Braze, Inc 10-Q for FY2025 Q3
Braze, Inc. (BRZE)
10-Q
2024-12-10
For: 2024-10-31
View Original
Added on
April 08, 2026
About this 10-Q
Braze, Inc filed this 10-Q on December 10, 2024, covering the quarter ended October 31, 2024 (FY2025 Q3).
Headline figures
Quarter ended October 31, 2024, as reported in this filing, compared with the same period a year earlier where the filing states it.
- Revenue
- $152.05M
- up 22.7% from $123.96M a year earlier
- Net loss
- $27.91M
- compared with a net loss of $30.74M a year earlier
- Diluted EPS
- -$0.27
- compared with -$0.31 a year earlier
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
______________________________________________________________
FORM 10-Q
______________________________________________________________
(Mark One)
| QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | |||||
For the quarterly period ended October 31, 2024
OR
| TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | |||||
For the transition period from to
Commission File Number: 001-41065
______________________________________________________________
(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)
______________________________________________________________
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) | ||||
(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)
(609 ) 964-0585
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
______________________________________________________________
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered | ||||||
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes x No o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| ☒ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | ||||||||||||
| Non-accelerated filer | ☐ | Smaller reporting company | ||||||||||||
| Emerging growth company | ||||||||||||||
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒
At December 2, 2024, there were 87,467,590 shares of the registrant’s Class A and 16,017,314 shares of the registrant’s Class B common stock, each with a par value of $0.0001 per share, outstanding.
Braze, Inc.
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q
For the Quarterly Period Ended October 31, 2024
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| Page No. | ||||||||
2
SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements about us and our industry that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, including statements regarding our future results of operations or financial condition, business strategy and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “target,” “will,” or “would,” or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning the following:
•the anticipated effects of unstable market and economic conditions that may have serious adverse consequences on our business, financial condition and share price;
•our expectations regarding our revenue and the timing of revenue recognition under our customer contracts, expenses and other operating results;
•our ability to acquire new customers and successfully retain existing customers;
•our ability to increase usage of our platform and upsell and cross-sell additional products;
•our ability to achieve or sustain our profitability;
•future investments in our business, our anticipated capital expenditures and our estimates regarding our capital requirements;
•the costs and success of our marketing efforts, and our ability to promote our brand;
•our reliance on key personnel and our ability to identify, recruit and retain skilled personnel;
•our growth strategies for our platform and our ability to effectively manage our growth, including any international expansion;
•the estimated addressable market opportunity for our platform;
•our ability to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights and any costs associated therewith;
•the anticipated impact of domestic and global socioeconomic events on our business;
•our ability to compete effectively with existing competitors and new market entrants;
•the size and growth rates of the markets in which we compete; and
•the anticipated benefits or effects of any completed or future acquisitions or international expansion.
You should not rely on forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. We have based the forward-looking statements contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q primarily on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition and operating results. The outcome of the events described in these forward-looking statements is subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors described in the section titled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all risks and uncertainties that could have an impact on the forward-looking statements contained in this report. The results, events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur, and actual results, events or circumstances could differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.
In addition, statements that “we believe” and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based on information available to us as of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and are inherently uncertain. While we believe that information provides a reasonable basis for these statements, that information may be limited or incomplete. Our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all relevant information.
The forward-looking statements made in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Our forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions, mergers, dispositions, joint ventures or investments.
Unless the context otherwise indicates, references in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q to the terms “Braze,” “the Company,” “we,” “our,” and “us,” refer to Braze, Inc. and its subsidiaries.
Trademarks
“Braze,” “Be Absolutely Engaging,” and other trade names and trademarks of ours appearing in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are our property. This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains trade names and trademarks of other companies,
3
which are the property of their respective owners. We do not intend our use or display of other companies’ trade names or trademarks to imply an endorsement or sponsorship of us by such companies, or any relationship with any of these companies.
Where You Can Find More Information
We announce material information to the public through a variety of means, including filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, press releases, public webcasts and conference calls, blogposts on our website (braze.com), and the investor relations section of our website (www.investors.braze.com). We therefore encourage investors and others interested in Braze to review the information that we make available on our website, in addition to following our filings with the SEC, press releases, webcasts and conference calls. Information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website is not incorporated by reference into this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, and you should not consider information on our website to be part of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
4
Part 1 – Financial Information
Item 1. Financial Statements
BRAZE, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (UNAUDITED)
(in thousands, except share and per share amounts)
| October 31, 2024 | January 31, 2024 | ||||||||||
| ASSETS | |||||||||||
| CURRENT ASSETS: | |||||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Restricted cash, current | |||||||||||
Accounts receivable, net of allowance of $ | |||||||||||
| Marketable securities | |||||||||||
| Prepaid expenses and other current assets | |||||||||||
| Total current assets | |||||||||||
| Restricted cash, noncurrent | |||||||||||
| Property and equipment, net | |||||||||||
| Operating lease right-of-use assets | |||||||||||
| Deferred contract costs | |||||||||||
| Goodwill | |||||||||||
| Intangible assets, net | |||||||||||
| Other assets | |||||||||||
| TOTAL ASSETS | $ | $ | |||||||||
| LIABILITIES, REDEEMABLE NON-CONTROLLING INTEREST, AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY | |||||||||||
| CURRENT LIABILITIES: | |||||||||||
| Accounts payable | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Accrued expenses and other current liabilities | |||||||||||
| Deferred revenue | |||||||||||
| Operating lease liabilities, current | |||||||||||
| Total current liabilities | |||||||||||
| Operating lease liabilities, noncurrent | |||||||||||
| Other long-term liabilities | |||||||||||
| TOTAL LIABILITIES | |||||||||||
| COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (Note 13) | |||||||||||
| Redeemable non-controlling interest (Note 4) | ( | ||||||||||
| STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | |||||||||||
Class A common stock, $ | |||||||||||
Class B common stock, $ | |||||||||||
| Additional paid-in capital | |||||||||||
| Accumulated other comprehensive loss | ( | ||||||||||
| Accumulated deficit | ( | ( | |||||||||
| TOTAL STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | |||||||||||
| TOTAL LIABILITIES, REDEEMABLE NON-CONTROLLING INTEREST, AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | $ | $ | |||||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
5
BRAZE, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (UNAUDITED)
(in thousands, except per share amounts)
| Three Months Ended October 31, | Nine Months Ended October 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenue | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| Cost of revenue | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gross profit | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating expenses: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sales and marketing | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Research and development | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| General and administrative | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total operating expenses | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loss from operations | ( | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||
| Other income, net | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loss before provision for income taxes | ( | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||
| Provision for income taxes | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | ( | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss attributable to redeemable non-controlling interest | ( | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss attributable to Braze, Inc. | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Net loss per share attributable to Braze, Inc. common stockholders, basic and diluted | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Weighted-average shares used to compute net loss per share attributable to Braze, Inc. common stockholders, basic and diluted | |||||||||||||||||||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
6
BRAZE, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE LOSS (UNAUDITED)
(in thousands)
| Three Months Ended October 31, | Nine Months Ended October 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | |||||||||||||||
Other comprehensive income: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Change in foreign currency translation adjustments | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||
Unrealized gains on marketable securities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Other comprehensive income, net | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Comprehensive loss, net | ( | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||
| Less: comprehensive loss, net, attributable to redeemable non-controlling interest | ( | ( | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||
| Comprehensive loss attributable to Braze, Inc. | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | |||||||||||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
7
BRAZE, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF REDEEMABLE NON-CONTROLLING INTEREST AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY (UNAUDITED)
(in thousands)
| Redeemable Non-controlling Interest | Class A and Class B Common Stock | Additional Paid-in Capital | Accumulated Deficit | Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) | Total Stockholders' Equity | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at July 31, 2024 | $ | ( | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of common stock for options exercised | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vesting of restricted stock units | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other comprehensive income | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss attributable to redeemable non-controlling interests | ( | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Charitable donation of stock | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss attributable to Braze Inc. | — | — | — | — | ( | — | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at October 31, 2024 | $ | ( | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Redeemable Non-controlling Interest | Class A and Class B Common Stock | Additional Paid-in Capital | Accumulated Deficit | Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) | Total Stockholders' Equity | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at July 31, 2023 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of common stock for options exercised | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vesting of restricted stock units | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other comprehensive income | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss attributable to redeemable non-controlling interests | ( | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Charitable donation of stock | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of common stock from acquisition | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss attributable to Braze, Inc. | — | — | — | — | ( | — | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at October 31, 2023 | $ | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
8
BRAZE, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF REDEEMABLE NON-CONTROLLING INTEREST AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY (UNAUDITED)
(cont.) (in thousands)
| Redeemable Non-controlling Interest | Class A and Class B Common Stock | Additional Paid-in Capital | Accumulated Deficit | Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) | Total Stockholders' Equity | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at January 31, 2024 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of common stock for options exercised | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of common stock under employee stock purchase plan | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vesting of restricted stock units | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other comprehensive income | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss attributable to redeemable non-controlling interests | ( | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Charitable donation of stock | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss attributable to Braze, Inc. | — | — | — | — | ( | — | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at October 31, 2024 | $ | ( | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Redeemable Non-controlling Interest | Class A and Class B Common Stock | Additional Paid-in Capital | Accumulated Deficit | Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) | Total Stockholders' Equity | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at January 31, 2023 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of common stock for options exercised | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of common stock under employee stock purchase plan | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vesting of restricted stock units | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other comprehensive income | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss attributable to redeemable non-controlling interests | ( | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Charitable donation of stock | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issuance of common stock from acquisition | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss attributable to Braze, Inc. | — | — | — | — | ( | — | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at October 31, 2023 | $ | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
9
BRAZE, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(UNAUDITED)
(in thousands)
| Nine Months Ended October 31, | |||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||
| CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES: | |||||||||||
| Net loss (including amounts attributable to redeemable non-controlling interests) | $ | ( | $ | ( | |||||||
| Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by operating activities: | |||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation | |||||||||||
| Amortization of deferred contract costs | |||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | |||||||||||
| Provision for credit losses | |||||||||||
| Value of common stock donated to charity | |||||||||||
| (Accretion) amortization of (discount) premium on marketable securities | ( | ||||||||||
| Non-cash foreign exchange loss | ( | ||||||||||
| Fair value adjustments to contingent consideration | ( | ||||||||||
| Fixed asset write offs | |||||||||||
| Other | |||||||||||
| Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | |||||||||||
| Accounts receivable | ( | ||||||||||
| Prepaid expenses and other current assets | ( | ||||||||||
| Deferred contract costs | ( | ( | |||||||||
| ROU assets and liabilities | |||||||||||
| Other assets | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Accounts payable | ( | ||||||||||
| Accrued expenses and other current liabilities | |||||||||||
| Deferred revenue | |||||||||||
| Other long-term liabilities | ( | ||||||||||
| Net cash provided by operating activities | |||||||||||
| CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES: | |||||||||||
| Cash paid for acquisition, net of cash acquired | ( | ||||||||||
| Purchases of property and equipment | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Capitalized internal-use software costs | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Purchases of marketable securities | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Maturities of marketable securities | |||||||||||
| Net cash used in investing activities | ( | ( | |||||||||
| CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES: | |||||||||||
| Proceeds from exercise of common stock options | |||||||||||
| Proceeds from stock associated with employee stock purchase plan | |||||||||||
| Payments of deferred purchase consideration | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Net cash provided by financing activities | |||||||||||
| Effect of foreign currency exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash | ( | ||||||||||
| Net change in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, beginning of period | |||||||||||
| Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, end of period | $ | $ | |||||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
10
BRAZE, INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS (UNAUDITED)
SUPPLEMENTAL CASH FLOWS DISCLOSURE
(in thousands)
| Nine Months Ended October 31, | |||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||
| SUPPLEMENTAL CASH FLOW DISCLOSURE: | |||||||||||
| Cash paid for income taxes, net of refunds | $ | $ | |||||||||
| NON-CASH INVESTING AND FINANCING ACTIVITIES: | |||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation capitalized to internal-use software | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Unrealized net gain (loss) on marketable investment securities | $ | $ | ( | ||||||||
Net change to property and equipment (included in accounts payable/accrued liabilities) | $ | $ | ( | ||||||||
| Asset retirement obligation | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Common stock issuance, acquisition | $ | $ | ( | ||||||||
| Contingent consideration, acquisition | $ | $ | ( | ||||||||
| Indemnity holdbacks, acquisition | $ | $ | ( | ||||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements.
11
BRAZE, INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (UNAUDITED)
1. Company Overview
Description of Business
Braze, Inc., together with its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company,” “we,” “us,” “our,” or “Braze”), is a cloud-based customer engagement platform that delivers customer-centric experiences across push notifications, email, in-product messaging, SMS and MMS messages, and more. Customers use the Braze platform to facilitate real-time experiences between brands and customers in a more authentic and human way.
We began operations in 2011 and are incorporated in the state of Delaware. Our headquarters are located in New York City. As of October 31, 2024, we also lease additional office space in over 10 cities across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.
2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation
The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”). The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, and variable interest entities (“VIE”) for which we are the primary beneficiary. Intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Reclassifications
Certain reclassifications and immaterial changes have been made to prior-period financial statements to conform to the current-period presentation.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, and the reported amounts of revenue and expense during the reported period. We evaluate estimates based on historical and anticipated results, trends, and various other assumptions. Significant items subject to such estimates and assumptions include, but are not limited to, the standalone selling price for separate performance obligations in our revenue arrangements, expected period of benefit for deferred contract costs, the valuation of common stock and stock-based compensation, the allocation of overhead costs between cost of revenue and operating expenses, the estimated useful lives of intangible and depreciable assets, the fair value of acquired assets and assumed liabilities from business combinations, valuation of long-lived assets and their recoverability, including goodwill, the incremental borrowing rate, the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities and other tax estimates including our ability to utilize net operating losses.
Significant Accounting Policies
Our significant accounting policies are detailed in “Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies" of the audited annual consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2024 included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed with the SEC on April 1, 2024 (the “Annual Report”). There have been no material changes to our significant accounting policies.
Concentration of Credit Risk
12
Financial instruments that potentially subject us to concentration of credit risk consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, marketable securities, and accounts receivable. Restricted cash consists of letters of credit related to our leased properties. For cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and marketable securities, we are exposed to credit risk in the event of default by the financial institutions to the extent of the amounts recorded on the consolidated balance sheets in excess of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) limits. Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and marketable securities balances are maintained at financial institutions that management believes are of high-credit, quality financial institutions, where deposits, at times, exceed the FDIC limits.
Significant customers are those which represent 10% or more of our total revenue for the period, or accounts receivable at the balance sheets dates. For the three and nine months ended October 31, 2024 and October 31, 2023, no customer accounted for 10% or more of our total revenue.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted
In November 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2023-07 Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures, (“ASU 2023-07”), which requires disclosure of significant segment expenses that are regularly provided to the chief operating decision maker (“CODM”), an amount for other segment items with a description of the composition, and disclosure of the title and position of the CODM. ASU 2023-07 is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2023, and interim periods within fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024. Early adoption is permitted and the update should be applied retrospectively to each period presented in the financial statements. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the new standard on the consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.
In December 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2023-09 Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures, (“ASU 2023-09”), which requires public business entities on an annual basis to disclose specific categories in a tabular rate reconciliation and provide additional information for reconciling items that meet a five percent quantitative threshold. Additionally, the ASU requires all entities to disclose the amount of income taxes paid disaggregated by federal, state, and foreign taxes, as well as individual jurisdictions where income taxes paid are equal to or greater than five percent of total income taxes paid. ASU 2023-09 is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024. Early adoption is permitted and the updated should be applied on a prospective basis, with a retrospective application permitted in the financial statements. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the new standard on its consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.
In November 2024, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2024-03 Income Statement - Reporting Comprehensive Income - Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Subtopic 220-40): Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses, (“ASU 2024-03”), which is intended to provide enhanced transparency into the nature of expenses and requires more detailed information on specific expense categories included in certain expense captions presented on the face of the income statement. ASU 2024-03 is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027. Early adoption is permitted. The standard may be applied either (1) on a prospective basis or (2) retrospectively to all periods presented in the consolidated financial statements. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the new standard on the consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.
No other new accounting pronouncement issued or effective during the fiscal year had or is expected to have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements or disclosures.
13
3. Revenue from Contracts with Customers
Disaggregated Revenue Streams
The following disaggregation depicts the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of cash flows related to the primary types of revenue from contracts with customers.
The following table presents total revenue by type (in thousands):
| Three Months Ended October 31, | Nine Months Ended October 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Subscription | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| Professional services and other | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
The following table presents total revenue by geography (in thousands):
| Three Months Ended October 31, | Nine Months Ended October 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| International | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
Revenue by geography is determined based on the location of our users. Other than the United States, no other individual country accounted for 10% or more of total revenue for any of the periods presented.
Unbilled Accounts Receivable
Unbilled accounts receivable included in trade accounts receivable, net, which generally arise from our contractual right to bill our customers in advance of services on the contract effective date, were $1.1 million and $1.5 million as of October 31, 2024 and January 31, 2024, respectively.
Contract Balances
Contract Assets
Contract assets as of October 31, 2024 and January 31, 2024 were $0.2 million and $0.9 million, respectively. The change in contract assets for all periods presented primarily reflects revenue recognized in excess of billings partially offset by contract assets earned during the period.
Deferred Revenue
The change in deferred revenue for all periods presented primarily reflects cash payments received during the period for which the performance obligation was not satisfied prior to the end of the period, partially offset by revenues recognized during the period. Revenue recognized during the three and nine months ended October 31, 2024 from amounts included in deferred revenue at January 31, 2024, was $33.5 million and $191.8 million, respectively. Revenue recognized during the three and nine months ended October 31, 2023 from amounts included in deferred revenue at January 31, 2023, was $27.0 million and $155.3 million, respectively.
14
Credit Losses
The following table presents a reconciliation of the allowance for credit losses on accounts receivable (in thousands):
| Allowance for Credit Losses | |||||
Balance at January 31, 2024 | $ | ||||
| Reserve: | |||||
| Credit losses | |||||
| Deferred revenue | |||||
| Write-offs | ( | ||||
| Recoveries | |||||
Balance at October 31, 2024 | $ | ||||
Remaining Performance Obligations
The transaction price allocated to remaining performance obligations represents amounts under non-cancelable contracts expected to be recognized as revenue in future periods, and may be influenced by several factors, including seasonality, the timing of renewals, the timing of service delivery and contract terms. Unbilled portions of the remaining performance obligations are subject to future economic risks including bankruptcies, regulatory changes and other market factors.
The following table presents remaining performance obligations as of the dates indicated below (in millions):
| Total | Less than 1 Year | 1-5 Years | |||||||||||||||
| October 31, 2023 | $ | $ | $ | ||||||||||||||
| January 31, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||
| April 30, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||
| July 31, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||
| October 31, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||
4. Variable Interest Entity and Redeemable Non-Controlling Interest
On September 14, 2020, we, along with Japan Cloud Computing Co., Ltd., and M30 LLC, (the “Investors”), entered into an agreement, whereby each Investor agreed to purchase shares of common stock of Braze Kabushiki Kaisha (“Braze KK” and “Braze KK Shares”) for a total purchase price of $10.0 million in two tranches of $5.0
In March 2022, we consented to the periodic issuance of stock options to purchase Braze KK Shares by certain employees of Braze KK. These options cannot be exercised by the holders thereof prior to the exercise of the call or put options described in more detail below. The Company considers the stock options to be a substantive class of equity, classified as a liability within other long-term liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets. As of October 31, 2024, the liability balance was $0.9 million. The issuance of stock options does not impact our majority stake in Braze KK, as none of the vesting criteria of the options were met as of the balance sheet date. The issuance of stock options did not result in a reconsideration event and therefore Braze KK still met the criteria of a Variable Interest Entity as Braze KK did not have sufficient equity at risk to finance their activities. As a result, we continue to operate Braze KK as a subsidiary, exposing us to business and foreign exchange risk. We consolidate Braze KK and present the results within the consolidated balance sheets, consolidated statements of operations, and consolidated statements of cash flows.
The common stock held by the Investors is callable by us or puttable by the Investors upon certain contingent events. Should the call or put option be exercised, the redemption value would be determined based on a prescribed formula derived from the discrete revenues of Braze KK and the Company and may be settled, at our discretion, with our stock or cash. The non-controlling interest in Braze KK is classified in mezzanine equity as redeemable non-controlling interest as a result of the put right available to the Investors in the future, an event that is not solely in our control. The non-controlling interest is not accreted to redemption value because it is currently not probable that the non-controlling interest will become redeemable.
15
The following table summarizes the activity in the redeemable non-controlling interests for the periods indicated below (in thousands):
Balance as of January 31, 2024 | $ | ||||
| Net loss attributable to redeemable non-controlling interest | ( | ||||
Balance as of October 31, 2024 | $ | ( | |||
5. Fair Value Measurements
The following table sets forth our financial instruments that were measured at fair value on a recurring basis at the periods indicated below, by level within the fair value hierarchy (in thousands):
| October 31, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||
Financial Assets: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cash equivalents | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Money market funds | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| Total cash equivalents | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Marketable securities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. government securities | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| Foreign securities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Corporate debt securities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total marketable securities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Liabilities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Contingent consideration | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| Total liabilities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total financial assets | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| January 31, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Total | ||||||||||||||||||||
Financial Assets: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cash equivalents | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Money market funds | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. government securities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total cash equivalents | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Marketable securities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. government securities | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| Foreign securities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Corporate debt securities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total marketable securities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Liabilities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Contingent consideration | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| Total liabilities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total financial assets | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
16
Our money market funds and financial instruments that are classified as Level 1 within the fair value hierarchy, because they are valued using quoted prices in active markets as of October 31, 2024 and January 31, 2024. Financial instruments classified as Level 2 within our fair value hierarchy are valued on the basis of prices from an orderly transaction between market participants provided by reputable dealers or pricing services. Prices of these securities are obtained through independent, third-party pricing services and include market quotations that may include both observable and unobservable inputs. In determining the value of a particular investment, pricing services may use certain information with respect to transactions in such investments, quotations from dealers, pricing matrices and market transactions in comparable investments and various relationships between investments.
The fair value of our contingent consideration is estimated using Level 3 unobservable inputs. The estimates of fair value are based upon assumptions believed to be reasonable but which are uncertain, and involve significant judgments by management. We will reassess the fair value of the contingent consideration quarterly until the contingency is resolved. The liability is recorded within other long-term liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets. Changes in the fair value are recorded in operating income in the consolidated statements of operations.
There were no transfers of financial instruments among Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 during the periods presented.
The following table summarizes the fair value changes in the contingent consideration liability in connection with the acquisition of North Star Y, Pty Ltd (in thousands):
| Three Months Ended October 31, | Nine Months Ended October 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Beginning fair value | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
Additions/adjustments in the period | ( | ( | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Ending fair value | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
6. Marketable Securities
Marketable securities consist of the following for the periods presented (in thousands):
| October 31, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cost or Amortized Cost | Gross Unrealized Gains | Gross Unrealized Losses | Total Estimated Fair Value | ||||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. government securities | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | ||||||||||||||||||
| Foreign securities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Corporate debt securities | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | ||||||||||||||||||
| January 31, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cost or Amortized Cost | Gross Unrealized Gains | Gross Unrealized Losses | Total Estimated Fair Value | ||||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. government securities | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | ||||||||||||||||||
| Foreign securities | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Corporate debt securities | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | $ | ( | $ | ||||||||||||||||||
Accrued interest receivables related to our available-for-sale securities of $4.0 million as of October 31, 2024 and $3.4 million as of January 31, 2024, were included within prepaid expenses and other current assets on the consolidated balance sheets.
The Company’s short-term investments consist of available-for-sale debt securities and term deposits. The term deposits are at cost, which approximates fair value. The weighted-average remaining maturity of the Company’s investment portfolio is approximately one year as of the periods presented.
The following table summarizes the fair value and gross unrealized losses aggregated by category of individual securities that have been in a continuous unrealized loss position for greater than 12 months (in thousands):
17
| October 31, 2024 | |||||||||||
| Continuous Unrealized Loss for Greater than 12 months | |||||||||||
| Estimated Fair Value | Gross Unrealized Losses | ||||||||||
| U.S. government securities | $ | $ | ( | ||||||||
| Corporate debt securities | ( | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | ( | ||||||||
| January 31, 2024 | |||||||||||
| Continuous Unrealized Loss for Greater than 12 months | |||||||||||
| Estimated Fair Value | Gross Unrealized Losses | ||||||||||
| U.S. government securities | $ | $ | ( | ||||||||
| Foreign securities | ( | ||||||||||
| Corporate debt securities | ( | ||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | ( | ||||||||
The Company purchases investment grade marketable debt securities which are rated by nationally recognized statistical credit rating organizations in accordance with its investment policy. This policy is designed to minimize the Company's exposure to credit losses. As of October 31, 2024, the credit-quality of the Company’s marketable available-for-sale debt securities had remained stable. The unrealized losses recognized on marketable available-for-sale debt securities as of October 31, 2024 was primarily related to the continued market volatility associated with market expectations in the current interest rate environment. The contractual terms of these investments do not permit the issuer to settle the securities at a price less than the amortized cost basis of the investments and it is not expected that the investments would be settled at a price less than their amortized cost basis. The Company does not intend to sell the investments and it is not more likely than not that the Company will be required to sell the investments before recovery of their amortized cost basis. The Company is not aware of any specific event or circumstance that would require the Company to change its assessment of credit losses for any marketable available-for-sale debt security as of October 31, 2024. These estimates may change, as new events occur and additional information is obtained, and will be recognized on the consolidated financial statements as soon as they become known. No credit losses were recognized as of October 31, 2024 for the Company’s marketable debt securities.
The contractual maturities of the investments classified as available-for-sale marketable securities are as follows (in thousands):
| October 31, 2024 | |||||||||||
| Amortized Cost | Estimated Fair Value | ||||||||||
| Due within 1 year | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Due in 1 year through 5 years | |||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | |||||||||
| January 31, 2024 | |||||||||||
| Amortized Cost | Estimated Fair Value | ||||||||||
| Due within 1 year | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Due in 1 year through 5 years | |||||||||||
| Total | $ | $ | |||||||||
Investment Income
Investment income consists of interest income and accretion income/amortization expense on our cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and marketable securities. Investment income is included within other income, net on the consolidated
18
statements of operations. The primary components of investment income from marketable securities were as follows (in thousands):
| Three Months Ended October 31, | Nine Months Ended October 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Interest income | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
Accretion/amortization of discount/premium, net | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Investment income | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
7. Property and Equipment, Net
Property and equipment, net, consist of the following (in thousands):
| October 31, 2024 | January 31, 2024 | ||||||||||
| Capitalized internal-use software | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Computer equipment, office equipment, and software | |||||||||||
| Leasehold improvements | |||||||||||
| Furniture and fixtures | |||||||||||
| Total property and equipment | |||||||||||
| Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization | ( | ( | |||||||||
| Total property and equipment, net | $ | $ | |||||||||
During the three months ended October 31, 2024, the total depreciation expense and amortization expense for property and equipment was $2.7 million. During the three months ended October 31, 2024, the Company wrote off $0.4 million of fixed assets consisting of computer equipment, office equipment, and software, that was largely depreciated from property and equipment, gross and accumulated depreciation, which had minimal net impact on the Company’s consolidated financial results.
During the nine months ended October 31, 2024, the total depreciation expense and amortization expense for property and equipment was $7.3 million, inclusive of $0.4 million net book value for fixed assets written off during the fiscal year to date. During the nine months ended October 31, 2024, the Company wrote off $2.7 million of fixed assets consisting of computer equipment, office equipment, and software, that was largely depreciated from property and equipment, gross and accumulated depreciation.
During the three and nine months ended October 31, 2023, total depreciation and amortization expense for property and equipment was $1.1 million and $3.8 million, respectively. During the three and nine months ended October 31, 2023, the Company removed $0.6 million and $1.1 million, respectively, of fixed assets consisting of computer equipment, office equipment, and software, that was largely depreciated from property and equipment, gross and accumulated depreciation, which had minimal net impact on the Company’s consolidated financial results.
We capitalized internal-use software of $1.5 million and $1.5 million during the three months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and $4.8 million and $4.0 million during the nine months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Amortization for capitalized internal-use software costs recognized within cost of revenue on the consolidated statements of operations was $0.8 million and $0.5 million for the three months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and $2.3 million and $1.6 million during the nine months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
8. Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets
19
Prepaid expenses and other current assets consist of the following (in thousands):
| October 31, 2024 | January 31, 2024 | ||||||||||
| Prepaid software subscriptions | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Prepaid advertising | |||||||||||
| Prepaid insurance | |||||||||||
| Investment interest receivable | |||||||||||
| Consumption tax receivable | |||||||||||
| Prepaid employee benefits | |||||||||||
| Other | |||||||||||
| Total prepaid expenses and other current assets | $ | $ | |||||||||
9. Accrued Expenses and Other Current Liabilities
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities consists of the following (in thousands):
| October 31, 2024 | January 31, 2024 | ||||||||||
| Accrued compensation costs | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Accrued software subscriptions | |||||||||||
| Accrued commissions | |||||||||||
| Accrued professional service fees | |||||||||||
| Accrued advertising | |||||||||||
| Accrued tax liability | |||||||||||
| ESPP payable | |||||||||||
| Other | |||||||||||
| Total accrued expenses and other current liabilities | $ | $ | |||||||||
10. Employee Benefit Plans
We sponsor a 401(k) defined contribution plan covering all eligible U.S. employees. Contributions to the 401(k) plan are discretionary. Matching contributions under the plan were $0.6 million and $0.7 million for the three months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and $4.3 million and $4.3 million during the nine months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
11. Stockholders’ Equity
Class A and Class B Common Stock
The Company has two classes of common stock, Class A and Class B. The rights of the holders of Class A common stock and Class B common stock are identical, except with respect to voting, conversion and transfer rights. Each share of Class A common stock is entitled to one vote. Each share of Class B common stock is entitled to ten votes and may be converted at the option of the holder into one share of Class A common stock. In addition, all shares of Class B common stock will automatically convert into shares of Class A common stock in certain circumstances, including on the earlier of (i) the last trading day of the fiscal quarter during which the number of shares of Class B common stock then outstanding represents less than 10 % of the aggregate number of shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock then outstanding, or (ii) the last trading day of the fiscal quarter immediately following the fifth anniversary of the initial public offering. All shares of the Company’s capital stock outstanding immediately prior to our initial public offering, including all shares held by its executive officers, directors and their respective affiliates, and all shares issuable upon the conversion of our then outstanding convertible preferred stock, were reclassified into shares of Class B common stock immediately prior to the completion of the initial public offering.
Charitable Contributions
In connection with our Pledge 1% commitment, we donated 32,155 and 32,155 and shares of our Class A common stock to a charitable donor-advised fund that resulted in the recognition of $1.4 million and $1.4 million of expense within general
20
and administrative in the consolidated statements of operations during the three months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
We donated 64,310 and 64,310 shares of our Class A common stock that resulted in the recognition of $2.7 million and $2.4 million of expense within general and administrative in the consolidated statements of operations during the nine months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
12. Employee Stock Plans
We have historically issued equity awards under our Amended and Restated 2011 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2011 Plan”) and our 2021 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2021 Plan”).
Amended and Restated 2011 Equity Incentive Plan
Our 2011 Plan provides for the award of stock options and restricted stock units (“RSUs”) to employees, officers, directors, advisors and other service providers of Braze. The terms of each award and the exercise price of awards under the 2011 Plan are determined by our board of directors. Following effectiveness of the 2021 Plan in connection with our initial public offering, no further awards were made under the 2011 Plan.
2021 Equity Incentive Plan
In November 2021, our board of directors and our stockholders approved the 2021 Plan, which became effective on November 16, 2021. No grants were made under the 2021 Plan prior to its effectiveness. No further grants will be made under the 2011 Plan. At effectiveness, we reserved 25,660,249 shares of our Class A common stock to be issued under the 2021 Plan. In addition, the number of shares of our Class A common stock reserved for issuance under the 2021 Plan will automatically increase on February 1 of each year for a period of ten years , beginning on February 1, 2022 and continuing through February 1, 2031, in an amount equal to (1) 5 % of the total number of shares of our common stock (both Class A and Class B) outstanding on the preceding January 31, or (2) a lesser number of shares determined by our board of directors no later than the February 1 increase. On February 1, 2024, the number of shares of our Class A common stock reserved for issuance under our 2021 Plan increased by an additional 5,010,520 shares.
Restricted Stock Units
The following table summarizes unvested RSU award activity and related information:
| Shares | Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value | ||||||||||
Balance as of January 31, 2024 | |||||||||||
| Granted | $ | ||||||||||
| Vested | ( | $ | |||||||||
| Forfeited | ( | $ | |||||||||
Balance as of October 31, 2024 | |||||||||||
RSUs granted during the nine months ended October 31, 2024 contained a service-based vesting condition of up to approximately a four year period. RSUs typically vest on a quarterly basis or have a one year cliff vesting period with quarterly vesting thereafter.
Stock-based Compensation Expense
The following table summarizes stock-based compensation expense, which was included in the consolidated statements of operations as follows (in thousands):
21
| Three Months Ended October 31, | Nine Months Ended October 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Cost of revenue | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sales and marketing | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Research and development | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| General and administrative | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stock-based compensation, net of amounts capitalized | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| Capitalized stock-based compensation expense | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total stock-based compensation expense | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
As of October 31, 2024, total compensation cost not yet recognized related to unvested equity awards and the weighted-average remaining period over which these costs are expected to be realized were as follows:
| Stock Options | RSUs | ||||||||||
| Unrecognized compensation costs (in thousands) | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Weighted-average remaining recognition period (years) | |||||||||||
Employee Stock Purchase Plan
In November 2021, our board of directors and our stockholders approved the 2021 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “ESPP”), which became effective on November 16, 2021. Following completion of our initial public offering, the ESPP authorized the issuance of 1,825,000 shares of our Class A common stock under purchase rights granted to our employees or to employees of any of our designated affiliates. The number of shares of our Class A common stock reserved for issuance will automatically increase on February 1 of each year for a period of ten years , beginning on February 1, 2022 and continuing through February 1, 2031, by the lesser of (i) 1 % of the total number of shares of our common stock (both Class A and Class B) outstanding on the preceding January 31; and (ii) 2,737,000 shares, except before the date of any such increase, our board of directors may determine that such increase will be less than the amount set forth in clauses (i) and (ii) above. On February 1, 2024, the number of shares of our Class A common stock reserved for issuance under our ESPP increased by an additional 1,002,104 shares.
The ESPP is implemented through a series of offerings under which eligible employees are granted purchase rights to purchase shares of the Company’s Class A common stock on specified dates during such offerings. Under the ESPP, our board of directors will be permitted to specify offerings with durations of not more than 27 months, and may specify shorter purchase periods within each offering. Each offering will have one or more purchase dates on which shares of our Class A common stock will be purchased for employees participating in the offering. On each purchase date, eligible employees will purchase the shares at a price per share equal to 85 % of the lesser of (1) the fair market value of the Company’s Class A common stock on the first trading day of the offering period or (2) the fair market value of the Company’s Class A common stock on the last day of the offering period, as defined by the ESPP.
The Company recognized $0.4 million and $0.5 million of stock-based compensation expense related to the ESPP in the three months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and $1.7 million and $1.9 million during the nine months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
As of October 31, 2024, $3.5 million has been withheld on behalf of our employees for a future purchase and is classified as accrued expenses and other current liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets.
There were no issuances of Class A common stock under the ESPP in the three months ended October 31, 2024. As of October 31, 2024, there are 4,208,260 shares of Class A common stock that remain available for issuance under the ESPP.
13. Commitments and Contingencies
Indirect Taxes
We are subject to indirect taxation in some, but not all, of the various U.S. states and foreign jurisdictions in which we conduct business. Therefore, we have an obligation to charge, collect and remit Value Added Tax (“VAT”) or Goods and Services Tax (“GST”) in connection with certain of our foreign sales transactions and sales and use tax in connection with
22
eligible sales to subscribers in certain U.S. states. On June 21, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion in South Dakota v. Wayfair. The State of South Dakota alleged that U.S. constitutional law should be revised to permit South Dakota to require remote sellers to collect and remit sales tax in South Dakota in accordance with South Dakota’s sales tax statute. Under the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling, the longstanding Quill Corp v. North Dakota sales tax case was overruled, and states may now require remote sellers to collect sales tax under certain circumstances. We began collecting sales tax in relevant jurisdictions for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2019. As a result of this ruling and given the scope of our operations, taxing authorities continue to provide regulations that increase the complexity and risks to comply with such laws and could result in substantial liabilities, prospectively as well as retrospectively. Based on the information available, we continue to evaluate and assess the jurisdictions in which indirect tax nexus exists and believe that the indirect tax liabilities are adequate and reasonable. Due to the complexity and uncertainty around the application of these rules by taxing authorities, results may vary materially from expectations, and we have recognized liabilities for contingencies related to state sales and use tax, VAT, and GST deemed probable and estimable totaling $1.9 million and $1.0 million as of October 31, 2024 and January 31, 2024, respectively, which is included in accrued expenses and other current liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets. As of January 31, 2024, we have filed prior period returns in several jurisdictions in order to remediate this potential exposure, and the Company continues to evaluate the potential exposure on an ongoing basis.
Legal Contingencies
From time to time, in the ordinary course of business, we are or may be involved in various legal or regulatory proceedings, claims or purported class actions related to, among other things, alleged infringement of third-party patents and other intellectual property rights, commercial, labor and employment, wage and hour and other claims. We have been, and may in the future be, put on notice or sued by third-parties for alleged infringement of their proprietary rights, including patent infringement. We accrue a liability when we believe that it is both probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. We believe we have recorded adequate provisions for any such matters and, as of October 31, 2024, we believe that no material loss will be incurred in excess of the amounts recognized in our financial statements.
14. Leases
Leases
The Company’s lease portfolio consists solely of office space with lease terms ranging from approximately to ten years . Certain lease agreements include options to renew or terminate the lease, which are not reasonably certain to be exercised and therefore are not factored into the determination of lease payments.
The components of lease cost reflected on the consolidated statements of operations were as follows (in thousands):
| Three Months Ended October 31, | Nine Months Ended October 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating lease cost | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| Variable lease cost | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Short-term lease cost | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total net lease cost | $ | $ | $ | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
The future maturities of the Company’s operating lease liabilities by fiscal year are as follows (in thousands):
Amount | |||||
| Remainder of 2025 | $ | ||||
| 2026 | |||||
| 2027 | |||||
| 2028 | |||||
| 2029 | |||||
| Thereafter | |||||
| Total future undiscounted lease payments | $ | ||||
| Less: imputed interest | ( | ||||
| Total reported lease liability | $ | ||||
23
The Company's lease terms and discount rates are as follows:
| October 31, | |||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||
| Weighted-average remaining lease term (years) | |||||||||||
| Weighted-average discount rate | % | % | |||||||||
Other information for the Company's leases is as follows (in thousands):
| Nine Months Ended October 31, | |||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||
| Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities | $ | $ | |||||||||
| Operating lease right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for new operating lease liabilities | $ | $ | |||||||||
15. Income Taxes
The Company computes its provision for interim periods by applying an estimated annual effective tax rate to anticipated annual pretax income or loss as directed by ASC 740. The estimated annual effective tax rate is applied to the Company’s year to date income or loss, and is adjusted for discrete items recorded in the period. The Company recorded an income tax expense of $0.9 million and $0.4 million for the three months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The effective tax rate for the three months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023 was (3.1 )% and (1.3 )%, respectively. The Company recorded an income tax provision of $2.4 million and $1.3 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The effective tax rate for the nine months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023 was (2.8 )% and (1.3 )%, respectively.
The provision for income taxes recorded for the three and nine months ended October 31, 2024 consists of income taxes in state jurisdictions and foreign jurisdictions in which the Company conducts business. The primary difference between the effective tax rate and the statutory rate is the change in the valuation allowance recorded. The Company continues to maintain a full valuation allowance against its net deferred tax assets as we have concluded that it is not more likely than not that the deferred tax assets will be realized. When the Company determines that it will be able to realize some portion or all of its deferred tax assets, an adjustment to its valuation allowance on its deferred tax assets would have the effect of increasing net income in the period such determination is made.
16. Net Loss per Share
We compute the basic and diluted net loss per share of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock. The rights, including the liquidation and dividend rights, of the Class A common stock and Class B common stock are substantially identical, other than voting rights. Accordingly, the Class A common stock and Class B common stock share in the Company’s net loss.
The following table sets forth the computation of basic and diluted net loss per share attributable to Braze, Inc. common stockholders during the periods presented (in thousands, except per share amounts):
| Three Months Ended October 31, | Nine Months Ended October 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Numerator: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss attributable to Braze, Inc. | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | |||||||||||||||
| Denominator: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weighted-average shares of Braze, Inc. common stock outstanding | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Less: weighted-average unvested shares of Braze, Inc. subject to repurchase | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weighted-average shares used to calculate net loss per share attributable to Braze, Inc. common stockholders, basic and diluted | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss per share attributable to Braze, Inc. common stockholders, basic and diluted | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | $ | ( | |||||||||||||||
24
The following outstanding shares of potentially dilutive securities have been excluded from diluted net loss per share attributable to Braze, Inc. common stockholders for the periods presented, because their inclusion would be anti-dilutive (in thousands):
| Three Months Ended October 31, | Nine Months Ended October 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Options to purchase common stock | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Restricted stock units | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| ESPP shares estimated to be purchased | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | |||||||||||||||||||||||
17. Related Party Transactions
In May 2021, the Chief Financial Officer of Datadog, Inc., one of our vendors, joined our board of directors. We have purchased services from Datadog, Inc. in the aggregate amount of approximately $0.4 million and $0.4 million during the three months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and $2.2 million and $1.6 million during the nine months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
18. Restructuring
In May 2023, the Company implemented a workforce reduction designed to rebalance talent to better meet customer needs and achieve business priorities. No restructuring costs were recognized in the three and nine months ended October 31, 2024.
During the three and nine months ended October 31, 2023, $0.0 million and $0.6 million of restructuring costs were recognized, respectively.
19. Business Combination
Acquisition of North Star Y, Pty Ltd
On June 1, 2023, the Company acquired all the outstanding stock of North Star Y, Pty Ltd (“North Star”), Braze’s then exclusive reseller in Australia and New Zealand. The transaction provides Braze with a direct market presence in Australia and New Zealand, along with local market expertise from the North Star team.
The total purchase price consideration, as adjusted, of $26.8 million consisted of cash payments of $20.6 million, $6.1 million in issuances of Braze Class A common stock, and contingent consideration payments, the fair value of which was $1.8 million as of the acquisition date. The sellers are eligible to receive cash earn-out payments calculated based on qualified revenue performance metrics for the two individual twelve month periods immediately subsequent to the closing of the acquisition. The earn-out payments are capped at $10.0 million for the first earn-out period and $16.0 million for the second earn-out period. The fair value measurement of the contingent consideration liability has been influenced by developments in the significant inputs for such calculation, notably the new and incremental actual and forecasted deal closings from the Australia-New Zealand region. As a result, during the quarter ended October 31, 2024, the Company reduced the contingent consideration liability to zero as it was determined that the likelihood of the sellers satisfying the qualifications is remote.
The preliminary purchase price, as adjusted, was allocated to intangible assets in the amount of $3.8 million and goodwill in the amount of $28.4 million based on the respective estimated fair values. The resulting goodwill is not deductible for income tax purposes.
An indemnification holdback of $2.8 million that was previously recorded within accrued expenses and other current liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets was extinguished in the three months ended April 30, 2024. The indemnification holdback represents security for potential indemnification claims against the seller. The indemnification holdback was released in full.
Of the initial $0.5 million working capital holdback, $0.3 million has been released based on the completion of post-close adjustment procedures.
The results of operations of North Star, which were not material, have been included in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations for the nine months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023.
25
20. Intangible Assets, Net
Intangible assets, net, consisted of the following (in thousands):
| October 31, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gross Carrying Amount | Accumulated Amortization | Net Carrying Amount | Amortization Period | ||||||||||||||||||||
Amortizable intangible assets | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Customer relationships | $ | $ | ( | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| Restrictive covenant relationships | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Trademark | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total amortizable intangible assets | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Non-amortizable intangible assets | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technology licenses | $ | $ | — | $ | n/a | ||||||||||||||||||
| Total intangible assets, net | $ | $ | ( | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| January 31, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gross Carrying Amount | Accumulated Amortization | Net Carrying Amount | Amortization Period | ||||||||||||||||||||
Amortizable intangible assets | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Customer relationships | $ | $ | ( | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
| Restrictive covenant relationships | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Trademark | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total amortizable intangible assets | ( | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Non-amortizable intangible assets | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Technology licenses | $ | $ | — | $ | n/a | ||||||||||||||||||
| Total intangible assets, net | $ | $ | ( | $ | |||||||||||||||||||
Intangible amortization expense was approximately $0.1 million and $0.2 million for the three months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and $0.4 million and $0.4 million during the nine months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.
The future intangible amortization expense by fiscal year is as follows (in thousands):
| Amount | |||||
| Remainder of 2025 | $ | ||||
| 2026 | |||||
| 2027 | |||||
| 2028 | |||||
| 2029 | |||||
| Thereafter | |||||
| Total | $ | ||||
21. Goodwill
The changes in the carrying amounts of goodwill were as follows (in thousands):
| Amount | |||||
Balance at January 31, 2024 | $ | ||||
Acquisition related adjustments | |||||
Balance at October 31, 2024 | $ | ||||
26
22. Subsequent Events
In November 2024, in connection with our Pledge 1% commitment, the Company donated 32,155 shares of Class A common stock to a charitable donor-advised fund that resulted in the recognition of approximately $1.0 million of operating expense.
In November 2024, the Company granted RSUs for a total of 159,113 shares of Class A common stock to employees pursuant to the 2021 Plan. The RSUs vest over a service period of approximately four years . The grant date fair value of these awards was $6.0 million
In December 2024, the Company granted RSUs for a total of 14,262 shares of Class A common stock to employees pursuant to the 2021 Plan. The RSUs vest over a service period of approximately four years. The grant date fair value of these awards was $0.4 million.
27
Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes that are included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and our audited annual consolidated financial statements and related notes for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2024 that are included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, or the Annual Report, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, on April 1, 2024. In addition to historical financial information, the following discussion contains forward-looking statements that are based upon current plans, expectations and beliefs that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, those set forth under the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of Part II of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. See “Special Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements” in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
Overview
Braze is a leading customer engagement platform that empowers brands to Be Absolutely Engaging™. Our platform empowers brands to listen to their customers better, understand them more deeply, and act on that understanding in a way that is human and personal. Using our platform, brands ingest and process customer data in real time, orchestrate and optimize contextually relevant, marketing campaigns across multiple channels. Our platform is designed so that interactions between brands and consumers have the same relevance and cross-channel continuity as human interactions.
Our customers include many established global enterprises and leading technology innovators, and span a wide variety of sizes and industries, including retail and consumer goods, media and entertainment, restaurants and on-demand healthcare and life sciences, financial services, travel, transportation, and hospitality.
We primarily generate revenue from the sale of subscriptions to customers for the use of our platform. Our subscription fees are principally based on an upfront commitment by our customers for messaging volumes, a specific number of monthly active users, platform access and/or support and certain add-on products. Additionally, we provide professional services, which better enable customers to successfully onboard and use our platform, including certain premium professional services such as email deliverability support and dedicated technical support staff.
We employ a land-and-expand business model centered around offering products that are easy to adopt and have a rapid time to value. We expand our reach within existing customers when our customers add new channels, purchase additional subscription products, implement new engagement strategies, or onboard new business units and geographies. We also grow as our customers grow because our pricing is based in large part on the number of consumers that our customers reach and the volume of messages our customers send. Accordingly, as our customers increase the use of our platform and increase the number of end users reached via our platform, the value of our contracts with such customers also increases.
We have grown significantly in recent periods. We generated revenue of $152.1 million and $124.0 million in the three months ended October 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively, representing year-over-year growth of 22.7%, and $433.0 million and $340.8 million in the nine months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. We had net losses of $28.1 million and $31.0 million in the three months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and $87.0 million and $101.9 million in the nine months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. We had net cash provided by operating activities of $19.6 million in the nine months ended October 31, 2024 and net cash provided by operating activities of $3.0 million in the nine months ended October 31, 2023, respectively. Our Non-GAAP free cash flow was $4.4 million and $(2.9) million in the nine months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. See the section titled “— Non-GAAP Free Cash Flow” for additional information about how we calculate free cash flow, a non-GAAP financial metric, and a reconciliation to net cash provided by operating activities, the most directly comparable measure calculated in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or U.S. GAAP.
Factors Affecting Our Performance
Acquiring New Customers
We believe there is substantial opportunity to continue to grow our customer base. We intend to continue to expand our customer base in verticals where we already have a strong presence, such as retail, media and entertainment, on-demand services, gaming, health and lifestyle, and financial services — and to increase our presence in verticals where we are not yet strongly represented. Through our sales and marketing efforts, we also plan to capitalize on industries subject to ongoing digital transformation and where direct-to-consumer relationships are accelerating, to further propel adoption of our technology. As of October 31, 2024, we had 2,211 customers across a broad range of sizes and industries. Our ability to attract new customers will depend on a number of factors, including the quality and pricing of our products, offerings of our competitors and the effectiveness of our marketing efforts.
28
We define a customer as the separate and distinct, ultimate parent-level entity that has an active subscription with us to use our products. A single organization could have multiple distinct contracting divisions or subsidiaries, all of which together would be considered a single customer.
Expanding Within Our Existing Customer Base
We believe we can achieve significant growth by expanding sales within our existing customer base. We expand the use of our platform by existing customers by, among others, adding new channels and increasing the messaging volume we sell to our customers as their businesses and needs continue to grow and as they connect directly with additional consumers, which in turn leads to a need for greater messaging capacity. We intend to continue to invest in developing and enhancing our products and functionality. Our ability to increase sales to existing customers will depend on a number of factors, including our customers’ satisfaction with our solutions, the ability of our customers to attract new end users, competition, pricing and overall changes in our customers’ spending levels.
Historically, we have experienced significant expansion within a customer’s business once our platform is deployed, with customers typically increasing the number of monthly active users, channels and use cases, as well as purchasing additional products. A monthly active user is an end user of a customer who has engaged with the customer’s applications and websites in the previous thirty-day period. We include each distinguishable end user in our calculation of monthly active users, even though some users may access our customers’ applications and websites using more than one device, and multiple users may gain access using the same device. As of October 31, 2024, we had approximately 6.9 billion monthly active users, up from approximately 6.2 billion monthly active users as of January 31, 2024.
Braze supports interactions across a broad range of both in-product and out-of-product messaging channels. The flexibility of our platform also allows us to add new channels quickly and efficiently as they become relevant to our customers. The breadth of channels we offer, and our ability to efficiently expand our offering of channels, allows us to expand our reach within existing customers as they purchase additional channels from us.
In addition to monthly active users, we have a history of increasing annual recurring revenue, or ARR, from our customers. We define ARR as the annualized value of customer subscription contracts, including certain premium professional services that are subject to contractual subscription terms, as of the measurement date, assuming any contract that expires during the next 12 months is renewed on its existing terms (including contracts for which we are negotiating a renewal). Our calculation of ARR is not adjusted for the impact of any known or projected future events (such as customer cancellations, expansion or contraction of existing customers relationships or price increases or decreases) that may cause any such contract not to be renewed on its existing terms. Our ARR may decline or fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, including customers’ satisfaction or dissatisfaction with our products and professional services, pricing, competitive offerings, economic conditions or overall changes in our customers’ spending levels. ARR should be viewed independently of revenue and does not represent our GAAP revenue on an annualized basis or a forecast of revenue, as it is an operating metric that can be impacted by contract start and end dates and renewal rates.
For clarity, we use annualized invoiced amounts per customer subscription contract, including certain premium professional services that are subject to contractual subscription terms, as compared to revenue calculated in accordance with GAAP, to calculate our ARR. Our invoiced amounts are not matched to the performance obligations associated with the underlying subscription contract and premium professional service obligations as they are with respect to our GAAP revenue. This can result in timing differences between our GAAP revenue and ARR calculations. For our revenue calculated in accordance with GAAP, we recognize revenue related to contracts with customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which we expect to be entitled in exchange for subscription and professional services. See the section titled “— Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates” and the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” contained in our Annual Report for additional information regarding how we recognize revenue on a GAAP basis. Investors should not place undue reliance on ARR as an indicator of our future or expected results. Moreover, ARR may differ from similarly titled metrics presented by other companies and may not be comparable to such other metrics.
A further indication of the propensity of our customer relationships to expand over time is our dollar-based net retention rate. We calculate our dollar-based net retention rate as of a period end by starting with the ARR from the cohort of all customers as of 12 months prior to such period-end, or the Prior Period ARR. We then calculate the ARR from these same customers as of the current period-end, or the Current Period ARR. Current Period ARR includes any expansion and is net of contraction or attrition over the last 12 months but excludes ARR from new customers in the current period. We then divide the total Current Period ARR by the total Prior Period ARR to arrive at the point-in-time dollar-based net retention rate. We then calculate the weighted average point-in-time dollar-based net retention rates as of the last day of each month in the current trailing 12-month period to arrive at the dollar-based net retention rate. Our dollar-based net retention rate for the trailing 12 months ended October 31, 2024 and October 31, 2023 was 113% and 118%, respectively, for all our customers, and 116% and
29
121%, respectively, for our customers with ARR of $500,000 or more. In addition, 234 and 189 of our customers had ARR of $500,000 or more as of October 31, 2024 and October 31, 2023, respectively.
Our dollar-based net retention rate is influenced by macroeconomic factors that impact our customers’ purchasing decisions, which may impact the revenue attributable to such customers. The decline in our trailing 12-month dollar-based net retention rate was primarily due to customer turnover and renewals at lower subscription levels. In particular, we have observed that customer renewals in the current uncertain macroeconomic environment and high interest rate climate have led customers to renew their contracts at levels more closely aligned with their current needs, rather than opting for larger commitments based on anticipated future demand.
Expanding Geographically
We believe there is a significant opportunity to continue to expand our presence in international markets we have already penetrated and by entering markets we have not yet penetrated. For the nine months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, approximately 45% and 43% of our revenue was generated outside of the United States, respectively. We expect to increase market penetration in regions including Europe and Asia-Pacific and to further capitalize on the greenfield opportunity in regions such as Latin America. Although these investments in geographic regions may negatively affect our operating results in the near term, we believe that they will contribute to our long-term growth.
Sustaining Innovation and Technology Leadership
Our success is dependent on our ability to sustain innovation and technology leadership in order to maintain our competitive advantage. We are focused on investing in research and development to continue to enhance our platform. For example, we continue to develop our artificial intelligence capabilities, to enable brands to better analyze and act on customer data, and to expand our channel offerings. We believe our market-driven product development approach maximizes the return on new feature development and channel expansion. Our customers consistently volunteer to participate in the testing of new products, which indicates their appetite for new and innovative functionality. We believe our continued innovation will provide new avenues for growth through which we will continue to deliver differentiated outcomes for our customers. We intend to continue to invest in building additional products that expand our capabilities and facilitate the extension of our platform to new channels and use cases.
Macroeconomic Conditions on Our Business
Unfavorable conditions in the economy, both in the United States and abroad, may negatively affect the growth of our business and our results of operations. General macroeconomic and socioeconomic conditions such as, among others, instability in the banking and financial services sector, international and domestic supply chain risks, inflationary pressure, interest rate increases, declines in consumer confidence, international conflicts and domestic and foreign political unrest have led to increased economic uncertainty. We cannot predict if these trends will continue, and, accordingly, we are not able to estimate the ongoing effects on our results of operations, financial condition or liquidity as a result of these macroeconomic factors. For additional details, see the section titled “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of Part II of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q.
Components of Results of Operations
Revenue
Revenue is derived from two primary sources: (1) subscription services and (2) professional services and other.
Subscription services primarily consist of access to our customer engagement platform and related customer support. Our customers enter into a subscription for committed contractual entitlements. To the extent that our customers’ usage exceeds the committed contractual entitlements under their subscription plans, they are charged for excess usage, or they may exercise an option to purchase an incremental volume tier of committed contractual entitlements. Revenue associated with platform subscriptions is recognized ratably over the contract term, which is consistent with the period over which services are provided to the customer. Fees associated with excess usage and incremental volume are also treated as subscription revenue. To date, fees associated with excess usage have not been material.
Professional services and other revenue consists of fees for distinct services rendered in training and assisting our customers to configure our platform for their use at the onset of their initial contract or when a new product is purchased. Such revenue is generally recognized over a period of up to six months from providing access to the platform. We also provide additional platform and feature enhancement and optimization services which are generally recognized ratably over the contract term.
30
Deferred revenue consists of customer billings in advance of revenue being recognized. We generally invoice our customers for subscription services arrangements annually in advance and for professional services upfront.
Cost of Revenue
Cost of revenue consists of direct costs related to providing platform access to our customers and to performing onboarding and professional services including consulting services. These costs primarily include payments to third-party cloud infrastructure providers for hosting software solutions, costs associated with application service providers utilized to deliver the platform, personnel-related costs, including salaries, cash-based performance compensation, benefits and stock-based compensation, and overhead cost allocations, including rent, utilities, depreciation, information technology costs, amortization of internal use software and certain administrative personnel costs.
We intend to continue to invest additional resources in our platform infrastructure and our customer support and success organizations to expand the capabilities of our platform. The level, timing and relative investment in our infrastructure could affect our cost of revenue in the future. We expect our cost of revenue to increase for the foreseeable future as we continue to grow our business.
Gross Profit and Gross Margin
Gross profit represents revenue less cost of revenue. Gross margin is gross profit expressed as a percentage of revenue. Our gross margin may fluctuate from period to period as our revenue and cost of revenue fluctuates, including as a result of the timing and amount of resources we dedicate to improving our platform and expanding our products.
Operating Expenses
Our operating expenses consist of sales and marketing, research and development and general and administrative expenses. Personnel costs, including salaries, cash-based performance compensation, benefits and stock-based compensation, are the most significant component of operating expenses. Operating expenses also include allocated overhead costs, which include rent, utilities, depreciation, information technology costs and certain administrative personnel costs. As we continue to expand our operations, we expect an increase in personnel headcount and expansion of our global footprint.
Sales and Marketing
Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of personnel costs for our sales and marketing organization, sales commissions, costs related to brand awareness, sponsorships, customer marketing events and advertising, agency costs, travel-related expenses and allocated overhead costs.
We intend to continue to invest in sales and marketing to help drive the growth of our business. We expect our sales and marketing expenses will increase in absolute dollars as we continue to invest in sales and marketing activities to acquire new customers and increase sales to existing customers.
Research and Development
Research and development expenses consist primarily of personnel costs for our engineering, service, design and information technology teams. Additionally, research and development expenses include allocated overhead costs and contractor fees. Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. Capitalized internal-use software development costs are excluded from research and development expenses as they are capitalized as a component of property and equipment, net and amortized to cost of revenue over the software’s expected useful life, which is generally three years.
We expect to continue our investment in research and development to enhance the user experience of our current customers and attract new customers. We expect research and development expenses to increase in absolute dollars as we continue to invest in enhancing our platform.
General and Administrative
General and administrative expenses consist primarily of personnel costs for finance, legal, human resources and other administrative functions, as well as non-personnel costs such as legal, accounting and other professional service fees, software costs, certain tax, license and insurance-related expenses and allocated overhead costs. Additionally, from time to time general and administrative expenses may include expenses associated with our donation of shares of Class A common stock to a charitable donor-advised fund in connection with our Pledge 1% commitment.
31
We expect that general and administrative expenses will increase in absolute dollars and vary from period to period as a percentage of revenue for the foreseeable future but decrease as a percentage of revenue over the long term, as we focus on processes, systems, and controls to enable our internal support functions to scale with the growth of our business. We have incurred, and expect to continue to incur, additional expenses as a result of operating as a public company, including expenses to comply with the rules and regulations applicable to companies listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC, expenses related to compliance and reporting obligations pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC, and higher expenses for insurance, investor relations and professional services.
Other Income, Net
Other income, net, primarily consists of net exchange gains or losses on foreign currency transactions and investment income consists primarily of income earned on our investments, cash and cash equivalents, and restricted cash.
Provision for Income Taxes
Provision for income taxes consists of state income taxes and income taxes in certain foreign jurisdictions in which we conduct business. We maintain a full valuation allowance in jurisdictions where we had net deferred tax assets as we have concluded that it is not more likely than not that the deferred tax assets will be realized.
Results of Operations
The following table sets forth the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations data for each of the periods indicated:
| Three Months Ended October 31, | Nine Months Ended October 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| (in thousands) | (in thousands) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 152,052 | $ | 123,956 | $ | 433,010 | $ | 340,843 | |||||||||||||||
Cost of revenue (1) | 45,910 | 36,374 | 133,878 | 104,535 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Gross profit | 106,142 | 87,582 | 299,132 | 236,308 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Operating expenses: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Sales and marketing (1) | 74,658 | 66,395 | 213,054 | 184,074 | |||||||||||||||||||
Research and development (1) | 32,855 | 29,872 | 100,369 | 88,749 | |||||||||||||||||||
General and administrative (1) | 31,199 | 26,448 | 86,309 | 75,884 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Total operating expenses | 138,712 | 122,715 | 399,732 | 348,707 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Loss from operations | (32,570) | (35,133) | (100,600) | (112,399) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Other income, net | 5,294 | 4,542 | 15,968 | 11,866 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Loss before provision for income taxes | (27,276) | (30,591) | (84,632) | (100,533) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Provision for income taxes | 851 | 385 | 2,351 | 1,318 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Net loss | $ | (28,127) | $ | (30,976) | $ | (86,983) | $ | (101,851) | |||||||||||||||
(1) Includes stock-based compensation expense, net of amounts capitalized as follows:
| Three Months Ended October 31, | Nine Months Ended October 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| (in thousands) | (in thousands) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cost of revenue | $ | 1,003 | $ | 900 | $ | 3,045 | $ | 2,690 | |||||||||||||||
| Sales and marketing | 9,608 | 7,899 | 28,945 | 23,554 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Research and development | 10,343 | 9,479 | 32,623 | 29,251 | |||||||||||||||||||
| General and administrative | 7,364 | 5,761 | 21,805 | 17,466 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Total stock-based compensation expense | $ | 28,318 | $ | 24,039 | $ | 86,418 | $ | 72,961 | |||||||||||||||
32
The following table sets forth the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations data expressed as a percentage of revenue for each of the periods indicated:
| Three Months Ended October 31, | Nine Months Ended October 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| (as a percentage of revenue) | (as a percentage of revenue) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenue | 100 | % | 100 | % | 100 | % | 100 | % | |||||||||||||||
| Cost of revenue | 30 | % | 29 | % | 31 | % | 31 | % | |||||||||||||||
| Gross profit | 70 | % | 71 | % | 69 | % | 69 | % | |||||||||||||||
| Operating expenses: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sales and marketing | 49 | % | 54 | % | 49 | % | 54 | % | |||||||||||||||
| Research and development | 22 | % | 24 | % | 23 | % | 26 | % | |||||||||||||||
| General and administrative | 20 | % | 21 | % | 20 | % | 22 | % | |||||||||||||||
| Total operating expenses | 91 | % | 99 | % | 92 | % | 102 | % | |||||||||||||||
| Loss from operations | (21) | % | (28) | % | (23) | % | (33) | % | |||||||||||||||
| Other income, net | 3 | % | 3 | % | 4 | % | 3 | % | |||||||||||||||
| Loss before provision for income taxes | (18) | % | (25) | % | (19) | % | (30) | % | |||||||||||||||
| Provision for income taxes | 1 | % | — | % | 1 | % | — | % | |||||||||||||||
| Net loss | (19) | % | (25) | % | (20) | % | (30) | % | |||||||||||||||
Comparison of the Three Months Ended October 31, 2024 and October 31, 2023
Revenue
| Three Months Ended October 31, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Change | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ($ in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 152,052 | $ | 123,956 | $ | 28,096 | 22.7 | % | |||||||||||||||
The increase in revenue of $28.1 million, or 22.7%, for the three months ended October 31, 2024, compared to the three months ended October 31, 2023, was primarily driven by a $27.9 million, or 23.6%, increase in subscription revenue. Approximately 52.3% of this increase in subscription revenue was attributable to the growth from existing customers, an increase in monthly active users, expansion across channels, and committed entitlements and features, and the remaining 47.7% was attributable to new customers. Total customers grew to 2,211 as of October 31, 2024 from 2,011 as of October 31, 2023. Professional services revenue increased $0.2 million, or 3.3%, due to an increase in deliverability services, technical account management, and support engagement services. These increases were partially offset by the decline in onboarding revenue as a result of the continued engagement of new customers with third-party partner-led onboarding. Additionally, in the three months ended October 31, 2024, our international revenue increased by $14.9 million as we continued to expand market penetration in regions such as Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Cost of Revenue, Gross Profit and Gross Margin
| Three Months Ended October 31, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Change | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ($ in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cost of revenue | $ | 45,910 | $ | 36,374 | $ | 9,536 | 26.2 | % | |||||||||||||||
| Gross profit | $ | 106,142 | $ | 87,582 | $ | 18,560 | 21.2 | % | |||||||||||||||
| Gross margin | 69.8 | % | 70.7 | % | |||||||||||||||||||
The increase in cost of revenue of $9.5 million, or 26.2%, for the three months ended October 31, 2024, compared to the three months ended October 31, 2023, was primarily driven by an increase of $1.5 million in hosting, infrastructure, and other third-party fees associated with delivering our platform and a $6.8 million increase in third-party messaging fees associated with growth in premium messaging channels. In addition, we had an increase in personnel costs and overhead costs of $1.0 million. The increased infrastructure, messaging, and personnel costs were incurred to support overall revenue growth.
33
Our gross profit increased $18.6 million, or 21.2%, in the three months ended October 31, 2024, compared to the three months ended October 31, 2023, and our gross margin decreased 0.9% to 69.8% in the three months ended October 31, 2024 from 70.7% in the three months ended October 31, 2023. The margin decrease was due primarily to increased expenses associated with the increased adoption of premium messaging channels.
Operating Expenses
Sales and Marketing Expense
| Three Months Ended October 31, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Change | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ($ in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sales and marketing | $ | 74,658 | $ | 66,395 | $ | 8,263 | 12.4 | % | |||||||||||||||
The increase in sales and marketing expense of $8.3 million, or 12.4%, for the three months ended October 31, 2024, compared to the three months ended October 31, 2023, was primarily driven by an increase in personnel costs and overhead costs of $6.5 million, which included $1.7 million of stock-based compensation costs. Additionally, the increase was driven in part by an increase of $1.3 million in promotional and product marketing, primarily related to the hosting of regional customer events, our annual customer conference, and other sales related events, and an increase of $0.2 million in software costs.
Research and Development Expense
| Three Months Ended October 31, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Change | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ($ in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Research and development | $ | 32,855 | $ | 29,872 | $ | 2,983 | 10.0 | % | |||||||||||||||
The increase in research and development expense of $3.0 million or 10.0%, for the three months ended October 31, 2024, compared to the three months ended October 31, 2023, was primarily driven by an increase of personnel and overhead costs of $2.4 million, which included $0.9 million of stock-based compensation costs, an increase in software costs of $0.2 million, and an increase in professional services of $0.2 million These increases were primarily due to a period-over-period increase in headcount to support our continued investment in the features and functionality of our platform.
General and Administrative Expense
| Three Months Ended October 31, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Change | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ($ in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| General and administrative | $ | 31,199 | $ | 26,448 | $ | 4,751 | 18.0 | % | |||||||||||||||
The increase in general and administrative expenses of $4.8 million, or 18.0%, for the three months ended October 31, 2024, compared to the three months ended October 31, 2023, was primarily driven by an increase of personnel and overhead costs of $3.4 million, which included $1.6 million of stock-based compensation costs. The increases were primarily due to investments in our finance and administrative functions to continue to scale our processes, systems, and controls, to enable our ongoing compliance with public company legal and regulatory requirements. Additionally, the increase was driven in part by an increase in bad debt expense and professional services costs.
Other Income, Net
| Three Months Ended October 31, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Change | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ($ in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other income, net | $ | 5,294 | $ | 4,542 | $ | 752 | 16.6 | % | |||||||||||||||
The increase in other income, net of $0.8 million, or 16.6%, for the three months ended October 31, 2024, compared to the three months ended October 31, 2023, was attributable to a $1.3 million increase in investment income from marketable
34
securities. The investment income increase was driven primarily by the graded maturation of the portfolio positions at higher interest rates and the reinvestment of proceeds in a high interest rate environment. The investment income increase was partially offset by $0.5 million of unrealized losses related to foreign currency fluctuations.
Comparison of the Nine Months Ended October 31, 2024 and October 31, 2023
Revenue
| Nine Months Ended October 31, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Change | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ($ in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revenue | $ | 433,010 | $ | 340,843 | $ | 92,167 | 27.0 | % | |||||||||||||||
The increase in revenue of $92.2 million, or 27.0%, for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, compared to the nine months ended October 31, 2023, was primarily driven by a $91.2 million, or 28.0%, increase in subscription revenue. Approximately 68.4% of the increase in subscription revenue was attributable to the growth from existing customers, increase in monthly active users, expansion across channels, and committed entitlements and features, and the remaining 31.6% was attributable to new customers. Total customers grew to 2,211 as of October 31, 2024 from 2,011 as of October 31, 2023. Professional services revenue increased $1.0 million, or 6.4%, due to an increase in deliverability services, technical account management, and support engagement services. These increases were partially offset by the decline in onboarding revenue as a result of the continued engagement of new customers with third-party partner-led onboarding. Additionally, in the nine months ended October 31, 2024, our international revenue increased by $46.7 million, as we continued to expand market penetration in regions such as Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Cost of Revenue, Gross Profit and Gross Margin
| Nine Months Ended October 31, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Change | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ($ in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cost of revenue | $ | 133,878 | $ | 104,535 | $ | 29,343 | 28.1 | % | |||||||||||||||
| Gross profit | $ | 299,132 | $ | 236,308 | $ | 62,824 | 26.6 | % | |||||||||||||||
| Gross margin | 69.1 | % | 69.3 | % | |||||||||||||||||||
The increase in cost of revenue of $29.3 million, or 28.1%, for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, compared to the nine months ended October 31, 2023, was primarily driven by an increase of $7.3 million in hosting, infrastructure and other third-party fees associated with delivering our platform and a $18.3 million increase in third-party messaging fees associated with growth in premium messaging channels. In addition, we had an increase in personnel costs and overhead costs of $2.8 million. The increased infrastructure, messaging, and personnel costs were incurred to support overall revenue growth.
Our gross profit increased $62.8 million, or 26.6%, in the nine months ended October 31, 2024, compared to the nine months ended October 31, 2023, and our gross margin decreased 0.2% to 69.1% in the nine months ended October 31, 2024, compared to the nine months ended October 31, 2023. The margin decrease was primarily due to increased expenses associated with the increased adoption of premium messaging channels and service disruption related charges to revenue.
Operating Expenses
Sales and Marketing Expense
| Nine Months Ended October 31, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Change | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ($ in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sales and marketing | $ | 213,054 | $ | 184,074 | $ | 28,980 | 15.7 | % | |||||||||||||||
The increase in sales and marketing expense of $29.0 million, or 15.7%, for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, compared to the nine months ended October 31, 2023, was primarily driven by an increase in personnel costs and overhead costs of $18.6 million, which included $5.4 million of stock-based compensation costs, as a result of a period-over-period increase in headcount. Additionally, the increase was primarily due to an increase in net amortization of deferred contract costs of $1.4 million as a result of sales growth, an increase of $1.8 million related to software costs, and an increase of $6.9 million
35
in travel, entertainment, and marketing expenses primarily related to the hosting of regional customer events, our annual customer conference, and other sales related events.
Research and Development Expense
| Nine Months Ended October 31, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Change | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ($ in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Research and development | $ | 100,369 | $ | 88,749 | $ | 11,620 | 13.1 | % | |||||||||||||||
The increase in research and development expense of $11.6 million, or 13.1%, for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, compared to the nine months ended October 31, 2023, was primarily driven by an increase of personnel and overhead costs of $10.1 million, which included $3.4 million of stock-based compensation costs, and an increase in software costs of $0.9 million. The increase in personnel costs and software costs were primarily due to a period-over-period increase in headcount to support out continued investment in the features and functionality of our platform.
General and Administrative Expense
| Nine Months Ended October 31, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Change | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ($ in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| General and administrative | $ | 86,309 | $ | 75,884 | $ | 10,425 | 13.7 | % | |||||||||||||||
The increase in general and administrative expenses of $10.4 million, or 13.7%, for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, compared to the nine months ended October 31, 2023, was primarily driven by an increase in personnel and overhead costs of $10.2 million, which included $1.6 million of stock-based compensation costs. Further, there were increases in bad debt expense and professional services costs throughout the period.
Other Income, Net
| Nine Months Ended October 31, | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | Change | % Change | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ($ in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other income, net | $ | 15,968 | $ | 11,866 | $ | 4,102 | 34.6 | % | |||||||||||||||
The increase in other income, net of $4.1 million, or 34.6%, for the nine months ended October 31, 2024 compared to the nine months ended October 31, 2023, was primarily driven by a $4.4 million increase in investment income from marketable securities. The investment income increase was driven primarily by the graded maturation of the portfolio positions at higher interest rates and the reinvestment of proceeds in a high interest rate environment. The investment income increase was partially offset by $0.3 million of unrealized losses related to foreign currency fluctuations.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Sources of Funds
As of October 31, 2024, our principal source of liquidity was cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities of $493.1 million. Our cash and cash equivalents consist of deposit accounts, interest-bearing money market accounts, and U.S. government securities that are stated at fair value. Our marketable securities positions consist mostly of highly liquid short-term investments. The investment income that we generate on these investments is not material to our overall cash balance, but may be adversely affected due to volatility in interest rates.
Since our inception, we have financed our operations primarily through the net proceeds received from the sales of equity securities and cash generated from the sale of subscriptions to our platform. We have generated losses from our operations as reflected in our accumulated deficit of $569.6 million as of October 31, 2024, and cash flows provided by operating activities for the nine months ended October 31, 2024 of $19.6 million.
A substantial source of our cash provided by operating activities is our deferred revenue, which is included on the consolidated balance sheets as a liability. Deferred revenue consists of the unearned portion of billed fees for our subscriptions, which is recorded as revenue over the term of the subscription agreement. As of October 31, 2024, we had total deferred
36
revenue of $223.8 million, of which, $223.7 million was recorded as a current liability. Deferred revenue will be recognized as revenue when all of the revenue recognition criteria are met.
Cash Flow Overview
The following table summarizes our cash flows for the periods presented:
| Nine Months Ended October 31, | |||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||
| Net cash provided by operating activities | $ | 19,597 | $ | 3,029 | |||||||
| Net cash used in investing activities | $ | (35,629) | $ | (19,479) | |||||||
| Net cash provided by financing activities | $ | 5,518 | $ | 9,006 | |||||||
Operating Activities
For the nine months ended October 31, 2024, net cash provided by operating activities was $19.6 million, primarily due to a net loss of $87.0 million, adjusted for non-cash charges of $123.3 million, and net changes in our operating assets and liabilities of $16.7 million. The non-cash adjustments primarily relate to stock-based compensation of $87.2 million and amortization of deferred contract costs of $26.0 million. The cash inflow from changes in our operating assets and liabilities were primarily due to an increase in deferred revenue of $19.5 million as a result of billings for new bookings and renewals. The cash inflow was offset by cash outflows primarily from an increase in deferred contract costs of $34.8 million as a result of commissions on new bookings and renewals.
For the nine months ended October 31, 2023, net cash provided by operating activities was $3.0 million, primarily due to a net loss of $101.9 million, adjusted for non-cash charges of $106.0 million, and net changes in our operating assets and liabilities of $1.1 million. The non-cash adjustments primarily relate to stock-based compensation of $73.0 million, amortization of deferred contract costs of $21.7 million. The cash inflow from changes in our operating assets and liabilities were primarily due to a decrease in accounts receivable of $7.3 million and increase in deferred revenue of $8.4 million as a result of billings for new bookings and renewals. The cash inflow was offset by cash outflows primarily from an increase in deferred contract costs of $32.6 million as a result of commissions on new bookings and renewals.
Investing Activities
Net cash used in investing activities was $35.6 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, primarily consisting of purchases of marketable securities of $179.5 million, purchases of property and equipment of $12.1 million, and capitalization of internal-use software costs of $3.0 million, partially offset by maturities of marketable securities of $159.1 million.
Net cash used in investing activities was $19.5 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2023, primarily consisting of purchases of marketable securities of $191.9 million, cash paid for the acquisition of North Star of $16.3 million, purchases of property and equipment of $3.4 million, and capitalization of internal-use software costs of $2.5 million, partially offset by maturities of marketable securities of $194.7 million.
Financing Activities
Net cash provided by financing activities was $5.5 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2024, primarily consisting of proceeds from the exercise of common stock options of $3.7 million and proceeds from stock purchases associated with the employee stock purchase plan of $4.8 million, partially offset by payments of deferred purchase consideration related to the acquisition of North Star of $2.9 million.
Net cash provided by financing activities was $9.0 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2023, primarily consisting of proceeds from the exercise of common stock options of $5.9 million and proceeds from stock purchases associated with the employee stock purchase plan of $3.2 million, offset by payments of deferred purchase consideration related to the acquisition of North Star of $0.1 million.
Non-GAAP Free Cash Flow
We report our financial results in accordance with GAAP. To supplement our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements, we provide investors with the amount of free cash flow, which is a non-GAAP financial measure. Our management uses free cash flow to assess our operating performance and our progress towards our goal of positive free cash flow. We define free cash flow as net cash used in operating activities less cash used for purchases of property and equipment and amounts capitalized for internal-use software development costs. We believe that free cash flow is a useful indicator of
37
liquidity as it measures our ability to generate cash, or our need to access additional sources of cash, to fund operations and investments.
Free cash flow has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are (1) it is not a substitute for net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities, (2) other companies may calculate free cash flow or similarly titled non-GAAP measures differently or may use other measures to evaluate their performance, all of which could reduce the usefulness of free cash flow as a tool for comparison, and (3) the utility of free cash flow is further limited as it does not reflect our future contractual commitments and does not represent the total increase or decrease in our cash balance for any given period.
The following table presents a reconciliation of free cash flow to net cash provided by/(used in) operating activities, the most directly comparable measure calculated in accordance with GAAP, for the periods presented:
| Nine Months Ended October 31, | |||||||||||
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||||||||
| (in thousands) | |||||||||||
| Net cash provided by operating activities | $ | 19,597 | $ | 3,029 | |||||||
| Less: | |||||||||||
| Purchases of property and equipment | (12,147) | (3,439) | |||||||||
| Capitalized internal-use software costs | (3,023) | (2,536) | |||||||||
| Non-GAAP free cash flow | $ | 4,427 | $ | (2,946) | |||||||
| Net cash used in investing activities | $ | (35,629) | $ | (19,479) | |||||||
| Net cash provided by financing activities | $ | 5,518 | $ | 9,006 | |||||||
Our free cash flow increased for the nine months ended October 31, 2024 from the nine months ended October 31, 2023, primarily due to higher collections as a result of an increase in billings that are aligned with new contracts and contract renewals. We expect our free cash flow to fluctuate in future periods with changes in our operating expenses and as we continue to invest in our growth. Additionally, our free cash flow may be influenced by macroeconomic factors that impact our collection efforts for customer payments. If we experience collection pressure it may lengthen the time to collect on accounts receivable and increase our bad debt expense, either of which could negatively impact our free cash flow.
Liquidity Outlook
We assess our liquidity primarily through our cash on hand as well as the projected timing of billings under contracts with our paying customers and related collection cycles. While our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including revenue growth and costs incurred to support customer usage and growth in our customer base, increased research and development expenses to support the growth of our business and related infrastructure, and increased general and administrative expenses to support being a publicly-traded company, we believe our current cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities will be sufficient to meet our working capital and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next 12 months.
Our most significant funding requirements are principally comprised of employee compensation and related taxes and benefits, non-cancelable purchase commitments, and operating lease obligations. Non-cancelable purchase commitments for business operations and operating lease obligations total $170.9 million and $121.6 million, respectively, as of October 31, 2024. Purchase commitments for business operations are predominately related to cloud hosting, infrastructure, and other software-based services and due primarily over the next three years. Our future funding requirements to settle our obligations in foreign jurisdictions are subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign exchange rates.
While we anticipate being able to satisfy our commitments through a combination of our available current cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, and cash generated from the sale of subscriptions to our platform, if our estimates prove to be inaccurate we may seek to sell additional equity or other securities that may result in dilution to our stockholders, issue debt or seek other third-party funding, in order to satisfy our future funding requirements.
Seasonality
We have experienced seasonality in our cost of revenue as a result of our customers’ increased usage of our platform based on their business demands. We typically experience the highest sequential increase in overall messaging volume and
38
compute and storage requirements during the fourth quarter due to the increased activity related to the holiday season and general customer engagement efforts around the end of the calendar year.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of these unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, expenses and related disclosures. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis. Our estimates are based on historical experience and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Our actual results could differ from these estimates.
There have been no material changes to our critical accounting policies and estimates from those previously reported and disclosed in our Annual Report other than those referenced in Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. The section entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” contained in our Annual Report provides a more complete discussion of our critical accounting policies and estimates.
Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements
Refer to Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, to the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for a discussion of recent accounting pronouncements, if applicable.
Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
We are exposed to market risk in the ordinary course of our business. Market risk represents the risk of loss that may impact our financial position due to adverse changes in financial market prices and rates. Our market risk exposure is primarily the result of fluctuations in interest rates.
Inflation Risk
We do not believe that inflation has had a material effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations, other than its impact on the general economy. Nonetheless, if our costs were to become subject to inflationary pressures, we might not be able to fully offset such higher costs through price increases. Our inability or failure to do so could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Interest Rate Risk and Market Risk
We had cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities of $493.1 million as of October 31, 2024, of which $431.3 million was invested in U.S. government securities, foreign securities, and corporate debt securities. Our cash and cash equivalents are held for working capital and general corporate purposes. Our investments in marketable securities are made for capital preservation purposes. We do not enter into investments for trading or speculative purposes.
Our cash equivalents and our portfolio of marketable securities are subject to market risk due to changes in interest rates. Fixed rate securities may have their market value adversely affected due to a rise in interest rates, while floating rate securities may produce less income than expected if interest rates fall. As of October 31, 2024, a hypothetical 10% change in interest rates would not have had a material impact on the consolidated financial statements. Because we classify our debt securities as “available for sale,” no gains or losses are recognized due to changes in interest rates unless such securities are sold prior to maturity or unless declines in fair value are determined to be non-temporary.
Foreign Currency Exchange Rate Risk
Our reporting and functional currency is the U.S. dollar, and the functional currency of our foreign subsidiaries is primarily the respective local currency. Substantially all of our sales are denominated in U.S. dollars. Our only sales denominated in a currency other than the U.S. dollars are our sales in Japan, which are denominated in Yen. Therefore, our revenue is not currently subject to significant foreign currency risk. Our operating expenses are denominated in the currencies of the countries in which our operations are located, which are primarily the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore and Japan. The consolidated results of operations and cash flows are therefore subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates and may be adversely affected in the future due to changes in foreign exchange rates. The assets and liabilities of each of our foreign subsidiaries are translated into U.S. dollars at exchange rates in effect at each balance sheet date. Adjustments resulting from translating foreign functional currency financial statements into U.S. dollars are recorded as a
39
separate component on the consolidated statements of comprehensive loss. Gains or losses due to transactions in foreign currencies are included in interest and other income, net in the consolidated statements of operations.
The volatility of exchange rates depends on many factors that we cannot forecast with reliable accuracy. We have experienced and will continue to experience fluctuations in foreign exchange gains and losses related to changes in foreign currency exchange rates. In the event our foreign currency denominated assets, liabilities, revenue, or expenses increase, our results of operations may be more greatly affected by fluctuations in the exchange rates of the currencies in which we do business. To date we have not engaged in the hedging of foreign currency transactions, although we may choose to do so in the future. A hypothetical 10% change in the relative value of the U.S. dollar to other currencies during any of the periods presented would not have had a material effect on our realized and unrealized gains (losses) on foreign exchange transactions.
Item 4. Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
We maintain “disclosure controls and procedures” (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act), that are designed to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms.
Disclosure controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow for timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and our Chief Financial Officer, evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of October 31, 2024, the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of October 31, 2024.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There was no change in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) that occurred during the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
Inherent Limitations on Effectiveness of Controls
Our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, does not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures or our internal controls will prevent all error and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, and not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, within our company have been detected.
40
PART II. OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1. Legal Proceedings
From time to time, we may become involved in various legal proceedings arising from the normal course of business activities. As of the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, we are not presently a party to any litigation the outcome of which, we believe, if determined adversely to us, would individually or taken together have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, cash flows or financial condition. Defending such proceedings can be costly and can impose a significant burden on management and employees. The results of any current or future litigation cannot be predicted with certainty, and regardless of the outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on us because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management resources and other factors.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Our operations and financial results are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including those described below. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, including “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risk and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we presently deem less significant may also impair our business operations. If any of the events or circumstances described in the following risk factors is realized, our business, operating results, financial condition, cash flows, and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. In that event, the market price of our Class A common stock could decline, and you could lose part or all of your investment.
Risk Factors Summary
Our business operations are subject to numerous risks, factors and uncertainties, including those outside of our control, that could cause our actual results to be harmed, including risks regarding the following:
•Unstable market and economic conditions may have serious adverse consequences on our business, financial condition, and share price.
•Our rapid revenue growth may not be indicative of our future revenue growth. Our rapid revenue growth also makes it difficult to evaluate our future prospects and may increase the risk that we will not be successful.
•We may require additional capital to support business growth, and this capital might not be available on acceptable terms, if at all.
•We have a limited history operating at our current scale, and our future results of operations may fluctuate significantly due to a wide range of factors, which make it difficult to forecast our future results of operations.
•We have a history of operating losses and may not achieve or sustain profitability in the future.
•The estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth may prove to be inaccurate. Even if the market in which we compete achieves the forecasted growth, our business could fail to grow at similar rates, if at all.
•We face intense competition, including from well-established companies that offer products that compete with ours.
•We may lack sufficient financial or other resources to maintain or improve our competitive position, which may harm our ability to add new customers, retain existing customers, and grow our business.
•If we are unable to attract new customers and renew existing customers, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be adversely affected.
•If we fail to adapt and respond effectively to rapidly changing technology, evolving industry standards, or changing regulations, or to changing customer or consumer needs, requirements or preferences, our platform may become less competitive.
•We are substantially dependent upon customers renewing their subscriptions to, and expanding their use of, our platform to maintain and grow our revenue, which requires us to scale our platform infrastructure and business quickly enough to meet our customers’ growing needs. If we are not able to grow in an efficient manner, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed.
•Failure to effectively develop our sales and marketing capabilities could harm our ability to expand our customer base and achieve broader market adoption of our platform and products.
•We are dependent on a single platform, and the failure to achieve continued market acceptance of our platform could cause our results of operations to suffer.
•If our platform fails to perform properly or there are defects or disruptions in the rollout of our platform updates or enhancements, our reputation could be adversely affected, our market share could decline, and we could be subject to liability claims.
•We may need to reduce prices or change our pricing model to remain competitive.
•Our business depends on our ability to send consumer engagement messages over a number of different channels and any significant disruption in service with our third-party providers or on mobile operating systems could result in a
41
loss of customers or less effective consumer-brand engagement, which could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
•We rely upon third-party providers of cloud-based infrastructure, including Amazon Web Services and Rackspace, to host our products. Any disruption in the operations of these third-party providers or limitations on capacity or interference with our use could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
•We are subject to stringent and changing laws and regulations, industry standards and contractual obligations related to privacy, data security and data protection. The restrictions and costs imposed by these requirements and our actual or perceived failure to comply with them, could harm our business.
•If we or our third-party service providers or vendors experience a security breach or unauthorized parties otherwise obtain access to our customers’ data, our data or our platform, our solution may be perceived as not being secure, our reputation may be harmed, demand for our platform and products may be reduced and we may incur significant liabilities.
•Changes in laws and regulations related to the internet or changes in the internet infrastructure itself may diminish the demand for our platform and could have a negative impact on our business.
•We employ third-party licensed software for use in or with our platform, and the inability to maintain these licenses or errors or vulnerabilities in the software we license could result in increased costs, or reduced service levels, which would adversely affect our business.
•The dual class structure of our common stock has the effect of concentrating voting control with our executive officers, directors and significant holders of our capital stock, which limits the ability of holders of our Class A common stock to influence the outcome of important transactions.
Risks Related to Our Growth and Capital Requirements
Unstable market and economic conditions may have serious adverse consequences on our business, financial condition and share price.
The global economy, including credit and financial markets, has experienced extreme volatility and disruptions, including severely diminished liquidity and credit availability, declines in consumer confidence, declines in economic growth, increases in unemployment rates, increases in inflation rates, higher interest rates and uncertainty about economic stability. These unfavorable conditions have been, and may continue to be, exacerbated in the United States and abroad by global and domestic socioeconomic conditions, including the failure of high-profile banking and other financial institutions, the Federal Reserve’s attempts to combat inflation through interest rate increases, unrest in international trade relations, domestic and foreign political turmoil, natural catastrophes, pandemics related to highly infectious diseases, warfare and terrorist attacks on the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific region or elsewhere, and international military conflicts and the related political and economic responses. Continued volatility and disruptions may have adverse consequences on us or the third parties on whom we rely. If the financial, equity or credit markets further deteriorate, including as a result of the measures taken to combat inflation, volatility in the banking and financial services sector, political unrest or war, it may make any necessary debt or equity financing more difficult to obtain in a timely manner or on favorable terms, more costly or more dilutive. Increased inflation rates can adversely affect us by increasing our costs, including labor and employee benefits costs. In addition, higher inflation and macroeconomic turmoil and uncertainty could also adversely affect our customers, which could reduce demand for our products and services. For instance, we were founded in 2011, but our business and revenue have grown rapidly over the last several years. As a result of our limited history operating at our current scale, our ability to accurately forecast our future results of operations is limited and subject to a number of uncertainties, including our ability to plan for and model future growth, particularly in a volatile economic environment. Recent increases in inflation, economic volatility and related increases in interest rates have affected customer spending behavior. Significant continued increases in inflation, continued economic volatility and related increases in interest rates could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. To the extent there is a sustained general economic downturn and our customer engagement platform is perceived by customers and potential customers as too costly, or too difficult to deploy or migrate to, our revenue may be disproportionately affected by delays or reductions in general customer engagement technology spending. This perception has previously, and may continue to, result in an extension of our sales cycle with potential customers, thus increasing the time and cost associated with our sales process. Further, even if our customers choose to use our platform, they may nonetheless reduce their customer engagement technology spending and elect not to purchase additional products and services in the future due to budget limitations. Additionally, our dollar-based net retention rate is influenced by macroeconomic factors that impact our customers’ purchasing decisions, who may choose to renew their contracts at levels more closely aligned with their current needs, rather than opting for larger commitments based on anticipated future demand. Macroeconomic factors may also impact our collection efforts for customer payments. If we experience collection pressure it may lengthen the time to collect on accounts receivable and increase in our bad debt expense, either of which could negatively impact our free cash flow. Also, competitors may respond to market conditions by lowering prices and attempting to lure away our current and potential customers. In addition, macroeconomic uncertainty may result in an increased pace of consolidation in certain industries in which our customers operate. If this were to occur it may result in reduced overall spending on our services, particularly if our customers are acquired by organizations that do not use our services. We cannot predict the timing, strength or duration of any economic slowdown, instability or recovery, generally or within any particular industry. If the economic conditions of the
42
general economy or the markets in which we operate worsen from present levels, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.
Our rapid revenue growth may not be indicative of our future revenue growth. Our rapid revenue growth also makes it difficult to evaluate our future prospects and may increase the risk that we will not be successful.
Our revenue was $433.0 million and $340.8 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. You should not rely on our historical revenue growth as an indication of our future performance. Even if our revenue continues to increase, we expect that our annual revenue growth rate will decline in the future as a result of a variety of factors, including the maturation of our business. Overall growth of our revenue depends on several factors, including our ability to:
•expand subscriptions for additional functionality within our platform to our existing customers;
•expand the products for and functionality of our platform and achieve market acceptance for them;
•attract new customers, particularly in verticals and organizations where we have already experienced revenue growth;
•succeed in selling our products outside the United States;
•continue to partner with existing customers to improve our platform and its products and functionality;
•keep pace with technological developments;
•price our platform subscriptions effectively;
•provide our customers with support that meets their needs;
•successfully identify and acquire or invest in businesses, products or technologies that we believe could complement or expand our platform; and
•increase awareness of our brand on a global basis and successfully compete with other companies.
We may not successfully accomplish any of these objectives and, as a result, it is difficult for us to forecast our future results of operations. If the assumptions that we use to plan our business are incorrect or change in reaction to changes in our market or as a result of macroeconomic pressures on us or our customers, or if we are unable to maintain revenue growth, our stock price could be volatile, it may be difficult to achieve and maintain profitability, and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected. The adverse effect on our results of operations resulting from a failure to achieve our revenue expectations may be particularly acute because of the significant research, development, marketing, sales and other expenses we expect to incur.
We may require additional capital to support business growth, and this capital might not be available on acceptable terms, if at all.
We have funded our operations since inception primarily through equity financings, including through the public markets in our initial public offering, and sales of subscriptions to our platform. We cannot be certain when or if our operations will generate sufficient cash to fully fund our ongoing operations or the growth of our business. We intend to continue to make investments to support our business and may require additional funds to respond to business challenges, including the need to develop new features or enhance our platform, improve our operating infrastructure or acquire complementary businesses and technologies. Accordingly, we may need to engage in equity or debt financings to secure additional funds. Additional financing may not be available on terms favorable to us, including as a result of inflationary pressure and a higher interest rate environment, if at all. If adequate funds are not available on acceptable terms, we may be unable to invest in future growth opportunities, which could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. If we incur debt, the debt holders would have rights senior to holders of our Class A and Class B common stock to make claims on our assets, and the terms of any debt could include restrictive covenants relating to our capital raising activities and other financial and operational matters, any of which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities. Furthermore, if we issue equity securities, our stockholders will experience dilution, and the new equity securities could have rights senior to those of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock. Because our decision to issue securities in the future will depend on numerous considerations, including factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing, or nature of any future issuances of debt or equity securities. As a result, our stockholders bear the risk of future issuances of debt or equity securities reducing the value of our Class A common stock and diluting their interests.
We have a limited history operating at our current scale, and our future results of operations may fluctuate significantly due to a wide range of factors, which make it difficult to forecast our future results of operations.
Our results of operations may fluctuate significantly from period to period due to many factors, many of which are outside of our control, including:
•failure to execute on our growth strategies;
•the level of demand for our platform;
•the rate of renewal of subscriptions with, and extent of sales of additional subscriptions to, existing customers;
•the size, timing, duration and pricing, and other terms of our subscription agreements with existing and new customers;
43
•the introduction of new products and product enhancements by existing competitors or new entrants into our market, and changes in pricing for products offered by our competitors;
•network outages, security breaches and other cyber-attacks, technical difficulties with or interruptions to our platform;
•customers delaying purchasing decisions in anticipation of new developments or enhancements by us or our competitors or otherwise;
•changes in customers’ budgets;
•seasonal variations related to sales and marketing and other activities, such as expenses related to our customers’ increased usage of our platform and products during the fourth quarter;
•our ability to increase, retain and incentivize the strategic partners that market and sell our platform;
•the timing of growth of our business, in particular through our hiring of new employees and international expansion;
•our ability to control our operating expenses and other costs;
•our ability to hire, train and maintain our direct sales team;
•unforeseen litigation and inability to enforce, protect or defend our intellectual property, or claims of infringement by third parties;
•the timing of our adoption of new or revised accounting pronouncements applicable to us and the impact on our results of operations;
•fluctuations in our effective tax rate; and
•general economic and political conditions, as well as economic conditions specifically affecting industries in which our customers operate.
Any one of these or other risks or uncertainties discussed elsewhere in this report or the cumulative effect of some of these factors may result in fluctuations in our revenue, results of operations and cash flows, meaning that quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our revenue, results of operations and cash flows may not necessarily be indicative of our future performance, may cause us to miss our guidance and analyst expectations and may cause the price of our Class A common stock to decline. Additionally, if our assumptions regarding these risks and uncertainties are incorrect or change, including as a result of global or domestic macroeconomic and socioeconomic conditions such as, among others, instability in the banking and financial services sector, international and domestic supply chain risks, inflationary pressure, interest rate increases, declines in consumer confidence, international conflicts and domestic and foreign political unrest, that impact us and our customers, or if we do not address these risks successfully, our revenue and results of operations could differ materially from our expectations, and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.
We have a history of operating losses and may not achieve or sustain profitability in the future.
We have experienced net losses in each of our last several fiscal years. We generated a net loss of $87.0 million and $101.9 million for the nine months ended October 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. As of October 31, 2024, we had an accumulated deficit of $569.6 million. While we have experienced significant revenue growth in recent periods, we cannot guarantee whether or when we will achieve or maintain profitability in the future. We also expect our costs and expenses to increase in future periods, which could negatively affect our future results of operations if our revenue does not continue to increase. In particular, we intend to continue to expend substantial financial and other resources on:
•our technology infrastructure and operations, including systems architecture, scalability, availability, performance and security;
•our sales and marketing organization, to engage our existing and prospective customers, increase brand awareness and drive adoption of our products;
•platform development, including investments in our platform development team and the development of new products and functionality for our platform, as well as investments in further improving our existing platform and infrastructure;
•acquisitions or strategic investments;
•international expansion; and
•general administration, including increased insurance, legal and accounting expenses associated with being a public company.
These investments may not result in increased revenue. If we are unable to maintain or increase our revenue at a rate sufficient to offset the expected increase in our costs, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be adversely affected, and we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability over the long term.
Our customers may face challenges to their businesses as a result of macroeconomic pressures or changes in the interest rate environment. We have in the past, and may in the future, adapt our strategy to address these market dynamics. We cannot guarantee that any change in strategy will be successful and such changes may cause our revenue to decline, which may inhibit our ability to scale our business and prevent us from achieving and maintaining profitability over the long term. Our customers may also terminate their contracts, renew their agreements on terms less favorable to us, or fail to purchase additional product subscriptions. Our historical data and operating experience may also be insufficient to adequately inform our future pricing and
44
contracting strategies in changing market environments. Any reduction in our prices or an increase in our discounting could adversely affect our revenue, gross margin, profitability, financial position, and cash flow.
The estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth may prove to be inaccurate. Even if the market in which we compete achieves the forecasted growth, our business could fail to grow at similar rates, if at all.
Market estimates and growth forecasts are uncertain and based on assumptions and estimates that may be inaccurate. Our addressable market depends on a number of factors, including businesses’ desire to differentiate themselves through digital customer engagement, partnership opportunities, changes in the competitive landscape, technological changes, data security or privacy concerns, customer budgetary constraints, changes in business practices, changes in the regulatory environment and changes in economic conditions. Our estimates and forecasts relating to the size and expected growth of our market may prove to be inaccurate, and our ability to produce accurate estimates and forecasts may be impacted by economic uncertainty that is outside our control, including as a result of global or domestic macroeconomic and socioeconomic conditions such as, among others, instability in the banking and financial services sector, international and domestic supply chain risks, inflationary pressure, interest rate increases, declines in consumer confidence, international conflicts and domestic and foreign political unrest, that impact us and our customers. Any of these risks could have a significant impact on our business or the business of our customers, either of which could result in a material adverse effect on our results and operations and cause our current estimates and projections to be inaccurate. Even if the market in which we compete meets the size estimates and growth rates we forecast, our business could fail to grow at similar rates, if at all.
We track certain operational metrics with internal systems and tools and do not independently verify such metrics. Certain of our operational metrics are subject to inherent challenges in measurement, and any real or perceived inaccuracies in such metrics may adversely affect our business and reputation.
We track certain operational metrics, including, among others, the number of customers, monthly active users, platform enabled interactions, consumer generated data points, customer messages, annual recurring revenue, dollar-based net retention rate and Non-GAAP free cash flow. Our operational metrics are tracked with internal systems and tools that are not independently verified by any third party and which may differ from estimates or similar metrics published by third parties due to differences in sources, methodologies, or the assumptions on which we rely. Our internal systems and tools have a number of limitations, and our methodologies for tracking these metrics may change over time, which could result in unexpected changes to our metrics, including the metrics we publicly disclose. If the internal systems and tools we use to track these metrics undercount or overcount performance or contain algorithmic or other technical errors, the data we report may not be accurate. While these numbers are based on what we believe to be reasonable estimates of our metrics for the applicable period of measurement, there are inherent challenges in measuring how our platform is used across large populations. In addition, limitations or errors with respect to how we measure data or with respect to the data that we measure may affect our understanding of certain details of our business, which could affect our long-term strategies. If our operating metrics are not accurate representations of our business, if investors do not perceive our operating metrics to be accurate, or if we discover material inaccuracies with respect to these figures, we expect that our business, reputation, financial condition, and results of operations would be adversely affected.
Risks Related to Our Business and Our Brand
We face intense competition, including from well-established companies that offer products that compete with ours. We may lack sufficient financial or other resources to maintain or improve our competitive position, which may harm our ability to add new customers, retain existing customers, and grow our business.
The market for customer engagement products is evolving and highly competitive. There are several established and emerging competitors that address specific aspects of customer engagement. We face intense competition from software companies that offer marketing solutions, such as legacy marketing clouds like Adobe and Salesforce, and point solutions like Airship, Iterable, Klaviyo, CleverTap (Leanplum) and MoEngage. Many of our existing competitors have, and our potential competitors could have, substantial competitive advantages, such as greater name recognition, longer operating histories, larger sales and marketing budgets and resources, greater customer support resources, lower labor and development costs, larger and more mature intellectual property portfolios and substantially greater financial, technical and other resources than we do. In addition, our competitors may have an advantage in markets where our policies regarding the use of customer data are more restrictive than local laws, regulations, policies and standards. For example, competitors willing to sell customer data in markets where such activity is permissible may have a pricing advantage over us in such markets. Any such pricing advantages that our competitors have may negatively affect our ability to gain new customers and retain existing customers. Additionally, to the extent there is a sustained general economic downturn, our customers and potential customers may experience delays and reductions in general customer engagement technology spending. As a result, our competitors have in the past responded, and may continue in the future to respond, to market conditions by lowering prices and attempting to lure away our current and potential customers. With the introduction of new technologies and the entry of new competitors into the market, we expect competition to persist and intensify in the future. In addition, in recent years, there has been significant merger and acquisition
45
activity among our competitors, including the acquisition of Leanplum by CleverTap. Continued merger and acquisition activity in the technology industry could further increase the likelihood that we compete with other large technology companies. This could harm our ability to increase sales, maintain or increase subscription renewals, and maintain our prices.
Conditions in our market could change rapidly and significantly as a result of technological advancements, partnering by our competitors or continuing market consolidation. Some of our larger competitors also have substantially broader product lines and market focus and therefore may not be as susceptible to downturns in a particular market. New start-up companies that innovate, and large companies that are making significant investments in research and development, may invent similar or superior products and technologies that compete with one or more of our platform offerings. In addition, some of our competitors may enter into new alliances with each other or may establish or strengthen cooperative relationships with agency partners, technology and application providers in complementary categories, or other parties. Competitors may also consolidate with existing service providers or strategic partners that we rely on, and as a result we could lose partnerships that are difficult to replace. Any such consolidation, acquisition, alliance or cooperative relationship could lead to pricing pressure, a loss of market share or a smaller addressable share of the market and could result in a competitor with greater financial, technical, marketing, service and other resources, all of which could harm our ability to compete.
Some of our larger competitors may use their broader product offerings to compete with us, including by bundling their competitive products with other products being purchased from that company by a customer or by restricting access to their technology platforms thereby making it more difficult for customers to integrate the use of our platform with other competitor products. Potential customers may prefer to purchase from their existing suppliers rather than a new supplier regardless of product performance or features. Furthermore, potential customers may be more willing to incrementally add solutions to their existing infrastructure from competitors than to replace their existing infrastructure with our platform and products. These competitive pressures in our market, or our failure to compete effectively, may result in price reductions, fewer sales, reduced revenue and gross margins, increased net losses and loss of, or failure to expand, our market share. Any failure to address these challenges could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If we are unable to attract new customers and renew existing customers, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be adversely affected.
To increase our revenue, we must continue to attract new customers and retain, and sell more products to, existing customers. Our success will depend to a substantial extent on the widespread adoption of our platform and products as an alternative to existing products in which many enterprises have invested substantial personnel and financial resources and, therefore, may be reluctant or unwilling to abandon. In addition, as our market matures, our products evolve and competitors introduce lower cost or differentiated products that are perceived to compete with our platform, products and services, our ability to sell subscriptions for our products could be impaired. Similarly, our subscription sales could be adversely affected if customers or users within these organizations perceive that features incorporated into competitive products reduce the need for our products or if they prefer to purchase other products that are bundled with products offered by other companies that operate in adjacent markets and compete with our products. In addition, the value of our products and services to our customers depends, in part, on our customers’ ability to use them as part of an overall effective marketing strategy. To the extent our customers’ marketing strategies are not effective, they may reduce the use of our products and services or fail to renew their existing contracts. Further, to the extent there is a sustained general economic downturn and our customers and potential customers experience delays or reductions in general customer engagement technology spending, potential customers may be unwilling to take on the additional cost associated with adopting our platform as an alternative to their existing products or service providers, and if they choose to adopt our platform, they may not purchase additional products and services in the future due to budget limitations. As a result of these and other factors, we may be unable to attract new customers, which may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If we fail to adapt and respond effectively to rapidly changing technology, evolving industry standards, or changing regulations, or to changing customer or consumer needs, requirements or preferences, our platform may become less competitive.
Our ability to attract new customers and increase revenue from existing customers depends in large part on our ability to enhance and improve our platform and its products and functionality, increase adoption and usage of our platform, and introduce new products and functionality. The market in which we compete is subject to rapid technological change, evolving industry standards and changing regulations, as well as changing customer and consumer needs, requirements and preferences, including changes in the use of channels through which consumers desire to communicate with brands. Additionally, we cannot predict what, if any, actions regulators will take regarding the use and sale of customer engagement software or in our key markets in the future. Any regulatory restrictions on the use of customer engagement tools from domestic or foreign regulators could reduce demand for our platform in the United States and foreign markets. Further, recent advances in, and the public availability of, generative artificial intelligence may be a significant disruptor in consumer engagement and marketing strategies. The success of our business will depend, in part, on our ability to adapt and respond effectively to these changes on a timely basis. If we are unable to enhance our platform offerings to keep pace with rapid technological and regulatory change, or
46
if new technologies emerge that are able to deliver competitive products at lower prices, more efficiently, more conveniently or more securely than our platform, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected. Further as we develop, acquire, and introduce new services and technologies, including those that may incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning, we may be subject to new or heightened legal, ethical, and other challenges.
The success of our platform depends, in part, on our ability to continuously modify and enhance our platform to adapt to changes and innovation in existing and new technologies to maintain and grow our integrations. We expect that the number of integrations with our customers’ infrastructure that we will need to support will continue to expand as developers adopt new software solutions, and we will have to develop new versions of our platform to work with those new solutions. This development effort may require significant engineering, sales and marketing resources, all of which could adversely affect our business. Any failure of our platform to operate effectively with customer infrastructures could reduce the demand for our platform, and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.
We are substantially dependent upon customers renewing their subscriptions to, and expanding their use of, our platform to maintain and grow our revenue, which requires us to scale our platform infrastructure and business quickly enough to meet our customers’ growing needs. If we are not able to grow in an efficient manner, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed.
As usage of our platform grows and as customers use it for more complex projects, we may need to devote additional resources to improving our platform architecture, updating our platform’s products and functionality, integrating with third-party systems and maintaining infrastructure performance. In addition, we will need to appropriately scale our internal business as well as grow our partner services network to serve our growing customer base, particularly as our customer base expands over time. Our ability to scale our business is dependent on our ability to maintain and grow our revenue through new and renewed customer subscriptions to our platform, from which we derive substantially all of our revenue. We cannot assure you that we will be able to renew subscriptions with any of our customers at the same or higher contract value, particularly if our customers experience reductions or delays in general customer engagement technology spending in connection with a sustained general economic downturn. In addition, some customers have multiple order forms with different divisions of their entities, which could increase the complexity of negotiating renewals.
The market for customer engagement products is still evolving, and competitive dynamics may cause our pricing to change as the market matures and as existing and new market participants introduce new types of products and different approaches to enable customers to address their needs. As a result, we may be forced to reduce the prices we charge for our subscriptions and may be required to offer terms less favorable to us for new and renewal agreements, particularly for mid- to large-size enterprises that may demand substantial price discounts as part of the negotiation of subscription contracts.
Further, some of our contracts limit the amount we can increase prices from period to period or include pricing guarantees. Accordingly, these pricing restrictions may cause the revenue generated from these contracts to not keep pace with our costs, particularly if we are adversely affected by increasing costs caused by inflation, including labor and employee benefit costs. We have in the past, and may in the future, adapt our strategy to address these market dynamics for customers that were significantly negatively impacted by the macroeconomic environment. We cannot guarantee that any change in strategy will be successful and such changes may cause our revenue to decline, which may inhibit our ability to scale our business and prevent us from achieving and maintaining profitability over the long term. Our customers may also terminate their contracts, renew their agreements on terms less favorable to us, or fail to purchase additional product subscriptions. As such, our revenue may decline, and, as a result, our ability to scale our business may be impaired and our business, financial condition and results of operations would likely be harmed as a result.
Any failure of or delay in efforts to scale our business could cause difficulty or delay in deploying our products or functionality to customers, could lead to impaired performance, other declines in quality or customer satisfaction, increased costs, difficulty in introducing new features or other operational inefficiencies or failures. These issues could reduce the attractiveness of our platform to customers, resulting in decreased subscriptions with existing and new customers, lower subscription renewal rates, the issuance of service credits or requests for refunds, which could hurt our revenue growth and our reputation. Even if we can upgrade our systems and expand our staff, any such expansion will be expensive and complex, requiring management time and attention, as well as improvements to our operational and financial controls and reporting systems and procedures. Because of these risks and other inherent risks associated with upgrading, improving and expanding our information technology systems, any needed expansion and improvements to our infrastructure and systems may not be fully or effectively implemented on a timely basis, if at all. Any such expansion efforts may reduce revenue or may not bring the benefits we anticipate, and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.
Failure to effectively develop our sales and marketing capabilities could harm our ability to expand our customer base and achieve broader market adoption of our platform and products.
47
Our ability to expand our customer base and achieve broader market adoption of our platform will depend on the productivity of our sales and marketing operations. We plan to continue expanding our sales team and strategic partners over the long term, both domestically and internationally; however, there is no assurance that we will be successful in attracting and retaining talented sales personnel or strategic partners or that any new sales personnel will be able to achieve productivity in a reasonable period of time or at all. We also plan to dedicate significant resources to sales and marketing programs to drive new customer acquisition, as well as engage with customers to promote upsell and cross-sell opportunities. For example, to encourage awareness, usage, familiarity and adoption of our platform and products, we offer free trials of our platform. This strategy may not be successful in leading customers to purchase long term subscriptions of our product, as usage of our free tier may not cause users or others within their organization to purchase and deploy our platform. We also engage with industry analysts, consulting firms, marketing service providers, data and technology partners, marketing agencies and other solution partners, business and trade press, and other industry experts who exert considerable influence in our market to promote our platform and our brand. Our business, financial condition and results of operations may be harmed if our sales and marketing efforts do not generate a corresponding increase in revenue. In addition, we may not achieve anticipated revenue growth from expanding our sales team if we are unable to hire, develop and retain talented sales personnel, if our new sales personnel are unable to achieve desired productivity levels in a reasonable period of time, or if our sales and marketing programs are not effective. If the cost of marketing our platform and products increases or competition reduces the effectiveness of our marketing efforts, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.
We are dependent on a single platform, and the failure to achieve continued market acceptance of our platform could cause our results of operations to suffer.
Substantially all of our revenue is attributable to subscriptions for our cloud-based platform. We expect that we will be substantially dependent on our platform to generate revenue for the foreseeable future. As a result, our results of operations could suffer due to:
•any decline in demand for our platform, including as a result of reductions or delays in general customer engagement technology spending by our customers and potential customers in connection with a sustained general economic downturn;
•the failure of our platform to achieve continued market acceptance;
•the market for our platform not continuing to grow, or growing more slowly than we expect;
•the introduction of products and technologies that serve as a replacement or substitute for, or represent an improvement over, our platform;
•technological innovations or new standards that our platform does not address;
•incidents or interruptions with third-party service providers or vendors, including Apple or Google services, that affect the ability of our customers to use our platform;
•sensitivity to current or future prices offered by us or our competitors;
•our inability to release enhanced versions of our platform on a timely basis;
•the development of new communication channels with which we are not able to adequately integrate our platform; and
•changes to mobile devices and platforms that prevent or degrade the functionality of our platform, or our inability to maintain interoperability of our platform with such mobile devices and platforms.
If the market for our platform grows more slowly than anticipated or if demand for our products does not grow as quickly as anticipated, whether as a result of competition, pricing sensitivities, product obsolescence, technological change, unfavorable economic conditions, uncertain geopolitical environment, budgetary constraints of our customers or other factors, we may not be able to grow our revenue, and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.
If our platform fails to perform properly or there are defects or disruptions in the rollout of our platform updates or enhancements, our reputation could be adversely affected, our market share could decline, and we could be subject to liability claims.
Our platform is inherently complex and may contain material defects or errors. Any defects or errors that impact functionality or that cause interruptions in the availability of our platform could result in:
•loss or delayed market acceptance and subscriptions;
•breach of warranty claims;
•breach of contract claims;
•sales credits or refunds for prepaid amounts;
•loss of customers;
•diversion of development and support resources; and
•injury to our reputation.
48
The costs we would be forced to incur to correct any material defects or errors could be substantial and could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our customer agreements often provide service level commitments. We have in the past, and may in the future, fail to meet the stated service level commitments or suffer extended periods of unavailability of our platform. Any such incident could result in us being obligated to provide these customers with service credits. We could also face contract terminations or refusal by certain of our customers to renew as a result of any such outages. We outsource substantially all the infrastructure relating to our cloud-based platform to third-party hosting providers and, as a result, our services may be impacted in the future, and have been impacted in the past, by unscheduled downtime at such providers that is beyond our control. Our revenue has in the past been affected, and could be significantly affected in the future, by unscheduled downtime that exceeds the allowed downtimes under our agreements with our customers.
Because of the large amount of data that we collect, process, transmit, store and manage, it is possible that hardware failures or errors in our systems could result in data loss or cause the information that we collect to be incomplete which may result in breach of contract claims, damage our reputation or subject us to regulatory fines or investigations. Furthermore, the availability or performance of our platform could be adversely affected by a number of factors outside our control, including customers’ inability to access the internet, the failure of software systems caused by our third-party vendors, security breaches, cyberattacks or variability in user traffic for our services. For example, our customers access our platform through their internet service providers. If a customer’s service provider fails to provide sufficient capacity to support our platform or otherwise experiences service outages, such failure could interrupt our customers’ access to our platform and adversely affect their perception of our platform’s reliability. In addition to potential liability, if we experience interruptions in the availability of our cloud-based platform, our reputation could be adversely affected, and we could lose customers or have difficulty acquiring new customers.
We also provide frequent incremental releases of updates and functional enhancements to our platform. Despite extensive pre-release testing, such new versions occasionally contain undetected errors when first introduced or released. We have, from time to time, found errors in our platform, and new errors in our platform may be detected in the future. Since our customers use our products for important aspects of their business, any errors, defects, disruptions in our platform or other performance problems with our solutions could hurt our reputation and may damage our customers’ businesses. If that occurs, some of our customers may delay or withhold payment to us, elect not to renew their subscriptions with us, make service credit claims, warranty claims or other claims against us, and we could lose future sales. The occurrence of any of these events could result in an increase in our bad debt expense, an increase in collection cycles for accounts receivable or a decrease in future revenue and earnings, or could cause us to incur the risk or expense of litigation.
We may need to reduce prices or change our pricing model to remain competitive.
Our subscription fees are principally based on an upfront commitment by our customers for a specific number of monthly active users, messaging volume, platform access and/or support and certain add-on products. We expect that we may need to change our pricing from time to time. As new or existing competitors introduce products that compete with ours or reduce their prices, we may be unable to attract new customers or retain existing customers. We also must determine the appropriate price to enable us to compete effectively internationally. Customers may demand substantial price discounts as part of the negotiation of subscription agreements. As a result, we may be required or choose to reduce our prices or otherwise change our pricing model, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our sales cycle with large enterprise customers can be long and unpredictable, and our sales efforts require considerable time and expense.
The timing of our sales cycles with our large enterprise customers and related revenue recognition is difficult to predict because of the length and unpredictability of the sales cycle for these customers. Large enterprise customers may have a lengthy sales cycle for the evaluation and procurement of our platform. Additionally, to the extent there is a sustained general economic downturn resulting in delays or reductions in general customer engagement technology spending by large enterprise customers, we may experience an extension of our sales cycle with potential customers or a reduction in sales cycle win rates due to budgetary constraints. Any delays in our sales cycles may cause a delay between increasing operating expenses for such sales efforts and, upon successful sales, the generation of corresponding revenue. We are often required to spend significant time and resources to better educate our potential large enterprise customers and familiarize them with the platform. The length of our sales cycle for these customers, from initial evaluation to contract execution, is generally three to six months but can vary substantially and sometimes extend for over 12 months. Large enterprise customers often view a subscription to our platform and products as a strategic decision with significant investment. As a result, customers frequently require considerable time to evaluate, test and qualify our platform prior to entering into or expanding a subscription. During the sales cycle, we expend significant time and money on sales and marketing and contract negotiation activities, which may not result in a sale. Moreover, large enterprise customers may demand complicated configuration and integration services, which can increase our upfront investment with no guarantee that these customers will deploy our offering widely enough across their organization to justify
49
our substantial upfront investment. Further, if we are not able to satisfy the demands of our enterprise customers, we may also face reputational harm.
Additional factors that may influence the length and variability of our sales cycle include:
•the effectiveness of our sales team as we hire and train our new salespeople to sell to large enterprise customers;
•our ability to meet with customers in person during a sales cycle;
•the discretionary nature of purchasing and budget cycles and decisions;
•the obstacles placed by customers’ procurement process;
•economic conditions and other factors impacting customer budgets;
•customers’ familiarity with our products;
•customers’ evaluation of competing products during the purchasing process; and
•evolving customer demands.
Given these factors, it is difficult to predict whether and when a sale will be completed. Consequently, a shortfall in demand for our products and services or a decline in new or renewed contracts in a given period may not significantly reduce our revenue for that period but could negatively affect our revenue in future periods, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our business and reputation could be adversely affected if our customers are not satisfied with the integration, implementation, or services provided by us or our partners.
The success of our business depends on our customers’ satisfaction with our platform, the support that we provide for our platform and the services that we provide to help integrate and utilize our platform. Onboarding services may be performed by our own staff, by a third party or by a combination of the two. We have partnered with third parties to increase the breadth, capability and depth of capacity for delivery of these onboarding services to our customers, and third parties provide a significant portion of such support. If a customer is not satisfied with the quality of work performed by us or a third party or with the solutions delivered, we could incur additional costs to address the deficiency, which would diminish the profitability of the customer relationship. If we do not help our customers quickly resolve issues and provide effective ongoing support, our ability to sell new products to existing and new customers will suffer and our reputation with existing or potential customers will be harmed, even if the dissatisfaction is with services provided by a third party partner. Further, customer dissatisfaction with our services could impair our ability to expand the subscriptions within our customer base or adversely affect our customers’ renewal of existing subscriptions. In addition, negative publicity related to our customer relationships, regardless of accuracy, may further damage our business by affecting our ability to compete for new business with actual and prospective customers.
Because we generally recognize revenue ratably over the term of each subscription agreement, downturns or upturns in our sales may not be immediately reflected in our financial condition and results of operations.
We recognize revenue ratably over the term of each subscription agreement. Consequently, while a decline in new sales or renewals in any one period may not be reflected in our revenue for that period, this decline will negatively affect our revenue in future periods. Accordingly, the effect of significant downturns in sales and market acceptance of our products and potential changes in our rate of renewals may not be fully reflected in our results of operations until future periods. Our model also makes it difficult for us to rapidly increase our revenue through additional sales in any period, as revenue from new customers generally is recognized over the term of the applicable agreement.
If we fail to maintain and enhance our brand, our ability to expand our customer base may be impaired and our business, financial condition and results of operations may suffer.
We believe that maintaining and enhancing our brand is important to support the marketing and sale of our existing and future products to new customers and expand sales of our platform and products to existing customers. We also believe that the importance of brand recognition will increase as competition in our market increases. Successfully maintaining and enhancing our brand will depend largely on the effectiveness of our marketing efforts, our ability to provide reliable products that continue to meet the needs of our customers at competitive prices, our ability to maintain our customers’ trust, our ability to continue to develop new functionality and use cases, and our ability to successfully differentiate our products and platform capabilities from competitive products. If we are not able to effectively differentiate our platform and its capabilities from those of our competitors, we may experience difficulty in attracting new customers. Our brand promotion activities may not generate customer awareness or yield increased revenue and, even if they do, any increased revenue may not offset the expenses we incur in building our brand. If we fail to successfully promote and maintain our brand, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.
50
If we fail to manage our growth effectively, we may be unable to execute our business plan, maintain high levels of service and customer satisfaction or adequately address competitive challenges.
We may continue to experience rapid growth and organizational change, which may continue to place significant demands on our management and our operational and financial resources. We have also experienced growth in the number of customers, the number of engagements we enable and the amount of data that our infrastructure supports. In particular, acquiring and supporting enterprise customers can require significant resources due to their size, volume of messaging and complexity. Our success will depend in part on our ability to manage this growth effectively. We will require significant capital expenditures and valuable management resources to grow without undermining our culture of innovation, teamwork and attention to customer success, which has been central to our growth so far.
We intend to continue to expand our international operations in the future. Our expansion will continue to place a significant strain on our managerial, administrative, financial and other resources. If we are unable to manage our growth successfully, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.
It is important that we maintain a high level of customer services, integration services, technical support and satisfaction as we expand our business. As our customer base continues to grow and as our penetration within existing customers expands, we will need to expand our account management, customer service and other personnel. Failure to manage growth could result in difficulty or delays in launching our platform, declines in quality or customer satisfaction, increases in costs, difficulties in introducing new features, or other operational difficulties. Any of these could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We anticipate that our operations will continue to increase in complexity as we grow, which will create management challenges.
Our business has experienced strong growth and is complex. We expect this growth to continue and for our operations to become increasingly complex. To manage this growth, we continue to make substantial investments to improve our operational, financial and management controls as well as our reporting systems and procedures. We may not be able to implement and scale improvements to our systems and processes in a timely or efficient manner or in a manner that does not negatively affect our results of operations. For example, we may not be able to effectively monitor certain contract requirements for specific products. We may have difficulty managing improvements to our systems, processes and controls or in connection with third-party software, which could impair our ability to provide our platform to our customers, causing us to lose customers, limiting our platform to less significant updates or increasing our technical support costs. If we are unable to manage this complexity, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.
As our customer base continues to grow, we will need to expand our services and other personnel, and maintain and enhance our partnerships, to provide a high level of customer service. We also will need to manage our sales processes as our sales personnel and partner network continue to grow and become more complex and as we continue to expand into new geographies and market segments. If we do not effectively manage this increasing complexity, the quality of our platform and customer service could suffer, and we may not be able to adequately address competitive challenges. These factors could impair our ability to attract and retain customers and expand our customers’ use of our platform.
We depend on our senior management team and the loss of one or more key employees or an inability to attract and retain highly skilled employees could adversely affect our business.
Our success depends largely upon the continued services of our executive officers, particularly our chief executive officer. We rely heavily on our chief executive officer’s vision, expertise and reputation. We rely on our leadership team for research and development, marketing, sales, services and general and administrative functions, and on mission-critical individual contributors. From time to time, our executive management team may change due to the hiring or departure of executives, which could disrupt our business. We do not have employment agreements with our executive officers or other key personnel that require them to continue to work for us for any specified period; therefore, they could terminate their employment with us at any time. The loss of one or more of our executive officers, particularly our chief executive officer, or key employees (including any limitation on the performance of their duties or short-term or long-term absences as a result of illness or disability) could have a serious adverse effect on our business.
To execute our growth plan, we must attract and retain highly qualified personnel. Competition for these personnel is intense, especially for experienced software engineers and senior sales executives. We expect to continue to experience difficulty in hiring and retaining employees with appropriate qualifications. In addition, as a result of our hybrid work model, we have a large, remote workforce, which adds to the complexity and costs of our business operations. Our hybrid work model may impact our ability to identify, hire and train new personnel. Also, as a public company, potential candidates may not perceive our compensation package, including our equity awards, as favorably as employees hired prior to our initial public offering or as compared to our private competitors. In addition, our recruiting personnel, methodology and approach may need
51
to be altered to address a changing candidate pool and profile. We may not be able to identify or implement such changes in a timely manner. If we fail to attract new personnel, experience significant turnover or the loss of key personnel or fail to retain and motivate our current personnel, it could adversely affect our business and future growth prospects. Further, many of the companies with which we compete for experienced personnel have greater resources than we have. If we hire employees from competitors or other companies, their former employers may attempt to assert that these employees or we have breached legal obligations, resulting in a diversion of our time and resources.
If we are unable to maintain our culture and core values as we grow, we could lose the innovation, teamwork, passion and focus on execution that we believe contribute to our success, and our business may be harmed.
We believe our culture and core values are critical to our success and have delivered tangible financial and operational benefits to our customers, employees and stockholders. We are a mission-driven company and have designed our core values as a guiding set of principles for our employees and business. Accordingly, we have invested substantial time and resources in building a team that reflects our culture and core values. As we grow and develop our infrastructure as a public company, our operations may become increasingly complex. We may find it difficult to maintain these important aspects of our culture and core values. In addition, the growth of our remote workforce may impact our ability to preserve our culture and core values. Any failure to preserve our culture or core values could negatively affect our future success, including our ability to retain and recruit personnel, and to effectively focus on and pursue our corporate objectives.
Indemnity provisions in various agreements potentially expose us to substantial liability for intellectual property infringement, violations of privacy, data protection and other laws, regulations or contractual obligations, data breaches and other losses.
Many of our agreements with customers and certain other third parties include indemnification provisions under which we agree to indemnify them for losses suffered or incurred as a result of claims of intellectual property infringement, violation of applicable privacy, data protection or other laws, regulations or contractual obligations, data breaches or other liabilities relating to or arising from our platform, products or other contractual obligations. Some of these agreements provide for uncapped liability for losses caused by claims alleging gross negligence or willful misconduct, or claims alleging third party intellectual property infringement, and some indemnity provisions survive termination or expiration of the applicable agreement. While we generally cap all other liabilities, in some instances, the cap may represent a significant amount of potential liability, and such large indemnity payments could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. Although we normally contractually limit our liability with respect to these obligations, we may still incur substantial liability related to them and we may be required to cease use of certain functionalities offered by our platform as a result of any such claims. Additionally, while we maintain insurance related to these matters, this insurance might not cover all such claims, provide sufficient payments to cover all the costs to resolve one or more of such claims or continue to be available on terms acceptable to us. A claim brought against us that is uninsured or under-insured could result in unanticipated costs, and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected. Further, any dispute with a customer with respect to such obligations could have adverse effects on our relationship with that customer, other existing customers and new customers, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our current operations are international in scope, and we plan further geographic expansion. This will create a variety of operational challenges.
A component of our growth strategy involves the further expansion of our operations and customer base internationally. We currently have customers in North America, Europe, the Middle East, the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America. We are continuing to adapt and develop strategies to address international markets, but such efforts may not be successful. In addition, any future stay-at-home, business closure and other restrictive orders and travel restrictions into and outside the United States as a result of international conflicts, domestic unrest or the emergence of new highly infectious diseases, if any, may pose additional challenges for international expansion and may impact our ability to launch new locations and further expand geographically.
We expect that our international activities will continue to grow over the foreseeable future as we continue to pursue opportunities in existing and new international markets. This and any other future expansion of our international activities and operations will require significant management attention and financial resources.
Our current international operations and future initiatives involve a variety of risks, including:
•changes in a country’s or region’s political or economic conditions;
•the need to adapt and localize our platform for specific countries;
•greater difficulty collecting accounts receivable and longer payment cycles;
•unexpected changes in laws, regulatory requirements, taxes or trade laws;
52
•more stringent regulations relating to privacy, data security and data protection and the collection, transmission, use or other processing of, or access to, sensitive, proprietary, confidential, regulated and personal data, particularly in Europe;
•differing labor regulations, especially in regions where labor laws are generally more advantageous to employees as compared to the United States, including deemed hourly wage and overtime regulations in some of these locations;
•difficulties in managing a business in new markets with diverse cultures, languages, customs, legal systems, alternative dispute systems and regulatory systems;
•increased travel, real estate, infrastructure and legal compliance costs associated with international operations;
•currency exchange rate fluctuations and the resulting effect on our revenue and expenses and the cost and risk of entering into hedging transactions if we chose to do so in the future;
•laws and business practices favoring local competitors or general preferences for local vendors;
•limited or insufficient intellectual property protection or difficulties enforcing our intellectual property;
•political instability, economic sanctions, terrorist activities, or international conflicts may impact the operations of our business or the businesses of our customers;
•risks related to global health epidemics and related restrictions on our ability and our customers’ ability to travel;
•exposure to liabilities under anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, or the FCPA, the U.S. domestic bribery statute contained in 18 U.S.C. § 201, the U.S. Travel Act, the U.K. Bribery Act of 2010, the U.K. Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and similar laws and regulations in other jurisdictions; and
•adverse tax burdens and foreign exchange controls that could make it difficult to repatriate earnings and cash.
Failure to overcome any of these difficulties could negatively affect our results of operations. If we invest substantial time and resources to expand our international operations and are unable to do so successfully, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.
We have a limited history of operating with a substantial remote workforce and the long-term impact of this workplace arrangement on our financial results and business operations is uncertain.
In September 2022, we implemented our hybrid work model, pursuant to which each department may choose to have its employees function primarily as in-person, remote or hybrid workers. We have also hired a large number of employees who are permanently remote, regardless of their department’s determination. As a result, remote work has become the primary experience for a large number of our employees, and our intention is for our workforce to continue to have remote work opportunities into the future. However, we have a limited history of operating with a large remote workforce and, while we anticipate that implementing our hybrid work model will have a long-term positive impact on our financial results and business operations, the impact remains uncertain, particularly in the near term. Additionally, there is no guarantee that we will realize any anticipated benefits to our business, including any cost savings, operational efficiencies or productivity.
Our continuing shift to hybrid and remote work may make it increasingly difficult to manage our business and adequately oversee our employees and business functions, potentially resulting in harm to our company culture, increased employee attrition, the loss of key personnel, difficulty in properly classifying employees and a potentially negative impact on product research and development, and the growth of our business. We may also experience an increased risk of privacy and data security breaches and incidents involving our or our customers’ data as a result of the decentralization of the technology used to operate our business. The mobility of our remote workers may also subject us to an increased risk of regulatory claims if our remote employees establish a nexus for our business in unanticipated jurisdictions. This could cause us to be subject to tax and employment claims in the applicable jurisdiction. Any of these factors could adversely affect our financial condition and operating results.
We may also face operational or other challenges as we and our customers, partners, suppliers and vendors and other parties with whom we do business continue to adjust to a hybrid model of remote and onsite work. These challenges may result in operational inefficiencies or employee dissatisfaction, either of which could harm our business.
Acquisitions, strategic investments, partnerships or alliances could be difficult to identify, pose integration challenges, divert the attention of management, disrupt our business, dilute stockholder value and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We have in the past and may in the future seek to acquire or invest in businesses, joint ventures, products and platform capabilities, or technologies that we believe could complement or expand our products and platform capabilities, enhance our technical capabilities or otherwise offer growth opportunities. Further, our proceeds from our initial public offering increase the likelihood that we will devote resources to exploring larger and more complex acquisitions and investments than we have previously attempted. We may not be able to find and identify desirable acquisition targets or business opportunities or be successful in entering into an agreement with any particular strategic partner. Additionally, any such acquisition or investment may divert the attention of management and cause us to incur various expenses in identifying, investigating and pursuing
53
suitable opportunities, whether or not the transactions are completed, and may result in unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures. In particular, we may encounter difficulties assimilating or integrating the businesses, technologies, products and platform capabilities, personnel or operations of any acquired companies, particularly if the key personnel of an acquired company choose not to work for us, their software is not easily adapted to work with our platform or we have difficulty retaining the customers of any acquired business due to changes in ownership, management or otherwise. These transactions may also disrupt our business, divert our resources and require significant management attention that would otherwise be available for development of our existing business. Any such transactions that we are able to complete may not result in any synergies or operational, financial or other benefits we had expected to achieve, which could result in impairment charges that could be substantial. These transactions could also result in dilutive issuances of equity securities or the incurrence of debt, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, if the resulting business from such a transaction fails to meet our expectations, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected, or we may be exposed to unknown risks or liabilities.
Risks Related to Our Dependence on Third Parties
Our business depends on our ability to send consumer engagement messages over a number of different channels and any significant disruption in service with our third-party providers or on mobile operating systems could result in a loss of customers or less effective consumer-brand engagement, which could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our brand, reputation and ability to attract new customers depend on the reliable performance of our technology infrastructure and content delivery. Our platform engages with consumers through a number of channels and integrations, and we are dependent on third-party providers for delivery of content in many of these channels and integrations, including, among others, emails, SMS/MMS, third-party messaging services and audience sync advertising campaigns. We are also dependent on Apple services and Google services for delivery of mobile and web notifications. If any of these third-party providers change their policies regarding the delivery of certain messages or content, or if our customers do not comply with these third-party providers’ current policies or procedures, some of our customers may no longer be able to use the applicable channels and integrations through our platform. Further, if any of these third-party providers were to suspend or terminate our customers’ use of their services or to suffer extended service outages, then our customers may not be able to deliver the applicable messages or content using our platform. If this were to occur, it could lead to customer dissatisfaction, harm to our reputation or subject us to liability, any of which may harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. For instance, any incident broadly affecting the interaction of Apple or Android devices with necessary Apple or Google services (e.g., iCloud or Apple push notifications), including any delays or interruptions in such Apple or Google services, could adversely affect our business. Further, any cybersecurity events affecting Apple or Google Android devices could result in a disruption to Apple or Google services, regulatory investigations, reputational damage and a loss of sales and customers for Apple or Google, which could in turn impact our business. A prolonged disruption, cybersecurity event or any other negative event affecting Apple or Google could lead to customer dissatisfaction and could in turn damage our reputation with current and potential customers, expose us to liability and cause us to lose customers or otherwise harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. We will also face similar risks as we add new channels and integrations to our platform that are supported by third parties if such third parties were to face similar challenges or disruptions with regard to their respective channels or integrations. Additionally, many of the third parties that we use or with which we integrate hold us responsible for the acts and omissions of our customers. While we contractually obligate our customers to comply with the requirements of third-party providers and applicable laws when using our platform to deliver content through our messaging channels or integrations, we cannot guarantee that all customers will do so at all times. If any of our customers were to use our platform in violation of the policies of third-party providers or applicable law, even without our knowledge, we may be subject to financial penalties and reputational harm.
We depend in part on mobile operating systems, such as Android and iOS, and their respective infrastructures, to send notifications through various applications that utilize our platform. Any changes in such systems that negatively impact the functionality of our platform could adversely affect our ability to interact with consumers in a timely and effective fashion, which could adversely affect our ability to retain and attract new customers. For example, any anti-tracking features adopted by Apple or Google that require applications to obtain additional permissions to track end user data may impact our customers’ decisions relating to how to interact with end users through our platform. Additionally, if such mobile operating systems change their policies or otherwise limit or prohibit us from sending notifications or otherwise make changes that degrade the functionality of our platform, such changes could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
As new mobile devices and mobile, web, email and other messaging platforms are released, there is no guarantee that these mobile devices and platforms will continue to support our platform or effectively roll out updates to our customers’ applications. The parties that control the operating systems for mobile devices and such platforms have no obligation to test the interoperability of new mobile devices or platforms with our platform, and third parties may produce new products that are incompatible with or not optimal for the operation of our platform. Additionally, in order to deliver high-quality customer engagement, we need to ensure that our platform is designed to work effectively with a range of mobile technologies, systems,
54
networks and standards. If consumers choose to use products or platforms that do not support our platform, or if we do not ensure our platform can work effectively with such products or platforms, our business and growth could be harmed. We also may not be successful in developing or maintaining relationships with key participants in the mobile industry that permit such interoperability. If we are unable to adapt to changes in popular operating systems, we expect that our customer retention and customer growth would be adversely affected.
We rely upon third-party providers of cloud-based infrastructure, including Amazon Web Services and Rackspace, to host our products. Any disruption in the operations of these third-party providers or limitations on capacity or interference with our use could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We outsource substantially all the infrastructure relating to our cloud-based platform to third-party hosting providers. Our customers need to be able to access our platform at any time, without interruption or degradation of performance, and we provide many of them with service-level commitments with respect to uptime and, occasionally, throughput. Our products depend on protecting the virtual cloud infrastructure hosted by third-party hosting providers by maintaining its configuration, architecture, features and interconnection specifications, as well as the information stored in these virtual data centers, which is transmitted by third-party internet service providers. Any limitation on the capacity or availability of our third-party hosting providers could impede our ability to onboard new customers or expand the usage of our existing customers, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Currently, we rely on cloud computing infrastructure, particularly from Amazon Web Services, or AWS, to host our platform and support our operations and many of the internal products we use to operate our business. We also host our end user profiles on Rackspace. We do not have control over the operations of the facilities of AWS, Rackspace or other cloud providers. Each provider’s respective facilities may be vulnerable to damage or interruption from earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, fires, cybersecurity attacks, security breaches, terrorist attacks, power losses, service outages, software or hardware failures, telecommunications failures and other events beyond our or their control. In the event that AWS’s, Rackspace’s or any other third-party provider’s systems or service abilities are hindered by any of the events discussed above, our ability to operate our platform may be impaired, our customers may be impacted, we may be subject to claims for refunds or terminations under our contracts, and our reputation and brand may be harmed. A decision to close these facilities without adequate notice, or other unanticipated problems, could result in lengthy interruptions to our platform. All of the aforementioned risks may be exacerbated if our or our partners’ business continuity and disaster recovery plans prove to be inadequate in such a scenario.
Additionally, AWS, Rackspace or other cloud providers may experience threats, attacks or security breaches from computer malware, ransomware, viruses, social engineering (including phishing attacks), denial-of-service or other attacks, employee error, theft or misuse and general hacking, including from state-sponsored or criminal hacking groups, which have become more prevalent in our industry. Any of these security incidents could result in unauthorized access or damage to, or the disablement, encryption, use or misuse, disclosure, modification, destruction or loss of our data or our customers’ data, including personal data, or disrupt our ability to provide our platform or services. Our platform’s continuing and uninterrupted performance is critical to our success. Customers may become dissatisfied by any system failure that interrupts our ability to provide our platform to them and could make claims for refunds or terminations under our contracts. We may not be able to easily switch our AWS or Rackspace operations to another cloud or other data center provider if there are disruptions or interference with our use of any third-party provider’s services, and even if we do switch our operations, the process can require significant time and expense and other cloud and data center providers are subject to the same risks. Sustained or repeated system failures would reduce the attractiveness of our platform to our customers, thereby reducing revenue. Moreover, negative publicity arising from these types of disruptions could damage our reputation and may adversely impact use of our platform. We may not carry sufficient business interruption insurance or have sufficient contractual remedies to compensate us for losses that may occur as a result of any events that cause interruptions in our service.
In the event that our service agreements with our third-party hosting providers are terminated or there is a lapse of service, elimination of services or features that we utilize, interruption of internet service provider connectivity or damage to such facilities, we could experience interruptions in access to our platform as well as significant delays and additional expense in arranging or creating new facilities and services and/or re-architecting our cloud solution for deployment on a different cloud infrastructure service provider, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our agreement with AWS allows AWS to terminate for any reason with 30 days’ advance notice or in case of a breach of contract if such breach is uncured for 30 days. AWS may also terminate immediately upon notice if (1) AWS determines that our use of its service poses a security risk to its services or any other third party, could otherwise adversely impact AWS’s systems, could subject AWS to liability or could be fraudulent, (2) we fail to pay AWS in accordance with our agreement, (3) we cease to operate in the ordinary course, make an assignment for the benefit of creditors or become the subject of any bankruptcy, reorganization, liquidation, dissolution or other similar proceeding, (4) AWS’s relationship with any third-party providers terminates or requires AWS to change the way it provides services or (5) termination is necessary to comply with the law or the requests of governmental entities. Although we expect that we could receive similar services from other third parties if any of our arrangements with AWS are terminated, transitioning the cloud infrastructure currently hosted by AWS to alternative providers would likely be disruptive, and we could incur significant one-time costs. If we are unable to renew our
55
agreement with AWS on commercially reasonable terms or at all, our agreement with AWS is prematurely terminated or we add additional infrastructure providers, we may experience costs or downtime in connection with the transfer to, or the addition of, new data center providers. If AWS or other infrastructure providers increase the costs of their services, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
Our growth depends in part on the success of our strategic relationships with third parties.
In order to grow our business, we anticipate that we will continue to depend on relationships with strategic partners, including cloud alliance/marketing, infrastructure and technology partners, to provide broader customer coverage and solution delivery capabilities, and also achieve product stickiness. While our strategic partners have not played a lead role in our customer generation process in the past, we intend to develop these relationships to rely more heavily on our partners to help us generate business going forward. Identifying partners, and negotiating, documenting and maintaining relationships with them, requires significant time and resources. Our agreements with our strategic partners are non-exclusive and do not prohibit them from working with our competitors or recommending competing products. Our competitors may be effective in providing incentives to such third parties to favor their products or services or to prevent or reduce subscriptions to our services. If our partners choose to place greater emphasis on products of their own or those offered by our competitors or do not effectively market and sell our platform, our ability to grow our business and sell our products and services may be adversely affected. In addition, acquisitions of our partners by our competitors could result in a decrease in the number of our current and potential customers, as our partners may no longer facilitate the adoption of our platform by potential customers.
We are highly dependent upon our relationship with the developer platforms, web browsers and operating systems provided by third-party technology companies such as Apple and Google. Changes to mobile device operating systems may diminish the usefulness of marketing providers or require significant modifications or demands on our business to continue supporting those operating systems. Changes to developer platform policies related to third-party software, such as Apple or Google, creating restrictions that limit the ability of our existing or potential customers to use software development kits or that further limit the use of cookies could similarly adversely affect our business.
If we are unsuccessful in establishing or maintaining our relationships with third parties, our ability to compete in the marketplace or to grow our revenue could be impaired and our business, financial condition and results of operations may suffer. Even if we are successful, it is not assured that these relationships will result in increased customer usage of our platform or increased revenue.
Risks Related to Privacy, Data Security and Data Protection Laws
We are subject to stringent and changing laws, regulations, rules, industry standards and contractual obligations related to privacy, data security and data protection. The restrictions and costs imposed by these requirements and our actual or perceived failure to comply with them, could harm our business.
Operating our business and platform involves the collection, use, storage, transfer, sharing and other processing of sensitive, proprietary, confidential, regulated and personal data, including such information that we handle on behalf of our customers. These activities subject us to numerous privacy, data security and data protection obligations, such as various laws, regulations, rules, guidance, industry standards, external and internal policies, contracts, and other obligations that govern the processing of personal data by us and on our behalf.
In the United States, federal, state, and local governments have enacted numerous privacy, data security and data protection laws, including data breach notification laws, personal data privacy laws, and consumer protection laws. For example, the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, or HITECH, and their respective implementing regulations, imposes specified requirements relating to the privacy, security and transmission of individually identifiable health information. Federal laws also limit the processing of personal data of children under 13. Violations of these laws can lead to statutory penalties (up to $46,515 per violation in the case of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, for example). If a private plaintiff or regulator alleges that our privacy, data security or data protection policies and practices are either unfair or deceptive, we may be subject to litigation or regulatory enforcement. In the United States, there are federal and state laws that prohibit unfair and deceptive acts and practices, with federal enforcement typically arising out of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, or FTC Act. State analogs to the FTC Act, such as the California Unfair Competition Law, often allow for a private right of action as well.
Similarly, the California Consumer Privacy Act (as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act), or the CCPA, imposes privacy, data security and data protection obligations on businesses to which it applies. These obligations include, but are not limited to, providing specific disclosures in privacy notices and affording California residents certain rights related to their personal data. The CCPA allows for statutory fines for noncompliance (up to $7,500 per violation) and provides a private right of action for certain data breaches. Numerous other states also have enacted, or are considering enacting, comprehensive
56
data privacy laws. If we become subject to further new privacy, data security or data protection laws at the state level, the risk of enforcement action against us could increase because we may become subject to additional obligations, and the number of individuals or entities that can initiate actions against us may increase (including individuals, via a private right of action, and state actors).
Outside of the United States, an increasing number of laws, regulations, rules and industry standards apply with respect to privacy, data security and data protection. For example, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, or the EU GDPR, and the version thereof implemented into the laws of the United Kingdom, or the U.K. GDPR, impose strict requirements with respect to processing the personal data of individuals located within the European Economic Area, or the EEA, and the United Kingdom, or the U.K., respectively. While the EU GDPR and the U.K. GDPR remain substantially similar for the time being, the U.K. government has announced that it will seek to chart its own path on data protection and reform its relevant laws, including in ways that may differ from the EU GDPR. While these developments increase uncertainty with regard to data protection regulation in the U.K., even in their current, substantially similar form, the EU GDPR and U.K. GDPR can expose businesses to divergent parallel regimes that may be subject to different interpretations and enforcement actions for certain violations and related uncertainty. Under the EU GDPR, government regulators may impose temporary or definitive bans on data processing, as well as fines of up to 20 million euros or 4% of annual global revenue, whichever is greater (and the U.K. GDPR currently imposes comparable penalties). Furthermore, because both regimes allow for private rights of action, individuals in the EEA and the U.K. may initiate litigation related to our processing of their personal data.
In addition, many jurisdictions have enacted data localization laws and cross-border personal data transfer laws. These laws may make it more difficult for us to transfer personal data across jurisdictions, which could impede our business. For example, legal developments in the EEA have created complexity and uncertainty regarding processing and transfers of personal data from the EEA to the United States and other countries outside the EEA. Similar complexities and uncertainties also apply to transfers from the U.K. to third countries. For example, the EU, U.K. and Switzerland have agreed to a ‘Data Privacy Framework’ for transfers of personal data from Europe to the U.S which we rely on. For the time being, this provides a valid mechanism for the international transfer of personal data. Privacy activists have challenged, and are expected to continue to challenge, the adequacy of this transfer mechanism, and therefore we cannot guarantee that such mechanism will remain available to us indefinitely. While we have taken additional steps to mitigate the impact on us, such as implementing the European Commission’s updated standard contractual clauses, or the SCCs, and the U.K.’s international Data Transfer Agreement (or the U.K.’s international data transfer addendum that can be used with the SCCs), the validity of relying on the SCCs as a transfer mechanism has been, and is expected to continue to be, the subject of further litigation in the EU. For example, on May 22, 2023, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission fined Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. 1.2 billion euros for violating the EU GDPR’s data transfer requirements by unlawfully transferring the personal data of Facebook users from the EEA to the United States, and ordered Meta to suspend any future transfers of such personal data to the United States within five months and to stop further processing and storing of such personal data in the U.S. within six months, finding that Meta did not have adequate supplementary measures in place in addition to the SCCs. While Meta has appealed this decision, and it applies solely to Meta, it is possible that, as a result of such decision, if Braze is forced to rely on the SCCs for international transfers, that the supplementary measures we have implemented in addition to the SCCs will not be deemed adequate.
In addition to EU and U.K. restrictions on cross-border transfers of personal data, other jurisdictions have enacted or are considering similar cross-border personal data transfer laws and data localization laws, any of which could increase the cost and complexity of doing business in those jurisdictions. If we cannot implement a workable, valid compliance mechanism for cross-border transfers of personal data, we may face increased exposure to regulatory actions, substantial fines, and injunctions against processing or transferring personal data from the EEA or elsewhere. The inability to import personal data to the United States could significantly and negatively impact our business operations, including by limiting our ability to offer our full range of services in the EEA and elsewhere, limiting our ability to collaborate with parties that are subject to EU and other privacy, data security and data protection laws or requiring us to increase our personal data processing capabilities in the EEA and elsewhere at significant expense.
We enter into agreements with our customers regarding our collection, use, storage, transfer, sharing and other processing of personal data in relation to the services we provide to them. We also publish public privacy policies and make other public statements about our privacy, data security and data protection practices. Although we endeavor to comply with such agreements, policies and public statements, we may at times fail to do so or may be perceived to have failed to do so, including due to the errors or omissions of our personnel and third-party service providers and vendors. Such failures or perceived failures can subject us to customer lawsuits, termination of customer agreements and governmental enforcement actions. Even if we eventually prevail in any such dispute, resolving them could be expensive and time-consuming to defend and could result in adverse publicity and reputational harm that could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our obligations related to privacy, data protection and data security are quickly changing in an increasingly stringent fashion. These obligations may be subject to differing applications and interpretations, which may be inconsistent or in conflict among jurisdictions. Preparing for and complying with these obligations requires us to devote significant resources (including,
57
without limitation, financial and time-related resources). These obligations may necessitate changes to our information technologies, systems and practices and to those of any third parties that process personal data on our behalf. In addition, these obligations may require us to change our business model. Although we endeavor to comply with all applicable privacy, data security and data protection obligations, we may at times fail (or be perceived to have failed) to do so. Moreover, despite our efforts, our personnel or third parties upon whom we rely may fail to comply with such obligations which could impact our compliance posture. If we fail, or are perceived to have failed, to address or comply with privacy, data security and data protection obligations, we could face significant consequences. These consequences may include, but are not limited to, government enforcement actions (e.g., investigations, fines, penalties, audits, inspections, and similar actions), litigation (including class-related claims), additional reporting requirements or oversight, bans on processing personal data and orders to delete or not use personal data. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, or financial condition, including, but not limited to, loss of customers, interruptions or stoppages in our business operations, inability to process personal data or to operate in certain jurisdictions, limited ability to develop or commercialize our products, expenditure of time and resources to defend any claim or action, adverse publicity or revision or restructuring of our operations.
For more information on the privacy, data security and data protection laws and regulations to which we are or may become subject, see the section titled “Business – Privacy, Data Security and Data Protection” in our Annual Report.
If we or our third-party service providers or vendors experience a security breach or unauthorized third parties otherwise obtain access to our customers’ data, our data or our platform, our solution may be perceived as not being secure, our reputation may be harmed, demand for our platform and products may be reduced and we may incur significant liabilities.
Operating our business and platform involves the collection, storage, transmission and other processing of sensitive, regulated, proprietary and confidential information, including personal data of our customers, their users and our personnel and our customers’ proprietary and confidential information. We may rely upon third parties (such as service providers or vendors) for our data storage- and data processing–related activities. We may share or receive sensitive , regulated, proprietary and confidential information, including personal data, with or from third parties. Cyberattacks, malicious internet-based activity, and online and offline fraud are prevalent and continue to increase in frequency and severity. These threats are becoming increasingly difficult to detect, and these threats come from a variety of sources. In addition to traditional computer “hackers,” threat actors, personnel (such as through theft or misuse), sophisticated nation-states, and nation-state-supported actors now engage in cyberattacks, and nation-state actors may do so for geopolitical reasons and in conjunction with military conflicts and defense activities. We may be subject to a variety of evolving threats, including, but not limited to, social-engineering attacks (including through phishing, vishing and hybrid phishing attacks), malicious code (such as viruses and worms), malware (including as a result of advanced persistent threat intrusions), denial-of-service attacks (such as credential stuffing), personnel misconduct or error by us or third-party service providers or vendors, ransomware attacks, supply-chain attacks, service outages, software bugs, server malfunctions, software or hardware failures, loss of data or other information technology assets, adware, telecommunications failures, earthquakes, fires, floods, and other similar threats. Additionally, our customers have been and may be in the future, targeted by similar cybersecurity threats, and bad actors have accessed, and may in the future, access our platform and services using such customer’s credentials. Accordingly, the failure of our customers to use appropriate cybersecurity technology and practices can result in unauthorized parties obtaining access to our platform and customer data. Ransomware attacks, including those perpetrated by organized criminal threat actors, nation-states, and nation-state-supported actors, are becoming increasingly prevalent and severe and can lead to significant interruptions in our operations, loss of data and income, reputational harm, and diversion of funds. Extortion payments may alleviate the negative impact of a ransomware attack, but we may be unwilling or unable to make such payments due to, for example, applicable laws or regulations prohibiting such payments. Threat actors could also use artificial intelligence technology for malicious purposes, increasing the frequency and complexity of their attacks, e.g., phishing attacks, fraud, social engineering, and other possible malicious uses, such as with writing malware. Code, including code generated by generative artificial intelligence, could potentially be used and deployed that contains undetected vulnerable or malicious components. This could cause widespread deployment of vulnerable code within our systems. Any of the previously identified or similar threats could cause a security incident. We have also implemented a free trial program that may increase the number of users with access to our platform, and some of these users may include malicious actors who may attempt to breach our platform’s security. This may heighten the likelihood of us experiencing a cybersecurity incident. Additionally, the risk of these threats may increase for us and our third-party service providers and vendors due to ongoing international instability. In the past, nation-states have sponsored cyberattacks against private companies in response to U.S. governmental actions or for other strategic purposes. We cannot guarantee that similar actions will not occur in the future. A security incident could result in unauthorized, unlawful, or accidental acquisition, modification, destruction, loss, alteration, encryption, disclosure of, or access to data. A security incident could disrupt our ability (and that of third parties upon whom we rely) to provide our platform.
We may expend significant resources or modify our business activities in an effort to protect against security incidents. Certain data privacy and security obligations require us to implement and maintain specific security measures, industry-standard or reasonable security measures to protect our information technology systems and data. While we have taken steps designed to protect the proprietary, regulated, sensitive, confidential and personal data in our control, our security measures or those of the third parties on which we rely may not be effective against current or future security risks and threats. Moreover,
58
we or our third-party service providers or vendors may be more vulnerable to such attacks in remote work environments, which have increased in recent years and will likely continue into the foreseeable future.
If we, our customers or our third-party service providers or vendors suffer, or are perceived to have suffered, a security breach or other security incident, we may experience adverse consequences. Applicable data privacy and security obligations may require us to notify relevant stakeholders or regulators of security incidents. We may also be required to publicly disclose certain cybersecurity incidents pursuant to the rules and regulations adopted by the SEC. The repercussions of such disclosures can be costly, and the disclosures or the failure to comply with such requirements could lead to adverse consequences. If we, our customers or a third party upon whom we rely experience a security incident or are perceived to have experienced a security incident, we may experience adverse consequences. These consequences may include, but are not limited to, government enforcement actions (for example, investigations, fines, penalties, audits, and inspections), additional reporting requirements or oversight, restrictions on processing data (including personal data), litigation (including class action claims), indemnification obligations, negative publicity, reputational harm, monetary fund diversions, interruptions in our operations (including availability of data to us and our customers), financial loss and other similar harms. Security incidents and attendant consequences may cause customers to stop using our platform, deter new customers for using our platform and negatively impact our ability to grow and operate our business.
Risks Related to Other Laws and Litigation
Changes in laws and regulations related to the internet or changes in the internet infrastructure itself may diminish the demand for our platform and could have a negative impact on our business.
The future success of our business depends upon the continued use of smart cell phones, other mobile devices and internet-connected devices as primary mediums for commerce, communication and business applications. Government bodies or agencies have in the past adopted, and may in the future adopt, laws or regulations affecting the use of the internet and internet-connected devices and cell phones as commercial mediums. Changes in these laws or regulations could require us to modify our platform in order to comply with these changes. In addition, government agencies or private organizations may begin to impose taxes, fees or other charges for accessing the internet or commerce conducted via the internet. These laws or charges could limit the growth of internet-related commerce or communications generally, resulting in reductions in the demand for internet-based solutions such as ours.
In addition, the use of the internet as a business tool could be adversely affected due to delays in the development or adoption of new standards and protocols to handle increased demands of internet activity, security, reliability, cost, ease of use, accessibility and quality of service. The performance of the internet and its acceptance as a business tool have been adversely affected by “viruses,” “worms” and similar malicious programs, along with distributed denial-of-service and similar attacks. As a result, the internet has experienced a variety of outages and other delays as a result of such damage to or attacks on portions of its infrastructure. If the use of the internet is adversely affected by these issues, demand for our platform could suffer.
Any future litigation against us could be costly and time-consuming to defend.
We have in the past, and may continue in the future to, become subject to legal proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course of business, such as claims brought by our customers in connection with commercial disputes or employment claims made by our current or former employees. Litigation might result in substantial costs and may divert management’s attention and resources, which might seriously harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. Insurance might not cover such claims, provide sufficient payments to cover all the costs to resolve one or more of such claims or continue to be available on terms acceptable to us. A claim brought against us that is uninsured or under-insured could result in unanticipated costs, and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.
If we fail to provide services that our customers can use in compliance with regulations and/or industry standards, our revenue and results of operations could be harmed.
Since our customers are able to upload data into our platform, we may be hosting or otherwise processing substantial amounts of personal data. Our cloud platform has completed a SOC 2 Type 2 audit for security, is ISO 27001 certified and is designed to comply, in all material respects, with various HIPAA standards. Governments and industry organizations may also adopt new laws, regulations, rules, certifications, requirements or standards, or make changes to existing laws, regulations, rules, requirements or standards, that could impact the demand for, or value of, our platform. If we fail to maintain our current security certifications and/or to continue to meet security standards, or if we are unable to adapt our platform to changing legal and regulatory standards or other requirements in a timely manner, our customers may lose confidence in our platform, and our revenue, business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
We are subject to anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering and similar laws, and non-compliance with such laws can subject us to criminal or civil liability and harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
59
We are subject to the FCPA, the U.S. domestic bribery statute contained in 18 U.S.C. § 201, the U.S. Travel Act, the U.K. Bribery Act of 2010, the U.K. Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and other anti-corruption laws in countries in which we conduct activities. Anti-corruption laws are interpreted broadly and prohibit our company from authorizing, offering or providing, directly or indirectly, improper payments or benefits to recipients in the public or private sector. We use third-party law firms, accountants and other representatives for regulatory compliance, sales and other purposes in several countries. We can be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of these third-party representatives, our employees, contractors, partners and other agents, even if we do not explicitly authorize such activities. In addition, although we have implemented policies and procedures to ensure compliance with anti-corruption laws, our employees, representatives, contractors, partners and agents may not comply with these laws at all times.
Noncompliance with these laws could subject us to whistleblower complaints, investigations, sanctions, settlements, prosecution, other enforcement actions, disgorgement of profits, significant fines, damages, other civil and criminal penalties or injunctions, suspension and/or debarment from contracting with certain persons, the loss of export privileges, reputational harm, adverse media coverage and other collateral consequences. If any subpoenas or investigations are launched, or governmental or other sanctions are imposed, or if we do not prevail in any possible civil or criminal litigation, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially harmed. In addition, responding to any action will likely result in a materially significant diversion of management’s attention and resources and significant defense costs and other professional fees. Enforcement actions and sanctions could further harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Moreover, as an issuer of securities, we also are subject to the accounting and internal controls provisions of the FCPA. These provisions require us to maintain accurate books and records and a system of internal controls sufficient to detect and prevent corrupt conduct. Failure to abide by these provisions may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.
We are subject to governmental export and import controls that could impair our ability to compete in international markets and subject us to liability if we violate the controls.
Our platform is subject to U.S. export controls, including the Export Administration Regulations and economic sanctions administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. We incorporate encryption technology into our platform. These encryption products and the underlying technology are currently considered “publicly available” by the Export Administration Regulations and may be exported outside of the United States. However, if they cease to be considered “publicly available,” then these encryption products and underlying technology may be exported outside of the United States only with the required export authorizations, including by license, a license exception or other appropriate government authorizations.
Furthermore, our activities are subject to U.S. economic sanctions laws and regulations that prohibit the shipment of certain products and services to countries, governments and persons targeted by U.S. embargoes or sanctions. Obtaining the necessary export license or other authorization for a particular sale may be time consuming and may result in the delay or loss of sales opportunities even if the export license ultimately may be granted. While we take precautions to prevent our platform from being exported in violation of these laws, including obtaining authorizations for our platform and performing geolocation IP blocking and screenings against United States and other lists of restricted and prohibited persons, we cannot guarantee that the precautions we take will prevent violations of export control and sanctions laws. Additionally, U.S. embargoes and sanctions can change rapidly and unpredictably in response to international events, such as the application of new and broad sanctions against Russia and Belarus in connection with the invasion of Ukraine. Future embargoes or sanctions could have a significant impact on our business or the business of our customers, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial results and operations. Violations of U.S. sanctions or export control laws can result in incarceration for responsible employees and managers or the imposition of significant fines or penalties.
If our partners fail to obtain appropriate import, export or re-export licenses or permits, we may also be adversely affected through reputational harm as well as other negative consequences, including government investigations and penalties. We presently incorporate export control compliance requirements into our strategic partner agreements, however, our partners may not comply with such requirements.
Various countries regulate the import and export of certain encryption and other technology, including import and export licensing requirements. Some countries have enacted laws that could limit our ability to distribute our platform or could limit our customers’ ability to implement our platform in those countries. Changes in our platform or future changes in export and import regulations may create delays in the introduction of our platform in international markets, prevent our customers with international operations from launching our platform globally or, in some cases, prevent the export or import of our platform to certain countries, governments or persons altogether. Various governmental agencies have proposed additional regulation of encryption technology, including the escrow and government recovery of private encryption keys. Any change in export or import regulations, economic sanctions or related legislation, or change in the countries, governments, persons or technologies
60
targeted by such regulations, could limit our ability to export or sell our platform to existing or potential customers with international operations. Any decreased use of our platform or limitation on our ability to export or sell our platform would adversely affect our business, results of operations and prospects.
Our international operations may subject us to potential adverse tax consequences.
We are expanding our international operations and staff to better support our growth into international markets. Our corporate structure and associated transfer pricing policies contemplate future growth into the international markets, and consider the functions, risks and assets of the various entities involved in the intercompany transactions. The amount of taxes we pay in different jurisdictions may depend on (1) the application of the tax laws of the various jurisdictions, including the United States, to our international business activities, (2) changes in tax rates, (3) new or revised tax laws or interpretations of existing tax laws and policies and (4) our ability to operate our business in a manner consistent with our corporate structure and intercompany arrangements. Taxing authorities may challenge the pricing methodologies of our intercompany arrangements or disagree with our determinations as to the income and expenses attributable to specific jurisdictions. If such a challenge or disagreement were to occur and our position were not sustained, we could be required to pay additional taxes, interest and penalties. This could result in one-time tax charges, higher effective tax rates, reduced cash flows and lower overall profitability of our operations. Our financial statements could fail to reflect adequate reserves to cover such a contingency.
Our ability to use our net operating losses to offset future taxable income may be subject to certain limitations.
As of January 31, 2024, we had net operating loss, or NOL, carryforwards for federal and state income tax purposes of approximately $355.4 million and $248.4 million, respectively, some of which may be available to offset taxable income in the future, and which expire in various years beginning in 2035 for federal purposes and 2026 for state purposes if not utilized. Under current law, U.S. federal NOLs incurred in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, may be carried forward indefinitely, but the deductibility of federal NOLs is limited to 80% of taxable income in tax years beginning after December 31, 2020. Accordingly, $316.0 million of our NOLs may be carried forward indefinitely for federal tax purposes and various states have enacted tax policies or rules that conform to federal tax laws. A lack of future taxable income would adversely affect our ability to utilize NOLs incurred in tax years beginning on or before December 31, 2017, before they expire. In general, under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, the IRC or the Code, a corporation that undergoes an “ownership change” (which generally is defined under Section 382 of the Code and applicable Treasury Regulations as a greater than 50% change, by value, in its equity ownership over a three-year period) is subject to limitations on its ability to utilize its pre-change NOLs to offset future taxable income. We have experienced ownership changes in the past and we may experience a future ownership change under Section 382 of the Code that could affect our ability to utilize the NOLs to offset our income, some of which may be outside of our control. Furthermore, our ability to utilize NOLs of companies that we have acquired or may acquire in the future may be subject to limitations. There is also a risk that due to regulatory changes, such as suspensions on the use of NOLs or other unforeseen reasons, our existing NOLs could expire or otherwise be unavailable to reduce future income tax liabilities, including for state tax purposes. For these reasons, we may not be able to utilize a material portion of the NOLs reflected on our balance sheets, even if we attain profitability, which could potentially result in increased future tax liability to us and could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Changes in our effective tax rate or tax liability may have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
Our effective tax rate could increase due to several factors, including:
•changes in the relative amounts of income before taxes in the various jurisdictions in which we operate that have differing statutory tax rates;
•expansion to new jurisdictions;
•changes in tax laws, tax treaties and regulations or the interpretation of them;
•changes in our assessment of our ability to realize our deferred tax assets that are based on estimates of our future results, the advisability and feasibility of possible tax planning strategies and the economic and political environments in which we do business;
•the outcome of future tax audits, examinations or administrative appeals; and
•limitations or adverse findings regarding our ability to do business in some jurisdictions.
Any of these developments could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We could be required to collect additional sales taxes or be subject to other tax liabilities that may increase the costs our customers would have to pay for our products and adversely affect our results of operations.
An increasing number of states have considered or adopted laws that attempt to impose tax collection obligations on out-of-state companies. Additionally, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in 2018 in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. et al, or Wayfair, that online sellers can be required to collect sales and use tax despite not having a physical presence in the buyer’s
61
state. In response to Wayfair, or otherwise, state or local governments have adopted and may continue to adopt, or begin to enforce, laws requiring us to calculate, collect and remit taxes on sales in their jurisdictions. In addition, we are subject to indirect taxes in foreign jurisdictions, such as value-added tax and goods and services tax, in connection with certain foreign sales transactions. A successful assertion by one or more tax authorities requiring us to collect taxes where we presently do not do so, or to collect more taxes in a jurisdiction in which we currently do collect some taxes, could result in substantial tax liabilities, including taxes on past sales, as well as penalties and interest that we otherwise have not accounted for in our financial statements. The imposition by tax authorities of indirect tax collection obligations on out-of-jurisdiction sellers also could create additional administrative burdens for us, put us at a competitive disadvantage if similar obligations are not imposed on our competitors and decrease our future sales, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Intellectual Property
We employ third-party licensed software for use in or with our platform, and the inability to maintain these licenses or errors or vulnerabilities in the software we license could result in increased costs, or reduced service levels, which would adversely affect our business.
Our platform incorporates certain third-party software obtained under licenses from third parties. We anticipate that we will continue to rely on such third-party software and development tools from third parties in the future. Although we believe that there are commercially reasonable alternatives to the third-party software we currently license, including open-source software, this may not always be the case, or it may be difficult or costly to migrate to other third-party software. Our use of additional or alternative third-party software may require us to enter into new license agreements with third parties, which may not be available on as favorable terms as our current licenses. In addition, integration of the third-party software used in our software with new third-party software may require significant work and require substantial investment of our time and resources, or require downtime affecting our service level commitments. Also, any undetected errors, defects or security vulnerabilities in third-party software could prevent the deployment or impair the functionality of our software, delay new updates or enhancements to our platform, result in a failure of our platform and injure our reputation.
We use open-source software in our products, which could negatively affect our ability to sell our services or subject us to litigation or other actions.
We use open-source software in our products, and we expect to continue to incorporate open-source software in our services in the future. Few of the licenses applicable to open-source software have been interpreted by courts, and there is a risk that these licenses could be construed in a manner that could impose unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to commercialize our products or to maintain the confidentiality of our proprietary source code. Moreover, we may encounter instances in which we have incorporated additional open-source software in our proprietary software in a manner that is inconsistent with the terms of the applicable license or our current policies and procedures. While we have adopted guidelines for the appropriate use of, and regularly audit our use of, open-source software, these measures may not always be effective. If we were to combine or link our proprietary software products with open-source software in a certain manner, we could, under certain open-source licenses, be required to release the source code of our proprietary software products and allow others to use it at no cost. If an author or other third party that distributes such open-source software were to allege that we had not complied with the conditions of one or more of these licenses, we could be required to incur significant legal expenses defending against such allegations and could be subject to significant damages, enjoined from the sale of our products that contained the open-source software and required to comply with onerous conditions or restrictions on these products, which could disrupt the distribution and sale of these products or put our proprietary source code at risk.
From time to time, there have been claims challenging the ownership rights in open-source software against companies that incorporate it into their products and the licensors of such open-source software provide no warranties or indemnities with respect to such claims. As a result, we and our customers could be subject to lawsuits by parties claiming ownership of what we believe to be open-source software. Litigation could be costly for us to defend, have a negative effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, or require us to devote additional research and development resources to change our products. Some open-source projects have known vulnerabilities and architectural instabilities and are provided on an “as-is” basis which, if not properly addressed, could negatively affect the performance of our product. If we inappropriately use or incorporate open-source software subject to certain types of open-source licenses that challenge the proprietary nature of our products, we may be required to re-engineer such products, discontinue the sale of such products or take other remedial actions.
Any failure to protect our proprietary technology and intellectual property rights could substantially harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our success and ability to compete depend in part on our ability to protect our proprietary technology and intellectual property. To safeguard these rights, we rely on a combination of patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws and
62
contractual protections, all of which provide only limited protection and may not now or in the future provide us with a competitive advantage.
As of October 31, 2024, we owned 26 granted patents related to our platform and its technology and had four patent applications pending for examination in the United States and no non-U.S. patents or patent applications pending. Our patent applications may not result in the issuance of a patent, or the examination process may require us to narrow our claims. Any patents that issue from any patent applications may not give us the protection that we seek or may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented. Any patents that may issue in the future from our pending or future patent applications may not provide sufficiently broad protection and may not be valid and enforceable in actions against alleged infringers or provide us with a competitive advantage. Any patents we have obtained or may obtain in the future may be found to be invalid or unenforceable in light of recent and future changes in the law, or because of technology developed prior to the inventions we have sought to patent or because of defects in our patent prosecution process. The United States Patent and Trademark Office, or the USPTO, and various foreign governmental patent agencies also require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other similar provisions during the patent application process and after a patent has issued. There are situations in which noncompliance can result in abandonment or lapse of the patent or patent application, resulting in partial or complete loss of patent rights in the relevant jurisdiction.
We have registered the “Braze” name, logo, and/or other marks as trademarks in Australia, Canada, the EU, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Tonga, the United Kingdom, and the United States. However, any pending or future trademark applications may not be approved, and any registered trademarks may not be enforceable or provide adequate protection of our proprietary rights. The USPTO and various foreign trademark offices also require compliance with a number of procedural, documentary, fee payment and other similar provisions during the trademark registration process and after a registration has issued. There are situations in which noncompliance can result in abandonment or cancellation of a trademark filing, resulting in partial or complete loss of trademark rights in the relevant jurisdiction. If this occurs, our competitors might be able to enter the market under identical or similar brands or we may be forced to abandon marks that we currently rely on.
In order to protect our proprietary technologies and processes, we also rely on trade secret laws and confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with our employees, consultants, strategic partners, vendors and others. Also, despite our efforts to protect our proprietary technology and trade secrets, unauthorized parties may attempt to misappropriate, copy, reverse engineer or otherwise obtain and use them. In addition, others may independently discover our trade secrets. Further, the contractual provisions that we enter into may not prevent unauthorized use or disclosure of our proprietary technology or intellectual property rights and may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure of our proprietary technology or intellectual property rights. Moreover, policing unauthorized use of our technologies, trade secrets and intellectual property is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, particularly in countries where the laws may not be as protective of intellectual property rights as those in the United States and where mechanisms for enforcement of intellectual property rights may be weak. For instance, in response to U.S. sanctions, the Russian government has adopted a decree which allows local companies and individuals to use inventions, utility models and industrial designs held by owners from “unfriendly countries” without the owner’s consent and without paying any compensation. If similar policies or laws are adopted in other jurisdictions, it may be difficult for us to enforce our intellectual property rights internationally and subject us to material risk of unauthorized use of our technologies, trade secrets and intellectual property. As we expand our activities outside of the United States, our exposure to unauthorized copying and use of our platform and proprietary information may increase. We may be unable to determine the extent of any unauthorized use or infringement of our platform, technologies or intellectual property rights.
The steps that we take may not be adequate to protect our proprietary technology and intellectual property, others may develop or patent similar or superior technologies, products or services, or our trademarks, patents and other intellectual property may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented by others. Furthermore, effective trademark, patent, copyright and trade secret protection may not be available or commercially feasible in every country in which our software is available or where we have employees or independent contractors.
In order to protect our intellectual property rights, we may be required to spend significant resources to monitor and protect these rights. Litigation brought to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could be costly, time-consuming and distracting to management. Furthermore, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims and countersuits attacking the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights. Our failure to secure, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights could materially adversely affect our brand and business. An adverse determination of any litigation proceedings could put our intellectual property at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and could put our related patents, patent applications and trademark filings at risk of not issuing or being cancelled. Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, some of our confidential or sensitive information could be compromised by disclosure in the event of litigation. Our inability to protect our proprietary technology against unauthorized copying or use, as well as any costly litigation or diversion of our management’s attention and resources, could delay further sales or the implementation of our platform, impair the functionality of our platform, delay introductions of new functionality to our platform, result in our substituting inferior or more costly
63
technologies into our platform or injure our reputation. We will not be able to protect our intellectual property if we are unable to enforce our rights or if we do not detect unauthorized use of our intellectual property. If we fail to meaningfully protect our intellectual property and proprietary rights, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
We may be subject to intellectual property rights claims by third parties, which are extremely costly to defend, could require us to pay significant damages and could limit our ability to use certain technologies.
We cannot guarantee that the operation of our business does not infringe the intellectual property rights of third parties. Companies in the software and technology industries, including some of our current and potential competitors, own significant numbers of patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets and frequently enter into litigation based on allegations of infringement or other violations of intellectual property rights. In addition, many of these companies have the capability to dedicate substantially greater resources to enforce their intellectual property rights and to defend claims that may be brought against them. Further, patent litigation may involve patent holding companies, commonly known as patent “trolls,” or other adverse patent owners that have no relevant product revenue and against which our patents may therefore provide little or no deterrence. In the past, we have been subject to allegations of patent infringement that were unsuccessful, and we may in the future be subject to claims that we have misappropriated, misused, or infringed other parties’ intellectual property rights, and, to the extent we gain greater market visibility or face increasing competition, we face a higher risk of being the subject of intellectual property infringement claims, which is not uncommon with respect to enterprise software companies. In addition, we may in the future be subject to claims that employees or contractors, or we, have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed trade secrets or other proprietary information of our competitors or other parties. Because patent applications can take years to issue and are often afforded confidentiality for some period of time, there may currently be pending applications, unknown to us, that later result in issued patents that could cover one or more of our products. To the extent that intellectual property claims are made against our customers based on their usage of our technology, we have certain obligations to indemnify and defend such customers from those claims. The term of our contractual indemnity provisions often survives termination or expiration of the applicable agreement. Large indemnity payments, defense costs or damage claims from contractual breach could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Any intellectual property claims, with or without merit, could be very time-consuming, could be expensive to settle or litigate, could divert our management’s attention and other resources and could result in adverse publicity. These claims could also subject us to making substantial payments for legal fees, settlement payments and other costs or damages, potentially including treble damages if we are found to have willfully infringed patents or copyrights. Intellectual property claims could also result in our having to stop making, selling, offering for sale or using technology found to be in violation of a third party’s rights. We might be required to seek a license for the third-party intellectual property rights, which may not be available on reasonable terms or at all. Even if a license is available to us, we may be required to pay significant upfront fees, milestone payments or royalties, which would increase our operating expenses. Moreover, to the extent we only have a license to any intellectual property used in our platform, there may be no guarantee of continued access to such intellectual property, including on reasonable terms. As a result, we may be required to develop alternative non-infringing technology, which could require significant effort and expense. If a third party is able to obtain an injunction preventing us from accessing such third-party intellectual property rights, or if we cannot license or develop technology for any infringing aspect of our business, we would be forced to limit or stop sales of our products or cease business activities covered by such intellectual property and may be unable to compete effectively. Any of these results would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We could face liability, or our reputation might be harmed, as a result of the activities of our customers, the content sent through our platform or the data they store on our servers.
As a provider of cloud-based solutions, we may be subject to potential liability for the activities of our customers on or in connection with the content or data they store on or send through our servers. Although our customer terms of use and our acceptable use policy, or AUP, prohibit (1) illegal use of our services by our customers, (2) the use of our services for certain activities that do not comply with industry standards and guidelines outlined in our AUP, or (3) the use of our services in any manner that would infringe, misappropriate or otherwise violate the intellectual property rights of third parties, customers may nonetheless engage in prohibited activities or upload or store content with us in violation of our agreement, our AUP, applicable law or the customer’s own policies, which could subject us to liability and/or harm our reputation.
We do not typically monitor the content, activities or messages of our customers in connection with their use of our services, so inappropriate content may be sent to third parties, which could subject us to legal liability. Even if we comply with legal obligations to remove or disable certain content, our customers may continue to send messages through our platform that third parties may find hostile, offensive or inappropriate. The activities of our customers or the content of our customers’ messages may lead us to experience adverse political, business and reputational consequences, especially if such use is high profile. For instance, if our customers use our platform in violation of law it may subject us to increased regulatory scrutiny or direct financial penalties, either of which may have an adverse effect on our reputation and financial results, even if we have
64
complied with our legal obligations. Conversely, actions we take in response to the activities of our customers or users, up to and including suspending their use of our products or services, may harm our brand and reputation.
There are certain statutory and common law frameworks and doctrines that offer defenses against liability for customer activities, including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Communications Decency Act and the fair use doctrine in the United States and the Electronic Commerce Directive in the European Union. Although these and other statutes and case law in the United States offer certain defenses against liability from customer activities under U.S. copyright law or regarding secondary liability from the Telephone Consumer Protection Act or the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act, they are subject to uncertain or evolving judicial interpretation and regulatory and legislative amendments, and in any event we cannot assure you that we will be successful in asserting them. In addition, pending or recently adopted legislation in the European Union may impose additional obligations or liability on us associated with content uploaded by users to our platform. Laws governing these activities are unsettled in many international jurisdictions, or may prove difficult or impossible for us to comply with in some international jurisdictions. Even if ultimately resolved in our favor, we may become involved in related complaints, lawsuits or investigations which add cost to our doing business and may divert management’s time and attention or otherwise harm our reputation.
Our use of artificial intelligence, or AI, and machine learning in our platform and our business, as well as our potential failure to effectively implement, use, and market these technologies, may result in reputational harm or liability, or could otherwise adversely affect our business.
We have incorporated and may continue to incorporate AI and machine learning solutions and features, including generative AI solutions and features, into our platform, and otherwise within our business, and these solutions and features may become more important to our operations or to our future growth over time. There can be no assurance that the use of AI and machine learning solutions and features will enhance our products or services, produce the intended results, or be beneficial to our business, including our efficiency or profitability, and we may fail to properly implement or market our AI and machine learning solutions and features. Our competitors or other third parties may incorporate AI and machine learning tools into their products, offerings, and solutions more quickly or more successfully than we do, which could impair our ability to compete effectively, and adversely affect our results of operations.
Additionally, our AI and machine learning solutions and features may expose us to additional claims, demands, and proceedings by private parties and regulatory authorities and subject us to legal liability as well as brand and reputational harm. There are significant risks involved in utilizing AI and machine learning technologies, and in particular, generative AI technologies. For example, AI and machine learning algorithms may be flawed, insufficient, or of poor quality, reflect unwanted forms of bias, or contain other errors or inadequacies, any of which may not easily be detectable. AI and machine learning technologies have also been known to produce false or “hallucinatory” inferences or outputs. Further, inappropriate or controversial data practices by developers and end-users, or other factors adversely affecting public opinion regarding the use of AI and machine learning, could impair the acceptance of AI and machine learning solutions, including those incorporated into our products and services. If the AI and machine learning tools incorporated into our platform, or the content generated by such tools, is harmful, biased, inaccurate, discriminatory or controversial, we could suffer operational efficiencies in addition to legal, competitive and reputational harm, and our customers may be less likely to utilize our AI and machine learning tools or may cease using our platform altogether. If we do not have sufficient rights to use the output of such AI and machine learning tools, or the data or other material or content on which the AI and machine learning tools we use rely, we also may incur liability through the violation of applicable laws and regulations, third-party intellectual property, privacy or other rights, or contracts to which we are a party.
In addition, we are subject to the risks of new or enhanced governmental or regulatory scrutiny, litigation, or other legal liability, ethical concerns, negative consumer perceptions as to automation and AI and machine learning technologies, any of which could adversely affect our business, reputation, or financial results. The technologies underlying AI and machine learning and their uses are subject to a variety of laws and regulations related to online services, intermediary liability, intellectual property rights, privacy, data security and data protection, consumer protection, competition and equal opportunity laws, and are expected to be subject to increased regulation and new laws or new applications of existing laws and regulations. AI and machine learning technologies are the subject of ongoing review by various federal, state and foreign governments and regulators, which are applying, or are considering applying, their platform moderation, privacy, data security and data protection laws and regulations to such technologies. Additionally, various federal, state and foreign governments and regulators have implemented, or are considering implementing, general legal and regulatory frameworks for the appropriate use of AI and machine learning, such as the EU AI Act which entered into force on August 1, 2024. As the legal, regulatory, and policy environments around AI and machine learning evolve, we may become subject to new legal and regulatory obligations in connection with our use of AI and machine learning technology, which could require us to make significant changes to our policies and practices, necessitating expenditure of significant time, expense, and other resources. We may not be able to anticipate how to respond to rapidly evolving legal and regulatory frameworks, and we may have to expend resources to adjust our offerings in certain jurisdictions if the legal and regulatory frameworks on AI and machine learning products are not consistent across jurisdictions. Accordingly, it is not possible to predict all of the risks related to the use of AI and machine
65
learning solutions that we may face, and changes in laws, rules, directives, and regulations governing the use of AI and machine learning solutions may adversely affect our ability to use or sell these solutions or subject us to legal liability.
Risks Related to Socioeconomic Factors
Our future revenue and results of operations could be harmed if the increases in demand we have seen from certain industries as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic fail to continue over the long term.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments previously instituted shelter-in-place orders, social distancing requirements, travel restrictions and similar measures to slow infection rates. These restrictions prompted shifts from physical commerce to e-commerce, from in-room dining to take out and delivery, from gyms to at home health and fitness and from the theaters to in-home media streaming services. Despite our penetration in these industries that benefited from increased demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, this trend may not continue over the long term. Some of our customers have experienced, and may continue to experience, decreases or decreased growth rates in transactions, which would negatively affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We may also continue to experience decreases or decreased growth rates in sales of new subscriptions to some of our customers, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Natural catastrophic events and human-made problems such as climate change, power disruptions, computer viruses, global pandemics, data security breaches and terrorism may disrupt our business.
We rely heavily on our network infrastructure and information technology systems for our business operations. An online attack, damage as a result of civil unrest, earthquake, fire, terrorist attack, power loss, global pandemics, telecommunications failures, climate change-related events or other similar catastrophic event could cause system interruptions, delays in accessing our service, reputational harm and loss of critical data. Such events could prevent us from providing our platform and products to our customers. A catastrophic event that results in the destruction or disruption of our data centers, or our network infrastructure, or information technology systems, including any errors, defects, or failures in third-party hardware, could affect our ability to conduct normal business operations and adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, many companies that provide cloud-based services have reported a significant increase in cyberattack activity in recent years. Further, events outside of our control, including natural disasters, climate change-related events, pandemics or health crises may arise from time to time and be accompanied by governmental actions. Any such events and responses, including regulatory developments, may cause significant volatility and declines in the global markets, disproportionate impacts to certain industries or sectors, disruptions to commerce (including to economic activity, travel and supply chains), loss of life and property damage, and may materially and adversely affect the global economy or capital markets, as well as our business and results of operations.
Risks Related to Public Company Reporting and Public Disclosure Practices
We are obligated to develop and maintain proper and effective internal controls over financial reporting, and any failure to maintain the adequacy of these internal controls may adversely affect investor confidence in our company and, as a result, the value of our Class A common stock.
We are required, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, to furnish a report by management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting on an annual basis. This assessment must include disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, our independent registered public accounting firm is required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Our compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we incur substantial expenses and expend significant management efforts. We have hired, and need to continue to hire, additional accounting and financial staff with appropriate public company experience and technical accounting knowledge to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
During the evaluation and testing process of our internal controls in future years, if we identify one or more material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, we may be unable to certify that our internal control over financial reporting is effective. We cannot assure you that there will not be material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting in the future. Any failure to maintain internal control over financial reporting could severely inhibit our ability to accurately report our financial condition or results of operations. If we are unable to conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm determines we have a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, we could lose investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, the market price of our Class A common stock could decline, and we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the SEC or other regulatory authorities. Failure to remedy any material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, or to implement or maintain other effective control systems required of public companies, could also restrict our future access to the capital markets.
66
We are subject to risks related to our environmental, social, and governance practices and disclosures.
There is an increasing focus from regulators, certain investors and other stakeholders concerning environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, matters, both in the United States and internationally. Often those stakeholders have differing, and sometimes conflicting, priorities or requirements regarding ESG matters. The heightened and sometimes conflicting stakeholder focus on ESG issues related to our business requires the continuous monitoring of various and evolving laws, regulations, standards and expectations and the associated reporting requirements. Our interpretation or application of such reporting requirements may change over time or differ from other similarly situated companies. Certain organizations also provide ESG ratings, scores and benchmarking studies that assess companies’ ESG practices. Although there are no universal standards for such ratings, scores or benchmarking studies, they are used by some investors to inform their investment and voting decisions. It is possible that our future shareholders or organizations that report on, rate or score ESG practices will not be satisfied with our ESG strategy or performance. Unfavorable or inaccurate press about ratings or assessments of our ESG strategies or practices, regardless of whether or not we comply with applicable legal requirements, may lead to adverse investor sentiment toward us, which in turn could have an adverse impact on our share price, demand for our securities and our access to, and cost of, capital.
In addition, any of our current or future social impact practices and initiatives could be difficult to achieve and costly to implement. In the event that we publicly disclose, voluntarily or otherwise, certain practices and initiatives regarding ESG matters, we could fail, or be perceived to fail, in our achievement of such practices or initiatives, or we could be criticized for the scope of such practices or initiatives, which could negatively impact our ability to attract or retain employees or customers or reduce the attractiveness of our stock in the investment community. There has also been a recent increase in litigation surrounding ESG practices and related disclosures. For example, there is increased focus by regulators, investors and other stakeholders on greenwashing and sustainability-related claims. There can be no assurance that we will not be subject to allegations or claims associated with our sustainability-related claims or other ESG practices and initiatives.
Risks Related to Ownership of Our Class A Common Stock
We do not intend to pay dividends for the foreseeable future and, as a result, your ability to achieve a return on your investment will depend on appreciation in the price of our Class A common stock.
We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our Class A or Class B common stock and we do not intend to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. We anticipate that we will retain all of our future earnings for use in the development of our business and for general corporate purposes. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors and governed by the limitations of any credit agreements we may become party to. Accordingly, investors must rely on sales of their Class A common stock after price appreciation, which may never occur, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investments.
The dual class structure of our common stock has the effect of concentrating voting control with our executive officers, directors and significant holders of our capital stock, which limits the ability of holders of our Class A common stock to influence the outcome of important transactions.
Our Class B common stock has ten votes per share and our Class A common stock, which is the stock listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, has one vote per share. As a result, as of October 31, 2024, holders of our Class B common stock collectively beneficially owned, in the aggregate, shares representing approximately 71.1% of the voting power of our outstanding capital stock, and our executive officers, directors and holders of 5% or more of our common stock (by voting power) collectively beneficially owned, in the aggregate, outstanding shares representing approximately 75.8% of the total voting power of our outstanding capital stock. As a result, the holders of our Class B common stock, and in particular our executive officers, directors and holders of 5% or more of our common stock (by voting power), will be able to exercise considerable influence over matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions, such as a merger or other sale of our company or our assets, even if their stock holdings represent less than 50% of the outstanding shares of our capital stock. This concentration of ownership will limit the ability of other stockholders to influence corporate matters and may cause us to make strategic decisions that could involve risks to holders of our Class A common stock or that may not be aligned with the interests of holders of our Class A common stock. This control may adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock.
Further, future transfers by holders of our Class B common stock will generally result in those shares converting into shares of our Class A common stock, subject to limited exceptions, such as certain transfers effected for tax or estate planning purposes. The conversion of shares of our Class B common stock into shares of our Class A common stock will have the effect, over time, of increasing the relative voting power of those holders of Class B common stock who retain their shares in the long term.
67
We cannot predict the impact our dual class structure may have on the market price of our Class A common stock.
We cannot predict whether our dual class structure, combined with the concentrated control of certain stockholders, including our executive officers, employees and directors, investors and their affiliates, will result in a lower or more volatile market price of our Class A common stock or in adverse publicity or other adverse consequences. For example, certain index providers have announced restrictions on including companies with multiple class share structures in certain of their indexes, and our dual class capital structure may make it more difficult for us, or make us ineligible, to be included in certain stock indexes. Given the sustained flow of investment funds into passive strategies that seek to track certain indexes, exclusion from stock indexes would likely preclude investment by many of these funds and could make our Class A common stock less attractive to other investors. As a result, the market price of our Class A common stock could be adversely affected.
An active public trading market for our Class A common stock may not develop or be sustained.
Prior to the closing of our initial public offering, no public market for our Class A common stock existed. An active public trading market for our Class A common stock may not continue to develop or, if further developed, it may not be sustained. The lack of an active market may impair the ability of holders of our Class A common stock to sell their shares at the time they wish to sell them or at a price that the holders of our Class A common stock consider reasonable. The lack of an active market may also reduce the fair value of shares of our Class A common stock. An inactive market may also impair our ability to raise capital to continue to fund operations by selling shares and may impair our ability to acquire other companies or technologies by using our shares as consideration.
Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and under Delaware law could make an acquisition of our company more difficult, limit attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management and limit the market price of our Class A common stock.
Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, each as currently in effect, may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control or changes in our management. Such amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws include provisions that:
•authorize our board of directors to issue, without further action by the stockholders, shares of undesignated preferred stock with terms, rights and preferences determined by our board of directors that may be senior to our Class A common stock;
•require that any action to be taken by our stockholders be effected at a duly called annual or special meeting and not by written consent;
•specify that special meetings of our stockholders can be called only by our board of directors, the chairperson of our board of directors or our chief executive officer;
•establish an advance notice procedure for stockholder proposals to be brought before an annual meeting, including proposed nominations of persons for election to our board of directors;
•establish that our board of directors is divided into three classes, with each class serving three-year staggered terms;
•prohibit cumulative voting in the election of directors;
•provide that our directors may be removed for cause only upon the vote of at least 66 2/3% of our outstanding shares of voting stock;
•provide that vacancies on our board of directors may be filled only by a majority of directors then in office, even though less than a quorum; and
•require the approval of our board of directors or the holders of at least 66 2/3% of our outstanding shares of voting stock to amend our bylaws and certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation.
These provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors, which is responsible for appointing the members of our management. In addition, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, or DGCL, which generally, subject to certain exceptions, prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in any of a broad range of business combinations with any “interested” stockholder for a period of three years following the date on which the stockholder became an “interested” stockholder. Any of the foregoing provisions could limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our Class A common stock, and they could deter potential acquirers of our company, thereby reducing the likelihood that holders of our Class A common stock would receive a premium for their shares of our Class A common stock in an acquisition.
The provision of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation requiring exclusive venue in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware and the federal district courts of the United States for certain types of lawsuits may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.
68
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation as currently in effect provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware be the sole and exclusive forum for:
•any derivative claim or cause of action brought on our behalf;
•any claim or cause of action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty;
•any claim or cause of action against us arising under the DGCL;
•any claim or cause of action arising under or seeking to interpret our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws; and
•any claim or cause of action against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation as currently in effect further provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for the resolutions of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, including all causes of action asserted against any defendant named in such complaint. The exclusive forum clauses described above shall not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. For the avoidance of doubt, this provision is intended to benefit and may be enforced by us, our officers and directors, the underwriters to any offering giving rise to such complaint, and any other professional entity whose profession gives authority to a statement made by that person or entity and who has prepared or certified any part of the documents underlying any offering.
Although we believe these provisions benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of applicable law in the types of lawsuits to which they apply, the provisions may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers. The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation has been challenged in legal proceedings, and there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such provisions. In addition, investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. It is possible that, in connection with any applicable action brought against us, a court could find the choice of forum provisions contained in our currently effective amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in such action. If so, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Future sales of our Class A common stock in the public market could cause the market price of our Class A common stock to decline.
Future sales of a substantial number of shares of our Class A common stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our Class A common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. Many of our existing equity holders have substantial unrecognized gains on the value of the equity they hold, and therefore they may take steps to sell their shares or otherwise secure the unrecognized gains on those shares. We are unable to predict the effect that such sales may have on the prevailing market price of our Class A common stock.
We have registered all of our common stock issuable upon exercise of outstanding stock options, settlement of outstanding restricted stock units, or RSUs, or otherwise issuable pursuant to the terms of the purchase rights under our employee stock purchase plan or any equity incentives we may grant in the future, for public resale under the Securities Act. Such underlying common stock will become eligible for sale in the public market to the extent such options or purchase rights are exercised or RSUs are settled, subject to compliance with applicable securities laws.
Further, the holders of Class A and Class B common stock issued in connection with the conversion of our previously outstanding convertible preferred stock immediately prior to the completion of our initial public offering have rights, subject to some conditions, to require us to file registration statements covering the sale of their shares or to include their shares in registration statements that we may file for ourselves or other stockholders.
General Risk Factors
The price of our Class A common stock may be volatile, and you may lose some or all of your investment.
The market price of our Class A common stock may be highly volatile and may fluctuate substantially as a result of a variety of factors. Factors that may affect the market price of our Class A common stock include:
•actual or anticipated fluctuations in our financial condition and results of operations;
•variance in our financial performance from expectations of securities analysts;
•changes in the prices of our products and services;
•changes in our projected financial condition and results of operations;
69
•changes in laws or regulations applicable to the provision of our products and services or changes that may cause us to incur, among other elements, additional or unforeseen expenses associated with regulatory compliance;
•announcements by us or our competitors of significant business developments, acquisitions or new offerings;
•security breaches impacting us or similar companies;
•our involvement in any material litigation;
•future sales of our Class A common stock by us or our stockholders or our sales of other securities in the future;
•changes in senior management or key personnel;
•the trading volume of our Class A common stock;
•changes in the anticipated future size and growth rate of our market;
•general economic, regulatory and market conditions; and
•technical factors in the public trading market for our Class A common stock that may produce price movements that may or may not comport with macro, industry, or company-specific fundamentals, including, without limitation, the sentiment of retail investors, the amount and status of short interest in our securities, access to margin debt, trading in options and other derivatives on our Class A common stock and other technical trading factors.
Accordingly, we cannot assure you of the liquidity of an active trading market, your ability to sell your shares of our Class A common stock when desired, or the prices that you may obtain for your shares of our Class A common stock. The lack of an active market may impair your ability to sell your shares at the time you wish to sell them or at a price that you consider reasonable. The lack of an active market may also reduce the fair value of your shares. An inactive market may also impair our ability to raise capital to continue to fund operations by selling shares and may impair our ability to acquire other companies or technologies by using our shares as consideration.
The stock markets have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many companies. These fluctuations have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. Additionally, the recent and acute volatility among certain financial institutions have raised questions regarding the stability of the banking sector and, while such volatility has not adversely affected our operations, it has had an adverse impact on the equity and credit markets. Broad market and industry fluctuations, as well as general economic, political, regulatory and market conditions, may negatively impact the market price of our Class A common stock. In the past, companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their securities have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future, which could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention.
Our issuance of additional capital stock in connection with financings, acquisitions, investments, our equity incentive plans or otherwise will dilute all other stockholders.
We expect to issue additional capital stock in the future that will result in dilution to all other stockholders. We expect to grant equity awards to employees, directors and consultants under our equity incentive plans and purchase rights to our employees under our employee stock purchase plan. We may also raise capital through equity financings in the future. As part of our business strategy, we may acquire or make investments in companies, products, services or technologies and issue equity securities to pay for any such acquisition or investment. Any such issuances of additional capital stock may cause stockholders to experience significant dilution of their ownership interests and the per share value of our Class A common stock to decline.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business or publish negative reports about our business, our share price and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our Class A common stock depends, in part, on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We do not have any control over these analysts. If our financial performance fails to meet analyst estimates or one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our shares or change their opinion of our shares, our share price would likely decline. Our business results may vary significantly from such analyst estimates or any analyst consensus due to a number of factors, many of which are outside of our control, including due to the global economic uncertainty and financial market conditions, including as a result of global or domestic macroeconomic and socioeconomic conditions such as, among others, instability in the banking and financial services sector, international and domestic supply chain risks, inflationary pressure, interest rate increases, declines in consumer confidence, international conflicts and domestic and foreign political unrest, that impact us and our customers, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our share price or trading volume to decline.
Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities
The following sets forth information regarding all of our unregistered securities sold in the fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2024:
70
•On August 1, 2024, we issued 32,155 shares of our Class A common stock to a charitable donor-advised fund for no consideration in connection with our Pledge 1% commitment pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act as this issuance did not involve a public offering.
Use of Proceeds
Not applicable.
Item 3. Defaults Upon Senior Securities
Not applicable.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
Item 5. Other Information
(a)
On December 9, 2024, the Company’s board of directors amended and restated the bylaws of the Company, effective as of the date of adoption (the “Amended Bylaws”), in connection with the Company’s periodic review of its bylaws. The Amended Bylaws, among other things, amended the prior bylaws to clarify the notice and information to be delivered to the Company and other procedures to be followed by a stockholder wishing to nominate persons for election to the board of directors or to propose other business at a meeting of stockholders, including that:
•the number of nominees a stockholder may nominate for election at a meeting of stockholders on its own behalf (or in the case of a stockholder giving the notice on behalf of a beneficial owner, the number of nominees a stockholder may nominate for election at a meeting of stockholders on behalf of such beneficial owner) shall not exceed the number of directors to be elected at such annual meeting;
•the stockholder’s notice for any such director nominee shall include, among other additional matters:
◦any questionnaire, representation and agreement otherwise required under the terms of the Amended Bylaws and signed by such nominee, and
◦a description of all direct and indirect compensation and other material monetary agreements, arrangements and understandings during the past three years, and any other material relationships, between or among such nominee proponents on the one hand, and each such proposed nominee and his or her respective affiliates and associates on the other hand, including, without limitation, all information that would be required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 promulgated under Regulation S-K under the Exchange Act if the stockholder making the nomination or any such proponents were the “registrant” for purposes of such rule and the nominee were a director or executive officer of such registrant;
•the stockholder notice for any proposal of other business shall include all other information relating to such business or proposal as would be required to be disclosed in a proxy statement soliciting proxies in support of such business or proposal or that is otherwise required to be disclosed pursuant to Section 14 of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder;
•the stockholder’s notice for any director nominee or proposal for other business shall include, among other additional matters:
◦a representation whether any proponent or any other participant (as defined in Item 4 of Schedule 14A under the Exchange Act) will engage in a solicitation with respect to such nomination or proposal and, if so, the name of each participant in such solicitation and the amount of the cost of solicitation that has been and will be borne, directly or indirectly, by each participant in such solicitation, and a representation as to whether the proponents intend (x) to deliver, or make available, a proxy statement and form of proxy to holders of a sufficient number of the corporation’s voting shares to adopt such proposal, (y) to otherwise solicit proxies or votes from stockholders in support of such proposal or nomination and/or (z) to solicit proxies in support of any proposed nominee in accordance with Rule 14a-19 promulgated under the Exchange Act;
◦a certification regarding whether each proponent has complied with all applicable federal, state and other legal requirements in connection with such proponent’s acquisition of shares of capital stock or other
71
securities of the Company and/or such proponent’s acts or omissions as a stockholder or beneficial owner of the Company; and
◦any other information relating to each proponent required to be disclosed in a proxy statement or other filings required to be made in connection with solicitations of proxies for, as applicable, the proposal and/or for the election of directors in an election contest pursuant to and in accordance with Section 14 of the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder;
•to be eligible to be a nominee for election or re-election as a director of the Company, each proponent of such nominee must deliver to the Company a written questionnaire with respect to the background, qualifications, stock ownership and independence of such proposed nominee and the background of any other person or entity on whose behalf the nomination is being made (in the form provided by the Secretary of the Company within 10 days following a written request therefor by a stockholder of record) and a written representation and agreement (in the form provided by the Secretary of the Company within 10 days following written request therefor by a stockholder of record) that such person:
◦is not and will not become a party to any agreement, arrangement or understanding (whether oral or in writing) with, and has not given any commitment or assurance to, any person or entity as to how such person, if elected as a director of the Company, will act or vote on any issue or question that (x) has not been disclosed to the Company in the questionnaire or (y) could limit or interfere with such person’s ability to comply, if elected as a director of the Company, with such person’s fiduciary duties under applicable law;
◦is not and will not become a party to any agreement, arrangement or understanding with any person or entity other than the corporation with respect to any direct or indirect compensation, reimbursement or indemnification in connection with service or action as a director of the Company or a nominee therefor that has not been disclosed to the Company in such questionnaire;
◦would be in compliance, if elected as a director of the Company, and a statement whether or not such person intends, if elected, to comply, with, all applicable publicly disclosed corporate governance, conflict of interest, confidentiality and stock ownership and trading policies and guidelines of the Company; and
◦if elected as a director of the Company, intends to serve the entire term until the next meeting at which such candidate would face re-election; and
•if the stockholder (or a qualified representative of the stockholder) does not appear at the meeting of stockholders to present a nomination or proposed business, such nomination shall be disregarded (and such nominee disqualified from standing for election or re-election) and such proposed business shall not be transacted, notwithstanding that such nomination or proposed business is set forth in (as applicable) the Company’s proxy statement, notice of meeting or other proxy materials and notwithstanding that proxies or votes in respect of such vote may have been solicited or received by the Company.
In addition, the Amended Bylaws implemented technical and administrative changes to the prior bylaws, including changes related to and consistent with the foregoing amendments and to address recent changes in Delaware law.
The foregoing summary does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the complete text of the Amended Bylaws, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 3.2 and incorporated herein by this reference.
(b)
On September 25, 2024 , Jonathan Hyman , our Chief Technology Officer , terminated a trading plan intended to satisfy the affirmative defense conditions of Rule 10b5-1(c) under the Exchange Act. The trading plan 217,000 shares of our Class A common stock, subject to the satisfaction of specified price conditions.
Item 6. Exhibits
The documents listed in the Exhibit Index of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are incorporated by reference or are filed with this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, in each case as indicated therein (numbered in accordance with Item 601 of Regulation S-K).
72
EXHIBIT INDEX
Incorporated by Reference | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Exhibit Number | Description | Form | File No. | Exhibit | Filing Date | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3.1 | 8-K | 001-41065 | 3.1 | November 23, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3.2+ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
31.1+ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
31.2+ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
32.1*+ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
101.INS+ | Inline XBRL Instance Document - the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
101.SCH+ | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
101.CAL+ | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
101.DEF+ | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
101.LAB+ | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
101.PRE+ | Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
104+ | Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
* The certifications attached as Exhibit 32 that accompany this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are deemed furnished and not filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are not to be incorporated by reference into any filing of Braze, Inc. under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, whether made before or after the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, irrespective of any general incorporation language contained in such filing.
+ Indicates an Exhibit filed herewith.
73
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
| Braze, Inc. | ||||||||
| By: | /s/ William Magnuson | |||||||
| William Magnuson | ||||||||
| Chief Executive Officer | ||||||||
| (Principal Executive Officer) | ||||||||
Date: December 9, 2024 | ||||||||
| By: | /s/ Isabelle Winkles | |||||||
| Isabelle Winkles | ||||||||
| Chief Financial Officer | ||||||||
| (Principal Financial Officer) | ||||||||
Date: December 9, 2024 | ||||||||
74
Exhibit 3.2
AMENDED AND RESTATED
BYLAWS
OF
BRAZE, INC.
(A DELAWARE CORPORATION)
December 9, 2024
AMENDED AND RESTATED BYLAWS
OF
BRAZE, INC.
(A DELAWARE CORPORATION)
ARTICLE I
OFFICES
Section 1. Registered Office. The registered office of Braze, Inc. (the “corporation”) in the State of Delaware shall be as set forth in the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the corporation, as the same may be amended or restated from time to time (the “Certificate of Incorporation”).
Section 2. Other Offices. The corporation may also have and maintain an office or principal place of business at such place as may be fixed by the Board of Directors of the corporation (the “Board of Directors”), and may also have offices at such other places, both within and without the State of Delaware as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine or the business of the corporation may require.
ARTICLE II
CORPORATE SEAL
Section 3. Corporate Seal. The Board of Directors may adopt a corporate seal. If adopted, the corporate seal shall consist of a die bearing the name of the corporation and the inscription, “Corporate Seal-Delaware.” Said seal may be used by causing it or a facsimile thereof to be impressed or affixed or reproduced or otherwise.
ARTICLE III
STOCKHOLDERS’ MEETINGS
Section 4. Place of Meetings. Meetings of the stockholders of the corporation may be held at such place, if any, either within or without the State of Delaware, as may be determined from time to time by the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors may, in its sole discretion, determine that the meeting shall not be held at any place, but may instead be held solely by means of remote communication as provided under the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (“DGCL”) and Section 14 below.
Section 5. Annual Meetings.
a.The annual meeting of the stockholders of the corporation, for the purpose of election of directors and for such other business as may properly come before it, shall be held on such date and at such time as may be designated from time to time by the Board of Directors. Nominations of persons for election to the Board of Directors and proposals of business to be considered by the stockholders may be made at an annual meeting of stockholders: (i) pursuant to the corporation’s notice of meeting of stockholders; (ii) by or at the direction of the Board of Directors or a duly authorized committee thereof; or (iii) by any stockholder of the corporation who was a stockholder of record (and, with respect to any beneficial owner, if different, on whose behalf such business is proposed or such nomination or nominations are made, only if such beneficial owner was the beneficial owner of shares of the corporation) at the time of giving the stockholder’s notice provided for in Section 5(b) below and at the time of the annual meeting, who is entitled to vote at the meeting and who complied with the notice procedures set forth in this Section 5. For the avoidance of doubt, clause (iv) above shall be the exclusive means for a stockholder to make nominations and submit other business (other than matters properly included in the corporation’s notice of meeting of stockholders and proxy statement under Rule 14a-8 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder (the “1934 Act”)) before an annual meeting of stockholders.
b.At an annual meeting of the stockholders, only such business shall be conducted as is a proper matter for stockholder action under Delaware law, the Certificate of Incorporation and the Bylaws of the corporation, as the same may be amended or restated from time to time (the “Bylaws”), and as shall have been properly brought before the meeting in accordance with the procedures below.
i.For nominations for the election to the Board of Directors to be properly brought before an annual meeting by a stockholder pursuant to clause (iii) of Section 5(a), the stockholder must deliver written
notice to the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the corporation on a timely basis as set forth in Section 5(b)(iii) and must update and supplement such written notice on a timely basis as set forth in Section 5(c). In addition to the information required by Section 5(b)(iv), stockholder’s notice shall set forth, as to each nominee such stockholder proposes to nominate at the meeting:
A.the name, age, business address and residence address of such nominee,
B.the principal occupation or employment of such nominee,
C.the class or series and number of shares of each class or series of capital stock of the corporation that are owned of record and beneficially by such nominee and list of any pledge of or encumbrances on such shares,
D.the date or dates on which such shares were acquired and the investment intent of such acquisition,
E.the questionnaire, representation and agreement required by Section 5(e), completed and signed by such nominee,
F.a description of all direct and indirect compensation and other material monetary agreements, arrangements and understandings during the past three years, and any other material relationships, between or among Proponents (as defined in Section 5(b)(iv) of these Bylaws) on the one hand, and each such proposed nominee and his or her respective affiliates and associates on the other hand, including, without limitation, all information that would be required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 404 promulgated under Regulation S-K under the 1934 Act if the stockholder making the nomination or any such Proponents were the “registrant” for purposes of such rule and the nominee were a director or executive officer of such registrant, and
G.all other information concerning such nominee as would be required to be disclosed in a proxy statement soliciting proxies for the election of such nominee as a director in an election contest (even if an election contest is not involved and whether or not proxies are being or will be solicited), or that is otherwise required to be disclosed pursuant to Section 14 of the 1934 Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder (including such person’s written consent to being named as a nominee in a proxy statement and associated proxy card and to serving as a director if elected).
The corporation may require any proposed nominee to furnish such other information as it may reasonably require to determine the eligibility of such proposed nominee to serve as an independent director of the corporation (as such term is used in any applicable stock exchange listing requirements or applicable law) or on any committee or sub-committee of the Board of Directors under any applicable stock exchange listing requirements or applicable law, or that the Board of Directors determines, in good faith, could be material to a reasonable stockholder’s understanding of the background, qualifications, experience, independence, or lack thereof, of such proposed nominee. The number of nominees a stockholder may nominate for election at an annual meeting on its own behalf (or in the case of a stockholder giving the notice on behalf of a beneficial owner, the number of nominees a stockholder may nominate for election at an annual meeting on behalf of such beneficial owner) shall not exceed the number of directors to be elected at such annual meeting. A stockholder may not designate any alternate nominees unless the stockholder provides timely notice of such alternate nominee(s) in accordance with this Section 5, in the case of an annual meeting, or Section 6, in the case of a special meeting (and such notice contains all of the information, representations, questionnaires and certifications with respect to such alternate nominee(s) that are required by the Bylaws with respect to nominees for director).
ii.Other than proposals sought to be included in the corporation’s proxy materials pursuant to Rule 14a-8 under the 1934 Act, for business other than nominations for the election to the Board of Directors to be properly brought before an annual meeting by a stockholder pursuant to clause (iii) of Section 5(a), the stockholder must deliver written notice to the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the corporation on a timely basis as set forth in Section 5(b)(iii), and must update and supplement such written notice on a timely basis as set forth in Section 5(c). In addition to the information required by Section 5(b)(iv), such stockholder’s notice shall set forth, as to each matter such stockholder proposes to bring before the meeting, a brief description of the business desired to be brought before the meeting:
A.the text of the proposal or business (including the text of any resolutions proposed for consideration and in the event that such business includes a proposal to amend the Bylaws, the language of the proposed amendment),
B.the reasons for conducting such business at the meeting,
C.any material interest (including any anticipated benefit of such business to any Proponent (as defined below) other than solely as a result of its ownership of the corporation’s capital stock, that is material to any Proponent individually, or to the Proponents in the aggregate) in such business of any Proponent, and
D.all other information relating to such business or proposal as would be required to be disclosed in a proxy statement soliciting proxies in support of such business or proposal or that is otherwise required to be disclosed pursuant to Section 14 of the 1934 Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
iii.To be timely, the written notice required by Section 5(b)(i) or 5(b)(ii) must be received by the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the corporation not later than the close of business on the 90th day, nor earlier than the close of business on the 120th day, prior to the first anniversary of the immediately preceding year’s annual meeting; provided, however, that, subject to the last sentence of this Section 5(b)(iii), in the event that the date of the annual meeting is advanced more than 30 days prior to or delayed by more than 30 days after the anniversary of the preceding year’s annual meeting, notice by the stockholder to be timely must be so received not earlier than the close of business on the 120th day prior to such annual meeting and not later than the close of business on the later of the 90th day prior to such annual meeting or, if later than the 90th day prior to such annual meeting, the tenth day following the day on which public announcement of the date of such meeting is first made by the corporation. In no event shall an adjournment or postponement (or the public announcement thereof) of an annual meeting for which notice has been given, or the public announcement thereof has been made, commence a new time period (or extend any time period) for the giving of a stockholder’s notice as described above.
iv.The written notice required by Sections 5(b)(i) or 5(b)(ii) shall also set forth, as to the stockholder giving the notice and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the nomination or proposal is made, and any affiliates or associates of such stockholder or any such beneficial owner (each, a “Proponent” and collectively, the “Proponents”):
A.the name and address of each Proponent, including, if applicable, such name and address as they appear on the corporation’s books and records;
B.the class, series and number of shares of each class or series of the capital stock of the corporation that are, directly or indirectly, owned of record or beneficially (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 under the 1934 Act) by each Proponent (provided, that for purposes of this Section 5(b)(iv), such Proponent shall in all events be deemed to beneficially own all shares of any class or series of capital stock of the corporation as to which such Proponent has a right to acquire beneficial ownership at any time in the future);
C.a description of any agreement, arrangement or understanding (whether oral or in writing) with respect to such nomination or proposal (and/or the voting of shares of any class or series of capital stock of the corporation) between or among any Proponent, and any others (including their names) including without limitation, any agreements, arrangements or understandings required to be disclosed pursuant to Item 5 or Item 6 of 1934 Act Schedule 13D, regardless of whether the requirement to file a Schedule 13D is applicable;
D.a representation that the Proponents are holders of record or beneficial owners, as the case may be, of shares of the corporation at the time of giving notice, will be entitled to vote at the meeting, and that the stockholder giving the notice (or a qualified representative thereof) intends to appear in person or by proxy at the meeting to nominate the person or persons specified in the notice (with respect to a notice under Section 5(b)(i)) or to propose the business that is specified in the notice (with respect to a notice under Section 5(b)(ii));
E.a representation as to whether any Proponent or any other participant (as defined in Item 4 of Schedule 14A under the 1934 Act) will engage in a solicitation with respect to such
nomination or proposal and, if so, the name of each participant in such solicitation and the amount of the cost of solicitation that has been and will be borne, directly or indirectly, by each participant in such solicitation, and a representation as to whether the Proponents intend (x) to deliver, or make available, a proxy statement and form of proxy to holders of a sufficient number of the corporation’s voting shares to adopt such proposal (with respect to a notice under Section 5(b)(ii)), (y) to otherwise solicit proxies or votes from stockholders in support of such proposal or nomination and/or (z) to solicit proxies in support of any proposed nominee in accordance with Rule 14a-19 promulgated under the 1934 Act;
F.to the extent known by any Proponent, the name and address of any other stockholder who has provided or is providing financial support or other material assistance in support of the nomination or proposal;
G.a description of all Derivative Transactions (as defined below) by each Proponent during the previous 12-month period, including the date of the transactions and the class, series and number of securities involved in, and the material economic or voting terms of, such Derivative Transactions;
H.a certification regarding whether each Proponent has complied with all applicable federal, state and other legal requirements in connection with such Proponent’s acquisition of shares of capital stock or other securities of the corporation and/or such Proponent’s acts or omissions as a stockholder or beneficial owner of the corporation; and
I.any other information relating to each Proponents required to be disclosed in a proxy statement or other filings required to be made in connection with solicitations of proxies for, as applicable, the proposal and/or for the election of directors in an election contest pursuant to and in accordance with Section 14 of the 1934 Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
c.A stockholder providing the written notice required by Section 5(b)(i) or 5(b)(ii) shall update and supplement such notice in writing, if necessary, so that the information provided or required to be provided in such notice is true and correct in all material respects as of (i) the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to notice of the meeting and (ii) the date that is five Business Days (as defined below) prior to the meeting and, in the event of any adjournment or postponement thereof, five Business Days prior to such adjourned or postponed meeting; provided, that no such update or supplement shall cure or affect the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of any representations made by any Proponent or a nominee or the validity (or invalidity) of any nomination or proposal that failed to comply with this Section 5 or is rendered invalid as a result of any inaccuracy therein. In the case of an update and supplement pursuant to clause (i) of this Section 5(c), such update and supplement shall be received by the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the corporation not later than five Business Days after the public announcement of the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to notice of the meeting. In the case of an update and supplement pursuant to clause (ii) of this Section 5(c), such update and supplement shall be received by the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the corporation not later than two Business Days prior to the date for the meeting, and, in the event of any adjournment or postponement thereof, two Business Days prior to such adjourned or postponed meeting (or if there are fewer than two Business Days between the date for the meeting, or the date of the immediately preceding adjournment or postponement thereof, and the date for the adjourned or postponed meeting, not later the day prior to such adjourned or postponed meeting).
d.Notwithstanding anything in Section 5(b)(iii) to the contrary, in the event that the number of directors in an Expiring Class (as defined below) to be elected to the Board of Directors at the next annual meeting is increased and there is no public announcement by the corporation naming all of the nominees for the Expiring Class or specifying the size of the increased Expiring Class at least 10 days before the last day a stockholder may deliver a notice of nomination in accordance with Section 5(b)(iii), a stockholder’s notice required by this Section 5 and that complies with the requirements in Section 5(b)(i), other than the timing requirements in Section 5(b)(iii), shall also be considered timely, but only with respect to nominees for any new positions in such Expiring Class created by such increase, if it shall be received by the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the corporation not later than the close of business on the tenth day following the day on which such public announcement is first made by the corporation. For purposes of this section, an “Expiring Class” shall mean a class of directors whose term shall expire at the next annual meeting of stockholders.
e.To be eligible to be a nominee for election or re-election as a director of the corporation pursuant to a nomination under clause (iii) of Section 5(a) or clause (ii) of Section 6(c), each Proponent must deliver (in accordance with the time periods prescribed for delivery of notice under Sections 5(b)(iii), 5(d) or 6(c), as applicable) to the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the corporation a written questionnaire with respect to the background, qualifications, stock ownership and independence of such proposed nominee and the background of any other person or entity on whose behalf the
nomination is being made (in the form provided by the Secretary within 10 days following a written request therefor by a stockholder of record) and a written representation and agreement (in the form provided by the Secretary within 10 days following written request therefor by a stockholder of record) that such person:
i.is not and will not become a party to any agreement, arrangement or understanding (whether oral or in writing) with, and has not given any commitment or assurance to, any person or entity as to how such person, if elected as a director of the corporation, will act or vote on any issue or question that (A) has not been disclosed to the corporation in the questionnaire or (B) could limit or interfere with such person’s ability to comply, if elected as a director of the corporation, with such person’s fiduciary duties under applicable law;
ii.is not and will not become a party to any agreement, arrangement or understanding with any person or entity other than the corporation with respect to any direct or indirect compensation, reimbursement or indemnification in connection with service or action as a director of the corporation or a nominee therefor that has not been disclosed to the corporation in such questionnaire;
iii.would be in compliance, if elected as a director of the corporation, and a statement whether or not such person intends, if elected, to comply, with, all applicable publicly disclosed corporate governance, conflict of interest, confidentiality and stock ownership and trading policies and guidelines of the corporation; and
iv.if elected as a director of the corporation, intends to serve the entire term until the next meeting at which such candidate would face re-election.
f.A person shall not be eligible for election or re-election as a director at an annual meeting, unless the person is nominated in accordance with either clause (ii) or (iii) of Section 5(a) and in accordance with the procedures set forth in Section 5(b), Section 5(c), Section 5(d), Section 5(e) and this Section 5(f), as applicable. Only such business shall be conducted at any annual meeting of the stockholders of the corporation as shall have been brought before the meeting in accordance with clauses (i), (ii), or (iii) of Section 5(a) and in accordance with the procedures set forth in Section 5(b), Section 5(c) and this Section 5(f), as applicable. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Bylaws, unless otherwise required by applicable law, in the event that any Proponent (i) provides notice pursuant to Rule 14a-19(b) promulgated under the 1934 Act with respect to one or more proposed nominees and (ii) subsequently (x) fails to comply with the requirements of Rule 14a-19 promulgated under the 1934 Act (or fails to timely provide reasonable evidence sufficient to satisfy the corporation that such Proponent has met the requirements of Rule 14a-19(a)(3) promulgated under the 1934 Act in accordance with the next sentence) or (y) fails to inform the corporation that they no longer plan to solicit proxies in accordance with the requirements of Rule 14a-19 under the 1934 Act by delivering a written notice to the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the corporation within two (2) Business Days after the occurrence of such change, then the nomination of each such proposed nominee shall be disregarded (and such nominee disqualified from standing for election or re-election), notwithstanding that the nominee is included (as applicable) as a nominee in the corporation’s proxy statement, notice of meeting or other proxy materials for any stockholder meeting (or any supplement thereto) and notwithstanding that proxies or votes in respect of the election of such proposed nominees may have been received by the corporation (which proxies and votes shall be disregarded). If any Proponent provides notice pursuant to Rule 14a-19(b) promulgated under the 1934 Act, such Proponent shall deliver to the corporation, no later than five Business Days prior to the applicable meeting, reasonable evidence that it has met the requirements of Rule 14a-19(a)(3) promulgated under the 1934 Act. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth herein, and for the avoidance of doubt, the nomination of any person whose name is included (as applicable) as a nominee in the corporation’s proxy statement, notice of meeting or other proxy materials for any stockholder meeting (or any supplement thereto) as a result of any notice provided by any Proponent pursuant to Rule 14a-19(b) promulgated under the 1934 Act with respect to such proposed nominee and whose nomination is not made by or at the direction of the Board of Directors or any authorized committee thereof shall not be deemed (for purposes of clause (i) of Section 5(a) or otherwise) to have been made pursuant to the corporation’s notice of meeting (or any supplement thereto) and any such nominee may only be nominated by a Proponent pursuant to clause (iii) of Section 5(a) and, in the case of a special meeting of stockholders, pursuant to and to the extent permitted under Section 6(c) of these Bylaws.
g.Except as otherwise required by applicable law, the chairperson of the meeting shall have the power and duty to determine whether a nomination or any business proposed to be brought before the meeting was made, or proposed, as the case may be, in accordance with the procedures and requirements set forth in the Bylaws (including, without limitation, compliance with Rule 14a-19 promulgated under the 1934 Act) and, if any proposed nomination or business is not in compliance with the Bylaws, or the Proponent does not act in accordance with the representations in Sections 5(b)(iv)(D) and 5(b)(iv)(E), to declare that such proposal or nomination shall not be presented for stockholder action at the meeting and shall be disregarded (and such nominee disqualified from standing for election or re-election), or that such business shall not be transacted, notwithstanding that such proposal or nomination is set forth in (as applicable) the corporation’s proxy statement,
notice of meeting or other proxy materials and notwithstanding that proxies in respect of such nomination or such business may have been solicited or received. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section 5, unless otherwise required by applicable law, if the stockholder (or a qualified representative of the stockholder) does not appear at the annual meeting of stockholders of the corporation to present a nomination or proposed business, such nomination shall be disregarded (and such nominee disqualified from standing for election or re-election) and such proposed business shall not be transacted, notwithstanding that such nomination or proposed business is set forth in (as applicable) the corporation’s proxy statement, notice of meeting or other proxy materials and notwithstanding that proxies or votes in respect of such vote may have been solicited or received by the corporation. For purposes of this Section 5, to be considered a qualified representative of the stockholder, a person must be a duly authorized officer, manager, trustee or partner of such stockholder or must be authorized by a writing executed by such stockholder or an electronic transmission delivered by such stockholder to act for such stockholder as proxy at the meeting of stockholders, which writing or electronic transmission, or a reliable reproduction of the writing or electronic transmission, shall be provided to the Secretary of the corporation at least five Business Days prior to the meeting of stockholders.
h.For purposes of Sections 5 and 6,
i.“affiliates” and “associates” shall have the meanings set forth in Rule 405 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “1933 Act”); provided that the term “partner” as used in the definition of “associate” thereunder shall not include any limited partner that is not involved in the management of the relevant partnership);
ii.“Business Day” means any day other than Saturday, Sunday or a day on which banks are closed in New York City, New York;
iii.“close of business” means 5:00 p.m. local time at the principal executive offices of the corporation on any calendar day, whether or not the day is a Business Day;
iv.“Derivative Transaction” means any agreement, arrangement, interest or understanding entered into by, or on behalf or for the benefit of, any Proponent, whether record or beneficial:
A.the value of which is derived in whole or in part from the value of any class or series of shares or other securities of the corporation;
B.that otherwise provides any direct or indirect opportunity to gain or share in any gain derived from a change in the value of securities of the corporation;
C.the effect or intent of which is to mitigate loss, manage risk or benefit from changes in value or price with respect to any securities of the corporation; or
D.that provides the right to vote or increase or decrease the voting power of, such Proponent, directly or indirectly, with respect to any securities of the corporation (other than a revocable proxy given in response to a proxy solicitation made to more than 10 persons),
which agreement, arrangement, interest or understanding may include, without limitation, any option, warrant, debt position, note, bond, convertible security, swap, stock appreciation or similar right, short position, profit interest, hedge, right to dividends, voting agreement, performance-related fee or arrangement to borrow or lend shares (whether or not subject to payment, settlement, exercise or conversion in any such class or series), and any proportionate interest of such Proponent in the securities of the corporation held by any general or limited partnership, or any limited liability company, of which such Proponent is, directly or indirectly, a general partner, manager or managing member; and
v.“public announcement” shall mean disclosure in a press release reported by the Dow Jones News Service, Associated Press or comparable national news service or in a document publicly filed by the corporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Section 13, 14 or 15(d) of the 1934 Act or by such other means reasonably designed to inform the public or security holders in general of such information, including, without limitation, posting on the corporation’s investor relations website or via any other method of communication used by the corporation in compliance with Regulation FD of the 1934 Act.
Section 6. Special Meetings.
a.Special meetings of the stockholders of the corporation may be called, for any purpose as is a proper matter for stockholder action under Delaware law, by (i) the Chairperson of the Board of Directors, (ii) the Chief Executive Officer, or (iii) a majority of the directors then in office.
b.The Board of Directors shall determine the time and place, if any, of such special meeting. Upon determination of the time and place, if any, of the meeting, the Secretary shall cause a notice of meeting to be given to the stockholders entitled to vote, in accordance with the provisions of Section 7. No business may be transacted at such special meeting other than as specified in the notice of meeting.
c.Nominations of persons for election to the Board of Directors may be made at a special meeting of stockholders at which directors are to be elected (i) by or at the direction of the Board of Directors or a duly authorized committee thereof or (ii) by any stockholder of the corporation who is a stockholder of record (and, with respect to any beneficial owner, if different, on whose behalf such nomination or nominations are made, only if such beneficial owner was the beneficial owner of shares of the corporation) at the time of giving notice provided for in this paragraph and who is a stockholder of record at the time of the special meeting, who is entitled to vote at the meeting and who complies with Sections 5(b)(i), 5(b)(iv), 5(c), 5(e) and 5(f). The number of nominees a stockholder may nominate for election at a special meeting on its own behalf (or in the case of a stockholder giving the notice on behalf of a beneficial owner, the number of nominees a stockholder may nominate for election at a special meeting on behalf of such beneficial owner) shall not exceed the number of directors to be elected at such special meeting. In the event the corporation calls a special meeting of stockholders for the purpose of electing one or more directors to the Board of Directors, any such stockholder of record may nominate a person or persons (as the case may be), for election to such position(s) as specified in the corporation’s notice of meeting, if written notice setting forth the information required by Sections 5(b)(i) and 5(b)(iv) shall be received by the Secretary at the principal executive offices of the corporation not earlier than the close of business on the 120th day prior to such special meeting and not later than the close of business on the later of the 90th day prior to such meeting or the tenth day following the day on which the corporation first makes a public announcement of the date of the special meeting and of the nominees proposed by the Board of Directors to be elected at such meeting. The stockholder shall also update and supplement such information as required under Section 5(c). In no event shall an adjournment or a postponement (or the public announcement thereof) of a special meeting for which notice has been given, or the public announcement thereof has been made, commence a new time period (or extend any time period) for the giving of a stockholder’s notice as described above.
d.A person shall not be eligible for election or re-election as a director at the special meeting unless the person is nominated either in accordance with clause (i) or clause (ii) of Section 6(c). Except as otherwise required by applicable law, the chairperson of the meeting shall have the power and duty to determine whether a nomination was made in accordance with the procedures and requirements set forth in the Bylaws (including, without limitation, compliance with Rule 14a-19 under the 1934 Act) and, if any proposed nomination is not in compliance with the Bylaws, or if the Proponent does not act in accordance with the representations in Sections 5(b)(iv)(D) and 5(b)(iv)(E), to declare that such nomination shall not be presented for stockholder action at the meeting and shall be disregarded (and such nominee disqualified from standing for election or re-election), notwithstanding that such nomination is set forth in (as applicable) the corporation’s proxy statement, notice of meeting or other proxy materials and notwithstanding that proxies in respect of such nomination may have been solicited or received. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this Section 6, unless otherwise required by applicable law, if the stockholder (or a qualified representative of the stockholder (meeting the requirements specified in Section 5(f)) does not appear at the special meeting of stockholders of the corporation to present a nomination, such nomination shall be disregarded (and such nominee disqualified from standing for election or re-election), notwithstanding that the nomination is set forth (as applicable) in the corporation’s proxy statement, notice of meeting or other proxy materials and notwithstanding that proxies or votes in respect of such nomination may have been solicited or received by the corporation.
e.Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of Sections 5 and 6, a stockholder must also comply with all applicable requirements of the 1934 Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder with respect to the matters set forth in Sections 5 and 6, and any failure to comply with such requirements shall be deemed a failure to comply with Section 5 or 6, as applicable; provided, however, that, to the fullest extent not prohibited by applicable law, any references in the Bylaws to the 1934 Act or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder are not intended to and shall not limit the requirements applicable to nominations to be considered pursuant to Sections 5(a)(iii) or 6(c) or proposals to be considered pursuant to Section 5(a)(iii). Nothing in the Bylaws shall be deemed to affect any rights of holders of any class or series of preferred stock to nominate directors pursuant to and to the extent provided in any applicable provision of the Certificate of Incorporation. Further, nothing in the Bylaws shall be deemed to affect any rights of stockholders to request inclusion of proposals in the corporation’s proxy statement pursuant to Rule 14a-8 under the 1934 Act.
Section 7. Notice of Meetings. Except as otherwise provided by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation or these Bylaws, notice of each meeting of stockholders shall be given not less than ten nor more than 60 days before the date of the meeting to each stockholder entitled to vote at such meeting as of the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to notice of such meeting, such notice to specify the place, if any, date and hour of such meeting, the record date for
determining the stockholders entitled to vote at such meeting, if such date is different from the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to notice of such meeting, the means of remote communications, if any, by which stockholders and proxy holders may be deemed to be present in person and vote at any such meeting, and, in the case of special meetings, the purpose or purposes of the meeting,. Notice shall be deemed given as provided in Section 232 of the DGCL.
Section 8. Quorum and Vote Required. At all meetings of stockholders, except where otherwise required by applicable law or by the Certificate of Incorporation, or by the Bylaws, the presence, in person, by remote communication, if applicable, or by proxy, of the holders of a majority of the voting power of the outstanding shares of stock entitled to vote at the meeting shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. The stockholders present at a duly called or convened meeting, at which a quorum is present, may continue to transact business until adjournment, notwithstanding the withdrawal of enough stockholders to leave less than a quorum.
Except as otherwise provided by statute or by applicable stock exchange rules, or by the Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws, all matters other than the election of directors shall be decided by a majority of the votes cast affirmatively or negatively (excluding abstentions and broker non-votes). Except as otherwise provided by statute, the Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws, directors shall be elected by a plurality of the votes of the shares present in person, by remote communication, if applicable, or represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote generally on the election of directors. Where a separate vote by a class or classes or series is required, except where otherwise required by statute or by the Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws or any applicable stock exchange rules, a majority of the voting power of the outstanding shares of such class or classes or series, present in person, by remote communication, if applicable, or represented by proxy, shall constitute a quorum entitled to take action with respect to that vote on that matter, and such matter shall be decided by a majority of the votes cast affirmatively or negatively by the holders of the shares of such class or classes or series, as such.
Section 9. Adjournment and Notice of Adjourned Meetings. Any meeting of stockholders, whether annual or special, may be adjourned from time to time, whether or not a quorum is present, either by the chairperson of the meeting or by the stockholders, by the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast affirmatively or negatively (excluding abstentions and broker non-votes). When a meeting is adjourned to another time or place (including an adjournment taken to address a technical failure to convene or continue a meeting using remote communication) notice need not be given of the adjourned meeting if the time and place, if any, thereof and the means of remote communication, if any, by which stockholders and proxyholders may be deemed present in person and vote at such meeting are (i) announced at the meeting at which the adjournment is taken; (ii) displayed, during the time scheduled for the meeting, on the same electronic network used to enable stockholders and proxy holders to participate in the meeting by means of remote communication or (iii) set forth in the notice of meeting given in accordance with Section 7 of these Bylaws. At the adjourned meeting, the corporation may transact any business that might have been transacted at the original meeting. If the adjournment is for more than 30 days, a notice of the adjourned meeting shall be given to each stockholder of record entitled to vote at the meeting. If after the adjournment a new record date for determination of stockholders entitled to vote is fixed for the adjourned meeting, the Board of Directors shall fix as the record date for determining stockholders entitled to notice of such adjourned meeting the same or an earlier date as that fixed for determination of stockholders entitled to vote at the adjourned meeting, and shall give notice of the adjourned meeting to each stockholder of record as of the record date so fixed for notice of such adjourned meeting.
Section 10. Voting Rights. For the purpose of determining those stockholders entitled to vote at any meeting of the stockholders, except as otherwise provided by law, only persons in whose names shares stand on the stock records of the corporation on the record date, as provided in Section 12 of these Bylaws, shall be entitled to vote at any meeting of stockholders. Each stockholder entitled to vote at a meeting of stockholders may authorize another person or persons to act for such stockholder by proxy. No proxy shall be voted after three (3) years from its date of creation unless the proxy provides for a longer period. The revocability of a proxy that states on its face that it is irrevocable shall be governed by the provisions of Section 212 of the DGCL. Any stockholder directly or indirectly soliciting proxies from other stockholders must use a proxy card color other than white, which shall be reserved for the exclusive use by the Board of Directors. Voting at meetings of stockholders need not be by written ballot.
Section 11. Joint Owners of Stock. If shares or other securities having voting power stand of record in the names of two or more persons, whether fiduciaries, members of a partnership, joint tenants, tenants in common, tenants by the entirety, or otherwise, or if two or more persons have the same fiduciary relationship respecting the same shares, unless the Secretary is given written notice to the contrary and is furnished with a copy of the instrument or order appointing them or creating the relationship wherein it is so provided, their acts with respect to voting shall have the following effect: (a) if only one votes, his or her act binds all; (b) if more than one votes, the act of the majority so voting binds all; (c) if more than one votes, but the vote is evenly split on any particular matter, each faction may vote the securities in question proportionally, or any person voting the shares, or a beneficiary, if any, may apply to the Delaware Court of Chancery or such other court as may have jurisdiction for relief as provided in Section 217(b) of the DGCL. If the instrument filed with the Secretary shows that any such tenancy is held in unequal interests, a majority or even-split for the purpose of subsection (c) shall be a majority or even-split in interest.
Section 12. List of Stockholders. The corporation shall prepare, no later than the tenth day before each meeting of stockholders, a complete list of the stockholders entitled to vote at said meeting, arranged in alphabetical order, showing the address of each stockholder and the number of shares registered in the name of each stockholder; provided, however, if the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to vote is less than ten days before the meeting date, the list shall reflect all of the stockholders entitled to vote as of the tenth day before the meeting date. Nothing in this Section 12 shall require the corporation to include electronic mail addresses or other electronic contact information on such list. Such list shall be open to the examination of any stockholder, for any purpose germane to the meeting for a period of ten days ending on the day before the meeting date, (a) on a reasonably accessible electronic network, provided that the information required to gain access to such list is provided with the notice of the meeting, or (b) during ordinary business hours, at the principal place of business of the corporation. In the event that the corporation determines to make the list available on an electronic network, the corporation may take reasonable steps to ensure that such information is available only to stockholders of the corporation.
Section 13. Action without Meeting. Subject to the rights of the holders of any series of preferred stock, and except as otherwise provided in the Certificate of Incorporation, no action shall be taken by the stockholders of the corporation except at an annual or special meeting of stockholders duly called in accordance with the Bylaws, and no action shall be taken by the stockholders by written consent.
Section 14. Remote Communication; Delivery.
a.For the purposes of the Bylaws, if authorized by the Board of Directors in its sole discretion, and subject to such guidelines and procedures as the Board of Directors may adopt, stockholders and proxyholders may, by means of remote communication:
i.participate in a meeting of stockholders; and
ii.be deemed present in person and vote at a meeting of stockholders whether such meeting is to be held at a designated place or solely by means of remote communication, provided that (i) the corporation shall implement reasonable measures to verify that each person deemed present and permitted to vote at the meeting by means of remote communication is a stockholder or proxyholder, (ii) the corporation shall implement reasonable measures to provide such stockholders and proxyholders a reasonable opportunity to participate in the meeting and to vote on matters submitted to the stockholders, including an opportunity to read or hear the proceedings of the meeting substantially concurrently with such proceedings, and (iii) if any stockholder or proxyholder votes or takes other action at the meeting by means of remote communication, a record of such vote or other action shall be maintained by the corporation.
b.Whenever this Article III requires one or more persons (including a record or beneficial owner of capital stock) to deliver a document or information to the corporation or any officer, employee or agent thereof (including any notice, request, questionnaire, revocation, representation or other document or agreement), such document or information shall be in writing exclusively (and not in an electronic transmission) and shall be delivered exclusively by hand (including, without limitation, overnight courier service) or by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested and the corporation shall not be required to accept delivery of any document not in such written form or so delivered.
Section 15. Organization.
a.At every meeting of stockholders, the Chairperson of the Board of Directors, or, if a Chairperson has not been appointed, is absent or refuses to act, the Chief Executive Officer, or if no Chief Executive Officer is then serving or the Chief Executive Officer is absent or refuses to act, the President, or, if the President is absent or refuses to act, a chairperson of the meeting designated by the Board of Directors, or, if the Board of Directors does not designate such chairperson, a chairperson of the meeting chosen by a majority of the voting power of the stockholders entitled to vote, thereon present in person or via remote connection, if applicable, or by proxy, shall act as chairperson of the meeting of stockholders. The Chairperson of the Board of Directors may appoint the Chief Executive Officer as chairperson of the meeting. The Secretary, or, in his or her absence, an Assistant Secretary or other officer or other person directed to do so by the chairperson of the meeting, shall act as secretary of the meeting.
b.The Board of Directors shall be entitled to make such rules or regulations for the conduct of meetings of stockholders as it shall deem necessary, appropriate or convenient. Subject to such rules and regulations of the Board of Directors, if any, the chairperson of the meeting shall have the right and authority to convene and to recess and/or adjourn the meeting, to prescribe such rules, regulations and procedures and to do all such acts as, in the judgment of such chairperson, are necessary, appropriate or convenient for the proper conduct of the meeting, including, without limitation, establishing an agenda or order of business for the meeting, rules and procedures for maintaining order at the meeting and the safety of those present, limitations on participation in such meeting to stockholders of record of the corporation and their duly authorized and constituted proxies and such other persons as the chairperson shall permit, restrictions on entry to the meeting
after the time fixed for the commencement thereof, limitations on the time allotted to questions or comments by participants and regulation of the opening and closing of the polls for balloting on matters that are to be voted on by ballot. The date and time of the opening and closing of the polls for each matter upon which the stockholders will vote at the meeting shall be announced at the meeting. Unless and to the extent determined by the Board of Directors or the chairperson of the meeting, meetings of stockholders shall not be required to be held in accordance with rules of parliamentary procedure.
ARTICLE IV
DIRECTORS
Section 16. Number and Term of Office. The authorized number of directors of the corporation shall be fixed in accordance with the Certificate of Incorporation. Directors need not be stockholders unless so required by the Certificate of Incorporation. If for any cause, the directors shall not have been elected at an annual meeting, they may be elected as soon thereafter as convenient at a special meeting of the stockholders called for that purpose in the manner provided in the Bylaws.
Section 17. Powers. The business and affairs of the corporation shall be managed by or under the direction of the Board of Directors, except as may be otherwise provided by the Certificate of Incorporation or the DGCL.
Section 18. Classes of Directors. The directors shall be divided into classes as and to the extent provided in the Certificate of Incorporation, except as otherwise required by applicable law.
Section 19. Vacancies. Vacancies on the Board of Directors shall be filled as provided in the Certificate of Incorporation, except as otherwise required by applicable law.
Section 20. Resignation. Any director may resign at any time by delivering his or her notice in writing or by electronic transmission to the Board of Directors or the Secretary. Such resignation shall take effect at the time of delivery of the notice or at any later time specified therein. Acceptance of such resignation shall not be necessary to make it effective. When one or more directors shall resign from the Board of Directors, effective at a future date, a majority of the directors then in office, including those who have so resigned, shall have power to fill such vacancy or vacancies, the vote thereon to take effect when such resignation or resignations shall become effective, and each director so chosen shall hold office for the unexpired portion of the term of the director whose place shall be vacated and until his or her successor shall have been duly elected and qualified or until his or her earlier death, resignation, retirement, disqualification or removal.
Section 21. Removal. Subject to the rights of holders of any series of Preferred Stock to elect additional directors under specified circumstances, the Board of Directors or any individual director may be removed only in the manner specified in the Certificate of Incorporation, except as otherwise required by applicable law.
Section 22. Meetings.
a.Regular Meetings. Unless otherwise restricted by the Certificate of Incorporation, regular meetings of the Board of Directors may be held at any time or date and at any place, if any, within or without the State of Delaware that has been designated by the Board of Directors and publicized among all directors, either orally or in writing, by telephone, including a voice messaging system, text messaging systems or other system or technology designed to record and communicate messages, or by electronic mail or other electronic means. No further notice shall be required for regular meetings of the Board of Directors.
b.Special Meetings. Unless otherwise restricted by the Certificate of Incorporation, special meetings of the Board of Directors may be held at any time and place within or without the State of Delaware as designated and called by the Chairperson of the Board of Directors, the Chief Executive Officer or a majority of the directors then in office.
c.Meetings by Electronic Communications Equipment. Any member of the Board of Directors, or of any committee thereof, may participate in a meeting by means of conference telephone or other communications equipment by means of which all persons participating in the meeting can hear each other, and participation in a meeting by such means shall constitute presence in person at such meeting, including for purposes of establishing a quorum.
d.Notice of Special Meetings. Notice of the time and place, if any, of all special meetings of the Board of Directors shall be transmitted orally or in writing, by telephone, including a voice messaging system, text messaging system or other system or technology designed to record and communicate messages, or by electronic mail or other electronic means, during normal business hours, at least 24 hours before the date and time of the meeting. If notice is sent by U.S. mail, it shall be sent by first class mail, postage prepaid, at least three days before the date of the meeting.
Section 23. Quorum and Voting.
a.Unless the Certificate of Incorporation requires a greater number, a quorum of the Board of Directors shall consist of a majority of the total number of directors then serving on the Board of Directors or, if greater, one-third of the exact number of directors fixed from time to time by the Board of Directors in accordance with the Certificate of Incorporation. At any meeting whether a quorum be present or otherwise, a majority of the directors present may adjourn from time to time until the time fixed for the next regular meeting of the Board of Directors, without notice other than by announcement at the meeting.
b.At each meeting of the Board of Directors at which a quorum is present, all questions and business shall be determined by the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors present, unless a different vote be required by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws.
Section 24. Action without Meeting. Unless otherwise restricted by the Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws, any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the Board of Directors or of any committee thereof may be taken without a meeting, if all members of the Board of Directors or committee, as the case may be, consent thereto in writing or by electronic transmission. After an action is taken, such consent or consents shall be filed with the minutes of proceedings of the Board of Directors or committee. Such filing shall be in paper form if the minutes are maintained in paper form and shall be in electronic form if the minutes are maintained in electronic form.
Section 25. Fees and Compensation. Directors shall be entitled to such compensation for their services as may be approved by the Board of Directors, or a committee thereof to which the Board of Directors has delegated such responsibility and authority, including, if so approved, by resolution of the Board of Directors or a committee thereof to which the Board of Directors has delegated such responsibility and authority, a fixed sum and reimbursement of expenses incurred, if any, for attendance at each regular or special meeting of the Board of Directors and at any meeting of a committee of the Board of Directors, as well as reimbursement for other reasonable expenses incurred with respect to duties as a member of the Board of Directors or any committee thereof. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to preclude any director from serving the corporation in any other capacity as an officer, agent, employee, or otherwise and receiving compensation therefor.
Section 26. Committees.
a.Executive Committee. The Board of Directors may appoint an Executive Committee to consist of one or more members of the Board of Directors. The Executive Committee, to the extent permitted by applicable law and provided in the resolution of the Board of Directors shall have and may exercise all the powers and authority of the Board of Directors in the management of the business and affairs of the corporation, and may authorize the seal of the corporation to be affixed to all papers that may require it; but no such committee shall have the power or authority in reference to (i) approving or adopting, or recommending to the stockholders, any action or matter (other than the election or removal of directors) expressly required by the DGCL to be submitted to stockholders for approval, or (ii) adopting, amending or repealing any Bylaw of the corporation.
b.Other Committees. The Board of Directors may, from time to time, appoint such other committees as may be permitted by applicable law. Such other committees appointed by the Board of Directors shall consist of one or more members of the Board of Directors and shall have such powers and perform such duties as may be prescribed by the resolution or resolutions creating such committees, but in no event shall any such committee have the powers denied to the Executive Committee in the Bylaws.
c.Term. The Board of Directors, subject to any requirements of any outstanding series of preferred stock and the provisions of subsections (a) or (b) of this Section 26, may at any time increase or decrease the number of members of a committee or terminate the existence of a committee. The membership of a committee member shall terminate on the date of his or her death or voluntary resignation from the committee or on such date that the committee member, for any reason, is no longer a member of the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors may at any time for any reason remove any individual committee member and the Board of Directors may fill any committee vacancy created by death, resignation, removal or increase in the number of members of the committee. The Board of Directors may designate one or more directors as alternate members of any committee, who may replace any absent or disqualified member at any meeting of the committee, and, in addition, in the absence or disqualification of any member of a committee, the member or members thereof present at any meeting and not disqualified from voting, whether or not such member or members constitute a quorum, may unanimously appoint another member of the Board of Directors to act at the meeting in the place of any such absent or disqualified member.
d.Meetings. Unless the Board of Directors shall otherwise provide, regular meetings of the Executive Committee or any other committee appointed pursuant to this Section 26 shall be held at such times and places, if any, as are determined by the Board of Directors, or by any such committee, and when notice thereof has been given to each member of such committee, no further notice of such regular meetings need be given thereafter. Special meetings of any such committee may be held at such place, if any, that has been determined from time to time by such committee, and may be called by any
director who is a member of such committee, upon notice to the members of such committee of the time and place, if any, of such special meeting given in the manner provided for the giving of notice to members of the Board of Directors of the time and place, if any, of special meetings of the Board of Directors. Unless otherwise provided by the Board of Directors in the resolutions authorizing the creation of the committee, a majority of the authorized number of members of any such committee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, and the act of a majority of those present at any meeting at which a quorum is present shall be the act of such committee.
Section 27. Duties of Chairperson of the Board of Directors. The Chairperson of the Board of Directors, if appointed and when present, shall preside at all meetings of the stockholders and the Board of Directors. The Chairperson of the Board of Directors shall perform such other duties customarily associated with the position and shall also perform such other duties and have such other powers, as the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time.
Section 28. Lead Independent Director. The Chairperson of the Board of Directors, or if the Chairperson is not an independent director, one of the independent directors, may be designated by the Board of Directors as lead independent director to serve until replaced by the Board of Directors (“Lead Independent Director”). The Lead Independent Director will preside over meetings of the independent directors and perform such other duties as may be established or delegated by the Board of Directors and perform such other duties as may be established or delegated by the Chairperson of the Board of Directors.
Section 29. Organization. At every meeting of the directors, the Chairperson of the Board of Directors, or, if a Chairperson has not been appointed or is absent, the Lead Independent Director, or if the Lead Independent Director has not been appointed or is absent, the Chief Executive Officer (if a director), or, if a Chief Executive Officer is absent, the President (if a director), or if the President is absent, the most senior Vice President (if a director), or, in the absence of any such person, a chairperson of the meeting chosen by a majority of the directors present, shall preside over the meeting. The Secretary, or in his or her absence, any Assistant Secretary or other officer, director or other person directed to do so by the person presiding over the meeting, shall act as secretary of the meeting.
ARTICLE V
OFFICERS
Section 30. Officers Designated. The officers of the corporation shall include, if and when designated by the Board of Directors, the Chief Executive Officer, the President, one or more Vice Presidents, the Secretary, the Chief Financial Officer and the Treasurer. The Board of Directors may also appoint one or more Assistant Secretaries and Assistant Treasurers and such other officers and agents with such powers and duties as it shall deem appropriate or necessary. The Board of Directors may assign such additional titles to one or more of the officers as it shall deem appropriate. Any one person may hold any number of offices of the corporation at any one time unless specifically prohibited therefrom by applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws. The salaries and other compensation of the officers of the corporation shall be fixed by or in the manner designated by the Board of Directors or by a committee thereof to which the Board of Directors has delegated such responsibility.
Section 31. Tenure and Duties of Officers.
a.General. All officers shall hold office at the pleasure of the Board of Directors and until their successors shall have been duly elected and qualified, unless sooner removed. If the office of any officer becomes vacant for any reason, the vacancy may be filled by the Board of Directors or by a committee thereof to which the Board of Directors has delegated such responsibility or, if so authorized by the Board of Directors, by the Chief Executive Officer or another officer of the corporation.
b.Duties of Chief Executive Officer. The Chief Executive Officer shall preside at all meetings of the stockholders and, if a director, at all meetings of the Board of Directors, unless a Chairperson of the Board of Directors or Lead Independent Director has been appointed and is present. The Chief Executive Officer shall be the chief executive officer of the corporation and, subject to the supervision, direction and control of the Board of Directors, shall have the general powers and duties of supervision, direction, management and control of the business and officers of the corporation as are customarily associated with the position of Chief Executive Officer. To the extent that a Chief Executive Officer has been appointed and no President has been appointed, all references in the Bylaws to the President shall be deemed references to the Chief Executive Officer. The Chief Executive Officer shall perform other duties customarily associated with the office and shall also perform such other duties and have such other powers, as the Board of Directors shall designate from time to time.
c.Duties of President. The President shall preside at all meetings of the stockholders and, if a director, at all meetings of the Board of Directors, unless a Chairperson of the Board of Directors, Lead Independent Director, or Chief Executive Officer has been appointed and is present. Unless another officer has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the
corporation, the President shall be the chief executive officer of the corporation and, subject to the supervision, direction and control of the Board of Directors, shall have the general powers and duties of supervision, direction, management and control of the business and officers of the corporation as are customarily associated with the position of President. The President shall perform other duties customarily associated with the office and shall also perform such other duties and have such other powers, as the Board of Directors (or the Chief Executive Officer, if the Chief Executive Officer and President are not the same person and the Board of Directors has delegated the designation of the President’s duties to the Chief Executive Officer) shall designate from time to time.
d.Duties of Vice Presidents. A Vice President may assume and perform the duties of the President in the absence or disability of the President or whenever the office of President is vacant (unless the duties of the President are being filled by the Chief Executive Officer). A Vice President shall perform other duties customarily associated with the office and shall also perform such other duties and have such other powers as the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer, or, if the Chief Executive Officer has not been appointed or is absent, the President shall designate from time to time.
e.Duties of Secretary and Assistant Secretary. The Secretary shall attend all meetings of the stockholders and of the Board of Directors and shall record all acts, votes and proceedings thereof in the minute books of the corporation. The Secretary shall give notice in conformity with the Bylaws of all meetings of the stockholders and of all meetings of the Board of Directors and any committee thereof requiring notice. The Secretary shall perform all other duties provided for in the Bylaws and other duties customarily associated with the office and shall also perform such other duties and have such other powers, as the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer, or if no Chief Executive Officer is then serving, the President shall designate from time to time. The Chief Executive Officer, or if no Chief Executive Officer is then serving, the President may direct any Assistant Secretary or other officer to assume and perform the duties of the Secretary in the absence or disability of the Secretary, and each Assistant Secretary shall perform other duties customarily associated with the office and shall also perform such other duties and have such other powers as the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer, or if no Chief Executive Officer is then serving, the President shall designate from time to time.
f.Duties of Chief Financial Officer. The Chief Financial Officer shall keep or cause to be kept the books of account of the corporation in a thorough and proper manner and shall render statements of the financial affairs of the corporation in such form and as often as required by the Board of Directors, the Chief Executive Officer, or the President. The Chief Financial Officer, subject to the order of the Board of Directors, shall have the custody of all funds and securities of the corporation. The Chief Financial Officer shall perform other duties customarily associated with the office and shall also perform such other duties and have such other powers as the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer, or if no Chief Executive Officer is then serving, the President shall designate from time to time. To the extent that a Chief Financial Officer has been appointed and no Treasurer has been appointed, all references in the Bylaws to the Treasurer shall be deemed references to the Chief Financial Officer. The President may direct the Treasurer, if any, or any Assistant Treasurer to assume and perform the duties of the Chief Financial Officer in the absence or disability of the Chief Financial Officer.
g.Duties of Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer. Unless another officer has been appointed Chief Financial Officer of the corporation, the Treasurer shall be the chief financial officer of the corporation, shall keep or cause to be kept the books of account of the corporation in a thorough and proper manner and shall render statements of the financial affairs of the corporation in such form and as often as required by the Board of Directors, the Chief Executive Officer or the President. Unless another officer has been appointed Chief Financial Officer of the corporation, the Treasurer, subject to the order of the Board of Directors, shall have the custody of all funds and securities of the corporation. The Treasurer shall perform other duties customarily associated with the office and shall also perform such other duties and have such other powers as the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer, or if no Chief Executive Officer is then serving, the President shall designate from time to time. The Chief Executive Officer, or if no Chief Executive Officer is then serving, the President may direct any Assistant Treasurer or other officer to assume and perform the duties of the Treasurer in the absence or disability of the Treasurer, and each Assistant Treasurer shall perform other duties commonly incident to the office and shall also perform such other duties and have such other powers as the Board of Directors or the Chief Executive Officer, or if no Chief Executive Officer is then serving, the President shall designate from time to time.
Section 32. Delegation of Authority. The Board of Directors may from time to time delegate the powers or duties of any officer to any other officer or agent, notwithstanding any provision hereof.
Section 33. Resignations. Any officer may resign at any time by giving notice in writing or by electronic transmission to the Board of Directors, the Chairperson of the Board of Directors, the Chief Executive Officer, the President or the Secretary. Any such resignation shall be effective when received by the person or persons to whom such notice is given, unless a later time is specified therein, in which event the resignation shall become effective at such later time. Unless otherwise specified in such notice, the acceptance of any such resignation shall not be necessary to make it effective. Any resignation shall be without prejudice to the rights, if any, of the corporation under any contract with the resigning officer.
Section 34. Removal. Any officer may be removed from office at any time, either with or without cause, by the Board of Directors, or by any committee thereof or any officer upon whom such power of removal may have been conferred by the Board of Directors.
ARTICLE VI
EXECUTION OF CORPORATE INSTRUMENTS AND VOTING OF SECURITIES OWNED BY THE CORPORATION
Section 35. Execution of Corporate Instruments. The Board of Directors may, in its discretion, determine the method and designate the signatory officer or officers, or other person or persons, to execute, sign or endorse on behalf of the corporation any corporate instrument or document, or to sign on behalf of the corporation the corporate name without limitation, or to enter into contracts on behalf of the corporation, except where otherwise provided by applicable law or the Bylaws, and such execution or signature shall be binding upon the corporation.
All checks and drafts drawn on banks or other depositaries on funds to the credit of the corporation or in special accounts of the corporation shall be signed by such person or persons as the Board of Directors shall from time to time authorize so to do.
Unless otherwise specifically determined by the Board of Directors or otherwise required by applicable law, the execution, signing or endorsement of any corporate instrument or document may be effected manually, by facsimile or (to the extent permitted by applicable law and subject to such policies and procedures as the corporation may have in effect from time to time) by electronic signature.
Unless authorized or ratified by the Board of Directors or within the agency power of an officer, no officer, agent or employee shall have any power or authority to bind the corporation by any contract or engagement or to pledge its credit or to render it liable for any purpose or for any amount.
Section 36. Voting of Securities Owned by the Corporation. All stock and other securities of or interests in other corporations or entities owned or held by the corporation for itself, or for other parties in any capacity, shall be voted, and all proxies and consents with respect thereto shall be executed, by the person authorized so to do by resolution of the Board of Directors, or, in the absence of such authorization, by the Chairperson of the Board of Directors, the Chief Executive Officer, the President, the Chief Financial Officer or any other officer designated by the foregoing.
ARTICLE VII
SHARES OF STOCK
Section 37. Form and Execution of Certificates. The shares of the corporation shall be represented by certificates, or shall be uncertificated if so provided by resolution or resolutions of the Board of Directors. Certificates for the shares of stock, if any, shall be in such form as is consistent with the Certificate of Incorporation and applicable law. Every holder of stock in the corporation represented by certificates shall be entitled to have a certificate signed by or in the name of the corporation by any two authorized officers of the corporation, including, without limitation, the Chairperson of the Board of Directors, the Chief Executive Officer, the President, any Vice President, the Treasurer, an Assistant Treasurer, the Secretary or an Assistant Secretary, certifying the number of shares of the corporation owned by such holder in certificated form.. Any or all of the signatures on the certificate may be facsimiles. In case any officer, transfer agent, or registrar who has signed or whose facsimile signature has been placed upon a certificate shall have ceased to be such officer, transfer agent, or registrar before such certificate is issued, it may be issued with the same effect as if he were such officer, transfer agent, or registrar at the date of issue.
Section 38. Lost Certificates. The corporation may issue a new certificate or certificates or uncertificated shares in place of any certificate or certificates theretofore issued by the corporation alleged to have been lost, stolen, or destroyed, upon the making of an affidavit of that fact by the person claiming the certificate of stock to be lost, stolen, or destroyed. The corporation may require, as a condition precedent to the issuance of a new certificate or certificates, the owner of such lost, stolen, or destroyed certificate or certificates, or the owner’s legal representative, to give the corporation a bond (or other adequate security) sufficient to indemnify it against any claim that may be made against the corporation with respect to the certificate alleged to have been lost, stolen, or destroyed or the issuance of such new certificate or uncertificated shares.
Section 39. Transfers.
a.Transfers of record of shares of stock of the corporation shall be made only upon its books by the holders thereof, in person or by attorney duly authorized, and, in the case of stock represented by certificate, upon the surrender of a properly endorsed certificate or certificates for a like number of shares.
b.The corporation shall have power to enter into and perform any agreement with any number of stockholders of any one or more classes or series of stock of the corporation to restrict the transfer of shares of stock of the corporation of any one or more classes or series owned by such stockholders in any manner not prohibited by the DGCL.
Section 40. Fixing Record Dates.
a.In order that the corporation may determine the stockholders entitled to notice of or to vote at any meeting of stockholders or any adjournment thereof, the Board of Directors may fix a record date, which record date shall not precede the date upon which the resolution fixing the record date is adopted by the Board of Directors, and which record date shall, subject to applicable law, not be more than 60 nor less than ten days before the date of such meeting. If the Board of Directors so fixes a record date for determining the stockholders entitled to notice of any meeting of stockholders, such date shall also be the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to vote at such meeting, unless the Board of Directors determines, at the time it fixes the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to notice of such meeting, that a later date on or before the date of the meeting shall be the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to vote at such meeting. If no record date is fixed by the Board of Directors, the record date for determining stockholders entitled to notice of or to vote at a meeting of stockholders shall be at the close of business on the day immediately preceding the day on which notice is given, or if notice is waived, at the close of business on the day immediately preceding the day on which the meeting is held. A determination of stockholders of record entitled to notice of or to vote at a meeting of stockholders shall apply to any adjournment of the meeting; provided, however, determining the stockholders entitled to vote at the adjourned meeting, and in such case shall also fix as the record date for stockholders entitled to notice of such adjourned meeting the same or an earlier date as that fixed for determination of stockholders entitled to vote in accordance at the adjourned meeting in accordance with the provisions of this Section 40(a).
b.In order that the corporation may determine the stockholders entitled to receive payment of any dividend or other distribution or allotment of any rights or the stockholders entitled to exercise any rights in respect of any change, conversion or exchange of stock, or for the purpose of any other lawful action, the Board of Directors may fix, in advance, a record date, which record date shall not precede the date upon which the resolution fixing the record date is adopted, and which record date shall be not more than 60 days prior to such action. If no record date is fixed, the record date for determining stockholders for any such purpose shall be at the close of business on the day on which the Board of Directors adopts the resolution relating thereto.
Section 41. Registered Stockholders. The corporation shall be entitled to recognize the exclusive right of a person registered on its books as the owner of shares to receive dividends, and to vote as such owner, and shall not be bound to recognize any equitable or other claim to or interest in such share or shares on the part of any other person whether or not it shall have express or other notice thereof, except as otherwise provided by the laws of Delaware.
Section 42. Additional Powers of the Board. In addition to, and without limiting, the powers set forth in the Bylaws, the Board of Directors shall have power and authority to make all such rules and regulations as it shall deem expedient concerning the issue, transfer, and registration of certificates for shares of stock of the corporation, including the use of uncertificated shares of stock, subject to the provisions of the DGCL, other applicable law, the Certificate of Incorporation and the Bylaws. The Board of Directors may appoint and remove transfer agents and registrars of transfers, and may require all stock certificates to bear the signature of any such transfer agent and/or any such registrar of transfers.
ARTICLE VIII
OTHER SECURITIES OF THE CORPORATION
Section 43. Execution of Other Securities. All bonds, debentures and other corporate securities of the corporation, other than stock certificates (covered in Section 37), may be signed by the Chairperson of the Board of Directors, the Chief Executive Officer, the President, the Chief Financial Officer or any other officer designated by the foregoing, or such other person as may be authorized by the Board of Directors; provided, however, that where any such bond, debenture or other corporate security shall be authenticated by the manual signature, or where permissible facsimile signature, of a trustee under an indenture pursuant to which such bond, debenture or other corporate security shall be issued, the signatures of the persons signing and attesting the corporate seal on such bond, debenture or other corporate security may be the imprinted facsimile of the signatures of such persons. Interest coupons appertaining to any such bond, debenture or other corporate security, authenticated by a trustee as aforesaid, shall be signed by the Treasurer or an Assistant Treasurer of the corporation or such other person as may be authorized by the Board of Directors, or bear imprinted thereon the facsimile signature of such person. In case any officer who shall have signed or attested any bond, debenture or other corporate security, or whose facsimile
signature shall appear thereon or on any such interest coupon, shall have ceased to be such officer before the bond, debenture or other corporate security so signed or attested shall have been delivered, such bond, debenture or other corporate security nevertheless may be adopted by the corporation and issued and delivered as though the person who signed the same or whose facsimile signature shall have been used thereon had not ceased to be such officer of the corporation.
ARTICLE IX
DIVIDENDS
Section 44. Declaration of Dividends. Dividends upon the capital stock of the corporation, subject to the provisions of the Certificate of Incorporation and applicable law, if any, may be declared by the Board of Directors. Dividends may be paid in cash, in property, or in shares of the capital stock, subject to the provisions of the Certificate of Incorporation and applicable law.
Section 45. Dividend Reserve. Before payment of any dividend, there may be set aside out of any funds of the corporation available for dividends such sum or sums as the Board of Directors from time to time, in its absolute discretion, determines proper as a reserve or reserves to meet contingencies, or for equalizing dividends, or for repairing or maintaining any property of the corporation, or for such other purpose or purposes as the Board of Directors shall determine to be conducive to the interests of the corporation, and the Board of Directors may modify or abolish any such reserve in the manner in which it was created.
ARTICLE X
FISCAL YEAR
Section 46. Fiscal Year. The fiscal year of the corporation shall be fixed by resolution of the Board of Directors.
ARTICLE XI
INDEMNIFICATION
Section 47. Indemnification of Directors, Executive Officers, Employees and Other Agents.
a.Directors and Executive Officers. The corporation shall indemnify to the full extent permitted under and in any manner permitted under the DGCL or any other applicable law, any person who was or is made a party or threatened to be made a party to or is otherwise involved (as a witness or otherwise) in any threatened, pending, or completed action, suit, or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative, or investigative (hereinafter, a “Proceeding”), by reason of the fact that such person is or was a director or executive officer (for the purposes of this Article XI, “executive officers” shall be those persons designated by the corporation as (a) executive officers for purposes of the disclosures required in the corporation’s proxy and periodic reports or (b) officers for purposes of Section 16 of the 1934 Act) of the corporation, or while serving as a director or executive officer of the corporation, is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee, or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, or other enterprise, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan (collectively, “Another Enterprise”), against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines (including ERISA excise taxes or penalties) and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by him or her in connection with such Proceeding if he or she acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe his or her conduct was unlawful; provided, however, that the corporation shall not be required to indemnify any director or executive officer in connection with any Proceeding (or part thereof) initiated by such person unless (i) such indemnification is expressly required to be made by applicable law, (ii) the Proceeding was authorized by the Board of Directors, (iii) such indemnification is provided by the corporation, in its sole discretion, pursuant to the powers vested in the corporation under the DGCL or (iv) such indemnification is required to be made under subsection (d) of this Section 47.
b.Other Officers, Employees and Other Agents. The corporation shall have power to indemnify (including the power to advance expenses in a manner consistent with subsection (c) of this Section 47) its other officers, employees and other agents as set forth in the DGCL. The Board of Directors shall have the power to delegate the determination of whether indemnification shall be given to any such person except executive officers to such officers or other persons as the Board of Directors shall determine.
c.Expenses. The corporation shall advance to any current or former director or executive officer, promptly following request therefor, all expenses (including attorneys’ fees) reasonably incurred thereby in defense of (or participating as a witness in) any Proceeding, prior to the final disposition of thereof, provided, however, an advancement of expenses shall be made only upon delivery to the corporation of an undertaking, by or on behalf of such person, to repay all
amounts so advanced if it shall ultimately be determined by final person decision from which there is no further right to appeal that such indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified for such expenses under this Section 47 or otherwise.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, unless otherwise determined pursuant to paragraph (d) of this Section 47, no advance shall be made by the corporation to an executive officer of the corporation (except by reason of the fact that such executive officer is or was a director of the corporation in which event this paragraph shall not apply) in any Proceeding, if a determination is reasonably and promptly made (i) by a majority vote of directors who were not parties thereto, even if not a quorum, or (ii) by a committee of such directors designated by a majority vote of such directors, even though less than a quorum, or (iii) if there are no such directors, or such directors so direct, by independent legal counsel in a written opinion, that the facts known to the decision-making party at the time such determination is made demonstrate clearly and convincingly that such person acted in bad faith or in a manner that such person did not believe to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation.
d.Enforcement. Without the necessity of entering into an express contract, all rights to indemnification and advances to directors and executive officers under this Section 47 shall be deemed to be contractual rights, shall vest when the person becomes a director or executive officer of the corporation, shall continue as vested contract rights even if such person ceases to be a director or executive officer of the corporation, and shall be effective to the same extent and as if provided for in a contract between the corporation and the director or executive officer. Any right to indemnification or advances granted by this Section 47 to a current or former director or executive officer shall be enforceable by or on behalf of the person holding such right in any court of competent jurisdiction if (i) the claim for indemnification or advances is denied, in whole or in part, or (ii) no disposition of such claim is made within 90 days (or, in the case of advances, 30 days) of request therefor. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the claimant in such enforcement action, if successful in whole or in part, shall be entitled to be paid also the expense of prosecuting the claim. In connection with any claim for indemnification, the corporation shall be entitled to raise as a defense to any such action that the claimant has not met the standards of conduct that make it permissible under the DGCL for the corporation to indemnify the claimant for the amount claimed. In connection with any claim by an executive officer of the corporation (except in any Proceeding, by reason of the fact that such current or former executive officer is or was a director of the corporation) for advances, the corporation shall be entitled to raise a defense as to any such action clear and convincing evidence that such person acted in bad faith or in a manner that such person did not believe to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, or with respect to any Proceeding that such person acted without reasonable cause to believe that his or her conduct was lawful. Neither the failure of the corporation (including its Board of Directors, independent legal counsel or its stockholders) to have made a determination prior to the commencement of such action that indemnification of the claimant is proper in the circumstances because he or she has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in the DGCL, nor an actual determination by the corporation (including its Board of Directors, independent legal counsel or its stockholders) that the claimant has not met such applicable standard of conduct, shall be a defense to the action or create a presumption that claimant has not met the applicable standard of conduct. In any suit brought by a current or former director or executive officer to enforce a right to indemnification or to an advancement of expenses hereunder, the burden of proving that the current or former director or executive officer is not entitled to be indemnified, or to such advancement of expenses, under this Section 47 or otherwise shall be on the corporation.
e.Non-Exclusivity of Rights. The rights conferred on any person by this Section 47 shall not be exclusive of any other right that such person may have or hereafter acquire under any applicable statute, provision of the Certificate of Incorporation, Bylaws, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise, both as to action in his or her official capacity and as to action in another capacity while holding office. The corporation is specifically authorized to enter into individual contracts with any or all of its directors, officers, employees or agents respecting indemnification and advances, to the fullest extent not prohibited by the DGCL.
f.Survival of Rights. The rights conferred on any person by this Bylaw shall continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director or executive officer or officer, employee or other agent and shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors and administrators of such a person.
g.Insurance. To the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL, the corporation may purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person required or permitted to be indemnified pursuant to this Section 47.
h.Amendments. Any repeal or modification of this Section 47 shall only be prospective and shall not affect the rights under this Section 47 as in effect at the time of the alleged occurrence of any action or omission to act that is the cause of any Proceeding against any current or former director or executive officer of the corporation.
i.Saving Clause. If this Article XI or any portion hereof shall be invalidated on any ground by any court of competent jurisdiction, then the corporation shall nevertheless indemnify each director and executive officer to the full extent not prohibited by any applicable portion of this Article XI that shall not have been invalidated. If this Article XI shall be invalid due to the application of the indemnification provisions of another jurisdiction, then the corporation shall indemnify each director and executive officer to the full extent under any other applicable law.
j.Certain Definitions and Construction of Terms. For the purposes of Article XI of the Bylaws, the following definitions and rules of construction shall apply:
i.The term “Proceeding” shall be broadly construed and shall include, without limitation, the investigation, preparation, prosecution, defense, settlement, arbitration and appeal of, and the giving of testimony in, any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative.
ii.The term “expenses” shall be broadly construed and shall include, without limitation, court costs, attorneys’ fees, witness fees, fines, amounts paid in settlement or judgment and any other costs and expenses of any nature or kind incurred in connection with any Proceeding.
iii.The term the “corporation” shall include, in addition to the resulting corporation, any constituent corporation (including any constituent of a constituent) absorbed in a consolidation or merger that, if its separate existence had continued, would have had power and authority to indemnify its directors, officers, and employees or agents, so that any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of such constituent corporation, or is or was serving at the request of such constituent corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, shall stand in the same position under the provisions of this Section 47 with respect to the resulting or surviving corporation as he would have with respect to such constituent corporation if its separate existence had continued.
iv.References to a “director,” “executive officer,” “officer,” “employee,” or “agent” of the corporation shall include, without limitation, situations where such person, while serving the corporation in such capacity, is serving at the request of the corporation as, respectively, a director, executive officer, officer, employee, trustee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise.
v.References to “Another Enterprise” shall include employee benefit plans; references to “fines” shall include any excise taxes assessed on a person with respect to an employee benefit plan; and references to “serving at the request of the corporation” shall include any service as a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation that imposes duties on, or involves services by, such director, officer, employee, or agent with respect to an employee benefit plan, its participants, or beneficiaries; and a person who acted in good faith and in a manner such person reasonably believed to be in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of an employee benefit plan shall be deemed to have acted in a manner “not opposed to the best interests of the corporation” as referred to in this Section 47.
ARTICLE XII
NOTICES
Section 48. Notices.
a.Notice to Stockholders. Notice to stockholders of stockholder meetings shall be given as provided in Section 7. Without limiting the manner by which notice may otherwise be given effectively to stockholders under any agreement or contract with such stockholder, and except as otherwise required by applicable law, written notice to stockholders for purposes other than stockholder meetings may be sent by U.S. mail or courier service, or by electronic mail or other electronic means.
b.Notice to Directors. Any notice required to be given to any director may be given by the method stated in subsection (a), as otherwise provided in the Bylaws (including by any of the means specified in Section 22(d)), or by overnight delivery service. Any notice sent by overnight delivery service or U.S. mail shall be sent to such address as such director shall have filed in writing with the Secretary, or, in the absence of such filing, to the last known post office address of such director.
c.Affidavit of Mailing. An affidavit of notice, executed by a duly authorized and competent employee of the corporation or its transfer agent appointed with respect to the class of stock affected, or other agent, specifying the name and address or the names and addresses of the stockholder or stockholders, or director or directors, to whom any such notice or notices was or were given, and the time and method of giving the same, shall in the absence of fraud, be prima facie evidence of the facts therein contained.
d.Methods of Notice. It shall not be necessary that the same method of giving notice be employed in respect of all recipients of notice, but one permissible method may be employed in respect of any one or more, and any other permissible method or methods may be employed in respect of any other or others.
e.Notice to Person with Whom Communication is Unlawful. Whenever notice is required to be given, under applicable law or any provision of the Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws of the corporation, to any person with whom communication is unlawful, the giving of such notice to such person shall not be required and there shall be no duty to apply to any governmental authority or agency for a license or permit to give such notice to such person. Any action or meeting that shall be taken or held without notice to any such person with whom communication is unlawful shall have the same force and effect as if such notice had been duly given. In the event that the action taken by the corporation is such as to require the filing of a certificate under any provision of the DGCL, the certificate shall state, if such is the fact and if notice is required, that notice was given to all persons entitled to receive notice except such persons with whom communication is unlawful.
f.Notice to Stockholders Sharing an Address. Except as otherwise prohibited under the DGCL, any notice given under the provisions of the DGCL, the Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws shall be effective if given by a single written notice to stockholders who share an address if consented to by the stockholders at that address to whom such notice is given. Such consent shall have been deemed to have been given if such stockholder fails to object in writing to the corporation within 60 days of having been given notice by the corporation of its intention to send the single notice. Any consent shall be revocable by the stockholder by written notice to the corporation.
g.Waiver. Whenever notice is required to be given under any provision of the DGCL, the Certificate of Incorporation or these Bylaws, a written waiver, signed by the person entitled to notice, or a waiver by electronic transmission by the person entitled to notice, whether before or after the time stated therein, shall be deemed equivalent to notice. Attendance of a person at a meeting shall constitute a waiver of notice of such meeting, except when the person attends a meeting for the express purpose of objecting at the beginning of the meeting, to the transaction of any business because the meeting is not lawfully called or convened. Neither the business to be transacted at, nor the purpose of, any regular or special meeting of the stockholders, directors or members of a committee of directors need be specified in any written waiver of notice or any waiver by electronic transmission unless so required by the Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws.
ARTICLE XIII
AMENDMENTS
Section 49. Amendments. Subject to the limitations set forth in Section 47(h) or the provisions of the Certificate of Incorporation, the Board of Directors is expressly empowered to adopt, amend or repeal the Bylaws of the corporation. Any adoption, amendment or repeal of the Bylaws of the corporation by the Board of Directors shall require the approval of the Board of Directors. The stockholders also shall have power to adopt, amend or repeal the Bylaws of the corporation; provided, however, that, in addition to any vote of the holders of any class or series of stock of the corporation required by applicable law or by the Certificate of Incorporation, such action by stockholders shall require the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 66 2/3% of the voting power of all of the then-outstanding shares of the capital stock of the corporation entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class.
ARTICLE XIV
LOANS TO OFFICERS
Section 50. Loans to Officers. Except as otherwise prohibited by applicable law, the corporation may lend money to, or guarantee any obligation of, or otherwise assist any officer or other employee of the corporation or of its subsidiaries, including any officer or employee who is a director of the corporation or its subsidiaries, whenever, in the judgment of the Board of Directors, such loan, guarantee or assistance may reasonably be expected to benefit the corporation. The loan, guarantee or other assistance may be with or without interest and may be unsecured, or secured in such manner as the Board of Directors shall approve, including, without limitation, a pledge of shares of stock of the corporation. Nothing in the Bylaws shall be deemed to deny, limit or restrict the powers of guaranty or warranty of the corporation at common law or under any statute.
Exhibit 31.1
CERTIFICATION OF PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER
PURSUANT TO
EXCHANGE ACT RULES 13a-14(a) AND 15d-14(a),
AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
I, William Magnuson, certify that:
1.I have reviewed this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of Braze, Inc.;
2.Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
3.Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
4.The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a–15(e) and 15d–15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:
(a)Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
(b)Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
(c)Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and
(d)Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and
5.The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
(a)All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
(b)Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting.
Date: December 9, 2024 | ||||||||
| BRAZE, INC. | ||||||||
| By: | /s/ William Magnuson | |||||||
| Name: | William Magnuson | |||||||
| Title: | Chief Executive Officer | |||||||
| (Principal Executive Officer) | ||||||||
Exhibit 31.2
CERTIFICATION OF PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL OFFICER
PURSUANT TO
EXCHANGE ACT RULES 13a-14(a) AND 15d-14(a),
AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
I, Isabelle Winkles, certify that:
1.I have reviewed this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of Braze, Inc.;
2.Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;
3.Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;
4.The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a–15(e) and 15d–15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:
(a)Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;
(b)Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;
(c)Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and
(d)Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and
5.The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):
(a)All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and
(b)Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting.
Date: December 9, 2024 | ||||||||
| BRAZE, INC. | ||||||||
| By: | /s/ Isabelle Winkles | |||||||
| Name: | Isabelle Winkles | |||||||
| Title: | Chief Financial Officer | |||||||
| (Principal Financial Officer) | ||||||||
Exhibit 32.1
CERTIFICATIONS OF PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL OFFICER
PURSUANT TO
18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350,
AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO
SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (subsections (a) and (b) of Section 1350, Chapter 63 of Title 18, United States Code), each of the undersigned officers of Braze, Inc., does hereby certify, to such officer’s knowledge that the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of Braze, Inc. for the fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2024 fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and that information contained in such Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of Braze, Inc.
Date: December 9, 2024 | ||||||||
| By: | /s/ William Magnuson | |||||||
| Name: | William Magnuson | |||||||
| Title: | Chief Executive Officer | |||||||
| (Principal Executive Officer) | ||||||||
Date: December 9, 2024 | ||||||||
| By: | /s/ Isabelle Winkles | |||||||
| Name: | Isabelle Winkles | |||||||
| Title: | Chief Financial Officer | |||||||
| (Principal Financial Officer) | ||||||||
This certification accompanies the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, is not deemed filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is not to be incorporated by reference in any filing of Braze, Inc. under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (whether made before or after the date of the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q), irrespective of any general incorporation language contained in such filing.