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Spire Global, Inc. (SPIR) FY 2022 MD&A

Verbatim Item 7 Management's Discussion and Analysis from Spire Global, Inc.'s 10-K for fiscal year 2022. Filing date: 2023-03-15. Report date: 2022-12-31. Accession: 0000950170-23-008177.

This page reproduces the company's own Item 7 MD&A text from the linked SEC filing. It is filer text, not grepcent analysis, scoring, or investment advice.

Extracted structurally from real Item 7 body heading to real Item 7A/8 boundary. Confidence: high.

Company profile: SPIR · All MD&A years: index · Previous year: FY 2021 · Next year: FY 2023

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 and the related notes appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. In addition to historical consolidated financial information, the following discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements as a result of many factors. We discuss factors that we believe could cause or contribute to these differences below and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including those set forth in the sections titled “Risk Factors” and “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.” Our fiscal years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 are referred to herein as fiscal year 2022 and fiscal year 2021, respectively. Unless the context otherwise requires, all references to “the Company,” “we,” “us,” or “our” and similar terms refer to Spire and its subsidiaries.

Overview

We are a global provider of space-based data, analytics and Space Services, offering unique datasets and powerful insights about Earth from the ultimate vantage point—space—so that organizations can make decisions with confidence, accuracy and speed. We own and operate one of the world’s largest multi-purpose satellite constellations in low earth orbit. Our multi-receiver satellites obtain Automatic Identification Systems ("AIS") data from vessels, Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (“ADS–B”) data from aircraft and radio occultation (“RO”) data utilizing GNSS satellites. Our fully deployed constellation consists of more than 100 satellites, and we believe it is also one of the world’s largest “listening” constellations, observing the earth utilizing radio frequency sensors. We enrich this hard-to-acquire, valuable data with analytics and predictive solutions, providing data as a subscription to organizations around the world so that they can improve business operations, decrease their environmental footprint, deploy resources for growth and competitive advantage and mitigate risk.

In December 2022, our constellation covered the earth more than 200 times per day on average and our global ground station network performed thousands of contacts each day on average, reliably and resiliently collecting data with low latency. Our cloud-based data infrastructure in aggregate processes three terabytes of data each day on average, in creating our proprietary data analytics solutions. We provide customers these solutions through an application programming interface (“API”) infrastructure. The global proprietary data that we collect includes data that can only be

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captured from space with no terrestrial alternatives. We collect this data once and can then sell it an unlimited number of times across a broad and growing set of industries, including weather, aviation and maritime, with global coverage, real-time and near real-time data that can be easily integrated into our customers’ operations. Our Space Services offering enables our customers, commercial and government organizations, to go from idea to orbit simply, reliably, quickly and cost efficiently. We launch software, payloads and dedicated satellite constellations for our customers that we own and manage on their behalf. Just like our proprietary data and analytic solutions, our customers subscribe to the data that is collected through an API.

From our founding in 2012, we have set out to leverage data from space to solve problems on Earth. We aim to help inspire, lead, and innovate the business of space-based data. Today, our proprietary data and solutions are being used to help commercial and government organizations gain the advantage that they seek to innovate and solve some of the world’s greatest challenges, like climate change and global security. We have experienced rapid growth in recent periods. In November 2021, we acquired exactEarth (the "Acquisition"), a leading provider of global maritime vessel data for ship tracking and maritime situational awareness solutions in Canada.

Our platform applies our value-add insights and predictive analytics to this proprietary data to create commercially valuable datasets. We offer three data solutions to our customers, which vary in complexity and price and can be delivered in near real-time via our API that can be easily integrated into our customers’ business operations:


Maritime: Precise space-based data used for highly accurate ship monitoring, ship safety and route optimization.


Aviation: Precise space-based data used for highly accurate aircraft monitoring, aircraft safety and route optimization.


Weather: Precise space-based data used for highly accurate weather forecasting.

For each data solution, we have the capability to offer customers a variety of features and additional value. The four forms of data we monetize are:


Clean data: Clean and structured data directly from our proprietary nanosatellites;


Smart data: Clean data fused with third-party datasets and proprietary analysis to enhance value and provide insights;


Predictive solutions: Big data, AI, and ML algorithms applied to fused data sets to create predictive analytics and insights; and


Solutions: Data-driven actionable recommendations to solve specific business problems, utilizing the full spectrum of our data analytics suite.

These value-add data features allow customers to solve various use cases and provide a path to expand throughout the customer’s relationship.

As our fourth solution, we are also pioneering an innovative business model through our Space Services solution. We leverage our fully deployed infrastructure and large-scale operations to enable our customers to obtain customized data through our API. Our customers can begin receiving data in less than a year after engaging with us and receive data by entering into a subscription agreement. Our Space Services offering provides our customers with fast, scalable and reliable access to space.

Our solutions are offered to customers across numerous industries and we not only have the opportunity to upsell within each one, but we also have the opportunity to cross-sell among all our solutions.

We provide our solutions to global customers through a subscription model or project-based solutions. We currently sell directly to end customers and utilize reseller partners when beneficial.

Highlights from Fiscal Year 2022


Full year 2022 revenue was $80.3 million, an increase of 85% from fiscal year 2021.


As of December 31, 2022, annual recurring revenue (“ARR”) was nearly $100 million at $99.4 million, an increase of approximately 41% from December 31, 2021. For the definition of ARR, see the section titled “—Key Business Metrics.”


We added 135 net new ARR Solution Customers throughout fiscal year 2022 and ended the year with 733 ARR Solution Customers, a 23% increase over December 31, 2021. For the definition of ARR Solution Customers, see the section titled “—Key Business Metrics.”


In the first quarter, we announced a space-as-a-service deal with NorthStar to build a constellation of satellites focused on space-situational awareness and debris monitoring. The first award within the contract is for three satellites, with pre-agreed options for NorthStar to scale the constellation to dozens of satellites as their business operational needs grow.


We were awarded an approximately $10 million contract by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ("NOAA") to provide six months of radio occultation ("RO") data. The near-real-time RO data consists of vertical profiles of atmospheric temperature and related quantities for operational weather models and other applications. The data will be available for NOAA to distribute globally as scientists collaborate to find new and meaningful weather and climate insights.


We were awarded a $4 million contract by NOAA to develop, integrate, test and demonstrate a Hyperspectral Microwave Sensor payload. Unlike an airborne or balloon-based platform, we are able to provide high-quality commercial data for NOAA’s weather forecast models and to leverage our existing work with RAL Space and the U.K. Government to develop Hyperspectral Microwave Sensors.


We continued to improve our geolocation capabilities by recently deploying satellites equipped with an antenna and software-defined radio tuned to capture signals from L-Band Satcom. The presence of these signals in certain locations and under certain

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circumstances is indicative of activities that are of critical importance for some of our government customers to help make the world a safer place.


We unveiled a next generation 16U satellite bus that offers the capabilities of a larger satellite, with up to double the payload capacity of conventional 16Us, while offering all the benefits of a nanosatellite. The satellite bus is tailored for customers with missions that require larger payloads and more power, volume, and data capabilities than a conventional 16U, such as Earth observation and space domain awareness missions.


We closed a $120 million credit facility with Blue Torch Finance LLC, which highlights the strength of our business, and further improves our balance sheet and liquidity position.

Macroeconomic, Geopolitical and COVID-19 Impact

Over the past two years, we have been impacted by the macroeconomic environment, such as fluctuations in foreign currencies, the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing interest rates and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

A strong U.S. dollar relative to our foreign subsidiaries' local functional currency for most of 2022 negatively impacted our revenue, since approximately one-third of our sales are transacted in foreign currencies, though it positively impacted our expenses, since a majority of our employees reside in countries outside of the United States.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused existing or potential customers to re-evaluate their decision to purchase our offerings, at times resulting in additional customer discounts, extended payment terms, longer sales cycles, and a few contract cancellations. The pandemic also led to reduced company-wide travel, resulted in a move to a hybrid work model, created a more difficult hiring process and at times resulted in employee attrition.

Increasing interest rates in 2022 resulted in higher interest expenses, as our credit facility is based on a floating interest rate.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the continuing conflict created additional global sanctions, which at times caused scheduling shifts or launch cancellations by third-party satellite launch providers, which delayed revenue recognition of certain sales contracts.

If any of these factors continue or worsen, and/or if new macroeconomic or geopolitical issues arise, our results and financial condition could be further negatively impacted. We cannot predict the timing, strength, or duration of any economic slowdown, downturn, instability, or recovery, generally or within any particular industry or geography. Any downturn of the general economy or industries in which we operate would adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Key Factors Affecting Our Performance

We believe that our current and future performance are dependent on many factors, including, but not limited to, those described below. While these areas present significant opportunity, they also present risks that we must manage to achieve successful results. For additional information about these risks, see the section titled “Risk Factors.” If we are unable to address these risks, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Expansion of and Further Penetration of Our Customer Base

We employ a “land and expand” business model that focuses on efficiently acquiring new customers (“land”) and then growing our relationships with these customers over time (“expand”). We have the capability to offer customers additional data sets and a variety of enhanced features that potentially grow the value of the services for which our customers contract with us. Our future revenue growth and our path to profitability are dependent upon our ability to continue to land new customers and then expand adoption of our solutions within their organizations.

We track our progress landing new customers by measuring the number of ARR Solution Customers we have from one fiscal year to the next. For instance, we have increased our number of ARR Solution Customers from 598 as of December 31, 2021 to 733 as of December 31, 2022. We track our progress in expanding our customer relationships by measuring our ARR Net Retention Rate. For the definition of ARR Net Retention Rate, see the section titled “—Key Business Metrics.” Our organic ARR Net Retention Rate was 117% for fiscal year 2022 and 110% for fiscal year 2021.

Expansion into New Industries and Geographies

As our solutions have grown, we continue to focus on further penetration of our initial industries including maritime, aviation, logistics and government (civil and defense/intelligence) among others. We believe our technology and solutions give us the ability to also expand into additional industries, including energy, financial services, agriculture, transportation, and insurance, and into additional geographies, including Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. Our revenue growth is dependent upon our ability to continue to expand into new industries and geographies. The costs associated with these expansions may adversely affect our results of operations.

Investment in Growth

We continue investing in growing our business and capitalizing on our market opportunities while balancing the uncertainties from the macro-economic environment and geopolitical factors. We intend to continue to add headcount to our global sales and marketing teams to acquire new customers and to increase sales to existing customers. We also intend to continue to add headcount as needed to our research and development teams and otherwise invest to improve and innovate our nanosatellite, ground station and data analytics technologies. For fiscal year 2022, our spending on research and development increased by $3.5 million, or 11%, from fiscal year 2021. $1.2 million of this increase was due to the Acquisition operating costs. For fiscal year 2022, our sales and marketing expenses increased by $8.1 million, or 40%, from fiscal year 2021. $5.2 million of this increase was due to the Acquisition operating costs. Our total headcount across all functions increased 12% from 370 employees as of December 31, 2021, to

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415 employees as of December 31, 2022. The costs of these investments may adversely affect our result of operations, but we believe that these investments will contribute to our long-term growth.

Acquisitions

Our business strategy may include acquiring other complementary solutions, technologies, or businesses, such as the Acquisition, that we believe will allow us to continue on our path to profitability, reduce the time or costs required to develop new technologies, incorporate enhanced functionality into and complement our existing solution offerings, augment our engineering workforce and enhance our technological capabilities.

Impact of Foreign Exchange Rates

We report in U.S. dollars, and the functional currency of our foreign operating subsidiaries is the local currency, including the Euro, the British Pound, the Singapore Dollar and the Canadian Dollar. The U.S. dollar has strengthened against many of these currencies since fiscal year 2021. In fiscal year 2022, approximately 35% of our revenues were generated in non-U.S. dollar-denominated currencies. This compares to fiscal year 2021 when approximately 46% of our revenues were generated in non-U.S. dollar-denominated currencies. The financial statements of these subsidiaries are translated into U.S. dollars using exchange rates in effect at each balance sheet date for assets and liabilities and average exchange rates during the period for revenues and expenses. To the extent we experience significant currency fluctuations, our results of operations may be impacted.

Key Business Metrics

We review the following key business metrics to evaluate our business, measure our performance, identify trends affecting our business, formulate business plans, and make strategic decisions:


ARR


ARR Customers


ARR Solution Customers


ARR Net Retention Rate

Annual Recurring Revenue

We define ARR as our expected annualized revenue from customers that are under contracts with us at the end of the reporting period with a binding and renewable agreement for our subscription solutions or customers that are under a binding multi-year contract that can range from components of our Space Services solution to a project-based customer solution. Customers with project-based contracts are considered recurring when there is a multi-year binding agreement that has a renewable component in the contract. Customers are also considered recurring when they have multiple contracts over multiple years. Customer contracts for data trials and one-time transactions are excluded from the calculation of ARR.

Our ARR growth in 2022 was driven by landing new ARR Customers (as defined below) along with increasing the amount of business with our existing customers. This is reflected in the increase in the total number of ARR Customers as of December 31, 2022, compared to December 31, 2021, as well as organic ARR Net Retention Rates that were over 100% for each of fiscal year 2022 and fiscal year 2021. Due in part to the timing of some of our project-based contracts, including when engagements start and stop, our ARR has fluctuated from period to period in the past, and we expect our ARR to continue to fluctuate from period to period in the future. ARR is a leading indicator and accordingly will tend to outpace the revenue impact as we recognize the contract value over time.

The following table summarizes our ARR at each fiscal year end for the periods indicated. The table includes the Acquisition data as the Acquisition closed prior to fiscal year 2021 year end.

As of December 31,
(dollars in thousands)20222021% Change
ARR$99,414$70,75241%

Number of ARR Customers and ARR Solution Customers

We define an ARR Customer as an entity that has a contract with us or through our reseller partners contracts, that is either a binding and renewable agreement for our subscription solutions, or a binding multi-year contract as of the measurement date independent of the number of solutions the entity has under contract. A single organization with separate subsidiaries, segments, or divisions may represent multiple customers, as we treat each entity that is invoiced separately as an individual customer. In cases where customers subscribe to our platform through our reseller partners, each end customer that meets the above definition is counted separately as an ARR Customer. All entities that have contracts for data trials and one-time transactions are excluded from the calculation of ARR Customers.

We define an ARR Solution Customer similarly to an ARR Customer, but we count every solution the customer has with us separately. As a result, the count of ARR Solution Customers exceeds the count of ARR Customers in each year as some customers contract with us for multiple solutions. Our multiple solutions customers are those that are under contract for at least two of our solutions: Maritime, Aviation, Weather, and Space Services. All entities that have contracts for data trials and one-time transactions are excluded from the calculation of ARR Solution Customers.

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The growth in each of our ARR Customers and ARR Solution Customers in 2022 was driven by landing new ARR Customers across our four solutions (Maritime, Aviation, Weather and Space Services), expanding our industry and geographical footprints, and having a low number of customers who have not renewed their contracts with us. We believe that our ability to expand our customer base is a key indicator of our market penetration, the growth of our business, and our future potential business opportunities.

The following table summarizes the number of our ARR Customers and ARR Solution Customers at the end of fiscal years 2022 and 2021. The table includes the Acquisition data as the Acquisition closed prior to the end of fiscal year 2021.

As of December 31,
20222021% Change
ARR Customers70957523%
ARR Solution Customers73359823%

ARR Net Retention Rate

The ARR Net Retention Rate measures the overall impact from increases in customer contract value (upsells), the decreases in customer contract value (downsells), and the decreases in customer value resulting from customers that have not renewed their contracts with us (lost customers). For the full year fiscal period, we calculate this by dividing the aggregate amount of upsells, downsells and lost customer ARR by the aggregate amount of customer ARR that was up for renewal during that same full year fiscal period.

The following table summarizes our ARR Net Retention Rate for each of fiscal years 2022 and 2021. The table excludes the Acquisition data for fiscal year 2021 due to the Acquisition only impacting the month of December 2021.

Fiscal Year
20222021% Change
ARR Net Retention Rate117%110%7%

Our ARR Net Retention Rate can be impacted from period to period by large increases or decreases in customer contract value and large decreases in contract value from customers that have not renewed their contracts with us. An ARR Net Retention Rate greater than 100% is an indication that we are growing the value of the solutions our customers are purchasing from us from a fiscal period end versus the prior fiscal period end. An ARR Net Retention Rate less than 100% is an indication that we are reducing the value of the solutions our customers are purchasing from us from a fiscal period end versus the prior fiscal period end. For fiscal year 2022, our ARR Net Retention Rate increased 7% from fiscal year 2021. This increase reflects our success in our "land and expand" strategy of providing existing customers with additional coverage, data sets, a variety of enhanced features and services to our customer's contracts, such as the incremental NOAA Weather contracts signed during fiscal year 2022.

Components of Results of Operations

Revenue

We derive revenue from providing data, insights and access to our cloud-based technology platform sold on a subscription basis. Some of our customer arrangements include the delivery of specific performance obligations and subsequent customer acceptance of project-based deliverables, which may impact the timing of revenue recognition. Subscription periods for our solutions generally range from one to two years and are typically non-cancelable, with customers having the right to terminate their agreements only if we materially breach our obligations under the agreement. Our subscription fees are typically billed either monthly or quarterly in advance.

Cost of Revenue

Cost of revenue consists primarily of personnel costs, depreciation, hosted infrastructure and high-power computing costs, third-party operating and royalty costs associated with delivering our data and services to our customers and amortization of purchased intangibles associated with the Acquisition. Personnel costs are primarily related to the cost of our employees supporting and managing our constellation operations including satellite operations, ground station control and launch management. Costs associated with the manufacture and launch of our satellites, including personnel costs, are capitalized and depreciated upon placement in service, typically over a three-year expected useful life. As satellites reach the end of their expected useful life, they are generally replaced with replenishment satellites to maintain our constellation at optimal performance. Costs associated with the acquisition and development of new ground stations, including the bill of materials and labor to install the ground station, are capitalized and depreciated upon placement in service typically over a four-year to ten-year expected useful life. We anticipate ongoing capital spending to repair and replenish ground stations as they reach the end of their expected useful life to keep our ground station network at optimal performance. Our proprietary ground station network is primarily located in third-party locations where we incur lease and other operational charges. Cost of revenue also includes royalties associated with third-party data sets that we integrate into our data solutions.

Operating Expenses

Research and Development. Research and development expenses consist primarily of employee-related expenses, third-party consulting fees, and computing costs. Our research and development efforts are focused on improving our satellite technology, developing new data sets, developing new algorithms and enhancing our smart and predictive analytics, and enhancing the ease of use and utility of our space-based data solutions.

Sales and Marketing. Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of employee-related expenses, sales commissions, marketing and advertising costs, costs incurred in the development of customer relationships, brand development costs, travel-related expenses and amortization of purchased intangible backlog associated with the Acquisition. Commission costs for new customer contract bookings are considered costs of obtaining customer

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contracts. Commission costs for multi-year deals are considered contract acquisition costs and are deferred and then amortized over the period of the contract excluding the last twelve months, which are expensed at the beginning of the final twelve-month period. Commission costs on contracts completed with a term of twelve months or less are expensed in the period incurred.

General and Administrative. General and administrative expenses consist of employee-related expenses for personnel in our executive, finance and accounting, facilities, legal, human resources, global supply chain, and management information systems functions, as well as other administrative employees. In addition, general and administrative expenses include fees related to third-party legal counsel, corporate insurance, fees related to accounting, tax and audit costs, office facilities costs, software subscription costs and other corporate costs.

Loss on Decommissioned Satellites. Loss on decommissioned satellites consist of the write-off of the remaining capitalized costs associated with the manufacture and launch of our satellites prior to the end of the satellite’s useful life. We contract with third-party companies to launch, carry and deploy our satellites into space. A loss could result from a third-party launch or deployer failure, a technical failure of the satellite, or the deorbit or decommissioning of a satellite before the end of the satellite’s useful life. A technical failure could include a satellite that is not able to communicate with our network of ground stations or fulfill its intended technical mission for a duration greater than one month. The loss amount is presented net of any insurance proceeds received. Due to the nature of these events, we cannot predict the magnitude or frequency of future satellite deorbit and launch failure losses. While we sometimes purchase launch insurance when financially practical, the proceeds from these policies will typically only cover a portion of our loss in the event of an unplanned satellite deorbit or launch failure. We incurred a $0.5 million loss on decommissioned satellites in fiscal year 2022. We did not incur any such loss in fiscal year 2021.

Other Income (Expense)

Interest Income. Interest income includes interest earned on our cash balances and short-term marketable securities.

Interest Expense. Interest expense includes interest costs associated with our promissory and convertible notes, and amortization of deferred financing costs.

Change in Fair Value of Contingent Earnout Liability. Change in fair value of contingent earnout liability includes mark-to-market adjustments to reflect changes in the fair value of the contingent earnout liability.

Change in Fair Value of Warrant Liabilities. Change in fair value of warrant liabilities includes mark-to-market adjustments to reflect changes in the fair value of warrant liabilities and the exchange of warrants for common stock.

Loss on Extinguishment of Debt. Loss on extinguishment of debt includes accelerated debt issuance expenses, legal and other fees associated with the payoff or refinancing of existing debt.

Other Income (Expense), Net. Other income (expense), net consists primarily of tax credits, grant income, the impact of foreign exchange gains and losses, benefit from loan forgiveness, loss on debt extinguishment, all transaction costs and other administrative fees associated with the warrant exchange, and sales and local taxes. We use the local currency as our functional currency for our subsidiaries in Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Singapore and Canada.

Income Tax Provision

Provision for income taxes consists of federal and certain state income taxes in the United States and income taxes in certain foreign jurisdictions. We do not provide for income taxes on undistributed earnings of our foreign subsidiaries since we intend to invest these earnings outside of the United States permanently. We account for income taxes using the asset and liability method, whereby deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized based on differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities and are measured using the enacted rates and laws that will be in effect when the differences are expected to reverse.

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Results of Operations

Fiscal Year 2022 Compared to Fiscal Year 2021

The following tables set forth selected consolidated statements of operations data for each of the periods indicated:

Years Ended December 31,
(in thousands)20222021
Revenue$80,268$43,375
Cost of revenue(1)40,32718,720
Gross profit39,94124,655
Operating expenses(1):
Research and development35,15331,615
Sales and marketing28,50220,387
General and administrative44,83140,479
Loss on decommissioned satellites549
Total operating expenses109,03592,481
Loss from operations(69,094)(67,826)
Other income (expense):
Interest income94823
Interest expense(13,955)(11,417)
Change in fair value of contingent earnout liability9,67748,248
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities8,757(1,600)
Loss on extinguishment of debt(22,510)(3,255)
Other expense, net(2,912)(1,766)
Total other expense, net(19,995)30,233
Loss before income taxes(89,089)(37,593)
Income tax provision322497
Net loss$(89,411)$(38,090)

(1)
Includes stock-based compensation as follows:

Years Ended December 31,
(in thousands)20222021
Cost of revenue$232$432
Research and development3,1542,859
Sales and marketing2,8222,307
General and administrative5,2836,036
Total stock-based compensation$11,491$11,634

Revenue

Years Ended December 31,
(in thousands)20222021% Change
Revenue$80,268$43,37585%

Total revenue increased $36.9 million, or 85%, driven primarily by the growth in the number of ARR Customers combined with our ARR Net Retention Rate greater than 100%. The Acquisition drove $17.1 million of this increase, with $18.6 million of revenue in fiscal year 2022 compared to $1.5 million in fiscal year 2021 due to the Acquisition only impacting the month of December in 2021. Our ARR Customers increased 23%, from 575 as of December 31, 2021 to 709 as of December 31, 2022, which contributed to an increase in revenue from new customers. Our ARR Net Retention Rate was 117% during fiscal year 2022, which contributed to an increase in revenue from our existing customer base.

For fiscal year 2022, we derived 46% of our revenue from the Americas, 40% of our revenue from Europe, the Middle East and Africa (“EMEA”), and 14% of our revenue from Asia Pacific (“APAC”). For fiscal year 2021, we derived 36% of our revenue from the Americas, 48% of our revenue from EMEA, and 16% of our revenue from APAC. For fiscal year 2022, we derived 71% of our revenue from subscription arrangements, compared to 49% for fiscal year 2021. This percentage mix can fluctuate significantly from period to period driven primarily by the timing of non-subscription revenue recognition in our contracts.

Cost of Revenue

Years Ended December 31,
(in thousands)20222021% Change
Total cost of revenue$40,327$18,720115%
Gross profit39,94124,65562%
Gross margin50%57%(7)%
Headcount (at end of year)442576%

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Cost of revenue increased $21.6 million, or 115%. $15.3 million of this increase was due to the Acquisition operating costs. Organic increases were primarily driven by an increase in computing costs of $1.6 million, an increase in personnel costs of $1.5 million, an increase in third-party royalty costs of $1.3 million, an increase in depreciation expenses of $0.8 million, an increase in Space Services third-party hardware expenses of $0.3 million, an increase in travel and entertainment expenses of $0.2 million, an increase in ground station expenses of $0.2 million, and an increase in other miscellaneous operating expenses of $0.4 million. The increase in computing costs was driven primarily by higher expenses to support customer growth and some of our weather solutions transitioning from research and development to production. The increase in personnel expenses was driven primarily by headcount growth. The increase in third-party royalty costs was driven primarily by an increase in sales activity, resulting in higher payments to third-party data set providers as they augment our data solutions. Depreciation expenses increased from the prior year driven primarily by new satellites to replace retired constellation satellites which were fully depreciated and the addition of Space Services solution satellites. The increase in Space Services third-party hardware expenses was in support of strategic customer commitments. The increase in travel and entertainment expenses was driven by eased COVID-19 restrictions. The increase in ground station expenses was driven by higher operating costs on the addition of incremental capacity to improve overall data latency.

Gross margin for fiscal year 2022 and fiscal year 2021 was 50% and 57%, respectively. The Acquisition negatively impacted gross margin for fiscal year 2022 by approximately 12% and fiscal year 2021 by approximately 2%. Of these Acquisition-related gross margin reductions, approximately half was driven by purchase accounting adjustments to reduce the value of deferred revenue and to amortize purchased intangible assets. This metric can fluctuate significantly from period to period driven by the timing of the revenue as well as the timing of our technology investments to support future revenue.

We expect cost of revenue, including depreciation and amortization expenses, third-party operating costs and royalties, and high-powered computing costs, to increase in absolute dollars as our business grows.

Operating Expenses

Operating expenses consist of our research and development, our sales and marketing, and our general and administrative expenses. As we continue to invest in our growth, including through hiring additional personnel, we expect our operating expenses to increase in absolute dollars as revenue grows; however, we expect our operating expenses as a percentage of revenue to decrease over time.

Research and Development

Years Ended December 31,
(in thousands)20222021% Change
Research and development$35,153$31,61511%
Percentage of total revenue44%73%
Headcount (at end of year)20618114%

Research and development expenses increased $3.5 million, or 11%. $0.9 million of this growth was due to the Acquisition operating costs. Organic increases were primarily driven by an increase in personnel costs of $3.1 million, and an increase in travel and entertainment expenses of $0.3 million, partially offset by a decrease in consulting expenses of $0.7 million and a decrease in other miscellaneous operating expenses of $0.1 million. The increase in personnel costs was driven by growth in headcount and salary adjustments during the year. The increase in travel and entertainment expenses was driven by eased COVID-19 restrictions. The decrease in consulting expenses was driven by a reduction of external technical resources, and a shift to internal resources, to support new development processes and capabilities.

While we expect research and development expenses to increase in absolute dollars in future periods primarily due to higher headcount as we continue to invest in the development of our solutions offerings and new technologies, we expect research and development expenses to decrease as a percentage of revenue in future periods as our revenue growth exceeds our growth in research and development spend.

Sales and Marketing

Years Ended December 31,
(in thousands)20222021% Change
Sales and marketing$28,502$20,38740%
Percentage of total revenue36%47%
Headcount (at end of year)8089(10)%

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Sales and marketing expenses increased $8.1 million, or 40%. $4.8 million of this growth was due to the Acquisition operating costs. Organic increases were primarily driven by an increase in contractor labor expenses of $1.5 million, an increase in personnel costs of $0.9 million, an increase in travel and entertainment expenses of $0.5 million, an increase in marketing expenses of $0.2 million, and an increase in software expenses of $0.2 million. The increase in contractor labor expenses was due to an increase in sales resources involved in selling activities. The increase in personnel costs was driven by higher non-wage compensation including commissions, stock-based compensation and bonus payments. The increase in travel and entertainment expenses was driven by eased COVID-19 restrictions. The increase in marketing expenses was driven by growth in our expenditures for demand generation, brand awareness and public relations. The increase in software expenses was driven by scaling to support overall company headcount growth.

While we expect sales and marketing expenses to continue to grow in absolute dollars in the future, primarily due to increased employee-related expenses as we grow our headcount, to support our sales and marketing efforts and our continued expansion of our sales capacity across our solutions, we expect sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of revenue to decrease in future periods as our revenue growth exceeds our growth in sales and marketing spend.

General and Administrative

Years Ended December 31,
(in thousands)20222021% Change
General and administrative$44,831$40,47911%
Percentage of total revenues56%93%
Headcount (at end of year)857513%

General and administrative expenses increased $4.4 million, or 11%. $3.4 million of this growth was due to the Acquisition operating costs. Organic increases were primarily driven by an increase in business insurance of $3.2 million, an increase in personnel costs of $2.6 million, an increase in software expenses of $0.9 million, an increase in facilities expenses of $0.8 million, and an increase in travel and entertainment expenses of $0.5 million, and an increase in other miscellaneous operating expenses of $0.1 million, partially offset by a decrease in professional services fees of $7.1 million. The increase in business insurance was driven by incremental exposure associated with being a public company. The increase in personnel costs was driven by overall headcount growth, the full year impact of fiscal year 2021 hiring and fiscal year 2022 salary adjustments, offset by lower non-salary compensation. The increase in software expenses was driven by headcount growth and scaling of operations. The increase in facilities expenses was driven by overall headcount growth. The increase in travel and entertainment expenses was driven by eased COVID-19 restrictions. The decrease in professional services fees was driven by lower third-party accounting, legal and other consulting services associated with the Merger, the Acquisition and company readiness for going public.

While we expect our general and administrative expenses to continue to grow in absolute dollars in future periods as our employee-related expenses increase to support our revenue growth and we have increased expenses from being a public company, we expect our general and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenue to decrease as revenue growth exceeds our growth in general and administrative spend.

Loss on Decommissioned Satellites

Years Ended December 31,
(in thousands)20222021% Change
Loss on decommissioned satellites$549$100%
Percentage of total revenues1%%

In fiscal year 2022, we recognized a non-cash expense of $0.5 million on decommissioned satellites as part of a routine assessment of satellites for potential impairment. There were no satellites decommissioned or impaired in fiscal year 2021.

Due to the nature of these events, we cannot predict the magnitude or frequency of future decommissioning losses. While we sometimes purchase launch insurance when financially practical, the proceeds from these policies will typically only cover a portion of our loss in the event of an unplanned satellite deorbit or launch failure.

Other Income (Expense)

Years Ended December 31,
(in thousands)20222021% Change
Interest income$948$23*
Interest expense$(13,955)$(11,417)22%
Change in fair value of contingent earnout liability$9,677$48,248(80)%
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities$8,757$(1,600)(647)%
Loss on extinguishment of debt$(22,510)$(3,255)592%
Other expense, net$(2,912)$(1,766)65%

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*Not meaningful

Interest income increased by $0.9 million as we shifted more liquid assets into short-term marketable securities that carried higher overall interest rates.

Interest expense increased $2.5 million, or 22%, primarily as a result of incurring higher interest and amortized debt issuance costs associated with the Blue Torch term loan.

Change in fair value of contingent earnout liability decreased by $38.6 million, or 80% driven by the mark-to-market adjustment to reflect the fair market valuation of the underlying stock price. For additional information, see Notes 2, 3 and 10 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Change in fair value of warrant liabilities was a gain of $8.8 million in fiscal year 2022 compared to a loss of $1.6 million in fiscal year 2021, a 647% difference. The $8.8 million gain in fiscal year 2022 was driven by mark-to-market adjustments and the gain on the exchange of warrants for common stock. For additional information, see Notes 2, 10 and 13 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Loss on extinguishment of debt increased $19.3 million, or 592%, driven by the acceleration of unamortized debt issuance costs and other administrative expenses associated with the payoff of the FP loan.

Other expense, net increased by $1.1 million, or 65%, primarily driven by $1.1 million in administrative expenses associated with the warrant exchange, a $0.8 million higher loss associated with the Acquisition investment in Myriota and $0.2 million in lower tax credits and miscellaneous income, partially offset by a $1.0 million reduction in realized and unrealized foreign exchange expense.

Income Taxes

Years Ended December 31,
(in thousands)20222021% Change
Income tax provision$322$497(35)%

Income tax provision decreased $0.2 million, or 35%, primarily driven by the impact of higher tax credits.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We believe that in addition to our results determined in accordance with GAAP, non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA is useful in evaluating our business, results of operations and financial condition. We believe that this non-GAAP financial measure may be helpful to investors because it provides consistency and comparability with past financial performance and facilitates period to period comparisons of operations, as this eliminates the effects of certain variables from period to period for reasons that we do not believe reflect our underlying business performance. In addition to our GAAP measures, we use this non-GAAP financial measure internally for budgeting and resource allocation purposes and in analyzing our financial results.

For the reasons set forth below, we believe that excluding the following items provides information that is helpful in understanding our results of operations, evaluating our future prospects, comparing our financial results across accounting periods, and comparing our financial results to our peers, many of which provide similar non-GAAP financial measures.


Loss on satellite deorbit, launch failure and decommissioning. We exclude loss on satellite deorbit, launch failure and decommissioning because if there was no loss, the expense would be accounted for as depreciation and would also be excluded as part of our EBITDA calculation.


Other (expense) income, net. We exclude other (expense) income, net because it includes one-time and other items that do not reflect the underlying operational results of our business.


Stock-based compensation. We exclude stock-based compensation expenses primarily because they are non-cash expenses that we exclude from our internal management reporting processes. We also find it useful to exclude these expenses when we assess the appropriate level of various operating expenses and resource allocations when budgeting, planning, and forecasting future periods. Moreover, because of varying available valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions and the variety of award types that companies can use under Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") ASC Topic 718, Stock Compensation (“ASC 718”), we believe excluding stock-based compensation expenses allows investors to make meaningful comparisons between our recurring core business results of operations and those of other companies.


Change in fair value of warrant liabilities and contingent earnout liabilities. Spire excludes this as it does not reflect the underlying cash flows or operational results of the business.


Loss on extinguishment of debt: We exclude this as it does not reflect the underlying cash flows or operational results of the business.


Foreign exchange loss: We are exposed to foreign currency gains or losses on outstanding foreign currency denominated receivables and payables related to certain customer sales agreements, product costs and other operating expenses. As we do not actively hedge these currency exposures, changes in the underlying currency rates relative to the U.S. Dollar may result in realized and unrealized foreign currency gains and losses between the time these receivables and payables arise and the time that they are settled in cash. Since such realized and unrealized foreign currency gains and losses are the result of macro-economic factors and can vary significantly from one

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period to the next, we believe that exclusion of such realized and unrealized gains and losses is useful to management and investors in evaluating the performance of our ongoing operations on a period-to-period basis.


Amortization of purchased intangibles. We incur amortization expense for purchased intangible assets in connection with acquisitions of certain businesses and technologies. Amortization of intangible assets is a non-cash expense and is inconsistent in amount and frequency because it is significantly affected by the timing, size of acquisitions and the inherent subjective nature of purchase price allocations. Because these costs have already been incurred and cannot be recovered, and are non-cash expenses, we exclude these expenses for our internal management reporting processes. Our management also finds it useful to exclude these charges when assessing the appropriate level of various operating expenses and resource allocations when budgeting, planning and forecasting future periods.


Other acquisition accounting amortization. We incur amortization expense for purchased data rights in connection with the acquisition of exactEarth and certain technologies. Amortization of this asset is a non-cash expense that can be significantly affected by the inherent subjective nature of the assigned value and useful life. Because this cost has already been incurred and cannot be recovered, and is a non-cash expense, we exclude this expense for its internal management reporting processes. Our management also finds it useful to exclude this charge when assessing the appropriate level of various operating expenses and resource allocations when budgeting, planning and forecasting future periods.


Mergers and acquisition related expenses: We exclude these expenses as they are transaction costs and expenses associated with the transaction that are generally one time in nature and not reflective of the underlying operational results of our business. Examples of these types of expenses include legal, accounting, regulatory, other consulting services, severance, and other employee costs.


Other unusual one-time costs. We exclude these as they are unusual items that do not reflect the ongoing operational results of our business. Examples of these types of expenses include accounting, legal and other professional fees associated with the preparation and filing of our September 2022 Form S-3 shelf registration statement and “at-the-market” (“ATM”) offering prospectus supplement, and the December 2022 warrant exchange.


EBITDA. We define EBITDA as net income (loss), plus depreciation and amortization expense, plus interest expense, and plus the provision for (or minus benefit from) income taxes.


Adjusted EBITDA: We define Adjusted EBITDA as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, further adjusted for any loss on satellite deorbit, launch failure and decommissioning, change in fair value of warrant liabilities, change in fair value of contingent earnout liability, other (expense) income, net, stock-based compensation, loss on extinguishment of debt, foreign exchange loss, other acquisition accounting amortization, mergers and acquisition related expenses, and other unusual one-time costs. We believe Adjusted EBITDA can be useful in providing an understanding of the underlying results of operations and trends, an enhanced overall understanding of our financial performance and prospects for the future. While Adjusted EBITDA is not a recognized measure under GAAP, management uses this financial measure to evaluate and forecast business performance. Adjusted EBITDA is not intended to be a measure of liquidity or cash flows from operations or a measure comparable to net income as it does not take into account certain requirements, such as capital expenditures and related depreciation, principal and interest payments, and tax payments. Adjusted EBITDA is not a presentation made in accordance with GAAP, and our use of the term Adjusted EBITDA may vary from the use of similarly titled measures by others in our industry due to the potential inconsistencies in the method of calculation and differences due to items subject to interpretation.


The presentation of non-GAAP financial information should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. Investors should note that the excluded items may have had, and may in the future have, a material impact on our reported financial results. Investors should read this discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with the consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto also included within.

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The following table outlines the reconciliation from net loss to Adjusted EBITDA for the periods indicated:

Years Ended December 31,
(in thousands)20222021
Net loss$(89,411)$(38,090)
Depreciation & amortization18,3418,509
Interest, net13,00711,394
Taxes322497
EBITDA(57,741)(17,690)
Change in fair value of contingent earnout liability(9,677)(48,248)
Change in fair value of warrant liabilities(8,757)1,600
Loss on extinguishment of debt22,5103,255
Other expense, net2,9121,766
Stock-based compensation11,49111,634
Mergers and acquisition related expenses4,5279,718
Other unusual one-time costs844387
Loss on decommissioned satellites549
Other acquisition accounting amortization69960
Adjusted EBITDA$(32,643)$(37,518)

Limitations on the Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

There are limitations to using non-GAAP financial measures because non-GAAP financial measures are not prepared in accordance with GAAP and may be different from non-GAAP financial measures provided by other companies.

The non-GAAP financial measures are limited in value because they exclude certain items that may have a material impact upon our reported financial results. In addition, they are subject to inherent limitations as they reflect the exercise of judgments by management about which items are adjusted to calculate our non-GAAP financial measures. We compensate for these limitations by analyzing current and future results on a GAAP basis as well as a non-GAAP basis and also by providing GAAP measures in our public disclosures. Some of these limitations are:


although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized may have to be replaced in the future, and Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect cash capital expenditure requirements for such replacements or for new capital expenditure requirements;


Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect the significant interest expense, or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments, on our debt;


Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect income tax payments that may represent a reduction in cash available to us; and


Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect the loss on decommissioned satellites and does not reflect the cash capital expenditure requirements for the replacements of lost satellites. While these expenses could occur in a given year, the existence and magnitude of these costs could vary greatly and is unpredictable.

Non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation from, or as a substitute for, financial information prepared in accordance with GAAP. We encourage investors and others to review our financial information in its entirety, not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate our business, and to view our non-GAAP financial measures in conjunction with the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our principal sources of liquidity to fund our operations are from cash and cash equivalents, and marketable securities which totaled $70.3 million as of December 31, 2022, mainly from net proceeds from the Merger (as defined below), borrowings under the Blue Torch Credit Facility (as defined below) and the issuance of convertible notes. Of the $70.3 million total, $47.2 million was in cash and cash equivalents of which approximately $18.8 million was held outside of the United States. The remaining $23.1 million was held in short-term marketable securities, all of which was held in the United States and which can be converted to cash with minimal transaction costs. These amounts compare to cash and cash equivalents of $109.3 million as of December 31, 2021, of which $11.6 million was held outside of the United States. We had no investments in short-term marketable securities as of December 31, 2021. The cash and cash equivalent amounts are exclusive of restricted cash which totaled $0.4 million as of each of December 31, 2022 and 2021. Since our inception, we have been in an operating cash flow deficit as we have made significant investments in our technology infrastructure, built out our research and development foundation, grown sales and marketing resources to drive revenue, and scaled general and administrative functions to enable operating effectiveness.

On March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”) was closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) as receiver. On March 13, 2023, the FDIC announced that it had transferred all deposits – both insured and uninsured – and substantially all assets of the former SVB to a newly created, full-service FDIC-operated “bridge bank” called Silicon Valley Bank, N.A. As of the close of business on March 14, 2023, we had approximately $31.2 million in cash and cash equivalents at Silicon Valley Bank, N.A., of which approximately $30.8 million was invested in BlackRock money market mutual funds. We are in the process of transferring substantially all of our cash and cash equivalents out of Silicon Valley Bank, N.A.

During fiscal year 2021, we issued additional convertible notes with a cumulative principal amount of $20.0 million, with maturities of January and February 2025, which converted into our Class A common stock at the Closing. In April 2021, we entered into the FP Credit Agreement (as defined and further described below), utilizing a portion of those funds to pay-off our existing credit arrangements with European Investment Bank ("EIB")

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and Eastward Fund Management, LLC ("Eastward"). In November 2021, we closed our acquisition of exactEarth for the purchase price of $129.0 million, consisting of $109.6 million in cash and $22.3 million of Class A common stock, net of $3.0 million post-combination expense.

In June 2022, we entered into the Blue Torch Financing Agreement (as defined and further described below), utilizing a portion of the proceeds of the term loan to pay-off the outstanding principal and interest under the FP Credit Agreement.

On September 14, 2022, we entered into an Equity Distribution Agreement (the “Equity Distribution Agreement”) with Canaccord Genuity LLC, as sales agent. In accordance with the terms of the Equity Distribution Agreement, we may offer and sell our Class A common stock having an aggregate offering price of up to $85.0 million from time to time through the agent pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-3, which became effective on September 26, 2022. There had been no sales under the Equity Distribution Agreement as of December 31, 2022.

We expect that our principal source of liquidity is our cash and cash equivalents balance which includes the proceeds received from the Merger, the additional convertible notes issued and the Blue Torch Credit Facility (as defined below). We believe this will be sufficient to meet our working capital and capital expenditure needs over at least the next 12 months. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors including our growth rate, the timing and extent of spending to support solution development efforts, the expansion of sales and marketing activities, the ongoing investments in technology infrastructure, the introduction of new and enhanced solutions, and the continuing market acceptance of our solutions. From time to time, we may seek additional equity or debt financing to fund capital expenditures, strategic initiatives or investments and our ongoing operations. In the event that we decide, or are required, to seek additional financing from outside sources, we may not be able to raise it on terms acceptable to us or at all. If we are unable to raise additional capital when desired, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Blue Torch Credit Agreement

On June 13, 2022, we, as borrower, and certain of our subsidiaries, as guarantors, entered into a financing agreement (the “Blue Torch Financing Agreement”) with Blue Torch Finance LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Blue Torch”), as administrative agent and collateral agent, and certain lenders (the “Lenders”). The Blue Torch Financing Agreement provides for, among other things, a term loan facility in an aggregate principal amount of up to $120.0 million (the “Blue Torch Credit Facility”). A portion of the proceeds of the term loan was used to repay our then-existing $70.0 million credit facility with FP Credit Partners, L.P., and the remainder of the proceeds of the term loan may be used for general corporate purposes.

The Blue Torch Credit Facility is scheduled to mature on June 13, 2026, upon which we must repay the outstanding principal amount of any outstanding loans thereunder, together with all accrued but unpaid interest, fees and other obligations owing under the Blue Torch Credit Facility. Subject to certain exceptions, prepayments of the Blue Torch Credit Facility will be subject to early termination fees in an amount equal to 3.0% of the principal prepaid if prepayment occurs on or prior to the first anniversary of the closing date, 2.0% of principal prepaid if prepayment occurs after the first anniversary of the closing date but on or prior to the second anniversary of the closing date and 1.0% of principal prepaid if prepayment occurs after the second anniversary of the closing date but on or prior to the third anniversary of the closing date, plus if prepayment occurs on or prior to the first anniversary of the closing date, a make-whole amount equal to the amount of interest that would have otherwise been payable through the maturity date of the Blue Torch Credit Facility.

The $120.0 million term loan was available and drawn at closing, of which $19.7 million was placed in an escrow account by Blue Torch with such amount to be released upon our achieving certain metrics related to annualized recurring revenue and a total annualized recurring revenue leverage ratio. These metrics were achieved and the $19.7 million was released from the escrow account and delivered to us in February 2023. The term loan accrues interest at a floating rate, to be based, at our election, on either a reference rate or a 3-month Term Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR") rate (subject to a 1.0% floor), plus an interest rate margin of 7.0% for reference rate borrowings and 8.0% for 3-month Term SOFR borrowings, plus an incremental Term SOFR margin of 0.26161%. We elected the Term SOFR rate which was 12.75713% as of December 31, 2022. Principal on the term loan is only payable at maturity and interest on the term loan is due and payable monthly for reference rate borrowings and quarterly for Term SOFR borrowings. We are also required to pay other customary fees and costs in connection with the Blue Torch Credit Facility, including a commitment fee in an amount equal to $2.4 million on the closing date, a $0.3 million agency fee annually and an exit fee in an amount equal to $1.8 million upon termination of the Blue Torch Financing Agreement.

Our obligations under the Blue Torch Financing Agreement are or will be guaranteed by certain of our domestic and foreign subsidiaries meeting materiality thresholds set forth in the Blue Torch Financing Agreement. Such obligations, including the guarantees, are secured by substantially all of our personal property and that of our subsidiary guarantors, including pursuant to a Security Agreement entered into on June 13, 2022, among us, Spire Global Subsidiary, Inc., Austin Satellite Design, LLC and Blue Torch. As of the closing date, such subsidiary guarantors were Spire Global Subsidiary, Inc., Austin Satellite Design, LLC, Spire Global Canada Subsidiary Corp. and exactEarth Ltd.

The Blue Torch Financing Agreement contains customary affirmative covenants and customary negative covenants limiting our ability and the ability of our subsidiaries, to, among other things, dispose of assets, undergo a change in control, merge or consolidate, make acquisitions, incur debt, incur liens, pay dividends, repurchase stock and make investments, in each case subject to certain exceptions. We must also comply with a maximum debt to annualized recurring revenue leverage ratio financial covenant tested monthly during the first two years of the Blue Torch Financing Agreement, a maximum debt to EBITDA leverage ratio financial covenant tested monthly during the third and fourth years of the Blue Torch Financing Agreement and a minimum liquidity financial covenant tested at all times.

The Blue Torch Financing Agreement also contains customary events of default that include, among other things, certain payment defaults, cross defaults to other indebtedness, inaccuracy of representations and warranties, covenant defaults, change of control defaults, judgment defaults, and bankruptcy and insolvency defaults. If an event of default exists, Blue Torch as agent on behalf of the Lenders may require immediate payment of all obligations under the Blue Torch Financing Agreement and may exercise certain other rights and remedies provided for under the Blue Torch Financing Agreement, the other loan documents and applicable law. Under certain circumstances, a default interest rate will apply on all obligations during the existence of an event of default under the Blue Torch Financing Agreement at a per annum rate equal to 2.00% above the applicable interest rate.

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On June 13, 2022, in connection with the Blue Torch Financing Agreement, we granted warrants to affiliates of the Lenders to purchase fully paid and non-assessable shares of Class A common stock (the “Blue Torch Warrants”), which are exercisable for an aggregate of 3,496,205 shares of our Class A common stock with a per share exercise price of $2.01.

In addition, on June 13, 2022, in connection with the closing of the financing, we paid Urgent Capital LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, a fee for introducing us to the Lenders, for the purpose of loan financing, in the amount equal to $0.6 million in cash and a warrant to purchase fully paid and non-assessable shares of Class A common stock (the “GPO Warrant” and, collectively with the Blue Torch Warrants, the “Credit Agreement Warrants”), which is exercisable for an aggregate of 198,675 shares of our Class A common stock with a per share exercise price of $2.01.

The Credit Agreement Warrants may be exercised on a cashless basis. The Credit Agreement Warrants are exercisable for a term beginning on the date of issuance and ending on the earlier to occur of ten years from the date of issuance or the consummation of certain of our acquisitions as set forth in the Credit Agreement Warrants. The number of shares for which the Credit Agreement Warrants are exercisable and the associated exercise price are subject to certain proportional adjustments as set forth in the Credit Agreement Warrants.

NavSight Merger

On August 16, 2021, we announced that we had closed our merger with NavSight (the "Merger"). As a result, we became a wholly owned subsidiary of NavSight, and NavSight changed its name to “Spire Global, Inc.”

In connection with the Merger, we raised $264.8 million of proceeds including the contribution of $230.0 million of cash held in NavSight’s trust account from its initial public offering, net of redemptions of NavSight public stockholders of $210.2 million, and $245.0 million of cash in connection with the private investment in public equity ("PIPE") Investment. We incurred $38.7 million of merger and acquisitions costs, consisting of banking, legal, and other professional fees, of which $32.1 million was recorded as a reduction to additional paid-in capital, and the remaining $6.6 million was expensed to general and administrative expenses in the consolidated statement of operations.

For more details on the Merger, including all equity conversions, please see Note 3 to our consolidated financial statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2021.

FP Credit Agreement

On April 15, 2021, we entered into a credit agreement with FP Credit Partners, L.P., as agent for several lenders (the “FP Lenders”) (as amended on May 17, 2021, the “FP Credit Agreement”), for a $70.0 million term loan facility (the “FP Term Loan”). Upon funding in May 2021, the FP Term Loan was used (i) to pay off our existing credit facilities with Eastward and EIB and (ii) to fund working capital and for general corporate purposes. We incurred $12.3 million of debt issuance costs relating to the FP Term Loan. The FP Lenders were also entitled to a commitment fee of $1.75 million that was fully earned and paid upon signing the FP Credit Agreement. The FP Term Loan bears interest at a rate of 9.00% per annum. Prior to the Merger, the FP Term Loan bore interest at a rate of 8.50% per annum. Since the FP Lenders elected to exercise their conversion right in connection with the Merger, and we chose not to prepay the remaining, non-converted outstanding principal amount of the FP Term Loan at the closing of such transaction, our interest rate under the FP Term Loan increased to 9.0% per annum.

Interest on the FP Term Loan was payable quarterly in arrears. The total outstanding principal amount of the FP Term Loan was due and payable at maturity on April 15, 2026. We had the right to prepay the outstanding principal amount of the FP Term Loan at any time, in full but not in part. In addition, since the FP Lenders elected to exercise their conversion right in connection with the Merger, there was no premium or other contractual return in a prepayment. The aggregate amount required to be repaid in a prepayment to the FP Lenders would only have been the outstanding principal amount of the FP Term Loan and any accrued and unpaid interest thereon. Our obligations under the FP Credit Agreement were guaranteed by our material subsidiaries, as determined in accordance with the FP Credit Agreement, and secured by substantially all of our assets and the assets of the subsidiary guarantors.

The FP Credit Agreement contained customary affirmative and negative covenants, including covenants that limited our ability and our subsidiaries’ ability to, among other things, incur additional indebtedness, grant liens, make investments, pay dividends or other distributions on our capital stock, dispose of assets, consummate mergers or acquisitions and enter into transactions with affiliates, subject in each case to customary exceptions and qualifications. Prior to the consummation of a Qualifying IPO (as defined in the FP Credit Agreement), which includes the Merger, we were required to maintain, as of the last day of each fiscal quarter, minimum unrestricted cash of at least $15.0 million, as determined in accordance with the FP Credit Agreement, provided that this covenant did not apply following any fiscal quarter in which we achieved positive EBITDA so long as we continued to maintain positive EBITDA in subsequent fiscal quarters. Since the Merger occurred, we are no longer required to maintain this financial covenant per the terms of the FP Credit Agreement.

The FP Credit Agreement included customary events of default, including, among other things, payment defaults, breaches of covenants or representations and warranties, cross-defaults with certain other indebtedness, bankruptcy and insolvency events and judgment defaults, subject to grace periods in certain instances. Upon the occurrence and during the continuance of an event of default, the FP Lenders could declare all or a portion of the outstanding obligations payable by us to be immediately due and payable, and exercise other rights and remedies provided for under the FP Credit Agreement. Under certain circumstances, a default interest rate would apply on all obligations during the existence of an event of default under the FP Credit Agreement at a per annum rate equal to 2% above the otherwise applicable interest rate.

During fiscal year 2021, we recognized within Other (expense) income, net on the consolidated statement of operations, $5.0 million as a loss on extinguishment of debt, resulting from paying off the EIB Loan and the Eastward Loan Facilities (as defined below).

On June 13, 2022, we repaid in full all obligations and all amounts borrowed, and all obligations have terminated, under the FP Credit Agreement, which was replaced by the Blue Torch Financing Agreement. The outstanding principal and interest under the FP Credit Agreement in an aggregate amount equal to approximately $72.8 million was repaid with proceeds of the term loan under the Blue Torch Credit Facility. We incurred no early termination penalties in connection with the termination of the FP Credit Agreement.

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Eastward Loan Facility

In December 2020, we entered into a line of credit agreement with Eastward and certain of our subsidiaries as co-borrowers (the “Eastward Loan Facility”). The agreement provided for a term loan facility in an aggregate principal amount of up to $25.0 million, of which we borrowed $15.0 million. We used the proceeds to prepay existing indebtedness and the remaining proceeds were available to be used for general corporate purposes. In connection with funding the term loan under the FP Credit Agreement, we repaid the outstanding obligations under the Eastward Loan Facility, including a prepayment premium and fees of $0.8 million.

The Eastward Loan Facility bore interest at a rate of 11.75% per annum, payable monthly in arrears. We were also required to pay a commitment fee equal to 1.00% of the principal amount of each term loan borrowing. Following an interest only period of 24 months, the principal amount of each term loan was repayable in 24 equal monthly installments based on an amortization period of 36 months. The outstanding principal amount of each term loan, plus a repayment fee equal to 2.00% of the original $15.0 million principal amount of such term loan, was due and payable 48 months after such borrowing.

Our obligations under the Eastward Loan Facility were guaranteed by certain of our subsidiaries, as determined in accordance with the loan agreement, and were secured by substantially all of our assets and the assets of the co-borrowers. The loan agreement contained customary affirmative and negative covenants, including covenants that limited our and our subsidiaries’ ability to, among other things, dispose of assets, consummate mergers or acquisitions, incur additional indebtedness, grant liens, pay dividends or other distributions on our capital stock, make investments and enter into transactions with affiliates, subject in each case to customary exceptions and qualifications.

The Eastward Loan Facility included customary events of default, including, among other things, payment defaults, breaches of covenants or representations and warranties, an investor abandonment default, cross-defaults with certain other indebtedness, bankruptcy and insolvency events and judgment defaults, subject to grace periods in certain instances. Upon the occurrence and during the continuance of an event of default, Eastward had the right to declare all or a portion of the outstanding obligations payable by us to be immediately due and payable and exercise other rights and remedies provided for under the loan agreement. Under certain circumstances, a default interest rate would have applied on all obligations during the existence of an event of default under the loan agreement at a per annum rate equal to 5% above the otherwise applicable interest rate.

EIB Loan Facility

In August 2020, we entered into a finance contract with EIB and Spire Global Luxembourg S.a.r.l., as borrower. The finance contract provided for a term loan facility (the “EIB Loan Facility”) in an aggregate principal amount of up to EUR 20.0 million, available in three tranches, of which we borrowed EUR 12.0 million. The proceeds of the term loans were required to be used for our innovation and expansion activities in Luxembourg and potentially other European Union ("EU") countries. In connection with funding the term loan under the FP Credit Agreement, we repaid the outstanding obligations under the EIB Loan Facility, including a prepayment premium of EUR 0.2 million.

The total outstanding principal amount of each tranche was due and payable five years after the borrowing date for such tranche. The initial tranche of EUR 5.0 million did not accrue interest. The second tranche of EUR 7.0 million accrued interest at a rate equal to EURIBOR plus 5.00% per annum, payable quarterly in arrears. If borrowed, the third tranche of EUR 8.0 million would have accrued interest at a rate equal to EURIBOR plus 10.0% per annum, payable quarterly in arrears. We were also required to pay a commitment fee equal to 1.00% per annum of the undrawn term loan commitments from the one-year anniversary of the finance contract through the expiration of the commitments in January 2023.

Our obligations under the finance contract were guaranteed by our material subsidiaries, as determined in accordance with the finance contract, and were secured by substantially all of our assets and the assets of the borrower. The finance contract contained customary affirmative and negative covenants, including covenants that limited our ability and our subsidiaries’ ability to, among other things, dispose of assets, consummate mergers or acquisitions, make investments, incur additional indebtedness, grant liens or pay dividends, or other distributions on our capital stock, subject in each case to customary exceptions and qualifications.

The finance contract included customary events of default, including, among other things, payment defaults, breaches of covenants or representations and warranties, cross-defaults with certain other indebtedness, bankruptcy and insolvency events and a material adverse change event of default, subject to grace periods in certain instances. Upon the occurrence and during the continuance of an event of default, EIB had the right to declare all or a portion of the outstanding obligations to be immediately due and payable and exercise other rights and remedies provided for under the finance contract. Under certain circumstances, a default interest rate would have applied on all obligations during the existence of an event of default under the finance contract at a per annum rate equal to 2% above the otherwise applicable interest rate.

Under the terms of the EIB finance contract, on August 20, 2020, we issued to EIB a warrant exercisable for 454,899 shares (Tranche A) of Legacy Spire Common Stock at a price of $0.0001 per share. Upon completion of the Merger, the exercisable share count converted to 775,966. On October 29, 2020, we issued to EIB an additional warrant exercisable for 454,899 shares (Tranche B) of Legacy Spire Common Stock at a price of $0.0001 per share. Upon completion of the Merger, the exercisable share count converted to 775,966. Each such warrant included a put option, whereby EIB had the right to have us repurchase the warrants by paying EIB an amount equal to the then-current fair market value of the shares of Legacy Spire Common Stock for which the warrants were exercisable. The amount that we were required to pay upon the exercise of the put option was subject to a purchase price cap of EUR 10.0 million for each warrant. In September 2021, EIB submitted a notice of cancellation for the 775,966 EIB warrants (Tranche A). In October 2021, EIB submitted a notice of cancellation for the remaining 775,966 EIB warrants (Tranche B). The total settlement value associated with the EIB warrants was $19.9 million and was paid in November 2021. Upon settlement, $12.8 million was released from restricted cash which had been held in guarantee for EIB warrant redemption.

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Acquisition of exactEarth

In November 2021, we closed the Acquisition for the purchase price of $129.0 million, consisting of $109.6 million in cash and $22.3 million of Class A common stock, net of $3.0 million post-combination expense. The Acquisition accelerates growth of our existing maritime business with additional data solutions, cross-selling opportunities, and expansion of our geographic footprint. exactEarth is now a fully-owned subsidiary of Spire Global, Inc. and continues to conduct operations from Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.

For additional detail regarding the terms associated with the Acquisition, see Note 4 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Government Loan

As part of the Acquisition in November 2021, we assumed a loan agreement with the Strategic Innovation Fund ("SIF") which was recorded at fair value of the debt. As of December 31, 2022, $3.3 million was included in long-term debt, non-current on our consolidated balance sheets related to the SIF loan agreement. Under this agreement and subsequent amendment, we are eligible to receive funding for certain expenditures incurred from February 13, 2018 to May 12, 2023, up to a maximum of $5.7 million. The loan is repayable in 15 annual payments beginning February 28, 2026 and has a stated interest rate of zero.

For additional detail regarding the terms associated with our financing arrangements, see Note 8 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Convertible Notes

From July 2019 through October 2020, we issued and sold subordinated convertible promissory notes in the aggregate principal amount of $42.9 million (the “2019 Spire Notes”). In May 2021, we agreed with the holders of the 2019 Spire Notes to extend the maturity date of all convertible promissory notes outstanding at December 31, 2020 from January 29, 2022 to July 31, 2022. From January 2021 through February 2021, we issued and sold subordinated convertible promissory notes in the aggregate principal amount of $20.0 million, which mature four years from the date of issuance (the “2021 Spire Notes”). The 2019 Spire Notes and the 2021 Spire Notes accrued interest at a rate of 8.0% per annum and converted into shares of our Class A common stock in connection with the Closing, so they are no longer outstanding.

Cash Flows

The following table summarizes our net cash used in operating activities, net cash used in investing activities, and net cash provided by financing activities for the periods indicated:

Years Ended December 31,
(in thousands)20222021
Net cash used in operating activities$(47,820)$(57,986)
Net cash used in investing activities$(41,828)$(119,479)
Net cash provided by financing activities$26,373$270,534

Cash Flows from Operating Activities

Our largest source of operating cash inflows is cash collections from our customers. Our primary uses of cash for operating activities are for employee-related expenditures, expenses related to our technology infrastructure, expenses related to our computing infrastructure (including computing power, database storage and content delivery costs), building infrastructure costs (including office leases), fees for third-party services, and marketing program costs.

Net cash used in operating activities in the fiscal year 2022 was $47.8 million. This reflected our net loss of $89.4 million, adjustments for non-cash items of $40.6 million and a net increase of $1.0 million in operating assets and liabilities. Non-cash items primarily consisted of a $22.3 million loss on extinguishment of debt, $18.3 million of depreciation and amortization expense, $11.5 million of stock-based compensation expense, $3.8 million of debt issuance amortization costs, $2.3 million of amortization of operating lease assets, and a $0.8 million loss on impairment of assets, partially offset by a $9.7 million gain on change in fair value of contingent earnout liability and an $8.8 million gain on change in fair value of warrant liabilities. Changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily included a $4.2 million increase in accounts receivable, net, a $1.6 million decrease in operating lease liabilities, a $1.8 million decrease in accounts payable, a $1.4 million increase in contract assets, and a $0.9 million decrease in accrued wages and benefits. This was partially offset by a $7.8 million increase in contract liabilities, a $1.9 million decrease in other long-term assets, a $1.0 million increase in other accrued expenses, and a $0.3 million decrease in other current assets.

Net cash used in operating activities in the fiscal year 2021 was $58.0 million. This reflected our net loss of $38.1 million, adjustments for non-cash items of $17.7 million, and a net decrease in our operating assets and liabilities of $2.2 million. Non-cash items primarily consisted of $11.6 million of stock-based compensation, $8.5 million of depreciation and amortization expense, $6.0 million of non-cash interest and debt issuance amortization expense, $2.3 million of debt extinguishment expense, $1.6 million of warrant liability revaluation, and $0.5 million of other noncash expenses, partially offset by a $48.2 million non-cash gain on the contingent earnout liability revaluation. The net decrease in operating assets and liabilities primarily included an increase of $6.7 million in other current assets combined with a $5.0 million increase in accounts receivable. This was offset by an increase of $4.7 million in accrued wages and other expenses, a $2.3 million increase in accounts payable, a $2.2 million increase in other long-term liabilities, and a $0.3 million increase in other non-cash assets and liabilities.

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Cash Flows from Investing Activities

Cash flows from investing activities primarily relate to cash used for business acquisitions, the procurement, development, and deployment of capital assets, including satellites, ground stations, machinery and equipment, furniture, computer equipment and software, and leasehold improvements.

Net cash used in investing activities in the fiscal year 2022 was $41.8 million. This was driven by purchases of $40.2 million in short-term investments and $18.9 million of investment in property and equipment, partially offset by $17.3 million in maturities of short-term investments.

Net cash used in investing activities in the fiscal year 2021 was $119.5 million. This was driven by net $103.9 million of cash used in the exactEarth acquisition, $15.4 million investment in property and equipment and $0.2 million investment in intangible assets.

Cash Flows from Financing Activities

Cash flows from financing activities relate primarily to the Merger, debt, warrants and convertible note financings.

Net cash provided by financing activities in the fiscal year 2022 was $26.4 million. This was driven by $101.0 million of proceeds from long-term debt, $0.8 million of proceeds from stock option exercises and $0.6 million of proceeds from the employee stock purchase plan, partially offset by $71.5 million of payments on long-term debt, and $4.5 million of payments of debt issuance costs. The long-term debt and debt issuance cost items were driven by the Blue Torch loan transaction.

Net cash provided by financing activities in the fiscal year 2021 was $270.5 million. This was primarily driven by $264.8 million of proceeds from the Merger, $70.5 million of proceeds from the FP and SIF loan transactions, $20.0 million of proceeds from the issuance of convertible notes, and $1.3 million of proceeds from stock option exercises, offset by payments of $31.8 million for merger and acquisitions costs related to the reverse recapitalization, repayments of $29.6 million to EIB and Eastward Capital, $19.9 million to settle the EIB warrants, and payments of $4.7 million for debt issuance costs related to the FP loan.

For additional information regarding the terms of our credit facilities and notes, see Note 8 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP. In the preparation of these consolidated financial statements, we are required to make certain estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, costs and expenses and related disclosures. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates and assumptions. Our actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

We believe that of our significant accounting policies, which are described in the notes to the consolidated financial statements, the following accounting policies involve a greater degree of judgment and estimates. Accordingly, these are the policies we believe are the most critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our consolidated financial condition and results of operations.

Revenue Recognition

Our contracts with customers may include promises to transfer multiple solutions and services to a customer. A performance obligation is a promise in a contract with a customer to transfer solutions or services that are capable of being distinct, whereby the customer can benefit from the solution or service either on its own or with other available resources, and are distinct in the context of the contract, whereby the transfer of the solution or service is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract. Determining whether solutions and services are distinct performance obligations that should be accounted for separately or combined as a single performance obligation involves significant judgement that requires us to assess the nature of the promise and value delivered to the customer. Certain of our contracts contain multiple project-based solutions and services promised to a customer over various phases (e.g., scoping, development, manufacturing, testing, launch, and/or satellite operations), which we assess at contract inception to determine which of the solutions and services promised in a contract are distinct in order to identify individual performance obligations.

For contracts with more than one performance obligation, the transaction price is allocated among the performance obligations using the relative standalone selling price (“SSP”) of each obligation. Judgment is required to determine the SSP for each distinct performance obligation. SSP is generally estimated using cost plus a reasonable margin based on value added to the customer.

For certain project-based performance obligations, we recognize a portion of our revenue over time using the output method, specifically contract milestones, which we have determined to be the most direct and reasonable measure of progress as they reflect the results achieved and value transferred to the customer.

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Business Combinations and Valuation of Goodwill and Acquired Intangible Assets

We allocate the purchase price of acquired companies to tangible and intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed based upon their estimated fair values at the acquisition date. The purchase price allocation process requires management to make significant estimates and assumptions with respect to the valuation of intangible assets. Examples of critical estimates and assumptions in valuing certain of the intangible assets we have acquired or may acquire in the future include but are not limited to future revenue growth, margins, customer retention rates, technology life, royalty rates, expected use of acquired assets, and discount rates. These factors are also considered in determining the useful life of the acquired intangible assets. These estimates are based in part on historical experience, market conditions and information obtained from management of the acquired companies and are inherently uncertain. Goodwill represents the future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recorded.

The Company estimates the fair value of its one reporting unit based on its consolidated market capitalization using the 30-day trading volume-weighted average price (“VWAP”) and the stock price on the date of valuation as two independent data points. The results of the annual impairment test performed in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2022 indicated that the estimated fair value of the Company's reporting unit exceeded its carrying value by more than 80% based on the 30-day trading VWAP and by more than 70% based on the stock price on the date of valuation. Therefore, the Company concluded there was no impairment of goodwill during the fourth quarter of 2022. There also was no goodwill impairment recorded during the year ended December 31, 2021. While the Company’s market capitalization has declined subsequent to December 31, 2022, the estimated fair value of its reporting unit still exceeds its carrying value on March 14, 2023 by more than 46% based on the 30-day trading VWAP and by approximately 15% based on the March 14, 2023 stock price. If the Company’s market capitalization continues to decline, and if macroeconomic conditions worsen, the Company’s reporting unit may be at risk for future goodwill impairments. The Company continues to monitor for potential impairment should impairment indicators arise.

Contingent Earnout Liability

In connection with the Reverse Recapitalization and pursuant to the Merger Agreement, eligible Spire equity holders are entitled to receive additional shares of our Common Stock upon the achievement of certain Earnout Triggering Events. In accordance with ASC 815-40, the earnout shares are not indexed to the Common Stock and therefore are accounted for as a liability and an offset to additional paid-in capital on the consolidated balance sheets at the reverse recapitalization date and subsequently remeasured at each reporting date with changes in fair value recorded as a component of Other income (expense) in the consolidated statements of operations.

The contingent earnout liability is categorized as a Level 3 fair value measurement using the Monte Carlo model because the Company estimates projections during the Earnout Period utilizing unobservable inputs. Contingent earnout payments involve certain assumptions requiring significant judgment and actual results may differ from assumed and estimated amounts. The assumptions utilized in the calculation are based on the achievement of certain stock price milestones, including the current price of our common stock, expected volatility, risk-free rate, expected term and expected dividend yield.

Warrant Liability

We generally classify warrants for the purchase of shares of our common stock as liabilities on our consolidated balance sheets unless the warrants meet certain specific criteria that require the warrants to be classified within stockholders’ deficit. Those warrants accounted for as liabilities are freestanding financial instruments that may require us to transfer assets upon exercise. The warrant liability is initially recorded at fair value upon the date of issuance of each warrant and is subsequently remeasured to fair value at each reporting date. The fair value of the Public Warrants is based on quoted market prices and is classified as a Level 1 financial instrument. The fair value of the Private Warrants is estimated using the Black-Scholes model with inputs that include the Company’s stock price in an actively traded market, making this fair value classified as a Level 2 financial instrument. The other significant assumptions used in the model are the exercise price, expected term, volatility, interest rate, and dividend yield.

Stock-Based Compensation

We have an equity incentive plan under which we grant stock-based awards to employees and non-employees. We account for stock-based awards in accordance with ASC 718, which requires the measurement and recognition of compensation expense, based on estimated fair values, for all stock-based awards made to employees and non-employees for stock options.

We recognize the cost of stock-based awards granted to our employees and non-employees based on the estimated grant-date fair value of the awards. For restricted stock units ("RSU") with service-based vesting conditions, the fair value is calculated based upon the Company’s closing stock price on the date of grant using the intrinsic value method. We determine the fair value of stock options using the Black-Scholes option pricing model, which is impacted by the following assumptions:


Common Stock Valuation—Prior to our Closing Date of the Merger, determining the fair value of the shares of common stock underlying our stock-based awards, which were not publicly traded, involved significant judgment and had historically been determined with the help of an independent third-party valuation firm. For awards granted subsequent to the Closing Date, the fair value of our common stock is based on the closing price of our common stock, as reported on the NYSE, on the date of grant of the related stock-based award.


Expected Term—Because of the lack of sufficient historical data, we use the simple average of the vesting period and the contractual term to estimate the period the stock options are expected to be outstanding.


Expected Volatility—We determine the expected stock price volatility based on the historical volatility of our Class A common stock and the historical volatilities of an industry peer group.


Expected Dividend Yield—The dividend rate used is zero as we have never paid any cash dividends on our common stock and do not anticipate doing so in the foreseeable future.

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Risk-Free Interest Rate—The interest rates used are based on the implied yield available on U.S. Treasury zero-coupon issues with an equivalent remaining term equal to the expected life of the award.

Common Stock Valuation

Historically, for all periods prior to the Merger, since there has been no public market of our common stock, the fair value of the shares of common stock underlying our share-based awards was estimated on each grant date by our board of directors. To determine the fair value of our common stock underlying option grants, our board of directors considered, among other things, input from management, valuations of our common stock prepared by unrelated third-party valuation firms in accordance with the guidance provided by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants 2013 Practice Aid, Valuation of Privately-Held-Company Equity Securities Issued as Compensation, and our board of directors’ assessment of additional objective and subjective factors that it believed were relevant, and factors that may have changed from the date of the most recent valuation through the date of the grant. These factors include, but are not limited to:


our results of operations and financial position, including the present value of expected future cash flows and the value of tangible and intangible assets;


risks and opportunities relevant to our business;


the status of platform development activities;


our business conditions and projections;


the market value of companies engaged in a substantially similar business;


the lack of marketability of our common stock as a private company;


the prices at which we sold shares of our convertible preferred stock to outside investors in arms-length transactions;


the rights, preferences, and privileges of our convertible preferred stock relative to those of our common stock;


the likelihood of achieving a liquidity event for our securityholders, such as an initial public offering or a sale of the Company, given prevailing market conditions;


the hiring of key personnel and the experience of management; and


trends and developments in our industry, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For valuations performed from January 1, 2021 to the Merger, we used a hybrid method of the Option Pricing Model ("OPM") and the Probability-Weighted Expected Return Method (“PWERM”). PWERM considers various potential liquidity outcomes. Our approach included the use of an initial public offering scenario, a strategic merger or sale scenario, and a scenario assuming continued operation as a private entity. Under the hybrid OPM and PWERM method, the per share value calculated under the OPM and PWERM are weighted based on expected exit outcomes specific to each allocation methodology to arrive at a final estimated fair value per share of the common stock before a discount for lack of marketability is applied.

Following the Closing, we have used the market closing price of our Class A common stock as reported on the NYSE.

Accounting Pronouncements Recently Adopted and Not Yet Adopted

See Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for recently adopted accounting pronouncements and new accounting pronouncements not yet adopted as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Emerging Growth Company Status

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the Securities Act, as modified by the Jumpstart our Business Startups Act (the "JOBS Act"). Under the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies can delay adopting new or revised accounting standards issued subsequent to the enactment of the JOBS Act until such time as those standards apply to private companies. We have elected to use this extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies until the earlier of the date that we are (i) no longer an emerging growth company or (ii) affirmatively and irrevocably opt out of the extended transition period provided in the JOBS Act. As a result, our consolidated financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with the new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.

Smaller Reporting Company Status

Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (i) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the prior June 30, or (ii) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30.

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