RISK FACTORS

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the following risk factors and all other information contained in this prospectus before purchasing our common stock. If any of the following risks actually occur, we may be unable to conduct our business as currently planned and our financial condition and results of operations could be seriously harmed. In addition, the trading price of our common stock could decline due to the occurrence of any of these risks, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

We have a history of losses and we may not be able to achieve profitability going forward.

We have an accumulated deficit of approximately $76.4 million as of December 31, 2018 and $78.7 million as of March 31, 2019. We incurred an operating loss of approximately $9.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 and $2.2 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2019. We have had net losses in most of our quarters since our inception. We expect that we will continue to incur net losses in 2019. We may incur losses in the future for a number of reasons, including the other risks described in this report, and we may encounter unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications, delays and other unknown events. Accordingly, we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability. Our management is developing plans and executing certain programs to alleviate the negative trends and conditions described above, however there is no guarantee that such plans will be successfully implemented. Our ability to curtail our operating losses or generate a profit may be further impacted by the fact that our business plan is largely unproven. There is no assurance that even if we successfully implement our business plan, that we will be able to curtail our losses. If we incur significant additional operating losses, our stock price may decline, perhaps significantly and the Company will need to raise substantial additional capital in order to be able to continue to operate, which will dilute the existing stockholders and such dilution may be significant. Additional capital may not be available on terms acceptable to the Company, or at all.

We have yet to achieve positive cash flow and, given our projected funding needs, our ability to generate positive cash flow is uncertain.

We have had negative cash flow from operating activities of approximately $6.0 million and approximately $6.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. We have had negative cash flow from operating activities of approximately $1.7 million and approximately $1.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. We anticipate that we will continue to have negative cash flows from operating activities for the foreseeable future as we expect to incur increased research and development, sales and marketing, and general and administrative expenses. Our business will require significant amounts of working capital to support our growth, particularly as we seek to introduce our new offered products. An inability to generate positive cash flow from operations may adversely affect our ability to raise needed capital for our business on reasonable terms, if at all. It may also diminish supplier or customer willingness to enter into transactions with us, and have other adverse effects that may impact our long-term viability. There can be no assurance we will achieve positive cash flows in the foreseeable future.

We need access to additional financing, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms, or at all. If we cannot access additional financing when we need it and on acceptable terms, our business, prospects, financial condition, operating results and ability to continue as a going concern will be adversely affected.

Our growth-oriented business plan to offer products to our customers will require continued capital investment. Our research and development activities will require continued investment. We raised $9.6 million and $12.0 million in 2018 and 2017, respectively, through debt and equity financing at varying terms. Further, in June 2019 we sold 38,763,750 shares of common stock for approximately $3.1 million in gross proceeds. Based on current cash resources, we expect that we will need to continue to raise capital through debt and/or equity offerings in order to maintain our operations and/or further implement and grow our operations through December 31, 2020. There is no guarantee that our current business plan will not change, and as a result of such change, that we will need additional capital to implement such business plan. Further, assuming we achieve our expected growth plan, of which there is no guarantee, we will need additional capital to implement growth beyond our current business plan.

Our limited operating history makes it difficult for us to evaluate our future business prospects and make decisions based on those estimates of our future performance.

We have been an emerging growth company since beginning operations. We have a limited operating history and have generated limited revenue. As we look to further expand our existing products it is difficult, if not impossible, to forecast our future results based upon our historical data. Because of the uncertainties related to our lack of historical operations, we may be hindered in our ability to anticipate and timely adapt to increases or decreases in revenues or expenses. If we make poor budgetary decisions as a result of unreliable historical data, we could be less profitable or incur losses, which may result in a decline in our stock price.

There can be no assurance that we will successfully commercialize our products that are currently in development or that our existing products will sustain market acceptance.

There is no assurance that we will ever successfully commercialize our platform and related solutions that are under development or that we will experience market reception for our products in development or increased market reception for our existing products. Although our acquisitions have generated revenue, there is no guarantee that we will be able to successfully implement our new products utilizing the acquired technology, products, and customer base. There is no assurance that our existing products or solutions will achieve market acceptance or that our new products or solutions will achieve market acceptance. Further, there can be no guarantee that we will not lose business to our existing or potential new competitors.

We depend upon key personnel and need additional personnel.

Our success depends on the continuing services of Philip D. Beck, CEO, as well as certain other members of the current management team and in 2017 we entered into new employment retention agreements with certain senior executives, including Mr. Beck, in order to incentivize them and retain their services, which remain in force until their employment is terminated. The loss of key management, engineering employees or third party contractors could have a material and adverse effect on our business operations. Additionally, the success of our operations will largely depend upon our ability to successfully attract and maintain competent and qualified key management personnel. As with any company with limited resources, there can be no guarantee that we will be able to attract such individuals or that the presence of such individuals will necessarily translate into profitability for our company. If we are successful in attracting and retaining such individuals, it is likely that our payroll costs and related expenses will increase significantly and that there will be additional dilution to existing stockholders as a result of equity incentives that may need to be issued to such management personnel. Our inability to attract and retain key personnel may materially and adversely affect our business operations. Any failure by our management to effectively anticipate, implement, and manage personnel required to sustain our growth would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Acquisitions present many risks that could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Since 2013, we have closed various acquisitions. We may also pursue select acquisitions in the future. The success of our future growth strategy will depend on our ability to integrate our existing operations together with the operations of our acquisitions that we have closed to date as well as any future acquisition of which none are planned at this date. Integrating the operations of our existing operations with our past or future acquisitions, including anticipated cost savings and additional revenue opportunities, involves a number of challenges. The failure to meet these integration challenges could seriously harm our results of operations and the market price of our shares may decline as a result. Realizing the benefits of our past or future acquisition will depend in part on the integration of intellectual property, products, operations, personnel and sales force and the completion of assignments of current and past contracts and rights. These integration activities are complex and time - consuming, and we may encounter unexpected difficulties or incur unexpected costs. We may not successfully integrate the operations of our existing operations, and may not realize the anticipated net reductions in costs and expenses and other benefits and synergies of the acquisition to the extent, or in the timeframe, anticipated. In addition to the integration risks, we could face numerous other risks, including, but not limited to, the following:

The occurrence of any of these risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition or cash flows, particularly in the case of a larger acquisition or concurrent acquisitions.

The market for our products is characterized by changing technology, requirements, standards and products, and we may be adversely affected if we do not respond promptly and effectively to these changes.

The market for our payment processing and identity management products is characterized by evolving technologies, changing industry standards, changing political and regulatory environments, frequent new product introductions and rapid changes in customer requirements. The introduction of products embodying new technologies and the emergence of new industry standards and practices can render existing products obsolete and unmarketable. Our future success will depend on our ability to enhance our existing products and to develop and introduce, on a timely and cost-effective basis, new products and product features that keep pace with technological developments and emerging industry standards and address the increasingly sophisticated needs of our customers. In the future:

If we are unable to respond promptly and effectively to changing technologies and market requirements, we will be unable to compete effectively in the future.

There can be no assurance that we will successfully identify new product opportunities and develop and bring new products to market in a timely manner, or that the products and technologies developed by others will not render our products or technologies obsolete or noncompetitive. The failure of our new product development efforts could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and future growth.

If our technology and solutions cease to be adopted and used by government and public and private organizations, we may lose some of our existing customers and our operations will be negatively affected.

Our ability to grow depends significantly on whether governmental and public and private organizations adopt our technology and solutions as part of their new standards and whether we will be able to leverage our expertise in governmental solutions into commercial solutions. If these organizations do not adopt our technology, we may not be able to penetrate some of the new markets we are targeting, or we may lose some of our existing customer base.

In order for us to achieve our growth objectives, our identity management technologies and solutions must be adapted to and adopted in a variety of areas including, among others, physical access control, computer access control, biometric fingerprint matching and identity card issuance and verification. Further, our payment processing technologies and solutions will need to be adopted by financial institutions, merchants and consumers.

We cannot accurately predict the future growth rate, if any, or the ultimate size of these markets. The growth of the market for our products and services depends on a number of factors such as the cost, performance and reliability of our products and services compared to the products and services of our competitors, customer perception of the benefits of our products and solutions, public perception of the intrusiveness of these solutions and the manner in which organizations use the information collected, customer satisfaction with our products and services and marketing efforts and publicity for our products and services. Our products and services may not adequately address market requirements and may not gain wide market acceptance. If our solutions or our products and services do not gain wide market acceptance, our business and our financial results will suffer.

We have sought in the past and will seek in the future to enter into contracts with governments, as well as state and local governmental agencies and municipalities, which subjects us to certain risks associated with such types of contracts.

Most contracts with governments or with state or local agencies or municipalities, or Governmental Contracts, are awarded through a competitive bidding process, and some of the business that we expect to seek in the future will likely be subject to a competitive bidding process. Competitive bidding presents a number of risks, including:

We may not be afforded the opportunity in the future to bid on contracts that are held by other companies and are scheduled to expire, if the governments, or the applicable state or local agency or municipality determines to extend the existing contract. If we are unable to win particular contracts that are awarded through the competitive bidding process, we may not be able to operate in the market for the products and services that are provided under those contracts for a number of years. If we are unable to win new contract awards or retain those contracts, if any, that we are awarded over any extended period, our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations will be adversely affected.

In addition, Governmental Contracts subject us to risks associated with public budgetary restrictions and uncertainties, actual contracts that are less than awarded contract amounts, the requirement for posting a performance bond and the related cost and cancellation at any time at the option of the governmental agency. Any failure to comply with the terms of any Governmental Contracts could result in substantial civil and criminal fines and penalties, as well as suspension from future contracts for a significant period of time, any of which could adversely affect our business by requiring us to pay significant fines and penalties or prevent us from earning revenues from Governmental Contracts during the suspension period. Cancellation of any one of our major Governmental Contracts could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition.

Governments may be in a position to obtain greater rights with respect to our intellectual property than we would grant to other entities. Governmental agencies also have the power, based on financial difficulties or investigations of their contractors, to deem contractors unsuitable for new contract awards. Because we will engage in the government contracting business, we will be subject to additional regulatory and legal compliance requirements, as well as audits, and may be subject to investigation, by governmental entities. Compliance with such additional regulatory requirements are likely to result in additional operational costs in performing such Governmental Contracts which may impact our profitability. Failure to comply with the terms of any Governmental Contract could result in substantial civil and criminal fines and penalties, as well as suspension from future contracts for a significant period of time, any of which could adversely affect our business by requiring us to pay the fines and penalties and prohibiting us from earning revenues from Governmental Contracts during the suspension period.

Furthermore, governmental programs can experience delays or cancellation of funding and suspension of appropriations for example as occurred with the recent partial United States government, which can be unpredictable; this may make it difficult to forecast our revenues on a quarter-by-quarter basis.

We rely in part on third-party software to develop and provide our solutions.

We rely in part on software licensed from third parties to develop and offer some of our solutions. Any loss of the right to use any such software or other intellectual property required for the development and maintenance of our solutions, or any defects or other issues with such software could result in problems or delays in the provision of our solutions until equivalent technology is either developed by us, or, if available from others, is identified, obtained, and integrated, which could harm our business.

We have historically depended upon a small number of large system sales ranging from $100,000 to $2,000,000 and we may fail to achieve one or more large system sales in the future, or fail to successfully transition to new products generating recurring revenues.

Historically, we have derived a substantial portion of our revenues from a small number of sales of large, relatively expensive systems, typically ranging in price from $100,000 to $2,000,000. If we fail to receive orders for these large systems in a given sales cycle on a consistent basis, our business could be significantly harmed. We are trying to reduce such dependence by developing a range of products and solutions, which are in a lower price range and intended to generate recurring revenue from a large number of customers. The Company has invested heavily in developing and launching such products but there is no guarantee that such efforts will be successful and that a satisfactory return on such investment will be achieved. Further, our quarterly results are difficult to predict because we cannot predict in which quarter, if any, large system sales will occur in a given year, nor when (if at all), or at what rate the ramp in sales of new products will occur. As a result, we believe that quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our results of operations are not a good indication of our future performance. In some future quarters, our operating results may be below the expectations of securities analysts and investors, in which case the market price of our Common Stock may decrease significantly.

Our efforts to expand our international operations are subject to a number of risks, any of which could adversely reduce our future international sales and increase our losses .

Most of our revenues to date are attributable to sales and business operations in jurisdictions other than the United States. Our international operations could be subject to a number of risks, any of which could adversely affect our future international sales and operating results, including:

Negative developments in any of these areas in one or more countries could result in a reduction in demand for our products, the cancellation or delay of orders already placed, difficulty in collecting receivables, and a higher cost of doing business, any of which could adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.

We are exposed to risks in operating in foreign markets, which may make operating in those markets difficult and thereby force us to curtail our business operations.

In conducting our business in foreign countries, we are subject to political, economic, legal, operational and other risks that are inherent in operating in other countries. Risks inherent to operating in other countries range from difficulties in settling transactions in emerging markets to possible nationalization, expropriation, price controls and other restrictive governmental actions. We also face the risk that exchange controls or similar restrictions imposed by foreign governmental authorities may restrict our ability to convert local currency received or held by us in their countries into U.S. dollars or other currencies, or to take those dollars or other currencies out of those countries.

It is possible that countries in which we do or intend to do business, or companies and their principals become subject to sanctions under U.S. law. This would prevent us from doing business with those countries or with those entities or individuals. The Company could be exposed to fines and penalties in the event of breach any applicable sanctions legislation or orders. In addition the Company might be required to suspend or terminate existing contracts in order to comply with such sanctions legislation or orders, which would adversely impact our future revenues and cashflows.

Additionally, we are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or the FCPA, and other laws in the United States and elsewhere that prohibit improper payments or offers of payments to foreign governments and their officials and political parties for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. We have operations in and deal with governments and officials in foreign countries. Our activities in these countries create the risk of unauthorized payments or offers of payments by one of our employees, contractors or customers that could be in violation of various laws, including the FCPA, even though these parties are not always subject to our control. We have implemented safeguards to discourage these practices by our employees, consultants and customers. However, our existing safeguards and any future improvements may prove to be less than effective, and our employees, contractors or customers may engage in conduct for which we might be held responsible. Violations of the FCPA or similar laws may result in severe criminal or civil sanctions and we may be subject to other liabilities, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Breaches of network or information technology security, natural disasters or terrorist attacks could have an adverse effect on our business.

Cyber-attacks or other breaches of network or information technology (IT) security, natural disasters, terrorist acts or acts of war may cause equipment failures or disrupt our systems and operations. We may be subject to attempts to breach the security of our networks and IT infrastructure through cyber-attack, malware, computer viruses and other means of unauthorized access. While we maintain insurance coverage for some of these events, the potential liabilities associated with these events could exceed the insurance coverage we maintain. A failure to protect the privacy of customer and employee confidential data against breaches of network or IT security could result in damage to our reputation. To date, we have not been subject to cyber-attacks or other cyber incidents that we are aware of which, individually or in the aggregate, resulted in a material impact to our operations or financial condition.

For us to further penetrate the marketplace, the marketplace must be confident that we provide effective security protection for national and other secured identification documents and cards and other personally identifiable information or protected personal information, or PII. Although we are not aware that we have experienced any act of sabotage or unauthorized access by a third party of our software or technology to date, if an actual or perceived breach of security occurs in our internal systems or those of our customers, regardless of whether we caused the breach, it could adversely affect the market’s perception of our products and services. This could cause us to lose customers, resellers, alliance partners or other business partners, thereby causing our revenues to decline. If we or our customers were to experience a breach of our internal systems, our business could be severely harmed by adversely affecting the market’s perception of our products and services.

Interruptions, delays in service or defects in our systems could impair the delivery of our services and harm our business.

We depend on the efficient and uninterrupted operation of our computer network systems, software, telecommunications networks, and processing centers, as well as the systems and services of third parties, in order to provide services to our customers. Almost all of our network systems are hosted “in the cloud” by internationally recognized third party service providers such as Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. Our systems and data centers are vulnerable to damage or interruption from, among other things, fire, natural disaster, power loss, telecommunications failure, terrorist acts, war, unauthorized entry, human error, and computer viruses or other defects. They may also be subject to break-ins, sabotage, intentional acts of vandalism and similar misconduct. We have security, backup and recovery systems in place, and we are in the process of implementing business continuity plans that will be designed to ensure our systems will not be inoperable. However, there is still a risk that a system outage or data loss may occur which would not only damage our reputation but could also require the payment of penalties or damages to our clients if our systems do not meet certain operating standards. Despite precautions taken at these facilities, the occurrence of a natural disaster or an act of sabotage or terrorism, a decision to close the facilities without adequate notice or other unanticipated problems at these facilities could result in lengthy interruptions in our service. Our property and business interruption insurance may not be applicable or adequate to compensate us for all losses or failures that may occur.

Any damage to, failure of, or defects, bugs or errors in our systems or those of third parties, errors or delays in the processing of payment or other transactions, telecommunications failures or other difficulties could result in loss of revenue, loss of customers, loss of customer and consumer data, harm to our business or reputation, exposure to fraud losses or other liabilities, negative publicity, additional operating and development costs, and diversion of technical and other resources.

Third parties could obtain access to our proprietary information or could independently develop similar technologies.

Despite the precautions we take, third parties may copy or obtain and use our technologies, ideas, know-how and other proprietary information without authorization or may independently develop technologies similar or superior to our technologies. In addition, the confidentiality and non-competition agreements between us and most of our employees, distributors and clients may not provide meaningful protection of our proprietary technologies or other intellectual property in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure. If we are not able to successfully defend our industrial or intellectual property rights, we may lose rights to technologies that we need to develop our business, which may cause us to lose potential revenues, or we may be required to pay significant license fees for the use of such technologies. To date, we have relied primarily on a combination of patents, trade secret and copyright laws, as well as nondisclosure and other contractual restrictions on copying, reverse engineering and distribution to protect our proprietary technology.

Our current patents and any patents that we may register in the future may provide only limited protection for our technology and may not be sufficient to provide competitive advantages to us. For example, competitors could be successful in challenging any issued patents or, alternatively, could develop similar or more advantageous technologies on their own or design around our patents. Any inability to protect intellectual property rights in our technology could enable third parties to compete more effectively with us.

In addition, the laws of certain foreign countries may not protect our intellectual property rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States. Our means of protecting our intellectual property rights in the United States or any other country in which we operate may not be adequate to fully protect our intellectual property rights.

Third parties may assert that we are infringing their intellectual property rights; IP litigation could require us to incur substantial costs even when our efforts are successful.

We may face intellectual property litigation, which could be costly, harm our reputation, limit our ability to sell our products, force us to modify our products or obtain appropriate licenses, and divert the attention of management and technical personnel. Our products employ technology that may infringe on the proprietary rights of others, and, as a result, we could become liable for significant damages and suffer other harm to our business.

We have not been subject to material intellectual property litigation to date. Litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce any patents we have or may obtain and/or any other intellectual property rights, to protect our trade secrets, to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others, or to defend against claims of infringement or invalidity, and we may not prevail in any such future litigation. Litigation, whether or not determined in our favor or settled, could be costly, could harm our reputation and could divert the efforts and attention of our management and technical personnel from normal business operations. In addition, adverse determinations in litigation could result in the loss of our proprietary rights, subject us to significant liabilities, require us to seek licenses from third parties, prevent us from licensing our technology or selling or manufacturing our products, or require us to expend significant resources to modify our products or attempt to develop non-infringing technology, any of which could seriously harm our business.

Our products may contain technology provided to us by third parties. Because we did not develop such technology ourselves, we may have little or no ability to determine in advance whether such technology infringes the intellectual property rights of any other party. Our suppliers and licensors may not be required to indemnify us in the event that a claim of infringement is asserted against us, or they may be required to indemnify us only with respect to intellectual property infringement claims in certain jurisdictions, and/or only up to a maximum amount, above which we would be responsible for any further costs or damages. In addition, we have indemnification obligations to certain parties with respect to any infringement of third-party patents and intellectual property rights by our products. If litigation were to be filed against these parties in connection with our technology, we would be required to defend and indemnify such parties.

Our officers and directors beneficially own a significant portion of our common stock and, as a result, can exercise control over stockholder and corporate actions.

Our officers and directors of the Company currently beneficially own approximately 13.3% of our outstanding common stock, and 19.6% on a fully diluted basis assuming the exercise of both vested and unvested options as well as warrants. As such, they have a significant influence over most matters requiring approval by stockholders, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions. This concentration of ownership may also have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on the market price of the Company’s common stock or prevent stockholders from realizing a premium over the market price for their Shares.

We face competition. Some of our competitors have greater financial or other resources, longer operating histories and greater name recognition than we do and one or more of these competitors could use their greater resources and/or name recognition to gain market share at our expense or could make it very difficult for us to establish market share.

The Company has created an identity transaction platform allowing it to onboard customers who wish to deploy Ipsidy’s services and solutions in order to know with biometric certainty who is engaging with them. Ipsidy’s solutions include the ability to verify the identity of a user, via remote identity proofing, then provide physical and digital access, as well as transaction and device authentication, all digitally signed by the user using their identity. The Company’s platform utilizes commodity, consumer grade tablets for customer deployment with users engaging the platform via a corresponding Android or iOS smartphone app.

The Company also offers certain payment processing solutions and smart card products manufacturing and printing. The industry sectors in which these products compete are characterized by rapid change and new entrants. The Company will need to consistently develop and improve its products in order to remain competitive. 

In reviewing the competitors that exist for the Company’s current and planned products and platform services relating to biometric identity solutions, the Company considers a number of factors. Ipsidy’s platform approach offers an Identity as a Service (IDaaS) approach which seeks to combine a number of different elements into a single platform. Ipsidy believes that its full stack platform is exceptional in that it provides a combination of SaaS based identity verification and identification services which cover both physical and digital identity access use cases. The competitive landscape includes several companies that mainly address only one or other area, with some addressing multiple areas independently. However, it is believed that some companies are attempting to create combined identity offerings, similar to Ipsidy’s. 

In looking at our competition, the Company does not consider providers who do not offer a consumer application solution for smartphones, such as the Ipsidy App. Neither do we consider competitors, which are major conglomerates with vertically integrated cybersecurity companies, due to the vast array of services which they offer. Furthermore, some of the competitors which do offer solutions for both digital and physical use cases, are major legacy providers offering hardware heavy solutions principally for governmental users. These include IDEMIA, Gemalto and Supercom. This is in contrast to Ipsidy’s approach which is based on offering apps which are usable on mobile devices with minimal hardware requirements. Furthermore, our identity solutions are designed to address the requirements of private, commercial and governmental uses for enrolled users. 

To further analyze the competitive landscape, the market must be segmented into authentication solution vendors and biometric identification & verification solution providers. Major competitors offering solutions in both areas include IDEMIA, Gemalto, ID.ME, HID Global and Yoti. Major competitors offering only authentication, include Twillio/Authy, HYPR, Datacard, Duo, Daon, and Trusona. Companies offering only biometric identification & verification include NEC, Imageware, Element, and Veridium.

The Ipsidy identity transaction platform is based on a patent-pending methodology, which combines digital signature authentication and biometric identity verification into a single out-of-band transaction. This provides functionality for our customers to have real-time control over their electronic transactions and every-day events through a mobile application, with a detailed audit trail created for each event, containing the digitally signed transaction details and biometric identity of the user. This patent-pending approach of combining transaction details and identity into a single, digitally signed message could allow the Ipsidy platform to be a complimentary solution to many of its competitors and hence differentiate itself in the market. 

Companies that focus on offerings for ID proofing, include Jumio, Mitek and Acuant. Companies that provide a single solution may be seeking to combine with authentication and biometric verification technology providers to expand their ID proofing solutions’ capabilities. The Ipsidy platform now offers its own identity proofing service for use in digital onboarding solutions, in conjunction with our biometric authentication and verification solutions. 

Another aspect of the competitive landscape for platform service arises from market demand for SaaS based identity services that are both high assurance and low friction. This combination is the ideal balance that Ipsidy and its competitors are trying to achieve. Companies that are believed to be competing with Ipsidy with their offerings today are Callsign, Gemalto, Danal (acquired by Boku in 2018), Datacard/Entrust, and IDEMIA (Formerly Morpho and Obertur). Ipsidy is seeking to improve its position with respect to these competitors in part through the new facial recognition solution which is currently under development, as part of the technology partnership announced with Ayonix. This is intended to reduce friction in Ipsidy’s Access product by the use of IP cameras to obtain the live capture facial images. In addition, Ipsidy offers its customers the flexibility to adapt its solutions to their specific use cases for either high assurance or to decrease friction. 

With respect to SaaS based services for physical identity access management, the competitive landscape for Ipsidy also includes companies such as HID Global, NEC, and IDEMIA. All of these companies offer a broad range of solutions from complete biometric access control systems to complex biometric e-gate and passenger flow management solutions. Ipsidy’s offering focuses on the SaaS based biometric identity solutions portion of this market, using mobile apps but also offers API integration with hardware suppliers to create competitive solutions. 

There are new entrants into each of these markets continually. Each competitor may have a different offering or approach to solve similar problems, which overlap with those of the Company. Some competitors also include manufacturers who provide systems, or platform solutions to third party operators and, therefore, do not directly compete with the Company, which operates its own systems.

The Cards Plus business faces competition both locally in South Africa and internationally. China has become a source of imports of card products at highly competitive pricing and some local suppliers are reliant on Chinese card manufacturers. Local competitors include Card Technology Services, Easy Card and Open Gate, Cardz Group and XH Smart Technology (Africa). That said, we believe that we are the only significant manufacturer in South Africa using digital print technology. 

The payment processing industry has many competitors who provide gateway services, closed loop end-to-end solutions, payment processing, peer-to-peer payments and bill payments. As these types of services are usually supplied by regional or country specific companies, the following summary of this competitive landscape, is focused on those countries or regions the Company is actively pursuing business in today. In Colombia and elsewhere in Latin America where the Company is focused, major competitors include PayU, Credibanco, Redeban, Mercado Pago, Nequi, and QPagos. Some of these companies may on the other hand be potential customers for our identify transaction platform and biometric authentication services. Companies in this region that also compete in those sectors include Veritran, Certicamaras, Olimpia IT, Evertec-Processa and Indra.

The resources available to our competitors to develop new products and introduce them into the marketplace exceed the resources currently available to us. As a result, our competitors may be able to compete more aggressively and sustain that competition over a longer period of time that we can. This intense competitive environment may require us to make changes in our products, pricing, licensing, services, distribution, or marketing to develop a market position. Each of these competitors has the potential to capture market share in our target markets which could have an adverse effect on our position in our industry and on our business and operating results.

Government regulation could negatively impact the business.

We do not have or require any approval from government authorities or agencies in order to operate our regular business and operations. However, data protection legislation in various countries in which the Company does business (including Columbia and the United Kingdom) may require it to register its databases with governmental authorities in those countries and to comply with additional disclosure and consent requirements with regard to the collection, storage and use of personal information of individuals resident in those countries. To the extent that our business is based on Governmental Contracts, the relevant government authorities will need to approve us as a supplier and the terms of those contracts. However, it is possible that any proposed expansion to our business and operations in the future would require government approvals. Due to the security applications and biometric technology associated with our products and platforms the activities and operations of our company are, or could become subject to license restrictions and other regulations, such as (without limitation) export controls and other security regulation by government agencies. Expansion of our activities in payment processing may in due course require government licensing in different jurisdictions and may subject us to additional regulation and oversight. Aspects of payment processing and related financial services are already subject to legislation and regulations in various jurisdictions. As indicated, “We are exposed to risks in operating in foreign markets” above, the imposition of sanctions on particular countries, entities or individuals would prevent us from doing business with such countries, entities or individuals. If our existing and proposed products become subject to licensing, export control and other regulations, we may incur increased costs necessary to comply with existing and newly adopted or amended laws and regulations or penalties for any failure to comply. Our operations could be adversely affected, directly or indirectly, by existing or future laws and regulations (and amendments thereto) relating to our business or industry.

Some states in the United States have adopted legislation governing the collection, use of, and storage of biometric information and other states are considering such legislation. The widespread adoption of such legislation could result in restrictions on our current or proposed business activities or we may incur increased costs to comply with such regulations.

Our common stock is thinly traded, so you may be unable to sell at or near asking prices or at all if you need to sell your shares to raise money or otherwise desire to liquidate your shares.

Currently, our common stock is quoted on the OTC and future trading volume may be limited by the fact that many major institutional investment funds, including mutual funds, as well as individual investors follow a policy of not investing in OTC stocks and certain major brokerage firms restrict their brokers from recommending OTC stocks because they are considered speculative, volatile and thinly traded. The OTC market is an inter-dealer market much less regulated than the major exchanges and our common stock is subject to abuses, volatility and shorting. Thus, there is currently no broadly followed and established trading market for our common stock. An established trading market may never develop or, if developed, be maintained. Active trading markets generally result in lower price volatility and more efficient execution of buy and sell orders. Absence of an active trading market reduces the liquidity of the shares traded there.

Our stock is considered a penny stock and any investment in our stock will be considered a high-risk investment and subject to restrictions on marketability.

The trading price of our common stock is below $5.00 per share. If the price of the common stock is below such level, trading in our common stock would be subject to the requirements of certain rules promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These rules require additional disclosure by broker-dealers in connection with any trades generally involving any non-NASDAQ equity security that has a market price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exceptions. Such rules require the delivery, before any penny stock transaction, of a disclosure schedule explaining the penny stock market and the risks associated therewith, and impose various sales practice requirements on broker-dealers who sell penny stocks to persons other than established customers and accredited investors (generally institutions). For these types of transactions, the broker-dealer must determine the suitability of the penny stock for the purchaser and receive the purchaser’s written consent to the transactions before sale. The additional burdens imposed upon broker-dealers by such requirements may discourage broker-dealers from effecting transactions in our common stock, which could impact the liquidity of our common stock.

Our business is subject to changing regulations regarding corporate governance, disclosure controls, internal control over financial reporting and other compliance areas that will increase both our costs and the risk of noncompliance. If we fail to comply with these regulations we could face difficulties in preparing and filing timely and accurate financial reports.

We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Dodd-Frank Act. Maintaining compliance with these rules and regulations, particularly after we cease to be an emerging growth company, will increase our legal, accounting and financial compliance costs, will make some activities more difficult, time-consuming and costly and may also place increased strain on our personnel, systems and resources.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and at the time we cease to be an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company, we will be required to provide attestation that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures by our registered public accounting firm. Any failure to develop or maintain effective controls, or any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement, could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. Any failure to implement and maintain effective internal control also could adversely affect the results of periodic management evaluations regarding the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting that are required to include in our periodic reports filed with the SEC, under Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act or the annual auditor attestation reports regarding effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting that we will be required to include in our periodic reports filed with the SEC upon our ceasing to be an emerging growth company and a smaller reporting company, unless, under the JOBS Act, we meet certain criteria that would require such reports to be included prior to then, under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. 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 have a negative effect on the trading price of shares of our common stock.

In order to maintain the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting going forward, we will need to expend significant resources and provide significant management oversight. There is a substantial effort involved in continuing to implement appropriate processes, document our system of internal control over relevant processes, assess their design, remediate any deficiencies identified and test their operation. As a result, management’s attention may be diverted from other business concerns, which could harm our business, operating results and financial condition. These efforts will also involve substantial accounting-related costs. We may experience difficulty in meeting these reporting requirements in a timely manner.

If we are unable to maintain key controls currently in place or that we implement in the future and pending such implementation, or if any difficulties are encountered in their implementation or improvement, (1) our management might not be able to certify, and our independent registered public accounting firm might not be able to report on, the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting, which would cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations, (2) misstatements in our financial statements may occur that may not be prevented or detected on a timely basis and (3) we may be deemed to have significant deficiencies or material weaknesses, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Implementing any appropriate changes to our internal controls may require specific compliance training of our directors, officers and employees, entail substantial costs in order to modify our existing accounting systems, and take a significant period of time to complete. Such changes may not, however, be effective in maintaining the adequacy of our internal controls, and any failure to maintain that adequacy, or consequent inability to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis, could increase our operating costs and could materially impair our ability to operate our business. In the event that we are not able to demonstrate compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in a timely manner, our internal controls are perceived as inadequate or that we are unable to produce timely or accurate financial statements, our stock price could decline and we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the SEC or other regulatory authorities, which would require additional financial and management resources.

We are an “emerging growth company” and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to “emerging growth companies” will make our common stock less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the JOBS Act, and we expect to take advantage of certain exemptions and relief from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies.” In particular, while we are an “emerging growth company” (1) we will not be required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, (2) we will be exempt from any rules that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board requiring mandatory audit firm rotations or a supplement to the auditor’s report on financial statements, (3) we will be subject to reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements and (4) we will not be required to hold nonbinding advisory votes on executive compensation or stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.

In addition, we are eligible to delay the adoption of new or revised accounting standards applicable to public companies until those standards apply to private companies, and as a result, we may not comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. The Company has adopted and will be adopting all standards as they have become effective for public companies.

We also take advantage of reduced disclosure requirements, including regarding executive compensation. If we remain an “emerging growth company” in the future, we may take advantage of other exemptions, including the exemptions from the advisory vote requirements and executive compensation disclosures under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Customer Protection Act, and the exemption from the provisions of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We may remain an “emerging growth company” until (1) the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of any June 30, in which case we would cease to be an “emerging growth company” as of the following December 31, (2) our gross revenue exceeds $1 billion in any fiscal year, (3) we issue more than $1 billion in nonconvertible notes in any three-year period or (4) the last day of the fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the date of the first sale of our common equity securities pursuant to an effective registration statement.

The exact implications of the JOBS Act are still subject to interpretations and guidance by the SEC and other regulatory agencies, and we cannot assure that we will be able to take advantage of all of the benefits of the JOBS Act. In addition, investors may find our common stock less attractive if we rely on the exemptions and relief granted by the JOBS Act. 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 our stock price may decline and/or become more volatile.

You will experience immediate and substantial dilution in the net tangible book value per share of our common stock you purchase in this offering.

The public offering price will substantially exceed the net tangible book value per share of our common stock immediately after this offering based on the total value of our tangible assets less our total liabilities. Therefore, based on the public offering price of $* per share, if you purchase shares of our common stock in this offering, you will suffer, as of  *, 2019, immediate dilution of $*  per share, in net tangible book value per share after giving effect to the sale of * shares of common stock in this offering at a public offering price of $* per share after deducting estimated offering expenses payable by us. As a result of this dilution, as of *, 2019, investors purchasing shares of common stock from us in this offering will have contributed  *% of the total amount of our total gross funding to date but will own only *% of our equity. In addition, if outstanding options to purchase shares of our common stock are exercised in the future, you will experience additional dilution. See “Dilution” on page 25.

* To be provided by amendment

We have broad discretion in the use of a portion of the net proceeds from our public offering and may not use them effectively.

We currently intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes, including working capital, capital expenditures and repayment of existing affiliate debt. For more information, see “Use of Proceeds.” However, our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds. Our stockholders may not agree with the manner in which we choose to allocate the net proceeds from this offering. Our failure to apply these funds effectively could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operation. Pending their use, we may invest the net proceeds from this offering in a manner that does not produce income.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or publish negative reports about our business, our share price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will, to some extent, depend on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We do not have any control over these analysts. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our shares or change their opinion of our shares, our share price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our share price or trading volume to decline.

We do not intend to pay dividends for the foreseeable future, which could reduce the attractiveness of our stock to some investors.

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. As a result, you may only receive a return on your investment in our common stock if the market price of our common stock increases. In addition, we may incur debt financing to further finance our operations, the governing documents of which may contain restrictions on our ability to pay dividends.

We may be subject to securities litigation, which is expensive and could divert management attention.

In the past companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their stock have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future. Litigation of this type could result in substantial costs and diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could seriously hurt our business. Any adverse determination in litigation could also subject us to significant liabilities.

The offering price of $ * per share is not an indication of the fair value of our common stock.

The price of the shares offered in the offering was determined by us based on a variety of factors, including:

* To be provided by amendment

The offering price is not necessarily related to our book value, net worth or any other established criteria of fair value and may or may not be considered the fair value of our common stock. After the date of this prospectus, our common stock may trade at prices below the offering price. Our board of directors is not making a recommendation as to whether you should purchase shares of our common stock in the offering.

We have not obtained a recommendation or fairness opinion related to the offering, as a result of which you must make your own determination of whether the offering price is a fair price.

Our board has not obtained a recommendation or fairness opinion related to the offering. The current market price of shares is affected by many factors and may increase or decrease during or subsequent to the offering. You will need to evaluate the value of the shares being offered and the risks inherent in investing, and individually determine if you should purchase shares of our common stock.

Your percentage ownership in us may be diluted by future issuances of capital stock or securities or instruments that are convertible into our capital stock, which could reduce your influence over matters on which shareholders vote.

Our board of directors has the authority, without action or vote of our shareholders, to issue all or any part of our authorized but unissued shares of common stock, including shares issuable upon the exercise of options, shares that may be issued to satisfy our obligations under our incentive plans, shares of our authorized but unissued preferred stock and securities and instruments that are convertible into our common stock. Issuances of common stock or voting preferred stock would reduce your influence over matters on which our shareholders vote and, in the case of issuances of preferred stock, likely would result in your interest in us being subject to the prior rights of holders of that preferred stock.

Anti-takeover provisions and restrictions on ownership could negatively impact our shareholders.

Provisions of our articles of incorporation and bylaws could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire control of us or have the effect of discouraging a third party from attempting to acquire control of us. These provisions could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us even if an acquisition might be in the best interest of our shareholders.