UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM
(Mark One)
ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended
OR
TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM TO |
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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
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Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No
The aggregate market value of the Class A Common Stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant on June 30, 2023, based on the reported closing price of the Registrant's Class A Common Stock on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on that date, was approximately $
The number of shares of Registrant’s Class A Common Stock outstanding as of February 23, 2024 was
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the registrant’s proxy statement for the 2024 annual meeting of stockholders to be filed pursuant to Regulation 14A within 120 days after the registrant’s fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, are incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K.
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Table of Contents
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iii |
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Item 1. |
1 |
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Item 1A. |
7 |
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Item 1B. |
46 |
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Item 1C. |
46 |
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Item 2. |
47 |
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Item 3. |
47 |
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Item 4. |
47 |
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Item 5. |
48 |
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Item 6. |
50 |
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Item 7. |
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations |
50 |
Item 7A. |
69 |
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Item 8. |
70 |
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Item 9. |
Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure |
70 |
Item 9A. |
70 |
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Item 9B. |
72 |
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Item 9C. |
Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections |
72 |
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Item 10. |
73 |
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Item 11. |
73 |
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Item 12. |
Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters |
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Item 13. |
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions and Director Independence |
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Item 14. |
73 |
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Item 15. |
74 |
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Item 16. |
76 |
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GLOSSARY
As used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the terms identified below have the meanings specified below unless otherwise noted or the context indicates otherwise. References in this Form 10-K to “Definitive Healthcare Corp.” refer to Definitive Healthcare Corp. and not to any of its subsidiaries unless the context indicates otherwise. References in this Form 10-K to “Definitive Healthcare,” "Definitive," the “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer (1) prior to the consummation of the Reorganization Transactions, to Definitive OpCo and its consolidated subsidiaries, and (2) after the consummation of the Reorganization Transactions, to Definitive Healthcare Corp. and its consolidated subsidiaries unless the context indicates otherwise.
i
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Annual Report”) contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “seeks,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” and similar references to future periods, or by the inclusion of forecasts or projections. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements we make regarding the outlook for our future business and financial performance, such as those contained in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”
Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, the economy, and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, by their nature, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks, and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. As a result, our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. We caution you against relying on any forward-looking statements, which should also be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included elsewhere in this Annual Report, including under “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Any forward-looking statement made by us speaks only as of the date on which we make it. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, regional, national or global political, economic, business, competitive, market, and regulatory conditions. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.
ii
SUMMARY OF RISK FACTORS
The following is a summary of the principal risks that may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. The following is a summary only, and should be read in conjunction with Part I, Item 1A “Risk Factors” and the other information contained in this Annual Report.
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Our inability to generate sales of subscriptions to our platform or any decline in demand for our platform and the data we offer could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations; |
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Our inability to attract new customers and expand subscriptions of current customers could negatively impact our revenue growth and financial performance; |
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The market in which we operate is competitive, and if we do not compete effectively, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations; |
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We may fail to maintain and improve our platform, or develop new modules, functionality, or insights for healthcare commercial intelligence, whereby competitors could surpass the depth, breadth or accuracy of our platform; |
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We may be unable to obtain and maintain accurate, comprehensive or reliable data, which could result in reduced demand for our platform; |
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Our recent growth rates may not be indicative of our future growth; |
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We may be unable to achieve or sustain profitability in the future compared to historical levels as we increase investments in our business; |
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Any loss of our access to our data providers could negatively impact our platform and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations; |
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We may fail to respond to advances in healthcare commercial intelligence, which could result in competitors surpassing the depth, breadth or accuracy of our platform; |
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If our information technology systems or those of third parties upon which we rely, or our data are or were compromised, we could experience material adverse effects on our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations; |
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The war between Russia and Ukraine, the evolving conflict in Israel and surrounding areas, global geopolitical tension, and worsening global macroeconomic conditions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations; |
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If our security measures are breached or unauthorized access to data is otherwise obtained, our platform may be perceived as not being secure, customers may reduce the use of or stop using our platform, and we may incur significant liabilities; |
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We previously identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting and we are working to remediate it. Consequently, our management has concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of the end of the period covered by this report. We cannot assure you that additional material weaknesses or significant deficiencies will not occur in the future. If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud. As a result, our stockholders could lose confidence in our financial reporting, which could harm our business and the trading price of our common stock; and |
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Our results of operations may be harmed if we are required to collect sales or other related taxes for subscriptions to our platform in jurisdictions where we have not historically done so. |
iii
PART I
Item 1. Business.
Our Mission
Our mission is to transform data, analytics, and expertise into healthcare commercial intelligence. We help clients uncover the right markets, opportunities, and people, so they can shape tomorrow’s healthcare industry. Our software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) platform creates new paths to commercial success in the healthcare market, so companies can identify where to go next.
Overview
Definitive Healthcare is a leading provider of healthcare commercial intelligence. Our solutions are designed to provide accurate and comprehensive information on healthcare providers and their activities to help our customers optimize everything from product development to go-to-market planning and sales and marketing execution. Delivered through our SaaS platform, our intelligence has become important to the commercial success of our over 2,900 customers as of December 31, 2023. We generally define a customer as a company that maintains one or more active paid subscriptions to our platform.
Our healthcare commercial intelligence platform brings together comprehensive, in-depth and high-quality intelligence, a powerful artificial intelligence (“A.I.”) engine, and an intuitive front-end SaaS platform, which have all been built, modified and improved upon over the last 13 years to create a highly differentiated offering.
Definitive Healthcare was founded in 2011 and incorporated as Definitive Healthcare Corp. in May 2021 for the purposes of facilitating an IPO of its Class A Common Stock, which was completed on September 17, 2021. The Company is headquartered in Framingham, MA. Our primary website address is www.definitivehc.com. The information on our website is not incorporated herein or otherwise part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
The Definitive Healthcare Platform
Our SaaS-based healthcare commercial intelligence platform is designed to provide comprehensive and accurate information on the healthcare ecosystem in the U.S. The platform uses deep analytics and data science to help customers develop data-driven strategic decisions such as finding new markets to enter, building comprehensive go-to-market strategies, accessing tactical information to help target the right decision makers and improving win rates with detailed contextual information. All of this helps our customers succeed in this important but complicated industry.
Our Data Sources and Data Engine
Our comprehensive, high-quality healthcare commercial intelligence is made up of thousands of data sources and billions of data points that enrich and power our platform. We transform this data into intelligence through A.I. and machine learning (“M.L.”) algorithms that ingest, cleanse, link, and analyze the data to create powerful new intelligence and analytics. Each new data source and each new algorithm created by our data science team makes our entire platform and the intelligence modules contained within more valuable to our clients. Built and enhanced since our inception, our platform contains a full 360-degree, longitudinal view of the healthcare ecosystem and depicts how the ecosystem connects together, creating a true barrier to entry.
1
Our Competition and Competitive Strengths
We operate in a highly fragmented market. We have a competitive advantage that is based on our comprehensive dataset built up over 13 years, our application of the data science, which has created proprietary intelligence and linkages that we do not see elsewhere, and a user interface that provides customers access to answers, not data, in an integrated manner. Our competitive strengths include:
While we believe no competitor matches our breadth of data and intelligence solutions or offers as comprehensive and accurate a commercial intelligence platform, we compete either directly or indirectly with:
We believe the principal competitive factors in our markets are:
Our Growth Strategies
We intend to drive growth through the following strategies:
2
Our Customers
Our integrated platform is designed to drive commercial success for companies that sell into or compete in the healthcare ecosystem, creating large end-markets for us, including life sciences, healthcare information technology ("HCIT"), healthcare providers and other diversified companies, such as staffing firms, commercial real estate firms, financial institutions and other organizations seeking commercial success in the attractive, but complex, healthcare ecosystem.
Our Go-to-Market Strategy
We believe we have a very efficient go-to-market model, driven by a high-velocity inside sales and marketing team, experienced sales executives (“SEs”) and a well-defined verticalized sales strategy.
Our go-to-market strategy begins with a high-velocity marketing engine that generates more than 10,000 inbound Marketing Qualified Leads (“MQLs”) each year. These inbound leads are quickly converted into demos for our SEs, who are organized into specific verticals. This vertical specialization ensures that each SE understands the specific business problems of their customers and can guide them through an online demo to the exact intelligence that will be most impactful to their business. As our brand presence continues to grow, we have seen a significant increase in the number of inbound MQLs received.
We complement our marketing efforts with a highly targeted outbound effort focused on important prospects across our target universe of over 100,000 companies, with an estimated total addressable market of more than $10 billion. These companies are prioritized and targeted with a measurable outbound effort led by our inside sales representative team.
Once a new company signs up as a subscriber, they are transferred to our Customer Experience managers (“CX”) who assist with onboarding and training, answering questions, and maintaining a “health score,” which is a predictive metric used to determine whether customers are likely to renew their subscription. In addition, an account executive (“AE”) is typically assigned to each customer, with a focus on deepening the relationship and identifying opportunities to expand the relationship to new departments and sell additional intelligence modules and workflow products. The CX and AE teams are also organized by vertical end market to ensure appropriate subject matter expertise.
Human Capital at Definitive Healthcare
Our community has continued to grow rapidly since our founding 13 years ago. While our people are primarily concentrated in the Boston metro area, we have expanded globally and increased our reach with a flourishing remote employee base.
As of January 31, 2024, our workforce included 830 employees — of whom 571 were based in the U.S., 50 were based in Europe, and another 209 were based in India. Functionally, our workforce includes 327 in sales and marketing, 233 in product development, 119 in customer support, 87 in general and administrative roles, 39 in professional services, and 25 in data acquisition roles. Our workforce is comprised of a wide variety of professionals, including business development representatives, data scientists, software engineers, and more.
People and culture
We consistently receive workplace accolades. In 2023, we were recognized by The Boston Globe as a Top Place to Work for the seventh consecutive year. We were also awarded Energage’s “Top Workplace in the US” for the second consecutive year and have been recognized as a best place to work by the Boston Business Journal’s “Best Place to Work” for five of the past seven years.
We are committed to putting our community first. For us that means centering our culture around collaboration and community engagement. DefinitiveCares, our employee-led charitable organization, is at the core of our company culture. The mission of DefinitiveCares is to give back to the community through employee-led volunteer initiatives.
As a company, we are collaborative, energetic, approachable, and driven. These attributes have allowed us to develop and maintain our customer-focused culture, where we are not afraid to roll up our sleeves to get the job done. We also realize that there is more to life than work, so we try to have some fun together and ensure that every employee maintains a healthy work-life balance.
3
Diversity, equity, and inclusion
At Definitive Healthcare, we invite everyone to come as they are. We value our employees’ unique perspectives, backgrounds, and voices because these diverse experiences drive new ideas and help us build a better community. We provide opportunities for our employees to grow and develop awareness around diversity, equity, and inclusion through company-sponsored speakers and presentations. We promote diversity and inclusion in our hiring processes by training our hiring managers on unconscious bias, by engaging with diverse student groups at college fairs, by increasing our work visa sponsorship program, and by incorporating inclusive, gender-neutral language into our job descriptions.
In addition, our employee-led affinity groups provide a way for everyone to come together and share their common experiences. Alongside their allies, these employees promote a sense of community, belonging, and understanding at Definitive Healthcare. The affinity groups include Women's Empowerment @ DHC, Out @ DHC (LGBTQIA), Black, Indigenous, and People of Color @ DHC, Working Parents, and AVID @ DHC (visible and invisible disabilities), as well as a wide variety of clubs and special interest groups.
Health, wellness, and total rewards
Our goal is to offer a best-in-class total rewards package that supports employees and their families, attracts top talent, and ensures pay equity. We provide competitive pay and benefits to attract and retain high quality talent. As part of our total rewards package, U.S. employees are eligible for variable compensation and we pay for employees’ individual full medical coverage, in addition to providing generous healthcare, investment, retirement, educational assistance and reimbursement, and paid time off.
Promoting a culture that supports health and well-being continues to be a priority for the organization. After initially transitioning to a fully remote work approach in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have since implemented and chosen to maintain a hybrid work environment, enabling all employees to work between our offices and remotely, which we believe enables greater flexibility for a successful work-life balance. Since 2022, we have offered unlimited paid time off and expanded parental leave for U.S.-based employees.
We reward high performance and effort, regardless of experience or title. We recognize employees who do exceptional work four times a year through our Rockstars awards, which are granted to those who embody our guiding principles in extraordinary ways, and recipients are determined by employee nominations.
Employee Development and Advancement
Our people are our greatest asset. Enabling their career growth and upward mobility is critical to retaining and engaging our talent. We provide employees with the tools, learning, and internal opportunities to find their path and build the skills and abilities to take on new roles. As part of our offerings, we provide a comprehensive learning management system, with a mix of professional, technical, managerial, and leadership development programs across a number of learning pathways.
Each year, we conduct a robust talent review process that includes performance assessments and goal setting to enable growth and employee advancement while creating alignment with both company goals and values. This process ties into our compensation strategy to ensure that we reward and incentivize our high performers.
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Intellectual Property
Our data driven platform and our approach to keeping it current is our defensive moat and protecting our intellectual property is a crucial aspect of our business. While, as of December 31, 2023, we have not pursued any patents, we secure and protect our intellectual property rights in material unregistered intellectual property by entering into invention assignment contracts with all of our employees and confidentiality agreements with our employees, vendors, customers, and other parties with whom we conduct business and share confidential information to control access to our proprietary information, technology and processes.
We continually assess our strategy with respect to the protection of new intellectual property and intend to pursue additional avenues to intellectual property protection to the extent we believe it would be cost-effective and beneficial to our business.
Data Privacy and Security
The information we collect, use, disclose, and/or otherwise process from healthcare organizations and professionals in the ordinary course of our business is integral to providing a comprehensive healthcare commercial intelligence platform to our customers. As a result, numerous state, federal, and foreign laws, including consumer protection laws, regulations, industry standards, and other obligations govern our collection, use, disclosure, and/or processing of personal data, including health-related information. For example, in the United States, numerous federal and state laws and regulations, including data breach notification laws, health information privacy and security laws, including Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, and their implementing regulations (collectively, “HIPAA”), federal and state consumer protection laws and regulations (e.g., Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act), and other similar laws (e.g., wiretapping) govern the collection, use, disclosure, protection, and/or processing of health-related and other personal data and could apply to our operations or the operations of our partners or customers.
In addition, certain U.S. state laws, such as the CCPA“, and foreign laws, such as”), the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (“EU GDPR”) and the United Kingdom's GDPR (“UK GDPR”) govern the privacy and security of personal data, including health-related information in certain circumstances, some of which are more stringent than HIPAA and many of which differ from each other in significant ways, thus complicating our compliance efforts. Any actual or perceived failure to comply with these laws, where applicable, can result in the imposition of significant administrative, civil and/or criminal penalties and private litigation. Data privacy and security laws, regulations, industry standards, and other obligations are constantly evolving, may conflict with each other, and can result in investigations, proceedings, or actions that lead to significant penalties and restrictions on data processing.
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Other Available Information
We make our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to these filings, available free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC on our website at https://ir.definitivehc.com/financial-information/sec-filings or by contacting our Investor Relations department at our office address listed above. The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at www.sec.gov. The contents of these websites are not incorporated into this filing. Further, the Company’s references to the URLs for these websites are intended to be inactive textual references only.
6
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
You should carefully consider each of the following risk factors, as well as other information contained in this Form 10-K, including “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes. The occurrence of any of the following risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, in which case the trading price of our Class A Common Stock could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties that we are unaware of, or that we currently believe are not material, may also become important factors that adversely affect our business.
Risks Related to Our Business and Industry
We generate substantially all of our revenue from sales of subscriptions to our platform and any decline in demand for our platform and the data we offer could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
For the year ended December 31, 2023, we derived 97% of our revenue from subscription services, and we expect to continue to generate substantially all of our revenue from the sale of subscriptions to our platform. As a result, the continued use of healthcare provider data, sales intelligence and healthcare market analytics by the healthcare ecosystem is critical to our future growth and success. If the healthcare data market fails to grow, or grows more slowly than we currently anticipate, or if there is a decrease in the use of healthcare commercial intelligence, demand for our platform would be negatively affected. For example, difficult macroeconomic conditions have impacted our existing and prospective customers, which has in some cases resulted in longer deal cycles, more stringent approval processes and deferred purchasing decisions, and we expect this to continue until macroeconomic conditions improve.
Changes in preferences for healthcare commercial intelligence may have a disproportionately greater impact on us than if we offered diversified solutions. Demand for healthcare data in general, and our platform in particular, is affected by a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control. Some of these factors include:
The market in which we operate is subject to rapidly changing user demand and preference trends. Failure to successfully predict and address these trends, meet user demands or achieve more widespread market acceptance of our platform could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
7
The market in which we operate is highly competitive, such that if we do not compete effectively, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The market in which we operate is becoming increasingly competitive as large, well-funded organizations in the healthcare ecosystem, including life sciences companies, healthcare providers and HCIT companies, among others, develop internal technologies to create healthcare commercial intelligence. Demand for our platform is also price sensitive. Many factors, including our marketing, customer acquisition and technology costs, and the pricing and marketing strategies of our competitors, can significantly affect our pricing strategies. Such competition may result in pricing pressures, reduced profit margins or lost market share, or a failure to grow or maintain our market share, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our competitors may expand their operations to internally analyze data relating to the healthcare ecosystem. Many of our competitors have significant competitive advantages over us, including longer operating histories, internal datasets and greater financial, sales and marketing, research and development and other resources. In addition, some of our competitors may make acquisitions or enter into strategic relationships to offer a more comprehensive or affordable range of solutions and platform than we do. We also expect that there will be significant competition as we continue to expand our intelligence modules and enter new verticals. Our inability to compete successfully against our competitors and maintain our gross margin could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If we fail to respond to advances in healthcare commercial intelligence, competitors could surpass the depth, breadth or accuracy of our platform.
Current or future competitors may seek to develop new solutions for more efficiently transforming, cleansing and linking data and creating healthcare commercial intelligence. Such actions may enable a competitor to create a platform that is comparable or superior to ours, that takes substantial market share from us, or that creates or maintains healthcare commercial intelligence at a lower cost than we currently provide. We expect continuous improvements in computer hardware, network operating systems, programming tools, programming languages, operating systems, data matching, data filtering, data predicting and other database technologies and the use of the Internet. These improvements, as well as changes in customer preferences or regulatory requirements, may require changes in the technology used to process and analyze data. Our future success will depend, in part, upon our ability to internally develop and implement new and competitive intelligence modules and features, use third-party technologies to source data effectively, and respond to advances in healthcare commercial intelligence and technology. If we fail to respond to changes in healthcare commercial intelligence or technology, our competitors may be able to develop solutions that will take market share from us, and the demand for our platform, the delivery of our solutions or our market reputation could be adversely impacted, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If we are not able to obtain and maintain accurate, comprehensive or reliable data, we could experience reduced demand for our platform.
The healthcare landscape is complex, opaque and constantly evolving and our success depends in large part on our customers’ confidence in the depth, breadth and accuracy of our data and analytics. The task of providing a comprehensive view of the healthcare ecosystem, including information on healthcare providers, physicians and how they are affiliated and interconnected, how they refer patients to each other, the quality of care they provide and procedure and diagnosis volumes, is challenging and expensive. Many of our contracts with our customers include a contractual right pursuant to which our customers may unilaterally terminate their subscription with us and we could be obligated to reimburse certain payments if customers experience any issues with the availability of the platform. Unavailability of our platform for routine scheduled maintenance does not trigger the termination right. If the data we obtain from third parties and our own first party research cannot be obtained on a timely basis, or at all, or maintained, customers may be dissatisfied with our platform reducing the likelihood of customers to renew or upgrade their subscriptions. In addition, if we are no longer able to maintain accuracy in our data and analytics, we may face legal claims by our customers, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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We have experienced rapid growth in recent periods, and our recent growth rates may not be indicative of our future growth.
We have experienced rapid organic and acquisition-driven growth in recent periods. For the year ended December 31, 2023, our revenue was $251.4 million, an increase of 12.9% as compared to our revenue of $222.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. We cannot guarantee that we will sustain our recent revenue growth rate in future periods. Further, as we operate in a new and rapidly changing market, widespread acceptance and use of our platform is critical to our future growth and success. Our revenue growth may slow or our revenue may decline for a number of other reasons, including reduced demand for our platform, increased competition, a decrease in the growth or reduction in size of our overall market, failure to capitalize on growth opportunities, and the impacts to our business from macroeconomic factors such as the Russia-Ukraine war, the evolving conflict in Israel and surrounding areas, global geopolitical tension, and more recently, inflation and high interest rates, volatility in the capital markets and related market uncertainty. Our current and prospective customers are impacted by difficult macroeconomic conditions to varying degrees and as a result, in some cases we are observing deal cycles lengthen for new and existing customers, as well as more stringent approval processes and deferred purchasing decisions, which we expect will impact our growth unless macroeconomic conditions improve.
We expect our operating expenses to increase in future periods, and if our revenue growth does not increase to offset these anticipated increases in our operating expenses, it will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability. Further, our rapid growth may make it difficult to evaluate our future prospects. Our ability to forecast our future results of operations is subject to a number of uncertainties, including our ability to effectively plan for and model future growth. If we fail to achieve the necessary level of efficiency in our organization as it grows, or if we are not able to accurately forecast future growth, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may not achieve or sustain profitability in the future compared to historical levels as we increase investments in our business.
We have incurred operating losses in the past and may continue to incur net losses in the future. For the year ended December 31, 2023, we had a net loss of $289.6 million, compared to a net loss of $24.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. We expect our operating expenses to increase in the future as we invest capital to make acquisitions, develop new features, add to our existing intelligence modules and invest in new products and data sources. Further, our administrative costs have significantly increased relative to prior periods due to the incremental costs associated with operating as a public company, including corporate insurance costs, additional accounting and legal expenses, and additional resources associated with controls, reporting, and disclosure. While in light of macroeconomic conditions we have made efforts to contain our operating expenses, including implementation of restructuring plans (the "Plans") in the first and third quarters of 2023 and in the first quarter of 2024, such efforts may not achieve the cost savings that we expect. Our efforts to grow our business may be more costly than we expect and we may not be able to increase our revenue enough to offset higher operating expenses. We may not be able to achieve or sustain profitability in subsequent periods and we may incur significant losses in the future for a number of reasons, including the foregoing as well as unforeseen expenses, difficulties, complications and delays, the other risks described in this Annual Report and other unknown events. The amount of any future net losses will depend, in part, on the growth of our future expenses and our ability to generate revenue. If we incur losses in the future, any such future losses will have an adverse effect on our stockholders’ equity and working capital. If we are unable to achieve or sustain profitability, the market price of our Class A Common Stock may significantly decrease and our ability to raise capital, expand our business or continue our operations may be impaired. A decline in the price of our Class A Common Stock may cause you to lose all or part of your investment.
We could lose our access to our data providers, which could negatively impact our platform and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our platform depends extensively upon continued access to and receipt of data from external sources, including real-time claims data, as well as data received from customers, strategic partners and various government and public records repositories. In some cases, we compete with our data providers. Our data providers could stop providing data, provide outdated data or inaccurate data or increase the costs for their data for a variety of reasons, including a perception that our systems are insecure as a result of a data security breach, budgetary constraints, a desire to generate additional revenue or for regulatory or competitive reasons. We could also become subject to increased legislative, regulatory or judicial restrictions or mandates on the collection, disclosure or use of such data, in particular if such data is not collected by our data providers in a way that allows us to legally use the data. If we were to lose access to this external data, either temporarily or permanently, or if our access or use were restricted or were to become less economical or desirable, our ability to provide the full breadth of our healthcare commercial intelligence on our platform could be negatively impacted, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. If our competitors are able to purchase similar external data on
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better terms, our ability to compete would be harmed. We cannot provide assurance that we will be successful in maintaining our relationships with these external data providers or that we will be able to continue to obtain data from them on acceptable terms or at all. Further, we cannot provide assurance that we will be able to obtain adequate data on commercially acceptable terms from alternative sources if our current sources become unavailable.
Our ability to introduce new features, intelligence modules, updates, integrations, capabilities and enhancements to our existing platform is dependent on innovation and our research and product development resources. If our investments in innovation do not translate into material enhancements to our platform or if those investments are more costly than we expect, we may not be able to effectively compete, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our ability to compete effectively and to attract new customers and increase revenue from existing customers depends in large part on our ability to continually enhance and improve our platform and the features, intelligence modules and capabilities we offer. It also requires the introduction of compelling new features, intelligence modules and capabilities that reflect the changing nature of our market to maintain and improve the quality and value of our platform, which depends on our ability to continue investing in innovation and our successful execution and our efforts to improve and enhance our platform. The success of any enhancement to our platform depends on several factors, including availability, frequent updates, analytics reflecting current healthcare commercial intelligence, competitive pricing, adequate quality testing, integration with existing technologies and overall market acceptance. Any new features, integrations or capabilities that we develop may not be introduced in a timely or cost-effective manner, may contain errors, failures, vulnerabilities or bugs or may not achieve the market acceptance necessary to generate significant revenue. Maintaining adequate research and product development resources, such as the appropriate personnel and development technology, to meet the demands of the market is essential. Moreover, innovation can be technically challenging and expensive. If we are unable to successfully develop new features, integrations and capabilities to enhance our platform to meet the requirements of current and prospective customers or otherwise gain widespread market acceptance, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Further, our competitors may expend more resources on their respective innovation programs or may be acquired by larger companies that would allocate greater resources to our competitors’ innovation programs or our competitors may be more efficient and/or successful in their innovation activities. Our failure to continue to innovate or to effectively compete with the innovation programs of larger, better-funded companies would give an advantage to such competitors and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
If we are unable to attract new customers and expand subscriptions of current customers, our revenue growth and financial performance will be negatively impacted.
To increase our revenue and achieve profitability, we must retain and grow the subscriptions of existing customers and attract new customers. We price our services on a tiered subscription-based model that allows our customers to choose a core plan based on their needs and the customers subscribe to the platform on a per user per month basis. Customers can then add users and intelligence modules for additional monthly rates depending on their individual needs. We seek to expand existing customer subscriptions by adding new customers and intelligence modules, including through expanding the adoption of our platform into other departments within existing customers. We do not know whether we will continue to achieve similar customer acquisition, retention and subscription growth rates in future periods as we have in the past, including in light of recently difficult macroeconomic conditions, which we have seen result in lengthening deal cycles that we expect will continue until macroeconomic conditions improve. Numerous other factors may also impede our ability to add new customers and retain and expand existing customer subscriptions, including failure to hire effective sales personnel, adequately train new sales personnel, provide a high-quality customer experience and ensure the effectiveness of our go-to-market programs that drive customer referrals. Additionally, increasing our sales to enterprise organizations (including customers generating more than $100,000 in ARR, which we refer to as “Enterprise Customers”) requires increasingly sophisticated and costly sales and account management efforts targeted at senior management and other personnel and generally involve longer sales cycles. If our efforts to sell to Enterprise Customers are not successful or do not generate additional revenue, our growth will suffer, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Moreover, our business is subscription-based, and therefore our customers are not obligated to and may not renew their subscriptions after their existing subscriptions expire or may renew at a lower price, including if such customers choose to reduce the intelligence modules to which they have access or reduce their number of users. Most of our subscriptions are sold for multi-year terms, though some organizations purchase a one-year subscription plan. While our subscription agreements typically provide for automatic renewal, our customers may opt-out of automatic renewal and customers have no obligation to renew a subscription after the expiration of the term. Our customers may or may not renew their subscriptions as a result of a number of factors, including their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with our platform, decreases in the number of users at the
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organization, our pricing or pricing structure, the pricing or capabilities of the products and services offered by our competitors, the effects of economic conditions (including as a result of general economic downturns and difficult macroeconomic conditions) or reductions in our paying customers’ spending levels. Our contracts typically require advance notice to terminate a contract in the absence of a default by the Company. In addition, our customers may renew for shorter contract lengths if they were previously on multi-year contracts or switch to lower cost offerings of our platform. Our attrition rates may increase or fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, including customer dissatisfaction with our services, customers’ spending levels, mix of customer base, decreases in the number of users at our customers, competition, pricing increases or changing or deteriorating general economic conditions. If customers do not renew their subscriptions or renew on less favorable terms, we fail to add more users, or if we fail to expand subscriptions of existing customers, our revenue may decline or grow less quickly than anticipated and we may not be able to achieve our anticipated LTV from our customer relationships, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Perceived issues arising from the use of A.I. (including M.L.) in our platforms may result in reputational harm or liability.
We leverage the use of A.I. in the provision of our solutions. As with many developing technologies, A.I. presents risks and challenges that could affect its further development, adoption, and use, and therefore our business. A.I. algorithms may be flawed. Datasets may be insufficient, of poor quality, or contain biased information. If the recommendations, forecasts, or analyses that A.I. applications assist in producing are deficient or inaccurate, we could be subjected to competitive harm, potential legal liability, and brand or reputational harm. Some A.I. scenarios present ethical issues. Though our business practices are designed to mitigate many of these risks, if we enable or offer A.I. solutions that are controversial because of their purported or real impact on human rights, privacy, employment, or other social issues, we may experience brand or reputational harm.
We may fail to offer the optimal pricing and packaging of our solutions, which could negatively impact our growth strategy and ability to effectively compete in the market.
We may make changes to our pricing model from time to time. Demand for our solutions is sensitive to price, and depends substantially on levels of expenditures by our customers and their ability to access capital. Sustained market uncertainty can also result in lower demand and pricing for our products and services. Current or prospective customers may choose not to subscribe or renew their subscriptions due to costs. Further, certain of our competitors may in the future offer lower-priced or free services that compete with our platform or may bundle functionality compatible with our platform and/or offer a broader range of solutions. Similarly, certain competitors may use marketing strategies that enable them to acquire customers more rapidly and/or at a lower cost than us. In addition, if our mix of features and capabilities on our platform changes or if we develop additional intelligence modules for specific use cases or additional premium versions, then we may need or choose to revise our pricing.
In deploying our solutions, we rely upon third-party providers of cloud-based infrastructure (“Cloud Providers”) to provide our services. Any disruption in the operations of Cloud Providers or interference with our use of Cloud Providers would adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We outsource infrastructure relating to our cloud offerings to Cloud Providers. Customers of our cloud-based solutions need to be able to access our platform at any time, without interruption or degradation of performance. Our cloud-based solutions depend on protecting the virtual cloud infrastructure hosted by Cloud Providers by maintaining its configuration, architecture, features and interconnection specifications, as well as the information stored in these virtual data centers and which third-party internet service providers transmit. Any incident affecting our Cloud Providers’ infrastructure that may be caused by fire, flood, severe storm, earthquake or other natural disasters, cyber- attacks and other cybersecurity threats, computer viruses, power failure, terrorist or other attacks, and other similar events beyond our control could negatively affect our cloud-based solutions. A prolonged service disruption affecting our cloud-based offerings for any of the foregoing reasons would negatively impact our ability to serve our customers and could damage our reputation with current and potential customers, expose us to liability, cause us to lose customers or otherwise harm our business. We may also incur significant costs for using alternative equipment or taking other actions in preparation for, or in reaction to, events that damage the Cloud Provider services we use.
In the event that our service agreements with our Cloud Providers are terminated, or there is a lapse of service, elimination of services or features that we utilize, interruption of internet service provider connectivity or damage to such facilities, we could experience interruptions in access to our platform as well as significant delays and additional expense in arranging or creating new facilities and services and/or re-architecting our cloud offering for deployment on a different cloud infrastructure service provider, which may adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.
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As more of our sales efforts target larger Enterprise Customers, our sales cycle may become longer and more expensive, and we may encounter pricing pressure and implementation and configuration challenges that may require us to delay revenue recognition for some complex transactions, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Enterprise Customers are a key focus of our go-to-market programs. As we target more of our sales efforts at larger Enterprise Customers, we may face longer sales cycles, greater competition, more complex customer due diligence, less favorable contractual terms and less predictability in completing some of our sales. Consequently, a target customer’s decision to use our solutions may be an enterprise-wide decision and, if so, these types of sales would require us to provide greater levels of education regarding the use and benefits of our platform, as well as education regarding data privacy and security obligations to prospective customers. In addition, larger Enterprise Customers and governmental entities may demand more configuration and integration services and features. As a result of these factors, these sales opportunities may require us to devote greater sales support and professional services resources to smaller Enterprise Customers, which could increase the costs and time required to complete sales and diverting resources to a smaller number of larger transactions, while potentially requiring us to delay revenue recognition on some of these transactions until the technical or implementation requirements have been met.
In addition, our ability to improve our sales of products to large Enterprise Customers is partially dependent on us continuing to attract and retain sales personnel with experience in selling to large organizations. Also, because security breaches with respect to larger, high-profile Enterprise Customers are likely to be heavily publicized, there is increased reputational risk associated with serving such customers. If we are unable to continue to increase sales of our products to large Enterprise Customers while mitigating the risks associated with serving such customers, our business, financial position, and results of operations may suffer.
If we fail to offer high-quality customer experience, our business and reputation will suffer.
Numerous factors may impact a customer’s experience which may in turn impact the likelihood of such customer renewing its subscription. Those factors include the usability of the platform, the depth, breadth and accuracy of the data, the adequacy of our data synthesis, and the quality of our onboarding, training, account management and customer technical and support functions. Our number of customers has grown rapidly, and the continued growth that we anticipate will put additional pressure on our customer experience programs. It may be difficult for us to identify, recruit, train and manage enough employees with sufficient skill and talent in each area of the customer experience to adequately scale those functions to match the growth of our customer base. In addition, larger Enterprise Customers and customers with larger subscriptions are more demanding of our customer experience programs. If and as we add additional large Enterprise Customers and increase the annual contract value of existing subscriptions, we may need to devote even more resources to such programs, and we may find it difficult to effectively scale those programs. If we do not adequately scale our customer experience operations to meet the demands of our growing customer base, an increase in large Enterprise Customers and large customer subscriptions, or if we otherwise fail to provide an overall high-quality customer experience, fewer customers could renew or upgrade their subscriptions, and our reputation could suffer, negatively impacting our ability to acquire new customers, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, from time to time customers rely upon our support teams to resolve technical issues relating to our platform. We may be unable to respond quickly enough to accommodate short-term increases in customer demand for support services. Increased customer demand for these services, without corresponding revenue, could increase costs and adversely affect our reputation and results of operations.
Our customers or unauthorized parties could use our platform in a manner that is contrary to our values or applicable law, which could harm our relationships with customers or employees, or expose us to litigation or harm our reputation.
Because our platform includes health information about millions of individuals and businesses, some of which we source ourselves and some of which is provided by third-party data providers and de-identified, our platform and data could be misused by customers or by parties who have obtained access to our platform without authorization to access individuals’ health information for purposes that we would not permit, including to perpetrate scams. Our customers could use our platform for purposes beyond the scope of their contractual terms or applicable laws or regulations. For example, our customers are subject to broad healthcare fraud and abuse laws that may limit their appropriate use of our platform and information obtained therein. In addition, third parties could gain access to our platform through our customers or through malfeasance or cyber-attacks and use our platform for purposes other than its intended purpose or to create products that compete with our platform. Our customers’ or third parties’ misuse of our platform, inconsistent with its permitted use, could result in reputational damage, adversely affect our ability to attract new customers, expose us to potential litigation and cause existing customers to reduce or discontinue the use of our platform, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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Our brand may be negatively affected by the actions of persons using our platform that are hostile or inappropriate, by the actions of individuals acting under false or inauthentic identities, by the use of our platform to disseminate information that is misleading (or intended to manipulate opinions), by perceived or actual efforts by governments to obtain access to user information for security-related purposes or to censor certain content on our platform, or by the use of our platform for illicit, objectionable or illegal ends. Further, we may fail to respond expeditiously or appropriately to the inappropriate use of our platform outside of the terms of a customers’ subscription, which could erode confidence in our business.
As we acquire and invest in companies or technologies, we may not realize expected business or financial benefits and the acquisitions or investments could prove difficult to integrate, disrupt our business, dilute stockholder value and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
As part of our business strategy, we make investments in, or acquisitions of, complementary businesses, solutions, databases and technologies, and we expect that we will continue to make such investments and acquisitions in the future to further grow our business and our platform. For example, in July 2023, we completed our acquisition of Populi, a provider-focused data and analytics company that works with healthcare organizations to optimize physician relationships, reduce network leakage, and expand market share, and are in the process of integrating Populi's business with ours.
Our strategy to make selective acquisitions to complement our platform depends on our ability to identify, and the availability of, suitable acquisition candidates. We may not be able to find suitable acquisition candidates in the future and we may not be able to complete acquisitions on favorable terms, if at all. Acquired assets, data or businesses may not be successfully integrated into our operations, costs in connection with acquisitions and integrations may be higher than expected and we may also incur unanticipated acquisition-related costs. These costs could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations or prospects. Any acquisition we complete could be viewed negatively by customers, users or investors, and could have adverse effects on our existing business relationships.
Acquisitions and other transactions, arrangements and investments involve numerous risks and could create unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures, including:
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Any of these risks could harm our business. In addition, to facilitate these acquisitions or investments, we may seek additional equity or debt financing, which may not be available on terms favorable to us or at all, including in light of difficult macroeconomic conditions such as high interest rates and volatility in the capital markets, and may affect our ability to complete subsequent acquisitions or investments and increase the risks of owning our Class A Common Stock. For example, if we finance acquisitions by issuing equity or convertible debt securities or loans, our existing stockholders may be diluted, or we could face constraints related to the terms of, and repayment obligation related to, the incurrence of indebtedness that could affect the market price of our Class A Common Stock.
If we fail to maintain adequate operational and financial resources, particularly if we continue to grow rapidly, we may be unable to execute our business plan or maintain high levels of service and customer satisfaction.
We have experienced, and expect to continue to experience, rapid growth, which has placed, and may continue to place, significant demands on our management and our operational and financial resources. As of December 31, 2023, we have one office located in Massachusetts, and as a result of prior acquisitions, an office in Sweden and an office in India. We have experienced significant growth in headcount, with approximately 670 employees in 2021 to over 950 employees in 2023. We have also experienced significant growth in the number of customers using our platform and in the amount of data in our databases. In addition, our organizational structure is becoming more complex as we scale our reporting systems and procedures and our operational, financial and management controls with international expansion. As we continue to grow, we face challenges of integrating, developing, training and motivating a rapidly growing employee base in our various offices and maintaining our company culture across multiple offices. Certain members of our management have not previously worked together for an extended period of time, and most do not have prior experience managing a public company, which may affect how they manage our growth. If we fail to manage our anticipated growth and change in a manner that preserves the key aspects of our corporate culture, the quality of our solutions may suffer, which could negatively affect our brand and reputation and harm our ability to retain and attract users, employees and customers.
To manage growth in our operations and personnel, we will need to continue to expand and improve our operational, financial and management controls and our reporting systems and procedures. We will require significant capital expenditures and the allocation of valuable management resources to grow and change in these areas. Our expansion has placed, and our expected future growth will continue to place, a significant strain on our management, customer experience, innovation, sales and marketing, administrative, financial and other resources. In light of macroeconomic conditions and their actual and potential future impacts on our business, we have made and expect to continue to make efforts to contain our operating expenses, including implementing restructuring plans in the first and third quarters of 2023 and in the first quarter of 2024. These efforts have placed additional strain on our employees and other resources and diverted attention from our operations, and may continue do so, which could impact our ability to operate our business effectively.
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We anticipate that significant additional investments will be required to scale our operations and increase productivity, to address the needs of our customers, to further develop and enhance our platform, to expand into new geographic areas and to scale with our overall growth. If additional investments are required due to significant growth, this will increase our cost base, which will make it more difficult for us to offset any future revenue shortfalls by reducing expenses in the short term.
In addition, as we expand our business, it is important that we continue to maintain a high level of customer service and satisfaction. As our customer base continues to grow, we will need to increase our account management, customer service and other personnel, which will require more complex management and systems. Additionally, since a significant portion of our new business is derived from customer referrals, customers may be less likely to refer new customers if they are not satisfied with our platform. If we are not able to continue to provide high levels of customer service, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We depend on our executive officers and other key employees, and the loss of one or more of these employees or an inability to attract and retain other highly skilled employees could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our success depends largely upon the continued services of our executive officers and other key employees. We rely on our leadership team in the areas of sales and marketing, product development, strategy and corporate development and network development. From time to time, there have been and may in the future be changes in our executive management team resulting from the hiring or departure of executives, which could disrupt our business. While we seek to manage these transitions carefully, including by establishing strong processes and procedures and succession planning, such changes may result in a loss of institutional knowledge and cause disruption to our business. The loss of one or more of our executive officers or key employees could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, to execute our growth plan, we must attract and retain highly qualified employees. Competition for these employees is intense, especially for data scientists experienced in designing and developing software and SaaS applications and experienced sales professionals. We have from time to time experienced, and we expect to continue to experience, difficulty in hiring and retaining employees with appropriate qualifications. In addition, certain domestic immigration laws restrict or limit our ability to recruit internationally. Any changes to U.S. immigration policies that restrain the flow of technical and professional talent may inhibit our ability to recruit and retain highly qualified employees. Many of the companies with which we compete for experienced employees have greater resources than us and may be able to offer more attractive terms of employment. In addition, we invest significant time and expense in training our employees, which increases their value to competitors who may seek to recruit them.
If we hire employees from competitors or other companies, their former employers may attempt to assert that these employees have breached their legal obligations, resulting in a diversion of our time and resources. In addition, job candidates and existing employees often consider the value of the equity awards they receive in connection with their employment. If the perceived value of our equity awards declines, it may harm our ability to recruit and retain highly skilled employees. If we fail to attract new employees or fail to retain and motivate our current employees, our business and future growth prospects could be materially and adversely affected. Meanwhile, additions of executive-level management and large numbers of employees could significantly and adversely impact our culture. If we do not maintain and continue to develop our corporate culture as we grow and evolve, it could harm our ability to foster the innovation, creativity and teamwork we believe that we need to support our growth.
In addition, many of our essential technologies and systems are custom-made for our business by our key employees. The loss of key employees, including members of our management team, as well as certain of our sales, data scientists or other technology employees could disrupt our operations and have an adverse effect on our ability to grow and maintain our business.
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If we fail to protect and maintain our brand, our reputation may be harmed and our ability to attract and retain customers will be impaired.
We believe that developing, protecting and maintaining awareness of our brand is critical to achieving widespread acceptance of our platform and is an important element in attracting new organizations to our platform. Further, we believe that the importance of brand recognition will increase as competition in our market increases. Successful promotion of our brand will depend largely on the effectiveness of our marketing efforts and on our ability to ensure that our platform remains high-quality, reliable and useful at competitive prices.
Brand promotion activities may not yield increased revenue, and, even if they do, any increased revenue may not offset the expenses we incur in building our brand. If we fail to successfully promote and maintain our brand, or incur substantial expenses in an unsuccessful attempt to promote and maintain our brand, our reputation may be harmed and we may fail to attract new customers to the extent necessary to realize a sufficient return on our brand-building efforts, and our business, results of operations and financial condition could suffer.
A substantial portion of our revenue and cash flows from sales of our subscriptions to our platform to customers in the healthcare ecosystem, and factors that adversely affect it, including health reform measures and mergers within the healthcare ecosystem or regulatory changes, could also adversely affect us.
Demand for our solutions could be affected by factors that affect the healthcare ecosystem, including:
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Accordingly, our operating results and our ability to efficiently provide our solutions to healthcare companies and to grow or maintain our customer base could be adversely affected as a result of these factors and others that affect the healthcare ecosystem generally.
Changes in the sizes or types of organizations that subscribe to our platform could affect our business and our financial results may fluctuate due to increasing variability in our sales cycles.
Our strategy is to sell subscriptions of our platform to organizations of all sizes, ranging from life science companies, healthcare information technology companies, healthcare providers and other companies that sell into the healthcare ecosystem. Selling to small-to-medium sized businesses may involve greater credit risk and uncertainty, as well as lower retention rates and limited interaction with our sales and other personnel. Conversely, sales to Enterprise Customers may entail longer sales cycles, more significant selling efforts and greater uncertainty. If we are successful in expanding our customer base to include more Enterprise Customers, our sales cycles may lengthen and become less predictable, which, in turn, may adversely affect our financial results. Factors that may influence the length and variability of our sales cycle include:
If there are changes in the mix of organizations that purchase our platform, our gross margins and operating results could be adversely affected and fluctuations increasing the variability in our sales cycles could negatively affect our financial results.
If we have overestimated the size of our total addressable market, our future growth rate may be limited.
We have estimated the size of our total addressable market based on internally generated data and assumptions, and such information is inherently imprecise. In addition, our projections, assumptions, and estimates of opportunities within our market are subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, those described in this Annual Report. If these internally generated data prove to be inaccurate or we make errors in our assumptions based on that data, our actual market may be more limited than our estimates. In addition, these inaccuracies or errors may cause us to misallocate capital and other critical business resources, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Even if our total addressable market meets our size estimates and experiences growth, we may not continue to grow our share of the market. Our growth is subject to many factors, including our success in implementing our business strategy and the activities of our current and potential future competitors, which are subject to many risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, our estimates of our total addressable market should not be taken as indicative of our ability to grow our business.
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Our business could be negatively affected by changes in search engine algorithms and dynamics or other traffic-generating arrangements.
We rely on Internet search engines, including through the purchase of sales and marketing-related keywords and other web pages, to generate a portion of the traffic to our website. Search engines frequently update and change the logic that determines the placement and display of results of a user’s search, such that the purchased or algorithmic placement of links to our website can be negatively affected. Pricing and operating dynamics for these traffic sources can change rapidly, both technically and competitively. Moreover, a search engine could, for competitive or other purposes, alter its search algorithms or results, which could cause a website to place lower in search query results or inhibit participation in the search query results. If a major search engine changes its algorithms or results in a manner that negatively affects the search engine ranking, paid or unpaid, of our website, or if competitive dynamics impact the costs or effectiveness of search engine optimization, search engine marketing or other traffic-generating arrangements in a negative manner, our business and financial performance would be adversely affected.
Operations outside the U.S. expose us to risks inherent in international operations.
Our Monocl business, along with the acquisition of AW in 2022, create exposure to risks inherent in international operations. Any new markets or countries into which we attempt to sell subscriptions to our platform may not be as receptive to our solutions as we anticipate. It is costly to establish, develop and maintain international operations and develop and promote our platform in international markets. A significant increase in international customers or an expansion of our operations into other countries would create additional risks and challenges which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We have a limited operating history in an evolving industry, which makes it difficult to forecast our revenue and evaluate our business and future prospects.
We have a limited operating history at the current scale of our business in an evolving industry that may not develop as expected, if at all. As a result, our ability to forecast our future results of operations and plan for and model future growth is limited and subject to a number of uncertainties, and our historical operating results may not be indicative of our future operating results, making it difficult to assess our future prospects. We have encountered and expect to continue to encounter risks and uncertainties frequently experienced by growing companies in rapidly evolving industries, such as the risks and uncertainties described herein. In addition, we have faced and continue to face evolving macroeconomic conditions that negatively impact our business and future prospects, which are hard to predict. Accordingly, we may be unable to prepare accurate internal financial forecasts or replace anticipated revenue that we do not receive as a result of these factors, and our results of operations in future reporting periods may be below the expectations of investors. If we do not address these risks successfully, our results of operations could differ materially from our estimates and forecasts or the expectations of investors, causing our business to suffer and our Class A Common Stock price to decline.
Our failure to raise additional capital or generate cash flows necessary to expand our operations and invest in new technologies in the future could reduce our ability to compete successfully and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may require additional financing, and we may not be able to obtain debt or equity financing on favorable terms, if at all. The terms of any additional debt financing may be similar or more restrictive than our current debt facilities. Difficult macroeconomic conditions, including high interest rates and volatility in the capital markets, exacerbate this risk.
If we need additional capital and cannot raise it on acceptable terms, or at all, we may not be able to, among other things:
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We have recently undertaken internal restructuring activities, and may do so again in the future. The assumptions underlying these activities may prove to be inaccurate, or we may fail to achieve the expected benefits therefrom.
In light of recent macroeconomic conditions, we have made, and will continue to make, judgments as to whether we should further reduce, relocate or otherwise change our workforce. For example, in January 2024, we took certain actions to reduce our global headcount by 154 employees. This reduction in force, and any other future reductions, and the attrition that may occur following them, result in the loss of institutional knowledge and expertise and the reallocation and combination of certain roles and responsibilities across the organization, all of which could adversely affect our operations. These restructurings and other additional measures we might take to reduce costs could strain our workforce, divert management attention, yield attrition beyond our intended reduction in force, reduce employee morale, cause us to delay, limit, reduce or eliminate certain development plans or otherwise interfere with our ability to operate and grow our business effectively, each of which could have an adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition. Charges and costs incurred in connection with workforce reduction efforts may be significant and higher than estimated. In connection with these actions, we estimate that we will incur pre-tax cash restructuring and related charges of approximately $6.5 million to $7.2 million in the first half of 2024, consisting primarily of severance payments, employee benefits, and related cash expenses, as well as a non-cash stock-based compensation charge related to the vesting of share-based awards for employees who are terminated. We may not complete the current or any future restructuring activities on the anticipated timetable, and even if successfully completed, we may not achieve the anticipated cost savings, operating efficiencies or other benefits of such activities.
Catastrophic events could disrupt our business and adversely affect our operating results.
We are a global technology company with a corporate headquarters located in Framingham, Massachusetts and international offices in Sweden and India. Instability and unforeseen changes in any of the markets in which we operate could result in business disruptions or operational challenges that may adversely affect the demand for our products and services, or our reputation, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. Additionally, we rely on our network and third-party infrastructure and enterprise applications, internal technology systems and our website, for our product development, analytics innovation, marketing, operational support, hosted services and sales activities. In the event of a major weather event or threatened public health emergency (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic), or other catastrophic event such as fire, power loss, telecommunications failure, cyber-attack, war or terrorist attack, we may be unable to continue our operations at full capacity or at all and may experience system interruptions, reputational harm, delays in our solution development, lengthy interruptions in our services, breaches of data security, loss of key employees and loss of critical data.
Global geopolitical tension may also be disruptive to our business, including as a result of the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the evolving conflict in Israel and surrounding areas. The sanctions announced by the U.S. and other countries against Russia to date include restrictions on selling or importing goods, services or technology in or from affected regions and travel bans and asset freezes impacting connected individuals and political, military, business and financial organizations in Russia. The U.S. and other countries could impose wider sanctions and take other actions should the conflict further escalate. It is not possible to predict the broader consequences of these conflicts, which have included or could include further sanctions, embargoes, regional instability, prolonged periods of higher inflation, geopolitical shifts, and adverse effects on macroeconomic conditions, currency exchange rates and financial markets, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our solutions utilize open-source software, and any failure to comply with the terms of one or more of these open-source licenses could adversely affect our business.
Our solutions include software subject to open-source licenses and we may incorporate third-party open source software in our solutions in the future. Particular uses of open-source software and the terms of various open-source licenses have not been interpreted by U.S. courts, and there is a risk that such use or licenses could be construed in a manner that imposes unanticipated conditions or restrictions with respect to our platform and proprietary technology. From time to time, companies that use third-party open source software have faced claims challenging the use of such open source software and requesting compliance with the open source software license terms. Accordingly, we may be subject to suits by parties claiming ownership of what we believe to be open source software or claiming non-compliance with the applicable open source licensing terms. If we were to receive a claim of non-compliance with the terms of any of these open source licenses, we could be required to incur significant legal expenses defending against those allegations and could be subject to significant damages, enjoined from offering or selling our solutions that contained the open source software, and required to comply with the foregoing conditions. We could also be required to expend substantial time and resources to re-engineer some of our software. Any of the foregoing could disrupt and harm our business.
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Additionally, the use of certain open-source software in certain manners requires that other licensees be granted the right to make any derivative works of any proprietary software linked to or used with the open-source code, or make such proprietary software available to others on terms that are unfavorable to such licensee or at no cost. This can effectively render what was previously proprietary software open-source software.
It is possible under the terms of certain open-source licenses (often called “copyleft” or “viral” licenses), if we combine our proprietary software with open-source software in a certain manner, that we could be required to release the source code of our proprietary software and make our proprietary software available under open-source licenses. In the event that portions of our proprietary software are determined to be subject to an open- source license, we could be required to publicly release the affected portions of our source code, re-engineer all or a portion of our solutions, or otherwise be limited in the licensing of our solutions, and each of such instances could reduce or eliminate the value of our solutions. In addition to risks related to license requirements, use of open-source software can lead to greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open-source licensors generally do not provide warranties, controls on the origin of the software, bug fixing, or security scans. Use of open-source software may also present additional security risks because the public availability of such software may make it easier for hackers and other third parties to determine how to compromise our solutions. Any of the foregoing could harm our business and could help our competitors develop platforms and applications that are similar to or better than ours.
We are subject to subscription and payment processing risk from our third-party vendors and any disruption to such processing systems could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We rely on a third-party subscription management platform to process the subscription plans and billing frequencies of our customers. In addition, we rely primarily on third parties for payment processing services. If these third-party vendors were to experience an interruption, delay or outages in service and availability, we may be unable to process new and renewing subscriptions or invoices. Further, if these third-party vendors experience a cybersecurity breach affecting data related to services provided to us, we could experience reputational damage or incur liability. Although alternative service providers may be available to us, we may incur significant expense and research and product development efforts to deploy any alternative service providers. To the extent there are disruptions in our third-party subscription and payment processing systems, we could experience revenue loss, accounting issues and harm to our reputation and customer relationships, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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Risks Related to Data Privacy and Cybersecurity
If our information technology systems or those of third parties upon which we rely, or our data are or were compromised, we could experience material adverse consequences resulting from such compromise, including but not limited to regulatory investigations or actions; litigation; fines and penalties; disruptions of our business operations; reputational harm; loss of revenue or profits; and other adverse consequences.
In the ordinary course of business, including when we provide our solutions to customers, we collect, receive, store, process, generate, use, transfer, disclose, make accessible, protect, secure, dispose of, transmit, and share (collectively, “process”) personal data and other sensitive information, including proprietary and confidential business data, trade secrets, intellectual property, sensitive third-party data, business plans, transactions, and financial information (collectively, sensitive data). As a result, our business, brand, reputation and ability to attract and retain customers depends upon the satisfactory performance, reliability, and availability of our platform and solutions. Cyber-attacks, malicious internet-based activity, online and offline fraud, and other similar activities threaten the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of our sensitive data and information technology systems, and those of the third parties upon which we rely. Such threats are prevalent and continue to rise, are increasingly difficult to detect, and come from a variety of sources, including traditional computer “hackers,” threat actors, “hacktivists,” organized criminal threat actors, personnel (such as through theft or misuse), sophisticated nation states, and nation-state-supported actors.
Some actors now engage and are expected to continue to engage in cyber-attacks, including without limitation nation-state actors for geopolitical reasons and in conjunction with military conflicts and defense activities. During times of war and other major conflicts, we and the third parties upon which we rely may be vulnerable to a heightened risk of these attacks, including retaliatory cyber-attacks, that could materially disrupt our systems and operations, supply chain, and ability to produce, sell and distribute our services.
We and the third parties upon which we rely are subject to a variety of evolving threats, including but not limited to social-engineering attacks (including through deep fakes, which may be increasingly more difficult to identify as fake, and phishing attacks), malicious code (such as viruses and worms), malware (including as a result of advanced persistent threat intrusions), credential harvesting, personnel misconduct or error, ransomware attacks, supply-chain attacks, software bugs, server malfunctions, software or hardware failures, loss of data or other information technology assets, adware, attacks enhanced or facilitated by AI, telecommunications failures, earthquakes, fire, flood, power loss, system failures, computer viruses, software errors, physical or electronic break-ins or malicious hacks or attacks on our systems (such as denial of service attacks), and other similar threats.
In addition, the software, internal applications and systems underlying our platform are complex and may not be error-free. Any inefficiencies, errors or technical problems with our platform, internal applications and systems could reduce the quality of our solutions or interfere with our customers’ use of our platform, which could reduce demand, lower our revenues and increase our costs.
In particular, severe ransomware attacks are becoming increasingly prevalent and can lead to significant interruptions in our operations, ability to provide our products or services, loss of sensitive data and income, and diversion of funds. Extortion payments may alleviate the negative impact of a ransomware attack, but we may be unwilling or unable to make such payments due to, for example, applicable laws or regulations prohibiting such payments.
Further, our platform utilizes certain A.I. and machine learning technology to provide services, and this technology is integrated into the platform, making us susceptible to additional cybersecurity threats. Additionally, confidential and sensitive data of the Company and our customers may be leaked, disclosed, or revealed as a result of or in connection with our employees’, personnel’s, or vendors’ use of A.I. and machine learning technologies.
Remote work has become more common and has increased risks to our information technology systems and data, as more of our employees utilize network connections, computers, and devices outside our premises or network, including working at home, while in transit, and in public locations. Additionally, future or past business transactions (such as acquisitions or integrations) could expose us to additional cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities, as our systems could be negatively affected by vulnerabilities present in acquired or integrated entities’ systems and technologies. Furthermore, we may discover security issues that were not found during due diligence of such acquired or integrated entities, and it may be difficult to integrate companies into our information technology environment and security program.
Furthermore, because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access to, or to sabotage, systems change frequently and often are not recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventative measures. We may also experience security breaches that may remain undetected for an extended period, due to, among other things, the breadth and complexity of our operations and the high volume of transactions that we process, the large number of customers, counterparties and third party service providers with which we do business, the proliferation and increasing sophistication of cyber-attacks, and the possibility that a third party, after establishing a foothold on an internal network without being detected, might obtain access to other networks and systems.
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We have also outsourced elements of our information technology infrastructure to third parties, including, without limitation, cloud-based infrastructure, data center facilities, encryption and authentication technology, employee email, content delivery to customers, and other functions. We also rely on third-party service providers to provide other products, services, parts, or otherwise to operate our business. Our reliance on these third-party service providers could introduce new cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities, including supply-chain attacks, and other threats to our business operations. Our ability to monitor these third parties’ information security practices is limited, and these third parties may not have adequate information security measures in place. If our third-party service providers experience a security incident or other interruption, we could experience adverse consequences. While we may be entitled to damages if our third-party service providers fail to satisfy their privacy or security-related obligations to us, any award may be insufficient to cover our damages, or we may be unable to recover such award. In addition, supply-chain attacks have increased in frequency and severity, and we cannot guarantee that third parties’ infrastructure in our supply chain or our third-party partners’ supply chains have not been compromised.
While we have implemented security measures designed to protect against security incidents, there can be no assurance that these measures will be effective. We take steps designed to detect, mitigate, and remediate vulnerabilities in our information systems (such as our hardware and/or software, including that of third parties upon which we rely). We may not, however, detect and remediate all such vulnerabilities including on a timely basis. Further, we may experience delays in developing and deploying remedial measures and patches designed to address identified vulnerabilities. Vulnerabilities could be exploited and result in a security incident.
Any of the previously identified or similar threats could cause a security incident or other interruption that could result in unauthorized, unlawful, or accidental acquisition, modification, destruction, loss, alteration, encryption, disclosure of, or access to our sensitive data or our information technology systems, or those of the third parties upon whom we rely. A security incident or other interruption could disrupt our ability (and that of third parties upon whom we rely) to provide our services.
We may expend significant resources or modify our business activities to try to protect against security incidents. Additionally, certain data privacy and security obligations may require us to implement and maintain specific security measures or industry-standard or reasonable security measures to protect our information technology systems and sensitive data.
Applicable data privacy and security obligations may require us to notify relevant stakeholders, including affected individuals, customers, regulators, and investors, of security incidents. Such disclosures are costly, and the disclosure or the failure to comply with such requirements could lead to adverse consequences.
If we (or a third party upon whom we rely) experience a security incident or are unable to protect our computer systems, software, networks, sensitive data and other technology assets, or there is a perception that we have failed to do so, we may experience adverse consequences, such as government enforcement actions (for example, investigations, fines, penalties, audits, and inspections); additional reporting requirements and/or oversight; restrictions on processing sensitive data (including personal data); litigation (including class claims); indemnification obligations; negative publicity; reputational harm; monetary fund diversions; diversion of management attention; interruptions in our operations (including availability of data); financial loss; and other similar harms. These events may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
Our contracts may not contain limitations of liability, and even where they do, there can be no assurance that limitations of liability in our contracts are sufficient to protect us from liabilities, damages, or claims related to our data privacy and security obligations. We maintain insurance policies that cover certain security and privacy damages. However, we cannot guarantee that our coverage will be adequate for liabilities actually incurred or that insurance will continue to be available to us on economically reasonable terms, or at all.
In addition to experiencing a security incident, third parties may gather, collect, or infer sensitive data about us from public sources, data brokers, or other means that reveals competitively sensitive details about our organization and could be used to undermine our competitive advantage or market position.
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Our actual or perceived failure to comply with applicable U.S. and foreign privacy and security laws, regulations, industry standards, contractual obligations, and other requirements could lead to regulatory investigations or actions; litigation (including class claims) and mass arbitration demands; fines and penalties; disruptions of our business operations; reputational harm; loss of revenue or profits; and other adverse business consequences.
Our customers use our solutions to understand and navigate the healthcare ecosystem. As a result, we process sensitive data that subjects us to a variety of laws, regulations, guidance, industry standards, external and internal privacy and security policies, contractual requirements, and other obligations relating to data privacy and security. In the United States, federal, state, and local governments have enacted numerous data privacy and security laws, including data breach notification laws, data privacy laws, consumer protection laws (e.g., Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act), and other similar laws (e.g., wiretapping laws). These laws and regulations are constantly evolving and may be interpreted, applied, created, or amended in a manner that could harm our current or future business and operations.. Implementation standards and enforcement practices are likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future, and we cannot yet determine the impact future laws, regulations, standards, or perception of their requirements may have on our business. This evolution may create uncertainty in our business, affect our ability to operate in certain jurisdictions or to process personal data, necessitate the acceptance of more onerous obligations in our contracts, result in liability or impose additional costs on us. These laws, regulations, and other obligations may also be interpreted and applied inconsistently from jurisdiction to jurisdiction which may make compliance difficult or impossible in certain circumstances.
Our platform involves use and disclosure of de-identified data, which must be de-identified in accordance with applicable laws, including Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”). Certain states have signed into law or are intending to enact laws governing the use and disclosure of such de-identified information, and there is some uncertainty regarding those laws’ conformity with the HIPAA de-identification standards. Compliance with state laws could require additional investment and management attention and may subject us to significant liabilities if we do not comply appropriately with new and potentially conflicting regulations. If there is a future change in law, we may also face limitations on our ability to use de-identified information that could harm our business. There is also a risk that the third-party vendors that provide our data sets may fail to properly de-identify protected health information (“PHI”) under HIPAA or applicable state laws, some of which impose different standards for de-identification than those imposed by HIPAA. We are also required to ensure that such information remains de-identified and our failure to do so could result in non-compliance with Privacy Laws and contractual obligations.
The privacy, security and breach notification rules promulgated under HIPAA establish a set of national privacy and security standards for the protection of PHI, by health plans, health care clearinghouses, and certain health care providers, referred to as covered entities, and the business associates with whom such covered entities contract for services that involve creating, receiving, maintaining or transmitting PHI, and their covered subcontractors.
Certain of our customers may be either “business associates” or “covered entities” under HIPAA, including certain of our customers that are not traditional healthcare providers. For example, some of our customers are medical device companies that may work with healthcare professionals or researchers from whom they receive PHI for data analysis purposes, thus triggering compliance obligations under HIPAA. While such PHI is de-identified before it is introduced into our systems, in certain scenarios, we may nevertheless be contractually obligated to comply with certain HIPAA obligations, including the various requirements of the HIPAA de-identification rules. Additionally, if PHI is inadvertently introduced into our systems without being properly de-identified, we may be directly liable for mishandling PHI and for failing to comply with HIPAA as a “business associate.” The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, or OCR, may impose penalties for a failure to comply with applicable requirement of HIPAA. Penalties will vary significantly depending on factors such as the date of the violation, whether the business associate knew or should have known of the failure to comply, or whether the business associate’s failure to comply was due to willful neglect. Penalties for HIPAA violations can be significant. A single breach incident can result in violations of multiple standards. If a person knowingly or intentionally obtains or discloses PHI in violation of HIPAA requirements, criminal penalties may also be imposed.
Further, our use of A.I. and M.L. technologies may be subject to laws and evolving regulations regarding the use of A.I., controlling for data bias, and antidiscrimination. For example, due to inaccuracies or flaws in the inputs, outputs, or logic of the A.I. and machine learning, the model could be biased and could lead us to make decisions that could bias certain individuals (or classes of individuals), and adversely impact their rights, employment, and ability to obtain certain pricing, products, services, or benefits. the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) enforces consumer protection laws such as Section 5 of the FTC Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which prohibit unfair and deceptive practices, including use of biased algorithms in AI. The FTC has required other companies to turn over (or disgorge) valuable insights or trainings generated through the use of A.I. and machine learning where they allege the company has violated privacy and consumer protection laws. Several jurisdictions around the globe have proposed or enacted laws governing A.I., such as the European Union's (“EU's”) AI Act, and we expect other jurisdictions will adopt similar laws. The cost of compliance with these laws, regulations and standards is high and is likely to increase in the future. Furthermore, if we cannot use A.I. and machine learning or that use is restricted, our business may be less efficient, or we may be at a competitive disadvantage.
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In addition to government regulations, privacy advocates and other key industry players have established or may establish various new, additional, or different policies or self-regulatory standards in certain digital environments that may place additional resource constraints on us or limit our ability to generate certain analytics. Our customers may expect us to meet voluntary certifications or adhere to other standards established by third parties. If we are unable to maintain these certifications or meet these standards, it could reduce demand for our solutions and adversely affect our business and operating results.
Many data privacy and security obligations protect more than health-related information, and although they vary by jurisdiction, these obligations can extend to employee information, business information, healthcare provider information and other information relating to individuals. Our actual or perceived failure to comply with these laws may result in, among other things, civil and criminal liability, negative publicity, damage to our reputation and liability under contractual provisions. These obligations may also increase our compliance costs and influence or limit the types of services we can provide. The occurrence of any of the foregoing could impact our ability to provide the same level of service to our customers, require us to modify our offerings or increase our costs, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In the past few years, numerous U.S. states—including California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, and Utah—have enacted comprehensive privacy laws that impose certain obligations on covered businesses, including providing specific disclosures in privacy notices and affording residents with certain rights concerning their personal data. As applicable, such rights may include the right to access, correct, or delete certain personal data, and to opt-out of certain data processing activities, such as targeted advertising, profiling, and automated decision-making. The exercise of these rights may impact our business and ability to provide our products and services. Certain states also impose stricter requirements for processing certain personal data, including sensitive data, such as conducting data privacy impact assessments. These state laws allow for statutory fines for noncompliance. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (“CPRA”) (collectively, “CCPA”), applies to personal data of consumers, business representatives, and employees who are California residents, and requires businesses to provide specific disclosures in privacy notices and honor requests of such individuals to exercise certain privacy rights. The CCPA provides for fines of up to $7,500 per intentional violation and allows private litigants affected by certain data breaches to recover significant statutory damages. Many similar laws have been proposed or enacted at the federal and local levels, all of which could increase our risk and compliance costs. These regulations and legislative developments have potentially far-reaching consequences and may require us to modify our data management practices and to incur substantial expense in order to comply.
Furthermore, our business relies on the acquisition and sale of data, including data obtained from third-party data suppliers. The acquisition and sale of data from or to third parties has become subject to increased regulatory scrutiny. Therefore, obtaining and selling data from third parties carries risk to us as a data purchaser and reseller. For example, as a data supplier, we are required to register as a data broker under California, Oregon, and Vermont law and file reports with regulators, which exposes us to increased scrutiny. Additionally, California’s Delete Act requires the CPPA to establish, by January 1, 2026, a mechanism to allow California consumers to submit a single, verifiable request to delete all of their personal data held by all registered data brokers and their service providers. Moreover, third-party data suppliers have recently been subject to increased litigation under various claims of violating certain state privacy laws. These laws and challenges may make it so difficult for us and our suppliers to provide the data and the costs associated with the data materially increase or may materially decrease the availability of data that we or our data suppliers can provide.
Additionally, under various privacy laws and other obligations, we may be required to obtain certain consents to process personal data. For example, some of our information processing practices may be challenged under wiretapping laws, if we obtain consumer information from third parties through various methods, including chatbot and session replay providers, or via third-party marketing pixels. These practices may be subject to increased challenges by class action plaintiffs. Our inability or failure to obtain consent for these practices could result in adverse consequences, including class action litigation and mass arbitration demands.
We are, or may become, subject to foreign laws, regulations, and industry standards that govern data privacy and security, such as the EU GDPR, the UK GDPR, Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, and China’s Personal Information Protection Law (“PIPL”), and other foreign data privacy, security, data localization and similar national, state/provincial and local laws which impose strict requirements for processing personal data. For example, under GDPR, companies may face temporary or definitive bans on data processing and other corrective actions; fines of up to 20 million Euros under the EU GDPR, 17.5 million pounds sterling under the UK GDPR or, in each case, 4% of annual global revenue, whichever is greater; or private litigation related to processing of personal data brought by classes of data subjects or consumer protection organizations authorized at law to represent their interests. Because our EU subsidiary, Monocl AB, operates under a Swedish publishing certificate issued in accordance with Swedish national law, such processing of personal data by our EU subsidiary comes under the Swedish constitutional protection enshrining freedom of expression and consequently falls within the scope of Article 85 EU GDPR and is exempt from certain core provisions of the EU GDPR. Legal
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challenges against the general right to publish personal data based on the publishing certificate and consequent exemption from the GDPR, if upheld, may potentially result in the exemption being deemed invalid in certain circumstances
In addition, we may be unable to transfer personal data from Europe and other jurisdictions to the United States or other countries due to data localization requirements or limitations on cross-border data flows. Europe and other jurisdictions have enacted laws requiring data to be localized or limiting the transfer of personal data to other countries. In particular, the European Economic Area (“EEA”), and the United Kingdom (“UK”) have significantly restricted the transfer of personal data to the United States and other countries whose privacy laws it generally believes are inadequate. Other jurisdictions may adopt similarly stringent interpretations of their data localization and cross-border data transfer laws. Although there are currently various mechanisms that may be used to transfer personal data from the EEA and UK to the United States in compliance with law, such as the EEA’s standard contractual clauses, the UK’s International Data Transfer Agreement / Addendum, and the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and the UK extension thereto (which allows for transfers to relevant U.S.-based organizations who self-certify compliance and participate in the Framework), these mechanisms are subject to legal challenges, and there is no assurance that we can satisfy or rely on these measures to lawfully transfer personal data to the United States. If these existing or new mechanisms for transferring personal data from the EEA, the UK, or other jurisdictions are unavailable, we may be prevented from transferring personal data of employees, customers or others in those regions to the United States. The efficacy and longevity of current transfer mechanisms between the EU, the UK and the United States also remains uncertain. There is also a trend toward countries enacting data localization or other country specific requirements, which could be problematic to cloud software providers that we rely on to conduct our business. If there is no lawful manner for us to transfer personal data from the EEA, the UK or other jurisdictions to the United States, or if the requirements for a legally-compliant transfer are too onerous, we could face significant adverse consequences, including the interruption or degradation of our operations, the need to relocate part of or all of our business or data processing activities to other jurisdictions (such as Europe) at significant expense, increased exposure to regulatory actions, substantial fines and penalties, the inability to transfer data and work with partners, vendors and other third parties, and injunctions against our processing or transferring of personal data necessary to operate our business. Additionally, companies that transfer personal data out of the EEA and UK to other jurisdictions, particularly to the United States, are subject to increased scrutiny from regulators, individual litigants, and activist groups. Some European regulators have ordered certain companies to suspend or permanently cease certain transfers of personal data out of Europe for allegedly violating the EU GDPR’s cross-border data transfer limitations.
In addition, legislative proposals and present laws and regulations regulate the use of cookies and other tracking technologies, electronic communications, and marketing. For example, in the EEA and the UK, regulators are increasingly focusing on compliance with requirements related to the targeted advertising ecosystem. European regulators have issued significant fines in certain circumstances where the regulators alleged that appropriate consent was not obtained in connection with targeted advertising activities. It is anticipated that the ePrivacy Regulation and national implementing laws will replace the current national laws implementing the ePrivacy Directive, which may require us to make significant operational changes.
Understanding and implementing such country specific certifications on top of our security certifications could require additional investment and management attention and may subject us to significant liability if we do not comply with particular requirements. Compliance with global privacy obligations has and will continue to require valuable management and employee time and resources, and failure to comply with these regulations could include severe penalties and could reduce demand for our solutions. Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with federal, state or foreign laws or regulation, our internal policies and procedures or our contracts governing our processing of personal data could result in negative publicity, government investigations and enforcement actions, claims by third parties and damage to our reputation, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.
We also publish privacy policies, marketing materials, and other statements, such as compliance with certain certifications or self-regulatory principles, regarding data privacy and security. If these policies, materials or statements are found to be deficient, lacking in transparency, deceptive, unfair, or misrepresentative of our practices, we may be subject to investigation, enforcement actions by regulators, or other adverse consequences.
Customers expect that our solutions can be used in compliance with privacy and security obligations. The functional and operational requirements and costs of compliance with such obligations may adversely impact our business, and failure to enable our solutions to comply with such obligations could lead to significant fines and penalties imposed by regulators, as well as claims by our customers or third parties. These domestic and foreign legislative and regulatory initiatives could adversely affect our customers’ ability or desire to collect, use, process, store and disclose personal data and health data using our solutions, or to license data products from us, which could reduce demand for our solutions.
We have established frameworks, models, processes and technologies designed to manage data privacy and security for many data types and from a variety of sources, though such measures may not always be effective. Due to the complex and evolving nature of privacy obligations, we cannot guarantee that the safeguards and controls employed by us, or third parties upon which we rely, will be sufficient to prevent a breach of these obligations, or that claims, complaints, investigations, or inquiries will not be filed or lodged against us or our data suppliers despite such safeguards and controls.
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Furthermore, we are bound by contractual obligations and industry standards related to data privacy and security, and our efforts to comply with such obligations may not be successful. For example, certain privacy laws require our customers to impose specific contractual restrictions on their service providers. Failure to comply with such contractual obligations, certain certification/registration requirement, annual re-certification/registration requirements associated with various privacy obligations, and failure to resolve any serious data privacy or security related complaints or requests, may result in, among other things, regulatory sanctions, criminal prosecution, civil liability, negative publicity, damage to our reputation, or data being blocked from use or liability under contractual provisions.
We may at times fail (or be perceived to have failed) in our efforts to comply with our data privacy and security obligations. Moreover, despite our efforts, our personnel or third parties upon which we rely may fail to comply with such obligations, which could negatively impact our business operations. If we or the third parties on which we rely fail, or are perceived to have failed, to address or comply with applicable data privacy and security obligations, we could face significant consequences, including but not limited to: government enforcement actions (e.g., investigations, fines, penalties, audits, inspections, and similar); litigation (including class-action claims) and mass arbitration demands; additional reporting requirements and/or oversight; bans on processing personal data; and orders to destroy or not use personal data. In particular, plaintiffs have become increasingly more active in bringing privacy-related claims against companies, including class claims and mass arbitration demands. Some of these claims allow for the recovery of statutory damages on a per violation basis, and, if viable, carry the potential for monumental statutory damages, depending on the volume of data and the number of violations. Any of these events could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, or financial condition, including but not limited to: loss of customers; inability to process personal data or to operate in certain jurisdictions; limited ability to develop or commercialize our products; expenditure of time and resources to defend any claim or inquiry; adverse publicity; or substantial changes to our business model or operations.
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Legal and Regulatory Risks
Our platform addresses heavily regulated functions within the healthcare ecosystem and such regulations and laws are subject to change. Failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations could lessen the demand for our solutions or subject us to significant claims and losses.
Our customers use our platform for business activities that are subject to a complex regime of global laws and regulations, including requirements for maintenance of electronic records and electronic signatures, requirements regarding processing of health data, healthcare fraud and abuse, and other laws and regulations. Our customers expect to be able to use our platform in a manner that is compliant with the regulations to which they are subject. Our efforts to provide solutions that comply with such laws and regulations are time-consuming and costly and include validation procedures that may delay the release of new versions of our solutions. As these laws and regulations change over time, we may find it difficult to adjust our platform to comply with such changes.
As we increase the number of intelligence modules we offer and potentially the number of countries in which we operate, the complexity of adjusting our solutions to comply with legal and regulatory changes will increase. If we are unable to effectively manage this increased complexity or if we are not able to provide solutions that can be used in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, customers may be unwilling to use our solutions, and any such non-compliance could result in the termination of our customer agreements or claims arising from such agreements with our customers.
Additionally, Populi participates in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) Qualified Entity Certification Program (“QECP”) as a qualified entity and is subject to the QECP participant requirements. Failure to comply with such requirements could result in removal from the QECP and penalties.
We are subject to sanctions, export controls, anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering and similar laws, and non-compliance with such laws can subject us to criminal penalties or significant fines and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We are subject to applicable anti-corruption, anti-bribery, and similar laws, such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended (the “FCPA”), the U.S. domestic bribery statute contained in 18 U.S.C. § 201, the U.S. Travel Act, the U.K. Bribery Act 2010. Anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws have been enforced aggressively in recent years. The FCPA and other anti-corruption laws prohibit companies and their employees and agents from corruptly promising, authorizing, making, offering or providing anything of value to a foreign government official for the purpose of influencing official decisions or obtaining or retaining business, or otherwise obtaining an improper business advantage. The FCPA also requires that we keep accurate books and records and maintain a system of adequate internal controls. The UK Bribery Act 2010 and other anti-corruption laws also prohibit commercial bribery not involving government officials, and requesting or accepting bribes. We also are subject to applicable anti-money laundering laws, which prohibit engaging in certain transactions involving criminally-derived property or the proceeds of criminal activity. Our activities are also subject to applicable export controls, trade and economic sanctions laws and regulations, including those administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Department of State. These trade laws and regulations prohibit certain transactions involving sanctioned countries, governments, and persons without a license or other appropriate authorization. As we increase our international sales and business, our risks under these laws may increase. Changes to U.S. export and sanctions policy could also affect our ability to interact, directly and indirectly, with targeted persons or companies, or companies in sanctioned markets. Noncompliance with these laws could subject us to investigations, sanctions, settlements, prosecution, other enforcement actions, disgorgement of profits, significant fines, damages, other civil and criminal penalties or injunctions, adverse media coverage and other consequences. Any investigations, actions or sanctions could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, in the future we may use third parties to sell access to our platform and conduct business on our behalf abroad. We or such future third-party intermediaries may have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or state-owned or affiliated entities, which increases our risks under the FCPA and other public corruption laws. We can be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities by our employees and, in certain circumstances, by our third-party intermediaries, even if we do not explicitly authorize such activities. Although we have controls in place to promote compliance with these laws and regulations, we cannot provide assurance that our internal controls and compliance systems will always prevent illegal or improper acts by employees, agents, third parties, or business partners. Controls intended to prevent access to our platform from certain geographies may not be effective in all cases.
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Any violation or allegation of violations of economic and trade sanctions laws, export controls, the FCPA or other applicable anti-corruption laws, or anti-money laundering laws could subject us to significant sanctions, including civil or criminal fines and penalties, disgorgement of profits, injunctions and debarment from government contracts, as well as related stockholder lawsuits and other remedial measures, all of which could adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations, and could also result in whistleblower complaints, adverse media coverage, investigations, loss of export privileges, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, results of operations and prospects.
We could be subject to claims brought by our customers, which could be costly and time consuming to defend.
We could be, from time to time, subject to claims brought by our customers in connection with commercial disputes or other proceedings. We may incur material costs and expenses in connection with any claims, including but not limited to fines or penalties and legal costs, or be subject to other remedies, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Insurance may not cover such claims, may not be sufficient for one or more such claims and may not continue to be available on terms acceptable to us. A claim brought against us that is uninsured or underinsured could result in unanticipated costs, management distraction or reputational harm, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may be subject to litigation, investigations or other actions, which could harm our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
In the ordinary course of business, we may be involved in and subject to litigation for a variety of claims or disputes and receive regulatory inquiries. These claims, lawsuits and proceedings could include labor and employment, wage and hour, commercial, intellectual property, data privacy and security, antitrust, alleged securities law violations or other investor claims and other matters. The number and significance of these potential claims and disputes may increase as our business expands. Any claim against us, regardless of its merit, could be costly, divert management’s attention and operational resources and harm our reputation. As litigation is inherently unpredictable, we cannot assure you that any potential claims or disputes will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Any claims or litigation, even if fully indemnified or insured, could make it more difficult to effectively compete or to obtain adequate insurance in the future.
In addition, we may be required to spend significant resources to monitor and protect our contractual, intellectual property and other rights, including collection of payments and fees and enforcement of intellectual property rights. Litigation has been and may be necessary in the future to enforce such rights. Such litigation could be costly, time consuming and distracting to management and could result in the impairment or loss of our rights. Further, our efforts to enforce our rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims and countersuits attacking the validity and enforceability of such rights. Our inability to protect our rights as well as any costly litigation or diversion of our management’s attention and resources, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We may be subject to liability if we breach our contracts, and our insurance may be inadequate to cover our losses.
We are subject to numerous obligations in our contracts with organizations using our platform, as well as vendors and other companies with which we do business. We may breach these commitments, whether through a weakness in our procedures, systems and internal controls, negligence or through the willful act of an employee or contractor. Our insurance policies, including our errors and omissions insurance, may be inadequate to compensate us for the potentially significant losses that may result from claims arising from breaches of our contracts, as well as disruptions in our services, failures or disruptions to our infrastructure, catastrophic events and disasters or otherwise.
In addition, our insurance may not cover all claims made against us, and defending a suit, regardless of its merit, could be costly and divert management’s attention. Further, such insurance may not be available to us in the future on economically reasonable terms, or at all.
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We may be subject to legal liability for collecting, displaying or distributing information.
Because the content in our database is collected from various sources and distributed to others, we may be subject to claims for breach of contract, defamation, negligence, unfair competition or copyright or trademark infringement or claims based on other theories, such as breach of laws related to data privacy and security. We could also be subject to claims based upon the content that is accessible from our website through links to other websites or information on our website supplied by third parties. Even if these claims do not result in liability to us, we could incur significant costs in investigating and defending against any claims and we could be subject to public notice requirements that may affect our reputation. Our potential liability for information distributed by us to others could require us to implement measures to reduce our exposure to such liability, which may require us to expend substantial resources and limit the attractiveness of our analytics to users.
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Risks Related to Intellectual Property
We may not be able to adequately protect our proprietary and intellectual property rights in our data analytics or data science.
Our success is dependent, in part, upon protecting our proprietary information and technology including our trade secrets and other unregistered intellectual property, which our competitors could use to market and deliver similar solutions, decreasing the demand for our platform. We may be unsuccessful in adequately protecting the proprietary aspects of our technology and solutions such as our proprietary software and databases. To protect our intellectual property rights, we primarily rely upon trade secret protection, including by entering into confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, and other contractual arrangements, along with copyright law, rather than on registered intellectual property such as patents, registered copyrights or registered trademarks. No assurance can be given that confidentiality, non-disclosure, or invention assignment agreements with employees, consultants or other parties will not be breached and will otherwise be effective in controlling access to and distribution of our platform, or certain aspects of our platform and proprietary information. Further, these agreements do not prevent our competitors from independently developing technologies that are substantially equivalent or superior to our platform. Additionally, certain unauthorized use of our intellectual property may go undetected, or we may face legal or practical barriers to enforcing our legal rights even where unauthorized use is detected.
Current law may not provide for adequate protection of our platform or proprietary information and technology. In addition, legal standards relating to the validity, enforceability and scope of protection of proprietary rights in datasets and Internet-related businesses are uncertain and evolving, and changes in these standards may adversely impact the viability or value of our proprietary rights. Some license provisions protecting against unauthorized use, copying, transfer, and disclosure of our platform, or certain aspects of our platform, or our data analytics may be unenforceable under the laws of certain jurisdictions. Further, the laws of some countries in which we operate or intend to operate do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the U.S., and mechanisms for enforcement of intellectual property rights in some foreign countries may be inadequate. To the extent we expand our international activities, our exposure to unauthorized copying and use of our proprietary information or technology, or certain aspects of our platform, or our data analytics may increase. Further, competitors, foreign governments, foreign government-backed actors, criminals or other third parties may gain unauthorized access to our proprietary information and technology. Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may be unable to prevent third parties from infringing upon or misappropriating our technology and intellectual property.
To protect our intellectual property rights, we may be required to spend significant resources to monitor and protect these rights, and we may not be able to detect infringement or misappropriation by our customers, business partners, or other third parties. Litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce our intellectual property rights and to protect our trade secrets. Such litigation could be costly, time consuming, and distracting to management and could result in the impairment or loss of portions of our intellectual property. Further, our efforts to enforce our intellectual property rights may be met with defenses, counterclaims and countersuits attacking the validity and enforceability of our intellectual property rights. Our inability to protect our proprietary technology against unauthorized copying or use, as well as any costly litigation or diversion of our management’s attention and resources, could delay further sales or the implementation of our platform, impair the functionality of our platform, delay introductions of new features, integrations and capabilities, result in our substituting inferior or more costly technologies into our platform, or injure our reputation. In addition, we may be required to license additional technology and data from third parties to develop and market new features, integrations and capabilities, and we cannot be certain that we could license that technology or data on commercially reasonable terms or at all, and our inability to license this technology or data could harm our ability to compete and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Further, third parties may misappropriate our data or data analytics through website scraping, robots or other means and aggregate and display this data or data analytics on their websites. In addition, “copycat” websites may misappropriate data or data analytics on our website or platform and attempt to imitate our brands or the functionality of our website or platform. We may not be able to detect all such copycats in a timely manner and, even if we could, technological and legal measures available to us may be insufficient to stop their operations and the misappropriation of our data or data analytics. Any measures that we may take to enforce our rights could require us to expend significant financial or other resources.
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We may be subject to claims by others that we are infringing on their intellectual property rights.
Our competitors, as well as a number of other entities and individuals, including so-called non-practicing entities, may own or claim to own intellectual property relating to our product offering. From time to time, third parties may claim that we are infringing upon their intellectual property rights or that we have misappropriated their intellectual property. As competition in our market grows, the possibility of patent infringement, trademark infringement and other intellectual property claims against us increases. We may be unaware of the intellectual property rights that others may claim cover some or all of our technology or services. Because patent applications can take years to issue and are often afforded confidentiality for some period of time there may currently be pending applications, unknown to us, that later result in issued patents that could cover one or more aspects of our technology and services.
Third parties may assert claims that we or our customers infringe or otherwise violate their intellectual property rights and these claims, with or without merit, could be expensive to litigate, cause us to incur substantial costs and divert management resources and attention in defending the claim. In some jurisdictions, plaintiffs can also seek injunctive relief that may limit the operation of our business or prevent the marketing and selling of our products or services that infringe or allegedly infringe on the plaintiff’s intellectual property rights. To resolve these claims, we may enter into licensing agreements with restrictive terms or significant fees, stop making our technology, products or services available, be required to implement costly redesigns to the affected technology, or products or services, or pay damages to satisfy contractual obligations to others. If we do not resolve these claims in advance of a trial, there is no guarantee that we will be successful in court. These outcomes could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operations.
In addition, certain contracts with our suppliers or customers contain provisions whereby we are required to indemnify the counterparty for damages suffered as a result of claims related to intellectual property infringement and the use of data analytics by our technology, products, or services. Claims made under these provisions could be expensive to litigate and could result in significant payments. Even if we were to prevail in such a dispute, any litigation regarding our or others’ intellectual property could be costly and time-consuming and divert the attention of our management and key personnel from our business operations. The occurrence of infringement claims may grow as the market for our products grows.
Our business could be adversely impacted by changes in laws and regulations related to the Internet or changes in access to the Internet generally.
The future success of our Internet-based business depends upon the continued use of the Internet as a primary medium for communication, business applications, and commerce. Federal or state government bodies or agencies have in the past adopted, and may in the future adopt, laws or regulations affecting the use of the Internet as a commercial medium. Legislators, regulators, or government bodies or agencies may also make legal or regulatory changes or interpret or apply existing laws or regulations that relate to the use of the Internet in new and materially different ways. Changes in these laws, regulations or interpretations could require us to modify our platform in order to comply with these changes, to incur substantial additional costs or divert resources that could otherwise be deployed to grow our business, or expose us to unanticipated civil or criminal liability, among other things.
In addition, additional taxes, fees or other charges have been imposed and may, in the future, be imposed for Internet access or commerce conducted via the Internet. Internet access is frequently provided by companies that have significant market power and could take actions that degrade, disrupt or increase the cost of our customers’ use of our platform, which could negatively impact our business. Net neutrality rules, which were designed to ensure that all online content is treated the same by Internet service providers and other companies that provide broadband services, were repealed by the Federal Communications Commission effective June 2018. The repeal of the net neutrality rules could force us to incur greater operating expenses or our customers’ use of our platform could be adversely affected, either of which could harm our business and results of operations.
These developments could limit the growth of Internet-related commerce or communications generally or result in reductions in the demand for Internet-based platforms and services such as ours, increased costs to us or the disruption of our business. Furthermore, as the Internet continues to experience growth in the numbers of users, frequency of use and amount of data transmitted, the use of the Internet as a business tool could be adversely affected due to delays in the development or adoption of new standards and protocols to handle increased demands of Internet activity, security, reliability, cost, ease-of-use, accessibility, and quality of service. Moreover, the performance of the Internet and its acceptance as a business tool has been adversely affected by “viruses,” “worms,” and similar malicious programs and the Internet has experienced a variety of outages and other delays as a result of damage to portions of its infrastructure. If the use of the Internet generally, or our platform specifically, is adversely affected by these or other issues, we could be forced to incur substantial costs, demand for our platform could decline, and our results of operations and financial condition could be harmed.
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Risks Related to Certain Tax Matters
Unanticipated changes in our effective tax rate and additional tax liabilities may impact our financial results.
We are subject to taxes in the U.S. and certain foreign jurisdictions. Due to economic and political conditions, tax rates in various jurisdictions, including the U.S., may be subject to change. The U.S. government may enact significant changes to the taxation of business entities, including, among others, a permanent increase in the corporate income tax rate, an increase in the tax applicable to the global low-taxed income and the imposition of minimum taxes or surtaxes on certain types of income. For example, beginning in 2022, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 eliminated the option of expensing all research and development expenditures in the current year, instead requiring amortization over five years for expenditures in the U.S. and over fifteen years for foreign-based expenditures, pursuant to Section 174 of the Internal Revenue Code. In the future, Congress may consider legislation that would eliminate the capitalization and amortization requirement. There is no assurance that the requirement will be deferred, repealed, or otherwise modified. Our future effective tax rates could be affected by changes in the mix of earnings in countries with differing statutory tax rates, changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities and changes in tax laws or their interpretation.
We may also be subject to additional tax liabilities and penalties due to changes in non-income based taxes resulting from changes in federal, state or foreign tax laws, changes in taxing jurisdictions’ administrative interpretations, decisions, policies and positions, results of tax examinations, settlements or judicial decisions, changes in accounting principles, changes to the business operations, including acquisitions, as well as the evaluation of new information that results in a change to a tax position taken in a prior period. Any resulting increase in our tax obligation or cash taxes paid could adversely affect our cash flows and financial results.
Changes in tax laws or regulations in the various tax jurisdictions we are subject to that are applied adversely to us or our paying customers could increase the costs of our platform and harm our business.
New income, sales, use or other tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be enacted at any time. Those enactments could harm our domestic and foreign business operations and our business, financial condition and results of operations. Further, existing tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be interpreted, changed, modified or applied adversely to us. These events could require us or our paying customers to pay additional tax amounts on a prospective or retroactive basis, as well as require us or our paying customers to pay fines and/or penalties and interest for past amounts deemed to be due. If we raise our prices to offset the costs of these changes, existing and potential future paying customers may elect not to subscribe to our platform in the future. Additionally, new, changed, modified or newly interpreted or applied tax laws could increase our paying customers’ and our compliance, operating and other costs, as well as the costs of our platform. Further, these events could decrease the capital we have available to operate our business. Any or all of these events could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Additionally, the application of U.S. federal, state, local and foreign tax laws to services provided electronically is unclear and continually evolving. Existing tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be interpreted or applied adversely to us, possibly with retroactive effect, which could require us or our paying customers to pay additional tax amounts, as well as require us or our paying customers to pay fines or penalties, as well as interest for past amounts. If we are unsuccessful in collecting such taxes due from our paying customers, we could be held liable for such taxes, fines or penalties and thereby have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
For example, during the quarter ended June 30, 2023, we determined that sales in certain states were subject to sales tax and that we had not assessed such sales tax on sales of our services to customers. As a result, we entered into voluntary disclosure agreements with the applicable jurisdictions and will continue to accrue interest on any outstanding liabilities until the voluntary disclosure agreements are settled.
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Our results of operations may be harmed if we are required to collect sales or other related taxes for subscriptions to our platform in jurisdictions where we have not historically done so.
States and some local taxing jurisdictions have differing rules and regulations governing sales and use taxes, and these rules and regulations are subject to varying interpretations that may change over time. The application of federal, state, local and foreign tax laws to services provided electronically is unclear and continually evolving. In particular, the applicability of sales taxes to our platform in various jurisdictions is unclear. For example, during the quarter ended June 30, 2023, we determined that sales in certain states were subject to sales tax and that we had not assessed such sales tax on sales of our services to customers. As a result, we entered into voluntary disclosure agreements with the applicable jurisdictions and will continue to accrue interest on any outstanding liabilities until the voluntary disclosure agreements are settled.
We collect and remit U.S. sales tax and foreign value-added tax (“VAT”), in a number of jurisdictions. It is possible, however, that we could face sales tax or VAT audits and that our liability for these taxes could exceed our estimates as state and foreign taxing authorities could still assert that we are obligated to collect additional tax amounts from our paying customers and remit those taxes to those authorities. We could also be subject to audits in states and foreign jurisdictions for which we have not accrued tax liabilities. A successful assertion that we should be collecting additional sales tax, VAT or other taxes on our services in jurisdictions where we have not historically done so and do not accrue for sales taxes and VAT could result in substantial tax liabilities for past sales or services, discourage organizations from subscribing to our platform, or otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Further, one or more state or foreign taxing authorities could seek to impose additional sales tax, use tax, VAT or other tax collection and record-keeping obligations on us or may determine that such taxes should have, but have not been, paid by us. Liability for past taxes may also include substantial interest and penalty charges. Any successful action by state or foreign taxing authorities to compel us to collect and remit sales tax, use tax, VAT or other taxes, either retroactively and/or prospectively, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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Risks Related to Accounting and Financial Reporting Matters
Deferred revenue and change in deferred revenue may not be accurate indicators of our future financial results.
The annualized value of some customer subscriptions may not be completely reflected in deferred revenue at any single point in time. We may agree to allow customers to change the renewal dates of their orders to, for example, align more closely with a customer’s annual budget process or to align with the renewal dates of other orders placed by other entities within the same corporate control group, or to change payment terms from annual to quarterly, or vice versa. Such changes typically result in an order of less than one year as necessary to align all orders to the desired renewal date and, thus, may result in a lesser increase to deferred revenue than if the adjustment had not occurred. Additionally, changes in renewal dates may change the fiscal quarter in which deferred revenue associated with a particular order is booked. However, many companies that provide cloud-based software report changes in deferred revenue or calculated billings as key operating or financial metrics, and it is possible that analysts or investors may view these metrics as important. Thus, any changes in our deferred revenue balances or deferred revenue trends, or in the future, our unbilled accounts receivable balances or trends, could adversely affect the market price of our Class A Common Stock.
Because we recognize subscription revenue over the subscription term, downturns or upturns in new sales and renewals are not immediately reflected in full in our results of operations.
We recognize revenue from subscriptions to our platform on a straight-line basis over the term of the contract subscription period beginning on the date access to our platform is granted, provided all other revenue recognition criteria have been met. Our subscription arrangements generally have contractual terms requiring advance payment for annual or quarterly periods. As a result, much of the revenue we report each quarter is the recognition of deferred revenue from recurring subscriptions entered into during previous quarters. Consequently, a decline in new or renewed recurring subscription contracts in any one quarter will not be fully reflected in revenue in that quarter but will negatively affect our revenue in future quarters.
Accordingly, the effect of significant downturns in new or renewed sales of our recurring subscriptions are not reflected in full in our results of operations until future periods. Our subscription model also makes it difficult for us to rapidly increase our revenue through additional sales in any period, as revenue from new customers is typically recognized over the applicable subscription term. By contrast, a majority of our costs are expensed as incurred, which could result in our recognition of more costs than revenue in the earlier portion of the subscription term, and we may not attain profitability in any given period.
We have broad discretion in the use of our cash and short-term investment balances and may not use them effectively.
We have broad discretion in the use of our cash balances and may not use them effectively. The failure by our management to apply these funds effectively could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Pending their use, we may invest our cash balances in a manner that does not produce income or that loses value. Our investments may not yield a favorable return to our investors and may have a material adverse effect on the price of our Class A Common Stock.
We have a significant amount of goodwill and intangible assets on our balance sheet, and our results of operations may be adversely affected if we fail to realize the full value of our goodwill and intangible assets.
We have a significant amount of goodwill and intangible assets on our balance sheet, and our results of operations may be adversely affected if we fail to realize the full value of our goodwill and intangible assets. Our balance sheet reflects goodwill of $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and intangible assets, net of $323.1 million and $350.7 million as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. In accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”), goodwill and intangible assets with an indefinite life are not amortized but are subject to a periodic impairment evaluation. Goodwill and acquired intangible assets with an indefinite life are tested for impairment at least annually or when events and circumstances indicate that fair value of a reporting unit may be below their carrying value. Acquired intangible assets with definite lives are amortized on a straight-line basis over the estimated period over which we expect to realize economic value related to the intangible asset. In addition, we review long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of an asset might not be recoverable. If indicators of impairment are present, we evaluate the carrying value in relation to estimates of future undiscounted cash flows. Our ability to realize the value of the goodwill and intangible assets will depend on the future cash flows of the businesses we have acquired, which in turn depend in part on how well we have integrated these businesses into our own business. Judgments made by management relate to the expected useful lives of long-lived assets and our ability to realize undiscounted cash flows of the carrying amounts of such assets. The accuracy of these judgments may be adversely affected by several factors, including significant:
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These types of events or indicators and the resulting impairment analysis could result in impairment charges in the future. If we are not able to realize the value of the goodwill and intangible assets, we may be required to incur material charges relating to the impairment of those assets. Such impairment charges could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
During the quarter ended September 30, 2023, we experienced a sustained decline in our stock price and market capitalization, which resulted in a goodwill impairment charge of $287.4 million recorded as of September 30, 2023. Refer to Note 9. Goodwill and Intangible Assets for further information. Our reporting unit is at risk of future goodwill impairments if we again experience a continued decline in our market capitalization or if macroeconomic conditions worsen, which could represent potential indicators of impairment requiring further impairment analysis in 2024. We continue to monitor for potential impairment should impairment indicators arise. If actual results in our single reporting unit are substantially lower than the projections used in our valuation methodology, or if market discount rates substantially increase or our market capitalization substantially decreases, then our future valuations could be adversely affected. We could be required to record a significant charge to earnings in our financial statements during the period in which any impairment of our goodwill or intangible assets is determined, negatively impacting our results of operations.
We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, and our management has concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of the end of the period covered by this report. While we are working to remediate the identified material weakness, we cannot assure you that additional material weaknesses or significant deficiencies will not occur in the future. If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results or prevent fraud. As a result, our stockholders could lose confidence in our financial reporting, which could harm our business and the trading price of our common stock.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting.
As disclosed within this Annual Report on Form 10-K, management identified a material weakness in internal control related the collection and remittance of sales tax and concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2023, as described in more detail in Part II — Item 9A, “Controls and Procedures.” Management is actively engaged in remediation efforts to address our material weakness. However, we may not be successful in promptly remediating the material weakness identified by management or be able to identify and remediate additional control deficiencies, including material weaknesses, in the future. The material weakness in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting will not be considered remediated until the controls operate for a sufficient period of time and management has concluded, through testing that these controls operate effectively. If we do not successfully remediate the material weakness, or if other material weaknesses or other deficiencies arise in the future, we may be unable to accurately report our financial results, which could cause our financial results to be materially misstated and require restatement. In such case, we may be unable to maintain compliance with securities law requirements regarding timely filing of periodic reports in addition to applicable stock exchange listing requirements, investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting, and our stock price may decline as a result. We cannot assure you that the measures we have taken to date, or any measures we may take in the future, will be sufficient to avoid potential future material weaknesses.
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Risks Related to Our Indebtedness
We may not be able to secure sufficient additional financing on favorable terms, or at all, to meet our future capital needs.
We may require additional capital in the future to pursue business opportunities or acquisitions or respond to challenges and unforeseen circumstances. We may also decide to engage in equity or debt financings or enter into additional credit facilities for other reasons. We may not be able to secure additional debt or equity financing in a timely manner, on favorable terms, or at all. Any debt financing we obtain in the future could involve restrictive covenants relating to our capital raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions.
Any default under our debt agreements could have significant consequences.
The 2021 Credit Agreement (as defined below) contains covenants imposing certain restrictions on our business. These restrictions may affect our ability to operate our business and may limit our ability to take advantage of potential business opportunities as they arise. The 2021 Credit Agreement contains restrictive covenants including, with specified exceptions, limitations on our ability to incur debt and liens; make certain investments, acquisitions and loans; pay dividends or make other distributions; make payments on subordinated debt; enter into burdensome agreements or affiliate transactions; consolidate, merge or dissolve; acquire or dispose of assets; materially alter our business, amend our organizational documents or the terms of certain restricted debt; and modify our fiscal year end. The 2021 Credit Agreement also requires us to, commencing on the last day of the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2021, maintain a maximum total leverage ratio.
Our ability to comply with these covenants under the 2021 Credit Agreement may be affected by events beyond our control, including prevailing economic, financial and industry conditions. The breach of any of these covenants could result in an event of default, which would permit Bank of America, N.A. (the “Administrative Agent”) or the specified threshold of lenders to declare all outstanding debt to be due and payable, together with accrued and unpaid interest. Our obligations under the 2021 Credit Agreement are secured by liens on substantially all of our assets, subject to agreed-upon exceptions. Any default by us under the 2021 Credit Agreement could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our level of indebtedness could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The total principal amount of debt outstanding, excluding unamortized debt issuance costs, under the 2021 Credit Agreement as of December 31, 2023 was $257.8 million.
Our indebtedness could have significant effects on our business, such as:
In addition, we may not be able to generate sufficient cash flow from our operations to repay our indebtedness when it becomes due and to meet our other cash needs. If we are not able to pay our borrowings as they become due, we will be required to pursue one or more alternative strategies, such as selling assets, refinancing or restructuring our indebtedness or selling additional debt or equity securities. We may not be able to refinance our debt or sell additional debt or equity securities or our assets on favorable terms, if at all, and if we must sell our assets, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operation.
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Pursuant to our 2021 Credit Agreement, we are required to maintain, commencing on the last day of the fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2021, on a consolidated basis, a maximum ratio of consolidated net debt to consolidated EBITDA (with certain adjustments as set forth in the 2021 Credit Agreement), tested as of the last day of any fiscal quarter. Events beyond our control, including changes in general economic and business conditions, may affect our ability to satisfy the financial covenant. We cannot assure you that we will satisfy the financial covenant in the future, or that our lenders will waive any failure to satisfy the financial covenant.
The failure to comply with the covenants under our 2021 Credit Agreement or volatility in the credit and capital markets could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operation.
Our ability to manage our debt is dependent on our level of positive cash flow from the sale of our platform. An economic downturn may negatively impact our cash flows. Credit and capital markets can be volatile, and have recently experienced such volatility in light of global economic factors, which could make it more difficult for us to refinance our existing debt or to obtain additional debt or equity financings in the future. Such constraints could increase our costs of borrowing and could restrict our access to other potential sources of future liquidity. Future volatility or disruption in the credit and capital markets could require us to take measures to conserve cash until the markets stabilize or until alternative credit arrangements or other funding for our business needs can be arranged. Our failure to comply with the covenants under the 2021 Credit Agreement or to have sufficient liquidity to make interest and other payments required by our debt could result in a default of such debt and acceleration of our borrowings, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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Risks Related to Our Organizational Structure
We are a holding company, and our principal asset is our 74.9% ownership interest in Definitive OpCo, and we are accordingly dependent upon distributions from Definitive OpCo to pay dividends, if any, and taxes, make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement and pay other expenses.
We are a holding company and our principal asset is our ownership of 74.9% of the outstanding LLC Units (as of December 31, 2023), exclusive of unvested LLC Units. We have no independent means of generating revenue. We anticipate that Definitive OpCo will continue to be treated as a partnership for U.S. federal and applicable state and local income tax purposes and, as such, will generally not be subject to entity-level U.S. federal and applicable state and local income tax. Instead, the taxable income of Definitive OpCo is allocated among its members, including us. Accordingly, we incur income taxes on our allocable share of any taxable income of Definitive OpCo. We also incur expenses related to our operations, and have obligations to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. As the sole managing member of Definitive OpCo, we intend to cause Definitive OpCo to make distributions to the holders of LLC Units in amounts sufficient to (i) cover all of the income taxes payable by holders of LLC Units (including us) on such holders’ respective allocable shares of the taxable income of Definitive OpCo, (ii) allow us to make any payments required under the Tax Receivable Agreement, (iii) fund dividends to our stockholders in accordance with our dividend policy, to the extent that our board of directors declares such dividends and (iv) pay our expenses.
Deterioration in the financial condition, earnings or cash flow of Definitive OpCo and its subsidiaries for any reason could limit or impair their ability to pay such distributions. Additionally, to the extent that we need funds and Definitive OpCo is restricted from making such distributions under applicable law or regulation, as a result of covenants in its debt agreements or otherwise, we may not be able to obtain such funds on terms acceptable to us, or at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity and financial condition. In addition, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, liability for adjustments to a partnership’s tax return can be imposed on the partnership itself in certain circumstances, absent an election to the contrary. Definitive OpCo could be subject to material liabilities pursuant to adjustments to its partnership tax returns if, for example, its calculations or allocations of taxable income or loss are incorrect, which also could limit its ability to make distributions to us.
In certain circumstances, Definitive OpCo will be required to make distributions to us and the other holders of LLC Units, and the distributions that Definitive OpCo will be required to make may be substantial.
Under the Amended LLC Agreement, Definitive OpCo is required from time to time to make pro rata distributions in cash to us and the other holders of LLC Units at certain assumed tax rates in amounts that are intended to be sufficient to cover the income taxes payable on our and the other LLC Unit holders’ respective allocable shares of the taxable income of Definitive OpCo. As a result of (i) potential differences in the amount of taxable income allocable to us and the other LLC Unit holders, (ii) the lower tax rate applicable to corporations than individuals and (iii) the use of an assumed tax rate (based on the tax rate applicable to individuals) in calculating Definitive OpCo’s distribution obligations, we may receive tax distributions significantly in excess of our tax liabilities and obligations to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement. Our board of directors, in its sole discretion, will make any determination from time to time with respect to the use of any such excess cash so accumulated, which may include, among other uses, funding repurchases of Class A Common Stock, acquiring additional newly issued LLC Units from Definitive OpCo at a per unit price determined by reference to the market value of the Class A Common Stock, paying dividends, which may include special dividends, on its Class A Common Stock, or any combination of the foregoing. We will have no obligation to distribute such cash (or other available cash other than any declared dividend) to our stockholders. To the extent that we do not distribute such excess cash as dividends on our Class A Common Stock or otherwise take ameliorative actions between LLC Units and shares of Class A Common Stock and instead, for example, hold such cash balances, holders of our LLC Units (other than Definitive Healthcare Corp.) may benefit from any value attributable to such cash balances as a result of their ownership of Class A Common Stock following a redemption or exchange of their LLC Units, notwithstanding that such holders of our LLC Units (other than Definitive Healthcare Corp.) may previously have participated as holders of LLC Units in distributions by Definitive OpCo that resulted in such excess cash balances at Definitive Healthcare Corp.
Our organizational structure, including the Tax Receivable Agreement, confers certain benefits upon the TRA Parties that will not benefit holders of our Class A Common Stock to the same extent that it will benefit the TRA Parties. The Tax Receivable Agreement with the TRA Parties requires Definitive Healthcare Corp. to make cash payments to TRA Parties in respect of certain tax benefits to which it may become entitled, and we expect that such payments will be substantial.
Our organizational structure, including the Tax Receivable Agreement, confers certain benefits upon the TRA Parties that will not benefit the holders of Class A Common Stock to the same extent that it will benefit the TRA Parties. Although Definitive Healthcare Corp. holds 15% of the amount of such tax benefits, this and other aspects of our organizational structure may adversely impact the future trading market for our Class A Common Stock. Under the Tax Receivable Agreement, we are
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required to make cash payments to the TRA Parties equal to 85% of the tax benefits, if any, that Definitive Healthcare Corp. actually realizes, or in certain circumstances are deemed to realize, as a result of (i) certain tax attributes that Definitive Healthcare Corp. acquired from the Blocker Companies, (ii) certain tax basis adjustments resulting from (a) acquisitions by Definitive Healthcare Corp. of LLC Units from existing holders and (b) future redemptions or exchanges of LLC Units by holders of LLC Units for Class A Common Stock or other consideration and (iii) certain payments made under the Tax Receivable Agreement. The payment obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement are obligations of Definitive Healthcare Corp. and we expect that the amount of the cash payments that we are required to make under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be significant. Any payments made by Definitive Healthcare Corp. to the TRA Parties under the Tax Receivable Agreement will not be available for reinvestment in our business and will generally reduce the amount of overall cash flow that might have otherwise been available to us. The payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement are not conditioned upon continued ownership of us by the exchanging TRA Parties. Furthermore, Definitive Healthcare Corp.’s future obligation to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement could make us a less attractive target for an acquisition, particularly in the case of an acquirer that cannot use some or all of the tax benefits that are the subject of the Tax Receivable Agreement.
In certain cases, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement to the TRA Parties may be accelerated or significantly exceed any actual benefits we realize in respect of the tax attributes subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement.
The Tax Receivable Agreement provides that upon certain mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combinations or other changes of control, upon a breach of any of our material obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement or if, at any time, we elect an early termination of the Tax Receivable Agreement, then our obligations, or our successor’s obligations, under the Tax Receivable Agreement to make payments will accelerate. The accelerated payments required in such circumstances will be calculated by reference to the present value (at a discount rate equal to LIBOR plus 100 basis points or a replacement rate) of all future payments that TRA Parties or other recipients would have been entitled to receive under the Tax Receivable Agreement, and such accelerated payments and any other future payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be based on certain assumptions, including an assumption that we would have sufficient taxable income to fully utilize all potential future tax benefits that are subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement.
As a result of the foregoing, we could be required to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement that are greater than the specified percentage of any actual benefits we ultimately realize in respect of the tax benefits that are subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement, and we could be required to make payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement significantly in advance of the actual realization, if any, of such future tax benefits. In these situations, our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement could have a substantial negative impact on our liquidity and could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing certain mergers, asset sales, other forms of business combinations or other changes of control. There can be no assurance that we will be able to fund or finance our obligations under the Tax Receivable Agreement.
The acceleration of payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement in the case of certain changes of control may impair our ability to consummate change of control transactions or negatively impact the value received by owners of our Class A Common Stock.
In the case of certain changes of control, payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be accelerated and may significantly exceed the actual benefits we realize in respect of the tax attributes subject to the Tax Receivable Agreement. We expect that the payments that we may make under the Tax Receivable Agreement in the event of a change of control will be substantial. As a result, our accelerated payment obligations and/or the assumptions under the Tax Receivable Agreement in the case of a change of control may impair our ability to consummate change of control transactions or negatively impact the value received by owners of our Class A Common Stock in a change of control transaction.
We will not be reimbursed for any payments made to the TRA Parties under the Tax Receivable Agreement in the event that any tax benefits are disallowed.
Payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement will be based on the tax reporting positions that we determine, and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS, or another taxing authority may challenge all or part of the tax basis increases or other tax benefits that we claim, as well as other related tax positions we take, and a court could sustain such challenge. If the outcome of any such challenge would reasonably be expected to materially affect a recipient’s payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement, then we will not be permitted to settle or fail to contest such challenge without the consent (not to be unreasonably withheld or delayed) of certain TRA Parties. The interests of the TRA Parties in any such challenge may differ from or conflict with our interests and your interests, and the TRA Parties may exercise their consent rights relating to any such challenge in a manner adverse to our interests and your interests. We will not be reimbursed for any cash payments previously made to the TRA Parties under the Tax Receivable Agreement in the event that any tax benefits initially claimed by us and for which payment has been made to a TRA Party are subsequently challenged by a taxing authority and are ultimately disallowed. Instead, any excess cash payments made by us to a TRA Party will be netted against any future cash payments that we might
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otherwise be required to make to such TRA Party, as applicable, under the terms of the Tax Receivable Agreement. However, we might not determine that we have effectively made an excess cash payment to a TRA Party for a number of years following the initial time of such payment and, if any of our tax reporting positions are challenged by a taxing authority, we will not be permitted to reduce any future cash payments under the Tax Receivable Agreement until any such challenge is finally settled or determined. Moreover, the excess cash payments we previously made under the Tax Receivable Agreement could be greater than the amount of future cash payments against which we would otherwise be permitted to net such excess. As a result, payments made under the Tax Receivable Agreement could be significantly in excess of any tax savings that we realize from the tax attributes could be that are the subject of the Tax Receivable Agreement
If we were deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), as a result of our ownership of Definitive OpCo, applicable restrictions could make it impractical for us to continue our business as contemplated and could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Under Sections 3(a)(1)(A) and (C) of the 1940 Act, a company generally will be deemed to be an “investment company” for purposes of the 1940 Act if (i) it is, or holds itself out as being, engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting, or trading in securities or (ii) it engages, or proposes to engage, in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding, or trading in securities and it owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of its total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. We do not believe that we are an “investment company,” as such term is defined in either of those sections of the 1940 Act.
As the sole managing member of Definitive OpCo, we control and operate Definitive OpCo. On that basis, we believe that our interest in Definitive OpCo is not an “investment security” as that term is used in the 1940 Act. However, if we were to cease participation in the management of Definitive OpCo, or if Definitive OpCo itself becomes an investment company, our interest in Definitive OpCo, could be deemed an “investment security” for purposes of the 1940 Act.
We and Definitive OpCo intend to conduct our operations so that we will not be deemed an investment company. If it were established that we were an unregistered investment company, there would be a risk that we would be subject to monetary penalties and injunctive relief in an action brought by the SEC, that we would be unable to enforce contracts with third parties, and that third parties could seek to obtain rescission of transactions undertaken during the period it was established that we were an unregistered investment company. If we were required to register as an investment company, restrictions imposed by the 1940 Act, including limitations on our capital structure and our ability to transact with affiliates, could make it impractical for us to continue our business as contemplated and could have a material adverse effect on our business.
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Risks Related to Ownership of Our Class A Common Stock
Future offerings of debt or equity securities by us may have a material adverse effect on the market price of our Class A Common Stock.
In the future, we may attempt to obtain financing or to further increase our capital resources by issuing additional shares of our Class A Common Stock or by offering debt or other equity securities, including senior or subordinated notes, debt securities convertible into equity or shares of preferred stock. Any future debt financing could involve restrictive covenants relating to our capital-raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which might make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. Moreover, if we issue debt securities, the debt holders would have rights to make claims on our assets senior to the rights of our holders of our Class A Common Stock. The issuance of additional shares of our Class A Common Stock or other equity securities or securities convertible into equity may dilute the economic and voting rights of our existing stockholders and/or reduce the market price of our Class A Common Stock. Debt securities convertible into equity could be subject to adjustments in the conversion ratio pursuant to which certain events may increase the number of equity securities issuable upon conversion. Preferred shares, if issued, could have a preference with respect to liquidating distributions or a preference with respect to dividend payments that could limit our ability to pay dividends to the holders of our Class A Common Stock. Our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, which may have a material adverse effect on the amount, timing, or nature of our future offerings. Thus, holders of our Class A Common Stock bear the risk that our future offerings may reduce the market price of our Class A Common Stock and dilute their stockholdings in us.
Certain of our directors and stockholders will not have any obligation to present business opportunities to us and may compete with us.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that our directors and stockholders affiliated with Advent and Spectrum Equity do not have any obligation to offer us an opportunity to participate in business opportunities presented to them even if the opportunity is one that we might reasonably have pursued (and therefore may be free to compete with us in the same business or similar businesses) and that, to the extent permitted by law, such directors and stockholders will not be liable to us or our stockholders for breach of any duty by reason of any such activities.
As a result, our directors and stockholders affiliated with Advent and Spectrum Equity will not be prohibited from investing in competing businesses or doing business with our customers. Therefore, we may be in competition with our directors and stockholders or their respective affiliates, and we may not have knowledge of, or be able to pursue, transactions that could potentially be beneficial to us. Accordingly, we may lose certain corporate opportunities or suffer competitive harm, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our quarterly results of operations may fluctuate significantly and could fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors due to seasonality and other factors, some of which are beyond our control, resulting in a decline in our stock price.
Our quarterly results of operations may fluctuate due principally to seasonal factors. Accordingly, results for any one quarter are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for any other quarter or for any year. In addition, if we increase our marketing or promotional activity in certain periods, the seasonality of our business may be amplified. In the future, results of operations may fall below the expectations of securities analysts and investors. In that event, the price of our Class A Common Stock could be adversely impacted.
The market price and trading volume of our Class A Common Stock may be volatile, which could result in rapid and substantial losses for our stockholders, and you may lose all or part of your investment.
Shares of our Class A Common Stock may experience significant volatility. An active, liquid and orderly market for our Class A Common Stock may not be sustained, which could depress the trading price of our Class A Common Stock or cause it to be highly volatile or subject to wide fluctuations. The market price of our Class A Common Stock may fluctuate or may decline significantly in the future and you could lose all or part of your investment. Some of the factors that could negatively affect our share price or result in fluctuations in the price or trading volume of our Class A Common Stock include:
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These broad market and industry factors may decrease the market price of our Class A Common Stock, regardless of our actual financial performance. The stock market in general has from time to time experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations, and the trading prices of technology company securities have been highly volatile, including recently. In addition, in the past, following periods of volatility in the overall market and decreases in the market price of a company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against these companies. This litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management’s attention and resources, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
The market price of our Class A Common Stock could be negatively affected by sales of substantial amounts of our Class A Common Stock in the public markets.
As of December 31, 2023, we had a total of 116,562,252 shares of Class A Common Stock outstanding. Of those shares, 62,493,676 shares were held by Advent, our largest stockholder and one of our pre-IPO owners. In addition, as of December 31, 2023, our pre-IPO owners held directly or indirectly a total of 39,762,700 LLC Units that, subject to applicable time-vesting conditions (some of which have already been met), can ultimately be redeemed or exchanged for our Class A Common Stock. In connection with the completion of our IPO, we entered into a Registration Rights Agreement with certain pre-IPO owners, including Advent, Spectrum Equity, 22C Capital and our founder. Any sales in connection with the Registration Rights Agreement or otherwise in compliance with the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), or the prospect of any such sales, could materially and adversely impact the market price of our Class A common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through future sales of equity securities.
In addition, as of December 31, 2023, up to 6,828,490 shares of our Class A common stock may be issued upon vesting and settlement of outstanding RSUs, and 7,284,174, 887,819, and 2,549,556 shares of our Class A common stock are available for future issuance under our 2021 Equity Incentive Plan, our 2023 Inducement Plan, and our 2021 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, respectively, and will become eligible for sale in the public market to the extent permitted by the provisions of various vesting schedules, exercise limitations and the securities laws. We have registered all of the shares of Class A Common Stock issuable upon vesting and settlement of restricted stock units, as well as other equity incentive awards we may grant in the future for public resale under the Securities Act. Shares of Class A Common Stock will become eligible for sale in the public market to the extent such restricted stock units settle, subject to compliance with applicable securities laws.
The sale of substantial amounts of shares of our Class A common stock in the public market, or the perception that such sales could occur, could harm the prevailing market price of shares of our Class A common stock. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, also might make it more difficult for us to sell shares of our Class A common stock in the future at a time and at a price that we deem appropriate.
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The future issuance of additional Class A Common Stock in connection with any equity plans, acquisitions or otherwise will dilute all other stockholdings.
As of December 31, 2023 we had an aggregate of 465,887,709 shares of Class A Common Stock authorized but unissued and not reserved for issuance under our equity incentive plans. We may issue all these shares of Class A Common Stock without any action or approval by our stockholders, subject to certain exceptions. The issuance of any Class A Common Stock in connection with any equity incentive plan, the exercise of outstanding stock options or otherwise would dilute the percentage ownership held by owners of our Class A Common Stock.
As a public company, we incur significant costs to comply with the laws and regulations affecting public companies, which could harm our business and results of operations.
As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and the listing requirements of Nasdaq, and other applicable securities rules and regulations. These rules and regulations have increased and will continue to increase our legal, accounting and financial compliance costs and have made and will continue to make some activities more time-consuming and costly. We have experienced, and expect to continue to experience, costs associated with being a public company, including costs associated with compliance with the auditor attestation requirement of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, or Section 404, the adoption of certain accounting standard updates, and additional disclosure requirements. These rules and regulations could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board or our board committees or as executive officers. Our management and other personnel devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives, diverting their attention from other business concerns, which could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.
To comply with the requirements of being a public company, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, we continue to undertake various actions, such as further developing and refining internal controls and procedures and hiring accounting or internal audit staff or outsourcing certain functions to third parties, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Delaware law and our organizational documents, as well as our existing and future debt agreements, may impede or discourage a takeover, which could deprive our investors of the opportunity to receive a premium for their shares.
Definitive Healthcare Corp. is a Delaware corporation, and the anti-takeover provisions of Delaware law impose various impediments to the ability of a third-party to acquire control of us, even if a change of control would be beneficial to our existing stockholders. In addition, provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws may make it more difficult for, or prevent a third-party from, acquiring control of us without the approval of our Board. Among other things, these provisions generally:
In addition, our 2021 Credit Agreement imposes, and we anticipate that documents governing our future indebtedness may impose, limitations on our ability to enter into change of control transactions. The occurrence of a change of control transaction could constitute an event of default thereunder permitting acceleration of the indebtedness, thereby impeding our ability to enter into certain transactions.
The foregoing factors, as well as the significant Class A Common Stock ownership by Advent, could impede a merger, takeover or other business combination, or discourage a potential investor from making a tender offer for our Class A Common Stock, which, under certain circumstances, could reduce the market value of our Class A Common Stock.
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Claims for indemnification by our directors and officers may reduce our available funds to satisfy successful third-party claims against us and may reduce the amount of money available to us.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws provide that we will indemnify our directors and officers, in each case, to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law. Pursuant to our charter, our directors will not be liable to us or any stockholders for monetary damages for any breach of fiduciary duty, except (i) for acts that breach his or her duty of loyalty to us or our stockholders; (ii) for acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of the law; (iii) pursuant to Section 174 of the Delaware General Corporate Law (the “DGCL”), which provides for liability of directors for unlawful payments of dividends of unlawful stock purchase; or (iv) for any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit. The amended and restated bylaws also require us, if so requested, to advance expenses that such director or officer incurred in defending or investigating a threatened or pending action, suit or proceeding, provided that such person will return any such advance if it is ultimately determined that such person is not entitled to indemnification by us. Any claims for indemnification by our directors and officers may reduce our available funds to satisfy successful third-party claims against us and may reduce the amount of money available to us.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by our stockholders, and designates the federal district courts of the United States as the sole and exclusive forum for claims arising under the Securities Act, which, in each case could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers employees, agents or other stockholders.
Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for any (a) derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf; (b) action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by or other wrongdoing by any current or former director, officer, employee, agent or stockholder to us or our stockholders; (c) action asserting a claim arising under any provision of the DGCL or our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or amended and restated bylaws (as either may be amended from time to time), or as to which the DGCL confers jurisdiction on the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware; or (d) action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine. For the avoidance of doubt, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the foregoing exclusive forum provision does not apply to actions brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, or any rules or regulations promulgated thereunder, or any other claim or cause of action for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction.
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Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that, unless we consent in writing to an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States shall be the sole and exclusive forum for the resolution of any action asserting a claim arising under the Securities Act or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. Pursuant to the Exchange Act, claims arising thereunder must be brought in federal district courts of the United States.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring or holding any interest in any shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to the forum provision in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation. This choice of forum provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a different judicial forum, including one that it may find favorable or convenient for a specified class of disputes with us or our directors, officers, other stockholders or employees, which may discourage such lawsuits, make them more difficult or expensive to pursue and result in outcomes that are less favorable to such stockholders than outcomes that may have been attainable in other jurisdictions.
By agreeing to this provision, however, stockholders are not deemed to have waived our compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies’ certificates of incorporation has been challenged in legal proceedings, and it is possible that a court could find these types of provisions to be inapplicable or unenforceable. If a court were to find the choice of forum provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our ability to issue preferred stock may deter takeover attempts.
Our Board is empowered to issue, without stockholder approval, preferred stock with dividends, liquidation, conversion, voting or other rights, which could decrease the amount of earnings and assets available for distribution to holders of our Class A Common Stock and adversely affect the relative voting power or other rights of the holders of our Class A Common Stock. In the event of issuance, the preferred stock could be used as a method of discouraging, delaying or preventing a change in control. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the issuance of up to 10 million shares of “blank check” preferred stock with such designations, rights and preferences as may be determined from time to time by our Board. Although we have no present intention to issue any shares of our preferred stock, we may do so in the future under appropriate circumstances.
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Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
None.
Item 1C. Cybersecurity
Risk Management and Strategy
We have implemented and maintain various information security processes designed to identify, assess and manage material risks from cybersecurity threats to our critical computer networks, third party hosted services, communications systems, hardware and software, and our critical data, including intellectual property, confidential information that is proprietary, strategic or competitive in nature, and data of our customers and employees (“Information Systems and Data”).
Our Information Security function is overseen by our Chief Technology Officer (“CTO”), our information security team, security management, engineering operations, legal, risk management, and various third-party service providers, including our virtual Chief Information Security Officer (“vCISO”). In doing so, they identify, assess and manage the Company’s cybersecurity threats and risks, using various methods including, for example, manual and automated tools, subscribing to reports and services that identify cybersecurity threats, analyzing reports of threats and actors, conducting scans of the threat environment, evaluating our and our industry’s risk profile, evaluating threats reported to us, coordinating with law enforcement concerning threats, conducting internal and/or external audits and threat assessments for internal and external threats, utilizing third-party threat assessments, conducting threat and vulnerability assessments, using external intelligence feeds, and using third parties to conduct tabletop incident response exercises and other tests.
Depending on the environment, we implement and maintain various technical, physical, and organizational measures, processes, standards and policies designed to manage and mitigate material risks from cybersecurity threats to our Information Systems and Data, including, for example: an incident response plan and incident response policy, incident detection and response capabilities, a vulnerability management policy, disaster recovery/business continuity plans, risk assessments, implementation of security standards and certifications for certain platforms, encryption of certain data, network security controls and data segregation for certain environments, access controls for certain systems, physical security, asset management, tracking and disposal, systems monitoring, incident response table-top exercises, vendor risk management program, employee training, penetration testing, cybersecurity insurance, and dedicated cybersecurity staff.
Our assessment and management of material risks from cybersecurity threats are integrated into the Company’s overall risk management processes. Cyber risk is addressed as a critical component of the company's enterprise risk management program and is based upon entity-level controls found in our SOC2 compliance program, addressing all five trust service criteria: security, availability, confidentiality, privacy, and processing integrity. The Company recently received an unqualified opinion from an industry-recognized audit firm attesting to our SOC2 Type II compliance as of the date of such report.
We use third-party service providers to assist us from time to time to identify, assess, and manage material risks from cybersecurity threats, including, for example, professional services firms (such as outside legal counsel), penetration testing firms, threat intelligence service providers, dark web monitoring services, forensic investigators, cybersecurity software providers, managed cybersecurity service providers, and cybersecurity consultants.
We use third-party service providers to perform a variety of functions throughout our business, such as application providers, hosting companies, and supply chain resources. We have a vendor management program to manage cybersecurity risks associated with our use of these providers. The program includes security questionnaires, risk assessments for each vendor, reviewing certain vendors’ security assessments and written information security programs, the imposition of information contractual obligations, and, in certain instances, security assessment calls with select vendors’ security personnel. Depending on the nature of the services provided, the sensitivity of the Information Systems and Data at issue, and the identity of the provider, our vendor management process may involve different levels of assessment designed to help identify cybersecurity risks associated with a provider and impose contractual obligations related to cybersecurity on the provider, including providing third-party attestations of compliance with certain cybersecurity frameworks, such as SOC2 or ISO 27001.
For a description of the risks from cybersecurity threats that may materially affect the Company and how they may do so, see our “Risks Related to Data Privacy and Cybersecurity” under Part 1. Item 1A. Risk Factors in this Annual Report.
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Governance
Our audit committee of the board of directors addresses the Company’s cybersecurity risk management as part of its general oversight function. The audit committee is responsible for overseeing Company’s cybersecurity risk management processes, including oversight of risks from cybersecurity threats.
Our cybersecurity risk assessment and management processes are implemented and maintained by certain Company management, including our Senior Principal Security and Infrastructure Architect with over 20 years managing large scale enterprise security systems and programs.
The CTO is responsible for hiring appropriate personnel, helping to integrate cybersecurity risk considerations into the Company’s overall risk management strategy, and communicating key priorities to relevant personnel. The CTO is also responsible for approving budgets, helping prepare for cybersecurity incidents, approving cybersecurity processes, and reviewing security assessments and other security-related reports.
Our cybersecurity incident response and vulnerability management policies are designed to escalate certain cybersecurity incidents to members of management depending on the circumstances, including the Chief Financial Officer, Chief Legal Officer and Chief Executive Officer in their role as executive leadership for the Incident Response Team. The executive leadership team will work with the Company’s incident response team to help the Company mitigate and remediate cybersecurity incidents of which they are notified. In addition, the Company’s incident response and vulnerability management policy include reporting to the audit committee for certain cybersecurity incidents.
The audit committee receives quarterly reports from the CTO concerning the Company’s significant cybersecurity threats and risk and the processes the Company has implemented to address them. The audit committee also receives various reports, summaries or presentations related to cybersecurity threats, risk and mitigation.
Item 2. Properties.
Our corporate headquarters is located in Framingham, Massachusetts and consists of approximately 55,700 square feet of space under a lease that expire in January 2029, with extension options. As of December 31, 2023, we have other offices in Sweden and India. We lease all of our facilities and do not own any real property. We believe that our facilities are adequate for our current and anticipated future use and that we will be able to secure additional space as needed to accommodate expansion of our operations.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
We are subject to various legal proceedings, claims, and governmental inspections, audits, or investigations that arise in the ordinary course of our business. Although the outcomes of these claims cannot be predicted with certainty, in the opinion of management, the ultimate resolution of these matters would not be expected to have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
47
PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Market Information for Common Stock
Our Class A Common Stock is listed and traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the trading symbol “DH”. There is no established public trading market for our Class B Common Stock.
Stockholders
As of February 23, 2024, there were 34 holders of record of our Class A Common Stock. The actual number of stockholders is greater than this number of record holders, and includes stockholders who are beneficial owners, but whose shares are held in street name by brokers and other nominees. This number of holders of record also does not include stockholders whose shares may be held in trust by other entities.
Dividends
We have no current plans to pay dividends on our Class A common stock. The declaration, amount, and payment of any future dividends on shares of Class A Common Stock is at the sole discretion of our board of directors, and we may reduce or discontinue entirely the payment of such dividends at any time. Our board of directors may take into account general and economic conditions, our financial condition and operating results, our available cash and current and anticipated cash needs, capital requirements, contractual, legal, tax, and regulatory restrictions and implications on the payment of dividends by us to our stockholders or by our subsidiaries to us, and such other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant.
48
Stock Performance Graph
The following shall not be deemed “soliciting material” or to be “filed” with the SEC for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, or otherwise subject to the liabilities under that Section, and shall not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any of our other filings under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act.
The graph below compares the cumulative total stockholder return on our Class A Common Stock with the cumulative total return on the Nasdaq Composite Total Return (^XCMP) and the S&P 500 Internet Services & Infrastructure Index, assuming an initial investment of $100 at the market close on September 15, 2021, the date our Class A Common Stock commenced trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Data for the Nasdaq Composite Total Return and S&P 500 Internet Services & Infrastructure Index assume reinvestment of dividends.
The comparisons in the graph below are based upon historical data and are not indicative of, nor intended to forecast, future performance of our Class A Common Stock.
49
Recent Sales of Unregistered Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities
Pursuant to the terms of the Amended LLC Agreement, holders of LLC Units have the right to exchange all or a portion of their LLC Units for newly issued shares of Class A Common Stock on a one-for-one basis, which issuances are made in reliance on Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. Upon any such exchange, a corresponding number of shares of Class B Common Stock held by the LLC Unit holder are cancelled. Such exchanges executed in the fourth quarter of 2023 are as follows:
Date of Exchange |
|
Number of Shares Exchanged |
|
|
November 27, 2023 |
|
|
1,332 |
|
December 11, 2023 |
|
|
666 |
|
December 21, 2023 |
|
|
12,970 |
|
Total |
|
|
14,968 |
|
Use of Proceeds
Not applicable.
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
None.
Item 6. Reserved
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
The following discussion includes a comparison of our results of operations, financial condition, and liquidity and capital resources for fiscal years 2023, 2022 and 2021. This discussion is provided as a supplement to, and should be read in conjunction with, our consolidated financial statements and accompanying Notes to the Financial Statements found in Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K. It contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties and our actual results may differ materially from those discussed. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include, but are not limited to, those identified below and those discussed in “Risk Factors” under Part I, Item 1A of this Annual Report.
Overview
Definitive Healthcare is a leading provider of healthcare commercial intelligence. Our solutions are designed to provide accurate and comprehensive information on healthcare providers and their activities to help our customers optimize everything from product development to go-to-market planning and sales and marketing execution. Delivered through our software as a service (“SaaS”) platform, our intelligence has become important to the commercial success of our approximately 2,900 customers as of December 31, 2023. We generally define a customer as a company that maintains one or more active paid subscriptions to our platform.
Our customers include biopharmaceutical and medical device companies, healthcare information technology companies, healthcare providers and other diversified companies, such as staffing firms, commercial real estate firms, financial institutions and other organizations seeking commercial success in the attractive but complex healthcare ecosystem. Within these organizations, our platform is leveraged by a broad set of functional groups, including sales, marketing, clinical research & product development, strategy, talent acquisition and physician network management. We offer access to our platform on a subscription basis, and we generate substantially all of our revenue from subscription fees.
We were founded in 2011 by our Executive Chairman and current Interim Chief Executive Officer, Jason Krantz. Mr. Krantz founded the Company to provide healthcare commercial intelligence that enables companies that compete within or sell into the healthcare ecosystem to make better, informed decisions and be more successful. Over time, we have expanded our platform with new intelligence modules, innovative analytics, workflow capabilities and additional data sources.
We believe any company selling or competing within the healthcare ecosystem is a potential customer for us and contributes to our estimated current total addressable market of over $10 billion. In total, we have identified more than 100,000 potential customers that we believe could benefit from our platform.
50
Recent Developments
Acquisitions
On July 21, 2023, the Company completed the acquisition of Populi, Inc. (“Populi”), a provider-focused data and analytics company that works with healthcare organizations to optimize physician relationships, reduce network leakage, and expand market share, for total consideration of $54.1 million, consisting of approximately $46.4 million of cash paid at closing, a $0.1 million reimbursement from sellers for working capital adjustments, and up to $28.0 million of contingent consideration, with an initial estimated fair value of $7.8 million, subject to meeting certain revenue metrics during calendar years 2024 and 2025. The initial accounting for the business combination is complete but provisional measurements of fair values reported as of December 31, 2023 are subject to change and accordingly, we expect to finalize the purchase price allocations as soon as practical, but no later than one year from the acquisition date. See Note 3. Acquisitions in the accompanying consolidated financial statements.
On January 16, 2024, the Company completed the purchase of assets comprising the Carevoyance business line of H1 Insights, Inc., a product that helps MedTech customers to improve segmentation, targeting, and prospect engagement for $14.0 million, subject to closing adjustments. The initial accounting for the business combination is incomplete as a result of the timing of the acquisition.
Goodwill Impairment
During the quarter ended September 30, 2023, we experienced a sustained decline in our stock price and market capitalization, which represented a triggering event and required us to perform a goodwill impairment test as of September 30, 2023. As a result of our quantitative impairment test, we determined that the fair value of our single reporting unit was lower than its carrying value and, accordingly, recorded a non-cash, pretax, goodwill impairment charge of $287.4 million. The goodwill impairment charge did not affect our liquidity or the financial covenants in our outstanding debt agreement.
During the quarter ended December 31, 2023, we performed a quantitative assessment and concluded that the fair value of our single reporting unit exceeded its carrying value as of December 31, 2023. We will continue to monitor for potential impairment should impairment indicators arise. See Note 9. Goodwill and Intangible Assets in the accompanying consolidated financial statements. Our reporting unit is at risk for future goodwill impairments if we experience a continued decline in our market capitalization or worsening macroeconomic conditions.
Restructuring Charges
During the first and third quarters of 2023, we committed to restructuring plans intended to reduce operating costs, improve operating margins, and continue advancing our ongoing commitment to profitable growth by reducing our workforce by approximately 100 people and, as a result, incurred restructuring and related charges of $4.7 million during the year ended December 31, 2023. These charges consisted primarily of severance payments, employee benefits, and related cash expenses. These charges were recognized within Transaction, integration, and restructuring expenses in the accompanying consolidated statement of operations.
On January 3, 2024, we committed to a restructuring plan intended to further reduce operating costs, improve operating margins, and continue advancing our ongoing commitment to profitable growth. This plan provided for a reduction of our current workforce by 154 people. We estimate that in the first half of 2024, we will incur pre-tax cash restructuring and related charges of approximately $6.5 million to $7.2 million, consisting primarily of severance payments, employee benefits, and related cash expenses, as well as an approximate $1.5 million non-cash stock-based compensation charge related to the vesting of share-based awards for employees who are terminated. We expect these actions will be substantially complete by the end of the second quarter of 2024. We do not expect to incur any further material charges associated with these specific restructuring plans other than as described above.
51
Restatement of Previously Issued Financial Statements
In the first quarter of 2023, we began a review of our sales tax positions, and related accounting matters, with the assistance of outside consultants. As a result of the review, we determined during the second quarter of 2023 that sales in certain states were subject to sales tax and that we had not assessed such sales tax on sales of our services to customers. We determined that we did not accrue sales taxes and corrected these misstatements by recording sales tax accruals through general and administrative expense as of the end of each affected period. The original accrual amounts assumed that (i) customers who have not provided certificates or other documentation of exemption from sales tax are taxable, (ii) maximum interest and penalty assessments may be imposed, and (iii) we will not receive waivers of interest and penalties or other benefits under agreements we may obtain with jurisdictions from outreach with voluntarily disclosures. These accrual amounts have been, and will continue to be, adjusted as we enter into voluntary disclosure agreements with the applicable jurisdictions. We will continue to accrue interest on any outstanding liabilities until the voluntary disclosure agreements are settled. The misstatements that appeared in the previously issued financial statements were material, and we also corrected other immaterial errors.
As described in additional detail in the Explanatory Note in our Amendment No. 1 on Form 10-K/A to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 (the “2022 Form 10-K/A”) filed with the SEC on August 14, 2023, we restated our audited consolidated financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, as well as the unaudited condensed consolidated quarterly financial information for the quarterly periods in the fiscal years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, to reflect the correction of the misstatements and other immaterial adjustments, and to make corresponding disclosures. We also filed an Amendment No. 1 on Form 10-Q/A to amend the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended March 31, 2023 with the SEC on August 14, 2023, to restate our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022.
The restated prior-year results are reflected in the consolidated financial results disclosed within this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Macroeconomic Conditions
As a corporation with a global footprint, we are subject to risks and exposures caused by significant events and their macroeconomic impacts, including, but not limited to, the Russia-Ukraine war, the evolving conflict in Israel and surrounding areas, global geopolitical tension and more recently, inflation and high interest rates, volatility in the capital markets, liquidity concerns at, and failures of, banks and other financial institutions, and related market uncertainty. We continuously monitor the direct and indirect impacts, and the potential for future impacts, of these circumstances on our business and financial results, as well as the overall global economy and geopolitical landscape. While our revenue and earnings have historically been relatively predictable as a result of our subscription-based business model, the potential implications of these macroeconomic events on our business, results of operations and overall financial position, particularly in the long term, introduce additional uncertainty.
Our current and prospective customers and their business spendings are impacted by difficult macroeconomic conditions to varying degrees and as a result, in some cases we are observing deal cycles lengthen for new and existing customers, in part as a result of more stringent approval processes, as well as a significant number of deferred purchasing decisions. We are also experiencing heightened customer churn. These trends have been particularly pronounced for smaller customers and in the life science and provider markets. This churn impacted our revenue growth in 2023, and we expect this will continue to impact our growth in 2024 as we remediate the underlying issues. We are continuing to evaluate these and other past and potential future direct and indirect impacts on our business and results of operations.
52
Key Factors Affecting Our Performance
We believe that the growth and future success of our business depend on many factors, including the following:
Acquiring New Customers
We plan to continue to organically grow the number of customers that use our platform by increasing demand for our platform and penetrating our addressable market. Our results of operations and growth prospects will depend, in part, on our ability to attract new customers. We intend to drive new customer acquisition with our efficient go-to-market engine by continuing to invest in our sales and marketing efforts and developing new use cases for our platform. Customers generating more than $100,000 in ARR, which we refer to as “Enterprise Customers”, represent the majority of our ARR and are a key focus of our go-to-market programs. As of December 31, 2023, we had 565 Enterprise Customers and approximately 2,900 customers overall, and as of December 31, 2022, we had 537 Enterprise Customers and approximately 3,000 customers overall. While our Enterprise Customer count has grown, our total customer counts decreased slightly in 2023, reflecting the impact of macroeconomic conditions on our prospective and existing customers. We have identified more than 100,000 potential customers across the healthcare ecosystem that we believe could benefit from our platform. Our ability to attract and acquire new customers is dependent on the strength of our platform and effectiveness of our go-to-market strategy, as well as macroeconomic factors and their impact on our potential customers’ business spending.
Expanding Relationships with Existing Customers
We believe there is a significant opportunity to generate additional revenue from our existing customer base of approximately 2,900 as of December 31, 2023.
Our customers have historically increased their spending by adding functionality and by expanding use-cases across departments. Our customers are typically assigned to one of our vertically-focused teams, which is responsible for driving usage and increasing adoption of the platform, identifying expansion opportunities and driving customer renewals. Real-time input from these customer centric teams feeds directly into our product innovation teams, enhancing the development of new capabilities. We believe this feedback loop and our ability to innovate creates significant opportunities for continual existing customer expansion. Our ability to generate additional revenue from existing customers is also subject to such existing customers’ business spending trends and the impact of macroeconomic conditions thereon.
Our progress in expanding usage of our platform with our existing customers is demonstrated by our NDR (see “Key Metrics”). For the year ended December 31, 2023, our NDR for customers generating more than $100,000 in ARR (“Enterprise Customers”) was 96%. As of December 31, 2023, we had 565 Enterprise Customers, which represented approximately 65% of our ARR. Our NDR for all customers over $17,500 ARR was 92%. For the year ended December 31, 2022, our NDR for Enterprise Customers was 110% and our NDR for all customers over $17,500 ARR was 103%. For the year ended December 31, 2021, our NDR for Enterprise Customers was 120% and our NDR for all customers over $17,500 ARR was 111%.
Continuing to Innovate and Expand Our Platform
The growth of our business is driven in part by our ability to apply our deep healthcare domain expertise to innovate and expand our platform. We have continually created new products since our founding in 2011. We plan to continue to invest significantly into our engineering and research and development efforts to enhance our capabilities and functionality and facilitate the expansion of our platform to new use cases and customers. In addition, we work to continuously release updates and new features. While we are primarily focused on organic investments to drive innovation, we will also evaluate strategic acquisitions and investments that further expand our platform.
53
Key Metrics
We monitor the following key metrics to help us evaluate our business performance, identify financial trends, formulate business plans, and make strategic operational decisions.
Net Dollar Retention Rate (“NDR”)
We believe the growth in use of our platform by our existing customers is an important measure of the health of our business and our future growth prospects. We evaluate and report on our NDR on an annual basis to measure this growth. We define NDR as the percentage of ARR retained from existing customers across a defined period, after accounting for upsell, down-sell, pricing changes and churn. We calculate NDR as beginning ARR for a period, plus (i) expansion ARR (including, but not limited to, upsell and pricing increases), less (ii) churn (including, but not limited to, non-renewals and contractions), divided by (iii) beginning ARR for a period.
Unfavorable macroeconomic challenges are elongating deal cycles as customers implement more stringent approval processes or delay spending decisions, which impacts revenue from our existing customers, including upsells. As previously discussed, we have also experienced a significant number of deferred purchasing decisions and heightened customer churn, particularly in the life science and provider markets. As a result, our total NDR of 91% for the year ended December 31, 2023 has been reduced relative to our total NDR of 102% for the year ended December 31, 2022.
Current Remaining Performance Obligations (“cRPO”)
We monitor current remaining performance obligations as a metric to help us evaluate the health of our business and identify trends affecting our growth. cRPO represents the amount of contracted future revenue that has not yet been recognized, including both deferred revenue and non-cancelable contracted amounts that will be invoiced and recognized as revenue within the next twelve months. cRPO is not necessarily indicative of future revenue growth. In addition to total contract volume, cRPO is influenced by several factors, including seasonality, disparate contract terms, and the timing of renewals, because renewals tend to be most frequent in the fourth quarter. The value of contracts that included cancellation terms increased significantly in the fourth quarter compared with prior periods. This precludes several millions of dollars of business from being included in the cRPO metric and puts further downward pressure on the cRPO growth rate. Due to these factors, it is important to review cRPO in conjunction with revenue and other financial metrics.
Our cRPO will continue to be impacted by macroeconomic challenges, which have resulted in elongating deal cycles as customers implement more stringent approval processes or push out final decisions to later periods. We have also observed cancellations due to the impacts of such challenges on the financial condition of our customers, particularly in the life science and provider markets. We expect this trend to reduce our revenue growth rate for 2024 relative to 2023.
The following table presents cRPO as of December 31, 2023 and 2022:
(in thousands) |
|
December 31, |
|
|
December 31, |
|
||
Current |
|
$ |
187,331 |
|
|
$ |
183,527 |
|
Non-current |
|
|
89,636 |
|
|
|
93,464 |
|
Total |
|
$ |
276,967 |
|
|
$ |
276,991 |
|
Impact of Acquisitions
We seek to enhance our platform, data and business through internal development and through acquisitions of and investments in businesses that broaden and strengthen our platform. On January 16, 2024, we completed the purchase of assets comprising the Carevoyance business line of H1 Insights, Inc., a product that helps MedTech customers to improve segmentation, targeting, and prospect engagement. In July 2023, we completed the acquisition of Populi, Inc., a provider-focused data and analytics company that works with healthcare organizations to optimize physician relationships, reduce network leakage, and expand market share. In February 2022, we completed our acquisition of Analytical Wizards Inc., a company that specializes in automating complex analytic models using tools that expedite efficient big data mining through A.I. and M.L. power to uncover deep insights. These acquisitions have strengthened our data platform and our business. Acquisitions can result in transaction costs, amortization expense and other adjustments as purchase accounting requires that all assets acquired and liabilities assumed be recorded at fair value on the acquisition date. See Note 3 in our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K.
54
Components of our Results of Operations
Revenue
For the year ended December 31, 2023, we derived approximately 97% of our revenue from subscription services and the remainder from professional services. Our subscription services consist primarily of subscription fees for access to our platform and stand-ready support. Our subscription contracts typically have a term ranging from 1 to 3 years and are non-cancellable. We typically bill for services in advance annually, and we typically require payment at the beginning of each annual period. Our subscription revenue is recognized ratably over the contract term. Our professional services revenue typically is derived from non-recurring consulting services which are generally capable of being distinct and can be accounted for as separate performance obligations. Revenue related to these professional services is insignificant and is recognized at a point in time, when the performance obligations under the terms of the contract are satisfied and control has been transferred to the customer.
Because of the macroeconomic challenges described above, we expect a reduction in our revenue growth rate for 2024 relative to 2023.
Cost of Revenue
Cost of Revenue. Cost of revenue, excluding amortization of acquired technology and data, consists of direct expenses related to the support and operations of our SaaS platform, such as data and infrastructure costs, personnel costs for our professional services, customer support and data research teams, such as salaries, bonuses, stock-based compensation, and other employee-related benefits, as well as allocated overheads. We anticipate that we will continue to invest in cost of revenue and that cost of revenue as a percentage of revenue will stay consistent or modestly increase as we add to our existing intelligence modules and invest in new products and data sources. Cost of data is included in the cost of revenue and is a fundamental driver of innovation.
Amortization. Includes amortization expense for technology and data acquired in business combinations and asset purchase agreements. We anticipate that amortization will increase only if we make additional acquisitions in the future.
At the beginning of 2023, additional third-party data sources were rolled out to our customers, which resulted in, and is expected to continue to result in, an increase in cost of revenue.
Gross Profit
Gross profit is revenue less cost of revenue, and gross margin is gross profit as a percentage of revenue. Gross profit and gross margin have been and will continue to be affected by various factors, including the costs associated with third-party data and third-party hosting services, leveraging economies of scale, and the extent to which we introduce new intelligence modules, features or functionality or expand our customer support and service organizations, hire additional personnel or complete additional acquisitions. We expect that our gross profit and gross margin will fluctuate from period to period depending on the interplay of these various factors.
While we expect our overall gross profit to increase for 2024 due to anticipated revenue growth, our gross margin is expected to modestly decrease due to the expansion of data sources, as described above, and costs associated with the acquisition of Populi.
Operating Expenses
The most significant component of our operating expenses is personnel costs, which consist of salaries, bonuses, sales commissions, stock-based compensation, and other employee-related benefits. Operating expenses also include non-personnel costs such as facilities, technology, professional fees, and marketing. In light of macroeconomic conditions and their past and potential future impacts on our business, we have made efforts to contain our operating expenses, including implementing restructuring plans. Inflation, and in particular increases to the cost of labor due to cost-of-living increases, have negatively impacted our operating expenses, and we expect this to continue. However, inflation has not materially affected our business to date.
Sales and marketing. Sales and marketing expenses primarily consist of personnel costs such as salaries, bonuses, sales commissions, stock-based compensation, and other employee-related benefits for our sales and marketing teams, as well as non-personnel costs including overhead costs, technology and advertising costs. While we have slowed hiring in response to macroeconomic conditions, and expect to maintain slower levels until macroeconomic conditions improve, we have continued to hire additional sales and marketing personnel, enhance our digital marketing infrastructure and invest in marketing programs targeting our major vertical markets.
55
Product development. Product development expenses primarily consist of personnel costs such as salaries, bonuses, stock-based compensation, and other employee-related benefits for our engineering, data science and product teams, as well as non-personnel costs including overhead costs. We believe that our core technologies and ongoing innovation represent a significant competitive advantage for us, and we continue to invest in systems optimization and product improvements for our customers, enhance our software development team and invest in automation and A.I. to drive higher quality data and deeper insights.
General and administrative. General and administrative expenses primarily consist of personnel costs such as salaries, bonuses, stock-based compensation, and other employee-related benefits for our executive, finance, legal, human resources, IT and operations, and administrative teams, as well as non-personnel costs including overhead costs, professional fees and other corporate expenses. General and administration expenses also include sales tax amounts payable to taxation authorities, inclusive of interest and penalties, for customers that we did not collect sales taxes from, due to misclassifications of products and services for sales tax purposes. We do not expect sales taxes and related interest and penalties to be an ongoing component of our general and administrative expense as we complete voluntary disclosure agreements, register with certain tax authorities, and commence collection of sales taxes from customers in these tax jurisdictions. General and administrative costs have increased relative to prior periods due to the incremental costs associated with operating as a public company, including corporate insurance costs, incremental accounting and legal expenses, and additional resources associated with controls, reporting, and disclosure. We have slowed hiring in response to macroeconomic conditions and do not expect to increase it until macroeconomic conditions improve.
Depreciation and Amortization. Depreciation and amortization expenses consist primarily of amortization of intangible assets resulting from acquisitions and business combinations, as well as depreciation of property and equipment. We anticipate depreciation of property and equipment as a percentage of revenue to moderately decrease, although amortization will increase if we make additional acquisitions in the future.
Transaction, integration and restructuring expenses. Transaction, integration, and restructuring expenses are costs directly associated with various acquisition and integration activities we have undertaken, primarily accounting and legal due diligence, and consulting and advisory fees, as well as expenses related to our restructuring plans committed to in the first and third quarters of 2023 and our office relocations.
Goodwill impairment. Goodwill represents the excess of consideration transferred over the fair value of tangible and identifiable intangible net assets acquired and the liabilities assumed in a business combination. Substantially all of our goodwill was recognized in the purchase price allocations when our Company was acquired in 2019 by Advent, with smaller incremental amounts recognized in subsequent business combinations. Goodwill is not amortized, but is tested for impairment at the reporting unit level annually and more frequently if indicators of potential impairment arise. In conducting the impairment test, we first review qualitative factors to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of our single reporting unit is less than its carrying amount.
When testing goodwill for impairment, we have the option of first performing a qualitative assessment to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. If we elect to bypass the qualitative assessment, or if a qualitative assessment indicates it is more likely than not that carrying value exceeds its fair value, we perform a quantitative goodwill impairment test. Under the quantitative goodwill impairment test, if our reporting unit’s carrying amount exceeds its fair value, we will record an impairment charge based on that difference. The Company performed interim goodwill impairment tests during the third quarter of 2023 and concluded that the carrying value of the single reporting unit exceeded its fair value and, accordingly, recorded a $287.4 million non-cash goodwill impairment charge for the year ended December 31, 2023.
Other Income, Net
Interest expense consists of interest expense on our debt obligations and the amortization of debt discounts and debt issuance costs.
Interest income consists of earnings resulting from our short-term investments.
Other income, net consists primarily of the revaluation of tax receivable agreement liabilities and realized and unrealized gains and losses related to the impact of transactions denominated in a foreign currency. Significant changes in the projected liability resulting from the tax receivable agreement may occur based on changes in anticipated future taxable income, changes in applicable tax rates, or other changes in tax attributes that may occur and could affect the expected future tax benefits to be received by us. We do not have significant exposure to foreign exchange volatility and do not anticipate foreign currency transaction gains or losses to materially impact our results of operations.
56
Results of Operations
The discussion of our consolidated results of operations includes year-over-year comparisons of 2023 results compared to those in 2022. For a discussion of the 2022 results compared to those in 2021, see the discussion in Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our 2022 Form 10-K/A, which is incorporated by reference herein.
The following table sets forth a summary of our consolidated statements of operations for the periods presented:
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
|||||||||
(in thousands) |
|
2023 |
|
|
2022 |
|
|
2021 |
|
|||
Revenue |
|
$ |
251,415 |
|
|
$ |
222,653 |
|
|
$ |
166,154 |
|
Cost of revenue: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Cost of revenue |
|
|
34,740 |
|
|
|
25,866 |
|
|
|
19,421 |
|
Amortization |
|
|
12,742 |
|
|
|
16,759 |
|
|
|
21,268 |
|
Total cost of revenue |
|
|
47,482 |
|
|
|
42,625 |
|
|
|
40,689 |
|
Gross profit |
|
|
203,933 |
|
|
|
180,028 |
|
|
|
125,465 |
|
Operating expenses: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Sales and marketing |
|
|
94,534 |
|
|
|
89,585 |
|
|
|
56,387 |
|
Product development |
|
|
42,441 |
|
|
|
34,890 |
|
|
|
18,565 |
|
General and administrative |
|
|
58,861 |
|
|
|
51,561 |
|
|
|
32,864 |
|
Depreciation and amortization |
|
|
39,008 |
|
|
|
40,145 |
|
|
|
38,679 |
|
Transaction, integration and restructuring expenses |
|
|
11,489 |
|
|
|
7,890 |
|
|
|
6,287 |
|
Goodwill impairment |
|
|
287,400 |
|
|
|
— |
|
|
|
— |
|
Total operating expenses |
|
|
533,733 |
|
|
|
224,071 |
|
|
|
152,782 |
|
Loss from operations |
|
|
(329,800 |
) |
|
|
(44,043 |
) |
|
|
(27,317 |
) |
Total other income (expense), net |
|
|
21,620 |
|
|
|
2,166 |
|
|
|
(35,450 |
) |
Loss before income taxes |
|
|
(308,180 |
) |
|
|
(41,877 |
) |
|
|
(62,767 |
) |
Benefit from income taxes |
|
|
18,553 |
|
|
|
17,698 |
|
|
|
443 |
|
Net loss |
|
|
(289,627 |
) |
|
|
(24,179 |
) |
|
|
(62,324 |
) |
Less: Net loss attributable to Definitive OpCo prior to the Reorganization Transactions |
|
|
- |
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
(34,068 |
) |
Less: Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests |
|
|
(87,239 |
) |
|
|
(16,957 |
) |
|
|
(10,416 |
) |
Net loss attributable to Definitive Healthcare Corp. |
|
$ |
(202,388 |
) |
|
$ |
(7,222 |
) |
|
$ |
(17,840 |
) |
Year Ended December 31, 2023 compared to Year Ended December 31, 2022
Revenue
Revenue increased $28.8 million, or 13%, for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared with the same period in the prior year, resulting from higher subscription revenue of $26.0 million and higher professional service revenue of $2.7 million. Increases were primarily driven by the organic addition of new customers in the amount of $12.9 million, the acquisition of Populi in the amount of $4.9 million, and a $11.0 million net increase in revenue from customers that existed as of the end of the comparable prior-year period.
Cost of Revenue
Cost of revenue increased $4.9 million, or 11%, for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared with the same period in the prior year. This increase was driven primarily by a $7.9 million increase in hosting fees and data subscription costs as a result of expanded customer usage of our platform, the rollout of additional third-party data sources to our customers at the beginning of 2023, and the Populi acquisition, along with an increase of $0.8 million in employee and other costs driven primarily by the expansion of customer support and professional service roles that support our revenue growth. These increases were partially offset by a net $4.0 million reduction in amortization, primarily due to a substantial acquired data asset reaching the end of its economic life in July 2022, partially offset by the amortization of new data assets commencing in 2023.
57
Operating Expenses
Operating expenses, which include a goodwill impairment charge of $287.4 million recorded during the third quarter of 2023 (refer to Note 9. Goodwill and Intangible Assets in the accompanying consolidated financial statements for further details), increased $309.7 million, or 138%, for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared with the same period in the prior year. Excluding the goodwill impairment charge, the net increase to operating expenses was primarily due to:
Other Income, Net
Total other income, net was $21.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to total other income, net of $2.2 million in the same period in the prior year. The overall increase was primarily attributed to a $13.8 million increase in the TRA liability remeasurement gain driven by future realizability of tax attributes payable under the TRA and the impact of the goodwill impairment on the TRA and a $10.9 million increase in interest income earned from our short-term investments, partially offset by a $1.2 million change in foreign currency gains and losses and a $4.0 million increase in interest expense due to high interest rates from our debt obligations.
Benefit From Income Taxes
Benefit from income taxes for the year ended December 31, 2023 was $18.6 million compared to $17.7 million in the same period in the prior year. The overall increase was primarily driven by increased losses of the partnership allocated to the Company.
58
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In addition to our results determined in accordance with GAAP, we believe certain non-GAAP measures are useful in evaluating our operating performance. Non-GAAP measures include, but are not limited to, Adjusted Gross Profit, Adjusted Gross Margin, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted EBITDA Margin. We believe these non-GAAP measures are useful to investors because they eliminate certain items that affect period-over-period comparability and provide consistency with past financial performance and additional information about our underlying results and trends by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of our business, results of operations, or outlook.
We view Adjusted Gross Profit, Adjusted Gross Margin, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted EBITDA Margin as operating performance measures. As such, we believe the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures to Adjusted Gross Profit and Adjusted Gross Margin are GAAP Gross Profit and GAAP Gross Margin, respectively, and the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure to Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin is GAAP net loss and GAAP net loss margin, respectively.
Non-GAAP measures are supplemental financial measures of our performance and should not be considered substitutes for net loss, gross profit, or any other measure derived in accordance with GAAP. This information should be read only in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. There are limitations to these non-GAAP financial measures because they are not prepared in accordance with GAAP and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies due to potential differences in methods of calculation and items or events being adjusted. In addition, other companies may use different measures to evaluate their performance, all of which could reduce the usefulness of our non-GAAP financial measures as tools for comparison. A reconciliation is provided below for each non-GAAP financial measure to the most directly comparable financial measure stated in accordance with GAAP.
Adjusted Gross Profit and Adjusted Gross Margin
We define Adjusted Gross Profit as Gross Profit, excluding acquisition-related depreciation and amortization, and equity-based compensation costs. We exclude acquisition-related depreciation and amortization expenses as they have no direct correlation to the cost of operating our business on an ongoing basis. A small portion of equity-based compensation is included in cost of revenue in accordance with U.S. GAAP, but is excluded from our Adjusted Gross Profit calculations due to its non-cash nature. Gross Margin is defined as Gross Profit as a percentage of revenue and Adjusted Gross Margin is defined as Adjusted Gross Profit as a percentage of revenue. These are key metrics used by management and our board of directors to assess our operations.
The following table presents a reconciliation of gross profit and gross margin to adjusted gross profit and adjusted gross margin for the periods presented:
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
2023 |
|
|
2022 |
|
|
2021 |
|
|||||||||||||||
(in thousands) |
|
Amount |
|
|
% of Revenue |
|
|
Amount |
|
|
% of Revenue |
|
|
Amount |
|
|
% of Revenue |
|
||||||
Reported gross profit and margin |
|
$ |
203,933 |
|
|
|
81 |
% |
|
$ |
180,028 |
|
|
|
81 |
% |
|
$ |
125,465 |
|
|
|
76 |
% |
Amortization of intangible assets resulting from acquisition-related purchase accounting adjustments (a) |
|
|
9,044 |
|
|
|
4 |
% |
|
|
15,715 |
|
|
|
7 |
% |
|
|
20,220 |
|
|
|
12 |
% |
Equity-based compensation costs |
|
|
1,097 |
|
|
|
0 |
% |
|
|
942 |
|
|
|
0 |
% |
|
|
277 |
|
|
|
0 |
% |
Adjusted gross profit and margin |
|
$ |
214,074 |
|
|
|
85 |
% |
|
$ |
196,685 |
|
|
|
88 |
% |
|
$ |
145,962 |
|
|
|
88 |
% |
Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin
We present “Adjusted EBITDA” as a measure of our operating performance. EBITDA is defined as earnings before (i) debt-related costs, including interest expense and loss from extinguishment of debt, (ii) interest income, (iii) income taxes, and (iv) depreciation and amortization. Management further adjusts EBITDA in its presentation of Adjusted EBITDA to exclude (i) other (income) expense, (ii) equity-based compensation, (iii) acquisition, integration, and restructuring expenses, (iv) goodwill impairments, and (v) other non-core items. We exclude these items because they are by nature non-cash, non-recurring, and/or unrelated to our core operations, and therefore we do not believe them to be representative of ongoing operational performance. Adjusted EBITDA Margin is defined as Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenue. Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin are key metrics used by management and our board of directors to assess the profitability of our operations. We believe these metrics provide useful measures to investors to assess our operating performance and in measuring the profitability of our operations on a consolidated level.
59
The following table presents a reconciliation of net loss and margin to adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin for the periods presented:
|
|
Year Ended December 31, |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
2023 |
|
|
2022 |
|
|
2021 |
|
|||||||||||||||
(in thousands) |
|
Amount |
|
|
% of Revenue |
|
|
Amount |
|
|
% of Revenue |
|
|
Amount |
|
|
% of Revenue |
|
||||||
Net loss and margin |
|
$ |
(289,627 |
) |
|
|
(115 |
)% |
|
$ |
(24,179 |
) |
|
|
(11 |
)% |
|
$ |
(62,324 |
) |
|
|
(38 |
)% |
Interest expense, net |
|
|
1,559 |
|
|
|
1 |
% |
|
|
8,413 |
|
|
|
4 |