Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
As of June 30, 2023, under the supervision and with
the participation of the Company’s President and Principal Financial Officer (the same person), management has evaluated the effectiveness
of the design and operations of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures. Based on that evaluation, the President and Principal
Financial Office concluded that the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of June 30, 2023 as a result
of the material weakness in internal control over financial reporting discussed below.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in internal control over financial
reporting that occurred during the last fiscal quarter covered by this report that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely
to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and
maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Rule 13a-15(f).
Our Chief Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer (the same person) conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of our internal
control over financial reporting based on the framework in Internal Control – Integrated Framework, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring
Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO Framework”) and the related guidance provided in Internal Control Over Financial
Reporting – Guidance for Smaller Public Companies, also issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations.
Based on this evaluation, management has concluded
that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of June 30, 2022. Our President and Principal Financial Officer
concluded we have a material weakness due to our control environment, and one condition caused by this is an inadequate of segregation
of duties as well as a lack of timely review and approval of related party transactions and a second condition is the a lack of timely
review and approval of capitalized internal costs and interest. Our size has prevented us from being able to employ sufficient resources
to enable us to have an adequate level of supervision and segregation of duties within our internal control system. There is one person
involved in the processing of the Company's accounting and banking transactions and a single person with overall supervision and review
of the cash disbursements and receipts and the overall accounting process. Therefore, while there are some compensating controls in place,
it is difficult to ensure effective segregation of accounting duties. While we strive to segregate duties as much as practicable, there
is an insufficient volume of transactions to justify additional full time staff. As a result of this material weakness, we have implemented
remediation procedures whereby in May 2006 we engaged an outside accounting and consulting firm with SEC and US GAAP experience to assist
us with the preparation of our financial statements, evaluation of complex accounting issues and the implementation of systems to improve
controls and review procedures over all financial statement and account balances. In December of 2021, there was a change made to a new
outside accounting and consulting firm. We believe that this outside consultant's review improved our disclosure controls and procedures.
If this review is effective throughout a period of time, we believe it will help remediate the segregation of duties material weakness.
However, we may not be able to fully remediate the material weakness unless we hire more staff. We will continue to monitor and assess
the costs and benefits of additional staffing.
This annual report does not include an attestation
report of the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. Management’s
report was not subject to attestation by the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm pursuant to rules of the SEC
that permit the Company to provide only management’s report on internal control in this annual report.
51
Website: Domain Sale/Resolved Litigation/Hacking/Theft
On March 23, 2022 the Company entered into an agreement
to sell domain name <biontech.com> and other related assets to BioNTech SE (“BNTX”) for the sum of $950,000 (before
expenses related to the transaction) which sale was closed/completed on April 2, 2022 with a one-time gain of $902,490. The Company has
been using www.bionenviro.com as its primary website (and domain) since July 2021 due to the events described below. The Company
has not been using biontech.com as its primary website since July 2021 so domain name <biontech.com> no longer represented
a core asset of the Company.
As previously reported, on Saturday morning, July
17, 2021, our historical website domain – biontech.com – and email services were compromised and disabled. Research
indicated that an unknown party had ‘hijacked’ the domain in a theft attempt. On September 10, 2021, the Company filed a federal
lawsuit ‘in rem’ to recover the <biontech.com> domain and the unknown ‘John Doe’ who hacked and attempted
to steal the website. The litigation was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division
under the heading ‘Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc., Plaintiff, vs John Doe and <biontech.com>, Defendants’ (Case
No. 1:21-cv-01034), seeking recovery of the domain name and other relief as set forth therein.
On November 19, 2021, the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division issued an order stating that “… ORDERED, ADJUDGED and Decreed that
plaintiff Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. (‘plaintiff) Is the lawful owner of domain name <biontech.com> ….”
under the heading ‘Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc., Plaintiff, vs John Doe and <biontech.com>, Defendants’ (Case
No. 1:21-cv-01034). The Company has moved the domain name <biontech.com> to a new registrar and reactivated it for the Company’s
use (paired currently with its current bionenviro.com website).
No shareholder, sensitive or confidential information
was available to be breached which has limited damages from the hack/theft to date. However, the Company’s email operations were
subject disruption and expenses were incurred related to the matter including legal fees.
The Company created ‘work-arounds’ as
a result. These issues have been resolved and the Company has moved our website (and email) to a new domain: bionenviro.com. Website
access is now www.bionenviro.com. To send emails to Bion personnel, one uses the same name identifier previously used, but in the
address, substitute ‘bionenviro.com’ for “biontech.com’: For example cscott@biontech.com (no longer functional)
is cscott@bionenviro.com and mas@biontech.com (no longer functional) is now mas@bionenviro.com.
Bank account
hacking
On June 23, 2023, an officer of the Company
with personal accounts with Signature Bank was hacked and $75,000 was transferred from the Company’s accounts at Signature Bank
to the officer’s personal accounts. The bank was notified and all Company accounts were placed on hold. Subsequently, the funds
were released and transferred back to the Company prior to June 30, 2023 the end of the fiscal year and there were no losses incurred.
The Company has reviewed the authorized individuals
on all accounts and further limited access to its bank accounts after the hacking incident.
ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
None.
52
PART III
ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE.
Our directors, executive officers and significant
employees/consultants, along with their respective ages and positions are as follows:
Name
Age
Position
Directors and Officers:
Mark A. Smith
73
Executive Chairman, President, General Counsel, Chief Financial Officer and Director
Jon Northrop
80
Secretary and Director
William O’Neill
64
Chief Executive Officer
Dominic Bassani
76
Chief Operating Officer
William Rupp
62
Director
Salvatore Zizza
77
Director
Edward T. Schafer
77
Director
Mark A. Smith (73) currently serves
Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. as Executive Chairman, President, General Counsel, Chief Financial Officer and a director and has
continually served in senior positions since late March 2003. Since that time, he has also served as sole director, President and General
Counsel of Bion’s wholly-owned subsidiaries including Project Group and Services Group. Since mid-February 2003, Mr. Smith has served
as sole director and President and General Counsel of Bion’s majority-owned subsidiary, Centerpoint Corporation. Mr. Smith also
serves as Manager of Bion PA1, LLC and Bion PA2, LLC. Previously, from May 21, 1999 through January 31, 2002, Mr. Smith served as a director
of Bion. From July 23, 1999, when he became President of Bion, until mid-2001 when he ceased to be Chairman, Mr. Smith served in senior
positions with Bion on a consulting basis. Additionally, Mr. Smith was the president of RSTS Corporation prior to its acquisition of Bion
Technologies, Inc. in 1992. Mr. Smith received a Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Colorado School of Law, Boulder, Colorado
(1980) and a BS from Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts (1971). Mr. Smith has engaged in the private practice of law in Colorado
since 1980. In addition, Mr. Smith has been active in running private family companies, Stonehenge Corporation (until 1994), LoTayLingKyur,
Inc. (1994-2002) and LoTayLingKyur, LLC (2007-present). Until returning to Bion during March 2003, Mr. Smith had been in retirement with
focus on charitable work and spiritual retreat. From July 2018 to March 2020 Mr. Smith served as a senior executive and director at Grow-Ray
Technologies, Inc., a private LED lighting company based in Boulder, Colorado, on a consulting basis.
Jon Northrop (80) has served as our
Secretary and a Director since March of 2003. Since September 2001 he has been self employed as a consultant with a practice focused on
business buyer advocacy. Mr. Northrop is one of our founders and served as our Chief Executive Officer and a Director from our inception
in September 1989 until August 2001. Before founding Bion Technologies, Inc., he served in a wide variety of managerial and executive
positions. He was the Executive Director of Davis, Graham & Stubbs, one of Denver’s largest law firms, from 1981 to 1989. Prior
to his law firm experience, Mr. Northrop worked at Samsonite Corporation’s Luggage Division in Denver, Colorado, for over 12 years.
His experience was in all aspects of manufacturing, systems design and implementation, and planning and finance, ending with three years
as the Division’s Vice President, Finance. Mr. Northrop has a bachelor’s degree in Physics from Amherst College, Amherst,
Massachusetts (1965), an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois (1969), and spent several years conducting post
graduate research in low energy particle physics at Case Institute of Technology, Cleveland.
53
William O’Neill (64) has served
as Chief Executive officer since May 1, 2022 (he previously held the same position for the period from November 2010 through May 2011).
Mr. O’Neill currently also serves as a director of Wise Up Food, LLC, a privately-held company that provides a transparent supply
chain and real sustainability information for food retailers (including restaurants) enabling consumers to make informed purchase decisions.
He founded Wise Up Food during 2020 and served as its President until May 1, 2022 when his wife assumed that position. From February 2018
through May 2020 he was employed as Vice President Retail & Value-Added Business Teys, USA, as subsidiary of Teys, a large Australian
beef packer. From April 2015 through February 2018 Mr. O’Neill served as Vice President Retail of Colorado Premium Foods. From 1990
through 2015 he held marketing and executive positions with a varity of companies in the agriculture and food service businesses with
an emphasis on developing/marketing products in the meat industry. Mr. O’Neill graduated from Gettysburg College in 1981 with a
B.A. in economics.
Dominic Bassani (76) has served as Chief
Operating Officer of Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. since May 1, 2022 and served as Chief Executive Officer from April 2011. Previously
he was a full-time consultant to the Company and served as the General Manager of Bion's Projects Group subsidiary from April 2003 through
September 2006. From September 15, 2008 he has served as Director-Special Projects and Strategic Planning of the Company and our Projects
Group subsidiary. He has been an investor in and consultant to Bion since December 1999. He is an independent investor and since 1990
has owned and operated Brightcap, a management consulting company that provides management services to early stage technology companies.
He was a founding investor in 1993 in Initial Acquisition Corp. that subsequently merged in 1995 with Hollis Eden Corp. (HEPH), a biotech
company specializing in immune response drugs. From early 1998 until June 1999 he was a consultant to Internet Commerce Corp. (re-named
EasyLink Services International Corporation) (ESIC), a leader in business-to-business transactions using the Internet. He is presently
an investor in numerous private and public companies primarily in technology related businesses. From 1980 until 1986, Mr. Bassani focused
primarily on providing management reorganization services to manufacturing companies and in particular to generic pharmaceutical manufacturers
and their financial sponsors.
William
(Bill) Rupp (62) has served as a director of the company since ___, 2023.He is a ‘meat industry leader’ who served
as President of JBS Beef from 2010-2016 with responsilibity for the leadership of JBS’s North American Beef business. He was CEO
of Meyer Natural Foods from 2009-2010. Mr. Rupp served in various management roles for Cargill Beef from 1983 until 2009 where he was
President from 1998-2008 with responsibility for Cargill’s global beef business with operations in US, Canada, Argentina, and Australia.
He graduated from the University of South Dakota with a B.S. in Business Administration in 1983. Mr Rupp salso serves on the boards of
Sustainable Beef, DecisionNext, Superior Lamb and Lumachain.
Salvatore J. Zizza (77) Salvatore Zizza
has served as a director of Bion since 2023. He is presently President of Zizza & Associates
Corp. a private holding company which invests in various industries and retired Chairman of BAM (Bethlehem Advanced Materials), which
designs and manufactures high-temperature furnaces for sale and for its own use in the processing of specialty carbon, graphite and ceramic
materials for semiconductor and aerospace applications, and Chairman of Bergen Cove Realty Inc., with substantial holdings in residential
real estate. Mr. Zizza serves as Director & Chairman of Trans-Lux Corporation, a full service provider of integrated multimedia systems
for today’s communications environments (since 2018) and served on board since 2009. Mr. Zizza bought NICO Construction Company,
Inc., in 1978 and was President and CFO until 1985 when NICO merged with The LVI Group Inc., a (NYSE), listed company. Prior to joining
The LVI Group Inc., Mr. Zizza was an independent financial consultant and had been a lending officer of Chemical Bank. Mr. Zizza is also
an investor in numerous private companies and real estate holdings. Mr. Zizza currently holds directorship positions at nineteen
(19) Gabelli/GAMCO funds and trusts. He has been associated with this family of investment funds for over thirty (30) years. He received
a Baccalaureate/Political Science, St. John’s University (1967) and a Master of Business Administration, St. John’s University
(1972). In 2007 Mr. Zizza received a Doctor of Commercial Sciences (Honorary) from St. John’s
University.
Edward T. Schafer (77) Edward Schafer
previously served the Company’s senior management team as Executive Vice Chairman and has been a member of the Company’s Board
of Directors since January 1, 2011. Mr. Schafer had served as a consultant to Bion since July 2010. Mr. Schafer served as a director of
Continental Resources (NYSE-CLR) 2011-2016. He also chairs the Board of Directors of Dynamic Food Ingredients. In addition he has served
on the Board of Governors of Amity Technology LLP since 2009. Mr. Schafer served as a trustee of the Investors Real Estate Trust (NASDAQGS-IRET)
from September 2009 to October 2011. He also served as a trustee of the IRET from September 2006 through December 2007, when he resigned
from the IRET’s Board to serve as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture under President George W. Bush. Mr. Schafer,
a private investor, is a two-term former Governor of North Dakota. He served as Chief Executive Officer of Extend America, a telecommunications
company, from 2001 to 2006, and he has been a member of the Boards of RDO Equipment Co., a privately-owned agricultural and construction
equipment company (August 2001 to July 2003) and the University of North Dakota Foundation (June 2005 to December 2007). Since 2019 Mr.
Schafer has served on the Board of Directors of Cellular Biomedicine Group (NASDAQ: CBMG) and is Chairman of its Audit Committee. Mr.
Schafer serves as a board member of the Center for Innovation at the University of North Dakota and is an adjunct professor at North Dakota
State University. Mr. Schafer is a past chair of the Republican Governors Association, the Midwestern Governors’ Association, the
Interstate Oil and Gas Compact, the Western Governors’ Association and served as the 29 th United States Secretary of
Agricultural from 2008 to 2009. Mr. Schafer holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Denver. Mr.
Schafer brings the following experience, qualifications, attributes and skills to the Company: general business management, budgeting
and strategic planning experience from his service as Chief Executive Officer of Extend America and extensive government, regulatory,
strategic planning, budgeting administrative and public affairs experience from his service as Governor of North Dakota and Secretary
of the US Department of Agriculture.
54
Family Relationships
There are currently no family relationships among
our Directors and Executive Officers.
Compliance with Section 16(a) of the Exchange
Act
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our officers
and directors, and stockholders owning more than ten percent of a registered class of our equity securities, to file reports of ownership
and changes in ownership with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company is not aware of any persons who failed to timely file
reports under this section.
Involvement in Legal Proceedings
To the best of our knowledge, during the past five
years, none of the following occurred with respect to our directors or executive officers:
(1)
any bankruptcy petition filed by or against any business of which one of them was a general partner or executive officer either at the time of the bankruptcy or within two years prior to that time;
(2)
any conviction in a criminal proceeding or being subject to a pending criminal proceeding (excluding traffic violations and other minor offenses);
(3)
being subject to any order, judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, permanently or temporarily inquiring, barring, suspending or otherwise limiting involvement in any type of business, securities or banking activities; and
(4)
being found by a court of competent jurisdiction, the SEC or the CFTC to have violated Federal or state securities or commodities laws.
Audit Committee
The Company has no audit committee and is not now
required to have one, or an audit committee financial expert.
Code of Ethics
To date, the Company has not adopted a code of business
conduct and ethics applicable to its officers, directors or accounting officer.
55
Advisory Group
The Company, which has only 7 full-time employees/consultants
(all of whom are effectively ‘department heads’), has utilized many outside parties as consultants and contract workers for
various roles to augment our management capabilities and expertise. Over the last year the Company has begun to establish a more formal
‘advisory’ relationship with some of these people to insure their availability for consultation by our senior management (separate
from specific consulting engagements). At present, a) William Rupp (meat and beef industry), b) Matthew Lamb (agriculture/animal husbandry/dairy),
c) Stanley Rapp (government affairs), d) Dennis Tristao (agricultural tech, engineering and agricultural/environmental policy) and e)
Dennis Bracht (organic seed, corn/feed grain cultivation and related matters) have accepted roles as members of our Advisory Group. The
Company anticipates that additional persons will be added to this group over time.
ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION.
The Company does not have a compensation committee
due to its small size and limited resources. The Board of Directors directly reviews and authorizes all compensation matters.
SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE
The following table sets forth the compensation paid
to, or accrued for, each of our current executive officers during each of our last two fiscal years.
Non-Equity
Nonqualified
Incentive
Deferred
Option
Plan
Compen-
Other
Name and Principal
Fiscal
Salary
Stock
Awards
Compen-
sation
Compen-
Position
Year
(1)
Bonus
Awards
(2)
sation
Earnings
sation
Total
Mark A. Smith (3)
2023
$
300,000
$
—
$
—
—
—
—
—
$
300,000
President and Chief
2022
$
230,000
$
—
$
—
115,200
—
—
—
$
345,200
Financial Officer Since March 25, 2003,
Director
Brightcap/Dominic Bassani (4)
2023
$
372,000
$
—
$
—
—
—
—
—
$
372,000
VP - Special Projects & Strategic
2022
$
372,000
$
—
$
—
115,200
—
—
—
$
487,200
Planning and Chief Operating Officer
William O'Neill
2023
$
270,000
$
—
$
—
191,500
—
—
—
$
461,500
Chief Executive Officer (5)
2022
$
45,000
$
—
$
—
—
—
—
—
$
45,000
(1)
Includes compensation paid by Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. and our wholly owned subsidiaries.
(2)
Reflects the dollar amount expensed by the Company during the applicable fiscal year for financial statement reporting purposes pursuant to ASC 718.
(3)
Since October 2016, the Company approved a month-to-month contract extension with Smith which included a monthly deferred salary of $18,000 and the right to convert up to $300,000 of deferred compensation, at his sole election, at $0.75 per share until December 31, 2022 (which date was extended to July 1, 2024). Smith also has the right to convert his deferred compensation in whole or in part, at this sole election, at any time in an amount at "market" or into securities sold in the Company's most current/recent private offering. During fiscal year 2021 the Company paid Smith $13,460 for payroll taxes on his deferred compensation conversions which was treated as salary.
(4)
On
February 10, 2015, Mr. Bassani agreed to an extension to continue his employment through December 31, 2017 at an annual salary
of $372,000 effective January 1, 2015. During October 2016, Bassani was granted the right to convert up to $125,000
of his deferred compensation, at his sole election, at $0.75 per share which was expanded on April 27, 2017 to the right to
convert up to $300,000). During February 2018, the Company agreed to the material terms of a binding two-year
extension agreement. Bassani's annual salary will remain at $372,000 and the Company granted Bassani 2,000,000 fully vested
options at $0.75 per share with an expiry date of December 31, 2024 which contain a 90% exercise price adjustment and the options
may be extended for an additional 5 years at $0.01 per share per extension year.
(5)
On May 1, 2022 William O'Neill joined the Company with an annual salary of $420,000 which includes $10,000 monthly deferred compensation to be paid at the discretion of the Board. There is an additional $1,500 per month health insurance allowance. Terms of the contract are thirty-seven months. William O'Neill was previously paid as a contractor through Identifoods. Total payments for the years ended June 30, 2023 and June 2022, respectively were $318,000 and $165,000.
56
Employment Agreements:
Mark A. Smith (“Smith”) has held the positions
of Executive Chairman, Director, President and General Counsel of Company and its subsidiaries under various agreements and terms since
March 2003 (details regard earlier years and periods between 2003 and 2011 may be found in the Company’s prior Forms 10-K and other
SEC filings). During July 2011, the Company entered into an extension agreement pursuant to which Smith continued to hold his current
positions in the Company through a date no later than December 31, 2012. Commencing January 1, 2012, Smith’s monthly salary was
$20,000, which has been accrued and deferred. In addition, Smith has been issued 90,000 shares of the Company’s common stock in
two tranches of 45,000 shares on each of January 15, 2013 and 2014, respectively. As part of the extension agreement, Smith was also granted
200,000 options, which vested immediately, to purchase common shares of the Company at a price of $3.00 per share and which options were
originally to expire on December 31, 2019. Effective July 15, 2012, the Company entered into an extension agreement pursuant to which
Smith will continue to hold his current positions in the Company through a date no later than June 30, 2014. Effective September 2012,
Smith’s monthly salary became $21,000 (which is currently being deferred). In addition, Smith was issued 150,000 shares of the Company’s
common stock in two tranches of 75,000 shares on each of January 15, 2014 and 2015, which shares vested immediately. As part of the extension
agreement, Smith was also granted a bonus of $25,000 paid in warrants, which vested immediately, to purchase 250,000 shares of the Company’s
common stock at a price of $2.10 per share and which warrants expire on December 31, 2018 and a contingent stock bonus of 100,000 shares
payable on the date on which the Company’s stock price first reaches $10.00 per share (regardless of whether Smith is still providing
services to the Company on such date). Mr. Smith has voluntarily reduced his monthly deferred salary accrual to $14,000 due to the Company’s
financial situation. During September 2014, Smith agreed to continue his employment agreement through April 15, 2015 and also agreed to
continue to defer his temporarily reduced salary of $14,000 per month. On February 10, 2015, the Company executed an Extension Agreement
with Smith pursuant to which Smith extended his employment with the Company to December 31, 2015 (with the Company having an option to
extend his employment an additional six months). As part of the Extension Agreement, the balance of Smith’s existing convertible
note payable of $854,316 as of December 31, 2014, adjusted for conversions subsequent to that date, was replaced with a new convertible
note with an initial principal amount of $760,519 with terms that i) materially reduced the interest rate by 50% (from 8% to 4%), ii)
increased the conversion price by 11% (from $0.45 to $0.50), iii) set the conversion price at a fixed price so there can be no further
reductions, iv) reduced the number of warrants received on conversion by 75% (from 1 warrant per unit to 1/4 per unit) and v) extended
the maturity date to December 31, 2017 (which maturity date was subsequently extended to July 1, 2019). Additionally, pursuant to
the Extension Agreement, Smith: i) continued to defer his cash compensation ($18,000 per month) until the Board of Directors re-instates
cash payments to all employees and consultants who are deferring their compensation, ii) cancelled 150,000 contingent stock bonuses
previously granted to him by the Company, iii) was granted 150,000 new options which vested immediately and iv) outstanding options and
warrants owned by Smith (and his donees) were extended and had the exercise prices reduced to $1.50 (if above that price). Due to expiration
of his most recent extension, Mr. Smith is currently serving the Company on a month-to –month basis. On April 29, 2022, Smith’s
monthly salary was increased to $25,000, of which $5,000 is deferred each month.
57
Dominic Bassani (“Bassani”) has served
in senior management positions with the Company (as a full-time consultant) since 2001 (see prior Forms 10-K for earlier years and other
filings with the SEC). Since March 31, 2005, the Company has had various agreements with Brightcap, Bassani’s family consulting
company, through which the services of Bassani were provided through 2011. On September 30, 2009 the Company entered into an extension
agreement with Brightcap pursuant to which Bassani provided services to the Company through September 30, 2012 for $312,000 annually (currently
deferred). The Board appointed Bassani as the Company's CEO effective May 13, 2011 in which position he served until May 2022. On July
15, 2011, Bassani, Brightcap and the Company agreed to an extension/amendment of the existing agreement with Brightcap which provided
that Bassani serve as CEO through June 30, 2013 and would continue to provide full-time services to the Company in other capacities through
June 30, 2014 at a salary of $26,000 per month. In addition Bassani was to be issued 300,000 shares of the Company’s common stock
issuable in three tranches of 100,000 shares on each of January 15, 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively. Bassani was also granted 725,000
options, which vested immediately, to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock at $3.00 per share which options expired on
December 31, 2019. Effective July 15, 2012, Bassani, Brightcap and the Company agreed to a further extension/amendment of the existing
agreement with Brightcap which provided that Bassani would continue to provide the services of CEO through June 30, 2014. Bassani continued
to provide full-time services to the Company at a cash salary of $26,000 per month (which has been deferred) and Bassani would be issued
300,000 shares of the Company’s common stock issuable in two tranches of 150,000 shares on each of January 15, 2015 and 2016, respectively,
which shares would be immediately vested upon issuance. As part of the extension agreement, Bassani was also granted a bonus of $5,000
paid in warrants, which vested immediately, to purchase 50,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at a price of $2.10 per share
and which warrants expired on December 31, 2018. During September 2014, Bassani agreed to extend his employment agreement until April
15, 2015 and that previously issued and expensed share grants of 100,000 and 150,000 shares that were to be issued on January 15, 2015,
would be deferred until January 15, 2016. On February 10, 2015, the Company executed an Extension Agreement with Bassani pursuant
to which Bassani extended the term of his service to the Company to December 31, 2017, (with the Company having an option to extend the
term an additional six months.) As part of the agreement, the Company’s existing loan payable, deferred compensation and convertible
note payable to Bassani, were restructured into two promissory notes as follows: a) The of sum of the cash loaned by Bassani to the Company
of $279,000 together with $116,277 of unreimbursed expenses through December 31, 2014 were placed into a new promissory note with initial
principal of $395,277 which was due and payable on December 31, 2015. In connection with these sums and the new promissory note,
Bassani was issued warrants to purchase 592,916 shares of the Company’s common stock at a price of $1.00 until December 31, 2020;
and b) the remaining balances of the Company’s accrued obligations to Bassani ($1,464,545) were replaced with a new convertible
promissory note with terms that compared with the largest prior convertible note obligation to Bassani: i) materially reduced the
interest rate by 50% (from 8% to 4%), ii) increased the conversion price by 11% (from $0.45 to $0.50), iii) set the conversion price at
a fixed price so there can be no further reductions, iv) reduced the number of warrants received on conversion by 75% (from 1 warrant
per unit to 1/4 per unit) and v) extended the maturity date to December 31, 2017 (See Notes to Financial Statements) (which maturity date
was subsequently extended to July 1, 2019. Additionally, pursuant to the Extension Agreement, Bassani i) will continue to
defer his cash compensation ($31,000 per month) until the Board of Directors re-instates cash payments to all employees and consultants
who are deferring their compensation, ii) cancelled 250,000 contingent stock bonuses previously granted to him by the Company, iii) was
granted 450,000 new options which vested immediately and iv) outstanding options and warrants owned by Bassani (and his donees) have been
extended and had the exercise prices were reduced to $1.50 (if above that price). On May 5, 2013, the Board of Directors approved agreements
with Bassani and Smith, with effective date of May 15, 2013, in which Bassani and Smith agreed to continue to defer their respective cash
compensation through April 30, 2014 (unless the Board of Directors elected to re-commence cash payment on an earlier date) and extended
the due dates of their respective deferred cash compensation until January 15, 2015. The Company provided Bassani and Smith with convertible
promissory notes which reflected all the terms of these agreements to which future accruals were added as additional principal. These
convertible promissory notes were altered as set forth in the paragraphs below. As part of the agreements, Bassani and Smith also forgave
any possible obligations that Bion may have owed each of them in relation to unused vacation time for periods (over 10 years) prior to
June 30, 2012. In consideration of these agreements, Bassani and Smith: a) have been granted 50% ‘execution/exercise’ price
adjustment (subsequently increased to 75%) to be effective upon future exercise of outstanding (or subsequently acquired) options and
warrants owned by Bassani and Smith (and their respective donees) and in relation to contingent stock bonuses; b) their warrants and options,
if due to expire prior to December 31, 2018, were extended to that date (and later further extended); and c) other modifications were
made. Currently Bassani receives $25,000 per month in cash and $6,000 per month of deferred compensation.
58
William O’Neill
(“O’Neill”) joined as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) effective May 1, 2022.
O’Neill had previously been working with the Company as a consultant and had been employed by the Company as its CEO during
2010-2011. Bassani, CEO of the Company since 2011, has assumed the position of COO while retaining existing operational
management responsibilities and working with O’Neill on ‘commercialization’ of the Company’s technology and
work related to JVs (and other transactions) based on the Company’s Gen3Technology and related matters. Bassani’s
compensation arrangements with the Company have not been altered in the context of the change of positions. The Company and
O’Neill have entered into a thirty-seven (37) month employment agreement (subject to Board renewal for the final two (2) years
during the 13th month) with compensation of $25,000 cash and $10,000 deferred compensation per month. An entity affiliated with
O’Neill was issued 1,000,000 Incentive Warrants exercisable at $1.00 per share until April 30, 2026 of which up to 700,000
Incentive Warrants were cancellable until O’Neill’s agreement was re-affirmed at 13 months and/or fails to serve the
entire contract term thereafter. These warrants each have a 75% exercise price adjustment if the terms set forth therein are
met. As set forth in the Employment Agreement, the Company and Wise Up Foods LLC (an entity founded by O’Neill with
which he continues to serve as a Director and of which O’Neill and his family members are majority owners) sets forth the
intent to form “… a strategic alliance and committed to collaborate on projects each company has in their
respective pipelines. WUF and Bion will work together to use/create technology that will deliver the consumer verified
sustainable results produced by Bion’s technology and technology platform. The key to the strategic relationship is each
company’s commitment to deliver real and verified results to the consumer – free of marketing hype and
greenwashing…”.
Bassani, Smith and Schafer have each agreed (multiple
times) to extend the maturity date of the outstanding 2020 Convertible Obligations and 2015 Convertible Notes (“CVObligations”)
set forth in the paragraphs above from December 31, 2017 (initial maturity date) to July 1, 2024 (current maturity date) which is also
the maturity date of all CV Obligations after adjustment.
Effective May 4, 2020 the Company agreed
that all options and warrants owned (or subsequently acquired by conversion of CvObligations) by its officers, directors and key employees
and consultants (including Jon Northrop (director), Bassani, Smith and Schafer) and their donees be amended to: a) lower the exercise
price to $0.75 for any options/warrants with higher exercise prices and b) extend the expiration dates to December 31, 2024. Subsequently,
it was agreed that if any of the CVObligations are converted, the warrants in units received will be exercisable through a date 3 years
after conversion date with exercise price adjustment provision effective two years after the date on which the converted portion of the
CVObligations (as adjusted, if applicable) was accrued.
Other Agreements
The Company has declared contingent deferred
stock bonuses to its key employees and consultants at various times throughout the years. The stock bonuses were contingent upon the Company’s
stock price exceeding a certain target price per share, and the grantees still being employed by or providing services to the Company
at the time the target prices are reached. During the year ended June 30, 2017, pursuant to agreement with the employees and a consultant
who had been granted the outstanding contingent stock bonuses, the Company cancelled all 117,500 outstanding contingent stock bonuses.
In consideration for the cancellations, the Company granted 109,500 fully vested options to these employees and a consultant to purchase
common stock of the Company at $1.00 per share until December 31, 2024 (including recent extensions).
59
OUTSTANDING EQUITY AWARDS AT FISCAL YEAR-END
The following table sets forth the number of shares
of common stock covered by outstanding stock option awards that are exercisable and unexercisable, and the number of shares of common
stock covered by unvested restricted stock awards for each of our named executive officers as of June 30, 2023.
Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End
Option Awards
Stock Awards
Name
Number of
Securities
Underlying Unexercised
Options (#) Exercisable
Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#)Unexercisable
Equity
Incentive Plan
Awards:
Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Unearned
Options (#)
Option
Exercise
Price ($)
Option
Expiration
Date
Number of
Shares or
Units of
Stock That
Have Not
Vested (#)
Market
Value of
Shares or
Units of
Stock That
Have Not
Vested
Equity
Incentive Plan
Awards:
Number of
Unearned Shares,
Units or Other
Rights That Have
Not Vested
Equity
Incentive Plan
Awards:
Market or
Payout Value of
Unearned Shares,
Units or Other
Rights That Have
Not Vested
Mark A. Smith (1)
100,000
—
—
0.60
2024
—
—
—
—
Mark A. Smith (1)
1,675,000
—
—
0.75
2024
—
—
—
—
Mark A. Smith (2)
200,000
—
—
0.75
2024
—
—
—
—
Mark A. Smith (1)
250,000
—
—
1.20
2026
—
—
—
—
Mark A. Smith (1)
200,000
—
—
1.00
2025
—
—
—
—
Brightcap/ Dominic Bassani (1)
1,675,000
—
—
0.75
2024
—
—
—
—
Brightcap/ Dominic Bassani (2)
2,000,000
—
—
0.75
2024
—
—
—
—
Brightcap/ Dominic Bassani (1)
250,000
—
—
1.20
2026
—
—
—
—
Brightcap/ Dominic Bassani (1)
200,000
—
—
1.00
2025
—
—
—
—
Edward Schafer (3)
25,000
—
—
0.60
2024
—
—
—
—
Edward Schafer (3)
300,000
—
—
0.75
2024
—
—
—
—
Edward Schafer (1)
600,000
—
—
0.75
2024
—
—
—
—
Edward Schafer (2)
190,000
—
—
0.75
2024
—
—
—
—
Edward Schafer (1)
50,000
—
—
1.20
2026
—
—
—
—
Edward Schafer (1)
50,000
—
—
1.00
2025
—
—
—
—
William O’Neill (3)
250,000
—
—
1.60
2026
250,000
95,750
William O’Neill (3)
250,000
—
—
1.60
2026
250,000
95,750
(1)
Options are subject to a 75% execution/exercise price adjustment upon notice of intent to exercise under certain conditions.
(2)
Options are subject to a 90% execution/exercise price adjustment upon notice of intent to exercise under certain conditions.
(3)
Options are subject to a 50% execution/exercise price adjustment upon notice of intent to exercise under certain conditions.
60
Director Compensation
Members of the Board of Directors do not currently
receive any cash compensation for their services as Directors, but are entitled to be reimbursed for their reasonable expenses in attending
meetings of the Board. However, it is the Company's intention to begin to pay cash compensation to Board members at some future date (probably
during the current fiscal year).
DIRECTOR COMPENSATION
The following table sets forth certain information
regarding the compensation paid to directors during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023:
Director Compensation
Name
Fees
earned or paid in Cash ($)
Stock
Awards ($)
Option
Awards ($)(1)
Non-equity
incentive plan compensation ($)
Nonqualified deferred
compensation
earnings ($)
All
other compensation ($)
Total
($)
Jon Northrop
—
—
19,550
—
—
—
19,500
Edward Schafer
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
William Rupp
—
—
39,100
—
—
—
39,100
Salvatore Zizza
—
—
39,100
—
—
—
39,100
(1)
Reflects the dollar amount expensed by the Company during the applicable fiscal year for financial statement reporting purposes pursuant to ASC 718.
ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF
CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS
As of August 1, 2023, the Registrant had 49,408,214 shares
of common stock issued and 48,703,905 shares of common stock outstanding. (balance of 704,309 shares are owned by Centerpoint, the Company's
majority-owned subsidiary).
The following table sets forth certain information
regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of August 1, 2022 by:
●
each person that is known by us to beneficially own more than 5% of our common stock;
●
each of our directors;
●
each of our executive officers and significant employees; and
●
all our executive officers, directors and significant employees as a group.
Under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission,
beneficial ownership includes voting or investment power with respect to securities and includes the shares issuable under stock options,
warrants and convertible securities that are exercisable/convertible within sixty (60) days of August 1, 2023. Those shares issuable
under stock options, warrants and/or convertible securities are deemed outstanding for computing the percentage of each person holding
options, warrants and/or convertible securities but are not deemed outstanding for computing the percentage of any other person.
The percentage of beneficial ownership schedule ‘Entitled to Vote’ is based upon 48,703,905 shares outstanding as of
August 1, 2023. The address for those individuals for which an address is not otherwise provided is c/o Bion Environmental Technologies,
c/o PO Box 323, Old Bethpage, NY 11804. To our knowledge, except as indicated in the footnotes to this table and pursuant to applicable
community property laws, the persons named in the table have sole voting power and investment power with respect to all shares of common
stock listed as owned by them.
61
Name and Address
Number
Percent of Class Outstanding
Entitled
To Vote
Centerpoint Corporation (1)
c/o PO Box 323
Old Bethpage, NY 11604
704,309
1.4 %
—
Dominic Bassani (2)
64 Village Hills Drive
Dix Hills, NY 11746
15,242,691
24.3 %
24.6 %
Mark A. Smith (3)
401 N. Riverside Beach #408
Pompano Beach, FL 33062
8,401,433
14.9 %
15.1 %
Christopher B. Parlow (4)
23 Longbow Drive
Commack, NY 11725
8,754,807
15.2 %
15.4 %
Danielle Lominy (5)
c/o Dominic Bassani
64 Village Hill Drive
Dix Hills, NY 11746
8,744,803
15.3 %
15.5 %
Edward Schafer (6)
c/o PO Box 323
Old Bethpage, NY 11804
3,039,138
5.8 %
5.9 %
Anthony Orphanos (7)
c/o Blacksmith Advisors, LLC
320 Park Avenue 18th Floor
New York, NY 10022
2,285,618
4.4 %
4.6 %
William O’Neill (8)
107 12th Street E
St. Petersburg, FL 3371
1,560,888
3.1 %
3.1 %
Craig Scott (9)
3131 North Daffodil Dr.
Billings, MT 59102
2,663,652
5.2 %
5.2 %
Jon Northrop (10)
59 Chestnut Street
Westfield, NY 14787
636,135
1.3 %
1.3 %
Salvatore Zizza (11)
641 Lexington Avenue, 20th Floor
New York, NY 10022
155,112
0.3 %
0.3 %
William Rupp (12)
PO Box 536
Loveland, CO 80539
125,000
0.3 %
0.3 %
All executive officers and directors as a group (8 persons)
31,824,049
41.5 %
41.6 %
(1)
Centerpoint Corporation is currently majority owned by the Company. Under Colorado law, Centerpoint Corporation is not entitled to vote these shares unless otherwise ordered by a court. These shares of common stock may be distributed to the shareholders of Centerpoint Corporation at a future date pursuant to a dividend declared during July 2004. The shares distributed to Bion, if any, will be cancelled immediately upon receipt.
62
(2)
Includes 70,577 shares, 3,025,000 shares underlying options and 965,000 shares underlying warrants held directly by Mr. Bassani; 464,644 shares and 250,000 shares underlying warrants held by Mr. Bassani’s wife; and 909,747 shares held in IRA accounts of Mr. Bassani and his wife. Also included are the shares set forth below owned (directly and indirectly) by Mr. Bassani’s daughter, Danielle Lominy (formerly Danielle Bassani) who resides within his residence and are included in Mr. Bassani’s beneficial ownership for purposes of the calculation including: a) 570,000 shares directly b) 646,458 shares underlying warrants owned directly; and c) Danielle Lominy is the 50% beneficiary of the Dominic Bassani 2019 Irrevocable Trust (“2019Trust”) which owns: i) 3,000,000 warrants and 1,000,000 options to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock and, as a result, Danielle Lominy is the beneficial owner of 1,500,000 shares underlying warrants and 500,000 shares underlying options and ii) $459,277.02 principal amount of the Company’s Adjusted 2020 Convertible Obligation (“CVObligation”) which is convertible @ $.0953 into 4,819,277 shares and 3,214,458 warrants and, as a result, Danielle Lominy is the beneficial owner of 2,409,639 shares underlying conversion of the Adjusted CVObligation and 1,607,229 shares underlying the warrants issuable on conversion of the Adjusted CVObligation. The total also includes: a) 724,754 shares of common stock and 483,411 underlying warrants that could be issued on the conversion (at the election of Bassani) by Mr. Bassani of a convertible note in the amount of $362,376, (convertible @ $0.50 price) and b) 265,693 shares of common stock that could be issued on the conversion (at the election of Bassani) by Mr. Bassani of a convertible note in the amount of $159,416 (convertible @ $0.60 price) and c) 222,962 shares of common stock that could be issued on the conversion (at the election of Bassani) of Adjusted Convertible Note in the amount of $25,641 (convertible @$.115 price) and d) 627,577 shares of common stock that could be issued on the conversion (at the election of Bassani) of deferred compensation in the amount of $548,057. Mr. Bassani disclaims ownership of 1,511,477 shares underlying warrants held by the Danielle Christine Bassani Trust, which is separately itemized herein. Mr. Bassani’s adult daughter Danielle Lominy (formerly Danielle Bassani), who resides within his residence, is the beneficiary of the Danielle Christine Bassani Trust and Mr. Bassani is not one of the trustees of the trust. Mr. Bassani further disclaims beneficial ownership of shares and warrants owned by various other family members (including Christopher Parlow who is itemized separately), none of whom live with him or are his dependents, and such shares are not included in this calculation.
(3)
Includes 752,268 shares, 2,425,000 shares underlying options, 1,806,987 warrants held directly by Mr. Smith, and 62,535 shares held by Mr. Smith in an IRA. Also includes 575,000 shares and 370,948 underlying warrants held by Mr. Smith’s wife and 53,756 shares held in his wife’s IRA. Also includes 12,681 shares of common stock held by held by LoTayLingKyur Foundation and 100,001 shares of common stock and 100,001 underlying warrants held by LoTayLingKyur LLC which is controlled by Mr. Smith and his wife. Also includes 971,492 shares and 971,492 warrants underlying units that could be issued on the conversion (at the election of Mr. Smith) by Mr. Smith of his Adjusted 2020 Convertible Obligation in the aggregate amount of $91,903.05. Mr. Smith has the option to convert this amount into units with each unit consisting of 1 share of common stock and 1 warrant exercisable at $0.75 per share. The conversion price will be $.0946 per unit. Also includes 72,858 shares and 72,858 warrants underlying units that could be issued on the conversion (at the election of Mr. Smith) by Mr. Smith of his 2020 Convertible Obligation in the aggregate amount of $36,428.77. Mr. Smith has the option to convert this amount into units with each unit consisting of 1 share of common stock and 1 warrant exercisable at $0.75 per share. The conversion price will be $.50 per unit. Also includes 53,556 shares of common stock that could be issued on the conversion (at the election of Mr. Smith) of deferred compensation in the amount of $40,167. Does not include shares and warrants owned by various other family members of which Mr. Smith disclaims beneficial ownership. Mr. Smith is also the President of Centerpoint, although shares owned by Centerpoint are not entitled to a vote while held by Centerpoint
63
(4)
Includes 2,005 shares held directly by Christopher Parlow, 65,000 shares held jointly with wife, 250,000 shares owned by the Christopher Parlow Trust and 50,000 shares owned by Christopher Parlow’s minor daughters. Also includes 1,614,000 shares underlying warrants held by the Christopher Parlow Trust, 147,154 shares underlying warrants held jointly with wife, 150,000 warrants held directly by Mr. Parlow and 459,780 shares underlying warrants held by Mr. Parlow’s minor daughters. In addition, Christopher is the 50% beneficial owner of the Dominic Bassani 2019 Irrevocable Trust (“2019 Trust”) which owns 3,000,000 warrants to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock and 1,000,000 options and as a result, Christopher Parlow is the beneficial owner of 1,500,000 shares underlying exercise of the warrants and 500,000 shares underlying exercise of the options. Additionally, the 2019 Trust owns $459,277.02 principal amount of the Company’s Adjusted 2020 Convertible Obligations (“CVObligation”) which is convertible @$.0953 into 4,819,277 shares and 3,214,458 warrants. As a result, Christopher Parlow is the beneficial owner of 2,409,639 shares underlying conversion of the CVObligation and 1,607,229 shares underlying the warrants issuable on conversion of the CVObligation.
(5)
Includes 170,000 shares held directly by Danielle Lominy (formerly Danielle Bassani), 1,511,477 shares underlying warrants held by The Danielle Christine Bassani Trust, 400,000 shares owned by the Danielle Bassani Trust, 311,458 shares underlying warrants, 105,000 shares underlying warrants owned jointly with husband and 230,000 shares underlying warrants owned by Danielle Lominy’s daughter. In addition, Danielle is the 50% beneficial owner of the Dominic Bassani 2019 Irrevocable Trust (“2019 Trust”) which owns 3,000,000 warrants to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock and 1,000,000 options and, as a result Danielle Lominy is the beneficial owner of 1,500,000 shares underlying exercise of the warrants and 500,000 shares underlying exercise of the options. Additionally, the 2019 Trust owns $459,277.02 principal amount of the Company’s Adjusted 2020 Convertible Obligation (“CVObligation”) which is convertible @ $.0953 into 4,819,277 shares and 3,214,458 warrants. As a result, Danielle Lominy is the beneficial owner of 2,409,639 shares underlying conversion of the CVObligation and 1,607,229 shares underlying the warrants issuable on conversion of the CVObligation.
(6)
Includes 158,254 shares held directly by Mr. Schafer, options to purchase 1,215,000 shares and warrants to purchase 23,934 shares. Also includes 1,070,021 shares and 535,011 warrants underlying units that could be issued on the conversion by Mr. Schafer of his Adjusted Convertible Obligation in the amount of $101,973. Mr. Schafer has the option to convert this amount into units with each unit consisting of 1 share of common stock and ½ warrant exercisable at $0.75 per share until December 31, 2024. The conversion price is $.0953 per unit. Also includes 36,918 shares of common stock that could be issued on the conversion (at the election of Mr. Schafer) by Mr. Schafer of his Adjusted September 2015 convertible note in the amount of $4,245.47. The conversion price will be $.115 per share.
(7)
Includes 94,927 shares held directly by Mr. Orphanos; 156,750 shares underlying warrants held directly by Mr. Orphanos; 945 shares held jointly with his wife; 1,262,774 shares held in IRA accounts; and 770,222 shares of common stock that could be issued on conversion of $462,133 convertible notes ($.60 conversion price). Not included are 1,021,303 common shares owned by certain clients of Blacksmith Advisors, over which Mr. Orphanos exercises discretionary authority (which shares include: 68,000 shares owned by Danielle Lominy (formerly Danielle Bassani). Mr. Orphanos disclaims beneficial ownership of the shares listed in the preceding sentences because he has no pecuniary interest in the shares.
64
(8)
Includes 50,000 underlying warrants held directly by Mr. O’Neill, 500,000 shares underlying options held directly by Mr. O’Neill and 10,888 shares held by Mr. O’Neill’s wife, and 1,000,000 shares underlying warrants held by Identifoods, LLC which is owned by Mr. O’Neill and his wife.
(9)
Includes 504,894 shares, 1,545,000 shares underlying options and 573,747 shares underlying warrants held directly by Mr. Scott. The total also includes 40,011 shares of common stock that could be issued on the conversion (at the election of Mr. Scott) of deferred compensation in the amount of $43,612.11.
(10)
Includes 120,635 shares held directly by Mr. Northrop and options to purchase 515,500 shares held by Mr. Northrop. Does not include shares or options owned by the adult children of Mr. Northrop nor his former wife.
(11)
Includes 105,112 shares of common stock and 50,000 shares of common stock underlying options held directly by Mr. Zizza.
(12)
Includes 50,000 shares of common stock underlying options and 75,000 shares of common stock underlying warrants held directly by Mr. Rupp.
ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS,
AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE.
Other than the employment/consulting agreements, deferred
compensation arrangements and conversions of debt described above in Item 1 Business and Item 11 Executive Compensation, there are no
related party transactions.
Four directors of the Company (Jon Northrop, Ed Schaefer,
Salvatore Zizza and William Rupp) are considered to be independent directors.
ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES.
Audit Fees
In January 2017 the Company engaged Eide Bailly LLP
as its independent registered public accounting firm. The aggregate fees billed for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022 and June 30,
2023 by Eide Bailly LLP for professional services rendered for the audit of the Company's annual financial statements and reviews of
interim financial statements included in the Company's quarterly reports on Form 10-Q (and related matters) were $10,600 and $54,325,
respectively.
In December 2022 the Company engaged Haynie &
Company as its independent registered public accounting firm. The aggregate fees billed for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023 by Haynie
& Company for professional services rendered for the audit of the Company’s annual financial statements and reviews of the interim
financial statements included in the Company’s quarterly reports on Form 10-Q (and related matters) were $71, 000.
Audit Related Fees
There were no fees billed by Eide Bailly LLP for audit-related
fees in each of the last two fiscal years ended June 30, 2022 and June 30, 2021.
There were no fees billed by Haynie & Company
for audit-related fees in the last fiscal year ended June 30, 2023.
Tax Fees
The aggregate fees billed for tax services rendered by Eide Bailly LLP
for tax compliance and related services for the two fiscal years ended June 30, 2023 and June 30, 2022 were nil and nil, respectively.
The aggregate fees billed for tax services rendered
by Haynie & Company for tax compliance and related services for the year ended June 30, 2023 were nil.
All Other Fees
None.
Audit Committee Pre-Approval Policy
Under provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002,
the Company's principal accountant may not be engaged to provide non-audit services that are prohibited by law or regulation to be provided
by it, and the Board of directors (which serves as the Company's audit committee) must pre-approve the engagement of the Company's principal
accountant to provide audit and permissible non-audit services. The Company's Board has not established any policies or procedures other
than those required by applicable laws and regulations.
65
PART IV
ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES.
(a) Exhibits
Exhibit
Number
Description and Location
3.1
Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation of Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc., filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Colorado on April 11, 2022. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on April 12, 2022).
3.2
Amended and Restated Bylaws. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2 filed with Form 8-K filed on January 4, 2022).
10.1
Subscription Agreement dated January 10, 2002 between Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. and Centerpoint Corporation regarding issuance of stock in exchange for cash and claims regarding Aprilia (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 10SB12G on November 14, 2006).
10.2
Agreement dated March 15, 2002 and effective January 15, 2002 between Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. and Centerpoint Corporation regarding purchase of warrant and management agreement (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 filed with Form 10SB12G on November 14, 2006).
10.3
Agreement dated February 12, 2003 between Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. and Centerpoint Corporation canceling provisions of the Subscription Agreement by and between Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. and Centerpoint Corporation (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 filed with Form 10SB12G on November 14, 2006).
10.4
Promissory Note and Security Agreement between Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. and Bright Capital, LLC (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 filed with Form 10SB12G on November 14, 2006).
10.5
Letter Agreement with Bright Capital, Ltd. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.8 filed with Form 10SB12G on November 14, 2006).
10.6
Amended Agreement with Centerpoint Corporation dated April 23, 2003 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.10 filed with Form 10SB12G on November 14, 2006).
10.7
Promissory Note and Conversion Agreement between Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. and Mark A. Smith related to deferred compensation (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.21 filed with Form 10SB12G on November 14, 2006).
10.8
Promissory Note and Conversion Agreement between Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. and Bright Capital, Ltd. related to deferred compensation (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.22 filed with Form 10SB12G on November 14, 2006).
10.9
Employment agreement with Mark A. Smith (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.23 filed with Form 10SB12G on November 14, 2006).
10.10
Employment agreement with Bright Capital, Ltd. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.25 filed with Form 10SB12G on November 14, 2006).
10.11
Employment agreement with Jeff Kapell (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.26 filed with Form 10SB12G on November 14, 2006).
10.12
Employment agreement with Jeremy Rowland (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.27 filed with Form 10SB12G on November 14, 2006).
10.13
Office lease at 641 Lexington Avenue, 17th Floor, New York (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.28 filed with Form 10SB12G on November 14, 2006).
10.14
2006 Consolidated Incentive Plan (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.29 filed with Form 10SB12G on November 14, 2006).
10.15
Memo to Dominic Bassani & Bright Capital, Ltd. dated October 16, 2006 regarding Change in Title/Status of DB/Amendment to Brightcap Agreement (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.30 filed with Form 10SB12G on November 14, 2006).
10.16
Promissory Note and Conversion Agreement for Mark Smith, dated January 1, 2007 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.31 filed with Form 10SB12G/A on February 1, 2007).
10.17
Promissory Note and Conversion Agreement for Bright Capital, Ltd., dated January 1, 2007 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.35 filed with Form 10SB12G/A on February 1, 2007).
10.18
Extension Agreement dated March 31, 2007 between the Company and Mark A Smith (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on April 3, 2007)
10.19
Form of Note dated March 31, 2007 in the amount of $151,645.89 in favor of Mark A. Smith (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10. 2 filed with Form 8-K filed on April 3, 2007)
10.20
Form of Note dated March 31, 2007 in the amount of $455.486.30 in favor of Bright Capital, Ltd. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 filed with Form 8-K filed on April 3, 2007)
10.21
Memorandum of Understanding with Kreider Farms (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on February 27, 2008)
10.22
Subscription Agreement from Bright Capital, Ltd. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on June 3, 2008)
66
10.23
Amendment to 2006 Consolidated Incentive Plan (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.2 filed with Form 8-K filed on June 3, 2008)
10.24
Agreement between the Company and Mark A. Smith dated May 31, 2008 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.3 filed with Form 8-K filed on June 3, 2008).
10.25
2007 Series AB Convertible Promissory Note (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on June 19, 2008).
10.26
Promissory Note between Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. and Dominic Bassani (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 filed with Form 8-K filed on September 30, 2008).
10.27
Promissory Note between Anthony Orphanos and Bion dated October 30, 2008, Guaranteed by Dominic Bassani (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 filed with Form 8-K filed on November 13, 2008).
10.28
Addendum to Settlement Agreement and Release Stipulation from Bion, Bion Dairy and Mark Smith dated October 31, 2008 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 filed with Form 8-K filed on November 13, 2008).
10.29
Kreider Farms Agreement (September 25, 2008): REDACTED (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 10-Q filed on November 14, 2008).
10.30
Amendment #3 to 2006 Consolidated Incentive Plan (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 filed with Form 8-K filed on January 6, 2009).
10.31
Agreement between Bright Capital, Ltd. and Dominic Bassani and Bion effective January 11, 2009 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on January 15, 2009).
10.32
Agreement between Mark A. Smith and Bion effective January 12, 2009 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 filed with Form 8-K filed on January 15, 2009).
10.33
Orphanos Extension Agreement dated January 13, 2009 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 filed with Form 8-K filed on January 15, 2009).
10.34
Lease Agreement between Ronald Kreider and Kreider Farms and Bion PA 1 LLC dated June 26, 2009 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on July 2, 2009).
10.35
Capitalization Agreement between Bion Companies and Bion PA 1 LLC dated June 30, 2009 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 filed with Form 8-K filed on July 2, 2009).
10.36
Extension Agreement with Mark A. Smith. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on August 18, 2010).
10.37
Agreement with Edward Schafer (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 filed with Form 8-K filed on August 18, 2010).
10.38
Accepted Funding Offer (base loan agreement) (without exhibits) with PENNVEST for Kreider Farms Project Loan -- effective November 3, 2010 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on November 3, 2010).
10.39
Short Form Agreement (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on November 22, 2010).
10.40
Resume of William O’Neill. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 filed with Form 8-K filed on November 22, 2010).
10.41
Loan & Security Agreement with Milestone Bank (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 filed with Form 8-K filed on December 6, 2010).
10.42
O'Neill Employment Agreement (dated December 22, 2010) (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on December 6, 2010).
10.43
Schafer Employment Agreement (dated December 21, 2010) (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 filed with Form 8-K filed on December 6, 2010).
10.44
Biography of Edward T. Schafer (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 filed with Form 8-K filed on December 6, 2010).
10.45
Kreider Farms Clarification Agreement (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 filed with Form 8-K filed on March 16, 2011).
10.46
Resignation of William O’Neill (effective May 13, 2011) (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on May 13, 2011).
10.47
PADEP Certification of Kreider Poultry Credits (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on June 1, 2011).
10.48
Bassani/Bright Capital Extension Agreement (executed August 31, 2011) (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 filed with Form 8-K filed on September 2, 2011).
10.49
Smith Extension Agreement (executed August 31, 2011) (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on September 2, 2011).
10.50
Bloom Employment Agreement (executed September 30, 2011) (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on October 4, 2011).
67
10.51
Extension/Conversion Agreement with Smith and Bassani (dated March 31, 2012) (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on April 4, 2012).
10.52
Memorialization of extension of Maturity of Bassani convertible deferred compensation (dated July 31, 2012) (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on August 3, 2012).
10.53
Memorialization of Smith Extension Agreement (dated August 14, 2012) (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on August 21, 2012).
10.54
Memorialization of Bassani Extension Agreement (dated August 14, 2012) (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 filed with Form 8-K filed on August 21, 2012).
10.55
Memorialization of Schafer Agreement (dated August 21, 2012) (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 filed with Form 8-K filed on August 21, 2012).
10.56
Board Ratification dated May 5, 2013 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 10-Q filed on May 14, 2013).
10.57
Demand Promissory Note dated May 13, 2013 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 filed with Form 10-Q filed on May 14, 2013).
10.58
Pennvest Demand Letter (dated September 25, 2014) (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.92 filed with Form 10-K filed on September 26, 2014).
10.59
Extension Agreement with Mark A. Smith (w/o exhibits) (February 10, 2015) (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 10-Q filed on February 11, 2015).
10.60
Extension Agreement with Dominic Bassani (w/o exhibits) (February 10, 2015) (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 filed with Form 10-Q filed on February 11, 2015).
10.61
Agreement with Edward Schafer (w/o exhibits) (February 10, 2015) (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 filed with Form 10-Q filed on February 11, 2015).
10.62
Convertible Promissory Note between the Company and Dominic Bassani dated September 8, 2015 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.96 filed with Form 10-K filed on September 22, 2015).
10.63
Convertible Promissory Note between the Company and Edward Schafer dated September 8, 2015 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.97 filed with Form 10-K filed on September 22, 2015).
10.64
Convertible Promissory Note between the Company and Anthony Orphanos dated September 8, 2015 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.98 filed with Form 10-K filed on September 22, 2015).
10.65
Kreider Poultry Joint Venture Agreement (May 5, 2016) (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 10-Q filed on May 9, 2016).
10.66
Bassani Warrant Purchase effective August 1, 2018 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.100 filed with Form 10-K filed on September 24, 2019).
10.67
Smith Warrant Purchase effective August 1, 2018 (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.101 filed with Form 10-K filed on September 24, 2019).
10.68
Amendment #9 to 2006 Consolidated Incentive Plan, as amended (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.102 filed with Form 10-K filed on September 24, 2019).
10.69
Lease (executed September 23, 2021) (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on September 29, 2021).
10.70
Subsidiaries of the Registrant (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 21 filed with Form 10SB12G on November 14, 2006).
10.71
Buflovak/Hebeler Purchase Order (January 28, 2022)(without Technical Details and Standard Terms and Conditions) (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on February 1, 2022)
10.72
Agreement with BioNTech SE re sale/purchase of domain name <biontech.com> (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on March 25, 2022)
10.73
Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. 2021 Equity Incentive Award Plan. (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on January 4, 2022).
10.74
William O’Neill Employment Agreement (effective May 1, 2022) (without exhibits). (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on May 3, 2022).
10.75
Letter
of Intent with Ribbonwire Ranch (July 20, 2022). (Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 filed with Form 8-K filed on July 27,
2022).
31.1
Certification of Chief Executive Officer Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 - Filed herewith electronically.
31.2
Certification of Principal Financial Officer Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 - Filed herewith electronically.
32.1
Certification of Chief Executive Officer Pursuant to Section 18 U.S.C. Section 1350. Furnished*
32.2
Certification of Principal Financial Officer Pursuant to Section 18 U.S.C. Section 1350. Furnished*
101.INS
Inline XBRL Instance Document (the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL 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)
*This exhibit is being furnished rather than filed
and shall not be deemed incorporated by reference into any filing, in accordance with Item 601 of Regulation S-K.
68
Report of
Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (Haynie & Company, PCAOB ID:
457 )
F-2
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm ( Eide Baily LLP ; Denver, CO, PCAOB ID: 286 )
F-4
Consolidated balance sheets
F-6
Consolidated statements of operations
F-7
Consolidated statements of changes in stockholders’ equity (deficit)
F-8
Consolidated statements of cash flows
F-9
Notes to consolidated financial statements
F-10 - F-42
F- 1
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING
FIRM
To the Board of Directors and
Stockholders of Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc.
Opinion on the Financial Statements
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance
sheet of Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. (the Company) as of June 30, 2023 and the related consolidated statements of operations,
changes in stockholders’ equity (deficit), and cash flow for the year then ended June 30, 2023, and the related notes (collectively
referred to as the financial statements). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial
position of the Company as of June 30, 2023 and the results of its operations and its cash flow for the year then ended June 30, 2023,
in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Going Concern
The accompanying financial statements have been prepared
assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1 to the financial statements, the Company has yet to
generate any revenue and has suffered recurring losses from operations. These factors raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue
as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also discussed in Note 1. The financial statements do not
include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Basis for Opinion
These financial statements are the responsibility
of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our
audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are
required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and
regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards
of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements
are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform,
an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal
control over financial reporting, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal
control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audits included performing procedures to assess
the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond
to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements.
Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating
the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
F- 2
Critical Audit Matters
The critical audit matter communicated below is a
matter arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the
audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially
challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the
financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing separate opinions
on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.
Equity Transactions
As discussed in Note 6 and Note 7 to the financial
statements, the Company has numerous equity-based agreements, including stock options and warrants issued for services and debt convertible
into units (which include common stock and warrants). These agreements require management to estimate the value of options and warrants
issued for services on the measurement date or include complicated calculations when debt is converted to equity. During the year ended
June 30, 2023, the Company recorded stock-based compensation expense of $249,744, warrants issued for services of $62,563, warrant modifications
of $154,932, and a $186,462 of debt converted to common stock.
Our audit procedures required a significant amount
of time performing procedures and evaluating audit evidence in connection with forming our overall opinion on the consolidated financial
statements. Those procedures included gaining an overall understanding of the Company’s process for estimating fair value and the
related calculations. We read the related equity-based agreements verifying the terms of each agreement to the Company’s calculations
and ensuring the mathematical accuracy. We evaluated the assumptions used by management to develop their estimates and considered the
relevant accounting guidance.
/s/ Haynie & Company
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2023.
Salt Lake City, Utah
September 28, 2023
F- 3
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting
Firm
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders
Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc.
Old Bethpage, New York
Opinion on the
Financial Statements
We have audited
the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. (the “Company”) as of June 30, 2022,
and the related consolidated statements of operations , changes in stockholders’ equity
(deficit), and cash flows, for the year then ended, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”).
In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Bion Environmental Technologies,
Inc. as of June 30, 2022, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the years then ended, in conformity with accounting
principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Going Concern
The accompanying
financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1 to the financial
statements, the Company has not generated significant revenue and has suffered recurring losses from operations. These factors raise substantial
doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also discussed in Note
1. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.
Basis for Opinion
These financial
statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements
based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) ("PCAOB")
and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable
rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our
audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance
about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to
have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audit we are required
to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness
of the entity’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
F- 4
Our audit included
performing procedures to assess the risk of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing
procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures
in the financial statements. Our audit also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management,
as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for
our opinion.
Critical Audit Matter
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter
arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee
and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved especially challenging,
subjective or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements,
taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit
matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.
Equity Transactions
As discussed in Note 7 to the financial statements, the Company has entered
into various equity-based compensation agreements. These agreements include transactions, including the original issuance and subsequent
modifications of warrants and stock options, that are required to be measured and accounted for at estimated fair value. These transactions
resulted in recording of stock-based compensation expense of $419,370, modification of options of $-0-, warrant issuances of $30,000,
and warrant modifications of $8,337 for the year ended June 30, 2022.
The Company’s determination of the estimated fair
values involves the identification of related financial instruments and a clear understanding of the terms of the agreements. Auditing
management’s estimates of fair value requires a high degree of auditor judgment and an increased extent of effort, including the
need to carefully examine to understand the true nature of the related agreements.
The primary procedures we performed to address this critical
audit matter included:
· We gained an understanding of management's process
and methodology to develop the estimates
· We examined agreements and agreed terms utilized
in calculations
· We evaluated the reasonableness of the inputs and
assumptions used by management in developing the estimates
· We recalculated the amounts and compared to management’s
calculation
· W e
evaluated the adequacy of the disclosures related to these fair value measurements.
We have served as Bion
Environmental Technologies, Inc. auditor since 2017.
Denver, Colorado
September 27, 2022
F- 5
BION ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
June 30,
June 30,
2023
2022
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash
$ 625,964
$ 3,160,442
Prepaid expenses
16,785
157,550
Deposits and other assets
6,000
1,000
Total current assets
648,749
3,318,992
Operating lease right-of-use asset
93,875
145,787
Property and equipment, net (Note 3)
6,851,009
2,895,558
Total assets
$ 7,593,633
$ 6,360,337
LIABILITIES AND EQUITY (DEFICIT)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable and accrued expenses
$ 677,137
$ 1,360,644
Deferred compensation (Note 4)
864,781
594,798
Operating lease liability, current (Note 9)
75,000
—
Total current liabilities
1,616,916
1,955,442
Operating lease liability, long term (Note 9)
29,068
128,864
Convertible notes payable - affiliates (Note 6)
1,715,970
5,170,610
Total liabilities
3,361,954
7,254,916
Equity (deficit):
Common stock, no
par value, 250,000,000
shares authorized, 48,044,790
and 43,758,820
shares issued, respectively; 47,340,480
and 43,054,511
shares outstanding, respectively
—
—
Additional paid-in capital
131,935,418
123,620,046
Subscription receivable - affiliates (Note 8)
( 504,650 )
( 504,650 )
Accumulated deficit
( 127,236,663 )
( 124,047,548 )
Total Bion's stockholders’ equity (deficit)
4,194,105
( 932,152 )
Noncontrolling interest
37,573
37,573
Total equity (deficit)
4,231,678
( 894,579 )
Total liabilities and deficit
$ 7,593,633
$ 6,360,337
See notes to consolidated financial statements
F- 6
BION ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
YEARS ENDED JUNE 30, 2023 AND 2022
2023
2022
Revenue
$
—
$
—
Operating expenses:
General and administrative (including stock-based compensation)
3,072,163
2,348,324
Depreciation
1,645
1,161
Research and development (including stock-based compensation)
82,759
200,691
Total operating expenses
3,156,567
2,550,176
Loss from operations
( 3,156,567 )
( 2,550,176 )
Other (income) expense:
Interest income
( 5,836 )
( 5,625 )
Interest expense
38,384
301,659
Gain on sale of domain
—
( 902,490 )
Gain on legal dissolution of subsidiary
—
( 10,234,501 )
Total other expense
32,548
( 10,840,957 )
Net income (loss)
( 3,189,115 )
8,290,781
Net loss attributable to the noncontrolling interest
—
1,544
Net income (loss) applicable to Bion's common stockholders
$ ( 3,189,115 )
$ 8,292,325
Net income (loss) applicable to Bion's common stockholders
per basic and diluted common share
$ ( 0.07 )
$ 0.20
Weighted-average number of common shares outstanding:
Basic and diluted
45,038,479
41,962,302
See notes to consolidated financial statements
F- 7
BION ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN STOCKHOLDERS'
EQUITY (DEFICIT)
YEARS ENDED JUNE 30, 2022 AND 2021
Bion's Stockholders'
Series A Preferred Stock
Series C Preferred Stock
Common Stock
Additional paid-in
Subscription Rec-
-eivables for
Accumulated
Noncontrolling
Total
Shares
Amount
Shares
Amount
Shares
Amount
capital
Shares
deficit
interest
equity/(deficit)
Balances, July 1, 2021
—
$
—
—
$
—
41,315,986
$
—
121,399,067
$
( 504,650
)
$
( 132,339,873
)
$
39,117
$
( 11,406,339
)
Warrants exercised for common shares
—
—
—
—
2,315,550
—
1,736,662
—
—
—
1,736,662
Commissions on warrant exercises
—
—
—
—
66,860
—
( 18,601
)
—
—
—
( 18,601
)
Conversion of debt and liabilities
—
—
—
—
35,424
—
17,711
—
—
—
17,711
Issuance of units for services
—
—
—
—
25,000
—
27,500
—
—
—
27,500
Modification of warrants
—
—
—
—
—
—
8,337
—
—
—
8,337
Issuance of warrants
—
—
—
—
—
—
30,000
—
—
—
30,000
Vesting of options for services
—
—
—
—
—
—
419,370
—
—
—
419,370
Net income (loss)
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
8,292,325
( 1,544
)
8,290,781
Balances, June 30, 2022
—
$
—
—
$
—
43,758,820
$
—
$
123,620,046
$
( 504,650
)
$
( 124,047,548
)
$
37,573
$
( 894,579
)
Sale of units
—
—
—
—
1,321,530
—
1,906,230
—
—
—
1,906,230
Sales of common stock
—
—
—
—
2,000,000
—
2,000,000
—
—
—
2,000,000
Warrants exercised for common shares
—
—
—
—
175,114
—
131,335
—
—
—
131,335
Issuance of units for services
—
—
—
—
82,259
—
130,000
—
—
—
130,000
Issuance of warrants for services
—
—
—
—
—
—
62,563
—
—
—
62,563
Conversion of debt and liabilities
—
—
—
—
1,542,514
—
186,462
—
—
—
186,462
Vesting of options for employees and services
—
—
—
—
—
249,744
—
—
—
249,744
Commissions on sale of units
—
—
—
—
—
—
( 86,400
)
—
—
—
( 86,400
)
Modification of warrants - non-cash comp
—
—
—
—
—
—
154,932
—
—
—
154,932
Modification of warrants - interest
—
—
—
—
—
—
72,589
—
—
—
72,589
Debt modification
—
—
—
—
—
—
3,507,917
—
—
—
3,507,917
Net loss
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
( 3,189,115
)
—
( 3,189,115
)
Balances, June 30, 2023
—
$
—
—
$
—
48,880,237
$
—
$
131,935,418
$
( 504,650
)
$
( 127,236,663
)
$
37,573
$
4,231,678
See notes to consolidated financial statements
F- 8
BION ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
YEARS ENDED JUNE 30, 2023 AND 2022
2023
2022
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES
Net income (loss)
$ ( 3,189,115 )
$ 8,290,781
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:
Gain on legal dissolution of subsidiary
—
( 10,234,501 )
Depreciation expense
1,645
1,161
Accrued interest on loans payable, deferred compensation and other
38,384
319,523
Stock- based compensation
249,744
346,846
Stock-based compensation for services
130,000
—
Modification of warrants
154,932
—
Warrants issued for compensation for services
62,563
—
Decrease (increase) in prepaid expenses
140,765
( 33,501 )
Increase (decrease) in deposits in other assets
( 5,000 )
—
Increase (decrease) in accounts payable and accrued expenses
( 879,618 )
366,629
Decrease (increase) in operating lease assets and liabilities
27,116
( 16,923 )
Increase in deferred compensation
340,000
289,200
Net cash used in operating activities
( 2,928,584 )
( 670,785 )
CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Purchase of property and equipment
( 3,557,059 )
( 2,062,155 )
Net cash used in investing activities
( 3,557,059 )
( 2,062,155 )
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Proceeds from sale of units
3,906,230
—
Proceeds from sale of warrants
131,335
1,736,662
Commissions on sale of warrants
( 86,400 )
( 18,601 )
Commissions on sale of units
—
—
Redemption of Preferred Series B shares and interest
—
( 41,000 )
Net cash provided by financing activities
3,951,165
1,677,061
Net increase (decrease) in cash
( 2,534,478 )
( 1,055,879 )
Cash at beginning of year
3,160,442
4,216,321
Cash at end of year
$ 625,964
$ 3,160,442
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information:
Cash paid for interest
$ —
$ —
Non-cash investing and financing transactions:
Adjustment for debt modification
$ 3,507,917
$ —
Conversion of debt and liabilities into common units
$ 186,462
$ 17,711
Conversion of debt and liabilities into notes payable
$ 23,943
$ —
Conversion of deferred compensation to notes payable
$ 90,000
$ 190,000
Capitalized interest in property and equipment
$ 179,984
$ 32,000
Shares issued for warrant exercise commissions
$ —
$ 50,145
Purchase of property and equipment for accounts payable
$ 220,052
$ 666,375
See notes to consolidated financial statements
F- 9
BION ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
YEARS ENDED JUNE 30, 2023 AND 2022
1. ORGANIZATION,
NATURE OF BUSINESS, GOING CONCERN AND MANAGEMENT’S PLANS :
Organization and nature of business:
Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc.'s ("Bion," "Company,"
"We," "Us," or "Our") was incorporated in 1987 in the State of Colorado. Bion’s mission is to make
livestock production more sustainable, profitable and transparent. We intend to accomplish this by deploying our Gen3Tech platform/business
model (discussed below) in ventures focused on the ‘feeder’ space of the livestock production/value chain to provide the consumer
with verifiably sustainable premium meat products (together with environmentally friendly, sustainable and/or organic co-products from
the production process). Bion believes this approach can create extraordinary value for our shareholders and employees (all of whom
own securities in the Company) and for livestock/agriculture industry ‘partners’ who join us in our ventures. We anticipate
pursuing the opportunity created by our third generation technology (“Gen3Tech”) and business/technology platform in conjunction
with other industry practices (“Gen3Tech Platform” or “Platform”) utilizing a joint venture/strategic partner
model. We believe our approach will improve the well-being of farmers, ranchers, feeders, etc. we work with and create value for our shareholders
while improving the environment.
Our patented and proprietary technology provides advanced
waste treatment and resource recovery for large-scale livestock production facilities (also known as “Concentrated Animal Feeding
Operations” or “CAFOs"). Livestock production and its waste, particularly from CAFOs, has been identified as one of the
greatest soil, air, and water quality problems in the U.S. today. Application of our Gen3Tech”) can largely mitigate these
environmental problems, while simultaneously improving operational/ resource efficiencies by recovering high-value co-products from the
CAFOs’ waste stream. These waste ‘assets’ – nutrients and methane – have traditionally been wasted or underutilized
and are the same ‘pollutants’ that today fuel harmful algae blooms, contaminate surface groundwater, and exacerbate climate
change.
Bion’s business model and technology
platform can create the opportunity for joint ventures (in various contractual forms) (“JVs”) between the Company and large
livestock/food/fertilizer industry participants based upon the supplemental cash flow generated by implementation of our Gen3Tech business
model, which cash flows will support the costs of technology implementation (including servicing related debt). To accomplish Bion’s
goals, we anticipate the we will ‘partner’ with other technology companies who provide solutions for different links of the
beef (and other livestock) value chain and with strategic partners up and down the supply chain .
We anticipate this will result in substantial long-term
value for Bion. In the context of such JVs, we believe that the verifiable sustainable branding opportunities (conventional and organic)
in meat will represent one of the largest enhanced revenue contributors provided by Bion to the JVs (and Bion licensees). The Company
believes that the largest portion of its business with be conducted through such JVs, but a material portion may involve licensing and
or other approaches.
Bion’s Gen3Tech was designed to capture and
stabilize these assets and produce renewable energy, fertilizer products, and clean water as part of the process of raising verifiably
sustainable livestock. All steps and stages in the animal raising and waste treatment process will be third-party verified, providing
the basis for additional revenues, including carbon and/or renewable energy-related credits and, eventually, payment for a range of ecosystem
services, including nutrient credits as described below. The same verified data will be used to substantiate the claims of a USDA-certified
sustainable brand that will support premium pricing for the meat/ animal protein products that are produced in Bion facilities.
During the first half of 2022 Bion
began pre-marketing our sustainable beef to retailers, food service distributors and the meat industry in the U.S. In general, the
response has been favorable. During July 2022, Bion announced a letter of intent (“Ribbonwire LOI”) to develop a large-scale
commercial project - a 15,000-head sustainable beef cattle feeding operation together with the Ribbonwire Ranch, in Dalhart, Texas (with
a provision to expand to 60,000 head) (“Dalhart Project”). During January 2023 Bion announced a letter of intent (“Olson
LOI”) to develop a large-scale commercial project - a 15,000-head sustainable beef cattle feeding operation together with the Olson
Feeders and TD Angus, near North Platte, Nebraska (with a provision to expand to 45,000 head or more) (“Olson Project”). During
April 2023 Bion announced a letter of intent (“DVG LOI”) to develop a large-scale commercial project - a 15,000-head sustainable
beef cattle feeding operation together with Dakota Valley Growers near Bathgate, North Dakota (“DVG Project”). Based on our
experience to date, we believe we will not have difficulty in securing participation in our Projects from additional feeders/cattlemen.
The Olson, Dalhart and DVG Projects (and subsequent Projects) will be developed to produce blockchain-verified, sustainable beef in customized
covered barns (resulting in reduced stress on cattle caused by extreme weather and temperatures and resulting higher feed/weight gain
efficiency) with ongoing manure transfer (through slatted floors) to anaerobic digesters (AD) to capture nitrogen from the manure stream
before loss to the atmosphere and generate renewable natural gas (RNG) for sale while remediating the environmental/carbon impacts usually
associated with cattle feedlots and CAFOs. Bion’s patented Gen3Tech platform will refine the waste stream into valuable coproducts
that include clean water, RNG, photovoltaic solar electricity and fertilizer (‘climate smart’ and/or organic) products. We
anticipate converting these LOIs into definitive JV agreements and creating related distribution agreements with key retailers and food
service distributors during the current fiscal year.
F- 10
Our business plan is focused on executing
multiple agreements and letters of intent related to additional sustainable beef JV projects over the next twenty-four (24) months while
moving forward with the Initial Project (see below) and commencing development of one or more of the Dalhart/Olson/DVG Projects (“LOI
Projects”)(and/or other Gen3Tech beef JV projects) while pursuing other opportunities in the livestock industry enabled by our Gen3Tech
business model. The LOI announcements have generated significant interest within the livestock industry (among ranchers, feedlot
operators, farmers and other AG industry parties) and has led to and assisted our discussions with many major of the larger agriculture/livestock
industry companies (including those involved with distribution and/or sales of meat products) in the country which are ongoing at this
date. We believe that this interest, combined with consumer interest in ‘sustainable products’ and growing enthusiasm among
some livestock industry parties for environmental/sustainable/regenerative practices, may provide Bion (and its partners/venturers) with
an opportunity to move forward with a truly sustainable solution in this industry segment at a rapid pace.
During the past nine months, the Company has constructed
(construction is largely completed) our 3GTech Ammonia Recovery System (‘ARS’) located near Fair Oaks, Indiana and begun operations
of phase 1 of our Initial Project (our commercial scale demonstration facility) located near Fair Oaks, Indiana. We recently announced
that announced the ARS has achieved and maintained controlled steady-state operations under a variety of conditions. When operated at
steady state, the system produces an ammonium distillate (solution), the base of Bion’s nitrogen fertilizer products. Bion has begun
optimizing the ARS’s operating parameters with the goal of meeting and/or exceeding the results needed for Bion’s economic
models for large-scale commercial projects. The Company expects the current optimization phase will continue during the next quarter (or
longer) and provide data required to support final design/engineering for commercial project modules. We believe this data will also provide
additional potential stakeholders (cattle producers, cattle feeders, packers, distributors, retailers and financial institutions) with
the information they need to proceed with confidence in collaborating with Bion on multiple new projects (see below).
The patented ARS is the core of Bion’s Gen3Tech
platform. It recovers and upcycles problem ammonia contained in the effluent from anaerobic digestion (where methane is captured
and more ammonia is released) of the livestock manure waste stream. The ARS captures the ammonia, minimizing its environmental impacts
and creating low-carbon and/or organic nitrogen fertilizer products with it. Over during the next quarter, the Company intends to produce
ammonium distillate at Fair Oaks in several concentrations and initiate the application process for organic certification for each concentration
of liquid fertilizer product. Bion will produce a solid/granular nitrogen fertilizer product at the Initial Project (when the
crystalizer module is ready for operation) which we believe will be both ‘Climate-Smart’ and ‘Water-Smart’ –
a pure nitrogen fertilizer with a low carbon footprint, that is water soluble and readily available to plants. Samples of the granular
product will also be utilized to support organic certification applications. See Fertilizer---Organic and ‘ClimateSmart’
below.
During the next three - six/ months, the Company intends
to fully complete construction of the Initial Project’s phase 1, including the crystalizer module, and continue the optimization
operations. Bion expects the Initial Project data will document the effectiveness of our Gen3Tech in a commercial-scale setting during
the current fiscal year and support development of the LOI Projects (and/or other Gen3Tech beef JV projects) commencing later this fiscal
year. We do not presently know the order in which these JV Projects will be developed as that decision will be made based on many
factors not yet in place. We believe the Initial Project data will also provide additional potential stakeholders (cattle producers, cattle
feeders, packers, food distributors and retailers and financial institutions) with the information they need to proceed with confidence
in collaborating with Bion on multiple new projects (see below).
Bion is now focused primarily on: i) completion of
development/construction and operation of the Initial Project, our initial commercial-scale Gen3Tech installation, and optimization of
its operational parameters, ii) pre-development plan of the LOI Projects (and/or other Gen3Tech beef JV projects) including steps
toward distribution agreements, iii) developing applications and markets for its low carbon ‘ClimateSmart’ and organic fertilizer
products (including listings/certifications of multiple liquid and solid products) and its sustainable (conventional and organic) animal
protein products, and iv) discussions regarding initiation and development of agreements and joint ventures (“JVs” as discussed
herein) (and related Projects) based on the augmented capabilities of our Gen3Tech business platform (in the sustainable beef and other
livestock segments), while (v) continuing to pursue business opportunities related to large retrofit projects (such as the Kreider poultry
project JV described below) and vi) ongoing R&D activities.
F- 11
HISTORY, BACKGROUND AND CURRENT ACTIVITIES
Since the Company’s inception, Bion has
designed and developed advanced waste treatment systems for livestock. The first and second generations of Bion’s technology platform
were biological systems, primarily focused on nutrient control. Over 30 of these systems were deployed at New York dairies, Florida food
processing facilities and dairies, North Carolina hog farms, a Texas dairy and a Pennsylvania dairy (“Kreider 1 Project”).
The systems were highly effective at their intended purpose: capturing nitrogen and phosphorus. They produced BionSoil as a byproduct,
which was a remarkably effective soil amendment/ fertilizer product, but whose value was not enough to support a viable business model.
As such, these early technology iterations were entirely dependent on either implementation of new regulations requiring waste treatment,
or subsidy/ incentive programs that would provide ‘payment for ecosystem services’. By the mid-2010’s, it became apparent
that neither of these options were imminent or even assured, so the Company initiated the steps to reimagine and redesign its technology.
From 2016 to 2021 fiscal years, the Company focused
most of its activities and resources on developing, testing and demonstrating the third generation of its technology and technology platform
(“Gen3Tech”) that was developed with an emphasis producing more valuable co-products from the waste treatment process, including
renewable natural gas and ammonium bicarbonate, a low-carbon, organic ’pure’ nitrogen fertilizer product, while raising sustainable
livestock.
The $175 billion U.S. livestock industry is under
intense scrutiny for its environmental and public health impacts – its ‘environmental sustainability’-- at the same
time it is struggling with declining revenues and margins (derived in part from clinging to its historic practices and resulting limitations
and impacts) which threaten its ‘economic sustainability’. Its failure to adequately respond to consumer concerns including
food safety, environmental impacts, and inhumane treatment of animals have provided impetus for plant-based alternatives such as Beyond
Meat and Impossible Burger (and many others) being marketed as “sustainable” alternatives for this growing consumer segment
of the market (despite the lack of verifiably sustainable attributes).
The Company believes that its Gen3Tech, in addition
to providing superior environmental remediation, creates opportunities for large scale production of i) verifiably sustainable-branded
conventional livestock products and ii) verifiably sustainable organic-branded livestock products, both of which will command premium
pricing (in part due to ongoing monitoring and third-party verification of environmental performance which will provide meaningful assurances
to both consumers and regulatory agencies). Each of these two distinct market segments (which the Company intends to pursue in parallel)
presents a production/marketing opportunity for Bion (but the former is far larger). Our Gen3Tech will also produce (as co-products) biogas,
solar photovoltaic electricity in appropriate locations, and valuable low carbon/organic fertilizer products, which can be utilized in
the production of organic grains for use as feed for raising organic livestock (some of which may be utilized in the Company’s JV
projects) and/or marketed to the growing organic fertilizer market.
During 2022-23, the Company entered into 3 LOIs setting
forth the parties’ intention to negotiate joint venture agreement (“JVA”) and enter into joint ventures (“JV”)
to develop and operate 15,000 head integrated, sustainable beef facilities (with future expansion under consideration) including:
a)
innovative cattle barns (with slatted floors to facilitate movement of manure to the anaerobic digester and potentially solar PV generation on the rooftops which barns will improve the living conditions of the animals while increasing feeding/weight gain efficiency,
b)
‘customized’ anaerobic digestion systems (including pretreatment to increase renewable natural gas (‘RNG’) production and an RNG cleaning system (which will include capture/recycling of the CO2) to allow pipeline sales and monetization of related environmental credits,
c)
a Bion Gen3Tech module (which will utilize the recycled CO2 to increase ammonia nitrogen/ammonium bicarbonate recovery) for the production of ammonia nitrogen fertilizer for use in organic and/or ‘ClimateSmart’ low carbon crop production (plus residual organic solids and clean water),
d)
which will produce verifiably sustainable beef products with USDA certified branding.
F- 12
The opportunity presented by the LOIs to
commercialize the Company’s Gen3Tech and business model matured more quickly than anticipated (reflecting strong industry and public
momentum in favor of verifiably sustainable food ventures). As a result, we have shifted our plans to focus resources and make our initial
15,000 head operation a reality as soon as possible.
To place the LOI Projects in the context of Company’s
business plan (and our prior public disclosure), if the contemplated ventures moves forward on the timelines currently contemplated, active
development of the the initial LOI Project will commence during 2024.
Prior to such activity, the Company has constructed
and commenced operate of the initial phase of our previously discussed Gen3Tech demonstration project near Fair Oaks, Indiana (“Initial
Project”): i) to validate our existing data and modeling at commercial scale and ii) to optimize the Bion Gen3Tech module for finalization
of design parameters and fabrication details of our planned 15,000 head commercial facilities (including the LOIProjects). For the purposes
of this initial phase, the Company, in order to accelerate the data acquisition phase, is utilizing anaerobic digester effluent from the
nearby/contiguous Fair Oaks dairy. Thereafter, the Company will evaluate what, if any, additional facilities and testing will take place
at that location.
The Initial Project is not being developed at economic
commercial scale or with an expectation of profitability due to its limited scale. However, successful installation, commissioning, and
operations will demonstrate scalability, determine operating parameters at scale, and provide ongoing production and engineering capabilities,
all being critical steps that must be accomplished before developing large projects with JV partners.
During late September 2021, Bion entered into a lease
for the development site of the Initial Project, our initial commercial scale Gen3Tech project, which Initial Project will be located
on approximately four (4) acres of leased land near Fair Oaks, Indiana, and a related agreement regarding disposal of certain manure effluent
with the Curtis Creek Dairy unit of Fair Oaks Farms (“FOF”). Design and pre-development work commenced during August 2021
and preliminary surveying, site engineering and other work is now underway along with site-specific engineering and design work. The Initial
Project was initially planned to be an environmentally sustainable beef cattle feeding facility, equipped with state-of-the-art housing
and Bion’s 3G-Tech platform to provide waste treatment and resource recovery. Bion has designed the project to house and feed approximately
300 head of beef cattle. If all phases of the Initial Project are constructed, the facility will include Bion’s Gen3Tech platform
including: i) covered barns (possibly including roof top solar photovoltaic generation), ii) anaerobic digestion for renewable energy
recovery, iii) livestock waste treatment and resource recovery technology, iv) Bion’s ammonium bicarbonate recovery and crystallization
technology and iv) data collection software to document system efficiencies and environmental benefits (with the Bion Gen3Tech facilities
capable of treating the waste from approximately 1,500 head). The facility is large enough to demonstrate engineering capabilities of
Bion’s Gen3Tech at commercial scale, but small enough that it can be constructed and commissioned relatively quickly. Originally,
construction and onsite assembly operations were targeted to commence sometime late in 2022, however, supply chain backlogs (many pandemic-associated)
delayed delivery dates for core modules of the Bion system to the site until during January 2023. Construction has been substantially
completed related to Phase 1 of the Initial Project, shakedown operations undertaken and the operation is now focused on optimization
of operation parameters. See Note 3 “Property and Equipment” and Note 12 “Subsequent Events” (for activities since
the start of the first quarter of the 2024 fiscal year).
The Initial Project is not being developed at economic
commercial scale or with an expectation of profitability due to its limited scale. However, successful installation, commissioning, and
operations will demonstrate scalability, determine operating parameters at scale, and provide ongoing production and engineering capabilities,
all being critical steps that must be accomplished before developing large projects with JV partners.
F- 13
Specifically, the Initial Project was designed/developed
to provide and/or accomplish the following:
i.
Proof of Gen3Tech platform scalability
-
Document system efficiency and environmental benefits and enable final engineering modifications to optimize each unit process within the Bion Gen3Technology platform.
-
Environmental benefits will include (without limitation) renewable energy production (natural gas recovery from AD and solar electric from integrated roof top photovoltaic generation); nutrient recovery and conversion to stable organic fertilizer; pathogen destruction; water recovery and reuse; air emission reductions.
ii.
Use Bion’s data collection system to support 3 rd party verified system efficiency requirement to qualify for USDA Process-Verified-Program (PVP): certification of sustainable branded beef (and potentially pork) product metrics.
iii.
Produce sufficient ammonium bicarbonate nitrogen fertilizer (“AD Nitrogen”) in liquid and solid forms for commercial testing by potential joint venture partners and/or purchasers, for university growth trials and to provide samples (and related documentation) to support applications for organic and/or ‘ClimateSmart’ certifications.
iv.
Produce sustainable beef products for initial test marketing efforts.
On January 28, 2022 Bion
Environmental Technologies, Inc. (‘Bion’), on behalf of Bion 3G1 LLC (‘3G1’), a wholly-owned subsidiary, entered
into a Purchase Order Agreement with Buflovak and Hebeler Process Solutions (collectively ‘Buflovak’) in the amount of $ 2,665,500
(and made the initial 25 % payment ($ 666,375 ) for the core of the ‘Bion System’ portion (without the crystallization
modules which will be ordered and fabricated pursuant to subsequent agreements) of the previously announced 3G Tech Initial Project. This
Purchase Order encompasses the core of Bion’s 3G Technology. Subsequent agreements were executed with engineering firms, contractors
and other entities related to the construction of the Initial Project. The Company received progress billing in March 2022 and June 2022
for the second and third 25 % installments, both of which have been paid as of the filing date. On January 17, 2023 the Company received
an invoice from Buflovak for $ 533,100 which was paid on March 1, 2023 and on April 24,203 for $ 83,275 which was paid on May 2, 2023 bringing
the aggregate payments to $ 2,615,500 as of the date of this filing. There remaining $ 50,000 open on the Purchase Order has been billed
on July 26,2023. In addition to the Purchase Order, the Company has incurred additional costs of $ 4,182,260 on the Initial Project for
capitalized interest and costs, non-cash compensation and consulting fees. $ 3,962,207 has been paid and $ 220,053 has been billed and not
yet been paid.
The Initial Project will be carried out in stages
with phase one focused largely on portions of items i. and iii. set forth above.
Upon completing the primary goals of phase 1 of the
Initial Project (coupled with obtaining organic certifications(s) for our liquid and/or solid ammonium bicarbonate fertilizer product
lines), Bion expects to be ready to move forward with its plans for development of much larger facilities including the LOI Projects,
including final design of its Gen3Tech modules. The Company anticipates that discussions and negotiations it has begun (together with
additional opportunities that will be generated over the next 12-24 months) regarding potential JVs with strategic partners in the financial,
livestock and food distribution industries to develop large scale projects will continue during the optimization operations of the Initial
Project with a 2024 goal of establishing multiple JV’s for large scale projects that will produce sustainable and/or sustainable-organic
corn-fed beef. These products will be supported by a USDA PVP-certified sustainable brand that will, initially, highlight reductions in
carbon and nutrient footprint, as well as pathogen reductions associated with foodborne illness and antibiotic resistance, along with
the organic designation where appropriate. Bion has successfully navigated the USDA PVP application process previously, having received
conditional approval of its 2G Tech platform (pending resubmission and final site audits), and is confident it will be successful in qualifying
its Gen3Tech platform.
After the basic technology start-up milestones of
the Initial Project (primarily optimization and steady-state operations of the core modules of our Gen3Tech platform) have been met, the
Company will determine whether to complete the entire Initial Project as originally designed at that location or the relocate the core
modules to an alternative permanent location. The Company has engaged in discussion with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to jointly
develop an integrated beef facility based on Bion’s Gen3Tech and business model at its Klosterman Feedyard Innovation Center (“KFIC”)
(or other mutually agreed upon location) which facility would include innovative barns, an anaerobic digester and a Bion Gen3Tech system
to conduct ongoing research and development related thereto and the KFIC is a possible site for the long-term re-location of the core
modules. This venture, if it moves forward, is anticipated to include joint preparation of applications for grants and other funding from
the USDA (‘climate smart’ program, rural development, etc.) and other sources. The Company will also evaluate re-locating
the core module of the Initial Project to Dalhart, Texas, where it might be integrated into the first phases of the Dalhart Project and/or
other locations.
F- 14
The Company’s initial ammonium bicarbonate liquid
product completed its Organic Materials Review Institute (“OMRI”) application and review process with approval during May
2020. Applications for our first solid ammonium bicarbonate product line have been filed with OMRI, the California Department of Food
& Agriculture (“CDFA”) and the Iowa Organic Program (“IOP”) and are in the review processes (which is likely
to require an extended period of time and multiple procedural steps, in part due to the novel nature of our Gen3Tech in the context of
organic certifications). See “ Fertilizer– Organic and ‘ClimateSmart’ ” below.
Additionally, the Company believes there will also
be opportunities to proceed with selected ‘retrofit projects’ of existing facilities (see ‘ Gen3Tech Kreider 2
Poultry Project’ below as an example) in the swine, dairy and poultry industries utilizing our Gen3Tech.
Bion believes that substantial unmet demand currently
exists– potentially very large – for ‘real’ meat/dairy/egg products that offer the verifiable/believable sustainability
consumers seek, but with the taste and texture they have come to expect from American beef and pork, dairy and poultry. Numerous studies
demonstrate the U.S. consumers’ preferences for sustainability. For example, 2019 NYU Stern’s Center for Sustainable Business
study found that ‘products marketed as sustainable grew 5.6 times faster than those that were not…’ and that ‘…in
more than 90 percent of consumer-packaged-goods (CPG) categories, sustainability-marketed products grew faster than their conventional
counterparts.’ Sales growth of plant-based alternatives, including both dairy and more recently ground meat (Beyond Meat, Impossible
Foods, etc.) have shown that a large, but apparently limited, segment of consumers is choosing seemingly sustainable offering, and are
also willing to pay a premium for it. Tyson Foods, in the context of launching its Brazen beef initiative, recently said, “consumers
would be willing to pay at least 24 percent more for environmentally friendly, sustainable options at retail.” Numerous studies
also support the consumers’ ‘willingness-to-pay’ (WTP) for sustainable choices, including a recent meta-analysis of
80 worldwide studies with results that calculate the overall WTP premium for sustainability is 29.5 percent on average.
As one of the largest contributors to some of the
greatest air and water quality problems in America, it is clear that livestock waste cleanup, at scale, represents one of the greatest
opportunities we have to reduce negative environmental impacts of the food supply chain on air and water quality. Bion’s Gen3Tech
platform, along with its business model, will enable the cleanup of one of the ‘dirtiest’ parts of the food supply chain:
animal protein production and creates the opportunity to produce and market verifiably sustainable organic and conventional ‘real
meat’ products that can participate in the growth and premium pricing that appears to be readily available for the ‘right’
products.
Bion believes that at least a premium segment of the
U.S. beef industry (and potentially other livestock industry groups) is at the doorstep of a transformative opportunity to address the
growing demand for sustainable food product offerings, while pushing back against today’s anti-meat messaging. At $66 billion/year
(2021 wholesale/farmgate value), the beef industry is a fragmented, commodity industry whose practices date back decades. In 1935 inflation-adjusted
terms, beef was 63% more expensive in 2021, while pork and chicken, which are now primarily raised in covered barns at CAFOs with highly
integrated supply chains, were 12% and 62% cheaper, respectively. In recent years, the beef industry has come under increasing fire
from advocacy groups, regulatory agencies, institutional investors, and ultimately, their own consumers, over concerns that include climate
change, water pollution, food safety, and the treatment of animals and workers.
Advocacy groups targeting livestock and the beef industry
have recently been joined by competitors that produce animal protein alternatives in seeking to exploit the industry’s environmental
and economic weaknesses. Their global anti-meat messaging has had a substantial chilling effect on the relationships the beef industry
has with its institutional investors; retail distributors, such as fast-food restaurants; and mostly, its consumers. Led by the United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, a coordinated anti-meat messaging campaign has targeted consumers worldwide, primarily focused
on the industry’s impacts on climate change. A 2018 NielsenIQ Homescan survey last year found that 39% of Americans are actively
trying to eat more plant-based foods. Some of the recent growth in plant-based proteins results from increasing lactose intolerance and
other health concerns; however, most of that growth is attributed to consumers’ growing concerns for the environmental impacts of
real meat and dairy. Several large US companies that have traditionally focused on livestock production, including Cargill, ADM, Perdue
Foods, and Tyson, have also recently entered the plant protein space. While meat alternatives, especially plant-based protein producers
like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, have been heavily promoted (by themselves and the media) and enjoyed remarkable initial sales growth,
recently, sales have flattened and/or declined over the past 18 months. It should be noted that these plant-based protein producers are
primarily expected to be able to serve the ground/ processed meat market, which represents only about 10 percent of the overall animal
protein market. Further, there has recently been pushback to these plant-based products, focusing on their highly processed nature and
unproven health benefits, scalability/ pricing, and their uncertain carbon footprint---and market growth rates have substantially slowed
and may have already plateaued and/or peaked. There have also been several companies recently enter the cellular and 3D-printed meat arena.
While facing myriad challenges and further out on the development timeline, some people believe cellular agriculture (aka cultured, clean,
lab-grown, cultivated) meat may have the potential to service a much larger percentage of the market than plant-based protein, including
cuts like steaks, chops and roasts, but the likely cost remains very uncertain at this point.
In terms of changing customer preferences, ‘saving
the planet’ has proven to be a more compelling argument than the traditional animal activism/ welfare pitch. To date, the primary
beef ‘industry response’ to this has been grass-fed beef, which is regarded as a generally more sustainable offering than
grain-fed (largely without empirical evidence). However grass-fed beef has had only limited acceptance in U.S. markets, because it is
less flavorful and tougher than the traditional corn-fed beef consumers have grown to enjoy. Sustainability initiatives have been launched
by large US livestock producers (including Tyson’s very recent ‘Brazen’ program), but it is not yet possible to determine
the extent the attributes of such products will be substantive and verifiable rather than completely ‘modeled’ and largely
public relations ‘greenwashing’.
Each of these items supports Bion’s belief that
there is a potentially very large opportunity to supply premium sustainable beef products that satisfy consumer concerns. We believe that
the real meat/beef products that can be cost-effectively produced today using our Gen3Tech platform, both sustainable and/or organic,
can provide an affordable product that satisfies the consumer’s desire for sustainability, but with the superior taste and texture
those consumers have grown to prefer.
F- 15
Sustainable Beef
Bion’s goal is to be one of the ‘first
to market’ with meaningfully verified sustainable beef products that can be produced at sufficient scale to service national market
demand. The cattle produced at Bion facilities will have a substantially lower carbon footprint, dramatically reduced nutrient impacts
to water, and an almost total pathogen kill in the waste stream. Further, the economics of producing these cattle (including the cost
of the facility/technology upgrade) will be greatly enhanced by the revenue realized from the recovery of valuable resources, including
renewable energy, high-value fertilizer products, and clean water.
A Bion sustainable beef facility will be comprised
of covered barns with slotted floors (allowing the waste to pass through) which will reduce ammonia and greenhouse gas volatilization
and loss, as well as odors, thereby improving animal health and human working conditions while preventing air/soil pollution. The manure
will be collected and moved directly to anaerobic digestion facilities which will produce renewable natural gas (and re-cycle CO2 from
the gas cleaning process). Covered barns will reduce weather impacts on the livestock and have been demonstrated to promote improved general
health and weight gain in the cattle housed in them. The barns’ very large roof surface area will be utilized (in geographical locations
with adequate sunshine and appropriate ‘tariffs’) for the installation of photovoltaic solar generation systems to produce
electricity for the facility, as well as export to the grid. The barn roofs will also be configured to capture rainwater, which, coupled
with the water recovered from the treatment process, will reduce the projects’ reliance on current water supplies.
Waste treatment and resource recovery will be provided
by Bion’s advanced Gen3Tech platform, which Bion believes offers the most comprehensive solution for livestock waste available today.
In addition to direct environmental benefits, every pound of nitrogen that is captured, upcycled, and returned to the agricultural nitrogen
cycle as high-quality fertilizer (vs lost to contaminate downstream waters), is also a pound of nitrogen that will not have to be produced
as synthetic urea or anhydrous ammonia, with their tremendous carbon cost. System performance and environmental benefits will be monitored
and verified through third parties, with USDA PVP certification of the sustainable brand that Bion also believes will be the most comprehensive
available in the market.
Recently there have been efforts to establish sustainable
brands (including USDA PVP certification) for a number of small-scale livestock producers (largely in the grass-fed beef category). To
date, the reach and extent of such efforts is limited and it is difficult to determine their effectiveness. Additionally, there have
been public announcements of initiatives related to beef sustainability (largely focused on the ‘cow-calf’ segment of the
livestock chain) in procurement by major beef processing companies (including Tyson’s very recent ‘Brazen’ program),
but a closer look finds that many have consisted largely of ‘green washing’ public proclamations in the wake of environmental
and social criticism that re-package prior initiatives and lack any significant new substance.
Sustainable Organic Beef
Bion also believes it may also have a unique opportunity
to produce, at scale, affordable corn-fed organic beef that is also certified as sustainable. In addition to the sustainable practices
described above, organic-sourced beef cows would be finished on organic corn, which would be produced using the ammonium bicarbonate fertilizer
captured by the Gen3Tech platform. Bion believes its meat products will meet consumer demands with respect to sustainability and safety
(organic) and provide the tenderness and taste American consumers have come to expect from premium conventional American beef. Such products
are largely unavailable in the market today. We believe Bion’s unique ability to produce the fertilizer needed to grow a supply
of relatively low-cost organic corn, and the resulting opportunity to produce organic beef, will dramatically differentiate us from potential
competitors. This organic opportunity is dependent on successfully establishing Bion’s fertilizer products as acceptable for use
in organic grain production.
F- 16
Today, organic beef demand is limited and mostly supplied
with grass-fed cattle. While organic ground/ chopped meat has enjoyed success in U.S. markets, grass-fed steaks have seen limited acceptance,
mostly resulting from consumer issues with taste and texture. In other words, it’s tough. Regardless, such steaks sell for a significant
premium over conventional beef. A grain-finished organic beef product is largely unavailable in the marketplace today due to the higher
costs of producing organic corn and grain. The exception is offerings that are very expensive from small ‘boutique’ beef producers.
Like all plants, corn requires nitrogen to grow. Corn is especially sensitive to a late-season application of readily available nitrogen
– the key to maximizing yields. With non-organic field corn, this nitrogen is supplied by an application of a low-cost synthetic
fertilizer, such as urea or anhydrous ammonia. However, the cost for suitable nitrogen fertilizer that can be applied late-season in organic
corn production is so high that the late-season application becomes uneconomical, resulting in substantially lower yields – a widely
recognized phenomena known as the ‘yield gap’ in organic production. The yield gap results in higher costs for organic corn
that, in turn, make it uneconomical to feed that corn to livestock. As is the case for sustainable but not organic beef, Bion believes
there is a potentially large unmet demand for affordable beef products that are both sustainable AND organic, but with the taste and texture
consumers have come to expect from American beef. Bion’s ability to produce the low-cost nitrogen fertilizer that can close the
organic yield (and affordability) gap puts the Company in a unique, if not exclusive at this time, position to participate in JV’s
that will benefit from this opportunity starting next year.
The demonstrated willingness of consumers to purchase
sustainable products (along with numerous research and marketing studies confirming consumers are seeking, and are willing to pay a premium
for, sustainable products)---in combination with the threat to the livestock industry market (primarily beef and pork) posed by plant-based
alternatives (heightened by pandemic conditions)--- has succeeded in focusing the large scale livestock industry on how to meet the plant-based
market challenge by addressing the consumer sustainability issues. The consumer demand for sustainability appears to be a real and lasting
trend, but consumers remain skeptical of generalized claims of ‘sustainability’. To date, a large portion of the industry
responses to this trend have been at a superficial level or consist of ‘green washing’, a deceptive marketing practice where
companies promote non-substantive initiatives. Real sustainability for the livestock industry will require implementation of advanced
waste treatment technology at or near the CAFOs – where most of the negative environmental impacts take place.
Fertilizer: Organic and ‘Climate Smart’
The Company has focused a large portion of its activities
on developing, testing and demonstrating the 3rd generation of its technology and technology platform (“Gen3Tech”) with emphasis
on increasing the efficiency of production of valuable co-products from the waste treatment process, including ammonia nitrogen in the
form of low carbon and/or organically certified soluble nitrogen fertilizer products. The Company’s low concentration ammonium bicarbonate
liquid product successfully completed its Organic Materials Review Institute (“OMRI”) application and review process with
listing approval during May 2020. During the next 3-4 months the Company intends to file applications with OMRI and the California Department
of Food & Agriculture (“CDFA”) for a line of higher concentration liquid ammonium nitrogen products ( ranging from 6%
up to 16% (or higher)) based on production of liquid samples during operation of the Initial Project over the next 2 months. The Company
anticipates applying for and obtaining one or more listings/certifications for higher concentration products in our liquid ammonium nitrogen
fertilizer line well prior to operational dates for the Company’s initial large scale JV Gen3Tech Sustainable Beef Projects.
Additionally, the Company intends to explore the market
potential for its fertilizer (in liquid and/or solid forms) to be a verifiably ‘ClimateSmart’ product (potentially a much
larger market than the organic market) with focus on higher value specialty crops. This will require working with industry and academic
entities to develop appropriate metrics and producing a ‘life cycle assessment’ (LCA) for Bion’s ammonium nitrogen fertilizer
product which can be compared to conventional nitrogen fertilizer products. Bion’s processes will capture and utilize CO2 in the
waste stream (including CO2 produced with the renewable natural gas (RNG) by anaerobic digestion that is usually vented to the atmosphere)
as stabilizing agent thereby potentially creating carbon offsets compared to natural gas utilized as feedstock in chemical ammonia production
which reduction will be reflected in the LCA. This LCA will assess environmental impacts associated with fertilizer production in support
of the beef cattle supply chain for both the existing conventional approach (primarily fossil fuel-based Haber-Bosch production methods)
and the largely decarbonized Bion production approach. We believe a series of coincident yet significant LCA benefits accrue from Bion’s
patented fertilizer production approach including the reduced loss of ammonia to the environment via air (volatilized) and water (nitrate
in groundwater) pathways, recycled/reused water, elimination of pathogens, the production of renewable natural gas, the production solar
energy from photovoltaic panels on barn roofs, enhanced animal welfare practices and reduced animal husbandry risks from extreme weather
events. Bion believes that current evaluations of the carbon impact from feedlot operations materially underestimate the negative impacts
because existing models do not properly include significant ‘downstream’ carbon impacts of required energy intensive waste
water treatment for re-deposited ammonia nitrogen. If the Company determines there is a significant ‘ClimateSmart’ opportunity
for our fertilizer products, such an LCA can be completed (based in part on data from the Initial Project) and support marketing efforts
well prior to operational dates for the Company’s initial large scale JV Gen3Tech projects.
F- 17
Ammonium bicarbonate, manufactured using thermal and
mechanical processes, has a long history of use as a fertilizer. In addition to liquid ammonium nitrogen fertilizer, Bion’s Gen3Tech
is capable of recovering nitrogen in the form of solid ammonium bicarbonate products containing up to 18%-22% (or higher) nitrogen in
a crystalline form that is easily transported (while producing liquids with various percentages of ammonium bicarbonate nitrogen during
interim stages of the process). This solid product is water soluble and provides a readily available nitrogen source for crops. It will
contain virtually none of the other salt, iron and mineral constituents of the livestock waste stream that often accompany other organic
fertilizers. This product is being developed to fertilizer industry standards so that it that can be precision-applied to crops using
existing equipment. Bion believes that this product will potentially have broad applications in the production of organic and/or ClimateSmart
grains for livestock feed, row crops, horticulture, greenhouse and hydroponic production, and potentially retail lawn and garden products.
The ammonium bicarbonate products (liquid and solid)
produced by Bion’s Gen3Tech platform will enjoy a dramatically lower carbon footprint than synthetic nitrogen fertilizers. Much
of the reactive nitrogen captured and upcycled into our fertilizer products was going to be lost through volatilization and runoff, and
that loss would generally need to be offset with a synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, such as anhydrous ammonia or urea. These synthetic nitrogen
products are produced through the Haber-Bosch (and other) synthetic processes, which converts hydrogen and atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia,
with methane from fossil fuels as the energy source. It is an extremely energy-intensive process with a carbon footprint that, while not
yet fully understood, is widely accepted to by very large. While a complete Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of carbon impacts from synthetic
fertilizer production is not yet available, according to the Institute for Industrial Productivity, its production alone is responsible
for approximately 1 percent of total global CO2 emissions. To the extent that Bion can capture and repurpose the nitrogen traditionally
lost from livestock waste, that carbon cost will no longer need to be paid by the environment/climate.
Applications for our first solid form of concentrated
ammonia, soluble nitrogen fertilizer product line were filed with OMRI (filed during May 2021) and CDFA (filed during May 2022) without
success to date. After an extended review processes (which was largely opaque), the OMRI application proceeded through multiple stages
without receiving a positive result. We have initiated an informal dialogue with CDFA regarding the basis for and re-consideration of
its initial determination and anticipate submitting additional supporting materials to CDFA during the next 30 days. The Company’s
solid product line is novel (in the context of organic certification) in part due to the fact that no formal listing category currently
in the organic space for a solid form of concentrated ammonia, soluble nitrogen fertilizers and there is no clear guidance at present
from internal policy manuals on how to categorize this product and the process that produces it. There is also no clear guidance at present
from either the NOP or the National Organic Standards Board (“NOSB”) (which is currently involved in a related review and
recommendations process regarding ‘high nitrogen liquid fertilizers’ derived from ammonia from manure). The Company and its
representatives, along with a number of other organic fertilizer stakeholders, are involved in discussions regarding resolution of these
matters at all three levels. The Company intends to continue efforts to obtain listing/certification for its solid nitrogen fertilizer
line over the course of this fiscal year.
F- 18
Gen3Tech Kreider 2 Poultry Project
Bion
has done extensive pre-development work related to a waste treatment/renewable energy production facility to treat the waste from KF’s
approximately 6+ million chickens (planned to expand to approximately 9-10 million) (and potentially other poultry operations and/or
other waste streams) (‘Kreider Renewable Energy Facility’ or ‘Kreider 2 Project’). On May 5, 2016, the Company
executed a stand-alone joint venture agreement (“JVA”) with Kreider Farms covering all matters related to development and
operation of Kreider 2 system to treat the waste streams from Kreider’s poultry facilities in Bion PA2 LLC (“PA2”).
Now that development of the Company’s Gen3Tech is being deployed, the Company has commenced discussions with KF regarding updating
and amending the JV agreement and anticipates executing an amended joint venture agreement during 2023. During May 2011 the PADEP certified
a smaller version of the Kreider 2 Project (utilizing our 2 nd generation technology) under the old EPA’s Chesapeake
Bay model. The Company anticipates that if and when new designs are finalized utilizing our Gen3Tech, a larger Kreider 2 Project will
be re-certified for a far larger number of credits (management’s current estimates are between 2-4 million (or more) nutrient reduction
credits for treatment of the waste stream from Kreider’s poultry pursuant to the amended EPA Chesapeake Bay model and agreements
between the EPA and PA). Note that this Project may also be expanded in the future to treat wastes from other local and regional
CAFOs (poultry and/or dairy---including the Kreider Dairy) and/or additional Kreider poultry expansion (some of which may not qualify
for nutrient reduction credits). The Company anticipates if and when PA2 re-commences work on the Kreider 2 Project, it will submit a
new application based on our Gen3Tech. Site specific design and engineering work for this facility have not commenced, and the Company
does not yet have financing in place for the Kreider 2 Project. This opportunity is being pursued through PA2. If there are positive
developments related to the market for nutrient reductions in Pennsylvania, of which there is no assurance, the Company intends to pursue
development, design and construction of the Kreider 2 Project with a goal of achieving operational status for its initial modules during
the following calendar year. The economics (potential revenues and profitability) of the Kreider 2 Project, despite its proposed use
of Bion’s Gen3Tech for increased recovery of marketable by-products and sustainable branding, are based in material part the long-term
sale of nutrient (nitrogen and/or phosphorus) reduction credits to meet the requirements of the Chesapeake Bay environmental clean-up.
However, liquidity in the Pennsylvania nutrient credit market has not yet developed significant breadth and depth, which lack of liquidity
has negatively impacted Bion’s business plans and will most likely delay PA2’s Kreider 2 Project and other proposed projects
in Pennsylvania.
Note that while Bion believes that the Kreider 2 Project
and/or subsequent Bion Projects in PA and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed will eventually generate revenue from the sale of: a) nutrient
reductions (credits or in other form), b) renewable energy (and related credits), c) sales of fertilizer products, and/or d) potentially,
in time, credits for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, plus e) license fees/premiums related to a ‘sustainable brand’,
the Covid-19 pandemic has delayed legislative efforts needed to commence its development. However, the Company is currently engaged in
dialogue with the regional EPA office and the Chesapeake Bay Program Office regarding the potential of the Company’s Gen3Tech Kreider2
Project (and other potential projects) to enable Pennsylvania to move forward toward meeting its Chesapeake Bay clean-up goals. We believe
that the potential market is very large, but it is not possible to predict the exact timing and/or magnitude of these potential markets
at this time.
Technology Deployment: Bion Gen3Tech
In the absence of firm regulatory mandates, widespread
deployment of waste treatment technology, and the sustainability it enables, is largely dependent upon generating sufficient additional
revenues to offset the capital and operating costs associated with technology adoption. Bion’s Gen3Tech business platform has been
developed to create opportunities for such augmented revenue streams, while providing third party verification of sustainability claims.
The Gen3Tech platform has been designed to maximize the value of co-products produced during the waste treatment/recovery processes, including
pipeline-quality renewable natural gas (biogas) and commercial fertilizer products approved for organic production and/or certified as
‘ClimateSmart’. All processes will be verifiable by third parties (including regulatory authorities and certifying boards)
to comply with environmental regulations and trading programs and meet the requirements for: a) renewable energy and carbon credits, b)
organic certification of the fertilizer coproducts and c) USDA PVP certification of an ‘Environmentally Sustainable’ brand
(see discussion above and below), and d) payment for verified ecosystem services. The Company’s first patent on its Gen3Tech was
issued during 2018. In August 2020, the Company received a Notice of Allowance on its third patent which significantly expands the breadth
and depth of the Company’s Gen3Tech coverage. The Company has additional applications pending and/or planned.
F- 19
Bion’s business model and technology platform
can create the opportunity for joint ventures (in various contractual forms)(“JVs”) between the Company and large livestock/food/fertilizer
industry participants based upon the supplemental cash flow generated by implementation of our Gen3Tech business model, which cash flows
will support the costs of technology implementation (including servicing related debt). We anticipate this will result in substantial
long term value for Bion. In the context of such JVs, we believe that the verifiable sustainable branding opportunities (conventional
and organic) in meat will represent the single largest enhanced revenue contributor provided by Bion to the JVs (and Bion licensees).
The Company believes that the largest portion of its business with be conducted through such JVs, but a material portion may involve licensing
and or other approaches.
In parallel with technology development, Bion has
worked (which work continues) to implement market-driven strategies designed to stimulate private-sector participation in the overall
U.S. nutrient and carbon reduction strategy. These market-driven strategies can generate “payment for ecosystem services”,
in which farmers or landowners are rewarded for managing their land and operations to provide environmental benefits that will generate
additional revenues. Existing renewable energy credits for the production and use of biogas are an example of payment for ecosystem services.
Another such strategy is nutrient trading (or water quality trading), which will potentially create markets (in Pennsylvania and other
states) that will utilize taxpayer funding for the purchase of verified pollution reductions from agriculture (“nutrient credits”)
by the state (or others) through competitively-bid procurement programs. Such credits can then be used as a ‘qualified offset’
by an individual state (or municipality) to meet its federal clean water mandates at significantly lower cost to the taxpayer. Market-driven
strategies, including competitive procurement of verified credits, is supported by U.S. EPA, the Chesapeake Bay Commission, national livestock
interests, and other key stakeholders. Legislation in Pennsylvania to establish the first such state competitive procurement program passed
the Pennsylvania Senate by a bi-partisan majority during March 2019 but has not yet crossed the hurdles required for actual adoption.
The Covid-19 pandemic and related financial/budgetary crises have slowed progress for this and other policy initiatives and, as a result,
it is not currently possible to project the timeline for completion (or meaningful progress) of this and other similar initiatives (see
discussion below).
The livestock industry and its markets are already
changing. With our commercial-ready technology and business model, Bion believes it has a ‘first-mover advantage’ over others
that will seek to exploit the opportunities that will arise from the industry’s inevitable transformation. Bion anticipates moving
forward with the development process of its initial commercial installations utilizing its Gen3Tech, during the current 2024 fiscal year.
We believe that Bion’s Gen3Tech platform and business model can provide a pathway to true economic and environmental sustainability
with ‘win-win’ benefits for at least a premium sector of the livestock industry, the environment, and the consumer, an opportunity
which the Company intends to pursue.
The Livestock Problem
The livestock industry is under tremendous pressure
from regulatory agencies, a wide range of advocacy groups, institutional investors and the industry’s own consumers, to adopt sustainable
practices. Environmental cleanup is inevitable and has already begun — and policies have already begun to change, as well. Bion’s
Gen3Tech was developed for implementation on large scale livestock production facilities, where scale drives both lower treatment costs
and efficient co-products production, as well as dramatic environmental improvements. We believe that scale, coupled with Bion’s
verifiable treatment technology platform, will create a transformational opportunity to integrate clean production practices at (or close
to) the point of production—the primary source of the industry’s environmental impacts. Bion intends to assist the forward-looking
segment of the livestock industry to bring animal protein production in line with 21 st Century consumer demands for meaningful
sustainability.
In the U.S. (according to the USDA’s 2017 agricultural
census) there are over 9 million dairy cows, 90 million beef cattle, 60 million swine and more than 2 billion poultry which provides an
indication of both the scope of the problem addressed by Bion’s technology, as well as the size of Bion’s opportunity. Environmental
impacts from livestock production include surface and groundwater pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, ammonia, and other air pollution,
excess water use, and pathogens related to foodborne illnesses and antibiotic resistance. While the most visible and immediate problems
are related to nutrient runoff and its effects on water quality, the industry has recently been targeted by various stakeholder groups
for its impacts on climate change.
Estimates of total annual U.S. livestock manure waste
vary widely, but start around a billion tons, between 100 and 130 times greater than human waste. However, while human waste is generally
treated by septic or municipal wastewater plants, livestock waste – raw manure – is spread on our nation’s croplands
for its fertilizer value. Large portions of U.S. feed crop production (and most organic crop production) are fertilized, in part, in this
manner. Under current manure management practices, 80% or more of total nitrogen from manure, much of it in the form of ammonia, escapes
during storage, transportation, and during and after soil application, representing both substantial lost value and environmental costs.
More than half of the nitrogen impacts from livestock
waste come from airborne ammonia emissions, which are extremely volatile, reactive and mobile. Airborne ammonia nitrogen eventually settles
back to the ground through atmospheric deposition — it ‘rains’ everywhere. While some of this nitrogen is captured and
used by plants, most of it runs off and enters surface waters or percolates down to groundwater. It is now well-established that most
of the voluntary conservation practices, such as vegetated buffers that ‘filter’ runoff (often referred to as “BMPs”
or “Best Management Practices” that have traditionally been implemented to attempt to mitigate nutrient runoff), are considerably
less effective than was previously believed to be the case. This is especially true with regard to addressing the volatile and mobile
nitrogen from ammonia emissions, because BMPs are primarily focused on surface water runoff, directly from farm fields in current production,
versus the re-deposition that takes place everywhere or groundwater flow.
F- 20
Runoff from livestock waste has been identified in
most of our major watersheds as a primary source of excess nutrients that fuel algae blooms in both fresh and saltwater. Over the last
several years, algae blooms have become increasingly toxic to both humans and animals, such as the Red Tides on the Florida and California
coasts, and the Lake Erie algae bloom that cut off the water supply to Toledo, Ohio, residents in 2014. When the nutrient runoff subsides,
it leaves the algae blooms with no more ‘food’ and the blooms die. The algae’s decomposition takes oxygen from the water,
leading to ‘dead zones’ in local ponds, lakes, and ultimately, the Great Lakes, as well as the Chesapeake Bay, Gulf of Mexico,
and other estuary waters. Both the toxic algae blooms and the low/no-oxygen dead zones devastate marine life, from shrimp and fish to
higher mammals, including dolphins and manatees. U.S. EPA already considers excess nutrients “one of America’s most widespread,
costly and challenging environmental problems”. Nutrient runoff is expected to worsen dramatically in the coming decades due to
rising temperatures and increasing rainstorm intensity as a result of climate change.
Nitrate-contaminated groundwater is of growing concern
in agricultural regions nationwide, where it has been directly correlated with nutrient runoff from upstream agricultural operations using
raw manure as fertilizer. Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, California and Washington, and others, now have regions where groundwater nitrate levels
exceed EPA standards for safe drinking water. High levels of nitrate can cause blue baby syndrome (methemoglobinemia) in infants and affect
women who are or may become pregnant, and it has been linked to thyroid disease and colon cancer. EPA has set an enforceable standard
called a maximum contaminant level (MCL) in water for nitrates at 10 parts per million (ppm) (10 mg/L) and for nitrites at 1 ppm (1 mg/L).
Federal regulations require expensive pretreatment for community water sources that exceed the MCL; however, private drinking water
wells are not regulated, and it is the owners’ responsibility to test and treat their wells. Additionally, groundwater flows also
transport this volatile nitrogen downstream where, along its way, it intermixes with surface water, further exacerbating the runoff problem.
Like atmospheric deposition, the current conservation practices we rely on to reduce agricultural runoff are largely bypassed by this
subsurface flow.
Additionally, in arid climates, such as California,
airborne ammonia emissions from livestock manure contribute to air pollution as a precursor to PM2.5 formation, small inhalable particulate
matter that is a regulated air pollutant with significant public health risks. Whether airborne or dissolved in water, ammonia can only
be cost-effectively controlled and treated at the source—before it has a chance to escape into the environment where it becomes
extremely expensive to ‘chase’, capture, and treat.
High phosphorus concentrations in soils fertilized
with raw manure are another growing problem. The ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus in livestock waste is fixed, and because manure application
rates are calculated based on nitrogen requirements, often phosphorus is overapplied as an unintended consequence. Phosphorus accumulation
in agricultural soils reduces its productivity, increases the risk of phosphorus runoff, and represents a waste of a finite resource.
Decoupling the nitrogen from the phosphorus would allow them to be precision-applied, independently of each other, when and where needed.
The livestock industry has recently come under heavy
fire for its impacts on climate change, which has become a rallying cry for the anti-meat campaign discussed above. Estimates of the magnitude
of those impacts vary widely, but the general consensus is that globally, livestock account for 14.5 percent of greenhouse emissions.
In the U.S. however, that number drops to 4.2 percent, due to the increased efficiencies of American beef production. The greatest impacts
come from direct emissions of methane from enteric fermentation (belches), methane and nitrous oxide emissions from the manure, with arguably
the largest being the massive carbon footprint of the synthetic nitrogen fertilizers used to grow the grains to feed the livestock.
For decades the livestock industry has overlooked
and/or socialized its environmental problems and costs. Today, the impacts of livestock production on public health and the environment
can no longer be ignored and are coming under increasing scrutiny from environmental groups and health organizations, regulatory agencies
and the courts, the media, consumers, and activist institutional investors. The result has been a significant and alarming loss of market
share to plant-based protein and other alternative products. Bion’s Gen3Tech platform was designed to resolve these environmental
issues and bring the industry in line with twenty-first century consumer expectations.
F- 21
Going concern and management’s plans:
The Company’s audited financial statements
have been prepared assuming the Company will continue as a going concern. The Company has not generated significant revenues and
generated/incurred a net income of $ 8,292,000
for the year ended June 30, 2022 and a net loss of approximately $ 3,189,000
during the year ended June 30, 2023. The net income for the year ended June 30, 2022 was largely due to a one-time, non-cash event
of the dissolution of PA-1 resulting in a gain of approximately $ 10,235,000
as well as a one-time gain of $ 902,000
from the sale of the Company’s ‘biontech.com’ domain pursuant to a purchase agreement during the period. At June
30, 2023, the Company has a working deficit and a stockholders’ equity of approximately $ 968,000
and $4,194,000, respectively. During the year ended June 30, 2023 the Company had debt modifications that resulted in a reduction of
debt of $ 3,522,000
and an increase in equity in the same amount. These factors raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a
going concern. The accompanying consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability or
classification of assets or the amounts and classification of liabilities that may result should the Company be unable to continue
as a going concern. The following paragraphs describe management’s plans with regard to these conditions.
The Company continues to explore sources of additional financing (including
potential agreements with strategic partners – both financial and ag-industry) to satisfy its current and future operating and capital
expenditure requirements as it is not currently generating any significant revenues.
During the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, the Company received
gross proceeds of approximately $ 4,038,000 and $ 1,737,000 , respectively, from the sale of its debt and equity securities. The company
paid commissions on the exercise of warrants in the amount of $ 86,000 and $ 19,000 in 2023 and 2022, respectively.
During fiscal years 2023 and 2022, the Company faced less difficulty
in raising equity funding (but was subject to substantial equity dilution from the larger amounts of equity financing during the periods)
than was experienced in the prior 3 years. However, this positive trend did not continue during the last quarter of the 2023 fiscal year
and first quarter of the current fiscal year (to date). The Company raised only raised very limited equity funds during such periods to
meet its some of its immediate needs, therefore, the Company needs to raise additional funds in the upcoming periods. The Company currently
faces substantial increases in demand for capital and operating expenditures for the fiscal year 2024 to date (and we anticipate such
increased demands will continue during the remainder of the 2024 fiscal year and periods thereafter) as it moves toward commercial implementation
of its 3G Tech and development of JVs (including costs associated with additions of personnel to carry out the business activities of
the Company) and, therefore, is likely to continue to face, significant cash flow management issues due to limited capital resources and
working capital constraints which had only recently begun to be alleviated. As a result, the Company has faced, and continues to face,
significant cash flow management challenges due to material working capital constraints. To partially mitigate these working capital constraints,
the Company's core senior management and some key employees and consultants have been deferring most of their cash compensation and/or
are accepting compensation in the form of securities of the Company (Notes 5 and 7 to Financial Statements) and members of the Company's
senior management have from time to time made loans to the Company and may need to do so in future periods. Note that, to deal with earlier
capital constraints, during the year ended June 30, 2018, senior management and certain core employees and consultants agreed to a one-time
extinguishment of liabilities owed by the Company which in aggregate totaled $ 2,404,000 . Additionally, the Company made reductions in
its personnel during the years ended June 30, 2014 and 2015 and again during the year ended June 30, 2018. As set forth in detail elsewhere
herein, during the year ended June 30, 2023 senior management (and family members) who held convertible obligations of the Company adjusted
the terms of their outstanding notes and agreed to debt modifications that reduced of the Company’s debt by $ 3,522,000 and increased
shareholders equity by the same amount. The constraints on available resources have had, and continue to have, negative effects on the
pace and scope of the Company’s efforts to develop its business. The Company has had to delay payment of trade obligations and has
had to economize in many ways that have potentially negative consequences. If the Company is able to raise needed funds during the remainder
of the current fiscal year (and subsequent periods), of which there is no assurance, management will not need to consider deeper cuts
(including additional personnel cuts) and/or curtailment of ongoing activities including research and development activities.
The Company will need to obtain additional capital to fund its operations
and technology development, to satisfy existing creditors, to develop Projects (including operations at the Initial Project, JV Projects
(including the Dalhart/Olson/DVG Projects), and the Kreider 2 facility) and CAFO Retrofit waste remediation systems. The Company anticipates
that it will seek to raise from $ 20,000,000 to $ 80,000,000 or more debt and/or equity through joint ventures, strategic partnerships and/or
sale of its equity securities (common, preferred and/or hybrid) and/or debt (including convertible) securities, and/or through use of
‘rights’ and/or warrants (new and/or existing) and/or through other means during the next twelve months. However, as discussed
above, there is no assurance, especially in light of the difficulties the Company has experienced in many recent years and the extremely
unsettled capital markets that presently exist for small companies like us, that the Company will be able to obtain the funds that it
needs to stay in business, complete its technology development or to successfully develop its business and Projects.
F- 22
There is no realistic likelihood that funds required during the next
twelve months (or in the periods immediately thereafter) for the Company’s basic operations, the Initial Project and/or proposed
JVs and/or Projects will be generated from operations. Therefore, the Company will need to raise sufficient funds from external sources
such as debt or equity financings or other potential sources. The lack of sufficient additional capital resulting from the inability to
generate cash flow from operations and/or to raise capital from external sources would force the Company to substantially curtail or cease
operations and would, therefore, have a material adverse effect on its business. Further, there can be no assurance that any such required
funds, if available, will be available on attractive terms or that they will not have a significantly dilutive effect on the Company’s
existing shareholders. All of these factors have been exacerbated by the extremely limited and unsettled credit and capital markets presently
existing for small companies like Bion.
Covid-19 pandemic related matters:
The Company faces many risks and uncertainties
and factors beyond our control that have been magnified during the current Covid-19 pandemic and the unique economic, financial, governmental
and health-related conditions in which the Company, the country and the entire world now reside. To date the Company has experienced direct
impacts in various areas including but without limitation: i) government ordered shutdowns which have slowed the Company’s research
and development projects and other initiatives, ii) shifted focus of state and federal governments which is likely to negatively impact
the Company’s legislative initiatives in Pennsylvania and Washington D. C., iii) strains and uncertainties in both the equity and
debt markets which have made discussion and planning of funding of the Company and its initiatives and projects with investment bankers,
banks and potential strategic partners more tenuous, iv) strains and uncertainties in the agricultural sector and markets have made discussion
and planning more difficult as future industry conditions are now more difficult to assess and predict, v) constraints due to problems
experienced in the global industrial supply chain since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, which have delayed certain research and development
testing and have delayed and/or increased the cost of construction of the Company’s initial 3G Tech installation as equipment/services
remain difficult to acquire in a timely manner, vi) due to the age and health of our core management team, many of whom are age 70 or
older and have had one or more existing health issues (including brief periods of Covid-19 infection), the Covid-19 pandemic places the
Company at greater risk than was previously the case (to a higher degree than would be the case if the Company had a larger, deeper and/or
younger core management team), and vii) there almost certainly will be other unanticipated consequences for the Company as a result of
the current pandemic emergency and its aftermath.
2. SIGNIFICANT
ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Principles of consolidation :
The consolidated financial statements include the
accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Bion Integrated Projects Group, Inc., Bion Technologies, Inc., BionSoil, Inc.,
Bion Services, Bion PA2 LLC and Bion 3G-1 LLC (“3G1”); and its 58.9 % owned subsidiary, Centerpoint Corporation (“Centerpoint”).
All significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Bion PA1 LLC was dissolved on December 29, 2021 (See
Note 5). Its operating losses are included in the consolidation through December 29, 2021.
F- 23
Cash and cash equivalents :
The Company considers all highly liquid investments purchased with an original
maturity of three months or less to be cash and cash equivalents. As of June 30, 2023 and June 30, 2022 there are no cash equivalents.
Property and equipment :
Property and equipment are stated at cost and are
depreciated, when placed into service, using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the related assets, generally
three to twenty years. The Company capitalizes all direct costs and all indirect incrementally identifiable costs related to the design
and construction of its Integrated Projects such as consulting fees, internal salaries and benefits and interest. The Company reviews
its property and equipment for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may
not be recoverable. An impairment loss would be recognized based on the amount by which the carrying value of the assets or asset group
exceeds its estimated fair value, and is recognized as a loss from operations.
Patents :
The Company has elected to expense all costs and filing
fees related to obtaining patents (resulting in no related asset being recognized in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets)
because the Company believes such costs and fees are immaterial (in the context of the Company’s total costs/expenses) and have
no direct relationship to the value of the Company’s patents.
Stock-based compensation :
The Company follows the provisions of Accounting Standards
Codification (“ASC”) 718, which generally requires that share-based compensation transactions be accounted and recognized
in the statement of operations based upon their grant date fair values.
Derivative Financial Instruments :
Pursuant to ASC Topic 815 “Derivatives and Hedging”
(“Topic 815”), the Company reviews all financial instruments for the existence of features which may require fair value accounting
and a related mark-to-market adjustment at each reporting period end. Once determined, the Company assesses these instruments as derivative
liabilities. The fair value of these instruments is adjusted to reflect the fair value at each reporting period end, with any increase
or decrease in the fair value being recorded in results of operations as an adjustment to fair value of derivatives.
Options :
The Company has issued options to employees and consultants
under the 2006 Plan to purchase common shares of the Company. Options are valued on the grant date using the Black-Scholes option-pricing
model. The expected volatility is based on the historical price volatility of the Company’s common stock. The dividend yield represents
the Company’s anticipated cash dividend on common stock over the expected term of the stock options. The U.S. Treasury bill rate
for the expected term of the stock options was utilized to determine the risk-free interest rate. The expected term of stock options represents
the period of time the stock options granted are expected to be outstanding based upon management’s estimates.
Warrants :
The Company has issued warrants to purchase common
shares of the Company. Warrants are valued using a fair value based method, whereby the fair value of the warrant is determined at the
warrant issue date using a market-based option valuation model based on factors including an evaluation of the Company’s value as
of the date of the issuance, consideration of the Company’s limited liquid resources and business prospects, the market price of
the Company’s stock in its mostly inactive public market and the historical valuations and purchases of the Company’s warrants.
When warrants are issued in combination with debt or equity securities, the warrants are valued and accounted for based on the relative
fair value of the warrants in relation to the total value assigned to the debt or equity securities and warrants combined.
F- 24
Concentrations of credit risk :
The Company's financial instruments that are exposed
to concentrations of credit risk consist of cash. The Company's cash is in demand deposit accounts placed with federally insured financial
institutions and selected brokerage accounts. Such deposit accounts at times may exceed federally insured limits. The Company has not
experienced any losses on such accounts.
Noncontrolling interests :
In accordance with ASC 810, “Consolidation”,
the Company separately classifies noncontrolling interests within the equity section of the consolidated balance sheets and separately
reports the amounts attributable to controlling and noncontrolling interests in the consolidated statements of operations. In addition,
the noncontrolling interest continues to be attributed its share of losses even if that attribution results in a deficit noncontrolling
interest balance.
Fair value measurements :
Fair value is defined as the price that would be received
to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date in the
principal or most advantageous market. The Company uses a fair value hierarchy that has three levels of inputs, both observable and unobservable,
with use of the lowest possible level of input to determine fair value.
Level 1 – quoted prices (unadjusted) in active
markets for identical assets or liabilities;
Level 2 – observable inputs other than Level
1, quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets, quoted prices for identical or similar assets and liabilities in
markets that are not active, and model-derived prices whose inputs are observable or whose significant value drivers are observable; and
Level 3 – assets and liabilities whose significant
value drivers are unobservable.
Observable inputs are based on market data obtained
from independent sources, while unobservable inputs are based on the Company’s market assumptions. Unobservable inputs require significant
management judgment or estimation. In some cases, the inputs used to measure an asset or liability may fall into different levels of the
fair value hierarchy. In those instances, the fair value measurement is required to be classified using the lowest level of input that
is significant to the fair value measurement. Such determination requires significant management judgment.
The fair value of cash and accounts payable approximates
their carrying amounts due to their short-term maturities. The fair value of the loan payable is indeterminable at this time due to the
nature of the arrangement with a state agency and the fact that it is in default. The fair value of the redeemable preferred stock approximates
its carrying value due to the dividends accrued on the preferred stock which are reflected as part of the redemption value. The fair value
of the deferred compensation and convertible notes payable - affiliates are not practicable to estimate due to the related party nature
of the underlying transactions.
Lease Accounting :
The Company accounts for leases under ASC 842, Leases (“ASC
842”). Accordingly, the Company will determine whether an arrangement contains a lease at the inception of the arrangement. If a
lease is determined to exist, the term of such lease is assessed based on the date on which the underlying asset is made available for
the Company’s use by the lessor. The Company’s assessment of the lease term reflects the non-cancelable term of the lease,
inclusive of any rent-free periods and/or periods covered by early-termination options which the Company is reasonably certain of not
exercising, as well as periods covered by renewal options which the Company is reasonably certain of exercising. The Company also determines
lease classification as either operating or finance at lease commencement, which governs the pattern of expense recognition and the presentation
reflected in the consolidated statements of operations over the lease term.
F- 25
For leases with a term exceeding 12 months,
a lease liability is recorded on the Company’s consolidated balance sheet at lease commencement reflecting the present value of
its fixed minimum payment obligations over the lease term. A corresponding right-of-use (“ROU”) asset equal to the initial
lease liability is also recorded, adjusted for any prepaid rent and/or initial direct costs incurred in connection with execution of the
lease and reduced by any lease incentives received. For purposes of measuring the present value of its fixed payment obligations for a
given lease, the Company uses its incremental borrowing rate, determined based on information available at lease commencement, as rates
implicit in its leasing arrangements are typically not readily determinable. The Company's incremental borrowing rate reflects the rate
it would pay to borrow on a secured basis and incorporates the term and economic environment of the associated lease.
Revenue Recognition :
The Company currently does not generate revenue and
if and when the Company begins to generate revenue the Company will comply with the provisions of ASC 606 “Revenue from Contracts
with Customers”.
Income (Loss) per share :
Basic income (loss) per share amounts are calculated
using the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period. Diluted income (loss) per share assumes the
conversion, exercise or issuance of all potential common stock instruments, such as options or warrants, unless the effect is to reduce
the income (loss) per share or increase the earnings per share. During the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, the basic and diluted income
(loss) per share was the same, as the impact of potential dilutive common shares was anti-dilutive.
The following table represents the warrants and options
(as if exercised) and convertible securities (as if converted) that have been excluded from the calculation of basic income (loss) per
share:
Schedule of anti dilutive securities
June 30,
2023
June 30,
2022
Warrants
22,543,765
20,778,635
Options
12,006,600
11,201,600
Convertible debt
9,922,769
10,686,065
Convertible preferred stock
—
—
The following is a reconciliation of the denominators
of the basic and diluted income (loss) per share computations for the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022:
Schedule of earnings per share, basic and diluted
Year
ended
June 30,
2023
Year
ended
June 30,
2022
Shares issued – beginning of period
43,758,820
41,315,986
Shares held by subsidiaries (Note 7)
( 704,309 )
( 704,309 )
Shares outstanding – beginning of period
43,054,511
40,611,677
Weighted average shares issued
during the period
1,983,968
1,350,625
Diluted weighted average shares –
end of period
45,038,479
41,962,302
Use of estimates :
In preparing the Company’s consolidated financial
statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, management is required to make
estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities
at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results
could differ from those estimates.
F- 26
Recent Accounting Pronouncements :
The Company continually assesses any new accounting
pronouncements to determine their applicability. When it is determined that a new accounting pronouncement affects the Company’s
financial reporting, the Company undertakes a study to determine the consequences of the change to its consolidated financial statements
and assures that there are proper controls in place to ascertain that the Company’s consolidated financial statements properly reflect
the change.
3. PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT :
Property and equipment consist of the following:
Schedule of property and equipment
June 30,
2023
June 30,
2022
Computers and office equipment
15,156
13,598
Initial Project: construction in process
6,847,760
2,892,222
Property and equipment, gross
6,862,916
2,905,820
Less accumulated depreciation
( 11,907 )
( 10,262 )
Property and equipment, net
$ 6,851,009
$ 2,895,558
The 3G1 project (“Initial Project”) began
in July of 2021, with a lease signed on land October 1, 2021 (Note 9). Once the lease commenced the Company moved into construction phase.
The balance for the Initial Project construction in process includes $ 211,984 for capitalized interest and $ 135,648 in non-cash compensation
as of June 30, 2023.
Management has reviewed the remaining property and
equipment for impairment as of June 30, 2023 and believes that no impairment exists.
Depreciation expense was $ 1,645 and $ 1,161 for the
years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
4. DEFERRED
COMPENSATION :
The Company owes deferred compensation to various
employees, former employees and consultants totaling $ 864,781 and $ 594,798 as of June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Included in the
deferred compensation balances as of June 30, 2023, are $ 527,058 and $ 20,167 owed Dominic Bassani (“Bassani”), the Company’s
Chief Operating Officer (who was Chief Executive Officer until through April 30, 2022), and Mark A. Smith (“Smith”), the Company’s
President, respectively, pursuant to extension agreements effective January 1, 2015, whereby unpaid compensation earned after January
1, 2015, accrues interest at 4 % per annum and can be converted into shares of the Company’s common stock at the election of the
employee during the first five calendar days of any month. The conversion price shall be the average closing price of the Company’s
common stock for the last 10 trading days of the immediately preceding month. The deferred compensation owed Bassani and Smith as of June
30, 2022 was $ 437,508 and $ 10,000 , respectively. The Company also owes various consultants and an employee, pursuant to various agreements,
for deferred compensation of $ 105,056 and $ 74,790 as of June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively, with similar conversion terms as those described
above for Bassani and Smith, with the exception that the interest accrues at 0 % to 3 % per annum. The Company also owes a former employee
$ 72,500 , which is not convertible and is non-interest bearing. Bassani and Smith have each been granted the right to convert up to $ 300,000
of deferred compensation balances at a price of $ 0.75 per share until June 30, 2024 into common shares (to be issued pursuant to the 2006
Plan). Smith also has the right to convert all or part of his deferred compensation balance into the Company’s securities (to be
issued pursuant to the 2006 Plan) “at market” and/or on the same terms as the Company is selling or has sold its securities
in its then current (or most recent if there is no current) private placement. Smith also received the right to transfer future deferred
compensation to his 2020 Convertible Obligation at his election but such right is no longer in force.
Bill O’Neill has a balance of $ 140,000 and $ 20,000 at June 30, 2023
and 2022, respectively. There is no interest or conversions on the deferred balance. During the year ended June 30, 2023, Smith elected
to add $ 90,000 of deferred compensation to his 2020 Convertible Note.
The Company recorded interest expense of $ 19,983
($ 17,716 with related parties) and $ 16,390 ($ 15,537 with related parties) for the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
F- 27
5. LOANS PAYABLE :
Pennvest Loan and Bion PA1 LLC (“PA1”)
Dissolution
PA1, the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary,
was dissolved on December 29, 2021 on which date it owed approximately $ 10,010,000 under the terms of the Pennvest Loan related to the
construction of the Kreider 1 System including accrued interest and late charges totaling $ 2,255,802 as of that date. Through the date
of the dissolution, PA1 was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company and its assets and liabilities were included on the Company’s
consolidated balance sheet. At September 30, 2021, PA1’s total assets were $ 297 and its total liabilities were $ 10,154,334 (including
the Pennvest Loan in the aggregate amount of $ 9,939,148 , accounts payable of $ 214,235 and accrued liabilities of $ 950 ) which sums were
included in the Company’s consolidated balance sheet in its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2021. Subsequent to the
dissolution of PA1, its assets and liabilities are no longer consolidated and included in the Company’s balance sheet. As of December
29, 2021, PA1’s total assets were nil and its total liabilities were $ 10,234,501 (including the Pennvest Loan in the aggregate amount
of $ 10,009,802 , accounts payable of $ 212,263 and accrued liabilities of $ 12,436 ). The net amount of $ 10,234,501 was recognized as a gain
on the legal dissolution of a subsidiary in other (income) expense.
As background, the terms of the Pennvest Loan provided
for funding of up to $ 7,754,000 which was to be repaid by interest-only payments for three years, followed by an additional ten-year amortization
of principal. The Pennvest Loan accrued interest at 2.547 % per annum for years 1 through 5 and 3.184 % per annum for years 6 through maturity.
The Pennvest Loan required minimum annual principal payments of approximately $ 5,886,000 in fiscal years 2013 through 2021, and $ 846,000
in fiscal year 2022, $ 873,000 in fiscal year 2023 and $ 149,000 in fiscal year 2024. The Pennvest Loan was collateralized by PA1’s
Kreider 1 System and by a pledge of all revenues generated from Kreider 1 including, but not limited to, revenues generated from nutrient
reduction credit sales and by-product sales. In addition, in consideration for the excess credit risk associated with the project, Pennvest
was entitled to participate in the profits from Kreider 1 calculated on a net cash flow basis, as defined. The Company has incurred interest
expense related to the Pennvest Loan of $ 123,444 and $ 246,887 for the years ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Based on the limited
development of the depth and breadth of the Pennsylvania nutrient reduction credit market, PA1 commenced discussions and negotiations
with Pennvest related to forbearance and/or re-structuring the obligations under the Pennvest Loan during 2013. In the context of such
negotiations, PA1 elected not to make interest payments to Pennvest on the Pennvest Loan since January 2013. Additionally, the PA1 did
not make any principal payments, which were to begin in fiscal 2013, and, therefore, the Company classified the Pennvest Loan as a current
liability through the dissolution of PA1 on December 29, 2021.
During August 2012, the Company provided Pennvest
(and the PADEP) with data demonstrating that the Kreider 1 system met the ‘technology guaranty’ standards which were incorporated
in the Pennvest financing documents and, as a result, the Pennvest Loan has been solely an obligation of PA1 since that date. Note, however,
the Company’s consolidated balance sheet as of June 30, 2021 reflects the Pennvest Loan as a liability of $ 9,868,495 despite the
fact that the obligation (if any) was solely an obligation of PA1 .
On September 25, 2014, the Pennsylvania Infrastructure
Investment Authority (“Pennvest”) exercised its right to declare the PA1’s Pennvest Loan in default, accelerated the
Pennvest Loan and demanded that PA1 pay $ 8,137,117 (principal, interest plus late charges) on or before October 24, 2014. PA1 did not
make the payment and did/does not have the resources to make the payments demanded by Pennvest. PA1 commenced discussions and negotiations
with Pennvest concerning this matter but Pennvest rejected PA1’s proposal made during the fall of 2014. PA1 made a final proposal
to Pennvest during September 2021 which proposal was also rejected by Pennvest. PA1 provided Pennvest with its financial statements (which
include a description of system status) annually. During the 2021 fiscal year, Pennvest’s auditors requested a ‘corrective
action plan’ and PA1 informed Pennvest that “… there is no viable corrective action plan for the Pennvest Loan (‘Loan’).
The facility funded by the Loan has been shut down for many years (which has been disclosed in the annual financial reports to Pennvest
and in public filings by the parent of Bion PA 1, LLC) and the technology utilized in the facility is now obsolete. The facility has not
been commercially operated for approximately six years and has generated zero income. We recommend that Pennvest take appropriate steps
to remove and sell the equipment.” Pennvest responded favorably to the approach of selling the equipment.
F- 28
On December 29, 2021, the Company approved and executed
a ‘Consent of the Sole Member of Bion PA 1’ (the “Consent to Dissolution”) that authorized the complete liquidation
and dissolution of PA1. A Statement of Dissolution was filed by PA1 with the Colorado Secretary of State on December 29, 2021.The liquidation
value of Bion PA 1’s property is substantially below the current amount outstanding under the Funding Agreement dated October 27,
2010 by and between PA1 and Pennvest, the only known secured creditor of PA1. Post-dissolution, PA1’s activities will be limited
entirely to activities required to properly distribute its net assets to creditors and wind down its business.
PA1 and Pennvest agreed to have the equipment sold
by a third party auctioneer who arranged for the sale of its property and delivery of all proceeds (net of commissions and customary costs
of sale) to Pennvest. The auction took place during the period of May 13-18, 2022. The Company’s personnel assisted PA1 with this
process as needed at no cost to PA1. The net sum of $ 104,725 was realized from the asset sale, which sum was delivered to Pennvest
on June 15, 2022. Pursuant to agreement with Pennvest and Kreider Farms, the remaining unsold assets have been transferred to Kreider
Farms in order to complete the winding up of the Kreider 1 project.
Upon the complete distribution of all assets of PA1,
whether by transfer or sale and distribution of net proceeds as provided above, PA1 will use commercially reasonable efforts to cause
the cessation of all activities. No distributions of PA1’s assets will be made to the Company or its affiliates. The Consent to
Dissolution authorized Mark A. Smith, the Company’s President and the sole manager of PA1, to cause to be delivered for filing the
Statement of Dissolution, to give notice of the dissolution, and to take any other act necessary to wind up and liquidate the business.
PA1 has made no payments to vendors or other creditors
in connection with the dissolution other than the payment to Pennvest described above. No distributions or payments of any kind have ever
been made to the Company, the sole member of PA1 since inception and no payment will be made to the Company or any affiliate in connection
with the dissolution.
For more information regarding the history and background
of the Pennvest Loan and PA1, please review our Form’s 10-K for the years from 2008 through 2021 including the Notes to the Financial
Statements included therein.
6. CONVERTIBLE NOTES PAYABLE
- AFFILIATES :
Adjusted 2020 Convertible Obligations and Adjusted
September 2015 Convertible Notes
Effective February 1, 2023, three (3) directors/officers
of the Company agreed to adjust the provisions of long term convertible obligations (including most of the 2020 Convertible Obligations
and September 2015 Convertible Notes --- see below) owed to them by the Company in a manner which reduced the indebtedness of the Company
by 80% (approximately $ 3.47 million,
in aggregate –See Note 7 below, ‘Debt Modification to Additional Paid in Capital’) while equitably maintaining
existing conversion rights. The debt modification was treated as an equity transaction because the modifications were with affiliates
that are related parties.
Mark A. Smith (the Company’s
President)(“Smith”), Dominic Bassani (the Company’s Chief Operating Officer)(“Bassani”) and Ed Schafer
(Director)(“Schafer”), adjusted/reduced the principal owed to them by $ 1,109,649 ,
$ 1,939,670 and
$ 424,873 ,
respectively. Subsequent to the adjustment, the adjusted portion of the 2020 Convertible Obligations were renamed Adjusted 2020
Convertible Obligations and the adjusted portion of the September 2015 Convertible Notes were renamed Adjusted September 2015
Convertible Notes. The Adjusted 2020 Convertible Obligations of Smith, Bassani and Schafer are convertible into Units (consisting of
1 share and from one half (1/2) to one (1) warrant) at prices of $ .0946 ,
$ .0953 ,
and $ .0953 ,
respectively, and the Adjusted September 2015 Convertible Notes may be converted at the sole election of the noteholders into
restricted common shares of the Company at a conversion price of $ 0.115 per
share. The adjusted conversion prices slightly reduce the securities to be issued on conversion of each instrument from the amount
receivable under the unadjusted instruments. The Adjusted 2020 Convertible Obligations and Adjusted September 2015 Convertible Notes
do not accrue any interest until their maturity date (July 1, 2024). After the adjustment, the Company owed Smith, Bassani (and
trust) and Schafer $ 262,154 ,
$ 434,016 and
$ 96,364 ,
respectively, of Adjusted 2020 Convertible Obligations and Bassani and Schafer, respectively, $ 24,230 and
$ 4,012 of
Adjusted September 2015 Convertible Notes.
F- 29
During the year ended June 30, 2023, Smith elected
to convert $ 136,462 , in aggregate, of his Adjusted 2020 Convertible Obligation into 1,442,514 units at $ 0.0946 per unit, with each unit
consisting of one share of the Company’s restricted common stock and one warrant to purchase one share of the Company’s restricted
common stock for $ 0.75 per share until March 2026. In more detail, effective: a) March 8, 2023, Smith converted $ 70,000 of his Adjusted
2020 Convertible Obligation into 739,958 Units (each Unit consisting one share and one warrant); b) March 31, 2023, Smith converted $ 29,888
of his Adjusted Convertible Obligation into 315,948 Units (each Unit consisting one share of common stock and one warrant); and c) June
4, 2023, Smith converted $ 36,573 of his Adjusted Convertible Obligation into 386,608 Units (each Unit consisting one share of common stock
and one warrant). Smith donated to charitable organizations and/or gifted to family members and others a large portion of these securities
( 700,000 common shares and 955,000 warrants, in aggregate) while retaining direct ownership of 292,514 common shares and 116,566 warrants
and indirect ownership of 450,000 common shares and 370,948 warrants (owned by his wife). The warrants are exercisable for three years
from conversion dates. Subsequent to June 30, 2023, Smith converted additional portions of his Adjusted Convertible Obligation. See Note
12.
As of June 30 2023, the Adjusted 2020 Convertible
Obligation balances, including accrued interest, owed Bassani (and his donees), Smith and Edward Schafer were $ 441,446 , $ 130,180 and $ 98,014 ,
respectively.
As of June 30, 2023 the Adjusted September 2015 Convertible
Notes balances, including accrued interest, owed Bassani Family Trusts and Schafer were $ 24,645 and $ 4,081 , respectively.
2020 Convertible Obligations
The 2020 Convertible Obligations (which combined/replaced
prior convertible instruments dating to 2017 (or earlier), which accrue interest at either 4 % per annum or 4 % compounded quarterly and
effective January 1, 2020 are due and payable on July 1, 2024. The 2020 Convertible Obligations (including accrued interest, plus all
future deferred compensation added subsequently), are convertible, at the sole election of the holder, into Units consisting of one share
of the Company’s common stock and one half to one warrant to purchase a share of the Company’s common stock, at a price of
$ 0.50 per Unit until July 1, 2024. The original conversion price of $ 0.50 per Unit approximated the fair value of the Units at the date
of the agreements; therefore, no beneficial conversion feature exists. Management evaluated the terms and conditions of the embedded conversion
features based on the guidance of ASC 815-15 “Embedded Derivatives” to determine if there was an embedded derivative requiring
bifurcation. An embedded derivative instrument (such as a conversion option embedded in the deferred compensation) must be bifurcated
from its host instruments and accounted for separately as a derivative instrument only if the “risks and rewards” of the embedded
derivative instrument are not “clearly and closely related” to the risks and rewards of the host instrument in which it is
embedded. Management concluded that the embedded conversion feature of the deferred compensation was not required to be bifurcated because
the conversion feature is clearly and closely related to the host instrument, and because of the Company’s limited trading volume
that indicates the feature is not readily convertible to cash in accordance with ASC 815-10, “Derivatives and Hedging”. Effective
February 1, 2023, a large portion of the 2020 Convertible Obligations were adjusted as set forth herein.
F- 30
As of June 30, 2023, the remaining unadjusted portion
of the 2020 Convertible Obligation balances, including accrued interest, owed Bassani Family Trusts (and his donees) and Smith, were $ 361,321
and $ 36,432 , respectively. As of June 30, 2022, the 2020 Convertible Obligation balances, including accrued interest, owed Bassani Family
Trusts, Smith and Schafer were $ 2,597,329 , $ 1,328,040 and $ 499,274 , respectively.
During the year ended June 30, 2023 (on dates prior
to the adjustment on February 1, 2023), Smith elected to add $ 90,000 of his accrued unpaid compensation/un-reimbursed expenses to his
2020 Convertible Obligations.
During the year ended June 30, 2023 (on dates prior
to the adjustment on February 1, 2023), Smith elected to convert $ 30,000 in principal of the 2020 Convertible Obligation to 60,000 units
( 60,000 common shares and 60,000 warrants), and $ 20,000 of accrued interest of the 2020 Convertible Obligation to 40,000 units ( 40,000
common shares and 40,000 warrants). The warrants are exercisable for three years from conversion date.
During the year ended June 30, 2023 (on dates after
the adjustment on February 1, 2023), Smith elected to convert $ 136,462 in principal of the Adjusted 2020 Convertible Obligation to 1,442,514
units ( 1,442,514 common shares and 1,442,514 warrants). The warrants are exercisable for three years from conversion dates.
The Company recorded interest expense of $ 102,478
and $ 131,718 for the year ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The Company capitalized $ 179,981 and $ 32,000 related to the Initial
Project for the year ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Effective February 1, 2023, three (3) directors/officers
of the Company agreed to adjust the provisions of long-term convertible obligations (including most of the 2020 Convertible Obligations
and September 2015 Convertible Notes) owed to them by the Company in a manner which reduced the indebtedness of the Company by 80% (approximately
$ 3.47 million, in aggregate) while
equitably maintaining existing conversion rights. Because the modifications where with affiliates that are related parties, the
debt modification was treated as an equity transaction. The Company recorded a deemed dividend for the reductions.
Mark A. Smith (the Company’s President)(“Smith”),
Dominic Bassani (the Company’s Chief Operating Officer)(“Bassani”) and Ed Schafer (Director)(“Schafer”),
adjusted/reduced the principal owed to them by $ 1,109,649 ,
$ 1,939,670
and $ 424,873 ,
respectively. Subsequent to the adjustment, the adjusted portion of the 2020 Convertible Obligations were renamed Adjusted 2020 Convertible
Obligations (see above and Note 7.). The debt modification was treated as an equity transaction because the modifications were with affiliates
that are related parties.
September 2015 Convertible Notes
During the year ended June 30, 2016, the Company entered
into September 2015 Convertible Notes with Bassani, Schafer and a Shareholder which replaced previously issued promissory notes. The September
2015 Convertible Notes bear interest at 4 % per annum, have maturity dates of July 1, 2024, and may be converted at the sole election of
the noteholders into restricted common shares of the Company at a conversion price of $ 0.60 per share. As the conversion price of $0.60
approximated the fair value of the common shares at the date of the September 2015 Convertible Notes, no beneficial conversion feature
exists.
The balances of the September 2015 Convertible Notes
as of June 30, 2023, including accrued interest owed Bassani, Schafer and Shareholder, are $ 183,628 , $ 4,081 and $ 460,873 , respectively. The
balances of the September 2015 Convertible Notes as of June 30, 2022, including accrued interest, were $ 279,366 , $ 20,845 and $ 445,756 ,
respectively.
The Company recorded interest expense of $ 23,318 and
$ 23,796 for the year ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Effective February 1, 2023, three (3) directors/officers
of the Company agreed to adjust the provisions of long term convertible obligations (including the September 2015 Convertible Notes owned
by Bassani and Schafer) owed to them by the Company in a manner which reduced the indebtedness of the Company by 80% (approximately $ 3.52
million, in aggregate) while equitably maintaining existing conversion rights. Mark A. Smith (the Company’s President), Dominic
Bassani (the Company’s Chief Operating Officer)(and a family Trust) and Ed Schafer (Director), adjusted/reduced the principal owed
to them by $ 1,109,649 , $ 1,939,670 and $ 424,873 , respectively. Subsequent to the adjustment, the adjusted portion of the were renamed Adjusted
September 2015 Convertible Notes. The Adjusted September 2015 Convertible Notes may be converted at the sole election of the noteholders
into restricted common shares of the Company at a conversion price of $ 0.115 per share. As of June 30, 2023 the Adjusted September 2015
Convertible Notes balances, including accrued interest, owed Bassani Family Trusts and Schafer were $ 24,645 and $ 4,081 , respectively.
The debt modification was treated as an equity transaction because
the modifications were with affiliates that are related parties. See above.
F- 31
7. STOCKHOLDERS'
EQUITY:
Debt Modification to Additional paid in capital
Effective February 1, 2023, three (3) directors/officers
of the Company agreed to adjust the provisions of long term convertible obligations (including most of the 2020 Convertible Obligations
and September 2015 Convertible Notes --- see below) owed to them by the Company in a manner which reduced the indebtedness of the Company
by 80% (approximately $ 3.47 million,
in aggregate ) while equitably maintaining existing conversion rights. Because the modifications where with affiliates that
are related parties, the debt modification was treated as an equity transaction. The Company recorded a deemed dividend for the reductions.
Mark A. Smith (the Company’s President)(“Smith”),
Dominic Bassani (the Company’s Chief Operating Officer)(“Bassani”) and Ed Schafer (Director)(“Schafer”),
adjusted/reduced the principal owed to them by $ 1,109,649 ,
$ 1,939,670
and $ 424,873 ,
respectively. Subsequent to the adjustment, the adjusted portion of the 2020 Convertible Obligations were renamed Adjusted 2020 Convertible
Obligations and the adjusted portion of the September 2015 Convertible Notes were renamed Adjusted September 2015 Convertible Notes.
The Adjusted 2020 Convertible Obligations of Smith, Bassani and Schafer are convertible into Units at prices of $ .0946 ,
$ 0953 ,
and $ .0953 ,
respectively, and the Adjusted September 2015 Convertible Notes may be converted at the sole election of the noteholders into restricted
common shares of the Company at a conversion price of $ 0.115
per share. The adjusted conversion prices slightly reduce the securities to be issued on conversion of each instrument from the
amount receivable under the unadjusted instruments. The Adjusted 2020 Convertible Obligations and Adjusted September 2015 Convertible
Notes do not accrue any interest until their maturity date (July 1, 2024). After the adjustment, the Company owed Smith, Bassani (and
trust) and Schafer $ 262,154 ,
$ 434,016
and $ 96,364 ,
respectively, of Adjusted 2020 Convertible Obligations and Bassani and Schafer, respectively, $ 24,230
and $ 4,012
of Adjusted September 2015 Convertible Notes. The debt modification was treated as an equity transaction because the modifications
were with affiliates that are related parties.
The Adjusted 2020 Convertible Obligations and Adjusted
September 2015 Convertible Notes do not accrue any interest until their maturity date (July 1, 2024). The Company treated this as an equity
transaction and recorded the reduction of debt through additional paid in capital at the net present value of the modified debt agreements.
This resulted in an increase to Additional Paid in Capital of $ 3,522,000 at the modification date and a reduction of additional paid in
capital of $ 14,051 for the year ended June 30, 2023 for the adjustment to the net present value of the modified debt agreements.
Series B Preferred stock:
Since July 1, 2014, the Company had 200 shares of
Series B redeemable convertible Preferred stock outstanding with a par value of $ 0.01 per share, convertible at the option of the holder
at $ 2.00 per share, with dividends accrued and payable at 2.5% per quarter. The Series B Preferred stock is mandatorily redeemable at
$ 100 per share by the Company three years after issuance and accordingly was classified as a liability. The 200 shares had reached their
redemption date and the Company approved the redemption of the Series B preferred stock during the year ended June 30, 2022. The 200 shares
of Series B redeemable convertible Preferred stock were redeemed for $ 41,000 , which included the $ 21,000 in accrued dividend payable.
During the years ended June 30, 2023, and 2022, the
Company declared dividends of nil and $ 1,000 respectively. The dividends are classified as a component of operations as the Series B Preferred
stock is presented as a liability in these financial statements. There is no liability at June 30, 2023.
Common stock:
Holders of common stock are entitled to one vote per
share on all matters to be voted on by common stockholders. In the event of liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Company, the
holders of common stock are entitled to share in all assets remaining after liabilities have been paid in full or set aside and the rights
of any outstanding preferred stock have been satisfied. Common stock has no preemptive, redemption or conversion rights. The rights of
holders of common stock are subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of the holders of any outstanding series of preferred
stock or any series of preferred stock the Company may designate in the future.
Centerpoint holds 704,309 shares of the Company’s
common stock. These shares of the Company’s common stock held by Centerpoint are for the benefit of its shareholders without any
beneficial interest.
F- 32
During the year ended June 30, 2023, the Company entered
into a subscription agreement to sell 2,000,000 shares of restricted and legended common stock of which 1,800,000 shares were purchased
on January 10, 2023 and the other 200,000 shares were purchased on December 31, 2022 for total proceeds during the year ended June 30,
2023 $ 2,000,000 .
During the year ended June 30, 2023, the Company entered
into subscription agreements to sell 975,000 units at a price of $ 1.60 , with each unit consisting of one share of the Company’s
restricted common stock and one half warrant to purchase one share of the Company’s restricted common stock for $ 2.40 per share
with an expiry date of June 30, 2024, and pursuant thereto, the Company issued 975,000 units for total proceeds of $ 1,560,000 , in aggregate.
The Company paid commissions of $ 86,400 on the sale of units.
During the year ended June 30, 2023, 175,114 warrants
were exercised to purchase 175,114 shares of the Company’s common stock at $ 0.75 per share for total proceeds of $ 131,335 .
During the year ended June 30, 2023, the Company entered
into subscription agreements to sell units for $ 1.00 per unit, with each unit consisting of one share of the Company’s restricted
common stock and one warrant to purchase one share of the Company’s restricted common stock for $ 0.75 per share with an expiry date
of December 31, 2024, and pursuant thereto, the Company issued 346,230 units for total proceeds of $ 346,230 .
During the year ended June 30, 2023, the Company
issued 50,000 shares of the Company’s common stock to a consultant for services. The shares were issued at $ 1.60 per share for a
total value of $ 80,000 .
During the year ended June 30, 2023, the Company
issued 32,259 shares of the Company’s common stock to a consultant for services. The shares were issued at $ 1.55 per share for a
total value of $ 50,000 .
During the year ended June 30, 2023, Smith elected
to convert $ 30,000 in principal and $ 20,000 in accrued interest from the 2020 Convertible Obligation to 100,000 units at $ .50 per unit,
with each unit consisting of one share of the Company’s restricted common stock and one warrant to purchase one share of the Company’s
restricted common stock for $ 0.75 per share until December 31, 2024.
During the year ended June 30, 2023, Smith elected
to convert $ 136,462 in principal of his Adjusted 2020 Convertible Obligation into 1,442,514 units at $ 0.0946 per unit, with each unit
consisting of one share of the Company’s restricted common stock and one warrant to purchase one share of the Company’s restricted
common stock for $ 0.75 per share until March 2026. See above and Note 6 for more detail.
F- 33
Warrants:
As of June 30, 2023, the Company had approximately
22.5 million warrants outstanding, with exercise prices from $ 0.60 to $ 2.40 and expiring on various dates through November 9, 2026.
The weighted-average exercise price for the outstanding
warrants is $ 0.80 , and the weighted-average remaining contractual life as of March 31, 2023 is 1.6 years.
During the year ended June 30, 2023, Smith elected
to convert $ 30,000 in principal and $ 20,000 in accrued interest from the 2020 Convertible Obligation to 100,000 units at $ .50 per unit,
with each unit consisting of one share of the Company’s restricted common stock and one warrant to purchase one share of the Company’s
restricted common stock for $ 0.75 per share until three years after the date of conversion.
During the year ended June 30, 2023, Smith elected
to convert $ 136,462 , in aggregate, of his Adjusted 2020 Convertible Obligation into 1,442,514 units at $ 0.0946 per unit, with each unit
consisting of one share of the Company’s restricted common stock and one warrant to purchase one share of the Company’s restricted
common stock for $ 0.75 per share until March 2026. In more detail: a) effective March 8, 2023, Smith converted $ 70,000 of his Adjusted
2020 Convertible Obligation into 739,958 Units (each Unit consisting one share and one warrant); b) effective March 31, 2023, Smith converted
$ 29,888 of his Adjusted Convertible Obligation into 315,948 Units (each Unit consisting one share of common stock and one warrant); and
c) effective June 4, 2023, Smith converted $ 36,573 of his Adjusted Convertible Obligation into 386,608 Units (each Unit consisting one
share of common stock and one warrant). Smith donated to charitable organizations and/or gifted to family members and others a large portion
of these securities ( 700,000 common shares and 955,000 warrants, in aggregate) while retaining direct ownership of 292,514 common shares
and 116,566 warrants and indirect ownership of 450,000 common shares and 370,948 warrants (owned by his wife). The warrants are exercisable
for three years from conversion dates. Subsequent to June 30, 2023, Smith converted additional portions of his Adjusted Convertible Obligation.
See Note 12.
During the twelve months ended June 30, 2023, the
Company approved the issuance of 210,000 warrants, in aggregate, to three new members of its Advisory Group for advisory and/or consulting
services of $ 21,000 , in aggregate. The warrants are exercisable at $ 1.50 to $ 1.60 and expire in August 2025.
During the twelve months ended June 30, 2023,
the Company approved the modification of existing warrants held by one former consultant and investors, which extended certain expiration
dates. The modifications resulted in incremental non-cash compensation of $ 154,932 and interest expenses of $ 72,589 .
During the twelve months ended June 30, 2023, 175,114 warrants were exercised
to purchase 175,114 shares of the Company’s common stock at $ 0.75 per share for total proceeds of $ 131,335 .
Effective May 1, 2022, an entity affiliated with William
O’Neill (“O’Neill”) was issued 1,000,000 Incentive Warrants exercisable at $ 1.00 per share until April 30, 2026
of which up to 700,000 Incentive Warrants may be cancelled if O’Neill is not renewed at 13 months and/or fails to serve the entire
contract term thereafter. These warrants each have a 75 % exercise price adjustment provision if the terms set forth therein are met. 700,000
of the warrants are vesting through May 1, 2023 and 2024. The vesting resulted in non-cash compensation of $ 41,653 during the year ended
June 30, 2023.
Stock options:
On April 7, 2022 the Company’s shareholders
approved the Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. 2021 Equity Incentive Award Plan (the “ Equity Plan ”). The Equity
Plan provides for the issuance of options (and/or other securities) to purchase up to 30,000,000 shares of the Company’s common
stock. The Equity Plan was adopted and ratified by Board of Directors on April 8, 2022. Terms of exercise and expiration of options/securities
granted under the Equity Plan may be established at the discretion of the Board of Directors, but no option may be exercisable for more
than ten years. No grants have been made pursuant to the Equity Plan as of the date of this report.
F- 34
The Company’s 2006 Consolidated Incentive Plan,
as amended during the year ended June 30, 2021 (the “2006 Plan”), provides for the issuance of options (and/or other securities)
to purchase up to 36,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock. Terms of exercise and expiration of options/securities granted
under the 2006 Plan may be established at the discretion of the Board of Directors, but no option may be exercisable for more than ten
years. The 2006 Plan will be maintained to service grants already made thereunder (together with new grants, if any, to employees and
consultants who already has received grants pursuant to its terms,
On March 15, 2023, the Company granted 30,000 options
under the 2006 Plan to two consultants. The options vest equally in thirds on March 20, 2023, June 20, 2023 and September 30, 2023.
On February 7, 2023, the Company granted an aggregate
of 275,000 options under the 2006 Plan to five employees/consultants/directors including: i) 25,000 options to Jon Northrop for service
as director, ii) 100,000 to two consultants and iii) 150,000 to employees.
On May 9, 2023, the Company granted 500,000 options
under the 2006 Plan to Bill O’Neill. 250,000 of these options vest on June 1, 2024 and 250,000 options vest on June 1, 2025; all
options expire on June 30, 2026.
The Company recorded compensation expense related
to employee stock options of $ 249,744 and $ 419,370 for the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The Company granted 805,000
and 730,000 options for the year ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
The fair value of the options granted during the years
ended June 30, 2023 and 2022 were estimated on the grant date using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model with the following assumptions:
Schedule of assumptions
Weighted
Average,
June 30,
2023
Range,
June 30,
2023
Weighted
Average,
June 30,
2022
Range,
June 30,
2022
Volatility
65 %
64 %
- 66 %
65 %
65 %- 69 %
Dividend yield
—
—
—
—
Risk-free interest rate
3.83 %
3.67 %
– 4.11
2.99 %
1.71 %- 3.01
Expected term (years)
3.44
2.84
to 3.95 %
3.71
3.04
to 3.72 %
The expected volatility was based on the historical
price volatility of the Company’s common stock. The dividend yield represents the Company’s anticipated cash dividend on common
stock over the expected term of the stock options. The U.S. Treasury bill rate for the expected term of the stock options was utilized
to determine the risk-free interest rate. The expected term of stock options represents the period of time the stock options granted are
expected to be outstanding based upon management’s estimates.
A summary of option activity under the 2006 Plan for year ended
June 30, 2023 is as follows:
Schedule of option activity
Options
Weighted-
Average
Exercise
Price
Weighted-
Average
Remaining
Contractual
Life
Aggregate
Intrinsic
Value
Outstanding at July 1, 2022
11,201,600
$
0.80
2.7
$
4,429,263
Granted
805,000
—
Exercised
—
—
Forfeited
—
—
Expired
—
—
Outstanding at June 30, 2023
12,006,600
$
0.85
1.83
$
5,085,659
The total fair value of stock options that vested
during both the year ended June 30, 2023 and 2022 was $249,744 and $419,370, respectively. As of June 30, 2023, the Company had no unrecognized
compensation cost related to stock options.
8. SUBSCRIPTION
RECEIVABLE - AFFILIATES :
As of June 30, 2023, the Company has three interest
bearing, secured promissory notes with an aggregate principal amount of $ 428,250 ($ 517,553 , including interest) from Bassani which were
received as consideration for purchases of warrants to purchase 5,565,000 shares, in aggregate, of the Company’s restricted common
stock, which warrants have an exercise price of $ 0.75 (with a 75% exercise price adjustment provision) and have expiry dates ranging from
December 31, 2024 to December 31, 2025 (subject to extension rights) secured by portions of Bassani Family Trust’s 2020 Convertible
Obligation and Bassani Family Trust’s September 2015 Convertible Notes. The secured promissory notes are payable July 1, 2024.
As of June 30, 2023, the Company has an interest
bearing, secured promissory note for $ 30,000 ($ 35,884 including interest) from Smith as consideration to purchase warrants to purchase
300,000 shares of the Company’s restricted common stock, which warrants are exercisable at $ 0.60 (with a 75% exercise price adjustment
provision) and have expiry dates of December 31, 2024 (subject to extension rights) The promissory note bears interest at 4 % per annum,
and is secured by $ 30,000 ($ 35,885 including interest) of Smith’s 2020 Convertible Obligations. The secured promissory note is payable
on July 1, 2024.
F- 35
As of June 30, 2023 the Company has two interest
bearing, secured promissory notes with an aggregate principal amount of $ 46,400 ($ 56,860 including interest) from two employee/consultants
as consideration to acquire warrants to purchase 928,000 shares of the Company’s restricted common stock, which warrants are exercisable
at $ 0.75 (with a 90% exercise price adjustment provision) and have expiry dates of December 31, 2024. (The promissory notes bear interest
at 4 % per annum, are secured by a perfected security interest in the warrants, and are payable on July 1, 2024.
These secured promissory notes are recorded as
“Subscription receivable—affiliates” on the Company’s balance sheet pending payment.
9. COMMITMENTS
AND CONTINGENCIES:
Employment and consulting agreements:
Smith has held the positions of Director, Executive
Chairman, President and General Counsel of Company and its subsidiaries under various agreements (and extensions) and terms since March
2003. On October 10, 2016, the Company approved a month-to-month contract extension with Smith which included provisions for i) a monthly
salary of $ 18,000 ( deferred until the Board of Directors re-instated cash payments to all employees and consultants who are deferring
compensation), ii) the right to convert up to $ 300,000 of his deferred compensation, at his sole election, at $ 0.75 per share, until December
31, 2024, and iii) the right to convert his deferred compensation in whole or in part, at his sole election, at any time in any amount
at “market” or into securities sold in the Company’s current/most recent private offering at the price of such offering
to third parties. Smith agreed effective July 29, 2018 to continue to serve the Company under the same basic terms on a month-to-month
basis. On May 1, 2022 Smith’s compensation was increased to $ 25,000 per month of which $5,000 per month is deferred. Currently
Smith is deferring all but $ 5000 of his monthly compensation to help the Company conserve cash. For the years ended June 30, 2023 and
2022, Smith was paid $ 200,000 and $ 130,000 , respectively, of cash compensation.
Since March 31, 2005, the Company has had
various agreements with Bassani (and/or Brightcap which provided his services during some of the years), now the Company’s
Chief Operating Officer (‘COO’) and formerly the Company’s Chief Executive Officer (‘CEO’)(any
reference to Brightcap or Bassani for all purposes are referring to the same individual). The Board appointed Bassani as the
Company's CEO effective May 13, 2011. On February 10, 2015, the Company executed an Extension Agreement with Bassani pursuant to
which Bassani extended the term of his service to the Company to December 31, 2017 (with the Company having an option to extend the
term an additional six months.) Pursuant to the Extension Agreement, Bassani continued to defer his cash compensation ($ 31,000
per month) until the Board of Directors re-instated cash payments to all employees and consultants who were deferring their
compensation. During October 2016 Bassani was granted the right to convert up to $ 125,000
of his deferred compensation, at his sole election, at $ 0.75
per share, until March 15, 2018 (which was expanded on April 27, 2017 to the right to convert up to $ 300,000
of his deferred compensation, at his sole election, at $ 0.75
per share, until June 30, 2024 (including extensions). During February 2018, the Company agreed to the material terms for a
binding two-year extension agreement for Bassani’s services as CEO. Bassani’s salary remained $ 31,000
per month, which will continue to be accrued in part during periods when the Board determines there is not adequate cash available.
Additionally, the Company agreed to pay or accrue $ 2,000
per month to be applied to life insurance premiums (which sums have been accrued as liabilities). On August 1, 2018, in the context
of extending his agreement to provide services to the Company on a full-time basis through December 31, 2022) plus 2 years after
that on a part-time basis, the Company received an interest bearing secured promissory note for $ 300,000
from Bassani as consideration to purchase warrants to purchase 3,000,000
shares of the Company’s restricted common stock, which warrants are exercisable at $0.60 and have expiry dates of June 30,
2025. The promissory note is secured by a portion of Bassani’s 2020 Convertible Obligations and as of June 30, 2023, the
principal and accrued interest was $ 361,321 .
Currently Bassani is deferring all but $ 5000
of his monthly compensation to help the Company conserve cash. For the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022, Brightcap was paid $ 300,000
and $ 250,000 ,
respectively, of cash compensation.
William O’Neill (“O’Neill”)
was hired as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) effective May 1, 2022. O’Neill had previously
been working with the Company as a consultant and had been employed by the Company as its CEO during 2010-2011. Bassani, CEO of the
Company since 2011, assumed the position of COO while retaining existing operational management responsibilities and working with O’Neill
on ‘commercialization’ of the Company’s technology and work related to JVs (and other transactions) based on the Company’s
Gen3 Technology and related matters. Bassani’s compensation arrangements with the Company have not been altered in the context of
the change of positions. The Company and O’Neill entered into a thirty-seven (37) month employment agreement with compensation of
$ 25,000 cash and $ 10,000 deferred compensation per month. The cash payment is paid $ 12,500 to O’Neill and $12,500 to an entity affiliated
with O’Neill. An entity affiliated with O’Neill was issued 1,000,000 Incentive Warrants exercisable at $1.00 per share ( a
75 % exercise price adjustment provision if the terms set forth therein are met) until April 30, 2026 of which up to 700,000 Incentive
Warrants may be cancelled if O’Neill is not renewed at 13 months and/or fails to serve the entire contract term thereafter. Currently
O’Neill is deferring all but $ 5000 of his monthly compensation to help the Company conserve cash. For the years ended June 30, 2023
and 2022, O’Neill and the entity affiliated with O’Neill was paid $ 150,000 and $ 25,000 , respectively, of cash compensation.
F- 36
Exercise Price Adjustments/Extension Rights:
As part of agreements the Company entered into with
Bassani and Smith effective May 15, 2013, they were each granted the following: a) a 50% execution/exercise price adjustment provision
(exercise bonus in the context of options) which shall be applied upon the effective date of the notice of intent to exercise (for options
and warrants) or issuance event, as applicable, of any currently outstanding and/or subsequently acquired options, warrants and/or contingent
stock bonuses owned by each (and/or their donees) as follows: i) in the case of exercise by payment of cash, the bonus shall take the
form of reduction of the exercise price; ii) in the case of cashless exercise, the adjustment shall be applied to reduce the exercise
price prior to the cashless exercise calculations; and iii) with regard to contingent stock adjustments, issuance shall be triggered upon
the Company’s common stock reaching a closing price equal to 50% of currently specified price; and b) the right to extend the exercise
period of all or part of the applicable options and warrants for up to five years (one year at a time) by annual payments of $.05 per
option or warrant to the Company on or before a date during the three months prior to expiration of the exercise period at least three
business days before the end of the expiration period. Effective January 1, 2016 such annual payments to extend warrant exercise periods
were reduced to $.01 per option or warrant. These exercise adjustments were subsequently increased to 75%.
During the year ended June 30, 2021, the Company added
a 75 % exercise price adjustment to the terms of 3,000,000 warrants held by a trust owned by Bassani.
As of June 30, 2023, exercise price adjustment provisions
ranging from 50 - 90 % were applicable to 11,771,600 of the Company’s outstanding options and 18,438,339 of the Company’s outstanding
warrants.
Effective May 1, 2022, an entity affiliated with O’Neill
was issued 1,000,000 Incentive Warrants exercisable at $ 1.00 per share until April 30, 2026 of which up to 700,000 Incentive Warrants
were cancellable if O’Neill was not renewed at 13 months (renewal has happened) and/or fails to serve the entire contract term thereafter.
These warrants each have a 75 % exercise price adjustments if the terms set forth therein are met.
Initial Project:
On January 28, 2022 Bion Environmental Technologies,
Inc. (‘Bion’), on behalf of Bion 3G1 LLC (‘3G1’), a wholly-owned subsidiary, entered into a Purchase Order Agreement
with Buflovak and Hebeler Process Solutions (collectively ‘Buflovak’) in the amount of $ 2,665,500 (and made the initial 25 %
payment ($ 666,375 ) for the core of the ‘Bion System’ portion (without the crystallization modules which will be ordered
and fabricated pursuant to subsequent agreements) of the previously announced 3G Tech Initial Project. This Purchase Order encompasses
the core of Bion’s 3G Technology. The Company received progress billing in March 2022 and June 2022 for the second and third 25 %
installments, both of which have been paid as of the filing date. On January 17, 2023 the Company received an invoice from Buflovak for
$ 533,100 which was paid on March 1, 2023 and on April 24, 2023 the Company received an invoice from Buflovak for $ 83,275 which was paid
on May 2, 2023 bringing the aggregate payments to $ 2,615,500 as of the date of this filing. There remains $ 50,000 open on the Purchase
Order has been billed on July 26, 2023. In addition to the Purchase Order, through June 30, 2023 the Company has incurred additional costs
of $ 4,182,260 on the Initial Project for capitalized interest and costs, non-cash compensation and consulting fees. $ 3,962,207 has been
paid and $ 220,053 has been billed and not yet paid. See Note 12 “Subsequent Events” for expenditure after June 30, 2023.
F- 37
Buflovak has worked with the Company on design and
testing of its 3G Tech over several years. The basic design for the Initial Project’s Bion System is complete, fabrication and delivery
of equipment from Bufflovak from the Purchase Order Agreement has been largely completed and assembly/construction is in process.
3G1 is working in concert with Integrated Engineering Services, the primary site engineering firm for the facility, on the integration
of all project components/modules at the Initial Project site. Additional agreements have been entered into various professional services
providers (engineers, surveyors, utilities, etc.) for work related to the Initial Project. The Company has incurred costs of $ 6,103,693
on the Initial Project, not including capitalized labor and interest.
Litigation:
A: Website: Domain Sale/Resolved Litigation/Hacking/Theft
On March 23, 2022 the Company entered into an
agreement to sell domain name <biontech.com> and other related assets to BioNTech SE (“BNTX”) for the sum of $950,000
(before expenses related to the transaction) which sale was closed/completed on April 2, 2022 with a one-time gain of $902,490. The Company
has been using www.bionenviro.com as its primary website (and domain) since July 2021 due to the events described below. The
Company has not been using biontech.com as its primary website since July 2021 so domain name <biontech.com> no longer
represented a core asset of the Company.
As previously reported, on Saturday morning, July
17, 2021, our historical website domain – biontech.com – and email services were compromised and disabled. Research
indicated that an unknown party had ‘hijacked’ the domain in a theft attempt. On September 10, 2021, the Company filed a federal
lawsuit ‘in rem’ to recover the <biontech.com> domain and the unknown ‘John Doe’ who hacked and attempted
to steal the website. The litigation was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division
under the heading ‘Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc., Plaintiff, vs John Doe and <biontech.com>, Defendants’ (Case
No. 1:21-cv-01034), seeking recovery of the domain name and other relief as set forth therein.
On November 19, 2021, the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division issued an order stating that “… ORDERED, ADJUDGED and Decreed that
plaintiff Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. (‘plaintiff) Is the lawful owner of domain name <biontech.com> ….”
under the heading ‘Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc., Plaintiff, vs John Doe and <biontech.com>, Defendants’ (Case
No. 1:21-cv-01034). The Company has moved the domain name <biontech.com> to a new registrar and reactivated it for the Company’s
use (paired currently with its current bionenviro.com website).
No shareholder, sensitive or confidential information
was available to be breached which has limited damages from the hack/theft to date. However, the Company’s email operations were
subjected to disruption and expenses were incurred related to the matter including legal fees.
The Company created ‘work-arounds’ as
a result. These issues have been resolved and the Company has moved our website (and email) to a new domain: bionenviro.com. Website
access is now www.bionenviro.com. To send emails to Bion personnel, one uses the same name identifier previously used, but in the
address, substitute ‘bionenviro.com’ for “biontech.com’: For example cscott@biontech.com (no longer functional)
is cscott@bionenviro.com and mas@biontech.com (no longer functional) is now mas@bionenviro.com.
B: Pennvest Loan and Dissolution of Bion PA1, LLC (“PA1”)
PA1, the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary,
was dissolved on December 29, 2021 on which date it owed approximately $10,010,000 under the terms of the Pennvest Loan related to the
construction of the Kreider 1 System including accrued interest and late charges totaling $ 2,255,802 as of that date. Through the date
of the dissolution, PA1 was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company and its assets and liabilities were included on the Company’s
consolidated balance sheet. At September 30, 2021, PA1’s total assets were $ 297 and its total liabilities were $ 10,154,334 (including
the Pennvest Loan in the aggregate amount of $ 9,939,148 , accounts payable of $ 214,235 and accrued liabilities of $ 950 ) which sums were
included in the Company’s consolidated balance sheet in its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2021. Subsequent to the
dissolution of PA1, its assets and liabilities are no longer consolidated and included in the Company’s consolidated balance sheet.
As of December 29, 2021, PA1’s total assets were nil and its total liabilities were $ 10,234,501 (including the Pennvest Loan in
the aggregate amount of $ 10,009,802 , accounts payable of $ 212,263 and accrued liabilities of $ 12,436 . The net amount of $ 10,234,501 was
recognized as a gain on the legal dissolution of a subsidiary in other (income) expense.
F- 38
As background, the terms of the Pennvest Loan provided
for funding of up to $ 7,754,000 which was to be repaid by interest-only payments for three years, followed by an additional ten-year amortization
of principal. The Pennvest Loan accrued interest at 2.547 % per annum for years 1 through 5 and 3.184 % per annum for years 6 through maturity.
The Pennvest Loan required minimum annual principal payments of approximately $ 5,886,000 in fiscal years 2013 through 2021, and $ 846,000
in fiscal year 2022, $ 873,000 in fiscal year 2023 and $ 149,000 in fiscal year 2024. The Pennvest Loan was collateralized by PA1’s
Kreider 1 System and by a pledge of all revenues generated from Kreider 1 including, but not limited to, revenues generated from nutrient
reduction credit sales and by-product sales. In addition, in consideration for the excess credit risk associated with the project, Pennvest
was entitled to participate in the profits from Kreider 1 calculated on a net cash flow basis, as defined. The Company has incurred
interest expense related to the Pennvest Loan of $ 123,444 and $ 246,887 for the years ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Based
on the limited development of the depth and breadth of the Pennsylvania nutrient reduction credit market, PA1 commenced discussions and
negotiations with Pennvest related to forbearance and/or re-structuring the obligations under the Pennvest Loan during 2013. In the context
of such negotiations, PA1 elected not to make interest payments to Pennvest on the Pennvest Loan since January 2013. Additionally, the
PA1 did not make any principal payments, which were to begin in fiscal 2013, and, therefore, the Company classified the Pennvest Loan
as a current liability through the dissolution of PA1 on December 29, 2021.
During August 2012, the Company provided Pennvest
(and the PADEP) with data demonstrating that the Kreider 1 system met the ‘technology guaranty’ standards which were incorporated
in the Pennvest financing documents and, as a result, the Pennvest Loan has been solely an obligation of PA1 since that date. Note, however,
the Company’s consolidated balance sheet as of June 30, 2021 reflects the Pennvest Loan as a liability of $ 9,868,495 despite the
fact that the obligation (if any) was solely an obligation of PA1 .
On September 25, 2014, the Pennsylvania Infrastructure
Investment Authority (“Pennvest”) exercised its right to declare the PA1’s Pennvest Loan in default, accelerated the
Pennvest Loan and demanded that PA1 pay $ 8,137,117 (principal, interest plus late charges) on or before October 24, 2014. PA1 did not
make the payment and did/does not have the resources to make the payments demanded by Pennvest. PA1 commenced discussions and negotiations
with Pennvest concerning this matter but Pennvest rejected PA1’s proposal made during the fall of 2014. PA1 made a final proposal
to Pennvest during September 2021 which proposal was also rejected by Pennvest. PA1 provided Pennvest with its financial statements (which
include a description of system status) annually. During the 2021 fiscal year, Pennvest’s auditors requested a ‘corrective
action plan’ and PA1 informed Pennvest that “… there is no viable corrective action plan for the Pennvest Loan (‘Loan’).
The facility funded by the Loan has been shut down for many years (which has been disclosed in the annual financial reports to Pennvest
and in public filings by the parent of Bion PA 1, LLC) and the technology utilized in the facility is now obsolete. The facility has not
been commercially operated for approximately six years and has generated zero income. We recommend that Pennvest take appropriate steps
to remove and sell the equipment.” Pennvest responded favorably to the approach of selling the equipment.
On December 29, 2021, the Company approved and executed
a ‘Consent of the Sole Member of Bion PA 1’ (the “Consent to Dissolution”) that authorized the complete liquidation
and dissolution of PA1. A Statement of Dissolution was filed by PA1 with the Colorado Secretary of State on December 29, 2021.The liquidation
value of Bion PA 1’s property is substantially below the current amount outstanding under the Funding Agreement dated October 27,
2010 by and between PA1 and Pennvest, the only known secured creditor of PA1. Post-dissolution, PA1’s activities will be limited
entirely to activities required to properly distribute its net assets to creditors and wind down its business.
PA1 and Pennvest agreed to have the equipment sold
by a third party auctioneer who arranged for the sale of its property and delivery of all proceeds (net of commissions and customary
costs of sale) to Pennvest. The auction took place during the period of May 13-18, 2022. The Company’s personnel assisted PA1 with
this process as needed at no cost to PA1. The net sum of $ 104,725 was realized from the asset sale, which sum was delivered to Pennvest
on June 15, 2022. Pursuant to agreement with Pennvest and Kreider Farms, the remaining unsold assets have been transferred to Kreider
Farms in order to complete the winding up of the Kreider 1 project.
Upon the complete distribution of all assets of PA1,
whether by transfer or sale and distribution of net proceeds as provided above, PA1 will use commercially reasonable efforts to cause
the cessation of all activities. No distributions of PA1’s assets will be made to the Company or its affiliates. The Consent to
Dissolution authorized Mark A. Smith, the Company’s President and the sole manager of PA1, to cause to be delivered for filing the
Statement of Dissolution, to give notice of the dissolution, and to take any other act necessary to wind up and liquidate the business.
F- 39
PA1 has made no payments to vendors or other creditors
in connection with the dissolution other than the payment to Pennvest set forth above. No distributions or payments of any kind have ever
been made to the Company, the sole member of PA1 since inception, and no payment will be made to the Company or any affiliate in connection
with the dissolution.
For more information regarding the history and background
of the Pennvest Loan and PA1, please review our Form’s 10-K for the years from 2008 through 2021 including the Notes to the Financial
Statements included therein.
Bank Account Hacking
On June 23, 2023, an officer of the Company with personal
accounts with Signature Bank was hacked and $ 75,000 was transferred from the Company’s accounts at Signature Bank to the officer’s
personal accounts. The bank was notified and all Company accounts were placed on hold. Subsequently, the funds were released and transferred
back to the Company prior to June 30, 2023 the end of the fiscal year and there were no losses incurred. The Company has reviewed
the authorized individuals on all accounts and further limited access after the hacking incident.
The Company currently is not involved in any other material litigation
or similar events.
Lease:
The Company entered into an agreement on September 23, 2021, to lease approximately
four acres of land near Fair Oaks, Indiana, for the development site of its Initial Project.
The future minimum lease payment under noncancelable operating lease with
terms greater than one year as of June 30, 2023:
Schedule Of Future Minimum Lease Payment
Year ended June 30, 2023 to June 2024
$
75,000
Year ended June 30, 2024 to December 2024
37,500
Undiscounted cash flow
112,500
Less imputed interest
( 8,432
)
Total
$
104,068
Less current portion
( 75,000
)
Long term lease liability
29,068
The weighted average remaining lease term and discounted
rate related to the Company’s lease liability as of June 30, 2023 were 1.58 years and 10 %, respectively. The Company’s lease
discount rate is generally based on the estimates of its incremental borrowing rate as the discount rates implicit in the Company’s
lease cannot be readily determined.
F- 40
10. INCOME
TAXES
The reconciliation between the expected federal
income tax benefit computed by applying the Federal statutory rate to loss before income taxes and the actual benefit for taxes on loss
for the years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022 is as follows:
Schedule of effective income tax rate reconciliation
2023
2022
Expected income tax benefit at statutory rate
$ ( 670,000 )
$ 1,741,000
State taxes, net of federal benefit
( 117,000 )
303,000
Permanent differences and other
9,000
8,000
Expiration of net operating allowances
733,000
1,229,000
Change in valuation allowance
( 45,000 )
( 3,281,000 )
Income tax benefit
$ —
$ —
The Company has net operating loss carry-forwards
(“NOLs”) for tax purposes of approximately $ 39,500,000 as of June 30, 2023. These NOLs expire on various dates through 2042.
The utilization of the NOLs may be limited under
Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code.
The Company’s deferred tax assets for the
years ended June 30, 2023 and 2022 are estimated as follows:
Schedule of deferred tax assets and liabilities
2023
2022
NOL carryforwards (Federal and State)
$ 8,299,000
$ 8,274,000
Stock-based compensation
5,459,000
5,436,000
Impairment
1,340,000
1,340,000
Business interest
338,000
339,000
Deferred compensation
1,054,000
1,054,000
Capitalized research and development
66,000
—
Gross deferred tax assets
16,148,000
16,443,000
Valuation allowance
( 16,148,000 )
( 16,443,000 )
Net deferred tax assets
$ —
$ —
The Company has provided a valuation allowance of
100 % of its net deferred tax asset due to the uncertainty of generating future profits that would allow for the realization of such deferred
tax assets.
F- 41
11. 401(k)
PLAN:
The Company has adopted the Bion Technologies, Inc.
401(k) Profit Sharing Plan and Trust (the “401(k) Plan”), a defined contribution retirement plan for the benefit of its employees.
The 401(k) Plan is currently a salary deferral only plan and at this time the Company does not match employee contributions. The 401(k)
is open to all employees over 21 years of age and no service requirement is necessary.
12. SUBSEQUENT
EVENTS:
The Company has evaluated events that occurred subsequent
to June 30, 2023 for recognition and disclosure in the financial statements and notes to the financial statements.
From July 1, 2023
through September 28, 2023, the Company has incurred costs of $ 583,870 for
an aggregate of $ 7,431,630 for
the Initial Project.
From July 1, 2023 through September 28, 2023, 38,000 warrants were exercised
to purchase 38,000 shares of the Company’s common stock at $ 0.75 per share for total proceeds of $ 28,500 .
On July 7, 2023, the Company issued 7,500 shares
of the Company’s common stock to a consultant for services. The shares were issued at $ 1.20 per share for a total value of $ 9,000 .
On July 21, 2023, Mr. Smith converted $ 49,048 of principal
from his Adjusted 2020 Convertible note into 518,477 Units at a conversion rate of $ .0946 ; each unit consisting of one share and one warrant
with the exercise price of $ .75 until 7/21/2026. Each of these warrants carry an exercise price adjustment provision of 75 %.
On August 16, 2023, the Company issued 10,753
shares of the Company’s common stock to a consultant for services. The shares were issued at $ 1.55 per share for a total value of
$ 16,667 .
On August 28, 2023, the Company sold 28,589 units
at a price of $ 1.60 for a total of $ 45,742 .
F- 42
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d)
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this Report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunder
duly authorized.
BION ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Dated: September 28, 2023
By: /s/ Mark A. Smith
Mark A. Smith, President and Chief
Financial Officer (Principal Financial
and Accounting Officer)
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this
Report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated:
SIGNATURE
TITLE
DATE
/s/ Mark A. Smith
Executive Chairman,
September 28, 2023
Mark A. Smith
President, Chief Financial Officer
and Director
/s/ William O’Neill
Chief Executive Officer
September 28, 2023
William O’Neill
/s/ Jon Northrop
Secretary and Director
September 28, 2023
Jon Northrop
/s/ Edward Schafer
September 28, 2023
Edward Schafer
Director
/s/ William
Rupp
Director
September 28, 2023
William Rupp
/s/ Salvatore
Zizza
Director
September 28, 2023
Salvatore Zizza
69
Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.