Item 1A. Risk Factors.
The following risk factors apply to the business and operations of Horizon and its consolidated subsidiaries. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in these risk factors, alone or in combination with other events or circumstances, may adversely affect the ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the Company and may have an adverse effect on the business, cash flows, financial condition and results of operations of Horizon. We may face additional risks and uncertainties that are not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial, which may also impair our business, cash flows, financial condition and results of operations.
All figures noted are in thousands of Canadian dollars unless noted otherwise.
Risks Related to Our Business and Industry
We have incurred losses and expect to incur significant expenses and continuing losses for the foreseeable future, and we may not achieve or maintain profitability.
We expect to incur significant operating losses. We have not yet started commercial operations, making it difficult for us to predict our future operating results, and we believe that we will continue to incur operating losses until at least the time we begin commercial operations with aircraft deliveries or licensing revenues. As a result, our losses may be larger than anticipated, and we may not achieve profitability when expected, or at all, and even if we do, we may not be able to maintain or increase profitability.
We expect our operating expenses to significantly increase over the next several years as we complete our aircraft design, build, testing, and manufacturing. We expect the rate at which we incur losses will be significantly higher in fiscal 2026 and beyond as we engage in the following activities:
continuing to design and build our Cavorite X7 hybrid eVTOL aircraft with the goal of having such aircraft certified and ultimately produced;
engaging suppliers in the development of aircraft components and committing capital to serial production of those components;
building our production capabilities to assemble and test the major components of our aircraft: propulsion systems, energy system assembly and aircraft integration, as well as incurring costs associated with outsourcing production of subsystems and other key components;
hiring additional employees across design, production, marketing, administration and commercialization of our business;
engaging with third party providers for design, testing, certification and commercialization of our products;
building up inventories of parts and components for our aircraft;
further enhancing our research and development capacities to continue the work on our aircraft’s technology, components, hardware and software performance;
testing and certifying the performance and operation of our aircraft;
working with third-party providers to train our pilots, mechanics and technicians in our proprietary aircraft operation and maintenance;
developing and launching our digital platform and customer user interface;
developing our sales and marketing activities and developing our vertiport infrastructure; and
increasing our general and administrative functions to support our growing operations and our responsibilities as a public company.
Because we will incur the costs and expenses from these efforts before we receive any associated revenue, our losses in future periods will be significant. In addition, we may find that these efforts are more expensive than we currently anticipate or that these efforts may not result in the revenue we anticipate, which would further increase our losses. Furthermore, if our future growth and operating performance fails to meet investor or analyst expectations, or if we have future negative cash flow or losses resulting from our investment in acquiring customers or expanding our operations, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The eVTOL market may not continue to develop, eVTOL aircraft may not be adopted by the transportation market, eVTOL aircraft may not be certified by transportation and aviation authorities or eVTOL aircraft may not deliver the expected reduction in operating costs or time savings.
eVTOL aircraft involve a complex set of technologies and are subject to evolving regulations, many of which were originally not intended to apply to electric and/or VTOL aircraft. Before any eVTOL aircraft can fly passengers, manufacturers and operators must receive requisite regulatory approvals, including, but not limited to, aircraft type certificate and certification related to production of the aircraft. As of now, there are no eVTOL aircraft that have passed certification by TCCA, EASA or the FAA for commercial operations in Canada, Europe or the United States, respectively, and there is no assurance that our current serial prototype for the Cavorite X7 aircraft will receive government certification in a way that is market-viable or commercially successful, in a timely manner or at all. Gaining government certification requires us to prove the performance, reliability and safety of its Cavorite X7 aircraft, which cannot be assured. Any of the foregoing risks and challenges could adversely affect our prospects, business, financial condition and results of operations.
The success of our business depends on the safety and positive perception of our aircraft, the establishment of strategic relationships, and of our ability to effectively market and sell aircraft that will be used in Regional Air Mobility services.
We expect that the success of selling our aircraft will be highly dependent on our target customers’ embrace of Regional Air Mobility and eVTOL vehicles, which we believe will be influenced by the public’s perception of the safety, convenience and cost of our Cavorite X7 specifically but also of the industry as a whole. As a new industry, the public has low awareness of Regional Air Mobility and eVTOL vehicles, which will require substantial publicity and marketing campaigns in a cost-effective manner to effectively and adequately target and engage our potential customers. If we are unable to demonstrate the safety of our aircraft, the convenience of our aircraft, and the cost-effectiveness of our use in Regional Air Mobility services as compared with other commuting, goods transportation, airport shuttle, or regional transportation options, our business may not develop as we anticipate we could, and our business, revenue and operations may be adversely affected. Further, our sales growth will depend on our ability to develop relationships with infrastructure providers, airline operators, other commercial entities, municipalities and regional governments and landowners, which may not be effective in generating anticipated sales, and marketing campaigns can be expensive and may not result in the acquisition of customers in a cost- manner, if at all. If arise with our strategic counterparties, the other party may act in a manner to us and could limit our ability to implement our strategies. Our strategic counterparties may develop, either alone or with others, products or services in related fields that are competitive with our products and services.
We have a limited operating history and face significant challenges to develop, certify, and manufacture our aircraft. Our Cavorite X7 eVTOL aircraft remains in development, and we do not expect to deliver any aircraft until prior to 2030, at the earliest, if at all.
We were incorporated in 2013, and we are developing an aircraft for the emerging Regional Air Mobility market, which is continuously evolving. Although our team has experience designing, building and testing new aircraft, we have no experience as an organization in volume manufacturing of our planned Cavorite X7 aircraft. We cannot assure that us or our suppliers and other commercial counterparties will be able to develop efficient, cost-effective manufacturing capability and processes, and reliable sources of component supplies that will enable us to meet the quality, price, engineering, design and production standards, as well as the production volumes, required to successfully produce and maintain Cavorite X7 aircraft. Based on our current testing and projections, we believe that we can achieve our business plan and forecasted performance model targets in terms of aircraft range, speed, energy system capacity, and payload for our full-scale Cavorite X7 aircraft.
Detailed design and build of our full-scale Cavorite X7 aircraft has not yet been completed, and many of the systems, the aerodynamics, the structure, and other critical elements of the design have yet to be designed, produced, and tested at full-scale. As such, we might not achieve all, or any, of our performance targets, which would materially impact our business plan and results of operations.
You should consider our business and prospects in light of the risks and significant challenges we face as a new entrant into a new industry, including, among other things, with respect to our ability to:
design, build, test and produce safe, reliable and high-quality Cavorite X7 aircraft and scale that production in a cost- effective manner;
obtain the necessary certification and regulatory approvals in a timely manner;
build a well-recognized and respected brand;
establish and expand our customer base;
properly price our aircraft, and successfully anticipate the demand by our target customers;
improve and maintain our manufacturing efficiency;
maintain a reliable, secure, high-performance and scalable technology infrastructure;
predict our future revenues and appropriately budget for our expenses;
anticipate trends that may emerge and affect our business;
anticipate and adapt to changing market conditions, including technological developments and changes in competitive landscape;
secure, protect and defend our intellectual property; and
navigate an evolving and complex regulatory environment.
If we fail to adequately address any or all of these risks and challenges, our business may be materially and adversely affected.
The Regional Air Mobility market for eVTOL passenger and goods transport services does not exist; whether and how it develops is based on assumptions, and the Regional Air Mobility market may not achieve the growth potential we expect or may grow more slowly than expected.
Our estimates for the total addressable market for eVTOL Regional Air Mobility, regional passenger and goods transport, and military use are based on a number of internal and third-party estimates, including customers who have expressed interest, assumed prices at which we can offer our services, assumed aircraft development, estimated certification and production costs, our ability to manufacture, obtain regulatory approval and certification, our internal processes and general market conditions. While we believe our assumptions and the data underlying our estimates are reasonable, these assumptions and estimates may not be correct and the conditions supporting our assumptions or estimates may change at any time, thereby reducing the predictive accuracy of these underlying factors. As a result, our estimates may prove to be incorrect, which could negatively affect our operating revenue, costs, operations and potential profitability.
We may be unable to adequately control the costs associated with our pre-launch operations, and our costs will continue to be significant after we commence operations.
We will require significant capital to develop and grow our business, including designing, developing, testing, certifying and manufacturing our aircraft, educating customers of the safety, efficiency and cost-effectiveness of our unique aircraft and building our brand. Our research and development expenses were $3,660 and $880 in 2025 and 2024, respectively, and we expect to continue to incur significant expenses which will impact our profitability, including continuing expenses, manufacturing, maintenance and procurement costs, marketing, customer and payment system expenses, and general and administrative expenses as we scale our operations. Our ability to become profitable in the future will not only depend on our ability to successfully market our aircraft for global use but also our ability to control our costs. If we are unable to efficiently design, certify, manufacture, market, and deliver our aircraft on time, our margins, profitability and prospects would be materially and adversely affected.
We are a relatively small company in comparison to current industry leaders in the Regional Air Mobility market. We may experience difficulties in managing our growth.
We expect to experience significant growth in team size as we experience an increase in the scope and nature of our research and development, manufacturing, testing, and certification of our aircraft. Our ability to manage our future growth will require us to continue to improve our operational, financial and management controls, compliance programs and reporting systems. We are currently in the process of strengthening our compliance programs, including our compliance programs related to internal controls, intellectual property management, privacy and cybersecurity. We may not be able to implement improvements in an efficient or timely manner and may discover deficiencies in existing controls, programs, systems and procedures, which could have an adverse effect on our business, reputation and financial results. We also may not be able to grow the team in a timely manner or hire the expertise required in order to successfully continue our aircraft development.
Our forward-looking operating information and business plan forecast relies in large part upon assumptions and analyses that we have developed or obtained from respected third parties. If these assumptions or analyses prove to be incorrect, our actual operating results may be materially different from our forecasted results.
Our management has prepared our projected financial performance, operating information and business plan, which reflect our current estimates of future performance. Whether our actual financial results and business develops in a way that is consistent with our expectations and assumptions as reflected in our forecasts depends on a number of factors, many of which are outside our control. Our estimates and assumptions may prove inaccurate, causing the actual amount to differ from our estimates. These factors include, but are not limited to, the risk factors described herein and the following factors:
our ability to obtain sufficient capital to sustain and grow our business;
our effectiveness in managing our costs and our growth;
our ability to meet the performance and cost targets of manufacturing our aircraft;
our ability to effectively develop our fan-in-wing eVTOL technology that underpins our Cavorite X7 aircraft design and operation;
establishing and maintaining relationships with key providers and suppliers;
the timing, cost and ability to obtain the necessary certifications and regulatory approvals;
the development of the Regional Air Mobility market and customer demand for our aircraft;
the costs and effectiveness of our marketing and promotional efforts;
competition from other companies with compelling aircraft that may emerge to compete directly or indirectly with our Cavorite X7 aircraft;
our ability to retain existing key management, to integrate recent hires and to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel;
the overall strength and stability of domestic and international economies;
regulatory, legislative and political changes; and
consumer spending habits.
Unfavorable changes in any of these or other factors, most of which are beyond our control, could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial results. It is difficult to predict future revenues and appropriately budget for our expenses, and we have limited insight into trends that may emerge and affect our business. If actual results differ from our estimates or we adjust our estimates in future periods, our operating results and financial position could be materially affected.
We do not anticipate delivering our first Cavorite X7 eVTOL aircraft to customers until sometime prior to 2030 at the earliest, pending receipt of regulatory approval and certification. The aircraft remains in the detailed design and building phase and has yet to complete any flight testing or go through a certification process. Any delay in the design, production, or completion or requisite testing and certification, and any design changes that may be required to be implemented in order to receive certification, could adversely impact our business plan and strategic growth plan and our financial condition.
While we currently have an experienced aircraft prototyping team, there are many important milestones to achieve prior to being able to deliver our first commercial aircraft, including completing the detailed design, sub-system assembly, airframe manufacturing, systems integration, testing, design refinement, type certification of the aircraft, and production certification of our manufacturing facility. Our inability to properly plan, execute our operations, and analyze and contain the risk associated with each step could negatively impact our ability to successfully operate our business.
Any delays in the development, certification, manufacture and commercialization of our Cavorite X7 aircraft and related technology, such as battery technology or electric motors, may adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may experience future delays or other complications in the design, certification, manufacture, and production of our aircraft and related technology. These delays could negatively impact our progress towards commercialization or result in delays in increasing production capacity. If we encounter difficulties in scaling our production, if we fail to procure the key enabling technologies from our suppliers (e.g., batteries, power electronics, electric motors, etc.) which meet the required performance parameters, if our aircraft technologies and components do not meet our expectations, or if such technologies fail to perform as expected, are inferior to those of our competitors or are perceived as less safe than those of our competitors, we may not be able to achieve our performance targets in aircraft range, speed, payload and noise or launch products on our anticipated timelines, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and impacted.
Adverse publicity stemming from any incident involving us or our competitors, or an incident involving any air travel service or unmanned flight based on eVTOL technologies, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Electric aircraft are based on complex technology that requires skilled pilot operation and maintenance. Like any aircraft, they may experience operational or process failures and other problems, including adverse weather conditions, unanticipated collisions with foreign objects, manufacturing or design defects, pilot error, software malfunctions, cyber-attacks or other intentional acts that could result in potential safety risks. Any actual or perceived safety issues with our aircraft, other electric aircraft or eVTOL aircraft, unmanned flight based on autonomous technology or the Regional Air Mobility industry generally may result in significant reputational harm to our business, in addition to tort liability, increased safety infrastructure and other costs that may arise. The electric aircraft industry has faced multiple prototype-related accidents.
We are also subject to risk of adverse publicity stemming from any public incident involving the company, our employees or our brand. If our personnel, our prototype aircraft, or the personnel or vehicles of one of our competitors, were to be involved in a public incident, accident or catastrophe, the public perception of the Regional Air Mobility industry or eVTOL vehicles specifically could be adversely affected, resulting in decreased customer demand for our aircraft, significant reputational harm or potential legal liability, which could cause a material adverse effect on sales, business and financial condition. The insurance we carry may be inapplicable or inadequate to cover any such incident, accident or catastrophe. If our insurance is inapplicable or not adequate, we may be forced to bear substantial from an or .
Our business plans require a significant amount of capital. In addition, our future capital needs may require us to sell additional equity or debt securities that may adversely affect the market price of our shares and dilute our shareholders or introduce covenants that may restrict its operations.
We expect our expenditures to continue to be significant in the foreseeable future as we expand our development, certification, production and commercial launch, and that our level of capital expenditures will be significantly affected by customer demand for our services. The fact that we have a limited operating history and are entering a new industry means we have no historical data on the demand for its aircraft. As a result, our future capital requirements will be uncertain and actual capital requirements may be different from those we currently anticipate. We may seek equity or debt financing to finance a portion of its capital expenditures. Such financing might not be available to us in a timely manner or on terms that are acceptable, or at all.
Our ability to obtain the necessary financing to carry out our business plan is subject to a number of factors, including general market conditions and investor acceptance of our industry and business model. These factors may make the timing, amount, terms and conditions of such financing unattractive or unavailable to us. If we are unable to raise sufficient funds, we will have to significantly reduce our spending, delay or cancel our planned activities or substantially change our corporate structure. We might not be able to obtain any funding, and we might not have sufficient resources to conduct our business as projected, both of which could mean that we would be forced to curtail or discontinue our operations. We may seek to raise such capital through the issuance of additional shares or debt securities with conversion rights (such as convertible bonds and option rights). An issuance of additional shares or debt securities with conversion rights could potentially reduce the market price of our shares, and we currently cannot predict the amounts and terms of such future offerings.
In addition, our future capital needs and other business reasons could require us to sell additional equity or debt securities or obtain a credit facility. The sale of additional equity or equity-linked securities could dilute our shareholders. In addition, such dilution may arise from the acquisition or investments in companies in exchange, fully or in part, for newly issued shares, options granted to our business partners or from the exercise of stock options by our employees in the context of existing or future share option programs or the issuance of shares to employees in the context of existing or future employee participation programs. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased debt service obligations and could result in operating and financing covenants that would restrict our operations.
If we cannot raise additional funds when we need or want them, our operations and prospects could be negatively affected.
If we are unable to successfully design and manufacture our aircraft, our business will be harmed.
We are currently developing plans to expand our primary manufacturing infrastructure near Toronto, Ontario, and we plan to begin production of our certified aircraft in 2028 at the earliest. We may not be able to successfully develop and certify a full-scale aircraft. We may also not be able to successfully develop commercial-scale manufacturing capabilities internally or supply chain relationships with our intended Tier 1 suppliers. Our production facilities and the production facilities of our outsourcing parties and suppliers may be harmed or rendered inoperable by natural or man-made disasters, including earthquakes, flooding, fire and power outages, or by health epidemics, which may render it difficult or impossible for us to manufacture our aircraft for some period of time.
If the Cavorite X7 eVTOL aircraft we build fails to perform as expected our ability to develop, market, and sell our aircraft could be harmed.
We have not yet produced a full-scale Cavorite X7 aircraft. Although we are satisfied with the flight testing of our 50%-scale prototype, there is no guarantee that the full-scale aircraft will perform as we anticipate. Our aircraft may contain defects in design and manufacture that may cause them not to perform as expected or that may require design changes and/or repairs. Our Cavorite X7 aircraft may be impacted by various performance factors that could impair customer satisfaction, such as excessive noise, turbulent air during flight, foreign object damage, fan stall or wing flutter, overloading, hail and bird strike, or adverse icing accumulation. If our Cavorite X7 aircraft fails to perform as expected, we may need to delay delivery of initial aircraft, which could adversely affect our brand in our target markets and could adversely affect our business, prospects, and results of operations.
Our Cavorite X7 aircraft require complex software, hybrid electric power systems, battery technology and other technology systems that remain in development and need to be commercialized in coordination with our vendors and suppliers to complete serial production. The failure of advances in technology and of manufacturing at the rates we project may impact our ability to increase the volume of our production or drive down end user pricing.
Our Cavorite X7 will use a substantial amount of third-party and in-house software codes and complex hardware to operate. Our software and hardware may contain errors, bugs or vulnerabilities, and our systems are subject to certain technical limitations that may compromise our ability to meet our objectives. Some errors, bugs or vulnerabilities inherently may be difficult to detect and may only be discovered after the code has been implemented. We have a limited frame of reference by which to evaluate the long-term performance of our software and hardware systems and our aircraft, and we may be unable to detect and fix any defects in the aircraft prior to commencing commercial operations. The development and on-going monitoring of such advanced technologies is inherently complex, and we will need to coordinate with our vendors and suppliers in order to complete full-scale production. Our potential inability to develop the necessary software and technology systems may harm our competitive position or the certification or manufacture of our aircraft.
We are relying on third-party suppliers to develop a number of emerging technologies for use in our products, including lithium-based battery technology. Many of these technologies are already commercially viable, and our survey of commercially available products has already yielded promising results. However, the final cell design of our potential suppliers may not be able to meet the safety, technological, economical or operational requirements to support the regulatory requirements and performance assumed in our business plan.
We are also relying on third-party suppliers to commercialize these technologies (such as battery cell technology) at the volume and costs they require to launch and ramp-up our production. Our suppliers may not be able to meet the production timing, volume requirements or cost requirements we have assumed in our business plan. Our third-party suppliers could face other challenges, such as the lack of raw materials or machinery, the breakdown of tools in production or the malfunctioning of technology as they ramp up production. As a result, our business plan could be significantly impacted, and we may incur significant delays in production and full commercialization, which could adversely affect our business, prospects, and results of operations.
Our Cavorite X7 aircraft will make extensive use of lithium-based battery cells, which have been observed to catch fire or vent smoke and flame.
The battery packs within our Cavorite X7 aircraft will use lithium-based cells. On rare occasions, lithium-based 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-based cells. While the battery pack is designed to contain any single cell’s release of energy without spreading to neighboring cells, a failure of battery packs in our aircraft could occur or batteries could catch fire during production or testing, which could result in bodily injury or death and could subject us to lawsuits, regulatory challenges or redesign efforts, all of which would be time consuming and expensive and could harm our brand image. Also, negative public perceptions regarding the suitability of lithium-based cells for automotive applications, the social and environmental impacts of cobalt mining, or any future incident involving lithium-based cells, such as a vehicle or other fire, could seriously harm our business and reputation.
We will rely on third-party suppliers and strategic parties for the provision and development of key emerging technologies, components and materials used in our Cavorite X7 aircraft, such as the lithium-based batteries that will help to power the aircraft, a significant number of which may be single or limited source suppliers. If any of these prospective suppliers or strategic parties choose to not do business with us at all, or insist on terms that are commercially disadvantageous, we may have significant difficulty in procuring and producing our aircraft, and our business prospects would be harmed.
Third-party suppliers and strategic parties will provide key components and technology to the Cavorite X7 aircraft. Collaborations with strategic parties are necessary to successfully commercialize our existing and future products. If we are unable to identify or enter into agreements with strategic parties for the development of key technology or if such strategic parties insist on terms that are commercially disadvantageous, including for example the ability to freely commercialize jointly owned intellectual property, we may have significant difficulty in procuring and producing our aircraft or technologies, components or materials used in our aircraft.
In addition to our collaborations, we will be substantially reliant on our relationships with our suppliers for the parts and components in our aircraft. If any of these prospective suppliers choose to not do business with us at all, or insist on terms that are commercially disadvantageous, we may have significant difficulty in procuring and producing our aircraft, and our business prospects would be harmed. If our suppliers experience any delays in providing us with or developing necessary components, or if our suppliers are unable to deliver necessary components in a timely manner and at prices and volumes acceptable to us, we could experience delays in manufacturing our aircraft and delivering on our timelines, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects and operating results.
While we plan to obtain components from multiple sources whenever possible, we may purchase many of the components used in our Cavorite X7 aircraft from a single source. While we believe that we may be able to establish alternate supply relationships and can obtain replacement components for our single source components, we may be unable to do so in the short term, or at all, at prices or quality levels that are acceptable to us. In addition, we could experience delays if our suppliers do not meet agreed upon timelines or experience capacity constraints. Any disruption in the supply of components, whether or not from a single source supplier, could temporarily disrupt production of our aircraft until an alternative supplier is able to supply the required material. Changes in business conditions, unforeseen circumstances, governmental changes, and other factors beyond our control or which we do not presently anticipate, could also affect our suppliers’ ability to deliver components to us on a timely basis. Any of the foregoing could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and prospects.
If any of our suppliers become economically distressed or go bankrupt, we may be required to provide substantial financial support or take other measures to ensure supplies of components or materials, which could increase our costs, affect our liquidity or cause production disruptions.
We expect to purchase various types of equipment, raw materials and manufactured component parts from our suppliers. If these suppliers experience substantial financial difficulties, cease operations, or otherwise face business disruptions, we may be required to provide substantial financial support to ensure supply continuity or may have to take other measures to ensure components and materials remain available. Any disruption could affect our ability to deliver aircraft and could increase our costs and negatively affect our liquidity and financial performance.
We may not succeed in establishing, maintaining and strengthening our brand, which would materially and adversely affect customer acceptance of our services, reducing our anticipated sales, revenue and forecasts.
Our business and prospects heavily depend on our ability to develop, maintain and strengthen our brand and sell consumers on the safety, convenience and cost-effectiveness of our Regional Air Mobility services. If we are not able to establish, maintain and strengthen our brand, we may lose the opportunity to build a critical mass of customers. Our ability to develop, maintain and strengthen our brand will depend heavily on the success of our marketing efforts. When it launches, we expect the Regional Air Mobility industry to be intensely competitive, with a strong first-mover advantage, and we will not be the first to deliver viable eVTOL aircraft to service this market. If we do not develop and maintain a strong brand, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results will be materially and adversely impacted.
Our business depends substantially on the continuing efforts of our key employees and qualified personnel; our operations may be severely disrupted if we lose their services.
Our success depends substantially on the continued efforts of our key employees and qualified personnel, and our operations may be severely disrupted if we lose their services. As we build our brand and become more well known, the risk that competitors or other companies may poach our key talented personnel increases. The failure to attract, integrate, train, motivate and retain these personnel could seriously harm our business and prospects. The design, assembly, testing, production and certification of our aircraft requires highly skilled personnel for which there is currently a shortage in the aerospace workforce in North America. We intend to work with third parties to attract talented workers; however, if we are unable to hire, train, and retain qualified personnel, our business could be harmed, and we may be unable to implement our growth plans.
Our business may be adversely affected by labor and union activities in the future.
Although none of our employees are currently represented by a labor union, it is not uncommon throughout the aircraft industry generally for many employees at aircraft companies to belong to a union, which can result in higher employee costs and increased risk of work stoppages. We may also directly and indirectly depend upon other companies with unionized work forces, such as parts suppliers and trucking and freight companies, and work stoppages or strikes organized by such unions could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition or operating results.
Failure of information security and privacy concerns could subject us to penalties, damage our reputation and brand, and harm our business and results of operations.
We expect to face significant challenges with respect to information security and privacy, including the storage, transmission and sharing of confidential information. We will transmit and store confidential and private information of our customers, such as personal information, including names, accounts, user IDs and passwords, and payment or transaction related information.
We intend to adopt strict information security policies and deploy advanced measures to implement the policies, including, among others, advanced encryption technologies. However, advances in technology, an increased level of sophistication of our services, an increased level of expertise of hackers, new discoveries in the field of cryptography or others can still result in a compromise or breach of the measures that we use. If we are unable to protect our systems, and hence the information stored in our systems, from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification or destruction, such problems or security breaches could cause a loss, give rise to our liabilities to the owners of confidential information or even subject us to fines and penalties. In addition, complying with various laws and regulations could cause us to incur substantial costs or require that we change our business practices, including our data practices, in a manner to our business.
Compliance with required information security laws and regulations could be expensive and may place restrictions on the conduct of our business and the manner in which we interact with our customers. Any failure to comply with applicable regulations could also result in regulatory enforcement actions against us, and misuse of or failure to secure personal information could also result in violation of data privacy laws and regulations, proceedings against us by governmental entities or others, and damage to our reputation and credibility, and could have a negative impact on revenues and profits.
Significant capital and other resources may be required to protect against information security breaches or to alleviate problems caused by such breaches or to comply with our privacy policies or privacy-related legal obligations. The resources required may increase over time as the methods used by hackers and others engaged in online criminal activities are increasingly sophisticated and constantly evolving. Any failure or perceived failure by us to prevent information security breaches or to comply with privacy policies or privacy-related legal obligations, or any compromise of security that results in the unauthorized release or transfer of personally identifiable information or other customer data, could cause our customers to lose trust in us and could expose us to legal claims. Any perception by the public that online transactions or the privacy of user information are becoming increasingly or to attacks could inhibit the growth of online retail and other online services generally, which may reduce the number of orders we receive.
We are subject to cybersecurity risks to our operational systems, security systems, infrastructure, integrated software in our aircraft and customer data processed by us or third-party vendors.
We are at risk for interruptions, outages and breaches of the following systems, which are either owned by us or operated by our third-party vendors or suppliers:
operational systems, including business, financial, accounting, product development, data processing or production processes;
facility security systems;
aircraft technology including powertrain, avionics and flight control software;
the integrated software in our aircraft; or
customer data.
The occurrence of any such incident could disrupt our operational systems, result in loss of intellectual property, trade secrets or other proprietary or competitively sensitive information, compromise personal information of customers, employees, suppliers, or others, jeopardize the security of our facilities or affect the performance of in-product technology and the integrated software in our aircraft.
Moreover, there are inherent risks associated with developing, improving, expanding and updating the current systems, such as the disruption of our data management, procurement, production execution, finance, supply chain and sales and service processes. These risks may affect our ability to manage our data and inventory, procure parts or supplies or manufacture, deploy, and deliver our aircraft, adequately protect our intellectual property or achieve and maintain compliance with, or realize available benefits under, applicable laws, regulations and contracts. We cannot be sure that these systems upon which we rely, including those of our third-party vendors or suppliers, will be effectively implemented, maintained or expanded as planned. If these systems do not operate as we expect them to, we may be required to expend significant resources to make corrections or find alternative sources for performing these functions.
Any unauthorized access to or control of our aircraft or our systems or any loss of data could result in legal claims or proceedings. In addition, regardless of their veracity, reports of unauthorized access to our aircraft, their systems or data, as well as other factors that may result in the perception that our aircraft, their systems or data are capable of being “hacked,” could negatively affect our brand and harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
Although we plan to have a formal cybersecurity committee organized by the Board, as well as third party security specialists on contract, there is no guarantee that this additional layer of corporate governance will be sufficient to mitigate the posed by motivated cybersecurity criminals.
We face risks related to natural disasters, health epidemics and other outbreaks, which could significantly disrupt our operations.
Our manufacturing or customer service facilities or operations could be adversely affected by events outside of our control, such as natural disasters, wars, health epidemics, and other calamities. Although we have servers that are hosted in an offsite location, our backup system does not capture data on a real-time basis, and we may be unable to recover certain data in the event of a server failure. We cannot necessarily ensure that any backup systems will be adequate to protect us from the effects of fire, floods, typhoons, earthquakes, power loss, telecommunications failures, break-ins, war, riots, terrorist attacks or similar events. Any of the foregoing events may give rise to interruptions, breakdowns, system failures, technology platform failures or internet failures, which could cause the or of data or of software or hardware as well as affect our ability to provide services.
Risks Related to our Intellectual Property
We may not be able to prevent others from unauthorized use of our intellectual property, which could harm our business and competitive position.
We may not be able to prevent others from unauthorized use of our intellectual property, which could harm our business and competitive position. We rely on a combination of patents, trade secrets, employee and third-party nondisclosure agreements, copyrights, trademarks, intellectual property licenses, and other contractual rights to establish and protect our rights in our technology. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, third parties may attempt to copy or otherwise obtain and use our intellectual property or seek court declarations that they do not infringe upon our intellectual property rights or those rights are not enforceable. Monitoring unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult and costly, and the steps we have taken or will take are aimed to prevent misappropriation. From time to time, we may have to resort to litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights, which could result in substantial costs and of our resources, including significant amounts of time from our key executives and management, and may not have the outcome.
Patent, trademark, and trade-secret laws vary significantly throughout the world. Some countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States, Canada, and European Union. Therefore, we may not be able to secure certain intellectual property rights in some jurisdictions, and our intellectual property rights may not be as strong or as easily enforced outside of North America and the European Union. Failure to adequately protect our intellectual property rights could result in our competitors offering similar products, potentially resulting in the loss of some of our competitive advantage and a decrease in our revenue which could adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.
Our patent applications may not issue as patents, which may have a material adverse effect on our ability to prevent others from commercially exploiting products similar to ours.
We cannot be certain that we are the first inventor of the subject matter to which we have filed or plan to file a particular patent application, or if we are the first party to file such a patent application. If another party has filed a patent application for the same subject matter as we have, or similar subject matter is otherwise publicly disclosed, we 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 we file will issue, or that our issued patents will afford protection against competitors with similar technology or will cover certain aspects of our products. In addition, our competitors may design around our issued patents, which may adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition or operating results.
As our patents may expire and may not be extended, our patent applications may not be granted and our patent rights may be contested, circumvented, invalidated or limited in scope, our patent rights may not protect us effectively. In particular, we may not be able to prevent others from developing or exploiting competing technologies.
We cannot assure you that we will be granted patents pursuant to our pending applications or those we plan to file in the future. Even if our patent applications succeed and we are issued patents in accordance with them, these patents could be contested, circumvented or invalidated in the future. In addition, the rights granted under any issued patents may not provide meaningful protection or competitive advantages. The claims under any patents that issue from our patent applications may not be broad enough to prevent others from developing technologies that are similar or that achieve results similar to us. The intellectual property rights of others could also bar us from licensing and exploiting any patents that are issued from our pending applications. Numerous patents and pending patent applications owned by others exist in the fields in which we have developed and are developing our technology. These patents and patent applications might have priority over our patent applications and could result in refusal of or of our patent applications. Finally, in addition to those who may claim priority, any of our existing or pending patents may also be by others on the basis that they are otherwise or unenforceable.
We may need to defend ourselves against patent or trademark infringement claims, which may be time-consuming and would cause us to incur substantial costs.
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 ability to make, use, develop, sell, lease, or market our vehicles or components, which could make it more difficult for us to operate our business. From time to time, we may receive communications from holders of patents (including non-practicing entities or other patent licensing organizations), trademarks or other intellectual property regarding their proprietary rights. Companies holding patents or other intellectual property rights may bring suits alleging infringement of such rights or otherwise assert their rights and urge us to take licenses. Our applications and uses of trademarks relating to our design, software or artificial intelligence technologies could be found to infringe upon existing trademark ownership and rights. In addition, if we are determined to have infringed upon a third party’s intellectual property rights, we may be required to do one or more of the following:
cease manufacturing our aircraft, or discontinue use of certain components in our aircraft, or offering services that incorporate or use the challenged 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 aircraft; or
establish and maintain alternative branding for our aircraft or services.
In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us and our 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 and 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.
We may be subject to damages resulting from claims that we or our employees have wrongfully used or disclosed alleged trade secrets of our employees’ former employers.
Many of our employees were previously employed by other aeronautics, aircraft or transportation companies or by suppliers to these companies. We may be subject to claims that us 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 fail in defending such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel. A loss of key personnel or our work-product could hamper or prevent our ability to commercialize our products, which could our business. Even if we are in these , could result in substantial costs and demand on management resources.
Risks Related to the Regulatory Environment in Which We Operate
We are subject to substantial regulation and unfavorable changes to, or our failure to comply with, these regulations could substantially harm our business and operating results.
Our eVTOL aircraft, our planned operation of Regional Air Mobility services, and in certain jurisdictions our local AOCs, will be subject to substantial regulation in the jurisdictions in which we intend our eVTOL aircraft to operate. We expect to incur significant costs in complying with these regulations. Regulations related to the eVTOL industry, including aircraft certification, production certification, passenger operation, flight operation, airspace operation, security regulation and vertiport regulation are currently evolving, and we face risks associated with the development and evolution of these regulations.
Our aircraft must be initially certified by the Transport Canada Civil Aviation organization in order to be used for commercial purposes in Canada. Furthermore, we must also seek type certification under the Federal Aviation Administration for the aircraft to be used for commercial services in the United States. For commercial use in Europe, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency must also grant type certification for our aircraft. Rigorous testing and the use of approved materials and equipment are among the requirements for achieving certification. Our failure to obtain or maintain certification for our aircraft or infrastructure would have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results. In addition to obtaining and maintaining certification of our aircraft, our third-party air carriers will need to obtain and maintain operational authority necessary to provide the envisioned Regional Air Mobility services. A transportation or aviation authority may determine that we and/or our third-party air carriers cannot manufacture, provide, or otherwise engage in the services as we contemplated and upon which we based our projections. The inability to implement the envisioned Regional Air Mobility services could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, and prospects.
To the extent the laws change, our aircraft may not comply with applicable American, European, international, federal, provincial, state or local laws, which would have an adverse effect on our business. Compliance with changing regulations could be burdensome, time-consuming, and expensive. To the extent compliance with new regulations is cost prohibitive, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results would be adversely affected.
It is intended for third-party air carriers to operate the Cavorite X7 aircraft in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. These third-party air carriers are subject to substantial regulation and laws, and unfavorable changes to, or the third-party air carriers’ failure to comply with, these regulations and/or laws could substantially harm our business and operating results.
Third-party air carriers are subject to substantial regulation and laws, and unfavorable changes to, or the third-party air carriers’ failure to comply with, these regulations or laws could substantially harm our business and operating results. Further, although third-party air carriers may have experience in providing air transportation services, they will initially have limited experience in operating our unique Cavorite X7 hybrid eVTOL aircraft. Although we will screen potential air operators who wish to purchase and use our aircraft, our arrangements with third-party air carriers may not adequately address the operating requirements of our customers to their satisfaction. Given that our business and our brand will be affiliated with these third-party air carriers, we may experience harm to our reputation if these third-party air carriers provide customers with poor service, receive negative publicity, or experience accidents or safety incidents.
We are or will be subject to anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering, financial and economic sanctions and similar laws, and non-compliance with such laws can subject us to administrative, civil and criminal fines and penalties, collateral consequences, remedial measures and legal expenses, all of which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and reputation.
We are or will be subject to anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering, financial and economic sanctions and similar laws and regulations in various jurisdictions in which we conduct or in the future may conduct activities, including Canada’s Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTA), U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), European anti-bribery and corruption laws, and other anti-corruption laws and regulations. The PCMLTA, FCPA and European anti-bribery and corruption laws prohibit us and our officers, directors, employees and business partners acting on our behalf, including agents, from corruptly offering, promising, authorizing or providing anything of value to a “foreign official” for the purposes of influencing official decisions or obtaining or retaining business or otherwise obtaining favorable treatment. The PCMLTA also requires companies to make and keep books, records and accounts that accurately reflect transactions and dispositions of assets and to maintain a system of adequate internal accounting controls. A of these laws or regulations could affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and reputation. Our policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with these regulations may not be sufficient and our directors, officers, employees, representatives, consultants, agents, and business partners could engage in conduct for which we may be held responsible.
Non-compliance with anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering or financial and economic sanctions laws could subject us to whistleblower complaints, adverse media coverage, investigations, and severe administrative, civil and criminal sanctions, collateral consequences, remedial measures and legal expenses, all of which could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and reputation. In addition, changes in economic sanctions laws in the future could adversely impact our business and investments in our shares.
We may be subject to governmental export and import control laws and regulations as we expand our suppliers and commercial operations outside Canada, the U.S. and Europe.
Our Cavorite X7 aircraft may be subject to export control and import laws and regulations, which must be made in compliance with these laws and regulations. For example, we may require licenses to import or export our aircraft, components or technologies to our production facilities and may experience delays in obtaining the requisite licenses to do so. Audits in connection with the application for licenses may increase areas of noncompliance that could result in delays or additional costs. If we fail to comply with these laws and regulations, we and certain of our employees could be subject to additional audits, substantial civil or criminal penalties, including the possible loss of export or import privileges, fines, which may be imposed on us and responsible employees or managers and, in extreme cases, the incarceration of responsible employees or managers.
Risks Related to Our Organization and Structure
British Columbia law and our Articles contain certain provisions, including anti-takeover provisions, that limit the ability of shareholders to take certain actions and could delay or discourage takeover attempts that shareholders may consider favorable.
Our Articles and the BCBCA contain provisions that could have the effect of rendering more difficult, delaying, or preventing an acquisition deemed undesirable by our Board and therefore depress the trading price of our Class A ordinary shares. These provisions could also make it difficult for shareholders to take certain actions, including electing directors who are not nominated by the current members of the Board or taking other corporate actions, including effecting changes in our management. Among other things, our Articles include provisions regarding:
the limitation of the liability of, and the indemnification of, our directors and officers;
the exclusive right of our Board to expand the Board by appointing one or more directors to the Board by up to 1/3 of the number of current directors or to fill casual vacancies created upon the resignation, death, or removal of a director up to the number of directors who were elected or appointed as directors at the last shareholder meeting, which prevents shareholders from being able to fill vacancies on our Board;
the procedures for the conduct and scheduling of Board and shareholder meetings; and
advance notice procedures with which shareholders must comply to nominate candidates to our Board or to propose matters to be acted upon at a shareholders’ meeting, which could preclude shareholders from bringing matters before annual or special meetings of shareholders and delay changes in our Board and also may discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us.
These provisions, alone or together, could delay or prevent hostile takeovers and changes in control or changes in our Board or management.
Any provision of our Articles or British Columbia law that has the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control could limit the opportunity for shareholders to receive a premium for their Class A ordinary Shares and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for Class A ordinary Shares.
Our management team may not successfully or efficiently manage its transition to being a public company.
As a public company, we have incurred increased obligations relating to our reporting, procedures, and internal controls. These obligations and attendant scrutiny require investments of significant time and energy from our executives and could divert their attention away from the day-to-day management of our business, which in turn could adversely affect our financial condition or operating results.
The members of our management team have extensive experience leading complex organizations. However, they have limited experience managing a publicly traded company, interacting with public company investors, and complying with the increasingly complex laws, rules and regulations that specifically govern public companies.
We will incur significant expenses and administrative burdens as a public company, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
As a public company we face increased legal, accounting, administrative and other costs and expenses. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), including the requirements of Section 404, as well as rules and regulations subsequently implemented by the SEC, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 and the rules and regulations promulgated and to be promulgated thereunder, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (the “PCAOB”) and the securities exchanges, impose additional reporting and other obligations on public companies. Compliance with public company requirements increases costs and makes certain activities more time-consuming. Risks associated with our status as a public company may make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on the Board or as executive officers. The additional reporting and other obligations imposed by these rules and regulations increases legal and financial compliance costs and the costs of related legal, accounting and administrative activities. These increased costs will require us to divert a significant amount of money that could otherwise be used to expand the business and achieve strategic objectives. Advocacy efforts by shareholders and third parties may also prompt additional changes in governance and reporting requirements, which could further increase costs.
We will need to improve our operational and financial systems to support our expected growth, increasingly complex business arrangements, and rules governing revenue and expense recognition and any inability to do so will adversely affect our billing and reporting.
To manage the expected growth of our operations and increasing complexity, we will need to improve our operational and financial systems, procedures, and controls and continue to increase systems automation to reduce reliance on manual operations. Any inability to do so will affect our manufacturing operations, customer billing and reporting. Our current and planned systems, procedures and controls may not be adequate to support our complex arrangements and the rules governing revenue and expense recognition for our future operations and expected growth. Delays or problems associated with any improvement or expansion of our operational and financial systems and controls could adversely affect our relationships with our customers, cause harm to our reputation and brand and could also result in errors in our financial reporting, as well as other reporting obligations. We expect that complying with these rules and regulations may substantially increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly.
We will be an “emerging growth company,” and our reduced SEC reporting requirements may make our shares less attractive to investors.
We will be an “emerging growth company” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (“JOBS Act”). We will remain an “emerging growth company” until the earliest to occur of (i) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the closing of the Initial Public Offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least USD $1.235 billion or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A ordinary shares held by non-affiliates exceeds USD $700 million as of the last business day of our prior second fiscal quarter, and (ii) the date on which we issued more than USD $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period. We intend to take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to most other public companies, such as an exemption from the provisions of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requiring our independent registered public accounting firm provide an attestation report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting and reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We cannot predict if investors will find our shares less attractive because we intend to rely on certain of these exemptions and benefits under the JOBS Act. If some investors find our shares less as a result, there may be a less active, liquid and/or orderly trading market for our shares and the market price and trading volume of our shares may be more and significantly.
Risks Related to Taxes
Our ability to utilize our net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards to offset future taxable income may be subject to certain limitations, including losses as a result of the Business Combination.
We have incurred, and we are likely to continue incurring significant tax losses, which may be limited in our usability under Canadian and other tax laws, in particular following the Amalgamation and other significant shareholder changes. Although we neither expect the Business Combination nor any of the ownership changes in the course of past financing rounds to result in a forfeiture of our Canadian tax loss attributes, the realization of future tax savings from such tax loss attributes will be limited under the Tax Act following the Amalgamation and will depend on the tax authorities’ acceptance of their continued availability and our ability to generate future taxable income in Canada against which such losses can be offset.
We are subject to Canadian and United States tax on our worldwide income.
We are deemed to be a resident of Canada for Canadian federal income tax purposes by virtue of existing under the BCBCA, subject to the application of an applicable tax treaty or convention. Accordingly, subject to an applicable tax treaty or convention, we will be subject to Canadian taxation on our worldwide income, in accordance with the rules set forth in the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the “Tax Act”) generally applicable to corporations residing in Canada.
Notwithstanding that we will be deemed to be a resident of Canada for Canadian federal income tax purposes, we will also be treated as a U.S. corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, pursuant to Section 7874(b) of the Code, and will be subject to U.S. federal income tax on our worldwide income under applicable U.S. inversion rules. As a result, subject to an applicable tax treaty or convention, we will be subject to taxation both in Canada and the U.S., which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Accordingly, all prospective shareholders and investors should consult with their own tax advisors in this regard.
Dividends, if ever paid, on our Class A ordinary shares will be subject to Canadian or United States withholding tax.
It is currently anticipated that we will not pay any dividends on the Class A ordinary shares in the foreseeable future. To the extent dividends are paid, dividends received by holders of our Class A ordinary shares who are not residents of the U.S. and who are residents of Canada for purposes of the Tax Act will be subject to U.S. withholding tax. Any dividends may not qualify for a reduced rate of withholding tax under the U.S.-Canada income tax treaty (“Canada-U.S. Tax Convention”). In addition, a Canadian foreign tax credit or a deduction in respect of such U.S. withholding taxes paid may not be available.
Dividends received by shareholders who are residents of the U.S. will not be subject to U.S. withholding tax but will be subject to Canadian withholding tax. Any dividends may not qualify for a reduced rate of withholding tax under the Canada-U.S. Tax Convention. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, a U.S. holder may elect for any taxable year to receive either a credit or a deduction for all foreign income taxes paid by the holder during the year. Dividends paid by us will be characterized as U.S. source income for purposes of the foreign tax credit rules under the Code. Accordingly, U.S. holders generally will not be able to claim a credit for any Canadian tax withheld unless, depending on the circumstances, they have an excess foreign tax credit limitation due to other foreign source income that is subject to a low or zero rate of foreign tax. Subject to certain limitations, a U.S. holder should be able to take a deduction for the U.S. holder’s Canadian tax paid, provided that the U.S. holder has not elected to credit other foreign taxes during the same taxable year.
Dividends received by non-U.S. holders who are not residents of Canada for purposes of the Tax Act will be subject to U.S. withholding tax and will also be subject to Canadian withholding tax. These dividends may not qualify for a reduced rate of U.S. withholding tax under any income tax treaty otherwise applicable to our shareholders, subject to examination of the relevant treaty. These dividends may, however, qualify for a reduced rate of Canadian withholding tax under any income tax treaty otherwise applicable to our shareholders, subject to examination of the relevant treaty.
Each holder of our Class A ordinary Shares should seek tax advice, based on such shareholder’s particular facts and circumstances, from an independent tax advisor.
The transfer of our Class A ordinary shares may be subject to U.S. estate and generation-skipping transfer tax.
Because our Class A ordinary shares will be treated as shares of a U.S. domestic corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the U.S. estate and generation-skipping transfer tax rules generally may apply to a non-U.S. holder’s ownership and transfer of our Class A ordinary shares.
Changes in tax laws may affect our shareholders and other investors.
There can be no assurance that our Canadian and U.S. federal income tax treatment or an investment in us will not be modified, prospectively or retroactively, by legislative, judicial or administrative action, in a manner adverse to us or our shareholders or other investors.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Securities
An active market for our securities may not develop, which would adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.
The price of our securities may vary significantly due to factors specific to us as well as to general market or economic conditions. Our Class A ordinary shares may be thinly traded; therefore, our share price may fluctuate more than the stock market as a whole. Without a larger public float, our Class A ordinary shares will be less liquid than the shares of companies with broader public ownership. Trading of a relatively small volume of our Class A ordinary shares may have a greater effect on the trading price than would be the case if our public float were larger. Accordingly, an active trading market for our securities may never develop or, if developed, it may not be sustained. You may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established and sustained.
Our failure to meet Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements could result in a delisting of our securities.
If we fail to satisfy Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements, such as the corporate governance requirements or the minimum closing bid price requirement, Nasdaq may take steps to delist our securities. Such a delisting would likely have a negative effect on the price of our shares and would impair your ability to sell or purchase our shares when you wish to do so.
On July 19, 2024, Nasdaq notified us that for at least the last 30 consecutive business days, the bid price for the Company’s Class A ordinary shares had closed below the minimum $1.00 per share requirement for continued inclusion on the Nasdaq Capital Market pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) (the “Bid Price Rule”).
In accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A), we had a compliance period of 180 calendar days, or until January 15, 2025, to regain compliance with the Bid Price Rule. If at any time before January 15, 2025, the bid price of our Class A ordinary shares closed at $1.00 per share or more for a minimum of ten consecutive business days, Nasdaq could have provided us with a written confirmation of compliance with the Bid Price Rule and the matter deemed closed.
On January 22, 2025, we received a written notification from Nasdaq indicating that the Staff determined that we had received an additional 180 calendar days, or until July 14, 2025, to regain compliance with the Bid Price Rule. On June 26, 2025, we received notice from Nasdaq informing us that we had regained compliance with the Bid Price Rule and that the matter is now closed.
On August 28, 2024, we were notified by Nasdaq that we had failed to maintain a net income from continuing operations of USD $500,000 in our most recently completed fiscal year or in two of the last three of our most recently completed fiscal years required for continued listing under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b)(3) (the “Net Income Standard”). The Nasdaq Qualifications Listing Staff (the “Staff”) notified us that we also did not meet the alternative continued listing standards under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b)(2) (the “Market Value of Listed Securities Standard,” which requires the market value of our listed securities be at least $35 million) or Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b)(1) (the “Equity Standard,” which requires us to maintain stockholders’ equity of at least $2.5 million) (the Net Income Standard, the Market Value of Listed Securities Standard, and the Equity Standard, collectively the “Continued Listing Standards”). We requested a hearing before the Nasdaq Hearings Panel (the “Panel”) to appeal the Nasdaq Qualifications Listing Staff’s (the “Staff”) determination, which took place on December 12, 2024.
On January 24, 2025, we received a letter from the Nasdaq Office of General Counsel confirming the decision of the Panel that the Company had regained compliance with the Continued Listing Standards by demonstrating compliance with the Equity Standard and that the matter was closed. Pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5815(d)(4)(B), we will be subject to a panel monitor for a period of one year from the date of the letter.
There can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain compliance with Nasdaq’s continued listing standards. In the event that we are unable to sustain compliance with all applicable requirements for continued listing on Nasdaq, our Class A ordinary shares may be delisted from Nasdaq. If Nasdaq delists our securities from trading on its exchange and we are not able to list our securities on another national securities exchange, we expect our securities could be quoted on an over-the-counter market. If this were to occur, we could face significant material adverse consequences, including:
a limited availability of market quotations for our securities;
reduced liquidity for our securities;
a determination that our Class A ordinary shares are “penny stock” which will require brokers trading in the Class A ordinary shares to adhere to more stringent rules and possibly result in a reduced level of trading activity in the secondary trading market for our securities;
a limited amount of news and analyst coverage; and
a decreased ability to issue additional securities or obtain additional financing in the future.
We reached a determination to restate certain of our previously issued audited financial statements, which resulted in unanticipated costs and may affect investor confidence and raise reputational issues.
In connection with the preparation of our unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements for the period ended February 29, 2024, we determined that based on the application of U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), the deferred development costs recorded by Robinson Aircraft Ltd. in the fiscal year ended May 31, 2023 and prior are more appropriately classified as research and development costs. On April 19, 2024, the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company, concluded that the Company’s previously issued audited financial statements for the year ended May 31, 2023, and unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements for the period ended August 31, 2023 (collectively, the “Non-Reliance Periods”), should no longer be relied upon. The audited financial statements for the year ended May 31, 2023, were restated to reflect a reclassification of previously capitalized deferred development costs to Research and Development costs in the statements of operations (the “Restated Financial Statements”). We filed the Restated Financial Statements in a Current Report on Form 8-K with the SEC on April 22, 2024. Any previously furnished or filed reports, related earnings releases, investor presentations that reference deferred development costs or research and development expenses, or similar communications describing our financial results for the Non-Reliance Periods should no longer be relied upon.
As a result, we incurred unanticipated costs for accounting and legal fees in connection with or related to the restatement and have become subject to a number of additional risks and uncertainties, which may affect investor confidence in the accuracy of our financial disclosures and may raise reputational issues for our business.
If securities or certain industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business or publish negative reports about our business, our share price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our shares will depend on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We will not have any control over such analysts. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our shares or change their opinion of our shares, the share price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or we or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our share price or trading volume to decline.
The price of our Class A ordinary shares may decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment as a result.
The trading price of our Class A ordinary shares is likely to be volatile. The stock market recently has experienced extreme volatility. This volatility often has been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of particular companies. You may not be able to resell your Class A ordinary shares at an attractive price due to a number of factors such as those listed in “ Risks Related to Our Business and Industry ” and the following:
results of operations that vary from the expectations of securities analysts and investors;
results of operations that vary from our competitors;
changes in expectations as to our future financial performance, including financial estimates and investment recommendations by securities analysts and investors;
declines in the market prices of stocks generally;
strategic actions by us or our competitors;
announcements by us or our competitors of significant contracts, acquisitions, joint ventures, other strategic relationships or capital commitments;
announcements of estimates by third parties of actual or anticipated changes in the size of our customer base or the level of customer engagement;
any significant change in our management;
changes in general economic or market conditions or trends in our industry or markets;
changes in business or regulatory conditions, including new laws or regulations or new interpretations of existing laws or regulations applicable to our business;
additional securities being sold or issued into the market by us or any of the existing shareholders or the anticipation of such sales, including if we issue shares to satisfy restricted stock unit related tax obligations or if existing shareholders sell shares into the market when applicable “lock-up” periods end;
investor perceptions of the investment opportunity associated with our Class A ordinary shares relative to other investment alternatives;
the public’s response to press releases or other public announcements by us or third parties, including our filings with the SEC;
litigation involving us, our industry, or both, or investigations by regulators into our operations or those of our competitors;
guidance, if any, that we provide to the public, any changes in this guidance or our failure to meet this guidance;
the development and sustainability of an active trading market for our Class A ordinary shares;
actions by institutional or activist shareholders;
developments in new legislation and pending lawsuits or regulatory actions, including interim or final rulings by judicial or regulatory bodies;
changes in accounting standards, policies, guidelines, interpretations or principles; and
other events or factors, including those resulting from pandemics, natural disasters, war, acts of terrorism or responses to these events.
These broad market and industry fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our Class A ordinary shares, regardless of our actual operating performance. In addition, price volatility may be greater if the public float and trading volume of our Class A ordinary shares is low. In the past, following periods of market volatility, shareholders have instituted securities class action litigation. If we are involved in securities litigation, it could have a substantial cost and divert resources and the attention of executive management from our business regardless of the outcome of such litigation.
Because there are no current plans to pay cash dividends on our Class A ordinary shares for the foreseeable future, you may not receive any return on investment unless you sell your Class A ordinary shares at a price greater than what you paid for it.
We intend to retain future earnings, if any, for future operations, expansion and debt repayment, and there are no current plans to pay any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. The declaration, amount and payment of any future dividends on our Class A ordinary shares will be at the sole discretion of our Board. Our Board may take into account general and economic conditions, our financial condition and results of operations, our available cash and current and anticipated cash needs, capital requirements, contractual, legal, tax and regulatory restrictions, implications of the payment of dividends by us to our shareholders or by our subsidiaries to us and such other factors as our Board may deem relevant. As a result, you may not receive any return on an investment in our Class A ordinary shares unless you sell your Class A ordinary shares for a price greater than that which you paid for it.
If our company were to dissolve or wind-up operations, holders of our Class A ordinary shares would not receive a liquidation preference.
If we were to wind up or dissolve and liquidate and distribute our assets, our Class A ordinary shares would share in our assets only after we satisfy any amounts we owe to our creditors and preferred equity holders, including the holders of our Series A Preferred Shares (described below). If our liquidation or dissolution were attributable to our inability to profitably operate our business, then it is likely that we would have material liabilities at the time of liquidation or dissolution. Accordingly, it is unlikely that sufficient assets would remain available after the payment of our creditors and preferred equity holders to enable holders of Class A ordinary shares to receive any liquidation distribution with respect to any Class A ordinary shares.
We may require substantial additional funding. Raising additional capital could cause dilution to our existing shareholders.
The percentage of our Class A ordinary shares owned by current shareholders may be diluted in the future because of equity issuances for acquisitions, capital market transactions or otherwise, including, without limitation, equity awards that we may grant to our directors, officers and employees, and exercise of our Warrants.
To the extent that we raise additional capital through the sale of equity or convertible debt, the ownership interests of our shareholders will be diluted. In addition, the terms of any equity or convertible debt we agree to issue may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect the rights of our shareholders. Convertible debt financing, if available, may involve agreements that include covenants limiting or restricting our ability to take specific actions, such as incurring additional debt, making capital expenditures, and declaring dividends, and may impose limitations on our ability to acquire, sell or license intellectual property rights and other operating restrictions that could adversely impact our ability to conduct our business.
We currently have an effective shelf registration statement on Form S-3 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), which we may use to offer from time to time Class A ordinary shares, preferred shares, debt securities, warrants, units and any combination of the foregoing securities (the “Shelf Registration Statement”, and the prospectus contained therein, the “Prospectus”). On February 14, 2025, we entered into a sales agreement (the “Sales Agreement”) relating to the offer and sale of our Class A ordinary shares from time to time through or to JonesTrading Institutional Services LLC (“Jones”), acting as sales agent in “at the market” offerings as defined in Rule 415 under the Securities Act (the “ATM Offering”). In connection with the entry into the Sales Agreement, we filed a prospectus supplement, dated March 25, 2025 (the “Original Prospectus Supplement”) to the accompanying Prospectus dated March 25, 2025 (collectively, the “Prior Prospectus”) to register Class A ordinary shares issuable pursuant to the Sales Agreement. Under the Prior Prospectus, we registered up to USD $6.25 million of our Class A ordinary shares to be sold in the ATM Offering. On June 27, 2025, we filed a prospectus supplement to the Prospectus to increase the maximum aggregate offering price of the Class A ordinary shares issuable under the Sales Agreement to up to an additional aggregate USD $16.5 million of Class A ordinary shares, which did not include any prior sales made pursuant to the Sales Agreement.
Furthermore, based on the aggregate market value of our Class A ordinary shares held by non-affiliates (“public float”) as of the date of the filing of this Annual Report, and for so long as our public float is less than USD $75 million, the amount we can raise through primary public offerings of securities, including sales under the Sales Agreement, in any twelve-month period using shelf registration statements is limited to an aggregate of one-third of our public float. If our public float meets or exceeds $75 million at any time, we will no longer be subject to the restrictions set forth in General Instruction I.B.6 of Form S-3. Unless and until our public float meets or exceeds USD $75 million, our ability to raise capital using the Shelf Registration Statement will be constrained by General Instruction I.B.6 of Form S-3, which may affect the timing of and amounts we can raise; however, we will still maintain the ability to raise funds through other means, such as through the filing of a registration statement on Form S-1 or via private placements.
Additional funds may not be available when we need them on terms that are acceptable to us, or at all. If adequate funds are not available to us on a timely basis, we may be required to curtail or cease our operations. Raising additional funding through debt or equity financing is likely to be difficult or unavailable altogether given the early stage of our technology. Furthermore, the issuance of additional securities, whether equity or debt, by us, or the possibility of such issuance, may cause the market price of our common stock to decline further and existing stockholders may not agree with our financing plans or the terms of such financings.
Pursuant to our Articles, we are also authorized to issue an unlimited number of preferred shares, of which 4,500 preferred shares have been designated as our Series A Preferred Shares, which are convertible into Class A ordinary shares. Such Series A Preferred Shares are senior to our Class A ordinary shares in terms of dividend priority and liquidation preference. Any preferred shares that we issue in the future may rank ahead of our Class A ordinary shares in terms of dividend priority or liquidation preference and may have greater voting rights than our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, such preferred shares may contain provisions allowing those shares to be converted into Class A ordinary shares, which could dilute the value of our Class A ordinary shares to current shareholders and could adversely affect the market price, if any, of our Class A ordinary shares. In addition, the preferred shares could be utilized, under certain circumstances, as a method of discouraging, delaying or preventing a change in control of the Company.
Future sales, or the perception of future sales, by us or our shareholders in the public market could cause the market price for our Class A ordinary shares to decline.
The sale of our Class A ordinary shares in the public market, including Class A ordinary shares issued upon the exercise of Warrants, or the perception that such sales could occur, could harm the prevailing market price of our Class A ordinary shares and make it difficult for us to raise funds through securities offerings in the future. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, also might make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that it deems appropriate.
In the future, we may also issue its securities in connection with investments or acquisitions. The amount of Class A ordinary shares issued in connection with an investment or acquisition could constitute a material portion of the then-outstanding Class A ordinary shares. Any issuance of additional securities in connection with investments or acquisitions may result in additional dilution to our shareholders.
On April 4, 2025, a registration statement on Form S-3 was declared effective by the SEC, registering certain Class A ordinary shares for resale (the “Resale Registration Statement”). Certain securityholders may sell large amounts of our Class A ordinary shares in the open market or in privately negotiated transactions pursuant to the Resale Registration Statement, which could have the effect of increasing the volatility in our Class A ordinary share price or putting significant downward pressure on the price of our Class A ordinary shares.
There is no guarantee that the Public Warrants will ever be in the money; they may expire worthless or the terms of warrants may be amended.
The exercise price for the Public Warrants is USD $11.50 per ordinary share. There is no guarantee that the Public Warrants will ever be in the money prior to their expiration, and as such, the Public Warrants may expire worthless.
In addition, our Public Warrants were issued in registered form under the Warrant Agreement between Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, as warrant agent, and Pono. The Warrant Agreement provides that the terms of the warrants may be amended without the consent of any holder to cure any ambiguity or correct any defective provision, but requires the approval by the holders of at least a majority of the then outstanding Public Warrants to make any other change. Accordingly, we may amend the terms of the warrants in a manner adverse to a holder if holders of at least a majority of the then outstanding Public Warrants approve of such amendment. Although our ability to amend the terms of the warrants with the consent of at least a majority of the then outstanding Public Warrants is unlimited, examples of such amendments could be amendments to, among other things, increase the exercise price of the warrants, shorten the exercise period or decrease the number of shares and their respective affiliates and associates have of ordinary shares purchasable upon exercise of a Public Warrant.
Our Warrant Agreement designates the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our Public Warrants, which could limit the ability of Public Warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us.
Our Warrant Agreement provides that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against the Company arising out of or relating in any way to the Warrant agreement, including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the Warrant Agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in the Warrant Agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions of the Warrant Agreement, is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our Public Warrants, such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such Public Warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such Public Warrant holder’s counsel in the foreign action as agent for such Public Warrant holder.
This choice-of-forum provision may limit a Public Warrant holder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that we find favorable for disputes with the Company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of our Warrant Agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to 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 materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and Board.
We may redeem the unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to warrant holders, thereby making their warrants worthless.
We have the ability to redeem outstanding warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that the last reported sales price of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share for any 20 trading days within a 30 trading-day period ending on the third trading day prior to the date we send the notice of redemption to the warrant holders. If and when the warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise its redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. Additionally, ninety (90) days after the warrants become exercisable, we may redeem all (but not less than all) of the outstanding warrants at $0.01 per warrant upon a minimum of 30 days’ prior written notice of redemption (during which time the holders may exercise their warrants prior to redemption for the number of shares set forth in the table under the section captioned “ Description of Securities — Warrants — Redemption of Warrants — Redemption of Warrants for Class A Ordinary Shares ”) if the following conditions are satisfied: (i) the last reported sale prices of the Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $18.00 per share (as may be adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations or the like) on the trading day prior to the date of the notice; (ii) the private placement warrants are also concurrently exchanged at the same price as the outstanding Public Warrants; and (iii) there is an registration statement covering the issuance of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating thereto available throughout the 30-day period after written notice of redemption is given. In either case, redemption of the outstanding warrants could you (i) to exercise your warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be for you to do so, (ii) to sell your warrants at the then-current market price when you might otherwise wish to hold your warrants or (iii) to accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding warrants are called for redemption, is likely to be substantially less than the market value of your warrants.
