Table of Contents

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K/A

(Amendment No. 1)

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021

OR

For the transition period from ________ to__________

Commission file number: 001-40867

Volcon, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(512) 400-4271

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐   No ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐  No ☒ 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ☐    No  ☒

As of June 30, 2021, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second quarter, there was no established public market for the registrant’s common stock. The registrant’s common stock began trading on the NASDAQ Stock Market on October 8, 2021. The aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $110,896,150 based on the closing sale price on December 31, 2021 as reported by the NASDAQ Stock Market.

As of April 25, 2022, there were 24,129,266 outstanding shares of our common stock.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

None.

The registrant’s auditor is MaloneBailey, LLP, Houston, TX (PCAOB ID 206)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

All references to “Company,” “we,” “us,” “our” and “Volcon” refer to Volcon, Inc., and the terms “Board of Directors” and “Board” refers to the Board of Directors of the Company.

This Amendment No. 1 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K/A (this “Amendment”) amends the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 originally filed on March 23, 2022 (the “Original Filing”) by Volcon, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”). The Company is filing this Amendment to present the information required by Part III (Items 10-14) of Form 10-K as the Company will not file its definitive proxy statement within 120 days of the end of its fiscal year ended December 31, 2021.

Pursuant to Rule 12b-15 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, (the “Exchange Act”) this Amendment also contains new certifications by the principal executive officer and the principal financial officer as required by Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Accordingly, Item 15(a)(3) of Part IV is amended to include the currently dated certifications as exhibits. Because no financial statements have been included in this Amendment and this Amendment does not contain or amend any disclosure with respect to Items 307 and 308 of Regulation S-K, paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of the certifications have been omitted.

Except as described above or as expressly noted in this Amendment, no other changes have been made to the Original Filing. The Original Filing continues to speak as of the date of the Original Filing, and the Company has not updated the disclosures contained therein to reflect any events which occurred at a date subsequent to the filing of the Original Filing.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART III

ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Our Board of Directors

The following sets forth certain information, as of the date of this Amendment, about each member of our Board, including an account of their specific business experience; the names of publicly held and certain other corporations of which they also are, or have been within the past five (5) years, directors.

Executive Officers Who are Not Serving as Directors

Below is information regarding each of our current executive officers who are not directors of the Company, including their title, age and brief biography describing each executive officer’s business experience. No executive officer has any family relationship with any other executive officer or any of our current directors.

Corporate Governance and Board Matters

We are committed to sound corporate governance principles, which are essential to running our business efficiently and maintaining our integrity in the marketplace. Certain features of our corporate governance practices are provided below.

Director Qualifications

We believe that our directors should have the highest professional and personal ethics and values. They should have broad experience at the policy-making level in business, banking, real estate or technology. They should be committed to enhancing stockholder value and should have sufficient time to carry out their duties and to provide insight and practical wisdom based on experience. Their service on boards of other companies should be limited to a number that permits them, given their individual circumstances, to perform responsibly all director duties. Each director must represent the interests of all stockholders. When considering potential director candidates, our Board also considers the candidate’s character, judgment, diversity, skill set, specific business background and global or international experience in the context of our needs and those of the Board.

Insider Trading Policy

Our Board has adopted an Insider Trading Policy that applies to all of our directors and employees. The policy attempts to establish standards that will avoid even the appearance of improper conduct on the part of insiders. Our Insider Trading Policy is available on our website at are available on our website at www.volcon.com under “Investors—Governance—Governance Documents.”

Leadership Structure

Currently, the roles of the Chairman and CEO are currently filled by separate individuals. Since the Company began its operations in 2020, Mr. Okonsky has served as Chairman. Since August 23, 2021, Mr. Davis has served as our CEO. Previously, Mr. Andrew Leisner served as our CEO.

The Board believes that the separation of the offices of the Chairman and CEO is appropriate at this time because it allows our CEO to focus primarily on our business strategy, operations and corporate vision. The Board elects our Chairman and our CEO, and each of these positions may be held by the same person or by different people. Although our Board does not have a policy regarding the separation of the roles of CEO and Chairman, we believe it is important that the Board retain flexibility to determine whether these roles should be separate or combined based upon the Board’s assessment of the company’s needs and the Company’s leadership at a given point in time. The Board believes our company and our stockholders benefit from this flexibility, as our directors are well positioned to determine our leadership structure given their in-depth knowledge of our management team, our strategic goals, and the opportunities and challenges we face.

We believe that independent and effective oversight of the Company’s business and affairs is maintained through the composition of the Board, the leadership of our independent directors and Board committees and our governance structures and processes. The Board consists of a majority of independent directors, and the Board’s Audit, Compensation and Nominating and Governance Committees are composed solely of independent directors.

Code of Ethics

We have adopted a written Code of Ethics that applies to our directors, officers and employees, including our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer or controller, or persons performing similar functions. This code provides fundamental ethical principles to which these individuals are expected to adhere and operate as a tool to help our directors, officers and employees understand the high ethical standards required for employment by, or association with, our Company. A copy of our Code of Ethics is available on our website at www.volcon.com under “Investors—Governance—Governance Documents”. We expect that any amendments to our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, or any waivers of its requirements, will be disclosed on our website, as well as by any other means required by NASDAQ rules.

Risk Management and Oversight

Our Board oversees our risk management process, which is a company-wide approach to risk management that is carried out by our management. Our full Board determines the appropriate risk for us generally, assesses the specific risks faced by us, and reviews the steps taken by management to manage those risks. While our full Board maintains the ultimate oversight responsibility for the risk management process, its committees oversee risk within their specific area of concern. Pursuant to our Board’s instruction, management regularly reports on applicable risks to the relevant committee or the full Board, as appropriate, with additional review or reporting on risks conducted as needed or as requested by our Board and its committees.

Stockholder Communications and Annual Meeting Attendance

Stockholders may communicate with our Board by contacting the Corporate Secretary, Volcon, Inc., 2590 Oakmont Drive, Suite 520, Round Rock, Texas 78665. All communications will be forwarded directly to the Chairman for consideration.

The Board members are not required to attend our annual meetings of stockholders. However, all directors are encouraged to attend every annual meeting of stockholders as we believe that the annual meeting is an opportunity for stockholders to communicate directly with directors. Our 2022 annual meeting of the stockholders will be our first annual meeting since becoming a public company.

Committees of the Board of Directors

From the date of our initial public offering, our Board has had had three (3) separately designated standing committees to assist with the discharge of its responsibilities. These committees include the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Governance Committee. Our Board also may establish such other committees as it deems appropriate, in accordance with applicable law and regulations and our corporate governance documents. Each of these committees operates under a charter that was approved by our Board. The charters of each of the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Governance Committee is available on our website at is available on our website at www.volcon.com under “Investors—Governance—Governance Documents.”

The names of the current members (chairs specifically noted) and highlights of some of the key oversight responsibilities of the Board committees are set forth below. Prior to March 1, 2022, Mr. Foster served as the Chair of the Audit Committee. Effective March 1, 2022, Ms. Tjon was appointed Chair of the Audit Committee.

Selecting and Nominating Director Candidates

In carrying out its functions, the Nominating and Governance Committee develops qualification criteria for all potential nominees for election, including incumbent directors, board nominees and stockholder nominees to be included in the Company’s future proxy statements. These criteria may include the following attributes:

The Nominating and Governance Committee also evaluates potential nominees for the Company’s Board to determine if they have any conflicts of interest that may interfere with their ability to serve as effective board members and to determine whether they are “independent” in accordance with applicable SEC and NASDAQ rules (to ensure that, at all times, at least a majority of our directors are independent). Although we do not have a separate diversity policy, the Nominating and Governance Committee considers the diversity of the Company’s directors and nominees in terms of knowledge, experience, skills, expertise and other factors that may contribute to the effectiveness of the Company’s Board.

Prior to nominating or, if applicable, recommending an existing director for re-election to the Company’s Board, the Nominating and Governance Committee considers and reviews the following attributes with respect to each sitting director:

Board and Committee Meetings

Our Board held four (4) meetings during fiscal year 2021.

In fiscal year 2021, each incumbent director attended 100% of the aggregate of (1) the total number of meetings of the Board (held during the period for which that person served as a director) and (2) the total number of meetings held by all committees of the Board on which that person served (held during the period served).

Delinquent Section 16(A) Reports

Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our directors and executive officers and persons who own more than 10% of the outstanding shares of common stock to file reports with the SEC disclosing their ownership of common stock at the time they become subject to Section 16(a) and changes in such ownership that occur during the year. Based solely on a review of copies of such reports furnished to us, or on written representations that no reports were required, we believe that all directors, executive officers and holders of more than 10% of the common stock complied in a timely manner with the filing requirements applicable to them with respect to transactions during the year ended December 31, 2021, we believe that all directors, executive officers and holders of more than 10% of the common stock complied in a timely manner with the filing requirements applicable to them with respect to transactions during the year ended December 31, 2021, except for a Form 4 that was not timely filed for Adrian James.

ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Compensation of Non-Employee Directors

Our non-employee directors did not receive any cash compensation during 2021. Each independent director has received stock options which vest upon one (1) year of service as their compensation for being a Board member. No cash compensation is provided other than reimbursement for travel costs to attend meetings. The following table sets forth compensation paid or awarded to, or earned by, each of our directors (except for Mr. Okonsky, whose compensation is disclosed under “Executive Compensation—Summary Compensation Table” below) during 2021:

_____________________

Executive Compensation

Our named executive officers named in the Summary Compensation Table (such executive officers are referred to herein as the “Named Executive Officers” or “NEOs”) for 2021, which consist of all individuals serving as our principal executive officer during the year and the Company’s two other most highly compensated executive officers, are:

Summary Compensation Table

The following table presents summary information regarding the total compensation awarded to, earned by and paid to our NEOs for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020:

Narrative Disclosure to Summary Compensation Table

General

We have compensated our NEOs through a combination of base salary, cash bonuses, equity awards and other benefits, including certain perquisites. Each of our NEOs has substantial responsibilities relating to our day-to-day operations.

Base Salary

The Compensation Committee reviews and approves base salaries of our NEOs. In setting the base salary of each NEO for the periods presented above, the Compensation Committee relied on market data. The Compensation Committee also may retain independent consultants as it deems appropriate. Salary levels are typically considered annually as part of our regularly scheduled performance review process and otherwise upon a promotion or other change in job responsibility.

Bonus

Our NEOs are also eligible to receive an annual bonus as a percentage of base salary based on our achievement of various metrics. Annual incentive awards are intended to recognize and reward those NEOs who contribute meaningfully to our performance for the corresponding year. Our Board has discretion to determine whether and in what amounts or form (cash or stock) any such bonuses will be paid in a given year.

Equity Awards

The stock option awards reflected in the table above were issued pursuant to the Volcon, Inc., 2021 Stock Plan (the “2021 Stock Plan”), which, as described more fully below, allows the Compensation Committee to establish the terms and conditions of the awards, subject to the plan terms. In January 2021, we adopted the 2021 Stock Plan, which permits either the Compensation Committee or our entire Board, for the period prior to the establishment of the Compensation Committee, to grant stock options. We believe these awards to our executive officers help align the interests of management and our stockholders and reward our executive officers for improved Company performance.

401(k) Retirement Plan

The Company participates in a 401(k) plan that allows all employees, including NEOs, to contribute part of their compensation, up to specified IRS limitations. To date the Company has not provided any matching contributions to the 401(k) plan.

Health and Welfare Benefits

Our NEOs are eligible to participate in the same benefit plans designed for all of our full-time employees, including health, dental, vision, disability and basic group life insurance coverage. The purpose of our employee benefit plans is to help us attract and retain quality employees, including executives, by offering benefit plans similar to those typically offered by our competitors.

Perquisites

We provide our NEOs with a limited number of perquisites that we believe are reasonable and consistent with our overall compensation program to enable us to attract and retain superior employees for key positions. The perquisites received by our NEOs in 2021 and 2020 included housing, relocation and mobile phone allowances.

Agreements with NEOs

We have entered into an employment agreement with our CEO, Jordan Davis, CFO, Greg Endo, Chief Operating Officer, and our former CEO, Andrew R. Leisner and a Consulting Agreement with an entity controlled by our CTO and co-founder, Christian Okonsky.

Employment Agreement with Jordan Davis, CEO

On August 5, 2021, we entered into an employment agreement with Jordan Davis pursuant to which Mr. Davis agreed to serve as our CEO commencing August 23, 2021 on an at-will basis. The agreement provides for an initial annual base salary of $230,000, and for the first year of his employment Mr. Davis will receive $9,000 in living expenses. Mr. Davis received a moving allowance of $25,000 which is repayable to the Company if Mr. Davis voluntarily terminates his employment less than 12 months before the effective date of his employment agreement. Pursuant to the agreement, Mr. Davis is eligible to receive an annual bonus of $172,500 based on the achievement milestone approved by our Board ($31,334 was approved by the Compensation Committee based on Company’s attainment of its 2021 goals and 2021 employment service period). Pursuant to the agreement, Mr. Davis was granted a ten-year option to purchase 450,000 shares at an exercise price of $3.00 per share. The option vests in three (3) equal installments on each of the succeeding three (3) anniversary dates of the execution of the employment agreement, provided Mr. Davis is employed on such vesting date. In the event of a “change of control” (as defined in the employment agreement) prior to the final vesting of all of the options, all of the unvested options shall immediately vest; provided, however, in the event the acquiring party desires to replace the unvested options with a substitute grant of equal or greater value, such proposed substitution shall be submitted to the Compensation Committee, and the Compensation Committee shall decide whether to allow the unvested options to vest or whether to cancel the unvested options and replace them with the substitute grant proposed by the acquiring party.

If Mr. Davis’ employment is terminated at our election without “cause” (as defined in the agreement), Mr. Davis shall be entitled to receive severance payments equal to six (6) months of Mr. Davis’ base salary and he shall also receive the prior year’s bonus, if not yet paid, payable at no less than target. In addition, if Mr. Davis’ employment during a “covered period,” which is defined as the period commencing 30 days prior to a change in control and ending 12 months following a change in control, Mr. Davis shall be entitled to receive 12 months of severance, and an acceleration of the vesting of the option grant described in the prior paragraph.

Employment Agreement with Greg Endo, CFO

Effective June 7, 2021, we entered into an employment agreement with Greg Endo pursuant to which Mr. Endo agreed to serve as our CFO commencing on such date. The employment agreement provides for an initial annual salary of $190,000, and for the first year of his employment Mr. Endo will receive $18,000 in living expenses. Mr. Endo will receive a moving allowance of $15,000 when he relocates to the Austin, Texas area. Mr. Endo may receive an annual bonus, provided that the final determination on the amount of the annual bonus, if any, will be made by the Compensation Committee, based on criteria established by the Compensation Committee. The targeted annual bonus for 2021 was $125,000 ($36,154 was approved by the Compensation Committee based on Company’s attainment of its 2021 goals and employment service period). Pursuant to the agreement, Mr. Endo was granted a ten-year option to purchase 312,500 shares at an exercise price of $1.00 per share. The option vests in three (3) equal installments on each of the succeeding three (3) anniversary dates of the execution of the employment agreement, provided Mr. Endo is employed on such vesting date. In the event of a “change of control” (as defined in the 2021 Stock Plan) prior to the final vesting of all of the options, all of the unvested options shall immediately vest; provided, however, in the event the acquiring party desires to replace the unvested options with a substitute grant of equal or greater value, such proposed substitution shall be submitted to the Compensation Committee, and the Compensation Committee shall decide whether to allow the unvested options to vest or whether to cancel the unvested options and replace them with the substitute grant proposed by the acquiring party.

If Mr. Endo’s employment is terminated at our election without “cause” (as defined in the employment agreement), Mr. Endo shall be entitled to receive severance payments equal to six months of Mr. Endo’s base salary and he shall also receive the prior year’s bonus, if not yet paid, payable at no less than target. In addition, if Mr. Endo’s employment is terminated during a “covered period,” which is defined as the period commencing 30 days prior to a change in control and ending 12 months following a change in control, Mr. Endo shall be entitled to receive 12 months of severance, and an acceleration of the vesting of the option grant described in the prior paragraph.

Consulting Agreement with Christian Okonsky, Co-Founder and CTO

On August 28, 2020, we entered into a consulting agreement with Pink Possum, an entity controlled by Mr. Okonsky, pursuant to which Mr. Okonsky provides us with services. In consideration for entering into the consulting agreement, we issued the entity a ten-year warrant to purchase our common stock at an exercise price of $0.004 per share. The number of shares of common stock issuable pursuant to the warrants was based on the number of shares of our common stock outstanding at the time of exercise and provided that Pink Possum would receive 18.75% of our shares of common stock outstanding at the time of exercise on a fully diluted basis. On March 26, 2021, Pink Possum entered into an amendment to the consulting agreements agreeing to exchange the original warrant for a new ten-year warrant to purchase 4,750,000 of common stock at an exercise price of $0.98.

In addition, pursuant to the consulting agreement upon the occurrence of a Fundamental Transaction (as defined below) for an aggregate gross sales price of $100.0 million or more, Pink Possum will receive a cash payment equal to 1% of such gross sales price. For the purposes of the consulting agreement, “Fundamental Transaction” means any of the following: (i) a consolidation or merger involving the Company if the holders of the voting securities of the Company that are outstanding immediately prior to the consummation of such consolidation or merger do not, immediately after the consummation of such consolidation or merger, hold voting securities that collectively possess at least a majority of the voting power of all the outstanding securities of the surviving entity of such consolidation or merger or such surviving entity’s parent entity; (ii) a transfer or issuance (in a single transaction or series of related transactions) by one or more of the Company and its stockholders to one person or to any group of persons acting in concert, of shares of the Company’s capital stock then collectively possessing 50% or more of the voting power of all then outstanding shares of the Company’s capital stock (computed on an as-converted to common stock basis); or (iii) any sale, license, lease, assignment or other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company. Furthermore, commencing upon the completion of the Company’s initial public offering of the shares of our common stock, if our market capitalization exceeds $300.0 million for a period of 21 consecutive trading days, the entity will receive an additional cash payment equal to $15.0 million; provided that we will have the right, in our sole discretion, to make the foregoing $15.0 million payment by the issuance of shares of our common stock. The foregoing amounts will be payable to Pink Possum if the above milestones occur any time prior to the ten-year anniversary of original consulting agreement, or August 28, 2030.

Employment Agreement with Andrew R. Leisner, Former CEO

On September 28, 2020, we entered into an employment agreement with Andrew Leisner pursuant to which Mr. Leisner agreed to serve as our CEO commencing October 5, 2020 on an at-will basis. The agreement provided for an initial annual base salary of $225,000, and for the first year of his employment Mr. Leisner received $18,000 in living expenses. In addition, Mr. Leisner received a restricted stock unit award of 187,500 shares vesting 62,500 per year over a three-year period. In May 2021, Mr. Leisner also received a grant of 187,500 stock options with an exercise price of $1.00 per share vesting 62,500 per year over a three-year period beginning with his employment date. Mr. Leisner resigned in July 2021 and his options and restricted stock units were forfeited upon his resignation. Mr. Leisner has agreed to serve on an advisory committee for the Company and he received a grant of 5,000 stock options with an exercise price of $3.00 that will vest over one (1) year beginning in July 2021 for his participation on this committee. Mr. Leisner has agreed not to compete with us until six (6) months after the termination of his employment.

2021 Stock Plan

The 2021 Stock Plan was adopted by our Board in January 2021 and approved by our stockholders on March 24, 2021. The Compensation Committee, or our entire Board for the period prior to the establishment of our Compensation Committee, grants incentive awards to our eligible NEOs, directors, employees, and certain consultants under our 2021 Stock Plan in order to align the interests of our management team and employees with the interests of our stockholders and to create substantial incentives for the team to achieve our long-term goals. These awards enable us to provide competitive compensation to help in the recruitment of executives and employees and also, through vesting provisions, help to promote retention and long-term service of executives and key employees. During 2021, the Compensation Committee granted awards of restricted stock units, stock options and common stock grants totaling 2,427,802 shares under the 2021 Stock Plan. Under the terms of outstanding awards, all unvested shares will lapse and be forfeited upon the termination of the participant’s employment with the Company.

Outstanding Equity Awards

The following table sets forth certain information concerning our outstanding options for our NEOs on December 31, 2021:

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

None of the members of our Compensation Committee are or have been one of our officers or employees. In addition, none of our executive officers serves or has served as a member of the compensation committee or other board committee performing equivalent functions of any entity that has one or more executive officers serving as one of our directors or on our Compensation Committee.

ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

Beneficial Ownership of Common Stock

The following table sets forth information regarding the beneficial ownership of our common stock as of April 25, 2022:

We have determined beneficial ownership in accordance with the rules of the SEC. These rules generally provide that a person is the beneficial owner of securities if such person has or shares the power to vote or direct the voting of securities, or to dispose or direct the disposition of securities, or has the right to acquire such powers within 60 days through (i) the exercise of any option or warrant, (ii) the conversion of a security, (iii) the power to revoke a trust, discretionary account or similar arrangement or (iv) the automatic termination of a trust, discretionary account or similar arrangement. Except as otherwise indicated, we believe that the beneficial owners of common stock listed below, based on the information each of them has given to us, have sole investment and voting power with respect to their shares, except where community property laws may apply. Except as otherwise noted below, the address for each person or entity listed in the table is c/o Volcon, Inc., 2590 Oakmont Drive, Suite 520, Round Rock, Texas 78665.

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

The following table summarizes information about the Company’s equity compensation plans as of December 31, 2021.

ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

In addition to the compensation arrangements with directors and executive officers described in the section titled “Executive Compensation” above, the following is a description of transactions since January 1, 2021 to which we have been a party in which the amount involved exceeded or will exceed $120,000, and in which any of our directors (including nominees for election as directors), executive officers or beneficial holders of five percent (5%) or more of our capital stock, or their respective immediate family members or entities affiliated with them, had or will have a direct or indirect material interest.

Policies and Procedures Regarding Related Party Transactions

Our Audit Committee charter requires that our Audit Committee review and approve in advance any related party transaction. This covers, with certain exceptions set forth in Item 404 of Regulation S-K under the Securities Act, any transaction, arrangement or relationship, or any series of similar transactions, arrangements or relationships in which we were or are to be a participant (whether or not we are a direct party to the transaction), where the amount involved exceeds $120,000 and a related person had or will have a direct or indirect material interest, including, without limitation, purchases of goods or services by or from the related person or entities in which the related person has a material interest, indebtedness, guarantees of indebtedness and employment by us of a related person. All of the transactions described in this section occurred prior to the creation of our audit committee and the adoption of this policy, and, as such, they were not conducted on an arms’ length basis. Our related parties include our directors (including nominees for election as directors), executive officers, beneficial owners of five percent (5%) or more of our voting securities and immediate family members of any of the foregoing or any entity that any of them controls or in which any of them has a substantial beneficial ownership interest.

Liberty Hill Lease

In November 2020, we entered into an operating lease with an entity controlled by our founders, Messrs. Okonsky and James, for our future production facility in Liberty Hill, Texas. The lease has a lease term of five (5) years, and monthly payments ranging from approximately $15,000 per month to $17,000 per month over the lease term beginning when a certificate of occupancy is received. In February 2021, we entered into an amendment of the above lease to expand the leased premises. We paid an additional security deposit of $139,230 and additional prepaid rent of $315,588. The total minimum lease payments under the amended lease total approximately $3,930,170.

In October 2021, the Company began discussions for an additional amendment to the lease, which would result in the monthly payment increasing to $100,000 for the first year of the lease and increasing annually throughout the term of the lease to $107,000 in the final year. Monthly payments for the initial lease and the amended agreement begin at the time a certificate of occupancy is received by the landlord.

The Company evaluated the cost of this facility in relation to other lower cost options and determined that it would be in the best interest of the Company to terminate this agreement. The Company presented this conclusion to the board of directors on April 5, 2022. The Company is currently in negotiations to determine the amount of the security deposit and prepaid rent that will be returned to the Company as certain survey, architecture and construction design costs were incurred that will be paid by the Company.

Sustainability Initiatives, LLC

In June 2020, we entered into a services agreement with Sustainability Initiatives, LLC (“SI”), an entity controlled by Mr. Okonsky, for accounting, graphics, marketing services and other services. This agreement, which had a term of one (1) year and was not renewed, required us to pay SI a service fee based on hours worked with a minimum monthly fee of $5,000. During the term of the agreement, we paid SI a total of $60,000.

In June 2021, we entered into a sublease agreement with SI for office space. The sublease term is for one (1) year and requires us to make monthly payments of $2,000. The sublease automatically renews annually unless either party provides 90 days’ written notice to terminate the agreement.

Pink Possum, LLC and Highbridge Consultants, LLC

On August 28, 2020, we entered into consulting agreements with Pink Possum, an entity controlled by Mr. Okonsky, and Highbridge, an entity controlled by Mr. James, pursuant to which Messrs. Okonsky and James provide us with services. In consideration for entering into the consulting agreements, we issued the two entities ten-year warrants to purchase our common stock at an exercise price of $0.004 per share. The number of shares of common stock issuable pursuant to the warrants was based on the number of shares of our common stock outstanding at the time of exercise and provided that Pink Possum and Highbridge would receive 18.75% and 25%, respectively, of our shares of common stock outstanding at the time of exercise on a fully diluted basis. On March 26, 2021 and March 25, 2021, respectively, Pink Possum and Highbridge entered into amendments to the consulting agreements agreeing to exchange the original warrants for new ten-year warrants to purchase 4,750,000 and 6,250,000 shares, respectively, of common stock at an exercise price of $0.98. During the quarter ended March 31, 2021, we recognized compensation expenses of $5.6 million and $7.4 million for the warrants issued to Pink Possum and Highbridge, respectively. On December 20, 2021, Highbridge exercised all of its warrants on a cashless basis and the Company issued 5,507,575 shares of common stock to Highbridge.

In addition, pursuant to the consulting agreements, upon the occurrence of a Fundamental Transaction (as defined below) for an aggregate gross sales price of $100.0 million or more, each entity will receive a cash payment equal to 1% of such gross sales price. For the purposes of the consulting agreements, “Fundamental Transaction” means any of the following: (i) a consolidation or merger involving the Company if the holders of the voting securities of the Company that are outstanding immediately prior to the consummation of such consolidation or merger do not, immediately after the consummation of such consolidation or merger, hold voting securities that collectively possess at least a majority of the voting power of all the outstanding securities of the surviving entity of such consolidation or merger or such surviving entity’s parent entity; (ii) a transfer or issuance (in a single transaction or series of related transactions) by one or more of the Company and its stockholders to one person or to any group of persons acting in concert, of shares of the Company’s capital stock then collectively possessing 50% or more of the voting power of all then outstanding shares of the Company’s capital stock (computed on an as-converted to common stock basis); or (iii) any sale, license, lease, assignment or other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company. Furthermore, commencing upon the completion of our initial public offering of the shares of our common stock, if our market capitalization exceeds $300.0 million for a period of 21 consecutive trading days, each of the entities will receive an additional cash payment equal to $15.0 million; provided that we will have the right, in our sole discretion, to make the foregoing $15.0 million payment by the issuance of shares of our common stock. The foregoing amounts will be payable to the entities if the above milestones occur any time prior to the ten-year anniversary of original consulting agreements, or August 28, 2030.

Round Rock Sublease

We subleased one of our Round Rock, Texas, facilities from a company owned by our former Chief Operating Officer, Bruce Riggs, and his spouse. The lease was on a month-to-month basis and required us to make a monthly payment of $11,500, which includes trash service. The lease was cancelable with 90-days’ notice. In January 2022, the Company entered into a lease assignment with the ultimate landlord of the facility and beginning February 2022, the sublease is no longer effective as the Company is now leasing the facility directly from the ultimate landlord through December 31, 2023.

Director Independence

Pursuant to Rule 5605(b)(1) of the NASDAQ listing standards, a majority of the members of the Board must be “independent directors” as that term is defined by Nasdaq Rule 5605(a)(2). Our Board has evaluated the independence of its members based upon the applicable SEC rules and NASDAQ director independence standards. Applying these standards, our Board has affirmatively determined that Messrs. Foster and Kim and Ms. Tjon are “independent directors” under the applicable rules. We have determined that Mr. Okonsky is not an “independent director” under the applicable rules.

ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES

The following table shows the fees paid or accrued by the Company for the audit and other services provided by MaloneBailey, LLP during fiscal years 2021 and 2020:

Audit Fees incurred in fiscal years 2021 and 2020 include fees related to professional services for the audit of the Company’s annual consolidated financial statements, quarterly review of financial statements, and audit services provided in connection with other statutory and regulatory filings. Audit-Related Fees incurred in fiscal year 2021 and 2020 include agreed upon procedures for attestation services. All Other Fees are fees billed in conjunction with our initial public offering. The Audit Committee has reviewed summaries of the services provided and the related fees and has determined that the provision of non-audit services is compatible with maintaining the independence of MaloneBailey, LLP.

Audit Committee Pre-Approval Policies and Procedures

The Audit Committee’s policy is to pre-approve all audit and permitted non-audit services, except that de minimis non-audit services, as defined in Section 10A(i)(1) of the Exchange Act, may be approved prior to the completion of the independent auditor’s audit. All of the 2021 services described above since our initial public offering were pre-approved by the Audit Committee.

PART IV

 
ITEM 15. EXHIBIT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES

(d)

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on April 29, 2022.