SKYX Platforms Corp.: Form 10-K for the period ended Dec 31, 2024
Filed with the SEC on Mar 24, 2025 and accepted by EDGAR at Mar 24, 2025, 20:15 ET.
Business
As filed, 52,178 characters, with its headings, lists and tables. Extracted from the main document; charts and exhibits are in the original on sec.gov.
Our Mission
As electricity is a standard in every home and building, our mission is to make homes and buildings become safe advanced and smart as the standard.
Overview
Sky Technologies has a series of highly disruptive advanced-safe-smart platform technologies, with almost 100 U.S. and global patents and patent pending applications. Our technologies place an emphasis on high quality and ease of use, while significantly enhancing both safety and lifestyle in homes and buildings. We believe that our products are a necessity in every room in both homes and other buildings in the U.S. and globally. In addition, during 2023, we expanded our operations by acquiring an online retailer and e-commerce provider specializing in home lighting, ceiling fans, and other home furnishings.
Our first- and second-generation technologies enable light fixtures, ceiling fans and other electrically wired products to be installed safely and plugged in to a ceiling’s electrical outlet box within seconds, and without the need to touch hazardous wires. The plug and play technology method is a universal power-plug device that has a matching receptacle that is simply connected to the electrical outlet box on the ceiling, enabling a safe and quick plug and play installation of light fixtures and ceiling fans in just seconds. The plug and play power-plug technology eliminates the need of touching hazardous electrical wires while installing light fixtures, ceiling fans and other hard wired electrical products. In recent years, we have expanded the capabilities of our power-plug product, to include advanced safe and quick universal installation methods, as well as advanced smart capabilities. The smart features include control of light fixtures and ceiling fans by the SkyHome App, through WIFI, Bluetooth Low Energy (“BLE”) and voice control connections. The SkyHome App allows scheduling, energy saving-eco mode, dimming, back-up emergency light, night light, light color changing and much more.
We believe that due to safety, convenience, cost, and time that all hard-wired electrical products, such as light fixtures, ceiling fans and other products, should become plug and play and smart, as the standard, enabling consumers to plug their fixtures and control them through their smart phones at any time.
Our third-generation technology is an all-in-one safe and smart advanced platform (the “Smart Sky Platform”) that is designed to enhance all-around safety and lifestyle of homes and other buildings.
We believe that our patented advanced, safe and smart home platform technologies will enhance and promote safety in homes and buildings and make them smart, as a standard, in a fraction of the time and cost, as compared to other market products.
We believe that our smart home products will enable builders to deliver smart homes as a standard, in the same way they deliver electricity and appliances as a standard.
As our products, including our advanced, safe and smart products, can be easily implemented and installed in both existing and new homes and buildings in just minutes, installing our products is expected to save a major part of the cost and time associated with installation of smart home products. As many people spend the majority of time at their homes, we believe that they should have an affordable, easily installed, standard solution to make their homes safe, secured and smart. Similar to how smartphones serve people as an all-in-one personal smart platform, we believe that our all-in-one Smart Sky Platform will enable every room in homes and other buildings to include a smart platform as a standard.
The Smart Sky Platform technology is an open system that can integrate with both existing and new smart home features, devices, and systems. The Smart Sky Platform is designed and built in a way that it can accommodate additional smart home features, enabling the platform to serve as a gateway for safe and smart technologies into rooms/homes, buildings, and that it can act like a “Panama-Canal” that can accommodate other type of software systems, wireless systems, electronic chips and more.
Substantially most of our revenues come from the resale of third-party products, which include ceiling fans, heaters, light fixtures, paired, to the extent possible, with our standard “plug and play” feature either built in or with an adaptive kit. The products with the plug and play built in feature are described further below under “Products-Our First Product Gen-1: The Weight Bearing Power-Plug”. Our newer line of products, include a universal “plug and play” adapter kit, Our smart products, which will include smart light fixtures and ceiling fans with our smart “plug and play” features, and our Sky Smart Gen-3 All-in-One Smart Home Platform. Additional information regarding our newer line of products is described below under “Products-Advanced Products” and “-Smart Products- Gen-2.” We shifted to smart products because we believe that the market has great demand for smart advanced products, and that we will be able to generate significant sales from our new line of advanced and smart products from direct sales as well as from licensing. All advanced and smart products, other than our Smart Sky Platform, were available during 2023 and we expect our Smart SKY Platform will be available within the next 12 months. We also expect to continually expand the collection of third-party products that can be paired with our “plug and play” technology.
E-Commerce
On April 28, 2023, we completed our acquisition (the “Closing”) of all of the issued and outstanding shares of Belami, an online retailer and e-commerce provider specializing in home lighting, ceiling fans, and other home furnishings. Many of the 60 websites acquired serve as a marketing and growth platform for our smart products and provide several distribution channels, including to retail customers, builders, and professionals.
The acquisition was completed in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Stock Purchase Agreement, dated February 6, 2023, between the Company and the stockholders of Belami (the “Sellers”) (as amended, the “Stock Purchase Agreement). The purchase price paid at the Closing consisted of $7,000,000 in cash (which excluded, among other things, $1.0 million released to the Sellers from escrow) and an aggregate of 1,923,285 shares of the Company’s common stock. At the Closing, $750,000 of the purchase price was deposited into an escrow account, and was held for 12 months following the Closing as a source of recourse for claims the Company may have against the Sellers under the Stock Purchase Agreement. Prior to the Closing, Belami issued the following promissory notes to the Sellers, which remain in place following the Closing and are guaranteed by the Company: (i) promissory notes in an aggregate amount of $1.0 million, which were paid in July 2023, which have a 90-day term and an interest rate of 4.86% per annum (the “Closing Notes”); and (ii) promissory notes in the aggregate amount of $239,266 (the “Retained Earnings Notes”), which was equal to the difference between retained earnings, on the one hand, and the cash and Closing Notes distributed to the Sellers prior to the Closing, on the other hand, and which amount is subject to adjustment, which have a one-year term and an interest rate of 4.86% per annum.
The Company agreed to pay to the Sellers on the first anniversary of the Closing, or April 28, 2024, (i) $3,117,408 in cash and (ii) a number of shares of common stock equal to $5,560,262 divided by $3.00 per share. The deferred payment was subject to a working capital adjustment, as provided for in the Stock Purchase Agreement, and o offset for indemnification claims.
On March 29, 2024, the Company and the Sellers entered into a letter agreement modifying certain obligations under the Stock Purchase Agreement. In connection with the letter agreement, the Company issued convertible promissory notes to each of the Sellers (the “Seller Note(s)”) in substitution of an aggregate of $3,117,408 in cash due to the Sellers on the first anniversary of the Closing. Each Seller received a Seller Note in an amount of $1,039,303 on the same date. In addition to other customary terms, the Seller Notes bear annual interest at 10%, with interest and principal becoming due on May 16, 2025, and can be converted by the Sellers at any time at $3.00 per share of our common stock. The Seller Notes include customary events of default accelerating maturity, including a breach of the Company’s covenants, representations and warranties under the Stock Purchase Agreement and a change of control of Belami. The Company performed all other obligations pursuant to the letter agreement arising on the first anniversary of the Closing, including issuance of shares of common stock due to the Sellers, and the release of $750,000 held in escrow.
Safety
We believe that safety is a necessity and the top priority in all aspects of life. Therefore, our technologies and products emphasize human safety, home, building and property safety and security, while combining safety features with high demand smart home features. We believe our products should contribute to the elimination of many cases of hazardous incidents, including ladder falls, electric shock/electrocutions, fires, carbon monoxide poisonings, injuries and deaths, as management believes that our products will result in easier installation processes and enhance the use of life saving products such as smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and emergency lights, among other products. Our products, including the Smart Sky Platform, incorporate our “plug and play” technology, which eliminates the need to touch wires during the later plug-in installation, replacement and maintenance, and cleaning and, accordingly, could result in reduced incidents of electrical shocks and fires resulting from faulty wiring. While the installation of our products and retrofitting of electrical services does not require the services of a licensed electrician, it does not preclude the services of a licensed electrician. As more individuals engage in do-it-yourself (DIY) lighting projects, using our products rather than traditional lighting products could reduce incidents of incorrect wiring, shocks, injury and even death. In addition, we believe installing our products will allow installers to spend less time on a ladder during initial installation. Installers often wire light fixtures and fans while also holding such fixture or fan; with our products, including the Smart Sky Platform, the initial receptacle installation will be completed on the ladder and, afterwards, the fixture can simply be plugged into place, resulting in a faster and, we believe, much safer process, as installers can focus on wiring without also holding potentially heavy or breakable fixtures. Further, the Smart Sky Platform will incorporate a hard-wired smoke detector with battery back-up and a carbon monoxide monitor, which we believe could reduce injuries and deaths from fire and carbon monoxide poisoning.
Products
Our products are designed to improve all around home and building safety and lifestyle. We are continuing to refine our products and began manufacturing certain advanced and smart products during 2023 and expect to manufacture and make commercially available our Smart Sky Platform during 2025.
Our First Product Gen-1: The Weight Bearing Power-Plug
Our first patented technology was the Gen-1 Power-Plug, a weight bearing power plug that acts as a safe and quick installation device, designed for “plug and play” installation of weight bearing electronics, such as light fixtures, ceiling fans and other electrical products, into ceiling electrical outlet boxes.
Our patented technology consists of a fixable socket and a revolving plug (the Power-Plug) for conducting electric power and supporting an electrical appliance attached to a wall or ceiling. The socket is comprised of a non-conductive body that houses conductive rings connectable to an electric power supply through terminals in its side exterior. The Power-Plug, which is comprised of a non-conductive body that houses corresponding conductive rings, attaches to the socket via a male post and can feed electric power to an appliance. The Power-Plug also includes a second structural element allowing it to revolve with a releasable latch that, when engaged, provides a retention force between the socket and the Power-Plug to prevent disengagement. The socket and Power-Plug can be detached by releasing the latch, disengaging the electric power from the Power-Plug. The socket is designed to replace the support bar incorporated in electric junction boxes, and the Power-Plug can be installed in light fixtures, ceiling fans, wall sconce fixtures and other electrical devices and products. Once installed, the socket can remain affixed to the junction box, enabling any electronic fixture installed with the Power-Plug to be connected and/or removed in seconds. The combined socket and Power-Plug technology are referred to throughout this Form 10-K as the “Sky Plug & Receptacle”.
We previously sold products with the Sky Plug & Receptacle built in, including ceiling fans and light fixtures. We wound down the sales of our standard products by discontinuing production of light fixtures and ceiling fans that include the older version of our standard Sky Plug & Receptacle in favor of launching our new line of products described below.
Advanced Gen-1 Products
Sky Universal Power-Plug & Receptacle: Our universal “plug and play” Sky Plug & Receptacle technology is comprised of two devices. The first device is a male Power-Plug Retrofit Kit, which can be easily embedded in the base of light fixtures and ceiling fans. The second device is a Ceiling Receptacle, which can be connected to a ceiling outlet box. After a one-time installation of the Ceiling Receptacle to a ceiling outlet box, a light fixture or ceiling fan that includes the Power-Plug Retrofit Kit can be plugged into the Ceiling Receptacle within seconds. The Universal Power-Plug & Receptacle should contribute to the elimination of hazardous incidents in homes and buildings including ladder falls, electric shock/electrocutions, fires, injuries, and deaths, etc.
Smart Products
Our Gen-2 Smart Products have advanced smart and safety technologies, have unique modern designs and are controlled by our proprietary SkyHome App or through voice control. All these products can be linked to the SkyHome application that works with both iPhones and Android phones to control features and specifications of connected devices, such as scheduling and eco/energy-saving mode. Gen-2 products also integrate with AI home assistants Siri, Alexa, Google Home, Samsung SmartThings, and more. Our SkyHome App and Gen-2 products are an open system that can integrate with other smart home devices and systems.
SkyHome App: Our proprietary SkyHome Application works with both iPhones and Android phones. The SkyHome App controls products through WIFI and BLE and is designed to control our products through additional communication methods as needed. The SkyHome App controls various products, features and specifications, including scheduling, safety features, security features, lifestyle features, sound, lights, dimming, emergency back-up battery and much more.
Sky Smart Gen-2 - Universal Power-Plug & Receptacle: Our Sky Smart Universal Power-Plug & Receptacle system contains two devices. First, the male Smart Power-Plug, which includes a smart electronic board, comes as a Retrofit Kit, that can be simply embedded to the base of light fixtures and ceiling fans, enabling them to become both “plug and play” and smart. The second device is a Ceiling Receptacle that can be simply connected to a ceiling outlet box. After a one-time simple installation of the Ceiling Receptacle to a ceiling outlet box, a light fixture or ceiling fan that includes the male Smart Power-Plug Retrofit Kit can be plugged into the Ceiling Receptacle within seconds. Our Smart Power-Plug is controlled by our proprietary SkyHome App or through voice control and is an open system that can integrate with other smart home devices and systems. Our Smart Power-Plug is connected through WIFI and BLE, and includes numerous smart features, including scheduling, energy saving-eco mode, dimming, back-up emergency light, night light, light color changing and more. We believe that, due to safety, convenience, cost and time, all hard-wired electrical products, such as light fixtures and ceiling fans, should become plug and play and smart, as the standard, enabling consumers to plug their fixture and control them through their smart phones at any time. The Smart Universal Power-Plug & Receptacle should contribute to the elimination of hazardous incidents in homes and buildings including ladder falls, electric shock/electrocutions, fires, injuries, and deaths, etc.
Sky - Smart Gen2 for Plug and Play Ceiling Fans: Our line of high-end smart plug and play ceiling fans can be installed to our matching ceiling receptacle within seconds. Our smart ceiling fans incorporate advanced technologies, have unique modern designs, and are controlled by our proprietary SkyHome App or through voice control, and are an open system that can integrate with other smart home devices and systems. Our Smart Plug and Play Ceiling Fan is connected through WIFI and BLE, and includes numerous smart features, including scheduling, energy saving-eco mode, dimming, back-up emergency light, night light, light color changing and more. We believe that, due to safety, convenience, cost and time, all hard-wired electrical products, such as ceiling fans, should become plug and play and smart, as the standard, enabling consumers to plug their fixture and control them through their smart phones at any time. The Smart Plug and Play Ceiling Fan should contribute to the elimination of hazardous incidents in homes and buildings including ladder falls, electric shock/electrocutions, fires, injuries, and deaths, etc.
Sky - Smart Gen-2 for Plug and Play Lighting: Our line of high-end Smart Plug and Play light fixtures can be installed to our matching ceiling receptacle within seconds. Our smart light fixtures incorporate advanced technologies, have unique modern designs, and are controlled by our proprietary SkyHome App or through voice control, and are an open system that can integrate with other smart home devices and systems. Our smart light fixture is connected through WIFI and BLE, and includes numerous smart features, including scheduling, energy saving-eco mode, dimming, back-up emergency light, night light, light color changing and more. We believe that, due to safety, convenience, cost and time, all hard-wired electrical products, such as light fixtures, should become plug and play and smart, as the standard, enabling consumers to plug their fixture and control them through their smart phones at any time. The Smart Plug and Play Lighting should contribute to the elimination of hazardous incidents in homes and buildings including ladder falls, electric shock/electrocutions, fires, injuries, and deaths, etc.
Sky - All-In-One Smart Sky Platform: As most people spend a majority of their time in their homes, we believe that they should have an easy solution to make their homes safe, secure, and smart in a simple way and as the standard. We believe that our patented advanced-safe-smart home platform technologies will make homes and buildings safer, and have numerous technological features and smart as a standard, in a fraction of time and cost, compared to other market products. Our all-in-one Smart Sky Platform is designed to enhance the all-around safety and lifestyle of homes and other buildings and can be easily implemented and installed to the ceiling receptacle in both existing and new homes and other buildings within minutes. Our Smart Sky Platform includes advanced smart and safety technologies, has unique modern designs and is controlled by our proprietary SkyHome App or through voice control. It is an open system that can integrate with other smart home devices and systems.
As smart phones serve people as an all-in-one personal smart platform, we believe that our all-in-one Smart Sky Platform technology will enable every room in homes and buildings to have a smart platform as a standard. Our Smart Sky Platform is connected through WIFI and BLE, includes numerous smart and safety features, including a smart smoke detector, a smart carbon monoxide detector, time scheduling, temperature sensor, humidity sensor, WIFI extender, energy saving-eco mode, high quality speakers, and a back-up battery that can power back-up internet and an emergency light, as well as dimming, night light, light color changing and more. The platform’s electrical power and transformer, combined with the size of our platform’s data storage space, which represents vast electronic “Real-Estate” in terms of today’s technology, driven by microchips, enables the platform to accommodate a significant amount of software as well as electronic microchips, while the unique ceiling location of the platform significantly enhances the performance of the platform’s features, including WIFI and BLE, as well as the performance of sensors and alarms.
The Smart Sky Platform is inconspicuous to the décor. It is designed to install in only minutes over existing ceiling electrical outlet boxes while allowing any pre-existing fixture to reconnect to the same box utilizing our Retrofit Kits. This innovation gives our products access to the best location for the gathering and distribution of electronic signals, virtually unlimited power for our low-voltage safety and smart features, and a vast amount of electronic real estate.
This open-system Smart Sky Platform Gen-3 is intended to seamlessly integrate unrelated safe and smart products into a single, spatially designed unit whose functionality is controlled by an all-in-one app, the SkyHome App. The Smart Sky Platform is intended to eliminate the need for installation of numerous stand-alone devices and their integration into a single working unit.
The adoption of the Smart Sky Platform should contribute to the elimination of hazardous incidents in homes and buildings including ladder falls, electric shock/electrocutions, fires, carbon monoxide poisonings, injuries, and deaths, etc.
Sustainability
We aim to provide safe and sustainable solutions to consumers, who increasingly consider sustainability and energy efficiency when purchasing products. We believe that creating sustainable products and streamlining our operations drives efficiency, innovation and, ultimately, long-term value-creation. In designing and improving our products, we consider and apply sustainability strategies, as appropriate. For example, our products’ features include an energy savings economical mode, which can help users reduce their energy consumption, and we generally use LED lighting in our ceiling fans and light fixtures, which is more energy-efficient than traditional lighting products.
Cybersecurity
We have implemented measures and protocols to ensure that our users’ information is safe and protected. We use high level of cybersecurity measures and protocols to ensure that our software, technologies, servers, products, platform, and devices are all protected to prevent any type of unauthorized or illegal access or interference to our software, technologies, servers, products, platforms, and devices.
Our products, platforms and devices communicate over MQTT and are encrypted over Transport Layer Security, with each individual product, platform and device having its own set of certificates, keys, and universally unique identifiers, which ensures that each device can only communicate with its own topic. This ensures that even in extreme cases of illegally gaining control over a specific device, it will not affect other devices.
Each login to the platform generates the user a temporary token that grants access to the services for a limited amount of time, which ensures that there is no permanent access token that can be used by hackers for unauthorized access. Each token has permissions to access only the user’s resources.
Our solutions are designed in a way that the user will need to conduct a restricted set of permissions, thus minimizing the risk of unwanted users gaining control over other locations.
Sky Plug & Receptacle - NEC Code
The National Electrical Code (“NEC”) is the U.S. electrical safety building code, and is the benchmark for safe electrical design, installation, and inspection to protect people and property from electrical hazards. It has been adopted in some form in all 50 states in the United States and is intended to improve safety in U.S. homes and buildings.
Based on the safety aspects of the Sky Plug & Receptacle, it was voted into the NEC and is represented by 10 different segments in the NEC Code Book. The Company has provided data relating to safety aspects of its receptacle as to electrocutions, fires and ladder falls to NEC.
One of the key votes and segments relating to our technologies in the NEC Code Book was the change of the definition of “receptacle” in the Code Book, which we believe is one of the most significant additions to the NEC in the past 120 years. The NEC leads the United States and globally with respect to electrical safety standards; as such, we believe the reputable standards of the NEC can assist with the adoption of our technology in additional countries.
Pursuant to these NEC provisions, the Sky Plug & Receptacle enables builders to expedite and obtain a Certificate of Occupancy without the need to install a light fixture to the ceiling.
During the third quarter of 2022, the Company received NEC generic name approval for its weight-bearing safe plug and play outlet/receptacle for ceilings as WSCR (Weight-Supporting Ceiling Receptacle) for its universal ceiling outlet and WSAF (Weight-Supporting Attachment Fitting) for its ceiling plug. The specifications for the WSCR and WSAF received a standardization approval vote by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), leading U.S. standardization organizations. The American National Standards Institute’s and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association’s vote for the standardization of the Company’s weightbearing plug and outlet/receptacle for ceilings does not guarantee approval by the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) Committee on the National Electrical Code (which consists of multiple code-making panels and a technical correlating committee and develops the NEC) or any other trade or regulatory organization and does not guarantee that any of the Company’s products will become NEC mandatory in any jurisdiction, or that any of the Company’s current or future products or technologies will be adopted by any state, country, or municipality, within any specific timeframe or at all.
We filed an application with the NEC seeking mandatory safety standardization for our ceiling outlet receptacle platform in September 2023. The filing of the Company’s application for a mandatory safety standardization with the NEC does not guarantee approval within any specific timeframe or at all.
Intellectual Property
Developing and maintaining a strong intellectual property position is one of the most important elements of our business. We rely on a combination of patents, copyright, trademarks, and trade secret laws, as well as confidential procedures and contractual provisions, to protect our proprietary technology and our brands. We enter into confidentiality and proprietary rights agreements with our employees, consultants and other third parties. We have sought, and will continue to seek, patent protection for our technology and for improvements to our technology, as well as for any of our other technologies where we believe such protection will be advantageous. In addition, certain intellectual property and proprietary information held by a third party is central to our products and technologies. If we lose our rights to use such intellectual property and proprietary information in the future, our business or operating results and our ability to compete could be adversely impacted.
We protect our intellectual property through various aspects and strategies including broad and particular intellectual property claims. We have over 96 U.S. and global patents and patent applications, including in China, India, and Europe, as well in other countries around the world. These patents and patent applications protect different aspects of our technologies. We sought intellectual property protection of our technologies in China due to our current manufacturing operations and prospective sales in China’s market, and we sought protection in India in anticipation of future growth into India’s developing market, both with respect to the sales of our products and our potential operations. As of December 31, 2024, in the U.S., we owned 10 issued patents, which expire from 2036 to 2038, and four pending or published but not yet issued patents, and outside of the U.S., we owned 29 issued patents, which expire from 2026 to 2039, and 53 pending or published but not yet issued patents. We intend to diligently maintain and vigorously defend our intellectual property and to enhance our patent protections actively and continuously in the U.S. and globally. The issued patents are directed to various aspects of our platform technologies, including our smart and standard plug and play products, as well as our safe and smart platform technologies. As further innovations are developed, we intend to seek additional patent protection to enhance and maintain our competitive advantage. Additionally, we have submitted 10 trademark applications, seven of which have been issued and three of which are pending.
General Electric Agreement
In December 2023, the Company renewed its five-year Licensing Master Services Agreement for U.S. and global licensing services of its standard and smart products (the “GE MSA”) with GE Technology Development, Inc. (“GE”), while sunsetting its original License Trademark Agreement with GE Trademark Licensing, Inc. (“GE-TL”). The term of the GE MSA runs for an initial five-year term, includes automatic one-year renewal provisions, and replaces the Company’s Master Services Agreement for global licensing services with GE dated June 14, 2019. Pursuant to the GE MSA, GE’s licensing team will license certain of the Company’s standard and smart products in the U.S. and worldwide. For each licensing program the Company engages GE to conduct, GE’s licensing team will provide certain licensing services, including seeking and arranging for licensee partners, negotiating agreement terms, administering contracts, auditing partners, assisting with monetization and patent protection strategy, and providing mutually agreed support to defend the Company’s intellectual property. The Company will pay a percentage of earned revenue to GE collected pursuant to license agreements established in connection with a program commercialized by GE’s licensing team, or with certain licensees introduced by GE to the Company.
In connection with the sunsetting of the License Trademark Agreement, the Company and a subsidiary of the Company entered into a letter agreement, as amended, with GE-TL restructuring the aggregate amount of $2.7 million in royalty payments owed to GE-TL to be paid over thirteen quarterly installments, with the first two payments of $200,000 each being made in December 2023 and March 2024, respectively. The final payment is scheduled for December 2026. The Company also issued a three-year convertible promissory note of $1.0 million to GE-TL in April 2024, in addition to the then agreed royalty payments. The note does not bear interest, has a conversion price of $1.07 per share, and matures on April 11, 2027.
Employees
Our management members include leading executives from various industries and have joined us as they believe in our vision, technology, and strategy. Many of our key personnel are employed pursuant to an employment agreement or a consulting agreement.
As of December 31, 2024, we had 78 employees, including 76 full-time employees. We also employ independent contractors to support our operations. We have never had a work stoppage, and none of our employees are represented by a labor union. We consider our relations with our employees to be good. We expect to continue to expand our staff and team of engineers to develop our products and operate our e-commerce websites.
Our human capital resources objectives include, as applicable, identifying, recruiting, retaining, incentivizing and integrating our current and future employees. We encourage and support the growth and development of our employees. Continual learning and career development is advanced through ongoing performance and development conversations with employees, and reimbursement is available to employees for seminars, conferences, formal education and other training events employees attend in connection with their job duties.
Our core values of accountability, openness, and integrity underscore everything we do and drive our day-to-day interactions. The safety, health and wellness of our employees is a top priority.
Business Strategy
We believe that our advanced-safe-smart platform technologies will disrupt and positively influence various industries, both in the U.S. and globally, and that, due to ease of installation, time savings, cost savings on installations and the safety aspect of our product, our product provides a competitive advantage within the light fixture, ceiling fan and smart home industries:
- Lighting Industry: We believe that all light fixtures should become plug and play, smart and controlled by an app as a standard, and that light fixtures should be installed to the ceiling within seconds, safely and without the need to touch dangerous electrical wires. Our product is intended to help prevent most of related ladder falls, electric shock/electrocutions, fires, carbon monoxide poisonings, injuries, and deaths.
- Ceiling Fan Industry: We believe that all ceiling fans should become plug and play, smart and controlled by an app as a standard, and that ceiling fans should be installed to the ceiling within seconds, safely and without the need to touch dangerous electrical wires. Our product is intended to help prevent most of related ladder falls, electric shock/electrocutions, fires, carbon monoxide poisonings, injuries, and deaths.
- Smart Home Industry: We believe that homes and buildings should become safe and smart as a standard. Our Advanced All-In-One Safe Smart Sky Platform enables rooms, homes, and buildings to become safe and smart.
Our Advanced All-In-One Smart Sky Platform significantly enhances smart home products’ performance, including the speed and range of both WIFI and Bluetooth, as well as the performance of sensors and alarms. We believe that widespread adoption of the All-In-One Smart Sky Platform should contribute to the elimination of most related hazardous incidents in homes and buildings including ladder falls, electric shock/electrocutions, fires, carbon monoxide poisonings, injuries, and deaths. Therefore, we believe our product is a necessity in rooms, homes, and buildings.
Our Advanced All-In-One Safe Smart Sky Platform can be used in existing homes and buildings, by builders, rental properties, hotels, cruise ships, elder living facilities, schools, hospitals, offices, commercial, retail and other.
We launched our new universal power plug, our SkyHome App, and our smart universal plug, as well as the smart ceiling fans and lighting fixtures containing such plug, in 2023 and expect to launch our Smart Sky Platform during 2025. Bringing our products to market will require us to take certain steps, including, but not limited to, the following:
- Manufacturing: We have manufactured and sold our prior products and intend to continue to use the third-party manufacturers with which we have an ongoing relationship. It typically takes less than 60 days to complete manufacturing of our new universal power plug and/or our smart universal plug after we place an order. However, it may take longer than expected due to, among other things, difficulties finding suppliers, shipping delays resulting in late deliveries of necessary supplies and materials, chip shortages and geopolitical matters.
- Marketing and Public Relations: We will need to gain brand awareness and attract customers. In connection with our product launch, we plan to educate retail and commercial consumers about our products through a coordinated public relation campaign that will cover the safety aspects of our products and all the related hazardous incidents and property damage that our products can contribute to preventing, as well as our advanced smart technology features. We sell our products on our e-commence websites. We currently rely, and plan to rely primarily, on product distribution arrangements with third parties. We also expect to enter in additional sales, distribution and/or licensing agreements in the future, and we may not be able to enter into these agreements on terms that are favorable to us, if at all. We may also need to hire additional sales personnel.
- Government Approval: While we have received a variety of final electrical code approvals, including Underwriters Laboratories (“UL”), Underwriters Laboratories of Canada (cUL) and Conformité Européenne (CE), and 2017 and 2020 inclusion in the NEC Code Book, we may need or desire to obtain additional certifications for new product configurations, which may increase the time and costs to complete our product launches. In addition, we may be unable to obtain new certifications or NEC mandatory status for our product offerings within a reasonable time, or at all.
Expected Revenue Stream
We believe our products will enable us to access a global market with multiple revenue streams, including the following:
- Royalties from the Sky Plug & Receptacle. Management has agreed to license products in the U.S. and globally through the efforts of its GE agreement. We anticipate we will also license our smart technologies products currently in development.
- Selling/Licensing Country Rights. Management is considering selling and licensing marketing rights to certain countries in exchange for payment and on-going royalties.
- Product and E-Commerce Sales. We currently primarily generate revenue from our e-commerce sales. Management will strive to achieve strong market penetration worldwide for our advanced and smart Sky Technologies products. We have previously sold our standard products in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and began selling our new smart products in the United States in 2023. We intend to expand our sales footprint in certain countries in Latin America, Europe and Asia. We may be unable to gain market acceptance in such markets and cannot provide any assurance that we will be successful in our efforts to expand our market reach.
- Subscription & Monitoring Services. Our future plans include offering subscription services as part of our Smart Sky Platform, including, among other services, communications, fire alarms, home intrusion alerts, emergency response services and monitoring services. Our Smart Sky Platform will include, among other features, a smart smoke detector, a smart carbon monoxide detector, and a WIFI extender. We intend to expand our operations to enable us to provide services relating to these functions, including high-speed internet services, monitoring systems designed to sense movement, smoke, fire, carbon monoxide, temperature, and other environmental conditions and hazards, monitoring home access and visitors and address personal emergencies such as injuries and other medical emergencies. We intend to market such services to homeowners and other types of facilities, including rental properties, hotels, cruise ships, elder living facilities, schools, hospitals, offices, commercial, and retail. Our ability to provide such services depends on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, subscriber interest and financial resources, any applicable licensing and regulatory compliance, our ability to manage our anticipated expansion and to hire, train and retain personnel, and general economic conditions. We may partner with other businesses to provide such services. We expect to begin providing such services in 2026 but cannot provide any assurance that we will be able to do so.
Our History
We began in 2004 and started developing the Sky Plug & Receptacle technology in 2007 for installation of light fixtures and ceiling fans during manufacturing and as a Retrofit Kit for installing the Sky Technology in existing light fixtures and ceiling fans. Historically, we have sold hundreds of thousands of units of the Sky Plug & Receptacle technology through original equipment manufacturing and through other channels to lighting manufacturers and retailers who installed the Sky Plug & Receptacle technology into their lighting fixtures for sale at retail stores. We also sold, directly to retailers, approximately hundreds of thousands of Sky Plugs & Receptacles embedded with ceiling fans. We wound down our standard product sales by discontinuing production of light fixtures and ceiling fans that include the older version of our standard Sky Plug & Receptacle, in favor of licensing our product and developing our Smart Power-Plug and Smart Sky Platform technologies. In addition, in April 2023, we acquired Belami, an online retailer and e-commerce provider specializing in home lighting, ceiling fans, and other home furnishings.
Third-Party Manufacturing and Suppliers
Our business model entails the use of third-party manufacturers to produce the Sky Technology product. The manufacturers currently used by us are in China. To further ensure that quality specifications are maintained, we maintain an office in the Guangdong province in China that is staffed with GE trained auditors who regularly inspect the products that are being produced by third-party manufacturers.
Raw materials used in our products include copper, aluminium, zinc, steel, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic and wood. We also purchase integrated circuit chip sets or other electronic components from third-party suppliers or rely on third-party independent contractors, some of which are customized or custom made for us. While we have experienced shortages in obtaining necessary materials, including zinc, copper and steel, as well as integrated circuit chips to be used in our products, we have been able to make other arrangements and find additional suppliers as necessary. Going forward, we believe we can obtain more chips and other materials as needed within a reasonable time period and may be able to replace components with different products or modify our design if necessary. Geopolitical matters, including the impact of tariffs and other trade sanctions or barriers, may also impact on our manufacturing.
We also rely on a number of third-party suppliers to provision fans, lighting fixtures, and heaters to generate recurring revenues. Such suppliers generally offer their products through multiple resellers if not directly to consumers. There is no guarantee that the third-party suppliers will continue to market their products through us. While some of these suppliers provide larger volume than others, we do not believe that the loss of any of such third-party suppliers would have a near-term critical impact on our operations.
We use several suppliers to manufacture SKYX products most of which have their principal operations in China. A significant portion of such suppliers have or are expected to move their manufacturing relevant to our products to other countries in Southeast Asia within the next year.
Competition
We believe our technologies are highly disruptive and edgy compared to other market technologies. Our competitors for Sky Technologies products vary based on our products, market, and industry.
- Competitors for our Universal Power-Plug & Receptacle product: We believe we do not have significant direct competition at this point to our Universal Power-Plug & Receptacle product, although all lighting and ceiling fan manufacturers are potential competitors.
- Competitors for our Smart Universal Power-Plug & Receptacle product: We believe we do not have significant direct competition at this point to Smart Universal Power-Plug and & Receptacle product, although all lighting and ceiling fan manufacturers are potential competitors.
- Competitors for our Smart Plug and Play Light Fixture products: We believe we do not have significant direct competition at this point to our Smart Plug and Play Light Fixtures, although there are lighting manufacturers that have smart lights that are controlled through smart wall switches/app or other, including companies such as Casainc, Global Electric, Designers Fountain, Enbrighten, Minka, Hampton Bay and others. To the best of our knowledge, there are no other light fixtures that have an all-in-one combination of light fixtures that have both plug and play and smart.
- Competitors for our Smart Plug and Play Ceiling Fan Products: We believe we do not have significant direct competition at this point to our Smart Plug and Play Ceiling Fan products, although there are ceiling fan manufacturers that have smart fans that are controlled through smart wall switches/app or other, including companies such as Hunter, Minka, Home Decorators, Fanimation, Modern Fan Co., Hampton Bay and others.
- Competitors for our Smart Sky Platform product: We believe we do not have direct competition at this point to our Smart Sky Platform product, although there are many smart home companies that can be our competitors, including companies such as Control4, Vivint, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, ADT, Blue by ADT, Cove Security and many others, and many other smart home companies that have a variety of smart home products. To the best of our knowledge, there are no other Plug and Play All-In-One Safe-Smart Platform products.
Our competitors for our e-commerce websites, some of which have substantially greater resources than us, range from other online-only retailers specializing in lighting and other home décor items, such as Wayfair and Overstock.com, to retailers with both online and physical presences specializing in home décor, such as Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel, to retailers that sell home décor items as part of a much larger assortment of items, such as Amazon, Target, Home Depot and Lowe’s.
Government and Environmental Regulation
Although not legally required to do so, we strive to obtain certifications for substantially all our products, both in the United States, and, where appropriate, in jurisdictions outside the United States. Products certified by a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (“NRTL”), such as UL, Intertek Testing Lab (ETL) or Canadian Standards (CSA), bear a certification mark signifying that the product complies with the requirements of the product safety standard. UL Standards are used for evaluation of U.S. products, CSA Standards for Canada and IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) Standards for European countries. We use UL as our main third-party NRTL safety laboratory. While we have received a variety of safety certifications on our products, including UL, Underwriters Laboratories of Canada (cUL), Conformité Européenne (CE) and International Electrotechnical Commission for Electrical Equipment Certification Body (the IECEE CB scheme), we may need or desire to obtain additional certifications for new product configurations, which will increase the time and costs to complete our product launches and which we may be unable to obtain within a reasonable time, or at all. In addition, certain electronic products require Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) certification, and we have obtained FCC certification on applicable products to ensure electromagnetic interference compliance. Although we believe that our broad knowledge and experience with electrical codes and safety standards have facilitated certification approvals, we cannot provide any assurance that we will be able to obtain any such certifications for our new products or that, if certification standards are amended, we will be able to maintain such certifications for our existing products.
Our facilities and operations are subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to environmental protection and human health and safety. Some of these laws and regulations may impose strict, joint and several liabilities on certain persons for the cost of investigation or remediation of contaminated properties. These persons may include former, current or future owners or operators of properties and persons who arranged for the disposal of hazardous substances. Our leased real property may give rise to such investigation, remediation and monitoring liabilities under environmental laws. In addition, anyone disposing of certain products we distribute, such as fluorescent lighting, must comply with environmental laws that regulate certain materials in these products. We believe that we are in compliance, in all material respects, with applicable environmental laws. As a result, we do not anticipate making significant capital expenditures for environmental control matters either in the current year or in the near future.
Corporate History and Information
We were originally organized in May 2004 as a Florida limited liability company under the name of Safety Quick Light, LLC. We converted to a Florida corporation on November 6, 2012. Effective August 12, 2016, we changed our name from “Safety Quick Lighting & Fans Corp.” to “SQL Technologies Corp.,” and, effective June 14, 2022, we changed our name to “SKYX Platforms Corp.” We currently do business as “Sky Technologies.” Our principal executive offices are located at 2855 W. McNab Road, Pompano Beach, Florida 33069, and our telephone number is (855) 759-7584. Our website can be found at www.skyplug.com (http://www.skyplug.com). The information contained in or accessible from our website is not incorporated into this Form 10-K, and you should not consider it part of this Form 10-K. We have included our website address in this Form 10-K solely as an inactive textual reference.
Available Information
We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). The Exchange Act requires us to file periodic reports, proxy statements and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The SEC maintains a website that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. These materials may be obtained electronically by accessing the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.
We maintain a website at www.skyplug.com (http://www.skyplug.com), and we make our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports available on our website, free of charge, as soon as reasonably practicable after such reports have been filed with or furnished to the SEC. Information contained on or accessible through our website is not a part of, and is not incorporated by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K or any other report or document we file with the SEC. Our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, as well as any waivers from and amendments to the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, is also posted on our website.
Risk factors
As filed, 141,141 characters, with its headings, lists and tables. Extracted from the main document; charts and exhibits are in the original on sec.gov.
You should carefully consider the risks described below, together with all of the other information included in this Form 10-K, including our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Form 10-K, before making an investment decision. Our business, financial condition and results of operations, as well as the trading price of our common stock, could be materially and adversely affected by any of these risks or uncertainties. There may be additional risks that are not presently material or known. You should not interpret the disclosure of any risk factor to imply that the risk has not already materialized.
Risks Related to Our Business
We have incurred net losses since inception, and we cannot assure you that we will ever generate sustainable revenue; in addition, our business has evolved, which makes it difficult to predict our future operating results.
We have incurred net losses since inception. In addition, in recent years, we have shifted our business strategy to transition to developing and manufacturing smart products and technologies and further evolved our strategy by acquiring an online retailer and e-commerce provider specializing in home lighting, ceiling fans, and other home furnishings during 2023. As a result of these recent changes to our business strategy, our ability to forecast our future operating results is limited and subject to a number of uncertainties, including our ability to plan for and model our future growth. It is difficult to predict our future revenues and appropriate budget for our expenses, and we may have limited insight into trends that may emerge and affect our business. Rather than relying on historical information, financial or otherwise, to evaluate us, you should evaluate us in light of your assessment of the growth potential of our business and the expenses, delays, uncertainties and complications typically encountered by businesses in the early stage of their product development and launch, many of which will be beyond our control. We are subject to the substantial risk of failure facing businesses seeking to develop and commercialize new products and technologies, as well as integrating additional operations, as well as the following risks, among others:
- unanticipated problems, delays and expenses relating to (i) the development and implementation of our business plans, such as potential manufacturing delays resulting from, among other things, difficulties finding suppliers, shipping disruptions and delays resulting in late deliveries of necessary supplies and materials, chip shortages, tariffs and other trade barriers or restrictions, increases in expected costs due to inflationary pressures and material shortages, or delays resulting from a need or desire to obtain additional certifications for new product configurations, or (ii) our e-commerce operations, such as the potential for reduced discretionary consumer spending, shipping disruptions or delays, or our products not meeting consumer expectations;
- operational difficulties, including continuing to integrate our retail operations with our Sky Technologies product and technologies operations;
- lack of sufficient capital;
- competition from more advanced enterprises, including our need to gain brand awareness and attract customers, areas where our competitors may have an advantage; and
- uncertain revenue generation.
If our assumptions regarding these risks and uncertainties are incorrect or change due to changes in our industry, or if we do not address these risks successfully, our operating and financial results could differ materially from our expectations and our business could suffer.
We have a history of operating losses and will likely incur losses in the future as we continue our efforts to transition our product lines, achieve our strategic initiatives, grow our business and streamline our operations at a profitable level.
We have incurred substantial losses in the past and reported net losses from operations of $35.8 million and $39.7 million during 2024 and 2023, respectively. As of December 31, 2024, we had an accumulated deficit of $181.8 million.
We cannot assure you that we can achieve or sustain profitability in the future. For us to operate our business profitably, we need to successfully launch and market our new products and technologies, grow our sales, including our retail operations, maintain cost control discipline while balancing development of our enhanced “all-in-one” Smart Sky Platform, manage costs relating to our retail operations and potential long-term revenue growth, continue our efforts to reduce product cost, drive operating efficiencies and execute our key strategic initiatives. Our planned expense levels are, and will continue to be, based in part on our expectations, which are difficult to forecast accurately based on our stage of development, our acquisition of the retail business, and factors outside of our control. Developing and marketing our products and technologies is costly, and we anticipate our costs will increase in the future as we continue to invest in our research and development efforts, expand our operations, and make additional expenditures to develop and market our products and technologies, including new features, integrations, capabilities, and enhancements. Our expenditures may not result in improved business results or profitability over the long term, and our expenses may be greater than we anticipate, including due to, among other things, an increase in legal risk from the use of our products and technologies due to evolving laws, regulations or standards and from our expansion into retail operations, an inability to timely and cost-effectively introduce and sell successful smart products and other products and technologies, a security incident or our failure, for any reason, to capitalize on growth opportunities. In addition, we may be unable to adjust spending in a timely manner to compensate for any unexpected developments. There is a risk that our strategy to operate profitably may not be as successful as we envision or occur as quickly as we expect. We may not achieve our business objectives, and the failure to achieve such goals would have an adverse impact on us. To the extent that our revenues do not increase commensurate with our costs, our business, operating results, and financial condition will be materially and adversely affected.
We will require additional financing in the near-term, and if our operations do not achieve, or we experience an unanticipated delay in achieving, our intended level and pace of profitability, we will continue to need additional funding, which may not be available on favorable terms, or at all, and could require us to sell certain assets or discontinue or curtail our operations.
We cannot ascertain that there is no substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. We will not be able to achieve our objectives and will not be able to continue our operations if we cannot adequately fund our operations.
There is substantial doubt that the Company can continue as an ongoing business for the next 12 months. If we are unable to continue as a going concern, we might have to liquidate our assets and the values we receive for our assets in liquidation or dissolution could be significantly lower than the values reflected in our financial statements. In addition, the inclusion of an explanatory paragraph regarding substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern and our lack of sufficient liquidity resources may materially adversely affect our share price and our ability to raise new capital or to enter into critical contractual relations with third parties. There is no assurance that we will be able to adequately fund our operations in the future.
We expect to derive a substantial portion of our future revenue from a portfolio of related products and technologies; if we cannot successfully launch our products or further develop them to include additional features, our products and technologies fail to satisfy customer demands or achieve widespread market acceptance, our business, operating results, financial condition, and growth prospects would be adversely affected.
We expect to derive a substantial portion of our future revenue from smart products incorporating our “plug and play” technologies. Our ability to launch our smart products and obtain market acceptance of, and grow market demand for, our products and technologies is critical to our success. We may not be able to launch or manufacture our products and technologies in a timely manner, within budget or in a manner that gains market acceptance. The failure to successfully produce and market an all-in-one Smart Sky Platform would result in the loss of a substantial amount of investment dollars. Furthermore, developing and marketing our enhanced Smart Sky Platform takes management’s time and attention away from other opportunities. A failure to successfully develop and market our Smart Sky Platform could result in a material adverse impact on our business.
In addition, we have limited experience in manufacturing our smart products. We may be unable to develop efficient, cost-efficient manufacturing capability and processes or obtain reliable sources of component supplies that will enable us to meet our quality, price, design, and production standards, as well as the production volumes, required to successfully mass market our products and technologies. These are complex processes that may be subject to delays, cost overruns and other unforeseen issues. Any failure to develop such manufacturing capabilities and processes within our projected costs and timelines could stunt our growth and impair our ability to produce, market, service and sell our products and technologies successfully.
Even if we can bring our smart products and technologies to market as planned and on budget, there can be no assurance that consumers will embrace our smart products and technologies in significant numbers. Our success depends on attracting many potential customers to purchase our products and, in the future, the associated services we intend to provide to our customers. While we have accepted preorders for certain products, preorders are not commitments to purchase our products and are subject to cancellation by customers. All preorders have been fulfilled. If our existing preorder and prospective customers do not perceive our products to be of sufficiently high value and quality, cost competitive and appealing in aesthetics or performance, we may not be able to retain our current preorder customers or attract new customers, and our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows would suffer as a result. In addition, we may incur significantly higher and more sustained advertising and promotional expenditures than we have previously incurred to attract customers. Although some of our smart products are now commercially available, there is still significant uncertainty as to customer demand for our smart products and technologies and whether we will be able to achieve additional sales. Further, demand for our products and technologies is and will continue to be affected by a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, such as our ability to obtain market acceptance; declines in consumer discretionary spending; the development and acceptance of new features, integrations and capabilities for our products and technologies; the timing of development and release of competing new products and technologies; consumer preferences; the perception of ease of use, reliability and security of our products and technologies; price or product changes by us or our competitors; technological changes and developments within the markets we serve; developments in data privacy regulations; growth, contraction and rapid evolution of our market; supply chain disruptions and shortages, including the potential impact of tariffs and other trade barriers and restrictions; and general economic conditions and trends.
If we are unable to successfully release all of our planned smart products and technologies, enhance their capabilities, meet demands of our customers or trends in preferences or achieve widespread market acceptance of our products and technologies, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be harmed. In addition, competitors may develop or acquire their own products or technologies, and people may continue to rely on traditional products and technologies or existing smart home products, which would reduce or eliminate the demand for our smart products. If demand declines for any of these or other reasons, our business could be adversely affected.
Global economic conditions and the effect of economic pressures and other business factors on discretionary consumer spending and consumer preferences may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Uncertainties in global economic conditions that are beyond our control could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition, and stock price. These adverse economic conditions include inflation, slower growth or recession, new or increased tariffs and other trade barriers and restrictions and other changes to fiscal and monetary policy, higher interest rates, high unemployment, decreased consumer confidence in the economy, armed hostilities, such as the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East, foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, conditions affecting the retail environment for products we sell, and other matters that influence consumer spending and preferences. In addition, consumer confidence and spending can be materially adversely affected in response to financial market volatility, negative financial news, conditions in the real estate and mortgage markets, including home equity loans and consumer credit, changes in net worth based on market changes and uncertainty, energy shortages and cost increases, labor and healthcare costs, government actions and general uncertainty regarding the overall future economic environment.
Consumers may view the products we offer as discretionary items rather than necessities. As a result, our operating results are sensitive to changes in macroeconomic conditions that impact consumer spending, including discretionary spending. Declines in consumer spending have resulted in, and could in the future result in, decreased demand for our products and services, which has adversely affected the results of our operations in the past and may do so in the future.
We invest significantly in research and development, and to the extent our research and development investments are not directed efficiently or do not result in material enhancements to our products and technologies, our business and results of operations would be harmed.
A key element of our strategy is to invest significantly in our research and development efforts to enhance the features, functionality, performance and ease of use of our products and technologies to address additional applications that will broaden the appeal of our products and technologies and facilitate their broad use. Research and development projects can be technically challenging and expensive. As a result of the nature of research and development cycles, there will be delays between the time we incur expenses associated with research and development activities and the time we are able to offer compelling enhancements to our products and technologies and generate revenue, if any, from those activities.
Our research and development efforts remain subject to all the risks associated with the development of new products and technologies based on emerging and innovative technologies, including, for example, unexpected technical problems or the possible insufficiency of funds for completing development. If we expend a significant number of resources on research and development efforts that do not lead to the successful introduction of new products, functionality or improvements that are competitive in our current or future markets, our business and results of operations will suffer. If technical problems or delays arise, further improvements in our products and technologies and the introduction of future products or technologies could be adversely impacted, we could incur significant additional expenses, and the Sky Technologies platform business may fail.
If we are unable to introduce new features or services successfully or make enhancements to our products and technologies or fail to integrate our products and technologies with a variety of third-party technologies, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Our ability to attract customers and increase revenue from our products and technologies depends in part on our ability to enhance and improve such products and technologies and to introduce new features and services. To grow our business and remain competitive, we must continue to enhance our products and technologies with features that reflect the constantly evolving nature of technology and our customers’ evolving needs. The success of new products, technologies, enhancements and developments depends on several factors, including, but not limited to: our anticipation of market changes and demands for product features, adequate quality testing, integration of our products and technologies with existing technologies and applications and updates to integrate new technologies and applications, sufficient customer demand, cost effectiveness in our product development efforts and the proliferation of new technologies that are able to deliver competitive products, technologies and services at lower prices, more efficiently, more conveniently or more securely.
In addition, because we intend for our smart products to operate with a variety of systems, applications, data and devices, we will need to continuously modify and further upgrade our products and technologies to keep pace with changes in such systems. We may not be successful in developing these modifications and enhancements. Furthermore, the addition of features and solutions to our products and technologies will increase our research and development expenses. Any new features that we develop may not be introduced in a timely or cost-effective manner or may not achieve the market acceptance necessary to generate sufficient revenue to justify the related expenses. It is difficult to predict customer adoption of new features. Such uncertainty limits our ability to forecast our future results of operations and subjects us to a number of challenges, including our ability to plan for and model future growth. If we cannot address such uncertainties and successfully develop new features, enhance our products and technologies, or otherwise overcome technological challenges and competing technologies, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.
We have experienced, and may in the future experience, delays in the planned release dates of our products and technologies and enhancements to our products and technologies. Delays could result in adverse publicity, loss of sales or delay in market acceptance of our products and technologies, any of which could cause us to lose existing customers or impair our ability to attract new customers. In addition, the introduction of new products and services by competitors or the development of entirely new technologies to replace existing offerings could make our products and technologies obsolete or adversely affect our ability to compete. Any delay or failure in the introduction of enhancements, functionality or infrastructure developments could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Some of our products and technologies are intended to be integrated with a variety of third-party technologies and applications, and we will need to continuously modify and improve such products and technologies to adapt to changes in such integrated technologies and applications. Third-party services and products are constantly evolving, and we may not be able to modify our products and technologies to be compatible with that of other third parties. In addition, some of our competitors may be able to disrupt the operations or compatibility of our products and technologies with their products or services. Should any of our competitors modify their products, technologies or standards in a manner that degrades the functionality of our products and technologies or gives preferential treatment to competitive products, technologies or services, whether to enhance their competitive position or for any other reason, the interoperability of our products and technologies with these products and/or technologies could decrease, and our business, results of operations and financial condition would be harmed. If we are not permitted or able to integrate with these and other third-party products, technologies and applications in the future, our business, results of operations and financial condition would be harmed. Further, any undetected errors or defects in third-party technologies or applications, cybersecurity threats or attacks related to such technologies or applications or widespread outages of such third-party technologies or applications, could impair the functionality of our products and technologies, result in increased costs and injure our reputation. Any failure of our products and technologies to operate effectively with existing or future technologies, or any failure of a third-party cloud infrastructure partner to support one or more of the features of our products and technologies, could cause customer dissatisfaction and reduce the demand for our products and technologies, resulting in harm to our business. In addition, because some of our products and technologies will be cloud-based, we need to continually enhance and improve our products and technologies to keep pace with changes in internet-related hardware, software, communications and database technologies and standards. Any failure of our products and technologies to operate effectively with future hardware or software technologies, or to comply with new industry standards, could reduce the demand for our products and technologies and harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
Our smart products and technologies will depend in part on access to third-party platforms or technologies, and if any such access is withdrawn, denied, or is not available on acceptable terms, or if the platforms or technologies change without notice, our business and operating results could be adversely affected.
With the growth of mobile devices and personal voice assistants, cloud services and artificial intelligence, the number of supporting platforms has grown, and with it the complexity and increased need for us to have business and contractual relationships with the platform owners to produce products and technologies compatible with these platforms and enable access to and use of these platforms with our products and technologies. Our products strategy includes the sale of smart products and technologies controlled by a mobile application and designed for use with third-party platforms or software, such as iPhone, Android phones, Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa. The SkyHome mobile application is compatible with, and has been granted full access by, each of the foregoing platforms. Our ability to market such products and technologies will rely on our access to the platforms of third parties, some of which may be our competitors. Platform owners that are competitors may limit or decline access to their platforms, and in any case have a competitive advantage in designing products and technologies for their own platforms and may produce products and technologies that work better, or are perceived to work better, than our products and technologies in connection with those platforms. As we expand the number of platforms and software applications with which our products and technologies are compatible, we may not be successful in fully integrating the capabilities of those platforms or software applications and/or we may not be successful in establishing strong relationships with the new platform or software owners, which could negatively impact our ability to develop and produce our products and technologies. We may otherwise fail to navigate various new relationships, which could adversely affect our relationships with existing platform or software owners.
Any access to third-party platforms may also require paying a royalty or licensing fee, which would lower our product margins, or may otherwise be on terms that are not acceptable to us. In addition, the third-party platforms or technologies used to interact with our products and technologies can be delayed in production or can change without prior notice to us, which could result in our having bugs or defects in our products and technologies.
If we are unable to access third-party platforms or technologies, or if our access is withdrawn, denied or is not available on terms acceptable to us, or if the platforms or technologies are delayed or change without notice to us, our business and operating results could be adversely affected.
If we fail to maintain and improve our methods and technologies, or anticipate new methods or technologies, for data collection, organization, and cleansing, competing products and services could surpass ours in depth, breadth or accuracy of our insights or in other respects.
Current or future competitors may seek to develop new methods and technologies for more efficiently gathering, cataloging, or updating business information, which could allow a competitor to create a product comparable or superior to ours, or that takes substantial market share from us or that creates or maintains databases to produce insights at a lower cost than we experience. We can expect continuous improvements in computer hardware, network operating systems, programming tools, programming languages, operating systems, data matching, data filtering, data analysis tools and other technologies and the use of the internet. These improvements, as well as changes in customer preferences or regulatory requirements, may require changes in the technology used to gather and process our data. Our future success will depend, in part, upon our ability to:
- internally develop and implement new and competitive technologies;
- use leading third-party technologies effectively; and
- respond to advances in data collection and cataloging and creating insights.
If we fail to respond to changes in data technology and analysis to create insights, competitors may be able to develop solutions that will take market share from us, and the demand for our solutions, the delivery of our solutions or our market reputation could be adversely affected.
If our smart products and technologies are not compatible with some or all leading third-party internet of things (“IoT”) products and protocols, we could be materially adversely affected.
A core part of our product strategy is the creation of products and technologies with interoperability with third-party IoT products and protocols. Our products and technologies are intended to seamlessly integrate with third-party IoT products and protocols. If these third parties were to alter their products, we could be adversely impacted if we fail to timely create compatible versions of our products and technologies, and such incompatibility could negatively impact the adoption of our products and technologies. A lack of interoperability could also result in significant redesign costs and harm relations with our customers. Further, the mere announcement of an incompatibility problem relating to our products and technologies could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
In addition, to the extent our competitors supply products and technologies that compete with our own, it is possible these competitors could design their technologies to be closed or proprietary systems that are incompatible with our products and technologies or work less effectively with our products and technologies than their own. As a result, end-users may have an incentive to purchase products that are compatible with the products and technologies of our competitors over our products and technologies.
The success of our business, and our ability to achieve our desired revenue and profitability goals, depends on our ability to develop, expand and successfully manage our operations and effectively and timely develop and implement our strategic business initiatives.
Our success depends on our ability to design and market products and technologies popular with customers and consumers, effectively manufacture our products, and successfully manage our operations, including our retail business, as well as our ability to develop and execute our strategic business initiatives. Our ability to successfully accomplish these objectives will depend upon a number of factors, including the following:
- signing with strategic distribution partners with established retail and wholesale relationships;
- the continued development of our business, both producing and marketing our smart products and technologies and operating our retail websites;
- the hiring, training and retention of competent personnel;
- the ability to generate customer demand;
- the ability to enhance our operational, financial and management systems;
- the availability of adequate financing;
- competitive factors; and
- general economic and business conditions.
In addition, our ability to achieve our desired revenue and profitability goals depends on how effectively and timely we execute on our key strategic initiatives, including development and production of an enhanced Smart Sky Platform, and develop and implement new strategic business initiatives. Our current key strategic initiatives include the following:
- successfully launching our Smart Sky Platform;
- executing and marketing our products and technologies to both industry and retail customers, such as real estate developers and individuals who desire safer lighting fixtures and smart home capabilities, including increasing our market penetration in these sectors;
- continuing our product innovation;
- leveraging our products and technologies to support IoT applications, including integrations with third-party applications;
- improving our distribution sales channels, including our retail websites; and
- profitably operating our retail websites.
We also may identify and pursue strategic acquisition candidates that would help support these initiatives, such as the 2023 acquisition of Belami, an e-commerce platform that carries a variety of home décor items, including lighting.
Developing and implementing various strategic business initiatives requires us to incur additional expenses and capital expenditures and also requires management to divert a portion of its time from day-to-day operations. These expenses and diversions could have a significant impact on our operations and profitability and could lead to weaknesses in our infrastructure, operational mistakes, loss of business opportunities, loss of employees and reduced productivity among remaining employees. There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully implement these or future initiatives or, even if implemented, that they will result in the anticipated benefits to our business. Moreover, if we are unable to implement an initiative in a timely manner, or if any initiatives are ineffective or are executed improperly, our business and operating results would be adversely affected.
As we continue to implement our business strategy to focus on our smart products and technologies and retail websites, our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows may be materially adversely affected.
Our future growth and profitability are tied in part to our ability to successfully bring to market new and innovative smart products and technologies, as well as to profitably operate our retail websites. We are currently focused on producing smart products and technologies using our “plug and play” technologies, which also includes pursuing projects to develop recurring revenue streams, such as subscription services. We have invested, and plan to continue to invest, significant time, resources, and capital into expanding our products and technologies with no expectation that they will provide material revenue in the near term and without any assurance they will succeed or be profitable. In fact, these efforts have reduced our profitability, and will likely continue to do so, at least in the near term. We cannot provide any assurance that the operation of our retail websites will offset such reduced profitability. We may also be unable to launch or manufacture our products and technologies or develop recurring revenue streams, such as anticipated subscription services, in a timely manner, which would further negatively impact our ability to become profitable. Moreover, as we continue to explore, develop and refine our smart products and technologies, we expect that market preferences will continue to evolve, and, accordingly, our products and technologies may not generate sufficient interest by end-user customers, and we may be unable to compete effectively with existing or new competitors, generate significant revenues or achieve or maintain acceptable levels of profitability.
Additionally, our experience providing smart technology is limited. If we do not successfully execute our strategy or anticipate the needs of our customers, our credibility as a provider of smart home solutions could be questioned, and our prospects for future revenue growth and profitability from such products and technologies may never materialize.
If we fail to successfully launch and/or market our smart products and technologies or manage and maintain our business strategy, our future revenue growth and profitability would likely be limited and our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows would likely be materially adversely affected.
We will need to raise additional financing to support our operations, but we cannot provide any assurance that we will be able to obtain additional financing on terms favorable to us, or at all. If we are unable to obtain additional financing to meet our needs, our operations may be adversely affected or terminated.
We have limited financial resources, and we expect that our ongoing implementation of our strategy and expansion of business activities will require additional working capital, as we anticipate we will not generate sufficient cash flows from our operations to sustain our operations or to allow us to effectively develop our smart products and technologies or pursue our strategic initiatives. We are currently generating revenue primarily from the e-commerce platform that we acquired in 2023, and to a lesser extent, increased sales of our smart and standard plug and play technology to large retailers. We expect that the release of additional smart products and technologies, including the Smart Sky Platform, will require working capital to finish product development and manufacturing, and to support market release and provide technical customer support upon its commercial release.
In the future, we will need to seek additional equity or debt financing to provide for our working capital needs. There can be no assurance that we will obtain funding on acceptable terms, in a timely fashion or at all. Obtaining additional financing contains risks, including:
- additional equity financing may not be available to us on satisfactory terms, and any equity we are able to issue could lead to dilution for current stockholders and have rights, preferences and privileges senior to our common stock;
- loans or other debt instruments may have terms and/or conditions, such as interest rates, restrictive covenants and control or revocation provisions, that are not acceptable to management or our board of directors (the “board” or “board of directors”);
- debt financing increases expenses, and we must repay the debt regardless of our operating results; and
- our ability to obtain additional capital may be adversely impacted by factors beyond our control, such as the market demand for our securities, the state of financial markets generally and other relevant factors, including high inflation and interest rates, ongoing supply chain disruptions and shortages, labor shortages, geopolitical conditions, including the impact of tariffs and other trade barriers or restrictions, any disruptions to, or volatility in, the credit and financial markets in the United States and worldwide, and a potential economic downturn or recession.
As of December 31, 2024, we had approximately $15.5 million in cash and cash equivalents, including restricted cash. As we develop our revenue base, we have raised additional funds through the sale of our common stock, preferred stock and warrants and issuance of debt, including receiving aggregate net proceeds from at the market offerings (sometimes referred as “ATM”) of our common stock of $4.3 million, and total gross proceeds of $11.0 million from the sale of two series of newly authorized preferred stock during 2024. For additional information regarding our financing arrangements, see the “Liquidity and Capital Resources” heading in the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis” section of this Form 10-K.
If we fail to obtain required additional financing to sustain our business before we are able to produce levels of revenue to meet our financial needs, we may be unable to continue to develop our business activities to achieve our objectives or may need to delay, scale back or eliminate our business plan and further reduce our operating costs, each of which would have a material adverse effect on our business, future prospects and financial condition. A lack of additional financing could also result in our inability to continue as a going concern and force us to sell certain assets or discontinue or curtail our operations and, as a result, our investors could lose their entire investment.
We face risks associated with financing our operations related to our debt financing.
We are subject to the normal risks associated with debt financing, including the risk that our cash flow will be insufficient to meet required payments of principal and interest and the risk that we will not be able to renew, repay or refinance our debt when it matures or that the terms of any renewal or refinancing will not be as favorable as the existing terms of that debt. In addition, to the extent that we are unable to pay our obligations under our outstanding secured debt, the applicable creditor could proceed against any or all the collateral securing our indebtedness to it.
Our marketing efforts to help grow our retail business may not be effective, and failure to effectively develop and expand our sales and marketing capabilities could harm our ability to increase our customer base and achieve broader market acceptance of our e-commerce channel.
If the online market for home goods does not continue to gain acceptance, a sizable portion of our business may suffer. Our success will depend, in part, on our ability to attract consumers who have historically purchased home goods through traditional retailers. Furthermore, we may have to incur significantly higher and more sustained advertising and promotional expenditures to attract additional online consumers to our sites and convert them into purchasing customers online. Specific factors that could impact consumers’ willingness to purchase home goods from us online include concerns about buying products without a physical storefront, face-to-face interaction with sales personnel and the inability to physically handle, examine and compare products; delivery time associated with online orders; actual or perceived lack of security of online transactions and concerns regarding the privacy or protection of personal information; delayed shipments or shipments of incorrect or damaged products; inconvenience associated with returning or exchanging items purchased online; usability, functionality and features of our sites; and our reputation and brand strength. In addition, if we do not have a clear and relevant promotional calendar to engage our customers, especially in the current macroeconomic environment, our customers may purchase fewer goods from us, or we may have to increase our promotional activities. If the shopping experience we provide does not appeal to consumers or meet the expectations of existing customers, we may not acquire new customers at sustainable rates, acquired customers may not become repeat customers and existing customers’ buying patterns and levels may decrease. In addition, we may experience surges in online traffic and orders associated with promotional activities and seasonal trends, which could cause fluctuations in our results of operations from quarter to quarter.
We operate in a highly competitive industry, and if we are unable to compete successfully, our business may be adversely affected.
Both our products and technologies and our e-commerce platform operate in competitive industries. Our products and technologies face strong competition from manufacturers and distributors of lighting and ceiling fan manufacturers, and, with respect to our smart products and technologies, from manufacturers and distributors of products addressing certain smart technologies, features or markets for the home and office worldwide. To remain competitive, we need to invest in research and development and marketing. Many of our competitors have stronger capitalization than we do, strong existing customer relationships and more extensive engineering, manufacturing, sales, and marketing capabilities. Competitors’ products and technologies may be more effective, more effectively marketed or sold or have lower prices or superior performance features than our products and technologies. Competitors could focus their substantial resources on developing competing products and technologies that may be potentially more attractive to customers than our products and technologies or offer competitive products and technologies at reduced prices to improve their competitive positions. We may also face competition from other products with existing technologies and from other smart home devices, and consumers may prefer individual device solutions that provide more narrowly targeted functionality instead of a more comprehensive integrated smart home solution. In addition, our e-commerce channel faces competition from other online retailers, as well as traditional retailers, many of which have larger platforms and greater resources than us, and some of which sell a wider array of products, which could attract a wider array of customers. Any of these competitive factors could make it more difficult for us to attract and retain customers, require us to lower our prices to remain competitive or reduce our revenue and profitability, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. We may not have available sufficient financial or other resources to continue to make the investments necessary to maintain our competitive position.
We depend on third parties to provide integrated circuit chip sets and other critical components for use in our products.
We do not manufacture the integrated circuit chip sets or other electronic components used in our products. Instead, we purchase them from third-party suppliers or rely on third-party independent contractors for these integrated circuit chip sets and other critical components, some of which are customized or custom made for us. We also use third parties to assemble all or portions of our products. Some of these third-party contractors and suppliers are small companies with limited financial resources. If any of these third-party contractors or suppliers were unable or unwilling to supply these components, our ability to manufacture our products may decrease. As the availability of components decreases, the cost of acquiring those components ordinarily increases. High growth product categories such as the consumer electronics and mobile phone markets have experienced chronic shortages of components during periods of exceptionally high demand. Geopolitical conditions, including other trade barriers or restrictions, have also negatively impacted on the availability of and/or the price of certain electronic components. While we experienced shortages in obtaining necessary integrated circuit chips to be used in our products, we were able to find additional suppliers for such components. Going forward, we believe we can obtain more chips as needed within a reasonable time and may be able to replace difficult to acquire components with different products or modify our design if necessary. If we do not properly anticipate the need for or procure critical components, we may pay higher prices for those components, our gross margins may decrease and we may be unable to meet the demands of our customers, which could reduce our competitiveness, cause a decline in our market share and have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.
We rely on a limited number of third-party manufacturers to produce our products. We may be unable to achieve our growth and profitability objectives if we cannot secure acceptable third-party manufacturers or existing third-party manufacturer relationships dissolve. In addition, our financial results could be adversely affected if we fail to successfully reduce our current or future production costs.
We depend on certain key manufacturers for our products. If these relationships become strained, our results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected. We also cannot predict whether our current or future manufacturing arrangements will be able to develop efficient, low-cost manufacturing capabilities and processes that will enable us to meet the quality, price, engineering, design and production standards or production volumes required to successfully mass market our products. Even if we are successful in developing manufacturing capabilities and processes, we cannot provide any assurance that we will do so in time to meet market demand. Our failure to develop such manufacturing processes and capabilities, if necessary, in a timely manner could prevent us from achieving our growth and profitability objectives. In addition, our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be materially adversely affected if our third-party manufacturers were to experience problems with product quality, credit or liquidity issues, labor or materials shortages, or disruptions or delays in their manufacturing process or delivery of the finished products and components or the raw materials used to make such products and components.
We may also need to hire and train a significant number of employees to engage in full-scale commercial manufacturing operations. There are various risks and challenges associated with hiring, training and managing a large workforce in time for us to commence our planned commercial production and sale of our smart products and technologies, including that the workforce will not have experience with manufacturing our smart products and therefore will require significant training.
Additionally, a significant portion of our product strategy will rely upon our ability to successfully rationalize and improve the efficiency of our operations. In particular, our product strategy relies on our ability to reduce our production costs in order to remain competitive. As there is limited historical basis for estimating the demand for our smart products and technologies, or our ability to develop, manufacture and deliver our smart products, we may be unable to accurately estimate our inventory and production requirements, which would affect our ability to successfully implement cost reduction measures. If we overestimate our requirements, we may have excess inventory, which would increase our costs. If we underestimate our requirements, our suppliers may have inadequate inventory, which could interrupt the manufacture of the smart products and result in delays in shipments and revenues. We may also rely on a limited number of suppliers; during 2024, we had less than 10 major vendors that accounted for a majority of our cost of sales. For additional information regarding our suppliers, see “Item 1. Business - Third-Party Manufacturing and Suppliers.” In addition, lead times for materials and components may vary significantly and depend on factors such as the specific supplier, contract terms and demand for each component at a given time. If we are unable to successfully implement cost reduction measures, if these efforts do not generate the level of cost savings that we expect going forward or result in higher-than-expected costs, or if we fail to order sufficient quantities of components in a timely manner, our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows could be materially adversely affected.
Our third-party manufacturers and many of our suppliers are located in China, which exposes us to additional risks.
Our third-party manufacturers are in China, which exposes us to additional risks that could negatively impact our business and operations. We are subject to risks associated with shipping products across borders, including shipping delays, customs duties, export quotas and other trade restrictions that could have a significant impact on our revenue and profitability. The new U.S. administration has imposed additional tariffs and other trade barriers and restrictions on certain products imported into the United States with China as the country of origin. While these tariffs have not had a significant impact on the shipment of our products to international markets to date, as we are continuing to transition our business, we cannot predict the impact of future tariffs on our products and technologies, and the costs of supplies and manufacturing may increase. If we cannot deliver our products on a competitive and timely basis, our relationships with customers will be damaged and our financial condition could also be harmed. The future imposition of, or significant increases in, tariffs, custom duties, export quotas and other barriers and restrictions by the U.S. on China or other countries could disrupt our supply chain, increase the cost of our raw materials and therefore our pricing, and impose the burdens of compliance with foreign trade laws, any of which could potentially affect our bottom line and sales. We cannot assure you that we will not be adversely affected by changes in the trade laws of foreign jurisdictions where we sell and seek to sell our products.
In addition, the prosecution of intellectual property infringement and trade secret theft in China is more difficult than in the United States. Although we take precautions to protect our intellectual property, using Chinese manufacturers could subject us to an increased risk that unauthorized parties will be able to copy or otherwise obtain or use our intellectual property, and we may be unsuccessful in monitoring and enforcing our intellectual property rights against them, which could harm our business. We may also have limited legal recourse in the event we encounter patent or trademark infringers, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
Further, such manufacturers may be subject to disruption by natural disasters, public health crises, and political, social or economic instability, including geopolitical conditions. The temporary or permanent loss of the services of any of our contract manufacturers could cause a significant disruption in our product supply chain and operations and delays in product shipments.
Certain goods that we import are sourced from third-party suppliers in China. Our ability to successfully import such materials may be adversely affected by changes in U.S. laws. For example, in December 2021, the U.S. Congress passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”), which imposed a presumptive ban on the import of goods to the U.S. that are made, wholly or in part, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China (“XUAR”) or by persons that participate in certain programs in XUAR that entail the use of forced labor. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) has published both a list of entities that are known to utilize forced labor, and a list of commodities that are most at risk, such as cotton, tomatoes, and silica-based products. Although none of our Chinese suppliers are in the XUAR, we do not currently have full visibility to the entirety of each supplier’s separate supply chains to be able to ensure that the raw materials or other inputs they use to manufacture their goods are not produced in XUAR. As a result of the UFLPA, products and materials we import into the U.S. could be held by the CBP based on a suspicion that inputs used in such materials originated from the XUAR or that they may have been produced by Chinese suppliers accused of participating in forced labor, pending our providing satisfactory evidence to the contrary. Among other consequences, such an outcome could result in negative publicity that harms our brand and reputation and could result in a delay or complete inability to import such materials, which could result in inventory shortages and greater supply chain compliance costs.
Additional risks may include, but are not limited to, the potential impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates, other rules and regulations adopted by the Chinese government or provincial or local governments, and the potential impact of global market and economic conditions on the financial stability of our manufacturers, including the impact of tariffs and other trade barriers, as well as increasing trade tensions between the United States and China.
We may acquire other businesses, license rights to technologies or products, form alliances, or dispose of assets or operations, which could cause us to incur significant expenses and could negatively affect profitability.
We may pursue acquisitions, technology-licensing arrangements, and strategic alliances, or dispose of some of our assets or operations as part of our business strategy. For instance, we acquired Belami, an e-commerce platform, in 2023. We may not complete these transactions in a timely manner, on a cost-effective basis, or at all, and if such transactions are completed, we may not realize the expected benefits. If we are successful in completing an acquisition, the products and technologies that are acquired may not be successful or may require significantly greater resources and investments than originally anticipated. We may not be able to integrate acquisitions successfully into our existing business and could incur or assume significant debt and unknown or contingent liabilities. In addition, we may experience diversion of our management’s attention from our existing business and initiatives in pursuing such a strategic transaction and could also experience negative effects on our reported results of operations from acquisition or disposition-related charges, amortization of expenses related to intangibles and charges for impairment of long-term assets.
In addition, if we undertake acquisitions, we may issue dilutive securities, assume, or incur debt obligations, incur large one-time expenses and acquire intangible assets that could result in significant future amortization expense; for instance, in connection with the acquisition of Belami, during 2023, we sold convertible notes and warrants and issued common stock as consideration for the Belami acquisition. Moreover, we may not be able to locate suitable acquisition opportunities, and this inability could impair our ability to grow or obtain access to technologies or products that may be important to the development of our business. We may also be subject to transaction-related litigation in connection with proposed acquisitions. Any of the foregoing may materially harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, stock price and prospects.
Our products business may become substantially dependent on contracts that are awarded through competitive bidding processes.
We may obtain a significant portion of our products revenues pursuant to contracts that are subject to competitive bidding, including contracts with municipal authorities. Competition for, and negotiation and award of, contracts present varied risks, including, but not limited to:
- investment of substantial time and resources by management for the preparation of bids and proposals with no assurance that a contract will be awarded to us;
- the requirement to certify as to compliance with numerous laws (for example, socio-economic, small business and domestic preference) for which a false or incorrect certification can lead to civil and criminal penalties;
- the need to estimate accurately the resources and cost structure required to service a contract; and
- the expenses and delays that we might suffer if our competitors protest a contract awarded to us, including the potential that the contract may be terminated and a new bid competition may be conducted.
22
If we are unable to win contracts awarded through the competitive bidding process, we may not be able to operate in the market for products and services that are provided under those contracts for several years. If we are unable to consistently win new contract awards over any extended period, or if we fail to anticipate all of the costs and resources that will be required to secure and perform such contract awards, our growth strategy and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
If we fail to develop our brand, our business may suffer.
We believe that developing and maintaining awareness of our brand is critical to achieving widespread acceptance of our products and technologies and is an important element in attracting and retaining customers. Efforts to build our brand may involve significant expense and may not generate customer awareness or increase revenue at all, or in an amount sufficient to offset expenses we incur in building our brand. Promotion and enhancement of our brand will depend largely on our success in being able to provide high quality, reliable and cost-effective products and technologies. If customers do not perceive our products and technologies as meeting their needs, or if we fail to market our products and technologies effectively, we will likely be unsuccessful in creating the brand awareness that is critical for broad customer adoption of our products and technologies.
Our inability to protect our intellectual property, or our involvement in damaging and disruptive intellectual property litigation, could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition or result in the loss of use of the related product or service.
We attempt to protect our intellectual property rights through a combination of patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws, as well as third-party nondisclosure and assignment agreements. Our failure to obtain or maintain adequate protection of our intellectual property rights for any reason could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Some of our products, systems, business methods and technologies are covered by United States and international patents and patent applications. At this time, we do not own all of the intellectual property and proprietary information used in our products and technologies, and we do not have any contracts or agreements pending to acquire such intellectual property and proprietary information. If our relationship with the owner of the intellectual property and proprietary knowledge we use is impaired or we otherwise lose our ability to incorporate such intellectual property and proprietary knowledge in our products and technologies, our ability to manufacture and sell our products and technologies would be materially adversely affected. We offer no assurance about the degree of protection which existing or future patents may afford us. Likewise, we offer no assurance that our patent applications will result in issued patents, that our patents will be upheld if challenged, that competitors will not develop similar or superior business methods or products outside the protection of our patents, that competitors will not infringe our patents, or that we will have adequate resources to enforce our patents. Effective protection of our United States patents may be unavailable or limited in jurisdictions outside the United States, as the intellectual property laws of foreign countries sometimes offer less protection or have onerous filing requirements. In addition, because some patent applications are maintained in secrecy for a period of time, we could adopt a technology without knowledge of a pending patent application, and such technology could infringe a third party’s patent.
We also rely on unpatented proprietary technology. It is possible that others will independently develop the same or similar technology or otherwise learn of our unpatented technology. To protect our trade secrets and other proprietary information, we generally require employees, consultants, advisors and collaborators to enter into confidentiality agreements. We cannot provide any assurance that these agreements will provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets, know-how or other proprietary information in the event of any unauthorized use, misappropriation or disclosure of such trade secrets, know-how or other proprietary information. If we are unable to maintain the proprietary nature of our technologies, our business could be materially adversely affected.
We rely on our trademarks, trade names, and brand names to distinguish us and our products and services from our competitors. Some of our trademarks may conflict with the trademarks of other companies. Failure to obtain trademark registrations could limit our ability to protect our trademarks and impede our sales and marketing efforts. Further, competitors may infringe on our trademarks, and we may not have adequate resources to enforce our trademarks.
In addition, third parties may bring infringement and other claims that could be time-consuming and expensive to defend. Parties making infringement and other claims against us may be able to obtain injunctive or other equitable relief that could effectively block our ability to provide our products, technologies, services or business methods and could cause us to pay substantial damages. In the event of a successful claim of infringement, we may need to obtain one or more licenses from third parties, which may not be available at a reasonable cost, or at all. It is possible that our intellectual property rights may not be valid or that we may infringe existing or future proprietary rights of others. Any successful infringement claims could subject us to significant liabilities, require us to seek licenses on unfavorable terms, prevent us from manufacturing or selling products, technologies, services and business methods and require us to redesign or, in the case of trademark claims, rebrand our business or products, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
The expiration or loss of patent protection and licenses may affect our future revenues and operating income.
Much of our business relies on patent and trademark and other intellectual property protection. Although most of the challenges to the intellectual property we rely upon would likely come from other businesses, governments may also challenge intellectual property protections. To the extent intellectual property we rely upon is successfully challenged, invalidated or circumvented, or to the extent it does not allow us to compete effectively, our business will suffer. To the extent that countries do not enforce our intellectual property rights or to the extent that countries require compulsory licensing of intellectual property upon which we rely, our future revenues and operating income will be reduced.
We are, or may be in the future, subject to substantial regulation related to quality and safety standards applicable to our products and technologies. Our failure to comply with applicable quality or safety standards could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
Our products are subject to regulation related to quality and safety standards, including safety certification and evaluation to specific safety standards depending on the product type, region and country. Products certified by a NRTL, such as UL, Intertek Testing Lab (ETL) or Canadian Standards (CSA), bear a certification mark signifying that the product complies with the requirements of the product safety standard. UL Standards are used for evaluation of U.S. products, CSA Standards for Canada and IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) Standards for European countries. We use UL as our main third-party NRTL safety laboratory. While we have received a variety of safety certifications on our products, including UL, Underwriters Laboratories of Canada (cUL), Conformité Européenne (CE) and International Electrotechnical Commission for Electrical Equipment Certification Body (the IECEE CB scheme), we may need or desire to obtain additional certifications for new product configurations, which will increase the time and costs to complete our product launches and which we may be unable to obtain within a reasonable time, or at all. In addition, certain electronic products require FCC certification, and we have obtained FCC certification on applicable products to ensure electromagnetic interference compliance. Compliance with applicable regulatory requirements is subject to continual review and is monitored through periodic inspections and other review and reporting mechanisms. Although we believe that our broad knowledge and experience with electrical codes and safety standards have facilitated certification approvals, we cannot provide any assurance that we will be able to obtain any such certifications for our new products or that, if certification standards are amended, we will be able to maintain such certifications for our existing products.
While we endeavor to take all the steps necessary to comply with applicable laws and regulations, there can be no assurance that we can maintain compliance on a continuing basis. Failure by us or our partners to comply with current or future governmental regulations and quality and safety assurance guidelines could lead to product recalls or related field actions, or product shortages. Efficacy or safety concerns with respect to our products or those of our partners could lead to product recalls, fines, withdrawals, declining sales and/or our failure to successfully commercialize new products or otherwise achieve revenue growth.
We could face significant liabilities in connection with our products, technologies, and business operations, which, if incurred beyond any insurance limits, would adversely affect our business and financial condition.
We are subject to a variety of potential liabilities connected to our product and technology development and business operations, such as potential liabilities related to environmental risks and our e-commerce sales. As a business that markets products for use by consumers and institutions, we may become liable for any damage caused by our products, whether used in the manner intended or not. Any such claim of liability, whether meritorious or not, could be time-consuming and/or result in costly litigation. Although we have obtained insurance against certain of these risks, no assurance can be given that such insurance will be adequate to cover related liabilities or will be available in the future or, if available, that premiums will be commercially justifiable. If we were to incur any substantial liability and related damages were not covered by our insurance or exceeded policy limits, or if we were to incur such liability at a time when we are not able to obtain liability insurance, our business, financial conditions, and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
We are, from time to time, subject to legal claims against us or claims by us that could have a significant impact on our resulting financial performance.
At any given time, we may be subject to litigation or claims related to our products and technologies, e-commerce sales, intellectual property, customers, employees, stockholders, distributors and sales of our assets, among other things, the disposition of which may have an adverse effect upon our business, financial condition or results of operations. The outcome of litigation is difficult to assess or quantify. Lawsuits can result in the payment of substantial damages by defendants. If we are required to pay substantial damages and expenses as a result of these or other types of lawsuits, our business and results of operations would be adversely affected. Regardless of whether any claims against us are valid or whether we are liable, claims may be expensive to defend and may divert time and money away from our operations. We may not have adequate resources in the event of a successful claim against us, and insurance may not be available in sufficient amounts or at all to cover any liabilities with respect to these or other matters. A judgment or other liability in excess of our insurance coverage for any claims could adversely affect our business and the results of our operations.
We have limited product distribution experience for our Sky Technologies products and we expect to rely on third parties, who may not successfully sell our products and technologies.
Our ability to increase our customer base, achieve broader market acceptance of our products and technologies, grow our revenue and achieve and sustain profitability will depend, to a significant extent, on our ability to effectively expand our sales and marketing operations and activities, both for our Sky Technologies products and products distributed through our e-commerce websites. We have limited product distribution experience for our Sky Technologies products and currently rely, and plan to rely primarily, on product distribution arrangements with third parties. We also rely on product distribution arrangements for sales of products sold on our e-commerce websites. As a result, our future revenues will depend on the success of the efforts of these third parties. We may also license our technology to certain third parties for commercialization of certain applications relating to our Sky Technologies products. We expect to enter into additional distribution agreements and/or licensing agreements in the future, and we may not be able to enter into these agreements on terms that are favorable to us, if at all. In addition, we may have limited or no control over the distribution activities of these third parties. These third parties could sell competing products and technologies and may devote insufficient sales efforts to our products and technologies. We are also subject to the risks of distributors and resellers encountering financial difficulties, which could impede their effectiveness and also expose us to financial risk, for example, if they are unable to pay for their purchases, or ongoing disruptions in business, such as from natural disasters.
We rely on third parties maintaining open marketplaces to distribute our mobile application. If such third parties interfere with the distribution of our application, our business would be adversely affected.
We rely on third parties maintaining open marketplaces, including the Apple App Store and Google Play, to make the mobile application controlling our products and technologies available for download. We cannot assure you that the marketplaces through which we distribute our mobile application will maintain their current structures or that such marketplaces will not charge us fees to list our application for download. We will also depend on these third-party marketplaces to enable us and our users to update our mobile application timely, and to incorporate new features, integrations, and capabilities. We will be subject to requirements imposed by such marketplaces, which may change their technical requirements or policies in a manner that adversely impacts the way in which we or third parties collect, use and share data from users through our mobile application. If we do not comply with these requirements, we could lose access to the mobile application marketplace and users, and our business, results of operations, and financial condition may be harmed.
In addition, Apple, and Google, among others, for competitive or other reasons, could stop allowing or supporting access to our mobile application through their products, could allow access for us only at an unsustainable cost, or could make changes to the terms of access in order to make our mobile application less desirable or harder to access. If it becomes more difficult for our users to access and use the mobile application controlling our smart products on their mobile devices, if our users choose not to access or use the application on their mobile devices, or if our users choose to use mobile products that do not offer access to the application, our user growth, retention and engagement could be seriously harmed.
Our net sales, and ability to market and sell our new products and technologies, might be adversely impacted if our products and technologies do not meet certain certification and compliance standards.
Although not legally required to do so, we strive to obtain certifications for substantially all our Sky Technologies products, both in the United States, and, where appropriate, in jurisdictions outside the United States. For instance, we may seek certification of our products from UL, United Laboratories for Canada (cUL) and Conformité Européenne (CE). Although we believe that our broad knowledge and experience with electrical codes and safety standards have facilitated certification approvals, we cannot ensure that we will be able to obtain any such certifications for our new products and technologies or that, if certification standards are amended, we will be able to maintain such certifications for our existing products. Moreover, although we are not aware of any effort to amend any existing certification standard or implement a new certification standard in a manner that would render us unable to maintain certification for our existing products or obtain ratification for new products and technologies, our net sales might be adversely affected if such an amendment or implementation were to occur.
Defects in our mobile application and the technology powering it may adversely affect our business.
Tools, code, subroutines, and processes contained within our mobile application may contain defects not yet discovered or contained in updates and new versions. Our introduction of updates and new versions with defects or quality problems may result in adverse publicity, reduced downloads and use, product redevelopment costs, loss of or delay in market acceptance of our products and technologies or claims by customers or others against us. Such problems or claims may have a material and adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.
Changes to tax laws or exposure to additional tax liabilities may have a negative impact on our operating results.
Continued developments in U.S. tax reform and changes to tax laws and rates in other jurisdictions where we may do business could adversely affect our results of operations and cash flows. It is also possible that provisions of U.S. tax reform could be subsequently amended in a way that is adverse to the Company.
In addition, we may undergo tax audits in the jurisdictions in which we operate. Although we believe that our income tax provisions and accruals are reasonable and in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”), and that we prepare our tax filings in accordance with all applicable tax laws, the final determination with respect to any tax audits and any related litigation could be materially different from our historical income tax provisions and accruals. The results of any tax audit or litigation could materially affect our operating results and cash flows in the periods for which that determination is made. In addition, future period net income may be adversely impacted by litigation costs, settlements, penalties and interest assessments.
Certain U.S. state and local tax authorities may assert that the Company has a nexus with such states or localities and may seek to impose state and local income taxes on its income allocated to such state and localities.
There is a risk that certain state tax authorities where the Company does not currently file a state income tax return could assert that the Company is liable for state and local income taxes based upon income or gross receipts allocable to such states or localities. States and localities are becoming increasingly aggressive in asserting nexus for state and local income tax purposes. The Company could be subject to additional state and local income taxation, including penalties and interest attributable to prior periods, if a state or local tax authority in a state or locality where the Company does not currently file an income tax return successfully asserts that the Company’s activities give rise to nexus for state income tax purposes. Such tax assessments, penalties and interest may adversely affect the Company’s cash tax liabilities, results of operations and financial condition.
Taxing authorities may successfully assert that the Company should have collected or in the future should collect sales and use or similar taxes for its services, which could adversely affect the Company’s results of operations.
State taxing authorities may assert that the Company had an economic nexus with their state and were required to collect sales and use or similar taxes with respect to past or future products and technologies that the Company has sold or will sell, which could result in tax assessments, penalties, and interest. The assertion of such taxes against the Company for past sales, or any requirement that the Company collect sales taxes on future sales, could have a material adverse effect on its business, cash tax liabilities, results of operations and financial condition.
Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.
We have significant U.S. net operating loss (“NOL”) and tax credit carryforwards. Under Section 382 and Section 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change NOLs and certain other tax attributes to offset its post-change income may be limited. In general, an “ownership change” will occur if there is a cumulative change in our ownership by “five percent stockholders” that exceeds 50 percentage points over a rolling three-year period. Similar rules may apply under state tax laws. Our ability to use NOLs and other tax attributes to reduce future taxable income and liabilities may be subject to annual limitations as a result of prior ownership changes and ownership changes that may occur in the future.
Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “TCJA”), as amended by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), NOLs arising in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2021 may be carried back to each of the five taxable years preceding the tax year of such loss, but NOLs arising in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2020 may not be carried back. Additionally, under the TCJA, as modified by the CARES Act, NOLs from tax years that began after December 31, 2017 may offset no more than 80% of current taxable income annually for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2020, but the 80% limitation on the use of NOLs from tax years that began after December 31, 2017 does not apply for taxable income in tax years beginning before January 1, 2021. NOLs arising in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017 can be carried forward indefinitely, but NOLs generated in tax years beginning before January 1, 2018 will continue to have a two-year carryback and twenty-year carryforward period. In addition, for state income tax purposes, the extent to which states will conform to the federal laws is uncertain and there may be periods during which the use of NOL carryforwards is suspended or otherwise limited, which could accelerate or permanently increase state taxes owed.
The elimination of monetary liability against our directors, officers, and employees under Florida law and the existence of indemnification rights to our directors, officers and employees may result in substantial expenditures by us and may discourage lawsuits against our directors, officers and employees.
Our articles of incorporation, as amended (the “articles of incorporation”), contain a provision permitting us to eliminate the personal liability of our directors and officers to our Company and stockholders for damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director or officer to the extent provided by Florida law. Our third amended and restated bylaws (the “bylaws”) also contain provisions regarding indemnification of our directors, officers and employees, including, under certain circumstances, against attorneys’ fees and other expenses incurred by them in any litigation to which they become a party arising from their association with or activities on our behalf. We will also bear the expenses of such litigation for any of our directors, officers, employees or agents, upon such person’s promise to repay us therefore if it is ultimately determined that any such person shall not have been entitled to indemnification. The foregoing obligations could result in our incurring substantial expenditures to cover the cost of settlement or damage awards against directors and officers, which we may be unable to recoup. These provisions and resultant costs may also discourage us from bringing a lawsuit against directors and officers for breaches of their fiduciary duties and may similarly discourage the filing of derivative litigation by our stockholders against our directors and officers even though such actions, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and stockholders.
Other factors could have a materially adverse effect on our future profitability and financial condition.
Many other factors can affect our profitability and financial condition, including:
- changes in, or interpretations of, laws and regulations, including changes in accounting standards and taxation requirements;
- changes in the rate of inflation, interest rates and the performance of investments held by us;
- changes in the creditworthiness of counterparties that transact business with us;
- changes in business, economic and political conditions, including: war, political instability, terrorist attacks in the U.S. and other parts of the world, the threat of future terrorist activity in the U.S. and other parts of the world and related military action; natural disasters; public health crises; the cost and availability of insurance due to any of the foregoing events or other unforeseen events; labor disputes, strikes, slow-downs or other forms of labor or union activity; increased tariffs or other trade barriers or restrictions; and pressure from third-party interest groups;
- changes in our business and investments and changes in the relative and absolute contribution of each to earnings and cash flow resulting from evolving business strategies, changing product mix, changes in tax rates and opportunities existing now or in the future;
- difficulties related to our information technology systems, or outages of third-party information technologies or software upon which we rely, any of which could adversely affect business operations, including any significant breakdown, invasion, destruction, or interruption of these systems;
- changes in credit markets impacting our ability to obtain financing for our business operations; or
- legal difficulties, any of which could preclude or delay commercialization of products or technologies or adversely affect profitability, including claims asserting statutory or regulatory violations, adverse litigation decisions and issues regarding compliance with any governmental consent decree.
27
Risks Related to Our Operations
Our actual operating results may differ significantly from guidance provided by our management.
From time to time, the Company may release guidance in its earnings releases, earnings conference calls, or otherwise, regarding its future performance that represent management’s estimates as of the date of release. This guidance, if released, would include forward-looking statements, and would be based on projections prepared by the Company’s management. The Company’s guidance will not be prepared with a view toward compliance with published accounting and reporting guidelines, and neither its registered public accountants nor any other independent expert or outside party will compile or examine the projections and, accordingly, no such person will express any opinion or any other form of assurance with respect thereto. Guidance will be based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while presented with numerical specificity, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond the Company’s control and are based upon specific assumptions with respect to future business decisions, some of which will change. The Company will generally state possible outcomes as high and low ranges which are intended to provide a sensitivity analysis as variables are changed but are not intended to represent that actual results could not fall outside of the suggested ranges. The principal reason that the Company would release guidance would be to provide a basis for the Company’s management to discuss its business outlook with analysts and investors. The Company will not accept any responsibility for any projections or reports published by analysts. Guidance is necessarily speculative in nature, and it can be expected that some or all of the assumptions of the guidance furnished by the Company will not materialize or will vary significantly from actual results. Accordingly, the Company’s guidance will only be an estimate of what management believes is realizable as of the date of release. Actual results will vary from the Company’s guidance and the variations may be material. In light of the foregoing, investors are urged to put the guidance in context and not to place undue reliance on any such guidance. Any failure to successfully implement the Company’s operating strategy or the occurrence of any of the events or circumstances discussed therein could result in the actual operating results being different from its guidance, and such differences may be adverse and material.
We have incurred, and will continue to incur, increased costs as a result of operating as a public company, and our management is required to devote substantial time to compliance initiatives.
As a public company, we incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, which require, among other things, that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and financial condition with the SEC. In addition, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), as well as rules adopted by the SEC and Nasdaq to implement provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, impose significant requirements on public companies, including requiring establishment and maintenance of effective disclosure and financial controls and changes in corporate governance practices. Further, in July 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), was enacted. There are significant corporate governance and executive compensation related provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act that required the SEC to adopt additional rules and regulations in these areas, such as “say on pay” and proxy access.
The rules and regulations applicable to public companies substantially increase our legal and financial compliance costs and make some activities more time-consuming and costly. If and when these requirements divert the attention of our management and personnel from other business concerns, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. The increased costs have increased our expenses and may require us to reduce costs in other areas of our business. We cannot currently predict or estimate the amount or timing of additional costs we may incur to respond to these requirements. The impact of these requirements could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors or as executive officers. This could be compounded in the event these rules and regulations make it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, which, in the future, could require us to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain coverage.
In addition, there has been increased focus from regulatory authorities, investors and other stakeholders on companies’ environmental, social and governance policies and practices. Public interest and legislative pressure related to public companies’ environmental, social and governance practices continues to grow; for example, California has adopted certain climate-related disclosure requirements. At the same time, there exists anti-environmental, social and governance, including anti-diversity and equity, sentiment among some stakeholders and government institutions, and anti-environmental, social and governance policies or legislation enacted by the U.S. federal government or states may conflict with other laws and regulations applicable to us. Compliance with inconsistent environmental, social and governance-related rules and regulations, including those related to climate change, could increase compliance burdens and associated regulatory costs, as well as enhance the risk of claims and regulatory actions, which could adversely impact our reputation and our efforts to raise capital, including as a result of public regulatory sanctions.
Our future success depends on our ability to retain key employees and to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel.
Our success depends substantially on the efforts and abilities of our officers and other key employees and agents. Although we have entered into employment agreements with our executive officers, each of them may terminate their employment with us at any time. If we are unable to continue to attract and retain high quality personnel, our ability to pursue our growth strategy will be limited.
Recruiting and retaining qualified personnel will also be critical to our success. The loss of the services of our executive officers or other key employees or contractors could impede the achievement of our research and development objectives and seriously harm our ability to successfully implement our business strategy. Furthermore, replacing executive officers and key personnel may be difficult and may take an extended period of time, as competition for experienced personnel in our industry is substantial and we could be impacted by labor shortages. In addition, if any of our officers or other key personnel join a competitor or form a competing company, we may lose some of our customers.
Our culture has contributed to our success, and if we cannot maintain this culture as we grow, we could lose the innovation, creativity and teamwork fostered by our culture, and our business may be harmed.
We believe that our culture has been and will continue to be a key contributor to our success. We expect to continue to hire additional personnel as we expand our business. If we do not continue to develop our company culture or maintain our core values as we grow and evolve, we may be unable to foster the innovation, creativity and teamwork we believe we need to support our growth.
As a result of being a public company, we are obligated to develop and maintain proper and effective internal control over financial reporting, and any failure to maintain the adequacy of these internal controls may adversely affect investor confidence in us and, as a result, the value of our common stock.
As a public company, we are required to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other rules that govern public companies. In particular, we are required to certify our compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which requires us to furnish annually a report by management on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, should we no longer qualify as non-accelerated filer, our independent registered public accounting firm will be required to report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. We are also required to design our disclosure controls and procedures to reasonably assure that information required to be disclosed in reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the SEC and that such information is accumulated and communicated to management as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
We may identify control deficiencies of varying degrees of severity under applicable SEC and PCAOB rules and regulations that remain unremedied. As a public company, we are required to report, among other things, control deficiencies that constitute a “material weakness” or changes in internal controls that, or that are reasonably likely to, materially affect internal controls over financial reporting. 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 our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. A “significant deficiency” is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting that is less severe than a material weakness, yet important enough to merit attention by those responsible for oversight of our financial reporting.
If we are not able to comply with the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in a timely manner, if our independent registered public accounting firm determines that we have a material weakness or a significant deficiency in our internal control over financial reporting, or if we are unable to maintain proper and effective internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to produce timely and accurate financial statements. As a result, our investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, the market price of our stock could decline and we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the SEC or other regulatory authorities.
We believe that any internal controls and procedures, no matter how well-conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. We may discover weaknesses in our system of internal financial and accounting controls and procedures that could result in a material misstatement of our financial statements. Our internal control over financial reporting will not prevent or detect all errors and all fraud. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and instances of fraud will be 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. For example, our directors or executive officers could inadvertently fail to disclose a new relationship or arrangement, causing us to fail to disclose a required related party transaction. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people or by an unauthorized override of the controls. Accordingly, because of the inherent limitations in our control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.
Unstable market and economic conditions may have serious adverse consequences on our business, financial condition, and stock price.
In recent years, global financial markets have experienced extreme volatility and disruptions, because of, among other factors, geopolitical conditions, including increased tariffs and other trade barriers and restrictions, high inflation and interest rates, fluctuating currency exchange rates, labor shortages and supply chain disruptions and constraints, declines in economic growth, increases in unemployment rates and uncertainty about economic stability. There can be no assurance that further deterioration in credit and financial markets and confidence in economic conditions will not occur. In addition, inflationary factors, such as increases in interest rates, government regulations, and increases in tariffs and other supply and overhead costs and transportation costs, may adversely affect our operating results, and we may not be able to offset increased costs with increased sales price per unit, particularly as we continue to work toward commercial manufacturing of our products. Our general business strategy and ability to raise capital may be adversely affected by any economic downturn or recession, volatile business environment or continued unpredictable and unstable market conditions. Deterioration in the equity and credit markets may make any necessary debt or equity financing more difficult, more costly, and more dilutive. Failure to secure any necessary financing in a timely manner and on favorable terms could have a material adverse effect on our growth strategy, financial performance and stock price and could require us to delay or abandon our strategic plans. In addition, there is a risk that one or more of our current service providers and other partners could go out of business, including as a result of difficult economic conditions, which could directly affect our ability to attain our operating goals on schedule and on budget.
In addition, the stock markets have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many companies, which has resulted in decreased or volatile stock prices for many companies, notwithstanding the lack of a fundamental change in their underlying business models or prospects. These fluctuations have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. Broad market and industry factors, including potentially worsening economic conditions and other adverse effects or developments relating to geopolitical conditions and other political, regulatory and market conditions, may negatively affect the market price of shares of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance.
As of December 31, 2024, our cash and cash equivalents were approximately $15.5 million, including restricted cash. While we are not aware of any downgrades, material losses, or other significant deterioration in the fair value of our cash and cash equivalents since December 31, 2024, no assurance can be given that further deterioration of the global credit and financial markets would not negatively impact our current portfolio of cash equivalents or our ability to meet our financing objectives. For instance, in March 2023, the FDIC took control and was appointed receiver of Silicon Valley Bank and New York Signature Bank. While the Company did not have any direct exposure to these banks, if other banks and financial institutions enter receivership or become insolvent in the future in response to financial conditions affecting the banking system and financial markets, our operations may be negatively impacted, including any inability on our part, or on our customers’ parts, to access cash, cash equivalents or investments. Furthermore, our stock price has declined, and may decline in the future, as a result of the volatility of the stock market and any general economic downturn.
Conditions in Israel, including conflicts in the Middle East, may adversely affect our operations, which could negatively impact our revenues and cash flows.
With a number of our individuals working on the development of our product offerings located in Israel, our business and operations are directly affected by economic, political, geopolitical, and military conditions affecting Israel.
In October 2023, Israel declared war against Hamas. Although there is currently a ceasefire in place, tensions are still heightened and it is difficult to predict whether the conflict may reignite. Should the Israel-Hamas war resume, the war’s economic implications on the Company’s business and operations and on Israel’s economy in general is difficult to predict. In addition, clashes between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon have increased. These conflicts, as well as actions that could be taken in the future by NATO, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union or Israel’s neighboring states and other countries, have created global security concerns that may result in a greater or lasting regional conflict. To date, our operations have not been adversely affected by this situation. However, the individuals working on developing and improving our product offerings are not only within the range of rockets from the Gaza Strip, but also within the range of rockets that can be fired from Lebanon, Syria, Iran or elsewhere in the Middle East. If hostile action or hostilities otherwise disrupt our Israeli operations, our ability to improve timely our product offerings could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, several hundred thousand Israeli reservists were drafted to perform immediate military service. If individuals working on improving our product offerings are called for service in the current war with Hamas, we expect such persons would be absent for an extended period. As a result, our operations may be disrupted by such absences, which could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations. In addition, shifting economic and political conditions in the United States and in other countries may result in changes in how the United States and other countries conduct business and other relations with Israel, which may have an adverse impact on our Israeli operations and our business.
Our internal computer systems, or those of our third-party manufacturers or other contractors or consultants, may fail or suffer security breaches. If our information technology systems security measures are breached or fail, our products and technologies may be perceived as not being secure, customers may curtail or stop buying our products and technologies, we may incur significant legal and financial exposure, and our reputation, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be materially adversely affected.
The efficient operation of our business is dependent on our information technology systems, some of which may need enhancement, updating and replacement. We rely on these systems generally to manage day-to-day operations, manage relationships with our customers and maintain our research and development data and our financial and accounting records. Despite our implementation of security measures, our internal computer systems, and those of our third-party manufacturers, information technology suppliers and other contractors, vendors and consultants upon which we rely, experience from time to time, and are vulnerable to damage from, computer viruses and/or malicious or destructive code, criminal cyberattacks, security incidents due to employee or service provider error, insider attacks, natural disasters, terrorism, war, telecommunication and electrical failures, phishing or denial-of-service attacks, ransomware or other malware, social engineering, malfeasance, other unauthorized physical or electronic access, or other vulnerabilities. The failure of our information technology systems, our inability to successfully maintain, enhance and/or replace our information technology systems as needed, or any compromise of the integrity or security of the data we generate from our information technology systems could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, disrupt our business and product and technology development and make us unable, or severely limit our ability, to respond to customer demands. Any interruption of our information technology systems could result in decreased revenue, increased expenses, increased capital expenditures, customer dissatisfaction and potential lawsuits, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows. We could also be adversely impacted by cybersecurity incidents that occur at third parties that lead to widespread technology outages, interruptions or other failures of operational, communication or other systems globally and across companies and industries.
Our information technology systems involve the storage of our confidential information and trade secrets, as well as our customers’ personal and proprietary information, in our equipment, networks and corporate systems. Security breaches expose us to the risk of loss of this information, litigation and increased costs for security measures, loss of revenue, damage to our reputation and potential liability. Security breaches or unauthorized access may result in a combination of significant legal and financial exposure, increased remediation and other costs, theft and/or unauthorized use or publication of our trade secrets and other confidential business information, loss of funds, damage to our reputation and a loss of confidence in the security of our products, technologies, services and networks that could have an adverse effect upon our business. While we take steps to prevent unauthorized access to our corporate systems, the techniques used by criminals to obtain unauthorized access to sensitive data continue to evolve and become more sophisticated change frequently and often are not recognized until launched against a target; accordingly, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventative measures, and future cyberattacks could go undetected and persist for an extended period of time. Furthermore, to the extent artificial intelligence capabilities continue to improve and are increasingly adopted, they may be used to identify vulnerabilities and craft increasingly sophisticated cybersecurity attacks, including the use of generative artificial intelligence to conduct more sophisticated social engineering attacks on the Company, suppliers or customers., and In addition, vulnerabilities may be introduced from the use of artificial intelligence by us, our financial services providers and other vendors and third-party providers. Further, the risk of a security breach or disruption, particularly through cyberattacks or cyber intrusion, including by computer hackers, foreign governments, and cyber terrorists, has generally increased as cyberattacks have become more prevalent and harder to detect and fight against. In addition, hardware, software or applications we procure from third parties may contain defects in design or manufacture or other problems that could unexpectedly compromise network and data security or trigger a widespread outage. Any breach or failure of our information technology systems could result in decreased revenue, increased expenses, increased capital expenditures, customer dissatisfaction and potential lawsuits, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Our consultants, vendors and others to whom we entrust confidential data, and on whom we rely to provide products and services, face similar threats and growing requirements. Because we do not control our vendors or service providers and our ability to monitor their cybersecurity is limited, we cannot ensure the cybersecurity measures they take will be sufficient to protect any information we share with them or prevent any disruption arising from a technology failure, cyberattack or other information or security breach. We depend on such parties to implement adequate controls and safeguards to protect against and report cyber incidents. If such parties fail to deter, detect, or report cyber incidents in a timely manner, we may suffer from financial and other harm, including to our information, operations, performance, employees, and reputation.
If we are unable to prevent or mitigate the impact of security or data privacy breaches, we could be exposed to litigation and governmental investigations, which could lead to a potential disruption to our business. In addition, we may not have adequate insurance coverage for security incidents or breaches. The successful assertion of one or more large claims against us that exceeds our available insurance coverage, or results in changes to our insurance policies (including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements), could have an adverse effect on our business. In addition, we cannot be sure that our existing insurance coverage and coverage for errors and omissions will continue to be available on acceptable terms or that our insurers will not deny coverage as to any future claim.
Further, if a high-profile security breach occurs with respect to another provider of smart home solutions, the public may lose trust in the security of our smart products and technologies or in the smart home space generally, which could adversely impact our ability to sell such products and technologies. Even in the absence of any security breach, concerns about security, privacy or data protection may deter consumers from using our smart products and technologies.
We have begun to incorporate artificial intelligence capabilities in our product offerings, which may present operational and reputational risks.
We are in the early stages of incorporating artificial intelligence (sometimes referred to as “AI”) capabilities into certain product offerings. These features may become important in our operations over time. Our competitors or other third parties may incorporate AI into their products more quickly or more successfully than us, which could impair our ability to compete effectively and adversely affect our results of operations. Additionally, if the content, analyses, or recommendations that AI applications assist in producing are or are alleged to be deficient, inaccurate, or biased, we could be subject to competitive risks, potential legal liability, and reputational harm, and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected. The use of AI capabilities may also result in cybersecurity incidents, and any such cybersecurity incidents related to our use of AI capabilities could adversely affect our business. Furthermore, the legal and regulatory landscape surrounding AI technologies is rapidly evolving and uncertain, and compliance with new or changing laws, regulations or industry standards relating to AI may impose significant operational costs and may limit our ability to use AI technologies in our products. There can be no assurance that the measures we have taken to mitigate the potential risks related to the use of AI technologies in our products will be sufficient. Failure to appropriately respond to this evolving landscape may result in legal liability, regulatory action or brand and reputational harm.
Intentional or accidental actions or inactions by employees or other third parties with authorized access to our networks may result in the exposure of vulnerabilities that may be exploited or expose us to liability. Third parties may also conduct attacks designed to temporarily deny customers access to our cloud services.
Because there are many different security breach techniques and such techniques continue to evolve, we may be unable to anticipate attempted security breaches, react in a timely manner or implement adequate preventative measures. Third parties may also conduct attacks designed to temporarily deny users access to our cloud services. Any security breach or other security incident, or the perception that one has occurred, could result in a loss of user confidence in the security of our platform and damage to our brand, reduce the demand for our solutions, disrupt normal business operations, require us to spend material resources to investigate or correct the breach and to prevent future security breaches and incidents, expose us to legal liabilities, including litigation, regulatory enforcement and indemnity obligations, and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We use third-party technology and systems in a variety of contexts, including, without limitation, employee email, content delivery to customers, back-office support, credit card processing, and other functions. Although we have developed systems and processes that are designed to protect customer data and prevent data loss and other security breaches, including systems and processes designed to reduce the impact of a security breach at a third-party service provider, such measures cannot provide absolute security.
We rely upon third-party providers of cloud-based infrastructure to host our solutions. Any disruption in the operations of these third-party providers, limitations on capacity or interference with our use could adversely affect our business, financial condition, revenues, results of operations or cash flows.
We outsource substantially all of the infrastructure relating to our cloud solution to third-party hosting services, such as Amazon Web Services (“AWS”). Customers of our cloud-based solutions need to be able to access our platform at any time, without interruption or degradation of performance, and, in some cases, we need to provide them with service-level commitments with respect to uptime. Our cloud-based solutions depend on protecting the virtual cloud infrastructure hosted by third-party hosting services by maintaining its configuration, architecture, features and interconnection specifications, as well as the information stored in these virtual data centers, which is transmitted by third-party internet service providers. Any limitation on the capacity of our third-party hosting services could impede our ability to onboard new customers or expand the usage of our existing customers, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, revenues, results of operations or cash flows. In addition, any incident affecting our third-party hosting services’ infrastructure that may be caused by cyberattacks, natural disasters, such as fires, floods, severe storms, or earthquakes, power loss, telecommunications failures, terrorist or other attacks, public health crises and other similar events beyond our control could negatively affect our cloud-based solutions. A prolonged service disruption affecting our cloud-based solution for any of the foregoing reasons would negatively impact our ability to serve our customers and could damage our reputation with current and potential customers, expose us to liability, cause us to lose customers or otherwise harm our business. We may also incur significant costs for using alternative equipment or taking other actions in preparation for, or in reaction to, events that damage the third-party hosting services we use.
AWS provides the cloud computing infrastructure that we use to host our platform, manage data, mobile application and many of the internal tools we use to operate our business. Our platform, mobile application and internal tools use computing, storage capabilities, bandwidth and other services provided by AWS. Any significant disruption of, limitation of our access to or other interference with our use of AWS would negatively impact our operations and could seriously harm our business. In addition, any transition of the cloud services currently provided by AWS to another cloud services provider would require significant time and expense and could disrupt or degrade delivery of our platform. Our business relies on the availability of our platform for our customers, and we may lose customers if they are not able to access our platform or encounter difficulties in doing so. The level of service provided by AWS could affect the availability or speed of our platform, which may also impact the usage of, and our customers’ satisfaction with, our platform and could seriously harm our business and reputation. If AWS increases pricing terms, terminates or seeks to terminate our contractual relationship, establishes more favorable relationships with our competitors or changes or interprets its terms of service or policies in a manner that is unfavorable with respect to us, our business, financial condition, revenues, results of operations or cash flows may be harmed.
We may collect, store, process and use our customers’ personally identifiable information and other data, which subjects us to governmental regulation and other legal obligations related to data privacy, information security and data protection. Any cybersecurity breaches or actual or perceived failure to comply with such legal obligations by us, or by our third-party service providers or partners, could harm our business.
We may collect, store, process and use our customers’ personally identifiable information and other data in our transactions with them, and we may rely on third parties that are not directly under our control to do so as well. While we take reasonable measures intended to protect the security, integrity and confidentiality of the personal information and other sensitive information we collect, store or transmit, we cannot guarantee that inadvertent or unauthorized use or disclosure will not occur, or that third parties will not gain unauthorized access to this information. If we or our third-party service providers were to experience a breach, disruption or failure of systems compromising our customers’ data, or if one of our third-party service providers or partners were to access our customers’ personal data without our authorization, our brand and reputation could be adversely affected, use of our products and technologies could decrease and we could be exposed to a risk of loss, litigation and regulatory proceedings.
We also incur costs in order to comply with cybersecurity or data privacy regulations or with requirements imposed by business partners. Data privacy and cybersecurity laws in the United States and internationally are constantly changing, and the implementation of these laws has become more complex. These laws often develop in ways we cannot predict and may materially increase our cost of doing business, particularly as we expand the nature and types of products and technologies we offer. These laws may impose stringent data protection requirements and provide for penalties for noncompliance. To comply with current or newly enacted laws, we may be subject to increased costs as a result of continually evaluating and modifying our policies and processes and adapting to new requirements that are or become applicable to us. For instance, many jurisdictions have enacted laws requiring companies to notify individuals of data security breaches involving their personal data. These mandatory disclosures regarding a security breach often lead to widespread negative publicity, which may cause our customers to lose confidence in the effectiveness of our data security measures.
Despite our compliance efforts, we may fail to achieve compliance with applicable privacy or data protection laws and regulations as they evolve, or adhere to contractual obligations regarding the collection, processing, storage and transfer of data (including data from our customers, prospective customers, partners and employees), either due to internal or external factors such as resource limitations or a lack of vendor cooperation. Any actual or perceived failure to comply with these laws or obligations could result in enforcement action against us, including fines, claims for damages by customers and other affected individuals, damage to our reputation and loss of goodwill (both in relation to any existing customers and prospective customers), any of which could harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition. Further, privacy concerns may inhibit market adoption of our smart products and technologies, particularly in certain industries and foreign countries.
Natural disasters, geopolitical events, and other highly disruptive events could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Natural disasters and other extreme weather events, the nature, frequency and severity of which may be negatively impacted by climate change, public health crises, geopolitical conditions, acts or threats of war or terrorism, international conflicts, such as the Russia-Ukraine war and conflict in the Middle East, power outages, fires, explosions, equipment failures, sabotage, political instability and the actions taken by governments could cause damage to or disrupt our business operations, or those of our manufacturers or our customers, and could create economic instability. Disruptions to our information technology infrastructure from system failures, shutdowns, power outages, telecommunication or utility failures, and other events, including disruptions at third party information technology and other service providers, could also interfere with or disrupt our operations. Although it is not possible to predict such events or their consequences, these events could increase our costs, result in physical damage to or destruction or disruption of properties used in connection with the manufacture of our products, the lack of an adequate workforce in part or all of our operations, supply chain disruptions and data, utility and communications disruptions. In addition, these events could indirectly result in increases in the costs of our insurance if they result in significant loss of property or other insurable damage. Furthermore, the insurance we maintain may not be adequate to cover our losses resulting from any business interruption, including those resulting from a natural disaster or other severe weather event, and recurring extreme weather events or other adverse events could reduce the availability or increase the cost of insurance. Any of these developments could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We are implementing a new enterprise resource planning system. Our failure to implement it successfully, on time and on budget could have a material adverse effect on us.
We are in the process of implementing a new enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) system. ERP implementations are complex, time-consuming, and involve substantial expenditures on system software and implementation activities. The ERP system will be critical to our ability to provide important information to our management, obtain and deliver products, provide services and customer support, send invoices and track payments, fulfill contractual obligations, accurately maintain books and records, provide accurate, timely and reliable reports on our financial and operating results, and otherwise operate our business.
ERP implementations also require transformation of business and financial processes in order to reap the benefits of the ERP system. Any such implementation involves risks inherent in the conversion to a new computer system, including loss of information and potential disruption to our normal operations. The implementation and maintenance of the new ERP system has required, and will continue to require, the investment of significant financial and human resources and the implementation may be subject to delays and cost overruns. In addition, we may not be able to successfully complete the implementation of the new ERP system without experiencing difficulties. Any disruptions, delays or deficiencies in the design and implementation or the ongoing maintenance of the new ERP system could adversely affect our ability to process orders, provide services and customer support, send invoices and track payments, fulfill contractual obligations, accurately maintain books and records, provide accurate, timely and reliable reports on our financial and operating results, including reports required by the SEC, and otherwise operate our business. New system implementations across the enterprise, such as the current implementation of our new ERP system, which includes a cloud-based solution, also pose risks of outages or disruptions, which could affect our suppliers, operations, and customers. Issues faced by us or our third-party “cloud” computing providers, including technological or business-related disruptions or prolonged third-party service outages, as well as cybersecurity threats, could adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition for future periods.
Additionally, if we do not effectively implement the ERP system as planned or the system does not operate as intended, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting could be adversely affected or our ability to assess it adequately could be delayed, which could cause us to incur significant additional expenses, damage our reputation, and have a material adverse effect on us.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
We may not be able to maintain our Nasdaq listing and may incur additional costs as a result of our Nasdaq listing.
We are subject to certain Nasdaq continued listing requirements and standards, including, without limitation, minimum market capitalization and other requirements. We cannot provide any assurance that we will be able to continue to satisfy the requirements of Nasdaq’s continued listing standards, and failure to maintain our listing, or delisting from Nasdaq, would make it more difficult for stockholders to dispose of our securities and more difficult to obtain accurate price quotations on our securities. This could have an adverse effect on the price of our common stock. Our ability to issue additional securities for financing or other purposes, or otherwise to arrange for any financing we may need in the future, may also be materially and adversely affected if our common stock and/or other securities are not traded on a national securities exchange.
The price of our common stock may be volatile and fluctuate substantially.
Our stock price has been, and is likely to continue to be, volatile and subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which we cannot control. The stock market has experienced extreme volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of companies. The market price for our common stock may be influenced by many factors, including, in addition to the factors discussed in this “Risk Factors” section and elsewhere in this Form 10-K, the following:
- our ability to successfully launch, and gain market acceptance of, our smart products and technologies;
- our reliance on product distribution arrangements with third parties;
- developments or disputes concerning patent applications, issued patents or other proprietary rights;
- the recruitment or departure of key personnel;
- the level of expenses related to our research and development, marketing efforts, strategic initiatives, or other areas;
- actual or anticipated changes in governmental regulation, including taxation and tariff policies;
- actual or anticipated changes in estimates as to financial results or recommendations by securities analysts;
- variations in our financial results or those of companies that are perceived to be similar to us;
- market conditions in the lighting, home décor and smart home sectors;
- conditions in the financial markets in general or changes in general economic conditions; and
- novel and unforeseen market forces and trading strategies.
In addition, due to one or more of the foregoing factors in one or more future quarters, our results of operations may fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors. In the event any of the foregoing occur, the market price of our common stock could be highly volatile and may materially decline. Further, in the past, when the market price of a stock has been volatile, holders of that stock have sometimes instituted securities class action litigation against the company that issued the stock. If any of our stockholders brought a lawsuit against us, we could incur substantial costs defending the lawsuit. Such a lawsuit could also divert the time and attention of our management from our business, which could significantly harm our profitability and reputation.
The conversion of outstanding convertible notes or preferred stock or exercise of outstanding warrants into shares of common stock could materially dilute our stockholders.
As of March 13, 2025, we had $15.6 million aggregate principal amount of convertible notes outstanding, convertible into shares of our common stock at a conversion price ranging from $2.70 to $15.00 per share; 200,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock, no par value (“Series A Preferred Stock”) outstanding, which has an original issue price of $25.00 per share and is convertible into shares of common stock at a conversion price of $2.00 per share; 260,000 shares of Series A-1 Preferred Stock, no par value (“Series A-1 Preferred Stock”) outstanding, which has an original issue price of $25.00 per share and is convertible into shares of common stock at a conversion price of $2.00 per share; and warrants to purchase 1,523,667 shares of our common stock outstanding at a n exercise price ranging from $2.70 to $18.00 per share. The effective conversion price of the notes or preferred stock or exercise price of the warrants may be less than the market price of our common stock at the time of conversion or exercise and may be subject to future adjustment due to certain events, including our issuance of common stock or common stock equivalents at an effective price per share lower than the conversion rate or exercise rate then in effect. If the entire principal amount of all the outstanding convertible notes is converted into shares of common stock, we would be required to issue an aggregate of no less than approximately 6,063,890 shares of common stock. If all the outstanding warrants are exercised for shares of common stock, we would be required to issue an aggregate of 1,523,667 shares of common stock. If all of the Series A Preferred Stock and Series A-1 Preferred Stock outstanding are converted into shares of common stock, we would be required to issue an aggregate of 2,500,000 and 3,250,000 shares of common stock, respectively. If we issue any or all of these shares, the ownership of our stockholders will be diluted.
If securities analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or if they publish negative evaluations of our stock, the price of our stock could decline.
The trading market for our common stock relies in part on the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about us or our business. If no or few analysts commence coverage of us, the trading price of our stock would likely decrease. Even if we do obtain analyst coverage, if one or more of the analysts covering our business downgrade their evaluations of our stock, the price of our stock could decline. If one or more of these analysts cease to cover our stock, we could lose visibility in the market for our stock, which in turn could cause our stock price to decline.
Our executive officers, directors, principal stockholders, and their affiliates exercise significant influence over us, which will limit your ability to influence corporate matters and could delay or prevent a change in corporate control. In addition, our outstanding convertible preferred stock has voting rights, which reduce the relative voting power of holders of our common stock.
Our executive officers, directors, 5% holders of our common stock and their affiliates beneficially own, in the aggregate, approximately 30.1% of our outstanding common stock, or 30.3% of our total voting power, as of March 13, 2025. In addition, holders of our Series A Preferred Stock and Series A-1 Preferred Stock, which includes certain of our officers, are entitled to vote, on an as-converted basis, together with holders of our common stock on all matters submitted to a vote of the holders of our common stock. As a result, the issuance of such preferred stock effectively reduced the relative voting power of the holders of our common stock. The holders of such preferred stock have approximately 5.2% of the Company’s total voting power, including both common stock and such preferred stock, as of March 13, 2025.
These stockholders, if they act together, will be able to influence our management and affairs and the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of directors and any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. These stockholders may have interests that are different from those of other investors, and the concentration of voting power among these stockholders may have an adverse effect on the price of our common stock. In addition, this concentration of ownership might adversely affect the market price of our common stock by:
- delaying, deferring, or preventing a change of control of us;
- impeding a merger, consolidation, takeover or other business combination involving us; or
- discouraging a potential acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us.
35
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market by our stockholders could cause our share price to fall.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. We are unable to predict the effect that sales may have on the prevailing market price of our common stock.
We are a smaller reporting company, and the reduced reporting requirements applicable to smaller reporting companies may make our common stock less attractive to investors.
We currently qualify as a “smaller reporting company,” which allows us to take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not smaller reporting companies, including reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in this Form 10-K and our periodic reports and proxy statements. Decreased disclosures in our SEC filings due to our status as a smaller reporting company may make it harder for investors to analyze the results of operations and financial prospects. 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.
Market and economic conditions may negatively impact on our business, financial condition and share price.
Concerns over inflation, high interest rates, tariffs and other trade barriers and restrictions, energy costs, geopolitical issues, the U.S. mortgage market and a declining real estate market, unstable global credit markets and financial conditions, and labor and supply shortages have led to periods of significant economic instability, diminished liquidity and credit availability, declines in consumer confidence and discretionary spending, diminished expectations for the global economy and expectations of slower global economic growth going forward, increased unemployment rates, and increased credit defaults in recent years. Our general business strategy may be adversely affected by any such economic downturns or recessions, volatile business environments and continued unstable or unpredictable economic and market conditions. If these conditions continue to deteriorate or do not improve, it may make any necessary debt or equity financing more difficult to complete, more costly, and more dilutive. Failure to secure any necessary financing in a timely manner and on favorable terms could have a material adverse effect on our growth strategy, financial performance, and share price and could require us to delay or abandon development or commercialization plans.
Because we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future, capital appreciation, if any, will be your sole source of gain.
We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock. We currently anticipate that we will retain all of our future earnings, if any, to support operations, including to pay dividends on our outstanding preferred stock and interest on our outstanding debt, and to finance the growth and development of our business. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be the sole source of gain for our stockholders in the foreseeable future.
Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Florida law could discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of us and may affect the trading price of our common stock.
As a Florida corporation, we are subject to certain provisions of the Florida Business Corporation Act that have anti-takeover effects and may inhibit a non-negotiated merger or other business combination. Our articles of incorporation and bylaws also contain other provisions which could have anti-takeover effects. These provisions include, without limitation, the authority of our board of directors to designate and issue shares of preferred stock, including to fix the relative rights and preferences of the preferred stock without the need for any stockholder vote or approval; the requirement of a majority stockholder vote to remove directors from office or, if for cause, by a majority of the board of directors; and limitations on who may call special meetings of stockholders.
Cybersecurity
As filed, 7,687 characters, with its headings, lists and tables. Extracted from the main document; charts and exhibits are in the original on sec.gov.
Organizations in our industry are frequently confronted with a broad range of cybersecurity threats, ranging from uncoordinated, individual attempts to gain unauthorized access to an organization’s information technology (“IT”) environment to sophisticated and targeted cyberattacks sponsored by foreign governments and criminal enterprises. Although we employ comprehensive measures to prevent, detect, address, and mitigate these threats, a cybersecurity incident could potentially result in the misappropriation, destruction, corruption, or unavailability of critical data, personal identifiable information, and other confidential or proprietary data (our own or that of third parties) and the disruption of business operations. The potential consequences of a material cybersecurity incident include remediation and restoration costs, reputational damage, litigation with third parties, and diminution in the value of our investment in research and development, which in turn could adversely affect our competitiveness and results of operations. Accordingly, cybersecurity is an important part of our Enterprise Risk Management (“ERM”) program, and the Company seeks to address cybersecurity risks through a comprehensive, cross-functional approach.
The Company’s cybersecurity policies, standards, processes, and practices for assessing, identifying, and managing material risks from cybersecurity threats and responding to cybersecurity incidents are integrated into the Company’s risk management program and are based on recognized frameworks established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The Company has established controls and procedures, including an Incident Response Plan, that provide for the identification, analysis, notification, escalation, communication, and remediation of data security incidents at appropriate levels so that so that decisions regarding the public disclosure and reporting of such incidents can be made by management in a timely manner. In particular, the Company’s Incident Response Plan (i) is designed to identify and detect information security threats through various mechanisms, such as through security controls and third-party disclosures, and (ii) sets forth a process to (a) analyze any such threats detected within the Company’s IT environment or within a third-party’s IT environment, (b) contain cybersecurity threats under various circumstances, and (c) better ensure the Company can recover from cybersecurity incidents to a normal state of business operations. The Company has established and maintains other incident response and recovery plans that address the Company’s response to a cybersecurity incident.
As part of its cybersecurity program, the Company deploys measures to deter, prevent, detect, respond to and mitigate cybersecurity threats, including firewalls, anti-malware, intrusion prevention and detection systems, identity and access controls, software patching protocols, and physical security measures. The Company periodically assesses and tests the Company’s policies, standards, processes, and practices that are designed to address cybersecurity (including artificial intelligence-related) threats and incidents, including by assessing current threat intelligence, and conducting tabletop exercises and vulnerability and security testing. The Company has a process to report material results of such testing and assessments to the board, and periodically adjusts the Company’s cybersecurity program based on these exercises. The Company engages third parties to conduct part of such testing, including hiring consultants and third parties to conduct our threat assessments and supplement the monitoring of such threats by utilizing online data tools. The Company identifies and oversees cybersecurity risks presented by third parties and their systems from a risk-based perspective. The Company also conducts cybersecurity training for employees (including mandatory training programs for system users).
Many of the Company’s IT systems operate with a hosted architecture or by third-party service providers, and if these third-party IT environments fail to operate properly, our systems could stop functioning for a period of time, which could put our users at risk. Accordingly, our ability to keep our business operating is highly dependent on the proper and efficient operation of IT service providers, and our vendor management process is an important part of our risk mitigation strategy. In particular, we obtain reports from our vendors handling sensitive data as to their efficacy and efficiency in managing cybersecurity issues and follow-up with them on any potential or actual issues. Notwithstanding, if there is a catastrophic event, such as an adverse weather condition, natural disaster, terrorist attack, security breach, or other extraordinary event, the Company, and our service providers, may be unable to provide our products or services for the duration of the event and/or a time thereafter.
Considering the pervasive and increasing threat from cyberattacks, the board and the audit committee, with input from management, assess the Company’s cybersecurity threats and the measures implemented by the Company to mitigate and prevent cyberattacks. The audit committee consults with management regarding ongoing cybersecurity initiatives, and requests management to report to the audit committee or the full board regularly on their assessment of the Company’s cybersecurity program and risks, including artificial intelligence. Both the audit committee and the full board receive regular reports from senior management on cybersecurity risks and timely reports regarding any cybersecurity incident that meets established reporting thresholds, as well as ongoing updates regarding any such incident until it has been addressed. Our board has risk management experience.
In addition, the Company’s information security and/cybersecurity program is managed by our Chief Technology Officer (“CTO”), whose team is responsible for leading enterprise-wide cybersecurity strategy, policy, standards, architecture, and processes. The CTO provides periodic reports to our audit committee as well as our Co-Chief Executive Officers and Chief Financial Officer and other members of our senior management as appropriate. We have also established cross-functional teams to collaborate and communicate on cybersecurity-related issues. The reports to management include updates on the Company’s cyber risks and threats, the status of projects to strengthen our information security systems, assessments of the information security program, and the emerging threat landscape. Our CTO, Mr. Eliran Ben-Zikri served in the one of the most elite computer units of the Israeli Defense Force and has over 10 years of experience in the cloud technology, previously holding senior positions in leading Israeli technology companies, including eToro and SimilarWeb.
As of the date of this report, the Company has not identified any cybersecurity threats or incidents that have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect the Company, including its business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition. However, there can be no assurance that the Company, or its third-party business partners or service providers, will not experience a cybersecurity threat or incident in the future that could materially adversely affect the Company, including its business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition. For further discussion of the risks related to cybersecurity, see the risk factors discussed under Item 1A. “Risk Factors” in this report.
Properties
As filed, 508 characters, with its headings, lists and tables. Extracted from the main document; charts and exhibits are in the original on sec.gov.
We lease office space in Sacramento, California, Johns Creek, Georgia, Miami, Florida, Pompano Beach, Florida, New York, New York, and Guangdong Province, China. We anticipate moving our principal executive offices from Pompano Beach, Florida to Miami, Florida during 2025. We believe that our facilities are adequate to meet our current needs and that suitable additional or substitute space at commercially reasonable terms will be available as needed to accommodate any future expansion of our operations.
Legal proceedings
As filed, 1,038 characters, with its headings, lists and tables. Extracted from the main document; charts and exhibits are in the original on sec.gov.
From time to time, we become involved in legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of our business. As of the date of this Form 10-K, we were not a party to any material legal matters or claims. Legal proceedings are inherently uncertain and, as a result, the outcome of a particular matter or a combination of matters may be material to our results of operations for a particular period, depending upon the size of the loss or our income for that particular period.
We assess our liabilities and contingencies in connection with outstanding legal proceedings utilizing the latest information available. Where it is probable that we will incur a loss and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated, we record a liability in our consolidated financial statements. These legal accruals may be increased or decreased to reflect any relevant developments on a quarterly basis. Where a loss is not probable or the amount of the loss is not estimable, we do not record an accrual, consistent with applicable accounting guidance.
Management's discussion and analysis
As filed, 31,845 characters, with its headings, lists and tables. Extracted from the main document; charts and exhibits are in the original on sec.gov.
You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our financial statements and the related notes appearing elsewhere in this Form 10-K. This discussion and other parts of this Form 10-K contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, such as statements regarding our plans, objectives, strategy, expectations, outlook, intentions, and projections. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of this Form 10-K. Please also see the section entitled “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” contained in this Form 10-K.
Overview
We have a series of advanced-safe-smart platform technologies. Our first and second-generation technologies enable light fixtures, ceiling fans and other electrically wired products to be installed safely and plugged in to a ceiling’s electrical outlet box within seconds, and without the need to touch hazardous wires. The plug and play technology method is a universal power-plug device that has a matching receptacle that is simply connected to the electrical outlet box on the ceiling, enabling a safe and quick plug and play installation of light fixtures and ceiling fans in just seconds. The plug and play power-plug technology eliminates the need of touching hazardous electrical wires while installing light fixtures, ceiling fans and other hard wired electrical products. In recent years, we have expanded the capabilities of our power-plug product to include advanced-safe and quick universal installation methods, as well as advanced-smart capabilities. The smart features include control of light fixtures and ceiling fans by the SkyHome App, through WIFI, Bluetooth Low Energy and voice control. It allows scheduling, energy savings eco mode, dimming, back-up emergency light, night light, light color changing and much more. Our third-generation technology is an all-in-one safe and smart-advanced platform that is designed to enhance all-around safety and lifestyle of homes and other buildings. Our products are designed to improve all around home and building safety and lifestyle. We are continuing to refine our products and began manufacturing certain advanced and smart products in 2023 and expect additional products, including the third-generation smart-advanced platform to be available in 2025. We expect to manufacture the additional product offerings within the next six months. We hold over 96 U.S. and global patents and patent applications and have received a variety of final electrical code approvals, including UL, United Laboratories of Canada (cUL) and Conformité Européenne (CE), and 2017 and 2020 inclusion in the NEC Code Book.
We believe our total addressable market in the United States exceeds $500 billion, based on the Company’s internal calculations derived from the estimation of the total target user pool, projected average selling price, and projected units per household. We believe there are billions of installations of light and other electrical fixtures globally. Our estimates of the addressable market for our products may prove to be incorrect. The projected demand for our products could differ materially from actual demand. Even if the total addressable market for our products is as large as we have estimated and even if we are able to gain market awareness and acceptance, we may not be able to penetrate the existing market to capture additional market share.
Inflation and related risk of recession increased during 2022 and continue to impact operations. Inflationary factors, such as increases in interest rates, supply and overhead costs and transportation costs, may adversely affect our operating results, and we may not be able to offset increased costs with increased sales price per unit, particularly as we work toward commercial manufacturing of our products. Although we do not believe that inflation has had a material impact on our financial position or results of operations to date, we may experience some effect in the near future (especially if inflation rates continue to rise). In addition, we may be negatively impacted because of supply chain constraints, consequences associated with government regulations, ongoing and potential geopolitical conflicts, instability in the global banking system, employee availability and wage increases.
The conflicts in the Middle East may adversely impact our operations in the near future. We have a number of developers working in Israel. If such individuals are called for service or this war escalates regionally, it may create work interruptions leading to longer periods between releases of offering improvements and increased costs.
During April 2023, we completed the previously announced acquisition of all the issued and outstanding shares of Belami, a strategic e-commerce lighting and home décor conglomerate. The Company paid cash and issued an aggregate of 3,776,706 shares of our common stock as consideration for the acquisition. The Company expects that Belami will serve as a marketing and growth platform and should provide several distribution channels for our products, including to retail customers, builders, and professionals.
In connection with the acquisition, the Company engaged in private placements of its securities during the first quarter of 2023, pursuant to which the Company issued and sold (i) subordinated secured convertible promissory notes in the aggregate principal amount of $10.35 million and (ii) warrants to purchase an aggregate of up to 1,391,667 shares of the Company’s common stock. The proceeds were used to fund the cash component of the Belami acquisition and to pay certain transaction expenses in connection with the acquisition and the private placements.
Recent Developments
In March 2024, the Company and the Belami sellers entered into a letter agreement modifying certain obligations under the stock purchase agreement for the acquisition of Belami. In connection with the letter agreement, the Company issued convertible promissory notes to each of the sellers (the “Seller Note(s)”) in substitution of an aggregate of $3,117,408 in cash due to the sellers on the first anniversary of the closing of the Belami acquisition. Each seller received a Seller Note in an amount of $1,039,303 on the same date. In addition to other customary terms, the Seller Notes bear annual interest at 10%, with interest and principal coming due on May 16, 2025, and can be converted by the sellers into shares of our common stock at any time at $3.00 per share of our common stock. The Seller Notes include customary events of default accelerating maturity, including a breach of the Company’s covenants, representations, and warranties under the Belami stock purchase agreement and a change of control of Belami. The letter agreement further provided that the Company would perform all other obligations arising on the first anniversary of the closing, including issuance of shares of common stock due to sellers, and that on such date the non-fundamental representations and warranties will expire, and the Company would release $750,000 held in escrow. In April 2024, the Company issued an aggregate of 1,853,421 shares of common stock to the sellers and released the escrow amount.
On April 11, 2024, the Company entered into an amendment to the letter agreement previously entered into with GE-TL in December 2023, which extended the deadline for the Company to issue the convertible note to GE-TL to May 1, 2024, and also issued a three-year, $1.0 million convertible note to GE-TL, thereby reducing obligations due in 2027 by $400,000. The note does not bear interest, and the principal amount of the note is convertible into shares of the Company’s common stock at any time at the option of the holder at $1.07 per share.
During the second quarter of 2023, we began our at the market offering (“ATM”) pursuant to which we may sell up to $20 million of shares of our common stock.
During October 2024, the Company completed its authorization of the issuance of 440,000 shares each of newly authorized Series A Preferred Stock and Series A-1 Preferred Stock which generated proceeds of $11.0 million. The Company sold an additional 40,000 shares of Series A-1 Preferred Stock for proceeds of $1.0 million during March 2025. The designations of each class of preferred stock are as follows:
- Series A Preferred Stock:
- Cumulative dividend of 8% annually, 12% if paid after dividend date;
- Original issue price of $25 per share;
- Conversion option at the holder’s option at $2 per share, with subsequent equity offering reset provision of no less than $1.20 per share;
- Redemption at the price of $25 per share at the Company’s option after 5 years or upon change of control (substantially within the control of the holder); and
- Voting rights on as converted basis.
- Series A-1 Preferred Stock:
- Cumulative dividend of 8% annually, 12% if paid after dividend date;
- Original issue price of $25 per share;
- Conversion option at the holder’s option at $2 per share, with subsequent equity offering reset provision of no less than $1.20 per share;
- Redemption at the price of $25 per share at the Company’s option after three years or upon change of control (substantially outside the control of the holder); and
- Voting rights on as converted basis.
Results of Operations
Years Ended December 31, 2024 and 2023
| For the year ended December 31, 2024 | 2023 | Increase/ (Decrease) $ | Increase/ (Decrease) % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $86,276,876 | $58,785,762 | 27,491,114 | 47% |
| Operating expenses | ||||
| Cost of revenues | 61,682,934 | 40,749,913 | 20,933,021 | 51% |
| Selling and marketing expenses | 25,353,172 | 18,805,069 | 6,548,103 | 35% |
| General and administrative expenses | 31,353,009 | 37,055,986 | (5,702,978) | (15%) |
| Total expenses | 118,389,115 | 96,610,968 | 21,778,147 | 23% |
| Other income / (expense) | ||||
| Interest expense, net | (4,055,905) | (3,109,307) | 946,598) | 30% |
| Gain on extinguishment of debt | 400,000 | 1,201,857 | (801,857) | (67%) |
| Total other income (expense), net | (3,655,905) | (1,907,450) | 1,748,455 | 145% |
| Net loss | (35,768,144) | (39,732,656) | (3,964,512) | (10%) |
Revenue
| Year ended December 31, 2024($) | 2023($) | Increase/ Decrease $ | Increase/ Decrease % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 86,276,876 | 58,785,762 | 27,491,114 | 47% |
The increase in revenues is primarily due to revenues from products marketed by Belami which was acquired on April 28, 2023.
We believe that revenues will be higher in 2025 than in 2024, primarily resulting from revenues the sale of our advanced products.
Cost of Revenues
| Year ended December 31, 2024($) | 2023($) | Increase/ Decrease $ | Increase/ Decrease % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of revenues | 61,682,934 | 40,749,913 | 20,933,021 | 51% |
42
The cost of revenues consists primarily of costs associated with selling the products marketed by Belami. The increase is primarily due to costs associated with revenues from products marketed by Belami which was acquired on April 28, 2023, commensurate with the increase in revenues.
We believe that the cost of revenues will increase in 2025 compared to 2024, in similar proportions to the anticipated increase in revenues.
Selling and Marketing Expenses
| Year ended December 31, 2024($) | 2023($) | Increase/ Decrease $ | Increase/ Decrease % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selling and marketing expenses | 25,353,172 | 18,805,069 | 6,548,103 | 35% |
Selling and marketing expenses consist primarily of sales and marketing compensation as well as sales and marketing programs.
The increase in selling and marketing expenses is primarily due to such expenses increasing following the acquisition of Belami on April 28, 2023
We believe that our selling and marketing expenses will be higher during 2025 when compared to 2024 as we continue to invest to support our anticipated growth.
General and Administrative Expenses
| Year ended December 31, 2024($) | 2023($) | Increase/ Decrease $ | Increase/ Decrease % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General and administrative expenses | 31,353,008 | 37,055,986 | (5,702,978) | -15% |
General and administrative expenses consist primarily of an allocation of product development, finance, legal, human resources, including salaries, wages, and benefits, and depreciation and amortization, including share-based payments.
The decrease in general, and administrative expenses during 2024 when compared to 2023, primarily due to the following:
- Decreased share-based payments of $4.5 million resulting from smaller issuance of restricted stock units and options. Our share-based payments were higher in 2023 primarily as a result of the acquisition of Belami, Inc..
- We incurred non-recurring expenditures of $2.7 million related our inventory and royalties payable during 2023.
- This decrease was offset by increased amortization of intangibles which were amortized over nine months during 2024 and five months during 2023, following the acquisition of Belami in April 2023. The increase in depreciation and amortization expenses of $1.0 million primarily related to increased intangibles acquired during the second quarter of 2023. Additionally, we recognized an impairment expense of $1.1 million during 2024.
We believe that our operating expenses will be higher during 2025 when compared to 2024 as we continue to invest to support our anticipated growth which now includes such expenses related to Belami’s operations following its acquisition.
Other Income (Expense)
| Year ended December 31, 2024($) | 2023($) | Increase/ Decrease $ | Increase/ Decrease % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interest expense, net | 4,055,905 | 3,109,307 | 946,598 | 30% |
43
The increase in interest expense resulted primarily from interest charges related to increased interest-bearing weighted average debt in the current periods when compared to the prior year periods.
| Year ended December 31, 2024($) | 2023($) | Increase/ Decrease $ | Increase/ Decrease % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gain on extinguishment of debt | 400,000 | 1,201,857 | (801,857) | -67% |
The decrease in gain on extinguishment of debt is due to non-recurring gain on extinguishment of debt which occurred during the respective periods.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, we had $15.5 million and $22.4 million in cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, respectively.
Historically, we have raised funds through the issuances of common stock, securities convertible into common stock and notes payable. We have raised funds through the sale of our common stock and preferred stocks for gross proceeds of $15.4 million pursuant to placements and offerings during 2024. We also generated gross proceeds of $1.0 pursuant to the issuance of 40,000 shares of our Series A-1 Preferred Stock in March 2025.
These offerings included shares sold pursuant to our ATM offering program which provides us with additional access to capital, as needed, subject to market conditions. During 2024, we t issued 3,535,067 shares of common stock under such program. From inception through December 31, 2024, we issued 7,894,899 shares of common stock under such a program for net proceeds of $13,795,059, net of brokerage fees and legal fees of $619,415. As of March 13, 2025, the remaining amount to be used under the ATM offering program is $5.4 million.
Between October, 2024 and March 2025, we sold an aggregate of 480,000 shares of two series of preferred stock, resulting in total gross proceeds of $12.0 million, pursuant to (i) a Securities Purchase Agreement entered into with an accredited investor, pursuant to which such investor purchased an aggregate of 200,000 shares of Series A Preferred Stock, at a purchase price of $25.00 per share, and (ii) a Securities Purchase Agreement entered into with certain accredited investors, pursuant to which such investors purchased an aggregate of 280,000 shares of Series A-1 Preferred Stock, at a purchase price of $25.00 per share.
Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including the Belami integration of operations, our revenue growth rate, expenditures related to our headcount growth and manufacturing, the timing and the amount of cash received from customers, the expansion of sales and marketing activities, the timing and extent of spending to support development efforts, the price at which we are able to purchase parts to incorporate in our product offerings, the introduction of platform enhancements, and the market adoption of our platforms. We may continue to enter arrangements to acquire or invest in complementary businesses, products, and technologies. We may, because of those arrangements, or the general expansion of our business, be required to seek additional equity or debt financing. If we require additional financing, we may not be able to raise such financing on terms acceptable to us or at all. If we are unable to raise additional capital or generate cash flows necessary to expand our operations and invest in continued innovation, we may not be able to compete successfully, which would harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
We owe approximately $15.6 million under fixed rate obligations as of December 31, 2024. In addition, we owe GE certain minimum royalty payments under a license agreement and other accrued expenses which amounted to $1.7 million as of December 31, 2024.
On March 29, 2024, we entered into a letter agreement with Belami sellers, modifying certain obligations under the Stock Purchase Agreement. In connection with the letter agreement, the Company issued convertible promissory notes to each of the Sellers (the “Seller Note(s)”) in substitution of an aggregate of $3,117,408 in cash due to the Sellers on the first anniversary of the Closing. Each Seller received a Seller Note in the amount of $1,039,303 on the same date. In addition to other customary terms, the Seller Notes bear annual interest at 10%, with interest and principal coming due on May 16, 2025, and can be converted by the Sellers at any time at $3.00 per share of our common stock.
On September 23, 2024, the Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Belami, entered into a $3.5 million secured revolving line of credit (the “line of credit”) with a commercial bank, increasing, and renewing its previous revolving line of credit with such bank. The line of credit bears interest at a variable rate per annum equal to The Wall Street Journal Prime Rate, subject to a floor of 7.5% and ceiling of the maximum rate allowed under applicable law, payable monthly, and matures September 5, 2025. The line of credit is subject to customary default and acceleration provisions and to certain financial covenants, including working capital in excess of $1.75 million and a debt service coverage ratio in excess of 1.25 to 1.00 (calculated as described in the business loan agreement governing the line of credit). In addition, the Company agreed to guarantee Belami’s obligations under the line of credit, pursuant to a commercial guaranty agreement.
As common with companies having a similar cash conversion cycle as ours, when sales are converted into cash rapidly, often referred to as the “Dell Working Capital Model,” we leverage our trades payable to finance our operations to lower our cost of capital, and accordingly, we may have negative working capital. This negative working capital is partly inherent to the relatively quick turnaround of finished goods inventory, quicker collection of accounts receivables, and longer payment cycle of trades payable. Our accounts receivable, inventory, net of trades payable, amounted to $(6.1) million and $(6.8) million as of December 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively.
The designations of each class of Series A and A-1 Preferred stock are as follows:
Series A Preferred Stock:
- Cumulative dividend of 8% annually, 12% if paid after dividend date;
- Original issue price of $25 per share;
- Conversion option at the holder’s option at $2 per share, with a subsequent reset provision of $1.20 per share;
- Redemption at the price of $25 per share at the Company’s option after 5 years or upon change of control (substantially within the control of the holder)
- Voting rights on as converted basis.
Series A-1 Preferred Stock:
- Cumulative dividend of 8% annually, 12% if paid after dividend date;
- Original issue price of $25 per share;
- Conversion option at the holder’s option at $2 per share, with a subsequent reset provision of $1.20 per share;
- Redemption at the price of $25 per share at the Company’s option after three years or upon change of control (substantially outside the control of the holder)
- Voting rights on as converted basis.
45
Please see below a summary of the primary components of our cash used in or provided by operating investing and financing activities during 2024 and 2023
| Cash flows from operating activities: | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Net loss | $(35,768,144) | $(39,732,656) |
| Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities: | ||
| Depreciation and amortization, and impairment | 5,185,706 | 2,885,856 |
| Amortization of debt discount | 1,211,974 | 1,365,789 |
| Gain on forgiveness of debt | (400,000) | (1,201,857) |
| Share-based payments | 13,474,433 | 17,977,252 |
| Change in operating assets and liabilities: | ||
| Working capital changes | (1,964,340) | 4,235,229 |
| Net cash used in operating activities | (18,260,370) | (12,998,073) |
| Cash flows from investing activities: | ||
| Proceeds from disposition of debt securities, net | — | 7,436,103 |
| Acquisition, net of cash acquired | (750,000) | (4,206,200) |
| Purchase of property and equipment | (981,428) | 10,194 |
| Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities | (1,731,428) | 3,240,097 |
| Cash flows from financing activities: | ||
| Proceeds from issuance of stock- offerings, net | 15,337,796 | 9,289,957 |
| Proceeds from issuance of debt instruments, net | (2,775,756) | 13,436,775 |
| Net cash provided by financing activities | 13,062,040 | 22,726,632 |
| Change in cash and cash equivalents, and restricted cash | (6,929,758) | 12,968,656 |
| Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of year | 22,430,253 | 9,461,597 |
| Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of year | $15,500,495 | $22,430,253 |
The changes in working capital, net are primarily attributable to timing differences in accounts receivable, trade accounts payable and deferred revenues.
Going Concern
The Company’s liquidity sources include $ 15.5 million in cash and cash equivalents, including restricted cash of $2.9 million held for long-term purposes, and $ 5.7 million of working capital deficit as of December 31, 2024. The Company has a history of recurring operating losses, and its net cash used in operating activities amounted to $18.3 million and $13.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively. The Company has also generated net cash provided by financing activities of $13.1 million and $22.7 million during 2024, and 2023, respectively. Accordingly, the Company’s management cannot ascertain that there is no substantial doubt that it will be able to meet its obligations as they become due within one year after the date that its financial statements are issued.
Management intends to mitigate such conditions by continuing to support its continued growth by decreasing its cash used in operating activities through increased revenues and increased margins from products sold to large retailers and its internet portals, and to the extent necessary, generating cash provided by financing activities through it’s at the market offering or other equity or debt financing means.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Management considers earnings (loss) before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, as adjusted, an important indicator in evaluating our business on a consistent basis across various periods. Due to the significance of non-recurring items, EBITDA, as adjusted, enables our management to monitor and evaluate our business on a consistent basis. We use EBITDA, as adjusted, as a primary measure, among others, to analyze and evaluate financial and strategic planning decisions regarding future operating investments and potential acquisitions. We believe that EBITDA, as adjusted, eliminates items that are not part of our core operations, such as interest expense and amortization and impairment expense associated with intangible assets, or items that do not involve a cash outlay, such as share-based payments and non-recurring items, such as transaction costs. EBITDA, as adjusted, should be considered in addition to, rather than as a substitute for, pre-tax income (loss), net income (loss) and cash flows used in operating activities. This non-GAAP financial measure excludes significant expenses that are required by GAAP to be recorded in our financial statements and is subject to inherent limitations. Investors should review the reconciliation of this non-GAAP financial measure to the comparable GAAP financial measure included below. Investors should not rely on any single financial measure to evaluate our business.
| For the year ended December 31, 2024 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| Net loss | $(35,768,144) | $(39,732,656) |
| Share-based payments | 13,474,433 | 17,977,252 |
| Interest expense | 4,055,905 | 3,109,307 |
| Impairment | 1,118,750 | - |
| Depreciation, amortization | 4,066,957 | 2,885,856 |
| Transaction costs | - | 516,601 |
| EBITDA, as adjusted | $(13,052,099) | $(15,243,640) |
Off Balance Sheet Arrangements
We do not have any off-balance sheet arrangements.
Critical Accounting Policies
Our significant accounting policies are disclosed in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2024, contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024. The following is a summary of those accounting policies that involve significant estimates and judgment of management.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in our financial statements and accompanying notes.
Such estimates and assumptions impact both assets and liabilities, including but not limited to: net realizable value of accounts receivable and inventory, estimated useful lives and potential impairment of property and equipment, the valuation of intangible assets, estimate of fair value of share based payments and derivative liabilities, estimates of fair value of warrants issued and recorded as debt discount, estimates of tax liabilities and estimates of the probability and potential magnitude of contingent liabilities.
Making estimates requires management to exercise significant judgment. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate could change in the near term due to one or more future non-conforming events. Accordingly, actual results could differ significantly from estimates.
Fair Value of Financial Instruments
Disclosures about fair value of financial instruments require disclosure of the fair value information, whether recognized in the balance sheet, where it is practicable to estimate that value. As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, we believe the amounts reported for cash, prepaid expenses, accounts payable and accrued expenses and other current liabilities, accrued interest, notes payable and convertible note payable approximate fair value because of their short maturities.
Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. ASC Topic 820 established a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (level 3 measurements). These tiers include:
- Level 1, defined as observable inputs such as quoted prices for identical instruments in active markets;
- Level 2, defined as inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable such as quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets or quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in markets that are not active; and
- Level 3, defined as unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions, such as valuations derived from valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs or significant value drivers are unobservable.
Stock-Based Compensation
Stock-based compensation is accounted for based on the requirements of ASC 718 - “Compensation-Stock Compensation”, which requires recognition in the financial statements of the cost of employee, non-employee and director services received in exchange for an award of equity instruments over the period the employee or director is required to perform the services in exchange for the award (presumptively, the vesting period). The ASC also requires measurement of the cost of employee and director services received in exchange for an award based on the grant-date fair value of the award.
Stock-based compensation is measured at the grant date based on the value of the award granted using the Black- Scholes option pricing model based on projections of various potential future outcomes and recognized over the period in which the award vests. For stock awards no longer expected to vest, any previously recognized stock compensation expense is reversed in the period of termination. The stock-based compensation expense is included in general and administrative expenses.
Revenue Recognition
We account for revenues in accordance with Accounting Standards Update No. 2014-09, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” (Topic 606).
Under Topic 606, revenue is recognized when control of the promised goods or services is transferred to our customers, in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to be entitled to in exchange for those goods or services.
We determine revenue recognition through the following steps:
- identification of the contract, or contracts, with a customer;
- identification of the performance obligations in the contract;
- determination of the transaction price;
- allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and
- recognition of revenue when, or as, we satisfy a performance obligation.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Although there are new accounting pronouncements issued or proposed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, which we have adopted or will adopt, as applicable, we do not believe any of these accounting pronouncements has had or will have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.
Controls and procedures
As filed, 4,970 characters, with its headings, lists and tables. Extracted from the main document; charts and exhibits are in the original on sec.gov.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining a system of disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act) that is designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by an issuer in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the issuer’s management, including its principal executive officer and principal financial officer, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Management recognizes that there are inherent limitations to the effectiveness of any system of disclosure controls and procedures and any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can only provide reasonable assurance of achieving their control objectives.
As of the end of the period covered by this report, management, including our Principal Executive Officers and Principal Financial Officer, evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures. Based upon the evaluation, our Principal Executive Officers and Principal Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2024.
Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) promulgated under the Exchange Act. Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed by, or under the supervision of, our Principal Executive Officers and Principal Financial Officer and effected by our board of directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP. Internal control over financial reporting includes policies and procedures that: (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of an issuer’s assets; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP, and that an issuer’s receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of its management and directors; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of an issuer’s assets that could have a material effect on the consolidated financial statements. A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, the application of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods is subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
As required by Rule 13a-15(c) promulgated under the Exchange Act, our management, with the participation of our Principal Executive Officers and Principal Financial Officer, evaluated the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024. Management’s assessment was based on criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013 Framework) (the COSO Framework). Based on management’s assessment, management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2024.
This Form 10-K does not include an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. Management’s report was not subject to attestation by our independent registered public accounting firm pursuant to the rules of the SEC that permit us to provide only management’s report in this Form 10-K.
Changes in Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the quarter ended December 31, 2024 that materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Figures reported in this filing
Standardized line items from the XBRL in this filing, for the period ended 2024-12-31. Comparative periods it repeats are left out.
| Line item | Period | Value | XBRL concept |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 12 months2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | $86.3m | us-gaap:RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax |
| Operating income | 12 months2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | −$32.1m | us-gaap:OperatingIncomeLoss |
| Income tax | 12 months2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | $0 | us-gaap:IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit |
| Net income | 12 months2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | −$35.8m | us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss |
| Diluted EPS | 12 months2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | −$0.36 | us-gaap:EarningsPerShareDiluted |
| Basic EPS | 12 months2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | −$0.36 | us-gaap:EarningsPerShareBasic |
| Diluted shares (weighted) | 12 months2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | 99,766,866 shares | us-gaap:WeightedAverageNumberOfDilutedSharesOutstanding |
| Operating cash flow | 12 months2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31 | −$18.3m | us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities |
| Cash and equivalents | At period end2024-12-31 | $12.6m | us-gaap:CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue |
| Current assets | At period end2024-12-31 | $20.4m | us-gaap:AssetsCurrent |
| Total assets | At period end2024-12-31 | $65.9m | us-gaap:Assets |
| Current liabilities | At period end2024-12-31 | $26.1m | us-gaap:LiabilitiesCurrent |
| Total liabilities | At period end2024-12-31 | $56.8m | us-gaap:Liabilities |
| Long-term debt | At period end2024-12-31 | $20.1m | us-gaap:LongTermDebt |
| Shareholders' equity | At period end2024-12-31 | $4.1m | us-gaap:StockholdersEquity |
Source: SEC EDGAR, the filing index for accession 0001641172-25-000290. Last ingested by Listed: Oct 24, 2026, 15:14 ET. Listed shows no prices and gives no investment advice.