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As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 21, 2021.

Registration No. 333-          

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM S-1

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

 

Couchbase, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

Delaware   7372   26-3576987

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(Primary Standard Industrial

Classification Code Number)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification Number)

Couchbase, Inc.

3250 Olcott Street

Santa Clara, California 95054

(650) 417-7500

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

 

 

 

Matthew M. Cain

President and Chief Executive Officer

3250 Olcott Street

Santa Clara, California 95054

(650) 417-7500

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

 

 

Copies to:

 

Rezwan D. Pavri

Andrew T. Hill

Lang Liu

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C.

650 Page Mill Road

Palo Alto, California 94304

(650) 493-9300

 

Margaret Chow

Randy Li

Couchbase, Inc.

3250 Olcott Street

Santa Clara, California 95054

(650) 417-7500

 

Alan F. Denenberg

Emily Roberts

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

1600 El Camino Real

Menlo Park, California 94025

(650) 752-2000

 

 

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: As soon as practicable after this registration statement becomes effective.

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933 check the following box.  ☐

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in 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 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act.  ☐

 

 

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

 

 

Title of each Class of

Securities to be Registered

 

Proposed
Maximum

Aggregate

Offering Price(1)(2)

 

Amount of

Registration Fee

Common stock, par value $0.00001 per share

  $100,000,000   $10,910

 

 

(1)

Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee in accordance with Rule 457(o) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

(2)

Includes the aggregate offering price of additional shares that the underwriters have the option to purchase. See the section titled “Underwriting.”

 

 

 

The registrant hereby amends this registration statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant will file a further amendment which specifically states that this registration statement will thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the registration statement will become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

 

 

 


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The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. These securities may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell nor does it seek an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

 

Subject to Completion. Dated             , 2021.

             Shares

 

 

LOGO

Couchbase, Inc.

Common Stock

 

 

This is an initial public offering of              shares of common stock of Couchbase, Inc.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for the common stock. It is currently estimated that the initial public offering price per share will be between $             and $            . We have applied to list the common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “BASE”.

We are an “emerging growth company” as that term is used in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 and, as such, may elect to comply with certain reduced public company reporting requirements in future reports after the completion of this offering.

 

 

See the section titled “Risk Factors” beginning on page 20 to read about factors you should consider before buying shares of our common stock.

 

 

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any other regulatory body has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

 

 

       Per share        Total  

Initial public offering price

       $                          $                  

Underwriting discount(1)

       $                          $                  

Proceeds, before expenses, to Couchbase, Inc.

       $                          $                  

 

(1)

See the section titled “Underwriting” for a description of the compensation payable to the underwriters.

To the extent that the underwriters sell more than              shares of common stock, the underwriters have the option to purchase up to an additional              shares from Couchbase, Inc. at the initial public offering price less the underwriting discount.

The underwriters expect to deliver the shares against payment in New York, New York, on or about             , 2021.

 

 

 

Morgan Stanley    Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC

 

  Barclays   RBC Capital Markets
William Blair       Stifel       Baird   Oppenheimer & Co.

Prospectus dated             , 2021


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LOGO

The Modern Database for Enterprise Applications Couchbase


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LOGO

Couchbase Core Values BE VALUED, CREATE VALUE Be a Good Human, Always. Act With Uncompromising Integrity, Period. Serve Your Family, As Dened by You. Attack Hard Problems, Driven by Customer Outcomes. Play to Win, Together. Make Tomorrow Better Than Today, Start Now. Couchbase


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LOGO

A GREAT PLACE TO WORK 98% recommendation rating and a company rating of 4.8 out of 5 on Glassdoor Ranked #1 in the 2020 Workplace Wellness Award for mid-sized companies2 1. Glassdoor, as of April 2021. 2. San Francisco Business Times, as of April 2020.


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LOGO

Proven Enterprise Solution Chosen by industry Leaders


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LOGO

89% Gross Margin1 115%+ Dollar-Based Net Retention Rate1,2 23 $1M+ ARR Customers1 30%+ of the Fortune 1001 27% Subscription Revenue Growth YoY1 $40M Net Loss1 All data as of, or for the year ended, January 31, 2021 unless otherwise indicated. 1. See Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations for additional information on ARR, customers, dollar-based net retention rate, gross margin, net loss and subscription revenue. 2. As of the fiscal quarter ended January 31, 2021.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

GLOSSARY

     ii  

PROSPECTUS SUMMARY

     1  

RISK FACTORS

     20  

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

     63  

INDUSTRY, MARKET AND OTHER DATA

     65  

USE OF PROCEEDS

     66  

DIVIDEND POLICY

     67  

CAPITALIZATION

     68  

DILUTION

     70  

SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL AND OTHER DATA

     73  

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

     77  

RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES TO MOST DIRECTLY COMPARABLE GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

     107  

BUSINESS

     111  

MANAGEMENT

     141  

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

     150  

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

     165  

PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS

     169  

DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK

     172  

SHARES ELIGIBLE FOR FUTURE SALE

     178  

MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS FOR NON-U.S. HOLDERS OF OUR COMMON STOCK

     181  

UNDERWRITING

     186  

LEGAL MATTERS

     195  

EXPERTS

     195  

WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

     195  

INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

     F-1  
 

 

 

Through and including             , 2021 (the 25th day after the date of this prospectus), all dealers effecting transactions in these securities, whether or not participating in this offering, may be required to deliver a prospectus. This is in addition to a dealer’s obligation to deliver a prospectus when acting as an underwriter and with respect to an unsold allotment or subscription.

 

 

Neither we nor any of the underwriters have authorized anyone to provide any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus or in any free writing prospectuses we have prepared. Neither we nor any of the underwriters take responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. This prospectus is an offer to sell only the shares offered hereby, but only under circumstances and in jurisdictions where it is lawful to do so. The information contained in this prospectus and any free writing prospectus we authorize to be delivered to you is current only as of their respective dates, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or of any such free writing prospectus or of any sale of our common stock.

For investors outside the United States: Neither we nor any of the underwriters have done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus or the offer and sale of the shares of our common stock in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the United States. Persons outside the United States who come into possession of this prospectus must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of the shares of our common stock, and the distribution of this prospectus outside the United States.

 

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GLOSSARY

Unless we otherwise indicate, or unless the context requires otherwise, any references in this prospectus to the following key business terms have the respective meaning set forth below:

 

   

American National Standards Institute, or ANSI: Industry standardized syntax widely used in relational databases.

 

   

Analytical database: Read-only storage that allows stakeholders to find relevant data, perform queries and create reports based on existing data. Analytical databases are generally built for business intelligence and big data analytics, and usually function as part of larger data warehouses.

 

   

Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation and Durability, or ACID: Database transaction requirements intended to guarantee validity even in the event of system crashes or power failures.

 

   

Big Data: Delivers real-time data solutions at scale to the enterprise such as Apache Spark, Elasticsearch, GitHub, etc.

 

   

Cache: High-speed data storage layer that stores a subset of data, typically transient in nature, so that future requests for that data are served up faster than is possible by accessing the data’s primary storage location.

 

   

Continuous integration/continuous delivery, or CI/CD: Continuous integration refers to a development methodology that involves frequent integration of code into a shared repository. Continuous delivery is the process of getting all kinds of changes to production; changes may include configuration changes and new features.

 

   

Containers: A logical packaging mechanism in which applications can be abstracted from the environment in which they actually run. This decoupling allows container-based applications to be deployed easily and consistently, regardless of the target environment.

 

   

Core: Central set of data files that defines rules and captures and stores data.

 

   

Five-nines availability: 99.999% uptime operational performance.

 

   

JavaScript Object Notation, or JSON: Provides a simple, lightweight, human-readable notation. Supports basic data types, such as numbers and strings, and complex types, such as embedded documents and arrays.

 

   

Kubernetes: An open source container-orchestration for automating deployment, scaling and management of containerized applications.

 

   

Microservices: Distinctive method of developing software systems that tries to focus on building single-function modules with well-defined interfaces and operations.

 

   

Multi-modal: Multi-modal databases can store, index and query data in more than one system.

 

   

Node: A physical or virtual machine that hosts a single instance of Couchbase Server.

 

   

N1QL: Pronounced “nickel” and also known as “non-first normal form query language,” Couchbase’s database query language that allows application developers to query, transform and manipulate JSON data with the familiarity of SQL.

 

   

NoSQL: Also known as “not only SQL,” generally refers to a non-relational database, in which data is stored in a non-tabular format. NoSQL provides flexible schemas and scale easily with large amounts of data and high user loads.

 

   

Operational database: A database that is used to store, modify, manage and update business information in real time.

 

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Primary-replica: Enables data from one database server (the primary) to be replicated to one or more other database servers (the replicas), in order to improve performance, support backup of different databases and alleviate system failures.

 

   

Public cloud: A geo-distributed cloud-native database that users can easily deploy and manage across any public system, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform.

 

   

Relational database: A relationship database that organizes data into tables that can be linked or related based on data common to each other. Allows users to retrieve an entirely new table from data in one or more tables with a single query.

 

   

Schema: Represents a logical configuration of all or part of a relational database. It can exist both as a visual representation and as a set of formulas known as integrity constraints that govern a database.

 

   

SQL: Structured Query Language, a standard language used to communicate with relational database management systems. Data is stored in tables that have fixed columns and rows.

 

   

System of record: Authoritative data source for a given data element or piece of information.

 

   

Source of truth: Trusted data source that gives a complete picture of the data object as a whole.

 

   

TPCx IoT: A recognized industry benchmark to measure the performance of solutions for IoT gateway systems.

 

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PROSPECTUS SUMMARY

This summary highlights selected information that is presented in greater detail elsewhere in this prospectus. This summary is not complete and does not contain all of the information you should consider before investing in our common stock. You should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the sections titled “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before making an investment decision. The last day of our fiscal year is January 31. Our fiscal quarters end on April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31. Unless the context otherwise requires, the terms “Couchbase,” “the company,” “we,” “us” and “our” in this prospectus refer to Couchbase, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.

COUCHBASE, INC.

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 believe that for enterprises to successfully transform digitally, they must develop and deploy new applications, and also modernize and upgrade existing ones. As enterprises continuously face competitive threats



 

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and disruption in their transforming industries, delivering new, innovative customer applications is crucial to their ability to not only survive, but to build new business models and generate additional revenue. While new applications enhance the way we shop, how we collaborate at work and how we get our entertainment, to enable complete next-generation digital experiences, enterprises must at the same time modernize existing core applications such as inventory and customer relationship management applications. Legacy applications must be re-architected to handle user growth from tens of thousands to millions and provide always-available experiences. This modernization can be complex and challenging, as it requires enterprises to upgrade nearly all aspects of their legacy software, infrastructure and development processes. But re-architecting legacy applications is not only imperative to enable next-generation user experiences, it can create cost and operational efficiencies and free up critical human and capital resources that could be used to further drive business objectives and accelerate transformation agendas.

There is an urgent need for modern database platforms that can support both sides of digital transformation, and legacy database technologies, including mainframes and relational databases, are unable to do so effectively. While legacy database technologies were built to the highest performance and reliability requirements of their generation, they are approaching the limits for which they were designed. The underlying architecture of these technologies has not changed significantly, while the requirements of the applications they need to support are changing dramatically. Legacy database technologies are buckling under the pressure of digital transformation, as they were not built to update and respond in microseconds, enable rich, customized user experiences and perform without latency.

However, enterprises must weigh the need to migrate to the next generation of databases against the risks of disruptions and downtime of their most important applications as they attempt such migrations. Until now, there had not been a set of compelling events to push adoption of next-generation databases as the risks and the associated rewards had not reached a complete breaking point. We believe that we are now at the tipping point of this generational transition. Efforts to accommodate the limitations of legacy databases through ad-hoc temporary fixes and stopgap methods are no longer sufficient given the increasing impact and urgency of digital transformation initiatives. These approaches fail to efficiently utilize human and capital resources, which further limits the ability of enterprises to achieve cost efficiencies and focus on other business objectives. Moreover, while first-generation NoSQL players have attempted to address the limitations of relational databases, they were not architected for the scale and performance requirements of new mission-critical applications, nor were they designed to efficiently modernize and upgrade existing applications and their underlying infrastructure. Additionally, their implementation of NoSQL lacks the familiarity of the SQL language, which requires re-training SQL-fluent application developers, making adoption difficult and costly. These deficiencies have created additional barriers and largely limited the adoption of other NoSQL databases by enterprises to non-mission-critical applications, such as departmental applications or other applications that are limited in scope. A move to the next generation of modern operational databases is required to provide the performance, reliability, scalability and agility needed for enterprise applications.

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 employ a land-and-expand business model that makes it easy for enterprises to get started with Couchbase and, over time, as enterprises realize the benefits of our platform, allow such enterprises to frictionlessly expand their usage. Enterprises building new applications are able to start with Couchbase outright



 

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as the operational database. Enterprises looking to re-architect existing applications are able to start with Couchbase alongside existing relational or mainframe databases, allowing such enterprises to experience the benefits of Couchbase with minimal disruption. As customers realize the benefits of our platform, they are able to seamlessly re-architect existing applications, while building new ones, on the platform. Over this journey, as we displace legacy database technologies and become a primary data store for applications, our database becomes a source of truth, and ultimately, a system of record. This strategy has been critical to the growth of our business and we believe it will enable us to continue to capture significant opportunities in the future. Our customers have taken this growth journey alongside us. Based on internal data reflecting the type and complexity of data searches from a sampling of our customers, we estimate that in January 2018, approximately 45% of our customers used Couchbase as a source of truth or system of record for some or all of their business. By January 2021, we estimate that approximately 80% of our customers used Couchbase as a source of truth or system of record for some or all of their business.

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 fiscal 2020 and 2021, our revenue was $82.5 million and $103.3 million, respectively, representing year-over-year growth of 25%. For the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021, our revenue was $23.0 million and $28.0 million, respectively, representing period-over-period growth of 21%. As of January 31, 2020 and 2021, our annual recurring revenue, or ARR, was $88.1 million and $107.8 million, respectively, representing year-over-year growth of 22%. As of April 30, 2020 and 2021, our ARR was $89.8 million and $109.5 million, respectively, representing period-over-period growth of 22%. Our net loss was $29.3 million, $40.0 million, $11.4 million and $14.6 million for fiscal 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021, respectively, as we continued to invest in the growth of our business to capture the massive opportunity that we believe is available to us. See the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Key Business Metrics—Annual Recurring Revenue” for information about how we calculate ARR.

Industry Background

We believe that operational databases represent one of the largest undisrupted opportunities within enterprise software today, with a 40-year-old technology underpinning the applications that pervade nearly every aspect of our digital lives. Every application, from one as simple as an alarm that wakes us up to those that power stock trading and food delivery apps, needs an operational database to access and manipulate data in real time. As digital transformation continues to take hold, the time is now for enterprises to adopt a modern database designed to support the enterprise applications that power modern customer experiences.

Relational Databases Designed for Applications of the Last Generation of Infrastructure

Relational databases were purpose-built for the last generation of enterprise infrastructure, leading to their near-universal adoption for applications. The usage of relational databases continues today, as they are a proven and mature technology and have large ecosystems of products, tools and expertise around which they are built. Most relational databases use SQL to query the database, and with over 19 million SQL developers in the world, the query language is familiar and easy to use for structured business data, even for non-technical users. Relational databases also offered atomicity, consistency, isolation and durability, or ACID, properties that provided confidence in data consistency and integrity for the last generation of mission-critical applications.



 

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While relational databases served the needs of the last generation of enterprise infrastructure, we believe they are ill-equipped and less cost-effective in meeting the challenges of ongoing digital innovation and transformation.

Our Lives Are Being Transformed by Digital Innovation, Requiring a New Technology Stack

With nearly every aspect of our lives becoming digital, there is a pressing need for companies to engage their customers through rich, personalized and differentiated online experiences. Everything we do is changing, from the way we shop, to the way we work, to the way we receive our on-demand entertainment. Wherever we are, we have come to expect digital experiences to be real-time, highly available, data-driven and always-responsive and to deliver novel and personalized experiences on any device.

The gateway from the physical to digital world, through which this new, innovative engagement comes to life, is applications. Applications enable experiences and experiences engage customers. Gone are the days that applications were merely a new way to enable a simple transaction, booking a reservation or buying an item online. Instead, the highly interactive applications we demand today must provide a new and better way to do everything. Applications must be able to support millions of concurrent users, leverage unstructured and structured data and react in real time to a massive amount and diversity of inputs. What was once a single transaction is now a customer journey though tens of thousands of digital interactions. The increase of digital behavior, the density and diversity of customer data and the ever increasing demands of users necessitate the need to process an exponential increase in data.

To handle the implications of our increasingly digital lives, and this insatiable demand of data, we believe enterprises must both build new highly interactive applications, as well as modernize existing ones and the infrastructure on which they run. Enterprises must modernize their technology stacks to remain competitive given the performance requirements of modern, interactive applications, ensure operational agility during peak usage periods and gain the total cost of ownership, or TCO, benefits of modern cloud architectures.

Legacy Relational Databases Not Built for Modern Mission-Critical Applications

Legacy relational databases are simply not built to deliver the performance, scalability and agility that modern applications require. For enterprises to achieve digital transformation, new databases are needed to power new applications and re-architect existing applications. This is a result of the significant limitations of relational databases, including the following:

 

   

Not Built for Modern Applications or their Development. Relational databases use rigid, inflexible schemas that struggle to handle the wide variety of unstructured and semi-structured data generated by users and machines. These rigid schemas also need to be determined at the outset of development, requiring dedicated database administrators, or DBAs, to manage and change schemas if application requirements change during development.

 

   

Not Designed for Performance. Relational databases were designed for tens of thousands, not millions of users. Legacy databases also face limitations with only being able to scale up by buying new servers with more compute and memory. Modern applications require the ability to quickly and cost-effectively add more capacity to manage spikes in workloads.

Migration from Relational Databases Requires a Solution that Works for Both Enterprise Architects and Application Developers

Even though relational databases are struggling under the strain of digital transformation, enterprises must weigh the need to provide better customer experiences against risks associated with migrating their databases as they modernize their technology stacks. Consequently, relational databases still hold a significant majority of the operational database market as enterprises have been using a patchwork of band-aid approaches.



 

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Migrating away from relational databases for mission-critical applications requires alignment of both enterprise architects and application developers. Enterprise architects are focused on ensuring that mission-critical applications are high performance at scale, reliable, secure and privacy-compliant. Application developers, on the other hand, are focused on how effective they can be in building applications on a particular database. In an environment where merely being good enough is not a viable option, as is the case for mission-critical applications, enterprises need help to make the shift to modern solutions a seamless one for both operations and development because these applications must be delivered at scale, with high performance and zero downtime.

Many Catalysts for New Modern Operational Database Platforms

Powerful trends are transforming the ways that enterprises manage their software application environments and underlying IT infrastructure:

 

   

Digital Transformation. Enterprises are investing in digital transformation to deliver modern customer experiences with applications that respond in microseconds.

 

   

Growth in Data Volume and Variety. The proliferation of connected devices, applications and users has resulted in a massive increase in unstructured digital data.

 

   

Cloud, Mobile and Edge Adoption. Enterprises are adopting cloud or hybrid architectures to support modern applications and need databases that can run anywhere, including at the edge and directly on mobile devices. The real-time transfer of data is essential and cannot have latency or be dependent on network or cellular connectivity.

 

   

Scalable, Reliable Performance. Modern databases need to support user bases on a global scale with 24x7 uptime requirements.

These trends are driving the need for new modern operational database solutions.

Adoption of First-Generation NoSQL Databases Limited in Mission-Critical Applications

While first-generation NoSQL databases have attempted to address the limitations of relational databases, they have not been focused on mission-critical applications, which need to meet enterprise architects’ requirements of performance at scale, reliability, security and privacy compliance. Some first-generation NoSQL databases are still architected with a primary-replica architecture, limiting reliability and impacting their suitability for mission-critical applications. Additionally, their implementation of NoSQL removes the familiarity of the SQL language, and requires re-training SQL-fluent application developers. Finally, first-generation NoSQL databases do not enable a seamless migration and thus create an element of risk in the transition. These first-generation NoSQL databases fail to satisfy the requirements of both enterprise architects and application developers, thereby limiting adoption to departmental rather than mission-critical applications.

Enterprises Require a Different Database Architecture to Support Modern Mission-Critical Applications

We believe enterprises must architect their mission-critical applications onto high performing, flexible, modern databases to meet customer expectations that are higher than ever and rapidly increasing. Enterprises need an operational database platform that can enable the deployment of new applications and the modernization of existing applications, and that has the following attributes:

 

   

Multi-Modal. Enterprises often have multiple systems of record across different databases that need to be incorporated into a single engine.



 

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High Performance in Real Time at Massive Scale. Enterprises need an operational database that is able to produce extreme throughput with the low latency required by the most demanding applications and deliver millions of operations per second.

 

   

Flexible. Enterprises need a flexible and cost-effective database product with a toolset to support highly interactive modern software and application development, including flexible schemas with multiple access methods, a unified programming model, key value lookups, SQL queries, full-text search and real-time analytics.

 

   

Ease of Operation. Enterprises require a comprehensive user-friendly database platform that enables such enterprises to build and scale modern applications more quickly and access markets at the edge and customers more efficiently, offers streamlined configuration, setup and ongoing management, taking advantage of multi-cloud agility and helps provide high availability without compromising security.

 

   

Runs Anywhere. Enterprises need a distributed database that can span servers and cloud instances and any device on the edge because today’s cloud, mobile, Internet of Things, or IoT, and other modern applications run on a distributed basis, often interacting with millions of users and devices around the world. Moreover, the ability to run in multi-cloud environments allows enterprises to avoid cloud vendor lock-in.

Our Solution

Couchbase provides a leading modern database for enterprise applications. Our database is engineered for high performance at scale to serve the needs of mission-critical applications that enterprises run their businesses on. Our database is versatile and works in multiple configurations, from cloud to multi- or hybrid-cloud to on-premise environments, and can be managed by the customer or 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, spanning from the cloud to the edge.

We have architected our platform with a long-term vision towards serving the requirements of the most demanding enterprises. As digital transformation continues to take hold and the demand for highly interactive applications intensifies, we have purpose-built our platform to empower enterprises to manage these increased demands and deliver the rich, personalized experiences that customers expect. We believe that our purpose-built approach, which has required us to solve major computer science problems, will enable our platform to perform at enterprise-class levels even as it addresses the increasing demands of emerging trends, such as self-driving cars, the proliferation of edge computing with 5G, augmented reality and blockchain.

We designed Couchbase to give enterprises a database for the modern world, overcoming the limitations of relational databases and at the same time enabling the high performance and massive scale required to deliver next-generation customer experiences by facilitating the creation and deployment of new applications and modernization of existing applications. As customers continue to demand more from their existing and new applications, our platform enables enterprises to move to our next-generation database to keep their mission-critical applications—and by extension, their businesses—competitive. 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 relational databases and that we are uniquely positioned and architected to serve both. For enterprise architects, we believe we provide a modern database that enables performance at scale and high availability



 

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required for enterprise applications, while providing significant TCO benefits, thereby lowering technology costs and ensuring more efficient use of resources. Couchbase is also the first distributed NoSQL database to be controlled within Kubernetes and provides push-button simplicity to automate many of the operational tasks around managing a database such as adding or removing nodes.

For application developers, we provide an easy-to-use modern database and platform that allows them to focus on building enterprise applications quickly and effectively. We also bring the flexibility and ease of NoSQL by providing “not only SQL,” which enables agility with a flexible schema, while maintaining the familiarity of the SQL language and removing the need to retrain application developers. Given the rising shortage of skilled application developers, this capability enables those who know SQL to transition to Couchbase from a legacy relational database without having to be retrained as they would for another NoSQL database.

For enterprises building new applications, they can start with Couchbase outright as the operational database. For those looking to re-architect existing applications, they can start with Couchbase alongside existing relational databases as a cache, significantly boosting performance. As customers realize the benefits of our full platform capabilities, they can seamlessly enable them microservice by microservice. Over this journey, our database becomes a source of truth for applications and ultimately a system of record, displacing legacy databases. This approach has been critical to the growth of our business and we believe it will enable us to continue to capture significant opportunities in the future.

Our customers have taken this growth journey alongside us. Based on internal data reflecting the type and complexity of data searches from a sampling of our customers, we estimate that in January 2018, approximately 45% of our customers used Couchbase as a source of truth or system of record for some or all of their business. By January 2021, we estimate that approximately 80% of our customers used Couchbase as a source of truth or system of record for some or all of their business.

Key Customer Benefits

Our platform delivers the following key benefits and capabilities for our customers:

 

   

Single Unified Platform Eliminating Need for Point Solutions. Couchbase combines the performance of a caching layer to serve up data faster, a document datastore to provide high levels of durability and the reliability of a system of record with ACID to enable high performance in a single platform from cloud to edge. Our unified platform eliminates the need to manage independent technologies and data models and helps provide consistency between multiple databases and systems in different languages and application programming interfaces, or APIs.

 

   

Architected for Uncompromised Performance at Massive Scale. Our customers can rely on Couchbase for tens of millions of operations per second and response times measured in microseconds. Our architecture automatically creates copies of data across multiple nodes without a primary node that is vulnerable to data loss or interruptions. Our mix of no-compromises high performance and scale enables our customers to use our platform for mission-critical applications that they have not entrusted to others.

 

   

Architected for Flexibility to Enable Application Developer Agility. Couchbase enables the principles of agile development and continuous integration, continuous delivery, continuous deployment, or CI/CD, through a wide range of toolsets designed to provide maximum flexibility for application developers and give them the power to utilize the data inside our database. They include the following:

 

   

Application-driven database. Couchbase was built with a flexible JSON data model to enable schema changes without downtime, enabling continuous deployment.



 

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Leveraging common SQL queries. N1QL’s unique capabilities enable enterprises to redeploy their SQL-trained DBAs and minimize disruption, enabling an easier transition from relational to our “not only SQL” version of NoSQL.

 

   

Toolset for application developers to build rich applications. We have built an extensive toolset for application developers including indexing, query, full-text search, which is our integrated JSON search that allows users to enable the feature, create an index and start searching the text, real-time analytics and eventing.

 

   

Designed for Ease of Operation. Our platform is engineered to meet the exacting availability, automation, management and security requirements of enterprises.

 

   

Reliability and resiliency through distributed replication. We enable five-nines availability with highly reliable replication.

 

   

Automation. Couchbase also automates common tasks to increase operational efficiency.

 

   

Native Kubernetes and cloud integration. Couchbase is also the first distributed NoSQL database to be controlled and automated within Kubernetes without manual deployment and life-cycle management.

 

   

Full-stack security. Couchbase provides authentication, authorization and auditing to preserve the privacy and integrity of data and enable role-based access control.

With all of these features, in a study commissioned by us and conducted by International Data Corporation, or IDC, customers studied saw an average increase in database management efficiency of 37%.1

 

   

Runs Anywhere from the Cloud to the Edge. We designed Couchbase to run wherever a customer wants, as a multi-cloud to edge distributed database that can be deployed on any combination of multiple public clouds, private clouds, virtual machines, containers and bare metal servers and right out to the edge. For edge deployments, where internet connectivity is not always possible, Couchbase Lite, our full-featured embedded database, provides capabilities that run locally on a device.

Customers looking for a turnkey way to deploy Couchbase Server are able to do so with Couchbase Cloud, our managed database service that provides users access to a turnkey database in the cloud, without having to purchase or install their own hardware or database software or manage their database. Couchbase Cloud, through a flexible consumption pricing model, further empowers customers to control their data, clusters, clouds, configurations and costs in a fully-managed NoSQL database.

Our Competitive Strengths

Our competitive strengths include the following:

 

   

Powerful for both Enterprise Architects and Application Developers. Our architecture is designed for high availability and performance at massive scale, while enabling agile application development with a flexible data model.

 

   

Land and Easily Expand on a Single Platform Workload by Workload. Our platform makes it easy for enterprises to get started with Couchbase and over time, we can take over database requirements for mission-critical applications. We have seen rapid growth with our largest customers, as demonstrated by growth in ARR:

 

1 

IDC interviewed seven organizations for this study in the first half of 2017. Such organizations were diverse by (i) geography, spanning the United States, France and the United Kingdom, and (ii) vertical, spanning retail and e-commerce, media and entertainment, healthcare, financial services, manufacturing and logistics and technology. The observed increase in database management efficiencies were over a five-year period. See the section titled “Industry, Market and Other Data” for more information.



 

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Our customers that had at least $1 million in ARR as of January 31, 2021 have increased their ARR by an average of 29x since the time of such customer’s first contract with us. ARR attributed to this category of customers has increased on average approximately 13x between January 31, 2016 and January 31, 2021, and represented 41% of our total ARR as of January 31, 2021.

 

   

Our customers that had at least $500,000 in ARR as of January 31, 2021 have increased their ARR by an average of 19x since the time of such customer’s first contract with us. ARR attributed to this second category of customers has increased on average approximately 10x between January 31, 2016 and January 31, 2021, and represented 56% of our total ARR as of January 31, 2021.

 

   

Enable Flywheel Go-to-Market Motion Combining “Buy-from” and “Sell-to.” Our go-to-market strategy is driven by our differentiated technology, which allows us to drive customer adoption through a mature “sell-to” motion targeting enterprise architects that is complemented by a “buy-from” motion targeting application developers. This provides us with a powerful flywheel that will continue to expand the reach and awareness of our platform among enterprise architects and application developers, which we believe will enable us to drive more effective marketing initiatives, shorter sales cycles and higher sales volume.

 

   

Architected for Today and Tomorrow. We have architected our platform with a long-term vision towards providing the highest performance, reliability, scalability and agility for mission-critical applications at the largest enterprises all in one unified platform. In doing so, we have tackled and solved major computer science problems.

 

   

People and Culture (Be Valued, Create Value). Our most important asset is our people. We are committed to a work environment where each employee feels valued, respected and treated like a critical member of the team to contribute to the company as well as to the broader community. Our true purpose is greater than career aspirations and corporate missions—it’s about making life better for everyone we care about.

Our Market Opportunity

The operational database market is one of the largest in the software industry and has yet to transition to next-generation NoSQL technologies. Based on data from IDC, we estimate that our total addressable market opportunity is approximately $42.9 billion in 2020 and expected to grow to approximately $62.2 billion in 2024. We calculated this estimate by aggregating the projected vendor revenue in the following IDC data management software categories: non-relational database management systems and relational database management systems.2 We believe that an increasing amount of the worldwide database software spend will be directed towards new technologies as workloads evolve to support dynamic data and data-driven applications.

Separately, we have calculated our total addressable market opportunity as approximately $57.4 billion. To arrive at this figure, we leveraged data from HG Insights that estimates on a company-by-company basis, the total database spend and total IT spend of each of the companies in the Forbes Global 2000.3 Using this data, we fit a linear regression between total IT spend and total database spend. Finally, we applied this linear regression to Gartner, Inc.’s, or Gartner’s, total worldwide IT spending forecast in 2020 to estimate the worldwide database spending forecast, which we believe represents our total addressable market opportunity.4

As customers realize the benefits of our platform, they increasingly migrate their existing applications and build their new applications on our platform. As this trend continues, we become a primary data store for applications and our database becomes a source of truth, and ultimately, a system of record, which further

 

2 

IDC; see the section titled “Industry, Market and Other Data.”

3 

HG Insights; see the section titled “Industry, Market and Other Data.”

4 

Gartner; see the section titled “Industry, Market and Other Data.”



 

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enhances our customers’ use of our platform. This strategy has been critical to the growth of our business and we believe it will enable us to continue to capture significant opportunities in the future. Once Couchbase becomes embedded as a system of record for our customers, they come to rely on our database and become loyal and growing customers.

The database market has experienced significant evolution in some parts of the database industry. Whereas operational databases help run applications, analytical databases do not operate in real time. They were designed to help businesses make decisions across a large set of data. Both categories evolved to optimize for the workloads they serve and have made core architectural decisions that make it difficult to serve both markets comprehensively. Already, we have seen tremendous transformation in the analytical database market driven by technology trends such as machine learning and IoT. We believe that the operational database market is primed for a rapid and secular shift to next-generation NoSQL technologies.

Our Growth Strategy

Key elements of our growth strategy include:

 

   

Focus on Sustained Differentiation and Innovation for Enterprise Applications

 

   

Core Platform to Enable Agility, Flexibility with Performance. Enterprises are re-architecting mission-critical applications to allow them to function in the cloud, resulting in better scalability, user experience and security.

 

   

Couchbase Cloud to Enable Easy Management and Consumption of our Sophisticated Core Platform. Couchbase Cloud is our fully-managed cloud product built on Couchbase Server which enables enterprises to control their data, security and operational costs while avoiding vendor lock-in on their Infrastructure-as-a-Service, or IaaS, provider. According to a 2020 study commissioned by us and published by Altoros, Couchbase Cloud processed more operations per dollar with a lower TCO compared to MongoDB’s Atlas cloud service and Amazon’s DynamoDB database service.5 We have continued to invest in Couchbase Cloud, our fully-managed Database-as-a-Service, or DBaaS, offering, to lower barriers to entry and improve the developer experience. In the second half of fiscal 2022, we plan to release virtual private cloud enhancements and other developer offerings, and in fiscal 2023, we expect Couchbase Cloud to be available on the major cloud infrastructure providers.

 

   

Building out a Strong Enterprise Go-to-Market Motion and Growing Mindshare among Application Developers

 

   

Expand within our Existing Customers. Many of our customers initially deploy our platform for initial applications as a cache or source of truth. As these customers realize the benefits of our platform, they may choose to deploy Couchbase as a system of record for their mission-critical applications. Our platform is built for customers to consolidate multiple point solutions from caching to a document database into a single high performance, reliable, scalable and agile platform.

 

   

Further Grow Our Customer Base to Add New Customers. Our go-to-market motion is built on a highly instrumented direct selling motion to enterprises for mission-critical applications. Our “sell-to” motion focuses on capturing the top down strategic demands of enterprises through enterprise architects. We are also working on growing our “buy-from” selling motion through application developers, who are a key constituent driving digital transformation within their companies.

 

5 

TCO evaluations were conducted on three different cluster configurations—6, 9, and 18 nodes—as well as under four different workloads. TCO for Couchbase Cloud, MongoDB Atlas and Amazon DynamoDB were respectively calculated based on (i) per instance-hour costs billed by Couchbase and per infrastructural service costs billed by Amazon Web Services, (ii) the use of Atlas Instance, Atlas Data Storage and Atlas Data Transfer for cluster configuration and (iii) read/write capacities with no additional index or autoscaling. See the section titled “Industry, Market and Other Data” for more information.



 

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Building World-Class Teams. Couchbase’s foundation is built on the twin pillars of culture and people. We believe that we employ the best talent in the industry and enable our employees to do the best and most fulfilling work within a culture we believe in and care about deeply.

Risk Factors Summary

Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that make an investment in our common stock speculative or risky, including those highlighted in the section titled “Risk Factors” immediately following this prospectus summary. These risks include, but are not limited to, the following:

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

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

 

   

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; and

 

   

We rely significantly on revenue from subscriptions, which may decline and, because we recognize a significant portion of revenue from subscriptions over the term of the relevant subscription period, downturns or upturns in sales are not immediately reflected in full in our results of operations.

Channels for Disclosure of Information

Investors, the media and others should note that, following the completion of this offering, we intend to announce material information to the public through filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, the investor relations page on our website, press releases, public conference calls, webcasts and our corporate blog at blog.couchbase.com.

The information disclosed by the foregoing channels could be deemed to be material information. As such, we encourage investors, the media and others to follow the channels listed above and to review the information disclosed through such channels.

Any updates to the list of disclosure channels through which we will announce information will be posted on the investor relations page on our website.

Corporate Information

We were incorporated in 2008 as NorthScale, Inc., a Delaware corporation. In 2010, we changed our name to Membase, Inc. In 2011, Membase, Inc. merged with CouchOne, Inc. and in connection with the merger, we



 

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changed our name to Couchbase, Inc. Our principal executive offices are located at 3250 Olcott Street, Santa Clara, California 95054, and our telephone number is (650) 417-7500. Our website address is www.couchbase.com. Information contained on, or accessible through, our website does not constitute part of this prospectus and inclusions of our website address in this prospectus are inactive textual references only. You should not consider information contained on our website to be part of this prospectus or in deciding whether to purchase shares of our common stock.

“Couchbase,” our logo and our other registered or common law trademarks, service marks or trade names appearing in this prospectus are the property of Couchbase, Inc. Other trademarks and trade names referred to in this prospectus are the property of their respective owners.

JOBS Act

We are an “emerging growth company” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act. An “emerging growth company” may take advantage of specified reduced reporting requirements that are otherwise applicable generally to public companies. These reduced reporting requirements include:

 

   

the requirement to present only two years of audited financial statements and only two years of related management’s discussion and analysis in this prospectus;

 

   

an exemption from compliance with the auditor attestation requirement on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting;

 

   

reduced disclosure about our executive compensation arrangements; and

 

   

an exemption from the requirements to obtain a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation or shareholder approval of any golden parachute arrangements.

We may take advantage of these provisions until we are no longer an “emerging growth company.” We would cease to be an “emerging growth company” upon the earliest to occur of: (i) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have more than $1.07 billion in annual revenue, (ii) the date we qualify as a large accelerated filer, with at least $700 million of equity securities held by non-affiliates, (iii) the date on which we have, in any three-year period, issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities and (iv) the last day of the fiscal year ending after the fifth anniversary of this offering. We may choose to take advantage of some but not all of these reduced reporting burdens. We have taken advantage of certain reduced reporting burdens in this prospectus. Accordingly, the information contained herein may be different than the information you receive from other public companies in which you hold stock.

We have elected to use the extended transition periods available under the JOBS Act. Accordingly, the information contained herein may be different than the information you receive from other public companies in which you hold stock.

See the section titled “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock—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.”



 

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THE OFFERING

 

Common stock offered by us

  

             shares

Common stock to be outstanding after this offering

  

             shares

Option to purchase additional shares of common stock from us

  

             shares

Use of proceeds

  

We estimate that the net proceeds from the sale of shares of our common stock in this offering will be approximately $             (or approximately $             if the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares of our common stock is exercised in full), based upon the assumed initial public offering price of $             per share, which is the midpoint of the estimated offering price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

  

The principal purposes of this offering are to increase our capitalization and financial flexibility, create a public market for our common stock and enable access to the public equity markets for us and our stockholders. We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, including working capital, operating expenses and capital expenditures. We may use some of the net proceeds we receive from this offering to repay all or a portion of the outstanding debt under the credit facility with Silicon Valley Bank, or the Credit Facility. Additionally, we may use a portion of the net proceeds to acquire or invest in businesses, products, services or technologies. However, we do not have agreements or commitments for any material acquisitions or investments at this time. See the section titled “Use of Proceeds” for additional information.

Concentration of ownership

  

Upon the completion of this offering, our executive officers, directors and holders of 5% or more of our common stock will beneficially own, in the aggregate, approximately             % of the outstanding shares of our common stock.

Proposed Nasdaq trading symbol

  

“BASE”

The number of shares of our common stock that will be outstanding after this offering is based on 82,682,792 shares of our common stock (after giving effect to the Capital Stock Conversion (as defined below)) outstanding as of April 30, 2021, and excludes:

 

   

25,328,506 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of options to purchase shares of our common stock outstanding as of April 30, 2021, with a weighted-average exercise price of $3.50 per share;



 

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547,300 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of options to purchase shares of our common stock granted after April 30, 2021, with a weighted-average exercise price of $11.44 per share;

 

   

263,377 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of warrants to purchase common stock outstanding as of April 30, 2021, with an exercise price of $2.99 per share;

 

   

             shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance under our equity compensation plans, consisting of:

 

   

             shares of our common stock to be reserved for future issuance under our 2021 Equity Incentive Plan, or 2021 Plan, which will become effective prior to the completion of this offering;

 

   

351,741 shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance under our 2018 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended, or 2018 Plan, as of April 30, 2021, which number of shares will be added to the shares of our common stock to be reserved for future issuance under our 2021 Plan upon its effectiveness, at which time we will cease granting awards under our 2018 Plan; and

 

   

             shares of our common stock to be reserved for future issuance under our 2021 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, or ESPP, which will become effective prior to the completion of this offering.

Our 2021 Plan and our ESPP each provide for annual automatic increases in the number of shares of our common stock reserved thereunder, and our 2021 Plan provides for increases to the number of shares that may be granted thereunder based on shares under our 2018 Plan or our 2008 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended, or 2008 Plan, that expire, are tendered to or withheld by us for payment of an exercise price or for satisfying tax withholding obligations or are forfeited or otherwise repurchased by us, as more fully described in the section titled “Executive Compensation—Employee Benefit and Stock Plans.”

Except as otherwise indicated, all information in this prospectus assumes or gives effect to:

 

   

the automatic conversion of all outstanding shares of our redeemable convertible preferred stock into an aggregate of 66,529,964 shares of our common stock, including 8,077,727 shares of common stock issuable upon the automatic conversion of the Series E redeemable convertible preferred stock, including shares issuable with respect to the anti-dilution adjustment provisions thereof, and including 18,870,072 shares of common stock issuable upon the automatic conversion of the Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock, including shares issuable in respect of accrued, undeclared and unpaid dividends through April 30, 2021 (which accrued, undeclared and unpaid dividends from April 30, 2021 through                 , 2021, equaled an additional              shares of common stock), the conversion of which will occur immediately prior to the completion of this offering, or the Capital Stock Conversion;

 

   

the filing and effectiveness of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation in Delaware and the effectiveness of our amended and restated bylaws, each of which will occur immediately prior to the completion of this offering;

 

   

no exercise of outstanding stock options or warrants subsequent to April 30, 2021; and

 

   

no exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase up to an additional              shares of our common stock from us.



 

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SUMMARY CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL AND OTHER DATA

The following tables summarize our consolidated financial and other data for the periods indicated. We have derived the summary consolidated statements of operations data for the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 and consolidated balance sheet data as of January 31, 2021 from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. We have derived the summary consolidated statements of operations data for the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021 and consolidated balance sheet data as of April 30, 2021 from our unaudited interim consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. We have prepared the unaudited interim consolidated financial statements on the same basis as the audited consolidated financial statements and have included all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments that, in our opinion, are necessary to state fairly the financial information set forth in those statements. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected in the future. The following summary consolidated financial and other data should be read in conjunction with the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.



 

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    Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
            2020                     2021                 2020             2021      
                         
    (in thousands, except per share data)  

Revenue:

   

License

  $ 11,128     $ 14,032     $ 2,530     $ 4,278  

Support and other

    65,472       82,904       18,642       22,187  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total subscription revenue

    76,600       96,936       21,172       26,465  

Services

    5,921       6,349       1,873       1,490  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total revenue

    82,521       103,285       23,045       27,955  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cost of revenue:

       

Subscription(1)

    3,446       6,074       997       2,052  

Services(1)

    4,356       5,543       1,680       1,340  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total cost of revenue

    7,802       11,617       2,677       3,392  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Gross profit

    74,719       91,668       20,368       24,563  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Operating expenses:

       

Research and development(1)

    31,672       39,000       9,042       12,541  

Sales and marketing(1)

    57,829       70,248       17,227       20,634  

General and administrative(1)

    15,561       15,500       3,393       5,497  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total operating expenses

          105,062             124,748               29,662               38,672  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss from operations

    (30,343     (33,080     (9,294     (14,109

Interest expense

    (4,657     (6,970     (1,521     (245

Other income (expense), net

    6,509       1,111       (307     84  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss before income taxes

    (28,491     (38,939     (11,122     (14,270

Provision for income taxes

    766       1,044       228       329  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss

  $ (29,257   $ (39,983   $ (11,350   $ (14,599
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cumulative dividends on Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock

    —         (4,076     —         (1,479
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss attributable to common stockholders

  $ (29,257   $ (44,059   $ (11,350   $ (16,078
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted(2)

  $ (2.13   $ (3.08   $ (0.80   $ (1.02
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Weighted-average shares used in computing net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted(2)

    13,723       14,293       14,144       15,755  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Pro forma net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted (unaudited)(2)

    $ (0.54     $ (0.18
   

 

 

     

 

 

 

Weighted-average shares used in computing pro forma net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted (unaudited)(2)

      74,635         82,119  
   

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

(1)   Includes stock-based compensation expense as follows:

 

       
    Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
        2020             2021             2020             2021      
                         
    (in thousands)  

Cost of revenue—subscription

  $ 54     $ 69     $ 15     $ 27  

Cost of revenue—services

    22       54       10       22  

Research and development

    1,080       1,316       246       570  

Sales and marketing

    920       1,536       264       541  

General and administrative

    1,342       1,696       306       669  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total stock-based compensation expense

  $             3,418     $             4,671     $             841     $             1,829  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

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(2)

See Notes 2 and 14 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus for an explanation of the calculations of our basic and diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, pro forma net loss per share attributable to common stockholders and the weighted-average shares used in computing the per share amounts.

 

         As of April 30, 2021  
         Actual     Pro Forma(1)      Pro Forma As
Adjusted(2)(3)
 
                         
         (in thousands)  

Consolidated Balance Sheet Data:

         

Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments

     $ 53,388     $       53,388      $                       

Working capital(4)

       19,561       19,561     

Total assets

       97,767       97,767     

Deferred revenue, current and noncurrent

       56,648       56,648     

Long-term debt(5)

       24,952       24,952     

Redeemable convertible preferred stock

       259,822       —       

Total stockholders’ equity (deficit)

         (257,667     2,155     

 

(1)

The pro forma column in the consolidated balance sheet table above gives effect to: (i) the Capital Stock Conversion, as if such conversion had occurred on April 30, 2021 and (ii) the filing and effectiveness of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation.

(2)

The pro forma as adjusted column in the consolidated balance sheet data table above gives effect to (i) the pro forma adjustments set forth above and (ii) the sale and issuance by us of             shares of our common stock in this offering, based upon the assumed initial public offering price of $             per share, which is the midpoint of the estimated offering price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

(3)

Each $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $             per share, which is the midpoint of the estimated offering price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease the amount of our pro forma as adjusted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, working capital, total assets and total stockholders’ equity by $             million, assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same, after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions payable by us. An increase or decrease of 1.0 million shares in the number of shares offered by us would increase or decrease, as applicable, the amount of our pro forma as adjusted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, working capital, total assets and total stockholders’ equity by $             million, assuming the assumed initial public offering price remains the same, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions payable by us.

(4)

Working capital is defined as current assets less current liabilities.

(5)

See Note 7 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus for more information.

Key Business Metrics

We review a number of operating and financial metrics, including the following key business metrics, to evaluate our business, measure our performance, identify trends affecting our business, formulate business plans and make strategic decisions.

Annual Recurring Revenue

 

     As of January 31,      As of April 30,  
     2020      2021      2020      2021  
                             
     (in millions)  

ARR

   $            88.1      $           107.8      $           89.8      $             109.5  

 

See the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Key Business Metrics—Annual Recurring Revenue” for information about how we calculate ARR.

 

Customers

 

 

 

 

     As of January 31,      As of April 30,  
     2020      2021      2020      2021  

Customers

                    509                       541                    511                       549  

 

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See the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Key Business Metrics—Customers” for information about how we calculate our number of customers.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to our financial information presented in accordance with GAAP, we believe the following non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors in evaluating our operating performance. We use the following non-GAAP financial measures, collectively, to evaluate our ongoing operations and for internal planning and forecasting purposes. We believe that the following non-GAAP financial measures, when taken together with the corresponding GAAP financial measures, may be helpful to investors because they provide consistency and comparability with past financial performance and meaningful supplemental information regarding our performance by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of our business, results of operations or outlook. These non-GAAP financial measures are presented for supplemental informational purposes only, have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP and may be different from similarly-titled non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. In addition, other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate similarly-titled non-GAAP financial measures differently or may use other measures to evaluate their performance, all of which could reduce the usefulness of our non-GAAP financial measures as tools for comparison. Investors are encouraged to review the related GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate our business.

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.

 

     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
     2020     2021     2020     2021  
                          
     (dollars in thousands)  

Gross profit

   $      74,719     $      91,668     $       20,368     $       24,563  

Non-GAAP gross profit

     74,795       91,791       20,393       24,612  

Gross margin

     91 %       89 %       88     88

Non-GAAP gross margin

     91     89     88     88


 

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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.

 

                                                                                   
     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
     2020     2021     2020     2021  
                          
     (dollars in thousands)  

Loss from operations

   $       (30,343   $     (33,080   $     (9,294   $     (14,109

Non-GAAP operating loss

     (22,786     (28,196     (8,378     (12,280

Operating margin

     (37 )%      (32 )%      (40 )%      (50 )% 

Non-GAAP operating margin

     (28 )%      (27 )%      (36 )%      (44 )% 

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 years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021, our free cash flow included cash paid for interest on our long-term debt of $3.8 million and $6.0 million, respectively. For the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021, our free cash flow included cash paid for interest on our long-term debt of $1.4 million and $0.2 million, respectively. For the year ended January 31, 2020, our free cash flow included cash received from a litigation settlement, net of expenses, of $2.3 million. This amount was not material for the year ended January 31, 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021.

 

                                                                           
     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
     2020     2021     2020     2021  
                          
     (in thousands)  

Net cash used in operating activities

   $     (21,757   $     (39,178   $     (6,148   $         (3,189

Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities

     (4,710     (22,412     (1,841     3,234  

Net cash provided by financing activities

     35,780       80,501       6,488       8       

Free cash flow

     (26,467     (41,997     (7,989     (3,419 )     

See the section titled “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures to Most Directly Comparable GAAP Financial Measures” for a reconciliation of each non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP.


 

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RISK FACTORS

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information in this prospectus, including the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes, before making a decision to invest in our common stock. 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 Business and Industry

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, $11.4 million and $14.6 million for fiscal 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021, respectively. As of April 30, 2021, we had an accumulated deficit of $298.4 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, $23.0 million and $28.0 million for fiscal 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 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 597 as of April 30, 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

 

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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 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 April 30, 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.

 

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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 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

 

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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.

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

 

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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 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

 

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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;

 

   

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;

 

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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.

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 93%, 94%, 92% and 95% of total revenue for fiscal 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021, respectively.

 

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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 prospectus 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 and 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

 

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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. 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

 

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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 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 outbreak, 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.

 

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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.

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 downtowns 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, loss of or delay in market acceptance of our products, harm to our brand, weakening of our competitive position 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

 

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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.

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;

 

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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;

 

   

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.

 

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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 prospectus. 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.

 

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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 April 30, 2021, we had an aggregate principal amount of $25.0 million of outstanding indebtedness incurred pursuant to the Credit Facility that will mature on January 29, 2024 if not earlier prepaid, and we may incur additional indebtedness in the future. 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 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:

 

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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;

 

   

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,

 

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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.

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

 

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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 contained in this prospectus 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 contained in this prospectus, 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 Intellectual Property and Open Source

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.

 

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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 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.

 

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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.

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, a Patent Cooperation Treaty, or PCT,

 

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patent application 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.

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

 

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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

 

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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 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;

 

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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.

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

 

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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 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

 

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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 EU. The EU’s data protection landscape recently changed, resulting in possible significant operational costs for internal compliance and risk to our business. 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 and changes from previously existing EU law, including the increased jurisdictional reach of the European Commission, more robust obligations on data processors 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

 

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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 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 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, and imposed additional obligations on companies when relying on model contractual clauses approved by the European Commission. 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. More generally, we may find it necessary or desirable to modify our data handling practices, and this CJEU 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 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, it is still unclear whether transfer of data from the European Economic Area, or EEA, to the United Kingdom will remain lawful under the GDPR. 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. Pursuant to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which went into effect on January 1, 2021, the United Kingdom and EU agreed to a specified period during which the United Kingdom will be treated like an EU member state in relation to transfers of personal data to the United Kingdom for four months from January 1, 2021. This period may be extended by two further months. Unless the European Commission makes an “adequacy finding” in respect of the United Kingdom before the expiration of such specified period, the United Kingdom will become an “inadequate third country” under the GDPR and transfers of data from the EEA to the United Kingdom will require a “transfer mechanism,” such as the standard contractual clauses. Furthermore, following the expiration of the specified period, there will be increasing scope for divergence in application, interpretation and enforcement of the data protection law between the United Kingdom 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 United Kingdom 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 at the state and local level, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA, which took effect in January 2020, continue to evolve and could require us to modify our data processing practices and policies and expose us to further regulatory or operational burdens. The CCPA increases privacy rights for California residents and imposes obligations on companies that process their personal information, including an obligation to provide certain new disclosures to such residents. Specifically, among

 

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other things, the CCPA creates new consumer rights, and corresponding obligations on covered businesses, 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. This may potentially result in further uncertainty and requiring us to incur additional costs and expenses in efforts to comply. Certain other state laws impose similar privacy obligations and all 50 states have laws including obligations to provide notification of security breaches of computer databases that contain personal information to affected individuals, state officers and others. For example, the CCPA has prompted a number of proposals for new federal and state-level privacy legislation, such as in Illinois, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire and Virginia. 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 the GDPR, CCPA, CPRA and other 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

 

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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 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

 

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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 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.

 

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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.

 

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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 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, or the Code, 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

 

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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 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

 

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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.

As a result of being a public company, we will be 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.

As a public company, we will be 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, 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

 

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over financial reporting for that purpose. As a public company, we will be required to provide an annual management report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting commencing with our second annual report on Form 10-K.

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.

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

As a public company, we will 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 this prospectus and in filings required of a public company, our business and financial condition will 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.

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Common Stock

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 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

 

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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 this 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.

Upon the completion of this offering, our executive officers, directors and holders of 5% or more of our common stock will collectively beneficially own approximately             % of the outstanding shares of our common stock and continue to have substantial control over us, which will limit your ability to influence the outcome of important transactions, including a change in control.

Upon the completion of this offering, our executive officers, directors and our stockholders who own 5% or more of our outstanding common stock and their affiliates, in the aggregate, will beneficially own approximately             % of the outstanding shares of our common stock, based on the number of shares outstanding as of April 30, 2021 and assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional 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.

An active trading market for our common stock may never develop or be sustained.

We have applied to list our common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “BASE”. However, we cannot assure you that an active trading market for our common stock will develop on that exchange or elsewhere or, if developed, that any market will be sustained. Accordingly, we cannot assure you of the likelihood that an active trading market for our common stock will develop or be maintained, the liquidity of any trading market, your ability to sell your shares of our common stock when desired or the prices that you may obtain for your shares.

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

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for shares of our common stock. The initial public offering price of our common stock will be determined through negotiation among us and the underwriters. This price will not necessarily reflect the price at which investors in the market will be willing to buy and sell shares of our common stock following this offering. In addition, the market price of our common stock following this offering is likely to 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 since you might be unable to sell your shares at or above the price you paid in this offering. 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;

 

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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.

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.

A substantial portion of the outstanding shares of our common stock after this offering will be restricted from immediate resale but may be sold on a stock exchange in the near future. The large number of shares eligible for public sale or subject to rights requiring us to register them for public sale could depress the market price of our common stock.

The market price of our common stock could decline as a result of sales of a large number of shares of our common stock in the market after this offering, and the perception that these sales could occur may also depress

 

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the market price of our common stock. Based on 82,682,792 shares of our common stock (after giving effect to the Capital Stock Conversion) outstanding as of April 30, 2021, we will have              shares of our common stock outstanding following the completion of this offering, assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares of our common stock. Our executive officers, directors and the holders of substantially all of our capital stock and securities convertible into or exchangeable for our capital stock have entered into lock-up agreements with the underwriters under which they have agreed, subject to specific exceptions, not to, without the prior written consent of Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, on behalf of the underwriters, dispose of or hedge any of our common stock for the period ending on and including the earlier of: (a) the day immediately preceding the date of the third trading day after our public announcement of our earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2022, and (b) the 180th day after the date of this prospectus. We refer to such period as the restricted period. Pursuant to the lock-up agreement, the lesser of (x) 40% of the shares of our common stock (including shares issuable upon the exercise of vested options) held as of the date of this prospectus by current and former employees (but excluding current executive officers, directors and senior vice presidents that report directly to the Chief Executive Officer), and (y) up to 200,000 shares of common stock beneficially owned by such current and former employees, which we refer to as the share threshold, may be sold at the commencement of trading on the third trading day after we announce earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2022. The foregoing early lock-up release will not apply to shares owned by any limited liability company, partnership, corporation, trust, or other entity (including, without limitation, any investment fund), unless all of the equity interests and other economic interests in such entity are owned exclusively by the lock-up signatory and immediate family members of such lock-up signatory. Notwithstanding the foregoing, all shares of common stock beneficially owned (or any other securities so owned convertible into or exercisable for common stock) by the lock-up signatory, an immediate family of such lock-up signatory or any trust for the direct or indirect benefit of such lock-up signatory or an immediate family member of such lock-up signatory, or collectively, the lock-up signatory related parties, shall be aggregated for determining the share threshold, and the aggregate number of shares automatically released under such lock-up agreement or any other lock-up agreements in accordance with the share threshold will not exceed 200,000 for the lock-up signatory related parties as a group. When the restricted period in the lock-up agreements expires, our locked-up security holders will be able to sell their shares of common stock in the public market. See the section titled “Shares Eligible for Future Sale” for additional information.

As a result of these agreements and the provisions of our amended and restated investors’ rights agreement, dated as of May 19, 2020, as may be amended from time to time, or IRA, described further in the section titled “Description of Capital Stock—Registration Rights,” and subject to the provisions of Rule 144 or Rule 701, shares of our common stock will be available for sale in the public market as follows:

 

Earliest Date Available for Sale in the Public Market    Number of Shares of Common Stock

The date of this prospectus.

  

All              shares of our common stock sold in this offering.

The third trading day immediately following our public announcement of earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2022.

  

Approximately              shares of our common stock held by certain current and former employees.

The earlier of (i) the third trading day after our public announcement of our earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2022, and (ii) 181 days after the date of this prospectus, subject to the terms of the lock-up and market standoff agreements described below.

  

All remaining shares held by our stockholders not previously eligible for sale, subject to volume limitations and other restrictions applicable to “affiliates” under Rule 144 as described below.

Upon the completion of this offering, stockholders owning an aggregate of up to 66,529,964 shares of our common stock will be entitled, under our IRA, to require us to register shares owned by them for public sale in

 

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the United States. In addition, we intend to file a registration statement to register shares reserved for future issuance under our equity compensation plans. Upon effectiveness of that registration statement, subject to the satisfaction of applicable exercise periods and the expiration or waiver of the lock-up agreements referred to above, the shares issued upon exercise of outstanding stock options will be available for immediate resale in the United States in the open market.

Sales of our common stock as restrictions end or 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.

Sales, directly or indirectly, of shares of our common stock by existing equityholders could cause the market price of our common stock to decline.

Sales, directly or indirectly, of a substantial number of shares of our common stock, or the public perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. 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.

While our executive officers, directors and the holders of substantially all of our capital stock and securities convertible into or exchangeable for our capital stock have entered into lock-up agreements with the underwriters, sales, short sales or hedging transactions involving our equity securities, whether before or after the completion of this offering and whether or not we believe them to be prohibited, could adversely affect the market price of our common stock. Further, record holders of our securities are typically the parties to the lock-up agreements, while holders of beneficial interests in our shares who are not also record holders in respect of such shares are not typically subject to any such agreements or other similar restrictions. Accordingly, we believe that holders of beneficial interests who are not record holders and are not bound by lock-up agreements could enter into transactions with respect to those beneficial interests that negatively impact the market price of our common stock. In addition, to the extent an equityholder does not comply with or the underwriters are unable to enforce the terms of a lock-up agreement, such equityholder may be able to sell, short sell, transfer, hedge, pledge or otherwise dispose of or attempt to sell, short sell, transfer, hedge, pledge or otherwise dispose of, their equity interests at any time after the completion of this offering, which could negatively impact the market price of our common stock.

If you purchase our common stock in this offering, you will incur immediate and substantial dilution.

The initial public offering price of $             per share is substantially higher than the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share of our outstanding common stock of $             per share as of April 30, 2021. Investors purchasing shares of our common stock in this offering will pay a price per share that substantially exceeds the book value of our tangible assets after subtracting our liabilities. Therefore, if you purchase common stock in this offering, you will incur immediate dilution of $             per share in the net tangible book value per share from the price you paid.

This dilution is due in large part to the fact that our earlier investors paid substantially less than the initial public offering price when they purchased shares prior to this offering. In addition, as of April 30, 2021, stock options to purchase 25,328,506 shares of our common stock with a weighted-average exercise price of $3.50 per share were outstanding and warrants to purchase 263,377 shares of our common stock with a weighted-average exercise price of $2.99 per share were also outstanding. The exercise of any of these stock options or warrants would result in additional dilution. As a result of the dilution to investors purchasing shares in this offering, investors may receive less than the purchase price paid in this offering, if anything, in the event of our liquidation. See the section titled “Dilution” for additional information.

 

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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 that will be in effect upon the completion of this offering 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.

We have broad discretion over the use of the net proceeds from this offering and we may not use them effectively.

We cannot specify with any certainty the particular uses of the net proceeds that we will receive from this offering. Our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds from this offering, including for any of the purposes described in the section titled “Use of Proceeds,” and you will not have the opportunity as part of your investment decision to assess whether the net proceeds are being used appropriately. Because of the number and variability of factors that will determine our use of the net proceeds from this offering, their ultimate use may vary substantially from their currently intended use. The failure by our management to apply these proceeds effectively could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Pending their use, we may invest our proceeds in a manner that does not produce income or that loses value. Our investments may not yield a favorable return to our investors and may negatively impact the market price of our common stock.

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 that will be in effect upon the completion of this offering will 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;

 

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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.

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 will 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, which will become effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering, will 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.

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. Further, the enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ charter documents has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that a court could find these types of provisions to be inapplicable or unenforceable. For example, in December 2018, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware determined that a provision stating that U.S. federal district courts are the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act is not enforceable. Although this decision was reversed by the Delaware Supreme Court in March 2020, other courts may still find these provisions to be inapplicable or unenforceable.

Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our securities shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to this provision. This exclusive-forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum of its choosing for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits against us and our directors, officers and other employees. This exclusive forum provision will not apply to any causes of action arising under the Securities Act or the Exchange

 

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Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. 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 will depend, 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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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus 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 prospectus include statements about:

 

   

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;

 

   

the increased expenses associated with being a public company; and

 

   

our anticipated uses of net proceeds from this offering.

We caution you that the foregoing list may not contain all of the forward-looking statements made in this prospectus.

We have based the forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus 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

 

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statements is subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, including those described in the section titled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus. 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 prospectus. 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.

Neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. Moreover, the forward-looking statements made in this prospectus 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 prospectus to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this prospectus 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 prospectus, 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 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 prospectus and the documents that we reference in this prospectus and have filed as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part 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.

 

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INDUSTRY, MARKET AND OTHER DATA

Unless otherwise indicated, estimates and information contained in this prospectus concerning our industry and the market in which we operate, including our general expectations, market position, market opportunity and market size, are based on industry publications and reports generated by third-party providers, other publicly available studies and our internal sources and estimates. This information involves a number of assumptions and limitations, and you are cautioned not to give undue weight to such estimates. Although we are responsible for all of the disclosure contained in this prospectus and we believe the information from the industry publications and other third-party sources included in this prospectus is reliable, we have not independently verified the accuracy or completeness of the data contained in such sources. The content of, or accessibility through, the below sources and websites, except to the extent specifically set forth in this prospectus, does not constitute a portion of this prospectus and is not incorporated herein and any website address in this prospectus is an inactive textual reference only.

The sources of the statistical data, estimates and market and industry data contained in this prospectus are identified by superscript notations and are provided below:

 

   

Altoros, Performance Evaluation of NoSQL Databases as a Service with YCSB: Couchbase Cloud, MongoDB Atlas, and AWS DynamoDB, Q4 2020.

 

   

Business Chief, Top 10 biggest hotel chains, June 1, 2020.

 

   

Consumer Goods Technology, Top 100 Consumer Goods Companies of 2019, December 1, 2019.

 

   

Gartner, Gartner Says Worldwide IT Spending to Grow 4% in 2021, October 20, 2020.

 

   

HG Insights, Couchbase Forbes Global 2000 Database Management System Custom Spend Analysis, April 16, 2021.

 

   

IDC, Powering Business-Critical Applications: Business Value of the Couchbase NoSQL Database, July 2019.

 

   

IDC, Semiannual Software Tracker, 2020H1 Forecast Release, November 12, 2020.

 

   

Insurance Business America, Revealed – Top 10 largest insurance companies in the world, January 5, 2021.

 

   

Investopedia, The Top 3 Credit Bureaus, updated April 28, 2021.

 

   

PaySpace Magazine, Top 10 logistics companies worldwide, February 17, 2020.

 

   

The Points Guy, These Are the World’s Largest Airlines, August 3, 2019.

 

   

Yahoo! Finance, 11 Biggest Telecom Companies in the World, October 30, 2020.

The industry in which we operate is subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including those described in the section titled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this prospectus. These and other factors could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the estimates made by the independent parties and by us.

 

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USE OF PROCEEDS

We estimate that the net proceeds to us from the sale of shares of our common stock in this offering will be approximately $            , based upon the assumed initial public offering price of $             per share, which is the midpoint of the estimated offering price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us. If the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares of our common stock from us is exercised in full, we estimate that the net proceeds to us would be approximately $            , after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

Each $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $             per share, which is the midpoint of the estimated offering price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease the net proceeds that we receive from this offering by approximately $            , assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions payable by us. Similarly, each increase or decrease of 1.0 million in the number of shares of our common stock offered by us would increase or decrease the net proceeds that we receive from this offering by approximately $            , assuming the assumed initial public offering price remains the same and after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions payable by us.

The principal purposes of this offering are to increase our capitalization and financial flexibility, create a public market for our common stock and enable access to the public equity markets for us and our stockholders.

We intend to use the net proceeds we receive from this offering for general corporate purposes, including working capital, operating expenses and capital expenditures. We may use some of the net proceeds we receive from this offering to repay all or a portion of the outstanding debt under the Credit Facility. The Credit Facility matures in January 2024 and bears a variable annual interest rate of the prime rate plus 0.5%. See the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Revolving Line of Credit” for more information on the Credit Facility. Additionally, we may use a portion of the net proceeds we receive from this offering to acquire or invest in businesses, products, services or technologies. However, we do not have agreements or commitments for any material acquisitions or investments at this time.

We cannot further specify with certainty the particular uses of the net proceeds that we will receive from this offering. Accordingly, we will have broad discretion in using these proceeds. Pending the use of proceeds from this offering as described above, we may invest the net proceeds that we receive in this offering in short-term, investment grade, interest-bearing instruments.

 

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DIVIDEND POLICY

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our capital stock. We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings and do not expect to pay any dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Any future determination to declare cash dividends will be made at the discretion of our board of directors, subject to applicable laws, and will depend on a number of factors, including our financial condition, results of operations, capital requirements, contractual restrictions, general business conditions and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant. In addition, the terms of the Credit Facility place certain limitations on the amount of cash dividends we can pay, even if no amounts are currently outstanding under the Credit Facility.

 

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CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, as well as our capitalization, as of April 30, 2021 as follows:

 

   

on an actual basis;

 

   

on a pro forma basis, giving effect to (i) the Capital Stock Conversion, as if such conversion had occurred on April 30, 2021 and (ii) the filing and effectiveness of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation in Delaware that will become effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering; and

 

   

on a pro forma as adjusted basis, giving effect to (i) the pro forma adjustments set forth above and (ii) the sale and issuance by us of              shares of our common stock in this offering, based upon the assumed initial public offering price of $             per share, which is the midpoint of the estimated offering price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

The pro forma as adjusted information set forth in the table below is illustrative only and will be adjusted based on the actual initial public offering price and other terms of this offering determined at pricing. You should read this table together with our consolidated financial statements and related notes and the sections titled “Selected Consolidated Financial and Other Data” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” that are included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

     As of April 30, 2021  
     Actual     Pro
Forma
    Pro
Forma as
Adjusted(1)
 
                    
     (in thousands, except share and per
share data)
 

Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments

   $ 53,388     $ 53,388     $    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Long-term debt

   $ 24,952     $ 24,952    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

Redeemable convertible preferred stock, par value $0.00001 per share: 65,325,658 shares authorized, 65,175,634 issued and outstanding, actual; no shares authorized, issued and outstanding, pro forma and pro forma as adjusted

     259,822          
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Stockholders’ equity (deficit):

      

Preferred stock, par value $0.00001 per share: no shares authorized, issued and outstanding, actual; 200,000,000 shares authorized, no shares issued and outstanding, pro forma and pro forma as adjusted

              

Common stock, par value $0.00001 per share: 108,000,000 shares authorized, 16,152,828 shares issued and outstanding, actual; 1,000,000,000 shares authorized, 82,682,792 shares issued and outstanding, pro forma; 1,000,000,000 shares authorized,              shares issued and outstanding, pro forma as adjusted

           1    

Additional paid-in capital

     40,686       300,507    

Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)

     (1     (1  

Accumulated deficit

     (298,352     (298,352  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total stockholders’ equity (deficit)

     (257,667     2,155                     
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total capitalization

   $ 27,107     $ 27,107     $    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

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(1)

Each $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $             per share, which is the midpoint of the estimated offering price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease the amount of our pro forma as adjusted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, additional paid-in capital, total stockholders’ equity (deficit) and total capitalization by $            , assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions payable by us. An increase or decrease of 1.0 million shares in the number of shares offered by us would increase or decrease, as applicable, the amount of our pro forma as adjusted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, additional paid-in capital, total stockholders’ equity and total capitalization by $            , assuming the assumed initial public offering price remains the same, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions payable by us.

If the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares of our common stock from us were exercised in full, pro forma as adjusted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, additional paid-in capital, total stockholders’ equity, total capitalization and shares outstanding as of April 30, 2021 would be $            , $            , $            , $             and             , respectively.

The pro forma and pro forma as adjusted columns in the table above are based on 82,682,792 shares of our common stock (after giving effect to the Capital Stock Conversion) outstanding as of April 30, 2021 and exclude the following:

 

   

25,328,506 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of options to purchase shares of our common stock outstanding as of April 30, 2021, with a weighted-average exercise price of $3.50 per share;

 

   

547,300 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of options to purchase shares of our common stock granted after April 30, 2021, with a weighted-average exercise price of $11.44 per share;

 

   

263,377 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of warrants to purchase common stock outstanding as of April 30, 2021, with an exercise price of $2.99 per share;

 

   

             shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance under our equity compensation plans, consisting of:

 

   

             shares of our common stock to be reserved for future issuance under our 2021 Plan, which will become effective prior to the completion of this offering;

 

   

351,741 shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance under our 2018 Plan, as of April 30, 2021, which number of shares will be added to the shares of our common stock to be reserved for future issuance under our 2021 Plan upon its effectiveness, at which time we will cease granting awards under our 2018 Plan; and

 

   

             shares of our common stock to be reserved for future issuance under our ESPP, which will become effective prior to the completion of this offering.

Our 2021 Plan and our ESPP each provide for annual automatic increases in the number of shares of our common stock reserved thereunder, and our 2021 Plan provides for increases to the number of shares that may be granted thereunder based on shares under our 2018 Plan or our 2008 Plan that expire, are tendered to or withheld by us for payment of an exercise price or for satisfying tax withholding obligations or are forfeited or otherwise repurchased by us, as more fully described in the section titled “Executive Compensation—Employee Benefit and Stock Plans.”

 

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DILUTION

If you invest in our common stock in this offering, your ownership interest will be immediately diluted to the extent of the difference between the initial public offering price per share of our common stock and the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share of our common stock immediately after this offering. Dilution in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share to new investors represents the difference between the amount per share paid by purchasers of shares of our common stock in this offering and the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share of our common stock immediately after completion of this offering.

Net tangible book value per share is determined by dividing our total tangible assets less our total liabilities and redeemable convertible preferred stock by the number of shares of our common stock outstanding. Our historical net tangible book value (deficit) as of April 30, 2021 was $(273.3) million, or $(16.92) per share. Our pro forma net tangible book value (deficit) as of April 30, 2021 was $(13.5) million, or $(0.16) per share, based on the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding as of April 30, 2021, after giving effect to the Capital Stock Conversion.

After giving effect to the sale by us of              shares of our common stock in this offering at the assumed initial public offering price of $             per share, which is the midpoint of the estimated offering price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value as of              would have been $            , or $             per share. This represents an immediate increase in pro forma net tangible book value of $             per share to our existing stockholders and an immediate dilution in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value of $             per share to investors purchasing shares of our common stock in this offering at the assumed initial public offering price. The following table illustrates this dilution:

 

Assumed initial public offering price per share

                      $                

Historical net tangible book value (deficit) per share as of April 30, 2021

   $ (16.92  

Increase per share attributable to the pro forma adjustments described above

     16.76    
  

 

 

   

Pro forma net tangible book value (deficit) per share as of April 30, 2021

   $ (0.16  

Increase in pro forma net tangible book value per share attributable to new investors purchasing shares of common stock in this offering

    
  

 

 

   

Pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share immediately after this offering

    
    

 

 

 

Dilution in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share to new investors in this offering

     $    
    

 

 

 

Each $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $             per share, which is the midpoint of the estimated offering price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease, as applicable, our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share to new investors by $            , and would increase or decrease, as applicable, dilution per share to new investors purchasing shares of common stock in this offering by $            , assuming that the number of shares offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions payable by us. Similarly, each increase or decrease of 1.0 million shares in the number of shares of our common stock offered by us would increase or decrease, as applicable, our pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value by approximately $             per share and increase or decrease, as applicable, the dilution to new investors purchasing shares of common stock in this offering by $             per share, assuming the assumed initial public offering price remains the same, and after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions payable by us.

If the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares of our common stock from us is exercised in full, the pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share of our common stock, as adjusted to give effect to

 

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this offering, would be $             per share, and the dilution in pro forma as adjusted net tangible book value per share to new investors purchasing shares of common stock in this offering would be $             per share.

The following table presents, as of April 30, 2021, after giving effect to the Capital Stock Conversion, the differences between the existing stockholders and the new investors purchasing shares of our common stock in this offering with respect to the number of shares purchased from us, the total consideration paid or to be paid to us, which includes net proceeds received from the issuance of our common stock and the average price per share paid or to be paid to us at the assumed initial public offering price of $             per share, which is the midpoint of the estimated offering price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, before deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us:

 

     Shares Purchased     Total Consideration     Average
Price Per
Share
 
     Number      Percent     Amount      Percent  

Existing stockholders

     82,682,792                             $                                               $                    

New investors

             $    
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

   

Total

        100   $          100  
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

   

Each $1.00 increase or decrease in the assumed initial public offering price of $             per share, which is the midpoint of the estimated offering price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, would increase or decrease, as applicable, the total consideration paid by new investors and total consideration paid by all stockholders by $            , assuming that the number of shares of our common stock offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same and before deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions payable by us. Similarly, each increase or decrease of 1.0 million in the number of shares of our common stock offered by us would increase or decrease the total consideration paid by new investors and total consideration paid by all stockholders by $            , assuming the assumed initial public offering price remains the same and before deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions payable by us.

Except as otherwise indicated, the above discussion and tables assume no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares of our common stock from us. If the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares of our common stock were exercised in full, our existing stockholders would own             % and our new investors would own             % of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding upon the completion of this offering.

The number of shares of our common stock that will be outstanding after this offering is based on 82,682,792 shares of our common stock (after giving effect to the Capital Stock Conversion) outstanding as of April 30, 2021, and excludes:

 

   

25,328,506 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of options to purchase shares of our common stock outstanding as of April 30, 2021, with a weighted-average exercise price of $3.50 per share;

 

   

547,300 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of options to purchase shares of our common stock granted after April 30, 2021, with a weighted-average exercise price of $11.44 per share;

 

   

263,377 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of warrants to purchase common stock outstanding as of April 30, 2021, with an exercise price of $2.99 per share;

 

   

             shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance under our equity compensation plans, consisting of:

 

   

             shares of our common stock to be reserved for future issuance under our 2021 Plan, which will become effective prior to the completion of this offering;

 

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351,741 shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance under our 2018 Plan as of April 30, 2021, which number of shares will be added to the shares of our common stock to be reserved for future issuance under our 2021 Plan upon its effectiveness, at which time we will cease granting awards under our 2018 Plan; and

 

   

             shares of our common stock to be reserved for future issuance under our ESPP, which will become effective prior to the completion of this offering.

Our 2021 Plan and our ESPP each provide for annual automatic increases in the number of shares of our common stock reserved thereunder, and our 2021 Plan provides for increases to the number of shares that may be granted thereunder based on shares under our 2018 Plan or our 2008 Plan that expire, are tendered to or withheld by us for payment of an exercise price or for satisfying tax withholding obligations or are forfeited or otherwise repurchased by us, as more fully described in the section titled “Executive Compensation—Employee Benefit and Stock Plans.”

To the extent that any outstanding options to purchase our common stock or warrants are exercised or new awards are granted under our equity compensation plans, there will be further dilution to investors participating in this offering.

 

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SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL AND OTHER DATA

The following selected consolidated statements of operations data for the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 and the consolidated balance sheet data as of January 31, 2020 and 2021 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. The following selected consolidated statements of operations data for the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021 and the consolidated balance sheet data as of April 30, 2021 have been derived from our unaudited interim consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. We have prepared the unaudited interim consolidated financial statements on the same basis as the audited consolidated financial statements and have included all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments that, in our opinion, are necessary to state fairly the financial information set forth in those statements. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected in the future. You should read the following selected consolidated financial and other data below in conjunction with the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

             Year Ended January 31,                 Three Months Ended April 30,      
             2020                     2021                     2020                     2021          
                          
     (in thousands, except per share data)  

Revenue:

        

License

   $ 11,128     $ 14,032     $ 2,530     $ 4,278  

Support and other

     65,472       82,904       18,642       22,187  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total subscription revenue

     76,600       96,936       21,172       26,465  

Services

     5,921       6,349       1,873       1,490  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total revenue

     82,521       103,285       23,045       27,955  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cost of revenue:

        

Subscription(1)

     3,446       6,074       997       2,052  

Services(1)

     4,356       5,543       1,680       1,340  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total cost of revenue

     7,802       11,617       2,677       3,392  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Gross profit

     74,719       91,668       20,368       24,563  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Operating expenses:

        

Research and development(1)

     31,672       39,000       9,042       12,541  

Sales and marketing(1)

     57,829       70,248       17,227       20,634  

General and administrative(1)

     15,561       15,500       3,393       5,497  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total operating expenses

     105,062       124,748       29,662       38,672  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss from operations

     (30,343     (33,080     (9,294     (14,109

Interest expense

     (4,657     (6,970     (1,521     (245

Other income (expense), net

     6,509       1,111       (307     84  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss before income taxes

     (28,491     (38,939     (11,122     (14,270

Provision for income taxes

     766       1,044       228       329  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss

   $ (29,257   $ (39,983   $ (11,350   $ (14,599
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cumulative dividends on Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock

           (4,076           (1,479
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss attributable to common stockholders

   $ (29,257   $ (44,059   $ (11,350   $ (16,078
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted(2)

   $ (2.13   $ (3.08   $ (0.80   $ (1.02
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Weighted-average shares used in computing net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted(2)

     13,723       14,293       14,144       15,755  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Pro forma net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted (unaudited)(2)

     $ (0.54     $ (0.18
    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Weighted-average shares used in computing pro forma net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted (unaudited)(2)

       74,635         82,119  
    

 

 

     

 

 

 

 

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(1)

Includes stock-based compensation expense as follows:

 

                                                                           
     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
             2020                      2021                     2020                     2021          
                           
     (in thousands)  

Cost of revenue—subscription

   $ 54      $ 69     $ 15     $ 27  

Cost of revenue—services

     22        54       10       22  

Research and development

     1,080        1,316       246       570  

Sales and marketing

     920        1,536       264       541  

General and administrative

     1,342        1,696       306       669  
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total stock-based compensation expense

   $ 3,418      $ 4,671      $ 841      $ 1,829   
  

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

(2)

See Notes 2 and 14 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus for an explanation of the calculations of our basic and diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, pro forma net loss per share attributable to common stockholders and the weighted-average shares used computing of the per share amounts.

 

         As of January 31,     As of April 30,  
                 2020                     2021                     2021          
                        
         (in thousands)  

Consolidated Balance Sheet Data:

        

Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments

     $ 18,224     $ 56,843     $ 53,388  

Working capital (deficit)(1)

       (12,153     30,682       19,561  

Total assets

       67,742       117,188       97,767  

Deferred revenue, current and noncurrent

       60,929       61,710       56,648  

Long-term debt(2)

       49,282       24,948       24,952  

Redeemable convertible preferred stock

       155,506       259,822       259,822  

Total stockholders’ deficit

       (213,216     (246,342     (257,667

 

(1)

Working capital (deficit) is defined as current assets less current liabilities.

(2)

See Note 7 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus for more information.

Key Business Metrics

We review a number of operating and financial metrics, including the following key business metrics, to evaluate our business, measure our performance, identify trends affecting our business, formulate business plans and make strategic decisions.

Annual Recurring Revenue

 

                                                                           
         As of January 31,             As of April 30,      
             2020                      2021                     2020                     2021          
                           
     (in millions)  

ARR

   $ 88.1      $ 107.8      $ 89.8      $ 109.5   

See the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Key Business Metrics—Annual Recurring Revenue” for information about how we calculate ARR.

Customers

 

                                                   
         As of January 31,             As of April 30,      
                                                                                                                                                                 2020                      2021                     2020                     2021          

Customers

     509        541        511        549   

 

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See the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Key Business Metrics—Customers” for information about how we calculate our number of customers.

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.

 

     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
             2020                     2021                     2020                     2021          
                          
     (dollars in thousands)  

Gross profit

   $  74,719     $  91,668     $  20,368     $  24,563  

Non-GAAP gross profit

     74,795       91,791       20,393       24,612  

Gross margin

     91 %       89 %       88     88

Non-GAAP gross margin

     91     89     88     88

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.

 

 

 

     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
             2020                     2021                     2020                     2021          
                          
     (dollars in thousands)  

Loss from operations

   $ (30,343   $ (33,080   $ (9,294   $ (14,109

Non-GAAP operating loss

     (22,786     (28,196     (8,378     (12,280

Operating margin

     (37 )%      (32 )%      (40 )%      (50 )% 

Non-GAAP operating margin

     (28 )%      (27 )%      (36 )%      (44 )% 

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 years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021, our free cash flow included cash paid for interest on our long-term debt of $3.8 million and $6.0 million, respectively. For the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021, our free cash flow included cash paid for interest on our long-term debt of $1.4 million and $0.2 million, respectively. For the year ended January 31, 2020, our free cash flow included cash received from a litigation settlement, net of expenses, of $2.3 million. This amount was not material for the year ended January 31, 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021.

 

 

 

     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
             2020                     2021                     2020                     2021          
                          
     (in thousands)  

Net cash used in operating activities

   $ (21,757   $ (39,178   $ (6,148   $ (3,189

Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities

     (4,710     (22,412     (1,841     3,234  

Net cash provided by financing activities

     35,780       80,501       6,488       8  

Free cash flow

     (26,467     (41,997     (7,989     (3,419

 

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See the section titled “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures to Most Directly Comparable GAAP Financial Measures” for a reconciliation of each non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP.

 

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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 the section titled “Selected Consolidated Financial and Other Data” and the consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus. 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 prospectus. 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

 

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application developers are key to initiating the transition away from legacy database technologies and that we are uniquely positioned and architected to serve both.

Since our inception, we have achieved several key milestones which have driven our growth:

2011

 

   

Created as a next-generation, cloud-native, open source database company with the merger of Membase and CouchOne

2012

 

   

Established as one of the first multi-modal enterprise NoSQL databases combining a pure key-value database with a JSON document-oriented database

2013

 

   

Began supporting multi- and hybrid-cloud deployments with advancements around built-in Cross Data Center Replication, or XDCR

2014

 

   

Launched Couchbase Mobile, making us one of the first distributed NoSQL databases, enabling cloud to edge deployments and mobile applications

2015

 

   

Introduced Multi-Dimensional Scaling, or MDS, to enable independent, cloud-native scaling of services (index, query, data, etc.) with containers to reduce operational complexity and lower TCO

2016

 

   

Released significant enhancements to the Couchbase platform to make it easier for users to introduce N1QL into their existing architectures with complex query requirements

2017

 

   

Introduced support for full-text search to improve development productivity, reduce operational complexity and eliminate the need for a separate third-party search engine

2018

 

   

Introduced the operational analytics service to enable real-time analysis of operational data without the need to export data into a separate analytical system

 

   

Introduced the eventing service to enable application developers to develop, deploy, debug and maintain data-driven business logic from a centralized platform

2019

 

   

Enabled full system of record application deployments with the support of distributed Multi-Document ACID transactions without compromising performance and scale

 

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2020

 

   

Launched Couchbase Cloud, a fully-managed DBaaS offering, including multi-cloud management capabilities

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 fiscal 2020 and 2021, our revenue was $82.5 million and $103.3 million, respectively, representing year-over-year growth of 25%. For the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021, our revenue was $23.0 million and $28.0 million, respectively, representing period-over-period growth of 21%. As of January 31, 2020 and 2021, our ARR was $88.1 million and $107.8 million, respectively, representing year-over-year growth of 22%. As of April 30, 2020 and 2021, our ARR was $89.8 million and $109.5 million, respectively, representing period-over-period growth of 22%. For fiscal 2020 and 2021, our net loss was $29.3 million and $40.0 million, respectively, and for the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021, our net loss was $11.4 million and $14.6 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.

Our Business Model

We generate the substantial majority of our revenue from sales of subscriptions, which accounted for 93% and 94% of our total revenue in fiscal 2020 and 2021, respectively. Our revenue from sales of subscriptions accounted for 92% and 95% of our total revenue in the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021, respectively. 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

 

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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. Revenue from Couchbase Cloud was not material for fiscal 2021 or the three months ended April 30, 2021.

We also generate revenue from services, which represented 7% and 6% of our total revenue in fiscal 2020 and 2021, respectively. Our services revenue represented 8% and 5% of our total revenue in the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021, respectively. 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 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 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 three months ended April 30, 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. Application developers are also able to collaborate and discuss specific topics related to our platform on our forum, which had over 16,000 discussion topics and over 93,000 posts as of April 30, 2021.

We have experienced strong growth from our largest customers:

 

   

Our customers that had at least $1 million in ARR as of January 31, 2021 have increased their ARR by an average of 29x since the time of such customer’s first contract with us. ARR attributed to this category of customers has increased on average approximately 13x between January 31, 2016 and January 31, 2021 and represented 41% of our total ARR as of January 31, 2021.

 

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Our customers that had at least $500,000 in ARR as of January 31, 2021 have increased their ARR by an average of 19x since the time of such customer’s first contract with us. ARR attributed to this second category of customers has increased on average approximately 10x between January 31, 2016 and January 31, 2021 and represented 56% of our total ARR as of January 31, 2021.

We have 549 customers spanning across more than 50 countries. Our customers are comprised of over 30% of the Fortune 100, and over 25% of our customers were part of the Forbes Global 2000. While customers in the Fortune 100 and the Forbes Global 2000 represented a meaningful portion of our ARR in the aggregate, no one customer accounted for more than 5% of our ARR. Our land-and-expand motion has led to strong customer success and ARR, growing ARR by an average of 21x since the time of such customer’s first contract with us among our top 50 customers as of January 31, 2021. 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 five quarters.3

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 five quarters.

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 have increased our headcount from 437 employees as of January 31, 2020 to 597 as of April 30, 2021. We anticipate continuing to

 

3 

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 (Base ARR) attributable to our customers (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. Due to the availability of the data required to calculate our dollar-based net retention rate, we are not able to calculate our dollar-based net retention rate for any periods prior to the first quarter of fiscal 2021.

 

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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.

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 January 31,     As of April 30,  
             2020                     2021                     2020                     2021          
                          
     (in millions)  

ARR

   $ 88.1         $ 107.8         $ 89.8         $ 109.5      

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 January 31,     As of April 30,  
             2020                     2021                     2020                     2021          
                          

Customers

     509           541           511           549      

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.

 

                                                               
     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
             2020                     2021                     2020                     2021          
                          
     (dollars in thousands)  

Gross profit

   $ 74,719     $     91,668     $ 20,368     $ 24,563  

Non-GAAP gross profit

     74,795       91,791       20,393       24,612  

Gross margin

     91     89     88     88

Non-GAAP gross margin

     91     89     88     88

 

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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.

 

                                                                   
     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
         2020             2021             2020             2021      
                          
     (dollars in thousands)  

Loss from operations

   $ (30,343   $ (33,080   $ (9,294   $ (14,109

Non-GAAP operating loss

     (22,786     (28,196     (8,378     (12,280

Operating margin

     (37 )%      (32 )%      (40 )%      (50 )% 

Non-GAAP operating margin

     (28 )%      (27 )%      (36 )%      (44 )% 

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 years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021, our free cash flow included cash paid for interest on our long-term debt of $3.8 million and $6.0 million, respectively. For the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021, our free cash flow included cash paid for interest on our long-term debt of $1.4 million and $0.2 million, respectively. For the year ended January 31, 2020, our free cash flow included cash received from a litigation settlement, net of expenses, of $2.3 million. This amount was not material for the year ended January 31, 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021.

 

                                                               
     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
         2020             2021             2020             2021      
                          
     (in thousands)  

Net cash used in operating activities

   $ (21,757 )        $ (39,178 )        $ (6,148 )        $ (3,189 )     

Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities

     (4,710     (22,412     (1,841     3,234  

Net cash provided by financing activities

     35,780       80,501       6,488       8  

Free cash flow

     (26,467     (41,997     (7,989     (3,419

See the section titled “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures to Most Directly Comparable GAAP Financial Measures” for a reconciliation of each non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP.

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

 

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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 the 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 during fiscal 2021 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. See the section titled “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business and Industry—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.

 

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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,” respectively, in our 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 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.

 

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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 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. Following the completion of this offering, 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 revolving line of credit.

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.

 

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Results of Operations

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

 

                                                                               
     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
             2020                     2021                     2020                     2021          

Revenue:

        

License

   $       11,128     $       14,032     $       2,530     $       4,278  

Support and other

     65,472       82,904       18,642       22,187  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total subscription revenue

     76,600       96,936       21,172       26,465  

Services

     5,921       6,349       1,873       1,490  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total revenue

     82,521       103,285       23,045       27,955  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cost of revenue:

        

Subscription(1)

     3,446       6,074       997       2,052  

Services(1)

     4,356       5,543       1,680       1,340  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total cost of revenue

     7,802       11,617       2,677       3,392  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Gross profit

     74,719       91,668       20,368       24,563  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Operating expenses:

        

Research and development(1)

     31,672       39,000       9,042       12,541  

Sales and marketing(1)

     57,829       70,248       17,227       20,634  

General and administrative(1)

     15,561       15,500       3,393       5,497  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total operating expenses

     105,062       124,748       29,662       38,672  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss from operations

     (30,343     (33,080     (9,294     (14,109

Interest expense

     (4,657     (6,970     (1,521     (245

Other income (expense), net

     6,509       1,111       (307     84  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss before income taxes

     (28,491     (38,939     (11,122     (14,270

Provision for income taxes

     766       1,044       228       329  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss

   $ (29,257   $ (39,983   $ (11,350   $ (14,599
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

(1)   Includes stock-based compensation expense as follows:

 

        
     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
           2020               2021               2020               2021      
     (in thousands)  
Cost of revenue—subscription    $ 54     $             69     $           15     $           27  
Cost of revenue—services      22       54       10       22  
Research and development      1,080       1,316       246       570  
Sales and marketing      920       1,536       264       541  
General and administrative      1,342       1,696       306       669  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total stock-based compensation expense

   $                  3,418     $ 4,671     $ 841     $ 1,829  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

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

 

     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
             2020                     2021                     2020                     2021          

Revenue:

        

License

                   13                   14                   11                   15

Support and other

     79       80       81       79  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total subscription revenue

     93       94       92       95  

Services

     7       6       8       5  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total revenue

     100       100       100       100  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cost of revenue:

        

Subscription

     4       6       4       7  

Services

     5       5       7       5  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total cost of revenue

     9       11       12       12  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Gross profit

     91       89       88       88  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Operating expenses:

        

Research and development

     38       38       39       45  

Sales and marketing

     70       68       75       74  

General and administrative

     19       15       15       20  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total operating expenses

     127       121       129       138  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss from operations

     (37     (32     (40     (50

Interest expense

     (6     (7     (7     (1

Other income (expense), net

     8       1       (1     *  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss before income taxes

     (35     (38     (48     (51

Provision for income taxes

     1       1       1       1  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss

     (35 )%      (39 )%      (49 )%      (52 )% 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

*   Represents less than 1%

Note: Certain figures may not sum due to rounding.

 

Comparison of Three Months Ended April 30, 2020 and 2021

 

Revenue

 

    

 

 

 

     Three Months Ended April 30,              
           2020                 2021             $ Change        % Change   
                          
     (dollars in thousands)  

Revenue

        

License

   $ 2,530     $ 4,278     $ 1,748       69  % 

Support and other

     18,642       22,187       3,545       19  % 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

Total subscription revenue

           21,172             26,465             5,293       25  % 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

Services

     1,873       1,490       (383)       (20)
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

Total revenue

   $ 23,045     $ 27,955     $ 4,910       21  % 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

Subscription revenue increased by $5.3 million, or 25%, from $21.2 million in the three months ended April 30, 2020 to $26.5 million in the three months ended April 30, 2021. The increase in subscription revenue was due to an increase in revenue from existing customers and new customers, as we increased our customer

 

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base from 511 customers as of April 30, 2020 to 549 customers as of April 30, 2021. Approximately 85% of the increase in revenue was attributable to growth from existing customers, and the remaining increase was attributable to new customers.

Services revenue decreased by $0.4 million, or 20%, from $1.9 million in the three months ended April 30, 2020 to $1.5 million in the three months ended April 30, 2021. 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 April 30,              
             2020                     2021             $ Change     % Change  
        
     (dollars in thousands)  

Cost of revenue:

        

Subscription

   $ 997     $       2,052     $       1,055       106  % 

Services

     1,680       1,340       (340     (20 )% 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

Total cost of revenue

   $       2,677     $ 3,392     $ 715       27  % 
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

Gross profit

   $     20,368     $     24,563      

Gross margin

     88     88    

Headcount (at period end)

     45       57      

 

Cost of subscription revenue increased by $1.1 million, or 106%, from $1.0 million in the three months ended April 30, 2020 to $2.1 million in the three months ended April 30, 2021. The increase in cost of subscription revenue was primarily due to an increase of $0.5 million related to the amortization of costs associated with capitalized internal-use software related to Couchbase Cloud and an increase of $0.5 million in personnel-related costs associated with increased headcount.

 

Cost of services revenue decreased by $0.3 million, or 20%, from $1.7 million in the three months ended April 30, 2020 to $1.3 million in the three months ended April 30, 2021. The decrease in cost of services revenue was primarily due to a decrease of $0.2 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.

 

Gross margin remained relatively flat during the three months ended April 30, 2021 compared to the three months ended April 30, 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 April 30,              
             2020                     2021             $ Change     % Change  
        
     (dollars in thousands)  

Research and development

   $       9,042     $     12,541     $       3,499       39

Percentage of revenue

     39     45    

Headcount (at period end)

     174       233      

Research and development expenses increased by $3.5 million, or 39%, from $9.0 million in the three months ended April 30, 2020 to $12.5 million in the three months ended April 30, 2021. The increase in research and development expenses was primarily due to an increase of $3.3 million in personnel-related costs associated with increased headcount.

 

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Sales and Marketing

 

     Three Months Ended April 30,               
             2020                     2021             $ Change      % Change  
        
     (dollars in thousands)  

Sales and marketing

   $     17,227     $     20,634     $       3,407        20

Percentage of revenue

     75     74     

Headcount (at period end)

     214       253       

Sales and marketing expenses increased by $3.4 million, or 20%, from $17.2 million in the three months ended April 30, 2020 to $20.6 million in the three months ended April 30, 2021. The increase in sales and marketing expenses was primarily due to an increase of $3.8 million in personnel-related costs associated with increased headcount and an increase of $0.5 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 $1.1 million in travel-related costs due to COVID-19 restrictions.

General and Administrative

 

     Three Months Ended April 30,               
             2020                     2021             $ Change      % Change  
        
     (dollars in thousands)  

General and administrative

   $       3,393     $       5,497     $       2,104        62

Percentage of revenue

     15     20     

Headcount (at period end)

     39       54       

General and administrative expenses increased by $2.1 million, or 62%, from $3.4 million in the three months ended April 30, 2020 to $5.5 million in the three months ended April 30, 2021. The increase in general and administrative expenses was primarily due to an increase of $1.1 million in personnel-related costs associated with increased headcount and an increase of $0.9 million in additional professional fees associated with external legal, accounting and other consulting services to support our growth and public company readiness initiatives.

Interest Expense

 

     Three Months Ended April 30,               
             2020                 2021         $ Change      % Change  
        
     (dollars in thousands)  

Interest expense

   $      (1,521   $        (245   $       1,276        (84 )% 

Interest expense decreased by $1.3 million, or 84%, from $1.5 million in the three months ended April 30, 2020 to $0.2 million in the three months ended April 30, 2021. The decrease in interest expense was primarily due to the termination of our term loan in January 2021, which was replaced by our revolving line of credit that bears interest at a lower rate and has a lower loan balance than our term loan.

Other Income (Expense), Net

 

     Three Months Ended April 30,                
             2020                     2021              $ Change      % Change  
        
     (dollars in thousands)  

Other income (expense), net

   $        (307   $            84      $          391        (127 )% 

 

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Other income (expense), net increased by $0.4 million, or 127%, from other expense of $0.3 million in the three months ended April 30, 2020 to other income of $0.1 million in the three months ended April 30, 2021. The increase in other income (expense), net was primarily due to an increase in net foreign currency transaction gains of $0.4 million during the three months ended April 30, 2021 as compared to the three months ended April 30, 2020.

Provision for Income Taxes

 

     Three Months Ended April 30,              
             2020                     2021             $ Change     % Change  
        
     (dollars in thousands)  

Loss before income taxes

   $   (11,122   $   (14,270   $      (3,148          28

Provision for income taxes

     228       329       101       44

Effective tax rate

     (2.0 )%      (2.3 )%     

Provision for income taxes increased by $0.1 million, or 44%, from $0.2 million in the three months ended April 30, 2020 to $0.3 million in the three months ended April 30, 2021. The increase in provision for income taxes was primarily due to an increase in pre-tax income in our international jurisdictions.

Comparison of Fiscal 2020 and Fiscal 2021

Revenue

 

     Year Ended January 31,                
           2020                  2021              $ Change         % Change   
                             
     (dollars in thousands)  

Revenue

           

License

   $ 11,128      $ 14,032      $ 2,904               26

Support and other

     65,472        82,904        17,432        27
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Total subscription revenue

           76,600              96,936              20,336        27
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Services

     5,921        6,349        428        7
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Total revenue

   $ 82,521      $ 103,285      $ 20,764        25
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

Subscription revenue increased by $20.3 million, or 27%, from $76.6 million in the year ended January 31, 2020 to $96.9 million in the year ended January 31, 2021. The increase in subscription revenue was due to an increase in revenue from existing customers and new customers, as we increased our customer base from 509 customers as of January 31, 2020 to 541 customers as of January 31, 2021. Approximately 89% 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 $0.4 million, or 7%, from $5.9 million in the year ended January 31, 2020 to $6.3 million in the year ended January 31, 2021. The increase in services revenue was primarily due to an increase in the number of professional services hours performed.

 

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Cost of Revenue, Gross Profit and Gross Margin

 

     Year Ended January 31,               
           2020                 2021           $ Change      % Change  
        
     (dollars in thousands)  

Cost of revenue:

         

Subscription

   $       3,446     $       6,074     $       2,628        76

Services

     4,356       5,543       1,187        27
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

    

Total cost of revenue

   $ 7,802     $ 11,617     $ 3,815        49
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

    

Gross profit

   $     74,719     $     91,668       

Gross margin

     91     89     

Headcount (at period end)

     40       51       

Cost of subscription revenue increased by $2.6 million, or 76%, from $3.4 million in the year ended January 31, 2020 to $6.1 million in the year ended January 31, 2021. The increase in cost of subscription revenue was primarily due to an increase of $1.2 million in personnel-related costs associated with increased headcount and an increase of $1.1 million related to the amortization of costs associated with capitalized internal-use software related to Couchbase Cloud.

Cost of services revenue increased by $1.2 million, or 27%, from $4.4 million in the year ended January 31, 2020 to $5.5 million in the year ended January 31, 2021. The increase in cost of services revenue was primarily due to an increase of $1.7 million in personnel-related costs, partially offset by a decrease of $0.7 million in travel-related costs due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The decrease in gross margin was primarily driven by the amortization of capitalized internal-use software related to Couchbase Cloud in fiscal 2021.

Research and Development

 

     Year Ended January 31,               
           2020                 2021           $ Change      % Change  
        
     (dollars in thousands)  

Research and development

   $     31,672     $     39,000     $       7,328        23

Percentage of revenue

     38     38     

Headcount (at period end)

     169       218       

Research and development expenses increased by $7.3 million, or 23%, from $31.7 million in the year ended January 31, 2020 to $39.0 million in the year ended January 31, 2021. The increase in research and development expenses was primarily due to an increase of $6.1 million in personnel-related costs associated with increased headcount and an increase of $1.5 million in expenses associated with software and subscription services dedicated for use by our research and development organization.

Sales and Marketing

 

     Year Ended January 31,               
           2020                 2021           $ Change      % Change  
        
     (dollars in thousands)  

Sales and marketing

   $     57,829     $     70,248     $     12,419        21

Percentage of revenue

     70     68     

Headcount (at period end)

     194       241       

Sales and marketing expenses increased by $12.4 million, or 21%, from $57.8 million in the year ended January 31, 2020 to $70.2 million in the year ended January 31, 2021. The increase in sales and marketing

 

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expenses was primarily due to an increase of $14.1 million in personnel-related costs associated with increased headcount, partially offset by a decrease of $1.8 million in travel-related costs due to COVID-19 restrictions.

General and Administrative

 

     Year Ended January 31,              
           2020                 2021           $ Change     % Change  
        
     (dollars in thousands)  

General and administrative

   $   15,561     $   15,500     $       (61     *  

Percentage of revenue

     19     15    

Headcount (at period end)

     34       52      

 

*

Less than 1% change

General and administrative expenses decreased by $0.1 million, or less than 1%, from $15.6 million in the year ended January 31, 2020 to $15.5 million in the year ended January 31, 2021. The decrease in general and administrative expenses was primarily due to a decrease of $2.4 million in fees for professional services, including a decline in legal fees as a result of litigation settled during the prior year, partially offset by an increase of $2.4 million in personnel-related costs associated with increased headcount.

Interest Expense

 

     Year Ended January 31,              
           2020                 2021           $ Change     % Change  
        
     (dollars in thousands)  

Interest expense

   $   (4,657   $   (6,970   $   (2,313     50

Interest expense increased by $2.3 million, or 50%, from $4.7 million in the year ended January 31, 2020 to $7.0 million in the year ended January 31, 2021. The increase in interest expense was primarily due to $1.8 million in end-of-term charges and $1.0 million in prepayment penalties associated with the pay-off of our term loan, partially offset by a lower average outstanding debt balance.

Other Income (Expense), Net

 

     Year Ended January 31,               
           2020                  2021            $ Change     % Change  
        
     (dollars in thousands)  

Other income (expense), net

   $     6,509      $     1,111      $   (5,398     (83 )% 

Other income (expense), net decreased by $5.4 million, or 83%, from $6.5 million in the year ended January 31, 2020 to $1.1 million in the year ended January 31, 2021. The decrease in other income (expense), net was primarily due to litigation settlements received of $6.6 million during fiscal 2020, partially offset by a change in foreign currency transaction gains and losses of $1.2 million during the period.

Provision for Income Taxes

 

     Year Ended January 31,              
           2020                 2021           $ Change     % Change  
        
     (dollars in thousands)  

Loss before income taxes

   $   (28,491   $   (38,939   $   (10,448     37

Provision for income taxes

     766       1,044       278       36

Effective tax rate

     (2.7 )%      (2.7 )%     

 

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Provision for income taxes increased by $0.3 million, or 36%, from $0.8 million in the year ended January 31, 2020 to $1.0 million in the year ended January 31, 2021. The increase in provision for income taxes was primarily due to the increase in the valuation allowance on our deferred tax assets, partially offset by foreign and state taxes.

Quarterly Results of Operations Data

The following tables set forth selected unaudited quarterly statements of operations data for each of the quarters presented, as well as the percentage of revenue that each line item represents for each quarter. The information for each of these quarters has been prepared in accordance with GAAP on the same basis as our audited annual consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus and includes, in the opinion of management, all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for the fair statement of the results of operations for these periods. The following unaudited quarterly results of operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected in the future and the results of a particular quarter or other interim period are not necessarily indicative of the results for a full year.

 

    Three Months Ended  
    Apr. 30,
2019
    July 31,
2019
    Oct. 31,
2019
    Jan. 31,
2020
    Apr. 30,
2020
    July 31,
2020
    Oct. 31,
2020
    Jan. 31,
2021
    Apr. 30,
2021
 
             
    (in thousands)  

Revenue:

                 

License

  $     2,687     $     2,769     $     1,842     $     3,830     $     2,530     $     3,010     $     3,010     $     5,482     $     4,278  

Support and other

    14,625       15,886       16,871       18,090       18,642       20,627       21,078       22,557       22,187  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total subscription revenue

    17,312       18,655       18,713       21,920       21,172       23,637       24,088       28,039       26,465  

Services

    1,016       1,235       1,473       2,197       1,873       1,523       1,565       1,388       1,490  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total revenue

    18,328       19,890       20,186       24,117       23,045       25,160       25,653       29,427       27,955  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cost of revenue:

                 

Subscription(1)

    705       862       885       994       997       1,276       1,840       1,961       2,052  

Services(1)

    860       946       1,069       1,481       1,680       1,407       1,296       1,160       1,340  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total cost of revenue

    1,565       1,808       1,954       2,475       2,677       2,683       3,136       3,121       3,392  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Gross profit

    16,763       18,082       18,232       21,642       20,368       22,477       22,517       26,306       24,563  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Operating expenses:

                 

Research and development(1)

    7,664       7,971       7,805       8,232       9,042       9,237       10,109       10,612       12,541  

Sales and marketing(1)

    13,127       14,039       13,817       16,846       17,227       16,475       17,443       19,103       20,634  

General and administrative(1)

    3,302       3,539       4,179       4,541       3,393       3,468       4,044       4,595       5,497  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total operating expenses

    24,093       25,549       25,801       29,619       29,662       29,180       31,596       34,310       38,672  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss from operations

    (7,330     (7,467     (7,569     (7,977     (9,294     (6,703     (9,079     (8,004     (14,109

Interest expense

    (743     (1,239     (1,239     (1,436     (1,521     (2,495     (746     (2,208     (245

Other income (expense), net

    (85     (172     253       6,513       (307     614       (86     890       84  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss before income taxes

    (8,158     (8,878     (8,555     (2,900     (11,122     (8,584     (9,911     (9,322     (14,270

Provision for income taxes

    144       129       211       282       228       254       237       325       329  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss

  $ (8,302   $ (9,007   $ (8,766   $ (3,182   $ (11,350   $ (8,838   $ (10,148   $ (9,647   $ (14,599
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

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(1)

Includes stock-based compensation expense as follows (in thousands):

 

    Three Months Ended  
    Apr. 30,
2019
    July 31,
2019
    Oct. 31,
2019
    Jan. 31,
2020
    Apr. 30,
2020
    July 31,
2020
    Oct. 31,
2020
    Jan. 31,
2021
    Apr. 30,
2021
 
             

Cost of revenue – subscription

  $ 8         $ 13         $ 16         $ 17         $ 15         $ 19         $ 16         $ 19         $ 27      

Cost of revenue – services

    5       5       5       7       10       17       14       13       22  

Research and development

    208       348       261       263       246       394       328       348       570  

Sales and marketing

    134       223       290       273       264       412       337       523       541  

General and administrative

    295       418       341       288       306       524       440       426       669  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total stock-based compensation expense

  $           650     $        1,007     $           913     $           848     $         841       $        1,366     $        1,135     $        1,329     $        1,829  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

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

 

    Three Months Ended  
    Apr. 30,
2019
    July 31,
2019
    Oct. 31,
2019
    Jan. 31,
2020
    Apr. 30,
2020
    July 31,
2020
    Oct. 31,
2020
    Jan. 31,
2021
    Apr. 30,
2021
 

Revenue:

                 

License

    15     14     9     16     11     12     12     19     15

Support and other

    80       80       84       75       81       82       82       77       79  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total subscription revenue

    94       94       93       91       92       94       94       95       95  

Services

    6       6       7       9       8       6       6       5       5  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total revenue

          100             100             100             100             100             100             100             100             100  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cost of revenue:

                 

Subscription

    4       4       4       4       4       5       7       7       7  

Services

    5       5       5       6       7       6       5       4       5  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total cost of revenue

    9       9       10       10       12       11       12       11       12  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Gross profit

    91       91       90       90       88       89       88       89       88  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Operating expenses:

                 

Research and development

    42       40       39       34       39       37       39       36       45  

Sales and marketing

    72       71       68       70       75       65       68       65       74  

General and administrative

    18       18       21       19       15       14       16       16       20  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total operating expenses

    131       128       128       123       129       116       123       117       138  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss from operations

    (40     (38     (37     (33     (40     (27     (35     (27     (50

Interest expense

    (4     (6     (6     (6     (7     (10     (3     (8     (1

Other income (expense), net

    *       (1     1       27       (1     2       *       3       *  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss before income taxes

    (45     (45     (42     (12     (48     (34     (39     (32     (51

Provision for income taxes

    1       1       1       1       1       1       1       1       1  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss

    (45 )%      (45 )%      (43 )%      (13 )%      (49 )%      (35 )%      (40 )%      (33 )%      (52 )% 
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

*

Less than 1%

Note: Certain figures may not sum due to rounding.

 

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Quarterly Trends

Revenue

Our quarterly revenue generally increased in each of the periods presented primarily due to the increased demand for our platform from existing customers and new customers, partially offset in some quarters by fluctuating revenue from professional services. Services revenue is dependent upon the number of hours performed during a quarter and can vary from period to period. We generally experience seasonality based on when we enter into agreements with customers, which has historically been the most frequent in our fourth quarter, 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.

Cost of Revenue

Cost of revenue generally increased in the periods presented, primarily due to the amortization of costs associated with capitalized internal-use software related to Couchbase Cloud and an increase in personnel-related costs associated with increased headcount, partially offset by the decrease in costs of contracted third-party partners for professional services.

Operating Expenses

Total operating expenses have generally increased in each of the periods presented except for the second quarter of fiscal 2021 when they decreased compared to the prior quarter. This was a result of a decrease in sales and marketing expenses during the second quarter of fiscal 2021 associated with a decrease in travel-related costs due to COVID-19 restrictions. The increases in research and development, sales and marketing and general and administrative expenses were primarily due to increases in personnel-related costs associated with increased headcount and fees for professional services associated with external legal, accounting and other consulting services to support our growth and public company readiness initiatives.

Quarterly Key Business Metrics

We review a number of operating and financial metrics, including the following key business metrics, to evaluate our business, measure our performance, identify trends affecting our business, formulate business plans and make strategic decisions. The following table sets forth quarterly key business metrics data for each of the quarters presented.

Annual Recurring Revenue

 

     As of  
     Apr. 30,
2019
     July 31,
2019
     Oct. 31,
2019
     Jan. 31,
2020
     Apr. 30,
2020
     July 31,
2020
     Oct. 31,
2020
     Jan. 31,
2021
     Apr. 30,
2021
 
                                                                
     (in millions)  

ARR

   $   68.9      $   74.2      $   80.3      $   88.1      $   89.8      $   96.2      $ 101.4      $ 107.8      $ 109.5  

Our ARR increased sequentially in each of the periods presented primarily due to the increased demand for our platform from existing customers and new customers. The increase in ARR as of April 30, 2021 was partially offset by reduced levels of usage of our platform among our COVID-19 impacted customers and the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our ability to add new customers, including prospective COVID-19 impacted customers.

 

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Customers

 

     As of  
     Apr. 30,
2019
    July 31,
2019
    Oct. 31,
2019
    Jan. 31,
2020
    Apr. 30,
2020
    July 31,
2020
    Oct. 31,
2020
    Jan. 31,
2021
    Apr. 30,
2021
 

Customers

           457                 473                 494                  509                  511                  522                  524                  541                  549      

Our customers increased sequentially in each of the periods presented primarily due to the increased demand for our platform. The increase in our number of customers varied from period to period. In fiscal 2021, our ability to add new customers was impacted by the economic environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to focus on new customer acquisition by investing in sales and marketing to build brand awareness, expanding our community and driving adoption of our platform.

Quarterly Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The following table sets forth certain non-GAAP financial measures for each of the quarters presented. 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 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 define free cash flow as cash used in operating activities less purchases of property and equipment, which includes capitalized internal-use software. In addition to our financial information presented in accordance with GAAP, we believe non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating loss, non-GAAP operating margin and free cash flow are useful in evaluating our operating performance.

 

     Three Months Ended  
     Apr. 30,
2019
    July 31,
2019
    Oct. 31,
2019
    Jan. 31,
2020
    Apr. 30,
2020
    July 31,
2020
    Oct. 31,
2020
    Jan. 31,
2021
    Apr. 30,
2021
 
                                                        
     (dollars in thousands)  

Gross profit

   $ 16,763     $ 18,082     $ 18,232     $ 21,642     $ 20,368     $ 22,477     $ 22,517     $ 26,306     $ 24,563  

Non-GAAP gross profit

   $ 16,776     $ 18,100     $ 18,253     $ 21,666     $ 20,393     $ 22,513     $ 22,547     $ 26,338     $ 24,612  

Gross margin

     91     91     90     90     88     89     88     89     88

Non-GAAP gross margin

     92     91     90     90     88     89     88     90     88

Loss from operations

   $ (7,330   $ (7,467   $ (7,569   $ (7,977   $ (9,294   $ (6,703   $ (9,079   $ (8,004   $ (14,109

Non-GAAP operating loss

   $ (5,922   $ (5,632   $ (5,563   $ (5,669   $ (8,378   $ (5,199   $ (7,944   $ (6,675   $ (12,280

Operating margin

     (40 )%      (38 )%      (37 )%      (33 )%      (40 )%      (27 )%      (35 )%      (27 )%      (50 )% 

Non-GAAP operating margin

     (32 )%      (28 )%      (28 )%      (24 )%      (36 )%      (21 )%      (31 )%      (23 )%      (44 )% 

Net cash used in operating activities

   $ (11,547   $ (3,446   $ (6,412   $ (352   $ (6,148   $ (13,318   $ (13,143   $ (6,569   $ (3,189

Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities

   $ (374   $ (791   $ (1,505   $ (2,040   $ (1,841   $ (785   $ (14,289   $ (5,497   $ 3,234  

Net cash provided by financing activities

   $ 24,831     $ 296     $ 218     $ 10,435     $ 6,488     $ 72,597     $ 342     $ 1,074     $ 8  

Free cash flow

   $ (11,921   $ (4,237   $ (7,917   $ (2,392   $ (7,989   $ (14,103   $ (13,287   $ (6,618   $ (3,419

See the section titled “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures to Most Directly Comparable GAAP Financial Measures” for a reconciliation of each non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP.

 

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Liquidity and Capital Resources

We have financed our operations through subscription revenue from customers accessing our platform and services revenue, and as of April 30, 2021, we had completed several rounds of equity financings with net proceeds totaling $259.8 million. As of April 30, 2021, we had borrowed $25.0 million under our Credit Facility.

We have incurred losses and generated negative cash flows from operations for the last several years, including fiscal 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2021. As of April 30, 2021, we had an accumulated deficit of $298.4 million.

As of April 30, 2021, we had $53.4 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 below, 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 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 April 30, 2021, remaining performance obligations, including both deferred revenue and non-cancelable contracted amounts, were $100.7 million. We expect to recognize revenue of $68.8 million on these remaining performance obligations over the next 12 months, with the remaining balance recognized thereafter.

Term Loan

In August 2018, we entered into an agreement for a loan and security agreement, or 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 was the greater of (1) 10.75% plus the prime rate minus 5.5% and (2) 10.75%. Under the terms of the Loan, we paid interest on a monthly basis and the aggregate Loan principal balance was due on the maturity date. The Loan is secured by a subordinated security interest in substantially all of our assets except intellectual property and also contained certain covenants, including covenants which prohibited us from declaring or making cash dividends. The Loan permitted voluntary prepayment on borrowings with a penalty ranging from 0.25% to 2.50% of the prepaid principal amount. Additionally, the Loan allowed 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). We borrowed $15.0 million under the Loan upon closing in August 2018.

In April 2019, we entered into an amendment to the Loan with Hercules Capital to borrow an additional $35.0 million, increasing the maximum Loan amount to $70.0 million and extending the maturity date. Under the terms of the amended Loan, we continued to pay interest at the same rate on a monthly basis with the aggregate principal balance repayment date being extended to May 2023. The amended Loan was also subject to a 3.75%

 

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end-of-term charge on the aggregate borrowings, payable upon maturity. In connection with the April 2019 amendment, we also issued warrants to purchase shares of our common stock at $2.99 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. We issued warrants to purchase 188,127 shares of our common stock on $25.0 million that was borrowed concurrently with the execution of the amendment and warrants to purchase an additional 75,250 shares of our common stock upon borrowings of an additional $10.0 million in December 2019.

The issuance costs incurred in connection with the amended Loan were $0.2 million for the year ended January 31, 2020, which were included as part of our debt and are being amortized to interest expense over the life of the amended Loan.

In June 2020, we paid down $25.0 million of the Loan and entered into an amendment to the Loan, 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. In January 2021, we paid off the remaining balance of the Loan of $25.0 million. As of January 31, 2021, the loan was terminated and there were no amounts outstanding under the Loan.

Revolving Line of Credit

In November 2017, we entered into the Credit Facility, providing us 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 is payable monthly. The line of credit is secured with a pledge on substantially all of our assets, except any intellectual property, and is subject to a minimum revenue covenant. In November 2018, we entered 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, an amendment was entered into with Silicon Valley Bank to extend the maturity of the line of credit to February 2021.

In January 2021, an amendment was entered into with Silicon Valley Bank to increase the line of credit limit to $40.0 million and extend the maturity date to January 2024. We borrowed $25.0 million under the line of credit in January 2021. The outstanding principal balance is due at maturity date with interest payable monthly. The line of credit bears a variable annual interest rate of the prime rate plus 0.5%. We are required to pay a fee equal to 0.25% per annum on the unused portion of the line of credit. We are also subject to a termination fee ranging from 0.5% to 1.0% of the line of credit if we terminate this 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 April 30, 2021, $15.0 million was available for borrowing under this line of credit.

The amended line of credit agreement requires us to maintain an adjusted quick ratio (as defined by the agreement) of at least 1.15 to 1.10. The amended line of credit agreement also contains certain customary covenants as well as customary events of default that prohibit us from paying cash dividends without prior approval from Silicon Valley Bank. We were in compliance with all covenant requirements of the line of credit as of January 31, 2021 and April 30, 2021.

Interest expense on the Loan and Credit Facility was $4.7 million and $7.0 million for the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021, respectively. The increase for the year ended January 31, 2021 was driven by prepayment penalties and end-of-term charges of $2.8 million associated with pay-off of the Loan. Interest expense on the Loan and Credit Facility was $1.5 million and $0.2 million for the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021, respectively. The decrease for the three months ended April 30, 2021 was driven by a reduction in loan balance and lower interest rates.

 

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Cash Flows

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

 

     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
           2020                 2021                 2020                 2021        
                          
     (in thousands)  

Net cash provided by (used in):

        

Operating activities

   $ (21,757   $ (39,178   $ (6,148   $ (3,189

Investing activities

   $ (4,710   $ (22,412   $ (1,841   $ 3,234  

Financing activities

   $ 35,780     $ 80,501     $ 6,488     $ 8  

Operating Activities

Cash used in operating activities for fiscal 2020 of $21.8 million primarily consisted of our net loss of $29.3 million, adjusted for non-cash charges of $12.4 million and net cash outflows of $4.9 million from changes in our operating assets and liabilities. Changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily reflected a $10.5 million increase in accounts receivable related to timing of billings and collections and a $10.3 million increase in deferred commissions related to increased sales during the period. This was partially offset by a $11.9 million increase in deferred revenue due to timing of billings and a $3.2 million increase in accrued compensation and benefits primarily due to increased headcount and higher bonus accruals during the period.

Cash used in operating activities for fiscal 2021 of $39.2 million primarily consisted of our net loss of $40.0 million, adjusted for non-cash charges of $18.0 million and net cash outflows of $17.2 million from changes in our operating assets and liabilities. Changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily reflected a $13.5 million increase in deferred commissions related to increased sales during the period and a $5.5 million increase in accounts receivable related to timing of billings and collections.

Cash used in operating activities for the three months ended April 30, 2020 of $6.1 million primarily consisted of our net loss of $11.4 million, adjusted for non-cash charges of $3.5 million and net cash inflows of $1.7 million from changes in our operating assets and liabilities. Changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily reflected a $17.0 million decrease in accounts receivable related to timing of billings and collections and a $10.6 million decrease in deferred revenue due to timing of billings. Additionally, there was a $3.9 million decrease in accrued compensation and benefits related to timing of accruals paid during the period and a $1.5 million increase in deferred commissions related to increased sales during the period.

Cash used in operating activities for the three months ended April 30, 2021 of $3.2 million primarily consisted of our net loss of $14.6 million, adjusted for non-cash charges of $5.5 million and net cash inflows of $6.0 million from changes in our operating assets and liabilities. Changes in operating assets and liabilities primarily reflected an $18.6 million decrease in accounts receivable related to timing of billings and collections and a $5.1 million decrease in deferred revenue due to timing of billings. Additionally, there was a $3.3 million decrease in accrued compensation and benefits related to the timing of accruals paid during the period and a $2.7 million increase in deferred commissions related to increased sales during the period.

Investing Activities

Cash used in investing activities for fiscal 2020 of $4.7 million consisted of cash paid for purchases of property and equipment.

Cash used in investing activities for fiscal 2021 of $22.4 million consisted of net purchases of short-term investments of $19.6 million and cash paid for purchases of property and equipment of $2.8 million.

Cash used in investing activities for the three months ended April 30, 2020 of $1.8 million consisted of cash paid for purchases of property and equipment.

 

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Cash provided by investing activities for the three months ended April 30, 2021 of $3.2 million consisted of net maturities of short-term investments of $3.5 million and cash paid for purchases of property and equipment of $0.2 million.

Financing Activities

Cash provided by financing activities for fiscal 2020 of $35.8 million consisted of net proceeds from the issuance of the term loan of $34.8 million and proceeds from stock option exercises of $1.0 million.

Cash provided by financing activities for fiscal 2021 of $80.5 million consisted of net proceeds from the issuance of Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock of $104.3 million, net proceeds from borrowings of $31.4 million and proceeds from stock option exercises of $2.2 million. This was offset by net payments on borrowings of $57.4 million.

Cash provided by financing activities for the three months ended April 30, 2020 of $6.5 million consisted of net proceeds from the issuance of a promissory note for $6.4 million and proceeds from stock option exercises of $0.1 million.

Cash provided by financing activities for the three months ended April 30, 2021 consisted of proceeds from stock option exercises of $1.4 million, which was offset by payments of deferred offering costs of $1.4 million.

Contractual Obligations and Commitments

The following table summarizes our contractual obligations as of January 31, 2021:

 

     Payments Due by Period  
     Total      Less than 1
Year
     1-3
Years
     3-5 Years      More than
5 Years
 
                                    
     (in thousands)  

Operating lease commitments

   $ 9,860      $ 2,596      $ 4,687      $ 2,577      $  

Principal payments on debt(1)

     25,000               25,000                

Interest payments on debt(2)

     2,852        951        1,901                

Purchase obligations(3)

     3,402        1,850        1,552                
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total

   $   41,114      $     5,397      $   33,140      $     2,577      $         —  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

(1)

Amounts represent the principal cash payments relating to our debt and do not include any fair value adjustments, discounts or premiums.

(2)

Amounts represent the expected interest payments relating to our debt.

(3)

Purchase obligations include agreements to purchase goods or services that are enforceable and legally binding on us and that specify all significant terms, including fixed or minimum quantities to be purchased; fixed, minimum or variable price provisions and the approximate timing of the transaction. These obligations relate to third-party cloud infrastructure agreements and subscription arrangements.

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 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.

 

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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 April 30, 2021.

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.

Qualitative and Quantitative 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 January 31, 2021 and April 30, 2021, we had cash and cash equivalents of $37.3 million. As of January 31, 2021 and April 30, 2021, we had short-term investments of $19.5 million and $16.0 million, respectively. 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 consolidated financial statements, in January 2021, we borrowed $25.0 million under the revolving line of credit. The revolving credit 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 Exchange 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 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 January 31, 2021 and April 30, 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.

 

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Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our financial statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses, as well as related disclosures. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis. Our estimates are based on historical experience and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Our actual results could differ from these estimates.

The critical accounting estimates, assumptions and judgments that we believe have the most significant impact on our consolidated financial statements are described below.

Revenue Recognition

We account for revenue in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification, or ASC, Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers.

Our subscription revenue is primarily derived from term-based software licenses sold in conjunction with 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,” respectively, in our 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. We typically bill subscription revenue annually in advance. “Other” revenue was not material for the periods presented. Our services revenue is derived from professional services for 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.

Determining whether the software license and the related PCS are considered distinct performance obligations that should be accounted for separately or as a single performance obligation requires significant judgment. We have concluded that the software license, which is recognized upon transfer to the customer, and PCS, which is recognized over the term of the arrangement, are two separately identifiable performance obligations.

Arrangements that include multiple performance obligations require an allocation of the transaction price to each performance obligation based on the relative SSP of the performance obligation. Determining the relative SSP for contracts that contain multiple performance obligations requires significant judgement. When appropriate, we determine SSP based on the price at which the performance obligation has previously been sold through past transactions. We determine SSP for performance obligations with no observable evidence using adjusted market, cost plus or residual methods. When the SSP of a subscription including bundled software license and PCS is highly variable and the contract also includes additional performance obligations with observable SSP, we first allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations with established SSPs and then apply the residual approach to allocate the remaining transaction price to the subscription.

Stock-Based Compensation

We recognized stock-based compensation expense for all stock awards based on the grant-date fair value of the awards. We use the Black-Scholes option pricing model for valuing stock option awards. The fair value of an award is recognized as an expense ratably over the requisite service period. We account for forfeitures as they occur.

The Black-Scholes option pricing model requires the input of highly subjective assumptions, including the fair value of the underlying common stock, the expected term of the option, the expected volatility of the market

 

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price of our common stock, risk-free interest rates and the expected dividend yield of our common stock. The assumptions used to determine the fair value of the option awards represent management’s best estimates. These estimates involve inherent uncertainties and the application of management’s judgment.

Our assumptions and estimates are as follows:

 

   

Fair Value of Common Stock. As our common stock is not publicly traded, the fair value of our common stock was determined by our board of directors, with input from management and contemporaneous independent third-party valuations. See the section titled “—Common Stock Valuations” below for further discussion.

 

   

Expected Term. As we do not have sufficient historical information to develop reasonable expectations about future exercise patterns and post-vesting employment termination behavior, we determine the expected term of the awards using the simplified method. The simplified method calculates the expected term as the midpoint between the vesting date and the contractual expiration date of the option.

 

   

Expected Volatility. As we do not have a trading history for our common stock, the expected volatility was estimated by examining the historical volatilities for industry peers. We will continue to analyze the historical stock price volatility and expected term assumptions as more historical data for our common stock becomes available.

 

   

Risk-Free Interest Rate. The risk-free interest rate assumption is based on the U.S. Treasury yield in effect at the time of grant for a period consistent with the expected term of the award.

 

   

Dividend Yield. We utilize a dividend yield of zero. We do not currently declare or pay dividends on common stock, nor do we expect to do so in the foreseeable future.

The following table summarizes the weighted-average assumptions used to estimate the fair value of stock options during each of the periods presented:

 

     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
     2020     2021     2020      2021  

Expected term (in years)

     6.1       6.1       *        6.1  

Expected volatility

     35.6     40.0     *        41.9

Risk-free interest rate

     1.9     0.4     *        1.0

Dividend yield

                 *         

 

*

No stock options were granted during the three months ended April 30, 2020.

We will continue to use judgment in evaluating the assumptions related to our stock-based compensation on a prospective basis. As we continue to accumulate additional data related to our common stock, we may have refinements to our estimates, which could materially impact our future stock-based compensation expense.

Common Stock Valuations

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our common stock. The estimated fair value of our common stock underlying our stock option awards has been determined by our board of directors based on several factors, including consideration of input from management and contemporaneous independent third-party valuations.

The exercise price for all stock options granted was at the estimated fair value of the underlying common stock, as estimated on the date of grant by our board of directors in accordance with the guideline outlined in the practice aid issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Valuation of Privately-Held-Company Equity Securities Issued as Compensation.

 

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Each fair value estimate was based on a variety of factors, which included the following:

 

   

independent third-party valuations of our common stock;

 

   

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

 

   

pricing and timing of transactions in our equity, including secondary sales;

 

   

the lack of marketability of our common stock;

 

   

our results of operations, financial condition and capital resources;

 

   

current business conditions and projections;

 

   

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

 

   

industry trends and outlook;

 

   

the market performance of comparable publicly traded companies; and

 

   

general economic outlook including economic growth, inflation and unemployment, interest rate environment and global economic trends.

In valuing our common stock, our board of directors determined the equity value of our business using various valuation methods, including combinations of income and market approaches with input from management. The income approach estimates value based on the expectation of future cash flows that a company will generate. These future cash flows are discounted to their present values using a discount rate that is derived from an analysis of the cost of capital of comparable publicly traded companies in our industry or similar business operations as of each valuation date and is adjusted to reflect the risks inherent in our cash flows. The market approach estimates value based on a comparison of us to comparable public companies in consideration of differences in size, growth, profitability, return on investment and business risk. A representative market value multiple is determined based on the comparable companies and then applied to our financial metrics. The estimated business enterprise values from these approaches are then adjusted for interest-bearing debt and cash, as necessary, to arrive at total equity value.

For each valuation, the equity value of our business determined by the income and market approaches was then allocated to the common stock using either the option-pricing method, or OPM, or a hybrid of the probability-weighted expected return method, or PWERM, and OPM.

Our valuations prior to April 2020 were allocated using the OPM. Based on the stage of our development, the difficulty in predicting the range of possible future outcomes at the time of valuations and other relevant factors, we determined an OPM was the most appropriate method for allocating our equity value to determine the estimated fair value of our common stock for valuations prior to April 2020.

Beginning April 2020, our valuations were allocated based on a hybrid method utilizing a combination of the PWERM and the OPM. Using the PWERM, the value of our common stock is estimated based on a probability-weighted analysis of varying values for our common stock assuming possible future events for our company, including a scenario assuming we become a publicly traded company and a scenario assuming we continue as a privately held company.

Application of these approaches and methodologies involves the use of estimates, judgments and assumptions that are highly complex and subjective, such as those regarding our expected future revenue, expenses and future cash flows, discount rates, market multiples, the selection of comparable public companies and the probability of and timing associated with possible future events. Changes in any or all of these estimates and assumptions or the relationships between those assumptions impact our valuations as of each valuation date and may have a material impact on the valuation of our common stock.

 

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Following the completion of this offering, our board of directors intends to determine the fair value of our common stock based on the closing price of our common stock on the date of grant.

Based on the assumed initial public offering price per share of $            , which is the midpoint of the estimated offering price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, the aggregate intrinsic value of our outstanding stock options as of April 30, 2021 was $             million, with $             million related to vested stock options and $             million related to unvested stock options.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

For more information, see Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus.

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.

 

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RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES TO MOST DIRECTLY COMPARABLE GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

In addition to our financial information presented in accordance with GAAP, we believe the following non-GAAP financial measures are useful in evaluating our operating performance. We use the following non-GAAP financial measures, collectively, to evaluate our ongoing operations and for internal planning and forecasting purposes. We believe that the following non-GAAP financial measures, when taken together with the corresponding GAAP financial measures, may be helpful to investors because they provide consistency and comparability with past financial performance and meaningful supplemental information regarding our performance by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of our business, results of operations or outlook. These non-GAAP financial measures are presented for supplemental informational purposes only, have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP and may be different from similarly-titled non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. In addition, other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate similarly-titled non-GAAP financial measures differently or may use other measures to evaluate their performance, all of which could reduce the usefulness of our non-GAAP financial measures as tools for comparison. A reconciliation is provided below for each non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable financial measure calculated in accordance with GAAP. Investors are encouraged to review the related GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate our business.

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 as part of our overall assessment of our performance, including 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.

 

     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
     2020     2021     2020     2021  
                          
     (dollars in thousands)  

Non-GAAP gross profit

   $ 74,795     $ 91,791     $ 20,393     $ 24,612  

Non-GAAP gross margin

     91     89     88     88

The following tables provide a reconciliation of non-GAAP gross profit and non-GAAP gross margin to the most comparable GAAP measures, gross profit and gross margin, respectively, for each of the periods presented:

 

     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
     2020     2021     2020     2021  
                          
     (dollars in thousands)  

Total revenue

   $ 82,521     $ 103,285     $ 23,045     $ 27,955  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Gross profit

   $ 74,719     $ 91,668     $ 20,368     $ 24,563  

Add: Stock-based compensation expense

     76       123       25       49  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Non-GAAP gross profit

   $ 74,795     $ 91,791     $ 20,393     $ 24,612  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Gross margin

     91     89     88     88

Non-GAAP gross margin

     91     89     88     88

 

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    Three Months Ended  
    Apr. 30,
2019
    July 31,
2019
    Oct. 31,
2019
    Jan. 31,
2020
    Apr. 30,
2020
    July 31,
2020
    Oct. 31,
2020
    Jan. 31,
2021
    Apr. 30,
2021
 
                                                       
    (dollars in thousands)  

Total revenue

  $ 18,328     $ 19,890     $ 20,186     $ 24,117     $ 23,045     $ 25,160     $ 25,653     $ 29,427     $ 27,955  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Gross profit

  $ 16,763     $ 18,082     $ 18,232     $ 21,642     $ 20,368     $ 22,477     $ 22,517     $ 26,306     $ 24,563  

Add: Stock-based compensation expense

    13       18       21       24       25       36       30       32       49  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Non-GAAP gross profit

  $ 16,776     $ 18,100     $ 18,253     $ 21,666     $ 20,393     $ 22,513     $ 22,547     $ 26,338     $ 24,612  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Gross margin

    91     91     90     90     88     89     88     89     88

Non-GAAP gross margin

    92     91     90     90     88     89     88     90     88

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 financial measures as part of our overall assessment of our performance, including 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.

 

     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
     2020     2021     2020     2021  
                          
     (dollars in thousands)  

Non-GAAP operating loss

   $ (22,786   $ (28,196   $ (8,378   $ (12,280

Non-GAAP operating margin

     (28 )%      (27 )%      (36 )%      (44 )% 

The following tables provide a reconciliation of non-GAAP operating loss and non-GAAP operating margin to the most comparable GAAP measures, loss from operations and operating margin, respectively, for each of the periods presented:

 

     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
     2020     2021     2020     2021  
                          
     (dollars in thousands)  

Total revenue

   $ 82,521     $ 103,285     $ 23,045     $ 27,955  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss from operations

   $ (30,343   $ (33,080   $ (9,294   $ (14,109

Add: Stock-based compensation expense

     3,418       4,671       841       1,829  

Add: Litigation-related expenses

     4,139       213       75        
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Non-GAAP operating loss

   $ (22,786   $ (28,196   $ (8,378   $ (12,280
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Operating margin

     (37 )%      (32 )%      (40 )%      (50 )% 

Non-GAAP operating margin

     (28 )%      (27 )%      (36 )%      (44 )% 

 

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    Three Months Ended  
    Apr. 30,
2019
    July 31,
2019
    Oct. 31,
2019
    Jan. 31,
2020
    Apr. 30,
2020
    July 31,
2020
    Oct. 31,
2020
    Jan. 31,
2021
    Apr. 30,
2021
 
    (dollars in thousands)  

Total revenue

  $ 18,328     $ 19,890     $ 20,186     $ 24,117     $ 23,045     $ 25,160     $ 25,653     $ 29,427     $ 27,955  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss from operations

  $ (7,330   $ (7,467   $ (7,569   $ (7,977   $ (9,294   $ (6,703   $ (9,079   $ (8,004   $ (14,109

Add: Stock-based compensation expense

    650       1,007       913       848       841       1,366       1,135       1,329       1,829  

Add: Litigation-related expenses

    758       828       1,093       1,460       75       138                    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Non-GAAP operating loss

  $ (5,922   $ (5,632   $ (5,563   $ (5,669   $ (8,378   $ (5,199   $ (7,944   $ (6,675   $ (12,280
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Operating margin

    (40 )%      (38 )%      (37 )%      (33 )%      (40 )%      (27 )%      (35 )%      (27 )%      (50 )% 

Non-GAAP operating margin

    (32 )%      (28 )%      (28 )%      (24 )%      (36 )%      (21 )%      (31 )%      (23 )%      (44 )% 

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 years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021, our free cash flow included cash paid for interest on our long-term debt of $3.8 million and $6.0 million, respectively. For the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021, our free cash flow included cash paid for interest on our long-term debt of $1.4 million and $0.2 million, respectively. For the year ended January 31, 2020, our free cash flow included cash received from a litigation settlement, net of expenses, of $2.3 million. This amount was not material for the year ended January 31, 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021.

 

     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
             2020                     2021                     2020                     2021          
     (in thousands)  

Free cash flow

   $ (26,467   $ (41,997   $ (7,989   $ (3,419

The following tables provide a reconciliation of free cash flow to the most comparable GAAP measure, cash used in operating activities, for each of the periods presented:

 

     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
             2020                     2021                     2020                     2021          
     (in thousands)  

Net cash used in operating activities

   $ (21,757   $ (39,178   $ (6,148   $ (3,189

Less: Purchases of property and equipment

     (4,710     (2,819     (1,841     (230
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Free cash flow

   $ (26,467   $ (41,997   $ (7,989   $ (3,419
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities

   $ (4,710   $ (22,412   $ (1,841   $ 3,234  

Net cash provided by financing activities

   $ 35,780     $ 80,501     $ 6,488     $ 8  

 

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    Three Months Ended  
    Apr. 30,
2019
    July 31,
2019
    Oct. 31,
2019
    Jan. 31,
2020
    Apr. 30,
2020
    July 31,
2020
    Oct. 31,
2020
    Jan. 31,
2021
    Apr. 30,
2021
 
                                                       
    (in thousands)  

Net cash used in operating activities

  $ (11,547   $ (3,446   $ (6,412   $ (352   $ (6,148   $ (13,318   $ (13,143   $ (6,569   $ (3,189

Less: Purchases of property and equipment

    (374     (791     (1,505     (2,040     (1,841     (785     (144     (49     (230
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Free cash flow

  $ (11,921   $ (4,237   $ (7,917   $ (2,392   $ (7,989   $ (14,103   $ (13,287   $ (6,618   $ (3,419
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities

  $ (374   $ (791   $ (1,505   $ (2,040   $ (1,841   $ (785   $ (14,289   $ (5,497   $ 3,234  

Net cash provided by financing activities

  $ 24,831     $ 296     $ 218     $ 10,435     $ 6,488     $ 72,597     $ 342     $ 1,074     $ 8  

 

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BUSINESS

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 believe that for enterprises to successfully transform digitally, they must develop and deploy new applications, and also modernize and upgrade existing ones. As enterprises continuously face competitive threats and disruption in their transforming industries, delivering new, innovative customer applications is crucial to their ability to not only survive, but to build new business models and generate additional revenue. While new applications enhance the way we shop, how we collaborate at work and how we get our entertainment, to enable complete next-generation digital experiences, enterprises must at the same time modernize existing core applications such as inventory and customer relationship management applications. Legacy applications must be re-architected to handle user growth from tens of thousands to millions and provide always-available experiences. This modernization can be complex and challenging, as it requires enterprises to upgrade nearly all aspects of their legacy software, infrastructure and development processes. But re-architecting legacy applications is not only imperative to enable next-generation user experiences, it can create cost and operational efficiencies and free up critical human and capital resources that could be used to further drive business objectives and accelerate transformation agendas.

There is an urgent need for modern database platforms that can support both sides of digital transformation, and legacy database technologies, including mainframes and relational databases, are unable to do so effectively.

 

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While legacy database technologies were built to the highest performance and reliability requirements of their generation, they are approaching the limits for which they were designed. The underlying architecture of these technologies has not changed significantly, while the requirements of the applications they need to support are changing dramatically. Legacy database technologies are buckling under the pressure of digital transformation, as they were not built to update and respond in microseconds, enable rich, customized user experiences and perform without latency.

However, enterprises must weigh the need to migrate to the next generation of databases against the risks of disruptions and downtime of their most important applications as they attempt such migrations. Until now, there had not been a set of compelling events to push adoption of next-generation databases as the risks and the associated rewards had not reached a complete breaking point. We believe that we are now at the tipping point of this generational transition. Efforts to accommodate the limitations of legacy databases through ad-hoc temporary fixes and stopgap methods are no longer sufficient given the increasing impact and urgency of digital transformation initiatives. Moreover, while first-generation NoSQL players have attempted to address the limitations of relational databases, they were not architected for the scale and performance requirements of new mission-critical applications, nor were they designed to efficiently modernize and upgrade existing applications and their underlying infrastructure. Additionally, their implementation of NoSQL lacks the familiarity of the SQL language, which requires re-training SQL-fluent application developers, making adoption difficult and costly. These deficiencies have created additional barriers and largely limited the adoption of other NoSQL databases by enterprises to non-mission-critical applications, such as departmental applications or other applications that are limited in scope. A move to the next generation of modern operational databases is required to provide the performance, reliability, scalability and agility needed for enterprise applications.

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 employ a land-and-expand business model that makes it easy for enterprises to get started with Couchbase and, over time, as enterprises realize the benefits of our platform, allow such enterprises to frictionlessly expand their usage. Enterprises building new applications are able to start with Couchbase outright as the operational database. Enterprises looking to re-architect existing applications are able to start with Couchbase alongside existing relational or mainframe databases, allowing such enterprises to experience the benefits of Couchbase with minimal disruption. As customers realize the benefits of our platform, they are able to seamlessly re-architect existing applications, while building new ones, on the platform. Over this journey, as we displace legacy database technologies and become a primary data store for applications, our database becomes a source of truth, and ultimately, a system of record. This strategy has been critical to the growth of our business and we believe it will enable us to continue to capture significant opportunities in the future. Our customers have taken this growth journey alongside us. Based on internal data reflecting the type and complexity of data searches from a sampling of our customers, we estimate that in January 2018, approximately 45% of our customers used Couchbase as a source of truth or system of record for some or all of their business. By January 2021, we estimate that approximately 80% of our customers used Couchbase as a source of truth or system of record for some or all of their business.

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.

 

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We have achieved significant growth over our operating history. For fiscal 2020 and 2021, our revenue was $82.5 million and $103.3 million, respectively, representing year-over-year growth of 25%. For the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021, our revenue was $23.0 million and $28.0 million, respectively, representing period-over-period growth of 21%. As of January 31, 2020 and 2021, our ARR was $88.1 million and $107.8 million, respectively, for those years, representing year-over-year growth of 22%. As of April 30, 2020 and 2021, our ARR was $89.8 million and $109.5 million, respectively, representing period-over-period growth of 22%. Our net loss was $29.3 million, $40.0 million, $11.4 million and $14.6 million for fiscal 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021, respectively, as we continued to invest in the growth of our business to capture the massive opportunity that we believe is available to us.

Industry Background

We believe that operational databases represent one of the largest undisrupted opportunities within enterprise software today, with a 40-year-old technology underpinning the applications that pervade nearly every aspect of our digital lives. Every application, from one as simple as an alarm that wakes us up to those that power stock trading and food delivery apps, needs an operational database to access and manipulate data in real time. As digital transformation continues to take hold, the time is now for enterprises to adopt a modern database designed to support the enterprise applications that power modern customer experiences.

Relational Databases Designed for Applications of the Last Generation of Infrastructure

Relational databases were purpose-built for the last generation of enterprise infrastructure, leading to their near-universal adoption for applications. These applications, such as enterprise resource planning systems used to help manage an enterprise, were monolithic, deployed on-premise, had predictable usage patterns and accessed relatively small and rigidly-structured data sets. The usage of relational databases continues today, as they are a proven and mature technology and have large ecosystems of products, tools and expertise around which they are built. Most relational databases use SQL to query the database, and with over 19 million SQL developers in the world, the query language is familiar and easy to use for structured business data, even for non-technical users. Relational databases also offered ACID properties that provided confidence in data consistency and integrity for the last generation of mission-critical applications. While relational databases served the needs of the last generation of enterprise infrastructure, we believe they are ill-equipped and less cost-effective in meeting the challenges of ongoing digital innovation and transformation.

Our Lives Are Being Transformed by Digital Innovation, Requiring a New Technology Stack

With nearly every aspect of our lives becoming digital, there is a pressing need for companies to engage their customers through rich, personalized and differentiated online experiences. Everything we do is changing, from the way we shop, to the way we work, to the way we receive our on-demand entertainment. Wherever we are, we have come to expect digital experiences to be real-time, highly available, data-driven and always-responsive and to deliver novel and personalized experiences on any device.

The gateway from the physical to digital world, through which this new, innovative engagement comes to life, is applications. Applications enable experiences and experiences engage customers. Gone are the days that applications were merely a new way to enable a simple transaction, booking a reservation or buying an item online. Instead, the highly interactive applications we demand today must provide a new and better way to do everything, from securing the perfect itinerary to obtaining customized apparel. Applications must be able to support millions of concurrent users, leverage unstructured and structured data and react in real time to a massive amount and diversity of inputs. What was once a single transaction is now a customer journey though tens of thousands of digital interactions. The increase of digital behavior, the density and diversity of customer data and the ever increasing demands of users necessitate the need to process an exponential increase in data.

To handle the implications of our increasingly digital lives, and this insatiable demand of data, we believe enterprises must both build new highly interactive applications, as well as modernize existing ones and the

 

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infrastructure on which they run. Enterprises must modernize their technology stacks to remain competitive given the performance requirements of modern, interactive applications, ensure operational agility during peak usage periods and gain the TCO benefits of modern cloud architectures. To ensure the success of these modernization projects, the domains of application developers and IT operators are converging. This acceleration and convergence are resulting in new approaches to shortening, automating and improving application development.

Legacy Relational Databases Not Built for Modern Mission-Critical Applications

Legacy relational databases are simply not built to deliver the performance, scalability and agility that modern applications require. For enterprises to achieve digital transformation, new databases are needed to power new applications and re-architect existing applications. This is a result of the significant limitations of relational databases, including the following:

 

   

Not Built for Modern Applications or their Development. Relational databases use rigid, inflexible schemas that struggle to handle the wide variety of unstructured and semi-structured data generated by users and machines. These rigid schemas need to be determined at the outset of development, requiring dedicated DBAs to manage and change schemas if application requirements change during development. As a result, application developers are constrained by the need to adapt to database requirements made at the outset. Once applications have been written, applications need to be taken down to change out the database and to manage the schemas. These constraints conflict directly with agile DevOps practices today. As digital transformation continues to take hold, the rapid growth of text, graphic, audio, video and other unstructured data will only continue, increasing the need for a new modern operational database.

 

   

Not Designed for Performance. Relational databases were designed for tens of thousands, not millions of users. Today, with an increasing number of transactions expected, waiting for data to write disk storage becomes increasingly inefficient and cumbersome. Legacy databases also face limitations with only being able to scale up by buying new servers with more compute and memory. Modern applications require the ability to quickly and cost-effectively add more capacity to manage spikes in workloads.

Migration from Relational Databases Requires a Solution that Works for Both Enterprise Architects and Application Developers

Even though relational databases are struggling under the strain of digital transformation, enterprises must weigh the need to provide better customer experiences against risks associated with in migrating their databases as they modernize their technology stacks. Consequently, relational databases still hold a significant majority of the operational database market as enterprises have been using a patchwork of band-aid approaches.

Migrating away from relational databases for mission-critical applications requires alignment of both enterprise architects and application developers. Enterprise architects are focused on ensuring that mission-critical applications are high performance at scale, reliable, secure and privacy-compliant. Application developers, on the other hand, are focused on how effective they can be in building applications on a particular database. In an environment where merely being good enough is not a viable option, as is the case for mission-critical applications, enterprises need help to make the shift to modern solutions a seamless one for both operations and development because these applications must be delivered at scale, with high performance and zero downtime.

 

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Many Catalysts for New Modern Operational Database Platforms

Powerful trends are transforming the ways that enterprises manage their software application environments and underlying IT infrastructure:

 

   

Digital Transformation. Enterprises are investing in digital transformation to deliver modern customer experiences with applications that respond in microseconds. Legacy databases simply cannot provide the performance required for these modern applications.

 

   

Growth in Data Volume and Variety. The proliferation of connected devices, applications and users has resulted in a massive increase in unstructured digital data.

 

   

Cloud, Mobile and Edge Adoption. Enterprises are adopting cloud or hybrid architectures to support modern applications and need databases that can run anywhere, including at the edge and directly on mobile devices. The real-time transfer of data is essential and cannot have latency or be dependent on network or cellular connectivity.

 

   

Scalable, Reliable Performance. Modern databases need to support user bases on a global scale with 24x7 uptime requirements. If an operational database fails even for a minute, the customer-facing application could stop running, leading to lost revenue or dissatisfied customers, or in some cases, people being placed potentially in life-threatening situations.

These trends are driving the need for new modern operational database solutions.

Adoption of First-Generation NoSQL Databases Limited in Mission-Critical Applications

While first-generation NoSQL databases have attempted to address the limitations of relational databases, they have not been focused on mission-critical applications, which need to meet enterprise architects’ requirements of performance at scale, reliability, security and privacy compliance. Some first-generation NoSQL databases are still architected with a primary-replica architecture, limiting reliability and impacting their suitability for mission-critical applications. Additionally, their implementation of NoSQL removes the familiarity of the SQL language, and requires re-training SQL-fluent application developers. Finally, first-generation NoSQL databases do not enable a seamless migration and thus create an element of risk in the transition. These first-generation NoSQL databases fail to satisfy the requirements of both enterprise architects and application developers, thereby limiting adoption to departmental rather than mission-critical applications.

Enterprises Require a Different Database Architecture to Support Modern Mission-Critical Applications

We believe enterprises must architect their mission-critical applications onto high performing, flexible, modern databases to meet customer expectations that are now higher than ever and rapidly increasing. Enterprises need an operational database platform that can enable the deployment of new applications and the modernization of existing applications, and that has the following attributes:

 

   

Multi-Modal. Enterprises often have multiple systems of record across different databases that need to be incorporated into a single engine. The purpose is to keep all the data in a single data model. This multi-platform tangle creates high operational complexity.

 

   

High Performance in Real Time at Massive Scale. Enterprises need an operational database that is able to produce extreme throughput with the low latency required by the most demanding applications and deliver millions of operations per second. As the volume of data and user traffic increases, enterprises need a database solution that can easily expand rapidly using commodity hardware.

 

   

Flexible. Enterprises need a flexible and cost-effective database product with a toolset to support highly interactive modern software and application development, including flexible schemas with multiple access methods, a unified programming model, key value lookups, SQL queries, full-text search and real-time analytics.

 

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Ease of Operation. Enterprises require a comprehensive user-friendly database platform that enables such enterprises to build and scale modern applications more quickly and access markets at the edge and customers more efficiently, offers streamlined configuration, setup and ongoing management, taking advantage of multi-cloud agility, and helps provide high availability without compromising security.

 

   

Runs Anywhere. Enterprises need a distributed database that can span servers and cloud instances and any device on the edge because today’s cloud, mobile, IoT and other modern applications run on a distributed basis, often interacting with millions of users and devices around the world. Moreover, the ability to run in multi-cloud environments allows enterprises to avoid cloud vendor lock-in.

Our Solution

Couchbase provides a leading modern database for enterprise applications. Our database is engineered for high performance at scale to serve the needs of mission-critical applications that enterprises run their businesses on. Our database is versatile and works in multiple configurations, from cloud to multi- or hybrid-cloud to on-premise environments, and can be managed by the customer or 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, spanning from the cloud to the edge.

We have architected our platform with a long-term vision towards serving the requirements of the most demanding enterprises. As digital transformation continues to take hold and the demand for highly interactive applications intensifies, we have purpose-built our platform to empower enterprises to manage these increased demands and deliver the rich, personalized experiences that customers expect. We believe that our purpose-built approach, which has required us to solve major computer science problems, will enable our platform to perform at enterprise-class levels even as it addresses the increasing demands of emerging trends, such as self-driving cars, the proliferation of edge computing with 5G, augmented reality and blockchain.

We designed Couchbase to give enterprises a database for the modern world, overcoming the limitations of relational databases and at the same time enabling the high performance and massive scale required to deliver next-generation customer experiences by facilitating the creation and deployment of new applications and modernization of existing applications. As customers continue to demand more from their existing and new applications, our platform enables enterprises to move to our next-generation database to keep their mission-critical applications—and by extension, their businesses—competitive. 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 relational databases and that we are uniquely positioned and architected to serve both. For enterprise architects, we believe we provide a modern database that enables performance at scale and high availability required for enterprise applications, while providing significant TCO benefits, thereby lowering technology costs and ensuring more efficient use of resources. Couchbase is also the first distributed NoSQL database to be controlled within Kubernetes and provides push-button simplicity to automate many of the operational tasks around managing a database such as adding or removing nodes.

For application developers, we provide an easy-to-use modern database and platform that allows them to focus on building enterprise applications quickly and effectively. We also bring the flexibility and ease of NoSQL by providing “not only SQL,” which enables agility with a flexible schema, while maintaining the familiarity of the SQL language and removing the need to retrain application developers. Given the rising shortage of skilled application developers, this capability enables those who know SQL to transition to Couchbase from a legacy relational database without having to be retrained as they would for another NoSQL database.

 

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Our database is built on database query language N1QL, which gives application developers an expressive, powerful and complete declarative query language with industry standards set by the American National Standards Institute, or ANSI. For enterprises building new applications, they can start with Couchbase outright as the operational database. For those looking to re-architect existing applications, they can start with Couchbase alongside existing relational databases as a cache, significantly boosting performance. As customers realize the benefits of our full platform capabilities, they can seamlessly enable them microservice by microservice. Over this journey, our database becomes a source of truth for applications and ultimately a system of record, displacing legacy databases. This approach has been critical to the growth of our business and we believe it will enable us to continue to capture significant opportunities in the future.

Our customers have taken this growth journey alongside us. Based on internal data reflecting the type and complexity of data searches from a sampling of our customers, we estimate that in January 2018, approximately 45% of our customers used Couchbase as a source of truth or system of record for some or all of their business. By January 2021, we estimate that approximately 80% of customers used Couchbase as a source of truth or system of record for some or all of their business.

Key Customer Benefits

Our platform delivers the following key benefits and capabilities for our customers:

 

   

Single Unified Platform Eliminating Need for Point Solutions. Couchbase combines the performance of a caching layer to serve up data faster, a document datastore to provide high levels of durability and the reliability of a system of record with ACID to enable high performance in a single platform from cloud to edge. Our unified platform eliminates the need to manage independent technologies and data models and helps provide consistency between multiple databases and systems in different languages and APIs. We also enable customers to easily adopt our platform by starting wherever they need, whether it is a cache alongside existing relational databases or a new source of truth database to aggregate disparate data silos.

 

   

Architected for Uncompromised Performance at Massive Scale. Our customers can rely on Couchbase for tens of millions of operations per second and response times measured in microseconds. To enable such high performance and scale, we architected our database to be a memory-first database, running all operations in memory without the backlog from slower disk access, enabling microsecond response times and being capable of handling huge spikes in volume. Our architecture automatically creates copies of data across multiple nodes without a primary node that is vulnerable to data loss or interruptions. We have also built elasticity into our architecture to enable customers to configure Couchbase and optimize it for the highest performance across their workloads. Our mix of no-compromises high performance and scale enables our customers to use our platform for mission-critical applications that they have not entrusted to other platforms.

 

   

Architected for Flexibility to Enable Application Developer Agility. Couchbase enables the principles of agile development and CI/CD through a wide range of toolsets designed to provide maximum flexibility for application developers and give them the power to utilize the data inside our database. They include the following:

 

   

Application-driven database. While legacy relational databases have rigid schemas that require dedicated DBAs to manage the schema and handle migrations if requirements evolve during development, Couchbase was built with a flexible JSON data model to enable schema changes without downtime, enabling continuous deployment.

 

   

Leveraging common SQL queries. Through N1QL, we also leveraged 30 years of innovation in SQL such as join and aggregation operations and have extended it for JSON. N1QL’s unique capabilities enable enterprises to redeploy their SQL-trained DBAs and minimize disruption, enabling an easier transition from relational to our “not only SQL” version of NoSQL.

 

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Toolset for application developers to build rich applications. We have built an extensive toolset for application developers including indexing, query, full-text search, real-time analytics and eventing.

 

   

Designed for Ease of Operation. Our platform is engineered to meet the exacting availability, automation, management and security requirements of enterprises.

 

   

Reliability and resiliency through distributed replication. We enable five-nines availability with highly reliable replication. Within a data center, our database enables data replication up to three times across the nodes of a cluster. Between data centers, our XDCR increases application reliability by replicating data completely automatically across clusters in different data centers, whether they are in different clouds or regions.

 

   

Automation. Couchbase also automates common tasks to increase operational efficiency. Our database automatically shards data, instead of requiring a DBA to manually shard it, and automatically places shard replicas within the cluster. Our platform also manages auto-failover by autonomously detecting that a node or group is unresponsive from a network, disk or power failure, and then initiating the failover process. Nodes can be added or removed in minutes with push-button simplicity, without any downtime or code changes. When nodes are added or removed, the platform can also rebalance to redistribute data and indexes among nodes.

 

   

Native Kubernetes and cloud integration. Couchbase is also the first distributed NoSQL database to be controlled and automated within Kubernetes without manual deployment and life-cycle management. Our autonomous operator is also certified on Red Hat OpenShift and compatible with Amazon EKS, Google GKE and Microsoft AKS.

 

   

Full-stack security. Couchbase provides authentication, authorization and auditing to preserve the privacy and integrity of data and enable role-based access control. We also take a novel approach to security for databases by supporting the encryption of data at rest in addition to those in transit or held by applications.

With all of these features, in a study commissioned by us and conducted by IDC, customers studied saw an average increase in database management efficiency of 37%.7

 

   

Runs Anywhere from the Cloud to the Edge. We designed Couchbase to run wherever a customer wants, as a multi-cloud to edge distributed database that can be deployed on any combination of multiple public clouds, private clouds, virtual machines, containers and bare metal servers and right out to the edge. We have created a version of Couchbase for mobile edge deployments, where internet connectivity is not always possible. Couchbase Lite is an embedded, NoSQL JSON Document style database for mobile applications that natively supports all major operating systems and platforms. Its NoSQL client database provides capabilities that run locally on the device. When devices restore internet connectivity, Sync Gateway, our internet-facing synchronization mechanism designed to provide data synchronization for large-scale interactive web, mobile and IoT applications, is able to synchronize to local data centers running Couchbase Server. Sync Gateway allows customers to decide what data to synchronize and when to do so.

Customers looking for a turnkey way to deploy Couchbase Server are able to do so with Couchbase Cloud, our managed database service that provides users access to a turnkey database in the cloud, without having to purchase or install their own hardware or database software or manage their database. Couchbase Cloud, through a flexible consumption pricing model, further empowers customers to control their data, clusters, clouds, configurations and costs in a fully-managed NoSQL database.

 

7 

IDC interviewed seven organizations for this study in the first half of 2017. Such organizations were diverse by (i) geography, spanning the United States, France and the United Kingdom, and (ii) vertical, spanning retail and e-commerce, media and entertainment, healthcare, financial services, manufacturing and logistics and technology. The observed increase in database management efficiencies were over a five-year period. See the section titled “Industry, Market and Other Data” for more information.

 

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Our Competitive Strengths

Our competitive strengths include the following:

 

   

Powerful for Both Enterprise Architects and Application Developers. Our architecture is designed for high availability and performance at massive scale, while enabling agile application development with a flexible data model. This allows us to increase the impact of Couchbase with enterprise architects and application developers alike. To encourage application developer usage, familiarity and adoption of our platform, we offer a free Community Edition. Our Community Edition gives users a Technical Reference Model to try before they buy and to convert to Enterprise Edition as they gain scale and require additional functionality. Our platform leverages other open source tools for enterprise adoption and conforms to SQL, SQL++, Kubernetes, JSON and TPCx-IoT for IoT transactional benchmarking standards.

 

   

Land and Easily Expand on a Single Platform Workload by Workload. Our platform makes it easy for enterprises to get started with Couchbase and over time, we can take over database requirements for mission-critical applications. This increases adoption to make Couchbase a source of truth and system of record for enterprises and enables us to become a core part of our customers’ IT systems. We have seen rapid growth with our largest customers, as demonstrated by growth in ARR:

 

   

Our customers that had at least $1 million in ARR as of January 31, 2021 have increased their ARR by an average of 29x since the time of such customer’s first contract with us. ARR attributed to this category of customers has increased on average approximately 13x between January 31, 2016 and January 31, 2021, and represented 41% of our total ARR as of January 31, 2021.

 

   

Our customers that had at least $500,000 in ARR as of January 31, 2021 have increased their ARR by an average of 19x since the time of such customer’s first contract with us. ARR attributed to this second category of customers has increased on average approximately 10x between January 31, 2016 and January 31, 2021, and represented 56% of our total ARR as of January 31, 2021.

 

   

Enable Flywheel Go-To-Market Motion Combining “Buy-from” and “Sell-to.” Our go-to-market strategy is driven by our differentiated technology, which allows us to drive customer adoption through a mature “sell-to” motion targeting enterprise architects that is complemented by a “buy-from” motion targeting application developers. The success of our highly instrumented “sell-to” motion is evidenced by our customers representing over 30% of the Fortune 100 as of January 31, 2021, many of which are industry leaders that are willing references and participate in our sales efforts. We have opened up a “buy-from” motion with targeted marketing and community-building initiatives for application developers, along with product-led initiatives, including Couchbase Cloud. We believe that our go-to-market motion has created opportunities for both “tops-down” and “bottoms-up” sales efforts. This provides us with a powerful flywheel that will continue to expand the reach and awareness of our platform among enterprise architects and application developers, which we believe will enable us to drive more effective marketing initiatives, shorter sales cycles and higher sales volume.

 

   

Architected for Today and Tomorrow. We have architected our platform with a long-term vision towards providing the highest performance, reliability, scalability and agility for mission-critical applications at the largest enterprises all in one unified platform. In doing so, we have tackled and solved major computer science problems. We take pride in our approach and in not taking shortcuts to introduce products that compromise any of the expectations our customers have of our database and platform. Consequently, we expect our platform to perform even as continued digital transformation leads to ever-increasing data volumes and user requirements, all while supporting a distributed model at every tier, from the cloud to the edge. We are excited for our future, as the need for new databases only increases in importance as the ways we work, live and play become fundamentally technologically-driven, with emerging trends in self-driving cars, the proliferation of edge computing with 5G, augmented reality and blockchain.

 

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People and Culture (Be Valued, Create Value). Our most important asset is our people. We are committed to a work environment where each employee feels valued, respected and treated like a critical member of the team to contribute to the company as well as to the broader community. Our employees are innovators who thrive in our rapidly expanding ecosystem and make a positive impact on a global scale while charting the future of NoSQL database technologies. Our true purpose is greater than career aspirations and corporate missions—it is about making life better for everyone we care about.

Our Market Opportunity

The operational database market is one of the largest in the software industry and has yet to transition to next-generation NoSQL technologies. Based on data from IDC, we estimate that our total addressable market opportunity is approximately $42.9 billion in 2020 and expected to grow to approximately $62.2 billion in 2024. We calculated this estimate by aggregating the projected vendor revenue in the following IDC data management software categories: non-relational database management systems and relational database management systems.8 We believe that an increasing amount of the worldwide database software spend will be directed towards new technologies as workloads evolve to support dynamic data and data-driven applications.

Separately, we have calculated our total addressable market opportunity as approximately $57.4 billion. To arrive at this figure, we leveraged data from HG Insights that estimates on a company-by-company basis, the total database spend and total IT spend of each of the companies in the Forbes Global 2000.9 Using this data, we fit a linear regression between total IT spend and total database spend. Finally, we applied this linear regression to Gartner’s total worldwide IT spending forecast in 2020 to estimate the worldwide database spending forecast, which we believe represents our total addressable market opportunity.10

As customers realize the benefits of our platform, they increasingly migrate their existing applications and build their new applications on our platform. As this trend continues, we become a primary data store for applications and our database becomes a source of truth, and ultimately, a system of record, which further enhances our customers’ use of our platform. This strategy has been critical to the growth of our business and we believe it will enable us to continue to capture significant opportunities in the future. Once Couchbase becomes embedded as a system of record for our customers, they come to rely on our database and become loyal and growing customers.

The database market has experienced significant evolution in some parts of the database industry. Whereas operational databases help run applications, analytical databases do not operate in real time. They were designed to help businesses make decisions across a large set of data. Both categories evolved to optimize for the workloads they serve and have made core architectural decisions that make it difficult to serve both markets comprehensively. Already, we have seen tremendous transformation in the analytical database market driven by technology trends like machine learning and IoT. We believe that the operational database market is primed for a rapid and secular shift to next-generation NoSQL technologies.

Our Growth Strategy

Key elements of our growth strategy include:

 

   

Focus on Sustained Differentiation and Innovation for Enterprise Applications

 

   

Core Platform to Enable Agility, Flexibility with Performance. Enterprises are re-architecting mission-critical applications to allow them to function in the cloud, resulting in better scalability, user experience and security. Our multi-cloud to edge platform is architected to enable

 

8 

IDC; see the section titled “Industry, Market and Other Data.”

9 

HG Insights; see the section titled “Industry, Market and Other Data.”

10 

Gartner; see the section titled “Industry, Market and Other Data.”

 

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development of mission-critical applications at scale for the world’s largest enterprises. Our no-compromise approach appeals to both software architects and application developers alike. We plan to add more autonomous features to our platform, such as automation of monitoring and database management. Our platform has the replication capability to support a distributed cloud model at every tier, from the cloud to the edge, securely synchronizing data between web, mobile and IoT apps and the backend database. We also intend to add more cloud to edge capabilities to support applications that operate in disconnected computing environments.

 

   

Couchbase Cloud to Enable Easy Management and Consumption of our Sophisticated Core Platform. Couchbase Cloud is our fully-managed cloud product built on Couchbase Server which enables enterprises to control their data, security and operational costs while avoiding vendor lock-in on their IaaS provider. We believe that there is a substantial opportunity for turnkey deployment of our platform so that enterprises can focus on their strategic business objectives and innovation rather than managing a database. According to a 2020 study commissioned by us and published by Altoros, Couchbase Cloud processed more operations per dollar with a lower TCO compared to MongoDB’s Atlas cloud service and Amazon’s DynamoDB database service.11 Couchbase Cloud enables application developers to try our platform as part of their evaluation process, and we believe such free trials clearly present our platform’s compelling and unique functionality. We have continued to invest in Couchbase Cloud, our fully-managed DBaaS offering, to lower barriers to entry and improve the developer experience. In the second half of fiscal 2022, we plan to release virtual private cloud enhancements and other developer offerings, and in fiscal 2023, we expect Couchbase Cloud to be available on the major cloud infrastructure providers.

 

   

Building out a Strong Enterprise Go-to-Market Motion and Growing Mindshare among Application Developers

 

   

Expand within our Existing Customers. Many of our customers initially deploy our modern database platform for initial applications as a cache or source of truth. As these customers realize the benefits of our platform, they may choose to deploy Couchbase as a system of record for their mission-critical applications. Our platform is built for customers to consolidate multiple point solutions from caching to a document database into a single high performance, reliable, scalable and agile platform.

To facilitate minimal disruption and frictionless adoption, we enable the migration microservice by microservice away from legacy relational databases onto Couchbase. Our dollar-based net retention rate was over 115% for each of the past five quarters, highlighting our success with existing customers.12 The average ARR of our customers with ARR of $100,000 or more grew from approximately $440,000 as of January 31, 2020 to approximately $483,000 as of January 31, 2021.

 

   

Further Grow Our Customer Base to Add New Customers. Our go-to-market motion is built on a highly instrumented direct selling motion to enterprises for mission-critical applications. Our “sell-to” motion focuses on capturing the top down strategic demands of enterprises through enterprise architects. As part of our selling motion, we also partner with CSPs, ISVs, global and regional SIs and other vendors in the technology ecosystem. We believe our partners see Couchbase as a core part of delivering modern applications.

 

11 

TCO evaluations were conducted on three different cluster configurations—6, 9, and 18 nodes—as well as under four different workloads. TCO for Couchbase Cloud, MongoDB Atlas and Amazon DynamoDB were respectively calculated based on (i) per instance-hour costs billed by Couchbase and per infrastructural service costs billed by Amazon Web Services, (ii) the use of Atlas Instance, Atlas Data Storage and Atlas Data Transfer for cluster configuration and (iii) read/write capacities with no additional index or autoscaling. See the section titled “Industry, Market and Other Data” for more information.

12 

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 (Base ARR) attributable to our customers (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. Due to the availability of the data required to calculate our dollar-based net retention rate, we are not able to calculate our dollar-based net retention rate for any periods prior to the first quarter of fiscal 2021.

 

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We are also working on growing our “buy-from” selling motion through application developers, who are a key constituent driving digital transformation within their companies. We look to increase our impact with application developers through events and conferences, where we showcase the latest technologies and use cases of our platform. Couchbase Cloud provides flexible, highly available, differentiated economical options with low entry barriers to capture new customers. We believe that Couchbase Cloud will help build more awareness of the unique capabilities of the Couchbase platform and also make us more effective with application developers.

 

   

Building World-Class Teams. Couchbase’s foundation is built on the twin pillars of culture and people. We believe that we employ the best talent in the industry and enable our employees to do the best and most fulfilling work within a culture we believe in and care about deeply.

 

   

Culture. We believe our culture is critical to our success and has delivered tangible financial and operational benefits. Our values are at the core of everything we do. We work relentlessly to make Couchbase team members feel valued so they can then work together to create value for our customers, partners and stockholders.

 

   

People. As Couchbase continues to evolve and grow, we intend to maintain our focus on building world-class teams by hiring the best talent available and giving them the resources and tools required to succeed. We believe that there is a significant opportunity to continue to expand the use of our platform outside the United States and scale up our team. In the three months ended April 30, 2021, revenue generated outside of the United States was approximately 35% of our total revenue. We intend to continue to expand our sales and drive adoption of our platform globally while scaling up our team to serve our global customer operations.

Our Products

Our next-generation database and platform is designed for the requirements of enterprises who need performance, reliability, scalability and agility and for an easy transition from legacy relational databases to our platform.

Couchbase Server

Couchbase Server, our flagship product, is a full-featured, multi-service NoSQL database. With features like memory-first architecture, geo-distributed deployments and workload isolation, Couchbase Server excels at supporting mission-critical applications at scale while allowing for sub-millisecond latencies and five-nines availability. Unlike most NoSQL databases, Couchbase provides a comprehensive SQL-compatible query language, N1QL, that allows for a wide array of data manipulation functions. Couchbase also supports ACID transactions to preserve data integrity. Couchbase Server can be deployed on-premise or on any cloud. Its XDCR allows it to bi-directionally support multiple data centers or cloud regions.

Couchbase Mobile

Couchbase Mobile includes Couchbase Lite, a full-featured embedded NoSQL database for mobile and edge devices that enables an always-on experience with high data availability, even without internet connectivity. Couchbase Mobile also includes Couchbase Sync Gateway, a synchronization gateway that allows for secure data sync between mobile devices and the backend data store. Capacity can also be added at every tier—on the device, over the internet and in the cloud—to easily scale to millions of users as demand grows. Our Couchbase Lite Community Edition is designed around the popular embedded database, SQLite, and offers a robust query API and SQL-based semantics, indexing support, full-text search, analytics and eventing. Our Enterprise Edition builds on top of the robust functionality included in the Community Edition, and includes features such as encryption, peer-to-peer inter-device sync, on-device failover, predictive query API for machine learning predictions, delta sync for optimized data transfer and more.

 

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Couchbase Cloud

Couchbase Cloud is a fully-managed, automated and secure DBaaS that simplifies database management by deploying, managing and operating Couchbase Server across cloud environments with just a few clicks. Couchbase Cloud is flexible, highly available and provides a differentiated and economical option for enterprises looking to reduce operational tasks while taking advantage of the performance advantage of Couchbase Server and powerful NoSQL technology. Couchbase Cloud offers emerging best practices of transparent in-virtual private cloud and virtual network deployment, which secures and isolates data under a customer’s control.

Our Technology

We have taken a long-term approach in building our platform, enabling enterprises with the highest requirements to use Couchbase for their mission-critical applications. A core tenant of our development is committing to the highest standards and building a solution underpinned by key architectural decisions to sustain platform differentiation. In doing so, we have overcome some of the most challenging computer science problems in database technologies. We have not taken shortcuts that would compromise our performance for time-to-market advantages. Instead, we focus our innovation on not only solving modern data problems, but delivering solutions with elegance to our customers. For example, we architected our platform to be truly shared nothing, meaning that it is entirely distributed at every tier without a primary-replica architecture that legacy relational databases and other NoSQL databases utilize. Consequently, we believe our platform will continue to perform even as continued digital transformation leads to ever-growing data and user requirements.

Core Architecture

Couchbase is a modern database platform that offers integrated data access to enable enterprise architects and application developers to address the requirements of enterprise applications and to take advantage of cloud infrastructure. We have incorporated the following core design principles into our platform architecture:

 

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Memory-First

Couchbase is architected as a shared-nothing distributed database, leveraging fast memory and network to replicate data within a cluster and across data centers to achieve data resiliency and high availability at scale. With topology-aware clients and an integrated object cache, Couchbase can achieve sub-millisecond latency, which we believe eliminates the need for a secondary in-memory product as required with other databases. The integrated object cache reduces overall system complexity for development and operations and helps reduce TCO.

 

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Persistence

Couchbase enables write operations to happen at memory and network speed while asynchronously processing persistence, replication and index management. Spikes in write operations do not block read or query operations, while background processes will persist and replicate data rapidly without slowing down the rest of the system. This enables the system to maintain sub-millisecond latency even as the system scales to support higher workloads. Durability and consistency options are available to allow application developers to decide when and where to increase latency in exchange for stricter durability and consistency guarantees.

Elastic Scalability

Couchbase is architected to leverage the elasticity of cloud infrastructure and run on a cluster of commodity servers. As nodes are added or removed from a cluster, data and its replicas are automatically redistributed across the available nodes, without any interruptions to operational workloads and any manual interventions by administrators. Automatic data partitioning reduces operational complexity relative to other NoSQL databases that require users to manually specify how to partition data based on access patterns.

With our MDS technology, administrators can control the scalability of the services (data, query, indexing, search, eventing and analytics) individually based on their workload characteristics. With MDS, hardware can be optimized and provisioned based on the workload, making for more efficient use of compute, storage and network resources. We believe this enables Couchbase to deliver high performance with lower TCO.

ACID Transactions

By using our smart clients for collaborative transaction management, our platform does not require a centralized transaction monitor or distributed lock manager. With our architecture, transactions are partition-agnostic and do not require any special manipulation of data placements. The transaction semantics are honored for any document no matter where it physically resides in the cluster.

An advantage of Couchbase transactions is that customers are able to maximize platform performance by choosing when to use them. Customers can interleave operations that require strong ACID guarantees with those that do not to get both the performance and scale of a NoSQL system and the transactional guarantees of a traditional database. This gives customers the power to decide when to pay the transaction cost rather than having the database impose it unconditionally for every operation.

Distributed Replication

One of the key advantages of Couchbase is the built-in capability to distribute data and its replicas across multiple servers to support the 24x7 uptime requirements of mission-critical applications. Data and its replicas are intelligently placed across multiple racks and availability zones to protect against infrastructure failures. Couchbase also supports XDCR for high availability and disaster recovery to protect against large-scale data center failures. While traditionally data is replicated in minutes based on batch transfer of transaction logs, with Couchbase the data loss window is greatly reduced as data is replicated in real time from memory to memory in milliseconds.

Single Unified Platform

Similar to how a smartphone provides an order of magnitude improvement in simplicity and management by consolidating a telephone, music player, GPS navigator and web browser, we set out to consolidate multiple layers and components commonly used to develop an application into an integrated platform. With our memory-first architecture, we consolidated the distributed caching layer into the platform. We also consolidated the key-value store, document database, search engine and analytic database into a single integrated platform. These

 

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capabilities are available with a unified programming model, uniform DevOps automation and consistent security controls. The core capabilities of our platform include:

Key Value

Our platform can support millions of key-value lookups with sub-millisecond latency without requiring a secondary caching layer.

Query

Couchbase extends SQL, the standard query language used in the relational world, to support the JSON data model, retaining the benefits of SQL, including its high-level declarative nature, while allowing it to handle the more complex data structures commonly found in modern web, mobile and IoT applications.

Indexing

Indexes provide efficient means to query data without scanning the entire database. Indexes can be partitioned independently and as new requirements arise, applications can create new indexes with their own partition keys without affecting the performance of existing queries. With data and index separation, applications can add as many indexes as needed without affecting write latency.

Full-Text Search

Application developers can easily add powerful and flexible search capabilities to their applications, without the complexity of installing and managing a separate search engine. Our platform integrates full-text search with its query service to allow application developers to use full-text search queries directly within an SQL query, eliminating the need to write complex code to process and combine the results from separate SQL and search queries.

Eventing

Eventing is a highly available, performant and scalable service which enables user-defined business logic to be invoked in real time on the server when application interactions create changes in the data. Eventing makes it easy to develop, deploy and maintain data-driven business rules from a centralized platform, eliminating the complexity with maintaining and updating business rules in all applications consistently.

Analytics

With the Couchbase Analytics service, our parallel data management capability for Couchbase Server designed to efficiently run complex queries, Couchbase Server is able to support hybrid operational/analytical workloads. Users can run ad hoc analytical queries on operational data using a Massively Parallel Processing query engine, without impacting operational application performance or requiring the movement of data to a secondary analytics solution. The Couchbase Analytics service also allows quick ingestion of operational data, making it immediately available for analytical queries.

Develop with Agility, Deploy at Scale, Run Anywhere

The Couchbase platform and its integrated services are designed to enable application developer agility, while making it easy to secure, deploy and manage global deployments at scale.

Uniform Programming Model

With a single connection through our Couchbase Developer Application Toolkit, application developers can access all the Couchbase services using our client software development kits, or SDKs, in language-specific APIs

 

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with uniform syntax. Unlike other NoSQL databases, applications written on a laptop against a single-node development cluster will run without any code changes when deployed on a multi-node production cluster in which the data is automatically shared.

N1QL: Big Data and SQL Integration

Couchbase integrates easily with the big data and SQL ecosystem of an enterprise. Current supported integrations include Spark, Kafka, Elasticsearch and BI/ETL tools via CData connector such as Tableau, PowerBI, Talend and Informatica, among others.

Container and Cloud Deployments

Couchbase on containers and Kubernetes provides a powerful cloud-native data platform with autonomous database management capabilities, including automated deployments, auto-scaling based on workloads, scheduled backups and automated upgrades. Our Couchbase Autonomous Operator enables the DevOps team to run Couchbase through a Kubernetes platform and provides freedom from cloud vendor lock-in and supports hybrid and multi-cloud strategies.

Full-Stack Security

Couchbase provides end-end enterprise-level security for data everywhere—on the wire, on the device, in the cloud and in the data center. While the requirement to secure data remains unchanged, the security requirements differ at each layer. The Couchbase Data Platform is designed with all of these requirements in mind to simplify security enforcement and compliance.

Our Customers

Many of the world’s largest and most iconic companies are Couchbase customers. Our customers are comprised of over 30% of the Fortune 100, and over 25% of our customers were part of the Forbes Global 2000. While customers in the Fortune 100 and the Forbes Global 2000 represented a meaningful portion of our ARR in the aggregate, no one customer accounted for more than 5% of our ARR.

We have 549 customers across more than 50 countries, and our customer base includes:

 

   

Three of the top five airlines;13

 

   

Five of the top 10 telecom companies;14

 

   

Two of the top three logistics companies;15

 

   

Top two global hotel companies;16

 

   

Top three insurance companies;17

 

   

Two of the three largest credit reporting agencies;18 and

 

   

Three of the top 10 consumer goods companies.19

We have been adopted by enterprises across a wide range of industries. The following is a sample of our customers across industry verticals:

 

13 

The Points Guy; see the section titled “Industry, Market and Other Data.”

14 

Yahoo! Finance; see the section titled “Industry, Market and Other Data.”

15 

PaySpace Magazine; see the section titled “Industry, Market and Other Data.”

16 

Business Chief; see the section titled “Industry, Market and Other Data.”

 

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Consumer Goods / Services /

Retail & E-Commerce

 

        

 

Financial Services

            

Healthcare and Related Services

American Greetings

Domino’s

Inditex

PVH/Hatch

Rollins

   

Experian

Nasdaq

USAA

Western Union

   

Cloudmed Solutions LLC

Maccabi Healthcare Services

Takeda Pharmaceuticals

Software & Technology

     

Telecom

     

Travel & Hospitality

Intuit

LivePerson

NetDocuments

   

Amdocs

BT

Mavenir

Proximus

   

Amadeus

Avis

Carnival

Emirates

We have been successful in bringing enterprises onto our platform and growing with them as they realize its benefits. The number of our customers with ARR of $1 million or more grew from 16 as of January 31, 2020 to 23 as of January 31, 2021. The number of our customers with ARR of $500,000 or more grew from 37 as of January 31, 2020 to 48 as of January 31, 2021. The number of our customers with ARR of $100,000 or more grew from 170 as of January 31, 2020 to 193 as of January 31, 2021.

Case Studies

The examples below illustrate how businesses from different industries and with different use cases benefit from our platform and products.

Amadeus

Situation

 

   

A proven technology leader in the travel and hospitality industry for over 30 years, Amadeus has always been known for pushing the boundaries of technological innovation to provide the most value to its customers. A persistent challenge was a constantly growing “look-to-book” ratio (the number of flight search requests compared to actual flight bookings). In order to remain competitive, search results must be provided at lighting speed, 24x7, with real-time route and seat availability data and personalized to the traveler.

 

   

With the rise of online travel agents and metasearch players such as Expedia and Kayak over the last decade, this ratio went from a few hundred to well over 300,000 “looks” to “books.”

Solution

 

   

In 2013, Amadeus chose Couchbase for its performance, scalability and availability to consolidate the memcached-on-top-of-MySQL stack underpinning one of its highest demand systems—the Availability Processing Engine, or APE, which powers Amadeus’ search solutions. Since that initial implementation, APE experienced over 10x growth in traffic with a near-flat TCO at the database layer. By the end of 2019, the APE application was handling 20 million operations per second at sub-millisecond latencies.

 

   

Today, Couchbase is used in multiple lines of Amadeus’ business, deployed in several public and private clouds and numbers over 1,500 production nodes. Amadeus played a large role in helping to define and test Couchbase’s tight integration with Kubernetes to increase automation and standardization.

 

   

Couchbase’s XDCR has supported Amadeus to pursue a distributed data architecture, pushing some of that same availability data from their on-premise data centers into the public cloud in order to provide faster response times and higher availability.

 

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The similarity of N1QL to SQL has enabled their application developers to deliver complex applications once possible only on a relational database management system. In one case, Amadeus was able to onboard new customers more easily after deploying Couchbase. Thanks to its design, that same application is able to scale horizontally to meet demand while also delivering increased application developer agility (and satisfaction) and reduced time-to-market.

“Couchbase’s database makes it much simpler for our engineers to focus on what they do best: solving our customers’ business challenges—all the while improving collaboration with partners and developers. Our growing partnership will help us deliver the enterprise-class performance, scale, flexibility, reliability and traveler focus that our customers need, enabling us also to innovate more freely in key areas such as merchandising, New Distribution Capability or loyalty.”

Sylvain Roy, SVP, Technology Platforms & Engineering, Amadeus

BT

Situation

 

   

BT (British Telecommunications) is the oldest telecommunications company in the world, has offices in over 40 countries across the globe and is the principal fixed and mobile telecommunications operator in the United Kingdom. It has global revenues of £23 billion, employs roughly 100,000 staff and has a patent portfolio of circa 5,000 patents across strategically important countries such as the United States, China, Europe and the United Kingdom.

 

   

The TV division of BT (which broadcasts throughout the United Kingdom) wanted to transform their users’ experience with broadcasting and streaming on set-top boxes and mobile devices to increase customer satisfaction and offer new value-added services.

 

   

In 2014, BT knew that their legacy databases and vendor-supplied applications were holding them back. Seemingly small changes were taking weeks if not months to implement and the user experience was impacted by slow response times.

Solution

 

   

BT knew that they needed to move quickly, but they did not have the luxury of simply starting from scratch. They would be forced to modernize their systems and at the same time “keep the lights on” for their millions of TV subscribers. Couchbase was first implemented as a session store for BT’s set-top boxes, storing product catalogs and user profiles. Couchbase’s performance and ease-of-use meant BT could dramatically improve the user experience without replacing their legacy systems. As a first use case, this was a simple, low-risk but high-reward approach. After this initial success, BT began relying more and more on Couchbase as a source of truth for all user engagement across their web, mobile and set-top-box applications.

 

   

BT then turned their focus to cost. Couchbase was again able to play a critical role by providing a single technology platform that not only allowed them to quickly store and retrieve data, but also to query and search it. This allowed BT to consolidate multiple other niche data management systems and even some vendor-supplied applications into Couchbase. This resulted in reduced infrastructure costs (less hardware footprint), reduced operational overhead (less technologies to learn, manage and scale) and increased time-to-market (reduced developer friction and reliance on third-party vendors).

 

   

BT’s next project was their call center experience. BT was using a Hadoop stack to provide insight when customers called in with a fault in their equipment. It was meant to be in real time, but the actual response times reached upwards of 15 minutes. Hadoop was still the right solution for long-term analysis, but they needed to bring in a NoSQL database layer for the operational and time-sensitive

 

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(i.e., customer-facing) workloads. At first, BT chose another NoSQL database platform, but they quickly discovered that it was unable to scale to meet their needs. So, they turned to Couchbase and saw response times drop from minutes to seconds coupled with an increase in customer satisfaction.

“Quite simply, Couchbase is business-critical for us. As a NoSQL database, its ability to manage the vast number of interactions we process centrally, and share that with all relevant devices in real time, means it can ensure the best experience for our customers. The fact that it also supports enterprise-level availability, including full replication, means we can be sure we’re doing everything possible to ensure nothing disrupts our customers’ viewing experiences.”

Chris Bramley, Chief Technology Officer, TV & Broadband, BT

Carnival

Situation

 

   

Carnival Corporation is the world’s largest leisure travel company and has made exceeding guest expectations its number one goal. They have a fleet of more than 85 ships, serving over 740 worldwide destinations through nine leading cruise brands, in addition to a global portfolio of islands, ports, resorts, trains and motor coaches.

 

   

Their key challenge was to provide a personalized experience to their guests. The biggest ship is a floating city with more than 3,500 guests, 1,500 crew members, 7,000 sensors and 4,000 interactive portals. Providing a personalized experience at this scale was a monumental challenge.

Solution

 

   

To enhance guest-crew interactions and deliver a high level of personalized service on a large scale, Carnival rolled out the OceanMedallion device to persistently connect a cruise guest’s unique digital identity with an intelligent shipboard Experience Internet of Things (xIoT) ecosystem, powered by multiple Couchbase databases on board. The device enables all aspects of an elevated guest vacation including hassle-free payment, keyless and personalized stateroom access, frictionless embarkation, on-demand services and more.

 

   

In addition to scaling the personalized experience to all the guests on a ship and connecting all crew to the platform, it is also critically important to scale across an entire fleet globally with high availability. Couchbase’s ability to support synchronizations across multiple cloud data centers, and from cloud to edge databases, enables Carnival to manage its global fleet of ships that are sailing in all regions around the world while providing personalized and location-based experiences for their guests—in real time.

 

   

The OCEAN platform generates more than 100 million events per day, which is effectively more data in a 24-hour period than was previously collected over the course of a typical cruise line’s history. By leveraging Couchbase, Carnival collects and processes that data in real time which allows the operation to redeploy insights immediately back into the guest’s experience as well as continuously learn and become smarter.

“We have received multiple awards for our OCEAN Guest Experience Platform, including the prestigious Red Dot award. Couchbase Server is critical to our success – it delivers location-based, personalized customer interactions in real-time. With Couchbase Server, we are able to seamlessly synchronize data bi-directionally from ships around the world with our cloud databases.”

Greg Sullivan, Chief Information Officer, Carnival Corporation

 

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Domino’s

Situation

 

   

Domino’s, a world leader in food delivery operating in 85 countries with over 16 thousand stores and 3 million food items delivered every day, was looking at setting up a Commerce Data Hub for their internal data science efforts. Their main focus was real time customer segmentation and behavior analytics.

 

   

They needed a platform that could track average transaction size, annual purchase frequency and loyalty to determine customer lifetime value (CLV). They planned to use this information to deliver personalized marketing campaigns to target market segments and to reduce the overall time needed to perform data science experiments. Finally, they wanted the ability to perform data exploration on operational data in near real time.

Solution

 

   

Domino’s chose Couchbase because its flexible schema support allows their data science team to experiment with new customer attributes dynamically to design consumer segmentation strategy. Couchbase’s platform allows Domino’s to create the customer data hub for all their internal businesses without impacting other operational workloads running on Couchbase and other SQL data stores.

 

   

Couchbase was able to help Domino’s support the analysis of data in near real time. The net result for Domino’s was a reduction in time to create targeted consumer offers from weeks or months to hours. Couchbase enabled agile data mining models on order behaviors, propensity scoring and flexible attribute creation. Finally, Couchbase removed the need for lengthy data extraction, transfer and load processes (ETL) for data science experiments since Couchbase delivers a single unified platform, which eliminates the need for multiple point solutions.

“Couchbase provided us a single platform for operational and analytical workloads that enabled us to deliver insights to our business partners in real time. We were able to take things that we already knew about our customers and then combine that with new information to take action in hours vs. weeks or months previously. Couchbase not only provides schema flexibility, but also support for SQL queries and transactions, which has helped us to expand from our initial use cases around analytics to now leverage Couchbase across transactional workloads with our Commerce team and store operations.”

Dan Djuric, Vice President Global Infrastructure and Enterprise Information Management, Domino’s

Facet Digital

Situation

 

   

Facet Digital, a partner of Couchbase, is a full-service agency that helps businesses design, develop, launch and scale web, mobile and desktop applications.

 

   

With their existing CSP delivered DBaaS platform, they had difficulty achieving cost-effective performance that provides low latency and high throughput. Their legacy DBaaS platform had a time-intensive process where it took days to add, secure, and properly provision and optimize clusters.

 

   

Also, there was a lot of functional complexity and a huge operational burden for developers. Their legacy DBaaS platform had many load and throttling issues, required a lot of work arounds and did not support robust query or full text search in a single platform.

 

   

Finally, critical to them was the ability to avoid cloud vendor lock in and securely to support workloads on a global scale.

 

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Solution

 

   

After an extensive evaluation of multiple CSP delivered DBaaS solutions and third-party solutions, Facet Digital selected Couchbase Cloud due to its performance capabilities, low overall TCO and ability to consolidate multiple point technologies like a document store, query and full text search into a single platform that ran within multiple cloud platforms.

 

   

Couchbase Cloud also eased the overall operational challenges of managing a database with things like encryption at rest, and security best practices. Having this codified and managed by Couchbase was powerful because Facet Digital serves global clients and must consider GDPR and local privacy laws in the solutions they deliver.

“Couchbase Cloud has the best pricing and performance we’ve seen from a DBaaS. We’ve reduced total cost by 50% and increased performance by as much as 2,000% in key use cases.”

Scott W. Bradley, Principal Engineer, Facet Digital

“With Couchbase Cloud we have consolidated our infrastructure from three different products into one simplified platform. It used to take me 3½ days to get our legacy hosted solution set up, now I can spin up a new cluster in 20 minutes or less. That’s a major win for us!”

Jeremy Groh, Principal Engineer, Facet Digital

Maccabi Healthcare Services

Situation

 

   

Maccabi Healthcare Services, or Maccabi, an Israel-based healthcare organization, has over 30 years of technical debt and multiple legacy databases from different generations. Their applications suffered from many slowdowns and offline periods, especially at the beginning of the week when more people logged into their phones to check prescriptions, scheduled doctor visits and completed general health tasks. Further, their mainframe maintenance was growing more painful and Maccabi could not keep up with increasing demands.

 

   

With so much functionality moving to mobile applications, the demand on the software development team was expected to increase exponentially. In response, Maccabi wanted to move to a DevOps methodology to enable the continuous delivery of fixes and features which meant the platform had to be agile enough to allow the team to deliver releases in a monthly cadence.

Solution

 

   

Maccabi’s key requirements were a database that could perform well at scale, had integrated caching, a mobile offering and a SQL-like query language. Maccabi chose Couchbase because Couchbase met all of these requirements and offered other capabilities that Maccabi could adopt in the future such as full-text search, eventing, an analytics service and a Kubernetes autonomous operator.

 

   

Less than two years after the project began, Maccabi rolled out its mobile app to all its 2.3 million customers in Israel. By simplifying the architecture and offloading data from many different systems into Couchbase, their mobile application has seen a significant increase in speed, ability to scale to accommodate unplanned demand spikes and fortified availability.

 

   

The response exceeded customer expectations as evidenced by the significant positive feedback on the improved experience. Where the legacy app was rated 1-2 stars, the new app has earned ratings between 4-5 stars.

 

   

Since switching to Couchbase, customers have reported zero downtime or slowing of the application. Services like prescription fulfillment no longer require patients to go in-person to collect, and paper processes have been removed.

 

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Finally, In Israel, children older than 16 are able to live on their own, but in the past could not manage their own healthcare without their parent’s involvement, now these children are able to book appointments without their parents, and even restrict test results. With the flexibility and features provided by Couchbase, Maccabi sees immense possibilities for continually innovating and providing the best healthcare to its customers.

“We wanted a solution that seamlessly works across server and mobile, and that the developers could use without lots of retraining. None of the other solutions came even close to Couchbase’s broad enterprise capabilities.”

Ofir Kadosh, Chief Information Officer, Maccabi

PVH Europe

Situation

 

   

The fashion industry is no exception when it comes to the transformative power of modern technologies—technology has rapidly reshaped the consumer experience, enabling shoppers to do everything from virtually trying on clothes to seamlessly shopping via mobile phones.

 

   

Traditionally, fashion companies around the world produced a significant number of samples to represent the numerous labels in showrooms around the world. Buyers then traveled to a physical showroom to view the products.

 

   

An industry innovator, PVH Europe, wanted a game-changing path to revolutionize the way business itself was conducted.

 

   

PVH Europe identified an opportunity to develop innovative ways to leverage technology and digital transformation to rethink how its retail and wholesale partners view, choose and purchase products to offer customers.

Solution

 

   

In 2015, PVH Europe began to roll-out a revolutionary digital selling platform that creates an immersive, multimedia experience in Tommy Hilfiger’s showrooms, allowing buyers to efficiently explore entire fashion lines. Workstations within the Digital Showrooms display entire collections on monitors and half-meter by one-meter touchscreens that connect to a wall-to-wall grid of ultra-high-definition screens. Buyers can digitally see every item and, with a single click on the screen, see product details, pricing, buying history and delivery dates. Once they purchase, an instant email confirmation is sent, significantly reducing paperwork.

 

   

PVH Europe realized that providing the best experience to their buyers meant ensuring that the data powering these Digital Showrooms was as highly available as possible. The solution was to synchronize the necessary data from their core datacenters out to the Digital Showrooms so that it could be accessed locally without relying on the network between. In addition, PVH Europe needed to provide an immense amount of customization of that data to support multiple brands, seasons and locales while continuing to quickly deliver features that enhanced the selling experience season by season.

 

   

The combination of Couchbase Server in their data center and Couchbase Lite in the Digital Showrooms provided PVH Europe with offline access to their data while keeping it synchronized in near real-time. The flexibility of Couchbase’s JSON data model coupled with SQL-based querying and full-text search gave PVH Europe the flexibility they needed to merge datasets coming from multiple upstream sources and build a microservices architecture that is constantly evolving.

 

   

Since launching the concept, Tommy Hilfiger has already surpassed its target to reduce sample production by 80% at its flagship Digital Showroom in Amsterdam, with similar reduction projected

 

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for all locations globally. This supports the brand’s ongoing sustainability mission, diminishing the ecological impact of shipping.

 

   

Today, there are Digital Showrooms leveraging Couchbase technology in over 60 locations worldwide and they continue to leverage Couchbase across their multiple brands as a source of truth that serves various applications both on the web and in-store.

Marketing, Sales and Partners

Our marketing, sales and partner organizations work closely together to drive market awareness and adoption of our technology and services, build new business pipelines and develop strong customer and partner relationships to drive revenue growth.

Our go-to-market strategy is driven by the strength and innovation of our platform, as well as customer demand. The breadth and flexibility of our industry-leading, differentiated technology allows us to market to multiple constituents throughout an organization, including our two primary target audiences: enterprise architects and application developers.

We have two major avenues to drive customer adoption: through our mature enterprise “sell-to” motion and through our evolving application developer generated “buy-from” motion. Our highly-instrumented “sell-to” model aligns marketing investments with sales capacity to deliver sufficient pipeline creation to meet our business goals, taking into consideration lag times, sales cycle duration and conversion at each stage through the funnel. We have built a 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 and scale and TCO savings. Our “buy-from” motion is fueled by a range of product-led growth initiatives targeting our application developer community to drive adoption. For example, we offer free Community Editions of some of our products, free trials of the 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.

Our marketing, sales and partner organizations include field sales, inside sales, sales development, sales enablement, sales engineering, customer success, professional services, training, partner and marketing personnel.

Marketing

Our marketing efforts are focused on building our brand reputation as well as generating interest and demand for our platform from our two primary target audiences: enterprise architects and application developers. In addition, due to the broad set of capabilities of our platform, we also market our value proposition to many other key functions, such as operational and technical teams, that work with and support our two primary target audiences. We do this through a combination of awareness building, digital and field-based demand generation, including user and customer advocacy, and partner co-marketing.

We have designed our marketing initiatives to combine top-of-funnel tactics to expand our database of marketable contacts and bottom-of-funnel programs to deliver a consistent flow of qualified leads to our sales organization. We customize our marketing initiatives to most effectively engage our different target audiences, recognizing that they each have specific interests and goals and different ways that they engage with our platform on behalf of their organizations.

For enterprise architects and the key functions that support them, we focus our efforts on helping them to discover the strategic value that Couchbase can bring and its ability to accelerate digital transformation projects

 

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and help organizations scale. As part of these efforts, we invest in a variety of earned, owned and paid media to raise awareness of our platform and deliver targeted content to demonstrate thought leadership and increase our brand reputation. We focus on our enablement of digital transformation through our no-compromises approach to performance, resiliency, scalability, agility and TCO savings.

Our messaging to application developers focuses on how we improve their ability to build responsive and flexible applications that scale effortlessly, thanks to our flexible schema for continuous delivery, easy SQL-friendly query language, fully integrated SDKs for multiple popular programming languages and peer-to-peer syncing for mobile and edge computing. In recognition of the importance of the application developer community to our long-term growth, we are increasingly investing in initiatives to improve the application developer experience and increase engagement with Couchbase. Our efforts are focused on enabling application developers to use, experiment with and evaluate our platform as frictionlessly as possible.

Once we have identified qualified leads, we utilize nurture campaigns to accelerate sales cycles. We also use advanced predictive analytics and attribution tools to improve our targeting efforts and maximize the effectiveness of our demand generation investments, and ultimately, improve the return-on-investment from our marketing activities.

We plan to continue to invest in our marketing organization to increase awareness of our platform and grow our pipeline of sales opportunities.

Sales

We primarily sell through our direct sales force, which consists of field professionals and inside sales personnel. Our sales organization is generally segmented based on account size, geography and, in our larger geographic markets, by industry vertical. As of April 30, 2021, we had customers in more than 50 countries. To reach potential customers, we have built a significant field presence across the Americas, EMEA and APAC.

While we sell to organizations of all sizes across a broad range of industries, our key focus is on enterprises that invest more heavily in software application development and deployment. These organizations are increasingly investing in digital transformation and moving from legacy IT architectures, which create a greater need to have operational databases that can effectively and efficiently support mission-critical applications. Selling to such organizations may also involve long, complex sales cycles, for which we have architected a well-instrumented enterprise sales model to support.

Our direct sales force includes sales engineers with deep technical expertise who provide pre-sales demonstrations to help prospective customers identify key use cases, as well as pre-sales technical support and solutions engineering for our customers. Our sales organization also leverages support from the strength of our customer advocacy. Many of our existing customers, including industry leaders across multiple verticals, are willing to actively engage as references and participate in our sales efforts.

Once adopted, usage of our modern database often rapidly expands across the enterprise. The integrated functionality and flexibility of our platform allows customers to extend node usage within existing use cases as well as expand our platform to new use cases. Our customer success team is a key driver of this land-and-expand model and engages with customers to help ensure that they are receiving value from our platform while also supporting a growing relationship over time by proactively guiding our customers to realize other strategic and transformative use cases and adopt our services. Our larger customers have specific customer success managers that track their monthly adoption of Couchbase products and services and map the value they are receiving on our platform. Our customer success team has also developed a Customer 360 platform that provides key internal stakeholders a common view of product adoption and a consistent customer engagement model across all lines of business.

 

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Our land-and-expand efforts are also supported by our professional services and training organizations. Our professional services organization consists of subject matter experts that focus on helping customers accelerate their time to production and time to value. In particular, our professional services organization focuses on helping application developers with tooling, designing and optimizing their use of our SDK, advising architects on modernizing and effecting their database migration strategies and advising administrators on best practices for database operational management and monitoring. Our training team provides a full range of both free and paid training for architects, application developers and administrators to accelerate the implementation process and help organizations drive rapid adoption and engagement with our platform. Our application developer training covers a range of programming languages and advanced topics such as data modeling. Our architect training covers database migration and database technology design, as well as mobile database architecture with Android and iOS. Our administrator training covers database operational monitoring, management and security.

We plan to continue to invest in our sales force to grow our customer base, both domestically and internationally, and to expand the use of our platform within existing customers.

Partners

We believe that strong engagement with our partner ecosystem affords us increased reach and greater distribution of our platform. Our PartnerEngage program, which serves as our umbrella program is tailored to enable our partners to deliver an excellent experience for customers while achieving profitable growth. For our customers, PartnerEngage provides more options and enhanced availability to reach Couchbase.

Our partner efforts are focused on the following:

 

   

Cloud Service Providers. CSPs are increasingly utilized by our customers to deliver IaaS and Platform-as-a-Service, such as DBaaS. We partner with major CSPs on joint marketing programs and co-sell initiatives.

 

   

Independent Software Vendors. We work with ISVs, such as Amdocs, to embed or bundle our platform with the applications or other solutions offered by ISVs to their customers.

 

   

Systems Integrators. SIs, such as Infosys, incorporate Couchbase into technology solutions, both across and within specific verticals, and offer professional services to assist customers with application development, platform and cloud migrations and adoption.

 

   

Technology Partners. We have a robust ecosystem of technology partners with partner-validated integrations with Couchbase. We develop joint solutions and go-to-market motions with these partners, such as Red Hat.

In addition, we have developed partnerships with managed service providers and local and regional resellers. A significant portion of our revenue in fiscal 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2021 was attributable to our partner ecosystem.

Our Culture and People

We believe the foundation of our current and future success is our world-class organization, which combines our exceptional people with a culture we believe in and care deeply about. We are building a company that we are proud of, focusing on how we do things as much as on what we do.

Our Values

Our values are the bedrock of our culture, weaving together elements of our past, present and future into a framework comprised of two foundational pillars and six beliefs. Our values stand as a guide for our intentions, behaviors, decisions, strategies and actions.

 

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Be Valued

 

   

Be a Good Human, Always. Be authentic. Assume and act with positive intent, even in tough times. Eliminate bias, foster inclusion. Be your best self. Smile.

 

   

Act with Uncompromising Integrity, Period. Do the right thing, every time. Build trust with all constituents. Be honest and transparent. Do what you say. Be proactive.

 

   

Serve Your Family, As Defined by You. Put your family first. Let the company work for you in times of need. Help your family benefit through the company’s success.

Create Value

 

   

Attack Hard Problems, Driven by Customer Outcomes. Be courageous and innovative. Satisfy unmet, underserved needs. Deliver technical excellence and honesty. Enable transformations.

 

   

Play to Win, Together. Plan for success. Put in the work, be proud of it. Balance confidence and humility. Never lose alone. Be a great teammate. Celebrate.

 

   

Make Tomorrow Better than Today, Start Now. Have a bias for action. Execute with intensity and urgency. Know you have an impact. What we do matters. Enjoy the journey.

We work relentlessly to make Couchbase team members feel valued so they can then work together to create value for our customers, partners and stockholders. In a world where career choices for high performers are plentiful, we believe our culture is why top talent choose to join and stay at Couchbase. Couchbase culture is woven into the fabric of our hiring, onboarding, development, promotion and recognition practices. It is also the driving force behind Couchbase Cares, our multifaceted internal program that supports global diversity, inclusion and belonging, sustainability, philanthropy, volunteering and employee wellness priorities. In addition, our culture guides Couchbase’s total rewards strategy, which includes compensation, benefits, office and lifestyle perks, workplace experience and safety and career growth programs and will continue to be a sustainable competitive advantage as we attract, develop and retain the highly-skilled talent necessary to execute on our business growth strategies.

There are many ways we measure the health of our culture and how others embrace and engage with it, including the following:

 

   

In April 2021, we had a 98% recommendation rating, a company rating of 4.8 out of 5 and a 99% CEO approval on Glassdoor.

 

   

The San Francisco Business Times and Silicon Valley Business Journal recognized Couchbase in their 2020 Best Places to Work rankings, including ranking us as #1 for the 2020 Workplace Wellness Award for mid-sized companies.

 

   

Battery Ventures listed us among the 25 Highest-Rated Private Cloud Computing Companies to Work for During the COVID Crisis.

As of April 30, 2021, we had a total of 597 employees located in 21 countries, including 253 in sales and marketing, 233 in research and development and 54 in general and administrative functions. We also engage contractors and consultants as needed to support our operations.

In certain countries in which we operate, we are subject to, and comply with, local labor law requirements which may automatically make our employees subject to industry-wide collective bargaining agreements. None of our U.S. employees are represented by a labor union or covered by a collective bargaining agreement with respect to their employment with us. We have not experienced any work stoppages and we consider our relations with our employees to be good.

 

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Research and Development

Our research and development organization is responsible for the research, design, architecture, development, testing and quality of our platform as well as the continued maintenance and improvement of our existing products. Our research and development organization consists of platform and cloud engineering, product management, quality engineering and performance engineering teams.

Our software development process is based on iterative releases leveraging small functional teams. Our small development teams enable greater agility and efficiency to develop new features and enhance our existing products.

Our research and development organization is primarily located in the United States, the United Kingdom and India as well as remotely distributed across the globe, which we believe is a strategic advantage for us, allowing us to develop and expand our technology capabilities more efficiently.

We believe continued investment in our technology, including investment in our platform and bringing new products to market, is important to attaining our strategic objectives. Our research and development expenses were $31.7 million, $39.0 million, $9.0 million and $12.5 million in fiscal 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Intellectual Property

Our success depends, in part, upon our ability to protect our intellectual property rights with respect to our technology, inventions, improvements, proprietary rights and other assets. We seek to accomplish that objective by obtaining intellectual property rights in, and protecting such assets through, a combination of patent applications, copyrights, registered and unregistered trademarks, trade secrets, license agreements, confidentiality procedures, non-disclosure agreements, intellectual property assignment agreements and other contractual measures. However, intellectual property laws and contractual restrictions provide only limited protection. For example, we do not have any issued patents related to our products, technology, processes and systems, and we rely upon unpatented trade secrets, confidential know-how and confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, developers, partners and vendors to protect such proprietary rights. We have experienced and may in the future experience unauthorized access of our proprietary source code, confidential information and know-how. We have initiated 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. As of April 30, 2021, we owned four pending U.S. patent applications and one pending PCT application. Any patents that may issue from our pending applications in the United States and other jurisdictions are scheduled to expire beginning in 2040, excluding any additional term for patent term adjustments or extensions. In addition, as of April 30, 2021, we owned five registered trademarks in the United States and 19 registered trademarks in non-U.S. jurisdictions. Finally, we have registered domain names for websites that we use in our business, including www.couchbase.com. Information contained on, or accessible through, our website does not constitute part of this prospectus and inclusions of our website address in this prospectus are inactive textual references only. You should not consider information contained on our website to be part of this prospectus or in deciding whether to purchase shares of our common stock.

We intend to pursue additional intellectual property protection to the extent we believe it would be beneficial and cost-effective. Despite our efforts to protect our intellectual property rights, such rights may be invalidated, circumvented or challenged. Our industry is characterized by the existence of a large number of patents and frequent claims and related litigation based on allegations of patent infringement or other violations of intellectual property rights. We believe that competitors will try to develop products that are similar to ours and that may infringe our intellectual property rights. Our competitors or other third parties may also claim that our platform and other solutions infringe their intellectual property rights. In particular, some companies in our

 

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industry have extensive patent portfolios. From time to time, third parties have asserted in the past and may in the future assert claims of infringement, misappropriation and other violations of intellectual property rights against us or our customers, with whom our agreements may obligate us to indemnify them against these claims. Successful claims of infringement by a third party could prevent us from offering certain products or features, require us to develop alternate, non-infringing technology, which could require significant time and during which we could be unable to continue to offer our affected products or solutions, require us to obtain a license, which may not be available on reasonable terms or at all, or force us to pay substantial damages, royalties or other fees.

Our products, including the Enterprise Edition of our Couchbase platform, include software that is licensed to us by third-party authors under open source licenses, and we expect to continue to incorporate such open source software in our products in the future. Although most of our code is developed in-house, we also contribute to and receive a limited amount of contributions from the open source developer community. 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 community, but our recent decision to license source code under BSL 1.1, a source-available license, may negatively impact adoption of the source code for Couchbase Server 7.0 and future releases, reduce our brand and product awareness and ultimately negatively impact our ability to compete. Further, the continued availability of our source code may also enable others to compete more effectively. 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, the public availability of source code of such software may make it easier for others to compromise our products. Some competitors make open source software available for free download or use or may position competing open source software as a loss leader. We may not be able to compete successfully against current and future competitors, and competitive pressure or the availability of open source software may result in price reductions, reduced revenue and gross margins and loss of market share. Our use of open source software may also limit our ability to assert certain of our intellectual property and proprietary rights against third parties, including competitors, who access or use software or technology that we have contributed to such open source projects.

See the section titled “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property and Open Source” for information regarding risks related to our intellectual property and our use of open source.

Compliance with Government Regulation

We are subject to various federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations, including those relating to data privacy, security and protection, intellectual property, employment and labor, workplace safety, consumer protection, anti-bribery, import and export controls, immigration, federal securities and tax. In addition, we are subject to various laws and regulations relating to the formation, administration and performance of contracts with our customers in heavily regulated industries and the public sector, which affect how we and our partners do business with such customers. Additional laws and regulations relating to these areas likely will be passed in the future, and these or existing laws and regulations may be interpreted or enforced in new or expanded manners, each of which could result in significant limitations on ways we operate our business. New and evolving laws and regulations, and changes in their enforcement and interpretation, may require changes to our platform, products, services or business practices, and may significantly increase our compliance costs and otherwise adversely affect our business and results of operations. As our business expands to include additional products and services, and our operations continue to expand internationally, our compliance requirements and costs may increase and we may be subject to increased regulatory scrutiny.

 

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See the section titled “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Legal and Regulatory Environment” for additional information about the laws and regulations we are subject to and the risks to our business associated with such laws and regulations.

Competition

The 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. A number of other companies have developed or are developing products and services that compete with some or all of our products or have functionalities similar to those of our platform. These competing offerings may also be complimentary with ours and customers often deploy our platform alongside a competitor’s product. However, many of these competing products and services do not offer complete solutions—often they provide accessory solutions or a feature comparable to a component of our platform.

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. 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.

We believe the primary factors of competition in our market include:

 

   

effectiveness with both enterprise architects and application developers;

 

   

platform functionality, including agility, flexibility and performance at scale;

 

   

ease of deployment, management and operation;

 

   

ability to enable flexible deployment across on-premise, cloud, hybrid and mobile environments;

 

   

ability to handle massive and increasing data volumes;

 

   

ability to provide best-of-breed solutions;

 

   

ability to bundle and address a variety of evolving customer needs, requirements and use cases in one platform;

 

   

ability to provide enterprise-class technology that is secure and reliable;

 

   

variety of consumption models and offerings;

 

   

price and TCO;

 

   

strength of sales and marketing efforts; and

 

   

brand awareness and reputation.

We believe we compete favorably on these factors.

We plan to continue to innovate and evolve our platform and technology to empower our customers. However, we could face significant risks to our business, financial condition and results of operations as a result of competition. For additional information, see the section titled “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business and 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.”

Facilities

Our corporate headquarters is in Santa Clara, California, where we currently lease approximately 46,000 square feet under a lease agreement that expires in March 2025. We also lease facilities in the United States in San Francisco, California and Austin, Texas, as well as internationally in Bangalore, India and London and Manchester, United Kingdom. We lease all of our facilities and do not own any real property.

 

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We believe that our facilities are suitable to meet our current needs. However, we intend to expand our facilities and add new facilities as we add employees and enter new geographic markets, and we believe that suitable additional or alternative space will be available as needed to accommodate any such growth. We expect to incur additional expenses in connection with such new or expanded facilities.

Legal Proceedings

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.

 

17 

Insurance Business America; see the section titled “Industry, Market and Other Data.”

18 

Investopedia; see the section titled “Industry, Market and Other Data.”

19 

Consumer Goods Technology; see the section titled “Industry, Market and Other Data.”

 

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MANAGEMENT

Executive Officers and Directors

The following table provides information regarding our executive officers and directors as of May 31, 2021:

 

Name

  

Age

    

Position(s)

Executive Officers:

     

Matthew M. Cain

     43     

President, Chief Executive Officer and Director

Gregory N. Henry

     50     

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Margaret Chow

     38     

Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary

Denis Murphy

     57     

Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer

Non-Employee Directors:

     

Edward T. Anderson

     71     

Director

Carol W. Carpenter(1)

     54     

Director

Lynn M. Christensen(2)

     59     

Director

Kevin J. Efrusy(3)

     49     

Director

Jeff Epstein(2)(3)

     64     

Director

Aleksander J. Migon(3)

     41     

Director

Rob Rueckert(1)

     48     

Director

David C. Scott(3)

     59     

Director

Richard A. Simonson(1)(2)(4)

     62     

Director

 

(1)

Member of our nominating and corporate governance committee.

(2)

Member of our audit committee.

(3)

Member of our compensation committee.

(4)

Lead independent director.

Executive Officers

Matthew M. Cain. Mr. Cain has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of our board of directors since April 2017. Prior to joining us, he served as President of Worldwide Field Operations for Veritas Technologies LLC, a data management company, from April 2016 to October 2016, and as its Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer from October 2014 to March 2016. Mr. Cain also previously held a variety of senior leadership positions at Symantec Corporation, a security software company, from February 2012 to September 2014, and at Cisco Systems, Inc., a networking solutions company, from July 2000 to August 2003 and August 2005 to January 2012. Mr. Cain holds an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University.

Mr. Cain was selected to serve on our board of directors because of the perspective and experience he brings as our President and Chief Executive Officer.

Gregory N. Henry. Mr. Henry has served as our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since November 2016. Prior to joining us, he served as Senior Vice President of Finance at ServiceNow, Inc., an enterprise operations software company, from May 2015 to November 2016. Prior to ServiceNow, Mr. Henry

 

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held various senior executive financial positions at General Electric Healthcare, a medical technology and solutions company, from September 2001 to May 2015. Previously in his career, he served as a Manager (Cash & Investments) at Legion Insurance Company, an insurance agency, from October 1998 to September 2001 and as an auditor at Ernst & Young LLP, an accounting firm, from January 1994 to October 1998. Mr. Henry holds a B.B.A. in Accounting from University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business. He is also a C.P.A. (inactive).

Margaret Chow. Ms. Chow has served as our Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary since March 2020. Prior to joining us, she was with Medallia, Inc., a customer experience management software company, from February 2014 to December 2019, where she served most recently as Vice President and Deputy General Counsel and advised the company through its initial public offering. Prior to Medallia, Ms. Chow served as Associate General Counsel at UsableNet, Inc., a website accessibility and digital transformation company, from April 2011 to January 2014. Previously in her career, Ms. Chow was an Associate at Davis Polk and Wardwell LLP, a law firm. Ms. Chow holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a B.A. in Molecular Cell Biology—Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a B.A. in Economics from University of California, Berkeley.

Denis Murphy. Mr. Murphy has served as our Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer since June 2019. Prior to joining us, Mr. Murphy served as a strategic advisor to various early-stage privately-held companies from January 2014 to June 2019, and from May 2015 to October 2017, served as Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Nimble Storage, Inc., a flash storage technology company which was acquired by Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company in April 2017. Prior to Nimble Storage, Mr. Murphy held several leadership and management positions at Anaplan, Inc., a business planning and performance management software company, at Nicira Networks, Inc., a networking software company which was acquired by VMware, Inc. in September 2012, and at Riverbed Technology, Inc., a network technology company, from September 2003 to August 2013. Previously in his career, Mr. Murphy held various sales and account manager roles at EMC Corporation, an enterprise storage systems company, from May 1999 to January 2001 and at Mercury Interactive, an IT management software and services company, from July 1997 to May 1999. Mr. Murphy holds an M.B.A. in International Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Non-Employee Directors

Edward T. Anderson. Mr. Anderson has served as a member of our board of directors since January 2020. Mr. Anderson founded two venture capital firms, North Bridge Venture Partners in May 1993, where he currently serves as a Managing Partner focusing on early-stage high-tech companies, and North Bridge Growth Equity in February 2007. Mr. Anderson currently serves on the board of directors of Lyra Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company. He also serves on the board of directors of several privately-held companies. Mr. Anderson holds an M.S. from Columbia Business School and a B.F.A. from University of Denver, where he has served on the board of trustees since 2011 and currently serves as chair on its Investment Committee.

Mr. Anderson was selected to serve on our board of directors because of his extensive experience as a venture capital investor, his knowledge of technology companies and his experience as a director of public companies.

Carol W. Carpenter. Ms. Carpenter has served as a member of our board of directors since May 2021. Ms. Carpenter has been serving as Chief Marketing Officer of VMWare, Inc., a cloud computing and virtualization technology company, since June 2020. Prior to VMware, she served as Vice President, Product Marketing of Google Cloud Platform at Google, LLC, a technology company, from January 2017 to May 2020. Prior to Google Cloud, she served as Chief Executive Officer or ElasticBox Inc., a cloud computing company that has been acquired by CenturyLink, Inc., from January 2015 to December 2016. Ms. Carpenter has served on the board of directors of Dice Holdings Inc., a career website company, from June 2014 to January 2021. Ms. Carpenter holds an M.B.A. from Harvard University and a B.A. in Economics from Stanford University.

 

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Ms. Carpenter was selected to serve on our board of directors because of her experience as an executive and director of technology companies.

Lynn M. Christensen. Ms. Christensen has served as a member of our board of directors since May 2021. Prior to joining us, she held several positions at Workday, Inc., an enterprise resource planning software company, most recently as Chief of Staff for Products and Technology from December 2018 until her retirement in July 2020 and as SVP of Products from March 2015 to November 2018. Ms. Christensen holds an M.B.A. from San Francisco State University and a B.S. in Computer Information Systems from Arizona State University.

Ms. Christensen was selected to serve on our board of directors because of her operational experience with and knowledge of technology companies.

Kevin J. Efrusy. Mr. Efrusy has served as a member of our board of directors since November 2008. Mr. Efrusy joined Accel Partners, a venture capital firm, in March 2003, where he currently serves as Partner focusing on software and consumer companies. Mr. Efrusy currently also serves on the board of directors of numerous privately-held companies. Mr. Efrusy holds an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he served on its management board from 2013 to 2019, and holds an M.S. and B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a B.A. in Economics from Stanford University.

Mr. Efrusy was selected to serve on our board of directors because of his extensive experience as a venture capital investor, his extensive experience as a director of publicly- and privately-held companies and his knowledge of technology companies.

Jeff Epstein. Mr. Epstein has served as a member of our board of directors since June 2015. Mr. Epstein is an Operating Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, a venture capital firm, which he joined in November 2011, and a Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Apex Technology Acquisition Corp., a blank check company formed for the purpose of mergers and acquisitions, which he joined in June 2019. Mr. Epstein was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Oracle Corporation, an enterprise software company, from September 2008 to April 2011. Prior to joining Oracle, Mr. Epstein served as chief financial officer of several public and private companies, including DoubleClick, an Internet advertising technology company which was acquired by Google LLC, at King World Productions, a television programming company which was acquired by CBS, and at Nielsen’s Media Measurement and Information Group, a data and measurement company. Mr. Epstein has served on the board of directors of Okta, Inc., an identity and access management company, since June 2021, on the board of directors of Poshmark, Inc., a social commerce marketplace company, since April 2018, on the board of directors and as lead independent director of Twilio Inc., a cloud communications company, since July 2017 and on the board of directors of Shutterstock, Inc., a global provider of licensed imagery, from April 2012 to June 2021. Mr. Epstein holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Mr. Epstein was selected to serve on our board of directors because of his experience as an executive and director of technology companies.

Aleksander J. Migon. Mr. Migon has served as a member of our board of directors since May 2020. Mr. Migon is a Managing Partner at GPI Capital, a growth equity investment firm, which he co-founded in April 2016. Prior to joining GPI Capital, Mr. Migon served as a Managing Director of Global Partnership Investing at BTG Pactual, an investment management firm, from April 2015 to May 2016. Prior to BTG Pactual, Mr. Migon served as a Portfolio Manager of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, a pension fund, from August 2010 to April 2015, as a Corporate Development Consultant at George Weston Limited, a food processing and distribution business, from May 2009 to August 2010, as an Associate at Moore Capital Management LP, an investment management firm, from September 2007 to February 2008 and as an Associate at Merrill Lynch, an investment bank, from March 2004 to August 2007. Mr. Migon holds a B.Comm. in Economics and Finance from University of Toronto and is a CFA charterholder.

 

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Mr. Migon was selected to serve on our board of directors because of his extensive experience as a growth equity investor.

Rob Rueckert. Mr. Rueckert has served as a member of our board of directors since February 2016. Mr. Rueckert has been serving as Partner at Sorenson Capital Partners, a venture capital firm, since June 2015, where he leads the firm’s growth-stage technology practice. Prior to joining Sorenson Capital, he served as Managing Director of Intel Capital, a venture capital division of Intel Corporation, from November 2001 to July 2015, where he managed and oversaw more than 25 exits from his portfolio, including four initial public offerings and multiple acquisitions by technology companies, including Google LLC, Microsoft Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd and Cisco Systems, Inc. Mr. Rueckert holds an M.B.A. from University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a B.S. in Information Systems from Brigham Young University.

Mr. Rueckert was selected to serve on our board of directors because of his extensive experience as a venture capital investor and his knowledge of technology companies.

David C. Scott. Mr. Scott has served as a member of our board of directors since September 2018. He founded Nebulon, Inc., a cloud-managed storage company, in May 2018, where he currently serves as Executive Chairman and serves on its board of directors. Mr. Scott has served on the board of directors of numerous privately-held companies since June 2015. Previously in his career, Mr. Scott served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Hewlett-Packard Storage at Hewlett-Packard Company, an information technology company, from September 2010 to March 2015, and from January 2001 to September 2010, as President and Chief Executive Officer at 3PAR Inc., a data storage and IT company where Mr. Scott advised the company through its initial public offering and ultimately its acquisition by Hewlett-Packard Company in September 2010. Mr. Scott holds an Honorary Doctorate in Engineering and a B.S. in Computer Science and Mathematics with Honors from University of Bristol.

Mr. Scott was selected to serve on our board of directors because of his extensive experience as a director of publicly- and privately-held companies and his knowledge of technology companies.

Richard A. Simonson. Mr. Simonson has served as a member of our board of directors since June 2020. He has been serving on the board of directors of Electronic Arts Inc., a video gaming company, since August 2006, and several other privately-held companies. Mr. Simonson has also served as Managing Partner of Specie Mesa LLC, an investment and advisory firm that focuses on high-growth companies, since July 2018. He also served on the board of directors of Silver Spring Network, Inc., a privately-held smart grid company, from October 2009 to January 2018. Previously in his career, Mr. Simonson served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Sabre Corporation, a global travel and hospitality technology company, from March 2013 to July 2018, as President of Business Operations and Chief Financial Officer of Rearden Commerce, now known as Deem, Inc., a corporate travel management software company, from May 2011 to May 2012, and as General Manager, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Nokia Corporation, a telecommunications company, from January 2004 to August 2010. Mr. Simonson holds an M.B.A. from University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business and a B.S. in Mining Engineering from Colorado School of Mines.

Mr. Simonson was selected to serve on our board of directors because of his significant operational experience as an executive with technology companies and his experience serving on the boards of directors of other publicly- and privately-held companies.

Family Relationships

There are no family relationships among any of our executive officers or directors.

 

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Code of Business Conduct and Ethics

Our board of directors has adopted a code of business conduct and ethics that applies to all of our employees, officers and directors, including our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and other executive and senior financial officers. The full text of our code of business conduct and ethics will be posted on the investor relations page on our website. We intend to disclose any amendments to our code of business conduct and ethics, or waivers of its requirements, on our website or in filings under the Exchange Act.

Board of Directors

Our business and affairs are managed under the direction of our board of directors. Our board of directors currently consists of eight directors. Pursuant to our current restated certificate of incorporation and voting agreement (as defined below), our current directors were elected as follows:

 

   

Mr. Cain was elected as the designee nominated by holders of our common stock;

 

   

Mses. Carpenter and Christensen and Messrs. Epstein, Rueckert and Scott were elected as the designees nominated by holders of our common stock and redeemable convertible preferred stock;

 

   

Messrs. Efrusy and Anderson were elected as the designees nominated by holders of our Series A redeemable convertible preferred stock; and

 

   

Messrs. Migon and Simonson were elected as the designees nominated by holders of our Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock.

Our voting agreement will terminate and the provisions of our current restated certificate of incorporation by which our directors were elected will be amended and restated in connection with this offering. After this offering, the number of directors will be fixed by our board of directors, subject to the terms of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws that will become effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering. Each of our current directors will continue to serve as a director until the election and qualification of their successor, or until their earlier death, resignation or removal.

Classified Board of Directors

We intend to adopt an amended and restated certificate of incorporation that will become effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that, immediately after the completion of this offering, our board of directors will be divided into three classes with staggered three-year terms. Only one class of directors will be elected at each annual meeting of stockholders, with the other classes continuing for the remainder of their respective three-year terms. Our current directors will be divided among the three classes as follows:

 

   

the Class I directors will be Messrs. Anderson, Cain and Migon and Ms. Christensen, and their terms will expire at the annual meeting of stockholders to be held in 2022;

 

   

the Class II directors will be Messrs. Efrusy and Epstein and Ms. Carpenter, and their terms will expire at the annual meeting of stockholders to be held in 2023; and

 

   

the Class III directors will be Messrs. Rueckert, Scott and Simonson, and their terms will expire at the annual meeting of stockholders to be held in 2024.

Each director’s term will continue until the election and qualification of their successor, or their earlier death, resignation or removal. Any increase or decrease in the number of directors will be distributed among the three classes so that, as nearly as possible, each class will consist of one-third of our directors.

This classification of our board of directors may have the effect of delaying or preventing changes in control of our company.

 

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Director Independence

Our board of directors has undertaken a review of the independence of each director. Based on information provided by each director concerning his background, employment and affiliations, our board of directors has determined that each of Messrs. Anderson, Efrusy, Epstein, Migon, Rueckert, Scott and Simonson and Mses. Carpenter and Christensen do not have a relationship that would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director and that each of these directors is “independent” as that term is defined under the listing standards of the Nasdaq Global Select Market. In making these determinations, our board of directors considered the current and prior relationships that each non-employee director has with our company and all other facts and circumstances our board of directors deemed relevant in determining their independence, including the beneficial ownership of our capital stock by each non-employee director, and the transactions involving them described in the section titled “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions.”

Lead Independent Director

Our board of directors has appointed Mr. Simsonson to serve as our lead independent director. As lead independent director, Mr. Simonson will preside over periodic meetings of our independent directors, serve as a liaison for our independent directors and perform such additional duties as our board of directors may otherwise determine and delegate.

Committees of the Board of Directors

Our board of directors has established an audit committee, a compensation committee and a nominating and corporate governance committee. The composition and responsibilities of each of the committees of our board of directors is described below. Members will serve on these committees until their resignation or until as otherwise determined by our board of directors.

Audit Committee

Our audit committee consists of Messrs. Epstein and Simonson and Ms. Christensen, with Mr. Simonson serving as chairperson, each of whom meets the requirements for independence under the listing standards of the Nasdaq Global Select Market and SEC rules and regulations. Each member of our audit committee also meets the financial literacy and sophistication requirements of the listing standards of the Nasdaq Global Select Market. In addition, our board of directors has determined that Messrs. Epstein and Simonson are audit committee financial experts within the meaning of Item 407(d) of Regulation S-K under the Securities Act. Following the completion of this offering, our audit committee will, among other things:

 

   

select a qualified firm to serve as the independent registered public accounting firm to audit our financial statements;

 

   

help to ensure the independence and performance of the independent registered public accounting firm;

 

   

discuss the scope and results of the audit with the independent registered public accounting firm, and review, with management and the independent registered public accounting firm, our interim and year-end results of operations;

 

   

develop procedures for employees to submit concerns anonymously about questionable accounting or audit matters;

 

   

review our policies on risk assessment and risk management;

 

   

review related party transactions; and

 

   

approve or, as required, pre-approve, all audit and all permissible non-audit services, other than de minimis non-audit services, to be performed by the independent registered public accounting firm.

 

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Our audit committee will operate under a written charter, to be effective prior to the completion of this offering, that satisfies the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC and the listing standards of the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

Compensation Committee

Our compensation committee consists of Messrs. Efrusy, Epstein, Migon and Scott, with Mr. Efrusy serving as chairperson, each of whom meets the requirements for independence under the listing standards of the Nasdaq Global Select Market and SEC rules and regulations. Each member of our compensation committee is also a non-employee director, as defined pursuant to Rule 16b-3 promulgated under the Exchange Act, or Rule 16b-3. Following the completion of this offering, our compensation committee will, among other things:

 

   

review, approve and determine, or make recommendations to our board of directors regarding, the compensation of our executive officers;

 

   

administer our equity compensation plans;

 

   

review and approve and make recommendations to our board of directors regarding incentive compensation and equity compensation plans; and

 

   

establish and review general policies relating to compensation and benefits of our employees.

Our compensation committee will operate under a written charter, to be effective prior to the completion of this offering, that satisfies the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC and the listing standards of the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

Our nominating and corporate governance committee consists of Messrs. Rueckert and Simonson and Ms. Carpenter, with Mr. Rueckert serving as chairperson, each of whom meets the requirements for independence under the listing standards of the Nasdaq Global Select Market and SEC rules and regulations. Following the completion of this offering, our nominating and corporate governance committee will, among other things:

 

   

identify, evaluate and select, or make recommendations to our board of directors regarding, nominees for election to our board of directors and its committees;

 

   

evaluate the performance of our board of directors and of individual directors;

 

   

consider and make recommendations to our board of directors regarding the composition of our board of directors and its committees;

 

   

review developments in corporate governance practices;

 

   

evaluate the adequacy of our corporate governance practices and reporting; and

 

   

develop and make recommendations to our board of directors regarding corporate governance guidelines and matters.

Our nominating and corporate governance committee will operate under a written charter, to be effective prior to the completion of this offering, that satisfies the applicable listing standards of the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

None of the members of our compensation committee is or has been an officer or employee of our company. None of our executive officers currently serves, or in the past year has served, as a member of the board of directors or compensation committee (or other board committee performing equivalent functions) of any entity that has one or more of its executive officers serving on our board of directors or compensation committee.

 

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Non-Employee Director Compensation

Our employee director, Mr. Cain, has not received any compensation for his services as a director for the year ended January 31, 2021. The compensation received by Mr. Cain as an employee is set forth in the section titled “Executive Compensation—Summary Compensation Table.”

The following table provides information regarding the compensation of our non-employee directors for service as directors for the year ended January 31, 2021:

 

                                                                                              

Name

   Fees Earned or
Paid in Cash
($)
     Option
Awards(1)(2)

($)
     Non-Equity
Incentive Plan
Compensation

($)
     All Other
Compensation
($)
     Total
($)
 

Edward T. Anderson

                                  

Kevin J. Efrusy

                                  

Jeff Epstein

            119,450                      119,450  

Khai Ha(3)

                                  

Aleksander J. Migon

                                  

Rob Rueckert

                                  

David C. Scott

                                  

Richard A. Simonson

            238,900                      238,900  

 

(1)

The amounts reported in the “Option Awards” column represent the aggregate grant-date fair value of the stock options granted to our directors in fiscal 2021, calculated in accordance with ASC Topic 718, rather than the amounts paid or realized by such directors. The assumptions used in calculating the grant-date fair value of the stock options reported in this column are set forth in Note 10 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus.

(2)

The following table lists all outstanding equity awards held by non-employee directors as of January 31, 2021:

 

Name

   Grant
Date(a)
     Number of
Shares
Underlying
Option
Awards

(#)
    Option
Exercise Price

($)
     Option
Expiration
Date
 

Edward T. Anderson

                          

Kevin J. Efrusy

                          

Jeff Epstein

     6/23/2020        100,000 (b)      3.10        6/23/2030  
       6/8/2015        304,058 (c)      2.06        6/8/2025  

Khai Ha

                          

Aleksander J. Migon

                          

Rob Rueckert

                          

David C. Scott

         12/12/2018        304,058 (d)      2.98          12/12/2028  

Richard A. Simonson

     6/23/2020                200,000 (e)                      3.10        6/23/2030  

 

(a)

 

Each of the outstanding equity awards listed in the table above was granted pursuant to our 2018 Plan or our 2008 Plan, as applicable.

(b)

 

The shares underlying this stock option are immediately exercisable and vest as to 1/48th of the total shares on a monthly basis from December 1, 2019, subject to Mr. Epstein’s continued service as our director and subject to acceleration upon a change in control (as defined in the award agreement).

(c)

 

The shares underlying this stock option vest as to 1/48th of the total shares on a monthly basis from June 3, 2015, subject to Mr. Epstein’s continued service as our director and subject to acceleration upon a combination transaction (as defined in the award agreement).

(d)

 

The shares underlying this stock option vest as to 1/48th of the total shares on a monthly basis from September 20, 2018, subject to Mr. Scott’s continued service as our director and subject to acceleration upon a change in control (as defined in the award agreement).

(e)

 

The shares underlying this stock option are immediately exercisable and vest as to 1/48th of the total shares on a monthly basis from June 23, 2020, subject to Mr. Simonson’s continued service as our director and subject to acceleration upon a change in control (as defined in the award agreement).

 

(3)

Mr. Ha became a member of our board of directors in May 2020 and resigned from our board of directors in June 2020.

 

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Directors who are affiliated with our investors, including Messrs. Anderson, Efrusy, Migon and Rueckert, do not receive compensation in respect of their service as members of our board of directors.

On May 6, 2021, each of Mses. Carpenter and Christensen received a stock option to purchase 110,000 shares of our common stock under our 2018 Plan. The shares underlying each stock option are immediately exercisable and vest as to 1/48th of the total shares on a monthly basis from May 5, 2021, subject to their respective continued service as our director and subject to acceleration upon a change in control (as defined in the respective award agreement).

Outside Director Compensation Policy

Prior to this offering, we did not have a formal policy with respect to compensation payable to our non-employee directors. We reimburse our directors for expenses associated with attending meetings of our board of directors and its committees. Our board of directors has adopted our Outside Director Compensation Policy, or Director Compensation Policy, which will become effective on the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part.

Our Director Compensation Policy sets guidelines for the compensation of our non-employee directors for their service as director. The cash and equity components of our compensation policy for non-employee directors are set forth below:

 

Position

   Annual
Cash
Retainer
        

Base Director Fee

   $ 30,000     

Lead Independent Director Fee

   $ 15,000     

Additional Chairperson Fee

     

Chair of the Board

   $ 20,000     

Chair of the Audit Committee

   $ 20,000     

Chair of the Compensation Committee

   $ 12,000     

Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

   $ 7,500     

Additional Committee Member Fee (excluding chairpersons)

     

Audit Committee

   $ 10,000     

Compensation Committee

   $ 6,000     

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

   $ 3,750     

Under our Director Compensation Policy, upon first becoming a non-employee director following the effective date of our Director Compensation Policy, each non-employee director automatically receives an initial award of restricted stock units covering a number of shares of our common stock having a value of $300,000. One-third of the shares subject to such initial award will vest on each anniversary of the date that the applicable non-employee director’s service commenced, subject to continued service through each vesting date. On the date of each annual meeting following the effective date of our Director Compensation Policy, each non-employee director automatically will receive an annual award of restricted stock units having a value of $170,000. The annual award will vest in full on the earlier to occur of the one-year anniversary of its grant date or the date prior to the date of the annual meeting next occurring following the grant date. In the case of any non-employee director who becomes a non-employee director other than on the date of an annual meeting, the annual award will be prorated to reflect partial year service. Non-employee directors are permitted to defer the settlement of awards granted under our Director Compensation Policy.

We reimburse our non-employee directors for necessary and reasonable expenses associated with attending meetings of our board of directors or its committees. Our non-employee directors are subject to the cash compensation and equity awards limitations set forth in our 2021 Plan described below.

 

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EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Our named executive officers, consisting of our principal executive officer and the next two most highly compensated executive officers, as of January 31, 2021 were:

 

   

Matthew M. Cain, our President and Chief Executive Officer and Director;

 

   

Margaret Chow, our Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary; and

 

   

Denis Murphy, our Senior Vice President, Chief Revenue Officer.

Summary Compensation Table

The amounts below represent the compensation awarded to or earned by or paid to our named executive officers for the year ended January 31, 2021:

 

                                                                                                                                                  

Name and Principal Position

  Fiscal
Year
    Salary
($)
    Bonus
($)
     Option
Awards(1)
($)
    Non-Equity
Incentive Plan
Compensation(2)
($)
    All Other
Compensation(3)
($)
    Total
($)
 

Matthew M. Cain

    2021       400,000              895,875       220,000       1,500       1,517,375  

President and Chief Executive Officer

              

Margaret Chow(4)

    2021       275,000       25,000        489,745       85,836       3,000       878,581  

Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary

              

Denis Murphy

    2021       270,000                    297,000       1,533       568,533  

Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer

              

 

(1)

The amounts reported in the “Option Awards” column represent the aggregate grant-date fair value of the stock options granted to our named executive officers in fiscal 2021, calculated in accordance with ASC Topic 718, rather than the amounts paid or realized by such named executive officers. The assumptions used in calculating the grant-date fair value of the stock options reported in this column are set forth in Note 10 to our consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus.

(2)

The amounts reported in the “Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation” column represent the annual cash bonuses that was earned by each named executive officer in fiscal 2021 under our executive bonus plan. See the section titled “—Non-Equity Incentive Plan Awards” for additional information on our executive bonus plan.

(3)

The amounts reported in the “All Other Compensation” column represent matching contributions made to our named executive officers’ accounts under our 401(k) plan in fiscal 2021.

(4)

Ms. Chow commenced employment with us in March 2020. The amount reported in the “Salary” column is pro-rated for the period of time Ms. Chow was employed with us during fiscal 2021, and the amount reported in the “Bonus” column represents a sign-on bonus paid to Ms. Chow in connection with her commencement of employment with us.

 

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Outstanding Equity Awards at Year-End

The following table sets forth information regarding outstanding equity awards held by our named executive officers as of January 31, 2021:

 

    Option Awards  

Name

  Grant
Date(1)
    Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#)
Exercisable
    Number of
Securities
Underlying
Unexercised
Options (#)
Unexercisable
    Option
Exercise
Price ($)
    Option
Expiration
Date
 

Matthew M. Cain

    6/23/2020       (2)      750,000       3.10       6/23/2030  

President and Chief Executive Officer

    6/13/2019       95,833 (3)      104,167       2.99       6/13/2029  
    4/2/2018       109,375 (4)      40,625       2.98       4/2/2028  
    4/24/2017       2,857,974 (5)      190,532       2.19       4/24/2027  

Margaret Chow

    6/23/2020       (6)      410,000       3.10       6/23/2030  

Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary

         

Denis Murphy

    9/18/2019       376,041 (7)      573,959       3.02       9/18/2029  

Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer

                                                                                                                                      

 

(1)

Each of the outstanding equity awards listed in the table above was granted pursuant to our 2018 Plan or our 2008 Plan, as applicable.

(2)

The shares underlying this stock option vest as to 1/4th of the total shares on the one-year anniversary of February 1, 2020 and as to 1/48th of the total shares on a monthly basis thereafter, subject to Mr. Cain’s continued employment with us and subject to acceleration upon a qualifying termination in connection with a change in control (as defined in the award agreement).

(3)

The shares underlying this stock option vest as to 1/4th of the total shares on the one-year anniversary of February 1, 2019 and as to 1/48th of the total shares on a monthly basis thereafter, subject to Mr. Cain’s continued employment with us and subject to acceleration upon a qualifying termination in connection with a change in control (as defined in the award agreement).

(4)

The shares underlying this stock option vest as to 1/4th of the total shares on the one-year anniversary of February 1, 2018 and as to 1/48th of the total shares on a monthly basis thereafter, subject to Mr. Cain’s continued employment with us and subject to acceleration upon a qualifying termination in connection with a change in control (as defined in the award agreement).

(5)

The shares underlying this stock option vest as to 1/4th of the total shares on the one-year anniversary of April 1, 2017 and as to 1/48th of the total shares on a monthly basis thereafter, subject to Mr. Cain’s continued employment with us and subject to acceleration upon a qualifying termination in connection with a change in control (as defined in the award agreement).

(6)

The shares underlying this stock option vest as to 1/4th of the total shares on the one-year anniversary of March 2, 2020 and as to 1/48th of the total shares on a monthly basis thereafter, subject to Ms. Chow’s continued employment with us and subject to acceleration upon a qualifying termination in connection with a change in control (as defined in the award agreement).

(7)

The shares underlying this stock option vest as to 1/4th of the total shares on the one-year anniversary of June 17, 2019 and as to 1/48th of the total shares on a monthly basis thereafter, subject to Mr. Murphy’s continued employment with us and subject to acceleration upon a qualifying termination in connection with a change in control (as defined in the award agreement).

Non-Equity Incentive Plan Awards

Each of our executive officers is eligible for an annual bonus under our non-equity incentive plan and has an established target bonus amount as set forth in the section titled “Executive Compensation—Employment Arrangements with Our Named Executive Officers.” For fiscal 2021, our board of directors determined each eligible named executive officer’s actual bonus based upon an assessment of achievement of corporate goals, which included certain financial metrics. Amounts payable for fiscal 2021 represent applicable achievement at 110% of target for fiscal 2021.

 

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Employment Arrangements with Our Named Executive Officers

Matthew M. Cain

We have entered into a confirmatory employment letter with Mr. Cain, our President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Cain’s current annual base salary is $450,000, and he is eligible for an annual target cash incentive payment equal to $337,500 assuming the successful completion of this offering.

Margaret Chow

We have entered into a confirmatory employment letter with Ms. Chow, our Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary. Ms. Chow’s current annual base salary is $320,000, and she is eligible for an annual target cash incentive payment equal to $130,000 assuming the successful completion of this offering.

Denis Murphy

We have entered into a confirmatory employment letter with Mr. Murphy, our Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer. Mr. Murphy’s current annual base salary is $300,000, and he is eligible for an annual target cash incentive payment equal to $300,000.

Potential Payments upon Termination or Change in Control

Change in Control and Severance Policy

Our board of directors has adopted a Change in Control and Severance Policy, or Severance Policy, pursuant to which our named executive officers and certain other key employees are eligible to receive severance benefits, as specified in and subject to the employee signing a participation agreement under our Severance Policy. This Severance Policy was developed with input from our compensation consultant regarding severance practices at comparable companies. It is designed to attract, retain and reward senior level employees. Our Severance Policy will be in lieu of any other severance payments and benefits to which such key employee was entitled prior to signing the participation agreement.

In the event of an “qualified termination” of the employment of an eligible employee, which generally includes a termination of employment by the named executive officer in a “constructive termination” or by us for a reason other than “cause,” death or “disability” (as such terms are defined in our Severance Policy), that occurs outside the change in control period (as described below), then the named executive officer will be entitled to the following payments and benefits:

 

   

Continuing payments of the named executive officer’s base salary as in effect immediately prior to their qualified termination of employment, as follows:

 

   

12 months in the case of Mr. Cain;

 

   

6 months in the case of any other named executive officer whose tenure was less than 2 years;

 

   

9 months in the case of any other named executive officer whose tenure was greater or equal to 2 years, but less than 3 years; and

 

   

12 months in the case of any other named executive whose tenure was greater or equal to 3 years.

 

   

Company-paid continued health coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1985 as amended, or COBRA, for up to the same period as the salary continuation period.

If such qualified termination occurs within a period beginning 30 days prior to and ending 12 months following a “change in control” (as defined in our Severance Policy) (such period, the “change in control period”), then the named executive officer will be entitled to the following payments and benefits:

 

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A lump sum payment equal to 12 months of the named executive officer’s base salary, generally as in effect immediately prior to their qualified termination;

 

   

Company-paid continued health coverage under COBRA for up to 12 months;

 

   

A lump sum payment equal to such named executive officer’s annual target bonus, prorated for the period of service in the case of any named executive officer other than Mr. Cain;

 

   

100% accelerated vesting of all outstanding equity awards subject to time-based vesting.

Any acceleration of outstanding equity awards subject to performance-based vesting will be determined by the terms of the award agreement for each such equity award.

The receipt of the payments and benefits provided for under our Severance Policy described above is conditioned on the named executive officer signing and not revoking a separation and release of claims agreement, which may include certain non-solicitation provisions effective during the severance term and non-disparagement provisions, and such release becoming effective and irrevocable no later than the 60th day following the named executive officer’s involuntary termination of employment.

In addition, if any of the payments or benefits provided for under our Severance Policy or otherwise payable to a named executive officer would constitute “parachute payments” within the meaning of Section 280G of the Code and could be subject to the related excise tax, the named executive officer will receive either full payment of such payments and benefits or such lesser amount that would result in no portion of the payments and benefits being subject to the excise tax, whichever results in the greater amount of after-tax benefits to them. Our Severance Policy does not require us to provide any tax gross-up payments to the named executive officers.

Employee Benefit and Stock Plans

Executive Incentive Compensation Plan

Our board of directors has adopted an Executive Incentive Compensation Plan, or Incentive Compensation Plan. Our Incentive Compensation Plan allows our compensation committee to provide cash incentive awards to employees selected by our compensation committee, including our named executive officers, based upon performance goals established by our compensation committee. Pursuant to our Incentive Compensation Plan, our compensation committee, in its sole discretion, will establish a target award for each participant and a bonus pool, with actual awards payable from such bonus pool, with respect to the applicable performance period.

Under our Incentive Compensation Plan, our compensation committee will determine the performance goals applicable to any award, which goals may include, without limitation, annual recurring revenue, attainment of research and development milestones, bookings, business divestitures and acquisitions, cash flow, cash flow from operations, cash position, contract awards or backlog, committed annual recurring revenue, current remaining performance obligations, customer renewals, customer retention rates from an acquired company, subsidiary, business unit or division, customer success (including by any customer success metric such as NPS), earnings (which may include earnings before interest and taxes, earnings before taxes, and net taxes), earnings per share, expenses, gross margin, growth in stockholder value relative to the moving average of the S&P 500 Index or another index, internal rate of return, market share, net income, net new annual contract value, net profit, net retention, net sales, new product development, new product invention or innovation, number of customers, operating cash flow, operating expenses, operating income, operating margin, overhead or other expense reduction, product release timelines, productivity, profit, remaining performance obligations, retained earnings, return on assets, return on capital, return on invested capital, return on equity, return on investment, return on sales, revenue, revenue growth, sales results, sales growth, stock price, time to market, total stockholder return, working capital, workplace diversity metrics, and individual objectives such as peer reviews or other subjective or objective criteria. The performance goals may differ from participant to participant and from award to award.

 

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We expect our compensation committee will administer our Incentive Compensation Plan. The administrator of our Incentive Compensation Plan will have the authority to, in its sole discretion and at any time, increase, reduce or eliminate a participant’s actual award, or increase, reduce or eliminate the amount allocated to the bonus pool for a particular performance period. The actual award may be below, at or above a participant’s target award, at the discretion of the administrator. The administrator may determine the amount of any increase, reduction or elimination on the basis of such factors as it deems relevant, and it is not required to establish any allocation or weighting with respect to the factors it considers.

Actual awards will be paid in cash (or its equivalent) in a single lump sum only after they are earned, which usually requires continued employment through the date the actual award is paid. The compensation committee will reserve the right to settle an actual award with a grant of an equity award under our then-current equity compensation plan, which equity award may have such terms and conditions, as the compensation committee determines. Payment of awards will occur as soon as administratively practicable after they are earned, but no later than the dates set forth in our Incentive Compensation Plan.

Our board of directors and our compensation committee will have the authority to amend, alter, suspend or terminate our Incentive Compensation Plan, provided such action does not impair the existing rights of any participant with respect to any earned awards.

2021 Equity Incentive Plan (2021 Plan)

Prior to the effectiveness of this offering, we expect that our board of directors will adopt, and our stockholders will approve, our 2021 Plan. Our 2021 Plan will be effective on the business day immediately prior to the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Our 2021 Plan will provide for the grant of incentive stock options, within the meaning of Section 422 of the Code, to our employees and any of our parent and subsidiary corporations’ employees, and for the grant of nonstatutory stock options, restricted stock, restricted stock units, stock appreciation rights, performance units and performance shares to our employees, directors and consultants and any of our future parent or subsidiary corporations’ employees and consultants.

Authorized Shares. A total of              shares of our common stock are reserved for issuance pursuant to our 2021 Plan. In addition, the shares reserved for issuance under our 2021 Plan will also include shares of our common stock subject to stock options, restricted stock units or other awards granted under our 2018 Plan or our 2008 Plan that, on or after the termination of our 2018 Plan, expire or otherwise terminate without having been exercised in full and any shares of our common stock issued pursuant to awards granted under our 2018 Plan or 2008 Plan that, on or after the termination of our 2018 Plan, are forfeited to or repurchased by us (provided that the maximum number of shares that may be added to our 2021 Plan from such awards is              shares). The number of shares available for issuance under our 2021 Plan will also include an annual increase on the first day of each fiscal year beginning with our 2022 fiscal year, equal to the lesser of:

 

   

            shares;

 

   

5% of the outstanding shares of our common stock as of the last day of the immediately preceding fiscal year; or

 

   

such other amount as our board of directors may determine.

The automatic share increase will lapse following the increase of the first day of fiscal year 2031.

If an award expires or becomes unexercisable without having been exercised in full, is surrendered pursuant to an exchange program, or, with respect to restricted stock, restricted stock units, performance units or performance shares, is forfeited to or repurchased by us due to failure to vest, the unpurchased shares (or for awards other than stock options or stock appreciation rights, the forfeited or repurchased shares) will become

 

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available for future grant or sale under our 2021 Plan (unless our 2021 Plan has terminated). With respect to stock appreciation rights, only the net shares actually issued will cease to be available under our 2021 Plan and all remaining shares under stock appreciation rights will remain available for future grant or sale under our 2021 Plan (unless our 2021 Plan has terminated). Shares that have actually been issued under our 2021 Plan will not be returned to our 2021 Plan except if shares issued pursuant to awards of restricted stock, restricted stock units, performance shares or performance units are repurchased by or forfeited to us, such shares will become available for future grant under our 2021 Plan. Shares used to pay the exercise price of an award or satisfy the tax withholding obligations related to an award will become available for future grant or sale under our 2021 Plan. To the extent an award is paid out in cash rather than shares, such cash payment will not result in a reduction in the number of shares available for issuance under our 2021 Plan.

Plan Administration. Our board of directors or one or more committees appointed by our board of directors will administer our 2021 Plan. The compensation committee of our board of directors is expected to initially administer our 2021 Plan. In addition, if we determine it is desirable to qualify transactions under our 2021 Plan as exempt under Rule 16b-3 of the Exchange Act, such transactions will be structured to satisfy the requirements for exemption under Rule 16b-3. Subject to the provisions of our 2021 Plan, the administrator has the power to administer our 2021 Plan and make all determinations deemed necessary or advisable for administering our 2021 Plan, including but not limited to, the power to determine the fair market value of our common stock, select the service providers to whom awards may be granted, determine the number of shares covered by each award, approve forms of award agreements for use under our 2021 Plan, determine the terms and conditions of awards (including, but not limited to, the exercise price, the time or times at which awards may be exercised, any vesting acceleration or waiver or forfeiture restrictions and any restriction or limitation regarding any award or the shares relating thereto), construe and interpret the terms of our 2021 Plan and awards granted under it, prescribe, amend and rescind rules relating to our 2021 Plan, including creating sub-plans, modify or amend each award, including but not limited to the discretionary authority to extend the post-termination exercisability period of awards (subject to the 2021 Plan), and allow a participant to defer the receipt of payment of cash or the delivery of shares that would otherwise be due to such participant under an award. The administrator also has the authority to allow participants the opportunity to transfer outstanding awards to a financial institution or other person or entity selected by the administrator and to institute an exchange program by which outstanding awards may be surrendered or cancelled in exchange for awards of the same type (which may have a higher or lower exercise price or different terms), awards of a different type or cash, or by which the exercise price of an outstanding award is increased or reduced. The administrator’s decisions, interpretations and other actions are final and binding on all participants.

Stock Options. Stock options may be granted under our 2021 Plan. The exercise price of stock options granted under our 2021 Plan must at least be equal to the fair market value of our common stock on the date of grant. The term of a stock option may not exceed 10 years. With respect to any participant who owns more than 10% of the voting power of all classes of our (or any parent or subsidiary of ours) outstanding stock, the term of an incentive stock option granted to such participant must not exceed five years and the exercise price must equal at least 110% of the fair market value on the grant date. The administrator will determine the methods of payment of the exercise price of a stock option, which may include cash, shares or other property acceptable to the administrator, as well as other types of consideration permitted by applicable law. After the termination of service of an employee, director or consultant, he or she may exercise his or her stock option for the period of time stated in his or her stock option agreement. In the absence of a specified time in an award agreement, if termination is due to death or disability, the stock option will remain exercisable for twelve months following the termination of service. In all other cases, in the absence of a specified time in an award agreement, the stock option will remain exercisable for three months following the termination of service. A stock option, however, may not be exercised later than the expiration of its term. Subject to the provisions of our 2021 Plan, the administrator determines the other terms of stock options.

Stock Appreciation Rights. Stock appreciation rights may be granted under our 2021 Plan. Stock appreciation rights allow the recipient to receive the appreciation in the fair market value of our common stock

 

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between the exercise date and the date of grant. Stock appreciation rights may not have a term exceeding 10 years. After the termination of service of an employee, director or consultant, he or she may exercise his or her stock appreciation right for the period of time stated in his or her stock appreciation rights agreement. In the absence of a specified time in an award agreement, if termination is due to death or disability, the stock appreciation rights will remain exercisable for twelve months following the termination of service. In all other cases, in the absence of a specified time in an award agreement, the stock appreciation rights will remain exercisable for three months following the termination of service. However, in no event may a stock appreciation right be exercised later than the expiration of its term. Subject to the provisions of our 2021 Plan, the administrator determines the other terms of stock appreciation rights, including when such rights become exercisable and whether to pay any increased appreciation in cash or with shares of our common stock, or a combination thereof, except that the per share exercise price for the shares to be issued pursuant to the exercise of a stock appreciation right will be no less than 100% of the fair market value per share on the date of grant.

Restricted Stock. Restricted stock may be granted under our 2021 Plan. Restricted stock awards are grants of shares of our common stock that vest in accordance with terms and conditions established by the administrator. The administrator will determine the number of shares of restricted stock granted to any employee, director or consultant and, subject to the provisions of our 2021 Plan, will determine the terms and conditions of such awards. The administrator may impose whatever vesting conditions it determines to be appropriate (for example, the administrator may set restrictions based on the achievement of specific performance goals or continued service to us), except the administrator, in its sole discretion, may accelerate the time at which any restrictions will lapse or be removed. Recipients of restricted stock awards generally will have voting and dividend rights with respect to such shares upon grant without regard to vesting, unless the administrator provides otherwise. Shares of restricted stock that do not vest are subject to our right of repurchase or forfeiture.

Restricted Stock Units. Restricted stock units may be granted under our 2021 Plan. Restricted stock units are bookkeeping entries representing an amount equal to the fair market value of one share of our common stock. Subject to the provisions of our 2021 Plan, the administrator determines the terms and conditions of restricted stock units, including the vesting criteria and the form and timing of payment. The administrator may set vesting criteria based upon the achievement of company-wide, divisional, business unit or individual goals (including, but not limited to, continued employment or service), applicable federal or state securities laws or any other basis determined by the administrator in its discretion. The administrator, in its sole discretion, may pay earned restricted stock units in the form of cash, in shares or in some combination thereof. In addition, the administrator, in its sole discretion, may accelerate the time at which any restrictions will lapse or be removed.

Performance Units and Performance Shares. Performance units and performance shares may be granted under our 2021 Plan. Performance units and performance shares are awards that will result in a payment to a participant only if performance objectives established by the administrator are achieved or the awards otherwise vest. The administrator will establish performance objectives or other vesting criteria in its discretion, which, depending on the extent to which they are met, will determine the number or the value of performance units and performance shares to be paid out to participants. The administrator may set performance objectives based on the achievement of company-wide, divisional, business unit or individual goals (including, but not limited to, continued employment or service), applicable federal or state securities laws or any other basis determined by the administrator in its discretion. After the grant of a performance unit or performance share, the administrator, in its sole discretion, may reduce or waive any performance objectives or other vesting provisions for such performance units or performance shares. Performance units will have an initial value established by the administrator on or prior to the grant date. Performance shares will have an initial value equal to the fair market value of our common stock on the grant date. The administrator, in its sole discretion, may pay out earned performance units or performance shares in cash, shares or in some combination thereof.

Outside Directors. All outside (non-employee) directors will be eligible to receive all types of awards (except for incentive stock options) under our 2021 Plan. To provide a maximum limit on the cash compensation and equity awards that can be made to our outside directors, our 2021 Plan provides that in any given fiscal year,

 

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an outside director will not be granted equity awards and any other compensation (including without limitation any cash retainers or fees) with an aggregate value greater than $750,000 (increased to $1,000,000 in the fiscal year of his or her initial service as an outside director), with the value of each equity award based on its grant-date fair value as determined according to GAAP for purposes of this limit. Any cash compensation paid or awards granted to an individual for his or her services as an employee or consultant (other than as an outside director) will not count toward this limit.

Non-Transferability of Awards. Unless the administrator provides otherwise, our 2021 Plan generally does not allow for the transfer of awards and only the recipient of an award may exercise an award during his or her lifetime. If the administrator makes an award transferrable, such award will contain such additional terms and conditions as the administrator deems appropriate.

Certain Adjustments. In the event of certain changes in our capitalization, to prevent diminution or enlargement of the benefits or potential benefits available under our 2021 Plan, the administrator will adjust the number and class of shares that may be delivered under our 2021 Plan or the number, class and price of shares covered by each outstanding award and the numerical share limits set forth in our 2021 Plan.

Dissolution or Liquidation. In the event of our proposed liquidation or dissolution, the administrator will notify participants as soon as practicable and, to the extent not exercised, all awards will terminate immediately prior to the consummation of such proposed transaction.

Merger or Change in Control. Our 2021 Plan provides that in the event of a merger or change in control, as defined under our 2021 Plan, each outstanding award will be treated as the administrator determines, without a participant’s consent. The administrator is not required to treat all awards, all awards held by a participant or all awards of the same type similarly.

If a successor corporation does not assume or substitute for any outstanding award, then the participant will fully vest in and have the right to exercise all of his or her outstanding stock options and stock appreciation rights, all restrictions on restricted stock and restricted stock units will lapse, and for awards with performance-based vesting, unless specifically provided for otherwise under the applicable award agreement or other agreement or policy applicable to the participant, all performance goals or other vesting criteria will be deemed achieved at 100% of target levels and all other terms and conditions met. If a stock option or stock appreciation right is not assumed or substituted in the event of a change in control, the administrator will notify the participant in writing or electronically that such stock option or stock appreciation right will be exercisable for a period of time determined by the administrator in its sole discretion and the stock option or stock appreciation right will terminate upon the expiration of such period.

For awards granted to an outside director, in the event of a change in control, the outside director will fully vest in and have the right to exercise all of his or her outstanding stock options and stock appreciation rights, all restrictions on restricted stock and restricted stock units will lapse and, for awards with performance-based vesting, unless specifically provided for otherwise under the applicable award agreement or other agreement or policy applicable to the participant, all performance goals or other vesting criteria will be deemed achieved at 100% of target levels and all other terms and conditions met.

Clawback. Awards will be subject to any clawback policy of ours, and the administrator also may specify in an award agreement that the participant’s rights, payments or benefits with respect to an award will be subject to reduction, cancellation, forfeiture or recoupment upon the occurrence of certain specified events. Our board of directors may require a participant to forfeit, return or reimburse us all or a portion of the award or shares issued under the award, any amounts paid under the award and any payments or proceeds paid or provided upon disposition of the shares issued under the award in order to comply with such clawback policy or applicable laws.

Amendment; Termination. The administrator has the authority to amend, alter, suspend or terminate our 2021 Plan, provided such action does not materially impair the rights of any participant. Our 2021 Plan continues

 

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unless we terminate it. No incentive stock options may be granted after the 10-year anniversary of the date of the 2021 Plan was adopted.

2018 Equity Incentive Plan (2018 Plan)

Our 2018 Plan was originally adopted by our board of directors and approved by our stockholders in October 2018. Our 2018 Plan was most recently amended in April 2020 and approved by stockholders in May 2020.

Our 2018 Plan allows us to provide incentive stock options, within the meaning of Section 422 of the Code, nonstatutory stock options, restricted stock awards and restricted stock units (each, an “award” and the recipient of such award, a “participant”) to eligible employees, officers, directors and consultants of ours and any parent or subsidiary of ours. It is expected that as of one business day prior to the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, our 2018 Plan will be terminated and we will not grant any additional awards under our 2018 Plan thereafter. However, our 2018 Plan will continue to govern the terms and conditions of the outstanding awards previously granted under our 2018 Plan.

As of April 30, 2021, stock options covering 13,124,937 shares of our common stock were outstanding under our 2018 Plan.

Plan Administration. Our 2018 Plan is administered by our board of directors or one or more committees appointed by our board of directors, or the administrator. The administrator has full power to implement and carry out our 2018 Plan, including the authority to construe and interpret the terms of our 2018 Plan and the awards granted under our 2018 Plan. The administrator’s decisions are final and binding on all participants and any other persons holding awards.

The administrator’s powers include the power to authorize issuance of new awards in exchange for the surrender and cancellation of outstanding awards under our 2018 Plan, to buy previously granted awards with payment in cash, shares of our common stock or other consideration, and to reduce the exercise price of outstanding stock options or effect repricing through cancellation of outstanding stock options and by granting new awards in replacement of the cancelled stock options. The administrator’s powers also include the power to prescribe, amend, expand and rescind rules and regulations relating to our 2018 Plan, to modify or amend each award and to make all other determinations with respect to our 2018 Plan, subject to the limitations provided in our 2018 Plan.

Eligibility. Employees, officers, directors and consultants of ours or our parent or subsidiary companies are eligible to receive awards, provided such consultants render bona fide services not in connection with the offer and sale of securities in a capital-raising transaction and do not directly promote or maintain a market for our securities. Only our employees or employees of our parent or subsidiary companies are eligible to receive incentive stock options.

Stock Options. Stock options have been granted under our 2018 Plan. Subject to the provisions of our 2018 Plan, the administrator determines the term of a stock option, the number of shares subject to a stock option and the time period in which a stock option may be exercised.

The term of a stock option is stated in the applicable award agreement, but the term of a stock option may not exceed 10 years from the grant date. The administrator determines the exercise price of stock options, which generally may not be less than 100% of the fair market value of our common stock on the grant date, unless expressly determined in writing by the administrator on the stock option’s grant date. However, an incentive stock option granted to an individual who directly or by attribution owns more than 10% of the total combined voting power of all of our classes of stock or of any our parent or subsidiary may have a term of no longer than five years from the grant date and will have an exercise price of at least 110% of the fair market value of our

 

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common stock on the grant date. In addition, to the extent that the aggregate fair market value of the shares with respect to which incentive stock options are exercisable for the first time by an employee during any calendar year (under all our plans and any parent or subsidiary) exceeds $100,000, such stock options will be treated as nonstatutory stock options.

The administrator determines how a participant may pay the exercise price of a stock option, and the permissible methods are generally set forth in the applicable award agreement. If a participant ceases to provide services to us or any subsidiary or parent of ours, as applicable, that participant may exercise the vested portion of his or her stock option for the period of time stated in the applicable award agreement. Vested stock options generally will remain exercisable for three months or such other period of time as set forth in the applicable award agreement if a participant ceases to provide services for a reason other than death, disability or termination for cause. If a participant’s service ceases due to death or disability, or if a participant dies within three months after termination other than for cause, vested stock options generally will remain exercisable for twelve months from the date of termination (or such other period as set forth in the applicable award agreement). If a participant’s service ceases due to termination for cause, the vested shares subject to his or her stock options may be exercised and the stock options will expire on the date of termination, or at a later time as determined by the administrator. In no event will a stock option remain exercisable beyond its original term. If a participant does not exercise his or her stock option within the time specified in the award agreement, the stock option will terminate. Except as described above, the administrator has the discretion to determine the post-termination exercisability periods for a stock option.

Non-transferability of Awards. Unless determined otherwise by the administrator, awards may not be transferred in any manner other than by will or by the laws of descent and distribution, and with respect to non-statutory stock options, by instrument to an inter vivos or testamentary trust or by gift to immediate family. In addition, during an applicable participant’s lifetime, only that participant may exercise their award.

Certain Adjustments. If as a result of any stock dividend, reorganization, recapitalization, stock split, reverse stock split, subdivision, combination, reclassification or similar change in our capital structure, outstanding shares are increased or decreased or are exchanged for a different number or kind of shares or other securities of ours, or additional shares or new or different shares or other securities of ours or other non-cash assets are distributed with respect to such shares or other securities, in each case, without receipt of consideration by us, or, if, as a result of any merger or consolidation, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets, the outstanding shares are converted into or exchanged for other securities of ours or any successor entity (or a parent or subsidiary thereof), then the number of shares reserved for issuance under our 2018 Plan, the exercise prices and number of shares subject to outstanding stock options, the purchase price and number of shares subject to other outstanding awards and the number and kind of shares or other securities subject to any outstanding awards, will be proportionately adjusted, subject to any required action by our board of directors or our stockholders.

Corporate Transactions. In the event of (i) our dissolution or liquidation, (ii) a “combination transaction” (as defined in our 2018 Plan), in which our voting securities that are outstanding immediately prior to the consummation of such combination transaction (other than any such securities that are held by an acquiring stockholder) do not represent, or are not converted into, securities of the surviving corporation of such combination transaction (or its parent) that, immediately after the consummation of such combination transaction, together possess at least 50% of the total voting power of all securities of such surviving corporation (or its parent) that are outstanding immediately after the consummation of such combination transaction, including securities of such surviving corporation (or its parent) that are held by an acquiring stockholder or (iii) a sale of all or substantially all of our assets, that is followed by the distribution of the proceeds to our stockholders, (each of the foregoing, a corporate transaction), outstanding awards under our 2018 Plan may be treated as follows, subject to any greater rights provided for in an applicable award agreement: (1) any or all outstanding awards may be assumed, converted or replaced by the successor or acquiring corporation, (2) the successor or acquiring corporation may substitute equivalent awards or provide substantially similar consideration to participants as was provided to our stockholders or (3) the successor or acquiring corporation

 

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may substitute by issuing substantially similar shares or other property subject to repurchase restrictions and other provisions no less favorable to the participant than those which applied to such outstanding shares immediately prior to such corporate transaction.

If the successor or acquiring corporation does not assume, convert, replace or substitute awards, as provided above, then outstanding awards will expire on such corporate transaction at such time and on such conditions as our board of directors determines.

Amendment and Termination. Our board of directors may, at any time, terminate or amend our 2018 Plan in any respect, including, without limitation, amendment of any form of award agreement or instrument to be executed pursuant to our 2018 Plan. To the extent necessary and desirable to comply with applicable laws, we will obtain stockholder approval of any amendment to our 2018 Plan. As noted above, it is expected that as of one business day prior to the effectiveness of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, our 2018 Plan will be terminated and we will not grant any additional awards under our 2018 Plan thereafter.

2008 Equity Incentive Plan (2008 Plan)

Our 2008 Plan was originally adopted by our board of directors and approved by our stockholders in October 2008. Our 2008 Plan was most recently amended in March 2018 and approved by stockholders in July 2018.

Our 2008 Plan allows us to provide incentive stock options, within the meaning of Section 422 of the Code, nonstatutory stock options and restricted stock awards (each, an “award” and the recipient of such award, a “participant”) to eligible employees, officers, directors and consultants of ours and any parent or subsidiary of ours. Our 2008 Plan was terminated in connection with the adoption of our 2018 Plan and we have not granted any additional awards under our 2008 Plan thereafter. However, our 2008 Plan will continue to govern the terms and conditions of the outstanding awards previously granted under our 2008 Plan.

As of April 30, 2021, stock options covering 12,161,882 shares of our common stock were outstanding under our 2008 Plan.

Plan Administration. Our 2008 Plan is administered by our board of directors or one or more committees appointed by our board of directors, or the administrator. The administrator has full power to implement and carry out our 2008 Plan, including the authority to construe and interpret the terms of our 2008 Plan and the awards granted under our 2008 Plan. The administrator’s decisions are final and binding on all participants and any other persons holding awards.

The administrator’s powers include the power to buy previously granted award with payment in cash, shares of our common stock or other consideration. The administrator’s powers also include the power to prescribe, amend, expand and rescind rules and regulations relating to our 2008 Plan, to modify or amend each award and to make all other determinations with respect to our 2008 Plan, subject to the limitations provided in our 2008 Plan.

Eligibility. Employees, officers, directors and consultants of ours or our parent or subsidiary companies were eligible to receive awards, provided such consultants render bona fide services not in connection with the offer and sale of securities in a capital-raising transaction. Only our employees or employees of our parent or subsidiary companies were eligible to receive incentive stock options.

Stock Options. Stock options have been granted under our 2008 Plan. Subject to the provisions of our 2008 Plan, the administrator determined the term of a stock option, the number of shares subject to a stock option and the time period in which a stock option may be exercised.

 

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The term of a stock option is stated in the applicable award agreement, but the term of a stock option may not exceed 10 years from the grant date. The administrator determined the exercise price of stock options, which generally may not be less than 100% of the fair market value of our common stock on the grant date, unless expressly determined in writing by the administrator on the stock option’s grant date. However, an incentive stock option granted to an individual who directly or by attribution owns more than 10% of the total combined voting power of all of our classes of stock or of any our parent or subsidiary may have a term of no longer than five years from the grant date and will have an exercise price of at least 110% of the fair market value of our common stock on the grant date. In addition, to the extent that the aggregate fair market value of the shares with respect to which incentive stock options are exercisable for the first time by an employee during any calendar year (under all our plans and any parent or subsidiary) exceeds $100,000, such stock options will be treated as nonstatutory stock options.

The administrator determines how a participant may pay the exercise price of a stock option, and the permissible methods are generally set forth in the applicable award agreement. If a participant ceases to provide services to us or any subsidiary or parent of ours, as applicable, that participant may exercise the vested portion of his or her stock option for the period of time stated in the applicable award agreement. Vested stock options generally will remain exercisable for three months or such other period of time (not less than 30 days and not longer than five years) as set forth in the applicable award agreement if a participant ceases to provide services for a reason other than death, disability or termination for cause. If a participant’s service ceases due to death or disability, or if a participant dies within three months after termination other than for cause, vested stock options generally will remain exercisable for twelve months from the date of termination (or such other period as set forth in the applicable award agreement not less than six months and not longer than five years). If a participant’s service ceases due to termination for cause, the vested shares subject to his or her stock options may be exercised and the stock options will expire on the date of termination, or at a later time as determined by the administrator.

In no event will a stock option remain exercisable beyond its original term. If a participant does not exercise his or her stock option within the time specified in the award agreement, the stock option will terminate. Except as described above, the administrator has the discretion to determine the post-termination exercisability periods for a stock option.

Non-transferability of Awards. Unless determined otherwise by the administrator, awards may not be transferred in any manner other than by will or by the laws of descent and distribution, and with respect to non-statutory stock options, by instrument to an inter vivos or testamentary trust or by gift to immediate family. In addition, during an applicable participant’s lifetime, only that participant may exercise their award.

Certain Adjustments. In the event that the number of outstanding shares of our common stock is changed by a stock dividend, recapitalization, stock split, reverse stock split, subdivision, combination, reclassification or similar change in our capital structure without consideration, then the exercise prices and number of shares subject to outstanding stock options will be proportionately adjusted, subject to any required action by our board of directors or our stockholders.

Corporate Transactions. In the event of (i) our dissolution or liquidation, (ii) a “combination transaction” (as defined in our 2008 Plan), in which our voting securities that are outstanding immediately prior to the consummation of such combination transaction (other than any such securities that are held by an acquiring stockholder) do not represent, or are not converted into, securities of the surviving corporation of such combination transaction (or its parent) that, immediately after the consummation of such combination transaction, together possess at least 50% of the total voting power of all securities of such surviving corporation (or its parent) that are outstanding immediately after the consummation of such combination transaction, including securities of such surviving corporation (or its parent) that are held by an acquiring stockholder or (iii) a sale of all or substantially all of our assets, that is followed by the distribution of the proceeds to our stockholders, (each of the foregoing, a corporate transaction), outstanding awards under our 2008 Plan may be treated as follows, subject to any greater rights provided for in an applicable award agreement: (1) any or all

 

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outstanding awards may be assumed, converted or replaced by the successor or acquiring corporation, (2) the successor or acquiring corporation may substitute equivalent awards or provide substantially similar consideration to participants as was provided to our stockholders or (3) the successor or acquiring corporation may substitute by issuing substantially similar shares or other property subject to repurchase restrictions and other provisions no less favorable to the participant than those which applied to such outstanding shares immediately prior to such corporate transaction.

If the successor or acquiring corporation does not assume, convert, replace or substitute awards, as provided above, then outstanding awards will expire on such corporate transaction at such time and on such conditions as our board of directors determines.

Amendment and Termination. Our board of directors may, at any time, amend our 2008 Plan in any respect, including, without limitation, amendment of any form of award agreement or instrument to be executed pursuant to our 2008 Plan. To the extent necessary and desirable to comply with applicable laws, we will obtain stockholder approval of any amendment to our 2008 Plan. As noted above, our 2008 Plan was terminated in connection with the adoption of our 2018 Plan and we will not grant any additional awards under our 2008 Plan.

2021 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)

Prior to the effectiveness of this offering, we expect that our board of directors will adopt, and our stockholders will approve, our ESPP. Our ESPP will be effective one business day immediately before the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part.

Authorized Shares. The maximum number of shares of our common stock that will be available for issuance under our ESPP will be equal to shares              of our common stock will. In addition, our ESPP will provide for annual increases in the number of shares of our common stock available for issuance under our ESPP on the first day of each of our fiscal years beginning with our fiscal year 2022, in an amount equal to the least of:

 

   

            shares;

 

   

1% of the outstanding shares of our common stock as of the last day of the immediately preceding fiscal year; or

 

   

such other amount as our board of directors may determine.

Shares issuable under our ESPP will be authorized, but unissued, or reacquired shares of our common stock.

ESPP Administration. We expect that the compensation committee of our board of directors will administer our ESPP. The administrator will have full and exclusive discretionary authority to construe, interpret and apply the terms of our ESPP, delegate ministerial duties to any of our employees, designate separate offerings under our ESPP, designate our subsidiaries as participating in our ESPP, determine eligibility, adjudicate all disputed claims filed under our ESPP and establish procedures that it deems necessary or advisable for the administration of our ESPP, including, but not limited to, adopting such procedures, sub-plans and appendices to the enrollment agreement as are necessary or appropriate to permit participation in our ESPP by employees who are non-U.S. nationals or employed outside the U.S. The administrator’s findings, decisions and determinations will be final and binding on all participants to the maximum extent permitted by law.

Eligibility. Generally, any of our employees will be eligible to participate in our ESPP if they are customarily employed by us or any of our participating subsidiaries for at least 20 hours per week and more than five months in any calendar year. The administrator, in its discretion, before an enrollment date for all stock options granted on such enrollment date in an offering, may determine that an employee who (1) has not completed at least two years of service (or a lesser period of time determined by the administrator) since the employee’s last hire date, (2) customarily works not more than 20 hours per week (or a lesser period of time

 

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determined by the administrator), (3) customarily works not more than five months per calendar year (or a lesser period of time determined by the administrator), (4) is a highly compensated employee within the meaning of Section 414(q) of the Code with compensation above a certain level or who is an officer or subject to disclosure requirements under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act, is or is not eligible to participate in an offering. However, an employee may not be granted a stock option to purchase stock under our ESPP if the employee (1) immediately after the grant, would own stock or hold outstanding stock options to purchase such stock possessing 5% or more of the total combined voting power or value of all classes of our (or any of our parent’s or subsidiary’s) capital stock or (2) holds rights to purchase stock under all of our employee stock purchase plans that accrue at a rate that exceeds $25,000 worth of stock for each calendar year.

Participants may end their participation at any time during an offering period and will be paid their accrued contributions that have not yet been used to purchase shares of our common stock. Participation ends automatically upon termination of employment with us.

Offering Periods. Our ESPP will include a component, or the 423 Component, that is intended to qualify as an “employee stock purchase plan” under Section 423 of the Code, and a component that does not comply with Section 423 of the Code, or the Non-423 Component. For purposes of this summary, a reference to our ESPP generally will mean the terms and operations of the 423 Component. Our ESPP will provide for offering periods, which will begin and end on such dates as may be determined by the administrator in its discretion, in each case on a uniform and nondiscriminatory basis, and may contain one or more purchase periods. The administrator may change the duration of offering periods (including commencement dates) with respect to future offerings so long as such change is announced prior to the scheduled beginning of the first offering period affected. No offering period may last more than 27 months.

Contributions. Our ESPP will permit participants to purchase shares of our common stock through payroll deductions of up to 15% of their eligible compensation, which includes a participant’s base straight time gross earnings but excludes payments for overtime and shift premium, incentive compensation, bonuses, commissions, equity compensation and other similar compensation.

Exercise of Purchase Right. Amounts deducted and accumulated by a participant under our ESPP will be used to purchase shares of our common stock at the end of each purchase period. The purchase price of the shares will be 85% of the lower of (1) the fair market value of a share of our common stock on the first trading day of the offering period and (2) the fair market value of a share of our common stock on the exercise date. A participant will be permitted to purchase a maximum of shares during each offering period. No participant may purchase more than                 shares during any offering period.

Non-Transferability. A participant may not transfer the contributions credited to his or her ESPP account or rights granted under our ESPP, other than by will or the laws of descent and distribution.

Certain Adjustments. Our ESPP will provide that if any dividend or other distribution (whether in the form of cash, our common stock, other securities or other property), recapitalization, stock split, reverse stock split, reorganization, merger, consolidation, split-up, spin-off, combination, reclassification, repurchase or exchange of our common stock or other securities of ours, or other change in our corporate structure affecting our common stock occurs (other than any ordinary dividends or other ordinary distributions), the administrator will make adjustments to the number and class of shares that may be delivered under our ESPP or the purchase price per share and number of shares covered by each stock option granted under our ESPP that has not yet been exercised, and the numerical share limits under our ESPP. In the event of our proposed dissolution or liquidation, any offering period in progress will be shortened by setting a new purchase date and will terminate immediately before the completion of such proposed transaction, unless determined otherwise by the administrator.

Merger or Change in Control. In the event of our merger or change in control, as defined in our ESPP, a successor corporation may assume or substitute for each outstanding stock option. If the successor corporation

 

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does not assume or substitute for the stock options, the offering period then in progress will be shortened, and a new exercise date will be set to occur before the date of the proposed merger or change in control. The administrator will notify each participant that the exercise date has been changed and that the participant’s stock option will be exercised automatically on the new exercise date unless prior to such date the participant has withdrawn from the offering period.

Amendment and Termination. The administrator will have the authority to modify, amend, suspend or terminate our ESPP except that, subject to certain exceptions described in our ESPP, no such action may adversely affect any outstanding rights to purchase shares of our common stock under our ESPP. Our ESPP will terminate automatically 20 years after the later of the date of our ESPP’s adoption by our board of directors or the business day immediately prior to the effective date of our registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, unless we terminate it earlier.

401(k) Plan

We maintain a 401(k) retirement savings plan for the benefit of our employees, including our named executive officers, who satisfy certain eligibility requirements. Our 401(k) plan provides eligible employees with an opportunity to save for retirement on a tax-advantaged basis. Under our 401(k) plan, eligible employees may elect to defer a portion of their compensation, within the limits prescribed by the Code and the applicable limits under the 401(k) plan, on a pre-tax or after-tax (Roth) basis, through contributions to the 401(k) plan. All of a participant’s contributions into the 401(k) plan are 100% vested when contributed. The 401(k) plan is intended to qualify under Sections 401(a) and 501(a) of the Code. As a tax-qualified retirement plan, pre-tax contributions to the 401(k) plan and earnings on those pre-tax contributions are not taxable to the employees until distributed from the 401(k) plan, and earnings on Roth contributions are not taxable when distributed from the 401(k) plan. We are permitted to make discretionary matching contributions under our 401(k) plan.

 

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CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

In addition to the compensation arrangements, including employment, termination of employment and change in control arrangements, discussed in the sections titled “Management” and “Executive Compensation,” the following is a description of each transaction since February 1, 2018 and each currently proposed transaction in which:

 

   

we have been or are to be a participant;

 

   

the amount involved exceeded or exceeds $120,000; and

 

   

any of our directors, executive officers or holders of more than 5% of our outstanding capital stock, or any immediate family member of, or person sharing the household with, any of these individuals or entities, had or will have a direct or indirect material interest.

Equity Financings

Series G Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock Financing

In May 2020, we sold an aggregate of 17,920,837 shares of our Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock to 19 accredited investors at a purchase price of $5.85910 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $104,999,976. The following table summarizes purchases of our Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock by related persons:

 

Stockholder

   Shares of Series G
Redeemable
Convertible
Preferred Stock
       Total Purchase  
  Price  
 

GPI Capital Gemini HoldCo LP

     10,240,480      $ 59,999,996  

SCP Couchbase Acquisition LLC

     2,560,120        14,999,999  

Entities affiliated with Accel(1)

     1,706,746        9,999,995  

Entities affiliated with North Bridge(2)

     1,706,746        9,999,995  

Entities affiliated with Adams Street(3)

     853,373        4,999,998  

Mayfield XIII, a Cayman Islands Exempted Limited Partnership

     170,674        999,996  

 

(1)

Shares purchased by Accel Growth Fund II L.P., Accel Growth Fund II Strategic Partners L.P., Accel Growth Fund Investors 2013 L.L.C., Accel Investors 2008 L.L.C., Accel X L.P. and Accel X Strategic Partners L.P. Entities affiliated with Accel currently hold more than 5% of our outstanding capital stock.

(2)

Shares purchased by North Bridge Venture Partners 7, L.P. and North Bridge Venture Partners VI, L.P. Entities affiliated with North Bridge currently hold more than 5% of our outstanding capital stock.

(3)

Shares purchased by Adams Street 2009 Direct Fund L.P., Adams Street 2010 Direct Fund L.P., Adams Street 2011 Direct Fund LP, Adams Street 2012 Direct Fund LP and Adams Street 2013 Direct Fund LP. Entities affiliated with Adams Street currently hold more than 5% of our outstanding capital stock.

Investors’ Rights Agreement

We are party to our IRA, which provides, among other things, that certain holders of our capital stock, including entities affiliated with Accel, Adams Street, Glynn, GPI Capital, Mayfield, North Bridge and SCP have the right to demand that we file a registration statement or request that their shares of our capital stock be covered by a registration statement that we are otherwise filing. Mr. Efrusy, a member of our board of directors, is affiliated with Accel. Mr. Migon, a member of our board of directors, is affiliated with GPI Capital. Mr. Anderson, a member of our board of directors, is affiliated with North Bridge. Mr. Rueckert, a member of our board of directors, is affiliated with SCP. See the section titled “Description of Capital Stock—Registration Rights” for additional information regarding these registration rights.

 

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Right of First Refusal Agreement

Pursuant to certain of our equity compensation plans and certain agreements with our stockholders, including an amended and restated right of first refusal and co-sale agreement, dated as of May 19, 2020, as may be amended from time to time, or right of first refusal agreement, we or our assignees have a right to purchase shares of our capital stock which stockholders propose to sell to other parties. This right will terminate upon the completion of this offering. Mr. Cain, our President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of our board of directors, Mr. Henry, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and Mr. Murphy, our Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer, are party to the right of first refusal agreement. Mr. Efrusy, a member of our board of directors, is affiliated with Accel. Mr. Migon, a member of our board of directors, is affiliated with GPI Capital. Mr. Anderson, a member of our board of directors, is affiliated with North Bridge. Mr. Rueckert, a member of our board of directors, is affiliated with SCP.

Voting Agreement

We are party to an amended and restated voting agreement, dated as of May 19, 2020, as may be amended from time to time, or voting agreement, under which certain holders of our capital stock, including entities affiliated with affiliated with Accel, Adams Street, Glynn, GPI Capital, Mayfield, North Bridge and SCP, have agreed to vote their shares of our capital stock on certain matters, including with respect to the election of directors. Upon the completion of this offering, our voting agreement will terminate and none of our stockholders will have any special rights regarding the election or designation of members of our board of directors. Mr. Cain, our President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of our board of directors, Mr. Henry, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and Mr. Murphy, our Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer, are party to our voting agreement. Mr. Efrusy, a member of our board of directors, is affiliated with Accel. Mr. Migon, a member of our board of directors, is affiliated with GPI Capital. Mr. Anderson, a member of our board of directors, is affiliated with North Bridge. Mr. Rueckert, a member of our board of directors, is affiliated with SCP.

Other Transactions

We have granted stock options to our executive officers and certain of our directors. See the sections titled “Executive Compensation—Outstanding Equity Awards at Year-End” and “Management—Non-Employee Director Compensation” for a description of these stock options.

We intend to enter into change in control severance agreements with certain of our executive officers that, among other things, provides for certain severance and change in control benefits. See the section titled “Executive Compensation—Potential Payments upon Termination or Change in Control” for additional information.

Other than as described above under this section titled “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions,” since February 1, 2018, we have not entered into any transactions, nor are there any currently proposed transactions, between us and a related party where the amount involved exceeds, or would exceed, $120,000, and in which any related person had or will have a direct or indirect material interest. We believe the terms of the transactions described above were comparable to terms we could have obtained in arm’s-length dealings with unrelated third parties.

Limitation of Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors

We expect to adopt an amended and restated certificate of incorporation, which will become effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering, and which will contain provisions that limit the liability of our directors for monetary damages to the fullest extent permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law.

 

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Consequently, our directors will not be personally liable to us or our stockholders for monetary damages for any breach of fiduciary duties as directors, except liability for the following:

 

   

any breach of their duty of loyalty to our company or our stockholders;

 

   

any act or omission not in good faith or that involves intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law;

 

   

unlawful payments of dividends or unlawful stock repurchases or redemptions as provided in Section 174 of the Delaware General Corporation Law; or

 

   

any transaction from which they derived an improper personal benefit.

Any amendment to, or repeal of, these provisions will not eliminate or reduce the effect of these provisions in respect of any act, omission or claim that occurred or arose prior to that amendment or repeal. If the Delaware General Corporation Law is amended to provide for further limitations on the personal liability of directors of corporations, then the personal liability of our directors will be further limited to the greatest extent permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law.

In addition, we expect to adopt amended and restated bylaws, which will become effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering, and which will provide that we will indemnify, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any person who is or was a party or is threatened to be made a party to any action, suit or proceeding by reason of the fact that they are or were one of our directors or officers or is or was serving at our request as a director or officer of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise. Our amended and restated bylaws are expected to provide that we may indemnify to the fullest extent permitted by law any person who is or was a party or is threatened to be made a party to any action, suit or proceeding by reason of the fact that they are or were one of our employees or agents or is or was serving at our request as an employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise. Our amended and restated bylaws will also provide that we must advance expenses incurred by or on behalf of a director or officer in advance of the final disposition of any action or proceeding, subject to limited exceptions.

Further, we have entered into or will enter into indemnification agreements with each of our directors and executive officers that may be broader than the specific indemnification provisions contained in the Delaware General Corporation Law. These indemnification agreements require us, among other things, to indemnify our directors and executive officers against liabilities that may arise by reason of their status or service. These indemnification agreements also require us to advance all expenses incurred by the directors and executive officers in investigating or defending any such action, suit or proceeding. We believe that these agreements are necessary to attract and retain qualified individuals to serve as directors and executive officers.

The limitation of liability and indemnification provisions that are expected to be included in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, amended and restated bylaws and in indemnification agreements that we have entered into or will enter into with our directors and executive officers may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our directors and executive officers for breach of their fiduciary duties. They may also reduce the likelihood of derivative litigation against our directors and executive officers, even though an action, if successful, might benefit us and other stockholders. Further, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent that we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against directors and executive officers as required by these indemnification provisions. At present, we are not aware of any pending litigation or proceeding involving any person who is or was one of our directors, officers, employees or other agents or is or was serving at our request as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, for which indemnification is sought, and we are not aware of any threatened litigation that may result in claims for indemnification.

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fiduciary duty or other wrongful acts as a director or executive officer, including claims relating to public securities matters, and to us with respect to payments that may be made by us to these directors and executive officers pursuant to our indemnification obligations or otherwise as a matter of law.

Certain of our non-employee directors may, through their relationships with their employers, be insured or indemnified against certain liabilities incurred in their capacity as members of our board of directors.

The underwriting agreement will provide for indemnification by the underwriters of us and our officers and directors for certain liabilities arising under the Securities Act or otherwise.

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling our company pursuant to the foregoing provisions, we have been informed that, in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.

Policies and Procedures for Related Party Transactions

Following the completion of this offering, our audit committee will have the primary responsibility for reviewing and approving or disapproving “related party transactions,” which are transactions between us and related persons in which the aggregate amount involved exceeds or may be expected to exceed $120,000 and in which a related person has or will have a direct or indirect material interest. Upon the completion of this offering, our policy regarding transactions between us and related persons will provide that a related person is defined as a director, executive officer, nominee for director or greater than 5% beneficial owner of our common stock, in each case since the beginning of the most recently completed year, and any of their immediate family members. Our audit committee charter that will be in effect upon the completion of this offering will provide that our audit committee shall review and approve or disapprove any related party transactions.

 

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PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS

The following table sets forth certain information with respect to the beneficial ownership of our capital stock as of April 30, 2021, and as adjusted to reflect the sale of our common stock in this offering assuming no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares of our common stock, for:

 

   

each of our named executive officers;

 

   

each of our directors;

 

   

all of our current directors and executive officers as a group; and

 

   

each person known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of the outstanding shares of our common stock.

We have determined beneficial ownership in accordance with the rules of the SEC, and thus it represents sole or shared voting or investment power with respect to our securities. Unless otherwise indicated below, to our knowledge, the persons and entities named in the table have sole voting and sole investment power with respect to all shares that they beneficially owned, subject to community property laws where applicable. The information does not necessarily indicate beneficial ownership for any other purpose, including for purposes of Sections 13(d) and 13(g) of the Securities Act.

We have based our calculation of the percentage of beneficial ownership prior to this offering on 82,682,792 shares of our common stock outstanding as of April 30, 2021 (after giving effect to the Capital Stock Conversion), which includes the automatic conversion of 65,175,634 shares of our redeemable convertible preferred stock outstanding as of April 30, 2021, into 66,529,964 shares of common stock. We have based our calculation of the percentage of beneficial ownership after this offering on              shares of our common stock issued by us in our initial public offering and              shares of common stock outstanding immediately after the completion of this offering, assuming that the underwriters will not exercise their option to purchase up to an additional              shares of our common stock from us in full. We have deemed shares of our common stock subject to stock options or warrants that are currently exercisable or exercisable within 60 days of April 30, 2021 to be outstanding and to be beneficially owned by the person holding the stock option for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of that person. We did not deem these shares outstanding, however, for the purpose of computing the percentage ownership of any other person.

 

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Unless otherwise indicated, the address of each beneficial owner listed in the table below is c/o Couchbase, Inc., 3250 Olcott Street, Santa Clara, California 95054.

 

     Number of
Shares
Beneficially
Owned
     Percentage of Shares
Beneficially Owned
 

Name of Beneficial Owner

   Before the
Offering
    After the
Offering
 

Named Executive Officers and Directors:

       

Matthew M. Cain(1)

     3,550,797                    4.1                     

Margaret Chow(2)

     128,125        *           

Denis Murphy(3)

    
475,000
 
     *           

Edward T. Anderson(4)

     11,328,669        13.7         

Carol W. Carpenter(5)

               

Lynn M. Christensen(6)

               

Kevin J. Efrusy(7)

     10,354,372        12.5         

Jeff Epstein(8)

     404,058        *           

Aleksander J. Migon

                   

Rob Rueckert

                   

David C. Scott(9)

     209,039        *           

Richard A. Simonson(10)

     200,000        *           

All executive officers and directors as a group (13 persons)(11)

     27,512,271        31.1         

5% Stockholders:

       

Entities affiliated with Accel(12)

     17,311,114        20.9         

Entities affiliated with North Bridge(13)

     11,328,669        13.7         

GPI Capital Gemini HoldCo LP(14)

     10,782,904        13.0         

SCP Couchbase Acquisition L.L.C.(15)

     8,480,114        10.3         

Mayfield XIII, a Cayman Islands Exempted Limited Partnership(16)

     8,351,366        10.1         

Entities affiliated with Adams Street(17)

     4,442,990        5.4         

 

*

Represents beneficial ownership of less than 1% of the outstanding shares of our common stock.

(1)

Consists of 10,625 shares held of record by Mr. Cain and 3,540,172 shares subject to stock options held by Mr. Cain exercisable within 60 days of April 30, 2021.

(2)

Consists of 128,125 shares subject to stock options held by Ms. Chow exercisable within 60 days of April 30, 2021.

(3)

Consists of 475,000 shares subject to stock options held by Mr. Murphy exercisable within 60 days of April 30, 2021.

(4)

Consists of shares of common stock held by the entities affiliated with North Bridge Venture Partners identified in footnote 13 below.

(5)

Ms. Carpenter joined our board of directors in May 2021.

(6)

Ms. Christensen joined our board of directors in May 2021.

(7)

Consists of shares listed in subparts (v) and (vi) within footnote 12 below which are held of record by Accel X L.P. and Accel X Strategic Partners L.P. and pursuant to which Mr. Efrusy shares voting and investment power. This does not include the additional shares listed in subparts (i) through (iv) within footnote 12 below because Mr. Efrusy is not a Managing Member of the applicable entities and does not shares voting and investment power over the shares. Mr. Efrusy was elected to our board of directors, and he is a Partner of Accel Partners.

(8)

Consists of 404,058 shares subject to stock options held by Mr. Epstein exercisable within 60 days of April 30, 2021.

(9)

Consists of 209,039 shares subject to stock options held by Mr. Scott exercisable within 60 days of April 30, 2021.

(10)

Consists of 200,000 shares subject to stock options held by Mr. Simonson exercisable within 60 days of April 30, 2021.

(11)

Consists of 21,693,666 shares beneficially owned by our executive officers and directors and 5,818,605 shares subject to stock options held by our executive officers and directors exercisable within 60 days of April 30, 2021.

(12)

Consists of (i) 5,043,359 shares held of record by Accel Growth Fund II L.P., (ii) 365,338 shares held of record by Accel Growth Fund II Strategic Partners L.P., (iii) 541,466 shares held of record by Accel Growth Fund Investors 2013 L.L.C., (iv) 1,006,579 shares held of record by Accel Investors 2008 LLC, (v) 9,624,999 shares held of record by Accel X L.P. and (vi) 729,373 shares held of record by Accel X Strategic Partners L.P. Accel X Associates L.L.C., or A10A, is the General Partner of both Accel X L.P. and Accel X Strategic Partners L.P., and has the sole voting and investment power. Andrew G. Braccia, Kevin J. Efrusy, Sameer K. Gandhi, Ping Li, Tracy L. Sedlock and Richard P. Wong are the Managing Members of Accel Investors 2008 L.L.C., and therefore share the voting and investment powers. Accel Growth Fund II Associates L.L.C., or AGF2A, is the General Partner of both Accel Growth Fund II L.P. and Accel Growth Fund II Strategic Partners L.P., and has the sole voting and investment power. Andrew G. Braccia, Sameer K. Gandhi, Ping Li, Tracy L. Sedlock, Ryan J. Sweeney and Richard P. Wong are the Managing Members of AGF2A and share such powers. Andrew G. Braccia, Sameer K. Gandhi, Ping Li, Tracy L. Sedlock, Ryan J. Sweeney and Richard P. Wong are the Managing Members of Accel

 

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Growth Fund Investors 2013 L.L.C., and therefore share the voting and investment powers. Each general partner or manager disclaims beneficial ownership except to the extent of their pecuniary interest therein. The address for all Accel entities listed above is 500 University Avenue, Palo Alto, California 94301.

(13)

Consists of 4,859,134 shares held of record by North Bridge Venture Partners VI, L.P., or NBVP VI, and 6,469,535 shares held of record by North Bridge Venture Partners 7, L.P., or NBVP 7. North Bridge Venture Management VI, L.P., or NBVM VI, is the sole general partner of NBVP VI. North Bridge Venture Management 7, L.P., or NBVM 7, is the sole general partner of NBVP 7. NBVM GP, LLC, or NBVM GP, is the sole general partner of each of NBVM VI and NBVM 7. Each of Mr. Anderson, a member of our board of directors, and Richard A. D’Amore are the managers of NBVM GP and may be deemed to have shared voting and dispositive power over the shares held by each of NBVP VI and NBVP 7. Each of Messrs. Anderson and D’Amore, NBVM VI, NBVM 7 and NBVM GP disclaims beneficial ownership of these shares, except to the extent of their respective pecuniary interests therein, if any. The address for all North Bridge entities is 60 William Street, Suite 350, Wellesley, Massachusetts 02481.

(14)

Consists of 10,782,904 shares held of record by GPI Capital Gemini HoldCo LP, or GPI. GPI Capital LLC is the sole member of GPI GP Limited, which is the general partner of GPI GP LP, which is the general partner of GPI. Mr. Migon is a member of our board of directors and Mr. Migon, William T. Royan and Khai Ha are Managing Partners and members of the Investment Committee of GPI Capital, LLC and may be deemed to have shared voting, investment and dispositive power with respect to the shares held by GPI. Mr. Migon, Mr. Royan and Mr. Ha disclaim beneficial ownership of such shares except to the extent of their pecuniary interest therein. The address for GPI is 1345 Avenue of the Americas, 32nd Floor, New York, New York 10105.

(15)

Consists of 8,480,114 shares held of record by SCP Couchbase Acquisition L.L.C. Rob Reuckert is a member of our board of directors and the General Partner of SCP Couchbase Acquisition, L.L.C., which is controlled by Sorenson Capital Partners. The address for the Sorenson entity listed above is 3400 Ashton Boulevard, #400, Lehi, Utah 84043.

(16)

Consists of 8,351,366 shares held of record by Mayfield XIII, a Cayman Islands Exempted Limited Partnership, or MF XIII. Mayfield XIII Management (UGP), Ltd., a Cayman Islands Exempted Company, or MF XIII UGP, is the general partner of Mayfield XIII Management (EGP), L.P., a Cayman Islands Exempted Limited Partnership, which is the general partner of MF XIII. Rajeev Batra, Navin Chaddha and Vaneeta Varma are the directors of MF XIII UGP. As a result, each of the foregoing entities and individuals may be deemed to share beneficial ownership of the shares owned by MF XIII, but each of the individuals disclaims such beneficial ownership. The address for each of these entities is c/o Mayfield, 2484 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, California 94025.

(17)

Consists of 1,559,117 shares held of record by Adams Street 2009 Direct Fund, L.P., or AS 2009, 885,664 shares held of record by Adams Street 2010 Direct Fund, L.P., or AS 2010, 711,542 shares held of record by Adams Street 2011 Direct Fund LP, or AS 2011, 732,539 shares held of record by Adams Street 2012 Direct Fund LP, or AS 2012 and 554,128 shares held of record by Adams Street 2013 Direct Fund LP, or AS 2013 (collectively, the Shares). The shares owned by AS 2009, AS 2010, AS 2011, AS 2012 and AS 2013 may be deemed to be beneficially owned by Adams Street Partners, LLC, the managing member of the general partner of AS 2009 and AS 2010 and the managing member of the general partner of the general partner of AS 2011, AS 2012 and AS 2013. Thomas S. Bremner, Jeffrey T. Diehl, Elisha P. Gould III, Robin P. Murray and Fred Wang, each of whom is a partner of Adams Street Partners, LLC (or a subsidiary thereof) may be deemed to have shared voting and investment power over the Shares. Adams Street Partners, LLC and Thomas S. Bremner, Jeffrey T. Diehl, Elisha P. Gould III, Robin P. Murray and Fred Wang disclaim beneficial ownership of the Shares except to the extent of their pecuniary interest therein. The address for all Adams Street entities is c/o One North Wacker Drive, Suite 2200, Chicago, Illinois 60606.

 

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DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK

General

The following description summarizes certain important terms of our capital stock, as they are expected to be in effect immediately prior to the completion of this offering. We expect to adopt an amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws that will become effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering, and this description summarizes the provisions that are expected to be included in such documents. Because it is only a summary, it does not contain all the information that may be important to you. For a complete description of the matters set forth in this section titled “Description of Capital Stock,” you should refer to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, amended and restated bylaws and IRA, which are included as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part, and to the applicable provisions of Delaware law. Immediately following the completion of this offering, our authorized capital stock will consist of 1,200,000,000 shares of capital stock, $0.00001 par value per share, of which:

 

   

1,000,000,000 shares are designated as common stock; and

 

   

200,000,000 shares are designated as preferred stock.

Assuming the conversion of all outstanding shares of our redeemable convertible preferred stock into shares of our common stock, which will occur immediately prior to the completion of this offering, as of April 30, 2021, there were 82,682,792 shares of our common stock outstanding (after giving effect to the Capital Stock Conversion), held by 318 stockholders of record, and no shares of our preferred stock outstanding. Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, our board of directors will have the authority, without stockholder approval except as required by the listing standards of the Nasdaq Global Select Market, to issue additional shares of our capital stock.

Common Stock

Dividend Rights

Subject to preferences that may apply to any shares of preferred stock outstanding at the time, the holders of our common stock are entitled to receive dividends out of funds legally available if our board of directors, in its discretion, determines to issue dividends and then only at the times and in the amounts that our board of directors may determine. See the section titled “Dividend Policy” for additional information.

Voting Rights

Holders of our common stock are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders. We have not provided for cumulative voting for the election of directors in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will establish a classified board of directors that is divided into three classes with staggered three-year terms. Only the directors in one class will be subject to election by a plurality of the votes cast at each annual meeting of stockholders, with the directors in the other classes continuing for the remainder of their respective three-year terms.

No Preemptive or Similar Rights

Our common stock is not entitled to preemptive rights, and is not subject to conversion, redemption or sinking fund provisions.

Right to Receive Liquidation Distributions

If we become subject to a liquidation, dissolution or winding-up, the assets legally available for distribution to our stockholders would be distributable ratably among the holders of our common stock and any participating

 

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preferred stock outstanding at that time, subject to prior satisfaction of all outstanding debt and liabilities and the preferential rights of and the payment of liquidation preferences, if any, on any outstanding shares of preferred stock.

Fully Paid and Non-Assessable

In connection with this offering, our legal counsel will opine that the shares of our common stock to be issued in this offering will be fully paid and non-assessable.

Preferred Stock

After the completion of this offering, no shares of our redeemable convertible preferred stock will be outstanding. Pursuant to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation that will become effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering, our board of directors will have the authority, subject to limitations prescribed by Delaware law, to issue preferred stock in one or more series, to establish from time to time the number of shares to be included in each series and to fix the designation, powers, preferences and rights of the shares of each series and any of its qualifications, limitations or restrictions, in each case without further vote or action by our stockholders. Our board of directors can also increase or decrease the number of shares of any series of preferred stock, but not below the number of shares of that series then outstanding, without any further vote or action by our stockholders. Our board of directors may authorize the issuance of preferred stock with voting or conversion rights that could adversely affect the voting power or other rights of the holders of our common stock. The issuance of preferred stock, while providing flexibility in connection with possible acquisitions and other corporate purposes, could, among other things, have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of our company and might adversely affect the market price of our common stock and the voting and other rights of the holders of our common stock. We have no current plan to issue any shares of preferred stock.

Stock Options

As of April 30, 2021, we had outstanding stock options to purchase an aggregate of 25,328,506 shares of our common stock, with a weighted-average exercise price of approximately $3.50 per share.

Common Stock Warrants

As of April 30, 2021, we had outstanding common stock warrants to purchase 263,377 shares of our common stock, with an exercise price of $2.99 per share.

Registration Rights

After the completion of this offering, certain holders of our common stock will be entitled to rights with respect to the registration of their shares under the Securities Act. These registration rights are contained in our IRA. We and certain holders of our redeemable convertible preferred stock are parties to our IRA. The registration rights set forth in our IRA will expire (i) five years following the completion of this offering, (ii) with respect to any particular stockholder, when such stockholder is able to sell all of its shares pursuant to Rule 144 of the Securities Act during any 90-day period or (iii) upon the closing of a deemed liquidation event (as defined in our current restated certificate of incorporation). We will pay the registration expenses (other than underwriting or brokering (as applicable) discounts and commissions) of the holders of the shares registered pursuant to the registrations described below. In an underwritten offering, the managing underwriters, if any, have the right, subject to specified conditions, to limit the number of shares such holders may include. We expect that our stockholders will waive their rights under our IRA (i) to receive notice of this offering and (ii) to include their registrable shares in this offering. In addition, in connection with this offering, we expect that each stockholder that has registration rights will agree not to sell or otherwise dispose of any securities without the

 

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prior written consent of us and the underwriters for a specified period after the date of this prospectus, subject to certain terms and conditions. See the sections titled “Shares Eligible for Future Sale—Lock-Up and Market Standoff Agreements” and “Underwriting” for additional information.

Demand Registration Rights

After the completion of this offering, the holders of up to 66,529,964 shares of our common stock will be entitled to certain demand registration rights. At any time beginning six months after the effective date of this offering, the holders of a majority of the shares then outstanding can request that we register the offer and sale of their shares. Such requests for registration must (i) cover securities that represent at least 30% of the shares then outstanding or (ii) cover securities, the anticipated aggregate public offering price of which, excluding payment of underwriting discounts and commissions, is at least $5,000,000. We are obligated to effect only two such registrations. If we determine that it would be materially detrimental to us and our stockholders to effect such a demand registration, we have the right to defer such registration, not more than once in any 12-month period, for a period of up to 120 days.

Piggyback Registration Rights

After the completion of this offering, if we propose to register the offer and sale of our common stock under the Securities Act, in connection with the public offering of such common stock the holders of up to 66,529,964 shares of our common stock will be entitled to certain “piggyback” registration rights allowing the holders to include their shares in such registration, subject to certain marketing and other limitations. As a result, whenever we propose to file a registration statement under the Securities Act, other than with respect to (i) a demand registration or a Form S-3 registration, (ii) a registration related to any employee benefit plan or a corporate reorganization or other transaction covered by Rule 145 promulgated under the Securities Act or (iii) a registration on any registration form which does not permit secondary sales or does not include substantially the same information as would be required to be included in a registration statement covering the public offering of our common stock, the holders of these shares are entitled to notice of the registration and have the right, subject to certain limitations, to include their shares in the registration.

S-3 Registration Rights

After the completion of this offering, holders of up to 66,529,964 shares of our common stock will be entitled to certain Form S-3 registration rights. The holders of these shares then outstanding may make a written request we register the offer and sale of their shares on a registration statement on Form S-3 if we are eligible to file a registration statement on Form S-3 so long as the request covers securities and anticipated aggregate public offering price of which, excluding payment of underwriting or brokering discounts and commissions, is at least $2,000,000. These stockholders may make an unlimited number of requests for registration on Form S-3; however, we will not be required to effect a registration on Form S-3 if we have effected two such registrations within the 12-month period preceding the date of the request. Additionally, if we determine that it would be seriously detrimental to us and our stockholders to effect such a registration, we have the right to defer such registration, not more than once in any 12-month period, for a period of up to 120 days.

Anti-Takeover Provisions

Certain provisions of Delaware law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws, which will become effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering, which are summarized below, may have the effect of delaying, deferring or discouraging another person from acquiring control of us. They are also designed, in part, to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to negotiate first with our board of directors. We believe that the benefits of increased protection of our potential ability to negotiate with an unfriendly or unsolicited acquirer outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging a proposal to acquire us because negotiation of these proposals could result in an improvement of their terms.

 

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Delaware Law

We will be governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. In general, Section 203 prohibits a public Delaware corporation 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, unless:

 

   

the business combination or transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder was approved by the board of directors prior to the time that the stockholder became an interested stockholder;

 

   

upon consummation of the transaction which resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least 85% of the voting stock of the corporation outstanding at the time the transaction commenced, excluding shares owned by directors who are also officers of the corporation and shares owned by employee stock plans in which employee participants do not have the right to determine confidentially whether shares held subject to the plan will be tendered in a tender or exchange offer; or

 

   

at or subsequent to the time the stockholder became an interested stockholder, the business combination was approved by the board of directors and authorized at an annual or special meeting of the stockholders, and not by written consent, by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the outstanding voting stock which is not owned by the interested stockholder.

In general, Section 203 defines a “business combination” to include mergers, asset sales and other transactions resulting in financial benefit to a stockholder and an “interested stockholder” as a person who, together with affiliates and associates, owns, or within three years did own, 15% or more of the corporation’s outstanding voting stock. These provisions may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing changes in control of our company.

Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Amended and Restated Bylaw Provisions

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and our amended and restated bylaws, which will become effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering, will include a number of provisions that could deter hostile takeovers or delay or prevent changes in control of our board of directors or management team, including the following:

Board of Directors Vacancies

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws will authorize only our board of directors to fill vacant directorships, including newly created seats. In addition, the number of directors constituting our board of directors will be permitted to be set only by a resolution adopted by a majority vote of our entire board of directors. These provisions would prevent a stockholder from increasing the size of our board of directors and then gaining control of our board of directors by filling the resulting vacancies with its own nominees. This will make it more difficult to change the composition of our board of directors and will promote continuity of management.

Classified Board

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws will provide that our board of directors is classified into three classes of directors. A third party may be discouraged from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us as it is more difficult and time consuming for stockholders to replace a majority of the directors on a classified board of directors. See the section titled “Management—Classified Board of Directors.”

 

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Stockholder Action; Special Meeting of Stockholders

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that our stockholders may not take action by written consent, but may only take action at annual or special meetings of our stockholders. As a result, a holder controlling a majority of our capital stock would not be able to amend our amended and restated bylaws or remove directors without holding a meeting of our stockholders called in accordance with our amended and restated bylaws. Our amended and restated bylaws will further provide that special meetings of our stockholders may be called only by a majority of our board of directors, the chairperson of our board of directors, our Chief Executive Officer or our President, thus prohibiting a stockholder from calling a special meeting. These provisions might delay the ability of our stockholders to force consideration of a proposal or for stockholders controlling a majority of our capital stock to take any action, including the removal of directors.

Advance Notice Requirements for Stockholder Proposals and Director Nominations

Our amended and restated bylaws will provide advance notice procedures for stockholders seeking to bring business before our annual meeting of stockholders or to nominate candidates for election as directors at our annual meeting of stockholders. Our amended and restated bylaws will also specify certain requirements regarding the form and content of a stockholder’s notice. These provisions might preclude our stockholders from bringing matters before our annual meeting of stockholders or from making nominations for directors at our annual meeting of stockholders if the proper procedures are not followed. We expect that these provisions may also discourage or deter a potential acquirer from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect the acquirer’s own slate of directors or otherwise attempting to obtain control of our company.

No Cumulative Voting

The Delaware General Corporation Law provides that stockholders are not entitled to cumulate votes in the election of directors unless a corporation’s certificate of incorporation provides otherwise. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation does not provide for cumulative voting.

Directors Removed Only for Cause

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will provide that stockholders may remove directors only for cause.

Amendment of Charter and Bylaws Provisions

Amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will require the approval of the holders of at least 66 2/3% of our then outstanding capital stock. Our amended and restated bylaws will provide that the approval of stockholders holding at least 66 2/3% of our then outstanding capital stock is required for stockholders to amend or adopt any provision of our bylaws.

Issuance of Undesignated Preferred Stock

Our board of directors will have the authority, without further action by our stockholders, to issue up to 200,000,000 shares of undesignated preferred stock with rights and preferences, including voting rights, designated from time to time by our board of directors. The existence of authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock would enable our board of directors to render more difficult or to discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a merger, tender offer, proxy contest or other means.

Exclusive Forum

Our amended and restated bylaws will provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf,

 

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(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 asserting a claim against us or any of our directors or officers arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, (iv) any action to interpret, apply, enforce or determine the validity of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws or (v) any other action asserting a claim that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine shall be a state or federal court located within the State of Delaware, in all cases subject to the court’s having jurisdiction over indispensable parties named as defendants. This exclusive forum provision will not apply to any causes of action arising under the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction.

Our amended and restated bylaws will also provide that the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a course of action under the Securities Act. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in our securities shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to these provisions. Although we believe these provisions benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law for the specified types of actions and proceedings, the provisions may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against us or our directors and officers. We note that there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce these provisions and that investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder.

Transfer Agent and Registrar

Upon the completion of this offering, the transfer agent and registrar for our common stock will be American Stock Transfer & Trust Company. The transfer agent and registrar’s address is 6201 15th Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11219.

Limitations of Liability and Indemnification

See the section titled “Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions—Limitation of Liability and Indemnification of Officers and Directors.”

Listing

We have applied for the listing of our common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “BASE”.

 

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SHARES ELIGIBLE FOR FUTURE SALE

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our common stock, and we cannot predict the effect, if any, that market sales of shares of our common stock or the availability of shares of our common stock for sale will have on the market price of our common stock prevailing from time to time. Future sales of our common stock in the public market, or the availability of such shares for sale in the public market, could adversely affect market prices prevailing from time to time. As described below, only a limited number of shares of our common stock will be available for sale shortly after this offering due to contractual and legal restrictions on resale. Nevertheless, sales of our common stock in the public market after such restrictions lapse, or the perception that those sales may occur, could adversely affect the prevailing market price at such time and our ability to raise equity capital in the future.

Following the completion of this offering, based on the number of shares of our capital stock outstanding as of April 30, 2021, we will have a total of              shares of our common stock outstanding. Of these outstanding shares, all              shares of our common stock sold in this offering will be freely tradable, except that any shares purchased in this offering by our affiliates, as that term is defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act, would only be able to be sold in compliance with the Rule 144 limitations described below.

The remaining outstanding shares of our common stock will be, and shares subject to stock options will be upon issuance, deemed “restricted securities” as defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act. Restricted securities may be sold in the public market only if they are registered under the Securities Act or if they qualify for an exemption from registration under Rule 144 or Rule 701 under the Securities Act, which rules are summarized below. As a result of the lock-up and market standoff agreements described below and the provisions of our IRA described in the section titled “Description of Capital Stock—Registration Rights,” and subject to the provisions of Rule 144 or Rule 701, shares of our common stock will be available for sale in the public market as follows:

 

Earliest Date Available for Sale in the Public Market

  

Number of Shares of Common Stock

The date of this prospectus.   

All                 shares of our common stock sold in this offering.

The third trading day immediately following our public announcement of earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2022.

  

Approximately                 shares of our common stock held by certain current and former employees.

The earlier of (i) the third trading day after our public announcement of our earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2022, and (ii) 181 days after the date of this prospectus, subject to the terms of the lock-up and market standoff agreements described below.

  

All remaining shares held by our stockholders not previously eligible for sale, subject to volume limitations and other restrictions applicable to “affiliates” under Rule 144 as described below.

Lock-Up and Market Standoff Agreements

We will agree that we will not (i) offer, pledge, announce the intention to sell, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, or file with the SEC a registration statement under the Securities Act relating to any shares of our common stock or securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for any shares of our common stock, or publicly disclose the intention to make any offer, sale, pledge, disposition or filing or (ii) enter into any swap or other arrangement that transfers all or a portion of the economic consequences associated with the ownership of any shares of common stock or any such other securities (regardless of whether any of these transactions are to be settled by the delivery of shares of common stock or such other securities, in cash or otherwise), in each case without the prior written consent of Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC for the period ending on and including the earlier of: (a) the

 

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day immediately preceding the date of the third trading day after our public announcement of our earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2022, and (b) the 180th day after the date of this prospectus, other than the shares of our common stock to be sold hereunder and certain other exceptions.

Our directors, our executive officers and holders of substantially all of our capital stock and securities convertible into our capital stock have entered or will enter into lock-up agreements with the underwriters prior to the commencement of this offering pursuant to which each of these persons or entities, with limited exceptions, for the period ending on and including the earlier of: (a) the day immediately preceding the date of the third trading day after our public announcement of our earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2022, and (b) the 180th day after the date of this prospectus, may not, without the prior written consent of Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, (i) offer, pledge, announce the intention to sell, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, any shares of our common stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for our common stock (including, without limitation, common stock or such other securities which may be deemed to be beneficially owned by such directors, executive officers and stockholders in accordance with the rules and regulations of the SEC and securities which may be issued upon exercise of a stock option or warrant) or (ii) enter into any swap or other agreement that transfers, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of the common stock or such other securities, whether any such transaction described in clause (i) or (ii) above is to be settled by delivery of common stock or such other securities, in cash or otherwise or (iii) make any demand for or exercise any right with respect to the registration of any shares of our common stock or any security convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for our common stock; provided, that the lesser of (x) 40% of the shares of our common stock (including shares issuable upon the exercise of vested options) held as of the date of this prospectus by current and former employees (but excluding current executive officers, directors and senior vice presidents that report directly to the Chief Executive Officer), and (y) up to 200,000 shares of common stock beneficially owned by such current and former employees, which we refer to as the share threshold, may be sold at the commencement of trading on the third trading day after we announce earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2022. The foregoing early lock-up release will not apply to shares owned by any limited liability company, partnership, corporation, trust, or other entity (including, without limitation, any investment fund), unless all of the equity interests and other economic interests in such entity are owned exclusively by the lock-up signatory and immediate family members of such lock-up signatory. Notwithstanding the foregoing, all shares of common stock beneficially owned (or any other securities so owned convertible into or exercisable for common stock) by the lock-up signatory related parties shall be aggregated for determining the share threshold, and the aggregate number of shares automatically released under such lock-up agreement or any other lock-up agreements in accordance with the share threshold will not exceed 200,000 for the lock-up signatory related parties as a group.

In addition, our executive officers, directors and holders of substantially all of our capital stock and securities convertible into or exchangeable for our capital stock have entered into market standoff agreements with us under which they have agreed that, subject to certain exceptions, for a period of 180 days after the date of this prospectus, they will not, without our prior written consent, dispose of or hedge any shares or any securities convertible into or exchangeable for shares of our common stock.

Rule 144

In general, Rule 144 provides that once we have been subject to the public company reporting requirements of Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act for at least 90 days, a person who is not deemed to have been one of our affiliates for purposes of the Securities Act at any time during the 90 days preceding a sale and who has beneficially owned the shares of our common stock proposed to be sold for at least six months is entitled to sell those shares without complying with the manner of sale, volume limitation or notice provisions of Rule 144, subject to compliance with the public information requirements of Rule 144. If such a person has beneficially owned the shares proposed to be sold for at least one year, including the holding period of any prior owner other than our affiliates, then that person would be entitled to sell those shares without complying with any of the requirements of Rule 144.

 

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In general, Rule 144 provides that our affiliates or persons selling shares of our common stock on behalf of our affiliates are entitled to sell upon expiration of the market standoff agreements and lock-up agreements described above, within any three-month period, a number of shares of our common stock that does not exceed the greater of:

 

   

1% of the number of shares of our capital stock then outstanding, which will equal              shares immediately after the completion of this offering; or

 

   

the average weekly trading volume of our common stock during the four calendar weeks preceding the filing of a notice on Form 144 with respect to that sale.

Sales of our common stock made in reliance upon Rule 144 by our affiliates or persons selling shares of our common stock on behalf of our affiliates are also subject to certain manner of sale provisions and notice requirements and to the availability of current public information about us.

Rule 701

Rule 701 generally allows a stockholder who purchased shares of our capital stock pursuant to a written compensatory plan or contract and who is not deemed to have been an affiliate of our company during the immediately preceding 90 days to sell these shares in reliance upon Rule 144, but without being required to comply with the public information, holding period, volume limitation or notice provisions of Rule 144. Rule 701 also permits affiliates of our company to sell their Rule 701 shares under Rule 144 without complying with the holding period requirements of Rule 144. All holders of Rule 701 shares, however, are required to wait until 90 days after the date of this prospectus before selling those shares pursuant to Rule 701.

Registration Rights

Pursuant to our IRA, after the completion of this offering, the holders of up to 66,529,964 shares of our common stock, or certain transferees, will be entitled to certain rights with respect to the registration of the offer and sale of those shares under the Securities Act. See the section titled “Description of Capital Stock—Registration Rights” for a description of these registration rights. If the offer and sale of these shares of our common stock are registered, the shares will be freely tradable without restriction under the Securities Act, subject to the Rule 144 limitations applicable to affiliates, and a large number of shares may be sold into the public market.

Registration Statement

We intend to file a registration statement on Form S-8 under the Securities Act promptly after the effectiveness of this offering to register shares of our common stock subject to stock options outstanding, as well as reserved for future issuance, under our equity compensation plans. The registration statement on Form S-8 is expected to become effective immediately upon filing, and shares of our common stock covered by the registration statement will then become eligible for sale in the public market, subject to the Rule 144 limitations applicable to affiliates, vesting restrictions and any applicable market standoff agreements and lock-up agreements. See the section titled “Executive Compensation—Employee Benefit and Stock Plans” for a description of our equity compensation plans.

 

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MATERIAL U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS FOR NON-U.S. HOLDERS OF OUR COMMON STOCK

The following is a summary of the material U.S. federal income tax consequences to “non-U.S. holders” (as defined below) of the ownership and disposition of our common stock issued pursuant to this offering, but does not purport to be a complete analysis of all the potential tax considerations relating thereto. This summary is based upon the provisions of the Code, Treasury regulations promulgated thereunder, administrative rulings and judicial decisions, all as of the date hereof. These authorities may be changed, possibly retroactively, which may result in U.S. federal income tax consequences different from those set forth below.

This summary does not address the tax considerations arising under the laws of any state, local or non-U.S. jurisdiction or under U.S. federal gift and estate tax laws. In addition, this discussion does not address tax considerations applicable to a non-U.S. holder’s particular circumstances or non-U.S. holders that may be subject to special tax rules, including, without limitation:

 

   

banks, insurance companies or other financial institutions (except to the extent specifically set forth below), regulated investment companies or real estate investment trusts;

 

   

persons subject to the alternative minimum tax or Medicare contribution tax on net investment income;

 

   

tax-exempt organizations or governmental organizations;

 

   

pension plans or tax-exempt retirement plans;

 

   

controlled foreign corporations, passive foreign investment companies and corporations that accumulate earnings to avoid U.S. federal income tax;

 

   

dealers in securities or other persons that elect to use a mark-to-market method of accounting for their holdings in our stock;

 

   

certain former citizens or long-term residents of the United States;

 

   

partnerships or entities classified as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes or other pass-through entities (and investors therein);

 

   

persons who hold our common stock as a position in a “straddle,” “conversion transaction” or other risk reduction transaction or integrated investment;

 

   

persons who hold or receive our common stock pursuant to the exercise of any employee stock option or otherwise as compensation;

 

   

persons subject to special tax accounting rules as a result of any item of gross income with respect to our common stock being taken into account in an “applicable financial statement” (as defined in Section 451(b) of the Code);

 

   

persons who do not hold our common stock as a capital asset within the meaning of Section 1221 of the Code; or

 

   

persons deemed to sell our common stock under the constructive sale provisions of the Code.

In addition, if a partnership or other entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes holds our common stock, the tax treatment of a partner in such partnership generally will depend on the status of the partner and upon the activities of the partnership. Accordingly, partnerships or other entities or arrangements treated as partnerships, that hold our common stock, and partners in such partnerships, should consult their own tax advisors regarding the tax consequences of the ownership and disposition of our common stock.

You are urged to consult your tax advisor with respect to the application of the U.S. federal income tax laws to your particular situation, as well as any tax consequences of the ownership and disposition of our common stock arising under the U.S. federal gift or estate tax laws or under the laws of any U.S. state or local, non-U.S. or other taxing jurisdiction or under any applicable tax treaty.

 

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Non-U.S. Holder Defined

For purposes of this discussion, you are a “non-U.S. holder” if you are any holder that is not a partnership (or entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) and are not, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, any of the following:

 

   

an individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States;

 

   

a corporation (or any other entity treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes) created or organized in the United States or under the laws of the United States, any state thereof or the District of Columbia;

 

   

an estate whose income is subject to U.S. federal income tax regardless of its source; or

 

   

a trust (x) whose administration is subject to the primary supervision of a U.S. court and which has one or more “United States persons” (within the meaning of Section 7701(a)(30) of the Code), or U.S. persons, who have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust or (y) which has made a valid election to be treated as a U.S. person.

Distributions

As described in the section titled “Dividend Policy,” we have never declared or paid cash dividends on our capital stock and do not anticipate paying any dividends on our capital stock in the foreseeable future. However, if we do make distributions on our common stock, those payments will constitute dividends for U.S. federal income tax purposes to the extent paid from our current or accumulated earnings and profits, if any, as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles. To the extent those distributions exceed both our current and our accumulated earnings and profits, they will constitute a return of capital and will first reduce your basis in our common stock, but not below zero, and then will be treated as gain from the sale or other disposition of property as described below under “—Gain on Disposition of Our Common Stock.”

Except as otherwise described below in the paragraph on effectively connected income and the sections titled “—Backup Withholding and Information Reporting” and “—FATCA,” any dividend paid to you generally will be subject to U.S. withholding tax either at a rate of 30% of the gross amount of the dividend or such lower rate as may be specified by an applicable income tax treaty between the U.S. and your country of residence. If the applicable withholding agent applies over-withholding or if a non-U.S. holder does not timely provide us with the required certification, the non-U.S. holder may be entitled to a refund or credit of any excess tax withheld by timely filing an appropriate claim with the IRS.

In order to receive a reduced treaty rate, you must provide the applicable withholding agent with an IRS Form W-8BEN, IRS Form W-8BEN-E or other appropriate version of IRS Form W-8, including any required attachments and your taxpayer identification number, certifying qualification for the reduced rate. In addition, you will be required to update such forms and certifications from time to time as required by law. If you are eligible for a reduced rate of U.S. withholding tax pursuant to an income tax treaty, you may obtain a refund of any excess amounts withheld by timely filing an appropriate claim for refund with the IRS. If you hold our stock through a financial institution or other agent acting on your behalf, you will be required to provide appropriate documentation to the agent, which then will be required to provide certification to us or our paying agent, either directly or through other intermediaries. You should consult your tax advisor regarding entitlement to benefits under any applicable income tax treaties.

Dividends received by you that are effectively connected with your conduct of a U.S. trade or business (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, attributable to a permanent establishment or fixed base maintained by you in the United States) are generally exempt from such withholding tax, subject to the discussions below on backup withholding and FATCA withholding. In order to obtain this exemption, you must provide us with an IRS Form W-8ECI or other applicable IRS Form W-8 properly certifying such exemption. In addition, you will

 

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be required to update such forms and certifications from time to time as required by law. Such effectively connected dividends, although not subject to U.S. federal withholding tax, are includable on your U.S. federal income tax return and taxed to you at the same graduated rates applicable to U.S. persons, net of certain deductions and credits. If you are a corporate non-U.S. holder, dividends you receive that are effectively connected with your conduct of a U.S. trade or business may also be subject to a branch profits tax at a rate of 30%, or such lower rate as may be specified by an applicable income tax treaty between the United States and your country of residence. You should consult your tax advisor regarding any applicable tax treaties that may provide for different rules.

Gain on Disposition of Our Common Stock

Except as otherwise described below in the sections titled “—Backup Withholding and Information Reporting,” and “—FATCA,” you generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on any gain realized upon the sale or other disposition of our common stock unless:

 

   

the gain is effectively connected with your conduct of a U.S. trade or business (and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty, the gain is attributable to a permanent establishment or fixed base maintained by you in the United States);

 

   

you are a non-resident alien individual who is present in the United States for a period or periods aggregating 183 days or more during the calendar year in which the sale or other disposition occurs and other conditions are met; or

 

   

our common stock constitutes a United States real property interest by reason of our status as a “United States real property holding corporation,” or USRPHC, for U.S. federal income tax purposes at any time within the shorter of the five-year period preceding your disposition of, or your holding period for, our common stock, and, in the case where shares of our common stock are regularly traded on an established securities market, you own, or are treated as owning, more than 5% of our common stock at any time during the foregoing period.

In general, a corporation is a USRPHC if the fair market value of its U.S. real property interests equals or exceeds 50% of the sum of the fair market value of its worldwide property interests and its other assets used or held for use in a trade or business (all as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes). We believe, and this discussion assumes, that we currently are not, and will not become, a USRPHC for U.S. federal income tax purposes. However, because the determination of whether we are a USRPHC depends on the fair market value of our U.S. real property interests relative to the fair market value of our other business assets, there can be no assurance that we will not become a USRPHC at some point in the future. Even if we become a USRPHC, however, as long as our common stock is regularly traded on an established securities market, such common stock will be treated as U.S. real property interests only if you actually or constructively hold more than five percent of such regularly traded common stock at any time during the shorter of the five-year period preceding your disposition of, or your holding period for, our common stock.

If you are a non-U.S. holder described in the first bullet above, you will generally be required to pay tax on the net gain derived from the sale under regular graduated U.S. federal income tax rates (and a corporate non-U.S. holder described in the first bullet above also may be subject to the branch profits tax at a 30% rate), unless otherwise provided by an applicable income tax treaty between the United States and your country of residence. If you are a non-U.S. holder described in the second bullet above, you will generally be required to pay a 30% tax (or such lower rate specified by an applicable income tax treaty between the United States and your country of residence) on the gain derived from the sale or other disposition of our stock, which gain may be offset by certain U.S. source capital losses (provided you have timely filed U.S. federal income tax returns with respect to such losses). You should consult your tax advisor regarding any applicable income tax treaty or other treaties that may provide for different rules.

 

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Backup Withholding and Information Reporting

Generally, the applicable withholding agent must report annually to the IRS the amount of dividends paid to you, your name and address and the amount of tax withheld, if any. A similar report will be sent to you. Pursuant to applicable income tax treaties or other agreements, the IRS may make these reports available to tax authorities in your country of residence.

Payments of dividends or of proceeds on the sale or other disposition of stock made to you may be subject to information reporting and backup withholding unless you establish an exemption, for example, by properly certifying your non-U.S. status on an IRS Form W-8BEN, IRS Form W-8BEN-E or another appropriate version of IRS Form W-8. Any documentation provided to an applicable withholding agent may need to be updated in certain circumstances.

Information reporting and backup withholding generally will apply to the proceeds of a sale or other disposition of our common stock by a non-U.S. holder effected by or through the U.S. office of any broker, U.S. or foreign, unless the holder certifies its status as a non-U.S. holder and satisfies certain other requirements, or otherwise establishes an exemption. Generally, information reporting and backup withholding will not apply to a payment of the proceeds from a sale or other disposition of our stock to a non-U.S. holder where the transaction is effected outside the United States through a foreign broker. However, for information reporting purposes, sales or other dispositions effected through a non-U.S. office of a broker with substantial U.S. ownership or operations generally will be treated in a manner similar to sales or other dispositions effected through a U.S. office of a broker. Notwithstanding the foregoing, backup withholding and information reporting may apply if either we or our paying agent has actual knowledge, or reason to know, that you are a U.S. person. Non-U.S. holders should consult their own tax advisors regarding the application of the information reporting and backup withholding rules to them.

Backup withholding is not an additional tax; rather, the U.S. federal income tax liability of persons subject to backup withholding generally will be reduced by the amount of tax withheld. If withholding results in an overpayment of taxes, a refund or credit may generally be obtained from the IRS, provided that the required information is furnished to the IRS in a timely manner.

FATCA

Sections 1471 through 1474 of the Code, and the Treasury regulations and administrative guidance issued thereunder, or collectively, FATCA, generally impose U.S. federal withholding tax at a rate of 30% on dividends on and the gross proceeds from a sale or other disposition of our common stock if paid to a “foreign financial institution” (as defined in the Code), unless otherwise provided by the Treasury Secretary or such institution enters into an agreement with the U.S. government to withhold on certain payments and to collect and provide to the U.S. tax authorities substantial information regarding the U.S. account holders of such institution (which includes certain equity and debt holders of such institution, as well as certain account holders that are non-U.S. entities with U.S. owners) or otherwise establishes an exemption. FATCA also generally imposes a U.S. federal withholding tax of 30% on dividends paid on and the gross proceeds from a sale or other disposition of our common stock if paid to a “non-financial foreign entity” (as defined in the Code) unless otherwise provided by the Treasury Secretary or such entity provides the withholding agent with a certification identifying, and information with respect to, certain direct and indirect “substantial United States owners” (as defined in the Code), or substantial U.S. owners, of the entity, certifies that it does not have any such substantial U.S. owners or otherwise establishes and certifies to an exemption. The withholding provisions under FATCA generally apply to dividends on our common stock. The Treasury Secretary has issued proposed regulations providing that the withholding provisions under FATCA do not apply with respect to the gross proceeds from a sale or other disposition of our common stock, which may be relied upon by taxpayers until final regulations are issued. An intergovernmental agreement between the United States and your country of tax residence may modify the

 

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requirements described in this paragraph. Non-U.S. holders should consult their own tax advisors regarding the possible implications of FATCA on their investment in our common stock.

Each prospective investor should consult its own tax advisor regarding the particular U.S. federal, state and local and non-U.S. tax consequences of purchasing, holding and disposing of our common stock, including the consequences of any proposed change in applicable laws.

 

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UNDERWRITING

Under the terms and subject to the conditions in an underwriting agreement we will enter into, the underwriters named below, for whom Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC will act as representatives, will severally agree to purchase, and we will agree to sell to them, severally, the number of shares indicated below:

 

Underwriters

   Number of
Shares
 

Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC

  

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC

                       

Barclays Capital Inc.

  

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

  

RBC Capital Markets, LLC

  

Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated

  

Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated

  

William Blair & Company, L.L.C.

  
  

 

 

 

Total

  
  

 

 

 

The underwriters and the representatives are collectively referred to as the “underwriters” and the “representatives,” respectively. The underwriters will offer the shares of common stock subject to their acceptance of the shares from us and subject to prior sale. The underwriting agreement will provide that the obligations of the several underwriters to pay for and accept delivery of the shares of common stock offered by this prospectus are subject to the approval of certain legal matters by their counsel and to certain other conditions. The underwriters will be obligated to take and pay for all of the shares of common stock offered by this prospectus if any such shares are taken. However, the underwriters will not be required to take or pay for the shares covered by the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares described below.

The underwriters will initially propose to offer part of the shares of common stock directly to the public at the offering price listed on the cover page of this prospectus and part to certain dealers at a price that represents a concession not in excess of $             per share under the public offering price. After the initial offering of the shares of common stock, the offering price and other selling terms may from time to time be varied by the representatives. The offering of the shares by the underwriters is subject to receipt and acceptance and subject to the underwriters’ right to reject any order in whole or in part.

We will grant to the underwriters an option, exercisable for 30 days from the date of this prospectus, to purchase up to              additional shares of common stock at the public offering price listed on the cover page of this prospectus, less underwriting discounts and commissions. The underwriters may exercise this option solely for the purpose of covering sales by the underwriters of a greater number of shares of common stock than the total number set forth in the table above, if any, made in connection with the offering of the shares of common stock offered by this prospectus. To the extent the option is exercised, each underwriter will become obligated, subject to certain conditions, to purchase about the same percentage of the additional shares of common stock as the number listed next to the underwriter’s name in the preceding table bears to the total number of shares of common stock listed next to the names of all underwriters in the preceding table.

 

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The following table shows the per share and total public offering price, underwriting discounts and commissions and proceeds before expenses to us. These amounts are shown assuming both no exercise and full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase up to an additional              shares of common stock.

 

       Total  
     Per Share      No
Exercise
     Full
Exercise
 

Public offering price

   $        $        $    

Underwriting discounts and commissions to be paid by us

   $        $        $    

Proceeds, before expenses, to us

   $                   $                  $              

The estimated offering expenses payable by us, exclusive of the underwriting discounts and commissions, are approximately $            . We will agree to reimburse the underwriters for expenses relating to clearance of this offering with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, up to $            .

The underwriters have informed us that they do not intend sales to discretionary accounts to exceed 5% of the total number of shares of common stock offered by them.

We have applied to list the common stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “BASE”.

We, all of our directors and executive officers, and the holders of substantially all of our outstanding stock, stock options and other securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for our common stock will agree that, without the prior written consent of Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC on behalf of the underwriters, we and they will not, and will not publicly disclose an intention to, during the period ending on and including the earlier of: (a) the day immediately preceding the date of the third trading day after our public announcement of our earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2022, and (b) the 180th day after the date of this prospectus, or the restricted period:

 

   

offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, lend or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, any shares of common stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares of common stock;

 

   

file any registration statement with the SEC relating to the offering of any shares of common stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for common stock; or

 

   

enter into any swap or other arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of the common stock;

whether any such transaction described above is to be settled by delivery of common stock or such other securities, in cash or otherwise. In addition, we and each such person agrees that, without the prior written consent of Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC on behalf of the underwriters, we or such other person will not, during the restricted period, make any demand for or exercise any right with respect to, the registration of any shares of common stock or any security convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for common stock. Pursuant to the lock-up agreement, the lesser of (x) 40% of the shares of our common stock (including shares issuable upon the exercise of vested options) held as of the date of this prospectus by current and former employees (but excluding current executive officers, directors and senior vice presidents that report directly to the Chief Executive Officer), and (y) up to 200,000 shares of common stock beneficially owned by such current and former employees, which we refer to as the share threshold, may be sold at the commencement of trading on the third trading day after we announce earnings for the second quarter of fiscal 2022. The foregoing early lock-up release will not apply to shares owned by any limited liability company, partnership, corporation, trust, or other entity (including, without limitation, any investment fund), unless all of the equity interests and other economic interests in such entity are owned exclusively by the lock-up signatory and immediate family members of such lock-up signatory. Notwithstanding the foregoing, all shares of common

 

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stock beneficially owned (or any other securities so owned convertible into or exercisable for common stock) by the lock-up signatory related parties shall be aggregated for determining the share threshold, and the aggregate number of shares automatically released under such lock-up agreement or any other lock-up agreements in accordance with the share threshold will not exceed 200,000 for the lock-up signatory related parties as a group.

The restrictions described in the immediately preceding paragraph regarding our directors, executive officers and holders of substantially all of our equity securities do not apply to:

 

  (a)  

transactions relating to shares of common stock or other securities acquired from the underwriters in this offering or in open market transactions after the completion of this offering, provided that no filing under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act is required or voluntarily made during the restricted period in connection with subsequent sales of common stock or other securities acquired in this offering or in such open market transactions;

 

  (b)  

transfers of shares of common stock or any security convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for common stock (i) by will or intestate succession upon the death of the lock-up signatory (including to the transferee’s nominee or custodian), (ii) as a bona fide gift, charitable contribution or for bona fide estate planning purposes, (iii) to an immediate family member or any trust for the direct or indirect benefit of the lock-up signatory or the immediate family of the lock-up signatory, or (iv) not involving a change in beneficial ownership;

 

  (c)  

if the lock-up signatory is a trust, transfers or distributions of shares of common stock or any security convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for common stock to a trustor or beneficiary of the trust or to the estate of a beneficiary of such trust;

 

  (d)  

if the lock-up signatory is a corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust or other business entity, (i) distributions of shares of common stock or any security convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for common stock to its partners (general or limited), members, managers, stockholders or holders of similar equity interests in the lock-up signatory (or in each case, its nominee or custodian), or (ii) transfers of shares of common stock or any security convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for common stock to another corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust or other business entity (or in each case, its nominee or custodian) that is an affiliate (as defined in Rule 405 promulgated under the Securities Act) of the lock-up signatory, or to any investment fund or other entity controlled or managed by the lock-up signatory or affiliates of the lock-up signatory;

 

  (e)  

transfers of shares of common stock or any security convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for common stock that occurs by operation of law pursuant to a qualified domestic order or in connection with a divorce settlement; provided that any filing required by Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act clearly indicates in the footnotes thereto that such transfer is being made pursuant to the circumstances described in this clause (e) and such shares remain subject to the lock-up agreement; provided further that no other public announcement or filing is required or voluntarily made during the restricted period;

 

  (f)  

(i) the receipt by the lock-up signatory from us of shares of common stock upon the exercise, vesting or settlement of options, restricted stock units or other equity awards granted under an equity incentive plan or other equity award arrangement, which plan or arrangement is described in this prospectus, or the exercise or conversion of warrants, convertible securities or other shares of our convertible capital stock described in this prospectus, or (ii) transfers of shares of common stock or any security convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for common stock to us for the purposes of exercising or settling (including any transfer for the payment of tax withholdings or remittance payments, including estimated taxes, due as a result of such vesting, settlement or exercise of such options, restricted stock units or other rights) on a “net exercise” or “cashless” basis options, restricted stock units or other rights to purchase shares of common stock, pursuant to equity awards granted under an equity incentive plan or other equity award arrangement, which plan or arrangement is described in the prospectus, or warrants described in this prospectus, in each case, to the extent permitted by the

 

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instruments representing such equity awards or warrants, and only in an amount necessary to cover the applicable exercise price or tax withholding obligations, including estimated taxes, of the lock-up signatory in connection with the vesting, settlement or exercise so long as the “net exercise” or “cashless exercise” is effected solely by the surrender of outstanding equity awards or warrants (or the common stock issuable upon the exercise thereof) to us and our cancellation of all or a portion thereof to pay the exercise price and/or withholding tax and remittance obligations, provided that in the case of either (i) or (ii), any shares of common stock received as a result of such exercise, vesting or settlement remains subject to the terms of the lock-up agreement; provided further that in the case of either (i) or (ii), no filing under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act or other public announcement or filing is required or voluntarily made within 60 days after the date of this prospectus, and after such 60th day, if the lock-up signatory is required to file a report under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act during the restricted period, the lock-up signatory include a statement in such report to the effect that (A) such transfer relates to the circumstances described in this clause (f), (B) no shares were sold by the reporting person and (C) the shares of common stock received upon such vesting, settlement or exercise are subject to the terms of the lock-up agreement;

 

  (g)  

transfers to us of shares of common stock or any security convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for common stock in connection with the repurchase by us from the lock-up signatory of shares of common stock or any security convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for common stock pursuant to a repurchase right arising in connection with the termination of the lock-up signatory’s employment with or provision of services to us; provided that any public announcement or filing under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act clearly indicates in the footnotes thereto that such transfer is being made pursuant to the circumstances described in this clause (g);

 

  (h)  

transfers of shares of common stock or any security convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for common stock in connection with a bona fide third-party tender offer, merger, consolidation or other similar transaction after the offering that is approved by our board of directors and made to all holders of common stock; provided that in the event the transaction is not completed, the common stock or securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for common stock held by the lock-up signatory remains subject to the lock-up agreement;

 

  (i)  

(i) the conversion of outstanding preferred stock into shares of common stock in connection with the consummation of this offering or (ii) any conversion, reclassification, exchange or swap of preferred stock or common stock as described herein, provided that (A) such shares of common stock received upon conversion, reclassification, exchange or swap remain subject to the terms of the lock-up agreement and (B) any filing required by Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act clearly indicates in the footnotes thereto that such transfer is being made pursuant to the circumstances described in this clause (i);

 

  (j)  

establishing of a trading plan on behalf of our stockholder, officer or director pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 under the Exchange Act for the transfer of shares of common stock provided that (i) such 10b5-1 plan does not provide for the transfer of common stock during the restricted period and (ii) to the extent a public announcement or filing under the Exchange Act, if any, is required of or voluntarily made by or on behalf of the lock-up signatory or us regarding the establishment of such 10b5-1 plan, such announcement or filing include a statement to the effect that no transfer of common stock may be made under such 10b5-1 plan during the restricted period; or

 

  (k)  

to the sales of shares of common stock pursuant to the underwriting agreement;

provided that (i) in the case of any transfer or distribution pursuant to clauses (b)-(e) above, each donee, distributee, transferee or acquirer signs and delivers a lock-up agreement and (ii) in the case of any transfer or distribution pursuant to clauses (b)-(d) above, (A) no filing under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act or other public announcement, reporting a reduction in beneficial ownership of shares of common stock, is required or voluntarily made during the restricted period and (B) such transfer or disposition does not involve a disposition for value.

 

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In order to facilitate the offering of the common stock, the underwriters may engage in transactions that stabilize, maintain or otherwise affect the price of the common stock. Specifically, the underwriters may sell more shares than they are obligated to purchase under the underwriting agreement, creating a short position. A short sale is covered if the short position is no greater than the number of shares available for purchase by the underwriters under their option to purchase additional shares. The underwriters can close out a covered short sale by exercising the option described above or purchasing shares in the open market. In determining the source of shares to close out a covered short sale, the underwriters will consider, among other things, the open market price of shares compared to the price available under the option described above. The underwriters may also sell shares in excess of the option described above, creating a naked short position. The underwriters must close out any naked short position by purchasing shares in the open market. A naked short position is more likely to be created if the underwriters are concerned that there may be downward pressure on the price of the common stock in the open market after pricing that could adversely affect investors who purchase in this offering. As an additional means of facilitating this offering, the underwriters may bid for, and purchase, shares of common stock in the open market to stabilize the price of the common stock. These activities may raise or maintain the market price of the common stock above independent market levels or prevent or retard a decline in the market price of the common stock. The underwriters are not required to engage in these activities and may end any of these activities at any time.

We and the underwriters have agreed to indemnify each other against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act.

A prospectus in electronic format may be made available on websites maintained by one or more underwriters, or selling group members, if any, participating in this offering. The representatives may agree to allocate a number of shares of common stock to underwriters for sale to their online brokerage account holders. Internet distributions will be allocated by the representatives to underwriters that may make Internet distributions on the same basis as other allocations.

The underwriters and their respective affiliates are full service financial institutions engaged in various activities, which may include securities trading, commercial and investment banking, financial advisory, investment management, investment research, principal investment, hedging, financing and brokerage activities. Certain of the underwriters and their respective affiliates have, from time to time, performed, and may in the future perform, various financial advisory and investment banking services for us, for which they received or will receive customary fees and expenses.

In addition, in the ordinary course of their various business activities, the underwriters and their respective affiliates may make or hold a broad array of investments and actively trade debt and equity securities (or related derivative securities) and financial instruments (including bank loans) for their own account and for the accounts of their customers and may at any time hold long and short positions in such securities and instruments. Such investment and securities activities may involve our securities and instruments. The underwriters and their respective affiliates may also make investment recommendations or publish or express independent research views in respect of such securities or instruments and may at any time hold, or recommend to clients that they acquire, long or short positions in such securities and instruments.

Pricing of this Offering

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our common stock. The initial public offering price will be determined by negotiations between us and the representatives. Among the factors to be considered in determining the initial public offering price are our future prospects and those of our industry in general, our sales, earnings and certain other financial and operating information in recent periods, and the price-earnings ratios, price-sales ratios, market prices of securities and certain financial and operating information of companies engaged in activities similar to ours.

 

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Selling Restrictions

European Economic Area

In relation to each member state of the EEA, each a Relevant State, no shares have been offered or will be offered pursuant to the offering to the public in that Relevant State prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to the shares which has been approved by the competent authority in that Relevant State or, where appropriate, approved in another Relevant State and notified to the competent authority in that Relevant State, all in accordance with the Prospectus Regulation, except that offers of shares may be made to the public in that Relevant State at any time under the following exemptions under the Prospectus Regulation:

 

  (a)  

to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined under the Prospectus Regulation;

 

  (b)  

to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined under the Prospectus Regulation), subject to obtaining the prior consent of the underwriters; or

 

  (c)  

in any other circumstances falling within Article 1(4) of the Prospectus Regulation, provided that no such offer of shares shall require us or any underwriter to publish a prospectus pursuant to Article 3 of the Prospectus Regulation or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the Prospectus Regulation and each person who initially acquires any shares or to whom any offer is made will be deemed to have represented, acknowledged and agreed to and with each of the underwriters and us that it is a “qualified investor” within the meaning of Article 2(e) of the Prospectus Regulation.

In the case of any shares being offered to a financial intermediary as that term is used in the Prospectus Regulation, each such financial intermediary will be deemed to have represented, acknowledged and agreed that the shares acquired by it in the offer have not been acquired on a non-discretionary basis on behalf of, nor have they been acquired with a view to their offer or resale to, persons in circumstances which may give rise to an offer of any shares to the public other than their offer or resale in a Relevant State to qualified investors as so defined or in circumstances in which the prior consent of the underwriters have been obtained to each such proposed offer or resale.

For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer to the public” in relation to shares in any Relevant State means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and any shares to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for any shares, and the expression “Prospectus Regulation” means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129.

We have not authorized and do not authorize the making of any offer of shares through any financial intermediary on their behalf, other than offers made by the underwriters with a view to the final placement of the shares in this document. Accordingly, no purchaser of the shares, other than the underwriters, is authorized to make any further offer of the shares on behalf of us or the underwriters.

United Kingdom

In relation to the United Kingdom, no shares of common stock have been offered or will be offered pursuant to this offering to the public in the United Kingdom prior to the publication of a prospectus in relation to the shares that either (i) has been approved by the Financial Conduct Authority or (ii) is to be treated as if it had been approved by the Financial Conduct Authority in accordance with the transitional provision in Regulation 74 of the Prospectus (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, except that offers of shares may be made to the public in the United Kingdom at any time under the following exemptions under the UK Prospectus Regulation:

 

   

to any legal entity which is a qualified investor as defined in Article 2 of the UK Prospectus Regulation;

 

   

to fewer than 150 natural or legal persons (other than qualified investors as defined in Article 2 of the UK Prospectus Regulation); or

 

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in any other circumstances falling within section 86 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, or FSMA, provided that no such offer of shares shall require us or any representative to publish a prospectus pursuant to section 85 of the FSMA or supplement a prospectus pursuant to Article 23 of the UK Prospectus Regulation.

For the purposes of this provision, the expression an “offer to the public” in relation to any shares in any relevant state means the communication in any form and by any means of sufficient information on the terms of the offer and any shares to be offered so as to enable an investor to decide to purchase or subscribe for any shares, and the expression “UK Prospectus Regulation” means Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 as it forms part of domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.

We have not authorized and do not authorize the making of any offer of shares through any financial intermediary on their behalf, other than offers made by the underwriters with a view to the final placement of the shares as contemplated in this prospectus. Accordingly, no purchaser of the shares, other than the underwriters, is authorized to make any further offer of the shares on behalf of us or the underwriters.

In addition, in the United Kingdom, this document is being distributed only to, and is directed only at, and any offer subsequently made may only be directed at persons who are “qualified investors” (as defined in Article 2 of the UK Prospectus Regulation) (i) who have professional experience in matters relating to investments falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended, or the Order, or (ii) who are high net worth companies (or persons to whom it may otherwise be lawfully communicated) falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as “relevant persons”) or otherwise in circumstances which have not resulted and will not result in an offer to the public of the shares in the United Kingdom within the meaning of the FSMA.

Any person in the United Kingdom that is not a relevant person should not act or rely on the information included in this document or use it as basis for taking any action. In the United Kingdom, any investment or investment activity that this document relates to may be made or taken exclusively by relevant persons.

Canada

The shares of common stock may be sold in Canada only to purchasers purchasing, or deemed to be purchasing, as principal that are accredited investors, as defined in National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions or subsection 73.3(1) of the Securities Act (Ontario), and are permitted clients, as defined in National Instrument 31-103 Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations. Any resale of the shares of common stock must be made in accordance with an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the prospectus requirements of applicable securities laws.

Securities legislation in certain provinces or territories of Canada may provide a purchaser with remedies for rescission or damages if this prospectus (including any amendment thereto) contains a misrepresentation, provided that the remedies for rescission or damages are exercised by the purchaser within the time limit prescribed by the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory. The purchaser should refer to any applicable provisions of the securities legislation of the purchaser’s province or territory for particulars of these rights or consult with a legal advisor.

Pursuant to section 3A.3 of National Instrument 33-105 Underwriting Conflicts (NI 33-105), the underwriters are not required to comply with the disclosure requirements of NI 33-105 regarding underwriter conflicts of interest in connection with this offering.

Hong Kong

Shares of our common stock may not be offered or sold by means of any document other than (i) in circumstances which do not constitute an offer to the public within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance

 

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(Cap. 32, Laws of Hong Kong), (ii) to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap.571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder or (iii) in other circumstances which do not result in the document being a “prospectus” within the meaning of the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 32, Laws of Hong Kong), and no advertisement, invitation or document relating to shares of our common stock may be issued or may be in the possession of any person for the purpose of issue (in each case whether in Hong Kong or elsewhere), which is directed at, or the contents of which are likely to be accessed or read by, the public in Hong Kong (except if permitted to do so under the laws of Hong Kong) other than with respect to shares of our common stock which are or are intended to be disposed of only to persons outside Hong Kong or only to “professional investors” within the meaning of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571, Laws of Hong Kong) and any rules made thereunder.

Japan

No registration pursuant to Article 4, paragraph 1 of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Law of Japan (Law No. 25 of 1948, as amended), or the FIEL, has been made or will be made with respect to the solicitation of the application for the acquisition of the shares of common stock.

Accordingly, the shares have not been, directly or indirectly, offered or sold and will not be, directly or indirectly, offered or sold in Japan or to, or for the benefit of, any resident of Japan (which term as used herein means any person resident in Japan, including any corporation or other entity organized under the laws of Japan) or to others for re-offering or re-sale, directly or indirectly, in Japan or to, or for the benefit of, any resident of Japan except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements, and otherwise in compliance with, the FIEL and the other applicable laws and regulations of Japan.

For Qualified Institutional Investors, or QII

Please note that the solicitation for newly-issued or secondary securities (each as described in Paragraph 2, Article 4 of the FIEL) in relation to the shares of common stock constitutes either a “QII only private placement” or a “QII only secondary distribution” (each as described in Paragraph 1, Article 23-13 of the FIEL). Disclosure regarding any such solicitation, as is otherwise prescribed in Paragraph 1, Article 4 of the FIEL, has not been made in relation to the shares of common stock. The shares of common stock may only be transferred to QIIs.

For Non-QII Investors

Please note that the solicitation for newly-issued or secondary securities (each as described in Paragraph 2, Article 4 of the FIEL) in relation to the shares of common stock constitutes either a “small number private placement” or a “small number private secondary distribution” (each as is described in Paragraph 4, Article 23-13 of the FIEL). Disclosure regarding any such solicitation, as is otherwise prescribed in Paragraph 1, Article 4 of the FIEL, has not been made in relation to the shares of common stock. The shares of common stock may only be transferred en bloc without subdivision to a single investor.

Singapore

This prospectus has not been registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Accordingly, this prospectus and any other document or material in connection with the offer or sale, or invitation for subscription or purchase, of shares of our common stock may not be circulated or distributed, nor may the shares of our common stock be offered or sold, or be made the subject of an invitation for subscription or purchase, whether directly or indirectly, to persons in Singapore other than (i) to an institutional investor under Section 274 of the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore, or the SFA, (ii) to a relevant person, or any person pursuant to Section 275(1A), and in accordance with the conditions, specified in Section 275 of the SFA or (iii) otherwise pursuant to, and in accordance with the conditions of, any other applicable provision of the SFA.

 

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Where shares of our common stock are subscribed or purchased under Section 275 by a relevant person which is: (i) a corporation (which is not an accredited investor) the sole business of which is to hold investments and the entire share capital of which is owned by one or more individuals, each of whom is an accredited investor; or (ii) a trust (where the trustee is not an accredited investor) whose sole purpose is to hold investments and each beneficiary is an accredited investor, shares, debentures and units of shares and debentures of that corporation or the beneficiaries’ rights and interest in that trust shall not be transferable for six months after that corporation or that trust has acquired shares of our common stock under Section 275 except: (i) to an institutional investor under Section 274 of the SFA or to a relevant person, or any person pursuant to Section 275(1A), and in accordance with the conditions, specified in Section 275 of the SFA; (ii) where no consideration is given for the transfer; or (iii) by operation of law.

Solely for purposes of the notification requirements under Section 309B(1)(c) of the SFA, Chapter 289 of Singapore. The shares are “prescribed capital markets products” (as defined in the Securities and Futures (Capital Markets Products) Regulations 2018) and Excluded Investment Products (as defined in MAS Notice SFA 04-N12: Notice on the Sale of Investment Products and MAS Notice FAA-N16: Notice on Recommendations on Investment Products).

Switzerland

The shares may not be publicly offered in Switzerland and will not be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange, or SIX, or on any other stock exchange or regulated trading facility in Switzerland. This document does not constitute a prospectus within the meaning of, and has been prepared without regard to the disclosure standards for issuance prospectuses under art. 652a or art. 1156 of the Swiss Code of Obligations or the disclosure standards for listing prospectuses under art. 27 ff. of the SIX Listing Rules or the listing rules of any other stock exchange or regulated trading facility in Switzerland. Neither this document nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the shares or the offering may be publicly distributed or otherwise made publicly available in Switzerland.

Neither this document nor any other offering or marketing material relating to the offering, us or the shares have been or will be filed with or approved by any Swiss regulatory authority. In particular, this document will not be filed with, and the offer of shares will not be supervised by, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, and the offer of shares has not been and will not be authorized under the Swiss Federal Act on Collective Investment Schemes, or CISA. The investor protection afforded to acquirers of interests in collective investment schemes under the CISA does not extend to acquirers of shares.

United Arab Emirates

The shares have not been, and are not being, publicly offered, sold, promoted or advertised in the United Arab Emirates (including the Dubai International Financial Centre) other than in compliance with the laws of the United Arab Emirates (and the Dubai International Financial Centre) governing the issue, offering and sale of securities. Further, this prospectus does not constitute a public offer of securities in the United Arab Emirates (including the Dubai International Financial Centre) and is not intended to be a public offer. This prospectus has not been approved by or filed with the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates, the Securities and Commodities Authority or the Dubai Financial Services Authority.

 

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LEGAL MATTERS

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C., Palo Alto, California, which has acted as our counsel in connection with this offering, will pass upon the validity of the shares of our common stock being offered by this prospectus. Certain legal matters in connection with this offering will be passed upon for the underwriters by Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, Menlo Park, California.

EXPERTS

The financial statements as of January 31, 2020 and 2021 and for each of the two years in the period ended January 31, 2021 included in this prospectus have been so included in reliance on the report of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, given on the authority of said firm as experts in auditing and accounting.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

We have submitted with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-1 under the Securities Act with respect to the shares of our common stock offered by this prospectus. This prospectus, which constitutes a part of the registration statement, does not contain all of the information set forth in the registration statement, some of which is contained in exhibits to the registration statement as permitted by the rules and regulations of the SEC. For further information with respect to us and our common stock, we refer you to the registration statement, including the exhibits filed as a part of the registration statement. Statements contained in this prospectus concerning the contents of any contract or any other document are not necessarily complete. If a contract or document has been filed as an exhibit to the registration statement, please see the copy of the contract or document that has been filed. Each statement in this prospectus relating to a contract or document filed as an exhibit is qualified in all respects by the filed exhibit. The SEC maintains an Internet website that contains reports, proxy statements and other information about issuers, like us, that file electronically with the SEC. The address of that website is www.sec.gov.

As a result of this offering, we will become subject to the information and reporting requirements of the Exchange Act and, in accordance with this law, will file periodic reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. We also maintain a website at www.couchbase.com. Upon the completion of this offering, you may access these materials free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. Information contained on, or accessible through, our website is not a part of this prospectus and the inclusion of our website address in this prospectus is an inactive textual reference only.

 

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Table of Contents

COUCHBASE, INC.

INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

     Page  

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

     F-2  

Consolidated Balance Sheets

     F-3  

Consolidated Statements of Operations

     F-4  

Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss

     F-5  

Consolidated Statements of Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock and Stockholders’ Deficit

     F-6  

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

     F-7  

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

     F-8  

 

F-1


Table of Contents

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of Couchbase, Inc.

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Couchbase, Inc. and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of January 31, 2021 and 2020, and the related consolidated statements of operations, of comprehensive loss, of redeemable convertible preferred stock and stockholders’ deficit and of cash flows for the years then ended, including the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of January 31, 2021 and 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the years then ended in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Basis for Opinion

These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits of these consolidated financial statements in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

San Jose, California

March 24, 2021

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2017.

 

F-2


Table of Contents

COUCHBASE, INC.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(in thousands, except share and per share amounts)

 

    As of January 31,     As of April 30,    

Pro Forma

as of

 
    2020     2021     2021     April 30, 2021  
               

(unaudited)

 

Assets

       

Current assets

       

Cash and cash equivalents

  $ 18,224     $ 37,297     $ 37,344    

Short-term investments

    —         19,546       16,044    

Accounts receivable, net

    29,320       35,897       17,441    

Deferred commissions

    6,517       8,353       8,315    

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

    2,962       2,449       4,088    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

Total current assets

    57,023       103,542       83,232    

Property and equipment, net

    6,002       6,506       5,801    

Deferred commissions, noncurrent

    3,729       4,941       4,740    

Other assets

    988       2,199       3,994    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

Total assets

  $ 67,742     $ 117,188     $ 97,767    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

Liabilities, Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock and Stockholders’ Equity (Deficit)

       

Current liabilities

       

Accounts payable

  $ 1,820     $ 2,428     $ 3,425    

Accrued compensation and benefits

    8,782       9,110       5,837    

Other accrued liabilities

    3,959       4,154       3,416    

Deferred revenue

    54,615       57,168       50,993    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

Total current liabilities

    69,176       72,860       63,671    

Long-term debt

    49,282       24,948       24,952    

Deferred revenue, noncurrent

    6,314       4,542       5,655    

Other liabilities

    680       1,358       1,334    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

Total liabilities

    125,452       103,708       95,612    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

Commitments and contingencies (Note 8)

       

Redeemable convertible preferred stock, $0.00001 par value; 47,404,808, 65,325,658 and 65,325,658 shares authorized as of January 31, 2020 and 2021 and April 30, 2021 (unaudited), respectively; 47,254,797, 65,175,634 and 65,175,634 shares issued and outstanding as of January 31, 2020 and 2021 and April 30, 2021 (unaudited), respectively; aggregate liquidation preference of $157,329, $314,829 and $314,829 as of January 31, 2020 and 2021 and April 30, 2021 (unaudited), respectively; no shares issued and outstanding as of April 30, 2021, pro forma (unaudited)

    155,506       259,822       259,822     $ —    

Stockholders’ deficit

       

Common stock, $0.00001 par value; 85,000,000, 108,000,000 and 108,000,000 shares authorized as of January 31, 2020 and 2021 and April 30, 2021 (unaudited), respectively; 14,116,179, 15,498,875 and 16,152,828 shares issued and outstanding as of January 31, 2020 and 2021 and April 30, 2021 (unaudited), respectively; 82,682,792 shares issued and outstanding as of April 30, 2021, pro forma (unaudited)

    —         —         —         1  

Additional paid-in capital

    30,554       37,410       40,686       300,507  

Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)

    —         1       (1     (1

Accumulated deficit

    (243,770     (283,753     (298,352     (298,352
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total stockholders’ equity (deficit)

    (213,216     (246,342     (257,667   $ 2,155  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total liabilities, redeemable convertible preferred stock and stockholders’ equity (deficit)

  $ 67,742     $ 117,188     $ 97,767    
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

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

 

F-3


Table of Contents

COUCHBASE, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(in thousands, except per share amounts)

 

     Year Ended
January 31,
    Three Months Ended
April 30,
 
     2020     2021     2020     2021  
                 (unaudited)  

Revenue:

        

License

   $ 11,128     $ 14,032     $ 2,530     $ 4,278  

Support and other

     65,472       82,904       18,642       22,187  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total subscription revenue

     76,600       96,936       21,172       26,465  

Services

     5,921       6,349       1,873       1,490  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total revenue

     82,521       103,285       23,045       27,955  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cost of revenue:

        

Subscription

     3,446       6,074       997       2,052  

Services

     4,356       5,543       1,680       1,340  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total cost of revenue

     7,802       11,617       2,677       3,392  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Gross profit

     74,719       91,668       20,368       24,563  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Operating expenses:

        

Research and development

     31,672       39,000       9,042       12,541  

Sales and marketing

     57,829       70,248       17,227       20,634  

General and administrative

     15,561       15,500       3,393       5,497  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total operating expenses

     105,062       124,748       29,662       38,672  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss from operations

     (30,343     (33,080     (9,294     (14,109

Interest expense

     (4,657     (6,970     (1,521     (245

Other income (expense), net

     6,509       1,111       (307     84  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Loss before income taxes

     (28,491     (38,939     (11,122     (14,270

Provision for income taxes

     766       1,044       228       329  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss

   $ (29,257   $ (39,983   $ (11,350   $ (14,599
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cumulative dividends on Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock

     —         (4,076     —         (1,479
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss attributable to common stockholders

   $ (29,257   $ (44,059   $ (11,350   $ (16,078
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted

   $ (2.13   $ (3.08   $ (0.80   $ (1.02
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Weighted-average shares used in computing net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted

     13,723       14,293       14,144       15,755  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Pro forma net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted (unaudited)

     $ (0.54     $ (0.18
    

 

 

     

 

 

 

Weighted-average shares used in computing pro forma net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted (unaudited)

       74,635         82,119  
    

 

 

     

 

 

 

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

 

F-4


Table of Contents

COUCHBASE, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE LOSS

(in thousands)

 

     Year Ended
January 31,
    Three Months Ended
April 30,
 
     2020     2021     2020     2021  
                 (unaudited)  

Net loss

   $ (29,257   $ (39,983   $ (11,350   $ (14,599

Other comprehensive income:

        

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

     —         1       —         (2
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total comprehensive loss

   $ (29,257   $ (39,982   $ (11,350   $ (14,601
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

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

 

F-5


Table of Contents

COUCHBASE, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF REDEEMABLE CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCK AND STOCKHOLDERS’ DEFICIT

(in thousands, except shares)

 

    Redeemable
Convertible
Preferred Stock
                Common Stock     Additional
Paid-In
Capital
    Accumulated
Other
Comprehensive
Income (Loss)
    Accumulated
Deficit
    Total
Stockholders’
Deficit
 
    Shares     Amount                 Shares     Amount  

Balances as of February 1, 2019

    47,254,797     $ 155,506                    13,560,686     $          —     $      25,733     $                     —     $        (223,804   $        (198,071

Cumulative effect of accounting change (Note 2)

                                              9,291       9,291  

Issuance of common stock upon exercise of stock options

                      555,493             979                   979  

Issuance of common stock warrants

                                  424                   424  

Stock-based compensation

                                  3,418                   3,418  

Net loss

                                              (29,257     (29,257
 

 

 

   

 

 

         

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balances as of January 31, 2020

    47,254,797     $ 155,506             14,116,179     $     $ 30,554     $     $ (243,770   $ (213,216
 

 

 

   

 

 

         

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Issuance of common stock upon exercise of stock options

                      1,382,696             2,185                   2,185  

Issuance of Series G

redeemable convertible preferred stock, net of issuance costs

    17,920,837       104,316                                            

Stock-based compensation

                                  4,671                   4,671  

Net unrealized gains on investments

                    1         1  

Net loss

                                              (39,983     (39,983
 

 

 

   

 

 

         

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balances as of January 31, 2021

    65,175,634     $ 259,822             15,498,875     $     $ 37,410     $ 1     $ (283,753   $ (246,342
 

 

 

   

 

 

         

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balances as of February 1, 2020 (unaudited)

    47,254,797     $ 155,506                    14,116,179     $          —     $      30,554     $                     —     $        (243,770   $        (213,216

Issuance of common stock upon exercise of stock options (unaudited)

                      33,599             86                   86  

Stock-based compensation (unaudited)

                                  841                   841  

Net loss (unaudited)

                                              (11,350     (11,350
 

 

 

   

 

 

         

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balances as of April 30, 2020 (unaudited)

    47,254,797     $ 155,506             14,149,778     $     $ 31,481     $     $ (255,120   $ (223,639
 

 

 

   

 

 

         

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balances as of February 1, 2021 (unaudited)

    65,175,634     $ 259,822             15,498,875     $     $ 37,410     $ 1     $ (283,753   $ (246,342

Issuance of common stock upon exercise of stock options (unaudited)

                      653,953             1,447                   1,447  

Stock-based compensation (unaudited)

                                  1,829                   1,829  

Net unrealized gains (losses) on investments (unaudited)

                    (2       (2

Net loss (unaudited)

                                              (14,599     (14,599
 

 

 

   

 

 

         

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balances as of April 30, 2021 (unaudited)

    65,175,634     $ 259,822             16,152,828     $     $ 40,686     $ (1   $ (298,352   $ (257,667
 

 

 

   

 

 

         

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

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

 

F-6


Table of Contents

COUCHBASE, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(in thousands)

 

     Year Ended
January 31,
    Three Months Ended
April 30,
 
     2020     2021     2020     2021  
                 (unaudited)  

Cash flows from operating activities

        

Net loss

   $ (29,257   $ (39,983   $ (11,350   $ (14,599

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

        

Depreciation and amortization

     711      
2,006
 
    224       708  

Amortization of debt issuance costs

     174       717       55       —    

Debt prepayment costs

     —         1,000       —         —    

Stock-based compensation

     3,418       4,671       841       1,829  

Amortization of deferred commissions

     7,819       10,402       2,067       2,958  

Foreign currency transaction (gains) losses

     289       (931     326       (75

Other

     20       132       32       34  

Changes in operating assets and liabilities

        

Accounts receivable

     (10,474     (5,524     17,041       18,557  

Deferred commissions

     (10,303     (13,450     (1,502     (2,718

Prepaid expenses and other assets

     (1,168     56       (359     (1,898

Accounts payable

     351       925       952       1,021  

Accrued compensation and benefits

     3,247       298       (3,904     (3,274

Other accrued liabilities

     1,504       (279     71       (668

Deferred revenue

     11,912       782       (10,642     (5,064
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net cash used in operating activities

     (21,757     (39,178     (6,148     (3,189
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cash flows from investing activities

        

Purchases of short-term investments

     —         (20,493     —         (1,726

Maturities of short-term investments

     —         900       —         5,190  

Purchases of property and equipment

     (4,710     (2,819     (1,841     (230
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities

     (4,710     (22,412     (1,841     3,234  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cash flows from financing activities

        

Payments of debt

     —         (57,402     —         —    

Proceeds from issuance of debt, net of issuance costs

     34,801       31,402       6,402       —    

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

     —         104,316       —         —    

Proceeds from exercise of stock options

     979       2,185       86       1,447  

Payments of deferred offering costs

     —         —         —         (1,439
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net cash provided by financing activities

     35,780       80,501       6,488       8  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

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

     (135     162       (276     (6
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash

     9,178       19,073       (1,777     47  

Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash

        

Beginning of period

     9,589       18,767       18,767       37,840  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

End of period

   $ 18,767     $ 37,840     $ 16,990     $ 37,887  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents

   $ 18,224     $ 37,297     $ 16,447     $ 37,344  

Restricted cash included in other assets

     543       543       543       543  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash

   $ 18,767     $ 37,840     $ 16,990     $ 37,887  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Supplemental disclosures of cash activities

        

Cash paid for income taxes

   $ 513     $ 866     $ 162     $ 271  

Cash paid for interest

   $ 3,849     $ 5,951     $ 1,359     $ 246  

Noncash investing activities:

        

Change in purchases of property and equipment included in accounts payable and other accrued liabilities

   $ 141     $ 309     $ 317     $ (227

Issuance of warrants to purchase common stock

   $ 424     $ —       $ —       $ —    

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

   $ —       $ 1,084     $ —       $ 102  

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

 

F-7


Table of Contents

COUCHBASE, INC.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

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.

2. Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”).

Fiscal Year

The Company’s fiscal year ends on January 31. For example, references to fiscal 2020 and 2021 refer to the years ended January 31, 2020 January 31, 2021, respectively.

Unaudited Interim Consolidated Financial Information

The accompanying interim consolidated balance sheet as of April 30, 2021 and the interim consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive loss, cash flows, and redeemable convertible preferred stock and stockholders’ deficit for the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021 and the related notes to such interim consolidated financial statements are unaudited. These unaudited interim consolidated financial statements are presented in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and do not include all disclosures normally required in annual consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. In management’s opinion, the unaudited interim consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as the annual financial statements and reflect all adjustments, which include only normal recurring adjustments necessary for the fair statement of the Company’s financial position as of April 30, 2021 and the Company’s consolidated results of operations and cash flows for the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021. The results of operations for the three months ended April 30, 2021 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year or any other future interim or annual period.

Principles of Consolidation

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

Liquidity and Capital Resources

The Company has incurred losses and generated negative cash flows from operations since inception. As of January 31, 2021 and April 30, 2021 (unaudited), the Company had an accumulated deficit of $283.8 million and $298.4 million, respectively. The Company has partially financed its operations through revenue, and as of January 31, 2021 and April 30, 2021 (unaudited), the Company has completed several rounds of equity financing with net proceeds totaling $259.8 million. As of January 31, 2021 and April 30, 2021 (unaudited), the Company had outstanding borrowings under its revolving line of credit facility of $24.9 million and $25.0 million, respectively.

As of January 31, 2020 and 2021 and April 30, 2021 (unaudited), the Company had $18.2 million, $56.8 million and $53.4 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, respectively. The

 

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Company believes its existing cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments and cash provided by sales of its product offerings will be sufficient to meet its projected operating requirements for at least 12 months from the date of issuance of these consolidated financial statements. As a result of the Company’s growth plans, the Company expects that losses and negative cash flows from operations may continue in the foreseeable future.

Segment Information

The Company has a single operating and reportable segment. The Company’s chief operating decision maker is its Chief Executive Officer, who reviews financial information presented on a consolidated basis for purposes of making operating decisions, assessing financial performance and allocating resources.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of 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, valuation of the Company’s common stock, stock-based compensation, the determination of allowance for doubtful accounts and accounting for income taxes. The Company bases its estimates on historical experience and also assumptions that management considers reasonable. The Company assesses these estimates on a regular basis; however, actual results could differ from these estimates.

As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, estimates and assumptions about future events and their effects 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 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.

Unaudited Pro Forma Balance Sheet and Pro Forma Net Loss Per Share

The unaudited pro forma balance sheet information as of April 30, 2021, has been prepared assuming the automatic conversion of all outstanding shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock into 66,529,964 shares of common stock, in connection with an IPO (as defined below). The shares of common stock issuable and the proceeds expected to be received in the Company’s planned IPO are excluded from such pro forma information.

The unaudited pro forma basic and diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders for the year ended January 31, 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2021 is computed to give effect to the automatic conversion of all shares of the Company’s outstanding redeemable convertible preferred stock into shares of common stock in connection with the planned IPO. The Company uses the if-converted method as though the conversion had occurred as of the beginning of the period or the original date of issuance, if later. Accordingly, net loss attributable to common stockholders used in the unaudited pro forma net loss per share calculation was also adjusted to exclude the impact of cumulative dividends on Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock reflected within net loss attributable to common stockholders.

Foreign Currency

The reporting currency of the Company is the United States dollar. The functional currency of each of the Company’s 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

 

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exchange rates. Remeasurement adjustments are recognized in other income (expense), net in the consolidated statements of operations. The Company had foreign currency transaction gains (losses) of $(0.3) million, $0.9 million, $(0.3) million and $0.1 million for the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021 (unaudited), respectively.

Revenue Recognition

The Company accounts for revenue in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (“ASC 606”).

Revenue is derived from sales of subscriptions and services.

The Company’s subscription revenue is primarily derived from term-based software licenses sold in conjunction with post-contract support (“PCS” or “Support”). 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,” respectively, in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations. The non-cancelable term of the Company’s subscription arrangements typically ranges from one to three years but may be longer or shorter in limited circumstances. The Company typically bills subscription revenue annually in advance. The software license in the subscription is a distinct performance obligation from PCS. License revenue is recognized upon transfer when the customer has received access to the software. The PCS is recognized ratably over the term of the arrangement beginning on the date when access to the subscription is made available to the customer and represents the significant majority of the Company’s revenue. “Other” revenue was not material for the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021 (unaudited).

The Company’s services revenue is derived from professional services for the implementation or configuration of its platform and training. Professional services are provided primarily on a fixed fee basis and are invoiced upfront, and training is generally priced on number of seats purchased. These services are distinct from software licenses and PCS. Revenue for fixed fee arrangements is recognized on a proportional performance basis as the services are performed.

The Company determines revenue recognition in accordance with ASC 606 through the following five steps:

 

   

Identify the contract with a customer: The Company usually contracts with its customers using an order form that is governed either by the Company’s standard electronic software licensing agreement or by the master sales agreement executed between the Company and the customer. A fully executed order form creates enforceable rights and obligations. The Company uses multiple factors such as historical payments experience, credit status and financial status in determining the customer’s ability to pay. At contract inception, the Company evaluates whether two or more contracts should be combined and accounted for as a single contract and whether the combined or single contract includes more than one performance obligation. The Company uses factors such as timing of the contract, negotiation teams involved and additional subscriptions or services contracted to determine combination.

 

   

Identify performance obligations in the contract: The Company enters into contracts that can include various combinations of products and services such as licenses, PCS, professional services and training that are both (1) capable of being distinct, whereby the customer can benefit from the product or service either on its own or together with other resources that are readily available from third parties or from the Company and (2) distinct in the context of the contract, whereby the transfer of the products or services is separately identifiable from other promises in the contract.

 

   

Determine transaction price: The transaction price is the consideration the Company expects to receive in exchange for those products or services. Variable consideration is included in the transaction price

 

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if, in the Company’s judgment, it is probable that a significant future reversal of cumulative revenue recognized under the contract will not occur. Revenue is recognized net of any taxes collected from customers, which are subsequently remitted to governmental entities (e.g., sales and other indirect taxes).

 

   

Allocate transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract: Arrangements that include multiple performance obligations require an allocation of the transaction price to each performance obligation based on the relative SSP of the performance obligation. The Company also considers if there are any additional material rights inherent in a contract, and if so, the Company allocates a portion of the transaction price to such rights based on SSP of the material right. When appropriate, the Company determines SSP based on the price at which the performance obligation has previously been sold through past transactions. The Company determines SSP for performance obligations with no observable evidence using adjusted market, cost plus or residual methods. When the SSP of a subscription including bundled software license and PCS is highly variable and the contract also includes additional performance obligations with observable SSP, the Company first allocates the transaction price to the performance obligations with established SSPs and then applies the residual approach to allocate the remaining transaction price to the subscription. If the contract contains a single performance obligation, the entire transaction price is allocated to the single performance obligation.

 

   

Recognize revenue when or as the Company satisfies a performance obligation: The Company recognizes revenue upon transfer of control of promised products or services. Revenue is recognized based on type of performance obligation: (1) point in time for software license, (2) over time for PCS, (3) over time based on input measures for professional services and (4) upon delivery for training.

Allocation of Overhead Costs

Overhead costs that are not substantially dedicated for use by a specific functional organization are allocated based on headcount. Such costs include costs associated with office facilities, depreciation and amortization of property and equipment and IT personnel-related costs and other expenses, such as software and subscription services.

Cost of Revenue

Cost of subscription revenue consists primarily of personnel-related costs associated with the Company’s customer support organization, including salaries, benefits, bonuses and stock-based compensation, expenses associated with software and subscription services dedicated for use by the Company’s customer support organization, third-party cloud infrastructure expenses, amortization of costs associated with capitalized internal-use software and allocated overhead. There is no cost of revenue associated with the Company’s license revenue.

Cost of services revenue consists primarily of personnel-related costs associated with the Company’s professional services and training organization, including salaries, benefits, bonuses and stock-based compensation, costs of contracted third-party partners for professional services, expenses associated with software and subscription services dedicated for use by the Company’s service organization, travel-related expenses and allocated overhead.

Advertising

Advertising costs are charged to sales and marketing expenses in the consolidated statement of operations in the period incurred. These costs were not material for the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021 (unaudited).

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company measures and recognizes compensation expense for all stock-based awards, including stock options, to employees, consultants and nonemployee directors based on the estimated fair value of the awards on

 

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the grant date. The fair value of each stock option granted is estimated using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. The determination of the grant-date fair value using an option-pricing model is affected by the estimated fair value of the Company’s common stock as well as assumptions regarding a number of other complex and subjective variables. These variables include expected stock price volatility over the expected term of the award, the risk-free interest rate for the expected term of the award and expected dividends. Stock-based compensation expense is recognized ratably over the requisite service period. Forfeitures are accounted for as they occur.

Income Taxes

The Company is subject to income taxes in the United States and certain foreign jurisdictions.

The Company records a provision for income taxes for the anticipated tax consequences of the reported results of operations using the asset and liability method. Under this method, the Company recognizes deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of temporary differences between the carrying amounts for financial reporting purposes and the tax bases of assets and liabilities, as well as for loss and tax credit carryforwards. The deferred assets and liabilities are measured using the statutorily enacted tax rates anticipated to be in effect when those tax assets and liabilities are expected to be realized or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in the period that includes the enactment date.

A valuation allowance is established if, based upon the available evidence, it is more likely than not that some or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. The Company considers all available evidence, both positive and negative, including historical levels of income, expectations and risks associated with estimates of future taxable income in assessing the need for a valuation allowance.

The Company’s tax positions are subject to income tax audits by multiple tax jurisdictions throughout the world. The Company recognizes the tax benefit of an uncertain tax position only if it is more likely than not the position will be sustainable upon examination by the taxing authority, including resolution of any related appeals or litigation processes. This evaluation is based on all available evidence and assumes that the tax authorities have full knowledge of all relevant information concerning the tax position. The tax benefit recognized is measured as the largest amount of benefit that is more likely than not to be realized upon ultimate settlement with the taxing authority. The Company recognizes interest accrued and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits in the provision for income taxes. The Company makes adjustments to these reserves in accordance with the income tax guidance when facts and circumstances change, such as the closing of a tax audit or the refinement of an estimate.

Net Loss Per Share Attributable to Common Stockholders

Basic and diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders is computed in conformity with the two-class method required for participating securities. The Company considers all series of its redeemable convertible preferred stock to be participating securities as the holders of such stock have the right to receive nonforfeitable dividends on a pari passu basis in the event that a dividend is paid on common stock. Under the two-class method, the net loss attributable to common stockholders is not allocated to the redeemable convertible preferred stock as the preferred stockholders do not have a contractual obligation to share in the Company’s losses.

Basic net loss per share is computed by dividing net loss attributable to common stockholders by the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period. Diluted net loss per share is computed by giving effect to all potentially dilutive shares to the extent they are dilutive. For purposes of this calculation, redeemable convertible preferred stock, stock options and common stock warrants are considered to be potentially dilutive shares but have been excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share attributable to common stockholders as their effect is anti-dilutive.

 

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Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly liquid investments with original or remaining maturities of three months or less when purchased to be cash and cash equivalents.

Restricted Cash

Restricted cash is held in a money market account in connection with a lease agreement for the Company’s facilities. Restricted cash is included in other noncurrent assets on the consolidated balance sheets as the related lease expires more than one year from the balance sheet date.

Short-Term Investments

The Company determines the appropriate classification of its investments at the time of purchase. As the Company views these securities as available to support current operations, it accounts for these debt securities as available-for-sale and classifies them as current assets on its consolidated balance sheets. These securities are recorded at estimated fair value. Unrealized gains and losses for available-for-sale securities are included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss). The Company periodically evaluates its investments to assess whether those with unrealized loss positions are other-than-temporarily impaired. The Company considers impairments to be other than temporary if they are related to deterioration in credit risk or if it is more likely than not that the Company will sell the securities before the recovery of their cost basis. If the Company does not intend to sell a security and it is not more likely than not that it will be required to sell the security before recovery, the unrealized loss is separated into an amount representing the credit loss, which is recognized in other income (expense), net, and the amount related to all other factors, which is recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income.

Realized gains and losses and declines in value judged to be other than temporary are determined based on the specific identification method and are reported in other income (expense), net in the consolidated statements of operations. Realized gains and losses for the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021 (unaudited) were not material.

Accounts Receivable

Accounts receivable includes billed and unbilled receivables, net of allowance for doubtful accounts. Accounts receivable are recorded at the invoiced amount and are non-interest bearing. The Company records a provision for doubtful accounts based on historical experience and a detailed assessment of the collectability of its accounts receivable. In estimating the allowance for doubtful accounts, the Company considers, among other factors, the aging of the accounts receivable, its historical write-offs, the credit worthiness of customers and general economic conditions. Account balances are charged off against the allowance when the Company believes it is probable the receivable will not be recovered. Actual write-offs may either be in excess of or less than the estimated allowance.

Unbilled accounts receivable represents revenue recognized on contracts in excess of invoiced amounts. Unbilled accounts receivable as of January 31, 2020 and 2021 and April 30, 2021 (unaudited) were not material.

 

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The following table presents the changes in the allowance for doubtful accounts (in thousands):

 

     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
     2020     2021     2020     2021  
                 (unaudited)  

Beginning balance

   $         95     $         81     $ 81     $ 73  

Add: bad debt expense

     40       84       31       7  

Less: write-offs, net of recoveries

     (54     (92     (10     (6
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Ending balance

   $ 81     $ 73     $ 102     $ 74  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Concentration of Credit Risk

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to credit risk primarily consist of cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, short-term investments and accounts receivable. The Company maintains its cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and short-term investments with high-quality financial institutions. Cash equivalents consist of money market funds which are invested through financial institutions in the United States. Deposits, including those held in foreign branches of global banks, may exceed the amount of insurance provided on such deposits. The Company has not experienced any losses on these deposits.

For its accounts receivable, the Company is exposed to credit risk in the event of nonpayment by customers to the extent of the amounts recorded on the consolidated balance sheet. Generally, credit risk with respect to accounts receivable is diversified due to the number of entities comprising the Company’s customer base and their dispersion across different geographies and industries. The Company performs ongoing credit evaluations on certain customers and generally does not require collateral on accounts receivable. The Company maintains an allowance for doubtful accounts and historically bad debts have not been material.

No customer accounted for 10% or more of total revenue for the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021 (unaudited). No customer accounted for 10% or more of accounts receivable as of January 31, 2020. One customer accounted for 15% of accounts receivable as of January 31, 2021. Two customers accounted for 11% and 10%, respectively, of accounts receivable as of April 30, 2021 (unaudited).

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

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 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 January 31, 2020 and 2021 and April 30, 2021 (unaudited) 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.

 

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Property and Equipment, Net

Property and equipment are recorded at cost, less accumulated depreciation and amortization. Depreciation and amortization is computed using the straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets, which is as follows:

 

Computer equipment

   3 years

Furniture and fixtures

   5 years

Leasehold improvements

   Shorter of lease term or estimated useful life

Capitalized internal-use software

   3 years

When assets are retired or otherwise disposed of, the cost and accumulated depreciation and amortization are removed from the consolidated balance sheets, and any resulting gain or loss is reflected in the consolidated statements of operations in the period realized. Maintenance and repairs are charged to expense in the consolidated statements of operations in the period incurred.

Capitalized Internal-Use Software

The Company capitalizes qualifying internal-use software development costs, including personnel-related costs that are incurred during the application development stage. Capitalization of costs begins when two criteria are met: (1) the preliminary project stage is completed and (2) it is probable that the software will be completed and used for its intended function. Capitalization ceases when the software is substantially complete and ready for its intended use, including the completion of all significant testing. Costs related to preliminary project activities and post-implementation operating activities are expensed as incurred.

Capitalized internal-use software costs are included in property and equipment, net on the consolidated balance sheets. These costs are amortized on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful life commencing when assets are initially placed into service for their intended use. There was no amortization of capitalized internal-use software costs for the year ended January 31, 2020 since the software was still in the application development stage and not substantially complete and ready for its intended use. Amortization expense of capitalized internal-use software costs was $1.1 million and $0.5 million for the year ended January 31, 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2021 (unaudited), respectively, and was included in cost of subscription revenue in the consolidated statements of operations.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

Long-lived assets are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. Impairment exists for property and equipment if the carrying amounts of such assets exceed the estimates of future net undiscounted cash flows expected to be generated by such assets. An impairment charge is recognized for the amount by which the carrying amount of the asset, or asset group, exceeds its fair value. No impairment of long-lived assets occurred during the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021 (unaudited).

Deferred Offering Costs

Deferred offering costs, which consist of direct incremental legal, accounting, consulting and other fees relating to the Company’s planned IPO, are capitalized in other assets on the consolidated balance sheets. The deferred offering costs will be offset against IPO proceeds upon the consummation of an IPO. In the event the planned IPO is terminated, the deferred offering costs will be immediately expensed in the period the IPO is abandoned. No deferred offering costs were recorded as of January 31, 2020. Deferred offering costs of $1.1 million and $2.6 million were capitalized as of January 31, 2021 and April 30, 2021 (unaudited), respectively.

 

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Deferred Rent

The Company leases real estate facilities under operating leases. For leases that contain rent escalation or rent concession provisions, the Company records the total rent expense during the lease term on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease. The Company records the difference between the rent paid and the straight-line rent expense expected to be amortized within the next twelve months as current and included in other accrued liabilities, with the remainder classified as noncurrent and included in other liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets.

Deferred Commissions

The Company capitalizes certain sales commissions, including related payroll taxes, earned by the Company’s sales force, which are considered to be incremental costs that would not be incurred absent of the contract. Commissions earned on the initial acquisition of a contract are amortized based on expected future revenue stream over a period of benefit of three years. The Company determined the period of benefit by taking into consideration its customer contracts, its technology and other factors. Commissions for renewal contracts are not commensurate with the commission paid for initial acquisition of a contract and are amortized based over the related contractual renewal period. The deferred commission amounts are recoverable through the future revenue streams under the customer contracts. Amortization of deferred commissions is included in sales and marketing expenses in the consolidated statements of operations. There was no impairment loss related to deferred sales commissions for the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2021 (unaudited). Commissions that will be amortized within the next twelve months are classified as current with the remainder classified as non-current on the consolidated balance sheets.

Deferred Revenue

The Company records deferred revenue when the Company receives customer payments in advance of satisfying the performance obligations on the Company’s contracts. Deferred revenue also includes amounts that have been invoiced but not yet collected, classified as accounts receivable, when the Company has an enforceable right to invoice. The portion of deferred revenue that is anticipated to be recognized as revenue during the succeeding twelve-month period is recorded as deferred revenue, current with the remainder classified as deferred revenue, noncurrent on the consolidated balance sheets.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

Accounting Pronouncements Recently Adopted

The Company adopted ASC 606 on February 1, 2019 using the modified retrospective transition method applied to those contracts that were not completed as of January 31, 2019. ASC 606 also includes Subtopic 340-40, Other Assets and Deferred Costs—Contracts with Customers, which requires the deferral of incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a customer. ASC 606 supersedes the revenue recognition requirements in ASC 605, Revenue Recognition. The Company recorded a cumulative effect adjustment to the opening accumulated deficit of $9.3 million as of the adoption date, of which $9.4 million related to an increase in revenue that would have been recognized during the prior periods compared to previous guidance primarily for the Company’s term-based software licenses and $0.1 million related to the reduction in commission expenses of prior periods that the Company capitalized under ASC 340, net of taxes.

In June 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued ASU 2018-07, Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting, which expands the scope of Topic 718 to include share-based payments issued to nonemployees for goods and services. The Company adopted the new guidance on February 1, 2020, and it did not have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements.

 

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Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

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 new guidance is effective for the Company for its fiscal year beginning February 1, 2022 and interim periods within its fiscal year beginning February 1, 2023 and is required to be applied using a modified retrospective approach. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this guidance on its 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. This guidance is effective for the Company for its fiscal year beginning February 1, 2023 and interim periods within its fiscal year beginning February 1, 2024. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this guidance on its 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 for its fiscal year beginning February 1, 2021 and interim periods within its fiscal year beginning February 1, 2022. Early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on its 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 in order to reduce cost and complexity of its application. This new guidance is effective for the Company for its fiscal year beginning February 1, 2022 and interim periods within its fiscal year beginning February 1, 2023. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this guidance on its 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 for its fiscal year beginning February 1, 2024 and interim periods within that fiscal year. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of this guidance on its consolidated financial statements.

 

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3. Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments

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

 

     As of January 31, 2020  
     Amortized
Cost
     Gross
Unrealized
Gains
     Gross
Unrealized
Losses
    Estimated
Fair
Value
 

Cash Equivalents

          

Money market funds

   $ 13,714      $      $     $ 13,714  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

   $ 13,714      $      $     $ 13,714  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 
     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  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 
     As of April 30, 2021  
     Amortized
Cost
     Gross
Unrealized
Gains
     Gross
Unrealized
Losses
    Estimated
Fair
Value
 
     (unaudited)  

Cash Equivalents

          

Money market funds

   $ 30,999      $      $     $ 30,999  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total cash equivalents

     30,999                     30,999  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

Short-Term Investments

          

Commercial paper

     8,896                     8,896  

Corporate debt securities

     7,150               (2     7,148  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total short-term investments

     16,046               (2     16,044  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

   $ 47,045      $      $ (2   $ 47,043  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

   

 

 

 

During the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021 (unaudited), the Company did not reclassify any amounts to earnings from accumulated other comprehensive loss related to unrealized gains or losses in other income (expense), net in the consolidated statements of operations.

As of January 31, 2021, the Company’s short-term investments had a contractual maturity date of less than one year. As of April 30, 2021 (unaudited), the Company’s short-term investments consisted of $15.2 million and $0.8 million with a contractual maturity date of less than one year and greater than one year, respectively.

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. As of April 30, 2021 (unaudited), the Company had seven short-term

 

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investments in an unrealized loss position. These short-term investments had an estimated fair value of $6.2 million and were not in a continuous unrealized loss position for more than twelve months. During the year ended January 31, 2020 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 (unaudited), the Company held no short-term investments. During the year ended January 31, 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2021 (unaudited), the Company had no other-than-temporary impairments of short-term investments.

4. Fair Value Measurements

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

 

     As of January 31, 2020  
     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  

Cash Equivalents

           

Money market funds

   $ 13,714      $       —      $       —      $ 13,714  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total

   $ 13,714      $      $      $ 13,714  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 
     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  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 
     As of April 30, 2021  
     Level 1      Level 2      Level 3      Total  
     (unaudited)  

Cash Equivalents

           

Money market funds

   $ 30,999      $      $      $ 30,999  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total cash equivalents

     30,999                      30,999  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Short-Term Investments

           

Commercial paper

            8,896               8,896  

Corporate debt securities

            7,148               7,148  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total short-term investments

            16,044               16,044  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total

   $ 30,999      $ 16,044      $      $ 47,043  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

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 years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2021 (unaudited).

 

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5. Balance Sheet Components

Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets

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

 

     As of January 31,     As of April 30,  
     2020     2021     2021  
                 (unaudited)  

Prepaid expenses

   $             1,605     $             803     $             1,572  

Prepaid software

     974       1,380       2,066  

Other current assets

     383       266       450  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total prepaid expenses and other current assets

   $ 2,962     $ 2,449     $ 4,088  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

Property and Equipment, Net

 

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

 

 

 

     As of January 31,     As of April 30,  
     2020     2021     2021  
                 (unaudited)  

Computer equipment

   $             2,923     $             3,304     $             3,307  

Furniture and fixtures

     358       408       408  

Capitalized internal-use software

           5,772       5,772  

Leasehold improvements

     1,387       1,387       1,387  

Construction in progress

     3,693              
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total gross property and equipment

     8,361       10,871       10,874  

Accumulated depreciation and amortization

     (2,359     (4,365     (5,073
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total property and equipment, net

   $ 6,002     $ 6,506     $ 5,801  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

The construction in progress balance as of January 31, 2020 consisted of capitalized internal-use software that was still in the application development stage and not substantially complete and ready for its intended use. These assets were placed in service during the year ended January 31, 2021.

 

Depreciation and amortization expense was $0.7 million, $2.0 million, $0.2 million and $0.7 million for the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021 (unaudited), respectively.

 

Accrued Compensation and Benefits

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

     As of January 31,     As of April 30,  
     2020     2021     2021  
                 (unaudited)  

Accrued bonus

   $             4,817     $             4,149     $             1,958  

Accrued commissions

     2,851       2,364       1,675  

Accrued payroll and benefits

     1,114       2,597       2,204  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total accrued compensation and benefits

   $ 8,782     $ 9,110     $ 5,837  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

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Other Accrued Liabilities

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

 

          As of January 31,     As of April 30,  
                  2020                 2021                 2021          
                      (unaudited)  

Accrued professional fees

    $           1,375      $           1,925      $           1,798   

Sales and value added tax payable

      893       415       102  

Income taxes payable

      386       436       521  

Accrued interest

      767       95       14  

Other

      538       1,283       981  
   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total other accrued liabilities

    $ 3,959     $ 4,154     $ 3,416  
   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

6. Deferred Revenue and Remaining Performance Obligations

 

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

 

 

 

 
          As of January 31,     As of April 30,  
                  2020                 2021                 2021          
                      (unaudited)  

Deferred revenue, current

    $         54,615      $         57,168      $         50,993   

Deferred revenue, noncurrent

      6,314       4,542       5,655  
   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total deferred revenue

    $ 60,929     $ 61,710     $ 56,648  
   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

Changes in the deferred revenue balances during the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021 (unaudited) were as follows (in thousands):

 

 

 
    Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
    2020             2021                 2020                 2021          
                (unaudited)  

Beginning balance

  $         49,017     $         60,929     $          60,929     $         61,710  

Performance obligations satisfied during the period that were included in the deferred revenue balance at the beginning of the year

    (42,679     (57,705     (20,154     (22,094

Increases due to invoicing prior to satisfaction of performance obligations

    54,591       58,486       9,511       17,032  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Ending balance

  $ 60,929     $ 61,710     $ 50,286     $ 56,648  
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

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 January 31, 2021 and April 30, 2021 (unaudited), the Company’s RPOs were $102.3 million and $100.7 million, respectively. The Company expects to recognize revenue of $71.2 million and $68.8 million of these remaining performance obligations over the next twelve months from January 31, 2021 and April 30, 2021 (unaudited), respectively, with the remaining balances recognized thereafter.

 

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7. Debt

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

 

     As of January 31,     As of April 30,  
     2020     2021     2021  
                 (unaudited)  

Principal outstanding

   $             50,000     $             25,000     $             25,000  

Unamortized discount and debt issuance costs

     (718     (52     (48
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Long-term debt

   $ 49,282     $ 24,948     $ 24,952  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Interest expense on the Company’s borrowings was $4.7 million, $7.0 million, $1.5 million and $0.2 million for the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021 (unaudited), respectively. The effective interest rate was 12.4%, 16.0%, 11.0% and 3.8% for the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021 (unaudited), 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 on a monthly basis and the aggregate Loan principal balance is due on the maturity date. The Loan is secured by a subordinated security interest in substantially all of the assets of the Company except intellectual property and also 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 on a monthly basis 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 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 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 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.

 

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In connection with the amendment in April 2019, the Company also issued warrants to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock at $2.99 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 188,127 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 75,250 shares of the Company’s common stock upon borrowings of an additional $10.0 million in December 2019. The Company determined the initial fair value of these warrants to be $0.4 million using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. The fair value of the warrants was recorded to equity and as a debt discount that is amortized to interest expense over the term of the loan.

Revolving Line of Credit

In November 2017, the Company entered into a line of credit agreement with Silicon Valley Bank, 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 of 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 January 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 January 31, 2021 and April 30, 2021 (unaudited).

Promissory Note

In April 2020, the Company entered into a Paycheck Protection Program Promissory Note and Agreement with Silicon Valley Bank (“PPP Loan”), pursuant to which the Company received loan proceeds of $6.4 million.

 

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The term of the PPP Loan was two years with a maturity date of April 2022 and contained a fixed annual interest rate of 1.00%. Payments of principal and interest on the PPP Loan were deferred for the first six months of the term of the PPP Loan until October 2020. Principal and interest were payable monthly and could be prepaid by the Company at any time prior to maturity with no prepayment penalties. In May 2020, the Company repaid in full the PPP loan outstanding.

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. In addition, the Company subleased certain of its unoccupied facilities to third parties through August 2019.

Rent expense was $2.9 million, $2.6 million, $0.7 million and $0.7 million for the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021 (unaudited), respectively. Sublease income was $0.3 million for the year ended January 31, 2020 and was recorded as an offset to general and administrative expenses in the consolidated statements of operations. There was no sublease income for the year ended January 31, 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021 (unaudited).

Future net minimum lease payments under non-cancelable operating lease agreements as of January 31, 2021 are as follows (in thousands):

 

          Operating
Leases
 

Year Ending January 31,

   

    

   

2022

    $ 2,596  

2023

      2,358  

2024

      2,329  

2025

      2,215  

2026

      362  
   

 

 

 

Total

    $         9,860  
   

 

 

 

Other Contractual Commitments

Other contractual commitments relate to third-party cloud infrastructure agreements and subscription arrangements. Future minimum payments under the Company’s non-cancelable purchase commitments as of January 31, 2021 are presented in the table below (in thousands):

 

          Minimum
Annual
Commitments
 

Year Ending January 31,

            

2022

    $ 1,850  

2023

      1,147  

2024

      405  
   

 

 

 

Total

    $         3,402  
   

 

 

 

Legal Matters

The Company is involved from time to time in various claims and other legal actions arising in the ordinary course of business. While the Company is unable to predict or determine the ultimate outcome of these matters,

 

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the Company believes that none of its current legal proceedings would have a material adverse effect on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows. The Company recorded a $6.6 million gain from a legal settlement in other income (expense), net in the consolidated statements of operations for the year ended January 31, 2020.

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 January 31, 2020 or 2021 or April 30, 2021 (unaudited).

9. Retirement Plan

The Company sponsors a defined contribution savings plan under Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), covering substantially all full-time U.S. employees. Each eligible employee may contribute to the 401(k) plan in accordance with the plan terms. Effective January 1, 2020, the Company made employer matching contributions to the 401(k) plan. The total matching contributions were $0.2 million, $0.6 million, $0.3 million and $0.4 million for the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021 (unaudited), respectively.

10. Redeemable Convertible Preferred Stock

As of January 31, 2020, redeemable convertible preferred stock consisted of the following (in thousands, except share and per share data):

 

Series

   Shares
Authorized
     Shares
Issued and
Outstanding
     Original
Price Per
Share
     Per Share
Conversion
Price
     Carrying
Amount
     Liquidation
Preference
 

Series A

     8,126,812        8,126,812      $ 0.62140      $ 0.62140      $ 4,974      $ 5,050  

Series B

     10,101,010        10,101,010        0.99000        0.99000        9,948        10,000  

Series X

     1,265,257        1,265,257        1.94970        1.94970        1,064        2,467  

Series C

     5,885,963        5,885,963        2.51650        2.51650        14,789        14,812  

Series D

     5,579,099        5,579,099        4.48101        4.48101        24,903        25,000  

Series E

     7,672,632        7,672,632        7.82000        7.42782        59,923        60,000  

Series F

     8,774,035        8,624,024        4.63820        4.63820        39,905        40,000  
  

 

 

    

 

 

          

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total

     47,404,808        47,254,797            $ 155,506      $ 157,329  
  

 

 

    

 

 

          

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

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Table of Contents

As of January 31, 2021 and April 30, 2021 (unaudited), redeemable convertible preferred stock consisted of the following (in thousands, except share and per share data):

 

Series

   Shares
Authorized
     Shares
Issued and
Outstanding
     Original
Price Per
Share
     Per Share
Conversion
Price
     Carrying
Amount
     Liquidation
Preference
 

Series A

     8,126,812        8,126,812      $ 0.62140      $ 0.62140      $ 4,974      $ 5,050  

Series B

     10,101,010        10,101,010        0.99000        0.99000        9,948        10,000  

Series X

     1,265,257        1,265,257        1.94970        1.94970        1,064        2,467  

Series C

     5,885,963        5,885,963        2.51650        2.51650        14,789        14,812  

Series D

     5,579,099        5,579,099        4.48101        4.48101        24,903        25,000  

Series E

     7,672,632        7,672,632        7.82000        7.42782        59,923        60,000  

Series F

     8,774,035        8,624,024        4.63820        4.63820        39,905        40,000  

Series G

     17,920,850        17,920,837        5.85910        5.85910        104,316        157,500  
  

 

 

    

 

 

          

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total

     65,325,658        65,175,634            $ 259,822      $ 314,829  
  

 

 

    

 

 

          

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

In May 2020, the Company issued 17,920,837 shares of Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock at a price of $5.8591 per share for proceeds of $104.3 million, net of issuance costs. The Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock is senior to all currently outstanding series of redeemable convertible preferred stock and common stock.

The rights, preferences and privileges of the redeemable convertible preferred stock are as follows:

Voting

The holders of redeemable convertible preferred stock are entitled to vote on all matters which common stockholders are entitled to vote. Generally, holders of redeemable convertible preferred stock and common stock vote together as a single class and not as separate classes. Each holder of shares of Series A, B, X, C, D, E, F and G redeemable convertible preferred stock is entitled to the number of votes equal to the number of common stock shares into which the shares held by such holder are convertible.

Dividends

The holders of shares of Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock earn cumulative dividends, whether declared or not, at the rate of 5.5% per annum, compounding semi-annually, which, after April 2023, may increase to 7.0% if certain cash dividends remain unpaid or certain earnings levels are not achieved. The cumulative dividends are only payable when, as and if declared by the Board of Directors, or upon redemption of the Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock. No dividends may be declared by the Board of Directors without the approval of the majority of the holders of the Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock prior to the end of the fiscal quarter that is three years after the original issuance date, unless certain earnings levels are achieved earlier.

After dividends have been paid to the holders of the Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock in an amount equal to the accumulated dividend amounts, the holders of shares of Series A, B, X, C, D, E and F redeemable convertible preferred stock are entitled to receive dividends, when, as and if declared by the Board of Directors, at the annual dividend rate of each such series of redeemable convertible preferred stock, prior and in preference to the payment of any dividends on common stock in such calendar year. Such dividends are noncumulative. Payments of any dividends to the holders of each such series of redeemable convertible preferred stock shall be paid pro rata, on a pari passu basis according to their respective dividend preferences. The dividend rate of the Series A, B, X, C, D, E and F redeemable convertible preferred stock is $0.049712, $0.0792, $0.15597, $0.20132, $0.35848, $0.6256 and $0.37106 per share, per annum, respectively.

No dividends have been declared by the Board of Directors through January 31, 2021 and April 30, 2021 (unaudited).

 

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Redemption

In the event the Company does not consummate an IPO or direct listing prior to May 19, 2025, shares of Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock are redeemable at the holder’s election for cash at an amount equal to the original issue price plus any accrued and unpaid dividends.

Conversion

Each share of Series A, B, X, C, D, E, F and G redeemable convertible preferred stock is convertible, at the option of the holder, according to a conversion ratio equal to (i) the original price per share and, in the case of the Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock, all accrued but unpaid dividends per share divided by (ii) the respective conversion price per share. The conversion price of redeemable convertible preferred stock is initially equal to the original issue price per share and is subject to adjustment for dilution. In connection with the issuance of shares of Series F redeemable convertible preferred stock, the conversion price per share of Series E redeemable convertible preferred stock was adjusted in accordance with dilution provisions to $7.42782. In addition, if the Company issues any additional common stock below the conversion prices of redeemable convertible preferred stock, the conversion price for the redeemable convertible preferred stock shall be subject to adjustment. As of January 31, 2021 and April 30, 2021 (unaudited), the conversion ratio for Series A, B, X, C, D and F redeemable convertible preferred stock is one for one, 1.05280 for one for Series E and 1.03882 for one and 1.05297 for one, respectively, for Series G.

The conversion price per share of Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock is also adjusted upon a conversion in the event of an IPO, where the conversion price is set equal to the lesser of the original issue price (subject to adjustment for dilution) or, solely in the event of a qualified IPO or direct listing, at an amount equal to 70% to 80% of the price per share offered in such qualified IPO, or in the event of a direct listing, an amount equal to 70% to 80% of the average stock price during the seven days beginning with the first issuance date of the direct listing.

Each share of redeemable convertible preferred stock automatically converts into the number of shares of common stock at the conversion price in effect upon the closing of a qualified IPO, defined as a public offering with gross proceeds of at least $100.0 million, and in connection with which the common stock is listed for trading on the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq Stock Market’s National Market, or, subject to the approval of the majority of the holders of Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock with respect to the automatic conversion of Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock, upon the affirmative election of a majority of the holders of the then outstanding shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock.

Liquidation

In the event of any liquidation, dissolution, or winding-up of the Company, whether voluntary or involuntary, including a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, (a “Liquidation Event”) the holders of each share of Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock then outstanding will be paid first at a per share amount equal to one and a half times the original issue price plus accrued but unpaid dividends, whether or not declared, out of the available funds and assets, and prior and in preference to any payment or distribution of any available funds and assets on any shares of Series A, B, X, C, D, E and F or common stock. If upon any Liquidation Event, the available funds and assets are insufficient to permit the payment to holders of the Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock of their full preferential amounts, then all the remaining available funds and assets will be distributed ratably among the holders of the then outstanding Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock in proportion to the respective amounts which would otherwise be payable in respect of the shares held by them upon such distribution if all amounts payable on or with respect to such shares were paid in full.

The holders of each share of Series A, B, X, C, D, E and F redeemable convertible preferred stock then outstanding will be entitled to be paid, out of the available funds and assets, and prior and in preference to any

 

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payment or distribution of any available funds and assets on any shares of common stock, an amount per share equal to the original issue price for each such series of redeemable convertible preferred stock, respectively, plus all declared but unpaid dividends thereon. If upon any Liquidation Event, the available funds and assets shall be insufficient to permit the payment to holders of the redeemable convertible preferred stock of their full preferential amounts, then all the remaining available funds and assets will be distributed among the holders of the then outstanding redeemable convertible preferred stock, on an equal priority, pari passu basis, according to their respective liquidation preferences.

After the payment of the full liquidation preference to redeemable convertible preferred stock, the remaining assets of the Company legally available for distribution to stockholders will be distributed ratably to the holders of common stock. Furthermore, if any share of redeemable convertible preferred stock would be entitled to a greater distribution on an as-converted basis, then such share of redeemable convertible preferred stock will automatically convert into common stock immediately prior to the Liquidation Event.

Classification

The Series A, B, X, C, D, E, F and G convertible preferred stock does not contain any date-certain redemption features and is not mandatorily redeemable. The convertible preferred stock is contingently redeemable upon certain deemed Liquidation Events as previously described. The Series G convertible preferred stock is also contingently redeemable at the option of the preferred shareholders upon a majority of holders voting for redemption after May 19, 2025 and also only if the preferred shares are not converted into common shares prior to May 19, 2025, either voluntarily or automatically upon the occurrence of an IPO event. Because not all Liquidation Events would constitute a redemption event within the Company’s control or would result in the redemption of all outstanding shares of common stock, all shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock are presented in mezzanine equity on the consolidated balance sheets.

With the exception of the Series G convertible preferred stock, the convertible preferred stock was not considered probable of becoming redeemable because the Company did not consider a Liquidation Event to be a probable outcome prior to an automatic conversion. With respect to the Series G convertible preferred stock, the Company determined that these shares were not probable of becoming redeemable during the fiscal year ended January 31, 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2021 (unaudited) due to the probability that the shares would be automatically converted to common stock prior to the redemption feature becoming exercisable on May 19, 2025.

11. Equity

Common Stock

Each share of common stock is entitled to one vote for matters to be voted on by the stockholders of the Company.

As of January 31, 2021, the Company has reserved common stock for future issuance, on an if-converted basis, as follows:

 

     Number of Shares  

Conversion of redeemable convertible preferred stock

     66,276,450  

Stock options outstanding

     22,281,213  

Common stock warrants

     263,377  

Reserved for future grant of stock options

     634,687  
  

 

 

 

Total

     89,455,727  
  

 

 

 

 

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As of April 30, 2021 (unaudited), the Company has reserved common stock for future issuance, on an if-converted basis, as follows:

 

     Number of Shares  

Conversion of redeemable convertible preferred stock

     66,529,964  

Stock options outstanding

     25,328,506  

Common stock warrants

     263,377  

Reserved for future grant of stock options

     351,741  
  

 

 

 

Total

     92,473,588  
  

 

 

 

Equity Incentive Plans

The Company has a 2008 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2008 Plan”) and a 2018 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2018 Plan”). The 2008 Plan and 2018 Plan (collectively referred to as the “Stock Plans”) provide for the granting of equity awards to employees, consultants and nonemployee directors of the Company. The 2018 Plan was amended in March and May 2021 to increase the maximum number of shares reserved and available for grant and issuance to 37,742,755 (unaudited).

Options granted under the Stock Plans may be either incentive stock options (“ISOs”) or nonqualified stock options (“NSOs”). ISOs 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. Options under the Stock Plans may be granted for periods of up to ten years. The exercise price shall not be less than 100% of the estimated fair value of the shares on the date of grant as determined by the Board of Directors. Options granted generally vest over four years and vest at a rate of 25% upon the first anniversary of the issuance date and 1/48 per month thereafter.

Shares of common stock purchased under Stock Plans are subject to certain restrictions and repurchase rights, including the right of first refusal by the Company for sale or transfer of shares to outside parties.

 

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Stock option activity and activity regarding shares available for grant under the Stock Plans for the year ended January 31, 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2021 (unaudited) 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 February 1, 2020

     1,497,652       19,490,162     $       2.33        

Additional shares reserved

     3,310,782                

Options exercised

           (1,382,696     1.58        

Options granted

     (4,901,950     4,901,950       3.29        

Options cancelled

     728,203       (728,203     2.94        
  

 

 

   

 

 

         

Balances as of January 31, 2021

     634,687       22,281,213       2.57        6.67      $ 38,582  
  

 

 

   

 

 

         

Additional shares reserved (unaudited)

     3,316,683            

Options exercised (unaudited)

           (594,023     2.22        

Options granted (unaudited)

     (3,949,550     3,949,550       8.56        

Options cancelled (unaudited)

     349,921       (349,921     3.03        
  

 

 

   

 

 

         

Balances as of April 30, 2021 (unaudited)

     351,741       25,286,819       3.51        6.97      $ 200,622  
  

 

 

   

 

 

         

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

       22,281,213     $ 2.57        6.67      $ 38,582  

Options vested and exercisable as of January 31, 2021

       14,247,845     $ 2.25        5.49      $ 29,189  

Options vested and expected to vest as of April 30, 2021 (unaudited)

    

 

25,286,819

 

  $ 3.51        6.97      $ 200,622  

Options vested and exercisable as of April 30, 2021 (unaudited)

       15,104,469     $ 2.32        5.55      $ 137,717  

The weighted-average grant-date fair value of options granted during the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2021 (unaudited) was $1.21, $1.27 and $3.53, respectively. There were no options granted during the three months ended April 30, 2020 (unaudited). The total intrinsic value of options exercised during the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2021 (unaudited) was $0.7 million, $3.6 million and $3.8 million, respectively. The total intrinsic value of options exercised during the three months ended April 30, 2020 (unaudited) was less than $0.1 million. Aggregate intrinsic value represents the difference between the exercise price of the options and the estimated fair value of the Company’s common stock.

During the year ended January 31, 2018, in connection with services provided for recruitment, the Company granted 101,617 stock options outside of the Stock Plans to a third party. As of April 30, 2021, the recipient had 41,687 stock options outstanding as the result of a previous exercise of 59,930 stock options. The related stock-based compensation expense was not material for the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021 (unaudited).

 

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

 

     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
               2020                         2021                         2020                          2021            
                 (unaudited)  

Expected term (in years)

     6.1       6.1       *        6.1  

Expected volatility

     35.6     40.0     *        41.9

Risk-free interest rate

     1.9     0.4     *        1.0

Dividend yield

                 *         

 

*   No stock options were granted during the three months ended April 30, 2020.

 

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—As the Company’s common stock is not publicly traded, the fair value was determined by the Board of Directors with input from management and contemporaneous independent third-party valuations.

 

Stock-Based Compensation

 

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

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
               2020                         2021                         2020                          2021            
                 (unaudited)  

Cost of revenue—subscription

   $ 54     $ 69     $ 15      $ 27  

Cost of revenue—services

     22       54       10        22  

Research and development

                 1,080                       1,316                       246                    570      

Sales and marketing

     920       1,536       264        541  

General and administrative

     1,342       1,696       306        669  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total stock-based compensation expense

   $ 3,418     $ 4,671     $ 841      $ 1,829  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

    

 

 

 

Stock-based compensation expense related to options granted to nonemployees for the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021 (unaudited) was not material.

As of January 31, 2021 and April 30, 2021 (unaudited), there was $8.7 million and $20.5 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 2.9 years, respectively.

 

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12. Income Taxes

The components of income (loss) before income taxes were as follows (in thousands):

 

     Year Ended January 31,  
     2020     2021  

United States

   $          (30,945   $          (42,232

International

     2,454       3,293  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

   $ (28,491   $ (38,939
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

The provision for income taxes consists of the following (in thousands):

 

     Year Ended January 31,  
     2020     2021  

Current

    

Federal

   $     $  

State

     6       53  

Foreign

                       760                           991   
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
     766       1,044  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Deferred

    

Federal

            

State

            

Foreign

            
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
            
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total provision for income taxes

   $ 766     $ 1,044  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

The effective tax rate differs from the federal statutory income tax rate applied to the loss before provision for income taxes and tax due to the following:

 

 

     Year Ended January 31,  
     2020     2021  

Provision for income taxes computed at federal statutory rate

     21.0     21.0

State taxes, net of federal benefits

     6.5       13.7  

Foreign rate differential

     (0.9     (0.3

Stock-based compensation

     (1.1                       0.1  

Tax credits

                       2.8       (0.1

U.S. tax on foreign earnings

     (1.5     1.1  

Change in valuation allowance

     (29.2     (37.8

Other

     (0.3     (0.4
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

     (2.7 )%      (2.7 )% 
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

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Significant components of the Company’s deferred tax assets are as follows (in thousands):

 

     As of January 31,  
     2020     2021  

Deferred tax assets:

    

Net operating loss carryforwards

   $             52,353     $           61,545  

Tax credit carryforwards

     9,755       10,802  

Accruals and reserves

     1,395       3,535  

Interest carryforwards

     1,108       2,756  

Deferred revenue

     2,413       2,672  

Stock-based compensation

     1,286       1,944  

Capitalized internal-use software

           4,432  

Other

     87        
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Gross deferred tax assets

   $ 68,397     $ 87,686  

Less: Valuation allowance

     (68,397     (83,132
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total deferred tax assets

   $     $ 4,554  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Deferred tax liabilities:

    

Deferred commissions

   $     $ (3,273

Other

           (1,281
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total deferred tax liabilities

   $     $ (4,554
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net deferred tax assets (liabilities)

   $     $  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

A valuation allowance is provided when it is not more likely than not that some portion of the deferred tax assets will be realized. Management believes that, based on a number of factors, it is more likely than not that the U.S. federal and state net deferred tax assets will not be fully realized, thus a full valuation allowance has been recorded as of January 31, 2020 and 2021. The change in the valuation allowance during the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 was an increase of $8.3 million and $14.7 million, respectively, primarily due to additional losses.

As of January 31, 2021, the Company had net operating loss carryforwards of $240.7 million for U.S. federal and $132.4 million for U.S. state income tax purposes available to offset future taxable income. The federal and state net operating loss carryforwards will begin expiring in 2028 and 2026, respectively. As of January 31, 2021, the Company had federal and state research and development credits of $9.2 million and $8.7 million, respectively. The federal research and development credits will begin expiring in 2029. The state research and development credits are not currently subject to expiration. Utilization of the net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards may be subject to annual limitation due to the ownership change limitations provided by the Code and similar state provisions. Such an annual limitation could result in the expiration of net operating loss and tax credit carryforwards before utilization.

Foreign withholding taxes have not been provided for the cumulative undistributed earnings of the Company’s foreign subsidiaries as of January 31, 2021 due to the Company’s intention to permanently reinvest such earnings. Determination of the amount of unrecognized deferred tax liability related to these earnings is not practicable.

 

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The following table shows the changes in the gross unrecognized tax benefits (in thousands):

 

     Year Ended January 31,  
     2020      2021  

Beginning balance

   $ 2,904      $ 3,601  

Increase related to current year tax positions

     697        1,401  

Increase related to prior year tax positions

            2,160  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

Ending balance

   $             3,601      $             7,162  
  

 

 

    

 

 

 

As of January 31, 2020 and 2021, no amount of unrecognized tax benefits, if recognized, would impact the Company’s effective tax rate.

There were no interest and penalties associated with unrecognized income tax benefits for the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021.

Although it is reasonably possible that certain unrecognized tax benefits may increase or decrease within the next 12 months due to tax examination changes, settlement activities or the impact on recognition and measurement considerations related to the results of published tax cases or other similar activities, the Company does not anticipate any significant changes to unrecognized tax benefits over the next 12 months.

The Company files income tax returns in the U.S. federal jurisdiction, various state and local jurisdictions and in various international jurisdictions. Due to the Company’s net operating loss carryforwards, all tax years since inception remain subject to examination by U.S. federal and state taxing authorities. Tax years 2014 and forward generally remain open for examination for foreign tax purposes.

In March 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) was signed into law. The CARES Act includes provisions relating to refundable payroll tax credits, deferment of the employer portion of certain payroll taxes, net operating loss carryback periods, alternative minimum tax credit refunds, modifications to the net interest deduction limitations and technical corrections to tax depreciation methods for qualified improvement property. The CARES Act did not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements due to the Company’s historical losses and valuation allowance position.

For the Three Months Ended April 30, 2020 and 2021 (unaudited)

The Company recorded income tax expense of $0.2 million and $0.3 million for the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021, 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.

13. Geographic Information

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

 

     As of January 31,      As of April 30,  
     2020      2021      2020      2021  
                   (unaudited)  

United States

   $           56,663      $           66,737      $           15,217      $           18,047  

International

     25,858        36,548        7,828        9,908  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

Total

   $ 82,521      $ 103,285      $ 23,045      $ 27,955  
  

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

 

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No individual foreign country contributed 10% or more of total revenue for the years ended January 31, 2020 and 2021 and the three months ended April 30, 2020 and 2021 (unaudited).

As of January 31, 2020 and 2021 and April 30, 2021 (unaudited), substantially all of the Company’s long-lived assets were located in the United States.

14. Net Loss per Share and Unaudited Pro Forma Net Loss per Share

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

 

     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
     2020     2021     2020     2021  
                 (unaudited)  

Numerator

        

Net loss

   $ (29,257   $ (39,983   $ (11,350   $ (14,599

Cumulative dividends on Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock

           (4,076           (1,479
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss attributable to common stockholders

   $ (29,257   $ (44,059   $ (11,350   $ (16,078
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Denominator

        

Weighted-average shares used in computing net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted

               13,723                 14,293                 14,144                 15,755  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted

   $ (2.13   $ (3.08   $ (0.80   $ (1.02
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

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):

 

     Year Ended January 31,     Three Months Ended April 30,  
     2020     2021     2020     2021  
                 (unaudited)  

Stock options

               19,490                  22,281                  19,196                  25,329   

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

     47,660       66,276       47,660       66,530  

Common stock warrants

     263       263       263       263  

 

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The following table presents the calculation of unaudited pro forma basic and diluted net loss per share (in thousands, except share and per share data):

 

     Year Ended
January 31, 2021
    Three Months
Ended

April 30, 2021
 
     (unaudited)  

Numerator

    

Net loss attributable to common stockholders

   $ (44,059   $ (16,078

Cumulative dividends on Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock

     4,076       1,479  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net loss attributable to common stockholders used in computing pro forma net loss per share attributable to common stockholders

   $ (39,983   $ (14,599
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Denominator

    

Weighted-average shares used in computing net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted

     14,293       15,755  

Pro forma adjustment for assumed conversion of redeemable convertible preferred stock to common stock

                 60,342                   66,364  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Weighted-average shares used in computing pro forma net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted

     74,635       82,119  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Pro forma net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted

   $ (0.54   $ (0.18
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

15. Subsequent Events

The Company has evaluated subsequent events through March 24, 2021, the date the consolidated financial statements were available to be issued.

In March 2021, the Company granted options to purchase an aggregate of 3,951,550 shares of common stock with a weighted-average exercise price of $8.56 per share and grant date fair value of $3.53 per share, which generally vest over four years subject to continued service. The Company will recognize approximately $13.9 million of stock-based compensation expense related to these stock options over four years.

16. Subsequent Events (Unaudited)

The Company has evaluated subsequent events through June 1, 2021, the date the unaudited interim consolidated financial statements were available to be issued.

In May 2021, the Company granted options to purchase an aggregate of 547,300 shares of common stock with a weighted-average exercise price of $11.44 per share and grant date fair value of $4.75 per share, which generally vest over four years subject to continued service. The Company will recognize approximately $2.6 million of stock-based compensation expense related to these stock options over four years.

 

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LOGO

Couchbase


Table of Contents

PART II

INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS

Item 13. Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution.

The following table sets forth all expenses to be paid by us, other than underwriting discounts and commissions, upon the completion of this offering. All amounts shown are estimates except for the SEC registration fee, the FINRA filing fee and the exchange listing fee.

 

     Amount
to be
Paid
 

SEC registration fee

   $ 10,910  

FINRA filing fee

     15,550  

Exchange listing fee

     *  

Printing and engraving expenses

     *  

Legal fees and expenses

     *  

Accounting fees and expenses

     *  

Transfer agent and registrar fees

     *  

Miscellaneous expenses

     *  
  

 

 

 

Total

   $ *  
  

 

 

 

 

*

To be filed by amendment.

Item 14. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law authorizes a corporation’s board of directors to grant, and authorizes a court to award, indemnity to officers, directors and other corporate agents.

We expect to adopt an amended and restated certificate of incorporation, which will become effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering, and which will contain provisions that limit the liability of our directors for monetary damages to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law. Consequently, our directors will not be personally liable to us or our stockholders for monetary damages for any breach of fiduciary duties as directors, except liability for the following:

 

   

any breach of their duty of loyalty to our company or our stockholders;

 

   

any act or omission not in good faith or that involves intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law;

 

   

unlawful payments of dividends or unlawful stock repurchases or redemptions as provided in Section 174 of the Delaware General Corporation Law; or

 

   

any transaction from which they derived an improper personal benefit.

Any amendment to, or repeal of, these provisions will not eliminate or reduce the effect of these provisions in respect of any act, omission or claim that occurred or arose prior to that amendment or repeal. If the Delaware General Corporation Law is amended to provide for further limitations on the personal liability of directors of corporations, then the personal liability of our directors will be further limited to the greatest extent permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law.

In addition, we expect to adopt amended and restated bylaws, which will become effective immediately prior to the completion of this offering, and which will provide that we will indemnify, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any person who is or was a party or is threatened to be made a party to any action, suit or

 

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proceeding by reason of the fact that they are or were one of our directors or officers or is or was serving at our request as a director or officer of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise. Our amended and restated bylaws are expected to provide that we may indemnify to the fullest extent permitted by law any person who is or was a party or is threatened to be made a party to any action, suit or proceeding by reason of the fact that they are or were one of our employees or agents or is or was serving at our request as an employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise. Our amended and restated bylaws will also provide that we must advance expenses incurred by or on behalf of a director or officer in advance of the final disposition of any action or proceeding, subject to limited exceptions.

Further, we have entered into or will enter into indemnification agreements with each of our directors and executive officers that may be broader than the specific indemnification provisions contained in the Delaware General Corporation Law. These indemnification agreements require us, among other things, to indemnify our directors and executive officers against liabilities that may arise by reason of their status or service. These indemnification agreements also require us to advance all expenses incurred by the directors and executive officers in investigating or defending any such action, suit or proceeding. We believe that these agreements are necessary to attract and retain qualified individuals to serve as directors and executive officers.

The limitation of liability and indemnification provisions that are expected to be included in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, amended and restated bylaws and the indemnification agreements that we have entered into or will enter into with our directors and executive officers may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against our directors and executive officers for breach of their fiduciary duties. They may also reduce the likelihood of derivative litigation against our directors and executive officers, even though an action, if successful, might benefit us and other stockholders. Further, a stockholder’s investment may be adversely affected to the extent that we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against directors and executive officers as required by these indemnification provisions. At present, we are not aware of any pending litigation or proceeding involving any person who is or was one of our directors, officers, employees or other agents or is or was serving at our request as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, for which indemnification is sought, and we are not aware of any threatened litigation that may result in claims for indemnification.

We have obtained insurance policies under which, subject to the limitations of the policies, coverage is provided to our directors and executive officers against loss arising from claims made by reason of breach of fiduciary duty or other wrongful acts as a director or executive officer, including claims relating to public securities matters, and to us with respect to payments that may be made by us to these directors and executive officers pursuant to our indemnification obligations or otherwise as a matter of law.

Certain of our non-employee directors may, through their relationships with their employers, be insured or indemnified against certain liabilities incurred in their capacity as members of our board of directors.

The underwriting agreement to be filed as Exhibit 1.1 to this registration statement will provide for indemnification by the underwriters of us and our officers and directors for certain liabilities arising under the Securities Act or otherwise.

Item 15. Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities.

Since February 1, 2018, we have issued the following unregistered securities:

Preferred Stock Issuances

In May 2020, we sold an aggregate of 17,920,837 shares of our Series G redeemable convertible preferred stock to 19 accredited investors at a purchase price of $5.85910 per share, for an aggregate purchase price of $104,999,976.

 

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Warrant Issuances

In April and December 2019, we issued warrants to purchase 263,377 shares of our common stock to one accredited investor at an exercise price of $2.99.

Stock Option Issuances

From February 1, 2018 through the filing date of this registration statement, we granted to our directors, officers, employees, consultants and other service providers stock options to purchase an aggregate of 17,607,808 shares of our common stock under our equity compensation plans at exercise prices ranging from approximately $2.06 to $11.44 per share, for a weighted-average exercise price of $4.57.

None of the foregoing transactions involved any underwriters, underwriting discounts or commissions or any public offering. We believe the offers, sales and issuances of the above securities were exempt from registration under the Securities Act (or Regulation D or Regulation S promulgated thereunder) by virtue of Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act because the issuance of securities to the recipients did not involve a public offering, or in reliance on Rule 701 because the transactions were pursuant to compensatory benefit plans or contracts relating to compensation as provided under such rule. The recipients of the securities in each of these transactions represented their intentions to acquire the securities for investment only and not with a view to or for sale in connection with any distribution thereof, and appropriate legends were placed upon the stock certificates issued in these transactions. All recipients had adequate access, through their relationships with us, to information about us. The sales of these securities were made without any general solicitation or advertising.

Item 16. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules.

Exhibits

See the Exhibit Index immediately preceding the signature page hereto for a list of exhibits filed as part of this registration statement on Form S-1, which Exhibit Index is incorporated herein by reference.

Financial Statement Schedules

All financial statement schedules are omitted because the information called for is not required or is shown either in the consolidated financial statements or in the notes thereto.

Item 17. Undertakings.

The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes to provide to the underwriters at the closing specified in the underwriting agreement certificates in such denominations and registered in such names as required by the underwriters to permit prompt delivery to each purchaser.

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

 

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The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that:

(1) For purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, the information omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this registration statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) or 497(h) under the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the time it was declared effective.

(2) For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

 

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EXHIBIT INDEX

 

Exhibit
Number

  

Description

  1.1*   

Form of Underwriting Agreement.

  3.1*   

Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the registrant, as amended, as currently in effect.

  3.2*   

Form of Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the registrant, to be in effect upon the completion of this offering.

  3.3   

Amended and Restated Bylaws of the registrant, as currently in effect.

  3.4*   

Form of Amended and Restated Bylaws of the registrant, to be in effect upon the completion of this offering.

  4.1   

Form of common stock certificate of the registrant.

  4.2   

Seventh Amended and Restated Investors’ Rights Agreement among the registrant and certain holders of its capital stock, dated as of May 19, 2020.

  5.1*   

Opinion of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C.

10.1+   

Form of Indemnification Agreement between the registrant and each of its directors and executive officers.

10.2+*   

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

10.3+*   

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

10.4+   

Couchbase, Inc. 2018 Equity Incentive Plan and related form agreements.

10.5+   

Couchbase, Inc. 2008 Equity Incentive Plan and related form agreements.

10.6+   

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

10.7+   

Outside Director Compensation Policy.

10.8+   

Change in Control and Severance Policy and related form agreements.

10.9+   

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

10.10+   

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

10.11+   

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

10.12   

Sublease by and between the registrant and Gigamon Inc., dated as of April 25, 2018.

10.13   

Amended and Restated Loan and Security Agreement by and between the registrant and Silicon Valley Bank, dated as of January 29, 2021.

21.1   

List of subsidiaries of the registrant.

23.1   

Consent of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.

23.2*   

Consent of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C. (included in Exhibit 5.1).

24.1   

Power of Attorney (included on page II-6).

 

*

To be filed by amendment. All other exhibits are submitted herewith.

+

Indicates management contract or compensatory plan.

 

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this registration statement on Form S-1 to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in Santa Clara, California, on the 21st day of June, 2021.

 

COUCHBASE, INC.

By:

 

/s/ Matthew M. Cain

 

Matthew M. Cain

 

President and Chief Executive Officer

POWER OF ATTORNEY

KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Matthew M. Cain and Margaret Chow, and each one of them, as their true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for them and in their name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to this registration statement, and to sign any registration statement for the same offering covered by this registration statement that is to be effective on filing pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and all post-effective amendments thereto, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents, and each of them, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in connection therewith, as fully to all intents and purposes as they might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents or any of them, or their substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this registration statement on Form S-1 has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

 

Signature

  

Title

 

Date

/s/ Matthew M. Cain

Matthew M. Cain

  

President, Chief Executive Officer and Director

(Principal Executive Officer)

 

June 21, 2021

/s/ Gregory N. Henry

Gregory N. Henry

  

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

(Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer)

 

June 21, 2021

/s/ Edward T. Anderson

Edward T. Anderson

   Director  

June 21, 2021

/s/ Carol W. Carpenter

Carol W. Carpenter

  

Director

 

June 21, 2021

/s/ Lynn M. Christensen

Lynn M. Christensen

  

Director

 

June 21, 2021

/s/ Kevin J. Efrusy

Kevin J. Efrusy

   Director  

June 21, 2021

 

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Signature

  

Title

 

Date

 

 

/s/ Jeff Epstein

Jeff Epstein

  

 

 

Director

 

 

 

June 21, 2021

/s/ Aleksander J. Migon

Aleksander J. Migon

   Director  

June 21, 2021

/s/ Rob Rueckert

Rob Rueckert

   Director  

June 21, 2021

/s/ David C. Scott

David C. Scott

   Director  

June 21, 2021

/s/ Richard A. Simonson

Richard A. Simonson

   Director  

June 21, 2021

 

II-7

EX-3.3

Exhibit 3.3

AMENDED AND RESTATED

BYLAWS OF

COUCHBASE INC.

ARTICLE I

STOCKHOLDERS

1.1 Place of Meetings. All meetings of stockholders shall be held at such place (if any) within or without the State of Delaware as may be designated from time to time by the Board of Directors, the President or the Chief Executive Officer.

1.2 Annual Meeting. The annual meeting of stockholders for the election of directors and for the transaction of such other business as may properly be brought before the meeting shall be held on a date to be fixed by the Board of Directors at the time and place to be fixed by the Board of Directors and stated in the notice of the meeting. In lieu of holding an annual meeting of stockholders at a designated place, the Board of Directors may, in its sole discretion, determine that any annual meeting of stockholders may be held solely by means of remote communication.

1.3 Special Meetings. Special meetings of stockholders may be called at any time by the Board of Directors, the Chairman of the Board or the President for any purpose or purposes prescribed in the notice of the meeting and shall be held at such place (if any), on such date and at such time as the Board may fix. In lieu of holding a special meeting of stockholders at a designated place, the Board of Directors may, in its sole discretion, determine that any special meeting of stockholders may be held solely by means of remote communication. Business transacted at any special meeting of stockholders shall be confined to the purpose or purposes stated in the notice of meeting.

1.4 Notice of Meetings.

(a) Written notice of each meeting of stockholders, whether annual or special, shall be given not less than 10 nor more than 60 days before the date on which the meeting is to be held, to each stockholder entitled to vote at such meeting, except as otherwise provided herein or as required by law (meaning here and hereafter, as required from time to time by the Delaware General Corporation Law or the Certificate of Incorporation). The notice of any meeting shall state the place, if any, date and hour of the meeting, and the means of remote communication, if any, by which stockholders and proxy holders may be deemed to be present in person and vote at such meeting. The notice of a special meeting shall state, in addition, the purpose or purposes for which the meeting is called. If mailed, notice is given when deposited in the United States mail, postage prepaid, directed to the stockholder at his address as it appears on the records of the corporation.

(b) Notice to stockholders may be given by personal delivery, mail, or, with the consent of the stockholder entitled to receive notice, by facsimile or other means of electronic transmission. If mailed, such notice shall be delivered by postage prepaid envelope directed to each stockholder at such stockholder’s address as it appears in the records of the corporation and shall be deemed given when deposited in the United States mail. Notice given by electronic


transmission pursuant to this subsection shall be deemed given: (1) if by facsimile telecommunication, when directed to a facsimile telecommunication number at which the stockholder has consented to receive notice; (2) if by electronic mail, when directed to an electronic mail address at which the stockholder has consented to receive notice; (3) if by posting on an electronic network together with separate notice to the stockholder of such specific posting, upon the later of (A) such posting and (B) the giving of such separate notice; and (4) if by any other form of electronic transmission, when directed to the stockholder. An affidavit of the secretary or an assistant secretary or of the transfer agent or other agent of the corporation that the notice has been given by personal delivery, by mail, or by a form of electronic transmission shall, in the absence of fraud, be prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein.

(c) Notice of any meeting of stockholders need not be given to any stockholder if waived by such stockholder either in a writing signed by such stockholder or by electronic transmission, whether such waiver is given before or after such meeting is held. If such a waiver is given by electronic transmission, the electronic transmission must either set forth or be submitted with information from which it can be determined that the electronic transmission was authorized by the stockholder.

1.5 Voting List. The officer who has charge of the stock ledger of the corporation shall prepare, at least 10 days before each meeting of stockholders, a complete list of the stockholders entitled to vote at the meeting, arranged in alphabetical order for each class of stock and showing the address of each stockholder and the number of shares registered in the name of each stockholder. Such list shall be open to the examination of any such stockholder, for any purpose germane to the meeting, during ordinary business hours, for a period of at least 10 days prior to the meeting, in the manner provided by law. The list shall also be produced and kept at the time and place of the meeting during the whole time of the meeting, and may be inspected by any stockholder who is present. This list shall determine the identity of the stockholders entitled to vote at the meeting and the number of shares held by each of them.

1.6 Quorum. Except as otherwise provided by law or these Bylaws, the holders of a majority of the shares of the capital stock of the corporation entitled to vote at the meeting, present in person or represented by proxy, shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Where a separate class vote by a class or classes or series is required, a majority of the shares of such class 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.

1.7 Adjournments. Any meeting of stockholders may be adjourned to any other time and to any other place at which a meeting of stockholders may be held under these Bylaws by the chairman of the meeting or, in the absence of such person, by any officer entitled to preside at or to act as secretary of such meeting, or by the holders of a majority of the shares of stock present or represented at the meeting and entitled to vote, although less than a quorum. When a meeting is adjourned to another place, date or time, written notice need not be given of the adjourned meeting if the date, time, and place, if any, thereof, and the means of remote communication, 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; provided, however, that if the date of any adjourned meeting is more than 30 days after the date for which the meeting was originally noticed, or if a new record date is fixed for the adjourned

 

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meeting, written notice of the place, if any, date, and time of the adjourned meeting 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, shall be given in conformity herewith. At the adjourned meeting, the corporation may transact any business which might have been transacted at the original meeting.

1.8 Voting and Proxies. Each stockholder shall have one vote for each share of stock entitled to vote held of record by such stockholder and a proportionate vote for each fractional share so held, unless otherwise provided by law or in the Certificate of Incorporation. Each stockholder of record entitled to vote at a meeting of stockholders may vote in person or may authorize any other person or persons to vote or act for him by written proxy executed by the stockholder or his authorized agent or by a transmission permitted by law and delivered to the Secretary of the corporation. Any copy, facsimile transmission or other reliable reproduction of the writing or transmission created pursuant to this section may be substituted or used in lieu of the original writing or transmission for any and all purposes for which the original writing or transmission could be used, provided that such copy, facsimile transmission or other reproduction shall be a complete reproduction of the entire original writing or transmission.

1.9 Action at Meeting.

(a) At any meeting of stockholders for the election of one or more directors at which a quorum is present, the election shall be determined by a plurality of the votes cast by the stockholders entitled to vote at the election. All other matters shall be determined by a majority in voting power of the shares present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote on the matter (or if there are two or more classes of stock entitled to vote as separate classes, then in the case of each such class, a majority of the shares of each such class present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote on the matter shall decide such matter), provided that a quorum is present, except when a different vote is required by express provision of law, the Certificate of Incorporation or these Bylaws.

(b) All voting, including on the election of directors, but excepting where otherwise required by law, may be by a voice vote; provided, however, that upon demand therefor by a stockholder entitled to vote or his or her proxy, a vote by ballot shall be taken. Each ballot shall state the name of the stockholder or proxy voting and such other information as may be required under the procedure established for the meeting. The corporation may, and to the extent required by law, shall, in advance of any meeting of stockholders, appoint one or more inspectors to act at the meeting and make a written report thereof. The corporation may designate one or more persons as an alternate inspector to replace any inspector who fails to act. If no inspector or alternate is able to act at a meeting of stockholders, the person presiding at the meeting may, and to the extent required by law, shall, appoint one or more inspectors to act at the meeting. Each inspector, before entering upon the discharge of his duties, shall take and sign an oath to faithfully execute the duties of inspector with strict impartiality and according to the best of his or her ability.

1.10 Stockholder Action Without Meeting. Any action which may be taken at any annual or special meeting of stockholders may be taken without a meeting and without prior notice, if a consent in writing, setting forth the actions so taken, is signed by the holders of outstanding shares having not less than the minimum number of votes which would be necessary to authorize

 

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or take such action at a meeting at which all shares entitled to vote thereon were present and voted. All such consents shall be filed with the Secretary of the corporation and shall be maintained in the corporate records. Prompt notice of the taking of a corporate action without a meeting by less than unanimous written consent shall be given to those stockholders who have not consented in writing.

An electronic transmission consenting to an action to be taken and transmitted by a stockholder, or by a proxy holder or other person authorized to act for a stockholder, shall be deemed to be written, signed and dated for the purpose of this Section 1.10, provided that such electronic transmission sets forth or is delivered with information from which the corporation can determine (i) that the electronic transmission was transmitted by the stockholder or by a person authorized to act for the stockholder and (ii) the date on which such stockholder or authorized person transmitted such electronic transmission. The date on which such electronic transmission is transmitted shall be deemed to be the date on which such consent was signed. No consent given by electronic transmission shall be deemed to have been delivered until such consent is reproduced in paper form and until such paper form shall be delivered to the corporation by delivery to its registered office in the State of Delaware, its principal place of business or an officer or agent of the corporation having custody of the books in which proceedings of meetings of stockholders are recorded.

1.11 Meetings by Remote Communication. If authorized by the Board of Directors, and subject to such guidelines and procedures as the Board may adopt, stockholders and proxy holders not physically present at a meeting of stockholders may, by means of remote communication, participate in the meeting and be deemed present in person and vote at the meeting, whether such meeting is to be held at a designated place or solely by means of remote communication, provided that (i) the corporation shall implement reasonable measures to verify that each person deemed present and permitted to vote at the meeting by means of remote communication is a stockholder or proxy holder, (ii) the corporation shall implement reasonable measures to provide such stockholders and proxy holders a reasonable opportunity to participate in the meeting and to vote on matters submitted to the stockholders, including an opportunity to read or hear the proceedings of the meeting substantially concurrently with such proceedings, and (iii) if any stockholder or proxy holder votes or takes other action at the meeting by means of remote communication, a record of such vote or other action shall be maintained by the corporation.

ARTICLE II

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

2.1 General Powers. The business and affairs of the corporation shall be managed by or under the direction of a Board of Directors, who may exercise all of the powers of the corporation except as otherwise provided by law or the Certificate of Incorporation. In the event of a vacancy in the Board of Directors, the remaining directors, except as otherwise provided by law, may exercise the powers of the full Board until the vacancy is filled.

2.2 Number and Term of Office. Subject to the rights of the holders of any series of preferred stock to elect directors under specified circumstances, the number of directors constituting the entire Board of Directors shall initially be eight (8) and, thereafter, shall be fixed from time to time exclusively by the Board of Directors pursuant to a resolution adopted by a

 

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majority of the total number of authorized directors (whether or not there exist any vacancies in previously authorized directorships at the time any such resolution is presented to the Board for adoption). All directors shall hold office until the expiration of the term for which elected and until their respective successors are elected, except in the case of the death, resignation or removal of any director.

2.3 Vacancies and Newly Created Directorships. Subject to the rights of the holders of any series of Preferred Stock then outstanding, including but not limited to the right for certain holders of Preferred Stock to designate directors as set forth in that certain Amended and Restated Voting Agreement, by and among the corporation and the parties thereto, as it may be amended from time to time, newly created directorships resulting from any increase in the authorized number of directors or any vacancies in the Board of Directors resulting from death, resignation, retirement, disqualification or other cause (including removal from office by a vote of the stockholders) may be filled by a majority vote of the directors then in office, though less than a quorum, by the sole remaining director, or, to the extent required by the Certificate of Incorporation or if there are no directors, by the stockholders, and directors so chosen shall hold office for a term expiring at the next annual meeting of stockholders at which the term of office of the class to which they have been elected expires or until such director’s successor shall have been duly elected and qualified. No decrease in the number of authorized directors shall shorten the term of any incumbent director.

2.4 Resignation. Any director may resign by delivering notice in writing or by electronic transmission to the President, Chairman of the Board or Secretary. Such resignation shall be effective upon receipt unless it is specified to be effective at some other time or upon the happening of some other event.

2.5 Removal. Subject to the rights of the holders of any series of Preferred Stock then outstanding, any directors, or the entire Board of Directors, may be removed from office at any time, by the affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the voting power of all of the outstanding shares of capital stock entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class. Vacancies in the Board of Directors resulting from such removal may be filled by a majority of the directors then in office, though less than a quorum, or by the sole remaining director. Directors so chosen shall hold office until the next annual meeting of stockholders.

2.6 Regular Meetings. Regular meetings of the Board of Directors may be held without notice at such time and place, either within or without the State of Delaware, as shall be determined from time to time by the Board of Directors; provided that any director who is absent when such a determination is made shall be given notice of the determination. A regular meeting of the Board of Directors may be held without notice immediately after and at the same place as the annual meeting of stockholders.

2.7 Special Meetings. Special meetings of the Board of Directors may be called by the Chairman of the Board, the President or two or more directors and may be held at any time and place, within or without the State of Delaware.

 

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2.8 Notice of Special Meetings. Notice of any special meeting of directors shall be given to each director by whom it is not waived by the Secretary or by the officer or one of the directors calling the meeting. Notice shall be duly given to each director by (i) giving notice to such director in person or by telephone, electronic transmission or voice message system at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting, (ii) sending a facsimile to his last known facsimile number, or delivering written notice by hand to his last known business or home address, at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting, or (iii) mailing written notice to his last known business or home address at least three days in advance of the meeting. A notice or waiver of notice of a meeting of the Board of Directors need not specify the purposes of the meeting. Unless otherwise indicated in the notice thereof, any and all business may be transacted at a special meeting.

2.9 Participation in Meetings by Telephone Conference Calls or Other Methods of Communication. Directors or any members of any committee designated by the directors may participate in a meeting of the Board of Directors or such committee by means of conference telephone or other communications equipment by means of which all persons participating in the meeting can hear each other, and participation by such means shall constitute presence in person at such meeting.

2.10 Quorum. A majority of the total number of authorized directors shall constitute a quorum at any meeting of the Board of Directors. In the absence of a quorum at any such meeting, a majority of the directors present may adjourn the meeting from time to time without further notice other than announcement at the meeting, until a quorum shall be present. Interested directors may be counted in determining the presence of a quorum at a meeting of the Board of Directors or at a meeting of a committee which authorizes a particular contract or transaction.

2.11 Action at Meeting. At any meeting of the Board of Directors at which a quorum is present, the vote of a majority of those present shall be sufficient to take any action, unless a different vote is specified by law, the Certificate of Incorporation or these Bylaws.

2.12 Action by Written Consent. Any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the Board of Directors or of any committee of the Board of Directors may be taken without a meeting if all members of the Board or committee, as the case may be, consent to the action in writing or by electronic transmission, and the writings or electronic transmissions are filed with the minutes of proceedings of the Board or committee. Such filing shall be in paper form if the minutes are maintained in paper form and shall be in electronic form if the minutes are maintained in electronic form.

2.13 Committees. The Board of Directors may designate one or more committees, each committee to consist of one or more of the directors of the corporation, with such lawfully delegated powers and duties as it therefor confers, to serve at the pleasure of the Board. The Board 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 of the committee present at any meeting and not disqualified from voting, whether or not he or they 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 and subject to the provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law,

 

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shall have and may exercise all the powers and authority of the Board of Directors in the management of the business and affairs of the corporation and may authorize the seal of the corporation to be affixed to all papers which may require it. Each such committee shall keep minutes and make such reports as the Board of Directors may from time to time request. Except as the Board of Directors may otherwise determine, any committee may make rules for the conduct of its business, but unless otherwise provided by such rules, its business shall be conducted as nearly as possible in the same manner as is provided in these Bylaws for the Board of Directors.

2.14 Compensation of Directors. Directors may be paid such compensation for their services and such reimbursement for expenses of attendance at meetings as the Board of Directors may from time to time determine. No such payment shall preclude any director from serving the corporation or any of its parent or subsidiary corporations in any other capacity and receiving compensation for such service.

2.15 Nomination of Director Candidates. Subject to the rights of holders of any class or series of Preferred Stock then outstanding, nominations for the election of Directors may be made by (i) the Board of Directors or a duly authorized committee thereof or (ii) any stockholder entitled to vote in the election of Directors.

ARTICLE III

OFFICERS

3.1 Enumeration. The officers of the corporation shall consist of a Chief Executive Officer, a President, a Secretary, a Treasurer, a Chief Financial Officer and such other officers with such other titles as the Board of Directors shall determine, including, at the discretion of the Board of Directors, a Chairman of the Board and one or more Vice Presidents and Assistant Secretaries. The Board of Directors may appoint such other officers as it may deem appropriate, including, without limitation, a co-Chief Executive Officer and co-President.

3.2 Election. Officers shall be elected annually by the Board of Directors at its first meeting following the annual meeting of stockholders. Officers may be appointed by the Board of Directors at any other meeting.

3.3 Qualification. No officer need be a stockholder. Any two or more offices may be held by the same person.

3.4 Tenure. Except as otherwise provided by law, by the Certificate of Incorporation or by these Bylaws, each officer shall hold office until his successor is elected and qualified, unless a different term is specified in the vote appointing him, or until his earlier death, resignation or removal.

3.5 Resignation and Removal. Any officer may resign by delivering his written resignation to the corporation at its principal office or to the President or Secretary. Such resignation shall be effective upon receipt unless it is specified to be effective at some other time or upon the happening of some other event. Any officer elected by the Board of Directors may be removed at any time, with or without cause, by the Board of Directors.

 

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3.6 Chairman of the Board. The Board of Directors may appoint a Chairman of the Board. If the Board of Directors appoints a Chairman of the Board, he shall perform such duties and possess such powers as are assigned to him by the Board of Directors. Unless otherwise provided by the Board of Directors, he shall preside at all meetings of the Board of Directors.

3.7 Chief Executive Officer. The Chief Executive Officer of the corporation shall, subject to the direction of the Board of Directors, have general supervision, direction and control of the business and the officers of the corporation. He shall preside at all meetings of the stockholders and, in the absence or nonexistence of a Chairman of the Board, at all meetings of the Board of Directors. He shall have the general powers and duties of management usually vested in the chief executive officer of a corporation, including general supervision, direction and control of the business and supervision of other officers of the corporation, and shall have such other powers and duties as may be prescribed by the Board of Directors or these Bylaws.

3.8 President. Subject to the direction of the Board of Directors and such supervisory powers as may be given by these Bylaws or the Board of Directors to the Chairman of the Board or the Chief Executive Officer, if such titles be held by other officers, the President shall have general supervision, direction and control of the business and supervision of other officers of the corporation. Unless otherwise designated by the Board of Directors, the President shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the corporation. The President shall have such other powers and duties as may be prescribed by the Board of Directors or these Bylaws. He or she shall have power to sign stock certificates, contracts and other instruments of the corporation which are authorized and shall have general supervision and direction of all of the other officers, employees and agents of the corporation, other than the Chairman of the Board and the Chief Executive Officer.

3.9 Vice Presidents. Any Vice President shall perform such duties and possess such powers as the Board of Directors or the President may from time to time prescribe. In the event of the absence, inability or refusal to act of the President, the Vice President (or if there shall be more than one, the Vice Presidents in the order determined by the Board of Directors) shall perform the duties of the President and when so performing shall have at the powers of and be subject to all the restrictions upon the President. The Board of Directors may assign to any Vice President the title of Executive Vice President, Senior Vice President or any other title selected by the Board of Directors.

3.10 Secretary and Assistant Secretaries. The Secretary shall perform such duties and shall have such powers as the Board of Directors or the President may from time to time prescribe. In addition, the Secretary shall perform such duties and have such powers as are incident to the office of the Secretary, including, without limitation, the duty and power to give notices of all meetings of stockholders and special meetings of the Board of Directors, to keep a record of the proceedings of all meetings of stockholders and the Board of Directors, to maintain a stock ledger and prepare lists of stockholders and their addresses as required, to be custodian of corporate records and the corporate seal and to affix and attest to the same on documents.

Any Assistant Secretary shall perform such duties and possess such powers as the Board of Directors, the Chief Executive Officer, the President or the Secretary may from time to time prescribe. In the event of the absence, inability or refusal to act of the Secretary, the Assistant Secretary (or if there shall be more than one, the Assistant Secretaries in the order determined by the Board of Directors) shall perform the duties and exercise the powers of the Secretary.

 

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In the absence of the Secretary or any Assistant Secretary at any meeting of stockholders or directors, the person presiding at the meeting shall designate a temporary secretary to keep a record of the meeting.

3.11 Treasurer. The Treasurer shall perform such duties and have such powers as are incident to the office of treasurer, including without limitation, the duty and power to keep and be responsible for all funds and securities of the corporation, to maintain the financial records of the corporation, to deposit funds of the corporation in depositories as authorized, to disburse such funds as authorized, to make proper accounts of such funds, and to render as required by the Board of Directors accounts of all such transactions and of the financial condition of the corporation.

3.12 Chief Financial Officer. The Chief Financial Officer shall perform such duties and shall have such powers as may from time to time be assigned to him by the Board of Directors, the Chief Executive Officer or the President. Unless otherwise designated by the Board of Directors, the Chief Financial Officer shall be the Treasurer of the corporation.

3.13 Salaries. Officers of the corporation shall be entitled to such salaries, compensation or reimbursement as shall be fixed or allowed from time to time by the Board of Directors.

3.14 Delegation of Authority. The Board of Directors may from time to time delegate the powers or duties of any officer to any other officers or agents, notwithstanding any provision hereof.

ARTICLE IV

CAPITAL STOCK

4.1 Issuance of Stock. Subject to the provisions of the Certificate of Incorporation, the whole or any part of any unissued balance of the authorized capital stock of the corporation or the whole or any part of any unissued balance of the authorized capital stock of the corporation held in its treasury may be issued, sold, transferred or otherwise disposed of by vote of the Board of Directors in such manner, for such consideration and on such terms as the Board of Directors may determine.

4.2 Certificates of Stock. The shares of the corporation shall be represented by certificates, provided that the Board of Directors may provide by resolution or resolutions that some or all of any class or series of its stock shall be uncertificated shares; provided, however, that no such resolution shall apply to shares represented by a certificate until such certificate is surrendered to the corporation. Every holder of stock of the corporation represented by certificates shall be entitled to have a certificate, in such form as may be prescribed by law and by the Board of Directors, certifying the number and class of shares owned by him in the corporation. Each such certificate shall be signed by, or in the name of the corporation by, the Chairman or Vice Chairman, if any, of the Board of Directors, or the President or a Vice President, and the Treasurer or an Assistant Treasurer, or the Secretary or an Assistant Secretary of the corporation. Any or all of the signatures on the certificate may be a facsimile.

 

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Each certificate for shares of stock which are subject to any restriction on transfer pursuant to the Certificate of Incorporation, the Bylaws, applicable securities laws or any agreement among any number of shareholders or among such holders and the corporation shall have conspicuously noted on the face or back of the certificate either the full text of the restriction or a statement of the existence of such restriction.

4.3 Transfers. Except as otherwise established by rules and regulations adopted by the Board of Directors, and subject to applicable law, shares of stock may be transferred on the books of the corporation: (i) in the case of shares represented by a certificate, by the surrender to the corporation or its transfer agent of the certificate representing such shares properly endorsed or accompanied by a written assignment or power of attorney properly executed, and with such proof of authority or authenticity of signature as the corporation or its transfer agent may reasonably require; and (ii) in the case of uncertificated shares, upon the receipt of proper transfer instructions from the registered owner thereof. Except as may be otherwise required by law, the Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws, the corporation shall be entitled to treat the record holder of stock as shown on its books as the owner of such stock for all purposes, including the payment of dividends and the right to vote with respect to such stock, regardless of any transfer, pledge or other disposition of such stock until the shares have been transferred on the books of the corporation in accordance with the requirements of these Bylaws.

4.4 Lost, Stolen or Destroyed Certificates. The corporation may issue a new certificate of stock in place of any previously issued certificate alleged to have been lost, stolen, or destroyed, or it may issue uncertificated shares if the shares represented by such certificate have been designated as uncertificated shares in accordance with Section 4.2, upon such terms and conditions as the Board of Directors may prescribe, including the presentation of reasonable evidence of such loss, theft or destruction and the giving of such indemnity as the Board of Directors may require for the protection of the corporation or any transfer agent or registrar.

4.5 Record Date. The Board of Directors may fix in advance a record date for the determination of the stockholders entitled to notice of or to vote at any meeting of stockholders or to express consent to corporate action in writing without a meeting, or entitled to receive payment of any dividend or other distribution or allotment of any rights in respect of any change, concession or exchange of stock, or for the purpose of any other lawful action. Such record date shall not precede the date on which the resolution fixing the record date is adopted and shall not be more than 60 nor less than 10 days before the date of such meeting, nor more than 60 days prior to any other action to which such record date relates.

If no record date is fixed by the Board of Directors, the record date for determining stockholders entitled to notice of or to vote at a meeting of stockholders shall be at the close of business on the day before the day on which notice is given, or, if notice is waived, at the close of business on the day before the day on which the meeting is held. If no record date is fixed by the Board of Directors, the record date for determining stockholders entitled to express consent to corporate action in writing without a meeting when no prior action by the Board of Directors is necessary shall be the day on which the first written consent is expressed. The record date for determining stockholders for any other purpose shall be at the close of business on the day on which the Board of Directors adopts the resolution relating to such purpose.

 

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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 the adjourned meeting.

ARTICLE V

GENERAL PROVISIONS

5.1 Fiscal Year. The fiscal year of the corporation shall be as fixed by the Board of Directors.

5.2 Corporate Seal. The corporate seal shall be in such form as shall be approved by the Board of Directors.

5.3 Waiver of Notice. Whenever any notice whatsoever is required to be given by law, by the Certificate of Incorporation or by these Bylaws, a waiver of such notice either in writing signed by the person entitled to such notice or such person’s duly authorized attorney, or by electronic transmission or any other method permitted under the Delaware General Corporation Law, whether before, at or after the time stated in such waiver, or the appearance of such person or persons at such meeting in person or by proxy, shall be deemed equivalent to such notice. Neither the business nor the purpose of any meeting need be specified in such a waiver. Attendance at any meeting shall constitute waiver of notice except attendance for the sole purpose of objecting to the timeliness of notice.

5.4 Actions with Respect to Securities of Other Corporations. Except as the Board of Directors may otherwise designate, the Chief Executive Officer or President or any officer of the corporation authorized by the Chief Executive Officer or President shall have the power to vote and otherwise act on behalf of the corporation, in person or proxy, and may waive notice of, and act as, or appoint any person or persons to act as, proxy or attorney-in-fact to this corporation (with or without power of substitution) at any meeting of stockholders or shareholders (or with respect to any action of stockholders) of any other corporation or organization, the securities of which may be held by this corporation and otherwise to exercise any and all rights and powers which this corporation may possess by reason of this corporation’s ownership of securities in such other corporation or other organization.

5.5 Evidence of Authority. A certificate by the Secretary, or an Assistant Secretary, or a temporary Secretary, as to any action taken by the stockholders, directors, a committee or any officer or representative of the corporation shall as to all persons who rely on the certificate in good faith be conclusive evidence of such action.

5.6 Certificate of Incorporation. All references in these Bylaws to the Certificate of Incorporation shall be deemed to refer to the Certificate of Incorporation of the corporation, as amended and in effect from time to time.

5.7 Severability. Any determination that any provision of these Bylaws is for any reason inapplicable, illegal or ineffective shall not affect or invalidate any other provision of these Bylaws.

 

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5.8 Pronouns. All pronouns used in these Bylaws shall be deemed to refer to the masculine, feminine or neuter, singular or plural, as the identity of the person or persons may require.

5.9 Notices. Except as otherwise specifically provided herein or required by law, all notices required to be given to any stockholder, director, officer, employee or agent shall be in writing and may in every instance be effectively given by hand delivery to the recipient thereof, by depositing such notice in the mails, postage paid, or by sending such notice by commercial courier service, or by facsimile or other electronic transmission, provided that notice to stockholders by electronic transmission shall be given in the manner provided in Section 232 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Any such notice shall be addressed to such stockholder, director, officer, employee or agent at his or her last known address as the same appears on the books of the corporation. The time when such notice shall be deemed to be given shall be the time such notice is received by such stockholder, director, officer, employee or agent, or by any person accepting such notice on behalf of such person, if delivered by hand, facsimile, other electronic transmission or commercial courier service, or the time such notice is dispatched, if delivered through the mails. Without limiting the manner by which notice otherwise may be given effectively, notice to any stockholder shall be deemed given: (1) if by facsimile, when directed to a number at which the stockholder has consented to receive notice; (2) if by electronic mail, when directed to an electronic mail address at which the stockholder has consented to receive notice; (3) if by a posting on an electronic network together with separate notice to the stockholder of such specific posting, upon the later of (A) such posting and (B) the giving of such separate notice; (4) if by any other form of electronic transmission, when directed to the stockholder; and (5) if by mail, when deposited in the mail, postage prepaid, directed to the stockholder at such stockholder’s address as it appears on the records of the corporation.

5.10 Reliance Upon Books, Reports and Records. Each director, each member of any committee designated by the Board of Directors, and each officer of the corporation shall, in the performance of his duties, be fully protected in relying in good faith upon the books of account or other records of the corporation as provided by law, including reports made to the corporation by any of its officers, by an independent certified public accountant, or by an appraiser selected with reasonable care.

5.11 Time Periods. In applying any provision of these Bylaws which require that an act be done or not done a specified number of days prior to an event or that an act be done during a period of a specified number of days prior to an event, calendar days shall be used, the day of the doing of the act shall be excluded, and the day of the event shall be included.

5.12 Facsimile Signatures. In addition to the provisions for use of facsimile signatures elsewhere specifically authorized in these Bylaws, facsimile signatures of any officer or officers of the corporation may be used whenever and as authorized by the Board of Directors or a committee thereof.

5.13 Annual Report. For so long as the corporation has fewer than 100 holders of record of its shares, the mandatory requirement of an annual report under Section 1501 of the California Corporations Code is hereby expressly waived.

 

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ARTICLE VI

AMENDMENTS

6.1 By the Board of Directors. Except as otherwise set forth in these Bylaws, these Bylaws may be altered, amended or repealed or new Bylaws may be adopted by the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors present at any regular or special meeting of the Board of Directors at which a quorum is present.

6.2 By the Stockholders. Except as otherwise set forth in these Bylaws, these Bylaws may be altered, amended or repealed or new Bylaws may be adopted by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority of the voting power of all of the shares of capital stock of the corporation issued and outstanding and entitled to vote generally in any election of directors, voting together as a single class. Such vote may be held at any annual meeting of stockholders, or at any special meeting of stockholders provided that notice of such alteration, amendment, repeal or adoption of new Bylaws shall have been stated in the notice of such special meeting.

ARTICLE VII

INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS

7.1 Right to Indemnification. Each person who was or is made a party or is threatened to be made a party to or is involved in any action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (“proceeding”), by reason of the fact that he or she or a person of whom he or she is the legal representative, is or was a director or officer of the corporation or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director or officer of another corporation, or as a controlling person of a partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, including service with respect to employee benefit plans, whether the basis of such proceeding is alleged action in an official capacity as a director or officer, or in any other capacity while serving as a director or officer, shall be indemnified and held harmless by the corporation to the fullest extent authorized by the Delaware General Corporation Law, as the same exists or may hereafter be amended (but, in the case of any such amendment, only to the extent that such amendment permits the corporation to provide broader indemnification rights than said Law permitted the corporation to provide prior to such amendment) against all expenses, liability and loss reasonably incurred or suffered by such person in connection therewith and such indemnification shall continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director or officer and shall inure to the benefit of his or her heirs, executors and administrators; provided, however, that except as provided in Section 7.2 of this Article VII, the corporation shall indemnify any such person seeking indemnity in connection with a proceeding (or part thereof) initiated by such person only if (a) such indemnification is expressly required to be made by law, (b) the proceeding (or part thereof) was authorized by the Board of Directors of the corporation, (c) such indemnification is provided by the corporation, in its sole discretion, pursuant to the powers vested in the corporation under the Delaware General Corporation Law, or (d) the proceeding (or part thereof) is brought to establish or enforce a right to indemnification or advancement under an indemnity agreement or any other statute or law or otherwise as required under Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. The rights hereunder shall be contract rights and shall include the right to be paid expenses incurred in defending any such proceeding in advance of its final disposition; provided, however, that the payment of such expenses incurred by a director or officer of the corporation in his or her capacity as a director or officer (and not in any other capacity in which service was or is tendered by such

 

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person while a director or officer, including, without limitation, service to an employee benefit plan) in advance of the final disposition of such proceeding, shall be made only upon delivery to the corporation of an undertaking, by or on behalf of such director or officer, to repay all amounts so advanced if it should be determined ultimately by final judicial decision from which there is no further right to appeal that such director or officer is not entitled to be indemnified under this section or otherwise.

7.2 Right of Claimant to Bring Suit. If a claim under Section 7.1 is not paid in full by the corporation within 60 days after a written claim has been received by the corporation, or 20 days in the case of a claim for advancement of expenses, the claimant may at any time thereafter bring suit against the corporation to recover the unpaid amount of the claim and, if such suit is not frivolous or brought in bad faith, the claimant shall be entitled to be paid also the expense of prosecuting such claim. It shall be a defense to any such action (other than an action brought to enforce a claim for expenses incurred in defending any proceeding in advance of its final disposition where the required undertaking, if any, has been tendered to this corporation) that the claimant has not met the standards of conduct which make it permissible under the Delaware General Corporation Law for the corporation to indemnify the claimant for the amount claimed. Neither the failure of the corporation (including its Board of Directors, independent legal counsel, or its stockholders) to have made a determination prior to the commencement of such action that indemnification of the claimant is proper in the circumstances because he or she has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in the Delaware General Corporation Law, nor an actual determination by the corporation (including its Board of Directors, independent legal counsel or its stockholders) that the claimant has not met such applicable standard of conduct, shall be a defense to the action or create a presumption that claimant has not met the applicable standard of conduct. In any suit brought by the corporation to recover an advancement of expenses pursuant to the terms of an undertaking, the corporation shall be entitled to recover such expenses upon a final judicial decision from which there is no further right to appeal that the indemnitee has not met any applicable standard for indemnification set forth in the Delaware General Corporation Law. In any suit brought by the indemnitee to enforce a right to indemnification or to an advancement of expenses hereunder, or brought by the corporation to recover an advancement of expenses pursuant to the terms of an undertaking, the burden of proving that the indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified, or to such advancement of expenses, shall be on the corporation.

7.3 Indemnification of Employees and Agents. The corporation may, to the extent authorized from time to time by the Board of Directors, grant rights to indemnification, and to the advancement of related expenses, to any employee or agent of the corporation to the fullest extent of the provisions of this Article with respect to the indemnification of and advancement of expenses to directors and officers of the corporation.

7.4 Non-Exclusivity of Rights. The rights conferred on any person in this Article VII shall not be exclusive of any other right which such persons may have or hereafter acquire under any statute, provision of the Certificate of Incorporation, bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise.

7.5 Indemnification Contracts. The Board of Directors is authorized to enter into a contract with any director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or any person serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, including employee benefit plans, providing for indemnification rights equivalent to or, if the Board of Directors so determines, greater than, those provided for in this Article VII.

 

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7.6 Insurance. The corporation may maintain insurance to the extent reasonably available, at its expense, to protect itself and any such director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation or another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against any such expense, liability or loss, whether or not the corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such expense, liability or loss under the Delaware General Corporation Law.

7.7 Effect of Amendment. Any amendment, repeal or modification of any provision of this Article VII shall not adversely affect any right or protection of an indemnitee or his successor in respect of any act or omission occurring prior to such amendment, repeal or modification.

 

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EX-4.1

Exhibit 4.1

 

LOGO

CB INCORPORATED UNDER THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE CUSIP 22207T 10 1 SEE REVERSE FOR CERTAIN DEFINITIONS AND LEGENDS This certifies that is the record holder of FULLY PAID AND NONASSESSABLE SHARES OF COMMON STOCK, $0.00001 PAR VALUE PER SHARE, OF COUCHBASE, INC. transferable on the books of the Corporation in person or by duly authorized attorney upon surrender of this Certificate properly endorsed. This Certificate is not valid until countersigned by the Transfer Agent and registered by the Registrar. WITNESS the facsimile seal of the Corporation and the facsimile signatures of its duly authorized officers. Dated: CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER SECRETARY COUCHBASE, CORPORATION SEAL 2008 DELAWARE COUNTERSIGNED AND REGISTERED: AMERICAN STOCK TRANSFER & TRUST COMPANY, LLC (BROOKLYN, NY) TRANSFER AGENT AND REGISTRAR BY: AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE


The Corporation shall furnish without charge to each stockholder who so requests a statement of the powers, designations, preferences and relative, participating, optional or other special rights of each class of stock of the Corporation or series thereof and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions of such preferences and/or rights. Such requests shall be made to the Corporation’s Secretary at the principal office of the Corporation.

KEEP THIS CERTIFICATE IN A SAFE PLACE. IF IT IS LOST, STOLEN, OR DESTROYED THE CORPORATION WILL REQUIRE A BOND INDEMNITY AS A CONDITION TO THE ISSUANCE OF A REPLACEMENT CERTIFICATE.

The following abbreviations, when used in the inscription on the face of this certificate, shall be construed as though they were written out in full according to applicable laws or regulations:

 

TEN COM       as tenants in common
TEN ENT       as tenants by the entireties
JT TEN       as joint tenants with right of survivorship and not as tenants in common
COM PROP       as community property
UNIF GIFT MIN ACT    –         Custodian    
                 (Cust)                             (Minor)            
     under Uniform Gifts to Minors
    

Act

       (State)  
UNIF TRF MIN ACT    –    

 

 

 

Custodian (until age..................................)

           (Cust)        
     ....................................................under Uniform Transfers
             (Minor)        
     to Minors Act                                             
                       (State)
 

 

 

Additional abbreviations may also be used though not in the above list.
      FOR VALUE RECEIVED,        hereby sell(s), assign(s) and transfer(s) unto

 

PLEASE INSERT SOCIAL SECURITY OR OTHER

IDENTIFYING NUMBER OF ASSIGNEE

 

    

    

 

(PLEASE PRINT OR TYPEWRITE NAME AND ADDRESS, INCLUDING ZIP CODE, OF ASSIGNEE)

 

    

    

 

 

    shares
of the capital stock represented by within Certificate, and do hereby irrevocably constitute and appoint  

 

    attorney-in-fact
to transfer the said stock on the books of the within named Corporation with full power of the substitution in the premises.

 

Dated           

 

  X    
  X    
Signature(s) Guaranteed:     NOTICE:    THE SIGNATURE TO THIS ASSIGNMENT MUST CORRESPOND WITH THE NAME AS WRITTEN UPON THE FACE OF THE CERTIFICATE IN EVERY PARTICULAR, WITHOUT ALTERATION OR ENLARGEMENT OR ANY CHANGE WHATSOEVER.

 

By  

                                                                                      

THE SIGNATURE(S) SHOULD BE GUARANTEED BY AN ELIGIBLE GUARANTOR INSTITUTION, (BANKS, STOCKBROKERS, SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS AND CREDIT UNIONS WITH MEMBERSHIP IN AN APPROVED SIGNATURE GUARANTEE MEDALLION PROGRAM), PURSUANT TO S.E.C. RULE 17Ad-15. GUARANTEES BY A NOTARY PUBLIC ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE. SIGNATURE GUARANTEES MUST NOT BE DATED.
EX-4.2

Exhibit 4.2

SEVENTH AMENDED AND RESTATED INVESTORS’ RIGHTS AGREEMENT

This Seventh Amended and Restated Investors’ Rights Agreement (this “Agreement”) is made and entered into as of May 19, 2020, by and among Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), the persons and entities listed on Exhibit A attached hereto (the “Investors”) and the persons and entities listed on Exhibit B attached hereto (the “Stockholders”).

A.    The Company and certain of the Investors (the “Prior Investors”) were party to that certain Sixth Amended and Restated Investors’ Rights Agreement dated February 19, 2016 (the “Prior Rights Agreement”).

B.    Certain of the Investors (the “New Investors”) are purchasing from the Company shares of the Company’s Series G Preferred Stock (the “Series G Stock”) pursuant to that certain Series G Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement, dated as of even date herewith, by and among the Company and the New Investors, (the “Series G Agreement”).

C.    As an inducement to the New Investors to purchase the Series G Stock pursuant to the Series G Agreement, the Prior Investors and the Company desire to amend and restate the Prior Rights Agreement as set forth herein to set forth the agreements and understandings of the Company and the Investors with respect to certain information and registration rights and rights of first refusal, all as more fully set forth herein.

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing recitals and the mutual promises herein contained, and for other consideration, the receipt and adequacy of which is hereby acknowledged, the Prior Rights Agreement is hereby amended and restated in its entirety, and the parties hereto agree as follows:

1.    INFORMATION RIGHTS.

1.1    Basic Financial Information. The Company covenants and agrees that, commencing on the date of this Agreement, for so long as any Investor holds at least 1,000,000 shares of the Company’s Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock, Series C Preferred Stock, Series X Preferred Stock, Series D Preferred Stock, Series E Preferred Stock, Series F Preferred Stock and/or Series G Stock (collectively, the “Preferred Stock”), and/or the equivalent number (on an as-converted basis) of shares of Common Stock of the Company (the “Common Stock”) issued upon the conversion of such shares of Preferred Stock (the “Conversion Stock”) the Company will:

(a)    Annual Reports. Furnish to such Investor, as soon as practicable and in any event within one hundred twenty (120) days after the end of each fiscal year of the Company, a consolidated Balance Sheet as of the end of such fiscal year, a consolidated Statement of Operations and a consolidated Statement of Cash Flows of the Company and its subsidiaries for such year, setting forth in each case in comparative form the figures from the Company’s previous fiscal year (if any), all prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and practices and audited by nationally recognized independent certified public accountants selected by the Company; provided, however, that audited financial statements shall not be provided or the delivery date may be delayed if a majority of the Board of Directors (including a majority of the directors elected by the holders of the Preferred Stock, including at least one director elected by the holders of Series G Preferred Stock) (the “Requisite Directors”) waives such requirement or approves such delay, as applicable;


(b)    Quarterly Reports. Furnish to such Investor as soon as practicable, and in any case within forty-five (45) days after the end of each fiscal quarter of the Company (except the last quarter of the Company’s fiscal year), quarterly unaudited financial statements, including an unaudited Balance Sheet, an unaudited Statement of Operations and an unaudited Statement of Cash Flows;

(c)    Monthly Reports. If requested by such Investors holding a majority of the then outstanding Preferred Stock, furnish to such Investors as soon as practicable, and in any case within forty-five (45) days after the end of each calendar month, monthly unaudited financial statements, including an unaudited Balance Sheet, an unaudited Statement of Operations an unaudited Statement of Cash Flows; and

(d)    Annual Budget. Furnish to such Investor as soon as practicable and in any event no later than thirty (30) days prior to the beginning of each fiscal year of the Company, an annual operating plan and budget, prepared on a monthly basis, for such fiscal year.

(e)    Capitalization Table. Furnish to such Investor promptly following the end of each quarter, a capitalization table setting forth the Company’s fully diluted capitalization as of the end of the most recent quarter.

(f)    Other Requested Information. Furnish to such Investor or permit such Investor to inspect during reasonable business hours, reasonably promptly following receipt of a request from such Investor, such other information relating to the financial condition, business or corporate affairs of the Company as such Investor may from time to time reasonably request; provided, however, that the Company shall not be obligated under Section 1.1(f) or any other subsection of Section 1.1 to provide information (i) that the Company reasonably determines in good faith to be a proprietary trade secret; or (ii) the disclosure of which would adversely affect the attorney-client privilege between the Company and its counsel.

1.2    Confidentiality. Each Investor agrees that such Investor will keep confidential and will not disclose, divulge, or use for any purpose (other than to monitor its investment in the Company) any confidential information obtained from the Company pursuant to the terms of this Agreement (including notice of the Company’s intention to file a registration statement), unless such information (a) is known or becomes known to the public in general (other than as a result of a breach of this Section 1.2 by such Investor), (b) is or has been independently developed or conceived by the Investor without use of the Company’s confidential information, or (c) is or has been made known or disclosed to the Investor by a third party without a breach of any obligation of confidentiality such third party may have to the Company. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an Investor may disclose confidential information:

(i)    to any of the Investor’s attorneys, accountants, consultants, and other professionals, to the extent necessary to obtain their services in connection with monitoring the Investor’s investment in the Company and if such professionals are obligated to maintain the confidentiality of the same;

 

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(ii)    to any former, current or prospective partner, limited partner, general partner, member or management company of such Investor, or any prospective limited partner in a private fund or investment vehicle managed by the same manager (or its successor or affiliated managers) of such Investor (or any employee or representative of any of the foregoing) (each of the foregoing persons, a “Permitted Disclosee”) or legal counsel, accountants or representatives for such Investor or Permitted Disclosee, so long as such Permitted Disclosees are subject to equivalent confidentiality obligations; and

(iii)    as may otherwise be required by law, rule, regulation, or court or other governmental order if the Investor promptly notifies the Company of such disclosure and takes reasonable steps, at the Company’s expense, to minimize the extent of any such required disclosure.

Notwithstanding for the foregoing, nothing contained herein shall prevent any Investor or any Permitted Disclosee from entering into any business, entering into any agreement with a third party, or investing in or engaging in investment discussions with any other company (whether or not competitive with the Company); provided, that such Investor or Permitted Disclosee does not, except as permitted in accordance with this Section 1.2, disclose or otherwise make use of any proprietary or confidential information of the Company in connection with such activities.

1.3    Inspection Rights. The Company shall permit each Investor holding at least 1,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock and/or the equivalent number (on an as-converted basis) of shares of Conversion Stock, or any combination thereof, at such Investor’s expense, during normal business hours and with reasonable advance notification, to visit and inspect the Company’s properties, to examine its books of account and records and to discuss the Company’s affairs, finances and accounts with its officers.

1.4    Termination of Certain Rights. The Company’s obligations under Sections 1.1 and 1.3 above will terminate (a) with respect to all Investors, upon the closing of a Qualified IPO or the consummation of a Direct Listing (each as defined in the Company Ninth Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended from time to time (the “Restated Certificate”)) and (b) with respect to any Investor, upon the good faith determination by the Board of Directors that such Investor is a competitor of the Company; provided, that an Investor that is a venture capital fund or private investment fund shall not be determined to be a competitor based on the fact that it (or any of its affiliated entities or persons) holds securities in a company that is a competitor, so long as such Investor (or its affiliated entities or persons) is not the controlling equityholder of such competitor.

2.    REGISTRATION RIGHTS.

2.1    Definitions. For purposes of this Section 2:

(a)    Registration. The terms “register,” “registration” and “registered” refer to a registration effected by preparing and filing a registration statement in compliance with the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and the declaration or ordering of effectiveness of such registration statement.

 

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(b)    Registrable Securities. The term “Registrable Securities” means:

(1)    all the shares of Common Stock of the Company issued or issuable upon the conversion of any shares of Preferred Stock;

(2)    any shares of Common Stock of the Company issued or issuable (directly or indirectly) upon conversion and/or exercise of any other securities of the Company, acquired by the Investors after the date hereof;

(3)    the shares of Common Stock now held by the Stockholders and set forth in Exhibit B attached hereto (the “Stockholders’ Shares”); and

(4)    any shares of Common Stock of the Company issued (or issuable upon the conversion or exercise of any warrant, right or other security which is issued) as a dividend or other distribution with respect to, or in exchange for or in replacement of, all such shares of Common Stock described in clause (1), (2) or (3) of this Section 2.1(b); excluding in all cases, however, any Registrable Securities sold by a person in a transaction in which rights under this Section 2 are not assigned in accordance with this Agreement or any Registrable Securities with respect to which, pursuant to Section 2.11 hereof, the holders are no longer entitled to registration rights pursuant to Sections 2.2, 2.3 or 2.4 hereof; provided, however, that notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, the Stockholders’ Shares and any shares of Common Stock described in clause (4) of this Section 2.1(b) that are issued in respect of any Stockholders’ Shares (which with the Stockholders’ Shares are collectively hereinafter referred to as the “Excluded Shares”), shall not be Registrable Securities for purposes of Sections 2.2, 2.4 or 3 of this Agreement.

(c)    Registrable Securities Then Outstanding. The number of shares of “Registrable Securities then outstanding” shall mean the number of shares of Common Stock which are Registrable Securities that are then (i) issued and outstanding or (ii) issuable pursuant to the exercise or conversion of then outstanding and then exercisable and qualifying options, warrants or convertible securities.

(d)    Holder. The term “Holder” means any person owning of record Registrable Securities or any assignee of record of such Registrable Securities to whom rights set forth herein have been duly assigned in accordance with this Agreement; provided, however, that for purposes of this Agreement, a record holder of shares of Preferred Stock convertible into such Registrable Securities shall be deemed to be the Holder of such Registrable Securities; provided further, that a holder of Excluded Shares (as defined in Section 2.1(b)) shall not be a Holder with respect to such Excluded Shares for purposes of Sections 2.2, 2.4 or 3 of this Agreement; and provided, further, that the Company shall in no event be obligated to register shares of Preferred Stock, and that Holders of Registrable Securities will not be required to convert their shares of Preferred Stock into Common Stock in order to exercise the registration rights granted hereunder, until immediately before the closing of the offering to which the registration relates, and such conversion may, at the option of the Holder, be made contingent upon the closing of such offering.

 

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(e)    Form S-3. The term “Form S-3” means such form under the Securities Act as is in effect on the date hereof or any successor registration form under the Securities Act subsequently adopted by the SEC which permits inclusion or incorporation of substantial information by reference to other documents filed by the Company with the SEC.

(f)    SEC. The term “SEC” or “Commission” means the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

2.2    Demand Registration.

(a)    Request by Holders. If the Company shall receive at any time after the earlier of three (3) years from the date of this Agreement, or six (6) months after the effective date of the Company’s initial public offering of its securities pursuant to a registration filed under the Securities Act (the “IPO”), a written request from the Holders of a majority of the Registrable Securities then outstanding that the Company file a registration statement under the Securities Act covering the registration of Registrable Securities pursuant to this Section 2.2, then the Company shall, within twenty (20) days after the receipt of such written request, give written notice of such request (the “Request Notice”) to all Holders, and effect, as soon as practicable, the registration under the Securities Act of all Registrable Securities which Holders request to be registered and included in such registration by written notice given by such Holders to the Company within twenty (20) days after receipt of the Request Notice, subject only to the limitations of this Section 2; provided, that the Registrable Securities requested by all Holders to be registered pursuant to such request must either (i) be at least thirty percent (30%) of all Registrable Securities then outstanding or (ii) have an anticipated aggregate public offering price (before any underwriting discounts and commissions) of not less than Five Million Dollars ($5,000,000) or Thirty Million Dollars ($30,000,000) if such requested registration is the IPO.

(b)    Underwriting. If the Holders initiating the registration request under this Section 2.2 (the “Initiating Holders”) intend to distribute the Registrable Securities covered by their request by means of an underwriting, then they shall so advise the Company as a part of their request made pursuant to this Section 2.2 and the Company shall include such information in the written notice referred to in subsection 2.2(a). In such event, the right of any Holder to include his, her, or its Registrable Securities in such registration shall be conditioned upon such Holder’s participation in such underwriting and the inclusion of such Holder’s Registrable Securities in the underwriting (unless otherwise mutually agreed by a majority in interest of the Initiating Holders and such Holder) to the extent provided herein. All Holders proposing to distribute their securities through such underwriting shall enter into an underwriting agreement in customary form with the managing underwriter or underwriters selected for such underwriting by the Company. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section 2.2, if the underwriter(s) advise(s) the Company in writing that marketing factors require a limitation of the number of securities to be underwritten then the Company shall so advise all Holders of Registrable Securities that would otherwise be registered and underwritten pursuant hereto, and the number of Registrable Securities that may be included in the underwriting shall be reduced as required by the underwriter(s) and allocated among the Holders of Registrable Securities on a pro rata basis according to the number of Registrable Securities then outstanding held by each Holder requesting registration (including the Initiating Holders); provided, however, that the number of shares of Registrable Securities to be included in such underwriting and registration shall not be reduced unless all other securities of

 

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the Company are first entirely excluded from the underwriting and registration. Any Registrable Securities excluded and withdrawn from such underwriting shall be withdrawn from the registration.

(c)    Maximum Number of Demand Registrations. The Company is obligated to effect only two (2) such registrations pursuant to this Section 2.2.

(d)    Deferral. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Company shall furnish to Holders requesting the filing of a registration statement pursuant to this Section 2.2, a certificate signed by the President or Chief Executive Officer of the Company stating that in the good faith judgment of the Board of Directors of the Company, it would be materially detrimental to the Company and its stockholders for such registration statement to be filed in the near future and that it is, therefore, essential and in the best interests of the Company to defer the filing of such registration statement, then the Company shall have the right to defer such filing for a period of not more than one hundred twenty (120) days after receipt of the request of the Initiating Holders; provided, however, that the Company may not utilize this right more than once in any twelve (12) month period.

(e)    Expenses. All expenses incurred in connection with a registration pursuant to this Section 2.2, including without limitation all registration and qualification fees, printers’ and accounting fees, fees and disbursements of counsel for the Company, and the reasonable fees and disbursements of one counsel for the selling Holders, which may be counsel for the Company (but excluding underwriters’ discounts and commissions), shall be borne by the Company. Each Holder participating in a registration pursuant to this Section 2.2 shall bear such Holder’s proportionate share (based on the number of shares sold by such Holder over the total number of shares included in such registration at the time it is declared effective) of all discounts, commissions or other amounts payable to underwriters or brokers in connection with such offering. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company shall not be required to pay for any expenses of any registration proceeding begun pursuant to this Section 2.2 if the registration request is subsequently withdrawn at the request of the Holders of a majority of the Registrable Securities to be registered, unless the Holders of a majority of the Registrable Securities then outstanding agree to forfeit their right to one (1) demand registration pursuant to this Section 2.2 (in which case such right shall be forfeited by all Holders of Registrable Securities); provided, further, however, that if at the time of such withdrawal, the Holders have learned of a material adverse change in the condition, business, or prospects of the Company not known to the Holders at the time of their request for such registration and have withdrawn their request for registration with reasonable promptness after learning of such material adverse change, then the Holders shall not be required to pay any of such expenses and shall retain their demand registration rights pursuant to this Section 2.2.

2.3    Piggyback Registrations. The Company shall notify all Holders of Registrable Securities in writing at least thirty (30) days prior to filing any registration statement under the Securities Act for purposes of effecting a public offering of securities of the Company (including, but not limited to, registration statements relating to secondary offerings of securities of the Company, but excluding registration statements relating to any registration under Section 2.2 or Section 2.4 of this Agreement or to any employee benefit plan or a corporate reorganization or other transaction covered by Rule 145 promulgated under the Securities Act, or a registration on any registration form which does not permit secondary sales or does not include substantially

 

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the same information as would be required to be included in a registration statement covering the sale of Registrable Securities,) and will afford each such Holder an opportunity to include in such registration statement all or any part of the Registrable Securities then held by such Holder. Each Holder desiring to include in any such registration statement all or any part of the Registrable Securities held by such Holder shall, within twenty (20) days after receipt of the above-described notice from the Company, so notify the Company in writing, and in such notice shall inform the Company of the number of Registrable Securities such Holder wishes to include in such registration statement. If a Holder decides not to include all of its Registrable Securities in any registration statement thereafter filed by the Company, such Holder shall nevertheless continue to have the right to include any Registrable Securities in any subsequent registration statement or registration statements as may be filed by the Company with respect to offerings of its securities, all upon the terms and conditions set forth herein.

(a)    Underwriting. If a registration statement under which the Company gives notice under this Section 2.3 is for an underwritten offering, then the Company shall so advise the Holders of Registrable Securities. In such event, the right of any such Holder’s Registrable Securities to be included in a registration pursuant to this Section 2.3 shall be conditioned upon such Holder’s participation in such underwriting and the inclusion of such Holder’s Registrable Securities in the underwriting to the extent provided herein. All Holders proposing to distribute their Registrable Securities through such underwriting shall enter into an underwriting agreement in customary form with the managing underwriter or underwriter(s) selected for such underwriting. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, if the managing underwriter determine(s) in good faith and advises the Company and the participating Holders in writing that marketing factors require a limitation of the number of shares to be underwritten, then the managing underwriter(s) may exclude shares (including Registrable Securities) from the registration and the underwriting, and the number of shares that may be included in the registration and the underwriting shall be allocated, first, to the Company, second to Holders requesting inclusion of their Registrable Securities (other than Excluded Shares) in such registration statement on a pro rata basis based on the number of Registrable Securities (other than Excluded Shares) each such Holder has requested to be included in the registration, and third, to each of the Holders of Excluded Shares on a pro rata basis based on the total number of Excluded Shares then held by each such Holder, such that in no event shall the number of shares of Registrable Securities (other than Excluded Shares) to be included in such underwriting and registration be reduced unless all other securities (other than securities to be sold by the Company) are first entirely excluded from the underwriting and registration, provided however, that the right of the underwriters to exclude shares (including Registrable Securities) from the registration and underwriting as described above shall be restricted so that the number of Registrable Securities included in any such registration is not reduced below twenty-five percent (25%) of the shares included in the registration, except for a registration relating to the IPO, from which all Registrable Securities may be excluded. If any Holder disapproves of the terms of any such underwriting, such Holder may elect to withdraw therefrom by written notice, given in accordance with Section 6.1 hereof, to the Company and the underwriter, delivered at least twenty (20) days prior to the effective date of the registration statement. Any Registrable Securities excluded or withdrawn from such underwriting shall be excluded and withdrawn from the registration. For any Holder that is a partnership, corporation, or limited liability company, the affiliates, partners, retired partners, stockholders, members and retired members of such Holder, or the estates and family members of any such partners, retired partners, members and retired members and any trusts for

 

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the benefit of any of the foregoing persons shall be deemed to be a single “Holder,” and any pro rata reduction with respect to such “Holder” shall be based upon the aggregate amount of shares carrying registration rights owned by all entities and individuals included in such “Holder,” as defined in this sentence.

(b)    Expenses. All expenses incurred in connection with a registration pursuant to this Section 2.3, including without limitation all registration and qualification fees, printers’ and accounting fees, fees and disbursements of counsel for the Company, and the reasonable fees and disbursements of one counsel for the selling Holders, which may be counsel for the Company (but excluding underwriters’ discounts and commissions), shall be borne by the Company. Each Holder participating in a registration pursuant to this Section 2.3 shall bear such Holder’s proportionate share (based on the number of shares sold by such Holder over the total number of shares included in such registration at the time it goes effective) of all discounts, commissions or other amounts payable to underwriters or brokers in connection with such offering.

2.4    Form S-3 Registration. After its initial public offering, the Company shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to qualify for registration on Form S-3 or any comparable or successor form or forms. After the Company has qualified for the use of Form S-3, in addition to the rights contained in the foregoing provisions of this Section 2 and subject to the conditions set forth in this Section 2.4, if the Company shall receive from a Holder or Holders of Registrable Securities a written request that the Company effect any registration on Form S-3 or any similar short form registration statement with respect to all or part of the Registrable Securities (such request shall state the number of shares of Registrable Securities to be disposed of and the intended methods of disposition of such shares by such Holder or Holders), then the Company will do the following:

(a)    Notice. Promptly give written notice of the proposed registration and the Holder’s or Holders’ request therefor, and any related qualification or compliance, to all other Holders of Registrable Securities.

(b)    Registration. As soon as practicable, effect such registration and all such qualifications and compliances as may be so requested and as would permit or facilitate the sale and distribution of all or such portion of such Holder’s or Holders’ Registrable Securities as are specified in such request, together with all or such portion of the Registrable Securities of any other Holder or Holders joining in such request as are specified in a written request given within twenty (20) days after receipt of such written notice from the Company; provided, however, that the Company shall not be obligated to effect any such registration, qualification or compliance pursuant to this Section 2.4:

(1)    if Form S-3 is not available for such offering;

(2)    if the Holders, together with the holders of any other securities of the Company entitled to inclusion in such registration, propose to sell Registrable Securities and such other securities (if any) at an aggregate price to the public of less than Two Million Dollars ($2,000,000);

 

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(3)    if the Company shall furnish to the Holders a certificate signed by the President or Chief Executive Officer of the Company stating that in the good faith judgment of the Board of Directors of the Company, it would be seriously detrimental to the Company and its stockholders for such Form S-3 Registration to be effected at such time, in which event the Company shall have the right to defer the filing of the Form S-3 registration statement no more than once during any twelve (12) month period for a period of not more than one hundred twenty (120) days after receipt of the request of the Holder or Holders under this Section 2.4; or

(4)    if the Company has, within the twelve (12) month period preceding the date of such request, already effected two such registrations pursuant to this Section 2.4; or

(5)    in any particular jurisdiction in which the Company would be required to qualify to do business or to execute a general consent to service of process in effecting such registration, qualification or compliance.

(c)    Expenses. Subject to the foregoing, the Company shall file a Form S-3 registration statement covering the Registrable Securities and other securities so requested to be registered pursuant to this Section 2.4 as soon as practicable after receipt of the request or requests of the Holders for such registration. The Company shall pay all expenses incurred in connection with a registration requested pursuant to this Section 2.4 (excluding underwriters’ or brokers’ discounts and commissions), including without limitation all filing, registration and qualification, printers’ and accounting fees and the reasonable fees and disbursements of one (1) counsel for the selling Holder or Holders and counsel for the Company. Each Holder participating in a registration pursuant to this Section 2.4 shall bear such Holder’s proportionate share (based on the number of shares sold by such Holder over the total number of shares included in such registration at the time it goes effective) of all discounts, commissions or other amounts payable to underwriters or brokers in connection with such offering.

(d)    Not Demand Registration. Form S-3 registrations shall not be deemed to be demand registrations as described in Section 2.2 above.

2.5    Obligations of the Company. Whenever required to effect the registration of any Registrable Securities under this Agreement, the Company shall, subject to the provisions of Section 2.5(i) below, as expeditiously as reasonably possible:

(a)    Prepare and file with the SEC a registration statement with respect to such Registrable Securities and use reasonable efforts to cause such registration statement to become effective, and, upon the request of the Holders of a majority of the Registrable Securities registered thereunder, keep such registration statement effective for up to ninety (90) days.

(b)    Prepare and file with the SEC such amendments and supplements to such registration statement and the prospectus used in connection with such registration statement as may be necessary to comply with the provisions of the Securities Act with respect to the disposition of all securities covered by such registration statement and, in connection with any registration on Form S-3 pursuant to Section 2.4 above, use reasonable, diligent efforts to timely file all reports required under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), in order to maintain the right to continue to use such Form and to maintain such registration in effect.

 

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(c)    Furnish to the Holders such number of copies of a prospectus, including a preliminary prospectus, in conformity with the requirements of the Securities Act, and such other documents as they may reasonably request in order to facilitate the disposition of the Registrable Securities owned by them that are included in such registration.

(d)    Use reasonable efforts to register and qualify the securities covered by such registration statement under such other securities or Blue Sky laws of such jurisdictions as shall be reasonably requested by the Holders, provided that the Company shall not be required in connection therewith or as a condition thereto to qualify to do business or to file a general consent to service of process in any such states or jurisdictions.

(e)    In the event of any underwritten public offering, enter into and perform its obligations under an underwriting agreement, in usual and customary form and containing reasonable provisions, with the managing underwriter(s) of such offering. Each Holder participating in such underwriting hereby agrees to also enter into and perform its obligations under such an agreement.

(f)    Notify each Holder of Registrable Securities covered by such registration statement at any time when a prospectus relating thereto is required to be delivered under the Securities Act of the happening of any event as a result of which the prospectus included in such registration statement, as then in effect, includes an untrue statement of a material fact or omits to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading in the light of the circumstances then existing, and following such notification promptly prepare and furnish to such Holder a reasonable number of copies of a supplement to or an amendment of such prospectus as may be necessary so that, as thereafter delivered to the purchasers of such shares, such prospectus shall not include an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading in light of the circumstances then existing.

(g)    Furnish, at the request of any Holder requesting registration of Registrable Securities, on the date that such Registrable Securities are delivered to the underwriters for sale, if such securities are being sold through underwriters, or, if such securities are not being sold through underwriters, on the date that the registration statement with respect to such securities becomes effective: (1) an opinion, dated as of such date, of the counsel representing the Company for the purposes of such registration, in form and substance as is customarily given to underwriters in an underwritten public offering and reasonably satisfactory to a majority in interest of the Holders requesting registration, addressed to the underwriters, if any, and to the Holders requesting registration of Registrable Securities and (2) a “comfort” letter dated as of such date, from the independent certified public accountants of the Company, in form and substance as is customarily given by independent certified public accountants to underwriters in an underwritten public offering and reasonably satisfactory to a majority in interest of the Holders requesting registration, addressed to the underwriters, if any, and to the Holders requesting registration of Registrable Securities.

 

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(h)    Use its commercially reasonable efforts to take such other actions that are customarily taken by issuers necessary to effect the registration and sale of the Registrable Securities as contemplated hereby and in accordance herewith.

(i)    Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, from and after the time a registration statement filed under this Section 2 covering Registrable Securities is declared effective, the Company shall have the right to suspend the registration statement and the related prospectus in order to prevent premature disclosure of any material non-public information related to corporate developments by delivering notice of such suspension to the Holders; provided, however, that the Company may exercise the right to such suspension only once in any 12-month period and for a period not to exceed 90 days. From and after the date of a notice of suspension under this Section 2.5(i), each Holder agrees not to use the registration statement or the related prospectus for resale of any Registrable Security until the earlier of (1) notice from the Company that such suspension has been lifted or (2) the 90th day following the giving of the notice of suspension. In the event of the suspension of effectiveness of any registration statement pursuant to this Section 2.5(i), the applicable time period during which such registration statement is to remain effective shall be extended by that number of days equal to the number of days the effectiveness of such registration statement was suspended.

2.6    Furnish Information. It shall be a condition precedent to the obligations of the Company to take any action pursuant to Sections 2.2, 2.3 or 2.4 that the selling Holders shall furnish to the Company such information regarding themselves, the Registrable Securities held by them, and the intended method of disposition of such securities as shall be required to timely effect the registration of their Registrable Securities.

2.7    Delay of Registration. No Holder shall have any right to obtain or seek an injunction restraining or otherwise delaying any such registration as the result of any controversy that might arise with respect to the interpretation or implementation of this Section 2.

2.8    Indemnification. In the event any Registrable Securities are included in a registration statement under Sections 2.2, 2.3 or 2.4:

(a)    By the Company. To the extent permitted by law, the Company will indemnify and hold harmless each Holder, the members, partners, officers and directors of each Holder, any underwriter (as defined in the Securities Act) for such Holder and each person, if any, who controls such Holder or underwriter within the meaning of the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, against any losses, claims, damages, or liabilities (joint or several) to which they may become subject under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act or other federal or state law, insofar as such losses, claims, damages, or liabilities (or actions in respect thereof) arise out of or are based upon any of the following statements, omissions or violations (each, a “Violation”):

(1)    any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in such registration statement, including any preliminary prospectus or final prospectus contained therein, any free-writing prospectus as defined in Rule 405 promulgated under the Securities Act or any amendments or supplements thereto; or

 

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(2)    the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein, or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; or

(3)    any Violation or alleged Violation by the Company of the Securities Act, the Exchange Act, any federal or state securities law or any rule or regulation promulgated under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act or any federal or state securities law in connection with the offering covered by such registration statement.

The Company will reimburse each such Holder, partner, officer or director, underwriter or controlling person for any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by them, after a request for reimbursement has been received by the Company, in connection with investigating or defending any such loss, claim, damage, liability or action; provided, however, that the indemnity agreement contained in this subsection 2.8(a) shall not apply to amounts paid in settlement of any such loss, claim, damage, liability or action if such settlement is effected without the consent of the Company (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld), nor shall the Company be liable in any such case for any such loss, claim, damage, liability or action to the extent that it arises out of or is based upon a Violation which occurs in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished expressly for use in connection with such registration by such Holder, partner, officer, director, underwriter or controlling person of such Holder.

(b)    By Selling Holders. To the extent permitted by law, each selling Holder will indemnify and hold harmless the Company, each of its directors, each of its officers who have signed the registration statement, each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of the Securities Act, any underwriter and any other Holder selling securities under such registration statement or any of such other Holder’s members, partners, directors or officers or any person who controls such Holder within the meaning of the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, against any losses, claims, damages or liabilities (joint or several) to which the Company or any such director, officer, controlling person, underwriter or other such Holder, member, partner or director, officer or controlling person of such other Holder may become subject under the Securities Act, the Exchange Act or other federal or state law, insofar as such losses, claims, damages or liabilities (or actions in respect thereto) arise out of or are based upon any Violation, in each case to the extent (and only to the extent) that such Violation occurs in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished by such Holder expressly for use in connection with such registration. Each such Holder will reimburse any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by the Company or any such director, officer, controlling person, underwriter or other Holder, member, partner, officer, director or controlling person of such other Holder in connection with investigating or defending any such loss, claim, damage, liability or action; after a request for reimbursement has been received by the indemnifying Holder; provided, however, that the indemnity agreement contained in this subsection 2.8(b) shall not apply to amounts paid in settlement of any such loss, claim, damage, liability or action if such settlement is effected without the consent of the Holder, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld; and provided further, that the total amounts payable in indemnity by a Holder under this Section 2.8(b) in respect of any Violation shall not exceed the net proceeds received by such Holder in the registered offering out of which such Violation arises.

(c)    Notice. Promptly after receipt by an indemnified party under this Section 2.8 of notice of the commencement of any action (including any governmental action),

 

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such indemnified party will, if a claim in respect thereof is to be made against any indemnifying party under this Section 2.8, deliver to the indemnifying party a written notice of the commencement thereof. The indemnifying party shall have the right to participate in, and, to the extent the indemnifying party so desires, jointly with any other indemnifying party similarly noticed, to assume the defense thereof with counsel mutually satisfactory to the parties; provided, however, that an indemnified party shall have the right to retain its own counsel, with the fees and expenses to be paid by the indemnifying party, if representation of such indemnified party by the counsel retained by the indemnifying party would be inappropriate due to actual or potential conflict of interests between such indemnified party and any other party represented by such counsel in such proceeding. The failure to deliver written notice to the indemnifying party within a reasonable time of the commencement of any such action, if prejudicial to its ability to defend such action, shall relieve such indemnifying party of liability to the indemnified party under this Section 2.8 to the extent of such prejudice, but the omission so to deliver written notice to the indemnifying party will not relieve it of any liability that it may have to any indemnified party otherwise than under this Section 2.8.

(d)    Contribution. If the indemnification provided for in this Section 2.8 is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unavailable to an indemnified party with respect to any loss, liability, claim, damage or expense referred to herein, then the indemnifying party, in lieu of indemnifying the indemnified party, shall contribute to the amount paid or payable by such indemnified party with respect to such loss, liability, claim, damage or expense in the proportion that is appropriate to reflect the relative fault of the indemnifying party and the indemnified party in connection with the statements or omissions that resulted in such loss, liability, claim, damage or expense, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations. The relative fault of the indemnifying party and the indemnified party shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether the untrue or alleged untrue statement of material fact or the omission to state a material fact relates to information supplied by the indemnifying party or by the indemnified party, and the parties’ relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission. In any such case, (A) no such Holder will be required to contribute, when combined with amounts paid by Holder pursuant to Section 2.8(b), any amount in excess of the net proceeds of all such Registrable Securities offered and sold by such Holder pursuant to such registration statement; and (B) no person or entity guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the Securities Act) will be entitled to contribution from any person or entity who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation.

(e)    Conflict with Underwriting Agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, to the extent that the provisions on indemnification and contribution contained in the underwriting agreement entered into in connection with the underwritten public offering are in conflict with the foregoing provisions, the provisions in the underwriting agreement will control.

(f)    Survival. The obligations of the Company and Holders under this Section 2.8 shall survive the completion of any offering of Registrable Securities in a registration statement, and otherwise.

2.9    “Market Stand-Off” Agreement. Each Holder hereby agrees that it will not, without the prior written consent of the managing underwriter, during the period commencing on the date of the final prospectus relating to the registration by the Company of shares of its

 

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Common Stock or any other equity securities under the Securities Act on a registration statement on Form S-1 in connection with a the Company’s first firm commitment underwritten IPO, and ending on the date specified by the Company and the managing underwriter (such period not to exceed one hundred eighty (180) days, or such other period as may be requested by the Company or an underwriter to accommodate regulatory restrictions on (1) the publication or other distribution of research reports and (2) analyst recommendations and opinions, including, but not limited to, the restrictions contained in FINRA Rule 2241, or any successor provisions or amendments thereto), (i) lend; offer; pledge; sell; contract to sell; sell any option or contract to purchase; purchase any option or contract to sell; grant any option, right, or warrant to purchase; or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, any shares of Common Stock or any securities convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable (directly or indirectly) for Common Stock (whether such shares or any such securities are then owned by the Holder or are thereafter acquired) or (ii) enter into any swap or other arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of such securities, whether any such transaction described in clause (i) or (ii) above is to be settled by delivery of Common Stock or other securities, in cash, or otherwise. The foregoing provisions of this Subsection 2.9 shall not apply to (A) the sale of any shares to an underwriter pursuant to an underwriting agreement, (B) the transfer of any shares to any trust for the direct or indirect benefit of the Holder or the immediate family of the Holder, provided that the trustee of the trust agrees to be bound in writing by the restrictions set forth herein, and provided further that any such transfer shall not involve a disposition for value, and shall be applicable to the Holders only if all officers and directors and all stockholders individually owning more than one percent (1%) of the Company’s outstanding Common Stock (after giving effect to conversion into Common Stock of all outstanding Preferred Stock) are subject to the same restrictions and (C) the transfer of any shares by an Investor that is a venture capital fund or private investment fund to any of its affiliated funds or investment vehicles managed by the same manager or its successor or affiliated managers. The underwriters in connection with such registration are intended third-party beneficiaries of this Subsection 2.9 and shall have the right, power, and authority to enforce the provisions hereof as though they were a party hereto. Each Holder further agrees to execute such agreements as may be reasonably requested by the underwriters in connection with such registration that are consistent with this Subsection 2.9 or that are necessary to give further effect thereto. Any discretionary waiver or termination of the restrictions of any or all of such agreements by the Company or the underwriters shall apply pro rata to all Holders subject to such agreements, based on the number of shares subject to such agreements.

2.10    Rule 144 Reporting. With a view to making available the benefits of certain rules and regulations of the Commission which may at any time permit the sale of the Registrable Securities to the public without registration, after such time as a public market exists for the Common Stock of the Company, the Company agrees to:

(a)    Make and keep public information available, as those terms are understood and defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act, at all times after the effective date of the first registration under the Securities Act filed by the Company for an offering of its securities to the general public;

 

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(b)    Use reasonable, diligent efforts to file with the Commission in a timely manner all reports and other documents required of the Company under the Securities Act and the Exchange Act (at any time after it has become subject to such reporting requirements); and

(c)    So long as a Holder owns any Registrable Securities, to furnish to the Holder forthwith upon request a written statement by the Company as to its compliance with the reporting requirements of said Rule 144 (at any time after ninety (90) days after the effective date of the first registration statement filed by the Company for an offering of its securities to the general public), and of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act (at any time after it has become subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act), a copy of the most recent annual or quarterly report of the Company, and such other reports and documents of the Company as a Holder may reasonably request in availing itself of any rule or regulation of the Commission allowing a Holder to sell any such securities without registration (at any time after the Company has become subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act).

2.11    Termination of the Company’s Obligations. The Company shall have no obligations pursuant to Sections 2.2 through 2.4 with respect to any Registrable Securities held by a Holder upon the earliest to occur of: (a) the closing of a Deemed Liquidation Event (as defined in the Restated Certificate); (b) such time as, in the opinion of counsel to the Company, all such Registrable Securities held by such Holder (together with any Registrable Securities held by an affiliate of such Holder with whom such Holder must aggregate its sales under Rule 144) may be sold in a three (3) month period without registration under the Securities Act pursuant to Rule 144 under the Securities Act (or any similar provision then in effect), without restriction (including with respect to the volume and timing limitations or other restrictions on transfer thereunder); and (c) the five (5) year anniversary of the IPO or Direct Listing.

2.12    Limitations on Subsequent Registration Rights. From and after the date of this Agreement, the Company shall not, without the prior written consent of:

(a)    the Holders of a majority of the Series G Stock then outstanding, enter into any agreement with any holder or prospective holder of any securities of the Company which grants such holder or prospective holder the right to include securities of the Company in, or otherwise participate in, any IPO Secondary on a pari passu or senior basis with the rights of the Holders of the Series G Stock under Section 5.8 hereof; or

(b)    the Holders of a majority of the Registrable Securities then outstanding, enter into any agreement with any holder or prospective holder of any securities of the Company which would allow such holder or prospective holder (i) to include such securities in any registration filed under Section 2.2 hereof, unless under the terms of such agreement, such holder or prospective holder may include such securities in any such registration only to the extent that the inclusion of his securities will not reduce the amount of the Registrable Securities of the Holders which is included, provided that this limitation shall not apply to any additional Investor who becomes a party to this Agreement in accordance with Section 6.15; or (ii) to make a demand registration which could result in such registration statement being declared effective prior to the earlier of either of the dates set forth in subsection 2.2(a), or within one hundred twenty (120) days of the effective date of any registration effected pursuant to Section 2.2.

 

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3.    RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL.

3.1    General. Each Holder (as defined in Section 2.1(d)) and any party to whom such Holder’s rights under this Section 3 have been duly assigned in accordance with Section 4.1(b) (each such Holder or assignee being hereinafter referred to as a “Rights Holder”) has the right of first refusal to purchase such Rights Holder’s Pro Rata Share (as defined below), of all (or any part) of any “New Securities” (as defined in Section 3.2) that the Company may from time to time issue after the date of this Agreement; provided, however, such Rights Holder shall have no right to purchase any such New Securities if such Rights Holder cannot demonstrate to the Company’s reasonable satisfaction that such Rights Holder is at the time of the proposed issuance of such New Securities an “accredited investor” as such term is defined in Regulation D under the Securities Act. A Rights Holder’s “Pro Rata Share” for purposes of this right of first refusal is the ratio of (a) the number of Registrable Securities as to which such Rights Holder is the Holder (and/or is deemed to be the Holder under Section 2.1(d)), to (b) a number of shares of Common Stock of the Company equal to the sum of (1) the total number of shares of Common Stock of the Company then outstanding plus (2) the total number of shares of Common Stock of the Company into which all then outstanding shares of Preferred Stock of the Company are then convertible plus (3) the number of shares of Common Stock of the Company for which all then outstanding options and warrants are then exercisable. Affiliated Investors may aggregate their shares of the Company’s capital stock for the purpose of determining the Pro Rata Share of such affiliated Investors (as a group) and such affiliated Investors may apportion their rights related to such Pro Rata Share under this Agreement as among themselves in any manner they deem appropriate.

3.2    New Securities. “New Securities” shall mean any Common Stock or Preferred Stock of the Company, whether now authorized or not, and rights, options or warrants to purchase such Common Stock or Preferred Stock, and securities of any type whatsoever that are, or may become, convertible or exchangeable into such Common Stock or Preferred Stock; provided, however, that the term “New Securities” does not include (i) any Exempted Securities (as defined in the Restated Certificate) or (ii) shares of Series G Stock issued to Additional Purchasers pursuant to Section 2.2 of the Series G Agreement.

3.3    Procedures. In the event that the Company proposes to undertake an issuance of New Securities, it shall give to each Rights Holder a written notice of its intention to issue New Securities (the “Notice”), describing the type of New Securities and the price and the general terms upon which the Company proposes to issue such New Securities given in accordance with Section 6.1 hereof. Each Rights Holder shall have fifteen (15) days from the date such Notice is effective, as determined pursuant to Section 6.1 hereof based upon the manner or method of notice, to agree in writing to purchase such Rights Holder’s Pro Rata Share of such New Securities for the price and upon the general terms specified in the Notice by giving written notice to the Company and stating therein the quantity of New Securities to be purchased (not to exceed such Rights Holder’s Pro Rata Share). If any Rights Holder fails to so agree in writing within such fifteen (15) day period to purchase such Rights Holder’s full Pro Rata Share of an offering of New Securities (a “Nonpurchasing Holder”), then such Nonpurchasing Holder shall forfeit the right hereunder to purchase that part of his Pro Rata Share of such New Securities that he, she or it did not so agree to purchase and the Company shall promptly give each Rights Holder who has timely agreed to purchase his full Pro Rata Share of such offering of New Securities (a “Purchasing Holder”) written notice of the failure of any Nonpurchasing Holder to purchase such

 

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Nonpurchasing Holder’s full Pro Rata Share of such offering of New Securities (the “Overallotment Notice”). Each Purchasing Holder shall have a right of overallotment such that such Purchasing Holder may agree to purchase a portion of the Nonpurchasing Holders’ unpurchased Pro Rata Shares of such offering on a pro rata basis according to the relative Pro Rata Shares of the Purchasing Holders, at any time within five (5) days after receiving the Overallotment Notice.

3.4    Failure to Exercise. In the event that the Rights Holders fail to exercise in full the right of first refusal within such fifteen (15) plus five (5) day period, then the Company shall have sixty (60) days thereafter to sell the New Securities with respect to which the Rights Holders’ rights of first refusal hereunder were not exercised, at a price and upon general terms not more favorable to the purchasers thereof than specified in the Company’s Notice to the Rights Holders. In the event that the Company has not issued and sold the New Securities within such sixty (60) day period, then the Company shall not thereafter issue or sell any New Securities without again first offering such New Securities to the Rights Holders pursuant to this Section 3.

3.5    Termination. This right of first refusal shall terminate upon the earlier of (a) immediately before the closing of a Qualified IPO or the consummation of a Direct Listing or (b) the closing of a Deemed Liquidation Event.

4.    ASSIGNMENT AND AMENDMENT.

4.1    Assignment. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary:

(a)    Information Rights. The rights of an Investor under Section 1 hereof may be assigned only to (i) a party that acquires from an Investor (or an Investor’s permitted assigns) at least that minimum number of shares of Preferred Stock and/or an equivalent number (on an as-converted basis) of shares of Conversion Stock described in Section 1.1 or 1.3 hereof, respectively, (ii) a transferee or assignee of such securities that is an affiliate (including any affiliated fund or investment vehicle managed by the same manager or its successor or affiliated managers), subsidiary, parent, partner, limited partner, retired partner, member or retired member of Investor, or is an Investor’s family member or trust for the benefit of an individual Investor; provided, however, that any such assignee of such rights is not deemed by the Board of Directors of the Company, in its reasonable judgment, to be a competitor of the Company; provided, further, that an assignee that is a venture capital fund or private investment fund shall not be determined to be a competitor based on the fact that it (or its affiliated entities or persons) holds securities in a company that is a competitor, so long as such assignee (or its affiliated entities or persons) is not the controlling equityholder of such competitor; and provided further that any such assignee shall receive such assigned rights subject to all the terms and conditions of this Agreement, including without limitation the provisions of Section 1.2 and this Section 4.1.

(b)    Registration Rights; Refusal Rights. The rights of a Holder under Section 2 hereof and the rights of first refusal of a Rights Holder under Section 3 hereof may be assigned only to (i) a party that acquires at least 200,000 shares of Preferred Stock and/or an equivalent number (on an as-converted basis) of Registrable Securities issued upon conversion thereof, (ii) a transferee or assignee of such securities that is an affiliate (including any affiliated fund or investment vehicle managed by the same manager or its successor or affiliated managers),

 

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subsidiary, parent, partner, limited partner, retired partner, member or retired member of such Holder, or is an Investor’s family member or trust for the benefit of an individual Holder; provided, however that no party may be assigned any of the foregoing rights unless the Company is given written notice by the assigning party at the time of such assignment stating the name and address of the assignee and identifying the securities of the Company as to which the rights in question are being assigned; provided, further, that any such assignee of such rights is not deemed by the Board of Directors of the Company, in its reasonable judgment, to be a competitor of the Company; and provided, further that any such assignee shall receive such assigned rights subject to all the terms and conditions of this Agreement, including without limitation the provisions of this Section 4.1.

4.2    Amendment and Waiver of Rights. Any provision of this Agreement may be amended, altered (including by merger, consolidation or otherwise) and the observance thereof may be waived (either generally or in a particular instance and either retroactively or prospectively), in each case, only with the written consent of the Company and Investors (and/or any of their permitted successors or assigns) holding shares of Preferred Stock and/or Conversion Stock representing and/or convertible into a majority of all the Investors’ Shares (as defined below) and any amendment, alteration or waiver that would disproportionately adversely affect a series of Preferred Stock in a manner different than that of the other series of Preferred Stock shall require the written consent of the holders of a majority of the shares (on an as-converted basis) of such series of Preferred Stock; provided, however, that any amendment, alteration or waiver that disproportionately adversely affects an Investor in a manner different than that of the other Investors shall require the written consent of such Investor; provided, further, that any amendment, alteration or waiver of Sections 2.12(a) or 5.8 shall require the written consent of the Holders of a majority of the Series G Stock then outstanding; provided, further, that the piggyback registration rights granted to the Stockholders under Section 2 of this Agreement may not be eliminated or materially and adversely changed without the written consent of Stockholders holding a majority of the Stockholders’ Shares unless such elimination or change similarly affects the Registrable Securities held by the Investors; and provided, further, that the grant to third parties of piggyback registration rights under Section 2.3 hereof on a pari passu basis with the piggyback registration rights of the Stockholders’ Shares under Section 2.3 shall not be deemed to be a material and adverse change to the piggyback registration rights of the Stockholders under this Agreement and shall not require the consent of the Stockholders. As used herein, the term “Investors’ Shares” shall mean the shares of Common Stock then issuable upon conversion of all then outstanding shares of Preferred Stock plus all then outstanding shares of Conversion Stock that were issued upon the conversion of any shares of Preferred Stock. Any amendment, alteration or waiver effected in accordance with this Section 4.2 shall be binding upon each Investor, each Holder, each permitted successor or assignee of such Investor or Holder and the Company.

5.    COVENANTS OF THE COMPANY.

5.1    Directors and Officers Insurance. The Company shall maintain from financially sound and reputable insurers directors and officers liability insurance in amounts and on the terms acceptable to the Board of Directors.

5.2    Board Matters. Unless otherwise determined by the vote of a majority of the directors then in office, the Board of Directors shall meet at least quarterly.

 

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5.3    Successor Indemnification. If the Company or any of its successors or assignees consolidates with or merges into any other entity and is not the continuing or surviving corporation or entity of such consolidation or merger, then to the extent necessary, proper provision shall be made so that the successors and assignees of the Company assume the obligations of the Company with respect to indemnification of members of the Board of Directors as in effect immediately before such transaction, whether such obligations are contained in the Company’s Bylaws, its Certificate of Incorporation, or elsewhere, as the case may be.

5.4    Proprietary Information and Inventions Agreements. The Company shall require all employees and consultants with access to confidential information to execute and deliver a Proprietary Information and Inventions Agreement in substantially the form attached to the Series G Agreement.

5.5    Option Plan. The number of shares of Common Stock reserved for issuance under the Company’s stock option plans and similar plans shall not be increased without the prior approval of the Board of Directors, including the approval of a majority of directors elected by the holders of Preferred Stock.

5.6    Employee Agreements. Unless approved by the Board of Directors of the Company, or the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of the Company, all future employees of the Company who shall purchase, or receive options to purchase, shares of the Company’s Common Stock following the date hereof shall be required to execute stock purchase or option agreements providing for (i) vesting of shares over a four-year period with the first 25% of such shares vesting following twelve (12) months of continued employment or services, and the remaining shares vesting in equal monthly installments over the following 36 months thereafter and (ii) a 180-day lockup period in connection with the IPO. The Company shall retain a right of first refusal on transfers by such employees until the IPO and the right to repurchase unvested shares at cost.

5.7    Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; Trade Control Laws. The Company represents that it shall not and shall not permit any of its subsidiaries or affiliates or any of its or their respective directors, officers, managers, employees, independent contractors, representatives or agents, in each case acting for and on behalf of the Company, to promise, authorize or make any payment to, or otherwise contribute any item of value, directly or indirectly, to any third party, including any foreign official (as such term is defined in the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended (the “FCPA”)), in each case, in violation of the FCPA or any other applicable anti-bribery or anticorruption law. The Company further represents that it shall take reasonable action to cause each of its officers, directors, employees, and each of its subsidiaries and affiliates, to comply with the FCPA or any other applicable anti-bribery or anticorruption law and Trade Control Laws (as defined in the Series G Agreement), including by maintaining policies and procedures reasonably designed to promote compliance with the FCPA and Trade Control Laws. Upon request, the Company and its subsidiaries and affiliates agree to provide responsive information and/or certifications concerning their compliance with applicable anti-corruption laws and Trade Control Laws. The Company shall promptly notify each Investor if the Company becomes aware of any Enforcement Action (as defined in the Series G Agreement) or violation of the FCPA or Trade Control Laws.

 

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5.8    Qualified IPO Secondary Offering. In the event that a Qualified IPO includes the offering of Common Stock held by stockholders of the Company (the “IPO Secondary”), holders of Series G Stock shall have the option to sell in the IPO Secondary (on a pro rata basis based on the number of shares of Common Stock issued or issuable upon conversion of Series G Stock then held by each such holder of Series G Stock) an aggregate number of shares of Common Stock issued upon conversion of the Series G Stock of up to 60% of the aggregate number of shares of Common Stock sold by all stockholders of the Company in the IPO Secondary, prior to and in preference to any other Investors or Stockholders having the option to include any shares of Common Stock in such registration statement for the IPO Secondary. For the avoidance of doubt and subject to Section 2, whether there is an IPO Secondary and the size of the IPO Secondary, if any, shall be determined by the Board of Directors of the Company in its sole discretion.

5.9    Termination of Covenants. The Company’s obligations under this Section 5 will terminate upon the earlier of (a) the closing of a Qualified IPO or the consummation of a Direct Listing and (b) a Deemed Liquidation Event.

6.    GENERAL PROVISIONS.

6.1    Notices. Any and all notices required or permitted to be given to a party pursuant to the provisions of this Agreement will be in writing and will be effective and deemed to provide such party sufficient notice under this Agreement on the earliest of the following: (i) at the time of personal delivery, if delivery is in person; (ii) at the time of transmission by electronic mail or facsimile, addressed to the other party at its e-mail address or facsimile number specified herein (or hereafter modified by subsequent notice to the parties hereto), with confirmation of receipt made by both telephone and printed confirmation sheet verifying successful transmission of the electronic mail or facsimile; (iii) one (1) business day after deposit with an express overnight courier for United States deliveries, or two (2) business days after such deposit for deliveries outside of the United States, with proof of delivery from the courier requested; or (iv) three (3) business days after deposit in the United States mail by certified mail (return receipt requested) for United States deliveries.

All notices for delivery outside the United States will be sent by email, by facsimile or by express courier. Notices by facsimile shall be machine verified as received. All notices not delivered personally, by email or by facsimile will be sent with postage and/or other charges prepaid and properly addressed to the party to be notified at the address or facsimile number as follows, or at such other address or facsimile number as such other party may designate by one of the indicated means of notice herein to the other parties hereto as follows:

(a)    if to an Investor, at such Investor’s respective address as set forth on Exhibit A hereto.

(b)    if to the Company, marked “Attention: Chief Executive Officer - CouchBase, Inc.” at 3250 Olcott Street Santa Clara, CA 95054, with a copy to Goodwin Procter LLP, 601 Marshall Street, Redwood City, CA 94063, Attention: Craig Schmitz and An-Yen Hu; and

 

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(c)    if to a Stockholder, at such Stockholder’s address as set forth on Exhibit B hereto.

6.2    Entire Agreement. This Agreement and the documents referred to herein, together with all the Exhibits hereto, constitute the entire agreement and understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter of this Agreement, and supersede any and all prior understandings and agreements, whether oral or written, between or among the parties hereto with respect to the specific subject matter hereof, including that certain Nondisclosure Agreement between the Company and GPI Capital LP, dated as of January 28, 2020.

6.3    Governing Law. This Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to that body of laws pertaining to conflict of laws.

6.4    Severability. If any provision of this Agreement is determined by any court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, such provision will be enforced to the maximum extent possible given the intent of the parties hereto. If such clause or provision cannot be so enforced, such provision shall be stricken from this Agreement and the remainder of this Agreement shall be enforced as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable clause or provision had (to the extent not enforceable) never been contained in this Agreement. Notwithstanding the forgoing, if the value of this Agreement based upon the substantial benefit of the bargain for any party is materially impaired, which determination as made by the presiding court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction shall be binding, then both parties agree to substitute such provision(s) through good faith negotiations.

6.5    Third Parties. Other than as expressly set forth in Section 2.9, nothing in this Agreement, express or implied, is intended to confer upon any person, other than the parties hereto and their successors and assigns, any rights or remedies under or by reason of this Agreement.

6.6    Successors And Assigns. Subject to the provisions of Section 4.1, this Agreement, and the rights and obligations of the parties hereunder, will be binding upon and inure to the benefit of their respective successors, assigns, heirs, executors, administrators and legal representatives.

6.7    Titles and Headings. The titles, captions and headings of this Agreement are included for ease of reference only and will be disregarded in interpreting or construing this Agreement. Unless otherwise specifically stated, all references herein to “sections” and “exhibits” will mean “sections” and “exhibits” to this Agreement.

6.8    Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which when so executed and delivered will be deemed an original, and all of which together shall constitute one and the same agreement. Counterparts may be delivered via facsimile, electronic mail (including pdf or any electronic signature complying with the U.S. federal ESIGN Act of 2000, e.g., www.docusign.com) or other transmission method and any counterpart so delivered shall be deemed to have been duly and validly delivered and be valid and effective for all purposes.

 

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6.9    Costs And Attorneys’ Fees. In the event that any action, suit or other proceeding is instituted concerning or arising out of this Agreement or any transaction contemplated hereunder, the prevailing party shall recover all of such party’s costs and attorneys’ fees incurred in each such action, suit or other proceeding, including any and all appeals or petitions therefrom.

6.10    Adjustments for Stock Splits, Etc. Wherever in this Agreement there is a reference to a specific number of shares of Common Stock or Preferred Stock of the Company of any class or series, then, upon the occurrence of any subdivision, combination or stock dividend of such class or series of stock, the specific number of shares so referenced in this Agreement shall automatically be proportionally adjusted to reflect the affect on the outstanding shares of such class or series of stock by such subdivision, combination or stock dividend.

6.11    Aggregation of Stock. For purposes of Sections 1, 2 and 3 all shares held or acquired by affiliated entities or persons (including any affiliated fund or investment vehicle managed by the same manager or its successor or affiliated managers) shall be aggregated together for the purpose of determining the availability of any rights under this Agreement.

6.12    Further Assurances. The parties agree to execute such further documents and instruments and to take such further actions as may be reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes and intent of this Agreement.

6.13    Facsimile Signatures. This Agreement may be executed and delivered by facsimile and upon such delivery the facsimile signature will be deemed to have the same effect as if the original signature had been delivered to the other party.

6.14    Original Rights Agreement Superseded. Pursuant to Section 4.2 of the Prior Rights Agreement, the undersigned parties who are parties to such Prior Rights Agreement hereby amend and restate the Prior Rights Agreement to read in its entirety as set forth in this Agreement, such that the Prior Rights Agreement is hereby terminated and entirely replaced and superseded by this Agreement.

6.15    Additional Investors. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, if the Company issues additional shares of the Company’s Series G Stock pursuant to the Series G Agreement after the date hereof, any purchaser of such shares of Series G Stock may become a party to this Agreement by executing and delivering an additional counterpart signature page to this Agreement, and thereafter shall be deemed an “Investor” for all purposes hereunder. No action or consent by the Investors shall be required for such joinder to this Agreement by such additional Investor, so long as such additional Investor has agreed in writing to be bound by all of the obligations as an “Investor” hereunder.

6.16    Conflict. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein and for the avoidance of doubt, the rights and obligations of the parties hereto and the terms hereof (including Section 2) are subject to the applicable conditions and approvals contemplated by the Restated Certificate (including obtaining any requisite consent of the Holders of Series G Stock pursuant to Section 6.9 thereof). In the event of any conflict between the Restated Certificate or Company’s Bylaws and this Agreement (as each may be amended from time to time), the Restated Certificate or Company’s Bylaws (as applicable) will control.

[Signature Pages Follow]

 

22


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Seventh Amended and Restated Investors’ Rights Agreement as of the date written above.

 

THE COMPANY:
COUCHBASE, INC.
By: /s/ Matt Cain                                             
Name: Matt Cain                                             
Title: President & Chief Executive Officer

SIGNATURE PAGE TO COUCHBASE, INC.

SEVENTH AMENDED AND RESTATED INVESTORS’ RIGHTS AGREEMENT


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto executed this Seventh Amended and Restated Investors’ Rights Agreement as of the date written above.

 

INVESTORS:
GPI CAPITAL GEMINI HOLDCO LP

By: GPI GP LP, its general partner

By: GPI GP Limited, its general partner

By:  

/s/ William T. Royan

 

Name: William T. Royan

Title: Director

By:  

/s/ Khai Ha

 

Name: Khai Ha

Title: Authorized Signatory

SIGNATURE PAGE TO COUCHBASE, INC.

SEVENTH AMENDED AND RESTATED INVESTORS’ RIGHTS AGREEMENT


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto executed this Seventh Amended and Restated Investors’ Rights Agreement as of the date written above.

 

INVESTORS:

Accel Growth Fund II L.P.

By: Accel Growth Fund II Associates L.L.C.

Its General Partner

By:  

/s/ Tracy L. Sedlock

  Attorney in Fact

Accel Growth Fund II Strategic Partners L.P.

By: Accel Growth Fund II Associates L.L.C.

Its General Partner

By:  

/s/ Tracy L. Sedlock

  Attorney in Fact
Accel Growth Fund Investors 2013 L.L.C.
By:  

/s/ Tracy L. Sedlock

  Attorney in Fact

SIGNATURE PAGE TO COUCHBASE, INC.

SEVENTH AMENDED AND RESTATED INVESTORS’ RIGHTS AGREEMENT


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto executed this Seventh Amended and Restated Investors’ Rights Agreement as of the date written above.

 

INVESTORS:

Accel X L.P

By: Accel X Associates L.L.C.

Its General Partner

By:  

/s/ Tracy L. Sedlock

  Attorney in Fact

Accel X Strategic Partners L.P.

By: Accel X Associates L.L.C.

Its General Partner

By:  

/s/ Tracy L. Sedlock

  Attorney in Fact
Accel Investors 2008 L.L.C.
By:  

/s/ Tracy L. Sedlock

  Attorney in Fact

SIGNATURE PAGE TO COUCHBASE, INC.

SEVENTH AMENDED AND RESTATED INVESTORS’ RIGHTS AGREEMENT


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto executed this Seventh Amended and Restated Investors’ Rights Agreement as of the date written above.

 

INVESTORS:
Glynn Emerging Opportunity Fund
By: Glynn Capital Management LLC
Its: General Partner
By:  

/s/ David Glynn

David Glynn
Managing Member

Address:   3000 Sand Hill Road, 3-230

          Menlo Park, CA 94025

Glynn Emerging Opportunity Fund II, L.P.
By: Glynn Management Evergreen LLC
Its General Partner
By:  

/s/ Scott Jordon

Scott Jordon
Managing Member

Address:   3000 Sand Hill Road, 3-230

          Menlo Park, CA 94025

Glynn Emerging Opportunity Fund II-A, L.P.
By: Glynn Management Evergreen LLC
Its General Partner
By:  

/s/ Scott Jordon

Scott Jordon
Managing Member

Address:   3000 Sand Hill Road, 3-230

          Menlo Park, CA 94025

SIGNATURE PAGE TO COUCHBASE, INC.

SEVENTH AMENDED AND RESTATED INVESTORS’ RIGHTS AGREEMENT


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Seventh Amended and Restated Investors’ Rights Agreements as of the date written above.

 

INVESTORS:
Adams Street 2009 Direct Fund, L.P.
By:     ASP 2009 Direct Management, LLC its General Partner
By:     Adams Street Partners, LLCJu-Managing Member
By:  

/s/ Fred Wang

Name: Fred Wang

Title: Partner

Adams Street 2010 Direct Fund, L.P.
By:     ASP 2010 Direct Management, LLC its General Partner
By:     Adams Street Partners, LLC its Managing Member
By:  

/s/ Fred Wang

Name: Fred Wang

Title: Partner

Adams Street 2011 Direct Fund LP
By:     ASP 2011 Direct Management LP its General Partner
By:     ASP 2011 Direct Management LLC its General Partner
By:     Adams Street Partners, LLC its Managing Member
By:  

/s/ Fred Wang

Name: Fred Wang

Title: Partner

Adams Street 2012 Direct Fund LP
By:     ASP 2012 Direct Management LP its General Partner
By:     ASP 2012 Direct Management LLC its General Partner
By:  

/s/ Fred Wang

Name: Fred Wang
Title: Partner
Adams Street 2013 Direct Fund LP
By:     ASP 2013 Direct Management LP its General Partner
By:     ASP 2013 Direct Management LLC its General Partner
By:     Adams Street Partners, LLC its Managing Member
By:  

/s/ Fred Wang

Name: Fred Wang
Title: Partner

SIGNATURE PAGE TO COUCHBASE, INC.

SEVENTH AMENDED AND RESTATED INVESTORS’ RIGHTS AGREEMENT


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Seventh Amended and Restated Investors’ Rights Agreements as of the date written above.

 

INVESTORS:
MAYFIELD XIII,
a Cayman Islands Exempted Limited Partnership
By:     MAYFIELD XIII MANAGEMENT (EGP), L.P.,
a Cayman Islands Exempted Limited Partnership
Its:     General Partner
By:     MAYFIELD XIII MANAGEMENT (UGP), LTD.,
a Cayman Islands Exempted Company
Its:     General Partner
By:

/s/ Navin Chaddha

Name: Navin Chaddha
Title: Authorized Signatory

SIGNATURE PAGE TO COUCHBASE, INC.

SEVENTH AMENDED AND RESTATED INVESTORS’ RIGHTS AGREEMENT


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Seventh Amended and Restated Investors’ Rights Agreements as of the date written above.

 

INVESTORS:
North Bridge Venture Partners VI, L.P.

By: North Bridge Venture Management VI, L.P.

      Its General Partner

By: NBVM GP, LLC

      Its General Partner

By:  

/s/ Ed Anderson

Name: Ed Anderson
Title: Managing General Partner
North Bridge Venture Partners 7, L.P.

By: North Bridge Venture Management 7, L.P.

      Its General Partner

By: NBVM GP, LLC

      Its General Partner

By:  

/s/ Ed Anderson

Name: Ed Anderson
Title: Managing General Partner

SIGNATURE PAGE TO COUCHBASE, INC.

SEVENTH AMENDED AND RESTATED INVESTORS’ RIGHTS AGREEMENT


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto executed this Seventh Amended and Restated Investors’ Rights Agreement as of the date written above.

 

INVESTORS:

SCP Couchbase Acquisition LLC

By: /s/ Rob Rueckert                                        

Name: Rob Rueckert                                        

Title: Managing Director                                  

SIGNATURE PAGE TO COUCHBASE, INC.

SEVENTH AMENDED AND RESTATED INVESTORS’ RIGHTS AGREEMENT


EXHIBIT A

INVESTORS

 

Name and Address                                                                                                                                               

SCP Couchbase Acquisition LLC
[***]

WestSummit Global Technology Fund, L.P.
Attn: Raymond Lei Yang

Managing Director
For and on behalf of WestSummit Global Technology Fund, L.P,
By: WestSummit Global Technology GP, Ltd., its General Partner
[***]

Accel Growth Fund II L.P.
[***]

Attn: Richard Zamboldi

Accel Growth Fund II Strategic Partners L.P.
[***]
Attn: Richard Zamboldi

Accel Growth Fund Investors 2013 L.L.C.

[***]
Attn: Richard Zamboldi

Mayfield XIII, a Cayman Islands Exempted Limited Partnership
[***]
Attn: Navin Chaddha and Paul Kohli
Accel X L.P.
[***]
Attn: Kevin Efrusy
Accel X Strategic Partners L.P.
[***]
Attn: Kevin Efrusy

EXHIBIT A TO COUCHBASE, INC.

SEVENTH AMENDED AND RESTATED INVESTORS’ RIGHTS AGREEMENT


Accel Investors 2008 L.L.C.
[***]
Attn: Kevin Efrusy

North Bridge Venture Partners VI, L.P.
[***]
Attn: Paul Santinelli

Or
[***]

North Bridge Venture Partners 7, L.P.
[***]
Attn: Paul Santinelli
Or
[***]
F&W Investments II LLC - 2008 Series
[***]
Zynga Game Network, Inc.
[***]
Three Kingdoms Capital Partners, L.P.
By: Archimedes Capital Asia LLC
[***]
Attn: Matt Ocko
Archimedes Capital LLC
[***]
Attn: Matt Ocko
DOCOMO Capital, Inc.
[***]
Attn: Manabu Ando
Ignition Venture Partners IV, L.P.
[***]
Attn: Frank Artale

EXHIBIT A TO COUCHBASE, INC.

SEVENTH AMENDED AND RESTATED INVESTORS’ RIGHTS AGREEMENT


Ignition Managing Directors Fund IV, LLC
[***]
Attn: Frank Artale
Adams Street 2009 Direct Fund, L.P.
[***]
Attn: Robin Murray
Adams Street 2010 Direct Fund, L.P.
[***]
Attn: Robin Murray Adams
Street 2011 Direct Fund, L.P.
[***]
Attn: Robin Murray
Adams Street 2012 Direct Fund, L.P.
[***]
Attn: Robin Murray
Adams Street 2013 Direct Fund, L.P.
[***]
Attn: Robin Murray

GPI Capital Gemini HoldCo LP
[***]
Attn: Mateo Goldman

 

copy (which shall not constitute notice) to:

Kirkland & Ellis LLP
[***]
Attn: Kevin T. Crews, P.C.
Email: [***]

EXHIBIT A TO COUCHBASE, INC.

SEVENTH AMENDED AND RESTATED INVESTORS’ RIGHTS AGREEMENT


EXHIBIT B

STOCKHOLDERS

 

Name and Address                                                                                                                          

Stephen Yen
[***]
Dustin Sallings
[***]
James Phillips
[***]
Robert Wiederhold
[***]
Wiederhold Family Trust
[***]
Damien Katz and Laura A. Katz
[***]
J. Chris Anderson
[***]
Yaseen Rahim and Lucia M. Wettasinghe
[***]
Steven Mih
[***]
Jan Lenhardt
[***]
Shekhar Iyer
[***]
Ravi Mayuram
[***]
Doug Laird
[***]

EXHIBIT B TO COUCHBASE, INC.

SEVENTH AMENDED AND RESTATED INVESTORS’ RIGHTS AGREEMENT

EX-10.1

Exhibit 10.1

COUCHBASE, INC.

INDEMNIFICATION AGREEMENT

This Indemnification Agreement (this “Agreement”) is dated as of [insert date], and is between Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and [insert name] (“Indemnitee”).

RECITALS

A.    Indemnitee’s service to the Company substantially benefits the Company.

B.    Individuals are reluctant to serve as directors or officers of corporations or in certain other capacities unless they are provided with adequate protection through insurance or indemnification against the risks of claims and actions against them arising out of such service.

C.    Indemnitee does not regard the protection currently provided by applicable law, the Company’s governing documents and any insurance as adequate under the present circumstances, and Indemnitee may not be willing to serve as a director or officer without additional protection.

D.    In order to induce Indemnitee to continue to provide services to the Company, it is reasonable, prudent and necessary for the Company to contractually obligate itself to indemnify, and to advance expenses on behalf of, Indemnitee as permitted by applicable law.

E.    This Agreement is a supplement to and in furtherance of the indemnification provided in the Company’s certificate of incorporation and bylaws, and any resolutions adopted pursuant thereto, and this Agreement shall not be deemed a substitute therefor, nor shall this Agreement be deemed to limit, diminish or abrogate any rights of Indemnitee thereunder.

The parties therefore agree as follows:

1.    Definitions.

(a)    A “Change in Control” shall be deemed to occur upon the earliest to occur after the date of this Agreement of any of the following events:

(i)    Acquisition of Stock by Third Party. Any Person (as defined below) becomes the Beneficial Owner (as defined below), directly or indirectly, of securities of the Company representing fifteen percent (15%) or more of the combined voting power of the Company’s then outstanding securities;

(ii)    Change in Board Composition. During any period of two consecutive years (not including any period prior to the execution of this Agreement), individuals who at the beginning of such period constitute the Company’s board of directors, and any new directors (other than a director designated by a person who has entered into an agreement with the Company to effect a transaction described in Sections 1(a)(i), 1(a)(iii) or 1(a)(iv)) whose election by the board of directors or nomination for election by the Company’s stockholders was approved by a vote of at least two-thirds of the directors then still in office who either were directors at the beginning of the period or whose election or nomination for election was previously so approved, cease for any reason to constitute at least a majority of the members of the Company’s board of directors;

 


(iii)    Corporate Transactions. The effective date of a merger or consolidation of the Company with any other entity, other than a merger or consolidation which would result in the voting securities of the Company outstanding immediately prior to such merger or consolidation continuing to represent (either by remaining outstanding or by being converted into voting securities of the surviving entity) more than 50% of the combined voting power of the voting securities of the surviving entity outstanding immediately after such merger or consolidation and with the power to elect at least a majority of the board of directors or other governing body of such surviving entity;

(iv)    Liquidation. The approval by the stockholders of the Company of a complete liquidation of the Company or an agreement for the sale or disposition by the Company of all or substantially all of the Company’s assets; and

(v)    Other Events. Any other event of a nature that would be required to be reported in response to Item 6(e) of Schedule 14A of Regulation 14A (or in response to any similar item on any similar schedule or form) promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, whether or not the Company is then subject to such reporting requirement, except the completion of the Company’s initial public offering shall not be considered a Change in Control.

For purposes of this Section 1(a), the following terms shall have the following meanings:

(1)    “Person” shall have the meaning as set forth in Sections 13(d) and 14(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; provided, however, that “Person” shall exclude (i) the Company, (ii) any trustee or other fiduciary holding securities under an employee benefit plan of the Company, and (iii) any corporation owned, directly or indirectly, by the stockholders of the Company in substantially the same proportions as their ownership of stock of the Company.

(2)    “Beneficial Owner” shall have the meaning given to such term in Rule 13d-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; provided, however, that “Beneficial Owner” shall exclude any Person otherwise becoming a Beneficial Owner by reason of (i) the stockholders of the Company approving a merger of the Company with another entity or (ii) the Company’s board of directors approving a sale of securities by the Company to such Person.

(b)    “Corporate Status” describes the status of a person who is or was a director, trustee, general partner, managing member, officer, employee, agent or fiduciary of the Company or any other Enterprise.

(c)    “DGCL” means the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware.

(d)    “Disinterested Director” means a director of the Company who is not and was not a party to the Proceeding in respect of which indemnification is sought by Indemnitee.

(e)    “Enterprise” means the Company and any other corporation, partnership, limited liability company, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or other enterprise of which Indemnitee is or was serving at the request of the Company as a director, trustee, general partner, managing member, officer, employee, agent or fiduciary.

(f)    “Expenses” include all reasonable and actually incurred attorneys’ fees, retainers, court costs, transcript costs, fees and costs of experts, witness fees, travel expenses, duplicating costs, printing and binding costs, telephone charges, postage, delivery service fees, and all other disbursements or expenses of the types customarily incurred in connection with prosecuting, defending, preparing to prosecute or defend, investigating, being or preparing to be a witness in, or otherwise participating in, a Proceeding. Expenses also include (i) Expenses incurred in connection with any appeal resulting from any Proceeding, including without limitation the premium, security for, and other costs relating to any cost bond, supersedeas bond or other appeal bond or their equivalent, and (ii) for purposes of Section 12(d), Expenses incurred by Indemnitee in connection with the interpretation, enforcement or defense of

 

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Indemnitee’s rights under this Agreement or under any directors’ and officers’ liability insurance policies maintained by the Company. Expenses, however, shall not include amounts paid in settlement by Indemnitee or the amount of judgments or fines against Indemnitee.

(g)    “Independent Counsel” means a law firm, or a partner or member of a law firm, that is experienced in matters of corporation law and neither presently is, nor in the past five years has been, retained to represent (i) the Company or Indemnitee in any matter material to either such party (other than as Independent Counsel with respect to matters concerning Indemnitee under this Agreement, or other indemnitees under similar indemnification agreements), or (ii) any other party to the Proceeding giving rise to a claim for indemnification hereunder. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the term “Independent Counsel” shall not include any person who, under the applicable standards of professional conduct then prevailing, would have a conflict of interest in representing either the Company or Indemnitee in an action to determine Indemnitee’s rights under this Agreement.

(h)    “Proceeding” means any threatened, pending or completed action, suit, arbitration, mediation, alternate dispute resolution mechanism, investigation, inquiry, administrative hearing or proceeding, whether brought in the right of the Company or otherwise and whether of a civil, criminal, administrative or investigative nature, including any appeal therefrom and including without limitation any such Proceeding pending as of the date of this Agreement, in which Indemnitee was, is or will be involved as a party, a potential party, a non-party witness or otherwise by reason of (i) the fact that Indemnitee is or was a director or officer of the Company, (ii) any action taken by Indemnitee or any action or inaction on Indemnitee’s part while acting as a director or officer of the Company, or (iii) the fact that he or she is or was serving at the request of the Company as a director, trustee, general partner, managing member, officer, employee, agent or fiduciary of the Company or any other Enterprise, in each case whether or not serving in such capacity at the time any liability or Expense is incurred for which indemnification or advancement of expenses can be provided under this Agreement.

(i)    Reference to “other enterprises” shall include employee benefit plans; references to “fines” shall include any excise taxes assessed on a person with respect to any employee benefit plan; references to “serving at the request of the Company” shall include any service as a director, officer, employee or 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 he or she reasonably believed to be in the best interests 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 Agreement.

2.    Indemnity in Third-Party Proceedings. The Company shall indemnify Indemnitee in accordance with the provisions of this Section 2 if Indemnitee is, or is threatened to be made, a party to or a participant in any Proceeding, other than a Proceeding by or in the right of the Company to procure a judgment in its favor. Pursuant to this Section 2, Indemnitee shall be indemnified to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law against all Expenses, judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by Indemnitee or on his or her behalf in connection with such Proceeding or any claim, issue or matter therein, if Indemnitee acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the Company and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe that his or her conduct was unlawful.

3.    Indemnity in Proceedings by or in the Right of the Company. The Company shall indemnify Indemnitee in accordance with the provisions of this Section 3 if Indemnitee is, or is threatened to be made, a party to or a participant in any Proceeding by or in the right of the Company to procure a judgment in its favor. Pursuant to this Section 3, Indemnitee shall be indemnified to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law against all Expenses actually and reasonably incurred by Indemnitee or on Indemnitee’s behalf in connection with such Proceeding or any claim, issue or matter therein, if Indemnitee

 

-3-


acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the Company. No indemnification for Expenses shall be made under this Section 3 in respect of any claim, issue or matter as to which Indemnitee shall have been adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be liable to the Company, unless and only to the extent that the Delaware Court of Chancery or any court in which the Proceeding was brought shall determine upon application that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all the circumstances of the case, Indemnitee is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnification for such expenses as the Delaware Court of Chancery or such other court shall deem proper.

4.    Indemnification for Expenses of a Party Who is Wholly or Partly Successful. To the extent that Indemnitee is a party to or a participant in and is successful (on the merits or otherwise) in defense of any Proceeding or any claim, issue or matter therein, the Company shall indemnify Indemnitee against all Expenses actually and reasonably incurred by Indemnitee or on Indemnitee’s behalf in connection therewith. For purposes of this section, the termination of any claim, issue or matter in such a Proceeding by dismissal, with or without prejudice, shall be deemed to be a successful result as to such claim, issue or matter.

5.    Indemnification for Expenses of a Witness. To the extent that Indemnitee is, by reason of his or her Corporate Status, a witness in any Proceeding to which Indemnitee is not a party, Indemnitee shall be indemnified to the extent permitted by applicable law against all Expenses actually and reasonably incurred by Indemnitee or on Indemnitee’s behalf in connection therewith.

6.    Additional Indemnification.

(a)    Notwithstanding any limitation in Sections 2, 3 or 4, the Company shall indemnify Indemnitee to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law if Indemnitee is, or is threatened to be made, a party to or a participant in any Proceeding (including a Proceeding by or in the right of the Company to procure a judgment in its favor) against all Expenses, judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by Indemnitee or on his or her behalf in connection with the Proceeding or any claim, issue or matter therein.

(b)    For purposes of Section 6(a), the meaning of the phrase “to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law” shall include, but not be limited to:

(i)    the fullest extent permitted by the provision of the DGCL that authorizes or contemplates additional indemnification by agreement, or the corresponding provision of any amendment to or replacement of the DGCL; and

(ii)    the fullest extent authorized or permitted by any amendments to or replacements of the DGCL adopted after the date of this Agreement that increase the extent to which a corporation may indemnify its officers and directors.

7.    Exclusions. Notwithstanding any provision in this Agreement, the Company shall not be obligated under this Agreement to make any indemnity in connection with any Proceeding (or any part of any Proceeding):

(a)    for which payment has actually been made to or on behalf of Indemnitee under any statute, insurance policy, indemnity provision, vote or otherwise, except with respect to any excess beyond the amount paid, subject to any subrogation rights set forth in Section 15;

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

 

-4-


(c)    for any reimbursement of the Company by Indemnitee of any bonus or other incentive-based or equity-based compensation or of any profits realized by Indemnitee from the sale of securities of the Company, as required in each case under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (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 Indemnitee of securities in violation of Section 306 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act), if Indemnitee is held liable therefor (including pursuant to any settlement arrangements);

(d)    initiated by Indemnitee, including any Proceeding (or any part of any Proceeding) initiated by Indemnitee against the Company or its directors, officers, employees, agents or other indemnitees, unless (i) the Company’s 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 authorized in Section 12(d) or (iv) otherwise required by applicable law; or

(e)    if prohibited by applicable law.

8.    Advances of Expenses. The Company shall advance the Expenses incurred by Indemnitee in connection with any Proceeding prior to its final disposition, and such advancement shall be made as soon as reasonably practicable, but in any event no later than 90 days, after the receipt by the Company of a written statement or statements requesting such advances from time to time (which shall include invoices received by Indemnitee in connection with such Expenses but, in the case of invoices in connection with legal services, any references to legal work performed or to expenditure made that would cause Indemnitee to waive any privilege accorded by applicable law shall not be included with the invoice). Advances shall be unsecured and interest free and made without regard to Indemnitee’s ability to repay such advances. Indemnitee hereby undertakes to repay any advance to the extent that it is ultimately determined that Indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified by the Company, and no other form of undertaking shall be required other than the execution of this Agreement. This Section 8 shall not apply to the extent advancement is prohibited by law and shall not apply to any Proceeding (or any part of any Proceeding) for which indemnity is not permitted under this Agreement, but shall apply to any Proceeding (or any part of any Proceeding) referenced in Section 7(b) or 7(c) prior to a determination that Indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified by the Company.

9.    Procedures for Notification and Defense of Claim.

(a)    Indemnitee shall notify the Company in writing of any matter with respect to which Indemnitee intends to seek indemnification or advancement of Expenses as soon as reasonably practicable following the receipt by Indemnitee of notice thereof. The written notification to the Company shall include, in reasonable detail, a description of the nature of the Proceeding and the facts underlying the Proceeding. The failure by Indemnitee to notify the Company will not relieve the Company from any liability which it may have to Indemnitee hereunder or otherwise than under this Agreement, and any delay in so notifying the Company shall not constitute a waiver by Indemnitee of any rights, except to the extent that such failure or delay materially prejudices the Company.

(b)    If, at the time of the receipt of a notice of a Proceeding pursuant to the terms hereof, the Company has directors’ and officers’ liability insurance in effect that may be applicable to the Proceeding, the Company shall give prompt notice of the commencement of the Proceeding to the insurers in accordance with the procedures set forth in the applicable policies. The Company shall thereafter take all commercially-reasonable action to cause such insurers to pay, on behalf of Indemnitee, all amounts payable as a result of such Proceeding in accordance with the terms of such policies.

 

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(c)    In the event the Company may be obligated to make any indemnity in connection with a Proceeding, the Company shall be entitled to assume the defense of such Proceeding with counsel approved by Indemnitee, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed, upon the delivery to Indemnitee of written notice of its election to do so. After delivery of such notice, approval of such counsel by Indemnitee and the retention of such counsel by the Company, the Company will not be liable to Indemnitee for any fees or expenses of counsel subsequently incurred by Indemnitee with respect to the same Proceeding. Notwithstanding the Company’s assumption of the defense of any such Proceeding, the Company shall be obligated to pay the fees and expenses of Indemnitee’s separate counsel to the extent (i) the employment of separate counsel by Indemnitee is authorized by the Company, (ii) counsel for the Company or Indemnitee shall have reasonably concluded that there is a conflict of interest between the Company and Indemnitee in the conduct of any such defense such that Indemnitee needs to be separately represented, (iii) the Company is not financially or legally able to perform its indemnification obligations or (iv) the Company shall not have retained, or shall not continue to retain, counsel to defend such Proceeding. Regardless of any provision in this Agreement, Indemnitee shall have the right to employ counsel in any Proceeding at Indemnitee’s personal expense. The Company shall not be entitled, without the consent of Indemnitee, to assume the defense of any claim brought by or in the right of the Company.

(d)    Indemnitee shall give the Company such information and cooperation in connection with the Proceeding as may be reasonably appropriate.

(e)    The Company shall not be liable to indemnify Indemnitee for any settlement of any Proceeding (or any part thereof) without the Company’s prior written consent, which shall not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed.

(f)    The Company shall not settle any Proceeding (or any part thereof) in a manner that imposes any penalty or liability on Indemnitee without Indemnitee’s prior written consent, which shall not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed.

10.    Procedures upon Application for Indemnification.

(a)    To obtain indemnification, Indemnitee shall submit to the Company a written request, including therein or therewith such documentation and information as is reasonably available to Indemnitee and as is reasonably necessary to determine whether and to what extent Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification following the final disposition of the Proceeding. The Company shall, as soon as reasonably practicable after receipt of such request for indemnification, advise the board of directors that Indemnitee has requested indemnification. Any delay in providing the request will not relieve the Company from its obligations under this Agreement, except to the extent such failure is prejudicial.

(b)    Upon written request by Indemnitee for indemnification pursuant to Section 10(a), a determination with respect to Indemnitee’s entitlement thereto shall be made in the specific case (i) if a Change in Control shall have occurred, by Independent Counsel in a written opinion to the Company’s board of directors, a copy of which shall be delivered to Indemnitee or (ii) if a Change in Control shall not have occurred, (A) by a majority vote of the Disinterested Directors, even though less than a quorum of the Company’s board of directors, (B) by a committee of Disinterested Directors designated by a majority vote of the Disinterested Directors, even though less than a quorum of the Company’s board of directors, (C) if there are no such Disinterested Directors or, if such Disinterested Directors so direct, by Independent Counsel in a written opinion to the Company’s board of directors, a copy of which shall be delivered to Indemnitee or (D) if so directed by the Company’s board of directors, by the stockholders of the Company. If it is determined that Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification, payment to Indemnitee shall be made within thirty days after such determination. Indemnitee shall cooperate with the person, persons or entity making the determination with respect to Indemnitee’s entitlement to indemnification, including providing to such person, persons or entity upon reasonable advance request any documentation or information that

 

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is not privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure and that is reasonably available to Indemnitee and reasonably necessary to such determination. Any costs or expenses (including attorneys’ fees and disbursements) actually and reasonably incurred by Indemnitee in so cooperating with the person, persons or entity making such determination shall be borne by the Company, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

(c)    In the event the determination of entitlement to indemnification is to be made by Independent Counsel pursuant to Section 10(b), the Independent Counsel shall be selected as provided in this Section 10(c). If a Change in Control shall not have occurred, the Independent Counsel shall be selected by the Company’s board of directors, and the Company shall give written notice to Indemnitee advising him or her of the identity of the Independent Counsel so selected. If a Change in Control shall have occurred, the Independent Counsel shall be selected by Indemnitee (unless Indemnitee shall request that such selection be made by the Company’s board of directors, in which event the preceding sentence shall apply), and Indemnitee shall give written notice to the Company advising it of the identity of the Independent Counsel so selected. In either event, Indemnitee or the Company, as the case may be, may, within ten days after such written notice of selection shall have been given, deliver to the Company or to Indemnitee, as the case may be, a written objection to such selection; provided, however, that such objection may be asserted only on the ground that the Independent Counsel so selected does not meet the requirements of “Independent Counsel” as defined in Section 1 of this Agreement, and the objection shall set forth with particularity the factual basis of such assertion. Absent a proper and timely objection, the person so selected shall act as Independent Counsel. If such written objection is so made and substantiated, the Independent Counsel so selected may not serve as Independent Counsel unless and until such objection is withdrawn or a court has determined that such objection is without merit. If, within 20 days after the later of (i) submission by Indemnitee of a written request for indemnification pursuant to Section 10(a) hereof and (ii) the final disposition of the Proceeding, the parties have not agreed upon an Independent Counsel, either the Company or Indemnitee may petition the Delaware Court of Chancery for resolution of any objection which shall have been made by the Company or Indemnitee to the other’s selection of Independent Counsel and for the appointment as Independent Counsel of a person selected by the court or by such other person as the court shall designate, and the person with respect to whom all objections are so resolved or the person so appointed shall act as Independent Counsel under Section 10(b) hereof. Upon the due commencement of any judicial proceeding or arbitration pursuant to Section 12(a) of this Agreement, the Independent Counsel shall be discharged and relieved of any further responsibility in such capacity (subject to the applicable standards of professional conduct then prevailing).

(d)    The Company agrees to pay the reasonable fees and expenses of any Independent Counsel.

11.    Presumptions and Effect of Certain Proceedings.

(a)    In making a determination with respect to entitlement to indemnification hereunder, the person, persons or entity making such determination shall, to the fullest extent not prohibited by law, presume that Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification under this Agreement, and the Company shall, to the fullest extent not prohibited by law, have the burden of proof to overcome that presumption by clear and convincing evidence.

(b)    The termination of any Proceeding or of any claim, issue or matter therein, by judgment, order, settlement or conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent, shall not (except as otherwise expressly provided in this Agreement) of itself adversely affect the right of Indemnitee to indemnification or create a presumption that Indemnitee did not act in good faith and in a manner which he or she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the Company or, with respect to any criminal Proceeding, that Indemnitee had reasonable cause to believe that his or her conduct was unlawful.

 

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(c)    For purposes of any determination of good faith, Indemnitee shall be deemed to have acted in good faith to the extent Indemnitee relied in good faith on (i) the records or books of account of the Enterprise, including financial statements, (ii) information supplied to Indemnitee by the officers of the Enterprise in the course of their duties, (iii) the advice of legal counsel for the Enterprise or its board of directors or counsel selected by any committee of the board of directors or (iv) information or records given or reports made to the Enterprise by an independent certified public accountant, an appraiser, investment banker or other expert selected with reasonable care by the Enterprise or its board of directors or any committee of the board of directors. The provisions of this Section 11(c) shall not be deemed to be exclusive or to limit in any way the other circumstances in which Indemnitee may be deemed to have met any applicable standard of conduct.

(d)    Neither the knowledge, actions nor failure to act of any other director, officer, agent or employee of the Enterprise shall be imputed to Indemnitee for purposes of determining the right to indemnification under this Agreement.

12.    Remedies of Indemnitee.

(a)    Subject to Section 12(e), in the event that (i) a determination is made pursuant to Section 10 of this Agreement that Indemnitee is not entitled to indemnification under this Agreement, (ii) advancement of Expenses is not timely made pursuant to Section 8 or 12(d) of this Agreement, (iii) no determination of entitlement to indemnification shall have been made pursuant to Section 10 of this Agreement within 90 days after the later of the receipt by the Company of the request for indemnification or the final disposition of the Proceeding, (iv) payment of indemnification pursuant to this Agreement is not made (A) within thirty days after a determination has been made that Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification or (B) with respect to indemnification pursuant to Sections 4, 5 and 12(d) of this Agreement, within thirty days after receipt by the Company of a written request therefor, or (v) the Company or any other person or entity takes or threatens to take any action to declare this Agreement void or unenforceable, or institutes any litigation or other action or proceeding designed to deny, or to recover from, Indemnitee the benefits provided or intended to be provided to Indemnitee hereunder, Indemnitee shall be entitled to an adjudication by the Delaware Court of Chancery of his or her entitlement to such indemnification or advancement of Expenses. Alternatively, Indemnitee, at his or her option, may seek an award in arbitration with respect to his or her entitlement to such indemnification or advancement of Expenses, to be conducted by a single arbitrator pursuant to the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association. Indemnitee shall commence such proceeding seeking an adjudication or an award in arbitration within 180 days following the date on which Indemnitee first has the right to commence such proceeding pursuant to this Section 12(a). The Company shall not oppose Indemnitee’s right to seek any such adjudication or award in arbitration in accordance with this Agreement.

(b)    Neither (i) the failure of the Company, its board of directors, any committee or subgroup of the board of directors, Independent Counsel or stockholders to have made a determination that indemnification of Indemnitee is proper in the circumstances because Indemnitee has met the applicable standard of conduct, nor (ii) an actual determination by the Company, its board of directors, any committee or subgroup of the board of directors, Independent Counsel or stockholders that Indemnitee has not met the applicable standard of conduct, shall create a presumption that Indemnitee has or has not met the applicable standard of conduct. In the event that a determination shall have been made pursuant to Section 10 of this Agreement that Indemnitee is not entitled to indemnification, any judicial proceeding or arbitration commenced pursuant to this Section 12 shall be conducted in all respects as a de novo trial, or arbitration, on the merits, and Indemnitee shall not be prejudiced by reason of that adverse determination. In any judicial proceeding or arbitration commenced pursuant to this Section 12, the Company shall, to the fullest extent not prohibited by law, have the burden of proving Indemnitee is not entitled to indemnification or advancement of Expenses, as the case may be, by clear and convincing evidence.

 

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(c)    To the fullest extent not prohibited by law, the Company shall be precluded from asserting in any judicial proceeding or arbitration commenced pursuant to this Section 12 that the procedures and presumptions of this Agreement are not valid, binding and enforceable and shall stipulate in any such court or before any such arbitrator that the Company is bound by all the provisions of this Agreement. If a determination shall have been made pursuant to Section 10 of this Agreement that Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification, the Company shall be bound by such determination in any judicial proceeding or arbitration commenced pursuant to this Section 12, absent (i) a misstatement by Indemnitee of a material fact, or an omission of a material fact necessary to make Indemnitee’s statements not materially misleading, in connection with the request for indemnification, or (ii) a prohibition of such indemnification under applicable law.

(d)    To the extent not prohibited by law, the Company shall indemnify Indemnitee against all Expenses that are incurred by Indemnitee in connection with any action for indemnification or advancement of Expenses from the Company under this Agreement or under any directors’ and officers’ liability insurance policies maintained by the Company to the extent Indemnitee is successful in such action, and, if requested by Indemnitee, shall (as soon as reasonably practicable, but in any event no later than 90 days, after receipt by the Company of a written request therefor) advance such Expenses to Indemnitee, subject to the provisions of Section 8.

(e)    Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, no determination as to entitlement to indemnification shall be required to be made prior to the final disposition of the Proceeding.

13.    Contribution. To the fullest extent permissible under applicable law, if the indemnification provided for in this Agreement is unavailable to Indemnitee, the Company, in lieu of indemnifying Indemnitee, shall contribute to the amounts incurred by Indemnitee, whether for Expenses, judgments, fines or amounts paid or to be paid in settlement, in connection with any claim relating to an indemnifiable event under this Agreement, in such proportion as is deemed fair and reasonable in light of all of the circumstances of such Proceeding in order to reflect (i) the relative benefits received by the Company and Indemnitee as a result of the events and transactions giving rise to such Proceeding; and (ii) the relative fault of Indemnitee and the Company (and its other directors, officers, employees and agents) in connection with such events and transactions.

14.    Non-exclusivity. The rights of indemnification and to receive advancement of Expenses as provided by this Agreement shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which Indemnitee may at any time be entitled under applicable law, the Company’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws, any agreement, a vote of stockholders or a resolution of directors, or otherwise. To the extent that a change in Delaware law, whether by statute or judicial decision, permits greater indemnification or advancement of Expenses than would be afforded currently under the Company’s certificate of incorporation and bylaws and this Agreement, it is the intent of the parties hereto that Indemnitee shall enjoy by this Agreement the greater benefits so afforded by such change, subject to the restrictions expressly set forth herein or therein. Except as expressly set forth herein, no right or remedy herein conferred is intended to be exclusive of any other right or remedy, and every other right and remedy shall be cumulative and in addition to every other right and remedy given hereunder or now or hereafter existing at law or in equity or otherwise. Except as expressly set forth herein, the assertion or employment of any right or remedy hereunder, or otherwise, shall not prevent the concurrent assertion or employment of any other right or remedy.

15.    [Omitted.][Primary Responsibility. The Company acknowledges that, to the extent Indemnitee has certain rights to indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by a venture capital fund or entity and/or certain of its affiliates (collectively, the “Secondary Indemnitors”), the

 

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Company agrees that, as between the Company and the Secondary Indemnitors, the Company is primarily responsible for amounts required to be indemnified or advanced under the Company’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws or this Agreement and any obligation of the Secondary Indemnitors to provide indemnification or advancement for the same amounts is secondary to those Company obligations. To the extent not in contravention of any insurance policy or policies providing liability or other insurance for the Company or any director, trustee, general partner, managing member, officer, employee, agent or fiduciary of the Company or any other Enterprise, the Company waives any right of contribution or subrogation against the Secondary Indemnitors with respect to the liabilities for which the Company is primarily responsible under this Section 15. In the event of any payment by the Secondary Indemnitors of amounts otherwise required to be indemnified or advanced by the Company under the Company’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws or this Agreement, the Secondary Indemnitors shall be subrogated to the extent of such payment to all of the rights of recovery of Indemnitee for indemnification or advancement of expenses under the Company’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws or this Agreement or, to the extent such subrogation is unavailable and contribution is found to be the applicable remedy, shall have a right of contribution with respect to the amounts paid; provided, however, that the foregoing sentence will be deemed void if and to the extent that it would violate any applicable insurance policy. The Secondary Indemnitors are express third-party beneficiaries of the terms of this Section 15.]

16.    No Duplication of Payments. The Company shall not be liable under this Agreement to make any payment of amounts otherwise indemnifiable hereunder (or for which advancement is provided hereunder) if and to the extent that Indemnitee has otherwise actually received payment for such amounts under any insurance policy, contract, agreement or otherwise, subject to any subrogation right set forth in Section 15.

17.    Insurance. To the extent that the Company maintains an insurance policy or policies providing liability insurance for directors, trustees, general partners, managing members, officers, employees, agents or fiduciaries of the Company or any other Enterprise, Indemnitee shall be covered by such policy or policies to the same extent as the most favorably-insured persons under such policy or policies in a comparable position.

18.    Subrogation. In the event of any payment under this Agreement, the Company shall be subrogated to the extent of such payment to all of the rights of recovery of Indemnitee, who shall execute all papers required and take all action necessary to secure such rights, including execution of such documents as are necessary to enable the Company to bring suit to enforce such rights.

19.    Services to the Company. Indemnitee agrees to serve as a director or officer of the Company or, at the request of the Company, as a director, trustee, general partner, managing member, officer, employee, agent or fiduciary of another Enterprise, for so long as Indemnitee is duly elected or appointed or until Indemnitee tenders his or her resignation or is removed from such position. Indemnitee may at any time and for any reason resign from such position (subject to any other contractual obligation or any obligation imposed by operation of law), in which event the Company shall have no obligation under this Agreement to continue Indemnitee in such position. This Agreement shall not be deemed an employment contract between the Company (or any of its subsidiaries or any Enterprise) and Indemnitee. Indemnitee specifically acknowledges that any employment with the Company (or any of its subsidiaries or any Enterprise) is at will, and Indemnitee may be discharged at any time for any reason, with or without cause, with or without notice, except as may be otherwise expressly provided in any executed, written employment contract between Indemnitee and the Company (or any of its subsidiaries or any Enterprise), any existing formal severance policies adopted by the Company’s board of directors or, with respect to service as a director or officer of the Company, the Company’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws or the DGCL. No such document shall be subject to any oral modification thereof.

 

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20.    Duration. This Agreement shall continue in effect until the later of (a) ten years after the date that Indemnitee shall have ceased to serve as a director or an officer of the Company or as a director, trustee, general partner, managing member, officer, employee, agent or fiduciary of any other Enterprise, as applicable, or (b) for as long as Indemnitee may be subject to any Proceeding, even after Indemnitee has ceased to serve as a director or officer of the Company or as a director, trustee, general partner, managing member, officer, employee, agent or fiduciary of any other Enterprise, as applicable.

21     Successors. This Agreement shall be binding upon the Company and its successors and assigns, including any direct or indirect successor, by purchase, merger, consolidation or otherwise, to all or substantially all of the business or assets of the Company, and shall inure to the benefit of Indemnitee and Indemnitee’s heirs, executors and administrators. The Company shall require and cause any successor (whether direct or indirect by purchase, merger, consolidation or otherwise) to all or substantially all of the business or assets of the Company, by written agreement, expressly to assume and agree to perform this Agreement in the same manner and to the same extent that the Company would be required to perform if no such succession had taken place.

22.    Severability. Nothing in this Agreement is intended to require or shall be construed as requiring the Company to do or fail to do any act in violation of applicable law. The Company’s inability, pursuant to court order or other applicable law, to perform its obligations under this Agreement shall not constitute a breach of this Agreement. If any provision or provisions of this Agreement shall be held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason whatsoever: (i) the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions of this Agreement (including without limitation, each portion of any section of this Agreement containing any such provision held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that is not itself invalid, illegal or unenforceable) shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby and shall remain enforceable to the fullest extent permitted by law; (ii) such provision or provisions shall be deemed reformed to the extent necessary to conform to applicable law and to give the maximum effect to the intent of the parties hereto; and (iii) to the fullest extent possible, the provisions of this Agreement (including, without limitation, each portion of any section of this Agreement containing any such provision held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that is not itself invalid, illegal or unenforceable) shall be construed so as to give effect to the intent manifested thereby.

23.    Enforcement. The Company expressly confirms and agrees that it has entered into this Agreement and assumed the obligations imposed on it hereby in order to induce Indemnitee to serve as a director or officer of the Company, and the Company acknowledges that Indemnitee is relying upon this Agreement in serving as a director or officer of the Company.

24.    Entire Agreement. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior agreements and understandings, oral, written and implied, between the parties hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof; provided, however, that this Agreement is a supplement to and in furtherance of the Company’s certificate of incorporation and bylaws and applicable law.

25.    Modification and Waiver. No supplement, modification or amendment to this Agreement shall be binding unless executed in writing by the parties hereto. No amendment, alteration or repeal of this Agreement shall adversely affect any right of Indemnitee under this Agreement in respect of any action taken or omitted by such Indemnitee in his or her Corporate Status prior to such amendment, alteration or repeal. No waiver of any of the provisions of this Agreement shall constitute or be deemed a waiver of any other provision of this Agreement nor shall any waiver constitute a continuing waiver.

 

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26.    Notices. All notices and other communications required or permitted hereunder shall be in writing and shall be mailed by registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, sent by electronic mail or otherwise delivered by hand, messenger or courier service addressed:

(a)    if to Indemnitee, to Indemnitee’s address or electronic mail address as shown on the signature page of this Agreement or in the Company’s records, as may be updated in accordance with the provisions hereof; or

(b)    if to the Company, to the attention of the Chief Executive Officer or Chief Financial Officer of the Company at 3250 Olcott Street, Santa Clara, California 95054, or at such other current address as the Company shall have furnished to Indemnitee.

Each such notice or other communication shall for all purposes of this Agreement be treated as effective or having been given (i) if delivered by hand, messenger or courier service, when delivered (or if sent via a nationally-recognized overnight courier service, freight prepaid, specifying next-business-day delivery, one business day after deposit with the courier), (ii) if sent via mail, at the earlier of its receipt or five days after the same has been deposited in a regularly-maintained receptacle for the deposit of the United States mail, addressed and mailed as aforesaid, or (iii) if sent via electronic mail, upon confirmation of delivery when directed to the relevant electronic mail address, if sent during normal business hours of the recipient, or if not sent during normal business hours of the recipient, then on the recipient’s next business day.

27.    Applicable Law and Consent to Jurisdiction. This Agreement and the legal relations described herein among the parties shall be governed by, and construed and enforced in accordance with, the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to its conflict of laws rules. Except with respect to any arbitration commenced by Indemnitee pursuant to Section 12(a) of this Agreement, the Company and Indemnitee hereby irrevocably and unconditionally (i) agree that any action or proceeding arising out of or in connection with this Agreement shall be brought only in the Delaware Court of Chancery, and not in any other state or federal court in the United States of America or any court in any other country, (ii) consent to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Delaware Court of Chancery for purposes of any action or proceeding arising out of or in connection with this Agreement, (iii) appoint, to the extent such party is not otherwise subject to service of process in the State of Delaware, Incorporating Services, Ltd., 3500 South DuPont Highway, in the City of Dover, County of Kent, Delaware 19901 as its agent in the State of Delaware as such party’s agent for acceptance of legal process in connection with any such action or proceeding against such party with the same legal force and validity as if served upon such party personally within the State of Delaware, (iv) waive any objection to the laying of venue of any such action or proceeding in the Delaware Court of Chancery, and (v) waive, and agree not to plead or to make, any claim that any such action or proceeding brought in the Delaware Court of Chancery has been brought in an improper or inconvenient forum.

28.    Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, each of which shall for all purposes be deemed to be an original but all of which together shall constitute one and the same Agreement. This Agreement may also be executed and delivered by facsimile signature and in counterparts, each of which shall for all purposes be deemed to be an original but all of which together shall constitute one and the same Agreement. Only one such counterpart signed by the party against whom enforceability is sought needs to be produced to evidence the existence of this Agreement.

29.    Captions. The headings of the paragraphs of this Agreement are inserted for convenience only and shall not be deemed to constitute part of this Agreement or to affect the construction thereof.

(signature page follows)

 

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The parties are signing this Indemnification Agreement as of the date stated in the introductory sentence.

 

COUCHBASE, INC.

 

(Signature)

 

(Print name)

 

(Title)
[INSERT INDEMNITEE NAME]

 

(Signature)

 

(Print name)

 

(Street address)

 

(City, State and ZIP)

 

[Signature Page to Indemnification Agreement]

EX-10.4

Exhibit 10.4

COUCHBASE, INC.

2018 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

As Adopted on October 19, 2018

1. PURPOSE. The purpose of this Plan is to provide incentives to attract, retain and motivate eligible persons whose present and potential contributions are important to the success of the Company, its Parent and Subsidiaries by offering eligible persons an opportunity to participate in the ’Company’s future performance through Awards. Capitalized terms not defined in the text are defined in Section 24 hereof. Although this Plan is intended to be a written compensatory benefit plan within the meaning of Rule 701 promulgated under the Securities Act, grants may be made pursuant to this Plan that do not qualify for exemption under Rule 701 or Section 25102(o) of the California Corporations Code (“Section 25102(o)”). Any requirement of this Plan that is required in law only because of Section 25102(o) need not apply if the Committee so provides.

2. SHARES SUBJECT TO THE PLAN.

2.1 Number of Shares Available. Subject to Sections 2.2 and 19 hereof, the total number of Shares reserved and available for grant and issuance pursuant to this Plan will be 1,726,568 Shares, which is the number of Shares that remain available for grants under the Company’s 2008 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended (the “2008 Plan”) as of September 30, 2018. Subject to Sections 2.2, 5.10 and 19 hereof, Shares subject to Awards previously granted under the 2008 Plan that, on or after September 30, 2018, or the Plan that, (i) are withheld upon exercise of an Option or settlement of an Award to cover the exercise price or tax withholding; (ii) are forfeited or repurchased by the Company at the original issue price; or (iii) are subject to an Award that otherwise terminates without Shares being issued, will again be available for grant and issuance in connection with future Awards under this Plan. At all times the Company will reserve and keep available a sufficient number of Shares as will be required to satisfy the requirements of all Awards granted and outstanding under this Plan.

2.2 Adjustment of Shares. Subject to Section 19 hereof, if, as a result of any stock dividend, reorganization, recapitalization, stock split, reverse stock split, subdivision, combination, reclassification or similar change in the capital structure of the Company, the outstanding Shares are increased or decreased or are exchanged for a different number or kind of shares or other securities of the Company, or additional Shares or new or different shares or other securities of the Company or other non-cash assets are distributed with respect to such Shares or other securities, in each case, without receipt of consideration by the Company, or, if, as a result of any merger or consolidation, or sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company, the outstanding Shares are converted into or exchanged for other securities of the


Company or any successor entity (or a parent or subsidiary thereof), then (a) the number of Shares reserved for issuance under this Plan and the ISO Maximum, (b) the Exercise Prices of and number of Shares subject to outstanding Options, (c) the Purchase Prices of and number of Shares subject to other outstanding Awards, and (d) the number and kind of Shares or other securities subject to any then outstanding Awards under the Plan, will be proportionately adjusted, subject to any required action by the Board or the stockholders of the Company and compliance with applicable securities laws; provided, however, that fractions of a Share will not be issued but will either be paid in cash at the Fair Market Value of such fraction of a Share or will be rounded down to the nearest whole Share, as determined by the Committee; and provided, further, that the Exercise Price of any Option may not be decreased to below the par value of the Shares.

3. ELIGIBILITY. ISOs (as defined in Section 5 hereof) may be granted only to employees (including officers and directors who are also employees) of the Company or of a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company. NQSOs (as defined in Section 5 hereof) and other Awards may be granted to employees, officers, directors and consultants of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company; provided such consultants are natural persons that render bona fide services not in connection with the offer and sale of securities in a capital-raising transaction and do not directly or indirectly promote or maintain a market for the ’Company’s securities. A person may be granted more than one Award under this Plan.

4. ADMINISTRATION.

4.1 Committee Authority. This Plan will be administered by the Committee or the Board if no Committee is created by the Board. Subject to the general purposes, terms and conditions of this Plan, and to the direction of the Board, the Committee will have full power to implement and carry out this Plan. Without limitation, the Committee will have the authority to:

(a) construe and interpret this Plan, any Award Agreement and any other agreement or document executed pursuant to this Plan;

(b) at any time, prescribe, adopt, amend, expand and rescind or terminate rules and regulations relating to this Plan;

(c) approve persons to receive Awards;

(d) determine the time or times of grant;

(e) determine the form and terms of Awards;

(f) determine the number of Shares or other consideration subject to Awards under this Plan;

(g) determine whether Awards will be granted singly, in combination with, in tandem with, in replacement of, or as alternatives to, other Awards under this Plan or awards under any other incentive or compensation plan of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company;


(h) grant waivers of any conditions of this Plan or any Award or impose any limitations on Awards, including limitations on transfers, repurchase provisions and the like, and exercise repurchase rights or obligations;

(i) determine the terms of vesting, exercisability and payment of Awards under this Plan;

(j) accelerate at any time the exercisability or vesting of all or any portion of any Award;

(k) correct any defect, supply any omission, or reconcile any inconsistency in this Plan, any Award, any Award Agreement, any Exercise Agreement or any Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement;

(l) determine whether an Award has been earned;

(m) determine and, subject to Section 20, modify from time to time the terms and conditions, including restrictions, not inconsistent with the terms of the Plan, of any Award, which terms and conditions may differ among individual Awards and Participants, and approve the form of Award Agreements;

(n) decide all disputes arising in connection with the Plan; make all other determinations necessary or advisable for the administration of this Plan; and otherwise supervise the administration of the Plan;

(o) exercise its discretion to reduce the exercise price of outstanding Options or effect repricing through cancellation of outstanding Options and by granting such holders new Awards in replacement of the cancelled Options;

(p) in order to comply with the laws in other countries in which the Company and any Subsidiary operate or have employees or other individuals eligible for Awards: (i) determine which Subsidiaries, if any, shall be covered by the Plan; (ii) determine which individuals, if any, outside the United States are eligible to participate in the Plan; (iii) modify the terms and conditions of any Award granted to individuals outside the United States to comply with applicable foreign laws; (iv) establish subplans and modify exercise procedures and other terms and procedures, to the extent the Committee determines such actions to be necessary or advisable (and such subplans and/or modifications shall be attached to the Plan as appendices); provided, however, that no such subplans and/or modifications shall increase the share limitation contained in Section 2.1 hereof; and (v) take any action, before or after an Award is made, that the Committee determines to be necessary or advisable to obtain approval or comply with any local governmental regulatory exemptions or approvals; and


(q) subject to Section 5.3 and any restrictions imposed by Section 409A of the Code, extend the vesting period beyond a ’Participant’s Termination Date.

4.2 Committee Discretion. Unless in contravention of any express terms of this Plan or Award, any determination made by the Committee with respect to any Award will be made in its sole discretion either (a) at the time of grant of the Award, or (b) subject to Section 5.9 hereof, at any later time. Any such determination will be final and binding on the Company and on all persons having an interest in any Award under this Plan. Subject to applicable law, the Committee may delegate to one or more officers of the Company the authority to grant an Award under this Plan to non-officer recipients, provided such officer or officers are members of the Board; provided, however, that the resolution so authorizing the delegation to such officer(s) shall contain a limit on the number of Awards the officer(s) may so award. Any such delegation by the Committee shall also provide that the officer(s) may not grant Awards to himself or herself. The Committee may revoke or amend the terms of a delegation at any time but such action shall not invalidate any prior actions of the Committee’s delegate or delegates that were consistent with the terms of the Plan. Neither the Board nor the Committee, nor any member of either or any delegate thereof, shall be liable for any act, omission, interpretation, construction or determination made in good faith in connection with the Plan, and the members of the Board and the Committee (and any delegate thereof) shall be entitled in all cases to indemnification and reimbursement by the Company in respect of any claim, loss, damage or expense (including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising or resulting therefrom to the fullest extent permitted by law and/or under the Company’s governing documents, including its certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or any directors’ and officers’ liability insurance coverage which may be in effect from time to time and/or any indemnification agreement between such individual and the Company.

5. OPTIONS. The Committee may grant Options to eligible persons described in Section 3 hereof and will determine whether such Options will be Incentive Stock Options within the meaning of the Code (“ISOs”) or Nonqualified Stock Options (“NQSOs”), the number of Shares subject to the Option, the Exercise Price of the Option, the period during which the Option may be exercised, and all other terms and conditions of the Option, subject to the following:

5.1 Form of Option Grant. Each Option granted under this Plan will be evidenced by an Award Agreement which will expressly identify the Option as an ISO or an NQSO (“Stock Option Agreement”), and will be in such form and contain such provisions (which need not be the same for each Participant) as the Committee may from time to time approve, and which will comply with and be subject to the terms and conditions of this Plan. To the extent that any Option does not qualify as an ISO, it shall be deemed a NQSO.

5.2 Date of Grant. The date of grant of an Option will be the date on which the Committee makes the determination to grant such Option, unless a later date is otherwise specified by the Committee, The Stock Option Agreement and a copy of this Plan will be delivered to the Participant within a reasonable time after the granting of the Option.


5.3 Exercise Period. Options may be exercisable immediately; provided, that Shares issued upon such exercise shall be subject to a vesting schedule identical to the vesting schedule of the related Option, such Shares shall be deemed to be Restricted Stock for purposes of the Plan subject to repurchase pursuant to Section 12 hereof, and the Participant may be required to enter into an additional or new Award Agreement as a condition to exercise of such Option. Options may be exercisable within the times or upon the events determined by the Committee as set forth in the Stock Option Agreement governing such Option; provided, however, that no Option will be exercisable after the expiration of ten (10) years from the date the Option is granted; and provided further that no ISO granted to a person who directly or by attribution owns more than ten percent (10%) of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock of the Company or of any Parent or Subsidiary (“Ten Percent Shareholder”) will be exercisable after the expiration of five (5) years from the date the ISO is granted. The Committee also may provide for Options to become exercisable at one time or from time to time, periodically or otherwise, in such number of Shares or percentage of Shares as the Committee determines. A Participant shall have the rights of a stockholder only as to Shares acquired upon the exercise of an Option and not as to unexercised Options. A Participant shall not be deemed to have acquired any Shares unless and until an Option shall have been exercised pursuant to the terms of the Award Agreement and this Plan and the Participant’s name has been entered on the books of the Company as a stockholder.

5.4 Exercise Price. The Exercise Price of an Option will be determined by the Committee when the Option is granted and shall not be less than the Fair Market Value per Share unless expressly determined in writing by the Committee on the Option’s date of grant; provided that the Exercise Price of an ISO granted to a Ten Percent Shareholder will not be less than one hundred ten percent (110%) of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on the date of grant. Payment for the Shares purchased must be made in accordance with Section 8 hereof.

5.5 Method of Exercise. Options may be exercised only by delivery to the Company of a written stock option exercise agreement (the “Exercise Agreement”) in a form approved by the Committee (which need not be the same for each Participant). The Exercise Agreement will state (a) the number of Shares being purchased, (b) the restrictions imposed on the Shares purchased under such Exercise Agreement, if any, and (c) such representations and agreements regarding Participant’s investment intent and access to information and other matters, if any, as may be required or desirable by the Company to comply with applicable securities laws. Participant shall execute and deliver to the Company the Exercise Agreement together with payment in full of the Exercise Price, and any applicable taxes, for the number of Shares being purchased.


5.6 Termination. Subject to earlier termination pursuant to Sections 19 and 22 hereof and notwithstanding the exercise periods set forth in the Stock Option Agreement, exercise of an Option will always be subject to the following:

(a) If the Participant is Terminated for any reason other than death, Disability or for Cause, then the Participant may exercise such Participant’s Options only to the extent that such Options are exercisable as to Vested Shares upon the Termination Date or as otherwise determined by the Committee. Such Options must be exercised by the Participant, if at all, as to all or some of the Vested Shares calculated as of the Termination Date or such other date determined by the Committee, within three (3) months after the Termination Date (with any exercise beyond three (3) months after the Termination Date deemed to be an NQSO) but in any event, no later than the expiration date of the Options.

(b) If the Participant is Terminated because of Participant’s death or Disability (or the Participant dies within three (3) months after a Termination other than for Cause), then Participant’s Options may be exercised only to the extent that such Options are exercisable as to Vested Shares by Participant on the Termination Date or as otherwise determined by the Committee. Such options must be exercised by Participant (or Participant’s legal representative or authorized assignee), if at all, as to all or some of the Vested Shares calculated as of the Termination Date or such other date determined by the Committee, within twelve (12) months after the Termination Date (with any exercise beyond (i) three (3) months after the Termination Date when the Termination is for any reason other than the Participant’s death or disability, within the meaning of Section 22(e)(3) of the Code, or (ii) twelve (12) months after the Termination Date when the Termination is for Participant’s disability, within the meaning of Section 22(e)(3) of the Code, deemed to be an NQSO) but in any event no later than the expiration date of the Options.

(c) If the Participant is terminated for Cause, the Participant may exercise such Participant’s Options, but not to an extent greater than such Options are exercisable as to Vested Shares upon the Termination Date and Participant’s Options shall expire on such Participant’s Termination Date, or at such later time and on such conditions as are determined by the Committee,

5.7 Limitations on Exercise. The Committee may specify a reasonable minimum number of Shares that may be purchased on any exercise of an Option, provided that such minimum number will not prevent Participant from exercising the Option for the full number of Shares for which it is then exercisable.

5.8 Limitations on ISOs. The aggregate Fair Market Value (determined as of the date of grant) of Shares with respect to which ISOs are exercisable for the first time by a Participant during any calendar year (under this Plan or under any other incentive stock option plan of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company) will not exceed One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000). If the Fair Market Value of Shares on the date of grant with respect to which ISOs are exercisable for the first time by a Participant during any calendar year exceeds One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000), then the Options for the first One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000) worth of Shares to become exercisable in such calendar year will be ISOs and the Options for the amount in excess of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000) that become


exercisable in that calendar year will be NQSOs. In the event that the Code or the regulations promulgated thereunder are amended after the Effective Date (as defined in Section 20 hereof) to provide for a different limit on the Fair Market Value of Shares permitted to be subject to ISOs, then such different limit will be automatically incorporated herein and will apply to any Options granted after the effective date of such amendment.

5.9 Modification, Extension or Renewal. The Committee may modify, extend or renew outstanding Options and authorize the grant of new Options in substitution therefor, provided that any such action may not, without the written consent of a Participant, impair any of such Participant’s rights under any Option previously granted. Any outstanding ISO that is modified, extended, renewed or otherwise altered will be treated in accordance with Section 424(h) of the Code. Subject to Section 5.10 hereof, the Committee may reduce the Exercise Price of outstanding Options without the consent of Participants by a written notice to them; provided, however, that the Exercise Price may not be reduced below the minimum Exercise Price that would be permitted under Section 5.4 hereof for Options granted on the date the action is taken to reduce the Exercise Price; provided, further, that the Exercise Price will not be reduced below the par value of the Shares, if any.

5.10 No Disqualification. Notwithstanding any other provision in this Plan, no term of this Plan relating to ISOs will be interpreted, amended or altered, nor will any discretion or authority granted under this Plan be exercised, so as to disqualify this Plan under Section 422 of the Code or, without the consent of the Participant, to disqualify any Participant’s ISO under Section 422 of the Code. In no event shall the total number of Shares issued (counting each reissuance of a Share that was previously issued and then forfeited or repurchased by the Company as a separate issuance) under the Plan upon exercise of ISOs exceed 17,265,680 Shares (adjusted in proportion to any adjustments under Section 2.2 hereof) over the term of the Plan (the “ISO Maximum”).

6. RESTRICTED STOCK. A Restricted Stock Award is an offer by the Company to sell to an eligible person Shares that are subject to certain specified restrictions. The Committee will determine to whom an offer will be made, the number of Shares the person may purchase, the Purchase Price, the restrictions to which the Shares will be subject, and all other terms and conditions of the Restricted Stock Award, subject to the following:

6.1 Form of Restricted Stock Award. All purchases under a Restricted Stock Award made pursuant to this Plan will be evidenced by an Award Agreement (“Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement”) that will be in such form (which need not be the same for each Participant) as the Committee will from time to time approve, and will comply with and be subject to the terms and conditions of this Plan. The Restricted Stock Award will be accepted by the Participant’s execution and delivery of the Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement and full payment for the Shares to the Company within thirty (30) days from the date the Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement is delivered to the person. If such person does not execute and deliver the Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement along with full payment for the Shares to the Company within such thirty (30) days, then the offer will terminate, unless otherwise determined by the Committee.


6.2 Purchase Price. The Purchase Price of Shares sold pursuant to a Restricted Stock Award will be determined by the Committee on the date the Restricted Stock Award is granted or at the time the purchase is consummated. Payment of the Purchase Price must be made in accordance with Section 8 hereof,

6.3 Restrictions. Restricted Stock Awards may be subject to the restrictions set forth in Section 12 hereof or such other restrictions not inconsistent with Section 25102(o) of the California Corporations Code.

7. RESTRICTED STOCK UNITS.

7.1 Nature of Restricted Stock Units. The Committee may, in its sole discretion, grant to an eligible person under Section 3 hereof Restricted Stock Units under the Plan. The Committee shall determine the restrictions and conditions applicable to each Restricted Stock Unit at the time of grant. Vesting conditions may be based on continuing services as an employee, officer, director or consultant to the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, achievement of pre-established performance goals and objectives and/or other such criteria as the Committee may determine. Upon the grant of Restricted Stock Units, the Participant and the Company shall enter into an Award Agreement (“Restricted Stock Unit Agreement”). The terms and conditions of each such Restricted Stock Unit Agreement shall be determined by the Committee and may differ among individual Awards and Participants. Unless otherwise provided in the Restricted Stock Unit Agreement, on or promptly following the vesting date or dates applicable to any Restricted Stock Unit, but in no event later than March 15 of the year following the year in which such vesting occurs, such Restricted Stock Unit(s) shall be settled in the form of cash or Shares, as specified in the Restricted Stock Unit Agreement. Restricted Stock Units may not be sold, assigned, transferred, pledged, or otherwise encumbered or disposed of.

7.2 Termination. Except as may otherwise be provided by the Committee either in the Restricted Stock Unit Agreement or in writing after the Restricted Stock Unit Agreement is issued, a Participant’s right in all Restricted Stock Units that have not vested shall automatically terminate upon the Participant’s Termination.

8. PAYMENT FOR SHARE PURCHASES.

8.1 Payment. Payment for Shares purchased pursuant to this Plan may be made in cash (by check or wire transfer of immediately available funds) or, where expressly approved for the Participant by the Committee and where permitted by law:

(a) by cancellation of indebtedness of the Company owed to the Participant;


(b) by surrender of shares of the Company that: (i) either (A) for which the Company has received “full payment of the purchase price” within the meaning of SEC Rule 144 (and, if such shares were purchased from the Company by use of a promissory note, such note has been fully paid with respect to such shares) or (B) were obtained by Participant in the public market, to the extent required to avoid variable accounting treatment under ASC Topic 718 or other applicable accounting rules, and (ii) are clear of all liens, claims, encumbrances or security interests;

(c) by tender of a full recourse promissory note having such terms as may be approved by the Committee and bearing interest at a rate sufficient to avoid imputation of income under Sections 483 and 1274 of the Code; provided, however, that Participants who are not employees or directors of the Company will not be entitled to purchase Shares with a promissory note unless the note is adequately secured by collateral other than the Shares; provided, further, that the portion of the Exercise Price or Purchase Price, as the case may be, equal to the par value of the Shares must be paid in cash or other legal consideration permitted by Delaware General Corporation Law;

(d) by waiver of compensation due or accrued to the Participant from the Company for services rendered;

(e) with respect only to purchases upon exercise of an Option, and provided that a public market for the Company’s stock exists:

(i) through a “same day sale” commitment from the Participant and a broker-dealer that is a member of a financial industry regulatory authority, such as the New York Stock Exchange (each, a “Dealer”), whereby the Participant irrevocably elects to exercise the Option and to sell a portion of the Shares so purchased sufficient to pay the total Exercise Price, and whereby the Dealer irrevocably commits upon receipt of such Shares to forward the total Exercise Price directly to the Company; or

(ii) through a “margin” commitment from the Participant and a Dealer whereby the Participant irrevocably elects to exercise the Option and to pledge the Shares so purchased to the Dealer in a margin account as security for a loan from the Dealer in the amount of the total Exercise Price, and whereby the Dealer irrevocably commits upon receipt of such Shares to forward the total Exercise Price directly to the Company;

(f) only with respect to Options that are not ISO, by a “net exercise” arrangement pursuant to which the Company will reduce the number of Shares issuable upon exercise by the largest whole number of Shares with a Fair Market Value that does not exceed the aggregate exercise price; or

(g) by any combination of the foregoing.


8.2 Loan Guarantees. The Committee may, in its sole discretion, elect to assist the Participant in paying for Shares purchased under this Plan by authorizing a guarantee by the Company of a third-party loan to the Participant.

9. WITHHOLDING TAXES.

9.1 Withholding Generally. Whenever Shares are to be issued in satisfaction of Awards granted under this Plan, the Company may require the Participant to remit to the Company an amount sufficient to satisfy federal, state and local withholding tax requirements prior to the delivery of any certificate or certificates for such Shares. Whenever, under this Plan, payments in satisfaction of Awards are to be made in cash by the Company, such payment will be net of an amount sufficient to satisfy federal, state, and local withholding tax requirements.

9.2 Stock Withholding. When, under applicable tax laws, a Participant incurs tax liability in connection with the exercise, vesting or settlement of any Award that is subject to tax withholding and the Participant is obligated to pay the Company the amount required to be withheld, the Committee may in its sole discretion cause the withholding tax obligation to be satisfied by the Company withholding from the Shares to be issued that minimum number of Shares having a Fair Market Value equal to the amount required to be withheld, determined on the date that the amount of tax to be withheld is to be determined; but in no event will the Company withhold Shares if such withholding would result in adverse accounting consequences to the Company.

10. PRIVILEGES OF STOCK OWNERSHIP. No Participant will have any of the rights of a stockholder with respect to any Shares until the Shares are issued to the Participant. After Shares are issued to the Participant, the Participant will be a stockholder and have all the rights of a stockholder with respect to such Shares, including the right to vote and receive all dividends or other distributions made or paid with respect to such Shares; provided, that if such Shares are Restricted Stock, then any new, additional or different securities the Participant may become entitled to receive with respect to such Shares by virtue of a stock dividend, stock split or any other change in the corporate or capital structure of the Company will be subject to the same restrictions as the Restricted Stock. The Participant will have no right to retain such stock dividends or stock distributions with respect to Unvested Shares that are repurchased pursuant to Section 12 hereof. For Participants with Restricted Stock Units, a Participant shall have the rights of a stockholder only as to Shares, if any, acquired upon settlement of Restricted Stock Units and a Participant shall not be deemed to have acquired any such Shares unless and until the Restricted Stock Units shall have been settled in Shares pursuant to the terms of the Plan and the Award Agreement, the Company shall have issued and delivered a certificate representing the Shares to the Participant (or transferred on the records of the Company with respect to uncertificated stock), and the Participant’s name has been entered in the books of the Company as a stockholder.


11. TRANSFERABILITY. Except as permitted by the Committee, Awards granted under this Plan, and any interest therein, will not be transferable or assignable by Participant, other than by will or by the laws of descent and distribution, and, with respect to NQSOs, by instrument to an inter vivos or testamentary trust in which the options are to be passed to beneficiaries upon the death of the trustor (settlor), or by gift to “immediate family” as that term is defined in 17 C.F.R. 240,16a-1(e), and may not be made subject to execution, attachment or similar process. During the lifetime of the Participant an Award will be exercisable only by the Participant or Participant’s legal representative and any elections with respect to an Award may be made only by the Participant or Participant’s legal representative.

12. RESTRICTIONS ON SHARES.

12.1 Right of First Refusal. At the discretion of the Committee, the Company may reserve to itself and/or its assignee(s) in the Award Agreement a right of first refusal to purchase all Shares that a Participant (or a subsequent transferee) may propose to transfer to a third party and which transfer has been permitted by written approval of the Committee or the Board, provided that such right of first refusal terminates upon the Company’s initial public offering of Common Stock pursuant to an effective registration statement filed under the Securities Act.

12.2 Right of Repurchase. At the discretion of the Committee, the Company may reserve to itself and/or its assignee(s) in the Award Agreement a right to repurchase Unvested Shares held by a Participant for cash and/or cancellation of purchase money indebtedness owed to the Company by the Participant following such Participant’s Termination at any time.

12.3 No Transfers. Subject to Sections 12.1 and 12.2, any holder of Shares issued hereunder may not may not sell, assign, transfer, pledge, encumber or in any manner dispose of any of such Shares, whether voluntarily or by operation of law, or by gift or otherwise, other than by means of a Permitted Transfer (as defined below). If any provision(s) of any agreement(s) currently in effect by and between the Company and the holder (the “Stockholder Agreement(s)”) conflicts herewith, this Section shall govern, and the remaining provision(s) of the Stockholder Agreement(s) that do not conflict with this Section shall continue in full force and effect. For purposes hereof, a “Permitted Transfer” shall mean any of the following:

(a) any transfer by the holder of any or all of the Shares to the Company;

(b) any transfer by the holder of any or all of the Shares to the holder’s immediate family or a trust for the benefit of the holder or the holder’s immediate family;

(c) any transfer by the holder of any or all of the Shares effected pursuant to the holder’s will or the laws of intestate succession;

(d) any transfer of Shares permitted by written approval of the Committee or the Board.


Any transfer of Shares shall be null and void unless the terms, conditions and provisions of this Section 12.3 are strictly observed and followed. The foregoing restriction on transfer set forth in this Section 12.3 shall lapse upon the earlier of (i) on any transfer or conversion of Shares made pursuant to a statutory merger or statutory consolidation of the Company with or into another corporation or corporations if the common stock of the surviving corporation or any direct or indirect parent corporation thereof is registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or (ii) immediately prior to the Company’s initial public offering of Common Stock pursuant to an effective registration statement filed under the Securities Act.

13. CERTIFICATES. All certificates for Shares or other securities delivered under this Plan will be subject to such stock transfer orders, legends and other restrictions as the Committee may deem necessary or advisable, including restrictions under any applicable federal, state or foreign securities law, or any rules, regulations and other requirements of the SEC or any stock exchange or automated quotation system upon which the Shares may be listed or quoted.

14. ESCROW: PLEDGE OF SHARES. To enforce any restrictions on a Participant’s Shares set forth in Section 12 hereof, the Committee may require the Participant to deposit all certificates representing Shares, together with stock powers or other instruments of transfer approved by the Committee, appropriately endorsed in blank, with the Company or an agent designated by the Company to hold in escrow until such restrictions have lapsed or terminated. The Committee may cause a legend or legends referencing such restrictions to be placed on the certificates. Any Participant who is permitted to execute a promissory note as partial or full consideration for the purchase of Shares under this Plan will be required to pledge and deposit with the Company all or part of the Shares so purchased as collateral to secure the payment of Participant’s obligation to the Company under the promissory note; provided, however, that the Committee may require or accept other or additional forms of collateral to secure the payment of such obligation and, in any event, the Company will have full recourse against the Participant under the promissory note notwithstanding any pledge of the Participant’s Shares or other collateral. In connection with any pledge of the Shares, Participant will be required to execute and deliver a written pledge agreement in such form as the Committee will from time to time approve. The Shares purchased with the promissory note may be released from the pledge on a pro rata basis as the promissory note is paid.

15. EXCHANGE AND BUYOUT OF AWARDS. The Committee may, at any time or from time to time, authorize the Company, with the consent of the respective Participants, to issue new Awards in exchange for the surrender and cancellation of any or all outstanding Awards. The Committee may at any time buy from a Participant an Award previously granted with payment in cash, shares of Common Stock of the Company (including Restricted Stock) or other consideration, based on such terms and conditions as the Committee and the Participant may agree.

16. SECURITIES LAW AND OTHER REGULATORY COMPLIANCE. Although this Plan is intended to be a written compensatory benefit plan within the meaning of Rule 701 promulgated under the Securities Act, grants may be made pursuant to this plan that do not qualify for exemption under Rule 701 or Section 25102(o) of the California Corporations Code. Any requirement of this Plan which is required in law only because of Section 25102(o) need not apply with respect to a particular Award if the Committee so provides. An Award will not be effective unless such Award is in compliance with all applicable federal and state securities laws,


rules and regulations of any governmental body, and the requirements of any stock exchange or automated quotation system upon which the Shares may then be listed or quoted, as they are in effect on the date of grant of the Award and also on the date of exercise or other issuance. Notwithstanding any other provision in this Plan, the Company will have no obligation to issue or deliver certificates for Shares under this Plan prior to (a) obtaining any approvals from governmental agencies that the Company determines are necessary or advisable, and/or (b) compliance with any exemption, completion of any registration or other qualification of such Shares under any state or federal law or ruling of any governmental body that the Company determines to be necessary or advisable. The Company will be under no obligation to register the Shares with the SEC or to effect compliance with the exemption, registration, qualification or listing requirements of any state securities laws, stock exchange or automated quotation system, and the Company will have no liability for any inability or failure to do so.

17. SECTION 409A AWARDS. To the extent that any Award is determined to constitute “nonqualified deferred compensation” within the meaning of Section 409A of the Code (a “409A Award”), the Award shall be subject to such additional rules and requirements as may be specified by the Committee from time to time. In this regard, if any amount under a 409A Award is payable upon a “separation from service” (within the meaning of Section 409A) to a Participant who is considered a “specified employee” (within the meaning of Section 409A), then no such payment shall be made prior to the date that is the earlier of (i) six months and one day after the Participant’s separation from service, or (ii) the Participant’s death, but only to the extent such delay is necessary to prevent such payment from being subject to interest, penalties and/or additional tax imposed pursuant to Section 409A of the Code. The Company makes no representation or warranty and shall have no liability to any Participant under the Plan or any other person with respect to any penalties or taxes under Section 409A of the Code that are, or may be, imposed with respect to any Award.

18. NO OBLIGATION TO EMPLOY. Nothing in this Plan or any Award granted under this Plan will confer or be deemed to confer on any Participant any right to continue in the employ of, or to continue any other relationship with, the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary or limit in any way the right of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary to terminate Participant’s employment or other relationship at any time, with or without Cause.

19. CORPORATE TRANSACTIONS.

19.1 Assumption or Replacement of Awards by Successor or Acquiring Company. In the event of (a) a dissolution or liquidation of the Company, (b) any reorganization, consolidation, merger or similar transaction or series of related transactions (each, a “combination transaction”) in which the Company is a constituent corporation or is a party if, as a result of such combination transaction, the voting securities of the Company that are outstanding immediately prior to the consummation of such combination transaction (other than any such securities that are held by an Acquiring Stockholder (defined below)) do not represent, or are not converted into, securities of the surviving corporation of such combination transaction (or such surviving corporation’s parent corporation) if the surviving corporation is owned by the together possess at


least fifty percent (50%) of the total voting power of all securities of such surviving corporation (or its parent corporation, if applicable) that are outstanding immediately after the consummation of such combination transaction, including securities of such surviving corporation (or its parent corporation, if applicable) that are held by the Acquiring Stockholder; or (c) a sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company, that is followed by the distribution of the proceeds to the Company’s stockholders, any or all outstanding Awards may be assumed, converted or replaced by the successor or acquiring corporation (if any), which assumption, conversion or replacement will be binding on all Participants. In the alternative, the successor or acquiring corporation may substitute equivalent Awards or provide substantially similar consideration to Participants as was provided to stockholders of the Company (after taking into account the existing provisions of the Awards). The successor or acquiring corporation may also substitute by issuing, in place of outstanding Shares of the Company held by the Participant, substantially similar shares or other property subject to repurchase restrictions and other provisions no less favorable to the Participant than those which applied to such outstanding Shares immediately prior to such transaction described in this Section 19.1. For purposes of this Section 19.1, an “Acquiring Stockholder” means a stockholder or stockholders of the Company that (i) merges or combines with the Company in such combination transaction or (ii) owns or controls a majority of another corporation that merges or combines with the Company in such combination transaction. In the event such successor or acquiring corporation (if any) refuses to assume, convert, replace or substitute Awards, as provided above, pursuant to a transaction described in this Section 19.1, then notwithstanding any other provision in this Plan to the contrary, such Awards will expire on such transaction at such time and on such conditions as the Board will determine.

19.2 Other Treatment of Awards. Subject to any greater rights granted to Participants under the foregoing provisions of this Section 19, in the event of the occurrence of any transaction described in Section 19.1 hereof, any outstanding Awards will be treated as provided in the applicable agreement or plan of reorganization, merger, consolidation, dissolution, liquidation or sale of assets.

19.3 Assumption of Awards by the Company. The Company, from time to time, also may substitute or assume outstanding awards granted by another company, whether in connection with an acquisition of such other company or otherwise, by either (a) granting an Award under this Plan in substitution of such other company’s award or (b) assuming such award as if it had been granted under this Plan if the terms of such assumed award could be applied to an Award granted under this Plan. Such substitution or assumption will be permissible if the holder of the substituted or assumed award would have been eligible to be granted an Award under this Plan if the other company had applied the rules of this Plan to such grant. In the event the Company assumes an award granted by another company, the terms and conditions of such award will remain unchanged (except that the exercise price and the number and nature of shares issuable upon exercise of any such option will be adjusted appropriately pursuant to Section 424(a) of the Code). In the event the Company elects to grant a new Option rather than assuming an existing option, such new Option may be granted with a similarly adjusted Exercise Price.


20. ADOPTION AND STOCKHOLDER APPROVAL. This Plan will become effective on the date that it is adopted by the Board (the “Effective Date”). This Plan will be approved by the stockholders of the Company (excluding Shares issued pursuant to this Plan), consistent with applicable laws, within twelve (12) months before or after the Effective Date. Upon the Effective Date, the Board may grant Awards pursuant to this Plan; provided, however, that: (a) no Option may be exercised prior to initial stockholder approval of this Plan; (b) no Option granted pursuant to an increase in the number of Shares approved by the Board shall be exercised prior to the time such increase has been approved by the stockholders of the Company; (c) in the event that initial stockholder approval is not obtained within the time period provided herein, all Awards for which only the exemption from California’s securities qualification requirements provided by Section 25102(o) can apply shall be canceled, any Shares issued pursuant to any such Award shall be canceled and any purchase of such Shares issued hereunder shall be rescinded; and (d) Awards (to which only the exemption from California’s securities qualification requirements provided by Section 25102(o) can apply) granted pursuant to an increase in the number of Shares approved by the Board which increase is not approved by stockholders within the time then required under Section 25102(o) shall be canceled, any Shares issued pursuant to any such Awards shall be canceled, and any purchase of Shares subject to any such Award shall be rescinded.

21. TERM OF PLAN/GOVERNING LAW. Unless earlier terminated as provided herein, this Plan will terminate ten (10) years from the Effective Date or, if earlier, the date of stockholder approval. This Plan and all agreements hereunder shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California.

22. AMENDMENT OR TERMINATION OF PLAN. Subject to Section 5.9 hereof, the Board may at any time terminate or amend this Plan in any respect, including without limitation amendment of any form of Award Agreement or instrument to be executed pursuant to this Plan; provided, however, that the Board will not, without the approval of the stockholders of the Company, amend this Plan in any manner that requires such stockholder approval pursuant to Section 25102(o) of the California Corporations Code or the Code or the regulations promulgated thereunder as such provisions apply to ISO plans.

23. NONEXCLUSIVITY OF THE PLAN. Neither the adoption of this Plan by the Board, the submission of this Plan to the stockholders of the Company for approval, nor any provision of this Plan will be construed as creating any limitations on the power of the Board to adopt such additional compensation arrangements as it may deem desirable, including, without limitation, the granting of stock options and other equity awards otherwise than under this Plan, and such arrangements maybe either generally applicable or applicable only in specific cases.

24. DEFINITIONS. As used in this Plan, the following terms will have the following meanings:

Award” means any award under this Plan, including any Option, Restricted Stock Award, or Restricted Stock Units.


Award Agreement” means, with respect to each Award, the signed written agreement between the Company and the Participant setting forth the terms and conditions of the Award, including the Stock Option Agreement, Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement, Stock Agreement and Restricted Stock Unit Agreement.

Board means the Board of Directors of the Company.

Cause” means Termination because of (a) any willful, material violation by the Participant of any law or regulation applicable to the business of the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, the Participant’s conviction for, or guilty plea to, a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude, or any willful perpetration by the Participant of a common law fraud, (b) the Participant’s commission of an act of personal dishonesty which involves personal profit in connection with the Company or any other entity having a business relationship with the Company, (c) any material breach by the Participant of any provision of any agreement or understanding between the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company and the Participant regarding the terms of the Participant’s service as an employee, officer, director or consultant to the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, including without limitation, the willful and continued failure or refusal of the Participant to perform the material duties required of such Participant as an employee, officer, director or consultant of the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, other than as a result of having a Disability, or a breach of any applicable invention assignment and confidentiality agreement or similar agreement between the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company and the Participant,

Participant’s disregard of the policies of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company so as to cause loss, damage or injury to the property, reputation or employees of the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, or (e) any other misconduct by the Participant which is materially injurious to the financial condition or business reputation of, or is otherwise materially injurious to, the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company,

Code means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

Committee” means the committee created and appointed by the Board to administer this Plan, or if no committee is created and appointed, the Board.

Company” means Couchbase, Inc., or any successor corporation.

Disability” means a disability, whether temporary or permanent, partial or total, as determined by the Committee.

Exercise Price” means the price per Share at which a holder of an Option may purchase Shares issuable upon exercise of the Option.


Fair Market Value” means, as of any date, the value of a share of the Company’s Common Stock determined as follows:

(a) if such Common Stock is then publicly traded on a national securities exchange on which the Common Stock is listed or admitted to trading as reported in The Wall Street Journal;

(b) if such Common Stock is publicly traded but is not quoted on the Nasdaq National Market nor listed or admitted to trading on a national securities exchange, the average of the closing bid and asked prices on the date of determination as reported by The Wall Street Journal (or, if not so reported, as otherwise reported by any newspaper or other source as the Committee may determine); or

(c) if none of the foregoing is applicable to the valuation in question, by the Committee in good faith.

Option” means an award of an option to purchase Shares pursuant to Section 5 of this Plan.

Parent” means any corporation (other than the Company) in an unbroken chain of corporations ending with the Company if each of such corporations other than the Company owns stock representing fifty percent (50%) or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock in one of the other corporations in such chain.

Participant” means a person who receives an Award under this Plan.

Plan” means this Couchbase, Inc. 2018 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended from time to time.

Purchase Price” means the price at which a Participant may purchase Restricted Stock in connection with this Plan.

Restricted Stock” means Shares purchased pursuant to a Restricted Stock Award under this Plan.

Restricted Stock Award” means an award of Shares pursuant to Section 6 hereof.

Restricted Stock Unit” means an Award of phantom stock units to a Participant, which may be settled in cash or Shares as determined by the Committee, pursuant to Section 7.

SEC” means the Securities and Exchange Commission. “Securities Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Shares” means shares of the Company’s Common Stock, $0.0001 par value, reserved for issuance under this Plan, as adjusted pursuant to Sections 2 and 19 hereof, and any successor security.


Subsidiary” means any corporation (other than the Company) in an unbroken chain of corporations beginning with the Company if each of the corporations other than the last corporation in the unbroken chain owns stock representing fifty percent (50%) or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock in one of the other corporations in such chain.

Termination” or “Terminated” means, for purposes of this Plan with respect to a Participant, that the Participant has for any reason ceased to provide services as an employee, officer, director or consultant to the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company. A Participant will not be deemed to have ceased to provide services in the case of sick leave, military leave, or any other leave of absence approved by the Committee; provided that such leave is for a period of not more than ninety (90) days (a) unless reinstatement (or, in the case of an employee with an ISO, reemployment) upon the expiration of such leave is guaranteed by contract or statute, or (b) unless provided otherwise pursuant to formal policy adopted from time to time by the Company’s Board and issued and promulgated in writing. In the case of any Participant on sick leave, military leave or an approved leave of absence, the Committee may make such provisions respecting suspension of vesting of the Award while on leave from the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company as it may deem appropriate, except that in no event may an Option be exercised after the expiration of the term set forth in the Stock Option Agreement. The Committee will have sole discretion to determine whether a Participant has ceased to provide services and the effective date on which the Participant ceased to provide services (the “Termination Date”).

Unvested Shares means “Unvested Shares as defined in the Award Agreement for an Award.

Vested Shares” means Vested Shares” as defined in the Award Agreement.


No.

COUCHBASE, INC.

2018 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

STOCK OPTION AGREEMENT

This Stock Option Agreement (the “Agreement”) is made and entered into as of the date of grant set forth below (the “Date of Grant”) by and between Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and the participant named below (the “Participant”). Capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meaning ascribed to them in the Company’s 2018 Equity Incentive Plan (as amended from time to time, the “Plan”).

 

Participant:  

 

Social Security Number:  

 

Total Option Shares:  

 

Exercise Price Per Share:  

 

Date of Grant:  

 

First Vesting Date:  

 

Expiration Date:  
Type of Stock Option:  

 

 

1. GRANT OF OPTION. The Company hereby grants to Participant an option (this “Option”) to purchase the total number of shares of Common Stock, $0.00001 par value per share, of the Company set forth above as Total Option Shares (the “Shares”) at the Exercise Price Per Share set forth above (the “Exercise Price”), subject to all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement and the Plan. If designated as an Incentive Stock Option above, the Option is intended to qualify as an “incentive stock option” (the “ISO”) within the meaning of Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), except that if on the date of grant the Participant is not eligible to receive an ISO, then this Option shall be a “nonqualified stock option” (the “NQSO” or “NSO”).

2. EXERCISE PERIOD.

2.1 Exercise Period of Option. Provided Participant continues to provide services to the Company or any Subsidiary or Parent of the Company, the Option will become vested and exercisable as to portions of the Shares as follows: (i) this Option shall not vest nor be exercisable with respect to any of the Shares until the First Vesting Date set forth on the first page of this Agreement (the “First Vesting Date”); (ii) on the First Vesting Date the Option will become vested and exercisable as to 1/4th of the Shares; and (iii) thereafter at the end of each


full succeeding calendar month the Option will become vested and exercisable as to 1/48th of the Shares until the Shares are vested with respect to all of the Shares. If application of the vesting percentage causes a fractional share, such share shall be rounded down to the nearest whole share for each month except for the last month in such vesting period, at the end of which last month this Option shall become exercisable for the full remainder of the Shares. [Notwithstanding the foregoing, 100% of the Shares will become immediately vested and exercisable upon Participant’s death, subject to Participant’s continuous service with the Company or any Subsidiary or Parent of the Company until the date of such death.][1]

2.2 Vesting of Options. Shares that are vested pursuant to the schedule set forth in Section 2.1 are “Vested Shares. Shares that are not vested pursuant to the schedule set forth in Section 2.1 are Unvested Shares.

2.3 Accelerated Vesting for Change in Control. Upon a Change in Control and if, during the period of time commencing thirty (30) days prior to the execution of a definitive agreement providing for the consummation of such Change in Control and ending on the first anniversary of the consummation of such Change in Control, your employment with the Company is terminated by the Company other than for Cause or you resign for Good Reason, then subject to your delivery of an effective release of claims in favor of the Company and its affiliates and effective as of such termination, one hundred percent (100%) of the shares described above subject to your option that remain unvested as of such termination will immediately become vested at the time of such termination. In addition, if, in connection with a Change in Control, you are offered a similar position in a division of the acquirer (as integrated into the acquiring company), (such role a “Divisional Role”), then, subject to your delivery of an effective release of claims in favor of the Company and its affiliates and effective as of immediately prior to the consummation of such Change in Control, twenty-five (25%) of the shares described above subject to your option that remain unvested as of such Change in Control will become vested as of immediately prior to such Change in Control. For purposes of this Agreement:

(a) Change in Controlmeans (a) any transaction or series of related transactions resulting in a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Company, (b) a sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company, (c) any sale or exchange of the capital stock of the Company by the stockholders of the Company in one transaction or a series of related transactions where more than 50% of the outstanding voting power of the Company is acquired by a person or entity or group of related persons or entities (other than pursuant to a recapitalization of the Company solely with its equity holders) or (d) any merger or consolidation (each, a “combination transaction” ), in which the Company is a constituent entity or is a party with another entity if, as a result of such combination transaction, in one transaction or series of related transactions, the voting securities of the Company that are outstanding immediately prior to the consummation of such combination transaction (other than any such securities that are held by an “Acquiring Stockholder,” as defined below) do not represent, or are not converted into, securities of the surviving entity in such combination transaction (or such surviving entity’s parent entity if the surviving entity is owned by the parent) that, immediately after the consummation of such combination transaction, together possess at least a majority of the total voting power of all voting securities of such surviving entity (or its parent, if applicable) that are outstanding immediately after the consummation of such combination transaction,


including securities of such surviving entity (or its parent, if applicable) that are held by the Acquiring Stockholder. For purposes of this paragraph, an “Acquiring Stockholder” means a stockholder or stockholders of the Company that (i) merges or combines with the Company in such combination transaction or (ii) directly or indirectly owns or controls a majority of the voting power of another entity that merges or combines with the Company in such combination transaction;

(b) “Cause” means any of the following: (a) you willfully engage in conduct that is in bad faith and materially injurious to the Company, including but not limited to, fraud, embezzlement, or unauthorized use or discloser of the Company’s confidential information or trade secrets; (b) you commit a material breach of any written agreement between you and the Company that causes harm to the Company, which breach is not cured within thirty (30) days after receipt of written notice describing in detail such breach to you from the Company (c) you willfully refuse to implement or follow a directive by Board, directly related to your duties, which breach is not cured within thirty (30) days after receipt of written notice describing in detail such breach to you from the Company; (d) you engage in material misfeasance or malfeasance demonstrated by a continued pattern of material failure to perform the essential job duties associated with your position, which breach is not cured within thirty (30) days after receipt of written notice describing in detail such breach to you from the Company, or (e) your conviction or, your plea of “guilty” or “no contest” to, a felony under the laws of the United States or any state thereof;

(c) “Good Reason” means any of the following actions by the Company without your written consent: (a) a material reduction in your duties or responsibilities as compared to your position prior to the Change in Control; (b) the requirement that you change your principal office to a facility more than thirty (30) miles from the facility at which you are employed prior to such a change, or (c) a material reduction in your annual base salary and commission target or a material reduction in your employee benefits (e.g. medical, dental, insurance, short- and long-term disability insurance and 401(k) retirement plan benefits, collectively, the “Employee Benefits”) to which you are entitled immediately prior to such reduction.

2.4 Expiration. The Option shall expire on the Expiration Date set forth above or earlier as provided in Section 3 below or pursuant to Section 5.6 of the Plan.

3. TERMINATION.

3.1 Termination for Any Reason Except Death, Disability or Cause. If Participant is Terminated for any reason, except death, Disability or for Cause, the Option, to the extent (and only to the extent) that it would have been exercisable by Participant on the Termination Date, may be exercised by Participant no later than three (3) months after the Termination Date, but in any event no later than the Expiration Date.

3.2 Termination Because of Death or Disability. If Participant is Terminated because of death or Disability of Participant (or Participant dies within three (3) months of Termination when Termination is for any reason other than Participant’s Disability or for Cause), the Option, to the extent that it is exercisable by Participant on the Termination Date,


may be exercised by Participant (or Participant’s legal representative) no later than twelve (12) months after the Termination Date, but in any event no later than the Expiration Date. Any exercise beyond (i) three (3) months after the Termination Date when the Termination is for any reason other than the Participant’s death or disability, within the meaning of Section 22(e)(3) of the Code; or (ii) twelve (12) months after the Termination Date when the termination is for Participant’s disability, within the meaning of Section 22(e)(3) of the Code, is deemed to be an NQSO.

3.3 Termination for Cause. If the Participant is terminated for Cause, the Participant may exercise such Participant’s Options, but not to an extent greater than such Options are exercisable as to Vested Shares upon the Termination Date and Participant’s Options shall expire on such Participant’s Termination Date, or at such later time and on such conditions as are determined by the Committee.

3.4 No Obligation to Employ. Nothing in the Plan or this Agreement shall confer on Participant any right to continue in the employ of, or other relationship with, the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, or limit in any way the right of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company to terminate Participant’s employment or other relationship at any time, with or without Cause.

4. MANNER OF EXERCISE.

4.1 Stock Option Exercise Agreement. To exercise this Option, Participant (or in the case of exercise after Participant’s death or incapacity, Participant’s executor, administrator, heir or legatee, as the case may be) must deliver to the Company an executed stock option exercise agreement in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A, or in such other form as may be approved by the Committee from time to time (the “Exercise Agreement”), which shall set forth, inter alia, (i) Participant’s election to exercise the Option, (ii) the number of Shares being purchased, (iii) any restrictions imposed on the Shares and (iv) any representations, warranties and agreements regarding Participant’s investment intent and access to information as may be required by the Company to comply with applicable securities laws. If someone other than Participant exercises the Option, then such person must submit documentation reasonably acceptable to the Company verifying that such person has the legal right to exercise the Option and such person shall be subject to all of the restrictions contained herein as if such person were the Participant.

4.2 Limitations on Exercise. The Option may not be exercised unless such exercise is in compliance with all applicable federal and state securities laws, as they are in effect on the date of exercise. The Option may not be exercised as to fewer than one hundred (100) Shares unless it is exercised as to all Shares as to which the Option is then exercisable.

4.3 Payment. The Exercise Agreement shall be accompanied by full payment of the Exercise Price for the shares being purchased in cash (by check or wire transfer of immediately available funds), or where permitted by law:


(a) by surrender of shares of the Company’s Common Stock that (i) either (A) the Company has received “full payment of the purchase price” within the meaning of SEC Rule 144 (and, if such shares were purchased from the Company by use of a promissory note, such note has been fully paid with respect to such shares); or (B) were obtained by Participant in the open public market, to the extent required to avoid variable accounting treatment under ASC 718 or other applicable accounting rules; and (ii) are clear of all liens, claims, encumbrances or security interests;

(b) by waiver of compensation due or accrued to Participant for services rendered;

(c) provided that a public market for the Company’s stock exists: (i) through a “same day sale” commitment from Participant and a broker-dealer that is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers (an “NASD Dealer”) whereby Participant irrevocably elects to exercise the Option and to sell a portion of the Shares so purchased sufficient to pay for the total Exercise Price and whereby the NASD Dealer irrevocably commits upon receipt of such Shares to forward the total Exercise Price directly to the Company, or (ii) through a “margin” commitment from Participant and an NASD Dealer whereby Participant irrevocably elects to exercise the Option and to pledge the Shares so purchased to the NASD Dealer in a margin account as security for a loan from the NASD Dealer in the amount of the total Exercise Price, and whereby the NASD Dealer irrevocably commits upon receipt of such Shares to forward the total Exercise Price directly to the Company; or

(d) any other form of consideration approved by the Committee; or

(e) by any combination of the foregoing.

4.4 Tax Withholding. Prior to the issuance of the Shares upon exercise of the Option, Participant must pay or provide for any applicable federal, state and local withholding obligations of the Company. Participant authorizes the Company to withhold any of such amounts from any other payments made or due from the Company to the Participant. If the Committee permits, the payment of withholding taxes upon exercise of the Option may be made by the Company retaining the minimum number of Shares with a Fair Market Value equal to the amount of taxes required to be withheld; but in no event will the Company withhold Shares if such withholding would result in adverse accounting consequences to the Company. In such case, the Company shall issue the net number of Shares to the Participant by deducting the Shares retained from the Shares issuable upon exercise.

4.5 Issuance of Shares. Provided that the Exercise Agreement and payment are in form and substance satisfactory to counsel for the Company, the Company shall issue the Shares registered in the name of Participant, Participant’s authorized assignee, or Participant’s legal representative, and shall deliver certificates representing the Shares with the appropriate legends affixed thereto.


5. NOTICE OF DISQUALIFYING DISPOSITION OF ISO SHARES. If the Option is an ISO, and if Participant sells or otherwise disposes of any of the Shares acquired pursuant to the ISO on or before the later of (i) the date two (2) years after the Date of Grant, and (ii) the date one (1) year after transfer of such Shares to Participant upon exercise of the Option, Participant shall immediately notify the Company in writing of such disposition. Participant agrees that Participant may be subject to income tax withholding by the Company on the compensation income recognized by Participant from the early disposition by payment in cash or out of the current wages or other compensation payable to Participant.

6. COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS AND REGULATIONS. The Plan and this Agreement are intended to comply with Section 25102(o) of the California Corporations Code and any regulations relating thereto. Any provision of this Agreement that is inconsistent with Section 25102(o) or any regulations relating thereto shall, without further act or amendment by the Company or the Board, be reformed to comply with the requirements of Section 25102(o) and any regulations relating thereto. The exercise of the Option and the issuance and transfer of Shares shall be subject to compliance by the Company and Participant with all applicable requirements of federal and state securities laws and with all applicable requirements of any stock exchange on which the Company’s Common Stock may be listed at the time of such issuance or transfer. Participant understands that the Company is under no obligation to register or qualify the Shares with the SEC, any state securities commission or any stock exchange to effect such compliance.

7. NONTRANSFERABILITY OF OPTION. The Option may not be transferred in any manner other than by will or by the laws of descent and distribution, and, with respect to NQSOs, by instrument to an inter vivos or testamentary trust in which the options are to be passed to beneficiaries upon the death of the trustor (settlor), or by gift to “immediate family” as that term is defined in 17 C.F.R. 240.16a-1(e), and may be exercised during the lifetime of Participant only by Participant or in the event of Participant’s incapacity, by Participant’s legal representative. The terms of the Option shall be binding upon the executors, administrators, successors and assigns of Participant.

8. COMPANY’S RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL. Before any Vested Shares held by Participant or any transferee of such Vested Shares may be sold or otherwise transferred (including without limitation a transfer by gift or operation of law), such transfer must be permitted by written approval of the Committee or the Board, and the Company and/or its assignee(s) shall have an assignable right of first refusal to purchase the Vested Shares to be sold or transferred on the terms and conditions set forth in the Exercise Agreement (the “Right of First Refusal”). The Company’s Right of First Refusal will terminate when the Company’s securities become publicly traded.

9. TAX CONSEQUENCES. Set forth below is a brief summary as of the Effective Date of the Plan of some of the federal and California tax consequences of exercise of the Option and disposition of the Shares. THIS SUMMARY IS NECESSARILY INCOMPLETE, AND THE TAX LAWS AND REGULATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. PARTICIPANT SHOULD CONSULT A TAX ADVISER BEFORE EXERCISING THE OPTION OR DISPOSING OF THE SHARES.

9.1 Exercise of ISO. If the Option qualifies as an ISO, there will be no regular federal or California income tax liability upon the exercise of the Option, although the excess, if any, of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on the date of exercise over the Exercise Price will be treated as a tax preference item for federal alternative minimum tax purposes and may subject the Participant to the alternative minimum tax in the year of exercise.


9.2 Exercise of Nonqualified Stock Option. If the Option does not qualify as an ISO, there may be a regular federal and California income tax liability upon the exercise of the Option. Participant will be treated as having received compensation income (taxable at ordinary income tax rates) equal to the excess, if any, of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on the date of exercise over the Exercise Price. If Participant is a current or former employee of the Company, the Company may be required to withhold from Participant’s compensation or collect from Participant and pay to the applicable taxing authorities an amount equal to a percentage of this compensation income at the time of exercise.

9.3 Disposition of Shares. The following tax consequences may apply upon disposition of the Shares.

(a) Incentive Stock Options. If the Shares are held for more than twelve (12) months after the date of purchase of the Shares pursuant to the exercise of an ISO and are disposed of more than two (2) years after the Date of Grant, any gain realized on disposition of the Shares will be treated as long term capital gain for federal and California income tax purposes. If Vested Shares purchased under an ISO are disposed of within the applicable one (1) year or two (2) year period, any gain realized on such disposition will be treated as compensation income (taxable at ordinary income rates in the year of the disposition) to the extent of the excess, if any, of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on the date of exercise over the Exercise Price. To the extent the Shares were exercised prior to vesting coincident with the filing of an 83(b) Election, the amount taxed because of a disqualifying disposition will be based upon the excess, if any, of the fair market value on the date of vesting over the exercise price.

(b) Nonqualified Stock Options. If the Shares are held for more than twelve (12) months after the date of purchase of the Shares pursuant to the exercise of an NQSO, any gain realized on disposition of the Shares will be treated as long term capital gain.

(c) Withholding. The Company may be required to withhold from the Participant’s compensation or collect from the Participant and pay to the applicable taxing authorities an amount equal to a percentage of this compensation income.

10. PRIVILEGES OF STOCK OWNERSHIP. Participant shall not have any of the rights of a stockholder with respect to any Shares until the Shares are issued to Participant.

11. GENERAL PROVISIONS

11.1 Interpretation. Any dispute regarding the interpretation of this Agreement shall be submitted by Participant or the Company to the Committee for review. The resolution of such a dispute by the Committee shall be final and binding on the Company and Participant.


11.2 Entire Agreement. The Plan is incorporated herein by reference. This Agreement and the Plan constitute the entire agreement of the parties and supersede all prior undertakings and agreements with respect to the subject matter hereof.

11.3 Notices. Any notice required to be given or delivered to the Company under the terms of this Agreement shall be in writing and addressed to the Corporate Secretary of the Company at its principal corporate offices or to its facsimile or telecopier number specified below. Any notice required to be given or delivered to Participant shall be in writing and addressed to Participant at the address, facsimile, telecopier, or e-mail indicated below or to such other address, facsimile, telecopier, or e-mail as such party may designate in writing from time to time to the Company. All notices shall be deemed to have been given or delivered upon: (i) personal delivery; (ii) three (3) days after deposit in the United States mail by certified or registered mail (return receipt requested); (iii) one (1) business day after deposit with any return receipt express courier (prepaid); or (iv) one (1) business day after transmission by facsimile, telecopier, or e-mail.

11.4 Successors and Assigns. The Company may assign any of its rights under this Agreement, including its rights to purchase Shares under the Right of First Refusal. No other party to this Agreement may assign, whether voluntarily or by operation of law, any of its rights and obligations under this Agreement, except with the prior written consent of the Company. This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the successors and assigns of the Company. Subject to the restrictions on transfer set forth herein, this Agreement shall be binding upon Participant and Participant’s heirs, executors, administrators, legal representatives, successors and assigns.

11.5 Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California as such laws are applied to agreements between California residents entered into and to be performed entirely within California.

11.6 Acceptance. Participant hereby acknowledges receipt of a copy of the Plan and this Agreement. Participant has read and understands the terms and provisions thereof, and accepts the Option subject to all the terms and conditions of the Plan and this Agreement. Participant acknowledges that there may be adverse tax consequences upon exercise of the Option or disposition of the Shares and that Participant should consult a tax adviser prior to such exercise or disposition.

11.7 Further Assurances. The parties agree to execute such further documents and instruments and to take such further actions as may be reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes and intent of this Agreement.

11.8 Titles and Headings. The titles, captions and headings of this Agreement are included for ease of reference only and will be disregarded in interpreting or construing this Agreement. Unless otherwise specifically stated, all references herein to “sections” and “exhibits” will mean “sections” and “exhibits” to this Agreement.


11.9 Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which when so executed and delivered will be deemed an original, and all of which together shall constitute one and the same agreement.

11.10 Severability. If any provision of this Agreement is determined by any court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, such provision will be enforced to the maximum extent possible given the intent of the parties hereto. If such clause or provision cannot be so enforced, such provision shall be stricken from this Agreement and the remainder of this Agreement shall be enforced as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable clause or provision had (to the extent not enforceable) never been contained in this Agreement. Notwithstanding the forgoing, if the value of this Agreement based upon the substantial benefit of the bargain for any party is materially impaired, which determination as made by the presiding court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction shall be binding, then both parties agree to substitute such provision(s) through good faith negotiations.

11.12 Facsimile/Electronic Signatures. This Agreement may be executed and delivered by facsimile or electronically (by e-mail) and upon such delivery the facsimile (or electronic) signature will be deemed to have the same effect as if the original signature had been delivered to the other party.

11.13 Waiver of Statutory Information Rights. Participant understands and agrees that, but for the waiver made herein, Participant would be entitled, upon written demand under oath stating the purpose thereof, to inspect for any proper purpose, and to make copies and extracts from, the Company’s stock ledger, a list of its stockholders, and its other books and records, and the books and records of subsidiaries of the Company, if any, under the circumstances and in the manner provided in Section 220 of the General Corporation Law of Delaware (any and all such rights, and any and all such other rights of Participant as may be provided for in Section 220, the “Inspection Rights”). In light of the foregoing, until the first sale of stock of the Company to the general public pursuant to a registration statement filed with and declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Act, Participant hereby unconditionally and irrevocably waives the Inspection Rights, whether such Inspection Rights would be exercised or pursued directly or indirectly pursuant to Section 220 or otherwise, and covenants and agrees never to directly or indirectly commence, voluntarily aid in any way, prosecute, assign, transfer, or cause to be commenced any claim, action, cause of action, or other proceeding to pursue or exercise the Inspection Rights. The foregoing waiver shall not affect any rights of a director, in his or her capacity as such, under Section 220. The foregoing waiver shall not apply to any contractual inspection rights of Participant under any other written agreement between Participant and the Company.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Agreement to be executed in triplicate by its duly authorized representative and Participant has executed this Agreement in triplicate, effective as of the Date of Grant.


COUCHBASE, INC.
By:  

                                                                           

Greg Henry

Chief Financial Officer

Address:
Couchbase, Inc.
3250 Olcott Street
Santa Clara, CA 95054
Facsimile:
[***]

The undersigned hereby acknowledges receiving and reviewing a copy of the Plan, including, without limitation, Sections 11 and 12 thereof, and understands that this Option is subject to the terms of the Plan and of this Agreement.

 

PARTICIPANT
By:  

 

Address:

 

 

 

Email:

 


No.

COUCHBASE, INC.

2018 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

STOCK OPTION AGREEMENT

This Stock Option Agreement (the “Agreement”) is made and entered into as of the date of grant set forth below (the “Date of Grant”) by and between Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and the participant named below (the “Participant”). Capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meaning ascribed to them in the Company’s 2018 Equity Incentive Plan (as amended from time to time, the “Plan”).

 

Participant:   

 

Social Security Number:   

 

Total Option Shares:   

 

Exercise Price Per Share:   

 

Date of Grant:   

 

First Vesting Date:   

 

Expiration Date:   
  

 

Type of Stock Option:   

 

1. GRANT OF OPTION. The Company hereby grants to Participant an option (this “Option”) to purchase the total number of shares of Common Stock, $0.00001 par value per share, of the Company set forth above as Total Option Shares (the “Shares”) at the Exercise Price Per Share set forth above (the “Exercise Price”), subject to all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement and the Plan. If designated as an Incentive Stock Option above, the Option is intended to qualify as an “incentive stock option” (the “ISO”) within the meaning of Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), except that if on the date of grant the Participant is not eligible to receive an ISO, then this Option shall be a “nonqualified stock option” (the “NQSO” or “NSO”).

2. EXERCISE PERIOD.

2.1 Exercise Period of Option. Provided Participant continues to provide services to the Company or any Subsidiary or Parent of the Company, the Option will become vested and exercisable as to portions of the Shares as follows: (i) this Option shall not vest nor be exercisable with respect to any of the Shares until the First Vesting Date set forth on the first page of this Agreement (the “First Vesting Date”); (ii) on the First Vesting Date the Option will become vested and exercisable as to 1/4th of the Shares; and (iii) thereafter at the end of each full


succeeding calendar month the Option will become vested and exercisable as to 1/48th of the Shares until the Shares are vested with respect to all of the Shares. If application of the vesting percentage causes a fractional share, such share shall be rounded down to the nearest whole share for each month except for the last month in such vesting period, at the end of which last month this Option shall become exercisable for the full remainder of the Shares. [Notwithstanding the foregoing, 100% of the Shares will become immediately vested and exercisable upon Participant’s death, subject to Participant’s continuous service with the Company or any Subsidiary or Parent of the Company until the date of such death.][1]

2.2 Vesting of Options. Shares that are vested pursuant to the schedule set forth in Section 2.1 are “Vested Shares. Shares that are not vested pursuant to the schedule set forth in Section 2.1 are Unvested Shares.

2.3 Expiration. The Option shall expire on the Expiration Date set forth above or earlier as provided in Section 3 below or pursuant to Section 5.6 of the Plan.

3. TERMINATION.

3.1 Termination for Any Reason Except Death, Disability or Cause. If Participant is Terminated for any reason, except death, Disability or for Cause, the Option, to the extent (and only to the extent) that it would have been exercisable by Participant on the Termination Date, may be exercised by Participant no later than three (3) months after the Termination Date, but in any event no later than the Expiration Date.

3.2 Termination Because of Death or Disability. If Participant is Terminated because of death or Disability of Participant (or Participant dies within three (3) months of Termination when Termination is for any reason other than Participant’s Disability or for Cause), the Option, to the extent that it is exercisable by Participant on the Termination Date, may be exercised by Participant (or Participant’s legal representative) no later than twelve (12) months after the Termination Date, but in any event no later than the Expiration Date. Any exercise beyond (i) three (3) months after the Termination Date when the Termination is for any reason other than the Participant’s death or disability, within the meaning of Section 22(e)(3) of the Code; or (ii) twelve (12) months after the Termination Date when the termination is for Participant’s disability, within the meaning of Section 22(e)(3) of the Code, is deemed to be an NQSO.

3.3 Termination for Cause. If the Participant is terminated for Cause, the Participant may exercise such Participant’s Options, but not to an extent greater than such Options are exercisable as to Vested Shares upon the Termination Date and Participant’s Options shall expire on such Participant’s Termination Date, or at such later time and on such conditions as are determined by the Committee.

3.4 No Obligation to Employ. Nothing in the Plan or this Agreement shall confer on Participant any right to continue in the employ of, or other relationship with, the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, or limit in any way the right of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company to terminate Participant’s employment or other relationship at any time, with or without Cause.


4. MANNER OF EXERCISE.

4.1 Stock Option Exercise Agreement. To exercise this Option, Participant (or in the case of exercise after Participant’s death or incapacity, Participant’s executor, administrator, heir or legatee, as the case may be) must deliver to the Company an executed stock option exercise agreement in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A, or in such other form as may be approved by the Committee from time to time (the “Exercise Agreement”), which shall set forth, inter alia, (i) Participant’s election to exercise the Option, (ii) the number of Shares being purchased, (iii) any restrictions imposed on the Shares and (iv) any representations, warranties and agreements regarding Participant’s investment intent and access to information as may be required by the Company to comply with applicable securities laws. If someone other than Participant exercises the Option, then such person must submit documentation reasonably acceptable to the Company verifying that such person has the legal right to exercise the Option and such person shall be subject to all of the restrictions contained herein as if such person were the Participant.

4.2 Limitations on Exercise. The Option may not be exercised unless such exercise is in compliance with all applicable federal and state securities laws, as they are in effect on the date of exercise. The Option may not be exercised as to fewer than one hundred (100) Shares unless it is exercised as to all Shares as to which the Option is then exercisable.

4.3 Payment. The Exercise Agreement shall be accompanied by full payment of the Exercise Price for the shares being purchased in cash (by check or wire transfer of immediately available funds), or where permitted by law:

(a) by surrender of shares of the Company’s Common Stock that (i) either (A) the Company has received “full payment of the purchase price” within the meaning of SEC Rule 144 (and, if such shares were purchased from the Company by use of a promissory note, such note has been fully paid with respect to such shares); or (B) were obtained by Participant in the open public market, to the extent required to avoid variable accounting treatment under ASC 718 or other applicable accounting rules; and (ii) are clear of all liens, claims, encumbrances or security interests;

(b) by waiver of compensation due or accrued to Participant for services rendered;

(c) provided that a public market for the Company’s stock exists: (i) through a “same day sale” commitment from Participant and a broker-dealer that is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers (an “NASD Dealer”) whereby Participant irrevocably elects to exercise the Option and to sell a portion of the Shares so purchased sufficient to pay for the total Exercise Price and whereby the NASD Dealer irrevocably commits upon receipt of such Shares to forward the total Exercise Price directly to the Company, or (ii) through a “margin” commitment from Participant and an NASD Dealer whereby Participant irrevocably elects to exercise the Option and to pledge the Shares so purchased to the NASD Dealer in a margin account as security for a loan from the NASD Dealer in the amount of the total Exercise Price, and whereby the NASD Dealer irrevocably commits upon receipt of such Shares to forward the total Exercise Price directly to the Company; or


(d) any other form of consideration approved by the Committee; or

(e) by any combination of the foregoing.

4.4 Tax Withholding. Prior to the issuance of the Shares upon exercise of the Option, Participant must pay or provide for any applicable federal, state and local withholding obligations of the Company. Participant authorizes the Company to withhold any of such amounts from any other payments made or due from the Company to the Participant. If the Committee permits, the payment of withholding taxes upon exercise of the Option may be made by the Company retaining the minimum number of Shares with a Fair Market Value equal to the amount of taxes required to be withheld; but in no event will the Company withhold Shares if such withholding would result in adverse accounting consequences to the Company. In such case, the Company shall issue the net number of Shares to the Participant by deducting the Shares retained from the Shares issuable upon exercise.

4.5 Issuance of Shares. Provided that the Exercise Agreement and payment are in form and substance satisfactory to counsel for the Company, the Company shall issue the Shares registered in the name of Participant, Participant’s authorized assignee, or Participant’s legal representative, and shall deliver certificates representing the Shares with the appropriate legends affixed thereto.

5. NOTICE OF DISQUALIFYING DISPOSITION OF ISO SHARES. If the Option is an ISO, and if Participant sells or otherwise disposes of any of the Shares acquired pursuant to the ISO on or before the later of (i) the date two (2) years after the Date of Grant, and (ii) the date one (1) year after transfer of such Shares to Participant upon exercise of the Option, Participant shall immediately notify the Company in writing of such disposition. Participant agrees that Participant may be subject to income tax withholding by the Company on the compensation income recognized by Participant from the early disposition by payment in cash or out of the current wages or other compensation payable to Participant.

6. COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS AND REGULATIONS. The Plan and this Agreement are intended to comply with Section 25102(o) of the California Corporations Code and any regulations relating thereto. Any provision of this Agreement that is inconsistent with Section 25102(o) or any regulations relating thereto shall, without further act or amendment by the Company or the Board, be reformed to comply with the requirements of Section 25102(o) and any regulations relating thereto. The exercise of the Option and the issuance and transfer of Shares shall be subject to compliance by the Company and Participant with all applicable requirements of federal and state securities laws and with all applicable requirements of any stock exchange on which the Company’s Common Stock may be listed at the time of such issuance or transfer. Participant understands that the Company is under no obligation to register or qualify the Shares with the SEC, any state securities commission or any stock exchange to effect such compliance.


7. NONTRANSFERABILITY OF OPTION. The Option may not be transferred in any manner other than by will or by the laws of descent and distribution, and, with respect to NQSOs, by instrument to an inter vivos or testamentary trust in which the options are to be passed to beneficiaries upon the death of the trustor (settlor), or by gift to “immediate family” as that term is defined in 17 C.F.R. 240.16a-1(e), and may be exercised during the lifetime of Participant only by Participant or in the event of Participant’s incapacity, by Participant’s legal representative. The terms of the Option shall be binding upon the executors, administrators, successors and assigns of Participant.

8. COMPANY’S RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL. Before any Vested Shares held by Participant or any transferee of such Vested Shares may be sold or otherwise transferred (including without limitation a transfer by gift or operation of law), such transfer must be permitted by written approval of the Committee or the Board, and the Company and/or its assignee(s) shall have an assignable right of first refusal to purchase the Vested Shares to be sold or transferred on the terms and conditions set forth in the Exercise Agreement (the “Right of First Refusal”). The Company’s Right of First Refusal will terminate when the Company’s securities become publicly traded.

9. TAX CONSEQUENCES. Set forth below is a brief summary as of the Effective Date of the Plan of some of the federal and California tax consequences of exercise of the Option and disposition of the Shares. THIS SUMMARY IS NECESSARILY INCOMPLETE, AND THE TAX LAWS AND REGULATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. PARTICIPANT SHOULD CONSULT A TAX ADVISER BEFORE EXERCISING THE OPTION OR DISPOSING OF THE SHARES.

9.1 Exercise of ISO. If the Option qualifies as an ISO, there will be no regular federal or California income tax liability upon the exercise of the Option, although the excess, if any, of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on the date of exercise over the Exercise Price will be treated as a tax preference item for federal alternative minimum tax purposes and may subject the Participant to the alternative minimum tax in the year of exercise.

9.2 Exercise of Nonqualified Stock Option. If the Option does not qualify as an ISO, there may be a regular federal and California income tax liability upon the exercise of the Option. Participant will be treated as having received compensation income (taxable at ordinary income tax rates) equal to the excess, if any, of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on the date of exercise over the Exercise Price. If Participant is a current or former employee of the Company, the Company may be required to withhold from Participant’s compensation or collect from Participant and pay to the applicable taxing authorities an amount equal to a percentage of this compensation income at the time of exercise.

9.3 Disposition of Shares. The following tax consequences may apply upon disposition of the Shares.


(a) Incentive Stock Options. If the Shares are held for more than twelve (12) months after the date of purchase of the Shares pursuant to the exercise of an ISO and are disposed of more than two (2) years after the Date of Grant, any gain realized on disposition of the Shares will be treated as long term capital gain for federal and California income tax purposes. If Vested Shares purchased under an ISO are disposed of within the applicable one (1) year or two (2) year period, any gain realized on such disposition will be treated as compensation income (taxable at ordinary income rates in the year of the disposition) to the extent of the excess, if any, of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on the date of exercise over the Exercise Price. To the extent the Shares were exercised prior to vesting coincident with the filing of an 83(b) Election, the amount taxed because of a disqualifying disposition will be based upon the excess, if any, of the fair market value on the date of vesting over the exercise price.

(b) Nonqualified Stock Options. If the Shares are held for more than twelve (12) months after the date of purchase of the Shares pursuant to the exercise of an NQSO, any gain realized on disposition of the Shares will be treated as long term capital gain.

(c) Withholding. The Company may be required to withhold from the Participant’s compensation or collect from the Participant and pay to the applicable taxing authorities an amount equal to a percentage of this compensation income.

10. PRIVILEGES OF STOCK OWNERSHIP. Participant shall not have any of the rights of a stockholder with respect to any Shares until the Shares are issued to Participant.

11. GENERAL PROVISIONS

11.1 Interpretation. Any dispute regarding the interpretation of this Agreement shall be submitted by Participant or the Company to the Committee for review. The resolution of such a dispute by the Committee shall be final and binding on the Company and Participant.

11.2 Entire Agreement. The Plan is incorporated herein by reference. This Agreement and the Plan constitute the entire agreement of the parties and supersede all prior undertakings and agreements with respect to the subject matter hereof.

11.3 Notices. Any notice required to be given or delivered to the Company under the terms of this Agreement shall be in writing and addressed to the Corporate Secretary of the Company at its principal corporate offices or to its facsimile or telecopier number specified below. Any notice required to be given or delivered to Participant shall be in writing and addressed to Participant at the address, facsimile, telecopier, or e-mail indicated below or to such other address, facsimile, telecopier, or e-mail as such party may designate in writing from time to time to the Company. All notices shall be deemed to have been given or delivered upon: (i) personal delivery; (ii) three (3) days after deposit in the United States mail by certified or registered mail (return receipt requested); (iii) one (1) business day after deposit with any return receipt express courier (prepaid); or (iv) one (1) business day after transmission by facsimile, telecopier, or e-mail.

11.4 Successors and Assigns. The Company may assign any of its rights under this Agreement, including its rights to purchase Shares under the Right of First Refusal. No other party to this Agreement may assign, whether voluntarily or by operation of law, any of its rights and obligations under this Agreement, except with the prior written consent of the Company. This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the successors and assigns of the Company. Subject to the restrictions on transfer set forth herein, this Agreement shall be binding upon Participant and Participant’s heirs, executors, administrators, legal representatives, successors and assigns.


11.5 Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California as such laws are applied to agreements between California residents entered into and to be performed entirely within California.

11.6 Acceptance. Participant hereby acknowledges receipt of a copy of the Plan and this Agreement. Participant has read and understands the terms and provisions thereof, and accepts the Option subject to all the terms and conditions of the Plan and this Agreement. Participant acknowledges that there may be adverse tax consequences upon exercise of the Option or disposition of the Shares and that Participant should consult a tax adviser prior to such exercise or disposition.

11.7     Further Assurances. The parties agree to execute such further documents and instruments and to take such further actions as may be reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes and intent of this Agreement.

11.8     Titles and Headings. The titles, captions and headings of this Agreement are included for ease of reference only and will be disregarded in interpreting or construing this Agreement. Unless otherwise specifically stated, all references herein to “sections” and “exhibits” will mean “sections” and “exhibits” to this Agreement.

11.9     Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which when so executed and delivered will be deemed an original, and all of which together shall constitute one and the same agreement.

11.10 Severability. If any provision of this Agreement is determined by any court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, such provision will be enforced to the maximum extent possible given the intent of the parties hereto. If such clause or provision cannot be so enforced, such provision shall be stricken from this Agreement and the remainder of this Agreement shall be enforced as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable clause or provision had (to the extent not enforceable) never been contained in this Agreement. Notwithstanding the forgoing, if the value of this Agreement based upon the substantial benefit of the bargain for any party is materially impaired, which determination as made by the presiding court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction shall be binding, then both parties agree to substitute such provision(s) through good faith negotiations.

11.12 Facsimile/Electronic Signatures. This Agreement may be executed and delivered by facsimile or electronically (by e-mail) and upon such delivery the facsimile (or electronic) signature will be deemed to have the same effect as if the original signature had been delivered to the other party.

11.13 Waiver of Statutory Information Rights. Participant understands and agrees that, but for the waiver made herein, Participant would be entitled, upon written demand under oath stating the purpose thereof, to inspect for any proper purpose, and to make copies and extracts from, the Company’s stock ledger, a list of its stockholders, and its other books and records, and the books and records of subsidiaries of the Company, if any, under the circumstances


and in the manner provided in Section 220 of the General Corporation Law of Delaware (any and all such rights, and any and all such other rights of Participant as may be provided for in Section 220, the “Inspection Rights”). In light of the foregoing, until the first sale of stock of the Company to the general public pursuant to a registration statement filed with and declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Act, Participant hereby unconditionally and irrevocably waives the Inspection Rights, whether such Inspection Rights would be exercised or pursued directly or indirectly pursuant to Section 220 or otherwise, and covenants and agrees never to directly or indirectly commence, voluntarily aid in any way, prosecute, assign, transfer, or cause to be commenced any claim, action, cause of action, or other proceeding to pursue or exercise the Inspection Rights. The foregoing waiver shall not affect any rights of a director, in his or her capacity as such, under Section 220. The foregoing waiver shall not apply to any contractual inspection rights of Participant under any other written agreement between Participant and the Company.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Agreement to be executed in triplicate by its duly authorized representative and Participant has executed this Agreement in triplicate, effective as of the Date of Grant.

 

COUCHBASE, INC.
By:  

 

Greg Henry

Chief Financial Officer

Address:  

Couchbase, Inc.

2440 W. El Camino Real Suite 101

Mountain View, CA 94040
Facsimile:
[***]

The undersigned hereby acknowledges receiving and reviewing a copy of the Plan, including, without limitation, Sections 11 and 12 thereof, and understands that this Option is subject to the terms of the Plan and of this Agreement.

 

PARTICIPANT
By:  

 

Address:

 

 

 

Email:

 


EXHIBIT B

2018 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN


COUCHBASE, INC.

2018 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

As Adopted on October 19, 2018

1. PURPOSE. The purpose of this Plan is to provide incentives to attract, retain and motivate eligible persons whose present and potential contributions are important to the success of the Company, its Parent and Subsidiaries by offering eligible persons an opportunity to participate in the Company’s future performance through Awards. Capitalized terms not defined in the text are defined in Section 24 hereof. Although this Plan is intended to be a written compensatory benefit plan within the meaning of Rule 701 promulgated under the Securities Act, grants may be made pursuant to this Plan that do not qualify for exemption under Rule 701 or Section 25102(o) of the California Corporations Code (“Section 25102(o)”). Any requirement of this Plan that is required in law only because of Section 25102(o) need not apply if the Committee so provides.

2. SHARES SUBJECT TO THE PLAN

2.1 Number of Shares Available. Subject to Sections 2.2 and 19 hereof, the total number of Shares reserved and available for grant and issuance pursuant to this Plan will be 1,726,568 Shares, which is the number of Shares that remain available for grants under the Company’s 2008 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended (the “2008 Plan”) as of September 30, 2018. Subject to Sections 2.2, 5.10 and 19 hereof, Shares subject to Awards previously granted under the 2008 Plan that, on or after September 30, 2018, or the Plan that , (i) are withheld upon exercise of an Option or settlement of an Award to cover the exercise price or tax withholding; (ii) are forfeited or repurchased by the Company at the original issue price; or (iii) are subject to an Award that otherwise terminates without Shares being issued, will again be available for grant and issuance in connection with future Awards under this Plan. At all times the Company will reserve and keep available a sufficient number of Shares as will be required to satisfy the requirements of all Awards granted and outstanding under this Plan.

2.2 Adjustment of Shares. Subject to Section 19 hereof, if, as a result of any stock dividend, reorganization, recapitalization, stock split, reverse stock split, subdivision, combination, reclassification or similar change in the capital structure of the Company, the outstanding Shares are increased or decreased or are exchanged for a different number or kind of shares or other securities of the Company, or additional Shares or new or different shares or other securities of the Company or other non-cash assets are distributed with respect to such Shares or other securities, in each case, without receipt of consideration by the Company, or, if, as a result of any merger or consolidation, or sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company, the outstanding Shares are converted into or exchanged for other securities of the Company or any successor entity (or a parent or subsidiary thereof), then (a) the number of Shares reserved for issuance under this Plan and the ISO Maximum, (b) the Exercise Prices of and number of Shares subject to outstanding Options, (c) the Purchase Prices of and number of Shares subject to other outstanding Awards, and (d) the number and kind of Shares or other securities subject to any then


outstanding Awards under the Plan, will be proportionately adjusted, subject to any required action by the Board or the stockholders of the Company and compliance with applicable securities laws; provided, however, that fractions of a Share will not be issued but will either be paid in cash at the Fair Market Value of such fraction of a Share or will be rounded down to the nearest whole Share, as determined by the Committee; and provided, further, that the Exercise Price of any Option may not be decreased to below the par value of the Shares.

3. ELIGIBILITY. ISOs (as defined in Section 5 hereof) may be granted only to employees (including officers and directors who are also employees) of the Company or of a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company. NQSOs (as defined in Section 5 hereof) and other Awards may be granted to employees, officers, directors and consultants of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company; provided such consultants are natural persons that render bona fide services not in connection with the offer and sale of securities in a capital-raising transaction and do not directly or indirectly promote or maintain a market for the Company’s securities. A person may be granted more than one Award under this Plan.

4. ADMINISTRATION

4.1 Committee Authority. This Plan will be administered by the Committee or the Board if no Committee is created by the Board. Subject to the general purposes, terms and conditions of this Plan, and to the direction of the Board, the Committee will have full power to implement and carry out this Plan. Without limitation, the Committee will have the authority to:

(a) construe and interpret this Plan, any Award Agreement and any other agreement or document executed pursuant to this Plan;

(b) at any time, prescribe, adopt, amend, expand and rescind or terminate rules and regulations relating to this Plan;

(c) approve persons to receive Awards;

(d) determine the time or times of grant;

(e) determine the form and terms of Awards;

(f) determine the number of Shares or other consideration subject to Awards under this Plan;

(g) determine whether Awards will be granted singly, in combination with, in tandem with, in replacement of, or as alternatives to, other Awards under this Plan or awards under any other incentive or compensation plan of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company;


(h) grant waivers of any conditions of this Plan or any Award or impose any limitations on Awards, including limitations on transfers, repurchase provisions and the like, and exercise repurchase rights or obligations;

(i) determine the terms of vesting, exercisability and payment of Awards under this Plan;

(j) accelerate at any time the exercisability or vesting of all or any portion of any Award;

(k) correct any defect, supply any omission, or reconcile any inconsistency in this Plan, any Award, any Award Agreement, any Exercise Agreement or any Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement;

(l) determine whether an Award has been earned;

(m) determine and, subject to Section 20, modify from time to time the terms and conditions, including restrictions, not inconsistent with the terms of the Plan, of any Award, which terms and conditions may differ among individual Awards and Participants, and approve the form of Award Agreements;

(n) decide all disputes arising in connection with the Plan; make all other determinations necessary or advisable for the administration of this Plan; and otherwise supervise the administration of the Plan;

(o) exercise its discretion to reduce the exercise price of outstanding Options or effect repricing through cancellation of outstanding Options and by granting such holders new Awards in replacement of the cancelled Options;

(p) in order to comply with the laws in other countries in which the Company and any Subsidiary operate or have employees or other individuals eligible for Awards: (i) determine which Subsidiaries, if any, shall be covered by the Plan; (ii) determine which individuals, if any, outside the United States are eligible to participate in the Plan; (iii) modify the terms and conditions of any Award granted to individuals outside the United States to comply with applicable foreign laws; (iv) establish subplans and modify exercise procedures and other terms and procedures, to the extent the Committee determines such actions to be necessary or advisable (and such subplans and/or modifications shall be attached to the Plan as appendices); provided, however, that no such subplans and/or modifications shall increase the share limitation contained in Section 2.1 hereof; and (v) take any action, before or after an Award is made, that the Committee determines to be necessary or advisable to obtain approval or comply with any local governmental regulatory exemptions or approvals; and

(q) subject to Section 5.3 and any restrictions imposed by Section 409A of the Code, extend the vesting period beyond a Participant’s Termination Date.


4.2 Committee Discretion. Unless in contravention of any express terms of this Plan or Award, any determination made by the Committee with respect to any Award will be made in its sole discretion either (a) at the time of grant of the Award, or (b) subject to Section 5.9 hereof, at any later time. Any such determination will be final and binding on the Company and on all persons having an interest in any Award under this Plan. Subject to applicable law, the Committee may delegate to one or more officers of the Company the authority to grant an Award under this Plan to non-officer recipients, provided such officer or officers are members of the Board; provided, however, that the resolution so authorizing the delegation to such officer(s) shall contain a limit on the number of Awards the officer(s) may so award. Any such delegation by the Committee shall also provide that the officer(s) may not grant Awards to himself or herself. The Committee may revoke or amend the terms of a delegation at any time but such action shall not invalidate any prior actions of the Committee’s delegate or delegates that were consistent with the terms of the Plan. Neither the Board nor the Committee, nor any member of either or any delegate thereof, shall be liable for any act, omission, interpretation, construction or determination made in good faith in connection with the Plan, and the members of the Board and the Committee (and any delegate thereof) shall be entitled in all cases to indemnification and reimbursement by the Company in respect of any claim, loss, damage or expense (including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising or resulting therefrom to the fullest extent permitted by law and/or under the Company’s governing documents, including its certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or any directors’ and officers’ liability insurance coverage which may be in effect from time to time and/or any indemnification agreement between such individual and the Company.

5. OPTIONS. The Committee may grant Options to eligible persons described in Section 3 hereof and will determine whether such Options will be Incentive Stock Options within the meaning of the Code (“ISOs”) or Nonqualified Stock Options (“NQSOs”), the number of Shares subject to the Option, the Exercise Price of the Option, the period during which the Option may be exercised, and all other terms and conditions of the Option, subject to the following:

5.1 Form of Option Grant. Each Option granted under this Plan will be evidenced by an Award Agreement which will expressly identify the Option as an ISO or an NQSO (“Stock Option Agreement”), and will be in such form and contain such provisions (which need not be the same for each Participant) as the Committee may from time to time approve, and which will comply with and be subject to the terms and conditions of this Plan. To the extent that any Option does not qualify as an ISO, it shall be deemed a NQSO.

5.2 Date of Grant. The date of grant of an Option will be the date on which the Committee makes the determination to grant such Option, unless a later date is otherwise specified by the Committee, The Stock Option Agreement and a copy of this Plan will be delivered to the Participant within a reasonable time after the granting of the Option.


5.3 Exercise Period. Options may be exercisable immediately; provided, that Shares issued upon such exercise shall be subject to a vesting schedule identical to the vesting schedule of the related Option, such Shares shall be deemed to be Restricted Stock for purposes of the Plan subject to repurchase pursuant to Section 12 hereof, and the Participant may be required to enter into an additional or new Award Agreement as a condition to exercise of such Option. Options may be exercisable within the times or upon the events determined by the Committee as set forth in the Stock Option Agreement governing such Option; provided, however, that no Option will be exercisable after the expiration of ten (10) years from the date the Option is granted; and provided further that no ISO granted to a person who directly or by attribution owns more than ten percent (10%) of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock of the Company or of any Parent or Subsidiary (“Ten Percent Shareholder”) will be exercisable after the expiration of five (5) years from the date the ISO is granted. The Committee also may provide for Options to become exercisable at one time or from time to time, periodically or otherwise, in such number of Shares or percentage of Shares as the Committee determines. A Participant shall have the rights of a stockholder only as to Shares acquired upon the exercise of an Option and not as to unexercised Options. A Participant shall not be deemed to have acquired any Shares unless and until an Option shall have been exercised pursuant to the terms of the Award Agreement and this Plan and the Participant’s name has been entered on the books of the Company as a stockholder.

5.4 Exercise Price. The Exercise Price of an Option will be determined by the Committee when the Option is granted and shall not be less than the Fair Market Value per Share unless expressly determined in writing by the Committee on the Option’s date of grant; provided that the Exercise Price of an ISO granted to a Ten Percent Shareholder will not be less than one hundred ten percent (110%) of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on the date of grant. Payment for the Shares purchased must be made in accordance with Section 8 hereof.

5.5 Method of Exercise. Options may be exercised only by delivery to the Company of a written stock option exercise agreement (the “Exercise Agreement”) in a form approved by the Committee (which need not be the same for each Participant). The Exercise Agreement will state (a) the number of Shares being purchased, (b) the restrictions imposed on the Shares purchased under such Exercise Agreement, if any, and (c) such representations and agreements regarding Participant’s investment intent and access to information and other matters, if any, as may be required or desirable by the Company to comply with applicable securities laws. Participant shall execute and deliver to the Company the Exercise Agreement together with payment in full of the Exercise Price, and any applicable taxes, for the number of Shares being purchased.

5.6 Termination. Subject to earlier termination pursuant to Sections 19 and 22 hereof and notwithstanding the exercise periods set forth in the Stock Option Agreement, exercise of an Option will always be subject to the following:

(a) If the Participant is Terminated for any reason other than death, Disability or for Cause, then the Participant may exercise such Participant’s Options only to the extent that such Options are exercisable as to Vested Shares upon the Termination Date or as otherwise determined by the Committee. Such Options must be exercised by the Participant, if at all, as to all or some of the Vested Shares calculated as of the Termination Date or such other date determined by the Committee, within three (3) months after the Termination Date (with any exercise beyond three (3) months after the Termination Date deemed to be an NQSO) but in any event, no later than the expiration date of the Options.


(b) If the Participant is Terminated because of Participant’s death or Disability (or the Participant dies within three (3) months after a Termination other than for Cause), then Participant’s Options may be exercised only to the extent that such Options are exercisable as to Vested Shares by Participant on the Termination Date or as otherwise determined by the Committee. Such options must be exercised by Participant (or Participant’s legal representative or authorized assignee), if at all, as to all or some of the Vested Shares calculated as of the Termination Date or such other date determined by the Committee, within twelve (12) months after the Termination Date (with any exercise beyond (i) three (3) months after the Termination Date when the Termination is for any reason other than the Participant’s death or disability, within the meaning of Section 22(e)(3) of the Code, or (ii) twelve (12) months after the Termination Date when the Termination is for Participant’s disability, within the meaning of Section 22(e)(3) of the Code, deemed to be an NQSO) but in any event no later than the expiration date of the Options.

(c) If the Participant is terminated for Cause, the Participant may exercise such Participant’s Options, but not to an extent greater than such Options are exercisable as to Vested Shares upon the Termination Date and Participant’s Options shall expire on such Participant’s Termination Date, or at such later time and on such conditions as are determined by the Committee,

5.7 Limitations on Exercise. The Committee may specify a reasonable minimum number of Shares that may be purchased on any exercise of an Option, provided that such minimum number will not prevent Participant from exercising the Option for the full number of Shares for which it is then exercisable.

5.8 Limitations on ISOs. The aggregate Fair Market Value (determined as of the date of grant) of Shares with respect to which ISOs are exercisable for the first time by a Participant during any calendar year (under this Plan or under any other incentive stock option plan of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company) will not exceed One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000). If the Fair Market Value of Shares on the date of grant with respect to which ISOs are exercisable for the first time by a Participant during any calendar year exceeds One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000), then the Options for the first One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000) worth of Shares to become exercisable in such calendar year will be ISOs and the Options for the amount in excess of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000) that become exercisable in that calendar year will be NQSOs. In the event that the Code or the regulations promulgated thereunder are amended after the Effective Date (as defined in Section 20 hereof) to provide for a different limit on the Fair Market Value of Shares permitted to be subject to ISOs, then such different limit will be automatically incorporated herein and will apply to any Options granted after the effective date of such amendment.


5.9 Modification, Extension or Renewal. The Committee may modify, extend or renew outstanding Options and authorize the grant of new Options in substitution therefor, provided that any such action may not, without the written consent of a Participant, impair any of such Participant’s rights under any Option previously granted. Any outstanding ISO that is modified, extended, renewed or otherwise altered will be treated in accordance with Section 424(h) of the Code. Subject to Section 5.10 hereof, the Committee may reduce the Exercise Price of outstanding Options without the consent of Participants by a written notice to them; provided, however, that the Exercise Price may not be reduced below the minimum Exercise Price that would be permitted under Section 5.4 hereof for Options granted on the date the action is taken to reduce the Exercise Price; provided, further, that the Exercise Price will not be reduced below the par value of the Shares, if any.

5.10 No Disqualification. Notwithstanding any other provision in this Plan, no term of this Plan relating to ISOs will be interpreted, amended or altered, nor will any discretion or authority granted under this Plan be exercised, so as to disqualify this Plan under Section 422 of the Code or, without the consent of the Participant, to disqualify any Participant’s ISO under Section 422 of the Code. In no event shall the total number of Shares issued (counting each reissuance of a Share that was previously issued and then forfeited or repurchased by the Company as a separate issuance) under the Plan upon exercise of ISOs exceed 17,265,680 Shares (adjusted in proportion to any adjustments under Section 2.2 hereof) over the term of the Plan (the “ISO Maximum”).

6. RESTRICTED STOCK. A Restricted Stock Award is an offer by the Company to sell to an eligible person Shares that are subject to certain specified restrictions. The Committee will determine to whom an offer will be made, the number of Shares the person may purchase, the Purchase Price, the restrictions to which the Shares will be subject, and all other terms and conditions of the Restricted Stock Award, subject to the following:

6.1 Form of Restricted Stock Award. All purchases under a Restricted Stock Award made pursuant to this Plan will be evidenced by an Award Agreement (“Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement”) that will be in such form (which need not be the same for each Participant) as the Committee will from time to time approve, and will comply with and be subject to the terms and conditions of this Plan. The Restricted Stock Award will be accepted by the Participant’s execution and delivery of the Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement and full payment for the Shares to the Company within thirty (30) days from the date the Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement is delivered to the person. If such person does not execute and deliver the Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement along with full payment for the Shares to the Company within such thirty (30) days, then the offer will terminate, unless otherwise determined by the Committee.

6.2 Purchase Price. The Purchase Price of Shares sold pursuant to a Restricted Stock Award will be determined by the Committee on the date the Restricted Stock Award is granted or at the time the purchase is consummated. Payment of the Purchase Price must be made in accordance with Section 8 hereof,

6.3 Restrictions. Restricted Stock Awards may be subject to the restrictions set forth in Section 12 hereof or such other restrictions not inconsistent with Section 25102(o) of the California Corporations Code.


7. RESTRICTED STOCK UNITS.

7.1 Nature of Restricted Stock Units. The Committee may, in its sole discretion, grant to an eligible person under Section 3 hereof Restricted Stock Units under the Plan. The Committee shall determine the restrictions and conditions applicable to each Restricted Stock Unit at the time of grant. Vesting conditions may be based on continuing services as an employee, officer, director or consultant to the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, achievement of pre-established performance goals and objectives and/or other such criteria as the Committee may determine. Upon the grant of Restricted Stock Units, the Participant and the Company shall enter into an Award Agreement (“Restricted Stock Unit Agreement”). The terms and conditions of each such Restricted Stock Unit Agreement shall be determined by the Committee and may differ among individual Awards and Participants. Unless otherwise provided in the Restricted Stock Unit Agreement, on or promptly following the vesting date or dates applicable to any Restricted Stock Unit, but in no event later than March 15 of the year following the year in which such vesting occurs, such Restricted Stock Unit(s) shall be settled in the form of cash or Shares, as specified in the Restricted Stock Unit Agreement. Restricted Stock Units may not be sold, assigned, transferred, pledged, or otherwise encumbered or disposed of.

7.2 Termination. Except as may otherwise be provided by the Committee either in the Restricted Stock Unit Agreement or in writing after the Restricted Stock Unit Agreement is issued, a Participant’s right in all Restricted Stock Units that have not vested shall automatically terminate upon the Participant’s Termination.

8. PAYMENT FOR SHARE PURCHASES.

8.1 Payment. Payment for Shares purchased pursuant to this Plan may be made in cash (by check or wire transfer of immediately available funds) or, where expressly approved for the Participant by the Committee and where permitted by law:

(a) by cancellation of indebtedness of the Company owed to the Participant;

(b) by surrender of shares of the Company that: (i) either (A) for which the Company has received “full payment of the purchase price” within the meaning of SEC Rule 144 (and, if such shares were purchased from the Company by use of a promissory note, such note has been fully paid with respect to such shares) or (B) were obtained by Participant in the public market, to the extent required to avoid variable accounting treatment under ASC Topic 718 or other applicable accounting rules, and (ii) are clear of all liens, claims, encumbrances or security interests;

(c) by tender of a full recourse promissory note having such terms as may be approved by the Committee and bearing interest at a rate sufficient to avoid imputation of income under Sections 483 and 1274 of the Code; provided, however, that Participants who are not employees or directors of the Company will not be entitled to purchase Shares with a promissory note unless the note is adequately secured by collateral other than the Shares; provided, further, that the portion of the Exercise Price or Purchase Price, as the case may be, equal to the par value of the Shares must be paid in cash or other legal consideration permitted by Delaware General Corporation Law;


(d) by waiver of compensation due or accrued to the Participant from the Company for services rendered;

(e) with respect only to purchases upon exercise of an Option, and provided that a public market for the Company’s stock exists:

(i) through a “same day sale” commitment from the Participant and a broker-dealer that is a member of a financial industry regulatory authority, such as the New York Stock Exchange (each, a “Dealer”), whereby the Participant irrevocably elects to exercise the Option and to sell a portion of the Shares so purchased sufficient to pay the total Exercise Price, and whereby the Dealer irrevocably commits upon receipt of such Shares to forward the total Exercise Price directly to the Company; or

(ii) through a “margin” commitment from the Participant and a Dealer whereby the Participant irrevocably elects to exercise the Option and to pledge the Shares so purchased to the Dealer in a margin account as security for a loan from the Dealer in the amount of the total Exercise Price, and whereby the Dealer irrevocably commits upon receipt of such Shares to forward the total Exercise Price directly to the Company;

(f) only with respect to Options that are not ISO, by a “net exercise” arrangement pursuant to which the Company will reduce the number of Shares issuable upon exercise by the largest whole number of Shares with a Fair Market Value that does not exceed the aggregate exercise price; or

(g) by any combination of the foregoing.

8.2 Loan Guarantees. The Committee may, in its sole discretion, elect to assist the Participant in paying for Shares purchased under this Plan by authorizing a guarantee by the Company of a third-party loan to the Participant.

9. WITHHOLDING TAXES.

9.1 Withholding Generally. Whenever Shares are to be issued in satisfaction of Awards granted under this Plan, the Company may require the Participant to remit to the Company an amount sufficient to satisfy federal, state and local withholding tax requirements prior to the delivery of any certificate or certificates for such Shares. Whenever, under this Plan, payments in satisfaction of Awards are to be made in cash by the Company, such payment will be net of an amount sufficient to satisfy federal, state, and local withholding tax requirements.


9.2 Stock Withholding. When, under applicable tax laws, a Participant incurs tax liability in connection with the exercise, vesting or settlement of any Award that is subject to tax withholding and the Participant is obligated to pay the Company the amount required to be withheld, the Committee may in its sole discretion cause the withholding tax obligation to be satisfied by the Company withholding from the Shares to be issued that minimum number of Shares having a Fair Market Value equal to the amount required to be withheld, determined on the date that the amount of tax to be withheld is to be determined; but in no event will the Company withhold Shares if such withholding would result in adverse accounting consequences to the Company.

10. PRIVILEGES OF STOCK OWNERSHIP. No Participant will have any of the rights of a stockholder with respect to any Shares until the Shares are issued to the Participant. After Shares are issued to the Participant, the Participant will be a stockholder and have all the rights of a stockholder with respect to such Shares, including the right to vote and receive all dividends or other distributions made or paid with respect to such Shares; provided, that if such Shares are Restricted Stock, then any new, additional or different securities the Participant may become entitled to receive with respect to such Shares by virtue of a stock dividend, stock split or any other change in the corporate or capital structure of the Company will be subject to the same restrictions as the Restricted Stock. The Participant will have no right to retain such stock dividends or stock distributions with respect to Unvested Shares that are repurchased pursuant to Section 12 hereof. For Participants with Restricted Stock Units, a Participant shall have the rights of a stockholder only as to Shares, if any, acquired upon settlement of Restricted Stock Units and a Participant shall not be deemed to have acquired any such Shares unless and until the Restricted Stock Units shall have been settled in Shares pursuant to the terms of the Plan and the Award Agreement, the Company shall have issued and delivered a certificate representing the Shares to the Participant (or transferred on the records of the Company with respect to uncertificated stock), and the Participant’s name has been entered in the books of the Company as a stockholder.

11. TRANSFERABILITY. Except as permitted by the Committee, Awards granted under this Plan, and any interest therein, will not be transferable or assignable by Participant, other than by will or by the laws of descent and distribution, and, with respect to NQSOs, by instrument to an inter vivos or testamentary trust in which the options are to be passed to beneficiaries upon the death of the trustor (settlor), or by gift to “immediate family” as that term is defined in 17 C.F.R. 240,16a-1(e), and may not be made subject to execution, attachment or similar process. During the lifetime of the Participant an Award will be exercisable only by the Participant or Participant’s legal representative and any elections with respect to an Award may be made only by the Participant or Participant’s legal representative.

12. RESTRICTIONS ON SHARES.

12.1 Right of First Refusal. At the discretion of the Committee, the Company may reserve to itself and/or its assignee(s) in the Award Agreement a right of first refusal to purchase all Shares that a Participant (or a subsequent transferee) may propose to transfer to a third party and which transfer has been permitted by written approval of the Committee or the Board, provided that such right of first refusal terminates upon the Company’s initial public offering of Common Stock pursuant to an effective registration statement filed under the Securities Act.


12.2 Right of Repurchase. At the discretion of the Committee, the Company may reserve to itself and/or its assignee(s) in the Award Agreement a right to repurchase Unvested Shares held by a Participant for cash and/or cancellation of purchase money indebtedness owed to the Company by the Participant following such Participant’s Termination at any time.

12.3 No Transfers. Subject to Sections 12.1 and 12.2, any holder of Shares issued hereunder may not may not sell, assign, transfer, pledge, encumber or in any manner dispose of any of such Shares, whether voluntarily or by operation of law, or by gift or otherwise, other than by means of a Permitted Transfer (as defined below). If any provision(s) of any agreement(s) currently in effect by and between the Company and the holder (the “Stockholder Agreement(s)”) conflicts herewith, this Section shall govern, and the remaining provision(s) of the Stockholder Agreement(s) that do not conflict with this Section shall continue in full force and effect. For purposes hereof, a “Permitted Transfer” shall mean any of the following:

(a) any transfer by the holder of any or all of the Shares to the Company;

(b) any transfer by the holder of any or all of the Shares to the holder’s immediate family or a trust for the benefit of the holder or the holder’s immediate family;

(c) any transfer by the holder of any or all of the Shares effected pursuant to the holder’s will or the laws of intestate succession;

(d) any transfer of Shares permitted by written approval of the Committee or the Board.

Any transfer of Shares shall be null and void unless the terms, conditions and provisions of this Section 12.3 are strictly observed and followed. The foregoing restriction on transfer set forth in this Section 12.3 shall lapse upon the earlier of (i) on any transfer or conversion of Shares made pursuant to a statutory merger or statutory consolidation of the Company with or into another corporation or corporations if the common stock of the surviving corporation or any direct or indirect parent corporation thereof is registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or (ii) immediately prior to the Company’s initial public offering of Common Stock pursuant to an effective registration statement filed under the Securities Act.

13. CERTIFICATES. All certificates for Shares or other securities delivered under this Plan will be subject to such stock transfer orders, legends and other restrictions as the Committee may deem necessary or advisable, including restrictions under any applicable federal, state or foreign securities law, or any rules, regulations and other requirements of the SEC or any stock exchange or automated quotation system upon which the Shares may be listed or quoted.

14. ESCROW: PLEDGE OF SHARES. To enforce any restrictions on a Participant’s Shares set forth in Section 12 hereof, the Committee may require the Participant to deposit all certificates representing Shares, together with stock powers or other instruments of transfer approved by the Committee, appropriately endorsed in blank, with the Company or an agent designated by the Company to hold in escrow until such restrictions have lapsed or


terminated. The Committee may cause a legend or legends referencing such restrictions to be placed on the certificates. Any Participant who is permitted to execute a promissory note as partial or full consideration for the purchase of Shares under this Plan will be required to pledge and deposit with the Company all or part of the Shares so purchased as collateral to secure the payment of Participant’s obligation to the Company under the promissory note; provided, however, that the Committee may require or accept other or additional forms of collateral to secure the payment of such obligation and, in any event, the Company will have full recourse against the Participant under the promissory note notwithstanding any pledge of the Participant’s Shares or other collateral. In connection with any pledge of the Shares, Participant will be required to execute and deliver a written pledge agreement in such form as the Committee will from time to time approve. The Shares purchased with the promissory note may be released from the pledge on a pro rata basis as the promissory note is paid.

15. EXCHANGE AND BUYOUT OF AWARDS. The Committee may, at any time or from time to time, authorize the Company, with the consent of the respective Participants, to issue new Awards in exchange for the surrender and cancellation of any or all outstanding Awards. The Committee may at any time buy from a Participant an Award previously granted with payment in cash, shares of Common Stock of the Company (including Restricted Stock) or other consideration, based on such terms and conditions as the Committee and the Participant may agree.

16. SECURITIES LAW AND OTHER REGULATORY COMPLIANCE. Although this Plan is intended to be a written compensatory benefit plan within the meaning of Rule 701 promulgated under the Securities Act, grants may be made pursuant to this plan that do not qualify for exemption under Rule 701 or Section 25102(o) of the California Corporations Code. Any requirement of this Plan which is required in law only because of Section 25102(o) need not apply with respect to a particular Award if the Committee so provides. An Award will not be effective unless such Award is in compliance with all applicable federal and state securities laws, rules and regulations of any governmental body, and the requirements of any stock exchange or automated quotation system upon which the Shares may then be listed or quoted, as they are in effect on the date of grant of the Award and also on the date of exercise or other issuance. Notwithstanding any other provision in this Plan, the Company will have no obligation to issue or deliver certificates for Shares under this Plan prior to (a) obtaining any approvals from governmental agencies that the Company determines are necessary or advisable, and/or (b) compliance with any exemption, completion of any registration or other qualification of such Shares under any state or federal law or ruling of any governmental body that the Company determines to be necessary or advisable. The Company will be under no obligation to register the Shares with the SEC or to effect compliance with the exemption, registration, qualification or listing requirements of any state securities laws, stock exchange or automated quotation system, and the Company will have no liability for any inability or failure to do so.


17. SECTION 409A AWARDS. To the extent that any Award is determined to constitute “nonqualified deferred compensation” within the meaning of Section 409A of the Code (a “409A Award”), the Award shall be subject to such additional rules and requirements as may be specified by the Committee from time to time. In this regard, if any amount under a 409A Award is payable upon a “separation from service” (within the meaning of Section 409A) to a Participant who is considered a “specified employee” (within the meaning of Section 409A), then no such payment shall be made prior to the date that is the earlier of (i) six months and one day after the Participant’s separation from service, or (ii) the Participant’s death, but only to the extent such delay is necessary to prevent such payment from being subject to interest, penalties and/or additional tax imposed pursuant to Section 409A of the Code. The Company makes no representation or warranty and shall have no liability to any Participant under the Plan or any other person with respect to any penalties or taxes under Section 409A of the Code that are, or may be, imposed with respect to any Award.

18. NO OBLIGATION TO EMPLOY. Nothing in this Plan or any Award granted under this Plan will confer or be deemed to confer on any Participant any right to continue in the employ of, or to continue any other relationship with, the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary or limit in any way the right of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary to terminate Participant’s employment or other relationship at any time, with or without Cause.

19. CORPORATE TRANSACTIONS.

19.1 Assumption or Replacement of Awards by Successor or Acquiring Company. In the event of (a) a dissolution or liquidation of the Company, (b) any reorganization, consolidation, merger or similar transaction or series of related transactions (each, a “combination transaction”) in which the Company is a constituent corporation or is a party if, as a result of such combination transaction, the voting securities of the Company that are outstanding immediately prior to the consummation of such combination transaction (other than any such securities that are held by an Acquiring Stockholder (defined below)) do not represent, or are not converted into, securities of the surviving corporation of such combination transaction (or such surviving corporation’s parent corporation if the surviving corporation is owned by the together possess at least fifty percent (50%) of the total voting power of all securities of such surviving corporation (or its parent corporation, if applicable) that are outstanding immediately after the consummation of such combination transaction, including securities of such surviving corporation (or its parent corporation, if applicable) that are held by the Acquiring Stockholder; or (c) a sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company, that is followed by the distribution of the proceeds to the Company’s stockholders, any or all outstanding Awards may be assumed, converted or replaced by the successor or acquiring corporation (if any), which assumption, conversion or replacement will be binding on all Participants. In the alternative, the successor or acquiring corporation may substitute equivalent Awards or provide substantially similar consideration to Participants as was provided to stockholders of the Company (after taking into account the existing provisions of the Awards). The successor or acquiring corporation may also substitute by issuing, in place of outstanding Shares of the Company held by the Participant, substantially similar shares or other property subject to repurchase restrictions and other provisions no less favorable to the Participant than those which applied to such outstanding Shares immediately prior to such transaction described in this Section 19.1. For purposes of this Section 19.1, an “Acquiring Stockholder” means a stockholder or stockholders of the Company that (i) merges or combines with the Company in such combination transaction or (ii) owns or controls a majority of another


corporation that merges or combines with the Company in such combination transaction. In the event such successor or acquiring corporation (if any) refuses to assume, convert, replace or substitute Awards, as provided above, pursuant to a transaction described in this Section 19.1, then notwithstanding any other provision in this Plan to the contrary, such Awards will expire on such transaction at such time and on such conditions as the Board will determine.

19.2 Other Treatment of Awards. Subject to any greater rights granted to Participants under the foregoing provisions of this Section 19, in the event of the occurrence of any transaction described in Section 19.1 hereof, any outstanding Awards will be treated as provided in the applicable agreement or plan of reorganization, merger, consolidation, dissolution, liquidation or sale of assets.

19.3 Assumption of Awards by the Company. The Company, from time to time, also may substitute or assume outstanding awards granted by another company, whether in connection with an acquisition of such other company or otherwise, by either (a) granting an Award under this Plan in substitution of such other company’s award or (b) assuming such award as if it had been granted under this Plan if the terms of such assumed award could be applied to an Award granted under this Plan. Such substitution or assumption will be permissible if the holder of the substituted or assumed award would have been eligible to be granted an Award under this Plan if the other company had applied the rules of this Plan to such grant. In the event the Company assumes an award granted by another company, the terms and conditions of such award will remain unchanged (except that the exercise price and the number and nature of shares issuable upon exercise of any such option will be adjusted appropriately pursuant to Section 424(a) of the Code). In the event the Company elects to grant a new Option rather than assuming an existing option, such new Option may be granted with a similarly adjusted Exercise Price.

20. ADOPTION AND STOCKHOLDER APPROVAL. This Plan will become effective on the date that it is adopted by the Board (the “Effective Date”). This Plan will be approved by the stockholders of the Company (excluding Shares issued pursuant to this Plan), consistent with applicable laws, within twelve (12) months before or after the Effective Date. Upon the Effective Date, the Board may grant Awards pursuant to this Plan; provided, however, that: (a) no Option may be exercised prior to initial stockholder approval of this Plan; (b) no Option granted pursuant to an increase in the number of Shares approved by the Board shall be exercised prior to the time such increase has been approved by the stockholders of the Company; (c) in the event that initial stockholder approval is not obtained within the time period provided herein, all Awards for which only the exemption from California’s securities qualification requirements provided by Section 25102(o) can apply shall be canceled, any Shares issued pursuant to any such Award shall be canceled and any purchase of such Shares issued hereunder shall be rescinded; and (d) Awards (to which only the exemption from California’s securities qualification requirements provided by Section 25102(o) can apply) granted pursuant to an increase in the number of Shares approved by the Board which increase is not approved by stockholders within the time then required under Section 25102(o) shall be canceled, any Shares issued pursuant to any such Awards shall be canceled, and any purchase of Shares subject to any such Award shall be rescinded.


21. TERM OF PLAN/GOVERNING LAW. Unless earlier terminated as provided herein, this Plan will terminate ten (10) years from the Effective Date or, if earlier, the date of stockholder approval. This Plan and all agreements hereunder shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California.

22. AMENDMENT OR TERMINATION OF PLAN. Subject to Section 5.9 hereof, the Board may at any time terminate or amend this Plan in any respect, including without limitation amendment of any form of Award Agreement or instrument to be executed pursuant to this Plan; provided, however, that the Board will not, without the approval of the stockholders of the Company, amend this Plan in any manner that requires such stockholder approval pursuant to Section 25102(o) of the California Corporations Code or the Code or the regulations promulgated thereunder as such provisions apply to ISO plans.

23. NONEXCLUSIVITY OF THE PLAN. Neither the adoption of this Plan by the Board, the submission of this Plan to the stockholders of the Company for approval, nor any provision of this Plan will be construed as creating any limitations on the power of the Board to adopt such additional compensation arrangements as it may deem desirable, including, without limitation, the granting of stock options and other equity awards otherwise than under this Plan, and such arrangements maybe either generally applicable or applicable only in specific cases.

24. DEFINITIONS. As used in this Plan, the following terms will have the

following meanings:

Award” means any award under this Plan, including any Option, Restricted Stock Award, or Restricted Stock Units.

Award Agreement” means, with respect to each Award, the signed written agreement between the Company and the Participant setting forth the terms and conditions of the Award, including the Stock Option Agreement, Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement, Stock Agreement and Restricted Stock Unit Agreement.

Board” means the Board of Directors of the Company.

Cause” means Termination because of (a) any willful, material violation by the Participant of any law or regulation applicable to the business of the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, the Participant’s conviction for, or guilty plea to, a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude, or any willful perpetration by the Participant of a common law fraud, (b) the Participant’s commission of an act of personal dishonesty which involves personal profit in connection with the Company or any other entity having a business relationship with the Company, (c) any material breach by the Participant of any provision of any agreement or understanding between the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company and the Participant regarding the terms of the Participant’s service as an employee, officer, director or consultant to the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, including without limitation, the willful and continued failure or refusal of the Participant to perform the material duties required


of such Participant as an employee, officer, director or consultant of the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, other than as a result of having a Disability, or a breach of any applicable invention assignment and confidentiality agreement or similar agreement between the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company and the Participant, (d) Participant’s disregard of the policies of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company so as to cause loss, damage or injury to the property, reputation or employees of the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, or (e) any other misconduct by the Participant which is materially injurious to the financial condition or business reputation of, or is otherwise materially injurious to, the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company,

Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

Committee” means the committee created and appointed by the Board to administer this Plan, or if no committee is created and appointed, the Board.

Company” means Couchbase, Inc., or any successor corporation.

Disability” means a disability, whether temporary or permanent, partial or total, as determined by the Committee.

Exercise Price” means the price per Share at which a holder of an Option may purchase Shares issuable upon exercise of the Option.

Fair Market Value” means, as of any date, the value of a share of the Company’s Common Stock determined as follows:

if such Common Stock is then publicly traded on a national securities exchange on which the Common Stock is listed or admitted to trading as reported in The Wall Street Journal;

if such Common Stock is publicly traded but is not quoted on the Nasdaq National Market nor listed or admitted to trading on a national securities exchange, the average of the closing bid and asked prices on the date of determination as reported by The Wall Street Journal (or, if not so reported, as otherwise reported by any newspaper or other source as the Committee may determine); or

if none of the foregoing is applicable to the valuation in question, by the Committee in good faith.

Option” means an award of an option to purchase Shares pursuant to Section 5 of this Plan.

Parent” means any corporation (other than the Company) in an unbroken chain of corporations ending with the Company if each of such corporations other than the Company owns stock representing fifty percent (50%) or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock in one of the other corporations in such chain.


Participant” means a person who receives an Award under this Plan.

Plan” means this Couchbase, Inc. 2018 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended from time to time.

Purchase Price” means the price at which a Participant may purchase Restricted Stock in connection with this Plan.

Restricted Stock” means Shares purchased pursuant to a Restricted Stock Award under this Plan.

Restricted Stock Award” means an award of Shares pursuant to Section 6 hereof.

Restricted Stock Unitmeans an Award of phantom stock units to a Participant, which may be settled in cash or Shares as determined by the Committee, pursuant to Section 7.

SEC” means the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Securities Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Shares” means shares of the Company’s Common Stock, $0.0001 par value, reserved for issuance under this Plan, as adjusted pursuant to Sections 2 and 19 hereof, and any successor security.

Subsidiary” means any corporation (other than the Company) in an unbroken chain of corporations beginning with the Company if each of the corporations other than the last corporation in the unbroken chain owns stock representing fifty percent (50%) or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock in one of the other corporations in such chain.

Termination” or “Terminated” means, for purposes of this Plan with respect to a Participant, that the Participant has for any reason ceased to provide services as an employee, officer, director or consultant to the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company. A Participant will not be deemed to have ceased to provide services in the case of sick leave, military leave, or any other leave of absence approved by the Committee; provided that such leave is for a period of not more than ninety (90) days (a) unless reinstatement (or, in the case of an employee with an ISO, reemployment) upon the expiration of such leave is guaranteed by contract or statute, or (b) unless provided otherwise pursuant to formal policy adopted from time to time by the Company’s Board and issued and promulgated in writing. In the case of any Participant on sick leave, military leave or an approved leave of absence, the Committee may make such provisions respecting suspension of vesting of the Award while on leave from the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company as it may deem appropriate, except that in no event may an Option be exercised after the expiration of the term set forth in the Stock Option Agreement. The Committee will have sole discretion to determine whether a Participant has ceased to provide services and the effective date on which the Participant ceased to provide services (the “Termination Date”).


Unvested Shares” means “Unvested Shares” as defined in the Award Agreement for an Award.

Vested Shares” means “Vested Shares” as defined in the Award Agreement.


EXHIBIT A

FORM OF STOCK OPTION EXERCISE AGREEMENT


No.____

COUCHBASE, INC.

2018 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

STOCK OPTION EXERCISE AGREEMENT

This Stock Option Exercise Agreement (the “Exercise Agreement”) is made and entered into as of __________________________,(the “Effective Date”) by and between Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and the purchaser named below (the “Purchaser”). Capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the Company’s 2018 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”).

 

Purchaser:   

 

Social Security Number:   

 

Address:   

 

Total Number of Shares:   

 

Exercise Price Per Share:   

 

Date of Grant:   

 

First Vesting Date:   

 

Expiration Date:   

 

   (Unless earlier terminated under Section 5.6 of the Plan)
Type of Stock Option   
(Check one):    [ ] Incentive Stock Option
   [ ] Nonqualified Stock Option

1. Exercise of Option.

1.1 Exercise. Pursuant to exercise of that certain option (the “Option”) granted to Purchaser under the Plan and subject to the terms and conditions of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser hereby purchases from the Company, and the Company hereby sells to Purchaser, the Total Number of Shares set forth above (the “Shares”) of the Company’s Common Stock, $0.0001


par value per share, at the Exercise Price Per Share set forth above (the “Exercise Price”). As used in this Exercise Agreement, the term “Shares” refers to the Shares purchased under this Exercise Agreement and includes all securities received (i) in replacement of the Shares, (ii) as a result of stock dividends or stock splits with respect to the Shares, and (iii) all securities received in replacement of the Shares in a merger, recapitalization, reorganization or similar corporate transaction.

1.2 Title to Shares. The exact spelling of the name(s) under which Purchaser will take title to the Shares is:

 

                                                                                                      

 

                                                                                                      

Purchaser desires to take title to the Shares as follows: [ ] Individual,

as separate property

[ ] Husband and wife, as community property [ ] Joint Tenants

[ ] Other; please specify:                                                                                                      

To assign the Shares to a trust, a stock transfer agreement in a form acceptable to the Company (the “Stock Transfer Agreement”) must be completed and executed.

1.3 Payment. Purchaser hereby delivers payment of the Exercise Price in the manner permitted in the Stock Option Agreement as follows (check and complete as appropriate):

[ ] in cash (by check or wire transfer of immediately available funds) in the amount of $_______, receipt of which is acknowledged by the Company;

[ ] by delivery of fully-paid, nonassessable and vested shares of the Common Stock of the Company owned by Purchaser for which the Company has received “full payment of the purchase price” within the meaning of SEC Rule 144, (if purchased by use of a promissory note, such note has been fully paid with respect to such vested shares), or obtained by Purchaser in the open public market, and owned free and clear of all liens, claims, encumbrances or security interests, valued at the current Fair Market Value of $________________ per share;

[ ] by the waiver hereby of compensation due or accrued for services rendered in the amount of $_______________; or

[ ] other (as referenced in the Plan and described in the Stock Option Agreement (please describe))____________________;


2. Delivery.

2.1 Deliveries by Purchaser. Purchaser hereby delivers to the Company (i) this Exercise Agreement, (ii) two (2) copies of a blank Stock Power and Assignment Separate from Stock Certificate in the form of Exhibit 1 attached hereto (the “Stock Powers”), both executed by Purchaser (and Purchaser’s spouse, if any), (iii) if Purchaser is married, a Consent of Spouse in the form of Exhibit 2 attached hereto (the “Spouse Consent”) executed by Purchaser’s spouse, and (iv) the Exercise Price and payment or other provision for any applicable tax obligations in the form specified above, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 3.

2.2 Deliveries by the Company. Upon its receipt of the Exercise Price, payment or other provision for any applicable tax obligations and all the documents to be executed and delivered by Purchaser to the Company under Section 2.1, the Company will issue a duly executed stock certificate evidencing the Shares in the name of Purchaser to be placed in escrow as provided in Section 10 until expiration or termination of the Company’s Right of First Refusal as described in Sections 8 and 9.

3. Representations and Warranties of Purchaser. Purchaser represents and warrants to the Company that:

3.1 Agrees to Terms of the Plan. Purchaser has received a copy of the Plan and the Stock Option Agreement, has read and understands the terms of the Plan, the Stock Option Agreement and this Exercise Agreement, and agrees to be bound by their terms and conditions. Purchaser acknowledges that there may be adverse tax consequences upon exercise of the Option or disposition of the Shares, and that Purchaser should consult a tax adviser prior to such exercise or disposition.

3.2 Purchase for Own Account for Investment. Purchaser is purchasing the Shares for Purchaser’s own account for investment purposes only and not with a view to, or for sale in connection with, a distribution of the Shares within the meaning of the Securities Act. Purchaser has no present intention of selling or otherwise disposing of all or any portion of the Shares and no one other than Purchaser has any beneficial ownership of any of the Shares.

3.3 Access to Information. Purchaser has had access to all information regarding the Company and its present and prospective business, assets, liabilities and financial condition that Purchaser reasonably considers important in making the decision to purchase the Shares, and Purchaser has had ample opportunity to ask questions of the Company’s representatives concerning such matters and this investment.

3.4 Understanding of Risks. Purchaser is fully aware of: (i) the highly speculative nature of the investment in the Shares; (ii) the financial hazards involved; (iii) the lack of liquidity of the Shares and the restrictions on transferability of the Shares (e.g., that Purchaser may not be able to sell or dispose of the Shares or use them as collateral for loans); (iv) the qualifications and backgrounds of the management of the Company; and (v) the tax consequences of investment in the Shares. Purchaser is capable of evaluating the merits and risks of this investment, has the ability to protect Purchaser’s own interests in this transaction and is financially capable of bearing a total loss of this investment. For the avoidance of doubt, Purchaser understands and agrees that the Shares are subject to the transfer restrictions set forth in Sections 11 and 12 of the Plan.


3.5 No General Solicitation. At no time was Purchaser presented with or solicited by any publicly issued or circulated newspaper, mail, radio, television or other form of general advertising or solicitation in connection with the offer, sale and purchase of the Shares.

4. Compliance with Securities Laws.

4.1 Compliance with U.S. Federal Securities Laws. Purchaser understands and acknowledges that the Shares have not been registered with the SEC under the Securities Act and that, notwithstanding any other provision of the Stock Option Agreement to the contrary, the exercise of any rights to purchase any Shares is expressly conditioned upon compliance with the Securities Act and all applicable state securities laws. Purchaser agrees to cooperate with the Company to ensure compliance with such laws.

4.2 Compliance with California Securities Laws. THE PLAN, THE STOCK OPTION AGREEMENT, AND THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT ARE INTENDED TO COMPLY WITH SECTION 25102(o) OF THE CALIFORNIA CORPORATIONS CODE AND ANY RULES (INCLUDING COMMISSIONER RULES, IF APPLICABLE) OR REGULATIONS PROMULGATED THEREUNDER BY THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORPORATIONS (THE “REGULATIONS”). ANY PROVISION OF THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT THAT IS INCONSISTENT WITH SECTION 25102(o) SHALL, WITHOUT FURTHER ACT OR AMENDMENT BY THE COMPANY OR THE BOARD, BE REFORMED TO COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF SECTION 25102(o). THE SALE OF THE SECURITIES THAT ARE THE SUBJECT OF THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT, IF NOT YET QUALIFIED WITH THE CALIFORNIA COMMISSIONER OF CORPORATIONS AND NOT EXEMPT FROM SUCH QUALIFICATION, IS SUBJECT TO SUCH QUALIFICATION, AND THE ISSUANCE OF SUCH SECURITIES, AND THE RECEIPT OF ANY PART OF THE CONSIDERATION THEREFOR PRIOR TO SUCH QUALIFICATION IS UNLAWFUL UNLESS THE SALE IS EXEMPT. THE RIGHTS OF THE PARTIES TO THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT ARE EXPRESSLY CONDITIONED UPON SUCH QUALIFICATION BEING OBTAINED OR AN EXEMPTION BEING AVAILABLE.

5. Restricted Securities.

5.1 No Transfer Unless Registered or Exempt. Purchaser understands that Purchaser may not transfer any Shares unless such Shares are registered under the Securities Act or qualified under applicable state securities laws or unless, in the opinion of counsel to the Company, exemptions from such registration and qualification requirements are available. Purchaser understands that only the Company may file a registration statement with the SEC and that the Company is under no obligation to do so with respect to the Shares. Purchaser has also been advised that exemptions from registration and qualification may not be available or may not permit Purchaser to transfer all or any of the Shares in the amounts or at the times proposed by Purchaser.


5.2 SEC Rule 144. In addition, Purchaser has been advised that SEC Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act, which permits certain limited sales of unregistered securities, is not presently available with respect to the Shares and, in any event, requires that the Shares be held for a minimum of one (1) year, and in certain cases two (2) years, after they have been purchased and paid for (within the meaning of Rule 144). Purchaser understands that Rule 144 may indefinitely restrict transfer of the Shares so long as Purchaser remains an “affiliate” of the Company or if “current public information” about the Company (as defined in Rule 144) is not publicly available.

5.3 SEC Rule 701. Shares that are issued pursuant to SEC Rule 701 promulgated under the Securities Act may become freely tradeable by non-affiliates (under limited conditions regarding the method of sale) ninety (90) days after the first sale of Common Stock of the Company to the general public pursuant to a registration statement filed with and declared effective by the SEC, subject to the lengthier market standoff agreement contained in Section 7 of this Exercise Agreement or any other agreement entered into by Purchaser. Affiliates must comply with the provisions (other than the holding period requirements) of Rule 144.

6. Restrictions on Transfers.

6.1 Disposition of Shares. Purchaser hereby agrees that Purchaser shall make no disposition of the Shares (other than as permitted by this Exercise Agreement) unless and until:

(a) Purchaser shall have notified the Company of the proposed disposition and provided a written summary of the terms and conditions of the proposed disposition;

(b) Purchaser shall have complied with all requirements of this Exercise Agreement applicable to the disposition of the Shares;

(c) Purchaser shall have provided the Company with written assurances, in form and substance satisfactory to counsel for the Company, that (i) the proposed disposition does not require registration of the Shares under the Securities Act or (ii) all appropriate actions necessary for compliance with the registration requirements of the Securities Act or of any exemption from registration available under the Securities Act (including Rule 144) have been taken; and

(d) Purchaser shall have provided the Company with written assurances, in form and substance satisfactory to the Company, that the proposed disposition will not result in the contravention of any transfer restrictions applicable to the Shares pursuant to the provisions of the Regulations referred to in Section 4.2 hereof.

6.2 Restriction on Transfer. Purchaser shall not transfer, assign, grant a lien or security interest in, pledge, hypothecate, encumber or otherwise dispose of any of the Shares which are subject to the Company’s Right of First Refusal described below, except as permitted by this Exercise Agreement.


6.3 Transferee Obligations. Each person (other than the Company) to whom the Shares are transferred by means of one of the permitted transfers specified in this Exercise Agreement must, as a condition precedent to the validity of such transfer, acknowledge in writing to the Company that such person is bound by the provisions of this Exercise Agreement and that the transferred Shares are subject to (i) the Company’s Right of First Refusal granted hereunder and (ii) the market stand-off provisions of Section 7 hereof, to the same extent such Shares would be so subject if retained by the Purchaser.

7. Market Standoff Agreement. Purchaser agrees in connection with any registration of the Company’s securities that, upon the request of the Company or the underwriters managing any public offering of the Company’s securities, Purchaser will not sell or otherwise dispose of any Shares without the prior written consent of the Company or such underwriters, as the case may be, for such period of time (not to exceed one hundred eighty (180) days) after the effective date of such registration requested by such managing underwriters and subject to all restrictions as the Company or the underwriters may specify. Purchaser further agrees to enter into any agreement reasonably required by the underwriters to implement the foregoing.

8. Company’s Right of First Refusal. Unvested Shares and Vested Shares may not be sold or otherwise transferred by Purchaser without the Company’s prior written consent. Before any Vested Shares held by Purchaser or any transferee of such Vested Shares (either sometimes referred to herein as the “Holder”) may be sold or otherwise transferred (including, without limitation, a transfer by gift or operation of law), such transfer must be permitted by written approval of the Committee or the Board, and the Company and/or its assignee(s) will have a right of first refusal to purchase the Vested Shares to be sold or transferred (the “Offered Shares”) on the terms and conditions set forth in this Section (the “Right of First Refusal”).

8.1 Notice of Proposed Transfer. The Holder of the Offered Shares will deliver to the Company a written notice (the “Notice”) stating: (i) the Holder’s bona fide intention to sell or otherwise transfer the Offered Shares; (ii) the name and address of each proposed purchaser or other transferee (the “Proposed Transferee”); (iii) the number of Offered Shares to be transferred to each Proposed Transferee; (iv) the bona fide cash price or other consideration for which the Holder proposes to transfer the Offered Shares (the “Offered Price”); and (v) that the Holder acknowledges this Notice is an offer to sell the Offered Shares to the Company and/or its assignee(s) pursuant to the Company’s Right of First Refusal at the Offered Price as provided for in this Exercise Agreement.

8.2 Exercise of Right of First Refusal. At any time within thirty (30) days after the date of the Notice, the Company and/or its assignee(s) may, by giving written notice to the Holder, elect to purchase all (or, with the consent of the Holder, less than all) the Offered Shares proposed to be transferred to any one or more of the Proposed Transferees named in the Notice, at the purchase price, determined as specified below.


8.3 Purchase Price. The purchase price for the Offered Shares purchased under this Section will be the Offered Price, provided that if the Offered Price consists of no legal consideration (as, for example, in the case of a transfer by gift) the purchase price will be the fair market value of the Offered Shares as determined in good faith by the Company’s Board of Directors. If the Offered Price includes consideration other than cash, then the value of the non-cash consideration, as determined in good faith by the Company’s Board of Directors, will conclusively be deemed to be the cash equivalent value of such non-cash consideration.

8.4 Payment. Payment of the purchase price for the Offered Shares will be payable, at the option of the Company and/or its assignee(s) (as applicable), by cash or check (or wire transfer of immediately available funds) or by cancellation of all or a portion of any outstanding purchase money indebtedness owed by the Holder to the Company (or to such assignee, in the case of a purchase of Offered Shares by such assignee) or by any combination thereof. The purchase price will be paid without interest within sixty (60) days after the Company’s receipt of the Notice, or, at the option of the Company and/or its assignee(s), in the manner and at the time(s) set forth in the Notice.

8.5 Holder’s Right to Transfer. If all of the Offered Shares proposed in the Notice to be transferred to a given Proposed Transferee are not purchased by the Company and/or its assignee(s) as provided in this Section, then the Holder may sell or otherwise transfer such Offered Shares to each Proposed Transferee at the Offered Price or at a higher price, provided that (i) such sale or other transfer is consummated within one hundred twenty (120) days after the date of the Notice, (ii) any such sale or other transfer is effected in compliance with all applicable securities laws, and (iii) each Proposed Transferee agrees in writing that the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to the Offered Shares in the hands of such Proposed Transferee. If the Offered Shares described in the Notice are not transferred to each Proposed Transferee within such one hundred twenty (120) day period, then a new Notice must be given to the Company pursuant to which the Company will again be offered the Right of First Refusal before any Shares held by the Holder may be sold or otherwise transferred.

8.6 Exempt Transfers. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section, the following transfers of Vested Shares will be exempt from the Right of First Refusal: (i) the transfer of any or all of the Vested Shares during Purchaser’s lifetime by gift or on Purchaser’s death by will or intestacy to Purchaser’s “Immediate Family” (as defined below) or to a trust for the benefit of Purchaser or Purchaser’s Immediate Family, provided that each transferee or other recipient agrees in a writing satisfactory to the Company that the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to the transferred Vested Shares in the hands of such transferee or other recipient; (ii) any transfer of Vested Shares made pursuant to a statutory merger or statutory consolidation of the Company with or into another corporation or corporations (except that, the Right of First Refusal will continue to apply thereafter to such Vested Shares, in which case the surviving corporation of such merger or consolidation shall succeed to the rights of the Company under this Section unless the agreement of merger or consolidation expressly otherwise provides); or (iii) any transfer of Vested Shares pursuant to the winding up and dissolution of the Company. As used herein, the term “Immediate Family” will mean Purchaser’s spouse, the lineal descendant or antecedent, father, mother, brother or sister, child, adopted child, grandchild or adopted grandchild of the Purchaser or the Purchaser’s spouse, or the spouse of any of the above or Spousal Equivalent, as defined herein. As used herein, a person is deemed to be a “Spousal Equivalent” provided the


following circumstances are true: (i) irrespective of whether or not the Participant and the Spousal Equivalent are the same sex, they are the sole spousal equivalent of the other for the last twelve (12) months, (ii) they intend to remain so indefinitely, (iii) neither are married to anyone else, (iv) both are at least 18 years of age and mentally competent to consent to contract, (v) they are not related by blood to a degree of closeness that which would prohibit legal marriage in the state in which they legally reside, (vi) they are jointly responsible for each other’s common welfare and financial obligations, and (vii) they reside together in the same residence for the last twelve (12) months and intend to do so indefinitely.

8.7 Termination of Right of First Refusal. The Right of First Refusal will terminate as to all Shares (i) on the effective date of the first sale of Common Stock of the Company to the general public pursuant to a registration statement filed with and declared effective by the SEC under the 1933 Act (other than a registration statement relating solely to the issuance of Common Stock pursuant to a business combination or an employee incentive or benefit plan) or (ii) on any transfer or conversion of Shares made pursuant to a statutory merger or statutory consolidation of the Company with or into another corporation or corporations if the common stock of the surviving corporation or any direct or indirect parent corporation thereof is registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

8.8 Encumbrances on Vested Shares. Purchaser may grant a lien or security interest in, or pledge, hypothecate or encumber Vested Shares only if each party to whom such lien or security interest is granted, or to whom such pledge, hypothecation or other encumbrance is made, agrees in a writing satisfactory to the Company that: (i) such lien, security interest, pledge, hypothecation or encumbrance will not apply to such Vested Shares after they are acquired by the Company and/or its assignees under this Section; and (ii) the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to such Vested Shares in the hands of such party and any transferee of such party. Purchaser may not grant a lien or security interest in, or pledge, hypothecate or encumber, any Unvested Shares.

9. Rights as a Shareholder. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser will have all of the rights of a shareholder of the Company with respect to the Shares from and after the date that Shares are issued to Purchaser until such time as Purchaser disposes of the Shares or the Company and/or its assignee(s) exercise(s) the Right of First Refusal. Upon an exercise of the Right of First Refusal, Purchaser will have no further rights as a holder of the Shares so purchased upon such exercise, other than the right to receive payment for the Shares so purchased in accordance with the provisions of this Exercise Agreement, and Purchaser will promptly surrender the stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares so purchased to the Company for transfer or cancellation.

10. Escrow. As security for Purchaser’s faithful performance of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser agrees, immediately upon receipt of the stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares, to deliver such certificate(s), together with the Stock Powers executed by Purchaser and by Purchaser’s spouse, if any (with the date and number of Shares left blank), to the Secretary of the Company or other designee of the Company (the “Escrow Holder”), who is hereby appointed


to hold such certificate(s) and Stock Powers in escrow and to take all such actions and to effectuate all such transfers and/or releases of such Shares as are in accordance with the terms of this Exercise Agreement. Purchaser and the Company agree that Escrow Holder will not be liable to any party to this Exercise Agreement (or to any other party) for any actions or omissions unless Escrow Holder is grossly negligent or intentionally fraudulent in carrying out the duties of Escrow Holder under this Exercise Agreement. Escrow Holder may rely upon any letter, notice or other document executed with any signature purported to be genuine and may rely on the advice of counsel and obey any order of any court with respect to the transactions contemplated by this Exercise Agreement. The Shares will be released from escrow upon termination of the Right of First Refusal.

11. Restrictive Legends and Stop-Transfer Orders.

11.1 Legends. Purchaser understands and agrees that the Company will place the legends set forth below or similar legends on any stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares, together with any other legends that may be required by state or U.S. Federal securities laws, the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws, any other agreement between Purchaser and the Company or any agreement between Purchaser and any third party:

THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED HEREBY HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE “SECURITIES ACT”), OR UNDER THE SECURITIES LAWS OF CERTAIN STATES. THESE SECURITIES ARE SUBJECT TO RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFERABILITY AND RESALE AND MAY NOT BE TRANSFERRED OR RESOLD EXCEPT AS PERMITTED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT AND APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS, PURSUANT TO REGISTRATION OR EXEMPTION THEREFROM. INVESTORS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT THEY MAY BE REQUIRED TO BEAR THE FINANCIAL RISKS OF THIS INVESTMENT FOR AN INDEFINITE PERIOD OF TIME. THE ISSUER OF THESE SECURITIES MAY REQUIRE AN OPINION OF COUNSEL IN FORM AND SUBSTANCE SATISFACTORY TO THE ISSUER TO THE EFFECT THAT ANY PROPOSED TRANSFER OR RESALE IS IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE SECURITIES ACT AND ANY APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS.

THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS ON PUBLIC RESALE AND TRANSFER: INCLUDING THE RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL HELD BY THE ISSUER AND/OR ITS ASSIGNEE(S) AS SET FORTH IN A STOCK OPTION EXERCISE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ISSUER AND THE ORIGINAL HOLDER OF THESE SHARES, A COPY OF WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE PRINCIPAL OFFICE OF THE ISSUER. SUCH PUBLIC SALE AND TRANSFER RESTRICTIONS INCLUDING THE RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL ARE BINDING ON TRANSFEREES OF THESE SHARES.


THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE ARE SUBJECT TO A 180 DAY MARKET STANDOFF RESTRICTION AS SET FORTH IN A CERTAIN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ISSUER AND THE ORIGINAL HOLDER OF THESE SHARES, A COPY OF WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE PRINCIPAL OFFICE OF THE ISSUER. AS A RESULT OF SUCH AGREEMENT, THESE SHARES MAY NOT BE TRADED PRIOR TO 180 DAYS AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF ANY PUBLIC OFFERING OF THE COMMON STOCK OF THE ISSUER HEREOF. SUCH RESTRICTION IS BINDING ON TRANSFEREES OF THESE SHARES.

11.2 Stop-Transfer Instructions. Purchaser agrees that, to ensure compliance with the restrictions imposed by this Exercise Agreement, the Company may issue appropriate “stop-transfer” instructions to its transfer agent, if any, and if the Company transfers its own securities, it may make appropriate notations to the same effect in its own records.

11.3 Refusal to Transfer. The Company will not be required (i) to transfer on its books any Shares that have been sold or otherwise transferred in violation of any of the provisions of this Exercise Agreement or (ii) to treat as owner of such Shares, or to accord the right to vote or pay dividends to any purchaser or other transferee to whom such Shares have been so transferred.

12. Tax Consequences. PURCHASER UNDERSTANDS THAT PURCHASER MAY SUFFER ADVERSE TAX CONSEQUENCES AS A RESULT OF PURCHASER’S PURCHASE OR DISPOSITION OF THE SHARES. PURCHASER REPRESENTS: (i) THAT PURCHASER HAS CONSULTED WITH ANY TAX ADVISER THAT PURCHASER DEEMS ADVISABLE IN CONNECTION WITH THE PURCHASE OR DISPOSITION OF THE SHARES AND (ii) THAT PURCHASER IS NOT RELYING ON THE COMPANY FOR ANY TAX ADVICE. Set forth below is a brief summary as of the date the Plan was adopted by the Board of some of the U.S. Federal and California tax consequences of exercise of the Option and disposition of the Shares. THIS SUMMARY IS NECESSARILY INCOMPLETE, AND THE TAX LAWS AND REGULATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. PURCHASER SHOULD CONSULT HIS OR HER OWN TAX ADVISER BEFORE EXERCISING THIS OPTION OR DISPOSING OF THE SHARES.

12.1 Exercise of Incentive Stock Option. If the Option qualifies as an ISO, there will be no regular U.S. Federal income tax liability or California income tax liability upon the exercise of the Option, although the excess, if any, of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on the date of exercise over the Exercise Price will be treated as a tax preference item for U.S. Federal alternative minimum tax purposes and may subject Purchaser to the alternative minimum tax in the year of exercise.

12.2 Exercise of Nonqualified Stock Option. If the Option does not qualify as an ISO, there may be a regular U.S. Federal income tax liability and a California income tax liability upon the exercise of the Option. Purchaser will be treated as having received compensation income (taxable at ordinary income tax rates) equal to the excess, if any, of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on the date of exercise over the Exercise Price. If Purchaser is or was an employee of the Company, the Company may be required to withhold from Purchaser’s compensation or collect from Purchaser and pay to the applicable taxing authorities an amount equal to a percentage of this compensation income at the time of exercise.


12.3 Disposition of Shares. The following tax consequences may apply upon disposition of the Shares.

(a) Incentive Stock Options. If the Shares are held for more than twelve (12) months after the date of the transfer of the Shares pursuant to the exercise of an ISO and are disposed of more than two (2) years after the Date of Grant, any gain realized on disposition of the Shares will be treated as long term capital gain for federal and California income tax purposes. If Shares purchased under an ISO are disposed of within the applicable one (1) year or two (2) year period, any gain realized on such disposition will be treated as compensation income (taxable at ordinary income rates) to the extent of the excess, if any, of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on the date of exercise over the Exercise Price.

(b) Nonqualified Stock Options. If the Shares are held for more than twelve (12) months after the date of the transfer of the Shares pursuant to the exercise of an NQSO, any gain realized on disposition of the Shares will be treated as long term capital gain.

(c) Withholding. The Company may be required to withhold from the Purchaser’s compensation or collect from the Purchaser and pay to the applicable taxing authorities an amount equal to a percentage of this compensation income.

13. Compliance with Laws and Regulations. The issuance and transfer of the Shares will be subject to and conditioned upon compliance by the Company and Purchaser with all applicable state and U.S. Federal laws and regulations and with all applicable requirements of any stock exchange or automated quotation system on which the Company’s Common Stock may be listed or quoted at the time of such issuance or transfer.

14. Successors and Assigns. The Company may assign any of its rights under this Exercise Agreement, including its rights to purchase Shares under the Right of First Refusal. No other party to this Exercise Agreement may assign, whether voluntarily or by operation of law, any of its rights and obligations under this Exercise Agreement, except with the prior written consent of the Company. This Exercise Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the successors and assigns of the Company. Subject to the restrictions on transfer herein set forth, this Exercise Agreement will be binding upon Purchaser and Purchaser’s heirs, executors, administrators, legal representatives, successors and assigns.

15. Governing Law. This Exercise Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to that body of laws pertaining to conflict of laws.


16. Notices. Any and all notices required or permitted to be given to a party pursuant to the provisions of this Exercise Agreement will be in writing and will be effective and deemed to provide such party sufficient notice under this Exercise Agreement on the earliest of the following: (i) at the time of personal delivery, if delivery is in person; (ii) at the time of transmission by facsimile, addressed to the other party at its facsimile number specified herein (or hereafter modified by subsequent notice to the parties hereto), with confirmation of receipt made by both telephone and printed confirmation sheet verifying successful transmission of the facsimile; (iii) one (1) business day after deposit with an express overnight courier for United States deliveries, or two (2) business days after such deposit for deliveries outside of the United States, with proof of delivery from the courier requested; or (iv) three (3) business days after deposit in the United States mail by certified mail (return receipt requested) for United States deliveries.

All notices for delivery outside the United States will be sent by facsimile or by express courier. All notices not delivered personally or by facsimile will be sent with postage and/or other charges prepaid and properly addressed to the party to be notified at the address or facsimile number set forth below the signature lines of this Exercise Agreement, or at such other address or facsimile number as such other party may designate by one of the indicated means of notice herein to the other parties hereto. Notices to the Company will be marked “Attention: President”. Notices by facsimile shall be machine verified as received.

17. Further Assurances. The parties agree to execute such further documents and instruments and to take such further actions as may be reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes and intent of this Exercise Agreement.

18. Titles and Headings. The titles, captions and headings of this Exercise Agreement are included for ease of reference only and will be disregarded in interpreting or construing this Exercise Agreement. Unless otherwise specifically stated, all references herein to “sections” and “exhibits” will mean “sections” and “exhibits” to this Exercise Agreement.

19. Entire Agreement. The Plan, the Stock Option Agreement and this Exercise Agreement, together with all Exhibits thereto, constitute the entire agreement and understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter of this Exercise Agreement, and supersede all prior understandings and agreements, whether oral or written, between or among the parties hereto with respect to the specific subject matter hereof.

20. Counterparts. This Exercise Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which when so executed and delivered will be deemed an original, and all of which together shall constitute one and the same agreement.

21. Severability. If any provision of this Exercise Agreement is determined by any court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, such provision will be enforced to the maximum extent possible given the intent of the parties hereto. If such clause or provision cannot be so enforced, such provision shall be stricken from this Exercise Agreement and the remainder of this Exercise Agreement shall be enforced as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable clause or provision had (to the extent not enforceable) never been contained in this Exercise Agreement. Notwithstanding the forgoing, if the value of this Exercise Agreement based upon the substantial benefit of the bargain for any party is materially impaired, which determination as made by the presiding court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction shall be binding, then both parties agree to substitute such provision(s) through good faith negotiations.


22. Facsimile Signatures. This Agreement may be executed and delivered by facsimile and upon such delivery the facsimile signature will be deemed to have the same effect as if the original signature had been delivered to the other party.


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Exercise Agreement to be executed in triplicate by its duly authorized representative and Purchaser has executed this Exercise Agreement in triplicate as of the Effective Date, indicated above.

 

COUCHBASE, INC.     PURCHASER
By:                                                                                                  

 

    (Signature)

 

   

 

(Please print name)                          (Please print name)

 

   
(Please print title)    
Address:     Address:

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

Fax No.:                                                                                      Fax No.                                                                             
Phone No.:                                                                                  Phone No.:                                                                         

 

List of Exhibits     
Exhibit 1:    Stock Power and Assignment Separate from Stock Certificate
Exhibit 2:    Spouse Consent
Exhibit 3:    Copy of Purchaser’s Check or other permitted consideration

[Signature page to Couchbase, Inc. Stock Option Exercise Agreement]


EXHIBIT 1

STOCK POWER AND ASSIGNMENT

SEPARATE FROM STOCK CERTIFICATE


Stock Power and Assignment Separate from Stock Certificate

FOR VALUE RECEIVED and pursuant to that certain Stock Option Exercise Agreement No. _____________dated as of_______________ (the “Agreement”), the undersigned hereby sells, assigns and transfers unto_________________, _____________shares of the Common Stock $0.0001 par value per share, of Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), standing in the undersigned’s name on the books of the Company represented by Certificate No(s).___________ delivered herewith, and does hereby irrevocably constitute and appoint the Secretary of the Company as the undersigned’s attorney-in-fact, with full power of substitution, to transfer said stock on the books of the Company. THIS ASSIGNMENT MAY ONLY BE USED AS AUTHORIZED BY THE AGREEMENT AND ANY EXHIBITS THERETO.

 

Dated:                                      _,            
PURCHASER

 

(Signature)

 

(Please Print Name)

 

(Spouse’s Signature, if any)

 

(Please Print Spouse’s Name)

Instructions to Purchaser: Please do not fill in any blanks other than the signature line. The purpose of this Stock Power and Assignment is to enable the Company to acquire the shares upon exercise its “Right of First Refusal” set forth in the Exercise Agreement without requiring additional signatures on the part of the Purchaser or Purchaser’s Spouse.


EXHIBIT 2

SPOUSE CONSENT


Spouse Consent

The undersigned spouse of _________________________________________(the “Purchaser”) has read, understands, and hereby approves the Stock Option Exercise Agreement between Purchaser and the Company (the “Agreement”). In consideration of the Company’s granting my spouse the right to purchase the Shares as set forth in the Agreement, the undersigned hereby agrees to be irrevocably bound by the Agreement and further agrees that any community property interest I may have in the Shares shall similarly be bound by the Agreement. The undersigned hereby appoints Purchaser as my attorney-in-fact with respect to any amendment or exercise of any rights under the Agreement.

Date:                                                                                  

 

 

Print Name of Purchaser’s Spouse

 

Signature of Purchaser’s Spouse
Address:

 

 

 


EXHIBIT 3

COPY OF PURCHASER’S CHECK


EXHIBIT A

FORM OF STOCK OPTION EXERCISE AGREEMENT


No         

COUCHBASE, INC.

2018 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

STOCK OPTION EXERCISE AGREEMENT

This Stock Option Exercise Agreement (the “Exercise Agreement”) is made and entered into as of                      , (the “Effective Date”) by and between Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and the purchaser named below (the “Purchaser”). Capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the Company’s 2018 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”).

 

Purchaser   

 

Social Security Number:   

 

Address:   

 

Total Number of Shares:   

 

Exercise Price Per Share:   

 

Date of Grant:   

 

First Vesting Date:   

 

Expiration Date:   

 

   (Unless earlier terminated under Section 5.6 of the Plan)

 

Type of Stock Option   
(Check one):    [ ] Incentive Stock Option
   [ ] Nonqualified Stock Option

1. Exercise of Option.

1.1 Exercise. Pursuant to exercise of that certain option (the “Option”) granted to Purchaser under the Plan and subject to the terms and conditions of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser hereby purchases from the Company, and the Company hereby sells to Purchaser, the Total Number of Shares set forth above (the “Shares”) of the Company’s Common Stock, $0.0001 par value per share, at the Exercise Price Per Share set forth above (the “Exercise Price”). As used in this Exercise Agreement, the term “Shares” refers to the Shares purchased under this Exercise Agreement and includes all securities received (i) in replacement of the Shares, (ii) as a result of stock dividends or stock splits with respect to the Shares, and (iii) all securities received in replacement of the Shares in a merger, recapitalization, reorganization or similar corporate transaction.

1.2 Title to Shares. The exact spelling of the name(s) under which Purchaser will take title to the Shares is:


 

                               

 

  

Purchaser desires to take title to the Shares as follows: [ ] Individual,

as separate property

[ ] Husband and wife, as community property [ ] Joint Tenants

[ ] Other; please specify:                                                                                                                                                                                 

To assign the Shares to a trust, a stock transfer agreement in a form acceptable to the Company (the “Stock Transfer Agreement”) must be completed and executed.

1.3 Payment. Purchaser hereby delivers payment of the Exercise Price in the manner permitted in the Stock Option Agreement as follows (check and complete as appropriate):

[ ] in cash (by check or wire transfer of immediately available funds) in the amount of $_____, receipt of which is acknowledged by the Company;

[ ] by delivery of fully-paid, nonassessable and vested shares of the Common Stock of the Company owned by Purchaser for which the Company has received “full payment of the purchase price” within the meaning of SEC Rule 144, (if purchased by use of a promissory note, such note has been fully paid with respect to such vested shares), or obtained by Purchaser in the open public market, and owned free and clear of all liens, claims, encumbrances or security interests, valued at the current Fair Market Value of $                         per share;

[ ] by the waiver hereby of compensation due or accrued for services rendered in the amount of $                     ; or

[ ] other (as referenced in the Plan and described in the Stock Option Agreement (please describe))                     ;

2. Delivery.

2.1 Deliveries by Purchaser. Purchaser hereby delivers to the Company (i) this Exercise Agreement, (ii) two (2) copies of a blank Stock Power and Assignment Separate from Stock Certificate in the form of Exhibit 1 attached hereto (the “Stock Powers”), both executed by Purchaser (and Purchaser’s spouse, if any), (iii) if Purchaser is married, a Consent of Spouse in the form of Exhibit 2 attached hereto (the “Spouse Consent”) executed by Purchaser’s spouse, and (iv) the Exercise Price and payment or other provision for any applicable tax obligations in the form specified above, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 3.

2.2 Deliveries by the Company. Upon its receipt of the Exercise Price, payment or other provision for any applicable tax obligations and all the documents to be executed and delivered by Purchaser to the Company under Section 2.1, the Company will issue a duly executed stock certificate evidencing the Shares in the name of Purchaser to be placed in escrow as provided in Section 10 until expiration or termination of the Company’s Right of First Refusal as described in Sections 8 and 9.


3. Representations and Warranties of Purchaser. Purchaser represents and warrants to the Company that:

3.1 Agrees to Terms of the Plan. Purchaser has received a copy of the Plan and the Stock Option Agreement, has read and understands the terms of the Plan, the Stock Option Agreement and this Exercise Agreement, and agrees to be bound by their terms and conditions. Purchaser acknowledges that there may be adverse tax consequences upon exercise of the Option or disposition of the Shares, and that Purchaser should consult a tax adviser prior to such exercise or disposition.

3.2 Purchase for Own Account for Investment. Purchaser is purchasing the Shares for Purchaser’s own account for investment purposes only and not with a view to, or for sale in connection with, a distribution of the Shares within the meaning of the Securities Act. Purchaser has no present intention of selling or otherwise disposing of all or any portion of the Shares and no one other than Purchaser has any beneficial ownership of any of the Shares.

3.3 Access to Information. Purchaser has had access to all information regarding the Company and its present and prospective business, assets, liabilities and financial condition that Purchaser reasonably considers important in making the decision to purchase the Shares, and Purchaser has had ample opportunity to ask questions of the Company’s representatives concerning such matters and this investment.

3.4 Understanding of Risks. Purchaser is fully aware of: (i) the highly speculative nature of the investment in the Shares; (ii) the financial hazards involved; (iii) the lack of liquidity of the Shares and the restrictions on transferability of the Shares (e.g., that Purchaser may not be able to sell or dispose of the Shares or use them as collateral for loans); (iv) the qualifications and backgrounds of the management of the Company; and (v) the tax consequences of investment in the Shares. Purchaser is capable of evaluating the merits and risks of this investment, has the ability to protect Purchaser’s own interests in this transaction and is financially capable of bearing a total loss of this investment. For the avoidance of doubt, Purchaser understands and agrees that the Shares are subject to the transfer restrictions set forth in Sections 11 and 12 of the Plan.

3.5 No General Solicitation. At no time was Purchaser presented with or solicited by any publicly issued or circulated newspaper, mail, radio, television or other form of general advertising or solicitation in connection with the offer, sale and purchase of the Shares.

4. Compliance with Securities Laws.

4.1 Compliance with U.S. Federal Securities Laws. Purchaser understands and acknowledges that the Shares have not been registered with the SEC under the Securities Act and that, notwithstanding any other provision of the Stock Option Agreement to the contrary, the exercise of any rights to purchase any Shares is expressly conditioned upon compliance with the Securities Act and all applicable state securities laws. Purchaser agrees to cooperate with the Company to ensure compliance with such laws.


4.2 Compliance with California Securities Laws. THE PLAN, THE STOCK OPTION AGREEMENT, AND THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT ARE INTENDED TO COMPLY WITH SECTION 25102(o) OF THE CALIFORNIA CORPORATIONS CODE AND ANY RULES (INCLUDING COMMISSIONER RULES, IF APPLICABLE) OR REGULATIONS PROMULGATED THEREUNDER BY THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORPORATIONS (THE “REGULATIONS”). ANY PROVISION OF THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT THAT IS INCONSISTENT WITH SECTION 25102(o) SHALL, WITHOUT FURTHER ACT OR AMENDMENT BY THE COMPANY OR THE BOARD, BE REFORMED TO COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF SECTION 25102(o). THE SALE OF THE SECURITIES THAT ARE THE SUBJECT OF THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT, IF NOT YET QUALIFIED WITH THE CALIFORNIA COMMISSIONER OF CORPORATIONS AND NOT EXEMPT FROM SUCH QUALIFICATION, IS SUBJECT TO SUCH QUALIFICATION, AND THE ISSUANCE OF SUCH SECURITIES, AND THE RECEIPT OF ANY PART OF THE CONSIDERATION THEREFOR PRIOR TO SUCH QUALIFICATION IS UNLAWFUL UNLESS THE SALE IS EXEMPT. THE RIGHTS OF THE PARTIES TO THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT ARE EXPRESSLY CONDITIONED UPON SUCH QUALIFICATION BEING OBTAINED OR AN EXEMPTION BEING AVAILABLE.

5. Restricted Securities.

5.1 No Transfer Unless Registered or Exempt. Purchaser understands that Purchaser may not transfer any Shares unless such Shares are registered under the Securities Act or qualified under applicable state securities laws or unless, in the opinion of counsel to the Company, exemptions from such registration and qualification requirements are available. Purchaser understands that only the Company may file a registration statement with the SEC and that the Company is under no obligation to do so with respect to the Shares. Purchaser has also been advised that exemptions from registration and qualification may not be available or may not permit Purchaser to transfer all or any of the Shares in the amounts or at the times proposed by Purchaser.

5.2 SEC Rule 144. In addition, Purchaser has been advised that SEC Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act, which permits certain limited sales of unregistered securities, is not presently available with respect to the Shares and, in any event, requires that the Shares be held for a minimum of one (1) year, and in certain cases two (2) years, after they have been purchased and paid for (within the meaning of Rule 144). Purchaser understands that Rule 144 may indefinitely restrict transfer of the Shares so long as Purchaser remains an “affiliate” of the Company or if “current public information” about the Company (as defined in Rule 144) is not publicly available.

5.3 SEC Rule 701. Shares that are issued pursuant to SEC Rule 701 promulgated under the Securities Act may become freely tradeable by non-affiliates (under limited conditions regarding the method of sale) ninety (90) days after the first sale of Common Stock of the Company to the general public pursuant to a registration statement filed with and declared effective by the SEC, subject to the lengthier market standoff agreement contained in Section 7 of this Exercise Agreement or any other agreement entered into by Purchaser. Affiliates must comply with the provisions (other than the holding period requirements) of Rule 144.


6. Restrictions on Transfers.

6.1 Disposition of Shares. Purchaser hereby agrees that Purchaser shall make no disposition of the Shares (other than as permitted by this Exercise Agreement) unless and until:

(a) Purchaser shall have notified the Company of the proposed disposition and provided a written summary of the terms and conditions of the proposed disposition;

(b) Purchaser shall have complied with all requirements of this Exercise Agreement applicable to the disposition of the Shares;

(c) Purchaser shall have provided the Company with written assurances, in form and substance satisfactory to counsel for the Company, that (i) the proposed disposition does not require registration of the Shares under the Securities Act or (ii) all appropriate actions necessary for compliance with the registration requirements of the Securities Act or of any exemption from registration available under the Securities Act (including Rule 144) have been taken; and

(d) Purchaser shall have provided the Company with written assurances, in form and substance satisfactory to the Company, that the proposed disposition will not result in the contravention of any transfer restrictions applicable to the Shares pursuant to the provisions of the Regulations referred to in Section 4.2 hereof.

6.2 Restriction on Transfer. Purchaser shall not transfer, assign, grant a lien or security interest in, pledge, hypothecate, encumber or otherwise dispose of any of the Shares which are subject to the Company’s Right of First Refusal described below, except as permitted by this Exercise Agreement.

6.3 Transferee Obligations. Each person (other than the Company) to whom the Shares are transferred by means of one of the permitted transfers specified in this Exercise Agreement must, as a condition precedent to the validity of such transfer, acknowledge in writing to the Company that such person is bound by the provisions of this Exercise Agreement and that the transferred Shares are subject to (i) the Company’s Right of First Refusal granted hereunder and (ii) the market stand-off provisions of Section 7 hereof, to the same extent such Shares would be so subject if retained by the Purchaser.

7. Market Standoff Agreement. Purchaser agrees in connection with any registration of the Company’s securities that, upon the request of the Company or the underwriters managing any public offering of the Company’s securities, Purchaser will not sell or otherwise dispose of any Shares without the prior written consent of the Company or such underwriters, as the case may be, for such period of time (not to exceed one hundred eighty (180) days) after the effective date of such registration requested by such managing underwriters and subject to all restrictions as the Company or the underwriters may specify. Purchaser further agrees to enter into any agreement reasonably required by the underwriters to implement the foregoing.


8. Company’s Right of First Refusal. Unvested Shares and Vested Shares may not be sold or otherwise transferred by Purchaser without the Company’s prior written consent. Before any Vested Shares held by Purchaser or any transferee of such Vested Shares (either sometimes referred to herein as the “Holder”) may be sold or otherwise transferred (including, without limitation, a transfer by gift or operation of law), such transfer must be permitted by written approval of the Committee or the Board, and the Company and/or its assignee(s) will have a right of first refusal to purchase the Vested Shares to be sold or transferred (the “Offered Shares”) on the terms and conditions set forth in this Section (the “Right of First Refusal”).

8.1 Notice of Proposed Transfer. The Holder of the Offered Shares will deliver to the Company a written notice (the “Notice”) stating: (i) the Holder’s bona fide intention to sell or otherwise transfer the Offered Shares; (ii) the name and address of each proposed purchaser or other transferee (the “Proposed Transferee”); (iii) the number of Offered Shares to be transferred to each Proposed Transferee; (iv) the bona fide cash price or other consideration for which the Holder proposes to transfer the Offered Shares (the “Offered Price”); and (v) that the Holder acknowledges this Notice is an offer to sell the Offered Shares to the Company and/or its assignee(s) pursuant to the Company’s Right of First Refusal at the Offered Price as provided for in this Exercise Agreement.

8.2 Exercise of Right of First Refusal. At any time within thirty (30) days after the date of the Notice, the Company and/or its assignee(s) may, by giving written notice to the Holder, elect to purchase all (or, with the consent of the Holder, less than all) the Offered Shares proposed to be transferred to any one or more of the Proposed Transferees named in the Notice, at the purchase price, determined as specified below.

8.3 Purchase Price. The purchase price for the Offered Shares purchased under this Section will be the Offered Price, provided that if the Offered Price consists of no legal consideration (as, for example, in the case of a transfer by gift) the purchase price will be the fair market value of the Offered Shares as determined in good faith by the Company’s Board of Directors. If the Offered Price includes consideration other than cash, then the value of the non-cash consideration, as determined in good faith by the Company’s Board of Directors, will conclusively be deemed to be the cash equivalent value of such non-cash consideration.

8.4 Payment. Payment of the purchase price for the Offered Shares will be payable, at the option of the Company and/or its assignee(s) (as applicable), by cash or check (or wire transfer of immediately available funds) or by cancellation of all or a portion of any outstanding purchase money indebtedness owed by the Holder to the Company (or to such assignee, in the case of a purchase of Offered Shares by such assignee) or by any combination thereof. The purchase price will be paid without interest within sixty (60) days after the Company’s receipt of the Notice, or, at the option of the Company and/or its assignee(s), in the manner and at the time(s) set forth in the Notice.

8.5 Holder’s Right to Transfer. If all of the Offered Shares proposed in the Notice to be transferred to a given Proposed Transferee are not purchased by the Company and/or its assignee(s) as provided in this Section, then the Holder may sell or otherwise transfer such Offered Shares to each Proposed Transferee at the Offered Price or at a higher price, provided that (i) such sale or other transfer is consummated within one hundred twenty (120) days after the date


of the Notice, (ii) any such sale or other transfer is effected in compliance with all applicable securities laws, and (iii) each Proposed Transferee agrees in writing that the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to the Offered Shares in the hands of such Proposed Transferee. If the Offered Shares described in the Notice are not transferred to each Proposed Transferee within such one hundred twenty (120) day period, then a new Notice must be given to the Company pursuant to which the Company will again be offered the Right of First Refusal before any Shares held by the Holder may be sold or otherwise transferred.

8.6 Exempt Transfers. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section, the following transfers of Vested Shares will be exempt from the Right of First Refusal: (i) the transfer of any or all of the Vested Shares during Purchaser’s lifetime by gift or on Purchaser’s death by will or intestacy to Purchaser’s “Immediate Family” (as defined below) or to a trust for the benefit of Purchaser or Purchaser’s Immediate Family, provided that each transferee or other recipient agrees in a writing satisfactory to the Company that the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to the transferred Vested Shares in the hands of such transferee or other recipient; (ii) any transfer of Vested Shares made pursuant to a statutory merger or statutory consolidation of the Company with or into another corporation or corporations (except that, the Right of First Refusal will continue to apply thereafter to such Vested Shares, in which case the surviving corporation of such merger or consolidation shall succeed to the rights of the Company under this Section unless the agreement of merger or consolidation expressly otherwise provides); or (iii) any transfer of Vested Shares pursuant to the winding up and dissolution of the Company. As used herein, the term “Immediate Family” will mean Purchaser’s spouse, the lineal descendant or antecedent, father, mother, brother or sister, child, adopted child, grandchild or adopted grandchild of the Purchaser or the Purchaser’s spouse, or the spouse of any of the above or Spousal Equivalent, as defined herein. As used herein, a person is deemed to be a “Spousal Equivalent” provided the following circumstances are true: (i) irrespective of whether or not the Participant and the Spousal Equivalent are the same sex, they are the sole spousal equivalent of the other for the last twelve (12) months, (ii) they intend to remain so indefinitely, (iii) neither are married to anyone else, (iv) both are at least 18 years of age and mentally competent to consent to contract, (v) they are not related by blood to a degree of closeness that which would prohibit legal marriage in the state in which they legally reside, (vi) they are jointly responsible for each other’s common welfare and financial obligations, and (vii) they reside together in the same residence for the last twelve (12) months and intend to do so indefinitely.

8.7 Termination of Right of First Refusal. The Right of First Refusal will terminate as to all Shares (i) on the effective date of the first sale of Common Stock of the Company to the general public pursuant to a registration statement filed with and declared effective by the SEC under the 1933 Act (other than a registration statement relating solely to the issuance of Common Stock pursuant to a business combination or an employee incentive or benefit plan) or (ii) on any transfer or conversion of Shares made pursuant to a statutory merger or statutory consolidation of the Company with or into another corporation or corporations if the common stock of the surviving corporation or any direct or indirect parent corporation thereof is registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.


8.8 Encumbrances on Vested Shares. Purchaser may grant a lien or security interest in, or pledge, hypothecate or encumber Vested Shares only if each party to whom such lien or security interest is granted, or to whom such pledge, hypothecation or other encumbrance is made, agrees in a writing satisfactory to the Company that: (i) such lien, security interest, pledge, hypothecation or encumbrance will not apply to such Vested Shares after they are acquired by the Company and/or its assignees under this Section; and (ii) the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to such Vested Shares in the hands of such party and any transferee of such party. Purchaser may not grant a lien or security interest in, or pledge, hypothecate or encumber, any Unvested Shares.

9. Rights as a Shareholder. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser will have all of the rights of a shareholder of the Company with respect to the Shares from and after the date that Shares are issued to Purchaser until such time as Purchaser disposes of the Shares or the Company and/or its assignee(s) exercise(s) the Right of First Refusal. Upon an exercise of the Right of First Refusal, Purchaser will have no further rights as a holder of the Shares so purchased upon such exercise, other than the right to receive payment for the Shares so purchased in accordance with the provisions of this Exercise Agreement, and Purchaser will promptly surrender the stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares so purchased to the Company for transfer or cancellation.

10. Escrow. As security for Purchaser’s faithful performance of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser agrees, immediately upon receipt of the stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares, to deliver such certificate(s), together with the Stock Powers executed by Purchaser and by Purchaser’s spouse, if any (with the date and number of Shares left blank), to the Secretary of the Company or other designee of the Company (the “Escrow Holder”), who is hereby appointed to hold such certificate(s) and Stock Powers in escrow and to take all such actions and to effectuate all such transfers and/or releases of such Shares as are in accordance with the terms of this Exercise Agreement. Purchaser and the Company agree that Escrow Holder will not be liable to any party to this Exercise Agreement (or to any other party) for any actions or omissions unless Escrow Holder is grossly negligent or intentionally fraudulent in carrying out the duties of Escrow Holder under this Exercise Agreement. Escrow Holder may rely upon any letter, notice or other document executed with any signature purported to be genuine and may rely on the advice of counsel and obey any order of any court with respect to the transactions contemplated by this Exercise Agreement. The Shares will be released from escrow upon termination of the Right of First Refusal.

11. Restrictive Legends and Stop-Transfer Orders.

11.1 Legends. Purchaser understands and agrees that the Company will place the legends set forth below or similar legends on any stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares, together with any other legends that may be required by state or U.S. Federal securities laws, the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws, any other agreement between Purchaser and the Company or any agreement between Purchaser and any third party:

THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED HEREBY HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE “SECURITIES ACT”), OR UNDER THE SECURITIES LAWS OF CERTAIN STATES. THESE SECURITIES ARE SUBJECT TO RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFERABILITY AND RESALE AND MAY NOT BE TRANSFERRED OR RESOLD EXCEPT AS PERMITTED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT AND APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS, PURSUANT TO


REGISTRATION OR EXEMPTION THEREFROM. INVESTORS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT THEY MAY BE REQUIRED TO BEAR THE FINANCIAL RISKS OF THIS INVESTMENT FOR AN INDEFINITE PERIOD OF TIME. THE ISSUER OF THESE SECURITIES MAY REQUIRE AN OPINION OF COUNSEL IN FORM AND SUBSTANCE SATISFACTORY TO THE ISSUER TO THE EFFECT THAT ANY PROPOSED TRANSFER OR RESALE IS IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE SECURITIES ACT AND ANY APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS.

THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS ON PUBLIC RESALE AND TRANSFER: INCLUDING THE RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL HELD BY THE ISSUER AND/OR ITS ASSIGNEE(S) AS SET FORTH IN A STOCK OPTION EXERCISE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ISSUER AND THE ORIGINAL HOLDER OF THESE SHARES, A COPY OF WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE PRINCIPAL OFFICE OF THE ISSUER. SUCH PUBLIC SALE AND TRANSFER RESTRICTIONS INCLUDING THE RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL ARE BINDING ON TRANSFEREES OF THESE SHARES.

THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE ARE SUBJECT TO A 180 DAY MARKET STANDOFF RESTRICTION AS SET FORTH IN A CERTAIN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ISSUER AND THE ORIGINAL HOLDER OF THESE SHARES, A COPY OF WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE PRINCIPAL OFFICE OF THE ISSUER. AS A RESULT OF SUCH AGREEMENT, THESE SHARES MAY NOT BE TRADED PRIOR TO 180 DAYS AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF ANY PUBLIC OFFERING OF THE COMMON STOCK OF THE ISSUER HEREOF. SUCH RESTRICTION IS BINDING ON TRANSFEREES OF THESE SHARES.

11.2 Stop-Transfer Instructions. Purchaser agrees that, to ensure compliance with the restrictions imposed by this Exercise Agreement, the Company may issue appropriate “stop-transfer” instructions to its transfer agent, if any, and if the Company transfers its own securities, it may make appropriate notations to the same effect in its own records.

11.3 Refusal to Transfer. The Company will not be required (i) to transfer on its books any Shares that have been sold or otherwise transferred in violation of any of the provisions of this Exercise Agreement or (ii) to treat as owner of such Shares, or to accord the right to vote or pay dividends to any purchaser or other transferee to whom such Shares have been so transferred.

12. Tax Consequences. PURCHASER UNDERSTANDS THAT PURCHASER MAY SUFFER ADVERSE TAX CONSEQUENCES AS A RESULT OF PURCHASER’S PURCHASE OR DISPOSITION OF THE SHARES. PURCHASER REPRESENTS: (i) THAT PURCHASER HAS CONSULTED WITH ANY TAX ADVISER THAT PURCHASER DEEMS ADVISABLE IN CONNECTION WITH THE PURCHASE OR DISPOSITION OF THE SHARES AND (ii) THAT PURCHASER IS NOT RELYING ON THE COMPANY FOR ANY TAX ADVICE. Set forth below is a brief summary as of the date the Plan was adopted by the Board of some of the U.S. Federal and California tax consequences of exercise of the Option and disposition of the Shares. THIS SUMMARY IS NECESSARILY INCOMPLETE, AND THE TAX LAWS AND REGULATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. PURCHASER SHOULD CONSULT HIS OR HER OWN TAX ADVISER BEFORE EXERCISING THIS OPTION OR DISPOSING OF THE SHARES.


12.1 Exercise of Incentive Stock Option. If the Option qualifies as an ISO, there will be no regular U.S. Federal income tax liability or California income tax liability upon the exercise of the Option, although the excess, if any, of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on the date of exercise over the Exercise Price will be treated as a tax preference item for U.S. Federal alternative minimum tax purposes and may subject Purchaser to the alternative minimum tax in the year of exercise.

12.2 Exercise of Nonqualified Stock Option. If the Option does not qualify as an ISO, there may be a regular U.S. Federal income tax liability and a California income tax liability upon the exercise of the Option. Purchaser will be treated as having received compensation income (taxable at ordinary income tax rates) equal to the excess, if any, of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on the date of exercise over the Exercise Price. If Purchaser is or was an employee of the Company, the Company may be required to withhold from Purchaser’s compensation or collect from Purchaser and pay to the applicable taxing authorities an amount equal to a percentage of this compensation income at the time of exercise.

12.3 Disposition of Shares. The following tax consequences may apply upon disposition of the Shares.

(a) Incentive Stock Options. If the Shares are held for more than twelve (12) months after the date of the transfer of the Shares pursuant to the exercise of an ISO and are disposed of more than two (2) years after the Date of Grant, any gain realized on disposition of the Shares will be treated as long term capital gain for federal and California income tax purposes. If Shares purchased under an ISO are disposed of within the applicable one (1) year or two (2) year period, any gain realized on such disposition will be treated as compensation income (taxable at ordinary income rates) to the extent of the excess, if any, of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on the date of exercise over the Exercise Price.

(b) Nonqualified Stock Options. If the Shares are held for more than twelve (12) months after the date of the transfer of the Shares pursuant to the exercise of an NQSO, any gain realized on disposition of the Shares will be treated as long term capital gain.

(c) Withholding. The Company may be required to withhold from the Purchaser’s compensation or collect from the Purchaser and pay to the applicable taxing authorities an amount equal to a percentage of this compensation income.

13. Compliance with Laws and Regulations. The issuance and transfer of the Shares will be subject to and conditioned upon compliance by the Company and Purchaser with all applicable state and U.S. Federal laws and regulations and with all applicable requirements of any stock exchange or automated quotation system on which the Company’s Common Stock may be listed or quoted at the time of such issuance or transfer.


14. Successors and Assigns. The Company may assign any of its rights under this Exercise Agreement, including its rights to purchase Shares under the Right of First Refusal. No other party to this Exercise Agreement may assign, whether voluntarily or by operation of law, any of its rights and obligations under this Exercise Agreement, except with the prior written consent of the Company. This Exercise Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the successors and assigns of the Company. Subject to the restrictions on transfer herein set forth, this Exercise Agreement will be binding upon Purchaser and Purchaser’s heirs, executors, administrators, legal representatives, successors and assigns.

15. Governing Law. This Exercise Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to that body of laws pertaining to conflict of laws.

16. Notices. Any and all notices required or permitted to be given to a party pursuant to the provisions of this Exercise Agreement will be in writing and will be effective and deemed to provide such party sufficient notice under this Exercise Agreement on the earliest of the following: (i) at the time of personal delivery, if delivery is in person; (ii) at the time of transmission by facsimile, addressed to the other party at its facsimile number specified herein (or hereafter modified by subsequent notice to the parties hereto), with confirmation of receipt made by both telephone and printed confirmation sheet verifying successful transmission of the facsimile; (iii) one (1) business day after deposit with an express overnight courier for United States deliveries, or two (2) business days after such deposit for deliveries outside of the United States, with proof of delivery from the courier requested; or (iv) three (3) business days after deposit in the United States mail by certified mail (return receipt requested) for United States deliveries.

All notices for delivery outside the United States will be sent by facsimile or by express courier. All notices not delivered personally or by facsimile will be sent with postage and/or other charges prepaid and properly addressed to the party to be notified at the address or facsimile number set forth below the signature lines of this Exercise Agreement, or at such other address or facsimile number as such other party may designate by one of the indicated means of notice herein to the other parties hereto. Notices to the Company will be marked “Attention: President”. Notices by facsimile shall be machine verified as received.

17. Further Assurances. The parties agree to execute such further documents and instruments and to take such further actions as may be reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes and intent of this Exercise Agreement.

18. Titles and Headings. The titles, captions and headings of this Exercise Agreement are included for ease of reference only and will be disregarded in interpreting or construing this Exercise Agreement. Unless otherwise specifically stated, all references herein to “sections” and “exhibits” will mean “sections” and “exhibits” to this Exercise Agreement.

19. Entire Agreement. The Plan, the Stock Option Agreement and this Exercise Agreement, together with all Exhibits thereto, constitute the entire agreement and understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter of this Exercise Agreement, and supersede all prior understandings and agreements, whether oral or written, between or among the parties hereto with respect to the specific subject matter hereof.


20. Counterparts. This Exercise Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which when so executed and delivered will be deemed an original, and all of which together shall constitute one and the same agreement.

21. Severability. If any provision of this Exercise Agreement is determined by any court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, such provision will be enforced to the maximum extent possible given the intent of the parties hereto. If such clause or provision cannot be so enforced, such provision shall be stricken from this Exercise Agreement and the remainder of this Exercise Agreement shall be enforced as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable clause or provision had (to the extent not enforceable) never been contained in this Exercise Agreement. Notwithstanding the forgoing, if the value of this Exercise Agreement based upon the substantial benefit of the bargain for any party is materially impaired, which determination as made by the presiding court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction shall be binding, then both parties agree to substitute such provision(s) through good faith negotiations.

22. Facsimile Signatures. This Agreement may be executed and delivered by facsimile and upon such delivery the facsimile signature will be deemed to have the same effect as if the original signature had been delivered to the other party.


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Exercise Agreement to be executed in triplicate by its duly authorized representative and Purchaser has executed this Exercise Agreement in triplicate as of the Effective Date, indicated above.

 

COUCHBASE, INC.       PURCHASER
By:  

                                                                           

     

 

      (Signature)   

 

                                  

 

(Please print name)       (Please print name)

 

     
(Please print title)      
Address:       Address:

 

     

 

 

     

 

 

     

 

Fax No.:  

                                                  

      Fax No.:   

                                      

Phone No.:  

                              

      Phone No.:   

                                      

List of Exhibits

 

Exhibit 1:    Stock Power and Assignment Separate from Stock Certificate
Exhibit 2:    Spouse Consent
Exhibit 3:    Copy of Purchaser’s Check or other permitted consideration

[Signature page to Couchbase, Inc. Stock Option Exercise Agreement]


EXHIBIT 1

STOCK POWER AND ASSIGNMENT

SEPARATE FROM STOCK CERTIFICATE


Stock Power and Assignment Separate from Stock Certificate

FOR VALUE RECEIVED and pursuant to that certain Stock Option Exercise Agreement No.                     dated as of                     ,             , (the “Agreement”), the undersigned hereby sells, assigns and transfers unto                        shares of the Common Stock $0.0001 par value per share, of Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), standing in the undersigned’s name on the books of the Company represented by Certificate No(s).                         delivered herewith, and does hereby irrevocably constitute and appoint the Secretary of the Company as the undersigned’s attorney-in-fact, with full power of substitution, to transfer said stock on the books of the Company. THIS ASSIGNMENT MAY ONLY BE USED AS AUTHORIZED BY THE AGREEMENT AND ANY EXHIBITS THERETO.

 

Dated:                                       ,                 
PURCHASER     

 

    
(Signature)     

 

    
(Please Print Name)     

 

    
(Spouse’s Signature, if any)     

 

    
(Please Print Spouse’s Name)     

Instructions to Purchaser: Please do not fill in any blanks other than the signature line. The purpose of this Stock Power and Assignment is to enable the Company to acquire the shares upon exercise its “Right of First Refusal” set forth in the Exercise Agreement without requiring additional signatures on the part of the Purchaser or Purchaser’s Spouse.


EXHIBIT 2

SPOUSE CONSENT


Spouse Consent

The undersigned spouse of                                                   (the “Purchaser”) has read, understands, and hereby approves the Stock Option Exercise Agreement between Purchaser and the Company (the “Agreement”). In consideration of the Company’s granting my spouse the right to purchase the Shares as set forth in the Agreement, the undersigned hereby agrees to be irrevocably bound by the Agreement and further agrees that any community property interest I may have in the Shares shall similarly be bound by the Agreement. The undersigned hereby appoints Purchaser as my attorney-in-fact with respect to any amendment or exercise of any rights under the Agreement.

 

Date:  

 

 

 

 

  Print Name of Purchaser’s Spouse
 

 

  Signature of Purchaser’s Spouse Address:
  Address:
 

 

 

 

 

 


EXHIBIT 3

COPY OF PURCHASER’S CHECK


EXHIBIT B

2018 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN


COUCHBASE, INC.

2018 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

As Adopted on October 19, 2018

1. PURPOSE. The purpose of this Plan is to provide incentives to attract, retain and motivate eligible persons whose present and potential contributions are important to the success of the Company, its Parent and Subsidiaries by offering eligible persons an opportunity to participate in the Company’s future performance through Awards. Capitalized terms not defined in the text are defined in Section 24 hereof. Although this Plan is intended to be a written compensatory benefit plan within the meaning of Rule 701 promulgated under the Securities Act, grants may be made pursuant to this Plan that do not qualify for exemption under Rule 701 or Section 25102(o) of the California Corporations Code (“Section 25102(o)”). Any requirement of this Plan that is required in law only because of Section 25102(o) need not apply if the Committee so provides.

2. SHARES SUBJECT TO THE PLAN

4.1 Number of Shares Available. Subject to Sections 2.2 and 19 hereof, the total number of Shares reserved and available for grant and issuance pursuant to this Plan will be 1,726,568 Shares, which is the number of Shares that remain available for grants under the Company’s 2008 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended (the “2008 Plan”) as of September 30, 2018. Subject to Sections 2.2, 5.10 and 19 hereof, Shares subject to Awards previously granted under the 2008 Plan that, on or after September 30, 2018, or the Plan that , (i) are withheld upon exercise of an Option or settlement of an Award to cover the exercise price or tax withholding; (ii) are forfeited or repurchased by the Company at the original issue price; or (iii) are subject to an Award that otherwise terminates without Shares being issued, will again be available for grant and issuance in connection with future Awards under this Plan. At all times the Company will reserve and keep available a sufficient number of Shares as will be required to satisfy the requirements of all Awards granted and outstanding under this Plan.

4.2 Adjustment of Shares. Subject to Section 19 hereof, if, as a result of any stock dividend, reorganization, recapitalization, stock split, reverse stock split, subdivision, combination, reclassification or similar change in the capital structure of the Company, the outstanding Shares are increased or decreased or are exchanged for a different number or kind of shares or other securities of the Company, or additional Shares or new or different shares or other securities of the Company or other non-cash assets are distributed with respect to such Shares or other securities, in each case, without receipt of consideration by the Company, or, if, as a result of any merger or consolidation, or sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company, the outstanding Shares are converted into or exchanged for other securities of the Company or any successor entity (or a parent or subsidiary thereof), then (a) the number of Shares reserved for issuance under this Plan and the ISO Maximum, (b) the Exercise Prices of and number of Shares subject to outstanding Options, (c) the Purchase Prices of and number of Shares subject to other outstanding Awards, and (d) the number and kind of Shares or other securities subject to any then outstanding Awards under the Plan, will be proportionately adjusted, subject to any required action by the Board or the stockholders of the Company and compliance with applicable securities laws; provided, however, that fractions of a Share will not be issued but will either be paid in cash at the Fair Market Value of such fraction of a Share or will be rounded down to the nearest whole Share, as determined by the Committee; and provided, further, that the Exercise Price of any Option may not be decreased to below the par value of the Shares.


3. ELIGIBILITY. ISOs (as defined in Section 5 hereof) may be granted only to employees (including officers and directors who are also employees) of the Company or of a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company. NQSOs (as defined in Section 5 hereof) and other Awards may be granted to employees, officers, directors and consultants of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company; provided such consultants are natural persons that render bona fide services not in connection with the offer and sale of securities in a capital-raising transaction and do not directly or indirectly promote or maintain a market for the Company’s securities. A person may be granted more than one Award under this Plan.

4. ADMINISTRATION

4.1 Committee Authority. This Plan will be administered by the Committee or the Board if no Committee is created by the Board. Subject to the general purposes, terms and conditions of this Plan, and to the direction of the Board, the Committee will have full power to implement and carry out this Plan. Without limitation, the Committee will have the authority to:

(a) construe and interpret this Plan, any Award Agreement and any other agreement or document executed pursuant to this Plan;

(b) at any time, prescribe, adopt, amend, expand and rescind or terminate rules and regulations relating to this Plan;

(c) approve persons to receive Awards;

(d) determine the time or times of grant;

(e) determine the form and terms of Awards;

(f) determine the number of Shares or other consideration subject to Awards under this Plan;

(g) determine whether Awards will be granted singly, in combination with, in tandem with, in replacement of, or as alternatives to, other Awards under this Plan or awards under any other incentive or compensation plan of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company;

(h) grant waivers of any conditions of this Plan or any Award or impose any limitations on Awards, including limitations on transfers, repurchase provisions and the like, and exercise repurchase rights or obligations;


(i) determine the terms of vesting, exercisability and payment of Awards under this Plan;

(j) accelerate at any time the exercisability or vesting of all or any portion of any Award;

(k) correct any defect, supply any omission, or reconcile any inconsistency in this Plan, any Award, any Award Agreement, any Exercise Agreement or any Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement;

(l) determine whether an Award has been earned;

(m) determine and, subject to Section 20, modify from time to time the terms and conditions, including restrictions, not inconsistent with the terms of the Plan, of any Award, which terms and conditions may differ among individual Awards and Participants, and approve the form of Award Agreements;

(n) decide all disputes arising in connection with the Plan; make all other determinations necessary or advisable for the administration of this Plan; and otherwise supervise the administration of the Plan;

(o) exercise its discretion to reduce the exercise price of outstanding Options or effect repricing through cancellation of outstanding Options and by granting such holders new Awards in replacement of the cancelled Options;

(p) in order to comply with the laws in other countries in which the Company and any Subsidiary operate or have employees or other individuals eligible for Awards: (i) determine which Subsidiaries, if any, shall be covered by the Plan; (ii) determine which individuals, if any, outside the United States are eligible to participate in the Plan; (iii) modify the terms and conditions of any Award granted to individuals outside the United States to comply with applicable foreign laws; (iv) establish subplans and modify exercise procedures and other terms and procedures, to the extent the Committee determines such actions to be necessary or advisable (and such subplans and/or modifications shall be attached to the Plan as appendices); provided, however, that no such subplans and/or modifications shall increase the share limitation contained in Section 2.1 hereof; and (v) take any action, before or after an Award is made, that the Committee determines to be necessary or advisable to obtain approval or comply with any local governmental regulatory exemptions or approvals; and

(q) subject to Section 5.3 and any restrictions imposed by Section 409A of the Code, extend the vesting period beyond a Participant’s Termination Date.

4.2 Committee Discretion. Unless in contravention of any express terms of this Plan or Award, any determination made by the Committee with respect to any Award will be made in its sole discretion either (a) at the time of grant of the Award, or (b) subject to Section 5.9 hereof, at any later time. Any such determination will be final and binding on the Company and


on all persons having an interest in any Award under this Plan. Subject to applicable law, the Committee may delegate to one or more officers of the Company the authority to grant an Award under this Plan to non-officer recipients, provided such officer or officers are members of the Board; provided, however, that the resolution so authorizing the delegation to such officer(s) shall contain a limit on the number of Awards the officer(s) may so award. Any such delegation by the Committee shall also provide that the officer(s) may not grant Awards to himself or herself. The Committee may revoke or amend the terms of a delegation at any time but such action shall not invalidate any prior actions of the Committee’s delegate or delegates that were consistent with the terms of the Plan. Neither the Board nor the Committee, nor any member of either or any delegate thereof, shall be liable for any act, omission, interpretation, construction or determination made in good faith in connection with the Plan, and the members of the Board and the Committee (and any delegate thereof) shall be entitled in all cases to indemnification and reimbursement by the Company in respect of any claim, loss, damage or expense (including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising or resulting therefrom to the fullest extent permitted by law and/or under the Company’s governing documents, including its certificate of incorporation or bylaws, or any directors’ and officers’ liability insurance coverage which may be in effect from time to time and/or any indemnification agreement between such individual and the Company.

5. OPTIONS. The Committee may grant Options to eligible persons described in Section 3 hereof and will determine whether such Options will be Incentive Stock Options within the meaning of the Code (“ISOs”) or Nonqualified Stock Options (“NQSOs”), the number of Shares subject to the Option, the Exercise Price of the Option, the period during which the Option may be exercised, and all other terms and conditions of the Option, subject to the following:

5.1 Form of Option Grant. Each Option granted under this Plan will be evidenced by an Award Agreement which will expressly identify the Option as an ISO or an NQSO (“Stock Option Agreement”), and will be in such form and contain such provisions (which need not be the same for each Participant) as the Committee may from time to time approve, and which will comply with and be subject to the terms and conditions of this Plan. To the extent that any Option does not qualify as an ISO, it shall be deemed a NQSO.

5.2 Date of Grant. The date of grant of an Option will be the date on which the Committee makes the determination to grant such Option, unless a later date is otherwise specified by the Committee, The Stock Option Agreement and a copy of this Plan will be delivered to the Participant within a reasonable time after the granting of the Option.

5.3 Exercise Period. Options may be exercisable immediately; provided, that Shares issued upon such exercise shall be subject to a vesting schedule identical to the vesting schedule of the related Option, such Shares shall be deemed to be Restricted Stock for purposes of the Plan subject to repurchase pursuant to Section 12 hereof, and the Participant may be required to enter into an additional or new Award Agreement as a condition to exercise of such Option. Options may be exercisable within the times or upon the events determined by the Committee as set forth in the Stock Option Agreement governing such Option; provided, however, that no Option will be exercisable after the expiration of ten (10) years from the date the Option is granted; and


provided further that no ISO granted to a person who directly or by attribution owns more than ten percent (10%) of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock of the Company or of any Parent or Subsidiary (“Ten Percent Shareholder”) will be exercisable after the expiration of five (5) years from the date the ISO is granted. The Committee also may provide for Options to become exercisable at one time or from time to time, periodically or otherwise, in such number of Shares or percentage of Shares as the Committee determines. A Participant shall have the rights of a stockholder only as to Shares acquired upon the exercise of an Option and not as to unexercised Options. A Participant shall not be deemed to have acquired any Shares unless and until an Option shall have been exercised pursuant to the terms of the Award Agreement and this Plan and the Participant’s name has been entered on the books of the Company as a stockholder.

5.4 Exercise Price. The Exercise Price of an Option will be determined by the Committee when the Option is granted and shall not be less than the Fair Market Value per Share unless expressly determined in writing by the Committee on the Option’s date of grant; provided that the Exercise Price of an ISO granted to a Ten Percent Shareholder will not be less than one hundred ten percent (110%) of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on the date of grant. Payment for the Shares purchased must be made in accordance with Section 8 hereof.

5.5 Method of Exercise. Options may be exercised only by delivery to the Company of a written stock option exercise agreement (the “Exercise Agreement”) in a form approved by the Committee (which need not be the same for each Participant). The Exercise Agreement will state (a) the number of Shares being purchased, (b) the restrictions imposed on the Shares purchased under such Exercise Agreement, if any, and (c) such representations and agreements regarding Participant’s investment intent and access to information and other matters, if any, as may be required or desirable by the Company to comply with applicable securities laws. Participant shall execute and deliver to the Company the Exercise Agreement together with payment in full of the Exercise Price, and any applicable taxes, for the number of Shares being purchased.

5.6 Termination. Subject to earlier termination pursuant to Sections 19 and 22 hereof and notwithstanding the exercise periods set forth in the Stock Option Agreement, exercise of an Option will always be subject to the following:

(a) If the Participant is Terminated for any reason other than death, Disability or for Cause, then the Participant may exercise such Participant’s Options only to the extent that such Options are exercisable as to Vested Shares upon the Termination Date or as otherwise determined by the Committee. Such Options must be exercised by the Participant, if at all, as to all or some of the Vested Shares calculated as of the Termination Date or such other date determined by the Committee, within three (3) months after the Termination Date (with any exercise beyond three (3) months after the Termination Date deemed to be an NQSO) but in any event, no later than the expiration date of the Options.

(b) If the Participant is Terminated because of Participant’s death or Disability (or the Participant dies within three (3) months after a Termination other than for Cause), then Participant’s Options may be exercised only to the extent that such Options are exercisable


as to Vested Shares by Participant on the Termination Date or as otherwise determined by the Committee. Such options must be exercised by Participant (or Participant’s legal representative or authorized assignee), if at all, as to all or some of the Vested Shares calculated as of the Termination Date or such other date determined by the Committee, within twelve (12) months after the Termination Date (with any exercise beyond (i) three (3) months after the Termination Date when the Termination is for any reason other than the Participant’s death or disability, within the meaning of Section 22(e)(3) of the Code, or (ii) twelve (12) months after the Termination Date when the Termination is for Participant’s disability, within the meaning of Section 22(e)(3) of the Code, deemed to be an NQSO) but in any event no later than the expiration date of the Options.

(c) If the Participant is terminated for Cause, the Participant may exercise such Participant’s Options, but not to an extent greater than such Options are exercisable as to Vested Shares upon the Termination Date and Participant’s Options shall expire on such Participant’s Termination Date, or at such later time and on such conditions as are determined by the Committee,

5.7 Limitations on Exercise. The Committee may specify a reasonable minimum number of Shares that may be purchased on any exercise of an Option, provided that such minimum number will not prevent Participant from exercising the Option for the full number of Shares for which it is then exercisable.

5.8 Limitations on ISOs. The aggregate Fair Market Value (determined as of the date of grant) of Shares with respect to which ISOs are exercisable for the first time by a Participant during any calendar year (under this Plan or under any other incentive stock option plan of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company) will not exceed One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000). If the Fair Market Value of Shares on the date of grant with respect to which ISOs are exercisable for the first time by a Participant during any calendar year exceeds One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000), then the Options for the first One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000) worth of Shares to become exercisable in such calendar year will be ISOs and the Options for the amount in excess of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000) that become exercisable in that calendar year will be NQSOs. In the event that the Code or the regulations promulgated thereunder are amended after the Effective Date (as defined in Section 20 hereof) to provide for a different limit on the Fair Market Value of Shares permitted to be subject to ISOs, then such different limit will be automatically incorporated herein and will apply to any Options granted after the effective date of such amendment.

5.9 Modification, Extension or Renewal. The Committee may modify, extend or renew outstanding Options and authorize the grant of new Options in substitution therefor, provided that any such action may not, without the written consent of a Participant, impair any of such Participant’s rights under any Option previously granted. Any outstanding ISO that is modified, extended, renewed or otherwise altered will be treated in accordance with Section 424(h) of the Code. Subject to Section 5.10 hereof, the Committee may reduce the Exercise Price of outstanding Options without the consent of Participants by a written notice to them; provided, however, that the Exercise Price may not be reduced below the minimum Exercise Price that would be permitted under Section 5.4 hereof for Options granted on the date the action is taken to reduce the Exercise Price; provided, further, that the Exercise Price will not be reduced below the par value of the Shares, if any.


5.10 No Disqualification. Notwithstanding any other provision in this Plan, no term of this Plan relating to ISOs will be interpreted, amended or altered, nor will any discretion or authority granted under this Plan be exercised, so as to disqualify this Plan under Section 422 of the Code or, without the consent of the Participant, to disqualify any Participant’s ISO under Section 422 of the Code. In no event shall the total number of Shares issued (counting each reissuance of a Share that was previously issued and then forfeited or repurchased by the Company as a separate issuance) under the Plan upon exercise of ISOs exceed 17,265,680 Shares (adjusted in proportion to any adjustments under Section 2.2 hereof) over the term of the Plan (the “ISO Maximum”).

6. RESTRICTED STOCK. A Restricted Stock Award is an offer by the Company to sell to an eligible person Shares that are subject to certain specified restrictions. The Committee will determine to whom an offer will be made, the number of Shares the person may purchase, the Purchase Price, the restrictions to which the Shares will be subject, and all other terms and conditions of the Restricted Stock Award, subject to the following:

6.1 Form of Restricted Stock Award. All purchases under a Restricted Stock Award made pursuant to this Plan will be evidenced by an Award Agreement (“Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement”) that will be in such form (which need not be the same for each Participant) as the Committee will from time to time approve, and will comply with and be subject to the terms and conditions of this Plan. The Restricted Stock Award will be accepted by the Participant’s execution and delivery of the Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement and full payment for the Shares to the Company within thirty (30) days from the date the Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement is delivered to the person. If such person does not execute and deliver the Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement along with full payment for the Shares to the Company within such thirty (30) days, then the offer will terminate, unless otherwise determined by the Committee.

6.2 Purchase Price. The Purchase Price of Shares sold pursuant to a Restricted Stock Award will be determined by the Committee on the date the Restricted Stock Award is granted or at the time the purchase is consummated. Payment of the Purchase Price must be made in accordance with Section 8 hereof,

6.3 Restrictions. Restricted Stock Awards may be subject to the restrictions set forth in Section 12 hereof or such other restrictions not inconsistent with Section 25102(o) of the California Corporations Code.


7. RESTRICTED STOCK UNITS.

7.1 Nature of Restricted Stock Units. The Committee may, in its sole discretion, grant to an eligible person under Section 3 hereof Restricted Stock Units under the Plan. The Committee shall determine the restrictions and conditions applicable to each Restricted Stock Unit at the time of grant. Vesting conditions may be based on continuing services as an employee, officer, director or consultant to the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, achievement of pre-established performance goals and objectives and/or other such criteria as the Committee may determine. Upon the grant of Restricted Stock Units, the Participant and the Company shall enter into an Award Agreement (“Restricted Stock Unit Agreement”). The terms and conditions of each such Restricted Stock Unit Agreement shall be determined by the Committee and may differ among individual Awards and Participants. Unless otherwise provided in the Restricted Stock Unit Agreement, on or promptly following the vesting date or dates applicable to any Restricted Stock Unit, but in no event later than March 15 of the year following the year in which such vesting occurs, such Restricted Stock Unit(s) shall be settled in the form of cash or Shares, as specified in the Restricted Stock Unit Agreement. Restricted Stock Units may not be sold, assigned, transferred, pledged, or otherwise encumbered or disposed of.

7.2 Termination. Except as may otherwise be provided by the Committee either in the Restricted Stock Unit Agreement or in writing after the Restricted Stock Unit Agreement is issued, a Participant’s right in all Restricted Stock Units that have not vested shall automatically terminate upon the Participant’s Termination.

8. PAYMENT FOR SHARE PURCHASES.

8.1 Payment. Payment for Shares purchased pursuant to this Plan may be made in cash (by check or wire transfer of immediately available funds) or, where expressly approved for the Participant by the Committee and where permitted by law:

(a) by cancellation of indebtedness of the Company owed to the Participant;

(b) by surrender of shares of the Company that: (i) either (A) for which the Company has received “full payment of the purchase price” within the meaning of SEC Rule 144 (and, if such shares were purchased from the Company by use of a promissory note, such note has been fully paid with respect to such shares) or (B) were obtained by Participant in the public market, to the extent required to avoid variable accounting treatment under ASC Topic 718 or other applicable accounting rules, and (ii) are clear of all liens, claims, encumbrances or security interests;

(c) by tender of a full recourse promissory note having such terms as may be approved by the Committee and bearing interest at a rate sufficient to avoid imputation of income under Sections 483 and 1274 of the Code; provided, however, that Participants who are not employees or directors of the Company will not be entitled to purchase Shares with a promissory note unless the note is adequately secured by collateral other than the Shares; provided, further, that the portion of the Exercise Price or Purchase Price, as the case may be, equal to the par value of the Shares must be paid in cash or other legal consideration permitted by Delaware General Corporation Law;


(d) by waiver of compensation due or accrued to the Participant from the Company for services rendered;

(e) with respect only to purchases upon exercise of an Option, and provided that a public market for the Company’s stock exists:

(i) through a “same day sale” commitment from the Participant and a broker-dealer that is a member of a financial industry regulatory authority, such as the New York Stock Exchange (each, a “Dealer”), whereby the Participant irrevocably elects to exercise the Option and to sell a portion of the Shares so purchased sufficient to pay the total Exercise Price, and whereby the Dealer irrevocably commits upon receipt of such Shares to forward the total Exercise Price directly to the Company; or

(ii) through a “margin” commitment from the Participant and a Dealer whereby the Participant irrevocably elects to exercise the Option and to pledge the Shares so purchased to the Dealer in a margin account as security for a loan from the Dealer in the amount of the total Exercise Price, and whereby the Dealer irrevocably commits upon receipt of such Shares to forward the total Exercise Price directly to the Company;

(f) only with respect to Options that are not ISO, by a “net exercise” arrangement pursuant to which the Company will reduce the number of Shares issuable upon exercise by the largest whole number of Shares with a Fair Market Value that does not exceed the aggregate exercise price; or

(g) by any combination of the foregoing.

8.2 Loan Guarantees. The Committee may, in its sole discretion, elect to assist the Participant in paying for Shares purchased under this Plan by authorizing a guarantee by the Company of a third-party loan to the Participant.

9. WITHHOLDING TAXES.

9.1 Withholding Generally. Whenever Shares are to be issued in satisfaction of Awards granted under this Plan, the Company may require the Participant to remit to the Company an amount sufficient to satisfy federal, state and local withholding tax requirements prior to the delivery of any certificate or certificates for such Shares. Whenever, under this Plan, payments in satisfaction of Awards are to be made in cash by the Company, such payment will be net of an amount sufficient to satisfy federal, state, and local withholding tax requirements.

9.2 Stock Withholding. When, under applicable tax laws, a Participant incurs tax liability in connection with the exercise, vesting or settlement of any Award that is subject to tax withholding and the Participant is obligated to pay the Company the amount required to be withheld, the Committee may in its sole discretion cause the withholding tax obligation to be satisfied by the Company withholding from the Shares to be issued that minimum number of Shares having a Fair Market Value equal to the amount required to be withheld, determined on the date that the amount of tax to be withheld is to be determined; but in no event will the Company withhold Shares if such withholding would result in adverse accounting consequences to the Company.


10. PRIVILEGES OF STOCK OWNERSHIP. No Participant will have any of the rights of a stockholder with respect to any Shares until the Shares are issued to the Participant. After Shares are issued to the Participant, the Participant will be a stockholder and have all the rights of a stockholder with respect to such Shares, including the right to vote and receive all dividends or other distributions made or paid with respect to such Shares; provided, that if such Shares are Restricted Stock, then any new, additional or different securities the Participant may become entitled to receive with respect to such Shares by virtue of a stock dividend, stock split or any other change in the corporate or capital structure of the Company will be subject to the same restrictions as the Restricted Stock. The Participant will have no right to retain such stock dividends or stock distributions with respect to Unvested Shares that are repurchased pursuant to Section 12 hereof. For Participants with Restricted Stock Units, a Participant shall have the rights of a stockholder only as to Shares, if any, acquired upon settlement of Restricted Stock Units and a Participant shall not be deemed to have acquired any such Shares unless and until the Restricted Stock Units shall have been settled in Shares pursuant to the terms of the Plan and the Award Agreement, the Company shall have issued and delivered a certificate representing the Shares to the Participant (or transferred on the records of the Company with respect to uncertificated stock), and the Participant’s name has been entered in the books of the Company as a stockholder.

11. TRANSFERABILITY. Except as permitted by the Committee, Awards granted under this Plan, and any interest therein, will not be transferable or assignable by Participant, other than by will or by the laws of descent and distribution, and, with respect to NQSOs, by instrument to an inter vivos or testamentary trust in which the options are to be passed to beneficiaries upon the death of the trustor (settlor), or by gift to “immediate family” as that term is defined in 17 C.F.R. 240,16a-1(e), and may not be made subject to execution, attachment or similar process. During the lifetime of the Participant an Award will be exercisable only by the Participant or Participant’s legal representative and any elections with respect to an Award may be made only by the Participant or Participant’s legal representative.

12. RESTRICTIONS ON SHARES.

12.1 Right of First Refusal. At the discretion of the Committee, the Company may reserve to itself and/or its assignee(s) in the Award Agreement a right of first refusal to purchase all Shares that a Participant (or a subsequent transferee) may propose to transfer to a third party and which transfer has been permitted by written approval of the Committee or the Board, provided that such right of first refusal terminates upon the Company’s initial public offering of Common Stock pursuant to an effective registration statement filed under the Securities Act.

12.2 Right of Repurchase. At the discretion of the Committee, the Company may reserve to itself and/or its assignee(s) in the Award Agreement a right to repurchase Unvested Shares held by a Participant for cash and/or cancellation of purchase money indebtedness owed to the Company by the Participant following such Participant’s Termination at any time.


12.3 No Transfers. Subject to Sections 12.1 and 12.2, any holder of Shares issued hereunder may not may not sell, assign, transfer, pledge, encumber or in any manner dispose of any of such Shares, whether voluntarily or by operation of law, or by gift or otherwise, other than by means of a Permitted Transfer (as defined below). If any provision(s) of any agreement(s) currently in effect by and between the Company and the holder (the “Stockholder Agreement(s)”) conflicts herewith, this Section shall govern, and the remaining provision(s) of the Stockholder Agreement(s) that do not conflict with this Section shall continue in full force and effect. For purposes hereof, a “Permitted Transfer” shall mean any of the following:

(a) any transfer by the holder of any or all of the Shares to the Company;

(b) any transfer by the holder of any or all of the Shares to the holder’s immediate family or a trust for the benefit of the holder or the holder’s immediate family;

(c) any transfer by the holder of any or all of the Shares effected pursuant to the holder’s will or the laws of intestate succession;

(d) any transfer of Shares permitted by written approval of the Committee or the Board.

Any transfer of Shares shall be null and void unless the terms, conditions and provisions of this Section 12.3 are strictly observed and followed. The foregoing restriction on transfer set forth in this Section 12.3 shall lapse upon the earlier of (i) on any transfer or conversion of Shares made pursuant to a statutory merger or statutory consolidation of the Company with or into another corporation or corporations if the common stock of the surviving corporation or any direct or indirect parent corporation thereof is registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or (ii) immediately prior to the Company’s initial public offering of Common Stock pursuant to an effective registration statement filed under the Securities Act.

13. CERTIFICATES. All certificates for Shares or other securities delivered under this Plan will be subject to such stock transfer orders, legends and other restrictions as the Committee may deem necessary or advisable, including restrictions under any applicable federal, state or foreign securities law, or any rules, regulations and other requirements of the SEC or any stock exchange or automated quotation system upon which the Shares may be listed or quoted.

14. ESCROW: PLEDGE OF SHARES. To enforce any restrictions on a Participant’s Shares set forth in Section 12 hereof, the Committee may require the Participant to deposit all certificates representing Shares, together with stock powers or other instruments of transfer approved by the Committee, appropriately endorsed in blank, with the Company or an agent designated by the Company to hold in escrow until such restrictions have lapsed or terminated. The Committee may cause a legend or legends referencing such restrictions to be placed on the certificates. Any Participant who is permitted to execute a promissory note as partial or full consideration for the purchase of Shares under this Plan will be required to pledge and deposit with the Company all or part of the Shares so purchased as collateral to secure the payment of Participant’s obligation to the Company under the promissory note; provided, however, that the


Committee may require or accept other or additional forms of collateral to secure the payment of such obligation and, in any event, the Company will have full recourse against the Participant under the promissory note notwithstanding any pledge of the Participant’s Shares or other collateral. In connection with any pledge of the Shares, Participant will be required to execute and deliver a written pledge agreement in such form as the Committee will from time to time approve. The Shares purchased with the promissory note may be released from the pledge on a pro rata basis as the promissory note is paid.

15. EXCHANGE AND BUYOUT OF AWARDS. The Committee may, at any time or from time to time, authorize the Company, with the consent of the respective Participants, to issue new Awards in exchange for the surrender and cancellation of any or all outstanding Awards. The Committee may at any time buy from a Participant an Award previously granted with payment in cash, shares of Common Stock of the Company (including Restricted Stock) or other consideration, based on such terms and conditions as the Committee and the Participant may agree.

16. SECURITIES LAW AND OTHER REGULATORY COMPLIANCE. Although this Plan is intended to be a written compensatory benefit plan within the meaning of Rule 701 promulgated under the Securities Act, grants may be made pursuant to this plan that do not qualify for exemption under Rule 701 or Section 25102(o) of the California Corporations Code. Any requirement of this Plan which is required in law only because of Section 25102(o) need not apply with respect to a particular Award if the Committee so provides. An Award will not be effective unless such Award is in compliance with all applicable federal and state securities laws, rules and regulations of any governmental body, and the requirements of any stock exchange or automated quotation system upon which the Shares may then be listed or quoted, as they are in effect on the date of grant of the Award and also on the date of exercise or other issuance. Notwithstanding any other provision in this Plan, the Company will have no obligation to issue or deliver certificates for Shares under this Plan prior to (a) obtaining any approvals from governmental agencies that the Company determines are necessary or advisable, and/or (b) compliance with any exemption, completion of any registration or other qualification of such Shares under any state or federal law or ruling of any governmental body that the Company determines to be necessary or advisable. The Company will be under no obligation to register the Shares with the SEC or to effect compliance with the exemption, registration, qualification or listing requirements of any state securities laws, stock exchange or automated quotation system, and the Company will have no liability for any inability or failure to do so.

17. SECTION 409A AWARDS. To the extent that any Award is determined to constitute “nonqualified deferred compensation” within the meaning of Section 409A of the Code (a “409A Award”), the Award shall be subject to such additional rules and requirements as may be specified by the Committee from time to time. In this regard, if any amount under a 409A Award is payable upon a “separation from service” (within the meaning of Section 409A) to a Participant who is considered a “specified employee” (within the meaning of Section 409A), then no such payment shall be made prior to the date that is the earlier of (i) six months and one day after the Participant’s separation from service, or (ii) the Participant’s death, but only to the extent such delay is necessary to prevent such payment from being subject to interest, penalties and/or additional tax imposed pursuant to Section 409A of the Code. The Company makes no representation or warranty and shall have no liability to any Participant under the Plan or any other person with respect to any penalties or taxes under Section 409A of the Code that are, or may be, imposed with respect to any Award.


18. NO OBLIGATION TO EMPLOY. Nothing in this Plan or any Award granted under this Plan will confer or be deemed to confer on any Participant any right to continue in the employ of, or to continue any other relationship with, the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary or limit in any way the right of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary to terminate Participant’s employment or other relationship at any time, with or without Cause.

19. CORPORATE TRANSACTIONS.

19.1 Assumption or Replacement of Awards by Successor or Acquiring Company. In the event of (a) a dissolution or liquidation of the Company, (b) any reorganization, consolidation, merger or similar transaction or series of related transactions (each, a “combination transaction”) in which the Company is a constituent corporation or is a party if, as a result of such combination transaction, the voting securities of the Company that are outstanding immediately prior to the consummation of such combination transaction (other than any such securities that are held by an Acquiring Stockholder (defined below)) do not represent, or are not converted into, securities of the surviving corporation of such combination transaction (or such surviving corporation’s parent corporation if the surviving corporation is owned by the together possess at least fifty percent (50%) of the total voting power of all securities of such surviving corporation (or its parent corporation, if applicable) that are outstanding immediately after the consummation of such combination transaction, including securities of such surviving corporation (or its parent corporation, if applicable) that are held by the Acquiring Stockholder; or (c) a sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company, that is followed by the distribution of the proceeds to the Company’s stockholders, any or all outstanding Awards may be assumed, converted or replaced by the successor or acquiring corporation (if any), which assumption, conversion or replacement will be binding on all Participants. In the alternative, the successor or acquiring corporation may substitute equivalent Awards or provide substantially similar consideration to Participants as was provided to stockholders of the Company (after taking into account the existing provisions of the Awards). The successor or acquiring corporation may also substitute by issuing, in place of outstanding Shares of the Company held by the Participant, substantially similar shares or other property subject to repurchase restrictions and other provisions no less favorable to the Participant than those which applied to such outstanding Shares immediately prior to such transaction described in this Section 19.1. For purposes of this Section 19.1, an “Acquiring Stockholder” means a stockholder or stockholders of the Company that (i) merges or combines with the Company in such combination transaction or (ii) owns or controls a majority of another corporation that merges or combines with the Company in such combination transaction. In the event such successor or acquiring corporation (if any) refuses to assume, convert, replace or substitute Awards, as provided above, pursuant to a transaction described in this Section 19.1, then notwithstanding any other provision in this Plan to the contrary, such Awards will expire on such transaction at such time and on such conditions as the Board will determine.


19.2 Other Treatment of Awards. Subject to any greater rights granted to Participants under the foregoing provisions of this Section 19, in the event of the occurrence of any transaction described in Section 19.1 hereof, any outstanding Awards will be treated as provided in the applicable agreement or plan of reorganization, merger, consolidation, dissolution, liquidation or sale of assets.

19.3 Assumption of Awards by the Company. The Company, from time to time, also may substitute or assume outstanding awards granted by another company, whether in connection with an acquisition of such other company or otherwise, by either (a) granting an Award under this Plan in substitution of such other company’s award or (b) assuming such award as if it had been granted under this Plan if the terms of such assumed award could be applied to an Award granted under this Plan. Such substitution or assumption will be permissible if the holder of the substituted or assumed award would have been eligible to be granted an Award under this Plan if the other company had applied the rules of this Plan to such grant. In the event the Company assumes an award granted by another company, the terms and conditions of such award will remain unchanged (except that the exercise price and the number and nature of shares issuable upon exercise of any such option will be adjusted appropriately pursuant to Section 424(a) of the Code). In the event the Company elects to grant a new Option rather than assuming an existing option, such new Option may be granted with a similarly adjusted Exercise Price.

20. ADOPTION AND STOCKHOLDER APPROVAL. This Plan will become effective on the date that it is adopted by the Board (the “Effective Date”). This Plan will be approved by the stockholders of the Company (excluding Shares issued pursuant to this Plan), consistent with applicable laws, within twelve (12) months before or after the Effective Date. Upon the Effective Date, the Board may grant Awards pursuant to this Plan; provided, however, that: (a) no Option may be exercised prior to initial stockholder approval of this Plan; (b) no Option granted pursuant to an increase in the number of Shares approved by the Board shall be exercised prior to the time such increase has been approved by the stockholders of the Company; (c) in the event that initial stockholder approval is not obtained within the time period provided herein, all Awards for which only the exemption from California’s securities qualification requirements provided by Section 25102(o) can apply shall be canceled, any Shares issued pursuant to any such Award shall be canceled and any purchase of such Shares issued hereunder shall be rescinded; and (d) Awards (to which only the exemption from California’s securities qualification requirements provided by Section 25102(o) can apply) granted pursuant to an increase in the number of Shares approved by the Board which increase is not approved by stockholders within the time then required under Section 25102(o) shall be canceled, any Shares issued pursuant to any such Awards shall be canceled, and any purchase of Shares subject to any such Award shall be rescinded.

21. TERM OF PLAN/GOVERNING LAW. Unless earlier terminated as provided herein, this Plan will terminate ten (10) years from the Effective Date or, if earlier, the date of stockholder approval. This Plan and all agreements hereunder shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California.


22. AMENDMENT OR TERMINATION OF PLAN. Subject to Section 5.9 hereof, the Board may at any time terminate or amend this Plan in any respect, including without limitation amendment of any form of Award Agreement or instrument to be executed pursuant to this Plan; provided, however, that the Board will not, without the approval of the stockholders of the Company, amend this Plan in any manner that requires such stockholder approval pursuant to Section 25102(o) of the California Corporations Code or the Code or the regulations promulgated thereunder as such provisions apply to ISO plans.

23. NONEXCLUSIVITY OF THE PLAN. Neither the adoption of this Plan by the Board, the submission of this Plan to the stockholders of the Company for approval, nor any provision of this Plan will be construed as creating any limitations on the power of the Board to adopt such additional compensation arrangements as it may deem desirable, including, without limitation, the granting of stock options and other equity awards otherwise than under this Plan, and such arrangements maybe either generally applicable or applicable only in specific cases.

24. DEFINITIONS. As used in this Plan, the following terms will have the

following meanings:

Award” means any award under this Plan, including any Option, Restricted Stock Award, or Restricted Stock Units.

Award Agreement” means, with respect to each Award, the signed written agreement between the Company and the Participant setting forth the terms and conditions of the Award, including the Stock Option Agreement, Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement, Stock Agreement and Restricted Stock Unit Agreement.

Board” means the Board of Directors of the Company.

Cause” means Termination because of (a) any willful, material violation by the Participant of any law or regulation applicable to the business of the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, the Participant’s conviction for, or guilty plea to, a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude, or any willful perpetration by the Participant of a common law fraud, (b) the Participant’s commission of an act of personal dishonesty which involves personal profit in connection with the Company or any other entity having a business relationship with the Company, (c) any material breach by the Participant of any provision of any agreement or understanding between the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company and the Participant regarding the terms of the Participant’s service as an employee, officer, director or consultant to the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, including without limitation, the willful and continued failure or refusal of the Participant to perform the material duties required of such Participant as an employee, officer, director or consultant of the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, other than as a result of having a Disability, or a breach of any applicable invention assignment and confidentiality agreement or similar agreement between the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company and the Participant, (d) Participant’s disregard of the policies of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company so as to cause loss, damage or injury to the property, reputation or employees of the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, or (e) any other misconduct by the Participant which is materially injurious to the financial condition or business reputation of, or is otherwise materially injurious to, the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company,


Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

Committee” means the committee created and appointed by the Board to administer this Plan, or if no committee is created and appointed, the Board.

Company” means Couchbase, Inc., or any successor corporation.

Disability” means a disability, whether temporary or permanent, partial or total, as determined by the Committee.

Exercise Price” means the price per Share at which a holder of an Option may purchase Shares issuable upon exercise of the Option.

Fair Market Value” means, as of any date, the value of a share of the Company’s Common Stock determined as follows:

if such Common Stock is then publicly traded on a national securities exchange on which the Common Stock is listed or admitted to trading as reported in The Wall Street Journal;

if such Common Stock is publicly traded but is not quoted on the Nasdaq National Market nor listed or admitted to trading on a national securities exchange, the average of the closing bid and asked prices on the date of determination as reported by The Wall Street Journal (or, if not so reported, as otherwise reported by any newspaper or other source as the Committee may determine); or

if none of the foregoing is applicable to the valuation in question, by the Committee in good faith.

Option” means an award of an option to purchase Shares pursuant to Section 5 of this Plan.

Parent” means any corporation (other than the Company) in an unbroken chain of corporations ending with the Company if each of such corporations other than the Company owns stock representing fifty percent (50%) or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock in one of the other corporations in such chain.

Participant” means a person who receives an Award under this Plan.

Plan” means this Couchbase, Inc. 2018 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended from time to time.


Purchase Price” means the price at which a Participant may purchase Restricted Stock in connection with this Plan.

Restricted Stock” means Shares purchased pursuant to a Restricted Stock Award under this Plan.

Restricted Stock Award” means an award of Shares pursuant to Section 6 hereof.

Restricted Stock Unitmeans an Award of phantom stock units to a Participant, which may be settled in cash or Shares as determined by the Committee, pursuant to Section 7.

SEC” means the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Securities Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Shares” means shares of the Company’s Common Stock, $0.0001 par value, reserved for issuance under this Plan, as adjusted pursuant to Sections 2 and 19 hereof, and any successor security.

Subsidiary” means any corporation (other than the Company) in an unbroken chain of corporations beginning with the Company if each of the corporations other than the last corporation in the unbroken chain owns stock representing fifty percent (50%) or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock in one of the other corporations in such chain.

Termination” or “Terminated” means, for purposes of this Plan with respect to a Participant, that the Participant has for any reason ceased to provide services as an employee, officer, director or consultant to the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company. A Participant will not be deemed to have ceased to provide services in the case of sick leave, military leave, or any other leave of absence approved by the Committee; provided that such leave is for a period of not more than ninety (90) days (a) unless reinstatement (or, in the case of an employee with an ISO, reemployment) upon the expiration of such leave is guaranteed by contract or statute, or (b) unless provided otherwise pursuant to formal policy adopted from time to time by the Company’s Board and issued and promulgated in writing. In the case of any Participant on sick leave, military leave or an approved leave of absence, the Committee may make such provisions respecting suspension of vesting of the Award while on leave from the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company as it may deem appropriate, except that in no event may an Option be exercised after the expiration of the term set forth in the Stock Option Agreement. The Committee will have sole discretion to determine whether a Participant has ceased to provide services and the effective date on which the Participant ceased to provide services (the “Termination Date”).

Unvested Shares” means “Unvested Shares” as defined in the Award Agreement for an Award.

Vested Shares” means “Vested Shares” as defined in the Award Agreement.


No.

COUCHBASE, INC.

2018 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

STOCK OPTION AGREEMENT

FOR NON-U.S. PARTICIPANTS

This Stock Option Agreement for Non-U.S. Participants (the “Option Agreement”), including any special terms and conditions for Participant’s country set forth in the addendum attached hereto as Exhibit A (the “Addendum”) (together with the Option Agreement, this “Agreement”) is made and entered into as of the date of grant set forth below (the “Date of Grant”) by and between Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and the participant named below (the “Participant”). Capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meaning ascribed to them in the Company’s 2018 Equity Incentive Plan (as amended from time to time, the “Plan”).

 

Participant:   

 

Employee ID:   

 

Total Option Shares:   

 

Exercise Price Per Share:   

 

Date of Grant:   

 

First Vesting Date:   

 

Expiration Date:   

 

  

(unless earlier terminated under Section 5.6 of the Plan)

Type of Stock Option:   

NQSO (Non-Qualified Stock Option)

1. GRANT OF OPTION. The Company hereby grants to Participant an option (this “Option”) to purchase the total number of shares of Common Stock, $0.00001 par value per share, of the Company set forth above as Total Option Shares (the “Shares”) at the Exercise Price Per Share set forth above (the “Exercise Price”), subject to all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement and the Plan.

2. EXERCISE PERIOD.

2.1 Exercise Period of Option. Provided Participant continues to provide services to the Company or any Subsidiary or Parent of the Company, the Option will become vested and exercisable as to portions of the Shares as follows: (i) this Option shall not vest nor be exercisable with respect to any of the Shares until the First Vesting Date set forth on the first page of this Agreement (the “First Vesting Date”); (ii) on the First Vesting Date the Option will become vested and exercisable as to 1/4th of the Shares; and (iii) thereafter at the end of each full succeeding calendar month the Option will become vested and exercisable as to 1/48th of the Shares until the Shares are vested with respect to all of the Shares. If application of the vesting


percentage causes a fractional share, such share shall be rounded down to the nearest whole share for each month except for the last month in such vesting period, at the end of which last month this Option shall become exercisable for the full remainder of the Shares. [Notwithstanding the foregoing, 100% of the Shares will become immediately vested and exercisable upon Participant’s death, subject to Participant’s continuous service with the Company or any Subsidiary or Parent of the Company until the date of such death.]1

2.2 Vesting of Options. Shares that are vested pursuant to the schedule set forth in Section 2.1 are “Vested Shares. Shares that are not vested pursuant to the schedule set forth in Section 2.1 are Unvested Shares.

2.3 Expiration. The Option shall expire on the Expiration Date set forth above or earlier as provided in Section 3 below or pursuant to Section 5.6 of the Plan.

3. TERMINATION.

3.1 Termination for Any Reason Except Death, Disability or Cause. If Participant is Terminated for any reason, except death, Disability or for Cause, the Option, to the extent (and only to the extent) that it would have been exercisable by Participant on the Termination Date, may be exercised by Participant no later than three (3) months after the Termination Date, but in any event no later than the Expiration Date.

3.2 Termination Because of Death or Disability. If Participant is Terminated because of death or Disability of Participant (or Participant dies within three (3) months of the Termination Date when Termination is for any reason other than Participant’s Disability or for Cause), the Option, to the extent that it is exercisable by Participant on the Termination Date, may be exercised by Participant (or Participant’s legal representative) no later than twelve (12) months after the Termination Date, but in any event no later than the Expiration Date.

3.3 Termination for Cause. If Participant is terminated for Cause, Participant may exercise such Participant’s Option, but not to an extent greater than such Option is    exercisable as to Vested Shares upon the Termination Date and Participant’s Option shall expire on such Participant’s Termination Date, or at such later time and on such conditions as are determined by the Committee.

3.4 No Obligation to Employ. Nothing in the Plan or this Agreement shall confer on Participant any right to continue in the employ of, or other relationship with, the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, or limit in any way the right of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company to terminate Participant’s employment or other relationship at any time, with or without Cause.

3.5 Termination Date. For purposes of the Option, the Termination Date is deemed to occur as of the date Participant is no longer actively providing services to the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company (regardless of the reason for the Termination and whether or not later found to be invalid or in breach of employment or other laws in the jurisdiction

 

1 

To include for accelerated vesting upon death.


where Participant is employed or otherwise rendering services or the terms of Participant’s employment or other service agreement, if any) and such date will not be extended by any notice period (e.g., the date would not be delayed by any contractual notice period or any period of “garden leave,” or similar period mandated under employment or other laws in the jurisdiction where Participant is employed or otherwise rendering services or the terms of Participant’s employment or other service agreement, if any). The Committee shall have the exclusive discretion to determine when Participant is no longer actively providing services for purposes of his or her Option grant (including whether Participant may still be considered to be providing services while on a leave of absence).

4. MANNER OF EXERCISE.

4.1 Stock Option Exercise Agreement. To exercise the Option, Participant (or in the case of exercise after Participant’s death or incapacity, Participant’s executor, administrator, heir or legatee, as the case may be) must deliver to the Company an executed stock option exercise agreement in the form attached hereto as Exhibit B, or in such other form as may be approved by the Committee from time to time (the “Exercise Agreement”), which shall set forth, inter alia, (i) Participant’s election to exercise the Option, (ii) the number of Shares being purchased, (iii) any restrictions imposed on the Shares and (iv) any representations, warranties and agreements regarding Participant’s investment intent and access to information as may be required by the Company to comply with applicable laws. If someone other than Participant exercises the Option, then such person must submit documentation reasonably acceptable to the Company verifying that such person has the legal right to exercise the Option and such person shall be subject to all of the restrictions contained herein as if such person were Participant.

4.2 Limitations on Exercise. The Option may not be exercised unless such exercise is in compliance with all applicable U.S. and non-U.S. federal and state securities and other applicable laws, as they are in effect on the date of exercise. The Option may not be exercised as to fewer than one hundred (100) Shares unless it is exercised as to all Shares as to which the Option is then exercisable.

4.3 Payment. The Exercise Agreement shall be accompanied by full payment of the Exercise Price for the Shares being purchased in cash (by check or wire transfer of immediately available funds), or where permitted by law:

(a) provided that a public market for the Company’s stock exists: (i) through a “same day sale” commitment from Participant and a broker-dealer that is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers (an “NASD Dealer”) whereby Participant irrevocably elects to exercise the Option and to sell a portion of the Shares so purchased sufficient to pay for the total Exercise Price and whereby the NASD Dealer irrevocably commits upon receipt of such Shares to forward the total Exercise Price directly to the Company, or (ii) through a “margin” commitment from Participant and an NASD Dealer whereby Participant irrevocably elects to exercise the Option and to pledge the Shares so purchased to the NASD Dealer in a margin account as security for a loan from the NASD Dealer in the amount of the total Exercise Price, and whereby the NASD Dealer irrevocably commits upon receipt of such Shares to forward the total Exercise Price directly to the Company; or


(b) any other form of consideration approved by the Committee; or

(c) by any combination of the foregoing.

4.4 Responsibility for Taxes. Participant acknowledges that, regardless of any action taken by the Company or, if different, the Parent or Subsidiary of the Company for which Participant provides services (the “Service Recipient”), the ultimate liability for all income tax, social insurance, payroll tax, fringe benefits tax, payment on account or other tax-related items related to Participant’s participation in the Plan and legally applicable to Participant (“Tax-Related Items”) is and remains Participant’s responsibility and may exceed the amount actually withheld by the Company or the Service Recipient. Participant further acknowledges that the Company and/or the Service Recipient (i) make no representations or undertakings regarding the treatment of any Tax-Related Items in connection with any aspect of the Option, including but not limited to, the grant, vesting or exercise of the Option, the subsequent sale of the Shares acquired upon the exercise of the Option and the receipt of any dividends; and (ii) do not commit to and are under no obligation to structure the terms of the grant or any aspect of the Option to reduce or eliminate Participant’s liability for Tax-Related Items or achieve any particular tax result. Further, if Participant is subject to Tax-Related Items in more than one jurisdiction, Participant acknowledges that the Company and/or the Service Recipient (or former service recipient, as applicable) may be required to withhold or account for Tax-Related Items in more than one jurisdiction.

Prior to the relevant taxable or tax-withholding event, as applicable, Participant agrees to make adequate arrangements satisfactory to the Company and/or the Service Recipient to satisfy all Tax-Related Items. In this regard, Participant authorizes the Company and/or the Service Recipient, or their respective agents, at their discretion, to satisfy any applicable withholding obligations with regard to all Tax-Related Items by one or a combination of the following: (i) withholding from Participant’s wages or other compensation paid to Participant by the Company or the Service Recipient, (ii) withholding from proceeds of the sale of the Shares acquired upon exercise of the Option either through a voluntary sale or through a mandatory sale arranged by the Company (on Participant’s behalf pursuant to this authorization without further consent), (iii) withholding from the Shares otherwise issuable at exercise of the Option, or (iv) any method determined by the Committee to be in compliance with applicable laws.

Depending on the withholding method, the Company and/or Service Recipient may withhold or account for Tax-Related Items by considering applicable minimum statutory withholding amounts or other applicable withholding rates, including maximum applicable rates in Participant’s jurisdiction, in which case Participant may receive a refund of any over-withheld amount in cash and will have no entitlement to the Share equivalent. If the obligation for Tax-Related Items is satisfied by withholding in Shares, for tax purposes, Participant is deemed to have been issued the full number of Shares subject to the exercised Option, notwithstanding that a number of the Shares is held back solely for purposes of paying the Tax-Related Items.

Participant agrees to pay to the Company or the Service Recipient any amount of Tax-Related Items that the Company or the Service Recipient may be required to withhold or account for as a result of Participant’s participation in the Plan that cannot be satisfied by the means previously described. The Company may refuse the exercise or to issue or deliver the underlying Shares or the proceeds of the sale of the Shares acquired upon the exercise of the Option, if Participant fails to comply with his or her obligations in connection with the Tax-Related Items.


4.5 Issuance of Shares. Provided that the Exercise Agreement and payment are in form and substance satisfactory to counsel for the Company, the Company shall issue the Shares registered in the name of Participant, Participant’s authorized assignee, or Participant’s legal representative, and shall deliver certificates representing the Shares with the appropriate legends affixed thereto.

5. NATURE OF GRANT. In accepting the Option, Participant acknowledges, understands and agrees that:

(a) the Plan is established voluntarily by the Company, it is discretionary in nature, and may be modified, amended, suspended or terminated by the Company at any time, to the extent permitted by the Plan;

(b) the grant of the Option is exceptional, voluntary and occasional and does not create any contractual or other right to receive future grants of stock options, or benefits in lieu of stock options, even if stock options have been granted in the past;

(c) all decisions with respect to future stock option or other grants, if any, will be at the sole discretion of the Company;

(d) if Participant is employed by a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, the grant of Option and Participant’s participation in the Plan shall not create a right to employment or be interpreted as forming a service relationship with the Company;

(e) Participant is voluntarily participating in the Plan;

(f) the Option and the Shares subject to the Option, and the income from and value of same, are not intended to replace any pension rights or compensation;

(g) the Option and the Shares subject to the Option, and the income from and value of same, are not part of normal or expected compensation for any purpose, including, without limitation, calculating any severance, resignation, termination, redundancy, dismissal, end-of-service payments, holiday pay, bonuses, long-service awards, pension or retirement or welfare benefits or similar payments;

(h) the future value of the Shares subject to the Option is unknown, indeterminable, and cannot be predicted with certainty;

(i) if the Shares subject to Option do not increase in value, the Option will have no value;

(j) if Participant exercises the Option and acquires Shares, the value of such Shares may increase or decrease in value, even below the Exercise Price;


(k) no claim or entitlement to compensation or damages shall arise from forfeiture of this Option resulting from the Termination of Participant’s service relationship (for any reason whatsoever, whether or not later found to be invalid or in breach of employment or other laws in the jurisdiction where Participant is employed or otherwise rendering services or the terms of Participant’s employment or other service agreement, if any), and in consideration of the grant of the Option, Participant agrees not to institute any claim against the Company, the Service Recipient or any other Parent or Subsidiary of the Company;

(l) unless otherwise agreed with the Company, the Option and any Shares acquired upon the exercise of the Option, and the income from and value of same, are not granted as consideration for, or in connection with, any service Participant may provide as a director of any Subsidiary;

(m) unless otherwise provided in the Plan or by the Company in its discretion, the Option and the benefits evidenced by this Agreement do not create any entitlement to have the Option or any such benefits transferred to, or assumed by, another company nor to be exchanged, cashed out or substituted for, in connection with any corporate transaction affecting the Common Stock; and

(n) neither the Company, the Service Recipient nor any other Parent or Subsidiary of the Company shall be liable for any foreign exchange rate fluctuation between Participant’s local currency and the United States Dollar that may affect the value of the Option or of any amounts due to Participant pursuant to the exercise of the Option or the subsequent sale of Shares acquired upon the exercise of the Option.

6. DATA PRIVACY.

(a) Data Collection and Usage. The Company and the Service Recipient collect, process and use certain personal information about Participant, including, but not limited to, Participant’s name, home address and telephone number, email address, date of birth, social insurance number, passport or other identification number (e.g., resident registration number), salary, nationality, job title, any Shares or directorships held in the Company, details of all Options or any other entitlement to Shares awarded, canceled, exercised, vested, unvested or outstanding in Participant’s favor (“Data”), for the purposes of implementing, administering and managing Participant’s participation in the Plan. The legal basis, where required, for the processing of Data is Participant’s explicit declaration of consent provided by signing or electronically agreeing to this Agreement. Where required under applicable law, Data may also be disclosed to certain securities or other regulatory authorities.

(b) Stock Plan Administration Service Providers. The Company may transfer Data to an independent service provider, which may be assisting the Company with the implementation, administration and management of the Plan. Participant may be asked to agree on separate terms and data processing practices with the service provider, with such agreement being a condition to the ability to participate in the Plan.


(c) International Data Transfers. The Company is based in the United States. Participant’s country or jurisdiction may have different data privacy laws and protections than the United States. In the event Participant resides or is otherwise located outside the United States, Participant understands and acknowledges that the United States might apply laws not providing a level of protection of the Data equivalent to the level of protection in Participant’s country or jurisdiction. For example, the European Commission has issued a limited adequacy finding with respect to the United States that applies only to the extent companies register for the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield program, in which the Company currently does not participate. In the absence of appropriate safeguards such as a certification under the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield program or standard data protection clauses, the processing of the Data in the United States might not be subject to substantive data processing principles or supervision by data protection authorities. In addition, Participant might not have enforceable rights regarding the processing of the Data. By signing or electronically agreeing to this Agreement, Participant explicitly declares his or her consent to the Company receiving and transferring the Data and, as the case may be, to certain service providers without implementing appropriate safeguards. Where required, such processing of the Data will be exclusively based on Participant’s consent.

(d) Data Retention. The Company will hold and use the Data only as long as is necessary to implement, administer and manage Participant’s participation in the Plan, or as required to comply with legal or regulatory obligations, including under tax, exchange control, labor and securities laws. This period may extend beyond Participant’s service relationship. When the Company or the Service Recipient no longer need the Data for any of the above purposes, they will cease processing it in this context and remove it from all of their systems used for such purposes to the fullest extent practicable.

(e) Voluntariness and Consequences of Consent Denial or Withdrawal. Participation in the Plan is voluntary and Participant is providing the consents herein on a purely voluntary basis. If Participant does not consent, or if Participant later seeks to revoke Participant’s consent, Participant’s compensation from or employment or other service with the Service Recipient will not be affected; the only consequence of refusing or withdrawing Participant’s consent is that the Company would not be able to grant the Option or other awards to Participant or administer or maintain such awards.

(f) Declaration of Consent. By signing or electronically agreeing to this Agreement, Participant is declaring that he or she agrees with the data processing practices described herein and consents to the collection, processing and use of Data by the Company and the transfer of Data described above, including to recipients located in countries which do not adduce an adequate level of protection from a European (or other non-U.S.) data protection law perspective, for the purposes described above.

(g) Alternative Basis for Data Processing and Transfer. Participant understands that the Company may rely on a different legal basis for the processing or transfer of Data in the future and/or request that Participant provide another data privacy consent form. If applicable and upon request of the Company, Participant agrees to provide an executed acknowledgement or data privacy consent form to the Service Recipient or the Company (or any other acknowledgements, agreements or consents that may be required by the Service Recipient or the Company) that the Company and/or the Service Recipient may deem necessary to obtain under the data privacy laws in Participant’s country, either now or in the future. Participant understands that he or she will not be able to participate in the Plan if he or she fails to execute any such acknowledgement, agreement or consent requested by the Company and/or the Service Recipient.


7. COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS AND REGULATIONS. The Plan and this Agreement are intended to comply with Section 25102(o) of the California Corporations Code and any regulations relating thereto. Any provision of this Agreement that is inconsistent with Section 25102(o) or any regulations relating thereto shall, without further act or amendment by the Company or the Board, be reformed to comply with the requirements of Section 25102(o) and any regulations relating thereto. Notwithstanding any other provision of the Plan or this Agreement, unless there is an available exemption from any registration, qualification or other legal requirement applicable to the Common Stock, the Company shall not be required to permit the exercise of the Option and/or deliver any Shares prior to the completion of any registration or qualification of the Shares under any U.S. or non-U.S. local, state or federal securities or other applicable laws, under rulings regulations of the U.S. SEC or of any other governmental regulatory body, or prior to obtaining any approval or other clearance from any U.S. or non-U.S. local, state or federal governmental agency, which registration, qualification or approval the Company shall, in its absolute discretion, deem necessary or advisable. Participant understands that the Company is under no obligation to register or qualify the Shares with the SEC, or any state or non-U.S. securities commission or to seek approval or clearance from any governmental authority for the issuance or sale of the Shares subject to the Option. Further, Participant agrees that the Company shall have unilateral authority to amend this Agreement without Participant’s consent to the extent necessary to comply with securities or other applicable laws applicable to issuance of the Shares subject to the Option.

8. NONTRANSFERABILITY OF OPTION. The Option may not be transferred in any manner other than by will or by the laws of descent and distribution, or by instrument to an inter vivos or testamentary trust in which the Options are to be passed to beneficiaries upon the death of the trustor (settlor), and may be exercised during the lifetime of Participant only by Participant or in the event of Participant’s incapacity, by Participant’s legal representative. The terms of the Option shall be binding upon the executors, administrators, successors, and assigns of Participant.

9. COMPANYS RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL. Before any Vested Shares held by Participant or any transferee of such Vested Shares may be sold or otherwise transferred (including without limitation a transfer by gift or operation of law), such transfer must be permitted by written approval of the Committee or the Board, and the Company and/or its assignee(s) shall have an assignable right of first refusal to purchase the Vested Shares to be sold or transferred on the terms and conditions set forth in the Exercise Agreement (the “Right of First Refusal”). The Company’s Right of First Refusal will terminate when the Company’s securities become publicly traded.

10. PRIVILEGES OF STOCK OWNERSHIP. Participant shall not have any of the rights of a stockholder with respect to any Shares until the Shares are issued to Participant.

11. GENERAL PROVISIONS


11.1 Interpretation. Any dispute regarding the interpretation of this Agreement shall be submitted by Participant or the Company to the Committee for review. The resolution of such a dispute by the Committee shall be final and binding on the Company and Participant.

11.2 Entire Agreement. The Plan is incorporated herein by reference. This Agreement and the Plan constitute the entire agreement of the parties and supersede all prior undertakings and agreements with respect to the subject matter hereof.

11.3 Notices. Any notice required to be given or delivered to the Company under the terms of this Agreement shall be in writing and addressed to the Corporate Secretary of the Company at its principal corporate offices or to its facsimile or telecopier number specified below. Any notice required to be given or delivered to Participant shall be in writing and addressed to Participant at the address, facsimile, telecopier, or e-mail indicated below or to such other address, facsimile, telecopier, or e-mail as such party may designate in writing from time to time to the Company. All notices shall be deemed to have been given or delivered upon: (i) personal delivery; (ii) three (3) days after deposit in the United States or comparable non-U.S. mail by certified or registered mail (return receipt requested); (iii) one (1) business day after deposit with any return receipt express courier (prepaid); or (iv) one (1) business day after transmission by facsimile, telecopier, or e-mail.

11.4 Successors and Assigns. The Company may assign any of its rights under this Agreement, including its rights to purchase Shares under the Right of First Refusal. No other party to this Agreement may assign, whether voluntarily or by operation of law, any of its rights and obligations under this Agreement, except with the prior written consent of the Company. This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the successors and assigns of the Company. Subject to the restrictions on transfer set forth herein, this Agreement shall be binding upon Participant and Participant’s heirs, executors, administrators, legal representatives, successors and assigns.

11.5 Governing Law/Venue. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California as such laws are applied to agreements between California residents entered into and to be performed entirely within California. For purposes of any action, lawsuit or other proceedings brought to enforce this Agreement, relating to it, or arising from it, the parties hereby submit to and consent to the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of Santa Clara County, California, or the federal courts for the United States for the Northern District of California, and no other courts, where this grant is made and/or to be performed.

11.6 Acceptance/No Advice Regarding Grant. Participant hereby acknowledges receipt of a copy of the Plan and this Agreement. Participant has read and understands the terms and provisions thereof, and accepts the Option subject to all the terms and conditions of the Plan and this Agreement. Participant acknowledges that there may be adverse tax consequences related to the Option or disposition of the Shares and that Participant should consult a tax adviser prior to accepting the Option or disposing of the Shares.


11.7 Further Assurances. The parties agree to execute such further documents and instruments and to take such further actions as may be reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes and intent of this Agreement.

11.8 Titles and Headings. The titles, captions and headings of this Agreement are included for ease of reference only and will be disregarded in interpreting or construing this Agreement. Unless otherwise specifically stated, all references herein to “sections” and “exhibits” will mean “sections” and “exhibits” to this Agreement.

11.9 Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which when so executed and delivered will be deemed an original, and all of which together shall constitute one and the same agreement.

11.10 Insider Trading Restrictions / Market Abuse Laws. By accepting the Option, Participant acknowledges that Participant is bound by all the terms and conditions of any Company’s insider trading policy as may be implemented in the future. Participant further acknowledges that, depending on Participant’s country, Participant may be or may become subject to insider trading restrictions and/or market abuse laws which may affect Participant’s ability to accept, acquire, sell or otherwise dispose of Shares, rights to Shares (e.g., Options) or rights linked to the value of Shares under the Plan during such times as Participant is considered to have “inside information” regarding the Company (as defined by the laws in the applicable jurisdictions). Local insider trading laws and regulations may prohibit the cancellation or amendment of orders Participant placed before Participant possessed inside information. Furthermore, Participant could be prohibited from (i) disclosing the inside information to any third party, which may include fellow employees and (ii) “tipping” third parties or causing them otherwise to buy or sell securities. Any restrictions under these laws or regulations are separate from and in addition to any restrictions that may be imposed under any Company’s insider trading policy as may be implemented in the future. Participant acknowledges that it is Participant’s responsibility to comply with any applicable restrictions, and Participant should speak to his or her personal advisor on this matter.

11.10 Severability. If any provision of this Agreement is determined by any court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, such provision will be enforced to the maximum extent possible given the intent of the parties hereto. If such clause or provision cannot be so enforced, such provision shall be stricken from this Agreement and the remainder of this Agreement shall be enforced as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable clause or provision had (to the extent not enforceable) never been contained in this Agreement. Notwithstanding the forgoing, if the value of this Agreement based upon the substantial benefit of the bargain for any party is materially impaired, which determination as made by the presiding court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction shall be binding, then both parties agree to substitute such provision(s) through good faith negotiations.

11.12 Facsimile/Electronic Delivery and Signatures. This Agreement may be executed and delivered by facsimile and upon such delivery by facsimile signature will be deemed to have the same effect as if the original signature had been delivered to the other party. Further, the Company may, in its sole discretion, decide to delivery any documents related to current or future participation in the Plan by electronic means. Participant hereby consents to receive such documents by electronic delivery and agrees to participate in the Plan through an on-line or electronic system established and maintained by the Company or a third party designated by the Company.


11.13 Waiver of Statutory Information Rights. Participant understands and agrees that, but for the waiver made herein, Participant would be entitled, upon written demand under oath stating the purpose thereof, to inspect for any proper purpose, and to make copies and extracts from, the Company’s stock ledger, a list of its stockholders, and its other books and records, and the books and records of subsidiaries of the Company, if any, under the circumstances and in the manner provided in Section 220 of the General Corporation Law of Delaware (any and all such rights, and any and all such other rights of Participant as may be provided for in Section 220, the “Inspection Rights”). In light of the foregoing, until the first sale of stock of the Company to the general public pursuant to a registration statement filed with and declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Act, Participant hereby unconditionally and irrevocably waives the Inspection Rights, whether such Inspection Rights would be exercised or pursued directly or indirectly pursuant to Section 220 or otherwise, and covenants and agrees never to directly or indirectly commence, voluntarily aid in any way, prosecute, assign, transfer, or cause to be commenced any claim, action, cause of action, or other proceeding to pursue or exercise the Inspection Rights. The foregoing waiver shall not affect any rights of a director, in his or her capacity as such, under Section 220. The foregoing waiver shall not apply to any contractual inspection rights of Participant under any other written agreement between Participant and the Company.

11.14 Language. Participant acknowledges that he or she is proficient in the English language and understands the terms of this Agreement. If Participant has received this Agreement or any other document related to the Option and/or the Plan translated into a language other than English and if the meaning of the translated version is different than the English version, the English version will control.

11.15 Addendum. Notwithstanding any provisions in this Option Agreement, the Option shall be subject to any special terms and conditions for Participant’s country set forth in the Addendum attached hereto as Exhibit A. Moreover, if Participant relocates to one of the countries included in the Addendum, the special terms and conditions for such country will apply to Participant, to the extent, the Company determines that the application of such terms and conditions is necessary or advisable for legal or administrative reasons. The Addendum constitutes part of this Agreement.

11.16 Imposition of Other Requirements. The Company reserves the right to impose other requirements on Participant’s participation in the Plan, on the Option and on the Shares acquired upon exercise of the Option, to the extent the Company determines it is necessary or advisable for legal or administrative reasons, and to require Participant to sign any additional agreements or undertakings that may be necessary to accomplish the foregoing.

11.17 Waiver. Participant acknowledges that a waiver by the Company of breach of any provision of this Agreement shall not operate or be construed as a waiver of any other provision of this Agreement, or of any subsequent breach by Participant or any other Participant.


11.18 Foreign Asset/Account Reporting Requirements. Participant acknowledges that there may be certain foreign asset and/or account reporting requirements which may affect Participant’s ability to acquire or hold the Shares acquired under the Plan or cash received from participating in the Plan (including from any dividends paid on the Shares acquired under the Plan) in a brokerage or bank account outside Participant’s country. Participant may be required to report such accounts, assets, or transactions to the tax or other authorities in his of her country. Participant also may be required to repatriate sale proceeds or other funds received as a result of participating in the Plan to Participant’s country through a designated bank or broker within a certain time after receipt. Participant acknowledges that it is his or her responsibility to be compliant with such obligations, and Participant should speak to his or her personal advisor on this matter.

[Signature page to follow]


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Agreement to be executed in triplicate by its duly authorized representative and Participant has executed this Agreement in triplicate, effective as of the Date of Grant.

 

COUCHBASE, INC.
By:

Greg Henry

Chief Financial Officer

Address:

Couchbase, Inc.

3250 Olcott Street

Santa Clara, CA 95054

Facsimile:

[***]

The undersigned hereby acknowledges receiving and reviewing a copy of the Plan, including, without limitation, Sections 11 and 12 thereof, and understands that this Option is subject to the terms of the Plan and of this Agreement.

 

PARTICIPANT
By:  

 

Address:  

 

Email:  

 


EXHIBIT B

2018 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

STOCK OPTION EXERCISE AGREEMENT


No        

COUCHBASE, INC.

2018 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

STOCK OPTION EXERCISE AGREEMENT

FOR NON-U.S. PURCHASERS

This Stock Option Exercise Agreement for Non-U.S. Purchasers (the “Exercise Agreement”) is made and entered into as of              , (the “Effective Date”) by and between Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and the purchaser named below (the “Purchaser”). Capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the Company’s 2018 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”) or the Stock Option Agreement for Non-U.S. Participants (the “Stock Option Agreement”).

 

Purchaser  

 

 

 

Employee ID Number:  

 

Address:  

 

 

 

Total Number of Shares:  

 

Exercise Price Per Share:  

 

Date of Grant:  

 

First Vesting Date:  

 

Expiration Date:  

 

  (Unless earlier terminated under Section 5.6 of the Plan)

 


1. Exercise of Option.

1.1 Exercise. Pursuant to the exercise of that certain option (the “Option”) granted to Purchaser under the Plan and subject to the terms and conditions of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser hereby purchases from the Company, and the Company hereby sells to Purchaser, the Total Number of Shares set forth above (the “Shares”) of the Company’s Common Stock, $0.0001 par value per share, at the Exercise Price Per Share set forth above (the “Exercise Price”). As used in this Exercise Agreement, the term “Shares” refers to the Shares purchased under this Exercise Agreement and includes all securities received (i) in replacement of the Shares, (ii) as a result of stock dividends or stock splits with respect to the Shares, and (iii) all securities received in replacement of the Shares in a merger, recapitalization, reorganization or similar corporate transaction.

1.2 Title to Shares. The exact spelling of the name(s) under which Purchaser will take title to the Shares is:

 

  

 

  

 

To assign the Shares to a trust, a stock transfer agreement in a form acceptable to the Company (the “Stock Transfer Agreement”) must be completed and executed.

1.3 Payment. Purchaser hereby delivers payment of the Exercise Price in the manner permitted in the Stock Option Agreement as follows (check and complete as appropriate):

[ ] in cash (by check or wire transfer of immediately available funds) in the amount of $_____, receipt of which is acknowledged by the Company; or

[ ] other (as referenced in the Plan and described in the Stock Option Agreement (please describe)):                                 .

2. Delivery.

2.1 Deliveries by Purchaser. Purchaser hereby delivers to the Company (i) this Exercise Agreement, (ii) two (2) copies of a blank Stock Power and Assignment Separate from Stock Certificate in the form of Exhibit 1 attached hereto (the “Stock Powers”), both executed by Purchaser, and (iii) the Exercise Price and payment or other provision for any applicable Tax-Related Items (as defined in the Stock Option Agreement) in the form specified above, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 2.

2.2 Deliveries by the Company. Upon its receipt of the Exercise Price, payment or other provision for any applicable Tax-Related Items (as defined in the Stock Option Agreement) and all the documents to be executed and delivered by Purchaser to the Company under Section 2.1, the Company will issue a duly executed stock certificate evidencing the Shares in the name of Purchaser to be placed in escrow as provided in Section 10 until expiration or termination of the Company’s Right of First Refusal as described in Sections 8 and 9.


3. Representations and Warranties of Purchaser. Purchaser represents and warrants to the Company that:

3.1 Agrees to Terms of the Plan. Purchaser has received a copy of the Plan and the Stock Option Agreement, has read and understands the terms of the Plan, the Stock Option Agreement and this Exercise Agreement, and agrees to be bound by their terms and conditions. Purchaser acknowledges that there may be adverse tax consequences upon exercise of the Option or disposition of the Shares, and that Purchaser should consult a tax adviser prior to such exercise or disposition.

3.2 Purchase for Own Account for Investment. Purchaser is purchasing the Shares for Purchaser’s own account for investment purposes only and not with a view to, or for sale in connection with, a distribution of the Shares within the meaning of the Securities Act. Purchaser has no present intention of selling or otherwise disposing of all or any portion of the Shares and no one other than Purchaser has any beneficial ownership of any of the Shares.

3.3 Access to Information. Purchaser has had access to all information regarding the Company and its present and prospective business, assets, liabilities and financial condition that Purchaser reasonably considers important in making the decision to purchase the Shares, and Purchaser has had ample opportunity to ask questions of the Company’s representatives concerning such matters and this investment.

3.4 Understanding of Risks. Purchaser is fully aware of: (i) the highly speculative nature of the investment in the Shares; (ii) the financial hazards involved; (iii) the lack of liquidity of the Shares and the restrictions on transferability of the Shares (e.g., that Purchaser may not be able to sell or dispose of the Shares or use them as collateral for loans); (iv) the qualifications and backgrounds of the management of the Company; and (v) the tax consequences of investment in the Shares. Purchaser is capable of evaluating the merits and risks of this investment, has the ability to protect Purchaser’s own interests in this transaction and is financially capable of bearing a total loss of this investment. For the avoidance of doubt, Purchaser understands and agrees that the Shares are subject to the transfer restrictions set forth in Sections 11 and 12 of the Plan.

3.5 No General Solicitation. At no time was Purchaser presented with or solicited by any publicly issued or circulated newspaper, mail, radio, television or other form of general advertising or solicitation in connection with the offer, sale and purchase of the Shares.

4. Compliance with Securities Laws.

4.1 Compliance with U.S. Federal Securities Laws. Purchaser understands and acknowledges that the Shares have not been registered with the SEC under the Securities Act and that, notwithstanding any other provision of the Stock Option Agreement to the contrary, the exercise of any rights to purchase any Shares is expressly conditioned upon compliance with the Securities Act and all applicable state securities laws. Purchaser agrees to cooperate with the Company to ensure compliance with such laws.


4.2 Compliance with California Securities Laws. THE PLAN, THE STOCK OPTION AGREEMENT, AND THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT ARE INTENDED TO COMPLY WITH SECTION 25102(o) OF THE CALIFORNIA CORPORATIONS CODE AND ANY RULES (INCLUDING COMMISSIONER RULES, IF APPLICABLE) OR REGULATIONS PROMULGATED THEREUNDER BY THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORPORATIONS (THE “REGULATIONS”). ANY PROVISION OF THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT THAT IS INCONSISTENT WITH SECTION 25102(o) SHALL, WITHOUT FURTHER ACT OR AMENDMENT BY THE COMPANY OR THE BOARD, BE REFORMED TO COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF SECTION 25102(o). THE SALE OF THE SECURITIES THAT ARE THE SUBJECT OF THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT, IF NOT YET QUALIFIED WITH THE CALIFORNIA COMMISSIONER OF CORPORATIONS AND NOT EXEMPT FROM SUCH QUALIFICATION, IS SUBJECT TO SUCH QUALIFICATION, AND THE ISSUANCE OF SUCH SECURITIES, AND THE RECEIPT OF ANY PART OF THE CONSIDERATION THEREFOR PRIOR TO SUCH QUALIFICATION IS UNLAWFUL UNLESS THE SALE IS EXEMPT. THE RIGHTS OF THE PARTIES TO THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT ARE EXPRESSLY CONDITIONED UPON SUCH QUALIFICATION BEING OBTAINED OR AN EXEMPTION BEING AVAILABLE.

4.3 Compliance with Non-U.S. Securities Laws. The Purchaser understands and acknowledges that the Option and the Shares to be issued upon exercise of the Option may be subject to non-U.S. federal or state securities laws or other laws and the exercise of the Option and the issuance of the Shares upon exercise are expressly conditioned upon compliance with any non-U.S. securities or other applicable laws. Purchaser agrees to cooperate with the Company to ensure compliance with such laws

5. Restricted Securities.

5.1 No Transfer Unless Registered or Exempt. Purchaser understands that Purchaser may not transfer any Shares unless such Shares are registered under the Securities Act or qualified under applicable U.S. state or Non-U.S. securities laws or unless, in the opinion of counsel to the Company, exemptions from such registration and qualification requirements are available. Purchaser understands that only the Company may file a registration statement with the SEC and that the Company is under no obligation to do so with respect to the Shares. Purchaser has also been advised that exemptions from registration and qualification may not be available or may not permit Purchaser to transfer all or any of the Shares in the amounts or at the times proposed by Purchaser.

5.2 SEC Rule 144. In addition, Purchaser has been advised that SEC Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act, which permits certain limited sales of unregistered securities, is not presently available with respect to the Shares and, in any event, requires that the Shares be held for a minimum of one (1) year, and in certain cases two (2) years, after they have been purchased and paid for (within the meaning of Rule 144). Purchaser understands that Rule 144 may indefinitely restrict transfer of the Shares so long as Purchaser remains an “affiliate” of the Company or if “current public information” about the Company (as defined in Rule 144) is not publicly available.


5.3 SEC Rule 701. Shares that are issued pursuant to SEC Rule 701 promulgated under the Securities Act may become freely tradeable by non-affiliates (under limited conditions regarding the method of sale) ninety (90) days after the first sale of Common Stock of the Company to the general public pursuant to a registration statement filed with and declared effective by the SEC, subject to the lengthier market standoff agreement contained in Section 7 of this Exercise Agreement or any other agreement entered into by Purchaser. Affiliates must comply with the provisions (other than the holding period requirements) of Rule 144.

6. Restrictions on Transfers.

6.1 Disposition of Shares. Purchaser hereby agrees that Purchaser shall make no disposition of the Shares (other than as permitted by this Exercise Agreement) unless and until:

(a) Purchaser shall have notified the Company of the proposed disposition and provided a written summary of the terms and conditions of the proposed disposition;

(b) Purchaser shall have complied with all requirements of this Exercise Agreement and Stock Option Agreement applicable to the disposition of the Shares;

(c) Purchaser shall have provided the Company with written assurances, in form and substance satisfactory to counsel for the Company, that (i) the proposed disposition does not require registration of the Shares under the Securities Act or (ii) all appropriate actions necessary for compliance with the registration requirements of the Securities Act or of any exemption from registration available under the Securities Act (including Rule 144) have been taken; and

(d) Purchaser shall have provided the Company with written assurances, in form and substance satisfactory to the Company, that the proposed disposition will not result in the contravention of any transfer restrictions applicable to the Shares pursuant to the provisions of the Regulations referred to in Section 4.2 or 4.3 hereof.

6.2 Restriction on Transfer. Purchaser shall not transfer, assign, grant a lien or security interest in, pledge, hypothecate, encumber or otherwise dispose of any of the Shares which are subject to the Company’s Right of First Refusal described below, except as permitted by this Exercise Agreement.

6.3 Transferee Obligations. Each person (other than the Company) to whom the Shares are transferred by means of one of the permitted transfers specified in this Exercise Agreement must, as a condition precedent to the validity of such transfer, acknowledge in writing to the Company that such person is bound by the provisions of this Exercise Agreement and that the transferred Shares are subject to (i) the Company’s Right of First Refusal granted hereunder and (ii) the market stand-off provisions of Section 7 hereof, to the same extent such Shares would be so subject if retained by the Purchaser.


7. Market Standoff Agreement. Purchaser agrees in connection with any registration of the Company’s securities that, upon the request of the Company or the underwriters managing any public offering of the Company’s securities, Purchaser will not sell or otherwise dispose of any Shares without the prior written consent of the Company or such underwriters, as the case may be, for such period of time (not to exceed one hundred eighty (180) days) after the effective date of such registration requested by such managing underwriters and subject to all restrictions as the Company or the underwriters may specify. Purchaser further agrees to enter into any agreement reasonably required by the underwriters to implement the foregoing.

8. Company’s Right of First Refusal. Unvested Shares and Vested Shares may not be sold or otherwise transferred by Purchaser without the Company’s prior written consent. Before any Vested Shares held by Purchaser or any transferee of such Vested Shares (either sometimes referred to herein as the “Holder”) may be sold or otherwise transferred (including, without limitation, a transfer by gift or operation of law), such transfer must be permitted by written approval of the Committee or the Board, and the Company and/or its assignee(s) will have a right of first refusal to purchase the Vested Shares to be sold or transferred (the “Offered Shares”) on the terms and conditions set forth in this Section (the “Right of First Refusal”).

8.1 Notice of Proposed Transfer. The Holder of the Offered Shares will deliver to the Company a written notice (the “Notice”) stating: (i) the Holder’s bona fide intention to sell or otherwise transfer the Offered Shares; (ii) the name and address of each proposed purchaser or other transferee (the “Proposed Transferee”); (iii) the number of Offered Shares to be transferred to each Proposed Transferee; (iv) the bona fide cash price or other consideration for which the Holder proposes to transfer the Offered Shares (the “Offered Price”); and (v) that the Holder acknowledges this Notice is an offer to sell the Offered Shares to the Company and/or its assignee(s) pursuant to the Company’s Right of First Refusal at the Offered Price as provided for in this Exercise Agreement.

8.2 Exercise of Right of First Refusal. At any time within thirty (30) days after the date of the Notice, the Company and/or its assignee(s) may, by giving written notice to the Holder, elect to purchase all (or, with the consent of the Holder, less than all) the Offered Shares proposed to be transferred to any one or more of the Proposed Transferees named in the Notice, at the purchase price, determined as specified below.

8.3 Purchase Price. The purchase price for the Offered Shares purchased under this Section will be the Offered Price, provided that if the Offered Price consists of no legal consideration (as, for example, in the case of a transfer by gift) the purchase price will be the fair market value of the Offered Shares as determined in good faith by the Company’s Board of Directors. If the Offered Price includes consideration other than cash, then the value of the non-cash consideration, as determined in good faith by the Company’s Board of Directors, will conclusively be deemed to be the cash equivalent value of such non-cash consideration.


8.4 Payment. Payment of the purchase price for the Offered Shares will be payable, at the option of the Company and/or its assignee(s) (as applicable), by cash or check (or wire transfer of immediately available funds) or by cancellation of all or a portion of any outstanding purchase money indebtedness owed by the Holder to the Company (or to such assignee, in the case of a purchase of Offered Shares by such assignee) or by any combination thereof. The purchase price will be paid without interest within sixty (60) days after the Company’s receipt of the Notice, or, at the option of the Company and/or its assignee(s), in the manner and at the time(s) set forth in the Notice.

8.5 Holder’s Right to Transfer. If all of the Offered Shares proposed in the Notice to be transferred to a given Proposed Transferee are not purchased by the Company and/or its assignee(s) as provided in this Section, then the Holder may sell or otherwise transfer such Offered Shares to each Proposed Transferee at the Offered Price or at a higher price, provided that (i) such sale or other transfer is consummated within one hundred twenty (120) days after the date of the Notice, (ii) any such sale or other transfer is effected in compliance with all applicable securities laws, and (iii) each Proposed Transferee agrees in writing that the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to the Offered Shares in the hands of such Proposed Transferee. If the Offered Shares described in the Notice are not transferred to each Proposed Transferee within such one hundred twenty (120) day period, then a new Notice must be given to the Company pursuant to which the Company will again be offered the Right of First Refusal before any Shares held by the Holder may be sold or otherwise transferred.

8.6 Exempt Transfers. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section, the following transfers of Vested Shares will be exempt from the Right of First Refusal: (i) the transfer of any or all of the Vested Shares during Purchaser’s lifetime by gift or on Purchaser’s death by will or intestacy to Purchaser’s “Immediate Family” (as defined below) or to a trust for the benefit of Purchaser or Purchaser’s Immediate Family, provided that each transferee or other recipient agrees in a writing satisfactory to the Company that the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to the transferred Vested Shares in the hands of such transferee or other recipient; (ii) any transfer of Vested Shares made pursuant to a statutory merger or statutory consolidation of the Company with or into another corporation or corporations (except that, the Right of First Refusal will continue to apply thereafter to such Vested Shares, in which case the surviving corporation of such merger or consolidation shall succeed to the rights of the Company under this Section unless the agreement of merger or consolidation expressly otherwise provides); or (iii) any transfer of Vested Shares pursuant to the winding up and dissolution of the Company. As used herein, the term “Immediate Family” will mean Purchaser’s spouse, the lineal descendant or antecedent, father, mother, brother or sister, child, adopted child, grandchild or adopted grandchild of the Purchaser or the Purchaser’s spouse, or the spouse of any of the above or Spousal Equivalent, as defined herein. As used herein, a person is deemed to be a “Spousal Equivalent” provided the following circumstances are true: (i) irrespective of whether or not the Participant and the Spousal Equivalent are the same sex, they are the sole spousal equivalent of the other for the last twelve (12) months, (ii) they intend to remain so indefinitely, (iii) neither are married to anyone else, (iv) both are at least 18 years of age and mentally competent to consent to contract, (v) they are not related by blood to a degree of closeness that which would prohibit legal marriage in the state in which they legally reside, (vi) they are jointly responsible for each other’s common welfare and financial obligations, and (vii) they reside together in the same residence for the last twelve (12) months and intend to do so indefinitely.


8.7 Termination of Right of First Refusal. The Right of First Refusal will terminate as to all Shares (i) on the effective date of the first sale of Common Stock of the Company to the general public pursuant to a registration statement filed with and declared effective by the SEC under the 1933 Act (other than a registration statement relating solely to the issuance of Common Stock pursuant to a business combination or an employee incentive or benefit plan) or (ii) on any transfer or conversion of Shares made pursuant to a statutory merger or statutory consolidation of the Company with or into another corporation or corporations if the common stock of the surviving corporation or any direct or indirect parent corporation thereof is registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

8.8 Encumbrances on Vested Shares. Purchaser may grant a lien or security interest in, or pledge, hypothecate or encumber Vested Shares only if each party to whom such lien or security interest is granted, or to whom such pledge, hypothecation or other encumbrance is made, agrees in a writing satisfactory to the Company that: (i) such lien, security interest, pledge, hypothecation or encumbrance will not apply to such Vested Shares after they are acquired by the Company and/or its assignees under this Section; and (ii) the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to such Vested Shares in the hands of such party and any transferee of such party. Purchaser may not grant a lien or security interest in, or pledge, hypothecate or encumber, any Unvested Shares.

9. Rights as a Shareholder. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser will have all of the rights of a shareholder of the Company with respect to the Shares from and after the date that Shares are issued to Purchaser until such time as Purchaser disposes of the Shares or the Company and/or its assignee(s) exercise(s) the Right of First Refusal. Upon an exercise of the Right of First Refusal, Purchaser will have no further rights as a holder of the Shares so purchased upon such exercise, other than the right to receive payment for the Shares so purchased in accordance with the provisions of this Exercise Agreement, and Purchaser will promptly surrender the stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares so purchased to the Company for transfer or cancellation.

10. Escrow. As security for Purchaser’s faithful performance of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser agrees, immediately upon receipt of the stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares, to deliver such certificate(s), together with the Stock Powers executed by Purchaser and by Purchaser’s spouse, if any (with the date and number of Shares left blank), to the Secretary of the Company or other designee of the Company (the “Escrow Holder”), who is hereby appointed to hold such certificate(s) and Stock Powers in escrow and to take all such actions and to effectuate all such transfers and/or releases of such Shares as are in accordance with the terms of this Exercise Agreement. Purchaser and the Company agree that Escrow Holder will not be liable to any party to this Exercise Agreement (or to any other party) for any actions or omissions unless Escrow Holder is grossly negligent or intentionally fraudulent in carrying out the duties of Escrow Holder under this Exercise Agreement. Escrow Holder may rely upon any letter, notice or other document executed with any signature purported to be genuine and may rely on the advice of counsel and obey any order of any court with respect to the transactions contemplated by this Exercise Agreement. The Shares will be released from escrow upon termination of the Right of First Refusal.


11. Restrictive Legends and Stop-Transfer Orders.

11.1 Legends. Purchaser understands and agrees that the Company will place the legends set forth below or similar legends on any stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares, together with any other legends that may be required by state or U.S. Federal securities laws, the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws, any other agreement between Purchaser and the Company or any agreement between Purchaser and any third party:

THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED HEREBY HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE “SECURITIES ACT”), OR UNDER THE SECURITIES LAWS OF CERTAIN STATES. THESE SECURITIES ARE SUBJECT TO RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFERABILITY AND RESALE AND MAY NOT BE TRANSFERRED OR RESOLD EXCEPT AS PERMITTED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT AND APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS, PURSUANT TO REGISTRATION OR EXEMPTION THEREFROM. INVESTORS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT THEY MAY BE REQUIRED TO BEAR THE FINANCIAL RISKS OF THIS INVESTMENT FOR AN INDEFINITE PERIOD OF TIME. THE ISSUER OF THESE SECURITIES MAY REQUIRE AN OPINION OF COUNSEL IN FORM AND SUBSTANCE SATISFACTORY TO THE ISSUER TO THE EFFECT THAT ANY PROPOSED TRANSFER OR RESALE IS IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE SECURITIES ACT AND ANY APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS.

THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS ON PUBLIC RESALE AND TRANSFER: INCLUDING THE RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL HELD BY THE ISSUER AND/OR ITS ASSIGNEE(S) AS SET FORTH IN A STOCK OPTION EXERCISE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ISSUER AND THE ORIGINAL HOLDER OF THESE SHARES, A COPY OF WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE PRINCIPAL OFFICE OF THE ISSUER. SUCH PUBLIC SALE AND TRANSFER RESTRICTIONS INCLUDING THE RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL ARE BINDING ON TRANSFEREES OF THESE SHARES.

THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE ARE SUBJECT TO A 180 DAY MARKET STANDOFF RESTRICTION AS SET FORTH IN A CERTAIN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ISSUER AND THE ORIGINAL HOLDER OF THESE SHARES, A COPY OF WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE PRINCIPAL OFFICE OF THE ISSUER. AS A RESULT OF SUCH AGREEMENT, THESE SHARES MAY NOT BE TRADED PRIOR TO 180 DAYS AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF ANY PUBLIC OFFERING OF THE COMMON STOCK OF THE ISSUER HEREOF. SUCH RESTRICTION IS BINDING ON TRANSFEREES OF THESE SHARES.


11.2 Stop-Transfer Instructions. Purchaser agrees that, to ensure compliance with the restrictions imposed by this Exercise Agreement, the Company may issue appropriate “stop-transfer” instructions to its transfer agent, if any, and if the Company transfers its own securities, it may make appropriate notations to the same effect in its own records.

11.3 Refusal to Transfer. The Company will not be required (i) to transfer on its books any Shares that have been sold or otherwise transferred in violation of any of the provisions of this Exercise Agreement or (ii) to treat as owner of such Shares, or to accord the right to vote or pay dividends to any purchaser or other transferee to whom such Shares have been so transferred.

12. Tax Consequences. PURCHASER UNDERSTANDS THAT PURCHASER MAY SUFFER ADVERSE TAX CONSEQUENCES AS A RESULT OF PURCHASER’S PURCHASE OR DISPOSITION OF THE SHARES. PURCHASER REPRESENTS: (i) THAT PURCHASER HAS CONSULTED WITH ANY TAX ADVISER THAT PURCHASER DEEMS ADVISABLE IN CONNECTION WITH THE PURCHASE OR DISPOSITION OF THE SHARES AND (ii) THAT PURCHASER IS NOT RELYING ON THE COMPANY FOR ANY TAX ADVICE. THIS SUMMARY IS NECESSARILY INCOMPLETE, AND THE TAX LAWS AND REGULATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. PURCHASER SHOULD CONSULT HIS OR HER OWN TAX ADVISER BEFORE EXERCISING THIS OPTION OR DISPOSING OF THE SHARES.

13. Compliance with Laws and Regulations. The issuance and transfer of the Shares will be subject to and conditioned upon compliance by the Company and Purchaser with all applicable state, U.S. Federal, as well as non U.S. laws and regulations and with all applicable requirements of any stock exchange or automated quotation system on which the Company’s Common Stock may be listed or quoted at the time of such issuance or transfer.

14. Successors and Assigns. The Company may assign any of its rights under this Exercise Agreement, including its rights to purchase Shares under the Right of First Refusal. No other party to this Exercise Agreement may assign, whether voluntarily or by operation of law, any of its rights and obligations under this Exercise Agreement, except with the prior written consent of the Company. This Exercise Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the successors and assigns of the Company. Subject to the restrictions on transfer herein set forth, this Exercise Agreement will be binding upon Purchaser and Purchaser’s heirs, executors, administrators, legal representatives, successors and assigns.

15. Governing Law; Venue. This Exercise Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to that body of laws pertaining to conflict of laws. For purposes of any action, lawsuit or other proceedings brought to enforce this Agreement, relating to it, or arising from it, the parties hereby submit to and consent to the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of San Francisco, California, or the federal courts for the United States for the Northern District of California, and no other courts, where this grant is made and/or to be performed.


16. Notices. Any and all notices required or permitted to be given to a party pursuant to the provisions of this Exercise Agreement will be in writing and will be effective and deemed to provide such party sufficient notice under this Exercise Agreement on the earliest of the following: (i) at the time of personal delivery, if delivery is in person; (ii) at the time of transmission by facsimile, addressed to the other party at its facsimile number specified herein (or hereafter modified by subsequent notice to the parties hereto), with confirmation of receipt made by both telephone and printed confirmation sheet verifying successful transmission of the facsimile; (iii) one (1) business day after deposit with an express overnight courier for United States deliveries, or two (2) business days after such deposit for deliveries outside of the United States, with proof of delivery from the courier requested; or (iv) three (3) business days after deposit in the United States mail by certified mail (return receipt requested) for United States deliveries.

All notices for delivery outside the United States will be sent by facsimile or by express courier. All notices not delivered personally or by facsimile will be sent with postage and/or other charges prepaid and properly addressed to the party to be notified at the address or facsimile number set forth below the signature lines of this Exercise Agreement, or at such other address or facsimile number as such other party may designate by one of the indicated means of notice herein to the other parties hereto. Notices to the Company will be marked “Attention: President”. Notices by facsimile shall be machine verified as received.

17. Further Assurances. The parties agree to execute such further documents and instruments and to take such further actions as may be reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes and intent of this Exercise Agreement.

18. Titles and Headings. The titles, captions and headings of this Exercise Agreement are included for ease of reference only and will be disregarded in interpreting or construing this Exercise Agreement. Unless otherwise specifically stated, all references herein to “sections” and “exhibits” will mean “sections” and “exhibits” to this Exercise Agreement.

19. Entire Agreement. The Plan, the Stock Option Agreement and this Exercise Agreement, together with all Addenda and Exhibits thereto, constitute the entire agreement and understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter of this Exercise Agreement, and supersede all prior understandings and agreements, whether oral or written, between or among the parties hereto with respect to the specific subject matter hereof.

20. Counterparts. This Exercise Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which when so executed and delivered will be deemed an original, and all of which together shall constitute one and the same agreement.


21. Severability. If any provision of this Exercise Agreement is determined by any court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, such provision will be enforced to the maximum extent possible given the intent of the parties hereto. If such clause or provision cannot be so enforced, such provision shall be stricken from this Exercise Agreement and the remainder of this Exercise Agreement shall be enforced as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable clause or provision had (to the extent not enforceable) never been contained in this Exercise Agreement. Notwithstanding the forgoing, if the value of this Exercise Agreement based upon the substantial benefit of the bargain for any party is materially impaired, which determination as made by the presiding court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction shall be binding, then both parties agree to substitute such provision(s) through good faith negotiations.

22. Facsimile Signatures. This Agreement may be executed and delivered by facsimile and upon such delivery the facsimile signature will be deemed to have the same effect as if the original signature had been delivered to the other party.


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Exercise Agreement to be executed in triplicate by its duly authorized representative and Purchaser has executed this Exercise Agreement in triplicate as of the Effective Date, indicated above.

 

COUCHBASE, INC.   PURCHASER
By:                                                                                                        

 

  (Signature)

 

(Please print name)

 

 

(Please print name)

 

(Please print title)

 
Address:   Address:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fax No.:                                                                                                 Fax No.:                                                                                              
Phone No.:   Phone No.:

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1: Stock Power and Assignment Separate from Stock Certificate

Exhibit 2: Copy of Purchaser’s Check or other permitted consideration

[Signature page to Couchbase, Inc. Stock Option Exercise Agreement]


EXHIBIT 1

STOCK POWER AND ASSIGNMENT SEPARATE

FROM STOCK CERTIFICATE


Stock Power and Assignment

Separate from Stock Certificate

FOR VALUE RECEIVED and pursuant to that certain Stock Option Exercise Agreement No.                      dated as of                              ,         , (the “Agreement”), the undersigned hereby sells, assigns and transfers unto                                                               shares of the Common Stock $0.0001 par value per share, of Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), standing in the undersigned’s name on the books of the Company represented by Certificate No(s).                             delivered herewith, and does hereby irrevocably constitute and appoint the Secretary of the Company as the undersigned’s attorney-in-fact, with full power of substitution, to transfer said stock on the books of the Company. THIS ASSIGNMENT MAY ONLY BE USED AS AUTHORIZED BY THE AGREEMENT AND ANY EXHIBITS THERETO.

Dated: ,                                              

 

PURCHASER

 

(Signature)

 

(Please Print Name)

Instructions to Purchaser: Please do not fill in any blanks other than the signature line. The purpose of this Stock Power and Assignment is to enable the Company to acquire the shares upon exercise its “Right of First Refusal” set forth in the Exercise Agreement without requiring additional signatures on the part of the Purchaser.


EXHIBIT 2

COPY OF PURCHASER’S CHECK


EXHIBIT A

COUCHBASE, INC.

2018 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

ADDENDUM

TO THE STOCK OPTION AGREEMENT FOR NON-U.S. PARTICIPANTS

Capitalized terms, unless explicitly defined in this Addendum, shall have the meanings given to them in the Stock Option Agreement for Non-U.S. Participants (the “Option Agreement”) or in the Plan.

Terms and Conditions

This Addendum includes special terms and conditions that govern Participant’s Option if Participant resides and/or works in one of the countries listed below. If Participant is a citizen or resident (or is considered as such for local law purposes) of a country other than the country in which Participant is currently residing and/or working, or if Participant transfers to another country after the grant of the Option, the Company shall, in its discretion, determine to what extent the special terms and conditions contained herein shall be applicable to Participant.

Notifications

This Addendum also includes information regarding securities, exchange control, tax and certain other issues of which Participant should be aware with respect to Participant’s participation in the Plan. The information is based on the securities, exchange control, tax and other laws in effect in the respective countries as of December 2020. Such laws are often complex and change frequently. As a result, the Company strongly recommends that Participant not rely on the information contained herein as the only source of information relating to the consequences of Participant’s participation in the Plan because the information may be out of date at the time Participant exercises the Option or at the time Participant sells the Shares acquired upon exercise of the Option. In addition, the information is general in nature and may not apply to Participant’s particular situation, and the Company is not in a position to assure Participant of any particular result; therefore, Participant is advised to seek appropriate professional advice as to how the relevant laws in Participant’s country may apply to Participant’s individual situation.

If Participant is a citizen or resident (or is considered as such for local tax purposes) of a country other than the country in which Participant is currently residing and/or working, or if Participant transfers to another country after the grant of the Option, the notifications contained herein may not be applicable to Participant in the same manner.


AUSTRALIA

Notifications

Securities Law Information. If Participant acquires Shares under the Plan and subsequently offers the Shares for sale to a person or entity resident in Australia, such an offer may be subject to disclosure requirements under Australian law and Participant should obtain legal advice regarding any applicable disclosure requirements prior to making any such offer.

Tax Information. Subdivision 83A-C of the Income Tax Assessment Act, 1997 applies to the Option granted under the Plan, such that the Option is intended to be subject to deferred taxation.

Exchange Control Information. Exchange control reporting is required for cash transactions exceeding A$10,000 and international fund transfers. The Australian bank assisting with the transaction will file the report. If there is no Australian bank involved in the transfer, Participant will be required to file the report.

AUSTRIA

Notifications

Exchange Control Information. If Participant holds Shares acquired under the Plan outside of Austria, Participant must submit a report to the Austrian National Bank. An exemption applies if the value of Shares as of any given quarter does not exceed €30,000,000 or if the value of Shares in any given year as of December 31 does not exceed €5,000,000. If the former threshold is exceeded, quarterly obligations are imposed, whereas if the latter threshold is exceeded, annual reports must be given. The deadline for filing the annual report is January 31 of the following year and the deadline for the quarterly report is the 15th of the month following the end of the respective quarter.

A separate reporting requirement applies when Participant sells Shares acquired under the Plan or receives a dividend. In that case, there may be exchange control obligations if the cash proceeds are held outside of Austria. If the transaction volume of all accounts abroad exceeds €10,000,000, the movements and balances of all accounts must be reported monthly, as of the last day of the month, on or before the 15th day of the following month, on the prescribed form (Meldungen SI-Forderungen und/oder SI-Verpflichtungen).

BELGIUM

Terms and Conditions

Timing of Acceptance. In order to satisfy the timing requirements for taxation of options at the time of exercise under the current interpretation of the Belgian Minister of Finance, Participant agrees that Participant will not accept this Option until more than sixty (60) days after the “offer date.” The offer date is the date on which the material terms (i.e., the number of Shares underlying this Option, the Exercise Price and the vesting schedule) are communicated to Participant by the Company. Notwithstanding that the offer cannot be accepted during this initial 60-day period, the offer will nonetheless be deemed to have been made on the offer date. This Option Agreement likely will not be provided to Participant until the expiration of the initial 60-day period in order to ensure acceptance of this Option more than sixty (60) days after the offer date.


Notifications

Foreign Asset/Account Reporting Information. Participant is required to report any securities (e.g., Shares acquired under the Plan) or bank accounts (including brokerage accounts) opened and maintained outside Belgium on his or her annual tax return. Participant will also be required to provide the National Bank of Belgium with details regarding any such account (including the account number, the name of the bank in which such account is held and the country in which such account is located). This report, as well as additional information on how to complete it, can be found on the website of the National Bank of Belgium, www.nbb.be, under Kredietcentrales / Centrales des crédits caption.

Stock Exchange Tax Information. A stock exchange tax applies to transactions executed by a Belgian resident through a non-Belgian financial intermediary, such as a U.S. broker. The stock exchange tax likely will not apply when the Option is exercised, but will apply when Shares acquired pursuant to the Option are sold. Participant should consult with a personal tax or financial advisor for additional details on the Participant’s obligations with respect to the stock exchange tax.

CANADA

Terms and Conditions

Payment. Notwithstanding any provision in the Plan or the Option Agreement, Participant is prohibited from surrendering Shares that Participant already owns or allowing the Company to cancel Shares otherwise issuable to Participant upon exercise to pay the Exercise Price or any Tax-Related Items in connection with the Option.

Termination. The following provision replaces Section 3.5 of the Option Agreement:

For purposes of the Option, except as otherwise required by applicable legislation, the Termination Date (regardless of the reason for such termination and whether or not later found to be invalid or in breach of employment laws in the jurisdiction where Participant is employed or otherwise providing services or the terms of Participant’s employment or service agreement, if any) is deemed to occur as of the date that is the earliest of (a) the date that Participant receives notice of termination; (b) the date that Participant’s employment or other service is terminated, or (c) the date that Participant is no longer actively providing services to the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, regardless of any notice period or period of pay in lieu of such notice required under applicable law. The Committee shall have the exclusive discretion to determine when Participant is no longer actively providing services for purposes of the Option (including whether Participant may still be considered to be providing services while on a leave of absence).


The following terms and conditions apply to employees resident in Quebec:

Language. The parties acknowledge that it is their express wish that this Agreement, as well as all documents, notices and legal proceedings entered into, given or instituted pursuant hereto or relating directly or indirectly hereto, be drawn up in English.

Les parties reconnaissent avoir expressement souhaité que la convention [“Agreement”], ainsi que tous les documents, avis et procédures judiciaries, éxecutés, donnés ou intentés en vertu de, ou lié, directement ou indirectement à la présente convention, soient rédigés en langue anglaise.

Data Privacy. Participant hereby authorizes the Company and the Company’s representatives to discuss with and obtain all relevant information from all personnel, professional or non-professional, involved in the administration and operation of the Plan. Participant further authorizes the Company, any Parent or Subsidiary and the Committee to disclose and discuss the Plan with their advisors and to record all relevant information and keep such information in Participant’s employee file.

Notifications

Securities Law Information. Shares acquired under the Plan may not be sold or otherwise disposed of within Canada. Participant may sell the Shares acquired under the Plan only through a stock plan service provider selected by the Company in the future, provided the sale of Shares takes place outside of Canada through the facilities of a stock exchange on which the Shares are traded. The Shares are not currently traded on any stock exchange.

Foreign Asset/Account Reporting Information. Participant is required to report foreign specified property (including Shares acquired at exercise and rights to Shares such as the Option) on Form T1135 (Foreign Income Verification Statement) if the total cost of Participant’s foreign specified property exceeds C$100,000 at any time during the year. The Option must be reported (generally at a nil cost) if the C$100,000 cost threshold is exceeded because of other foreign specified property Participant holds. When Shares are acquired, their cost generally is the adjusted cost base (“ACB”) of the Shares. The ACB is normally equal to the fair market value of such Shares at the time of acquisition; however, if Participant owns other Shares, the ACB may have to be averaged with the ACB of other Shares.

FRANCE

Terms and Conditions

Nature of Award. The Option is not intended to qualify for special tax and social security treatment applicable to stock options granted under Section L.225-177 to L.225-186-1 of the French Commercial Code, as amended.

Language Consent. By accepting the Option, Participant confirms having read and understood the documents related to the grant (the Agreement and the Plan), which were provided in the English language. Participant accepts the terms of those documents accordingly.


Consentement Relatif à la Langue. En acceptant l’attribution de l’Option, le Participant confirme avoir lu et compris les documents relatifs à l’attribution (le Contrat et le Plan), qui ont été remis en langue anglaise. Le Participant accepte les termes de ces documents en connaissance de cause.

Notifications

Foreign Asset/Account Reporting Information. French residents must declare all foreign accounts, whether open, current, or closed, in their income tax returns. Participant should consult with a personal tax advisor to ensure compliance with applicable reporting obligations.

GERMANY

Notifications

Exchange Control Information. Cross border payments in excess of €12,500 must be reported monthly to the German Federal Bank (Bundesbank). Participant understands that in the event he or she receives a payment in excess of this amount in connection with the sale of securities (including Shares acquired under the Plan), Participant must report the payment to Bundesbank electronically using the “General Statistics Reporting Portal” (“Allgemeines Meldeportal Statistik”) available via Bundesbank’s website (www.bundesbank.de).

Foreign Asset/Account Reporting Information. If Participant’s acquisition of Shares under the Plan leads to a so-called qualified participation at any point during the calendar year, Participant will need to report the acquisition when he or she files his or her tax return for the relevant year. A qualified participation is attained if (i) the value of the Shares acquired exceeds €150,000 or (ii) in the unlikely event that Participant holds Shares exceeding 10% of the total capital of the Company. Participant will be responsible for obtaining the appropriate form from a German federal bank and complying with the applicable reporting obligations.

INDIA

Terms and Conditions

Payment. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Plan or the Agreement, due to legal restrictions in India, Participant will not be permitted to pay the Exercise Price by a “sell-to-cover” exercise (i.e., where a certain number of Shares subject to the exercised Option will be sold immediately upon exercise and the proceeds of the sale will be remitted to the Company to cover the Exercise Price for the purchased Shares, any brokerage fees and any withholding obligation for Tax-Related Items). The Company reserves the right to permit this method of payment depending on the development of local law.

Notifications

Exchange Control Information. Indian residents are required to repatriate to India all proceeds received from the sale of Shares within 90 days of receipt and any dividends paid on such shares within 180 days of receipt, or within such other period of time as may be required under applicable regulations. Participant must maintain the foreign inward remittance certificate received from the bank where the foreign currency is deposited in the event that the Reserve Bank of India or the Company requests proof of repatriation. It is Participant’s responsibility to comply with applicable exchange control laws in India.


Foreign Asset/Account Reporting Information. Participant is required to declare any foreign bank accounts and any foreign financial assets (including Shares held outside India) in Participant’s annual tax return. Participant is responsible for complying with this reporting obligation and is advised to confer with his or her personal tax advisor in this regard.

IRELAND

Notifications

Director Notification Obligation. If Participant is a director, shadow director or secretary of the Company’s Irish subsidiary or affiliate, and his or her interest in the Company represents more than 1% of the Company’s voting share capital, Participant must notify the Irish subsidiary or affiliate in writing of his or her interest in the Company (e.g., shares acquired under the Plan, etc.), if Participant becomes aware of the event giving rise to the notification requirement, or if Participant becomes a director or secretary, if such an interest exists at the time. This notification requirement also applies with respect to the interests of a spouse or children under the age of 18 (whose interests will be attributed to the director, shadow director or secretary).

ISRAEL

Terms and Conditions

Payment. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Plan or Agreement, due to tax considerations in Israel, Participant understands that Participant will be restricted to the cashless sell-all method of exercise. Participant understands that to complete a cashless sell-all exercise, Participant needs to instruct his or her broker to: (i) sell all of the Shares issued upon exercise; (ii) use the proceeds to satisfy the Exercise Price, any brokerage fees and any withholding obligation for Tax-Related Items; and (iii) remit the balance in cash to Participant. Participant will not be permitted to hold Shares after exercise. Depending on the development of local laws, the Company reserves the right to modify the methods of payment and, in its sole discretion, to permit cash exercise, cashless sell-to-cover exercise or any other method of payment permitted under the Agreement.


Notifications

Securities Law Information. The grant of the Option does not constitute a public offering under the Securities Law, 1968.

ITALY

Terms and Conditions

Payment. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Plan or the Agreement, due to legal restrictions in Italy, Participant understands that Participant will be restricted to the cashless sell-all method of exercise. To complete a cashless sell-all exercise, Participant understands that Participant needs to instruct his or her broker to: (i) sell all of the Shares issued upon exercise; (ii) use the proceeds to satisfy the Exercise Price, any brokerage fees and any withholding obligation for Tax-Related Items; and (iii) remit the balance in cash to Participant. Participant will not be permitted to hold Shares after exercise. Depending on the development of local laws, the Company reserves the right to modify the methods of payment and, in its sole discretion, to permit cash exercise, cashless sell-to-cover exercise or any other method of payment permitted under the Agreement.

Plan Document Acknowledgment. By accepting the Option, Participant acknowledges that he or she has received a copy of the Plan and this Agreement and has reviewed the Plan and this Agreement in their entirety and fully accepts all provisions thereof. Participant further acknowledges that he or she has read and specifically and expressly approves (a) the following provisions of the Agreement: Section 3: Termination; Section 4: Manner of Exercise; Section 4.4: Responsibility for Taxes; Section 5: Nature of Grant; Section 6: Data Privacy, Section 10: Privileges of Stock Ownership; Section 11: General Provisions; Section 11.14: Language and all provisions for Italy in this Addendum.

Notifications

Foreign Asset/Account Reporting Information. If Participant holds investments abroad or foreign financial assets (e.g., cash and Shares acquired under the Plan) that may generate income taxable in Italy, Participant is required to report them on his or her annual tax returns (UNICO Form, RW Schedule) or on a special form if no tax return is due, irrespective of their value. The same reporting duties apply to Participant if Participant is the beneficial owner of the investments, even if Participant does not directly hold investments abroad or foreign assets.

Foreign Asset Tax Information. The value of the financial assets held outside of Italy by Italian residents is subject to a foreign asset tax. Such tax is currently levied at an annual rate of 2 per thousand (0.2%). The taxable amount will be the fair market value of the financial assets (e.g., Shares acquired under the Plan) assessed at the end of the calendar year. No tax payment duties arise if the value of the foreign assets held abroad does not exceed €6,000.

JAPAN

Notifications

Exchange Control Information. If the payment amount to purchase Shares in one transaction exceeds ¥30,000,000, Participant must file a Payment Report with the Ministry of Finance (the “MOF”) (through the Bank of Japan or the bank through which the payment was effected). If the payment amount to purchase Shares in one transaction exceeds ¥100,000,000, Participant must file a Securities Acquisition Report, in addition to a Payment Report, with the MOF (through the Bank of Japan).


Foreign Asset/Account Reporting Information. Participant will be required to report details of any assets held outside of Japan as of December 31 of each year to the extent such assets have a total net fair market value exceeding ¥50,000,000. Such report will be due by March 15 of the following year. Participant should consult with a personal tax advisor as to whether the reporting obligation applies to Participant and whether the requirement extends to the Option, Shares and/or cash acquired under the Plan.

NORWAY

There are no country-specific provisions.

SAUDI ARABIA

Notifications

Securities Law Information. The Agreement and related Plan documents may not be distributed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia except to such persons that are permitted under the Rules on the Offers of Securities and Continuing Obligations issued by the Capital Market Authority (“CMA”). The CMA does not make any representation as to the accuracy or completeness of the Agreement, and expressly disclaims any liability whatsoever for any loss arising from, or incurred in reliance upon, any part of the Agreement. Participant should conduct his or her own due diligence on the accuracy of the information relating to Shares. If Participant does not understand the contents of the Agreement, Participant should consult an authorized financial adviser.

SINGAPORE

Terms and Conditions

Sale Restriction. Participant agrees that any Shares acquired pursuant to the Option will not be offered for sale in Singapore prior to the six-month anniversary of the Date of Grant unless such sale or offer is made pursuant to the exemptions under Part XIII Division (1) Subdivision (4) (other than section 280) of the Securities and Futures Act (Chapter 289, 2006 Ed.) (“SFA”) and in accordance with the conditions of any other applicable provision of the SFA.

Notifications

Securities Law Information. The Option grant is being made to Participant in reliance on the “Qualifying Person” exemption of the SFA under which it is exempt from the prospectus and registration requirements and is not made with a view to the underlying Shares being subsequently offered for sale to any other party. The Plan has not been and will not be lodged or registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore.


Chief Executive Officer and Director Notification Obligation. If Participant is the Chief Executive Office (“CEO”) or a director, associate director or shadow director of a Singapore Parent or Subsidiary, Participant understands that Participant is subject to certain notification requirements under the Singapore Companies Act. Participant acknowledges that Participant must notify the Singapore Parent or Subsidiary in writing of an interest (e.g., Option, Shares, etc.) in the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary within two (2) business days of (i) its acquisition or disposal, (ii) any change in previously disclosed interest (e.g., when Shares acquired at vesting are sold), or (iii) becoming the CEO and/or a director, if Participant holds such an interest at the time.

SPAIN

Terms and Conditions

Nature of Grant. The following provision supplements Section 5 of the Option Agreement:

In accepting the Option, Participant acknowledges that he or she consents to participation in the Plan and has received a copy of the Plan.

Participant understands and agrees that, as a condition of the grant of the Option, the Termination of Participant’s employment or service for any reason (including for the reasons listed below) will automatically result in the cancellation and loss of any portion of the Option that has not vested as of the Termination Date.

In particular, Participant understands and agrees that any unvested portion of the Option will be cancelled without entitlement to the underlying Shares or to any amount as indemnification if Participant is Terminated prior to vesting by reason of, including, but not limited to: Disability, resignation, Retirement, disciplinary dismissal adjudged to be with cause, disciplinary dismissal adjudged or recognized to be without good cause (i.e., subject to a “despido improcedente”), individual or collective layoff on objective grounds, whether adjudged to be with cause or adjudged or recognized to be without cause, material modification of the terms of employment under Article 41 of the Workers’ Statute, relocation under Article 40 of the Workers’ Statute, Article 50 of the Workers’ Statute, unilateral withdrawal by the Service Recipient, and under Article 10.3 of Royal Decree 1382/1985.

Furthermore, Participant understands that the Company has unilaterally, gratuitously and discretionally decided to grant options under the Plan to individuals who may be employees or service providers of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company throughout the world. The decision is a limited decision that is entered into upon the express assumption and condition that any grant will not economically or otherwise bind the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company on an ongoing basis. Consequently, Participant understands that the Option is granted on the assumption and condition that the Option and the Shares issued upon exercise of the Option shall not become a part of any employment or other contract (with the Company, the Service Recipient, or any other Parent or Subsidiary of the Company) and shall not be considered a mandatory benefit, salary for any purposes (including severance compensation) or any other right whatsoever. In addition, Participant understands that the Option would not be granted to Participant but for the assumptions and conditions referred to above; thus, Participant acknowledges and freely accepts that should any or all of the assumptions be mistaken or should any of the conditions not be met for any reason, then any option grant shall be null and void.


Notifications

Securities Law Notification. The Option described in this Agreement does not qualify under Spanish regulations as a security. No “offer of securities to the public,” as defined under Spanish law, has taken place or will take place in the Spanish territory. This Agreement has not been nor will it be registered with the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores, and it does not constitute a public offering prospectus.

Exchange Control Information. Participant is required to electronically declare to the Bank of Spain any security accounts (including brokerage accounts held abroad), as well as the securities (including Shares acquired under the Plan) held in such accounts if the value of the transactions for all such accounts during the prior year or the balances of such accounts as of December 31 of the prior year exceeds €1,000,000.

Different thresholds and deadlines to file the declaration apply. However, if neither such transactions during the immediately preceding year nor the balances/positions as of December 31 exceed €1,000,000, no such declaration must be filed unless expressly required by the Bank of Spain. If any of such thresholds were exceeded during the current year, Participant may be required to file the relevant declaration corresponding to the prior year, however, a summarized form of declaration may be available.

Foreign Asset/Account Reporting Information. To the extent Participant holds Shares or has bank accounts outside of Spain with a value in excess of €50,000 (for each type of asset) as of December 31, Participant will be required to report information on such assets on his or her tax return Form 720 for such year with severe penalties in the event of non-compliance. After such Shares or accounts are initially reported, the reporting obligation will apply for subsequent years only if the value of any previously reported Shares or accounts increases by more than €20,000 as of each subsequent December 31, or if Participant sells shares or cancels bank accounts that were previously reported. Participant should consult with his or her personal tax advisor for further information regarding Participant’s foreign asset reporting obligations.

SWEDEN

There are no country-specific provisions.

UNITED KINGDOM

Responsibility for Taxes. The following provision supplements Section 4.4 of the Stock Option Agreement:

Without limitation to Section 4.4 of the Stock Option Agreement, Participant hereby agrees that he or she is liable for all Tax-Related Items and hereby covenants to pay all such Tax-Related Items, as and when requested by the Company or the Service Recipient or by Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (“HMRC”) (or any other tax authority or any other relevant authority). Participant also hereby agrees to indemnify and keep indemnified the Company and the Service Recipient against any Tax-Related Items that they are required to pay or withhold or have paid or will pay to HMRC (or any other tax authority or any other relevant authority) on Participant’s behalf.


Notwithstanding the foregoing, if Participant is a director or executive officer of the Company (within the meaning of Section 13(k) of the Exchange Act), Participant may not be able to indemnify the Company or the Service Recipient for the amount of any income tax not collected from or paid by Participant, as it may be considered a loan. In this case, the amount of any uncollected income tax may constitute a benefit to Participant on which additional income tax and employee National Insurance contributions (“NICs”) may be payable. Participant agrees to report and pay any income tax due on this additional benefit directly to HMRC under the self-assessment regime and to pay the Company or the Service Recipient (as appropriate) for the value of the employee NICs due on this additional benefit, which the Company or the Service Recipient may recover from Participant by any of the means referred to in Section 4.4 of the Agreement.

Section 431 Joint Election. As a condition of participation in the Plan and no later than the time of exercise of the Option, Participant agrees to enter into, jointly with the Service Recipient (or the Company), a joint election within Section 431 of the U.K. Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (“ITEPA 2003”) in respect of computing any tax charge on the acquisition of “restricted securities” (as defined in Sections 423 and 424 of ITEPA 2003), and that Participant will not revoke such election at any time (the “431 Election”). This 431 Election will be to treat the Shares acquired pursuant to the exercise of the Option as if such Shares were not restricted securities (for U.K. tax purposes only). If Participant is required to but does not enter into such a 431 Election prior to the exercise of the Option, Participant will not be entitled to exercise the Option and no Shares will be issued to Participant, without any liability to the Company or the Service Recipient. Participant must enter into the 431 Election concurrent with the execution of this Agreement, or at such subsequent time as may be designated by the Company.

National Insurance Contribution Joint Election. As a condition of participation in the Plan, Participant agrees to accept liability for any secondary Class 1 National Insurance contributions which may be payable by the Company or the Service Recipient (or any successor to the Company or the Service Recipient) in connection with the Option or any event giving rise to Tax-Related Items (“Employer NICs”). Without prejudice to the foregoing, Participant agrees enter into the following joint election with the Company or the Service Recipient (a “NICs Joint Election”), the form of such NICs Joint Election being formally approved by HMRC, and any other consent or elections required to accomplish the transfer of the Employer NICs to Participant. Participant further agrees to execute such other elections as may be required by any successor to the Company and/or the Service Recipient for the purpose of continuing the effectiveness of Participant’s NICs Joint Election. If Participant does not complete the NICs Joint Election prior to exercise of Participant’s Option, or if approval of the NICs Joint Election is withdrawn by HMRC and a new NICs Joint Election is not entered into, the Participant will not be entitled to exercise their Option without any liability to the Company or its Parent or Subsidiaries. Participant must enter into the NICs Joint Election concurrent with the execution of the Stock Option Agreement, or at such subsequent time as may be designated by the Company.


United Kingdom

Section 431 Joint Election Form

Joint Election under s431 ITEPA 2003

for full disapplication of Chapter 2 Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003

One Part Election

1. Between

 

the Employee     

 

whose National Insurance Number is     

 

and     
the Company (who is the Employee’s employer)      Couchbase Limited
of Company Registration Number      8051754

2. Purpose of Election

This joint election is made pursuant to section 431(1) Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (“ITEPA”) and applies where employment-related securities, which are restricted securities by reason of section 423 ITEPA, are acquired.

The effect of an election under section 431(1) is that, for the purposes of relevant income tax and National Insurance contributions (“NICs”), the employment-related securities and their market value will be treated as if they were not restricted securities and that sections 425 to 430 ITEPA do not apply. Additional income tax will be payable as a result of this election (with PAYE withholding and NICs being applicable where the securities are Readily Convertible Assets).

 

Should the value of the securities fall following the acquisition, it is possible that income tax/NICs that would have arisen because of any future chargeable event (in the absence of an election) would have been less than the income tax/NICs due by reason of this election. Should this be the case, there is no income tax/NICs relief available under Part 7 of ITEPA 2003; nor is it available if the securities acquired are subsequently transferred, forfeited or revert to the original owner.

3. Application

This joint election is made not later than 14 days after the date of acquisition of the securities by the employee and applies to:

 

Number of securities      

 

Description of securities       Shares of common stock


Name of issuer of securities    Couchbase, Inc.

To be acquired by the Employee on or after the date of this Election under the terms of the Couchbase, Inc.

4. Extent of Application

This election disapplies S.431(1) ITEPA: All restrictions attaching to the securities.

5. Declaration

This election will become irrevocable upon the later of its signing or the acquisition (and each subsequent acquisition) of employment-related securities to which this election applies.

In signing this joint election, we agree to be bound by its terms as stated above.

 

 

          /        /                
Signature (Employee)   Date

 

          /        /                
Signature (for and on behalf of the Company)   Date

 

 
Position in company  

Note: Where the election is in respect of multiple acquisitions, prior to the date of any subsequent acquisition of a security it may be revoked by agreement between the employee and employer in respect of that and any later acquisition.


EXHIBIT A

COUCHBASE, INC.

2018 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

ADDENDUM

TO THE STOCK OPTION AGREEMENT FOR NON-U.S. PARTICIPANTS

Capitalized terms, unless explicitly defined in this Addendum, shall have the meanings given to them in the Stock Option Agreement for Non-U.S. Participants (the “Option Agreement”) or in the Plan.

Terms and Conditions

This Addendum includes special terms and conditions that govern Participant’s Option if Participant resides and/or works in one of the countries listed below. If Participant is a citizen or resident (or is considered as such for local law purposes) of a country other than the country in which Participant is currently residing and/or working, or if Participant transfers to another country after the grant of the Option, the Company shall, in its discretion, determine to what extent the special terms and conditions contained herein shall be applicable to Participant.

Notifications

This Addendum also includes information regarding securities, exchange control, tax and certain other issues of which Participant should be aware with respect to Participant’s participation in the Plan. The information is based on the securities, exchange control, tax and other laws in effect in the respective countries as of March 2019. Such laws are often complex and change frequently. As a result, the Company strongly recommends that Participant not rely on the information contained herein as the only source of information relating to the consequences of Participant’s participation in the Plan because the information may be out of date at the time Participant exercises the Option or at the time Participant sells the Shares acquired upon exercise of the Option. In addition, the information is general in nature and may not apply to Participant’s particular situation, and the Company is not in a position to assure Participant of any particular result; therefore, Participant is advised to seek appropriate professional advice as to how the relevant laws in Participant’s country may apply to Participant’s individual situation.

If Participant is a citizen or resident (or is considered as such for local tax purposes) of a country other than the country in which Participant is currently residing and/or working, or if Participant transfers to another country after the grant of the Option, the notifications contained herein may not be applicable to Participant in the same manner.


AUSTRALIA

Notifications

Securities Law Information. If Participant acquires Shares under the Plan and subsequently offers the Shares for sale to a person or entity resident in Australia, such an offer may be subject to disclosure requirements under Australian law and Participant should obtain legal advice regarding any applicable disclosure requirements prior to making any such offer.

Tax Information. Subdivision 83A-C of the Income Tax Assessment Act, 1997 applies to the Option granted under the Plan, such that the Option is intended to be subject to deferred taxation.

Exchange Control Information. Exchange control reporting is required for cash transactions exceeding A$10,000 and international fund transfers. The Australian bank assisting with the transaction will file the report. If there is no Australian bank involved in the transfer, Participant will be required to file the report.

AUSTRIA

Notifications

Exchange Control Information. If Participant holds Shares acquired under the Plan outside of Austria, Participant must submit a report to the Austrian National Bank. An exemption applies if the value of Shares as of any given quarter does not exceed €30,000,000 or if the value of Shares in any given year as of December 31 does not exceed €5,000,000. If the former threshold is exceeded, quarterly obligations are imposed, whereas if the latter threshold is exceeded, annual reports must be given. The deadline for filing the annual report is January 31 of the following year and the deadline for the quarterly report is the 15th of the month following the end of the respective quarter.

A separate reporting requirement applies when Participant sells Shares acquired under the Plan or receives a dividend. In that case, there may be exchange control obligations if the cash proceeds are held outside of Austria. If the transaction volume of all accounts abroad exceeds €10,000,000, the movements and balances of all accounts must be reported monthly, as of the last day of the month, on or before the 15th day of the following month, on the prescribed form (Meldungen SI-Forderungen und/oder SI-Verpflichtungen).

BELGIUM

Terms and Conditions

Timing of Acceptance. In order to satisfy the timing requirements for taxation of options at the time of exercise under the current interpretation of the Belgian Minister of Finance, Participant agrees that Participant will not accept this Option until more than sixty (60) days after the “offer date.” The offer date is the date on which the material terms (i.e., the number of Shares underlying this Option, the Exercise Price and the vesting schedule) are communicated to Participant by the Company. Notwithstanding that the offer cannot be accepted during this initial 60-day period, the offer will nonetheless be deemed to have been made on the offer date. This Option Agreement likely will not be provided to Participant until the expiration of the initial 60-day period in order to ensure acceptance of this Option more than sixty (60) days after the offer date.


Notifications

Foreign Asset/Account Reporting Information. Participant is required to report any securities (e.g., Shares acquired under the Plan) or bank accounts (including brokerage accounts) opened and maintained outside Belgium on his or her annual tax return. Participant will also be required to provide the National Bank of Belgium with details regarding any such account (including the account number, the name of the bank in which such account is held and the country in which such account is located). This report, as well as additional information on how to complete it, can be found on the website of the National Bank of Belgium, www.nbb.be, under Kredietcentrales / Centrales des crédits caption.

Stock Exchange Tax Information. A stock exchange tax applies to transactions executed by a Belgian resident through a non-Belgian financial intermediary, such as a U.S. broker. The stock exchange tax likely will not apply when the Option is exercised, but will apply when Shares acquired pursuant to the Option are sold. Participant should consult with a personal tax or financial advisor for additional details on the Participant’s obligations with respect to the stock exchange tax.

CANADA

Terms and Conditions

Payment. Notwithstanding any provision in the Plan or the Option Agreement, Participant is prohibited from surrendering Shares that Participant already owns or allowing the Company to cancel Shares otherwise issuable to Participant upon exercise to pay the Exercise Price or any Tax-Related Items in connection with the Option.

Termination. The following provision replaces Section 3.5 of the Option Agreement:

For purposes of the Option, except as otherwise required by applicable legislation, the Termination Date (regardless of the reason for such termination and whether or not later found to be invalid or in breach of employment laws in the jurisdiction where Participant is employed or otherwise providing services or the terms of Participant’s employment or service agreement, if any) is deemed to occur as of the date that is the earliest of (a) the date that Participant receives notice of termination; (b) the date that Participant’s employment or other service is terminated, or (c) the date that Participant is no longer actively providing services to the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, regardless of any notice period or period of pay in lieu of such notice required under applicable law. The Committee shall have the exclusive discretion to determine when Participant is no longer actively providing services for purposes of the Option (including whether Participant may still be considered to be providing services while on a leave of absence).


The following terms and conditions apply to employees resident in Quebec:

Language. The parties acknowledge that it is their express wish that this Agreement, as well as all documents, notices and legal proceedings entered into, given or instituted pursuant hereto or relating directly or indirectly hereto, be drawn up in English.

Les parties reconnaissent avoir expressement souhaité que la convention [“Agreement”], ainsi que tous les documents, avis et procédures judiciaries, éxecutés, donnés ou intentés en vertu de, ou lié, directement ou indirectement à la présente convention, soient rédigés en langue anglaise.

Data Privacy. Participant hereby authorizes the Company and the Company’s representatives to discuss with and obtain all relevant information from all personnel, professional or nonprofessional, involved in the administration and operation of the Plan. Participant further authorizes the Company, any Parent or Subsidiary and the Committee to disclose and discuss the Plan with their advisors and to record all relevant information and keep such information in Participant’s employee file.

Notifications

Securities Law Information. Shares acquired under the Plan may not be sold or otherwise disposed of within Canada. Participant may sell the Shares acquired under the Plan only through a stock plan service provider selected by the Company in the future, provided the sale of Shares takes place outside of Canada through the facilities of a stock exchange on which the Shares are traded. The Shares are not currently traded on any stock exchange.

Foreign Asset/Account Reporting Information. Participant is required to report foreign specified property (including Shares acquired at exercise and rights to Shares such as the Option) on Form T1135 (Foreign Income Verification Statement) if the total cost of Participant’s foreign specified property exceeds C$100,000 at any time during the year. The Option must be reported (generally at a nil cost) if the C$100,000 cost threshold is exceeded because of other foreign specified property Participant holds. When Shares are acquired, their cost generally is the adjusted cost base (“ACB”) of the Shares. The ACB is normally equal to the fair market value of such Shares at the time of acquisition; however, if Participant owns other Shares, the ACB may have to be averaged with the ACB of other Shares.

FRANCE

Terms and Conditions

Nature of Award. The Option is not intended to qualify for special tax and social security treatment applicable to stock options granted under Section L.225-177 to L.225-186-1 of the French Commercial Code, as amended.

Language Consent. By accepting the Option, Participant confirms having read and understood the documents related to the grant (the Agreement and the Plan), which were provided in the English language. Participant accepts the terms of those documents accordingly.


Consentement Relatif à la Langue. En acceptant l’attribution de l’Option, le Participant confirme avoir lu et compris les documents relatifs à l’attribution (le Contrat et le Plan), qui ont été remis en langue anglaise. Le Participant accepte les termes de ces documents en connaissance de cause.

Notifications

Foreign Asset/Account Reporting Information. French residents must declare all foreign accounts, whether open, current, or closed, in their income tax returns. Participant should consult with a personal tax advisor to ensure compliance with applicable reporting obligations.

GERMANY

Notifications

Exchange Control Information. Cross border payments in excess of €12,500 must be reported monthly to the German Federal Bank (Bundesbank). Participant understands that in the event he or she receives a payment in excess of this amount in connection with the sale of securities (including Shares acquired under the Plan), Participant must report the payment to Bundesbank electronically using the “General Statistics Reporting Portal” (“Allgemeines Meldeportal Statistik”) available via Bundesbank’s website (www.bundesbank.de).

Foreign Asset/Account Reporting Information. If Participant’s acquisition of Shares under the Plan leads to a so-called qualified participation at any point during the calendar year, Participant will need to report the acquisition when he or she files his or her tax return for the relevant year. A qualified participation is attained if (i) the value of the Shares acquired exceeds €150,000 or (ii) in the unlikely event that Participant holds Shares exceeding 10% of the total capital of the Company. Participant will be responsible for obtaining the appropriate form from a German federal bank and complying with the applicable reporting obligations.

INDIA

Terms and Conditions

Payment. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Plan or the Agreement, due to legal restrictions in India, Participant will not be permitted to pay the Exercise Price by a “sell-to-cover” exercise (i.e., where a certain number of Shares subject to the exercised Option will be sold immediately upon exercise and the proceeds of the sale will be remitted to the Company to cover the Exercise Price for the purchased Shares, any brokerage fees and any withholding obligation for Tax-Related Items). The Company reserves the right to permit this method of payment depending on the development of local law.

Notifications

Exchange Control Information. Indian residents are required to repatriate to India all proceeds received from the sale of Shares within 90 days of receipt and any dividends paid on such shares within 180 days of receipt, or within such other period of time as may be required under applicable regulations. Participant must maintain the foreign inward remittance certificate received from the bank where the foreign currency is deposited in the event that the Reserve Bank of India or the Company requests proof of repatriation. It is Participant’s responsibility to comply with applicable exchange control laws in India.


Foreign Asset/Account Reporting Information. Participant is required to declare any foreign bank accounts and any foreign financial assets (including Shares held outside India) in Participant’s annual tax return. Participant is responsible for complying with this reporting obligation and is advised to confer with his or her personal tax advisor in this regard.

ISRAEL

Terms and Conditions

Payment. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Plan or Agreement, due to tax considerations in Israel, Participant understands that Participant will be restricted to the cashless sell-all method of exercise. Participant understands that to complete a cashless sell-all exercise, Participant needs to instruct his or her broker to: (i) sell all of the Shares issued upon exercise; (ii) use the proceeds to satisfy the Exercise Price, any brokerage fees and any withholding obligation for Tax-Related Items; and (iii) remit the balance in cash to Participant. Participant will not be permitted to hold Shares after exercise. Depending on the development of local laws, the Company reserves the right to modify the methods of payment and, in its sole discretion, to permit cash exercise, cashless sell-to-cover exercise or any other method of payment permitted under the Agreement.

Notifications

Securities Law Information. The grant of the Option does not constitute a public offering under the Securities Law, 1968.

ITALY

Terms and Conditions

Payment. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Plan or the Agreement, due to legal restrictions in Italy, Participant understands that Participant will be restricted to the cashless sell-all method of exercise. To complete a cashless sell-all exercise, Participant understands that Participant needs to instruct his or her broker to: (i) sell all of the Shares issued upon exercise; (ii) use the proceeds to satisfy the Exercise Price, any brokerage fees and any withholding obligation for Tax-Related Items; and (iii) remit the balance in cash to Participant. Participant will not be permitted to hold Shares after exercise. Depending on the development of local laws, the Company reserves the right to modify the methods of payment and, in its sole discretion, to permit cash exercise, cashless sell-to-cover exercise or any other method of payment permitted under the Agreement.

Plan Document Acknowledgment. By accepting the Option, Participant acknowledges that he or she has received a copy of the Plan and this Agreement and has reviewed the Plan and this Agreement in their entirety and fully accepts all provisions thereof. Participant further acknowledges that he or she has read and specifically and expressly approves (a) the following provisions of the Agreement: Section 3: Termination; Section 4: Manner of Exercise; Section 4.4: Responsibility for Taxes; Section 5: Nature of Grant; Section 6: Data Privacy, Section 10: Privileges of Stock Ownership; Section 11: General Provisions; Section 11.14: Language and all provisions for Italy in this Addendum.


Notifications

Foreign Asset/Account Reporting Information. If Participant holds investments abroad or foreign financial assets (e.g., cash and Shares acquired under the Plan) that may generate income taxable in Italy, Participant is required to report them on his or her annual tax returns (UNICO Form, RW Schedule) or on a special form if no tax return is due, irrespective of their value. The same reporting duties apply to Participant if Participant is the beneficial owner of the investments, even if Participant does not directly hold investments abroad or foreign assets.

Foreign Asset Tax Information. The value of the financial assets held outside of Italy by Italian residents is subject to a foreign asset tax. Such tax is currently levied at an annual rate of 2 per thousand (0.2%). The taxable amount will be the fair market value of the financial assets (e.g., Shares acquired under the Plan) assessed at the end of the calendar year. No tax payment duties arise if the value of the foreign assets held abroad does not exceed €6,000.

JAPAN

Notifications

Exchange Control Information. If the payment amount to purchase Shares in one transaction exceeds ¥30,000,000, Participant must file a Payment Report with the Ministry of Finance (the “MOF”) (through the Bank of Japan or the bank through which the payment was effected). If the payment amount to purchase Shares in one transaction exceeds ¥100,000,000, Participant must file a Securities Acquisition Report, in addition to a Payment Report, with the MOF (through the Bank of Japan).

Foreign Asset/Account Reporting Information. Participant will be required to report details of any assets held outside of Japan as of December 31 of each year to the extent such assets have a total net fair market value exceeding ¥50,000,000. Such report will be due by March 15 of the following year. Participant should consult with a personal tax advisor as to whether the reporting obligation applies to Participant and whether the requirement extends to the Option, Shares and/or cash acquired under the Plan.

NORWAY

There are no country-specific provisions.

SAUDI ARABIA

Notifications

Securities Law Information. The Agreement and related Plan documents may not be distributed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia except to such persons that are permitted under the Rules on the Offers of Securities and Continuing Obligations issued by the Capital Market


Authority (“CMA”). The CMA does not make any representation as to the accuracy or completeness of the Agreement, and expressly disclaims any liability whatsoever for any loss arising from, or incurred in reliance upon, any part of the Agreement. Participant should conduct his or her own due diligence on the accuracy of the information relating to Shares. If Participant does not understand the contents of the Agreement, Participant should consult an authorized financial adviser.

SINGAPORE

Terms and Conditions

Sale Restriction. Participant agrees that any Shares acquired pursuant to the Option will not be offered for sale in Singapore prior to the six-month anniversary of the Date of Grant unless such sale or offer is made pursuant to the exemptions under Part XIII Division (1) Subdivision (4) (other than section 280) of the Securities and Futures Act (Chapter 289, 2006 Ed.) (“SFA”) and in accordance with the conditions of any other applicable provision of the SFA.

Notifications

Securities Law Information. The Option grant is being made to Participant in reliance on the “Qualifying Person” exemption of the SFA under which it is exempt from the prospectus and registration requirements and is not made with a view to the underlying Shares being subsequently offered for sale to any other party. The Plan has not been and will not be lodged or registered as a prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Chief Executive Officer and Director Notification Obligation. If Participant is the Chief Executive Office (“CEO”) or a director, associate director or shadow director of a Singapore Parent or Subsidiary, Participant understands that Participant is subject to certain notification requirements under the Singapore Companies Act. Participant acknowledges that Participant must notify the Singapore Parent or Subsidiary in writing of an interest (e.g., Option, Shares, etc.) in the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary within two (2) business days of (i) its acquisition or disposal, (ii) any change in previously disclosed interest (e.g., when Shares acquired at vesting are sold), or (iii) becoming the CEO and/or a director, if Participant holds such an interest at the time.

SPAIN

Terms and Conditions

Nature of Grant. The following provision supplements Section 5 of the Option Agreement:

In accepting the Option, Participant acknowledges that he or she consents to participation in the Plan and has received a copy of the Plan.

Participant understands and agrees that, as a condition of the grant of the Option, the Termination of Participant’s employment or service for any reason (including for the reasons listed below) will automatically result in the cancellation and loss of any portion of the Option that has not vested as of the Termination Date.


In particular, Participant understands and agrees that any unvested portion of the Option will be cancelled without entitlement to the underlying Shares or to any amount as indemnification if Participant is Terminated prior to vesting by reason of, including, but not limited to: Disability, resignation, Retirement, disciplinary dismissal adjudged to be with cause, disciplinary dismissal adjudged or recognized to be without good cause (i.e., subject to a “despido improcedente”), individual or collective layoff on objective grounds, whether adjudged to be with cause or adjudged or recognized to be without cause, material modification of the terms of employment under Article 41 of the Workers’ Statute, relocation under Article 40 of the Workers’ Statute, Article 50 of the Workers’ Statute, unilateral withdrawal by the Service Recipient, and under Article 10.3 of Royal Decree 1382/1985.

Furthermore, Participant understands that the Company has unilaterally, gratuitously and discretionally decided to grant options under the Plan to individuals who may be employees or service providers of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company throughout the world. The decision is a limited decision that is entered into upon the express assumption and condition that any grant will not economically or otherwise bind the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company on an ongoing basis. Consequently, Participant understands that the Option is granted on the assumption and condition that the Option and the Shares issued upon exercise of the Option shall not become a part of any employment or other contract (with the Company, the Service Recipient, or any other Parent or Subsidiary of the Company) and shall not be considered a mandatory benefit, salary for any purposes (including severance compensation) or any other right whatsoever. In addition, Participant understands that the Option would not be granted to Participant but for the assumptions and conditions referred to above; thus, Participant acknowledges and freely accepts that should any or all of the assumptions be mistaken or should any of the conditions not be met for any reason, then any option grant shall be null and void.

Notifications

Securities Law Notification. The Option described in this Agreement does not qualify under Spanish regulations as a security. No “offer of securities to the public,” as defined under Spanish law, has taken place or will take place in the Spanish territory. This Agreement has not been nor will it be registered with the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores, and it does not constitute a public offering prospectus.

Exchange Control Information. Participant is required to electronically declare to the Bank of Spain any security accounts (including brokerage accounts held abroad), as well as the securities (including Shares acquired under the Plan) held in such accounts if the value of the transactions for all such accounts during the prior year or the balances of such accounts as of December 31 of the prior year exceeds €1,000,000.

Different thresholds and deadlines to file the declaration apply. However, if neither such transactions during the immediately preceding year nor the balances/positions as of December 31 exceed €1,000,000, no such declaration must be filed unless expressly required by the Bank of Spain. If any of such thresholds were exceeded during the current year, Participant may be required to file the relevant declaration corresponding to the prior year, however, a summarized form of declaration may be available.


Foreign Asset/Account Reporting Information. To the extent Participant holds Shares or has bank accounts outside of Spain with a value in excess of €50,000 (for each type of asset) as of December 31, Participant will be required to report information on such assets on his or her tax return Form 720 for such year with severe penalties in the event of non-compliance. After such Shares or accounts are initially reported, the reporting obligation will apply for subsequent years only if the value of any previously reported Shares or accounts increases by more than €20,000 as of each subsequent December 31, or if Participant sells shares or cancels bank accounts that were previously reported. Participant should consult with his or her personal tax advisor for further information regarding Participant’s foreign asset reporting obligations.

SWEDEN

There are no country-specific provisions.

UNITED KINGDOM

Responsibility for Taxes. The following provision supplements Section 4.4 of the Option Agreement:

Without limitation to Section 4.4 of the Option Agreement, Participant hereby agrees that he or she is liable for all Tax-Related Items and hereby covenants to pay all such Tax-Related Items, as and when requested by the Company or the Service Recipient or by Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (“HRMC”) (or any other tax authority or any other relevant authority). Participant also hereby agrees to indemnify and keep indemnified the Company and the Service Recipient against any Tax-Related Items that they are required to pay or withhold or have paid or will pay to HMRC (or any other tax authority or any other relevant authority) on Participant’s behalf.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if Participant becomes a director or executive officer of the Company (within the meaning of Section 13(k) of the Exchange Act), Participant may not be able to indemnify the Company or the Service Recipient for the amount of any income tax not collected from or paid by Participant, as it may be considered a loan. In this case, the amount of any uncollected income tax may constitute a benefit to Participant on which additional income tax and employee national insurance contributions (“NICs”) may be payable. Participant agrees to report and pay any income tax due on this additional benefit directly to HMRC under the self-assessment regime and to pay the Service Recipient for the value of the employee NICs due on this additional benefit, which the Company or the Service Recipient may recover from Participant by any of the means referred to in Section 4.4 of the Agreement.

Section 431 Joint Election. As a condition of participation in the Plan and no later than the time of exercise of the Option, Participant agrees to enter into, jointly with the Service Recipient (or the Company), a joint election within Section 431 of the U.K. Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (“ITEPA 2003”) in respect of computing any tax charge on the acquisition of “restricted securities” (as defined in Sections 423 and 424 of ITEPA 2003), and that Participant will not revoke such election at any time (the “431 Election”). This 431 Election will be to treat the Shares acquired pursuant to the exercise of the Option as if such Shares were not restricted securities (for U.K. tax purposes only). If Participant is required to but does not enter into such a 431 Election prior to the exercise of the Option, Participant will not be entitled to exercise the Option and no Shares will be issued to Participant, without any liability to the Company or the Service Recipient. Participant must enter into the 431 Election concurrent with the execution of this Agreement, or at such subsequent time as may be designated by the Company.


[National Insurance Contribution Joint Election. As a condition of participation in the Plan and no later than the time of exercise of the Option, Participant also agrees to accept liability for any secondary Class 1 national insurance contributions which may be payable by the Service Recipient in connection with any event giving rise to tax liability in relation to this Stock Option (“Employer NICs”). The Employer NICs may be collected by the Company or the Service Recipient using any of the methods described in Section 4.4 of the Option Agreement. Without prejudice to the foregoing, Participant agrees to execute a joint election with the Company or the Service Recipient (a “NICs Joint Election”), the form of such NICs Joint Election being formally approved by HMRC, and any other consent or elections required to accomplish the transfer of the Employer NICs to Participant. Participant further agrees to execute such other elections as may be required by any successor to the Company and/or the Service Recipient for the purpose of continuing the effectiveness of Participant’s NICs Joint Election. If Participant does not complete the Joint Election prior to exercise of Participant’s Option, or if approval of the NICs Joint Election is withdrawn by HMRC and a new NICs Joint Election is not entered into, Participant’s Option shall become null and void and may not be settled, without any liability to the Company or its Parent or Subsidiaries. Participant must enter into the NICs Joint Election concurrent with the execution of the Agreement, or at such subsequent time as may be designated by the Company.]


United Kingdom

Section 431 Joint Election Form

Joint Election under s431 ITEPA 2003

for full disapplication of Chapter 2 Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003

One Part Election

1. Between

 

the Employee    [insert name of employee]
whose National Insurance Number is    [insert employee Nat. Ins. Number]
and   
the Company (who is the Employee’s employer)    [INSERT UK EMPLOYER]
of Company Registration Number    [INSERT U.K. CO. REG. #]

2. Purpose of Election

This joint election is made pursuant to section 431(1) Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (“ITEPA”) and applies where employment-related securities, which are restricted securities by reason of section 423 ITEPA, are acquired.

The effect of an election under section 431(1) is that, for the purposes of relevant income tax and National Insurance contributions (“NICs”), the employment-related securities and their market value will be treated as if they were not restricted securities and that sections 425 to 430 ITEPA do not apply. Additional income tax will be payable as a result of this election (with PAYE withholding and NICs being applicable where the securities are Readily Convertible Assets).

 

Should the value of the securities fall following the acquisition, it is possible that income tax/NICs that would have arisen because of any future chargeable event (in the absence of an election) would have been less than the income tax/NICs due by reason of this election. Should this be the case, there is no income tax/NICs relief available under Part 7 of ITEPA 2003; nor is it available if the securities acquired are subsequently transferred, forfeited or revert to the original owner.

3. Application

This joint election is made not later than 14 days after the date of acquisition of the securities by the employee and applies to:

 

Number of securities    [insert number]
Description of securities    Shares of common stock

 


Name of issuer of securities    Couchbase, Inc.

To be acquired by the Employee on or after the date of this Election under the terms of the Couchbase, Inc.

4. Extent of Application

This election disapplies S.431(1) ITEPA: All restrictions attaching to the securities.

5. Declaration

This election will become irrevocable upon the later of its signing or the acquisition (and each subsequent acquisition) of employment-related securities to which this election applies.

In signing this joint election, we agree to be bound by its terms as stated above.

 

 

 

        /              /                

 

Signature (Employee)

 

Date

 

 

 

        /              /                

 
Signature (for and on behalf of the Company)  

                                 Date

 

 

   

Position in company

Note: Where the election is in respect of multiple acquisitions, prior to the date of any subsequent acquisition of a security it may be revoked by agreement between the employee and employer in respect of that and any later acquisition.


EXHIBIT B

2018 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

STOCK OPTION EXERCISE AGREEMENT


No._____

COUCHBASE, INC.

2018 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

STOCK OPTION EXERCISE AGREEMENT

FOR NON-U.S. PURCHASERS

This Stock Option Exercise Agreement for Non-U.S. Purchasers (the “Exercise Agreement”) is made and entered into as of____, (the “Effective Date”) by and between Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and the purchaser named below (the “Purchaser”). Capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the Company’s 2018 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”) or the Stock Option Agreement for Non-U.S. Participants (the “Stock Option Agreement”).

 

Purchaser:   

 

Employee ID Number:   

 

Address:   

 

  

 

Total Number of Shares:   

 

Exercise Price Per Share:   

 

Date of Grant:   

 

First Vesting Date:   

 

Expiration Date:   

 

   (Unless earlier terminated under Section 5.6 of the Plan)


1. Exercise of Option.

1.1 Exercise. Pursuant to the exercise of that certain option (the “Option”) granted to Purchaser under the Plan and subject to the terms and conditions of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser hereby purchases from the Company, and the Company hereby sells to Purchaser, the Total Number of Shares set forth above (the “Shares”) of the Company’s Common Stock, $0.0001 par value per share, at the Exercise Price Per Share set forth above (the “Exercise Price”). As used in this Exercise Agreement, the term “Shares” refers to the Shares purchased under this Exercise Agreement and includes all securities received (i) in replacement of the Shares, (ii) as a result of stock dividends or stock splits with respect to the Shares, and (iii) all securities received in replacement of the Shares in a merger, recapitalization, reorganization or similar corporate transaction.

1.2 Title to Shares. The exact spelling of the name(s) under which Purchaser will take title to the Shares is:

 

  

 

  

 

To assign the Shares to a trust, a stock transfer agreement in a form acceptable to the Company (the “Stock Transfer Agreement”) must be completed and executed.

1.3 Payment. Purchaser hereby delivers payment of the Exercise Price in the manner permitted in the Stock Option Agreement as follows (check and complete as appropriate):

[ ] in cash (by check or wire transfer of immediately available funds) in the amount of $, receipt of which is acknowledged by the Company; or

[ ] other (as referenced in the Plan and described in the Stock Option Agreement (please describe)):                                                                                  .

2. Delivery.

2.1 Deliveries by Purchaser. Purchaser hereby delivers to the Company (i) this Exercise Agreement, (ii) two (2) copies of a blank Stock Power and Assignment Separate from Stock Certificate in the form of Exhibit 1 attached hereto (the “Stock Powers”), both executed by Purchaser, and (iii) the Exercise Price and payment or other provision for any applicable Tax-Related Items (as defined in the Stock Option Agreement) in the form specified above, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 2.

2.2 Deliveries by the Company. Upon its receipt of the Exercise Price, payment or other provision for any applicable Tax-Related Items (as defined in the Stock Option Agreement) and all the documents to be executed and delivered by Purchaser to the Company under Section 2.1, the Company will issue a duly executed stock certificate evidencing the Shares in the name of Purchaser to be placed in escrow as provided in Section 10 until expiration or termination of the Company’s Right of First Refusal as described in Sections 8 and 9.


3. Representations and Warranties of Purchaser. Purchaser represents and warrants to the Company that:

3.1 Agrees to Terms of the Plan. Purchaser has received a copy of the Plan and the Stock Option Agreement, has read and understands the terms of the Plan, the Stock Option Agreement and this Exercise Agreement, and agrees to be bound by their terms and conditions. Purchaser acknowledges that there may be adverse tax consequences upon exercise of the Option or disposition of the Shares, and that Purchaser should consult a tax adviser prior to such exercise or disposition.

3.2 Purchase for Own Account for Investment. Purchaser is purchasing the Shares for Purchaser’s own account for investment purposes only and not with a view to, or for sale in connection with, a distribution of the Shares within the meaning of the Securities Act. Purchaser has no present intention of selling or otherwise disposing of all or any portion of the Shares and no one other than Purchaser has any beneficial ownership of any of the Shares.

3.3 Access to Information. Purchaser has had access to all information regarding the Company and its present and prospective business, assets, liabilities and financial condition that Purchaser reasonably considers important in making the decision to purchase the Shares, and Purchaser has had ample opportunity to ask questions of the Company’s representatives concerning such matters and this investment.

3.4 Understanding of Risks. Purchaser is fully aware of: (i) the highly speculative nature of the investment in the Shares; (ii) the financial hazards involved; (iii) the lack of liquidity of the Shares and the restrictions on transferability of the Shares (e.g., that Purchaser may not be able to sell or dispose of the Shares or use them as collateral for loans); (iv) the qualifications and backgrounds of the management of the Company; and (v) the tax consequences of investment in the Shares. Purchaser is capable of evaluating the merits and risks of this investment, has the ability to protect Purchaser’s own interests in this transaction and is financially capable of bearing a total loss of this investment. For the avoidance of doubt, Purchaser understands and agrees that the Shares are subject to the transfer restrictions set forth in Sections 11 and 12 of the Plan.

3.5 No General Solicitation. At no time was Purchaser presented with or solicited by any publicly issued or circulated newspaper, mail, radio, television or other form of general advertising or solicitation in connection with the offer, sale and purchase of the Shares.

4. Compliance with Securities Laws.

4.1 Compliance with U.S. Federal Securities Laws. Purchaser understands and acknowledges that the Shares have not been registered with the SEC under the Securities Act and that, notwithstanding any other provision of the Stock Option Agreement to the contrary, the exercise of any rights to purchase any Shares is expressly conditioned upon compliance with the Securities Act and all applicable state securities laws. Purchaser agrees to cooperate with the Company to ensure compliance with such laws.


4.2 Compliance with California Securities Laws. THE PLAN, THE STOCK OPTION AGREEMENT, AND THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT ARE INTENDED TO COMPLY WITH SECTION 25102(o) OF THE CALIFORNIA CORPORATIONS CODE AND ANY RULES (INCLUDING COMMISSIONER RULES, IF APPLICABLE) OR REGULATIONS PROMULGATED THEREUNDER BY THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORPORATIONS (THE “REGULATIONS”). ANY PROVISION OF THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT THAT IS INCONSISTENT WITH SECTION 25102(o) SHALL, WITHOUT FURTHER ACT OR AMENDMENT BY THE COMPANY OR THE BOARD, BE REFORMED TO COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF SECTION 25102(o). THE SALE OF THE SECURITIES THAT ARE THE SUBJECT OF THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT, IF NOT YET QUALIFIED WITH THE CALIFORNIA COMMISSIONER OF CORPORATIONS AND NOT EXEMPT FROM SUCH QUALIFI- CATION, IS SUBJECT TO SUCH QUALIFICATION, AND THE ISSUANCE OF SUCH SECURITIES, AND THE RECEIPT OF ANY PART OF THE CONSIDERATION THEREFOR PRIOR TO SUCH QUALIFICATION IS UNLAWFUL UNLESS THE SALE IS EXEMPT. THE RIGHTS OF THE PARTIES TO THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT ARE EXPRESSLY CONDITIONED UPON SUCH QUALIFICATION BEING OBTAINED OR AN EXEMPTION BEING AVAILABLE.

4.3 Compliance with Non-U.S. Securities Laws. The Purchaser understands and acknowledges that the Option and the Shares to be issued upon exercise of the Option may be subject to non-U.S. federal or state securities laws or other laws and the exercise of the Option and the issuance of the Shares upon exercise are expressly conditioned upon compliance with any non-U.S. securities or other applicable laws. Purchaser agrees to cooperate with the Company to ensure compliance with such laws.

5. Restricted Securities.

5.1 No Transfer Unless Registered or Exempt. Purchaser understands that Purchaser may not transfer any Shares unless such Shares are registered under the Securities Act or qualified under applicable U.S. state or Non-U.S. securities laws or unless, in the opinion of counsel to the Company, exemptions from such registration and qualification requirements are available. Purchaser understands that only the Company may file a registration statement with the SEC and that the Company is under no obligation to do so with respect to the Shares. Purchaser has also been advised that exemptions from registration and qualification may not be available or may not permit Purchaser to transfer all or any of the Shares in the amounts or at the times proposed by Purchaser.

5.2 SEC Rule 144. In addition, Purchaser has been advised that SEC Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act, which permits certain limited sales of unregistered securities, is not presently available with respect to the Shares and, in any event, requires that the Shares be held for a minimum of one (1) year, and in certain cases two (2) years, after they have been purchased and paid for (within the meaning of Rule 144). Purchaser understands that Rule 144 may indefinitely restrict transfer of the Shares so long as Purchaser remains an “affiliate” of the Company or if “current public information” about the Company (as defined in Rule 144) is not publicly available.


5.3 SEC Rule 701. Shares that are issued pursuant to SEC Rule 701 promulgated under the Securities Act may become freely tradeable by non-affiliates (under limited conditions regarding the method of sale) ninety (90) days after the first sale of Common Stock of the Company to the general public pursuant to a registration statement filed with and declared effective by the SEC, subject to the lengthier market standoff agreement contained in Section 7 of this Exercise Agreement or any other agreement entered into by Purchaser. Affiliates must comply with the provisions (other than the holding period requirements) of Rule 144.

6. Restrictions on Transfers.

6.1 Disposition of Shares. Purchaser hereby agrees that Purchaser shall make no disposition of the Shares (other than as permitted by this Exercise Agreement) unless and until:

(a) Purchaser shall have notified the Company of the proposed disposition and provided a written summary of the terms and conditions of the proposed disposition;

(b) Purchaser shall have complied with all requirements of this Exercise Agreement and Stock Option Agreement applicable to the disposition of the Shares;

(c) Purchaser shall have provided the Company with written assurances, in form and substance satisfactory to counsel for the Company, that (i) the proposed disposition does not require registration of the Shares under the Securities Act or (ii) all appropriate actions necessary for compliance with the registration requirements of the Securities Act or of any exemption from registration available under the Securities Act (including Rule 144) have been taken; and

(d) Purchaser shall have provided the Company with written assurances, in form and substance satisfactory to the Company, that the proposed disposition will not result in the contravention of any transfer restrictions applicable to the Shares pursuant to the provisions of the Regulations referred to in Section 4.2 or 4.3 hereof.

6.2 Restriction on Transfer. Purchaser shall not transfer, assign, grant a lien or security interest in, pledge, hypothecate, encumber or otherwise dispose of any of the Shares which are subject to the Company’s Right of First Refusal described below, except as permitted by this Exercise Agreement.

6.3 Transferee Obligations. Each person (other than the Company) to whom the Shares are transferred by means of one of the permitted transfers specified in this Exercise Agreement must, as a condition precedent to the validity of such transfer, acknowledge in writing to the Company that such person is bound by the provisions of this Exercise Agreement and that the transferred Shares are subject to (i) the Company’s Right of First Refusal granted hereunder and (ii) the market stand-off provisions of Section 7 hereof, to the same extent such Shares would be so subject if retained by the Purchaser.


7. Market Standoff Agreement. Purchaser agrees in connection with any registration of the Company’s securities that, upon the request of the Company or the underwriters managing any public offering of the Company’s securities, Purchaser will not sell or otherwise dispose of any Shares without the prior written consent of the Company or such underwriters, as the case may be, for such period of time (not to exceed one hundred eighty (180) days) after the effective date of such registration requested by such managing underwriters and subject to all restrictions as the Company or the underwriters may specify. Purchaser further agrees to enter into any agreement reasonably required by the underwriters to implement the foregoing.

8. Company’s Right of First Refusal. Unvested Shares and Vested Shares may not be sold or otherwise transferred by Purchaser without the Company’s prior written consent. Before any Vested Shares held by Purchaser or any transferee of such Vested Shares (either sometimes referred to herein as the “Holder”) may be sold or otherwise transferred (including, without limitation, a transfer by gift or operation of law), such transfer must be permitted by written approval of the Committee or the Board, and the Company and/or its assignee(s) will have a right of first refusal to purchase the Vested Shares to be sold or transferred (the “Offered Shares”) on the terms and conditions set forth in this Section (the “Right of First Refusal”).

8.1 Notice of Proposed Transfer. The Holder of the Offered Shares will deliver to the Company a written notice (the “Notice”) stating: (i) the Holder’s bona fide intention to sell or otherwise transfer the Offered Shares; (ii) the name and address of each proposed purchaser or other transferee (the “Proposed Transferee”); (iii) the number of Offered Shares to be transferred to each Proposed Transferee; (iv) the bona fide cash price or other consideration for which the Holder proposes to transfer the Offered Shares (the “Offered Price”); and (v) that the Holder acknowledges this Notice is an offer to sell the Offered Shares to the Company and/or its assignee(s) pursuant to the Company’s Right of First Refusal at the Offered Price as provided for in this Exercise Agreement.

8.2 Exercise of Right of First Refusal. At any time within thirty (30) days after the date of the Notice, the Company and/or its assignee(s) may, by giving written notice to the Holder, elect to purchase all (or, with the consent of the Holder, less than all) the Offered Shares proposed to be transferred to any one or more of the Proposed Transferees named in the Notice, at the purchase price, determined as specified below.

8.3 Purchase Price. The purchase price for the Offered Shares purchased under this Section will be the Offered Price, provided that if the Offered Price consists of no legal consideration (as, for example, in the case of a transfer by gift) the purchase price will be the fair market value of the Offered Shares as determined in good faith by the Company’s Board of Directors. If the Offered Price includes consideration other than cash, then the value of the non-cash consideration, as determined in good faith by the Company’s Board of Directors, will conclusively be deemed to be the cash equivalent value of such non-cash consideration.


8.4 Payment. Payment of the purchase price for the Offered Shares will be payable, at the option of the Company and/or its assignee(s) (as applicable), by cash or check (or wire transfer of immediately available funds) or by cancellation of all or a portion of any outstanding purchase money indebtedness owed by the Holder to the Company (or to such assignee, in the case of a purchase of Offered Shares by such assignee) or by any combination thereof. The purchase price will be paid without interest within sixty (60) days after the Company’s receipt of the Notice, or, at the option of the Company and/or its assignee(s), in the manner and at the time(s) set forth in the Notice.

8.5 Holder’s Right to Transfer. If all of the Offered Shares proposed in the Notice to be transferred to a given Proposed Transferee are not purchased by the Company and/or its assignee(s) as provided in this Section, then the Holder may sell or otherwise transfer such Offered Shares to each Proposed Transferee at the Offered Price or at a higher price, provided that (i) such sale or other transfer is consummated within one hundred twenty (120) days after the date of the Notice, (ii) any such sale or other transfer is effected in compliance with all applicable securities laws, and (iii) each Proposed Transferee agrees in writing that the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to the Offered Shares in the hands of such Proposed Transferee. If the Offered Shares described in the Notice are not transferred to each Proposed Transferee within such one hundred twenty (120) day period, then a new Notice must be given to the Company pursuant to which the Company will again be offered the Right of First Refusal before any Shares held by the Holder may be sold or otherwise transferred.

8.6 Exempt Transfers. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section, the following transfers of Vested Shares will be exempt from the Right of First Refusal:(i) the transfer of any or all of the Vested Shares during Purchaser’s lifetime by gift or on Purchaser’s death by will or intestacy to Purchaser’s “Immediate Family” (as defined below) or to a trust for the benefit of Purchaser or Purchaser’s Immediate Family, provided that each transferee or other recipient agrees in a writing satisfactory to the Company that the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to the transferred Vested Shares in the hands of such transferee or other recipient; (ii) any transfer of Vested Shares made pursuant to a statutory merger or statutory consolidation of the Company with or into another corporation or corporations (except that, the Right of First Refusal will continue to apply thereafter to such Vested Shares, in which case the surviving corporation of such merger or consolidation shall succeed to the rights of the Company under this Section unless the agreement of merger or consolidation expressly otherwise provides); or (iii) any transfer of Vested Shares pursuant to the winding up and dissolution of the Company. As used herein, the term “Immediate Family” will mean Purchaser’s spouse, the lineal descendant or antecedent, father, mother, brother or sister, child, adopted child, grandchild or adopted grandchild of the Purchaser or the Purchaser’s spouse, or the spouse of any of the above or Spousal Equivalent, as defined herein. As used herein, a person is deemed to be a “Spousal Equivalent” provided the following circumstances are true: (i) irrespective of whether or not the Participant and the Spousal Equivalent are the same sex, they are the sole spousal equivalent of the other for the last twelve


(12) months, (ii) they intend to remain so indefinitely, (iii) neither are married to anyone else, (iv) both are at least 18 years of age and mentally competent to consent to contract, (v) they are not related by blood to a degree of closeness that which would prohibit legal marriage in the state in which they legally reside, they are jointly responsible for each other’s common welfare and financial obligations, and they reside together in the same residence for the last twelve (12) months and intend to do so indefinitely.

8.7 Termination of Right of First Refusal. The Right of First Refusal will terminate as to all Shares (i) on the effective date of the first sale of Common Stock of the Company to the general public pursuant to a registration statement filed with and declared effective by the SEC under the 1933 Act (other than a registration statement relating solely to the issuance of Common Stock pursuant to a business combination or an employee incentive or benefit plan) or (ii) on any transfer or conversion of Shares made pursuant to a statutory merger or statutory consolidation of the Company with or into another corporation or corporations if the common stock of the surviving corporation or any direct or indirect parent corporation thereof is registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

8.8 Encumbrances on Vested Shares. Purchaser may grant a lien or security interest in, or pledge, hypothecate or encumber Vested Shares only if each party to whom such lien or security interest is granted, or to whom such pledge, hypothecation or other encumbrance is made, agrees in a writing satisfactory to the Company that: (i) such lien, security interest, pledge, hypothecation or encumbrance will not apply to such Vested Shares after they are acquired by the Company and/or its assignees under this Section; and (ii) the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to such Vested Shares in the hands of such party and any transferee of such party. Purchaser may not grant a lien or security interest in, or pledge, hypothecate or encumber, any Unvested Shares.

9. Rights as a Shareholder. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser will have all of the rights of a shareholder of the Company with respect to the Shares from and after the date that Shares are issued to Purchaser until such time as Purchaser disposes of the Shares or the Company and/or its assignee(s) exercise(s) the Right of First Refusal. Upon an exercise of the Right of First Refusal, Purchaser will have no further rights as a holder of the Shares so purchased upon such exercise, other than the right to receive payment for the Shares so purchased in accordance with the provisions of this Exercise Agreement, and Purchaser will promptly surrender the stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares so purchased to the Company for transfer or cancellation.

10. Escrow. Escrow. As security for Purchaser’s faithful performance of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser agrees, immediately upon receipt of the stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares, to deliver such certificate(s), together with the Stock Powers executed by Purchaser and by Purchaser’s spouse, if any (with the date and number of Shares left blank), to the Secretary of the Company or other designee of the Company (the “Escrow Holder”), who is hereby appointed to hold such certificate(s) and Stock Powers in escrow and to take all such actions and to effectuate all such transfers and/or releases of such Shares as are in accordance with the terms of this Exercise


Agreement. Purchaser and the Company agree that Escrow Holder will not be liable to any party to this Exercise Agreement (or to any other party) for any actions or omissions unless Escrow Holder is grossly negligent or intentionally fraudulent in carrying out the duties of Escrow Holder under this Exercise Agreement. Escrow Holder may rely upon any letter, notice or other document executed with any signature purported to be genuine and may rely on the advice of counsel and obey any order of any court with respect to the transactions contemplated by this Exercise Agreement. The Shares will be released from escrow upon termination of the Right of First Refusal.

11. Restrictive Legends and Stop-Transfer Orders.

11.1 Legends. Purchaser understands and agrees that the Company will place the legends set forth below or similar legends on any stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares, together with any other legends that may be required by state or U.S. Federal securities laws, the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws, any other agreement between Purchaser and the Company or any agreement between Purchaser and any third party:

THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED HEREBY HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE “SECURITIES ACT”), OR UNDER THE SECURITIES LAWS OF CERTAIN STATES. THESE SECURITIES ARE SUBJECT TO RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFERABILITY AND RESALE AND MAY NOT BE TRANSFERRED OR RESOLD EXCEPT AS PERMITTED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT AND APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS, PURSUANT TO REGISTRATION OR EXEMPTION THEREFROM. INVESTORS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT THEY MAY BE REQUIRED TO BEAR THE FINANCIAL RISKS OF THIS INVESTMENT FOR AN INDEFINITE PERIOD OF TIME. THE ISSUER OF THESE SECURITIES MAY REQUIRE AN OPINION OF COUNSEL IN FORM AND SUBSTANCE SATISFACTORY TO THE ISSUER TO THE EFFECT THAT ANY PROPOSED TRANSFER OR RESALE IS IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE SECURITIES ACT AND ANY APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS.

THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS ON PUBLIC RESALE AND TRANSFER: INCLUDING THE RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL HELD BY THE ISSUER AND/OR ITS ASSIGNEE(S) AS SET FORTH IN A STOCK OPTION EXERCISE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ISSUER AND THE ORIGINAL HOLDER OF THESE SHARES, A COPY OF WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE PRINCIPAL OFFICE OF THE ISSUER. SUCH PUBLIC SALE AND TRANSFER RESTRICTIONS INCLUDING THE RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL ARE BINDING ON TRANSFEREES OF THESE SHARES.


THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE ARE SUBJECT TO A 180 DAY MARKET STANDOFF RESTRICTION AS SET FORTH IN A CERTAIN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ISSUER AND THE ORIGINAL HOLDER OF THESE SHARES, A COPY OF WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE PRINCIPAL OFFICE OF THE ISSUER. AS A RESULT OF SUCH AGREEMENT, THESE SHARES MAY NOT BE TRADED PRIOR TO 180 DAYS AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF ANY PUBLIC OFFERING OF THE COMMON STOCK OF THE ISSUER HEREOF. SUCH RESTRICTION IS BINDING ON TRANSFEREES OF THESE SHARES.

11.2 Stop-Transfer Instructions. Purchaser agrees that, to ensure compliance with the restrictions imposed by this Exercise Agreement, the Company may issue appropriate “stop-transfer” instructions to its transfer agent, if any, and if the Company transfers its own securities, it may make appropriate notations to the same effect in its own records.

11.3 Refusal to Transfer. The Company will not be required (i) to transfer on its books any Shares that have been sold or otherwise transferred in violation of any of the provisions of this Exercise Agreement or (ii) to treat as owner of such Shares, or to accord the right to vote or pay dividends to any purchaser or other transferee to whom such Shares have been so transferred.

12. Tax Consequences. PURCHASER UNDERSTANDS THAT PURCHASER MAY SUFFER ADVERSE TAX CONSEQUENCES AS A RESULT OF PURCHASER’S PURCHASE OR DISPOSITION OF THE SHARES. PURCHASER REPRESENTS: (i) THAT PURCHASER HAS CONSULTED WITH ANY TAX ADVISER THAT PURCHASER DEEMS ADVISABLE IN CONNECTION WITH THE PURCHASE OR DISPOSITION OF THE SHARES AND (ii) THAT PURCHASER IS NOT RELYING ON THE COMPANY FOR ANY TAX ADVICE. TAX LAWS AND REGULATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. PURCHASER SHOULD CONSULT HIS OR HER OWN TAX ADVISER BEFORE EXERCISING THIS OPTION OR DISPOSING OF THE SHARES.

13. Compliance with Laws and Regulations. The issuance and transfer of the Shares will be subject to and conditioned upon compliance by the Company and Purchaser with all applicable state, U.S. state and Federal and as well as non-U.S. laws and regulations and with all applicable requirements of any stock exchange or automated quotation system on which the Company’s Common Stock may be listed or quoted at the time of such issuance or transfer.

14. Successors and Assigns. The Company may assign any of its rights under this Exercise Agreement, including its rights to purchase Shares under the Right of First Refusal. No other party to this Exercise Agreement may assign, whether voluntarily or by operation of law, any of its rights and obligations under this Exercise Agreement, except with the prior written consent of the Company. This Exercise Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the successors and assigns of the Company. Subject to the restrictions on transfer herein set forth, this Exercise Agreement will be binding upon Purchaser and Purchaser’s heirs, executors, administrators, legal representatives, successors and assigns.


15. Governing Law; Venue. This Exercise Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to that body of laws pertaining to conflict of laws. For purposes of any action, lawsuit or other proceedings brought to enforce this Agreement, relating to it, or arising from it, the parties hereby submit to and consent to the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of San Francisco, California, or the federal courts for the United States for the Northern District of California, and no other courts, where this grant is made and/or to be performed.

16. Notices. Any and all notices required or permitted to be given to a party pursuant to the provisions of this Exercise Agreement will be in writing and will be effective and deemed to provide such party sufficient notice under this Exercise Agreement on the earliest of the following: (i) at the time of personal delivery, if delivery is in person; (ii) at the time of transmission by facsimile, addressed to the other party at its facsimile number specified herein (or hereafter modified by subsequent notice to the parties hereto), with confirmation of receipt made both by telephone and printed confirmation sheet verifying successful transmission of the facsimile, (iii) one (1) business day after deposit with an express overnight courier for United States deliveries, or two (2) business days after such deposit for deliveries outside of the United States, with proof of delivery from the courier requested; or (iv) three (3) business days after deposit in the United States mail by certified mail (return receipt requested) for United States deliveries.

All notices for delivery outside the United States will be sent by facsimile or by express courier. All notices not delivered personally or by facsimile will be sent with postage and/or other charges prepaid and properly addressed to the party to be notified at the address or facsimile number set forth below the signature lines of this Exercise Agreement, or at such other address or facsimile number as such other party may designate by one of the indicated means of notice herein to the other parties hereto. Notices to the Company will be marked “Attention: President”. Notices by facsimile shall be machine verified as received.

17. Further Assurances. The parties agree to execute such further documents and instruments and to take such further actions as may be reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes and intent of this Exercise Agreement.

18. Titles and Headings. The titles, captions and headings of this Exercise Agreement are included for ease of reference only and will be disregarded in interpreting or construing this Exercise Agreement. Unless otherwise specifically stated, all references herein to “sections” and “exhibits” will mean “sections” and “exhibits” to this Exercise Agreement.

19. Entire Agreement. The Plan, the Stock Option Agreement and this Exercise Agreement, together with all Addenda and Exhibits thereto, constitute the entire agreement and understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter of this Exercise Agreement, and supersede all prior understandings and agreements, whether oral or written, between or among the parties hereto with respect to the specific subject matter hereof.

20. Counterparts. This Exercise Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which when so executed and delivered will be deemed an original, and all of which together shall constitute one and the same agreement.


21. Severability. If any provision of this Exercise Agreement is determined by any court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, such provision will be enforced to the maximum extent possible given the intent of the parties hereto. If such clause or provision cannot be so enforced, such provision shall be stricken from this Exercise Agreement and the remainder of this Exercise Agreement shall be enforced as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable clause or provision had (to the extent not enforceable) never been contained in this Exercise Agreement. Notwithstanding the forgoing, if the value of this Exercise Agreement based upon the substantial benefit of the bargain for any party is materially impaired, which determination as made by the presiding court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction shall be binding, then both parties agree to substitute such provision(s) through good faith negotiations.

22. Facsimile Signatures. This Agreement may be executed and delivered by facsimile and upon such delivery the facsimile signature will be deemed to have the same effect as if the original signature had been delivered to the other party.


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Exercise Agreement to be executed in triplicate by its duly authorized representative and Purchaser has executed this Exercise Agreement in triplicate as of the Effective Date, indicated above.

 

COUCHBASE, INC.                  PURCHASER

By:

   

 

    (Signature)

 

(Please print name)

   

 

(Please print name)

 

   

 

(Please print title)    
Address:     Address:

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

Fax No.:     Fax No.
Phone No.:     Phone No.:

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1: Stock Power and Assignment Separate from Stock Certificate

Exhibit 2: Copy of Purchaser’s Check or other permitted consideration

[Signature page to Couchbase, Inc. Stock Option Exercise Agreement]


EXHIBIT 1

STOCK POWER AND ASSIGNMENT SEPARATE

FROM STOCK CERTIFICATE


Stock Power and Assignment

Separate from Stock Certificate

FOR VALUE RECEIVED and pursuant to that certain Stock Option Exercise Agreement No. ____________dated as of_________________, , (the “Agreement”), the undersigned hereby sells, assigns and transfers unto _____________________, _______________ shares of the Common Stock $0.0001 par value per share, of Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), standing in the undersigned’s name on the books of the Company represented by Certificate No(s). _____________delivered herewith, and does hereby irrevocably constitute and appoint the Secretary of the Company as the undersigned’s attorney-in-fact, with full power of substitution, to transfer said stock on the books of the Company. THIS ASSIGNMENT MAY ONLY BE USED AS AUTHORIZED BY THE AGREEMENT AND ANY EXHIBITS THERETO.

 

Dated:                     ,                         
    PURCHASER
   

 

    (Signature)
   

 

    (Please Print Name)

Instructions to Purchaser: Please do not fill in any blanks other than the signature line. The purpose of this Stock Power and Assignment is to enable the Company to acquire the shares upon exercise its “Right of First Refusal” set forth in the Exercise Agreement without requiring additional signatures on the part of the Purchaser.


EXHIBIT 2

COPY OF PURCHASERS CHECK


No. ___

COUCHBASE, INC.

2018 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

STOCK OPTION AGREEMENT

This Stock Option Agreement (the “Agreement”) is made and entered into as of the date of grant set forth below (the “Date of Grant”) by and between Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and the participant named below (the “Participant”). Capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meaning ascribed to them in the Company’s 2018 Equity Incentive Plan (as amended from time to time, the “Plan”).

 

Participant:    [Name]
Social Security Number:    [SSN]
Total Option Shares:    [# total shares]
Exercise Price Per Share:    $ [price]
Date of Grant:    [Board approval date]
First Vesting Date:    [insert 1st vest]
Expiration Date:   

[insert date 10 yrs from Date of Grant]

(unless earlier terminated under Section 5.6 of the Plan)

Type of Stock Option:    [insert - Incentive Stock Option (ISO) or Nonqualified (NSO)]

1. GRANT OF OPTION. The Company hereby grants to Participant an option (this “Option”) to purchase the total number of shares of Common Stock, $0.00001 par value per share, of the Company set forth above as Total Option Shares (the “Shares”) at the Exercise Price Per Share set forth above (the “Exercise Price”), subject to all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement and the Plan. If designated as an Incentive Stock Option above, the Option is intended to qualify as an “incentive stock option” (the “ISO”) within the meaning of Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), except that if on the date of grant the Participant is not eligible to receive an ISO, then this Option shall be a “nonqualified stock option” (the “NQSO” or “NSO”).

2. EXERCISE PERIOD.

2.1 Exercise Period of Option. Provided Participant continues to provide services to the Company or any Subsidiary or Parent of the Company, the Option will become vested and exercisable as to portions of the Shares as follows: (i) this Option shall not vest nor be exercisable with respect to any of the Shares until the First Vesting Date set forth on the first page of this Agreement (the “First Vesting Date”); (ii) on the First Vesting Date the Option will become vested and exercisable as to 1/4th of the Shares; and (iii) thereafter at the end of each full succeeding calendar month the Option will become vested and exercisable as to 1/48th of the Shares until the Shares are vested with respect to all of the Shares. If application of the vesting percentage causes a fractional share, such share shall be rounded down to the nearest whole share


for each month except for the last month in such vesting period, at the end of which last month this Option shall become exercisable for the full remainder of the Shares. [Notwithstanding the foregoing, 100% of the Shares will become immediately vested and exercisable upon Participant’s death, subject to Participant’s continuous service with the Company or any Subsidiary or Parent of the Company until the date of such death.]1

2.2 Vesting of Options. Shares that are vested pursuant to the schedule set forth in Section 2.1 are “Vested Shares. Shares that are not vested pursuant to the schedule set forth in Section 2.1 are Unvested Shares.

2.3 Expiration. The Option shall expire on the Expiration Date set forth above or earlier as provided in Section 3 below or pursuant to Section 5.6 of the Plan.

3. TERMINATION.

3.1 Termination for Any Reason Except Death, Disability or Cause. If Participant is Terminated for any reason, except death, Disability or for Cause, the Option, to the extent (and only to the extent) that it would have been exercisable by Participant on the Termination Date, may be exercised by Participant no later than three (3) months after the Termination Date, but in any event no later than the Expiration Date.

3.2 Termination Because of Death or Disability. If Participant is Terminated because of death or Disability of Participant (or Participant dies within three (3) months of Termination when Termination is for any reason other than Participant’s Disability or for Cause), the Option, to the extent that it is exercisable by Participant on the Termination Date, may be exercised by Participant (or Participant’s legal representative) no later than twelve (12) months after the Termination Date, but in any event no later than the Expiration Date. Any exercise beyond (i) three (3) months after the Termination Date when the Termination is for any reason other than the Participant’s death or disability, within the meaning of Section 22(e)(3) of the Code; or (ii) twelve (12) months after the Termination Date when the termination is for Participant’s disability, within the meaning of Section 22(e)(3) of the Code, is deemed to be an NQSO.

3.3 Termination for Cause. If the Participant is terminated for Cause, the Participant may exercise such Participant’s Options, but not to an extent greater than such Options are exercisable as to Vested Shares upon the Termination Date and Participant’s Options shall expire on such Participant’s Termination Date, or at such later time and on such conditions as are determined by the Committee.

3.4 No Obligation to Employ. Nothing in the Plan or this Agreement shall confer on Participant any right to continue in the employ of, or other relationship with, the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, or limit in any way the right of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company to terminate Participant’s employment or other relationship at any time, with or without Cause.

 

1 

To include for accelerated vesting upon death.


4. MANNER OF EXERCISE.

4.1 Stock Option Exercise Agreement. To exercise this Option, Participant (or in the case of exercise after Participant’s death or incapacity, Participant’s executor, administrator, heir or legatee, as the case may be) must deliver to the Company an executed stock option exercise agreement in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A, or in such other form as may be approved by the Committee from time to time (the “Exercise Agreement”), which shall set forth, inter alia, (i) Participant’s election to exercise the Option, (ii) the number of Shares being purchased, (iii) any restrictions imposed on the Shares and (iv) any representations, warranties and agreements regarding Participant’s investment intent and access to information as may be required by the Company to comply with applicable securities laws. If someone other than Participant exercises the Option, then such person must submit documentation reasonably acceptable to the Company verifying that such person has the legal right to exercise the Option and such person shall be subject to all of the restrictions contained herein as if such person were the Participant.

4.2 Limitations on Exercise. The Option may not be exercised unless such exercise is in compliance with all applicable federal and state securities laws, as they are in effect on the date of exercise. The Option may not be exercised as to fewer than one hundred (100) Shares unless it is exercised as to all Shares as to which the Option is then exercisable.

4.3 Payment. The Exercise Agreement shall be accompanied by full payment of the Exercise Price for the shares being purchased in cash (by check or wire transfer of immediately available funds), or where permitted by law:

(a) by surrender of shares of the Company’s Common Stock that (i) either (A) the Company has received “full payment of the purchase price” within the meaning of SEC Rule 144 (and, if such shares were purchased from the Company by use of a promissory note, such note has been fully paid with respect to such shares); or (B) were obtained by Participant in the open public market, to the extent required to avoid variable accounting treatment under ASC 718 or other applicable accounting rules; and (ii) are clear of all liens, claims, encumbrances or security interests;

(b) by waiver of compensation due or accrued to Participant for services rendered;

(c) provided that a public market for the Company’s stock exists: (i) through a “same day sale” commitment from Participant and a broker-dealer that is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers (an “NASD Dealer”) whereby Participant irrevocably elects to exercise the Option and to sell a portion of the Shares so purchased sufficient to pay for the total Exercise Price and whereby the NASD Dealer irrevocably commits upon receipt of such Shares to forward the total Exercise Price directly to the Company, or (ii) through a “margin” commitment from Participant and an NASD Dealer whereby Participant irrevocably elects to exercise the Option and to pledge the Shares so purchased to the NASD Dealer in a margin account as security for a loan from the NASD Dealer in the amount of the total Exercise Price, and whereby the NASD Dealer irrevocably commits upon receipt of such Shares to forward the total Exercise Price directly to the Company; or


(d) any other form of consideration approved by the Committee; or

(e) by any combination of the foregoing.

4.4 Tax Withholding. Prior to the issuance of the Shares upon exercise of the Option, Participant must pay or provide for any applicable federal, state and local withholding obligations of the Company. Participant authorizes the Company to withhold any of such amounts from any other payments made or due from the Company to the Participant. If the Committee permits, the payment of withholding taxes upon exercise of the Option may be made by the Company retaining the minimum number of Shares with a Fair Market Value equal to the amount of taxes required to be withheld; but in no event will the Company withhold Shares if such withholding would result in adverse accounting consequences to the Company. In such case, the Company shall issue the net number of Shares to the Participant by deducting the Shares retained from the Shares issuable upon exercise.

4.5 Issuance of Shares. Provided that the Exercise Agreement and payment are in form and substance satisfactory to counsel for the Company, the Company shall issue the Shares registered in the name of Participant, Participant’s authorized assignee, or Participant’s legal representative, and shall deliver certificates representing the Shares with the appropriate legends affixed thereto.

5. NOTICE OF DISQUALIFYING DISPOSITION OF ISO SHARES. If the Option is an ISO, and if Participant sells or otherwise disposes of any of the Shares acquired pursuant to the ISO on or before the later of (i) the date two (2) years after the Date of Grant, and (ii) the date one (1) year after transfer of such Shares to Participant upon exercise of the Option, Participant shall immediately notify the Company in writing of such disposition. Participant agrees that Participant may be subject to income tax withholding by the Company on the compensation income recognized by Participant from the early disposition by payment in cash or out of the current wages or other compensation payable to Participant.

6. COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS AND REGULATIONS. The Plan and this Agreement are intended to comply with Section 25102(o) of the California Corporations Code and any regulations relating thereto. Any provision of this Agreement that is inconsistent with Section 25102(o) or any regulations relating thereto shall, without further act or amendment by the Company or the Board, be reformed to comply with the requirements of Section 25102(o) and any regulations relating thereto. The exercise of the Option and the issuance and transfer of Shares shall be subject to compliance by the Company and Participant with all applicable requirements of federal and state securities laws and with all applicable requirements of any stock exchange on which the Company’s Common Stock may be listed at the time of such issuance or transfer. Participant understands that the Company is under no obligation to register or qualify the Shares with the SEC, any state securities commission or any stock exchange to effect such compliance.


7. NONTRANSFERABILITY OF OPTION. The Option may not be transferred in any manner other than by will or by the laws of descent and distribution, and, with respect to NQSOs, by instrument to an inter vivos or testamentary trust in which the options are to be passed to beneficiaries upon the death of the trustor (settlor), or by gift to “immediate family” as that term is defined in 17 C.F.R. 240.16a-1(e), and may be exercised during the lifetime of Participant only by Participant or in the event of Participant’s incapacity, by Participant’s legal representative. The terms of the Option shall be binding upon the executors, administrators, successors and assigns of Participant.

8. COMPANYS RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL. Before any Vested Shares held by Participant or any transferee of such Vested Shares may be sold or otherwise transferred (including without limitation a transfer by gift or operation of law), such transfer must be permitted by written approval of the Committee or the Board, and the Company and/or its assignee(s) shall have an assignable right of first refusal to purchase the Vested Shares to be sold or transferred on the terms and conditions set forth in the Exercise Agreement (the “Right of First Refusal”). The Company’s Right of First Refusal will terminate when the Company’s securities become publicly traded.

9. TAX CONSEQUENCES. Set forth below is a brief summary as of the Effective Date of the Plan of some of the federal and California tax consequences of exercise of the Option and disposition of the Shares. THIS SUMMARY IS NECESSARILY INCOMPLETE, AND THE TAX LAWS AND REGULATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. PARTICIPANT SHOULD CONSULT A TAX ADVISER BEFORE EXERCISING THE OPTION OR DISPOSING OF THE SHARES.

9.1 Exercise of ISO. If the Option qualifies as an ISO, there will be no regular federal or California income tax liability upon the exercise of the Option, although the excess, if any, of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on the date of exercise over the Exercise Price will be treated as a tax preference item for federal alternative minimum tax purposes and may subject the Participant to the alternative minimum tax in the year of exercise.

9.2 Exercise of Nonqualified Stock Option. If the Option does not qualify as an ISO, there may be a regular federal and California income tax liability upon the exercise of the Option. Participant will be treated as having received compensation income (taxable at ordinary income tax rates) equal to the excess, if any, of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on the date of exercise over the Exercise Price. If Participant is a current or former employee of the Company, the Company may be required to withhold from Participant’s compensation or collect from Participant and pay to the applicable taxing authorities an amount equal to a percentage of this compensation income at the time of exercise.

9.3 Disposition of Shares. The following tax consequences may apply upon disposition of the Shares.

(a) Incentive Stock Options. If the Shares are held for more than twelve (12) months after the date of purchase of the Shares pursuant to the exercise of an ISO and are disposed of more than two (2) years after the Date of Grant, any gain realized on disposition of the Shares will be treated as long term capital gain for federal and California income tax purposes. If Vested Shares purchased under an ISO are disposed of within the


applicable one (1) year or two (2) year period, any gain realized on such disposition will be treated as compensation income (taxable at ordinary income rates in the year of the disposition) to the extent of the excess, if any, of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on the date of exercise over the Exercise Price. To the extent the Shares were exercised prior to vesting coincident with the filing of an 83(b) Election, the amount taxed because of a disqualifying disposition will be based upon the excess, if any, of the fair market value on the date of vesting over the exercise price.

(b) Nonqualified Stock Options. If the Shares are held for more than twelve (12) months after the date of purchase of the Shares pursuant to the exercise of an NQSO, any gain realized on disposition of the Shares will be treated as long term capital gain.

(c) Withholding. The Company may be required to withhold from the Participant’s compensation or collect from the Participant and pay to the applicable taxing authorities an amount equal to a percentage of this compensation income.

10. PRIVILEGES OF STOCK OWNERSHIP. Participant shall not have any of the rights of a stockholder with respect to any Shares until the Shares are issued to Participant.

11. GENERAL PROVISIONS

11.1 Interpretation. Any dispute regarding the interpretation of this Agreement shall be submitted by Participant or the Company to the Committee for review. The resolution of such a dispute by the Committee shall be final and binding on the Company and Participant.

11.2 Entire Agreement. The Plan is incorporated herein by reference. This Agreement and the Plan constitute the entire agreement of the parties and supersede all prior undertakings and agreements with respect to the subject matter hereof.

11.3 Notices. Any notice required to be given or delivered to the Company under the terms of this Agreement shall be in writing and addressed to the Corporate Secretary of the Company at its principal corporate offices or to its facsimile or telecopier number specified below. Any notice required to be given or delivered to Participant shall be in writing and addressed to Participant at the address, facsimile, telecopier, or e-mail indicated below or to such other address, facsimile, telecopier, or e-mail as such party may designate in writing from time to time to the Company. All notices shall be deemed to have been given or delivered upon: (i) personal delivery; (ii) three (3) days after deposit in the United States mail by certified or registered mail (return receipt requested); (iii) one (1) business day after deposit with any return receipt express courier (prepaid); or (iv) one (1) business day after transmission by facsimile, telecopier, or e-mail.

11.4 Successors and Assigns. The Company may assign any of its rights under this Agreement, including its rights to purchase Shares under the Right of First Refusal. No other party to this Agreement may assign, whether voluntarily or by operation of law, any of its rights and obligations under this Agreement, except with the prior written consent of the Company. This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the successors and assigns of the Company. Subject to the restrictions on transfer set forth herein, this Agreement shall be binding upon Participant and Participant’s heirs, executors, administrators, legal representatives, successors and assigns.


11.5 Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California as such laws are applied to agreements between California residents entered into and to be performed entirely within California.

11.6 Acceptance. Participant hereby acknowledges receipt of a copy of the Plan and this Agreement. Participant has read and understands the terms and provisions thereof, and accepts the Option subject to all the terms and conditions of the Plan and this Agreement. Participant acknowledges that there may be adverse tax consequences upon exercise of the Option or disposition of the Shares and that Participant should consult a tax adviser prior to such exercise or disposition.

11.7 Further Assurances. The parties agree to execute such further documents and instruments and to take such further actions as may be reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes and intent of this Agreement.

11.8 Titles and Headings. The titles, captions and headings of this Agreement are included for ease of reference only and will be disregarded in interpreting or construing this Agreement. Unless otherwise specifically stated, all references herein to “sections” and “exhibits” will mean “sections” and “exhibits” to this Agreement.

11.9 Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which when so executed and delivered will be deemed an original, and all of which together shall constitute one and the same agreement.

11.10 Severability. If any provision of this Agreement is determined by any court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, such provision will be enforced to the maximum extent possible given the intent of the parties hereto. If such clause or provision cannot be so enforced, such provision shall be stricken from this Agreement and the remainder of this Agreement shall be enforced as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable clause or provision had (to the extent not enforceable) never been contained in this Agreement. Notwithstanding the forgoing, if the value of this Agreement based upon the substantial benefit of the bargain for any party is materially impaired, which determination as made by the presiding court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction shall be binding, then both parties agree to substitute such provision(s) through good faith negotiations.

11.12 Facsimile/Electronic Signatures. This Agreement may be executed and delivered by facsimile or electronically (by e-mail) and upon such delivery the facsimile (or electronic) signature will be deemed to have the same effect as if the original signature had been delivered to the other party.

11.13 Waiver of Statutory Information Rights. Participant understands and agrees that, but for the waiver made herein, Participant would be entitled, upon written demand under oath stating the purpose thereof, to inspect for any proper purpose, and to make copies and extracts from, the Company’s stock ledger, a list of its stockholders, and its other books and records, and the books and records of subsidiaries of the Company, if any, under the


circumstances and in the manner provided in Section 220 of the General Corporation Law of Delaware (any and all such rights, and any and all such other rights of Participant as may be provided for in Section 220, the “Inspection Rights”). In light of the foregoing, until the first sale of stock of the Company to the general public pursuant to a registration statement filed with and declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Act, Participant hereby unconditionally and irrevocably waives the Inspection Rights, whether such Inspection Rights would be exercised or pursued directly or indirectly pursuant to Section 220 or otherwise, and covenants and agrees never to directly or indirectly commence, voluntarily aid in any way, prosecute, assign, transfer, or cause to be commenced any claim, action, cause of action, or other proceeding to pursue or exercise the Inspection Rights. The foregoing waiver shall not affect any rights of a director, in his or her capacity as such, under Section 220. The foregoing waiver shall not apply to any contractual inspection rights of Participant under any other written agreement between Participant and the Company.


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Agreement to be executed in triplicate by its duly authorized representative and Participant has executed this Agreement in triplicate, effective as of the Date of Grant.

 

COUCHBASE, INC.
By:  

                                          

 

Chief Financial Officer

 

Address:
Couchbase, Inc. 2440 W. El Camino Real Suite 101
Mountain View, CA 94040
Facsimile:
[***]

The undersigned hereby acknowledges receiving and reviewing a copy of the Plan, including, without limitation, Sections 11 and 12 thereof, and understands that this Option is subject to the terms of the Plan and of this Agreement.

 

PARTICIPANT
By:  

                                                                               

 

 

Address:

 

 

 

Email:

 


EXHIBIT A

FORM OF STOCK OPTION EXERCISE AGREEMENT


EXHIBIT B

2018 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN


No. ___

COUCHBASE, INC.

2018 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

STOCK OPTION AGREEMENT

FOR NON-U.S. PARTICIPANTS

This Stock Option Agreement for Non-U.S. Participants (the “Option Agreement”), including any special terms and conditions for Participant’s country set forth in the addendum attached hereto as Exhibit A (the “Addendum”) (together with the Option Agreement, this “Agreement”) is made and entered into as of the date of grant set forth below (the “Date of Grant”) by and between Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and the participant named below (the “Participant”). Capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meaning ascribed to them in the Company’s 2018 Equity Incentive Plan (as amended from time to time, the “Plan”).

 

Participant:    [Name]
Employee ID:    [SSN]
Total Option Shares:    [# total shares]
Exercise Price Per Share:    $ [price]
Date of Grant:    [Board approval date]
First Vesting Date:    [insert 1st vest]
Expiration Date:   

[insert date 10 yrs from Date of Grant]

(unless earlier terminated under Section 5.6 of the Plan)

Type of Stock Option:    [Non-Qualified Stock Option]

1. GRANT OF OPTION. The Company hereby grants to Participant an option (this “Option”) to purchase the total number of shares of Common Stock, $0.00001 par value per share, of the Company set forth above as Total Option Shares (the “Shares”) at the Exercise Price Per Share set forth above (the “Exercise Price”), subject to all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement and the Plan.

2. EXERCISE PERIOD.

2.1 Exercise Period of Option. Provided Participant continues to provide services to the Company or any Subsidiary or Parent of the Company, the Option will become vested and exercisable as to portions of the Shares as follows: (i) this Option shall not vest nor be exercisable with respect to any of the Shares until the First Vesting Date set forth on the first page of this Agreement (the “First Vesting Date”); (ii) on the First Vesting Date the Option will become vested and exercisable as to 1/4th of the Shares; and (iii) thereafter at the end of each full succeeding calendar month the Option will become vested and exercisable as to 1/48th of the Shares until the Shares are vested with respect to all of the Shares. If application of the vesting percentage causes a fractional share, such share shall be rounded down to the nearest whole share for each month except for the last month in such vesting period, at the end of which last month this Option shall become exercisable for the full remainder of the Shares. [Notwithstanding the foregoing, 100% of the Shares will become immediately vested and exercisable upon Participant’s death, subject to Participant’s continuous service with the Company or any Subsidiary or Parent of the Company until the date of such death.]1

 

1 

To include for accelerated vesting upon death.


2.2 Vesting of Options. Shares that are vested pursuant to the schedule set forth in Section 2.1 are “Vested Shares. Shares that are not vested pursuant to the schedule set forth in Section 2.1 are Unvested Shares.

2.3 Expiration. The Option shall expire on the Expiration Date set forth above or earlier as provided in Section 3 below or pursuant to Section 5.6 of the Plan.

3. TERMINATION.

3.1 Termination for Any Reason Except Death, Disability or Cause. If Participant is Terminated for any reason, except death, Disability or for Cause, the Option, to the extent (and only to the extent) that it would have been exercisable by Participant on the Termination Date, may be exercised by Participant no later than three (3) months after the Termination Date, but in any event no later than the Expiration Date.

3.2 Termination Because of Death or Disability. If Participant is Terminated because of death or Disability of Participant (or Participant dies within three (3) months of the Termination Date when Termination is for any reason other than Participant’s Disability or for Cause), the Option, to the extent that it is exercisable by Participant on the Termination Date, may be exercised by Participant (or Participant’s legal representative) no later than twelve (12) months after the Termination Date, but in any event no later than the Expiration Date.

3.3 Termination for Cause. If Participant is terminated for Cause, Participant may exercise such Participant’s Option, but not to an extent greater than such Option is    exercisable as to Vested Shares upon the Termination Date and Participant’s Option shall expire on such Participant’s Termination Date, or at such later time and on such conditions as are determined by the Committee.

3.4 No Obligation to Employ. Nothing in the Plan or this Agreement shall confer on Participant any right to continue in the employ of, or other relationship with, the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, or limit in any way the right of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company to terminate Participant’s employment or other relationship at any time, with or without Cause.

3.5 Termination Date. For purposes of the Option, the Termination Date is deemed to occur as of the date Participant is no longer actively providing services to the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company (regardless of the reason for the Termination and whether or not later found to be invalid or in breach of employment or other laws in the jurisdiction where Participant is employed or otherwise rendering services or the


terms of Participant’s employment or other service agreement, if any) and such date will not be extended by any notice period (e.g., the date would not be delayed by any contractual notice period or any period of “garden leave,” or similar period mandated under employment or other laws in the jurisdiction where Participant is employed or otherwise rendering services or the terms of Participant’s employment or other service agreement, if any. The Committee shall have the exclusive discretion to determine when Participant is no longer actively providing services for purposes of his or her Option grant (including whether Participant may still be considered to be providing services while on a leave of absence).

4. MANNER OF EXERCISE.

4.1 Stock Option Exercise Agreement. To exercise the Option, Participant (or in the case of exercise after Participant’s death or incapacity, Participant’s executor, administrator, heir or legatee, as the case may be) must deliver to the Company an executed stock option exercise agreement in the form attached hereto as Exhibit B, or in such other form as may be approved by the Committee from time to time (the “Exercise Agreement”), which shall set forth, inter alia, (i) Participant’s election to exercise the Option, (ii) the number of Shares being purchased, (iii) any restrictions imposed on the Shares and (iv) any representations, warranties and agreements regarding Participant’s investment intent and access to information as may be required by the Company to comply with applicable laws. If someone other than Participant exercises the Option, then such person must submit documentation reasonably acceptable to the Company verifying that such person has the legal right to exercise the Option and such person shall be subject to all of the restrictions contained herein as if such person were Participant.

4.2 Limitations on Exercise. The Option may not be exercised unless such exercise is in compliance with all applicable U.S. and non-U.S. federal and state securities and other applicable laws, as they are in effect on the date of exercise. The Option may not be exercised as to fewer than one hundred (100) Shares unless it is exercised as to all Shares as to which the Option is then exercisable.

4.3 Payment. The Exercise Agreement shall be accompanied by full payment of the Exercise Price for the Shares being purchased in cash (by check or wire transfer of immediately available funds), or where permitted by law:

(a) provided that a public market for the Company’s stock exists: (i) through a “same day sale” commitment from Participant and a broker-dealer that is a member of the National Association of Securities Dealers (an “NASD Dealer”) whereby Participant irrevocably elects to exercise the Option and to sell a portion of the Shares so purchased sufficient to pay for the total Exercise Price and whereby the NASD Dealer irrevocably commits upon receipt of such Shares to forward the total Exercise Price directly to the Company, or (ii) through a “margin” commitment from Participant and an NASD Dealer whereby Participant irrevocably elects to exercise the Option and to pledge the Shares so purchased to the NASD Dealer in a margin account as security for a loan from the NASD Dealer in the amount of the total Exercise Price, and whereby the NASD Dealer irrevocably commits upon receipt of such Shares to forward the total Exercise Price directly to the Company; or


(b) any other form of consideration approved by the Committee; or

(c) by any combination of the foregoing.

4.4 Responsibility for Taxes. Participant acknowledges that, regardless of any action taken by the Company or, if different, the Parent or Subsidiary of the Company for which Participant provides services (the “Service Recipient”), the ultimate liability for all income tax, social insurance, payroll tax, fringe benefits tax, payment on account or other tax-related items related to Participant’s participation in the Plan and legally applicable to Participant (“Tax-Related Items”) is and remains Participant’s responsibility and may exceed the amount actually withheld by the Company or the Service Recipient. Participant further acknowledges that the Company and/or the Service Recipient (i) make no representations or undertakings regarding the treatment of any Tax-Related Items in connection with any aspect of the Option, including but not limited to, the grant, vesting or exercise of the Option, the subsequent sale of the Shares acquired upon the exercise of the Option and the receipt of any dividends; and (ii) do not commit to and are under no obligation to structure the terms of the grant or any aspect of the Option to reduce or eliminate Participant’s liability for Tax-Related Items or achieve any particular tax result. Further, if Participant is subject to Tax-Related Items in more than one jurisdiction, Participant acknowledges that the Company and/or the Service Recipient (or former service recipient, as applicable) may be required to withhold or account for Tax-Related Items in more than one jurisdiction.

Prior to the relevant taxable or tax-withholding event, as applicable, Participant agrees to make adequate arrangements satisfactory to the Company and/or the Service Recipient to satisfy all Tax-Related Items. In this regard, Participant authorizes the Company and/or the Service Recipient, or their respective agents, at their discretion, to satisfy any applicable withholding obligations with regard to all Tax-Related Items by one or a combination of the following: (i) withholding from Participant’s wages or other compensation paid to Participant by the Company or the Service Recipient, (ii) withholding from proceeds of the sale of the Shares acquired upon exercise of the Option either through a voluntary sale or through a mandatory sale arranged by the Company (on Participant’s behalf pursuant to this authorization without further consent), (iii) withholding from the Shares otherwise issuable at exercise of the Option, or (iv) any method determined by the Committee to be in compliance with applicable laws.

Depending on the withholding method, the Company and/or Service Recipient may withhold or account for Tax-Related Items by considering applicable minimum statutory withholding amounts or other applicable withholding rates, including maximum applicable rates in Participant’s jurisdiction, in which case Participant may receive a refund of any over-withheld amount in cash and will have no entitlement to the Share equivalent. If the obligation for Tax-Related Items is satisfied by withholding in Shares, for tax purposes, Participant is deemed to have been issued the full number of Shares subject to the exercised Option, notwithstanding that a number of the Shares is held back solely for purposes of paying the Tax-Related Items.

Participant agrees to pay to the Company or the Service Recipient any amount of Tax-Related Items that the Company or the Service Recipient may be required to withhold or account for as a result of Participant’s participation in the Plan that cannot be satisfied by the means previously described. The Company may refuse the exercise or to issue or deliver the underlying Shares or the proceeds of the sale of the Shares acquired upon the exercise of the Option, if Participant fails to comply with his or her obligations in connection with the Tax-Related Items.


4.5 Issuance of Shares. Provided that the Exercise Agreement and payment are in form and substance satisfactory to counsel for the Company, the Company shall issue the Shares registered in the name of Participant, Participant’s authorized assignee, or Participant’s legal representative, and shall deliver certificates representing the Shares with the appropriate legends affixed thereto.

5. NATURE OF GRANT. In accepting the Option, Participant acknowledges, understands and agrees that:

(a) the Plan is established voluntarily by the Company, it is discretionary in nature, and may be modified, amended, suspended or terminated by the Company at any time, to the extent permitted by the Plan;

(b) the grant of the Option is exceptional, voluntary and occasional and does not create any contractual or other right to receive future grants of stock options, or benefits in lieu of stock options, even if stock options have been granted in the past;

(c) all decisions with respect to future stock option or other grants, if any, will be at the sole discretion of the Company;

(d) if Participant is employed by a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, the grant of Option and Participant’s participation in the Plan shall not create a right to employment or be interpreted as forming a service relationship with the Company;

(e) Participant is voluntarily participating in the Plan;

(f) the Option and the Shares subject to the Option, and the income from and value of same, are not intended to replace any pension rights or compensation;

(g) the Option and the Shares subject to the Option, and the income from and value of same, are not part of normal or expected compensation for any purpose, including, without limitation, calculating any severance, resignation, termination, redundancy, dismissal, end-of-service payments, holiday pay, bonuses, long-service awards, pension or retirement or welfare benefits or similar payments;

(h) the future value of the Shares subject to the Option is unknown, indeterminable, and cannot be predicted with certainty;

(i) if the Shares subject to Option do not increase in value, the Option will have no value;

(j) if Participant exercises the Option and acquires Shares, the value of such Shares may increase or decrease in value, even below the Exercise Price;


(k) no claim or entitlement to compensation or damages shall arise from forfeiture of this Option resulting from the Termination of Participant’s service relationship (for any reason whatsoever, whether or not later found to be invalid or in breach of employment or other laws in the jurisdiction where Participant is employed or otherwise rendering services or the terms of Participant’s employment or other service agreement, if any), and in consideration of the grant of the Option, Participant agrees not to institute any claim against the Company, the Service Recipient or any other Parent or Subsidiary of the Company;

(l) unless otherwise agreed with the Company, the Option and any Shares acquired upon the exercise of the Option, and the income from and value of same, are not granted as consideration for, or in connection with, any service Participant may provide as a director of any Subsidiary;

(m) unless otherwise provided in the Plan or by the Company in its discretion, the Option and the benefits evidenced by this Agreement do not create any entitlement to have the Option or any such benefits transferred to, or assumed by, another company nor to be exchanged, cashed out or substituted for, in connection with any corporate transaction affecting the Common Stock; and

(n) neither the Company, the Service Recipient nor any other Parent or Subsidiary of the Company shall be liable for any foreign exchange rate fluctuation between Participant’s local currency and the United States Dollar that may affect the value of the Option or of any amounts due to Participant pursuant to the exercise of the Option or the subsequent sale of Shares acquired upon the exercise of the Option.

6. DATA PRIVACY.

(a) Data Collection and Usage. The Company and the Service Recipient collect, process and use certain personal information about Participant, including, but not limited to, Participant’s name, home address and telephone number, email address, date of birth, social insurance number, passport or other identification number (e.g., resident registration number), salary, nationality, job title, any Shares or directorships held in the Company, details of all Options or any other entitlement to Shares awarded, canceled, exercised, vested, unvested or outstanding in Participant’s favor (“Data”), for the purposes of implementing, administering and managing Participant’s participation in the Plan. The legal basis, where required, for the processing of Data is Participant’s explicit declaration of consent provided by signing or electronically agreeing to this Agreement. Where required under applicable law, Data may also be disclosed to certain securities or other regulatory authorities.

(b) Stock Plan Administration Service Providers. The Company may transfer Data to an independent service provider, which may be assisting the Company with the implementation, administration and management of the Plan. Participant may be asked to agree on separate terms and data processing practices with the service provider, with such agreement being a condition to the ability to participate in the Plan.


(c) International Data Transfers. The Company is based in the United States. Participant’s country or jurisdiction may have different data privacy laws and protections than the United States. In the event Participant resides or is otherwise located outside the United States, Participant understands and acknowledges that the United States might apply laws not providing a level of protection of the Data equivalent to the level of protection in Participant’s country or jurisdiction. For example, the European Commission has issued a limited adequacy finding with respect to the United States that applies only to the extent companies register for the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield program, in which the Company currently does not participate. In the absence of appropriate safeguards such as a certification under the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield program or standard data protection clauses, the processing of the Data in the United States might not be subject to substantive data processing principles or supervision by data protection authorities. In addition, Participant might not have enforceable rights regarding the processing of the Data. By signing or electronically agreeing to this Agreement, Participant explicitly declares his or her consent to the Company receiving and transferring the Data and, as the case may be, to certain service providers without implementing appropriate safeguards. Where required, such processing of the Data will be exclusively based on Participant’s consent.

(d) Data Retention. The Company will hold and use the Data only as long as is necessary to implement, administer and manage Participant’s participation in the Plan, or as required to comply with legal or regulatory obligations, including under tax, exchange control, labor and securities laws. This period may extend beyond Participant’s service relationship. When the Company or the Service Recipient no longer need the Data for any of the above purposes, they will cease processing it in this context and remove it from all of their systems used for such purposes to the fullest extent practicable.

(e) Voluntariness and Consequences of Consent Denial or Withdrawal. Participation in the Plan is voluntary and Participant is providing the consents herein on a purely voluntary basis. If Participant does not consent, or if Participant later seeks to revoke Participant’s consent, Participant’s compensation from or employment or other service with the Service Recipient will not be affected; the only consequence of refusing or withdrawing Participant’s consent is that the Company would not be able to grant the Option or other awards to Participant or administer or maintain such awards.

(f) Declaration of Consent. By signing or electronically agreeing to this Agreement, Participant is declaring that he or she agrees with the data processing practices described herein and consents to the collection, processing and use of Data by the Company and the transfer of Data described above, including to recipients located in countries which do not adduce an adequate level of protection from a European (or other non-U.S.) data protection law perspective, for the purposes described above.

(g) Alternative Basis for Data Processing and Transfer. Participant understands that the Company may rely on a different legal basis for the processing or transfer of Data in the future and/or request that Participant provide another data privacy consent form. If applicable and upon request of the Company, Participant agrees to provide an executed acknowledgement or data privacy consent form to the Service Recipient or the Company (or any other acknowledgements, agreements or consents that may be required by the Service Recipient or the Company) that the Company and/or the Service Recipient may deem necessary to obtain under the data privacy laws in Participant’s country, either now or in the future. Participant understands that he or she will not be able to participate in the Plan if he or she fails to execute any such acknowledgement, agreement or consent requested by the Company and/or the Service Recipient.


7. COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS AND REGULATIONS. The Plan and this Agreement are intended to comply with Section 25102(o) of the California Corporations Code and any regulations relating thereto. Any provision of this Agreement that is inconsistent with Section 25102(o) or any regulations relating thereto shall, without further act or amendment by the Company or the Board, be reformed to comply with the requirements of Section 25102(o) and any regulations relating thereto. Notwithstanding any other provision of the Plan or this Agreement, unless there is an available exemption from any registration, qualification or other legal requirement applicable to the Common Stock, the Company shall not be required to permit the exercise of the Option and/or deliver any Shares prior to the completion of any registration or qualification of the Shares under any U.S. or non-U.S. local, state or federal securities or other applicable laws, under rulings regulations of the U.S. SEC or of any other governmental regulatory body, or prior to obtaining any approval or other clearance from any U.S. or non-U.S. local, state or federal governmental agency, which registration, qualification or approval the Company shall, in its absolute discretion, deem necessary or advisable. Participant understands that the Company is under no obligation to register or qualify the Shares with the SEC, or any state or non-U.S. securities commission or to seek approval or clearance from any governmental authority for the issuance or sale of the Shares subject to the Option. Further, Participant agrees that the Company shall have unilateral authority to amend this Agreement without Participant’s consent to the extent necessary to comply with securities or other applicable laws applicable to issuance of the Shares subject to the Option.

8. NONTRANSFERABILITY OF OPTION. The Option may not be transferred in any manner other than by will or by the laws of descent and distribution, or by instrument to an inter vivos or testamentary trust in which the Options are to be passed to beneficiaries upon the death of the trustor (settlor), and may be exercised during the lifetime of Participant only by Participant or in the event of Participant’s incapacity, by Participant’s legal representative. The terms of the Option shall be binding upon the executors, administrators, successors, and assigns of Participant.

9. COMPANYS RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL. Before any Vested Shares held by Participant or any transferee of such Vested Shares may be sold or otherwise transferred (including without limitation a transfer by gift or operation of law), such transfer must be permitted by written approval of the Committee or the Board, and the Company and/or its assignee(s) shall have an assignable right of first refusal to purchase the Vested Shares to be sold or transferred on the terms and conditions set forth in the Exercise Agreement (the “Right of First Refusal”). The Company’s Right of First Refusal will terminate when the Company’s securities become publicly traded.

10. PRIVILEGES OF STOCK OWNERSHIP. Participant shall not have any of the rights of a stockholder with respect to any Shares until the Shares are issued to Participant.


11. GENERAL PROVISIONS

11.1 Interpretation. Any dispute regarding the interpretation of this Agreement shall be submitted by Participant or the Company to the Committee for review. The resolution of such a dispute by the Committee shall be final and binding on the Company and Participant.

11.2 Entire Agreement. The Plan is incorporated herein by reference. This Agreement and the Plan constitute the entire agreement of the parties and supersede all prior undertakings and agreements with respect to the subject matter hereof.

11.3 Notices. Any notice required to be given or delivered to the Company under the terms of this Agreement shall be in writing and addressed to the Corporate Secretary of the Company at its principal corporate offices or to its facsimile or telecopier number specified below. Any notice required to be given or delivered to Participant shall be in writing and addressed to Participant at the address, facsimile, telecopier, or e-mail indicated below or to such other address, facsimile, telecopier, or e-mail as such party may designate in writing from time to time to the Company. All notices shall be deemed to have been given or delivered upon: (i) personal delivery; (ii) three (3) days after deposit in the United States or comparable non-U.S. mail by certified or registered mail (return receipt requested); (iii) one (1) business day after deposit with any return receipt express courier (prepaid); or (iv) one (1) business day after transmission by facsimile, telecopier, or e-mail.

11.4 Successors and Assigns. The Company may assign any of its rights under this Agreement, including its rights to purchase Shares under the Right of First Refusal. No other party to this Agreement may assign, whether voluntarily or by operation of law, any of its rights and obligations under this Agreement, except with the prior written consent of the Company. This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the successors and assigns of the Company. Subject to the restrictions on transfer set forth herein, this Agreement shall be binding upon Participant and Participant’s heirs, executors, administrators, legal representatives, successors and assigns.

11.5 Governing Law/Venue. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California as such laws are applied to agreements between California residents entered into and to be performed entirely within California. For purposes of any action, lawsuit or other proceedings brought to enforce this Agreement, relating to it, or arising from it, the parties hereby submit to and consent to the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of Santa Clara County, California, or the federal courts for the United States for the Northern District of California, and no other courts, where this grant is made and/or to be performed.

11.6 Acceptance/No Advice Regarding Grant. Participant hereby acknowledges receipt of a copy of the Plan and this Agreement. Participant has read and understands the terms and provisions thereof, and accepts the Option subject to all the terms and conditions of the Plan and this Agreement. Participant acknowledges that there may be adverse tax consequences related to the Option or disposition of the Shares and that Participant should consult a tax adviser prior to accepting the Option or disposing of the Shares.


11.7 Further Assurances. The parties agree to execute such further documents and instruments and to take such further actions as may be reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes and intent of this Agreement.

11.8 Titles and Headings. The titles, captions and headings of this Agreement are included for ease of reference only and will be disregarded in interpreting or construing this Agreement. Unless otherwise specifically stated, all references herein to “sections” and “exhibits” will mean “sections” and “exhibits” to this Agreement.

11.9 Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which when so executed and delivered will be deemed an original, and all of which together shall constitute one and the same agreement.

11.10 Insider Trading Restrictions / Market Abuse Laws. By accepting the Option, Participant acknowledges that Participant is bound by all the terms and conditions of any Company’s insider trading policy as may be implemented in the future. Participant further acknowledges that, depending on Participant’s country, Participant may be or may become subject to insider trading restrictions and/or market abuse laws which may affect Participant’s ability to accept, acquire, sell or otherwise dispose of Shares, rights to Shares (e.g., Options) or rights linked to the value of Shares under the Plan during such times as Participant is considered to have “inside information” regarding the Company (as defined by the laws in the applicable jurisdictions). Local insider trading laws and regulations may prohibit the cancellation or amendment of orders Participant placed before Participant possessed inside information. Furthermore, Participant could be prohibited from (i) disclosing the inside information to any third party, which may include fellow employees and (ii) “tipping” third parties or causing them otherwise to buy or sell securities. Any restrictions under these laws or regulations are separate from and in addition to any restrictions that may be imposed under any Company’s insider trading policy as may be implemented in the future. Participant acknowledges that it is Participant’s responsibility to comply with any applicable restrictions, and Participant should speak to his or her personal advisor on this matter.

11.10 Severability. If any provision of this Agreement is determined by any court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, such provision will be enforced to the maximum extent possible given the intent of the parties hereto. If such clause or provision cannot be so enforced, such provision shall be stricken from this Agreement and the remainder of this Agreement shall be enforced as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable clause or provision had (to the extent not enforceable) never been contained in this Agreement. Notwithstanding the forgoing, if the value of this Agreement based upon the substantial benefit of the bargain for any party is materially impaired, which determination as made by the presiding court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction shall be binding, then both parties agree to substitute such provision(s) through good faith negotiations.

11.12 Facsimile/Electronic Delivery and Signatures. This Agreement may be executed and delivered by facsimile and upon such delivery by facsimile signature will be deemed to have the same effect as if the original signature had been delivered to the other party. Further, the Company may, in its sole discretion, decide to delivery any documents related to current or future participation in the Plan by electronic means. Participant hereby consents to receive such documents by electronic delivery and agrees to participate in the Plan through an on-line or electronic system established and maintained by the Company or a third party designated by the Company.


11.13 Waiver of Statutory Information Rights. Participant understands and agrees that, but for the waiver made herein, Participant would be entitled, upon written demand under oath stating the purpose thereof, to inspect for any proper purpose, and to make copies and extracts from, the Company’s stock ledger, a list of its stockholders, and its other books and records, and the books and records of subsidiaries of the Company, if any, under the circumstances and in the manner provided in Section 220 of the General Corporation Law of Delaware (any and all such rights, and any and all such other rights of Participant as may be provided for in Section 220, the “Inspection Rights”). In light of the foregoing, until the first sale of stock of the Company to the general public pursuant to a registration statement filed with and declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Act, Participant hereby unconditionally and irrevocably waives the Inspection Rights, whether such Inspection Rights would be exercised or pursued directly or indirectly pursuant to Section 220 or otherwise, and covenants and agrees never to directly or indirectly commence, voluntarily aid in any way, prosecute, assign, transfer, or cause to be commenced any claim, action, cause of action, or other proceeding to pursue or exercise the Inspection Rights. The foregoing waiver shall not affect any rights of a director, in his or her capacity as such, under Section 220. The foregoing waiver shall not apply to any contractual inspection rights of Participant under any other written agreement between Participant and the Company.

11.14 Language. Participant acknowledges that he or she is proficient in the English language and understands the terms of this Agreement. If Participant has received this Agreement or any other document related to the Option and/or the Plan translated into a language other than English and if the meaning of the translated version is different than the English version, the English version will control.

11.15 Addendum. Notwithstanding any provisions in this Option Agreement, the Option shall be subject to any special terms and conditions for Participant’s country set forth in the Addendum attached hereto as Exhibit A. Moreover, if Participant relocates to one of the countries included in the Addendum, the special terms and conditions for such country will apply to Participant, to the extent, the Company determines that the application of such terms and conditions is necessary or advisable for legal or administrative reasons. The Addendum constitutes part of this Agreement.

11.16 Imposition of Other Requirements. The Company reserves the right to impose other requirements on Participant’s participation in the Plan, on the Option and on the Shares acquired upon exercise of the Option, to the extent the Company determines it is necessary or advisable for legal or administrative reasons, and to require Participant to sign any additional agreements or undertakings that may be necessary to accomplish the foregoing.

11.17 Waiver. Participant acknowledges that a waiver by the Company of breach of any provision of this Agreement shall not operate or be construed as a waiver of any other provision of this Agreement, or of any subsequent breach by Participant or any other Participant.


11.18 Foreign Asset/Account Reporting Requirements. Participant acknowledges that there may be certain foreign asset and/or account reporting requirements which may affect Participant’s ability to acquire or hold the Shares acquired under the Plan or cash received from participating in the Plan (including from any dividends paid on the Shares acquired under the Plan) in a brokerage or bank account outside Participant’s country. Participant may be required to report such accounts, assets, or transactions to the tax or other authorities in his of her country. Participant also may be required to repatriate sale proceeds or other funds received as a result of participating in the Plan to Participant’s country through a designated bank or broker within a certain time after receipt. Participant acknowledges that it is his or her responsibility to be compliant with such obligations, and Participant should speak to his or her personal advisor on this matter.


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Agreement to be executed in triplicate by its duly authorized representative and Participant has executed this Agreement in triplicate, effective as of the Date of Grant.

 

COUCHBASE, INC.
By:  

             

             

Chief Financial Officer

Address:

Couchbase, Inc.

2440 W. El Camino Real Suite 101

Mountain View, CA 94040

Facsimile:

[***]

The undersigned hereby acknowledges receiving and reviewing a copy of the Plan, including, without limitation, Sections 11 and 12 thereof, and understands that this Option is subject to the terms of the Plan and of this Agreement.

 

PARTICIPANT
By:  

             

                 

Address:

 

             

             

                 

Email:

             


EXHIBIT A

COUCHBASE, INC.

2018 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

ADDENDUM

TO THE STOCK OPTION AGREEMENT FOR NON-U.S. PARTICIPANTS

Capitalized terms, unless explicitly defined in this Addendum, shall have the meanings given to them in the Stock Option Agreement for Non-U.S. Participants (the “Option Agreement”) or in the Plan.

Terms and Conditions

This Addendum includes special terms and conditions that govern Participant’s Option if Participant resides and/or works in one of the countries listed below. If Participant is a citizen or resident (or is considered as such for local law purposes) of a country other than the country in which Participant is currently residing and/or working, or if Participant transfers to another country after the grant of the Option, the Company shall, in its discretion, determine to what extent the special terms and conditions contained herein shall be applicable to Participant.

Notifications

This Addendum also includes information regarding securities, exchange control, tax and certain other issues of which Participant should be aware with respect to Participant’s participation in the Plan. The information is based on the securities, exchange control, tax and other laws in effect in the respective countries as of December 2018. Such laws are often complex and change frequently. As a result, the Company strongly recommends that Participant not rely on the information contained herein as the only source of information relating to the consequences of Participant’s participation in the Plan because the information may be out of date at the time Participant exercises the Option or at the time Participant sells the Shares acquired upon exercise of the Option. In addition, the information is general in nature and may not apply to Participant’s particular situation, and the Company is not in a position to assure Participant of any particular result; therefore, Participant is advised to seek appropriate professional advice as to how the relevant laws in Participant’s country may apply to Participant’s individual situation.

If Participant is a citizen or resident (or is considered as such for local tax purposes) of a country other than the country in which Participant is currently residing and/or working, or if Participant transfers to another country after the grant of the Option, the notifications contained herein may not be applicable to Participant in the same manner.

*****


INDIA

Terms and Conditions

Payment. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Plan or the Agreement, due to legal restrictions in India, Participant will not be permitted to pay the Exercise Price by a “sell-to-cover” exercise (i.e., where a certain number of Shares subject to the exercised Option will be sold immediately upon exercise and the proceeds of the sale will be remitted to the Company to cover the Exercise Price for the purchased Shares, any brokerage fees and any withholding obligation for Tax-Related Items). The Company reserves the right to permit this method of payment depending on the development of local law.

Notifications

Exchange Control Information. Indian residents are required to repatriate to India all proceeds received from the sale of Shares within 90 days of receipt and any dividends paid on such shares within 180 days of receipt, or within such other period of time as may be required under applicable regulations. Participant must maintain the foreign inward remittance certificate received from the bank where the foreign currency is deposited in the event that the Reserve Bank of India or the Company requests proof of repatriation. It is Participant’s responsibility to comply with applicable exchange control laws in India.

Foreign Asset/Account Reporting Information. Participant is required to declare any foreign bank accounts and any foreign financial assets (including Shares held outside India) in Participant’s annual tax return. Participant is responsible for complying with this reporting obligation and is advised to confer with his or her personal tax advisor in this regard.

ITALY

Terms and Conditions

Payment. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Plan or the Agreement, due to legal restrictions in Italy, Participant understands that Participant will be restricted to the cashless sell-all method of exercise. To complete a cashless sell-all exercise, Participant understands that Participant needs to instruct his or her broker to: (i) sell all of the Shares issued upon exercise; (ii) use the proceeds to satisfy the Exercise Price, any brokerage fees and any withholding obligation for Tax-Related Items; and (iii) remit the balance in cash to Participant. Participant will not be permitted to hold Shares after exercise. Depending on the development of local laws, the Company reserves the right to modify the methods of payment and, in its sole discretion, to permit cash exercise, cashless sell-to-cover exercise or any other method of payment permitted under the Agreement.

Plan Document Acknowledgment. By accepting the Option, Participant acknowledges that he or she has received a copy of the Plan and this Agreement and has reviewed the Plan and this Agreement in their entirety and fully accepts all provisions thereof. Participant further acknowledges that he or she has read and specifically and expressly approves (a) the following provisions of the Agreement: Section 3: Termination; Section 4: Manner of Exercise; Section 4.4: Responsibility for Taxes; Section 5: Nature of Grant; Section 6: Data Privacy, Section 10: Privileges of Stock Ownership; Section 11: General Provisions; Section 11.14: Language and all provisions for Italy in this Addendum.


Notifications

Foreign Asset/Account Reporting Information. If Participant holds investments abroad or foreign financial assets (e.g., cash and Shares acquired under the Plan) that may generate income taxable in Italy, Participant is required to report them on his or her annual tax returns (UNICO Form, RW Schedule) or on a special form if no tax return is due, irrespective of their value. The same reporting duties apply to Participant if Participant is the beneficial owner of the investments, even if Participant does not directly hold investments abroad or foreign assets.

Foreign Asset Tax Information. The value of the financial assets held outside of Italy by Italian residents is subject to a foreign asset tax. Such tax is currently levied at an annual rate of 2 per thousand (0.2%). The taxable amount will be the fair market value of the financial assets (e.g., Shares acquired under the Plan) assessed at the end of the calendar year. No tax payment duties arise if the value of the foreign assets held abroad does not exceed €6,000.

UNITED KINGDOM

Responsibility for Taxes. The following provision supplements Section 4.4 of the Option Agreement:

Without limitation to Section 4.4 of the Option Agreement, Participant hereby agrees that he or she is liable for all Tax-Related Items and hereby covenants to pay all such Tax-Related Items, as and when requested by the Company or the Service Recipient or by Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (“HRMC”) (or any other tax authority or any other relevant authority). Participant also hereby agrees to indemnify and keep indemnified the Company and the Service Recipient against any Tax-Related Items that they are required to pay or withhold or have paid or will pay to HMRC (or any other tax authority or any other relevant authority) on Participant’s behalf.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if Participant becomes a director or executive officer of the Company (within the meaning of Section 13(k) of the Exchange Act), Participant may not be able to indemnify the Company or the Service Recipient for the amount of any income tax not collected from or paid by Participant, as it may be considered a loan. In this case, the amount of any uncollected income tax may constitute a benefit to Participant on which additional income tax and employee national insurance contributions (“NICs”) may be payable. Participant agrees to report and pay any income tax due on this additional benefit directly to HMRC under the self-assessment regime and to pay the Service Recipient for the value of the employee NICs due on this additional benefit, which the Company or the Service Recipient may recover from the Participant by any of the means referred to in Section 4.4 of the Agreement.


Section 431 Joint Election. As a condition of participation in the Plan and no later than the time of exercise of the Option, Participant agrees to enter into, jointly with the Service Recipient (or the Company), a joint election within Section 431 of the U.K. Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (“ITEPA 2003”) in respect of computing any tax charge on the acquisition of “restricted securities” (as defined in Sections 423 and 424 of ITEPA 2003), and that Participant will not revoke such election at any time (the “431 Election”). This 431 Election will be to treat the Shares acquired pursuant to the exercise of the Option as if such Shares were not restricted securities (for U.K. tax purposes only). If Participant is required to but does not enter into such a 431 Election prior to the exercise of the Option, Participant will not be entitled to exercise the Option and no Shares will be issued to Participant, without any liability to the Company or the Service Recipient. Participant must enter into the 431 Election concurrent with the execution of this Agreement, or at such subsequent time as may be designated by the Company.

[National Insurance Contribution Joint Election. As a condition of participation in the Plan and no later than the time of exercise of the Option, Participant also agrees to accept liability for any secondary Class 1 national insurance contributions which may be payable by the Service Recipient in connection with any event giving rise to tax liability in relation to this Stock Option (“Employer NICs”). The Employer NICs may be collected by the Company or the Service Recipient using any of the methods described in Section 4.4 of the Option Agreement. Without prejudice to the foregoing, Participant agrees to execute a joint election with the Company or the Service Recipient (a “NICs Joint Election”), the form of such NICs Joint Election being formally approved by HMRC, and any other consent or elections required to accomplish the transfer of the Employer NICs to Participant. Participant further agrees to execute such other elections as may be required by any successor to the Company and/or the Service Recipient for the purpose of continuing the effectiveness of Participant’s NICs Joint Election. If Participant does not complete the Joint Election prior to exercise of Participant’s Option, or if approval of the NICs Joint Election is withdrawn by HMRC and a new NICs Joint Election is not entered into, Participant’s Option shall become null and void and may not be settled, without any liability to the Company or its Parent or Subsidiaries. Participant must enter into the NICs Joint Election concurrent with the execution of the Agreement, or at such subsequent time as may be designated by the Company.]


United Kingdom

Section 431 Joint Election Form

Joint Election under s431 ITEPA 2003

for full disapplication of Chapter 2 Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003

One Part Election

1. Between

 

the Employee    [insert name of employee]
whose National Insurance Number is    [insert employee Nat. Ins. Number]
and   
the Company (who is the Employee’s employer)    [INSERT UK EMPLOYER]
of Company Registration Number    [INSERT U.K. CO. REG. #]

2. Purpose of Election

This joint election is made pursuant to section 431(1) Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (“ITEPA”) and applies where employment-related securities, which are restricted securities by reason of section 423 ITEPA, are acquired.

The effect of an election under section 431(1) is that, for the purposes of relevant income tax and National Insurance contributions (“NICs”), the employment-related securities and their market value will be treated as if they were not restricted securities and that sections 425 to 430 ITEPA do not apply. Additional income tax will be payable as a result of this election (with PAYE withholding and NICs being applicable where the securities are Readily Convertible Assets).

 

Should the value of the securities fall following the acquisition, it is possible that income tax/NICs that would have arisen because of any future chargeable event (in the absence of an election) would have been less than the income tax/NICs due by reason of this election. Should this be the case, there is no income tax/NICs relief available under Part 7 of ITEPA 2003; nor is it available if the securities acquired are subsequently transferred, forfeited or revert to the original owner.

3. Application

This joint election is made not later than 14 days after the date of acquisition of the securities by the employee and applies to:

 

Number of securities    [insert number]
Description of securities    Shares of common stock


Name of issuer of securities    Couchbase, Inc.

To be acquired by the Employee on or after the date of this Election under the terms of the Couchbase, Inc. .

4. Extent of Application

This election disapplies S.431(1) ITEPA: All restrictions attaching to the securities.

5. Declaration

This election will become irrevocable upon the later of its signing or the acquisition (and each subsequent acquisition) of employment-related securities to which this election applies.

In signing this joint election, we agree to be bound by its terms as stated above.

 

 

 

        /              /                

Signature (Employee)

 

Date

 

 

        /              /                

Signature (for and on behalf of the Company)

 

Date

 

Position in company

 

Note: Where the election is in respect of multiple acquisitions, prior to the date of any subsequent acquisition of a security it may be revoked by agreement between the employee and employer in respect of that and any later acquisition.


EXHIBIT B

2018 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

EX-10.5

Exhibit 10.5

COUCHBASE, INC.

2008 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

As Adopted on October 21, 2008 and amended through February 18, 2018

1. PURPOSE. The purpose of this Plan is to provide incentives to attract, retain and motivate eligible persons whose present and potential contributions are important to the success of the Company, its Parent and Subsidiaries by offering eligible persons an opportunity to participate in the Company’s future performance through awards of Options and Restricted Stock. Capitalized terms not defined in the text are defined in Section 22 hereof. Although this Plan is intended to be a written compensatory benefit plan within the meaning of Rule 701 promulgated under the Securities Act, grants may be made pursuant to this Plan that do not qualify for exemption under Rule 701 or Section 25102(o) of the California Corporations Code (“Section 25102(o)”). Any requirement of this Plan that is required in law only because of Section 25102(o) need not apply if the Committee so provides.

2. SHARES SUBJECT TO THE PLAN.

2.1 Number of Shares Available. Subject to Sections 2.2 and 17 hereof, the total number of Shares reserved and available for grant and issuance pursuant to this Plan will be 21,460,015 Shares. Subject to Sections 2.2, 5.10 and 17 hereof, Shares subject to Awards previously granted will again be available for grant and issuance in connection with future Awards under this Plan to the extent such Shares: (i) cease to be subject to issuance upon exercise of an Option, other than due to exercise of such Option; (ii) are subject to an Award granted hereunder but the Shares subject to such Award are forfeited or repurchased by the Company at the original issue price; or (iii) are subject to an Award that otherwise terminates without Shares being issued. At all times the Company will reserve and keep available a sufficient number of Shares as will be required to satisfy the requirements of all Awards granted and outstanding under this Plan.

2.2 Adjustment of Shares. In the event that the number of outstanding shares of the Company’s Common Stock is changed by a stock dividend, recapitalization, stock split, reverse stock split, subdivision, combination, reclassification or similar change in the capital structure of the Company without consideration, then (a) the number of Shares reserved for issuance under this Plan, (b) the Exercise Prices of and number of Shares subject to outstanding Options and (c) the Purchase Prices of and number of Shares subject to other outstanding Awards will be proportionately adjusted, subject to any required action by the Board or the stockholders of the Company and compliance with applicable securities laws; provided, however, that fractions of a Share will not be issued but will either be paid in cash at the Fair Market Value of such fraction of a Share or will be rounded down to the nearest whole Share, as determined by the Committee; and provided, further, that the Exercise Price of any Option may not be decreased to below the par value of the Shares.

3. ELIGIBILITY. ISOs (as defined in Section 5 hereof) may be granted only to employees (including officers and directors who are also employees) of the Company or of a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company. NQSOs (as defined in Section 5 hereof) and Restricted Stock Awards may be granted to employees, officers, directors and consultants of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company; provided such consultants render bona fide services not in connection with the offer and sale of securities in a capital-raising transaction. A person may be granted more than one Award under this Plan.


4. ADMINISTRATION.

4.1 Committee Authority. This Plan will be administered by the Committee or the Board if no Committee is created by the Board. Subject to the general purposes, terms and conditions of this Plan, and to the direction of the Board, the Committee will have full power to implement and carry out this Plan. Without limitation, the Committee will have the authority to:

(a) construe and interpret this Plan, any Award Agreement and any other agreement or document executed pursuant to this Plan;

(b) prescribe, amend, expand and rescind or terminate rules and regulations relating to this Plan;

(c) approve persons to receive Awards;

(d) determine the form and terms of Awards;

(e) determine the number of Shares or other consideration subject to Awards under this Plan;

(f) determine whether Awards will be granted singly, in combination with, in tandem with, in replacement of, or as alternatives to, other Awards under this Plan or awards under any other incentive or compensation plan of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company;

(g) grant waivers of any conditions of this Plan or any Award;

(h) determine the terms of vesting, exercisability and payment of Awards under this Plan;

(i) correct any defect, supply any omission, or reconcile any inconsistency in this Plan, any Award, any Award Agreement, any Exercise Agreement or any Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement;

(j) determine whether an Award has been earned;

(k) make all other determinations necessary or advisable for the administration of this Plan; and

(l) extend the vesting period beyond a Participant’s Termination Date.

4.2 Committee Discretion. Unless in contravention of any express terms of this Plan or Award, any determination made by the Committee with respect to any Award will be made in its sole discretion either (a) at the time of grant of the Award, or (b) subject to Section 5.9 hereof, at any later time. Any such determination will be final and binding on the Company and on all persons having an interest in any Award under this Plan. The Committee may delegate to one or more officers of the Company the authority to grant an Award under this Plan, provided such officer or officers are members of the Board.


5. OPTIONS. The Committee may grant Options to eligible persons described in Section 3 hereof and will determine whether such Options will be Incentive Stock Options within the meaning of the Code (“ISOs”) or Nonqualified Stock Options (“NQSOs”), the number of Shares subject to the Option, the Exercise Price of the Option, the period during which the Option may be exercised, and all other terms and conditions of the Option, subject to the following:

5.1 Form of Option Grant. Each Option granted under this Plan will be evidenced by an Award Agreement which will expressly identify the Option as an ISO or an NQSO (“Stock Option Agreement”), and will be in such form and contain such provisions (which need not be the same for each Participant) as the Committee may from time to time approve, and which will comply with and be subject to the terms and conditions of this Plan.

5.2 Date of Grant. The date of grant of an Option will be the date on which the Committee makes the determination to grant such Option, unless a later date is otherwise specified by the Committee. The Stock Option Agreement and a copy of this Plan will be delivered to the Participant within a reasonable time after the granting of the Option.

5.3 Exercise Period. Options may be exercisable immediately but subject to repurchase pursuant to Section 11 hereof or may be exercisable within the times or upon the events determined by the Committee as set forth in the Stock Option Agreement governing such Option; provided, however, that no Option will be exercisable after the expiration of ten (10) years from the date the Option is granted; and provided further that no ISO granted to a person who directly or by attribution owns more than ten percent (10%) of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock of the Company or of any Parent or Subsidiary (“Ten Percent Shareholder”) will be exercisable after the expiration of five (5) years from the date the ISO is granted. The Committee also may provide for Options to become exercisable at one time or from time to time, periodically or otherwise, in such number of Shares or percentage of Shares as the Committee determines.

5.4 Exercise Price. The Exercise Price of an Option will be determined by the Committee when the Option is granted and shall not be less than the Fair Market Value per Share unless expressly determined in writing by the Committee on the Option’s date of grant; provided that the Exercise Price of an ISO granted to a Ten Percent Shareholder will not be less than one hundred ten percent (110%) of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on the date of grant. Payment for the Shares purchased must be made in accordance with Section 7 hereof.

5.5 Method of Exercise. Options may be exercised only by delivery to the Company of a written stock option exercise agreement (the “Exercise Agreement”) in a form approved by the Committee (which need not be the same for each Participant). The Exercise Agreement will state (a) the number of Shares being purchased, (b) the restrictions imposed on the Shares purchased under such Exercise Agreement, if any, and (c) such representations and agreements regarding Participant’s investment intent and access to information and other matters, if any, as may be required or desirable by the Company to comply with applicable securities laws. Participant shall execute and deliver to the Company the Exercise Agreement together with payment in full of the Exercise Price, and any applicable taxes, for the number of Shares being purchased.


5.6 Termination. Subject to earlier termination pursuant to Sections 17 and 18 hereof and notwithstanding the exercise periods set forth in the Stock Option Agreement, exercise of an Option will always be subject to the following:

(a) If the Participant is terminated for any reason other than death, Disability or for Cause, then the Participant may exercise such Participant’s Options only to the extent that such Options are exercisable as to Vested Shares upon the Termination Date or as otherwise determined by the Committee. Such Options must be exercised by the Participant, if at all, as to all or some of the Vested Shares calculated as of the Termination Date or such other date determined by the Committee, within three (3) months after the Termination Date (or within such shorter time period, not less than thirty (30) days, or within such longer time period, not exceeding five (5) years, after the Termination Date as may be determined by the Committee, with any exercise beyond three (3) months after the Termination Date deemed to be an NQSO) but in any event, no later than the expiration date of the Options.

(b) If the Participant is Terminated because of Participant’s death or Disability (or the Participant dies within three (3) months after a Termination other than for Cause), then Participant’s Options may be exercised only to the extent that such Options are exercisable as to Vested Shares by Participant on the Termination Date or as otherwise determined by the Committee. Such options must be exercised by Participant (or Participant’s legal representative or authorized assignee), if at all, as to all or some of the Vested Shares calculated as of the Termination Date or such other date determined by the Committee, within twelve (12) months after the Termination Date (or within such shorter time period, not less than six (6) months, or within such longer time period, not exceeding five (5) years, after the Termination Date as may be determined by the Committee, with any exercise beyond (i) three (3) months after the Termination Date when the Termination is for any reason other than the Participant’s death or disability, within the meaning of Section 22(e)(3) of the Code, or (ii) twelve (12) months after the Termination Date when the Termination is for Participant’s disability, within the meaning of Section 22(e)(3) of the Code, deemed to be an NQSO) but in any event no later than the expiration date of the Options.

(c) If the Participant is terminated for Cause, the Participant may exercise such Participant’s Options, but not to an extent greater than such Options are exercisable as to Vested Shares upon the Termination Date and Participant’s Options shall expire on such Participant’s Termination Date, or at such later time and on such conditions as are determined by the Committee.

5.7 Limitations on Exercise. The Committee may specify a reasonable minimum number of Shares that may be purchased on any exercise of an Option, provided that such minimum number will not prevent Participant from exercising the Option for the full number of Shares for which it is then exercisable.


5.8 Limitations on ISOs. The aggregate Fair Market Value (determined as of the date of grant) of Shares with respect to which ISOs are exercisable for the first time by a Participant during any calendar year (under this Plan or under any other incentive stock option plan of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company) will not exceed One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000). If the Fair Market Value of Shares on the date of grant with respect to which ISOs are exercisable for the first time by a Participant during any calendar year exceeds One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000), then the Options for the first One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000) worth of Shares to become exercisable in such calendar year will be ISOs and the Options for the amount in excess of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000) that become exercisable in that calendar year will be NQSOs. In the event that the Code or the regulations promulgated thereunder are amended after the Effective Date (as defined in Section 18 hereof) to provide for a different limit on the Fair Market Value of Shares permitted to be subject to ISOs, then such different limit will be automatically incorporated herein and will apply to any Options granted after the effective date of such amendment.

5.9 Modification, Extension or Renewal. The Committee may modify, extend or renew outstanding Options and authorize the grant of new Options in substitution therefor, provided that any such action may not, without the written consent of a Participant, impair any of such Participant’s rights under any Option previously granted. Any outstanding ISO that is modified, extended, renewed or otherwise altered will be treated in accordance with Section 424(h) of the Code. Subject to Section 5.10 hereof, the Committee may reduce the Exercise Price of outstanding Options without the consent of Participants by a written notice to them; provided, however, that the Exercise Price may not be reduced below the minimum Exercise Price that would be permitted under Section 5.4 hereof for Options granted on the date the action is taken to reduce the Exercise Price; provided, further, that the Exercise Price will not be reduced below the par value of the Shares, if any.

5.10 No Disqualification. Notwithstanding any other provision in this Plan, no term of this Plan relating to ISOs will be interpreted, amended or altered, nor will any discretion or authority granted under this Plan be exercised, so as to disqualify this Plan under Section 422 of the Code or, without the consent of the Participant, to disqualify any Participant’s ISO under Section 422 of the Code. In no event shall the total number of Shares issued (counting each reissuance of a Share that was previously issued and then forfeited or repurchased by the Company as a separate issuance) under the Plan upon exercise of ISOs exceed 34,483,630 Shares (adjusted in proportion to any adjustments under Section 2.2 hereof) over the term of the Plan.

6. RESTRICTED STOCK. A Restricted Stock Award is an offer by the Company to sell to an eligible person Shares that are subject to certain specified restrictions. The Committee will determine to whom an offer will be made, the number of Shares the person may purchase, the Purchase Price, the restrictions to which the Shares will be subject, and all other terms and conditions of the Restricted Stock Award, subject to the following:

6.1 Form of Restricted Stock Award. All purchases under a Restricted Stock Award made pursuant to this Plan will be evidenced by an Award Agreement (“Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement”) that will be in such form (which need not be the same for each Participant) as the Committee will from time to time approve, and will comply with and be subject to the terms and conditions of this Plan. The Restricted Stock Award will be accepted by the Participant’s execution and delivery of the Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement and full payment for the Shares to the Company within thirty (30) days from the date the Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement is delivered to the person. If such person does not execute and deliver the Restricted Stock Purchase Agreement along with full payment for the Shares to the Company within such thirty (30) days, then the offer will terminate, unless otherwise determined by the Committee.


6.2 Purchase Price. The Purchase Price of Shares sold pursuant to a Restricted Stock Award will be determined by the Committee on the date the Restricted Stock Award is granted or at the time the purchase is consummated. Payment of the Purchase Price must be made in accordance with Section 7 hereof.

6.3 Restrictions. Restricted Stock Awards may be subject to the restrictions set forth in Section 11 hereof or such other restrictions not inconsistent with Section 25102(o) of the California Corporations Code.

7. PAYMENT FOR SHARE PURCHASES.

7.1 Payment. Payment for Shares purchased pursuant to this Plan may be made in cash (by check) or, where expressly approved for the Participant by the Committee and where permitted by law:

(a) by cancellation of indebtedness of the Company owed to the Participant;

(b) by surrender of shares of the Company that: (i) either (A) for which the Company has received “full payment of the purchase price” within the meaning of SEC Rule 144 (and, if such shares were purchased from the Company by use of a promissory note, such note has been fully paid with respect to such shares) or (B) were obtained by Participant in the public market and (ii) are clear of all liens, claims, encumbrances or security interests;

(c) by tender of a full recourse promissory note having such terms as may be approved by the Committee and bearing interest at a rate sufficient to avoid imputation of income under Sections 483 and 1274 of the Code; provided, however, that Participants who are not employees or directors of the Company will not be entitled to purchase Shares with a promissory note unless the note is adequately secured by collateral other than the Shares; provided, further, that the portion of the Exercise Price or Purchase Price, as the case may be, equal to the par value of the Shares must be paid in cash or other legal consideration permitted by Delaware General Corporation Law;

(d) by waiver of compensation due or accrued to the Participant from the Company for services rendered;

(e) with respect only to purchases upon exercise of an Option, and provided that a public market for the Company’s stock exists:

(i) through a “same day sale” commitment from the Participant and a broker-dealer that is a member of a financial industry regulatory authority, such as the New York Stock Exchange (each, a “Dealer”), whereby the Participant irrevocably elects to exercise the Option and to sell a portion of the Shares so purchased sufficient to pay the total Exercise Price, and whereby the Dealer irrevocably commits upon receipt of such Shares to forward the total Exercise Price directly to the Company; or


(ii) through a “margin” commitment from the Participant and a Dealer whereby the Participant irrevocably elects to exercise the Option and to pledge the Shares so purchased to the Dealer in a margin account as security for a loan from the Dealer in the amount of the total Exercise Price, and whereby the Dealer irrevocably commits upon receipt of such Shares to forward the total Exercise Price directly to the Company; or

(f) by any combination of the foregoing.

7.2 Loan Guarantees. The Committee may, in its sole discretion, elect to assist the Participant in paying for Shares purchased under this Plan by authorizing a guarantee by the Company of a third-party loan to the Participant.

8. WITHHOLDING TAXES.

8.1 Withholding Generally. Whenever Shares are to be issued in satisfaction of Awards granted under this Plan, the Company may require the Participant to remit to the Company an amount sufficient to satisfy federal, state and local withholding tax requirements prior to the delivery of any certificate or certificates for such Shares. Whenever, under this Plan, payments in satisfaction of Awards are to be made in cash by the Company, such payment will be net of an amount sufficient to satisfy federal, state, and local withholding tax requirements.

8.2 Stock Withholding. When, under applicable tax laws, a Participant incurs tax liability in connection with the exercise or vesting of any Award that is subject to tax withholding and the Participant is obligated to pay the Company the amount required to be withheld, the Committee may in its sole discretion allow the Participant to satisfy the minimum withholding tax obligation by electing to have the Company withhold from the Shares to be issued that minimum number of Shares having a Fair Market Value equal to the minimum amount required to be withheld, determined on the date that the amount of tax to be withheld is to be determined; but in no event will the Company withhold Shares if such withholding would result in adverse accounting consequences to the Company. All elections by a Participant to have Shares withheld for this purpose will be made in accordance with the requirements established by the Committee for such elections and be in writing in a form acceptable to the Committee.

9. PRIVILEGES OF STOCK OWNERSHIP. No Participant will have any of the rights of a stockholder with respect to any Shares until the Shares are issued to the Participant. After Shares are issued to the Participant, the Participant will be a stockholder and have all the rights of a stockholder with respect to such Shares, including the right to vote and receive all dividends or other distributions made or paid with respect to such Shares; provided, that if such Shares are Restricted Stock, then any new, additional or different securities the Participant may become entitled to receive with respect to such Shares by virtue of a stock dividend, stock split or any other change in the corporate or capital structure of the Company will be subject to the same restrictions as the Restricted Stock. The Participant will have no right to retain such stock dividends or stock distributions with respect to Unvested Shares that are repurchased pursuant to Section 11 hereof.


10. TRANSFERABILITY. Except as permitted by the Committee, Awards granted under this Plan, and any interest therein, will not be transferable or assignable by Participant, other than by will or by the laws of descent and distribution, and, with respect to NQSOs, by instrument to an inter vivos or testamentary trust in which the options are to be passed to beneficiaries upon the death of the trustor (senior), or by gift to “immediate family” as that term is defined in 17 C.F.R. 240.16a-1(e), and may not be made subject to execution, attachment or similar process. During the lifetime of the Participant an Award will be exercisable only by the Participant or Participant’s legal representative and any elections with respect to an Award may be made only by the Participant or Participant’s legal representative.

11. RESTRICTIONS ON SHARES.

11.1 Right of First Refusal. At the discretion of the Committee, the Company may reserve to itself and/or its assignee(s) in the Award Agreement a right of first refusal to purchase all Shares that a Participant (or a subsequent transferee) may propose to transfer to a third party, provided that such right of first refusal terminates upon the Company’s initial public offering of Common Stock pursuant to an effective registration statement filed under the Securities Act.

11.2 Right of Repurchase. At the discretion of the Committee, the Company may reserve to itself and/or its assignee(s) in the Award Agreement a right to repurchase Unvested Shares held by a Participant for cash and/or cancellation of purchase money indebtedness owed to the Company by the Participant following such Participant’s Termination at any time.

12. CERTIFICATES. All certificates for Shares or other securities delivered under this Plan will be subject to such stock transfer orders, legends and other restrictions as the Committee may deem necessary or advisable, including restrictions under any applicable federal, state or foreign securities law, or any rules, regulations and other requirements of the SEC or any stock exchange or automated quotation system upon which the Shares may be listed or quoted.

13. ESCROW; PLEDGE OF SHARES. To enforce any restrictions on a Participant’s Shares set forth in Section 11 hereof, the Committee may require the Participant to deposit all certificates representing Shares, together with stock powers or other instruments of transfer approved by the Committee, appropriately endorsed in blank, with the Company or an agent designated by the Company to hold in escrow until such restrictions have lapsed or terminated. The Committee may cause a legend or legends referencing such restrictions to be placed on the certificates. Any Participant who is permitted to execute a promissory note as partial or full consideration for the purchase of Shares under this Plan will be required to pledge and deposit with the Company all or part of the Shares so purchased as collateral to secure the payment of Participant’s obligation to the Company under the promissory note; provided, however, that the Committee may require or accept other or additional forms of collateral to secure the payment of such obligation and, in any event, the Company will have full recourse against the Participant under the promissory note notwithstanding any pledge of the Participant’s Shares or other collateral. In connection with any pledge of the Shares, Participant will be required to execute and deliver a written pledge agreement in such form as the Committee will from time to time approve. The Shares purchased with the promissory note may be released from the pledge on a pro rata basis as the promissory note is paid.


14. EXCHANGE AND BUYOUT OF AWARDS. The Committee may, at any time or from time to time, authorize the Company, with the consent of the respective Participants, to issue new Awards in exchange for the surrender and cancellation of any or all outstanding Awards. The Committee may at any time buy from a Participant an Award previously granted with payment in cash, shares of Common Stock of the Company (including Restricted Stock) or other consideration, based on such terms and conditions as the Committee and the Participant may agree.

15. SECURITIES LAW AND OTHER REGULATORY COMPLIANCE. Although this Plan is intended to be a written compensatory benefit plan within the meaning of Rule 701 promulgated under the Securities Act, grants may be made pursuant to this plan that do not qualify for exemption under Rule 701 or Section 25102(o) of the California Corporations Code. Any requirement of this Plan which is required in law only because of Section 25102(o) need not apply with respect to a particular Award if the Committee so provides. An Award will not be effective unless such Award is in compliance with all applicable federal and state securities laws, rules and regulations of any governmental body, and the requirements of any stock exchange or automated quotation system upon which the Shares may then be listed or quoted, as they are in effect on the date of grant of the Award and also on the date of exercise or other issuance. Notwithstanding any other provision in this Plan, the Company will have no obligation to issue or deliver certificates for Shares under this Plan prior to (a) obtaining any approvals from governmental agencies that the Company determines are necessary or advisable, and/or (b) compliance with any exemption, completion of any registration or other qualification of such Shares under any state or federal law or ruling of any governmental body that the Company determines to be necessary or advisable. The Company will be under no obligation to register the Shares with the SEC or to effect compliance with the exemption, registration, qualification or listing requirements of any state securities laws, stock exchange or automated quotation system, and the Company will have no liability for any inability or failure to do so.

16. NO OBLIGATION TO EMPLOY. Nothing in this Plan or any Award granted under this Plan will confer or be deemed to confer on any Participant any right to continue in the employ of, or to continue any other relationship with, the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary or limit in any way the right of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary to terminate Participant’s employment or other relationship at any time, with or without Cause.

17. CORPORATE TRANSACTIONS.

17.1 Assumption or Replacement of Awards by Successor or Acquiring Company. In the event of (a) a dissolution or liquidation of the Company, (b) any reorganization, consolidation, merger or similar transaction or series of related transactions (each, a “combination transaction”) in which the Company is a constituent corporation or is a party if, as a result of such combination transaction, the voting securities of the Company that are outstanding immediately prior to the consummation of such combination transaction (other than any such securities that are held by an Acquiring Stockholder (defined below)) do not represent, or are not converted into, securities of the surviving corporation of such combination transaction (or such surviving corporation’s parent corporation if the surviving corporation is owned by the parent corporation)


that, immediately after the consummation of such combination transaction, together possess at least fifty percent (50%) of the total voting power of all securities of such surviving corporation (or its parent corporation, if applicable) that are outstanding immediately after the consummation of such combination transaction, including securities of such surviving corporation (or its parent corporation, if applicable) that are held by the Acquiring Stockholder; or (c) a sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company, that is followed by the distribution of the proceeds to the Company’s stockholders, any or all outstanding Awards may be assumed, converted or replaced by the successor or acquiring corporation (if any), which assumption, conversion or replacement will be binding on all Participants. In the alternative, the successor or acquiring corporation may substitute equivalent Awards or provide substantially similar consideration to Participants as was provided to stockholders of the Company (after taking into account the existing provisions of the Awards). The successor or acquiring corporation may also substitute by issuing, in place of outstanding Shares of the Company held by the Participant, substantially similar shares or other property subject to repurchase restrictions and other provisions no less favorable to the Participant than those which applied to such outstanding Shares immediately prior to such transaction described in this Section 17.1. For purposes of this Section 17.1, an “Acquiring Stockholder” means a stockholder or stockholders of the Company that (i) merges or combines with the Company in such combination transaction or (ii) owns or controls a majority of another corporation that merges or combines with the Company in such combination transaction. In the event such successor or acquiring corporation (if any) refuses to assume, convert, replace or substitute Awards, as provided above, pursuant to a transaction described in this Section 17.1, then notwithstanding any other provision in this Plan to the contrary, such Awards will expire on such transaction at such time and on such conditions as the Board will determine

17.2 Other Treatment of Awards. Subject to any greater rights granted to Participants under the foregoing provisions of this Section 17, in the event of the occurrence of any transaction described in Section 17.1 hereof, any outstanding Awards will be treated as provided in the applicable agreement or plan of reorganization, merger, consolidation, dissolution, liquidation or sale of assets.

17.3 Assumption of Awards by the Company. The Company, from time to time, also may substitute or assume outstanding awards granted by another company, whether in connection with an acquisition of such other company or otherwise, by either (a) granting an Award under this Plan in substitution of such other Company’s award or (b) assuming such award as if it had been granted under this Plan if the terms of such assumed award could be applied to an Award granted under this Plan. Such substitution or assumption will be permissible if the holder of the substituted or assumed award would have been eligible to be granted an Award under this Plan if the other company had applied the rules of this Plan to such grant. In the event the Company assumes an award granted by another company, the terms and conditions of such award will remain unchanged (except that the exercise price and the number and nature of shares issuable upon exercise of any such option will be adjusted appropriately pursuant to Section 424(a) of the Code). In the event the Company elects to grant a new Option rather than assuming an existing option, such new Option may be granted with a similarly adjusted Exercise Price.


18. ADOPTION AND STOCKHOLDER APPROVAL. This Plan will become effective on the date that it is adopted by the Board (the “Effective Date”). This Plan will be approved by the stockholders of the Company (excluding Shares issued pursuant to this Plan), consistent with applicable laws, within twelve (12) months before or after the Effective Date. Upon the Effective Date, the Board may grant Awards pursuant to this Plan; provided, however, that: (a) no Option may be exercised prior to initial stockholder approval of this Plan; (b) no Option granted pursuant to an increase in the number of Shares approved by the Board shall be exercised prior to the time such increase has been approved by the stockholders of the Company; (c) in the event that initial stockholder approval is not obtained within the time period provided herein, all Awards for which only the exemption from California’s securities qualification requirements provided by Section 25102(o) can apply shall be canceled, any Shares issued pursuant to any such Award shall be canceled and any purchase of such Shares issued hereunder shall be rescinded; and (d) Awards (to which only the exemption from California’s securities qualification requirements provided by Section 25102(o) can apply) granted pursuant to an increase in the number of Shares approved by the Board which increase is not approved by stockholders within the time then required under Section 25102(o) shall be canceled, any Shares issued pursuant to any such Awards shall be canceled, and any purchase of Shares subject to any such Award shall be rescinded.

19. TERM OF PLAN/GOVERNING LAW. Unless earlier terminated as provided herein, this Plan will terminate ten (10) years from the Effective Date or, if earlier, the date of stockholder approval. This Plan and all agreements hereunder shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California.

20. AMENDMENT OR TERMINATION OF PLAN. Subject to Section 5.9 hereof, the Board may at any time terminate or amend this Plan in any respect, including without limitation amendment of any form of Award Agreement or instrument to be executed pursuant to this Plan; provided, however, that the Board will not, without the approval of the stockholders of the Company, amend this Plan in any manner that requires such stockholder approval pursuant to Section 25102(o) of the California Corporations Code or the Code or the regulations promulgated thereunder as such provisions apply to ISO plans.

21. NONEXCLUSIVITY OF THE PLAN. Neither the adoption of this Plan by the Board, the submission of this Plan to the stockholders of the Company for approval, nor any provision of this Plan will be construed as creating any limitations on the power of the Board to adopt such additional compensation arrangements as it may deem desirable, including, without limitation, the granting of stock options and other equity awards otherwise than under this Plan, and such arrangements may be either generally applicable or applicable only in specific cases.

22. DEFINITIONS. As used in this Plan, the following terms will have the following meanings:

“Award” means any award under this Plan, including any Option or Restricted Stock Award.

“Award Agreement’ means, with respect to each Award, the signed written agreement between the Company and the Participant setting forth the terms and conditions of the Award, including the Stock Option Agreement and Restricted Stock Agreement.

“Board” means the Board of Directors of the Company.


“Cause” means Termination because of (a) any willful, material violation by the Participant of any law or regulation applicable to the business of the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, the Participant’s conviction for, or guilty plea to, a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude, or any willful perpetration by the Participant of a common law fraud, (b) the Participant’s commission of an act of personal dishonesty which involves personal profit in connection with the Company or any other entity having a business relationship with the Company, (c) any material breach by the Participant of any provision of any agreement or understanding between the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company and the Participant regarding the terms of the Participant’s service as an employee, officer, director or consultant to the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, including without limitation, the willful and continued failure or refusal of the Participant to perform the material duties required of such Participant as an employee, officer, director or consultant of the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, other than as a result of having a Disability, or a breach of any applicable invention assignment and confidentiality agreement or similar agreement between the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company and the Participant, (d) Participant’s disregard of the policies of the Company or any Parent or Subsidiary of the Company so as to cause loss, damage or injury to the property, reputation or employees of the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company, or (e) any other misconduct by the Participant which is materially injurious to the financial condition or business reputation of, or is otherwise materially injurious to, the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company.

“Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

“Committee” means the committee created and appointed by the Board to administer this Plan, or if no committee is created and appointed, the Board.

“Company” means Couchbase, Inc. (formerly NorthScale, Inc.) or any successor corporation.

“Disability” means a disability, whether temporary or permanent, partial or total, as determined by the Committee.

“Exercise Price” means the price per Share at which a holder of an Option may purchase Shares issuable upon exercise of the Option.

“Fair Market Value” means, as of any date, the value of a share of the Company’s Common Stock determined as follows:

(a) if such Common Stock is then publicly traded on a national securities exchange, its closing price on the date of determination on the principal national securities exchange on which the Common Stock is listed or admitted to trading as reported in The Wall Street Journal;

(b) if such Common Stock is publicly traded but is not quoted on the Nasdaq National Market nor listed or admitted to trading on a national securities exchange, the average of the closing bid and asked prices on the date of determination as reported by The Wall Street Journal (or, if not so reported, as otherwise reported by any newspaper or other source as the Committee may determine); or


(c) if none of the foregoing is applicable to the valuation in question, by the Committee in good faith.

“Option” means an award of an option to purchase Shares pursuant to Section 5 of this Plan.

“Parent” means any corporation (other than the Company) in an unbroken chain of corporations ending with the Company if each of such corporations other than the Company owns stock representing fifty percent (50%) or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock in one of the other corporations in such chain.

“Participant” means a person who receives an Award under this Plan.

“Plan” means this Couchbase, Inc. 2008 Equity Incentive Plan, as amended from time to time.

“Purchase Price” means the price at which a Participant may purchase Restricted Stock in connection with this Plan.

“Restricted Stock” means Shares purchased pursuant to a Restricted Stock Award under this Plan.

“Restricted Stock Award” means an award of Shares pursuant to Section 6 hereof.

“SEC” means the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Securities Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

“Shares” means shares of the Company’s Common Stock, $0.0001 par value, reserved for issuance under this Plan, as adjusted pursuant to Sections 2 and 17 hereof, and any successor security.

“Subsidiary” means any corporation (other than the Company) in an unbroken chain of corporations beginning with the Company if each of the corporations other than the last corporation in the unbroken chain owns stock representing fifty percent (50%) or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock in one of the other corporations in such chain.

“Termination” or “Terminated” means, for purposes of this Plan with respect to a Participant that the Participant has for any reason ceased to provide services as an employee, officer, director or consultant to the Company or a Parent or Subsidiary of the Company. A Participant will not be deemed to have ceased to provide services in the case of sick leave, military leave, or any other leave of absence approved by the Committee; provided that such leave is for a period of not more than ninety (90) days (a) unless reinstatement (or, in the case of an employee with an ISO, reemployment) upon the expiration of such leave is guaranteed by contract or statute, or (b) unless provided otherwise pursuant to formal policy adopted from time to time by the Company’s Board and issued and promulgated in writing. In the case of any Participant on sick leave, military leave or an approved leave of absence, the Committee may make such provisions respecting suspension of vesting of the Award while on leave from the Company or a Parent or


Subsidiary of the Company as it may deem appropriate, except that in no event may an Option be exercised after the expiration of the term set forth in the Stock Option Agreement. The Committee will have sole discretion to determine whether a Participant has ceased to provide services and the effective date on which the Participant ceased to provide services (the “Termination Date”).

“Unvested Shares” means “Unvested Shares” as defined in the Award Agreement for an Award.

“Vested Shares” means Vested Shares” as defined in the Award Agreement.


No.         

COUCHBASE, INC.

2008 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

STOCK OPTION EXERCISE AGREEMENT

This Stock Option Exercise Agreement (the “Exercise Agreement”) is made and entered into as of                      ,              (the “Effective Date”) by and between Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and the purchaser named below (the “Purchaser”). Capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the Company’s 2008 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”).

 

Purchaser:   

 

Social Security Number:   

 

Address:   

 

Total Number of Shares:   

 

Exercise Price Per Share:   

 

Date of Grant:   

 

First Vesting Date:   

 

Expiration Date:   

 

   (Unless earlier terminated under Section 5.6 of the Plan)
Type of Stock Option   
(Check one):   

[ ] Incentive Stock Option

[ ] Nonqualified Stock Option

1. Exercise of Option.

1.1 Exercise. Pursuant to exercise of that certain option (the “Option”) granted to Purchaser under the Plan and subject to the terms and conditions of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser hereby purchases from the Company, and the Company hereby sells to Purchaser, the Total Number of Shares set forth above (the “Shares”) of the Company’s Common Stock, $0.0001 par value per share, at the Exercise Price Per Share set forth above (the “Exercise Price”). As used in this Exercise Agreement, the term “Shares” refers to the Shares purchased under this Exercise Agreement and includes all securities received (i) in replacement of the Shares, (ii) as a result of stock dividends or stock splits with respect to the Shares, and (iii) all securities received in replacement of the Shares in a merger, recapitalization, reorganization or similar corporate transaction.


1.2 Title to Shares. The exact spelling of the name(s) under which Purchaser will take title to the Shares is:

 

  

 

  

 

Purchaser desires to take title to the Shares as follows:

[ ] Individual, as separate property

[ ] Husband and wife, as community property

[ ] Joint Tenants

[ ] Other; please specify:

To assign the Shares to a trust, a stock transfer agreement in a form acceptable to the Company (the “Stock Transfer Agreement”) must be completed and executed.

1.3 Payment. Purchaser hereby delivers payment of the Exercise Price in the manner permitted in the Stock Option Agreement as follows (check and complete as appropriate):

[ ] in cash (by check) in the amount of $ , receipt of which is acknowledged by the Company;

[ ] by delivery of fully-paid, nonassessable and vested shares of the Common Stock of the Company owned by Purchaser for which the Company has received “full payment of the purchase price” within the meaning of SEC Rule 144, (if purchased by use of a promissory note, such note has been fully paid with respect to such vested shares), or obtained by Purchaser in the open public market, and owned free and clear of all liens, claims, encumbrances or security interests, valued at the current Fair Market Value of $ ________ per share;

[ ] by the waiver hereby of compensation due or accrued for services rendered in the amount of $ ________

2. Delivery.

2.1 Deliveries by Purchaser. Purchaser hereby delivers to the Company (i) this Exercise Agreement, (ii) two (2) copies of a blank Stock Power and Assignment Separate from Stock Certificate in the form of Exhibit 1 attached hereto (the “Stock Powers”), both executed by Purchaser (and Purchaser’s spouse, if any), (iii) if Purchaser is married, a Consent of Spouse in the form of Exhibit 2 attached hereto (the “Spouse Consent”) executed by Purchaser’s spouse, and (iv) the Exercise Price and payment or other provision for any applicable tax obligations in the form specified above, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 3.

2.2 Deliveries by the Company. Upon its receipt of the Exercise Price, payment or other provision for any applicable tax obligations and all the documents to be executed and delivered by Purchaser to the Company under Section 2.1, the Company will issue a duly executed stock certificate evidencing the Shares in the name of Purchaser to be placed in escrow as provided in Section 10 until expiration or termination of the Company’s Right of First Refusal as described in Sections 8 and 9.


3. Representations and Warranties of Purchaser.

Purchaser represents and warrants to the Company that:

3.1 Agrees to Terms of the Plan. Purchaser has received a copy of the Plan and the Stock Option Agreement, has read and understands the terms of the Plan, the Stock Option Agreement and this Exercise Agreement, and agrees to be bound by their terms and conditions. Purchaser acknowledges that there may be adverse tax consequences upon exercise of the Option or disposition of the Shares, and that Purchaser should consult a tax adviser prior to such exercise or disposition.

3.2 Purchase for Own Account for Investment. Purchaser is purchasing the Shares for Purchaser’s own account for investment purposes only and not with a view to, or for sale in connection with, a distribution of the Shares within the meaning of the Securities Act. Purchaser has no present intention of selling or otherwise disposing of all or any portion of the Shares and no one other than Purchaser has any beneficial ownership of any of the Shares.

3.3 Access to Information. Purchaser has had access to all information regarding the Company and its present and prospective business, assets, liabilities and financial condition that Purchaser reasonably considers important in making the decision to purchase the Shares, and Purchaser has had ample opportunity to ask questions of the Company’s representatives concerning such matters and this investment.

3.4 Understanding of Risks. Purchaser is fully aware of: (i) the highly speculative nature of the investment in the Shares; (ii) the financial hazards involved; (iii) the lack of liquidity of the Shares and the restrictions on transferability of the Shares (e.g., that Purchaser may not be able to sell or dispose of the Shares or use them as collateral for loans); (iv) the qualifications and backgrounds of the management of the Company; and (v) the tax consequences of investment in the Shares. Purchaser is capable of evaluating the merits and risks of this investment, has the ability to protect Purchaser’s own interests in this transaction and is financially capable of bearing a total loss of this investment.

3.5 No General Solicitation. At no time was Purchaser presented with or solicited by any publicly issued or circulated newspaper, mail, radio, television or other form of general advertising or solicitation in connection with the offer, sale and purchase of the Shares.

4. Compliance with Securities Laws.

4.1 Compliance with U.S. Federal Securities Laws. Purchaser understands and acknowledges that the Shares have not been registered with the SEC under the Securities Act and that, notwithstanding any other provision of the Stock Option Agreement to the contrary, the exercise of any rights to purchase any Shares is expressly conditioned upon compliance with the Securities Act and all applicable state securities laws. Purchaser agrees to cooperate with the Company to ensure compliance with such laws.

4.2 Compliance with California Securities Laws. THE PLAN, THE STOCK OPTION AGREEMENT, AND THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT ARE INTENDED TO COMPLY WITH SECTION 25102(o) OF THE CALIFORNIA CORPORATIONS CODE AND ANY RULES (INCLUDING COMMISSIONER RULES, IF APPLICABLE) OR REGULATIONS PROMULGATED THEREUNDER BY THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORPORATIONS (THE “REGULATIONS’). ANY PROVISION OF THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT THAT IS INCONSISTENT WITH SECTION 25102(o) SHALL, WITHOUT FURTHER ACT OR AMENDMENT BY THE COMPANY OR THE BOARD, BE REFORMED TO COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF SECTION 25102(o). THE SALE OF THE SECURITIES THAT ARE THE


SUBJECT OF THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT, IF NOT YET QUALIFIED WITH THE CALIFORNIA COMMISSIONER OF CORPORATIONS AND NOT EXEMPT FROM SUCH QUALIFICATION, IS SUBJECT TO SUCH QUALIFICATION, AND THE ISSUANCE OF SUCH SECURITIES, AND THE RECEIPT OF ANY PART OF THE CONSIDERATION THEREFOR PRIOR TO SUCH QUALIFICATION IS UNLAWFUL UNLESS THE SALE IS EXEMPT. THE RIGHTS OF THE PARTIES TO THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT ARE EXPRESSLY CONDITIONED UPON SUCH QUALIFICATION BEING OBTAINED OR AN EXEMPTION BEING AVAILABLE.

5. Restricted Securities.

5.1 No Transfer Unless Registered or Exempt. Purchaser understands that Purchaser may not transfer any Shares unless such Shares are registered under the Securities Act or qualified under applicable state securities laws or unless, in the opinion of counsel to the Company, exemptions from such registration and qualification requirements are available. Purchaser understands that only the Company may file a registration statement with the SEC and that the Company is under no obligation to do so with respect to the Shares. Purchaser has also been advised that exemptions from registration and qualification may not be available or may not permit Purchaser to transfer all or any of the Shares in the amounts or at the times proposed by Purchaser.

5.2 SEC Rule 144. In addition, Purchaser has been advised that SEC Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act, which permits certain limited sales of unregistered securities, is not presently available with respect to the Shares and, in any event, requires that the Shares be held for a minimum of one (1) year, and in certain cases two (2) years, after they have been purchased and paid for (within the meaning of Rule 144). Purchaser understands that Rule 144 may indefinitely restrict transfer of the Shares so long as Purchaser remains an “affiliate” of the Company or if “current public information” about the Company (as defined in Rule 144) is not publicly available.

5.3 SEC Rule 701. Shares that are issued pursuant to SEC Rule 701 promulgated under the Securities Act may become freely tradeable by non-affiliates (under limited conditions regarding the method of sale) ninety (90) days after the first sale of Common Stock of the Company to the general public pursuant to a registration statement filed with and declared effective by the SEC, subject to the lengthier market standoff agreement contained in Section 7 of this Exercise Agreement or any other agreement entered into by Purchaser. Affiliates must comply with the provisions (other than the holding period requirements) of Rule 144.

6. Restrictions on Transfers.

6.1 Disposition of Shares. Purchaser hereby agrees that Purchaser shall make no disposition of the Shares (other than as permitted by this Exercise Agreement) unless and until:

(a) Purchaser shall have notified the Company of the proposed disposition and provided a written summary of the terms and conditions of the proposed disposition;

(b) Purchaser shall have complied with all requirements of this Exercise Agreement applicable to the disposition of the Shares;


(c) Purchaser shall have provided the Company with written assurances, in form and substance satisfactory to counsel for the Company, that (i) the proposed disposition does not require registration of the Shares under the Securities Act or (ii) all appropriate actions necessary for compliance with the registration requirements of the Securities Act or of any exemption from registration available under the Securities Act (including Rule 144) have been taken; and

(d) Purchaser shall have provided the Company with written assurances, in form and substance satisfactory to the Company, that the proposed disposition will not result in the contravention of any transfer restrictions applicable to the Shares pursuant to the provisions of the Regulations referred to in Section 4.2 hereof.

6.2 Restriction on Transfer. Purchaser shall not transfer, assign, grant a lien or security interest in, pledge, hypothecate, encumber or otherwise dispose of any of the Shares which are subject to the Company’s Right of First Refusal described below, except as permitted by this Exercise Agreement.

6.3 Transferee Obligations. Each person (other than the Company) to whom the Shares are transferred by means of one of the permitted transfers specified in this Exercise Agreement must, as a condition precedent to the validity of such transfer, acknowledge in writing to the Company that such person is bound by the provisions of this Exercise Agreement and that the transferred Shares are subject to (i) the Company’s Right of First Refusal granted hereunder and (ii) the market stand-off provisions of Section 7 hereof, to the same extent such Shares would be so subject if retained by the Purchaser.

7. Market Standoff Agreement. Purchaser agrees in connection with any registration of the Company’s securities that, upon the request of the Company or the underwriters managing any public offering of the Company’s securities, Purchaser will not sell or otherwise dispose of any Shares without the prior written consent of the Company or such underwriters, as the case may be, for such period of time (not to exceed one hundred eighty (180) days) after the effective date of such registration requested by such managing underwriters and subject to all restrictions as the Company or the underwriters may specify. Purchaser further agrees to enter into any agreement reasonably required by the underwriters to implement the foregoing.

8. Company’s Right of First Refusal. Unvested Shares may not be sold or otherwise transferred by Purchaser without the Company’s prior written consent. Before any Vested Shares held by Purchaser or any transferee of such Vested Shares (either sometimes referred to herein as the “Holder”) may be sold or otherwise transferred (including, without limitation, a transfer by gift or operation of law), the Company and/or its assignee(s) will have a right of first refusal to purchase the Vested Shares to be sold or transferred (the “Offered Shares”) on the terms and conditions set forth in this Section (the “Right of First Refusal”).

8.1 Notice of Proposed Transfer. The Holder of the Offered Shares will deliver to the Company a written notice (the “Notice”) stating: (i) the Holder’s bona fide intention to sell or otherwise transfer the Offered Shares; (ii) the name and address of each proposed purchaser or other transferee (the “Proposed Transferee”); (iii) the number of Offered Shares to be transferred to each Proposed Transferee; (iv) the bona fide cash price or other consideration for which the Holder proposes to transfer the Offered Shares (the “Offered Price”); and (v) that the Holder acknowledges this Notice is an offer to sell the Offered Shares to the Company and/or its assignee(s) pursuant to the Company’s Right of First Refusal at the Offered Price as provided for in this Exercise Agreement.


8.2 Exercise of Right of First Refusal. At any time within thirty (30) days after the date of the Notice, the Company and/or its assignee(s) may, by giving written notice to the Holder, elect to purchase all (or, with the consent of the Holder, less than all) the Offered Shares proposed to be transferred to any one or more of the Proposed Transferees named in the Notice, at the purchase price, determined as specified below.

8.3 Purchase Price. The purchase price for the Offered Shares purchased under this Section will be the Offered Price, provided that if the Offered Price consists of no legal consideration (as, for example, in the case of a transfer by gift) the purchase price will be the fair market value of the Offered Shares as determined in good faith by the Company’s Board of Directors. If the Offered Price includes consideration other than cash, then the value of the non-cash consideration, as determined in good faith by the Company’s Board of Directors, will conclusively be deemed to be the cash equivalent value of such non-cash consideration.

8.4 Payment. Payment of the purchase price for the Offered Shares will be payable, at the option of the Company and/or its assignee(s) (as applicable), by check or by cancellation of all or a portion of any outstanding purchase money indebtedness owed by the Holder to the Company (or to such assignee, in the case of a purchase of Offered Shares by such assignee) or by any combination thereof. The purchase price will be paid without interest within sixty (60) days after the Company’s receipt of the Notice, or, at the option of the Company and/or its assignee(s), in the manner and at the time(s) set forth in the Notice.

8.5 Holder’s Right to Transfer. If all of the Offered Shares proposed in the Notice to be transferred to a given Proposed Transferee are not purchased by the Company and/or its assignee(s) as provided in this Section, then the Holder may sell or otherwise transfer such Offered Shares to each Proposed Transferee at the Offered Price or at a higher price, provided that (i) such sale or other transfer is consummated within one hundred twenty (120) days after the date of the Notice, (ii) any such sale or other transfer is effected in compliance with all applicable securities laws, and (iii) each Proposed Transferee agrees in writing that the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to the Offered Shares in the hands of such Proposed Transferee. If the Offered Shares described in the Notice are not transferred to each Proposed Transferee within such one hundred twenty (120) day period, then a new Notice must be given to the Company pursuant to which the Company will again be offered the Right of First Refusal before any Shares held by the Holder may be sold or otherwise transferred.

8.6 Exempt Transfers. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section, the following transfers of Vested Shares will be exempt from the Right of First Refusal: (i) the transfer of any or all of the Vested Shares during Purchaser’s lifetime by gift or on Purchaser’s death by will or intestacy to Purchaser’s “Immediate Family” (as defined below) or to a trust for the benefit of Purchaser or Purchaser’s Immediate Family, provided that each transferee or other recipient agrees in a writing satisfactory to the Company that the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to the transferred Vested Shares in the hands of such transferee or other recipient; (ii) any transfer of Vested Shares made pursuant to a statutory merger or statutory consolidation of the Company with or into another corporation or corporations (except that, the Right of First Refusal will continue to apply thereafter to such Vested Shares, in which case the surviving corporation of such merger or consolidation shall succeed to the rights of the Company under this Section unless the agreement of merger or consolidation expressly otherwise provides); or (iii) any transfer of Vested Shares pursuant to the winding up and dissolution of the Company. As used herein, the term “Immediate Family” will mean Purchaser’s spouse, the lineal descendant or antecedent, father, mother, brother or sister, child, adopted child, grandchild or adopted


grandchild of the Purchaser or the Purchaser’s spouse, or the spouse of any of the above or Spousal Equivalent, as defined herein. As used herein, a person is deemed to be a “Spousal Equivalent” provided the following circumstances are true: (i) irrespective of whether or not the Participant and the Spousal Equivalent are the same sex, they are the sole spousal equivalent of the other for the last twelve (12) months, (ii) they intend to remain so indefinitely, (iii) neither are married to anyone else, (iv) both are at least 18 years of age and mentally competent to consent to contract, (v) they are not related by blood to a degree of closeness that which would prohibit legal marriage in the state in which they legally reside, (vi) they are jointly responsible for each other’s common welfare and financial obligations, and (vii) they reside together in the same residence for the last twelve (12) months and intend to do so indefinitely.

8.7 Termination of Right of First Refusal. The Right of First Refusal will terminate as to all Shares (i) on the effective date of the first sale of Common Stock of the Company to the general public pursuant to a registration statement filed with and declared effective by the SEC under the 1933 Act (other than a registration statement relating solely to the issuance of Common Stock pursuant to a business combination or an employee incentive or benefit plan) or (ii) on any transfer or conversion of Shares made pursuant to a statutory merger or statutory consolidation of the Company with or into another corporation or corporations if the common stock of the surviving corporation or any direct or indirect parent corporation thereof is registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

8.8 Encumbrances on Vested Shares. Purchaser may grant a lien or security interest in, or pledge, hypothecate or encumber Vested Shares only if each party to whom such lien or security interest is granted, or to whom such pledge, hypothecation or other encumbrance is made, agrees in a writing satisfactory to the Company that: (i) such lien, security interest, pledge, hypothecation or encumbrance will not apply to such Vested Shares after they are acquired by the Company and/or its assignees under this Section; and (ii) the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to such Vested Shares in the hands of such party and any transferee of such party. Purchaser may not grant a lien or security interest in, or pledge, hypothecate or encumber, any Unvested Shares.

9. Rights as a Shareholder. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser will have all of the rights of a shareholder of the Company with respect to the Shares from and after the date that Shares are issued to Purchaser until such time as Purchaser disposes of the Shares or the Company and/or its assignee(s) exercise(s) the Right of First Refusal. Upon an exercise of the Right of First Refusal, Purchaser will have no further rights as a holder of the Shares so purchased upon such exercise, other than the right to receive payment for the Shares so purchased in accordance with the provisions of this Exercise Agreement, and Purchaser will promptly surrender the stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares so purchased to the Company for transfer or cancellation.

10. Escrow. As security for Purchaser’s faithful performance of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser agrees, immediately upon receipt of the stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares, to deliver such certificate(s), together with the Stock Powers executed by Purchaser and by Purchaser’s spouse, if any (with the date and number of Shares left blank), to the Secretary of the Company or other designee of the Company (the “Escrow Holder”), who is hereby appointed to hold such certificate(s) and Stock Powers in escrow and to take all such actions and to effectuate all such transfers and/or releases of such Shares as are in accordance with the terms of this Exercise Agreement. Purchaser and the Company agree that Escrow Holder will not be liable to any party to this Exercise Agreement (or to any


other party) for any actions or omissions unless Escrow Holder is grossly negligent or intentionally fraudulent in carrying out the duties of Escrow Holder under this Exercise Agreement. Escrow Holder may rely upon any letter, notice or other document executed with any signature purported to be genuine and may rely on the advice of counsel and obey any order of any court with respect to the transactions contemplated by this Exercise Agreement. The Shares will be released from escrow upon termination of the Right of First Refusal.

11. Restrictive Legends and Stop-Transfer Orders.

11.1 Legends. Purchaser understands and agrees that the Company will place the legends set forth below or similar legends on any stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares, together with any other legends that may be required by state or U.S. Federal securities laws, the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws, any other agreement between Purchaser and the Company or any agreement between Purchaser and any third party:

THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED HEREBY HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE “SECURITIES ACT”), OR UNDER THE SECURITIES LAWS OF CERTAIN STATES. THESE SECURITIES ARE SUBJECT TO RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFERABILITY AND RESALE AND MAY NOT BE TRANSFERRED OR RESOLD EXCEPT AS PERMITTED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT AND APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS, PURSUANT TO REGISTRATION OR EXEMPTION THEREFROM. INVESTORS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT THEY MAY BE REQUIRED TO BEAR THE FINANCIAL RISKS OF THIS INVESTMENT FOR AN INDEFINITE PERIOD OF TIME. THE ISSUER OF THESE SECURITIES MAY REQUIRE AN OPINION OF COUNSEL IN FORM AND SUBSTANCE SATISFACTORY TO THE ISSUER TO THE EFFECT THAT ANY PROPOSED TRANSFER OR RESALE IS IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE SECURITIES ACT AND ANY APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS.

THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS ON PUBLIC RESALE AND TRANSFER: INCLUDING THE RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL HELD BY THE ISSUER AND/OR ITS ASSIGNEE(S) AS SET FORTH IN A STOCK OPTION EXERCISE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ISSUER AND THE ORIGINAL HOLDER OF THESE SHARES, A COPY OF WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE PRINCIPAL OFFICE OF THE ISSUER. SUCH PUBLIC SALE AND TRANSFER RESTRICTIONS INCLUDING THE RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL ARE BINDING ON TRANSFEREES OF THESE SHARES.

THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE ARE SUBJECT TO A 180 DAY MARKET STANDOFF RESTRICTION AS SET FORTH IN A CERTAIN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ISSUER AND THE ORIGINAL HOLDER OF THESE SHARES, A COPY OF WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE PRINCIPAL OFFICE OF THE ISSUER. AS A RESULT OF SUCH AGREEMENT, THESE SHARES MAY NOT BE TRADED PRIOR TO 180 DAYS AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF ANY PUBLIC OFFERING OF THE COMMON STOCK OF THE ISSUER HEREOF. SUCH RESTRICTION IS BINDING ON TRANSFEREES OF THESE SHARES.


11.2 Stop-Transfer Instructions. Purchaser agrees that, to ensure compliance with the restrictions imposed by this Exercise Agreement, the Company may issue appropriate “stop-transfer” instructions to its transfer agent, if any, and if the Company transfers its own securities, it may make appropriate notations to the same effect in its own records.

11.3 Refusal to Transfer. The Company will not be required (i) to transfer on its books any Shares that have been sold or otherwise transferred in violation of any of the provisions of this Exercise Agreement or (ii) to treat as owner of such Shares, or to accord the right to vote or pay dividends to any purchaser or other transferee to whom such Shares have been so transferred.

12. Tax Consequences. PURCHASER UNDERSTANDS THAT PURCHASER MAY SUFFER ADVERSE TAX CONSEQUENCES AS A RESULT OF PURCHASER’S PURCHASE OR DISPOSITION OF THE SHARES. PURCHASER REPRESENTS: (i) THAT PURCHASER HAS CONSULTED WITH ANY TAX ADVISER THAT PURCHASER DEEMS ADVISABLE IN CONNECTION WITH THE PURCHASE OR DISPOSITION OF THE SHARES AND (ii) THAT PURCHASER IS NOT RELYING ON THE COMPANY FOR ANY TAX ADVICE. Set forth below is a brief summary as of the date the Plan was adopted by the Board of some of the U.S. Federal and California tax consequences of exercise of the Option and disposition of the Shares. THIS SUMMARY IS NECESSARILY INCOMPLETE, AND THE TAX LAWS AND REGULATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. PURCHASER SHOULD CONSULT HIS OR HER OWN TAX ADVISER BEFORE EXERCISING THIS OPTION OR DISPOSING OF THE SHARES.

12.1 Exercise of Incentive Stock Option. If the Option qualifies as an ISO, there will be no regular U.S. Federal income tax liability or California income tax liability upon the exercise of the Option, although the excess, if any, of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on the date of exercise over the Exercise Price will be treated as a tax preference item for U.S. Federal alternative minimum tax purposes and may subject Purchaser to the alternative minimum tax in the year of exercise.

12.2 Exercise of Nonqualified Stock Option. If the Option does not qualify as an ISO, there may be a regular U.S. Federal income tax liability and a California income tax liability upon the exercise of the Option. Purchaser will be treated as having received compensation income (taxable at ordinary income tax rates) equal to the excess, if any, of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on the date of exercise over the Exercise Price. If Purchaser is or was an employee of the Company, the Company may be required to withhold from Purchaser’s compensation or collect from Purchaser and pay to the applicable taxing authorities an amount equal to a percentage of this compensation income at the time of exercise.

12.3 Disposition of Shares. The following tax consequences may apply upon disposition of the Shares.

(a) Incentive Stock Options. If the Shares are held for more than twelve (12) months after the date of the transfer of the Shares pursuant to the exercise of an ISO and are disposed of more than two (2) years after the Date of Grant, any gain realized on disposition of the Shares will be treated as long term capital gain for federal and California income tax purposes. If Shares purchased under an ISO are disposed of within the applicable one (1) year or two (2) year period, any gain realized on such disposition will be treated as compensation income (taxable at ordinary income rates) to the extent of the excess, if any, of the Fair Market Value of the Shares on the date of exercise over the Exercise Price.


(b) Nonqualified Stock Options. If the Shares are held for more than twelve (12) months after the date of the transfer of the Shares pursuant to the exercise of an NQSO, any gain realized on disposition of the Shares will be treated as long term capital gain.

(c) Withholding. The Company may be required to withhold from the Purchaser’s compensation or collect from the Purchaser and pay to the applicable taxing authorities an amount equal to a percentage of this compensation income.

13. Compliance with Laws and Regulations. The issuance and transfer of the Shares will be subject to and conditioned upon compliance by the Company and Purchaser with all applicable state and U.S. Federal laws and regulations and with all applicable requirements of any stock exchange or automated quotation system on which the Company’s Common Stock may be listed or quoted at the time of such issuance or transfer.

14. Successors and Assigns. The Company may assign any of its rights under this Exercise Agreement, including its rights to purchase Shares under the Right of First Refusal. No other party to this Exercise Agreement may assign, whether voluntarily or by operation of law, any of its rights and obligations under this Exercise Agreement, except with the prior written consent of the Company. This Exercise Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the successors and assigns of the Company. Subject to the restrictions on transfer herein set forth, this Exercise Agreement will be binding upon Purchaser and Purchaser’s heirs, executors, administrators, legal representatives, successors and assigns.

15. Governing Law. This Exercise Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to that body of laws pertaining to conflict of laws.

16. Notices. Any and all notices required or permitted to be given to a party pursuant to the provisions of this Exercise Agreement will be in writing and will be effective and deemed to provide such party sufficient notice under this Exercise Agreement on the earliest of the following: (i) at the time of personal delivery, if delivery is in person; (ii) at the time of transmission by facsimile, addressed to the other party at its facsimile number specified herein (or hereafter modified by subsequent notice to the parties hereto), with confirmation of receipt made by both telephone and printed confirmation sheet verifying successful transmission of the facsimile; (iii) one (1) business day after deposit with an express overnight courier for United States deliveries, or two (2) business days after such deposit for deliveries outside of the United States, with proof of delivery from the courier requested; or (iv) three (3) business days after deposit in the United States mail by certified mail (return receipt requested) for United States deliveries.

All notices for delivery outside the United States will be sent by facsimile or by express courier. All notices not delivered personally or by facsimile will be sent with postage and/or other charges prepaid and properly addressed to the party to be notified at the address or facsimile number set forth below the signature lines of this Exercise Agreement, or at such other address or facsimile number as such other party may designate by one of the indicated means of notice herein to the other parties hereto. Notices to the Company will be marked “Attention: President”. Notices by facsimile shall be machine verified as received.


17. Further Assurances. The parties agree to execute such further documents and instruments and to take such further actions as may be reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes and intent of this Exercise Agreement.

18. Titles and Headings. The titles, captions and headings of this Exercise Agreement are included for ease of reference only and will be disregarded in interpreting or construing this Exercise Agreement. Unless otherwise specifically stated, all references herein to “sections” and “exhibits” will mean “sections” and “exhibits” to this Exercise Agreement.

19. Entire Agreement. The Plan, the Stock Option Agreement and this Exercise Agreement, together with all Exhibits thereto, constitute the entire agreement and understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter of this Exercise Agreement, and supersede all prior understandings and agreements, whether oral or written, between or among the parties hereto with respect to the specific subject matter hereof.

20. Counterparts. This Exercise Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which when so executed and delivered will be deemed an original, and all of which together shall constitute one and the same agreement.

21. Severability. If any provision of this Exercise Agreement is determined by any court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, such provision will be enforced to the maximum extent possible given the intent of the parties hereto. If such clause or provision cannot be so enforced, such provision shall be stricken from this Exercise Agreement and the remainder of this Exercise Agreement shall be enforced as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable clause or provision had (to the extent not enforceable) never been contained in this Exercise Agreement. Notwithstanding the forgoing, if the value of this Exercise Agreement based upon the substantial benefit of the bargain for any party is materially impaired, which determination as made by the presiding court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction shall be binding, then both parties agree to substitute such provision(s) through good faith negotiations.

22. Facsimile Signatures. This Agreement may be executed and delivered by facsimile and upon such delivery the facsimile signature will be deemed to have the same effect as if the original signature had been delivered to the other party.


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Exercise Agreement to be executed in triplicate by its duly authorized representative and Purchaser has executed this Exercise Agreement in triplicate as of the Effective Date, indicated above.

 

COUCHBASE, INC.      PURCHASER
By:  

                                                          

                 

                                                                       

     (Signature)

 

    

 

(Please print name)      (Please print name)

 

    
(Please print title)     
Address:      Address:

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

Fax No.:  

 

     Fax No.:   

                                                  

Phone No.:  

 

     Phone No.:   

                                                  

List of Exhibits

 

Exhibit 1:    Stock Power and Assignment Separate from Stock Certificate
Exhibit 2:    Spouse Consent
Exhibit 3:    Copy of Purchaser’s Check or other permitted consideration

[Signature page to Couchbase, Inc. Stock Option Exercise Agreement]


EXHIBIT 1

STOCK POWER AND ASSIGNMENT

SEPARATE FROM STOCK CERTIFICATE


Stock Power and Assignment

Separate from Stock Certificate

FOR VALUE RECEIVED and pursuant to that certain Stock Option Exercise Agreement No. _________dated as of ____________, _____ , (the “Agreement”), the undersigned hereby sells, assigns and transfers unto ______________________________, _____________ shares of the Common Stock $0.0001 par value per share, of Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), standing in the undersigned’s name on the books of the Company represented by Certificate No(s). ________ delivered herewith, and does hereby irrevocably constitute and appoint the Secretary of the Company as the undersigned’s attorney-in-fact, with full power of substitution, to transfer said stock on the books of the Company. THIS ASSIGNMENT MAY ONLY BE USED AS AUTHORIZED BY THE AGREEMENT AND ANY EXHIBITS THERETO.

Dated:                             ,                     

 

PURCHASER

 

(Signature)

 

(Please Print Name)

 

(Spouse’s Signature, if any)

 

(Please Print Spouse’s Name)

Instructions to Purchaser: Please do not fill in any blanks other than the signature line. The purpose of this Stock Power and Assignment is to enable the Company to acquire the shares upon exercise its “Right of First Refusal” set forth in the Exercise Agreement without requiring additional signatures on the part of the Purchaser or Purchaser’s Spouse.


EXHIBIT 2

SPOUSE CONSENT


Spouse Consent

The undersigned spouse of                                                               (the “Purchaser”) has read, understands, and hereby approves the Stock Option Exercise Agreement between Purchaser and the Company (the “Agreement”). In consideration of the Company’s granting my spouse the right to purchase the Shares as set forth in the Agreement, the undersigned hereby agrees to be irrevocably bound by the Agreement and further agrees that any community property interest I may have in the Shares shall similarly be bound by the Agreement. The undersigned hereby appoints Purchaser as my attorney-in-fact with respect to any amendment or exercise of any rights under the Agreement.

Date:                                     

 

 

 

  Print Name of Purchaser’s Spouse
 

 

  Signature of Purchaser’s Spouse
Address:  

 

 

 

 

 


EXHIBIT 3

COPY OF PURCHASER’S CHECK


No.             

COUCHBASE, INC.

2008 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

STOCK OPTION EXERCISE AGREEMENT

FOR NON-U.S. PURCHASERS

This Stock Option Exercise Agreement for non-U.S. Purchasers (the “Exercise Agreement”) is made and entered into as of [                    ,](the “Effective Date”) by and between Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and the purchaser named below (the “Purchaser”). Capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the Company’s 2008 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”) or the Stock Option Agreement for Non-U.S. Participants.

 

Purchaser:     

     

                         

     

Employee ID Number:     

     

    

     

    

     

Address:     

     

    

     

Total Number of Shares:     

 

Exercise Price Per Share:     

 

Date of Grant:     

 

First Vesting Date:     

 

Expiration Date:     

 

     (Unless earlier terminated under Section 5.6 of the Plan)

1. Exercise of Option.

1.1 Exercise. Pursuant to the exercise of that certain option (the “Option”) granted to Purchaser under the Plan and subject to the terms and conditions of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser hereby purchases from the Company, and the Company hereby sells to Purchaser, the Total Number of Shares set forth above (the “Shares”) of the Company’s Common Stock, $0.0001 par value per share, at the Exercise Price Per Share set forth above (the “Exercise Price”). As used in this Exercise Agreement, the term “Shares” refers to the Shares purchased under this Exercise Agreement and includes all securities received (i) in replacement of the Shares, (ii) as a result of stock dividends or stock splits with respect to the Shares, and (iii) all securities received in replacement of the Shares in a merger, recapitalization, reorganization or similar corporate transaction.


1.2 Title to Shares. The exact spelling of the name(s) under which Purchaser will take title to the Shares is:

 

                                                                                                                           

 

                                                                                                                           

To assign the Shares to a trust, a stock transfer agreement in a form acceptable to the Company (the “Stock Transfer Agreement”) must be completed and executed.

1.3 Payment. Purchaser hereby delivers payment of the Exercise Price in the manner permitted in the Stock Option Agreement in cash (by check) in the amount of $             , receipt of which is acknowledged by the Company;

2. Delivery.

2.1 Deliveries by Purchaser. Purchaser hereby delivers to the Company (i) this Exercise Agreement, (ii) two (2) copies of a blank Stock Power and Assignment Separate from Stock Certificate in the form of Exhibit 1 attached hereto (the “Stock Powers”), both executed by Purchaser, and (iii) the Exercise Price and payment or other provision for any applicable Tax-Related Items (as defined in the Stock Option Agreement) in the form specified above, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 3.

2.2 Deliveries by the Company. Upon its receipt of the Exercise Price, payment or other provision for any applicable Tax-Related Items (as defined in the Stock Option Agreement) and all the documents to be executed and delivered by Purchaser to the Company under Section 2.1, the Company will issue a duly executed stock certificate evidencing the Shares in the name of Purchaser to be placed in escrow as provided in Section 10 until expiration or termination of the Company’s Right of First Refusal as described in Sections 8 and 9.

3. Representations and Warranties of Purchaser. Purchaser represents and warrants to the Company that:

3.1 Agrees to Terms of the Plan. Purchaser has received a copy of the Plan and the Stock Option Agreement, has read and understands the terms of the Plan, the Stock Option Agreement and this Exercise Agreement, and agrees to be bound by their terms and conditions. Purchaser acknowledges that there may be adverse tax consequences upon exercise of the Option or disposition of the Shares, and that Purchaser should consult a tax adviser prior to such exercise or disposition.

3.2 Purchase for Own Account for Investment. Purchaser is purchasing the Shares for Purchaser’s own account for investment purposes only and not with a view to, or for sale in connection with, a distribution of the Shares within the meaning of the Securities Act. Purchaser has no present intention of selling or otherwise disposing of all or any portion of the Shares and no one other than Purchaser has any beneficial ownership of any of the Shares.


3.3 Access to Information. Purchaser has had access to all information regarding the Company and its present and prospective business, assets, liabilities and financial condition that Purchaser reasonably considers important in making the decision to purchase the Shares, and Purchaser has had ample opportunity to ask questions of the Company’s representatives concerning such matters and this investment.

3.4 Understanding of Risks. Purchaser is fully aware of: (i) the highly speculative nature of the investment in the Shares; (ii) the financial hazards involved; (iii) the lack of liquidity of the Shares and the restrictions on transferability of the Shares (e.g., that Purchaser may not be able to sell or dispose of the Shares or use them as collateral for loans); (iv) the qualifications and backgrounds of the management of the Company; and (v) the tax consequences of investment in the Shares. Purchaser is capable of evaluating the merits and risks of this investment, has the ability to protect Purchaser’s own interests in this transaction and is financially capable of bearing a total loss of this investment.

3.5 No General Solicitation. At no time was Purchaser presented with or solicited by any publicly issued or circulated newspaper, mail, radio, television or other form of general advertising or solicitation in connection with the offer, sale and purchase of the Shares.

3.6 Jurisdiction. If the Purchaser is not a United States person, the Purchaser represents that the Purchaser is satisfied as to the full observance of the laws of the Purchaser’s jurisdiction in connection with any option to purchase the Shares, including (a) the legal requirements within the Purchaser’s jurisdiction for the purchase of the Shares, (b) any foreign exchange restrictions applicable to such purchase, (c) any governmental or other consents that may need to be obtained and (d) the income tax and other tax consequences, if any, that may be relevant to the purchase, holding, redemption, sale or transfer of the Shares. The Purchaser further represents that the Purchaser’s acquisition and continued beneficial ownership of the Shares will not violate any applicable securities or other laws of the Purchaser’s jurisdiction. In the event this Purchase violates any of the laws of the Purchaser’s jurisdiction, the Purchaser agrees to take such action as may be necessary to comply with the laws of Purchaser’s jurisdiction, or permit the Company to void this purchase.

4. Compliance with Securities Laws.

4.1 Compliance with U.S. Federal Securities Laws. Purchaser understands and acknowledges that the Shares have not been registered with the SEC under the Securities Act and that, notwithstanding any other provision of the Stock Option Agreement to the contrary, the exercise of any rights to purchase any Shares is expressly conditioned upon compliance with the Securities Act and all applicable state securities laws. Purchaser agrees to cooperate with the Company to ensure compliance with such laws.

4.2 Compliance with California Securities Laws. THE PLAN, THE STOCK OPTION AGREEMENT, AND THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT ARE INTENDED TO COMPLY WITH SECTION 25102(o) OF THE CALIFORNIA CORPORATIONS CODE AND ANY RULES (INCLUDING COMMISSIONER RULES, IF APPLICABLE) OR REGULATIONS PROMULGATED THEREUNDER BY THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORPORATIONS (THE “REGULATIONS”). ANY PROVISION OF THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT THAT IS INCONSISTENT WITH SECTION 25102(o) SHALL, WITHOUT FURTHER ACT OR AMENDMENT BY THE COMPANY OR THE BOARD, BE REFORMED TO COMPLY WITH THE


REQUIREMENTS OF SECTION 25102(o). THE SALE OF THE SECURITIES THAT ARE THE SUBJECT OF THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT, IF NOT YET QUALIFIED WITH THE CALIFORNIA COMMISSIONER OF CORPORATIONS AND NOT EXEMPT FROM SUCH QUALIFICATION, IS SUBJECT TO SUCH QUALIFICATION, AND THE ISSUANCE OF SUCH SECURITIES, AND THE RECEIPT OF ANY PART OF THE CONSIDERATION THEREFOR PRIOR TO SUCH QUALIFICATION IS UNLAWFUL UNLESS THE SALE IS EXEMPT. THE RIGHTS OF THE PARTIES TO THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT ARE EXPRESSLY CONDITIONED UPON SUCH QUALIFICATION BEING OBTAINED OR AN EXEMPTION BEING AVAILABLE.

4.3 Compliance with Non-U.S. Securities Laws. The Purchaser understands and acknowledges that the Option and the Shares to be issued upon exercise of the Option may be subject to non-U.S. federal or state securities laws or other laws and the exercise of the Option and the issuance of the Shares upon exercise are expressly conditioned upon compliance with any non-U.S. securities or other applicable laws. Purchaser agrees to cooperate with the Company to ensure compliance with such laws.

5. Restricted Securities.

5.1 No Transfer Unless Registered or Exempt. Purchaser understands that Purchaser may not transfer any Shares unless such Shares are registered under the Securities Act or qualified under applicable U.S. state or non-U.S. securities laws or unless, in the opinion of counsel to the Company, exemptions from such registration and qualification requirements are available. Purchaser understands that only the Company may file a registration statement with the SEC and that the Company is under no obligation to do so with respect to the Shares. Purchaser has also been advised that exemptions from registration and qualification may not be available or may not permit Purchaser to transfer all or any of the Shares in the amounts or at the times proposed by Purchaser.

5.2 SEC Rule 144. In addition, Purchaser has been advised that SEC Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act, which permits certain limited sales of unregistered securities, is not presently available with respect to the Shares and, in any event, requires that the Shares be held for a minimum of one (1) year, and in certain cases two (2) years, after they have been purchased and paid for (within the meaning of Rule 144). Purchaser understands that Rule 144 may indefinitely restrict transfer of the Shares so long as Purchaser remains an “affiliate” of the Company or if “current public information” about the Company (as defined in Rule 144) is not publicly available.

5.3 SEC Rule 701. Shares that are issued pursuant to SEC Rule 701 promulgated under the Securities Act may become freely tradable by non-affiliates (under limited conditions regarding the method of sale) ninety (90) days after the first sale of Common Stock of the Company to the general public pursuant to a registration statement filed with and declared effective by the SEC, subject to the lengthier market standoff agreement contained in Section 7 of this Exercise Agreement or any other agreement entered into by Purchaser. Affiliates must comply with the provisions (other than the holding period requirements) of Rule 144.


6. Restrictions on Transfers.

6.1 Disposition of Shares. Purchaser hereby agrees that Purchaser shall make no disposition of the Shares (other than as permitted by this Exercise Agreement) unless and until:

(a) Purchaser shall have notified the Company of the proposed disposition and provided a written summary of the terms and conditions of the proposed disposition;

(b) Purchaser shall have complied with all requirements of this Exercise Agreement and Stock Option Agreement applicable to the disposition of the Shares;

(c) Purchaser shall have provided the Company with written assurances, in form and substance satisfactory to counsel for the Company, that (i) the proposed disposition does not require registration of the Shares under the Securities Act or (ii) all appropriate actions necessary for compliance with the registration requirements of the Securities Act or of any exemption from registration available under the Securities Act (including Rule 144) have been taken; and

(d) Purchaser shall have provided the Company with written assurances, in form and substance satisfactory to the Company, that the proposed disposition will not result in the contravention of any transfer restrictions applicable to the Shares pursuant to the provisions of the Regulations referred to in Section 4.2 or 4.3 hereof.

6.2 Restriction on Transfer. Purchaser shall not transfer, assign, grant a lien or security interest in, pledge, hypothecate, encumber or otherwise dispose of any of the Shares which are subject to the Company’s Right of First Refusal described below, except as permitted by this Exercise Agreement.

6.3 Transferee Obligations. Each person (other than the Company) to whom the Shares are transferred by means of one of the permitted transfers specified in this Exercise Agreement must, as a condition precedent to the validity of such transfer, acknowledge in writing to the Company that such person is bound by the provisions of this Exercise Agreement and that the transferred Shares are subject to (i) the Company’s Right of First Refusal granted hereunder and (ii) the market stand-off provisions of Section 7 hereof, to the same extent such Shares would be so subject if retained by the Purchaser.

7. Market Standoff Agreement. Purchaser agrees in connection with any registration of the Company’s securities that, upon the request of the Company or the underwriters managing any public offering of the Company’s securities, Purchaser will not sell or otherwise dispose of any Shares without the prior written consent of the Company or such underwriters, as the case may be, for such period of time (not to exceed one hundred eighty (180) days) after the effective date of such registration requested by such managing underwriters and subject to all restrictions as the Company or the underwriters may specify. Purchaser further agrees to enter into any agreement reasonably required by the underwriters to implement the foregoing.


8. Company’s Right of First Refusal. Unvested Shares may not be sold or otherwise transferred by Purchaser without the Company’s prior written consent. Before any Vested Shares held by Purchaser or any transferee of such Vested Shares (either sometimes referred to herein as the “Holder”) may be sold or otherwise transferred (including, without limitation, a transfer by gift or operation of law), the Company and/or its assignee(s) will have a right of first refusal to purchase the Vested Shares to be sold or transferred (the “Offered Shares”) on the terms and conditions set forth in this Section (the “Right of First Refusal”).

8.1 Notice of Proposed Transfer. The Holder of the Offered Shares will deliver to the Company a written notice (the “Notice”) stating: (i) the Holder’s bona fide intention to sell or otherwise transfer the Offered Shares; (ii) the name and address of each proposed purchaser or other transferee (the “Proposed Transferee”); (iii) the number of Offered Shares to be transferred to each Proposed Transferee; (iv) the bona fide cash price or other consideration for which the Holder proposes to transfer the Offered Shares (the “Offered Price”); and (v) that the Holder acknowledges this Notice is an offer to sell the Offered Shares to the Company and/or its assignee(s) pursuant to the Company’s Right of First Refusal at the Offered Price as provided for in this Exercise Agreement.

8.2 Exercise of Right of First Refusal. At any time within thirty (30) days after the date of the Notice, the Company and/or its assignee(s) may, by giving written notice to the Holder, elect to purchase all (or, with the consent of the Holder, less than all) the Offered Shares proposed to be transferred to any one or more of the Proposed Transferees named in the Notice, at the purchase price, determined as specified below.

8.3 Purchase Price. The purchase price for the Offered Shares purchased under this Section will be the Offered Price, provided that if the Offered Price consists of no legal consideration (as, for example, in the case of a transfer by gift) the purchase price will be the fair market value of the Offered Shares as determined in good faith by the Company’s Board of Directors. If the Offered Price includes consideration other than cash, then the value of the non-cash consideration, as determined in good faith by the Company’s Board of Directors, will conclusively be deemed to be the cash equivalent value of such non-cash consideration.

8.4 Payment. Payment of the purchase price for the Offered Shares will be payable, at the option of the Company and/or its assignee(s) (as applicable), by check or by cancellation of all or a portion of any outstanding purchase money indebtedness owed by the Holder to the Company (or to such assignee, in the case of a purchase of Offered Shares by such assignee) or by any combination thereof. The purchase price will be paid without interest within sixty (60) days after the Company’s receipt of the Notice, or, at the option of the Company and/or its assignee(s), in the manner and at the time(s) set forth in the Notice.

8.5 Holder’s Right to Transfer. If all of the Offered Shares proposed in the Notice to be transferred to a given Proposed Transferee are not purchased by the Company and/or its assignee(s) as provided in this Section, then the Holder may sell or otherwise transfer such Offered Shares to each Proposed Transferee at the Offered Price or at a higher price, provided that (i) such sale or other transfer is consummated within one hundred twenty (120) days after the date of the Notice, (ii) any such sale or other transfer is effected in compliance with all applicable securities laws, and (iii) each Proposed Transferee agrees in writing that the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to the Offered Shares in the hands of such Proposed Transferee. If the Offered Shares described in the Notice are not transferred to each Proposed Transferee within such one hundred twenty (120) day period, then a new Notice must be given to the Company pursuant to which the Company will again be offered the Right of First Refusal before any Shares held by the Holder may be sold or otherwise transferred.


8.6 Exempt Transfers. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section, the following transfers of Vested Shares will be exempt from the Right of First Refusal: (i) the transfer of any or all of the Vested Shares during Purchaser’s lifetime by gift or on Purchaser’s death by will or intestacy to Purchaser’s “Immediate Family” (as defined below) or to a trust for the benefit of Purchaser or Purchaser’s Immediate Family, provided that each transferee or other recipient agrees in a writing satisfactory to the Company that the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to the transferred Vested Shares in the hands of such transferee or other recipient; (ii) any transfer of Vested Shares made pursuant to a statutory merger or statutory consolidation of the Company with or into another corporation or corporations (except that, the Right of First Refusal will continue to apply thereafter to such Vested Shares, in which case the surviving corporation of such merger or consolidation shall succeed to the rights of the Company under this Section unless the agreement of merger or consolidation expressly otherwise provides); or (iii) any transfer of Vested Shares pursuant to the winding up and dissolution of the Company. As used herein, the term “Immediate Family” will mean Purchaser’s spouse, the lineal descendant or antecedent, father, mother, brother or sister, child, adopted child, grandchild or adopted grandchild of the Purchaser or the Purchaser’s spouse, or the spouse of any of the above or Spousal Equivalent, as defined herein. As used herein, a person is deemed to be a “Spousal Equivalent” provided the following circumstances are true: (i) irrespective of whether or not the Participant and the Spousal Equivalent are the same sex, they are the sole spousal equivalent of the other for the last twelve (12) months, (ii) they intend to remain so indefinitely, (iii) neither are married to anyone else, (iv) both are at least 18 years of age and mentally competent to consent to contract, (v) they are not related by blood to a degree of closeness that which would prohibit legal marriage in the state in which they legally reside, (vi) they are jointly responsible for each other’s common welfare and financial obligations, and (vii) they reside together in the same residence for the last twelve (12) months and intend to do so indefinitely.

8.7 Termination of Right of First Refusal. The Right of First Refusal will terminate as to all Shares (i) on the effective date of the first sale of Common Stock of the Company to the general public pursuant to a registration statement filed with and declared effective by the SEC under the 1933 Act (other than a registration statement relating solely to the issuance of Common Stock pursuant to a business combination or an employee incentive or benefit plan) or (ii) on any transfer or conversion of Shares made pursuant to a statutory merger or statutory consolidation of the Company with or into another corporation or corporations if the common stock of the surviving corporation or any direct or indirect parent corporation thereof is registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

8.8 Encumbrances on Vested Shares. Purchaser may grant a lien or security interest in, or pledge, hypothecate or encumber Vested Shares only if each party to whom such lien or security interest is granted, or to whom such pledge, hypothecation or other encumbrance is made, agrees in a writing satisfactory to the Company that: (i) such lien, security interest, pledge, hypothecation or encumbrance will not apply to such Vested Shares after they are acquired by the Company and/or its assignees under this Section; and (ii) the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to such Vested Shares in the hands of such party and any transferee of such party. Purchaser may not grant a lien or security interest in, or pledge, hypothecate or encumber, any Unvested Shares.


9. Rights as a Shareholder. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser will have all of the rights of a shareholder of the Company with respect to the Shares from and after the date that Shares are issued to Purchaser until such time as Purchaser disposes of the Shares or the Company and/or its assignee(s) exercise(s) the Right of First Refusal. Upon an exercise of the Right of First Refusal, Purchaser will have no further rights as a holder of the Shares so purchased upon such exercise, other than the right to receive payment for the Shares so purchased in accordance with the provisions of this Exercise Agreement, and Purchaser will promptly surrender the stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares so purchased to the Company for transfer or cancellation.

10. Escrow. As security for Purchaser’s faithful performance of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser agrees, immediately upon receipt of the stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares, to deliver such certificate(s), together with the Stock Powers executed by Purchaser and by Purchaser’s spouse, if any (with the date and number of Shares left blank), to the Secretary of the Company or other designee of the Company (the “Escrow Holder”), who is hereby appointed to hold such certificate(s) and Stock Powers in escrow and to take all such actions and to effectuate all such transfers and/or releases of such Shares as are in accordance with the terms of this Exercise Agreement. Purchaser and the Company agree that Escrow Holder will not be liable to any party to this Exercise Agreement (or to any other party) for any actions or omissions unless Escrow Holder is grossly negligent or intentionally fraudulent in carrying out the duties of Escrow Holder under this Exercise Agreement. Escrow Holder may rely upon any letter, notice or other document executed with any signature purported to be genuine and may rely on the advice of counsel and obey any order of any court with respect to the transactions contemplated by this Exercise Agreement. The Shares will be released from escrow upon termination of the Right of First Refusal.

11. Restrictive Legends and Stop-Transfer Orders.

11.1 Legends. Purchaser understands and agrees that the Company will place the legends set forth below or similar legends on any stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares, together with any other legends that may be required by state or U.S. Federal securities laws, the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws, any other agreement between Purchaser and the Company or any agreement between Purchaser and any third party:

THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED HEREBY HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE “SECURITIES ACT”), OR UNDER THE SECURITIES LAWS OF CERTAIN STATES. THESE SECURITIES ARE SUBJECT TO RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFERABILITY AND RESALE AND MAY NOT BE TRANSFERRED OR RESOLD EXCEPT AS PERMITTED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT AND APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS, PURSUANT TO REGISTRATION OR EXEMPTION THEREFROM. INVESTORS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT THEY MAY BE REQUIRED TO BEAR THE FINANCIAL RISKS OF THIS INVESTMENT FOR AN INDEFINITE PERIOD OF TIME. THE ISSUER OF THESE SECURITIES MAY REQUIRE AN OPINION OF COUNSEL IN FORM AND SUBSTANCE SATISFACTORY TO THE ISSUER TO THE EFFECT THAT ANY PROPOSED TRANSFER OR RESALE IS IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE SECURITIES ACT AND ANY APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS.


THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS ON PUBLIC RESALE AND TRANSFER: INCLUDING THE RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL HELD BY THE ISSUER AND/OR ITS ASSIGNEE(S) AS SET FORTH IN A STOCK OPTION EXERCISE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ISSUER AND THE ORIGINAL HOLDER OF THESE SHARES, A COPY OF WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE PRINCIPAL OFFICE OF THE ISSUER. SUCH PUBLIC SALE AND TRANSFER RESTRICTIONS INCLUDING THE RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL ARE BINDING ON TRANSFEREES OF THESE SHARES.

THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE ARE SUBJECT TO A 180 DAY MARKET STANDOFF RESTRICTION AS SET FORTH IN A CERTAIN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ISSUER AND THE ORIGINAL HOLDER OF THESE SHARES, A COPY OF WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE PRINCIPAL OFFICE OF THE ISSUER. AS A RESULT OF SUCH AGREEMENT, THESE SHARES MAY NOT BE TRADED PRIOR TO 180 DAYS AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF ANY PUBLIC OFFERING OF THE COMMON STOCK OF THE ISSUER HEREOF. SUCH RESTRICTION IS BINDING ON TRANSFEREES OF THESE SHARES.

11.2 Stop-Transfer Instructions. Purchaser agrees that, to ensure compliance with the restrictions imposed by this Exercise Agreement, the Company may issue appropriate “stop-transfer” instructions to its transfer agent, if any, and if the Company transfers its own securities, it may make appropriate notations to the same effect in its own records.

11.3 Refusal to Transfer. The Company will not be required (i) to transfer on its books any Shares that have been sold or otherwise transferred in violation of any of the provisions of this Exercise Agreement or (ii) to treat as owner of such Shares, or to accord the right to vote or pay dividends to any purchaser or other transferee to whom such Shares have been so transferred.

12. Tax Consequences. PURCHASER UNDERSTANDS THAT PURCHASER MAY SUFFER ADVERSE TAX CONSEQUENCES AS A RESULT OF PURCHASER’S PURCHASE OR DISPOSITION OF THE SHARES. PURCHASER REPRESENTS: (i) THAT PURCHASER HAS CONSULTED WITH ANY TAX ADVISER THAT PURCHASER DEEMS ADVISABLE IN CONNECTION WITH THE PURCHASE OR DISPOSITION OF THE SHARES AND (ii) THAT PURCHASER IS NOT RELYING ON THE COMPANY FOR ANY TAX ADVICE. TAX LAWS AND REGULATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. PURCHASER SHOULD CONSULT HIS OR HER OWN TAX ADVISER BEFORE EXERCISING THIS OPTION OR DISPOSING OF THE SHARES


13. Compliance with Laws and Regulations. The issuance and transfer of the Shares will be subject to and conditioned upon compliance by the Company and Purchaser with all applicable state, U.S. state and Federal and as well as non-U.S. laws and regulations and with all applicable requirements of any stock exchange or automated quotation system on which the Company’s Common Stock may be listed or quoted at the time of such issuance or transfer.

14. Successors and Assigns. The Company may assign any of its rights under this Exercise Agreement, including its rights to purchase Shares under the Right of First Refusal. No other party to this Exercise Agreement may assign, whether voluntarily or by operation of law, any of its rights and obligations under this Exercise Agreement, except with the prior written consent of the Company. This Exercise Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the successors and assigns of the Company. Subject to the restrictions on transfer herein set forth, this Exercise Agreement will be binding upon Purchaser and Purchaser’s heirs, executors, administrators, legal representatives, successors and assigns.

15. Governing Law; Venue. This Exercise Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to that body of laws pertaining to conflict of laws. For purposes of any action, lawsuit or other proceedings brought to enforce this Agreement, relating to it, or arising from it, the parties hereby submit to and consent to the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of San Francisco, California, or the federal courts for the United States for the Northern District of California, and no other courts, where this grant is made and/or to be performed.

16. Notices. Any and all notices required or permitted to be given to a party pursuant to the provisions of this Exercise Agreement will be in writing and will be effective and deemed to provide such party sufficient notice under this Exercise Agreement on the earliest of the following: (i) at the time of personal delivery, if delivery is in person; (ii) at the time of transmission by facsimile, addressed to the other party at its facsimile number specified herein (or hereafter modified by subsequent notice to the parties hereto), with confirmation of receipt made both by telephone and printed confirmation sheet verifying successful transmission of the facsimile, (iii) one (1) business day after deposit with an express overnight courier for United States deliveries, or two (2) business days after such deposit for deliveries outside of the United States, with proof of delivery from the courier requested; or (iv) three (3) business days after deposit in the United States mail by certified mail (return receipt requested) for United States deliveries.

All notices for delivery outside the United States will be sent by facsimile or by express courier. All notices not delivered personally or by facsimile will be sent with postage and/or other charges prepaid and properly addressed to the party to be notified at the address or facsimile number set forth below the signature lines of this Exercise Agreement, or at such other address or facsimile number as such other party may designate by one of the indicated means of notice herein to the other parties hereto. Notices to the Company will be marked “Attention: President”. Notices by facsimile shall be machine verified as received.

17. Further Assurances. The parties agree to execute such further documents and instruments and to take such further actions as may be reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes and intent of this Exercise Agreement.


18. Titles and Headings. The titles, captions and headings of this Exercise Agreement are included for ease of reference only and will be disregarded in interpreting or construing this Exercise Agreement. Unless otherwise specifically stated, all references herein to “sections” and “exhibits” will mean “sections” and “exhibits” to this Exercise Agreement.

19. Entire Agreement. The Plan, the Stock Option Agreement and this Exercise Agreement, together with all Addenda and Exhibits thereto, constitute the entire agreement and understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter of this Exercise Agreement, and supersede all prior understandings and agreements, whether oral or written, between or among the parties hereto with respect to the specific subject matter hereof.

20. Counterparts. This Exercise Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which when so executed and delivered will be deemed an original, and all of which together shall constitute one and the same agreement.

21. Severability. If any provision of this Exercise Agreement is determined by any court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, such provision will be enforced to the maximum extent possible given the intent of the parties hereto. If such clause or provision cannot be so enforced, such provision shall be stricken from this Exercise Agreement and the remainder of this Exercise Agreement shall be enforced as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable clause or provision had (to the extent not enforceable) never been contained in this Exercise Agreement. Notwithstanding the forgoing, if the value of this Exercise Agreement based upon the substantial benefit of the bargain for any party is materially impaired, which determination as made by the presiding court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction shall be binding, then both parties agree to substitute such provision(s) through good faith negotiations.

22. Facsimile Signatures. This Agreement may be executed and delivered by facsimile and upon such delivery the facsimile signature will be deemed to have the same effect as if the original signature had been delivered to the other party.


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Exercise Agreement to be executed in triplicate by its duly authorized representative and Purchaser has executed this Exercise Agreement in triplicate as of the Effective Date, indicated above.

 

COUCHBASE, INC.

   

PURCHASER

By:                                                                                                       

         

    (Signature)
                                                                                                              

 

(Please print name)     (Please print name)
                                                                                                                           
(Please print title)    
Address:     Address:
                                                                                                              

 

                                                                                                              

 

                                                                                                              

 

Fax No.:                                                                                                             Fax No.:                                                                                                       
Phone No.:                                                                                            Phone No.:                                                                                                   

 

List of Exhibits

    
Exhibit 1:    Stock Power and Assignment Separate from Stock Certificate
Exhibit 2:    Copy of Purchaser’s Check or other permitted consideration

[Signature page to Couchbase, Inc. Stock Option Exercise Agreement]


EXHIBIT 1

STOCK POWER AND ASSIGNMENT

SEPARATE FROM STOCK CERTIFICATE


Stock Power and Assignment

Separate from Stock Certificate

FOR VALUE RECEIVED and pursuant to that certain Stock Option Exercise Agreement No.             dated as of                 ,                , (the “Agreement”), the undersigned hereby sells, assigns and transfers unto                                         ,                                 shares of the Common Stock $0.0001 par value per share, of Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), standing in the undersigned’s name on the books of the Company represented by Certificate No(s).                     delivered herewith, and does hereby irrevocably constitute and appoint the Secretary of the Company as the undersigned’s attorney-in-fact, with full power of substitution, to transfer said stock on the books of the Company. THIS ASSIGNMENT MAY ONLY BE USED AS AUTHORIZED BY THE AGREEMENT AND ANY EXHIBITS THERETO.

Dated:                         ,             

 

PURCHASER

 

(Signature)

 

(Please Print Name)

Instructions to Purchaser: Please do not fill in any blanks other than the signature line. The purpose of this Stock Power and Assignment is to enable the Company to acquire the shares upon exercise its “Right of First Refusal” set forth in the Exercise Agreement without requiring additional signatures on the part of the Purchaser.


EXHIBIT 2

COPY OF PURCHASER’S CHECK


No.            

COUCHBASE, INC.

2008 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

STOCK OPTION EXERCISE AGREEMENT

FOR NON-U.S. PURCHASERS

This Stock Option Exercise Agreement for non-U.S. Purchasers (the “Exercise Agreement”) is made and entered into as of [                    ,](the “Effective Date”) by and between Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and the purchaser named below (the “Purchaser”). Capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the Company’s 2008 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”) or the Stock Option Agreement for Non-U.S. Participants.

 

Purchaser:   

 

  

 

Employee ID Number:   

 

  

 

  

 

Address:   

 

  

 

Total Number of Shares:   

 

Exercise Price Per Share:   

 

Date of Grant:   

 

First Vesting Date:   

 

Expiration Date:   

 

   (Unless earlier terminated under Section 5.6 of the Plan)

1. Exercise of Option.

1.1 Exercise. Pursuant to the exercise of that certain option (the “Option”) granted to Purchaser under the Plan and subject to the terms and conditions of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser hereby purchases from the Company, and the Company hereby sells to Purchaser, the Total Number of Shares set forth above (the “Shares”) of the Company’s Common Stock, $0.0001 par value per share, at the Exercise Price Per Share set forth above (the “Exercise Price”). As used in this Exercise Agreement, the term “Shares” refers to the Shares purchased under this Exercise Agreement and includes all securities received (i) in replacement of the Shares, (ii) as a result of stock dividends or stock splits with respect to the Shares, and (iii) all securities received in replacement of the Shares in a merger, recapitalization, reorganization or similar corporate transaction.


1.2 Title to Shares. The exact spelling of the name(s) under which Purchaser will take title to the Shares is:

 

  

 

  

 

To assign the Shares to a trust, a stock transfer agreement in a form acceptable to the Company (the “Stock Transfer Agreement”) must be completed and executed.

1.3 Payment. Purchaser hereby delivers payment of the Exercise Price in the manner permitted in the Stock Option Agreement in cash (by check) in the amount of $             , receipt of which is acknowledged by the Company;

2. Delivery.

2.1 Deliveries by Purchaser. Purchaser hereby delivers to the Company (i) this Exercise Agreement, (ii) two (2) copies of a blank Stock Power and Assignment Separate from Stock Certificate in the form of Exhibit 1 attached hereto (the “Stock Powers”), both executed by Purchaser, and (iii) the Exercise Price and payment or other provision for any applicable Tax-Related Items (as defined in the Stock Option Agreement) in the form specified above, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 3.

2.2 Deliveries by the Company. Upon its receipt of the Exercise Price, payment or other provision for any applicable Tax-Related Items (as defined in the Stock Option Agreement) and all the documents to be executed and delivered by Purchaser to the Company under Section 2.1, the Company will issue a duly executed stock certificate evidencing the Shares in the name of Purchaser to be placed in escrow as provided in Section 10 until expiration or termination of the Company’s Right of First Refusal as described in Sections 8 and 9.

3. Representations and Warranties of Purchaser. Purchaser represents and warrants to the Company that:

3.1 Agrees to Terms of the Plan. Purchaser has received a copy of the Plan and the Stock Option Agreement, has read and understands the terms of the Plan, the Stock Option Agreement and this Exercise Agreement, and agrees to be bound by their terms and conditions. Purchaser acknowledges that there may be adverse tax consequences upon exercise of the Option or disposition of the Shares, and that Purchaser should consult a tax adviser prior to such exercise or disposition.

3.2 Purchase for Own Account for Investment. Purchaser is purchasing the Shares for Purchaser’s own account for investment purposes only and not with a view to, or for sale in connection with, a distribution of the Shares within the meaning of the Securities Act. Purchaser has no present intention of selling or otherwise disposing of all or any portion of the Shares and no one other than Purchaser has any beneficial ownership of any of the Shares.


3.3 Access to Information. Purchaser has had access to all information regarding the Company and its present and prospective business, assets, liabilities and financial condition that Purchaser reasonably considers important in making the decision to purchase the Shares, and Purchaser has had ample opportunity to ask questions of the Company’s representatives concerning such matters and this investment.

3.4 Understanding of Risks. Purchaser is fully aware of: (i) the highly speculative nature of the investment in the Shares; (ii) the financial hazards involved; (iii) the lack of liquidity of the Shares and the restrictions on transferability of the Shares (e.g., that Purchaser may not be able to sell or dispose of the Shares or use them as collateral for loans); (iv) the qualifications and backgrounds of the management of the Company; and (v) the tax consequences of investment in the Shares. Purchaser is capable of evaluating the merits and risks of this investment, has the ability to protect Purchaser’s own interests in this transaction and is financially capable of bearing a total loss of this investment.

3.5 No General Solicitation. At no time was Purchaser presented with or solicited by any publicly issued or circulated newspaper, mail, radio, television or other form of general advertising or solicitation in connection with the offer, sale and purchase of the Shares.

4. Compliance with Securities Laws.

4.1 Compliance with U.S. Federal Securities Laws. Purchaser understands and acknowledges that the Shares have not been registered with the SEC under the Securities Act and that, notwithstanding any other provision of the Stock Option Agreement to the contrary, the exercise of any rights to purchase any Shares is expressly conditioned upon compliance with the Securities Act and all applicable state securities laws. Purchaser agrees to cooperate with the Company to ensure compliance with such laws.

4.2 Compliance with California Securities Laws. THE PLAN, THE STOCK OPTION AGREEMENT, AND THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT ARE INTENDED TO COMPLY WITH SECTION 25102(o) OF THE CALIFORNIA CORPORATIONS CODE AND ANY RULES (INCLUDING COMMISSIONER RULES, IF APPLICABLE) OR REGULATIONS PROMULGATED THEREUNDER BY THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORPORATIONS (THE “REGULATIONS”). ANY PROVISION OF THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT THAT IS INCONSISTENT WITH SECTION 25102(o) SHALL, WITHOUT FURTHER ACT OR AMENDMENT BY THE COMPANY OR THE BOARD, BE REFORMED TO COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF SECTION 25102(o). THE SALE OF THE SECURITIES THAT ARE THE SUBJECT OF THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT, IF NOT YET QUALIFIED WITH THE CALIFORNIA COMMISSIONER OF CORPORATIONS AND NOT EXEMPT FROM SUCH QUALIFICATION, IS SUBJECT TO SUCH QUALIFICATION, AND THE ISSUANCE OF SUCH SECURITIES, AND THE RECEIPT OF ANY PART OF THE CONSIDERATION THEREFOR PRIOR TO SUCH QUALIFICATION IS UNLAWFUL UNLESS THE SALE IS EXEMPT. THE RIGHTS OF THE PARTIES TO THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT ARE EXPRESSLY CONDITIONED UPON SUCH QUALIFICATION BEING OBTAINED OR AN EXEMPTION BEING AVAILABLE.

4.3 Compliance with Non-U.S. Securities Laws. The Purchaser understands and acknowledges that the Option and the Shares to be issued upon exercise of the Option may be subject to non-U.S. federal or state securities laws or other laws and the exercise of the Option and the issuance of the Shares upon exercise are expressly conditioned upon compliance with any non-U.S. securities or other applicable laws. Purchaser agrees to cooperate with the Company to ensure compliance with such laws.


5. Restricted Securities.

5.1 No Transfer Unless Registered or Exempt. Purchaser understands that Purchaser may not transfer any Shares unless such Shares are registered under the Securities Act or qualified under applicable U.S. state or non-U.S. securities laws or unless, in the opinion of counsel to the Company, exemptions from such registration and qualification requirements are available. Purchaser understands that only the Company may file a registration statement with the SEC and that the Company is under no obligation to do so with respect to the Shares. Purchaser has also been advised that exemptions from registration and qualification may not be available or may not permit Purchaser to transfer all or any of the Shares in the amounts or at the times proposed by Purchaser.

5.2 SEC Rule 144. In addition, Purchaser has been advised that SEC Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act, which permits certain limited sales of unregistered securities, is not presently available with respect to the Shares and, in any event, requires that the Shares be held for a minimum of one (1) year, and in certain cases two (2) years, after they have been purchased and paid for (within the meaning of Rule 144). Purchaser understands that Rule 144 may indefinitely restrict transfer of the Shares so long as Purchaser remains an “affiliate” of the Company or if “current public information” about the Company (as defined in Rule 144) is not publicly available.

5.3 SEC Rule 701. Shares that are issued pursuant to SEC Rule 701 promulgated under the Securities Act may become freely tradable by non-affiliates (under limited conditions regarding the method of sale) ninety (90) days after the first sale of Common Stock of the Company to the general public pursuant to a registration statement filed with and declared effective by the SEC, subject to the lengthier market standoff agreement contained in Section 7 of this Exercise Agreement or any other agreement entered into by Purchaser. Affiliates must comply with the provisions (other than the holding period requirements) of Rule 144.

6. Restrictions on Transfers.

6.1 Disposition of Shares. Purchaser hereby agrees that Purchaser shall make no disposition of the Shares (other than as permitted by this Exercise Agreement) unless and until:

(a) Purchaser shall have notified the Company of the proposed disposition and provided a written summary of the terms and conditions of the proposed disposition;

(b) Purchaser shall have complied with all requirements of this Exercise Agreement and Stock Option Agreement applicable to the disposition of the Shares;

(c) Purchaser shall have provided the Company with written assurances, in form and substance satisfactory to counsel for the Company, that (i) the proposed disposition does not require registration of the Shares under the Securities Act or (ii) all appropriate actions necessary for compliance with the registration requirements of the Securities Act or of any exemption from registration available under the Securities Act (including Rule 144) have been taken; and


(d) Purchaser shall have provided the Company with written assurances, in form and substance satisfactory to the Company, that the proposed disposition will not result in the contravention of any transfer restrictions applicable to the Shares pursuant to the provisions of the Regulations referred to in Section 4.2 or 4.3 hereof.

6.2 Restriction on Transfer. Purchaser shall not transfer, assign, grant a lien or security interest in, pledge, hypothecate, encumber or otherwise dispose of any of the Shares which are subject to the Company’s Right of First Refusal described below, except as permitted by this Exercise Agreement.

6.3 Transferee Obligations. Each person (other than the Company) to whom the Shares are transferred by means of one of the permitted transfers specified in this Exercise Agreement must, as a condition precedent to the validity of such transfer, acknowledge in writing to the Company that such person is bound by the provisions of this Exercise Agreement and that the transferred Shares are subject to (i) the Company’s Right of First Refusal granted hereunder and (ii) the market stand-off provisions of Section 7 hereof, to the same extent such Shares would be so subject if retained by the Purchaser.

7. Market Standoff Agreement. Purchaser agrees in connection with any registration of the Company’s securities that, upon the request of the Company or the underwriters managing any public offering of the Company’s securities, Purchaser will not sell or otherwise dispose of any Shares without the prior written consent of the Company or such underwriters, as the case may be, for such period of time (not to exceed one hundred eighty (180) days) after the effective date of such registration requested by such managing underwriters and subject to all restrictions as the Company or the underwriters may specify. Purchaser further agrees to enter into any agreement reasonably required by the underwriters to implement the foregoing.

8. Company’s Right of First Refusal. Unvested Shares may not be sold or otherwise transferred by Purchaser without the Company’s prior written consent. Before any Vested Shares held by Purchaser or any transferee of such Vested Shares (either sometimes referred to herein as the “Holder”) may be sold or otherwise transferred (including, without limitation, a transfer by gift or operation of law), the Company and/or its assignee(s) will have a right of first refusal to purchase the Vested Shares to be sold or transferred (the “Offered Shares”) on the terms and conditions set forth in this Section (the “Right of First Refusal”).

8.1 Notice of Proposed Transfer. The Holder of the Offered Shares will deliver to the Company a written notice (the “Notice”) stating: (i) the Holder’s bona fide intention to sell or otherwise transfer the Offered Shares; (ii) the name and address of each proposed purchaser or other transferee (the “Proposed Transferee”); (iii) the number of Offered Shares to be transferred to each Proposed Transferee; (iv) the bona fide cash price or other consideration for which the Holder proposes to transfer the Offered Shares (the “Offered Price”); and (v) that the Holder acknowledges this Notice is an offer to sell the Offered Shares to the Company and/or its assignee(s) pursuant to the Company’s Right of First Refusal at the Offered Price as provided for in this Exercise Agreement.


8.2 Exercise of Right of First Refusal. At any time within thirty (30) days after the date of the Notice, the Company and/or its assignee(s) may, by giving written notice to the Holder, elect to purchase all (or, with the consent of the Holder, less than all) the Offered Shares proposed to be transferred to any one or more of the Proposed Transferees named in the Notice, at the purchase price, determined as specified below.

8.3 Purchase Price. The purchase price for the Offered Shares purchased under this Section will be the Offered Price, provided that if the Offered Price consists of no legal consideration (as, for example, in the case of a transfer by gift) the purchase price will be the fair market value of the Offered Shares as determined in good faith by the Company’s Board of Directors. If the Offered Price includes consideration other than cash, then the value of the non-cash consideration, as determined in good faith by the Company’s Board of Directors, will conclusively be deemed to be the cash equivalent value of such non-cash consideration.

8.4 Payment. Payment of the purchase price for the Offered Shares will be payable, at the option of the Company and/or its assignee(s) (as applicable), by check or by cancellation of all or a portion of any outstanding purchase money indebtedness owed by the Holder to the Company (or to such assignee, in the case of a purchase of Offered Shares by such assignee) or by any combination thereof. The purchase price will be paid without interest within sixty (60) days after the Company’s receipt of the Notice, or, at the option of the Company and/or its assignee(s), in the manner and at the time(s) set forth in the Notice.

8.5 Holder’s Right to Transfer. If all of the Offered Shares proposed in the Notice to be transferred to a given Proposed Transferee are not purchased by the Company and/or its assignee(s) as provided in this Section, then the Holder may sell or otherwise transfer such Offered Shares to each Proposed Transferee at the Offered Price or at a higher price, provided that (i) such sale or other transfer is consummated within one hundred twenty (120) days after the date of the Notice, (ii) any such sale or other transfer is effected in compliance with all applicable securities laws, and (iii) each Proposed Transferee agrees in writing that the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to the Offered Shares in the hands of such Proposed Transferee. If the Offered Shares described in the Notice are not transferred to each Proposed Transferee within such one hundred twenty (120) day period, then a new Notice must be given to the Company pursuant to which the Company will again be offered the Right of First Refusal before any Shares held by the Holder may be sold or otherwise transferred.

8.6 Exempt Transfers. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section, the following transfers of Vested Shares will be exempt from the Right of First Refusal: (i) the transfer of any or all of the Vested Shares during Purchaser’s lifetime by gift or on Purchaser’s death by will or intestacy to Purchaser’s “Immediate Family” (as defined below) or to a trust for the benefit of Purchaser or Purchaser’s Immediate Family, provided that each transferee or other recipient agrees in a writing satisfactory to the Company that the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to the transferred Vested Shares in the hands of such transferee or other recipient; (ii) any transfer of Vested Shares made pursuant to a statutory merger or statutory consolidation of the Company with or into another corporation or corporations (except that, the Right of First


Refusal will continue to apply thereafter to such Vested Shares, in which case the surviving corporation of such merger or consolidation shall succeed to the rights of the Company under this Section unless the agreement of merger or consolidation expressly otherwise provides); or (iii) any transfer of Vested Shares pursuant to the winding up and dissolution of the Company. As used herein, the term “Immediate Family” will mean Purchaser’s spouse, the lineal descendant or antecedent, father, mother, brother or sister, child, adopted child, grandchild or adopted grandchild of the Purchaser or the Purchaser’s spouse, or the spouse of any of the above or Spousal Equivalent, as defined herein. As used herein, a person is deemed to be a “Spousal Equivalent” provided the following circumstances are true: (i) irrespective of whether or not the Participant and the Spousal Equivalent are the same sex, they are the sole spousal equivalent of the other for the last twelve (12) months, (ii) they intend to remain so indefinitely, (iii) neither are married to anyone else, (iv) both are at least 18 years of age and mentally competent to consent to contract, (v) they are not related by blood to a degree of closeness that which would prohibit legal marriage in the state in which they legally reside, (vi) they are jointly responsible for each other’s common welfare and financial obligations, and (vii) they reside together in the same residence for the last twelve (12) months and intend to do so indefinitely.

8.7 Termination of Right of First Refusal. The Right of First Refusal will terminate as to all Shares (i) on the effective date of the first sale of Common Stock of the Company to the general public pursuant to a registration statement filed with and declared effective by the SEC under the 1933 Act (other than a registration statement relating solely to the issuance of Common Stock pursuant to a business combination or an employee incentive or benefit plan) or (ii) on any transfer or conversion of Shares made pursuant to a statutory merger or statutory consolidation of the Company with or into another corporation or corporations if the common stock of the surviving corporation or any direct or indirect parent corporation thereof is registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

8.8 Encumbrances on Vested Shares. Purchaser may grant a lien or security interest in, or pledge, hypothecate or encumber Vested Shares only if each party to whom such lien or security interest is granted, or to whom such pledge, hypothecation or other encumbrance is made, agrees in a writing satisfactory to the Company that: (i) such lien, security interest, pledge, hypothecation or encumbrance will not apply to such Vested Shares after they are acquired by the Company and/or its assignees under this Section; and (ii) the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to such Vested Shares in the hands of such party and any transferee of such party. Purchaser may not grant a lien or security interest in, or pledge, hypothecate or encumber, any Unvested Shares.

9. Rights as a Shareholder. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser will have all of the rights of a shareholder of the Company with respect to the Shares from and after the date that Shares are issued to Purchaser until such time as Purchaser disposes of the Shares or the Company and/or its assignee(s) exercise(s) the Right of First Refusal. Upon an exercise of the Right of First Refusal, Purchaser will have no further rights as a holder of the Shares so purchased upon such exercise, other than the right to receive payment for the Shares so purchased in accordance with the provisions of this Exercise Agreement, and Purchaser will promptly surrender the stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares so purchased to the Company for transfer or cancellation.


10. Escrow. As security for Purchaser’s faithful performance of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser agrees, immediately upon receipt of the stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares, to deliver such certificate(s), together with the Stock Powers executed by Purchaser and by Purchaser’s spouse, if any (with the date and number of Shares left blank), to the Secretary of the Company or other designee of the Company (the “Escrow Holder”), who is hereby appointed to hold such certificate(s) and Stock Powers in escrow and to take all such actions and to effectuate all such transfers and/or releases of such Shares as are in accordance with the terms of this Exercise Agreement. Purchaser and the Company agree that Escrow Holder will not be liable to any party to this Exercise Agreement (or to any other party) for any actions or omissions unless Escrow Holder is grossly negligent or intentionally fraudulent in carrying out the duties of Escrow Holder under this Exercise Agreement. Escrow Holder may rely upon any letter, notice or other document executed with any signature purported to be genuine and may rely on the advice of counsel and obey any order of any court with respect to the transactions contemplated by this Exercise Agreement. The Shares will be released from escrow upon termination of the Right of First Refusal.

11. Restrictive Legends and Stop-Transfer Orders.

11.1 Legends. Purchaser understands and agrees that the Company will place the legends set forth below or similar legends on any stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares, together with any other legends that may be required by state or U.S. Federal securities laws, the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws, any other agreement between Purchaser and the Company or any agreement between Purchaser and any third party:

THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED HEREBY HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE “SECURITIES ACT”), OR UNDER THE SECURITIES LAWS OF CERTAIN STATES. THESE SECURITIES ARE SUBJECT TO RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFERABILITY AND RESALE AND MAY NOT BE TRANSFERRED OR RESOLD EXCEPT AS PERMITTED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT AND APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS, PURSUANT TO REGISTRATION OR EXEMPTION THEREFROM. INVESTORS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT THEY MAY BE REQUIRED TO BEAR THE FINANCIAL RISKS OF THIS INVESTMENT FOR AN INDEFINITE PERIOD OF TIME. THE ISSUER OF THESE SECURITIES MAY REQUIRE AN OPINION OF COUNSEL IN FORM AND SUBSTANCE SATISFACTORY TO THE ISSUER TO THE EFFECT THAT ANY PROPOSED TRANSFER OR RESALE IS IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE SECURITIES ACT AND ANY APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS.

THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS ON PUBLIC RESALE AND TRANSFER: INCLUDING THE RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL HELD BY THE ISSUER AND/OR ITS ASSIGNEE(S) AS SET FORTH IN A STOCK OPTION EXERCISE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ISSUER AND THE ORIGINAL HOLDER OF THESE SHARES, A COPY OF WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE PRINCIPAL OFFICE OF THE ISSUER. SUCH PUBLIC SALE AND TRANSFER RESTRICTIONS INCLUDING THE RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL ARE BINDING ON TRANSFEREES OF THESE SHARES.


THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE ARE SUBJECT TO A 180 DAY MARKET STANDOFF RESTRICTION AS SET FORTH IN A CERTAIN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ISSUER AND THE ORIGINAL HOLDER OF THESE SHARES, A COPY OF WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE PRINCIPAL OFFICE OF THE ISSUER. AS A RESULT OF SUCH AGREEMENT, THESE SHARES MAY NOT BE TRADED PRIOR TO 180 DAYS AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF ANY PUBLIC OFFERING OF THE COMMON STOCK OF THE ISSUER HEREOF. SUCH RESTRICTION IS BINDING ON TRANSFEREES OF THESE SHARES.

11.2 Stop-Transfer Instructions. Purchaser agrees that, to ensure compliance with the restrictions imposed by this Exercise Agreement, the Company may issue appropriate “stop-transfer” instructions to its transfer agent, if any, and if the Company transfers its own securities, it may make appropriate notations to the same effect in its own records.

11.3 Refusal to Transfer. The Company will not be required (i) to transfer on its books any Shares that have been sold or otherwise transferred in violation of any of the provisions of this Exercise Agreement or (ii) to treat as owner of such Shares, or to accord the right to vote or pay dividends to any purchaser or other transferee to whom such Shares have been so transferred.

12. Tax Consequences. PURCHASER UNDERSTANDS THAT PURCHASER MAY SUFFER ADVERSE TAX CONSEQUENCES AS A RESULT OF PURCHASER’S PURCHASE OR DISPOSITION OF THE SHARES. PURCHASER REPRESENTS: (i) THAT PURCHASER HAS CONSULTED WITH ANY TAX ADVISER THAT PURCHASER DEEMS ADVISABLE IN CONNECTION WITH THE PURCHASE OR DISPOSITION OF THE SHARES AND (ii) THAT PURCHASER IS NOT RELYING ON THE COMPANY FOR ANY TAX ADVICE. TAX LAWS AND REGULATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. PURCHASER SHOULD CONSULT HIS OR HER OWN TAX ADVISER BEFORE EXERCISING THIS OPTION OR DISPOSING OF THE SHARES

13. Compliance with Laws and Regulations. The issuance and transfer of the Shares will be subject to and conditioned upon compliance by the Company and Purchaser with all applicable state, U.S. state and Federal and as well as non-U.S. laws and regulations and with all applicable requirements of any stock exchange or automated quotation system on which the Company’s Common Stock may be listed or quoted at the time of such issuance or transfer.

14. Successors and Assigns. The Company may assign any of its rights under this Exercise Agreement, including its rights to purchase Shares under the Right of First Refusal. No other party to this Exercise Agreement may assign, whether voluntarily or by operation of law, any of its rights and obligations under this Exercise Agreement, except with the prior written consent of the Company. This Exercise Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the successors and assigns of the Company. Subject to the restrictions on transfer herein set forth, this Exercise Agreement will be binding upon Purchaser and Purchaser’s heirs, executors, administrators, legal representatives, successors and assigns.


15. Governing Law; Venue. This Exercise Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to that body of laws pertaining to conflict of laws. For purposes of any action, lawsuit or other proceedings brought to enforce this Agreement, relating to it, or arising from it, the parties hereby submit to and consent to the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of San Francisco, California, or the federal courts for the United States for the Northern District of California, and no other courts, where this grant is made and/or to be performed.

16. Notices. Any and all notices required or permitted to be given to a party pursuant to the provisions of this Exercise Agreement will be in writing and will be effective and deemed to provide such party sufficient notice under this Exercise Agreement on the earliest of the following: (i) at the time of personal delivery, if delivery is in person; (ii) at the time of transmission by facsimile, addressed to the other party at its facsimile number specified herein (or hereafter modified by subsequent notice to the parties hereto), with confirmation of receipt made both by telephone and printed confirmation sheet verifying successful transmission of the facsimile, (iii) one (1) business day after deposit with an express overnight courier for United States deliveries, or two (2) business days after such deposit for deliveries outside of the United States, with proof of delivery from the courier requested; or (iv) three (3) business days after deposit in the United States mail by certified mail (return receipt requested) for United States deliveries.

All notices for delivery outside the United States will be sent by facsimile or by express courier. All notices not delivered personally or by facsimile will be sent with postage and/or other charges prepaid and properly addressed to the party to be notified at the address or facsimile number set forth below the signature lines of this Exercise Agreement, or at such other address or facsimile number as such other party may designate by one of the indicated means of notice herein to the other parties hereto. Notices to the Company will be marked “Attention: President”. Notices by facsimile shall be machine verified as received.

17. Further Assurances. The parties agree to execute such further documents and instruments and to take such further actions as may be reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes and intent of this Exercise Agreement.

18. Titles and Headings. The titles, captions and headings of this Exercise Agreement are included for ease of reference only and will be disregarded in interpreting or construing this Exercise Agreement. Unless otherwise specifically stated, all references herein to “sections” and “exhibits” will mean “sections” and “exhibits” to this Exercise Agreement.

19. Entire Agreement. The Plan, the Stock Option Agreement and this Exercise Agreement, together with all Addenda and Exhibits thereto, constitute the entire agreement and understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter of this Exercise Agreement, and supersede all prior understandings and agreements, whether oral or written, between or among the parties hereto with respect to the specific subject matter hereof.


20. Counterparts. This Exercise Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which when so executed and delivered will be deemed an original, and all of which together shall constitute one and the same agreement.

21. Severability. If any provision of this Exercise Agreement is determined by any court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, such provision will be enforced to the maximum extent possible given the intent of the parties hereto. If such clause or provision cannot be so enforced, such provision shall be stricken from this Exercise Agreement and the remainder of this Exercise Agreement shall be enforced as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable clause or provision had (to the extent not enforceable) never been contained in this Exercise Agreement. Notwithstanding the forgoing, if the value of this Exercise Agreement based upon the substantial benefit of the bargain for any party is materially impaired, which determination as made by the presiding court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction shall be binding, then both parties agree to substitute such provision(s) through good faith negotiations.

22. Facsimile Signatures. This Agreement may be executed and delivered by facsimile and upon such delivery the facsimile signature will be deemed to have the same effect as if the original signature had been delivered to the other party.


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Exercise Agreement to be executed in triplicate by its duly authorized representative and Purchaser has executed this Exercise Agreement in triplicate as of the Effective Date, indicated above.

 

COUCHBASE, INC.    PURCHASER
By:  

 

  

 

     (Signature)

 

  

 

(Please print name)    (Please print name)

 

  
(Please print title)      
Address:    Address:

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

Fax No.:  

 

   Fax No.:   

 

Phone No.:  

 

   Phone No.:   

 

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1:     Stock Power and Assignment Separate from Stock Certificate

Exhibit 2:     Copy of Purchaser’s Check or other permitted consideration

[Signature page to Couchbase, Inc. Stock Option Exercise Agreement]


EXHIBIT 1

STOCK POWER AND ASSIGNMENT

SEPARATE FROM STOCK CERTIFICATE


Stock Power and Assignment

Separate from Stock Certificate

FOR VALUE RECEIVED and pursuant to that certain Stock Option Exercise Agreement No. dated as of             ,             , (the “Agreement”), the undersigned hereby sells, assigns and transfers unto                ,                shares of the Common Stock $0.0001 par value per share, of Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), standing in the undersigned’s name on the books of the Company represented by Certificate No(s).             delivered herewith, and does hereby irrevocably constitute and appoint the Secretary of the Company as the undersigned’s attorney-in-fact, with full power of substitution, to transfer said stock on the books of the Company. THIS ASSIGNMENT MAY ONLY BE USED AS AUTHORIZED BY THE AGREEMENT AND ANY EXHIBITS THERETO.

Dated:                 ,        

 

PURCHASER

 

(Signature)

 

(Please Print Name)

Instructions to Purchaser: Please do not fill in any blanks other than the signature line. The purpose of this Stock Power and Assignment is to enable the Company to acquire the shares upon exercise its “Right of First Refusal” set forth in the Exercise Agreement without requiring additional signatures on the part of the Purchaser.


EXHIBIT 2

COPY OF PURCHASER’S CHECK


No.                    

COUCHBASE, INC.

2008 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN

STOCK OPTION EXERCISE AGREEMENT

FOR THE UNITED KINGDOM

This Stock Option Exercise Agreement for Purchasers residing and/or working in the United Kingdom (the “Exercise Agreement”) is made and entered into as of                                                              ,(the “Effective Date”) by and between Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), and the purchaser named below (the “Purchaser”). Capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the Company’s 2008 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”).

 

Purchaser:   

 

  

 

Employee ID Number:   

 

  

 

  

 

Address:   

 

  

 

Total Number of Shares:   

 

Exercise Price Per Share:   

 

Date of Grant:   

 

First Vesting Date:   

 

Expiration Date:   

 

   (Unless earlier terminated under Section 5.6 of the Plan)

1. Exercise of Option.

1.1 Exercise. Pursuant to the exercise of that certain option (the “Option”) granted to Purchaser under the Plan and subject to the terms and conditions of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser hereby purchases from the Company, and the Company hereby sells to Purchaser, the Total Number of Shares set forth above (the “Shares”) of the Company’s Common Stock, $0.0001 par value per share, at the Exercise Price Per Share set forth above (the “Exercise Price”). As used in this Exercise Agreement, the term “Shares” refers to the Shares purchased under this Exercise Agreement and includes all securities received (i) in replacement of the Shares, (ii) as a result of stock dividends or stock splits with respect to the Shares, and (iii) all securities received in replacement of the Shares in a merger, recapitalization, reorganization or similar corporate transaction.


1.2 Section 431 Election. As a condition of exercise of the Option, Purchaser agrees to enter into, jointly with his or her employer (the “Employer”), a joint election within Section 431 of the U.K. Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (“ITEPA 2003”) in respect of computing any tax charge on the acquisition of “restricted securities” (as defined in Sections 423 and 424 of ITEPA 2003), and that Purchaser will not revoke such election at any time (the “431 Election”). This 431 Election will be to treat the Shares acquired pursuant to the exercise of the Option as if such Shares were not restricted securities (for U.K. tax purposes only). If Purchaser does not enter into such a 431 Election concurrently with the exercise of the Option, Purchaser will not be entitled to exercise the Option and no Shares will be issued to Purchaser, without any liability to the Company or the Employer.

1.3 Title to Shares. The exact spelling of the name(s) under which Purchaser will take title to the Shares is:

To assign the Shares to a trust, a stock transfer agreement in a form acceptable to the Company (the “Stock Transfer Agreement”) must be completed and executed.

1.4 Payment. Purchaser hereby delivers payment of the Exercise Price in the manner permitted in the Stock Option Agreement in cash (by check) in the amount of $             , receipt of which is acknowledged by the Company;

2. Delivery.

2.1 Deliveries by Purchaser. Purchaser hereby delivers to the Company (i) this Exercise Agreement, (ii) two (2) copies of a blank Stock Power and Assignment Separate from Stock Certificate in the form of Exhibit 1 attached hereto (the “Stock Powers”), both executed by Purchaser, and (iii) the 431 Election in the form of Exhibit 2 attached hereto, and (iv) the Exercise Price and payment or other provision for any applicable tax obligations in the form specified above, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 3.

2.2 Deliveries by the Company. Upon its receipt of the Exercise Price, payment or other provision for any applicable tax obligations and all the documents to be executed and delivered by Purchaser to the Company under Section 2.1, the Company will issue a duly executed stock certificate evidencing the Shares in the name of Purchaser to be placed in escrow as provided in Section 10 until expiration or termination of the Company’s Right of First Refusal as described in Sections 8 and 9.

3. Representations and Warranties of Purchaser. Purchaser represents and warrants to the Company that:

3.1 Agrees to Terms of the Plan. Purchaser has received a copy of the Plan and the Stock Option Agreement, has read and understands the terms of the Plan, the Stock Option Agreement and this Exercise Agreement, and agrees to be bound by their terms and conditions. Purchaser acknowledges that there may be adverse tax consequences upon exercise of the Option or disposition of the Shares, and that Purchaser should consult a tax adviser prior to such exercise or disposition.


3.2 Purchase for Own Account for Investment. Purchaser is purchasing the Shares for Purchaser’s own account for investment purposes only and not with a view to, or for sale in connection with, a distribution of the Shares within the meaning of the Securities Act. Purchaser has no present intention of selling or otherwise disposing of all or any portion of the Shares and no one other than Purchaser has any beneficial ownership of any of the Shares.

3.3 Access to Information. Purchaser has had access to all information regarding the Company and its present and prospective business, assets, liabilities and financial condition that Purchaser reasonably considers important in making the decision to purchase the Shares, and Purchaser has had ample opportunity to ask questions of the Company’s representatives concerning such matters and this investment.

3.4 Understanding of Risks. Purchaser is fully aware of: (i) the highly speculative nature of the investment in the Shares; (ii) the financial hazards involved; (iii) the lack of liquidity of the Shares and the restrictions on transferability of the Shares (e.g., that Purchaser may not be able to sell or dispose of the Shares or use them as collateral for loans); (iv) the qualifications and backgrounds of the management of the Company; and (v) the tax consequences of investment in the Shares. Purchaser is capable of evaluating the merits and risks of this investment, has the ability to protect Purchaser’s own interests in this transaction and is financially capable of bearing a total loss of this investment.

3.5 No General Solicitation. At no time was Purchaser presented with or solicited by any publicly issued or circulated newspaper, mail, radio, television or other form of general advertising or solicitation in connection with the offer, sale and purchase of the Shares.

4. Compliance with Securities Laws.

4.1 Compliance with U.S. Federal Securities Laws. Purchaser understands and acknowledges that the Shares have not been registered with the SEC under the Securities Act and that, notwithstanding any other provision of the Stock Option Agreement to the contrary, the exercise of any rights to purchase any Shares is expressly conditioned upon compliance with the Securities Act and all applicable state securities laws. Purchaser agrees to cooperate with the Company to ensure compliance with such laws.

4.2 Compliance with California Securities Laws. THE PLAN, THE STOCK OPTION AGREEMENT, AND THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT ARE INTENDED TO COMPLY WITH SECTION 25102(o) OF THE CALIFORNIA CORPORATIONS CODE AND ANY RULES (INCLUDING COMMISSIONER RULES, IF APPLICABLE) OR REGULATIONS PROMULGATED THEREUNDER BY THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF CORPORATIONS (THE “REGULATIONS”). ANY PROVISION OF THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT THAT IS INCONSISTENT WITH SECTION 25102(o) SHALL, WITHOUT FURTHER ACT OR AMENDMENT BY THE COMPANY OR THE BOARD, BE REFORMED TO COMPLY WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF SECTION 25102(o). THE SALE OF THE SECURITIES THAT ARE THE SUBJECT OF THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT, IF NOT YET QUALIFIED WITH THE


CALIFORNIA COMMISSIONER OF CORPORATIONS AND NOT EXEMPT FROM SUCH QUALIFICATION, IS SUBJECT TO SUCH QUALIFICATION, AND THE ISSUANCE OF SUCH SECURITIES, AND THE RECEIPT OF ANY PART OF THE CONSIDERATION THEREFOR PRIOR TO SUCH QUALIFICATION IS UNLAWFUL UNLESS THE SALE IS EXEMPT. THE RIGHTS OF THE PARTIES TO THIS EXERCISE AGREEMENT ARE EXPRESSLY CONDITIONED UPON SUCH QUALIFICATION BEING OBTAINED OR AN EXEMPTION BEING AVAILABLE.

4.3 Compliance with Non-U.S. Securities Laws. Purchaser understands and acknowledges that the Option and the Shares to be issued upon exercise of the Option may be subject to non-U.S. federal or state securities laws or other laws and the exercise of the Option and the issuance of the Shares upon exercise are expressly conditioned upon compliance with any such non-U.S. securities or other applicable laws. Purchaser agrees to cooperate with the Company to ensure compliance with such laws.

5. Restricted Securities.

5.1 No Transfer Unless Registered or Exempt. Purchaser understands that Purchaser may not transfer any Shares unless such Shares are registered under the Securities Act or qualified under applicable U.S. state or non-U.S. securities laws or unless, in the opinion of counsel to the Company, exemptions from such registration and qualification requirements are available. Purchaser understands that only the Company may file a registration statement with the SEC and that the Company is under no obligation to do so with respect to the Shares. Purchaser has also been advised that exemptions from registration and qualification may not be available or may not permit Purchaser to transfer all or any of the Shares in the amounts or at the times proposed by Purchaser.

5.2 SEC Rule 144. In addition, Purchaser has been advised that SEC Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act, which permits certain limited sales of unregistered securities, is not presently available with respect to the Shares and, in any event, requires that the Shares be held for a minimum of one (1) year, and in certain cases two (2) years, after they have been purchased and paid for (within the meaning of Rule 144). Purchaser understands that Rule 144 may indefinitely restrict transfer of the Shares so long as Purchaser remains an “affiliate” of the Company or if “current public information” about the Company (as defined in Rule 144) is not publicly available.

5.3 SEC Rule 701. Shares that are issued pursuant to SEC Rule 701 promulgated under the Securities Act may become freely tradeable by non-affiliates (under limited conditions regarding the method of sale) ninety (90) days after the first sale of Common Stock of the Company to the general public pursuant to a registration statement filed with and declared effective by the SEC, subject to the lengthier market standoff agreement contained in Section 7 of this Exercise Agreement or any other agreement entered into by Purchaser. Affiliates must comply with the provisions (other than the holding period requirements) of Rule 144.


6. Restrictions on Transfers.

6.1 Disposition of Shares. Purchaser hereby agrees that Purchaser shall make no disposition of the Shares (other than as permitted by this Exercise Agreement) unless and until:

(a) Purchaser shall have notified the Company of the proposed disposition and provided a written summary of the terms and conditions of the proposed disposition;

(b) Purchaser shall have complied with all requirements of this Exercise Agreement applicable to the disposition of the Shares;

(c) Purchaser shall have provided the Company with written assurances, in form and substance satisfactory to counsel for the Company, that (i) the proposed disposition does not require registration of the Shares under the Securities Act or (ii) all appropriate actions necessary for compliance with the registration requirements of the Securities Act or of any exemption from registration available under the Securities Act (including Rule 144) have been taken; and

(d) Purchaser shall have provided the Company with written assurances, in form and substance satisfactory to the Company, that the proposed disposition will not result in the contravention of any transfer restrictions applicable to the Shares pursuant to the provisions of the Regulations referred to in Section 4.2 or 4.3 hereof.

6.2 Restriction on Transfer. Purchaser shall not transfer, assign, grant a lien or security interest in, pledge, hypothecate, encumber or otherwise dispose of any of the Shares which are subject to the Company’s Right of First Refusal described below, except as permitted by this Exercise Agreement.

6.3 Transferee Obligations. Each person (other than the Company) to whom the Shares are transferred by means of one of the permitted transfers specified in this Exercise Agreement must, as a condition precedent to the validity of such transfer, acknowledge in writing to the Company that such person is bound by the provisions of this Exercise Agreement and that the transferred Shares are subject to (i) the Company’s Right of First Refusal granted hereunder and (ii) the market stand-off provisions of Section 7 hereof, to the same extent such Shares would be so subject if retained by the Purchaser.

7. Market Standoff Agreement. Purchaser agrees in connection with any registration of the Company’s securities that, upon the request of the Company or the underwriters managing any public offering of the Company’s securities, Purchaser will not sell or otherwise dispose of any Shares without the prior written consent of the Company or such underwriters, as the case may be, for such period of time (not to exceed one hundred eighty (180) days) after the effective date of such registration requested by such managing underwriters and subject to all restrictions as the Company or the underwriters may specify. Purchaser further agrees to enter into any agreement reasonably required by the underwriters to implement the foregoing.

8. Company’s Right of First Refusal. Unvested Shares may not be sold or otherwise transferred by Purchaser without the Company’s prior written consent. Before any Vested Shares held by Purchaser or any transferee of such Vested Shares (either sometimes referred to herein as the “Holder”) may be sold or otherwise transferred (including, without limitation, a transfer by gift or operation of law), the Company and/or its assignee(s) will have a right of first refusal to purchase the Vested Shares to be sold or transferred (the “Offered Shares”) on the terms and conditions set forth in this Section (the “Right of First Refusal”).


8.1 Notice of Proposed Transfer. The Holder of the Offered Shares will deliver to the Company a written notice (the “Notice”) stating: (i) the Holder’s bona fide intention to sell or otherwise transfer the Offered Shares; (ii) the name and address of each proposed purchaser or other transferee (the “Proposed Transferee”); (iii) the number of Offered Shares to be transferred to each Proposed Transferee; (iv) the bona fide cash price or other consideration for which the Holder proposes to transfer the Offered Shares (the “Offered Price”); and (v) that the Holder acknowledges this Notice is an offer to sell the Offered Shares to the Company and/or its assignee(s) pursuant to the Company’s Right of First Refusal at the Offered Price as provided for in this Exercise Agreement.

8.2 Exercise of Right of First Refusal. At any time within thirty (30) days after the date of the Notice, the Company and/or its assignee(s) may, by giving written notice to the Holder, elect to purchase all (or, with the consent of the Holder, less than all) the Offered Shares proposed to be transferred to any one or more of the Proposed Transferees named in the Notice, at the purchase price, determined as specified below.

8.3 Purchase Price. The purchase price for the Offered Shares purchased under this Section will be the Offered Price, provided that if the Offered Price consists of no legal consideration (as, for example, in the case of a transfer by gift) the purchase price will be the fair market value of the Offered Shares as determined in good faith by the Company’s Board of Directors. If the Offered Price includes consideration other than cash, then the value of the non-cash consideration, as determined in good faith by the Company’s Board of Directors, will conclusively be deemed to be the cash equivalent value of such non-cash consideration.

8.4 Payment. Payment of the purchase price for the Offered Shares will be payable, at the option of the Company and/or its assignee(s) (as applicable), by check or by cancellation of all or a portion of any outstanding purchase money indebtedness owed by the Holder to the Company (or to such assignee, in the case of a purchase of Offered Shares by such assignee) or by any combination thereof. The purchase price will be paid without interest within sixty (60) days after the Company’s receipt of the Notice, or, at the option of the Company and/or its assignee(s), in the manner and at the time(s) set forth in the Notice.

8.5 Holder’s Right to Transfer. If all of the Offered Shares proposed in the Notice to be transferred to a given Proposed Transferee are not purchased by the Company and/or its assignee(s) as provided in this Section, then the Holder may sell or otherwise transfer such Offered Shares to each Proposed Transferee at the Offered Price or at a higher price, provided that (i) such sale or other transfer is consummated within one hundred twenty (120) days after the date of the Notice, (ii) any such sale or other transfer is effected in compliance with all applicable securities laws, and (iii) each Proposed Transferee agrees in writing that the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to the Offered Shares in the hands of such Proposed Transferee. If the Offered Shares described in the Notice are not transferred to each Proposed Transferee within such one hundred twenty (120) day period, then a new Notice must be given to the Company pursuant to which the Company will again be offered the Right of First Refusal before any Shares held by the Holder may be sold or otherwise transferred.


8.6 Exempt Transfers. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section, the following transfers of Vested Shares will be exempt from the Right of First Refusal: (i) the transfer of any or all of the Vested Shares during Purchaser’s lifetime by gift or on Purchaser’s death by will or intestacy to Purchaser’s “Immediate Family” (as defined below) or to a trust for the benefit of Purchaser or Purchaser’s Immediate Family, provided that each transferee or other recipient agrees in a writing satisfactory to the Company that the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to the transferred Vested Shares in the hands of such transferee or other recipient; (ii) any transfer of Vested Shares made pursuant to a statutory merger or statutory consolidation of the Company with or into another corporation or corporations (except that, the Right of First Refusal will continue to apply thereafter to such Vested Shares, in which case the surviving corporation of such merger or consolidation shall succeed to the rights of the Company under this Section unless the agreement of merger or consolidation expressly otherwise provides); or (iii) any transfer of Vested Shares pursuant to the winding up and dissolution of the Company. As used herein, the term “Immediate Family” will mean Purchaser’s spouse, the lineal descendant or antecedent, father, mother, brother or sister, child, adopted child, grandchild or adopted grandchild of the Purchaser or the Purchaser’s spouse, or the spouse of any of the above or Spousal Equivalent, as defined herein. As used herein, a person is deemed to be a “Spousal Equivalent” provided the following circumstances are true: (i) irrespective of whether or not the Participant and the Spousal Equivalent are the same sex, they are the sole spousal equivalent of the other for the last twelve (12) months, (ii) they intend to remain so indefinitely, (iii) neither are married to anyone else, (iv) both are at least 18 years of age and mentally competent to consent to contract, (v) they are not related by blood to a degree of closeness that which would prohibit legal marriage in the state in which they legally reside, (vi) they are jointly responsible for each other’s common welfare and financial obligations, and (vii) they reside together in the same residence for the last twelve (12) months and intend to do so indefinitely.

8.7 Termination of Right of First Refusal. The Right of First Refusal will terminate as to all Shares (i) on the effective date of the first sale of Common Stock of the Company to the general public pursuant to a registration statement filed with and declared effective by the SEC under the 1933 Act (other than a registration statement relating solely to the issuance of Common Stock pursuant to a business combination or an employee incentive or benefit plan) or (ii) on any transfer or conversion of Shares made pursuant to a statutory merger or statutory consolidation of the Company with or into another corporation or corporations if the common stock of the surviving corporation or any direct or indirect parent corporation thereof is registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

8.8 Encumbrances on Vested Shares. Purchaser may grant a lien or security interest in, or pledge, hypothecate or encumber Vested Shares only if each party to whom such lien or security interest is granted, or to whom such pledge, hypothecation or other encumbrance is made, agrees in a writing satisfactory to the Company that: (i) such lien, security interest, pledge, hypothecation or encumbrance will not apply to such Vested Shares after they are acquired by the Company and/or its assignees under this Section; and (ii) the provisions of this Section will continue to apply to such Vested Shares in the hands of such party and any transferee of such party. Purchaser may not grant a lien or security interest in, or pledge, hypothecate or encumber, any Unvested Shares.


9. Rights as a Shareholder. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser will have all of the rights of a shareholder of the Company with respect to the Shares from and after the date that Shares are issued to Purchaser until such time as Purchaser disposes of the Shares or the Company and/or its assignee(s) exercise(s) the Right of First Refusal. Upon an exercise of the Right of First Refusal, Purchaser will have no further rights as a holder of the Shares so purchased upon such exercise, other than the right to receive payment for the Shares so purchased in accordance with the provisions of this Exercise Agreement, and Purchaser will promptly surrender the stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares so purchased to the Company for transfer or cancellation.

10. Escrow. As security for Purchaser’s faithful performance of this Exercise Agreement, Purchaser agrees, immediately upon receipt of the stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares, to deliver such certificate(s), together with the Stock Powers executed by Purchaser and by Purchaser’s spouse, if any (with the date and number of Shares left blank), to the Secretary of the Company or other designee of the Company (the “Escrow Holder”), who is hereby appointed to hold such certificate(s) and Stock Powers in escrow and to take all such actions and to effectuate all such transfers and/or releases of such Shares as are in accordance with the terms of this Exercise Agreement. Purchaser and the Company agree that Escrow Holder will not be liable to any party to this Exercise Agreement (or to any other party) for any actions or omissions unless Escrow Holder is grossly negligent or intentionally fraudulent in carrying out the duties of Escrow Holder under this Exercise Agreement. Escrow Holder may rely upon any letter, notice or other document executed with any signature purported to be genuine and may rely on the advice of counsel and obey any order of any court with respect to the transactions contemplated by this Exercise Agreement. The Shares will be released from escrow upon termination of the Right of First Refusal.

11. Restrictive Legends and Stop-Transfer Orders.

11.1 Legends. Purchaser understands and agrees that the Company will place the legends set forth below or similar legends on any stock certificate(s) evidencing the Shares, together with any other legends that may be required by state or U.S. Federal securities laws, the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws, any other agreement between Purchaser and the Company or any agreement between Purchaser and any third party:

THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED HEREBY HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE “SECURITIES ACT”), OR UNDER THE SECURITIES LAWS OF CERTAIN STATES. THESE SECURITIES ARE SUBJECT TO RESTRICTIONS ON TRANSFERABILITY AND RESALE AND MAY NOT BE TRANSFERRED OR RESOLD EXCEPT AS PERMITTED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT AND APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS, PURSUANT TO REGISTRATION OR EXEMPTION THEREFROM. INVESTORS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT THEY MAY BE REQUIRED TO BEAR THE FINANCIAL RISKS OF THIS INVESTMENT FOR AN INDEFINITE PERIOD OF TIME. THE ISSUER OF THESE SECURITIES MAY REQUIRE AN OPINION OF COUNSEL IN FORM AND SUBSTANCE SATISFACTORY TO THE ISSUER TO THE EFFECT THAT ANY PROPOSED TRANSFER OR RESALE IS IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE SECURITIES ACT AND ANY APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS.


THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS ON PUBLIC RESALE AND TRANSFER: INCLUDING THE RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL HELD BY THE ISSUER AND/OR ITS ASSIGNEE(S) AS SET FORTH IN A STOCK OPTION EXERCISE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ISSUER AND THE ORIGINAL HOLDER OF THESE SHARES, A COPY OF WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE PRINCIPAL OFFICE OF THE ISSUER. SUCH PUBLIC SALE AND TRANSFER RESTRICTIONS INCLUDING THE RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL ARE BINDING ON TRANSFEREES OF THESE SHARES.

THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE ARE SUBJECT TO A 180 DAY MARKET STANDOFF RESTRICTION AS SET FORTH IN A CERTAIN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE ISSUER AND THE ORIGINAL HOLDER OF THESE SHARES, A COPY OF WHICH MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE PRINCIPAL OFFICE OF THE ISSUER. AS A RESULT OF SUCH AGREEMENT, THESE SHARES MAY NOT BE TRADED PRIOR TO 180 DAYS AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF ANY PUBLIC OFFERING OF THE COMMON STOCK OF THE ISSUER HEREOF. SUCH RESTRICTION IS BINDING ON TRANSFEREES OF THESE SHARES.

11.2 Stop-Transfer Instructions. Purchaser agrees that, to ensure compliance with the restrictions imposed by this Exercise Agreement, the Company may issue appropriate “stop-transfer” instructions to its transfer agent, if any, and if the Company transfers its own securities, it may make appropriate notations to the same effect in its own records.

11.3 Refusal to Transfer. The Company will not be required (i) to transfer on its books any Shares that have been sold or otherwise transferred in violation of any of the provisions of this Exercise Agreement or (ii) to treat as owner of such Shares, or to accord the right to vote or pay dividends to any purchaser or other transferee to whom such Shares have been so transferred.

12. Tax Consequences. PURCHASER UNDERSTANDS THAT PURCHASER MAY SUFFER ADVERSE TAX CONSEQUENCES AS A RESULT OF PURCHASER’S PURCHASE OR DISPOSITION OF THE SHARES. PURCHASER REPRESENTS: (i) THAT PURCHASER HAS CONSULTED WITH ANY TAX ADVISER THAT PURCHASER DEEMS ADVISABLE IN CONNECTION WITH THE PURCHASE OR DISPOSITION OF THE SHARES AND (ii) THAT PURCHASER IS NOT RELYING ON THE COMPANY FOR ANY TAX ADVICE. TAX LAWS AND REGULATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. PURCHASER SHOULD CONSULT HIS OR HER OWN TAX ADVISER BEFORE EXERCISING THIS OPTION OR DISPOSING OF THE SHARES


13. Compliance with Laws and Regulations. The issuance and transfer of the Shares will be subject to and conditioned upon compliance by the Company and Purchaser with all applicable U.S. state and Federal as well as non-U.S. laws and regulations and with all applicable requirements of any stock exchange or automated quotation system on which the Company’s Common Stock may be listed or quoted at the time of such issuance or transfer.

14. Successors and Assigns. The Company may assign any of its rights under this Exercise Agreement, including its rights to purchase Shares under the Right of First Refusal. No other party to this Exercise Agreement may assign, whether voluntarily or by operation of law, any of its rights and obligations under this Exercise Agreement, except with the prior written consent of the Company. This Exercise Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the successors and assigns of the Company. Subject to the restrictions on transfer herein set forth, this Exercise Agreement will be binding upon Purchaser and Purchaser’s heirs, executors, administrators, legal representatives, successors and assigns.

15. Governing Law: Venue. This Exercise Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to that body of laws pertaining to conflict of laws.

16. Notices. Any and all notices required or permitted to be given to a party pursuant to the provisions of this Exercise Agreement will be in writing and will be effective and deemed to provide such party sufficient notice under this Exercise Agreement on the earliest of the following: (i) at the time of personal delivery, if delivery is in person; (ii) at the time of transmission by facsimile, addressed to the other party at its facsimile number specified herein (or hereafter modified by subsequent notice to the parties hereto), with confirmation of receipt made both by telephone and printed confirmation sheet verifying successful transmission of the facsimile, (iii) one (1) business day after deposit with an express overnight courier for United States deliveries, or two (2) business days after such deposit for deliveries outside of the United States, with proof of delivery from the courier requested; or (iv) three (3) business days after deposit in the United States mail by certified mail (return receipt requested) for United States deliveries.

All notices for delivery outside the United States will be sent by facsimile or by express courier. All notices not delivered personally or by facsimile will be sent with postage and/or other charges prepaid and properly addressed to the party to be notified at the address or facsimile number set forth below the signature lines of this Exercise Agreement, or at such other address or facsimile number as such other party may designate by one of the indicated means of notice herein to the other parties hereto. Notices to the Company will be marked “Attention: President”. Notices by facsimile shall be machine verified as received.

17. Further Assurances. The parties agree to execute such further documents and instruments and to take such further actions as may be reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes and intent of this Exercise Agreement.

18. Titles and Headings. The titles, captions and headings of this Exercise Agreement are included for ease of reference only and will be disregarded in interpreting or construing this Exercise Agreement. Unless otherwise specifically stated, all references herein to “sections” and “exhibits” will mean “sections” and “exhibits” to this Exercise Agreement.


19. Entire Agreement. The Plan, the Stock Option Agreement and this Exercise Agreement, together with all Exhibits thereto, constitute the entire agreement and understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter of this Exercise Agreement, and supersede all prior understandings and agreements, whether oral or written, between or among the parties hereto with respect to the specific subject matter hereof.

20. Counterparts. This Exercise Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts, each of which when so executed and delivered will be deemed an original, and all of which together shall constitute one and the same agreement.

21. Severability. If any provision of this Exercise Agreement is determined by any court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, such provision will be enforced to the maximum extent possible given the intent of the parties hereto. If such clause or provision cannot be so enforced, such provision shall be stricken from this Exercise Agreement and the remainder of this Exercise Agreement shall be enforced as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable clause or provision had (to the extent not enforceable) never been contained in this Exercise Agreement. Notwithstanding the forgoing, if the value of this Exercise Agreement based upon the substantial benefit of the bargain for any party is materially impaired, which determination as made by the presiding court or arbitrator of competent jurisdiction shall be binding, then both parties agree to substitute such provision(s) through good faith negotiations.

22. Facsimile Signatures. This Agreement may be executed and delivered by facsimile and upon such delivery the facsimile signature will be deemed to have the same effect as if the original signature had been delivered to the other party.


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Exercise Agreement to be executed in triplicate by its duly authorized representative and Purchaser has executed this Exercise Agreement in triplicate as of the Effective Date, indicated above.

 

COUCHBASE, INC.           PURCHASER
By:  

 

    

 

     (Signature)   

 

    

 

(Please print name)      (Please print name)

 

    
(Please print title)     
Address:      Address:

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

Fax No.:  

 

     Fax No.:   

 

Phone No.:  

 

     Phone No.:   

 

List of Exhibits

 

Exhibit 1:

Stock Power and Assignment Separate from Stock Certificate

 

Exhibit 2:

United Kingdom Section 431 Joint Election Form Exhibit 3: Copy of Purchaser’s Check or other permitted consideration

[Signature page to Couchbase, Inc. Stock Option Exercise Agreement]


EXHIBIT 1

STOCK POWER AND ASSIGNMENT

SEPARATE FROM STOCK CERTIFICATE


Stock Power and Assignment

Separate from Stock Certificate

FOR VALUE RECEIVED and pursuant to that certain Stock Option Exercise Agreement No.                                     dated as of                                              ,                             (the “Agreement”), the undersigned hereby sells, assigns and transfers unto                                                     ,                                     shares of the Common Stock $0.0001 par value per share, of Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), standing in the undersigned’s name on the books of the Company represented by Certificate No(s).                         delivered herewith, and does hereby irrevocably constitute and appoint the Secretary of the Company as the undersigned’s attorney-in-fact, with full power of substitution, to transfer said stock on the books of the Company. THIS ASSIGNMENT MAY ONLY BE USED AS AUTHORIZED BY THE AGREEMENT AND ANY EXHIBITS THERETO.

Dated:                                              

 

PURCHASER

 

(Signature)

 

(Please Print Name)

Instructions to Purchaser: Please do not fill in any blanks other than the signature line. The purpose of this Stock Power and Assignment is to enable the Company to acquire the shares upon exercise its “Right of First Refusal” set forth in the Exercise Agreement without requiring additional signatures on the part of the Purchaser.


EXHIBIT 2

SECTION 431

ELECTION FORM

United Kingdom

Section 431 Joint Election Form

Joint Election under s431 ITEPA 2003

for full disapplication of Chapter 2 Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003

One Part Election

 

1.

Between the Employee whose National Insurance Number is and the Company (who is the Employee’s employer) Couchbase Limited of Company Registration Number 8051754

 

2.

Purpose of Election

This joint election is made pursuant to section 431(1) Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 (“ITEPA”) and applies where employment-related securities, which are restricted securities by reason of section 423 ITEPA, are acquired.

The effect of an election under section 431(1) is that, for the purposes of relevant income tax and National Insurance contributions (“NICs”), the employment-related securities and their market value will be treated as if they were not restricted securities and that sections 425 to 430 ITEPA do not apply. Additional income tax will be payable as a result of this election (with PAYE withholding and NICs being applicable where the securities are Readily Convertible Assets).

Should the value of the securities fall following the acquisition, it is possible that income tax/NICs that would have arisen because of any future chargeable event (in the absence of an election) would have been less than the income tax/NICs due by reason of this election. Should this be the case, there is no income tax/NICs relief available under Part 7 of ITEPA 2003; nor is it available if the securities acquired are subsequently transferred, forfeited or revert to the original owner.

 

3.

Application

Shares of common stock This joint election is made not later than 14 days after the date of acquisition of the securities by the employee and applies to:

Number of securities Description of securities Name of issuer of securities Couchbase, Inc.

To be acquired by the Employee on or after the date of this Election under the terms of the Couchbase, Inc.

 

4.

Extent of Application

This election disapplies S.431(1) ITEPA: All restrictions attaching to the securities.


5.

Declaration

This election will become irrevocable upon the later of its signing or the acquisition (and each subsequent acquisition) of employment-related securities to which this election applies.

In signing this joint election, we agree to be bound by its terms as stated above.

 

 

Signature (Employee)

                 

 

Date

                                                        

 

    

 

  
Signature (for and on behalf of the Company)      Date   

 

       
Position in company        

Note: Where the election is in respect of multiple acquisitions, prior to the date of any subsequent acquisition of a security it may be revoked by agreement between the employee and employer in respect of that and any later acquisition.


EXHIBIT 3

COPY OF PURCHASER’S CHECK

EX-10.6

Exhibit 10.6

COUCHBASE, INC.

EXECUTIVE INCENTIVE COMPENSATION PLAN

1.    Purposes of the Plan. The Plan is intended to increase stockholder value and the success of the Company by motivating Employees to (i) perform to the best of their abilities and (ii) achieve the Company’s objectives.

2.    Definitions.

(a)    “Actual Award” means as to any Performance Period, the actual award (if any) payable to a Participant for the Performance Period, subject to the Committee’s authority under Section 3(d) to modify the award.

(b)    “Affiliate” means any corporation or other entity (including, but not limited to, partnerships and joint ventures) controlled by the Company.

(c)    “Board” means the Board of Directors of the Company.

(d)    “Bonus Pool” means the pool of funds available for distribution to Participants. Subject to the terms of the Plan, the Committee establishes the Bonus Pool for each Performance Period.

(e)    “Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. Reference to a specific section of the Code or regulation thereunder will include such section or regulation, any valid regulation promulgated thereunder, and any comparable provision of any future legislation or regulation amending, supplementing or superseding such section or regulation.

(f)    “Committee” means the committee appointed by the Board (pursuant to Section 5) to administer the Plan. Unless and until the Board otherwise determines, the Board’s Compensation Committee will administer the Plan.

(g)    “Company” means Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation, or any successor thereto, and “Company Group” means the Company and any Parents, Subsidiaries, and Affiliates.

(h)    “Disability” means a permanent and total disability determined in accordance with uniform and nondiscriminatory standards adopted by the Committee from time to time.

(i)    “Employee” means any executive, officer, or other employee of the Company or of an Affiliate, whether such individual is so employed at the time the Plan is adopted or becomes so employed subsequent to the adoption of the Plan.

(j)    “Fiscal Year” means the fiscal year of the Company.

(k)    “Parent” means a “parent corporation,” whether now or hereafter existing, as defined in Code Section 424(e).

(l)     “Participant” means as to any Performance Period, an Employee who has been selected by the Committee for participation in the Plan for that Performance Period.


(m)    “Performance Period” means the period of time for the measurement of the performance criteria that must be met to receive an Actual Award, as determined by the Committee in its sole discretion. A Performance Period may be divided into one or more shorter periods if, for example, but not by way of limitation, the Committee desires to measure some performance criteria over 12 months and other criteria over 3 months.

(n)    “Plan” means this Executive Incentive Compensation Plan, as set forth in this instrument (including any appendix attached hereto) and as hereafter amended from time to time.

(o)    “Subsidiary” means a “subsidiary corporation,” whether now or hereafter existing, as defined in Code Section 424(f), in relation to the Company.

(p)     “Target Award” means the target award, at 100% of target level performance achievement, payable under the Plan to a Participant for the Performance Period, as determined by the Committee in accordance with Section 3(b).

3.    Selection of Participants and Determination of Awards.

(a)    Selection of Participants. The Committee, in its sole discretion, will select the Employees who will be Participants for any Performance Period. Participation in the Plan is in the sole discretion of the Committee, on a Performance Period by Performance Period basis. Accordingly, an Employee who is a Participant for a given Performance Period in no way is guaranteed or assured of being selected for participation in any subsequent Performance Period or Performance Periods.

(b)    Determination of Target Awards. The Committee, in its sole discretion, will establish a Target Award for each Participant (which may be expressed as a percentage of a Participant’s average annual base salary for the Performance Period or a fixed dollar amount or such other amount or based on such other formula as the Committee determines).

(c)    Bonus Pool. Each Performance Period, the Committee, in its sole discretion, will establish a Bonus Pool, which pool may be established before, during or after the applicable Performance Period. Actual Awards will be paid from the Bonus Pool.

(d)    Discretion to Modify Awards. Notwithstanding any contrary provision of the Plan, the Committee may, in its sole discretion and at any time, (i) increase, reduce or eliminate a Participant’s Actual Award, and/or (ii) increase, reduce or eliminate the amount allocated to the Bonus Pool. The Actual Award may be below, at or above the Target Award, in the Committee’s discretion. The Committee may determine the amount of any increase, reduction or elimination on the basis of such factors as it deems relevant, and will not be required to establish any allocation or weighting with respect to the factors it considers.

(e)    Discretion to Determine Criteria. Notwithstanding any contrary provision of the Plan, the Committee, in its sole discretion, will determine the performance goals (if any) applicable to any Target Award (or portion thereof) which may include, without limitation, annual recurring revenue, attainment of research and development milestones, bookings, business divestitures and acquisitions, cash flow, cash flow from operations, cash position, contract awards or backlog, committed annual recurring revenue, current remaining performance obligation, customer renewals, customer retention rates from an acquired company, subsidiary, business unit or division, customer success (including by any customer

 

2


success metric such as NPS), earnings (which may include earnings before interest and taxes, earnings before taxes, and net taxes), earnings per share, expenses, gross margin, growth in stockholder value relative to the moving average of the S&P 500 Index or another index, internal rate of return, market share, net income, net new annual contract value, net profit, net retention, net sales, new product development, new product invention or innovation, number of customers, operating cash flow, operating expenses, operating income, operating margin, overhead or other expense reduction, product release timelines, productivity, profit, remaining performance obligation, retained earnings, return on assets, return on capital, return on invested capital, return on equity, return on investment, return on sales, revenue, revenue growth, sales results, sales growth, stock price, time to market, total stockholder return, working capital, workplace diversity metrics, and individual objectives such as peer reviews or other subjective or objective criteria. As determined by the Committee, the performance goals may be based on generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) or non-GAAP results and any actual results may be adjusted by the Committee for one-time items or unbudgeted or unexpected items and/or payments of Actual Awards under the Plan when determining whether the performance goals have been met. The goals may be on the basis of any factors the Committee determines relevant, and may be on an individual, divisional, business unit, segment or Company-wide basis. Any criteria used may be measured on such basis as the Committee determines, including but not limited to, as applicable, (A) in absolute terms, (B) in combination with another performance goal or goals (for example, but not by way of limitation, as a ratio or matrix), (C) in relative terms (including, but not limited to, results for other periods, passage of time and/or against another company or companies or an index or indices), (D) on a per-share basis, (E) against the performance of the Company as a whole or a segment of the Company and/or (F) on a pre-tax or after-tax basis. The performance goals may differ from Participant to Participant and from award to award. Failure to meet the goals will result in a failure to earn the Target Award, except as provided in Section 3(d). The Committee also may determine that a Target Award (or portion thereof) will not have a performance goal associated with it but instead will be granted (if at all) at the sole discretion of the Committee.

4.    Payment of Awards.

(a)    Right to Receive Payment. Each Actual Award will be paid solely from the general assets of the Company. Nothing in this Plan will be construed to create a trust or to establish or evidence any Participant’s claim of any right other than as an unsecured general creditor with respect to any payment to which he or she may be entitled.

(b)    Timing of Payment. Payment of each Actual Award shall be made as soon as practicable after the end of the Performance Period to which the Actual Award relates and after the Actual Award is approved by the Committee, but in no event later than the later of (i) the 15th day of the third month of the Fiscal Year immediately following the Fiscal Year in which the Participant’s Actual Award is first no longer subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture, and (ii) March 15 of the calendar year immediately following the calendar year in which the Participant’s Actual Award is first no longer subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture. Unless otherwise determined by the Committee, to earn an Actual Award a Participant must be employed by the Company or any Affiliate on the date the Actual Award is paid.

It is the intent that this Plan be exempt from or comply with the requirements of Code Section 409A so that none of the payments to be provided hereunder will be subject to the additional tax imposed under Code Section 409A, and any ambiguities herein will be interpreted to be so exempt or so comply. Each payment under this Plan is intended to constitute a separate payment for purposes of Treasury Regulation Section 1.409A-2(b)(2).

 

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(c)    Form of Payment. Each Actual Award generally will be paid in cash (or its equivalent) in a single lump sum. The Committee reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to settle an Actual Award with a grant of an equity award under the Company’s then-current equity compensation plan, which equity award may have such terms and conditions, including vesting, as the Committee determines in its sole discretion.

(d)    Payment in the Event of Death or Disability. If a Participant dies or is terminated due to his or her Disability prior to the payment of an Actual Award the Committee has determined will be paid for a prior Performance Period, the Actual Award will be paid to his or her estate or to the Participant, as the case may be, subject to the Committee’s discretion to reduce or eliminate any Actual Award otherwise payable.

5.    Plan Administration.

(a)    Committee is the Administrator. The Plan will be administered by the Committee. The Committee will consist of not less than 2 members of the Board. The members of the Committee will be appointed from time to time by, and serve at the pleasure of, the Board.

(b)    Committee Authority. It will be the duty of the Committee to administer the Plan in accordance with the Plan’s provisions. The Committee will have all powers and discretion necessary or appropriate to administer the Plan and to control its operation, including, but not limited to, the power to (i) determine which Employees will be granted awards, (ii) prescribe the terms and conditions of awards, (iii) interpret the Plan and the awards, (iv) adopt such procedures and sub-plans as are necessary or appropriate to permit participation in the Plan by Employees who are foreign nationals or employed outside of the United States, (v) adopt rules for the administration, interpretation and application of the Plan as are consistent therewith, and (vi) interpret, amend or revoke any such rules.

(c)    Decisions Binding. All determinations and decisions made by the Committee, the Board, and/or any delegate of the Committee pursuant to the provisions of the Plan will be final, conclusive, and binding on all persons, and will be given the maximum deference permitted by law.

(d)    Delegation by Committee. The Committee, in its sole discretion and on such terms and conditions as it may provide, may delegate all or part of its authority and powers under the Plan to one or more directors and/or officers of the Company.

(e)    Indemnification. Each person who is or will have been a member of the Committee will be indemnified and held harmless by the Company against and from (i) any loss, cost, liability, or expense that may be imposed upon or reasonably incurred by him or her in connection with or resulting from any claim, action, suit, or proceeding to which he or she may be a party or in which he or she may be involved by reason of any action taken or failure to act under the Plan or any award, and (ii) from any and all amounts paid by him or her in settlement thereof, with the Company’s approval, or paid by him or her in satisfaction of any judgment in any such claim, action, suit, or proceeding against him or her, provided he or she will give the Company an opportunity, at its own expense, to handle and defend the same before he or she undertakes to handle and defend it on his or her own behalf. The foregoing right of indemnification will not be exclusive of any other rights of indemnification to which such persons may be entitled under the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws, by contract, as a matter of law, or otherwise, or under any power that the Company may have to indemnify them or hold them harmless.

 

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6.    General Provisions.

(a)    Tax Withholding. The Company (or the Affiliate employing the applicable Employee) will withhold all applicable taxes from any Actual Award, including any federal, state and local taxes (including, but not limited to, the Participant’s FICA and SDI obligations).

(b)    No Effect on Employment or Service. Nothing in the Plan will interfere with or limit in any way the right of the Company (or the Affiliate employing the applicable Employee) to terminate any Participant’s employment or service at any time, with or without cause. For purposes of the Plan, transfer of employment of a Participant between the Company and any one of its Affiliates (or between Affiliates) will not be deemed a termination of employment. Employment with the Company and its Affiliates is on an at-will basis only. The Company expressly reserves the right, which may be exercised at any time and without regard to when during a Performance Period such exercise occurs, to terminate any individual’s employment with or without cause, and to treat him or her without regard to the effect that such treatment might have upon him or her as a Participant.

(c)    Forfeiture Events.

(i)    Clawback Policy; Applicable Laws. All awards under the Plan will be subject to reduction, cancellation, forfeiture, or recoupment in accordance with any clawback policy that the Company Group is required to adopt pursuant to the listing standards of any national securities exchange or association on which the Company’s securities are listed or as is otherwise required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act or other applicable laws. In addition, the Committee may impose such other clawback, recovery or recoupment provisions with respect to an award under the Plan as the Committee determines necessary or appropriate, including without limitation a reacquisition right in respect of previously acquired cash, stock, or other property provided with respect to an award. Unless this Section 6(c) is specifically mentioned and waived in a written agreement between a Participant and a member of the Company Group or other document, no recovery of compensation under a clawback policy will give the Participant the right to resign for “good reason” or “constructive termination” (or similar term) under any agreement with a member of the Company Group.

(ii)    Additional Forfeiture Terms. The Committee may specify when providing for an award under the Plan that the Participant’s rights, payments, and benefits with respect to the award will be subject to reduction, cancellation, forfeiture, or recoupment upon the occurrence of specified events, in addition to any otherwise applicable vesting or performance conditions of the award. Such events may include, without limitation, termination of the Participant’s status as an Employee for “cause” or any act by a Participant, whether before or after the Participant’s status as an Employee terminates, that would constitute “cause.”

(iii)    Accounting Restatements. If the Company is required to prepare an accounting restatement due to the material noncompliance of the Company, as a result of misconduct, with any financial reporting requirement under the securities laws, then any Participant who knowingly or through gross negligence engaged in the misconduct, or who knowingly or through gross negligence failed to prevent the misconduct, and any Participant who is one of the individuals subject to automatic forfeiture under Section 304 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, will reimburse the Company Group the amount of any payment with respect to an award earned or accrued during the twelve (12) month period following the first public issuance or filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (whichever first occurred) of the financial document embodying such financial reporting requirement.

 

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(d)    Participation. No Employee will have the right to be selected to receive an award under this Plan, or, having been so selected, to be selected to receive a future award.

(e)    Successors. All obligations of the Company under the Plan, with respect to awards granted hereunder, will be binding on any successor to the Company, whether the existence of such successor is the result of a direct or indirect purchase, merger, consolidation, or otherwise, of all or substantially all of the business or assets of the Company.

(f)    Beneficiary Designations. If permitted by the Committee, a Participant under the Plan may name a beneficiary or beneficiaries to whom any vested but unpaid award will be paid in the event of the Participant’s death. Each such designation will revoke all prior designations by the Participant and will be effective only if given in a form and manner acceptable to the Committee. In the absence of any such designation, any vested benefits remaining unpaid at the Participant’s death will be paid to the Participant’s estate.

(g)    Nontransferability of Awards. No award granted under the Plan may be sold, transferred, pledged, assigned, or otherwise alienated or hypothecated, other than by will or by the laws of descent and distribution, or to the limited extent provided in Section 6(e). All rights with respect to an award granted to a Participant will be available during his or her lifetime only to the Participant.

7.    Amendment, Termination, and Duration.

(a)    Amendment, Suspension, or Termination. The Board or the Committee, in its sole discretion, may amend or terminate the Plan, or any part thereof, at any time and for any reason. The amendment, suspension or termination of the Plan will not, without the consent of the Participant, alter or impair any rights or obligations under any Actual Award theretofore earned by such Participant. No award may be granted during any period of suspension or after termination of the Plan.

(b)    Duration of Plan. The Plan will commence on the date first adopted by the Board or the Committee, and subject to Section 7(a) (regarding the Board’s and/or the Committee’s right to amend or terminate the Plan), will remain in effect thereafter until terminated.

8.    Legal Construction.

(a)    Gender and Number. Except where otherwise indicated by the context, any masculine term used herein also will include the feminine; the plural will include the singular and the singular will include the plural.

(b)    Severability. In the event any provision of the Plan will be held illegal or invalid for any reason, the illegality or invalidity will not affect the remaining parts of the Plan, and the Plan will be construed and enforced as if the illegal or invalid provision had not been included.

(c)    Requirements of Law. The granting of awards under the Plan will be subject to all applicable laws, rules and regulations, and to such approvals by any governmental agencies or national securities exchanges as may be required.

 

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(d)    Governing Law. The Plan and all awards will be construed in accordance with and governed by the laws of the State of California, but without regard to its conflict of law provisions.

(e)    Bonus Plan. The Plan is intended to be a “bonus program” as defined under U.S. Department of Labor regulation 2510.3-2(c) and will be construed and administered in accordance with such intention.

(f)    Captions. Captions are provided herein for convenience only, and will not serve as a basis for interpretation or construction of the Plan.

 

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EX-10.7

Exhibit 10.7

COUCHBASE, INC.

OUTSIDE DIRECTOR COMPENSATION POLICY

Adopted and approved by the Board of Directors on June 16, 2021

Couchbase, Inc. (the “Company”) believes that providing cash and equity compensation to its members of the Board of Directors (the “Board,” and members of the Board, the “Directors”) represents an effective tool to attract, retain and reward Directors who are not employees of the Company (the “Outside Directors”). This Outside Director Compensation Policy (the “Policy”) is intended to formalize the Company’s policy regarding the compensation to its Outside Directors. Unless otherwise defined herein, capitalized terms used in this Policy will have the meaning given to such terms in the Company’s 2021 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”), or if the Plan is no longer in place, the meaning given to such terms or any similar terms in the equity plan then in place. Each Outside Director will be solely responsible for any tax obligations incurred by such Outside Director as a result of the equity and cash payments such Outside Director receives under this Policy.

Subject to Section 8 of this Policy, this Policy will be effective as of the Registration Date (such date, the “Effective Date”).

1.    Cash Compensation.

Annual Cash Retainer

Each Outside Director will be paid an annual cash retainer of $30,000. There are no per-meeting attendance fees for attending Board meetings. This cash compensation will be paid quarterly in arrears on a prorated basis.

Committee Annual Cash Retainer

Effective as of the Effective Date, each Outside Director who serves as the chair of the Board, the lead Outside Director, or the chair or a member of a committee of the Board, as applicable, listed below will be eligible to earn additional annual cash fees (paid quarterly in arrears on a prorated basis) as follows:

 

Chair of the Board

 

   $

 

20,000

 

 

 

Lead Independent Director

 

   $

 

15,000

 

 

 

Chair of Audit Committee:

 

   $

 

20,000

 

 

 

Member of Audit Committee:

 

   $

 

10,000

 

 

 

Chair of Compensation Committee:

 

   $

 

12,000

 

 

 

Member of Compensation Committee:

 

   $

 

6,000

 

 

 

Chair of Nominating Committee:

 

   $

 

7,500

 

 

 

Member of Nominating Committee:

 

   $

 

3,750

 

 

 


For clarity, each Outside Director who serves as the chair of a committee shall receive only the additional annual cash fee as the chair of the committee, and not the additional annual cash fee as a member of the committee.

2.    Equity Compensation. Outside Directors will be eligible to receive all types of Awards (except Incentive Stock Options) under the Plan (or the applicable equity plan in place at the time of grant), including discretionary Awards not covered under this Policy. All grants of Awards to Outside Directors pursuant to Section 2 of this Policy will be automatic and nondiscretionary, except as otherwise provided herein, and will be made in accordance with the following provisions:

(a)    No Discretion. No person will have any discretion to select which Outside Directors will be granted any Awards under this Policy or to determine the number of Shares to be covered by such Awards.

(b)    Initial Award. Each individual who first becomes an Outside Director following the Effective Date will be granted an award of restricted stock units (an “Initial Award”) covering a number of Shares having a Value (as defined below) of $300,000, rounded down to the nearest whole Share. The Initial Award will be automatically granted on the first trading date on or after the date on which such individual first becomes an Outside Director (the “Start Date”), whether through election by the stockholders of the Company or appointment by the Board to fill a vacancy. If an individual was a member of the Board and also an employee, becoming an Outside Director due to termination of employment will not entitle the Outside Director to an Initial Award.

Subject to Section 3 of this Policy, each Initial Award will vest as to 1/3 of the Shares subject to the Initial Award on each anniversary of the date the applicable Outside Director’s service as an Outside Director commenced, in each case subject to the Outside Director continuing to be a Service Provider through the applicable vesting date.

(c)    Pro-Rated Annual Award. An Outside Director will only receive an Award under this Section 2(c) (a “Pro-Rated Annual Award”) if the Start Date is not on the date of an Annual Meeting (as defined below). If the Outside Director’s Start Date is an Annual Meeting, then the Directors shall receive the Annual Award described in Section 2(d) and no Pro-Rated Annual Award. If an Outside Director is eligible for a Pro-Rated Annual Award, then the Outside Director shall be automatically granted on the Start Date an award of restricted stock units covering a number of Shares having a Value of (x) $170,000 multiplied by (y) the fraction obtained by dividing (A) the number of full months during the period beginning on the Start Date and ending on the one-year anniversary of the date of the then-most recent Annual Meeting by (B) 12. The Pro-Rated Annual Award will vest on the earlier of (i) the one-year anniversary of the date the Pro-Rated Annual Award is granted or (ii) the day prior to the date of the Annual Meeting next following the date the Pro-Rated Annual Award is granted, in each case, subject to the Outside Director continuing to be a Service Provider through the applicable vesting date.

(d)    Annual Award. On the date of each annual meeting of the Company’s stockholders following the Effective Date (each, an “Annual Meeting”), each Outside Director will be automatically granted an award of restricted stock units (an “Annual Award”) covering a number of Shares having a Value of $170,000, rounded down to the nearest whole Share.

 

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Subject to Section 3 of this Policy, each Annual Award will vest on the earlier of (i) the one-year anniversary of the date the Annual Award is granted or (ii) the day prior to the date of the Annual Meeting next following the date the Annual Award is granted, in each case, subject to the Outside Director continuing to be a Service Provider through the applicable vesting date.

(e)    Value. For purposes of this Policy, “Value” means the average of the closing trading price of the Company’s common stock for the 20-trading day period ending on the trading day prior to the date of grant.

(f)    Deferral. Outside Directors will be permitted to defer the settlement of Awards granted under this Section 2 in accordance with a deferral election made in accordance with Section 409A.

3.    Change in Control. In the event of a Change in Control, each Outside Director’s Awards accelerate.

4.    Limitations. Any cash compensation and Awards granted to an Outside Director shall be subject to the limits provided in Section 11 of the Plan.

5.    Travel Expenses. Each Outside Director’s reasonable, customary and documented travel expenses to Board or Board committee meetings will be reimbursed by the Company.

6.    Additional Provisions. All provisions of the Plan not inconsistent with this Policy will apply to Awards granted to Outside Directors.

7.    Section 409A. In no event will cash compensation or expense reimbursement payments under this Policy be paid after the later of (i) 15th day of the 3rd month following the end of the Company’s fiscal year in which the compensation is earned or expenses are incurred, as applicable, or (ii) 15th day of the 3rd month following the end of the calendar year in which the compensation is earned or expenses are incurred, as applicable, in compliance with the “short-term deferral” exception under Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and the final regulations and guidance thereunder, as may be amended from time to time (together, “Section 409A”). It is the intent of this Policy that this Policy and all payments hereunder be exempt from or otherwise comply with the requirements of Section 409A so that none of the compensation to be provided hereunder will be subject to the additional tax imposed under Section 409A, and any ambiguities or ambiguous terms herein will be interpreted to be so exempt or comply. In no event will the Company reimburse an Outside Director for any taxes imposed or other costs incurred as a result of Section 409A.

8.    Revisions. The Board may amend, alter, suspend or terminate this Policy at any time and for any reason. No amendment, alteration, suspension or termination of this Policy will materially impair the rights of an Outside Director with respect to compensation that already has been paid or awarded, unless otherwise mutually agreed between the Outside Director and the Company. Termination of this Policy will not affect the Board’s or the Compensation Committee’s ability to exercise the powers granted to it under the Plan with respect to Awards granted under the Plan pursuant to this Policy prior to the date of such termination.

 

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EX-10.8

Exhibit 10.8

COUCHBASE, INC.

CHANGE IN CONTROL AND SEVERANCE POLICY

(Adopted and effective on June 16, 2021)

This Change in Control and Severance Policy (the “Policy”) is designed to provide certain protections to a select group of designated key employees of Couchbase, Inc. (“Couchbase” or the “Company”) or any of its subsidiaries if their employment is involuntarily terminated under the circumstances described in this Policy. The Policy is designed to be an “employee welfare benefit plan” (as defined in Section 3(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”)), and this document is both the formal plan document and the required summary plan description for the Policy.

1.    Eligible Employee. An individual is only eligible for protection under this Policy if he or she is an Eligible Employee and complies with its terms. An “Eligible Employee” is an employee of the Company or any subsidiary of the Company who has (a) been designated by the Compensation Committee of the Board (the “Compensation Committee”) as eligible to participate in the Policy, whether individually or by position or category of position and (b) executed a participation agreement in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A (a “Participation Agreement”). Failure to comply with the terms of an individual’s Participation Agreement will result in that individual not being an Eligible Employee.

2.    Policy Benefits. An Eligible Employee will be eligible to receive the payments and benefits under this Policy and his or her Participation Agreement upon his or her Qualified Termination. The amount and terms of any Equity Vesting, Salary Severance, Bonus Severance, and COBRA Benefit that an Eligible Employee may receive upon his or her Qualified Termination will be set forth in his or her Participation Agreement. All benefits under this Policy will be subject to the Eligible Employee’s compliance with the Release Requirement and any timing modifications required to avoid adverse taxation under Section 409A.

3.    Equity Vesting. On a Qualified Termination, the applicable percentage (set forth in an Eligible Employee’s Participation Agreement) of the then-unvested shares subject to each of the Eligible Employee’s then-outstanding time-based equity awards will immediately vest and, in the case of options and stock appreciation rights, will become exercisable (for avoidance of doubt, no more than 100% of the shares subject to the outstanding portion of a time-based equity award may vest and become exercisable pursuant to this provision). Any restricted stock units or similar full value awards that vest under this paragraph will be settled on the 61st day following the Eligible Employee’s Qualified Termination. For the avoidance of doubt, if an Eligible Employee’s Qualified Termination occurs prior to a Change in Control, then any unvested portion of the Eligible Employee’s outstanding time-based equity awards will remain outstanding for 30 days so that any additional benefits due on a Qualified Termination can be provided if a Change in Control occurs within 30 days following the Qualified Termination (provided that in no event will the terminated Eligible Employee’s stock options or similar equity awards remain outstanding beyond the equity award’s maximum term to expiration). If no Change in Control occurs within 30 days after a Qualified Termination, any unvested portion of the Eligible Employee’s equity awards automatically will be forfeited permanently without having vested. Any accelerated vesting of an Eligible Employee’s outstanding performance-based equity awards upon a Qualified Termination will be determined by the terms of the award agreement for each such equity award.


4.    Salary Severance. On a Qualified Termination, an Eligible Employee will be eligible to receive salary severance payment(s) equal to the applicable percentage (set forth in his or her Participation Agreement) of his or her Base Salary. The Eligible Employee’s salary severance payment(s) will be paid in cash at the time(s) specified in his or her Participation Agreement.

5.    Bonus Severance. To the extent specified in his or her Participation Agreement, on a Qualified Termination, an Eligible Employee will be eligible to receive bonus severance payment(s) with respect to the Eligible Employee’s annual bonus. If applicable, the Eligible Employee’s bonus severance payment(s) will be paid in cash at the time(s) specified in his or her Participation Agreement.

6.    COBRA Benefit. On a Qualified Termination, if an Eligible Employee makes a valid election under COBRA to continue his or her health coverage, the Company will pay the cost of such continuation coverage for the Eligible Employee and any eligible dependents that were covered under the Company’s health care plans immediately prior to the date of his or her eligible termination until the earliest of (a) the end of the applicable period set forth in the Eligible Employee’s Participation Agreement, (b) the date upon which the Eligible Employee and/or the Eligible Employee’s eligible dependents become covered under similar plans or (c) the date upon which the Eligible Employee ceases to be eligible for coverage under COBRA (the “COBRA Coverage”).

7.    Death of Eligible Employee. If the Eligible Employee dies after a Qualified Termination and before all payments or benefits he or she is entitled to receive under this Policy have been paid, then (i) COBRA Coverage (or COBRA Replacement Payments) to the Eligible Employee will immediately cease and (ii) any such unpaid Salary Severance, Bonus Severance, or Equity Vesting will be paid to his or her designated beneficiary, if living, or otherwise to his or her personal representative in a lump-sum payment as soon as possible following his or her death.

8.    Recoupment. If the Company discovers after the Eligible Employee’s receipt of payments or benefits under this Policy that grounds for the termination of the Eligible Employee’s employment for Cause existed, then the Eligible Employee will not receive any further payments or benefits under this Policy and, to the extent permitted under applicable laws, will be required to repay to the Company any payments or benefits he or she received under the Policy (and any financial gain derived from such payments or benefits).

9.    Release. The Eligible Employee’s receipt of any severance payments or benefits upon his or Qualified Termination under this Policy is subject to the Eligible Employee signing and not revoking the Company’s then-standard separation agreement and release of claims (which may include an agreement not to disparage the Company, non-solicit provisions, and other standard terms and conditions) (the “Release” and such requirement, the “Release Requirement”), which must become effective and irrevocable no later than the 60th day following the Eligible Employee’s Qualified Termination (the “Release Deadline”). If the Release does not become effective and irrevocable by the Release Deadline, the Eligible Employee will forfeit any right to severance payments or benefits under this Policy. In no event will severance payments or benefits under the Policy be paid or provided until the Release actually becomes effective and irrevocable. Notwithstanding any other payment schedule set forth in this Policy or the Eligible Employee’s Participation Agreement, none of the severance payments and benefits payable upon such Eligible Employee’s Qualified Termination under this Policy will be paid or otherwise provided prior to the 60th day following the Eligible Employee’s Qualified Termination. Except as otherwise set forth in an Eligible Employee’s Participation Agreement or to the extent that payments are delayed under

 

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the paragraph below entitled “Section 409A,” on the first regular payroll pay day following the 60th day following the Eligible Employee’s Qualified Termination, the Company will pay or provide the Eligible Employee the severance payments and benefits that the Eligible Employee would otherwise have received under this Policy on or prior to such date, with the balance of such severance payments and benefits being paid or provided as originally scheduled.

10.    Section 409A. The Company intends that all payments and benefits provided under this Policy or otherwise are exempt from, or comply with, the requirements of Section 409A of the Code and any guidance promulgated thereunder (collectively, “Section 409A”) so that none of the payments or benefits will be subject to the additional tax imposed under Section 409A, and any ambiguities herein will be interpreted in accordance with this intent. No payment or benefits to be paid to an Eligible Employee, if any, under this Policy or otherwise, when considered together with any other severance payments or separation benefits that are considered deferred compensation under Section 409A (together, the “Deferred Payments”) will be paid or otherwise provided until such Eligible Employee has a “separation from service” within the meaning of Section 409A. If, at the time of the Eligible Employee’s termination of employment, the Eligible Employee is a “specified employee” within the meaning of Section 409A, then the payment of the Deferred Payments will be delayed to the extent necessary to avoid the imposition of the additional tax imposed under Section 409A, which generally means that the Eligible Employee will receive payment on the first payroll date that occurs on or after the date that is 6 months and 1 day following his or her termination of employment. The Company reserves the right to amend the Policy as it deems necessary or advisable, in its sole discretion and without the consent of any Eligible Employee or any other individual, to comply with any provision required to avoid the imposition of the additional tax imposed under Section 409A or to otherwise avoid income recognition under Section 409A prior to the actual payment of any benefits or imposition of any additional tax. Each payment, installment, and benefit payable under this Policy is a separate payment for purposes of U.S. Treasury Regulation Section 1.409A-2(b)(2). In no event will the Company reimburse any Eligible Employee for any taxes that may be imposed on him, including as a result of Section 409A.

11.    Parachute Payments.

(a)    Reduction of Severance Benefits. Notwithstanding anything set forth herein to the contrary, if any payment or benefit that an Eligible Employee would receive from the Company or any other party whether in connection with the provisions herein or otherwise (the “Payment”) would (a) constitute a “parachute payment” within the meaning of Section 280G of the Code, and (b) but for this sentence, be subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Code (the “Excise Tax”), then such Payment will be equal to the Best Results Amount. The “Best Results Amount” will be either (x) the full amount of such Payment or (y) such lesser amount as would result in no portion of the Payment being subject to the Excise Tax, whichever of the foregoing amounts, taking into account the applicable federal, state and local employment taxes, income taxes and the Excise Tax, results in the Eligible Employee’s receipt, on an after-tax basis, of the greater amount notwithstanding that all or some portion of the Payment may be subject to the Excise Tax. If a reduction in payments or benefits constituting parachute payments is necessary so that the Payment equals the Best Results Amount, reduction will occur in the following order: (i) cancellation of awards granted “contingent on a change in ownership or control” (within the meaning of Section 280G); (ii) a pro rata reduction of (A) cash payments that are subject to Section 409A as deferred compensation and (B) cash payments not subject to Section 409A of the Code; (iii) a pro rata reduction of (A) employee benefits that are subject to Section 409A as deferred compensation and (B) employee benefits not subject to Section 409A; and (iv) a pro rata cancellation of (A) accelerated vesting

 

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equity awards that are subject to Section 409A as deferred compensation and (B) equity awards not subject to Section 409A. In the event that acceleration of vesting of equity awards is to be cancelled, such acceleration of vesting will be cancelled in the reverse order of the date of grant of a Participant’s equity awards.

(b)    Determination of Excise Tax Liability. The Company will select a professional services firm to make all of the determinations required to be made under these paragraphs relating to parachute payments. The Company will request that firm provide detailed supporting calculations both to the Company and the Eligible Employee prior to the date on which the event that triggers the Payment occurs if administratively feasible, or subsequent to such date if events occur that result in parachute payments to the Eligible Employee at that time. For purposes of making the calculations required under these paragraphs relating to parachute payments, the firm may make reasonable assumptions and approximations concerning applicable taxes and may rely on reasonable, good faith determinations concerning the application of the Code. The Company and the Eligible Employee will furnish to the firm such information and documents as the firm may reasonably request in order to make a determination under these paragraphs relating to parachute payments. The Company will bear all costs the firm may reasonably incur in connection with any calculations contemplated by these paragraphs relating to parachute payments. Any such determination by the firm will be binding upon the Company and the Eligible Employee, and the Company will have no liability to the Eligible Employee for the determinations of the firm.

12.    Administration. The Policy will be administered by the Company, acting through the Compensation Committee or another duly constituted committee of members of the Board or its delegate, but only to the extent of such delegation of authority or responsibility (in each case, an “Administrator”). The Administrator will have full discretion to administer and interpret the Policy. Any decision made or other action taken by the Administrator with respect to the Policy and any interpretation by the Administrator of any term or condition of the Policy, or any related document, will be conclusive and binding on all persons and be given the maximum possible deference allowed by law. The Administrator is the “named fiduciary” and “plan administrator” of the Policy for purposes of ERISA and will be subject to the fiduciary standards of ERISA when acting in such capacity. The Administrator may, in its sole discretion and on such terms and conditions as it may provide, delegate in writing to one or more officers of the Company all or any portion of its authority or responsibility with respect to the Policy.

13.    Attorneys’ Fees. The Company and each Eligible Employee will bear their own attorneys’ fees incurred in connection with any disputes between them.

14.    Exclusive Benefits. Except as may be set forth in an Eligible Employee’s Participation Agreement, this Policy is intended to be the only agreement between the Eligible Employee and the Company regarding any change in control or severance payments or benefits to be paid to the Eligible Employee on account of a termination of employment whether unrelated to, concurrent with, or following, a Change in Control. Accordingly, by executing a Participation Agreement, an Eligible Employee hereby forfeits and waives any rights to any severance or change in control benefits set forth in any employment agreement, offer letter, and/or equity award agreement, except as set forth in this Policy and in the Eligible Employee’s Participation Agreement.

15.    Tax Obligations. All payments and benefits under this Policy will be paid less applicable withholding taxes. The Company is authorized to withhold from any payments or benefits all U.S. federal, state, local and/or non-U.S. taxes required to be withheld therefrom and any other required payroll

 

4


deductions. The Company will not pay any Eligible Employee’s taxes arising from or relating to any payments or benefits under this Policy. The Eligible Employee will be solely responsible for the payment of all personal tax liability that is incurred as a result of the payments and benefits received under this Policy, and the Eligible Employee will not be reimbursed by the Company for any such payments.

16.    Term. Subject to the terms of this paragraph, this Policy will have a term of 3 years commencing on the Effective Date (the “Term”) unless the Board or the Compensation Committee, as applicable, decides to sooner terminate this Policy in accordance with the terms of this Policy or the affected Eligible Employee consents to an earlier termination. Any termination of this Policy by the Board or the Compensation Committee, as applicable, must be in writing and will be taken in a non-fiduciary capacity. Neither the lapse of this Policy by its terms nor the termination of this Policy by the Company will by itself constitute termination of employment or grounds for a Constructive Termination. Further, if a Change in Control occurs when there are fewer than 6 months remaining during the Term, the Term will extend automatically through the date that is 18 months following the date of the Change in Control (unless the affected Eligible Employee consents to an earlier termination). Notwithstanding the foregoing, if during the Term, an initial occurrence of an act or omission by the company constituting the grounds for “Constructive Termination” in accordance with the definition herein has occurred (the “Initial Grounds”), and the expiration date of the Cure Period (as such defined herein) with respect to such Initial Grounds could occur following the expiration of the Term, the Term will extend automatically through the date that is 30 days following the expiration of the Cure Period, but such extension of the Term will only apply with respect to the Initial Grounds.

17.    Amendment. Subject to this Section 17, the Board or the Compensation Committee may amend the Policy in writing at any time, without advance notice to any Eligible Employee or other individual and without regard to the effect of the amendment on any Eligible Employee or on any other individual. Any amendment to the Policy that (a) causes an individual to cease to be a Eligible Employee, or (b) reduces or alters to the detriment of the Eligible Employee the Severance Benefits potentially payable to the Eligible Employee (including, without limitation, imposing additional conditions or modifying the timing of payment) (an amendment described in clause (a) and/or clause (b) being an “adverse amendment or termination”), will be effective only if it is approved by the Company and communicated to the affected individual(s) in writing more than 18 months before the effective date of the adverse amendment or termination. Once a Participant has incurred a Qualified Termination, no amendment or termination of the Policy may, without that Participant’s written consent, reduce or alter to the detriment of the Participant, the Severance Benefits payable to the Participant. In addition and notwithstanding the preceding, beginning on the date that the Change in Control Period begins, the Company may not, without a Participant’s written consent, amend or terminate the Policy in any way, nor take any other action under the Policy, which (i) prevents that Eligible Employee from becoming eligible for Severance Benefits, or (ii) reduces or alters to the detriment of the Eligible Employee the Severance Benefits payable, or potentially payable, to the Eligible Employee (including, without limitation, imposing additional conditions). Any action of the Company in amending or terminating the Policy will be taken in a non-fiduciary capacity.

18.    Claims Procedure. Any Eligible Employee who believes he or she is entitled to any payment under the Policy may submit a claim in writing to the Administrator. If the claim is denied (in full or in part), the claimant will be provided a written notice explaining the specific reasons for the denial and referring to the provisions of the Policy on which the denial is based. The notice will also describe any additional information needed to support the claim and the Policy’s procedures for appealing the

 

5


denial. The denial notice will be provided within 90 days after the claim is received. If special circumstances require an extension of time (up to 90 days), written notice of the extension will be given within the initial 90-day period. This notice of extension will indicate the special circumstances requiring the extension of time and the date by which the Administrator expects to render its decision on the claim.

19.    Appeal Procedure. If the claimant’s claim is denied, the claimant (or his or her authorized representative) may apply in writing to the Administrator for a review of the decision denying the claim. Review must be requested within 60 days following the date the claimant received the written notice of their claim denial or else the claimant loses the right to review. The claimant (or representative) then has the right to review and obtain copies of all documents and other information relevant to the claim, upon request and at no charge, and to submit issues and comments in writing. The Administrator will provide written notice of the decision on review within 60 days after it receives a review request. If additional time (up to 60 days) is needed to review the request, the claimant (or representative) will be given written notice of the reason for the delay. This notice of extension will indicate the special circumstances requiring the extension of time and the date by which the Administrator expects to render its decision. If the claim is denied (in full or in part), the claimant will be provided a written notice explaining the specific reasons for the denial and referring to the provisions of the Policy on which the denial is based. The notice will also include a statement that the claimant will be provided, upon request and free of charge, reasonable access to, and copies of, all documents and other information relevant to the claim and a statement regarding the claimant’s right to bring an action under Section 502(a) of ERISA.

20.    Successors. Any successor to the Company of all or substantially all of the Company’s business and/or assets (whether direct or indirect and whether by purchase, merger, consolidation, liquidation or other transaction) must assume the obligations under the Policy and agree expressly to perform the obligations under the Policy in the same manner and to the same extent as the Company would be required to perform such obligations in the absence of a succession. For all purposes under the Policy, the term “Company” will include any successor to the Company’s business and/or assets which becomes bound by the terms of the Policy by operation of law, or otherwise.

21.    Applicable Law. The provisions of the Policy will be construed, administered, and enforced in accordance with ERISA and, to the extent applicable, the internal substantive laws of the state of California (but not its conflict of laws provisions).

22.    Definitions. Unless otherwise defined in an Eligible Employee’s Participation Agreement, the following terms will have the following meanings for purposes of this Policy and the Eligible Employee’s Participation Agreement:

(a)    “Base Salary” means the Eligible Employee’s annual base salary as in effect immediately prior to his or her Qualified Termination (or if the termination is due to a resignation in a Constructive Termination based on a material reduction in base salary, then the Eligible Employee’s annual base salary in effect immediately prior to such reduction) or, if the Eligible Employee’s Qualified Termination occurs following the Change in Control, at the level in effect immediately prior to the Change in Control if the pre-Change in Control amount is greater.

(b)    “Board” means the Board of Directors of the Company.

(c)    “Cause” means, with respect to an Eligible Employee, the occurrence of any of the following: (i) the Eligible Employee’s engaging in illegal or unethical conduct that was or is reasonably

 

6


likely to be materially injurious to the business or reputation of the Company or its subsidiaries; (ii) the Eligible Employee’s violation of a federal or state law or regulation materially applicable to the Company’s business; (iii) the Eligible Employee’s material breach of the terms of any confidentiality agreement or invention assignment agreement between the Eligible Employee and the Company; (iv) the Eligible Employee’s being convicted of, or entering a plea of nolo contendere to, a felony (other than a traffic violation) or committing any act of moral turpitude, dishonesty or fraud against, or the misappropriation of material property belonging to, the Company or its subsidiaries; (v) the Eligible Employee’s repeated failure to substantially perform his or her duties and responsibilities to the Company after written notification by the Board of such failure and an opportunity to cure such failure within 30 days, (vi) the Eligible Employee’s material breach of any of his or her fiduciary duties to the Company; or (vii) the Eligible Employee’s failure to reasonably cooperate in any audit or investigation of the business or financial practices of the Company.

(d)    “Change in Control” means the occurrence of any of the following events:

(i) A change in the ownership of the Company which occurs on the date that any one person, or more than one person acting as a group (“Person”), acquires ownership of the stock of the Company that, together with the stock held by such Person, constitutes more than fifty percent (50%) of the total voting power of the stock of the Company; provided, however, that for purposes of this subsection, (A) the acquisition of additional stock by any one Person, who is considered to own more than fifty percent (50%) of the total voting power of the stock of the Company will not be considered a Change in Control, and (B) if the stockholders of the Company immediately before such change in ownership continue to retain immediately after the change in ownership, in substantially the same proportions as their ownership of shares of the Company’s voting stock immediately prior to the change in ownership, the direct or indirect beneficial ownership of fifty percent (50%) or more of the total voting power of the stock of the Company or of the ultimate parent entity of the Company, such event will not be considered a Change in Control under this subsection (i). For this purpose, indirect beneficial ownership will include, without limitation, an interest resulting from ownership of the voting securities of one or more corporations or other business entities which own the Company, as the case may be, either directly or through one or more subsidiary corporations or other business entities; or

(ii) A change in the effective control of the Company which occurs on the date that a majority of members of the Board is replaced during any twelve (12) month period by Directors whose appointment or election is not endorsed by a majority of the members of the Board prior to the date of the appointment or election. For purposes of this subsection (ii), if any Person is considered to be in effective control of the Company, the acquisition of additional control of the Company by the same Person will not be considered a Change in Control; or

(iii) A change in the ownership of a substantial portion of the Company’s assets which occurs on the date that any Person acquires (or has acquired during the twelve (12) month period ending on the date of the most recent acquisition by such Person) assets from the Company that have a total gross fair market value equal to or more than fifty percent (50%) of the total gross fair market value of all of the assets of the Company immediately prior to such acquisition or acquisitions; provided, however, that for purposes of this subsection (iii), the following will not constitute a change in the ownership of a substantial portion of the Company’s assets: (A) a transfer to an entity that is controlled by the Company’s stockholders immediately after the transfer, or (B) a transfer of assets by the Company to: (1) a stockholder of the Company (immediately before the asset transfer) in exchange for or with respect to the Company’s stock, (2) an entity, fifty percent (50%) or more of the total value or voting

 

7


power of which is owned, directly or indirectly, by the Company, (3) a Person, that owns, directly or indirectly, fifty percent (50%) or more of the total value or voting power of all the outstanding stock of the Company, or (4) an entity, at least fifty percent (50%) of the total value or voting power of which is owned, directly or indirectly, by a Person described in this subsection (iii)(B)(3). For purposes of this subsection (iii), gross fair market value means the value of the assets of the Company, or the value of the assets being disposed of, determined without regard to any liabilities associated with such assets.

For purposes of this definition, persons will be considered to be acting as a group if they are owners of a corporation that enters into a merger, consolidation, purchase or acquisition of stock, or similar business transaction with the Company.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, a transaction will not be deemed a Change in Control unless the transaction qualifies as a change in control event within the meaning of Code Section 409A, as it has been and may be amended from time to time, and any proposed or final Treasury Regulations and Internal Revenue Service guidance that has been promulgated or may be promulgated thereunder from time to time.

Further and for the avoidance of doubt, a transaction will not constitute a Change in Control if: (i) its sole purpose is to change the jurisdiction of the Company’s incorporation, or (ii) its sole purpose is to create a holding company that will be owned in substantially the same proportions by the persons who held the Company’s securities immediately before such transaction.

(e)    “Change in Control Period” will mean the period beginning 30 days prior to and ending 12 months following a Change in Control.

(f)    “COBRA” means the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985.

(g)    “Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

(h)    “Constructive Termination has the meaning set forth in the Eligible Employee’s Participation Agreement.

(i)    “Disability” means the total and permanent disability as defined in Section 22(e)(3) of the Code unless the Company maintains a long-term disability plan at the time of the Eligible Employee’s termination, in which case, the determination of disability under such plan also will be considered “Disability” for purposes of this Policy.

(j)    “Exchange Act” means the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934.

(k)    “Qualified Termination” has the meaning set forth in the Eligible Employee’s Participation Agreement.

(l)    “Severance Benefits” means Salary Severance, Bonus Severance, or Equity Vesting.

 

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Additional Information:

 

Plan Name:    Couchbase, Inc. Change in Control and Severance Policy
Plan Sponsor:    Couchbase, Inc.
   3250 Olcott Street
   Santa Clara, CA 95054
Identification Numbers:    26-3576987
Plan Year:    Company’s Fiscal Year
Plan Administrator:    Couchbase, Inc.
   Attention:     Administrator of the Couchbase, Inc. Change in Control and Severance Policy
   3250 Olcott Street
   Santa Clara, CA 95054
Agent for Service of Legal Process:    Couchbase, Inc.
   Attention:     Chief Legal Officer
   3250 Olcott Street
   Santa Clara, CA 95054
   Service of process may also be made upon the Plan Administrator.
Type of Plan    Severance Plan/Employee Welfare Benefit Plan
Plan Costs    The cost of the Policy is paid by the Company.

 

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Statement of ERISA Rights:

Eligible Employees have certain rights and protections under ERISA:

They may examine (without charge) all Policy documents, including any amendments and copies of all documents filed with the U.S. Department of Labor, such as the Policy’s annual report (Internal Revenue Service Form 5500). These documents are available for review in the Company’s Human Resources Department.

They may obtain copies of all Policy documents and other Policy information upon written request to the Plan Administrator. A reasonable charge may be made for such copies.

In addition to creating rights for Eligible Employees, ERISA imposes duties upon the people who are responsible for the operation of the Policy. The people who operate the Policy (called “fiduciaries”) have a duty to do so prudently and in the interests of Eligible Employees. No one, including the Company or any other person, may fire or otherwise discriminate against an Eligible Employee in any way to prevent them from obtaining a benefit under the Policy or exercising rights under ERISA. If an Eligible Employee’s claim for a severance benefit is denied, in whole or in part, they must receive a written explanation of the reason for the denial. An Eligible Employee has the right to have the denial of their claim reviewed. (The claim review procedure is explained above.)

Under ERISA, there are steps Eligible Employees can take to enforce the above rights. For instance, if an Eligible Employee requests materials and does not receive them within 30 days, they may file suit in a federal court. In such a case, the court may require the Administrator to provide the materials and to pay the Eligible Employee up to $110 a day until they receive the materials, unless the materials were not sent because of reasons beyond the control of the Plan Administrator. If an Eligible Employee has a claim which is denied or ignored, in whole or in part, he or she may file suit in a state or federal court. If it should happen that an Eligible Employee is discriminated against for asserting their rights, he or she may seek assistance from the U.S. Department of Labor, or may file suit in a federal court.

In any case, the court will decide who will pay court costs and legal fees. If the Eligible Employee is successful, the court may order the person sued to pay these costs and fees. If the Eligible Employee loses, the court may order the Eligible Employee to pay these costs and fees, for example, if it finds that the claim is frivolous.

If an Eligible Employee has any questions regarding the Policy, please contact the Plan Administrator. If an Eligible Employee has any questions about this statement or about their rights under ERISA, they may contact the nearest area office of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (formerly the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration), U.S. Department of Labor, listed in the telephone directory, or the Division of Technical Assistance and Inquiries, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20210. An Eligible Employee may also obtain certain publications about their rights and responsibilities under ERISA by calling the publications hotline of the Employee Benefits Security Administration.

 

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CEO

EXHIBIT A

Change in Control and Severance Policy

Participation Agreement

This Participation Agreement (“Agreement”) is made and entered into by and between [●] on the one hand, and Couchbase, Inc. (the “Company”) on the other.

You have been designated as eligible to participate in the Policy, a copy of which is attached hereto, pursuant to which you are eligible to receive the following severance payments and benefits upon a Qualified Termination, subject to the terms and conditions of the Policy.

Qualified Termination means a termination of your employment by the Company (or any of its subsidiaries) other than for Cause, death, or Disability or by you due to a Constructive Termination, in either case (i) during the Change in Control Period (a “CIC Qualified Termination”) or (ii) outside the Change in Control Period (a “Non-CIC Qualified Termination”).

Constructive Termination” means your resignation in accordance with the next sentence after the occurrence of one or more of the following events without your express written consent: (i) the assignment to you of any authority, duties or responsibilities or the reduction of the your authority, duties or responsibilities, either of which results in a material diminution in the your authority, duties or responsibilities at the Company as in effect immediately prior to the Change in Control Period, unless you are provided with a comparable position (i.e., a position of equal or greater organizational level, duties, authority and status); provided, however, that ceasing to hold the CEO position at either the parent level of the surviving entity or at the highest level of the acquiring company during the Change in Control Period will constitute such a material diminution in your authority, duties or responsibilities unless you are provided with a comparable position (i.e., a position of equal or greater organizational level, duties, authority and status); (ii) a material reduction of more than 10% of your then-current on-target cash compensation (including Base Salary, target annual bonus and, if applicable, Commission Target), other than as part of a single, across-the-board proportional compensation reduction applicable to all officers of the Company and approved by the Board or the Compensation Committee; (iii) a material reduction in your employee benefits (including but not limited to medical, dental, insurance, short- and long-term disability insurance and 401k retirement plan benefits) to which you are entitled immediately prior to such reduction (iv) a relocation of your principal work location to a location that increases your one-way commute from your principal residence at the time of the Change in Control by more than 30 miles as compared to where you perform duties immediately prior to the Change in Control; and (v) the failure of the Company to obtain the assumption of the material obligations of the your employment offer letter (or employment agreement) with the Company by any successors. In order for your resignation to be a Constructive Termination, you must not resign without first providing the Company with written notice of the acts or omissions constituting the grounds for a “Constructive Termination” within 60 days of the initial existence of the grounds for a “Constructive Termination” and a cure period of 30 days following the date of written notice (the “Cure Period”), such grounds must not have been cured during such time, and you must terminate your employment within 30 days following the Cure Period. As used in this definition, “Company” includes any successor to the Company pursuant to a Change in Control.

 

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CEO

 

Non-CIC Qualified Termination

 

 

Equity Vesting: None.

 

 

Salary Severance: Your percentage of Base Salary will be 100%, payable over 12 months following your Qualified Termination.

 

 

Bonus Severance: None.

 

 

COBRA Coverage: The Company will pay for your COBRA continuation coverage for up to 12 months.

CIC Qualified Termination

 

 

Equity Vesting: Your equity vesting benefit will be 100% (time-based awards).

 

 

Salary Severance: Your percentage of Base Salary will be 100%, payable in a lump-sum.

 

 

Bonus Severance: You will receive a lump-sum payment equal to 100% of your target annual bonus as in effect for the fiscal year in which your Qualified Termination occurs.

 

 

COBRA Coverage: The Company will pay for your COBRA continuation coverage (or COBRA Replacement Payments, as applicable) for up to 12 months.

Release

All payments are subject to the continued compliance with the Release and all the covenants therein. The Release shall provide for concurrence between Eligible Employee’s non-solicitation covenants and the number of months of Eligible Employee’s severance term.

Non-Duplication of Payment or Benefits

If (i) an Eligible Employee’s Qualified Termination occurs prior to a Change in Control that qualifies him or her for severance payments and benefits payable on a Non-CIC Qualified Termination under this Policy and the Agreement and (ii) a Change in Control occurs within the 30 day period following the Eligible Employee’s Qualified Termination that qualifies him or her for the severance payments and benefits payable on a CIC Qualified Termination under this Policy, then (i) the Eligible Employee will cease receiving any further payments or benefits under this Policy in connection with his or her Non-CIC Qualified Termination and (ii) the Equity Vesting, Salary Severance and COBRA Coverage (or COBRA Replacement Payments), as applicable, otherwise payable on a CIC Qualified Termination under this Agreement each will be offset by the corresponding payments or benefits already paid under this Participation Agreement upon a Non-CIC Qualified Termination.

Other Provisions

Except as set forth in this paragraph, you agree that the Policy and the Agreement constitute the entire agreement of the parties hereto and supersede in their entirety all prior representations, understandings, undertakings or agreements (whether oral or written and whether expressed or implied) of the parties, and will specifically supersede any severance and/or change in control provisions of any offer letter, employment agreement, or equity award agreement entered into between you and the Company.

 

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CEO

 

This Agreement may be executed in counterparts, each of which will be deemed an original, but all of which together will constitute one and the same instrument.

By its signature below, each of the parties signifies its acceptance of the terms of this Agreement, in the case of the Company by its duly authorized officer effective as of the last date set forth below.

 

COUCHBASE, INC.    ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEE
By:                                                                              By:                                                                          
Signature:                                                                   Signature:                                                               
Date:                                                                           Date:                                                                       

 

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Executive Staff

EXHIBIT B

Change in Control and Severance Policy

Participation Agreement

This Participation Agreement (“Agreement”) is made and entered into by and between [●] on the one hand, and Couchbase, Inc. (the “Company”) on the other.

You have been designated as eligible to participate in the Policy, a copy of which is attached hereto, pursuant to which you are eligible to receive the following severance payments and benefits upon a Qualified Termination, subject to the terms and conditions of the Policy.

Qualified Termination means either (i) a termination of your employment by the Company (or any of its subsidiaries) other than for Cause, death, or Disability or by you due to a Constructive Termination, in either case, during the Change in Control Period (a “CIC Qualified Termination”) or (ii) a termination of your employment by the Company (or any of its subsidiaries) other than for Cause, death, or Disability outside the Change in Control Period (a “Non-CIC Qualified Termination”).

Constructive Termination” means your resignation in accordance with the next sentence after the occurrence of one or more of the following events without your express written consent: (i) a material reduction of your duties, position or responsibilities; provided, however, that ceasing to hold the [TITLE] position at either the parent level of the surviving entity or at the highest level of the acquiring company during the Change in Control Period will constitute such a material diminution in your authority, duties or responsibilities unless you are provided with a comparable position (i.e., a position of equal or greater organizational level, duties, authority and status); (ii) a material reduction of more than 10% of your then-current on-target cash compensation (including Base Salary, target annual bonus and, if applicable, Commission Target), other than as part of a single, across-the-board proportional compensation reduction applicable to all officers of the Company and approved by the Board or the Compensation Committee; (iii) a material reduction in your employee benefits (including but not limited to medical, dental, insurance, short- and long-term disability insurance and 401k retirement plan benefits) to which you are entitled immediately prior to such reduction (iv) a relocation of the Company’s principal corporate offices to a location greater than 30 miles from its current location; and (v) the failure of the Company to obtain the assumption of the material obligations of the your employment offer letter (or employment agreement) with the Company by any successors. In order for your resignation to be a Constructive Termination, you must not resign without first providing the Company with written notice of the acts or omissions constituting the grounds for a “Constructive Termination” within 60 days of the initial existence of the grounds for a “Constructive Termination” and a cure period of 30 days following the date of written notice (the “Cure Period”), such grounds must not have been cured during such time, and you must terminate your employment within 30 days following the Cure Period. As used in this definition, “Company” includes any successor to the Company pursuant to a Change in Control.

 

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Executive Staff

 

Non-CIC Qualified Termination

 

   

Equity Vesting: None.

 

   

Salary Severance: The amount of the Salary Severance will vary based on Eligible Employee’s time of service with the Company, or tenure, through the date of the Qualified Termination as follows:

 

   

For tenure less than 2 years, your percentage of Base Salary will be 50%, payable over 6 months following your Qualified Termination.

 

   

For tenure equal to or greater than 2 years, but less than 3 years, your percentage of Base Salary will be 75%, payable over 9 months following your Qualified Termination.

 

   

For tenure equal to or greater than 3 years, your percentage of Base Salary will be 100%, payable over 12 months following your Qualified Termination.

 

   

Bonus Severance: None.

 

   

COBRA Coverage: The Company will pay for your COBRA continuation coverage for up to the same number of months as the applicable Salary Severance term.

CIC Qualified Termination

 

   

Equity Vesting: Your equity vesting benefit will be 100% (time-based awards).

 

   

Salary Severance: Your percentage of Base Salary will be 100%, payable in a lump-sum.

 

   

Bonus Severance: You will receive a lump-sum payment equal to the pro-rata portion of your target annual bonus (based on the number of full months you have worked during the fiscal year in which your Qualified Termination occurs).

 

   

COBRA Coverage: The Company will pay for your COBRA continuation coverage for up to 12 months.

Release

All payments are subject to the continued compliance with the Release and all the covenants therein. The Release shall provide for concurrence between Eligible Employee’s non-solicitation covenants and the number of months of Eligible Employee’s severance term.

Non-Duplication of Payment or Benefits

If (i) an Eligible Employee’s Qualified Termination occurs prior to a Change in Control that qualifies him or her for severance payments and benefits payable on a Non-CIC Qualified Termination under this Policy and the Agreement and (ii) a Change in Control occurs within the 30 day period following the Eligible Employee’s Qualified Termination that qualifies him or her for the severance payments and benefits payable on a CIC Qualified Termination under this Policy, then (i) the Eligible Employee will cease receiving any further payments or benefits under this Policy in connection with his

 

2


Executive Staff

 

or her Non-CIC Qualified Termination and (ii) the Equity Vesting, Salary Severance and COBRA Coverage (or COBRA Replacement Payments), as applicable, otherwise payable on a CIC Qualified Termination under this Agreement each will be offset by the corresponding payments or benefits already paid under this Participation Agreement upon a Non-CIC Qualified Termination.

Other Provisions

Except as set forth in this paragraph, you agree that the Policy and the Agreement constitute the entire agreement of the parties hereto and supersede in their entirety all prior representations, understandings, undertakings or agreements (whether oral or written and whether expressed or implied) of the parties, and will specifically supersede any severance and/or change in control provisions of any offer letter, employment agreement, or equity award agreement entered into between you and the Company.

This Agreement may be executed in counterparts, each of which will be deemed an original, but all of which together will constitute one and the same instrument.

By its signature below, each of the parties signifies its acceptance of the terms of this Agreement, in the case of the Company by its duly authorized officer effective as of the last date set forth below.

 

COUCHBASE, INC.    ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEE
By:                                                                              By:                                                                          
Signature:                                                                   Signature:                                                               
Date:                                                                           Date:                                                                       

 

3

EX-10.9

Exhibit 10.9

June 17, 2021

Matthew Cain

c/o Couchbase, Inc.

3250 Olcott St

Santa Clara, California 95054

Dear Mr. Cain,

This letter agreement (the “Agreement”) is entered into between Matthew Cain (“you”) and Couchbase, Inc. (the “Company” or “we”), effective as of June 17, 2021 (the “Effective Date”), to confirm the terms and conditions of your employment with the Company as of the Effective Date. This Agreement supersedes and replaces any and all employment terms, compensation, or benefits you may have had or to which you may have been entitled prior to the Effective Date.

1.    Title/Position. You will continue to serve as the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer. You also will continue to report to the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) and will perform the duties and responsibilities customary for such position and such other related duties as are lawfully assigned by the Company’s Chief Executive Officer. By signing this Agreement, you confirm that you continue to have no contractual commitments or other legal obligations that would prohibit you from performing your duties for the Company.

2.    Base Salary. As of the Effective Date, your annual base salary is $450,000, which will be payable, less any applicable withholdings, in accordance with the Company’s normal payroll practices. Your annual base salary will be subject to review and adjustment from time to time by our Board or its Compensation Committee (the “Committee”), as applicable, in its sole discretion.

3.    Annual Bonus. For the Company’s 2022 fiscal year, you will have the opportunity to earn a target annual cash bonus equal to $337,500, subject to the completion of the Company’s initial public offering in the 2022 fiscal year, based on achieving performance objectives established by the Board or Committee, as applicable, in its sole discretion and payable upon achievement of those objectives as determined by the Committee. Unless determined otherwise by the Board or Committee, as applicable, any such bonus will be subject to your continued employment through and until the date of payment. Your annual bonus opportunity and the applicable terms and conditions may be adjusted from time to time by our Board or the Committee, as applicable, in its sole discretion.

4.    Equity Awards. You will be eligible to receive awards of stock options, restricted stock units or other equity awards pursuant to any plans or arrangements the Company may have in effect from time to time. The Board or Committee, as applicable, will determine in its sole discretion whether you will be granted any such equity awards and the terms of any such award in accordance with the terms of any applicable plan or arrangement that may be in effect from time to time. Your equity awards outstanding as of the Effective Date will continue in effect on their existing terms.

5.    Employee Benefits. You will continue to be eligible to participate in the benefit plans and programs established by the Company for its employees from time to time, subject to their applicable terms and conditions, including without limitation any eligibility requirements. The Company reserves the right to modify, amend, suspend or terminate the benefit plans and programs it offers to its employees at any time.

6.    Severance. As of the Effective Date, you will be eligible to enter into, and participate in, the Company’s Change in Control and Severance Policy (the “CIC/Severance Policy”) with the benefits applicable to you based on your position within the Company. The CIC/Severance Policy and the participation agreement under the CIC/Severance Policy that you signed at the same time as this letter specify the severance payments and benefits you may become entitled to receive in connection with certain qualifying terminations of your employment with the Company. These protections supersede all other severance payments and benefits to which you otherwise may be entitled, or may become entitled in the future, under any plan, program or policy that the Company may have in effect from time to time. For purposes of clarification, any severance benefits or arrangements that may have applied to you before the Effective Date no longer will apply and you will have no rights or entitlements under any such plans, programs, agreements or arrangements.

 


7.    Confidentiality Agreement. As an employee of the Company, you will continue to have access to certain confidential information of the Company and you may, during the course of your employment, develop certain information or inventions that will be the property of the Company. To protect the interests of the Company, your acceptance of this Agreement confirms that the terms of the Employee Inventions Assignment and Confidentiality Agreement you previously signed with the Company (the “Confidentiality Agreement”) still apply.

8.    Arbitration. To ensure the rapid and economical resolution of disputes that may arise in connection with your employment with the Company, you and the Company agree that any and all disputes, claims or causes of action, in law or equity, arising from or relating to the enforcement, breach, performance, or interpretation of this Agreement, your employment, or the termination of your employment, shall be resolved, to the fullest extent permitted by law, by final, binding and confidential arbitration in San Francisco, California conducted by Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services, Inc. (“JAMS”) or its successor, under the then applicable rules of JAMS. You acknowledge that by agreeing to this arbitration procedure, both you and the Company waive the right to resolve any such dispute through a trial by jury or judge or administrative proceeding. The arbitrator shall: (a) have the authority to compel adequate discovery for the resolution of the dispute and to award such relief as would otherwise be permitted by law; and (b) issue a written arbitration decision including the arbitrator’s essential findings and conclusions and a statement of the award. The arbitrator shall be authorized to award any or all remedies that you or the Company would be entitled to seek in a court of law. The Company shall pay all JAMS’ arbitration fees in excess of those which would be required if the dispute were decided in a court of law. Nothing in this Agreement is intended to prevent either you or the Company from obtaining injunctive relief in court to prevent irreparable harm pending the conclusion of any such arbitration. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you and the Company each have the right to resolve any issue or dispute arising under the Confidentiality Agreement by court action instead of arbitration.

9.    At-Will Employment. This Agreement does not imply any right to your continued employment for any period with the Company or any of its affiliates. Your employment with the Company will continue to be “at will.” It is for no specified term, and may be terminated by you or the Company at any time, with or without cause or advance notice.

10.    Protected Activity Not Prohibited. Nothing in this Agreement or in any other agreement between you and the Company, as applicable, will in any way limit or prohibit you from engaging for a lawful purpose in any Protected Activity. For purposes of this Agreement, “Protected Activity” means filing a charge, complaint, or report with, or otherwise communicating, cooperating, or participating in any investigation or proceeding that may be conducted by, any state, federal, or local governmental agency or commission, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the National Labor Relations Board (the “Government Agencies”). You understand that in connection with such Protected Activity, you are permitted to disclose documents or other information as permitted by law, and without giving notice to, or receiving authorization from, the Company. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you agree to take all reasonable precautions to prevent any unauthorized use or disclosure of any information that may constitute Company confidential information under the Confidentiality Agreement to any parties other than the Government Agencies. You further understand that “Protected Activity” does not include the disclosure of any Company attorney-client privileged communications. Any language in the Confidentiality Agreement regarding your right to engage in Protected Activity that conflicts with, or is contrary to, this paragraph is superseded by this Agreement. In addition, pursuant to the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016, you are notified that an individual will not be held criminally or civilly liable under any federal or state trade secret law for the disclosure of a trade secret that (i) is made in confidence to a federal, state, or local government official (directly or indirectly) or to an attorney solely for the purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected violation of law, or (ii) is made in a complaint or other document filed in a lawsuit or other proceeding, if (and only if) such filing is made under seal. In addition, an individual who files a lawsuit for retaliation by an employer for reporting a suspected violation of law may disclose the trade secret to the individual’s attorney and use the trade secret information in the court proceeding, if the individual files any document containing the trade secret under seal and does not disclose the trade secret, except pursuant to court order.

11.    Miscellaneous. This Agreement, together with the Confidentiality Agreement, the CIC/Severance Policy and any outstanding equity awards granted to you by the Company under its 2008 and/or 2018 Equity Incentive Plan and the applicable award agreements thereunder, constitute the entire agreement between you and the Company regarding


the material terms and conditions of your employment, and they supersede and replace all prior negotiations, representations or agreements between you and the Company. This Agreement may be modified only by a written agreement signed by you and a duly authorized officer of the Company.

[Signature page follows]


To confirm the terms and conditions of your employment with the Company, please sign and date in the spaces indicated and return this Agreement to me.

 

Sincerely,

COUCHBASE, INC.
By:  

/s/ Gregory Henry

  Gregory Henry
  Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

 

Agreed to and accepted:

/s/ Matthew Cain

Matthew Cain
Dated:  

June 17, 2021

EX-10.10

Exhibit 10.10

June 17, 2021

Margaret Chow

c/o Couchbase, Inc.

3250 Olcott St

Santa Clara, California 95054

Dear Ms. Chow,

This letter agreement (the “Agreement”) is entered into between Margaret Chow (“you”) and Couchbase, Inc. (the “Company” or “we”), effective as of June 17, 2021 (the “Effective Date”), to confirm the terms and conditions of your employment with the Company as of the Effective Date. This Agreement supersedes and replaces any and all employment terms, compensation, or benefits you may have had or to which you may have been entitled prior to the Effective Date.

1.    Title/Position. You will continue to serve as the Company’s Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary. You also will continue to report to the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and will perform the duties and responsibilities customary for such position and such other related duties as are lawfully assigned by the Company’s Chief Executive Officer. By signing this Agreement, you confirm that you continue to have no contractual commitments or other legal obligations that would prohibit you from performing your duties for the Company.

2.    Base Salary. As of the Effective Date, your annual base salary is $320,000, which will be payable, less any applicable withholdings, in accordance with the Company’s normal payroll practices. Your annual base salary will be subject to review and adjustment from time to time by our Board or its Compensation Committee (the “Committee”), as applicable, in its sole discretion.

3.    Annual Bonus. For the Company’s 2022 fiscal year, you will have the opportunity to earn a target annual cash bonus equal to $130,000, subject to the completion of the Company’s initial public offering in the 2022 fiscal year, based on achieving performance objectives established by the Board or Committee, as applicable, in its sole discretion and payable upon achievement of those objectives as determined by the Committee. Unless determined otherwise by the Board or Committee, as applicable, any such bonus will be subject to your continued employment through and until the date of payment. Your annual bonus opportunity and the applicable terms and conditions may be adjusted from time to time by our Board or the Committee, as applicable, in its sole discretion.

4.    Equity Awards. You will be eligible to receive awards of stock options, restricted stock units or other equity awards pursuant to any plans or arrangements the Company may have in effect from time to time. The Board or Committee, as applicable, will determine in its sole discretion whether you will be granted any such equity awards and the terms of any such award in accordance with the terms of any applicable plan or arrangement that may be in effect from time to time. Your equity awards outstanding as of the Effective Date will continue in effect on their existing terms.

5.    Employee Benefits. You will continue to be eligible to participate in the benefit plans and programs established by the Company for its employees from time to time, subject to their applicable terms and conditions, including without limitation any eligibility requirements. The Company reserves the right to modify, amend, suspend or terminate the benefit plans and programs it offers to its employees at any time.

6.    Severance. As of the Effective Date, you will be eligible to enter into, and participate in, the Company’s Change in Control and Severance Policy (the “CIC/Severance Policy”) with the benefits applicable to you based on your position within the Company. The CIC/Severance Policy and the participation agreement under the CIC/Severance Policy that you signed at the same time as this letter specify the severance payments and benefits you may become entitled to receive in connection with certain qualifying terminations of your employment with the Company. These protections supersede all other severance payments and benefits to which you otherwise may be entitled, or may become entitled in the future, under any plan, program or policy that the Company may have in effect from time to time. For purposes of clarification, any severance benefits or arrangements that may have applied to you before the Effective Date no longer will apply and you will have no rights or entitlements under any such plans, programs, agreements or arrangements.


7.    Confidentiality Agreement. As an employee of the Company, you will continue to have access to certain confidential information of the Company and you may, during the course of your employment, develop certain information or inventions that will be the property of the Company. To protect the interests of the Company, your acceptance of this Agreement confirms that the terms of the Employee Inventions Assignment and Confidentiality Agreement you previously signed with the Company (the “Confidentiality Agreement”) still apply.

8.    Arbitration. To ensure the rapid and economical resolution of disputes that may arise in connection with your employment with the Company, you and the Company agree that any and all disputes, claims or causes of action, in law or equity, arising from or relating to the enforcement, breach, performance, or interpretation of this Agreement, your employment, or the termination of your employment, shall be resolved, to the fullest extent permitted by law, by final, binding and confidential arbitration in San Francisco, California conducted by Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services, Inc. (“JAMS”) or its successor, under the then applicable rules of JAMS. You acknowledge that by agreeing to this arbitration procedure, both you and the Company waive the right to resolve any such dispute through a trial by jury or judge or administrative proceeding. The arbitrator shall: (a) have the authority to compel adequate discovery for the resolution of the dispute and to award such relief as would otherwise be permitted by law; and (b) issue a written arbitration decision including the arbitrator’s essential findings and conclusions and a statement of the award. The arbitrator shall be authorized to award any or all remedies that you or the Company would be entitled to seek in a court of law. The Company shall pay all JAMS’ arbitration fees in excess of those which would be required if the dispute were decided in a court of law. Nothing in this Agreement is intended to prevent either you or the Company from obtaining injunctive relief in court to prevent irreparable harm pending the conclusion of any such arbitration. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you and the Company each have the right to resolve any issue or dispute arising under the Confidentiality Agreement by court action instead of arbitration.

9.    At-Will Employment. This Agreement does not imply any right to your continued employment for any period with the Company or any of its affiliates. Your employment with the Company will continue to be “at will.” It is for no specified term, and may be terminated by you or the Company at any time, with or without cause or advance notice.

10.    Protected Activity Not Prohibited. Nothing in this Agreement or in any other agreement between you and the Company, as applicable, will in any way limit or prohibit you from engaging for a lawful purpose in any Protected Activity. For purposes of this Agreement, “Protected Activity” means filing a charge, complaint, or report with, or otherwise communicating, cooperating, or participating in any investigation or proceeding that may be conducted by, any state, federal, or local governmental agency or commission, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the National Labor Relations Board (the “Government Agencies”). You understand that in connection with such Protected Activity, you are permitted to disclose documents or other information as permitted by law, and without giving notice to, or receiving authorization from, the Company. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you agree to take all reasonable precautions to prevent any unauthorized use or disclosure of any information that may constitute Company confidential information under the Confidentiality Agreement to any parties other than the Government Agencies. You further understand that “Protected Activity” does not include the disclosure of any Company attorney-client privileged communications. Any language in the Confidentiality Agreement regarding your right to engage in Protected Activity that conflicts with, or is contrary to, this paragraph is superseded by this Agreement. In addition, pursuant to the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016, you are notified that an individual will not be held criminally or civilly liable under any federal or state trade secret law for the disclosure of a trade secret that (i) is made in confidence to a federal, state, or local government official (directly or indirectly) or to an attorney solely for the purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected violation of law, or (ii) is made in a complaint or other document filed in a lawsuit or other proceeding, if (and only if) such filing is made under seal. In addition, an individual who files a lawsuit for retaliation by an employer for reporting a suspected violation of law may disclose the trade secret to the individual’s attorney and use the trade secret information in the court proceeding, if the individual files any document containing the trade secret under seal and does not disclose the trade secret, except pursuant to court order.

11.    Miscellaneous. This Agreement, together with the Confidentiality Agreement, the CIC/Severance Policy and any outstanding equity awards granted to you by the Company under its 2008 and/or 2018 Equity Incentive Plan and the applicable award agreements thereunder, constitute the entire agreement between you and the Company regarding


the material terms and conditions of your employment, and they supersede and replace all prior negotiations, representations or agreements between you and the Company. This Agreement may be modified only by a written agreement signed by you and a duly authorized officer of the Company.

[Signature page follows]


To confirm the terms and conditions of your employment with the Company, please sign and date in the spaces indicated and return this Agreement to me.

 

Sincerely,

COUCHBASE, INC.

By:

 

/s/ Matthew Cain

  Matthew Cain
  President and Chief Executive Officer

 

Agreed to and accepted:
/s/ Margaret Chow                                                 
Margaret Chow
Dated:   June 17, 2021                                           
EX-10.11

Exhibit 10.11

June 17, 2021

Denis Murphy

c/o Couchbase, Inc.

3250 Olcott St

Santa Clara, California 95054

Dear Mr. Murphy,

This letter agreement (the “Agreement”) is entered into between Denis Murphy (“you”) and Couchbase, Inc. (the “Company” or “we”), effective as of June 17, 2021 (the “Effective Date”), to confirm the terms and conditions of your employment with the Company as of the Effective Date. This Agreement supersedes and replaces any and all employment terms, compensation, or benefits you may have had or to which you may have been entitled prior to the Effective Date.

1.    Title/Position. You will continue to serve as the Company’s Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer. You also will continue to report to the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and will perform the duties and responsibilities customary for such position and such other related duties as are lawfully assigned by the Company’s Chief Executive Officer. By signing this Agreement, you confirm that you continue to have no contractual commitments or other legal obligations that would prohibit you from performing your duties for the Company.

2.    Base Salary. As of the Effective Date, your annual base salary is $300,000, which will be payable, less any applicable withholdings, in accordance with the Company’s normal payroll practices. Your annual base salary will be subject to review and adjustment from time to time by our Board or its Compensation Committee (the “Committee”), as applicable, in its sole discretion.

3.    Annual Bonus. For the Company’s 2022 fiscal year, you will have the opportunity to earn a target annual cash bonus equal to $300,000 based on achieving performance objectives established by the Board or Committee, as applicable, in its sole discretion and payable upon achievement of those objectives as determined by the Committee. Unless determined otherwise by the Board or Committee, as applicable, any such bonus will be subject to your continued employment through and until the date of payment. Your annual bonus opportunity and the applicable terms and conditions may be adjusted from time to time by our Board or the Committee, as applicable, in its sole discretion.

4.    Equity Awards. You will be eligible to receive awards of stock options, restricted stock units or other equity awards pursuant to any plans or arrangements the Company may have in effect from time to time. The Board or Committee, as applicable, will determine in its sole discretion whether you will be granted any such equity awards and the terms of any such award in accordance with the terms of any applicable plan or arrangement that may be in effect from time to time. Your equity awards outstanding as of the Effective Date will continue in effect on their existing terms.

5.    Employee Benefits. You will continue to be eligible to participate in the benefit plans and programs established by the Company for its employees from time to time, subject to their applicable terms and conditions, including without limitation any eligibility requirements. The Company reserves the right to modify, amend, suspend or terminate the benefit plans and programs it offers to its employees at any time.

6.    Severance. As of the Effective Date, you will be eligible to enter into, and participate in, the Company’s Change in Control and Severance Policy (the “CIC/Severance Policy”) with the benefits applicable to you based on your position within the Company. The CIC/Severance Policy and the participation agreement under the CIC/Severance Policy that you signed at the same time as this letter specify the severance payments and benefits you may become entitled to receive in connection with certain qualifying terminations of your employment with the Company. These protections supersede all other severance payments and benefits to which you otherwise may be entitled, or may become entitled in the future, under any plan, program or policy that the Company may have in effect from time to time. For purposes of clarification, any severance benefits or arrangements that may have applied to you before the Effective Date no longer will apply and you will have no rights or entitlements under any such plans, programs, agreements or arrangements.


7.    Confidentiality Agreement. As an employee of the Company, you will continue to have access to certain confidential information of the Company and you may, during the course of your employment, develop certain information or inventions that will be the property of the Company. To protect the interests of the Company, your acceptance of this Agreement confirms that the terms of the Employee Inventions Assignment and Confidentiality Agreement you previously signed with the Company (the “Confidentiality Agreement”) still apply.

8.    Arbitration. To ensure the rapid and economical resolution of disputes that may arise in connection with your employment with the Company, you and the Company agree that any and all disputes, claims or causes of action, in law or equity, arising from or relating to the enforcement, breach, performance, or interpretation of this Agreement, your employment, or the termination of your employment, shall be resolved, to the fullest extent permitted by law, by final, binding and confidential arbitration in San Francisco, California conducted by Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services, Inc. (“JAMS”) or its successor, under the then applicable rules of JAMS. You acknowledge that by agreeing to this arbitration procedure, both you and the Company waive the right to resolve any such dispute through a trial by jury or judge or administrative proceeding. The arbitrator shall: (a) have the authority to compel adequate discovery for the resolution of the dispute and to award such relief as would otherwise be permitted by law; and (b) issue a written arbitration decision including the arbitrator’s essential findings and conclusions and a statement of the award. The arbitrator shall be authorized to award any or all remedies that you or the Company would be entitled to seek in a court of law. The Company shall pay all JAMS’ arbitration fees in excess of those which would be required if the dispute were decided in a court of law. Nothing in this Agreement is intended to prevent either you or the Company from obtaining injunctive relief in court to prevent irreparable harm pending the conclusion of any such arbitration. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you and the Company each have the right to resolve any issue or dispute arising under the Confidentiality Agreement by court action instead of arbitration.

9.    At-Will Employment. This Agreement does not imply any right to your continued employment for any period with the Company or any of its affiliates. Your employment with the Company will continue to be “at will.” It is for no specified term, and may be terminated by you or the Company at any time, with or without cause or advance notice.

10.    Protected Activity Not Prohibited. Nothing in this Agreement or in any other agreement between you and the Company, as applicable, will in any way limit or prohibit you from engaging for a lawful purpose in any Protected Activity. For purposes of this Agreement, “Protected Activity” means filing a charge, complaint, or report with, or otherwise communicating, cooperating, or participating in any investigation or proceeding that may be conducted by, any state, federal, or local governmental agency or commission, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the National Labor Relations Board (the “Government Agencies”). You understand that in connection with such Protected Activity, you are permitted to disclose documents or other information as permitted by law, and without giving notice to, or receiving authorization from, the Company. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you agree to take all reasonable precautions to prevent any unauthorized use or disclosure of any information that may constitute Company confidential information under the Confidentiality Agreement to any parties other than the Government Agencies. You further understand that “Protected Activity” does not include the disclosure of any Company attorney-client privileged communications. Any language in the Confidentiality Agreement regarding your right to engage in Protected Activity that conflicts with, or is contrary to, this paragraph is superseded by this Agreement. In addition, pursuant to the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016, you are notified that an individual will not be held criminally or civilly liable under any federal or state trade secret law for the disclosure of a trade secret that (i) is made in confidence to a federal, state, or local government official (directly or indirectly) or to an attorney solely for the purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected violation of law, or (ii) is made in a complaint or other document filed in a lawsuit or other proceeding, if (and only if) such filing is made under seal. In addition, an individual who files a lawsuit for retaliation by an employer for reporting a suspected violation of law may disclose the trade secret to the individual’s attorney and use the trade secret information in the court proceeding, if the individual files any document containing the trade secret under seal and does not disclose the trade secret, except pursuant to court order.

11.    Miscellaneous. This Agreement, together with the Confidentiality Agreement, the CIC/Severance Policy and any outstanding equity awards granted to you by the Company under its 2008 and/or 2018 Equity Incentive Plan and the applicable award agreements thereunder, constitute the entire agreement between you and the Company regarding


the material terms and conditions of your employment, and they supersede and replace all prior negotiations, representations or agreements between you and the Company. This Agreement may be modified only by a written agreement signed by you and a duly authorized officer of the Company.

[Signature page follows]


To confirm the terms and conditions of your employment with the Company, please sign and date in the spaces indicated and return this Agreement to me.

 

Sincerely,
COUCHBASE, INC.
By:  

/s/ Matthew Cain

  Matthew Cain
  President and Chief Executive Officer

Agreed to and accepted:

/s/ Denis Murphy                                                 

Denis Murphy

Dated:  June 17, 2021                                           

EX-10.12

Exhibit 10.12

SUBLEASE

THIS SUBLEASE (this “Sublease”) is dated for reference purposes as of April 25, 2018, and is made by and between Gigamon Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Sublessor”), and Couchbase, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Sublessee”). Sublessor and Sublessee hereby agree as follows:

1. Recitals: This Sublease is made with reference to the fact that American National Insurance Company, as landlord (“Master Lessor”), and Sublessor, as tenant, entered into that certain Standard Industrial/Commercial Single-Tenant Lease, dated as of December 6, 2016 (the “Master Lease”), with respect to premises consisting of approximately 45,896 square feet of space, located at 3250 Olcott Street, Santa Clara, CA (the “Premises”). A copy of the Master Lease is attached hereto as Exhibit A.

2. Premises: Sublessor hereby subleases to Sublessee, and Sublessee hereby subleases from Sublessor, all of the Premises (also referred to herein as the “Subleased Premises”). Except to the extent that the square footage of the Premises is adjusted by Master Lessor, to the extent permitted under the Master Lease, the square footage of the Subleased Premises shall be as set forth in this paragraph, notwithstanding any remeasurement.

3. Term:

A. Term. The term (the “Term”) of this Sublease shall be for the period commencing on the later of (i) July 1, 2018, (ii) the date that Sublessor tenders possession of the Subleased Premises to Sublessee and (iii) the date that Sublessor obtains Master Lessor’s consent to this Sublease (the “Commencement Date”) and ending on March 31, 2025 (the “Expiration Date”), unless this Sublease is sooner terminated pursuant to its terms or the Master Lease is sooner terminated pursuant to its terms. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if Sublessee conducts business from the Subleased Premises at any time prior to the Commencement Date, then Sublessee shall be obligated to pay Rent hereunder from and after such date, but the Expiration Date shall remain unchanged.

B. Early Access. From and after the date that Master Lessor consents to the Sublease, Sublessor shall permit Sublessee to enter the Subleased Premises for the purpose of preparing the Subleased Premises for occupancy and not for the purpose of conducting business therein, provided (i) Master Lessor’s consent to this Sublease has been received, (ii) Sublessee has delivered to Sublessor the Security Deposit and first month’s Base Rent as required under Paragraph 4 and (iii) Sublessee has delivered to Sublessor evidence of all insurance required under this Sublease. Such occupancy shall be subject to all of the provisions of this Sublease, except for the obligation to pay Base Rent and shall not advance the Expiration Date of this Sublease.

4. Rent:

A. Base Rent. Sublessee shall pay to Sublessor as base rent for the Subleased Premises for each month during the Term the following amounts per month (“Base Rent”):

 

-1-


Months

   Base Rent  

Commencement Date—6/30/2019*

   $ 151,456.80  

7/1/2019 - 6/30/2020

   $ 156,000.50  

7/1/2020 - 6/30/2021

   $ 160,680.52  

7/1/2021 - 6/30/2022

   $ 165,500.93  

7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023

   $ 170,465.96  

7/1/2023 - 6/30/2024

   $ 175,579.94  

7/1/2024 - 3/30/2025

   $ 180,847.34  

* Provided that Sublessee is not in default under this Sublease, Base Rent and any amounts payable with respect to Real Property Taxes (as defined in Paragraph 4.B below) and insurance costs pursuant to Paragraph 4.B below for the first (1st) through the fourth (4th) months of the Term shall be abated.

Base Rent and Additional Rent, as defined in Paragraph 4.B below, shall be paid on or before the first (1st) day of each month. Base Rent and Additional Rent for any period during the Term hereof which is for less than one (1) month of the Term shall be a pro rata portion of the monthly installment based on a thirty (30) day month. If an increase in Base Rent becomes effective on a date other than the first day of a calendar month, the Base Rent for that month shall be the sum of the two applicable rates, each prorated for the portion of the month during which the rate is in effect. Base Rent and Additional Rent shall be payable without notice or demand and without any deduction, offset, or abatement, in lawful money of the United States of America. Base Rent and Additional Rent shall be paid directly to Sublessor at 3300 Olcott Street, Santa Clara, CA, Attention: Accounting, or such other address as may be designated in writing by Sublessor.

B. Additional Rent. All monies other than Base Rent required to he paid by Sublessor under the Master Lease, including, without limitation, any amounts payable by Sublessor to Master Lessor as “Real Property Taxes” (as defined in Section 10 of the Master Lease) and all insurance costs pursuant to Section 8 of the Master Lease, shall be paid by Sublessee hereunder as and when such amounts are due under the Master Lease, as incorporated herein, subject to the terms of this Paragraph 4.B. All such amounts shall be deemed additional rent (“Additional Rent”). Base Rent and Additional Rent hereinafter collectively shall be referred to as “Rent”. Sublessee and Sublessor agree, as a material part of the consideration given by Sublessee to Sublessor for this Sublease, that Sublessee shall pay all costs, expenses, taxes, insurance, maintenance and other charges of every kind and nature arising in connection with this Sublease, the Master Lease or the Subleased Premises, such that Sublessor shall receive, as a net consideration for this Sublease, the Base Rent payable under Paragraph 4.A hereof; provided, however, that notwithstanding anything to the contrary set forth in this Sublease, Sublessor shall be solely responsible for paying to Master Lessor and all Additional Rent imposed by Master Lessor under the Master Lease to the extent due to any breach of the Master Lease committed or caused by Sublessor and not caused by a breach of Sublessee’s obligations under this Sublease. Sublessor shall promptly deliver to Sublessee copies of all invoices, statements, written demands and other written notices for Additional Rent that are given to Sublessor by Master Lessor and are related to the Subleased Premises and the Sublease Term.

 

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C. Payment of First Month’s Rent. Upon execution hereof by Sublessee, Sublessee shall pay to Sublessor the sum of One Hundred Fifty-One Thousand Four Hundred Fifty-Six and 80/100 Dollars ($151,456.80), which shall constitute Base Rent for the fifth month of the Term.

5. Security Deposit: Upon execution hereof by Sublessee, Sublessee shall deposit with Sublessor the sum of Five Hundred Forty-Two Thousand Five Hundred Forty-Two and 02/100 Dollars ($542,542.02) (the “Security Deposit”), in cash, as security for the performance by Sublessee of the terms and conditions of this Sublease. If Sublessee fails to pay Rent or other charges due hereunder or otherwise defaults with respect to any provision of this Sublease, then Sublessor may draw upon, use, apply or retain all or any portion of the Security Deposit for the payment of any Rent or other charge in default, for the payment of any other sum which Sublessor has become obligated to pay by reason of Sublessee’s default, or to compensate Sublessor for any loss or damage which Sublessor has suffered thereby, including future rent damages under California Civil Code Section 1951.2, without prejudice to any other remedy provided herein or by law. Sublessee hereby waives the provisions of any law, now or hereafter in force, including, without limitation, California Civil Code Section 1951.7, that provides that Sublessor may claim from a security deposit only those sums reasonably necessary to remedy defaults in the payment of Rent, to repair damage caused by Sublessee, or to clean the Subleased Premises, it being agreed that Sublessor, in addition, may claim those sums reasonably necessary to compensate Sublessor for any other loss or damage, foreseeable or unforeseeable, caused by the act or omission of Sublessee, including future rent damages following the termination of this Sublease. If Sublessor so uses or applies all or any portion of the Security Deposit, then Sublessee, within ten (10) days after demand therefor, shall deposit cash with Sublessor in the amount required to restore the Security Deposit to the full amount stated above. Notwithstanding the foregoing, provided that Sublessee is not then in default and has not previously been in default of this Sublease, then, at Sublessee’s written request, the amount of the Security Deposit shall be reduced by the amount of $180,847.34 on each of the second (2nd) and fourth (4th) anniversaries of the Commencement Date. Upon the expiration of this Sublease, if Sublessee is not in default beyond any applicable notice and cure periods, Sublessor shall return to Sublessee so much of the Security Deposit as has not been applied or reduced by Sublessor pursuant to this paragraph, or which is not otherwise required to cure Sublessee’s defaults.

In lieu of the cash Security Deposit, Sublessee shall have the right to deposit with Sublessor, as security for the performance by Sublessee of its obligations under this Sublease, an irrevocable and unconditional letter of credit (the “Letter of Credit”) governed by the Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (1993 revisions), International Chamber of Commerce Publication No. 500, as revised from time to time, in an amount equal to Five Hundred Forty-Two Thousand Five Hundred Forty-Two and 02/100 Dollars ($542,542.02), issued to Sublessor, as beneficiary, in form and substance satisfactory to Sublessor, by a bank reasonably approved by Sublessor qualified to transact banking business in California. The full amount of the Letter of Credit shall be available to Sublessor upon presentation of Sublessor’s sight draft accompanied only by the Letter of Credit and Sublessor’s signed statement that Sublessor is entitled to draw on the Letter of Credit pursuant to this Sublease. Sublessor may draw upon the Letter of Credit and apply all or any part of the proceeds thereof for the payment of any rent or other sum in default, the repair of any damage to the Premises caused by Sublessee

 

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or the payment of any other amount which Sublessor may spend or become obligated to spend by reason of Sublessee’s default or to compensate Sublessor for any other loss or damage which Sublessor may suffer by reason of Sublessees default to the full extent permitted by law. Sublessee hereby waives any restriction on the use or application of the proceeds of the Letter of Credit by Sublessor as set forth in California Civil Code Section 1950.7. The Letter of Credit shall expressly state that the Letter of Credit and the right to draw thereunder may be transferred or assigned by Sublessor to any successor or assignee of Sublessor under this Sublease. Sublessee shall pay any fees related to the issuance or amendment of the Letter of Credit, including, without limitation, any transfer fees. To the extent Sublessor draws upon all or any portion of the Letter of Credit, Sublessee shall within five (5) days after written demand from Sublessor restore the Letter of Credit to its full amount. The Letter of Credit shall provide that it will be automatically renewed until sixty (60) days after the Expiration Date unless the issuer provides Sublessor with written notice of non-renewal at the notice address herein at least sixty (60) days prior to the expiration thereof. If, not later than thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of the Letter of Credit, Sublessee fails to furnish Sublessor with a replacement Letter of Credit pursuant to the terms and conditions of this section, then Sublessor shall have the right to draw the full amount of the Letter of Credit, by sight draft, and shall hold the proceeds of the Letter of Credit as a cash security deposit. Sublessor shall be entitled to draw upon the full amount of the Letter of Credit upon any default by Sublessee under this Sublease and shall hold any proceeds of the Letter of Credit that are not applied as set forth above as a cash security deposit.

6. Holdover: The parties hereby acknowledge that the expiration date of the Master Lease is March 31, 2025 and that it is therefore critical that Sublessee surrender the Subleased Premises to Sublessor no later than the Expiration Date in accordance with the terms of this Sublease. In the event that Sublessee does not surrender the Subleased Premises by the Expiration Date in accordance with the terms of this Sublease, Sublessee shall indemnify, defend, protect and hold harmless Sublessor from and against all loss and liability resulting from Sublessee’s delay in surrendering the Subleased Premises and pay Sublessor holdover rent as provided in Section 26 of the Master Lease.

7. Repairs: The parties acknowledge and agree that Sublessee is subleasing the Subleased Premises on an “as is” basis, and that Sublessor has made no representations or warranties with respect to the condition of the Subleased Premises. Sublessor shall have no obligation whatsoever to make or pay the cost of any alterations, improvements or repairs to the Subleased Premises, including, without limitation, any improvement or repair required to comply with any law. Master Lessor shall be solely responsible for performance of any repairs required to be performed by Master Lessor under the terms of the Master Lease. Notwithstanding the foregoing, prior to the Commencement Date, Sublessor shall remove Sublessor’s signs from the interior and exterior of the Building (including, without limitation, the Exterior Building signage, as defined in the Master Lease), all at Sublessor’s sole cost and expense.

8. Indemnity: Except to the extent caused by the negligence or willful misconduct of Sublessor, its agents, employees, contractors or invitees, Sublessee shall indemnify, defend with counsel reasonably acceptable to Sublessor, protect and hold Sublessor harmless from and against any and all losses, claims, liabilities, damages, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ and experts’ fees), caused by or arising in connection with: (i) the use or occupancy of the Subleased Premises by Sublessee; (ii) the negligence or willful misconduct of Sublessee or its employees, contractors, agents or invitees; or (iii) a breach of Sublessee’s obligations under this Sublease or the provisions of the Master Lease assumed by Sublessee hereunder. Sublessee’s indemnification of Sublessor shall survive termination of this Sublease.

 

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9. Right to Cure Defaults: If Sublessee fails to pay any sum of money under this Sublease, or fails to perform any other act on its part to be performed hereunder, then Sublessor may, but shall not be obligated to, after passage of any applicable notice and cure periods, make such payment or perform such act. All such sums paid, and all reasonable costs and expenses of performing any such act, shall be deemed Additional Rent payable by Sublessee to Sublessor upon demand, together with interest thereon at the interest rate set forth in Section 13.5 of the Master Lease (the “Interest Rate”) from the date of the expenditure until repaid.

10. Assignment and Subletting: Subject to the provisions of this Paragraph 10 and Section 12 of the Master Lease, Sublessee may not assign this Sublease, sublet the Subleased Premises, transfer any interest of Sublessee therein or permit any use of the Subleased Premises by another party (collectively, “Transfer”), without the prior written consent of Sublessor and Master Lessor. A consent to one Transfer shall not be deemed to be a consent to any subsequent Transfer. Any Transfer without such consent shall be void and, at the option of Sublessor, shall terminate this Sublease. Sublessor’s waiver or consent to any assignment or subletting shall be ineffective unless set forth in writing, and Sublessee shall not be relieved from any of its obligations under this Sublease unless the consent expressly so provides. Any Transfer shall be subject to the terms of Section 26 of the Master Lease.

11. Use:

A. Sublessee may use the Subleased Premises only for general office and administrative purposes approved by the City of Santa Clara, California. Sublessee shall not use, store, transport or dispose of any hazardous material in or about the Subleased Premises, except as permitted by the Master Lease. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, Sublessee, at its sole cost, shall comply with all laws relating to hazardous materials. If hazardous materials are discovered on or under the Subleased Premises, then Sublessee, at its sole expense, shall promptly take all action necessary to return the Subleased Premises to the condition existing prior to the appearance of the hazardous material. Sublessee shall indemnify, defend with counsel reasonably acceptable to Sublessor and hold Sublessor harmless from and against all claims, actions, suits, proceedings, judgements, losses, costs, personal injuries, damages, liabilities, deficiencies, fines, penalties, damages, attorneys’ fees, consultants’ fees, investigations, detoxifications, remediations, removals, and expenses of every type and nature, to the extent caused by the release, disposal, discharge or emission of hazardous materials on or about the Subleased Premises during the Term of this Sublease by Sublessee or its agents, contractors, invitees or employees. For purposes of this Sublease, “hazardous materials” shall mean any material or substance that is now or hereafter prohibited or regulated by any statute, law, rule, regulation or ordinance or that is now or hereafter designated by any governmental authority to be radioactive, toxic, hazardous or otherwise a danger to health, reproduction or the environment.

 

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B. Sublessee shall not do or permit anything to be done in or about the Subleased Premises which would (i) injure the Subleased Premises; or (ii) vibrate, shake, overload, or impair the efficient operation of the Subleased Premises or the sprinkler systems, heating, ventilating or air conditioning equipment, or utilities systems located therein. Sublessee shall not store any materials, supplies, finished or unfinished products or articles of any nature outside of the Subleased Premises. For purposes of this Sublease and the Master Lease, Sublessee shall comply with all reasonable rules and regulations promulgated from time to time by Sublessor (and provided to Sublessee in writing) and Master Lessor.

C. Sublessee shall have the right to use, during the entire Term of this Sublease, the security system installed by Sublessor at the Subleased Premises, including without limitation all access panels, cameras, and other hardware (including any software currently installed on such hardware). Sublessee shall be responsible for removing such security system from the Subleased Premises at its sole cost and expense upon the expiration or earlier termination of this Sublease, to the extent required by Master Lessor.

12. Effect of Conveyance: As used in this Sublease, the term “Sublessor” means the holder of the tenant’s interest under the Master Lease. In the event of any assignment, transfer or termination of the tenant’s interest under the Master Lease, which assignment, transfer or termination may occur at any time during the Term hereof in Sublessor’s sole discretion, Sublessor shall be and hereby is entirely relieved of all covenants and obligations of Sublessor hereunder, and it shall be deemed and construed, without further agreement between the parties, that any transferee has assumed and shall carry out all covenants and obligations thereafter to be performed by Sublessor hereunder. Sublessor may transfer and deliver any security of Sublessee to the transferee of the tenant’s interest under the Master Lease, and thereupon Sublessor shall be discharged from any further liability with respect thereto.

13. Delivery and Acceptance: If Sublessor fails to deliver possession of the Subleased Premises to Sublessee on or before the date set forth in Paragraph 3.A hereof for any reason whatsoever, then this Sublease shall not be void or voidable, nor shall Sublessor be liable to Sublessee for any loss or damage; provided, however, that in such event, Rent shall abate until Sublessor delivers possession of the Subleased Premises to Sublessee. By taking possession of the Subleased Premises, Sublessee conclusively shall be deemed to have accepted the Subleased Premises in their as-is, then-existing condition, without any warranty whatsoever of Sublessor with respect thereto.

14. Improvements: No alteration or improvements shall be made to the Subleased Premises, except in accordance with the Master Lease, and with the prior written consent of both Master Lessor and Sublessor. Except in the event of a termination of this Sublease due to a Sublessee default, Sublessor shall not require the removal of any alterations or improvements made by Sublessee unless Master Lessor requires such removal, in which event Sublessor shall have the same rights to require removal as Master Lessor. Subject to the terms and conditions of this paragraph, Sublessor hereby approves in concept Sublessee’s proposed alterations to the extent described on Exhibit C attached hereto (“Sublessee’s Initial Alterations”); provided, that, (i) such approval is conditioned upon receipt of Master Lessor’s approval of Sublessee’s Initial Alterations, and, Master Lessor’s disapproval of all or any portion of Sublessee’s Initial Alterations shall be deemed to constitute Sublessor’s disapproval thereof, (ii) Sublessor’s approval shall not constitute its approval of elements of Sublessee’s Initial Alterations not described on Exhibit C attached hereto or approval of any further plans, specifications, drawings,

 

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permits, contractors, budgets or other matters related to Sublessee’s Initial Alterations that require approval of either Sublessee or Master Lessor under the Sublease or Master Lease, and, all such further consents and approvals shall continue to be required pursuant to the terms of the Master Lease and the Sublease, and (iii) Sublessor’s approval above shall be deemed subject to any terms and conditions of Master Lessor’s approval of Sublessee’s Initial Alterations as well as Sublessee’s compliance with all of the terms and conditions of the Sublease and the Master Lease related to Sublessee’s Initial Alterations.

15. Insurance and Release and Waiver of Subrogation: Sublessee shall obtain and keep in full force and effect, at Sublessee’s sole cost and expense, during the Term the insurance required under Section 8 of the Master Lease. Sublessee shall name Master Lessor and Sublessor as additional insureds under its liability insurance policy. The release and waiver of subrogation set forth in Section 8.6 of the Master Lease, as incorporated herein, shall be binding on the parties.

16. Default: Sublessee shall be in material default of its obligations under this Sublease upon the occurrence of any of the events set forth in Section 13.1 of the Master Lease, as incorporated herein, or otherwise if Sublessee commits any other act or omission which constitutes an event of default under the Master Lease, which has not been cured after delivery of written notice and passage of the applicable grace period provided in the Master Lease as modified, if at all, by the provisions of this Sublease.

17. Remedies: In the event of any default by Sublessee, Sublessor shall have all remedies provided pursuant to Section 13.2 of the Master Lease, as incorporated herein, and by applicable law, including damages that include the worth at the time of award of the amount by which the unpaid rent for the balance of the term after the time of award exceeds the amount of such rental loss that the lessee proves could be reasonably avoided and the remedy described in California Civil Code Section 1951.4 (lessor may continue lease in effect after lessee’s breach and abandonment and recover rent as it becomes due, if lessee has right to sublet or assign, subject only to reasonable limitations). Sublessor may resort to its remedies cumulatively or in the alternative.

18. Surrender: Prior to expiration of this Sublease, Sublessee shall remove all of its trade fixtures and shall surrender the Subleased Premises to Sublessor in the condition required under the Master Lease; provided, that, Sublessee shall not be required to remove any alterations that exist in the Subleased Premises as of the date of this Sublease (subject to Paragraph 11(C) above). If the Subleased Premises are not so surrendered, then Sublessee shall be liable to Sublessor for all costs incurred by Sublessor in returning the Subleased Premises to the required condition, plus interest thereon at the Interest Rate. Sublessor represents and warrants to Sublessee that Sublessor has not received from Master Lessor any written notice pursuant to Section 7.4(b) of the Master Lease requiring removal of any alterations installed by Sublessor in the Subleased Premises.

19. Broker: Sublessor and Sublessee each represent to the other that they have dealt with no real estate brokers, finders, agents or salesmen other than Savills Studley, representing Sublessor and Sublessee, in connection with this transaction. Each party agrees to hold the other party harmless from and against all claims for brokerage commissions, finder’s fees or other compensation made by any other agent, broker, salesman or finder as a consequence of such party’s actions or dealings with such agent, broker, salesman, or finder.

 

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20. Notices: Unless at least five (5) days’ prior written notice is given in the manner set forth in this paragraph, the address of each party for all purposes connected with this Sublease shall be that address set forth below its signature at the end of this Sublease. All notices, demands or communications in connection with this Sublease shall be (a) personally delivered; or (b) properly addressed and (i) submitted to an overnight courier service, charges prepaid, or (ii) deposited in the mail (certified, return receipt requested, and postage prepaid). Notices shall be deemed delivered upon receipt, if personally delivered, one (1) business day after being submitted to an overnight courier service and three (3) business days after mailing, if mailed as set forth above. All notices given to Master Lessor under the Master Lease shall be considered received only when delivered in accordance with the Master Lease.

21. Miscellaneous: For purposes of Section 1938 of the California Civil Code, Sublessor hereby discloses to Sublessee, and Sublessee hereby acknowledges, that the Premises have not undergone inspection by a Certified Access Specialists (CASp). As required by Section 1938(e) of the California Civil Code, Sublessee hereby states as follows: “A Certified Access Specialist (CASp) can inspect the subject premises and determine whether the subject premises comply with all of the applicable construction-related accessibility standards under state law. Although state law does not require a CASp inspection of the subject premises, the commercial property owner or lessor may not prohibit the lessee or tenant from obtaining a CASp inspection of the subject premises for the occupancy or potential occupancy of the lessee or tenant, if requested by the lessee or tenant. The parties shall mutually agree on the arrangements for the time and manner of the CASp inspection, the payment of the fee for the CASp inspection, and the cost of making any repairs necessary to correct violations of construction-related accessibility standards within the premises.” In furtherance of the foregoing, Sublessor and Sublessee hereby agree that Sublessee, at its sole cost and expense, shall be responsible for making any improvements or repairs within the Subleased Premises to correct violations of construction-related accessibility standards that may be disclosed by any CASp inspection obtained by Sublessee. Capitalized terms used but not defined in this Sublease shall have the meanings ascribed to such terms in the Master Lease.

22. Other Sublease Terms:

A. Incorporation by Reference. Except as set forth below, the terms and conditions of this Sublease shall include all of the terms of the Master Lease and such terms are incorporated into this Sublease as if fully set forth herein, except that: (i) each reference in such incorporated sections to “Lease” shall be deemed a reference to “Sublease”; (ii) each reference to the “Premises” shall be deemed a reference to the “Subleased Premises”; (iii) each reference to “Lessor” and “Lessee” shall be deemed a reference to “Sublessor” and “Sublessee”, respectively, except as otherwise expressly set forth herein; (iv) with respect to work, services, repairs, restoration, insurance, indemnities, representations, warranties or the performance of any other obligation of Master Lessor under the Master Lease, the sole obligation of Sublessor shall be to request the same in writing from Master Lessor as and when requested to do so by Sublessee, and to use Sublessor’s reasonable efforts (without requiring Sublessor to spend more than a nominal sum) to obtain Master Lessor’s performance; (v) with respect to any obligation of

 

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Sublessee to be performed under this Sublease, wherever the Master Lease grants to Sublessor a specified number of days to perform its obligations under the Master Lease, except as otherwise provided herein, Sublessee shall have three (3) fewer days to perform the obligation, including, without limitation, curing any defaults; (vi) with respect to any approval required to be obtained from the “Lessor” under the Master Lease, such consent must be obtained from both Master Lessor and Sublessor, and the approval of Sublessor may be withheld if Master Lessor’s consent is not obtained; (vii) in any case where the “Lessor” reserves or is granted the right to manage, supervise, control, repair, alter, regulate the use of, enter or use the Premises or any areas beneath, above or adjacent thereto, perform any actions or cure any failures, such reservation or right shall be deemed to be for the benefit of both Master Lessor and Sublessor; (viii) in any case where “Lessee” is to indemnify, release or waive claims against “Lessor”, such indemnity, release or waiver shall be deemed to cover, and run from Sublessee to, both Master Lessor and Sublessor; (ix) in any case where “Lessee” is to execute and deliver certain documents or notices to “Lessor”, such obligation shall be deemed to run from Sublessee to both Master Lessor and Sublessor; (x) all payments shall be made to Sublessor; (xi) Sublessee shall pay all consent and review fees set forth in the Master Lease to each of Master Lessor and Sublessor (provided, however, that notwithstanding the foregoing, Sublessor shall be solely responsible for the payment of any transfer or review fee imposed by Master Lessor in connection with this Sublease); (xii) Sublessee shall not have the right to terminate this Sublease due to casualty or condemnation unless Sublessor has such right under the Master Lease (and Sublessee shall be entitled to exercise any right it may have, by virtue of incorporation of the provisions of the Master Lease into this Sublease, to terminate this Sublease in the event of a casualty or condemnation without first obtaining the consent or approval of Sublessor, but upon at least ten (10) days prior written notice to Sublessor); and (xiii) fifty percent (50%) of all “Profits” (as defined in Paragraph 63 of the Master Lease) under subleases and assignments shall be paid to Sublessor.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the following provisions of the Master Lease shall not be incorporated herein: Sections 1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5,1.6, 1.9, 2.2, 2.3 (first paragraph only), 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 5, 6.2(e), 15, 20, 23, 49, 51, 53, 54 (the last two sentences only), 55, 56, 57 (except the last sentence thereof), 58(a) (third sentence only), 65 and Exhibit 57. In addition, notwithstanding subpart (iii) above, references in the following provisions to “Lessor” shall mean Master Lessor only: Sections 1.8, 2.3(b), 6.2(g), 7.1(d), 8.1 (the first sentence), 8.2(b), 9.2, 9.3, 9.5, 9.6(b), 10.1, 14 (last sentence only), 17, 30, 42, 64, 66.

B. Assumption of Obligations. This Sublease is and at all times shall be subject and subordinate to the Master Lease and the rights of Master Lessor thereunder. Sublessee hereby expressly assumes and agrees: (i) to comply with all provisions of the Master Lease which are incorporated hereunder; and (ii) to perform all the obligations on the part of the “Lessee” to be performed under the terms of the Master Lease during the Term of this Sublease which are incorporated hereunder; provided, however, that Sublessee shall not assume any obligation of Sublessor under the Master Lease arising prior to the Commencement Date of this Sublease. In the event the Master Lease is terminated for any reason whatsoever, this Sublease shall terminate simultaneously with such termination. In the event of a conflict between the provisions of this Sublease and the Master Lease, as between Sublessor and Sublessee, the provisions of this Sublease shall control. In the event of a conflict between the express provisions of this Sublease and the provisions of the Master Lease, as incorporated herein, the express provisions of this Sublease shall prevail.

 

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23. Condition Precedent: This Sublease and Sublessor’s and Sublessee’s obligations hereunder are conditioned upon the written consent of Master Lessor. If Sublessor fails to obtain Master Lessor’s consent within thirty (30) days after execution of this Sublease by Sublessor, then Sublessor or Sublessee may terminate this Sublease by giving the other party written notice thereof prior to the date Sublessor delivers the Subleased Premises to Sublessee, and Sublessor shall return to Sublessee its payment of the first month’s Rent paid by Sublessee pursuant to Paragraph 4 hereof and the Security Deposit or Letter of Credit, as applicable.

24. Termination: Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, Sublessee acknowledges that, under the Master Lease, both Master Lessor and Sublessor have certain termination and recapture rights, including, without limitation, in Sections 6.2(g), 9, 13 and 14. Nothing herein shall prohibit Master Lessor or Sublessor from exercising any such rights and neither Master Lessor nor Sublessor shall have any liability to Sublessee as a result thereof. In the event Master Lessor or Sublessor exercise any such termination or recapture rights, this Sublease shall terminate without any liability to Master Lessor or Sublessor. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Sublessor agrees that, so long as Sublessee is not in default beyond applicable notice and cure periods, Sublessor shall not exercise its termination right under Section 51 of the Master Lease.

25. Inducement Recapture: Any agreement for free or abated rent or other charges, or for the giving or paying by Sublessor to or for Sublessee of any cash or other bonus, inducement or consideration for Sublessee’s entering into this Sublease, all of which concessions are hereinafter referred to as “Inducement Provisions”, shall be deemed conditioned upon Sublessee’s full and faithful performance of all of the terms, covenants and conditions of this Sublease. Upon a default by Sublessee beyond applicable notice and cure periods, any such Inducement Provision shall automatically be deemed deleted from this Sublease, and, if Sublessor terminates this Sublease as a consequence of such default, Sublessor may include in its claims for termination damages the unamortized portion of all Base Rent, payment of which has previously been waived under Paragraph 4.A.

26. Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment: Sublessee shall have the right to use during the Term the office furnishings within the Subleased Premises which are identified on Exhibit B attached hereto (the “Furniture”) at no additional cost to Sublessee. The Furniture is provided in its “AS IS, WHERE IS” condition, without representation or warranty whatsoever; except that Sublessor represents to Sublessee that Sublessor owns the Furniture free and clear of any third party claims or liens. Sublessee shall insure the Furniture under the property insurance policy required under the Master Lease, as incorporated herein, and pay all taxes with respect to the Furniture. Sublessee shall maintain the Furniture in good condition and repair, reasonable wear and tear excepted, and shall be responsible for any loss or damage to the same occurring during the Term. Sublessee shall surrender the Furniture to Sublessor upon the termination of this Sublease in the same condition as exists as of the Commencement Date, reasonable wear and tear excepted. Sublessee shall not remove any of the Furniture from the Subleased Premises. Notwithstanding the foregoing, provided (i) Sublessee has not defaulted under this Sublease beyond any applicable notice and cure periods and no event has occurred that with the passing of

 

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time or the giving of notice, would constitute a default by Sublessee under this Sublease and (ii) this Sublease has not terminated prior to the Expiration Date, which conditions may be waived by Sublessor in its sole discretion, then upon the termination of this Sublease, the Furniture shall become the property of Sublessee, and Sublessee shall accept the same in its “AS IS, WHERE IS” condition, without representation or warranty whatsoever, except as set forth above in this Paragraph 26.

27. Authorization to Direct Sublease Payments: Sublessee shall have the right to pay all rent and other sums owing by Sublessee to Sublessor hereunder for those items which also are owed by Sublessor to Master Lessor under the Master Lease directly to Master Lessor, provided Sublessee reasonably believes that Sublessor has failed to make any payment required to be made by Sublessor to Master Lessor under the Master Lease and Sublessor fails to provide adequate proof of payment within three (3) business days after Sublessee’s written demand requesting such proof. Sublessee shall provide to Sublessor concurrently with any payment to Master Lessor reasonable evidence of such payment. Any sums paid directly by Sublessee to Master Lessor in accordance with this paragraph shall be credited toward the amounts payable by Sublessee to Sublessor under this Sublease. In the event Sublessee tenders payment directly to Master Lessor in accordance with this paragraph and Master Lessor refuses to accept such payment, Sublessee shall have the right to deposit such funds in an account with a national bank for the benefit of Master Lessor and Sublessor, and the deposit of said funds in such account shall discharge Sublessee’s obligation under this Sublease to make the payment in question.

28. Sublessor Representations and Covenants. Sublessor represents, warrants and covenants as follows:

A. Sublessor is the holder of the entire interest of the “Lessee” under the Master Lease;

B. the copy of the Master Lease attached hereto as Exhibit A is true, accurate and complete, and has not been modified, amended or terminated and is in full force and effect;

C. To Sublessor’s current, actual knowledge, Sublessor is not in default under the Master Lease, nor has Sublessor done or failed to do anything which with notice, the passage of time or both could ripen into a default;

D. To Sublessor’s current, actual knowledge, Master Lessor is not in default under the Master Lease, nor has Master Lessor done or failed to do anything which with notice, the passage of time or both could ripen into a default under the Master Lease;

E. Provided that Sublessee is not in default of this Sublease beyond applicable notice and cure periods, Sublessor will not enter into any amendment or modification of the Master Lease which could adversely affect Sublessee’s rights under this Sublease or its use and occupancy of the Subleased Premises;

F. Provided that Sublessee is not in default of this Sublease beyond applicable notice and cure periods, Sublessor will not enter into any agreement terminating the Master Lease without Sublessee’s prior written consent; and

 

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G. Sublessor agrees to promptly deliver to Sublessee a copy of any written notice of default under the Master Lease that Sublessor delivers to Master Lessor or receives from Master Lessor.

29. Limitation on Sublessor’s Liability. The obligations of Sublessor under this Sublease shall not constitute personal obligations of Sublessor or its partners, members, directors, officers or shareholders, and Sublessee and shall not seek recourse against Sublessor’s partners, members, directors, officers or shareholders, or any of their personal assets, for the satisfaction of any liability of Sublessor with respect to this Sublease.

30. Parking. Sublessee shall have the right to utilize all of the parking spaces available to Sublessor with respect to the Building pursuant to Section 54 of the Master Lease. In addition, Sublessee shall have the right to utilize the existing ChargePoint charging stations installed in the parking area serving the Building at Sublessee’s sole cost and expense; provided, that Sublessee shall repair and maintain such charging stations at its sole cost and expense and enter into a maintenance, service and subscription agreement with ChargePoint for the duration of the Sublease Term.

31. Signage. During the Sublease Term, Sublessee shall have all of the rights and obligations of Sublessor with respect to signage pursuant to Section 52 of the Master Lease, as incorporated herein.

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Sublease as of the day and year first above written.

 

SUBLESSOR:     SUBLESSEE:

GIGAMON INC.,

a Delaware corporation

   

COUCHBASES, INC.,

a Delaware corporation

By:  

/s/Rick Jacquet

    By:  

/s/Greg Henry

Name:  

Rick Jacquet

    Name:  

Greg Henry

Its:  

CPO

    Its:  

CFO

Address:     Address:

3300 Olcott Street

Santa Clara, CA 95054

Attn: General Counsel

   

Before November 1, 2018:

2440 W. El Camino Real

Mountain View, CA 94040

Attn: General Counsel

   

From & after November 1, 2018:

3250 Olcott Street

Santa Clara, CA 95054

Attn: General Counsel

 

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EXHIBIT A

MASTER LEASE

[See attached]


EXHIBIT “57”

LESSOR’S WORK

[Follows this Cover Page]

 

 

 

 

 

[Exhibit “57” to Addendum to Lease with Gigamon, Inc.]


EXHIBIT C

DESCRIPTION OF SUBLESSEE’S INITIAL ALTERATIONS

EX-10.13

Exhibit 10.13

AMENDED AND RESTATED LOAN AND SECURITY AGREEMENT

THIS AMENDED AND RESTATED LOAN AND SECURITY AGREEMENT (this “Agreement”) dated as of January 29, 2021 (the “Effective Date”), between SILICON VALLEY BANK, a California corporation (“Bank”), and COUCHBASE, INC., a Delaware corporation (“Borrower”), provides the terms on which Bank shall lend to Borrower and Borrower shall repay Bank.

A. Bank and Borrower have previously entered into that certain Loan and Security Agreement dated as of November 6, 2017 by and between Borrower and Bank (as amended, the “Prior Agreement”).

B. Borrower and Bank have agreed to amend and restate, and replace, the Prior Agreement in its entirety. Bank and Borrower hereby agree that the Prior Agreement is amended and restated in its entirety as follows:

 

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ACCOUNTING AND OTHER TERMS

Accounting terms not defined in this Agreement shall be construed following GAAP. Calculations and determinations must be made following GAAP, except with respect to unaudited financial statements (a) non-compliance with FAS 123R, and (b) for the absence of footnotes and subject to year-end audit adjustments, provided that if at any time any change in GAAP would affect the computation of any covenant requirement set forth in any of the Loan Documents, and either Borrower or Bank shall so request, Borrower and Bank shall negotiate in good faith to amend such ratio or covenant requirement to preserve the original intent thereof in light of such change in GAAP; provided, further, that, until so amended, such covenant requirement shall continue to be computed in accordance with GAAP prior to such change therein; provided, that any obligations of any Person that are or would have been treated as operating leases for purposes of GAAP prior to the issuance by the Financial Accounting Standards Board on February 25, 2016 of an Accounting Standards Update (the “ASU”) shall continue to be accounted for as operating leases for purposes of all financial definitions, calculations and covenants for purpose of this Agreement (whether or not such operating lease obligations were in effect on such date) notwithstanding the fact that such obligations are required in accordance with the ASU (on a prospective or retroactive basis or otherwise) to be treated as capitalized lease obligations in accordance with GAAP. Notwithstanding the foregoing, all financial covenant and other financial calculations shall be computed with respect to Borrower only, and not on a consolidated basis. Capitalized terms not otherwise defined in this Agreement shall have the meanings set forth in Section 13. All other terms contained in this Agreement, unless otherwise indicated, shall have the meaning provided by the Code to the extent such terms are defined therein.

 

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LOAN AND TERMS OF PAYMENT

2.1 Promise to Pay. Borrower hereby unconditionally promises to pay Bank the outstanding principal amount of all Credit Extensions and accrued and unpaid interest thereon as and when due in accordance with this Agreement.

2.2 Revolving Line.

(a) Availability. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement and to deduction of Reserves, Bank shall make Advances not exceeding the Availability Amount. Amounts borrowed under the Revolving Line may be repaid and, prior to the Revolving Line Maturity Date, reborrowed, subject to the applicable terms and conditions precedent herein.

(b) Termination; Repayment. The Revolving Line terminates on the Revolving Line Maturity Date, when the outstanding principal amount of all Advances, the accrued and unpaid interest thereon, and all other Obligations relating to the Revolving Line shall be immediately due and payable.

2.3 Overadvances. If, at any time, the outstanding principal amount of any Advances exceeds the lesser of either the Revolving Line or the Borrowing Base, Borrower shall immediately pay to Bank in cash the amount of such excess (such excess, the “Overadvance”). Without limiting Borrower’s obligation to repay Bank any Overadvance, Borrower agrees to pay Bank interest on the outstanding amount of any Overadvance, on demand, at a per annum rate equal to the rate that is otherwise applicable to Advances plus five percent (5.0%).


2.4 Payment of Interest on the Credit Extensions.

(a) Interest Rate. Subject to Section 2.4(b), the principal amount outstanding under the Revolving Line shall accrue interest at a floating per annum rate equal to the greater of (i) one-half of one percent (0.50%) above the Prime Rate, and (ii) three and three-quarters of one percent (3.75%), which interest, in each case, shall be payable monthly in accordance with Section 2.4(d) below.

(b) Default Rate. Upon the occurrence and during the continuance of an Event of Default, at Bank’s election, Obligations shall bear interest at a rate per annum which is five percent (5.0%) above the rate that is otherwise applicable thereto (the “Default Rate”). Fees and expenses which are required to be paid by Borrower pursuant to the Loan Documents (including, without limitation, Bank Expenses) but are not paid when due shall bear interest until paid at a rate equal to the highest rate applicable to the Obligations. Payment or acceptance of the increased interest rate provided in this Section 2.4(b) is not a permitted alternative to timely payment and shall not constitute a waiver of any Event of Default or otherwise prejudice or limit any rights or remedies of Bank.

(c) Adjustment to Interest Rate. Changes to the interest rate of any Credit Extension based on changes to the Prime Rate shall be effective on the effective date of any change to the Prime Rate and to the extent of any such change.

(d) Payment; Interest Computation. Interest is payable monthly on the Payment Date of each month and shall be computed on the basis of a three hundred sixty (360) day year for the actual number of days elapsed. In computing interest, (i) all payments received after 12:00 p.m. Pacific time on any day shall be deemed received at the opening of business on the next Business Day, and (ii) the date of the making of any Credit Extension shall be included and the date of payment shall be excluded; provided, however, that if any Credit Extension is repaid on the same day on which it is made, such day shall be included in computing interest on such Credit Extension.

2.5 Fees. Borrower shall pay to Bank:

(a) Revolving Line Commitment Fee. A fully earned, non-refundable commitment fee of Sixty Thousand Dollars ($60,000.00), on the Effective Date;

(b) Unused Revolving Line Facility Fee. Payable quarterly in arrears on the last day of each calendar quarter occurring thereafter prior to the Revolving Line Maturity Date, and on the Revolving Line Maturity Date, a fee (the “Unused Revolving Line Facility Fee”) in an amount equal to one-quarter of one percent (0.25%) per annum of the average unused portion of the Revolving Line, as determined by Bank, computed on the basis of a year with the applicable number of days as set forth in Section 2.4(d). The unused portion of the Revolving Line, for purposes of this calculation, shall be calculated on a calendar year basis and shall equal the difference between (i) the Revolving Line, and (ii) the average for the period of the daily closing balance of the Revolving Line outstanding;

(c) Termination Fee. Upon termination of this Agreement or the termination of the Revolving Line for any reason prior to the Revolving Line Maturity Date, in addition to the payment of any other amounts then-owing, a termination fee (the “Termination Fee”) in an amount equal to (i) one percent (1.0%) of the Revolving Line if such termination occurs prior to the first anniversary of the Effective Date, or (ii) one-half of one percent (0.50%) of the Revolving Line if such termination occurs on or at any time after the first anniversary of the Effective Date provided that no termination fee shall be charged if the credit facility hereunder is replaced with a new facility from Bank;

(d) Bank Expenses. All Bank Expenses (including reasonable and documented attorneys’ fees and expenses for documentation and negotiation of this Agreement) incurred through and after the Effective Date, when due (or, if no stated due date, upon demand by Bank).

 

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(e) Fees Fully Earned. Unless otherwise provided in this Agreement or in a separate writing by Bank, Borrower shall not be entitled to any credit, rebate, or repayment of any fees earned by Bank pursuant to this Agreement notwithstanding any termination of this Agreement or the suspension or termination of Bank’s obligation to make loans and advances hereunder. Bank may deduct amounts owing by Borrower under the clauses of this Section 2.5 pursuant to the terms of Section 2.6(c). Bank shall provide Borrower written notice of deductions made from the Designated Deposit Account pursuant to the terms of the clauses of this Section 2.5.

2.6 Payments; Application of Payments; Debit of Accounts.

(a) All payments to be made by Borrower under any Loan Document shall be made in immediately available funds in Dollars, without setoff or counterclaim, before 12:00 p.m. Pacific time on the date when due. Payments of principal and/or interest received after 12:00 p.m. Pacific time are considered received at the opening of business on the next Business Day. When a payment is due on a day that is not a Business Day, the payment shall be due the next Business Day, and additional fees or interest, as applicable, shall continue to accrue until paid.

(b) Prior to the existence of an Event of Default, payments shall be applied as directed by Borrower. Upon the occurrence and during the continuance of an Event of Default, Bank has the exclusive right to determine the order and manner in which all payments with respect to the Obligations may be applied and Borrower shall have no right to specify the order or the accounts to which Bank shall allocate or apply any payments required to be made by Borrower to Bank or otherwise received by Bank under this Agreement when any such allocation or application is not specified elsewhere in this Agreement.

(c) Only after first attempting to debit the Designated Deposit Account, Bank may debit any of Borrower’s deposit accounts, for principal and interest payments or any other amounts Borrower owes Bank when due. These debits shall not constitute a set-off.

2.7 Withholding. Payments received by Bank from Borrower under this Agreement will be made free and clear of and without deduction for any and all present or future taxes, levies, imposts, duties, deductions, withholdings, assessments, fees or other charges imposed by any Governmental Authority (including any interest, additions to tax or penalties applicable thereto). Specifically, however, if at any time any Governmental Authority, applicable law, regulation or international agreement requires Borrower to make any withholding or deduction from any such payment or other sum payable hereunder to Bank, Borrower hereby covenants and agrees that the amount due from Borrower with respect to such payment or other sum payable hereunder will be increased to the extent necessary to ensure that, after the making of such required withholding or deduction, Bank receives a net sum equal to the sum which it would have received had no withholding or deduction been required, and Borrower shall pay the full amount withheld or deducted to the relevant Governmental Authority. Borrower will, upon request, furnish Bank with proof reasonably satisfactory to Bank indicating that Borrower has made such withholding payment; provided, however, that Borrower need not make any withholding payment if the amount or validity of such withholding payment is contested in good faith by appropriate and timely proceedings and as to which payment in full is bonded or reserved against by Borrower. The agreements and obligations of Borrower contained in this Section 2.7 shall survive the termination of this Agreement.

3 CONDITIONS OF LOANS

3.1 Conditions Precedent to Initial Credit Extension. Bank’s obligation to make the initial Credit Extension is subject to the condition precedent that Bank shall have received, in form and substance satisfactory to Bank, such documents, and completion of such other matters, as Bank may reasonably deem necessary or appropriate, including, without limitation:

(a) duly executed signatures to the Loan Documents;

(b) duly executed signatures to the Control Agreements, if any;

(c) (i) the Certificate of Incorporation and long-form good standing certificates of Borrower certified by the Secretary of State (or equivalent agency) of Borrower’s jurisdiction of organization or formation and each jurisdiction in which Borrower is qualified to conduct business and the failure of so qualified in such jurisdiction would reasonably result in a Material Adverse Change, each as of a date no earlier than thirty (30) days prior to the Effective Date, and (ii) the Bylaws;

 

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(d) a duly executed secretary’s corporate borrowing certificate of Borrower with respect to Borrower’s Operating Documents, incumbency, and resolutions authorizing the execution and delivery of this Agreement and the other Loan Documents;

(e) duly executed signatures to the completed Borrowing Resolutions for Borrower;

(f) certified copies, dated as of a recent date, of financing statement searches, as Bank may request, accompanied by written evidence (including any UCC termination statements) that the Liens indicated in any such financing statements either constitute Permitted Liens or have been or, in connection with the initial Credit Extension, will be terminated or released, including a receipt of a payoff letter in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to Bank from Hercules Capital, Inc.;

(g) the Perfection Certificate of Borrower, together with the duly executed signature thereto;

(h) evidence satisfactory to Bank that the insurance policies and endorsements required by Section 6.7 hereof are in full force and effect, together with appropriate evidence showing lender loss payable and/or additional insured clauses or endorsements in favor of Bank;

(i) with respect to the initial Advance, a completed Borrowing Base Statement (and any schedules related thereto and including any other information requested by Bank with respect to Borrower’s Accounts); and

(j) payment of the fees and Bank Expenses then due as specified in Section 2.5 hereof.

3.2 Conditions Precedent to all Credit Extensions. Bank’s obligations to make each Credit Extension, including the initial Credit Extension, is subject to the following conditions precedent:

(a) timely receipt of the Credit Extension request and any materials and documents required by Section 3.4;

(b) the representations and warranties in this Agreement shall be true, accurate, and complete in all material respects on the date of the proposed Credit Extension and on the Funding Date of each Credit Extension; provided, however, that such materiality qualifier shall not be applicable to any representations and warranties that already are qualified or modified by materiality in the text thereof; and provided, further that those representations and warranties expressly referring to a specific date shall be true, accurate and complete in all material respects as of such date, and no Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing or result from the Credit Extension. Each Credit Extension is Borrower’s representation and warranty on that date that the representations and warranties in this Agreement remain true, accurate, and complete in all material respects; provided, however, that such materiality qualifier shall not be applicable to any representations and warranties that already are qualified or modified by materiality in the text thereof; and provided, further that those representations and warranties expressly referring to a specific date shall be true, accurate and complete in all material respects as of such date; and

(c) Bank determines to its reasonable satisfaction that there has not been a Material Adverse Change.

3.3 Covenant to Deliver. Borrower agrees to deliver to Bank each item required to be delivered to Bank under this Agreement as a condition precedent to any Credit Extension. Borrower expressly agrees that a Credit Extension made prior to the receipt by Bank of any such item shall not constitute a waiver by Bank of Borrower’s obligation to deliver such item, and the making of any Credit Extension in the absence of a required item shall be in Bank’s sole discretion.

 

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3.4 Procedures for Borrowing. Subject to the prior satisfaction of all other applicable conditions to the making of an Advance set forth in this Agreement, to obtain an Advance, Borrower (via an individual duly authorized by an Administrator) shall notify Bank (which notice shall be irrevocable) by electronic mail by 12:00 p.m. Pacific time on the Funding Date of the Advance. Such notice shall be made by Borrower through Bank’s online banking program, provided, however, if Borrower is not utilizing Bank’s online banking program, then such notice shall be in a written format acceptable to Bank that is executed by an Authorized Signer. Bank shall have received satisfactory evidence that the Board has approved that such Authorized Signer may provide such notices and request Advances. In connection with any such notification, Borrower must promptly deliver to Bank by electronic mail or through Bank’s online banking program such reports and information, including without limitation, sales journals, cash receipts journals, accounts receivable aging reports, as Bank may request in its sole discretion. Bank shall credit proceeds of an Advance to the Designated Deposit Account. Bank may make Advances under this Agreement based on instructions from an Authorized Signer or without instructions if the Advances are necessary to meet Obligations which have become due.

 

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CREATION OF SECURITY INTEREST

4.1 Grant of Security Interest. Borrower hereby grants Bank, to secure the payment and performance in full of all of the Obligations, a continuing security interest in, and pledges to Bank, the Collateral, wherever located, whether now owned or hereafter acquired or arising, and all proceeds and products thereof.

Borrower acknowledges that it previously has entered, and/or may in the future enter, into Bank Services Agreements with Bank. Regardless of the terms of any Bank Services Agreement, Borrower agrees that any amounts Borrower owes Bank thereunder shall be deemed to be Obligations hereunder and that it is the intent of Borrower and Bank to have all such Obligations secured by the first priority perfected security interest in the Collateral granted herein (subject only to Permitted Liens that are permitted pursuant to the terms of this Agreement to have superior priority to Bank’s Lien in this Agreement).

If this Agreement is terminated, Bank’s Lien in the Collateral shall continue until the Obligations (other than inchoate indemnity obligations) are repaid in full in cash. Upon payment in full in cash of the Obligations (other than inchoate indemnity obligations) and at such time as Bank’s obligation to make Credit Extensions has terminated, Bank shall, at the sole cost and expense of Borrower, release its Liens in the Collateral and all rights therein shall revert to Borrower. In the event (x) all Obligations (other than inchoate indemnity obligations), except for Bank Services, are satisfied in full, and (y) this Agreement is terminated, Bank shall terminate the security interest granted herein upon Borrower providing cash collateral acceptable to Bank in its good faith business judgment for Bank Services, if any. In the event such Bank Services consist of outstanding Letters of Credit, Borrower shall provide to Bank cash collateral in an amount equal to (x) if such Letters of Credit are denominated in Dollars, then at least one hundred five percent (105.0%); and (y) if such Letters of Credit are denominated in a Foreign Currency, then at least one hundred ten percent (110.0%), of the Dollar Equivalent of the face amount of all such Letters of Credit plus all interest, fees, and costs due or to become due in connection therewith (as estimated by Bank in its business judgment), to secure all of the Obligations relating to such Letters of Credit.

4.2 Priority of Security Interest. Borrower represents, warrants, and covenants that the security interest granted herein is and shall at all times continue to be a first priority perfected security interest in the Collateral (subject only to Permitted Liens). If Borrower shall acquire a commercial tort claim valued in excess of Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000), individually or in the aggregate, Borrower shall promptly notify Bank in a writing signed by Borrower of the general details thereof and grant to Bank in such writing a security interest therein and in the proceeds thereof, all upon the terms of this Agreement, with such writing to be in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to Bank.

4.3 Authorization to File Financing Statements. Borrower hereby authorizes Bank to file financing statements, without notice to Borrower, with all appropriate jurisdictions to perfect or protect Bank’s interest or rights hereunder, including a notice that any disposition of the Collateral, by either Borrower or any other Person, shall be deemed to violate the rights of Bank under the Code. Such financing statements may indicate the Collateral as “all assets of the Debtor” or words of similar effect, or as being of an equal or lesser scope, or with greater detail, all in Bank’s discretion.

 

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5

REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES

Borrower represents and warrants as follows:

5.1 Due Organization, Authorization; Power and Authority. Borrower is duly existing and in good standing as a Registered Organization in its jurisdiction of formation and is qualified and licensed to do business and is in good standing in any jurisdiction in which the conduct of its business or its ownership of property requires that it be qualified except where the failure to do so could not reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on Borrower’s business. In connection with this Agreement, Borrower has delivered to Bank a completed certificate signed by Borrower, entitled “Perfection Certificate” (the “Perfection Certificate”). Borrower represents and warrants to Bank that (a) Borrower’s exact legal name is that indicated on the Perfection Certificate and on the signature page hereof; (b) Borrower is an organization of the type and is organized in the jurisdiction set forth in the Perfection Certificate; (c) the Perfection Certificate accurately sets forth Borrower’s organizational identification number or accurately states that Borrower has none; (d) the Perfection Certificate accurately sets forth Borrower’s place of business, or, if more than one, its chief executive office as well as Borrower’s mailing address (if different than its chief executive office); (e) Borrower (and each of its predecessors) has not, in the past five (5) years, changed its jurisdiction of formation, organizational structure or type, or any organizational number assigned by its jurisdiction; and (f) all other information set forth on the Perfection Certificate pertaining to Borrower and each of its Subsidiaries is accurate and complete in all material respects (it being understood and agreed that Borrower may from time to time update certain information in the Perfection Certificate after the Effective Date to the extent permitted by one or more specific provisions in this Agreement). If Borrower is not now a Registered Organization but later becomes one, Borrower shall promptly notify Bank of such occurrence and provide Bank with Borrower’s organizational identification number.

The execution, delivery and performance by Borrower of the Loan Documents to which it is a party have been duly authorized, and do not (i) conflict with any of Borrower’s organizational documents, (ii) contravene, conflict with, constitute a default under or violate any material Requirement of Law, (iii) contravene, conflict or violate any applicable order, writ, judgment, injunction, decree, determination or award of any Governmental Authority by which Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries or any of their property or assets may be bound or affected, (iv) require any action by, filing, registration, or qualification with, or Governmental Approval from, any Governmental Authority (except such Governmental Approvals which have already been obtained and are in full force and effect), or (v) conflict with, contravene, constitute a default or breach under, or result in or permit the termination or acceleration of, any material agreement by which Borrower is bound. Borrower is not in default under any agreement to which it is a party or by which it is bound in which the default could reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on Borrower’s business.

5.2 Collateral. Borrower has good title to, rights in, and the power to transfer each item of the Collateral upon which it purports to grant a Lien hereunder, free and clear of any and all Liens except Permitted Liens. Borrower has no Collateral Accounts at or with any bank or financial institution other than Bank or Bank’s Affiliates except for the Collateral Accounts described in the Perfection Certificate delivered to Bank in connection herewith and which Borrower has taken such actions as are necessary to give Bank a perfected security interest therein, pursuant to the terms of Section 6.8(b). The Accounts are bona fide, existing obligations of the Account Debtors.

The Collateral is not in the possession of any third party bailee (such as a warehouse) except as otherwise provided in the Perfection Certificate. None of the components of the Collateral shall be maintained at locations other than as provided in the Perfection Certificate or as permitted pursuant to Section 7.2.

All Inventory is in all material respects of good and marketable quality, free from material defects. Borrower is the sole owner of the Intellectual Property which it owns or purports to own except for (a) non- exclusive licenses granted to its customers in the ordinary course of business and licenses that could not result in a legal transfer of title of the licensed property but that may be exclusive in respects other than territory and that may be exclusive as to territory only as to discreet geographical areas outside of the United States, (b) over-the-counter software that is commercially available to the public, (c) material Intellectual Property licensed to Borrower and noted on the Perfection Certificate and (d) open-source software. Each Patent which it owns or purports to own and which is material to Borrower’s business is valid and enforceable, and no part of the Intellectual Property which Borrower owns or purports to own and which is material to Borrower’s business has been judged invalid or unenforceable, in whole or in part. To the best of Borrower’s knowledge, no claim has been made that any part of the Intellectual Property violates the rights of any third party except to the extent such claim would not reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on Borrower’s business.

 

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Except as noted on the Perfection Certificate, Borrower is not a party to, nor is it bound by, any Restricted License.

5.3 Customer Accounts. For any customer Account that generates MRR, all statements made and all unpaid balances appearing in all invoices, instruments and other documents evidencing such customer Accounts are and shall be true and correct and all such invoices, instruments and other documents, and all of Borrower’s Books are genuine and in all respects what they purport to be. All sales and other transactions underlying or giving rise to each customer Account that generates MRR shall comply in all material respects with all applicable laws and governmental rules and regulations. Borrower has no knowledge of any actual or imminent Insolvency Proceeding of any Account Debtor whose accounts are customer Accounts that generate MRR. To the best of Borrower’s knowledge, all Borrower’s signatures and endorsements on all documents, instruments, and agreements relating to all customer Accounts are genuine, and all such documents, instruments and agreements are legally enforceable in accordance with their terms. Borrower is the owner of and has the legal right to sell, transfer, assign and encumber each customer Account, and, there are no defenses, offsets, counterclaims or agreements for which the Account Debtor may claim any deduction or discount.

5.4 Litigation. Except as disclosed on the Perfection Certificate or as required to be disclosed pursuant to Section 6.2 (such disclosure shall be deemed to update the applicable provision of the Perfection Certificate), there are no actions or proceedings pending or, to the knowledge of any Responsible Officer, threatened in writing by or against Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries involving more than, individually or in the aggregate, Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000).

5.5 Financial Statements; Financial Condition. All consolidated financial statements for Borrower and any of its Subsidiaries delivered to Bank by submission to the Financial Statement Repository or otherwise submitted to Bank fairly present in all material respects Borrower’s consolidated financial condition and Borrower’s consolidated results of operations. There has not been any material deterioration in Borrower’s consolidated financial condition since the date of the most recent financial statements submitted to the Financial Statement Repository or otherwise submitted to Bank.

5.6 Solvency. The fair salable value of Borrower’s consolidated assets (including goodwill minus disposition costs) exceeds the fair value of Borrower’s liabilities; Borrower is not left with unreasonably small capital after the transactions in this Agreement; and Borrower is able to pay its debts (including trade debts) as they mature.

5.7 Regulatory Compliance. Borrower is not an “investment company” or a company “controlled” by an “investment company” under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended. Borrower is not engaged as one of its important activities in extending credit for margin stock (under Regulations X, T and U of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors). Borrower (a) has complied in all material respects with all Requirements of Law, and (b) has not violated any Requirements of Law the violation of which could reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on its business. None of Borrower’s or any of its Subsidiaries’ properties or assets has been used by Borrower or any Subsidiary or, to the best of Borrower’s knowledge, by previous Persons, in disposing, producing, storing, treating, or transporting any hazardous substance other than legally. Borrower and each of its Subsidiaries have obtained all consents, approvals and authorizations of, made all declarations or filings with, and given all notices to, all Governmental Authorities that are necessary to continue their respective businesses as currently conducted.

5.8 Subsidiaries; Investments. Borrower does not own any stock, partnership, or other ownership interest or other equity securities except for Permitted Investments.

5.9 Tax Returns and Payments; Pension Contributions. Borrower has timely filed all required tax returns and reports, and Borrower has timely paid all foreign, federal, state and local taxes, assessments, deposits and contributions owed by Borrower except (a) to the extent such taxes are being contested in good faith by appropriate proceedings promptly instituted and diligently conducted, so long as such reserve or other appropriate provision, if any, as shall be required in conformity with GAAP shall have been made therefor, or (b) if such taxes, assessments, deposits and contributions do not, individually or in the aggregate, exceed Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000).

 

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To the extent Borrower defers payment of any contested taxes, Borrower shall (i) notify Bank in writing of the commencement of, and any material development in, the proceedings, and (ii) post bonds or take any other steps required to prevent the Governmental Authority levying such contested taxes from obtaining a Lien upon any of the Collateral that is other than a “Permitted Lien.” Borrower is unaware of any claims or adjustments proposed for any of Borrower’s prior tax years which could result in additional taxes becoming due and payable by Borrower in excess of One Hundred Thousand Dollars (100,000). Borrower has paid all amounts necessary to fund all present pension, profit sharing and deferred compensation plans in accordance with their terms, and Borrower has not withdrawn from participation in, and has not permitted partial or complete termination of, or permitted the occurrence of any other event with respect to, any such plan which could reasonably be expected to result in any liability of Borrower, including any liability to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation or its successors or any other governmental agency.

5.10 Use of Proceeds. Borrower shall use the proceeds of the Credit Extensions solely as working capital and to fund its general business requirements and not for personal, family, household or agricultural purposes.

5.11 Full Disclosure. To the best of Borrower’s knowledge, no written representation, warranty or other statement of Borrower in any report, certificate or written statement by submission to the Financial Statement Repository or otherwise submitted to Bank, as of the date such representation, warranty, or other statement was made, taken together with all such written reports, written certificates and written statements submitted to the Financial Statement Repository or otherwise submitted to Bank, contains any untrue statement of a material fact or omits to state a material fact necessary to make the statements contained in the reports, certificates or written statements not misleading (it being recognized by Bank that the projections and forecasts provided by Borrower in good faith and based upon reasonable assumptions are not viewed as facts and that actual results during the period or periods covered by such projections and forecasts may differ from the projected or forecasted results).

5.12 Definition of “Knowledge.” For purposes of the Loan Documents, whenever a representation or warranty is made to Borrower’s knowledge or awareness, to the “best of” Borrower’s knowledge, or with a similar qualification, knowledge or awareness means the actual knowledge, after reasonable investigation, of any Responsible Officer.

 

6

AFFIRMATIVE COVENANTS

Borrower shall do all of the following:

6.1 Government Compliance.

(a) Maintain its and all its Subsidiaries’ legal existence and good standing in their respective jurisdictions of formation and maintain qualification in each jurisdiction in which the failure to so qualify would reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on Borrower’s business or operations. Borrower shall comply, and have each Subsidiary comply, in all material respects, with all laws, ordinances and regulations to which it is subject.

(b) Obtain all of the Governmental Approvals necessary for the performance by Borrower of its obligations under the Loan Documents to which it is a party and the grant of a security interest to Bank in all of its property. Upon Bank’s reasonable request, Borrower shall promptly provide copies of any such obtained Governmental Approvals to Bank.

6.2 Financial Statements, Reports. Provide Bank with the following by submitting to the Financial Statement Repository or otherwise submitting to Bank:

(a) a Borrowing Base Statement (and any schedules related thereto and including any other information reasonably requested by Bank with respect to Borrower’s Accounts) (i) prior to the occurrence of the IPO Event, within thirty (30) days after the end of each month, and (ii) upon the occurrence of the IPO Event and thereafter, within the earlier of (A) forty-five (45) days after the end of each fiscal quarter, or (B) five (5) days after filing with the SEC;

 

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(b) (i) prior to the occurrence of the IPO Event, as soon as available, but no later than thirty (30) days after the last day of each month, a company prepared consolidated balance sheet and income statement covering Borrower’s and each of its Subsidiary’s operations for such month in a form of presentation reasonably acceptable to Bank (the “Monthly Financial Statements”), and (ii) upon the occurrence of the IPO Event and thereafter, as soon as available, but no later than the earlier of (A) forty-five (45) days after the end of each fiscal quarter, or (B) five (5) days after filing with the SEC, a company prepared consolidated balance sheet and income statement covering Borrower’s and each of its Subsidiary’s operations for such quarter in a form of presentation reasonably acceptable to Bank (the “Quarterly Financial Statements”);

(c) (i) prior to the occurrence of the IPO Event, within thirty (30) days after the last day of each month and together with the Monthly Financial Statements, and (ii) upon the occurrence of the IPO Event and thereafter, within thirty (30) days after the last day of each fiscal quarter and together with the Quarterly Financial Statements, a completed Compliance Statement, confirming that, as of the end of such month or quarter, Borrower was in full compliance with all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement, and setting forth calculations showing compliance with the financial covenants set forth in this Agreement and such other information as Bank may reasonably request, including, without limitation, a statement that at the end of such month or quarter there were no held checks;

(d) within the earlier of (i) fifteen (15) days after approval by the Board or (ii) sixty (60) days after each fiscal year of Borrower, and contemporaneously with any updates or amendments thereto, (A) annual operating budgets (including income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements, by quarter) for the then- current fiscal year of Borrower, and (B) annual financial projections for the then-current fiscal year (on a quarterly basis), in each case as approved by the Board, together with any related business forecasts used in the preparation of such annual financial projections;

(e) as soon as available, and in any event (i) prior to the occurrence of the IPO Event, within two hundred seventy (270) days following the end of Borrower’s fiscal year, and (ii) upon the occurrence of the IPO Event and thereafter, within one hundred twenty (120) days following the end of Borrower’s fiscal year, audited consolidated financial statements prepared under GAAP, consistently applied, together with an unqualified (other than a qualification with respect to “going concern” or like qualification or exception solely as a result of the final maturity date of any Loan being scheduled to occur within twelve (12) months from the date of such opinion) opinion on the financial statements from an independent certified public accounting firm reasonably acceptable to Bank (the “Annual Financial Statements”); provided however, if the Board does not require audited Annual Financial Statements for any fiscal year, then Borrower shall instead deliver CPA reviewed Annual Financial Statements for such fiscal year only;

(f) (i) prior to the occurrence of the IPO Event, within thirty (30) days after the end of each month, and (ii) upon the occurrence of the IPO Event and thereafter, within thirty (30) days after the end of each fiscal quarter, a SaaS metrics report (and any schedules related thereto and including any other information requested by Bank with respect to Borrower’s MRR), including, without limitation, total MRR, Annualized Churn Rate;

(g) promptly, from time to time, as reasonably requested by Bank, a copy of all materials provided to the Board at any meeting;

(h) in the event that Borrower becomes subject to the reporting requirements under the Exchange Act within five (5) days of filing, copies of all periodic and other reports, proxy statements and other materials filed by Borrower and/or any Guarantor with the SEC, any Governmental Authority succeeding to any or all of the functions of the SEC or with any national securities exchange, or distributed to its shareholders, as the case may be. Documents required to be delivered pursuant to the terms hereof (to the extent any such documents are included in materials otherwise filed with the SEC) may be delivered electronically and if so delivered, shall be deemed to have been delivered on the date on which Borrower posts such documents, or provides a link thereto, on Borrower’s website on the internet at Borrower’s website address; provided, however, Borrower shall promptly notify Bank in writing (which may be by electronic mail) of the posting of any such documents;

 

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(i) within five (5) days of delivery, copies of all statements, reports and notices made available to all of Borrower’s security holders (in their capacity as such) or to any holders of Subordinated Debt;

(j) prompt report of any legal actions pending or threatened in writing against Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries that could reasonably be expected to result in damages or costs to Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries of, individually or in the aggregate, Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000) or more;

(k) promptly, from time to time, such other information regarding Borrower or compliance with the terms of any Loan Documents as reasonably requested by Bank; and

(l) a written description of any changes to the beneficial ownership information set out in Section 14 of the Perfection Certificate. Borrower understands and acknowledges that Bank relies on such true, accurate and up-to-date beneficial ownership information to meet Bank’s regulatory obligations to obtain, verify and record information about the beneficial owners of its legal entity customers.

Any submission by Borrower of a Compliance Statement, Borrowing Base Statement or any other financial statement submitted to the Financial Statement Repository pursuant to this Section 6.2 or otherwise submitted to Bank shall be deemed to be a representation by Borrower that (a) as of the date of such Compliance Statement, Borrowing Base Statement or other financial statement, the information and calculations set forth therein are true, accurate and correct, (b) as of the end of the compliance period set forth in such submission, Borrower is in complete compliance with all required covenants except as noted in such Compliance Statement, Borrowing Base Statement or other financial statement, as applicable; (c) as of the date of such submission, no Events of Default have occurred or are continuing; (d) all representations and warranties other than any representations or warranties that are made as of a specific date in Article 5 remain true and correct in all material respects as of the date of such submission except as noted in such Compliance Statement, Borrowing Base Statement or other financial statement, as applicable; (e) as of the date of such submission, Borrower and each of its Subsidiaries has timely filed all required tax returns and reports, and Borrower has timely paid all foreign, federal, state and local taxes, assessments, deposits and contributions owed by Borrower except as otherwise permitted pursuant to the terms of Section 5.9; and (f) as of the date of such submission, no Liens have been levied or claims made against Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries relating to unpaid employee payroll or benefits of which Borrower has not previously provided written notification to Bank.

6.3 Accounts Receivable.

(a) Schedules and Documents Relating to Accounts. Borrower shall deliver to Bank transaction reports and schedules of collections, as provided in Section 6.2, on Bank’s standard forms; provided, however, that Borrower’s failure to execute and deliver the same shall not affect or limit Bank’s Lien and other rights in all of Borrower’s Accounts, nor shall Bank’s failure to advance or lend against a specific Account affect or limit Bank’s Lien and other rights therein. If requested by Bank, Borrower shall furnish Bank with copies (or, at Bank’s request, originals) of all contracts, orders, invoices, and other similar documents, and all shipping instructions, delivery receipts, bills of lading, and other evidence of delivery, for any goods the sale or disposition of which gave rise to such Accounts. In addition, Borrower shall deliver to Bank, on its request, the originals of all instruments, chattel paper, security agreements, guarantees and other documents and property evidencing or securing any Accounts, in the same form as received, with all necessary indorsements, and copies of all credit memos.

(b) Disputes. Borrower shall promptly notify Bank of all disputes or claims of at least Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000), individually or in the aggregate, relating to Accounts. Borrower may forgive (completely or partially), compromise, or settle any Account for less than payment in full, or agree to do any of the foregoing so long as (i) Borrower does so in good faith, in a commercially reasonable manner, in the ordinary course of business, in arm’s-length transactions, and reports the same to Bank in the regular reports provided to Bank; (ii) no Event of Default has occurred and is continuing; and (iii) after taking into account all such discounts, settlements and forgiveness, the total outstanding Advances will not exceed the lesser of the Revolving Line or the Borrowing Base.

 

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(c) Collection of Accounts. Borrower shall direct Account Debtors to deliver or transmit all proceeds of Accounts into a lockbox account, via electronic deposit capture into such other “blocked account” as specified by Bank (either such account, the “Cash Collateral Account”). Whether or not an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, Borrower shall immediately deliver all payments on and proceeds of Accounts to the Cash Collateral Account. Subject to Bank’s right to maintain a reserve pursuant to Section 6.3(d), all amounts received in the Cash Collateral Account shall be transferred on a daily basis to Borrower’s operating account with Bank. Borrower hereby authorizes Bank to transfer to the Cash Collateral Account any amounts that Bank reasonably determines are proceeds of the Accounts (provided that Bank is under no obligation to do so and this allowance shall in no event relieve Borrower of its obligations hereunder).

(d) Reserves. Notwithstanding any terms in this Agreement to the contrary, at times when an Event of Default exists, Bank may hold any proceeds of the Accounts and any amounts in the Cash Collateral Account that are not applied to the Obligations (including amounts otherwise required to be transferred to Borrower’s operating account with Bank) as a reserve to be applied to any Obligations regardless of whether such Obligations are then due and payable.

(e) Returns. Provided no Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, if any Account Debtor returns any Inventory to Borrower, Borrower shall promptly (i) determine the reason for such return, (ii) issue a credit memorandum to the Account Debtor in the appropriate amount, and (iii) provide a copy of such credit memorandum to Bank, upon request from Bank. In the event any attempted return occurs after the occurrence and during the continuance of any Event of Default, Borrower shall hold the returned Inventory in trust for Bank, and immediately notify Bank of the return of the Inventory.

(f) Verifications; Confirmations; Credit Quality; Notifications. Bank may, from time to time, but in no event more than two (2) times per fiscal year of Borrower if no Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, (i) verify and confirm directly with the respective Account Debtors the validity, amount and other matters relating to the Accounts, either in the name of Borrower or Bank or such other name as Bank may choose, and notify any Account Debtor of Bank’s security interest in such Account and/or (ii) conduct a credit check of any Account Debtor to approve any such Account Debtor’s credit.

(g) No Liability. Bank shall not be responsible or liable for any shortage or discrepancy in, damage to, or loss or destruction of, any goods, the sale or other disposition of which gives rise to an Account, or for any error, act, omission, or delay of any kind occurring in the settlement, failure to settle, collection or failure to collect any Account, or for settling any Account in good faith for less than the full amount thereof, nor shall Bank be deemed to be responsible for any of Borrower’s obligations under any contract or agreement giving rise to an Account. Nothing herein shall, however, relieve Bank from liability for its own gross negligence or willful misconduct.

6.4 Remittance of Proceeds. Except as otherwise provided in Section 6.3(c), deliver, in kind, all proceeds arising from the disposition of any Collateral to Bank in the original form in which received by Borrower not later than the following Business Day after receipt by Borrower, to be applied to the Obligations (a) prior to an Event of Default, pursuant to the terms of Section 6.3(c) hereof, and (b) after the occurrence and during the continuance of an Event of Default, pursuant to the terms of Section 9.4 hereof; provided that, if no Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, Borrower shall not be obligated to remit to Bank the proceeds of the sale of worn out, surplus or obsolete Equipment disposed of by Borrower in good faith in an arm’s length transaction for an aggregate purchase price of Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000) or less (for all such transactions in any fiscal year). Borrower agrees that it will not commingle proceeds of Collateral with any of Borrower’s other funds or property, but will hold such proceeds separate and apart from such other funds and property and in an express trust for Bank. Nothing in this Section 6.4 limits the restrictions on disposition of Collateral set forth elsewhere in this Agreement.

6.5 Taxes; Pensions. Timely file, and require each of its Subsidiaries to timely file, all required tax returns and reports and timely pay, and require each of its Subsidiaries to timely pay, all foreign, federal, state and local taxes, assessments, deposits and contributions owed by Borrower and each of its Subsidiaries, except for deferred payment of any taxes contested pursuant to the terms of Section 5.9 hereof, and shall deliver to Bank, on demand, appropriate certificates attesting to such payments, and pay all amounts necessary to fund all present pension, profit sharing and deferred compensation plans in accordance with their terms.

 

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6.6 Access to Collateral; Books and Records. Upon the receipt by Bank from Borrower of a request for Advance, Bank, or its agents, shall have the right to inspect the Collateral and the right to audit and copy Borrower’s Books, unless an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing in which case such inspections and audits shall occur as often as Bank shall determine is necessary. The foregoing inspections and audits shall be conducted at Borrower’s expense and the charge therefor shall be One Thousand Dollars ($1,000) per person per day (or such higher amount as shall represent Bank’s then-current standard charge for the same), plus reasonable out-of-pocket expenses. In the event Borrower and Bank schedule an audit more than ten (10) days in advance, and Borrower cancels or seeks to or reschedules the audit with less than ten (10) days written notice to Bank, then (without limiting any of Bank’s rights or remedies) Borrower shall pay Bank a fee of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000) plus any out-of-pocket expenses incurred by Bank to compensate Bank for the anticipated costs and expenses of the cancellation or rescheduling.

6.7 Insurance.

(a) Keep its business and the Collateral insured for risks and in amounts standard for companies in Borrower’s industry and location and as Bank may reasonably request. Insurance policies shall be in a form, with financially sound and reputable insurance companies that are not Affiliates of Borrower, and in amounts that are satisfactory to Bank. All property policies shall have a lender’s loss payable endorsement showing Bank as lender loss payee. All liability policies shall show, or have endorsements showing, Bank as an additional insured. Bank shall be named as lender loss payee and/or additional insured with respect to any such insurance providing coverage in respect of any Collateral.

(b) Ensure that proceeds payable under any property policy are, at Bank’s option, payable to Bank on account of the Obligations. Notwithstanding the foregoing, (a) so long as no Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, Borrower shall have the option of applying the proceeds of any casualty policy up to One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000) with respect to any loss, but not exceeding Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000) in the aggregate for all losses under all casualty policies in any one year, toward the replacement or repair of destroyed or damaged property; provided that any such replaced or repaired property (i) shall be of equal or like value as the replaced or repaired Collateral and (ii) shall be deemed Collateral in which Bank has been granted a first priority security interest (subject to Permitted Liens), and (b) after the occurrence and during the continuance of an Event of Default, all proceeds payable under such casualty policy shall, at the option of Bank, be payable to Bank on account of the Obligations.

(c) At Bank’s request, Borrower shall deliver certified copies of insurance policies and evidence of all premium payments. Each provider of any such insurance required under this Section 6.7 shall agree, by endorsement upon the policy or policies issued by it or by independent instruments furnished to Bank, that it will give Bank thirty (30) days prior written notice before any such policy or policies shall be materially altered or canceled. If Borrower fails to obtain insurance as required under this Section 6.7 or to pay any amount or furnish any required proof of payment to third persons and Bank, Bank may make all or part of such payment or obtain such insurance policies required in this Section 6.7, and take any action under the policies Bank deems prudent.

6.8 Accounts.

(a) Maintain its and all of its Subsidiaries’ primary domestic operating and other deposit accounts, the Cash Collateral Account and primary securities/investment accounts with Bank and Bank’s Affiliates. In addition to the foregoing, Borrower shall conduct all of its primary banking with Bank, including, without limitation, letters of credit. Any Guarantor shall maintain all domestic depository, operating and securities/investment accounts with Bank and Bank’s Affiliates.

(b) In addition to and without limiting the restrictions in (a), Borrower shall provide Bank five (5) days prior written notice before establishing any Collateral Account at or with any bank or financial institution other than Bank or Bank’s Affiliates. For each Collateral Account that Borrower at any time maintains, Borrower shall cause the applicable bank or financial institution (other than Bank) at or with which any Collateral Account is maintained to execute and deliver a Control Agreement or other appropriate instrument with respect to such Collateral Account to perfect Bank’s Lien in such Collateral Account in accordance with the terms hereunder which Control Agreement may not be terminated without the prior written consent of Bank. The provisions of the previous sentence shall not apply to the Excluded Accounts.

 

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6.9 Adjusted Quick Ratio. Maintain, (i) prior to the occurrence of the IPO Event, to be tested as of the last day of each month, and (ii) upon the occurrence of the IPO Event and thereafter, to be tested as of the last day of each quarter, an Adjusted Quick Ratio of at least 1.15 to 1.0.

6.10 Protection of Intellectual Property Rights.

(a) (i) Protect, defend and maintain the validity and enforceability of its Intellectual Property material to Borrower’s business; (ii) promptly advise Bank in writing of material infringements or any other event that could reasonably be expected to materially and adversely affect the value of its Intellectual Property; and (iii) not allow any Intellectual Property material to Borrower’s business to be abandoned, forfeited or dedicated to the public without Bank’s written consent.

(b) Provide written notice to Bank, concurrently with the required delivery of a Compliance Statement pursuant to Section 6.2, of entering or becoming bound by any Restricted License (other than over-the-counter software that is commercially available to the public). Borrower shall take such commercially reasonable steps as Bank requests to obtain the consent of, or waiver by, any person whose consent or waiver is necessary for (i) any Restricted License to be deemed “Collateral” and for Bank to have a security interest in it that might otherwise be restricted or prohibited by law or by the terms of any such Restricted License, whether now existing or entered into in the future, and (ii) Bank to have the ability in the event of a liquidation of any Collateral to dispose of such Collateral in accordance with Bank’s rights and remedies under this Agreement and the other Loan Documents.

6.11 Litigation Cooperation. From the date hereof and continuing through the termination of this Agreement, make available to Bank, without expense to Bank, Borrower and its officers, employees and agents and Borrower’s books and records, to the extent that Bank may deem them reasonably necessary to prosecute or defend any third-party suit or proceeding instituted by or against Bank with respect to any Collateral or relating to Borrower.

6.12 Online Banking.

(a) Utilize Bank’s online banking platform for all matters requested by Bank which shall include, without limitation (and without request by Bank for the following matters), uploading information pertaining to Accounts and Account Debtors, requesting approval for exceptions, requesting Credit Extensions, and uploading financial statements and other reports required to be delivered by this Agreement (including, without limitation, those described in Section 6.2 of this Agreement).

(b) Comply with the terms of Bank’s Online Banking Agreement as in effect from time to time and ensure that all persons utilizing Bank’s online banking platform are duly authorized to do so by an Administrator. Bank shall be entitled to assume the authenticity, accuracy and completeness of any information, instruction or request for a Credit Extension submitted via Bank’s online banking platform and to further assume that any submissions or requests made via Bank’s online banking platform have been duly authorized by an Administrator.

6.13 Formation or Acquisition of Subsidiaries. Notwithstanding and without limiting the negative covenants contained in Sections 7.3 and 7.7 hereof, at the time that Borrower or any Guarantor forms any direct or indirect Subsidiary or acquires any direct or indirect Subsidiary after the Effective Date (including, without limitation, pursuant to a Division), Borrower and such Guarantor shall (a) cause such new Subsidiary (to the extent it is a U.S. Subsidiary) to provide to Bank a joinder to this Agreement to become a co-borrower hereunder or a Guaranty to become a Guarantor hereunder, together with such appropriate financing statements and/or Control Agreements, all in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to Bank (including being sufficient to grant Bank a first priority Lien (subject to Permitted Liens) in and to the assets of such newly formed or acquired Subsidiary), (b) provide to Bank appropriate certificates and powers and financing statements, pledging all of the direct or beneficial ownership interest in such new Subsidiary, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to Bank, provided, however, in the event that any such new Subsidiary is a Foreign Subsidiary and the foregoing provisions of this paragraph would reasonably be expected to result in adverse tax consequences for Borrower, Borrower may elect instead to pledge sixty-five percent (65%) of the presently existing and hereafter arising issued and outstanding shares of capital stock owned by Borrower in any such Foreign Subsidiary which shares entitle the holder thereof to vote for directors or any other matter; and (c) provide to Bank all other documentation in form and substance satisfactory to Bank, including one or more opinions of counsel satisfactory to Bank, which in its opinion is appropriate with respect to the execution and delivery of the applicable documentation referred to above. Any document, agreement, or instrument executed or issued pursuant to this Section 6.13 shall be a Loan Document.

 

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6.14 Further Assurances. Execute any further instruments and take further action as Bank reasonably requests to perfect or continue Bank’s Lien in the Collateral or to effect the purposes of this Agreement. Upon Bank’s reasonable request, deliver to Bank, within five (5) days after the same are sent or received, copies of all correspondence, reports, documents and other filings with any Governmental Authority regarding compliance with or maintenance of Governmental Approvals or Requirements of Law or that could reasonably be expected to have a material effect on any of the Governmental Approvals or otherwise on the operations of Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries.

 

7

NEGATIVE COVENANTS

Borrower shall not do any of the following without Bank’s prior written consent:

7.1 Dispositions. Convey, sell, lease, transfer, assign, or otherwise dispose of (including, without limitation, pursuant to a Division) (collectively, “Transfer”), or permit any of its Subsidiaries to Transfer, all or any part of its business or property, except for Transfers (a) of Inventory in the ordinary course of business; (b) of worn-out, surplus or obsolete Equipment that is, in the reasonable judgment of Borrower, no longer economically practicable to maintain or useful in the ordinary course of business of Borrower; (c) consisting of Permitted Liens and Permitted Investments; (d) consisting of the sale or issuance of any stock of Borrower permitted under Section 7.2 of this Agreement; (e) consisting of Borrower’s use or transfer of money or Cash Equivalents in the ordinary course of its business for the payment of ordinary course business expenses in a manner that is not prohibited by the terms of this Agreement or the other Loan Documents; (f) of non-exclusive licenses for the use of the property of Borrower or its Subsidiaries in the ordinary course of business and licenses that could not result in a legal transfer of title of the licensed property but that may be exclusive in respects other than territory and that may be exclusive as to territory only as to discreet geographical areas outside of the United States; (g) of accounts receivable and other claims which arise out of the sale of goods or services to United Parcel Service, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“UPS”), and/or its Subsidiaries or Affiliates, to JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (“JPMorgan”) and/or one (1) or more other investors, pursuant to the terms of a Master Receivables Purchase Acceptance Letter by and between Borrower and JPMorgan or to any other financial institution pursuant to any similar arrangement; or (h) not to exceed Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000) in the aggregate in any fiscal year.

7.2 Changes in Business, Management, Control, or Business Locations. (a) Engage in or permit any of its Subsidiaries to engage in any business other than the businesses currently engaged in by Borrower and such Subsidiary, as applicable, or reasonably related thereto; (b) liquidate or dissolve; (c) fail to provide notice to Bank of any Key Person departing from or ceasing to be employed by Borrower within five (5) Business Days after such Key Person’s departure from Borrower; or (d) consummate any Change in Control.

Borrower shall not, without at least thirty (30) days prior written notice to Bank: (1) add any new offices or business locations, including warehouses (unless such new offices or business locations contain less than Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000) in Borrower’s assets or property) or deliver any portion of the Collateral (other than movable items of personal property such as laptop computers) valued, individually or in the aggregate, in excess of Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000) to a bailee at a location other than to a bailee and at a location already disclosed in the Perfection Certificate, (2) change its jurisdiction of organization, (3) change its organizational type, (4) change its legal name, or (5) change any organizational number (if any) assigned by its jurisdiction of organization. If Borrower intends to deliver any portion of the Collateral (other than movable items of personal property such as laptop computers) valued, individually or in the aggregate, in excess of Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000) to a bailee, and Bank and such bailee are not already parties to a bailee agreement governing both the Collateral and the location to which Borrower intends to deliver the Collateral, then Borrower will first receive the written consent of Bank, and such bailee shall execute and deliver a bailee agreement in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to Bank.

 

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7.3 Mergers or Acquisitions. Merge or consolidate, or permit any of its Subsidiaries to merge or consolidate, with any other Person, or acquire, or permit any of its Subsidiaries to acquire, all or substantially all of the capital stock or property of another Person (including, without limitation, by the formation of any Subsidiary or pursuant to a Division), except for Permitted Acquisitions. A Subsidiary may merge or consolidate into another Subsidiary or into Borrower.

7.4 Indebtedness. Create, incur, assume, or be liable for any Indebtedness, or permit any Subsidiary to do so, other than Permitted Indebtedness.

7.5 Encumbrance. Create, incur, allow, or suffer any Lien on any of its property, or assign or convey any right to receive income, including the sale of any Accounts, or permit any of its Subsidiaries to do so, except for Permitted Liens, permit any Collateral not to be subject to the first priority security interest granted herein, or enter into any agreement, document, instrument or other arrangement (except with or in favor of Bank) with any Person which directly or indirectly prohibits or has the effect of prohibiting Borrower or any Subsidiary from assigning, mortgaging, pledging, granting a security interest in or upon, or encumbering any of Borrower’s or any Subsidiary’s Intellectual Property in favor of Bank, except as is otherwise permitted in Section 7.1 hereof and the definition of “Permitted Liens” herein.

7.6 Maintenance of Collateral Accounts. Maintain any Collateral Account except pursuant to the terms of Section 6.8(b) hereof.

7.7 Distributions; Investments. (a) Pay any dividends or make any distribution or payment or redeem, retire or purchase any capital stock provided that Borrower may (i) convert any of its convertible securities into other securities pursuant to the terms of such convertible securities or otherwise in exchange thereof, (ii) pay dividends or make distributions solely in common stock; and (iii) repurchase the stock of former employees or consultants pursuant to stock repurchase agreements so long as an Event of Default does not exist at the time of any such repurchase and would not exist after giving effect to any such repurchase, provided that the aggregate amount of all such repurchases does not exceed Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000) per fiscal year; or (b) directly or indirectly make any Investment (including, without limitation, by the formation of any Subsidiary) other than Permitted Investments, or permit any of its Subsidiaries to do so.

7.8 Transactions with Affiliates. Directly or indirectly enter into or permit to exist any material transaction with any Affiliate of Borrower, except for (a) transactions that are in the ordinary course of Borrower’s business, upon fair and reasonable terms that are no less favorable to Borrower than would be obtained in an arm’s length transaction with a non-affiliated Person, (b) transactions that are not otherwise prohibited by this Section 7, (c) transactions permitted by Section 7.7 hereof, (d) commercially reasonable and customary compensation arrangements with Borrower’s employees, officers, directors and managers and commercially reasonable and customary indemnification arrangements with Borrower’s directors and managers, in each case, approved by the Board, (e) the incurrence of Subordinated Debt, or (f) sales of equity securities in a bona fide venture financing transactions.

7.9 Subordinated Debt. (a) Make or permit any payment on any Subordinated Debt, except under the terms of the subordination, intercreditor, or other similar agreement to which such Subordinated Debt is subject, or (b) amend any provision in any document relating to the Subordinated Debt which would increase the amount thereof, provide for earlier or greater principal, interest, or other payments thereon, or adversely affect the subordination thereof to Obligations owed to Bank.

7.10 Compliance. Become an “investment company” or a company controlled by an “investment company”, under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or undertake as one of its important activities extending credit to purchase or carry margin stock (as defined in Regulation U of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System), or use the proceeds of any Credit Extension for that purpose; fail to meet the minimum funding requirements of ERISA, permit a Reportable Event or Prohibited Transaction, as defined in ERISA, to occur; fail to comply with the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act or violate any other law or regulation, if the violation could reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on Borrower’s business, or permit any of its Subsidiaries to do so; withdraw or permit any Subsidiary to withdraw from participation in, permit partial or complete termination of, or permit the occurrence of any other event with respect to, any present pension, profit sharing and deferred compensation plan which could reasonably be expected to result in any liability of Borrower, including any liability to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation or its successors or any other governmental agency.

 

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8

EVENTS OF DEFAULT

Any one of the following shall constitute an event of default (an “Event of Default”) under this Agreement:

8.1 Payment Default. Borrower fails to (a) make any payment of principal or interest on any Credit Extension when due, or (b) pay any other Obligations within three (3) Business Days after such Obligations are due and payable (which three (3) Business Day cure period shall not apply to payments due on the Revolving Line Maturity Date). During the cure period, the failure to make or pay any payment specified under clause (b) hereunder is not an Event of Default (but no Credit Extension will be made during the cure period);

8.2 Covenant Default.

(a) Borrower fails or neglects to perform any obligation in Sections 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6, 6.7, 6.8, 6.9, 6.10, 6.12, 6.13, or 6.14 or violates any covenant in Section 7; or (b) Borrower fails or neglects to perform, keep, or observe any other term, provision, condition, covenant or agreement contained in this Agreement or any Loan Documents, and as to any default (other than those specified in this Section 8) under such other term, provision, condition, covenant or agreement that can be cured, has failed to cure the default within ten (10) Business Days after the occurrence thereof; provided, however, that if the default cannot by its nature be cured within the ten (10) Business Day period or cannot after diligent attempts by Borrower be cured within such ten (10) Business Day period, and such default is likely to be cured within a reasonable time, then Borrower shall have an additional period (which shall not in any case exceed thirty (30) days) to attempt to cure such default, and within such reasonable time period the failure to cure the default shall not be deemed an Event of Default (but no Credit Extensions shall be made during such cure period). Cure periods provided under this section shall not apply, among other things, to financial covenants or any other covenants set forth in clause (a) above;

8.3 Material Adverse Change. A Material Adverse Change occurs;

8.4 Attachment; Levy; Restraint on Business.

(a) (i) The service of process seeking to attach, by trustee or similar process, any funds of Borrower or of any entity under the control of Borrower (including a Subsidiary) in excess of Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000), or (ii) a notice of lien or levy is filed against any of Borrower’s assets by any Governmental Authority, and the same under subclauses (i) and (ii) hereof are not, within ten (10) days after the occurrence thereof, discharged or stayed (whether through the posting of a bond or otherwise); provided, however, no Credit Extensions shall be made during any ten (10) day cure period; or

(b) (i) any material portion of Borrower’s assets is attached, seized, levied on, or comes into possession of a trustee or receiver, or (ii) any court order enjoins, restrains, or prevents Borrower from conducting all or any material part of its business, provided, however, that the Event of Default under this Section 8.4(b) shall be cured or waived for purposes of this Agreement upon Bank receiving written evidence that the same under subclauses (i) and (ii) hereof have, within ten (10) days after the occurrence thereof, been discharged or stayed (whether through the posting of a bond or otherwise) and so long as Bank has not declared an Event of Default under any other provision of this Agreement and/or exercised any rights with respect thereto;

8.5 Insolvency. (a) Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries is unable to pay its debts (including trade debts) as they become due or otherwise becomes insolvent; (b) Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries begins an Insolvency Proceeding; or (c) an Insolvency Proceeding is begun against Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries and is not dismissed or stayed within forty-five (45) days (but no Credit Extensions shall be made while any of the conditions described in clause (a) exist and/or until any Insolvency Proceeding is dismissed);

8.6 Other Agreements. There is, under any agreement to which Borrower or any Guarantor is a party with a third party or parties, (a) any default resulting in a right by such third party or parties, whether or not exercised, to accelerate the maturity of any Indebtedness in an amount individually or in the aggregate in excess of Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000); or (b) any breach or default by Borrower or Guarantor, the result of which could have a material adverse effect on Borrower’s or any Guarantor’s business;

 

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8.7 Judgments; Penalties. One or more fines, penalties or final judgments, orders or decrees for the payment of money in an amount, individually or in the aggregate, of at least Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000) (not covered by independent third-party insurance as to which liability has been accepted by such insurance carrier) shall be rendered against Borrower by any Governmental Authority, and the same are not, within ten (10) days after the entry, assessment or issuance thereof, discharged, satisfied, or paid, or after execution thereof, stayed or bonded pending appeal, or such judgments are not discharged prior to the expiration of any such stay (provided that no Credit Extensions will be made prior to the satisfaction, payment, discharge, stay, or bonding of such fine, penalty, judgment, order or decree);

8.8 Misrepresentations. Borrower or any Person acting for Borrower makes any representation, warranty, or other statement now or later in this Agreement, any Loan Document or in any writing delivered to Bank or to induce Bank to enter this Agreement or any Loan Document, and such representation, warranty, or other statement is incorrect in any material respect when made;

8.9 Subordinated Debt. Any document, instrument, or agreement evidencing any Subordinated Debt shall for any reason be revoked or invalidated or otherwise cease to be in full force and effect, any Person shall be in breach thereof or contest in any manner the validity or enforceability thereof or deny that it has any further liability or obligation thereunder, or the Obligations shall for any reason be subordinated or shall not have the priority contemplated by this Agreement or any applicable subordination or intercreditor agreement;

8.10 Guaranty. (a) Any guaranty of any Obligations terminates or ceases for any reason to be in full force and effect; (b) any Guarantor does not perform any obligation or covenant under any guaranty of the Obligations; (c) any circumstance described in Sections 8.3, 8.4, 8.5, 8.6, 8.7, or 8.8 of this Agreement occurs with respect to any Guarantor, (d) the death, liquidation, winding up, or termination of existence of any Guarantor; or (e) (i) a material impairment in the perfection or priority of Bank’s Lien in the collateral provided by Guarantor or in the value of such collateral or (ii) a material adverse change in the general affairs, management, results of operation, condition (financial or otherwise) or the prospect of repayment of the Obligations occurs with respect to any Guarantor; or

8.11 Governmental Approvals. Any Governmental Approval shall have been (a) revoked, rescinded, suspended, modified in an adverse manner or not renewed that could reasonably be expected to cause, a Material Adverse Change.

 

9

BANK’S RIGHTS AND REMEDIES

9.1 Rights and Remedies. Upon the occurrence and during the continuance of an Event of Default, Bank may, without notice or demand, do any or all of the following:

(a) declare all Obligations immediately due and payable (but if an Event of Default described in Section 8.5 occurs all Obligations are immediately due and payable without any action by Bank);

(b) stop advancing money or extending credit for Borrower’s benefit under this Agreement or under any other agreement between Borrower and Bank;

(c) demand that Borrower (i) deposit cash with Bank in an amount equal to at least (A) one hundred five percent (105.0%) of the Dollar Equivalent of the aggregate face amount of all Letters of Credit denominated in Dollars remaining undrawn, and (B) one hundred ten percent (110.0%) of the Dollar Equivalent of the aggregate face amount of all Letters of Credit denominated in a Foreign Currency remaining undrawn (plus, in each case, all interest, fees, and costs due or to become due in connection therewith (as estimated by Bank in its good faith business judgment)), to secure all of the Obligations relating to such Letters of Credit, as collateral security for the repayment of any future drawings under such Letters of Credit, and Borrower shall forthwith deposit and pay such amounts, and (ii) pay in advance all letter of credit fees scheduled to be paid or payable over the remaining term of any Letters of Credit;

(d) terminate any FX Contracts;

 

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(e) verify the amount of, demand payment of and performance under, and collect any Accounts and General Intangibles, settle or adjust disputes and claims directly with Account Debtors for amounts on terms and in any order that Bank considers advisable, and notify any Person owing Borrower money of Bank’s security interest in such funds. Borrower shall collect all payments in trust for Bank and, if requested by Bank, immediately deliver the payments to Bank in the form received from the Account Debtor, with proper endorsements for deposit;

(f) make any payments and do any acts it considers necessary or reasonable to protect the Collateral and/or its security interest in the Collateral. Borrower shall assemble the Collateral if Bank requests and make it available as Bank designates. Bank may enter premises where the Collateral is located, take and maintain possession of any part of the Collateral, and pay, purchase, contest, or compromise any Lien which appears to be prior or superior to its security interest and pay all expenses incurred. Borrower grants Bank a license to enter and occupy any of its premises, without charge, to exercise any of Bank’s rights or remedies;

(g) apply to the Obligations any (i) balances and deposits of Borrower it holds, or (ii) amount held by Bank owing to or for the credit or the account of Borrower;

(h) ship, reclaim, recover, store, finish, maintain, repair, prepare for sale, advertise for sale, and sell the Collateral. Bank is hereby granted a non-exclusive, royalty-free license or other right to use, without charge, Borrower’s labels, Patents, Copyrights, mask works, rights of use of any name, trade secrets, trade names, Trademarks, and advertising matter, or any similar property as it pertains to the Collateral, in completing production of, advertising for sale, and selling any Collateral and, in connection with Bank’s exercise of its rights under this Section 9.1, Borrower’s rights under all licenses and all franchise agreements inure to Bank’s benefit;

(i) place a “hold” on any account maintained with Bank and/or deliver a notice of exclusive control, any entitlement order, or other directions or instructions pursuant to any Control Agreement or similar agreements providing control of any Collateral;

(j) demand and receive possession of Borrower’s Books; and

(k) exercise all rights and remedies available to Bank under the Loan Documents or at law or equity, including all remedies provided under the Code (including disposal of the Collateral pursuant to the terms thereof).

9.2 Power of Attorney. Borrower hereby irrevocably appoints Bank as its lawful attorney-in-fact, exercisable following the occurrence and during the continuance of an Event of Default, to: (a) endorse Borrower’s name on any checks, payment instruments, or other forms of payment or security; (b) sign Borrower’s name on any invoice or bill of lading for any Account or drafts against Account Debtors; (c) demand, collect, sue, and give releases to any Account Debtor for monies due, settle and adjust disputes and claims about the Accounts directly with Account Debtors, and compromise, prosecute, or defend any action, claim, case, or proceeding about any Collateral (including filing a claim or voting a claim in any bankruptcy case in Bank’s or Borrower’s name, as Bank chooses); (d) make, settle, and adjust all claims under Borrower’s insurance policies; (e) pay, contest or settle any Lien, charge, encumbrance, security interest, or other claim in or to the Collateral, or any judgment based thereon, or otherwise take any action to terminate or discharge the same; and (f) transfer the Collateral into the name of Bank or a third party as the Code permits. Borrower hereby appoints Bank as its lawful attorney-in-fact to sign Borrower’s name on any documents necessary to perfect or continue the perfection of Bank’s security interest in the Collateral regardless of whether an Event of Default has occurred until all Obligations (other than inchoate indemnity obligations) have been satisfied in full and the Loan Documents have been terminated. Bank’s foregoing appointment as Borrower’s attorney in fact, and all of Bank’s rights and powers, coupled with an interest, are irrevocable until all Obligations (other than inchoate indemnity obligations) have been fully repaid and performed and the Loan Documents have been terminated.

9.3 Protective Payments. If Borrower fails to obtain the insurance called for by Section 6.7 or fails to pay any premium thereon or fails to pay any other amount which Borrower is obligated to pay under this Agreement or any other Loan Document or which may be required to preserve the Collateral, Bank may obtain such insurance or make such payment, and all amounts so paid by Bank are Bank Expenses and immediately due and payable, bearing interest at the then highest rate applicable to the Obligations, and secured by the Collateral. Bank will make reasonable efforts to provide Borrower with notice of Bank obtaining such insurance at the time it is obtained or within a reasonable time thereafter. No payments by Bank are deemed an agreement to make similar payments in the future or Bank’s waiver of any Event of Default.

 

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9.4 Application of Payments and Proceeds. Bank shall have the right to apply in any order any funds in its possession, whether from Borrower account balances, payments, proceeds realized as the result of any collection of Accounts or other disposition of the Collateral, or otherwise, to the Obligations. Bank shall pay any surplus to Borrower by credit to the Designated Deposit Account or to other Persons legally entitled thereto; Borrower shall remain liable to Bank for any deficiency. If Bank, directly or indirectly, enters into a deferred payment or other credit transaction with any purchaser at any sale of Collateral, Bank shall have the option, exercisable at any time, of either reducing the Obligations by the principal amount of the purchase price or deferring the reduction of the Obligations until the actual receipt by Bank of cash therefor.

9.5 Bank’s Liability for Collateral. So long as Bank complies with reasonable banking practices regarding the safekeeping of the Collateral in the possession or under the control of Bank, Bank shall not be liable or responsible for: (a) the safekeeping of the Collateral; (b) any loss or damage to the Collateral; (c) any diminution in the value of the Collateral; or (d) any act or default of any carrier, warehouseman, bailee, or other Person. Borrower bears all risk of loss, damage or destruction of the Collateral.

9.6 No Waiver; Remedies Cumulative. Bank’s failure, at any time or times, to require strict performance by Borrower of any provision of this Agreement or any other Loan Document shall not waive, affect, or diminish any right of Bank thereafter to demand strict performance and compliance herewith or therewith. No waiver hereunder shall be effective unless signed by the party granting the waiver and then is only effective for the specific instance and purpose for which it is given. Bank’s rights and remedies under this Agreement and the other Loan Documents are cumulative. Bank has all rights and remedies provided under the Code, by law, or in equity. Bank’s exercise of one right or remedy is not an election and shall not preclude Bank from exercising any other remedy under this Agreement or other remedy available at law or in equity, and Bank’s waiver of any Event of Default is not a continuing waiver. Bank’s delay in exercising any remedy is not a waiver, election, or acquiescence.

9.7 Demand Waiver. Borrower waives demand, notice of default or dishonor, notice of payment and nonpayment, notice of any default, nonpayment at maturity, release, compromise, settlement, extension, or renewal of accounts, documents, instruments, chattel paper, and guarantees held by Bank on which Borrower is liable.

 

10

NOTICES

All notices, consents, requests, approvals, demands, or other communication by any party to this Agreement or any other Loan Document must be in writing and shall be deemed to have been validly served, given, or delivered: (a) upon the earlier of actual receipt and three (3) Business Days after deposit in the U.S. mail, first class, registered or certified mail return receipt requested, with proper postage prepaid; (b) upon transmission, when sent by electronic mail or facsimile transmission; (c) one (1) Business Day after deposit with a reputable overnight courier with all charges prepaid; or (d) when delivered, if hand-delivered by messenger, all of which shall be addressed to the party to be notified and sent to the address, facsimile number, or email address indicated below. Bank or Borrower may change its mailing or electronic mail address or facsimile number by giving the other party written notice thereof in accordance with the terms of this Section 10.

 

           If to Borrower:   

COUCHBASE, INC.

3250 Olcott Street

Santa Clara, CA 95054

Attn: : Legal Department

Email: ***

  If to Bank:   

SILICON VALLEY BANK

2400 Hanover Street

Palo Alto, California 94304 4

Attn: Ashlee Kaji

Fax:***

Email:***

 

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           with a copy to:   

Morrison & Foerster LLP

200 Clarendon Street

Boston, Massachusetts 02116

Attn: Gregory M. Bilton, Esquire

Fax: ***

Email: ***

 

11

CHOICE OF LAW, VENUE, JURY TRIAL WAIVER AND JUDICIAL REFERENCE

Except as otherwise expressly provided in any of the Loan Documents, California law governs the Loan Documents without regard to principles of conflicts of law. Borrower and Bank each submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the State and Federal courts in Santa Clara County, California; provided, however, that nothing in this Agreement shall be deemed to operate to preclude Bank from bringing suit or taking other legal action in any other jurisdiction to realize on the Collateral or any other security for the Obligations, or to enforce a judgment or other court order in favor of Bank. Borrower expressly submits and consents in advance to such jurisdiction in any action or suit commenced in any such court, and Borrower hereby waives any objection that it may have based upon lack of personal jurisdiction, improper venue, or forum non conveniens and hereby consents to the granting of such legal or equitable relief as is deemed appropriate by such court. Borrower hereby waives personal service of the summons, complaints, and other process issued in such action or suit and agrees that service of such summons, complaints, and other process may be made by registered or certified mail addressed to Borrower at the address set forth in, or subsequently provided by Borrower in accordance with, Section 10 of this Agreement and that service so made shall be deemed completed upon the earlier to occur of Borrower’s actual receipt thereof or three (3) days after deposit in the U.S. mails, proper postage prepaid.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, BORROWER AND BANK EACH WAIVE THEIR RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL OF ANY CLAIM OR CAUSE OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR BASED UPON THIS AGREEMENT, THE LOAN DOCUMENTS OR ANY CONTEMPLATED TRANSACTION, INCLUDING CONTRACT, TORT, BREACH OF DUTY AND ALL OTHER CLAIMS. THIS WAIVER IS A MATERIAL INDUCEMENT FOR BOTH PARTIES TO ENTER INTO THIS AGREEMENT. EACH PARTY HAS REVIEWED THIS WAIVER WITH ITS COUNSEL.

WITHOUT INTENDING IN ANY WAY TO LIMIT THE PARTIES’ AGREEMENT TO WAIVE THEIR RESPECTIVE RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY, if the above waiver of the right to a trial by jury is not enforceable, the parties hereto agree that any and all disputes or controversies of any nature between them arising at any time shall be decided by a reference to a private judge, mutually selected by the parties (or, if they cannot agree, by the Presiding Judge of the Santa Clara County, California Superior Court) appointed in accordance with California Code of Civil Procedure Section 638 (or pursuant to comparable provisions of federal law if the dispute falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal courts), sitting without a jury, in Santa Clara County, California; and the parties hereby submit to the jurisdiction of such court. The reference proceedings shall be conducted pursuant to and in accordance with the provisions of California Code of Civil Procedure Sections 638 through 645.1, inclusive. The private judge shall have the power, among others, to grant provisional relief, including without limitation, entering temporary restraining orders, issuing preliminary and permanent injunctions and appointing receivers. All such proceedings shall be closed to the public and confidential and all records relating thereto shall be permanently sealed. If during the course of any dispute, a party desires to seek provisional relief, but a judge has not been appointed at that point pursuant to the judicial reference procedures, then such party may apply to the Santa Clara County, California Superior Court for such relief. The proceeding before the private judge shall be conducted in the same manner as it would be before a court under the rules of evidence applicable to judicial proceedings. The parties shall be entitled to discovery which shall be conducted in the same manner as it would be before a court under the rules of discovery applicable to judicial proceedings. The private judge shall oversee discovery and may enforce all discovery rules and orders applicable to judicial proceedings in the same manner as a trial court judge. The parties agree that the selected or appointed private judge shall have the power to decide all issues in the action or proceeding, whether of fact or of law, and shall report a statement of decision thereon pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure Section 644(a). Nothing in this paragraph shall limit the right of any party at any time to exercise self-help remedies, foreclose against collateral, or obtain provisional remedies. The private judge shall also determine all issues relating to the applicability, interpretation, and enforceability of this paragraph.

 

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This Section 11 shall survive the termination of this Agreement.

 

12

GENERAL PROVISIONS

12.1 Termination Prior to Maturity Date; Survival. All covenants, representations and warranties made in this Agreement shall continue in full force until this Agreement has terminated pursuant to its terms and all Obligations have been satisfied. So long as Borrower has satisfied the Obligations (other than inchoate indemnity obligations, and any other obligations which, by their terms, are to survive the termination of this Agreement, and any Obligations under Bank Services Agreements that are cash collateralized in accordance with Section 4.1 of this Agreement), this Agreement may be terminated prior to the Revolving Line Maturity Date by Borrower, effective three (3) Business Days after written notice of termination is given to Bank. Those obligations that are expressly specified in this Agreement as surviving this Agreement’s termination shall continue to survive notwithstanding this Agreement’s termination.

12.2 Successors and Assigns. This Agreement binds and is for the benefit of the successors and permitted assigns of each party. Borrower may not assign this Agreement or any rights or obligations under it without Bank’s prior written consent (which may be granted or withheld in Bank’s discretion). Bank has the right, without the consent of or notice to Borrower, to sell, transfer, assign, negotiate, or grant participation in all or any part of, or any interest in, Bank’s obligations, rights, and benefits under this Agreement and the other Loan Documents.

12.3 Indemnification. Borrower agrees to indemnify, defend and hold Bank and its directors, officers, employees, agents, attorneys, or any other Person affiliated with or representing Bank (each, an “Indemnified Person”) harmless against: (i) all obligations, demands, claims, and liabilities (collectively, “Claims”) claimed or asserted by any other party in connection with the transactions contemplated by the Loan Documents; and (ii) all losses or expenses (including Bank Expenses) in any way suffered, incurred, or paid by such Indemnified Person as a result of, following from, consequential to, or arising from transactions between Bank and Borrower in connection with the transactions contemplated by the Loan Documents (including reasonable and documented attorneys’ fees and expenses), except for Claims and/or losses directly caused by such Indemnified Person’s gross negligence or willful misconduct.

This Section 12.3 shall survive until all statutes of limitation with respect to the Claims, losses, and expenses for which indemnity is given shall have run.

12.4 Time of Essence. Time is of the essence for the performance of all Obligations in this Agreement.

12.5 Severability of Provisions. Each provision of this Agreement is severable from every other provision in determining the enforceability of any provision.

12.6 Correction of Loan Documents. Bank may correct patent errors and fill in any blanks in the Loan Documents consistent with the agreement of the parties so long as Bank provides Borrower with written notice of such correction and allows Borrower at least ten (10) Business Days to object to such correction. In the event of such objection, such correction shall not be made except by an amendment signed by both Bank and Borrower.

12.7 Amendments in Writing; Waiver; Integration. No purported amendment or modification of any Loan Document, or waiver, discharge or termination of any obligation under any Loan Document, shall be enforceable or admissible unless, and only to the extent, expressly set forth in a writing signed by the party against which enforcement or admission is sought. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, no oral promise or statement, nor any action, inaction, delay, failure to require performance or course of conduct shall operate as, or evidence, an amendment, supplement or waiver or have any other effect on any Loan Document. Any waiver granted shall be limited to the specific circumstance expressly described in it, and shall not apply to any subsequent or other circumstance, whether similar or dissimilar, or give rise to, or evidence, any obligation or commitment to grant any further waiver. The Loan Documents represent the entire agreement about this subject matter and supersede prior negotiations or agreements. All prior agreements, understandings, representations, warranties, and negotiations between the parties about the subject matter of the Loan Documents merge into the Loan Documents.

 

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12.8 Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in any number of counterparts and by different parties on separate counterparts, each of which, when executed and delivered, is an original, and all taken together, constitute one Agreement.

12.9 Confidentiality. In handling any confidential information, Bank shall exercise the same degree of care that it exercises for its own proprietary information, but disclosure of information may be made: (a) to Bank’s Subsidiaries or Affiliates (such Subsidiaries and Affiliates, together with Bank, collectively, “Bank Entities”) (provided that such Bank Entities are bound by the same confidentiality obligations herein); (b) to prospective transferees or purchasers of any interest in the Credit Extensions (provided, however, Bank shall use its best efforts to obtain any prospective transferee’s or purchaser’s agreement to the terms of this provision); (c) as required by law, regulation, subpoena, or other order; (d) to Bank’s regulators or as otherwise required in connection with Bank’s examination or audit; (e) as Bank considers appropriate in exercising remedies under the Loan Documents; and (f) to third-party service providers of Bank so long as such service providers have executed a confidentiality agreement with Bank with terms no less restrictive than those contained herein. Confidential information does not include information that is either: (i) in the public domain or in Bank’s possession when disclosed to Bank, or becomes part of the public domain (other than as a result of its disclosure by Bank in violation of this Agreement) after disclosure to Bank; or (ii) disclosed to Bank by a third party, if Bank does not know that the third party is prohibited from disclosing the information.

Bank Entities may use anonymous forms of confidential information for aggregate datasets, for analyses or reporting, and for any other uses not expressly prohibited in writing by Borrower. The provisions of the immediately preceding sentence shall survive the termination of this Agreement.

12.10 Attorneys’ Fees, Costs and Expenses. In any action or proceeding between Borrower and Bank arising out of or relating to the Loan Documents, the prevailing party shall be entitled to recover its reasonable attorneys’ fees and other costs and expenses incurred, in addition to any other relief to which it may be entitled.

12.11 Electronic Execution of Documents. The words “execution,” “signed,” “signature” and words of like import in any Loan Document shall be deemed to include electronic signatures or the keeping of records in electronic form, each of which shall be of the same legal effect, validity and enforceability as a manually executed signature or the use of a paper-based recordkeeping systems, as the case may be, to the extent and as provided for in any applicable law, including, without limitation, any state law based on the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act.

12.12 Right of Setoff. Borrower hereby grants to Bank a Lien and a right of setoff as security for all Obligations to Bank, whether now existing or hereafter arising upon and against all deposits, credits, collateral and property, now or hereafter in the possession, custody, safekeeping or control of Bank or any entity under the control of Bank (including a subsidiary of Bank) or in transit to any of them. At any time after the occurrence and during the continuance of an Event of Default, without demand or notice, Bank may setoff the same or any part thereof and apply the same to any liability or Obligation of Borrower even though unmatured and regardless of the adequacy of any other collateral securing the Obligations. ANY AND ALL RIGHTS TO REQUIRE BANK TO EXERCISE ITS RIGHTS OR REMEDIES WITH RESPECT TO ANY OTHER COLLATERAL WHICH SECURES THE OBLIGATIONS, PRIOR TO EXERCISING ITS RIGHT OF SETOFF WITH RESPECT TO SUCH DEPOSITS, CREDITS OR OTHER PROPERTY OF BORROWER, ARE HEREBY KNOWINGLY, VOLUNTARILY AND IRREVOCABLY WAIVED.

12.13 Captions. The headings used in this Agreement are for convenience only and shall not affect the interpretation of this Agreement.

12.14 Construction of Agreement. The parties mutually acknowledge that they and their attorneys have participated in the preparation and negotiation of this Agreement. In cases of uncertainty this Agreement shall be construed without regard to which of the parties caused the uncertainty to exist.

 

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12.15 Relationship. The relationship of the parties to this Agreement is determined solely by the provisions of this Agreement. The parties do not intend to create any agency, partnership, joint venture, trust, fiduciary or other relationship with duties or incidents different from those of parties to an arm’s-length contract.

12.16 Third Parties. Nothing in this Agreement, whether express or implied, is intended to: (a) confer any benefits, rights or remedies under or by reason of this Agreement on any persons other than the express parties to it and their respective permitted successors and assigns; (b) relieve or discharge the obligation or liability of any person not an express party to this Agreement; or (c) give any person not an express party to this Agreement any right of subrogation or action against any party to this Agreement.

12.17 Effect of Amendment and Restatement. This Agreement is intended to and does completely amend and restate, without novation, the Prior Agreement, which shall be terminated on the Effective Date of this Agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, all security interests granted by Borrower under the Prior Agreement are hereby confirmed and ratified and shall continue to secure all Obligations under this Agreement. Without limiting the foregoing, any warrant(s) to purchase stock and all other loan documents issued in connection with the Prior Agreement (to the extent not yet exercised, terminated or amended and restated in connection with this Agreement) shall remain in full force and effect.

 

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DEFINITIONS

13.1 Definitions. As used in the Loan Documents, the word “shall” is mandatory, the word “may” is permissive, the word “or” is not exclusive, the words “includes” and “including” are not limiting, the singular includes the plural, and numbers denoting amounts that are set off in brackets are negative. As used in this Agreement, the following capitalized terms have the following meanings:

Account” is, as to any Person, any “account” of such Person as “account” is defined in the Code with such additions to such term as may hereafter be made, and includes, without limitation, all accounts receivable and other sums owing to such Person.

Account Debtor” is any “account debtor” as defined in the Code with such additions to such term as may hereafter be made.

Adjusted Quick Ratio” is the ratio of (a) Quick Assets to (b) (i) Current Liabilities minus (ii) the current portion of Deferred Revenue.

Administrator” is an individual that is named:

(a) as an “Administrator” in the “SVB Online Services” form completed by Borrower with the authority to determine who will be authorized to use SVB Online Services (as defined in Bank’s Online Banking Agreement as in effect from time to time) on behalf of Borrower; and

(b) as an Authorized Signer of Borrower in an approval by the Board.

Advance” or “Advances” means a revolving credit loan (or revolving credit loans) under the Revolving Line.

Affiliate” is, with respect to any Person, each other Person that owns or controls directly or indirectly the Person, any Person that controls or is controlled by or is under common control with the Person, and each of that Person’s senior executive officers, directors, partners and, for any Person that is a limited liability company, that Person’s managers and members. For purposes of the definition of Eligible Accounts, Affiliate shall include a Specified Affiliate.

Agreement” is defined in the preamble hereof.

ASU” is defined in Section 1.

 

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Authorized Signer” is any individual listed in Borrower’s Borrowing Resolution who is authorized to execute the Loan Documents, including making (and executing if applicable) any Credit Extension request, on behalf of Borrower.

Availability Amount” is (a) the lesser of (i) the Revolving Line or (ii) MRR multiplied by the Advance Rate minus (b) the outstanding principal balance of any Advances.

The following definitions are utilized in calculating and determining the Availability Amount:

Advance Rate” is the product of the Retention Percentage multiplied by (i) prior to March 31, 2022, five (5), (ii) commencing from March 31, 2022 and continuing through September 29, 2022, four point five (4.5), and (iii) on and after September 30, 2020, four (4). The Advance Rate shall be calculated by Bank based on information provided by Borrower and acceptable to Bank, in its reasonable discretion, on the last day of each calendar month, or such earlier time as Bank may determine necessary, in its sole discretion; provided that Bank may decrease the Advance Rate in its sole discretion, based on events, conditions, contingencies or risks which Bank, in its good faith business judgment, believes may adversely affect the Collateral.

Annualized Churn Rate” is, as of any date of determination, the percentage obtained by dividing decrease in ARR over a trailing twelve (12) month period attributed to Existing Customer Accounts as of twelve (12) month prior, by the ARR attributed to that same set of customers as of twelve (12) month prior.

ARR” is the annualized recurring revenue from all customers that are under an active software subscription contract with Borrower or with which Borrower is negotiating a renewal contract at the end of the period, plus the annualized recurring revenue of any software subscriptions that have been contracted but are yet to be delivered upon contract commencement dates.

Eligible Customer Accounts” means Accounts of Borrower generated from expected receipt of MRR that (i) meet all of Borrower’s representations and warranties described in Section 5.3 and (ii) are or may be due and owing from Account Debtors deemed acceptable to Bank in its good faith business judgment; provided that (A) Bank reserves the right at any time and from time to time to exclude and/or remove any Account from the definition of Eligible Customer Accounts, in its good faith business judgment and (B) unless otherwise agreed by Bank, Accounts factored (including supply chain financing related to UPS or its Subsidiaries or Affiliates) shall be netted or deducted from MRR for purposes of calculating Availability Amount.

Existing Customer Accounts” are, on any date of determination, all Eligible Customer Accounts of Borrower generated from expected receipt of MRR which arise in the ordinary course of Borrower’s business.

MRR” is the value derived from ARR divided by twelve (12).

Retention Percentage” is, as of any date of determination, one hundred percent (100.0%) minus the Annualized Churn Rate.

Bank” is defined in the preamble hereof.

Bank Entities” is defined in Section 12.9.

Bank Expenses” are all audit fees and expenses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable and documented attorneys’ fees and expenses) for preparing, amending, negotiating, administering, defending and enforcing the Loan Documents (including, without limitation, those incurred in connection with appeals or Insolvency Proceedings) or otherwise incurred with respect to Borrower or any Guarantor.

Bank Services” are any products, credit services, and/or financial accommodations previously, now, or hereafter provided to Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries by Bank or any Bank Affiliate, including, without limitation, any letters of credit, cash management services (including, without limitation, merchant services, direct deposit of payroll, business credit cards, and check cashing services), interest rate swap arrangements, and foreign exchange services as any such products or services may be identified in Bank’s various agreements related thereto (each, a “Bank Services Agreement”).

 

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Bank Services Agreement” is defined in the definition of Bank Services.

Board” is Borrower’s board of directors.

Borrower” is defined in the preamble hereof.

Borrower’s Books” are all Borrower’s books and records including ledgers, federal and state tax returns, records regarding Borrower’s assets or liabilities, the Collateral, business operations or financial condition, and all computer programs or storage or any equipment containing such information.

Borrowing Base Statement” is that certain report of the value of certain Collateral in the form specified by Bank to Borrower from time to time.

Borrowing Resolutions” are, with respect to any Person, those resolutions adopted by such Person’s board of directors (and, if required under the terms of such Person’s Operating Documents, stockholders) and delivered by such Person to Bank approving the Loan Documents to which such Person is a party and the transactions contemplated thereby, together with a certificate executed by its secretary on behalf of such Person certifying (a) such Person has the authority to execute, deliver, and perform its obligations under each of the Loan Documents to which it is a party, (b) that set forth as a part of or attached as an exhibit to such certificate is a true, correct, and complete copy of the resolutions then in full force and effect authorizing and ratifying the execution, delivery, and performance by such Person of the Loan Documents to which it is a party, (c) the name(s) of the Person(s) authorized to execute the Loan Documents, including making (and executing if applicable) any Credit Extension request, on behalf of such Person, together with a sample of the true signature(s) of such Person(s), and (d) that Bank may conclusively rely on such certificate unless and until such Person shall have delivered to Bank a further certificate canceling or amending such prior certificate.

Business Day” is any day that is not a Saturday, Sunday or a day on which Bank is closed.

Cash Collateral Account” is defined in Section 6.3(c).

Cash Equivalents” means (a) marketable direct obligations issued or unconditionally guaranteed by the United States or any agency or any State thereof having maturities of not more than one (1) year from the date of acquisition; (b) commercial paper maturing no more than one (1) year after its creation and having the highest rating from either Standard & Poor’s Ratings Group or Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.; (c) Bank’s certificates of deposit issued maturing no more than one (1) year after issue; and (d) money market funds at least ninety-five percent (95.0%) of the assets of which constitute Cash Equivalents of the kinds described in clauses (a) through (c) of this definition.

CFC” means a “controlled foreign corporation” within the meaning of Section 957 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

Change in Control” means (a) at any time, any “person” or “group” (as such terms are used in Sections 13(d) and 14(d) of the Exchange Act), shall become, or obtain rights (whether by means of warrants, options or otherwise) to become, the “beneficial owner” (as defined in Rules 13(d)-3 and 13(d)-5 under the Exchange Act), directly or indirectly, of forty-nine percent (49.0%) or more of the ordinary voting power for the election of directors of Borrower (determined on a fully diluted basis) other than by the sale of Borrower’s equity securities in a public offering or to venture capital or private equity investors so long as Borrower identifies to Bank the venture capital or private equity investors at least seven (7) Business Days prior to the closing of the transaction and provides to Bank a description of the material terms of the transaction; (b) during any period of twelve (12) consecutive months, a majority of the members of the board of directors or other equivalent governing body of Borrower cease to be composed of individuals (i) who were members of that board or equivalent governing body on the first day of such period, (ii) whose election or nomination to that board or equivalent governing body was approved by individuals referred to in clause (i) above constituting at the time of such election or nomination at least a majority of that board or equivalent

 

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governing body or (iii) whose election or nomination to that board or other equivalent governing body was approved by individuals referred to in clauses (i) and (ii) above constituting at the time of such election or nomination at least a majority of that board or equivalent governing body; or (c) at any time, Borrower shall cease to own and control, of record and beneficially, directly or indirectly, one hundred percent (100.0%) of each class of outstanding capital stock of each Subsidiary of Borrower (other than directors’ qualifying shares or other similar shares as required by applicable law) free and clear of all Liens (except Liens created by this Agreement).

Claims” is defined in Section 12.3.

Code” is the Uniform Commercial Code, as the same may, from time to time, be enacted and in effect in the State of California; provided, that, to the extent that the Code is used to define any term herein or in any Loan Document and such term is defined differently in different Articles or Divisions of the Code, the definition of such term contained in Article or Division 9 shall govern; provided further, that in the event that, by reason of mandatory provisions of law, any or all of the attachment, perfection, or priority of, or remedies with respect to, Bank’s Lien on any Collateral is governed by the Uniform Commercial Code in effect in a jurisdiction other than the State of California, the term “Code” shall mean the Uniform Commercial Code as enacted and in effect in such other jurisdiction solely for purposes of the provisions thereof relating to such attachment, perfection, priority, or remedies and for purposes of definitions relating to such provisions.

Collateral” is any and all properties, rights and assets of Borrower described on Exhibit A.

Collateral Account” is any Deposit Account, Securities Account or Commodity Account (other than any Excluded Account).

Commodity Account” is any “commodity account” as defined in the Code with such additions to such term as may hereafter be made.

Compliance Statement” is that certain statement in the form attached hereto as Exhibit B.

Contingent Obligation” is, for any Person, any direct or indirect liability, contingent or not, of that Person for (a) any indebtedness, lease, dividend, letter of credit or other obligation of another such as an obligation, in each case, directly or indirectly guaranteed, endorsed, co made, discounted or sold with recourse by that Person, or for which that Person is directly or indirectly liable; (b) any obligations for undrawn letters of credit for the account of that Person; and (c) all obligations from any interest rate, currency or commodity swap agreement, interest rate cap or collar agreement, or other agreement or arrangement designated to protect a Person against fluctuation in interest rates, currency exchange rates or commodity prices; but “Contingent Obligation” does not include endorsements in the ordinary course of business. The amount of a Contingent Obligation is the stated or determined amount of the primary obligation for which the Contingent Obligation is made or, if not determinable, the maximum reasonably anticipated liability for it determined by the Person in good faith; but the amount may not exceed the maximum of the obligations under any guarantee or other support arrangement.

Control Agreement” is any control agreement entered into among the depository institution at which Borrower maintains a Deposit Account or the securities intermediary or commodity intermediary at which Borrower maintains a Securities Account or a Commodity Account, Borrower, and Bank pursuant to which Bank obtains control (within the meaning of the Code) over such Deposit Account, Securities Account, or Commodity Account.

Copyrights” are any and all copyright rights, copyright applications, copyright registrations and like protections in each work of authorship and derivative work thereof, whether published or unpublished and whether or not the same also constitutes a trade secret.

Credit Extension” is any Advance, any Overadvance, Letter of Credit, FX Contract or any other extension of credit by Bank for Borrower’s benefit.

Current Liabilities” are (a) all obligations and liabilities of Borrower to Bank, plus, (b) without duplication of (a), the aggregate amount of Borrower’s Total Liabilities that mature within one (1) year.

 

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Default Rate” is defined in Section 2.4(b).

Deferred Revenue” is all amounts received or invoiced in advance of performance under contracts and not yet recognized as revenue.

Deposit Account” is any “deposit account” as defined in the Code with such additions to such term as may hereafter be made.

Designated Deposit Account” is the account number ending *** maintained by Borrower with Bank.

Division” means, in reference to any Person which is an entity, the division of such Person into two (2) or more separate Persons, with the dividing Person either continuing or terminating its existence as part of such division, including, without limitation, as contemplated under Section 18-217 of the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act for limited liability companies formed under Delaware law, or any analogous action taken pursuant to any other applicable law with respect to any corporation, limited liability company, partnership or other entity.

Dollars,” “dollars” or use of the sign “$” means only lawful money of the United States and not any other currency, regardless of whether that currency uses the “$” sign to denote its currency or may be readily converted into lawful money of the United States.

Dollar Equivalent” is, at any time, (a) with respect to any amount denominated in Dollars, such amount, and (b) with respect to any amount denominated in a Foreign Currency, the equivalent amount therefor in Dollars as determined by Bank at such time on the basis of the then-prevailing rate of exchange in San Francisco, California, for sales of the Foreign Currency for transfer to the country issuing such Foreign Currency.

Effective Date” is defined in the preamble hereof.

Equipment” is all “equipment” as defined in the Code with such additions to such term as may hereafter be made, and includes without limitation all machinery, fixtures, goods, vehicles (including motor vehicles and trailers), and any interest in any of the foregoing.

ERISA” is the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and its regulations.

Event of Default” is defined in Section 8.

Exchange Act” is the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

Excluded Account” means (a) Deposit Accounts exclusively used for payroll, payroll taxes, and other employee wage and benefit payments to or for the benefit of Borrower’s employees, (b) deposit securities, commodity or similar accounts with financial institutions other than Bank inside of the United States, so long as no more than Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000) in the aggregate is maintained in such accounts at any time, (c) deposit, securities, commodity or similar accounts with financial institutions other than Bank outside of the United States so long as no more than Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000) in the aggregate is maintained in such accounts at any time, and (d) PayPal, Stripe or similar payment processing accounts.

Financial Statement Repository” is *** or such other means of collecting information approved and designated by Bank after providing notice thereof to Borrower from time to time.

Foreign Currency” means lawful money of a country other than the United States.

Foreign Subsidiary” means any Subsidiary which is not organized under the laws of the United States or any state or territory thereof or the District of Columbia.

Funding Date” is any date on which a Credit Extension is made to or for the account of Borrower which shall be a Business Day.

 

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FX Contract” is any foreign exchange contract by and between Borrower and Bank under which Borrower commits to purchase from or sell to Bank a specific amount of Foreign Currency on a specified date.

GAAP” is generally accepted accounting principles set forth in the opinions and pronouncements of the Accounting Principles Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and statements and pronouncements of the Financial Accounting Standards Board or in such other statements by such other Person as may be approved by a significant segment of the accounting profession, which are applicable to the circumstances as of the date of determination.

General Intangibles” is all “general intangibles” as defined in the Code in effect on the date hereof with such additions to such term as may hereafter be made, and includes without limitation, all Intellectual Property, claims, income and other tax refunds, security and other deposits, payment intangibles, contract rights, options to purchase or sell real or personal property, rights in all litigation presently or hereafter pending (whether in contract, tort or otherwise), insurance policies (including without limitation key man, property damage, and business interruption insurance), payments of insurance and rights to payment of any kind.

Governmental Approval” is any consent, authorization, approval, order, license, franchise, permit, certificate, accreditation, registration, filing or notice, of, issued by, from or to, or other act by or in respect of, any Governmental Authority.

Governmental Authority” is any nation or government, any state or other political subdivision thereof, any agency, authority, instrumentality, regulatory body, court, central bank or other entity exercising executive, legislative, judicial, taxing, regulatory or administrative functions of or pertaining to government, any securities exchange and any self-regulatory organization.

Guarantor” is any Person providing a Guaranty in favor of Bank.

Guaranty” is any guarantee of all or any part of the Obligations, as the same may from time to time be amended, restated, modified or otherwise supplemented.

Indebtedness” is (a) indebtedness for borrowed money or the deferred price of property or services, such as reimbursement and other obligations for surety bonds and letters of credit, (b) obligations evidenced by notes, bonds, debentures or similar instruments, (c) capital lease obligations, and (d) Contingent Obligations.

Indemnified Person” is defined in Section 12.3.

Initial Public Offering” is the initial, underwritten offering and sale of Borrower’s common stock to the public pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act.

IPO Event” means delivery by Borrower to Bank of evidence satisfactory to Bank in Bank’s reasonable discretion of the occurrence of an Initial Public Offering.

Insolvency Proceeding” is any proceeding by or against any Person under the United States Bankruptcy Code, or any other bankruptcy or insolvency law, including assignments for the benefit of creditors, compositions, extensions generally with its creditors, or proceedings seeking reorganization, arrangement, or other relief.

Intellectual Property” means, with respect to any Person, all of such Person’s right, title, and interest in and to the following:

(a) its Copyrights, Trademarks and Patents;

(b) any and all trade secrets and trade secret rights, including, without limitation, any rights to unpatented inventions, know-how and operating manuals;

(c) any and all source or object code;

 

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(d) any and all design rights which may be available to such Person;

(e) any and all claims for damages by way of past, present and future infringement of any of the foregoing, with the right, but not the obligation, to sue for and collect such damages for said use or infringement of the Intellectual Property rights identified above; and

(f) all amendments, renewals and extensions of any of the Copyrights, Trademarks or Patents.

Inventory” is all “inventory” as defined in the Code in effect on the date hereof with such additions to such term as may hereafter be made, and includes without limitation all merchandise, raw materials, parts, supplies, packing and shipping materials, work in process and finished products, including without limitation such inventory as is temporarily out of Borrower’s custody or possession or in transit and including any returned goods and any documents of title representing any of the above.

Investment” is any beneficial ownership interest in any Person (including stock, partnership interest or other securities), and any loan, advance or capital contribution to any Person.

JPMorgan” is defined in Section 7.1.

Key Person” is Borrower’s Chief Executive Officer, who is Mathew Cain as of the Effective Date.

Letter of Credit” is a standby or commercial letter of credit issued by Bank upon request of Borrower based upon an application, guarantee, indemnity, or similar agreement.

Lien” is a claim, mortgage, deed of trust, levy, charge, pledge, security interest or other encumbrance of any kind, whether voluntarily incurred or arising by operation of law or otherwise against any property.

Liquidity” is on any date, (a) Borrower’s unrestricted and unencumbered cash and Cash Equivalents maintained with Bank, Bank’s Affiliates or any other bank or financial institution, provided that such bank or financial institution executed and delivered a Control Agreement or other appropriate instrument in favor of Bank in a form acceptable to Bank, plus (b) unused portion of the Revolving Line.

Loan Documents” are, collectively, this Agreement and any schedules, exhibits, certificates, notices, and any other documents related to this Agreement, the Perfection Certificate, any Control Agreement, any Bank Services Agreement, any subordination agreement, any note, or notes or guaranties executed by Borrower or any Guarantor, and any other present or future agreement by Borrower and/or any Guarantor with or for the benefit of Bank, all as amended, restated, or otherwise modified.

Material Adverse Change” is (a) a material impairment in the perfection or priority of Bank’s Lien in the Collateral or in the value of such Collateral; (b) a material adverse change in the business, operations, or condition (financial or otherwise) of Borrower; or (c) a material impairment of the prospect of repayment of any portion of the Obligations.

Monthly Financial Statements” is defined in Section 6.2(c).

Obligations” are Borrower’s obligations to pay when due any debts, principal, interest, fees, Revolving Line Commitment Fee, Unused Revolving Line Facility Fee, Termination Fee, Bank Expenses and other amounts Borrower owes Bank now or later, whether under this Agreement, the other Loan Documents or otherwise, including, without limitation, all obligations relating to Bank Services and interest accruing after Insolvency Proceedings begin and debts, liabilities, or obligations of Borrower assigned to Bank, and to perform Borrower’s duties under the Loan Documents.

Operating Documents” are, for any Person, such Person’s formation documents, as certified by the Secretary of State (or equivalent agency) of such Person’s jurisdiction of organization on a date that is no earlier than thirty (30) days prior to the Effective Date, and, (a) if such Person is a corporation, its bylaws in current form, (b) if such Person is a limited liability company, its limited liability company agreement (or similar agreement), and (c) if such Person is a partnership, its partnership agreement (or similar agreement), each of the foregoing with all current amendments or modifications thereto.

 

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Overadvance” is defined in Section 2.3.

Patents” means all patents, patent applications and like protections including without limitation improvements, divisions, continuations, renewals, reissues, extensions and continuations-in-part of the same.

Payment Date” is the last calendar day of each month.

Perfection Certificate” is defined in Section 5.1.

Permitted Acquisition” means a transaction whereby Borrower acquires all or substantially all of the capital stock or property of another Person, which satisfies each of the following conditions:

(a) such transaction shall only involve an entity formed, and assets located, in the United States, and the party or parties being acquired is in the same or a substantially similar line of business as Borrower;

(b) no Event of Default has occurred and is continuing or would exist after giving effect to the transaction and Bank has received satisfactory evidence that Borrower is in compliance with all terms and conditions of this Agreement (and that it will be in compliance after giving effect to the transaction);

(c) the acquisition is approved by the board of directors (or equivalent control group) of all parties to the transaction;

(d) the total aggregate cash consideration to be paid by Borrower and its Subsidiaries in connection with any individual transaction or in the aggregate for all such transactions does not exceed Twenty Million Dollars ($20,000,000) at any time, provided that immediately after giving effect to the transaction, Borrower shall have (i) Liquidity of at least Thirty Million Dollars ($30,000,000), and (ii) an Adjusted Quick Ratio of at least 1.25 to 1.0, provided further that if immediately after giving effect to the transaction, Borrower maintains Liquidity of at least One Hundred Million Dollars ($100,000,000), the total aggregate cash consideration to be paid by Borrower and its Subsidiaries in connection with such transaction may exceed Twenty Million Dollars ($20,000,000), so long as Borrower maintains an Adjusted Quick Ratio of at least 1.25 to 1.0 immediately after giving effect to such transaction;

(e) Borrower provides Bank (i) written notice of the transaction at least three (3) Business Days prior to the closing of the transaction, and (ii) copies of the acquisition agreement and other material documents relative to the contemplated transaction and such other financial information, financial analysis, documentation or other information relating to such transaction as Bank shall reasonably request within five (5) Business Days after the closing of the transaction;

(f) Borrower is a surviving legal entity after completion of the contemplated transaction;

(g) the contemplated transaction is consensual and non-hostile;

(h) no Indebtedness will be incurred, assumed, or would exist with respect to Borrower or its Subsidiaries as a result of the contemplated transaction, other than Permitted Indebtedness, and no Liens will be incurred, assumed, or would exist with respect to the assets of Borrower or its Subsidiaries as a result of the contemplated transaction, other than Permitted Liens;

(i) any Subsidiary of Borrower acquired in the contemplated transaction shall provide to Bank a joinder to the Loan Agreement to cause such Subsidiary to become a co-borrower or guarantor hereunder, together with such appropriate financing statements and/or Control Agreements, all in form and substance satisfactory to Bank (including being sufficient to grant Bank a first priority Lien (subject to Permitted Liens) in and to the assets of such Subsidiary in accordance with Section 6.13;

 

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(j) the acquisition and the company being acquired is accretive in all respects; and

(k) Borrower shall have delivered to Bank, at least five (5) Business Days prior to the date on which any such acquisition is to be consummated (or such later date as is agreed by Bank in its sole discretion), a certificate of a Responsible Officer of Borrower, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to Bank, certifying that all of the requirements set forth in this definition have been satisfied or will be satisfied on or prior to the consummation of such purchase or other acquisition.

Permitted Indebtedness” is:

(a) Borrower’s Indebtedness to Bank under this Agreement and the other Loan Documents;

(b) Indebtedness existing on the Effective Date which is shown on the Perfection Certificate;

(c) Subordinated Debt;

(d) unsecured Indebtedness to trade creditors incurred in the ordinary course of business;

(e) Indebtedness incurred as a result of endorsing negotiable instruments received in the ordinary course of business;

(f) Indebtedness secured by Liens permitted under clauses (a) and (c) of the definition of “Permitted Liens” hereunder;

(g) Indebtedness of Borrower to any Subsidiary and Contingent Obligations of any Subsidiary with respect to obligations of Borrower (provided that the primary obligations are not prohibited hereby), and Indebtedness of any Subsidiary to Borrower in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000) or any other Subsidiary and Contingent Obligations of any Subsidiary with respect to obligations of any other Subsidiary (provided that the primary obligations are not prohibited hereby);

(h) Indebtedness in respect of performance bonds, bid bonds, appeal bonds, surety bonds and similar obligations, in each case provided in the ordinary course of business;

(i) Indebtedness that otherwise constitutes Permitted Investments;

(j) other Indebtedness in an aggregate principal amount outstanding not to exceed Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000); and

(k) extensions, refinancings, modifications, amendments and restatements of any items of Permitted Indebtedness (a) through (j) above, provided that the principal amount thereof is not increased or the terms thereof are not modified to impose more burdensome terms upon Borrower or its Subsidiary, as the case may be.

Permitted Investments” are:

(a) Investments (including, without limitation, Subsidiaries) existing on the Effective Date which are shown on the Perfection Certificate;

(b) (i) Investments consisting of Cash Equivalents, and (ii) any Investments permitted by Borrower’s investment policy, as amended from time to time, provided that such investment policy (and any such amendment thereto) has been approved in writing by Bank;

(c) Investments consisting of the endorsement of negotiable instruments for deposit or collection or similar transactions in the ordinary course of Borrower;

 

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(d) Investments consisting of deposit accounts (but only to the extent that Borrower is permitted to maintain such accounts pursuant to Section 6.8 of this Agreement) in which Bank has a first priority perfected security interest (subject to Permitted Liens);

(e) Investments accepted in connection with Transfers permitted by Section 7.1;

(f) Investments consisting of the creation of a Subsidiary for the purpose of consummating a merger transaction permitted by Section 7.3 of this Agreement, which is otherwise a Permitted Investment;

(g) Investments (i) by Borrower in Subsidiaries not to exceed Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000) in the aggregate in any fiscal year, (ii) by Subsidiaries (which is not a Borrower or guarantor) in other Subsidiaries or in Borrower, and (iii) Investments by a Borrower in any other Borrower;

(h) Investments consisting of (i) travel advances and employee relocation loans and other employee loans and advances in the ordinary course of business, and (ii) loans to employees, officers or directors relating to the purchase of equity securities of Borrower or its Subsidiaries pursuant to employee stock purchase plans or agreements approved by the Board;

(i) Investments (including debt obligations) received in connection with the bankruptcy or reorganization of customers or suppliers and in settlement of delinquent obligations of, and other disputes with, customers or suppliers arising in the ordinary course of business;

(j) Investments consisting of notes receivable of, or prepaid royalties and other credit extensions, to customers and suppliers who are not Affiliates, in the ordinary course of business; provided that this paragraph (j) shall not apply to Investments of Borrower in any Subsidiary; and

(k) Investments not otherwise permitted in an aggregate amount of not more than Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000) in each fiscal year.

Permitted Liens” are:

(a) Liens existing on the Effective Date which are shown on the Perfection Certificate or arising under this Agreement or the other Loan Documents;

(b) Liens for taxes, fees, assessments or other government charges or levies, either (i) not due and payable or (ii) being contested in good faith and for which Borrower maintains adequate reserves on Borrower’s Books, provided that no notice of any such Lien has been filed or recorded under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and the Treasury Regulations adopted thereunder;

(c) purchase money Liens (i) on Equipment acquired or held by Borrower incurred for financing the acquisition of the Equipment securing no more than Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000)in the aggregate amount outstanding, or (ii) existing on Equipment when acquired, if the Lien is confined to the property and improvements and the proceeds of the Equipment;

(d) Liens of carriers, warehousemen, suppliers, or other Persons that are possessory in nature arising in the ordinary course of business so long as such Liens attach only to Inventory, securing liabilities in the aggregate amount not to exceed Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000)and which are not delinquent or remain payable without penalty or which are being contested in good faith and by appropriate proceedings which proceedings have the effect of preventing the forfeiture or sale of the property subject thereto;

(e) Liens to secure payment of workers’ compensation, employment insurance, old-age pensions, social security and other like obligations incurred in the ordinary course of business (other than Liens imposed by ERISA);

 

32


(f) Liens incurred in the extension, renewal or refinancing of the Indebtedness secured by Liens described in (a) through (c), but any extension, renewal or replacement Lien must be limited to the property encumbered by the existing Lien and the principal amount of the indebtedness may not increase;

(g) leases or subleases of real property granted in the ordinary course of Borrower’s business (or, if referring to another Person, in the ordinary course of such Person’s business), and leases, subleases, non- exclusive licenses or sublicenses of personal property (other than Intellectual Property) granted in the ordinary course of Borrower’s business (or, if referring to another Person, in the ordinary course of such Person’s business), if the leases, subleases, licenses and sublicenses do not prohibit granting Bank a security interest therein;

(h) non-exclusive licenses of Intellectual Property granted to third parties in the ordinary course of business, and licenses of Intellectual Property that could not result in a legal transfer of title of the licensed property that may be exclusive in respects other than territory and that may be exclusive as to territory only as to discreet geographical areas outside of the United States;

(i) Liens arising from attachments or judgments, orders, or decrees in circumstances not constituting an Event of Default under Sections 8.4 and 8.7;

(j) deposits to secure the performance of bids, tenders, trade contracts, leases, government contracts, statutory obligations, surety, stay, customs and appeal bonds, performance and other similar obligations, in each case provided in the ordinary course of business;

(k) Liens securing Subordinated Debt; and

(l) Liens in favor of other financial institutions arising in connection with Borrower’s deposit and/or securities accounts held at such institutions, provided that (i) Bank has a first priority perfected security interest (subject to Permitted Liens) in the amounts held in such deposit and/or securities accounts (ii) such accounts are permitted to be maintained pursuant to Section 6.8 of this Agreement.

Person” is any individual, sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, joint venture, company, trust, unincorporated organization, association, corporation, institution, public benefit corporation, firm, joint stock company, estate, entity or government agency.

Prime Rate” is the rate of interest per annum from time to time published in the money rates section of The Wall Street Journal or any successor publication thereto as the “prime rate” then in effect; provided that, in the event such rate of interest is less than zero, such rate shall be deemed to be zero for purposes of this Agreement; and provided further that if such rate of interest, as set forth from time to time in the money rates section of The Wall Street Journal, becomes unavailable for any reason as determined by Bank, the “Prime Rate” shall mean the rate of interest per annum announced by Bank as its prime rate in effect at its principal office in the State of California (such Bank announced Prime Rate not being intended to be the lowest rate of interest charged by Bank in connection with extensions of credit to debtors); provided that, in the event such rate of interest is less than zero, such rate shall be deemed to be zero for purposes of this Agreement.

Prior Agreement” is defined in the recitals hereof.

Quarterly Financial Statements” is defined in Section 6.2(c).

Quick Assets” is on any date, (a) Borrower’s unrestricted and unencumbered cash and Cash Equivalents maintained with Bank, Bank’s Affiliates or any other bank or financial institution, provided that such bank or financial institution executed and delivered a Control Agreement or other appropriate instrument in favor of Bank in a form acceptable to Bank, plus (b) net billed accounts receivable, determined according to GAAP.

Registered Organization” is any “registered organization” as defined in the Code with such additions to such term as may hereafter be made.

 

33


Requirement of Law” is as to any Person, the organizational or governing documents of such Person, and any law (statutory or common), treaty, rule or regulation or determination of an arbitrator or a court or other Governmental Authority, in each case applicable to or binding upon such Person or any of its property or to which such Person or any of its property is subject.

Reserves” means, as of any date of determination, such amounts as Bank may from time to time establish and revise in its good faith business judgment, reducing the amount of Advances and other financial accommodations which would otherwise be available to Borrower (a) to reflect events, conditions, contingencies or risks which, as determined by Bank in its good faith business judgment, do or may adversely affect (i) the Collateral or any other property which is security for the Obligations or its value (including without limitation any increase in delinquencies of Accounts), (ii) the assets, business or prospects of Borrower or any Guarantor, or (iii) the security interests and other rights of Bank in the Collateral (including the enforceability, perfection and priority thereof); or (b) to reflect Bank’s reasonable belief that any collateral report or financial information furnished by or on behalf of Borrower or any Guarantor to Bank is or may have been incomplete, inaccurate or misleading in any material respect; or (c) in respect of any state of facts which Bank determines in its good faith business judgment constitutes an Event of Default or may, with notice or passage of time or both, constitute an Event of Default.

Responsible Officer” is any of the Chief Executive Officer, President, Chief Financial Officer and Controller of Borrower.

Restricted License” is any material license agreement with respect to which Borrower is the licensee (a) that validly prohibits or otherwise restricts Borrower from granting a security interest in Borrower’s interest in such license agreement or any other property subject to such license agreement, or (b) for which a default under or termination of could interfere with Bank’s right to sell any Collateral.

Revolving Line” is an aggregate principal amount equal to Forty Million Dollars ($40,000,000).

Revolving Line Maturity Date” is January 29, 2024

SEC” shall mean the Securities and Exchange Commission, any successor thereto, and any analogous Governmental Authority.

Securities Account” is any “securities account” as defined in the Code with such additions to such term as may hereafter be made.

Specified Affiliate” is any Person (a) more than ten percent (10.0%) of whose aggregate issued and outstanding equity or ownership securities or interests, voting, non-voting or both, are owned or held directly or indirectly, beneficially or of record, by Borrower, and/or (b) whose equity or ownership securities or interests representing more than ten percent (10.0%) of such Person’s total outstanding combined voting power are owned or held directly or indirectly, beneficially or of record, by Borrower.

Subordinated Debt” is indebtedness incurred by Borrower subordinated to all of Borrower’s now or hereafter indebtedness to Bank (pursuant to a subordination, intercreditor, or other similar agreement in form and substance satisfactory to Bank entered into between Bank and the other creditor), on terms acceptable to Bank.

Subsidiary” is, as to any Person, a corporation, partnership, limited liability company or other entity of which shares of stock or other ownership interests having ordinary voting power (other than stock or such other ownership interests having such power only by reason of the happening of a contingency) to elect a majority of the board of directors or other managers of such corporation, partnership or other entity are at the time owned, or the management of which is otherwise controlled, directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, or both, by such Person. Unless the context otherwise requires, each reference to a Subsidiary herein shall be a reference to a Subsidiary of Borrower or Guarantor.

Termination Fee” is defined in Section 2.5(c).

 

34


Total Liabilities” is on any day, obligations that should, under GAAP, be classified as liabilities on Borrower’s consolidated balance sheet, including all Indebtedness.

Trademarks” means any trademark and servicemark rights, whether registered or not, applications to register and registrations of the same and like protections, and the entire goodwill of the business of Borrower connected with and symbolized by such trademarks.

Transfer” is defined in Section 7.1.

Unused Revolving Line Facility Fee” is defined in Section 2.5(b).

UPS” is defined in Section 7.1.

U.S. Subsidiary” means any Subsidiary that is incorporated or formed under the laws of the United States of America, any state thereof or the District of Columbia (excluding any Subsidiary organized under the laws of any political subdivision of the United States (including any disregarded entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes), substantially all of the assets of which consist of, directly or indirectly, equity securities of one or more CFCs or indebtedness of such CFCs).

[Balance of Page Intentionally Left Blank]

 

35


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be executed as of the Effective Date.

 

BORROWER:
COUCHBASE, INC.
By:  

/s/ Greg Henry

Name:   Greg Henry
Title:   Chief Financial Officer
BANK:
SILICON VALLEY BANK
By:  

/s/ Ashlee Kaji

Name:   Ashlee Kaji
Title:   Director

[Signature Page to Loan and Security Agreement]


EXHIBIT A—COLLATERAL DESCRIPTION

The Collateral consists of all of Borrower’s right, title and interest in and to the following personal property:

All goods, Accounts (including health-care receivables), Equipment, Inventory, contract rights or rights to payment of money, leases, license agreements, franchise agreements, General Intangibles (except as provided below), commercial tort claims, documents, instruments (including any promissory notes), chattel paper (whether tangible or electronic), cash, deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, fixtures, letters of credit rights (whether or not the letter of credit is evidenced by a writing), securities, and all other investment property, supporting obligations, and financial assets, whether now owned or hereafter acquired, wherever located; and

all Borrower’s Books relating to the foregoing, and any and all claims, rights and interests in any of the above and all substitutions for, additions, attachments, accessories, accessions and improvements to and replacements, products, proceeds and insurance proceeds of any or all of the foregoing.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Collateral does not include (i) any accounts receivable and other claims which arise out of the sale of goods or services to United Parcel Service, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and/or its subsidiaries or affiliates, to JPMorgan and/or one (1) or more other investors, pursuant to the terms of a Master Receivables Purchase Acceptance Letter by and between Borrower and JPMorgan or to any other financial institution pursuant to any similar arrangement, (ii) with respect to stock in Foreign Subsidiaries, more than sixty-five percent (65%) of the presently existing and hereafter arising issued and outstanding shares of capital stock owned by Borrower of any Foreign Subsidiary which shares entitle the holder thereof to vote for directors or any other matter, (iii) any property to the extent that such grant of security interest is prohibited by any Requirement of Law of a Governmental Authority or constitutes a breach or default under or results in the termination of or requires any consent not obtained under, any contract, license, agreement, instrument or other document evidencing or giving rise to such property, except to the extent that such Requirement of Law or the term in such contract, license, agreement, instrument or other document providing for such prohibition, breach, default or termination or requiring such consent is ineffective under Section 9-406, 9-407, 9-408 or 9-409 of the Code (or any successor provision or provisions) of any relevant jurisdiction or any other applicable law (including the Bankruptcy Code) or principles of equity; provided, however, that such security interest shall attach immediately at such time as such Requirement of Law is not effective or applicable, or such prohibition, breach, default or termination is no longer applicable or is waived, and to the extent severable, shall attach immediately to any portion of the Collateral that does not result in such consequences, (iv) any interest of Borrower as a lessee or sublessee under a real property lease or an Equipment lease if Borrower is prohibited by the terms of such lease from granting a security interest in such lease or under which such an assignment or Lien would cause a default to occur under such lease (but only to the extent that such prohibition is enforceable under all applicable laws including, without limitation, the Code); provided, however, that upon termination of such prohibition, such interest shall immediately become Collateral without any action by Borrower or Bank, (v) the Excluded Accounts, or (vi) any Intellectual Property; provided, however, the Collateral shall include all Accounts and all proceeds of Intellectual Property. If a judicial authority (including a U.S. Bankruptcy Court) would hold that a security interest in the underlying Intellectual Property is necessary to have a security interest in such Accounts and such property that are proceeds of Intellectual Property, then the Collateral shall automatically, and effective as of the Effective Date, include the Intellectual Property to the extent necessary to permit perfection of Bank’s security interest in such Accounts and such other property of Borrower that are proceeds of the Intellectual Property.

Pursuant to the terms of a certain negative pledge arrangement with Bank, Borrower has agreed not to encumber any of its Intellectual Property without Bank’s prior written consent.

 

Exhibit A - 1


EXHIBIT B

COMPLIANCE STATEMENT

 

TO: SILICON VALLEY BANK    Date:                             

FROM: COUCHBASE, INC. (the “ Borrower”)

Under the terms and conditions of the Loan and Security Agreement between Borrower and Bank (the “Agreement”), Borrower is in complete compliance for the period ending                      with all required covenants except as noted below. Attached are the required documents evidencing such compliance, setting forth calculations prepared in accordance with GAAP consistently applied from one period to the next except as explained in an accompanying letter or footnotes (other than, with respect to unaudited financial statements for the absence of footnotes and year-end audit adjustments). Capitalized terms used but not otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings given them in the Agreement.

Please indicate compliance status by circling Yes/No under “Complies” column.

 

Reporting Covenants

  

Required

  

Complies

Pre IPO Event: Monthly Financial Statements with Compliance Statement    Monthly within 30 days    Yes No
Post-IPO Event: Quarterly Financial Statements with Compliance Statement    Within the earlier of (i) 45 days of fiscal quarter end, or (ii) 5 days after filing with SEC    Yes No
Annual Financial Statements (CPA Audited)*   

Pre-IPO Event: FYE within 270 days

Post-IPO Event: FYE within 120 days

   Yes No
10-Q, 10-K and 8-K    Within 5 days after filing with SEC (if applicable)    Yes No N/A
Borrowing Base Statement   

Pre-IPO Event: Monthly within 30 days

Post-IPO Event: Within the earlier of (i) 45 days of fiscal quarter end, or (ii) 5 days after filing with SEC

   Yes No
Board approved projections    Within the earlier of (i) 15 days after approval by the Board or (ii) 60 after FYE, and as amended/updated    Yes No
SaaS metrics report   

Pre-IPO Event: Monthly within 30 days

Post-IPO Event: Quarterly within 30 days

   Yes No
Board package    As requested by Bank    Yes No

 

Financial Covenant

   Required      Actual      Complies  

Adjusted Quick Ratio

     >1.15: 1.0        ____ : 1.0        Yes No  

 

*

Provided however, if the Board does not require audited Annual Financial Statements for any fiscal year, then Borrower shall instead deliver CPA reviewed Annual Financial Statements for such fiscal year only.


Since the date of the last Compliance Statement, have there been any changes in the ownership or management of Borrower that would change Borrower’s answers in Addendum 1 to the Perfection Certificate?

If yes, provide details below or in a separate report to Bank.

The following financial covenant analyses and information set forth in Schedule 1 attached hereto are true and accurate as of the date of this Compliance Statement.

The following are the exceptions with respect to the statements above: (If no exceptions exist, state “No exceptions to note.”)


Schedule 1 to Compliance Statement

Financial Covenant of Borrower

In the event of a conflict between this Schedule and the Agreement, the terms of the Agreement shall govern.

Dated:                                         

 

I.

Adjusted Quick Ratio (Section 6.9)

Required: Maintain, (i) prior to the occurrence of the IPO Event, to be tested as of the last day of each month, and (ii) upon the occurrence of the IPO Event and thereafter, to be tested as of the last day of each quarter, an Adjusted Quick Ratio of at least 1.15 to 1.0.

Actual:

 

A.

   Aggregate value of Borrower’s unrestricted and unencumbered cash and Cash Equivalents maintained with Bank    $                
     

 

 

 

B.

   Aggregate value of Borrower’s unrestricted and unencumbered cash and Cash Equivalents maintained with other bank or financial institution that executed and delivered a Control Agreement in favor of Bank    $    
     

 

 

 

C.

   Aggregate value of the net billed accounts receivable    $    
     

 

 

 

D.

   Quick Assets (the sum of lines A through C)    $    
     

 

 

 

E.

   Aggregate value of all obligations and liabilities of Borrower to Bank    $    
     

 

 

 

F.

   Without duplication of line E, aggregate value of liabilities of Borrower (including all Indebtedness) that matures within one (1) year    $    
     

 

 

 

G.

   Current Liabilities (the sum of lines E and F)    $    
     

 

 

 

H.

   Aggregate value of all amounts received or invoiced by Borrower in advance of performance under contracts and not yet recognized as revenue    $    
     

 

 

 

I.

   Line G minus H    $    
     

 

 

 

J.

   Adjusted Quick Ratio (line D divided by line I)   
     

 

 

 

Is line J equal to or greater than 1.15:1:0?

 

                     No, not in compliance

                          Yes, in compliance
EX-21.1

Exhibit 21.1

SUBSIDIARIES OF THE REGISTRANT*

 

Name of Subsidiary

  

Jurisdiction of Incorporation

Couchbase France SAS

  

France

Couchbase Germany GmbH

  

Germany

Couchbase India Private Limited

  

India

Couchbase Israel Technologies Limited

  

Israel

Couchbase Japan K.K.

  

Japan

Couchbase Limited

  

England and Wales

Couchbase Middle East Limited Offshore Dubai Entity

  

United Arab Emirates

 

*

Pursuant to Item 601(b)(21)(ii) of Regulation S-K, the names of other subsidiaries of Couchbase, Inc. are omitted because, considered in the aggregate, they would not constitute a significant subsidiary as of the end of the year covered by this report.

EX-23.1

Exhibit 23.1

CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

We hereby consent to the use in this Registration Statement on Form S-1 of Couchbase, Inc. of our report dated March 24, 2021 relating to the financial statements of Couchbase, Inc., which appears in this Registration Statement. We also consent to the reference to us under the heading “Experts” in such Registration Statement.

/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

San Jose, California

June 21, 2021