GROM Grom Social Enterprises Inc

RISK FACTORS

Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. Before investing in our common stock and warrants, you should carefully consider the risks described below, as well as the other information in this prospectus, including our consolidated financial statements and the related notes. In addition, we may face additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us, or which as of the date of this registration statement we might not consider significant, which may adversely affect our business. If any of the following risks occur, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. In such case the trading price of our common stock and warrants could decline due to any of these risks or uncertainties, and you may lose part or all of your investment.

Risks Related to our Business and Industry

Our independent auditors have expressed their concern as to our ability to continue as a going concern.

On a consolidated basis, the Company has incurred significant operating losses since inception. The Company’s financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Because the Company does not expect that existing operational cash flow will be sufficient to fund presently anticipated operations, this raises substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Therefore, the Company will need to raise additional funds and is currently exploring alternative sources of financing. Historically, the Company has raised capital through private placements of its equity securities and convertible notes and through officer loans as an interim measure to finance working capital needs and may continue to raise additional capital through the sale of common stock or other securities and by obtaining short-term loans. The Company will be required to continue to do so until its consolidated operations become profitable.

These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. If we are unable to obtain sufficient funding, our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations will be materially and adversely affected, and we may be unable to continue as a going concern.

We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. This material weakness could continue to adversely affect our ability to report our results of operations and financial condition accurately and in a timely manner.

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP. Our management is likewise required, on a quarterly basis, to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal controls and to disclose any changes and material weaknesses identified through such evaluation in those internal controls. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

As described elsewhere in this prospectus, we identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to functional controls and segregation of duties. As a result of this material weakness, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 21, 2021.

Any failure to maintain such internal control could adversely impact our ability to report our financial position and results from operations on a timely and accurate basis, which could result a material adverse effect on our business. If our financial statements are not accurate, investors may not have a complete understanding of our operations. Likewise, if our financial statements are not filed on a timely basis, we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by Nasdaq, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. In addition, we would likely incur additional accounting, legal and other costs in connection with any remediation steps. Ineffective internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our stock.

To respond to this material weakness, we have devoted, and plan to continue to devote, significant effort and resources to the remediation and improvement of our internal control over financial reporting. While we have processes to identify and appropriately apply applicable accounting requirements, we plan to enhance these processes to better evaluate our research and understanding of the nuances of the complex accounting standards that apply to our financial statements. Our plans at this time include providing enhanced access to accounting literature, research materials and documents and increased communication among our personnel and third-party professionals with whom we consult regarding complex accounting applications. Additionally, we have hired, and plan to continue to hire, as resources permit, qualified accounting personnel to better manage our functional controls and segregate responsibilities. The elements of our remediation plan can only be accomplished over time, and we can offer no assurance that these initiatives will ultimately have the intended effects.

We can give no assurance that the measures we have taken and plan to take in the future will remediate the material weakness identified or that any additional material weaknesses or restatements of financial results will not arise in the future due to a failure to implement and maintain adequate internal control over financial reporting or circumvention of these controls. In addition, even if we are successful in strengthening our controls and procedures, in the future those controls and procedures may not be adequate to prevent or identify irregularities or errors or to facilitate the fair presentation of our financial statements.

Our obligations to L1 Capital and other noteholders are secured by a security interest in substantially all of our assets, so if we default on those obligations, the noteholders could foreclose on, liquidate and/or take possession of our assets. If that were to happen, we could be forced to curtail, or even to cease, our operations

On September 14, 2021, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with L1 Capital, pursuant to which it issued L1 Capital a 10% Original Issue Discount Senior Secured Convertible Promissory Note in the principal amount of $4,400,000 (the “L1 Capital Note”), which matures on March 13, 2023. Simultaneously, the Company entered into a Security Agreement with L1 Capital, pursuant to which L1 Capital was granted a security interest in all of the assets of the Company and certain of its subsidiaries to secure repayment of amounts due under the L1 Capital Note. As further inducement for L1 Capital to enter into the Security Agreement, certain of the Company’s pre-existing secured creditors (the “Additional Noteholders”), holding convertible promissory notes in the aggregate principal amount of $438,560 (the “Additional Notes”), agreed to give up their exclusive senior security interest in the assets of the Company’s subsidiary TD Holdings, in exchange for a shared senior secured interest with L1 Capital on a pari pasu basis on all assets of the Company. The Securities Purchase Agreement contemplated a closing of a second tranche of the offering (the “Second Tranche Closing”) of up to an additional $6,000,000 principal amount of Notes identical to the First Tranche Note. On January 20, 2022 the Company and LI Capital closed on the Second Tranche Closing, resulting in the issuance of a $1,750,000 10% Original Issue Discount Senior Secured Convertible Note, Due July 20, 2023, (the “Second Tranche Note”). As a result, if we default on our obligations under the L1 Capital Note, the Second Tranche Note and/or the Additional Notes, L1 Capital and the Additional Noteholders, as applicable, could foreclose on their security interests and liquidate or take possession of some or all of the assets of the Company and its subsidiaries, which would harm our business, financial condition and results of operations and could require us to curtail, or even to cease our operations.

Our future performance will depend on the continued engagement of key members of the management team of the Company.

Our future performance depends to a large extent on the continued services of members of the Company’s current management and other key personnel, including Zachary Marks. While we have employment agreements with certain of our executive officers and key employees, the failure to secure the continued services of these or other key personnel for any reason, could have a material adverse effect on our business, operations, and prospects. We currently do not carry “key man insurance” on any of our executives.

Failure to manage our growth effectively could cause our business to suffer and have an adverse effect on our financial condition and operating results.

Failure to manage our growth effectively could cause our business to suffer and have an adverse effect on our financial condition and operating results. To manage our growth effectively, we must continually evaluate and evolve our business and manage our employees, operations, finances, technology and development, and capital investments efficiently. Our efficiency, productivity and the quality of our Grom Social platform, animation business and web filtering user services and content may be adversely impacted if we fail to appropriately coordinate across our business operations. Additionally, rapid growth may place a strain on our resources, infrastructure, and ability to maintain the quality of our Grom Social platform. If and when our structure becomes more complex as we add additional staff, we will need to improve our operational, financial and management controls as well as our reporting systems and procedures. Our failure to manage our growth could disrupt our operations and ultimately prevent us from generating revenues.

Future business acquisitions, strategic investments or alliances, if any, as well as business acquisition transactions, could disrupt our business and may not succeed in generating the intended benefits and may, therefore, adversely affect our business, revenue and results of operations.

We completed the acquisition of TD Holdings in 2016, and recently acquired 80% of Curiosity. In the future, we may explore potential acquisitions of companies or technologies, strategic investments, or alliances to strengthen our business. Acquisitions involve numerous risks, any of which could harm our business, including:

Failure to appropriately mitigate these risks or other issues related to such strategic investments and acquisitions could result in reducing or completely eliminating any anticipated benefits of transactions and harm our business generally. Future acquisitions could also result in dilutive issuances of our equity securities, the incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities, amortization expenses or the impairment of goodwill, any of which could harm our business, financial condition, and operating results.

We face intense competition in all aspects of our business including competition in the animation and web filtering businesses. If we do not provide features and content that will engage and attract users, advertisers and developers we may not remain competitive, and our potential revenues and operating results could be adversely affected.

We face intense competition in almost every aspect of our business, including from companies such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Google, which offer a variety of Internet products, services, content, and online advertising offerings, as well as from mobile companies and smaller Internet companies that offer products and services that may compete directly with Grom Social for users, such as Yoursphere, Fanlala, Franktown Rocks and Sweety High. As we introduce new services and products, as our existing services and products evolve, or as other companies introduce new products and services, we may become subject to additional competition.

Some of our current and potential competitors have significantly greater resources and better competitive positions than we do. These factors may allow our competitors to respond more effectively than us to new or emerging technologies and changes in market requirements. Our competitors may develop products, features, or services that are similar to ours or that achieve greater market acceptance, may undertake more far-reaching and successful product development efforts or marketing campaigns, or may adopt more aggressive pricing policies. In addition, our users, content providers or application developers may use information shared by our users through Grom Social in order to develop products or features that compete with us. Certain competitors, including Facebook, could use strong or dominant positions in one or more markets to gain a competitive advantage against us in areas where we operate, including by creating a social networking experience similar to ours with similar content and features. As a result, our competitors may acquire and engage users at the expense of the growth or engagement of our user base, which may negatively affect our business and financial results.

We believe that our ability to compete effectively depends upon many factors, including:

If we are not able to effectively compete, our user base and level of user engagement may decrease, which could make us less attractive to developers and advertisers and materially and adversely affect our revenue and results of operations.

We are a holding company organized in Florida, with no operations of our own, and we depend on our subsidiaries, incorporated in Hong Kong, Manila and Florida for cash to fund our operations.

Our operations are conducted entirely through our subsidiaries and our ability to generate cash to fund operations or to meet debt service obligations is dependent on the earnings and the receipt of funds from our subsidiaries. Deterioration in the financial condition, earnings or cash flow of TD Holdings and its subsidiaries for any reason could limit or impair their ability to make payments to us. Additionally, to the extent that we need funds and our subsidiaries are restricted from making such distributions under applicable law or regulation or are otherwise unable to provide such funds, it could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects.

Our intellectual property rights are critical to our success, and the loss of such rights could materially adversely affect our business.

We regard our trademarks, copyrights, and other intellectual property rights as critical to our success and attempt to protect such intellectual property with registered and common law trademarks and copyrights, restrictions on disclosure and other actions to prevent infringement. However, there can be no assurance that other third parties will not infringe or misappropriate our trademarks and similar proprietary rights. If we lose some or all of our intellectual property rights, our business may be materially adversely affected.

We may be subject to claims alleging the intellectual property subject to our licensing agreements is violating the intellectual property rights of others.

We may face significant expense and liability as a result of litigation or other proceedings relating to patents and intellectual property rights of others. We could be required to participate in interference proceedings involving issued patents and pending applications of another entity. The cost to us of any such proceeding could be substantial. An adverse outcome in an interference proceeding could require us to cease using the technology, substantially modify it or to license rights from prevailing third parties. There is no guarantee that any prevailing patent owner would offer us a license so that we could continue to engage in activities claimed by the patent, or that such a license is made available to us, could be acquired on commercially acceptable terms. In addition, third parties may, in the future, assert other intellectual property infringement claims against us with respect to our services, technologies or other matters.

Risks Related to Grom Social

If we fail to retain existing users or add new users, or if our users decrease their level of engagement, our revenue, financial results, and business may be significantly harmed.

The size of our user base and our users’ level of engagement are critical to our success. We have over 12 million Grom Social users under the age of 13 and an almost equal number of parents in our database as of March 1, 2022. Our future financial performance will be significantly determined by our success in adding, retaining, and engaging users. If people do not perceive our site and the content that we offer to be enjoyable, engaging, reliable, and trustworthy, we may not be able to attract or retain users or otherwise maintain or increase the frequency and duration of their interaction on our website. A number of other social networking companies that achieved early popularity have since seen their active user bases or levels of engagement decline, in some cases precipitously. There is no guarantee that we will not experience a similar erosion of our user base or engagement levels. A decrease in user retention, growth, or engagement could render us less attractive to developers and advertisers, which may have a material and adverse impact on our revenue, business, financial condition, and results of operations. Any number of factors could potentially negatively affect our ability to attract and retain user and to increase their engagement on the website, including, if:

If we are unable to maintain and increase our user base and user engagement, our revenue, financial results, and future growth potential may be adversely affected.

Our strategy at Grom Social to create new and original content, charge users for that content and attempt to secure advertisers to pay to advertise on our app, could fail to attract or retain users or generate revenue.

Our ability to retain, increase, and engage our user base and to increase our revenue will depend heavily on our ability to create successful new content, both independently and in conjunction with third parties. If new or enhanced content fails to engage users, developers, or advertisers, we may fail to attract or retain users or to generate sufficient revenue, operating margin, or other value to justify our investments, and our business may be adversely affected. In the future, we may invest in new products and initiatives to generate revenue, but there is no guarantee these approaches will be successful. If we are not successful with new approaches to monetization, we may not be able to maintain or grow our revenue as anticipated or recover any associated development costs, and our financial results could be adversely affected. 

If we are not able to maintain and enhance our brand, or if events occur that damage our reputation and brand, our ability to expand our user base may be impaired, and our business and financial results may be harmed.

We believe that maintaining and enhancing the Grom Social brand is central to expanding our base of users and advertisers. Many of our new users are referred by existing users, and therefore we strive to ensure that our users remain favorably inclined towards our brand. Maintaining and enhancing our brand will depend largely on our ability to continue to provide age-appropriate, enjoyable, reliable, trustworthy, and innovative content and services, which we may not do successfully. We may introduce new content or terms of service that users do not like, which may negatively affect our brand. Additionally, the actions of third-party developers may affect our brand if users do not have a positive experience using third-party apps and websites integrated with our website. We also may fail to provide adequate customer service, which could erode confidence in our brand. Our brand may also be negatively affected by the actions of users that are deemed to be hostile or inappropriate to other users, or by users acting under false or inauthentic identities. Maintaining and enhancing our brand may require us to make substantial investments and these investments may not be successful. If we fail to successfully promote and maintain the Grom Social brand or if we incur excessive expenses in this effort, our business and financial results may be adversely affected.

Our Grom Social platform may be misused by users, despite the safeguards we have in place to protect against such behavior.

Users may be able to circumvent the controls we have in place to prevent abusive, illegal or dishonest activities and behavior on our website, and may engage in such activities and behavior despite these controls. For example, our Grom Social platform could be used to exploit children and to facilitate individuals seeking to engage in improper communications or contact with children. Such potential behavior of such users would injure our other users and would jeopardize the reputation and integrity of our Grom Social platform. Fraudulent users could also post fraudulent profiles or create false or unauthorized profiles on behalf of other, non-consenting parties. This behavior could expose us to liability or lead to negative publicity that could injure the reputation of our Grom Social platform and materially adversely affect our brand.

We could experience system failures or capacity constraints that could negatively impact our Grom Social platform and business.

Our ability to provide reliable service to our users largely depends on the efficient and uninterrupted operation of our Grom Social platform, relying on people, processes, and technology to function effectively. Any significant interruption to, failure of, or security breaches affecting, our Grom Social platform could result in significant expense, a loss of users, and harm to our business and reputation. Interruptions, system failures or security breaches could result from a wide variety of causes, including disruptions to the Internet, malicious attacks or cyber incidents such as unauthorized access, loss or destruction of data (including confidential and/or personal customer information), account takeovers, computer viruses or other malicious code, and the loss or failure of systems over which we have no control. The failure of our Grom Social platform, or the loss of data, could result in disruption to our operations, damage to our reputation and remediation costs, which could individually or in the aggregate adversely affect our business and brand.

Improper access to or disclosure of our users’ information, or violation of our terms of service or policies, could harm our reputation and adversely affect our business.

Our efforts to protect the information that our users have chosen to share using Grom Social may be unsuccessful due to the actions of third parties, software bugs or other technical malfunctions, employee error or malfeasance, or other factors. In addition, third parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees or users to disclose information in order to gain access to our data or our users’ data. If any of these events occur, our users’ information could be accessed or disclosed improperly. We have a privacy policy that governs the use of information that users have chosen to share using the Grom Social website and how that information may be used by us and third parties. Some third-party developers may store the information provided by our users through apps on the Grom Social platform or websites. If these third parties or developers fail to adopt or adhere to adequate data security practices or fail to comply with our terms and policies, or in the event of a breach of their networks, our users’ data may be improperly accessed or disclosed.

Any incidents involving unauthorized access to or improper use of the information of our users or incidents involving violation of our terms of service or policies, including our privacy policy, could damage our reputation and our brand and diminish our competitive position. In addition, the affected users or government authorities could initiate legal or regulatory action against us in connection with such incidents, which could cause us to incur significant expense and liability or result in orders or consent decrees forcing us to modify our business practices. Any of these events could have a material and adverse effect on our business, reputation, or financial results.

We collect, process, share, retain and use personal information and other data, which subjects us to governmental regulations and other legal obligations related to privacy, and our actual or perceived failure to comply with such obligations could harm our business.

A variety of federal, state and foreign laws and regulations govern privacy and the collection, use, retention, sharing and security of personal information. We collect, process, use, share and retain personal information and other user data, including information about our users as they interact with our platform, and we have a privacy policy concerning our use of data on our platform. We are subject to COPPA which regulates the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information from children under 13 years of age and CIPA, which addresses concerns about children’s access to obscene or harmful content over the Internet.

Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with COPPA, CIPA, or other applicable privacy laws and regulations or with our privacy policy or any compromise of security that results in the unauthorized release or transfer of sensitive information, which may include personally identifiable information or other user data, may result in governmental enforcement actions or litigation, which could be costly to defend and may require us to pay significant fines or damages. Such failures or perceived failures could also result in public statements against us by consumer advocacy groups, our users or others, which could harm our brand and could cause our users, and parents to lose trust in us which in turn could have an adverse effect on our business. Additionally, if third parties we work with, such as advertisers, vendors, content or platform providers, violate applicable laws or our policies, such violations may also put the information of our users at risk and could, in turn, have an adverse effect on our business.

We also are or may become required to comply with varying and complex privacy laws and regulations in multiple jurisdictions, and laws and regulations in foreign jurisdictions are sometimes more restrictive than those in the United States. Complying with these laws as they evolve could cause us to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices in a manner adverse to our business.

As a result of our collection, retention, and use of personal data, we are or may become subject to diverse laws and regulations in the United States and foreign jurisdictions mandating notification to affected individuals in the event that personal data (as defined in the various governing laws) is accessed or acquired by unauthorized persons. Complying with such numerous and complex regulations in the event of unauthorized access would be expensive and difficult, and failure to comply with these regulations could subject us to regulatory scrutiny and additional liability.

User trust regarding privacy and data security is very important to our brand and the growth of our business, and privacy or data security concerns relating to our Grom Social platform could damage our reputation and brand and deter current and potential users from using our platform, even if we are in compliance with applicable privacy and data security laws and regulations.

Users may curtail or stop their use of our Grom Social platform if our security measures are compromised, if our platform is subject to attacks that degrade or deny the ability of users to access our platform or if our member data is compromised.

Our Grom Social platform collects, processes, stores, shares, discloses and uses the information of our users and their communications. We are vulnerable to computer viruses, break-ins, phishing attacks, and attempts to overload our servers with denial-of-service and other cyber-attacks and similar disruptions from unauthorized use of our computer systems. Our security measures may also be breached due to employee error, malfeasance or otherwise. Several recent, highly publicized data security breaches and denial of service attacks at other companies have heightened public awareness of this issue and may embolden individuals or groups to target our systems. Any of the foregoing could lead to interruptions, delays or platform shutdowns, causing loss of critical data or the unauthorized disclosure or use of personally identifiable or other confidential or sensitive information, such as credit card information or information about our members. If our security is compromised, we could experience platform performance or availability problems, the complete shutdown of our platform or the loss or unauthorized disclosure of confidential or sensitive information. We could be subject to liability and litigation and reputational harm, and our users may be harmed, lose confidence in us and decrease or terminate the use of our platform.

We also rely on certain third parties to provide critical services and to store sensitive customer information. For example, our platform is hosted using data centers operated by third parties. However, we have little or no control over the security measures implemented by these parties, and if these measures are compromised, we could be exposed to similar risks and liabilities to those described above.

Unauthorized parties may also fraudulently induce employees or members to disclose sensitive information in order to gain access to our information or the information of our members or access this information through other means. They might also abuse our systems in other ways, such as by sending spam, which could diminish or otherwise degrade the experience of our members or by compromising or gaining unauthorized access to member accounts. Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service or sabotage systems change frequently and are becoming increasingly sophisticated, they often are not recognized until launched against a target. Furthermore, such attacks may originate from less regulated and remote areas around the world, and we may be unable to proactively address these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. Any or all of these issues could negatively impact our ability to attract new members and increase engagement by existing members, cause existing members to stop using our platform or subject us to lawsuits, regulatory fines or other action or liability, thereby harming our business and operating results.

Moreover, if a high-profile security breach occurs with respect to another social media provider, our users and potential users may lose trust in the security of our platform generally, which could adversely impact our ability to retain existing users or attract new ones.

If any of our relationships with internet search websites terminate, if such websites’ methodologies are modified or if we are outbid by competitors, traffic to our websites could decline.

We depend in part on various internet search websites, such as Google.com, Bing.com, Yahoo.com, and other websites to direct a significant amount of traffic to our websites. Search websites typically provide two types of search results, algorithmic and purchased listings. Algorithmic listings generally are determined and displayed as a result of a set of unpublished formulas designed by search engine companies in their discretion. Purchased listings generally are displayed if particular word searches are performed on a search engine. We rely on both algorithmic and purchased search results, as well as advertising on other internet websites, to direct a substantial share of visitors to our websites and to direct traffic to the advertiser customers we serve. If these internet search websites modify or terminate their relationship with us or we are outbid by our competitors for purchased listings, meaning that our competitors pay a higher price to be listed above us in a list of search results, traffic to our websites could decline. Such a decline in traffic could affect our ability to generate advertising revenue and could reduce the desirability of advertising on our websites.

We may have difficulty scaling and adapting our existing network infrastructure to accommodate increased traffic and technology advances or changing business requirements, which could cause us to incur significant expenses and lead to the loss of users and advertisers.

To be successful, our network infrastructure has to perform well and be reliable. The greater the user traffic and the greater the complexity of our products and services, the more computer power we will need. We could incur substantial costs if we need to modify our websites or our infrastructure to adapt to technological changes. If we do not maintain our network infrastructure successfully, or if we experience inefficiencies and operational failures, the quality of our products and services and our users’ experience could decline. Maintaining an efficient and technologically advanced network infrastructure is particularly critical to our business because of the pictorial nature of the products and services provided on our websites. A decline in quality could damage our reputation and lead us to lose current and potential users and advertisers. Cost increases, loss of traffic or failure to accommodate new technologies or changing business requirements could harm our operating results and financial condition.

Risks Related to Grom Nutritional Services

The Company’s supplement that it intends to market to children, will be subject FDA regulations.

Although the FDA does not require supplement manufacturers to submit their products to the FDA for review nor receive FDA approval before marketing, companies must ensure they are not making false or misleading claims on the product label. Like other food substances, dietary supplements are not subject to the safety and efficacy testing requirements imposed on drugs, and unlike drugs they do not require prior approval by the FDA; however, they are subject to FDA regulations regarding adulteration and misbranding. In the event we do not properly follow FDA regulation and guidelines we could be subject to regulatory action that would have a material adverse impact on the Company.

Risks Related to Top Draw Animation

Since Top Draw’s business operations are located in the Philippines, our results of operations or financial condition could be materially adversely affected by economic or political developments in the Philippines.

Top Draw’s business operations are located in the Philippines. As a result, we are subject to certain risks presented by the Philippine economy and regulatory environment. We believe that the Philippine government exercises substantial control over virtually every sector of the Philippine economy through regulations and, in some cases, state-ownership. Our ability to operate Top Draw’s business in the Philippines may be harmed by changes in the local laws and regulations, including those relating to employment, taxation, business regulation, intellectual property rights, property, and other matters.

In the event of adverse weather conditions, calamity or epidemic that may occur in the Philippines, the lack of a fully developed infrastructure could have a material adverse impact on Top Draw’s business.

The vast majority of Top Draw’s employees do not own an automobile and must commute to work using public transportation. Additionally, the power grid in the Philippines is considered substandard compared to developed countries. Any negative event that impacts public transportation or power generation could result in Top Draw’s employees not being able to go to the office to perform their work thus potentially delaying projects.

Operating Top Draw in the Philippines subjects us to challenges and risks unique to operating a business in the Philippines and if we are unable to manage those challenges and risks, the growth of our business could be limited, and our business could suffer.

Operating Top Draw in the Philippines subjects us to a number of risks and challenges that specifically relate to our Philippine operations. Our Philippine operations may not be successful if we are unable to meet and overcome these challenges, which could limit the growth of our business and may have an adverse effect on our revenue and operating results. These risks and challenges include:

Although we report our results of operations in U.S. dollars, approximately 89.0% of our revenue is currently denominated in foreign currencies. We do not hedge against currency fluctuations and unfavorable fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. Such fluctuations could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Because our consolidated financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars, we must translate our Top Draw’s revenues, expenses, and income, as well as assets and liabilities, into U.S. dollars at exchange rates in effect during or at the end of each reporting period. Therefore, changes in the value of the U.S. dollar against other currencies will affect our revenues, operating income and the value of balance-sheet items, including intercompany payables and receivables, originally denominated in other currencies. These changes cause our growth in consolidated earnings stated in U.S. dollars to be higher or lower than our growth in other currencies when compared against other periods.

An increase in the value of other currencies, against the U.S. dollar could increase costs for delivery of our digital animation services by increasing labor and other costs that are denominated in other currencies. Conversely, a decrease in the value of other currencies, against the U.S. dollar could place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to service providers that benefit to a greater degree from such a decrease and can, as a result, deliver services at a lower cost.

Historically, Top Draw’s business has been reliant and concentrated upon a limited number of key clients, the loss of any one of which could have a material adverse effect on Top Draw’s and our revenue and financial condition.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, Top Draw accounted for approximately 89.0% of our consolidated revenue. During the same period, four of Top Draw’s clients accounted for approximately 69.1% of our consolidated revenue. Although the relative percentages by client may change from quarter to quarter, the reliance upon a limited number of clients is not expected to change for the foreseeable future. As a result, a decrease in business or revenue from any one or more of these key clients could materially negatively impact Top Draw’s and our revenue, results of operation, and financial condition.

The success of Top Draw, and consequently our success, depends on certain key employees.

The success of Top Draw, and consequently our success depends to a significant extent on the performance of certain senior management personnel and other key employees. In particular, we are dependent upon the services of Russell Hicks, Jared Wolfson and Stella Dearing to operate and manage Top Draw. The loss of the services of Russell Hicks, Jared Wolfson or Stella Dearing could have a material adverse effect on our business, revenue, and results of operations.

In order for our digitally animated content and related products to be successful, we must develop appealing creative content.

The success of each digitally animated feature developed and produced by Top Draw depends in large part upon our ability to develop and produce compelling stories and characters that will appeal to our target audience. Traditionally, this process has been extremely difficult. While we believe Top Draw has enjoyed success with its digitally animated features, there can be no assurance that similar levels of success will be achieved by Top Draw’s subsequent features and our other future projects.

We expect to experience intense competition with respect to Top Draw’s digitally animated features and related content.

We expect that Top Draw’s digitally animated features will compete with family-oriented, animated and live-action feature films and other family-oriented entertainment products produced by major movie studios, including Disney, DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc., Warner Bros. Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Fox Entertainment Group Inc., Paramount Pictures, Lucasfilm Ltd., Universal Studios, Inc., MGM/UA, and Studio Ghibli as well as numerous other independent motion picture production companies.

We believe competition from animated feature films and family-oriented feature films will likely continue to intensify over the next several years. Some of the other movie studios with which we compete have significantly greater financial, marketing and other resources than we do. In addition to the box office and home video competition, other family-oriented features and films will compete with Top Draw Animation’s digital features.

If we are not able to produce digital features and content that can compete successfully with offerings from our competitors, it could have a material adverse impact on our business, revenue, and results of operations.

Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure and Ownership of Our Securities

Future capital raises may dilute our existing stockholders’ ownership and/or have other adverse effects on our operations.

If we raise additional capital by issuing equity securities, our existing stockholders’ percentage ownership may decrease, and these stockholders may experience substantial dilution. If we raise additional funds by issuing debt instruments, these debt instruments could impose significant restrictions on our operations, including liens on our assets. If we raise additional funds through collaborations and licensing arrangements, we may be required to relinquish some rights to our technologies or products, or to grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us or could diminish the rights of our stockholders.

We do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future; therefore, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock, will be your sole source of gain for the foreseeable future.

We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock. We do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings to fund the development and growth of our business. In addition, future loan arrangements, if any, may contain, terms prohibiting or limiting the amount of dividends that may be declared or paid on our common stock. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock, will be your sole source of gain for the foreseeable future.

Our board of directors may authorize and issue shares of new classes of stock that could be superior to or adversely affect you as a holder of our common stock.

Our board of directors has the power to authorize and issue shares of classes of stock, including preferred stock that have voting powers, designations, preferences, limitations and special rights, including preferred distribution rights, conversion rights, redemption rights and liquidation rights without further shareholder approval which could adversely affect the rights of the holders of our common stock. In addition, our board could authorize the issuance of a series of preferred stock that has greater voting power than our common stock or that is convertible into our common stock, which could decrease the relative voting power of our common stock or result in dilution to our existing shareholders.

Any of these actions could significantly adversely affect the investment made by holders of our common stock. Holders of common stock could potentially not receive dividends that they might otherwise have received. In addition, holders of our common stock could receive less proceeds in connection with any future sale of the Company, whether in liquidation or on any other basis.

The voting and conversion rights of our issued and outstanding shares of Series C Stock will have the effect of diluting the voting power of existing common stockholders.

Our authorized capital stock includes 25,000,000 shares of preferred stock, of which 2,000,000 shares are designated as Series A Stock, 10,000,000 shares are designated as Series B Stock, and 10,000,000 shares are designated as Series C Stock. As of the date hereof, no shares of our Series A Stock or Series B Stock, and 9,360,809 shares of Series C Stock, are issued and outstanding. The holders of our outstanding shares of Series C Stock may at any time, after the 6-month anniversary of the issuance of their shares of Series C Stock, convert each such shares into shares of our common stock at a conversion price equal to $1.92. In addition, the Company may, at any time, require conversion of all or any of the Series C Stock then outstanding at a conversion price equal to $1.92. The conversion of shares of our Series C Stock will dilute your interests. If all of the shares of our Series C Stock were converted, we would have 4,875,421 additional shares of common stock issued and outstanding, which, based on the 18,760,403 shares outstanding as of May 17, 2022 if all of the shares of our Series C Stock were converted, would represent approximately 20.6% of our shares of common stock outstanding prior to the Offering if all of the shares of our Series C Stock were converted and approximately 17.9% of our shares our common stock outstanding after the Offering.

In addition, the holders of shares of our Series C Stock vote together as a single class with the holders of shares of our common stock, with each share entitling the holder to 1.5625 votes per share. Therefore, as of the date hereof, the holders of our 9,360,809 shares of Series C Stock, have an aggregate 14,426,264 votes, representing 43.8% of our voting power.

The effects of the voting and conversion rights tied to shares of our Series C Stock may affect the rights of our common stockholders by, among other things, restricting dividends on our common stock, diluting the voting power of our common stockholders, reducing the market price of our common stock, or impairing the liquidation rights of our common stock.

Substantial future sales of shares of our common stock could cause the market price of our common stock to decline.

The market price of shares of our common stock could decline as a result of substantial sales of our common stock, particularly sales by our directors, executive officers and significant stockholders, a large number of shares of our common stock becoming available for sale or the perception in the market that holders of a large number of shares intend to sell their shares. After the Offering, we will have 22,304,826 shares outstanding of our common stock, based on the 18,760,403 shares outstanding as of May 17, 2022. This includes the shares included in the Offering, which may be resold in the public market immediately without restriction, unless purchased by our affiliates or existing stockholders.

The market price of our shares of common stock is subject to fluctuation.

The market prices of our shares may fluctuate significantly in response to factors, some of which are beyond our control, including:

Recently, the stock market, in general, has experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations. Continued market fluctuations could result in extreme market volatility in the price of our shares of common stock which could cause a decline in the value of our shares.

If we are unable to maintain compliance with all applicable continued listing requirements and standards of Nasdaq, our common stock could be delisted from Nasdaq.

Our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “GROM.” In order to maintain that listing, we must satisfy minimum financial and other continued listing requirements and standards, including those regarding director independence and independent committee requirements, minimum stockholders’ equity, minimum share price, and certain corporate governance requirements. There can be no assurances that we will be able to remain in compliance with Nasdaq’s listing standards or if we do later fail to comply and subsequently regain compliance with Nasdaq’s listing standards, that will be able to continue to comply with the applicable listing standards. If we are unable to maintain compliance with these Nasdaq requirements, our common stock will be delisted from Nasdaq. On May 24, 2022, we received a deficiency letter from the Listing Qualifications Department, or the Staff, of the Nasdaq Stock Market, notifying the Company that, based upon the closing bid price of the Company’s common stock, for the last 30 consecutive business days, the Company is not currently in compliance with the requirement to maintain a minimum bid price of $1.00 per share for continued listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market, as set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) (the “Minimum Bid Requirement”).The Notice has no immediate effect on the continued listing status of the Company's Common Stock on The Nasdaq Capital Market, and, therefore, the Company's listing remains fully effective.

The Company is provided a compliance period of 180 calendar days from the date of the Notice, or until November 21, 2022, to regain compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2). If at any time before November 21, 2022, the closing bid price of the Company’s common stock closes at or above $1.00 per share for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days, subject to Nasdaq’s discretion to extend this period pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(G), Nasdaq will provide written notification that the Company has achieved compliance with the Minimum Bid Requirement, and the matter would be resolved.

If the Company does not regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Requirement during the initial 180 calendar day period, the Company may be eligible for an additional 180 calendar day compliance period. To qualify, the Company would be required to meet the continued listing requirement for market value of publicly held shares and all other initial listing standards for The Nasdaq Capital Market, with the exception of the Minimum Bid Requirement, and would need to provide written notice of its intention to cure the deficiency during the second compliance period, by effecting a reverse stock split, if necessary.

The Company will continue to monitor the closing bid price of its common stock and seek to regain compliance with all applicable Nasdaq requirements within the allotted compliance periods. If the Company does not regain compliance within the allotted compliance periods, including any extensions that may be granted by Nasdaq, Nasdaq will provide notice that the Company's Common Stock will be subject to delisting. The Company would then be entitled to appeal that determination to a Nasdaq hearings panel.

The Company intends to actively monitor the closing bid price of the common stock and will evaluate available options to regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Requirement. However, there can be no assurance that the Company will regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Requirement during the 180-day compliance period, secure a second period of 180 days to regain compliance or maintain compliance with the other Nasdaq listing requirements.

In the event that our common stock is delisted from Nasdaq due to our failure to continue to comply with any requirement for continued listing on Nasdaq, and is not eligible for quotation on another market or exchange, trading of our common stock could, again, be conducted in the over-the-counter market or on an electronic bulletin board established for unlisted securities such as the OTC Pink or the OTCQB tiers of the OTC marketplace. In such event, it could become more difficult to dispose of, or obtain accurate price quotations for, our common stock, and it would likely be more difficult to obtain coverage by securities analysts and the news media, which could cause the price of our common stock to decline further. Also, it may be difficult for us to raise additional capital if we are not listed on a national exchange.

In the event that our common stock is delisted from Nasdaq, U.S. broker-dealers may be discouraged from effecting transactions in shares of our common stock because they may be considered penny stocks and thus be subject to the penny stock rules.

The SEC has adopted a number of rules to regulate “penny stock” that restricts transactions involving stock which is deemed to be penny stock. These rules may have the effect of reducing the liquidity of penny stocks. “Penny stocks” generally are equity securities with a price of less than $5.00 per share (other than securities registered on certain national securities exchanges or quoted on Nasdaq if current price and volume information with respect to transactions in such securities is provided by the exchange or system). Our shares of common stock constitute, “penny stock” within the meaning of the rules. The additional sales practice and disclosure requirements imposed upon U.S. broker-dealers may discourage such broker-dealers from effecting transactions in shares of our common stock, which could severely limit the market liquidity of such shares of common stock and impede their sale in the secondary market.

A U.S. broker-dealer selling penny stock to anyone other than an established customer or “accredited investor” (generally, an individual with a net worth in excess of $1,000,000 or an annual income exceeding $200,000, or $300,000 together with his or her spouse) must make a special suitability determination for the purchaser and must receive the purchaser’s written consent to the transaction prior to sale, unless the broker-dealer or the transaction is otherwise exempt. In addition, the “penny stock” regulations require the U.S. broker-dealer to deliver, prior to any transaction involving a “penny stock,” a disclosure schedule prepared in accordance with SEC standards relating to the “penny stock” market, unless the broker-dealer or the transaction is otherwise exempt. A U.S. broker-dealer is also required to disclose commissions payable to the U.S. broker-dealer and the registered representative and current quotations for the securities. Finally, a U.S. broker-dealer is required to submit monthly statements disclosing recent price information with respect to the “penny stock” held in a customer’s account and information with respect to the limited market in “penny stocks”.

Stockholders should be aware that, according to the SEC, the market for “penny stocks” has suffered in recent years from patterns of fraud and abuse. Such patterns include (i) control of the market for the security by one or a few broker-dealers that are often related to the promoter or issuer; (ii) manipulation of prices through prearranged matching of purchases and sales and false and misleading press releases; (iii) “boiler room” practices involving high-pressure sales tactics and unrealistic price projections by inexperienced sales persons; (iv) excessive and undisclosed bid-ask differentials and markups by selling broker-dealers; and (v) the wholesale dumping of the same securities by promoters and broker-dealers after prices have been manipulated to a desired level, resulting in investor losses. Our management is aware of the abuses that have occurred historically in the penny stock market. Although we do not expect to be in a position to dictate the behavior of the market or of broker-dealers who participate in the market, management will strive within the confines of practical limitations to prevent the described patterns from being established with respect to our securities.

Our officers, directors and principal stockholders own a significant percentage of our stock and will be able to exert significant control over matters subject to stockholder approval.

Our directors, executive officers and significant stockholders will continue to have substantial control over us after the Offering and could delay or prevent a change in corporate control. After the Offering, our directors, executive officers and holders of more than 5% of our common stock, together with their affiliates, will beneficially own, in the aggregate, 26.6% of our outstanding common stock. As a result, these stockholders, acting together, would have the ability to control the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of directors and any merger, consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. In addition, these stockholders, acting together, would have the ability to control the management and affairs of our company. Accordingly, this concentration of ownership might adversely affect the market price of our common stock by:

We qualify as an “emerging growth company” under the JOBS Act. As a result, we are permitted to, and intend to, rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements. For so long as we are an emerging growth company, we will not be required to:

We will remain an “emerging growth company” for up to five years, or until the earliest of (i) the last day of the first fiscal year in which our total annual gross revenues exceed $1.07 billion, (ii) the date that we become a “large accelerated filer” as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which would occur if the market value of our ordinary shares that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter or (iii) the date on which we have issued more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt during the preceding three year period.

Until such time, however, we cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile.

The market price for our common stock is particularly volatile given our status as a relatively unknown company with a small and thinly traded public float, and lack of profits, which could lead to wide fluctuations in our share price.

The market for our common stock is characterized by significant price volatility when compared to the shares of larger, more established companies that have large public floats, and we expect that our share price will continue to be more volatile than the shares of such larger, more established companies for the indefinite future. The volatility in our share price is attributable to a number of factors. First, as noted above, our common stock is, compared to the shares of such larger, more established companies, sporadically and thinly traded. The price for our common stock could, for example, decline precipitously in the event that a large number of our common stock is sold on the market without commensurate demand. Secondly, we are a speculative or “risky” investment due to our lack of profits to date. As a consequence of this enhanced risk, more risk-adverse investors may, under the fear of losing all or most of their investment in the event of negative news or lack of progress, be more inclined to sell their shares of common stock on the market more quickly and at greater discounts than would be the case with the stock of a larger, more established company that has a large public float. Many of these factors are beyond our control and may decrease the market price of our common stock regardless of our operating performance.

If and when a larger trading market for our common stock develops, the market price of our common stock is still likely to be highly volatile and subject to wide fluctuations.

The market price of our common stock may be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to a number of factors that are beyond our control, including, but not limited to:

In addition, if the market for technology stocks or the stock market in general experiences loss of investor confidence, the trading price of our common stock could decline for reasons unrelated to our business, financial condition or operating results. The trading price of our common stock might also decline in reaction to events that affect other companies in our industry, even if these events do not directly affect us. Each of these factors, among others, could harm the value of your investment in our common stock. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market, securities class-action litigation has often been instituted against companies. Such litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could materially and adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

Being a public company is expensive and administratively burdensome.

As a public reporting company, we are subject to the information and reporting requirements of the Securities Act, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) and other federal securities laws, rules and regulations related thereto, including compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Sarbanes-Oxley Act”). Complying with these laws and regulations requires the time and attention of our board of directors and management and increases our expenses. Among other things, we are required to: 

The costs of preparing and filing annual and quarterly reports, proxy statements, when required, and other information with the SEC and furnishing audited reports to stockholders is expensive and much greater than that of a privately-held company, and compliance with these rules and regulations may require us to hire additional financial reporting, internal controls and other finance personnel, and will involve a material increase in regulatory, legal and accounting expenses and the attention of management. There can be no assurance that we will be able to comply with the applicable regulations in a timely manner, if at all. In addition, being a public company makes it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance. In the future, we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain this coverage.

Failure to achieve and maintain effective internal controls in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 could prevent us from producing reliable financial reports or identifying fraud. In addition, current and potential stockholders could lose confidence in our financial reporting, which could have an adverse effect on our stock price. 

We are subject to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and effectively prevent fraud, and a lack of effective controls could preclude us from accomplishing these critical functions. We are required to document and test our internal control procedures in order to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, in connection with, PCAOB Auditing Standard No. 5 which requires annual management assessments of the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. Our management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021 and concluded that our internal controls and procedures were not effective.

Risks Related to Covid-19

The uncertainty and extent of the Covid-19 pandemic may continue to have an adverse effect on our operations and on the global capital markets.

The current outbreak of Covid-19 could continue to have a material and adverse effect on the Company’s business operations. These could include disruptions or restrictions on the Company’s ability to travel or to distribute its products, as well as temporary closures of production facilities. Any such disruption or delay would likely impact our sales and operating results. In addition, Covid-19 has resulted in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets of many other countries, resulting in an economic downturn that could affect demand for our products and significantly impact our operating results.

As the result of current restrictions put in place to address COVID-19, we have limited access to our corporate and Manila offices, cannot efficiently and fully access our data and records, and many of our corporate and administrative staff is required to work remotely, disrupting interactions among our staff, with our customers and suppliers, and with our accountants, consultants and advisors. The extent to which our results continue to be affected by COVID-19 will largely depend on future developments which cannot be accurately predicted, including the duration and scope of the pandemic, governmental and business responses to the pandemic and the impact on the global economy, demand for our products, and our ability to provide our products, particularly as result of our employees working remotely and/or the closure of certain offices and production facilities. While these factors are uncertain, the COVID-19 pandemic or the perception of its effects could continue to have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.