Netcapital Inc. 10-K

Item 1A. RISK FACTORS. An investment in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below and the other information in this Form 10-K before investing in our common stock. If any of the following risks occur, our business, operating results and financial condition could be seriously harmed. We have a limited operating history that you can use to evaluate us, and the likelihood of our success must be considered in light of the problems, expenses, difficulties, complications and delays frequently encountered by a small developing company. We were incorporated in the State of Utah in April 1984. The likelihood of our success must be considered in light of the problems, expenses, difficulties, complications and delays frequently encountered by a small developing company starting a new business enterprise and the highly competitive environment in which we will operate. Since we have a limited operating history, we cannot assure you that our business will maintain profitability. Major health epidemics, such as the outbreak caused by a coronavirus (COVID-19), and other outbreaks or unforeseen or catastrophic events could continue to disrupt and adversely affect our operations, financial condition, and business. Public health epidemics or outbreaks could adversely impact our business. In July 2021, the global tally of confirmed cases of the coronavirus-borne illness COVID-19 exceeded 180 million. The extent to which the coronavirus impacts our operations will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, including the duration of the outbreak, new information which may emerge concerning the severity of the coronavirus and the emergence of variants, among others. In particular, the spread and treatment of the coronavirus globally could adversely impact our operations and could have an adverse impact on our business and our financial results. The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources, divert management’s attention and affect our ability to attract and retain executive management and qualified board members. As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Act, and other applicable securities rules and regulations. Compliance with these rules and regulations increases our legal and financial compliance costs, makes some activities more difficult, time-consuming or costly and increases demand on our systems and resources. The Exchange Act requires, among other things, that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and operating results. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. In order to maintain and, if required, improve our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting to meet this standard, significant resources and management oversight may be required. As a result, management’s attention may be diverted from other business concerns, and such attention could adversely affect our business and operating results. We may need to hire more employees in the future or engage outside consultants who will increase our costs and expenses. 4 In addition, changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure are creating uncertainty for public companies, increasing legal and financial compliance costs and making some activities more time consuming. These laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. We intend to invest resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management’s time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. If our efforts to comply with new laws, regulations and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies due to ambiguities related to their application and practice, regulatory authorities may initiate legal proceedings against us and our business may be adversely affected. We also expect that being a public company and these new rules and regulations will make it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain coverage. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our board of directors. We may need to raise additional funds through public or private debt or sale of equity to pay for the costs we incur as a public company. Such financing may not be available when needed. Even if such financing is available, it may be on terms that are materially adverse to your interests with respect to dilution of book value, dividend preferences, liquidation preferences, or other terms. No assurance can be given that such funds will be available or, if available, will be on commercially reasonable terms satisfactory to us. There can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain financing if and when it is needed on terms we deem acceptable. If we are unable to obtain financing on reasonable terms, we could be forced to discontinue our public reporting. As a result of disclosure of information in this report and in future filings required of a public company, our business and financial condition will become more visible, which we believe may result in threatened or actual litigation, including by competitors and other third parties. If such claims are successful, our business and operating results could be adversely affected, and even if the claims do not result in litigation or are resolved in our favor, these claims, and the time and resources necessary to resolve them, could divert the resources of our management and adversely affect our business and operating results. We operate in a regulatory environment that is evolving and uncertain. The regulatory framework for online capital formation or crowdfunding is very new. The regulations that govern our operations have been in existence for a very few years. Further, there are constant discussions among legislators and regulators with respect to changing the regulatory environment. New laws and regulations could be adopted in the United States and abroad. Further, existing laws and regulations may be interpreted in ways that would impact our operations, including how we communicate and work with investors and the companies that use our services and the types of securities that our clients can offer and sell on our platform. We may be liable for misstatements made by issuers. Under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Exchange Act of 1934, issuers making offerings through our funding portal may be liable for inappropriate disclosures, including untrue statements of material facts or for omitting information that could make the statements misleading. This liability may also extend in Regulation Crowdfunding offerings to funding portals, such as our subsidiary. Even though due diligence defenses may be available, there can be no assurance that if we were sued, we would prevail. Further, even if we do succeed, lawsuits are time consuming and expensive, and being a party to such actions may cause us reputational harm that would negatively impact our business. Moreover, even if we are not liable or a party to a lawsuit or enforcement action, some of our clients have been and will be subject to such proceedings. Any involvement we may have, including responding to document production requests, may be time-consuming and expensive as well. 5 Our compliance is focused on U.S. laws and we have not analyzed foreign laws regarding the participation of non-U.S. residents. Some of the investment opportunities posted on our platform are open to non-U.S. residents. We have not researched all the applicable foreign laws and regulations, and we have not set up our structure to be compliant with foreign laws. It is possible that we may be deemed in violation of those laws, which could result in fines or penalties as well as reputational harm. Any violation of foreign laws may limit our ability in the future to assist companies in accessing money from those investors, and compliance with those laws and regulations may limit our business operations and plans for future expansion. Netcapital Funding Portal’s product offerings are relatively new in an industry that is still quickly evolving . The principal securities regulations that we work with, Rule 506(c) and Regulation Crowdfunding, have only been in effect in their current form since 2013 and 2016, respectively. Our ability to continue to penetrate the market remains uncertain as potential issuer companies may choose to use different platforms or providers (including, in the case of Rule 506(c) and Regulation A, using their own online platform), or determine alternative methods of financing. Investors may decide to invest their money elsewhere. Further, our potential market may not be as large, or our industry may not grow as rapidly as anticipated. Success will likely be a factor of investing in the development and implementation of marketing campaigns, repeat business from both issuer companies and investors, and favorable changes in the regulatory environment. We are vulnerable to hackers and cyber attacks. As an internet-based business, we may be vulnerable to hackers who may access the data of our investors and the issuer companies that utilize our platform. Further, any significant disruption in service on our funding portal platform or in our computer systems could reduce the attractiveness of our platform and result in a loss of investors and companies interested in using our platform. Further, we rely on a third-party technology provider to provide some of our back-up technology as well as act as our escrow agent. Any disruptions of services or cyber-attacks either on our technology provider, escrow agent, or on us could harm our reputation and materially negatively impact our financial condition and business. Our strategy to purchase a portion of early-stage companies may provide us with investments that have no liquidity. It is our strategy to sometimes purchase, at an affordable price, part or all of early-stage companies and cross pollinate the ideas, technology and expertise within these companies to enhance the operations, profits and market share of all the entities. That strategy may result in us diverting management attention and advisory resources to do work for early-stage companies that pay for the work with equity, which becomes impaired in value or never becomes a liquid asset. For all of these early-stage companies, the future liquidity and value of our investments cannot be guaranteed, and no market may exist for us to generate gains from our investments in early-stage companies. Our business depends on the reliability of the infrastructure that supports the Internet and the viability of the Internet. The growth of Internet usage has caused frequent interruptions and delays in processing and transmitting data over the Internet. There can be no assurance that the Internet infrastructure or the Company’s own network systems will continue to be able to support the demands placed on it by the continued growth of the Internet, the overall online securities industry or that of our customers. The Internet’s viability could be affected if the necessary infrastructure is not sufficient, or if other technologies and technological devices eclipse the Internet as a viable channel. End-users of our software depend on Internet Service Providers (“ISPs”), online service providers and our system infrastructure for access to the Internet sites that we operate. Many of these services have experienced service outages in the past and could experience service outages, delays and other difficulties due to system failures, stability or interruption. As a result, we may not be able to meet a level of service that we have promised to our subscribers, and we may be in breach of our contractual commitments, which could materially adversely affect our business, revenues, operating results and financial condition. Intense competition could prevent us from increasing our market share and growing our revenues. We compete with a number of public and private companies and most of our competitors have significant financial resources and occupy entrenched positions in the market with name-brand recognition. We also face challenges from new Internet sites that aim to attract subscribers who seek to play interactive games or invest in public or private securities. Such companies may be able to attract significantly more subscribers because of new marketing ideas and user interface concepts. Increased competition from current and future competitors may in the future materially adversely affect our business, revenues, operating results and financial condition. 6 Our debt level could negatively impact our financial condition, results of operations and business prospects. As of April 30, 2021, we continue to owe $1,000,000 in secured debt and we have borrowed money on three occasions from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Our level of debt could have significant consequences to our shareholders, including the following: - requiring the dedication of a substantial portion of cash flow from operations to make payments on debt, thereby reducing the availability of cash flow for working capital, capital expenditures and other general business activities; - requiring a substantial portion of our corporate cash reserves to be held as a reserve for debt service, limiting our ability to invest in new growth opportunities; - limiting the ability to obtain additional financing in the future for working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and general corporate and other activities; - limiting the flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in the business and industry in which we operate; - increasing our vulnerability to both general and industry-specific adverse economic conditions; - putting us at a competitive disadvantage vs. less leveraged competitors; and - increasing vulnerability to changes in the prevailing interest rates. Our ability to make payments of principal and interest, or to refinance our indebtedness, depends on our future performance, which is subject to economic, financial, competitive and other factors. Our business may not generate sufficient cash flow in the future to service our debt because of factors beyond our control, including but not limited to our ability to market our products and expand our operations. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flows, we may be required to adopt one or more alternatives, such as restructuring debt or obtaining additional equity capital on terms that may be onerous or highly dilutive. Our ability to refinance our indebtedness will depend on the capital markets and our financial condition at such time. We may not be able to engage in any of these activities or engage in these activities on desirable terms, which could result in a default on our debt obligations. We will require our secured lender to cooperate with us and, among other things, not demand repayments of principal and interest until the business is capable of making such payments. We owe our secured lender $1,000,000 at April 30, 2021. Our lender holds a term note bearing interest at an annual rate of 8%. We have not paid interest on the note and it accrues each month. We have a loan and security agreement (the “Loan”) with the lender for a maximum amount of $1,250,000. The maturity date of our loan from the lender is April 30, 2022. To secure the payment of all obligations to the lender, the Company granted to the lender a continuing security interest and first lien on all of the assets of the Company. In connection with the Loan, the Company has agreed to certain restrictive covenants, including, among others, that the Company may not convey, sell lease, transfer or otherwise dispose of any part of its business or property, except as permitted in the agreement, dissolve, liquidate or merge with any other party unless, in the case of a merger, the Company is the surviving entity, incur any indebtedness except as defined in the agreement, create or allow a lien on any of its assets or collateral that has been pledged to the lender, make any loans to any person, except for prepaid items or deposits incurred in the ordinary course of business, or make any material capital expenditures. We may make acquisitions or form joint ventures that are unsuccessful. Our ability to grow is partially dependent on our ability to successfully acquire other companies, which creates substantial risk. In order to pursue a growth by acquisition strategy successfully, we must identify suitable candidates for these transactions; however, because of our limited funds, we may not be able to purchase those companies that we have identified as potential acquisition candidates. Additionally, we may have difficulty managing post-closing issues such as the integration into our corporate structure. Integration issues are complex, time consuming and expensive and, without proper planning and implementation, could significantly disrupt our business, including, but not limited to, the diversion of management's attention, the loss of key business and/or personnel from the acquired company, unanticipated events, and legal liabilities. 7 We do not expect to pay dividends and investors should not buy our common stock expecting to receive dividends. We have not paid any dividends on our common stock in the past, and do not anticipate that we will declare or pay any dividends in the foreseeable future. Consequently, you will only realize an economic gain on your investment in our common stock if the price appreciates. You should not purchase our common stock expecting to receive cash dividends. Since we do not pay dividends, and if we are not successful in having our shares listed or quoted on an exchange, then you may have a limited ability to liquidate or receive any payment on your investment. Therefore our failure to pay dividends may cause you to not see any return on your investment even if we are successful in our business operations. In addition, because we do not pay dividends we may have trouble raising additional funds, which could affect our ability to expand our business operations. Our future growth depends on our ability to develop and retain customers. Our future growth depends to a large extent on our ability to effectively anticipate and adapt to customer requirements and offer services that meet customer demands. If we are unable to attract new customers and/or retain new customers, our business, results of operations and financial condition may be materially adversely affected. We will need to attract, train and retain additional highly qualified senior executives and technical and managerial personnel in the future. We continue to seek technical and managerial staff members, although we have limited resources to compensate them until we have raised additional capital or developed a business that generates consistent cash flow from operations. We believe it is important to negotiate with potential candidates and, if appropriate, engage them on a part-time basis or on a project basis and compensate them at least partially, with stock-based compensation, when appropriate. There is a high demand for highly trained and managerial staff members. If we are not able to fill these positions, it may have an adverse effect on our business. We may conduct future offerings of our common stock and pay debt obligations with our common and preferred stock which may diminish our investors’ pro rata ownership and depress our stock price. We reserve the right to make future offers and sales, either public or private, of our securities, including shares of our common stock or securities convertible into common stock at prices differing from the price of the common stock previously issued. In the event that any such future sales of securities are affected or we use our common stock to pay principal or interest on our debt obligations, an investor’s pro rata ownership interest may be reduced to the extent of any such future sales. 8 Item 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide information under this item.