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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, DC 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 July 31, 2021

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: 001-40601

 

Couchbase, Inc.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

 

 

Delaware

26-3576987

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

(I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)

3250 Olcott Street

Santa Clara, CA

95054

(Address of principal executive offices)

(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (650) 417-7500

 

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

 

Title of each class

 

Trading Symbol

 

Name of each exchange on which registered

Common stock, par value $0.00001 per share

 

BASE

 

Nasdaq Global Select Market

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted 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 and post such files).    Yes      No  

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, 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 Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

Large accelerated filer

 

  

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  

As of August 31, 2021, the registrant had 43,342,865 shares of common stock, $0.00001 par value per share, outstanding.

 

 

 


 

 

Table of Contents

 

 

 

Page

PART I.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

 

Item 1.

Financial Statements (unaudited)

5

 

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

5

 

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

6

 

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss

7

 

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock and Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit)

8

 

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

10

 

Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

11

Item 2.

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

23

Item 3.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

37

Item 4.

Controls and Procedures

37

PART II.

OTHER INFORMATION

39

Item 1.

Legal Proceedings

39

Item 1A.

Risk Factors

39

Item 2.

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds

72

Item 3.

Defaults Upon Senior Securities

72

Item 4.

Mine Safety Disclosures

72

Item 5.

Other Information

72

Item 6.

Exhibits

73

Signatures

74

Exhibit Index

 

 

 

i


 

 

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, which statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or our future financial or operating performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “could,” “would,” “intend,” “target,” “project,” “contemplate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern our expectations, strategy, plans or intentions. Forward-looking statements contained in this Form 10-Q include, but are not limited to, statements about our expectations regarding:

 

our future financial performance, including our expectations regarding our revenue, cost of revenue, operating expenses, our ability to determine reserves and our ability to achieve and maintain future profitability;

 

the sufficiency of our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments to meet our liquidity needs;

 

the demand for our products and services or for data management solutions in general;

 

our ability to attract and retain users and partners;

 

our ability to develop new products and features and bring them to market in a timely manner and make enhancements to our offerings;

 

our expectations regarding future developments with respect to Couchbase Cloud, our fully-managed DBaaS offering;

 

our ability to compete with existing and new competitors in existing and new markets and offerings;

 

the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic downturn on our business and results of operations;

 

our expectations regarding the effects of existing and developing laws, rules, regulations and other legal obligations, including with respect to taxation and data privacy and security;

 

our ability to manage risk associated with our business;

 

our expectations regarding new and evolving markets;

 

our ability to maintain, develop and protect our brand;

 

our ability, and our customers’ and our third-party service providers’ ability, to maintain the security and availability to each of our technological and physical infrastructures;

 

our expectations and management of future growth;

 

our expectations concerning relationships with third parties;

 

our ability to obtain, maintain, defend and enforce our intellectual property;

 

our use of third-party open source software in our solutions and the availability of portions of our source code on an open source basis;

 

our ability to successfully acquire and integrate companies and assets; and

 

the increased expenses associated with being a public company.

We caution you that the foregoing list may not contain all of the forward-looking statements made in this Form 10-Q. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events.

We have based the forward-looking statements contained in this report primarily on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. The outcome of the events described in these forward-looking statements is subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, including those described in the section titled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this report. 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. We cannot assure you that the results, events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur, and actual results, events or circumstances could differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements made in this report 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 report to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this report 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 we may make.

In addition, statements that “we believe” and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this report, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and our statements should not be read to indicate

2


 

that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements.

You should read this report and the documents that we reference in this report and have filed as exhibits to this report with the understanding that our actual future results, levels of activity, performance and achievements may be different from what we expect. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.

RISK FACTOR SUMMARY

Our business is subject to significant risks and uncertainties that make an investment in us speculative and risky. Below we summarize what we believe are the principal risk factors but these risks are not the only ones we face. You should carefully review and consider the full discussion of our risk factors below this summary, together with the other information in this Form 10-Q. If any of the following risks or if any of those listed elsewhere in this Form 10-Q actually occur, our business, reputation, financial condition, results of operations, revenue and future prospects could be seriously harmed. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that we currently believe are not material, may also become important factors that adversely affect our business.

 

 

We have a history of net losses, may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future and may not continue to grow on pace with historical rates.

 

We face intense competition and if we are unable to compete effectively, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.

 

We may fail to cost-effectively acquire new customers or obtain renewals, upgrades or expansions from our existing customers, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

The market for our products and services is relatively new and evolving, and our future success depends on the growth and expansion of this market.

 

If we fail to innovate in response to changing customer needs, new technologies or other market requirements, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed.

 

We have a limited operating history, which makes it difficult to predict our future results of operations.

 

Our future results of operations may fluctuate significantly, and if we fail to meet the expectations of analysts or investors, our stock price and the value of your investment could decline substantially.

 

We recognize a significant portion of revenue from subscriptions over the term of the relevant subscription period, and as a result, downturns or upturns in sales are not immediately reflected in full in our results of operations.

 

We depend on our sales force, and we may fail to attract, retain, motivate or train our sales force, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Our sales strategy to target larger enterprises involves risks that may not be present or that are present to a lesser extent with respect to smaller enterprises, such as long and unpredictable sales cycles and sales efforts that require considerable time and expense.

 

If we are not able to maintain and enhance our brand, especially among enterprise architects, application developers and other key functions that support them, our business and results of operations may be adversely affected.

 

The global COVID-19 pandemic has harmed and could continue to harm our business and results of operations, as could other pandemics, natural disasters, political crises or other unexpected events.

 

Our business could be adversely affected by economic downturns.

 

Real or perceived errors, failures or bugs in our products or interruptions or performance problems associated with our technology and infrastructure could adversely affect our growth prospects, business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

Our ability to maintain and increase sales with our existing customers depends, in part, on the quality of our customer support, and our failure to offer high-quality support would harm our reputation and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

 

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.

 

Our company culture has contributed to our success and if we cannot maintain this culture as we grow, our business could be harmed.

 

We may be unable to make acquisitions and investments or successfully integrate acquired companies into our business, and our acquisitions and investments may not meet our expectations, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

If we are unable to maintain successful relationships with our partners, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed.

3


 

 

Certain estimates and information we refer to publicly are based on information from third-party sources and we do not independently verify the accuracy or completeness of the data contained in such sources or the methodologies for collecting such data, and any real or perceived inaccuracies in such estimates and information may harm our reputation and adversely affect our business.

 

Our use of third-party open source software in our solutions, the availability of core portions of our source code on an open source basis and contributions to our open source projects could negatively affect our ability to sell our products and provide our services, subject us to possible litigation and allow third parties to access and use software and technology that we use in our business, all of which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

 

Our distribution and licensing model could negatively affect our ability to monetize and protect our intellectual property rights.

 

Because of the rights accorded to third parties under open source licenses, there may be fewer technology barriers to entry in the markets in which we compete and it may be relatively easy for new and existing competitors, some of whom may have greater resources than we have, to compete with us.

 

Our decision to license source code to Couchbase Server 7.0 under a source-available license, the Business Source License version 1.1, may harm the adoption of our source code for Couchbase Server 7.0.

 

We could incur substantial costs in obtaining, maintaining, protecting, defending and enforcing our intellectual property rights and any failure to obtain, maintain, protect, defend or enforce our intellectual property rights could reduce the value of our software and brand.

 

We have been and may in the future become subject to intellectual property disputes which may be costly to defend, subject us to significant liability, require us to pay significant damages and limit our ability to use certain technologies.

 

If our security measures, or those of our service providers or customers, are breached or unauthorized parties otherwise obtain access to our or our customers’ data or software, our products and services may be perceived as not being secure, customers may reduce or terminate their use of our products and services and we may face claims, litigation, regulatory investigations, significant liability and reputational damage.

 

A portion of our revenue is generated by sales to heavily regulated organizations, which are subject to a number of challenges and risks.

 

Our executive officers, directors and holders of 5% or more of our common stock continue to have substantial control over us, which will limit your ability to influence the outcome of important transactions, including a change in control.

 

 

4


 

 

PART I – FINANCIAL INFORMATION

ITEM 1. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (UNAUDITED)

COUCHBASE, INC.

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(unaudited)

(in thousands, except share and per share amounts)

 

 

 

As of

July 31,

 

 

As of

January 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2021

 

Assets

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current assets

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents

 

$

239,246

 

 

$

37,297

 

Short-term investments

 

 

14,321

 

 

 

19,546

 

Accounts receivable, net

 

 

20,183

 

 

 

35,897

 

Deferred commissions

 

 

8,645

 

 

 

8,353

 

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

 

 

8,099

 

 

 

2,449

 

Total current assets

 

 

290,494

 

 

 

103,542

 

Property and equipment, net

 

 

5,578

 

 

 

6,506

 

Deferred commissions, noncurrent

 

 

5,394

 

 

 

4,941

 

Other assets

 

 

1,316

 

 

 

2,199

 

Total assets

 

$

302,782

 

 

$

117,188

 

Liabilities, Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock and Stockholders’ Equity

   (Deficit)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current liabilities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accounts payable

 

$

7,153

 

 

$

2,428

 

Accrued compensation and benefits

 

 

9,020

 

 

 

9,110

 

Other accrued liabilities

 

 

3,575

 

 

 

4,154

 

Deferred revenue

 

 

48,980

 

 

 

57,168

 

Total current liabilities

 

 

68,728

 

 

 

72,860

 

Long-term debt

 

 

24,963

 

 

 

24,948

 

Deferred revenue, noncurrent

 

 

5,356

 

 

 

4,542

 

Other liabilities

 

 

1,312

 

 

 

1,358

 

Total liabilities

 

 

100,359

 

 

 

103,708

 

Commitments and contingencies (Note 8)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Redeemable convertible preferred stock, $0.00001 par value; 0 shares and

   26,070,258 shares authorized as of July 31, 2021 and January 31, 2021,

   respectively; 0 shares and 26,070,213 shares issued and outstanding as

   of July 31, 2021 and January 31, 2021, respectively; aggregate liquidation

   preference of $314,829 as of January 31, 2021

 

 

 

 

 

259,822

 

Stockholders’ equity (deficit)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preferred stock, $0.00001 par value; 200,000,000 and 0 shares authorized

   as of July 31, 2021 and January 31, 2021, respectively; 0 shares issued outstanding as of July 31, 2021 and January 31, 2021, respectively

 

 

 

 

 

 

Common stock, $0.00001 par value; 1,000,000,000 and 43,200,000 shares authorized

   as of July 31, 2021 and January 31, 2021, respectively; 43,282,941 and 6,199,305

   shares issued and outstanding as of July 31, 2021 and January 31, 2021,

   respectively

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additional paid-in capital

 

 

515,245

 

 

 

37,410

 

Accumulated other comprehensive income

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

Accumulated deficit

 

 

(312,822

)

 

 

(283,753

)

Total stockholders’ equity (deficit)

 

 

202,423

 

 

 

(246,342

)

Total liabilities, redeemable convertible preferred stock and stockholders’ equity

   (deficit)

 

$

302,782

 

 

$

117,188

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

5


 

COUCHBASE, INC.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

(unaudited)

(in thousands, except per share amounts)

 

 

 

Three Months Ended July 31,

 

 

Six Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Revenue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

License

 

$

4,416

 

 

$

3,010

 

 

$

8,694

 

 

$

5,540

 

Support and other

 

 

23,613

 

 

 

20,627

 

 

 

45,800

 

 

 

39,269

 

Total subscription revenue

 

 

28,029

 

 

 

23,637

 

 

 

54,494

 

 

 

44,809

 

Services

 

 

1,670

 

 

 

1,523

 

 

 

3,160

 

 

 

3,396

 

Total revenue

 

 

29,699

 

 

 

25,160

 

 

 

57,654

 

 

 

48,205

 

Cost of revenue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Subscription

 

 

2,072

 

 

 

1,276

 

 

 

4,124

 

 

 

2,273

 

Services

 

 

1,453

 

 

 

1,407

 

 

 

2,793

 

 

 

3,087

 

Total cost of revenue

 

 

3,525

 

 

 

2,683

 

 

 

6,917

 

 

 

5,360

 

Gross profit

 

 

26,174

 

 

 

22,477

 

 

 

50,737

 

 

 

42,845

 

Operating expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Research and development

 

 

12,623

 

 

 

9,237

 

 

 

25,164

 

 

 

18,279

 

Sales and marketing

 

 

22,263

 

 

 

16,475

 

 

 

42,897

 

 

 

33,702

 

General and administrative

 

 

5,278

 

 

 

3,468

 

 

 

10,775

 

 

 

6,861

 

Total operating expenses

 

 

40,164

 

 

 

29,180

 

 

 

78,836

 

 

 

58,842

 

Loss from operations

 

 

(13,990

)

 

 

(6,703

)

 

 

(28,099

)

 

 

(15,997

)

Interest expense

 

 

(252

)

 

 

(2,495

)

 

 

(497

)

 

 

(4,016

)

Other income (expense), net

 

 

(77

)

 

 

614

 

 

 

7

 

 

 

307

 

Loss before income taxes

 

 

(14,319

)

 

 

(8,584

)

 

 

(28,589

)

 

 

(19,706

)

Provision for income taxes

 

 

151

 

 

 

254

 

 

 

480

 

 

 

482

 

Net loss

 

$

(14,470

)

 

$

(8,838

)

 

$

(29,069

)

 

$

(20,188

)

Cumulative dividends on Series G redeemable convertible

   preferred stock

 

 

(1,438

)

 

 

(1,150

)

 

 

(2,917

)

 

 

(1,150

)

Net loss attributable to common stockholders

 

$

(15,908

)

 

$

(9,988

)

 

$

(31,986

)

 

$

(21,338

)

Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic

   and diluted

 

$

(1.76

)

 

$

(1.76

)

 

$

(4.16

)

 

$

(3.77

)

Weighted-average shares used in computing net loss per share

   attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted

 

 

9,045

 

 

 

5,662

 

 

 

7,696

 

 

 

5,660

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

6


 

COUCHBASE, INC.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss

(unaudited)

(in thousands)

 

 

 

Three Months Ended July 31,

 

 

Six Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Net loss

 

$

(14,470

)

 

$

(8,838

)

 

$

(29,069

)

 

$

(20,188

)

Other comprehensive income (loss):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net unrealized gains (losses) on investments, net of tax

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

(1

)

 

 

 

Total comprehensive loss

 

$

(14,469

)

 

$

(8,838

)

 

$

(29,070

)

 

$

(20,188

)

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

7


 

COUCHBASE, INC.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock and Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit)

(unaudited)

(in thousands, except shares)

 

 

 

Redeemable

Convertible

Preferred Stock

 

 

 

Common Stock

 

 

Additional

Paid-In

 

 

Accumulated

Other

Comprehensive

Income

 

 

Accumulated

 

 

Total

Stockholders’

Equity

 

 

 

Shares

 

 

Amount

 

 

 

Shares

 

 

Amount

 

 

Capital

 

 

(Loss)

 

 

Deficit

 

 

(Deficit)

 

Balance as of April 30, 2020

 

 

18,901,887

 

 

$

155,506

 

 

 

 

5,659,677

 

 

$

 

 

$

31,481

 

 

$

 

 

$

(255,120

)

 

$

(223,639

)

Issuance of common stock upon

   exercise of stock options

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12,810

 

 

 

 

 

 

58

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

58

 

Issuance of Series G redeemable

   convertible preferred stock, net of

   issuance costs

 

 

7,168,326

 

 

 

104,316

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stock-based compensation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,366

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,366

 

Net loss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(8,838

)

 

 

(8,838

)

Balance as of July 31, 2020

 

 

26,070,213

 

 

$

259,822

 

 

 

 

5,672,487

 

 

$

 

 

$

32,905

 

 

$

 

 

$

(263,958

)

 

$

(231,053

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Redeemable

Convertible

Preferred Stock

 

 

 

Common Stock

 

 

Additional

Paid-In

 

 

Accumulated

Other

Comprehensive

Income

 

 

Accumulated

 

 

Total

Stockholders’

Equity

 

 

 

Shares

 

 

Amount

 

 

 

Shares

 

 

Amount

 

 

Capital

 

 

(Loss)

 

 

Deficit

 

 

(Deficit)

 

Balance as of April 30, 2021

 

 

26,070,213

 

 

$

259,822

 

 

 

 

6,460,868

 

 

$

 

 

$

40,686

 

 

$

(1

)

 

$

(298,352

)

 

$

(257,667

)

Issuance of common stock upon

   exercise of stock options

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

521,489

 

 

 

 

 

 

2,841

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

2,841

 

Conversion of redeemable

   convertible preferred stock to

   common stock upon initial public

   offering

 

 

(26,070,213

)

 

 

(259,822

)

 

 

 

26,710,600

 

 

 

 

 

 

259,822

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

259,822

 

Issuance of common stock in

   connection with initial public

   offering, net of underwriting

   discounts and commissions and

   other issuance costs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9,589,999

 

 

 

 

 

 

209,924

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

209,924

 

Settlement of fractional shares to be

   paid in cash

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(15

)

 

 

 

 

 

(9

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(9

)

Stock-based compensation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,981

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,981

 

Net unrealized gains (losses) on

   investments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

 

Net loss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(14,470

)

 

 

(14,470

)

Balance as of July 31, 2021

 

 

 

 

$

 

 

 

 

43,282,941

 

 

$

 

 

$

515,245

 

 

$

 

 

$

(312,822

)

 

$

202,423

 

8


 

 

 

 

 

Redeemable

Convertible

Preferred Stock

 

 

 

Common Stock

 

 

Additional

Paid-In

 

 

Accumulated

Other

Comprehensive

Income

 

 

Accumulated

 

 

Total

Stockholders’

Equity

 

 

 

Shares

 

 

Amount

 

 

 

Shares

 

 

Amount

 

 

Capital

 

 

(Loss)

 

 

Deficit

 

 

(Deficit)

 

Balance as of January 31, 2020

 

 

18,901,887

 

 

$

155,506

 

 

 

 

5,646,238

 

 

$

 

 

$

30,554

 

 

$

 

 

$

(243,770

)

 

$

(213,216

)

Issuance of common stock upon

   exercise of stock options

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

26,249

 

 

 

 

 

 

144

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

144

 

Issuance of Series G redeemable

   convertible preferred stock, net of

   issuance costs

 

 

7,168,326

 

 

 

104,316

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stock-based compensation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2,207

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2,207

 

Net loss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(20,188

)

 

 

(20,188

)

Balance as of July 31, 2020

 

 

26,070,213

 

 

$

259,822

 

 

 

 

5,672,487

 

 

$

 

 

$

32,905

 

 

$

 

 

$

(263,958

)

 

$

(231,053

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Redeemable

Convertible

Preferred Stock

 

 

 

Common Stock

 

 

Additional

Paid-In

 

 

Accumulated

Other

Comprehensive

Income

 

 

Accumulated

 

 

Total

Stockholders’

Equity

 

 

 

Shares

 

 

Amount

 

 

 

Shares

 

 

Amount

 

 

Capital

 

 

(Loss)

 

 

Deficit

 

 

(Deficit)

 

Balance as of January 31, 2021

 

 

26,070,213

 

 

$

259,822

 

 

 

 

6,199,305

 

 

$

 

 

$

37,410

 

 

$

1

 

 

$

(283,753

)

 

$

(246,342

)

Issuance of common stock upon

   exercise of stock options

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

783,052

 

 

 

 

 

 

4,288

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4,288

 

Conversion of redeemable

   convertible preferred stock to

   common stock upon initial public

   offering

 

 

(26,070,213

)

 

 

(259,822

)

 

 

 

26,710,600

 

 

 

 

 

 

259,822

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

259,822

 

Issuance of common stock upon

   initial public offering, net of

   underwriting discounts and

   commissions and other issuance

   costs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9,589,999

 

 

 

 

 

 

209,924

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

209,924

 

Settlement of fractional shares to be

   paid in cash

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(15

)

 

 

 

 

 

(9

)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(9

)

Stock-based compensation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3,810

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3,810

 

Net unrealized gains (losses)

   on investments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(1

)

 

 

 

 

 

(1

)

Net loss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(29,069

)

 

 

(29,069

)

Balance as of July 31, 2021

 

 

 

 

$

 

 

 

 

43,282,941

 

 

$

 

 

$

515,245

 

 

$

 

 

$

(312,822

)

 

$

202,423

 

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements.

9


 

COUCHBASE, INC.

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(unaudited)

(in thousands)

 

 

Six Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Cash flows from operating activities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net loss

 

$

(29,069

)

 

$

(20,188

)

Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Depreciation and amortization

 

 

1,406

 

 

 

607

 

Amortization of debt issuance costs

 

 

15

 

 

 

460

 

Debt prepayment costs

 

 

 

 

 

375

 

Stock-based compensation

 

 

3,810

 

 

 

2,207

 

Amortization of deferred commissions

 

 

6,326

 

 

 

4,505

 

Foreign currency transaction (gains) losses

 

 

5

 

 

 

(279

)

Other

 

 

68

 

 

 

45

 

Changes in operating assets and liabilities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accounts receivable

 

 

15,845

 

 

 

13,014

 

Deferred commissions

 

 

(7,071

)

 

 

(4,758

)

Prepaid expenses and other assets

 

 

(5,848

)

 

 

(364

)

Accounts payable

 

 

4,553

 

 

 

462

 

Accrued compensation and benefits

 

 

(91

)

 

 

(1,244

)

Other accrued liabilities

 

 

(1,749

)

 

 

(794

)

Deferred revenue

 

 

(7,375

)

 

 

(13,514

)

Net cash used in operating activities

 

 

(19,175

)

 

 

(19,466

)

Cash flows from investing activities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Purchases of short-term investments

 

 

(7,133

)

 

 

 

Maturities of short-term investments

 

 

12,285

 

 

 

 

Purchases of property and equipment

 

 

(250

)

 

 

(2,626

)

Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities

 

 

4,902

 

 

 

(2,626

)

Cash flows from financing activities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Payments of debt

 

 

 

 

 

(31,777

)

Proceeds from issuance of debt, net of issuance costs

 

 

 

 

 

6,402

 

Proceeds from issuance of Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock, net of

   issuance costs

 

 

 

 

 

104,316

 

Proceeds from exercise of stock options

 

 

4,288

 

 

 

144

 

Proceeds from initial public offering, net of underwriting discounts and commissions

 

 

214,854

 

 

 

 

Payments of deferred offering costs

 

 

(2,795

)

 

 

 

Net cash provided by financing activities

 

 

216,347

 

 

 

79,085

 

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash

 

 

(125

)

 

 

24

 

Net increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash

 

 

201,949

 

 

 

57,017

 

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beginning of period

 

 

37,840

 

 

 

18,767

 

End of period

 

$

239,789

 

 

$

75,784

 

Cash and cash equivalents

 

$

239,246

 

 

$

75,241

 

Restricted cash included in other assets

 

 

543

 

 

 

543

 

Total cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash

 

$

239,789

 

 

$

75,784

 

Supplemental disclosures of cash activities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cash paid for income taxes

 

$

442

 

 

$

349

 

Cash paid for interest

 

$

495

 

 

$

2,494

 

Non-cash investing and financing activities:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Change in purchases of property and equipment included in accounts payable and

   other accrued liabilities

 

$

230

 

 

$

(533

)

Change in deferred offering costs included in accounts payable and other accrued

   liabilities

 

$

1,051

 

 

$

 

Conversion of redeemable convertible preferred stock to common stock

 

$

259,822

 

 

$

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these condensed consolidated financial statements

 

10


 

 

COUCHBASE, INC.

Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements

(unaudited)

1. Description of Business

Couchbase, Inc. (“Couchbase” or the “Company”) provides an enterprise-class, multi-cloud NoSQL database architected on top of an open source foundation. Couchbase was incorporated in the State of Delaware in 2008 and is headquartered in Santa Clara, California. In these notes to the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements, the “Company,” “Couchbase” “we,” “us,” and “our” refers to Couchbase, Inc. and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis.

2. Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

The Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, (“SEC”), regarding interim financial reporting. As permitted under those rules, certain footnotes or other financial information that are normally required by GAAP have been condensed or omitted, and accordingly the balance sheet as of January 31, 2021, and related disclosures, have been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements at that date but do not include all the information required by GAAP for complete consolidated financial statements. These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as the Company’s annual consolidated financial statements and, in the opinion of management, reflect all adjustments (consisting of only normal recurring adjustments) that are necessary for the fair statement of the Company’s condensed consolidated financial information. The results of operations for the three and six months ended July 31, 2021, are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the year ending January 31, 2022, or for any other interim period or for any other future year.

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto for the year ended January 31, 2021, included in the Company’s final prospectus filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b)(4) on July 22, 2021 (Final Prospectus).

Initial Public Offering

In July 2021, the Company completed its initial public offering (“IPO”), for the sale and issuance of 9,589,999 shares of its common stock at $24.00 per share, which included 1,250,869 shares issued pursuant to the exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares. The Company received net proceeds of $214.9 million, after deducting underwriters’ discounts and commissions and before consideration of other issuance costs. In connection with the IPO, all 26,710,600 shares of outstanding redeemable convertible preferred stock automatically converted into an equivalent number of shares of common stock.

Prior to the IPO, all deferred offering costs were capitalized in other noncurrent assets on the condensed consolidated balance sheets. Deferred offering costs of $4.9 million, primarily consisting of accounting, legal, and other fees related to the Company’s IPO, were offset against the IPO proceeds upon the closing of the Company’s IPO in July 2021. As of July 31, 2021 and January 31, 2021, unpaid deferred offering costs totaled $2.1 million and $1.1 million, respectively.

Reverse Stock Split

On June 30, 2021, the Company effected a 2.5-for-1 reverse stock split of its outstanding common stock, common stock warrants, preferred stock, and stock option awards. All issued and outstanding shares of common stock, common stock warrants, preferred stock, stock option awards and per share data have been adjusted in these condensed consolidated financial statements, on a retrospective basis, to reflect the reverse stock split for all periods presented. The par value of the common stock and preferred stock was not adjusted because of the reverse stock split.

Fiscal Year

The Company’s fiscal year ends on January 31. Unless otherwise stated, references to year in these condensed consolidated financial statements relate to fiscal year rather than calendar year.

Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Couchbase, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

11


 

 

Use of Estimates

The preparation of the condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts stated in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Such estimates include standalone selling prices (“SSP”) for each distinct performance obligation, capitalized internal-use software costs, expected period of benefit for deferred commissions, stock-based compensation, the determination of allowance for doubtful accounts and accounting for income taxes. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience and assumptions that management considers reasonable.

The Company assesses these estimates on a regular basis; however, actual results could differ from these estimates. Estimates and assumptions about future events and their effects, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, cannot be determined with certainty and therefore require increased judgment. These estimates and assumptions may change in future periods and will be recognized in the condensed consolidated financial statements as new events occur and additional information becomes known. To the extent the Company’s actual results differ materially from those estimates and assumptions, the Company’s future financial statements could be affected.

COVID-19

While the duration and extent of the COVID-19 pandemic depends on future developments that cannot be accurately predicted at this time, such as the extent and effectiveness of containment actions, it has already had an adverse effect on the global economy and the lasting effects of the pandemic continue to be unknown. The Company may experience customer losses, including due to bankruptcy or customers ceasing operations, which may result in delays in collections or an inability to collect accounts receivable from these customers. The impact of COVID-19 on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, or liquidity continues to remain uncertain, and as of the date of issuance of these financial statements, the Company is not aware of any specific event or circumstance that would require an update to its estimates or judgments or an adjustment to the carrying value of the Company’s assets or liabilities. These estimates may change, as new events occur and additional information is obtained, which will be recognized in the condensed consolidated financial statements as soon as they become known. Actual results could differ from those estimates, and any such differences may be material to the Company’s financial statements.

Significant Accounting Policies

There have been no significant changes to the Company’s significant accounting policies disclosed in “Note 2 – Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” of the Company’s Final Prospectus.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

Under the JOBS Act, the Company meets the definition of an emerging growth company and can delay adopting new or revised accounting standards issued after the enactment of the JOBS Act until such time as those standards apply to private companies. The Company has elected to use this extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies until the Company is no longer an emerging growth company or until the Company affirmatively and irrevocably opts out of the extended transition period.

In February 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which requires lessees to record most leases on their balance sheets and disclosing key information about lease arrangements. In July 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-10, Codification Improvements to Topic 842, Leases. The ASU makes 16 technical corrections to the new lease standard and other accounting topics, alleviating unintended consequences from applying the new standard. It does not make any substantive changes to the core provisions or principles of the new standard. In July 2018, the FASB also issued ASU 2018-11, Leases (Topic 842): Targeted Improvements. The ASU provides (1) an optional transition method that entities can use when adopting the standard and (2) a practical expedient that permits lessors to not separate non-lease components from the associated lease component if certain conditions are met. In March 2019, the FASB also issued ASU 2019-01, Leases (Topic 842): Codification Improvements, which impacts transition disclosures related to the new guidance. The Company plans to adopt this guidance using a modified retrospective approach on February 1, 2022 and is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption on its condensed consolidated financial statements.

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments, which requires a financial asset measured at amortized cost basis to be presented at the net amount expected to be collected, with further clarifications made more recently. For trade receivables, loans and other financial instruments, the Company will be required to use a forward-looking expected loss model rather than the incurred loss model for recognizing credit losses which reflects losses that are probable. Credit losses relating to available-for-sale debt securities are required to be recorded through an allowance for credit losses rather than as a reduction in the amortized cost basis of the securities. The Company plans to

12


 

adopt this standard on February 1, 2023 and is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption on its condensed consolidated financial statements.

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-15, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other —Internal-Use Software, which aligns the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software. The new guidance is effective for the Company beginning February 1, 2022. The Company does not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on its condensed consolidated financial statements.

In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes, which simplifies the accounting for income taxes by eliminating some exceptions to the general approach in Topic 740 to reduce cost and complexity of its application. This new guidance is effective for the Company beginning February 1, 2022. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this guidance on its condensed consolidated financial statements.

In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-06, Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity, which simplifies the accounting for certain convertible instruments, amends the guidance on derivative scope exceptions for contracts in an entity’s own equity and modifies the guidance on diluted earnings per share calculations. The guidance is effective for the Company beginning February 1, 2024. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this guidance on its condensed consolidated financial statements.

3. Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments

The following tables summarize the Company’s cash equivalents and short-term investments (in thousands):

 

 

 

As of July 31, 2021

 

 

 

Amortized

Cost

 

 

Gross

Unrealized

Gains

 

 

Gross

Unrealized

Losses

 

 

Estimated

Fair Value

 

Cash Equivalents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Money market funds

 

$

235,045

 

 

$

 

 

$

 

 

$

235,045

 

Total cash equivalents

 

 

235,045

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

235,045

 

Short-Term Investments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commercial paper

 

 

8,095

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8,095

 

Corporate debt securities

 

 

6,227

 

 

 

 

 

 

(1

)

 

 

6,226

 

Total short-term investments

 

 

14,322

 

 

 

 

 

 

(1

)

 

 

14,321

 

Total

 

$

249,367

 

 

$

 

 

$

(1

)

 

$

249,366

 

 

 

 

As of January 31, 2021

 

 

 

Amortized

Cost

 

 

Gross

Unrealized

Gains

 

 

Gross

Unrealized

Losses

 

 

Estimated

Fair Value

 

Cash Equivalents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Money market funds

 

$

31,438

 

 

$

 

 

$

 

 

$

31,438

 

Total cash equivalents

 

 

31,438

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

31,438

 

Short-Term Investments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commercial paper

 

 

12,290

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12,290

 

Corporate debt securities

 

 

7,255

 

 

 

2

 

 

 

(1

)

 

 

7,256

 

Total short-term investments

 

 

19,545

 

 

 

2

 

 

 

(1

)

 

 

19,546

 

Total

 

$

50,983

 

 

$

2

 

 

$

(1

)

 

$

50,984

 

 

During the three and six months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, the Company did not reclassify any amounts to earnings from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) related to unrealized gains or losses in other income (expense), net in the condensed consolidated statements of operations.

As of July 31, 2021 and January 31, 2021, the Company’s short-term investments had a contractual maturity date of less than one year.

As of July 31, 2021, the Company had five short-term investments in an unrealized loss position. These short-term investments had an estimated fair value of $4.4 million and were not in a continuous unrealized loss position for more than twelve months. As of January 31, 2021, the Company had one short-term investment in an unrealized loss position. This short-term investment had an estimated fair value of $0.9 million and was not in a continuous unrealized loss position for more than twelve months. During the three and six months ended July 31, 2021, the Company had no other-than-temporary impairments of short-term investments.

13


 

4. Fair Value Measurements

The Company accounts for certain of its financial assets and liabilities at fair value. Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in an orderly transaction between market participants at the reporting date. The accounting guidance establishes a three-tiered hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in the valuation methodologies in measuring fair value as follows:

Level 1: Observable inputs, such as quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2: Observable inputs other than Level 1 prices such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities, quoted prices in markets that are not active, or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the full term of the assets or liabilities.

Level 3: Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities.

The carrying amounts reflected on the condensed consolidated balance sheets for cash equivalents, accounts receivable, accounts payable and accrued liabilities approximate fair value due to the short maturities of those instruments. The carrying value of long-term debt approximated fair value as of July 31, 2021, and January 31, 2021, based on the borrowing rates currently available to the Company with similar terms. The fair value of long-term debt is a Level 2 fair value measurement.

The following tables present the fair value hierarchy for the Company’s assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis (in thousands):

 

 

 

As of July 31, 2021

 

 

 

Level 1

 

 

Level 2

 

 

Level 3

 

 

Total

 

Cash Equivalents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Money market funds

 

$

235,045

 

 

$

 

 

$

 

 

$

235,045

 

Total cash equivalents

 

 

235,045

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

235,045

 

Short-Term Investments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commercial paper

 

 

 

 

 

8,095

 

 

 

 

 

 

8,095

 

Corporate debt securities

 

 

 

 

 

6,226

 

 

 

 

 

 

6,226

 

Total short-term investments

 

 

 

 

 

14,321

 

 

 

 

 

 

14,321

 

Total

 

$

235,045

 

 

$

14,321

 

 

$

 

 

$

249,366

 

 

 

 

As of January 31, 2021

 

 

 

Level 1

 

 

Level 2

 

 

Level 3

 

 

Total

 

Cash Equivalents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Money market funds

 

$

31,438

 

 

$

 

 

$

 

 

$

31,438

 

Total cash equivalents

 

 

31,438

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

31,438

 

Short-Term Investments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commercial paper

 

 

 

 

 

12,290

 

 

 

 

 

 

12,290

 

Corporate debt securities

 

 

 

 

 

7,256

 

 

 

 

 

 

7,256

 

Total short-term investments

 

 

 

 

 

19,546

 

 

 

 

 

 

19,546

 

Total

 

$

31,438

 

 

$

19,546

 

 

$

 

 

$

50,984

 

 

The Company classifies its money market funds within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy because they are valued based on quoted market prices in active markets. The Company classifies its commercial paper and corporate debt securities within Level 2 because they are valued using inputs other than quoted prices which are directly or indirectly observable in the market, including readily available pricing sources for the identical underlying security which may not be actively traded.

There were no transfers of financial assets into or out of Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3 during the periods presented.

14


 

5. Balance Sheet Components

Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets

Prepaid expenses and other current assets consisted of the following (in thousands):

 

 

 

As of July 31,

 

 

As of January 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2021

 

Prepaid expenses

 

$

5,919

 

 

$

803

 

Prepaid software

 

 

1,656

 

 

 

1,380

 

Other current assets

 

 

524

 

 

 

266

 

Total prepaid expenses and other current assets

 

$

8,099

 

 

$

2,449

 

 

Property and Equipment, Net

Property and equipment, net consisted of the following (in thousands):

 

 

 

As of July 31,

 

 

As of January 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2021

 

Computer equipment

 

$

3,584

 

 

$

3,304

 

Furniture and fixtures

 

 

412

 

 

 

408

 

Capitalized internal-use software

 

 

5,772

 

 

 

5,772

 

Leasehold improvements

 

 

1,582

 

 

 

1,387

 

Total gross property and equipment

 

 

11,350

 

 

 

10,871

 

Accumulated depreciation and amortization

 

 

(5,772

)

 

 

(4,365

)

Total property and equipment, net

 

$

5,578

 

 

$

6,506

 

 

Depreciation and amortization expense was $0.7 million and $0.4 million for the three months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and $1.4 million and $0.6 million for the six months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Accrued Compensation and Benefits

Accrued compensation and benefits consisted of the following (in thousands):

 

 

 

As of July 31,

 

 

As of January 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2021

 

Accrued bonus

 

$

4,182

 

 

$

4,149

 

Accrued commissions

 

 

2,481

 

 

 

2,364

 

Accrued payroll and benefits

 

 

2,357

 

 

 

2,597

 

Total accrued compensation and benefits

 

$

9,020

 

 

$

9,110

 

 

Other Accrued Liabilities

Other accrued liabilities consisted of the following (in thousands):

 

 

 

As of July 31,

 

 

As of January 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2021

 

Accrued professional fees

 

$

1,384

 

 

$

1,925

 

Sales and value added tax payable

 

 

106

 

 

 

415

 

Income taxes payable

 

 

513

 

 

 

436

 

Accrued interest

 

 

-

 

 

 

95

 

Other

 

 

1,572

 

 

 

1,283

 

Total other accrued liabilities

 

$

3,575

 

 

$

4,154

 

 

15


 

 

6. Deferred Revenue and Remaining Performance Obligations

The following table presents the deferred revenue balances (in thousands):

 

 

 

As of July 31,

 

 

As of January 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2021

 

Deferred revenue, current

 

$

48,980

 

 

$

57,168

 

Deferred revenue, noncurrent

 

 

5,356

 

 

 

4,542

 

Total deferred revenue

 

$

54,336

 

 

$

61,710

 

 

Changes in the deferred revenue balances during the and six months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020 (unaudited) were as follows (in thousands):

 

 

Six Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Beginning balance

 

$

61,710

 

 

$

60,929

 

Performance obligations satisfied during the period that were included in the deferred

   revenue balance at the beginning of the year

 

 

(38,813

)

 

 

(39,997

)

Increases due to invoicing prior to satisfaction of performance obligations

 

 

31,439

 

 

 

26,483

 

Ending balance

 

$

54,336

 

 

$

47,415

 

 

 

Remaining performance obligations (“RPOs”) represent the amount of contracted future revenue that has not yet been recognized, including both deferred revenue and non-cancelable contracted amounts that will be invoiced and recognized as revenue in future periods.

As of July 31, 2021, the Company’s RPOs were $118.9 million. The Company expects to recognize revenue of $74.1 million of these remaining performance obligations over the next twelve months, with the remaining balances recognized thereafter.

7. Debt

Debt is presented net of issuance costs on the condensed consolidated balance sheets as follows (in thousands)

 

 

 

As of July 31,

 

 

As of January 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2021

 

Principal outstanding

 

$

25,000

 

 

$

25,000

 

Unamortized discount and debt issuance costs

 

 

(37

)

 

 

(52

)

Long-term debt

 

$

24,963

 

 

$

24,948

 

 

Interest expense on the Company’s borrowings was $0.3 million and $2.5 million for the three months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and $0.5 million and $4.0 million for the six months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The effective interest rate was 3.9% and 6.5% for the three months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and 3.9% and 8.9% for the six months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Term Loan

In August 2018, the Company entered into an agreement for a term loan (the “Loan”) with Hercules Capital to borrow up to a maximum of $35.0 million over a period of three years with an original maturity date in September 2021. The interest on the Loan is the greater of (1) 10.75% plus the prime rate minus 5.5% and (2) 10.75%. Under the terms of the Loan, the Company pays interest monthly and the aggregate Loan principal balance is due on the maturity date. The Loan is secured by a subordinated security interest in substantially all the assets of the Company except intellectual property and contains certain covenants, including covenants which prohibit the Company from declaring or making cash dividends. The Loan permits voluntary prepayment on borrowings with a penalty ranging from 0.25% to 2.50% of the prepaid principal amount. Additionally, the Loan allows the lender to accelerate and demand for all or part of the outstanding borrowings together with a prepayment penalty in the event of default (as defined by the Loan agreement). The Company borrowed $14.7 million, net of issuance costs, under the Loan upon closing in August 2018.

In April 2019, the Company entered into an amendment to the Loan with Hercules Capital to increase the maximum Loan amount to $70.0 million and extending the maturity date. The Company borrowed $34.8 million, net of issuance costs, during the year ended January 31, 2020. Under the terms of the amended Loan, the Company continued to pay interest at the same rate monthly with the aggregate principal balance repayment date being extended to May 2023. The amended Loan was also subject to a 3.75% end-of-term charge on the aggregate borrowings, payable upon maturity. The amendment also added certain financial covenants, including covenants related to achieving a target annual recurring revenue, that if not met by June 2022, could trigger early repayment in June

16


 

2022, and a target annual recurring revenue leverage ratio, that if not met, would limit the additional amount of borrowings under the Loan.

In June 2020, the Company paid off $25.0 million of the Loan and entered into an amendment to the Loan with Hercules Capital, which reduced the maximum borrowings under the Loan from $70.0 million to $25.0 million and extended the Loan maturity date to June 2024. Additionally, this amendment required the Company to make a prepayment charge equal to $0.4 million upon the effective date of the agreement. Accordingly, the Company paid a prepayment penalty of $0.4 million and an end-of-term charge of $0.9 million in accordance with the terms of the Loan which was recorded as interest expense in the condensed consolidated statement of operations.

In January 2021, the Company terminated the Loan and paid off the $25.0 million remaining outstanding balance of the Loan together with a prepayment penalty of $0.6 million and an end-of-term charge of $0.9 million in accordance with the terms of the Loan, which was recorded as interest expense in the condensed consolidated statement of operations. The Company wrote off the remaining unamortized debt discounts and issuance costs to interest expense upon the termination of the Loan with Hercules in January 2021.

In connection with the amendment in April 2019, the Company also issued warrants to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock at $7.48 per share, exercisable over 10 years. The warrants were issuable at 2.25% of the aggregate amount of the borrowings drawn concurrently and after the amendment. The Company issued warrants to purchase 75,250 shares of the Company’s common stock on $25.0 million that was borrowed concurrently with the execution of the amendment and warrants to purchase an additional 30,100 shares of the Company’s common stock upon borrowings of an additional $10.0 million in December 2019. The warrants were recorded at fair value using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. The fair value of the warrants was recorded to equity and as a debt discount that was amortized to interest over the term of the loan. The total fair value of the common stock warrants was $0.4 million. As of July 31, 2021, all warrants were outstanding and exercisable.

Credit Facility

In November 2017, the Company entered into a line of credit agreement with Silicon Valley Bank, or Credit Facility, providing the Company the ability to borrow up to $10.0 million from a revolving line of credit with an original maturity date in November 2018. Borrowings under the line of credit bear interest at a floating per annum rate equal to one half of one percentage point (0.50%) above the prime rate, which interest shall be payable monthly. The line of credit is secured with a pledge on substantially all the assets of the Company, except any intellectual property and is subject to a minimum revenue covenant.

In November 2018, the Company entered into an amendment with Silicon Valley Bank to increase the line of credit limit to $15.0 million and extend the maturity date to November 2019.

In April 2019, an amendment was entered into with the Silicon Valley Bank to decrease the line of credit to $10.0 million. In October 2019, an amendment was entered into with Silicon Valley Bank to extend the maturity of the line of credit to November 2020. There were no borrowings against the line of credit as of January 31, 2020.

In November 2020, the Company entered into an amendment with Silicon Valley Bank to extend the maturity of the line of credit to February 2021. In January 2021, the Company entered into an amendment with Silicon Valley Bank to increase the line of credit limit to $40.0 million and extend the maturity date to January 2024. Upon the execution of this amendment, the Company borrowed $25.0 million from the line of credit. The outstanding principal balance is due at maturity with interest payable monthly. The line of credit bears a variable annual interest rate of the prime rate plus 0.5%. The Company is required to pay a fee equal to 0.25% per annum on the unused portion of the line of credit. The Company is also subject to a termination fee ranging from 0.5% to 1.0% of the line of credit if the Company terminates the agreement prior to the maturity date. The amendment also added certain financial covenants, including covenants related to certain financial metrics, that if not met, would limit the amount of additional borrowings under the line of credit. As of July 31, 2021, $15.0 million was available for borrowing under the line of credit.

The amended line of credit agreement requires the company to maintain an adjusted quick ratio (as defined by the agreement) of at least 1.15 to 1.0. The line of credit agreement also contains certain customary affirmative and negative covenants as well as customary events of default, subject to certain exceptions, including restrictions on the Company’s ability to, among other things, incur debt and liens, maintain collateral accounts, undergo fundamental changes including mergers or consolidations, dispose assets including selling, transferring or assigning assets, pay dividends or other distributions or make or permit payments on any subordinated debt. The Company was in compliance with the financial covenants under the line of credit as of July 31, 2021.

8. Commitments and Contingencies

Operating Leases

The Company leases facilities for office space under non-cancelable operating leases with various expiration dates through March 2025.

17


 

Rent expense was $0.7 million and $0.7 million for the three months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and $1.3 million and $1.4 million for the six months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

 

Other Contractual Commitments

Other contractual commitments relate to third-party cloud infrastructure agreements and subscription arrangements.

In July 2021, the Company negotiated a noncancelable arrangement with a cloud hosting service provider. Under the arrangement, the Company committed to spend an aggregate of at least $10.0 million between August 2021 and August 2024, with a minimum amount of approximately $3.0 million in each of the first two years and $4.0 million in the third year on services with this vendor.

As of July 31, 2021, except for the arrangement noted above, there were no other material changes to the Company’s other contractual commitments since January 31, 2021.

 

Legal Matters

From time to time, the Company may be a party to various legal matters, threatened claims, or proceedings in the normal course of business. Legal fees and other costs associated with such actions are expensed as incurred. The Company assesses, in conjunction with its legal counsel, the need to record a liability for litigation and contingencies. Legal accruals are recorded when and if it is determined that a loss related to a certain matter is both probable and reasonably estimable.

Indemnification

The Company enters into standard indemnification arrangements in the ordinary course of business. Pursuant to these arrangements, the Company indemnifies, holds harmless and agrees to reimburse the indemnified parties for losses suffered or incurred by the indemnified party, in connection with any trade secret, copyright, patent or other intellectual property infringement claims brought by any third party against such indemnified party with respect to licensed technology. The term of these indemnification agreements is generally perpetual any time after the execution of the agreement. The maximum potential amount of future payments the Company could be required to make under these agreements is not determinable because it involves claims that may be made against the Company in the future but have not yet been made. To date, the Company has not incurred costs to defend lawsuits or settle claims related to these indemnification agreements.

The Company has entered into indemnification agreements with its directors and officers that may require the Company to indemnify its directors and officers against liabilities that may arise by reason of their status or service as directors or officers, other than liabilities arising from willful misconduct of the individual. No liability associated with such indemnifications has been recorded as of July 31, 2021, or January 31, 2021.

9. Retirement Plan

The Company sponsors a defined contribution savings plan under Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, covering substantially all full-time U.S. employees. Each eligible employee may contribute to the 401(k) plan in accordance with the plan terms. The Company matches its employee contributions to the 401(k) plan. The total matching contributions were $0.1 million and less than $0.1 million for the three months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and $0.2 million and $0.2 million for the six months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

10. Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit) and Employee Incentive Plans

Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock

Upon the closing of the Company’s IPO, all 26,710,600 shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock were automatically converted into shares of common stock, which includes an additional 640,387 shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock. The additional shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock consisted of 162,032 shares for the Series E conversion feature and 478,355 shares for the Series G dividends. The carrying value of $259.8 million was reclassified into common stock and additional paid-in-capital. As of July 31, 2021, there were no shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock issued and outstanding.

In connection with the IPO, the Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation became effective, which authorized the issuance of 200,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock with a par value of $0.00001 per share with rights and preferences, including voting rights, designated from time to time by the board of directors.

Common Stock

The Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation authorized the Company to issue 1,000,000,000 and 43,200,000 shares of common stock at a par value of $0.00001 as of July 31, 2021 and January 31, 2021, respectively. As of July 31,

18


 

2021 and January 31, 2021, approximately 43,282,941 and 6,199,305 shares of common stock were issued and outstanding, respectively.

Each share of common stock is entitled to one vote. The holders of common stock are also entitled to receive dividends whenever funds are legally available and when and if declared by the board of directors, subject to the prior rights of holders of all classes of stock outstanding. As of July 31, 2021 and January 31, 2021, no dividends had been declared.

As of July 31, 2021, the Company has reserved common stock for future issuance, as follows:

 

 

 

Number of Shares

 

Stock options outstanding

 

 

9,908,576

 

Common stock warrants

 

 

105,350

 

Reserved for future grant of stock options

 

 

4,120,000

 

Total

 

 

14,133,926

 

 

Stock Plans

The Company has three equity incentive plans: the 2008 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2008 Plan”) 2018 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2018 Plan”) and the 2021 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2021 Plan”), collectively (the “Stock Plans”). In connection with the Company’s IPO in July 2021, the 2008 Plan and the 2018 Plan were terminated and replaced by the 2021 Plan and all shares that remained available for issuance under the 2018 Plan at that time were reserved for issuance under the 2021 Plan. The number of shares of common stock available for issuance under the 2021 Plan will be increased by any shares of common stock subject to awards outstanding under the 2018 Plan that expire or otherwise terminate without having been exercised or issued in full, are tendered to or withheld by the Company for payment of an exercise price or for satisfying tax withholding obligations or are forfeited to or repurchased by the Company due to failure to vest.

The Company has issued stock options to employees, directors, consultants, and advisors pursuant to the 2018 Plan. Through July 31, 2021, the Company has granted no equity awards pursuant to the 2021 Plan.

Options granted under the 2021 Plan may be stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units, performance units and performance shares. Stock option grants may be either Incentive Stock Options (“ISO”) or Non-Qualified Stock Options (“NSO”). ISO may be granted only to Company employees (including officers and directors who are also employees). NSOs may be granted to Company employees, consultants, and nonemployee directors. Employee stock options are granted with an exercise price no less than the fair value of the underlying common stock on the grant date. Options granted under the 2021 Plan expire ten years from the date of grant and generally vest over four years at a rate of 25% upon the first anniversary of the issuance date and 1/48 per month thereafter.

As of July 31, 2021, there were 4.1 million shares available for grant under the 2021 Plan. The 2021 Plan provides that the number of shares reserved will automatically increase on the first day of each fiscal year, beginning on February 1, 2022, by an amount equal to the least of (i) 4,120,000 shares, (ii) five-percent (5%) of the outstanding Shares of our common stock on the last day of the immediately preceding fiscal year, or (iii) such number of shares determined by the administrator of the 2021 Plan no later than the last day of the immediately preceding Fiscal Year.

Stock option activity and activity regarding shares available for grant under the Stock Plans for six months ended July 31, 2021 are as follows (aggregate intrinsic value in thousands):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Options Outstanding

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shares

Available

for Grant

 

 

Number of

Options

 

 

Weighted-

Average

Exercise

Price

 

 

Weighted-

Average

Contractual

Term

 

 

Aggregate

Intrinsic

Value

 

Balances as of January 31, 2021

 

 

253,958

 

 

 

8,912,477

 

 

$

6.42

 

 

 

6.49

 

 

$

38,582

 

Additional shares reserved

 

 

5,604,548

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Options exercised

 

 

 

 

 

(759,081

)

 

$

5.48

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Options granted

 

 

(1,948,563

)

 

 

1,948,563

 

 

$

22.49

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Options cancelled

 

 

210,057

 

 

 

(210,057

)

 

$

8.48

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balances as of July 31, 2021

 

 

4,120,000

 

 

 

9,891,902

 

 

$

9.61

 

 

 

6.94

 

 

$

203,235

 

Options vested and expected to vest as of July 31, 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

9,891,902

 

 

$

9.61

 

 

 

6.94

 

 

$

203,235

 

Options vested and exercisable as of July 31, 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

5,804,191

 

 

$

5.93

 

 

 

5.51

 

 

$

140,607

 

 

19


 

 

Stock options granted during the three months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020 had a weighted-average grant-date fair value of $11.31 and $2.99, respectively. The aggregate intrinsic value of options exercised during the three months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020 was $10.6 million and less than $0.1 million, respectively.

Stock options granted during the six months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020 had a weighted-average grant-date fair value of $9.30 and $2.99, respectively. The aggregate intrinsic value of options exercised during the six months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020 was $14.4 million and $0.1 million, respectively.

Aggregate intrinsic value represents the difference between the exercise price of the options and the estimated fair value of the Company’s common stock.

The fair value of employee stock options was estimated using the following weighted-average assumptions:

 

 

 

Three Months Ended July 31,

 

 

Six Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Stock Option Plans:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Expected term (in years)

 

 

6.1

 

 

 

6.1

 

 

 

6.1

 

 

 

6.1

 

Expected volatility

 

 

42.4

%

 

 

39.9

%

 

 

42.0

%

 

 

39.9

%

Risk-free interest rate

 

 

1.0

%

 

 

0.4

%

 

 

1.0

%

 

 

0.4

%

Dividend yield

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Expected term—The expected term of stock options represents the weighted-average period the stock options are expected to remain outstanding and is calculated using the simplified method, as the Company did not have sufficient historical information to develop reasonable expectations about future exercise patterns and post-vesting employment termination behavior. The simplified method calculates the expected term as the midpoint between the vesting date and the contractual expiration date of the option.

Expected volatility—The expected stock price volatility assumption was determined by examining the historical volatilities for industry peers, as the Company does not have any trading history for the Company’s common stock.

Risk-free interest rate—The risk-free rate assumption is based on the U.S. Treasury instruments whose term was consistent with the expected term of the Company’s stock options.

Dividend yield—The expected dividend assumption is based on the Company’s history and expectation of dividend payouts.

Fair value of underlying common stock— Prior to the Company’s initial public offering, the fair value was determined by the Board of Directors with input from management and contemporaneous independent third-party valuations. Subsequent to the IPO, the fair value of the Company’s common stock is based on the daily average selling price on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

Stock-Based Compensation

Stock-based compensation expense was as follows (in thousands):

 

 

 

Three Months Ended July 31,

 

 

Six Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Cost of revenue—subscription

 

$

30

 

 

$

19

 

 

$

57

 

 

$

34

 

Cost of revenue—services

 

 

24

 

 

 

17

 

 

 

46

 

 

 

27

 

Research and development

 

 

569

 

 

 

394

 

 

 

1,139

 

 

 

640

 

Sales and marketing

 

 

688

 

 

 

412

 

 

 

1,229

 

 

 

676

 

General and administrative

 

 

670

 

 

 

524

 

 

 

1,339

 

 

 

830

 

Total stock-based compensation expense

 

$

1,981

 

 

$

1,366

 

 

$

3,810

 

 

$

2,207

 

 

Stock-based compensation expense related to options granted to nonemployees for the three and six months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020 was not material.

As of January 31, 2021 and July 31, 2021, there was $8.7 million and $22.4 million, respectively, of unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to unvested stock options, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.5 years and 2.8 years, respectively.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

In July 2021, the Company established an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”) in which eligible employees may contribute up to 15% of their base compensation to purchase shares of common stock at a price equal to 85% of the lower of (1) the fair market value of a share of the Company’s common stock at the beginning of the offering period and (2) the fair market value of a share of the

20


 

Company’s common stock on the purchase date. A participant will be permitted to purchase a maximum of shares during each offering period. No participant may purchase more than 1,000 shares during any offering period. As of July 31, 2021, 830,000 shares were available for issuance and no shares of common stock were issued under the ESPP.

 

Except for the initial offering period, the 2021 ESPP provides for 24-month offering periods beginning March 21 and September 21 of each year, and each offering period will consist of four six-month purchase periods. The initial offering period began on July 22, 2021 and will end on September 20, 2023. The initial offering shall consist of four purchase periods with the first purchase period ending on March 20, 2022, and the final purchase period ending on September 20, 2023. For accounting purposes, the grant date of the first offering was subsequent to July 31, 2021.

11. Income Taxes

Accounting for income taxes for interim periods generally requires the provision for income taxes to be determined by applying an estimate of the annual effective tax rate for the full fiscal year to income or loss before income taxes, adjusted for discrete items, if any, for the reporting period. The Company updates its estimate of the annual effective tax rate each quarter and records a cumulative adjustment in such period.

The Company recorded income tax expense of $0.2 million and $0.3 million for the three months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and $0.5 million and $0.5 million for the six months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Income tax expense consists primarily of income taxes in foreign jurisdictions in which the Company conducts business. Due to the Company’s history of losses in the United States, a full valuation allowance on substantially all of the Company’s deferred tax assets, including net operating loss carryforwards, research and development tax credits, capitalized research and development, and other book versus tax differences was maintained.

 

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was signed into law on March 11, 2021. The ARPA did not have any impact on the Company’s provision for income taxes for the three and six months ended July 31, 2021.

12. Geographic Information

The following table depicts the disaggregation of revenue by geographic area based on the billing address of the customer (in thousands):

 

 

 

Three Months Ended July 31,

 

 

Six Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

United States

 

$

18,336

 

 

$

16,149

 

 

$

36,383

 

 

$

31,366

 

International

 

 

11,363

 

 

 

9,011

 

 

 

21,271

 

 

 

16,839

 

Total

 

$

29,699

 

 

$

25,160

 

 

$

57,654

 

 

$

48,205

 

 

No individual foreign country contributed 10% or more of total revenue for the three and six months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020.

As of January 31, 2021 and July 31, 2021, substantially all of the Company’s long-lived assets were located in the United States.

13. Net Loss per Share

Basic net loss per share attributable to the Company’s common stockholders is computed by dividing the net loss attributable to the Company’s common stockholders by the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period. Diluted net loss per share is the same as basic net loss per share for all years presented because the effects of potentially dilutive items were anti-dilutive given the Company’s net loss position in each period presented.

21


 

The following table presents the calculation of basic and diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders (in thousands, except per share data):

 

 

 

Three Months Ended July 31,

 

 

Six Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Numerator

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Net loss

 

$

(14,470

)

 

$

(8,838

)

 

$

(29,069

)

 

$

(20,188

)

Cumulative dividends on Series G redeemable convertible

   preferred stock

 

 

(1,438

)

 

 

(1,150

)

 

 

(2,917

)

 

 

(1,150

)

Net loss attributable to common stockholders

 

$

(15,908

)

 

$

(9,988

)

 

$

(31,986

)

 

$

(21,338

)

Denominator

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weighted-average shares used in computing net loss per

   share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted

 

 

9,045

 

 

 

5,662

 

 

 

7,696

 

 

 

5,660

 

Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders,

   basic and diluted

 

$

(1.76

)

 

$

(1.76

)

 

$

(4.16

)

 

$

(3.77

)

 

The following potentially dilutive securities were excluded from the computation of diluted net loss per share for the periods presented because the impact of including them would have been anti-dilutive (in thousands):

 

 

 

As of July 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Stock options

 

 

9,909

 

 

 

9,194

 

Redeemable convertible preferred stock (on an if-converted basis)

 

 

 

 

 

26,312

 

Common stock warrants

 

 

105

 

 

 

105

 

Total

 

 

10,014

 

 

 

35,611

 

 

14. Subsequent Events

Subsequent to July 31, 2021, the Company repaid the outstanding balance of its revolving line of credit of $25.0 million.

22


 

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 condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes and other financial information included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and our final prospectus dated July 21, 2021 and filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, on July 22, 2021. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include those identified below and those discussed in the section titled “Risk Factors” and other parts of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for any period in the future. The last day of our fiscal year is January 31. Our fiscal quarters end on April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31. Our fiscal years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 are referred to herein as fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2021, respectively.

Overview

Our mission is to empower enterprises to build, manage and operate modern mission-critical applications at the highest scale and performance. Couchbase provides a leading modern database for enterprise applications. Enterprises rely on Couchbase to power the core applications their businesses depend on, for which there is no tolerance for disruption or downtime. Our database is versatile and works in multiple configurations, from cloud to multi- or hybrid-cloud to on-premise environments to the edge, and can be run by the customer or managed by us. We have architected our database on the next-generation flexibility of NoSQL, embodying a “not only SQL” approach. We combine the schema flexibility unavailable with legacy databases with the power and familiarity of the SQL query language, the lingua franca of database programming, into a single, unified platform. Our cloud-native platform provides a powerful modern database that serves the needs of both enterprise architects and application developers.

We built Couchbase for the most important, mission-critical applications for the largest enterprises, with the highest performance, reliability, scalability and agility requirements. Any compromise of these requirements could cause these applications to fail—stopping or delaying package delivery for shipping companies, interrupting reservations for travel companies, or causing product shortages in stores for retailers. We have spent over a decade building a platform architected to solve our customers’ most difficult database challenges, from scale to flexibility to deployment. This includes enabling Couchbase to not just simply run in the cloud, but to run anywhere from public clouds to hybrid environments and even all the way to the edge, in truly distributed environments with flexibility in and between those environments. Combined with our performance at scale, we believe this power enables customers to run their most important applications with the effectiveness they require, with the efficiency they desire and in the modern infrastructure environments they demand.

With nearly every aspect of our lives being transformed by digital innovation, enterprises are charged with building applications that enable delightful and meaningful customer experiences. Enterprises are increasingly reliant on applications, and applications in turn rely on databases to store, retrieve and operationalize data into action. Today, applications are operating at a scale, speed, and dynamism unheard of just a decade ago. There is an increasing diversity of application types, modalities and delivery and consumption models, and the volume, velocity, and variety of data on which applications rely is growing at an exponential rate. Consequently, the demand on enterprises and their databases is growing exponentially. These trends are poised to continue, applying increasing urgency for enterprises to digitally transform. Indeed, digital transformation has become both a strategic imperative and a competitive necessity for enterprises seeking to thrive in a data-driven world.

We designed Couchbase to give enterprises a database for the modern cloud world, overcoming the limitations of legacy database technologies and enabling the high performance, reliability, scalability, and agility required by enterprises to deliver their mission-critical applications. We facilitate a seamless transition for our customers from legacy relational databases to our modern database resulting in better application scalability, user experience and security at the pace that works for them. We believe that both enterprise architects and application developers are key to initiating the transition away from legacy database technologies and that we are uniquely positioned and architected to serve both.

We sell our platform through our direct sales force and our growing ecosystem of partners. Our platform is broadly accessible to a wide range of enterprises, as well as governments and organizations. We have customers in a range of industries, including retail and e-commerce, travel and hospitality, financial services and insurance, software and technology, gaming, media and entertainment and industrials. We focus our selling efforts on the largest global enterprises with the most complex data requirements, and we have introduced a new cloud-based managed offering for enterprises looking for a turnkey version of our platform.

We have achieved significant growth over our operating history. For the six months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, our revenue was $57.7 million and $48.2 million, respectively, representing period-over-period growth of 20%. As of July 31, 2021 and 2020, our ARR was $115.2 million and $96.2 million, respectively, representing period-over-period growth of 20%. For the six months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, our net loss was $29.1 million and $20.2 million, respectively, as we continued to invest in the growth of our business to capture the massive opportunity that we believe is available to us.

23


 

Initial Public Offering

In July 2021, we completed our initial public offering, or IPO, in which we issued and sold 9,589,999 shares of our common stock at $24.00 per share, which included 1,250,869 shares issued upon exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares. We received net proceeds of $214.9 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions. In connection with the IPO, all 26,710,600 shares of our outstanding redeemable convertible stock automatically converted into an equivalent number of shares of common stock.

Prior to the IPO, all deferred offering costs were capitalized in other noncurrent assets on the condensed consolidated balance sheets. Deferred offering costs of $4.9 million, primarily consisting of legal, accounting, consulting and other fees relating to the Company’s IPO, were offset against the IPO proceeds upon closing of the IPO in July 2021.

Our Business Model

We generate the substantial majority of our revenue from sales of subscriptions. We derive substantially all of our subscription revenue from the Enterprise Edition of our Couchbase platform, which includes Couchbase Server, our flagship product, and Couchbase Mobile. The Couchbase platform is designed to give our customers flexibility to run anywhere the customer chooses, whether deployed in on-premise data centers, mobile, private clouds, public clouds, multi-clouds or hybrid clouds. The Couchbase platform is licensed per node, which we define as an instance of Couchbase running on a server. Our platform can be deployed with intentional flexibility between a traditional data center on bare metal servers or within a virtualized or containerized environment, such as VMware or Docker, as well as in a public cloud, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform, with the ability to run in any configuration that a customer desires. Our subscription pricing is based on the computing power and memory per instance, as well as the chosen service level. We offer three different support levels: the Platinum level offers 24/7 support and the shortest response time of 30 minutes; the Gold level offers 24/7 support with a response time of 2 hours; and the Silver level offers 7am-5pm local time support, 5 days a week. These response times are for incidences of the highest severity level, which we identify as level P1. The initial response time for levels P2 and P3, which are less severe, are longer.

The non-cancelable term of our subscription arrangements typically ranges from one to three years but may be longer or shorter in limited circumstances and is typically billed annually in advance. The timing and billing of large, multi-year contracts can create variability in revenue and deferred revenue between periods.

We also derive subscription revenue from a fully-managed offering of Couchbase Server, called Couchbase Cloud, which we introduced in June 2020. Couchbase Cloud is licensed using an on-demand consumption model or an annual credit model, which removes the need to license different node types separately. Couchbase Cloud pricing delivers superior customer flexibility relative to other CSPs as on-demand pricing allows customers to pay only for what they use based on hourly pricing and the credits purchased through our annual credit model expire only at the end of a 12-month period, rather than ratably over the year. We also provide automatic conversion to on-demand consumption when credits expire or are exhausted. Couchbase Cloud credits can be purchased upfront to provide cost savings with volume discounts available based on credit quantity. We offer two pricing levels for Couchbase Cloud, based on the support response time.

We also generate revenue from services. Our services revenue is derived from our professional services related to the implementation or configuration of our platform and training. We have invested in building our services organization because we believe it plays an important role in customer success, ensuring that our customers fulfill their digital transformation agendas while leveraging our platform, accelerating our customers’ realization of the full benefits of our platform and driving increased adoption of our platform.

Our go-to-market strategy is focused on large enterprises recognized as leaders in their respective industries who are attempting to solve complicated business problems by digitally transforming their operations. As a result, Couchbase powers some of the largest and most complex enterprise applications worldwide. Through our highly instrumented “sell-to” go-to-market motion, we have built a direct sales organization that understands the strategic needs of enterprises as well as a marketing organization that emphasizes our enablement of digital transformation through our no-compromises approach to performance, resiliency, scalability, agility and total cost of ownership, or TCO, savings.

We complement our “sell-to” go-to-market motion with a “buy-from” go-to-market motion, which is focused on targeting the application developer community to drive adoption of our platform. To accomplish this, we offer free Community Editions of some of our products, free trials of our Enterprise Edition of Couchbase Server and Couchbase Cloud products and a web browser-based demonstration version of Couchbase Server to further accelerate application developer adoption. We believe these offerings lead to future purchases of the Enterprise Edition. While our Community Edition includes the core functionality of Couchbase Server, it is not suited for mission-critical deployments, as it offers only limited functionality around the scaled performance and security that enterprises require and no direct customer support from Couchbase.

We also continuously grow and cultivate our cloud provider partner and technology provider ecosystem. Our PartnerEngage program, which serves as our umbrella partner program, is tailored to enable our partners to deliver an excellent experience for

24


 

customers while achieving profitable growth. For our customers, PartnerEngage provides more options and enhanced availability to reach Couchbase. A significant portion of our revenue in fiscal 2021 and the six months ended July 31, 2021 was attributable to our partner ecosystem.

We employ a land-and-expand model centered around our platform offerings, which have a rapid time to production and time to value for our customers, and our sales and customer success organizations, which proactively guide customers to realize strategic and transformative use cases and drive greater adoption of our platform and services. Our marketing organization is focused on building our brand reputation and awareness, which drive customer interest and demand for our platform. As part of these efforts, we host Couchbase Connect.ONLINE, a technical conference for application developers and enterprise architects, which showcases compelling customer testimonials and various use cases of our platform. Our Couchbase Connect offering also provides application developers with helpful resources to help them learn more about our platform, including access to over one hundred and fifty on-demand instructional webinars. We also offer Couchbase Playground, allowing application developers to access Couchbase’s API and Couchbase Academy, which includes role-specific training courses.

We have also been successful in retaining our customers and increasing their spend with us over time. Our dollar-based net retention rate was over 115% for each of the past six quarters. See the section titled “—Factors Affecting Our Performance” for more information about how we calculate dollar-based net retention rate.

Factors Affecting Our Performance

Continuing to Acquire New Customers

We grow our subscription revenue by acquiring new customers. The size of our customer base may vary from period to period for several reasons, including the length of our sales cycle, the effectiveness of our sales and marketing efforts, enterprise application development cycles and the corresponding adoption rates of modern applications that require database solutions like ours. Additionally, our revenue has and will vary as new customers purchase our products due to the fact that we recognize a portion of such subscription revenue upfront. As digital transformation continues to accelerate, we believe that Couchbase Cloud, our fully-managed DBaaS offering, will become increasingly popular as a result of its compelling pricing model, ease of operation, lower TCO, time to market and flexibility. We will continue to offer Couchbase Cloud and provide flexible, highly available and differentiated economical options to capture new customers.

Continuing to Expand Within Existing Customers

A significant part of our growth has been, and we expect will continue to be, driven by expansion within our existing customer base. Growth of our revenue from our existing customers results from increases in the scale of their deployment for existing use cases, or when customers utilize our platform to address new use cases. In addition, our professional services organization helps customers deploy new use cases and optimize their existing implementations. Our revenue from our subscription offerings varies depending on the scale and performance requirements of our customers’ deployments. We are focusing on growing our subscription revenue, particularly from enterprises, while delivering professional services and training to support this growth. We have been successful in expanding our existing customers’ adoption of our platform as demonstrated by our dollar-based net retention rate of over 115% in each of the past six quarters.

Our dollar-based net retention rate for any period equals the simple arithmetic average of our quarterly dollar-based net retention rate for the four quarters ending with the most recent fiscal quarter. To calculate our dollar-based net retention rate for a given quarter, we start with the ARR, or Base ARR, attributable to our customers, or Base Customers, as of the end of the same quarter of the prior fiscal year. We then determine the ARR attributable to the Base Customers as of the end of the most recent quarter and divide that amount by the Base ARR.

Continuing to Invest in Growth

We expect to continue to invest in our offerings, personnel, geographic presence and infrastructure in order to drive future growth, as well as to pursue adjacent opportunities. We expend research and development resources to drive innovation in our proprietary software to constantly improve the functionality and performance of our platform and to increase the deployment models available to our customers. We anticipate continuing to increase our headcount to ensure that our product development organization drives improvements in our product offerings, our sales and marketing organization can maximize opportunities for growing our business and revenue and our general and administrative organization efficiently supports the growth of our business as well as our effective operation as a public company.

25


 

Key Business Metrics

Annual Recurring Revenue

We define ARR as of a given date as the annualized recurring revenue that we would contractually receive from our customers in the month ending 12 months following such date. Based on historical experience with customers, we assume all contracts will be automatically renewed at the same levels unless we receive notification of non-renewal and are no longer in negotiations prior to the measurement date. ARR excludes revenue from on-demand arrangements. Although we seek to increase ARR as part of our strategy of targeting large enterprise customers, this metric may fluctuate from period to period based on our ability to acquire new customers and expand within our existing customers. We believe that our ARR is an important indicator of the growth and performance of our business.

 

 

 

As of July 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

 

(in millions)

 

ARR

 

$

115.2

 

 

$

96.2

 

 

 

Customers

We calculate our total number of customers at the end of each period. We include in this calculation each customer account that has an active subscription contract with us or with which we are negotiating a renewal contract at the end of a given period. Each party with which we enter into a subscription contract is considered a unique customer and, in some cases, a single organization may be counted as more than one customer. Our customer count is subject to adjustments for acquisitions, consolidations, spin-offs and other market activity. We believe that our number of customers is an important indicator of the growth of our business and future revenue trends.

 

 

 

As of July 31,

 

 

2021

 

2020

Customers

 

558

 

522

 

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Non-GAAP Gross Profit and Non-GAAP Gross Margin

We define non-GAAP gross profit and non-GAAP gross margin as gross profit and gross margin, respectively, excluding stock-based compensation expense recorded to cost of revenue. We use non-GAAP gross profit and non-GAAP gross margin in conjunction with GAAP financial measures to assess our performance, including in the preparation of our annual operating budget and quarterly forecasts, to evaluate the effectiveness of our business strategies and to communicate with our board of directors concerning our financial performance.

 

 

 

Three Months Ended July 31,

 

 

Six Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

Total revenue

 

$

29,699

 

 

$

25,160

 

 

$

57,654

 

 

$

48,205

 

Gross profit

 

$

26,174

 

 

$

22,477

 

 

$

50,737

 

 

$

42,845

 

Add: Stock-based compensation expense

 

 

54

 

 

 

36

 

 

 

103

 

 

 

61

 

Non-GAAP gross profit

 

$

26,228

 

 

$

22,513

 

 

$

50,840

 

 

$

42,906

 

Gross margin

 

 

88.1

%

 

 

89.3

%

 

 

88.0

%

 

 

88.9

%

Non-GAAP gross margin

 

 

88.3

%

 

 

89.5

%

 

 

88.2

%

 

 

89.0

%

 

 

26


 

 

Non-GAAP Operating Loss and Non-GAAP Operating Margin

We define non-GAAP operating loss and non-GAAP operating margin as loss from operations and operating margin, respectively, excluding stock-based compensation expense and litigation-related expenses. We use non-GAAP operating loss and non-GAAP operating margin in conjunction with GAAP measures to assess our performance, including in the preparation of our annual operating budget and quarterly forecasts, to evaluate the effectiveness of our business strategies and to communicate with our board of directors concerning our financial performance.

 

 

 

Three Months Ended July 31,

 

 

Six Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

Total revenue

 

$

29,699

 

 

$

25,160

 

 

$

57,654

 

 

$

48,205

 

Loss from operations

 

$

(13,990

)

 

$

(6,703

)

 

$

(28,099

)

 

$

(15,997

)

Add: Stock-based compensation expense

 

 

1,981

 

 

 

1,366

 

 

 

3,810

 

 

 

2,207

 

Add: Litigation-related expenses

 

 

 

 

 

138

 

 

 

 

 

 

213

 

Non-GAAP operating loss

 

$

(12,009

)

 

$

(5,199

)

 

$

(24,289

)

 

$

(13,577

)

Operating margin

 

 

(47

)%

 

 

(27

)%

 

 

(49

)%

 

 

(33

)%

Non-GAAP operating margin

 

 

(40

)%

 

 

(21

)%

 

 

(42

)%

 

 

(28

)%

 

Non-GAAP Net Loss and Non-GAAP Net Loss Per Share

 

We define non-GAAP net loss attributable to common stockholders as net loss attributable to common stockholders excluding stock-based compensation expense and litigation-related expenses. We use non-GAAP net loss attributable to common stockholders and non-GAAP net loss per share attributable to common stockholders in conjunction with GAAP measures to assess our performance, including in the preparation of our annual operating budget and quarterly forecasts, to evaluate the effectiveness of our business strategies and to communicate with our board of directors concerning our financial performance.

 

 

 

Three Months Ended July 31,

 

 

Six Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

Net loss attributable to common stockholders

 

$

(15,908

)

 

$

(9,988

)

 

$

(31,986

)

 

$

(21,338

)

Add: Stock-based compensation expense

 

 

1,981

 

 

 

1,366

 

 

 

3,810

 

 

 

2,207

 

Add: Litigation-related expenses

 

 

 

 

 

138

 

 

 

 

 

 

213

 

Non-GAAP net loss attributable to common

   stockholders

 

$

(13,927

)

 

$

(8,484

)

 

$

(28,176

)

 

$

(18,918

)

GAAP net loss per share attributable to common

   stockholders

 

$

(1.76

)

 

$

(1.76

)

 

$

(4.16

)

 

$

(3.77

)

Non-GAAP net loss per share attributable to common

   stockholders

 

$

(1.54

)

 

$

(1.50

)

 

$

(3.66

)

 

$

(3.34

)

Weighted average shares outstanding, basic and diluted

 

 

9,045

 

 

 

5,662

 

 

 

7,696

 

 

 

5,660

 

 

Free Cash Flow

We define free cash flow as cash used in operating activities less purchases of property and equipment, which includes capitalized internal-use software costs. We believe free cash flow is a useful indicator of liquidity that provides our management, board of directors and investors with information about our future ability to generate or use cash to enhance the strength of our balance sheet and further invest in our business and pursue potential strategic initiatives. For the three months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, our free cash flow included cash paid for interest on our long-term debt of $0.2 million and $1.1 million, respectively. For the six months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, our free cash flow included cash paid for interest on our long-term debt of $0.5 million and $2.5 million, respectively.

 

 

 

Three Months Ended July 31,

 

 

Six Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

 

(in thousands)

 

Net cash used in operating activities

 

$

(15,986

)

 

$

(13,318

)

 

$

(19,175

)

 

$

(19,466

)

Less: Purchases of property and equipment

 

 

(20

)

 

 

(785

)

 

 

(250

)

 

 

(2,626

)

Free cash flow

 

$

(16,006

)

 

$

(14,103

)

 

$

(19,425

)

 

$

(22,092

)

Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities

 

$

1,668

 

 

$

(785

)

 

$

4,902

 

 

$

(2,626

)

Net cash provided by financing activities

 

$

216,339

 

 

$

72,597

 

 

$

216,347

 

 

$

79,085

 

 

27


 

 

Impact of COVID-19

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to mitigate its impact have significantly curtailed the movement of people, goods and services worldwide, including in the geographic areas in which we conduct our business operations and from which we generate our revenue. It has also caused societal and economic disruption and financial market volatility, resulting in business shutdowns and reduced business activity. We believe that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on our business and results of operations, primarily as a result of:

 

delaying or pausing digital transformation and expansion projects and negatively impacting IT spending, which has caused potential customers to delay or forgo purchases of subscriptions for our platform and services, and which has caused some existing customers to request concessions including extended payment terms or better pricing, fail to renew subscriptions, reduce their usage or fail to expand their usage of our platform;

 

restricting our sales operations and marketing efforts, reducing the effectiveness of such efforts in some cases and delaying or lengthening our sales cycles;

 

delaying collections or resulting in an inability to collect accounts receivable, including as a result of customer bankruptcies; and

 

delaying the delivery of professional services and training to our customers.

Many of our customers in industries and segments that the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected, such as consumer-facing travel and hospitality, in-store retail and in-person entertainment, or COVID-19 impacted customers, have reduced, or failed to expand their usage of our platform. Further, our ability to add new customers, particularly COVID-19 impacted customers, was negatively impacted by the economic environment of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a large portion of our renewals and new customer contracts are entered into in the fourth quarter of our fiscal year, the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and results of operations, in particular with respect to our COVID-19 impacted customers, are reflected in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021 and future periods. We estimate that ARR from these COVID-19 impacted customers declined from $14.1 million as of April 30, 2020 to $13.6 million as of April 30, 2021, or (3%), while ARR from all of our other customers increased from $75.7 million as of April 30, 2020 to $95.9 million as of April 30, 2021, or 27%. In contrast, we estimate that ARR from our customers in the same industries and segments as our COVID-19 impacted customers increased from $10.1 million as of January 31, 2019 to $14.1 million as of January 31, 2020, or 39%, and ARR from all of our other customers increased from $56.9 million as of January 31, 2019 to $74.0 million as of January 31, 2020, or 30%.

The COVID-19 pandemic may cause us to continue to experience the foregoing challenges in our business in the future and could have other effects on our business, including disrupting our ability to develop new offerings and enhance existing offerings, market and sell our products and services and conduct business activities generally.

In contrast, in the longer term we may also see some positive impacts on our business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We believe the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the trend of enterprises seeking to modernize and re-architect their mission-critical applications and the building of new applications to allow them to function in the cloud. The constraining of IT budgets could also further accelerate the adoption and expansion of our platform, as it can effectively support mission-critical applications while providing significant TCO benefits.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also driven some temporary cost savings to our business. We have experienced slower growth in certain operating expenses due to reduced business-related travel, deferred hiring for some positions and the virtualization or cancellation of customer and employee events. We have also paused expanding some existing facilities, as well as expanding into new facilities.

Following the challenges that we experienced due in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen continued growth in our business. More broadly, we believe this growth may accelerate as businesses begin to reopen and existing and prospective COVID-19 impacted customers recover, as our investments in our cloud offering begin to gain traction and as our sales and marketing organization is able to operate at full capacity. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our industry continues to evolve, and the full impact on our financial condition and results of operations remains uncertain, including as a result of outbreaks and variants. See the section titled “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Industry and Business—The global COVID-19 pandemic has harmed and could continue to harm our business and results of operations” for more information regarding risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Components of Results of Operations

Revenue

We derive revenue from sales of subscriptions and services. Our subscription revenue is primarily derived from term-based software licenses to our platform sold in conjunction with post-contract support, or PCS. PCS bundled with software licenses includes internet, email and phone support, bug fixes and the right to receive unspecified software updates and upgrades released when and if available during the subscription term. The software license and PCS revenue is presented as “License” and “Support and other,”

28


 

respectively, in our condensed consolidated statements of operations. License revenue is recognized upon transfer when our customer has received access to our software. PCS revenue, or “Support,” is recognized ratably over the term of the arrangement beginning on the date when access to the subscription is made available to our customer. The non-cancelable term of our subscription arrangements typically ranges from one to three years but may be longer or shorter in limited circumstances. “Other” revenue was not material for the periods presented. Our services revenue is derived from our professional services related to the implementation or configuration of our platform and training. Services revenue is recognized over time based on input measures for professional services and upon delivery for training.

We expect our revenue may vary from period to period based on, among other things, the timing and size of new subscriptions, the proportion of term license contracts that commence within the period, the rate of customer renewals and expansions and timing and delivery of professional services and training.

Cost of Revenue

Cost of subscription revenue primarily consists of personnel-related costs associated with our customer support organization, including salaries, bonuses, benefits and stock-based compensation, expenses associated with software and subscription services dedicated for use by our customer support organization, third-party cloud infrastructure expenses, amortization of costs associated with capitalized internal-use software related to Couchbase Cloud and allocated overhead. There is no cost of revenue associated with our license revenue. We expect our cost of subscription revenue to increase in absolute dollars as our subscription revenue increases and as we continue to amortize capitalized internal-use software costs related to Couchbase Cloud. Cost of services revenue primarily consists of personnel-related costs associated with our professional services and training organization, including salaries, bonuses, benefits and stock-based compensation, costs of contracted third-party partners for professional services, expenses associated with software and subscription services dedicated for use by our professional services and training organization, travel-related expenses and allocated overhead. We expect our cost of services revenue to increase in absolute dollars as our services revenue increases.

Gross Profit and Gross Margin

Our gross profit and gross margin have been and will continue to be affected by various factors, including the average sales price of our subscriptions and services, the mix of subscriptions and services we sell and the associated revenue, the mix of geographies into which we sell and transaction volume growth. We expect our gross profit and gross margin to fluctuate in the near term depending on the interplay of these factors, and for gross margin to decline modestly in the long term as we introduce additional platform capabilities and product offerings and continue to expand our client base outside of the United States.

Operating Expenses

Our operating expenses consist of research and development, sales and marketing and general and administrative expenses. Personnel-related costs are the most significant component of operating expenses and consist of salaries, bonuses, benefits, sales commissions and stock-based compensation expenses.

Research and Development

Research and development expenses consist primarily of personnel-related costs, expenses associated with software and subscription services dedicated for use by our research and development organization, depreciation and amortization of property and equipment and allocated overhead. We expect that our research and development expenses will increase in absolute dollars as we continue to invest in the features and functionalities of our platform. We expect research and development expenses to fluctuate as a percentage of revenue in the near term, but to decrease as a percentage of revenue over the long term as we achieve greater scale in our business.

Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of personnel-related costs, expenses associated with software and subscription services dedicated for use by our sales and marketing organization, costs of general marketing and promotional activities, amortization of deferred commissions, fees for professional services related to sales and marketing, travel-related expenses and allocated overhead. We expect that our sales and marketing expenses will increase in absolute dollars as we continue to expand our sales and marketing efforts to attract new customers and deepen our engagement with existing customers. We expect sales and marketing expenses to fluctuate as a percentage of revenue in the near term as we continue to invest in growing the reach of our platform through our sales and marketing efforts, but to decrease as a percentage of revenue over the long term as we achieve greater scale in our business.

General and Administrative

General and administrative expenses consist primarily of personnel-related costs associated with our finance, legal, human resources and other administrative personnel. In addition, general and administrative expenses include non-personnel costs, such as

29


 

fees for professional services such as external legal, accounting and other professional services, expenses associated with software and subscription services dedicated for use by our general and administrative organization, certain taxes other than income taxes and allocated overhead. We expect to incur additional expenses as a result of operating as a public company, including costs to comply with the rules and regulations applicable to companies listed on a national securities exchange, costs related to compliance and reporting obligations and increased expenses for insurance, investor relations and professional services. We expect that our general and administrative expenses will increase in absolute dollars as we continue to invest in the growth of our business and begin to operate as a publicly-traded company. We expect general and administrative expenses to fluctuate as a percentage of revenue in the near term, but to decrease as a percentage of revenue over the long term as we achieve greater scale in our business.

Interest Expense

Interest expense consists primarily of interest, prepayment penalties and end-of-term charges for our term loan and interest charges for our Credit Facility.

Other Income (Expense), Net

Other income (expense), net consists primarily of foreign currency gains and losses related to the impact of transactions denominated in a foreign currency and gain on a legal settlement.

Provision for Income Taxes

Provision for income taxes consists primarily of income taxes in certain foreign jurisdictions in which we conduct business. We recorded a full valuation allowance against our U.S. deferred tax assets as we have determined that it is not more likely than not that the deferred tax assets will be realized. The cash tax expenses are impacted by each jurisdiction’s individual tax rates, laws on the timing of recognition of income and deductions and availability of NOLs and tax credits. Our effective tax rate could be adversely affected to the extent earnings are lower than anticipated in countries that have lower statutory rates and higher than anticipated in countries that have higher statutory rates.

Results of Operations

The following table sets forth our condensed consolidated statements of operations for the periods indicated (in thousands):

 

 

 

Three Months Ended July 31,

 

 

Six Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Revenue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

License

 

$

4,416

 

 

$

3,010

 

 

$

8,694

 

 

$

5,540

 

Support and other

 

 

23,613

 

 

 

20,627

 

 

 

45,800

 

 

 

39,269

 

Total subscription revenue

 

 

28,029

 

 

 

23,637

 

 

 

54,494

 

 

 

44,809

 

Services

 

 

1,670

 

 

 

1,523

 

 

 

3,160

 

 

 

3,396

 

Total revenue

 

 

29,699

 

 

 

25,160

 

 

 

57,654

 

 

 

48,205

 

Cost of revenue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Subscription(1)

 

 

2,072

 

 

 

1,276

 

 

 

4,124

 

 

 

2,273

 

Services(1)

 

 

1,453

 

 

 

1,407

 

 

 

2,793

 

 

 

3,087

 

Total cost of revenue

 

 

3,525

 

 

 

2,683

 

 

 

6,917

 

 

 

5,360

 

Gross profit

 

 

26,174

 

 

 

22,477

 

 

 

50,737

 

 

 

42,845

 

Operating expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Research and development(1)

 

 

12,623

 

 

 

9,237

 

 

 

25,164

 

 

 

18,279

 

Sales and marketing(1)

 

 

22,263

 

 

 

16,475

 

 

 

42,897

 

 

 

33,702

 

General and administrative(1)

 

 

5,278

 

 

 

3,468

 

 

 

10,775

 

 

 

6,861

 

Total operating expenses

 

 

40,164

 

 

 

29,180

 

 

 

78,836

 

 

 

58,842

 

Loss from operations

 

 

(13,990

)

 

 

(6,703

)

 

 

(28,099

)

 

 

(15,997

)

Interest expense

 

 

(252

)

 

 

(2,495

)

 

 

(497

)

 

 

(4,016

)

Other income (expense), net

 

 

(77

)

 

 

614

 

 

 

7

 

 

 

307

 

Loss before income taxes

 

 

(14,319

)

 

 

(8,584

)

 

 

(28,589

)

 

 

(19,706

)

Provision for income taxes

 

 

151

 

 

 

254

 

 

 

480

 

 

 

482

 

Net loss

 

$

(14,470

)

 

$

(8,838

)

 

$

(29,069

)

 

$

(20,188

)

 

 

(1)

Includes stock-based compensation expense as follows:

30


 

 

 

 

 

Three Months Ended July 31,

 

 

Six Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Cost of revenue—subscription

 

$

30

 

 

$

19

 

 

$

57

 

 

$

34

 

Cost of revenue—services

 

 

24

 

 

 

17

 

 

 

46

 

 

 

27

 

Research and development

 

 

569

 

 

 

394

 

 

 

1,139

 

 

 

640

 

Sales and marketing

 

 

688

 

 

 

412

 

 

 

1,229

 

 

 

676

 

General and administrative

 

 

670

 

 

 

524

 

 

 

1,339

 

 

 

830

 

Total stock-based compensation expense

 

$

1,981

 

 

$

1,366

 

 

$

3,810

 

 

$

2,207

 

 

The following table sets forth our condensed consolidated statements of operations data expressed as a percentage of revenue:

 

 

 

Three Months Ended July 31,

 

 

Six Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

Revenue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

License

 

 

15

%

 

 

12

%

 

 

15

%

 

 

11

%

Support and other

 

 

80

 

 

 

82

 

 

 

79

 

 

 

81

 

Total subscription revenue

 

 

94

 

 

 

94

 

 

 

95

 

 

 

93

 

Services

 

 

6

 

 

 

6

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

7

 

Total revenue

 

 

100

 

 

 

100

 

 

 

100

 

 

 

100

 

Cost of revenue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Subscription

 

 

7

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

7

 

 

 

5

 

Services

 

 

5

 

 

 

6

 

 

 

5

 

 

 

6

 

Total cost of revenue

 

 

12

 

 

 

11

 

 

 

12

 

 

 

11

 

Gross profit

 

 

88

 

 

 

89

 

 

 

88

 

 

 

89

 

Operating expenses:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Research and development

 

 

43

 

 

 

37

 

 

 

44

 

 

 

38

 

Sales and marketing

 

 

75

 

 

 

65

 

 

 

74

 

 

 

70

 

General and administrative

 

 

18

 

 

 

14

 

 

 

19

 

 

 

14

 

Total operating expenses

 

 

135

 

 

 

116

 

 

 

137

 

 

 

122

 

Loss from operations

 

 

(47

)

 

 

(27

)

 

 

(49

)

 

 

(33

)

Interest expense

 

 

(1

)

 

 

(10

)

 

 

(1

)

 

 

(8

)

Other income (expense), net

 

*

 

 

 

2

 

 

*

 

 

 

1

 

Loss before income taxes

 

 

(48

)

 

 

(34

)

 

 

(50

)

 

 

(41

)

Provision for income taxes

 

 

1

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

1

 

 

 

1

 

Net loss

 

 

(49

)%

 

 

(35

)%

 

 

(50

)%

 

 

(42

)%

 

*   Represents less than 1%

Note: Certain figures may not sum due to rounding.

 

Comparison of Three and Six Months Ended July 31, 2021 and 2020

Revenue

 

 

 

Three Months Ended

July 31,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Six Months Ended

July 31,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

$ Change

 

 

% Change

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

$ Change

 

 

% Change

 

 

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

Revenue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

License

 

$

4,416

 

 

$

3,010

 

 

$

1,406

 

 

 

47

%

 

$

8,694

 

 

$

5,540

 

 

$

3,154

 

 

 

57

%

Support and other

 

 

23,613

 

 

 

20,627

 

 

 

2,986

 

 

 

14

%

 

 

45,800

 

 

 

39,269

 

 

 

6,531

 

 

 

17

%

Total subscription

   revenue

 

 

28,029

 

 

 

23,637

 

 

 

4,392

 

 

 

19

%

 

 

54,494

 

 

 

44,809

 

 

 

9,685

 

 

 

22

%

Services

 

 

1,670

 

 

 

1,523

 

 

 

147

 

 

 

10

%

 

 

3,160

 

 

 

3,396

 

 

 

(236

)

 

 

(7

)%

Total revenue

 

$

29,699

 

 

$

25,160

 

 

$

4,539

 

 

 

18

%

 

$

57,654

 

 

$

48,205

 

 

$

9,449

 

 

 

20

%

 

Subscription revenue increased by $4.4 million, or 19%, during the three months ended July 31, 2021 compared to the three months ended July 31, 2020. The increase in subscription revenue was due to an increase in revenue from existing customers and new

31


 

customers, as we increased our customer base from 522 customers as of July 31, 2020, to 558 customers as of July 31, 2021. Approximately 97% of the increase in revenue was attributable to growth from existing customers, and the remaining increase was attributable to new customers.

Subscription revenue increased by $9.7 million, or 22%, during the six months ended July 31, 2021 compared to the six months ended July 31, 2020. Approximately 90% of the increase in revenue was attributable to growth from existing customers, and the remaining increase was attributable to new customers.

Services revenue increased by $0.1 million, or 10%, during the three months ended July 31, 2021 compared to the three months ended July 31, 2020. The increase in services revenue was primarily due to an increase in the number of professional services hours performed.

Services revenue decreased by $0.2 million, or 7%, during the six months ended July 31, 2021 compared to the six months ended July 31, 2020. The decrease in services revenue was primarily due to a decrease in the number of professional services hours performed due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cost of Revenue, Gross Profit and Gross Margin

 

 

 

Three Months Ended

July 31,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Six Months Ended

July 31,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

$ Change

 

 

% Change

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

$ Change

 

 

% Change

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

 

 

 

 

Cost of revenue:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Subscription

 

$

2,072

 

 

$

1,276

 

 

$

796

 

 

 

62

%

 

$

4,124

 

 

$

2,273

 

 

$

1,851

 

 

 

81

%

Services

 

 

1,453

 

 

 

1,407

 

 

 

46

 

 

 

3

%

 

 

2,793

 

 

 

3,087

 

 

 

(294

)

 

 

(10

)%

Total cost of revenue

 

$

3,525

 

 

$

2,683

 

 

$

842

 

 

 

31

%

 

$

6,917

 

 

$

5,360

 

 

$

1,557

 

 

 

29

%

Gross profit

 

$

26,174

 

 

$

22,477

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$

50,737

 

 

$

42,845

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gross margin

 

 

88.1

%

 

 

89.3

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

88.0

%

 

 

88.9

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Headcount (at period end)

 

 

59

 

 

 

44

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

59

 

 

 

44

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cost of subscription revenue increased by $0.8 million, or 62%, during the three months ended July 31, 2021 compared to the three months ended July 31, 2020. The increase in cost of subscription revenue was primarily due to an increase of $0.4 million related to the amortization of costs associated with capitalized internal-use software related to Couchbase Cloud and an increase of $0.4 million in personnel-related costs associated with increased headcount.

Cost of subscription revenue increased by $1.9 million, or 81%, during the six months ended July 31, 2021 compared to the six months ended July 31, 2020. The increase in cost of subscription revenue was primarily due to an increase of $1.0 million related to the amortization of costs associated with capitalized internal-use software related to Couchbase Cloud and an increase of $0.8 million in personnel-related costs associated with increased headcount.

Cost of services revenue increased by less than $0.1 million, or 3%, during the three months ended July 31, 2021 compared to the three months ended July 31, 2020. The increase in cost of services revenue was primarily due to an increase of $0.1 million in personnel-related costs associated with increased headcount, partially offset by a decrease of $0.1 million related to a reduction in contracted third-party professional services.

Cost of services revenue decreased by $0.3 million, or 10%, during the six months ended July 31, 2021 compared to the six months ended July 31, 2020. The decrease in cost of services revenue was primarily due to a decrease of $0.3 million related to a reduction in contracted third-party professional services and a decrease of $0.2 million in travel-related costs due to COVID-19 restrictions. These decreases were partially offset by an increase of $0.1 million in personnel-related costs associated with increased headcount and an increase of $0.1 million related to software and subscription services dedicated for use by our professional services and training organization.

Gross margin decreased during the three and six months ended July 31, 2021, compared to the three and six months ended July 31, 2020, primarily due to the amortization of capitalized internal-use software related to Couchbase Cloud which began in the second half of fiscal 2021, partially offset by the mix of subscriptions and services we sell and the associated revenue.

Research and Development

 

 

 

Three Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Six Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

$ Change

 

 

% Change

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

$ Change

 

 

% Change

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

 

 

 

 

Research and development

 

$

12,623

 

 

$

9,237

 

 

$

3,386

 

 

 

37

%

 

$

25,164

 

 

$

18,279

 

 

$

6,885

 

 

 

38

%

Percentage of revenue

 

 

43

%

 

 

37

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

44

%

 

 

38

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Headcount (at period end)

 

 

241

 

 

177

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

241

 

 

177

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

32


 

 

 

Research and development increased by $3.4 million, or 37%, during the three months ended July 31, 2021 compared to the three months ended July 31, 2020. The increase in research and development expenses was primarily due to an increase of $3.1 million in personnel-related costs associated with increased headcount.

Research and development increased by $6.9 million, or 38%, during the six months ended July 31, 2021 compared to the six months ended July 31, 2020. The increase in research and development expenses was primarily due to an increase of $6.4 million in personnel-related costs associated with increased headcount.

Sales and Marketing

 

 

 

Three Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Six Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

$ Change

 

 

% Change

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

$ Change

 

 

% Change

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

 

 

 

 

Sales and Marketing

 

$

22,263

 

 

$

16,475

 

 

$

5,788

 

 

 

35

%

 

$

42,897

 

 

$

33,702

 

 

$

9,195

 

 

 

27

%

Percentage of revenue

 

 

75

%

 

 

65

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

74

%

 

 

70

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Headcount (at period end)

 

 

278

 

 

218

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

278

 

 

218

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sales and marketing increased by $5.8 million, or 35%, during the three months ended July 31, 2021 compared to the three months ended July 31, 2020. The increase in sales and marketing expenses was primarily due to an increase of $4.8 million in personnel-related costs associated with increased headcount and an increase of $0.3 million in sales and marketing program expenses primarily associated with costs of general marketing and promotional activities as we continue to expand our sales and marketing efforts to attract new customers and deepen our engagement with existing customers.

Sales and marketing increased by $9.2 million, or 27%, during the six months ended July 31, 2021 compared to the six months ended July 31, 2020. The increase in sales and marketing expenses was primarily due to an increase of $8.6 million in personnel-related costs associated with increased headcount and an increase of $0.9 million in sales and marketing program expenses primarily associated with costs of general marketing and promotional activities as we continue to expand our sales and marketing efforts to attract new customers and deepen our engagement with existing customers. This was partially offset by a decrease of $1.0 million in travel-related costs due to COVID-19 restrictions.

General and Administrative

 

 

 

Three Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Six Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

$ Change

 

 

% Change

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

$ Change

 

 

% Change

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

 

 

 

 

General and administrative

 

$

5,278

 

 

$

3,468

 

 

$

1,810

 

 

 

52

%

 

$

10,775

 

 

$

6,861

 

 

$

3,914

 

 

 

57

%

Percentage of revenue

 

 

18

%

 

 

14

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

19

%

 

 

14

%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Headcount (at period end)

 

 

55

 

 

43

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

55

 

 

43

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

General and administrative increased by $1.8 million, or 52%, during the three months ended July 31, 2021 compared to the three months ended July 31, 2020. The increase in general and administrative expenses was primarily due to an increase of $1.0 million in personnel-related costs associated with increased headcount and an increase of $0.6 million in additional professional fees and other corporate expenses associated with being a publicly traded company.

General and administrative increased by $3.9 million, or 57%, during the six months ended July 31, 2021 compared to the six months ended July 31, 2020. The increase in general and administrative expenses was primarily due to an increase of $2.2 million in personnel-related costs associated with increased headcount and an increase of $1.4 million in additional professional fees and other corporate expenses associated with being a publicly traded company.

Interest Expense

 

 

 

Three Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Six Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

$ Change

 

 

% Change

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

$ Change

 

 

% Change

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

 

 

 

 

Interest expense

 

$

(252

)

 

$

(2,495

)

 

$

2,243

 

 

 

(90

)%

 

$

(497

)

 

$

(4,016

)

 

$

3,519

 

 

 

(88

)%

 

 

Interest expense decreased by $2.2 million, or 90%, during the three months ended July 31, 2021 compared to the three months ended July 31, 2020. The decrease in interest expense was primarily due to the termination of our term loan in January 2021, which was replaced by our Credit Facility that bears interest at a lower rate and has a lower loan balance than our term loan.

33


 

Interest expense decreased by $3.5 million, or 88%, during the six months ended July 31, 2021 compared to the six months ended July 31, 2020. The decrease in interest expense was primarily due to the termination of our term loan in January 2021, which was replaced by our Credit Facility that bears interest at a lower rate and has a lower loan balance than our term loan.

Other Income (Expense), Net

 

 

 

Three Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Six Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

$ Change

 

 

% Change

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

$ Change

 

 

% Change

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

 

 

 

 

Other income (expense), net

 

$

(77

)

 

$

614

 

 

$

(691

)

 

 

(113

)%

 

$

7

 

 

$

307

 

 

$

(300

)

 

 

(98

)%

 

Other income (expense), net decreased by $0.7 million, or 113%, during the three months ended July 31, 2021 compared to the three months ended July 31, 2020. The increase in other income (expense), net was primarily due to an increase in net foreign currency transaction losses of $0.7 million during the three months ended July 31, 2021, as compared to the three months ended July 31, 2020.

Other income (expense), net decreased by $0.3 million, or 98%, during the six months ended July 31, 2021 compared to the six months ended July 31, 2020. The increase in other income (expense), net was primarily due to an increase in net foreign currency transaction losses of $0.3 million during the six months ended July 31, 2021, as compared to the six months ended July 31, 2020.

Provision for Income Taxes

 

 

 

Three Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Six Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

$ Change

 

 

% Change

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

$ Change

 

 

% Change

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(dollars in thousands)

 

 

 

 

 

Loss before income taxes

 

$

(14,319

)

 

$

(8,584

)

 

$

(5,735

)

 

 

67

%

 

$

(28,589

)

 

$

(19,706

)

 

$

(8,883

)

 

 

45

%

Provision for income taxes

 

 

151

 

 

 

254

 

 

$

(103

)

 

 

(41

)%

 

 

480

 

 

 

482

 

 

$

(2

)

 

 

(0

)%

Effective tax rate

 

 

(1.1

)%

 

 

(3.0

)%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(1.7

)%

 

 

(2.4

)%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Provision for income taxes decreased by $0.1 million, or 41%, during the three months ended July 31, 2021 compared to the three months ended July 31, 2020. The decrease in provision for income taxes was primarily due to a decrease in pre-tax income in our international jurisdictions.

Provision for income taxes remained relatively flat, during the six months ended July 31, 2021 compared to the six months ended July 31, 2020.

 

Liquidity and Capital Resources

We have financed our operations through subscription revenue from customers accessing our platform and services revenue, and as of July 31, 2021, we completed our IPO with net proceeds totaling $214.9 million. As of July 31, 2021, we had borrowed $25.0 million under our Credit Facility, which we repaid subsequent to July 31, 2021. We have incurred losses and generated negative cash flows from operations for the last several years, including fiscal 2020 and 2021 and the six months ended July 31, 2021. As of July 31, 2021, we had an accumulated deficit of $312.8 million.

As of July 31, 2021, we had $253.6 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. We believe our existing cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, availability under the Credit Facility, which is described in Note 7 of our notes to condensed consolidated financial statements, and cash provided by sales of subscriptions to our platform and sales of our services will be sufficient to meet our projected operating requirements and capital expenditures for at least the next 12 months. As a result of our revenue growth plans, both domestically and internationally, we expect that losses and negative cash flows from operations may continue in the future. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including our subscription revenue growth rate, subscription renewals, billing timing and frequency, the timing and extent of spending to support development efforts, the expansion of sales and marketing activities, the introduction of new and enhanced platform features and functionality and the continued market adoption of our platform. We may in the future pursue acquisitions of businesses, technologies, assets and talent.

We may be required to seek additional equity or debt financing. In the event that additional financing is required from outside sources, we may not be able to raise it on terms acceptable to us or at all. If we are unable to raise additional capital or generate cash flows necessary to expand our operations and invest in new technologies, our competitive position could weaken, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

We typically invoice our subscription customers annually in advance. Therefore, a substantial source of our cash is from such prepayments, which are included on our condensed consolidated balance sheets as deferred revenue. Deferred revenue consists of billed fees for our subscriptions, prior to satisfying the criteria for revenue recognition, which are subsequently recognized as revenue in accordance with our revenue recognition policy. As of July 31, 2021, remaining performance obligations, including both deferred

34


 

revenue and non-cancelable contracted amounts, were $118.9 million. We expect to recognize revenue of $74.1 million on these remaining performance obligations over the next 12 months, with the remaining balance recognized thereafter.

Cash Flows

The following table shows a summary of our cash flows for the periods presented:

 

 

 

Six Months Ended July 31,

 

 

 

2021

 

 

2020

 

 

 

(in thousands)

 

Net cash provided by (used in):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Operating activities

 

$

(19,175

)

 

$

(19,466

)

Investing activities

 

$

4,902

 

 

$

(2,626

)

Financing activities

 

$

216,347

 

 

$

79,085

 

 

Operating Activities

Cash used in operating activities for the six months ended July 31, 2021, of $19.2 million primarily consisted of our net loss of $29.1 million, adjusted for non-cash charges of $11.6 million and net cash outflows of $1.7 million from changes in our operating assets and liabilities. Changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily reflected a $15.8 million decrease in accounts receivable related to timing of billings and collections and a $7.3 million decrease in deferred revenue due to timing of billings. Additionally, there was an increase of $7.1 million in deferred commission related to increased sales during the period and an increase of $5.8 million in prepaid expenses offset by an increase in account payable of $4.6 million and a decrease of $1.7 million in other accrued liabilities.

Cash used in operating activities for the six months ended July 31, 2020, of $19.5 million primarily consisted of our net loss of $20.2 million, adjusted for non-cash charges of $7.9 million and net cash outflows of $7.2 million from changes in our operating assets and liabilities. Changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily reflected a $13.0 million decrease in accounts receivable related to timing of billings and collections and a $13.5 million decrease in deferred revenue due to timing of billings. Additionally, there was a $1.2 million decrease in accrued compensation and benefits related to timing of accruals paid and a $4.8 million increase in deferred commissions related to increased sales during the period.

Investing Activities

Cash provided by investing activities for the six months ended July 31, 2021, of $4.9 million consisted of maturities of short-term investments net of purchases of $5.2 million offset by purchases of property and equipment of $0.3 million.

Cash used in investing activities for the six months ended July 31, 2020, of $2.6 million consisted of cash paid for purchases of property and equipment.

Financing Activities

Cash provided by financing activities for the six months ended July 31, 2021, of $216.3 million primarily consisted of proceeds from the completion of our IPO of $214.9 million, net of underwriters’ discounts and commissions, and proceeds from stock option exercises of $4.3 million offset by the payment of deferred offering costs of $2.8 million.

Cash provided by financing activities for the six months ended July 31, 2020, of $79.1 million consisted of net proceeds from the issuance of Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock of $104.3 million, net proceeds from borrowings of $6.4 million and proceeds from stock option exercises of $0.1 million. This was offset by net payments on borrowings of $31.8 million.

Contractual Obligations and Commitments

We negotiated a noncancelable arrangement with a cloud hosting service provider in July 2021. Under the arrangement, we committed to spend an aggregate of at least $10.0 million between August 2021 and August 2024, with a minimum amount of approximately $3.0 million in each of the first two years and $4.0 million in the third year on services with this vendor. Except for the cloud hosting arrangement, there were no material changes outside of the ordinary course of business in our commitments and contractual obligations for the six months ended July 31, 2021, from the commitments and contractual obligations disclosed in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, set forth in our Final Prospectus.

Indemnification Agreements

We enter into standard indemnification arrangements in the ordinary course of business. Pursuant to these arrangements, we indemnify, hold harmless and agree to reimburse the indemnified parties for losses suffered or incurred by the indemnified party, in

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connection with any trade secret, copyright, patent or other intellectual property infringement claims brought by any third party against such indemnified party with respect to licensed technology. The term of these indemnification agreements is generally perpetual any time after the execution of the agreement. The maximum potential amount of future payments we could be required to make under these agreements is not determinable because it involves claims that may be made against us in the future that have not yet been made. To date, we have not incurred costs to defend lawsuits or settle claims related to these indemnification agreements.

We have entered into indemnification agreements with our directors and officers that may require us to indemnify our directors and officers against liabilities that may arise by reason of their status or service as directors or officers, other than liabilities arising from willful misconduct of the individual. No liability associated with such indemnification arrangements have been recorded as of July 31, 2021.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our condensed consolidated financial statements and the related notes thereto included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). The preparation of condensed consolidated financial statements also requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, costs and expenses, and related disclosures. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results could differ significantly from the estimates made by management. To the extent that there are differences between our estimates and actual results, our future financial statement presentation, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows will be affected.

There have been no significant changes to our critical accounting policies and estimates as compared to those described in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” set forth in our Final Prospectus.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

See Note 2 to our condensed consolidated financial statements included in Part I, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for a discussion of recent accounting pronouncements.

JOBS Act Accounting Election

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act. The JOBS Act provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards. This provision allows an “emerging growth company” to delay the adoption of some accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We have elected to use the extended transition period under the JOBS Act until the earlier of the date we (i) are no longer an “emerging growth company” or (ii) affirmatively and irrevocably opt out of the extended transition period provided in the JOBS Act. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We did not have during the periods presented, and we do not currently have, any off-balance sheet financing arrangements or any relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, including entities sometimes referred to as structured finance or special purpose entities, that were established for the purpose of facilitating off-balance sheet arrangements or other contractually narrow or limited purposes.

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ITEM 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK.

We are exposed to market risks 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 and foreign currency exchange rates.

Interest Rate Risk

Our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments primarily consist of highly liquid investments in money market funds, commercial paper and corporate debt securities. As of July 31, 2021, we had cash and cash equivalents of $239.2 million and short-term investments of $14.3 million. We do not enter into investments for trading or speculative purposes. Our investments are exposed to market risk due to fluctuations in interest rates, which may affect our interest income and the fair value of our investments. However, due to the short-term nature of our investment portfolio, we do not believe an immediate 10% increase or decrease in interest rates would have a material effect on our results of operations and cash flows. We therefore do not expect our results of operations or cash flows to be materially affected by a sudden change in market interest rates.

As further discussed in Note 7 to our condensed consolidated financial statements, in January 2021, we borrowed $25.0 million under the Credit Facility. The Credit Facility bears interest at a floating rate. A hypothetical 10% relative change in interest rates would not have had a material impact on our results of operations and cash flows.

Foreign Currency Risk

The functional currency of our foreign subsidiaries is the U.S. Dollar. Accordingly, each foreign subsidiary remeasures monetary assets and liabilities at period-end exchange rates, while nonmonetary items are remeasured at historical rates. Revenue and expense items are remeasured at the exchange rates in effect on the day the transaction occurred, except for those expenses related to non-monetary assets and liabilities, which are remeasured at historical exchange rates. Remeasurement adjustments are recognized in other income (expense), net in our condensed consolidated statement 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 (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. We have not engaged in the hedging of foreign currency transactions to date, although we may choose to do so in the future.

As of July 31, 2021, a hypothetical 10% change in the relative value of the U.S. Dollar to other currencies would not have a material impact on our results of operations and cash flows.

ITEM 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. The term “disclosure controls and procedures,” as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), means controls and other procedures of a company that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by a company in the reports that it files or submits 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 a company in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to the company’s management, including its principal executive and principal financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. Based on such evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that, as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, our disclosure controls and procedures were effective at the reasonable assurance level.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting identified in connection with the evaluation required by paragraph (d) of Exchange Act Rules 13a-15 or 15d-15 that occurred during the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

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Inherent Limitations on Effectiveness of Controls and Procedures

Our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, believes that our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting are designed to provide reasonable assurance of achieving their objectives and are effective at the reasonable assurance level. However, management does not expect that our disclosure controls and procedures or our internal control over financial reporting will prevent or detect all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. 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 the company have been detected. The design of any system of controls also is based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions. Over time, controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Because of the inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.

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PART II OTHER INFORMATION

From time to time, we may be subject to legal proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course of business, as well as governmental and other regulatory investigations and proceedings. In addition, third parties may from time to time assert claims against us in the form of letters and other communications. We are not currently a party to any legal proceedings that, if determined adversely to us, would, in our opinion, have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Future litigation may be necessary to defend ourselves, our partners and our customers, to determine the scope, enforceability and validity of third-party intellectual property and proprietary rights or to establish our intellectual property and proprietary rights. The results of any current or future litigation cannot be predicted with certainty and there can be no assurances that favorable outcomes will be obtained, and regardless of the outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on us because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management attention and resources and other factors.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

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 our consolidated financial statements and related notes and the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”. Our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects could also be harmed by risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently do not believe are material. If any of the risks actually occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be adversely affected. In that event, the market price of our common stock could decline, and you could lose part or all of your investment. The last day of our fiscal year is January 31. Our fiscal years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 are referred to herein as fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2021, respectively.

Risks Related to Our Industry and Business

We have a history of net losses and may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future.

We have incurred net losses since our inception, and we expect to continue to incur net losses in the near future. We incurred net losses of $29.3 million, $40.0 million, $20.2 million and $29.1 million for fiscal 2020 and 2021 and the six months ended July 31, 2020 and 2021, respectively. As of July 31, 2021, we had an accumulated deficit of $312.8 million. We expect our costs to increase in future periods. In particular, we intend to continue to invest significant resources to further develop our platform, expand our sales and marketing and expand our operations and infrastructure, both domestically and internationally. These efforts may be more costly than we expect and may not result in increased revenue or growth in our business. In addition to the expected costs to grow our business, we also expect to incur significant additional legal, accounting and other expenses as a newly public company. Any failure to increase our revenue sufficiently at a rate that exceeds the rate of increase in our investments and other expenses could prevent us from achieving or maintaining profitability.

We may not continue to grow on pace with historical rates.

Our historical revenue growth should not be considered indicative of our future performance. Our revenue was $82.5 million, $103.3 million, $48.2 million and $57.7 million for fiscal 2020 and 2021 and the six months ended July 31, 2020 and 2021, respectively. However, you should not rely on our revenue or key business metrics for any previous quarterly or annual period as any indication of our revenue, revenue growth, key business metrics or key business metrics growth in future periods. In particular, our revenue growth rate has fluctuated in prior periods. We expect our revenue growth rate to continue to fluctuate over the short term. Our revenue growth rate may also decline in future periods for a number of reasons, including slowing adoption of or demand for our products and services, increasing competition, a decrease in the growth of our overall market, changes to technology or our failure to capitalize on growth opportunities, among others. In addition, our revenue growth rate may experience increased volatility due to global societal and economic disruption, including the COVID-19 pandemic. If our revenue growth rate declines, investors’ perceptions of our business and the market price of our common stock could be adversely affected.

If we fail to manage our growth effectively, our brand, business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

We have experienced strong growth in our employee headcount, our geographic reach and our operations, and we expect to continue to experience growth in the future. Our employee headcount grew from 437 as of January 31, 2020 to 633 as of July 31, 2021. Employee growth has occurred both at our headquarters and in a number of locations across the United States and internationally. Our ability to manage our growth effectively and to integrate new employees, technologies and acquisitions into our existing business will require us to continue to expand our operational and financial infrastructure and to continue to effectively integrate, develop and motivate a large number of new employees, while maintaining the beneficial aspects of our culture. Continued growth could challenge our ability to develop and improve our operational, financial and management controls, enhance our reporting

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systems and procedures, recruit, train and retain highly skilled personnel and maintain customer satisfaction. In addition, we have encountered and will continue to encounter risks and challenges frequently experienced by growing companies in evolving industries, including market acceptance of our products and services, intense competition and our ability to manage our costs and operating expenses. Further, as our customers adopt our products and services for an increasing number of use cases, we have had to support more complex commercial relationships. We must continue to improve and expand our information technology, or IT, and financial infrastructure, operating and administrative systems and relationships with various partners and other third parties. In addition, we operate globally, sold subscriptions in more than 50 countries as of July 31, 2021 and have established subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, India, France, Germany, Israel, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. We plan to continue to expand our international operations into other countries in the future, which will place additional demands on our resources and operations. If we do not manage the growth of our business and operations effectively, the quality of our products and services and the efficiency of our operations could suffer. This could impair our ability to attract new customers, retain existing customers and expand their use of our products and services, any of which could adversely affect our brand, business, financial condition and results of operations.

We face intense competition and if we are unable to compete effectively, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.

The database software market in which we operate is competitive and characterized by rapid changes in technology, customer requirements and industry standards and frequent introductions of new products and services. Many established businesses aggressively compete against us and have offerings with functionalities similar to those of our products and services. These competing offerings may also be complementary with ours and customers often deploy our platform alongside a competitor’s product.

We primarily compete with established legacy database providers, such as Oracle, IBM and Microsoft, providers of NoSQL database offerings, such as MongoDB, and cloud infrastructure providers with database functionalities, such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google. In the future, other large software and internet companies with substantial resources, customers and brand power may also seek to enter our market.

Many of our existing competitors have, and our potential competitors could have, substantial competitive advantages, such as:

 

 

 

greater name recognition and brand awareness, longer operating histories and larger customer bases and application developer communities;

 

 

 

larger sales and marketing budgets and resources;

 

 

 

broader distribution and established relationships with partners and customers;

 

 

 

greater professional services and customer support resources;

 

 

 

greater resources to make acquisitions and enter into strategic partnerships;

 

 

 

lower labor and research and development costs;

 

 

 

larger and more mature intellectual property rights portfolios; and

 

 

 

substantially greater financial, technical and other resources.

If we fail to compete effectively with respect to any of these competitive advantages, we may fail to attract new customers or lose or fail to renew existing customers, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

We expect competition to increase as other established and emerging companies enter our market, as customer requirements evolve and as new offerings and technologies are introduced. New start-up companies that innovate and competitors that are making significant investments in research and development or that are in adjacent markets may introduce similar or superior offerings and technologies that compete with our offerings. Potential customers may also believe that substitute technologies which have similar functionality or features as our products are sufficient, or they may believe that ancillary solutions that address narrower segments overall are nonetheless adequate for their needs. Our competitors could also introduce new offerings with competitive pricing and performance characteristics or undertake more aggressive marketing campaigns than ours. Further, we have historically elected to make core portions of our source code available on an open source basis to facilitate adoption, as well as collaboration and participation, from our application developer communities. However, we may not be successful in this strategy, and our recent move toward source-available licensing, as well as the continued availability of our source code, may enable others to compete more effectively against us. Such competitive pressures may adversely affect our financial performance. Further, the market in which we compete has attracted significant investments from a wide range of funding sources, and we anticipate that many of our competitors will continue to be highly capitalized. These investments, along with the other competitive advantages discussed above, may allow our competitors to compete more effectively against us. In addition, conditions in our market could change rapidly and significantly as a result of technological advancements and changing customer preferences and companies with greater financial resources and technical capabilities may be able to respond more quickly to changes that could render our products and services less attractive or obsolete. Additionally, some of our current or potential competitors have made or could make acquisitions of businesses or establish cooperative relationships, among themselves or with others, that may allow them to offer more directly competitive and

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comprehensive offerings than were previously offered and adapt more quickly to new technologies and customer needs, devote greater resources to the promotion or sale of their products, initiate or withstand substantial price competition, take advantage of other opportunities more readily or develop and expand their offerings more quickly than we do. For all of these reasons, we may not be able to compete successfully against our current or potential competitors. If we are unable to anticipate or effectively react to competitive challenges, our competitive position would weaken, and our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.

We may fail to cost-effectively acquire new customers or obtain renewals, upgrades or expansions from our existing customers, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our continued growth depends, in part, on our ability to cost-effectively acquire new customers. Numerous factors, however, may impede our ability to add new customers, including our failure to attract, effectively train, retain and motivate sales and marketing personnel, our failure to develop or expand relationships with our partners, our failure to foster awareness of our platform including through an inability to leverage the Community Edition or free trials of our products and our failure to otherwise expand our relationships with enterprise architects, application developers and other key functions that support them, including operational and technical teams.

Our success also depends, in part, on our existing customers renewing their subscriptions upon the expiration of existing contract terms and our ability to expand our relationships with our existing customers, including broadening their use cases within our products and adopting additional Couchbase products and services. The non-cancelable term of our subscriptions typically ranges from one to three years but may be longer or shorter in limited circumstances. Our customers have no obligation to renew or upgrade their subscriptions, and in the normal course of business, some customers have elected not to renew. In addition, our customers may decide not to renew their subscriptions with a similar contract period or at the same prices or terms or capacity, or may decide to otherwise downgrade their subscriptions. For example, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the current economic environment has caused, and may in the future cause, certain customers to request concessions including extended payment terms or better pricing, increased customer churn, a lengthening of our sales cycles with prospective customers, a delay of planned projects or expansions and reduced contract values with certain prospective and existing customers. Our customer retention or our customers’ use of our products and services may decline or fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, including our customers’ satisfaction with our products and services, our licensing models, the prices, features or perceived value of competing offerings, changes to our offerings or general economic conditions. Our business model entails significant investments in our technology, sales and marketing function and operations ahead of our planned growth. If these efforts fail and our customers do not renew, increase their subscriptions or increase their usage of our offerings, or if they renew their subscriptions on terms less favorable to us or fail to increase adoption of our products and services, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.

Additionally, our success depends, in part, on our determination of which product features to include in our Community Editions, which are the free versions of our products, versus Enterprise Editions, which are the paid versions of our products, including the timing of when to incorporate Enterprise Edition features into our Community Edition. Any failure on our part to determine the correct balance and timing may adversely affect our business. Existing or potential customers may determine that the functionality of our Community Edition is sufficient for their needs and as a result may not convert from the use of our Community Edition or free trials to a paid product or downgrade from our paid Enterprise Edition to our Community Edition. Further, customers of our Enterprise Edition may violate our license terms by using our product in production without paying for a subscription and we may not always be able to determine when this occurs or enforce our license terms.

In addition, our ability to increase our customer base, in particular, in new industry verticals that we are still growing our presence in, and our ability to achieve broader market acceptance of our products and services in such industries, will depend on our ability to effectively organize, focus and train our sales and marketing personnel, develop efficient pricing and product strategies and educate the enterprise architects and application developers in such industries about the benefits and features of our products and services. Adapting our products and services and our marketing efforts to target specific industries will require significant resources. If the costs of these sales and marketing efforts and investments do not result in corresponding increases in revenue, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.

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The market for our products and services is relatively new and evolving, and our future success depends on the growth and expansion of this market.

The market for our products and services is relatively new and evolving, and it is uncertain whether this market will continue to grow, and even if it does grow, how rapidly it will grow, or whether our products and services will be more widely adopted. For example, many enterprises have invested substantial resources into legacy database solutions and may be reluctant or unwilling to migrate to or invest in alternative solutions. Accordingly, any predictions or forecasts about our future growth, revenue and expenses may not be as accurate as they would be if we had a longer operating history or operated in a more predictable market. Our success will depend, in part, on market acceptance and the widespread adoption of our products and services as an alternative to other offerings and the selection of our products and services over competing offerings that may have similar functionality. Technologies related to database offerings are still evolving and we cannot predict market acceptance of our products and services or the development of other competing offerings based on entirely new technologies. For example, we currently derive and expect to continue to derive a substantial majority of our revenue and cash flows from subscriptions for, and services related to, the Enterprise Edition of our Couchbase platform, which includes Couchbase Server, our flagship product, and Couchbase Mobile, a full featured embedded NoSQL database for mobile and edge devices that can securely synchronize locally stored data with Couchbase Server and other devices. Demand for our platform is affected by a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, including continued market acceptance by existing customers and potential customers, the ability to expand the product for different use cases, the timing of development and releases of new offerings by our competitors, technological change and the growth or contraction in the market in which we compete. It is possible that customer adoption of our new products, such as Couchbase Cloud, may replace a portion of customer spend on our existing products. If the market for database solutions, and for NoSQL database solutions in particular, does not continue to grow as expected, or if we are unable to continue to efficiently and effectively respond to the rapidly evolving trends and meet the demands of our customers, achieve more widespread market awareness and adoption of our products and services or otherwise manage the risks associated with the introduction of new products and services, our competitive position would weaken and our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects would be adversely affected.

If we fail to innovate in response to changing customer needs, new technologies or other market requirements, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed.

Our ability to attract new customers and expand our relationship with our existing customers depends, in part, on our ability to enhance and improve our products and services, introduce compelling new features and address additional use cases. To grow our business and remain competitive, we must continue to enhance our products and services and develop features that reflect the constantly evolving nature of technology and our customers’ needs. Our market is also subject to rapid technological change, evolving industry standards and changing regulations, as well as changing customer needs, requirements and preferences. The success of any new or enhanced product or service features depends on several factors, including our anticipation of market changes and market demand for the enhanced features, timely completion and delivery, adequate quality testing, integration of our products and services with existing technologies and applications and competitive pricing. For example, in June 2020, we announced the generally available release of a fully-managed DBaaS offering, Couchbase Cloud, and as a relatively new product offering, it is uncertain whether Couchbase Cloud will be widely adopted or how well it will be received by our existing and potential customers. If our investments in new products and services, including Couchbase Cloud, are not successful, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.

In addition, because our products and services are designed to operate with a variety of systems, applications, data and devices, we will need to continuously modify and enhance our products and services to keep pace with changes in such systems. We may not be successful in developing these modifications and enhancements. The addition of features and solutions to our products and services will increase our research and development expenses. Further, the addition of new products, such as Couchbase Cloud, will increase our compliance and other expenses, including personnel and security and cloud infrastructure expenses. Any new features that we develop may not be introduced in a timely or cost-effective manner or may not achieve the market acceptance necessary to generate sufficient revenue to justify the related research and development and other related expenses. It is difficult to predict customer adoption of new features. Such uncertainty limits our ability to forecast our future results of operations and subjects us to a number of challenges, including our ability to plan for and model future growth. If we are unable to successfully develop new product features, enhance our existing product features to meet customer requirements, gain market acceptance or otherwise manage the risks associated with the development of new products and features, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected. If new technologies emerge that enable others to deliver competitive products and services at lower prices, more efficiently, more conveniently or more securely, such technologies could adversely impact our ability to compete effectively.

Our professional services and training have grown as our subscription revenue has grown. We believe our investment in services facilitates the adoption of our products. As a result, our sales efforts have focused on helping our customers realize the value of our products rather than on the profitability of our services business. In the future, we intend to price our services based on the anticipated cost of those services with the aim of improving the gross profit percentage of our professional services business. If we are unable to

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manage the growth of our services business and improve our profit margin from these services, our results of operations, including our profit margins, will be harmed.

We have a limited operating history, which makes it difficult to predict our future results of operations.

We were formed in 2011 with the merger of Membase, Inc. and CouchOne, Inc. Since our formation, we have frequently expanded our product features and services and evolved our pricing methodologies. Our limited operating history and our evolving business make it difficult to evaluate our future prospects and the risks and challenges we may encounter. These risks and challenges include our ability to:

 

 

 

accurately forecast our revenue and plan our expenses;

 

 

 

increase the number of new customers and retain and expand relationships with existing customers;

 

 

 

successfully introduce new products and services;

 

 

 

successfully compete with current and future competitors;

 

 

 

successfully expand our business in existing markets and enter new markets and geographies;

 

 

 

anticipate and respond to macroeconomic and technological changes and changes in the markets in which we operate;

 

 

 

maintain and enhance the value of our reputation and brand;

 

 

 

maintain and expand our relationships with partners;

 

 

 

maintain and expand our relationships with enterprise architects, application developers and other key functions that support them;

 

 

 

successfully execute on our sales and marketing strategies;

 

 

 

adapt to rapidly evolving trends in the ways consumers interact with technology;

 

 

 

hire, integrate and retain talented technology, sales, customer service and other personnel; and

 

 

 

effectively manage rapid growth in our personnel and operations.

If we fail to address the risks and difficulties that we face, including those associated with the challenges listed above as well as those described elsewhere in this “Risk Factors” section, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be adversely affected. Further, because we have limited historical financial data and operate in a rapidly evolving market, any predictions about our future revenue and expenses may not be as accurate as they would be if we had a longer operating history or operated in a more predictable market. We have encountered in the past, and will encounter in the future, risks and uncertainties frequently experienced by growing companies with limited operating histories in rapidly changing industries. If our assumptions regarding these risks and uncertainties, which we use to plan and operate our business, are incorrect or change, or if we do not address these risks successfully, our results of operations could differ materially from our expectations and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Our future results of operations may fluctuate significantly, and if we fail to meet the expectations of analysts or investors, our stock price and the value of your investment could decline substantially.

Our results of operations may fluctuate from period to period as a result of a number of factors, many of which are outside of our control and may be difficult to predict. Some of the factors that may cause our results of operations to fluctuate from period to period include:

 

 

 

market acceptance and the level of demand for our products and services;

 

 

 

the quality and level of our execution of our business strategy and operating plan;

 

 

 

the effectiveness of our sales and marketing programs;

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the length of our sales cycle, including the timing of renewals;

 

 

 

our ability to attract new customers, particularly large enterprises;

 

 

 

our ability to retain customers and expand their adoption of our products and services, particularly our largest customers;

 

 

our ability to successfully expand internationally and penetrate key markets;

 

 

 

our failure to maintain the level of service uptime and performance required by our customers with certain of our products;

 

 

 

technological changes and the timing and success of new or enhanced product features by us or our competitors or any other change in the competitive landscape of our market;

 

 

 

our product mix and the revenue recognition related to such products;

 

 

 

changes in the timing of renewals, average contract term or the timing of software revenue recognition, any of which may impact implied growth rates;

 

 

 

changes to our packaging and licensing models, which may impact the timing and amount of revenue recognized;

 

 

 

increases in and the timing of operating expenses that we may incur to grow our operations and to remain competitive;

 

 

 

pricing pressure as a result of competition or otherwise;

 

 

 

seasonal buying patterns;

 

 

 

delays in our sales cycles, decreases in sales to new customers and reductions in upselling and cross-selling to existing customers due to the impact on global business and IT spending as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic;

 

 

 

the implementation of cost-saving activities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic;

 

 

 

the impact and costs, including those with respect to integration, related to the acquisition of businesses, talent, technologies or intellectual property rights;

 

 

 

our inability to enforce our licenses associated with our products;

 

 

 

our ability to successfully hire and retain employees and key members of our management team;

 

 

 

changes in the legislative or regulatory environment;

 

 

 

adverse litigation judgments, settlements or other litigation-related costs; and

 

 

 

general economic conditions in either domestic or international markets, including geopolitical uncertainty and instability.

Any one or more of the factors above may result in significant fluctuations in our results of operations. We also intend to continue to invest significantly to grow our business in the near future. In addition, we generally experience seasonality based on when we enter into agreements with customers, and our quarterly results of operations generally fluctuate from quarter to quarter depending on customer buying habits. This seasonality is reflected to a lesser extent, and sometimes is not immediately apparent, in revenue, due to the fact that a substantial portion of our subscription revenue is recognized ratably over the term of the subscription, which typically ranges from one to three years. We expect that seasonality will continue to affect our results of operations in the future. The variability of our results of operations or other operating estimates could result in our failure to meet our expectations or those of securities analysts or investors. If we fail to meet or exceed such expectations for these or any other reasons, the market price of our common stock could decline, and we could face costly lawsuits, including securities class action suits.

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We recognize a significant portion of revenue from subscriptions over the term of the relevant subscription period, and as a result, downturns or upturns in sales are not immediately reflected in full in our results of operations.

Subscription revenue accounts for a significant portion of our revenue, comprising 94%, 93%, 95% and 93% of total revenue for fiscal 2021 and 2020 and the six months ended July 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

 

Sales of new or renewal subscriptions may decline and fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, including customers’ level of satisfaction with our products, the prices of our products, the prices of competitors’ products and reductions in our customers’ spending levels. If our sales of new or renewal subscription contracts decline, our total revenue and revenue growth rate may decline and our business will suffer.

Under most of our contracts, we recognize a portion of subscription revenue upon transfer of the software license to the customer and the larger remainder of the transaction price ratably over the term of the arrangement. See Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for more information. As we significantly rely on subscription revenue, a significant portion of the revenue that we report in each period will be derived from the recognition of deferred revenue relating to agreements entered into in prior periods. Consequently, a decline in new sales or renewals in any one period may not be immediately reflected in our results of operations for such period. Any such decline, however, would be reflected in future periods. Accordingly, the effect of significant downturns in sales and market acceptance of and demand for our products and changes in our rate of renewals or customer churn may not be fully reflected in our results of operations until future periods. Our subscription-based products also make it difficult to rapidly increase our revenue through additional sales in any period, as a significant portion of such revenue from customers will be recognized over the term of the applicable agreement.

Further, we intend to increase our investment in research and development, sales and marketing, general and administrative functions and other areas to grow our business. These costs are generally expensed as incurred, as compared to our revenue, of which a significant portion is recognized ratably in future periods. We may recognize the costs associated with such increased investments earlier than some of the anticipated benefits and the return on these investments may be lower, or may develop more slowly, than we expect, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

We depend on our sales force, and we may fail to attract, retain, motivate or train our sales force, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We depend on our sales force to obtain new customers and to drive additional sales to existing customers by selling them new subscriptions and expanding the value of their existing subscriptions. We believe that there is significant competition for sales personnel, including sales representatives, sales managers and sales engineers, with the skills and technical knowledge that we require. Our ability to achieve revenue growth will depend, in part, on our decision to hire and succeed in recruiting, training and retaining sufficient numbers of sales personnel to support our growth. Our hiring, training and retention efforts have been, and may further be, hindered by the constraints placed on our business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, including measures that we take proactively and those that are imposed upon us by government authorities. New hires require significant training and may take significant time before they achieve full productivity, and our remote and online onboarding and training processes may be less effective and take longer. Further, hiring sales personnel in new countries requires additional set up and upfront costs that we may not recover if the sales personnel fail to achieve full productivity. If we are unable to attract, retain, motivate and train sufficient numbers of effective sales personnel, our sales personnel do not reach significant levels of productivity in a timely manner or our sales personnel are not successful in bringing potential customers into the pipeline, converting them into new customers or increasing sales to our existing customer base, our business, financial condition and results of operations would be adversely affected.

Our sales strategy to target larger enterprises involves risks that may not be present or that are present to a lesser extent with respect to smaller enterprises, such as long and unpredictable sales cycles and sales efforts that require considerable time and expense.

Sales to large customers involve risks that may not be present or that are present to a lesser extent with sales to smaller customers, such as longer sales cycles, more complex customer requirements, substantial upfront sales costs and less predictability in completing some of our sales. For example, large customers may require considerable time to evaluate and test our products and services prior to making a purchase decision. They may also need to build and test the applications to be used with our products prior to a sale, which also lengthens and introduces additional uncertainty and risk to the sales process. A number of factors influence the length and variability of our sales cycles, including the need to educate potential customers about the uses and benefits of our products and services, the discretionary nature of purchasing and budget cycles and the competitive nature of evaluation and purchasing approval processes. As a result, the length of our sales cycles, from identification of the opportunity to deal closure, may vary significantly from customer to customer, with sales to large enterprises typically taking longer to complete. Large customer sales have, in some cases, occurred in periods subsequent to those we anticipated, or have not occurred at all. The loss or delay of one or more large transactions in a period could affect our cash flows and results of operations for that fiscal period and for future periods.

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Moreover, large customers often begin to deploy our products on a limited basis but nevertheless negotiate pricing discounts, which increase our upfront investment in the sales effort with no guarantee that sales to these customers will justify our substantial upfront investment. If we fail to effectively manage risks associated with sales cycles and sales to large customers, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

If we are not able to maintain and enhance our brand, especially among enterprise architects, application developers and other key functions that support them, our business and results of operations may be adversely affected.

We believe that maintaining and enhancing our brand and our reputation as a leader in the market for database solutions is critical to our relationship with our existing customers and partners and our ability to attract new customers and partners. The successful promotion of our brand will depend on a number of factors, including our marketing efforts, our ability to foster awareness among enterprise architects, application developers and other key functions that support them, our ability to continue to develop high-quality products and services, our ability to successfully differentiate our products and services from those of our competitors, our ability to maintain the reputation of our products and services for data security and our ability to obtain, maintain, protect, defend and enforce our intellectual property and proprietary rights. Our brand promotion activities may not be successful or yield increased revenue. In addition, independent industry analysts often provide reports of our products and services, as well as the offerings of our competitors, and perception of our products and services in the marketplace may be significantly influenced by these reports. If these reports are negative, or less positive as compared to those of our competitors, our reputation and brand may be adversely affected. Additionally, the performance of our partners may affect our reputation and brand if customers do not have a positive experience with our partners.

Our registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names may be challenged, infringed, circumvented or declared generic or determined to be infringing on other marks and our competitors may adopt trade names or trademarks similar to ours leading to market confusion. If we are otherwise unable to establish name recognition based on our trademarks and trade names, then we may not be able to compete effectively and our business may be adversely affected. The maintenance and promotion of our brand requires us to make substantial expenditures, and we anticipate that the expenditures will increase as our market becomes more competitive, we expand into new geographies and markets and more sales are generated through our partners. Our brand promotion activities may not generate customer awareness or yield increased revenue, and even if they do, any increase in revenue from such brand promotion initiatives may not offset the increased expenses we incur. If we do not successfully maintain and enhance our reputation and brand, we may have reduced pricing power relative to our competitors, we could lose customers or we could fail to attract potential customers or expand sales to our existing customers, all of which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has harmed and could continue to harm our business and results of operations.

The COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to mitigate its impact have significantly curtailed the movement of people, goods and services worldwide, including in the geographic areas in which we conduct our business operations and from which we generate our revenue. It has also caused societal, economic and financial market volatility, resulting in business shutdowns and reduced business activity. We believe that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on our business and results of operations, primarily as a result of:

 

 

 

delaying or pausing digital transformation and expansion projects and negatively impacting IT spending, which has caused potential customers to delay or forgo purchases of subscriptions for our products and services, and which has caused some existing customers to fail to renew subscriptions, reduce their usage or fail to expand their usage of our products;

 

 

 

restricting our sales operations and marketing efforts, reducing the effectiveness of such efforts in some cases and delaying or lengthening our sales cycles;

 

 

 

delaying collections or resulting in an inability to collect accounts receivable, including as a result of customer bankruptcies; and

 

 

 

delaying the delivery of professional services and training to our customers.

The COVID-19 pandemic may cause us to continue to experience the foregoing challenges in our business in the future and could have other effects on our business, including disrupting our ability to develop new offerings and enhance existing offerings, market and sell our products and services and conduct business activities generally.

In light of the uncertain and rapidly evolving situation relating to the spread of COVID-19, we have taken precautionary measures intended to reduce the risk of the virus spreading to our employees, our customers and the communities in which we operate, and we may take further actions as required by government entities or that we determine are in the best interests of our employees, customers, partners and third-party service providers. In particular, governmental authorities have instituted shelter-in-place policies or other restrictions in many jurisdictions in which we operate, including in the San Francisco Bay Area where our headquarters are

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located, which policies require most of our employees to work remotely. Even once shelter-in-place policies or other governmental restrictions are lifted, we expect to take a measured and careful approach to have employees returning to offices and travel for business. These precautionary measures and policies could negatively impact product innovation and development and employee and organizational productivity, training and collaboration or otherwise disrupt our business operations. The extent and duration of working remotely may expose us to increased risks of security breaches or incidents. We may need to enhance the security of our products and services, our data and our internal IT infrastructure, which may require additional resources and may not be successful.

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted and may continue to disrupt the operations of our customers and partners, particularly our customers in industries and segments, including consumer-facing travel and hospitality, in-store retail and in-person entertainment, that have been especially impacted by the pandemic. Other disruptions or potential disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic include restrictions on our personnel and the personnel of our partners to travel and access customers for training, delays in product development efforts and additional government requirements or other incremental mitigation efforts that may further impact our business and results of operations. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact our business and results of operations will also depend on future developments that are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of the disease, the duration and spread of the disease, including as a result of outbreaks and variants, the scope of travel restrictions imposed in geographic areas in which we operate, mandatory or voluntary business closures, the impact on businesses and financial and capital markets and the extent and effectiveness of the development of vaccines and other actions taken throughout the world to contain the virus or treat its impact. An extended period of global supply chain and economic disruption as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic could have a material negative impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations, though the full extent and duration is uncertain. To the extent the COVID-19 pandemic continues to adversely affect our business and financial condition, it is likely to also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section.

Although recent vaccine approvals and rollouts have raised hopes of a turnaround in the COVID-19 pandemic, renewed waves and new variants as well as delays in vaccinations pose risks to our recovery and outlook, as well as the recovery and outlook of our customers and partners. Growth may slow if virus outbreaks (including from new variants) prove difficult to contain, infections and deaths mount rapidly before vaccines are widely available, and social distancing measures and/or lockdowns return and are more stringent than anticipated. Moreover, if economic policy support is insufficient or withdrawn before full economic recovery, bankruptcies of viable but illiquid companies could mount, leading to further or renewed employment and income losses and a more protracted recovery. Together, these uncertainties and risks could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition, business and results of operations.

 

Our business could be adversely affected by economic downturns.

Prolonged economic uncertainties or downturns could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Negative conditions in the general economy in either the United States or abroad, including conditions resulting from financial and credit market fluctuations, changes in economic policy, trade uncertainty including changes in tariffs, sanctions, international treaties and other trade restrictions, the occurrence of a natural disaster or global public health crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic or armed conflicts, could continue to cause a decrease in corporate spending on IT offerings in general and negatively affect the growth of our business.

These conditions could make it extremely difficult for our customers and us to forecast and plan future business activities accurately and could cause our customers to reevaluate their decision to purchase our products and services, which could delay and lengthen our sales cycles or result in cancellations of planned purchases. Further, during challenging economic times, our customers may face issues in gaining timely access to sufficient credit, which could result in an impairment of their ability to make timely payments to us, if at all. If that were to occur, we may be required to increase our allowance for doubtful accounts, which would adversely affect our results of operations.

A substantial downturn in any of the industries in which our customers operate may cause firms to react to worsening conditions by reducing their capital expenditures in general or by specifically reducing their spending on IT offerings. Customers in these industries may delay or cancel projects or seek to lower their costs by renegotiating vendor contracts. To the extent subscriptions to our products or expenditures on our services are perceived by existing customers or potential customers to be discretionary, our revenue may be disproportionately affected by delays or reductions in general IT spending.

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We cannot predict the timing, strength or duration of any economic slowdown, instability or recovery, generally or within any particular industry or geography. Any economic downturns of the general economy or industries in which we operate would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Real or perceived errors, failures or bugs in our products or interruptions or performance problems associated with our technology and infrastructure could adversely affect our growth prospects, business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our products are complex, and therefore, undetected errors, failures or bugs have occurred in the past and may occur in the future. Our products are used in IT environments with different operating systems, system management software, applications, devices, databases, servers, storage, middleware, custom and third-party applications and equipment and networking configurations, which may cause errors or failures in the IT environment into which our products are deployed. This diversity increases the likelihood of errors or failures in those IT environments. Despite testing by us, real or perceived errors, failures or bugs in our customer solutions, software or technology or the technology or software we license from third parties, including open source software, may not be found until our customers use our products. Real or perceived errors, failures or bugs in our products could result in negative publicity, security related incidents such as data breaches, data loss, unavailability or corruption, loss of or delay in market acceptance of our products, harm to our brand, weakening of our competitive position or complaints or claims by customers for losses sustained by them or our failure to meet the stated service level commitments in our customer agreements. In such an event, we may be required, or may choose, for customer relations or other reasons, to expend significant additional resources in order to help correct the problem. Any errors, failures or bugs in our products could impair our ability to attract new customers, retain existing customers or expand their use of our products, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

For certain of our products, our success depends, in part, on the ability of our existing customers and potential customers to access such products at any time and within an acceptable amount of time. We may experience service disruptions, outages and other performance problems due to a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes or failures, human or software errors, malicious acts, terrorism, denial of service attacks or other security related incidents or capacity constraints. Capacity constraints could be due to a number of potential causes including technical failures, natural disasters, fraud or security attacks. In some instances, we may not be able to identify or remedy the cause or causes of these performance problems within an acceptable period of time. It may become increasingly difficult to maintain and improve our performance, especially during peak usage times and as our products and customer implementations become more complex. If our products are unavailable or if our customers are unable to access our products within a reasonable amount of time or at all, or if other performance problems occur, we may experience a loss of customers, lost or delayed market acceptance of our platform and services, delays in payment to us by customers, injury to our reputation and brand, legal claims against us and the diversion of our resources. The foregoing risks associated with any outage or service disruptions are magnified by the fact that our platform is typically used by our customers to support mission-critical applications. In addition, to the extent that we do not effectively address capacity constraints, upgrade our systems as needed and continually develop our technology and network architecture to accommodate actual and anticipated changes in technology, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Some of our customer contracts contain service level commitments, which contain specifications regarding response times for support, performance of our products and availability of our services. Any failure of or disruption to our infrastructure could impact the performance of our products and the availability of services to customers. If we are unable to meet our stated service level commitments or if we suffer extended periods of poor performance or unavailability of our products or services, we may be contractually obligated to provide affected customers with service credits for future subscriptions. In certain cases, we may face contract termination with refunds of prepaid amounts related to unused subscriptions. If we suffer performance issues or downtime that exceeds the service level commitments under our contracts with our customers, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Our ability to maintain and increase sales with our existing customers depends, in part, on the quality of our customer support, and our failure to offer high-quality support would harm our reputation and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Our customers sometimes depend on our technical support services to resolve issues relating to our products. Our ability to provide effective support is vital to our business as our products are often utilized by our customers for mission-critical applications and are often integrated with and dependent on other core technologies, which factors also increase the complexity and challenge of providing support. If we do not succeed in helping our customers quickly resolve issues or provide effective ongoing education related to our products, our reputation could be harmed, and our existing customers may not renew or expand their use of our products. To the extent that we are unsuccessful in hiring, training and retaining adequate customer support personnel, our ability to provide adequate and timely support to our customers and our customers’ satisfaction with our products, would be adversely affected. Our failure to provide and maintain high-quality customer support would harm our reputation and brand and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

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Our international operations and planned continued international expansion subject us to additional costs and risks, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our continued success and our growth strategy depends, in part, on our planned continued international expansion. We are continuing to adapt to and develop strategies to address international markets, but such efforts may not be successful.

Additionally, our international sales and operations are subject to a number of risks, including, without limitation:

 

 

 

greater difficulty in enforcing contracts and managing collections in countries where our recourse may be more limited, as well as longer collection periods;

 

 

higher costs of doing business internationally, including costs incurred in establishing and maintaining office space and equipment for our international operations;

 

 

 

differing labor regulations, especially in the European Union, or EU, where labor laws may be and often are more favorable to employees;

 

 

 

challenges inherent to efficiently recruiting and retaining talented and capable employees in foreign countries and maintaining our company culture and employee programs across all of our offices;

 

 

 

fluctuations in exchange rates between the U.S. Dollar and foreign currencies in markets where we do business;

 

 

 

management communication and integration problems resulting from language and cultural differences and geographic dispersion;

 

 

 

costs associated with language localization of our products and services;

 

 

 

risks associated with trade restrictions and foreign legal requirements, including any importation, certification and localization of our products and services that may be required in foreign countries;

 

 

 

greater risk of unexpected changes in regulatory requirements, tariffs and tax laws, trade laws, export quotas, customs duties, treaties and other trade restrictions;

 

 

 

costs of compliance with foreign laws and regulations and the risks and costs of non-compliance with such laws and regulations, including, but not limited to laws and regulations governing our corporate governance, product licenses, data privacy, data protection and data security regulations, particularly in the EU;

 

 

 

compliance with anti-bribery laws, including, without limitation, the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, or the FCPA, the U.S. Travel Act and the U.K. Bribery Act 2010, violations of which could lead to significant fines, penalties and collateral consequences for us;

 

 

 

risks relating to the implementation of exchange controls, including restrictions promulgated by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, or the OFAC, and other similar trade protection regulations and measures;

 

 

 

heightened risk of unfair or corrupt business practices in certain geographies and of improper or fraudulent sales arrangements that may impact our financial condition and result in restatements of, or irregularities in, financial statements;

 

 

 

the uncertainty of protection for intellectual property rights in some countries, particularly, those countries where we operate through a professional employer organization and do not have a direct contractual relationship with our service providers in such countries;

 

 

 

exposure to regional or global public health issues, such as the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to travel restrictions and other measures undertaken by governments in response to such issues;

 

 

 

general economic and political conditions in these foreign markets, including political and economic instability in some countries;

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foreign exchange controls or tax regulations that might prevent us from repatriating cash earned outside the United States; and

 

 

 

double taxation of our international earnings and potentially adverse tax consequences due to changes in the tax laws of the United States or the foreign jurisdictions in which we operate.

If we are unable to address these difficulties and challenges or other problems encountered in connection with our international operations and expansion, we might incur unanticipated liabilities or we might otherwise suffer harm to our business generally. These and other factors could harm our ability to generate revenue outside of the United States and, consequently, adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

In addition, compliance with laws and regulations applicable to our international operations increases our cost of doing business in foreign jurisdictions. We may be unable to keep current with changes in foreign government requirements and laws as they change from time to time. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations could have adverse effects on our business. In many foreign countries it is common for others to engage in business practices that are prohibited by our internal policies and procedures or U.S. regulations applicable to us. Although we have implemented policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with these laws and policies, there can be no assurance that all of our employees, contractors, partners and third-party service providers will comply with these laws and policies. Violations of laws or key control policies by our employees, contractors, partners or third-party service providers could result in delays in revenue recognition, financial reporting misstatements, fines, penalties or the prohibition of the importation or exportation of our products and services and could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may face fluctuations in currency exchange rates, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

To the extent we continue to expand internationally, we will become more exposed to fluctuations in currency exchange rates. The strengthening of the U.S. Dollar relative to foreign currencies increases the real cost of our products and services for our customers outside of the United States, which could lead to the lengthening of our sales cycles or reduced demand for our products and services. Additionally, increased international sales may result in foreign currency denominated sales, increasing our foreign currency risk. Moreover, such continued expansion would increase operating expenses incurred outside the United States and denominated in foreign currencies. If we are not able to successfully hedge against the risks associated with currency fluctuations, our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. To date, we have not entered into any hedging transactions in an effort to reduce our exposure to foreign currency exchange risk. While we may decide to enter into hedging transactions in the future, the availability and effectiveness of these hedging transactions may be limited and we may not be able to successfully hedge our exposure, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

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 ARR, dollar-based net retention rate and number of customers, 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. In addition, our ARR and dollar-based net retention rate calculations assume our customers will renew unless we receive notification of non-renewal and are no longer in negotiations prior to a measurement date, and will not increase or reduce, their subscriptions for our platform and services. If these assumptions prove to be incorrect, our actual ARR and dollar-based net retention rate may differ significantly from the metrics presented in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. 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 these metrics. 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.

 

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We depend on our management team and other highly skilled personnel, and we may fail to attract, retain, motivate or integrate highly skilled personnel, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We depend on the continued contributions of our management team, key employees and other highly skilled personnel. Our management team and key employees are at-will employees, which means they may terminate their relationship with us at any time. We are also substantially dependent on the continued service of our existing engineering personnel because of the complexity of our products. The loss of the services of any of our key personnel or delays in hiring required personnel, particularly within our research and development and engineering organizations, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our future success also depends, in part, on our ability to continue to attract and retain highly skilled personnel. Competition for these personnel in the San Francisco Bay Area, where our headquarters are located, and in other locations, is intense, and the industry in which we operate is generally characterized by significant competition for skilled personnel as well as high employee attrition. We may not be successful in attracting, retaining, training or motivating qualified personnel to fulfill our current or future needs. In particular, many of our roles require highly-specialized skill sets that are harder to recruit for and the individuals with such skills sets are particularly sought after by larger technology companies that are able to offer compensation packages that we may not be able to compete with. Additionally, the former employers of our new employees may attempt to assert that our new employees or we have breached their legal obligations, which may be time-consuming, distracting to management and may divert our resources. Current and potential personnel also often consider the value of equity awards they receive in connection with their employment, and to the extent the perceived value of our equity awards declines relative to those of our competitors, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled personnel may be harmed. If we fail to attract and integrate new personnel or retain and motivate our current personnel, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Our company culture has contributed to our success and if we cannot maintain this culture as we grow, our business could be harmed.

We believe that our company culture, which promotes being valued and creating value, has been critical to our success. We face a number of challenges that may affect our ability to sustain our corporate culture, including:

 

 

 

failure to identify, attract, reward and retain people in leadership positions in our organization who share and further our culture, values and mission;

 

 

 

the increasing size and geographic diversity of our workforce;

 

 

 

the continued challenges of a rapidly-evolving industry; and

 

 

 

the integration of new personnel and businesses from acquisitions.

If we are not able to maintain our culture, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

We may require additional capital, which may not be available on terms acceptable to us, or at all.

Historically, we have funded our operations and capital expenditures primarily through equity issuances, debt instruments and cash generated from our operations. To support our growing business, we must have sufficient capital to continue to make significant investments in our products and services. If we raise additional funds through the issuance of equity, equity-linked or debt securities, those securities may have rights, preferences or privileges senior to those of our common stock, and our existing stockholders may experience dilution. Any debt financing secured by us in the future could involve restrictive covenants relating to our capital-raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities.

 

We evaluate financing opportunities from time to time, and our ability to obtain financing will depend on, among other things, our development efforts, business plans and operating performance and the condition of the capital markets at the time we seek financing. We cannot be certain that additional financing will be available to us on favorable terms, or at all. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us, when we require it, our ability to continue to support our business growth and to respond to business challenges could be significantly limited and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Our debt obligations could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

As of July 31, 2021, we had an aggregate principal amount of $25.0 million of outstanding indebtedness incurred pursuant to the Credit Facility. Subsequent to July 31, 2021, we repaid the $25.0 million outstanding balance on the credit Facility. We may incur indebtedness in the future under the Credit Facility or otherwise. Our ability to pay interest and repay the principal for our indebtedness is dependent upon our ability to manage our business operations, generate sufficient cash flows to service such debt and

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the other factors discussed in this “Risk Factors” section. There can be no assurance that we will be able to manage any of these risks successfully.

Our debt obligations could adversely impact us. For example, these obligations could:

 

 

 

require us to use a large portion of our cash flow to pay principal and interest on debt, which will reduce the amount of cash flow available to fund working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions, research and development expenditures and other business activities;

 

 

 

limit our future ability to raise funds for capital expenditures, strategic acquisitions or business opportunities, research and development and other general corporate requirements;

 

 

 

restrict our ability to incur additional indebtedness and to create or incur certain liens;

 

 

 

increase our vulnerability to adverse economic and industry conditions; and

 

 

 

increase our exposure to interest rate risk from variable rate indebtedness.

We may also need to refinance a portion of our outstanding indebtedness as it matures. There is a risk that we may not be able to refinance existing debt or that the terms of any refinancing may not be as favorable as the terms of our existing indebtedness. Furthermore, if prevailing interest rates or other factors at the time of refinancing result in higher interest rates upon refinancing, then the interest expense relating to that refinanced indebtedness would increase.

We may be unable to make acquisitions and investments or successfully integrate acquired companies into our business, and our acquisitions and investments may not meet our expectations, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may in the future acquire or invest in businesses, offerings, technologies or talent that we believe could complement or expand our products and services, enhance our technical capabilities or otherwise offer growth opportunities. However, we may not be able to fully realize the anticipated benefits of such acquisitions or investments. Further, the pursuit of potential acquisitions may divert the attention of management and cause us to incur significant expenses related to identifying, investigating and pursuing suitable acquisitions, whether or not they are consummated.

There are inherent risks in integrating and managing acquisitions. If we acquire additional businesses, we may not be able to assimilate or integrate the acquired personnel, operations, solutions and technologies successfully, or effectively manage the combined business following the acquisition. We also may not achieve the anticipated benefits or synergies from the acquired business due to a number of factors, including, without limitation:

 

 

 

unanticipated costs or liabilities associated with the acquisition, including claims related to the acquired company, its offerings or technology;

 

 

 

incurrence of acquisition-related expenses, which would be recognized as a current period expense;

 

 

 

inability to generate sufficient revenue to offset acquisition or investment costs;

 

 

 

inability to maintain relationships with customers and partners of the acquired business;

 

 

 

challenges with incorporating acquired technology and rights into our products and services and maintaining quality and security standards consistent with our brand;

 

 

 

inability to identify security vulnerabilities in acquired technology prior to integration with our technology and products and services;

 

 

 

inability to achieve anticipated synergies or unanticipated difficulty with integration into our corporate culture;

 

 

 

delays in customer purchases due to uncertainty related to any acquisition;

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the need to integrate or implement additional controls, procedures and policies;

 

 

 

challenges caused by distance, language and cultural differences;

 

 

 

harm to our existing business relationships with partners and customers as a result of the acquisition;

 

 

 

potential loss of key employees;

 

 

 

use of resources that are needed in other parts of our business and diversion of management and employee resources;

 

 

 

inability to recognize acquired deferred revenue in accordance with our revenue recognition policies; and

 

 

 

use of substantial portions of our available cash or the incurrence of debt to consummate the acquisition.

Acquisitions also increase the risk of unforeseen legal liability, including for potential violations of applicable law or industry rules and regulations, arising from prior or ongoing acts or omissions by the acquired businesses that are not discovered by due diligence during the acquisition process. We may have to pay cash, incur debt or issue equity or equity-linked securities to pay for any future acquisitions, each of which could adversely affect our financial condition or the market price of our common stock. The sale of equity or issuance of equity-linked debt to finance any future acquisitions could result in dilution to our stockholders. The use of cash to finance any future acquisitions may limit other potential uses of our cash, including the retirement of outstanding indebtedness. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased fixed obligations and could also include covenants or other restrictions that would impede our ability to manage our operations. We may have to delay or forego a substantial acquisition if we cannot obtain the necessary financing to complete such acquisition in a timely manner or on favorable terms. Any of the foregoing could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our business could be adversely affected by pandemics, natural disasters, political crises or other unexpected events.

A significant natural disaster, such as an earthquake, fire, hurricane, tornado or flood, or a significant power outage or telecommunications failure, could disrupt our operations, mobile networks, the internet or the operations of our third-party service and technology providers. In particular, our corporate headquarters are located in the San Francisco Bay Area, a region known for seismic activity and wildfires. In addition, any unforeseen public health crises, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, political crises, such as terrorist attacks, war and other political instability or other catastrophic events, whether in the United States or abroad, can continue to adversely affect our operations or the economy as a whole. The impact of any natural disaster, act of terrorism or other disruption to us or our third-party providers’ abilities could result in decreased demand for our products and services or a delay in the provision of our products and services or could negatively impact consumer and business spending in the impacted regions or globally depending on the severity, any of which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. All of the aforementioned risks would be further increased if our disaster recovery plans prove to be inadequate.

Risks Related to Our Dependence on Third Parties

If we are unable to maintain successful relationships with our partners, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed.

We employ a go-to-market business model whereby a portion of our revenue is generated by sales through or with our partners, including Cloud Service Providers, or CSPs, Independent Software Vendors, or ISVs, Systems Integrators, or SIs, technology partners, managed service providers and resellers, that further expand the reach of our direct sales force into additional geographies, sectors, industries and channels. We have entered, and intend to continue to enter, into reseller relationships in certain international markets where we do not have a local presence. We provide certain partners with specific training and programs to assist them in selling our products and services, but these steps may prove ineffective, and restrictions on travel and other limitations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic or other causes may undermine our efforts to provide training and build relationships. In addition, if our partners are unsuccessful in marketing and selling our products and services, it would limit our planned expansion into certain geographies, sectors, industries and channels. If we are unable to develop and maintain effective sales incentive programs for our partners, we may not be able to successfully incentivize these partners to sell our products and services to customers.

Some of our partners may also market, sell and support offerings that are competitive with ours, may devote more resources to the marketing, sales and support of such competitive offerings, may have incentives to promote our competitors’ offerings to the detriment of our own or may cease selling our products and services altogether. Our partners could also subject us to lawsuits, potential liability and reputational harm if, for example, any of our partners misrepresents the functionality of our products and services to customers, violate laws or violate our or their corporate policies. Our ability to achieve revenue growth in the future will depend, in part, on our success in maintaining successful relationships with our partners, identifying additional partners and training our partners to independently sell our products and services. If our partners are unsuccessful in selling our products and services, or if we are unable to enter into arrangements with or retain a sufficient number of high-quality partners in the regions in which we sell our products and services and keep them motivated to sell our products and services, our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects could be adversely affected.

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We rely on third-party service providers for many aspects of our business, and any failure to maintain these relationships could harm our business.

Our success depends, in part, on our relationships with third-party service providers, including providers of cloud hosting infrastructure, customer relationship management systems, financial reporting systems, human resource management systems, credit card processing platforms, marketing automation systems, payroll processing systems and data centers, among others. If any of these third parties experience difficulty meeting our requirements or standards, become unavailable due to extended outages or interruptions, temporarily or permanently cease operations, face financial distress or other business disruptions or increase their fees, or if our relationships with any of these providers deteriorate or if any of the agreements we have entered into with such third parties are terminated or not renewed without adequate transition arrangements, we could suffer increased costs and delays in our ability to provide customers with our products and services, our ability to manage our finances could be interrupted, receipt of payments from customers may be delayed, our processes for managing sales of our offerings could be impaired, our ability to generate and manage sales leads could be weakened or our business operations could be disrupted. Any of such disruptions may adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows until we replace such providers or develop replacement technology or operations. In addition, if we are unsuccessful in identifying high-quality service providers, negotiating cost-effective relationships with them or effectively managing these relationships, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Certain estimates and information we refer to publicly are based on information from third-party sources and we do not independently verify the accuracy or completeness of the data contained in such sources or the methodologies for collecting such data, and any real or perceived inaccuracies in such estimates and information may harm our reputation and adversely affect our business.

Certain estimates and information we refer to publicly, including general expectations concerning our industry and the market in which we operate and market size, are based to some extent on information provided by third-party providers. This information involves a number of assumptions and limitations, and although we believe the information from such third-party sources is reliable, we have not independently verified the accuracy or completeness of the data contained in such third-party sources or the methodologies for collecting such data. If there are any limitations or errors with respect to such data or methodologies, or if investors do not perceive such data or methodologies to be accurate, or if we discover material inaccuracies with respect to such data or methodologies, our reputation, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Risks Related to Our Open Source and Intellectual Property

Our use of third-party open source software in our solutions, the availability of core portions of our source code on an open source basis and contributions to our open source projects could negatively affect our ability to sell our products and provide our services, subject us to possible litigation and allow third parties to access and use software and technology that we use in our business, all of which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Our products, including the Enterprise Edition of our Couchbase platform, include software that is licensed to us by third parties under “open source” licenses. Use and distribution of open source software may entail greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, because open source projects may have vulnerabilities and architectural instabilities, and also because open source licensors generally provide their software on an “as-is” basis and do not provide support, warranties, indemnification or other contractual protections regarding infringement claims or the quality of the code. We have historically elected to make core portions of our source code available on an open source basis to facilitate adoption as well as collaboration and participation from our application developer communities. However, we may not be successful in this strategy, and our recent move toward source-available licensing, as well as the continued availability of our source code, may enable others to compete more effectively against us. In addition, the public availability of the source code for such software may make it easier for others to compromise our products. We expect to continue to incorporate such open source software in our products and allow core portions of our source code to be available on an open source basis in the future.

Although most of our code is developed in-house, we also receive a limited amount of contributions from our open source developer communities. We require third parties who provide contributions to us to assign ownership of all intellectual property rights in their contributions to us, or provide us with a perpetual license to their works, and represent that their contributions are original works and that they are entitled to assign or license these rights to us. However, we cannot be sure that we can use all contributions without obtaining additional licenses from third parties, and may be subject to intellectual property infringement or misappropriation claims as a result of our use of these contributions.

 

Some open source licenses contain requirements that we make available source code for modifications or derivative works we create based upon the type of open source software we use, or grant other licenses to our intellectual property. We seek to ensure that our closed-source proprietary software is not combined with, and does not incorporate, open source software in ways that would

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require the release of the source code of our closed-source proprietary software to the public. However, we cannot ensure that we have not incorporated additional open source software in our software in a manner that is inconsistent with the terms of the applicable license or our current policies and procedures. If we fail to comply with the terms of these licenses or otherwise combine our closed-source proprietary software with open source software in a certain manner, we could, under certain open source licenses, be required to release the source code of our closed-source proprietary software to the public at no cost, make available source code for modifications or derivative works we create based upon, incorporating or using the open source software and license such modifications or derivative works under the terms of applicable open source licenses. This would allow our competitors to create similar offerings with lower development effort and time and ultimately could result in a loss of our competitive advantages. Additionally, 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. Alternatively, to avoid the public release of the affected portions of our source code, we could be required to expend substantial time and resources to re-engineer some or all of our software which may divert resources away from our product development efforts and, as a result, adversely affect our business.

Although we monitor our use of open source software to avoid subjecting our products to conditions we do not intend, the terms of many open source licenses have not been interpreted by U.S. or foreign courts, and there is a risk that these licenses could be construed in a way that could impose unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to provide or distribute our products. From time to time, there have been claims challenging the ownership of open source software against companies that incorporate open source software 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. Moreover, we cannot ensure that our processes for controlling our use of open source software in our products will be effective. If we are held to have breached or failed to fully comply with all the terms and conditions of an open source software license, or 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. In the event we are unable to successfully defend against such allegations, we could be subject to significant damages or other liability, including being enjoined from the sale of our products and services. We could also be required to seek licenses from third parties to continue providing our products on terms that are not economically feasible, re-engineer our products, discontinue or delay the provision of our products if re-engineering cannot be accomplished on a timely basis or make generally available, in source code form, our proprietary code. Any of the foregoing would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our distribution and licensing model could negatively affect our ability to monetize and protect our intellectual property rights.

Most of our products may be obtained for free from the internet, including a substantial portion of our source code on open source terms, and we may not know the parties that are utilizing our products and to what extent they are utilizing our products. Also, we do not have visibility into how our software is being used by licensees, so our ability to detect violations of our product licenses is extremely limited. If we are unable to manage the risks related to our licensing and distribution model, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

 

Because of the rights accorded to third parties under open source licenses, there may be fewer technology barriers to entry in the markets in which we compete and it may be relatively easy for new and existing competitors, some of whom may have greater resources than we have, to compete with us.

One of the characteristics of open source software is that the governing license terms generally allow liberal modifications of the code and distribution thereof to a wide group of companies or individuals. We have historically elected to make a core portion of our source code available on an open source basis, and have recently made a move toward source-available licensing. The continued availability of our source code, among other things, may enable others to develop new software products or services that are competitive to ours without the same degree of overhead and lead time required by us, particularly if customers do not value the differentiation of our proprietary components. It is possible for new and existing competitors, including those with greater resources than ours, to develop their own open source software or hybrid proprietary and open source software offerings, potentially reducing the demand for, and putting price pressure on, our products. In addition, some competitors make open source software available for free download or use or may position competing open source software as a loss leader. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to compete successfully against current and future competitors or that competitive pressure or the availability of open source software will not result in price reductions, reduced revenue and gross margins and loss of market share, any one of which could adversely affect our business.

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Our decision to license source code to Couchbase Server 7.0 under a source-available license, the Business Source License version 1.1, may harm the adoption of our source code for Couchbase Server 7.0.

In March 2021, we announced that we will be licensing the source code to Couchbase Server 7.0 under a source-available license, the Business Source License version 1.1, or BSL 1.1. Under our BSL 1.1 license, licensees can copy, modify and redistribute the source code for Couchbase Server 7.0 for any non-production purpose. Our BSL 1.1 license also permits use of our source code in a production deployment so long as the licensee is not creating commercial derivative works or offering or including our source code in a commercial product, application or service. After four years, our BSL 1.1 license automatically converts to Apache 2.0, an open source license. We believe that the move to BSL 1.1 enables us to fairly and transparently control commercialization of our source code. However, BSL 1.1 is not an open source license, which may negatively impact adoption of the source code for Couchbase Server 7.0, reduce our brand and product awareness and ultimately negatively impact our ability to compete.

We could incur substantial costs in obtaining, maintaining, protecting, defending and enforcing our intellectual property rights and any failure to obtain, maintain, protect, defend or enforce our intellectual property rights could reduce the value of our software and brand.

Our success depends, in part, upon our ability to obtain, maintain, protect, defend and enforce our intellectual property rights, including our proprietary technology, know-how and our brand. We rely on a combination of patents, copyrights, trademarks, service marks, trade secret laws, other intellectual property laws, confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions in an effort to establish and protect our proprietary rights. However, the steps we take to obtain, maintain, protect, enforce and defend our intellectual property rights may be inadequate. We will not be able to protect our intellectual property rights if we are unable to enforce our rights or if we do not detect unauthorized use of our intellectual property. If we fail to protect or enforce our intellectual property rights adequately, our competitors might gain access to our proprietary technology and develop and commercialize similar or substantially identical products, services or technologies, and our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects could be adversely affected. While we have patent applications pending in the United States, we do not currently own or in-license any issued patents related to any of our products or technologies, and there can be no assurance that our patent applications will result in issued patents. We currently are the assignee of a U.S. provisional patent application, three Patent Cooperation Treaty, or PCT, patent applications and a number of U.S. non-provisional patent applications. U.S. provisional patent applications are not eligible to become issued patents until, among other things, we file a non-provisional patent application within 12 months of filing of such provisional patent application. Our pending PCT patent application is not eligible to become an issued patent until, among other things, we file a national stage patent application within 30 months in the countries in which we seek patent protection. If we do not timely file such nonprovisional patent application or national stage patent applications, we may lose our priority date with respect to our U.S. provisional patent application and PCT patent application and any patent protection on the inventions disclosed in such applications.

Even if we continue to seek patent protection in the future, we may be unable to obtain or maintain patent protection for our technology. In addition, any patents issued from pending or future patent applications or licensed to us in the future may not provide us with competitive advantages, or may be successfully challenged by third parties. In addition, defending our intellectual property rights might entail significant expenses. Any of our patents, trademarks or other intellectual property rights that we have or may obtain may be challenged or circumvented by others or invalidated or held unenforceable through administrative process, including re-examination, inter partes review, interference and derivation proceedings and equivalent proceedings in foreign jurisdictions or litigation in the United States or in foreign jurisdictions. Others may infringe on our patents, trademarks or other intellectual property rights, independently develop similar, substantially identical or superior offerings, duplicate any of our offerings or design around our patents or other intellectual property rights or use information that we regard as proprietary to create products and services that compete with ours. Further, legal standards relating to the validity, enforceability and scope of protection of intellectual property rights are uncertain. Various courts, including the United States Supreme Court, have rendered decisions that affect the scope of patentability of certain inventions or discoveries relating to software and business methods. These decisions state, among other things, that a patent claim that recites an abstract idea, natural phenomenon or law of nature are not themselves patentable. Precisely what constitutes a law of nature or abstract idea is uncertain, and it is possible that certain aspects of our technology could be considered abstract ideas. Accordingly, the evolving case law in the United States may adversely affect our ability to obtain patents and may facilitate third-party challenges to any future owned or licensed patents. Additionally, patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret protection may not be available to us in every country in which our services are available. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries may not be as protective of intellectual property rights as those in the United States, and mechanisms for enforcement of intellectual property rights may be inadequate. As we expand our international activities, our exposure to unauthorized copying and use of our services and platform capabilities and proprietary information will likely increase. Policing unauthorized use of our technologies, trade secrets and intellectual property may be difficult, expensive and time-consuming, particularly in foreign 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. Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may be unable to prevent third parties from infringing upon, misappropriating or otherwise violating our intellectual property rights.

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In addition, we have made core portions of our own software available under open source or source-available licenses, and we include third-party open source software in our products. We have also occasionally contributed source code to open source projects. Because the source code for any software we distribute under open source or source-available licenses or contribute to open source projects is publicly available, our ability to protect our intellectual property rights with respect to such source code may be limited or lost entirely.

We rely, in part, on trade secrets, proprietary know-how and other confidential information to maintain our competitive position and protect our confidential and proprietary information, know-how and trade secrets. While we generally enter into confidentiality and invention assignment agreements with our employees and consultants and enter into confidentiality agreements with other third parties, including suppliers, vendors and the parties with whom we have strategic relationships and business alliances, the assignment of intellectual property rights may not be self-executing or may be breached, and we may be forced to bring claims against third parties, or defend claims that they may bring against us, to determine the ownership of what we regard as our intellectual property. Additionally, we cannot guarantee that we have entered into such agreements with each party that has or may have created or developed intellectual property on our behalf or had access to our proprietary information, know-how or trade secrets. We cannot guarantee that these agreements will be effective in controlling access to, distribution, use, misuse, misappropriation, reverse engineering or disclosure of our proprietary information, know-how and trade secrets. Further, these agreements may not prevent our competitors or partners from independently developing offerings that are substantially equivalent or superior to ours. These agreements may be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for any such breach. Further, we have experienced and may in the future experience unauthorized access of our proprietary source code, confidential information and know-how. We have and may in the future initiate litigation regarding trade secret misappropriation, but enforcing a claim that a party illegally disclosed or misappropriated a trade secret or know-how is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, and the outcome is unpredictable. In addition, some courts inside and outside the United States are less willing or unwilling to protect trade secrets and know-how.

We may be required to spend significant resources in order to monitor and protect our intellectual property rights, and some violations may be difficult or impossible to detect. Litigation may be necessary in the future to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights, and such litigation could be costly, time-consuming and distracting to management, and could result in the impairment or loss of portions of our intellectual property. 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, and, if such defenses, counterclaims and countersuits are successful, we could lose valuable intellectual property rights. Our inability to protect our intellectual property and proprietary technology against unauthorized copying or use, as well as any costly litigation or diversion of our management’s attention and resources, could impair the functionality of our products, delay introductions of enhancements to our products, result in our substituting inferior or more costly technologies into our products or harm our reputation and brand. In addition, we may be required to license additional technology from third parties to develop and market new product features, which may not be on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, and would adversely affect our ability to compete.

We have been and may in the future become subject to intellectual property disputes which may be costly to defend, subject us to significant liability, require us to pay significant damages and limit our ability to use certain technologies.

We have been and may in the future become subject to intellectual property disputes. Our success depends, in part, on our ability to develop and commercialize our products and services without infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating the intellectual property rights of third parties. However, we may not be aware if our products are infringing, misappropriating or otherwise violating third-party intellectual property rights, and such third parties may bring claims alleging such infringement, misappropriation or violation. Further, we have faced and may in the future face claims from third parties claiming ownership of, or demanding release of, the software or derivative works that we have developed, including works using third-party open source software, which could include our proprietary source code, or otherwise seeking to enforce the terms of the applicable open source license. Companies in the software and technology industries, including some of our current and potential competitors, are frequently subject to litigation based on allegations of infringement or other violations of intellectual property rights. In addition, certain companies and rights holders seek to enforce and monetize patents or other intellectual property rights they own, have purchased or otherwise obtained. Many potential litigants, including some of our competitors and patent-holding companies, have the ability to dedicate substantial resources to assert their intellectual property rights and to defend claims that may be brought against them.

Lawsuits are time-consuming and expensive to resolve and they divert management’s time and attention. Certain of our agreements with our customers and other third parties include indemnification provisions under which we agree to indemnify or otherwise be liable to them for losses suffered or incurred as a result of claims of infringement, misappropriation or other violation of intellectual property rights. Any claim of infringement by a third party, even those without merit, against us or for which we are required to provide indemnification, could cause us to incur substantial costs defending against the claim, could distract our management from our business and could require us to cease use of such intellectual property. Further, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, we risk compromising our confidential information during this type of litigation. We may be required to make substantial payments for legal fees, settlement fees, damages (including

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treble damages and attorneys’ fees if we are found to have willfully infringed a party’s rights), royalties or other fees in connection with a claimant securing a judgment against us and we may be subject to an injunction or other restrictions that cause us to cease selling or using products or services that incorporate the intellectual property rights that we allegedly infringe, misappropriate or violate, including subscriptions to our products. We may also be required to redesign any allegedly infringing portion of our products, which could be time-consuming or impossible, or we may agree to a settlement that prevents us from distributing our products or a portion thereof, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

With respect to any intellectual property rights claim, we may have to seek out a license to continue operations found to be in violation of such rights, which may not be available on favorable or commercially reasonable terms and may significantly increase our operating expenses. Some licenses may be non-exclusive, and therefore our competitors may have access to the same technology licensed to us. If a third party does not offer us a license to its intellectual property on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, we may be required to develop alternative, non-infringing technology, which could require significant time (during which we would be unable to continue to offer our affected product features), effort and expense and may ultimately not be successful. Any of these events would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Even if the claims do not result in litigation or are resolved in our favor, these claims and the time and resources necessary to resolve them, could divert the resources of our management and harm our business and results of operations. Moreover, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments, and if securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it would have a substantial adverse effect on our business, results of operations or the market price of our common stock. We expect that the occurrence of infringement claims is likely to grow as the market for platform and services grows. Accordingly, our exposure to damages resulting from infringement claims could increase and this could further exhaust our financial and management resources.

Risks Related to Our Legal and Regulatory Environment

Our business is subject to a wide range of laws and regulations, many of which are evolving, and failure to comply with such laws and regulations could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our business is subject to regulation by various federal, state, local and foreign governmental agencies, including agencies responsible for monitoring and enforcing data privacy, security and protection laws and regulations, intellectual property, employment and labor laws, workplace safety, consumer protection laws, anti-bribery laws, import and export controls, immigration laws, federal securities laws and tax laws and regulations. In certain foreign jurisdictions, these regulatory requirements may be more stringent than in the United States. These laws and regulations impose added costs on our business. Noncompliance with applicable regulations or requirements could subject us to:

 

 

 

investigations, enforcement actions, orders and sanctions;

 

 

 

mandatory changes to our products and services;

 

 

 

disgorgement of profits, fines and damages;

 

 

 

civil and criminal penalties or injunctions;

 

 

 

claims for damages by our customers or partners;

 

 

termination of contracts;

 

 

 

loss of intellectual property rights; and

 

 

 

temporary or permanent debarment from sales to heavily regulated organizations and governments.

If any governmental 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 adversely affected. In addition, responding to any action will likely result in a significant diversion of management’s attention and resources and an increase in professional fees. Enforcement actions and sanctions could materially harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, we must comply with laws and regulations relating to the formation, administration and performance of contracts with customers in heavily regulated industries and the public sector, including U.S. federal, state and local governmental organizations, which affect how we and our partners do business with such customers. Selling our product to customers in heavily regulated industries or to the U.S. government, whether directly or through partners, also subjects us to certain regulatory and contractual requirements. Failure to comply with these requirements by either us or our partners could subject us to investigations, fines and other penalties, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects. Violations of certain regulatory and contractual requirements could also result in us being suspended or debarred from future government contracting or other contracting opportunities. Any of these outcomes could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.

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If our security measures, or those of our service providers or customers, are breached or unauthorized parties otherwise obtain access to our or our customers’ data or software, our products and services may be perceived as not being secure, customers may reduce or terminate their use of our products and services and we may face claims, litigation, regulatory investigations, significant liability and reputational damage.

We collect, use, store and transmit or otherwise process data as part of our business operations, including personal data in and across multiple jurisdictions. We also use third-party service providers to collect, use, store, transmit, maintain and otherwise process such information. Increasingly, threats from computer malware, ransomware, viruses, social engineering (including phishing attacks), denial of service or other attacks, employee theft or misuse and general hacking have become more prevalent in our industry and our customers’ industries. Any of these security incidents could result in unauthorized access to, damage to, disablement or encryption of, use or misuse of, disclosure of, modification of, destruction of or loss of our data or customer data (including personal data), software or systems or disrupt our ability to provide our products and services. Any actual or perceived security incident could interrupt our operations, harm our reputation and brand, result in significant remediation and cybersecurity protection costs (including deploying additional personnel and modifying or enhancing our protection technologies and investigating and remediating any information security vulnerabilities), result in lost revenue, lead to regulatory investigations and orders, litigation, disputes, indemnity obligations, damages for breach of contract, penalties for violation of applicable laws and regulations and other legal risks, increase our insurance premiums, result in any other financial exposure, lead to loss of customer confidence in us or decreased use of our products and services and otherwise adversely affect our reputation, competitiveness, business, financial condition and results of operations.

We have taken steps to protect the data on our systems, but our security measures or those of our customers or third-party service providers could be insufficient and breached as a result of third-party action, employee or user errors, technological limitations, defects or vulnerabilities in our systems or offerings or those of our third-party service providers, malfeasance, fraud or malice on the part of employees or third parties, including state-sponsored organizations with significant financial and technological resources, or from accidental technological failure or otherwise. We have experienced and may continue to experience security incidents and attacks of varying degrees from time to time. For example, we were one of many of Codecov’s customers that were impacted by a supply-chain attack on Codecov’s servers. This attack resulted in unauthorized access to, and copying of, certain of our source code repositories. Based on the contents of those repositories, we do not believe such unauthorized access and copying resulted in the exposure of our material intellectual property or any customer data, or had any impact on our own products or services. Such breach does highlight, along with other recent supply-chain attacks against other companies such as Solar Winds, the growing risk of compromise of owned and third-party software. In the future, we could experience a similar style attack or could become the subject of one through a supply chain compromise. In addition, our accounts have been used without authorization to mine for cryptocurrency, send phishing emails and attempt to locate account credentials. Additionally, with our employees and many employees of our third-party service providers currently working remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we may be exposed to increased risks of security breaches or incidents. For example, we have seen an increase in phishing attempts and spam emails over time and it is possible this trend will continue. We anticipate needing to enhance the security of our products and services, our data, our systems and our internal IT infrastructure, which may require additional resources and substantial costs and may not be successful. There can be no assurance that any security measures that we or our customers or third-party service providers have implemented will be effective against current or future security threats. We have developed systems and processes to protect the integrity, confidentiality and security of our data and software, but our security measures or those of our customers or third-party service providers could fail and result in unauthorized access to, damage to, disablement or encryption of, use or misuse of, disclosure of, modification of, destruction of or loss of such data and software. Through contractual provisions and third-party risk management processes, we take steps to require that our third-party providers and their subcontractors protect our data, but because we do not control our third-party service providers and our ability to monitor their data security is limited, we cannot ensure the security measures they take will be sufficient to protect our data. A vulnerability in a third-party provider’s or a customer’s software or systems, a failure of our customers’ or third-party providers’ safeguards, policies or procedures or a breach of a customer’s or third-party provider’s software or systems could result in the compromise of the confidentiality, integrity or availability of our systems or the data housed in our third-party solutions. Further, because there are many different security breach techniques and such techniques continue to evolve and are generally not detected until after an incident has occurred, we may be unable to implement adequate preventative measures, anticipate or prevent attempted security breaches or other security incidents or react in a timely manner. If any of the foregoing were to occur, our customers and potential customers may lose trust in the security of our products or database software generally, which could adversely impact our brand, reputation and ability to retain existing customers or attract new customers.

Any security breach or other security incident that we or our third-party service providers experience, or the perception that one has occurred, could result in a loss of customer confidence in the security of our products and services, harm our reputation and brand, reduce the demand for our products and services, disrupt normal business operations, divert management’s attention and resources, require us to spend material resources to investigate or correct the breach and to prevent future security breaches and incidents or expose us to legal liabilities, including claims, litigation, regulatory enforcement and orders, disputes, investigations, indemnity obligations, damages for contract breach, penalties for violation of applicable laws or regulations and significant costs for remediation, any of which could adversely affect our results of operations. In addition, our remediation efforts may not be successful. We cannot

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ensure that any limitation of liability provisions in our customer, partner, vendor and other contracts would be enforceable or adequate with respect to any security lapse or breach or other security incident or would otherwise protect us from any liabilities or damages with respect to any particular claim. These risks may increase as we continue to grow and evolve our offerings to collect, host, process, store and transmit increasing volumes of data. In addition, these risks may increase if the type of data that we collect, host, process, store and transmit increasingly include sensitive and regulated data, such as protected health information or credit card information.

Many governments have enacted laws requiring companies to notify individuals of data security incidents or unauthorized transfers involving certain types of personal data. Accordingly, security incidents that we, our competitors, our customers or our third-party service providers experience may lead to negative publicity and harm our reputation. Further, if a security breach occurs with respect to us or a competitor or third-party service provider, our customers and potential customers may lose trust in the security of our products or services or database software generally, which could adversely impact our ability to retain existing customers or attract new customers, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Moreover, our insurance coverage, subject to applicable deductibles, may not be adequate for liabilities incurred or cover any indemnification claims against us relating to any security incident or breach or an insurer may deny or exclude from coverage certain types of claims. In the future, we may not be able to secure insurance for such matters on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. The successful assertion of one or more claims against us that exceed available insurance coverage, or the occurrence of changes in our insurance policies, including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If we are not able to comply with, or are perceived to not comply with U.S. and foreign laws, rules, regulations, industry standards, contractual obligations and other requirements relating to data protection, information security and privacy, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be harmed.

We are subject to a variety of federal, state, local and international laws, rules and regulations, as well as industry standards, internal and external privacy policies and contractual obligations to third parties, relating to the collection, use, retention, security, disclosure, transfer, storage and other processing of personal information and other data. The regulatory framework governing data privacy, security, protection and transfers worldwide is rapidly evolving and is likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future, and it is possible that these or other actual or future obligations may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with other rules or our practices. Any failure or perceived failure by us, our suppliers or other third parties with whom we do business to comply with our contractual commitments, policies or federal, state, local or international regulations could result in proceedings against us by governmental entities or others. In many jurisdictions, enforcement actions and consequences for noncompliance are rising. In the United States, these include enforcement actions in response to rules and regulations promulgated under the authority of federal agencies, state attorneys general and legislatures and consumer protection agencies. In addition, security advocates and industry groups have regularly proposed, and may propose in the future, self-regulatory standards with which we must legally comply or that contractually apply to us. If we fail to follow these security standards even if no personal information is compromised, we may incur significant fines or experience a significant increase in costs.

Internationally, virtually every jurisdiction in which we operate has established its own data security and privacy legal framework with which we or our customers must comply, including but not limited to the United Kingdom and the European Union, or EU. The EU has adopted the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, which went into effect in May 2018, and together with national legislation, regulations and guidelines of the EU member states, contains numerous requirements relating to the processing of personal data of EU data subjects, including the increased jurisdictional reach of the European Commission, more robust obligations and additional requirements for data protection compliance programs by companies. EU member states are tasked under the GDPR to enact, and have enacted, certain legislation that adds to or further interprets the GDPR requirements and potentially extends our obligations and potential liability for failing to meet such obligations. Among other requirements, the GDPR regulates transfers of personal data subject to the GDPR to the United States as well as other third countries that have not been found to provide adequate protection to such personal data. The GDPR also introduced numerous privacy-related changes for companies operating in the EU, including greater control for data subjects (for example, the “right to be forgotten”), increased data portability for EU consumers, data breach notification requirements and increased fines. In particular, under the GDPR, fines of up to 20 million euros or 4% of the annual global revenue of the noncompliant company, whichever is greater, could be imposed for violations of certain of the GDPR’s requirements. Such penalties are in addition to any civil litigation claims by customers and data subjects. The GDPR requirements apply not only to third-party transactions, but also to transfers of information between us and our subsidiaries, including employee information.

While we have taken steps to mitigate the impact on us with respect to transfers of data, the efficacy and longevity of these transfer mechanisms remains uncertain. The occurrence of unanticipated events and development of evolving technologies often

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rapidly drives the adoption of legislation or regulation affecting the use, collection or other processing of data and manner in which we conduct our business.

For example, the “Schrems II” decision issued by the European Court of Justice, or CJEU, in July 2020 struck down the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework, which provided companies with a mechanism to comply with data protection requirements when transferring personal data from the EU to the United States. In the same decision, the CJEU imposed additional obligations on companies when relying on standard contractual clauses, including that these clauses be considered on a case-by-case basis, in conjunction with an assessment as to whether national security laws conflict with the guarantees provided by the data importer under the standard contractual clauses. The European Commission has since issued new standard contractual clauses that account for the CJEU’s “Schrems II” decision. The Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner also has stated that it no longer considers the Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield adequate for the purposes of personal data transfers from Switzerland to the United States. These developments may result in European data protection regulators applying differing standards for, and requiring ad hoc verification of, transfers of personal data from Europe to the United States. We may be required to take additional steps to legitimize any personal data transfers impacted by these developments and be subject to increasing costs of compliance and limitations on our customers and us. For example, we anticipate being required to engage in new contract negotiations with third parties that aid in processing data on our behalf and entering into the new standard contractual clauses. More generally, we may find it necessary or desirable to modify our data handling practices, and this “Schrems II” decision or other legal challenges relating to cross-border data transfer may serve as a basis for our personal data handling practices, or those of our customers and vendors, to be challenged and may otherwise adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Further, following a referendum in June 2016 in which voters in the United Kingdom, or U.K., approved an exit from the EU, the U.K. government has initiated a process to leave the EU known as Brexit. Brexit has created uncertainty with regard to the regulation of data protection in the United Kingdom. In particular, while the Data Protection Act of 2018, which implements and complements the GDPR, achieved Royal Assent on May 23, 2018 and is now effective in the United Kingdom, the impact of Brexit in the medium to longer term remains to be seen. As of January 1, 2021, and the expiry of transitional arrangements agreed to between the United Kingdom and EU, data processing in the United Kingdom is governed by a U.K. version of the GDPR (combining the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018), exposing us to two parallel regimes, each of which potentially authorizes similar fines and other potentially divergent enforcement actions for certain violations. On June 28, 2021, the European Commission issued an adequacy decision under the GDPR and the Law Enforcement Directive, pursuant to which personal information generally may be transferred from the EU to the U.K. without restriction; however, this adequacy decision is subject to a four-year “sunset” period, after which the European Commission’s adequacy decision may be renewed. During that period, the European Commission will continue to monitor the legal situation in the U.K. and may intervene at any time with respect to its adequacy decision. The U.K.’s adequacy determination therefore is subject to future uncertainty and may be subject to modification or revocation in the future, with the United Kingdom potentially being considered an “inadequate third country” under the GDPR and transfers of data from the European Economic Area, or EEA, to the United Kingdom requiring a “transfer mechanism,” such as the standard contractual clauses. Furthermore, there will be increasing scope for divergence in application, interpretation and enforcement of the data protection law between the U.K. and EEA. We continue to monitor and review the impact of any resulting changes to EU or U.K. law that could affect our operations. We may incur liabilities, expenses, costs and other operational losses under the GDPR and privacy laws of the applicable EU member states and the U.K. in connection with any measures we take to comply with them. Other countries have also passed or are considering passing laws requiring local data residency or restricting the international transfer of data.

In addition, domestic data privacy laws continue to evolve and could require us to modify our data processing practices and policies and expose us to further regulatory or operational burdens. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA, took effect in January 2020. The CCPA imposes obligations on companies that process California residents’ personal information, including an obligation to provide certain new disclosures to such residents and creates new consumer rights, including relating to the access to, deletion of and sharing of personal information collected by covered businesses, including a consumer’s right to opt out of certain sales of their personal information. The CCPA provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for certain data breaches that result in the loss of personal information. This private right of action may increase the likelihood of, and risks associated with, data breach litigation. Additionally, a new privacy law, the California Privacy Rights Act, or CPRA, was approved by California voters in the November 3, 2020 election. Effective starting January 1, 2023, the CPRA will significantly modify the CCPA, including by expanding consumers’ rights with respect to certain sensitive personal information. The CPRA also creates a new state agency that will be vested with authority to implement and enforce the CCPA and the CPRA.

Further, on March 2, 2021, the Governor of Virginia signed into law the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, or VCDPA. The VCDPA creates consumer rights, similar to the CCPA, but also imposes security and assessment requirements for businesses. In addition, on July 7, 2021, Colorado enacted the Colorado Privacy Act, or CPA, becoming the third state to pass comprehensive consumer privacy legislation in the United States. The CPA closely resembles the VCDPA, and the CPA and VCDPA will be enforced by the respective states’ Attorney General and district attorneys, although the two differ in many ways and once they become enforceable in 2023, we must comply with each if our operations fall within the scope of these newly enacted comprehensive

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mandates. Similar laws have been proposed in other states and at the federal level, reflecting a trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in the United States. This legislation may add additional complexity, variation in requirements, restrictions and potential legal risk, require additional investment of resources in compliance programs, impact strategies and the availability of previously useful data and could result in increased compliance costs or changes in business practices and policies.

Complying with these laws, regulations, amendments to or re-interpretations of existing laws and regulations and contractual or other obligations relating to data privacy, security, protection, transfer, localization and information security may require us to make changes to our products and services to enable us or our customers to meet new legal requirements, incur substantial operational costs, modify our data practices and policies and restrict our business operations. Any actual or perceived failure by us to comply with these laws, regulations or other obligations may lead to significant fines, penalties, regulatory investigations, lawsuits, significant costs for remediation, damage to our reputation or other liabilities. Additionally, because the interpretation and application of many privacy and data protection laws along with contractually imposed industry standards are uncertain, it is possible that these laws may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our existing data management practices or the features of our services and platform capabilities. If so, in addition to the possibility of fines, lawsuits, regulatory investigations, imprisonment of company officials and public censure, other claims and penalties, significant costs for remediation and damage to our reputation, we could be required to fundamentally change our business activities and practices or modify our services and platform capabilities, any of which could require significant additional expense and have an adverse effect on our business, including impacting our ability to innovate, delaying our product development roadmap and adversely affecting our relationships with customers and our ability to compete. If we are obligated to fundamentally change our business activities and practices or modify our products and services, we may be unable to make such changes and modifications in a commercially reasonable manner, or at all, and our ability to develop new product features and services could be limited.

In addition to government activity, privacy advocacy and other industry groups have established or may establish new self-regulatory standards that may place additional burdens on our ability to provide our products and services globally. Our customers expect us to meet certain voluntary certification and other standards established by third parties. If we are unable to maintain these certifications or meet these standards, it could adversely affect our ability to provide our services to certain customers and could harm our business. Further, the uncertain and shifting regulatory environment may cause concerns regarding data privacy and may cause our customers to resist providing the data that could improve our products and services, or limit the use and adoption of our products and services.

These laws, regulations, rules, industry standards and contractual or other obligations relating to data privacy, security, protection, transfers, localization and information security could require us to take on more onerous obligations in our contracts, restrict our ability to store, transfer and process data or, in some cases, impact our ability to offer our products and services in certain locations, to reach existing and potential customers or to derive insights from customer data globally. The costs of compliance with, and other burdens imposed by, these laws, regulations, standards and obligations, or any inability to adequately address privacy, data protection or information security-related concerns, even if unfounded, may limit the use and adoption of our products and services, reduce overall demand for our products and services, make it more difficult to meet expectations from or commitments to customers, impact our reputation or slow the pace at which we close sales transactions, any of which could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Any future litigation against us could be costly and time-consuming to defend.

From time to time, we may become involved in various legal proceedings relating to matters incidental to the ordinary course of our business, including intellectual property, commercial, product liability, employment, class action, whistleblower and other litigation and claims and governmental and other regulatory investigations and proceedings. Such matters can be time-consuming, divert management’s attention and resources, cause us to incur significant expenses or liability or require us to change our business practices. In addition, the expense of litigation and the timing of this expense from period to period are difficult to estimate, subject to change and could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. Because of the potential risks, expenses and uncertainties of litigation, we may, from time to time, settle disputes, even where we have meritorious claims or defenses, by agreeing to settlement agreements. Any of the foregoing could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we cannot be sure that our existing insurance coverage and coverage for errors and omissions will continue to be available on acceptable terms or that our insurers will not deny coverage as to any future claim.

Indemnity provisions in various agreements to which we are party potentially expose us to substantial liability for intellectual property infringement, misappropriation or other violation and other losses.

Our agreements with our customers, partners and other third parties may include indemnification provisions under which we agree to indemnify or otherwise be liable to them for losses suffered or incurred as a result of claims of infringement, misappropriation or violation of intellectual property rights, data protection, damages caused by us to property or persons, or in connection with any such defects or errors in our products, or other liabilities relating to or arising from our products and services, our acts or omissions

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under such agreements or other contractual obligations. Some of these indemnity agreements provide for uncapped liability for which we would be responsible, and some indemnity provisions survive termination or expiration of the applicable agreement. Large indemnity payments could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. Although we attempt to contractually limit our liability with respect to such indemnity obligations, we are not always successful and may still incur substantial liability related to such claims and we may be required to cease use of certain functions of our products or services as a result of any such claims. Moreover, even claims that ultimately are unsuccessful could result in our expenditure of funds in litigation, divert management’s time and other resources and harm our business and reputation.

In addition, although we carry general liability insurance, our insurance against this liability may not be adequate to cover a potential claim, and such coverage may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. Any dispute with a customer, channel party or other third party with respect to such obligations could have adverse effects on our relationship with such customer, channel party or other third party or other existing or potential customers, harm our reputation or reduce demand for our products and services. Any of the foregoing could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

A portion of our revenue is generated by sales to heavily regulated organizations, which are subject to a number of challenges and risks.

We provide our products and services to heavily regulated organizations, and at times to the U.S. government, state and local governments and non-U.S. governments directly and through our partners. Selling to these entities can be highly competitive, expensive and time-consuming, often requiring significant upfront time and expense without any assurance that these efforts will result in a sale. For instance, highly regulated entities and government customers often require contract terms that differ from our standard arrangements and impose compliance requirements that are complicated, require preferential pricing or “most favored nation” terms and conditions or are otherwise time-consuming and expensive to satisfy. If we undertake to meet special standards or requirements and do not meet them, we could be subject to increased liability from our customers. Even if we do meet them, the additional costs associated with providing our services to highly regulated organizations and governments could harm our financial condition and results of operations.

We have been and are increasingly doing more business in heavily regulated industries. Existing and potential customers, such as those in these industries, may be required to comply with more stringent regulations in connection with subscribing to and implementing our products and services or particular regulations regarding third-party vendors that may be interpreted differently by different customers. In addition, regulatory agencies may impose requirements toward third-party vendors generally, or to us in particular, that we may not be able to, or may not choose to, meet. Any changes in the underlying regulatory conditions that affect these types of customers could harm our ability to efficiently provide our products and services to them and to grow or maintain our customer base. Moreover, customers in these heavily regulated areas often have a right to conduct audits of our systems, products and practices. In the event that one or more customers determine that some aspect of our business does not meet contractual or regulatory requirements, we may be limited in our ability to continue or expand our business. Each of these difficulties could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Failure to comply with anti-bribery, anti-corruption, anti-money laundering and similar laws could subject us to penalties and other adverse consequences.

We are subject to the FCPA, the U.S. domestic bribery statute contained in 18 U.S.C. § 201 and the U.S. Travel Act and other anti-bribery and anti-money laundering laws in countries outside of the United States in which we conduct our activities. Anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws have been enforced aggressively in recent years and are interpreted broadly to generally prohibit companies, their employees, agents, representatives, partners and third-party intermediaries from authorizing, offering or providing, directly or indirectly, improper payments or benefits to recipients in the public or private sector.

We sometimes leverage third parties to sell our products and services and conduct our business abroad. We, our employees, agents, representatives, partners and third-party intermediaries may have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or state-owned or affiliated entities and we may be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of these employees, agents, representatives, partners or third-party intermediaries even if we do not explicitly authorize such activities. These laws also require that we keep accurate books and records and maintain internal controls and compliance procedures designed to prevent any such actions. While we have policies and procedures designed to address compliance with such laws, we cannot ensure that none of our employees, agents, representatives, partners or third-party intermediaries will take actions in violation of our policies and applicable law, for which we may be ultimately held responsible.

Any allegations or violation of the FCPA or other applicable anti-bribery, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws could result in whistleblower complaints, sanctions, settlements, prosecution, enforcement actions, fines, damages, adverse media coverage, investigations, loss of export privileges, severe criminal or civil sanctions or suspension or debarment from U.S. government contracts, all of which may adversely affect our reputation, business, results of operations and prospects. Responding to any

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investigation or action will likely result in a materially significant diversion of management’s attention and resources and significant defense costs and other professional fees. In addition, the U.S. government may seek to hold us liable for successor liability for FCPA violations committed by companies in which we invest or that we acquire. As a general matter, investigations, enforcement actions and sanctions could harm our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

We are subject to governmental export control, trade sanctions and import controls that could impair our ability to compete in international markets or subject us to liability if we violate the controls.

Certain of our business activities are subject to the U.S. export control laws and regulations, including the Export Administration Regulations, or the EAR, and the U.S. trade and economic sanctions maintained by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s OFAC as well as the U.S. import laws and regulations. The U.S. export control laws and economic sanctions prohibit the export, re-export and in-country transfer of our offerings, including software and services, to certain U.S. embargoed or sanctioned countries and territories, governments and persons, as well as for prohibited end-uses. Further, we incorporate encryption functionality into certain of our products, and as a result, we may need to make filings with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security to ensure that our exports, re-exports and transfers are in accordance with the EAR. Also, in certain cases, it is possible that a license may be required to export or re-export our products to certain countries, end-users and end-uses. Obtaining the necessary export license for a particular sale or offering may be time-consuming, may not be possible and may result in the delay or loss of sales opportunities. In addition, various countries regulate the import of certain encryption technology, including through import permit and license requirements, and have enacted laws that could limit our ability to distribute our products or could limit our customers’ ability to implement our products in those countries.

If we were to fail to comply with such U.S. export controls, economic sanctions and import laws and regulations or other similar laws, we could be subject to both civil and criminal penalties, including substantial fines, possible incarceration for employees and managers for willful violations and the possible loss of our export or import privileges. We take precautions designed to ensure that we and our partners comply with all relevant export control, sanctions and import laws and regulations, but we cannot ensure that our measures will always prevent noncompliance by us or our partners with respect to such laws and regulations as they are very detailed and technical.

In addition, changes in our products or services or changes in export and import regulations in various countries may create delays in the introduction of our products and services into international markets, prevent our customers with international operations from deploying our products and services globally or, in some cases, prevent or delay the export or import of our products and services to certain countries, governments or persons altogether. Any change in export or import laws or regulations, economic sanctions or related legislation, shift in the enforcement or scope of existing export, import or sanctions laws or regulations, or change in the countries, governments, persons or technologies targeted by such export, import or sanctions laws or regulations, could result in decreased use of our products and services by or in our decreased ability to export or sell access to our products and services to, existing or potential end-customers with international operations. Any decreased use of our products and services or limitation on our ability to export to or sell access to our products and services in international markets would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our international operations may subject us to greater than anticipated tax liabilities.

Our corporate structure and associated transfer pricing policies contemplate future growth in international markets and consider the functions, risks and assets of the various entities involved in intercompany transactions, the amount of taxes we pay in different jurisdictions, including the United States, our international business activities, changes in tax rates, new or revised tax laws or interpretations of existing tax laws and policies and our ability to operate our business in a manner consistent with our corporate structure and intercompany agreements. The relevant taxing authorities may challenge our methodologies for pricing intercompany transactions pursuant to intercompany arrangements or disagree with our determinations as to the income and expenses attributable to specific jurisdictions. If such a disagreement were to occur, and our position were not sustained, we could be required to pay additional taxes, interest and penalties, which 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.

 

Changes in tax laws could materially affect our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

The tax regimes we are subject to or operate under, including income and non-income taxes, are unsettled and may be subject to significant change. Changes in tax laws or regulations, or changes in interpretations of existing laws and regulations, could materially affect our financial condition and results of operations. For example, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or the Tax Act, which contains significant changes to U.S. tax law, including a reduction in the corporate tax rate and a transition to a new territorial system of taxation. The primary impact of the new legislation on our provision for income taxes was a reduction of the future tax benefits of our deferred tax assets as a result of the reduction in the corporate tax rate. However, since we have recorded a full valuation allowance

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against our deferred tax assets, these changes did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements. The impact of the Tax Act will likely be subject to ongoing technical guidance and accounting interpretation, which we will continue to monitor and assess.

There is also a high level of uncertainty in today’s tax environment stemming from both global initiatives put forth by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or the OECD, and unilateral measures being implemented by various countries due to a lack of consensus on these global initiatives. As an example, the OECD has put forth two proposals, Pillar One and Pillar Two, that revise the existing profit allocation and nexus rules (profit allocation based on location of sales versus physical presence) and ensure a minimal level of taxation, respectively. Further, unilateral measures such as digital services tax and corresponding tariffs in response to such measures are creating additional uncertainty. If these proposals are passed, it is likely that we will have to pay higher income taxes in countries where such rules are applicable.

As we expand the scale of our international business activities, any changes in the U.S. or foreign taxation of such activities may increase our worldwide effective tax rate and harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. Such changes may also apply retroactively to our historical operations and result in taxes greater than the amounts estimated and recorded in our financial statements.

Our ability to use our net operating losses may be limited.

As of January 31, 2021, we had federal and state net operating losses, or NOLs, of $240.7 million and $132.4 million, respectively, which may be available to offset taxable income in the future. A lack of future taxable income would adversely affect our ability to utilize these NOLs before they expire. Unused U.S. federal NOLs for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2018, may be carried forward to offset future taxable income, if any, until such unused NOLs expire. Under the Tax Act, as modified by legislation enacted on March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, U.S. federal NOLs arising in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017 can be carried forward indefinitely, but the deductibility of such U.S. federal NOLs in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2020 is limited to 80% of taxable income. The CARES Act temporarily suspends this 80% taxable income limitation, allowing an NOL carryforward to fully offset taxable income in tax years beginning before 2021. Not all states conform to the Tax Act or CARES Act and other states have varying conformity to the Tax Act or CARES Act.

Of the U.S. federal NOLs, no amount may be carried forward indefinitely with no limitations when utilized, and $71.9 million may be carried forward indefinitely with utilization limited to 80% of taxable income. The remaining $168.8 million will begin to expire in 2028. The state NOLs carryforwards begin to expire in 2026.

Under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change NOLs to offset its post-change income may be limited. In general, an “ownership change” will occur if there is a cumulative change in our ownership by “5-percent shareholders” that exceeds 50 percentage points over a rolling three-year period. Similar rules may apply under state tax laws. We have completed a Section 382 study and have determined that none of the NOLs will expire solely due to Section 382 limitations. However, we may experience ownership changes as a result of our initial public offering or in the future as a result of subsequent shifts in our stock ownership, some of which may be outside of our control. This could limit the amount of NOLs that we can utilize annually to offset future taxable income or tax liabilities. Subsequent ownership changes and changes to the U.S. tax rules in respect of the utilization of NOLs may further affect the limitation in future years.

There is also a risk that due to federal or state regulatory changes, such as suspensions on the use of NOLs, our existing NOLs could expire or otherwise be unavailable to offset future income tax liabilities.

Changes in our effective tax rate or tax liability may have an adverse effect on our results of operations.

We are, and expect to continue to be, subject to review and audit by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS, and other tax authorities in various domestic and foreign jurisdictions. As a result, we may receive assessments in multiple jurisdictions on various tax-related assertions. Taxing authorities may challenge our tax positions and methodologies on various matters, including our positions regarding the collection of sales and use taxes and the jurisdictions in which we are subject to taxes, which could expose us to additional taxes. We assess the likelihood of adverse outcomes resulting from any ongoing tax examinations to determine the adequacy of our provision for income taxes. These assessments can require considerable judgments and estimates. The calculation of our tax liabilities involves uncertainties in the application of complex tax laws and regulations in a variety of jurisdictions. There can be no assurance that our tax positions and methodologies or calculation of our tax liabilities are accurate or that the outcomes from tax

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examinations will not have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. A difference in the ultimate resolution of tax uncertainties from what is currently estimated could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Taxing authorities may successfully assert that we should have collected or in the future should collect sales and use, value added or similar taxes and we could be subject to liability with respect to past or future sales, which could adversely affect our results of operations.

We collect sales tax in a number of jurisdictions. Sales and use, value added and similar tax laws and rates vary greatly by jurisdiction. Certain jurisdictions in which we do not collect such taxes may assert that such taxes are applicable, which could result in tax assessments, penalties and interest, and we may be required to collect such taxes in the future. Such tax assessments, penalties, interest or future requirements would adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Our reported financial results may be adversely affected by changes in accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.

Generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, or GAAP, are subject to interpretation by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, the SEC and other various bodies formed to promulgate and interpret appropriate accounting principles. Changes in accounting principles applicable to us, or varying interpretations of current accounting principles, in particular with respect to revenue recognition, could have a significant effect on our reported results of operations and could affect the reporting of transactions completed before the announcement of the change. Further, any difficulties in the implementation of changes in accounting principles, including the ability to modify our accounting systems, could cause us to fail to meet our financial reporting obligations, which could result in regulatory discipline and harm investors’ confidence in us.

If our estimates or judgments relating to our critical accounting policies prove to be incorrect, our results of operations could be adversely affected.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in our financial statements and accompanying notes. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, as described in the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” The results of these estimates form the basis for making judgments about the recognition and measurement of certain assets and liabilities and revenue and expenses that is not readily apparent from other sources. Our accounting policies that involve judgment include standalone selling prices, or SSP, for each distinct performance obligation, capitalized internal-use software costs, expected period of benefit for deferred commissions, valuation of our common stock, stock-based compensation, determination of allowance for doubtful accounts and accounting for income taxes. If our assumptions change or if actual circumstances differ from those in our assumptions, our results of operations could be adversely affected, which could cause our results of operations to fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in the market price of our common stock.

We are obligated to develop and maintain proper and effective internal control 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 common stock.

We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and the listing standards of the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Our management and other personnel devote a substantial amount of time to compliance with these requirements. Moreover, these laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations and their application in practice may evolve over time as regulatory and governing bodies issue revisions to, or new interpretations of, these public company requirements. Such changes could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher legal and financial costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. We will continue to invest resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management’s time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. If our efforts to comply with new laws, regulations and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies due to ambiguities related to their application and practice, regulatory authorities may initiate legal proceedings against us and our business may be adversely affected.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. We are continuing to develop and refine our disclosure controls and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we will file with the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms and that information required to be disclosed in reports under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our principal executive and financial officers. We are also continuing to improve our internal control over financial reporting. We have expended, and anticipate that we will continue to expend,

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significant resources in order to maintain and improve the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting.

Our current controls and any new controls that we develop may become inadequate because of changes in the conditions in our business, including increased complexity resulting from any international expansion. Further, weaknesses in our disclosure controls or our internal control over financial reporting may be discovered in the future. Any failure to develop or maintain effective controls, or any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement, could harm our results of operations or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and may result in a restatement of our financial statements for prior periods. Any failure to implement and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could also adversely affect the results of periodic management evaluations and annual independent registered public accounting firm attestation reports regarding the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting that we will eventually be required to include in our periodic reports that will be filed with the SEC. Ineffective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial and other information, which would likely adversely affect the market price of our common stock. In addition, if we are unable to continue to meet these requirements, we may not be able to remain listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. We are not currently required to comply with the SEC rules that implement Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and are therefore not required to make a formal assessment of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting for that purpose. We are required to provide an annual management report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting commencing with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal 2023.

Our independent registered public accounting firm is not required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting until after we are no longer an “emerging growth company.” At such time, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our internal control over financial reporting is documented, designed or operating. Any failure to maintain effective disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, and could cause a decline in the market price of our common stock.

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock and Governance Matters

Operating as a public company has and will require us to incur substantial costs and will require substantial management attention.

As a public company, we incur substantial legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. For example, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the applicable requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the rules and regulations of the SEC and the listing standards of the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The Exchange Act requires, among other things, we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business, financial condition and results of operations. Compliance with these rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs, and increase demand on our systems, particularly after we are no longer an “emerging growth company.” In addition, as a public company, we may be subject to stockholder activism, which can lead to additional substantial costs, distract management and impact the manner in which we operate our business in ways we cannot currently anticipate. As a result of disclosure of information in filings required of a public company, our business and financial condition become more visible, which may result in threatened or actual litigation, including by competitors.

Certain members of our management team have limited experience managing a publicly traded company, and certain members joined us more recently. As such, our management team may not successfully or efficiently manage our transition to being a public company subject to significant regulatory oversight and reporting obligations under the federal securities laws and the continuous scrutiny of securities analysts and investors. These new obligations and constituents will require significant attention from our senior management and could divert their attention away from the day-to-day management of our business, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are an “emerging growth company” and the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies may make our common stock less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act, and we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies,” including not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As an “emerging growth company,” we are also allowed to delay adoption of new or revised accounting pronouncements applicable to public companies until such pronouncements are made applicable to private companies. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to those of companies that comply with new or revised accounting

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pronouncements as of public company effective dates. We have elected to take advantage of this extended transition period under the JOBS Act with respect to Accounting Standards Update 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), which establishes a principle for recognition of assets and liabilities from leasing arrangements. Any difficulties in implementing these pronouncements could cause us to fail to meet our financial reporting obligations, which could result in regulatory discipline and harm investors’ confidence in us. We may take advantage of these exemptions for so long as we are an “emerging growth company,” which could be for as long as five full fiscal years following the completion of our initial public offering. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive because we will rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and the market price of our common stock may be more volatile.

Our executive officers, directors and holders of 5% or more of our common stock continue to have substantial control over us, which will limit your ability to influence the outcome of important transactions, including a change in control.

Our executive officers, directors and our stockholders who own 5% or more of our outstanding common stock and their affiliates, in the aggregate, beneficially own a substantial portion of the outstanding shares of our common stock. As a result, these stockholders, if acting together, will be able to influence or control matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including the election of directors and the approval of mergers, acquisitions or other extraordinary transactions. They may also have interests that differ from yours and may vote in a way with which you disagree and which may be adverse to your interests. This concentration of ownership may have the effect of delaying, preventing or deterring a change in control of our company, could deprive our stockholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their common stock as part of a sale of our company, and might ultimately affect the market price of our common stock.

The market price of our common stock may be volatile, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

The market price of our common stock may be volatile and could be subject to fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. These fluctuations could cause you to lose all or part of your investment in our common stock. Factors that could cause fluctuations in the market price of our common stock include the following:

 

 

 

price and volume fluctuations in the overall stock market from time to time;

 

 

 

volatility in the market prices and trading volumes of technology stocks;

 

 

 

changes in operating performance and stock market valuations of other technology companies generally, or those in our industry in particular;

 

 

 

sales of shares of our common stock by us or our stockholders, as well as the anticipation of lock-up releases;

 

 

failure of securities analysts to maintain coverage of us, changes in financial estimates by securities analysts who follow our company or our failure to meet these estimates or the expectations of investors;

 

 

 

the financial projections we may provide to the public, any changes in those projections or our failure to meet those projections;

 

 

 

announcements by us or our competitors of new offerings or platform features;

 

 

 

the public’s reaction to our press releases, other public announcements and filings with the SEC;

 

 

 

rumors and market speculation involving us or other companies in our industry;

 

 

 

short selling of our common stock or related derivative securities;

 

 

 

actual or anticipated changes in our results of operations or fluctuations in our results of operations;

 

 

 

actual or anticipated developments in our business, our competitors’ businesses or the competitive landscape generally;

 

 

 

announced or completed acquisitions of businesses, offerings or technologies by us or our competitors;

 

 

 

developments or disputes concerning our intellectual property or other proprietary rights;

 

 

 

litigation involving us, our industry, or both, or investigations by regulators into our operations or those of our competitors;

 

 

 

new laws, regulations, rules or industry standards or new interpretations of existing laws, regulations, rules or industry standards applicable to our business;

 

 

 

changes in accounting standards, policies, guidelines, interpretations or principles;

 

 

 

any significant change in our management; and

 

 

 

general economic conditions and slow or negative growth of our markets.

In addition, if the market for technology stocks or the stock market in general experiences a loss of investor confidence, the market price of our common stock could decline for reasons unrelated to our business, financial condition or results of operations. The market price of our common stock might also decline in reaction to events that affect other companies in our industry even if these events do not directly affect us. In the past, following periods of volatility in the overall market and the market price of a particular company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against these companies. This litigation, if instituted against us, would result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management’s attention and resources.

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Recently, the stock markets in general, and the markets for technology stocks in particular, have experienced extreme volatility, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the market price of our common stock may be adversely affected by third parties trying to drive down the price of our common stock. Short sellers and others, some of whom post anonymously on social media, can negatively affect the market price of our common stock and may be positioned to profit if the market price of our common stock declines. These broad market and industry factors may seriously harm the market price of our common stock, regardless of our operating performance.

Sales of substantial amounts of shares of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that such sales might occur, could cause the market price of our common stock to decline or impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market could occur at any time beginning in December 2021 on the third trading day following the announcement of our earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2022. If our stockholders sell, or the market perceives that our stockholders intend to sell, a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market, the market price of our common stock could decline and our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities could be impaired. Many of our existing equityholders have substantial unrecognized gains on the value of the equity they hold, and may take, or attempt to take, steps to sell, directly or indirectly, their shares or otherwise secure, or limit the risk to, the value of their unrecognized gains on those shares.

In addition, certain of our stockholders are entitled, under our investors’ rights agreement, to require us to register shares owned by them for public sale in the United States. Sales of our common stock pursuant to registration rights may make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that we deem appropriate. These sales also could cause the market price of our common stock to fall and make it more difficult for you to sell shares of our common stock.

The issuance of additional stock in connection with financings, acquisitions, investments, our equity compensation plans or otherwise will dilute all other stockholders.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes us to issue up to 1,000,000,000 shares of common stock and up to 200,000,000 shares of preferred stock with such rights and preferences as may be determined by our board of directors. Subject to compliance with applicable rules and regulations, we may issue shares of common stock or securities convertible into shares of our common stock from time to time in connection with a financing, acquisition, investment, our equity compensation plans or otherwise. Any such issuance could result in substantial dilution to our existing stockholders and cause the market price of our common stock to decline.

Delaware law and provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws could make a merger, tender offer or proxy contest difficult, thereby depressing the market price of our common stock.

Our status as a Delaware corporation and the anti-takeover provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law may discourage, delay or prevent a change in control by prohibiting us from engaging in a business combination with an interested stockholder for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder, even if a change of control would be beneficial to our existing stockholders. In addition, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws contain provisions that may make the acquisition of our company more difficult, including the following:

 

 

 

our board of directors will be classified into three classes of directors with staggered three-year terms, and directors will only be able to be removed from office for cause;

 

 

 

certain amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require the approval of at least 66 2/3% of our then-outstanding common stock;

 

 

 

our stockholders will only be able to take action at a meeting of stockholders and will not be able to take action by written consent for any matter;

 

 

 

our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will not provide for cumulative voting;

 

 

 

vacancies on our board of directors will be able to be filled only by our board of directors and not by stockholders;

 

 

 

a special meeting of our stockholders may only be called by the chairperson of our board of directors, our Chief Executive Officer or a majority of our board of directors;

 

 

 

certain litigation against us can only be brought in Delaware;

 

 

 

our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes undesignated preferred stock, the terms of which may be established and shares of which may be issued without further action by our stockholders; and

 

 

 

advance notice procedures apply for stockholders to nominate candidates for election as directors or to bring matters before an annual meeting of stockholders.

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These provisions, alone or together, could discourage, delay or prevent a transaction involving a change in control of our company. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for stockholders to elect directors of their choosing and to cause us to take other corporate actions they desire, any of which, under certain circumstances, could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of our common stock and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our common stock.

Our amended and restated bylaws designate a state or federal court located within the State of Delaware as the exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to choose the judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.

Our amended and restated bylaws provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws or (iv) any other action asserting a claim that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine shall be the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if the Court of Chancery does not have jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Delaware), in all cases subject to the court having jurisdiction over indispensable parties named as defendants.

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Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all such Securities Act actions. Accordingly, both state and federal courts have jurisdiction to entertain such claims. To prevent having to litigate claims in multiple jurisdictions and the threat of inconsistent or contrary rulings by different courts, among other considerations, our amended and restated bylaws further provide that the federal district courts of the United States will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaints asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act. We note, however, that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder, and that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce this exclusive forum provision. If a court were to find either exclusive-forum provision in our amended and restated bylaws to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving the dispute in other jurisdictions, which could harm our results of operations.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about us, our business or our market, or if they change their recommendations regarding our common stock adversely, the market price and trading volume of our common stock could decline.

The trading market for our common stock depends, in part, on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us, our business, our market or our competitors. The analysts’ estimates are based upon their own opinions and are often different from our estimates or expectations. If any of the analysts who cover us change their recommendation regarding our common stock adversely, provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the market price of our common stock would likely decline. If few securities analysts commence coverage of us, or if one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to publish reports on us regularly, we could lose visibility in the financial markets and demand for our securities could decrease, which could cause the market price and trading volume of our common stock to decline.

We do not intend to pay dividends for the foreseeable future.

We have never declared nor paid cash dividends on our capital stock. We currently intend to retain any future earnings to finance the operation and expansion of our business, and we do not expect to declare or pay any dividends in the foreseeable future. Additionally, our ability to pay cash dividends on our common stock is limited by restrictions under the terms of the Credit Facility. As a result, stockholders must rely on sales of their common stock after price appreciation, if any, as the only way to realize any future gains on their investment in our common stock.

 

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ITEM 2. UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities

Issuance of Common Stock upon Conversion of Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock

On July 26, 2021, upon the closing of our IPO, all shares of our then-outstanding redeemable convertible preferred stock automatically converted into 26,710,600 shares of common stock. The common stock was issued pursuant to the exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act provided by Section 3(a)(9) or Section 4(2) of the Securities Act.

Use of Proceeds

On July 26, 2021, we completed our IPO, in which we sold 9,589,999 shares of common stock at a price to the public of $24.00 per share, which includes 1,250,869 shares issued upon the exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares. We received aggregate net proceeds of $214.9 million, net of underwriting discounts and commissions of $16.1 million. We incurred offering costs of approximately $4.9 million subject to certain cost reimbursements. As of July 31, 2021, offering expenses incurred in connection with our IPO of $2.1 million have not been paid. We intend to use a portion of the net proceeds we received from our IPO for general corporate purposes, including working capital, operating expenses, and capital expenditures. After July 31, 2021, we used $25.0 million of our IPO proceeds to repay the $25.0 million outstanding debt under the Credit Facility. Further, we may use a portion of the net proceeds to acquire or invest in businesses, products, services, or technologies. All the shares issued and sold in our IPO were registered under the Securities Act pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-257205), which was declared effective by the SEC on July 22, 2021. The representatives of the underwriters of our IPO were Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Goldman Sachs & Co LLC, Barclays, RBC Capital Markets, LLC, William Blair, Stifel, Baird and Oppenheimer & Co. No payments were made by us to directors, officers or persons owning ten percent or more of our common stock or to their associates, or to our affiliates, other than payments in the ordinary course of business to officers for salaries and to non-employee directors pursuant to our director compensation policy.

There has been no material change in the expected use of the net proceeds from our initial public offering as described in our final prospectus filed with the SEC on July 22, 2021, pursuant to Rule 424(b).

ITEM 3. DEFAULTS UPON SENIOR SECURITIES

None.

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not Applicable.

ITEM 5. OTHER INFORMATION

None.

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ITEM 6. EXHIBITS

 

Exhibit

Number

 

Description

 

Form

 

File No.

 

Exhibit

 

 

Filing Date

Filed Herewith

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    3.1

 

Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Couchbase, Inc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

    3.2

 

Amended and Restated Bylaws of Couchbase, Inc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

  10.1

 

Couchbase, Inc. 2021 Equity Incentive Plan and related form agreements.

 

S-1/A

 

333-257205

 

10.2

 

7-12-21

 

  10.2

 

Couchbase, Inc. 2021 Employee Stock Purchase Plan and related form agreements.

 

S-1/A

 

333-257205

 

10.3

 

7-12-21

 

  10.3

 

Couchbase, Inc. 2021 Executive Incentive Compensation Plan and related form agreements.

 

S-1/A

 

333-257205

 

10.6

 

6-21-21

 

  10.4

 

Outside Director Compensation Policy.

 

S-1/A

 

333-257205

 

10.7

 

6-21-21

 

  10.5

 

Change in Control and Severance Policy and related form agreements.

 

S-1/A

 

333-257205

 

10.8

 

6-21-21

 

  10.6

 

Confirmatory Employment Letter between the registrant and Matthew M. Cain, dated as of June 17, 2021.

 

S-1/A

 

333-257205

 

10.9

 

6-21-21

 

  10.7

 

Confirmatory Employment Letter between the registrant and Margaret Chow, dated as of June 17, 2021.

 

S-1/A

 

333-257205

 

10.10

 

6-21-21

 

  10.8

 

Confirmatory Employment Letter between the registrant and Denis Murphy, dated as of June 17, 2021.

 

S-1/A

 

333-257205

 

10.11

 

6-21-21

 

  31.1

 

Certification of Principal Executive Officer Pursuant to Rules 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

  31.2

 

Certification of Principal Financial Officer Pursuant to Rules 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

  32.1*

 

Certification of Principal Executive Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

  32.2*

 

Certification of Principal Financial Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

101.INS

 

Inline XBRL Instance Document

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

101.SCH

 

Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

101.CAL

 

Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

101.DEF

 

Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

101.LAB

 

Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

101.PRE

 

Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

104

 

Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as inline XBRL and contained in Exhibits 101)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

X

 

*

The certification attached as Exhibit 32.1 and Exhibit 32.2 that accompanies this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q is not deemed filed with the SEC and is not to be incorporated by reference into any filing of Couchbase, 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 Form 10-Q, irrespective of any general incorporation language contained in such filing.

 

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SIGNATURES

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

 

 

COUCHBASE, INC.

 

 

 

Date: September 10, 2021

By:

/s/ MATTHEW M. CAIN

 

 

Matthew M. Cain

 

 

President, Chief Executive Officer

 

 

(Principal Executive Officer)

 

 

 

Date: September 10, 2021

By:

/s/ GREG HENRY

 

 

Greg Henry

 

 

Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer

 

 

(Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer)

 

74

base-ex31_270.htm

 

Exhibit 3.1

 

AMENDED AND RESTATED CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION OF

COUCHBASE, INC.

a Delaware corporation

Couchbase, Inc., a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware (the “Company”), does hereby certify as follows:

A.The Company was originally incorporated under the name of Northscale, Inc., and the original Certificate of Incorporation of the Company was filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on September 22, 2008.

B.This Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation was duly adopted in accordance with Sections 242 and 245 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”) by the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board of Directors”) and has been duly approved by the written consent of the stockholders of the Company in accordance with Section 228 of the DGCL.

C.The text of the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the Company is hereby amended and restated in its entirety to read as follows:

ARTICLE I

The name of the Company is Couchbase, Inc.

ARTICLE II

The address of the Company’s registered office in the State of Delaware is 3500 South DuPont Highway, in the City of Dover, County of Kent, Delaware 19901. The name of its registered agent at such address is Incorporating Services, Ltd.

ARTICLE III

The nature of the business or purposes to be conducted or promoted by the Company is to engage in any lawful act or activity for which corporations may be organized under the DGCL.

ARTICLE IV

Section 1.This Company is authorized to issue two classes of stock, to be designated, respectively, Common Stock and Preferred Stock. The total number of shares of stock that the Company shall have authority to issue is 1,200,000,000 shares, of which 1,000,000,000 shares are Common Stock, $0.00001 par value per share, and 200,000,000 shares are Preferred Stock, $0.00001 par value per share.

Section 2.Each share of Common Stock outstanding as of the applicable record date shall entitle the holder thereof to one (1) vote on any matter submitted to a vote at a meeting of stockholders.

Section 3.The Preferred Stock may be issued from time to time in one or more series pursuant to a resolution or resolutions providing for such issue duly adopted by the Board of Directors (authority to do so being hereby expressly vested in the Board of Directors). The Board of Directors is further authorized, subject to limitations prescribed by law, to fix by resolution or resolutions the designations, powers, preferences and rights, and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereof, of any series of Preferred

 


 

Stock, including, without limitation, authority to fix by resolution or resolutions the dividend rights, dividend rate, conversion rights, voting rights, rights and terms of redemption (including sinking fund provisions), redemption price or prices, and liquidation preferences of any such series, and the number of shares constituting any such series and the designation thereof, or any of the foregoing. The Board of Directors is further authorized to increase (but not above the total number of authorized shares of the class) or decrease (but not below the number of shares of any such series then outstanding) the number of shares of any series, subject to the powers, preferences and rights, and the qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof stated in this Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation or the resolution of the Board of Directors originally fixing the number of shares of such series. Except as may be otherwise specified by the terms of any series of Preferred Stock, if the number of shares of any series of Preferred Stock is so decreased, then the Company shall take all such steps as are necessary to cause the shares constituting such decrease to resume the status which they had prior to the adoption of the resolution originally fixing the number of shares of such series.

Section 4.Except as otherwise required by law or provided in this Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, holders of Common Stock shall not be entitled to vote on any amendment to this Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (including any certificate of designation filed with respect to any series of Preferred Stock) that relates solely to the terms of one or more outstanding series of Preferred Stock if the holders of such affected series are entitled, either separately or together as a class with the holders of one or more other such series, to vote thereon by law or pursuant to this Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (including any certificate of designation filed with respect to any series of Preferred Stock).

Section 5.The number of authorized shares of Preferred Stock or Common Stock may be increased or decreased (but not below the number of shares thereof then outstanding) by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the voting power of all the then-outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company entitled to vote thereon, without a separate vote of the holders of the class or classes the number of authorized shares of which are being increased or decreased, unless a vote of any holders of one or more series of Preferred Stock is required pursuant to the terms of any certificate of designation relating to any series of Preferred Stock, irrespective of the provisions of Section 242(b)(2) of the DGCL.

ARTICLE V

Section 1.Subject to the rights of holders of Preferred Stock, the number of directors that constitutes the entire Board of Directors of the Company shall be fixed only by resolution of the Board of Directors acting pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the Whole Board. For the purposes of this Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, the term “Whole Board” shall mean the total number of authorized directorships whether or not there exist any vacancies or other unfilled seats in previously authorized directorships. At each annual meeting of stockholders, directors of the Company shall be elected to hold office until the expiration of the term for which they are elected and until their successors have been duly elected and qualified or until their earlier resignation or removal; except that if any such meeting shall not be so held, such election shall take place at a stockholders’ meeting called and held in accordance with the DGCL.

Section 2.From and after the effectiveness of this Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, the directors of the Company (other than any who may be elected by holders of Preferred Stock under specified circumstances) shall be divided into three classes as nearly equal in size as is practicable, hereby designated Class I, Class II and Class III. Directors already in office shall be assigned to each class at the time such classification becomes effective in accordance with a resolution or resolutions adopted by the Board of Directors. At the first annual meeting of stockholders following the date hereof, the term of office of the Class I directors shall expire and Class I directors shall be elected for a full term

 

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of three years. At the second annual meeting of stockholders following the date hereof, the term of office of the Class II directors shall expire and Class II directors shall be elected for a full term of three years. At the third annual meeting of stockholders following the date hereof, the term of office of the Class III directors shall expire and Class III directors shall be elected for a full term of three years. At each succeeding annual meeting of stockholders, directors shall be elected for a full term of three years to succeed the directors of the class whose terms expire at such annual meeting. If the number of directors is changed, any newly created directorships or decrease in directorships shall be so apportioned hereafter among the classes as to make all classes as nearly equal in number as is practicable, provided that no decrease in the number of directors constituting the Board of Directors shall shorten the term of any incumbent director.

ARTICLE VI

Section 1.From and after the effectiveness of this Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, only for so long as the Board of Directors is classified and subject to the rights of holders of Preferred Stock, any director or the entire Board of Directors may be removed from office at any time, but only for cause, and only by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority of the voting power of the issued and outstanding capital stock of the Company entitled to vote in the election of directors.

Section 2.Except as otherwise provided for or fixed by or pursuant to the provisions of ARTICLE IV hereof in relation to the rights of the holders of Preferred Stock to elect directors under specified circumstances or except as otherwise provided by resolution of a majority of the Whole Board, newly created directorships resulting from any increase in the number of directors, created in accordance with the Bylaws of the Company, and any vacancies on the Board of Directors resulting from death, resignation, disqualification, removal or other cause shall be filled only by the affirmative vote of a majority of the remaining directors then in office, even though less than a quorum of the Board of Directors, or by a sole remaining director, and not by the stockholders. A person so elected by the Board of Directors to fill a vacancy or newly created directorship shall hold office until the next election of the class for which such director shall have been chosen until his or her successor shall have been duly elected and qualified, or until such director’s earlier death, resignation or removal. No decrease in the number of directors constituting the Board of Directors shall shorten the term of any incumbent director.

ARTICLE VII

Section 1.The Company is to have perpetual existence.

Section 2.The business and affairs of the Company shall be managed by or under the direction of the Board of Directors. In addition to the powers and authority expressly conferred upon them by statute or by this Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws of the Company, the directors are hereby empowered to exercise all such powers and do all such acts and things as may be exercised or done by the Company.

Section 3.In furtherance and not in limitation of the powers conferred by statute, the Board of Directors is expressly authorized to adopt, alter, amend or repeal the Bylaws of the Company. The affirmative vote of at least a majority of the Whole Board shall be required in order for the Board of Directors to adopt, amend, alter or repeal the Company’s Bylaws. The Company’s Bylaws may also be adopted, amended, altered or repealed by the stockholders of the Company. Notwithstanding the above or any other provision of this Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, the Bylaws of the Company may not be amended, altered or repealed except in accordance with the provisions of the Bylaws relating to amendments to the Bylaws. No Bylaw hereafter legally adopted, amended, altered or repealed shall invalidate any prior act of the directors or officers of the Company that would have been valid if such Bylaw had not been adopted, amended, altered or repealed.

 

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Section 4.The election of directors need not be by written ballot unless the Bylaws of the Company shall so provide.

Section 5.No stockholder will be permitted to cumulate votes at any election of directors.

ARTICLE VIII

Section 1.From and after the closing of a firm commitment underwritten initial public offering of securities of the Company pursuant to an effective registration statement filed under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and subject to the rights of holders of Preferred Stock, any action required or permitted to be taken by the stockholders of the Company must be effected at a duly called annual or special meeting of stockholders of the Company and may not be effected by any consent in writing by such stockholders.

Section 2.Subject to the terms of any series of Preferred Stock, special meetings of stockholders of the Company may be called only by the Chairperson of the Board of Directors, the Chief Executive Officer, the President or the Board of Directors acting pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the Whole Board, but a special meeting may not be called by any other person or persons and any power of stockholders to call a special meeting of stockholders is specifically denied. Only such business shall be considered at a special meeting of stockholders as shall have been stated in the notice for such meeting.

Section 3.Advance notice of stockholder nominations for the election of directors and of business to be brought by stockholders before any meeting of the stockholders of the Company shall be given in the manner and to the extent provided in the Bylaws of the Company.

ARTICLE IX

Section 1.To the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL as the same exists or as may hereafter be amended from time to time, a director of the Company shall not be personally liable to the Company or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director. If the DGCL is amended to authorize corporate action further eliminating or limiting the personal liability of directors, then the liability of a director of the Company shall be eliminated or limited to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL, as so amended.

Section 2.Subject to any provisions in the Bylaws of the Company related to indemnification of directors of the Company, the Company shall indemnify, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any director of the Company who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (a “Proceeding”) by reason of the fact that he or she is or was a director of the Company or is or was serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, including service with respect to employee benefit plans, against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection with any such Proceeding. The Company shall be required to indemnify a person in connection with a Proceeding (or part thereof) initiated by such person only if the Proceeding (or part thereof) was authorized by the Board of Directors.

Section 3.The Company shall have the power to indemnify, to the extent permitted by applicable law, any officer, employee or agent of the Company who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any Proceeding by reason of the fact that he or she is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the Company or is or was serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, employee

 

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or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, including service with respect to employee benefit plans, against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection with any such Proceeding.

Section 4.Neither any amendment nor repeal of any Section of this ARTICLE IX, nor the adoption of any provision of this Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws of the Company inconsistent with this ARTICLE IX, shall eliminate or reduce the effect of this ARTICLE IX in respect of any matter occurring, or any Proceeding accruing or arising or that, but for this ARTICLE IX, would accrue or arise, prior to such amendment, repeal or adoption of an inconsistent provision.

ARTICLE X

Meetings of stockholders may be held within or outside of the State of Delaware, as the Bylaws may provide. The books of the Company may be kept (subject to any provision of applicable law) outside of the State of Delaware at such place or places or in such manner or manners as may be designated from time to time by the Board of Directors or in the Bylaws of the Company.

ARTICLE XI

The Company reserves the right to amend or repeal any provision contained in this Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation in the manner prescribed by the laws of the State of Delaware and all rights conferred upon stockholders are granted subject to this reservation; provided, however, that notwithstanding any other provision of this Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation or any provision of law that might otherwise permit a lesser vote, the Board of Directors acting pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the Whole Board and the affirmative vote of 66 2/3% of the voting power of the then outstanding voting securities of the Company, voting together as a single class, shall be required for the amendment, repeal or modification of the provisions of Section 3 of ARTICLE IV, Section 2 of ARTICLE V, Section 1 of ARTICLE VI, Section 2 of ARTICLE VI, Section 5 of ARTICLE VII, Section 1 of ARTICLE VIII, Section 2 of ARTICLE VIII, Section 3 of ARTICLE VIII or this ARTICLE XI of this Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation.

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, Couchbase, Inc. has caused this Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation to be signed by the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company on this 26th day of July, 2021.

 

 

By:

 

/s/ Matthew M. Cain

 

 

 

Matthew M. Cain

 

 

 

President and Chief Executive Officer

 

 

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base-ex32_143.htm

Exhibit 3.2

 

AMENDED AND RESTATED BYLAWS OF

COUCHBASE, INC.

(as amended on June 16, 2021, effective upon the completion of the Company’s initial public offering)

 

 

 


 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

Page

 

 

 

ARTICLE I - CORPORATE OFFICES

 

1

1.1

REGISTERED OFFICE

 

1

1.2

OTHER OFFICES

 

1

 

 

 

 

ARTICLE II - MEETINGS OF STOCKHOLDERS

 

1

2.1

PLACE OF MEETINGS

 

1

2.2

ANNUAL MEETING

 

1

2.3

SPECIAL MEETING

 

1

2.4

ADVANCE NOTICE PROCEDURES

 

2

2.5

NOTICE OF STOCKHOLDERS’ MEETINGS

 

8

2.6

QUORUM

 

8

2.7

ADJOURNED MEETING; NOTICE

 

8

2.8

CONDUCT OF BUSINESS

 

9

2.9

VOTING

 

9

2.10

STOCKHOLDER ACTION BY WRITTEN CONSENT WITHOUT A MEETING

 

9

2.11

RECORD DATES

 

10

2.12

PROXIES

 

10

2.13

LIST OF STOCKHOLDERS ENTITLED TO VOTE

 

10

2.14

INSPECTORS OF ELECTION

 

11

 

 

 

 

ARTICLE III - DIRECTORS

 

11

3.1

POWERS

 

11

3.2

NUMBER OF DIRECTORS

 

12

3.3

ELECTION, QUALIFICATION AND TERM OF OFFICE OF DIRECTORS

 

12

3.4

RESIGNATION AND VACANCIES

 

12

3.5

PLACE OF MEETINGS; MEETINGS BY TELEPHONE

 

12

3.6

REGULAR MEETINGS

 

13

3.7

SPECIAL MEETINGS; NOTICE

 

13

3.8

QUORUM; VOTING

 

13

3.9

BOARD ACTION BY WRITTEN CONSENT WITHOUT A MEETING

 

14

3.10

FEES AND COMPENSATION OF DIRECTORS

 

14

3.11

REMOVAL OF DIRECTORS

 

14

 

 

 

 

ARTICLE IV - COMMITTEES

 

14

4.1

COMMITTEES OF DIRECTORS

 

14

4.2

COMMITTEE MINUTES

 

15

4.3

MEETINGS AND ACTION OF COMMITTEES

 

15

4.4

SUBCOMMITTEES

 

15

 

 

 

 

ARTICLE V - OFFICERS

 

16

5.1

OFFICERS

 

16

5.2

APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS

 

16

5.3

SUBORDINATE OFFICERS

 

16

5.4

REMOVAL AND RESIGNATION OF OFFICERS

 

16

-i-


TABLE OF CONTENTS

(continued)

Page

 

5.5

VACANCIES IN OFFICES

 

16

5.6

REPRESENTATION OF SECURITIES OF OTHER ENTITIES

 

16

5.7

AUTHORITY AND DUTIES OF OFFICERS

 

17

 

 

 

 

ARTICLE VI - STOCK

 

17

6.1

STOCK CERTIFICATES; PARTLY PAID SHARES

 

17

6.2

SPECIAL DESIGNATION ON CERTIFICATES

 

17

6.3

LOST CERTIFICATES

 

18

6.4

DIVIDENDS

 

18

6.5

TRANSFER OF STOCK

 

18

6.6

STOCK TRANSFER AGREEMENTS

 

18

6.7

REGISTERED STOCKHOLDERS

 

19

 

 

 

 

ARTICLE VII - MANNER OF GIVING NOTICE AND WAIVER

 

19

7.1

NOTICE OF STOCKHOLDERS’ MEETINGS

 

19

7.2

NOTICE TO STOCKHOLDERS SHARING AN ADDRESS

 

19

7.3

NOTICE TO PERSON WITH WHOM COMMUNICATION IS UNLAWFUL

 

19

7.4

WAIVER OF NOTICE

 

19

 

 

 

 

ARTICLE VIII - INDEMNIFICATION

 

20

8.1

INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS IN THIRD PARTY PROCEEDINGS

 

20

8.2

INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS IN ACTIONS BY OR IN THE RIGHT OF THE COMPANY

 

20

8.3

Successful Defense

 

21

8.4

Indemnification of Others

 

21

8.5

Advanced Payment of Expenses

 

21

8.6

Limitation on Indemnification

 

22

8.7

Determination; Claim

 

22

8.8

Non-Exclusivity of Rights

 

23

8.9

Insurance

 

23

8.10

Survival

 

23

8.11

EFFECT OF REPEAL OR MODIFICATION

 

23

8.12

Certain Definitions

 

23

 

 

 

 

ARTICLE IX - GENERAL MATTERS

 

24

9.1

EXECUTION OF CORPORATE CONTRACTS AND INSTRUMENTS

 

24

9.2

FISCAL YEAR

 

24

9.3

SEAL

 

24

9.4

CONSTRUCTION; DEFINITIONS

 

24

9.5

FORUM SELECTION

 

25

 

 

 

 

ARTICLE X - AMENDMENTS

 

25

 

 

 

-ii-


 

 

BYLAWS OF COUCHBASE, INC.

 

ARTICLE I - CORPORATE OFFICES

1.1REGISTERED OFFICE

The registered office of Couchbase, Inc. (the “Company”) shall be fixed in the Company’s certificate of incorporation, as the same may be amended from time to time.

1.2OTHER OFFICES

The Company may at any time establish other offices.

ARTICLE II - MEETINGS OF STOCKHOLDERS

2.1PLACE OF MEETINGS

Meetings of stockholders shall be held at a place, if any, within or outside the State of Delaware, determined by the board of directors of the Company (the “Board of Directors”). The Board of Directors may, in its sole discretion, determine that a meeting of stockholders shall not be held at any place, but may instead be held solely by means of remote communication as authorized by Section 211(a)(2) of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”). In the absence of any such designation or determination, stockholders’ meetings shall be held at the Company’s principal executive office.

2.2ANNUAL MEETING

The annual meeting of stockholders shall be held each year. The Board of Directors shall designate the date and time of the annual meeting. At the annual meeting, directors shall be elected and any other proper business, brought in accordance with Section 2.4 of these bylaws, may be transacted. The Board of Directors acting pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the Whole Board may cancel, postpone or reschedule any previously scheduled annual meeting at any time, before or after the notice for such meeting has been sent to the stockholders. For the purposes of these bylaws, the term “Whole Board” shall mean the total number of authorized directorships whether or not there exist any vacancies or other unfilled seats in previously authorized directorships.

2.3SPECIAL MEETING

(a)A special meeting of the stockholders, other than as required by statute, may be called at any time by (i) the Board of Directors acting pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the Whole Board, (ii) the chairperson of the Board of Directors, (iii) the chief executive officer or (iv) the president, but a special meeting may not be called by any other person or persons and any power of stockholders to call a special meeting of stockholders is specifically denied. The Board of Directors acting pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the Whole Board may cancel, postpone or reschedule

 

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any previously scheduled special meeting at any time, before or after the notice for such meeting has been sent to the stockholders.

(b)The notice of a special meeting shall include the purpose for which the meeting is called. Only such business shall be conducted at a special meeting of stockholders as shall have been brought before the meeting by or at the direction of a majority of the Whole Board, the chairperson of the Board of Directors, the chief executive officer or the president. Nothing contained in this Section 2.3(b) shall be construed as limiting, fixing or affecting the time when a meeting of stockholders called by action of the Board of Directors may be held.

2.4ADVANCE NOTICE PROCEDURES

(a)Annual Meetings of Stockholders.

(i)Nominations of persons for election to the Board of Directors or the proposal of other business to be transacted by the stockholders at an annual meeting of stockholders may be made only (1) pursuant to the Company’s notice of meeting (or any supplement thereto); (2) by or at the direction of the Board of Directors; (3) as may be provided in the certificate of designations for any class or series of preferred stock; or (4) by any stockholder of the Company who (A) is a stockholder of record at the time of giving of the notice contemplated by Section 2.4(a)(ii); (B) is a stockholder of record on the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to notice of the annual meeting; (C) is a stockholder of record on the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to vote at the annual meeting; (D) is a stockholder of record at the time of the annual meeting; and (E) complies with the procedures set forth in this Section 2.4(a).

(ii)For nominations or other business to be properly brought before an annual meeting of stockholders by a stockholder pursuant to clause (4) of Section 2.4(a)(i), the stockholder must have given timely notice in writing to the secretary and any such nomination or proposed business must constitute a proper matter for stockholder action. To be timely, a stockholder’s notice must be received by the secretary at the principal executive offices of the Company no earlier than 8:00 a.m., local time, on the 120th day and no later than 5:00 p.m., local time, on the 90th day prior to the day of the first anniversary of the preceding year’s annual meeting of stockholders. However, if no annual meeting of stockholders was held in the preceding year, or if the date of the applicable annual meeting has been changed by more than 25 days from the first anniversary of the preceding year’s annual meeting, then to be timely such notice must be received by the secretary at the principal executive offices of the Company no earlier than 8:00 a.m., local time, on the 120th day prior to the day of the annual meeting and no later than 5:00 p.m., local time, on the 10th day following the day on which public announcement of the date of the annual meeting was first made by the Company. In no event will the adjournment, rescheduling or postponement of any annual meeting, or any announcement thereof, commence a new time period (or extend any time period) for the giving of a stockholder’s notice as described above. If the number of directors to be elected to the Board of Directors is increased and there is no public announcement naming all of the nominees for director or specifying the size of the increased Board of Directors at least 10 days before the last day that a stockholder may deliver a notice of nomination pursuant to the foregoing provisions, then a stockholder’s notice required by this Section 2.4(a)(ii) will also be considered timely, but only with respect to nominees for any new positions created by such increase, if it is received by the secretary at the principal executive offices of the Company no later than 5:00 p.m., local time, on the 10th day following the day on which such public announcement is first made. “Public announcement” means disclosure in a press release reported by a national news service or

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in a document publicly filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Section 13, 14 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (as amended and inclusive of rules and regulations thereunder, the “1934 Act”).

(iii)A stockholder’s notice to the secretary must set forth:

(1)as to each person whom the stockholder proposes to nominate for election as a director:

(A)such person’s name, age, business address, residence address and principal occupation or employment; the class and number of shares of the Company that are held of record or are beneficially owned by such person and a description of any Derivative Instruments (defined below) held or beneficially owned thereby or of any other agreement, arrangement or understanding (including any short position or any borrowing or lending of shares), the effect or intent of which is to mitigate loss to, or to manage the risk or benefit of share price changes for, or to increase or decrease the voting power of such person; and all information relating to such person that is required to be disclosed in solicitations of proxies for the contested election of directors, or is otherwise required, in each case pursuant to the Section 14 of the 1934 Act;

(B)such person’s written consent to being named in such stockholder’s proxy statement as a nominee of such stockholder and to serving as a director of the Company if elected;

(C)a reasonably detailed description of any direct or indirect compensatory, payment, indemnification or other financial agreement, arrangement or understanding that such person has, or has had within the past three years, with any person or entity other than the Company (including the amount of any payment or payments received or receivable thereunder), in each case in connection with candidacy or service as a director of the Company (a “Third-Party Compensation Arrangement”); and

(D)a description of any other material relationships between such person and such person’s respective affiliates and associates, or others acting in concert with them, on the one hand, and such stockholder giving the notice and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the nomination is made, and their respective affiliates and associates, or others acting in concert with them, on the other hand;

(2)as to any other business that the stockholder proposes to bring before the annual meeting:

(A)a brief description of the business desired to be brought before the annual meeting;

(B)the text of the proposal or business (including the text of any resolutions proposed for consideration and, if applicable, the text of any proposed amendment to these bylaws or the Company’s certificate of incorporation);

(C)the reasons for conducting such business at the annual meeting;

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(D)any material interest in such business of such stockholder giving the notice and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the proposal is made, and their respective affiliates and associates, or others acting in concert with them; and

(E)a description of all agreements, arrangements and understandings between such stockholder and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the proposal is made, and their respective affiliates or associates or others acting in concert with them, and any other person or persons (including their names) in connection with the proposal of such business by such stockholder; and

(3)as to the stockholder giving the notice and the beneficial owner, if any, on whose behalf the nomination or proposal is made:

(A)the name and address of such stockholder (as they appear on the Company’s books), of such beneficial owner and of their respective affiliates or associates or others acting in concert with them;

(B)for each class or series, the number of shares of stock of the Company that are, directly or indirectly, held of record or are beneficially owned by such stockholder, such beneficial owner or their respective affiliates or associates or others acting in concert with them;

(C)a description of any agreement, arrangement or understanding between such stockholder, such beneficial owner or their respective affiliates or associates or others acting in concert with them, and any other person or persons (including, in each case, their names) in connection with the proposal of such nomination or other business;

(D)a description of any agreement, arrangement or understanding (including, regardless of the form of settlement, any derivative, long or short positions, profit interests, forwards, futures, swaps, options, warrants, convertible securities, stock appreciation or similar rights, hedging transactions and borrowed or loaned shares) that has been entered into by or on behalf of such stockholder, such beneficial owner or their respective affiliates or associates or others acting in concert with them, with respect to the Company’s securities (any of the foregoing, a “Derivative Instrument”), or any other agreement, arrangement or understanding that has been made the effect or intent of which is to create or mitigate loss to, manage risk or benefit of share price changes for or increase or decrease the voting power of such stockholder, such beneficial owner or their respective affiliates or associates or others acting in concert with them, with respect to the Company’s securities;

(E)any rights to dividends on the Company’s securities owned beneficially by such stockholder, such beneficial owner or their respective affiliates or associates or others acting in concert with them, that are separated or separable from the underlying security;

(F)any proportionate interest in the Company’s securities or Derivative Instruments held, directly or indirectly, by a general or limited partnership in which such stockholder, such beneficial owner or their respective affiliates or associates or others acting in concert with them, is a general partner or, directly or indirectly, beneficially owns an interest in a general partner of such general or limited partnership;

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(G)any performance-related fees (other than an asset-based fee) that such stockholder, such beneficial owner or their respective affiliates or associates or others acting in concert with, them is entitled to based on any increase or decrease in the value of the Company’s securities or Derivative Instruments, including, without limitation, any such interests held by members of the immediate family of such persons sharing the same household;

(H)any significant equity interests or any Derivative Instruments in any principal competitor of the Company that are held by such stockholder, such beneficial owner or their respective affiliates or associates or others acting in concert with them;

(I)any direct or indirect interest of such stockholder, such beneficial owner or their respective affiliates or associates or others acting in concert with them, in any contract with the Company, any affiliate of the Company or any principal competitor of the Company (in each case, including any employment agreement, collective bargaining agreement or consulting agreement);

(J)a representation and undertaking that the stockholder is a holder of record of stock of the Company as of the date of submission of the stockholder’s notice and intends to appear in person or by proxy at the meeting to bring such nomination or other business before the meeting;

(K)a representation and undertaking that such stockholder or any such beneficial owner intends, or is part of a group that intends, to (x) deliver a proxy statement or form of proxy to holders of at least the percentage of the voting power of the Company’s then-outstanding stock required to approve or adopt the proposal or to elect each such nominee; or (y) otherwise solicit proxies from stockholders in support of such proposal or nomination;

(L)any other information relating to such stockholder, such beneficial owner, or their respective affiliates or associates or others acting in concert with them, or director nominee or proposed business that, in each case, would be required to be disclosed in a proxy statement or other filing required to be made in connection with the solicitation of proxies in support of such nominee (in a contested election of directors) or proposal pursuant to Section 14 of the 1934 Act; and

(M)such other information relating to any proposed item of business as the Company may reasonably require to determine whether such proposed item of business is a proper matter for stockholder action.

(iv)In addition to the requirements of this Section 2.4, to be timely, a stockholder’s notice (and any additional information submitted to the Company in connection therewith) must further be updated and supplemented (1) if necessary, so that the information provided or required to be provided in such notice is true and correct as of the record date(s) for determining the stockholders entitled to notice of, and to vote at, the meeting and as of the date that is 10 business days prior to the meeting or any adjournment, rescheduling or postponement thereof and (2) to provide any additional information that the Company may reasonably request. Such update and supplement or additional information, if applicable, must be received by the secretary at the principal executive offices of the Company, in the case of a request for additional information, promptly following a request therefor, which response must be delivered not later than such reasonable time as is specified in any such request from the Company or, in the case of any other update or supplement of any information, not later than five business days after the record date(s) for the meeting (in the case of any update and supplement

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required to be made as of the record date(s)), and not later than eight business days prior to the date for the meeting or any adjournment, rescheduling or postponement thereof (in the case of the update and supplement required to be made as of 10 business days prior to the meeting or any adjournment, rescheduling or postponement thereof). The failure to timely provide such update, supplement or additional information shall result in the nomination or proposal no longer being eligible for consideration at the meeting.

(b)Special Meetings of Stockholders. Except to the extent required by the DGCL, and subject to Section 2.3(a), special meetings of stockholders may be called only in accordance with the Company’s certificate of incorporation and these bylaws. Only such business will be conducted at a special meeting of stockholders as has been brought before the special meeting pursuant to the Company’s notice of meeting. If the election of directors is included as business to be brought before a special meeting in the Company’s notice of meeting, then nominations of persons for election to the Board of Directors at such special meeting may be made by any stockholder who (i) is a stockholder of record at the time of giving of the notice contemplated by this Section 2.4(b); (ii) is a stockholder of record on the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to notice of the special meeting; (iii) is a stockholder of record on the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to vote at the special meeting; (iv) is a stockholder of record at the time of the special meeting; and (v) complies with the procedures set forth in this Section 2.4(b). For nominations to be properly brought by a stockholder before a special meeting pursuant to this Section 2.4(b), the stockholder’s notice must be received by the secretary at the principal executive offices of the Company no earlier than 8:00 a.m., local time, on the 120th day prior to the day of the special meeting and no later than 5:00 p.m., local time, on the 10th day following the day on which public announcement of the date of the special meeting was first made. In no event will any adjournment, rescheduling or postponement of a special meeting or the announcement thereof commence a new time period (or extend any time period) for the giving of a stockholder’s notice. A stockholder’s notice to the Secretary must comply with the applicable notice requirements of Section 2.4(a)(iii).

(c)Other Requirements.

(i)To be eligible to be a nominee by any stockholder for election as a director of the Company, the proposed nominee must provide to the secretary, in accordance with the applicable time periods prescribed for delivery of notice under Section 2.4(a)(ii) or Section 2.4(b):

(1)a signed and completed written questionnaire (in the form provided by the secretary at the written request of the nominating stockholder, which form will be provided by the secretary within 10 days of receiving such request) containing information regarding such nominee’s background and qualifications and such other information as may reasonably be required by the Company to determine the eligibility of such nominee to serve as a director of the Company or to serve as an independent director of the Company;

(2)a written representation and undertaking that, unless previously disclosed to the Company, such nominee is not, and will not become, a party to any voting agreement, arrangement, commitment, assurance or understanding with any person or entity as to how such nominee, if elected as a director, will vote on any issue;

(3)a written representation and undertaking that, unless previously disclosed to the Company, such nominee is not, and will not become, a party to any Third-Party Compensation Arrangement;

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(4)a written representation and undertaking that, if elected as a director, such nominee would be in compliance, and will continue to comply, with the Company’s corporate governance guidelines as disclosed on the Company’s website, as amended from time to time; and

(5)a written representation and undertaking that such nominee, if elected, intends to serve a full term on the Board of Directors.

(ii)At the request of the Board of Directors, any person nominated by the Board of Directors for election as a director must furnish to the secretary the information that is required to be set forth in a stockholder’s notice of nomination that pertains to such nominee.

(iii)No person will be eligible to be nominated by a stockholder for election as a director of the Company unless nominated in accordance with the procedures set forth in this Section 2.4. No business proposed by a stockholder will be conducted at a stockholder meeting except in accordance with this Section 2.4.

(iv)The chairperson of the applicable meeting of stockholders will, if the facts warrant, determine and declare to the meeting that a nomination was not made in accordance with the procedures prescribed by these bylaws or that business was not properly brought before the meeting. If the chairperson of the meeting should so determine, then the chairperson of the meeting will so declare to the meeting and the defective nomination will be disregarded or such business will not be transacted, as the case may be.

(v)Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section 2.4, unless otherwise required by law, if the stockholder (or a qualified representative of the stockholder) does not appear in person at the meeting to present a nomination or other proposed business, such nomination will be disregarded or such proposed business will not be transacted, as the case may be, notwithstanding that proxies in respect of such nomination or business may have been received by the Company and counted for purposes of determining a quorum. For purposes of this Section 2.4, to be considered a qualified representative of the stockholder, a person must be a duly authorized officer, manager 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, and such person must produce such writing or electronic transmission, or a reliable reproduction of the writing or electronic transmission, at the meeting.

(vi)Without limiting this Section 2.4, a stockholder must also comply with all applicable requirements of the 1934 Act with respect to the matters set forth in this Section 2.4, it being understood that (1) any references in these bylaws to the 1934 Act are not intended to, and will not, limit any requirements applicable to nominations or proposals as to any other business to be considered pursuant to this Section 2.4; and (2) compliance with clause (4) of Section 2.4(a)(i) and with Section 2.4(b) are the exclusive means for a stockholder to make nominations or submit other business (other than as provided in Section 2.4(c)(vii)).

(vii)Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section 2.4, the notice requirements set forth in these bylaws with respect to the proposal of any business pursuant to this Section 2.4 will be deemed to be satisfied by a stockholder if (1) such stockholder has submitted a proposal to the Company in compliance with Rule 14a‑8 under the 1934 Act; and (2) such stockholder’s proposal has been included in a proxy statement that has been prepared by the Company to solicit proxies for the meeting of stockholders. Subject to Rule 14a‑8 and other applicable rules and regulations under the 1934 Act, nothing in these bylaws will be construed to permit any stockholder, or give any stockholder the right, to include or have disseminated or described in the Company’s proxy statement any nomination of a director or any other business proposal.

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2.5NOTICE OF STOCKHOLDERS’ MEETINGS

Whenever stockholders are required or permitted to take any action at a meeting, a notice of the meeting shall be given which shall state the place, if any, date and hour of the 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 such meeting, the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to vote at the meeting, if such date is different from the record date for determining stockholders entitled to notice of the meeting, and, in the case of a special meeting, the purpose or purposes for which the meeting is called. Except as otherwise provided in the DGCL, the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws, the notice of any meeting of stockholders shall be given not less than 10 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 the meeting.

2.6QUORUM

The holders of a majority of the voting power of the capital stock of the Company issued and outstanding and entitled to vote, present in person or represented by proxy, shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at all meetings of the stockholders. Where a separate vote by a class or series or classes or series is required, a majority of the voting power of the outstanding shares of such class or series or classes or series, present in person or represented by proxy, shall constitute a quorum entitled to take action with respect to that vote on that matter, except as otherwise provided by law, the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws.

If, however, such quorum is not present or represented at any meeting of the stockholders, then either (a) the chairperson of the meeting, or (b) the stockholders entitled to vote at the meeting, present in person or represented by proxy, shall have power to adjourn the meeting from time to time, without notice other than announcement at the meeting, until a quorum is present or represented. At such adjourned meeting at which a quorum is present or represented, any business may be transacted that might have been transacted at the original meeting.

2.7ADJOURNED MEETING; NOTICE

When a meeting is adjourned to another time or place, unless these bylaws otherwise require, notice need not be given of the adjourned meeting if the time, place, if any, thereof, and the means of remote communications, if any, by which stockholders and proxy holders may be deemed to be present in person and vote at such adjourned meeting are announced at the meeting at which the adjournment is taken. At the adjourned meeting, the Company may transact any business which 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 stockholders entitled to vote is fixed for the adjourned meeting, the Board of Directors shall fix a new record date for notice of such adjourned meeting in accordance with Section 213(a) of the DGCL and Section 2.11 of these bylaws, and shall give notice of the adjourned

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meeting to each stockholder of record entitled to vote at such adjourned meeting as of the record date fixed for notice of such adjourned meeting.

2.8CONDUCT OF BUSINESS

The chairperson of any meeting of stockholders shall determine the order of business and the procedure at the meeting, including such regulation of the manner of voting and the conduct of business and discussion as seem to the chairperson in order. The chairperson of any meeting of stockholders shall be designated by the Board of Directors; in the absence of such designation, the chairperson of the Board of Directors, if any, or the chief executive officer (in the absence of the chairperson of the Board of Directors) or the president (in the absence of the chairperson of the Board of Directors and the chief executive officer), or in their absence any other executive officer of the Company, shall serve as chairperson of the stockholder meeting. The chairperson of any meeting of stockholders shall have the power to adjourn the meeting to another place, if any, date or time, whether or not a quorum is present.

2.9VOTING

The stockholders entitled to vote at any meeting of stockholders shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of Section 2.11 of these bylaws, subject to Section 217 (relating to voting rights of fiduciaries, pledgors and joint owners of stock) and Section 218 (relating to voting trusts and other voting agreements) of the DGCL.

Except as may be otherwise provided in the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws, each stockholder shall be entitled to one vote for each share of capital stock held by such stockholder.

Except as otherwise provided by law, the certificate of incorporation, these bylaws or the rules of the stock exchange on which the Company’s securities are listed, in all matters other than the election of directors, the affirmative vote of a majority of the voting power of the shares present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote on the subject matter shall be the act of the stockholders. Except as otherwise required by law, the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws, directors shall be elected by a plurality of the voting power of the shares present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote on the election of directors. Where a separate vote by a class or series or classes or series is required, in all matters other than the election of directors, the affirmative vote of the majority of the voting power of the outstanding shares of such class or series or classes or series present in person or represented by proxy at the meeting and entitled to vote on the subject matter shall be the act of such class or series or classes or series, except as otherwise provided by law, the certificate of incorporation, these bylaws or the rules of the stock exchange on which the securities of the Company are listed.

2.10STOCKHOLDER ACTION BY WRITTEN CONSENT WITHOUT A MEETING

Subject to the rights of holders of preferred stock of the Company, any action required or permitted to be taken by the stockholders of the Company must be effected at a duly called annual or special meeting of stockholders of the Company and may not be effected by any consent in writing by such stockholders.

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2.11RECORD DATES

In order that the Company may determine the stockholders entitled to notice of 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 not be more than 60 nor less than 10 days before the date of such meeting. If the Board of Directors so fixes a date, 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 such record date, that a later date on or before the date of the meeting shall be the date for making such determination.

If no record date is fixed by the Board of Directors, the record date for determining stockholders entitled to notice of and to vote at a meeting of stockholders shall be at the close of business on the day next preceding the day on which notice is given, or, if notice is waived, at the close of business on the day next 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, that the Board of Directors may fix a new record date for determination of 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 with the provisions of Section 213 of the DGCL and this Section 2.11 at the adjourned meeting.

In order that the Company 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 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.

2.12PROXIES

Each stockholder entitled to vote at a meeting of stockholders, or such stockholder’s authorized officer, director, employee or agent, may authorize another person or persons to act for such stockholder by proxy authorized by a document or by a transmission permitted by law filed in accordance with the procedure established for the meeting, but no such proxy shall be voted or acted upon after three years from its date, 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.

2.13LIST OF STOCKHOLDERS ENTITLED TO VOTE

The Company shall prepare, at least 10 days before every meeting of stockholders, a complete list of the stockholders entitled to vote at the meeting; provided, however, if the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to vote is less than 10 days before the meeting date, the list shall reflect the stockholders entitled to vote as of the tenth day before the meeting date, arranged in alphabetical order, and showing the address of each stockholder and the number of shares registered in the name of each

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stockholder. The Company shall not be required 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 at least 10 days prior to the meeting: (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 Company’s principal place of business. In the event that the Company determines to make the list available on an electronic network, the Company may take reasonable steps to ensure that such information is available only to stockholders of the Company. If the meeting is to be held at a place, then a list of stockholders entitled to vote at the meeting shall be produced and kept at the time and place of the meeting during the whole time thereof, and may be examined by any stockholder who is present. If the meeting is to be held solely by means of remote communication, then such list shall also be open to the examination of any stockholder during the whole time of the meeting on a reasonably accessible electronic network, and the information required to access such list shall be provided with the notice of the meeting.

2.14INSPECTORS OF ELECTION

Before any meeting of stockholders, the Company shall appoint an inspector or inspectors of election to act at the meeting or its adjournment. The Company may designate one or more persons as alternate inspectors to replace any inspector who fails to act.

Such inspectors shall:

(a)ascertain the number of shares outstanding and the voting power of each;

(b)determine the shares represented at the meeting and the validity of proxies and ballots;

(c)count all votes and ballots;

(d)determine and retain for a reasonable period a record of the disposition of any challenges made to any determination by the inspectors; and

(e)certify their determination of the number of shares represented at the meeting, and their count of all votes and ballots.

The inspectors of election shall perform their duties impartially, in good faith, to the best of their ability and as expeditiously as is practical. If there are multiple inspectors of election, the decision, act or certificate of a majority is effective in all respects as the decision, act or certificate of all. Any report or certificate made by the inspectors of election is prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein.

ARTICLE III - DIRECTORS

3.1POWERS

The business and affairs of the Company shall be managed by or under the direction of the Board of Directors, except as may be otherwise provided in the DGCL or the certificate of incorporation.

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3.2NUMBER OF DIRECTORS

The Board of Directors shall consist of one or more members, each of whom shall be a natural person. Unless the certificate of incorporation fixes the number of directors, the number of directors shall be determined from time to time by resolution of a majority of the Whole Board. No reduction of the authorized number of directors shall have the effect of removing any director before that director’s term of office expires.

3.3ELECTION, QUALIFICATION AND TERM OF OFFICE OF DIRECTORS

Except as provided in Section 3.4 of these bylaws, each director, including a director elected to fill a vacancy, shall hold office until the expiration of the term for which elected and until such director’s successor is elected and qualified or until such director’s earlier death, resignation or removal. Directors need not be stockholders unless so required by the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws. The certificate of incorporation or these bylaws may prescribe other qualifications for directors.

If so provided in the certificate of incorporation, the directors of the Company shall be divided into three classes.

3.4RESIGNATION AND VACANCIES

Any director may resign at any time upon notice given in writing or by electronic transmission to the Company. A resignation is effective when the resignation is delivered unless the resignation specifies a later effective date or an effective date determined upon the happening of an event or events. A resignation which is conditioned upon the director failing to receive a specified vote for reelection as a director may provide that it is irrevocable. Unless otherwise provided in the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws, when one or more directors 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.

Unless otherwise provided in the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws or permitted in the specific case by resolution of the Board of Directors, and subject to the rights of holders of Preferred Stock, vacancies and newly created directorships resulting from any increase in the authorized number of directors elected by all of the stockholders having the right to vote as a single class may be filled by a majority of the directors then in office, although less than a quorum, or by a sole remaining director, and not by stockholders. If the directors are divided into classes, a person so chosen to fill a vacancy or newly created directorship shall hold office until the next election of the class for which such director shall have been chosen and until his or her successor shall have been duly elected and qualified.

3.5PLACE OF MEETINGS; MEETINGS BY TELEPHONE

The Board of Directors may hold meetings, both regular and special, either within or outside the State of Delaware.

Unless otherwise restricted by the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws, members of the Board of Directors may participate in a meeting of the Board of Directors by means of conference telephone or other communications equipment by means of which all persons participating in the meeting can hear each other, and such participation in a meeting shall constitute presence in person at the meeting.

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3.6REGULAR MEETINGS

Regular meetings of the Board of Directors may be held without notice at such time and at such place as shall from time to time be determined by the Board of Directors.

3.7SPECIAL MEETINGS; NOTICE

Special meetings of the Board of Directors for any purpose or purposes may be called at any time by the chairperson of the Board of Directors, the chief executive officer, the president, the secretary or a majority of the Whole Board.

Notice of the time and place of special meetings shall be:

(a)delivered personally by hand, by courier or by telephone;

(b)sent by United States first-class mail, postage prepaid;

(c)sent by facsimile;

(d)sent by electronic mail; or

(e)otherwise given by electronic transmission (as defined in Section 232 of the DGCL),

directed to each director at that director’s address, telephone number, facsimile number, electronic mail address or other contact for notice by electronic transmission, as the case may be, as shown on the Company’s records.

If the notice is (i) delivered personally by hand, by courier or by telephone, (ii) sent by facsimile, (iii) sent by electronic mail or (iv) otherwise given by electronic transmission, it shall be delivered, sent or otherwise directed to each director, as applicable, at least 24 hours before the time of the holding of the meeting. If the notice is sent by United States mail, it shall be deposited in the United States mail at least four days before the time of the holding of the meeting. Any oral notice may be communicated to the director. The notice need not specify the place of the meeting (if the meeting is to be held at the Company’s principal executive office) nor the purpose of the meeting, unless required by statute.

3.8QUORUM; VOTING

At all meetings of the Board of Directors, a majority of the Whole Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. If a quorum is not present at any meeting of the Board of Directors, then the directors present thereat may adjourn the meeting from time to time, without notice other than announcement at the meeting, until a quorum is present.

The affirmative vote of a majority of the directors present at any meeting at which a quorum is present shall be the act of the Board of Directors, except as may be otherwise specifically provided by statute, the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws.

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If the certificate of incorporation provides that one or more directors shall have more or less than one vote per director on any matter, except as may otherwise be expressly provided herein or therein and denoted with the phrase “notwithstanding the final paragraph of Section 3.8 of the bylaws” or language to similar effect, every reference in these bylaws to a majority or other proportion of the directors shall refer to a majority or other proportion of the votes of the directors.

3.9BOARD ACTION BY WRITTEN CONSENT WITHOUT A MEETING

Unless otherwise restricted by the certificate of incorporation or these 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. Any person (whether or not then a director) may provide, whether through instruction to an agent or otherwise, that a consent to action will be effective at a future time (including a time determined upon the happening of an event), no later than 60 days after such instruction is given or such provision is made and such consent shall be deemed to have been given for purposes of this Section 3.9 at such effective time so long as such person is then a director and did not revoke the consent prior to such time. Any such consent shall be revocable prior to its becoming effective.

3.10FEES AND COMPENSATION OF DIRECTORS

Unless otherwise restricted by the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws, the Board of Directors shall have the authority to fix the compensation of directors.

3.11REMOVAL OF DIRECTORS

Any director or the entire Board of Directors may be removed from office by stockholders of the Company in the manner specified in the certificate of incorporation and applicable law. No reduction of the authorized number of directors shall have the effect of removing any director prior to the expiration of such director’s term of office.

ARTICLE IV - COMMITTEES

4.1COMMITTEES OF DIRECTORS

The Board of Directors may, by resolution passed by a majority of the Whole Board, designate one or more committees, each committee to consist of one or more of the directors of the Company. 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. In the absence or disqualification of a 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. Any such committee, to the extent provided in the resolution of the Board of Directors or in these bylaws, 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 Company, and may authorize the seal of the Company to be affixed to all papers that may require it; but no such committee shall have the power or authority to (a) approve or adopt, or recommend 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 (b) adopt, amend or repeal any bylaw of the Company.

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4.2COMMITTEE MINUTES

Each committee and subcommittee shall keep regular minutes of its meetings.

4.3MEETINGS AND ACTION OF COMMITTEES

Meetings and actions of committees and subcommittees shall be governed by, and held and taken in accordance with, the provisions of:

(a)Section 3.5 (place of meetings and meetings by telephone);

(b)Section 3.6 (regular meetings);

(c)Section 3.7 (special meetings and notice);

(d)Section 3.8 (quorum; voting);

(e)Section 3.9 (action without a meeting); and

(f)Section 7.4 (waiver of notice)

with such changes in the context of those bylaws as are necessary to substitute the committee or subcommittee and its members for the Board of Directors and its members. However, (i) the time and place of regular meetings of committees or subcommittees may be determined either by resolution of the Board of Directors or by resolution of the committee or subcommittee; (ii) special meetings of committees or subcommittees may also be called by resolution of the Board of Directors or the committee or the subcommittee; and (iii) notice of special meetings of committees and subcommittees shall also be given to all alternate members who shall have the right to attend all meetings of the committee or subcommittee. The Board of Directors may adopt rules for the government of any committee not inconsistent with the provisions of these bylaws.

Any provision in the certificate of incorporation providing that one or more directors shall have more or less than one vote per director on any matter shall apply to voting in any committee or subcommittee, unless otherwise provided in the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws.

4.4SUBCOMMITTEES

Unless otherwise provided in the certificate of incorporation, these bylaws or the resolutions of the Board of Directors designating the committee, a committee may create one or more subcommittees, each subcommittee to consist of one or more members of the committee, and delegate to a subcommittee any or all of the powers and authority of the committee.

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ARTICLE V - OFFICERS

5.1OFFICERS

The officers of the Company shall be a president and a secretary. The Company may also have, at the discretion of the Board of Directors, a chairperson of the Board of Directors, a vice chairperson of the Board of Directors, a chief executive officer, a chief financial officer or treasurer, one or more vice presidents, one or more assistant vice presidents, one or more assistant treasurers, one or more assistant secretaries and any such other officers as may be appointed in accordance with the provisions of these bylaws. Any number of offices may be held by the same person.

5.2APPOINTMENT OF OFFICERS

The Board of Directors shall appoint the officers of the Company, except such officers as may be appointed in accordance with the provisions of Section 5.3 of these bylaws, subject to the rights, if any, of an officer under any contract of employment.

5.3SUBORDINATE OFFICERS

The Board of Directors may appoint, or empower the chief executive officer or, in the absence of a chief executive officer, the president, to appoint, such other officers as the business of the Company may require. Each of such officers shall hold office for such period, have such authority, and perform such duties as are provided in these bylaws or as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine.

5.4REMOVAL AND RESIGNATION OF OFFICERS

Subject to the rights, if any, of an officer under any contract of employment, any officer may be removed, either with or without cause, by the Board of Directors or, for the avoidance of doubt, any duly authorized committee or subcommittee thereof or by any officer who has been conferred such power of removal.

Any officer may resign at any time by giving notice, in writing or by electronic transmission, to the Company. Any resignation shall take effect at the date of the receipt of that notice or at any later time specified in that notice. Unless otherwise specified in the notice of resignation, the acceptance of the resignation shall not be necessary to make it effective. Any resignation is without prejudice to the rights, if any, of the Company under any contract to which the officer is a party.

5.5VACANCIES IN OFFICES

Any vacancy occurring in any office of the Company shall be filled by the Board of Directors or as provided in Section 5.3.

5.6REPRESENTATION OF SECURITIES OF OTHER ENTITIES

The chairperson of the Board of Directors, the chief executive officer, the president, any vice president, the treasurer, the secretary or assistant secretary of this Company or any other person authorized by the Board of Directors or the chief executive officer, the president or a vice president, is authorized to vote, represent and exercise on behalf of this Company all rights incident to any and all shares or other securities of any other entity or entities, and all rights incident to any management

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authority conferred on the Company in accordance with the governing documents of any entity or entities, standing in the name of this Company, including the right to act by written consent. The authority granted herein may be exercised either by such person directly or by any other person authorized to do so by proxy or power of attorney duly executed by such person having the authority.

5.7AUTHORITY AND DUTIES OF OFFICERS

All officers of the Company shall respectively have such authority and perform such duties in the management of the business of the Company as may be designated from time to time by the Board of Directors and, to the extent not so provided, as generally pertain to their respective offices, subject to the control of the Board of Directors.

ARTICLE VI - STOCK

6.1STOCK CERTIFICATES; PARTLY PAID SHARES

The shares of the Company shall be represented by certificates, provided that the Board of Directors may provide by resolution or resolutions that some or all of any or all classes or series of its stock shall be uncertificated shares. Any such resolution shall not apply to shares represented by a certificate until such certificate is surrendered to the Company. Unless otherwise provided by resolution of the Board of Directors, every holder of stock represented by certificates shall be entitled to have a certificate signed by, or in the name of, the Company by any two officers of the Company representing the number of shares registered in certificate form. Any or all of the signatures on the certificate may be a facsimile. In case any officer, transfer agent or registrar who has signed or whose facsimile signature has been placed upon a certificate has ceased to be such officer, transfer agent or registrar before such certificate is issued, it may be issued by the Company with the same effect as if such person were such officer, transfer agent or registrar at the date of issue. The Company shall not have power to issue a certificate in bearer form.

The Company may issue the whole or any part of its shares as partly paid and subject to call for the remainder of the consideration to be paid therefor. Upon the face or back of each stock certificate issued to represent any such partly-paid shares, or upon the books and records of the Company in the case of uncertificated partly-paid shares, the total amount of the consideration to be paid therefor and the amount paid thereon shall be stated. Upon the declaration of any dividend on fully-paid shares, the Company shall declare a dividend upon partly-paid shares of the same class, but only upon the basis of the percentage of the consideration actually paid thereon.

6.2SPECIAL DESIGNATION ON CERTIFICATES

If the Company is authorized to issue more than one class of stock or more than one series of any class, then the powers, the designations, the preferences and the relative, participating, optional or other special rights of each class of stock or series thereof and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions of such preferences and/or rights shall be set forth in full or summarized on the face or back of the certificate that the Company shall issue to represent such class or series of stock; provided, however, that, except as otherwise provided in Section 202 of the DGCL, in lieu of the foregoing requirements, there may be set forth on the face or back of the certificate that the Company shall issue to represent such class or series of stock, a statement that the Company will furnish without charge to each stockholder who so requests the

- 17 -


 

powers, designations, preferences and relative, participating, optional or other special rights of each class of stock or series thereof and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions of such preferences and/or rights. Within a reasonable time after the issuance or transfer of uncertificated stock, the registered owner thereof shall be given a notice, in writing or by electronic transmission, containing the information required to be set forth or stated on certificates pursuant to this Section 6.2 or Sections 156, 202(a), 218(a) or 364 of the DGCL or with respect to this Section 6.2 a statement that the Company will furnish without charge to each stockholder who so requests the powers, designations, preferences and relative, participating, optional or other special rights of each class of stock or series thereof and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions of such preferences and/or rights. Except as otherwise expressly provided by law, the rights and obligations of the holders of uncertificated stock and the rights and obligations of the holders of certificates representing stock of the same class and series shall be identical.

6.3LOST CERTIFICATES

Except as provided in this Section 6.3, no new certificates for shares shall be issued to replace a previously issued certificate unless the latter is surrendered to the Company and cancelled at the same time. The Company may issue a new certificate of stock or uncertificated shares in the place of any certificate theretofore issued by it, alleged to have been lost, stolen or destroyed, and the Company may require the owner of the lost, stolen or destroyed certificate, or such owner’s legal representative, to give the Company a bond sufficient to indemnify it against any claim that may be made against it on account of the alleged loss, theft or destruction of any such certificate or the issuance of such new certificate or uncertificated shares.

6.4DIVIDENDS

The Board of Directors, subject to any restrictions contained in the certificate of incorporation or applicable law, may declare and pay dividends upon the shares of the Company’s capital stock. Dividends may be paid in cash, in property, or in shares of the Company’s capital stock, subject to the provisions of the certificate of incorporation. The Board of Directors may set apart out of any of the funds of the Company available for dividends a reserve or reserves for any proper purpose and may abolish any such reserve.

6.5TRANSFER OF STOCK

Transfers of record of shares of stock of the Company shall be made only upon its books by the holders thereof, in person or by an attorney duly authorized, and, if such stock is certificated, upon the surrender of a certificate or certificates for a like number of shares, properly endorsed or accompanied by proper evidence of succession, assignation or authority to transfer.

6.6STOCK TRANSFER AGREEMENTS

The Company shall have power to enter into and perform any agreement with any number of stockholders of any one or more classes of stock of the Company to restrict the transfer of shares of stock of the Company of any one or more classes owned by such stockholders in any manner not prohibited by the DGCL.

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6.7REGISTERED STOCKHOLDERS

The Company:

(a)shall be entitled to recognize the exclusive right of a person registered on its books as the owner of shares to receive dividends and notices and to vote as such owner; and

(b)shall not be bound to recognize any equitable or other claim to or interest in such share or shares on the part of another person, whether or not it shall have express or other notice thereof, except as otherwise provided by the laws of Delaware.

ARTICLE VII - MANNER OF GIVING NOTICE AND WAIVER

7.1NOTICE OF STOCKHOLDERS’ MEETINGS

Notice of any meeting of stockholders shall be given in the manner set forth in the DGCL.

7.2NOTICE TO STOCKHOLDERS SHARING AN ADDRESS

Except as otherwise prohibited under the DGCL, without limiting the manner by which notice otherwise may be given effectively to stockholders, any notice to stockholders given by the Company under the provisions of the DGCL, the certificate of incorporation or these 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. Any such consent shall be revocable by the stockholder by written notice to the Company. Any stockholder who fails to object in writing to the Company, within 60 days of having been given written notice by the Company of its intention to send the single notice, shall be deemed to have consented to receiving such single written notice. This Section 7.2 shall not apply to Sections 164, 296, 311, 312 or 324 of the DGCL.

7.3NOTICE TO PERSON WITH WHOM COMMUNICATION IS UNLAWFUL

Whenever notice is required to be given, under the DGCL, the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws, 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 which 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 Company is such as to require the filing of a certificate under 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.

7.4WAIVER OF NOTICE

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 of the event for which notice is to be given, 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

- 19 -


 

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 need be specified in any written waiver of notice or any waiver by electronic transmission unless so required by the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws.

ARTICLE VIII - INDEMNIFICATION

8.1Indemnification of Directors and Officers in Third Party Proceedings

Subject to the other provisions of this Article VIII, the Company shall indemnify, to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL, as now or hereinafter in effect, any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (a “Proceeding”) (other than an action by or in the right of the Company) by reason of the fact that such person is or was a director or officer of the Company, or is or was a director or officer of the Company serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection with such Proceeding if such person acted in good faith and in a manner such person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the Company, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe such person’s conduct was unlawful. The termination of any Proceeding by judgment, order, settlement, conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent, shall not, of itself, create a presumption that the person did not act in good faith and in a manner which such person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the Company, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had reasonable cause to believe that such person’s conduct was unlawful.

8.2Indemnification of Directors and Officers in Actions by or in the Right of the COMPANY

Subject to the other provisions of this Article VIII, the Company shall indemnify, to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL, as now or hereinafter in effect, any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed Proceeding by or in the right of the Company to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of the fact that such person is or was a director or officer of the Company, or is or was a director or officer of the Company serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection with the defense or settlement of such Proceeding if such person acted in good faith and in a manner such person reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the Company; except that no indemnification shall be made in respect of any claim, issue or matter as to which such person shall have been adjudged to be liable to the Company unless and only to the extent that the Court of Chancery or the court in which such action or suit was brought shall determine upon application that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all the circumstances of the case, such person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses which the Court of Chancery or such other court shall deem proper.

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8.3Successful Defense

To the extent that a present or former director or officer (for purposes of this Section 8.3 only, as such term is defined in Section 145(c)(1) of the DGCL) of the Company has been successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any action, suit or proceeding described in Section 8.1 or Section 8.2, or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein, such person shall be indemnified against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection therewith. The Company may indemnify any other person who is not a present or former director or officer of the Company against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by such person to the extent he or she has been successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any suit or proceeding described in Section 8.1 or Section 8.2, or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein.

8.4Indemnification of Others

Subject to the other provisions of this Article VIII, the Company shall have power to indemnify its employees and agents, or any other persons, to the extent not prohibited by the DGCL or other applicable law. The Board of Directors shall have the power to delegate to any person or persons identified in subsections (1) through (4) of Section 145(d) of the DGCL the determination of whether employees or agents shall be indemnified.

8.5Advanced Payment of Expenses

Expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by an officer or director of the Company in defending any Proceeding shall be paid by the Company in advance of the final disposition of such Proceeding upon receipt of a written request therefor (together with documentation reasonably evidencing such expenses) and an undertaking by or on behalf of the person to repay such amounts if it shall ultimately be determined that the person is not entitled to be indemnified under this Article VIII or the DGCL. Such expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by former directors and officers or other employees and agents of the Company or by persons serving at the request of the Company as directors, officers, employees or agents of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise may be so paid upon such terms and conditions, if any, as the Company deems appropriate. The right to advancement of expenses shall not apply to any Proceeding (or any part of any Proceeding) for which indemnity is excluded pursuant to these bylaws, but shall apply to any Proceeding (or any part of any Proceeding) referenced in Section 8.6(b) or 8.6(c) prior to a determination that the person is not entitled to be indemnified by the Company.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, unless otherwise determined pursuant to Section 8.8, no advance shall be made by the Company to an officer of the Company (except by reason of the fact that such officer is or was a director of the Company, in which event this paragraph shall not apply) in any Proceeding if a determination is reasonably and promptly made (a) by a vote of the directors who are not parties to such Proceeding, even though less than a quorum, or (b) by a committee of such directors designated by the vote of the majority of such directors, even though less than a quorum, or (c) if there are no such directors, or if such directors so direct, by independent legal counsel in a written opinion, that 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 Company.

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8.6Limitation on Indemnification

Subject to the requirements in Section 8.3 and the DGCL, the Company shall not be obligated to indemnify any person pursuant to this Article VIII in connection with any Proceeding (or any part of any Proceeding):

(a)for which payment has actually been made to or on behalf of such person under any statute, insurance policy, indemnity provision, vote or otherwise, except with respect to any excess beyond the amount paid;

(b)for an accounting or disgorgement of profits pursuant to Section 16(b) of the 1934 Act, or similar provisions of federal, state or local statutory law or common law, if such person is held liable therefor (including pursuant to any settlement arrangements);

(c)for any reimbursement of the Company by such person of any bonus or other incentive-based or equity-based compensation or of any profits realized by such person from the sale of securities of the Company, as required in each case under the 1934 Act (including any such reimbursements that arise from an accounting restatement of the Company pursuant to Section 304 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), or the payment to the Company of profits arising from the purchase and sale by such person of securities in violation of Section 306 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act), if such person is held liable therefor (including pursuant to any settlement arrangements);

(d)initiated by such person, including any Proceeding (or any part of any Proceeding) initiated by such person against the Company or its directors, officers, employees, agents or other indemnitees, unless (i) the Board of Directors authorized the Proceeding (or the relevant part of the Proceeding) prior to its initiation, (ii) the Company provides the indemnification, in its sole discretion, pursuant to the powers vested in the Company under applicable law, (iii) otherwise required to be made under Section 8.7 or (iv) otherwise required by applicable law; or

(e)if prohibited by applicable law.

8.7Determination; Claim

If a claim for indemnification or advancement of expenses under this Article VIII is not paid in full within 90 days after receipt by the Company of the written request therefor, the claimant shall be entitled to an adjudication by a court of competent jurisdiction of his or her entitlement to such indemnification or advancement of expenses. The Company shall indemnify such person against any and all expenses that are actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection with any action for indemnification or advancement of expenses from the Company under this Article VIII, to the extent such person is successful in such action, and to the extent not prohibited by law. In any such suit, the Company shall, to the fullest extent not prohibited by law, have the burden of proving that the claimant is not entitled to the requested indemnification or advancement of expenses.

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8.8Non-Exclusivity of Rights

The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, this Article VIII shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which those seeking indemnification or advancement of expenses may be entitled under the certificate of incorporation or any statute, bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise, both as to action in such person’s official capacity and as to action in another capacity while holding such office. The Company is specifically authorized to enter into individual contracts with any or all of its directors, officers, employees or agents respecting indemnification and advancement of expenses, to the fullest extent not prohibited by the DGCL or other applicable law.

8.9Insurance

The Company may purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the Company, or is or was serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against any liability asserted against such person and incurred by such person in any such capacity, or arising out of such person’s status as such, whether or not the Company would have the power to indemnify such person against such liability under the provisions of the DGCL.

8.10Survival

The rights to indemnification and advancement of expenses conferred by this Article VIII shall continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors and administrators of such a person.

8.11Effect of Repeal or Modification

A right to indemnification or to advancement of expenses arising under a provision of the certificate of incorporation or a bylaw shall not be eliminated or impaired by an amendment to or repeal or elimination of the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws after the occurrence of the act or omission that is the subject of the civil, criminal, administrative or investigative action, suit or proceeding for which indemnification or advancement of expenses is sought, unless the provision in effect at the time of such act or omission explicitly authorizes such elimination or impairment after such action or omission has occurred.

8.12Certain Definitions

For purposes of this Article VIII, references to the “Company” shall include, in addition to the resulting company, any constituent company (including any constituent of a constituent) absorbed in a consolidation or merger which, if its separate existence had continued, would have had power and authority to indemnify its directors, officers, employees or agents, so that any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of such constituent company, or is or was serving at the request of such constituent company 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 Article VIII with respect to the resulting or surviving company as such person would have with respect to such constituent company if its separate existence had continued. For purposes of this Article VIII, references to “other enterprises” 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 Company” shall include any service as a director, officer, employee or

- 23 -


 

agent of the Company which 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 Company” as referred to in this Article VIII.

ARTICLE IX - GENERAL MATTERS

9.1EXECUTION OF CORPORATE CONTRACTS AND INSTRUMENTS

Except as otherwise provided by law, the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws, the Board of Directors may authorize any officer or officers, or agent or agents, to enter into any contract or execute any document or instrument in the name of and on behalf of the Company; such authority may be general or confined to specific instances. Unless so 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 Company by any contract or engagement or to pledge its credit or to render it liable for any purpose or for any amount.

9.2FISCAL YEAR

The fiscal year of the Company shall be fixed by resolution of the Board of Directors and may be changed by the Board of Directors.

9.3SEAL

The Company may adopt a corporate seal, which shall be adopted and which may be altered by the Board of Directors. The Company may use the corporate seal by causing it or a facsimile thereof to be impressed or affixed or in any other manner reproduced.

9.4CONSTRUCTION; DEFINITIONS

Unless the context requires otherwise, the general provisions, rules of construction, and definitions in the DGCL shall govern the construction of these bylaws. Without limiting the generality of this provision, the singular number includes the plural, the plural number includes the singular, and the term “person” includes a corporation, partnership, limited liability company, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, and a natural person. Any reference in these bylaws to a section of the DGCL shall be deemed to refer to such section as amended from time to time and any successor provisions thereto.

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9.5FORUM SELECTION

Unless the Company consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware (or, if the Court of Chancery does not have jurisdiction, another State court in Delaware or the federal district court for the District of Delaware) shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for (a) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Company, (b) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any director, stockholder, officer or other employee of the Company to the Company or the Company’s stockholders, (c) any action arising pursuant to any provision of the DGCL or the certificate of incorporation or these bylaws (as either may be amended from time to time) or (d) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine, except for, as to each of (a) through (d) above, any claim as to which such court determines that there is an indispensable party not subject to the jurisdiction of such court (and the indispensable party does not consent to the personal jurisdiction of such court within 10 days following such determination), which is vested in the exclusive jurisdiction of a court or forum other than such court or for which such court does not have subject matter jurisdiction.

Unless the Company consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall be the sole and exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any security of the Company shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the provisions of this Section 9.5. For the avoidance of doubt, nothing contained in this Section 9.5 shall apply to any action brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the 1934 Act or any successor thereto.

ARTICLE X - AMENDMENTS

These bylaws may be adopted, amended or repealed by the stockholders entitled to vote; provided, however, that the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 66 2/3% of the total voting power of outstanding voting securities, voting together as a single class, shall be required for the stockholders of the Company to alter, amend or repeal, or adopt any bylaw inconsistent with, the following provisions of these bylaws: Article II, Section 3.1, Section 3.2, Section 3.4, Section 3.11, Article VIII, Section 9.5 or this Article X (including, without limitation, any such Article or Section as renumbered as a result of any amendment, alteration, change, repeal, or adoption of any other bylaw). The Board of Directors shall also have the power to adopt, amend or repeal bylaws; provided, however, that a bylaw amendment adopted by stockholders which specifies the votes that shall be necessary for the election of directors shall not be further amended or repealed by the Board of Directors.

- 25 -

base-ex311_7.htm

 

Exhibit 31.1

CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO

RULES 13a-14(a) AND 15d-14(a) UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934,

AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, Matt Cain, certify that:

1.

I have reviewed this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of Couchbase, 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)) 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)

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

 

(c)

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: September 10, 2021

 

By:

/s/ MATTHEW M. CAIN

 

 

Name:

Matthew M. Cain

 

 

Title:

President, Chief Executive Officer

 

 

 

(Principal Executive Officer)

 

 

base-ex312_6.htm

 

Exhibit 31.2

CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO

RULES 13a-14(a) AND 15d-14(a) UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934,

AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

I, Greg Henry, certify that:

1.

I have reviewed this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of Couchbase, 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)) 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)

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

 

(c)

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: September 10, 2021

 

By:

/s/ GREG HENRY

 

 

Name:

Greg Henry

 

 

Title:

Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer

 

 

 

(Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer)

 

 

base-ex321_8.htm

Exhibit 32.1

CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO

18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350, AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO

SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

In connection with the Quarterly Report of Couchbase, Inc. (the “Company”) on Form 10-Q for the period ending July 31, 2021 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the date hereof (the “Report”), I certify, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1350, as adopted pursuant to § 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that:

 

(1)

The Report fully complies with the requirements of section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and

 

(2)

The information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and result of operations of the Company.

 

Date: September 10, 2021

 

By:

/s/ MATTHEW M. CAIN

 

 

Name:

Matthew M. Cain

 

 

Title:

President, Chief Executive Officer

 

 

 

(Principal Executive Officer)

 

 

 

 

 

 

base-ex322_9.htm

Exhibit 32.2

CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO

18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350, AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO

SECTION 906 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

In connection with the Quarterly Report of Couchbase, Inc. (the “Company”) on Form 10-Q for the period ending July 31, 2021 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on the date hereof (the “Report”), I certify, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1350, as adopted pursuant to § 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that:

 

(1)

The Report fully complies with the requirements of section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and

 

(2)

The information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and result of operations of the Company.

 

Date: September 10, 2021

 

By:

/s/ GREG HENRY

 

 

Name:

Greg Henry

 

 

Title:

Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer

 

 

 

(Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer)