EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 1086745
Filing Year: 2021
Filename: 1086745_10-K_2021_0001493152-21-007529.json

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
ITEM 1. BUSINESS.
On May 28, 2020, pursuant to the previously announced Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated December 19, 2019 (the “Merger Agreement”), by and among AYRO, Inc., a Delaware corporation previously known as DropCar, Inc., ABC Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (“Merger Sub”), and AYRO Operating Company, Inc., a Delaware corporation previously known as AYRO, Inc. (“AYRO Operating”), Merger Sub was merged with and into AYRO Operating, with AYRO Operating continuing after the merger as the surviving entity and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (the “Merger”). In this Annual Report on Form 10-K, unless the context otherwise requires, references to “we,” “us,” “our,” “our company” and “AYRO” refer to AYRO, Inc. and its subsidiaries. References to “DropCar” refer to DropCar, Inc. prior to the Merger. For more information on the merger or the sale of assets, see “Corporate History - Merger and” and “Corporate History - Closing of Asset Purchase Agreement.”
Overview
Prior to the Merger, DropCar provided consumer and enterprise solutions to urban automobile-related logistical challenges. Following the Merger, we design and manufacture compact, sustainable electric vehicles for closed campus mobility, urban and community transport, local on-demand and last mile delivery, and government use. Our four-wheeled purpose-built electric vehicles are geared toward commercial customers including universities, business and medical campuses, last mile delivery services and food service providers. We are currently designing our next generation three-wheeled vehicle to support the above-listed markets.
Products
AYRO vehicles provide the end user an environmentally friendly alternative to internal combustion engine vehicles (cars powered by gasoline or diesel oil), for light duty uses, including low-speed logistics, maintenance and cargo services, at a lower total cost.
AYRO Club Car 411
The AYRO Club Car 411 (the “AYRO 411 Fleet”) is a family of electric, four-wheel compact, light-duty utility trucks sold exclusively through our contracted partner, Club Car, as part of a global multi-year sustainability solution development, sales and marketing agreement. Each of the AYRO 411 Fleet of vehicles is classified as a street legal low-speed vehicle (“LSV”), defined as a four-wheeled motor vehicle, other than an all-terrain vehicle, that is capable of reaching speeds of at least 20 miles per hour (“mph”) but not greater than 25 mph, with a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 3,000 pounds and meets the safety standards in Title 49 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, section 571.50.
The AYRO 411 Fleet has an expected range of up to 50 miles and a maximum speed range of 25 mph (or 40 kilometers per hour), in line with the United States Department of Transportation (“USDOT”) regulations for low-speed vehicles and with most state statutes, which typically limit the speed of LSVs to 25 mph on 35 mph posted roads. The current AYRO 411 Fleet includes:
● the 411 Flatbed truck, which provides drivers with considerable versatility of use;
● the 411 Pickup truck, which is ideal for hauling; and
● the 411 Cargo Van Box, a fully enclosed cargo box.
● the 411 Cargo with Powered Van Box, a fully enclosed cargo box with multiple 120V power sources separate from the drivetrain that can support cargo refrigeration and heating.
The AYRO 411 Fleet has zero gas emissions, a recharge capability of up to six to eight hours using 120V/20A outlets and a payload capacity of up to 1,100 pounds. We estimate that the AYRO 411 Fleet’s operating costs are approximately 50% lower per year compared to similarly sized gas-powered trucks/vans. Vehicles in the AYRO 411 Fleet are equipped with:
● reinforced steel (coated) chassis houses the motor, controller and enclosed battery operating system;
● auto-grade suspension with Transverse Leaf Spring on the front and horizontal spring with coil-over shock in the rear;
● power assisted steering;
● street legal if registered/licensed per standard vehicles by dealer or user;
● multi-point, anchored DOT compliant safety harnesses for driver and passenger;
● a standard back-up camera (appears on larger LCD display - see below);
● a standard 7-inch (17.7 centimeter) LCD display;
● a standard manual parking break;
● four-wheel all-disk braking system and corrosion resistant body panels; and
● heating and ventilation systems in the cabin of the truck.
With its low speed, zero-emissions, and cost-effectiveness, the AYRO 411 Fleet seeks to satisfy the needs of a variety of customers, including university and college campuses, retailers, airports and ports, business parks and campuses, warehouses, production facilities, resorts and theme parks, apartments and condos. We are currently working with our supply chain to add enhancements to the AYRO 411, initially designated the “AYRO 411x,” which is expected to be released in the second quarter of 2021.
Three-Wheeled Electric Vehicle Product Offerings
In addition to the AYRO 411 Fleet, we previously manufactured and sold the AYRO 311 Autocycle, a compact, three-wheeled electric vehicle (the “AYRO 311”). As the AYRO 311 was nearing end-of-life, on August 17, 2020 we sold our remaining AYRO 311 Fleet inventory to a third party for $0.12 million (the “311 Fleet Sale”). Upon such sale, we sustained a loss on disposal of $0.3 million. Subsequent to the 311 Fleet Sale, on February 12, 2021, we entered into an agreement with Arcimoto, Inc. to settle certain patent infringement claims (the “Arcimoto Settlement”), pursuant to which we agreed to cease the production, importation and sale of the AYRO 311, among other things. Accordingly, we would not be contractually permitted to resume production of the AYRO 311. We are continuing the development of an all-new, three-wheeled electric vehicle, which we intend to replace the AYRO 311 as our three-wheeled electric vehicle product offering. We expect to begin manufacturing our next generation three-wheeled vehicle in the first half of 2022.
Additional Models and Vehicles
We continue to invest in expanding our existing all-electric vehicle technologies, integrations and vertical market solutions, in addition to growing our fleet of purpose-engineered vehicles and services.
We are currently engineering an all-electric, purpose-built e-delivery vehicle. There are a number of design elements associated with the e-vehicle, configurable/powered e-modules and range of integrated contextual data exchanges and services.
We are also currently in discussions with Club Car regarding a variety of new models and vehicles.
Manufacturing and Supply Chain
Manufacturing Agreement with Cenntro
In 2017, AYRO Operating partnered with Cenntro Automotive Group, Ltd. (“Cenntro”), which operates a large electric vehicle factory in the automotive district in Hangzhou, China, in a supply chain agreement to provide sub-assembly manufacturing services. Through the partnership, Cenntro initially acquired 19% in 2017 of AYRO Operating’s common stock. Cenntro beneficially owned approximately 4.38% of our common stock as of December 31, 2020. Cenntro owns the design of the AYRO 411 Fleet vehicles and has granted us an exclusive license to purchase the AYRO 411 Fleet vehicles for sale in North America.
Under our Manufacturing License Agreement with Cenntro (the “MLA”), in order for us to maintain our exclusive territorial rights pursuant to the MLA, for the first three years after the effective date of March 22, 2020, we must meet the following minimum purchase requirements, which we believe we satisfied for the initial period: (i) a minimum of 300 units sold by the first anniversary of the effective date of the MLA; (ii) a minimum of 800 units sold by the second anniversary of the effective date of the MLA; and (iii) a minimum of 1,300 units sold by the third anniversary of the effective date of the MLA. Cenntro will determine the minimum sale requirements for the years thereafter. Should any event of default occur, the other party may terminate the MLA by providing written notice to the defaulting party, who will have 90 days from the effective date of the notice to cure the default. Unless waived by the party providing notice, a failure to cure the default(s) within the 90-day time frame will result in the automatic termination of the MLA. Events of default under the MLA include a failure to make a required payment when due, the insolvency or bankruptcy of either party, the subjection of either party’s property to any levy, seizure, general assignment for the benefit of creditors, and a failure to make available or deliver the products in the time and manner provided for in the MLA.
Cenntro was also used to perform sub-assembly manufacturing of the AYRO 311. We import semi-knocked-down vehicle kits from Cenntro for the 411 model. We are no longer manufacturing and selling the AYRO 311 as we continue to develop our next generation three-wheeled vehicle. The vehicle kits are received through shipping containers by our assembly facility in Round Rock, Texas. The vehicles are then assembled with limited customization requirements per order. As such, the partnership with Cenntro allows us to scale manufacturing operations without significant investment in capital expenditures, and therefore bring products to market rapidly.
Final Assembly
For final assembly of the 411, we currently occupy 24,000 square feet of office and manufacturing space configured in a “U”-shaped assembly line with multiple stations per vehicle. The chart below indicates the number of vehicles and assembly time required for each. Assembly time also includes USDOT quality checks and testing as the final step of the assembly process. Additionally, the number of vehicles indicated below assumes a single shift.
Vehicle Assembly
time
(Man-Hours) Vehicle Assembly Capacity
per month
AYRO 411 400*
*This capacity would decline if we begin production of future vehicle models.
Master Procurement Agreement with Club Car
In March 2019, we entered into a five-year Master Procurement Agreement (the “MPA”) with Club Car for the sale of our four-wheeled vehicles. The MPA granted Club Car the exclusive right to sell our four-wheeled vehicles in North America, provided that Club Car orders at least 500 vehicles per year.
Although Club Car did not meet the volume threshold for 2020, we currently have no intention of selling our four-wheeled vehicles other than exclusively through Club Car. Under the terms of the MPA, we receive orders from Club Car dealers for vehicles of specific configurations, and we invoice Club Car once the vehicle has shipped. The MPA has an initial term of five (5) years commencing January 1, 2019 and may be renewed by Club Car for successive one-year periods upon 60 days’ prior written notice. Pursuant to the MPA, we granted Club Car a right of first refusal for sales of 51% or more of AYRO Operating’s assets or equity interests, which right of first refusal is exercisable for a period of 45 days following delivery of an acquisition notice to Club Car. We also agreed to collaborate with Club Car on new products similar to its four-wheeled vehicle and improvements to existing products and granted Club Car a right of first refusal to purchase similar commercial utility vehicles which AYRO Operating may develop during the term of the MPA. We are currently engaged in discussions with Club Car to develop additional products to be sold by Club Car in Europe and Asia but there can be no assurance that these discussions will be successful.
Manufacturing Services Agreement with Karma
On September 25, 2020, we entered into a Master Manufacturing Services Agreement (the “Karma Agreement”) with Karma Automotive LLC (“Karma”), pursuant to which Karma agreed to provide certain manufacturing services for the production of our vehicles. The initial statement of work provides that Karma will perform assembly of a certain quantity of the AYRO 411 vehicles and provide testing, materials management and outbound logistics services. For such services in the initial statement of work, we agreed to pay $1.2 million to Karma, of which (i) $0.52 million was paid at closing and (ii) $0.64 million is due and payable five months following the satisfaction of certain production requirements.
The Karma Agreement expires (i) 12 months from the start of volume production of the vehicles or (ii) such earlier time as the parties mutually agree in writing. In addition, Karma, in its sole discretion, may terminate the Karma Agreement at any time, without cause, upon twelve months’ prior written notice. We may terminate the Karma Agreement, without cause, upon six months’ prior written notice.
Supply Agreement with Gallery Carts
During 2020, we entered into a supply agreement with Gallery Carts, a leading provider of food and beverage kiosks, carts, and mobile storefront solutions. Joint development efforts have led to the launch of the parties’ first all-electric configurable mobile hospitality vehicle for “on-the-go” venues across the United States. This innovative solution permits food, beverage and merchandising operators to bring goods directly to consumers.
The configurable Powered Vendor Box, in the rear of the vehicle, features long-life lithium batteries that power the preconfigured hot/cold beverage and food equipment and is directly integrated with the Club Car 411. The canopy doors, as well as the full vehicle, can be customized with end-user logos and graphics to enhance the brand experience. Gallery, with 40 years of experience delivering custom food kiosk solutions, has expanded into mobile electric vehicles as customers increasingly want food, beverages and merchandise delivered to where they are gathering. For example, a recent study conducted by Technomic found that a large majority of students, 77%, desired alternative mobile and to-go food options on campus.
Gallery, a premier distributor of Club Car 411 low-speed electric vehicles manufactured by AYRO, has a diverse clientele throughout mobile food, beverage and merchandise distribution markets, for key customer applications such as university, corporate and government campuses, major league and amateur-level stadiums and arenas, resorts, airports and event centers. In addition to finding innovative and safe ways to deliver food and beverages to their patrons, reducing and ultimately eliminating their carbon footprint is a top priority for many of these customers.
Strategic Partnership with Autonomic
Additionally, we are developing a technology platform that can be deployed to any vehicle as additional value-add subscriptions offered directly to the end customer. We have partnered with Autonomic, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Smart Mobility LLC, to collect vehicle health, use and location information (telematics) in its transportation mobility cloud and produce purpose-built information back to us, customers and fleet operators, generating an additional revenue stream. Working together, the companies aim to develop a range of services to enable mobility applications for our line of vehicles which power everything from moving products and equipment to people and last-mile delivery services.
Business Strategy
Our goal is to continue to develop and commercialize automotive-grade, sustainable electric transportation solutions for the markets and use cases that we believe can be well served by our purpose-built, street legal and road-ready electric vehicles. Our business strategy includes the following:
● Leverage the relationship with Club Car to expand our product portfolio and increase our customer base. We are working on and have plans to expand our current electric transportation solutions portfolio in collaboration with Club Car. This plan includes next generation light duty trucks and new purpose-driven electric vehicles. Additionally, we are collaborating with Club Car’s sales and marketing teams to expand adoption of our vehicles in the United States and intend to expand our geographical footprint within Club Car’s global distribution and channel network.
● Scale up our operations to achieve growth. We intend to direct resources to scale up our operations, which we believe is needed to increase our revenue, including expanding and optimizing our automotive component supply chain and our flow-based assembly operations in Round Rock, Texas. Further, we plan to expand sales territories and add distribution channels, forming strategic partnerships to build-out our whole product offering and to access additional sales channels or to accelerate product adoption for particular vertical markets, building our brand, and increasing manufacturing capacity to produce higher volumes of electric vehicles.
● Identify defined markets and use cases which are currently under-served but represent sizable market opportunity sub-sets of the electric vehicle market and focus development efforts on road-ready autocycles and other purpose-built electric vehicles to address such markets. We are currently developing a new series of automotive grade autocycles, engineered and optimized to meet targeted use cases such as last mile and urban delivery. We are also working on Club Car’s next generation, electric light duty trucks and developing a new purpose-built vehicle with Club Car. We intend to direct resources to advance the development of such purpose-built transportation solutions which we believe will allow us to address currently underserved, yet growing markets, that are application specific. We believe that our all-electric transportation solutions, such as our compact, lightweight and maneuverable campus and urban vehicles, can benefit targeted geographical and vertical customers by offering lower annual/lifetime total cost of ownership for zero emissions/zero carbon footprint vehicles.
● Invest in research and development and qualification of sensors, cameras, software and mobility services seeking to enhance the value of using our electric vehicles and to derive incremental potential revenue streams for us and our partner ecosystem. We intend to integrate radio frequency-enabled hardware and develop data collection, communication processes and mobility services in collaboration with Autonomic. We and Autonomic plan to develop a technology platform that collects vehicle health, use and location information (telematics) into its transportation mobility cloud and produces purpose-built information back to us, customers and fleet operators, the subscription to which can be offered to the end customers which we believe will enhance the value of using our electric vehicles and provide additional revenue stream.
Trends Driving the Need for Electric Vehicles
The U.S. electric vehicle market is expected by many commentators to increase dramatically over the next decade, driven by factors such as the country’s increasingly urbanized population, the significant cost of owning and operating gas-powered vehicles, the growing global awareness of the damaging effects of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and rising investment in clean technology and supporting infrastructure.
A segment of the electric vehicle market, low speed electric vehicles (“LSEVs”)-which are LSVs but cannot be powered by gas or diesel fuel-are growing increasingly popular as eco-friendly options for consumers and commercial entities. LSEVs run on electric motors fueled by a variety of different batteries, such as lithium ion, molten salt, zinc-air and various nickel-based designs.
In 2017, the global LSEV market was valued at approximately $2.4 billion, according to Allied Market Research, and global sales of LSEVs have only continued to grow over the past two years, with sales expected to reach 1.5 million units in 2021. According to the Low Speed Electric Vehicles Market report conducted by Market Study Report, over the next five years, the LSEV market is expected to register a 10.8% compound annual growth rate in terms of revenue, with the global market size expected to reach $8.9 billion by 2024, up from $4.8 billion in 2019.
Trends such as increasingly stringent government regulations aimed toward reducing vehicle emissions, growing urban populations, and social pressure to adopt sustainable lifestyles all create a demand for more ecologically and economically sustainable methods of transportation. This demand continues to spur technological advancements and LSEV market growth.
Incentivizing Effect of Government Rules and Regulations. Expanding rules and regulations governing vehicle emissions have contributed to growth in the LSEV market. In particular, the U.S., Germany, France, and China have implemented stringent laws and regulations governing vehicular emissions, requiring automobile manufacturers to use advanced technologies to combat high-emission levels in vehicles. To incentivize clean-energy use, many governments are increasingly instituting substantial incentives for consumers to purchase electric vehicles, such as:
● tax credits, rebates, and exemptions; reduced vehicle registration fees;
● reduced utility rates; and
● parking incentives.
Further, governments are establishing infrastructure benchmarks to support the growth of the electric vehicle industry.
A prime example of government involvement in developing the electric vehicle industry, a recent New Jersey bill aims to have 330,000 electric vehicles on state roads by the end of 2024 and a total of 2.0 million by 2035. To facilitate this goal, the bill calls for the state to have 400 fast-charging stations and another 1,000 slow-charging stations, both by 2025. Thirty percent of all apartment, condo and townhouse developments in New Jersey would need to have chargers by 2030, while half of all franchise hotels would need to have chargers by 2050. As the network of government rules and regulations expands, so too should investment in the research and development of LSEV technology and infrastructure.
Urbanization on the Rise. According to the U.N., in 2015, 55% of the world’s population was urban, and by 2050, it is estimated that this percentage will increase to 68%. As the world population continues to urbanize, a growing number of consumers are expected to seek alternatives, such as LSEVs, to internal combustion engine vehicles in order to save money and space in congested city streets.
Increasing Sense of Social Responsibility. In tandem with governmental efforts to curb pollution and encourage more sustainable transportation practices, consumers face increasing social pressure to adopt eco-friendly lifestyles. As this demand grows, the LSEV market should continue to develop.
Competition and Market Opportunities
The worldwide automotive market, particularly for economy and alternative fuel vehicles, is highly competitive, and we expect it will become even more so in the future. Other manufacturers have entered the three- and four-wheeled vehicle markets, and we expect additional competitors to enter this market within the next several years. As the LSEV market grows increasingly saturated, we expect to experience significant competition. The most competitive companies in the global LSEV market include HDK Electric Vehicles, Bradshaw Electric Vehicles, Textron Inc., Polaris Industries, Yamaha Motors Co. Ltd., Ingersoll Rand, Inc., Speedway Electric, AGT Electric Cars, Bintelli Electric Vehicles and Ligier Group. Our relationship with Club Car, a division of Ingersoll Rand, Inc., gives us a strong competitive advantage. Despite this fact, many of the other competitors listed above have significantly greater financial, technical, manufacturing, marketing and other resources than us and may be able to devote greater resources to the design, development, manufacturing, distribution, promotion, sale and support of their products. Many of these competitors modify an existing fossil-fuel powered golf cart to meet utility and commercial needs for an all-electric commercial utility vehicle, unlike the AYRO 411 Fleet, which was engineered, designed and produced as a portfolio of electric, light duty trucks and vans.
When compared to internal combustion engine vehicles, our vehicles are significantly more attractive based on tax, title and license fees and CO2 emissions. Compared to a standard Ford (gasoline) pickup truck (2.7 liter), the AYRO 411 Fleet provides an approximate 49% reduction in operating expenses and an approximate 100% reduction in CO2 emissions (if renewed energy is used to charge the AYRO vehicles, an increasing trend for most higher education campuses and government facilities).
Our most closely-matched competitor in the LSEV industry is Polaris Gem (“Gem”), an LSEV manufacturer that manufactures products designed for applications similar to ours. Gem offers three passenger vehicle models and two utility vehicle models. Although Gem’s GEM el XD model, which is similar to vehicles in the AYRO 411 Fleet, has a lower starting MSRP than the AYRO 411 Fleet, the GEM el XD would need to be highly configured to match the standard AYRO 411 Fleet features and, with such configuration, would exceed the base MSRP of each vehicle in the AYRO 411 Fleet. The AYRO 411 Fleet has a greater pick-up bed and van box capacity that the GEM el XD, in addition to 13% more horsepower and a 48% better turning radius, allowing drivers of the AYRO 411 Fleet to execute maneuvers in tighter spaces than they would using the GEM el XD.
We expect competition in our industry to intensify in the future in light of increased demand for alternative fuel vehicles, continuing globalization and consolidation in the worldwide automotive industry. Factors affecting competition include product quality and features, innovation and development time, pricing, reliability, safety, customer service and financing terms. Increased competition may lead to lower vehicle unit sales and increased inventory, which may result in downward price pressure and may adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects. Our ability to successfully compete in our industry will be fundamental to our future success in existing and new markets and our market share. There can be no assurances that we will be able to compete successfully in our markets. If our competitors introduce new cars or services that compete with or surpass the quality, price or performance of our vehicles or services, we may be unable to satisfy existing customers or attract new customers at the prices and levels that would allow us to generate attractive rates of return on our investment. Increased competition could result in price reductions and revenue shortfalls, loss of customers and loss of market share, which could harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
Target Markets
The multipurpose applications and clean energy use of LSEVs make them popular across a wide array of industries and customers, including college and university campuses, resorts and hotels, corporate parks, hospitals, warehouses, individual consumers, last mile delivery service providers, municipalities, and the food service industry. A number of these market segments, and our competitive position within them, are discussed in greater detail below.
Universities. LSEVs are growing increasingly common on university and college campuses due to a number of factors. LSEVs fulfil the versatile needs of campuses better than golf carts or standard combustion vehicles because, not only does LSEVs’ low speed threshold promote safer driving among pedestrians, the vehicles are also street legal with on-road safety features, enabling drivers to drive on roads and free up pedestrian space along sidewalks and smaller pathways. Additionally, the significantly reduced carbon imprint of LSEVs compared to internal combustion engine vehicles appeal to environmentally aware students and professors looking to promote environmental sustainability on campus. By transitioning from internal combustion engine vehicles to LSEVs, campuses should be able to reduce significantly the costs spent on fuel, oil, parts, and maintenance. Our AYRO 411 Fleet provides all of these benefits to university and college campuses. We estimate that in the U.S., there are over 1,800 higher education campuses with over 10,000 students each with over 400 on-campus vehicles that are ideal targets for the AYRO 411 Fleet as campuses transition from fossil-fueled campus fleet vehicles to EVs.
Food Delivery Services. As the millennial generation assumes a more substantial portion of the consumer population, customers increasingly favor convenience and timeliness, spurring dramatic growth in online ordering and delivery services across a wide swath of industries, including food delivery and restaurant ordering services. Food delivery sales are anticipated to increase over 20% per year, culminating in an expected $365 billion worldwide by 2030, according to Upserve. Upserve further estimates that approximately 60% of U.S. consumers report that they order delivery or takeout at least once a week. Within the next decade, potentially over 40% of restaurant sales will be attributable to delivery services, according to Morgan Stanley. In our market research, we have determined that delivery services, including restaurants using the next generation three-wheeled vehicle as a delivery vehicle rather than outsourcing delivery to third party services, would reduce their delivery costs by up to 50%. Delivery service companies using our next generation three-wheeled vehicle as an in-house delivery vehicle rather than outsourcing delivery would also be better equipped to manage the customer experience and maintain customer relationships and data.
Last Mile Delivery Service. Retail focus on last mile delivery-the movement of goods from a transportation hub to the final delivery destination-has grown exponentially over the past few years due to the rise in online ordering and e-commerce. Consumers’ ability to pick and choose products based on delivery speed and availability makes last mile delivery a key differentiator among retailers. Last mile delivery provides retailers timelier and more convenient delivery options not offered by the main three shipping services in the U.S. (the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx, and UPS). Additionally, given the increasing designation of low emission zones in urban centers, retailers will need to continue to deploy eco-friendly vehicles. Retailers will likely expand the use of LSEV fleets to make deliveries in low emission zones due to their zero gas emissions and lower price than competing electric vehicles. We expect that the AYRO 411 Fleet, with its variety of cargo bed options ideal for hauling and delivery and its low price point, should stand out among the competition.
Municipalities. As more city governments adopt regulations geared toward reducing pollution from vehicles, cities are increasingly looking to replace their municipal vehicles with zero-emission fleets. Such fleet overhauls, however, can be costly. LSEVs are a cheaper and more practical option for cities daunted by the cost of standard electronic vehicles. Our LSEVs have both on and off-road capabilities, making them particularly versatile for municipalities.
On-Road and Personal Transportation. LSEVs offer a feasible and practical method of transportation, especially in urban centers. Because our LSEVs are street legal, they offer city dwellers a more sustainable, cost-efficient, easily maneuverable, compact and light weight option compared to internal combustion engine vehicles. Our LSEVs also offer a variety of specifications and equipment, meaning that consumers do not have to sacrifice comfort or convenience.
We primarily focus on the LSEV North American market, which is highly competitive and constitutes 28% of the global LSEV market according to Wise Guy Reports. We have examined various considerations with regard to our market impact, including cost comparisons to existing vehicles in the market, market validation and target commercial markets.
Business Developments
On September 25, 2020, we entered into the Karma Agreement with Karma. The term of the contract is for 12 months. Pursuant to the agreement Karma will provide certain manufacturing services, starting in 2021, under an attached statement of work including final assembly, raw material storage and logistical support of AYRO’s vehicles in return for compensation of $1.2 million. We paid Karma an amount of $0.52 million which was recorded as prepaid expense as of December 31, 2020. Additionally, we made a cash payment of $0.08 million and issued warrants to an advisor to the transaction at signing of the contract with a fair value of $0.07 million.
Resources
We source our semi-knocked-down kits for the AYRO 411 from Cenntro. While many of their components are commercial off-the-shelf (“COTS”) parts, many are specific to the 411 product and are subject to raw material limitations. However, in designing our next generation three-wheeled vehicle, we are endeavoring to reduce supply risk by designing the vehicle to use as many COTS components as possible. Additionally, we are designing the platform for our next generation three-wheeled vehicle to fit replacement parts from multiple suppliers, which helps us reduce our resource supply risk.
Intellectual Property
As we expand our vehicle & service roadmaps, and integrated technologies, our focus on identifying specific market and customer needs continues to drive purpose-built engineering efforts.
Leveraging the all-electric AYRO 411 Fleet LSV and Non- LSV Vehicles, we develop applications or use case solutions optimized for the storage, delivery and logistics for delivering food, beverages, merchandise, equipment, tools and related goods. This is accomplished by integrating application-specific appliances, storage facilities, vehicle wraps and brands and related items. We leverage either integrated traction or a separate battery power system to provide AC power to the various appliances and solution elements. We are filing and have filed a number of provisional utility and/or design patents associated with the aforementioned verticalization development, and we have filed for both in the United States and internationally trademarks to cover the company name, company logo, and certain other key product and service marks. We continue to focus on innovative and applicable electric vehicle optimization designs that serve an expanding customer and application use base.
Patents
We currently have United States registrations for two design patents. Both were issued on February 11, 2020 and will expire on February 11, 2035. In addition to these issued patents, we have numerous non-public patent applications on file with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”).
We have filed United States registrations for three provisional patents in February 2021. Unless the patents are perfected within a twelve-month period from their filing date, they will expire.
Trademarks
We have numerous granted and pending trademark applications in the United States and abroad. We registered the word “AYRO” as United States Registration No. 88431321 on June 23, 2020. This registration was also filed in Canada, Mexico, and the European Union under the Madrid Protocol as Registration No. 1507096. Our company logo was registered as United States Registration No. 88859276 on October 13, 2020. This logo was also registered in Canada, Mexico, and the European Union under the Madrid Protocol as Registration No. 1554092. Our application for the color version of our company logo was filed in the United States on October 9, 2020 as Serial No. 90245135 and is currently in prosecution with the USPTO. We have also filed an application on March 9, 2021 for the mark “Driven to Deliver” in the United States as Serial No. 90567849.
Government Regulations
Many governmental standards and regulations relating to safety, fuel economy, emissions control, noise control, vehicle recycling, substances of concern, vehicle damage, and theft prevention are applicable to new motor vehicles, engines, and equipment manufactured for sale in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere. In addition, manufacturing and other automotive assembly facilities in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere are subject to stringent standards regulating air emissions, water discharges, and the handling and disposal of hazardous substances. The most significant of the standards and regulations affecting AYRO are discussed below.
Mobile Source Emissions Control
The federal Clean Air Act imposes stringent limits on the amount of regulated pollutants that lawfully may be emitted by new vehicles and engines produced for sale in the United States. The current (“Tier 2”) emissions regulations promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency, or the EPA, set standards for motorcycles. Tier 2 emissions standards also establish durability requirements for emissions components to 5 years or 30,000 kilometers.
California has received a waiver from the EPA to establish its own unique emissions control standards for certain regulated pollutants. New vehicles and engines sold in California must be certified by the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”). CARB’s emissions standards for motorcycles are in line with those of the EPA. We currently expect that our vehicles will meet and exceed both the EPA’s and CARB’s standards.
Motor Vehicle Safety
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) defines a motorcycle as “a motor vehicle with motive power having a seat or saddle for the use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground.” In order for a manufacturer to sell motorcycles in the U.S., the manufacturer has to self-certify to meet a certain set of regulatory requirements promulgated by the NHTSA in its Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (“FMVSS”).
AYRO’s FMVSS strategy is designed to meet both federal motorcycle and state-specific autocycle requirements, as applicable, and conform as much as possible to automotive FMVSS requirements while not violating the motorcycle requirements that AYRO must meet.
The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, or “Safety Act,” regulates vehicles and vehicle equipment in two primary ways. First, the Safety Act prohibits the sale in the United States of any new vehicle or equipment that does not conform to applicable vehicle safety standards established by NHTSA. Meeting or exceeding many safety standards is costly, in part because the standards tend to conflict with the need to reduce vehicle weight in order to meet emissions and fuel economy standards. Second, the Safety Act requires that defects related to motor vehicle safety be remedied through safety recall campaigns. A manufacturer is obligated to recall vehicles if it determines the vehicles do not comply with a safety standard If we or NHTSA determine that either a safety defect or noncompliance exists with respect to any of our vehicles, the cost of such recall campaigns could be substantial.
Operator’s License and Helmet Requirements
State regulations regarding operator licensing and occupant helmet requirements are currently a nationwide patchwork with regard to certain three-wheeled vehicles that may be classified as autocycles. While the strong majority of states have some form of exemption from helmet and motorcycle license requirements for three-wheeled vehicles qualifying as autocycles, the specific wording of each state’s statute may or may not include our three-wheeled vehicles. For example, in a selection of our larger market potential states of California, Texas and Florida, three-wheeled vehicles that are “fully enclosed” or “enclosed cab” are exempt from helmet and motorcycle endorsement requirements. In addition, for states that have passed specific autocycle requirements, many require that the vehicle have standard operating controls (accelerator and brakes) and a standard steering wheel, plus additional requirements. Our three-wheeled vehicles will offer standard controls to meet requirements aligned with these elements.
Our advocacy strategy involves creating a plan to work with state legislatures to advocate the normalization of these rules to reduce consumer confusion in the marketplace that comes from conflicting state-by-state regulations. Additionally, new products brought to market are designed in accordance with the most-restrictive state autocycle and vehicle laws so as to comply with all state laws and regulations.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Certification
Our product programs are built on plug-in electric, zero emissions platforms. We report federal and state emissions data consistent with 10 CFR 474 and CARB requirements for Zero-Emission Vehicle certification.
Electromagnetic Compatibility
The Federal Communications Commission is the federal agency responsible for implementing and enforcing the communications law and regulations, including title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations, specifically Part 15, which regulates unlicensed radio-frequency transmissions, both intentional and unintentional. With very few exceptions, all electronics devices must be reviewed to comply with Part 15 before they can be advertised or sold in the U.S. market.
Motor Vehicle Manufacturer and Dealer Regulation
As with helmet laws and driver license requirements, state laws that regulate the manufacture, distribution, and sale of motor vehicles are a patchwork, nationwide. Our agreement with Club Car aims to provide U.S. and targeted countries channel and dealer coverage. For our electric vehicles, outside of our collaboration with Club Car or another third-party sales/distribution white label partner, we plan on a multi-faceted approach to sales, including exploring the following: (i) developing an expanded network of channel partners; (ii) entering into direct sales via a national leasing company that will in turn consummate sales with end users in a variety of states; and/or (iii) opening facilities in high growth states and delivering the vehicle to the end user via a common carrier.
We are registered as a manufacturer in Texas, California, Colorado, Louisiana, Florida and Arizona.
Pollution Control Costs
We are required to comply with stationary source air pollution, water pollution, and hazardous waste control standards that are now in effect or are scheduled to come into effect with respect to our manufacturing operations.
Research and Development
Our product development and engineering efforts align with the Society of Automotive Engineering (“SAE”) J2258_201611 standards for Light Utility Vehicles. The J2258 standard provides key compliance criteria for Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (“GVWR”), occupant protection and safety restraint systems, lateral and longitudinal stability, center of gravity and operating controls, among others. Our test validation and inspection standards follow FMVSS 49 CFR 571.500 for LSVs with the additions of SAE J585 and FMVSS 111 for rear visibility, lighting, signaling, reflectors, changes in direction of movement, back-up camera response timing and field of view.
Our development standards and test compliance validation processes are supported by a variety of test documentation including supplier self-reporting, third party laboratory test reports and regional compliance validation with CARB for speed, range and environmental performance.
Our production system follows a lean, cell-based manufacturing model. The process involves the following five sequential cells: (1) cab preparation, (2) chassis preparation, (3) system integration and testing, (4) final assembly and integration test, and (5) QA & FMVSS Compliance. Assembly quality and shift efficiency metrics are measured daily by our production staff at end of every shift.
We maintain a certification and compliance check list for each vehicle. Our three and four-wheeled vehicles use an automotive style steering wheel, turn signal stalk, headlight, running light and reverse light controls, a multi-speed windshield wiper and washer and an accelerator and brake pedal consistent with controls employed in standard passenger cars. As the AYRO 411 Fleet vehicles are direct drive vehicles, there is no stick shift, clutch, paddle shift, or belt driven CSV (continuously variable) transmission needed to operate the vehicles within the intended torque band and speed range. Accordingly, our vehicles are homologated under existing U.S., state and local LSV requirements and the corresponding motorcycle and autocycle requirements under 49 CFR 571.3.
Segment Information
We operate as one reportable segment, which is the design, development, manufacturing and sales of electric vehicles.
Employees
As of December 31, 2020, we had 26 full-time employees. None of our employees are represented by a labor union, and we maintain good relations with our employees. We have not furloughed employees due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In an effort to attract and retain quality employees, we offer industry-standard compensation and benefits packages to our employees and prospective employees.
Geographic Areas
We operate in the United States and all our revenue was generated in the United States during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. All of our assets are held in United States.
Corporate History
Merger
On May 28, 2020, pursuant to the Merger Agreement, by and among the Company, Merger Sub, and AYRO Operating, Merger Sub was merged with and into AYRO Operating, with AYRO Operating continuing after the merger as the surviving entity and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. At the effective time of the Merger, without any action on the part of any stockholder, each issued and outstanding share of AYRO Operating’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “AYRO Operating Common Stock”), including shares underlying AYRO Operating’s outstanding equity awards and warrants, was converted into the right to receive 1.3634 shares (the “Exchange Ratio”) of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Company Common Stock”). Immediately following the effective time of the Merger, the Company effected a 1-for-10 reverse stock split of the issued and outstanding Company Common Stock (the “Reverse Stock Split”), and immediately following the Reverse Stock Split, the Company issued a stock dividend of one share of Company Common Stock for each outstanding share of AYRO Operating Common Stock to all holders of record immediately following the effective time of the Reverse Stock Split (the “Stock Dividend”). The net result of the Reverse Stock Split and the Stock Dividend was a 1-for-5 reverse stock split. Upon completion of the Merger and the transactions contemplated in the Merger Agreement and assuming the exercise in full of all pre-funded warrants issued pursuant thereto, (i) the former AYRO Operating equity holders (including the investors in a bridge financing and in private placements that closed prior to closing of the Merger) owned approximately 79% of the outstanding equity of the Company; (ii) former DropCar stockholders owned approximately 18% of the outstanding equity of the Company; and (iii) a financial advisor to DropCar and AYRO owned approximately 3% of the outstanding equity of the Company.
The Merger was treated as a reverse recapitalization effected by a share exchange for financial accounting and reporting purposes because substantially all of DropCar, Inc.’s operations were disposed of as part of the consummation of the Merger and therefore no goodwill or other intangible assets were recorded by the Company as a result of the Merger. AYRO Operating was treated as the accounting acquirer, as its stockholders controlled the Company after the Merger, even though DropCar, Inc. was the legal acquirer. As a result, the assets and liabilities and the historical operations that are reflected in our consolidated financial statements are those of AYRO Operating as if AYRO Operating had always been the reporting company. All references to AYRO Operating, Inc. shares of common stock, warrants and options have been presented on a post-merger, post-reverse split basis.
Closing of Asset Purchase Agreement
On December 19, 2019, DropCar entered into an asset purchase agreement (the “Asset Purchase Agreement”) with DC Partners Acquisition, LLC (“DC Partners”), Spencer Richardson and David Newman, pursuant to which DropCar agreed to sell substantially all of the assets associated with its business of providing vehicle support, fleet logistics and concierge services for both consumers and the automotive industry to an entity controlled by Messrs. Richardson and Newman, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Business Development Officer at the time, respectively. The aggregate purchase price for the purchased assets consisted of the cancellation of certain liabilities pursuant to those certain employment agreements by and between DropCar and each of Messrs. Richardson and Newman, plus the assumption of certain liabilities relating to, or arising out of, workers’ compensation claims that occurred prior to the closing date of the Asset Purchase Agreement. On May 28, 2020, the parties to the Asset Purchase Agreement entered into Amendment No. 1 to the Asset Purchase Agreement (the “Asset Purchase Agreement Amendment”), which Asset Purchase Agreement Amendment (i) provides for the inclusion of up to $0.03 million in refunds associated with certain insurance premiums as assets being purchased by DC Partners, (ii) amends the covenant associated with the funding of the DropCar business, such that DropCar provided the DropCar business with additional funding of approximately $0.18 million at the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Asset Purchase Agreement and (iii) provides for a current employee of the Company being transferred to DC Partners to provide transition services to the Company for a period of three months after the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Asset Purchase Agreement. The Asset Purchase Agreement closed on May 28, 2020, immediately following the consummation of the Merger.
Corporate Information
Our corporate headquarter is located at 900 E. Old Settlers Blvd, Round Rock, Texas 78664. Our phone number is 512-994-4917. Our website address is www.ayro.com. The information on, or that can be accessed through, our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report. We currently lease approximately 23,927 square feet of office and warehouse space under a lease that expires on March 31, 2027.
Available Information
We make available, free of charge, our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to these reports on our website at www.ayro.com as soon as reasonably practicable after those reports and other information is electronically filed with, or furnished to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Our business, financial condition and operating results can be affected by a number of factors, whether currently known or unknown, including but not limited to those described below, any one or more of which could, directly or indirectly, cause our actual financial condition and operating results to vary materially from past, or from anticipated future, financial condition and operating results. Any of these factors, in whole or in part, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results and stock price. The following discussion of risk factors contains forward-looking statements. See “Forward-Looking Statements.” These risk factors may be important to understanding other statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Risks Related to Our Business
We have a history of losses and have never been profitable. We expect to incur additional losses in the future and may never be profitable.
We have never been profitable or generated positive cash flow from our operations. We have incurred a net loss in each year since our inception in 2016 and have generated limited revenues since inception, principally as a result of our investments in building infrastructure in support of our manufacturing and business operations and plans for growth. We experienced net losses of approximately $10.8 million and $8.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019. As of December 31, 2020, we had an accumulated deficit of approximately $25.2 million. We may incur significant additional losses as we continue to focus our resources on scaling up our operations for growth and incur significant future expenditures for research and development, sales and marketing, and general and administrative expenses, capital expenses and working capital fluctuations.
Our ability to generate revenue and achieve profitability depends mainly upon our ability, alone or with others, to successfully market our products to meet the market demand and maintain compliance with the rules, regulations and laws of federal, state, local and international governmental bodies. We may be unable to achieve any or all of these goals with regard to our products. Our future vehicle roadmap requires significant investment prior to commercial introduction, but these vehicles may never be successfully designed, engineered, manufactured or sold. Moreover, scaling up of our operations, launching additional products and expanding our sales territories will require significant additional investment. We will continue to incur losses until such time that our vehicle sales volume supports our underlying overhead costs. As a result, we may never be profitable or achieve significant and/or sustained revenues. Even if we are successful in generating revenue and increasing our customer base, we may not become profitable in the future or may be unable to maintain any profitability achieved if we fail to increase our revenue and manage our operating expenses or if we incur unanticipated liabilities.
The market for our products is developing and may not develop as expected.
The market for our electric vehicles is developing and may not develop as expected by us. The market for alternative fuel vehicles is relatively new, rapidly evolving, characterized by rapidly changing technologies, price competition, additional competitors, evolving multi-level government regulations and industry standards, frequent new vehicle announcements and changing consumer demands and behaviors. The electric vehicle market is in its early stage where many standards and best practices have not been established or are constantly evolving, and it may take many years for the market to fully mature.
We believe our future success will depend in large part on our ability to quickly and efficiently adapt to both the market demand for products and features, as well as adapt to newly created statutory laws at federal, state, local and international levels. Due to the nature of the electronic vehicle market still in development, it is difficult to predict the demands for our electric vehicles and ancillary services and products, as well as the size and growth rate for this market, the entry of competitive products, or the success of existing competitive products. If a meaningful market for our vehicles does not develop, we will not be successful.
Our business, results of operations and financial condition may be materially adversely impacted by public health epidemics, including the recent coronavirus outbreak.
Our business, results of operations and financial condition may be materially adversely impacted if a public health epidemic, including the recent coronavirus outbreak, interferes with our ability, or the ability of our employees, workers, contractors, suppliers and other business partners to perform our and their respective responsibilities and obligations relative to the conduct of our business. A public health epidemic, including the coronavirus, poses the risk of disruptions from the temporary closure of third-party suppliers and manufacturers, restrictions on our employees’ and other service providers’ ability to travel, the decreased willingness or ability of our customers to test drive or purchase our vehicles and shutdowns that may be requested or mandated by governmental authorities. Our business, results of operations and financial condition have been adversely impacted by the recent coronavirus outbreak both in China and the United States. This has delayed our ability to timely procure raw materials from our supplier in China, which, in turn, has delayed shipments to and corresponding revenue from customers. The pandemic and social distancing directives have interfered with our ability, or the ability of our employees, workers, contractors, suppliers and other business partners to perform our and their respective responsibilities and obligations relative to the conduct of our business. The COVID-19 pandemic epidemic poses restrictions on our employees’ and other service providers’ ability to travel on pre-sales meetings, customers’ abilities to physically meet with our employees and the ability of our customers to test drive or purchase our vehicles and shutdowns that may be requested or mandated by governmental authorities. The extent to which the coronavirus may continue to impact our results will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of the coronavirus and the actions to contain the coronavirus or treat its impact, among others.
Our limited operating history makes evaluating our business and prospects difficult and may increase the risk of any investment in our securities.
Our limited operating history makes evaluating our business and prospects difficult and may increase the risk of your investment. Our operating results have fluctuated in the past and may fluctuate significantly in the future, which makes it difficult to predict our future operating results. Any substantial adjustment to overhead expenses to account for lower levels of sales is difficult and takes time, thus we may not be able to reduce our costs sufficiently to compensate for a shortfall in net sales, and even a small shortfall in net sales could disproportionately and adversely affect our operating margin and operating results for a given period.
Our operating results may also fluctuate due to a variety of other factors, many of which are outside our control, including the changing and volatile local, national, and international economic environments. Besides the other risks in this “Risk Factors” section, factors that may affect our operations include:
● fluctuations in demand for our products;
● the inherent complexity, length, and associated unpredictability of product development windows and product lifecycles;
● changes in customers’ budgets for technology purchases and delays in their purchasing cycles;
● changes in customer preferences;
● changing market conditions;
● any significant changes in the competitive dynamics of our markets, including new entrants or further consolidation;
● our ability to continue to broaden our customer and dealer base beyond our traditional customers and dealers;
● our ability to broaden our geographical markets;
● the timing of product releases or upgrades by us or our competitors; and
● our ability to develop, introduce, and ship in a timely manner new products and product enhancements and anticipate future market demands that meet customers’ requirements.
Each of these factors individually, or the cumulative effect of two or more of these factors, could result in large fluctuations in our quarterly and annual operating results. As a result, comparing our operating results on a period-to-period basis may not be meaningful, and our operating results for any given period may fall below expectations or our guidance. You should not rely on our past results as an indication of future performance.
If we are unable to effectively implement or manage our growth strategy, our operating results and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.
Our ability to generate and grow revenue will depend, in part, on our ability to execute our business plan, expand our business model and develop new products in a timely manner. As part of our growth strategy, we may modify our distribution channels and engage in strategic transactions with third parties to access additional sales and distribution channels and accelerate product adoption for particular vertical markets, open new manufacturing, research or engineering facilities or expand our existing facilities. We also plan to add additional product lines and expand our businesses into new geographical markets. There is a range of risks inherent in such a strategy that could adversely affect our ability to successfully achieve these objectives, including, but not limited to, the following:
● the potential failure to successfully operate our dealer-distribution channels;
● an inability to attract and retain customers, employees, suppliers and/or marketing partners;
● the uncertainty that we may not be able to generate, anticipate or meet consumer demand;
● the potential disruption of our business;
● the increased scope and complexity of our operations could require significant attention from management and impose constraints on our operations or other projects;
● inconsistencies between our standards, procedures and policies and those of new points of sale or dealerships and costs or inefficiencies associated with the integration of our operational and administrative systems, if necessary;
● unforeseen expenses, delays or conditions, including the potential for increased regulatory compliance or other third-party approvals or consents, or provisions in contracts with third parties that could limit our flexibility to take certain actions;
● the costs of compliance with local laws and regulations and the implementation of compliance processes, as well as the assumption of unexpected labilities, litigation, penalties or other enforcement actions;
● the uncertainty that new product lines or ancillary services will generate anticipated sales;
● the uncertainty that the expanded operations will achieve anticipated operating results;
● the difficulty of managing the operations of a larger company;
● the difficulty of competing for growth opportunities with companies that have greater financial resources than us; and
● the ability of our suppliers to support consumer demand.
Any one of these factors could impair our growth strategy, result in delays, increased costs or decreases in the amount of expected revenues derived from our growth strategy and could adversely impact our prospects, business, financial condition or results of operations.
A significant portion of our revenues are derived from a single customer. If we were to lose this customer, our sales could decrease significantly.
In March 2019, we entered the MPA with Club Car, which grants Club Car the exclusive right to sell the AYRO 411 Fleet in North America, provided that Club Car orders at least 500 AYRO vehicles per year. For the year ended December 31, 2020, revenues from Club Car constituted approximately 68% of our revenues as compared to 75% in 2019. For the year 2021, a majority of our revenue is projected to be generated from Club Car pursuant to the MPA. We are therefore highly dependent on a single customer to generate a material percentage of our annual revenues, and the lack of adoption, failure to achieve reasonable “sell through” rates by the customer’s dealers, unfavorable dealer/customer experience or discontinuation or modification of terms may materially and adversely affect our sales and results of operations. Any loss of, or a significant reduction in purchases by, Club Car that constitutes a significant portion of our sales could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and operating results.
Our future growth depends on customers’ willingness to adopt electric vehicles.
If there is lower market demand for our electric vehicles than we expect in the target markets, which include universities, food delivery services, last mile delivery service, municipalities and on-road and personal transportation, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results will be negatively impacted. Potential customers may be reluctant to adopt electric vehicles as an alternative to traditional internal combustion engine vehicles or other electric vehicles due to various factors, which include but are not limited to:
● perceptions or negative publicity about electric vehicle quality, dependability, safety, stability of lithium-ion battery packs, utility, performance and cost regarding our vehicles or electric vehicles sold by other manufacturers, especially if accidents or certain events create a negative public perception;
● local, regional, national and international investment in charging infrastructure, standardization of electric vehicle charging systems and cost of charging that may impact adaptability for the overall electric vehicle market;
● the limited range of the vehicle on a single battery charge cycle;
● the impact of driving habits and terrain on the battery life, especially the differences with internal combustion engines;
● the deterioration rate of the battery packs that are impacted by many external factors, including, but not limited to, overall life, environmental conditions, dormant time, and number of lifetime charge cycles and these factors’ impacts on the batteries’ ability to maintain an adequate charge;
● the access to knowledgeable service locations to support our electric vehicles;
● the price of alternative fuel sources, such as gasoline as an alternative to the cost of charging electricity; and
● the availability of governmental incentive and tax deductions and credits offered to consumers for purchasing and using electric vehicles.
Any of the above factors may hinder widespread adoption of electric vehicles and influence prospective customers and dealers to decide not to purchase our electric vehicles. Such issues would have an adverse material effect on our consolidated financial statements of operations, financial conditions, ability to develop strategic partnerships and ability to raise additional funding. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic may negatively impact the transportation and automotive industries and consumer behavior long-term.
We may experience lower-than-anticipated market acceptance of our current models and the vehicles in development.
Our projected growth depends upon the end-consumers’ mass adoption of our purpose-built electric vehicles. Although we have conducted some market research regarding our electric vehicles we currently sell or are developing, many factors both within and outside our control affect the success of our vehicles in the marketplace. At this time, it is difficult to measure consumers’ willingness to adopt purpose-built electric vehicles, particularly two-passenger electric vehicles. Offering fuel-efficient vehicles that consumers want and value can mitigate the risks of increasing price competition and declining demand, but vehicles that are perceived to be less desirable (whether in terms of price, quality, styling, safety, overall value, or other attributes) can exacerbate these risks. For example, if a new vehicle encountered quality issues at the time of launch, the vehicle’s perceived quality could be affected even after the issues had been corrected, resulting in lower than anticipated sales volumes, market share, and profitability. Moreover, if a new vehicle is not accepted by consumers based on size, styling, or other attributes, we would experience lower than anticipated sales volumes, market share, and profitability. If our vehicles are not adopted or there is a reduction in demand for our products caused by a lack of customer acceptance, a slowdown in demand for electronic transportation solutions, battery safety concerns, technological challenges, battery life issues, competing technologies and products, decreases in discretionary spending, weakening economic conditions, or otherwise, the reduction in demand could result in reduced customer orders, early order cancellations, the loss of customers, or decreased sales, any of which would adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition.
If we are unable to manage our growth and expand our operations successfully, our business and operating results will be harmed, and our reputation may be damaged.
We have been expanding our operations significantly since our inception and anticipate that further significant expansion will be required to achieve our business objectives. The growth and expansion of our business and product offerings places a continuous and significant strain on our management, operational and financial resources. Any such future growth would also add complexity to and require effective coordination throughout our organization. Our future operating results depend to a large extent on our ability to manage this expansion and growth successfully. Risks that we face in undertaking this expansion include:
● establishing sufficient sales, service and service facilities in a timely manner;
● forecasting production and revenue;
● training new personnel;
● controlling expenses and investments in anticipation of expanded operations;
● establishing or expanding design, manufacturing, sales and service facilities;
● implementing and enhancing administrative infrastructure, systems and processes;
● addressing new markets;
● expanding operations and finding and hiring a significant number of additional personnel, including manufacturing personnel, design personnel, engineers and service technicians; and
● securing sub-assemblies and other raw materials from our suppliers to support growth.
In this regard, we will be required to continue to improve our operational, financial and management controls and our reporting procedures, and we may not be able to successfully implement improvements to these systems and processes in a timely or efficient manner, which could result in additional operating inefficiencies and could cause our costs to increase more than planned. If we do increase our operating expenses in anticipation of the growth of our business and this growth does not meet our expectations, our operating results and gross margin will be negatively impacted. If we are unable to manage future expansion, our ability to provide high quality products could be harmed, damage our reputation and brand and may have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
Developments in alternative technologies or improvements in the internal combustion engine may have a materially adverse effect on the demand for our electric vehicles.
Significant developments related to ethanol or compressed natural gas, or improvements in the fuel economy of the internal combustion engine or hybrids, may materially and adversely affect our business and prospects in ways we do not currently anticipate. For example, types of fuel that are abundant and relatively inexpensive in North America, such as compressed natural gas, may emerge as consumers’ preferred alternative to petroleum-based propulsion. If alternative energy engines or low gasoline prices make existing four-wheeled vehicles with greater passenger and cargo capacities less expensive to operate, we may not be able to compete with manufacturers of such vehicles. Furthermore, given the rapidly changing nature of the electric vehicle market, there can be no assurance that our vehicles and technology will not be rendered obsolete by alternative or competing technologies. Any material change in the existing technologies may cause delays in our development and introduction of new or upgraded vehicles, which could result in the loss of competitiveness of our vehicles, decreased revenue and a loss of market share to competitors.
The markets in which we operate are highly competitive, and we may not be successful in competing in these industries. We currently face competition from new and established domestic and international competitors and expect to face competition from others in the future, including competition from companies with new technology.
We face significant competition, and there is no assurance that our vehicles will be successful in the respective markets in which they compete. The worldwide vehicle market, particularly for alternative fuel vehicles, is highly competitive today and we expect it will become even more so in the future. Established automobile manufacturers such as General Motors, Ford, Nissan and Toyota, as well as other newer companies such as Tesla, Arcimoto and Electrameccanica, have entered or are reported to have plans to enter the alternative fuel vehicle market, including hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles. In some cases, such competitors have announced an intention to now or at some point in the future produce electric vehicles exclusively. As the LSEV market grows increasingly saturated, we expect to experience significant competition. The most competitive companies in the global LSEV market include HDK Electric Vehicles, Bradshaw Electric Vehicles, Textron Inc., Polaris Industries, Yamaha Motors Co. Ltd., Ingersoll Rand, Inc., Speedway Electric, AGT Electric Cars, Bintelli Electric Vehicles and Ligier Group. Many of our existing or potential competitors have substantially greater financial, technical and human resources than us, and significantly greater experience in manufacturing, designing and selling electric vehicles, as well as in clearing regulatory requirements of those vehicles in the United States and in foreign countries. Many of our current and potential future competitors also have significantly more experience designing, building and selling electric vehicles at commercial, or fleet, scale. Large automobile or equipment manufacturers with greater purchasing power allow them to acquire raw materials at a much lower cost. Additionally, the large traditional manufacturer has more ready access to efficient design, testing and service facilities. We do not have the company history, facilities or capital to properly compete with large traditional manufacturers should they decide to enter our market. Mergers and acquisitions in the electric vehicle market could result in even more resources being concentrated among a smaller number of our competitors. Increased competition could result in lower vehicle unit sales, price reductions, revenue shortfalls, loss of customers and loss of market share, which could harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. Additionally, industry overcapacity has resulted in many manufacturers offering marketing incentives on vehicles in an attempt to maintain and grow market share; these incentives historically have included a combination of subsidized financing or leasing programs, price rebates, and other incentives. As a result, we are not necessarily able to set our prices to offset higher costs. Continuation of or increased excess capacity could have a substantial adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
New entrants seeking to gain market share by introducing new technology, attractive feature sets, new products and development of longer-life power packs may make it more difficult for us to sell our vehicles and earn design wins which could create increased pricing pressure, reduced profit margins, increased sales and marketing expenses, or the loss of market share or expected market share, any of which may significantly harm our business, operating results and financial condition.
Our future success depends on our ability to identify additional market opportunities and develop and successfully introduce new and enhanced products that address such markets and meet the needs of customers in such markets.
We may not be able to successfully develop new electric vehicles, address new market segments or develop a broader customer base. We currently sell one four-wheeled truck, from which all of our revenues are derived. We are currently developing our next generation three-wheeled vehicle. Our future success will be dependent on our ability to address additional markets, anticipate our existing and prospective customers’ needs and develop new vehicle models that meet those needs. In particular, we are currently developing a new series of automotive-grade autocycles, engineered and optimized to meet targeted use cases such as last mile and urban delivery and are also working on Club Car’s next generation, electric light duty trucks and developing a new purpose-built vehicle with Club Car. We will have to incorporate the latest technological improvements and enhancements into our future vehicles to be able to compete in the rapidly evolving electric vehicle industry and the target markets. There can be no assurance that we will be able to design future models of vehicles, or develop future services, that will meet the expectations of our customers or address market demands, or that our future models will achieve market acceptance or become commercially viable.
In order to introduce new products and product enhancements, we will have to coordinate with our suppliers and other third parties to design a new model or an enhanced version of an existing model that offer features desired by our customers and a level of performance and functionality or cost-effectiveness superior to the vehicles offered by our competitors. If we fail to coordinate these efforts and achieve market introduction and acceptance of new or upgraded vehicles models that address the needs of our customers in a timely manner, our operating results will be materially and adversely affected, and our business and prospects will be harmed.
Furthermore, we will need to address additional markets and expand our customer demographic to further grow our business. Our failure to address additional market opportunities could materially harm our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects.
If we fail to include key feature sets relative to the target markets for our electric vehicles, our business will be harmed.
Achieving design wins to support the needs of our target markets is an important success factor for our business. In order to achieve design wins, we must:
● anticipate the features and functionality that OEMs, customers and consumers will demand;
● successfully incorporate those features and functionalities into products that meet the exacting design requirements of our customers; and
● price our products competitively.
Failure to maintain our expertise and inability to deliver custom, specific design systems could harm our business.
Unanticipated changes in industry standards could render our vehicles incompatible with such standards and adversely affect our business.
The emergence of new industry standards and technical requirements could render our vehicles incompatible with vehicles developed by competitors or make it difficult for our products to meet the requirements of our end-customers. Moreover, the introduction of new industry standards, or changes to existing industry standards, could cause us to incur substantial development costs to adapt to these new or changed standards, particularly if we were to achieve, or be perceived as likely to achieve, greater penetration in the marketplace. If our vehicles are not in compliance with prevailing industry standards and technical requirements for a significant period of time, we could miss opportunities to achieve crucial design wins, our revenue may decline and we may incur significant expenses to redesign our vehicles to meet the relevant standards, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and prospects.
We rely on and intend to continue to rely on a single third-party supplier and manufacturer located in the People’s Republic of China for the sub-assemblies in semi-knocked-down for all of our vehicles. Any disruption in the operations of this third-party supplier could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
As part of our strategy to minimize our capital expenditures on manufacturing infrastructure, we currently rely on Cenntro for the sub-assemblies for the AYRO 411 Fleet vehicles. Cenntro also owns the design of the AYRO 411 Fleet and has granted us an exclusive license to purchase the AYRO 411 Fleet for sale in North America. Our dependence on a single supplier and manufacturer, and the challenges we may face in obtaining adequate supplies and vehicle kits required to assemble our vehicles, involve several risks, including limited control over pricing, availability, quality and delivery schedules.
We cannot be certain that Cenntro will continue to provide us with the quantities of the sub-assembles that we require or satisfy our anticipated specifications and quality requirements. If Cenntro experiences unanticipated delays, disruptions or shutdowns or is unable to ship required raw materials, sub-assemblies, replacement or warranty parts for any reason, within or outside of Cenntro’s control, our manufacturing operations and customer deliveries would be seriously impacted. Although we believe we could locate alternative suppliers to fulfill our needs, we may be unable to find a sufficient alternative supply channel in a reasonable time or on commercially reasonable terms or develop our own replacements, especially when we rely on the license granted by Cenntro, who owns the design of the AYRO 411 Fleet. In December 2019, a strain of coronavirus, or COVID-19, was reported to have surfaced in Wuhan, China, resulting in government-imposed quarantines and other public health safety measures. The extent to which the coronavirus may impact our operations continues to be uncertain; however, the outbreak and continuous spreading of the coronavirus has caused, and could in the future cause, delays or disruptions in our supply chain and in the delivery of raw materials from Cenntro or our other suppliers located in China, which would be disruptive to the manufacturing of the vehicles and would adversely impact our business. In addition, the spreading of the virus may make it more difficult for us in finding alternative manufactures or suppliers due to the high concentration of such manufacturers or suppliers located in China. Any performance failure on the part of Cenntro or any other of our significant suppliers could interrupt production of our vehicles, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
Additionally, because Cenntro’s factories are located in the People’s Republic of China, nation-to-nation quarantining and embargo restrictions and/or regulations could be established by either the United States or Chinese governments, precluding us from sourcing the raw materials needed in a timely manner. This would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
Unforeseen or recurring operational problems at ours or our prime supplier’s facilities, or a catastrophic loss of ours or our prime supplier’s manufacturing facilities, may cause significant lost or delayed production and adversely affect our results of operations.
We import sub-assemblies from Cenntro and perform final assembly, testing and safety qualifications in our facility in Round Rock, Texas in an assembly line process. Our manufacturing process could be affected by operational problems that could impair our production capability and the timeframes within which we expect to produce our vehicles. Disruptions or shutdowns at our assembly facility could be caused by:
● maintenance outages to conduct maintenance activities that cannot be performed safely during operations;
● pandemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and related governmental responses that may restrict our ability to operate;
● prolonged power failures or reductions;
● breakdown, failure or substandard performance of any of our machines or other equipment;
● noncompliance with, and liabilities related to, environmental requirements or permits;
● disruptions in the transportation infrastructure, including railroad tracks, bridges, tunnels or roads;
● fires, floods, snow or ice storms, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, microbursts or other catastrophic disasters, national emergencies, political unrest, war or terrorist activities; or
● other operational problems.
● availability of parts, including both batteries and semiconductors, which are used to produce many components of our vehicles.
If our manufacturing facility or that of our prime supplier is compromised or shut down, we may experience prolonged startup periods, regardless of the reason for the compromise or shutdown. Those startup periods could range from several days to several weeks or longer, depending on the reason for the compromise or shutdown and other factors. Any disruption in operations at our facility could cause a significant loss of production, delays in our ability to produce our vehicles and adversely affect our results of operations and negatively impact our customers. Further, a catastrophic event could result in the loss of the use of all or a portion of our manufacturing facility. Although we carry property insurance, our coverage may not be adequate to compensate us for all losses that may occur. Any of these events individually or in the aggregate could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.
We may become subject to product liability claims, which could harm our financial condition and liquidity if we are not able to successfully defend or insure against such claims.
We may become subject to product liability claims, which could harm our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition. The automobile industry experiences significant product liability claims, and we face an inherent risk of exposure to claims in the event our vehicles do not perform as expected or malfunction resulting in personal injury or death. Our risks in this area are particularly pronounced given that our vehicles have a limited commercial history. A successful product liability claim against us that exceeds our product liability insurance limits could require us to pay a substantial monetary award. Moreover, a product liability claim could generate substantial negative publicity about our vehicles and business and inhibit or prevent commercialization of other future vehicles, which would have a material adverse effect on our brand, business, prospects and operating results. We maintain product liability insurance for all of our vehicles with annual limits of $10.0 million on a claims-made basis, but any such insurance might not be sufficient to cover all potential product liability claims. Any lawsuit seeking significant monetary damages either in excess of our coverage, or outside of our coverage, may have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business and financial condition. We may not be able to secure additional product liability insurance coverage on commercially acceptable terms or at reasonable costs when needed, particularly if we do face liability for our vehicles and are forced to make a claim under our policy.
If our vehicles fail to perform as expected due to defects, our ability to develop, market and sell our electric vehicles could be seriously harmed.
Our vehicles may contain defects in design and manufacturing that may cause them not to perform as expected or that may require repair. The discovery of defects in our vehicles would result in delays in new model launches, recall campaigns, reputational damage, or increased warranty costs that may negatively affect our business. Moreover, if one of our vehicles is a cause, or perceived to be the cause, of injury or death to an operator, passenger or bystander, we would likely be subject to a claim. If we were found responsible, we could incur substantial liability which could interrupt or even cause us to terminate some or all of our operations.
Meeting or exceeding many government-mandated safety standards is costly and often technologically challenging. Government safety standards also require manufacturers to remedy defects related to vehicle safety through safety recall campaigns, and a manufacturer is obligated to recall vehicles if it determines that the vehicles do not comply with a safety standard. The costs of recall campaigns or warranty costs to remedy such defects in vehicles that have been sold could be substantial. Further, adverse publicity surrounding actual or alleged safety-related or other defects could damage our reputation and confidence in our vehicles, which would adversely affect sales of our vehicles.
We depend on key personnel to operate our business, and the loss of one or more members of our management team, or our failure to attract, integrate and retain other highly qualified personnel in the future, could harm our business.
We believe our future success will depend in large part upon our ability to attract and retain highly skilled managerial, technical, finance and sales and marketing personnel. We have only one line of business and are highly dependent upon the continued service of our key executive officers and other employees. The loss of and failure to replace key management and personnel could have a serious adverse effect on sales bookings, strategic relationships, manufacturing operations, order fulfilment and customer service, and may adversely impact the achievement of our objectives. Despite our efforts to retain valuable employees, members of our management may terminate their employment with us at any time. Although we have written employment agreements with our executive officers, these employment agreements do not bind these executives for any specific term and allow executive officers to leave at any time, for any reason, with or without cause. We do not maintain any “key-man” insurance policies on any of the key employees nor do we intend to obtain such insurance.
Recruiting and retaining qualified employees, consultants, and advisors for our business, including sales or technical personnel, is crucial to continue to execute our growth strategy. Because the pool of qualified personnel with engineering or manufacturing experience and/or experience working in the electric vehicle market is limited overall, recruitment and retention of senior management and skilled technical, sales and other personnel is very competitive. Many of the companies with which we compete for experienced personnel have greater resources than us. We are also at a disadvantage in recruiting and retaining key personnel, as our small size and limited resources may be viewed as providing a less stable environment with fewer opportunities than would be offered at one of our larger competitors. As a result, we may not be successful in either attracting or retaining such personnel and/or on acceptable terms given the competition and may be required to increase the level of compensation paid to existing and new employees, which could materially increase our operating expenses. In addition, failure to succeed in expansion of our operations may make it more challenging to recruit and retain qualified personnel.
Our management has minimal experience in mass-producing electric vehicles.
Our management has never mass-produced electric vehicles, which generally involves manufacturing process challenges, such as manufacturing to meet the volumes forecasted and efficiently and effectively managing supply chain sources for materials. If the materials suppliers are not managed properly to support vehicle demand, our results of operations and working capital can be adversely affected. If we are unable to implement our business plans in the timeframe estimated by management and successfully transition into a mass-producing electric vehicle manufacturing business, we will not be able to scale up our operations to generate greater profit. As a result, our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition will be negatively impacted and our ability to grow our business will be harmed.
Furthermore, as the scale of our vehicle production increases, we will need to accurately forecast, purchase, warehouse and transport to our manufacturing facilities components at much higher volumes than we have done in the past. If we are unable to accurately match the timing and quantities of component purchases to our actual production plans or capabilities, or successfully implement automation, inventory management and other systems to accommodate the increased complexity in our supply chain, we may have to incur unexpected storage, transportation and write-off costs, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and operating results.
We currently have limited electric vehicles marketing and sales experience. If we are unable to establish sales and marketing capabilities or enter into dealer agreements to market and sell our vehicles, we may be unable to generate any revenue.
We have limited experience selling and marketing our vehicles, and we currently have minimal marketing or sales organization. To successfully expand our operations, we will need to invest in and develop these capabilities, either on our own or with others, which would be expensive, difficult and time consuming. Any failure or delay in the timely development of our internal sales and marketing capabilities could adversely impact the potential for success of our products.
Further, given our lack of prior experience in marketing and selling electric vehicles, we rely on third-party dealers to market our vehicles. If these dealers do not commit sufficient resources to market our vehicles and we are unable to develop the necessary marketing and sales capabilities on our own, including developing a direct sales channel with our end-customers, we will be unable to generate sufficient revenue from the sale of our vehicles to sustain or grow our business. We may be competing with companies that currently have extensive and well-funded marketing and sales operations, particularly in the markets we are targeting. Without appropriate capabilities, whether directly or through third-party dealerships, we may be unable to compete successfully against these more established companies.
Failure to maintain the strength and value of our brand could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our success depends, in part, on the value and strength of our brand. Maintaining, enhancing, promoting and positioning our brand, particularly in new markets where we have limited brand recognition, will depend largely on the success of our marketing and merchandising efforts and our ability to provide high-quality services, warranty plans, products and resources and a consistent, high-quality customer experience. Our brand could be adversely affected if we fail to achieve these objectives, if we fail to comply with laws and regulations, if we are subject to publicized litigation or if our public image or reputation were to be tarnished by negative publicity. Some of these risks may be beyond our ability to control, such as the effects of negative publicity regarding our suppliers or third-party providers of services or other electric transportation companies or their products or negative publicity related to members of management. Any of these events could hurt our image, resulting in reduced demand for our products and a decrease in sales. Further, maintaining, enhancing, promoting and positioning our brands’ images may require us to make substantial investments in marketing and employee training, which could adversely affect our cash flow, and which may ultimately be unsuccessful. These factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The range of our electric vehicles on a single charge declines over time which may negatively influence potential customers’ decisions on whether to purchase our vehicles.
The range of our electric vehicles on a single charge declines principally as a function of usage, time and charging patterns. For example, a customer’s use of their vehicle, as well as the frequency with which they charge the battery of their vehicle, can result in additional deterioration of the battery’s ability to hold a charge. Additionally, over time, a battery’s ability to hold its initial charge will degrade. While expected in electric vehicle applications, such battery deterioration and the related decrease in range may negatively influence potential customer decisions as to whether to purchase our vehicles, which may harm our ability to market and sell our vehicles.
We offer a product warranty to cover defective products at no cost to the customer. An unexpected change in failure rates of our products could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and operating results.
We offer product warranties that generally extend for two years from date of sale that require us to repair or replace defective products returned by the customer during the warranty period at no cost to the customer. While defects in the individual parts for our vehicles are currently reimbursed by our supply chain, warranty labor is our responsibility. We record an estimate for anticipated warranty-related costs at the time of sale based on historical and estimated future product return rates and expected repair or replacement costs. While such costs and failure rates have historically been within management’s expectations and the provisions established and we receive warranty coverage from our vendors, unexpected changes in failure rates could have a material adverse impact on our business requiring additional warranty reserves. These failures could adversely impact our operating results.
Increases in costs, disruption of supply or shortage of raw materials, particularly lithium-ion cells, could harm our business.
We may experience increases in the cost or a sustained interruption in the supply or shortage of raw materials. Any such increase or supply interruption could materially negatively impact our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. We use various raw materials in our business, including aluminum, steel, carbon fiber, non-ferrous metals such as copper and cobalt. The prices for these raw materials fluctuate depending on market conditions and global demand for these materials and could adversely affect our business and operating results. For instance, we are exposed to multiple risks relating to price fluctuations for lithium-ion cells. These risks include:
● the inability or unwillingness of current battery manufacturers to build or operate battery cell manufacturing plants to supply the numbers of lithium-ion cells required to support the growth of the electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle industry as demand for such cells increases;
● disruption in the supply of cells due to quality issues or recalls by the battery cell manufacturers; and
● an increase in the cost of raw materials, such as cobalt, used in lithium-ion cells.
Our business depends on the continued supply of battery cells for our vehicles. Any disruption in the supply of battery cells from our suppliers or industry shortage or price escalations could temporarily disrupt the planned production of our vehicles until such time as a different supplier is fully qualified. Moreover, battery cell manufacturers may choose to refuse to supply electric vehicle manufacturers to the extent they determine that the vehicles are not sufficiently safe. Furthermore, current fluctuations or shortages in petroleum, shipping seasonality and government-imposed tariffs and other economic conditions may cause us to experience significant increases in freight charges and raw material costs. Substantial increases in the prices for our raw materials would increase our operating costs and could reduce our margins if we cannot recoup the increased costs through increased electric vehicle prices. We might not be able to recoup increasing costs of raw materials by increasing vehicle prices which could materially adversely affect our business, prospects and operating results.
Our business may be adversely affected by labor and union activities.
Although none of our employees are currently represented by a labor union, it is common throughout the automobile industry generally for many employees at automobile companies to belong to a union, which can result in higher employee costs and increased risk of work stoppages. We rely on other companies in the supply chain with work forces that may or may not be unionized and are thus subject to work stoppages or strikes organized by such unions, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition or operating results. If a work stoppage occurs within our business, or within that of our key suppliers’ businesses, it could delay the manufacturing, sale and shipment of our electric vehicles and have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, operating results or financial condition.
We rely on our dealers for the service of our vehicles and have limited experience servicing our vehicles. If we are unable to address the service requirements of our future customers, our business will be materially and adversely affected.
Currently, our vehicles are serviced by the selling dealer. If the dealer is unable to successfully address the service requirements of our customers, customer confidence in both the vehicles and our brand will erode and our prospects and operating results will be materially and adversely affected. In addition, we anticipate the level and quality of service the dealers will provide to our customers will have a direct impact on the success of our future vehicles. If our dealers are unable to satisfactorily service our customers, our ability to generate customer loyalty, grow our business and sell additional vehicles could be significantly impaired.
Our dealers have very limited experience servicing our vehicles. Servicing electric vehicles is different than servicing vehicles with internal combustion engines and requires specialized skills, including high voltage training and servicing techniques.
If we fail to deliver vehicles and accessories to market as scheduled, our business will be harmed.
A significant amount of our revenue is seasonal. By missing product delivery schedules, we may miss that year’s opportunity to bring and sell a new product to market. Seasonality could be affected by many factors including, but not limited to, governmental fiscal years, as municipalities tend to order vehicles either at the end of their fiscal year when they know they have funds remaining, and summer tourist season for our destination fleet operators, as such customers tend to place their entire orders for delivery in time for the beginning of the tourist season.
Our success depends, in part, on establishing and maintaining good relationships with our network of dealers.
In the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019, we derived 68% and 75% of our vehicle revenue from Club Car under our MPA, for distribution through Club Car dealers. Our success depends, in part, on us establishing and maintaining satisfactory relationships with both the Club Car corporate organization as well as its distribution channels or its dealers. If we were unable to establish and maintain an adequate relationship with Club Car and its dealer network or, once established, if our relationship with Club Car or its dealer network were to be eliminated abruptly or disrupted, it could affect our ability to respond quickly to customers’ needs, resulting in various adverse consequences to us, including loss of sales, reduced cash flow, and/or a shutdown of our operations. In addition, as authorized dealers of our vehicles, the dealers could, through poor performance on such dealer’s part, damage our and our vehicles’ reputation in the marketplace, resulting in a loss of sales and cash flow which could adversely affect our business operations.
Customer financing and insuring our vehicles may prove difficult because retail lenders are unfamiliar with our vehicles and our vehicles have a limited loss history determining residual values and within the insurance industry.
Retail lenders are unfamiliar with our vehicles and may be hesitant to provide financing to our customers. Our vehicles do not have a loss history in the insurance industry, which may cause our customers difficulty in securing insurance coverage.
Failure in our information technology and storage systems could significantly disrupt the operation of our business.
Our ability to execute our business plan and maintain operations depends on the continued and uninterrupted performance of our information technology (“IT”) systems. We must routinely update our IT infrastructure and our various IT systems throughout the organization, or we may not continue to meet our current and future business needs. Modification, upgrade or replacement of such systems may be costly. Furthermore, IT systems are vulnerable to risks and damages from a variety of sources, including telecommunications or network failures, malicious human acts and natural disasters. Moreover, despite network security and back-up measures, some of our and our vendors’ servers are potentially vulnerable to physical or electronic break-ins, computer viruses and similar disruptive problems. Despite precautionary measures to prevent unanticipated problems that could affect our IT systems, sustained or repeated system failures that interrupt our ability to generate and maintain data could adversely affect our ability to operate our business.
Risks Relating to Our Financial Position and Need for Additional Capital
We may be required to raise additional capital to fund our operations, and such capital raising may be costly or difficult to obtain and could dilute our stockholders’ ownership interests.
The design, manufacture, sale and servicing of vehicles is a capital-intensive business, and we may need to raise additional funds to expand our operations and reach vehicle production goals. At December 31, 2020, we had working capital of approximately $38.5 million, and we received subsequent to December 31, 2020 aggregate net proceeds of approximately $56.8 million registered direct offerings that closed in January 2021 and February 2021. Based upon our current expectations, we believe that our existing capital resources, including the proceeds from our registered direct offerings that closed in January 2021 and February 2021, will enable us to continue planned operations through at least March 31, 2022. However, we cannot assure you that our plans will not change or that changed circumstances will not result in the depletion of our capital resources more rapidly than we currently anticipate. If our cash on hand, the funds from the January 2021 and February 2021 registered direct offerings and our sales revenue are not sufficient to cover our cash requirements, we will need to raise additional capital, whether through the sale of equity or debt securities, the entry into strategic business collaborations, the establishment of other funding facilities, licensing arrangements, or asset sales or other means, in order to support our business plan. In addition, we may need to raise additional capital for strategic acquisitions or transactions. Such additional capital we may need may not be available on reasonable terms or at all.
Our ability to obtain the necessary financing to carry out our business plan is subject to a number of factors, including general market conditions, performance of our vehicles, market demand for our vehicles and investor acceptance of our business plan. These factors may make the timing, amount, terms and conditions of such financing unattractive or unavailable to us. If we are unable to obtain additional financing on a timely basis, we may have to curtail, delay or eliminate our development activities and growth plans, and/or be forced to sell some or all assets, perhaps on unfavorable terms, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, and ultimately we could be forced to discontinue our operations and liquidate, in which event it is unlikely that stockholders would receive any distribution on their shares. Further, we may not be able to continue operating if we do not generate sufficient revenues from operations needed to stay in business.
We have raised capital in the past primarily through public offerings, as well as debt and private placements of our convertible preferred stock. We may in the future pursue the sale of additional equity and/or debt securities, or the establishment of other funding facilities including asset-based borrowings. There can be no assurances, however, that we will be able to raise additional capital through such an offering on acceptable terms, or at all. Issuances of additional debt or equity securities could impact the rights of the holders of our common stock and may dilute their ownership percentage. The terms of any securities issued by us in future capital transactions may be more favorable to new investors, and may include preferences, superior voting rights and the issuance of warrants or other derivative securities, which may have a further dilutive effect on the holders of any of our securities then outstanding.
The terms of debt securities we may have to issue or future borrowings we may have to incur to fund our operations could impose significant restrictions on our operations. The incurrence of indebtedness or the issuance of certain equity securities could result in increased fixed payment obligations and could also result in restrictive covenants, such as limitations on our ability to incur additional debt or issue additional equity, limitations on our ability to acquire or license intellectual property rights, and other operating restrictions that could adversely affect our ability to conduct our business.
If we raise additional funds through collaboration and licensing arrangements with third parties, it may be necessary to relinquish some rights to our technologies or our products, to grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us, or to issue equity instruments that may be dilutive to our stockholders.
In addition, we may incur substantial costs in pursuing future capital financing, including investment banking fees, legal fees, accounting fees, securities law compliance fees, printing and distribution expenses and other costs. We may also be required to recognize non-cash expenses in connection with certain securities we issue, such as convertible notes and warrants, which may adversely impact our financial condition.
Our long-term capital requirements are subject to numerous risks.
Our long-term capital requirements are expected to depend on many potential factors, including, among others:
● the number of vehicles being manufactured and future models in development;
● the regulatory compliance and clarity of each of our vehicles;
● the progress, success and cost of our development programs, including manufacturing;
● the costs of manufacturing, developing sales, marketing and distribution channels;
● the costs of enforcing our issued patents and defending intellectual property-related claims;
● our ability to successfully grow sales, including securing strategic partner and distribution agreements and favorable pricing and market share; and
● our consumption of available resources more rapidly than currently anticipated, resulting in the need for additional funding sooner than anticipated.
We may invest in or acquire other businesses, and our business may suffer if we are unable to successfully integrate acquired businesses into our company or otherwise manage the growth associated with multiple acquisitions.
As part of our business strategy, we may make acquisitions as opportunities arise to add new or complementary businesses, products, brands or technologies. In some cases, the costs of such acquisitions may be substantial, including as a result of professional fees and due diligence efforts. There is no assurance that the time and resources expended on pursuing a particular acquisition will result in a completed transaction, or that any completed transaction will ultimately be successful. In addition, we may be unable to identify suitable acquisition or strategic investment opportunities or may be unable to obtain any required financing or regulatory approvals, and therefore may be unable to complete such acquisitions or strategic investments on favorable terms, if at all. We may decide to pursue acquisitions with which our investors may not agree and we cannot assure investors that any acquisition or investment will be successful or otherwise provide a favorable return on investment. In addition, acquisitions and the integration thereof require significant time and resources and place significant demands on our management, as well as on our operational and financial infrastructure. In addition, if we fail to successfully close transactions or integrate new teams, or integrate the products and technologies associated with these acquisitions into our company, our business could be seriously harmed. Acquisitions may expose us to operational challenges and risks, including:
● the ability to profitably manage acquired businesses or successfully integrate the acquired businesses’ operations, personnel, financial reporting, accounting and internal controls, technologies and products into our business;
● increased indebtedness and the expense of integrating acquired businesses, including significant administrative, operational, economic, geographic or cultural challenges in managing and integrating the expanded or combined operations;
● entry into jurisdictions or acquisition of products or technologies with which we have limited or no prior experience, and the potential of increased competition with new or existing competitors as a result of such acquisitions;
● diversion of management’s attention and the over-extension of our operating infrastructure and our management systems, information technology systems, and internal controls and procedures, which may be inadequate to support growth;
● the ability to fund our capital needs and any cash flow shortages that may occur if anticipated revenue is not realized or is delayed, whether by general economic or market conditions, or unforeseen internal difficulties; and
● the ability to retain or hire qualified personnel required for expanded operations.
Our acquisition strategy may not succeed if we are unable to remain attractive to target companies or expeditiously close transactions. Issuing shares of our common stock to fund an acquisition would cause economic dilution to existing stockholders. If we develop a reputation for being a difficult acquirer or having an unfavorable work environment, or target companies view our common stock unfavorably, we may be unable to consummate key acquisition transactions essential to our corporate strategy and our business may be seriously harmed.
Risks Related to Regulatory Matters
Increased safety, emissions, fuel economy, or other regulations may result in higher costs, cash expenditures, and/or sales restrictions.
The motorized vehicle industry is governed by a substantial amount of government regulation, which often differs by state and region. Government regulation has arisen, and proposals for additional regulation are advanced, primarily out of concern for the environment, vehicle safety, and energy independence. In addition, many governments regulate local product content and/or impose import requirements as a means of creating jobs, protecting domestic producers, and influencing the balance of payments. The cost to comply with existing government regulations is substantial, and future, additional regulations could have a substantial adverse impact on our financial condition.
Our vehicles are subject to multi-jurisdictional motor vehicle standards.
All vehicles sold must comply with federal, state and country-specific motor vehicle safety standards. Rigorous testing and the use of approved materials and equipment are among the requirements for achieving federal certification. Failure of the AYRO 411 Fleet or future vehicle models to satisfy motor vehicle standards would have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.
Changes in regulations could render our vehicles incompatible with federal, state or local regulations, or use cases.
Many governmental standards and regulations relating to safety, fuel economy, emissions control, noise control, vehicle recycling, substances of concern, vehicle damage, and theft prevention are applicable to new motor vehicles, engines, and equipment manufactured for sale in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere, including our electric vehicles. In addition, manufacturing and other automotive assembly facilities in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere are subject to stringent standards regulating air emissions, water discharges, and the handling and disposal of hazardous substances. Therefore, any unanticipated changes in regulations applicable to our electric vehicles could render our vehicles incompatible, which may prevent us from selling such vehicles and, as a result, we could lose market share.
If we fail to comply with environmental and safety laws and regulations, we could become subject to fines or penalties or incur costs that could have a material adverse effect on the success of our business.
We are subject to numerous environmental and health and safety laws, including statutes, regulations, bylaws and other legal requirements. These laws relate to the generation, use, handling, storage, transportation and disposal of regulated substances, including hazardous substances (such as batteries), dangerous goods and waste, emissions or discharges into soil, water and air, including noise and odors (which could result in remediation obligations), and occupational health and safety matters, including indoor air quality. These legal requirements vary by location and can arise under federal, provincial, state or municipal laws. Any breach of such laws and/or requirements would have a material adverse effect on our company and our operating results.
Unusual or significant litigation, governmental investigations or adverse publicity arising out of alleged defects in our vehicles, or otherwise, may derail our business.
Although we plan to comply with governmental safety regulations, mobile and stationary source emissions regulations, and other standards, compliance with governmental standards does not necessarily prevent individual or class action lawsuits, which can entail significant cost and risk. In certain circumstances, courts may permit tort claims even when our vehicles comply with federal law and/or other applicable law. Furthermore, simply responding to actual or threatened litigation or government investigations of our compliance with regulatory standards, whether related to our vehicles, business or commercial relationships, may require significant expenditures of time and other resources. Litigation also is inherently uncertain, and we could experience significant adverse results if litigation is ever brought against us. In addition, adverse publicity surrounding an allegation of a defect, regulatory violation or other matter (with or without corresponding litigation or governmental investigation) may cause significant reputational harm that could have a significant adverse effect on our sales.
In order for us to sell directly to end customers, we are required to comply with state-specific regulations regarding the sale of vehicles by a manufacturer.
We sold approximately 7% of our vehicles directly to our end customers in the year ended December 31, 2020. Going forward, we intend to focus on leveraging volume sales through dealers; however, we will continue to sell vehicles directly to end customers. Sales to both dealers and end customers require us to comply with state-specific regulations regarding the sale of vehicles by a manufacturer, including licensing and registration requirements. State laws that regulate the distribution and sale of motor vehicles by the manufacturer vary, and ensuring compliance is time-consuming and costly. Moreover, for customers living in states where we are prohibited from selling directly from within the state, we will have to consummate sales at facilities in a state that allows direct manufacturer-to-consumer sales and deliver the vehicle to the end user via a common carrier. As such, we may be required to either acquire and maintain a facility in multiple states, or incur additional costs of delivery of the vehicle, which consequently increases the cost and/or sales price of our vehicles and makes our vehicles less desirable to end-customers.
We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. If we are unable to remediate the material weakness, or if we experience additional material weaknesses in the future, our business may be harmed.
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting and for evaluating and reporting on the effectiveness of our system of internal control. Our internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States (“GAAP”). As a public company, we are required to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other rules that govern public companies. In particular, we are required to certify our compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which requires us to furnish annually a report by management on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.
Our management performed an assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020 and concluded our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2020 due to the material weakness related to segregation of duties. Specifically, due to limited resources and headcount we did not have multiple people in the accounting function for a full segregation of duties. We have taken and continue to take remedial steps to improve our internal control over financial reporting by hiring additional personnel with added expertise in public company reporting and expect to conclude that the material weakness has been remediated as these individuals progress through the onboarding process.
Remediation efforts place a significant burden on management and add increased pressure to our financial resources and processes. If we are unable to successfully remediate our existing material weakness or any additional material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting that may be identified in the future in a timely manner, the accuracy and timing of our financial reporting may be adversely affected; our liquidity, our access to capital markets, the perceptions of our creditworthiness may be adversely affected; we may be unable to maintain or regain compliance with applicable securities laws, the listing requirements of the Nasdaq Stock Market; we may be subject to regulatory investigations and penalties; investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting; our reputation may be harmed; and our stock price may decline.
Our failure to timely and effectively implement controls and procedures required by Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could have a material adverse effect on our business.
As a public company, we are required to provide management’s attestation on internal controls. The standards required for a public company under Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act are significantly more stringent than those that were required of us as a private company. We continue to implement additional finance, accounting, and business operating systems, procedures, and controls as we grow our business and organization and to satisfy existing reporting requirements. If we fail to maintain or implement adequate controls, if we are unable to complete the required Section 404 assessment as to the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting in future Form 10-K filings, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to provide us with an unqualified report as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting in future Form 10-K filings, the market price of our stock could decline and we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the SEC, the Nasdaq or other regulatory authorities, which could require additional financial and management resources.
Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property
If we are unable to adequately protect our proprietary designs and intellectual property rights, our competitive position could be harmed.
Our ability to compete effectively is dependent in part upon our ability to obtain patent protection for our designs, products, methods, processes and other technologies, to preserve our trade secrets, to prevent third parties from infringing on our proprietary rights and to operate without infringing the proprietary rights of third parties. We rely on design patents, trademarks, trade secret laws, confidentiality procedures and licensing arrangements to protect our intellectual property rights. There can be no assurance these protections will be available in all cases or will be adequate to prevent our competitors from copying, reverse engineering or otherwise obtaining and using our designs, technology, proprietary rights or products. For example, the laws of certain countries in which our products, components and sub-assemblies are manufactured or licensed do not protect our proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States.
To prevent substantial unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights, it may be necessary to prosecute actions for infringement and/or misappropriation of our trade secrets and/or proprietary rights against third parties. Any such action could result in significant costs and diversion of our resources and management’s attention, and there can be no assurance we will be successful in such action. Furthermore, our current and potential competitors may have the ability to dedicate substantially greater resources to enforce their intellectual property rights than we do. Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may not be able to prevent third parties from infringing upon or misappropriating our trade secrets and/or intellectual property.
In addition, third parties may seek to challenge, invalidate or circumvent our patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets, or applications for any of the foregoing. There can be no assurance that our competitors or customers will not independently develop technologies that are substantially equivalent or superior to our technology or design around our proprietary rights. In each case, our ability to compete could be significantly impaired.
We are dependent on the manufacturing license we have obtained from Cenntro and may need to obtain rights to other intellectual property in the future. If we fail to obtain licenses we need or fail to comply with our obligations in the agreement under which we licensed intellectual property and other rights from third parties, we could lose our ability to manufacture our vehicles.
Cenntro owns the design of the AYRO 411 model and has granted us an exclusive license to manufacture AYRO 411 model for sale in North America. Our business is dependent on such license, and if we fail to comply with our obligations to maintain that license, our business will be substantially harmed. Under the Manufacturing License Agreement, dated April 27, 2017 and further modified on March 22, 2020, between Cenntro and us, we are granted an exclusive license to manufacture and sell AYRO 411 in the United States, and we are required to purchase the minimum volume of product units from Cenntro, among other obligations. No assurance can be given that we will be able to meet the required quota and maintain our license granted by Cenntro and that our existing license will be extended on reasonable terms or at all. In addition, we may need to license intellectual property from other third parties in the future for new vehicle models. No assurance can be given that we will be able to obtain such license or meet our obligations to maintain the licenses we may have to obtain from third parties in the future. If we were to lose or otherwise be unable to maintain these licenses for any reason, it would halt our ability to manufacture and sell our vehicles or may prohibit development of our future models. Any of the foregoing could result in a material adverse effect on our business or results of operations.
In addition, if we do not own the patents or patent applications that we license, as is the case with AYRO 411’s patents, we may need to rely upon our licensors to properly prosecute and maintain those patent applications and prevent infringement of those patents. If our licensors are unable to adequately protect their proprietary intellectual property we license from legal challenges, or if we are unable to enforce such licensed intellectual property against infringement or alternative technologies, we will not be able to compete effectively in the electric vehicle markets we are targeting.
Many of our proprietary designs are in digital form and a breach of our computer systems could result in these designs being stolen.
If our security measures are breached or unauthorized access to private or proprietary data is otherwise obtained, our proprietary designs could be stolen. Because we hold many of these designs in digital form on our servers, there exists an inherent risk that an unauthorized third party could conduct a security breach resulting in the theft of our proprietary information. While we have taken steps to protect our proprietary information, because techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or sabotage systems change frequently and generally are not identified until they are launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. Any or all of these issues could negatively impact our competitive advantage and our ability to obtain new customers, thereby adversely affecting our financial results.
Our proprietary designs are susceptible to reverse engineering by our competitors.
Much of the value of our proprietary rights is derived from our vast library of design specifications. While we consider our design specifications to be protected by various proprietary, trade secret and intellectual property laws, such information is susceptible to reverse engineering by our competitors. We may not be able to prevent our competitors from developing competing design specifications, and the cost of enforcing these rights may be significant. If we are unable to adequately protect our proprietary designs, our financial condition and operating results could suffer.
If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets or know-how, such proprietary information may be used by others to compete against us.
We consider trade secrets, including confidential and unpatented know-how and designs important to the maintenance of our competitive position. We protect trade secrets and confidential and unpatented know-how, in part, by customarily entering into non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements with parties who have access to such knowledge, such as our employees, outside technical and commercial collaborators, consultants, advisors and other third parties. We also enter into confidentiality and invention or patent assignment agreements with our employees and consultants that obligate them to maintain confidentiality and assign their inventions to us. Despite these efforts, any of these parties may breach the agreements and disclose our proprietary information, including our trade secrets, and we may not be able to obtain adequate remedies for such breaches.
Legal proceedings or third-party claims of intellectual property infringement and other challenges may require us to spend substantial time and money and could harm our business.
The vehicle design and manufacturing industry is characterized by vigorous protection and pursuit of intellectual property rights, which has resulted in protracted and expensive litigation for many companies. We may become subject to lawsuits alleging that we have infringed the intellectual property rights of others. The nature of claims contained in unpublished patent filings around the world is unknown to us, and it is not possible to know which countries patent holders may choose for the extension of their filings under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, or other mechanisms. To the extent that we have previously incorporated third-party technology and/or know-how into certain products for which we do not have sufficient license rights, we could incur substantial litigation costs, be forced to pay substantial damages or royalties, or even be forced to cease sales in the event any owner of such technology or know-how were to challenge our subsequent sale of such products (and any progeny thereof). In addition, to the extent that we discover or have discovered third-party patents that may be applicable to products or processes in development, we may need to take steps to avoid claims of possible infringement, including obtaining non-infringement or invalidity opinions and, when necessary, re-designing or re-engineering products. However, we cannot assure you that these precautions will allow us to successfully avoid infringement claims. We may also be subject to claims based on the actions of employees and consultants with respect to the usage or disclosure of intellectual property learned from other employers. Third parties may in the future assert claims of infringement of intellectual property rights against us or against our customers or channel partners for which we may be liable.
Our involvement in intellectual property litigation could result in significant expense to us, adversely affect the development of sales of the challenged product or intellectual property and divert the efforts of our technical and management personnel, whether or not such litigation is resolved in our favor. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation or defense of intellectual property litigation or other proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our ability to compete in the marketplace. In the event of an adverse outcome in any such litigation, we may, among other things, be required to:
● pay substantial damages;
● cease the development, manufacture, use, sale or importation of products that infringe upon other patented intellectual property;
● expend significant resources to develop or acquire non-infringing intellectual property;
● discontinue processes incorporating infringing technology; or
● obtain licenses to the infringing intellectual property, which licenses may not be available on acceptable terms, or at all.
We are generally obligated to indemnify our sales channel partners, customers, suppliers and contractors for certain expenses and liabilities resulting from intellectual property infringement claims regarding our products, which could force us to incur substantial costs.
We have agreed, and expect to continue to agree, to indemnify our sales channel partners and customers for certain intellectual property infringement claims regarding our products. As a result, in the case of infringement claims against these sales channel partners and end-customers, we could be required to indemnify them for losses resulting from such claims or to refund amounts they have paid to us. Our sales channel partners and other end-customers in the future may seek indemnification from us in connection with infringement claims brought.
Risks Related to Our International Operations
Exchange rate fluctuations may materially affect our results of operations and financial condition.
We operate internationally and are exposed to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and other currencies, particularly the Chinese Renminbi. Our reporting currency is the U.S. dollar and, as a result, financial line items, if not in the U.S. dollar, are converted into U.S. dollars at applicable foreign exchange rates. As our business grows, we expect that at least some of our revenues and expenses will be denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Therefore, unfavorable developments in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to other relevant currencies could adversely affect our business and financial condition.
We pay Cenntro in U.S. dollars; however, the per-unit price of the sub-assemblies we must pay Cenntro may be affected due to the exchange rate fluctuations. The value of the Renminbi against the U.S. dollar and other currencies may fluctuate and is affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions in China and by China’s foreign exchange policies. Historically, the exchange rate between the Renminbi and the U.S. dollar has fluctuated significantly, and it is difficult to predict how market forces or Chinese or U.S. government policy may impact such exchange rate in the future. As of December 31, 2020, the Renminbi was valued at 6.53 against the U.S. dollar.
Very limited hedging options are available in China to reduce our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations. To date, we have not entered into any material hedging transactions in an effort to reduce our exposure to foreign currency exchange risk. While we may decide to enter into hedging transactions in the future, the availability and effectiveness of these hedges may be limited, and we may not be able to adequately hedge our exposure or at all.
Our international sales and operations subject us to additional risks that can adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.
Our international operations subject us to a variety of risks and challenges, including: increased management, travel, infrastructure and legal compliance costs associated with having international operations; reliance on sales channel partners; increased financial accounting and reporting burdens and complexities; compliance with foreign laws and regulations; compliance with U.S. laws and regulations for foreign operations; and reduced protection for intellectual property rights in some countries and practical difficulties of enforcing rights abroad. Any of these risks could adversely affect our international operations, reduce our international sales or increase our operating costs, adversely affecting our business, operating results and financial condition and growth prospects.
We are subject to governmental export and import controls that could impair our ability to compete in international markets due to licensing requirements and subject us to liability if we are not in compliance with applicable laws.
Our products are subject to export control and import laws and regulations, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, U.S. Customs regulations and various economic and trade sanctions regulations administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Controls. Exports of our products must be made in compliance with these laws and regulations. If we violate these laws and regulations, we and certain of our employees could be subject to substantial civil or criminal penalties, including the possible loss of export or import privileges, fines, which may be imposed on us and responsible employees or managers, and, in extreme cases, the incarceration of responsible employees or managers. In addition, if our channel partners, agents or consultants fail to obtain appropriate import, export or re-export licenses or authorizations, we may also be adversely affected through reputational harm and penalties. Obtaining the necessary authorizations, including any required license, for a particular sale may be time-consuming, is not guaranteed and may result in the delay or loss of sales opportunities. Changes in our products or changes in applicable export or import laws and regulations may also create delays in the introduction and sale of our products in international markets, prevent our end-customers with international operations from deploying our products or, in some cases, prevent the export or import of our products to certain countries, governments or persons altogether. Any change in export or import laws and regulations, shift in the enforcement or scope of existing laws and regulations, or change in the countries, governments, persons or technologies targeted by such laws and regulations, could also result in decreased use of our products, or in our decreased ability to export or sell our products to existing or potential end-customers with international operations. Any decreased use of our products or limitation on our ability to export or sell our products would likely adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.
We are subject to governmental import duties that could significantly increase our costs.
The majority of our raw materials for our vehicles are shipped from the People’s Republic of China. U.S./China trade relations are in a highly volatile state of uncertainty which could significantly affect the tariffs applied to our products. In 2018, the United States government announced tariffs on certain steel and aluminum products, technological hardware, as well as automotive parts imported into the United States, which has led to reciprocal tariffs imposed by the European Union and other governments on products imported from the United States. The United States government has implemented tariffs on goods imported from China, and additional tariffs on goods imported from China are under consideration.
The battery industry (both lithium-ion and lead acid-based), as well as many of the components of our vehicles, have been subjected to tariffs implemented by the U.S. government on goods imported from China. If the United States and China are not able to resolve their differences, new and additional tariffs may be put in place on additional products, including raw materials we use to manufacture our vehicles. If additional tariffs and related taxes are applied to the cost of imports from China, our costs will continue to increase, and we may be required to substantially increase the sales prices of our vehicles. An increase in sales prices of our vehicles would likely adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. If we are unable to increase the sales prices of our vehicles to reflect the increase in the costs of the vehicles, it will result in lower gross margins on our vehicles.
New regulations or standards or changes in existing regulations or standards in the United States or internationally related to our suppliers’ products may result in unanticipated costs or liabilities, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and future sales, and could place additional burdens on the operations of our business.
Our suppliers’ products are subject to governmental regulations in many jurisdictions. To achieve and maintain market acceptance, our suppliers’ products must continue to comply with these statutory regulations and many industry standards. As these regulations and standards evolve, and if new regulations or standards are implemented, our suppliers may have to modify their products. The failure of their products to comply, or delays in compliance, with the existing and evolving industry regulations and standards could prevent or delay introduction of our vehicles, which could harm our business. Supplier uncertainty regarding future policies may also affect demand for electric vehicles, including our vehicles. Moreover, channel partners or customers may require us, or we may otherwise deem it necessary or advisable, to alter our products to address actual or anticipated changes in the regulatory environment. Our inability to alter our products to address these requirements and any regulatory changes may have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.
We could be adversely affected by violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar worldwide anti-bribery laws.
We have international operations. The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar anti-bribery laws generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to foreign government officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Practices in the local business communities of many countries outside the United States have a level of government corruption that is greater than that found in the developed world. Our policies mandate compliance with these anti-bribery laws, and we have established policies and procedures designed to monitor compliance with these anti-bribery law requirements; however, we cannot assure that our policies and procedures will protect us from potential reckless or criminal acts committed by individual employees or agents. If we are found to be liable for anti-bribery law violations, we could suffer from criminal or civil penalties or other sanctions that could have a material adverse effect on our business.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS.
None.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES.
Our corporate headquarters are located at 900 E. Old Settlers Blvd., Suite 100, Round Rock, Texas. We currently lease approximately 23,927 square feet of office space in Round Rock, Texas under a lease that expires in March 2027. The lease agreement provides for a base monthly rent, and we are also responsible for real estate taxes, maintenance and other operating expenses applicable to the leased premises.
In February 2021, we signed a sublease for approximately 7,500 square feet of additional office space under a lease that expires June 2022. The lease agreement provides for a base monthly rent, and we are also responsible for real estate taxes, maintenance and other operating expenses applicable to the leased premises.
We believe that these facilities are adequate for our present operations.

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.
On February 12, 2021, the Company entered into an agreement with Arcimoto, Inc. to settle certain patent infringement claims (the “Arcimoto Settlement”), pursuant to which the Company agreed to cease the production, importation and sale of the AYRO 311, among other things. Accordingly, AYRO would not be contractually permitted to resume production of the AYRO 311. The Company is continuing the development of an all-new, three-wheeled electric vehicle, which is intended to replace AYRO 311 as our three-wheeled electric vehicle product offering.
As of January 1, 2019, DropCar Operating, Inc. (“DropCar Operating”) had accrued approximately $0.23 million for the settlement of multiple employment disputes. As of December 31, 2020, a de minimis amount remained accrued as accounts payable and accrued expenses for the settlement of the final remaining employment dispute.
On March 23, 2018, DropCar Operating was made aware of an audit being conducted by the New York State Department of Labor (“DOL”) regarding a claim filed by an employee. The DOL is investigating whether DropCar Operating properly paid overtime for which DropCar Operating has raised several defenses. In addition, the DOL is conducting its audit to determine whether DropCar Operating owes spread of hours pay (an hour’s pay for each day an employee worked or was scheduled for a period over ten hours in a day). If the DOL determines that monies are owed, the DOL will seek a backpay order, which management believes will not, either individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our business, consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows. Management believes the case has no merit.
DropCar was a defendant in a class action lawsuit which resulted in a judgement entered into whereby the Company is required to pay legal fees in the amount of $0.05 million to the plaintiff’s counsel. As of December 31, 2020, the balance due remains $0.05 million, recorded as a component of accounts payable on the accompanying consolidated balance sheet.
We are subject to various legal proceedings and claims, either asserted or unasserted, which arise in the ordinary course of business, that we believe are incidental to the operation of our business. While the outcome of these claims cannot be predicted with certainty, management does not believe that the outcome of any of these legal matters will have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial positions or cash flows.

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ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES.
Not applicable.
PART II

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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.
Market Information
Our common stock trades on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol “AYRO”.
On December 31, 2020, the last reported sale price of our common stock on the NASDAQ Capital Market was $6.08 per share.
Stockholders
As of March 30, 2021, there were approximately 148 stockholders of record of our common stock.
Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends to our stockholders since inception and do not plan to pay cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Any future declaration of dividends will depend on our earnings, capital requirements, financial condition, prospects and any other factors that our board of directors deems relevant, as well as compliance with the requirements of state law. In general, as a Delaware corporation, we may pay dividends out of surplus capital or, if there is no surplus capital, out of net profits for the fiscal year in which a dividend is declared and/or the preceding fiscal year. We currently intend to retain earnings, if any, for reinvestment in our business.
Equity Compensation Plans
Equity Compensation Plan Information
(a) (b) (c)
Number of Securities to be Issued Upon Exercise of Outstanding Options, Warrants and Rights Weighted-Average Exercise Price of Outstanding Options, Warrants and Rights (1) Number of Securities Remaining Available for Future Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans (Excluding Securities Reflected in Column (a))
Plan Category:
Equity compensation plans approved by security holders: 2020 LTIP (Options and Restricted Stock) 1,959,787 $ 3.06 2,051,537
Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders: 2017 LTIP (Options) (2) 971,549 2.83 -
Equity compensation plans approved by security holders: 2014 DropCar (Options) 61,440 46.95 -
Other equity compensation plans not approved by security holders
- - -
Total 2,992,776
2,051,537
(1) The weighted-average exercise price set forth in this column is calculated excluding outstanding restricted stock awards since recipients of such awards are not required to pay an exercise price to receive shares subject to these awards.
(2) Represents shares of common stock deliverable upon exercise of options under the 2017 LTIP adopted by AYRO Operating prior to the Merger.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
None.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
None.

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
On November 19, 2020, the SEC issued final rules to amend Regulation S-K. These changes are effective for annual filings for the first fiscal year ending on or after August 9, 2021, and early adoption is permitted. We elected to adopt the amendments to Item 301 of Regulation S-K in their entirety, which remove the requirement to furnish selected financial data for each of the last five fiscal years.

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following management’s discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our historical financial statements and the related notes thereto. This management’s discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements, such as statements of our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. When used, the words “believe,” “plan,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “target,” “estimate,” “expect” and the like, and/or future tense or conditional constructions (“will,” “may,” “could,” “should,” etc.), or similar expressions, identify certain of these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including those under “Risk Factors” in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Our actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of several factors. See “Forward-Looking Statements.”
References in this management’s discussion and analysis to “we,” “us,” “our,” “our Company” or “AYRO” refer to AYRO, Inc. and its subsidiaries.
Overview
Merger
On May 28, 2020, pursuant to the previously announced Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated December 19, 2019 (the “Merger Agreement”), by and among AYRO, Inc., a Delaware corporation previously known as DropCar, Inc., ABC Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (“Merger Sub”), and AYRO Operating Company (“AYRO Operating”), a Delaware corporation previously known as AYRO, Inc., Merger Sub was merged with and into AYRO Operating, with AYRO Operating continuing after the merger as the surviving entity and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (the “Merger”). At the effective time of the Merger, without any action on the part of any stockholder, each issued and outstanding share of AYRO Operating’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share (“AYRO Operating Common Stock”), including shares underlying AYRO Operating’s outstanding equity awards and warrants, was converted into the right to receive 1.3634 pre-split and pre-stock dividend shares (the “Exchange Ratio”) of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (“Company Common Stock”). As part of the Merger, we received cash of $3.06 million in consideration for 2,337,663 shares of common stock. Upon completion of the Merger and the transactions contemplated in the Merger Agreement and assuming the exercise in full of all pre-funded warrants issued pursuant thereto, (i) the former AYRO Operating equity holders (including the investors in a bridge financing and private placements that closed prior to closing of the Merger) owned approximately 79% of the outstanding equity of the Company; (ii) former DropCar stockholders owned approximately 18% of the outstanding equity of the Company; and (iii) a financial advisor to DropCar and AYRO owned approximately 3% of the outstanding equity of the Company.
The Merger was treated as a reverse recapitalization effected by a share exchange for financial accounting and reporting purposes because substantially all of DropCar, Inc.’s operations were disposed of as part of the consummation of the Merger and therefore no goodwill or other intangible assets were recorded by the Company as a result of the Merger. AYRO Operating was treated as the accounting acquirer as its stockholders controlled the Company after the Merger, even though DropCar, Inc. was the legal acquirer. As a result, the assets and liabilities and the historical operations that are reflected in our consolidated financial statements are those of AYRO Operating as if AYRO Operating had always been the reporting company.
Reverse Stock Split and Stock Dividend
On May 28, 2020, immediately following the effective time of the Merger, we effected a reverse stock split of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock, at a ratio of one share for ten shares (the “Reverse Stock Split”). Immediately following the Reverse Stock Split, we issued a stock dividend of one share of the Company’s common stock for each outstanding share of common stock to all holders of record immediately following the effective time of the Reverse Stock Split (the “Stock Dividend”). The net result of the Reverse Stock Split and the Stock Dividend was a 1-for-5 reverse stock split. We made proportionate adjustments to the per share exercise price and/or the number of shares issuable upon the exercise or vesting of all stock options, restricted stock units (if any) and warrants outstanding as of the effective times of the Reverse Stock Split and the Stock Dividend in accordance with the terms of each security based on the split or dividend ratio. Also, we reduced the number of shares reserved for issuance under our equity compensation plans proportionately based on the split and dividend ratios. Except for adjustments that resulted from the rounding up of fractional shares to the next whole share, the Reverse Stock Split and Stock Dividend affected all stockholders uniformly and did not change any stockholder’s percentage ownership interest in the Company. The Reverse Stock Split did not alter the par value of Company Common Stock, $0.0001 per share, or modify any voting rights or other terms of the common stock. Except as otherwise set forth herein, share and related option or warrant information presented in this Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations have been adjusted to reflect the reduced number of shares outstanding, the increase in share price which resulted from these actions or otherwise to give effect to the Reverse Stock Split and the Stock Dividend.
Transactions Related to the Merger
Simultaneous with the signing of the Merger Agreement, accredited investors, including certain investors in DropCar, purchased $1.0 million of AYRO Operating’s convertible bridge notes bearing interest at the rate of 5% per annum (the “Bridge Notes”). The Bridge Notes automatically converted into 1,030,585 shares of AYRO Operating Common Stock immediately prior to the consummation of the Merger representing an aggregate of 7.45% of the outstanding common stock of the combined company after giving effect to the Merger. Pursuant to the terms of the Bridge Notes, immediately prior to the closing of the Merger, the five lenders received warrants to purchase 1,030,585 shares of AYRO Operating Common Stock at an exercise price of $1.1159 per share. In conjunction with the bridge notes, we issued Palladium Capital Advisors, LLC (together with its affiliates, “Palladium”), our advisor, a warrant to purchase 72,141 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $1.1159 per share.
In addition, immediately prior to the execution and delivery of the Merger Agreement, AYRO Operating entered into agreements with accredited investors, including certain stockholders of DropCar, pursuant to which such investors agreed to purchase, prior to the consummation of the Merger, 543,179 shares of AYRO Operating Common Stock (or common stock equivalents or pre-funded warrants to purchase 429,305 shares of Company Common Stock) representing an aggregate of 16.55% of the outstanding common stock of the combined company after giving effect to the Merger and warrants to purchase an equivalent number of shares of AYRO Operating Common Stock for an aggregate purchase price of $1.2 million (the “AYRO Private Placement”). Pursuant to the terms of the AYRO Private Placement, immediately prior to the closing of the Merger, the investors received warrants to purchase 972,486 shares of AYRO Operating Common Stock at an exercise price of $1.3599 per share. On the closing date of the Merger, AYRO Operating issued to the investors party to this second AYRO Operating Private Placement SPA (i) an aggregate of approximately 1,030,039 shares of common stock and pre-funded warrants to purchase 286,896 shares of Company Common Stock for an aggregate of $0.85 million and warrants to purchase 1,316,936 shares of AYRO Operating Common Stock at an exercise price of $0.7423 per share. In conjunction with the AYRO Private Placement, we issued Palladium, our advisor, a warrant to purchase 92,186 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $0.7423 per share and a warrant to purchase 68,074 shares of the Company’s common stock at an exercise price of $1.3599 per share.
As additional consideration to the lead investor in the AYRO Private Placement, AYRO Operating also entered into a stock subscription agreement with the lead investor, pursuant to which, immediately prior to the Merger, AYRO Operating issued pre-funded warrants to purchase an aggregate of 477,190 shares of AYRO Operating Common Stock for the nominal per share purchase price of $0.000367 per share.
As part of the Merger, the Company issued to Palladium Holdings, LLC, its advisor, 415,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share.
On December 19, 2019, AYRO Operating entered into a letter agreement with ALS Investment, LLC (“ALS”), pursuant to which AYRO Operating issued ALS 622,496 shares of AYRO Operating Common Stock, which equaled 4.5% of the outstanding shares of common stock of the combined company giving effect to the Merger. In addition to introducing AYRO Operating and DropCar, ALS agreed to provide, as an independent contractor, consulting services to us relating to financial, capital market and investor relations for twelve months following the closing of the Merger.
In February 2020, AYRO Operating received a $0.5 million secured loan from certain existing investors in DropCar and AYRO Operating, and, in connection therewith, we received $10,000 upon exercise of the previously issued warrants to purchase 100,000 shares of common stock. The entire amount of the loan was paid off upon closing of the Merger.
In April 2020, AYRO Operating issued a secured promissory note payable to an individual investor providing $0.6 million of short-term financing. The note carried an interest rate of fifteen percent (15%) and was to be repaid upon the earlier of (1) closing date of the pending the Merger and (2) July 14, 2020. Fifty percent (50%) of the principal amount was personally guaranteed by Mark Adams, a former director of AYRO Operating and AYRO. In conjunction with the notes 553,330 shares of common stock (276,665 shares of common stock representing two percent (2%) of the combined company’s post-merger outstanding common stock each) were issued to the lender and to Mr. Adams as compensation for his personal guarantee. The entire amount of the loan was paid off upon the closing of the Merger.
Other AYRO Operating Warrants
At the effective time of the Merger, each AYRO Operating warrant that was outstanding and unexercised immediately prior to the effective time was converted pursuant to its terms and became a warrant to purchase Company Common Stock.
Closing of Asset Purchase Agreement
On December 19, 2019, DropCar entered into an asset purchase agreement (the “Asset Purchase Agreement”) with DC Partners Acquisition, LLC (“DC Partners”), Spencer Richardson and David Newman, pursuant to which DropCar agreed to sell substantially all of the assets associated with its business of providing vehicle support, fleet logistics and concierge services for both consumers and the automotive industry to an entity controlled by Messrs. Richardson and Newman, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Business Development Officer at the time, respectively. The aggregate purchase price for the purchased assets consisted of the cancellation of certain liabilities pursuant to those certain employment agreements by and between DropCar and each of Messrs. Richardson and Newman, plus the assumption of certain liabilities relating to, or arising out of, workers’ compensation claims that occurred prior to the closing date of the Asset Purchase Agreement. On May 28, 2020, the parties to the Asset Purchase Agreement entered into Amendment No. 1 to the Asset Purchase Agreement (the “Asset Purchase Agreement Amendment”), which Asset Purchase Agreement Amendment (i) provides for the inclusion of up to $0.03 million in refunds associated with certain insurance premiums as assets being purchased by DC Partners, (ii) amends the covenant associated with the funding of the DropCar business, such that DropCar provided the DropCar business with additional funding of approximately $0.18 million at the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Asset Purchase Agreement and (iii) provides for a current employee of the Company being transferred to DC Partners to provide transition services to the Company for a period of three months after the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Asset Purchase Agreement. The Asset Purchase Agreement closed on May 28, 2020, immediately following the consummation of the Merger.
Business
Prior to the Merger, DropCar provided consumer and enterprise solutions to urban automobile-related logistical challenges. Following the Merger, we design, manufacture and market three- and four-wheeled purpose-built electric vehicles primarily to commercial customers. These vehicles allow the end user an environmentally friendly alternative to internal combustion engines for light duty uses, including logistics, maintenance and cargo services, at a lower total cost of ownership. Our four-wheeled vehicles are classified as low-speed vehicles (LSVs) based on federal and state regulations and are ideal for both college and corporate campuses. We are currently developing our next generation three-wheeled vehicle that we expect to be classified as a motorcycle for federal purposes and an autocycle in states that have passed certain autocycle laws, allowing the user to operate the vehicle with a standard automobile driver’s license. Our next generation three-wheeled vehicle is not expected to be an LSV and is expected to be ideal for last-mile delivery applications. The majority of our sales are comprised of sales of our four-wheeled vehicle to Club Car, a division of Ingersoll Rand, Inc., through a strategic arrangement entered in early 2019. We plan to continue growing our business through our experienced management team by leveraging our supply chain, allowing us to scale production without a large capital investment.
We have also developed a strategic partnership with Autonomic, a division of Ford. Pursuant to our agreement with Autonomic, we received a license to use Autonomic’s transportation mobility cloud and have agreed to jointly develop the monetization of cloud-based vehicle applications with Autonomic.
Manufacturing Agreement with Cenntro
In April 2017, AYRO Operating entered into a Manufacturing Licensing Agreement (the “MLA”) with Cenntro Automotive Group, Ltd. (“Cenntro”), one of our equity holders, that provides for its four-wheel sub-assemblies to be licensed and sold to us for final manufacturing and sale in the United States.
Under the MLA, in order for us to maintain our exclusive territorial rights pursuant to the MLA, for the first three years after March 22, 2020, we must meet the following minimum purchase requirements, which we believe we satisfied for the initial period: (i) a minimum of 300 units sold by the first anniversary of the effective date of the MLA; (ii) a minimum of 800 units sold by the second anniversary of the effective date of the MLA; and (iii) a minimum of 1,300 units sold by the third anniversary of the effective date of the MLA. Cenntro will determine the minimum sale requirements for the years thereafter. Should any event of default occur, the other party may terminate the MLA by providing written notice to the defaulting party, who will have 90 days from the effective date of the notice to cure the default. Unless waived by the party providing notice, a failure to cure the default(s) within the time 90-day time frame will result in the automatic termination of the MLA. Events of default under the MLA include a failure to make a required payment when due, the insolvency or bankruptcy of either party, the subjection of either party’s property to any levy, seizure, general assignment for the benefit of creditors, and a failure to make available or deliver the products in the time and manner provided for in the MLA. We are dependent on the MLA, and in the event of its termination our manufacturing operations and customer deliveries would be seriously impacted.
Master Procurement Agreement with Club Car
In March 2019, AYRO Operating entered into a five-year Master Procurement Agreement (the “MPA”), with Club Car for the sale of our four-wheeled vehicle. The MPA grants Club Car the exclusive right to sell our four-wheeled vehicle in North America, provided that Club Car orders at least 500 vehicles per year. Although Club Car did not meet the volume threshold for 2020, we currently have no intentions of selling our four-wheeled vehicles other than exclusively through Club Car. Under the terms of the MPA, we receive orders from Club Car dealers for vehicles of specific configurations, and we invoice Club Car once the vehicle has shipped. The MPA has an initial term of five (5) years commencing January 1, 2019 and may be renewed by Club Car for successive one-year periods upon 60 days’ prior written notice. Pursuant to the MPA, we granted Club Car a right of first refusal for sales of 51% or more of AYRO Operating’s assets or equity interests, which right of first refusal is exercisable for a period of 45 days following AYRO Operating’s delivery of an acquisition notice to Club Car. We also agreed to collaborate with Club Car on new products similar to our four-wheeled vehicle and improvements to existing products and granted Club Car a right of first refusal to purchase similar commercial utility vehicles we develop during the term of the MPA. We are currently engaged in discussions with Club Car to develop additional products to be sold by Club Car in Europe and Asia but there can be no assurance that these discussions will be successful. For the year ended December 31, 2020, revenues from Club Car constituted approximately 68% of our revenue, as compared to 75% in 2019. Any loss of, or a significant reduction in purchases by, Club Car that constitutes a significant portion of our sales could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and operating results.
Recent Developments
On June 17, 2020, we entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain institutional and accredited investors, pursuant to which we agreed to issue and sell in a registered direct offering an aggregate of 2,200,000 shares of our common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, at an offering price of $2.50 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $5.50 million before the deduction of fees and offering expenses.
On July 6, 2020, we entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain institutional and accredited investors, pursuant to which we agreed to issue and sell in a registered direct offering an aggregate of 3,157,895 shares of our common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, at an offering price of $4.75 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $15.00 million before the deduction of fees and offering expenses.
On July 21, 2020, we entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with certain existing investors, pursuant to which we sold, in a registered direct offering an aggregate of 1,850,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, at an offering price of $5.00 per share for gross proceeds of $9.25 million before the deduction of fees and offering expenses. Each purchaser also had the right to purchase, on or before October 19, 2020, additional shares of common stock (the “Additional Shares”) equal to the full amount of 75% of the common stock it purchased at the initial closing, or an aggregate of 1,387,500 shares, at an offering price of $5.00 per share. On October 16, 2020, the Company entered into an addendum to the Agreement (the “Addendum”), which extended the deadline for each purchaser to exercise the right to purchase the Additional Shares by one year, to October 19, 2021. As of December 31, 2020, investors had elected to purchase 420,000 of the Additional Shares of common stock of AYRO, par value $0.0001 per share, at an offering price of $5.00 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $2.10 million before the deduction of fees and offering expenses. Between January 1, 2021 and March 30, 2021, investors had elected to purchase an additional 302,500 of the Additional Shares of common stock of AYRO, par value $0.0001 per share, at an offering price of $5.00 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $1.51 million before the deduction of fees and offering expenses.
On September 25, 2020, we entered into a Master Manufacturing Services Agreement (the “Karma Agreement”) with Karma Automotive, LLC (“Karma”). The term of the contract is for 12 months. Pursuant to the agreement Karma will provide certain manufacturing services, starting in 2021, under an attached statement of work including final assembly, raw material storage and logistical support of our vehicles in return for compensation of $1.68 million. We paid Karma an amount of $0.52 million and issued warrants to an advisor to the transaction with a fair value of $0.07 million due at signing of the contract. The payment was recorded as prepaid expense as of December 31, 2020. Pursuant to the Karma Agreement, we paid cash of $0.08 and issued a warrant (the “September Warrants”) to purchase 31,348 shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $3.19 per share to a vendor for facilitating a manufacturing agreement. The September Warrant is immediately exercisable and expires on September 25, 2025.
On November 22, 2020, we entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain institutional and accredited investors, pursuant to which we agreed to issue and sell in a registered direct offering an aggregate of 1,650,164 shares of our common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, at an offering price of $6.06 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $10.0 million before the deduction of fees and offering expenses of $0.85 million. Pursuant to the Securities Purchase Agreement, the Company agreed to issue to the investors, unregistered Series A Warrants to purchase up to 1,237,624 shares of common stock and unregistered Series B Warrants to purchase up to 825,084 shares of common stock. The Series A Warrants are exercisable immediately upon issuance and terminate six months following issuance and are exercisable at an exercise price of $8.09 per share, subject to adjustment as set forth therein. The Series B Warrants are exercisable immediately upon issuance and terminate five years following issuance and are exercisable at an exercise price of $8.90 per share, subject to adjustment as set forth therein. Subject to certain limitations, we have a call right with respect to the warrants.
On January 25, 2021, we entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain institutional and accredited investors, pursuant to which we agreed to issue and sell in a registered direct offering an aggregate of 3,333,334 shares at an offering price of $6.00 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $20.0 million before the deduction of fees and offering expenses. In a concurrent private placement, we sold to such investors warrants to purchase, at any time on or after July 26, 2021 and on or before July 26, 2023, additional shares of common stock equal to the full amount of the common stock it purchased at the initial closing, or an aggregate of 3,333,334 shares, at an exercise price of $6.93 per share.
Additionally, AYRO issued Palladium a warrant to purchase 233,334 shares of common stock (which equals 7.0% of the aggregate number of shares of common stock sold in the January 2021 registered direct offering). The warrants issued to Palladium have the same terms as the warrants issued in January 2021.
On February 11, 2021, we entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain institutional and accredited investors, pursuant to which we agreed to issue and sell in a registered direct offering an aggregate of 4,400,001 shares of common stock at an offering price of $9.50 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $41.8 million before the deduction of fees and offering expenses. Each purchaser was also granted an option to purchase, on or before February 16, 2022, additional shares of common stock equal to the full amount of 75% of the common stock it purchased at the initial closing, or an aggregate of 3,300,000 shares, at an exercise price of $11.50 per share.
Palladium and Spartan Capital Securities, LLC “Spartan,” or collectively with Palladium, the “Financial Advisors” are entitled to a fee equal to 8% of the gross proceeds raised in the February 2021 registered direct offering, or an aggregate of approximately $3.3 million, and warrants to purchase an aggregate of 271,158 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $10.925 per share and 35,885 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $10.45 per share. The warrants are exercisable immediately following issuance and terminate five years following issuance.
Factors Affecting Results of Operations
Master Procurement Agreement
In March 2019, we entered into the MPA with Club Car. In partnership with Club Car and in interaction with its substantial dealer network, we have redirected our business development resources towards supporting Club Car’s enterprise and fleet sales function as Club Car proceeds in its new product introduction initiatives.
COVID-19 Pandemic
Our business, results of operations and financial condition have been adversely impacted by the recent coronavirus outbreak both in China and the United States. This has delayed our ability to timely procure raw materials from our supplier in China, which in turn, has delayed shipments to and corresponding revenue from customers. The pandemic and social distancing directives have interfered with our ability, and the ability of our employees, workers, contractors, suppliers and other business partners to perform our and their respective responsibilities and obligations relative to the conduct of our business. The COVID-19 pandemic poses restrictions on our employees’ and other service providers’ ability to travel on pre-sales meetings, customers’ abilities to physically meet with our employees and the ability of our customers to test drive or purchase our vehicles and shutdowns that may be requested or mandated by governmental authorities, and we expect these restrictions to continue at least until the second quarter of 2021. The pandemic adversely impacted our sales and the demand for our products in 2020 and is expected to continue adversely impacting demand for our products in 2021.
AYRO
We previously manufactured and sold the AYRO 311 Autocycle, a compact, three-wheeled electric vehicle. As the AYRO 311 was nearing end-of-life, on August 17, 2020 we sold our remaining AYRO 311 Fleet inventory to a third party for $0.12 million (the “311 Fleet Sale”). Upon such sale, we sustained a loss on disposal of $0.28 million. Subsequent to the 311 Fleet Sale, on February 12, 2021, we entered into an agreement with Arcimoto, Inc. to settle certain patent infringement claims (the “Arcimoto Settlement”), pursuant to which we agreed to cease the production, importation and sale of the AYRO 311, among other things. Accordingly, we would not be contractually permitted to resume production of the AYRO 311. We are continuing the development of an all-new, three-wheeled electric vehicle, which we intend to replace the AYRO 311 as our three-wheeled electric vehicle product offering. We expect to begin manufacturing our next generation three-wheeled vehicle in the first half of 2022.
Components of Statements of Operations
Revenue Recognition
We derive revenue from the sale of our three-and four-wheeled electric vehicles, and, to a lesser extent, shipping, parts and service fees. In the past we also derived rental revenue from vehicle revenue sharing agreements with our tourist destination fleet operators, or Destination Fleet Operators (“DFOs”), and, to a lesser extent, shipping, parts and service fees. Provided that all other revenue recognition criteria have been met, we typically recognize revenue upon shipment, as title and risk of loss are transferred to customers and channel partners at that time. Products are typically shipped to dealers or directly to end customers, or in some cases to our international distributors. These international distributors assist with import regulations, currency conversions and local language. Our vehicle product sales revenues vary from period to period based on, among other things, the customer orders received and our ability to produce and deliver the ordered products. Customers often specify requested delivery dates that coincide with their need for our vehicles.
Because these customers may use our products in connection with a variety of projects of different sizes and durations, a customer’s orders for one reporting period generally do not indicate a trend for future orders by that customer. Additionally, order patterns do not necessarily correlate amongst customers.
Cost of Goods Sold
Cost of goods sold primarily consists of costs of materials and personnel costs associated with manufacturing operations, and an accrual for post-sale warranty claims. Personnel costs consist of wages and associated taxes and benefits. Cost of goods sold also includes freight and changes to our warranty reserves. Allocated overhead costs consist of certain facilities and utility costs. We expect cost of revenue to increase in absolute dollars, as product revenue increases.
Operating Expenses
Our operating expenses consist of general and administrative, sales and marketing and research and development expenses. Salaries and personnel-related costs, benefits, and stock-based compensation expense are the most significant components of each category of operating expenses. Operating expenses also include allocated overhead costs for facilities and utility costs.
Research and Development Expense
Research and development expense consists primarily of employee compensation and related expenses, prototype expenses, depreciation associated with assets acquired for research and development, amortization of product development costs, product strategic advisory fees, third-party engineering and contractor support costs and allocated overhead. We expect our research and development expenses to increase in absolute dollars as we continue to invest in new and existing products.
Sales and Marketing Expense
Sales and marketing expense consist primarily of employee compensation and related expenses, sales commissions, marketing programs, travel and entertainment expenses and allocated overhead. Marketing programs consist of advertising, tradeshows, events, corporate communications and brand-building activities. We expect sales and marketing expenses to increase in absolute dollars as we expand our sales force, expand our product lines, increase marketing resources, and further develop sales channels.
General and Administrative Expense
General and administrative expense consists primarily of employee compensation and related expenses for administrative functions including finance, legal, human resources and fees for third-party professional services, and allocated overhead. We expect our general and administrative expense to increase in absolute dollars as we continue to invest in growing our business.
Stock-based compensation
We account for stock-based compensation expense in accordance with ASC 718, Compensation-Stock Compensation, which requires the measurement and recognition of compensation expense for share-based awards based on the estimated fair value on the date of grant.
The fair value of each stock option granted to employees is estimated on the date of the grant using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model and the related stock-based compensation expense is recognized over the vesting period during which an employee is required to provide service in exchange for the award. The fair value of the options granted to non-employees is measured and expensed as the options vest.
Restricted stock grants are stock awards that entitle the holder to receive shares of our common stock as the award vests over time. The fair value of each restricted stock grant is based on the fair market value price of common stock on the date of grant, and it is measured and expensed as the options vest.
Other (Expense) Income
Other (expense) income consists of income received or expenses incurred for activities outside of our core business, including forgiveness of our PPP loan. Other expense consists primarily of interest expense, discount on debt amortization and the related loss on extinguishment of debt as it applies to the debt discount.
Provision for Income Taxes
Provision for income taxes consists of estimated income taxes due to the United States government and to the state tax authorities in jurisdictions in which we conduct business. In the case of a tax deferred asset, we reserve the entire value for future periods.
Results of Operations
Year Ended December 31, 2020 Compared with Year ended December 31, 2019.
The following table sets forth our results of operations for each of the periods set forth below:
Years Ended December 31,
Change
Revenue $ 1,604,069 $ 890,152 $ 713,917
Cost of goods sold 1,770,552 691,843 1,078,709
Gross (loss)/profit (166,483 ) 198,309 (364,792 )
Operating expenses:
Research and development 1,920,548 714,281 1,206,267
Sales and marketing 1,415,282 1,300,120 115,162
General and administrative 6,603,935 6,678,310 (74,375 )
Total operating expenses 9,939,765 8,692,711 1,247,054
Loss from operations (10,106,248 ) (8,494,402 ) (1,611,846 )
Other income and expense:
Other income 236,923 2,188 234,735
Interest expense (327,196 ) (172,479 ) (154,717 )
Loss on extinguishment of debt (566,925 ) - (566,925 )
Net loss $ (10,763,446 ) $ (8,664,693 ) $ (2,098,753 )
Deemed dividend on modification of Series H-5 warrants (432,727 ) - (432,727 )
Net loss Attributable to Common Stockholders $ (11,196,173 ) $ (8,664,693 ) $ (2,531,480 )
Revenue
Revenue was $1.60 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to $0.89 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, an increase of 80.2%, or $0.71 million. The increase in revenue was the result of an increase in sales of our vehicles, deriving from our Master Agreement with Club Car, related powered-food box sales and other vehicle options for the year ended December 31, 2020. Additionally, we recorded a one-time sale of the remaining vehicles, raw materials, and parts from our AYRO 311 product of $0.12 million. We also had revenue of $0.09 million from shipping and a de minimis amount for service revenue for the year ended December 31, 2020. As discussed under “Factors Affecting Results of Operations,” the COVID-19 pandemic adversely impacted sales and the demand for our vehicles during 2020.
Cost of goods sold and gross profit
Cost of goods sold increased by $1.08 million, or 155.9% for the year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2019, due to an increase in vehicle sales and an increase in time-of order options for our vehicles and specialty products. Of this increase, $0.38 million was recorded for the one-time sale of the remaining vehicles, raw materials and parts from our AYRO 311 product line.
Gross margin percentage was (10.4)% for the year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to 22.3% for the year ended December 31, 2019. The decrease in gross margin percentage in the core business was primarily due to an increase in tariffs on raw materials imported from China, an increase in shipping costs due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and an increase in overhead allocation resulting from the move to our new facility in January 2020. In 2020, we phased-out the production of our AYRO 311 line of vehicles in order to develop our next generation three-wheeled vehicle. The change in production did not represent a strategic shift that will have a major effect on our operations or financial results. Our end-of-life product costs of the AYRO 311 decreased our gross profit margin by 16.6% for the year ended December 31, 2020. Vehicle prices increased in January 2021 to offset the standard cost increases.
Research and development expenses
Research and development expense was $1.92 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 as compared to $0.71 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, an increase of $1.21 million, or 168.9%. The increase was primarily due to research and development (“R&D”) expenses related to personnel costs for our engineering, design, and research teams as we expanded the suite of option packages for our vehicles and initiated development of our next-generation three-wheeled vehicle. We had an increase in salaries and related expenses of $0.56 million, an increase of $0.46 million from R&D contracting for professional service and design costs and an increase in stock-based compensation of $0.11 million.
Sales and marketing expense
Sales and marketing expense increased by $0.12 million, or 8.9%, for the year ended December 31, 2020, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2019, as we redirected our marketing focus in-house rather than outsourced contractors and marketing programs. Salaries and wages increased by $0.40 million and stock-based compensation increased by $0.11 million due to the addition of our Chief Marketing Officer and Chief of Business Development in late 2019 as well as the addition of other sales and marketing resources. Discretionary marketing programs decreased by $0.03 million and contracting for professional marketing services decreased by $0.47 million. These reductions in 2020 relative to 2019 were due to the redirection of our marketing focus in-house. Additionally, depreciation expense for demonstration vehicles assigned to the sales and marketing team increased by $0.12 million as compared to 2019 due to a reclassification from general and administration expenses to sales and marketing expense for demonstration vehicles assigned to the sales and marketing team.
General and administrative expenses
The majority of our operating losses from continuing operations resulted from general and administrative expenses. General and administrative expenses consist primarily of costs associated with our overall operations and with being a public company. These costs include personnel, legal and financial professional services, insurance, investor relations, and compliance related fees. General and administrative expense was $6.60 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, compared to $6.68 million for 2019, a decrease of $0.07 million. Contractor and consulting expenses decreased by $1.77 million. Contractor and consulting expenses for 2019 included $2.64 million of stock-based compensation paid to Christian Okonsky and Mark Adams, founders of AYRO and former board members and we also incurred an expense of $0.27 million for warrants issued for advisory services in 2019. Neither of these equity-related expenses were repeated in 2020. The reduction in contractor and consulting expenses was offset by an increase in contracting for professional services of $1.14 million, primarily a result of additional audit, legal and investor relations expenses incurred to support public reporting requirements. Board compensation expense increased by $0.22 million. Salaries and related costs increased by $0.17 million due to corporate expansion. Other public company-related expenses increased by $0.46 million. Stock-based compensation expense increased by $1.17 million, primarily due to the expense of director and employee equity awards in 2020. Depreciation decreased by $0.41 million, primarily driven by fully depreciating the tooling for our AYRO 311 product line during 2019 and the reclassification of the $0.12 million depreciation expense for demonstration vehicles assigned to the sales and marketing team due to our redirection of our marketing focus in-house.
Other income and expense
Other income increased by $0.23 million in 2020 compared to 2019. The increase was primarily due to the forgiveness of our Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan in the amount of $0.22 million in principal and interest effective December 29, 2020. In addition, we received $0.02 million during 2020 as an incentive for hiring additional personnel in the city of Round Rock, Texas under the city’s standard economic development grant. Interest expense increased $0.15 million, for the year ended December 31, 2020, as compared to 2019, primarily due to the increase in the discount on debt recorded from the equity issuances associated with certain debt instruments issued prior to the Merger. Interest expense also included noncash amortization of warrant discounts issued in conjunction with certain debt offerings. A loss on the extinguishment of debt related to the early redemptions of a note in the principal amount of $0.14 million previously converted from a vendor payable was recorded for $0.02 million, a loss on the extinguishment of debt for a bridge note in the principal amount of $0.60 million was recorded for $0.35 million and a loss on the extinguishment of debt for a bridge note in the principal amount of $0.50 million was recorded for $0.19 million.
Non-GAAP Financial Measure
We present Adjusted EBITDA because we consider it to be an important supplemental measure of our operating performance, and we believe it may be used by certain investors as a measure of our operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as income (loss) from operations before interest income and expense, income taxes, depreciation, amortization of intangible assets, amortization of discount on debt, impairment of long-lived assets, stock-based compensation expense and certain non-recurring expenses.
Adjusted EBITDA is not a measurement of financial performance under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, or GAAP. Because of varying available valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions and the variety of equity instruments that can impact our non-cash operating expenses, we believe that providing a non-GAAP financial measure that excludes non-cash and non-recurring expenses allows for meaningful comparisons between our core business operating results and those of other companies, as well as providing us with an important tool for financial and operational decision making and for evaluating our own core business operating results over different periods of time.
Adjusted EBITDA may not provide information that is directly comparable to that provided by other companies in our industry, as other companies in our industry may calculate non-GAAP financial results differently, particularly related to non-recurring, unusual items. Adjusted EBITDA is not a measurement of financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to operating income or as an indication of operating performance or any other measure of performance derived in accordance with GAAP. We do not consider Adjusted EBITDA to be a substitute for, or superior to, the information provided by GAAP financial results.
Below is a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net loss to common stockholders:
Year Ended December 31,
Net loss to common stockholders $ (10,763,446 ) $ (8,664,693 )
Depreciation and amortization 447,283 722,566
Stock-based compensation expense 1,827,008 3,336,394
Amortization of discount on debt 236,398 152,243
Interest expense 90,798 20,236
Loss on extinguishment of debt 566,925 -
Gain on debt forgiveness (PPP loan) (219,363 ) -
Adjusted EBITDA $ (7,814,397 ) $ (4,433,254 )
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of December 31, 2020, we had $36.54 million in cash and working capital of $38.50 million. As of December 31, 2019, we had $0.64 million in cash and working capital deficit of $0.40 million. The increase in cash and working capital was primarily a result of our capital raising activities from June 2020 through December of 2020 in addition to cash received as a result of the Merger.
Our sources of cash since inception have been predominantly from the sale of equity and debt.
In October 2019, we raised $0.50 million in a 120-day short-term loan from Mark Adams, a former director of AYRO Operating and AYRO. This loan had a 14% interest rate per annum, was payable quarterly and an equity incentive of 143,795 shares of AYRO Operating common stock. In December 2019, this loan term was extended to April 30, 2021 in exchange for the issuance of 136,340 shares of AYRO Operating common stock. The loan was repaid September 30, 2020.
In December 2019, a local marketing firm agreed to convert 90% of trade accounts payable the Company owed that firm to a term loan with a principal amount of $137,729.03 and bearing interest at the rate of 15% per annum, payable quarterly, with a maturity date of May 31, 2021. The Company also issued the marketing firm 66,000 shares of common stock in conjunction with this term loan. A discount on debt of $46,683 was recorded in the transaction and is being amortized over the life of the debt. The loan was repaid September 30, 2020.
In December 2019, we entered into a convertible bridge loan with five institutional lenders totaling $1.0 million. On May 28, 2020, immediately prior to the closing of the Merger, the five lenders received warrants (the “Bridge Loan Warrants”) to purchase 1,030,585 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.1159 per share. The Bridge Loan Warrants had full ratchet anti-dilution price protection with respect to future issuances of securities at an effective price below the exercise price, with the exercise price per share reducing to such exercise price and the number of shares deliverable upon exercise of the warrants increasing such that the aggregate exercise price under each warrant remains constant. The Bridge Loan Warrants would have terminated after a period of five years on May 28, 2025. All Bridge Loan Warrants were exercised prior to December 31, 2020.
In February 2020, we entered into secured promissory notes with three institutional lenders totaling $0.50 million. On May 28, 2020, immediately after the closing of the Merger, pursuant to and in connection with the issuance of these notes, we issued warrants (the “Secured Loan Warrants”) to purchase an aggregate of 100,000 shares of common stock to the three lenders for an aggregate purchase price of $0.01 million. Proceeds from the Merger were used to fully repay the $0.50 million promissory note on May 28, 2020. The Secured Loan Warrants were exercised in full during the three months ended June 30, 2020.
In April 2020, the Company issued a secured promissory note payable to an individual investor providing $600,000 of short-term financing. The notes carried an interest rate of fifteen percent (15%) and were to be repaid upon the earlier of (1) closing date of the pending the Merger and (2) July 14, 2020. Fifty percent (50%) of the principal amount was personally guaranteed by Mark Adams, a former director of AYRO Operating and AYRO. In conjunction with the notes, 553,330 shares of common stock (276,665 shares of common stock representing two percent (2%) of the combined company’s post-merger outstanding common stock each) were issued to the lender and to Mr. Adams as compensation for his personal guarantee.
On May 28, 2020, we completed our reverse merger with DropCar, which resulted in cash received from the merger of $3.1 million, represented by 2,337,663 shares of common stock.
On May 28, 2020, we entered into the first AYRO Operating Private Placement SPA with current stockholders of the Company and AYRO Operating, pursuant to which such stockholders agreed to purchase, prior to the consummation of the Merger, shares of AYRO Operating Common Stock and warrants (the “First Private Placement Warrants”) to purchase AYRO Operating’s common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $1.2 million. Prior to the closing of the Merger, AYRO Operating issued to the investors party to this first AYRO Private Placement SPA (i) an aggregate of approximately 543,179 shares of common stock and pre-funded warrants to purchase 429,305 shares of Company Common Stock at an exercise price of $0.000367 per share, and (ii) First Private Placement Warrants to purchase 972,486 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $1.3599 per share. The First Private Placement Warrants issued pursuant to the first AYRO Operating Private Placement SPA had full ratchet anti-dilution price protection with respect to future issuances of securities at an effective price below the exercise price with the exercise price per share reducing to such exercise price and the number of shares deliverable upon exercise of the warrant increasing such that the aggregate exercise price under each warrant remains constant. The First Private Placement Warrants would have terminated after a period of five years on May 28, 2025. All First Private Placement Warrants were exercised prior to December 31, 2020.
On May 28, 2020, we entered into the second AYRO Operating Private Placement SPA with current investors of the Company and AYRO Operating, pursuant to which such investors agreed to purchase, prior to the consummation of the Merger, shares of AYRO Operating Common Stock and warrants (the “Second Private Placement Warrants”) to purchase AYRO Operating Common Stock for an aggregate purchase price of $0.85 million. On the closing date of the Merger, AYRO Operating issued to the investors party to this second AYRO Operating Private Placement SPA (i) an aggregate of approximately 1,030,039 shares of common stock and pre-funded warrants to purchase 286,896 shares of Company Common Stock at an exercise price of $0.000367 per share, and (ii) Second Private Placement Warrants to purchase 1,316,936 shares of common stock at an exercise price of $0.7423 per share. The Second Private Placement Warrants issued pursuant to the second AYRO Operating Private Placement SPA had full ratchet anti-dilution price protection with respect to future issuances of securities at an effective price below the exercise price with the exercise price per share reducing to such exercise price and the number of shares deliverable upon exercise of the warrant increasing such that the aggregate exercise price under each warrant remains constant. The Second Private Placement Warrants would have terminated after a period of five years on May 28, 2025. All Second Private Placement Warrants were exercised prior to December 31, 2020.
In May 2020, the Company entered into a Paycheck Protection Program Term Note (the “PPP Note”) with Pacific Western Bank, NA in the amount of $218,000. The PPP Note was issued to the Company pursuant to the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act’s (the “CARES Act”) (P.L. 116-136) Paycheck Protection Program (the “Program”). The PPP Note carries a maturity date of May 20, 2022, at a 1% interest rate. On December 29, 2020, notice of the PPP Note forgiveness was granted to the Company. The forgiveness amount of $218,000 in principal and $1,363 in interest was recorded in the other income line item on the statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2020.
On June 17, 2020, we entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain institutional and accredited investors, pursuant to which we agreed to issue and sell in a registered direct offering an aggregate of 2,200,000 shares of common stock at an offering price of $2.50 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $5.50 million before the deduction of fees and offering expenses of $0.44 million.
On July 6, 2020, we entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain institutional and accredited investors, pursuant to which we agreed to issue and sell in a registered direct offering an aggregate of 3,157,895 shares of our common stock at an offering price of $4.75 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $15.00 million before the deduction of fees and offering expenses of $1.25 million.
On July 21, 2020, we entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain existing investors, pursuant to which we sold, in a registered direct offering an aggregate of 1,850,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, at an offering price of $5.00 per share for gross proceeds of $9.25 million before offering expenses of $0.74 million. Each purchaser also had the right to purchase, on or before October 19, 2020, additional shares of common stock (the “Additional Shares”) equal to the full amount of 75% of the common stock it purchased at the initial closing, or an aggregate of 1,387,500 shares, at price of $5.00 per share. On October 16, 2020, we entered into an addendum to the Agreement (the “Addendum”), which extended the deadline for each purchaser to exercise the right to purchase the Additional Shares by one year, to October 19, 2021. As of December 31, 2020, investors had elected to purchase 420,000 of the Additional Shares of common stock of AYRO, par value $0.0001 per share, at an offering price of $5.00 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $2.10 million before offering expenses of $0.17 million. Between January 1, 2021 and March 30, 2021, investors had elected to purchase an additional 302,500 of the Additional Shares of common stock of AYRO, par value $0.0001 per share, at an offering price of $5.00 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $1.51 million before the deduction of fees and offering expenses.
On November 22, 2020, we entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain institutional and accredited investors, pursuant to which we agreed to issue and sell in a registered direct offering an aggregate of 1,650,164 shares of our common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, at an offering price of $6.06 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $10.00 million before the deduction of fees and offering expenses of $0.85 million. Pursuant to the securities purchase agreement, we issued to the investors unregistered Series A Warrants to purchase up to 1,237,624 shares of common stock and unregistered Series B Warrants to purchase up to 825,084 shares of common stock. The Series A Warrants are exercisable immediately upon issuance and terminate six months following issuance and are exercisable at an exercise price of $8.09 per share, subject to adjustment as set forth therein. The Series B Warrants are exercisable immediately upon issuance and terminate five years following issuance and are exercisable at an exercise price of $8.90 per share, subject to adjustment as set forth therein. In addition, subject to certain limitations, we have a call right with respect to the warrants.
On January 25, 2021, we entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain institutional and accredited investors, pursuant to which we agreed to issue and sell in a registered direct offering an aggregate of 3,333,334 shares at an offering price of $6.00 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $20.00 million before the deduction of fees and offering expenses. In a concurrent private placement, we sold to such investors warrants to purchase, at any time on or after July 26, 2021 and on or before July 26, 2023, additional shares of common stock equal to the full amount of the common stock it purchased at the initial closing, or an aggregate of 3,333,334 shares, at an exercise price of $6.93 per share.
On February 11, 2021, we entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain institutional and accredited investors, pursuant to which we agreed to issue and sell in a registered direct offering an aggregate of 4,400,001 shares of common stock at an offering price of $9.50 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $41.8 million before the deduction of fees and offering expenses. Each purchaser was also granted the option to purchase, on or before February 16, 2022, additional shares of common stock equal to the full amount of 75% of the common stock it purchased at the initial closing, or an aggregate of 3,300,000 shares, at a purchase price of $11.50 per share.
Between May 28, 2020 (the Merger closing) and December 31, 2020, holders of warrants have exercised warrants to purchase an aggregate of 5,074,645 shares of our common stock for aggregate net proceeds to us of $3.93 million. This is inclusive of warrants exercised as noted above.
Our business is capital intensive, and future capital requirements will depend on many factors including our growth rate, the timing and extent of spending to support development efforts, the expansion of our sales and marketing teams, the timing of new product introductions and the continuing market acceptance of our products and services. We may also use capital for strategic acquisitions or transactions. We are subject to a number of risks similar to those of earlier stage commercial companies, including dependence on key individuals and products, the difficulties inherent in the development of a commercial market, the potential need to obtain additional capital, competition from larger companies, other technology companies and other technologies. Based on the foregoing, management believes that the existing cash at December 31, 2020, together with net proceeds of approximately $56.8 million raised through registered direct offerings in January 2021 and February 2021, will be sufficient to fund operations for at least the next twelve months following the date of this report.
Summary of Cash Flows
The following table summarizes our cash flows:
Years Ended December 31,
Cash Flows:
Net cash used in operating activities $ (10,019,344 ) $ (4,104,286 )
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities $ 2,542,020 $ (374,352 )
Net cash provided by financing activities $ 43,372,599 $ 5,081,217
Operating Activities
During the year ended December 31, 2020, we used $10.02 million in cash in operating activities, an increase in use of $5.92 million when compared to the cash used in operating activities of $4.10 million during the same period in 2019. The increase in cash used in operating activities was primarily a result of prepayments for inventory and manufacturing services, an increase in accounts receivable, payments of accrued expenses, purchases of inventory and an increase in our operating loss as we continue to build our core business. This was offset by a reduction in cash used from our payments of outstanding accounts payable to Cenntro in March 2019 that did not occur in 2020.
Our ability to generate cash from operations in future periods will depend in large part on profitability, the rate and timing of collections of our accounts receivable, inventory turns and our ability to manage other areas of working capital.
Investing Activities
During the year ended December 31, 2020, we were provided cash of $2.54 million from investing activities as compared to $0.37 million cash used in investing activities during 2019, an increase of $2.91 million. The net increase was primarily due to proceeds of $3.06 million from the Merger.
Financing Activities
During the year ended December 31, 2020, we received net proceeds of an aggregate of $39.86 million from the issuance of common stock, net of fees and expenses, $0.02 million from the exercise of options to purchase additional shares of common stock, and $3.93 million from the exercise of warrants for cash. In addition, during 2020, we received $0.50 million of debt financing from certain DropCar investors and $0.60 million of debt financing from a private investor, both of which notes were repaid upon closing of the Merger. Additionally, in May 2020, we received $0.22 million in a PPP loan from our bank, which was forgiven in December 2020. In December 2020, we were notified that the PPP loan principal and accrued interest were forgiven in full under the PPP terms, which is reflected in the non-cash section of cash flows from operating activities. The debt proceeds were netted with $1.74 million of loan repayments. During the year ended December 31, 2019, $2.52 million was generated through the sale of AYRO Operating’s Preferred Stock. Additionally, during 2019 $0.80 million in proceeds were received from the sale of promissory notes convertible into AYRO Operating’s Series Seed 2 Preferred Stock, $0.33 million in proceeds were received from the sale of promissory term notes, $0.50 million in proceeds were received from the sale of a promissory note to Mark Adams, a former AYRO board member, $1.00 million in proceeds were received from the sale of promissory notes from certain DropCar investors, convertible into the Company’s common stock upon the Merger, and a short-term loan of $0.05 million was received and repaid in the first quarter of 2019, netted with $0.12 million of repayment of loan principal. No warrants were exercised in 2019.
Contractual Obligations and Commitments
We have made certain indemnities, under which we may be required to make payments to an indemnified party, in relation to certain transactions. We indemnify our directors and officers to the maximum extent permitted under the laws of the State of Delaware. In connection with our facility leases, we have indemnified our lessors for certain claims arising from the use of the facilities. The duration of the indemnities vary and, in many cases, are indefinite. These indemnities do not provide for any limitation of the maximum potential future payments we could be obligated to make. Historically, we have not been obligated to make any payments for these obligations and no liabilities have been recorded for these indemnities.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
Other than business and certain indemnification provisions, we do not have any off-balance sheet financing arrangements or liabilities, guarantee contracts, retained or contingent interests in transferred assets, or any obligation arising out of a material variable interest in an unconsolidated entity. Other than AYRO Operating Company, Inc. and DropCar Operating Company, Inc., we do not have any subsidiaries to include or otherwise consolidate into the consolidated financial statements. Additionally, we do not have interests in, nor relationships with, any special purpose entities.
Related Party Transactions
Supply Chain Agreements
In 2017, we executed a supply chain contract with Cenntro Automotive Group (“Cenntro”), our primary supplier, a manufacturer located in the People’s Republic of China. Through our partnership with Cenntro, Cenntro acquired 19% of AYRO Operating’s common stock in 2017. As of December 31, 2020, Cenntro beneficially owned approximately 4.38% of our common stock. Currently, we purchase 100% of our vehicle chassis, cabs and wheels through this supply chain relationship with Cenntro. We must sell a minimum number of units in order to maintain our exclusive supply chain contract. We were in default of the original exclusive term of the contract; however, in 2019 and 2020, the contract was amended to remove the default clause. In December 2019, Cenntro agreed to convert $1.10 million of trade accounts payable due from us to 299,948 shares of AYRO Operating’s Seed Preferred Stock. The parties also agreed that any accrued interest on the trades payable as a result of this conversion would be forgiven, which resulted in a recapture of interest expense in the amount of $0.17 million in the year ended December 31, 2019. As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, the amounts outstanding to Cenntro as a component of accounts payable were $0.05 million and $0.08 million, respectively. Under a memorandum of understanding signed between us and Cenntro on March 22, 2020, upon availability of the 411x product, we agreed to purchase 300 units within the twelve months following the signing of the memorandum of understanding, and 500 units and 800 units in each of the following respective twelve-month periods. On July 9, 2020, in exchange for certain percentage discounts for raw materials, we made a $1.2 million prepayment for inventory. As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, the prepayment deposits were $0.98 million and $0.05 million.
In October 2019, we borrowed $0.50 million under a bridge loan from Mark Adams, a founding board member. As an inducement for the bridge loan, we granted Mr. Adams 143,975 shares of common stock and in December 2019, the Company granted an additional 136,340 shares of common stock to Mr. Adams as consideration for extending the term date of the loan to April 30, 2021. In September 2020, the loan principal and accrued interest were paid in full.
On March 1, 2017, we entered into a royalty-based agreement with Sustainability Initiatives, LLC (“SI”) an entity that is controlled by Mark Adams, a former director of AYRO and AYRO Operating, and Christian Okonsky, a former director of AYRO Operating in the effort to accelerate our operations. Royalties accrued were included as a component of research and development expense in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations. In return for acceleration assistance and for serving as our Chief Visionary Officer, the agreement provided for a monthly retainer. On a quarterly basis, we remitted a royalty of a percentage (see table below) of company revenues less the retainer amounts.
Revenues Royalty Percentage
$0 - $25,000,000 3.0 %
$25,000,000 - $50,000,000 2.0 %
$50,000,000 - $100,000,000 1.0 %
Over $100,000,001 0.5 %
Effective January 1, 2019, we agreed to an amendment with SI to reduce the royalty percentage to 0.5%. In relation to this amendment, we granted the SI members an additional 381,752 stock options to vest over a nine-month vesting term. On October 15, 2019, we and the SI members agreed to terminate the agreement in full in exchange for 231,778 shares of the Company’s common stock. Stock-based compensation of $0.91 million was recorded on the transaction in October 2019.
On December 9, 2019, we and the SI members agreed to cancel the outstanding options to purchase 477,190 shares of our common stock in exchange for 434,529 shares of our common stock. Stock-based compensation of $1.50 million was recorded for the transaction in December 2019.
On April 1, 2017, we entered into a fee-for-service agreement with SI. In return for accounting, marketing, graphics and other services, we pay fixed, market-standard hourly rates under the shared services agreement as services are rendered. As of December 31, 2020 and 2019, we had a balance outstanding to SI for $0.01 million for both periods included in accounts payable. Total expenses paid or payable to SI were $0 and $0.06 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, and 2019, respectively.
In January 2019, we entered into a fee-for-service consulting agreement with Sustainability Consultants, LLC, (“SCLLC”) an entity that is controlled by Mark Adams, Will Steakley and John Constantine, who were principal stockholders of AYRO Operating. In exchange for consulting services provided, we paid $0.19 million in consulting fees to the firm during the year ended December 31, 2019. As of December 31, 2020, the balance due to SCLLC is zero. Additionally, we granted warrants to purchase 177,924 shares of our common stock. The warrants have an exercise price of $7.33 per share with a five-year life. Stock-based compensation consulting expense of $0.27 million was recorded in the general and administrative expenses on the statement of operations in the fourth quarter of 2019 in conjunction with the warrant grant - see Note 11 - Stock Based Compensation, of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements. We also granted 67,488 shares of our common stock and recorded stock-based compensation of $0.23 million in the general and administrative expenses on the statement of operations for the fourth quarter of 2019 related to the common stock transaction.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our management’s discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations is based on our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP. The preparation of our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures requires us to make estimates, assumptions and judgments that affect the reported amount of assets, liabilities, revenue, costs and expenses and related disclosures. We base our assumptions, estimates and judgments on historical experience, current trends and other factors that management believes to be relevant at the time our consolidated financial statements are prepared. Accordingly, we evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis. Our actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions and conditions.
Our significant accounting policies are discussed in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 which are included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We believe that the following accounting estimates are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our reported financial results. There have been no changes to estimates during the periods presented in the filing. Historically, changes in management estimates have not been material.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of the consolidated financial statements, in conformity with GAAP, requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Our most significant estimates include allowance for doubtful accounts, valuation of inventory reserve, valuation of deferred tax asset allowance, and the measurement of stock-based compensation expenses. Actual results could differ from these estimates.
Reclassification
Certain reclassifications have been made to the prior period financial statements to conform to the current period financial statement presentation. These reclassifications had no effect on net earnings or cash flows as previously reported.
Revenue Recognition
We recognize revenue in accordance with ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, the core principle of which is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled to receive in exchange for those goods or services. To achieve this core principle, five basic criteria must be met before revenue can be recognized: (1) identify the contract with a customer; (2) identify the performance obligations in the contract; (3) determine the transaction price; (4) allocate the transaction price to performance obligations in the contract; and (5) recognize revenue when or as we satisfy a performance obligation.
Warrants and Preferred Shares
We account for warrants issued for performance of services under fair value recognition provisions. We calculate the fair value of the warrant utilizing the Black-Scholes pricing based upon the estimated fair value of the underlying common stock.
The accounting treatment of warrants and preferred share series issued is determined pursuant to the guidance provided by ASC 470, Debt, ASC 480, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity, and ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging, as applicable. Each feature of a freestanding financial instruments including, without limitation, any rights relating to subsequent dilutive issuances, dividend issuances, equity sales, rights offerings, forced conversions, optional redemptions, automatic monthly conversions, dividends and exercise are assessed with determinations made regarding the proper classification in the consolidated financial statements.
Stock-Based Compensation
We account for stock-based compensation in accordance with ASC 718, Compensation-Stock Compensation (“ASC 718”). Under the fair value recognition provisions, stock-based compensation cost is measured at the grant date based on the fair value of the award and is recognized as compensation expense on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period, based on the terms of the awards. We calculate the fair value of option grants utilizing the Black-Scholes pricing model based upon the estimated fair value of the common stock.
In June 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU 2018-07, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting (“ASU 2018-07”). ASU 2018-07 expands the guidance in ASC 718 to include share-based payments for goods and services to non-employees and generally aligns it with the guidance for share-based payments to employees. In accordance with ASU 2018-07, these stock options and warrants issued as compensation for services provided to us are accounted for based upon the fair value of the underlying equity instrument. The attribution of the fair value of the equity instrument is charged directly to compensation expense over the period during which services are rendered.
Basic and Diluted Loss Per Share
Basic and diluted net loss per share is determined by dividing net loss by the weighted average ordinary shares outstanding during the period. For all periods presented with a net loss, the shares underlying the ordinary share options and warrants have been excluded from the calculation because their effect would be anti-dilutive. Therefore, the weighted-average shares outstanding used to calculate both basic and diluted loss per share are the same for periods with a net loss.

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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK.
Not applicable.

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA.
The information required by this Item 8 is included at the end of this Annual Report on Form 10-K beginning on page.

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ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS
ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.
Not applicable.

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ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
ITEM 9A - CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Our management, including our principal executive officer and our principal financial officer, is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Under the supervision and with the participation of management, including our principal executive and principal financial officers, we evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2020. The term “disclosure controls and procedures,” as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), means controls and other procedures of a company that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that we file or submits under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the company’s management, including its principal executive and principal financial officers, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives and management necessarily applies its judgment in evaluating the cost-benefit relationship of possible controls and procedures. Based on the evaluation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2020, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that, as of such date, our disclosure controls and procedures were ineffective due to the material weakness in internal control over financial reporting discussed below, as well as our continued implementation of disclosure controls and procedures following the Merger. As a result of the Merger, management has evaluated our internal control processes, has made improvements in our processes and is continually evaluating and improving our internal control processes and expanding our financial operations and reporting infrastructure.
Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Internal control over financial reporting is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act as a process designed by, or under the supervision of, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer and effected by our board of directors, management and other personnel to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and includes those policies and procedures that:
● pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of our assets;
● provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorization of our management and directors; and
● provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risks that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020. In making this assessment, management used the criteria set forth in Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, or COSO. A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. In its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financing reporting as of December 31, 2020, management identified a material weakness related to segregation of duties. Specifically, due to limited resources and headcount we did not have multiple people in the accounting function for a full segregation of duties.
Based on this assessment, management concluded that we did not maintain effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2020, based on the criteria in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013).
Plan for Remediation of Material Weakness
We have taken and continue to take remedial steps to improve our internal control over financial reporting by hiring additional personnel with added expertise in public company reporting and expect to conclude that the material weakness has been remediated as these individuals progress through the onboarding process.

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ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION.
None.
PART III

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ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS, AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
The information required under this item is incorporated herein by reference to our definitive proxy statement pursuant to Regulation 14A, which proxy statement will be filed with the SEC not later than 120 days after the close of our fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. Information relating to this item will be included in an amendment to this Annual Report on Form 10-K if the Company’s definitive proxy statement is not filed within such time.

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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
The information required under this item is incorporated herein by reference to our definitive proxy statement pursuant to Regulation 14A, which proxy statement will be filed with the SEC not later than 120 days after the close of our fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. Information relating to this item will be included in an amendment to this Annual Report on Form 10-K if the Company’s definitive proxy statement is not filed within such time.

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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 under this item is incorporated herein by reference to our definitive proxy statement pursuant to Regulation 14A, which proxy statement will be filed with the SEC not later than 120 days after the close of our fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. Information relating to this item will be included in an amendment to this Annual Report on Form 10-K if the Company’s definitive proxy statement is not filed within such time.

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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
The information required under this item is incorporated herein by reference to our definitive proxy statement pursuant to Regulation 14A, which proxy statement will be filed with the SEC not later than 120 days after the close of our fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. Information relating to this item will be included in an amendment to this Annual Report on Form 10-K if the Company’s definitive proxy statement is not filed within such time.

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ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES
The information required under this item is incorporated herein by reference to our definitive proxy statement pursuant to Regulation 14A, which proxy statement will be filed with the SEC not later than 120 days after the close of our fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. Information relating to this item will be included in an amendment to this Annual Report on Form 10-K if the Company’s definitive proxy statement is not filed within such time.
PART IV

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ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES.
(a) The following documents are filed as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K:
(1) Financial Statements:
Reports of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firms
Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2020 and 2019
Consolidated Statements of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
(2) Financial Statement Schedules:
None. Financial statement schedules have not been included because they are not applicable, or the information is included in the consolidated financial statements or notes thereto.
(3) Exhibits:
See “Index to Exhibits” for a description of our exhibits.