EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 1356093
Filing Year: 2024
Filename: 1356093_10-K_2024_0001437749-24-008777.json

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
ITEM 1 BUSINESS
Our Company
Creative Realities, Inc. (“Creative Realities”, the “Company”, “we”, “us” or “our”) provides innovative digital signage and media solutions to enhance communications in a wide-ranging variety of out-of-home environments, key market segments and use cases, including:
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Retail
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Entertainment and Sports Venues
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Restaurants, including quick-serve restaurants (“QSR”)
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Convenience Stores
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Financial Services
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Automotive
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Medical and Healthcare Facilities
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Mixed Use Developments
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Corporate Communications, Employee Experience
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Digital out of Home (“DOOH”) Advertising Networks
We serve market-leading companies, so there is a good chance that if you leave your home today to shop, work, eat or play, you will encounter one or more of our digital signage experiences. Our solutions are increasingly viable because we help our enterprise customers achieve a wide range of business objectives including:
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Increased brand awareness/engagement
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Improved customer support
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Enhanced employee productivity and satisfaction
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Increased revenue and profitability
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Improved guest experience
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Increased customer/guest engagement
Through a combination of organically grown platforms and a series of strategic acquisitions, including our acquisition of Reflect Systems, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Reflect”), in February 2022, the Company assists customers to design, deploy, manage, and monetize their digital signage networks. The Company sources leads and opportunities for its solutions through its digital and content marketing initiatives, close relationships with key industry partners, equipment manufacturers, and the direct efforts of its in-house industry sales experts. Customer engagements focus on consultative conversations that ensure the Company’s solutions are positioned to help customers achieve their business objectives in the most cost-effective manner possible.
When comparing Creative Realities to other digital signage competitors, our customers value the following competitive advantages:
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Breadth of solutions - Creative Realities offers true solutions to our customers. Creative Realities is one of only a few companies in the industry capable of providing the full portfolio of products and services required to implement and run an effective digital signage network. We leverage a ‘single vendor’ approach, providing customers with a one-stop-shop for sourcing digital signage solutions from design through day two services.
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Managed labor pool - Unlike most companies in our industry, we have a curated labor pool of qualified and vetted field technicians available to service customers quickly nationwide. We can meet tight schedules even in exceptionally large deployments and still ensure quality and consistency.
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In-house creative resources - We assist customers in creating new content or repurposing existing content for digital signage experiences, an activity for which the Company has won several design awards in recent years. In each instance, our services can be essential in helping customers develop an effective content program.
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Network scalability and reliability - Our software as a service (“SaaS”) content management platforms power some of the largest and most complex digital signage networks in North America, evidencing our ability to manage enterprise scale projects. This also provides us purchasing power to source products and services for our customers, enabling us to deliver cost effective, reliable, and powerful solutions to small and medium size business customers.
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Ad management platform - Our customers are increasingly interested in monetizing their digital signage networks through advertising content. However, efficiently scheduling advertising content into digital signage playlists to meet campaign objectives can be a challenging and labor-intensive process for our customers. AdLogic, our home-grown, content management-agnostic platform, automates this process, allowing network owners to capture more revenue with less expense.
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Media sales - Few digital signage solution providers offer their customers media sales as a service. We have in-house media sales expertise to elevate conversations with our customers interested in better understanding network monetization. We believe this meaningful differentiation in the sales process provides us an additional revenue stream compared to our competitors.
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Market sector expertise - Creative Realities has in-house experts in key market segments such as automotive, retail, quick-serve restaurants (“QSR”), convenience stores, and Digital Out of Home (“DOOH”) advertising. Our expertise in these business segments enables our teams to provide meaningful business conversations and offer tailored solutions with prospects and customers to their unique business objectives. These experts build industry relationship and create thought leadership that drives lead flow and new opportunities for our business.
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Logistics - Implementing a large digital signage project can be a logistical nightmare that can stall an initiative, even before deployment. Our expertise in logistics improves deployment efficiency, reduces delays and problems, and saves customers time and money.
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Technical support - Digital signage networks present unique challenges for corporate IT departments. We simplify and improve end user support by leveraging our own Network Operations Center (“NOC”) in Louisville, Kentucky. The NOC resolves many issues remotely and when field support is required, it can be dispatched quickly from the NOC, leveraging our managed labor pool to resolve customer issues quickly and effectively.
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Integrations and Application Development - The future of digital signage is not still images and videos on a screen. We believe that interactive applications and integrations with other data sources will dominate the future. From social media feeds, mobile integrations, corporate data stores, or Point of Sale (“POS”) systems, our proven ability to build scalable applications and integrations is a key advantage that customers can leverage to deliver more compelling and engaging experiences for their customers.
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Hardware support - A number of digital signage providers sell a proprietary media player or align themselves with just one operating system. We utilize a range of media players including Windows, Android and BrightSign to provide customers the flexibility they need to select the appropriate hardware for any application knowing the entire network can still be served by a single digital signage platform, reducing complexity and improving the productivity of our customers.
The three primary sources of revenue for the Company are:
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Hardware sales from reselling digital signage hardware from original equipment manufacturers such as Samsung and BrightSign.
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Services revenue from helping customers design, deploy and manage their digital signage network, including:
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Hardware system design/engineering
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Hardware installation
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Content development
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Content scheduling
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Post-deployment network and field support
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Media sales
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Recurring subscription licensing and support revenue from our digital signage software platforms, which are generally sold via a SaaS model. Our platforms include:
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ReflectView, the Company’s core digital signage platform for most applications, scalable and cost effective from 10 to 100,000+ devices;
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Reflect Xperience, a web-based interface that allows customers to give content scheduling access to local users via the web or mobile devices, while still maintaining centralized programming control;
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Reflect AdLogic, the Company’s ad management platform for digital signage networks, which presently delivers approximately 50 million ads daily;
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Clarity, the Company’s menu board solution, which has become a market leader for a range of restaurant and convenience store applications;
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Reflect Zero Touch, which allows customers to turn any screen into an interactive experience by allowing guests to engage using their mobile device;
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iShowroomProX, an omni-channel digital sales support platform targeted at original equipment manufacturers in the transportation sector, which integrates with dozens of key data services including dealer inventory at the VIN level; and
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OSx+, a digital VIN-level checklist used to assist in the tracking and delivery of new vehicles in the transportation sector, providing measurable lift in customer satisfaction scores and connected vehicle enrollments and subscription activations.
While hardware sales and support services revenues can fluctuate more significantly year over year based on new, large-scale network deployments, the Company expects to see continuous growth in recurring SaaS revenue for the foreseeable future as digital signage adoption/utilization continues to expand across the vertical markets we serve.
We believe that the adoption and evolution of our digital signage technology solutions will increase substantially in years to come in the industries in which we currently focus and in others. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our current and potential customer base reduced capital expenditures, including capital expenditures that we believe would have been used to implement digital technology solutions. The costs of hardware configurations and software media players used to process and display content also increased during that period as a result of supply constraints for semiconductors, a key input to both digital display and digital media player products. Throughout 2021, we faced significant supply chain challenges which limited the availability of each of these components to our sold solutions; however, those supply constraints have materially subsided and the cost of hardware products has again begun to reduce in the most recent trailing twelve month period. We believe that the costs of such hardware will decrease over time as it has done so historically and will do so at an accelerating rate. Flat panel displays and players typically constitute a large portion of the expenditure customers make relative to the entire cost of implementing a digital marketing system implementation and can be a barrier to customer deployment. As a result, we believe that the broader adoption of digital marketing technology solutions is likely to increase, although we cannot predict the rate at which such adoption will occur.
Another component of our business strategy, given the evolving dynamics of the industry in which we operate, is to acquire and integrate other operating companies in the industry in conjunction with pursuing our organic growth objectives. We believe that the selective acquisition and successful integration of certain companies will: accelerate our growth in targeted vertical and operating markets; enable us to cost-effectively aggregate multiple customer bases onto a single business and technology platform; provide us with greater operating scale on a consolidated basis; enable us to leverage a common set of processes and tools, and cost efficiencies company-wide; and ultimately result in higher operating profitability and cash flow from operations. Our management team’s primary focus is the continued acceleration of organic growth, but secondarily evaluates acquisition opportunities on an ongoing basis. Our management team and Board of Directors have broad experience with the execution, integration, and financing of acquisitions and seek only accretive strategic transactions with material cost synergies as a result of overlapping or concurrent content management system capabilities with focus on eliminating the associated cost structure for these systems. We believe that the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected our smaller competitors, and as a result, there may exist acquisition opportunities in the future. We also believe that, based on the foregoing, we can successfully serve as a consolidator of multiple business and technology platforms serving similar markets. As part of our acquisition strategy, we acquired Allure Global Solutions, Inc., a Georgia corporation (“Allure”) in 2018, and Reflect in February 2022.
Business Strategy
We believe that our existing business model is highly scalable and can be expanded successfully as we continue to grow organically, seek to acquire and integrate other companies in our target markets, strengthen our operational practices and procedures, further streamline our administrative office functions, and continue to capitalize on various marketing programs and activities.
Industry Background
We believe certain digital marketing technology industry trends are creating the opportunity for retailers, brands, venue-operators, enterprises, non-profits and other organizations to create innovative shopping, marketing, and informational experiences for their customers and other stakeholders in various venues worldwide. These trends include: (i) the expectations of technology-savvy consumers; (ii) addressing on-line competitors by improving physical experiences; (iii) a decline in the cost of hardware configurations (primarily flat panel displays) and software media players; (iv) the continued evolution of mobile, social, software and hardware technologies, applications and tools; (v) increasing sophistication of social networking platforms; (vi) increasingly complex customer requirements related to their specific digital marketing technology and solution objectives; and (vii) customer expectations of satisfactory consumer experiences with reduced installation and operating costs.
As a result, a growing number of retailers, brands, venue-operators, and other organizations have identified the need and opportunity to implement increasingly agile, automated, targeted and cost-effective and “sales-lifting” digital marketing, and interactive experiences to market to their customers. These experiences include creating unique and customized experiences for targeted, timely offerings and relevant promotions; improving engagement resulting in increased sales; and increasing shopping basket size. We believe our customers consider capitalizing on these industry trends to be increasingly critical to any successful “store of the future” retail and brand sales environment, especially where sales staff turnover is high, training outcomes are inconsistent and product knowledge is low.
Companies are implementing various digital marketing technology solutions, which: are implemented in multiple forms and types of configurations and locations; attempt to achieve any of a broad range of individual or combination of objectives; contain various levels of targeting; have the ability to instantly manage single or multiple locations remotely from a customer’s desktop or other connected device at each location; and are built to deliver or contain a standard or customized customer experience unique to and within the customer’s environment. Examples of such solutions include:
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Digital Merchandising Systems, to inform and interact with customers through various types of content in an integrated experience, improve in-store customer experiences and increase overall sales, upsells, and/or cross-sales;
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Digital Sales Assistants, to replace or augment existing sales resources and the level of interactive and informational sales assistance inside the store;
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Digital Way-Finders, to help customers navigate their way around individual retail stores and multi-store locations or venues, or within individual brand categories;
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Digital Kiosks, to provide data, specialized and customized broadcasts, promotional information and coupons, train, and other forms of information and interaction with customers in a variety of deployment forms, types, configurations and experiences;
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Digital Menu-Board Systems, to enable various types of restaurant operators the ability to remotely and on a scheduled basis, update and modify menu information, promotions, and other forms of content dynamically; and
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Dynamic Digital Signage, including Advertising Networks, to deliver and manage in-store marketing and advertising campaigns, specialized and customized broadcasts, and various other forms of messaging targeting customers in a particular experience or environment.
Our Markets
We currently market and sell our marketing technology solutions through our direct sales force, inside sales team, and word-of-mouth referrals from existing customers. Select strategic partnerships and lead generation programs also drive business to the Company through targeted business development initiatives. We market to companies that seek digital marketing solutions across multiple connected devices and who specifically seek or could benefit from enhancements to the customer experience offered in their stores, venues, brands or organizations.
Our digital marketing technology solutions apply in a wide variety of industries. The industries in which we primarily sell our solutions are established and include automotive, retail, DOOH including advertising networks and retail media networks, foodservice/QSR, financial services, gaming, and sports and entertainment venues. A number of participants in these industries have only recently started considering or expanding the adoption of these types of technologies, solutions, and experiences as part of their overall marketing strategies.
Seasonality
A portion of our customer activity is influenced by seasonal effects related to traditional end of calendar year peak retail sales periods, traditional spring stadium/venue opening seasons, and certain other factors that arise from our target customer base. Nevertheless, our revenues can be materially affected by the launch of new markets, the timing of production rollouts, and other factors, any of which have the ability to reduce or outweigh certain seasonal effects.
Effect of General Economic Conditions on our Business
We believe that demand for our services will increase in the future in part because of new construction and remodeling activities of pre-existing retail, convenience store, stadium, and event venues. While we do see reductions in retail footprints across the U.S., we see a continued focus on integration of digital into the retail marketplace and a focus on digital refreshes within the retail space to stay relevant in an evolving e-commerce marketplace. Recent general economic improvements generally make it easier for our customers to justify decisions to invest in digital marketing technology solutions. A change in the macroeconomic trend in the U.S. could have a negative impact on our customers’ ability and/or willingness to advance their digital initiatives.
Effect of Supply Chain Constraints
A key component of our business includes the sale of digital media players, digital displays, and mounts supplied by third-party manufacturing partners. While the disruptions we experienced throughout 2021 and the first half of 2022 with respect to semiconductors have mostly subsided, we are still exposed to potential disruptions and delays related to fulfillment of inventory purchases from vendors as a result of increased lead times post-COVID-19 pandemic, which represent the key components to our digital signage solutions, because of a global shortage of semiconductor chips. In instances in which inventory was available, we experienced delays in the transportation of these goods from manufacturers to the Company, and in delivery of our solutions to our customers.
Regulation
We are subject to regulation by various federal and state governmental agencies. Such regulation includes radio frequency emission regulatory activities of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, the consumer protection laws of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, product safety regulatory activities of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, and environmental regulation in areas in which we conduct business. Some of the hardware components that we supply to customers may contain hazardous or regulated substances, such as lead. A number of U.S. states have adopted or are considering “takeback” bills addressing the disposal of electronic waste, including CRT style and flat panel monitors and computers. Electronic waste legislation is developing. Some of the bills passed or under consideration may impose on us, or on our customers or suppliers, requirements for disposal of systems we sell and the payment of additional fees to pay costs of disposal and recycling. Presently, we do not believe that any such legislation or proposed legislation will have a materially adverse impact on our business.
Competition
While we believe there is presently no direct competitor with the comprehensive offering of technologies, solutions, and services we provide to our customers, there are multiple individual competitors who offer subsets of our product and service offerings. These include digital signage software companies such as Stratacache and Poppulo; marketing services companies such as Sapient Nitro; or digital signage systems integrators such as SageNet. Some of these competitors may have significantly greater financial, technical, and marketing resources than we do and may be able to respond more rapidly than we can to new or emerging technologies or changes in customer requirements. We believe that our holistic sales and business development capabilities, network operations / field service management capabilities, our comprehensive offering of digital signage technology and solutions, brand awareness, and proprietary processes are the primary factors providing our competitive advantage.
Major Customers
No customer accounted for more than 10% of revenue for the year ended December 31, 2023. We had three customers that accounted for 44% of revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022.
We had two and three customers that in the aggregate accounted for 50% and 49% of accounts receivable as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Decisions by one or more of these key customers to not renew, terminate, or substantially reduce their use of our products, technology, services, and platform could substantially slow our revenue growth and lead to a decline in revenue. Our business plan assumes continued growth in revenue, and it is unlikely that we will become profitable without a continued increase in revenue.
Territories
We sell products and services primarily throughout North America, with limited software licensing agreements operating in other international jurisdictions.
Human Capital
We have a workforce comprised of approximately 152 employees as of March 20, 2024. We do not have any employees that operate under collective-bargaining agreements.
Our principal offices are located at 13100 Magisterial Drive, Ste 100, Louisville, Kentucky 40223, and our telephone number at that office is (502) 791-8800. We have additional offices in the Dallas, TX, Atlanta, GA, and Windsor, Ontario (Canada) metro areas.
Corporate Organization
We originally incorporated and organized as a Minnesota corporation under the name “Wireless Ronin Technologies, Inc.” in March 2003 and focused on our expertise in digital media marketing solutions, including digital signage, interactive kiosks, mobile, social media, and web-based media solutions. We acquired the interactive marketing technology business that we currently operate in a 2014 merger with Creative Realities, LLC. Shortly after that merger, we changed our corporate name from “Wireless Ronin Technologies, Inc.” to “Creative Realities, Inc.” On October 15, 2015, we acquired the systems integration and marketing technology business of ConeXus World Global, LLC. On November 20, 2018, we acquired Allure, an enterprise software development company. On February 17, 2022, we acquired Reflect.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
ITEM 1A RISK FACTORS
Our business involves a high degree of risk. In evaluating our business, you should carefully consider the specific risks described below, and any risks described in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14, or 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Any of the risks we describe below could cause our business, financial condition, results of operations or future prospects to be materially adversely affected. In addition, some of the following statements are forward-looking statements.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS AND OUR INDUSTRY
We have generally incurred losses, and may never become or remain profitable.
We have incurred historical net losses, and we have had negative cash flows from operations. While we have been able to achieve net income in 2021 and 2022, we incurred a net loss in 2023 and it is uncertain whether we will be able to sustain or increase our profitability in successive periods.
We have formulated our business plans and strategies based on certain assumptions regarding the acceptance of our business model and the marketing of our products and services. Nevertheless, our assessments regarding market size, market share, market acceptance of our products and services and a variety of other factors may prove incorrect. Our future success will depend upon many factors, including factors beyond our control and those that cannot be predicted at this time.
Our digital marketing business is evolving in a rapidly changing market, and we cannot ensure the long-term successful operation of our business or the execution of our business plan.
Digital marketing technology and solutions are evolving and the markets in which we compete are rapidly changing. As a result, our prospects must be considered in light of the risks, expenses and difficulties frequently encountered by growing companies in new and rapidly evolving markets. We may be unable to accomplish any of the following, which would materially impact our ability to implement our business plan:
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timely and successfully developing new technology, solution, service, and platform features, including but not limited to the utilization of artificial intelligence, and increasing the functionality and features of our existing technology, solution, service, and platform offerings;
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establishing and maintaining broad market acceptance of our technology, solutions, services, and platforms, and converting that acceptance into direct and indirect sources of revenue;
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establishing and maintaining adoption of our technology, solutions, services, and platforms in and on a variety of environments, experiences, and device types;
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developing technology, solutions, services, and platforms that result in a high degree of customer satisfaction and a high level of end-customer usage;
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successfully responding to competition, including competition from emerging technologies and solutions;
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developing and maintaining strategic relationships to enhance the distribution, features, content and utility of our technology, solutions, services, and platforms;
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identifying, attracting and retaining talented engineering, network operations, program management, technical services, creative services, and other personnel at reasonable market compensation rates in the markets in which we employ such personnel; and
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integrating operations, personnel and technology from our acquisitions.
Our business strategy may be unsuccessful and we may be unable to address the risks we face in a cost-effective manner, if at all. If we are unable to successfully accomplish these tasks, our business will be harmed.
Our success and longevity depend on our ability to generate profits from future operations and obtain sufficient capital through financing transactions to refinance our debt obligations, pay any contingent consideration owed to former Reflect stockholders, and meet our other business obligations.
The report of our independent registered public accounting firm on our Consolidated Financial Statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 included an explanatory paragraph indicating that there is substantial doubt as to our ability to continue as a going concern within one year after that date that the Consolidated Financial Statements are issued.
At December 31, 2023, the Company has an accumulated deficit of $53,346, negative working capital of $1,587, including current debt obligations of $3,690, and cash of $2,910. For the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company generated operating income of $1,346 and generated positive net cash flows from operations of $5,167. Pursuant to the Second Amended and Restated Credit and Security Agreement (the "Credit Agreement") between the Company and Slipstream, the Company is required and began to make monthly repayments of principal on the Consolidation Term Loan on September 1, 2023. The monthly principal payment is approximately $370 and will continue on the first day of each month thereafter until the Maturity Date on February 17, 2025, with total principal repayments of $4,037 during the twelve months subsequent to the reporting date of our Consolidated Financial Statements. In addition, the Company is required to repay the principal balance on the Acquisition Term Loan of $10,000 at maturity and resolve the contingent consideration (described below), currently estimated for accounting purposes at $11,208, each of which mature on February 17, 2025 and collectively raises substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern under the technical framework within ASU 205-40. See “Note 1: Nature of Organization of Organization and Operations- Liquidity and Financial Consideration“ to the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements contained in this Report for a description of our payment obligations under the Credit Agreement.
The merger agreement in which we acquired Reflect requires us to pay to former Reflect stockholders additional contingent cash consideration after February 17, 2025 (subject to a six-month extension under certain circumstances), if the closing price of our shares of common stock on such date is less than $6.40 per share (the "Guaranteed Price"). The actual amount of such contingent consideration cannot be determined until such time, but our financial statements reflect $11,208 as the amount of such payment as of December 31, 2023, which include an increase in the Guaranteed Price to reflect the Company’s 1-for-3 reverse stock split that occurred on March 23, 2023. See “Note 5 Business Combinations” to the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements contained in this Report for a description of our obligations to pay the contingent consideration.
We do not anticipate that we will have adequate funds from our operations to satisfy these obligations in February 2025. In response to these conditions, the Company plans to evaluate its available options for refinancing, via recapitalization, debt financing or equity financing, its upcoming obligations associated with the Acquisition Term Loan, Consolidation Term Loan, and contingent consideration. However, these plans have not been finalized, are subject to market conditions, and are not within the Company’s control, and therefore cannot be deemed probable. As a result, the Company has concluded that management's plans do not alleviate substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern.
Any equity financings will likely be dilutive to shareholders and may be completed at a discount to the then-current market price of our securities. Debt financing, if available, may involve restrictive covenants on our operations or pertaining to future financing arrangements. Nevertheless, we may not successfully complete any future equity or debt financing. Adequate funds for our operations, whether from financial markets, collaborative or other arrangements, may not be available when needed or on terms attractive to us. If adequate funds are not available, our plans to operate our business may be adversely affected and we could be required to curtail our activities significantly and/or cease operating.
We do not have sufficient capital to engage in material research and development, which may harm our long-term growth.
In light of our limited resources in general, we have limited material investments in research and development over the past several years. This conserves capital in the short term. In the long term, as a result of our failure to invest in research and development, our technology and product offerings may not keep pace with the market, and we may lose any current existing competitive advantage. Over the long term, this may harm our revenues growth and our ability to become profitable.
The variable sales cycle of our products will likely make it difficult to predict operating results.
Although we are focusing on increasing our revenues from SaaS services to our customers, our overall revenues in any quarter depend substantially upon contracts signed and the related shipment and installation or delivery of hardware and software products in that quarter. It is therefore difficult for us to accurately predict revenues and this difficulty also will affect the Company. It is difficult to forecast the timing of large individual hardware and software sales with a high degree of certainty due to the extended length of the sales cycle and the generally more complex contractual terms that may be associated with our products that could result in the deferral of some or all of the revenue to future periods.
Accordingly, large individual sales have sometimes occurred in quarters subsequent to when we anticipated or not at all. If we receive any significant cancellation or deferral of customer orders, or it is unable to conclude license negotiations by the end of a fiscal quarter, our operating results may be lower than anticipated. In addition, any weakening or uncertainty in the economy may make it more difficult for the Company to predict quarterly results in the future, and could negatively impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations for an indefinite period of time.
There has been, and we expect that there will continue to be, significant consolidation in our industry. Our failure or inability to either lead or participate in that consolidation would have a severe adverse impact on our access to financing, customers, technology, and human resources.
Our industry is currently composed of a large number of relatively small businesses; no single business dominates or provides integrated solutions and product offerings incorporating much of the available industry technology. We believe that substantial consolidation is occurring in our industry and will continue to do so in the near future. We believe that our prior acquisitions of Allure and Reflect illustrate acquisition opportunities that exist in our industry. If we are not active participants in consolidation, either as a consolidator or as a target, we may be left out of this process, with product offerings of limited value compared with those of our consolidated competitors. Moreover, even if we lead the consolidation process, we may incur unknown liabilities in such consolidations, fail to fully integrate the operations, personnel, or technology from such consolidations, and the market may not validate the decisions we make in that process.
Unpredictability in financing markets could impair our ability to grow our business through acquisitions.
We anticipate that opportunities to acquire similar businesses will materially depend on, among other things, the availability of financing options for us with acceptable terms. Poor credit and other market conditions or uncertainty in financial markets could adversely affect our ability to obtain such financing, and as a result, materially limit our ability to grow through acquisitions.
Our success depends on our interactive marketing technologies achieving and maintaining widespread acceptance in our targeted markets.
Our success will depend to a large extent on market acceptance of our interactive marketing technologies among our current and prospective customers. Our prospective customers may still not use our solutions for a number of other reasons, including preference for static advertising, lack of familiarity with our technology, preference for competing technologies or perceived lack of reliability. We believe that the acceptance of our interactive marketing technologies by prospective customers will depend primarily on the following factors:
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our ability to demonstrate the economic and other benefits attendant to our interactive marketing technologies;
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our customers becoming comfortable with using our interactive marketing technologies; and
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the reliability of our interactive marketing technologies.
Our interactive technologies are complex and must meet stringent user requirements. Some undetected errors or defects may only become apparent as new functions are added to our technologies and products. The need to repair or replace products with design or manufacturing defects could temporarily delay the sale of new products and adversely affect our reputation. Delays, costs, and damage to our reputation due to product defects could harm our business.
Our financial condition and potential for continued net losses may negatively impact our relationships with customers, prospective customers and third-party suppliers.
Our financial condition and potential for continued net losses may cause current and prospective customers to defer placing orders with us, to require terms that are less favorable to us, or to place their orders with our competitors, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. On the same basis, third-party suppliers may refuse to do business with us, or may do so only on terms that are unfavorable to us, which also could cause our expenses to increase.
Because we do not have long-term purchase commitments from our customers, the failure to obtain anticipated orders or the deferral or cancellation of commitments could have adverse effects on our business.
Our business is characterized by short-term purchase orders, contracts that do not require that purchases be made by our customers, and monthly subscription contracts (SaaS) that may be terminated with minimal notice. This makes forecasting our sales difficult. The failure to obtain anticipated orders and deferrals or cancellations of purchase commitments or SaaS services because of changes in customer requirements, or otherwise, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We have experienced such challenges in the past and may experience such challenges in the future.
Our continued growth and financial performance could be adversely affected by the loss of several key customers.
No customer accounted for more than 10% of revenue for the year ended December 31, 2023. We had three customers that accounted for 44% of revenue for the years ended December 31, 2022.
Decisions by one or more of these key customers to not renew, terminate, or substantially reduce their use of our products, technology, services, and platform could substantially slow our revenue growth and lead to a decline in revenue. Our business plan assumes continued growth in revenue, and it is unlikely that we will become profitable without a continued increase in revenue.
Most of our contracts are terminable by our customers with limited notice and without penalty payments, and early terminations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Most of our contracts are terminable by our customers following limited notice and without early termination payments or liquidated damages due from them. In addition, each stage of a project often represents a separate contractual commitment, at the end of which the customers may elect to delay or not to proceed to the next stage of the project. We cannot assure you that one or more of our customers will not terminate a material contract or materially reduce the scope of a large project. The delay, cancellation or significant reduction in the scope of a large project or a number of projects could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
It is common for our current and prospective customers to evaluate our products over an extended period of time, most especially during economic downturns that affect our customers’ businesses, as we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic. The lengthy and variable sales cycle makes it difficult to predict our operating results.
It is difficult for us to forecast the timing and recognition of revenue from sales of our products and services because our actual and prospective customers often take significant time to evaluate our products before committing to a purchase. Even after making their first purchases of our products and services (or "pilot program" purchases), existing customers may not make significant purchases of those products and services for a long period of time following their initial purchases, if at all. The period between initial customer contact and a purchase by a customer may be years with potentially an even longer period separating initial purchases and any significant purchases thereafter. During the evaluation period, prospective customers may decide not to purchase or may scale down proposed orders of our products for various reasons, including:
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reduced need to upgrade existing visual marketing systems;
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introduction of products by our competitors;
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lower prices offered by our competitors; and
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changes in budgets and purchasing priorities.
Our prospective customers routinely require education regarding the use and benefit of our products and solutions. This may also lead to delays in receiving customers’ orders.
Our industry is characterized by frequent technological change. If we are unable to adapt our products and services and develop new products and services to keep up with these rapid changes, we will not be able to obtain, or maintain, market share.
The market for our products and services is characterized by rapidly changing technology, evolving industry standards, changes in customer needs, heavy competition, and frequent new product and service introductions. If we fail to develop new products and services or modify or improve existing products and services in response to these changes in technology, customer demands, or industry standards, our products and services could become less competitive or obsolete.
We must respond to changing technology and industry standards in a timely and cost-effective manner. We may not be successful in using new technologies, developing new products and services or enhancing existing products and services in a timely and cost-effective manner. Furthermore, even if we successfully adapt our products and services, these new technologies or enhancements may not achieve sufficient market acceptance.
We operate in an intensely competitive industry, and our competitors are developing products and solutions that incorporate AI and ML . We may not be as successful as our competitors in incorporating AI and ML into our products and solutions.
Our competitors may be larger, more diversified, better funded, and have access to more advanced technology, including AI and ML. These competitive advantages may enable our competition to innovate their products and solutions faster or better than we can, or to provide increased competition on quality and price, which could adversely affect our business and profitability. Burgeoning interest in AI and ML may increase competition and disrupt the Company’s business model. AI and ML may lower barriers to entry in our industry and the Company may be unable to effectively compete with the products or services offered by new competitors. Changes to the products and services we offer related to AI and ML may affect customer expectations, requirements, or tastes in ways that the Company cannot adequately anticipate or adapt to, causing its business to lose revenues.
Issues relating to the use of new and evolving technologies in our offerings, such as AI and ML, may result in increased regulation and costs to comply with such regulations.
We are exploring manners to integrate AI and ML into many of our offerings. We may need to increase our operational, research and development and compliance costs, or divert resources from other research and development efforts, to address potential issues related to AI and ML in a quickly evolving social, legal, and regulatory environment. As with many cutting-edge innovations, AI and ML present new risks and challenges, and existing laws and regulations may apply to us in new ways, the nature and extent of which are difficult to predict. Potential government regulation related to AI, including relating to ethics and social responsibility, may also increase the burden and cost of compliance and research and development.
We use developed and licensed software technology, and we could face claims of infringement by others in the industry. Such claims are costly and add uncertainty to our operational results.
A portion of our business involves our ownership and licensing of software. This market space is characterized by frequent intellectual property claims and litigation. We could be subject to claims of infringement of third-party intellectual-property rights resulting in significant expense and the potential loss of our own intellectual property rights. From time to time, third parties may assert copyright, trademark, patent, or other intellectual property rights to technologies that are important to our business. Any litigation to determine the validity of these claims, including claims arising through our contractual indemnification of our business partners, regardless of their merit or resolution, would likely be costly and time consuming and divert the efforts and attention of our management and technical personnel. If any such litigation resulted in an adverse ruling, we could be required to:
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pay substantial damages;
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cease the development, use, licensing or sale of infringing products;
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discontinue the use of certain technology; or
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obtain a license under the intellectual property rights of the third party claiming infringement, which license may not be available on reasonable terms or at all.
Our proprietary platform architectures and data tracking technology underlying certain of our services are complex and may contain unknown errors in design or implementation that could result in system performance failures or inability to scale.
The platform architecture, data tracking technology, and integration layers underlying our proprietary platforms, our contract administration, procurement, timekeeping, content and network management, network services, device management, virtualized services, software automation and other tools, and back-end services are complex and include specially developed software and code. This software and code are developed internally, licensed from third parties, or integrated by in-house personnel and third parties. Any of the system architecture, system administration, integration layers, software, or code may contain errors, or may be implemented or interpreted incorrectly, particularly when they are first introduced or when new versions or enhancements to our tools and services are released. Consequently, our systems could experience performance failure, or we may be unable to scale our systems, which may:
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adversely impact our relationship with customers and others who experience system failure, possibly leading to a loss of affected and unaffected customers;
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increase our costs related to product development or service delivery; or
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adversely affect our revenues and expenses.
Our business may be adversely affected by malicious applications that interfere with, or exploit security flaws in, our products and services.
Our business may be adversely affected by malicious applications that make changes to our customers’ computer systems and interfere with the operation and use of our products or products that impact our business. These applications may attempt to interfere with our ability to communicate with our customers’ devices. The interference may occur without disclosure to or consent from our customers, resulting in a negative experience that our customers may associate with our products and services. These applications may be difficult or impossible to uninstall or disable, may reinstall themselves and may circumvent other applications’ efforts to block or remove them. The ability to provide customers with a superior interactive marketing technology experience is critical to our success. If our efforts to combat these malicious applications fail, or if our products and services have actual or perceived vulnerabilities, there may be claims based on such failure or our reputation may be harmed, which would damage our business and financial condition.
We compete with other companies that have more resources, which puts us at a competitive disadvantage.
The market for interactive marketing technologies is highly competitive and we expect competition to increase in the future. Many competitors have significantly greater financial, technical, and marketing resources than us. These competitors may be able to respond more rapidly than we can to new or emerging technologies or changes in customer preferences or requirements. They may also devote greater resources to the development, promotion and sale of their products and services than us.
We expect competitors to continue to improve the performance of their current products, services, and technologies and to introduce new products, services, and technologies as well. Successful new product and service introductions or enhancements by our competitors could reduce sales and the market acceptance of our products and services, cause intense price competition, or make our products and services obsolete. To be competitive, we must continue to invest significant resources in research and development, sales and marketing and customer support. If we do not have sufficient resources to make these investments or are unable to make the technological advances necessary to be competitive, our competitive position will suffer. Increased competition could result in price reductions, fewer customer orders, reduced margins, and loss of market share. Our failure to compete successfully against current or future competitors could adversely affect our business and financial condition.
Our future success depends on key personnel and our ability to attract and retain additional personnel.
Our key personnel include:
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Rick Mills, our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman; and
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Will Logan, our Chief Financial Officer.
If we fail to retain our key personnel or to attract, retain, and motivate other qualified employees, our ability to maintain and develop our business may be adversely affected. Our future success depends significantly on the continued service of our key technical, sales, and senior management personnel and their ability to execute our growth strategy. The loss of the services of our key employees could harm our business. We may be unable to retain our employees or to attract, assimilate and retain other highly qualified employees who could migrate to other employers who offer competitive or superior compensation packages.
We risk losing directors, officers, and employees, or paying more cash compensation, if our shareholders do not approve our 2023 Stock Incentive Plan.
Our ability to issue incentive awards under our 2014 Stock Incentive Plan expired in 2023. Nasdaq’s listing rules require us to obtain our shareholder’s approval of a stock incentive plan before we may issue any shares under the plan or any option issued under the plan may be exercised. On November 8, 2023, our Board of Directors adopted a 2023 stock incentive plan (the “2023 Plan”), and we intend to seek shareholder approval of such plan at our 2024 annual shareholder meeting.
As a company with limited capital resources, we have historically relied upon our ability to issue incentives from our stock incentive plans to our directors, officers and employees in lieu of cash-based compensation. Currently, we may only issue options under the 2023 Plan that cannot be exercised unless shareholder approval of the 2023 Plan is obtained in advance of the exercise of any option. We cannot issue restricted stock awards or stock awards, which we have issued in the past to incentivize our directors, officers and employees and to mitigate the cash compensation that would otherwise be payable to such persons. This limited use of the 2023 Plan limits the value of these incentives, and will require us to use cash in place of incentives under the 2023 Plan until shareholder approval is obtained, or we risk losing the services of our officers, directors and employees.
We cannot guarantee that we will be able to obtain shareholder approval of the 2023 Plan. Our shareholders failed to approve at our 2023 annual shareholder meeting a 2023 equity incentive plan that authorized the issuance of up to 1,500,000 shares under such plan.
We are subject to cyber security risks and interruptions or failures in our information technology systems and those of third party partners with whom our applications are integrated, and will likely need to expend additional resources to enhance our protection from such risks. Notwithstanding our efforts, a cyber incident could occur and result in information theft, data corruption, operational disruption, and/or financial loss.
We depend on digital technologies to process and record financial and operating data and rely on sophisticated information technology systems and infrastructure to support our business, including process control technology. At the same time, cyber incidents, including deliberate attacks, have increased. Our technologies, systems and networks and those of our vendors, suppliers, and other business partners may become the target of cyberattacks or information security breaches that could result in the unauthorized release, gathering, monitoring, misuse, loss or destruction of proprietary and other information, or other disruption of business operations. In addition, certain cyber incidents, such as surveillance, may remain undetected for an extended period. Our systems for protecting against cyber security risks may not be sufficient. As the sophistication of cyber incidents continues to evolve, we will likely be required to expend additional resources to continue to modify or enhance our protective measures or to investigate and remediate any vulnerability to cyber incidents. Additionally, any of these systems may be susceptible to outages due to fire, floods, power loss, telecommunications failures, usage errors by employees, computer viruses, cyber-attacks, or other security breaches or similar events. The failure of any of our information technology systems may cause disruptions in our operations, which could adversely affect our revenues and profitability.
Additionally, we engage third-party service providers to assist us in providing products and services for our customers. Those third-party services providers also subject to the foregoing risks to their systems. We do not have a process to oversee and identify risks from cyber security threats associated with our use of such third-party service providers, and any such incidents occurring on their system could similarly affect us, our revenues and profitability.
Our reliance on information management and transaction systems to operate our business exposes us to cyber incidents and hacking of our sensitive information if our outsourced service provider experiences a security breach.
Effective information security internal controls are necessary for us to protect our sensitive information from illegal activities and unauthorized disclosure in addition to denial of service attacks and corruption of our data. In addition, we rely on the information security internal controls maintained by our outsourced service provider. Breaches of our information management system could also adversely affect our business reputation. Finally, significant information system disruptions could adversely affect our ability to effectively manage operations or reliably report results.
Because our technology, products, platform, and services are complex and are deployed in and across complex environments, they may have errors or defects that could seriously harm our business.
Our technology, proprietary platforms, products, and services are highly complex and are designed to operate in and across data centers, large and complex networks, and other elements of the digital media workflow that we do not own or control. On an ongoing basis, we need to perform proactive maintenance services on our platform and related software services to correct errors and defects. In the future, there may be additional errors and defects in our software that may adversely affect our services. We may not have in place adequate reporting, tracking, monitoring, and quality assurance procedures to ensure that we detect errors in our software in a timely manner. If we are unable to efficiently and cost-effectively fix errors or other problems that may be identified, or if there are unidentified errors that allow persons to improperly access our services, we could experience loss of revenues and market share, damage to our reputation, increased expenses and legal actions by our customers.
We may have insufficient network or server capacity, which could result in interruptions in our services and loss of revenues.
Our operations are dependent in part upon: network capacity provided by third-party telecommunications networks; data center services provider owned and leased infrastructure and capacity; our dedicated and virtualized server capacity located at its data center services provider partner and a geo-redundant micro-data center location; and our own infrastructure and equipment. Collectively, this infrastructure, equipment, and capacity must be sufficiently robust to handle all of our customers’ web-traffic, particularly in the event of unexpected surges in high-definition video traffic and network services incidents. We (and our service providers) may not be adequately prepared for unexpected increases in bandwidth and related infrastructure demands from our customers. In addition, the bandwidth we have contracted to purchase may become unavailable for a variety of reasons, including payment disputes, outages, or such service providers going out of business. Any failure of these service providers or our own infrastructure to provide the capacity we require, due to financial or other reasons, may result in a reduction in, or interruption of, service to our customers, leading to an immediate decline in revenue and possible additional decline in revenue as a result of subsequent customer losses.
Our business operations are susceptible to interruptions caused by events beyond our control.
Our business operations are susceptible to interruptions caused by events beyond our control. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in authorities implementing numerous preventative measures to contain or mitigate the outbreak of the virus, such as travel bans and restrictions, limitations on business activity, quarantines, and shelter-in-place orders. These measures caused business slowdowns and shutdowns in certain affected areas, both regionally and worldwide, which significantly adversely impacted our business and results of operations. We are vulnerable to potential problems when events beyond our control arise, including, among others:
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our platform, technology, products, and services and underlying infrastructure, or that of our key suppliers, may be damaged or destroyed by events beyond our control, such as fires, earthquakes, floods, power outages, or telecommunications failures;
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we and our customers and/or partners may experience interruptions in service as a result of the accidental or malicious actions of Internet users, hackers, or current or former employees;
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we may transmit viruses to third parties that damage or impair their access to computer networks, programs, data or information, and eliminating computer viruses and alleviating other security problems may require interruptions, delays or cessation of service to our customers and cause us to face liability;
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failure of our systems or those of our suppliers may disrupt service to our customers (and from our customers to their customers), which could materially impact our operations (and the operations of our customers), adversely affect our relationships with our customers and lead to lawsuits and contingent liability;
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delays in product development or releases, or reductions in manufacturing production and sales of consumer hardware, as a result of inventory shortages, supply chain or labor shortages;
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significant volatility and disruption of global financial markets, which could negatively impact our ability to access capital in the future;
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our inability to recognize revenue, collect payment, or generate future revenue from customers, including from those that have been or may be forced to close their businesses or are otherwise adversely impacted by any resulting economic downturn;
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negative impact on our workforce productivity, product development, and research and development due to difficulties resulting from our personnel working remotely
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illnesses to key employees, or a significant portion of our workforce, which may result in inefficiencies, delays, and disruptions in our business; and
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increased volatility and uncertainty in the financial projections we use as the basis for estimate used in our financial statements.
The occurrence of any of the foregoing could result in claims for consequential and other damages, significant repair and recovery expenses and extensive customer losses and otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our competitors are constantly evolving, and we may be unable to compete successfully against existing or future competitors to our business.
The market in which we operate is increasingly competitive. Our current competitors generally include general digital signage companies, specialized digital signage operators targeting certain vertical markets (e.g., financial services, retail, or food services), content management software companies, or integrators and vertical solution providers who develop single implementations of content distribution, digital marketing technology, and related services. These competitors, including future new competitors who may emerge, may be able to develop comparable or superior solution capabilities, software platform, technology stack, and/or series of services that provide a similar or more robust set of features and functionality than our technology, products and services. If this occurs, we may be unable to grow as necessary to make our business profitable. In addition, our existing and potential future competitors may be able to use their extensive resources to:
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develop and deploy new products and services more quickly and effectively than we can;
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develop, improve, and expand their platforms and related infrastructures more quickly than we can;
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offer less expensive products, technology, platform, and services as a result of a lower cost structure, greater capital reserves, or otherwise;
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adapt more swiftly and completely to new or emerging technologies and changes in customer requirements;
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take advantage of acquisition and other opportunities more readily; and
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devote greater resources to the marketing and sales of their products, technology, platform, and services.
If we are unable to compete effectively in our various markets, or if competitive pressures place downward pressure on the prices at which we offer our products and services, our business, financial condition and results of operations may suffer.
RISKS RELATED TO OUR SECURITIES AND OUR COMPANY
Our largest shareholder and senior lender possesses significant voting power with respect to our common stock, which will limit your influence on our management and affairs, and may discourage parties from initiating potential merger, takeover, or other change-of-control transactions.
As of March 20, 2024, our largest shareholder and investor, Slipstream is the holder of all of our outstanding debt instruments, including two term loans, and has beneficial ownership of approximately 26% of our common stock (on an as-converted, fully diluted basis including conversion of outstanding warrants, and assuming no other convertible securities, options and warrants are converted or exercised by other parties).
Slipstream has significant influence on our management and affairs, including the election and removal of our Board of Directors and all other matters requiring shareholder approval, including the future merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. This stockholder position, especially in light of Pegasus' prior proposals described below, may discourage others from initiating any potential merger, takeover, or other change-of-control transaction that may otherwise be beneficial to our shareholders. Furthermore, this concentrated ownership will limit the practical effect of your participation in Company matters, through shareholder votes and otherwise.
On February 2, 2023 and May 1, 2023, we received unsolicited proposals from Pegasus Capital Advisors, L.P., on behalf of itself and certain of its affiliates, including Slipstream (collectively, “Pegasus”), to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of the Company that are not owned by Pegasus for purchase prices of $0.83 per share in cash (or, as a result of our 1-for-3 reverse stock split effectuated in March 2023, $2.49 per share), and $2.85 per share in cash, respectively. Pegasus is the beneficial owner of our common stock owned of record by Slipstream. The Special Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Special Committee”) concluded that each proposal undervalued the Company based on the Special Committee’s views of the intrinsic value of the Company’s existing business and current and future prospects, and was not in the best interests of the Company’s existing shareholders. Consequently, the Special Committee advised Pegasus that it rejected each proposal, and since such time, Pegasus has not made any subsequent acquisition proposal.
Our Articles of Incorporation grant our Board of Directors the power to issue additional shares of common and preferred stock and to designate other classes of preferred stock, all without shareholder approval.
Our authorized capital consists of 116,666,666 shares of capital stock, 50,000,000 of which is undesignated preferred stock. Pursuant to authority granted by our Articles of Incorporation, our Board of Directors, without any action by our shareholders, may designate and issue shares in such classes or series (including other classes or series of preferred stock) as it deems appropriate and establish the rights, preferences and privileges of such shares, including dividends, liquidation and voting rights, provided such designation is consistent with Minnesota law. The rights of holders of other classes or series of stock that may be issued could be superior to the rights of holders of our common shares. The designation and issuance of shares of capital stock having preferential rights could adversely affect other rights appurtenant to shares of our common stock. Furthermore, any issuances of additional stock (common or preferred) will dilute the percentage of ownership interest of then-current holders of our capital stock and may dilute our book value per share.
We have never paid dividends on our capital stock and we do not anticipate paying dividends in the foreseeable future.
We have never paid dividends on any of our capital stock and currently intend to retain any future earnings to fund the growth of our business. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend on our financial condition, operating results, capital requirements, general business conditions, and other factors that our Board of Directors may deem relevant. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be the sole source of gain for the foreseeable future.
We do not have significant tangible assets that could be sold upon liquidation.
We have nominal tangible assets. As a result, if we become insolvent or otherwise must dissolve, there will be no tangible assets to liquidate and no corresponding proceeds to disburse to our shareholders. If we become insolvent or otherwise must dissolve, shareholders will likely not receive any cash proceeds on account of their shares.
We can provide no assurance that our securities will continue to meet Nasdaq listing requirements. If we fail to comply with the continuing listing standards of the Nasdaq, our securities could be delisted.
In 2022, the bid price of the Company’s common stock closed for 30 consecutive trading days below the $1.00 per share minimum required for continued listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) (the “Minimum Bid Price Requirement”). Although the Company cured such noncompliance as a result of its 1-for-3 reverse stock split in March 2023, the trading price of the Company’s common stock has been subject to large movement in the past, especially in light of historically low trading volumes. We cannot be certain that the Company will be able to comply with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement and the other continued listing requirements of Nasdaq in the future, in which case the Company’s common stock may be delisted from the Nasdaq Capital Market. In the event our common stock is delisted from The Nasdaq Capital Market and we are also unable to maintain listing on another alternate exchange, trading in our common stock could thereafter be conducted in FINRA’s OTC Bulletin Board or in the over-the-counter markets in the so-called “pink sheets.” In such event, the liquidity of our common stock would likely be further impaired, not only in the number of shares which could be bought and sold, but also through delays in the timing of the transactions, and there would likely be a reduction in our coverage by security analysts and the news media, thereby resulting in lower prices for our common stock than might otherwise prevail.
Significant issuances of our common stock, or the perception that significant issuances may occur in the future, could adversely affect the market price for our common stock.
Significant actual or perceived potential future issuance of our common stock could adversely affect the market price of our common stock. Generally, issuances of substantial amounts of common stock in the public market, and the availability of shares for future sale, could adversely affect the prevailing market price of our common stock, and could cause the market price of our common stock to remain low for a substantial amount of time.
We cannot foresee the impact of potential securities issuances of common shares on the market for our common stock, but it is possible that the market for our shares may be adversely affected, perhaps significantly. It is also unclear whether or not the market for our common stock could absorb a large number of attempted sales in a short period of time, regardless of the price at which they might be offered.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market by certain of our stockholders could cause our stock price to fall.
Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. We are unable to predict the effect that sales may have on the prevailing market price of our common stock.
There may not be an active market for shares of our common stock.
In general, there has been minimal trading volume in our common stock. Small trading volumes would likely make it difficult for our shareholders to sell their shares as and when they choose. Furthermore, small trading volumes are generally understood to depress market prices. As a result, you may not always be able to resell shares of our common stock publicly at the time and prices that you feel are fair or appropriate.
GENERAL RISK FACTORS
Because of our limited internal resources, we may not have in place various processes and protections common to more mature companies and may be more susceptible to adverse events.
We have limited internal resources. As a result, we may not have in place systems, processes, and protections that many of our competitors have or that may be essential to protect against various risks. For example, we have in place only limited resources and processes addressing human resources, timekeeping, data protection, business continuity, personnel redundancy, and knowledge institutionalization concerns. As a result, we are at risk that one or more adverse events in these and other areas may materially harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
General global market and economic conditions may have an adverse impact on our operating performance and results of operations.
Our business has been and could continue to be affected by general global economic and market conditions. Any downturn in the United States and worldwide economy could have a negative effect on our operating results, including a decrease in revenue and operating cash flow. To the extent our customers are unable to profitably leverage various forms of digital marketing technology and solutions, and/or the content we create, deliver and publish on their behalf, they may reduce or eliminate their purchase of our products and services. Such reductions in traffic would lead to a reduction in our revenues. Additionally, in a down-cycle economic environment, we may experience the negative effects of increased competitive pricing pressure, customer loss, slowdown in commerce over the Internet, and corresponding decrease in traffic delivered over our network and failures by our customers to pay amounts owed to us on a timely basis or at all. Suppliers on which we rely for equipment, field services, servers, bandwidth, co-location, and other services could also be negatively impacted by economic conditions that, in turn, could have a negative impact on our operations or revenues. Flat or worsening economic conditions may harm our operating results and financial condition.
In addition, our business could be adversely affected by the effects of a widespread outbreak of contagious disease, including another outbreak of COVID-19 or another illness. A significant outbreak of contagious diseases in the human population could result in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets of many countries, resulting in an economic downturn that could affect demand for our products, our ability to collect against existing trade receivables and our operating results. Specifically, such event may cause us, our customers or suppliers to temporarily suspend operations in the affected city or country, and customers may suspend or terminate capital improvements including in-store digital deployments or refresh projects, all of which may have a material adverse effect on our business.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
ITEM 1B UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
Not applicable.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
ITEM 2 PROPERTIES
(All currency is rounded to the nearest thousands, except share and per share amounts.)
Our headquarters is located at 13100 Magisterial Drive, Suite 100, Louisville, KY 40223. There, we have approximately 17,500 square-feet of office space, including approximately 6,500 square-feet of warehouse space, which we believe is sufficient for our projected near-term future growth. The lease was modified and extended during 2022 and the monthly lease amount is currently $27 and escalates 1% annually through the end of the lease term in December 2025.
We also lease office space of approximately 6,000 square feet to support our Canadian operations at a facility located at 4600 Rhodes Drives, Unit 3 & 4, Windsor, Ontario under a lease that expires November 30, 2025 and with a monthly rental, inclusive of CAMs and related taxes, of $7 per month.
We also lease office space of approximately 4,500 square feet to support our Atlanta operations at a facility known as Northridge Center II, located at 365 Northridge Road, Atlanta, GA 30350. This property lease began in July 2022 and expires in December 2027 with a monthly rental of $9, escalating 3% annually.
We also lease office space of approximately 15,350 square feet to support the Reflect operations at a facility located at 2221 Lakeside Blvd, Richardson, TX 75082 under a lease that expires March 31, 2024 and with a monthly rental, inclusive of CAMs, utilities and related taxes, of $40 per month. Commencing April 1, 2024, we will begin leasing approximately 3,300 square feet to support the Reflect operations at a facility located at 5345 Towne Square Drive, Plano, Texas under a lease that expires on May 31, 2027 and with a monthly base rental of $9, plus utilities.
Our corporate phone number is (502) 791-8800.

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
ITEM 3 LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Information regarding legal proceedings can be found in Note 9 Commitments and Contingencies to the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report.

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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
(All currency is rounded to the nearest thousands, except share and per share amounts.)
Market Information
Our common stock is listed for trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “CREX”. The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock is Computershare Limited, 401 2nd Avenue North, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401.
Shareholders
As of March 20, 2024, we had 378 holders of record of our common stock.
Dividend Policy
We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock. We currently intend to retain future earnings, if any, to operate and expand our business and to finance the development and expansion of our business. We do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Any payment of cash dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend upon our results of operations, earnings, capital requirements, contractual restrictions, and other factors deemed relevant by our Board of Directors.
Holders of our common stock are entitled to share pro rata in dividends and distributions with respect to the common stock when, as and if declared by our Board of Directors out of funds legally available for distribution.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
None.
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
Information about our equity compensation plans is set forth in Item 12 of Part III of this Report, which is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
ITEM 6 [RESERVED]
Not applicable.

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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
(All currency is rounded to the nearest thousands, except share and per share amounts.)
The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and related notes for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, which are included elsewhere in this Report. This Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations contains statements that are forward-looking. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risk, uncertainties and other factors. These statements are often identified by the use of words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “could,” “estimate,” or “continue,” and similar expressions or variations.
You should review the "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements; Risk Factor Summary", and "Risk Factors" sections of this Report for a discussion of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results described in or implied by the forward-looking statements described in the following discussion and analysis.
Overview
The Company transforms environments through digital solutions by providing innovative digital signage solutions for key market segments and use cases, including:
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Retail
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Entertainment and Sports Venues
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Restaurants, including QSRs
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Convenience Stores
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Financial Services
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Automotive
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Medical and Healthcare Facilities
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Mixed Use Developments
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Corporate Communications, Employee Experience
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DOOH Advertising Networks
We serve market-leading companies, so there is a good chance that if you leave your home today to shop, work, eat or play, you will encounter one or more of our digital signage experiences. Our solutions are increasingly visible because we help our enterprise customers achieve a range of business objectives including:
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Increased brand awareness;
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Improved customer support;
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Enhanced employee productivity and satisfaction;
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Increased revenue and profitability;
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Improved guest experience; and
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Increased customer/guest engagement.
Through a combination of organically grown platforms and a series of strategic acquisitions, including our acquisition of Reflect in February 2022, the Company assists customers to design, deploy, manage, and monetize their digital signage networks. The Company sources leads and opportunities for its solutions through its digital and content marketing initiatives, close relationships with key industry partners, specifically equipment manufacturers, and the direct efforts of its in-house industry sales experts. Customer engagements focus on consultative conversations that ensure the Company’s solutions are positioned to help customers achieve their business objectives in the most cost-effective manner possible.
When comparing us to other digital signage providers, our customers value the following competitive advantages:
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Breadth of solutions - Creative Realities offers a wide breadth of solutions to our customers. Creative Realities is one of only a few companies in the industry capable of providing the full portfolio of products and services required to implement and run an effective digital signage network. We leverage a ‘single vendor’ approach, providing customers with a one-stop-shop for sourcing digital signage solutions from design through day two services.
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Managed labor pool - Unlike most companies in our industry, we have a curated labor pool of qualified and vetted field technicians available to service customers quickly nationwide. We can meet tight schedules even in exceptionally large deployments and still ensure quality and consistency.
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In-house creative resources - We assist customers in creating new content or repurposing existing content for digital signage experiences, an activity for which the Company has won several design awards in recent years. In each instance, our services can be essential in helping customers develop an effective content program.
●
Network scalability and reliability - Our SaaS content management platforms power some of the largest and most complex digital signage networks in North America, evidencing our ability to manage enterprise scale projects. This also provides us purchasing power to source products and services for our customers, enabling us to deliver cost effective, reliable and powerful solutions to small and medium size business customers.
●
Ad management platform - Our customers are increasingly interested in monetizing their digital signage networks through advertising content. However, efficiently scheduling advertising content into digital signage playlists to meet campaign objectives can be a challenging and labor-intensive process for our customers. AdLogic, our home-grown, content management-agnostic platform, automates this process, allowing network owners to capture more revenue with less expense.
●
Media sales - Few digital signage solution providers offer their customers media sales as a service. We have in-house media sales expertise to elevate conversations with our customers interested in better understanding network monetization. We believe this meaningful differentiation in the sales process provides us an additional revenue stream compared to our competitors.
●
Market sector expertise - Creative Realities has in-house experts in key market segments such as automotive, retail, QSRs, convenience stores, and DOOH advertising. Our expertise in these business segments enable our teams to provide meaningful business conversations and offer tailored solutions with prospects and customers to their unique business objectives. These experts build industry relationship and create thought leadership that drives lead flow and new opportunities for our business.
●
Logistics - Implementing a large digital signage project can be a logistical nightmare that can stall an initiative, even before deployment. Our expertise in logistics improves deployment efficiency, reduces delays and problems, and saves customers time and money.
●
Technical support - Digital signage networks present unique challenges for corporate IT departments. We simplify and improve end user support by leveraging our own NOC in Louisville, Kentucky. The NOC resolves many issues remotely and when field support is required, it can be dispatched quickly from the NOC, leveraging our managed labor pool to resolve customer issues quickly and effectively.
●
Integrations and Application Development - The future of digital signage is not still images and videos on a screen. We believe that interactive applications and integrations with other data sources will dominate the future. From social media feeds, mobile integrations, corporate data stores, or POS systems, our proven ability to build scalable applications and integrations is a key advantage that customers can leverage to deliver more compelling and engaging experiences for their customers.
●
Hardware support - A number of digital signage providers sell a proprietary media player or align themselves with just one operating system. We utilize a range of media players including Windows, Android and BrightSign to provide customers the flexibility they need to select the appropriate hardware for any application knowing the entire network can still be served by a single digital signage platform, reducing complexity and improving the productivity of our customers.
Our Sources of Revenue
The three primary sources of revenue for the Company are:
●
Hardware sales from reselling digital signage hardware from original equipment manufacturers such as Samsung and BrightSign.
●
Services revenue from helping customers design, deploy and manage their digital signage network, including:
o
Hardware system design/engineering
o
Hardware installation
o
Content development
o
Content scheduling
o
Post-deployment network and field support
o
Media sales
●
Recurring subscription licensing and support revenue from our digital signage software platforms, which are generally sold via a SaaS model. Our platforms:
o
ReflectView, the Company’s core digital signage platform for most applications, scalable and cost effective from 10 to 100,000+ devices;
o
Reflect Xperience, a web-based interface that allows customers to give content scheduling access to local users via the web or mobile devices, while still maintaining centralized programming control;
o
Reflect AdLogic, the Company’s ad management platform for digital signage networks, which presently delivers approximately 50 million ads daily;
o
Clarity, the Company’s menu board solution, which has become a market leader for a range of restaurant and convenience store applications;
o
Reflect Zero Touch, which allows customers to turn any screen into an interactive experience by allowing guests to engage using their mobile device;
o
iShowroomProX, an omni-channel digital sales support platform targeted at original equipment manufacturers in the transportation sector, which integrates with dozens of key data services including dealer inventory at the VIN level; and
o
OSx+, a digital VIN-level checklist used to assist in the tracking and delivery of new vehicles in the transportation sector, providing measurable lift in customer satisfaction scores and connected vehicle enrollments and subscription activations.
While hardware sales and support services revenues can fluctuate more significantly year over year based on new, large-scale network deployments, the Company expects to see continuous growth in recurring SaaS revenue for the foreseeable future as digital signage adoption/utilization continues to expand across the vertical markets we serve.
Our Expenses
Our expenses are primarily comprised of three categories: sales and marketing, research and development, and general and administrative. Sales and marketing expenses include salaries and benefits for our sales, business development solution management and marketing personnel, and commissions paid on sales. This category also includes amounts spent on marketing networking events, promotional materials, hardware and software to prospective new customers, including those expenses incurred in trade shows and product demonstrations, and other related expenses. Our research and development expenses represent the salaries and benefits of those individuals who develop and maintain our proprietary software platforms and other software applications we design and sell to our customers. Our general and administrative expenses consist of corporate overhead, including administrative salaries, real property lease payments, salaries and benefits for our corporate officers and other expenses such as legal and accounting fees.
Recent Developments
Public Offering
On August 17, 2023, the Company conducted a public offering for the sale by the Company of an aggregate of 3,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share at a public offering price of $2.00 per share and received approximately $5,454 in net proceeds, after deducting underwriting fees of $478 and offering costs of $68.
Reverse stock split
On March 23, 2023, the Company filed Articles of Amendment with the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota to effectuate, effective March 27, 2023, a 1-for-3 stock split of the shares of the Company's common stock, par value $0.01 per share.
As a result of the reverse stock split, effective 12:01 am on March 27, 2023, every three shares of common stock then-issued and outstanding automatically combined into one share of common stock, with no change in par value per share. No fractional shares were outstanding following the reverse stock split and any fractional shares resulting from the reverse split were rounded up to the nearest whole share of common stock. In connection with the reverse stock split, the total number of shares of common stock authorized for issuance was reduced from 200,000,000 shares to 66,666,666 shares in proportion to the reverse stock split.
Effective as of the same time as the reverse stock split, the number of shares of common stock available for issuance under the Company's equity compensation plans were reduced in proportion to the reverse stock split. The reverse stock split also resulted in the number of shares of shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of outstanding warrants, or the exercise or vesting of equity awards, in proportion to the reverse stock split and caused a proportionate increase in exercise price or share-based performance criteria, where applicable.
Rejection of unsolicited offers
On February 2, 2023 and May 1, 2023, we received unsolicited proposals from Pegasus, to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of the Company that are not owned by Pegasus for purchase prices of $0.83 per share in cash (or, as a result of our 1-for-3 reverse stock split effectuated in March 2023, $2.49 per share), and $2.85 per share in cash, respectively. Pegasus is the beneficial owner of our common stock owned of record by Slipstream. The Special Committee concluded that each proposal undervalued the Company based on the Special Committee’s views of the intrinsic value of the Company’s existing business and current and future prospects, and was not in the best interests of the Company’s existing shareholders. Consequently, the Special Committee advised Pegasus that it rejected each proposal, and since such time, Pegasus has not made any subsequent acquisition proposal.
Please see Note 5 Business Combinations, Note 8 Loans Payable, Note 11 Warrants, and Note 12 Stock-based Compensation to the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements contained in this Report for a description of other recent developments of the Company that occurred during, and subsequent to, the year ended December 31, 2023.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our management is responsible for our financial statements and has evaluated the accounting policies to be used in their preparation. Our management believes these policies are reasonable and appropriate. The Company’s significant accounting policies are described in Note 2 Summary of Significant Accounting Policies of the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements included within Part II, ITEM 8 of this Report. The following discussion identifies those accounting policies that we believe are critical in the preparation of our financial statements, the judgments and uncertainties affecting the application of those policies and the possibility that materially different amounts will be reported under different conditions or using different assumptions.
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”) requires that management make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of commitments and contingencies at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Our actual results could differ from those estimates.
Revenue Recognition
We recognized revenue in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”). Under ASC 606, we account for revenue using the following steps:
●
Identify the contract, or contracts, with a customer;
●
Identify the performance obligations in the contract;
●
Determine the transaction price;
●
Allocate the transaction price to the identified performance obligations; and
●
Recognize revenue when, or as, we satisfy our performance obligations.
See Note 2 Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Note 4 Revenue Recognition in our Consolidated Financial Statements, included in Part II, ITEM 8 of this Report, for a complete discussion of our revenue recognition policies.
Goodwill
Goodwill is evaluated for impairment annually as of September 30 and whenever events or circumstances make it more likely than not that impairment may have occurred. We have no other indefinite-lived intangible assets. We test goodwill for impairment by comparing the book value to the fair value at the reporting unit level. We have only one reporting unit, and therefore the entire goodwill is allocated to that reporting unit. The fair value of the reporting unit is determined by using a discounted cash flow analyses consisting of various assumptions, including expectations of future cash flows based on projections or forecasts derived from analysis of business prospects and economic or market trends that may occur. We use these same expectations in other valuation models throughout our business. In addition to the discounted cash flow analysis, we utilize a leveraged buy-out model, trading comparables and market capitalization to ultimately determine an estimated fair value of our reporting unit based on weighted average calculations from these models. We base our fair value estimates on assumptions we believe to be reasonable but that are unpredictable and inherently uncertain. If the carrying amount exceeds the fair value, further analysis is performed to measure the impairment loss.
In addition, our market capitalization could fluctuate from time to time. Such fluctuation may be an indicator of possible impairment of goodwill if our market capitalization falls below its book value. If this situation occurs, we perform the required detailed analysis to determine if there is impairment.
No impairment was recorded as a result of our annual assessment completed as of September 30, 2023.
The valuation of goodwill is subject to a high degree of judgment, uncertainty and complexity. We believe the future estimates and assumptions used to test for impairment losses on goodwill are reasonable. However, if actual results are not consistent with our estimates or assumptions, we may be exposed to an impairment charge that could be material.
Income Taxes
Accounting for income taxes requires recognition of deferred tax liabilities and assets for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in the financial statements or tax returns. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on the difference between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities. These deferred taxes are measured by applying the provisions of tax laws in effect at the balance sheet date, including the impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted on December 22, 2017 (the “Tax Act”).
We recognize in income the effect of a change in tax rates on deferred tax assets and liabilities in the period that includes the enactment date.
As of December 31, 2023, a full valuation allowance is recorded against our deferred tax. The valuation allowance is based, in part, on our estimate of future taxable income, the expected utilization of federal and state tax loss carryforwards, and credits and the expiration dates of such tax loss carryforwards. Significant assumptions are used in developing the analysis of future taxable income for purposes of determining the valuation allowance for deferred tax assets which, in our opinion, are reasonable under the circumstances.
Impact of Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
Refer to Note 2 Summary of Significant Accounting Policies in our Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part II, ITEM 8 of this Report, for a full description of recent accounting pronouncements, including the expected dates of adoption and estimated effects on results of operations and financial condition, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Results of Operations
Note: All dollar amounts reported in Results of Operations are in thousands, except per-share information.
Year Ended December 31, 2023 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2022
The tables presented below compare our results of operations from one period to another, and present the results for each period and the change in those results from one period to another in both dollars and percentage change.
Year Ended December 31,
Change
%
Sales
$ 45,166
$ 43,350
$ 1,816
%
Cost of sales
22,983
25,611
(2,628 )
%
Gross profit
22,183
17,739
4,444
%
Sales and marketing expenses
5,247
3,651
1,596
%
Research and development expenses
1,574
1,251
%
General and administrative expenses
10,795
11,892
(1,097 )
%
Depreciation and amortization expense
3,221
2,833
%
Deal and transaction
-
(592 )
%
Total operating expenses
20,837
20,219
%
Operating income (loss)
1,346
(2,480 )
3,826
%
Other expense (income):
Interest expense
2,992
2,743
%
Change in fair value of contingent consideration
1,419
(1,074 )
2,493
%
Change in fair value of warrant liability
-
(7,902 )
7,902
%
Loss on debt waiver consent
-
1,212
(1,212 )
%
Loss on warrant amendment
-
(345 )
%
Loss on settlement of debt
-
(237 )
%
Other expense (income)
(211 )
(215 )
%
Total other expense (income)
4,200
(4,435 )
8,635
%
Net (loss) income before income taxes
(2,854 )
1,955
(4,809 )
%
Income tax expense
(83 )
(79 )
(4 )
%
Net (loss) income
$ (2,937 )
$ 1,876
$ (4,813 )
%
Sales
Sales increased by $1,816, or 4%. Hardware revenues were $20,303, an increase of $408 or 2%. While hardware revenues were effectively flat year over year, the composition in each year was substantially different, with the current year comprised of lower customer concentration (including no customer greater than 19% of hardware revenues) and an increasing number of customers making consistent, repeated purchases of similar solutions on a regular cadence. The prior year included a single customer that represented 43% of hardware revenues.. Services and other revenues were $24,863, an increase of $1,408 or 6%, driven by managed services revenue. Managed services revenue, which includes both SaaS and help desk technical subscription services increased to $15,916 from $14,320. The increase is driven by increasing software subscription revenue, with the annual recurring run rate of our subscription license revenue growing from $14,826 as of December 31, 2022 to $16,336 as of December 31, 2023. This represents a year-over-year growth rate of approximately 11% in our higher margin, typically subscription-based, managed service revenue.
Gross Profit
Gross profit increased $4,444 to $22,183 from $17,739, or 25%, through a combination of a 4% increase in revenue and an 8% increase in gross margin percentage. Gross margin increased to 49% from 41% driven by expanding margins in our services revenue and entry into a material, long-term media sales contract for which revenue is recognized on a net basis in the current year.
Sales and Marketing Expenses
Sales and marketing expenses generally include the salaries, taxes, and benefits of our sales and marketing personnel, as well as trade show activities, travel, and other related sales and marketing costs. Sales and marketing expenses increased by $1,596, or 44%, driven primarily by the Company’s enhanced investments into sales and marketing activities. Following our acquisition of Reflect via merger (the "Merger"), the Company adopted certain tools, technology, and processes - particularly with respect to lead generation and brand marketing - that were historically undercapitalized by the Company and have since accelerated new customer acquisition. Through completion of the Merger, the Company also acquired a media sales business unit that serves to monetize customer networks via the direct sale of advertising to be displayed on digital advertising networks owned by those customers. This business utilizes internal and third-party sales agents - the salaries and commissions of which are included within Sales and Marketing Expense within the Consolidated Statement of Operations.
Research and Development Expenses
Research and development expenses generally include personnel and development tools costs associated with the continued development of the Company’s content management systems and other related application development. The Company capitalizes certain of these expenses and amortizes those costs through the Consolidated Statement of Operations on a straight-line basis over the economic useful life of the software feature or functionality. Research and development expenses increased by $323, or 26%, driven primarily by incremental headcount added via completion of the Merger on February 17, 2022, and a higher rate of bug and maintenance work as compared to capitalized activities during the year. Through the Merger, we acquired a fully staffed, experienced software development team and elected to keep that team in-tact, particularly given current competitive employment market conditions with respect to talented software engineers. We integrated the development teams which has enhanced speed to market on new feature and functionality development activities.
General and Administrative Expenses
General and administrative expenses decreased $1,097, or 9% driven by a decrease of $1,553 in stock compensation expense as outstanding performance awards were fully expensed as of December 31, 2022. This decrease was partially offset by increased personnel costs as a result of higher headcount following the Merger and scaled up operations in response to an increase in customer acquisition and associated planned deployments.
Depreciation and Amortization Expenses
Depreciation and amortization expenses increased by $388, or 14%. This was driven by a full year of amortization on the $17,160 in amortizing intangible assets acquired as a result of the Merger. Depreciation was consistent in both periods.
Interest Expense
See Note 8 Loans Payable to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a discussion of the Company’s debt and related interest expense obligations.
Change in Fair Value of Contingent Consideration
The Company has a contingent consideration arrangement related to the Merger to potentially pay additional cash amounts in future periods based on the lack of achievement of certain share price performance goals of our common stock. Such contingent consideration arrangements are recorded at fair value and are classified as liabilities on the acquisition date and are remeasured at each reporting period in accordance with ASC 805-30-35-1 using a Monte Carlo simulation model. The change in the period represents the mark-to-market adjustment as of the balance sheet date.
Changes in Fair Value of Warrant Liability; Loss on Warrant Amendment
During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company recorded a gain of $7,902 as the result of assessing the fair value of warrant liabilities associated with the Company’s issuance of warrants in its debt and equity offerings completed in February 2022 to finance the Merger. These warrants were initially assessed at fair value through Black Scholes calculation, with changes in fair value recognized at each period end.See Note 11 Warrants to the Consolidated Financial Statements for a discussion of the Company's warrant activity.
Loss on Debt Waiver
During 2022, in connection with obtaining a waiver of certain restrictions in investment documents between an investor and the Company in order to consummate the financing contemplated by the Company's credit agreement with Slipstream, the Company paid consideration to such investor in the form of a purchaser warrant to purchase 466,667 shares of Company common stock (the “Purchaser Warrant”). The number of shares of Company common stock subject to the Purchaser Warrant was equal to the waiver fee ($175) divided by $0.375 per share. The exercise price of the Purchaser Warrant is $4.23 per share, and the Purchaser Warrant became exercisable on August 17, 2022. The Purchaser Warrant expires on February 17, 2028. On the date of issuance, the Company performed a Black-Scholes valuation of the Purchaser Warrant, resulting in a fair value of $2.5968 per warrant. In recording the warrant liability, the Company recorded an expense in the Consolidated Statement of Operations associated with the issuance of the Purchaser Warrant of $1,212. No such transactions occurred in the current year.
Loss on Warrant Amendment
Effective June 30, 2022, the Company amended the terms of certain of its outstanding warrants. The amendments to such warrants removed the holder’s option to determine the value of such warrants utilizing the volume weighted average price (“VWAP”) of the Company’s common stock on the trading day immediately preceding the date of a notice in a cashless exercise, and removed the condition to exercising such warrants that the Company’s shareholders approve the exercise thereof (which had already been obtained). The amendments to the warrants also extended the term of such warrants for an additional one year. As a result of the extension in term provided in exchange for the amendment, the Company reassessed the fair value of each of the affected warrants, resulting in the Company recording a loss on the fair value of these warrants of $345.
Loss on Settlement of Obligations
On February 17, 2022, the Company refinanced its debt facilities with Slipstream. The Company assessed the combination of the pre-existing senior secured term loan and secured convertible loan in accordance with ASC 470 Debt and determined the transaction should be accounted for as an extinguishment of debt, in part as the Consolidation Term Loan eliminated a substantive conversion feature. In aggregate the Company recorded a loss on extinguishment of $295, primarily associated with the write-off of pre-existing debt discounts.
Supplemental Operating Results on a Non-GAAP Basis
The following non-GAAP data, which adjusts for the categories of expenses described below, is a non-GAAP financial measure. Our management believes that this non-GAAP financial measure is useful information for investors, shareholders and other stakeholders of our Company in gauging our results of operations on an ongoing basis. We believe that earnings before interest, depreciation, and amortization (“EBITDA”) is a performance measure and not a liquidity measure, and therefore a reconciliation between net (loss) income, a GAAP financial measure, and EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA has been provided. EBITDA should not be considered as an alternative to net (loss) income as an indicator of performance or as an alternative to cash flows from operating activities as an indicator of cash flows, in each case as determined in accordance with GAAP, or as a measure of liquidity. In addition, EBITDA does not take into account changes in certain assets and liabilities as well as interest and income taxes that can affect cash flows. We do not intend the presentation of these non-GAAP measures to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for results prepared in accordance with GAAP. These non-GAAP measures should be read only in conjunction with our Consolidated Financial Statements prepared in accordance with GAAP that are included elsewhere in this Report.
Quarters Ended
Year Ended
December 31,
September 30,
June 30,
March 31,
Quarters ended
GAAP net (loss) income
$ (2,937 )
$ 1,419
$ (1,931 )
$ (1,425 )
$ (1,000 )
Interest expense:
Amortization of debt discount
1,443
Other interest, net
1,549
Depreciation/amortization:
Amortization of intangible assets
3,055
Amortization of employee share-based awards
Depreciation of property and equipment
Income tax expense (benefit)
(15 )
EBITDA
$ 3,742
$ 2,930
$ (393 )
$
$
Adjustments
Loss (Gain) on fair value of contingent consideration
1,419
(42 )
1,369
Stock-based compensation - Director grants
Other expense (income)
(211 )
(79 )
(123 )
(12 )
Adjusted EBITDA
$ 5,100
$ 2,830
$ 1,022
$
$
Quarters Ended
Year Ended
December 31,
September 30,
June 30,
March 31,
Quarters ended
GAAP net income (loss)
$ 1,876
$ (1,334 )
$ (554 )
$ 1,262
$ 2,502
Interest expense:
Amortization of debt discount
1,268
Other interest, net
1,475
Depreciation/amortization:
Amortization of intangible assets
2,702
Amortization of employee share-based awards
1,689
Depreciation of property and equipment
Income tax expense (benefit)
(10 )
EBITDA
$ 9,220
$
$ 1,534
$ 2,849
$ 4,130
Adjustments
Gain on fair value of warrant liability
(7,902 )
-
-
(2,433 )
(5,469 )
Loss (gain) on settlement of obligations
-
(37 )
(21 )
Loss on debt waiver consent
1,212
-
-
-
1,212
Loss on warrant amendment
-
-
-
(Gain) loss on fair value of contingent consideration
(1,074 )
(705 )
(442 )
-
Disposal of Safe Space Solutions inventory
-
-
-
Deal and transaction costs
Other income
(6 )
Stock-based compensation - Director grants
Adjusted EBITDA
$ 3,845
$ 1,028
$ 1,249
$
$
Liquidity and Capital Resources
See Note 1 Nature of Organization and Operations to the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements for a detailed discussion of liquidity and financial resources.
Operating Activities
The cash flows provided by (used in) operating activities were $5,167 and $(708) for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The Company generated a net loss of $2,937, which included depreciation and amortization expense (inclusive of amortization of debt discount) of $4,664 and a loss on the change in fair value of contingent consideration of $1,419. The Company generated a $1,261 increase in cash provided by changes in operating assets and liabilities, primarily due to increases in accounts payable, and customer deposits, a decrease in prepaid expenses and other current assets, partially offset by an increase to accounts receivable.
Investing Activities
Net cash used in investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2023 was $4,027 as compared to $21,475 for the same period in 2022. The use of cash in the prior year was driven by completion of the Merger. We currently do not have any material commitments for capital expenditures as of December 31, 2023; however, we anticipate a reduction in capital expenditures entering 2024 as we complete the modernization and internationalization of our automotive platform in an effort to capture incremental SaaS-based revenue contracts.
Financing Activities
Net cash provided by financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2023 was $137 compared to net cash provided by financing activities of $20,933 for the same period in 2022. The change is the result of the Company’s completion of equity and debt financing in the first quarter of 2022 to facilitate the Merger, which provided net cash of $10,109 and $9,868, respectively. Net cash provided by financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2023, is primarily the result of a common stock offering completed in August 2023, generating cash of $5,454, net of offering expenses, offset by repayments made on the Consolidation Term Loan, Term Loan (2022), and Secured Promissory Note of $2,040, $2,000 and $1,254, respectively.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
During the year ended December 31, 2023, we did not engage in any off-balance sheet arrangements set forth in Item 303(a) (4) of Regulation S-K.

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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
See Index to Consolidated Financial Statements 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
None

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ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
ITEM 9A CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
An evaluation was performed under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer (principal executive officer) and Chief Financial Officer (principal financial officer), of the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures, as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act, as of the end of the period covered by this Report. Based on that evaluation, our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2023, and designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the SEC and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act. Our internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Therefore, even those systems determined to be effective can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving their control objectives.
Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, we evaluated the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023 based on the framework in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on our assessment and those criteria, management believes that we maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the year ended December 31, 2023, that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

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ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
ITEM 9B OTHER INFORMATION
Rule 10b5-1 Trading Plans
During the quarter ended December 31, 2023, none of the officers (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 16a-1(f)) or directors of the Company adopted or terminated a “Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement,” (as defined in Item 408(a) of Regulation S-K) intended to satisfy the affirmative defense conditions of Exchange Act Rule 10b5-1(c) or any non-Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement.
Earnings Release
On March 21, 2024, the Company issued a press release announcing its financial condition and results of operations for the three months and year ended December 31, 2023. A copy of the press release is furnished as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated by reference into this Item 9B in lieu of separately furnishing such press release under Item 2.02 of Form 8-K. This disclosure, including Exhibit 99.1 hereto, shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference into any of the Company’s filings under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except as expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing.

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ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
ITEM 10 DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
The information required by this Item is incorporated herein by reference to our definitive proxy statement for our 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the "Proxy Statement"), which will be filed with the SEC pursuant to Regulation 14A under the Exchange Act.

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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
ITEM 11 EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
The information required by this Item is incorporated by reference from the Proxy Statement.

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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
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
The table below sets forth certain information, as of the close of business on December 31, 2023, regarding equity compensation plans (including individual compensation arrangements) under which our securities were then authorized for issuance.
Number of
Securities
Remaining
Number of
Available for
Securities to be
Weighted-
Issuance Under
Issued Upon
Average
Equity
Exercise of
Exercise Price of
Compensation
Outstanding
Outstanding
Plans (excluding
Options,
Options,
securities
Warrants and
Warrants and
reflected in
Rights
Rights
column (a))
(a)
(b)
(c)
Equity compensation plans approved by shareholders
1,636,132 (1)
6.51
None
Equity compensation plans not approved by shareholders
1,500,000 (2)
N/A
None
(1)
Shares reflected are issuable upon exercise of outstanding stock options issued under the 2006 Amended and Restated Equity Incentive Plan or the 2014 Stock Incentive Plan. The Company's ability to issue new awards under its 2014 Stock Incentive Plan expired in 2023.
(2)
On November 8, 2023, our Board of Directors adopted the 2023 Plan that authorizes the issuance of up to 1,500,000 shares under such plan. The Company intends to seek shareholder approval of such plan at our 2024 annual shareholder meeting. At this time, no awards have been issued under the 2023 Plan.
For information regarding the material features of each of the above plans see Note 12 Stock-based Compensation in our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report.
All other information required by this Item is incorporated by reference from the Proxy Statement.

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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
ITEM 13 CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
The information required by this Item is incorporated by reference from the Proxy Statement.

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ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
ITEM 14 PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES
The information required by this Item is incorporated by reference from the Proxy Statement.
PART IV

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ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
ITEM 15 EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
(a)
See “Index to Consolidated Financial Statements” on page.
(b)
See “Exhibit Index” on page 34.
(c) Not applicable.
EXHIBIT INDEX
Exhibit No.
Description
2.1
Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of November 12, 2021, by and between the registrant, CRI Acquisition Corporation, Reflect Systems, Inc., and RSI Exit Corporation (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 2.1 to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on November 15, 2021)
2.2
Amendment to Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of February 8, 2022, by and among the registrant, CRI Acquisition Corporation, Reflect Systems, Inc., and RSI Exit Corporation (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 2.1 to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed February 9, 2022)
2.3
Second Amendment to Agreement and Plan of Merger dated as of February 11, 2023 by and among the registrant, Reflect Systems, Inc. and RSI Exit Corporation (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed February 15, 2023)
3.1*
Articles of Incorporation, as amended
3.2
Amended and Restated Bylaws (incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on November 2, 2011)
4.1
Specimen certificate evidencing shares of Common Stock (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 of the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form SB-2 (File No. 333-136972))
4.2*
Description of Securities
4.3
Warrant dated January 16, 2018, issued in favor of Slipstream Communications, LLC (incorporated by reference to the registrant’s Form S-1 filed with the SEC on June 25, 2018)
4.4
Warrant to Purchase Common Stock issued to Slipstream Communications, LLC on April 27, 2018 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.31 of the registrant’s Form S-1 filed with the SEC on June 25, 2018).
4.5
Investor Warrant dated June 30, 2022 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 of the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed July 7, 2022)
4.6
Lender Warrant dated June 30, 2022 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed July 7, 2022)
4.7
Investor Warrant dated June 30, 2022 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 of the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed July 7, 2022)
10.1+
Employment Agreement dated as of November 12, 2021 by and between the registrant and Rick Mills (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed November 15, 2021).
10.2+
Employment Agreement dated as of November 12, 2021 by and between the registrant and Will Logan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed November 15, 2021)
10.3
Second Amended and Restated Loan and Security Agreement by and among the registrant, its subsidiaries and Slipstream Communications, LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed February 18, 2022)
10.4
First Amendment to Second Amended and Restated Loan and Security Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on November 14, 2022)
10.5
$10,000,000 Acquisition Term Note (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 of the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed February 18, 2022)
Exhibit No.
Description
10.6
$7,185,319.06 Consolidation Term Note (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 of the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed February 18, 2022)
10.7
Note and Security Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 of the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed February 18, 2022)
10.8
First Amendment to Note and Security Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 of the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed February 15, 2023)
10.9+
2014 Stock Incentive Plan, as amended (incorporated by reference to Exhibit A to the registrant's definitive proxy statement on Schedule 14A filed with the SEC on June 12, 2020)
10.10+
2023 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed November 9, 2023)
10.11+
Retention Bonus Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 of the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed February 18, 2022)
10.12+
Form of Retention Bonus Plan Award Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 of the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed February 18, 2022)
10.13+
Amendment to Stock Option Agreement dated June 15, 2022 between the Company and Rick Mills (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on June 17, 2022)
10.14+
Amendment to Stock Option Agreement dated June 15, 2022 between the Company and Will Logan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on June 17, 2022)
10.15+
Stock Option Agreement dated June 15, 2022 between the Company and Rick Mills (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on June 17, 2022)
10.16+
Stock Option Agreement dated June 15, 2022 between the Company and Will Logan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on June 17, 2022)
10.17
Placement Agency Agreement (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on August 21, 2023
14.1
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 14.1 of the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018)
19.1*
Insider Trader Policy
Exhibit No.
Description
21.1*
List of Subsidiaries
23.1*
Consent of Deloitte & Touche LLP
31.1*
Chief Executive Officer Certification pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 13a-14(a).
31.2*
Chief Financial Officer Certification pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 13a-14(a).
32.1*
Chief Executive Officer Certification pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350.
32.2*
Chief Financial Officer Certification pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350.
99.1*(1)
Press Release dated March 21, 2024
101.INS*
Inline XBRL Instance Document.
101.SCH*
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document.
101.CAL*
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document.
101.DEF*
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document.
101.LAB*
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document.
101.PRE*
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document.
104*
Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101).
*
Filed herewith
+
Compensatory Plan or arrangement required to be filed pursuant to Item 15(b) of Form 10-K.
(1)
This exhibit shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section, nor shall it be deemed incorporated by reference into any of the Company’s filings under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except as expressly set forth by specific reference in such filing.