Twin Vee PowerCats, Co. 10-K

Item 1A. Risk Factors. Investors should carefully consider the risks described below before deciding whether to invest in our securities. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected. In such case, the trading price of our common stock could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements made throughout this Annual Report a result of different factors, including the risks we face described below. Risks Related to our Business There is limited public information on our operating history. Our limited public operating history makes evaluating our business and prospects difficult. Although we were formed in 2003, we did not provide public reports on the results of operations until our 2020 fiscal year. We only have a few years of audited financial statements. Any investment decision will not be made with the same data as would be available as if we had a longer history of public reporting. We have incurred losses for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 and could continue to incur losses in the future. For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, we incurred a loss from operations of $11,987,299 and $6,021,708; and a net loss of $9,782,196 and $5,792,414. As of December 31, 2023, we had an accumulated deficit of approximately $14.5 million. There can be no assurance that expenses will not continue to increase in future periods or that the cash generated from operations in future periods will be sufficient to satisfy our operating needs and to generate income from operations and net income . Our ability to meet our manufacturing workforce needs is crucial to our results of operations and future sales and profitability. We rely on the existence of an available hourly workforce to manufacture our products. In addition, Forza relies upon engineers that are specialist in electric engineering. We cannot assure you that we or our subsidiaries, will be able to attract and retain qualified employees to meet current or future manufacturing needs at a reasonable cost, 23 or at all. For instance, the demand for skilled employees has increased recently with the low unemployment rates in Florida where we have manufacturing facilities and in North Carolina where Forza is building a manufacturing facility. Also, although none of our employees are currently covered by collective bargaining agreements, we cannot assure you that our employees will not elect to be represented by labor unions in the future. Additionally, competition for qualified employees could require us to pay higher wages to attract a sufficient number of employees. Significant increases in manufacturing workforce costs could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Forza intends to continue to hire a number of additional personnel, including design and manufacturing personnel and service technicians for its electric boats and powertrains. Competition for individuals with experience designing, manufacturing and servicing electric boats is intense, and Forza may not be able to attract, assimilate, train or retain additional highly qualified personnel in the future. The failure to attract, integrate, train, motivate and retain these additional employees could seriously harm Forza’s business and prospects. We have a large, fixed cost base that will affect our profitability if our sales decrease. The fixed cost levels of operating a powerboat manufacturer can put pressure on profit margins when sales and production decline. Our profitability depends, in part, on our ability to spread fixed costs over a sufficiently large number of products sold and shipped, and if we make a decision to reduce our rate of production, gross or net margins could be negatively affected. Consequently, decreased demand or the need to reduce production can lower our ability to absorb fixed costs and materially impact our financial condition or results of operations. Interest rates and energy prices affect product sales. Our gas-powered products are often financed by our dealers and retail powerboat consumers, we envision this continuing as we expand our operations and grow our network of distributors. This may not occur if interest rates meaningfully rise because higher rates increase the borrowing costs and, accordingly, the cost of doing business for dealers and the cost of powerboat purchases for consumers. Higher energy costs result in increases in operating expenses at our manufacturing facility and in the expense of shipping products to our dealers. In addition, inflation and increases in energy costs may adversely affect the pricing and availability of petroleum-based raw materials, such as resins and foams that are used in our products. Also, higher fuel prices may have an adverse effect on demand for our gas-powered boats, as they increase the cost of ownership and operation and the pries at which we sell the boats. Therefore, higher interest rates and fuel costs can adversely affect consumers’ decisions relating to recreational powerboating purchases. The capacity of the manufacturing facility that we and Forza utilize will not be sufficient to support our future growth and business plans. We are currently operating close to full capacity at our current manufacturing facility in Fort Pierce. Forza plans to manufacture its electric boats at a new state of the art carbon neutral factory that it plans to build in McDowell County, North Carolina. Until we are able to expand our manufacturing capacity and Forza is able to build the planned manufacturing facility, we will continue to share our current manufacturing facility with Forza, which has a limited capacity and may not be able to satisfy our and their manufacturing needs. Any facility that we build will require a significant capital investment and is expected to take at least one to two years to build and become fully operational. As a result of limited capacity at our facility, Forza’s ability to produce any boats will be limited to available capacity of our facility until Forza’s future manufacturing facility is operational. If capacity is not available, Forza will not be able to produce its electric boats as planned. In addition. Forza intends to utilize grant funding to pay for certain costs associated with the building of its manufacturing facility. On July 28, 2022, we received notice that the North Carolina Economic investment committee has approved a Job Development Investment Grant (“JDIG”) providing for reimbursement to us of up to $1,367,100 over a twelve-year period to establish a new manufacturing plant in McDowell County, North Carolina. The receipt of grant funding is conditioned upon Forza investing over $10.5 million in land, buildings and fixtures, infrastructure and machinery and equipment by the end of 2025 and Forza creating as many as 170 jobs. There can be no assurance that Forza will meet the conditions necessary to receive the grant funding. 24 Changes in general economic conditions, geopolitical conditions, domestic and foreign trade policies, monetary policies and other factors beyond our control may adversely impact our business and operating results. Our operations and performance depend on global, regional and U.S. economic and geopolitical conditions. General worldwide economic conditions have experienced significant instability in recent years including the recent global economic uncertainty and financial market conditions. The circumstances relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the war in the Middle East, as well as other global conditions, have caused significant shortages in the supply chain. We are continuously evaluating alternative and secondary source suppliers in order to ensure that we are able to source sufficient materials. The uncertain financial markets, disruptions in supply chains, mobility restraints, and changing priorities as well as volatile asset values could impact our business in the future. The COVID-19 outbreak and government measures taken in response to the pandemic have also had a significant impact, both direct and indirect, on businesses and commerce, as worker shortages have occurred; supply chains have been disrupted; facilities and production have been suspended; and demand for certain goods and services, such as medical services and supplies, have spiked, while demand for other goods and services, such as travel, have fallen. The future progression of the pandemic and its effects on our business and operations are uncertain. In addition, the outbreak of a pandemic could disrupt our operations due to absenteeism by infected or ill members of management or other employees, or absenteeism by members of management and other employees who elect not to come to work due to the illness affecting others in our office or laboratory facilities, or due to quarantines. Pandemics could also impact members of our Board of Directors resulting in absenteeism from meetings of the directors or committees of directors, and making it more difficult to convene the quorums of the full Board of Directors or its committees needed to conduct meetings for the management of our affairs. Further, due to increasing inflation, operating costs for many businesses including ours have increased and, in the future, could impact demand or pricing manufacturing of our drug candidates or services providers, foreign exchange rates or employee wages. Inflation rates, particularly in the United States, have increased recently to levels not seen in years, and increased inflation may result in increases in our operating costs (including our labor costs), reduced liquidity and limits on our ability to access credit or otherwise raise capital. In addition, the Federal Reserve has raised, and may again raise, interest rates in response to concerns about inflation, which coupled with reduced government spending and volatility in financial markets may have the effect of further increasing economic uncertainty and heightening these risks. Actual events involving reduced or limited liquidity, defaults, non-performance or other adverse developments that affect financial institutions or other companies in the financial services industry or the financial services industry generally, or concerns or rumors about any events of these kinds, have in the past and may in the future lead to market-wide liquidity problems. We are actively monitoring the effects these disruptions and increasing inflation could have on our operations. These conditions make it extremely difficult for us to accurately forecast and plan future business activities. Our annual and quarterly financial results are subject to significant fluctuations depending on various factors, many of which are beyond our control . Our sales and operating results can vary significantly from quarter to quarter and year to year depending on various factors, many of which are beyond our control. These factors include, but are not limited to: ● Seasonal consumer demand for our products; ● Discretionary spending habits; ● Changes in pricing in, or the availability of supply in, the powerboat market; ● Failure to maintain a premium brand image; ● Disruption in the operation of our manufacturing facilities; ● Variations in the timing and volume of our sales; ● The timing of our expenditures in anticipation of future sales; 25 ● Sales promotions by us and our competitors; ● Changes in competitive and economic conditions generally; ● Consumer preferences and competition for consumers’ leisure time; ● Impact of unfavorable weather conditions; ● Changes in the cost or availability of our labor; and ● Increased fuel prices. Due to these and other factors, our results of operations may decline quickly and significantly in response to changes in order patterns or rapid decreases in demand for our products. We anticipate that fluctuations in operating results will continue in the future. Unfavorable weather conditions may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations, especially during the peak boating season. Adverse weather conditions in any year in any particular geographic region may adversely affect sales in that region, especially during the peak boating season. Sales of our products are generally stronger just before and during spring and summer, which represent the peak boating months, and favorable weather during these months generally has a positive effect on consumer demand. Conversely, unseasonably cool weather, excessive rainfall, reduced rainfall levels, or drought conditions during these periods may close area boating locations or render boating dangerous or inconvenient, thereby generally reducing consumer demand for our products. Our annual results would be materially and adversely affected if our net sales were to fall below expected seasonal levels during these periods. We may also experience more pronounced seasonal fluctuation in net sales in the future as we expand our businesses. There can be no assurance that weather conditions will not have a material effect on the sales of any of our products. A natural disaster, the effects of climate change, or other disruptions at our manufacturing facility could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations . We rely on the continuous operation of our only manufacturing facility in Stuart, Florida for the production of our products. Any natural disaster or other serious disruption to our facility due to fire, flood, earthquake, or any other unforeseen circumstance would adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Changes in climate could adversely affect our operations by limiting or increasing the costs associated with equipment or fuel supplies. In addition, adverse weather conditions, such as increased frequency and/or severity of storms, or floods could impair our ability to operate by damaging our facilities and equipment or restricting product delivery to customers. The occurrence of any disruption at our manufacturing facility, even for a short period of time, may have an adverse effect on our productivity and profitability, during and after the period of the disruption. These disruptions may also cause personal injury and loss of life, severe damage to or destruction of property and equipment, and environmental damage. Although we maintain property, casualty, and business interruption insurance of the types and in the amounts that we believe are customary for the industry, we are not fully insured against all potential natural disasters or other disruptions to our manufacturing facility. If we fail to manage our manufacturing levels while still addressing the seasonal retail pattern for our products, our business and margins may suffer . The seasonality of retail demand for our products, together with our goal of balancing production throughout the year, requires us to manage our manufacturing and allocate our gas-powered products to our dealer network to address anticipated retail demand. Our dealers must manage seasonal changes in consumer demand and inventory. If our dealers reduce their inventories in response to weakness in retail demand, we could be required to reduce our production, resulting in lower rates of absorption of fixed costs in our manufacturing and, therefore, lower margins. As a result, we must balance the economies of level production with the seasonal retail sales pattern experienced by our dealers. Failure to adjust manufacturing levels adequately may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. We depend on our network of independent dealers for our gas-powered boats, face increasing competition for dealers, and have little control over their activities . 26 A significant portion of our sales of our gas-powered boats are derived from our network of independent dealers. We typically manufacture our gas-powered boats based upon indications of interest received from dealers who are not contractually obligated to purchase any boats. While our dealers typically have purchased all of the boats for which they have provided us with indications of interest, it is possible that a dealer could choose not to purchase boats for which it has provided an indication of interest (e.g., if it were to have reached the credit limit on its floor plan), and as a result we once experienced, and in the future could experience, excess inventory and costs. For fiscal 2023, our top five dealers accounted for approximately 35% of our consolidated revenues. During the year ended December 31, 2023, one individual dealer had sales of over 10% of our total sales, that dealer represented 10% of total sales. During the year ended December 31, 2022, one individual dealer had sales of over 10% of our total sales and that dealer represented 12% of total sales. The loss of a significant dealer could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. The number of dealers supporting our products and the quality of their marketing and servicing efforts are essential to our ability to generate sales. Competition for dealers among other boat manufacturers continues to increase based on the quality, price, value, and availability of the manufacturers’ products, the manufacturers’ attention to customer service, and the marketing support that the manufacturer provides to the dealers. We face intense competition from other boat manufacturers in attracting and retaining dealers, affecting our ability to attract or retain relationships with qualified and successful dealers. Although our management believes that the quality of our products in the performance sport boat industry should permit us to maintain our relationships with our dealers and our market share position, there can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain or improve our relationships with our dealers or our market share position. In addition, independent dealers in the boating industry have experienced significant consolidation in recent years, which could result in the loss of one or more of our dealers in the future if the surviving entity in any such consolidation purchases similar products from a competitor. A substantial deterioration in the number of dealers or the quality of our network of dealers would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Our success depends, in part, upon the financial health of our dealers and their continued access to financing. Because we sell nearly all of our gas-powered products through dealers, their financial health is critical to our success. Our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be adversely affected if the financial health of the dealers that sell our products suffers. Their financial health may suffer for a variety of reasons, including a downturn in general economic conditions, rising interest rates, higher rents, increased labor costs and taxes, compliance with regulations, and personal financial issues. In addition, our dealers require adequate liquidity to finance their operations, including purchases of our products. Dealers are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could unfavorably affect their liquidity positions, including, among other things, continued access to adequate financing sources on a timely basis on reasonable terms. These sources of financing are vital to our ability to sell products through our distribution network. Access to financing generally facilitates our dealers’ ability to purchase boats from us, and their financed purchases reduce our working capital requirements. If financing were not available to our dealers, our sales and our working capital levels would be adversely affected. We may be required to repurchase inventory of certain dealers . Many of our dealers have floor plan financing arrangements with third-party finance companies that enable the dealers to purchase our products. In connection with these agreements, we may have an obligation to repurchase our products from a finance company under certain circumstances, and we may not have any control over the timing or amount of any repurchase obligation nor have access to capital on terms acceptable to us to satisfy any repurchase obligation. This obligation is triggered if a dealer defaults on its debt obligations to a finance company, the finance company repossesses the boat, and the boat is returned to us. Our obligation to repurchase a repossessed boat for the unpaid balance of our original invoice price for the boat is subject to reduction or limitation based on the age and condition of the boat at the time of repurchase, and in certain cases by an aggregate cap on repurchase obligations associated with a particular floor plan financing program. To date, we have not been obligated to repurchase any boats under our dealers’ floor plan financing arrangements, and we are not aware of any applicable laws regulating dealer relations which govern our relations with the dealers or would require us to repurchase any boats. However, there is no assurance that a dealer will not default on the terms of a credit line in the future. In addition, applicable laws regulating dealer relations may also require us to repurchase our products from our dealers under certain circumstances, 27 and we may not have any control over the timing or amount of any repurchase obligation nor have access to capital on terms acceptable to us to satisfy any repurchase obligation. If we were obligated to repurchase a significant number of units under any repurchase agreement or under applicable dealer laws, our business, operating results and financial condition could be adversely affected. We rely on third-party suppliers in the manufacturing of our boats . We depend on third-party suppliers to provide components and raw materials essential to the construction of our boats. During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company purchased all engines for its boats under supplier agreements with three vendors. During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company purchased all engines for its boats under supplier agreements with one vendor. While we believe that our relationships with our current suppliers are sufficient to provide the materials necessary to meet present production demand, we cannot assure you that these relationships will continue or that the quantity or quality of materials available from these suppliers will be sufficient to meet our future needs, irrespective of whether we successfully implement our growth strategy. We expect that our need for raw materials and supplies will increase. Our suppliers must be prepared to ramp up operations and, in many cases, hire additional workers and/or expand capacity in order to fulfill the orders placed by us and other customers. Operational and financial difficulties that our suppliers may face in the future could adversely affect their ability to supply us with the parts and components we need, which could significantly disrupt our operations. Termination or interruption of informal supply arrangements could have a material adverse effect on our business or results of operations . Although we have long-term relationships with many of our suppliers, we do not have any formal agreements with any suppliers for the purchase of parts needed and our purchases are made on a purchase order basis. We have no binding commitment from our suppliers to supply any specified quantity of materials needed within any specified time period. In the event that our suppliers receive a large number of orders from other customers, there is a possibility that they will not be able to support our needs. If any of our current suppliers were to be unable to provide needed products to us, there can be no assurance that alternate supply arrangements will be made on satisfactory terms. If we need to enter into supply arrangements on unsatisfactory terms, or if there are any delays to our supply arrangements, it could adversely affect our business and operating results. Significant product repair and/or replacement due to product warranty claims or product recalls could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations . We provide a hull warranty for structural damage of up to ten years for its gas-powered boats. In addition, we provide a three-year limited fiberglass small parts warranty on all or some small fiberglass parts and components such as consoles. Gelcoat is covered up to one year. Additionally, fiberglass lids, plastic lids, electrical panels, bilge pumps, aerator pumps or other electrical devices (excluding stereos, depth finders, radar, chart plotters except for installation if installed by us.), steering systems, electrical panels, and pumps are covered under a one-year basic limited systems warranty. Some materials, components or parts of the boat that are not covered by our limited product warranties are separately warranted by their manufacturers or suppliers. These other warranties include warranties covering engines purchased from suppliers and other components. Our standard warranties require us or our dealers to repair or replace defective products during such warranty periods at no cost to the consumer. Although we employ quality control procedures, sometimes a product is distributed that needs repair or replacement. The repair and replacement costs we could incur in connection with a recall could adversely affect its business. In addition, product recalls could harm our reputation and cause us to lose customers, particularly if recalls cause consumers to question the safety or reliability of its products. The nature of our business exposes us to workers’ compensation claims and other workplace liabilities. Certain materials we use require our employees to handle potentially hazardous or toxic substances. While our employees who handle these and other potentially hazardous or toxic materials receive specialized training and wear protective clothing, there is still a risk that they, 28 or others, may be exposed to these substances. Exposure to these substances could result in significant injury to our employees and damage to our property or the property of others, including natural resource damage. Our personnel are also at risk for other workplace-related injuries, including slips and falls. We may in the future be subject to fines, penalties, and other liabilities in connection with any such injury or damage. Although we currently maintain what we believe to be suitable and adequate insurance in excess of our self-insured amounts, we may be unable to maintain such insurance on acceptable terms or such insurance may not provide adequate protection against potential liabilities. If we are unable to comply with environmental and other regulatory requirements, our business may be exposed to material liability and/or fines . Our operations are subject to extensive and frequently changing federal, state, local, and foreign laws and regulations, including those concerning product safety, environmental protection, and occupational health and safety. Some of these laws and regulations require us to obtain permits and limit our ability to discharge hazardous materials into the environment. If we fail to comply with these requirements, we may be subject to civil or criminal enforcement actions that could result in the assessment of fines and penalties, obligations to conduct remedial or corrective actions, or, in extreme circumstances, revocation of our permits or injunctions preventing some or all of our operations. In addition, the components of our boats must meet certain regulatory standards, including stringent air emission standards for boat engines. Failure to meet these standards could result in an inability to sell our boats in key markets, which would adversely affect our business. Moreover, compliance with these regulatory requirements could increase the cost of our products, which in turn, may reduce consumer demand. While we believe that we are in material compliance with applicable federal, state, local, and foreign regulatory requirements, and hold all licenses and permits required thereunder, we cannot assure you that we will, at all times, be able to continue to comply with applicable regulatory requirements. Compliance with increasingly stringent regulatory and permit requirements may, in the future, cause us to incur substantial capital costs and increase our cost of operations, or may limit our operations, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business or financial condition. As with most boat construction businesses, our manufacturing processes involve the use, handling, storage, and contracting for recycling or disposal of hazardous substances and wastes. The failure to manage or dispose of such hazardous substances and wastes properly could expose us to material liability or fines, including liability for personal injury or property damage due to exposure to hazardous substances, damages to natural resources, or for the investigation and remediation of environmental conditions. Under environmental laws, we may be liable for remediation of contamination at sites where our hazardous wastes have been disposed or at our current facility, regardless of whether our facility is owned or leased or whether the environmental conditions were created by us, a prior owner or tenant, or third-party. While we do not believe that we are presently subject to any such liabilities, we cannot assure you that environmental conditions relating to our prior, existing, or future sites or operations or those of predecessor companies will not have a material adverse effect on our business or financial condition. Our industry is characterized by intense competition, which affects our sales and profits. The performance sport boat category and the powerboat industry as a whole are highly competitive for consumers and dealers. We also compete against consumer demand for used boats. Competition affects our ability to succeed in both the markets we currently serve and new markets that we may enter in the future. Competition is based primarily on brand name, price, product selection, and product performance. We compete with several large manufacturers that may have greater financial, marketing, and other resources than we do and who are represented by dealers in the markets in which we now operate and into which we plan to expand. We also compete with a variety of small, independent manufacturers. We cannot assure you that we will not face greater competition from existing large or small manufacturers or that we will be able to compete successfully with new competitors. Our failure to compete effectively with our current and future competitors would adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We also compete with other manufacturers for employees. 29 We face increasing competition for dealers and have little control over their activities . We face intense competition from other performance sport boat manufacturers in attracting and retaining dealers and customers, affecting our ability to attract or retain relationships with qualified and successful dealers and consumers looking to purchase boats. Although our management believes that the quality of our products in the boat industry should permit us to maintain our relationships with our dealers and our market share position, there can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain or improve our relationships with our dealers or our market share position. In addition, independent dealers in the boating industry have experienced significant consolidation in recent years, which could result in the loss of one or more of our dealers in the future if the surviving entity in any such consolidation purchases similar products from a competitor. A substantial deterioration in the number of dealers or quality of our network of dealers would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Our sales may be adversely impacted by increased consumer preference for other leisure activities or used boats or the supply of new boats by competitors in excess of demand . Our boats are not necessities and in times of economic hardship, consumers may cease purchasing non-essential items. Demand for our boats may be adversely affected by competition from other activities that occupy consumers’ leisure time and by changes in consumer lifestyle, usage pattern or taste. Similarly, an overall decrease in consumer leisure time may reduce consumers’ willingness to purchase and enjoy our boats. During the economic downturn that commenced in 2008, there was a shift in consumer demand toward purchasing more used boats, primarily because prices for used boats are typically lower than retail prices for new boats. If this were to occur again, it could have the effect of reducing demand among retail purchasers for our new boats. Also, while we have balanced production volumes for our boats to meet demand, our competitors could choose to reduce the price of their products, which could have the effect of reducing demand for our new boats. Reduced demand for new boats could lead to reduced sales by us, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition. Our sales and profitability depend, in part, on the successful introduction of new products. Market acceptance of our products depends on our technological innovation and our ability to implement technology in our boats. Our sales and profitability may be adversely affected by difficulties or delays in product development, such as an inability to develop viable or innovative new products. Our failure to introduce new technologies and product offerings that consumers desire could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. If we fail to introduce new features or those we introduce fail to gain market acceptance, our bottom line may suffer. In addition, some of our direct competitors and indirect competitors may have significantly more resources to develop and patent new technologies. It is possible that our competitors will develop and patent equivalent or superior technologies and other products that compete with ours. They may assert these patents against us and we may be required to license these patents on unfavorable terms or cease using the technology covered by these patents, either of which would harm our competitive position and may materially adversely affect our business. We also cannot be certain that our products or features have not infringed or will not infringe the proprietary rights of others. Any such infringement could cause third parties, including our competitors, to bring claims against us, resulting in significant costs and potential damages. Our success depends upon the continued strength of our brand, the value of our brand, and sales of our products could be diminished if we, the consumers who use our products, or the sports and activities in which our products are used are associated with negative publicity. We believe that our brand is a significant contributor to the success of our business and that maintaining and enhancing our brand is important to expanding our consumer and dealer base. Failure to continue to protect our brand may adversely affect our business, financial condition, 30 and results of operations. We expect that our ability to develop, maintain and strengthen the Twin Vee, AquaSport and Forza brands will also depend heavily on the success of our marketing efforts. To further promote our brands and Forza’s brand, we and Forza may be required to change our marketing practices, which could result in substantially increased advertising expenses, including the need to use traditional media such as television, radio and print. Many of our current and potential competitors have greater name recognition, broader customer relationships and substantially greater marketing resources than we do. If we do not develop and maintain strong brands, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results will be materially and adversely impacted. Negative publicity, including that resulting from severe injuries or death occurring in the sports and activities in which our products are used, could negatively affect our reputation and result in restrictions, recalls, or bans on the use of our products. If the popularity of the sports and activities for which we design, manufacture, and sell products were to decrease as a result of these risks or any negative publicity, sales of our products could decrease, which could have an adverse effect on our net sales, profitability, and operating results. In addition, if we become exposed to additional claims and litigation relating to the use of our products, our reputation may be adversely affected by such claims, whether or not successful, including by generating potential negative publicity about our products, which could adversely impact our business and financial condition. We may not be able to execute our manufacturing strategy successfully, which could cause the profitability of our products to suffer. Our manufacturing strategy is designed to improve product quality and increase productivity, while reducing costs and increasing flexibility to respond to ongoing changes in the marketplace. To implement this strategy, we must be successful in our continuous improvement efforts, which depend on the involvement of management, production employees, and suppliers. Any inability to achieve these objectives could adversely impact the profitability of our products and our ability to deliver desirable products to our consumers. We will rely on complex machinery for our operations, and production involves a significant degree of risk and uncertainty in terms of operational performance, safety, security, and costs. We expect to rely heavily on complex machinery for our operations and our production will involve a significant degree of uncertainty and risk in terms of operational performance, safety, security, and costs. Our manufacturing plant consists of large-scale machinery combining many components. The manufacturing plant components are likely to suffer unexpected malfunctions from time to time and will depend on repairs and spare parts to resume operations, which may not be available when needed. Unexpected malfunctions of the manufacturing plant components may significantly affect operational efficiency. Operational performance and costs can be difficult to predict and are often influenced by factors outside of our control, such as, but not limited to, scarcity of natural resources, environmental hazards and remediation, costs associated with decommissioning of machines, labor disputes and strikes, difficulty or delays in obtaining governmental permits, damages or defects in electronic systems, industrial accidents, pandemics, fire, seismic activity, and natural disasters. Should operational risks materialize, it may result in the personal injury to or death of workers, the loss of production equipment, damage to manufacturing facilities, products, supplies, tools and materials, monetary losses, delays and unanticipated fluctuations in production, environmental damage, administrative fines, increased insurance costs, and potential legal liabilities, all which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. Although we generally carry insurance to cover such operational risks, we cannot be certain that our insurance coverage will be sufficient to cover potential costs and liabilities arising therefrom. A loss that is uninsured or exceeds policy limits may require us to pay substantial amounts, which could adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. We may need to raise additional capital that may be required to grow our business, and we may not be able to raise capital on terms acceptable to us or at all. Operating our business and maintaining our growth efforts will require significant cash outlays and advance capital expenditures and commitments. Although the proceeds of our initial public offering and follow on offering should be sufficient to fund our operations, if cash on hand and cash generated from operations and from our initial public offering and follow on offering are not sufficient to meet our cash requirements, we will need to seek additional capital, 31 potentially through debt or equity financings, to fund our growth. We cannot assure you that we will be able to raise needed cash on terms acceptable to us or at all. Financings may be on terms that are dilutive or potentially dilutive to our stockholders, and the prices at which new investors would be willing to purchase our securities may be lower than the price per share of our common stock in our initial public offering. The holders of new securities may also have rights, preferences or privileges which are senior to those of existing holders of common stock. If new sources of financing are required, but are insufficient or unavailable, we will be required to modify our growth and operating plans based on available funding, if any, which would harm our ability to grow our business. If we fail to manage future growth effectively, we may not be able to market or sell our products successfully. Any failure to manage our growth effectively could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition. We plan to expand our operations in the near future. Our future operating results depend to a large extent on our ability to manage this expansion and growth successfully. Risks that we face in undertaking this expansion include: ● training new personnel; ● forecasting production and revenue; ● expanding our marketing efforts, including the marketing of a new powertrain that we intend to develop; ● controlling expenses and investments in anticipation of expanded operations; ● establishing or expanding design, manufacturing, sales and service facilities; ● implementing and enhancing administrative infrastructure, systems and processes; and ● addressing new markets. We intend to continue to hire a number of additional personnel, including design and manufacturing personnel and service technicians for our electric boats and powertrains. Competition for individuals with experience designing, manufacturing and servicing electric boats is intense, and we may not be able to attract, assimilate, train or retain additional highly qualified personnel in the future. The failure to attract, integrate, train, motivate and retain these additional employees could seriously harm our business and prospects The loss of one or a few dealers could have a material adverse effect on us. A few dealers have in the past, and may in the future, account for a significant portion of our revenues in any one year or over a period of several consecutive years. For example, during the year ended December 31, 2023, one individual dealer had sales of over 10% of our total sales, and that one dealer represented 10% of total sales. During the year ended December 31, 2022, one dealer represented 12% of our sales. The loss of business from a significant dealer could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. We depend upon our executive officers and we may not be able to retain them and their knowledge of our business and technical expertise would be difficult to replace . Our future success will depend in significant part upon the continued service of our Chief Executive Officer and other executive officers. We cannot assure you that we will be able to continue to attract or retain such persons. We do not have an insurance policy on the life of our chief executive officer, and we do not have “key person” life insurance policies for any of our other officers or advisors. The loss of the technical knowledge and management and industry expertise of any of our key personnel could result in delays in product development, loss of customers and sales and diversion of management resources, which could adversely affect our operating results. 32 Certain of our shareholders have sufficient voting power to make corporate governance decisions that could have a significant influence on us and the other stockholders. Our Chief Executive Officer owns 27.4% of our outstanding common stock. As a result, our Chief Executive Officer does and will have significant influence over our management and affairs and over matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions. In addition, this concentration of ownership may delay or prevent a change in our control and might affect the market price of our common stock, even when a change in control may be in the best interest of all stockholders. Furthermore, the interests of this concentration of ownership may not always coincide with our interests or the interests of other stockholders. Accordingly, our Chief Executive Officer could cause us to enter into transactions or agreements that we would not otherwise consider. We may attempt to grow our business through acquisitions or strategic alliances and new partnerships, which we may not be successful in completing or integrating . We may in the future enter into acquisitions and strategic alliances that will enable us to acquire complementary skills and capabilities, offer new products, expand our consumer base, enter new product categories or geographic markets, and obtain other competitive advantages. We cannot assure you, however, that we will identify acquisition candidates or strategic partners that are suitable to our business, obtain financing on satisfactory terms, complete acquisitions or strategic alliances, or successfully integrate acquired operations into our existing operations. Once integrated, acquired operations may not achieve anticipated levels of sales or profitability, or otherwise perform as expected. Acquisitions also involve special risks, including risks associated with unanticipated challenges, liabilities and contingencies, and diversion of management attention and resources from our existing operations. Similarly, our partnership with leading franchises from other industries to market our products or with third-party technology providers to introduce new technology to the market may not achieve anticipated levels of consumer enthusiasm and acceptance, or achieve anticipated levels of sales or profitability, or otherwise perform as expected. We rely on network and information systems and other technologies for our business activities and certain events, such as computer hackings, viruses or other destructive or disruptive software or activities may disrupt our operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Network and information systems and other technologies are important to our business activities and operations. Network and information systems-related events, such as computer hackings, cyber threats, security breaches, viruses, or other destructive or disruptive software, process breakdowns or malicious or other activities could result in a disruption of our services and operations or improper disclosure of personal data or confidential information, which could damage our reputation and require us to expend resources to remedy any such breaches. Moreover, the amount and scope of insurance we maintain against losses resulting from any such events or security breaches may not be sufficient to cover our losses or otherwise adequately compensate us for any disruptions to our businesses that may result, and the occurrence of any such events or security breaches could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. The risk of these systems-related events and security breaches occurring has intensified, in part because we maintain certain information necessary to conduct our businesses in digital form stored on cloud servers. While we develop and maintain systems seeking to prevent systems-related events and security breaches from occurring, the development and maintenance of these systems is costly and requires ongoing monitoring and updating as technologies change and efforts to overcome security measures become more sophisticated. Despite these efforts, there can be no assurance that disruptions and security breaches will not occur in the future. Moreover, we may provide certain confidential, proprietary and personal information to third parties in connection with our businesses, and while we obtain assurances that these third parties will protect this information, there is a risk that this information may be compromised. Maintaining the secrecy of confidential, proprietary, or trade secret information is important to our competitive business position. While we have taken steps to protect such information and invested in information technology, there can be no assurance that our efforts will prevent service interruptions or security breaches in our systems or the unauthorized or inadvertent wrongful use or disclosure of confidential information that could adversely affect our business operations or result in the loss, dissemination, or misuse of critical or sensitive information. A cyber-attack or other significant disruption involving our information technology systems, or those of our vendors, suppliers and other partners, 33 could also result in disruptions in critical systems, corruption or loss of data and theft of data, funds or intellectual property. A breach of our security measures or the accidental loss, inadvertent disclosure, unapproved dissemination, misappropriation or misuse of trade secrets, proprietary information, or other confidential information, whether as a result of theft, hacking, fraud, trickery or other forms of deception, or for any other reason, could enable others to produce competing products, use our proprietary technology or information, or adversely affect our business or financial condition. We may be unable to prevent outages or security breaches in our systems. We remain potentially vulnerable to additional known or yet unknown threats as, in some instances, we, our suppliers and our other partners may be unaware of an incident or its magnitude and effects. We also face the risk that we expose our vendors or partners to cybersecurity attacks. Any or all of the foregoing could adversely affect our results of operations and our business reputation. Likewise, data privacy breaches by employees or others with permitted access to our systems may pose a risk that sensitive data may be exposed to unauthorized persons or to the public. While we have invested in protection of data and information technology, there can be no assurance that our efforts will prevent breakdowns or breaches in our systems that could adversely affect our business. The occurrence of any of such network or information systems-related events or security breaches could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our business and operations would suffer in the event of computer system failures. Despite the implementation of security measures, our internal computer systems, and those of third parties on which we rely, are vulnerable to damage from computer viruses, malware, natural disasters, terrorism, war, telecommunication and electrical failures, cyber-attacks or cyber-intrusions over the internet, attachments to emails, persons inside our organization, or persons with access to systems inside our organization. The risk of a security breach or disruption, particularly through cyber-attacks or cyber-intrusions, including by computer hackers, foreign governments, and cyber-terrorists, has generally increased as the number, intensity and sophistication of attempted attacks and intrusions from around the world have increased. If such an event were to occur and cause interruptions in our operations, it could result in a material disruption of our current or future product development programs. For example, the loss of any customer data could impact our ability to retain customers or attract new customers. To the extent that any disruption or security breach was to result in a loss of or damage to our data or applications, or inappropriate disclosure of confidential or proprietary information, we could incur material legal claims and liability, damage to our reputation, and the further development of our product candidates could be delayed. We are increasingly dependent on information technology, and our systems and infrastructure face certain risks, including cybersecurity and data leakage risks. Significant disruptions to our information technology systems or breaches of information security could adversely affect our business. In the ordinary course of business, we collect, store and transmit confidential information, and it is critical that we do so in a secure manner to maintain the confidentiality and integrity of such confidential information. The size and complexity of our information technology systems, and those of our third-party vendors with whom we contract, make such systems potentially vulnerable to service interruptions and security breaches from inadvertent or intentional actions by our employees, partners or vendors, from attacks by malicious third parties, or from intentional or accidental physical damage to our systems infrastructure maintained by us or by third parties. Maintaining the secrecy of this confidential, proprietary, or trade secret information is important to our competitive business position. While we have taken steps to protect such information and invested in information technology, there can be no assurance that our efforts will prevent service interruptions or security breaches in our systems or the unauthorized or inadvertent wrongful use or disclosure of confidential information that could adversely affect our business operations or result in the loss, dissemination, or misuse of critical or sensitive information. A breach of our security measures or the accidental loss, inadvertent disclosure, unapproved dissemination, misappropriation or misuse of trade secrets, proprietary information, or other confidential information, whether as a result of theft, hacking, fraud, trickery or other forms of deception, or for any other reason, could enable others to produce competing products, use our proprietary technology or information, or adversely affect our business or financial condition. Further, any such interruption, security breach, loss or disclosure of confidential information, could result in financial, legal, business, and reputational harm to us and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations or cash flow. 34 Uninsured losses could result in payment of substantial damages, which would decrease our cash reserves and could harm our cash flow and financial condition. In the ordinary course of business, we may be subject to losses resulting from product liability, accidents, acts of God and other claims against us, for which we may have no insurance coverage. While we currently carry commercial general liability, commercial boat liability, excess liability, product liability, cybersecurity, crime, special crime, drone, cargo stock throughput, builder’s risk, owner controlled insurance program, property, owners protective, workers’ compensation, employment practices, employed lawyers, production, fiduciary liability and directors’ and officers’ insurance policies, we may not maintain as much insurance coverage as other original equipment manufacturers do, and in some cases, we may not maintain any at all. Additionally, the policies that we have may include significant deductibles, and we cannot be certain that our insurance coverage will be sufficient to cover all or any future claims against us. A loss that is uninsured or exceeds policy limits may require us to pay substantial amounts, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. Further, insurance coverage may not continue to be available to us or, if available, may be at a significantly higher cost, especially if insurance providers perceive any increase in our risk profile in the future. Risks Related to our Electric-Powered Boats Forza’s planned fully electric sport boat has not yet been developed, and even if developed, interest in it may not develop. Forza has not yet commercialized any boats. There can be no assurance that Forza will be able to complete development of the fully electric sport boat when anticipated, if at all, that we will be able to mass produce the fully electric sport boat or that the anticipated features or services to be included in the fully electric will create substantial interest or a market, and therefore Forza’s anticipated product, its sales and growth for our product may not develop as expected, or at all. For example, in May 2021 we experienced a small fire in connection with the sea trial of a prototype of our electric boat which resulted in a six-month delay in our design timetable as we implemented changes to the design for outboard electric motor system as a result of the fire. We cannot guarantee that similar events will not occur in the future, or that we will be able to contain such events without damage or delay. Even if such a market for the fully electric sport boat develops, there can be no assurance that Forza would be able to maintain that market. Forza’s operations to date have been primarily limited to finalizing the design and engineering of its electric sport boat as well as organizing and staffing Forza in preparation for launching the fully electric boat. As such, Forza has not yet demonstrated, and the success of Forza is wholly dependent upon, its ability to commercialize its products. The successful commercialization of any products will require us to perform a variety of functions, including: ● completing the design and testing for the fully electric sport boat and our Forza’s proprietary outboard electric motor; ● manufacturing the fully electric sport boats; ● developing a vertically integrated direct-to-consumer distribution system; and ● conducting sales and marketing activities. Forza cannot be certain that its business strategy for its electric-powered boats will be successful or that we will successfully address these risks. In the event that we do not successfully address these risks, our business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected, and Forza may not have the resources to continue or expand the business operations of its electric-powered boats business. Forza may be unable to adequately control the capital expenditures and costs associated with our business and operations. Forza will require significant capital to develop and grow our business, including developing its first boat to be manufactured, as well as building its brand. Forza expects to make additional capital expenditures and incur substantial costs as it completes the design and engineering of the fully electric sport boat and prepare to commercially launch sales of its boats and grow its business, including research and development expenses, 35 raw material procurement costs, sales and distribution expenses as we build our brand and market its boats and general and administrative expenses as Forza scales its operations, identifies and commits resources to investigate new areas of demand and incurs costs as a public company. Forza’s ability to become profitable in the future will not only depend on its ability to complete the design and development of its boats but also to control its capital expenditures and costs. As Forza expands its product portfolio, it will need to manage costs effectively to sell those products at our expected margins. If Forza is unable to cost efficiently design, manufacture, market, sell and distribute and service its boats and provide its services, our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows would be materially and adversely affected. Forza’s planned distribution model is different from the predominant current distribution model for boat manufacturers, which subjects us to substantial risk and makes evaluating our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows difficult. Forza’s distribution model is still in the planning stages. Forza currently plans to mainly sell its electric-powered boats directly to customers rather than through franchised dealerships (unless required to do so by certain states), primarily through the Forza X1 website and app platform, subject to obtaining applicable dealer licenses and equivalent permits in such jurisdictions. The digital customer experience via our online platform will allow customers to research, shop, choose boat hull color, interior upholstery color, and a possible upgrade of an additional battery to extend run times, order, track and take delivery through our web-based and app platform. Forza has not yet: (i) entered into any arrangements with third parties to provide financing services through Forza X1’s web and app platform, (ii) hired staff for our intended support and service department or (iii) partnered with any third parties to address service needs or operate service centers. Once the customer places the order, their Forza X1 account will request several documents, including license, insurance, etc., which can be uploaded online without ever speaking with a salesperson. If the customer has questions, concerns, or needs support through the sales and purchase process, they will be able to contact Forza X1 through the website or app with any questions or concerns. Since Forza’s planned sales and marketing platform is a newer way to shop, buy and take delivery of a new boat through a mostly virtual process, we are unable to predict or conclude precisely what the customer will experience. Forza intends to follow up customer transactions with review and quality control questionnaires to collect the data and continue to better our platform and how we interact with customers. In addition to the Forza website and app platform, Forza also intends to establish Forza X1 customer experience and service centers to be operated as product showrooms and locations where Forza X1 boats may be taken for service and warranty repairs. They will be located in jurisdictions where direct-to-consumer sales or manufacturer-owned dealerships are permissible and allow prospective customers to see our products in person before purchasing. Forza anticipates staffing these centers with well-trained Forza X1 employees. Forza will initially set up a single office, but if and as its grows, Forza plans to open additional customer experience and service centers to support our expansion, help bolster sales, and introduce its electric boat product to markets across the country that are more familiar purchasing boats at a traditional boat dealership. This model of boat distribution is relatively new, different from the predominant current distribution model for boat manufacturers and, with limited exceptions, unproven, which subjects us to substantial risk. We and Forza have no experience in selling or leasing boats direct-to-consumer and therefore this model may require significant expenditures and provide for slower expansion than the traditional dealer franchise system. For example, Forza will not be able to utilize long established relationships developed by Twin Vee with its dealer network. Moreover, Forza will be competing with companies with well established distribution channels. Forza’s success will depend in large part on our its ability to effectively develop our its own sales channels and marketing strategies. Implementing a direct sales model is subject to numerous significant challenges, including obtaining permits and approvals from government authorities, and we may not be successful in addressing these challenges. If Forza’s direct sales model does not develop as expected or develops more slowly than expected, it may be required to modify or abandon our sales model, which could materially and adversely affect its business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. 36 Forza’s ability to generate meaningful product revenue from our electric-powered boats will depend on consumer adoption of electric boats. Forza’s ability to generate meaningful product revenue from electric-powered boats will highly depend on sustained consumer demand for alternative fuel vehicles in general and electric boats in particular. If the market for electric boats does not develop as expected or develops more slowly than expected, or if there is a decrease in consumer demand for electric vehicles, Forza’s business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations will be harmed. The market for electric and other alternative fuel vehicles is relatively new, rapidly evolving, characterized by rapidly changing technologies, price competition, additional competitors, evolving government regulation (including government incentives and subsidies) and industry standards, frequent new vehicle announcements and changing consumer demands and behaviors. Any number of changes in the industry could negatively affect consumer demand for electric vehicles in general and Forza’s electric boats in particular. In addition, demand for electric boats may be affected by factors directly impacting boat prices or the cost of purchasing and operating boats such as sales and financing incentives including tax credits, prices of raw materials and parts and components, cost of fuel, availability of consumer credit, and governmental regulations, including tariffs, import regulation and other taxes. Volatility in demand may lead to lower vehicle unit sales, which may result in downward price pressure and adversely affect Forza’s business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations. Further, sales of boats in the marine industry tend to be cyclical in many markets, which may expose us to increased volatility, especially as Forza expands and adjust its operations and retail strategies. Specifically, it is uncertain how such macroeconomic factors will impact us as a new entrant in an industry that has globally been experiencing a recent decline in sales. Other factors that may influence the adoption of electric boats include: ● perceptions about electric vehicle quality, safety, design, performance and cost; ● perceptions about the limited range over which electric boats may be driven on a single battery charge; ● perceptions about the total cost of ownership of electric boats, including the initial purchase price and operating and maintenance costs, both including and excluding the effect of any government and other subsidies and incentives designed to promote the purchase of electric boats; ● perceptions about the sustainability and environmental impact of electric boats, including with respect to both the sourcing and disposal of materials for electric vehicle batteries and the generation of electricity provided in the electric grid; ● the availability of other alternative fuel boats; ● improvements in the fuel economy of the internal combustion engine; ● the quality and availability of service for electric boats; ● volatility in the cost of oil and gasoline; ● government regulations and economic incentives promoting fuel efficiency and alternate forms of energy; ● access to charging stations and cost to charge an electric vehicle and related infrastructure costs and standardization; ● the availability of tax and other governmental incentives to purchase and operate electric boats or future regulation requiring increased use of nonpolluting boats; and ● macroeconomic factors. 37 The influence of any of the factors described above or any other factors may cause a general reduction in consumer demand for electric vehicles or Forza’s electric boats in particular, either of which would materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects. Forza depends upon third parties to manufacture and to supply key semiconductor chip components necessary for its electric boats. Forza does not have long-term agreements with any semiconductor chip manufacturers and suppliers, and if these manufacturers or suppliers become unwilling or unable to provide an adequate supply of semiconductor chips, with respect to which there is a global shortage, Forza would not be able to find alternative sources in a timely manner and Forza’s and our business would be adversely impacted. Semiconductor chips are a vital input component to the electrical architecture of our electric boats, controlling wide aspects of the Forza boats’ operations. Many of the key semiconductor chips Forza intends to use in its electric boats come from limited or single sources of supply, and therefore a disruption with any one manufacturer or supplier in our supply chain would have an adverse effect on our ability to effectively manufacture and timely deliver its boats. Forza does not have any long- term supply contracts with any suppliers and purchase chips on a purchase order basis. Due to its reliance on these semiconductor chips, Forza is subject to the risk of shortages and long lead times in their supply. Forza in the process of identifying alternative manufacturers for semiconductor chips. Forza has in the past experienced, and may in the future experience, semiconductor chip shortages, and the availability and cost of these components would be difficult to predict. For example, Forza’s manufacturers may experience temporary or permanent disruptions in their manufacturing operations due to equipment breakdowns, labor strikes or shortages, natural disasters, component or material shortages, cost increases, acquisitions, insolvency, changes in legal or regulatory requirements, or other similar problems. In particular, increased demand for semiconductor chips in 2020, due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic and increased demand for consumer electronics that use these chips, has resulted in a continued global shortage of chips through 2022. As a result, Forza’s ability to source semiconductor chips to be used in our electric boats has been adversely affected. This shortage may result in increased chip delivery lead times, delays in the production of boats, and increased costs to source available semiconductor chips. To the extent this semiconductor chip shortage continues, and Forza is unable to mitigate the effects of this shortage, its ability to deliver sufficient quantities of its boats to fulfill its preorders and to support Forza’s growth through sales to new customers would be adversely affected. In addition, Forza may be required to incur additional costs and expenses in managing ongoing chip shortages, including additional research and development expenses, engineering design and development costs in the event that new suppliers must be onboarded on an expedited basis. Further, ongoing delays in production and shipment of electric boats due to a continuing shortage of semiconductor chips may harm Forza’s reputation and discourage additional preorders and boat sales, and otherwise materially and adversely affect Forza’s business and operations. The electric boats will use lithium-ion battery cells, which, if not appropriately managed and controlled, have been observed to catch fire or vent smoke and flame. The battery packs within Forza’s electric boats are being designed to use of lithium-ion cells. If not properly managed or subject to environmental stresses, lithium-ion cells can rapidly release the energy they contain by venting smoke and flames in a manner that can ignite nearby materials as well as other lithium-ion cells. While the battery pack is designed to contain any single cell’s release of energy without spreading to neighboring cells, a field or testing failure of battery packs in our electric boats could occur, which could result in bodily injury or death and could subject Forza to lawsuits, field actions (including product recalls), or redesign efforts, all of which would be time consuming and expensive and could harm Forza’s brand image. Also, negative public perceptions regarding the suitability of lithium-ion cells for boating applications, the social and environmental impacts of mineral mining or procurement associated with the constituents of lithium-ion cells, or any future incident involving lithium-ion cells, such as a vehicle or other fire, could materially and adversely affect Forza’s reputation and business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. The electronic vehicle (EV) industry and its technology are rapidly evolving and may be subject to unforeseen changes which could adversely affect the demand for Forza’s boats or increase Forza’s operating costs. 38 Forza may be unable to keep up with changes in EV technology or alternatives to electricity as a fuel source and, as a result, its competitiveness may suffer. Developments in alternative technologies, such as advanced diesel, hydrogen, ethanol, fuel cells, or compressed natural gas, or improvements in the fuel economy of the internal combustion engine or the cost of gasoline, may materially and adversely affect our business and prospects in ways we do not currently anticipate. Existing and other battery cell technologies, fuels or sources of energy may emerge as customers’ preferred alternative to Forza’s boats. Any failure by Forza to develop new or enhanced technologies or processes, or to react to changes in existing technologies, could materially delay its development and introduction of new and enhanced alternative fuel and EVs, which could result in the loss of competitiveness of our electric boats, decreased revenue and a loss of market share to competitors. Forza’s research and development efforts may not be sufficient to adapt to changes in alternative fuel and electric vehicle technology. As technologies change, Forza plans to upgrade or adapt its electric boats with the latest technology. However, Forza’s electric boats may not compete effectively with alternative systems if Forza is not able to source and integrate the latest technology into its boats. Additionally, the introduction and integration of new technologies into the electric boats may increase costs and capital expenditures required for the production and manufacture of boats and, if Forza is unable to cost efficiently implement such technologies or adjust its manufacturing operations, its business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows would be materially and adversely affected. Forza may not be able to commence production of our electric boats as planned. Forza currently plans to manufacture its electric boats at a new state of the art carbon neutral factory that we plan to build in McDowell County, North Carolina. Until it is able to expand our manufacturing capacity and build the planned manufacturing facility, it expects to continue to share Twin Vee’s current manufacturing facility, which has a limited capacity and may not be able to satisfy our manufacturing needs. Although they have entered into a Transition Services Agreement with Twin Vee, the Transition Services Agreement does not provide for any dedicated manufacturing capacity for Forza. Our ability to utilize Twin Vee’s manufacturing capacity pending completion of its own facility will be subject to its availability as determined by Twin Vee and Twin Vee has no obligation to make any manufacturing capacity available to Forza under the Transition Services Agreement. As a result, its ability to produce any boats will be limited to the available capacity of the Twin Vee facility until our future manufacturing facility is operational. If Twin Vee does not provide manufacturing capacity, it will not be able to produce its electric boats unless or until we lease or purchase facilities and equipment necessary for our production purposes. Any facility that it builds will require a significant capital investment and is expected to take at least one to two years to build and become fully operational. In addition, even if the construction of our planned facility is completed when anticipated, production at its facility could be delayed whether due to lack of equipment, workforce issues or other reasons. If Forza is unable to complete our own facility and commence production as planned, its business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows would be materially and adversely affected and the value of your investment in its company may be materially adversely affected. Forza may not receive the anticipated grant funding . On July 28, 2022, Forza received notice that the North Carolina Economic investment committee has approved the JDIG providing for reimbursement to us of up to $1,367,100 over a twelve-year period to establish a new manufacturing plant in McDowell County, North Carolina. The receipt of grant funding is conditioned upon us investing over $10.5 million in land, buildings and fixtures, infrastructure and machinery and equipment by the end of 2025 and us creating as many as 170 jobs. If Forza’s electric boats fail to perform as expected, its ability to develop, market and sell or lease its products could be harmed. Once commercialization commences, Forza’s electric boats may contain defects in design and manufacture that may cause them not to perform as expected or that may require repairs, recalls, and design changes, any of which would require significant financial and other resources to successfully navigate and resolve. The boats will use a substantial amount of software code to operate, and software products are inherently complex and may contain defects and errors when first introduced. If the boats contain defects in design and manufacture that cause them not to perform as expected or that require repair, or certain features of the boats take longer than expected to become available, are legally restricted or become subject to additional regulation, Forza’s ability to develop, market and sell its products and services could be harmed. Although Forza will attempt to remedy any issues it observes in its products as effectively and rapidly as possible, such efforts could significantly distract management’s attention from other important business objectives, 39 may not be timely, may hamper production or may not be to the satisfaction of its customers. Further, Forza’s limited operating history and limited field data reduces its ability to evaluate and predict the long-term quality, reliability, durability and performance characteristics of its battery packs, powertrains and boats. There can be no assurance that Forza will be able to detect and fix any defects in its products prior to their sale or lease to customers. Any defects, delays or legal restrictions on boat features, or other failure of Forza’s boats to perform as expected, could harm its reputation and result in delivery delays, product recalls, product liability claims, breach of warranty claims and significant warranty and other expenses, and could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, prospects and financial condition. As a new entrant to the industry attempting to build customer relationships and earn trust, these effects could be significantly detrimental to us. Additionally, problems and defects experienced by other electric consumer vehicles could by association have a negative impact on perception and customer demand for Forza’s boats. In addition, even if Forza’s boats function as designed, Forza expects that the battery efficiency, and hence the range, of its electric boats, like other electric vehicles that use current battery technology, will decline over time. Other factors, such as usage, time and stress patterns, may also impact the battery’s ability to hold a charge, or could require Forza to limit boat battery charging capacity, including via over-the-air or other software updates, for safety reasons or to protect battery capacity, which could further decrease the boats’ range between charges. Such decreases in or limitations of battery capacity and therefore range, whether imposed by deterioration, software limitations or otherwise, could also lead to consumer complaints or warranty claims, including claims that prior knowledge of such decreases or limitations would have affected consumers’ purchasing decisions. Further, there can be no assurance that Forza will be able to improve the performance of its battery packs, or increase its boats range, in the future. Any such battery deterioration or capacity limitations and related decreases in range may negatively influence potential customers’ willingness to purchase Forza boats and negatively impact its brand and reputation, which could adversely affect Forza’s business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition. Forza’s boats will rely on software and hardware that is highly technical, and if these systems contain errors, bugs, vulnerabilities, or design defects, or if Forza is unsuccessful in addressing or mitigating technical limitations in our systems, our business could be adversely affected. Forza’s boats are expected to rely on software and hardware that is highly technical and complex and may require modification and updates over the life of the boats. In addition, the boats will depend on the ability of such software and hardware to store, retrieve, process and manage large amounts of data. Forza’s software and hardware may contain errors, bugs, vulnerabilities or design defects, and our systems are subject to certain technical limitations that may compromise its ability to meet its objectives. Some errors, bugs, vulnerabilities, or design defects inherently may be difficult to detect and may only be discovered after the code has been released for external or internal use. Although Forza will attempt to remedy any issues it observes in its boats effectively and rapidly, such efforts may not be timely, may hamper production or may not be to the satisfaction of its customers. Additionally, if Forza deploys updates to the software (whether to address issues, deliver new features or make desired modifications) and its over-the-air update procedures fail to properly update the software or otherwise have unintended consequences to the software, the software within its customers’ boats will be subject to vulnerabilities or unintended consequences resulting from such failure of the over-the-air update until properly addressed. If Forza is unable to prevent or effectively remedy errors, bugs, vulnerabilities or defects in its software and hardware, or fails to deploy updates to its software properly, it would suffer damage to its reputation, loss of customers, loss of revenue or liability for damages, any of which could adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. Intellectual Property Risks Forza’s patent applications may not issue as patents, which may have a material adverse effect on its ability to prevent others from commercially exploiting products similar to its products. 40 Forza cannot be certain that it is the first inventor of the subject matter to which it has filed a particular patent application, or that it is the first party to file such a patent application. If another party has filed a patent application for the same subject matter as it has, it may not be entitled to the protection sought by the patent application. Further, the scope of protection of issued patent claims is often difficult to determine. As a result, we cannot be certain that the patent applications that Forza files will issue, or that our issued patents will afford protection against competitors with similar technology. In addition, its competitors may design around Forza’s issued patents, which may adversely affect its and our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. We and Forza may not be able to prevent others from unauthorized use of our intellectual property, which could harm our business and competitive position. We and Forza may not be able to prevent others from unauthorized use of our intellectual property, which could harm our and Forza’s business and competitive position. We and Forza rely on a combination of patent, trade secret (including those in our know-how), and other intellectual property laws, as well as employee and third-party nondisclosure agreements, intellectual property licenses, and other contractual rights to establish and protect rights in our technology and intellectual property. Our and Forza’s patent or trademark applications may not be granted, any patents or trademark registrations that may be issued to us may not sufficiently protect our and Forza’s intellectual property and any of our or Forza’s issued patents, trademark registrations or other intellectual property rights may be challenged by third parties. Any of these scenarios may result in limitations in the scope of our or Forza’s intellectual property or restrictions on our or Forza’s use of our intellectual property or may adversely affect the conduct of our or Forza’s business. Despite our or Forza’s efforts to protect our or Forza’s intellectual property rights, third parties may attempt to copy or otherwise obtain and use our or Forza’s intellectual property or seek court declarations that they do not infringe upon our or Forza’s intellectual property rights. Monitoring unauthorized use of our or Forza’s intellectual property is difficult and costly, and the steps we and Forza have taken or will take to prevent misappropriation may not be successful. From time to time, we and Forza may have to resort to litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of our resources. Patent, trademark, and trade secret laws vary significantly throughout the world. A number of foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States. Therefore, our and Forza’s intellectual property rights may not be as strong or as easily enforced outside of the United States. Failure to adequately protect our and Forza’s intellectual property rights could result in competitors offering similar products, potentially resulting in the loss of some of competitive advantage and a decrease in our and Forza’s revenue which would adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. If Forza’s patents expire or are not maintained, Forza’s patent applications are not granted or patent rights are contested, circumvented, invalidated or limited in scope, Forza may not be able to prevent others from selling, developing or exploiting competing technologies or products, which could have a material adverse effect on its and our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. Forza cannot assure that its pending applications will issue as patents. Even if its patent applications issue into patents, these patents may be contested, circumvented or invalidated in the future. In addition, the rights granted under any issued patents may not provide us with adequate protection or competitive advantages. The claims under any patents that issue from Forza’s patent applications may not be broad enough to prevent others from developing technologies that are similar or that achieve results similar to Forza’s technology. The intellectual property rights of others could also bar Forza from licensing and exploiting any patents that issue from Forza’s pending applications. Numerous patents and pending patent applications owned by others exist in the fields in which Forza has developed and are developing its technology. Many of these existing patents and patent applications might have priority over its patent applications and could subject its patents to invalidation or its patent applications to rejection. Finally, in addition to patents and patent applications that were filed before its patents and patent applications, any of its existing or future patents may also be challenged by others on the basis that they are invalid or unenforceable. 41 We and Forza may in the future become, subject to claims that we or our employees have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets of our or Forza’s employees’ former employers. Many of our and Forza’s employees were previously employed by other companies with similar or related technology, products or services. We and Forza are, and may in the future become, subject to claims that we, they or these employees have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed trade secrets or other proprietary information of former employers. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we or Forza fail to defend such claims, we or they may be forced to pay monetary damages or be enjoined from using certain technology, products, services or knowledge. Even if we or they are successful in defending against these claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and demand on management resources. Our and Forza’s use of open-source software in our applications could subject our proprietary software to general release, adversely affect our ability to sell our and Forza’s services and subject us to possible litigation, claims or proceedings. We and Forza plan to use open-source software in connection with the development and deployment of our and Forza’s products and services. Companies that use open-source software in connection with their products have, from time to time, faced claims challenging the use of open-source software and/or compliance with open-source license terms. As a result, we or Forza could be subject to suits by parties claiming ownership of what are believed to be open-source software or claiming noncompliance with open- source licensing terms. Some open-source software licenses may require users who distribute proprietary software containing or linked to open- source software to publicly disclose all or part of the source code to such proprietary software and/or make available any derivative works of the open-source code under the same open- source license, which could include proprietary source code. In such cases, the open- source software license may also restrict us or Forza from charging fees to licensees for their use of our or Forza’s software. While we and Forza will monitor the use of open-source software and try to ensure that open-source software is not used in a manner that would subject our or Forza’s proprietary source code to these requirements and restrictions, such use could inadvertently occur, in part because open-source license terms are often ambiguous and have generally not been interpreted by U.S. or foreign courts. Further, in addition to risks related to license requirements, use of certain open-source software carries greater technical and legal risks than does the use of third-party commercial software. For example, open-source software is generally provided as-is without any support or warranties or other contractual protections regarding infringement or the quality of the code, including the existence of security vulnerabilities. To the extent that our or Forza’s platformer the platform of our subsidiaries depends upon the successful operation of open-source software, any undetected errors or defects in open-source software that we or Forza use could prevent the deployment or impair the functionality of our systems and injure our reputation. In addition, the public availability of such software may make it easier for attackers to target and compromise our or Forza’s platform through cyber-attacks. Any of the foregoing risks could materially and adversely affect our and Forza’s business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. A significant portion of our and Forza’s intellectual property is not protected through patents or formal copyright registration. As a result, neither we nor Forza have the full benefit of patent or copyright laws to prevent others from replicating our or Forza’s products, product candidates and brands. We have not protected our intellectual property rights with respect to our gas-powered boats through patents or formal copyright registration, and we do not currently have any patent applications pending. There can be no assurance that any patent will issue or if issued that the patent will protect our intellectual property. As a result, we may not be able to protect our intellectual property and trade secrets or prevent others from independently developing substantially equivalent proprietary information and techniques or from otherwise gaining access to our intellectual property or trade secrets. In such an instance, our competitors could produce products that are nearly identical to ours or Forza’s resulting in us selling less products or generating less revenue from our or Forza’s sales. Confidentiality agreements with employees and others may not adequately prevent disclosure of trade secrets and other proprietary information. We and Forza rely on trade secrets, know-how and technology, which are not protected by patents, to protect the intellectual property behind our boats and the intellectual property behind Forza’s electric powertrain and for the construction of its boats. We and Forza have recently begun to use confidentiality agreements with our and its collaborators, employees, 42 consultants, outside collaborators and other advisors to protect its proprietary technology and processes. We and Forza intend to use such agreements in the future, but these agreements may not effectively prevent disclosure of confidential information and may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized disclosure of confidential information. In addition, others may independently discover trade secrets and proprietary information, and in such cases we and Forza could not assert any trade secret rights against such party. Costly and time-consuming litigation could be necessary to enforce and determine the scope of our proprietary rights, and failure to obtain or maintain trade secret protection could adversely affect our or Forza’s competitive business position. We and Forza may need to defend ourselves against patent, copyright or trademark infringement claims, which may be time-consuming and would cause us and Forza to incur substantial costs. The status of the protection of our and Forza’s intellectual property is unsettled as we and Forza do not have any issued patents, registered trademarks or registered copyrights for most of our and Forza’s intellectual property and other than three design, five utility and two full non-provisional patent applications, neither we nor Forza have applied for the same. Companies, organizations or individuals, including our competitors, may hold or obtain patents, trademarks or other proprietary rights that would prevent, limit or interfere with our or Forza’s ability to make, use, develop, sell or market our powerboats and electric powertrains or use third-party components, which could make it more difficult for us or Forza to operate. From time to time, we or Forza may receive communications from third parties that allege our or Forza’s products or components thereof are covered by their patents or trademarks or other intellectual property rights. Companies holding patents or other intellectual property rights may bring suits alleging infringement of such rights or otherwise assert their rights. If we or Forza are determined to have infringed upon a third party’s intellectual property rights, we or Forza may be required to do one or more of the following: ● cease making, using, selling or offering to sell processes, goods or services that incorporate or use the third-party intellectual property; ● pay substantial damages; ● seek a license from the holder of the infringed intellectual property right, which license may not be available on reasonable terms or at all; ● redesign our boats or other goods or services to avoid infringing the third-party intellectual property; ● establish and maintain alternative branding for our products and services; or ● find-third providers of any part or service that is the subject of the intellectual property claim. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us or Forza and our or Forza’s failure or inability to obtain a license to the infringed technology or other intellectual property right, our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition could be materially adversely affected. In addition, any litigation or claims, whether or not valid, could result in substantial costs, negative publicity and diversion of resources and management attention. Risks Related to our Industry Demand in the powerboat industry is highly volatile. Volatility of demand in the powerboat industry, especially for recreational powerboats and electric powerboats, may materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, operating results and financial condition. The markets in which we will be competing have been subject to considerable volatility in demand in recent periods. Demand for recreational powerboat and electric powerboat sales depends to a large extent on general, economic and social conditions in a given market. Historically, sales of recreational powerboats decrease during economic downturns. We have fewer financial resources than more established powerboat manufacturers to withstand adverse changes in the market and disruptions in demand. 43 General economic conditions, particularly in the U.S., affect our industry, demand for our products and our business, and results of operations . Demand for premium boat brands has been significantly influenced by weak economic conditions, low consumer confidence, high unemployment, and increased market volatility worldwide, especially in the U.S. In times of economic uncertainty and contraction, consumers tend to have less discretionary income and tend to defer or avoid expenditures for discretionary items, such as our products. Sales of our products are highly sensitive to personal discretionary spending levels. Our business is cyclical in nature and its success is impacted by economic conditions, the overall level of consumer confidence and discretionary income levels. Any substantial deterioration in general economic conditions that diminishes consumer confidence or discretionary income may reduce our sales and materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We cannot predict the duration or strength of an economic recovery, either in the U.S. or in the specific markets where we sell our products. Corporate restructurings, layoffs, declines in the value of investments and residential real estate, higher gas prices, higher interest rates, and increases in federal and state taxation may each materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Consumers often finance purchases of our products. Although consumer credit markets have improved, consumer credit market conditions continue to influence demand, especially for boats, and may continue to do so. There continue to be fewer lenders, tighter underwriting and loan approval criteria, and greater down payment requirements than in the past. If credit conditions worsen, and adversely affect the ability of consumers to finance potential purchases at acceptable terms and interest rates, it could result in a decrease in the sales of our products. Global economic conditions could materially adversely impact demand for our products and services. Our operations and performance depend significantly on economic conditions. Global financial conditions continue to be subject to volatility arising from international geopolitical developments and global economic phenomenon, as well as general financial market turbulence, including a significant recent market reaction to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), resulting in a significant reduction in many major market indices. Uncertainty about global economic conditions could result in material adverse effects on our business, results of operations or financial condition. Access to public financing and credit can be negatively affected by the effect of these events on U.S. and global credit markets. The health of the global financing and credit markets may affect our ability to obtain equity or debt financing in the future and the terms at which financing, or credit is available to us. These instances of volatility and market turmoil could adversely affect our operations and the trading price of our common shares resulting in: ● customers postponing purchases of our products and services in response to tighter credit, unemployment, negative financial news and/or declines in income or asset values and other macroeconomic factors, which could have a material negative effect on demand for our products and services; and ● third-party suppliers being unable to produce parts and components for our products in the same quantity or on the same timeline or being unable to deliver such parts and components as quickly as before or subject to price fluctuations, which could have a material adverse effect on our production or the cost of such production. Risks Relating to Ownership of our Common Stock Terms of subsequent financings may adversely impact your investment. We may have to engage in common equity, debt, or preferred stock financing in the future. Your rights and the value of your investment in our securities could be reduced. Interest on debt securities could increase costs and negatively impacts operating results. Preferred stock could be issued in series from time to time with such designation, rights, preferences, and limitations as needed to raise capital. The terms of preferred stock could be more advantageous to those investors than to the holders of common shares. In addition, if we need to raise more equity capital from the sale of common shares, institutional or other investors may negotiate terms at least as, and possibly more, favorable than the terms of your investment. Common shares which we sell could be sold into any market which develops, which could adversely affect the market price. 44 If securities analysts do not publish research or reports about our company, or if they issue unfavorable commentary about us or our industry or downgrade our common stock, the price of our common stock could decline. The trading market for our common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that third-party securities analysts publish about our company and our industry. We may be unable or slow to attract research coverage and if one or more analysts cease coverage of our company, we could lose visibility in the market. In addition, one or more of these analysts could downgrade our common stock or issue other negative commentary about our company or our industry. As a result of one or more of these factors, the trading price of our common stock could decline. The obligations associated with being a public company will require significant resources and management attention, which may divert from our business operations. As a result of our initial public offering, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The Exchange Act requires that we file annual, quarterly, and current reports with respect to our business and financial condition. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we establish and maintain effective internal controls and procedures for financial reporting. As a result, we have and will continue to incur significant legal, accounting, and other expenses that we did not previously incur. We have identified weaknesses in our internal controls, and we cannot provide assurances that these weaknesses will be effectively remediated or that additional material weaknesses will not occur in the future. As a public company, we will be subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We expect that the requirements of these rules and regulations will continue to increase our legal, accounting and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time consuming and costly, and place significant strain on our personnel, systems and resources. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures, and internal control over financial reporting. We do not yet have effective disclosure controls and procedures, or internal controls over all aspects of our financial reporting. We are continuing to develop and refine our disclosure controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we will file with the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and in accordance with GAAP. Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over our financial reporting, as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act. We will be required to expend time and resources to further improve our internal controls over financial reporting, including by expanding our staff. However, we cannot assure you that our internal control over financial reporting, as modified, will enable us to identify or avoid material weaknesses in the future. We will be required to expend time and resources to further improve our internal controls over financial reporting, including by expanding our staff. However, we cannot assure you that our internal control over financial reporting, as modified, will enable us to identify or avoid material weaknesses in the future. We have not yet retained sufficient staff or engaged sufficient outside consultants with appropriate experience in GAAP presentation, especially of complex instruments, to devise and implement effective disclosure controls and procedures, or internal controls. We will be required to expend time and resources hiring and engaging additional staff and outside consultants with the appropriate experience to remedy these weaknesses. We cannot assure you that management will be successful in locating and retaining appropriate candidates; that newly engaged staff or outside consultants will be successful in remedying material weaknesses thus far identified or identifying material weaknesses in the future; or that appropriate candidates will be located and retained prior to these deficiencies resulting in material and adverse effects on our business. 45 Our current controls and any new controls that we develop may become inadequate because of changes in conditions in our business, including increased complexity resulting from our international expansion. Further, weaknesses in our disclosure controls or our internal control over financial reporting may be discovered in the future. Any failure to develop or maintain effective controls, or any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement, could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and may result in a restatement of our financial statements for prior periods. Any failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could also adversely affect the results of management reports and independent registered public accounting firm audits of our internal control over financial reporting that we will eventually be required to include in our periodic reports that will be filed with the SEC. Ineffective disclosure controls and procedures, and internal control over financial reporting could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial and other information, which would likely have a negative effect on the market price of our common stock. Our independent registered public accounting firm is not required to audit the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting until after we are no longer an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act. At such time, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our internal control over financial reporting is documented, designed or operating. Any failure to maintain effective disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting could have a material and adverse effect on our business and operating results and cause a decline in the market price of our common stock. Our failure to achieve and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act as a public company could have a material adverse effect on our business and share price . Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires annual management assessments of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting and our management is required to report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting for such year. Additionally, once we are no longer an emerging growth company, as defined by the JOBS Act, our independent registered public accounting firm will be required pursuant to Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting on an annual basis. The rules governing the standards that must be met for our management to assess our internal control over financial reporting are complex and require significant documentation, testing, and possible remediation. Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. We are in the process of reviewing, documenting, and testing our internal control over financial reporting, but we are not currently in compliance with, and we cannot be certain when we will be able to implement, the requirements of Section 404(a). We may encounter problems or delays in implementing any changes necessary to make a favorable assessment of our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, we may encounter problems or delays in completing the implementation of any public accounting firm after we cease to be an emerging growth company. If we cannot favorably assess the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to provide an unqualified attestation report on our internal controls after we cease to be an emerging growth company, investors could lose confidence in our financial information and the price of our common stock could decline. Additionally, the existence of the material weakness has required management to devote significant time and incur significant expense to remediate any such material weaknesses or significant deficiencies and management may not be able to remediate any such material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in a timely manner. The existence of any material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting could also result in errors in our financial statements that could require us to restate our financial statements, cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations, and cause stockholders to lose confidence in our reported financial information, all of which could materially and adversely affect our business and share price. For as long as we are an emerging growth company, we will not be required to comply with certain reporting requirements, including those relating to accounting standards and disclosure about our executive compensation, that apply to other public companies. 46 We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies,” including, but not limited to, (i) not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (ii) reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and (iii) exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and of stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We have elected to adopt these reduced disclosure requirements. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive as a result of our taking advantage of these exemptions and as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile. We could remain an “emerging growth company” for up to five years or until the earliest of (a) the last day of the first fiscal year in which our annual gross revenues exceed $1.235 billion, (b) the date that we become a “large accelerated filer” as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act, which would occur if the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of our most recently completed fiscal quarter, and (c) the date on which we have issued more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the preceding three-year period. We are also a “smaller reporting company” as defined in the Exchange Act, and have elected to take advantage of certain of the scaled disclosures available to smaller reporting companies. To the extent that we continue to qualify as a “smaller reporting company” as such term is defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act, after we cease to qualify as an emerging growth company, certain of the exemptions available to us as an “emerging growth company” may continue to be available to us as a “smaller reporting company,” including exemption from compliance with the auditor attestation requirements pursuant to SOX and reduced disclosure about our executive compensation arrangements. We will continue to be a “smaller reporting company” until we have $250 million or more in public float (based on our common stock) measured as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter or, in the event we have no public float (based on our common stock) or a public float (based on our common stock) that is less than $700 million, annual revenues of $100 million or more during the most recently completed fiscal year. Our failure to meet the continued listing requirements of The Nasdaq Capital Market could result in a de-listing of our common stock. The shares of our Common Stock are listed for trading on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “VEE.” If we fail to satisfy the continued listing requirements of The Nasdaq Capital Market, such as the corporate governance requirements, the stockholder’s equity requirement, or the minimum closing bid price requirement, The Nasdaq Capital Market may take steps to de-list our Common Stock. Such a de-listing or even notification of failure to comply with such requirements would likely have a negative effect on the price of our Common Stock and would impair your ability to sell or purchase our Common Stock when you wish to do so. In the event of a de-listing, we would take actions to restore our compliance with The Nasdaq Capital Market’s listing requirements, but we can provide no assurance that any such action taken by us would allow our Common Stock to become listed again, stabilize the market price, improve the liquidity of our Common Stock, prevent our Common Stock from dropping below The Nasdaq Capital Market minimum bid price requirement, or prevent future non-compliance with The Nasdaq Capital Market’s listing requirements. The National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996, which is a federal statute, prevents or preempts the states from regulating the sale of certain securities, which are referred to as “covered securities.” Because our Common Stock is listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market, it is a covered security. Although the states are preempted from regulating the sale of covered securities, the federal statute does allow the states to investigate companies if there is a suspicion of fraud, and, if there is a finding of fraudulent activity, then the states can regulate or bar the sale of covered securities in a particular case. Further, if we were to be delisted from The Nasdaq Capital Market, our Common Stock would cease to be recognized as a covered security and we would be subject to regulation in each state in which we offer our securities. Our stock price has fluctuated in the past, has recently been volatile, and may be volatile in the future, and as a result, investors in our Common Stock could incur substantial losses. 47 Investors should consider an investment in our Common Stock risky and invest only if they can withstand a significant loss and wide fluctuations in the market value of their investment. Investors who purchase our Common Stock may not be able to sell their shares at or above the purchase price. Our stock price has been volatile and may be volatile in the future. The price of our common stock has experienced volatility. On January 20, 2023, the closing price of our common stock on the Nasdaq was $1.33 per share, on March 14, 2024, the closing price of our common stock on the Nasdaq was $1.12 per share It is possible that an active trading market will not continue or be sustained, which could make it difficult for investors to sell their shares of our common stock at an attractive price or at all. The stock market in general has been, and the market price of our Common Stock in particular, will likely be subject to fluctuation, whether due to, or irrespective of, our operating results and financial condition. The market price of our Common Stock may fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, some of which are beyond our control, including, but not limited to: ● actual or anticipated variations in our and our competitors’ results of operations and financial condition; ● market acceptance of our diagnostic tests and therapeutic products; ● the mix of products that we sell and related services that we provide; ● changes in earnings estimates or recommendations by securities analysts, if our Common Stock is covered by analysts; ● development of technological innovations or new competitive diagnostic tests or therapeutic products by others; ● announcements of technological innovations or new diagnostic tests or therapeutic products by us; ● our failure to achieve a publicly announced milestone; ● delays between our expenditures to develop and market new or enhanced diagnostic tests or therapeutic products and the generation of sales from those diagnostic tests and therapeutic products; ● developments concerning intellectual property rights, including our involvement in litigation; ● our sale or proposed sale, or the sale by our significant shareholders, of our Common Stock or other securities in the future ● changes in key personnel; ● success or failure of our research and development projects or those of our competitors; ● the trading volume of our Common Stock; and ● general economic and market conditions and other factors, including factors unrelated to our operating performance. These factors and any corresponding price fluctuations may materially and adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock and result in substantial losses being incurred by our investors. In the past, following periods of market volatility, public company shareholders have often instituted securities class action litigation. If we were involved in securities litigation, it could impose a substantial cost upon us and divert the resources and attention of our management from our business. Our Common Stock has often been thinly traded, so investors may be unable to sell at or near ask prices or at all if investors need to sell shares to raise money or otherwise desire to liquidate their shares. To date, there have been many days on which limited trading of our Common Stock took place. We cannot predict the extent to which investors’ interests will lead to an active trading market for our Common Stock or whether the market price of our Common Stock will be volatile. If an active trading market does not develop, investors may have difficulty selling our Common Stock. We are likely to be too small to attract the interest of many brokerage firms and analysts. We cannot give investors any assurance that an active public trading market for our Common Stock will develop or be sustained. The market price of our Common Stock could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to quarterly variations in our revenues and operating expenses, announcements of new products or services by us, significant sales of our Common Stock, including “short” sales, the operating and stock price performance of other companies that investors may deem comparable to us, and news reports relating to trends in our markets or general economic conditions. We do not intend to pay dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future. We presently have no intention to pay dividends on our common stock at any time in the foreseeable future. Any decision to declare and pay dividends in the future will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on, among other things, our results of operations, financial condition, 48 cash requirements, contractual restrictions, and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant. Furthermore, our ability to declare and pay dividends may be limited by instruments governing future outstanding indebtedness we may incur. FINRA sales practice requirements may limit your ability to buy and sell our common shares, which could depress the price of our shares. FINRA rules require broker-dealers to have reasonable grounds for believing that an investment is suitable for a customer before recommending that investment to the customer. Prior to recommending speculative low-priced securities to their non-institutional customers, broker-dealers must make reasonable efforts to obtain information about the customer’s financial status, tax status and investment objectives, among other things. Under interpretations of these rules, FINRA believes that there is a high probability such speculative low-priced securities will not be suitable for at least some customers. Thus, FINRA requirements may make it more difficult for broker-dealers to recommend that their customers buy our common shares, which may limit an investor’s ability to buy and sell our shares, have an adverse effect on the market for our shares and, thereby, depress their market prices. Provisions in our corporate charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of our company, which may be beneficial to our stockholders, more difficult and may prevent attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management. Provisions in our corporate charter and our bylaws may discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition or other change in control of our company that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which you might otherwise receive a premium for your shares. These provisions could also limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock, thereby depressing the market price of our common stock. In addition, because our board of directors is responsible for appointing the members of our management team, these provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors. Among other things included in these provisions: ● our board of directors is divided into three classes, one class of which is elected each year by our stockholders with the directors in each class to serve for a three-year term; ● the authorized number of directors can be changed only by resolution of our board of directors; ● directors may be removed only by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least sixty percent (60%) of our voting stock, whether for cause or without cause; ● our bylaws may be amended or repealed by our board of directors or by the affirmative vote of sixty-six and two-thirds percent (66 2/3%) of our stockholders; ● stockholders may not call special meetings of the stockholders or fill vacancies on the board of directors; ● our board of directors will be authorized to issue, without stockholder approval, preferred stock, the rights of which will be determined at the discretion of the board of directors and that, if issued, could operate as a ”poison pill” to dilute the stock ownership of a potential hostile acquirer to prevent an acquisition that our board of directors does not approve; ● our stockholders do not have cumulative voting rights, and therefore our stockholders holding a majority of the shares of common stock outstanding will be able to elect all of our directors; and ● our stockholders must comply with advance notice provisions to bring business before or nominate directors for election at a stockholder meeting. 49 Moreover, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which prohibits a person who owns in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock from merging or combining with us for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person acquired in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock, unless the merger or combination is approved in a prescribed manner. Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the exclusive forum for certain types of state actions that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or employees Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that, unless we consent to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of us, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers, or other employees to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or our certificate of incorporation or bylaws (as either may be amended from time to time), or (iv) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine. The exclusive forum provision does not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act or the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. To the extent that any such claims may be based upon federal law claims, Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Furthermore, Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. These exclusive-forum provisions may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, employees, control persons, underwriters, or agents, which may discourage lawsuits against us and our directors, employees, control persons, underwriters, or agents. Additionally, a court could determine that the exclusive forum provision is unenforceable, and our stockholders will not be deemed to have waived our compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. If a court were to find these provisions of our bylaws inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations.