EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 1667313
Filing Year: 2021
Filename: 1667313_10-K_2021_0001213900-21-057733.json

---

ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Item 1. Business
Company Overview
We own a portfolio of leading digital consumer brands that serve 43 million monthly active users across the globe. Our portfolio consists of Zedge Ringtones and Wallpapers, Shortz, and as of the beginning of August of 2021 Emojipedia.
We operate a state-of-the-art digital publishing platform that powers Zedge Ringtones and Wallpapers, available in the Google Play store and App Store, which offers an easy, entertaining and immersive way for end-users to engage with our rich and diverse catalogue of wallpapers, video wallpapers, ringtones, notification sounds on Android and wallpapers, video wallpapers, ringtones and custom icon packs on iOS. We secure our content from amateur and professional artists, and also from emerging and major brands. Artists have the ability to easily launch a virtual storefront in our Zedge app where they can market and sell their content to our user base. That same platform powers an entertainment app called “Shortz - Chat Stories by Zedge”, which is focused on serialized, short-form, fiction stories, as a beta that runs on our publishing platform. Over the past year, we have been expanding our content catalogue, started testing audio versions of a selected number of stories, materially improved our ability to measure all types of engagement within the app, and invested a modest budget in paid user acquisition. Finally, in August of 2021, we acquired Emojipedia, the leading source of all things emoji.
Our Zedge app has been installed approximately 511 million times, and at July 31, 2021, boasted approximately 34 million monthly active users, or MAU. MAU is a key performance indicator that captures the number of unique users that used our Zedge app during the final 30 days of the relevant period. Our Zedge app has consistently ranked as one of the most popular free apps in the Google Play store in the United States. Historically, we have not made a material investment in paid user acquisition for our Zedge app.
Our Zedge app’s success stems from its ability to meet consumer demand for a rich and diverse catalogue of both long-tail and popular content in a fun, intuitive and user-friendly fashion that aligns with their interest in expressing their essence in a bespoke manner, to offer reliable search and discovery capabilities and to make relevant content recommendations to our users. To this end, we invest heavily in both product design and development and the underlying technology required to satisfy both our Zedge app’s users’ and content contributors’ expectations. Our Zedge app contains both user-generated and licensed, third-party content to achieve these goals.
In March 2018, we launched Zedge Premium, a marketplace within our Zedge app where professional creators and brands market, distribute and sell their digital content to our consumers. At launch, Zedge Premium was a “walled garden” - a separate section of the app which users needed to proactively choose to enter. In 2021, we embedded Zedge Premium content throughout the app making it far more prominent. We also introduced a new content type on iOS: custom icon packs. Over time, we expect that Zedge Premium will contribute to a virtuous cycle whereby it drives new consumers into our Zedge app resulting in more artist payouts, which in turn makes the platform more attractive for artists and brands looking to expand their reach and increase their income.
In January 2019, we started offering freemium Zedge app Android users the ability to convert into paying subscribers for, amongst other things, the ability to remove unsolicited advertisements from our Zedge app. As of July 31, 2021, we had approximately 752,000 active paid subscribers. In fiscal 2022, we expect to launch subscriptions on iOS.
In December 2019, we completed the beta launch of ‘Shortz’ our new entertainment app offering serialized, short-form fiction rendered in a text-message format and more recently as audio productions available across both Android and iOS, and focusing on users in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada and it is now available globally. New stories are added to the app each week, and as the content catalog expands, we are regularly improving content discovery in order to guide users to the stories that will most interest them and improve engagement.
On August 1, 2021, we acquired Emojipedia, the world’s leading authority dedicated to providing up to date and well-researched emoji definitions, information, and news as well as World Emoji Day and the annual World Emoji Awards, and Emojitracker, which provides real time visualization of all emoji symbols used on Twitter. Emojipedia receives approximately 50 million monthly page views and has approximately 9 million monthly active users of which approximately 50% are located in well-developed markets. It is the top resource for all things emoji, offering insights into data and cultural trends. As a voting member of the Unicode Consortium, the standards body responsible for approving new emojis, Emojipedia works alongside major emoji creators including Apple, Google, Facebook and Twitter.
Over the past several years, our Zedge app has experienced a continuing decline in its MAU as well as a shift in the regional customer make-up with MAU in emerging markets representing an increasing portion of our user base. As of July 31, 2021, users in emerging markets represented 75% of our MAU compared to 70% a year prior. This shift has negatively impacted revenue because advertising rates in emerging markets are materially lower than in well-developed markets. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, users in emerging markets grew by 16.1% while users in well-developed economies declined 11.5% when compared to the same period in fiscal 2020. As of July 31, 2021, approximately 42% of our Zedge app’s user base was located in North America (20%) and Europe (including Eastern Europe, 22%), compared with 50% (North America, 24% and Europe 26%) as of July 31, 2020. The remaining 58% of the user base was primarily located in emerging markets with 25% located in India.
MAU growth is tightly coupled with new user growth. Historically, our relatively high ranking in the Google Play store has been one of the primary drivers for securing new users. Although still an important factor, we now also dedicate resources to growth initiatives, both organic and paid. In fiscal 2022, we expect to increase our paid user acquisition spend while monitoring results to ensure that the investment is yielding a positive return on investment. With time, we believe that we can change our growth dynamic in well-developed markets. Aside from targeted growth initiatives, we need to continually improve the core user experience, test different mechanisms and content verticals that may spur growth and capitalize on the role that Zedge Premium artists can have on driving new users into the Zedge platform.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our Zedge app’s new user growth. According to Gartner, a leading research and advisory company, new smartphone sales declined 10.5% in calendar year 2020 as a result of the pandemic, negatively impacting new user growth, especially in well-developed markets. As of September 1, 2021, Gartner reported that worldwide smartphone sales grew by 10.8% year over year in the second quarter of calendar year 2021 despite supply constraints relating to COVID-19 component shortages and production disruptions; however, it is still unclear what the impact on user growth will be as vaccines become more available globally and as precautions like social distancing start to wane. The pandemic and measures implement to promote social distancing had a modest positive impact on user engagement.
During the quarter and fiscal year ended July 31, 2021, we generated approximately 81% and 80%, respectively, of our revenues from selling our Zedge app’s advertising inventory to advertising networks, advertising exchanges, and direct arrangements with advertisers. Advertising networks and advertising exchanges are third-party technology platforms that facilitate the buying and selling of media advertising inventory from multiple ad networks. The price of advertising inventory is fixed on an advertising network whereas the price for inventory is determined through real-time bidding on an advertising exchange. Advertisers are attracted to our Zedge app because of its sizable user base.
In our Zedge Premium marketplace, the content owner sets the price and the user can purchase the content by paying for it with Zedge Credits, our closed virtual currency. A user can earn Zedge Credits when taking specific actions such as watching a rewarded video or taking a survey. Alternatively, users can buy Zedge Credits via an in-app purchase. If a user purchases Zedge Credits, Google Play or App Store keeps up to 30% of the purchase price with the remainder being paid to us. When a user purchases Zedge Premium content, the artist or brand receives 70% of the actual value of the Zedge Credits used to buy the content item as a royalty and we retain the remaining 30% as our fee, which we recognize as revenue. As Zedge Premium matures and expands, we expect to also diversify our revenue source mix.
In January 2019, we started offering paid subscriptions to our Android users which amongst other things removed unsolicited advertisements from our Zedge app. During the first 12 months after a customer’s sign up for the subscription-based product, Google retains up to 30% as a fee, which decreases to 15% from month 13 and beyond. As of July 31, 2021, we had approximately 752,000 active subscribers, 90% of which had subscribed on an annual basis. Since inception in January 2019, subscriptions have generated approximately $6.7 million in gross revenue.
During fiscal 2021, we generated revenues of $19.6 million and an income from operations of $7.8 million, compared to revenues of $9.5 million and a loss from operations of $0.4 million in fiscal 2020.
During fiscal 2021, advertisements from MoPub (owned by Twitter) represented 30% of our revenue, advertisements from Google represented 22% of our revenues and advertisements from Facebook represented 12% of our revenues, as compared with 29%, 26% and 7%, respectively, during fiscal 2020.
Recent Developments
In March 2018, we launched Zedge Premium, a marketplace within our Zedge app where professional creators and brands market, distribute and sell their digital content to our consumers. Since launching Zedge Premium, we have made and continue making material investments in optimizing our Zedge app’s homepage design in order to maximize exposure to premium content with the goal of driving sales. Over time, we expect that Zedge Premium will contribute to a virtuous cycle whereby it drives new consumers into our Zedge app resulting in more artist payouts, which in turn makes the platform more attractive for artists and brands looking to expand their reach and increase their income.
In January 2019, we started offering paid subscriptions which, amongst other things, removed unsolicited advertisements from our Zedge app. As of July 31, 2021, we had approximately 752,000 active subscribers. Our plans call for further optimizing the offer based on user type, geography and price point as well as value adds including content bundles and rewards.
In December 2019, we completed the beta launch of ‘Shortz’ our new entertainment app offering serialized, short-form fiction delivered in a text-message format across both Android and iOS, focusing on users in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada and it is now available globally.
On August 1, 2021. we acquired Emojipedia, the world’s leading authority dedicated to providing up to date and well-researched emoji definitions, information, and news as well as World Emoji Day and the annual World Emoji Awards, and Emojitracker, which provides real time visualization of all emoji symbols used on Twitter. Emojipedia receives approximately 50 million monthly page views and has approximately 9 million monthly active users of which approximately 50% are located in well-developed markets. It is the top resource for all things emoji, offering insights into data and cultural trends. As a voting member of the Unicode Consortium, the standards body responsible for approving new emojis, Emojipedia works alongside major emoji creators including Apple, Google, Facebook and Twitter.
Our Competitive Advantages
We believe that the following competitive strengths will drive the growth of our business:
§ Large, global customer base. We benefit from our Zedge app having a large customer base. As of July 31, 2021, we had approximately 34 million MAU of which approximately 20% were in North America and 22% were in Europe (including Eastern Europe), which provide preferred monetization opportunities since these regions provide attractive demographics to advertisers. To serve a global user base, the Android version of our Zedge app is available in 17 languages. Our Zedge app’s global footprint helps us to secure a highly diverse portfolio of content addressing various customer tastes and preferences. In addition, our Zedge app’s customer base attracts advertisers seeking customers that have adequate disposable income to purchase their products and services. Our Zedge app’s large customer base is also a draw to artists and brands looking to market their content to a critical mass of users.
§ Leading global provider of mobile personalization content. We offer our Zedge app globally, enabling users to easily personalize their mobile phones with a wide variety of free, high-quality ringtones, wallpapers, notification sounds, video wallpapers and app icons. We believe that our Zedge app is well positioned for continued leadership in the personalization space.
§ High-quality product. We believe that our Zedge app provides our customers with a high-quality product and superior user experience. We prioritize our customers’ needs and believe that this focus is critical for our long-term growth and expansion. We invest significant resources in product development, design and usability of our Zedge app. We beta test product enhancements extensively and closely monitor customer feedback to ensure that we meet our Zedge app’s user needs. We believe that our Zedge app’s high user ranking validates our product-oriented focus. As of July 31, 2021, our Zedge app enjoyed a lifetime average user rating of 4.6 stars out of a maximum of 5 stars in the Google Play store.
§ Employees. We have a team of highly experienced professionals that take pride and ownership in their work product. Our diverse employee base is passionate about our Zedge app and its mission to serve as a medium for self-expression and entertainment. Our culture is founded on respect and empowerment which are critical in light of us having offices in three different countries. We strive to create an environment where our employees can be autonomous and creative.
§ Management team. We have an experienced management team that has a deep knowledge of the mobile app landscape and is highly focused on execution. Our core management team possesses a solid understanding of the mobile app industry, product design and development, operations and monetization. Collectively, our management team has proven ability in building and scaling a business and pursuing opportunity with a manageable risk profile.
§ Large and diverse content catalogue. Our Zedge app offers a large and diverse catalogue of content including wallpapers, ringtones, notification sounds and, more recently, video wallpapers and app icons. With artists and contributors spanning the globe, our Zedge app has assembled a vast array of content to meet the needs of its users.
§ Technology and infrastructure. The Zedge app has a scalable technology and infrastructure that reliably serves tens of millions of MAU. We use a combination of off-the-shelf and proprietary technologies and infrastructure solutions in the Zedge app that scale efficiently to meet the needs of its large customer base.
Competition
Our Zedge app faces competition across many different fronts including:
§ Mobile personalization products. Generally, our Zedge app competes with other developers’ mobile apps for an end-user’s screen time. More specifically, ringtones, wallpapers, notification sounds, and video are a commodity, and many smaller apps and websites offer this content both free and for a fee. We believe that our Zedge app has a competitive advantage due to its:
§ large user base;
§ “one-stop shop” approach which avails customers of ringtones, wallpapers, notification sounds, and video wallpapers within the same Android app;
§ modular approach that allows the customer to selectively choose what they would like to personalize without handing over the core elements of the native operating system to a third party and overwhelming the user with a myriad of complex options;
§ large content catalogue;
§ proprietary recommendation engine; and
§ market ranking and longevity.
§ Advertisers. We face significant competition for advertising spend on our Zedge app from both digital media providers and traditional media outlets, including television, radio and print, many of which have significantly more resources than us.
§ Content creators. There are many websites and mobile apps that focus on offering content creators an eco-system in which they can market and sell their digital art. Yet, we are not aware of many that as of July 31, 2021 had access to an embedded customer base with approximately 34 million MAU, which we believe makes our Zedge app more attractive to many content creators.
§ Rapid-Paced and Changing World of Mobile App Development. The mobile app eco-system changes quickly and regularly with new apps capturing massive audiences competing for consumer’s time, mindshare and money. This is an ongoing competitive threat requiring us to do our best to adapt as necessary to remain relevant and meaningful.
Our Strategy
We believe that mobile phone users enjoy personalizing their phones with mobile personalization content. Our Zedge app provide consumers, globally, with a rich array of high-quality personalization content used to express their essence, individuality, and voice in an easy, entertaining and immersive fashion. Professional artists, individual creators and brands turn to our Zedge platform for marketing and distributing their content to our consumers. Our Zedge app currently offers a rich and diverse catalogue of wallpapers, video wallpapers, ringtones, notification sounds on Android and wallpapers, video wallpapers, app icons and ringtones, on iOS. In the future, we may offer new content verticals and enhanced features in our Zedge app.
To date, our Zedge app has been installed approximately 511 million times as of July 31, 2021 and has consistently ranked in the top free apps in the Google Play store in the United States. The overwhelming majority of our Zedge app’s downloads have been organic in nature without our investing in paid user-acquisition campaigns. Our Zedge app continues to serve as a low-cost user acquisition channel.
Our vision calls for utilizing our Zedge app’s digital publishing platform to not only continue being one of the world’s leading mobile personalization content apps but to also use this platform to publish new stand-alone apps that extend our value proposition in entertainment and possibly other verticals. We have engineered the platform to support an array of digital content enabling us to launch new apps with relative ease and speed. We want to capitalize on our Zedge app’s existing large install base as well as organic search traffic across the web and in the app stores as a low-cost user acquisition channel for these new entertainment apps. Our goal is to ensure that these new apps are equally valuable and viable across both Android and iOS.
If we execute our vision, we would build a network of apps which can be used for cross-promotional purposes. We identified the entertainment market as our focal point for new apps because we believe that apps in that market:
§ generally overlap well with the demographic of our Zedge app’s existing customer base;
§ enjoy a higher frequency of use when compared to our Zedge app enabling the potential for both a subscription and ad-based monetization model; and
§ allow for us to attract new users who may not be interested in our Zedge app’s personalization content.
In fiscal 2020 we introduced the “Shortz - Chat Stories by Zedge” app, as a beta. It is our first foray in the entertainment vertical and is dedicated to offering “Chat Stories,” which are serialized, short-form fiction rendered in a text-message format and more recently as mini-podcasts.
Our Zedge app’s strong position as a leading platform for personalization content that consumers use to express their essence, individuality, and voice in an easy, entertaining and immersive fashion remains critical to our business. In order to maintain this position, we are concentrating our efforts on the following goals:
§ Continue growing our Zedge app’s user base, globally. We expect to continue devoting resources to grow our Zedge app’s user base by:
§ studying its users’ needs and enhancing our app to meet those needs;
§ developing and offering new features and services in the Zedge app that are relevant to new users interested in personalized digital content;
§ Investing in paid user acquisition campaigns that we believe can yield profitable customers, primarily in well-developed markets; and
§ expanding our Zedge app’s reach by collaborating with strategic partners.
§ Improve our Zedge app’s monetization. We will continue exploring additional monetization methods for our Zedge app, including in-app purchases, one-of-a-kind and limited-edition content, subscription models, e-commerce, new advertising products and brand sponsorships. We believe that our Zedge app’s large and expanding customer base is an attractive medium for advertisers, brands and artists and that this will result in new monetization opportunities for our Zedge app over time as well as an appealing audience to promote our new apps.
§ Ongoing product and technology investment in our Zedge app. We plan to make continued, selected investments in product feature sets and functionalities of our Zedge app in order to both maintain its userbase and attract new users and artists and position its content contributors for optimal success in achieving their marketing and sales goals. Some of these initiatives include ongoing investment in our Zedge app’s search and discovery, content recommendations, supporting new content verticals, improving our Zedge app’s self-serve platform, and connecting creators with relevant end users via our Zedge app.
§ Leverage first-party data and usage insights. We plan to utilize first-party data and usage insights to optimize the product by offering personalized recommendations and content feeds, improved search and content discovery, and optimized pricing.
§ Building our Zedge app into a best-of-breed platform for artists and creators. Our goal is to build our Zedge app into a platform that artists view as prioritizing their needs ahead of other platforms and addressing all aspects of their marketing and revenue generation goals including, but not limited to, ease in managing their virtual storefront, promotion, education, reporting and distribution.
§ Increase our marketing efforts for our Zedge app. Historically, we haven’t invested materially in marketing initiatives for our Zedge app. Going forward, we envision the need to better promote our Zedge app and to amplify our Zedge app’s value proposition to artists and individual creators. We envisage these creators and influencers and brands self-promoting their availability on our Zedge app in order to extend their reach, generating incremental income and drive more end-user traffic to our platform. Furthermore, we also plan to scale up paid user acquisition focusing on users that we believe can yield profitable customers and also continue to invest in app store optimization, search, marketing automation, social marketing and community management in order to retain and expand our Zedge app’s customer base.
§ Diversify our revenue by developing and offering new apps. Historically, the vast majority of our revenue has been derived from our Zedge app. Without losing focus on our Zedge app, we plan to diversify our revenue by developing and offering new apps that will leverage our technology and management team. For example, in December 2019, we completed the beta launch of ‘Shortz’ our new entertainment app offering serialized, short-form fiction delivered in a text-message format across both Android and iOS and in August of 2021 we acquired Emojipedia, the world’s leading authority dedicated to providing up to date and well-researched emoji definitions, information, and news. We expect Emojipedia will contribute to diversifying our portfolio of digital brands, revenue generators, and customer base.
§ Selectively pursue strategic investments, partnerships and acquisitions. On a selective basis, we will look to invest in, partner with or purchase entities that can provide synergistic growth opportunities for our Zedge app and otherwise. For example, on August 1, 2021 we acquired Emojipedia, the world’s leading authority dedicated to providing up to date and well-researched emoji definitions, information, and news as well as World Emoji Day and the annual World Emoji Awards, and Emojitracker, which provides real time visualization of all emoji symbols used on Twitter. Emojipedia does not offer a mobile app and we expect to test offering their content via an in-app experience and capitalizing on our userbase base of close to 35 million monthly active users. We plan to leverage our understanding of web based businesses and the smartphone industry to pursue additional opportunities that we believe can impact our business in a materially positive fashion.
Our History
In 2003, Tom Arnoy, Kenneth Sundnes and Paul Shaw launched a consumer website at www.zedge.net that people used to upload and download ringtones.
In December 2006, IDT Corporation acquired 90% of Zedge. Zedge Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in Delaware in 2008, and our name was changed to Zedge, Inc. in 2016.
In 2009, we introduced the Android version of our Zedge app. The Zedge app provided ease-of-use by negating the need for customers to first download a ringtone or wallpaper to their computer and then upload that content to their mobile phone.
We launched the iOS version of our Zedge app in 2013, followed by launch of the Windows Mobile Zedge app in 2014.
During 2014 and 2015, our Zedge app introduced app icons, social sharing features and marketing automation capabilities, and expanded the number of languages supported.
In 2016, IDT Corporation spun off our stock to its stockholders, and our Class B Common Stock was listed on the NYSE American with the ticker symbol “ZDGE”.
In March 2018, we completed the launch of Zedge Premium, our marketplace that is part of the Zedge app where artists and brands can market, distribute and sell to our users their digital content, including wallpapers, ringtones, video wallpapers and stickers.
In January 2019, we started testing a subscription-based product on the Android version of our Zedge app, whereby users could prepay a monthly or yearly fee to remove unsolicited ads when using our Zedge app. As of July 31, 2021, we had approximately 752,000 active paid subscribers.
In December 2019, we completed the beta launch of ‘Shortz’, our new entertainment app offering serialized, short-form fiction delivered in a text-message format across both Android and iOS, focusing on users in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada and it is now available globally.
In August 2020, Jonathan Reich was promoted to Chief Executive Officer and Yi Tsai was promoted to Chief Financial Officer.
On August 1, 2021, we acquired Emojipedia, the world’s leading authority dedicated to providing up-to-date and well-researched emoji definitions, information, and news as well as World Emoji Day and the annual World Emoji Awards, and Emojitracker, which provides real time visualization of all emoji symbols used on Twitter.
Our Technology
Our Zedge app is powered by a scalable distributed platform that is comprised of both open source and proprietary technologies centered on content management and discovery, web and app development, data mining and analytics, deep learning, mobile content/device compatibility, advertising and reporting. We have built a robust platform that allows us to ideate, test, and launch where warranted by the outcome and we have embraced machine learning throughout our technology stack in order to improve content recommendations and relevancy. From an end user’s perspective, our Zedge app’s platform minimizes response latency while maximizing content relevancy and discoverability. We optimize our platform by utilizing systems, algorithms and heuristics that organize our Zedge app’s content based upon real user data and that renders the content in a relevant fashion. Our infrastructure provides a fully redundant production environment in a cloud-hosted, virtual-server environment.
Intellectual Property
Our trademarks, copyrights, domain names, proprietary technology, knowhow and other intellectual property are vital to our success. We seek to protect our intellectual property rights by relying on federal, state and common law rights in the United States and other countries, as well as contractual restrictions. We enter into confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements with our employees and business partners. The agreements we enter into with our employees also provide that all software, inventions, developments, works of authorship and trade secrets created by them during the course of their employment are our property.
We have been granted trademark protection for “Zedge” in the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, India and Canada and for “Tonesync” in the European Union and the United Kingdom, and “We Make Phones Personal” and “Shortz - Chat Stories by Zedge” in the United States. We also have applied for trademark protection for “Tattoo your phone” and “Zedge, Everything You” in the United States, and have obtained a copyright registration for our flagship app, Zedge. In addition, we have registered, amongst others, the following domain names: www.zedge.net and www.zedge.com.
On August 1, 2021, we acquired Emojipedia. As part of this acquisition, we acquired trademark registrations for “Emojipedia” in the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, China and Australia, and trademark registrations for “World Emoji Day” in the United States and United Kingdom. We also acquired the following domain name registrations: www.emojipedia.com and www.emojipedia.org.
Employees
As of July 31, 2021, we had 51 full-time and 2 part-time employees.
Facilities
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic we ceased having a physical office in the United States in 2020. Yet, we still address commercial operations including accounting and finance, and business development from the New York area. In 2021, we moved into a smaller Trondheim, Norway facility, with approximately 3,800 square feet of space, accommodates our product, design and technology teams and is under lease through March 2024. We also lease a satellite development center in Vilnius, Lithuania. Our servers are hosted in leased data centers in different geographic locations in the United States.

---

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Our business, operating results or financial condition could be materially adversely affected by any of the following risks associated with any one of our businesses, as well as the other risks highlighted elsewhere in this document, particularly the discussions about competition. The trading price of our Class B common stock could decline due to any of these risks.
If our digital brands including our Zedge app and Emojipedia fail to attract advertisers or if its advertisers reduce their spending with us, our revenues, profitability and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.
In fiscal 2021, approximately 80% of our revenues were generated from our Zedge app selling advertising inventory. We anticipate that our growth and profitability will continue to depend on our ability to sell our advertising inventory. Companies that advertise with us may choose to utilize other advertising channels or may reduce or eliminate their marketing altogether for a variety of reasons, many of which are out of our control, including, without limitation, if the demand for mobile phone personalization industry declines or otherwise falls out of favor with advertisers or consumers.
If the size of the digital advertising market does not increase from current levels, or if our Zedge app and/or Emojipedia website are unable to capture and retain a sufficient share of that market, our ability to maintain or increase our current level of advertising revenues and our revenues, profitability and prospects could be materially and adversely affected.
The digital advertising market may deteriorate or develop more slowly than expected, which could materially harm our business and results of operations.
We generate substantial majority of our revenue from our Zedge app and from our Emojipedia website selling advertising inventory. We anticipate that our growth and profitability will continue to depend on our ability to sell advertising inventory across our digital brands.
Mobile connected devices, especially smartphones, are a relatively new advertising medium. Advertisers have historically spent a smaller portion of their advertising budgets on mobile media as compared to traditional advertising methods, such as television, newspapers, radio and billboards, or online advertising over the internet, such as placing banner ads on websites.
Future demand and market acceptance for mobile advertising is uncertain. Many advertisers still have limited experience with mobile advertising and may continue to devote larger portions of their advertising budgets to more traditional offline or online personal computer-based advertising, instead of shifting additional advertising resources to mobile advertising.
Further, our advertisers’ ability to effectively target their advertising to our user’s interests may be negatively impacted by the degree to which our privacy control measures that we have implemented or may implement in the future in connection with regulations, regulatory actions, the user experience, or otherwise, and our advertising revenue may decrease or otherwise be curtailed as a result. Changes to operating systems’ practices and policies, such as Apple’s deprecating the Identifier for Advertisers (“IDFA”) and Google’s expected deprecation of “tracking cookies” may also reduce the quantity and quality of the data and metrics that can be collected or used by us and our partners. These limitations may adversely affect our advertisers’ ability to effectively target advertisements and measure their performance, which could reduce the demand and pricing for our advertising products and harm our business. As such, our digital property’s current and potential advertiser clients may ultimately find digital advertising to be less effective than traditional advertising media or marketing methods or other technologies for promoting their products and services, and they may even reduce their spending on mobile advertising from current levels as a result or for other reasons.
If the market for mobile advertising deteriorates, or develops more slowly than we expect, we may not be able to increase our revenues or our revenues and profitability could decline materially.
We may not be successful in diversifying our revenue mix to reduce our significant dependence on third-party advertisers.
In fiscal 2021, approximately 80% of our revenues were generated from our Zedge app selling advertising inventory. We cannot assure you that we will be successful in diversifying our revenue mix by identifying new revenue drivers that complement our advertising-heavy business. Although we have had initial success in converting freemium users into paid subscribers, starting with zero in January 2019 and ending fiscal 2021 with approximately 752,000, there is no guarantee that we will continue growing at this pace or how many of our current subscribers will remain as paying subscribers. To date, Zedge Premium has taken longer to scale than we originally anticipated, and we have not experienced the success that we anticipated by selling print-on-demand merchandise which sells at a higher price unit price than the other digital goods that we offer. We previously thought that certain marketers would embrace our platform as a critical distribution medium enabling us to secure a recurring set of advertisers willing to pay for sponsorships, but this has not yet occurred and may not occur. Finally, Android users are prone to spend less money in apps than iOS users. Even if our new initiatives are successful with our Android users, we may not able to replicate that success on iOS, especially since we have fewer iOS users.
Our revenues may fluctuate materially due to increases and decreases of new mobile device sales, over which we have no control.
Our revenue may be materially negatively impacted by a decrease or slowdown in new mobile device sales. Demand for mobile devices correlates to installs of the Zedge app and associated usage and revenue generation.
Initially the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted our Zedge app’s new user growth. New smartphone sales suffered as a result of retail business closures, negatively impacting new user growth, especially in well-developed markets. Assuming the retail business rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic, we expect that our Zedge app’s new user growth will also recover and we will benefit accordingly but there can no assurance of such rebound or new user growth.
If new mobile device sales decrease or slowdown, our Zedge app will experience fewer installations which will negatively impact our revenue and operations.
If mobile connected devices, their operating systems or content distribution channels develop in ways that violate policies of Google Play or the App Store, prevent users from downloading our Zedge app or block advertising from being delivered to our Zedge app’s users, our ability to grow our revenues, profitability and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.
Our business model depends upon the continued compatibility between our Zedge app and the major mobile operating systems. Third parties with whom we do not have any formal relationships control the design of mobile devices and operating systems. These parties frequently introduce new devices, and from time to time they may introduce new operating systems or modify existing ones. Network carriers, including but not limited to Verizon, AT&T or T-Mobile, may also impact the ability to download apps or access specified content on mobile devices.
We rely upon third-party distribution platforms, including the Google Play store and Apple’s App Store, for distribution of our Zedge app. The Google Play store and Apple’s App Store are global application distribution platforms and the main distribution channels for our Zedge app. As such, the promotion, distribution and operation of our Zedge app are subject to the respective distribution platforms’ standard terms and policies for application developers, which are very broad and subject to frequent changes and interpretation. Furthermore, the distribution platforms may not enforce their standard terms and policies for application developers consistently and uniformly across all applications and with all publishers.
For example, in September 2019, our Zedge app was temporarily removed from Google Play because they asserted that the Zedge app violated their malicious behavior policy. As a result, prospective Android users were prevented from installing our Zedge app, freemium users were unable to convert into paying subscribers and existing users we unable to purchase Zedge Credits. Shortly after the notice was issued, two of our major advertising suppliers ceased serving advertisements to our Zedge app. In addition, Google Play sent a notification to users that had the problematic version of the app on their phone recommending that they uninstall it. We identified the source of the problem as buggy code from a long-term, third-party advertising partner’s standard technology integration in our app. We corrected the problem by removing the offensive code, releasing a new version of our app and our Zedge app was reinstated after approximately 72 hours and concurrently the two major advertising suppliers resumed purchasing our advertising inventory. We estimate the immediate financial impact of the suspension resulted in approximately $100,000 in lost revenue and a material decline in MAU with the majority of uninstalls in emerging markets.
In addition, if any of these providers were to limit or disable advertising on their platforms, devices or operating systems, either because of technological constraints or because a maker of these devices, developer of these operating systems or owner of these distribution platforms wished to impair our ability to serve ads on them, our Zedge app’s ability to generate revenues could be significantly harmed. Also, technologies may be developed that can block the display of our Zedge app’s ads. Most of our revenues are derived from fees paid to us by our Zedge app’s advertisers in connection with the display of ads. As a result, ad-blocking technology could materially adversely affect our business, revenues and profitability.
Certain material functions related to our business depend on a single supplier to carry out our business, and the inability to do business with this supplier could have a materially adverse effect on our business and financial results.
We depend on Google and its affiliated companies for multiple material functions related to our business, including advertising on our Zedge app and certain cloud services, and we expect to expand the services provided by Google in fiscal 2022. If the services of Google that we depend on were unavailable, or available only in decreased capacity or at less advantageous terms, this could result in interruptions to our ability to provide certain services, could cause reduction in service and/or quality as the function is transitioned to an alternate provider, if an alternate provider is available, or could increase our cost, which we may not be able to pass along to customers. Accordingly, any of these events could materially and negatively impact our business, our revenues, our profits, and our relationships with customers.
If technologies designed to block the display of advertisements or if in the future web browsers limit or block behavioral targeting technologies. our revenues may be adversely affected.
Our apps and Emojipedia may suffer negative consequences, including a material reduction of revenue, with mass adoption of website ad blocking technologies or other technologies that limit the ability to personalize advertisements, including, without limitation, if the price for this advertising inventory declines.
Although we had positive cash flow from operating activities and net earnings in fiscal 2021, we had previously incurred, and may once again incur, net losses and experience negative cash flow from operating activities in the future and may not be able to obtain additional capital in a timely manner or on acceptable terms, or at all.
Our net income in fiscal 2021 was $8.2 million compared to net loss of $0.6 million in and fiscal 2020. Our ability to maintain profitability and positive cash flow from operating activities depends on various factors, including but not limited to, the acceptance of our products and services by mobile phone and internet users, the growth and maintenance of our user base, our ability to maintain existing and obtain new advertisers, our ability to grow our revenues, the success of Zedge Premium and paid subscriptions, and the effectiveness of our new product initiatives, selling and marketing activities as well as control our costs and expenses. We may not be able to sustain profitability or positive cash flow from operating activities, and any such positive cash flow may not be sufficient to satisfy our anticipated capital expenditures and other cash needs. As such, we may not be able to fund our operating expenses and expenditures out of cash flows, which would require us to utilize debt or equity financing which we may not be able to secure or which we may only secure on terms that are not favorable, which, which may result in significant dilution or voluntary or involuntary dissolution or liquidation proceeding of us and a total loss of your investment.
Our limited operating history makes it difficult to evaluate our business and prospects and may increase your investment risk.
We have only a limited operating history upon which you can evaluate our business and prospects. Although we experienced impressive year-over-year revenue growth of 107% in fiscal 2021 our growth in fiscal 2020 was moderate and even declined in fiscal 2019. As part of the nascent mobile advertising industry, we will encounter risks and difficulties frequently encountered by early-stage companies in rapidly evolving industries, including the need to:
§ maintain our reputation and build trust with our advertiser and developer clients;
§ offer competitive pricing to both advertisers and developers;
§ maintain and expand our network of advertising space through which we deliver mobile advertising campaigns;
§ deliver advertising results that are superior to those that advertisers or developers could achieve directly or through the use of competing providers or technologies;
§ continue to develop and upgrade the technologies that enable us to provide mobile advertising services;
§ respond to evolving government regulations relating to the internet, telecommunications, privacy, direct marketing and advertising aspects of our business;
§ identify, attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel; and
§ manage our expanding operations.
If we do not successfully address any or all of these risks, our business, revenues and profitability could be materially adversely affected.
If we fail to maintain and enhance our various brands, or if we incur excessive expenses in this effort, our business, results of operations and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.
We believe that maintaining and enhancing our brand and reputation important to the success of our business. Historically, we have not made material investments in this effort. We believe that a well-recognized and respected brand is important to increasing the number of users and enhancing our attractiveness to advertisers and business partners. Brand recognition and enhancement may directly affect our ability to maintain our market position.
Many factors, some of which are beyond our control, are important to maintaining and enhancing our various brands and may negatively impact our brand and reputation if not properly managed, such as our ability to:
§ maintain an easy and reliable user experience as user preferences evolve and as our brands expand into new service categories and new service lines;
§ remain relevant to users with a plethora of other content offerings and entertainment platforms;
§ increase brand awareness among existing and potential users, advertisers and content providers through various marketing and promotional activities;
§ adopt new technologies or adapt its products and services to meet user needs or emerging industry standards; and
§ distinguish it from the competition and maintain this distinction.
In the future, we may conduct various marketing and brand promotion activities to expand our brand. Some of these may require material investment. We cannot assure you, however, that these activities will be successful or that we will be able to achieve the brand promotion effect we expect. In addition, any negative publicity in relation to our mobile internet products, websites or services could harm our brand and reputation.
We have received, and expect to continue to receive, complaints from users regarding the quality of our products and services. If our users’ complaints are not addressed to their satisfaction, our reputation and our market position could be significantly harmed, which may materially and adversely affect our business, revenues and profitability.
We may not be able to continually meet our users’ demands and retain or expand our user base, and our revenues, profitability and prospects may be materially and adversely affected.
Although we constantly monitor and research our users’ demands, we may be unable to meet them on an ongoing basis or anticipate future user needs. A decrease in the number of users engaging with our products and services may have a material and adverse effect on our ability to sell advertising and on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In order to attract and retain users and remain competitive, we must continue to innovate our products and services, improve user experience, and implement new technologies and functionalities.
The internet business is characterized by constant changes, including but not limited to rapid technological evolution, continual shifts in user demands, frequent introductions of new products and services and constant emergence of new industry standards and practices. As a result, our Zedge users may leave us for our competitors’ products and services more quickly than in other sectors. Thus, our success will depend, in part, on our ability to respond to these changes in a timely and cost-effective basis, including improving and marketing our existing products and services and developing and pricing new products and services in response to evolving user needs. Our ability to successfully retain or expand our user base will depend on our ability to achieve the following, among others:
§ anticipate and effectively respond to the growing number of internet users in general and our users in particular;
§ attract, retain and motivate talented application designers, product managers and engineers who have experience developing personalization products or other mobile internet products and services;
§ effectively market our existing and new mobile internet products in response to evolving user needs;
§ develop in a timely fashion and launch new products and features, and develop and launch other internet products cost-effectively;
§ funnel our existing users and prospects into new products that we develop, independent of our current product suite, and convert them into recurring users of these new products;
§ successfully recruit new artists, individual creators and brands that offer their content to our Zedge app’s users;
§ attract and retain writers and actors for Shortz;
§ further improve our Zedge app platform to provide a compelling and optimal user experience through integration of products and services provided by existing and new third-party developers or business partners; and
§ continue to provide quality content to attract and retain our users and advertisers.
We cannot assure you that our existing products and services, including our Zedge app and Emojipedia, will remain sufficiently popular with our users. We may be unsuccessful in adding compelling new enhancements; products and services to further diversify these product offerings. Unexpected technical, commercial or operational problems could delay or prevent the introduction of one or more of our new products or services to our users. Moreover, we cannot be sure that any of our new products and services, including Zedge Premium, our subscription offering, Shortz or Emojipedia, will achieve widespread market acceptance or generate incremental revenue the way our existing Zedge app’s products and services have. If we fail to continue to achieve sufficient user satisfaction through our products or services or if our products and services fail to meet our expectation to maintain and expand our user base, our business, results of operations and financial condition will be materially and adversely affected.
Our marketplace for premium content, called Zedge Premium, may not yield the strategic goals and objectives that we envision, and our revenues, profitability and prospects may be materially and adversely negatively affected.
Our marketplace where we charge our users for premium content in our Zedge app is called Zedge Premium. Although we believe that Zedge Premium will act as an important driver in helping our Zedge app become a leading platform for professional artists, individual creators and brands looking to distribute their work to consumers looking for an easy, entertaining and unique way to express their voice, individuality and essence, it’s premature to conclude this as being the case.
Zedge Premium’s gross transaction revenue has been growing slowly, but it is still too early to state with conviction that Zedge Premium will have a materially positive impact on our business. In order to do so, we still need, among other things, to:
§ demonstrate that a critical mass of artists, individual creators and brands will offer their content to our Zedge app’s users;
§ continue to add new premium content verticals, with ample content in each vertical, to secure end-user demand and consumption;
§ continue to ensure that our Zedge app is building best-of-breed tools for content contributors in Zedge Premium that, amongst other things, meet their needs with respect to marketing, distribution, monetization, reporting, support, and ease of use;
§ continue to develop a wide array of monetization mechanisms for Zedge Premium in order to optimize revenue generation;
§ successfully market to the creative community and secure their adoption of our Zedge Premium platform as a must-have in their omnichannel distribution mix;
§ establish that Zedge Premium can be valuable to a sufficient number of creators in achieving their marketing and monetization objectives; and
§ continue to offer an excellent and differentiated consumer experience in Zedge Premium, including all end-user facing attributes ranging from the user interface to customer support.
If Zedge Premium fails to yield the strategic goals and objectives that we envision, our business, results of operations and financial condition will be materially and adversely affected.
Our Zedge app’s user base is heavily weighted to the Android operating system and our revenues and profitability may suffer if the market demand for Android smartphones decreases.
Our Zedge app’s user base is heavily weighted to smartphones running the Android operating system, which constituted approximately 96% of its MAU as of July 31, 2021, and most of our revenues for fiscal 2021. Any significant downturn in the overall demand for Android smartphones or the use of Android smartphones could significantly and adversely affect the demand for our Zedge app and would materially affect our revenues.
Although the Android smartphone market has grown rapidly in recent years, it is uncertain whether the Android smartphone market will continue growing at a similar rate in the future. In addition, due to the constantly evolving nature of the smartphone industry, another operating system for smartphones may eclipse the Android operating system and result in a decline in its popularity, which would likely adversely affect our Zedge app’s popularity. To the extent that our Zedge app continues to be operated on Android smartphones and to the extent that our future revenues substantially depend on the use and sales of Android smartphones, our business and financial results would be vulnerable to any downturns in the Android smartphone market.
We may not be able to effectively manage our growth or implement our future business strategies, in which case our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.
Our continued success depends on our ability to grow each of the properties in our brand portfolio.
We may not be capable of growing our Zedge apps organically, attract new artists and establish cooperation with strategic partners. Our Zedge app has experienced periods of rapid growth and expansion that has placed, and continues to place, significant strain on our management and resources. We cannot assure you that these periods will recur or be sustainable. We believe that continued growth of our Zedge app will depend on our ability to develop and enhance its products and services, attract new artists and individual creators, grow its user base, retain existing users, continue developing innovative technologies in response to user demand, increase brand awareness through marketing and promotional activities, react to changes in market trends, expand into new market segments, attract new advertisers, retain existing advertisers and take advantage of the growth in the relevant markets. We cannot assure you that our Zedge app will achieve any or all of the above.
We may not be successful in increasing the number of users that engage with Emojipedia, maintain our relationship with various content partners like Google, Twitter and Apple or sustain our high rankings with the leading search engines including Google. We believe the Emojipedia’s continued success depends on our ability to invest in product initiatives like localization, provide newsworthy and value-added information and capture the changes that are taking place in the industry in a timely fashion. In the event that we are not successful in some or all of these areas we may not be able to retain our customers and advertisers.
We may need to invest in paid user acquisition in order to grow our Zedge’s customer base. However, we may not be able to secure new users at scale with a positive return on investment. Even if we can secure new profitable customers these new customers may be seasonal and/or unsustainable.
To manage our Zedge app’s growth and for us to attain and maintain profitability, we will also need to further expand, train, manage and motivate our workforce and manage our relationships with users, consultants, business partners and advertisers. We anticipate that we will need to implement a variety of enhanced and upgraded operational and financial systems, procedures and controls, including the improvement of our accounting and other internal management systems. All of these endeavors involve risks and will require substantial management efforts and skills and additional expenditures.
Our Zedge app and Emojipedia currently enjoy a global customer base. This geographic diversification may raise the level of difficulty in managing their future growth and profitability. We cannot assure you that our current and planned personnel, systems, procedures and controls will be adequate to support our future operations. In addition, we cannot assure you that we will be able to effectively manage our growth or implement our future business strategies effectively, and failure to do so may materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.
During the past five years, we have experienced a shift in our Zedge app’s regional customer make-up with MAU increasing in the emerging markets and decreasing in the well-developed markets. In fiscal 2021, our Zedge app’s users in the emerging markets grew by 16.1% while its users in the well-developed regions declined 11.5% when compared to fiscal 2020. India comprised 25% of our MAU as of July 31, 2021. This shift has negatively impacted revenues because the well-developed markets command materially higher advertising rates when compared to those in the emerging markets. Although we are investing in reversing this trend, we may not be successful in this effort which may result in lower revenues and profitability.
Our products may contain errors, flaws or failures that may only become apparent after their release, especially in updates to our Zedge app. From time to time, we receive user feedback in connection with errors, flaws or failures and such errors, flaws or failures may also come to our attention during our internal testing process. We generally have been able to resolve such errors, flaws or failures in a timely manner, but we cannot assure you that we will be able to detect and resolve all of them effectively or in a timely manner. Errors, flaws or failures in our services and products, including our Zedge app, may adversely affect user experience and cause our users to stop using our services and products, which could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.
We may not be able to convert freemium users into paying subscribers or maintain paying subscribers for more than a year.
Much of our growth in our Zedge’s app’s MAU since January 2019 is attributable to offering a paid subscription option which is weighted to securing annual prepaid subscriptions. In addition, approximately, 45% of annual subscribers have renewed their subscription for a second year while approximately 60% of those subscribers have renewed their subscription for a third year. Depending on the success of our product, the evolution of subscriptions and items beyond our control users may opt not to convert into paying subscribers and/or paying subscribers may choose not to renew their subscriptions. Either of these would adversely impact the business. During the second half of fiscal 2021, active subscription numbers were flat as new subscriptions were offset by cancellations during the period. This trend may continue into future periods.
We do not have long-term agreements with our advertisers, and we may be unable to retain existing advertisers, attract new advertisers or replace departing advertisers with advertisers that can provide comparable revenues to us, in which case our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.
In fiscal 2021, approximately 80% of our revenues were generated from our Zedge app selling advertising inventory. We anticipate that our growth and profitability will continue to depend on our ability to effectively sell and optimize our advertising inventory. Our success requires us to maintain and expand our current advertiser relationships and to develop new relationships.
Our contracts with our Zedge app’s and Emojipedia’s advertising partners generally do not include long-term obligations requiring them to purchase our inventory and are cancelable upon short or no notice and without penalty. Furthermore, the majority of our advertisers buy our inventory via third-party platforms and bidding exchanges that own the relationship with the advertiser. As a result, we may have limited visibility as to our future advertising revenue streams.
We cannot assure you that advertisers will continue to purchase our inventory, or that we will be able to replace, in a timely or effective manner, departing advertisers with new advertisers that generate comparable revenue. If one or more major advertisers representing a significant portion of our business decide to materially reduce its advertising spend with us or cease purchasing our Zedge app’s advertising inventory, our revenues and profitability could be significantly reduced.
Furthermore, MoPub, a fully owned division of Twitter, has been our ad mediation platform for the past ten years and is in the process of being purchased by AppLovin a provider of advanced tools for mobile app developers to grow their businesses by automating and optimizing the marketing and monetization of their apps. In the event that this transaction closes it is possible that MoPub’s mediation platform will be deprecated requiring us to migrate to a different mediation platform. This will not only require resource and time investment, which may slow down are ability to deliver other product initiatives but may also negatively impact the demand for and pricing of our advertising inventory.
Our products face competition in all aspects of its business. If our Zedge app fails to compete effectively or if its reputation is damaged, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.
Although our Zedge app is currently a leading platform for smartphone personalization end Emojipedia is a leading provider for emoji related content and information, we cannot guarantee that either of these properties will be able to maintain their leadership position. Both of these properties face potential competition from other internet companies, app developers and smartphone manufacturers, and new market entrants may also emerge. If we are not able to differentiate our products from that of our competitors, drive value for our customers, and/or effectively align our resources with our goals and objectives, we may not be able to compete effectively against our competitors. Our failure to compete effectively against any of the foregoing competitive threats could materially and adversely harm our business. Increased competition may result in new products and offerings which may in turn require us to take actions to retain and attract our users and advertisers in such a fashion which would lower our gross margins. If we fail to compete effectively, our market share would decrease and our results from operations, revenues and profits would be materially and adversely affected.
Our Zedge app in the midst of expanding beyond mobile phone personalization and focusing on becoming a distribution platform for professional artists, individual creators and brands interested in offering their content to consumers that are looking for an easy, entertaining and unique way of using this content to express their voice, individuality and essence. We aspire to have our Zedge app be the destination that smartphone users turn to when looking for mobile optimized, digital content. If we are unsuccessful in meeting our goal, our brand may suffer resulting in diluting our value proposition, losing MAU and having lower revenues and profits.
If we are not able to effectively compete in any aspect of our business or if our reputation is harmed by rumors or allegations regarding our business or business practices, our overall user base may decline, making it less attractive to advertisers. We may be required to spend additional resources to further increase our brand recognition and promote our products and services, and such additional spending could adversely affect our profitability.
If we fail to keep up with rapid technological changes in the internet and smartphone industries and adapt our products and services accordingly, our results of operations and future growth may be adversely affected.
The internet and smartphone industries are characterized by rapid and innovative technological changes. Our future success will depend, in part, on our ability to respond to fast changing technologies, adapt our products and services to evolving industry standards and improve the performance, functionality and reliability of our products and services. Our failure to continue to adapt to such changes could harm our business. If we are slow to develop products and services that are compatible with smartphones, or if the products and services we develop are not widely accepted and used by smartphone users, we may not be able to capture a significant share of this important market. In addition, the widespread adoption of new internet, networking or telecommunications technologies or other technological changes for smartphones could require substantial expenditures to modify or adapt our products, services or infrastructure. If we fail to keep up with rapid and innovative technological changes to remain competitive, our future growth may be materially and adversely affected and our results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
Our international operations and availability expose us to additional risks that could harm our business, operating results and financial condition.
In addition to uncertainty about our ability to continue expanding and monetizing internationally, there are additional risks inherent in doing business internationally, including:
§ tariffs, trade barriers, customs classifications and changes in trade regulations. For example, in May 2019, the United Stated banned U.S. companies from doing business with Huawei, a major smartphone manufacturer, the result of which is that our Zedge app will not be available on new Huawei phones, and in 2020 the United States threatened to ban TikTok from the U.S. market;
§ difficulties in developing, staffing, and simultaneously managing foreign operations as a result of distance, language, and cultural differences;
§ stringent local labor laws and regulations;
§ strict and unclear laws around data privacy;
§ longer payment cycles;
§ credit risk and higher levels of payment fraud;
§ profit repatriation restrictions and foreign currency exchange restrictions;
§ political or social unrest, economic instability, repression, or human rights issues;
§ geopolitical events, including natural disasters, acts of war and terrorism;
§ import or export regulations;
§ compliance with U.S. laws such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and local laws prohibiting bribery and corrupt payments to government officials;
§ antitrust and competition regulations;
§ potentially adverse tax developments;
§ seasonal volatility in business activity and local economic conditions;
§ economic uncertainties relating to European sovereign and other debt;
§ laws, regulations, licensing requirements, and business practices that favor local competitors or prohibit foreign ownership or investments;
§ laws, regulations or rulings that block or limit access to our products;
§ different, uncertain or more stringent user protection, content, data protection, privacy, intellectual property and other laws; and
§ risks related to other government regulation, required compliance with local laws or lack of legal precedent.
We are subject to numerous and sometimes conflicting U.S. and foreign laws and regulations that increase our cost of doing business. Violations of these complex laws and regulations that apply to our international operations could result in damages, awards, fines, litigation, criminal actions, sanctions, or penalties against us, our officers or our employees, prohibitions on the conduct of our business and our ability to offer products and services, and damage to our reputation. Although we have implemented policies and procedures designed to promote compliance with these laws, there can be no assurance that our employees, contractors, or agents will not violate our policies or that our policies will be sufficient. These risks inherent in our international operations and expansion increase our costs of doing business internationally and could result in material harm to our business, operating results, and financial condition.
Companies and governmental agencies may restrict access to our website or mobile apps, or the internet generally, which could lead to the loss or slower growth of our user base, in which case our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.
In order to grow our business, users need to access the internet and, in particular, our digital products. Companies and governmental agencies could block access to our websites and apps or the internet generally. For example, in 2013 the Indian courts issued orders restraining internet service providers from providing access to various internet domains including ours. Access to our Zedge app through any mode was blocked in many parts of India from February 2013 until August 2019 as discussed more fully in the Legal Proceedings section below and there can be no guaranties that this will not recur or happen elsewhere. If companies or governmental entities block or limit access to our Zedge app or otherwise adopt policies restricting access to our advertiser’s products and services our business could be negatively impacted resulting in a loss or slow-down of user growth and/or revenues.
Our core values of focusing on our users and acting for the long-term may conflict with the short-term interests of our business.
One of our core values is a focus on our users’ experience, which we believe is essential to our success and serves the best, long-term interests of us and our stockholders. Therefore, we have made, in the past and/or may make in the future, significant investments or changes in strategy that we think will benefit our users, even if our decision negatively impacts our operating results in the short term. In addition, our philosophy of prioritizing our users may cause disagreements or negatively impact our relationships with advertisers or other third parties. Our decisions may not result in the long-term benefits that we expect, in which case the success of our business and operating results could be materially harmed.
We had a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting as of July 31, 2021, and if we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls over financial reporting we may not be able to accurately report our financial results, and current and potential stockholders may lose confidence in our financial reporting which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our stock.
We are required to establish and maintain adequate internal controls over financial reporting that provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of our financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Likewise, we are required, on a quarterly basis, to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal controls and to disclose any changes and material weaknesses in those internal controls. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
In this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended July 31, 2021, we reported that we had a material weakness related to the valuation allowance against deferred tax assets (see Item 9A Control and Procedures in this Annual Report on Form 10-K). Notwithstanding the material weakness described above, we have performed additional analyses and other procedures to enable management to conclude that our financial statements included in this Form 10-K fairly present, in all material respects, our financial condition and results of operations as of and for the year ended July 31, 2021. Remediation of these weaknesses had not yet been completed, and therefore these deficiencies continued to exist as of November 3, 2021. Management and our Audit Committee will monitor remedial measures and the effectiveness of our internal controls and procedures.
While we aim to work diligently to ensure a robust internal control that is devoid of significant deficiencies and material weaknesses, given the complexity of the accounting rules, we may, in the future, identify additional significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. Any failure to maintain or implement required new or improved controls, or any difficulties we encounter in their implementation, could result in additional significant deficiencies or material weaknesses, cause us to fail to meet our periodic reporting obligations or result in material misstatements in our financial statements. Any such failure could also adversely affect the results of periodic management evaluations and annual auditor attestation reports regarding the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting required under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the rules promulgated under Section 404. The existence of a material weakness could result in errors in our financial statements that could result in a restatement of financial statements, cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, leading to a decline in our stock price. See Item 9A Controls and Procedures for a further discussion of our assessment of our internal controls over financial reporting.
Although we believe that our remediation efforts will strengthen our internal controls over financial reporting and address the concern that gave rise to the material weakness as of July 31, 2021, we cannot be certain that our expanded knowledge and revised internal control practices will ensure that we maintain adequate internal control over our financial reporting in future periods. Any failure to maintain such internal controls could adversely impact our ability to report our financial results on a timely and accurate basis. If our financial statements are not accurate, investors may not have a complete understanding of our operations. Likewise, if our financial statements are not filed on a timely basis as required by the Securities and Exchange Commission and The New York Stock Exchange, we could face severe consequences from those authorities. In either case, there could result a material adverse effect on our business. Inferior internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our stock.
Legal proceedings or allegations of impropriety could have a material adverse impact on our reputation, results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.
We have been, and may be in the future, subject to allegations or lawsuits by entities claiming that we engage in unethical, fraudulent or otherwise inappropriate business practices. Any such lawsuit or allegation, with or without merit, or any perceived unfair, unethical, fraudulent or inappropriate business practice by us or perceived wrong-doing by any key member of our management team could harm our reputation and user base and distract our management from our day-to-day operations. We cannot assure you that we will not be subject to lawsuits or allegations in the future. When we can make a reasonable estimate of the liability relating to pending litigation and determine that an adverse liability resulting from such litigation is probable, we will record a related contingent liability. As additional information becomes available, we will assess the potential liability and revise estimates as appropriate.
In fiscal years 2020 and 2021, we did not record any contingent liabilities relating to pending litigation. When we record or revise our estimates of contingent liabilities in the future, the amount of our estimates may be inaccurate due to the inherent uncertainties relating to litigation. In addition, the outcomes of actions we institute against third parties may not be successful or favorable to us. Litigations and allegations against us may also generate negative publicity that significantly harms our reputation, which may materially and adversely affect our user base and our ability to attract publishers and advertisers. In addition to the related cost, managing and defending litigation and related indemnity obligations can significantly divert management’s and the board of directors’ attention from operating our business. We may also need to pay damages or settle the litigation with a substantial amount of cash or equity. All of these could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operation and cash flows.
A variety of new and existing U.S. and foreign government laws and regulations could subject us to claims, judgments, monetary liabilities and other remedies, and to limitations on our business practices, in which case our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.
We are subject to numerous U.S. and foreign laws and regulations covering a wide variety of subject matters. New laws and regulations, changes in existing laws and regulations or the interpretation of them, our introduction of new products, or an extension of our business into new areas, could increase our future compliance costs, make our products and services less attractive to our users, or cause us to change or limit our business practices. We may incur substantial expenses to comply with laws and regulations or defend against a claim that we have not complied with them. Further, any failure on our part to comply with any relevant laws or regulations may subject us to significant civil or criminal liabilities, penalties, taxes, fees, costs and negative publicity.
The application of existing domestic and international laws and regulations to us relating to issues such as user privacy and data protection, security, defamation, pricing, advertising, taxation, gambling, sweepstakes, promotions, consumer protection, accessibility, content regulation, quality of services, law enforcement demands, telecommunications, mobile, and intellectual property ownership and infringement in many instances is unclear or unsettled. Further, the application to us or our subsidiaries of existing laws regulating or requiring licenses for certain businesses of our advertisers can be unclear. U.S. export control laws and regulations also impose requirements and restrictions on exports to certain nations and persons and on our business. Internationally, we may also be subject to laws regulating our activities in foreign countries and to foreign laws and regulations that are inconsistent from country to country.
On July 16, 2020, rulings from the Court of Justice of the European Union invalidated the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield as a lawful means for transferring personal data from the European Economic Area, or the EEA, or the United Kingdom to the United States The court upheld that the Standard Contractual Clauses, or SCCs, can act as a valid transfer mechanism for personal data transfer, but that additional measures may be required to ensure adequate protection of personal data. To rely on SCCs, a data exporter must verify that the jurisdiction in which the data importer is based offers adequate protection for personal data. Data exporters may also need to put in place additional measures to deal with any risks associated with data transfer, such as technical controls and additional contractual obligations on how to manage onward transfers and compelled disclosures to public authorities. Undertaking such assessments and implementing additional measures could restrict our business operations and require us to incur additional costs for compliance.
Following the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU, the provisions of the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679, or GDPR, have been incorporated directly into UK law as the “UK GDPR”. In practice, there is little change to the core data protection principles, rights and obligations under UK data protection law. On June 28 2021, the EU approved the United Kingdom’s adequacy decision, meaning data can continue to flow between the United Kingdom and EEA as it did prior to Brexit, in most circumstances. There is a possibility that the United Kingdom may adopt regulations that diverge from the EU and that require a different compliance regime and that carry different penalties in the event of a breach which could increase our future compliance costs.
In addition to the actual and potential changes to laws and regulations described elsewhere in these Risk Factors, compliance with privacy and data security regulations, particularly within the EU, is likely to require ongoing investment and changes in how we operate. For example, in May 2018 the EU implemented the GDPR, whose goal is to provide a uniform standard for data protection and privacy for all individuals in the EU and EEA, including both end-users and employees. GDPR compliance required us to invest a considerable amount of resources in fiscal 2018 in addition to adopting new operational procedures in order to assure ongoing compliance. In 2018, California passed the California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA, which is a privacy law that provides consumers significant rights over the use of their personal information, including the right to object to the “sale” of their personal information. Amendments to the CCPA under the California Privacy Rights Act which will take effect in 2023 expand some of the CCPA rights to residents to restrict the use of certain information. These rights may restrict our ability to use personal information in connection with our business operations. The CCPA also provides a private right of action for security breaches. Colorado and Virginia have passed privacy bills similar to the CCPA which will go into effect in 2023. Washington, Massachusetts and other states have introduced privacy bills and the U.S. Congress is debating federal privacy legislation, which if passed, may restrict our business operations and require us to incur additional costs for compliance. While we carefully consider the compliance mandates of the GDPR and CCPA, it is possible that these obligations may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with other rules or our business practices.
In addition, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA, has provisions that limit, but do not necessarily eliminate, our liability for hosting user-generated materials that infringe copyrights, so long as we comply with the statutory requirements in the DMCA. Also, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, or CDA, provides immunity from liability for providers of an interactive computer service who publish defamatory information provided by users of the service. While the immunity provisions of the DMCA and the CDA are well established, there are regular cases seeking to limit the application of such immunity. Various U.S. and international laws restrict the distribution of materials considered harmful to children and impose additional restrictions on the ability of online services to collect information from minors. In the area of data protection, every state has passed a law requiring notification, and at times, the provision of identity theft protection, to users when there is a security breach for personal data. We face similar risks and costs as our products and services are offered in international markets and may be subject to additional regulations.
In many, but not all, territories outside of the United States there are laws similar to the DMCA which exempt us from copyright infringement liability that may arise due to hosting user-uploaded materials. In some countries, particularly in Europe and the APAC region, these laws are being readjusted and new - at times burdensome - constraints are being imposed onto service providers.
In June 2019, the European Union’s Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, or the Directive, came into effect, and each of the European Union’s member were supposed to have implemented the Directive by June 2021. To date seven EU Member States (including Germany, the Netherlands, Croatia, Malta, France, Italy and Hungary).
Directive Article 17 removes the shield of the current ‘hosting exemption’, enshrined in the E-Commerce Directive, and replaces it with a principle of full liability where “online content sharing service providers” (“OCSSPs”) are concerned. This means that OCSSPs will be liable for copyright-protected material uploaded by users and must obtain authorization (i.e., a licence) from the relevant rightsholders. However, Article 17 effectively creates a new liability exemption regime for OCSSPs (albeit a more onerous one than is currently provided by the E-Commerce Directive) under which OCSSPs will not be liable for the copyright-protected works that they communicate to the public provided that they cooperate with rightholders by:
§ making best efforts to obtain the necessary authorization (i.e., a licence);
§ expeditiously taking down or disabling access to content upon receiving a sufficiently substantiated notice to do so by rightholders (i.e., similar to the existing ‘notice and take-down’ requirements);
§ making best efforts to prevent future uploads of content in respect of which they have received a notice from rightholders pursuant to the previous requirement (i.e., a ‘notice and stay down’ requirement); and
§ making best efforts, in accordance with high industry standards of professional diligence, to ensure the unavailability of specific works in respect of which rightsholders have provided the ‘relevant and necessary information’.
The article also extends any licenses granted to OCSSPs to their users, as long as those users are not acting “on a commercial basis”.
Although we have invested and continue to invest in systems and resources, which are intended to ensure that we are compliant with the requirements of the GDPR. CCPA, DMCA, the Directive and other U.S. and international laws relating to, among other things, materials that infringe on copyrights and contain other objectionable content, our systems may not be sufficient or we may unintentionally err and fail to comply with these laws and regulations which could expose us to claims, judgments, monetary liabilities and other remedies, and to limitations on our business practices which could materially adversely affect our business and financial results.
If we are unable to license, acquire or otherwise obtain access to compelling content and services at reasonable cost or if we do not develop or commission compelling content of our own, the number of users of our Zedge app may not grow as anticipated, or may decline, or users’ level of engagement with our Zedge app may decline, all or any of which could materially harm our business and operating results.
Our future success depends, in part, on our ability to aggregate and host compelling content and deliver that content to our users via our products. We achieve this when users upload their own user-generated content to our Zedge app, when artists, individual creators and brands upload their licensed content to our Zedge app, or when we create content or enter into business partnerships with content owners and distribute this content on our Zedge app. For Shortz, we typically commissioning the content by paying a small upfront fee and sharing in the future revenues with the author of that content. In Emojipedia’s case, we usually receive new emojis from the content owner while paying authors to write articles on our blog.
We believe that users value high-quality content. As such, we may need to make substantial payments to third parties from whom we license or acquire such content or from whom we have create this content on our behalf. Our ability to maintain and build relationships with such third-party providers may become important to our success. As competition for compelling content increases both domestically and internationally, our partners may alter business terms under which they avail their content and services to us and potential providers may not offer their content or services to us at all, or may offer them on terms that are not agreeable to us. A change in these commercial terms could harm our operating results and financial condition. Further, much of the content that we acquire may only be available on a non-exclusive basis allowing competitors the ability of offering this content to our disadvantage.
We may be subject to intellectual property infringement claims or other allegations, which could require us to pay substantial statutory penalties or other damages and fines, remove relevant content, enter into license agreements which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or could result in our being barred from third-party distribution platforms, which could harm our business and competitive position.
There may be owners of technology patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and content, who assert claims against us. If a claim of infringement is brought against us, we may be required to pay substantial penalties or other damages and fines, remove relevant content, enter into license agreements that may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all or be barred from any of the third-party distribution platforms. Even though the allegations or claims could be baseless, our defense against any of these allegations or claims would be both costly and time-consuming and could significantly divert the efforts and resources of our management and other personnel.
If we are unable to attract and retain highly qualified employees, we may not be able to grow effectively.
Our ability to compete and grow depends in large part on the efforts and talents of our employees. Such employees, particularly product managers, designers and engineers, are in high demand, and we devote significant resources to identifying, hiring, training, successfully integrating and retaining these employees. The loss of employees or the inability to hire additional skilled employees as necessary could result in significant disruptions to our business, and the integration of replacement personnel could be time-consuming and expensive and cause additional disruptions to our business.
At the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2017, we implemented a modest reduction in workforce, primarily in Norway. This action may have impacted employee morale and led, or may lead, to higher rates of voluntary attrition compared to prior years. If we are unable to retain and attract qualified employees, particularly in critical areas of operations such as engineering, we may not achieve our strategic goals and our business and operations could be harmed.
In August of 2018 we opened a development center in Vilnius, Lithuania in order to diversify our talent pool with a qualified and more affordable talent base. If we are unable to recruit and retain well qualified candidates at an attractive rate or manage them well, our business will struggle to meet its development goals and objectives. We were successful in ramping up the recruitment and hiring in fiscal 2020 and ended the fiscal year with a team of 16 engineers product managers, operations professionals and designers. In August 2020, we moved to a serviced office space which provides maximum flexibility during the pandemic. In March 2021 our Trondheim, Norway office executed a new lease for a smaller location which we moved into in April. In fiscal 2021 we adopted a “remote-first” work policy that enables employees to work from home unless they are needed in the office. This policy has been well received by employees.
We believe that two critical components of our success are our ability to retain our best people by preserving our culture and maintaining competitive compensation practices. As we continue to grow rapidly, and we develop the infrastructure of a public company, we may find it difficult to maintain our entrepreneurial, execution-focused culture. In addition, some of our employees are able to receive material proceeds from sales of our equity in the public markets, which may reduce their motivation to continue to work for us.
We may not be able to prevent others from unauthorized use of our intellectual property, which could materially harm our business and competitive position.
We regard our trademarks, service marks, patents, domain names, trade secrets, proprietary technologies and similar intellectual property as critical to our success, and we rely on trademark and patent law, trade secret protection and confidentiality and license agreements with our employees and others to protect our proprietary right. As of July 31, 2021, we have registered, amongst others, the following domain names: www.zedge.net and www.zedge.com. In addition, we have been granted trademark protection for “Zedge” in the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, India, and Canada and for “Tonesync” in the European Union and the United Kingdom, and “We Make Phones Personal” and “Shortz - Chat Stories by Zedge” in the United States, and have obtained a copyright registration for our flagship app, Zedge. In addition, we have registered, amongst others, the following domain names: www.zedge.net and www.zedge.com.
On August 1, 2021, we acquired Emojipedia. As part of this acquisition, we acquired trademark registrations for “Emojipedia” in the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, China and Australia, and trademark registrations for “World Emoji Day” in the United States and United Kingdom. We also acquired the following domain name registrations: www.emojipedia.com and www.emojipedia.org.
Monitoring unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights is difficult and costly, and we cannot be certain that we can effectively prevent misappropriation of our intellectual property, particularly in countries where the laws may not protect our proprietary rights as fully as in the United States. From time to time, we may have to resort to litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of our resources and may not be successful.
In addition, it is often difficult to create and enforce intellectual property rights in certain international markets. Patents, trademarks and service marks may also be invalidated, circumvented, or challenged. Trade secrets are difficult to protect, and our trade secrets may be leaked or otherwise become known or be independently discovered by others. Confidentiality agreements may be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for any breach. Even where adequate and relevant laws exist it may not be possible to obtain swift and equitable enforcement of such laws, or to obtain enforcement of a court judgment or an arbitration award delivered in another jurisdiction, and accordingly, we may not be able to effectively protect our intellectual property rights or enforce agreements in such countries
We rely on third parties to provide the technologies necessary to deliver content, advertising, and services to our users, and any change in the licensing terms, costs, availability, or acceptance of these formats and technologies could materially adversely affect our business.
Our service and hosting providers may experience downtime from time to time, which may negatively affect our brand and user perception of the reliability of our service. Any scheduled or unscheduled interruption of our Zedge app could result in an immediate, and possibly substantial, loss of revenues. Although we seek to reduce the possibility of disruptions or other outages, our websites and apps may be disrupted by problems relating either to our own technology or third-party technology that is used for them. Our systems may be vulnerable to damage or interruption from telecommunication failures, power loss, computer attacks or viruses, earthquakes, floods, fires, terrorist attacks and similar events. Parts of our system are not fully redundant or backed up, and our disaster recovery planning may not be sufficient for all eventualities. Despite any precaution we may take, the occurrence of a natural disaster or other unanticipated problems at our hosting facilities could result in lengthy interruptions in the availability of our products. Any interruption in the ability of users to access our websites or apps could reduce our future revenues, harm our future profits, subject us to regulatory scrutiny and lead users to seek alternative internet mobile products.
There can be no assurance that these providers will continue licensing their technologies or intellectual property to us on reasonable terms, or at all. Providers may change the fees they charge users or otherwise change their business model in a manner that slows the widespread acceptance of their technologies. Any change in the licensing terms, costs, availability, or user acceptance of these technologies could materially and adversely affect our business, revenues and profitability.
In October 2021 AppLovin a provider of advanced tools for mobile app developers to grow their businesses by automating and optimizing the marketing and monetization of their apps announced that subject to regulatory approval that they were purchasing MoPub, a fully owned division of Twitter. MoPub has been our ad mediation platform for the past ten years. In the event that this transaction closes it is possible that MoPub’s mediation platform will be deprecated requiring us to migrate to a different mediation platform. This will not only require resource and time investment, which may slow down are ability to deliver other product initiatives but may also negatively impact the demand for and pricing of our advertising inventory potentially resulting in lower revenue.
We use open source software in our platform that may subject our technology to general release or require us to re-engineer our solutions, which may cause materially harm to our business.
We use open source software in connection with our services. From time to time, companies that incorporate open source software into their products have faced claims challenging the ownership of open source software and/or compliance with open source license terms. Therefore, we could be subject to lawsuits by parties claiming ownership of what we believe to be open source software or noncompliance with open source licensing terms. Some open source software licenses require users who distribute or make available open source software as part of their software to publicly disclose all or part of the source code to such software and/or make available any derivative works of the open source code on unfavorable terms or at no cost. While we monitor our use of open source software and try to ensure that none is used in a manner that would require us to disclose the source code or that would otherwise breach the terms of an open source agreement, such use could nevertheless occur and we may be required to release our proprietary source code, pay damages for breach of contract, re-engineer our applications, discontinue use in the event re-engineering cannot be accomplished on a timely basis or take other remedial action that may divert resources away from our development efforts, any of which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or operating results.
Our business depends on our ability to collect and use data to deliver relevant content and advertisements, and any limitation on the collection and use of this data could significantly diminish the value of our services and cause us to lose clients and revenues.
When one uses our products and services, including our Zedge app, we may collect both personally identifiable and non-personally identifiable data about the user. This may include but is not limited to the user’s name, telephone number, email address, web cookies, Facebook and other login credentials, phone model, operating system, location, Android Advertising ID, the collection of apps running on the user’s mobile device as well as information relating to their interaction with advertisements appearing within our products. Often we use some of this data to provide a better experience for the user by delivering both relevant content and advertisements. In addition, we use some of this data for advertising reporting purposes.
Although our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service provide extensive details about how we use customer data our clients may decide not to allow us to collect some or all of this data or may limit our use of this data. Any limitation on our ability to collect data about user behavior and app interactions would likely make it more difficult for us to deliver germane content to our users and effective mobile advertising campaigns that meet the demands of our advertisers.
Our contracts with advertisers generally permit us to aggregate data from advertising campaigns, yet these clients might nonetheless request that we discontinue using data obtained from their campaigns that have already been aggregated with other clients’ campaign data. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to comply with these requests, and these kinds of requests could also cause us to invest significant amounts of resources. Interruptions, failures or defects in our data collection, mining, analysis and storage systems, as well as privacy concerns and regulatory restrictions regarding the collection of data, could also limit our ability to aggregate and analyze mobile device user data from our clients’ advertising campaigns. If that happens, we may not be able to optimize the placement of advertising for the benefit of our advertiser clients, which could make our services less valuable, and, as a result, we may lose clients and our revenues may materially decline.
Concerns about collection and use of personal data could damage our reputation and deter current and potential users from using our products and services, which could have material adverse effects on our business and results of operations.
Concerns about products with regard to the collection, use or disclosure of personal information or other privacy-related matters, even if unfounded, could damage our reputation and results of operations. We apply strict management and protection of user-provided data and only use this data as described in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. While we strive to comply with our Privacy Policy as well as all applicable data protection laws and regulations, including GDPR and soon to be the CCPA, any failure or perceived failure to comply may result in proceedings or actions against us by government entities or others, and could damage our reputation. User and regulatory attitudes towards privacy are evolving, and future regulatory or user concerns about the extent to which personal information is used or shared with advertisers or others may adversely affect our ability to share certain data with advertisers, which may limit certain methods of targeted advertising. In addition, new regulatory requirements or orders or other federal, state or international privacy or consumer protection-related laws and regulations or proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities or others (e.g., class action privacy litigation) could result in us having to change our business practices, increase our costs and adversely affect our business. For instance, U.S. courts have begun to define a level of reasonable security that is required when maintaining personal information, and such requirements could both increase our cost of operations and subject us to liability for failure to maintain such levels of security.
Data collection, privacy and security have become the subject of increasing public concern. If internet and mobile customers were to reduce their use of our products, and services as a result of these concerns, our business could be harmed. As noted above, we are also subject to the possibility of security breaches, which themselves may result in a violation of these laws.
Concerns about the security of personal data could also lead to a decline in general usage of our products and services, which could lead to lower user numbers. A significant reduction in user numbers could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Activities of our advertiser clients could damage our reputation or give rise to legal claims against us.
Our advertisers may not comply with federal, state and local laws, including, but not limited to, laws and regulations relating to mobile communications. Failure of our clients to comply with federal, state or local laws or our policies could damage our reputation and expose us to liability under these laws. We may also be liable to third parties for content in the advertisements we deliver if the artwork, text or other content involved violates copyrights, trademarks or other intellectual property rights of third parties or if the content is defamatory, unfair and deceptive, or otherwise in violation of applicable laws. Although we generally receive assurance from our advertising partners that their advertisements are lawful and that they have the right to use any copyrights, trademarks or other intellectual property included in an advertisement, and although we are normally indemnified by the advertisers, a third party or regulatory authority may still file a claim against us. Any such claims could be costly and time consuming to defend and could also hurt our reputation within the mobile advertising industry. Further, if we are exposed to legal liability, we could be required to pay substantial fines or penalties, redesign our business methods, discontinue some of our services or otherwise expend significant resources.
Security breaches or computer virus attacks could have a material adverse effect on our business prospects and results of operations.
Any significant breach of security of our computer systems could significantly harm our business, reputation and results of operations and could expose us to lawsuits brought by our users and partners and to sanctions by governmental authorities in the jurisdictions in which we operate. We cannot assure you that our IT systems will be secure from future security breaches or computer virus attacks. Anyone who is able to circumvent our security measures could misappropriate proprietary information, including the personal information of our users, obtaining users’ names and passwords and enabling the hackers to access user’s other online and mobile accounts, if those users use identical usernames and passwords. They could also misappropriate other information, including our content. These circumventions may cause interruptions in our operations or damage our brand image and reputation. Our servers may be vulnerable to computer viruses, physical or electronic break-ins and similar disruptions, which could cause system interruptions, website slowdown or unavailability, delays in communication or transactions, or loss of data. We may be required to incur significant additional costs to protect against security breaches or to alleviate problems caused by such breaches. In addition, a significant security breach or virus attack on our system could result in a material adverse impact on our business and results of operations.
We have granted, and may continue to grant, options, restricted shares and other types of awards under our stock option and equity incentive plans and otherwise, which may result in increased equity-based compensation expenses.
The expenses associated with equity-based compensation have affected our net income and may reduce our net income in the future, and any additional equity issued under equity-based compensation schemes will dilute the ownership interests of our stockholders. We believe the granting of equity-based compensation is of significant importance to our ability to attract and retain key personnel and employees, consultants and directors, and we will continue to grant equity-based compensation in the future. As a result, our expenses associated with equity-based compensation may increase, which may have an adverse effect on our results of operations and would dilute the ownership interests of our stockholders.
Investors may suffer dilution.
We may engage in equity financing to fund our future operations and growth or acquisitions. If we raise additional funds and/or provide consideration in acquisitions by issuing equity securities, stockholders may experience significant dilution of their ownership interest (both with respect to the percentage of total securities held, and with respect to the book value of their securities) and such securities may have rights senior to those of the holders of our Class B common stock.
For example, between December 14, 2020 and January 26, 2021, we sold 761,906 shares of our Class B common stock at an average price of $6.5625 per share for total proceeds of $5 million in a registered “At-the-Market” offering through National Securities Corp. and H.C. Wainwright & Co, LLC as sales agents. We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes including organic and other growth initiatives.
In addition, on March 16, 2021, we filed a prospectus supplement with the Securities and Exchange Commission which contemplates the sale, for a gross aggregate sale price of up to $10,000,000, of shares of our Class B common stock, from time to time in “At-The-Market” offerings pursuant to an At Market Issuance Sales Agreement with National Securities Corporation and Maxim Group LLC dated as of March 16, 2021. Through June 11, 2021, we sold 663,686 shares at an average price of $15.0674 per share for total proceeds of $10 million in this offering. We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes including organic and other growth initiatives.
Any such equity financing could occur at prices below, or well below, the then-current trading price of our Class B common stock, which would further exacerbate the ownership interests of our stockholders.
We are exposed to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.
We have significant operations in Europe that are denominated in foreign currencies, primarily the Norwegian Kroner and Euro, subjecting us to foreign currency risk. The strengthening or weakening of the U.S. Dollar versus these currencies impacts the expenses generated in these foreign currencies when converted into the U.S. Dollar. In fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2020, we recorded a loss of $2,000 and $152,000, respectively, from foreign currency movements relative to the U.S. Dollar. Included in these amounts were losses from hedging activities of $18,000 and $218,000 in fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2020, respectively. While we regularly enter into transactions to hedge portions of our foreign currency exposure, it is impossible to predict or eliminate the effects of this exposure. Fluctuations in foreign exchange rates could significantly impact our financial results.
If we fail to implement and maintain an effective system of internal controls over financial reporting, we may be unable to accurately report our results of operations, meet our reporting obligations or prevent fraud.
Under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, we are required to include a report of management on our internal control over financial reporting in our annual report on Form 10-K. In addition, should we become an accelerated filer, our independent registered public accounting firm must attest to and report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Our management may conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is not effective. Moreover, even if our management concludes that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, our independent registered public accounting firm, after conducting its own independent testing, may issue a report that is qualified if it is not satisfied with our internal controls or the level at which our controls are documented, designed, operated or reviewed, or if it interprets the relevant requirements differently from us. In addition, our reporting obligations may place a significant strain on our management, operational and financial resources and systems for the foreseeable future. We may be unable to timely complete our evaluation testing and any required remediation.
During the course of documenting and testing our internal control procedures, in order to satisfy the requirements of Section 404, we may identify weaknesses and deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, if we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting, as these standards are modified, supplemented or amended from time to time, we may not be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404. If we fail to achieve and maintain an effective internal control environment, we could suffer material misstatements in our financial statements and fail to meet our reporting obligations, and we may be required to restate our financial statements from prior periods, any of which would likely cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information. This could in turn limit our access to capital markets, harm our results of operations, and lead to a decline in the trading price of our stock.
Additionally, ineffective internal control over financial reporting could expose us to increased risk of fraud or misuse of corporate assets and subject us to potential delisting from the stock exchange on which we list, regulatory investigations and civil or criminal sanctions.
Future strategic alliances or acquisitions may not be successful and may have a material and adverse effect on our business, reputation and results of operations.
We may enter into strategic alliances, including joint ventures or minority equity investments, or acquisitions with various third parties to further our business purpose from time to time. These alliances and acquisitions could subject us to a number of risks, including risks associated with sharing proprietary information, non-performance by the third party and increased expenses in establishing new strategic alliances, any of which may materially and adversely affect our business. We may have limited ability to monitor or control the actions of these third parties and, to the extent any of these strategic third parties suffers negative publicity or harm to their reputation from events relating to their business, we may also suffer negative publicity or harm to our reputation by virtue of our association with any such third party.
In addition, if appropriate opportunities arise, we may acquire additional assets, products, technologies or businesses that we believe are complementary to our existing business. Future acquisitions and the subsequent integration of new assets and businesses into our own would require significant attention from our management and could result in a diversion of resources from our existing business, which in turn could have an adverse effect on our business operations. Acquired assets or businesses may not generate the financial results we expect. Acquisitions could result in the use of substantial amounts of cash, potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities, the occurrence of significant goodwill impairment charges, amortization expenses for other intangible assets and exposure to potential unknown liabilities of the acquired business. Moreover, the costs of identifying and consummating acquisitions may be significant. In addition to possible stockholders’ approval, we may also have to obtain approvals and licenses from relevant government authorities for the acquisitions and to comply with any applicable laws and regulations, which could result in increased delay and costs.
Our business, results of operation and financial condition could be adversely affected by the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions put in place in connection therewith.
Our business could be adversely affected by health epidemics, including the current COVID-19 pandemic, impacting the markets and communities in which we, our partners and customers operate. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused and continues to cause significant business and financial markets disruption worldwide and there is material uncertainty about the duration of this pandemic and its impact on the ongoing effects on our business.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a dramatic increase in unemployment that could result in interfering with freemium users converting into paid subscribers or in paid subscribers renewing their subscriptions because of the impact on discretionary spend. In addition, we may experience a decline in advertising.
Initially the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted our Zedge app’s new user growth. New smartphone sales suffered as a result of retail business closures, negatively impacting new user growth, especially in well-developed markets. Assuming the retail business rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic, we expect that our Zedge app’s new user growth will also recover and we will benefit accordingly but there can no assurance of such rebound or new user growth. If new mobile device sales decrease or slowdown, our Zedge app will experience fewer installations which will negatively impact our revenue and operations.
In addition, in response to the spread of COVID-19, many of our employees have had to work from home which may negatively impact productivity and innovation. More generally, the COVID-19 outbreak has adversely affected economies and financial markets globally, which could decrease technology spending and adversely affect demand for our products.
As of July 31, 2021, we had not experienced significant adverse impacts to our results of operations, financial condition, or cash flows. However, the situation remains fluid and we cannot predict with certainty the potential impact of COVID-19 on our business, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows.
Our business, financial condition and results of operations, as well as our ability to obtain additional financing, may be adversely affected by downturn in the global economy.
The global financial markets have experienced significant disruptions over the past ten years and the recovery from the lows of 2008 and 2009 has been uneven. There is considerable uncertainty over the long-term effects of the expansionary monetary and fiscal policies adopted by the central banks and financial authorities of some of the world’s leading economies. There have also been concerns over unrest in the Middle East and Africa, which have resulted in volatility in oil and other markets. We may be affected by economic downturns. A prolonged slowdown in the world economy may lead to a reduced amount of mobile internet advertising, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Moreover, a slowdown or disruption in the global economy may have a material and adverse impact on financings available to us. The weakness in the economy could erode investor confidence, which constitutes the basis of the credit market. Turmoil affecting the financial markets and banking system may significantly restrict our ability to obtain financing in the capital markets or from financial institutions on commercially reasonable terms, or at all.
The trading price of the shares of our Class B common stock may be volatile, and purchasers of our Class B common stock could incur substantial losses.
Our stock price could be volatile. The stock market in general and the market for mobile internet companies in particular have experienced extreme volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. As a result of this volatility, investors may not be able to sell their Class B common stock at or above the price paid for the shares. The market price for our Class B common stock may be influenced by many factors, including:
§ actual or anticipated variations in quarterly operating results;
§ changes in financial estimates by us or by any securities analysts who might cover our stock;
§ conditions or trends in our industry;
§ stock market price and volume fluctuations of other publicly traded companies and, in particular, those that operate in the advertising, internet or media industries;
§ announcements by us or our competitors of new product or service offerings, significant acquisitions;
§ strategic partnerships or divestitures;
§ announcements of investigations or regulatory scrutiny of our operations or lawsuits filed against us;
§ changes to regulations including but not limited to, data privacy, and copyrighted content;
§ capital commitments;
§ additions or departures of key personnel; and
§ sales of our Class B common stock common stock, including sales by our directors and officers or specific stockholders.
In addition, in the past, stockholders have initiated class action lawsuits against technology companies following periods of volatility in the market prices of these companies’ stock. Such litigation, if instituted against us, could cause us to incur substantial costs and divert management’s attention and resources.
We are controlled by our majority stockholder, which limits the ability of other stockholders to affect our management.
Michael Jonas is our majority stockholder, Executive Chairman, Chairman of the Board and a director, and, as of October 25, 2021, has voting power over 1,862,498 shares of our Class B common stock (which includes 524,775 shares of our Class A common stock, which are convertible into shares of our Class B common stock on a 1-for-1 basis, and 1,337,723shares of our Class B common stock), representing approximately 57.7% of the combined voting power of our outstanding capital stock. Mr. Jonas is able to control matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of all of the directors and the approval of significant corporate matters, including any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. As a result, the ability of any of our other stockholders to influence our management is limited.
We exercised our option for the “controlled company” exemption under NYSE American stock exchange rules with respect to our Nominating Committee.
We are a “controlled company” as defined in section 801(a) of the NYSE American Company Guide because more than 50% of the combined voting power of all of our outstanding common stock is beneficially owned by a single stockholder. As a “controlled company,” we are exempt from certain NYSE American rules requiring a board of directors with a majority of independent members, a compensation committee composed entirely of independent directors and a nominating committee composed entirely of independent directors. These independence standards are intended to ensure that directors who meet those standards are free of any conflicting interest that could influence their actions as directors. We applied this “controlled company” exemption for our corporate governance practices only with respect to the requirement of a Nominating Committee and we disbanded our Nominating Committee in fiscal 2020. Accordingly, with respect to our lack of a Nominating Committee you will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of the NYSE American stock exchange, and if we were to apply the controlled company exemption to other independence requirements, you would not have the protection afforded by those requirements either.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish unfavorable research about our business or our stock, our stock price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our common Class B common stock relies in part on the research and reports that equity research analysts publish about us and our business. We do not currently have and may never obtain research coverage by equity research analysts. Equity research analysts may elect not to provide research coverage of our Class B common stock, and such lack of research coverage may adversely affect the market price of our Class B common stock. In the event we do receive equity research analyst coverage, we will not have any control over the analysts or the content and opinions included in their reports. The price of our stock could decline if one or more equity research analysts downgrade our stock or issue other unfavorable commentary or research. If one or more equity research analysts ceases coverage of our company or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our stock could decrease, which in turn could cause our stock price and/or trading volume to decline.
Our results of operations may be subject to wide fluctuations due to a number of factors, which may adversely affect the trading price of our Class B common stock.
We may experience seasonality and other fluctuations in our business, reflecting fluctuations in mobile internet and smartphone usage and advertising. Revenues from mobile application products and services are typically higher in the fourth quarter of the calendar year due to increased year-end advertising and marketing budgets. Conversely, we generally experience lower advertising revenues during the first quarter of the calendar year due to weaker advertising spend following the holidays. Thus, our operating results in one or more future quarters or years may fluctuate substantially or fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors. In such event, the trading price of our Class B common stock may fluctuate significantly or decrease significantly.

---

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

---

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Item 2. Properties
Our principal executive office was located in a leased premise comprising approximately 500 square feet of space in New York City, which lease was terminated on July 15, 2020. We have moved to a virtual office because our staffs have been working remotely because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This location housed commercial operations including sales, accounting and finance, and business development. Effective April 1, 2021, the Company moved its main office in Trondheim, Norway with 11,600 square feet of office space to a 4,900 square foot facility. We also lease a satellite development centers in Vilnius, Lithuania. Our servers are hosted in leased data centers in different geographic locations in the United States. These data centers are owned and maintained by a third-party data center provider.

---

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
In March 2014, Saregama India, Limited filed a lawsuit against us before the Barasat District Court, seeking approximately $1.6 million as damages and an injunction for copyright infringement. Saregama India alleged that we made available Saregama India’s sound recordings through our platform with full knowledge that the sound recordings had been uploaded and were being communicated to the public without obtaining any license from Saregama India. On August 20, 2019, the Court lifted the injunction and, subsequently, Saregama India executed a consent pursuant to which the case against us was dismissed.
We may from time to time be subject to other legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of business. Although there can be no assurance in this regard, we do not expect any of those legal proceedings to have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, cash flows or financial condition.

---

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
None.
PART II

---

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Class B Common Stock
Our Class B common stock is quoted on the NYSE American stock exchange under the trading symbol ZDGE. Trading commenced on the NYSE American on June 1, 2016. On November 5, 2021, the last sales price reported on the NYSE American for our Class B common stock was $11.27 per share.
On November 5, 2021, there were 280 holders of record of our Class B common stock and 1 holder of record of our Class A common stock. As of November 5, 2021, all shares of Class A common stock are beneficially owned by Michael Jonas. The number of holders of record of our Class B common stock does not include the number of persons whose shares are in nominee or in “street name” accounts through brokers.
We do not anticipate paying dividends on our common stock until we achieve sustainable profitability (after satisfying all of our operational needs) and retain certain minimum cash reserves. Distributions will be subject to the need to retain earnings for investment in growth opportunities or the acquisition of complementary assets. The payment of dividends in any specific period will be at the sole discretion of our Board of Directors.
The information required by Item 201(d) of Regulation S-K will be contained in our Proxy Statement for our Annual Stockholders Meeting, which we will file with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after July 31, 2021, and which is incorporated by reference herein.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
We filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) a Registration Statement on Form S-3 (the “Form S-3”) on November 30, 2020 which became effective on December 4, 2020 to facilitate capital raising. The Form S-3 registered the issuance and sale by us of Class B common stock or related securities for gross proceeds to us of up to $20 million. On November 30, 2020, we engaged National Securities Corp. and H.C. Wainwright & Co, LLC (the “Sales Agents”) to act as our exclusive co-Sales Agents in connection with the Company’s “At-The-Market” offering of shares of our Class B common stock up to $5 million. We filed a Prospectus Supplement (supplementing the Prospectus included in the Form S-3) on December 9, 2020 and contemporaneously entered into an At The Market Offering Agreement with the Sales Agents, pursuant to which we sold 761,906 shares at an average price of $6.5625 per share for total proceeds of $5 million. In connection with this offering, we incurred a total issuance costs of $215,000. We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for working capital and other general corporate purposes.
On March 16, 2021, we filed a prospectus supplement with the SEC which contemplates the sale, for a gross aggregate sale price of up to $10,000,000, of shares of our Class B common stock, from time to time in “At-The-Market” offerings pursuant to an At Market Issuance Sales Agreement with National Securities Corporation and Maxim Group LLC, dated as of March 16, 2021, pursuant to which we sold 663,686 shares at an average price of $15.0674 per share for total proceeds of $10 million. In connection with this offering, we incurred a total issuance costs of $350,000. We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for working capital and other general corporate purposes.
We received proceeds of approximately $873,000 from the exercise of stock options in fiscal 2021 for which we issued 559,840 shares of our Class B common stock.
On February 5, 2020, we closed on our registered direct offering of 1,734,459 shares of our Class B common stock for gross proceeds of $2.25 million. We sold 1,657,813 shares at a purchase price of $1.28 per share which represented a 20% discount from the 10 Day Volume Weighted Average Price (VWAP) through January 31, 2020, and certain of our insiders purchased an additional 76,646 shares at a purchase price of $1.67 per share, the closing price on February 3, 2020.
We received proceeds of approximately $12,000 from the exercise of stock options in fiscal 2020 for which we issued 86,197 shares of our Class B common stock.
Issuer Repurchases of Equity Securities
Our Board of Directors authorized a buyback program, effective December 1, 2021, of up to 1.5 million shares of our Class B common stock.
On October 21, 2020, we purchased 12,005 shares of our Class B common stock from former Freeform employees for $17,528 in connection with the vesting of restricted stock.
On August 1, 2020, we purchased 5,625 shares of our Class B common stock from our employees for $8,044 in connection with the vesting of deferred stock units.
On January 1, 2020, we purchased 4,327 shares of our Class B common stock from a former Freeform employee for $6,772 in connection with the vesting of restricted stock.
On September 18, 2019, we purchased 14,114 shares of our Class B common stock from former Freeform employees for $22,300 in connection with the vesting of restricted stock.
On June 1, 2019, we purchased 7,684 shares of our Class B common stock from former Freeform employees for $16,256 in connection with the vesting of restricted stock.
On September 21, 2018, we purchased 14,137 shares of our Class B common stock from former Freeform employees for $30,543 in connection with the vesting of restricted stock.

---

ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
Item 6. Selected Financial Data.
Smaller reporting companies are not required to provide the information required by this item.

---

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
This Annual Report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements that contain the words “believes,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “plans,” “intends” and similar words and phrases. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results projected in any forward-looking statement. In addition to the factors specifically noted in the forward-looking statements, other important factors, risks and uncertainties that could result in those differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed under Item 1A to Part I “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report. The forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this Annual Report, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Investors should consult all of the information set forth in this report and the other information set forth from time to time in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including our reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K.
The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto included in Item 8 of this Annual Report.
We operate a state-of-the-art digital publishing platform that powers Zedge Ringtones and Wallpapers, available in the Google Play store and App Store, which offers an easy, entertaining and immersive way for end-users to engage with its rich and diverse catalogue of wallpapers, video wallpapers, ringtones, notification sounds on Android and wallpapers, video wallpapers, ringtones and custom icon packs on iOS. We secure our content from amateur and professional artists, and also from emerging and major brands. Artists have the ability to easily launch a virtual storefront in our Zedge app where they can market and sell their content to our user base. That same platform powers an entertainment app called “Shortz - Chat Stories by Zedge”, which is focused on serialized, short-form, fiction stories, as a beta that runs on Zedge’s publishing platform. Over the past year, we have been expanding our content catalogue, started testing audio versions of a selected number of stories, materially improved our ability to measure all types of engagement within the app, and invested a modest budget in paid user acquisition. Finally, in August of 2021, we acquired Emojipedia, the leading source of all things emoji.
Our Zedge app has been installed approximately 511 million times, and at July 31, 2021, boasted approximately 34.4 million monthly active users, or MAU. MAU is a key performance indicator that captures the number of unique users that used our Zedge app during the final 30 days of the relevant period. Our Zedge app has consistently ranked as one of the most popular free apps in the Google Play store in the United States. Historically, we have not made a material investment in paid user acquisition for our Zedge app.
Our Zedge app’s success stems from its ability to meet consumer demand for a rich and diverse catalogue of both long-tail and popular content in a fun, intuitive and user-friendly fashion that aligns with their interest in expressing their essence in a bespoke manner, to offer reliable search and discovery capabilities and to make relevant content recommendations to our users. To this end, we invest heavily in both product design and development and the underlying technology required to satisfy both our Zedge app’s users’ and content contributors’ expectations. Our Zedge app utilizes both user-generated and licensed, third-party content to achieve these goals.
In March 2018, we launched Zedge Premium, a marketplace within our Zedge app where professional creators and brands market, distribute and sell their digital content to our consumers. At launch, Zedge Premium was a “walled garden” - a separate section of the app which users needed to proactively choose to enter. In 2021, we embedded Zedge Premium content throughout the app making it far more prominent. We also introduced a new content type on iOS: custom icon packs. Over time, we expect that Zedge Premium will contribute to a virtuous cycle whereby it drives new consumers into our Zedge app resulting in more artist payouts, which in turn makes the platform more attractive for artists and brands looking to expand their reach and increase their income.
In January 2019, we started offering freemium Zedge app Android users the ability to convert into paying subscribers for, amongst other things, the ability to remove unsolicited advertisements from our Zedge app. As of July 31, 2021, we had approximately 752,000 active subscribers. In fiscal 2022, we expect to launch subscriptions on iOS.
In December 2019, we completed the beta launch of ‘Shortz’ our new entertainment app offering serialized, short-form fiction delivered in a text-message format and more recently as audio productions across both Android and iOS, and focusing on users in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada and it is now available globally. New stories are added to the app each week, and as the content catalog expands, we are regularly improving content discovery in order to guide users to the stories that will most interest them and improve engagement.
On August 1, 2021, we acquired Emojipedia, the world’s leading authority dedicated to providing up to date and well-researched emoji definitions, information, and news as well as World Emoji Day and the annual World Emoji Awards, and Emojitracker, which provides real time visualization of all emoji symbols used on Twitter. Emojipedia receives approximately 50 million monthly page views and has approximately 9 million monthly active users of which approximately 50% are located in well-developed markets. It is the top resource for all things emoji, offering insights into data and cultural trends. As a voting member of the Unicode Consortium, the standards body responsible for approving new emojis, Emojipedia works alongside major emoji creators including Apple, Google, Facebook and Twitter.
Over the past several years, our Zedge app has experienced a continuing decline in its MAU as well as a shift in the regional customer make-up with MAU in emerging markets representing an increasing portion of our user base. As of July 31, 2021, users in emerging markets represented 75% of our MAU compared to 70% a year prior. This shift has negatively impacted revenue because advertising rates in emerging markets are materially lower than in well-developed markets. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, users in emerging markets grew by 16.1% while users in well-developed economies declined by 11.5% when compared to the same period in fiscal 2020. As of July 31, 2021, approximately 42% of our Zedge app’s user base was located in North America (20%) and Europe (including Eastern Europe, 22%), compared with 50% (North America, 24% and Europe 26%) as of July 31, 2020. The remaining 58% of the user base was primarily located in emerging markets with 25% located in India.
MAU growth is tightly coupled with new user growth. Historically, our relatively high ranking in the Google Play store has been one of the primary drivers for securing new users. Although still an important factor, we now also dedicate resources to growth initiatives, both organic and paid. In fiscal 2022, we expect to increase our paid user acquisition spend while monitoring results to ensure that the investment is yielding a positive return on investment. With time, we believe that we can change our growth dynamic in well-developed markets. Aside from targeted growth initiatives, we need to continually improve the core user experience, test different mechanisms and content verticals that may spur growth and capitalize on the role that Zedge Premium artists can have on driving new users into the Zedge platform.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our Zedge app’s new user growth. According to Gartner, a leading research and advisory company, new smartphone sales declined 10.5% in calendar year 2020 as a result of the pandemic, negatively impacting new user growth, especially in well-developed markets. As of September 1, 2021, Gartner reported that worldwide smartphone sales grew by 10.8% year over year in the second quarter of calendar year 2021 despite supply constraints relating to COVID-19 component shortages and production disruptions; however, it is still unclear what the impact on user growth will be as vaccines become more available globally and as precautions like social distancing start to wane. The pandemic and measures implement to promote social distancing had a modest positive impact on user engagement.
During the quarter and fiscal year ended July 31, 2021, we generated approximately 81% and 80%, respectively, of our revenues from selling our Zedge app’s advertising inventory to advertising networks, advertising exchanges, and direct arrangements with advertisers. Advertising networks and advertising exchanges are third-party technology platforms that facilitate the buying and selling of media advertising inventory from multiple ad networks. The price of advertising inventory is fixed on an advertising network whereas the price for inventory is determined through real-time bidding on an advertising exchange. Advertisers are attracted to our Zedge app because of its sizable user base.
In our Zedge Premium marketplace, the content owner sets the price and the user can purchase the content by paying for it with Zedge Credits, our closed virtual currency. A user can earn Zedge Credits when taking specific actions such as watching a rewarded video or taking a survey. Alternatively, users can buy Zedge Credits via an in-app purchase. If a user purchases Zedge Credits, Google Play or App Store keeps up to 30% of the purchase price with the remainder being paid to us. When a user purchases Zedge Premium content, the artist or brand receives 70% of the actual value of the Zedge Credits used to buy the content item as a royalty and we retain the remaining 30% as our fee, which we recognize as revenue. As Zedge Premium matures and expands, we expect to also diversify our revenue source mix.
In January 2019, we started offering paid subscriptions to our Android users which amongst other things removed unsolicited advertisements from our Zedge app. During the first 12 months after a customer’s sign up for the subscription-based product, Google retains up to 30% as a fee, which decreases to 15% from month 13 and beyond. As of July 31, 2021, we had approximately 752,000 active subscribers, 90% of which had subscribed on an annual basis. Since inception in January 2019, subscriptions have generated approximately $6.7 million in gross revenue.
Reportable Segments
Our business consists of one reportable segment.
CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Our financial statements and accompanying notes are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or U.S. GAAP. The preparation of financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses as well as the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. Critical accounting policies are those that require application of management’s most subjective or complex judgments, often as a result of matters that are inherently uncertain and may change in subsequent periods. Our critical accounting policies include those related to capitalized software and technology development costs, revenue recognition and goodwill. Management bases its estimates and judgments on historical experience and other factors that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. See Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a complete discussion of our significant accounting policies.
Capitalized software and technology development costs
Software and technology development activities generally fall into three stages:
1. Planning Stage activities include developing a project or business plan that outlines the goals for the content distribution platform or new product or service; determining the functionality; identifying hardware and software applications that will achieve functionality, security, and traffic flows; and selecting the internal resources that will be assigned to the project as well as the external vendors where applicable.
2. Application and Infrastructure Development Stage activities focus on acquiring or developing hardware and software to operate a content distribution platform or new product and service; and
3. Post-Implementation/Operating Stage activities address training, administration, maintenance, and all other activities to operate an existing content distribution platform or new product or service.
During the Planning Stage, we charge all costs to expense as incurred.
During the Application and Infrastructure Development Stage, we begin to capitalize costs when the project has been properly authorized and we determine that completion is probable. If a project is subsequently cancelled prior to placement in service, costs that have been capitalized to date will be reviewed for potential impairment. Capitalization ceases no later than the point at which a computer software project is substantially complete and ready for its intended use. Amortization, which is generally over three years, begins for each project when the code is ready for use, whether or not it is actually placed in service at that time (an exception being if the project’s functionality completely depends on the completion of another project; then, amortization begins when that other project is ready for use).
During the Post-Implementation/Operation Stage, we expense training costs and maintenance costs as incurred. However, upgrades and enhancements, defined as modifications to existing internal-use software that result in additional functionality (modifications to enable the software to perform tasks that it was previously incapable of performing, normally requiring new software specifications and perhaps a change to all or part of the existing software specifications) are treated as though they were new projects, and are assessed utilizing the same stages and criteria on a project-by-project basis. As such, internal costs incurred for upgrades and enhancements are expensed or capitalized based on the requirements noted above, while costs incurred for maintenance are expensed as incurred. These projects are tracked individually, such that the beginning and ending of the capitalization can be appropriately established, as well as the amounts capitalized therein.
Amortization of these costs is included in depreciation and amortization in the Statement of Comprehensive Income (Loss).
Revenue Recognition.
We generate revenue from three sources: (1) Advertising; (2) Paid Subscriptions and (3) Zedge Premium and Other. The substantial majority of our revenue is generated from selling our advertising inventory (“Advertising Revenue”) to advertising networks and advertising exchanges, and through direct arrangements with advertisers. Our monthly and annual subscriptions allow users to prepay a fixed fee to remove unsolicited advertisements from our Android Zedge app although we are working on adding additional capabilities to subscriptions including offering subscriptions to iOS Zedge App users. In Zedge Premium, we retain 30% as fee when users purchase licensed content using Zedge Credits or unlock licensed content by watching a video or taking a survey on Zedge Premium.
Advertising Revenue: We generates the bulk of our revenue from selling our Zedge app’s advertising inventory to advertising networks and advertising exchanges and direct sales to advertisers.
§ Advertising Networks. An advertising network is a third-party relationship where buyers of advertising inventory go to purchase either specific targeted inventory or a large scale of inventory at a set price. Advertising Networks serve as an indirect source of advertising fill to a variety of branded ad campaigns and performance-based ad campaigns.
§ Advertising Exchanges. An advertising exchange is similar to an advertising network, except that the exchange typically bids in real-time for inventory. Advertisers may utilize an exchange when looking for scale or specific audiences, and accept that the price will vary based on when and how much volume of inventory they wish to buy.
§ Direct Sales to Advertisers. In prior periods, we sold, and we currently retain the ability to sell, advertising directly to advertisers through contractual relationships. These relationships historically offered higher than average pricing than realized from sales via advertising networks or advertising exchanges. We had no direct sales of advertising during fiscal 2021 and have no current expectation that this will represent a material portion of our sales in the near term.
We recognize advertising revenue as advertisements are delivered to users through impressions or ad views (depending on the terms agreed upon with the advertiser). For in-app display ads, in-app offers, engagement advertisements and other advertisements, our performance obligation is satisfied over the life of the relevant contract (i.e., over time), with revenue being recognized as advertising units are delivered. The advertiser may compensate us on a cost-per-impression, cost-per-click, or cost-per-action basis.
Paid Subscription Revenue: Beginning in January 2019, we started offering monthly and annual paid subscription services sold through Google Play. When a customer subscribes, they execute a clickthrough agreement with Zedge outlining the terms and conditions of the subscription. Google Play processes subscription prepayment on Zedge’s behalf, and retains up to 30% as its fee. Paid subscription revenue is a series type performance obligation and is recognized net of sales tax amounts collected from subscribers. Both monthly and yearly subscriptions are nonrefundable after a period of 7 days. Paid subscriptions are automatically renewed at expiration unless cancelled by subscribers. The enforceable rights in monthly and yearly subscription contracts are the service period. Because of the cancellation clauses for these subscriptions, the duration of these contracts is daily, and revenue for these contracts is recognized on a daily ratable basis. The payment terms for subscriptions sold through Google Play is net 30 days after month-end.
Zedge Premium: Zedge Premium is our marketplace where artists and brands can market, distribute and sell their digital content to Zedge’s users. The content owner sets the price and the user can purchase the content by paying for it with Zedge Credits, our closed virtual currency. A user can earn Zedge Credits when taking specific actions such as watching rewarded videos or completing electronic surveys. Alternatively, users can buy Zedge Credits with an in-app purchase. If a user purchases Zedge Credits (ranging from 500 credits for $0.99 to 14,000 credits for $19.99), Google Play or iTunes retains up to 30% of the purchase price as its fee. When a user purchases Zedge Premium content, the artist or brand receives 70% of the actual revenue (“Royalty Payment”) and the Company receives the remaining 30%, which is recognized as revenue.
Gross Versus Net Revenue Recognition
We report revenue on a gross or net basis based on management’s assessment of whether we act as a principal or agent in the transaction. To the extent we act as the principal, revenue is reported on a gross basis unless we are unable to determine the amount on a gross basis, in which case we report revenue on a net basis. The determination of whether we act as a principal or an agent in a transaction is based on an evaluation of whether we control the good or service prior to transfer to the customer.
We generally report our advertising revenue net of amounts due to agencies and brokers because we are not the primary obligor in the relevant arrangements, we do not finalize the pricing, and we do not establish or maintain a direct relationship with the advertiser. Any advertising arrangements that are directly between us and advertisers would be recognized on a gross basis equal to the price paid to us by the customer since we are the primary obligor and we determine the price. Any third-party costs related to such direct relationships are recognized as direct cost of revenues.
We report subscription revenue gross of the fee retained by Google Play, as the subscriber is our customer in the contract and we control the service prior to the transfer to the subscriber.
Goodwill
Goodwill is deemed to have an indefinite life and is not amortized. Goodwill is reviewed annually (or more frequently under certain conditions) for impairment using a fair value approach. We perform our annual or interim goodwill impairment test by comparing the fair value of the relevant reporting unit with its carrying amount. We would recognize an impairment charge for the amount by which the carrying amount exceeds the reporting unit’s fair value; however, the loss recognized would not exceed the total amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit. Additionally, we consider income tax effects from any tax-deductible goodwill on the carrying amount of our reporting unit when measuring the goodwill impairment loss, if applicable. We estimate the fair value of our reporting unit using the market approach.
We have the option to perform a qualitative assessment to determine whether it is necessary to perform the quantitative goodwill impairment test. However, we may elect to perform the quantitative goodwill impairment test even if no indications of a potential impairment exist.
For our annual impairment tests in fiscal years 2021 and 2020, our estimated fair value exceeded our carrying value, therefore, no impairment charge was required. Calculating the fair value of the reporting unit requires significant estimates and assumptions by management. Should our estimates or assumptions regarding the fair value of our reporting unit prove to be incorrect, we may be required to record impairment of goodwill in future periods and such impairment could be material.
RECENT ISSUED ACCOUNTING STANDARDS NOT YET ADOPTED
Recently issued accounting standards not yet adopted by us are more fully described in Note 1 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
COVID
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in public health responses including travel bans, restrictions, social distancing requirements, and shelter-in place orders, which have negatively impacted our business, operations and financial performance. While we saw a significant decrease in advertising spend when the pandemic became global in March 2020, our daily advertising revenue has experienced a strong recovery since July 2020 through July 2021.
We responded quickly and decisively to the challenges presented by the pandemic in order to ensure the long-term continuity of our service. Initially, we shifted resources and priorities and focused on streamlining our back-end infrastructure and specifically redesigning our content management system in order to better control costs while simultaneously establishing a scalable foundation for new growth initiatives, even at the expense of new product initiatives. At the outset of the pandemic, we instituted a hiring freeze which has subsequently been relaxed and we are starting to invest in new products, features, and enhancements. We grew our headcount by 36% from 39 at July 31, 2020 to 53 at July 31, 2021, mostly in engineering, product and design to execute on our product development roadmap.
Given the unprecedented uncertainty and rapidly shifting market conditions of the business environment, we cannot reasonably estimate the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our future financial and operational results. At this point it is unclear whether variables including the economy, unemployment, retail sales, and advertising budgets, or capital markets, including volatility of our stock price will impact our business. We continue to monitor the rapidly evolving situation and guidance from international and domestic authorities, including federal, state and local public health authorities, and there may be developments outside our control requiring us to adjust our operating plan.
Key Performance Indicators
Our results of operations discussion include disclosure of two key performance indicators - Monthly Active Users (MAU) and Average Revenue Per Monthly Active User (ARPMAU). MAU is a key performance indicator that captures the number of unique users that used our Zedge app in the last thirty days of the relevant period, which is important to understanding the size of the user base for our Zedge app which is a significant driver of revenue. Changes and trends in MAU are useful for measuring the general health of our business, gauging both present and potential customers’ experience, assessing the efficacy of product improvements and marketing campaigns and overall user engagement. ARPMAU is valuable because it provides insight into how well we monetize our users and the changes and trends in ARPMAU are indications of how effective our monetization investments are.
As of July 31, 2021 MAU, was up 7.8% year over year primarily attributed to higher user engagement. Over the past several years, we have experienced a continuing shift in the regional customer make-up with MAU in emerging markets (particularly India) representing an increasing portion of our user base. As of July 31, 2021, users in emerging markets represented 75% of our MAU compared to 70% a year prior. This shift has negatively impacted revenue because advertising rates in emerging markets are materially lower than in well-developed markets.
ARPMAU was up 76.3% for the three months ended July 31, 2021 when compared to the same period a year ago, pointing to progress we have made in generating more value from our users, particularly from subscriptions.
Three months ended
July 31,
(in millions, except ARPMAU)
MAU 34.4 31.9
Developed Markets MAU 8.5 9.6
Emerging Markets MAU 25.9 22.3
Emerging Markets MAU/Total MAU 75 % 70 %
ARPMAU $ 0.0501 $ 0.0284
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following table set forth our consolidated statements of operations data for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2021 compared to the fiscal year ended July 31, 2020:
(in thousands)
Change
Fiscal year ended July 31, $ %
Revenues $ 19,569 $ 9,470 $ 10,099 106.6 %
Direct cost of revenues 1,194 1,195 (1 ) -0.1 %
Selling, general and administrative 9,311 7,110 2,201 31.0 %
Depreciation and amortization 1,261 1,568 (307 ) -19.6 %
Income (loss) from operations 7,803 (403 ) 8,206 nm
Interest and other income, net 2,127.3 %
Net loss resulting from foreign exchange transactions (2 ) (152 ) -98.7 %
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes (202 ) (217 ) nm
Net income (loss) $ 8,248 $ (559 ) $ 8,807 nm
nm-not meaningful
The following table sets forth the composition of our revenues for the fiscal years ended July 31, 2021 and 2020:
Fiscal Year Ended
July 31, Changes % of total Revenue
YoY FY ‘21 FY ‘20
(in thousands)
Advertising revenue $ 15,741 $ 7,410 112 % 80 % 78 %
Paid subscription revenue 3,311 1,599 107 % 17 % 17 %
Other revenues 12 % 3 % 5 %
Total Revenues $ 19,569 $ 9,470 107 % 100 % 100 %
Advertising revenue. Advertising revenue increased 112% from $7.4 million in fiscal 2020 to $15.7 million in fiscal 2021 primarily due to improvements in our ad stack and higher advertising rates.
Paid subscription revenue. We rolled out a subscription-based product on Android in January 2019, whereby users of our Zedge app can pay a monthly or annual fee to remove unsolicited ads when using our Zedge app. In general, pricing of our monthly subscriptions in the US is $0.99 per month and $4.99 for yearly subscription with different pricing for users in other countries. Google Play processes subscription prepayment on Zedge’s behalf, and retains up to 30% as its fee. We generated $3.8 million and $2.4 million in gross prepaid subscription sales consisting of both monthly and annual subscriptions for the fiscal years ended July 31, 2021 and 2020 respectively. We expect that, based on research and testing we undertake, from time to time, the prices of our subscription in each country/region may change and we may test other plan and price variations.
The following table summarizes subscription revenue for the fiscal years ended July 31, 2021 and 2020.
As of/Years Ended % Change
7/31/21 7/31/20 FY’21 vs FY’20
(in thousands, except revenue per subscriber and percentages)
Revenues $ 3,311 $ 1,599 $ 1,712 107 %
Active subscriptions net additions (122 ) -33 %
Active subscriptions at end of period 49 %
Average active subscriptions 123 %
Average monthly revenue per active subscription $ 0.41 $ 0.43 $ (0.02 ) -5 %
Zedge Premium. We completed the initial rollout of Zedge Premium in March 2018 to a segment of our Android user base and we expanded it to 100% of our Android user base in January 2019. In fiscal 2021, gross transaction value (the total sales volume transacting through the platform), or “GTV,” and net revenue generated from Zedge Premium were $945,000 and $509,000, respectively. In fiscal 2020, GTV and net revenue generated from Zedge Premium were $728,000 and $459,000 respectively. Net revenue includes breakage related to expired Zedge Credits.
We continue to focus on topline growth strategy by testing new monetization drivers including a variety of ad units, in-app purchases of Zedge Credits, our virtual currency. as well as certain growth initiatives such as new content vertical in our app and/or new app. Additionally, we may pursue synergistic acquisitions from time to time to complement organic growth, although we can provide no assurance that any such acquisitions will be consummated.
Direct cost of revenues. Direct cost of revenues consists primarily of content hosting and content delivery costs.
Fiscal year ended
July 31, Change
(in thousands) FY’21 vs. FY’20
Direct cost of revenues $ 1,194 $ 1,195 $ (1 ) -0.1 %
As a percentage of revenues 6.1 % 12.6 %
Direct cost of revenues decreased by 0.1% in fiscal 2021 to $1.194 million from $1.195 million in fiscal 2020, primarily attributable to the residual savings from the migration of our backend infrastructure to cloud-based providers.
As a percentage of revenue, direct cost of revenues in fiscal 2021 were 6.1% as compared to 12.6.% in fiscal 2020 due primarily to the 107% increase of our revenue in fiscal 2021.
Selling, general and administrative expense. Selling, general and administrative expense (“SG&A”) consists mainly of payroll, benefits, facilities, marketing, content acquisition costs, consulting, professional fees, software licensing (“SaaS”) and public company related expenses.
Fiscal year ended
July 31, Change
(in thousands) FY’21 vs. FY’20
Selling, general and administrative $ 9,311 $ 7,110 $ 2,201 31.0 %
As a percentage of revenues 47.6 % 75.1 %
SG&A expenses increased $2.2 million or 31.0 % in fiscal 2020 to $9.3 million from $7.1 million in fiscal 2020. This increase was primarily attributable to compensation costs resulting from additional headcount, higher professional and consulting fees and higher marketing fees we pay to Google for subscription sales, offset by reductions in discretionary expenses such as rent and travel expenses.
Our headcount totaled 53 as of July 31, 2021 compared to 39 as of July 31, 2020, with the majority of our employees currently based in Lithuania.
SG&A expenses also included non-cash stock-based compensation expense of $523,000 and $402,000 in fiscal 2021 and 2020, respectively. We also opted to use Class B common stock to pay a portion of our Board of Directors’ compensation and to fund 401(k) matching contributions that aggregated to $129,000 and $90,000 in fiscal 2021 and 2020, respectively. See Note 12 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report for a complete discussion of our stock-based compensation.
Depreciation and amortization. Depreciation and amortization expense consists mainly of amortization of capitalized software and technology development costs of our internal developers on various projects that we invested in specific to the various platforms on which we operate our mobile app service.
Fiscal year ended
July 31, Change
(in thousands) FY’21 vs. FY’20
Depreciation and amortization $ 1,261 $ 1,568 $ (307 ) -19.6 %
As a percentage of revenues 6.4 % 16.6 %
Depreciation and amortization expense decreased $0.3 million or 19.6 % in fiscal 2020 to $1.3 million from $1.6 million in fiscal 2020. The comparison of depreciation and amortization expenses in any given periods can be attributed to the number of projects being amortized during those periods, as we removed fully amortized projects and added newly completed projects in the amortization pool.
Interest and other income, net. The increase in interest and other income, net in fiscal 2021 when compared to fiscal 2020 was primarily due to the PPP loan forgiveness of $218,000 in fiscal 2021. See Note 17 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this Annual Report for further details.
Fiscal year ended
July 31,
Change
(in thousands)
FY’21 vs. FY’20
Interest and other income, net
$
$
$
2127.3 %
As a percentage of revenues
1.3 %
0.1 %
Net loss resulting from foreign exchange transactions. Net loss resulting from foreign exchange transactions is comprised of gains and losses generated from movements in NOK and EUR relative to the U.S. Dollar, including gains or losses from our currency hedging activities.
Fiscal year ended
July 31, Change
(in thousands) FY’21 vs. FY’20
Net loss resulting from foreign exchange transactions $ (2 ) $ (152 ) $ (150 ) -98.7 %
As a percentage of revenues 0.0 % -1.6 %
In fiscal 2021 and 2020, we incurred losses of $18,000 and $218,000, respectively, from NOK and EUR hedging activities.
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes. During fiscal 2021, we had pretax income of about $8 million which enabled us to utilize all the federal NOL carry forward and portions of the NOL carry forward from states and other foreign jurisdiction. Combined with the release of the valuation allowance of $477,000, this resulted in an income tax benefit of $202,000 for the fiscal year ended July 31, 2021, an effective income tax of (2.5%).
Fiscal year ended
July 31, Change
(in thousands) FY’21 vs. FY’20
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes $ (202 ) $ 15 $ (217 ) nm
As a percentage of revenues -1.0 % 0.2 %
On March 27, 2020, the CARES Act was signed into law. The Act contains several new or changed income tax provisions, including but not limited to the following: increased limitation threshold for determining deductible interest expense, class life changes to qualified improvements (in general, from 39 years to 15 years), and the ability to carry back net operating losses incurred from tax years 2018 through 2020 up to the five preceding tax years. Most of these provisions are either not applicable or have no material effect on the Company.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
General
At July 31, 2021, we had cash and cash equivalents of $24.9 million and working capital (current assets less current liabilities) of $23.4 million. We currently expect that our cash and cash equivalents on hand, and our cash flow from operations will be sufficient to meet our anticipated cash requirements for the twelve months ending July 31, 2022. During fiscal 2021, we raised $15 million through sales of equity in At the Market offerings. We also maintain a revolving line of credit of up to $2.0 million and a foreign exchange contract facility of up to $6.5 million with Western Alliance Bank, as discussed below in Financing Activities.
The following tables present selected financial information for the twelve months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020:
Fiscal year ended
July 31,
(in thousands)
Cash flows provided by (used in):
Operating activities $ 10,130 $ 2,122
Investing activities (5,479 ) (759 )
Financing activities 15,101 2,169
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents (30 )
Increase in cash and cash equivalents $ 19,797 $ 3,502
Operating Activities
Our cash flow from operations varies significantly from quarter to quarter and from year to year, depending on our operating results and the timing of operating cash receipts and payments, specifically trade accounts receivable and trade accounts payable. Cash provided by operating activities increased $8.0 million to $10.1 million in fiscal 2021 from $2.1 million in fiscal 2020, primarily attributable to the higher revenues generated from our service offerings, primarily advertising and paid subscription revenue.
Investing Activities
On August 1, 2021, we acquired Emojipedia for up to $7.0 million including initial cash payment of $4.8 million, with the balance to be determined based on an incentive structure linked to EBITDA generated from emojipedia.org during the four month period following the closing of the acquisition and paid out on the six-month and twelve month anniversaries of the closing. Given the closing occurred on Sunday, we deposited $4.8 million into an escrow account on July 30, 2021 which was classified as other assets on our balance sheet as of July 31, 2021. See Note 19 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Cash used in other investing activities in fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2020 consisted mostly of capitalized software and technology development costs related to various projects that we invested in specific to the various platforms on which we operate our service.
Financing Activities
Between December 14, 2020 and January 26, 2021, we sold 761,906 shares of our Class B common stock at an average price of $6.5625 per share for total proceeds of $5 million in a registered “At the Market” offering through National Securities Corp. and H.C. Wainwright & Co, LLC as sales agents. In connection with this offering, total issuance costs were $215,000. We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes including organic and other growth initiatives.
On March 16, 2021, we filed a prospectus supplement with the SEC which contemplates the sale, for a gross aggregate sale price of up to $10,000,000, of shares of our Class B common stock, from time to time in “at-the-market offerings” pursuant to an At Market Issuance Sales Agreement with National Securities Corporation and Maxim Group LLC dated as of March 16, 2021. Through June 11, 2021 we sold 663,686 shares at an average price of $15.0674 per share for total proceeds of $10 million in this offering. Total issuance costs were $350,000. We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes including organic and other growth initiatives.
In August 2020, we obtained a loan of $181,000 to finance about 82% of our directors’ and officers’ liability and cyber liability insurance policies, at an annual percentage interest rate of 3.89% to be repaid over nine equal monthly installments of $20,490 starting from September 1, 2020. This loan was repaid in full as of July 31, 2021.
On April 22, 2020, we received $218,000 in proceeds from a PPP loan from Western Alliance Bank, which was administered by the Small Business Administration and established under the CARES Act. On November 25, 2020, we submitted the PPP Loan Forgiveness Application Form 3508EZ and on May 21, 2021, we were notified that such application for the loan forgiveness has been approved and the loan, including accrued interest, has been deemed satisfied in full by the Small Business Administration to Western Alliance Bank. Please see Note 17 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
On February 5, 2020, we closed a registered direct offering of 1,734,459 shares of its Class B common stock for net proceeds of $2.1 million from both new and existing investors. See Note 19 to the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
In July 2019, we obtained a loan of $140,000 to finance about 85% of various insurance policies, at an annual percentage interest rate of 4.79% to be repaid over nine equal monthly installments of $15,976.20 starting from September 1, 2019. We repaid this loan in full as of July 31, 2020.
We received proceeds of $873,261 from the exercise of stock options in fiscal 2021 in connection with which we issued 559,840 shares of our Class B common stock. We received proceeds of $11,571 from the exercise of stock options in fiscal 2020 in connection with which we issued 86,197 shares of our Class B common stock.
We maintain a credit facility of up to $2.0 million provided by Western Alliance Bank which is more fully described in Note 15 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of this annual report on Form 10-K.
We do not anticipate paying dividends on our common stock until we achieve sustainable profitability and retain certain minimum cash reserves. The payment of dividends in any specific period will be at the sole discretion of our Board of Directors.
Changes in Trade Accounts Receivable
Gross trade accounts receivables were $2.5 million and $1.4 million at July 31, 2021 and 2020 respectively. Our cash collections in fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2020 were $18.4 million and $9.2 million, respectively.
Concentration of Credit Risk and Significant Customers
Historically, we have had very little or no bad debt, which is common with other platforms of our size that derive their revenue from digital advertising, as we aggressively manage our collections and perform due diligence on our customers. In addition, the majority of our revenue is derived from large, credit-worthy customers, e.g. MoPub (owned by Twitter), Google and Facebook, and we terminate our services with smaller customers immediately upon balances becoming past due. Since these smaller customers rely on us to derive their own revenue, they generally pay their outstanding balances on a timely basis.
In the fiscal year ended July 31, 2021, three customers represented 30%, 22% and 12% of the Company’s revenue, and in the fiscal year ended July 31, 2020, two customers represented 29% and 26% of the Company’s revenue. At July 31, 2021, two customers represented 37% and 28% of the Company’s accounts receivable balance and at July 31, 2020, two customers represented 35% and 32% of the Company’s accounts receivable balance. All of these significant customers were advertising exchanges operated by leading companies, and the receivables represent many smaller amounts due from advertisers.
CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS AND OTHER COMMERCIAL COMMITMENTS
Smaller reporting companies are not required to provide the information required by this item.
OFF-BALANCE SHEET ARRANGEMENTS
At July 31, 2021, we did not have any “off-balance sheet arrangements,” as defined in relevant SEC regulations that are reasonably likely to have a current or future effect on our financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources, other than the following.
In connection with our Spin-Off, we and IDT entered into various agreements prior to the Spin-Off including a Separation and Distribution Agreement to effect the separation and provide a framework for our relationship with IDT after the Spin-Off, and a Tax Separation Agreement, which sets forth the responsibilities of us and IDT with respect to, among other things, liabilities for federal, state, local and foreign taxes for periods before and including the Spin-Off, the preparation and filing of tax returns for such periods and disputes with taxing authorities regarding taxes for such periods. Pursuant to Separation and Distribution Agreement, among other things, we indemnify IDT and IDT indemnifies us for losses related to the failure of the other to pay, perform or otherwise discharge, any of the liabilities and obligations set forth in the agreement. Pursuant to the Tax Separation Agreement, among other things, IDT indemnifies us from all liability for taxes of ours and any of our subsidiaries or relating to our business with respect to taxable periods ending on or before the Spin-Off, and we indemnify IDT from all liability for taxes of ours and any of our subsidiaries or relating to our business accruing after the Spin-Off. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we are responsible for, and IDT has no obligation to indemnify us for, any tax liability of ours resulting from an audit, examination or other proceeding related to any tax returns that relate solely to us and our subsidiaries regardless of whether such tax return relates to a period prior to or following the Spin-Off.

---

ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risks.
Smaller reporting companies are not required to provide the information required by this item.

---

ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
The Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company and the report of the independent registered public accounting firm thereon starting on page are included herein.

---

ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.
Not applicable.

---

ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended), as of the end of the period covered by this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Based on this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of July 31, 2021 other than the restatement as disclosed below.
Consideration of Restatement
In light of the restatement discussed in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements included in Item 1 to Part I of the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q/A filed on November 5, 2021, our principal executive and principal financial officers reevaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of July 31, 2021, including whether the error identified was the result of a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. As part of this assessment, we reconsidered whether our existing disclosure controls and procedures over the evaluation of the valuation allowance against deferred tax assets, which has been outsourced to an outside accounting firm since fiscal 2018, were operating effectively. Based on this assessment, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures related to the valuation allowance were not effective as of July 31, 2021. We are considering remedial actions and expect to implement them in the near future.
Report of Management on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
We, the management of Zedge, Inc. and subsidiaries (the “Company”), are responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting of the Company.
The Company’s internal control over financial reporting is defined in Rule 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as a process designed by, or under the supervision of, the Company’s principal executive and principal financial officers and effected by the Company’s board of directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of the Company’s financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States and includes those policies and procedures that:
1. Pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of assets of the Company;
2. Provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the Company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the Company; and
3. Provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of the Company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Management has assessed the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of July 31, 2021. In making this assessment, the Company’s management used the criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, we conducted an evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting, as prescribed above, as of July 31, 2021. Based on our evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that the Company’s internal control over financial reporting was not effective due to the existence of the material weakness as described below. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Notwithstanding the material weakness described below, we have performed additional analyses and other procedures to enable management to conclude that our consolidated financial statements included in this Form 10-K fairly present, in all material respects, the Company’s financial condition, results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented.
Deficiency in our Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Based on an evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of its controls and procedures conducted by the Company’s management, including the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, the Company has concluded that, due to the below material weakness in financial reporting, these controls and procedures were not effective as of July 31, 2021.
We have identified the following material weakness in our controls:
§ Management review controls related to the valuation allowance against deferred tax assets were not effective.
Remediation
The Company’s management plans to take steps to remediate the material weakness identified above and improve internal control over financial reporting. Remediation of these weaknesses had not yet been completed, and therefore these deficiencies continued to exist as of November 5, 2021. Management and our Audit Committee will monitor remedial measures and the effectiveness of our internal controls and procedures. Notwithstanding the material weakness described above, we have performed additional analyses and other procedures to enable management to conclude that our financial statements included in this Form 10-K fairly present, in all material respects, our financial condition and results of operations as of and for the year ended July 31, 2021.
This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting because as a smaller reporting company we are not subject to attestation by our independent registered public accounting firm pursuant to rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission that permit us to provide only management’s report in this Annual Report.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

---

ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
Item 9B. Other Information.
PART III

---

ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Item 10. Directors and Executive Officers of the Registrant, and Corporate Governance
The following is a list of our directors and executive officers along with the specific information required by Rule 14a-3 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934:
Executive Officers
Jonathan Reich - Chief Executive Officer and President
Yi Tsai - Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Michael Jonas -Executive Chairman
Directors
Michael Jonas, Chairman of the Board
Howard Jonas, Vice Chairman of the Board
Mark Ghermezian
Elliot Gibber
Paul Packer
Gregory Suess
The remaining information required by this Item will be contained in our Proxy Statement for our Annual Stockholders Meeting, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after July 31, 2021, and which is incorporated by reference herein.
Corporate Governance
We have included as exhibits to this Annual Report on Form 10-K certificates of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer certifying the quality of our public disclosure.
We make available free of charge through the investor relations page of our web site (investor.zedge.net ) our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and all amendments to those reports, and all beneficial ownership reports on Forms 3, 4 and 5 filed by directors, officers and beneficial owners of more than 10% of our equity, as soon as reasonably practicable after such reports are electronically filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We have adopted codes of business conduct and ethics for all of our employees, including our principal executive officer, principal financial officer and principal accounting officer. Copies of the codes of business conduct and ethics are available on our web site.
Our web site and the information contained therein or incorporated therein are not intended to be incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K or our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

---

ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Item 11. Executive Compensation
The information required by this Item will be contained in our Proxy Statement for our Annual Stockholders Meeting, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after July 31, 2021, and which is incorporated by reference herein.

---

ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
The information required by this Item will be contained in our Proxy Statement for our Annual Stockholders Meeting, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after July 31, 2021, and which is incorporated by reference herein.

---

ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
The information required by this Item will be contained in our Proxy Statement for our Annual Stockholders Meeting, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after July 31, 2021, and which is incorporated by reference herein.

---

ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services
The information required by this Item will be contained in our Proxy Statement for our Annual Stockholders Meeting, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after July 31, 2021, and which is incorporated by reference herein.
PART IV

---

ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules.
(a) The following documents are filed as part of this Report:
1. Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm on Consolidated Financial Statements
Consolidated Financial Statements covered by Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
2. Financial Statement Schedule.
All schedules have been omitted since they are either included in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements or not required or not applicable.
3. Exhibits. Exhibit Numbers 10.1, 10.6, 10.7, 10.8 and 10.9 are management contracts or compensatory plans or arrangements.
The exhibits listed in paragraph (b) of this item are filed, furnished, or incorporated by reference as part of this Form 10-K.
Certain of the agreements filed as exhibits to this Form 10-K contain representations and warranties by the parties to the agreements that have been made solely for the benefit of the parties to the agreement. These representations and warranties:
§ may have been qualified by disclosures that were made to the other parties in connection with the negotiation of the agreements, which disclosures are not necessarily reflected in the agreements;
§ may apply standards of materiality that differ from those of a reasonable investor; and
§ were made only as of specified dates contained in the agreements and are subject to subsequent developments and changed circumstances.
Accordingly, these representations and warranties may not describe the actual state of affairs as of the date that these representations and warranties were made or at any other time. Investors should not rely on them as statements of fact.
(b) Exhibits.
Exhibit Number
Description of Exhibits
3.1(1)
Third Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Zedge, Inc.
3.2(2)
Second Amended and Restated By-Laws of Zedge, Inc.
4.2(3)
Description of the Registrant’s Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
10.1(4)
2016 Stock Option and Incentive Plan, as Amended and Restated
10.2(1)
Transition Services Agreement
10.3(1)
Tax Separation Agreement
10.4(5)
Google Services Agreement between Zedge, Inc. and Google, Inc., dated June 18, 2014
10.5(6)
Marketplace for Premier Publishers Agreement between Zedge, Inc. and MoPub, Inc., dated February 20, 2013
10.6(6)
Zedge Holdings, Inc. 2008 Omnibus Stock Incentive Plan, as amended and restated on November 1, 2011
10.7(1)
Form of ISO Stock Option Agreement
10.8(1)
Form of Nonqualified Stock Option Agreement
10.9(1)
Form of Restricted Stock Agreement
10.10(7)
At Market Issuance Sales Agreement among Zedge, Inc. and National Securities Corporation and H.C. Wainwright & Co., LLC, dated December 9, 2020.
21.01*
Subsidiaries of the Registrant
23.01*
Consent of Mayer Hoffman McCann CPAs, The New York Practice of Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C., Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
31.01*
Certification of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
31.02*
Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
32.01*
Certification of Chief Executive Officer pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
32.02*
Certification of Chief Financial Officer pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
101.INS*
XBRL Instance Document.
101.SCH*
XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document.
101.CAL*
XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document.
101.DEF*
XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document.
101.LAB*
XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document.
101.PRE*
XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document.
* filed herewith.
(1) Incorporated by reference to Form 10-12G/A, filed June 1, 2016.
(2) Incorporated by reference to Form 10-K, filed October 28, 2019
(3) Incorporated by reference to Form 10-K/A, filed December 9, 2020.
(4) Incorporated by reference to the Schedule 14A, filed November 21, 2019.
(5) Incorporated by reference to Form 10-12G/A, filed April 25, 2016.
(6) Incorporated by reference to Form 10-12G/A, filed May 20, 2016.
(7) Incorporated by reference to Form 8-k, filed December 9, 2020.