CRTD Creatd Inc

BUSINESS

Overview

Creatd, Inc. (“CRTD,” “the Company,” or “Creatd”) is a company whose mission is to provide economic opportunities to creators by multiplying the impact of platforms, people, and technology. 

We operate four main business segments, or ‘pillars’: Creatd Labs, Creatd Partners, Creatd Ventures, and Creatd Studios. Together, Creatd's pillars work together to create a flywheel effect, supporting our core vision of creating a viable ecosystem for all stakeholders in the creator economy. 

Creator-Centric Strategy

Our purpose is to empower creators to prosper through exceptional tools, built-in communities, and opportunities for monetization and audience expansion. This creator-first approach is the foundation of our culture and mission, and how we choose to allocate our resources. It governs our business model and shapes the value we provide for each of our stakeholders across Creatd’s four pillars.  

Creatd Labs

Creatd Labs is dedicated to the development of technology products that support the creator economy. This pillar houses Creatd’s proprietary technology platforms, including Creatd’s flagship product, Vocal. This pillar is operated through our wholly-owned subsidiary, Abacus Tech Pty Ltd.

Vocal

Vocal was built to serve as a home base for digital creators. This robust, proprietary technology platform that provides best-in-class tools, safe and curated communities, and monetization opportunities that enable creators to find a receptive audience and get rewarded. Creators of all types call Vocal their home, from bloggers to podcasters, makers, musicians, photographers, and more.

Since its initial launch in 2016, Vocal has grown to be one of the fastest growing communities for content creators of all shapes and sizes. Creators can opt to use Vocal for free, or upgrade to Vocal+. Upon subscribing to Vocal, either as a freemium or premium member, creators can immediately begin to access the numerous monetization opportunities that Vocal facilitates. Specifically, Vocal creators can earn money i) every time their story is read, ii) by competing in Challenges, iii) by receiving Bonuses, iv) by collaborating on branded content campaigns through the company’s in-house agency, Vocal for Brands, v) through ‘Subscribe,’ which enables creators to receive payment directly from their audience via monthly subscriptions and one-off microtransactions. vi) through the Vocal Ambassador Program, which enables creators to receive additional rewards whenever they refer a new Vocal+ member.

Vocal+

Vocal+ is Vocal’s premium membership program. Subscribers pay a membership fee to access additional premium features on the platform, including: a higher rate of earnings per read, reduced platform processing fees on tips received, eligibility to participate in exclusive Vocal+ Challenges, access to Vocal’s ‘Quick Edit’ feature for published stories, and more. The current cost of a Vocal+ membership is either $9.99 per month or $99 annually. From time to time, the Company offers Vocal+ subscriptions at a discount for a predetermined number of months as a promotion for new subscribers.

Moderation and Compliance

One of the key differentiating factors between Vocal and most other user-generated content platforms is the fact that each story submitted to Vocal is run through the Company’s proprietary moderation process before it goes live on the platform. The decision to implement moderation into the submission process was in direct response to the rise of misinformation and bad actors on many social platforms. In response to these inherent pitfalls within the content landscape, Vocal’s proprietary moderation system combines the algorithmic detection of copyrighted material, hate speech, graphic violence, and nudity, and human-led curation to ensure the quality and safety of each story published on Vocal, thus fostering a safe and trustworthy environment for creators, audiences, and brands. Moderation and compliance are more important than ever in a world where ambiguity can systematically damage value. Vocal’s enforcement of community guidelines and emphasis on content moderation protects the platform, its creators, and Creatd shareholders.

Trust and safety are paramount to the Vocal ecosystem. We follow best practices when handling personally identifiable information, with guidance from the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

Platform Compliance Policies include:

Technology Development

Vocal’s proprietary technology is built on Keystone, the same underlying open-source framework used by industry-leaders such as Atlassian, a $43-billion Australian technology company. Some of the key differentiating elements of Vocal’s technology are speed, sustainability, and scalability. The Company continues to invest heavily in research and development to continuously improve and innovate its platform, with the goal of optimizing the user experience for creators. Vocal’s architecture allows it to do more with less cost and provides a model capable of turning a profit.

Additionally, the Vocal platform and its underlying technology allows us to maintain an advantageous capital-light infrastructure. By using cloud service providers, we are able to focus on platform and revenue growth rather than building and maintaining the costly internal infrastructures that have materially affected so many legacy media platforms. Vocal’s technology has been specifically designed and built to scale without a material corresponding increase in operational costs. While our users can embed rich media, such as video, audio, and product links, into their Vocal stories, the rich media content is hosted elsewhere (such as YouTube, Instagram, Vimeo, Shopify, Spotify, etc.). Thus, our platform can accommodate rich media content of all kinds without bearing the financial or operational costs associated with hosting the rich media itself. In addition to the benefits this framework affords to the Company, it is the additional benefit to our content creators, in that a creator can increase their monetization; for example, a creator can embed their YouTube video into a Vocal story and thus derive earnings from both platforms when their video is viewed.

Creatd Partners

Creatd Partners houses the Company’s agency businesses, with the goal of fostering partnerships between creators and brands. Creatd Partners’ offerings include: Vocal for Brands (content marketing), Seller’s Choice (performance marketing), and WHE Agency (influencer marketing). Creatd Partners leverages its network of brands and influencers, along with resources from across Creatd, to help direct-to-consumer brands achieve conversions and reach their target audiences, while driving success for all of Creatd’s stakeholders.

Vocal for Brands

All brands have a story to tell, and our creator community helps them tell it. Vocal for Brands, Creatd's internal content marketing studio, specializes in pairing leading brands with Vocal creators to produce marketing campaigns that are non-interruptive, engaging, and direct-response driven, with creators telling the brand’s story in a way that is both engaging and trustworthy. Further, Vocal for Brands campaigns leverage Vocal’s first-party data and technology, which enables the creation of highly targeted and segmented audiences and optimized campaign results. 

In addition to branded story campaigns Additionally, brands can opt to collaborate with Vocal on a sponsored Challenge, prompting the creation of high-quality stories that are centered around the brand’s mission and further disseminated through creators’ respective social channels and promotional outlets.

WHE Agency

The WHE Agency (“WHE”), acquired by Creatd in 2021, was founded by Tracy Willis with the goal of supporting top creators and influencers, by connecting them with leading family and lifestyle brands and global audiences. Today, WHE represents a roster of over 100 creators across numerous verticals including family and lifestyle, music, and celebrity categories.

Seller’s Choice

Seller’s Choice is Creatd Partners’ performance marketing agency specializing in DTC (direct-to-consumer) and e-commerce clientele. Seller’s Choice provides direct-to-consumer brands with design, development, strategy, and sales optimization services. 

Creatd Ventures

Creatd Ventures houses Creatd's portfolio of e-commerce businesses, both majority and minority-owned as well as associated e-commerce technology and infrastructure. The Company supports founders by providing capital, as well as a host of services including design and development, marketing and distribution, and go-to-market strategy. Currently, the Creatd Ventures portfolio includes: 

Creatd Studios

The goal of Creatd Studios is to elevate creators’ stories to TV, film, books, podcasts, video, and more. 

Application of First-Party Data

Creatd’s business intelligence and marketing teams identify and target individual creators, communities, and brands, utilizing empirical data harnessed from the Vocal platform. The team’s ability to apply its proprietary first-party data works to reduce acquisition costs for new creators and to help provide brands with conversions and an ideal targeted audience. In this way, our ability to apply first-party data is one of the value-drivers for the Company across its four business pillars.

Importantly, we do not sell the collected data, that being a common monetization opportunity for many other businesses. Instead, we use our collected first-party data for the purposes of bettering the platform. Specifically, our data helps us understand the behaviors and attributes that are common among the creators, brands, and audiences within our ecosystem. We then pair our first-party Vocal data with third-party data from distribution platforms such as Facebook and Snapchat to provide a more granular profile of our creators, brands, and audiences.

It is through generating this valuable first-party data that we can continually enrich and refine our targeting capabilities for branded content promotion and creator acquisition, and specifically, to reduce our creator acquisition costs (CAC) and subscriber acquisition costs (SAC).

Competition

The idea for Vocal came as a response to what Creatd’s founders recognized as systemic flaws inherent to the digital media industry and its operational infrastructures. Depreciating value of digital media business models built on legacy technology platforms created a unique opportunity for development of a creator-centric platform that could appeal to a global community and, at the same time, be capable of acquiring undervalued complimentary technology assets.

Creatd’s founders built the Vocal platform upon the general thesis that a closed and safe ecosystem utilizing first-party data to increase efficiencies could create a sustainable and defensible business model. Vocal was strategically developed to provide value for content creators, readers, and brands, and to serve as a home for the ever-increasing amount of digital content being produced and the libraries of digital assets lying dormant.

Vocal is most commonly discussed as a combination of:

Creatd does not view Vocal as a substitute or competitor to segment-specific content platforms, such as Vimeo, YouTube, Instagram, or SoundCloud. We don’t want to replace anyone; we built Vocal to be accretive to the entire digital ecosystem. In fact, one of the most powerful components of our technology is the fact that Vocal makes it easy for creators to embed their existing published content, including videos, songs, podcasts, photographs, and more, directly into Vocal. We see this as a growth opportunity by building partnerships with the world’s greatest technology companies and to further spread our roots deeper into the digital landscape.

Revenue Model

Creatd’s revenues are primarily generated through:

Acquisition Strategy

Creatd’s hybrid finance and design culture is key to its acquisition strategy. Acquisition targets are companies that meet a set of opportunistic or financial standards or that are part of specific digital environments that are accretive and can seamlessly integrate into Creatd’s existing revenue lines. Creatd will continue to make strategic acquisitions when presented with opportunities that are in the interest of shareholder value.

Corporate History and Information

We were originally incorporated under the laws of the State of Nevada on December 30, 1999 under the name LILM, Inc. The Company changed its name on December 3, 2013 to Great Plains Holdings, Inc.

On February 5, 2016 (the “Merger Closing Date”), we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with GPH Merger Sub, Inc., a Nevada corporation and our wholly-owned subsidiary (“Merger Sub”), and Jerrick Ventures, Inc., a privately-held Nevada corporation headquartered in New Jersey (“Jerrick”), pursuant to which the Merger Sub was merged with and into Jerrick, with Jerrick surviving as our wholly-owned subsidiary (the “Merger”). Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, we acquired, through a reverse triangular merger, all of the outstanding capital stock of Jerrick in exchange for issuing Jerrick’s shareholders (the “Jerrick Shareholders”), pro-rata, a total of 475,000 shares of our common stock, par value $0.001 per share (“Common Stock”). Additionally, we assumed 33,415 shares of Jerrick’s Series A Convertible Preferred Stock (the “Jerrick Series A Preferred”) and 8,064 shares of Series B Convertible Preferred Stock (the “Jerrick Series B Preferred”).

Upon closing of the Merger on February 5, 2016, the Company changed its business plan to our current plan.

In connection with the Merger, on the Merger Closing Date, we entered into a Spin-Off Agreement with Kent Campbell (the “Spin-Off Agreement”), pursuant to which Mr. Campbell purchased (i) all of our interest in Ashland Holdings, LLC, a Florida limited liability company, and (ii) all of our interest in Lil Marc, Inc., a Utah corporation, in exchange for the cancellation of 13,030 shares of our common stock held by Mr. Campbell. In addition, Mr. Campbell assumed all of our debts, obligations and liabilities, including any existing prior to the Merger, pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Spin-Off Agreement.

Effective February 28, 2016, we entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Statutory Merger Agreement”), pursuant to which we became the parent company of Jerrick Ventures, LLC, our wholly-owned operating subsidiary (the “Statutory Merger”).

On February 28, 2016, we changed our name to Jerrick Media Holdings, Inc. to better reflect our new business strategy.

On July 25, 2019, we filed a certificate of amendment to our articles of incorporation, as amended (the “Amendment”), with the Secretary of State of the State of Nevada to effectuate a one-for-twenty (1:20) reverse stock split (the “Reverse Stock Split”) of our common stock without any change to its par value. The Amendment became effective on July 30, 2019. The number of shares of authorized common stock was proportionately reduced as a result of the Reverse Stock Split. The number of shares of authorized preferred stock was not affected by the Reverse Stock Split. No fractional shares were issued in connection with the Reverse Stock Split as all fractional shares were “rounded up” to the next whole share.

All share and per share amounts for the common stock indicated in this prospectus have been retroactively restated to give effect to the Reverse Stock Split.

On September 11, 2019, the Company acquired 100% of the membership interests of Seller’s Choice, LLC, a New Jersey limited liability company (“Seller’s Choice”). Seller’s Choice is digital e-commerce agency based in New Jersey (see Note 4).

On July 13, 2020, upon approval from our board of directors and stockholders, we filed Second Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation with the Secretary of State of the State of Nevada for the purpose of increasing our authorized shares of Common Stock to 100,000,000.

On August 13, 2020, we filed a certificate of amendment to our second amended and restated articles of incorporation (the “Amendment”), with the Secretary of State of the State of Nevada to effectuate a one-for-three (1:3) reverse stock split (the “August 2020 Reverse Stock Split”) of our common stock without any change to its par value. The Amendment became effective on August 17, 2020. No fractional shares were issued in connection with the August 2020 Reverse Stock Split as all fractional shares were rounded down to the next whole share. All share and per share amounts of our common stock listed in this prospectus have been adjusted to give effect to the August 2020 Reverse Stock Split.

On September 9, 2020, the Company filed a certificate of amendment with the Secretary of State of the State of Nevada to change our name to “Creatd, Inc.”, which became effective on September 10, 2020.

Recent Developments

Executive Option Awards

The Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Creatd, Inc., a Nevada corporation (the “Company”), approved the Creatd, Inc. 2022 Omnibus Securities and Incentive Plan (the “Plan”), which the Company intends to submit to a vote of shareholders. As the Plan was approved by the Board but has not yet been approved by the Company’s shareholders, in accordance with the rules of The Nasdaq Capital Market, the Company is permitted to adopt an equity arrangement and grant options thereunder prior to obtaining shareholder approval, provided that (i) no options can be exercised prior to obtaining shareholder approval, and (ii) the plan can be unwound, and the outstanding options cancelled, if shareholder approval is not obtained. The Plan provides for the granting of Distribution Equivalent Rights, Incentive Share Options, Non-Qualified Share Options, Performance Unit Awards, Restricted Share Awards, Restricted Share Unit Awards, Share Appreciation Rights, Tandem Share Appreciation Rights, Unrestricted Share Awards or any combination of the foregoing, as may be best suited to the circumstances of the particular employee, director or consultant as provided in the Plan. The aggregate number of Common Shares (including Common Shares underlying Options designated as Incentive Share Options or Non-Qualified Share Options) that may be issued under the Plan shall not exceed the sum of (i) 5,450,000 Common Shares plus (ii) an annual increase on the first day of each calendar year beginning January 1, 2023 and ending on and including January 1, 2031 equal to the lesser of (A) five percent (5%) of the Common Shares outstanding on the final day of the immediately preceding calendar year, and (B) such smaller number of Common Shares as determined by the Board. Additionally, the aggregate number of Common Shares (including Common Shares underlying Options designated as Incentive Share Options or Non-Qualified Share Options) that may be issued under the Plan to persons who are not Directors shall not exceed the sum of (i) 4,770,000 Common Shares plus (ii) an annual increase on the first day of each calendar year beginning January 1, 2023 and ending on and including January 1, 2031 equal to the lesser of (A) five percent (5%) of the Common Shares outstanding on the final day of the immediately preceding calendar year, and (B) such smaller number of Common Shares as determined by the Board. Options issued pursuant to the Plan shall not expire later than 10 years from the date of grant.

On June 1, 2022, on the recommendation of the Compensation Committee of the Board (the “Compensation Committee”), the Board issued options priced at the greater of the closing price on June 1, 2022 and the 30-day VWAP for the 30-day period ending on June 1, 2022 and vesting immediately upon the Company’s shareholders’ approval of the Plan (the “Tranche 1 Options”), to: (i) Jeremy Frommer, Executive Chairman, 195,000 Tranche 1 Options; (ii) Laurie Weisberg, Chief Executive Officer, 195,000 Tranche 1 Options; (iii) Justin Maury, President, 195,000 Tranche 1 Options; and (iv) Chelsea Pullano, Chief Financial Officer, 50,000 Tranche 1 Options.

On June 3, 2022, on the recommendation of the Compensation Committee, the Board agreed to issue options, subject to the recipients’ continued employment with the Company and the Company having achieved a minimum of $6 million in net revenues for the 2022 fiscal year (the “Tranche 2 Options”), vesting as follows: (a) 1/3 of the Tranche 2 Options, priced at $1.32, will vest on December 31, 2022, (b) 1/3 of the Tranche 2 Options, priced at $1.58, will vest on December 31, 2023 and (c) the final 1/3 of the Tranche 2 Options priced at $1.90, will vest on December 31, 2024. The Tranche 2 Options were awarded to: (i) Jeremy Frommer, Executive Chairman, 195,000 Tranche 2 Options; (ii) Laurie Weisberg, Chief Executive Officer, 195,000 Tranche 2 Options; (iii) Justin Maury, President, 195,000 Tranche 2 Options; and (iv) Chelsea Pullano, Chief Financial Officer, 50,000 Tranche 2 Options.

Convertible Note Offering

On May 31, 2022 (the “Effective Date”), Creatd, Inc., a Nevada corporation (the “Company”), entered into and closed securities purchase agreements (each, a “Purchase Agreement”) with eight accredited investors (the “Investors”), whereby the Investors purchased from the Company for an aggregate of $3,600,036 in subscription amount (i) debentures in the principal amount of $4,000,000 (the “Debentures”); (ii) 2,000,000 Series C Common Stock Purchase Warrants to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “Common Stock”) (the “Series C Warrants”); and (iii) 2,000,000 Series D Common Stock Purchase Warrants to purchase shares of Common Stock (the “Series D Warrants”, and collectively with the Series C Warrants, the “Warrants”). The Company and the Investors also entered into registration rights agreements (each, a “Registration Rights Agreement”) pursuant to the Purchase Agreement.

The Debentures have an original issue discount of 10%, have a term of six months with a maturity date of November 30, 2022, may be extended by six months at the Company’s option subject to certain conditions, and are convertible into shares of Common Stock at a conversion price of $2.00 per share, subject to adjustment upon certain events including a one-time adjustment to the price of the Common Stock offered in the Rights Offering (as defined therein), with such adjusted conversion price not to be lower than $1.00.

The Warrants are exercisable for a term of five years from the initial exercise date of November 30, 2022, until November 30, 2027. The Series C Warrants are exercisable at an exercise price of $3.00, subject to adjustment upon certain events including a one-time adjustment to the price of the Common Stock offered in the Rights Offering, with such adjusted exercise price not to be lower than $0.96. The Series D Warrants are exercisable at an exercise price of $6.00 subject to adjustment upon certain events including a one-time adjustment to the price of the Common Stock offered in the Rights Offering, with such adjusted exercise price not to be lower than $0.96. The Warrants provide for cashless exercise to the extent that there is no registration statement available for the underlying shares of Common Stock. The shares underlying the Debentures, the Series C Warrants and the Series D Warrants are to be registered within 90 days of the Effective Date.

The representations and warranties contained in the Purchase Agreement were made by the parties to, and solely for the benefit of, the other in the context of all of the terms and conditions of the Purchase Agreement and in the context of the specific relationship between the parties. The provisions of the Purchase Agreement, including the representations and warranties contained therein, are not for the benefit of any party other than the parties to the Purchase Agreement. The Purchase Agreement is not intended for investors and the public to obtain factual information about the current state of affairs of the parties.

Additionally, in connection with the Purchase Agreements, the subsidiaries of the Company delivered a guarantee (the “Guarantee”) in favor of the Investors whereby each such subsidiary guaranteed the full payment and performance of all obligations of the Company pursuant to the Purchase Agreement.

Registered Direct Offering –March 2022

On March 7, 2022, the Company entered into a securities purchase agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with thirteen accredited investors resulting in the raise of $2,659,750 in gross proceeds to the Company. Pursuant to the terms of the Purchase Agreement, the Company agreed to sell in a registered direct offering an aggregate of 1,519,857 shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “Common Stock”) together with warrants to purchase an aggregate of 1,519,857 shares of Common Stock (the “Warrants”) at an exercise price of $1.75 per share (collectively, the “Offering”). The warrants will be immediately exercisable and will expire on March 9, 2027.

The Offering closed on March 9, 2022, after the satisfaction of customary closing conditions as set forth in the Purchase Agreement. The gross proceeds from the Offering were $2,659,750, before deducting Offering expenses, which will be used for general corporate purposes, including working capital.

The shares of Common Stock were offered and sold by the Company pursuant to a prospectus supplement, which was filed with Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 9, 2022, in connection with a takedown from the Company’s effective shelf registration statement on Form S-3, which was filed with the SEC on November 25, 2020 and subsequently declared effective on April 23, 2021 (File No. 333-250982) (the “Shelf Registration Statement”).

Nasdaq Notice of Delisting

On January 4, 2021, the Company received a letter from the staff of The Nasdaq Capital Market (the “Exchange”) notifying the Company that the Exchange had determined to delist the Company’s common stock and warrants from the Exchange based on the Company’s non-compliance with the Exchange’s (i) $5 million stockholders’ equity requirement for initial listing pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5505(b), (ii) the $2.5 million stockholders’ equity requirement or any of the alternatives for continued listing pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b), and (iii) the Company’s failure to provide material information to the Exchange pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(a)(1).

On February 11, 2021, the Company met with the Exchange’s Hearings Panel (the “Panel”) with respect to such determination, in accordance with the Exchange’s rules and, pursuant to such request by the Company to appeal, the delisting of the Company’s securities and the Form 25 Notification of Delisting filing was stayed pending the Panel’s decision.

On March 9, 2021, the Exchange notified the Company that the Panel had determined to continue the listing of the Company on the Exchange. Notwithstanding the Panel’s determination to continue the listing of the Company’s securities on the Exchange, the Panel issued a public reprimand letter to the Company, pursuant to Listing Rule 5815(c)(1)(D), based on its finding “that the Company failed to meet the initial listing criteria with respect to stockholders’ equity and failed to provide Nasdaq with material information with respect to that deficiency.” Specifically, the Panel found that the Company failed to comply with Listing Rule 5250(a)(1), requiring it to notify Nasdaq of certain significant developments that led to the Company’s prior representations about its ability to satisfy the initial listing requirements being inaccurate. In reaching its determination to continue the listing of the Company on Nasdaq, the Panel acknowledged that the Company has since demonstrated compliance with the initial listing requirement for stockholders’ equity and all other applicable initial listing requirements. The Panel also determined that the violations were inadvertent and that the Company had relied on advice of counsel at the time in its interactions with the Nasdaq staff (“Staff”). The Panel also acknowledged the Company’s efforts to implement structural changes within the Company to avoid similar misstatements in the future and that would allow for proper accounting and disclosure on an ongoing basis.

A Panel Monitor has been implemented under Listing Rule 5815(d)(4)(A) for a period of one year from the date of the Letter. In the event that the Company becomes deficient with respect to any continued listing requirement, the Company will not be afforded the opportunity to submit a compliance plan for Staff’s consideration and Staff will issue a Delist Determination Letter and promptly schedule a new hearing under Listing Rule 5810(c)(2), at which the Company may present a compliance plan for the Panel’s consideration. In the event of a new hearing, any suspension or delisting action would be stayed pending the completion of the hearings process and the expiration of any additional extension period granted by the Panel following the hearing.

On March 1, 2022, the Company received a letter (the “Letter”) from the staff of The Nasdaq Capital Market (the “Exchange”) notifying the Company that the Exchange has determined to delist the Company’s common stock from the Exchange based on the Company’s Market Value of Listed Securities for the 30-consecutive day period between January 15, 2022 and February 25, 2022 falling short of the requirements under Listing Rule 5550(b)(2) (the “Rule”). Although a 180-day period is typically allowed for an issuer to regain compliance, the Company is not eligible to use such compliance period, as the Exchange had instituted a Panel Monitor through March 9, 2022.

The Company is pursuing an appeal to the Panel of such determination, in accordance with the Exchange’s rules and, pursuant to such request by the Company to appeal, the delisting of the Company’s securities and the Form 25 Notification of Delisting filing will be stayed pending the Panel’s decision.

The Company intends to present to the Panel evidence that the Company has regained compliance with the Rule; however, there can be no assurance that the Panel will grant the Company’s request for continued listing.

The Letter has no immediate impact on the listing of the Company’s common stock or warrants, which will continue to be listed and traded on the Exchange, subject to the Company’s compliance with other continued listing requirements. The Company’s receipt of the Letter does not affect the Company’s business, operations or reporting requirements with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Securities Purchase Agreement

On March 1, 2022, the Company entered into securities purchase agreements with twenty-eight (28) accredited investors whereby, at the closing, such investors purchased from the Company an aggregate of (i) 1,401,457 shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share and (ii) 1,401,457 warrants to purchase shares of common stock, for an aggregate purchase price of $2,452,550. Such warrants are exercisable for a term of five-years from the date of issuance, at an exercise price of $1.75 per share, and provide for cashless exercise to the extent that there is no registration statement available for the underlying shares of common stock. The Benchmark Company, LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor for the Company in connection with the financing and is entitled to receive 125,000 shares of common stock as compensation for its services. The closing of the financing occurred on March 1, 2022.

Board of Directors and Management

Appointment of New Directors

On February 17, 2022, the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of the Company appointed Joanna Bloor, Brad Justus, and Lorraine Hendrickson to serve as members of the Board. Ms. Bloor has been nominated to, and will serve as, chair of the Compensation Committee, and to be a member of the Audit Committee and Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee. Mr. Justus has been nominated, and will serve as, chair of the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee, and to be a member of the Compensation Committee and Audit Committee. Ms. Hendrickson has been nominated to, and will serve as, chair of the Audit Committee and to be a member of the Compensation and Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee.

Departure of Directors

On July 16, 2021, Mark Patterson notified the Board of the Company of his resignation from the Board, effective July 31, 2021. Such resignation was not the result of any disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to the Company’s operations, policies or practices.

On February 17, 2022, the Board received notice that effective immediately, Mark Standish resigned as Chair of the Board, Chair of the Audit Committee and as a member of the Compensation Committee and Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee; Leonard Schiller resigned as member of the Board, Chair of the Compensation Committee and as a member of the Audit Committee and Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee; and LaBrena Martin resigned as a member of the Board, Chair of the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee and as a member of the Audit Committee and Compensation Committee. Such resignations are not the result of any disagreement with the Company on any matter relating to the Company’s operations, policies or practices.

Management Restructuring

On August 13, 2021, the Board approved the restructuring of the Company’s senior management team to be comprised of two Co-Chief Executive Officers and appointed Jeremy Frommer and Laurie Weisberg to such positions (the “First Restructuring”). Additionally, Justin Maury was appointed Chief Operating Officer and retains his position as President. Prior to the First Restructuring, Mr. Frommer served as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Ms. Weisberg served as the Company’s Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Frommer and Ms. Weisberg continue to serve as members of the Board. The Restructuring did not impact the role or functions of the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, Chelsea Pullano.

On February 17, 2022, the Board of the Company approved the restructuring of the Company’s senior management team to eliminate the Co-Chief Executive Officer role, appointing Jeremy Frommer as Executive Chairman and Founder, and appointing Laurie Weisberg as Chief Executive Officer (the “Second Restructuring”). Prior to the Second Restructuring, Mr. Frommer and Ms. Weisberg served as the Company’s co-Chief Executive Officers and Ms. Weisberg served as the Company’s Chief Operating Officer. The Second Restructuring does not impact the role or functions of the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, Chelsea Pullano, or the role or functions of the Company’s President and Chief Operating Officer, Justin Maury.

Plant Camp LLC Purchase

On June 4, 2021, the Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Creatd Partners, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the “Purchaser”), entered into a Membership Interest Purchase Agreement (the “MIPA”) with Angela Hein and Heidi Brown (the “Sellers”), pursuant to which the Purchaser acquired 841,005 common units of Plant Camp LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Plant Camp”) from the Sellers, resulting in the Purchaser owning 89% of the issued and outstanding equity of Plant Camp.

Simultaneous with the execution of the MIPA, and having met all conditions precedent in the MIPA, the parties to the MIPA consummated the closing of the transactions contemplated by the MIPA (the “Closing”). At the Closing, the Purchaser acquired a majority interest in Plant Camp in exchange for a cash payment to the Sellers of $300,000. The MIPA contains customary representations, warranties, covenants, indemnification and other terms for transactions of a similar nature.

On the Closing Date, the Amended and Restated Liability Company Operating Agreement of Plant Camp was amended and restated (the “Second A&R Operating Agreement”) to reflect the purchase and sale of the Membership Interests pursuant to the MIPA.

Underwritten Public Offering

On June 17, 2021, the Company entered into an underwriting agreement (the “Underwriting Agreement”) with The Benchmark Company LLC (“Benchmark” or the “Underwriter”), pursuant to which we agreed to sell to the Underwriter in a firm commitment underwritten public offering (the “Offering”) an aggregate of 750,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share, at a public offering price of $3.40 per share. The Company also granted the Underwriter a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 112,500 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any. The Offering closed on June 21, 2021.

Benchmark acted as sole bookrunner for the Offering. The Offering was made pursuant to a prospectus supplement dated June 17, 2021, and a base prospectus dated April 23, 2021, which is part of a registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-250982) that was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) on November 25, 2020, as amended on April 9, 2021, and declared effective by the Commission on April 23, 2021. The Underwriter received a discount in the amount of 7% of the aggregate gross proceeds received by the Company in connection with the Offering, warrants equal to 5% of the total of all shares issued in the Public Offering, including overallotment shares, exercisable six months from the date of issuance, at the price of $4.08, for a period of five years (the “Underwriter Warrants”), and reimbursement of certain expenses.

The Underwriting Agreement included customary representations, warranties and covenants, and customary conditions to closing, expense and reimbursement obligations and termination provisions. Additionally, under the terms of the Underwriting Agreement, we have agreed to indemnify the Underwriter against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or to contribute to payments the Underwriter may be required to make in respect of these liabilities.

The gross proceeds to the Company from the sale of 750,000 shares of Common Stock, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, will be $2,550,000. We used the net proceeds from the Offering for working capital and general corporate purposes.

WHE Agency Transaction

On July 20, 2021, the Company entered into, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Creatd Partners, LLC (“Creatd Partners”), a Stock Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with individuals named therein (collectively, the “Sellers”), pursuant to which Creatd Partners acquired from the Sellers, subject to the terms and conditions of the Purchase Agreement and other related agreements (the “Transaction Documents”) 1,158,000 shares of common stock of WHE Agency, Inc. (“WHE Agency”), a talent management and public relations agency that primarily focuses on representation and management of family and lifestyle-focused influencers and digital creators. The equity interest acquired in the Transaction (as defined below) along with the Voting Agreements described below equals fifty-five (55%) of the voting power and forty-four (44%) of the ownership of WHE Agency’s issued and outstanding shares, determined on a fully diluted basis post-transaction.

Pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, the Sellers sold, transferred, assigned, conveyed and delivered to Creatd Partners their respective issued and outstanding shares of common stock in WHE Agency (the “Transaction”). The aggregate closing consideration of the Transaction is $1,038,271, which consists of a combination of cash, in the amount of $144,750 (“Cash Consideration”), and the remaining $893,521 issued to the Sellers in the form of 224,503 shares of the Company’s restricted common stock (“Closing Share Consideration”).

The Transaction closed on July 23, 2021 (the “Closing”). At the Closing, Sellers received their respective portion of the aggregate closing consideration in the form of a combination of Cash Consideration and Closing Share Consideration, except for 5% of the total Closing Share Consideration that will be subject to a twelve (12) month Indemnification Holdback Period.

The 224,503 shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “Common Stock”), were issued as part of the Closing Share Consideration (the “Shares”) to the Sellers are “restricted securities,” as defined in Rule 144(a)(3) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”), and accordingly the Shares may not be resold by the Sellers without registration under the Act or an available exemption from registration. Under the Purchase Agreement, the Company will be obligated to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) within ten business days after the Closing, a registration statement on Form S-1 or Form S-3 registering the resale of the Shares by the Sellers under the Act to cover the resale of the Shares issued to the Sellers.

The Purchase Agreement contain representations and warranties made by and to the parties thereto as of specific dates. The Purchase Agreement includes customary representations, warranties and covenants of the Company, Sellers and WHE Agency. The representations and warranties made by each party were made solely for the benefit of the other parties and (i) were not intended to be treated as categorical statements of fact, but rather as a way of allocating the risk between the parties to the Purchase Agreement if those statements prove to be inaccurate; (ii) may have been qualified in the Purchase Agreement by disclosures that were made to the other party in disclosure schedules to the Purchase Agreement, and (iii) were made only as of the date of the Purchase Agreement or such other date or dates as may be specified in the Purchase Agreement.

In connection with entering into the Purchase Agreement, Creatd Partners entered into a certain Voting Agreement and Proxy (the “Voting Agreement”) with certain beneficial owners that collectively own 11% percent of WHE Agency’s issued and outstanding restricted common stock (“Restricted Stockholders”). Through the Voting Agreements entered into with the Restricted Stockholders, Creatd Partners effectively controls 55% of the total voting power of the Company in the aggregate. The Voting Agreements generally require that the stockholders who are party to the Voting Agreements vote or cause to be voted their WHE Agency shares, and execute and deliver written consents and otherwise exercise all voting and other rights with respect to the WHE Agency shares at the direction of Creatd Partners. In addition, in connection with the Voting Agreements, the Restricted Stockholders delivered irrevocable proxies to Creatd Partners. The Voting Agreements terminate upon the twenty-year anniversary of executing the Voting Agreements.

Dune Transaction

On October 3, 2021, we, through Creatd Partners, LLC (“Buyer”), entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement (the “Dune Agreement”) with Standard Holdings, Inc. (“SHI”) and Mark De Luca (“De Luca”) (SHI and De Luca, collectively the “Dune Sellers”), and Stephanie Roy Dufault, whereby Buyer purchased a majority stake in Dune, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Dune”). Pursuant to the Dune Agreement, which closed on October 4, 2021, Buyer acquired a total of 3,905,634 shares of the common stock of Dune (the “Purchased Shares”). The Company issued 163,344 restricted shares of the Company’s common stock to the Dune Sellers.

In addition, pursuant to the Dune Agreement, $50,000 worth of the Company’s common stock issuable to the Dune Sellers on a pro rata basis, priced in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the Dune Agreement (the “Indemnification Escrow Amount”), shall be held in escrow and reserved in each Dune Seller’s name by the Company’s transfer agent until such time as release is authorized under the Agreement.

Each of the Dune Sellers and Buyer have made customary representations and warranties, and covenants in the Agreement.

In connection with the Dune Agreement, Dune, Creatd Partners, Mark De Luca and SHI entered into a Stockholders Agreement dated October 3, 2021, providing for the purchase of the Purchased Shares representing a majority stake in Dune. The Stockholders Agreement contains customary representations and warranties, and covenants.

Registered Direct Offering – October 2021

On October 25, 2021, we entered into a securities purchase agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with institutional investors (collectively, the “Purchasers”) resulting in the raise of $3,825,000 in gross proceeds to the Company. Pursuant to the terms of the Purchase Agreement, the Company agreed to sell, in a registered direct offering, an aggregate of 850,000 shares (the “Shares”) of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share (the “Common Stock”), at a purchase price of $4.50 per Share (the “Offering”). The Offering closed on October 27, 2021, subject to customary closing conditions.

Pursuant to the terms of the Purchase Agreement, each of the Purchasers was granted the right to participate in a subsequent financing in an amount up to 25% of such subsequent financing. Additionally, under the terms of the Purchase Agreement, the Company and its subsidiaries are prohibited from issuing Common Stock or common stock equivalents for a period of 30 days from the date of the closing of the Purchase Agreement, other than with respect to Exempt Issuances (as defined in the Purchase Agreement) and the Company shall not undertake a reverse or forward stock split or reclassification of the Common Stock without the prior written consent of the Purchasers holding a majority in interest of the Shares, except as may be required in connection with the satisfaction of the minimum bid price requirement of the principal Trading Market.

The Benchmark Company, LLC acted as exclusive placement agent (the “Placement Agent”) for the Company in connection with the Offering. Pursuant to that certain Placement Agency Agreement, dated as of October 25, 2021, between the Company and the Placement Agent (the “Placement Agency Agreement”), the Placement Agent is entitled to a cash fee equal to $267,750, which represents seven percent (7.0%) of the aggregate gross proceeds raised in the Offering, the reimbursement of certain of the Placement Agent’s expenses, and warrants to purchase up to 42,500 shares of Common Stock at an exercise price of $5.40 per share, which represents five percent (5.0%) of the aggregate number of Shares sold in the Offering (the “Placement Agent Warrants”). The Placement Agent Warrants will not be exercisable for a period of six months following the date of the closing and thereafter are exercisable for a period of five years.

The Company’s net proceeds to the Company from the Offering were approximately $3,407,250 after deducting the Placement Agent fees and estimated expenses payable by the Company.

Laurie Weisberg – Chief Executive Officer and Director

Ms. Weisberg was elected to our board of directors in July 2020 and has been our Chief Executive Officer since 2022. Previously, she held the position of Co-Chief Executive Officer from August 2021 to February 2022, and Chief Operating Officer from September 2020 to August 2021. Weisberg, who has served as the Chief Sales Officer at Intent since February 2019, has spent over 25 years at the forefront of sales and marketing innovation in the technology space, having held leadership positions at various technology companies including Thrive Global, Curalate, and Oracle Data Cloud. From October 2010 to April 2015, Ms. Weisberg was a member of the executive leadership team at Datalogix, leading up to its acquisition by Oracle in 2015, at which point she assumed the role of VP of Oracle Data Cloud. Additionally, Ms. Weisberg has served on the Advisory Board at Crowdsmart, an intelligent data-driven investment prediction platform since April 2019. Ms. Weisberg was born and educated in England. We believe Ms. Weisberg is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to her extensive global sales and brand marketing expertise as well as her leadership experience working within the technology space.

Jeremy Frommer – Executive Chairman and Co-Founder

Mr. Frommer was appointed Executive Chairman in February 2022 and has been a member of our board of directors since February 2016. Previously, he served as our Chief Executive Officer from February 2016 to August 2021, and Co-Chief Executive Officer from August 2021 to February 2022. Mr. Frommer has over 20 years of experience in the financial technology industry. Previously, Mr. Frommer held key leadership roles in the investment banking and trading divisions of large financial institutions. From 2009 to 2012, Mr. Frommer was briefly retired until beginning concept formation for Jerrick Ventures which he officially founded in 2013. From 2007 to 2009, Mr. Frommer was Managing Director of Global Prime Services at RBC Capital Markets, the investment banking arm of the Royal Bank of Canada, the largest financial institution in Canada, after the sale of Carlin Financial Group, a professional trading firm. From 2004 to 2007, Mr. Frommer was the Chief Executive Officer of Carlin Financial Group after the sale of NextGen Trading, a software development company focused on building equity trading platforms. From 2002 to 2004, Mr. Frommer was Founder and Chief Executive Officer of NextGen Trading. From 2000 to 2002, he was Managing Director of Merger Arbitrage Trading at Bank of America, a financial services firm. Mr. Frommer was also a director of LionEye Capital, a hedge fund from June 2012 to June 2014. He holds a B.A. from the University of Albany. We believe Mr. Frommer is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his financial and leadership experience.

Joanna Bloor – Director

Ms. Bloor, age 52, Founder and CEO of The Amplify Lab, combines over 7 years of experience in Technology senior management following a 15-year career as a Senior Executive in Operations and Marketing. Previously, she had been involved in three companies in the Technology and Media industry, holding positions including VP of Sales Operations, AVP of Sales Operations and Director of Sales Operations, and board member. From 2010 through 2015, she held the position of VP of Sales Operations at Pandora, a technology and entertainment company. From 2000 to 2010, Ms. Bloor was the AVP of Sales Operations for CBS Interactive, Inc., a Digital Media and News organization. From 2000 to 2001, she was the Director of Sales Operations for OpenTable.com, an online restaurant reservation company. Joanna is also currently the Founder and CEO of The Amplify Lab., a career coaching company rooted in technology, data, and human experiences. We believe Joanna will be invaluable assisting Creatd shape and implement company culture transformation, overall operations, and human capital management. She has also had specific and deep experience in scaling revenue and implementing teams for numerous public and private companies, including leading technology companies and consumer brands that generate multi-million to hundreds of millions in annual revenue.

Brad Justus – Director

Mr. Justus, age 61, most recently Director of International Publishing at Riot Games, combines over 13 years of executive management experience in the game development and publishing industries with more than 10 years in multiple C-Suite officer roles.  Previously, he had been involved in 3 companies in the technology and gaming industry, holding positions including Vice President of Marketing and Brand Experience, Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Executive Officer, and Senior Vice President. From 2015 to 2016, he served as Chief Experience Officer at Radiant Entertainment, a gaming company that was acquired by Riot Games in 2016. From 2012 to 2014, Mr. Justus was VP of Marketing and Brand Experience at ROBLOX Corporation, a digital community, and gaming company. From 2009 to 2012, he was Chief Marketing Officer at ClearStreet, Inc., a fintech startup company. From 2006 through 2007, Mr. Justus was the Senior Vice President for Art.com, an online art marketplace. From 2004 to 2005, he was President and CEO for Informative, Inc., an online technology survey company. Previously, he was Senior Vice President at LEGO, an industry-leading toy company from 1999 to 2004.  Since 2016 Mr. Justus held titles including Director, Brand Marketing and Director, International Publishing at Riot Games, a video game company where he also led the creator-driven global launch of the blockbuster game VALORANT in 2020. Mr. Justus holds a Bachelor of Arts cum laude in Political Science from Amherst College. We believe Mr. Justus will be a strong addition to Creatd’s board of directors because of his experience leading branding, marketing, and product development teams at numerous direct to consumer companies. Many of these companies are tech- and community-focused, just like Creatd. He will also advise on overall online strategy and revenue growth.

Lorraine Hendrickson – Director

Lorraine Hendrickson, age 56, combines over 20 years of experience in the investment banking industry, having held numerous senior management and executive positions including Chief Administration Officer, Vice President of Business Development, Corporate Relations, and Investment Strategy as well as various Director positions. From 2004 to 2006, Ms. Hendrickson served as Vice President Investment Strategy & Corporate Relations at Merrill Lynch Investment Management. From 2006 to 2011, Ms. Hendrickson was Director at BNY Mellon. An investment management firm. From 2011 to 2012, she moved to Hong Kong with BNY Mellon to become their Chief Administration Officer, Global Distribution. From 20014 to 2015, Ms. Hendrickson moved to become a Director, within the Investment Management Advisory division of Deloitte UK, the leading London-based international consulting firm. She was subsequently recruited by a client and, from 2015-2018, served as the Program Director of London CIV (Collective Investment Vehicle), the City of London’s first alternative asset management company owned and operated by the local government.  She holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Rider University. We believe Ms. Hendrickson will add considerable value, including through her comprehensive and diverse investment management experience, deep knowledge of governance and regulatory frameworks, and broad experience with business development, operations, and executive leadership.

Justin Maury – Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder

Mr. Maury has served as our President since January 2019, and was appointed Chief Operating Officer in August 2021. He is a full stack design director with an expertise in product development. With over ten years of design and product management experience in the creative industry, Mr. Maury’s passion for the creative arts and technology ultimately resulted in the vision for Vocal. Since joining Creatd in 2013, Maury has overseen the development and launch of the company’s flagship product, Vocal, an innovative platform that provides storytelling tools and engaged communities for creators and brands to get discovered while funding their creativity. Under Maury’s supervision, Vocal has achieved growth to over 380,000 creators across 34 genre-specific communities in its first two years since launch.

Chelsea Pullano – Chief Financial Officer

Ms. Pullano has been our Chief Financial Officer since June 2020. She has a long history of leadership at Creatd, serving as a member of the Company’s Management Committee for four years. Prior to her current role, Ms. Pullano was an integral member of our finance department since 2017, most recently serving as our Head of Corporate Finance, a role in which she coordinated our periodic reports under the Exchange Act and other financial matters. Prior to joining the Finance Department, Ms. Pullano was a member of our operations team from 2015 to 2017. She holds a B.A. from the State University of New York College at Geneseo.

Director Terms; Qualifications

Members of our board of directors serve until the next annual meeting of stockholders, or until their successors have been duly elected.

When considering whether directors and nominees have the experience, qualifications, attributes and skills to enable the board of directors to satisfy its oversight responsibilities effectively in light of the Company’s business and structure, the board of directors focuses primarily on the industry and transactional experience, and other background, in addition to any unique skills or attributes associated with a director. 

Director or Officer Involvement in Certain Legal Proceedings

There are no material proceedings to which any director or officer, or any associate of any such director or officer, is a party that is adverse to our Company or any of our subsidiaries or has a material interest adverse to our Company or any of our subsidiaries. No director or executive officer has been a director or executive officer of any business which has filed a bankruptcy petition or had a bankruptcy petition filed against it during the past ten years. No director or executive officer has been convicted of a criminal offense or is the subject of a pending criminal proceeding during the past ten years. No director or executive officer has been the subject of any order, judgment or decree of any court permanently or temporarily enjoining, barring, suspending or otherwise limiting his involvement in any type of business, securities or banking activities during the past ten years. No director or officer has been found by a court to have violated a federal or state securities or commodities law during the past ten years.

Directors and Officers Liability Insurance

The Company has directors’ and officers’ liability insurance insuring its directors and officers against liability for acts or omissions in their capacities as directors or officers, subject to certain exclusions. Such insurance also insures the Company against losses, which it may incur in indemnifying its officers and directors. In addition, officers and directors also have indemnification rights under applicable laws, and the Company’s Second Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation and Amended and Restated Bylaws.

Director Independence

The listing rules of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) require that independent directors must comprise a majority of a listed company’s board of directors. In addition, the rules of Nasdaq require that, subject to specified exceptions, each member of a listed company’s audit, compensation, and nominating and governance committees be independent. Audit committee members must also satisfy the independence criteria set forth in Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act. Under the rules of Nasdaq, a director will only qualify as an “independent director” if, in the opinion of that company’s board of directors, that person does not have a relationship that would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director.

Our board of directors has undertaken a review of the independence of our directors and considered whether any director has a material relationship with it that could compromise his or her ability to exercise independent judgment in carrying out his or her responsibilities. Based upon information requested from and provided by each director concerning his background, employment and affiliations, including family relationships, the board of directors has determined that Joanna Bloor, Brad Justus and Lorraine Hendrickson are “independent” as that term is defined under the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC and the listing standards of Nasdaq. In making these determinations, our board of directors considered the current and prior relationships that each non-employee director has with the Company and all other facts and circumstances our board of directors deemed relevant in determining their independence, including the beneficial ownership of the Company’s capital stock by each non-employee director, and any transactions involving them described in the section captioned “—Certain relationships and related transactions and director independence.”

Board Committees

The Company’s Board has established three standing committees: Audit, Compensation, and Nominating and Corporate Governance. Each of the committees operates pursuant to its charter. The committee charters will be reviewed annually by the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. If appropriate, and in consultation with the chairs of the other committees, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee may propose revisions to the charters. The responsibilities of each committee are described in more detail below.

Nasdaq permits a phase-in period of up to one year for an issuer registering securities in an initial public offering to meet the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee independence requirements. Under the initial public offering phase-in period, only one member of each committee is required to satisfy the heightened independence requirements at the time our registration statement becomes effective, a majority of the members of each committee must satisfy the heightened independence requirements within 90 days following the effectiveness of our registration statement, and all members of each committee must satisfy the heightened independence requirements within one year from the effectiveness of our registration statement.

Audit Committee

The Audit Committee, among other things, will be responsible for:

The board of directors has affirmatively determined that each member of the Audit Committee meets the additional independence criteria applicable to audit committee members under SEC rules and Nasdaq listing rules. The board of directors has adopted a written charter setting forth the authority and responsibilities of the Audit Committee. The Board has affirmatively determined that each member of the Audit Committee is financially literate, and that Ms. Hendrickson meets the qualifications of an Audit Committee financial expert.

The Audit Committee consists of Ms. Bloor, Mr. Justus and Ms. Hendrickson. Ms. Hendrickson chairs the Audit Committee. We believe that the functioning of the Audit Committee complies with the applicable requirements of the rules and regulations of the Nasdaq listing rules and the SEC.

Compensation Committee

The Compensation Committee will be responsible for:

The board of directors has adopted a written charter setting forth the authority and responsibilities of the Compensation Committee.

The Compensation Committee consists of Ms. Bloor, Mr. Justus and Ms. Hendrickson. Ms. Bloor serves as chairman of the Compensation Committee. The board of directors has affirmatively determined that each member of the Compensation Committee meets the independence criteria applicable to compensation committee members under SEC rules and Nasdaq listing rules. The Company believes that the composition of the Compensation Committee meets the requirements for independence under, and the functioning of such Compensation Committee will comply with, any applicable requirements of the rules and regulations of Nasdaq listing rules and the SEC. 

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, among other things, is responsible for:

The board of directors has adopted a written charter setting forth the authority and responsibilities of the Corporate Governance/Nominating Committee.

The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee consists of Ms. Bloor, Mr. Justus and Ms. Hendrickson. Mr. Justus serves as chair. The Company’s board of directors has determined that each member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is independent within the meaning of the independent director guidelines of Nasdaq listing rules.