions;
• claims for damages by our customers or channel partners;
• termination of contracts;
• failure to obtain, maintain or renew certain licenses, approvals, permits, registrations or filings necessary to conduct our operations; and
• temporary or permanent debarment from sales to public service organizations.

If any governmental sanctions are imposed, or if we do not prevail in any possible civil or criminal litigation, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected. In addition, responding to any action will likely result in a significant diversion of our management’s attention and resources and an increase in professional fees. Enforcement actions and sanctions could materially harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Any reviews by regulatory agencies or legislatures may result in substantial regulatory fines, changes to our business practices and other penalties, which could negatively affect our business and results of operations. Changes in social, political and regulatory conditions or in laws and policies governing a wide range of topics may cause us to change our business practices. Further, our expansion into a variety of new fields also could raise a number of new regulatory issues. These factors could negatively affect our business and results of operations in material ways.

Moreover, we are exposed to the risk of misconduct, errors and failure to functions by our management, employees and parties that we collaborate with, who may from time to time be subject to litigation and regulatory investigations and proceedings or otherwise face potential liability and penalties in relation to noncompliance with applicable laws and regulations, which could harm our reputation and business.

Regulation of the internet generally could have adverse consequences on our business.

We are also subject to regulations and laws in Malaysia specifically governing the internet and e-commerce. Existing and future laws and regulations may impede the growth of the Internet, e-commerce or other online services, and increase the cost of providing online services. These regulations and laws may cover sweepstakes, taxation, tariffs, user privacy, data protection, pricing, content, copyrights, distribution, electronic contracts and other communications, consumer protection, broadband residential Internet access and the characteristics and quality of services. It is not clear how existing laws governing issues such as property ownership, sales, use and other taxes, libel and personal privacy apply to the internet and e-commerce. Unfavorable resolution of these issues may harm our business and results of operations.

Privacy regulations could have adverse consequences on our business.

We receive, collect, store, process, transfer and use personal information and other user data. There are numerous international laws and regulations regarding privacy, data protection, information security and the collection, storing, sharing, use, processing, transfer, disclosure and protection of personal information and other content, the scope of which are changing, subject to differing interpretations, and may be inconsistent among countries, or conflict with other laws and regulations. We are also subject to the terms of our privacy policies and obligations to third parties related to privacy, data protection and information security. We strive to comply with applicable laws, regulations, policies and other legal obligations relating to privacy, data protection and information security to the extent possible. However, the regulatory framework for privacy and data protection worldwide is, and is likely to remain for the foreseeable future, uncertain and complex, and it is possible that these or other actual or alleged obligations may be interpreted and applied in a manner that we do not anticipate or that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with other rules or our practices. Further, any significant change to applicable laws, regulations, or industry practices regarding the collection, use, retention, security or disclosure of our users’ data, or their interpretation, or any changes regarding the manner in which the express or implied consent of users for the collection, use, retention or disclosure of such data must be obtained, could increase our costs and require us to modify our services and features, possibly in a material manner, which we may be unable to complete, and may limit our ability to store and process user data or develop new services and features.

We also expect that there will continue to be new laws, regulations and industry standards concerning privacy, data protection and information security proposed and enacted in various jurisdictions.

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 information security may result in governmental investigations or enforcement actions, litigation, claims or public statements against us by consumer advocacy groups or others and could result in significant liability, cause our users to lose trust in us, and otherwise have an adverse effect on our reputation and business. Furthermore, the costs of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, the laws, regulations 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 ZCITY App.

Additionally, if third parties we work with violate applicable laws, regulations or agreements, 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 have an adverse effect on our reputation and business. Further, public scrutiny of or complaints about technology companies or their data handling or data protection practices, even if unrelated to our business, industry or operations, may lead to increased scrutiny of technology companies, including us, and may cause government agencies to enact additional regulatory requirements, or to modify their enforcement or investigation activities, which may increase our costs and risks.

Regulation of gift cards or “E-vouchers” could have adverse consequences on our business.

Our platform’s payment system inevitably provides our customers with reward points that may or may not be deemed gift certificates, store gift cards, general-use prepaid cards or other vouchers or “gift cards,” subject to, various laws of multiple jurisdictions. Many of these laws include specific disclosure requirements and prohibitions or limitations on the use of expiration dates and the imposition of certain fees. Various companies that provided deal products similar to ours around the world are currently or were defendants in purported class action lawsuits.

The application of various other laws and regulations to our products is uncertain. These include laws and regulations pertaining to unclaimed and abandoned property, partial redemption, revenue-sharing restrictions on certain trade groups and professions, sales and other local taxes and the sale of alcoholic beverages. In addition, we may become, or be determined to be, subject to United States federal or state laws or laws in Malaysia or other countries where we operate regulating money transmitters or aimed at preventing money laundering or terrorist financing, including the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA Patriot Act and other similar future laws or regulations in the United States and in the applicable SEA or East Asia countries.

If we become subject to claims or are required to alter our business practices as a result of current or future laws and regulations, our revenue could decrease, our costs could increase and our business could otherwise be harmed. In addition, the costs and expenses associated with defending any actions related to such additional laws and regulations and any payments of related penalties, fines, judgments or settlements could harm our business.

The requirements of being a public company are complex and have increased costs.

As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and other applicable securities rules and regulations. Compliance with these rules and regulations increases our legal and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming or costly and increase demand on our systems and resources. The Exchange Act requires, among other things, that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and operating results. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. In order to maintain and, if required, improve our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting to meet this standard, significant resources and management oversight may be required. As a result, management’s attention may be diverted from other business concerns, which could harm our business and operating results. We may need to hire more employees in the future to maintain compliance with these requirements, which will increase our costs and expenses.

In addition, changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure are creating uncertainty for public companies, increasing legal and financial compliance costs and making some activities more time consuming. These laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. We intend to invest resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management’s time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. If our efforts to comply with new laws, regulations and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies due to ambiguities related to practice, regulatory authorities may initiate legal proceedings against us and our business may be harmed.

We also expect that being a public company and these new rules and regulations will make it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain coverage. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our board of directors (“Board”), particularly to serve on our audit committee and renumeration committee, and qualified executive officers.

As a result of disclosure of information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and in our prior SEC filings, our business and financial condition has become more visible, which we believe may result in increased threatened or actual litigation, including by competitors and other third parties. If such claims are successful, our business and operating results could be harmed, and even if the claims do not result in litigation or are resolved in our favor, these claims, and the time and resources necessary to resolve them, could divert the resources of our management and harm our business and operating results.

Failure to comply with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Malaysia anti-corruption laws could subject us to penalties and other adverse consequences.

We are required to comply the Malaysia’s anti-corruption laws and the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which generally prohibits U.S. companies from engaging in bribery or other prohibited payments to foreign officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. In addition, we are required to maintain records that accurately and fairly represent our transactions and have an adequate system of internal accounting controls. Foreign companies, including some of our competitors, are not subject to these prohibitions. Corruption, extortion, bribery, pay-offs, theft and other fraudulent practices occur from time-to-time in Malaysia. If our competitors engage in these practices, they may receive preferential treatment from personnel of some companies, giving our competitors an advantage in securing business or from government officials who might give them priority in obtaining new licenses, which would put us at a disadvantage. Although we inform our personnel that such practices are illegal, we cannot assure you that our employees or other agents will not engage in such conduct for which we might be held responsible. If our employees or other agents are found to have engaged in such practices, we could suffer severe penalties and other consequences that may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, our brand and reputation, our sales activities or the price of our ordinary shares could be adversely affected if we become the target of any negative publicity as a result of actions taken by our employees or other agents.

Litigation is costly and time consuming and could have a material adverse effect our business, results or operations and reputation.

We and/or our directors and officers may be subject to a variety of civil or other legal proceedings, with or without merit. From time to time in the ordinary course of our business, we may become involved in various legal proceedings, including commercial, employment and other litigation and claims, as well as governmental and other regulatory investigations and proceedings. Such matters can be time-consuming, divert management’s attention and resources and cause us to incur significant expenses. Furthermore, because litigation is inherently unpredictable, the results of any such actions may have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results or financial condition.

Even if the claims are without merit, the costs associated with defending these types of claims may be substantial, both in terms of time, money, and management distraction. In particular, patent and other intellectual property litigation may be protracted and expensive, and the results are difficult to predict and may require us to stop offering certain features, purchase licenses or modify our products and features while we develop non-infringing substitutes or may result in significant settlement costs.

The results of litigation and claims to which we may be subject cannot be predicted with certainty. Even if these matters do not result in litigation or are resolved in our favor or without significant cash settlements, these matters, and the time and resources necessary to litigate or resolve them, could harm our business, results or operations and reputation.

We face potential liability and expense for legal claims based on the content on our ZCITY App.

We face potential liability and expense for legal claims relating to the information that we publish on our website and our ZCITY App, including claims for copyright or trademark infringement, among others. These claims could divert management time and attention away from our business and result in significant costs to investigate and defend, regardless of the merits of the claims. In some instances, we may elect or be compelled to remove content or may be forced to pay substantial damages if we are unsuccessful in our efforts to defend against these claims. If we elect or are compelled to remove valuable content from our website or mobile app, our ZCITY App may become less useful to consumers and our traffic may decline, which could have a negative impact on our business and financial performance.

Our intellectual property rights may be inadequate to protect us against others claiming violations of their proprietary rights and the cost of enforcement could be significant.

The future success of our business is dependent upon the intellectual property rights surrounding our technology, including trade secrets, know-how and continuing technological innovation. Although we will seek to protect our proprietary rights, our actions may be inadequate to protect any proprietary rights or to prevent others from claiming violations of their proprietary rights. There can be no assurance that other companies are not investigating or developing other technologies that are similar to our technology. In addition, effective intellectual property protection may be unenforceable or limited in certain countries, and the global nature of the Internet makes it impossible to control the ultimate designation of our technology. Any of these claims, with or without merit, could subject us to costly litigation. If the protection of proprietary rights is inadequate to prevent unauthorized use or appropriation by third parties, the value of our brand and other intangible assets may be diminished. Any of these events could have an adverse effect on our business and financial results.

Effective trade secret, copyright, trademark and domain name protection is expensive to develop and maintain, both in terms of initial and ongoing registration requirements and expenses and the costs of defending our rights. We are seeking to protect our trademarks and domain names in an increasing number of jurisdictions, a process that is expensive and may not be successful or which we may not pursue in every location. Litigation may be necessary to enforce our intellectual property rights, protect our respective trade secrets or determine the validity and scope of proprietary rights claimed by others. Any litigation of this nature, regardless of outcome or merit, could result in substantial costs and diversion of management and technical resources, any of which could adversely affect our business and operating results. We may incur significant costs in enforcing our trademarks against those who attempt to imitate our brand. If we fail to maintain, protect and enhance our intellectual property rights, our business and operating results may be harmed.

If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets, our business and competitive position could be harmed.

In addition to patent protection, we also rely upon copyright and trade secret protection, as well as non-disclosure agreements and invention assignment agreements with our employees, consultants and third parties, to protect our confidential and proprietary information. In addition to contractual measures, we try to protect the confidential nature of our proprietary information using commonly accepted physical and technological security measures. Such measures may not, for example, in the case of misappropriation of a trade secret by an employee or third party with authorized access, provide adequate protection for our proprietary information. Our security measures may not prevent an employee or consultant from misappropriating our trade secrets and providing them to a competitor, and recourse we take against such misconduct may not provide an adequate remedy to protect our interests fully. Unauthorized parties may also attempt to copy or reverse engineer certain aspects of our product that we consider proprietary. Enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated a trade secret can be difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. Even though we use commonly accepted security measures, trade secret violations are often a matter of state law, and the criteria for protection of trade secrets can vary among different jurisdictions. In addition, trade secrets may be independently developed by others in a manner that could prevent legal recourse by us. If any of our confidential or proprietary information, such as our trade secrets, were to be disclosed or misappropriated, or if any such information was independently developed by a competitor, our business and competitive position could be harmed.

Third parties may assert that our employees or consultants have wrongfully used or disclosed confidential information or misappropriated trade secrets.

We employ individuals who previously worked with other companies, including our competitors or potential competitors. Although we try to ensure that our employees and consultants do not use the proprietary information or know-how of others in their work for us, we may be subject to claims that we or our employees, consultants or independent contractors have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed intellectual property, including trade secrets or other proprietary information, of a former employer or other third party. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we fail in defending any such claims or settling those claims, in addition to paying monetary damages or a settlement payment, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees.

Our principal executive offices are located at 276 5th Avenue, Suite 704 #739, New York, New York 10001 and

No.29, Jalan PPU 2A, Taman Perindustrian Pusat Bandar Puchong, 47100 Puchong, Selangor, Malaysia.

We lease and maintain our offices, and we

currently do not own any real estate.

We may be subject to legal disputes and subject to claims that arise in the ordinary course of business. We are not a party or subject to any pending legal proceedings the resolution of which is expected to have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, cash flows or financial condition.

The following discussion and analysis of our results of operations and financial condition should be read together with our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto and other financial information, which are included elsewhere in this Report. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include those identified below and those discussed in other sections of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for any period in the future. Our financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. In addition, our financial statements and the financial information included in this Report reflect our organizational transactions and have been prepared as if our current corporate structure had been in place throughout the relevant periods.

Overview

Treasure Global Inc (“TGL,” “we,” “our” or the “Company”) is a holding company incorporated on March 20, 2020, under the laws of the State of Delaware. TGL has no substantive operations other than holding all of the outstanding shares of Gem Reward Sdn. Bhd. (“GEM”), which was established under the laws of the Malaysia on June 6, 2017, through a reverse recapitalization.

Prior to March 11, 2021, TGL and GEM were separate companies under the common control of Kok Pin “Darren,” which resulted from Mr. Tan’s prior 100% ownership of TGL and his prior 100% voting and investment control over GEM pursuant to the Beneficial Shareholding Agreements. For a more detailed description of the Beneficial Shareholding Agreements and Mr. Tan’s common control over TGL and GEM see Part I, Item 1. “Business – Corporate Structure.”

On March 11, 2021, TGL and GEM were reorganized into a parent subsidiary structure pursuant to the Share Swap Agreement in which TGL exchanged the swap shares for all of the issued and outstanding equity of GEM. Pursuant to the Share Swap Agreement, the purchase and sale of the swap shares was completed on March 11, 2021, but the issuance of the swap shares did not occur until October 27, 2021 when TGL amended its certificate of incorporation to increase the number of its authorized common stock to a number that was sufficient to issue the swap shares. As a result of the Share Swap Agreement, (i) GEM became the 100% subsidiary of TGL and Kok Pin “Darren” no longer had any control over the GEM ordinary shares and (ii) Kok Pin “Darren,” the Initial GEM Stockholders and Chong Chan “Sam” Teo owned 100% of the shares of TGL common stock (Kok Pin “Darren” owning approximately 97%). Subsequent to the date of the Share Swap Agreement, Kok Pin “Darren” transferred 9,529,002 of his 10,000,000 shares of TGL common stock to 16 individuals and entities and currently owns less than 5% of our common stock.

On August 15, 2022, we had closed our initial underwritten public offering of 2,300,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.00001 per share, at $4.00 per share. Meanwhile we received net proceeds of approximately $8.2 million, net of underwriting discounts and commissions and fees, and other estimated offering expenses amounted to approximately $1.0 million.

We have created an innovative online-to-offline e-commerce platform business model offering consumers and merchants instant rebates and affiliate cashback programs, while providing a seamless e-payment solution with rebates in both e-commerce (i.e., online) and physical retailers/merchant (i.e., offline) settings.

Our proprietary product is an application branded “ZCITY App,” which was developed through GEM. The ZCITY App was successfully launched in Malaysia on June 2020. GEM is equipped with the know-how and expertise to develop additional/add-on technology-based products and services to complement the ZCITY App, thereby growing its reach and user base.

Through simplifying a user’s e-payment gateway experience, as well as by providing great deals, rewards and promotions with every use, we aim to make the ZCITY App Malaysia’s top reward and loyalty platform. Our longer-term goal is for the ZCITY App and its ever-developing technology to become one of the most well-known commercialized applications more broadly in Southeast Asia and Japan. As of September 13, 2023, we had 2,642,404 registered users and 2,025 registered merchants.

Southeast Asia (“SEA”) consumers have access to a plethora of smart ordering, delivery and “loyalty” websites and apps, but in our experience, SEA consumers very rarely receive personalized deals based on their purchases and behavior.

The ZCITY App targets consumer through the provision of personalized deals based on consumers’ purchase history, location and preferences. Our technology platform allows us to identify the spending trends of our customers (the when, where, why, and how much). We are able to offer these personalized deals through the application of our proprietary artificial intelligence (or “AI”) technology that scours the available database to identify and create opportunities to extrapolate the greatest value from the data, analyze consumer behavior and roll out attractive rewards-based campaigns for targeted audiences. We believe this AI technology is currently a unique market differentiator for the ZCITY App.

We operate our ZCITY App on the hashtag: “#RewardsOnRewards.” We believe this branding demonstrates to users the ability to spend ZCITY App-based Reward Points (or “RP”) and “ZCITY Cash Vouchers” with discount benefits at checkout. Additionally, users can earn rewards from selected e-Wallet or other payment methods.

ZCITY App users do not require any on-going credit top-up or need to provide bank card number with their binding obligations. We have partnered with Malaysia’s leading payment gateway, iPay88, for secure and convenient transactions. Users can use our secure platform and enjoy cashless shopping experiences with rebates when they shop with e-commerce and retail merchants through trusted and leading e-wallet providers such as Touch’n Go eWallet, Boost eWallet, GrabPay eWallet and credit card/online banking like the “FPX” (the Malaysian Financial Process Exchange) as well as more traditional providers such as Visa and Mastercard.

On May 1, 2023, we entered into a worldwide master license agreement (“License Agreement 1”) with Morganfield’s Holdings Sdn Bhd (“Licensor 1”), an unrelated third party. Pursuant to the License Agreement 1, the Licensor 1 agreed to grant us the exclusive worldwide license for the right to use the Morganfield’s Trademark (“Trademark 2”) for a period of five years. During the five-year license period, we agree to pay Licensor 1 for monthly license fee throughout the license period, with minimum aggregate payments of approximately $1.5 million or 40% of the total monthly collections from our sub-licensees, whichever is higher.

On June 6, 2023, we entered into a worldwide master license agreement (“License Agreement 2”) with Sigma Muhibah Sdn Bhd (“Licensor 2”), an unrelated third party. Pursuant to the License Agreement 2, Licensor 2 agreed to grant the AY Food Ventures Sdn Bhd with the exclusive worldwide license for right of use in Abe Yus’s Trademark (“Trademark 2”) for a period of five years. During the five years license period, we agree to pay the licensor 2 for monthly license fee throughout the license period, with minimum aggregate payments of approximately $1.2 million or 40% of the total monthly collection from our sub-licensees, whichever is higher.

Key Factors that Affect Operating Results

We believe the key factors affecting our financial condition and results of operations include the following:

Our Ability to Create Value for Our Users and Generate Revenue

Our ability to create value for our users and generate our revenues from merchants is driven by the factors described below:

Number and volume of transactions completed by our consumers.

Consumers are attracted to ZCITY by the breadth of personalized deals/rewards and the interactive user experience our platform offers. The number and volume of transaction completed by our member consumers is affected by our ability to continue to enhance and expand our product and service offerings and improve the user experience.

Empowering data and technology.

Our ability to engage our member consumers and empower our merchants and their brands is affected by the breadth and depth of our data insights, such as the accuracy of our members’ shopping preferences, and our technology capabilities and infrastructure, and our continued ability to develop scalable services and upgrade our platform user experience to adapt to the quickly evolving industry trends and consumer preferences.

Our Investment in User Base, Technology, People and Infrastructure

We have made, and will continue to make, significant investments in our platform to attract consumers and merchants, enhance user experience and expand the capabilities and scope of our platform. We expect to continue to invest in our research and development team as well as in our technology capabilities and infrastructure, which will lower our margins but deliver overall long-term growth.

Inflation

Although Malaysia is experiencing a high inflation rate, we do not believe that inflation has had a material adverse effect on our business as June 30, 2023, but we will continue to monitor the effects of inflation on our business in future periods.

Supply Chain Disruptions

Although there have been global supply chain disruptions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine that may have affected the operations of some of our online and offline merchants, these disruptions have not had a material adverse effect on our business as of June 30, 2023, but we will continue to monitor the effects of supply chain disruptions on our business in future periods.

Key Operating Metrics

Our management regularly reviews a number of metrics to evaluate our business, measures our performance, identifies trends, formulates financial projections and makes strategic decisions. The main metrics we consider, and our results for each quarter since we launched ZCITY platform, are set forth in the table below:

(1) Registered are persons who have registered on the ZCITY App.

(2) Active users are users who have logged into the ZCITY App at least once.

We have experienced substantial growth in registered users and active users since we launched ZCITY platform in June 2020. As of June 30, 2023, we recorded 2,542,164 registered users and 378,414 active users from ZCITY platform. Our average percentage of growth of register and active users from the establishment of the ZCITY platform to the year ended June 30, 2023 was approximately 93.7% and 179.3%, respectively.

However, the average percentage of growth of registered and active users decreased in the last ten quarters up to June 30, 2023 which was a result of decrease in purchasing of E-voucher from our vendor, eventually reduce the E-voucher available for sales, and attract less new registered and active user to join our ZCITY platform. Since our product and loyalty program revenue mainly consist of sales of E-voucher which bear a low profit margin, reduce in purchasing of E-voucher will allow us to reserve more working capital in developing our TAZTE Smart F&B system (“TAZTE”), which is a system that provides a one stop solution and digitalization transformation for all registered food and beverage (“F&B”) outlets located in Malaysia. As TAZTE is a merchant-oriented program, we intend to utilize our user data to help our merchant customers to achieve higher business growth as well as increase our transaction revenue while we launch TAZTE in late December 2022. As we provided extended 365 days free trial for merchant participate in TAZTE, we have not generated any revenue from TAZTE for the year ended June 30, 2023. For 2023 and beyond, we do not expect to experience exponential growth rate in our registered and active users as we intend to maintain our E-voucher for sales in a steady level and increase our user’s retention rate.

We continuously monitor the development and participation of active users as a proportion of its total registered user base to ensure the effectiveness of our marketing and feature implantation strategies. Accordingly, the proportion of total registered users that we consider active users at the end of each quarter is as follows:

We continuously monitor the development of the churn and retention rates of the active user base. Active users churn rate is the percentage of customers who had stop subscribing in our platform while retention rate is the percentage of customers who is retained in our platform. Accordingly, our churn and retention rates of the active user base at the end of each quarter is as follows:

44

The retention rate and churn rate for our active users are calculated as follows:

Over the last 24 months, we have used different strategies to build and maintain our users and increase their engagement. Initially, we focused on mass marketing strategies to attract registered users. Subsequently, we have shifted to a more targeted approach focused on increasing user engagement and user spending.

Results of Operation

For the Years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022

Revenue

Our breakdown of revenues by categories for the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively, is summarized below:

Total revenues decreased by approximately $10.3 million or 12.9% to approximately $69.4 million for the year ended June 30, 2023 from approximately $79.7 million for the year ended June 30, 2022. The decrease was mainly attributable to decrease in product and loyalty program revenue.

Product and loyalty program revenue

Product revenue was generated through sales of our e-voucher, health care products, and other products through our ZCITY platform while loyalty program revenue was recognized when our customers redeem their previously earned reward points from our loyalty program or upon expiration of the reward point. In addition, we also engage in sales of food and beverage products through our newly acquired subsidiaries, Morgan Global Sdn. Bhd (“Morgan”) and AY Food Ventures Sdn. Bhd. (“AY Food”). The product and loyalty program revenue decrease by approximately $10.5 million or 13.2% to approximately $68.9 million for the year ended June 30, 2023 from approximately $79.4 million for the same period in 2022. The decrease was mainly attributable to decrease in E-voucher purchasing which resulted in less E-voucher available for sales during the year ended June 30, 2023. Such decrease in purchasing activities was due to our management’s decision to reserve more working capital for developing TAZTE within the ZCITY platform as discussed in the key operating metrics section above.

Transaction revenue

The transaction revenue primarily consists of fees charged to merchants for participating in our ZCITY platform upon successful sales transaction and payment service taken place between the merchants and their customers online. Our transaction revenue increased by 40.3% to approximately $75,000 for the year ended June 30, 2023 from approximately $54,000 for the same period in 2022. The increase was mainly attributable to the fact that we engaged with 2,010 local merchants to connect them with their customers through our ZCITY platform as of June 30, 2023 compared to 1,985 as of June 30, 2022. Our average percentage of growth of new merchants was approximately 25.3% throughout the quarters as of June 30, 2023 since the establishment of ZCITY platform. Despite of the slowdown in adding new merchants to our platform during the last eight quarters ended as of June 30, 2023, we expect our transaction revenue to increase as soon as the free trial period from TAZTE expires in December 2023.

Agent subscription revenue

Agent subscription revenue primarily consists of fees charged to the agents in exchange for rights by introducing merchants to join our merchant network and to earn a future fixed percentage of commission fees upon completion of each sales transaction between the referred merchants and their customers. We did not recognize any agent subscription revenue for the year end June 30, 2023 mainly due to our shift of business strategies to Zmember subscription revenue which is a member oriented program designated to attract more customer to engage with our ZCITY platform. As we abandoned the agent subscription program, we will not generate any agent subscription revenue going forward.

Member subscription revenue

Member subscription revenue primarily consists of fees charged to customers who signed up for Zmember, a membership program that includes exclusive saving, bonus, and referral rewards. Member subscription revenue increased by 81.4% to approximately $0.4 million for the year end June 30, 2023 as compared to approximately $0.2 million for the same period in 2022 as we launched the Zmember program for the quarter ended in March 31, 2022 to enhance our customer engagement with our ZCITY platform. As of June 30, 2023, we had 22,861 customers who subscribed to our Zmember program.

Sublicense revenue

As we acquired exclusive worldwide license for right of use in Morganfield’s Trademark on May 1, 2023 for a period of five years, we have generated sublicense revenue consist of fee charged to the customers who sublicensed the right of use of the Trademark from us. For the year ended June 30, 2023, sublicense revenue was amounted to approximately $50,000 while as of June 30, 2023 we engaged 7 customers as sublicensees who operated their restaurant under Morganfield’s Trademark in Singapore, Malaysia, and China.

Cost of revenue

Our breakdown of cost of revenue by categories for the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively, is summarized below:

Cost of revenue mainly consists of the purchases of the gift card or “E-voucher” pin code, health care product, and food and beverage products which is directly attributable to our product revenue. Cost of revenue also consists of monthly license payment made to our licensor to maintain our good standing for the right of use in Trademark which is attributable to our sublicense revenue. Total cost of revenue decreased by approximately $10.3 million or 13.0% for the year ended June 30, 2023 compared with the same period in 2022. The decrease was in line with our decreased of revenue.

Gross profit

Our gross profit from our major revenue categories is summarized as follows:

Our gross profit for the year ended June 30, 2023 amounted to approximately $523,000 as compared to approximately $476,000 for the year ended June 30, 2022 which represents an increase of approximately $47,000 or 9.9%. The increase in gross profit was primarily due to the growth in member subscription revenue, as we had more customers subscribed to our Zmember program as of June 30, 2023

The gross margin was approximately 0.8% and 0.6% for the years ended June 30, 2023, and 2022, respectively. The 0.2% increase in gross margin attributed to the rise in gross profit from Member subscription revenue, which has a higher gross margin compared to our other revenue streams.

Operating expenses

Our operating expenses consist of selling expenses, general and administrative expenses, research and development expenses, and stock-based compensation expenses.

Selling expenses

Selling expenses amounted to approximately $4.7 million and $6.3 million for the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Representing a decrease of approximately $1.6 million or 24.8%. The decrease was mainly attributable to decrease in marketing and promotion expense of approximately $1.4 million related to promoting our ZCITY platform. Marketing and promotion expense consists of redemptions of reward points which is generated from non-spending related activities (registration as a new user, referral of a new user and Spin & Win eligibility to receive reward points) in exchange for discounted credit of purchasing our products upon conversion of using the reward points. For the years end June 30, 2023 and 2022, we incurred approximately $1.8 million and $2.8 million, respectively, in marketing and promotion expense, and recognized the same amount of product revenue at the time of redemption of the non-spending related activities reward points by our customers. The decrease in marketing and promotion expense was mainly due to decrease of new registered user, and eventually resulted in less redemption in non-spending related activities reward points by our customers.

General and administrative expenses

General and administrative expenses amounted to approximately $4.7 million and $2.8 million for the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Representing an increase of approximately $1.9 million or 65.6%. The increase was mainly due to increase in salary expense of approximately $0.5 million, director & officer liability insurance expense of approximately $0.1 million, and professional fee of approximately $1.0 million as a result of expansion of management and administration team to support our business operation.

Research and development expenses

Research and development expense amounted to approximately $0.5 million and $0.3 million for the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively, representing 105.9% increase as we increase spending to maintain and enhance our mobile application or website to ensure our customers to have exceptional user experience while navigating within the ZCITY platform.

Stock-based compensation expenses

Stock-based compensation expenses amounted to approximately $0.8 million and $1.3 million for the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022 respectively, representing decrease of approximately $0.5 million. The stock-based compensation incurred for the year ended June 30, 2022 are from Exchange Listing LLC (the “Consultant”). The decreased was mainly due to the Consultant completed its service during the quarter ended December 31, 2022. The decrease was offset by additional stock-based compensation issued to Voon Him “Victor” Hoo for his service as our former director amounted to approximately $0.4 million for the year ended June 30, 2023.

Other expenses, net

Other expenses, net amounted to approximately $1.4 million and $1.6 million for the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Representing a decrease of approximately $0.2 million or 10.4%. The decrease was mainly attributable to decrease of interest expenses of approximately $0.3 million as we have less interest-bearing convertible note outstanding as of June 30, 2023.

Provision for income taxes

Provision for income taxes amounted to approximately $98,000 and $16,000 for the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The amount was attributable to tax imposed on Treasure Global Inc from the State of Delaware, as we are required to remit franchise tax to the State of Delaware on an annual basis. We also were subject to controlled foreign corporations Subpart F income (“Subpart F”) tax, which is a tax primarily on passive income from controlled foreign corporations with a tax rate of 35%. In addition, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act imposed a global intangible low-taxed income (“GILTI”) tax, which is a tax on certain off-shore earnings at an effective rate of 10.5% for tax years (50% deduction of the current enacted tax rate of 21%) with a partial offset for 80% foreign tax credits. If the foreign tax rate is 13.125% or higher, there will be no U.S. corporate tax after the 80% foreign tax credits are applied. For the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, our foreign subsidiaries did not generate any income that are subject to Subpart F tax and GILTI tax.

Net losses

Our net losses decreased by approximately $18,000 predominately due to the reasons as discussed above.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

In assessing liquidity, we monitor and analyze cash on-hand and operating expenditure commitments. Our liquidity needs are to meet working capital requirements and operating expense obligations. To date, we financed our operations primarily through cash flows from contribution from stockholders, issuance of convertible notes, related party loans, and our completion of initial underwritten public offering.

As of June 30, 2023 and 2022, we had approximately $4.6 million and $1.8 million, respectively, in cash and cash equivalent which primarily consists of bank deposits, which are unrestricted as to withdrawal and use.

On August 15, 2022, we had closed our initial underwritten public offering of 2,300,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.00001 per share, at $4.00 per share. We had received aggregate net proceeds from the closing of approximately $8.2 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and fees, and other estimated offering expenses which amounted to approximately $1.0 million.

From February to June 2023, we issued two convertible notes to a third party in an aggregate principal amount of $5,500,000. We received $5,060,000 in proceeds from the third-party net of discount. The convertible notes accrue or will accrue interest at 4% per annum and has a 12-months term.

Despite receiving the proceeds from our initial underwritten public offering and issuance of two convertible notes, management is of the opinion that we will not have sufficient funds to meet the working capital requirements and debt obligations as they become due starting from one year from the date of this report due to our recurring loss. Therefore, management has determined there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. If we are unable to generate significant revenue, we may be required to curtail or cease our operations. Management is trying to alleviate the going concern risk through the following sources:

• Equity financing to support our working capital;
• Other available sources of financing (including debt) from Malaysian banks and other financial institutions; and
• Financial support and credit guarantee commitments from our related parties.

However, there is no guarantee that the substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern will be alleviated.

The following summarizes the key components of our cash flows for the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022:

Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities for the years ended June 30, 2023 was approximately $9.6 million and were mainly comprised of the net loss of approximately $11.7 million, increase of prepayments of approximately $0.1 million as our vendors required us to make deposit to secure the purchase, increase of accounts receivable of approximately $0.2 million as a result of offering credit terms to our corporate customers engaged in the sales of nutrition products, and food and beverage products, increase in inventory of approximately $0.2 million as we increase our inventory level on June 30, 2023 to meet with the demand of our product, and increase of approximately $0.4 million in other receivables and other current assets as we prepaid IT maintenance fee to a third party service provider, offset by amortization of debt discount of approximately $1.3 million, stock-based compensation of approximately $0.8 million, increase of approximately $0.1 million in customer deposits as we incurred deferred revenue related to member subscription revenue for the remaining subscribed period as of June 30, 2023, increase of approximately $0.1 million in contract liability as we deferred more revenue due to increase of our customer’s redemption rate in spending related reward point, and increase of approximately $0.5 million in other payables and accrued liabilities mainly related to the accrued professional expenses.

Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended June 30, 2022 was approximately $8.7 million and were mainly comprised of the net loss of approximately $11.7 million, decrease of accounts payable (including related parties) of approximately $0.2 million as we had pay out some of the accounts payable balance to the third parties or related parties vendors timely, decrease of customer deposits, related parties of approximately $0.2 million as we had returned the deposit related to I.T professional service back to the related parties due to projects abandoned, and decrease of other payables, related parties as we paid out the remaining balance of professional fee incurred from two related parties of approximately $0.1 million. The net cash used in operating activities was mainly offset by amortization of debt discount of approximately $1.3 million, stock-based compensation of approximately $1.3 million, increase of inventories of approximately $0.2 million as we improved our inventories turnover rate due to demand of our product, and the increase in other payables and accrued liability of approximately $0.7 million mainly related to the accrued professional expenses.

Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended June 30, 2023 was approximately $61,000, which mainly due to purchase of equipment of approximately $87,000 for our operations used, and offset with proceeds of approximately $26,000 received from disposal of our office equipment.

Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended June 30, 2022 was approximately $0.3 million, mainly due to purchase of equipment for our operations.

Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended June 30, 2023 was approximately $12.7 million, which mainly comprised of proceeds received from the issuance of convertible notes to third parties of approximately $7.7 million, proceeds received from our initial public offering of approximately $8.2 million, and proceeds received from third parties loans of approximately $0.6 million, offset by repayment to related parties, third parties loans, and insurance loan of approximately $3.8 million, repayment of senior note of $65,000, and $15,000 payment of deferred offering costs.

Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended June 30, 2022 was approximately $8.2 million, which were mainly comprised of proceeds received from the issuance of convertible note from third parties and related parties of approximately $8.6 million, and proceeds received from third parties loans of approximately $1.5 million, offset by repayment to related parties loan of approximately $1.8 million, and approximately $0.1 million payment of deferred offering costs.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

As of the date of this Annual Report, we have the following off-balance sheet arrangements that are likely to have a future effect on our financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations and liquidity:

Commitment

On May 1, 2023, our subsidiary Morgan enter into a worldwide master license agreement (“License Agreement”) with Morganfield’s Holdings Sdn Bhd (“Licensor”), an unrelated third party. Pursuant to the License agreement, the Licensor agreed to grant Morgan with the exclusive worldwide license for right of use in Morganfield’s Trademark (“Trademark”) for a period of five years. During the five years license period, Morgan is obligated to pay the licensor for license fee on monthly basis in an aggregate total of minimum payment of approximately $1.5 million or 40% of the total monthly collection from Morgan’s sub-licensees, whichever is higher.

On June 6, 2023, we entered into a worldwide master license agreement (“License Agreement 2”) with Sigma Muhibah Sdn Bhd (“Licensor 2”), an unrelated third party. Pursuant to the License Agreement 2, the Licensor 2 agreed to grant the AY Food Ventures Sdn Bhd with the exclusive worldwide license for right of use in Abe Yus’s Trademark (“Trademark 2”) for a period of five years. During the five years license period, we agree to pay the licensor 2 for license fee on monthly basis in an aggregate total of minimum payment of approximately $1.2 million or 40% of the total monthly collection from our sub-licensees, whichever is higher.

Critical Accounting Estimate

Our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes have been prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis of making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. We have identified certain accounting estimates that are significant to the preparation of our financial statements. These estimates are important for an understanding of our financial condition and results of operation. Certain accounting estimates are particularly sensitive because of their significance to financial statements and because of the possibility that future events affecting the estimate may differ significantly from management’s current judgments. We believe the following critical accounting estimates involve the most significant estimates and judgments used in the preparation of our financial statements.

The preparation of these consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities as of the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the periods presented. Significant accounting estimates reflected in our consolidated financial statements include the estimated retail price per point and estimated breakage to calculate the revenue recognized in our loyalty program revenue, the useful lives of property and equipment, impairment of long-lived assets, allowance for doubtful accounts, write-down for estimated obsolescence or unmarketable inventories, realization of deferred tax assets and uncertain tax position, fair value of our stock price to determine the beneficial conversion feature (“BCF”) within the convertible note, fair value of the stock-based compensation, and fair value of the warrants issued. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Accounts receivable, net

Accounts receivable are recorded at the invoiced amount, net of an allowance for uncollectible accounts, and do not accrue interest. We offer various payments terms to customers from cash due on delivery to 90 days based on their credit history. Accounts receivable encompass amounts due from agent subscription revenue, sales of healthcare products on our ZCITY platform, sublicensing revenue, and sales of food and beverage products. Management regularly assesses the adequacy of the allowance for doubtful accounts by considering historical collection trends and aging of receivables. Additionally, management periodically evaluates individual customer financial conditions, credit histories, and current economic conditions to make necessary adjustments to the allowance. Account balances are charged off against the allowance when all collection efforts have been exhausted, and recovery potential is deemed remote. Our management reviews historical accounts receivable collection rates across all aging brackets and has made 100% provision for customer balances aged above 120 days for sales of healthcare products on our ZCITY platform and 100% provision for customer balances aged above 60 days for sublicensing revenue and sales of food and beverage products. Our management continuously assesses the reasonableness of the valuation allowance policy and updates it as needed. As of June 30, 2023, and 2022, our allowance for accounts receivable was $214 and $227, respectively.

Inventories

Our inventories are recorded at the lower of cost or net realizable value, with cost determined using the first-in-first-out (FIFO) method. These costs encompass gift cards or ‘E-voucher’ pin codes, which are acquired from our suppliers as merchandise goods or store credit, as well as healthcare products. Management conducts regular comparisons between the cost of inventories and their net realizable value. If the net realizable value is lower than the cost, an allowance is made for inventory write-down. Ongoing assessments of inventories are carried out to identify potential write-downs due to estimated obsolescence or unmarketability. This determination is based on the difference between the inventory costs and the estimated net realizable value, considering forecasts for future demand and market conditions. Once inventories are written down to the lower of cost or net realizable value, they are not subsequently marked up based on changes in underlying facts and circumstances. Our management has reviewed the aforementioned factors and has applied a 100% write-down for inventories aged above 180 days related to our E-voucher and health care products. For the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, $0, and $8,805 write-downs for estimated obsolescence or unmarketable inventories were recorded, respectively.

Other receivables and other current assets, net

Other receivables and other current assets primarily include refundable advance to third party service provider and other deposits. Management regularly reviews the aging of receivables and changes in payment trends and records allowances when management believes collection of amounts due are at risk. Accounts considered uncollectable are written off against allowances after exhaustive efforts at collection are made. No allowance of other receivables and other current assets were recorded as of June 30, 2023 and 2022.

Prepayments

Prepayments and deposits are mainly cash deposited or advanced to suppliers for future inventory purchases. This amount is refundable and bears no interest. For any prepayments determined by management that such advances will not be in receipt of inventories, services, or refundable, we will recognize an allowance account to reserve such balances. Management reviews our prepayments on a regular basis to determine if the allowance is adequate, and adjusts the allowance when necessary. Delinquent account balances are written-off against allowance for doubtful accounts after management has determined that the likelihood of collection is not probable. Our management continues to evaluate the reasonableness of the valuation allowance policy and updates it if necessary. No allowance of prepayments were recorded as of June 30, 2023 and 2022.

Impairment for long-lived assets

Long-lived assets, including property and equipment with finite lives are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances (such as a significant adverse change to market conditions that will impact the future use of the assets) indicate that the carrying value of an asset may not be recoverable. We assessed the recoverability of the assets based on the undiscounted future cash flows the assets are expected to generate and recognize an impairment loss when estimated undiscounted future cash flows expected to result from the use of the asset plus net proceeds expected from disposition of the asset, if any, are less than the carrying value of the asset. If an impairment is identified, we would reduce the carrying amount of the asset to its estimated fair value based on a discounted cash flows approach or, when available and appropriate, to comparable market values. No impairment for long-lived assets were recorded as of June 30, 2023 and 2022.

Revenue recognition

Loyalty program

- Performance obligations satisfied over time

Our ZCITY reward loyalty program allows members to earn points on purchases that can be redeemed for rewards that include discounts on future purchases. When members purchase our product or make purchase with our participated vendor through ZCITY, we allocate the transaction price between the product or service, and the reward points earned based on the relative stand-alone selling prices and expected point redemption. The portion allocated to the reward points is initially recorded as contract liability and subsequently recognized as revenue upon redemption or expiration.

The two primary estimates utilized to record the contract liability for reward points earned by members are the estimated retail price per point and estimated breakage. The estimated retail price per point is based on the actual historical retail prices of product purchased or service obtained through the redemption of reward points. We estimate breakage of reward points based on historical redemption rates. We continually evaluate our methodology and assumptions based on developments in retail price per point redeemed, redemption patterns and other factors. Changes in the retail price per point and redemption rates have the effect of either increasing or decreasing the contract liability through current period revenue by an amount estimated to represent the retail value of all points previously earned but not yet redeemed by loyalty program members as of the end of the reporting period.

Income taxes

Deferred taxes are accounted for using the asset and liability method in respect of temporary differences arising from differences between the carrying amount of assets and liabilities in the consolidated financial statements and the corresponding tax basis used in the computation of assessable tax profit. In principle, deferred tax liabilities are recognized for all taxable temporary differences. Deferred tax assets are recognized to the extent that it is probable that taxable profit will be available against which deductible temporary differences can be utilized. Deferred tax is calculated using tax rates that are expected to apply to the period when the asset is realized or the liability is settled. Deferred tax is charged or credited in the income statement, except when it is related to items credited or charged directly to equity, in which case the deferred tax is also dealt with in equity. Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance when, in the opinion of management, it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. Current income taxes are provided for in accordance with the laws of the relevant taxing authorities.

An uncertain tax position is recognized as a benefit only if it is “more likely than not” that the tax position would be sustained in a tax examination, with a tax examination being presumed to occur. The amount recognized is the largest amount of tax benefit that is greater than 50% likely of being realized on examination. For tax positions not meeting the “more likely than not” test, no tax benefit is recorded.

Stock-based compensation

We recognize compensation costs resulting from the issuance of stock-based awards to third party consultant and former director as an expense in the statements of operations over the requisite service period based on a measurement of fair value for each stock-based award. The fair value of each warrants granted are estimated as of the grant date using the Black-Scholes-Merton option-pricing model while the fair value of each common stock granted are estimated using the Company’s closing stock price on the grant date. The fair value is amortized as compensation cost on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period of the awards. The Black-Scholes-Merton option-pricing model includes various assumptions, including the fair market value of the common stock of the Company, expected life of stock options, the expected volatility and the expected risk-free interest rate, among others. These assumptions reflect the Company’s best estimates, but they involve inherent uncertainties based on market conditions generally outside the control of the Company. The fair value of the stock-based compensation which included warrants and common stock issued were estimated to be $819,332 and $1,283,994 for the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Convertible notes

We evaluate our convertible notes to determine if those contracts or embedded components of those contracts qualify as derivatives. The result of this accounting treatment is that the fair value of the embedded derivative is recorded at fair value each reporting period and recorded as a liability. In the event that the fair value is recorded as a liability, the change in fair value is recorded in the statements of operations as other income or expense.

In circumstances where the embedded conversion option in a convertible instrument is required to be bifurcated and there are also other embedded derivative instruments in the convertible instrument that are required to be bifurcated, the bifurcated derivative instruments are accounted for as a single, compound derivative instrument.

If the conversion features of conventional convertible debt provide for a rate of conversion that is below market value at issuance, this feature is characterized as a beneficial conversion feature (“BCF”). A BCF is recorded by us as a debt discount pursuant to ASC Topic 470-20 “Debt with Conversion and Other Options.” In those circumstances, the convertible debt is recorded net of the discount related to the BCF, and we amortize the discount to interest expense, over the life of the debt.

Warrants

We account for warrants as equity-classified instruments in accordance with ASC 480 and ASC 815. The fair value of each warrant granted is estimated as of the date of grant using the Black-Scholes-Merton option-pricing model. The fair value is amortized as compensation cost on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period of the awards. The Black-Scholes-Merton option-pricing model includes various assumptions, including the fair market value of our common stock, expected life of stock options, the expected volatility and the expected risk-free interest rate, among others. These assumptions reflect our best estimates, but they involve inherent uncertainties based on market conditions generally outside our control. Based on the above assumption, the fair value of the warrants issued were estimated to be $175,349 for the year ended June 30, 2023.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

See Note 2 of the notes to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this report for a discussion of recently issued accounting standards.

The Company is a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and is not required to provide the information required under this item.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

As of the end of the period covered by this Report, we carried out an evaluation, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in the Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, based on the foregoing evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that, as of June 30, 2023, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective at the reasonable assurance level due to the material weaknesses described below.

Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act). Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of June 30, 2023, based on the Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) (2013 Framework). Based on this evaluation under the 2013 Framework, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer have concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of June 30, 2023 due to the following material weaknesses:

• Inadequate U.S. GAAP expertise. The current accounting staff is inexperienced in applying U.S. GAAP standard as they are primarily engaged in ensuring compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) accounting and reporting requirement for our consolidated operating entities, and thus require substantial training. The current staff’s accounting skills and understanding as to how to fulfill the requirements of U.S. GAAP-based reporting, including subsidiary financial statements consolidation, are inadequate;
• Inadequate internal audit function. We lack of a functional internal audit department or personnel that monitors the consistencies of the preventive internal control procedures and lack of adequate policies and procedures in internal audit function to ensure that our policies and procedures have been carried out as planned;

A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, within the meaning of PCAOB Auditing Standard AS 2201, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the Company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

Following the identification of the material weaknesses, we plan to take remedial measures including:

• hiring more qualified accounting personnel with relevant U.S. GAAP and SEC reporting experience and qualifications to strengthen the financial reporting function and to set up a financial and system control framework;
• implementing regular and continuous U.S. GAAP accounting and financial reporting training programs for our accounting and financial reporting personnel;
• establishing internal audit function by engaging an external consulting firm to assist us with assessment of Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance requirements and improvement of overall internal control; and
• strengthening corporate governance.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Other than the applicable remediation efforts implemented during the quarter ended June 30, 2023 as described below, there were no other changes in our internal control over financial reporting identified in management’s evaluation pursuant to Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act during the quarter ended June 30, 2023 that materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

• We developed and implemented comprehensive policies and procedures for IT risk assessment, vulnerability management, user account management, and password management. These policies have improved the security and integrity of our IT systems and data, ensuring that access is appropriately managed and monitored. These policies also mitigated the risk of unauthorized access and data breaches;
• We implemented policies and procedures designed to enhance our control framework on segregation of duties and related monitoring. This has mitigated the risk of unauthorized access and data breaches;
• We implemented procedures to identify related party transactions and to provide proper disclosure on our consolidated financial statement; and
• We developed and implemented robust procedures by recognizing the importance of third-party IT service vendor risk assessment and management. These procedures allow us to assess and manage risks associated with third-party IT service vendors effectively, minimizing potential vulnerabilities.