As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 26, 2019

 

 

UNITED STATES


SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


WASHINGTON, DC 20549

 

FORM 20-F

 

REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OR (g) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

OR

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 20182023

 

OR

TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

OR

SHELL COMPANY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Commission File No.: 001-8610001-38610

 

SAFE-T GROUPALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Translation of registrant’s name into English: Not applicable

 

State of Israel

8 Abba Eban Ave.

Herzliya

4672526 Israel

(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)(Address of principal executive offices)

State of Israel

(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

 

30 Haarba’a Street (P.O. Box 174)
Tel Aviv, 6473926
Israel

(Address of principal executive offices)

Shachar Daniel


Chief Executive Officer


+972-9-8666110

Shachar.daniel@alarum.io
30 Haarba’a Street
(P.O. Box 174)
Tel Aviv, 6473926
Israel

Shachar.daniel@safe-t.com

8 Abba Eban Ave.

Herzliya

4672526, Israel

(Name, Telephone, E-mail and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class:class

American Depositary Shares each representing 40

Ordinary Shares, no par value per share(1)

Ordinary Shares, no par value per share(2)

 

Trading Symbol(s)

Name of each exchange on which registered or to be registered:

American Depository Shares each representing ten

Ordinary Shares, no par value per share(1)

Ordinary Shares, no par value per share(2)

ALARNasdaq Capital Market

 

(1)Evidenced by American Depositary Receipts.
  
(2)Not for trading, but only in connection with the listing of the American Depositary Shares.

 

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

 

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act: None

 

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report.

 

81,355,69359,681,632 Ordinary Shares, no par value, as of December 31, 2018.2023.

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

 

Yes No ☒

 

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act of 1934.

 

Yes No

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act 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.

 

Yes No

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months.months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).

 

Yes No

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or an emerging growth company. See definition of “large accelerated filer, “accelerated filer,” and emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

Large accelerated filer Accelerated filer Non-accelerated filer
  Emerging growth company 

 

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, 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.

 

†The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. 

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements.

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b).

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing.

 

U.S. GAAP

 

International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board

 

Other

 

If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow.

 

Item 17 Item 18

 

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company.

 

Yes No

 

 

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 Page
INTRODUCTION1iii
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS2iv
Summary Risk Factorsv
  
PART I
 
PART I
ITEM 1.IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS.31
ITEM 2.OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE.31
ITEM 3.KEY INFORMATION.31
A.Selected Financial Data.[Reserved.]31
B.Capitalization and Indebtedness.41
C.Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds.41
D.Risk Factors.41
ITEM 4.INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY.2827
A.History and Development of the Company.2827
B.Business Overview.2927
C.Organizational Structure.4238
D.Property, Plant and Equipment.4238
ITEM 4A.UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS.4238
ITEM 5.OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW AND PROSPECTS.4338
A.Operating Results.4641
B.Liquidity and Capital Resources.5145
E.C.Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements.Research and Development, Patents and Licenses, etc.5348
F.D.Tabular Disclosure of Contractual Obligations.Trend Information.5348
E.Critical Accounting Estimates.49
ITEM 6.DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES.5450
A.Directors and Senior Management.5450
B.Compensation.5852
C.Board Practices.5954
D.Employees.7467
E.Share Ownership.7467
F.Disclosure of a Registrant’s Action to Recover Erroneously Awarded Compensation.69
ITEM 7.MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS.7570
A.Major Shareholders.7570
B.Related Party Transactions.7771
C.Interests of Experts and Counsel.7871
ITEM 8.FINANCIAL INFORMATION.7871
A.Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information.7871
B.Significant Changes.78

i

Page72
ITEM 9.THE OFFER AND LISTING.7972
A.Offer and Listing Details.7972
B.Plan of Distribution.7972
C.Markets.7972
D.Selling Shareholders.7972
E.Dilution.7972
F.Expenses of the Issue.7972
ITEM 10.ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.7972
A.Share Capital.7972
B.Memorandum and Articles of Association.7972
C.Material Contracts.8373
D.Exchange Controls.8374
E.Taxation.8374

F.Dividends and Paying Agents.9581
G.Statement by Experts.9581
H.Documents on Display.9581
I.Subsidiary Information.9582
J.Annual Report to Security Holders.82
ITEM 11.QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK.9682
ITEM 12.DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES OTHER THAN EQUITY SECURITIES.9883
A.Debt Securities.9883
B.Warrants and Rights.9883
C.Other Securities.9883
D.American Depositary Shares.9883
  98
PART II
 
ITEM 13.DEFAULTS, DIVIDEND ARREARAGES AND DELINQUENCIES.9985
ITEM 14.MATERIAL MODIFICATIONS TO THE RIGHTS OF SECURITY HOLDERS AND USE OF PROCEEDS.9985
ITEM 15.CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES.9985
ITEM 16.[Reserved].86
ITEM 16A.AUDIT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL EXPERT.9986
ITEM 16B.CODE OF ETHICS.9986
ITEM 16C.PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES.10086
ITEM 16D.EXEMPTIONS FROM THE LISTING STANDARDS FOR AUDIT COMMITTEES.10087
ITEM 16E.PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES BY THE ISSUER AND AFFILIATED PURCHASERS.10087
ITEM 16F.CHANGE IN REGISTRANT’S CERTIFYING ACCOUNTANT.10087
ITEM 16G.CORPORATE GOVERNANCE.10087
ITEM 16H.MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE.10289
ITEM 16I.DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS.89
ITEM 16J.PART IIIINSIDER TRADING POLICIES89
ITEM 16K.CYBERSECURITY89
 
PART III
ITEM 17.FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.10391
ITEM 18.FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.10391
ITEM 19.EXHIBITS.10391
SIGNATURES10493

 

ii

Table of Contents 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

INTRODUCTION

We developare a global internet access and market softwareweb data collection provider. We operate in two distinct segments, providing solutions according to specific needs. The segments include enterprise internet access and web data collection solutions, which is our main segment, and consumer internet access solutions and services.

Our enterprise internet access and web data collection segment offers a global web data collection cloud service, based on our proprietary proxy traffic optimization and routing technology, and built on partnership agreements with tens of Internet Service Providers, or ISPs, and with application publishers.

Our service allows organizations to collect vast amounts of web and internet data by simultaneously connecting to the internet from different IP addresses while maintaining full anonymity and privacy. Our customers can choose from various types of Internet Protocol addresses, or IPs, from our IP pool which contains millions of IPs, including ISP IPs, data center IPs and residential service provider IPs.

With our web data collection service, organizations can collect accurate, transparent web data from public online sources. The solution also allows access to undiscovered data from non-traditional data sources and allows customers to gain additional data-driven information that address multiple aspectsprovides valuable insights with respect to predictive capabilities or behaviors, thereby assisting ongoing business management operation and decision making. An added benefit to our customers is the fact that utilizing our network completely hides enterprises from the internet by modifying IP addresses, thus ensuring high levels of privacy for their online presence.

Our internet access solutions for consumers provide a powerful, secured and encrypted connection, masking consumers’ online activity and keeping them safe from hackers. The solutions are designed for advanced and basic users, ensuring complete protection for all personal and digital information.

In July 2023, we decided to scale down the operations of the data protection information securityinternet access solutions for consumers, a decision that resulted in material reductions of expenses and cybersecurity markets. Our patentedheadcount. In this consumer internet access solutions securesegment, we continue to maintain our customers’ data, servicesproducts and networksthe service only to current paying users, which allows us to generate revenue from internal and external threats,past investments of acquiring such as unauthorized access to data, services and networks, as well as data-related threats that include data exfiltration, leakage, malware, ransomware and fraud. We believe that our innovative products are the first solution that controls, in one integrated package, the entire data access lifecycle, allowing our customers to avoid the integration complexities of multiple products.users, with minimal costs. In addition, in July 2023 we believe thatsold our products create strong perimeter securitylegacy cybersecurity solutions, which is considered in this annual report on Form 20-F as a result of our patented Reverse-Access technology. In April 2018, we received the 2018 Fortress Cyber Security Award for Compliance and Authentication & Identity and were finalists in the 2018 Cyber Defense Magazine Infosec Awards. Reverse-Access is an innovative and unique technology providing for “reverse movement” of communication, and is designed to reduce the need to store sensitive data in the demilitarized zone (unfirewalled), or DMZ, and to open ports in the organizations’ firewall, thus enabling secure access to networks and services.discontinued operation.

 

Our flagship product called Software Defined Access is a patented multi-layered solution that integrates our upgraded and comprehensive Software Defined Perimeter, or SDP, solution. We believe that our SDP solution is superior to other available products in the market, as it controls the entire application access lifecycle by combining SDP, a new architecture and technology that allows secure access to published applications, and our secure data exchange software that securely controls the usage and exchange of data among multiple users, devices, and location. The SDP architecture essentially hides published services and applications from unauthorized parties. According to Markets and Markets Research Private Ltd., the combined markets for secure data access and secure data exchange have been reported to have generated revenues in excess of $4 billion in 2017.

We were incorporated under the laws of the State of Israel in December 1989. From June 2011 until June 2016, we were a “shell corporation” and did not have any business activity, excluding administrative management. On June 15, 2016, we closed a merger transaction, or the Merger Transaction, with Safe-T Data A.R Ltd., or the Subsidiary, whereby we acquired 100% of the share capital of the Subsidiary. Since the date of the Merger Transaction, we have devoted substantially all of our financial resources to develop and commercialize our products. Our Ordinary Shares, or Ordinary Shares, are listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, or TASE, under the symbol “SAFE.” On August 17, 2018, our American Depositary Shares, or ADSs, each representing 40 of our Ordinary Shares, commenced trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “SFET.”

Unless otherwise indicated, all references to the “Company,” “we,” “our” and “Safe-T”“Alarum” refer to Safe-T GroupAlarum Technologies Ltd. and its wholly owned Israeli subsidiaries NetNut Ltd., or NetNut, NetNut’s wholly owned subsidiary - NetNut Networks Inc., a Delaware corporation, or NetNut Networks, Safe-T Data A.R Ltd., an Israeli corporation, and itsor Safe-T Data, CyberKick Ltd., or CyberKick, CyberKick’s wholly owned subsidiary, Safe-T USA Inc.subsidiaries - RoboVPN Technologies Ltd., a DelawareCyprus corporation (under voluntary dissolution), and Spell Me Ltd., a Seychelles corporation.

 

References to “U.S. dollars” and “$” are to currency of the United States of America, and references to “NIS” are to New Israeli Shekels. References to “Ordinary Shares” are to our Ordinary Shares, no par value per share.share that have been trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, or TASE, under the symbol “ALAR”. References to ADSs are to our American Depository Shares, representing our Ordinary Shares, that have been trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market, or Nasdaq, under the symbol “SFET” since August 17, 2018, and effective from January 25, 2023, under the symbol “ALAR” following the Company’s change of name, which was made effective by the Israeli Corporations Authority, Registrar of Companies and Partnerships, on January 8, 2023. We report financial information under International Financial Reporting Standards, or IFRS, as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, or IASB.

All descriptions of our share capital in this Annual Report assume the issuance of 141,754 ADSs (representing 5,670,160 Ordinary Shares) upon the exercise of series B exchange warrants currently outstanding as of March 25, 2019.

 

1iii 

Table of Contents 

 

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

Certain information included or incorporated by reference in this annual report on Form 20-F may be deemed to be “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other securities laws.laws and the Israeli securities law. Forward-looking statements are often characterized by the use ofusing forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “plans,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “continue,” “believe,” “should,” “intend,” “project” or other similar words, but are not the only way these statements are identified.

 

These forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements relating to our objectives, plans and strategies, statements that contain projections of results of operations or of financial condition, expected capital needs and expenses, statements relating to the research, development, completion and use of our products, and all statements (other than statements of historical facts) that address activities, events or developments that we intend, expect, project, believe or anticipate will or may occur in the future.

 

Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties. We have based these forward-looking statements on assumptions and assessments made by our management in light of their experience and their perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate.

 

Important factors that could cause actual results, developments, and business decisions to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include, among other things:

 

 our planned level of revenues and capital expenditures;
   
 our ability to market and sell our products;
   
 our plans to continue to invest in research and development to develop technology for both existing and new products;
   
 our ability to maintain our relationships with channel partners;partners and customers;
   
 our ability to maintain or protect the validity of our European, U.S. and other patents and other intellectual property;
   
 our ability to launch and penetrate markets in new locations, including taking steps to expand our worldwide activities in Europe and Southeast Asia and to enter into engagements with new business partners in those markets;
   
 our intention to open new branches in key global locations and to increase marketing and sales activities;
   
 our intention to establish partnerships with industry leaders;
   
 our ability to implement on-line distribution channels andlocate additional funding available to generate sales from such channels;us on acceptable terms;
   
 our ability to retain keyprofessional employees and executive members;
   
 our ability to internally develop new inventions and intellectual property;
   
 our expectations regarding future changes in our cost of revenues and our operating expenses;
   
 our expectations regarding our tax classifications;
   
 interpretations of current laws and the passages of future laws;laws and/or regulations;
   
 our ability to continue to effectively comply with the requirements of Nasdaq;

the potential impact of litigation;

iv 

acceptance of our business model and performance by investors; and
   
 general market, political, and economic conditions in the countries in which we operate including those related to recent unrest and actual or potential armed conflict in Israel and other parts of the Middle East, such as the Israel-Hamas war; and
those factors referred to in “Item 3. Key Information – D. Risk Factors,” “Item 4. Information on the Company,” and “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects”, as well as in this annual report on Form 20-F generally.

 

Readers are urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures made throughout this annual report on Form 20-F which are designed to advise interested parties of the risks and factors that may affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

 

You should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements in this annual report on Form 20-F are made as of the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

 

In addition, the section of this annual report on Form 20-F entitled “Item 4. Information on the Company” contains information obtained from independent industry sources and other sources that we have not independently verified.

 

2

Table of ContentsSummary Risk Factors 

 

The risk factors described below are a summary of the principal risk factors associated with an investment in us. These are not the only risks we face. You should carefully consider these risk factors, together with the risk factors set forth in Item 3D. of this Report and the other reports and documents filed by us with the SEC.  

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

We may need to raise additional capital in the event we return to negative cash flows.
If we are unable to sell additional products and services to our existing customers and/or to acquire new customers, our future revenues and operating results will be harmed;

We face intense competition from SaaS internet access vendors, some of which are larger and better known than we are, and we may lack sufficient financial or other resources to maintain or improve our competitive position;

If our internal network system is compromised by cyber attackers or other malicious cyber activity, or if our hosting and infrastructure fails, public perception of our products and services will be harmed;
Our business is subject to risks arising from a pandemic, such as COVID-19, including the risk that we may not be able to successfully execute our business or strategic plans, as well as the risk that we will not be able to anticipate, identify and respond quickly to changing market trends and customer preferences or changes in the consumer environment, including changing expectations of service, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property

If we are unable to obtain and maintain effective patent and trademark rights for our products, we may not be able to compete effectively in our markets;

Third-party claims of intellectual property infringement may prevent or delay our development and commercialization efforts, as well as apply financial burdens;

We may be involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our intellectual property.

Risks Related to the Ownership of Our ADSs or Ordinary Shares

Issuance of a significant amount of additional Ordinary Shares due to exercise or conversion of outstanding warrants and/or substantial future sales of our Ordinary Shares may depress our share price; 

Our warrants are speculative in nature and holders of our warrants will have no rights as shareholders until such holders exercise their warrants and acquire our Ordinary Shares or ADSs, as applicable; 

Holders of ADSs may not have the same voting rights as the holders of our Ordinary Shares; 

Holders of ADSs must act through the depositary to exercise their rights as shareholders of our company;
We cannot guarantee that we will continue to comply with Nasdaq requirements. If we fail to comply with Nasdaq requirements, our ADSs could be delisted from Nasdaq, and as a result we and our shareholders could incur material adverse consequences, including a negative impact on our liquidity, our shareholders’ ability to sell shares and our ability to raise capital.

Risks Related to Israeli Law and Our Operations in Israel

Political, economic and military instability due to the Israel-Hamas war in Israel, where our headquarters, members of management, production facilities and employees are located, may adversely affect our results of operations;
 Provisions of Israeli law and our articles of association may delay, prevent or otherwise impede a merger with, or acquisition of, our company;
The rights and responsibilities of a holder of our securities will be governed by Israeli law, which differs in some material respects from the rights and responsibilities of U.S. companies. 

General Risk Factors

Raising additional capital would cause dilution to holders of our equity securities, and may affect the rights of existing holders of equity securities; 
The increasing use of social media platforms and new technologies presents risks and challenges for our business and reputation;
Unsuccessful management of environmental, social and governance matters could adversely affect our reputation and we may experience difficulties meeting the expectations of our stakeholders;
We are subject to a number of risks associated with global sales and operations; 
The price of the Ordinary Shares or ADSs may be volatile;
We may be subject to securities litigation, which is expensive and could divert management attention;
We may be subject to geopolitical events and resulting macroeconomic consequences.

vi 

PART I

 

ITEM 1.IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS

ITEM 1. IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS

 

Not applicable.

 

ITEM 2.OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE

ITEM 2. OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE

 

Not applicable.

 

ITEM 3.KEY INFORMATION

ITEM 3. KEY INFORMATION

 

A.Selected Financial Data

A. [Reserved.]

 

The selected consolidated financial dataB. Capitalization and Indebtedness

Not applicable.

C. Reasons for the fiscal years set forth in the table below have been derived from our consolidated financial statementsOffer and notes thereto. We derived the selected data under the captions “Consolidated StatementsUse of Profit or Loss” for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, and “Consolidated Statements of Financial Position Data” as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 from the audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report. The selected financial data should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements, and are qualified entirely by reference to such consolidated financial statements. Other financial and operating data contains unaudited information that is not derived from our consolidated financial statements. The information presented below under the caption “Other financial and operating data” contains unaudited information which is not derived from our consolidated financial statements.

  

Year Ended
December 31,

 
U.S. dollars in thousands, except share and per share data 2016  2017  2018 
Consolidated Statements of Profit or Loss:         
Revenues  843   1,096   1,466 
Cost of revenues  512   583   791 
Gross profit  331   513   675 
Research and development expenses  1,085   1,608   2,414 
Selling and marketing expenses  2,892   4,051   5,542 
General and administrative expenses  2,123   2,150   1,925 
Listing expenses  1,579   -   - 
Total operating expenses  7,679   7,809   9,881 
Operating loss  (7,348)  (7,296)  (9,206)
Finance expenses  (1,854)  (975)  (3,496)
Finance income  282   2,959   955 
Finance expenses, net  (1,572)  1,984   (2,541)
Loss before taxes on income  (8,920)  (5,312)  (11,747)
Taxes on income  (2)  (1)  (6)
Net loss for the year  (8,922)  (5,313)  (11,753)
Basic loss per Ordinary Share  (0.77)  (0.29)  (0.33)
Diluted loss per Ordinary Share  (0.77)  (0.29)  (0.35)

U.S. dollars in thousands As of December 31, 
  2016  2017  2018 
Consolidated Statements of Financial Position Data:         
Cash and cash equivalents  1,311   3,514   3,717 
Total assets  3,227   5,927   6,368 
Total non-current liabilities  1,101   1,215   1,060 
Accumulated loss  (32,672)  (37,936)  (49,689)
Total shareholders’ equity  1,172   3,141   3,710 

Proceeds

3

Table of Contents

 

B.Capitalization and Indebtedness

Not applicable.

 

C.Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds

D. Risk Factors

 

Not applicable.

D.Risk Factors

You should carefully consider the risks described below, together with all of the other information in this annual report on Form 20-F. The risks described below are not the only risks facing us. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial may also materially and adversely affect our business operations. If any of these risks actually occurs, our business and financial condition could suffer and the price of our ADSs could decline.

Risks Related to Our Financial Condition and Capital Requirements

We are a development-stage company and have a limited operating history on which to assess the prospects for our business, have incurred losses since the date of inception of Safe-T Data A.R Ltd., and anticipate that we will continue to incur significant losses until we are able to successfully commercialize our products globally.

From June 2011 until June 2016, we were a “shell corporation” and did not have any business activity, excluding administrative management. On June 15, 2016, we closed the Merger Transaction with the Subsidiary, whereby we acquired 100% of the share capital of the Subsidiary. Since the date of the Merger Transaction, we have devoted substantially all of our financial resources to develop and commercialize our products. We have financed our operations primarily through the issuance of equity securities. The amount of our future net losses will depend, in part, on on-going development of our products, the rate of our future expenditures and our ability to obtain funding through the issuance of our securities, strategic collaborations or grants. We expect to continue to incur significant losses until we are able to successfully commercialize our products globally. We anticipate that our expenses will increase substantially if and as we:

continue the development of our products;
establish and reinforce a sales, marketing and distribution infrastructure to commercialize our products;
seek to identify, assess, acquire, license and/or develop other products and subsequent generations of our current products;
seek to maintain, protect and expand our intellectual property portfolio;
seek to attract and retain skilled personnel; and
continue to support our operations as a public company, our product development and planned future commercialization efforts.

Our ability to generate future revenue from product sales depends heavily on our success in many areas, including but not limited to:

completing development of some of our products;
addressing any competing technological and market developments;
negotiating favorable terms in any collaboration, licensing or other arrangements into which we may enter;
establishing and maintaining resale and distribution relationships with third parties that can provide adequate (in amount and quality) infrastructure to support market demand for our products;
launching and commercializing current and future products, either directly or with a collaborator or distributor;
maintaining, protecting and expanding our portfolio of intellectual property rights, including patents, trade secrets and know-how; and
identifying, assessing, acquiring and/or developing new products.

4

Table of Contents

 

Given our limited revenue and lack of positive cash flow, we expect that we will need to raise substantial additional capital before we can expect to become profitable from sales of our products. This additional financing may not be available on acceptable terms, or at all. Failure to obtain this necessary capital when needed may force us to delay, limit or terminate our product development efforts or other operations.

According to our management’s estimates, based on our current cash on hand and further based on our budget, we believe that we have sufficient resources to continue our activities until at least June 15, 2019. Since we might be unable to generate sufficient revenue or cash flow to fund our operations for the foreseeable future, we will need to seek additional equity or debt financing to provide the capital required to maintain or expand our operations. We expect we will also need additional funding for developing products and services and other related activities, increasing our sales and marketing capabilities, and promoting brand identity, as well as for working capital requirements and other operating and general corporate purposes.

There can be no assurance that we will be able to raise sufficient additional capital on acceptable terms, or at all. If such financing is not available on satisfactory terms, or is not available at all, we may be required to delay, scale back or eliminate the development of business opportunities, research or development programs and our operations and financial condition may be materially adversely affected. If we raise additional funds through collaborations and licensing arrangements, we may be required to relinquish some rights to our technologies or candidate products, or to grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us.

Raising additional capital would cause dilution to holders of our equity securities, and may affect the rights of existing holders of equity securities.

We may seek additional capital through a combination of private and public equity offerings, debt financings and collaborations and strategic and licensing arrangements. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the issuance of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a holder of the ADSs.

The report of our independent registered public accounting firm contains an explanatory paragraph regarding substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern, which could prevent us from obtaining new financing on reasonable terms or at all.

The report of our independent registered public accounting firm on our audited consolidated financial statements as expected for the period ended December 31, 2018 contains an explanatory paragraph regarding substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Our consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of the uncertainty regarding our ability to continue as a going concern. This going concern opinion could materially limit our ability to raise additional funds through the issuance of equity or debt securities or otherwise. Further reports on our consolidated financial statements may include an explanatory paragraph with respect to our ability to continue as a going concern. Until we can generate significant recurring revenues, we expect to satisfy our future cash needs through debt or equity financing. We cannot be certain that additional funding will be available to us on acceptable terms, if at all. If funds are not available, we may be required to delay, reduce the scope of, or eliminate research or development plans for, or commercialization efforts with respect to our products. This may raise substantial doubts about our ability to continue as a going concern.

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Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

 

The IT security market isinternet access markets are rapidly evolving within the increasingly challenging cyber threat landscape. If the industry does not continue to develop as we anticipate, our sales will not grow as quickly as expected and our share price could decline.

 

We operate in a rapidly evolving industry focused on securing organizations’ IT systemsproviding organizations and sensitive business data. Our solution focuses on protecting an organization’s sensitive data, in terms of how internal/external usersconsumers with internet access the datasolutions. We experience intense competition from smaller new players and useneed to constantly adapt our solutions to the data. While theft, leakage, and ransomware have gained media attention in recent years, IT security spending within enterprises is often concentrated on endpoint and web security products designed to stop threats from penetrating corporate networks. Organizations that use these security products may allocate all or most of their IT security budgets to these products and may not adopt our solution in addition to such products. Further, a security solution such as ours, which is focused on disrupting cyber-attacks by insiders and external perpetrators that have penetrated an organization’s perimeter, is a relatively new technology that has been developed to respond to advanced threats and more rigorous compliance standards and audit requirements. However, advanced cyber attackers are skilled at adapting to new technologies and developing new methods of gaining access to organizations’ sensitive business data. Changes in the nature of advanced cyber threats could result in a shift in IT budgets away from solutions such as ours. In addition, any changes in compliance standards or audit requirements that deemphasize the types of controls, storage, monitoringgrowing and analysis that our solution provides would adversely impact demand for our offerings.constantly changing challenges. It is therefore difficult to predict how large the marketmarkets will be for our solution.solutions. If solutions such as ours are not viewed by organizations as necessary, or if business or consumer customers do not recognize the benefit of our solution as a critical layer of an effective security strategy, then our revenues may not grow as quickly as expected, or may decline, and our share price could suffer.

 

We have not yet successfully completed theare engaged in on-going development of our current and future products. Our research and development efforts may not produce successful products or enhancements to our solution that result in significant revenue or other benefits in the near future, if at all.

 

We expect to continue to dedicate significant financial and other resources to our research and development efforts in order to successfully completecontinuously evolve the development of our products and maintain our competitive position. As a result, our business is significantly dependent on our ability to successfully complete the development of our currentnext- generation products. Investing in research and development personnel, developing new products, and enhancing existing products is expensive and time consuming, and there is no assurance that such activities will result in successful development of our products, significant new marketable products or enhancements to our products, design improvements, cost savings, revenues or other expected benefits. If we spend significant time and effort on research and development and are unable to generate an adequate return on our investment, our business and results of operations may be materially and adversely affected.

 


If we fail to effectively manage our growth, our business and operations will be negatively affected, and as we invest in the growth of our business, we expect our operating and net profit margins to decline in the near-term.

 

We have experienced significantrapid growth in a relatively short period of timethe last five years and intend to continue to aggressively grow our business. We expect that ourOur annual operating expenses willmay continue to increase as we invest in sales, marketing, research and development. Our growth to-dateto date has placed significant demands on our management, sales, and operational and financial infrastructure, and our growth will continue to place significant demands on these resources. We may not be able to successfully implement these improvements in a timely or efficient manner, and our failure to do so may materially impact our projected growth rate. We may also not be able to effectively manage the expansion of our operations, which may result in weaknesses in our infrastructure, operational mistakes, loss of business opportunities, failure to deliver and timely deliver our products to customers, loss of employees and reduced productivity among remaining employees. Our expected growth could require significant capital expenditures and may divert financial resources from other projects, such as the development of current and additional new products. If our management is unable to effectively manage our growth, our expenses may increase more than expected, our ability to generate and/or grow revenue could be reduced, and we may not be able to implement our business strategy.

   

As we invest in the growth of our business, we expect that these investments will result in increased costs and may impact our short and mid-term operating and net profit margins and our operating and net income have declined in recent periods compared to prior periods and we expect this trend to continue in the near-term, primarily as a result of the costs associated with expanding our direct and indirect sales forces, our increased rate of investment in research and development and our increased administrative costs in connection with becoming a public company. We expect that these invested costs will adversely impact our operating and net profit margins since it will take time and resources to train and integrate new sales force members and to comply with public company reporting and regulatory requirements. In addition, costs associated with adding new personnel to our sales force are expensed before their positive impact on our sales is recognized, and even then, a significant portion of any revenues that they generate from maintenance and professional services are deferred over the delivery period of those services.margins. A failure to meet market expectations regarding our revenuesprofitability and profitabilityour position as a growth company has had and could continue to have an adverse effect on the price of our share price.

Ordinary Shares and ADSs.

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Our quarterly and annual results of operations may fluctuate for a variety of reasons, including our failure to close significant sales before the end of a particular quarter.reasons.

 

Even if we are successful in introducing our products to the market, theOur operating results and financial condition of our company may fluctuate from quarter to quarter and year to year and are likely tomay continue to vary due to a number ofseveral factors, many of which will not be within our control. If our operating results do not meet the guidance that we provide to the market place or the expectations of securities analysts or investors, the market price of our Ordinary Shares and the ADSs will likely decline. Fluctuations in our operating results and financial condition may be due to a number ofseveral factors:

 

 the degree of market acceptance of our products and services;
   
 long sales cycles;our ability to attract and retain new customers;
   
 our ability to attract and retain newsell additional products to current customers;
   
 our ability to sell additional products to current customers;changes in consumers’ and enterprises’ requirements and expectations or channel partner requirements;
   
 changes in customer or channel partner requirements or market needs;the growth rate of the internet access solutions markets;
   
 changes in the growth rate of the information security market;
the timing and success of new product and service introductions by us or our competitors or any other change in the competitive landscape of the information security market,internet access markets, including consolidation among our customers or competitors;
   
 a disruption in, or termination of, our relationship with channel partners;
   
 our ability to successfully expand our business globally;
   
 reductions in maintenance renewal rates;
changes in our pricing policies or those of our competitors and our responses to price competition;
   
 

general economic conditions in our markets;markets, including political, economic and military instability due to the Israel-Hamas war in Israel;


● unexpected changes in regulatory practices, laws, regulations and the court systems of certain jurisdictions;
   
 future accounting pronouncements or changes in our accounting policies or practices;
   
 the amount and timing of our operating costs;
   
 a change in our mix of products and services; and
   
 increases or decreases in our expenses caused by fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates.

 

Any of the above factors, individually or in the aggregate, may result in significant fluctuations in our financial and other operating results from period to period. These fluctuations could result in our failure to meet our operating plan or the expectations of investors or analysts for any period. If we fail to meet such expectations for these or other reasons, the market price of our Ordinary Shares and the ADSs could fall substantially, and we could face costly lawsuits, including securities class action suits.

Our reputation and business could be harmed based on real or perceived shortcomings, defects or vulnerabilities in our solution or the failure of our solution to meet customers’ expectations.

 

Organizations and consumers are facing increasingly sophisticated and targeted cyber threats, including the growing threat of cyber terrorism throughout the world. If we fail to identify and respond to new and increasingly complex methods of attack and update our products to detect or prevent such threats, our business and reputation will suffer. In particular, we may suffer significant adverse publicity and reputational harm if a significant breach occurs generally or if any breach occurs at a high-profile customer. Moreover, asif our solution issolutions are adopted by an increasing number of enterprises and governmental entities,consumers, it is possible that attackers will begin to focus on finding ways to defeat our solution.solutions. An actual or perceived security breach or theft of our customers’ sensitive business or personal data, regardless of whether the breach or theft is attributable to the failure of our products, could adversely affect the market’s perception of the efficacy of our solutionsolutions and current or potential customers may look to our competitors for alternatives to our solution.solutions. The failure of our products may also subject us to lawsuits and financial losses stemming from indemnification demands of our partners and other third parties, as well as the expenditure of significant financial resources to analyze, correct or eliminate any vulnerabilities. Any claim brought against us, regardless of its merit, could result in material expense, diversion of management time and attention, and damage to our reputation, and could cause us to fail to retain or attract customers. Costs or payments made in connection with warranty and product liability claims and product recalls, or other claims could materially affect our financial condition and results of operations. It could also cause us to suffer reputational harm, lose existing customers or deter them from purchasing additional products and services and prevent new customers from purchasing our solution.

solutions.

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False detection of threats, while typical in our industry, may reduce perception of the reliability of our products and may therefore adversely impact market acceptance of our products. If our solution restrictssolutions restrict legitimate privileged access by authorized personnel to IT systems and applications by falsely identifying those users as an attack or otherwise unauthorized, or fail to provide privacy and security web browsing to consumers, our customers’ businessbusinesses could be harmed. There can be no assurance that, despite testing by us, errors will not be found in existing and new versions of our products, resulting in loss of or delay in market acceptance. In such an event, we may be required, or may choose, for customer relations or other reasons, to expend additional resources in order to help correct the problem. In addition, the network of enterprise internet access solutions is built on a mix of IPs, which we source from various providers and technologies. A significant portion of our IP pool is sourced from third-party IP proxy providers and ISPs around the world from which we lease and then resell. We have separate agreements with each provider. If such a provider chooses to terminate the agreement, we will be at a risk of reducing the size of our IP pool and might not be able to support the demands of our customer base.


If we are unable to acquire new customers, our future revenues and operating results will be harmed.

 

Our success depends on our ability to acquire new customers. The number of customers that we add in a given period impacts both our short-term and long-term revenues. If we are unable to attract a sufficient number of new customers, we may be unable to generate revenue growth at desired rates. The IT security market ismarkets we operate in are competitive and many of our competitors have substantial financial, personnel, and other resources that they utilize to develop products and attract customers. As a result, it may be difficult for us to add new customers to our customer base. Competition in the marketplace may also lead us to win fewer new customers or result in us providing discounts and other commercial incentives. Additional factors that impact our ability to acquire new customers include the perceived need for ITcyber security, the size of our prospective customers’ ITinfrastructure budgets, the utility and efficacy of our existing and new offerings, whether proven or perceived, our ability to reach a significant portion of the consumer market, and general economic conditions. These factors may have a meaningful negative impact on future revenues and operating results. With respect to our enterprise access business, while many companies understand the problem of doing competitive analysis, data collection, and other privacy-related use cases, widespread awareness of the need for access solutions is still lacking. Proxy networks are well understood, and virtual private networks are commonly popular, but access solutions are still in the early adoption phase among companies and individuals that stand to benefit from them. This restraint accounts for not all enterprise access vendors having the marketing budgets to promote themselves.

 

If we are unable to sell additional products and services to our existing customers, our future revenues and operating results will be harmed.

 

Our revenues are also generated from sales to existing customers. Our future success depends, in part, on our ability to obtain recurring licenses and servicessales to our existing customers. However, we face customer retention challenges due to fierce competition in the market. We devote significant efforts to developing, marketing and selling additional licenses and associated maintenance and supportproducts to existing customers and rely on these efforts for a portion of our revenues. These efforts require a significant investment in building and maintaining customer relationships, as well as significant research and development efforts in order to provide product upgrades and launch new products. The rate at which our existing customers purchase additional products and services depends on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the perceived need for additional IT security,access services, the fit and efficacy of our solutions and the utility of our new offerings, whether proven or perceived, our customers’ IT budgets, general economic conditions, our customers’ overall satisfaction with the maintenance and professional services we provide and the continued growth and economic health of our customer base to require incremental users and servers to be covered. If our efforts to sell additional products and services to our customers are not successful, our future revenues and operating results will be harmed.

We face intense competition from IT securityaccess vendors, some of which are larger and better known than we are, and we may lack sufficient financial or other resources to maintain or improve our competitive position.

 

The IT security marketmarkets in which we operate isare characterized by intense competition, constant innovation and evolving security threats. We compete with companies that offer a broad array of IT securityinternet access and web data collection products. Our current and potential future competitors include Luminate Securityproviders of access solutions, such as Bright Data Ltd., Cyxtera Technologies, Inc.or Bright Data, Oxylabs Networks Pvt. Ltd., Akamai Technologies,BiScience Inc. and Zscaler, Inc.others in the software defined perimeterenterprise access segment, and application access market,Kape Technologies plc, McAfee Corp., Nord VPN, Norton LifeLock, Aura and also include providers of secure data vaults and secure data exchange such as CyberArk Software Ltd., Accellion, Inc. and Varonis Systems Inc.others in the consumer segment. Some of our competitors are large companies that have the technical and financial resources and broad customer bases needed to bring competitive solutions to the market and already have existing relationships as a trusted vendor for other products. Such companies may use these advantages to offer products and services that are perceived to be as effective as ours at a lower price or for free as part of a larger product package or solely in consideration for maintenance and services fees. They may also develop different products to compete with our current solutionsolutions and respond more quickly and effectively than we do to new or changing opportunities, technologies, standards, or client requirements. Additionally, from time to time we may compete with smaller regional vendors that offer products with a more limited range of capabilities that purport to perform functions similar to our solution. Such companies may enjoy stronger sales and service capabilities in their particular regions.

With respect to the enterprise access and the consumer markets, we face the emergence of small competitors in this field due to high profitability margins, which can result in pressure on prices to decline. Furthermore, these margins can lead also to competition from bigger companies that can invest larger human, cash and technological resources into this industry. Such increased competition can lead to lower margins and, consequently, impact our revenues, profitability and business.

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Our competitors may enjoy potential competitive advantages over us, such as:

 

 greater name recognition, a longer operating history and a larger customer base, notwithstanding the increased visibility of our brand following our initial public offering;base;

larger sales and marketing budgets and resources;
   
 larger sales and marketing budgets and resources;
broader distribution and established relationships with channel and distribution partners and customers;
   
 greater customer support resources;
   
 greater resources to make acquisitions;
   
 larger intellectual property portfolios; and
   
 greater financial, technical and other resources.

 

Our current and potential competitors may also establish cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties that may further enhance their resources. Current or potential competitors may be acquired by third parties with greater available resources. As a result of such acquisitions, our current or potential competitors might be able to adapt more quickly to new technologies and customer needs, devote greater resources to the promotion or sale of their products and services, initiate or withstand substantial price competition, take advantage of other opportunities more readily or develop and expand their product and service offerings more quickly than we do. Larger competitors with more diverse product offerings may reduce the price of products that compete with ours in order to promote the sale of other products or may bundle them with other products, which would lead to increased pricing pressure on our products and could cause the average sales prices for our products to decline.

 

In addition, other IT security technologies exist or could be developed in the future by current or future competitors, and our business could be materially and adversely affected if such technologies are widely adopted.

We may not be able to successfully anticipate or adapt to changing technology or customer requirements on a timely basis, or at all. If we fail to keep up with technological changes or to convince our customers and potential customers of the value of our solution even in light of new technologies, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.

If our internal network system is compromised by cyber attackers or other data thieves, or if our hosting and infrastructure fails, public perception of our products and services will be harmed.

 

We will not succeed unless the marketplace is confident that we provide effective IT securitycybersecurity protection. We provide privileged account security products, and as such we may be an attractive target for attacks by cyber attackers or other data thieves since a breach of our system could provide data information regarding not only us, but potentially regarding the customers that our solution protects. Further, we may be targeted by cyber terrorists because we are an Israeli company. If we experience an actual or perceived breach of our network or privileged account security inand our internal systems, it could adversely affect the market perception of our products and services. In addition, we may need to devote more resources to address security vulnerabilities in our solution, and the cost of addressing these vulnerabilities could reduce our operating margins. If we do not address security vulnerabilities or otherwise provide adequate security features in our products, certain customers, particularly government customers, may delay or stop purchasing our products. Further, a security breach could impair our ability to operate our business, including our ability to provide maintenance and support services to our customers. If this happens, our revenues could decline, and our business could suffer. With respect to the enterprise access services and consumers services, if we will experience short period hosting/infrastructure failures, or longer periods of disconnection blocking of our network of IPs to access certain websites, and do not offer our customers various immediate alternatives, some customers may choose to delay or stop purchasing our products.

In the ordinary course of our business, we rely on information technology systems, networks and services, including internet sites, data hosting and processing tools, hardware (including laptops and mobile devices), software, and technical platforms and applications, to process, store and transmit data and to help us manage our business and to collect and store the Company’s sensitive data, including intellectual property, personal information and proprietary business information. The secure maintenance and transmission of this information is critical to our operations and business strategy. We rely on commercially available systems, software, tools, and domestically available monitoring to provide security for processing, transmitting and storing this sensitive data. As part of our implemented efficiency and cost-saving measures, we are using cloud service providers. While benefits for using cloud computing services are well documented and are mostly related to resources sharing, on-demand self-services, rapid scalability, improved economies of scale and collaboration, there are risks that could outweigh the expected benefits, and require close attention and management. For example, there is no guarantee that the features we use will be provided for the same price in the future, there is a risk in relying on a cloud service for business-related tasks because no service can guarantee 100% uptime and there is always a risk of data leakage when a company’s data is held by a third-party vendor.


Information technology systems, including those managed or hosted by third parties, could be subject to sophisticated cyber-attacks (including phishing and ransomware attacks) and threats by external or internal parties’ intent on disrupting business processes or otherwise extracting or corrupting information. In recent years, ransomware attacks against organizations have become more frequent and while we continue to implement additional protective measures to reduce the risk of and detect cyber incidents, cyber-attacks are becoming more sophisticated and frequent, and the techniques used in such attacks change rapidly. We may also face increased cybersecurity risks due to the number of our employees and our third-party providers’ who are (and may continue to be) working remotely, which creates additional opportunities for cybercriminals to launch attacks and exploit vulnerabilities in non-corporate IT environments. Unauthorized access to our systems could disrupt our business, and/or lead to theft, loss or misappropriation of critical assets or to outside parties having access to confidential information, including privileged data, personal data or strategic information. Such information could also be made public in a manner that harms our reputation and financial results and, particularly in the case of personal data, could lead to regulators imposing significant fines on us.

Also, our information technology networks and infrastructure may still be vulnerable to damage, disruptions, or shutdowns due power outages, computer viruses, telecommunication or utility failures, systems failures, natural disasters or other catastrophic events. Any such compromise could disrupt our operations, damage our reputation, and subject us to additional costs and liabilities, any of which could adversely affect our business. See “Item 16.K. Cybersecurity” for additional information.

If we do not effectively expand, train and retain our sales force, we may be unable to acquire new customers or sell additional products and services to existing customers, and our business will suffer.

 

We depend significantly on our sales force to attract new customers and expand sales to existing customers. In 2018 and 2017 we generated 53% and 62%, respectively, of our revenues from direct sales. As a result, our ability to growincrease our revenues depends in part on our success in recruiting, training and retaining sufficient numbers of sales personnel to support our growth. We expect to continue to expand our sales personnel significantly and face a number of challenges in achieving our hiring and integration goals. There is intense competition for individuals with sales training and experience. In addition, the training and integration of a large number of sales personnel in a short time requires the allocation of internal resources. We invest significant time and resources in training new sales force personnel to understand our solutions and growth strategy. Based on our past experience, it takes an average of approximately six to nine months before a new sales force member operates at target performance levels. However, we may be unable to achieve or maintain our target performance levels with large numbers of new sales personnel as quickly as we have done in the past. Our failure to hire a sufficient number of qualified sales force members and train them to operate at target performance levels may materially and adversely impact our projected growth rate.

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We rely on original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, partners, channel partners, including systems integrators, distributors and value-added resellers, to generate a significant portion of our revenue. If we fail to maintain successful relationships with our OEM and channel partners, or if our channel partners fail to perform, our ability to market, sell and distribute our solution will be limited, and our business, financial position and results of operations will be harmed.

  

In addition to our direct sales force, we rely on our OEM and channel partners to sell and support our solution, currently in the United States, Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and Israel region. We expect that sales through our partners will continue to account for a significant percentage of our revenue. In 2018 and 2017, we generated approximately 47% and 38%, respectively, of our revenues from sales to channel partners and we expect that channel partners will represent a substantial portion of our revenues for the foreseeable future. Most of our agreements with channel partners are non-exclusive, meaning our partners may offer customers IT security products from other companies, including products that compete with our solution. If our channel partners do not effectively market and sell our solution, or choose to use greater efforts to market and sell their own products and services or the products and services of our competitors, our ability to grow our business will be adversely affected. Our channel partners may cease or deemphasize the marketing of our solution with limited or no notice and with little or no penalty. Further, new channel partners require training and may take several months or more to achieve productivity. The loss of a substantial number of our channel partners, the inability to replace them or the failure to recruit additional OEM or channel partners could materially and adversely affect our results of operations. Our reliance on channel partners could also subject us to lawsuits or reputational harm if, for example, a channel partner misrepresents the functionality of our solution to customers or violates laws or our corporate policies. Our ability to grow revenues in the future will depend in part on our success in maintaining successful relationships with our OEM and channel partners and training our OEM and channel partners to independently sell and install our solution. If we are unable to maintain our relationship with OEM and channel partners or otherwise develop and expand our indirect sales channel, or if our OEM and/or channel partners fail to perform, our business, financial position and results of operations could be adversely affected.

If our products fail to help our customers achieve and maintain compliance with certain government regulations and industry standards, our business and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

 

We generate a substantial portionOn the enterprise access side of our revenues from our productsbusiness, we primarily engage directly with ISPs in order to gain access to their networks. The legality of scraping publicly available web data was first upheld in late 2019, and services because they enable our customersthen reaffirmed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (hiQ vs LinkedIn) in April 2022. We also note that X Corp (formerly Twitter) has launched several complaints on scraping of its platform, separately bringing three lawsuits against alleged scrapers of its site. The Meta v. Bright Data case may serve as a precedent. However, as the web continues to achieveevolve as a vast source of information, the debate over data accessibility versus privacy is likely to intensify, as well as in connection with the way in which some of the automated software programs are built, and maintain compliance with certain governmentchanges in regulations may impact the means or ability to provide such solutions.


International regulatory bodies are increasingly focused on online privacy issues and industry standards, and we expect that will continue foruser data protection. In particular, the foreseeable future. Examples of industry standards and government regulations include the European Union General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR; the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard,GDPR, in the European Union, or PCI-DSS;EU, and the Health Insurance PortabilityUK intends to strengthen and Accountabilityunify data protection for all individuals within the EU. It also addresses the export of personal data outside the EU. The GDPR aims primarily to give control back to citizens and residents over their personal data and to simplify the regulatory environment for international business by unifying the regulation within the EU. Additionally, the uncertainty created by these laws and regulations can be compounded when services hosted in one jurisdiction are directed at users in another jurisdiction. For instance, European data protection rules may apply to companies which are not established in the EU (this is the so-called extraterritorial scope of the GDPR). Similarly, there have been laws and regulations adopted throughout the United States and Israel that impose obligations in areas such as privacy, in particular protection of personal information and implementing adequate cybersecurity measures to protect such information. The most prominent to which we are exposed is the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2020, or the CCPA, which increases the privacy and security obligations companies have towards the consumer when handling personal data. The CCPA allows civil penalties for violations as well as private right of action for data breaches. In addition, the California Privacy Rights Act, or HIPAA; the Sarbanes-Oxley Act;CPRA, which became effective as of January 1, 2023, imposes additional obligations such as expanding the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, or GLBA;current data privacy compliance requirements under the CCPA. As an Israeli company we are also subject to the Israeli Privacy Protection Law 1981 and its regulations, as well as the international banking regulationsguidelines of the Basel Committee on Bank Supervision. Israeli Privacy Protection Authority.

These industry standards may change with little or no notice, including changes that could make them more or less onerous for businesses. Any inability to adequately address privacy and security concerns or comply with applicable privacy and data security laws, rules and regulations could have an adverse effect on our business prospects, results of operations and/or financial position. In addition, governments may also adopt new laws or regulations, or make changes to existing laws or regulations, that could impact whether our solution enables our customers to maintain compliance with such laws or regulations. If we are unable to adapt our solution to changing government regulations and industry standards in a timely manner, or if our solution fails to expedite our customers’ compliance initiatives, our customers may lose confidence in our products and could switch to products offered by our competitors. In addition, if government regulations and industry standards related to IT securitythe access sectors are changed in a manner that makes them less onerous, our customers may view compliance as less critical to their businesses, and our customers may be less willing to purchase our products and services. In either case, our sales and financial results would suffer.

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Our model for long-term growth depends upon the introduction of new products. If we are unable to develop new products or if these new products are not adopted by customers, our growth will be adversely affected.

 

Our business depends on the successful development and marketing of new products, including adding complementary offerings to our current products. For example, in October 2017, we completed the development of the first version of our Software Defined Access solution, which is designed to reduce cyber-attacks by hiding mission-critical data at the perimeter, limiting access to authorized and intended entities, on premise or in the cloud. Development and marketing of new products requiresrequire significant up-front research, development and other costs, and the failure of new products we develop to gain market acceptance may result in a failure to achieve future sales and adversely affect our competitive position. There can be no assurance that any of our new or future products will achieve market acceptance or generate revenues at forecasted rates or that the margins generated from their sales will allow us to recoup the costs of our development efforts.

Failure by us or our partners to maintain sufficient levels of customer support could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our customers depend in large part on customer support delivered through our partners or by us to resolve issues relating to the use of our solution. However, even with our support and that of our partners, our customers are ultimately responsible for effectively using our solution and ensuring that their IT staff is properly trained in the use of our products and complementary security products. The failure of our customers to correctly use our solution, or our failure to effectively assist customers in installing our solution and providing effective ongoing support, may result in an increase in the vulnerability of our customers’ IT systems and sensitive business data. Additionally, if our partners do not effectively provide support to the satisfaction of our customers, we may be required to provide support to such customers, which would require us to invest in additional personnel, which requires significant time and resources. We may not be able to keep up with demand, particularly if the sales of our solution exceed our internal forecasts. To the extent that we or our partners are unsuccessful in hiring, training and retaining adequate support resources, our ability and the ability of our partners to provide adequate and timely support to our customers will be negatively impacted, and our customers’ satisfaction with our products will be adversely affected. Accordingly, our failure to provide satisfactory maintenance and technical support services could have a material and adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

 

If we do not successfully anticipate market needs and enhance our existing products or develop new products that meet those needs on a timely basis, we may not be able to compete effectively and our ability to generate revenues will suffer.

 

Our customers operate in markets characterized by rapidly changing technologies and business plans, which require them to adapt to increasingly complex IT infrastructures that incorporate a variety of hardware, software applications, operating systems and networking protocols. As our customers’ technologies and business plans grow more complex, we expect them to face new and increasingly sophisticated methods of attack. We face significant challenges in ensuring that our solutionsolutions effectively identifiesidentify and respondsrespond to these advanced and evolving attacks without disrupting the performance of our customers’ IT systems. As a result, we must continually modify and improve our products in response to changes in our customers’ IT and industrial control infrastructures.

 

We cannot guarantee that we will be able to anticipate future market needs and opportunities or be able to develop product enhancements or new products to meet such needs or opportunities in a timely manner, if at all. Even if we are able to anticipate, develop and commercially introduce enhancements and new products, there can be no assurance that enhancements or new products will achieve widespread market acceptance.

 


Our product enhancements or new products could fail to attain sufficient market acceptance for many reasons, including:

 

 delays in releasing product enhancements or new products;

 
failure to accurately predict market demand and to supply products that meet this demand in a timely fashion;
   
 inability to interoperate effectively with the existing or newly introduced technologies, systems or applications of our existing and prospective customers;
   
 inability to protect against new types of attacks or techniques used by cyber attackers or other data thieves;

 
defects in our products, errors or failures of our solutions to secure privileged accounts;
   
 negative publicity about the performance or effectiveness of our products;
   
 introduction or anticipated introduction of competing products by our competitors;
   
 installation, configuration or usage errors by our customers; and
   
 easing or changing of regulatory requirements related to IT/ cyber security.IT / cybersecurity / privacy.

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If we fail to anticipate market requirements or fail to develop and introduce product enhancements or new products to meet those needs in a timely manner, it could cause us to lose existing customers and prevent us from gaining new customers, which would significantly harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

If our products do not effectively interoperate with our customers’ existing or future IT infrastructures, installations could be delayed or cancelled, which would harm our business.

  

Our products must effectively interoperate with our customers’ existing or future IT infrastructures, which often have different specifications, utilize multiple protocol standards, deploy products from multiple vendors and contain multiple generations of products that have been added over time. If we find errors in the existing software or defects in the hardware used in our customers’ infrastructure or problematic network configurations or settings, we may have to modify our software so that our products will interoperate with our customers’ infrastructure and business processes. In addition, to stay competitive within certain markets, we may be required to make software modifications in future releases to comply with new statutory or regulatory requirements. These issues could result in longer sales cycles for our products and order cancellations, either of which would adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Defects and bugs in products could give rise to product returns, cancellation of orders or product liability, warranty or other claims that could result in material expenses, diversion of management time and attention, and damage to our reputation.

Even if we are successful in introducing our products to the market, our products may contain undetected defects or errors that, despite testing, are not discovered until after a product has been used. Our software is complex and could have, or could be alleged to have, defects, bugs or other errors or failures. This could result in cancellation of orders, difficulties in maintaining business relations with customers that use our software, delayed market acceptance of those products, claims from distributors, end-users or others, increased end-user service and support costs and warranty claims, damage to our reputation and business and the ability to attract new customers, or significant costs to correct the defect or error. We may from time to time become subject to warranty or product liability claims that could lead to significant expenses as we need to compensate affected end-users for costs incurred related to product quality issues.

 

Any claim brought against us, regardless of its merit, could result in material expense, diversion of management time and attention, and damage to our reputation, and could cause us to fail to retain or attract customers.

We areOur business is subject to risks arising from a numberpandemic, such as COVID-19, include the risk that we may not be able to successfully execute our business or strategic plans, as well as the risk that we will not be able to anticipate, identify and respond quickly to changing market trends and customer preferences or changes in the consumer environment, including changing expectations of risks associated with global salesservice, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

 

Business practicesOur business, operations and financial condition could be materially affected by the outbreak of epidemics or pandemics or other health crises. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted businesses globally resulting in general economic slowdown. Our operations and business were impacted by COVID-19 as we were forced to modify our day-to-day operation and adopt early and strict prevention measures to protect the health of our employees (including employees’ travel, employees’ work locations and cancellation of physical participation in meetings, events, and conferences).


Market events and conditions, including disruptions in the financial markets and deteriorating global markets that we serveeconomic conditions, could increase the cost of capital or impede our access to capital. Economic and geopolitical events, as well as global outbreaks of contagious diseases, such as COVID 19, may differ from thosecreate uncertainty in the United Statesglobal financial and may requireequity markets. Such disruptions could make it more difficult for us to include non-standardobtain capital and financing for our operations, or increase the cost of it, among other things. If we do not raise capital when we need it, or access it on reasonable terms, in customer contracts, such as extended payment or warranty terms. To the extent that we enter into customer contracts that include non-standard terms related to payment, warranties, or performance obligations, our results of operations may be adversely impacted.

Additionally, our global sales and operations are subject toit could have a number of risks, including the following:

greater difficulty in enforcing contracts and managing collections, as well as longer collection periods;
higher costs of doing business globally, including costs incurred in maintaining office space, securing adequate staffing and localizing our contracts;
fluctuations in exchange rates between the NIS and foreign currencies in markets where we do business;
management communication and integration problems resulting from cultural and geographic dispersion;
risks associated with trade restrictions and foreign legal requirements, including any importation, certification, and localization of our platform that may be required in foreign countries;

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greater risk of unexpected changes in regulatory practices, tariffs, and tax laws and treaties;
compliance with anti-bribery laws, including, without limitation, compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Anti-Bribery Act;
heightened risk of unfair or corrupt business practices in certain geographies and of improper or fraudulent sales arrangements that may impact financial results and result in restatements of, or irregularities in, consolidated financial statements;
reduced or uncertain protection of intellectual property rights in some countries;
social, economic and political instability, terrorist attacks and security concerns in general;
laws and business practices favoring local competition;
being subject to the laws, regulations and the court systems of many jurisdictions; and
potentially adverse tax consequences.

These and other factors could harm our ability to generate future global revenues and, consequently, materially impactmaterial adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and the Company’s Ordinary Shares or ADSs price. If the negative economic conditions persist or worsen, it could lead to increased political and financial condition.uncertainty, which could result in regime or regulatory changes in the jurisdictions in which we operate. High levels of volatility and market turmoil could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and the Company share price.

The extent to which any pandemic or similar event impacts our results will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted.

If we are unable to hire, retain and motivate qualified personnel, our business will suffer.

 

Our future success depends, in part, on our ability to continue to attract and retain highly skilled personnel. Our inability to attract or retain qualified personnel or delays in hiring required personnel, particularly in sales and software engineering, may seriously harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. Any of our employees may terminate their employment at any time. Competition for highly skilled personnel is frequently intense, especially in Israel, where we are headquartered. Moreover, certain of our competitors or other technology businesses may seek to hire our employees. There is no assurance that any equity or other incentives that we grant to our employees will be adequate to attract, retain and motivate employees in the future. If we fail to attract, retain and motivate highly qualified personnel, our business will suffer. In addition, to the extent we hire personnel from competitors, we may be subject to allegations that they have been improperly solicited or divulged proprietary or other confidential information.

We rely significantly on revenues from maintenance and support contracts, which we recognize ratably over the term of the associated contract and, to a lesser extent, from professional services contracts, which we recognize as services are delivered, and downturns in sales of these contracts are not immediately reflected in full in our quarterly operating results.

 

We generate revenue from sales of perpetual or subscribed licenses of our products, and related services. Also, we generate revenues from maintenance and support of our products. Maintenance and support renewals are usually 15% to 25% of the license price, depending mainly on the supporting hours and response times, and are important as they represent, like subscription renewals, steady and visible cash flow growth. Our renewal rate for subscriptions of maintenance and support contracts is approximately 85% over the last 2 years. Sales of maintenance and support and professional services may decline or fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, including the number of product licenses we sell, our customers’ level of satisfaction with our products and services, the prices of our products and services, the prices of products and services offered by our competitors or reductions in our customers’ spending levels. If our sales of maintenance and support and professional services contracts decline, our revenues or revenue growth may decline, and our business will suffer. We recognize revenues from maintenance and support services over the contract term. As a result, a meaningful portion of the revenues we report each quarter results from the recognition of deferred revenues from maintenance and support and professional services contracts entered into during previous quarters. Consequently, a decline in the number or size of such contracts in any one quarter will not be fully reflected in revenues in that quarter, but will negatively affect our revenues in future quarters. Accordingly, the effect of significant downturns in maintenance and support and professional services contracts would not be reflected in full in our results of operations until future periods.

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We are exposed to fluctuations in currency exchange rates, which could negatively affect our financial condition and results of operations.

 

Our functional and reporting currency is the U.S. dollar, and we generate a majority of our revenues in U.S. dollars. A material portion of our operating expenses is incurred outside the United States, mainly in NIS and are subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates, particularly changes in NIS. Our foreign currency-denominated expenses consist primarily of personnel, rent and other overhead costs. Since a significant portion of our expenses is incurred in NIS and is substantially greater than our revenues in NIS, any appreciation of the NIS relative to the U.S. dollar would adversely impact our net loss or net income, as relevant. During 2023, the NIS depreciated by 3% against the dollar but has appreciated in prior years. We are therefore exposed to foreign currency risk due to fluctuations in exchange rates. This may result in gains or losses with respect to movements in exchange rates which may be material and may also cause fluctuations in reported financial information that are not necessarily related to its operating results. We expect that the majoritymost of our revenues will continue to be generated in U.S. dollars with the balance in NIS for the foreseeable future, and that a significant portion of our expenses will continue to be denominated in NIS and partially in U.S. dollar. To date, foreign currency transaction gains and losses and exchange rate fluctuations have not been material to our consolidated financial statements, and we have not engaged in any foreign currency hedging transactions. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—“Item 11. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure About Market Risk—Foreign Currency Exchange Risk.”

 

A portion of our revenues is generated by sales to government entities, which are subject to a number of challenges and risks.

A portion of our revenues is generated by sales to federal, state and local governmental customers as well as security agencies, and we may in the future increase sales to government entities. Sales to government entities are subject to a number of risks. Selling to government entities can be highly competitive, expensive and time consuming, often requiring significant upfront time, special customizations and expense without any assurance that we will complete a sale. Government demand and payment for our products and services may be impacted by public sector budgetary cycles and funding authorizations, with funding reductions or delays adversely affecting public sector demand for our products. Government entities are typically considered opinion makers. Dissatisfaction of such entities from our services and/or products might harm our market reputation or future sales.

We may acquire other businesses, which could require significant management attention, disrupt our business, dilute shareholder value, and adversely affect our results of operations.

 

As part of our business strategy and in order to remain competitive, we are evaluating acquiring or making investments in complementary companies, products or technologies on an on-going basis. We have completed two main acquisitions to date one acquisition of the Telepath technology from Cykick Labs Ltd., and have recently entered into a nonbinding letter of intent for the acquisition of a fast-growing Israeli company in the business proxy network solution industry. However, our ability as an organization to acquireNetNut and integrate other companies, products or technologies in a successful manner is yet unproven. WeCyberKick. Going forward, we may not be able to find suitable acquisition candidates, and we may not be able to complete such acquisitions on favorable terms, if at all. If we do complete acquisitions, we may not ultimately strengthen our competitive position or achieve our goals, and any acquisitions we complete could be viewed negatively by our customers, analysts and investors. In addition, if we are unsuccessful at integrating such acquisitions or the technologies associated with such acquisitions, our revenues and results of operations could be adversely affected. Any integration process may require significant time and resources, and we may not be able to manage the process successfully. We may not successfully evaluate or utilize the acquired technology or personnel, or accurately forecast the financial impact of an acquisition transaction, including accounting charges. We may have to pay cash, incur debt, or issue equity securities to pay for any such acquisition, each of which could adversely affect our financial condition or the value of our Ordinary Shares. The sale of equity or issuance of debt to finance any such acquisitions could result in dilution to our shareholders. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased fixed obligations and could also include covenants or other restrictions that would impede our ability to manage our operations.

We incur additional increased costs as a result of the listing of our securities for trading on the Nasdaq, and our management is required to devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives as well as compliance with ongoing U.S. and Israeli requirements.

As a public company in the United States, we incur significant accounting, legal and other expenses as a result of the listing of our securities on the Nasdaq. These include costs associated with corporate governance requirements of the SEC and Nasdaq, as well as requirements under Section 404 and other provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. These rules and regulations increase our legal and financial compliance costs, introduce costs such as investor relations, stock exchange listing fees and shareholder reporting, and make some activities more time consuming and costly. Any future changes in the laws and regulations affecting public companies in the United States, including Section 404 and other provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and the rules and regulations adopted by the SEC and Nasdaq, for so long as they apply to us, will result in increased costs to us as we respond to such changes. These laws, rules and regulations could make it more difficult or more costly for us to obtain certain types of insurance, including director and officer liability insurance, and we may be forced to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. The impact of these requirements could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors, our board committees, if any, or as executive officers.

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We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, which can possibly result in a material misstatement of our annual financial statements not to be prevented or detected on a timely basis. We may also fail to comply with the rules that apply to public companies, including Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. This may result in a further deficiency in our internal control over financial reporting, as well as sanctions or other penalties that would harm our business.

We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016. As defined in Regulation 12b-2 under the Securities Exchange Act, a “material weakness” is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented, or detected on a timely basis. Specifically, we determined that we do not have sufficient qualified staff to provide for effective control over a number of aspects of our accounting and financial reporting process under IFRS as described below.


 

We continue to evaluate the impact of internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures. As of December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, the ineffectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting was due to the following material weaknesses: (i) inadequate segregation of duties consistent with control objectives; and (ii) ineffective controls over period end financial reporting.

We have taken action toward remediating this material weakness by hiring additional qualified personnel with IFRS accounting and reporting experience, and intend to provide enhanced training to existing financial and accounting employees on related IFRS issues. However, the implementation of these initiatives may not fully address any material weakness or other deficiencies that we may have in our internal control over financial reporting.

Furthermore, we are only in the early stages of determining formally whether our existing internal control over financial reporting systems are compliant with Section 404 and whether there are any other material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in our existing internal controls. These controls and other procedures are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file with the SEC is disclosed accurately and is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms.

Even if we develop effective internal control over financial reporting, these controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or the degree of compliance with these policies or procedures may deteriorate, and material weaknesses and deficiencies may be discovered in them. We are working with our legal, independent accounting and financial advisors to identify those areas in which changes should be made to our financial and management control systems to manage our growth and our obligations as a public company. These areas include corporate governance, corporate control, disclosure controls and procedures and financial reporting. We have made, and will continue to make, changes in these and other areas. In any event, the process of determining whether our existing internal controls are compliant with Section 404 and sufficiently effective will require the investment of substantial time and resources, including by our chief financial officer and other members of our senior management. As a result, this process may divert internal resources and take a significant amount of time and effort to complete, even more so after we are no longer an “Emerging Growth Company.” In addition, we cannot predict the outcome of this process and whether we will need to implement remedial actions in order to implement effective controls over financial reporting. The determination of whether or not our internal controls are sufficient and any remedial actions required could result in us incurring additional costs that we did not anticipate, including the hiring of outside consultants. We may also fail to complete our evaluation, testing and any required remediation needed to comply with Section 404 in a timely fashion.

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Irrespective of compliance with Section 404, any additional failure of our internal controls could have a material adverse effect on our stated results of operations and harm our reputation. As a result, we may experience higher than anticipated operating expenses, as well as higher independent auditor fees during and after the implementation of these changes. If we are unable to implement any of the required changes to our internal control over financial reporting effectively or efficiently or are required to do so earlier than anticipated, it could adversely affect our operations, financial reporting or results of operations and could result in an adverse opinion on internal controls from our independent auditors.

Furthermore, if we are unable to certify that our internal control over financial reporting is effective and in compliance with Section 404, we may be subject to sanctions or investigations by regulatory authorities, such as the SEC or stock exchanges, and we could lose investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, which could hurt our business, the price of our Ordinary Shares and our ability to access the capital markets.

We are subject to governmental export and import controls that could subject us to liability in the event of non-compliance or impair our ability to compete in international markets.

 

We are also subject to U.S. and Israeli export control and economic sanctions laws, which prohibit the delivery and sale of certain products to embargoed or sanctioned countries, governments, and persons. Our products could be exported to these sanctioned targets by our channel partners despite the contractual undertakings they have given us, and any such export could have negative consequences, including government investigations, penalties, and reputational harm. Any change in export or import regulations, economic sanctions or related legislation, shift in the enforcement or scope of existing regulations, or change in the countries, governments, persons or technologies targeted by such regulations, could require export licenses or result in decreased use of our products by, or in our decreased ability to export or sell our products to, existing or potential customers with international operations.operations or cessation of export or sale of our products in sanctioned countries or to sanctioned persons. Any decreased use of our products or limitation on our ability to export or sell our products would likely adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

 

In addition, in the future weWe may be subject to defense-related export controls.geopolitical risks resulting from Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Geopolitical risks and associated military action may result in, among other things, global security issues that may adversely affect international business and economic conditions, and economic sanctions which may impact the global economy. For example, currentlythe outbreak of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine in February 2022 led to global sanctions that have impacted the international economy and given rise to potential global security issues that may adversely affect international business and economic conditions. Additional geopolitical and macroeconomic consequences of this invasion and associated sanctions cannot be predicted, and future geopolitical events, including further hostilities in Ukraine or elsewhere, could negatively impact global financial markets our solution is not subjectbusiness as it may limit our ability to supervision underprovide our services in those and in neighboring countries and cause the Israeli Defense Export Control Law, 5767-2007, but if it was used for purposes thatprice of our ordinary shares to decline. See also “Our headquarters and other significant operations are classified as defense-related or if it falls under “dual-use goodslocated in Israel, and, technology” as referred to below, we could become subject to such regulation. In particular, under the Israeli Defense Export Control Law, 5767-2007, an Israeli company may not conduct “defense marketing activity” without a defense marketing license from the Israeli Ministry of Defense, or the MOD, andtherefore, our results may be subject to a requirement to obtain a specific license from the MOD for any export of defense related products and/or knowhow. The definition of defense marketing activity is broadadversely affected by political, economic and includes any marketing of “defense equipment,” “defense knowhow” or “defense services” outside of Israel, which includes “dual-use goods and technology,” (material and equipment intendedmilitary instability in principle for civilian use and that can also be used for defensive purposes, such as our cybersecurity solutions) that is specified in the list of Goods and Dual-Use Technology annexed to the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies, if intended for defense use only, or is specified under Israeli legislation. “Dual-use goods and technology” will be subject to control by the Ministry of Economy if intended for civilian use only. In December 2013, regulations under the Wassenaar Arrangement included for the first time a chapter on cyber-related matters. We believe that our products do not fall under this chapter; however, in the future we may become subject to this regulation or similar regulations, which would limit our sales and marketing activities and could therefore have an adverse effect on our results of operations. Similar issues could arise under the U.S. defense/military export controls under the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations.

Israel.

Our use of third-party software and other intellectual property may expose us to risks.

 

Some of our products and services include software or other intellectual property licensed from third parties, and we otherwise use software and other intellectual property licensed from third parties in our business. This exposes us to risks over which we may have little or no control. For example, a licensor may have difficulties keeping up with technological changes or may stop supporting the software or other intellectual property that it licenses to us. There can be no assurance that the licenses we use will be available on acceptable terms, if at all. In addition, a third party may assert that we or our customers are in breach of the terms of a license, which could, among other things, give such third party the right to terminate a license or seek damages from us, or both. Our inability to obtain or maintain certain licenses or other rights or to obtain or maintain such licenses or rights on favorable terms, or the need to engage in litigation regarding these matters, could result in delays in releases of new products, and could otherwise disrupt our business, until equivalent technology can be identified, licensed, or developed.

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Our use of open sourceopen-source software could negatively affect our ability to sell our software and subject us to possible litigation.

 

We use open sourceopen-source software and expect to continue to use open sourceopen-source software in the future. Some open sourceopen-source software licenses require users who distribute or make available as a service open sourceopen-source software as part of their own software product to publicly disclose all or part of the source code of the users’ software product or to make available any derivative works of the open sourceopen-source code on unfavorable terms or at no cost. We may face ownership claims of third parties over, or seeking to enforce the license terms applicable to, such open sourceopen-source software, including by demanding the release of the open sourceopen-source software, derivative works or our proprietary source code that was developed using such software. These claims could also result in litigation, require us to purchase a costly license or require us to devote additional research and development resources to change our software, any of which would have a negative effect on our business and results of operations. In addition, if the license terms for the open sourceopen-source code change, we may be forced to re-engineer our software or incur additional costs.

 


Under applicable employment laws, we may not be able to enforce covenants not to compete and therefore may be unable to prevent our competitors from benefiting from the expertise of some of our former employees.

We generally enter into non-disclosure and non-competition agreements with our employees. These agreements prohibit our employees from competing directly with us or working for our competitors or customers for a limited period after they cease working for us. We may be unable to enforce these agreements under the laws of the jurisdictions in which our employees work, and it may be difficult for us to restrict our competitors from benefiting from the expertise that our former employees or consultants developed while working for us. For example, Israeli courts have required employers seeking to enforce non-compete undertakings of a former employee to demonstrate that the competitive activities of the former employee will harm one of a limited number of material interests of the employer that have been recognized by the courts, such as the secrecy of a company’s confidential commercial information or the protection of its intellectual property. If we cannot demonstrate that such interests will be harmed, we may be unable to prevent our competitors from benefiting from the expertise of our former employees or consultants and our ability to remain competitive may be diminished.

 

Risks Related to Our Financial Condition and Capital Requirements

Despite the fact that we have recently begun to generate a positive cash flow, we may need to raise additional capital in the event we return to negative cash flow. This additional financing may not be available on acceptable terms, or at all. Failure to obtain the necessary capital when needed may force us to delay, limit or terminate our product development efforts or other operations.

According to our management’s estimates, based on our current cash on hand and further based on our budget, we believe that we have sufficient resources to continue our activities for a period of more than 12 months. Nevertheless, in case we won’t be able to generate sufficient revenue or cash flow to fund our operations for the foreseeable future, we may need to seek additional equity or debt financing to provide the capital required to maintain or expand our operations. We expect we will also need additional funding for developing products and services and other related activities, increasing our sales and marketing capabilities, and promoting brand identity, as well as for working capital requirements and other operating and general corporate purposes.

There can be no assurance that we will be able to raise sufficient additional capital on acceptable terms, or at all. If such financing is not available on satisfactory terms, or is not available at all, we may be required to delay, scale back or eliminate the development of business opportunities, research or development programs and our operations and financial condition may be materially adversely affected. If we raise additional funds through collaborations and licensing arrangements, we may be required to relinquish some rights to our technologies or candidate products, or to grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us.

We maintain some of our cash balances at financial institutions that may exceed federally insured limits.

A small portion of our cash is held in accounts at U.S. banking institutions that we believe are of high quality. Cash held in non-interest-bearing and interest-bearing operating accounts may exceed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, insurance limits. If such banking institutions were to fail, we could lose all or a portion of those amounts held in excess of such insurance limitations.


Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property

 

If we are unable to obtain and maintain effective patent rights for our products, we may not be able to compete effectively in our markets. If we are unable to protect the confidentiality of our trade secrets or know-how, such proprietary information may be used by others to compete against us.

We have two patents relating to the secure dataOur reverse access product, grantedtechnology is patent protected in theseveral jurisdictions: United States, and one patent related to the secure data access product that is granted in Israel, Europe (including Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, France, Great BritainUnited Kingdom and Italy. In addition, on January 29, 2019, our Chinese application for Reverse Access Method for Securing Front-End Applications was grantedItaly), Israel, China and issued. We have filed a petition to revive a patent application underlying the Telepath technology, which we obtained as part of the technology purchased from Cykick Labs Ltd. The petition was granted in November 2018 and we will continue to pursue the examination of the application. Hong-Kong.

There is no guarantee that thepending or future patent registration applications that we have submitted will result in patent registrations.grants. Failure to completefile patent registrationapplications or obtain patent grants may allow other entities to manufacture our products and compete with them. We also have several trademarks registered in the United States, Israel, the European Union and China.

 

Further, there is no assurance that all potentially relevant prior art relating to our patent applications has been found, which can invalidate a patent or prevent a patent from issuingbeing issued from a pending patent application. Even if patents doare successfully issue,issued, and even if such patents cover our products, third parties may challenge their validity, enforceability, or scope, which may result in such patents being narrowed, found unenforceable or invalidated. Furthermore, even if they are unchallenged, our patent applications and any future patents may not adequately protect our intellectual property, provide exclusivity for our new products, or prevent others from designing around our claims. Any of these outcomes could impair our ability to prevent competition from third parties, which may have an adverse impact on our business.

 

If we cannot obtain and maintain effective patent rights for our products, we may not be able to compete effectively, and our business and results of operations wouldmay be harmed.

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If our trademarks and trade names are not adequately protected, we may not be able to build name recognition in our markets of interest and our business may be affected.

We have filed for trademark registration of certain marks relating to our branding. If our unregistered trademarks and trade names are not adequately protected, we may not be able to build name recognition in our markets of interest and our business may be affected. Our trademarks or trade names may be challenged, infringed, circumvented, or declared generic or determined to be infringing on other marks. Competitors may adopt trade names or trademarks similar to ours, thereby impeding our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to market confusion. In addition, there could be potential trade name or trademark infringement claims brought by owners of other registered trademarks or trademarks that incorporate variations of our trademarks or trade names. In the long term, if we are unable to successfully register trademarks and trade names and establish name recognition based on such trademarks and trade names, then we may not be able to compete effectively, and our business may be affected. Our efforts to enforce or protect our proprietary rights related to trademarks, trade secrets, domain names, copyrights or other intellectual property may be ineffective and could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could impact our financial condition or results of operations.

If we are unable to maintain effective proprietary rights for our products, we may not be able to compete effectively in our markets.

 

Historically, we have relied on trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements to protect proprietary know-how that is not patentable or that we elect not to patent,patent; processes that are not easily known, knowable or easily ascertainable, and for which patent infringement is difficult to monitor and enforceenforce; and any other elements of our product candidate discovery and development processes that involve proprietary know-how, information or technology that is not covered by patents. However, trade secrets can be difficult to protect. We seek to protect our proprietary technology and processes, in part, by entering into confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, advisors, and contractors. We also seek to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of our data, trade secrets and intellectual property by maintaining physical security of our premises and physical and electronic security of our IT systems. Agreements or security measures may be breached, and we may not have adequate remedies for any breach. In addition, our trade secrets and intellectual property may otherwise become known or be independently discovered by competitors.

 

We cannot provide any assurances that our trade secrets and other confidential proprietary information will not be disclosed in violation of our confidentiality agreements or that competitors will not otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or independently develop substantially equivalent information and techniques. Also, misappropriation or unauthorized and unavoidable disclosure of our trade secrets and intellectual property could impair our competitive position and may have a material adverse effect on our business. Additionally, if the steps taken to maintain our trade secrets and intellectual propertyother confidential information are deemed inadequate, we may have insufficient recourse against third parties for misappropriating any trade secret.

 


Intellectual property rights of third parties could adversely affect our ability to commercialize our products, and we might be required to litigate or obtain licenses from third parties in order to develop or market our product candidates. Such litigation or licenses could be costly or not available on commercially reasonable terms.

 

It is inherently difficult to conclusively assess our freedom to operate without infringing on third party rights. Our competitive position may be adversely affected if existing patents or patents resulting from patent applications issued to third parties or other third-party intellectual property rights are held to cover our products or elements thereof or uses relevant to our development plans. In such cases, we may not be in a position to develop or commercialize products or our product candidates unless we successfully pursue litigation to nullify or invalidate the third-party intellectual property right concerned or enter into a license agreement with the intellectual property right holder, if available on commercially reasonable terms. There may also be pending patent applications that if they result in issued patents, could be alleged to be infringed by our new products. If such an infringement claim should be brought and be successful, we may be required to pay substantial damages, be forced to abandon our new products, or seek a license from any patent holders. No assurances can be given that a license will be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at all.

 

It is also possible that we have failed to identify relevant third-party patents or applications. For example, U.S. patent applications filed before November 29, 2000, and certain U.S. patent applications filed after that date that will not be filed outside the United States, remain confidential until patents issue. Patent applications in the United States and elsewhere are published approximately 18 months after the earliest filing for which priority is claimed, with such earliest filing date being commonly referred to as the priority date. Therefore, patent applications covering our new products or technology could have been filed by others without our knowledge. Additionally, pending patent applications which have been published can, subject to certain limitations, be later amended in a manner that could cover our technologies, our new products, or the use of our new products. Third party intellectual property right holders may also actively bring infringement claims against us. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to successfully settle or otherwise resolve such infringement claims. If we are unable to successfully settle future claims on terms acceptable to us, we may be required to engage in or continue costly, unpredictable, and time-consuming litigation and may be prevented from or experience substantial delays in pursuing the development of and/or marketing our new products. If we fail in any such dispute, in addition to being forced to pay damages, we may be temporarily or permanently prohibited from commercializing our new products that are held to be infringing. We might, if possible, also be forced to redesign our new products so that we no longer infringe the third-party intellectual property rights. Any of these events, even if we were ultimately to prevail, could require us to divert substantial financial and management resources that we would otherwise be able to devote to our business.

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Third-party claims of intellectual property infringement may prevent or delay our development and commercialization efforts.

 

Our commercial success depends in part on our avoiding infringement of the patents and proprietary rights of third parties. Numerous U.S. and foreign issued patents and pending patent applications, which are owned by third parties, exist in the fields in which we are developing our products. As our industries expand and more patents are issued, the risk increases that our products may be subject to claims of infringement of the patent rights of third parties.

 

Third parties may assert that we are employing their proprietary technology without authorization. There may be third-party patents or patent applications with claims to designssystems, apparatuses or methods related to the use of our products. There may be currently pending patent applications that may later result in issued patents that our products may infringe. In addition, third parties may obtain patents in the future and claim that the use of our technologies infringes upon these patents.

 


If any third-party patents were held by a court of competent jurisdiction to cover aspects of our formulations, processes for designs, or methods of use, the holders of any such patents may be able to block our ability to develop and commercialize the applicable product candidate unless we obtain a license or until such patent expires or is finally determined to be invalid or unenforceable. In either case, such a license may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all.

 

Parties making claims against us may obtain injunctive or other equitable relief, which could effectively block our ability to further develop and commercialize one or more of our products. Defense of these claims, regardless of their merit, would involve substantial litigation expense and would be a substantial diversion of employee resources from our business. In the event of a successful claim of infringement against us, we may have to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees for willful infringement, pay royalties, redesign our infringing products or obtain one or more licenses from third parties, which may be impossible or require substantial time and monetary expenditure.

 

Patent policy and rule changes could increase the uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of any issued patents.

 

Changes in either the patent laws or interpretation of the patent laws in the United States and other countries may diminish the value of any patents that may issue from our patent applications or narrow the scope of our patent protection. Publications of discoveries in the scientific literature often lag behind the actual discoveries, and patent applications in the United States and other jurisdictions are typically not published until 18 months after filing, or in some cases not at all. We therefore cannot be certain that we were the first to file the inventioninventions claimed in our owned patentpatents or pending applications, or that we were the first to file for patent protection of such inventions. Assuming all other requirements for patentability are met, in the United States prior to March 15, 2013, the first patent applicant to makeinvent the claimed invention without undue delay in filing, is entitled to the patent, while for the most part outside the United States, the first inventor to file a patent application is entitled to the patent. After March 15, 2013, under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, or the Leahy-Smith Act, enacted on September 16, 2011, the United States has moved to a first to filefirst-inventor-to-file system. The Leahy-Smith Act also includes a number of significant changes that affect the wayUnited States patent applications will be prosecutedsystem is frequently changing, however, as are other international patent systems, and thus we may also affect patent litigation. In general, the Leahy-Smith Act and its implementation could increase theexperience uncertainties and costs surrounding the prosecution of our patent applications and the enforcement or defense of any issued patents, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition.

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We may be involved in lawsuits to protect or enforce our intellectual property, which could be expensive, time consuming, and unsuccessful.

 

Competitors may infringe our intellectual property. If we were to initiate legal proceedings against a third party to enforce a patent covering one of our new products, the defendant could counterclaim that the patent covering our product candidate is invalid and/or unenforceable. In patent litigation in the United States, defendant counterclaims alleging invalidity and/or unenforceability are commonplace. Grounds for a validity challenge could be an alleged failure to meet any of several statutory requirements, including lack of novelty, obviousness, or non-enablement.non-enablement, among others. Grounds for an unenforceability assertion could be an allegation that someone connected with prosecution of the patent withheld relevant information from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, or the USPTO, or made a misleading statement, during prosecution. Under the Leahy-Smith Act, theThe validity of U.S. patents may also be challenged in post-grant proceedings before the USPTO. The outcome following legal assertions of invalidity and unenforceability is unpredictable.

 

On June 19,In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International in which the Court addressed the question of whether patents related to software are patent eligible subject matter. The Supreme Court did not rule that patents related to software were per se invalid or that software-related inventions were unpatentable. The Supreme Court outlined a test that the courts and the USPTO must apply in determining whether software-related inventions qualify as patent eligible subject matter. TheAlicedecision and decision and other decisions following that decision have resulted in many software patents having been found invalid as not claiming patent eligible subject matter. Our U.S. patent and recently allowedpatents, like all U.S. patent application were examined after theAlicedecision andpatents, are presumed valid, but that does not mean that our issued patents cannot be challenged.challenged on grounds of patent eligibility, or other grounds.

 


Derivation proceedings initiated by third parties or brought by us may be necessary to determine the priority of inventions and/or their scope with respect to our patentpatents or patent applications or those of our licensors. An unfavorable outcome could require us to cease using the related technology or to attempt to license rights to it from the prevailing party. Our business could be harmed if the prevailing party does not offer us a license on commercially reasonable terms. Our defense of litigation or interference proceedings may fail and, even if successful, may result in substantial costs and distract our management and other employees. In addition, the uncertainties associated with litigation could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise the funds necessary to effectively market our products, continue our research programs, license necessary technology from third parties, or enter into development partnerships that would help us bring our new products to market.

 

Furthermore, because of the substantial amount of discovery required in connection with intellectual property litigation, there is a risk that some of our confidential information could be compromised by disclosure during this type of litigation. There could also be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions, or other interim proceedings or developments. If securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a material adverse effect on the price of our Ordinary Shares.

 

We may be subject to claims challenging the inventorship of our intellectual property.

 

We may be subject to claims that former employees, collaborators or other third parties have an interest in, or right to compensation, with respect to our current patent and patent applications, future patents or other intellectual property as an inventor or co-inventor. For example, we may have inventorship disputes arise from conflicting obligations of consultants or others who are involved in developing our products. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these and other claims challenging inventorship or claiming the right to compensation. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights, such as exclusive ownership of, or right to use, valuable intellectual property. Such an outcome could have a material adverse effect on our business. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees.

 

In addition, under the Israeli Patent Law, 5727-1967, or the Patent Law, inventions conceived by an employee in the course and as a result of or arising from his or her employment with a company are regarded as “service inventions,” which belong to the employer, absent a specific agreement between the employee and employer giving the employee service invention rights. The Patent Law also provides that if there is no such agreement between an employer and an employee, the Israeli Compensation and Royalties Committee, or the Committee, a body constituted under the Patent Law, shall determine whether the employee is entitled to remuneration for his inventions. Recent case law clarifies that the right to receive consideration for “service inventions” can be waived by the employee and that in certain circumstances, such waiver does not necessarily have to be explicit. The Committee will examine, on a case-by-case basis, the general contractual framework between the parties, using interpretation rules of the general Israeli contract laws. Further, the Committee has not yet determined one specific formula for calculating this remuneration (but rather uses the criteria specified in the Patent Law). Although we generally enter into assignment-of-invention agreements with our employees pursuant to which such individuals assign to us all rights to any inventions created in the scope of their employment or engagement with us, we may face claims demanding remuneration in consideration for assigned inventions. As a consequenceBecause of such claims, we could be required to pay additional remuneration or royalties to our current and former employees, or be forced to litigate such claims, which could negatively affect our business.

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We may not be able to protect our intellectual property rights.

 

Filing, prosecuting, and defending patents on products, as well as monitoring their infringement in all countries throughout the world, would be prohibitively expensive, and our intellectual property rights in some countries can be less extensive than those in the United States. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as federal and state laws in the United States.

 

Competitors may use our technologies in jurisdictions where we have not obtained patent protection to develop their own products and may also export otherwise infringing products to territories where we have patent protection, but enforcement is not as strong as that in the United States. These products may compete with our products. Future patents or other intellectual property rights may not be effective or sufficient to prevent them from competing.

 


Many companies have encountered significant problems in protecting and defending intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions. The legal systems of certain countries, particularly certain developing countries, do not favor the enforcement of patents, trade secrets, and other intellectual property protection, which could make it difficult for us to stop the marketing of competing products in violation of our proprietary rights generally. Proceedings to enforce our patent rights in foreign jurisdictions, whether or not successful, could result in substantial costs and divert our efforts and attention from other aspects of our business, could put our future patents at risk of being invalidated or interpreted narrowly and our patent applications at risk of not issuing and could provoke third parties to assert claims against us. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate, and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially meaningful. Accordingly, our efforts to monitor and enforce our intellectual property rights around the world may be inadequate to obtain a significant commercial advantage from the intellectual property that we develop or license.

 

Because of the expense of litigation, we may be unable to enforce our intellectual property rights, unless we obtain the agreement of a third party to provide funding in support of our litigation. We cannot assure that we will be able to obtain third party funding, and the failure to obtain such funding may impair our ability to monetize our intellectual property portfolio. Since we do not have funds to pursue litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights, we are dependent upon the valuation which potential funding sources give to our intellectual property. In determining whether to provide funding for intellectual property litigation, the funding sources need to make an evaluation of the strength of our patents, the likelihood of success, the nature of the potential defendants and a determination as to whether there is a sufficient potential recovery to justify a significant investment in intellectual property litigation. Typically, such funding sources receive a percentage of the recovery after litigation expenses and seek to generate a sufficient return on investment to justify the investment. Unless that funding source believes that it will generate a sufficient return on investment, it will not fund litigation. We cannot assure that we will be able to negotiate funding agreements with third party funding sources on terms reasonably acceptable to us, if at all. Because of our financial condition, we may only be able to obtain funding on terms which are less favorable to us than we would otherwise be able to obtain. Furthermore, even if we enter into funding agreements, there is no assurance that we will generate revenue from the funded litigation. Although the funding source makes its evaluation as to the likelihood of success, patent litigation is very uncertain, and we cannot assure that, just because we obtain litigation funding, we will be successful or that any recovery we may obtain will be significant. In addition, recent reportsdefending our intellectual property rights may depend upon our ability to retain a qualified legal counsel to prosecute patent infringement litigation. It may be difficult to find the preferred choice for legal counsel to handle our cases because many of these firms may have a conflict of interest that prevents their representation of us or because they are not willing to represent us on a contingent or partial contingent fee basis. It is difficult to predict the outcome of patent enforcement litigation at a trial level as it is often difficult for juries and trial judges to understand complex, patented technologies, and, as a result, there is a higher rate of successful hacking attacks aroundappeals in patent enforcement litigation than more standard business litigation. Regardless of whether we prevail in the world have ledtrial court, appeals are expensive and time consuming, resulting in increased costs and delayed revenue, and attorneys may be less likely to represent us in an appeal on a realization that a company’s intellectual property can be copied or destroyed. Our business could be adversely harmedcontingency basis especially if we are subjectseeking to appeal an adverse decision. Although we may diligently pursue enforcement litigation, we cannot predict the decisions made by juries and trial courts. In connection with patent enforcement actions, it is possible that a defendant may file counterclaims against us, or a court may rule that we have violated statutory authority, regulatory authority, federal rules, local court rules, or governing standards relating to the substantive or procedural aspects of such an attack onenforcement actions. In such event, a court may issue monetary sanctions against us or our systems.operating subsidiaries or award attorney’s fees and/or expenses to the counterclaiming defendant, which could be material, and if we or our operating subsidiaries are required to pay such monetary sanctions, attorneys’ fees and/or expenses, such payment could materially harm our operating results, our financial position and our ability to continue in business.

 

Risks Related to the Ownership of Our ADSs or Ordinary Shares

 

SalesWe cannot guarantee that we will continue to comply with Nasdaq requirement. If we fail to comply with Nasdaq requirements, our ADSs could be delisted from Nasdaq, and as a result we and our shareholders could incur material adverse consequences, including a negative impact on our liquidity, our shareholders’ ability to sell shares and our ability to raise capital.

We cannot guarantee that we will continue to comply with Nasdaq requirements. For example, in 2022, we failed to comply with Nasdaq’s requirement that the closing bid price of our ADSs exceed $1.00. We subsequently changed the ratio of our ADSs to our Ordinary Shares and regained compliance with Nasdaq’s minimum bid requirement. If we fail to demonstrate compliance with the minimum bid requirement or any other Nasdaq requirement and satisfy Nasdaq’s conditions for continued listing, our Ordinary Shares could be delisted. Delisting from the Nasdaq could have an adverse effect on our business and on the trading of our Ordinary Shares. If a delisting of our Ordinary Shares were to occur, such shares may trade in the over-the-counter market such as on the OTC Bulletin Board or on the “pink sheets.” The over-the-counter market is generally considered to be a less efficient market, and this could diminish investors’ interest in our Ordinary Shares as well as significantly impact the price and liquidity of our Ordinary Shares. Any such delisting may also severely complicate trading of our Ordinary Shares by our shareholders or prevent them from re-selling their Ordinary Shares at/or above the price they paid.


The issuance of a significant amount of additional Ordinary Shares or exercise or conversion of outstanding warrants and/or substantial future sales of our Ordinary Shares may depress our share price.

As of March 10, 2024, we had approximately 62.85 million Ordinary Shares issued and outstanding and approximately 15.15 million of additional Ordinary Shares which are issuable upon exercise of outstanding warrants and employee options. The issuance of a significant amount of additional Ordinary Shares on account of these outstanding securities will dilute our current shareholders’ holdings and may depress our share price. If these or other shareholders sell substantial amounts of our Ordinary Shares and/or ADSs, including shares issuable upon the exercise or conversion of outstanding warrants or employee options, or if the perception exists that our shareholders may sell a substantial number of our ADSs or Ordinary Shares inand/or ADSs, we cannot foresee the publicimpact of any potential sales on the market by our existing shareholders could cause our share price to fall.

Sales of a substantial number of our ADSs orthese additional Ordinary Shares, in the public market, or the perceptionbut it is possible that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our ADSs or Ordinary Shares would be adversely affected. Any substantial sales of our shares in the public market might also make it more difficult for us to sell equity or equity related securities in the future at a time and on terms we deem appropriate. Even if a substantial number of sales do not occur, the mere existence of this “market overhang” could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. We are unable to predict the effect that sales may have a negative impact on the prevailingmarket for, and the market price of, our ADSs or Ordinary Shares.

 

YouHolders of ADSs may not receive the same distributions or dividends as those we make to the holders of our Ordinary Shares, and, in some limited circumstances, youholders of ADSs may not receive dividends or other distributions on our Ordinary Shares and you may not receive any value for them, if it is illegal or impractical to make them available to you.holders of ADSs. 

 

The depositary for the ADSs has agreed to pay to youADS holders the cash dividends or other distributions it or the custodian receives on Ordinary Shares or other deposited securities underlying the ADSs, after deducting its fees and expenses. YouAlthough, we do not currently anticipate paying any dividends, if we do, the ADS holders will receive these distributions in proportion to the number of Ordinary Shares your ADSs represent. However, the depositary is not responsible if it decides that it is unlawful or impractical to make a distribution available to any holders of ADSs. For example, it would be unlawful to make a distribution to a holder of ADSs if it consists of securities that require registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, but that are not properly registered or distributed under an applicable exemption from registration. In addition, conversion into U.S. dollars from foreign currency that was part of a dividend made in respect of deposited Ordinary Shares may require the approval or license of, or a filing with, any government or agency thereof, which may be unobtainable. In these cases, the depositary may determine not to distribute such property and hold it as “deposited securities” or may seek to effect a substitute dividend or distribution, including net cash proceeds from the sale of the dividends that the depositary deems an equitable and practicable substitute. We have no obligation to register under U.S. securities laws any ADSs, Ordinary Shares, rights or other securities received through such distributions. We also have no obligation to take any other action to permit the distribution of ADSs, Ordinary Shares, rights, or anything else to holders of ADSs. In addition, the depositary may withhold from such dividends or distributions its fees and an amount on account of taxes or other governmental charges to the extent the depositary believes it is required to make such withholding. This means that you may not receive the same distributions or dividends as those we make to the holders of our Ordinary Shares, and, in some limited circumstances, you may not receive any value for such distributions or dividends if it is illegal or impractical for us to make them available to you. These restrictions may cause a material decline in the value of the ADSs.

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Our warrants are speculative in nature.

Our warrants do not confer any rights of ownership of Ordinary Shares or ADSs on their holders, such as voting rights or the right to receive dividends, but only represent the right to acquire ADSs at a fixed price and for a limited period. Specifically, commencing on the date of issuance, holders of the warrants may exercise their right to acquire ADSs and pay an exercise price per ADS ranging between $2.27 and $2,870, subject to adjustment upon certain events, prior to five years from the date of issuance, after which date any unexercised warrants will expire and have no further value.

Holders of our warrants will have no rights as shareholders until such holders exercise their warrants and acquire our ADSs.

Until holders of the warrants acquire our ADSs upon exercise of the warrants, they will have no rights with respect to our ADSs or Ordinary Shares underlying such warrants. Upon exercise of the warrants the holders thereof will be entitled to exercise the rights of a holder of ADSs only as to matters for which the record date occurs after the exercise date.

We have never paid cash dividends on our share capital, and we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. 

 

We have never declared or paid cash dividends, and we do not anticipate paying cash dividends in the foreseeable future. In addition, Israeli law limits our ability to declare and pay dividends, and may subject our dividends to Israeli withholding taxes, and our payment of dividends (out of tax-exempt income) may subject us to certain Israeli taxes, to which we would not otherwise be subject.

 

Holders of ADSs may not have the same voting rights as the holders of our Ordinary Shares and may not receive voting materials in time to be able to exercise the right to vote.

Holders of the ADSs may not be able to exercise voting rights attached to the Ordinary Shares underlying the ADSs on an individual basis. Instead, holders of the ADSs appoint the depositary or its nominee as their representative to exercise the voting rights attaching to the Ordinary Shares in the form of ADSs. Holders of ADSs may not receive voting materials in time to instruct the depositary to vote, and it is possible that they, or persons who hold their ADSs through brokers, dealers or other third parties, will not have the opportunity to exercise a right to vote. Furthermore, the depositary will not be liable for any failure to carry out any instructions to vote, for the manner in which any vote is cast or for the effect of any such vote. As a result, you may not be able to exercise voting rights and may lack recourse if your ADSs are not voted as requested. 

Holders of ADSs must act through the depositary to exercise their rights as shareholders of our company. 

 

Holders of our ADSs do not have the same rights of our shareholders and may only exercise the voting rights with respect to the underlying Ordinary Shares in accordance with the provisions of the deposit agreement for the ADSs. Under Israeli law and our articles of association, the minimum notice period required to convene a shareholders meeting is generally no less than 35 calendar days, but in some instances, 21 or 2114 calendar days, depending on the proposals on the agenda for the shareholders meeting. When a shareholder meeting is convened, holders of our ADSs may not receive sufficient notice of a shareholders’ meeting to permit them to withdraw their Ordinary Shares to allow them to cast their vote with respect to any specific matter. In addition, the depositary and its agents may not be able to send voting instructions to holders of our ADSs or carry out their voting instructions in a timely manner. We will make all reasonable efforts to cause the depositary to extend voting rights to holders of our ADSs in a timely manner, but we cannot assure holders that they will receive the voting materials in time to ensure that they can instruct the depositary to vote their Ordinary Shares underlying the ADSs. Furthermore, the depositary and its agents will not be responsible for any failure to carry out any instructions to vote, for the manner in which any vote is cast or for the effect of any such vote. As a result, holders of our ADSs may not be able to exercise their right to vote and they may lack recourse if their ADSs are not voted as they requested. In addition, in thetheir capacity as a holder of ADSs, they will not be able to call a shareholders’ meeting.

The JOBS Act will allow us to postpone the date by which we must comply with some of the laws and regulations intended to protect investors and to reduce the amount of information we provide in our reports filed with the SEC, which could undermine investor confidence in our company and adversely affect the market price of our ADSs or Ordinary Shares.

For so long as we remain an “emerging growth company” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, or the JOBS Act, we intend to take advantage of certain exemptions from various requirements that are applicable to public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including:

the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requiring that our independent registered public accounting firm provide an attestation report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting;

Section 107 of the JOBS Act, which provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, for complying with new or revised accounting standards. This means that an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We may elect to delay such adoption of new or revised accounting standards. As a result of this adoption, our consolidated financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with the public company effective date; and

any rules that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board requiring mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor’s report on the consolidated financial statements.

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We intend to take advantage of these exemptions until we are no longer an “emerging growth company.” We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the date of our first sale of common equity securities pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Ordinary Shares that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.


 

We cannot predict if investors will find our ADSs or Ordinary Shares less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our ADSs or Ordinary Shares less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our ADSs or Ordinary Shares, and our market prices may be more volatile and may decline.

 

As a “foreign private issuer” we are permitted and intend, to follow certain home country corporate governance practices instead of otherwise applicable SEC and Nasdaq requirements, which may result in less protection than is accorded to investors under rules applicable to domestic U.S. issuers.

 

Our status as a foreign private issuer also exempts us from compliance with certain SEC laws and regulations and certain regulations of the Nasdaq Stock Market, including the proxy rules, the short-swing profits recapture rules, and certain governance requirements such as independent director oversight of the nomination of directors and executive compensation. In addition, we will not be required under the Exchange, Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, to file current reports and consolidated financial statements with the SEC as frequently or as promptly as U.S. domestic companies whose securities are registered under the Exchange Act, and we will generally be exempt from filing quarterly reports with the SEC. Also, although a recent amendment to the Israeli Companies Law 5759-1999, or the Israeli Companies Law, will requirerequires us to disclose the annual compensation of our five most highly compensated senior officers on an individual basis, (rather than on an aggregate basis, as was permitted under the Companies Law for Israeli public companies listed overseas, such as in the United States, prior to such amendment), this disclosure willis not be as extensive as that required of a U.S. domestic issuer. For example, it currently appears as if the disclosure required under Israeli law would be limited to compensation paid in the immediately preceding year without any requirement to disclose option exercises and vested stock options, pension benefits or potential payments upon termination or a change of control. Furthermore, as a foreign private issuer, we are also not subject to the requirements of Regulation FD (Fair Disclosure) promulgated under the Exchange Act.

 

These exemptions and leniencies will reduce the frequency and scope of information and protections to which you are entitled as an investor. 

 

We may be a “passive foreign investment company”, or PFIC, for U.S. federal income tax purposes in the current taxable year or may become one in any subsequent taxable year. There generally would be negative tax consequences for U.S. taxpayers that are holders of our ADSs or Ordinary Shares if we are or were to become a PFIC.

 

Based on the projected composition of our income and valuation of our assets, we do not expect to be a PFIC for 2018,2023, and we do not expect to become a PFIC in the future, although there can be no assurance in this regard. The determination of whether we are a PFIC is made on an annual basis and will depend on the composition of our income and assets from time to time. We will be treated as a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes in any taxable year in which either (1) at least 75% of our gross income is “passive income” or (2) on average at least 50% of our assets by value produce passive income or are held for the production ofto produce passive income. Passive income for this purpose generally includes, among other things, certain dividends, interest, royalties, rents and gains from commodities and securities transactions and from the sale or exchange of property that gives rise to passive income. Passive income also includes amounts derived by reason of the temporary investment of funds, including those raised in a public offering. In determining whether a non-U.S. corporation is a PFIC, a proportionate share of the income and assets of each corporation in which it owns, directly or indirectly, at least a 25% interest (by value) is taken into account.considered. The tests for determining PFIC status are applied annually, and it is difficult to make accurate projections of future income and assets which are relevant to this determination. In addition, our PFIC status may depend in part on the market value of our ADSs or Ordinary Shares. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that we currently are not or will not become a PFIC in the future. If we are a PFIC in any taxable year during which a U.S. taxpayer holds our ADSs or Ordinary Shares, such U.S. taxpayer would be subject to certain adverse U.S. federal income tax rules. In particular, if the U.S. taxpayer did not make an election to treat us as a “qualified electing fund,” or QEF, or make a “mark-to-market” election, then “excess distributions” to the U.S. taxpayer, and any gain realized on the sale or other disposition of our ADSs or Ordinary Shares by the U.S. taxpayer: (1) would be allocated ratably over the U.S. taxpayer’s holding period for the ADSs or Ordinary Shares; (2) the amount allocated to the current taxable year and any period prior to the first day of the first taxable year in which we were a PFIC would be taxed as ordinary income; and (3) the amount allocated to each of the other taxable years would be subject to tax at the highest rate of tax in effect for the applicable class of taxpayer for that year, and an interest charge for the deemed deferral benefit would be imposed with respect to the resulting tax attributable to each such other taxable year. In addition, if the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS, determines that we are a PFIC for a year with respect to which we have determined that we were not a PFIC, it may be too late for a U.S. taxpayer to make a timely QEF or mark-to-market election. U.S. taxpayers that have held our ADSs or Ordinary Shares during a period when we were a PFIC will be subject to the foregoing rules, even if we cease to be a PFIC in subsequent years, subject to exceptions for U.S. taxpayer who made a timely QEF or mark-to-market election. A U.S. taxpayer can make a QEF election by completing the relevant portions of and filing IRS Form 8621 in accordance with the instructions thereto. We do not intend to notify U.S. taxpayers that hold our ADSs or Ordinary Shares if we believe we will be treated as a PFIC for any taxable year in order to enable U.S. taxpayers to consider whether to make a QEF election. In addition, we do not intend to furnish such U.S. taxpayers annually with information needed in order to complete IRS Form 8621 and to make and maintain a valid QEF election for any year in which we or any of our subsidiaries are a PFIC. U.S. taxpayers that hold our ADSs or Ordinary Shares are strongly urged to consult their tax advisors about the PFIC rules, including tax return filing requirements and the eligibility, manner, and consequences to them of making a QEF or mark-to-market election with respect to our ADSs or Ordinary Shares in the event thatif we are a PFIC. See “Item 10.E. Taxation — Taxation—U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations — Considerations—Passive Foreign Investment Companies” for additional information.

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


 

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

 

If securities or industry analysts do not publish or cease publishing research or reports about us, our business or our market, or if they adversely change their recommendations or publish negative reports regarding our business or our shares, our share price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our ADSs or Ordinary Shares will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts may publish about us, our business, our market or our competitors. We do not have any control over these analysts and we cannot provide any assurance that analysts will cover us or provide favorable coverage. If any of the analysts who may cover us adversely change their recommendation regarding our shares, or provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors, our share price would likely decline. If any analyst who may cover us were to cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our share price or trading volume to decline. 

ADSs holders may not be entitled to a jury trial with respect to claims arising under the deposit agreement, which could augurresult in less favorable results to the plaintiff(s) in any such action. 

 

The deposit agreement governing the ADSs representing our Ordinary Shares provides that holders and beneficial owners of ADSs irrevocably waive the right to a trial by jury in any legal proceeding arising out of or relating to the deposit agreement or the ADSs, including claims under federal securities laws, against us or the depositary to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. If this jury trial waiver provision is prohibited by applicable law, an action could nevertheless proceed under the terms of the deposit agreement with a jury trial. To our knowledge, the enforceability of a jury trial waiver under the federal securities laws has not been finally adjudicated by a federal court. However, we believe that a jury trial waiver provision is generally enforceable under the laws of the State of New York, which govern the deposit agreement, by a court of the State of New York or a federal court, which have non-exclusive jurisdiction over matters arising under the deposit agreement, applying such law. In determining whether to enforce a jury trial waiver provision, New York courts and federal courts will consider whether the visibility of the jury trial waiver provision within the agreement is sufficiently prominent such that a party has knowingly waived any right to trial by jury. We believe that this is the case with respect to the deposit agreement and the ADSs. In addition, New York courts will not enforce a jury trial waiver provision in order to bar a viable setoff or counterclaim sounding in fraud or one which is based upon a creditor’s negligence in failing to liquidate collateral upon a guarantor’s demand, or in the case of an intentional tort claim (as opposed to a contract dispute), none of which we believe are applicable in the case of the deposit agreement or the ADSs. No condition, stipulation or provision of the deposit agreement or ADSs serves as a waiver by any holder or beneficial owner of ADSs or by us or the depositary of compliance with any provision of the federal securities laws. If you or any other holder or beneficial owner of ADSs brings a claim against us or the depositary in connection with matters arising under the deposit agreement or the ADSs, you or such other holder or beneficial owner may not be entitled to a jury trial with respect to such claims, which may have the effect of limiting and discouraging lawsuits against us and / or the depositary. If a lawsuit is brought against us and / or the depositary under the deposit agreement, it may be heard only by a judge or justice of the applicable trial court, which would be conducted according to different civil procedures and may augurresult in different results than a trial by jury would have had, including results that could be less favorable to the plaintiff(s) in any such action, depending on, among other things, the nature of the claims, the judge or justice hearing such claims, and the venue of the hearing.

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Risks Related to Israeli Law and Our Operations in Israel

 

Provisions of Israeli law and our articles of association may delay, prevent, or otherwise impede a merger with, or an acquisition of, our company, which could prevent a change of control, even when the terms of such a transaction are favorable to us and our shareholders.

 

As a company incorporated under the law of the State of Israel, we are subject to Israeli law. Israeli corporate law regulates mergers, requires tender offers for acquisitions of shares above specified thresholds, requires special approvals for transactions involving directors, officers or significant shareholders and regulates other matters that may be relevant to such types of transactions. For example, a merger may not be consummated unless at least 50 days have passed from the date on which a merger proposal is filed by each merging company with the Israel Registrar of Companies and at least 30 days have passed from the date on which the shareholders of both merging companies have approved the merger. In addition, a majority of each class of securities of the target company must approve a merger. Moreover, a tender offer for all of a company’s issued and outstanding shares can only be completed if the acquirer receives positive responses from the holders of at least 95% of the issued share capital and a majority of the offerees that do not have a personal interest in the tender offer approves the tender offer, unless, following consummation of the tender offer, the acquirer would hold at least 98% of the company’s outstanding shares. Under the Israeli law, a potential bidder for the company’s shares, who would as a result of a purchase of shares hold either 25% of the voting rights in the company when no other party holds 25% or more, or 45% of the voting rights in the company where no other shareholders holds 45% of the voting rights, would be required to make a special purchase offer as set out in the provisions of the Israeli law. The Israeli law requires a special purchase offer to be submitted to shareholders for a pre-approval vote. A majority vote is required to accept the offer. An offeror who is regarded as a ‘controlling shareholder’ under Israeli law, as well as those who control the offeror, those who have a personal interest in the acceptance of the special purchase offer, or those who holds 25% of the voting rights in the company, or those on behalf of those or the offeror, including their relatives or corporations under their control, cannot vote on the resolution and the procedure includes a secondary vote of the non-voting shareholders and the shareholders who rejected the offer at pre-approval level. A special purchase offer may not be accepted unless shares that carry 5% of the voting rights in the target company are acquired. Furthermore, the shareholders may, at any time within six months following the completion of the tender offer, claim that the consideration for the acquisition of the shares does not reflect their fair market value, and petition an Israeli court to alter the consideration for the acquisition accordingly, other than those who indicated their acceptance of the tender offer in case the acquirer stipulated in its tender offer that a shareholder that accepts the offer may not seek such appraisal rights, and the acquirer or the company published all required information with respect to the tender offer prior to the tender offer’s response date. In addition, our articles of association provide for a staggered board of directors, which mechanism may delay, defer or prevent a change of control of the Company. See “Description“Item 10.B Memorandum and Articles of Share Capital—Association — Provisions Restricting Change in Control of Our Company—Acquisitions under Israeli Law”Company” for additional information.

 


Israeli tax considerations also may make potential transactions unappealing to us or to our shareholders whose country of residence does not have a tax treaty with Israel exempting such shareholders from Israeli tax. For example, Israeli tax law does not recognize tax-free share exchanges to the same extent as U.S. tax law. With respect to mergers, Israeli tax law allows for tax deferral in certain circumstances but makes the deferral contingent on the fulfillment of a number of conditions, including, in some cases, a holding period of two years from the date of the transaction during which sales and dispositions of shares of the participating companies may be subject to certain restrictions and additional terms. Moreover, with respect to certain share swap transactions, the tax deferral is limited in time, and when such time expires, the tax becomes payable even if no disposition of the shares has occurred. See “Taxation—“Item 10.E. Taxation—Israeli Tax Considerations and Government Programs” for additional information. 

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YourThe rights and responsibilities asof a holder of our securities will be governed by Israeli law, which differs in some material respects from the rights and responsibilities of shareholders of U.S. companies.

 

The rights and responsibilities of the holders of our Ordinary Shares (and therefore indirectly, the ADSs and the warrants) are governed by our articles of association and by Israeli law. These rights and responsibilities differ in some material respects from the rights and responsibilities of shareholders in typical U.S.-based corporations. In particular, a shareholder of an Israeli company has certain duties to act in good faith in a customary manner in exercising its rights and performing its obligations towards the company and other shareholders and to refrain from abusing its power in the company including, among other things, in voting at the general meeting of shareholders on certain matters, such as an amendment to the company’s articles of association, an increase of the company’s authorized share capital, a merger of the company, and approval of related party transactions that require shareholder approval. A shareholder also has a general duty to refrain from discriminating against other shareholders. In addition, a controlling shareholder or a shareholder who knows that it possesses the power to determine the outcome of a shareholder vote or to appoint or prevent the appointment of an officer of the company has a duty to act in fairness towards the company with regard to such vote or appointment. However, Israeli law does not define the substance of this duty of fairness. There is limited case law available to assist us in understanding the nature of this duty or the implications of these provisions. These provisions may be interpreted to impose additional obligations on holders of our Ordinary Shares that are not typically imposed on shareholders of U.S. corporations. See “Management—“Item 6.C. Board Practices—Duties of Shareholders” for additional information.

It may be difficult to enforce a judgment of a U.S. court against us and our officers and directors and the Israeli experts named in this annual report in Israel or the United States, to assert U.S. securities laws claims in Israel or to serve process on our officers and directors and these experts.

We were incorporated in Israel and our corporate headquarters are located in Israel. The vast majority of our executive officers and directors and the Israeli experts named in this annual report on Form 20-F are located in Israel. All of our assets and most of the assets of these persons are located in Israel. Therefore, a judgment obtained against us, or any of these persons, including a judgment based on the civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal securities laws, may not be collectible in the United States and may not necessarily be enforced by an Israeli court. It also may be difficult to affect service of process on these persons in the United States or to assert U.S. securities law claims in original actions instituted in Israel. Additionally, it may be difficult for an investor, or any other person or entity, to initiate an action with respect to U.S. securities laws in Israel. Israeli courts may refuse to hear a claim based on an alleged violation of U.S. securities laws reasoning that Israel is not the most appropriate forum in which to bring such a claim. In addition, even if an Israeli court agrees to hear a claim, it may determine that Israeli law and not U.S. law is applicable to the claim. If U.S. law is found to be applicable, the content of applicable U.S. law must be proven as a fact by expert witnesses, which can be a time consuming and costly process. Certain matters of procedure will also be governed by Israeli law. There is little binding case law in Israel that addresses the matters described above. As a result of the difficulty associated with enforcing a judgment against us in Israel, you may not be able to collect any damages awarded by either a U.S. or foreign court. See “Enforceability of Civil Liabilities” for additional information on your ability to enforce a civil claim against us and our executive officers or directors named in this annual report.


 

Our headquarters and other significant operations are located in Israel, and, therefore, our results may be adversely affected by political, economic and military instability in Israel.

Our executive offices, corporate headquarters and principal research and development facilities are located in Israel. In addition, the vast majorityall of our key employees, officers and directors are residents of Israel. Accordingly, political, economic and military conditions in Israel and the surrounding region may directly affect our business. SinceAny hostilities involving Israel or the establishmentinterruption or curtailment of trade between Israel and its present trading partners, or a significant downturn in the economic or financial condition of Israel, could affect adversely our operations. Ongoing and revived hostilities or other Israeli political or economic factors could harm our operations, product development and results of operations.

On October 7, 2023, an unprecedented attack was launched against Israel by terrorists from the Hamas terrorist organization that infiltrated Israel’s southern border from the Gaza Strip and in other areas within the state of Israel attacking civilians and military targets while simultaneously launching extensive rocket attacks on the Israeli population. In response, the Security Cabinet of the State of Israel declared war against Hamas. To date, the State of Israel continues to be at war with Hamas. Since the war broke out on October 7, 2023, our operations have not been materially adversely affected by this war. However, at this time, it is not possible to predict the intensity or duration of the war, nor can we predict how this war will ultimately affect Israel’s economy in 1948,general and we continue to monitor the situation closely and examine the potential disruptions that could adversely affect our operations.

In connection with the Israeli security cabinet’s declaration of war against Hamas and possible hostilities with other organizations, several hundred thousand Israeli military reservists were drafted to perform immediate military service. As of March 10, 2024, none of our employees and only one of our current directors in Israel has been called to active military duty, though we rely on service providers located in Israel and have entered into certain agreements with Israeli counterparties. Employees of such service providers or contractual counterparties may be called for service in the current or future wars or other armed conflicts with Hamas and such persons may be absent from their positions for a period of time. Currently, we have not been impacted by any absences of personnel at our service providers or counterparties located in Israel. However, military service call ups that result in absences of personnel from us, our service providers or contractual counterparties in Israel may disrupt our operations and absences for an extended period of time may materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Following the attack by Hamas on Israel’s southern border, Hezbollah, a terrorist organization in Lebanon has also launched missile, rocket, and shooting attacks against Israeli military sites, troops, and Israeli towns in northern Israel. In response to these attacks, the Israeli army has carried out a number of armed conflicts have taken place between Israeltargeted strikes on sites belonging to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. It is possible that other terrorist organizations, including Palestinian military organizations in the West Bank, as well as other hostile countries, such as Iran, will join the hostilities. Such hostilities may include terror and its neighboring Arab countries, the Hamas militant group and the Hezbollah.missile attacks. Any hostilities involving Israel, or the interruption or curtailment of trade between Israel and its trading partners could adversely affect our operations and results of operations. Ongoing and revived hostilities or other Israeli political or economic factors, such as, an interruption of operations at the Tel Aviv airport, could prevent or delay our regular operation, product development and delivery of products. If continued or resumed, these hostilities may negatively affect business conditions in Israel in general and our business in particular. In the event that hostilities disrupt the ongoing operation of our facilities and our operations may be materially adversely affected. 


 

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In addition, since 2010 political uprisings and conflicts in various countries in the Middle East, including Egypt and Syria, are affecting the political stability of those countries. It is not clear how this instability will develop and how it will affect the political and security situation in the Middle East. This instability has raised concerns regarding security in the region and the potential for armed conflict. In Syria, a country bordering Israel, a civil war is taking place. In addition, it is widely believed that Iran, which has previously threatened to attack Israel, has been stepping up its efforts to achieve nuclear capability. Iran is also believed to have a strong influence among extremist groups in the region, such as Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Additionally, the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, or ISIL, a violent jihadist group, is involved in hostilities in Iraq and Syria. The tension between Israel and Iran and/or these groups may escalate in the future and turn violent, which could affect the Israeli economy in general and us in particular. Any potential future conflict could also include missile strikes against parts of Israel, including our offices and facilities. Such instability may lead to deterioration in the political and trade relationships that exist between the State of Israel and certain other countries. Any armed conflicts, terrorist activities or political instability in the region could adversely affect business conditions, could harm our results of operations and could make it more difficult for us to raise capital. Parties with whom we do business may sometimes decline to travel to Israel during periods of heightened unrest or tension, forcing us to make alternative arrangements when necessary in order to meet our business partners face to face. Several countries, principally in the Middle East, still restrict doing business with Israel and Israeli companies, and additional countries may impose restrictions on doing business with Israel and Israeli companies if hostilities in Israel or political instability in the region continues or increases. Similarly, Israeli companies are limited in conducting business with entities from several countries. For instance, the Israeli legislature passed a law forbidding any investments in entities that transact business with Iran. In addition, the political and security situation in Israel may result in parties with whom we have agreements involving performance in Israel claiming that they are not obligated to perform their commitments under those agreements pursuant to force majeure provisions in such agreements.

Our employees and consultants in Israel, including members of our senior management, may be obligated to perform one month, and in some cases longer periods, of military reserve duty until they reach the age of 40 (or older, for citizens who hold certain positions in the Israeli armed forces reserves) and, in the event of a military conflict or emergency circumstances, may be called to immediate and unlimited active duty. In the event of severe unrest or other conflict, individuals could be required to serve in the military for extended periods of time. In response to increases in terrorist activity, there have been periods of significant call-ups of military reservists. It is possible that there will be similar large-scale military reserve duty call-ups in the future. Our operations could be disrupted by the absence of a significant number of our officers, directors, employees and consultants related to military service. Such disruption could materially adversely affect our business and operations. Additionally, the absence of a significant number of the employees of our Israeli suppliers and contractors related to military service or the absence for extended periods of one or more of their key employees for military service may disrupt their operations.

Our insurance doespolicies do not cover losses that may occur as a result of an eventevents associated with the security situation in the Middle East or for any resulting disruption in our operations.war and terrorism. Although the Israeli government has in the past coveredcurrently covers the reinstatement value of direct damages that wereare caused by terrorist attacks or acts of war, we cannot assure you that this government coverage will be maintained or if maintained,that it will be sufficient to compensate us fully for damages incurred and the government may cease providing such coverage or the coverage might not suffice tosufficiently cover our potential damages. Any losses or damages incurred by us could have a material adverse effect on our business. Any armed conflicts or political instability in the region would likely negatively affect business conditions generally and could harm our results of operations and product development.operations.

Further,Several countries, principally in the past, the State ofMiddle East, still restrict doing business with Israel and Israeli companies, and additional countries may impose restrictions on doing business with Israel and Israeli companies, whether as a result of hostilities in the region or otherwise. Also, the Israeli government imposes restrictions on doing business with certain countries. In addition, there have been subjectedincreased efforts by activists to cause companies and consumers to boycott Israeli goods and cooperation with Israeli-related entities based on Israeli government policies. Such actions, particularly if they become more widespread, may adversely impact our ability to collaborate with other third parties. Any hostilities involving Israel, any interruption or curtailment of trade or scientific cooperation between Israel and its present partners, or a significant downturn in the economic boycotts. Several countries still restrict business with the Stateor financial condition of Israel could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operations. Moreover, we cannot predict how this war will ultimately affect Israel’s economy in general, which may involve a downgrade in Israel’s credit rating by rating agencies (such as the recent downgrade by Moody’s of its credit rating of Israel from A1 to A2, as well as the downgrade of its outlook rating from “stable” to “negative”). We may also be targeted by cyber terrorists specifically because we are an Israeli-related company.

Furthermore, the Israeli government is currently pursuing extensive changes to Israel’s judicial system, which sparked extensive political debate. In response to the foregoing developments, a series of civil unrests and demonstrations throughout Israel took place. Additionally, individuals, organizations, and institutions, both within and outside of Israel, have voiced concerns that the proposed changes may negatively impact the business environment in Israel including due to reluctance of foreign investors to invest or conduct business in Israel, as well as to increased currency fluctuations, downgrades in credit rating, increased interest rates, increased volatility in securities markets, and other changes in macroeconomic conditions. Such proposed changes may also adversely affect the labor market in Israel or lead to political instability or civil unrest. To the extent that any of these negative developments do occur, they may have an adverse effect on our business, our results of operations and our ability to raise additional funds, if deemed necessary by our management and board of directors.


General Risk Factors

Our securities are traded on more than one market or exchange, and this may result in price variations.

Our Ordinary Shares have been trading on the TASE, since January 2000. Our ADSs representing our Ordinary Shares have been trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market and TASE since August 17, 2018. Trading in our ADSs and Ordinary Shares takes place in different currencies (dollars on the Nasdaq and NIS on the TASE), and at different times (resulting from different time zones, trading days, and public holidays and Israel). The trading prices of our securities on these two markets may differ due to these and other factors. Any decrease in the price of our Ordinary Shares on the TASE could cause a decrease in the trading price of our Ordinary Shares on the Nasdaq.

Raising additional capital would cause dilution to holders of our equity securities and may affect the rights of existing holders of equity securities.

We may seek additional capital through a combination of private and public equity offerings, debt financing and collaborations and strategic and licensing arrangements. To the extent that we raise additional capital through the issuance of equity or convertible debt securities, your ownership interest will be diluted, and the terms may include liquidation or other preferences that adversely affect your rights as a holder of the ADSs.

We are subject to a number of risks associated with Israeli companies. global sales and operations.

Business practices in the global markets that we serve may differ from those in the United States and may require us to include non-standard terms in customer contracts, such as extended payment or warranty terms. To the extent that we enter into customer contracts that include non-standard terms related to payment, warranties, or performance obligations, our results of operations may be adversely impacted.

Additionally, our global sales and operations are subject to a number of risks, including the following:

greater difficulty in enforcing contracts and managing collections, as well as longer collection periods;
higher costs of doing business globally, including costs incurred in maintaining office space, securing adequate staffing and localizing our contracts;
fluctuations in exchange rates between the NIS and foreign currencies in markets where we do business;
management communication and integration problems resulting from cultural and geographic dispersion;
risks associated with trade restrictions and foreign legal requirements, including any importation, certification, and localization of our platform that may be required in foreign countries;
greater risk of unexpected changes in regulatory practices, tariffs, and tax laws and treaties;
compliance with anti-bribery laws, including, without limitation, compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Anti-Bribery Act;
heightened risk of unfair or corrupt business practices in certain geographies and of improper or fraudulent sales arrangements that may impact financial results and result in restatements of, or irregularities in, consolidated financial statements;
reduced or uncertain protection of intellectual property rights in some countries;


social, economic and political instability, terrorist attacks and security concerns in general, and specifically the impact of the war between Israel and Hamas;
an outbreak of a contagious disease, such as coronavirus, which may cause us, third party vendors and manufacturers and/or customers to temporarily suspend our or their respective operations in the affected city or country;
laws and business practices favoring local competition;
being subject to the laws, regulations and the court systems of many jurisdictions; and
potentially adverse tax consequences.

These and other factors could harm our ability to generate future global revenues and, consequently, materially impact our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Weakened global economic conditions may affect our industry, business and results of operations.

Our overall performance depends on worldwide economic conditions. These conditions affect the rate of information technology spending and could adversely affect our customers’ ability or willingness to purchase our secure access solutions, delay prospective customers’ purchasing decisions, reduce the value or duration of their subscription contracts, or affect renewal rates, all of which could adversely affect our operating results. In addition, in a weakened economy, companies that have competing products may reduce prices which could also reduce our average selling prices and harm our operating results.

The increasing use of social media platforms and new technologies present risks and challenges for our business and reputation.

We increasingly rely on social media, new technologies and digital tools, such as artificial intelligence, or AI, to communicate about our products, or to provide our services. The use of these media requires specific attention, monitoring programs and moderation of comments. Political and market pressures may be generated by social media because of rapid news cycles. This may result in commercial harm, overly restrictive lawsregulatory actions and policieserratic share price performance. In addition, unauthorized communications, such as press releases or posts on social media, purported to be issued by the Company, may contain information that is false or otherwise damaging and could have an adverse impact on our operatingimage and reputation and on our share price. Negative or inaccurate posts or comments about the Company, our business, directors or officers on any social networking website could seriously damage our reputation. In addition, our employees and partners may use social media and other technologies inappropriately, which may give rise to liability for Alarum, or which could lead to breaches of data security, loss of trade secrets or other intellectual property or public disclosure of sensitive information. Such uses of social media and other technologies could have an adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition and results financial conditions orof operations.

Unsuccessful management of environmental, social and governance matters could adversely affect our reputation and we may experience difficulties meeting the expansionexpectations of our business. Similarly, Israeli corporationsstakeholders.

Companies are limitedincreasingly expected to behave in conducting business with entities from several countries.

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Tablea responsible manner on a variety of Contents

Certainenvironmental, social and governance, or ESG, matters, by governmental and regulatory authorities, counterparties such as vendors and suppliers, customers, investors, the public at large and others. This context, driven in part by a rapidly changing regulatory framework in the U.S. and in Europe, is raising new challenges and influencing strategic decisions that companies must take if they wish to optimize their positive impact and mitigate their negative impact on ESG matters. As a software company, our Code of Ethics reflects the values of our researchbusiness and developmentoperations, and we have adopted ESG measures that aim at minimizing the impact of our activities and programs were supportedproducts on the climate and the environment. As part of our commitment to social responsibility, we actively seek opportunities to support marginalized communities and champion inclusivity in all aspects of our operations. However, despite our strong commitment we could be unable to meet ESG or other strategic objectives in an efficient and timely manner, or at all. We may also be unable to meet the ever more demanding criteria used by Israeli Governmental grants,rating agencies in their ESG assessments process, leading to a downgrading in our rating. Financial investments in companies which perform well in ESG assessments are increasingly popular, and major institutional investors have made known their interest in investing in such companies. Depending on ESG assessments and on the rapidly changing views on acceptable levels of action across a range of ESG topics, we may be unable to meet our stakeholders expectations, our reputation may be harmed, we may face increased compliance or other costs and demand our securities may decrease.


The price of the ADSs may be volatile.

The market price of the ADSs has fluctuated in the past. Consequently, the current market price of the ADSs may not be indicative of future market prices, and we may be unable to sustain or increase the value of your investment in the ADSs. During the first quarter of 2024 and up to March 10, 2024, the market price of our ADSs has fluctuated from a low of $8.53 per ADS to a high of $18.00 per ADS, and our ADS price continues to fluctuate, as does the daily volume of trading of our ADSs. The market price of our ADSs and volume of trading may continue to fluctuate significantly in response to numerous factors, some of which were sold or are beyond our control, such as:

our ability to grow our revenue and customer base;
the announcement of new products or product enhancements by us or our competitors;
variations in our and our competitors’ results of operations;
successes or challenges in our funding sources;
developments in the industries we operate;
future issuances of ADSs or other securities;
the addition or departure of key personnel;
announcements by us or our competitors of acquisitions, investments or strategic alliances; and
general market conditions and other factors, including factors unrelated to our operating performance.

Further, the stock market in general, and the market for technology companies in particular, has recently experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations. The volatility of our ADSs is further exacerbated due to its low trading volume, which has only recently increased. Continued market fluctuations could result in extreme volatility in the processprice of selling. The terms of such grants may require us,our ADSs which could cause a decline in the future, to pay royaltiesvalue of our ADSs and to satisfy specific conditions if and to the extent we receive future royaltiesloss of some or in order to complete the saleall of such grant based technologies and programs. your investment.

We may be requiredsubject to pay penalties in addition to payment ofsecurities litigation, which is expensive and could divert management attention.

In the royalties.

Our research and development efforts with respect to some of our past, activities, including development of Secure Cloud Storage Access, were financed in part through royalty-bearing grants from the Israel Innovation Authority, or the IIA, formerly known as Israel’s Office of the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Economy. As of March 24, 2019, wecompanies that have received the aggregate amount of approximately $0.146 million from the IIA for the development of our abovementioned technologies. With respect to such grant we are committed to pay royalties from all our income. Furthermore, pursuant to the technology purchase agreement between Safe-T Data and Cykick Labs Ltd., approved by the IIA in July 2018, we are committed to pay royalties on grants received from the IIA in connection with the technology purchased under this agreementexperienced volatility in the amountmarket price of approximately $0.4 million from our income generated from products incorporating such technology. Additionally,their stock have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in July 2018, we received a notice from the IIA regarding an obligation at the approximate amountfuture. Litigation of $0.5 million, made by an incubator center, which Cykick Labs Ltd. was a part of. According to the IIA, in order to receive the IIA’s approval to export the technology purchased from Cykick Labs Ltd., we would be required to obtain a commitment from the incubator center, taking the obligation upon themselves. If we do not obtain such commitment, we would be required to take this obligation upon our self, otherwise, the IIA will not approve any future export of the technology purchased from Cykick Labs Ltd. We have recently sent a letter to the IIA, rejecting its claims. We cannot be sure that the IIA will accept our arguments, which, if not accepted, maytype could result in the expendituresubstantial costs and diversion of financialmanagement’s attention and resources, orwhich could seriously hurt our business. Any adverse determination in litigation could also subject us to significant liabilities. We may impair our abilityalso not be able to transfer or sell our technology outside of Israel.

We are committed to pay royalties with respect to aforesaid grants until 100% of the U.S. dollar-linked grant plus annual London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR, interest is repaid. Nonetheless, the amount of royalties that we may be required to pay, may be higher in certain circumstances, such as when the manufacturing activity / know how is transferred outside of Israel.

We are required tomaintain and effectively comply with the requirementsMinimum Bid Requirement.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish or cease publishing research or reports about us, our business, or our market, or if they adversely change their recommendations or publish negative reports regarding our business or our shares, the share price and trading volume of our Ordinary Shares and ADSs could decline.

The trading market for our ADSs or Ordinary Shares will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts may publish about us, our business, our market, or our competitors. We do not have any control over these analysts, and we cannot provide any assurance that analysts will cover us or provide favorable coverage. If any of the Israeli Encouragementanalysts who may cover us adversely change their recommendation regarding our ADSs or Ordinary Shares, or provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors, our share price would likely decline. If any analyst who may cover us were to cease coverage of Research, Development and Technological Innovationour company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the Industry Law, 5744-1984, as amended, and related regulations,financial markets, which in turn could cause the share price or the Innovation Law, with respect to these past grants. The abovementioned restrictions and requirements for payments may impair our ability to sell our technology outside of Israel or to outsource manufacturing or otherwise transfer our know-how outside Israel and may require us to obtain the approval of the IIA for certain actions and transactions and pay additional royalties or other payments to the IIA. We may not receive such approvals. Although we do not believe that these requirements will materially restrict us in any way, the IIA may impose certain conditions on any arrangement under which it permits us to transfer or assign technology or development out of Israel. If we fail to comply with the Innovation Law, we may be required to refund certain grants previously received and/or to pay interest and penalties and we may become subject to criminal charges. Nonetrading volume of our current projects are supported by the IIA, yet if eligible, we may apply for such support in the future. The IIA may establish new guidelines regarding the Innovation Law, which may affect our existing and/ADSs or future IIA programs and incentives for which we may be eligible. We cannot predict what changes, if any, the IIA may make.Ordinary Shares to decline.


 

ITEM 4.INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY

ITEM 4. INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY

A.History and Development of the Company

A. History and Development of the Company

Our legal and commercial name is Safe-T GroupAlarum Technologies Ltd. We were incorporated as a legal entity in the State of Israel in December 1989, and are therefore subject to the Israeli Companies Law. From June 2011 until June 2016, we were a “shell corporation” and did not have any active business activity,operations, excluding administrative management. On June 15, 2016, we closedcompleted a merger transaction, or the Merger Transaction, with Safe-T Data, A.R Ltd., or the Subsidiary, whereby we acquired 100% of the share capital of the Subsidiary.Safe-T Data. Since the date of the Merger Transaction, we have devoted substantially all of our financial resources to develop and commercialize our products.products and to extend our business organically as well as by acquisitions. Our Ordinary Shares have been trading on the TASE since January 2000. As of July 7, 2016, and following the change of our name in the course of the Merger Transaction, our symbol on the TASE has beenwas “SAFE.”. On June 27, 2017, our ADSs representing our Ordinary Shares have been approved for trading on the OTCQB Venture Market and we commenced trading also on the OTCQB under the symbol “SFTTY”. On August 17, 2018, following the pricing of our underwritten public offering, we began trade in the United States on the Nasdaq Capital Market and TASE under the symbol “SFET.“SFET” since August 17, 2018. On January 8, 2023, we changed our name to Alarum Technologies Ltd., and effective from January 25, 2023, our ADSs, representing our Ordinary Shares, are traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market, and our Ordinary Shares are traded on TASE under the symbol “ALAR.

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Our principal executive offices are located at 8 Abba Eban Avenue, Herzliya, 467252630 Haarba’a St, Tel Aviv, 6473926 Israel. Our telephone number in Israel is +972-9-8666110.

Our website address is http://www.safe-t.com.www.alarum.io. The information contained on our website or available through our website is not incorporated by reference into and should not be considered a part of this annual report on Form 20-F, and the reference to our website in this annual report on Form 20-F is an inactive textual reference only. Safe-T USANetNut Networks Inc. is our agent in the United States, and its address is 51 John F. Kennedy Parkway, First Floor West at Regus, Short Hills, NJ 07078. The SEC also maintains an Internet website that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. Our filings with the SEC will also available to the public through the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.4607 Library Rd Ste 220 #1067 Bethel Park, PA 15102.

We are an emerging growth company, as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as implemented under the JOBS Act. As such, we are eligible to, and intend to, take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies including but not limited to not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of the SEC rules under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We could remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the date of our first sale of common equity securities pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Ordinary Shares that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt during the prior three-year period.

We are a foreign private issuer as defined by the rules under the Securities Act and the Exchange Act. Our status as a foreign private issuer also exempts us from compliance with certain laws and regulations of the SEC and certain regulations of the Nasdaq Stock Market, including the proxy rules, the short-swing profits recapture rules, and certain governance requirements such as independent director oversight of the nomination of directors and executive compensation. In addition, we will not be required to file annual, quarterly, and current reports and consolidated financial statements with the SEC as frequently or as promptly as U.S. domestic companies registered under the Exchange Act.

Our capital expenditures for 2018, 20172023, 2022 and 20162021 amounted to $369,000, $168,000$55,000, $49,000 and $52,000,$73,000, respectively. These expenditures were primarily for purchases of fixed assets, investment in restricted bank deposits and development expenditures capitalized as intangible assets. Our purchases of fixed assets primarily include leasehold improvements, computers, and equipment used for the development of our products, and we financed these expenditures primarily from cash on hand.

B.Business Overview

B. Business Overview

We developare a global SaaS provider. Our company operates mainly in the Enterprise Web Data Collection market - offering web data collection and a private internet browsing platform.

Also, we offer internet access solutions for consumers by providing a powerful, secured and encrypted connection, masking consumers’ online activity and keeping them safe from hackers. The solutions are designed for advanced and basic users, ensuring complete protection for all personal and digital information.

At the end of 2022, we set as our leading goal to start our path towards profitability. As part of our focus on generating profitable revenues we decided in July 2023 to downscale our investment towards the consumer internet accesses segment of our business, operated under our wholly owned subsidiary, CyberKick. CyberKick’s business model was based on acquiring new users to download and use our solutions. Following a careful analysis of prevailing market software solutionsconditions, including the costs of acquiring such users, we identified that address multiple aspectswhile this business model may provide a potential to generate future revenues, it requires significant resources and investments in advance that cause operational loss, resulting in non-profitable revenues. We therefore decided to scale down the operations of the data protection information securityinternet access solutions for consumers, a decision that resulted in material reductions of expenses and cybersecurity markets. headcount. We continue to maintain our products and the service only to current paying users, which allows us to generate revenue from past investments in acquiring such users, with minimal costs.


Our patented solutions secureEnterprise Web Data Collection products offer secured, fast, and anonymous IP Proxy Network Solutions & Services, or IPPN or IPPN Solutions, to our customers’ data, servicesbusiness customers which, in turn, enables them to anonymously and networks from internal and external threats, such as unauthorized access to data, services and networks,securely browse the internet as well as data-related threatsto collect data from any publicly available source on the web, for their own business purposes.

Our IPPN solutions allow organizations to collect vast amounts of accurate, transparent web data from public online sources by simultaneously connecting to the Internet from different IP addresses. Our customers can choose from various types of IPs from our IP pool which contains millions of IPs, including ISP IPs, data center IPs, and residential service provider IPs.

With our solutions, customers gain data-driven information that provides valuable insights with respect to predictive capabilities or behaviors, thereby assisting ongoing business management operation and decision making. An added benefit to our customers is the fact that utilizing our network completely hides enterprises from the internet by modifying IP addresses, thus ensuring high levels of privacy for their online presence.

Our products enable access to the Internet through millions of end points globally, thus ensuring multiple business use cases, including large-scale data collection and analysis, cyber security, price comparison, ad verification, search engine optimization, or SEO, validations, web data extraction, collection of data for financial analysis, and more.

We offer the following services & solutions:

Internet Access and Web Data Collection:

Static residential proxy network: a proxy network, which is based on our unique technology and deployment through tens of ISPs partners around the world.

Rotating residential proxy network: a proxy network, which is based on routing traffic through millions of residential ISP based end points in the United States, Europe, Asia, South America and Canada.

Data center proxy network: a proxy network, which is based on routing traffic, deployed through servers located in data centers with leading carriers in the United States, the EU, Asia Pacific, or APAC, and more.

Premium dedicated static residential proxies: a solution that creates a dedicated static IP for each user, providing a highly effective proxy, that remains stable during heavy traffic and saves the customer additional bandwidth charges.

Mobile proxies: a proxy network, which is based on routing traffic through millions of mobile devices.

SERP data collection service: a tool that delivers real-time structured data from global search engines, tailored to the customer’s needs.

Social data collection service: a tool that is designed to easily collect accurate data from social platforms.


Consumer Internet Access:

Privacy Solutions and services: a software solution that uses an encryption protocol which is defined upon the process being used to generate a secured encrypted path and keep the users’ data private and safe. Our Privacy solution is available for iOS and Android users. Its most common use is to guard against hackers and snoops on public networks and is also useful to hide IP addresses for anonymous browsing, and to protect personal data on any Wi-Fi network.

In this segment, our engagements include monthly or annually renewable contracts, upon the customer’s discretion, where we offer multiple plans.

As mentioned above, since July 2023 we scaled down operations in this segment by discontinuing further investment into acquisition of new customers, and we continue to maintain our products and the service only to current paying users.

Web Data Collection Background

Today, data exfiltration, leakage,is the core and essence of all companies, and decisions are made based on data analysis rather than gut feelings. As markets become more and more competitive, so does the need for large amounts of data to be analyzed in real time in order to make business decisions. To achieve this, companies of all sectors started collecting data from the internet websites - this can be consumer and customer related data, product prices, advertising data, financial data, internet behavior data, or other information.

The challenge is that it has become common for internet websites to change their displayed information based on user IP address, location, and demographic attributes. For example, flight prices to the United States may differ for a person browsing an American airline from New York rather than browsing the same flight from London. In addition, to conduct competitor analysis, price comparisons and data extraction, companies need to access websites as a “simulated user” to capture the real and accurate information.

From these needs, the market of web data collection services has emerged, allowing businesses to gather data over the Internet using different types of IP addresses (ISP, residential, data center, mobile) from various locations around the world. Web data collection services support a wide variety of use cases and provide several significant benefits to their business users. For example, cyber and web intelligence companies can collect data anonymously and infinitely from any public online source, advertising or ad networks can view their advertisers’ landing pages anonymously to ensure they do not contain malware ransomwareor improper advertising, online retailers can gather comparative pricing information from competitors, and fraud.businesses may utilize these IP addresses to test their websites from different cities in the world.

A proxy server provides a gateway between users and the internet. It is a server, referred to as an “intermediary” because it goes between end-users and the web pages they visit online. When a computer connects to the internet, it uses an IP address. This is similar to a home street address, telling incoming data where to go and marking outgoing data with a return address for other devices to authenticate. A proxy server is essentially a computer on the internet that has an IP address of its own and instead of getting data directly from a website, a customer’s request first passes through the proxy server, before going to and receiving a response from the target website, and places an extra IP address from a rotating pool of addresses between a customer and any website they visit on the public internet. Proxy servers provide varying levels of functionality, security, and primarily privacy, depending on the use case, needs, or user policy. Proxy servers have many purposes, such as anonymizing identities, filtering information, getting around filters, and improving information retrieval performance.


From the target website’s perspective, no information about the original machine is sent. Only the proxy device’s IP address gets transmitted. As many websites place limits on the amount of information sent to any one IP address, gathering additional, openly available data from any one website, often involves using proxy servers to make it appear as if the requests come from different users, thus requiring the need for a rotating pool of IP addresses to be used by proxy servers.

The rotating pool of IP addresses can be derived from proxy software installed on residential users’ computers and mobile devices, while data centers use dedicated proxy servers. Based on the IP address it receives, a target website can distinguish whether a request comes from a residence, mobile device or data center and display different information accordingly based on location and demographic attributes. Companies tailoring information based on such attributes led to competitors needing proxy services to simulate being actual customers. Proxy servers are intermediaries between devices requesting information from other servers.

Rotating proxy servers tend to be used by companies to simulate actual customers in different locations and to collect data, also known as web data collection. Ever since the commercialization of the web, companies have developed increasingly better ways to target consumers via advertising and marketing to the point of adjusting pricing based on a location or even per customer basis. As companies put more of their product information online, this customer targeting made it very difficult for competitors and customers to monitor and/or compare pricing and product availability that can vary so much because of targeting. Websites today recognize customers to show different advertising, content and pricing based on location and other identifiable information. Companies further evolved to prevent competitors from accessing their data via blocking their company’s entire range of IP addresses. This prevents companies from comparing pricing, security companies from conducing audits for or detecting malware on malicious sites, and even website owners themselves from verifying their advertising is safe and being delivered properly from their ad vendors.

In the age of information technology, data is arguably the world’s most precious resource and the way we use and consume data has evolved considerably. Publicly available web data is one of the main driving forces behind digital transformation and helps corporations and brands to develop, improve and build business strategies faster. The web data collection market includes a variety of vendors in addition to NetNut, including Bright Data, Similarweb Ltd., Oxylabs Networks Pvt. Ltd., SmartProxy, and others.

Market Size and Growth Drivers of the ADCL Market

In today’s market-driven economy, data collection, retrieval, and its analysis, is the lifeblood by which companies make their business decisions. As both traditional and online businesses become increasingly more competitive, so does their need for larger amounts of empirical, statistical, anecdotal, behavioral, and projected data to be analyzed in real time in order to compete. The internet is full of various information: big data, software data, analytics, content, and others. Data-oriented strategies that companies follow require data collection and analysis. Every click, search, and interaction on the internet generates information, waiting to be deciphered. Businesses, both big and small, realize that their survival and success heavily depend on how well they can collect, interpret, and act on this data, allowing companies to make informed decisions and adhere to stable advancement. As straightforward as data collection might seem, it’s not without challenges. IP blocking, inaccurate data due to location restrictions, and concerns about privacy and anonymity are some of the hurdles data collectors often face. To combat these issues, more and more businesses are turning to proxies.

We believe that existing and new customers seek this end-to-end solution because it provides them with;

a.A more complete Data Set, derived from a more complete set of data that was comprised and collected from a global IPPN network which has open (proxy) global access to more websites (without localized “silo effect” bias) at real-time throughput – and all written and driven on the same software code,

b.A more accurate Data Set, which is stored, structured, and updated as the information gathered from (a) web site change(s) (either minute by minute on social media sites, hours on e-commerce sites or weeks on government sites). NetNut’s newly introduced AI-based Data Collection Service, or DCS, solutions were designed to automatically learn the design of websites, thus allowing fast and simple data collection, while ensuring the highest levels of data accuracy with the least human involvement in the process,

c.A faster and more efficient data gathering and analysis experience, based on NetNut’s IPPN capability in processing enormous amounts of data at hundreds of terabytes per second for our customers,

d.A more central management/dashboard – our customers can utilize a single dashboard via which they can order, track, manage and pay for any of NetNut’s four main solution or service packages.

According to research by Grand View Research, the global data collection market size was valued at $2.2 billion in 2022, expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 28.9% from 2023 to 2030 to reach $17.1 billion by 2030.1

https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/data-collection-labeling-market#:~:text=The%20global%20data%20collection%20and%20labeling%20market%20is%20expected%20to,USD%2017.10%20billion%20by%202030


Our Solutions/Services

Following our acquisition of NetNut in June 2019, we launched our web data collection services. The services are based on partnership agreements with tens of ISPs around the world, as well as our proprietary software deployed at data centers and devices which enable our customers to access the internet through millions of end points globally and collect valuable data for their needs. The services’ performance and scalability are enhanced by our proprietary proxy traffic optimization and routing technology.

Customers in the web data collection market use the proxy service for various needs and for a wide variety of use cases, as mentioned above. To address all these use cases, different types of web data collection services are needed. For some of the use cases, the web data collection service needs to be fast and stable and allow customers to use the same IP address for long time periods, while for others, the most important factor of a web data collection service is its ability to provide a different IP address for each request in order to be able to get a full picture of the collected data. For these reasons, providers in the web data collection market are required to provide a wide selection and web data collection service types. We have invested heavily in the last year in expanding our offering in order to become a leading provider in this market.

Our solutions’ main advantages over competitors include:

NetNut’s web data collection service has been designed to handle massive amounts of traffic, with the capacity to process hundreds of terabytes per second.

Our web data collection service has the widest set of IP options offered to our customers.

Our direct connections to top ISPs worldwide allow for fast and reliable access to any geo-targeted web data.

NetNut has formed strategic partnerships with leading ISPs and technology providers to enhance its network capabilities and offer customers the best possible solution.

NetNut’s solution has been rigorously tested and validated by independent research firms and experts in the field.

Results have shown that the company’s solution outperforms its competitors in terms of speed, security, and reliability.

NetNut’s solution has received positive feedback from customers, with many praising its fast, secure, and reliable performance.

The Company has received recognition from industry experts for its innovative approach to proxy solutions.

Strategy

As the future of data collection unfolds, we believe that proxies will continue to play a vital role in enabling comprehensive and ethical big data analytics. We therefore seek to leverage our existing IPPN Solutions and service offering to enter the much larger Automated Data Collection & Labeling Market, or the ADCL Market, which is projected to reach $17 billion dollars by 2030 according to Grand View Research. We believe that our innovative products are the first solution that controls, in one integrated package, the entire data access lifecycle, allowing our customers to avoid the integration complexities of multiple products. In addition, we believe that our products create strong perimeter security as a result of our patented Reverse-Access technology. In April 2018, we received the 2018 Fortress Cyber Security Award for Compliance and Authentication & Identity and were finalists in the 2018 Cyber Defence Magazine Infosec Awards. Reverse-Access is an innovative andIPPN’s unique technology, providing for “reverse movement” of communication, and is designed to reduce the need to store sensitive data in the DMZ, and to open ports in the organizations’ firewall, thus enabling secure access to networks and services.

We have a broad customer base spanning several industries including finance, healthcare, government agencies, commercial companies and educational institutions. Currently, most of our end-customers are located in Israel, including large Israeli regional banks with branches across the country and globally (accounting for approximately 2.0% of our 2018 gross revenue), large Israeli healthcare organizations and the Israeli Ministry of Health (accounting for approximately 4.8% of our 2018 gross revenue), leading Israeli insurance companies (accounting for approximately 4.4% of our 2018 gross revenue), and the Israeli Police Force (accounting for approximately 1.9% of our 2018 gross revenue). Our initial engagements with our customers either follow (i) a license sale model, or (ii) a lease subscription model between one to three years, which are renewable upon expiration, at our customers’ discretion. Our headquarters are located in Israel with customers and sales operations in Israel, North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Africa.

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Vast amounts of data, including sensitive personal and commercial information, are stored electronically and are typically connected to external networks, including the internet, and in cloud storage. This information architecture, has enabled threats that all organizations face, including:

distributed ‘denial of service’ attacks on published services and applications;
access to an organization’s data by unauthorized internal personnel;
access to an organization’s data and networks by outside hackers; and
unsecure transfer of information and files within an organization and to and from third parties.

The data security market offers a variety of information security products that provide specific protection for a certain market or aspect of information security. Our solution, however, offers various security capabilities to organizations designed to ensure full security of intra-organizational and inter-organizational data access, usage and exchanges. Further, our unique open extensible and customizable architecture integrates with over 30 third party security and enterprise applications and solutions for end-to-end security coverage across business processes. 

Our flagship product called Software Defined Access is a patented multi-layered solution that integrates our upgraded and comprehensive SDP solution. We believe that it is superior to other available products in the market, as it controls the entire data and application access lifecycle by combining SDP, a new architecture and technology that allows secure access to published applications, and our secure data exchange controls data usage and exchange between any source to any destination and our innovative user behavioral analysis technology which allows detecting anomalies in users access and using data via our solutions. The SDP architecture essentially hides published services and applications from unauthorized parties. According to Markets and Markets Research Private Ltd., the combined markets for secure data access and secure data exchange have been reported to have generated revenues in excess of $4 billion in 2017. Recently, Safe-T was included in Gartner’s “Fact or Fiction: Are Software-Defined Perimeters Really the Next-Generation VPNs” report on software-defined perimeters and recognized by Gartner as one of seven SDP vendors. In this report, Safe-T was the only Israeli company, listed as a Representative Vendor.

In addition to offering an integrated solution, we intend to also offer the components of our solution as stand-alone products, as a white label via OEM partners, as well as bundled with our channel partners’ complementary products. An example of a bundled product is the solution we created with the identity provider SecureAuth (See “White Label and Bundled Solutions” below), as well as our secure application access solution.

Our main goal is to become one of the leading vendors in the fields of cyber and information security, including increased penetration into the U.S. market. Penetration into the U.S. market is expected to be achieved through a combination of direct sales by our local sales team with the support of our corporate marketing and U.S. field marketing teams, as well as indirect sales via resellers, distributors, and channel and OEM partners, such as SourceCode Technology Holdings, Inc. and SecureAuth Corporation. Further to our efforts to penetrate the U.S. market, we received FIPS 140-2 certification. FIPS 140-2 certification is a federal U.S. government security standard used to approve cryptographic modules for secure communication and encryption, and mandatory for any vendor selling in the federal sector. FIPS 140-2 certification enables us to penetrate the U.S. federal market and fully maximize our expansion potential in the United States. We began operations in Israel, and have since expended sales and marketing of our products around the world. We have distributors and resellers in Israel, the United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada, Germany, Spain, Serbia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Turkey, Indonesia and the Philippines.

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Our integrated solution is designated to achieve the following:

Provides zero-trust access, by ensuring only trusted parties can access and use data and services;

Reduces the outward-facing attack surface by locking down and closing the incoming port in the firewall using our patented technology;
Unifies and streamlines all applications and security systems and modernizes the security environment on the premises and in the cloud;
Consolidates data exchange and connectivity, simplifying workflows and related enterprise systems;
Protects and controls access by separating the access layer from the authentication layer, which permits initial authentication of the user outside an organization’s perimeter and only after authentication, connects the user to the desired service; a similar approach is used to segment internal networks;
Grants access transparently to an authenticated user without requiring any special end user client software;
Controls data usage, preventing data exfiltration, leakage, malware, ransomware and fraud; and
Monitors and reports on all user actions, in order to detect anomalous behavior and risk.

Our Software Defined Access solution consolidates into one integrated solution the functionality of both SDP – which is used to control access to data and applications – and secure data exchange and usage – which is used to control and secure internal and external data exchanges and use. Our Software Defined Access solution, which is available both on-premises and via the cloud, is designed to provide zero-trust access, by ensuring only trusted parties can access and use data and services. It surpasses current access, authentication and encryption strategies by unifying and streamlining all systems while consolidating data exchange and connectivity.

Our solution is deployed within an organization’s internal information systems, fully supporting file access, exchange and usage, and at the same time protecting an organization’s sensitive data. These features of our solution enable us to market it to organizations that are unable to use cloud-based data access and/or exchange services for various reasons, such as regulatory requirements (for example, energy companies, banks, insurance companies, investment firms and health organizations).

Based on product comparisons that we have conducted, we believe that our Software Defined Access solution, which includes our patented Reverse-Accessreflection technology, is currently the most broader data access and exchange solution available within the information security and cybersecurity markets. The benefit of utilizing our patented technology, allows installing our solution in the intra-organizational network without opening any ports in the firewall, thus reducing dramatically the risk of security breaches by “hiding” an organization’s applications from unauthorized parties.

Industry Background

General

In view of the public’s extensiveway we make use of our AI and machine learning algorithms, the internetflexibility and its various applications, many businesses opt to use the internet as a business platform. Information systems’ computing and communication capabilities, as well as their global inter-connected distribution, expose entities to various threats from hostile persons, competing businesses or governments. The relatively new field of information security is designed to protect such information from various threats from inside and outside an organization, including protecting the security of an organization’s hardware and software systems, as well as the security of the information stored on them or transmitted electronically.

One of the principal elements of the field of information security andscalability of our activities isnetwork, effective IP rotation for scaling proxy usage and our hands-on experience with industry best practices to collect data ethically and effectively, uniquely position us to enter the protection of data and applications from unauthorized access to information by, among others, sharing management and monitoring an organization’s information in a secure manner. According to a report by Verizon Communications Inc. from April 2018, 73% of breaches were conducted by outsiders. This statistic indicates that the authentication and access solutions currently utilized by enterprises are inadequate. Current solutions first provide access and then authenticate, which means that the attacker has gained access to the service or is on the network before he is authenticated. In addition, many current solutions do not control data usage, creating a higher risk of attack. Our Software Defined Access solution authenticates users before providing access, and also controls what an authenticated user may do with the data. This prevents un-authenticated users from accessing internal services, and ensures authenticated users do not misuse data or services.ADCL Market.


 

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The exponential increase in high-risk data, the shift to cloud-based storage and distributed data centers connected by the internet contributes to increasing information security risks. The proliferation of legacy data exchange solutions, and the lack of integration with security solutions, exacerbates the existing potential for cyberattacks because enterprise applications and data are often “visible” outside the enterprise.

Another driver of information security solutions stems from increasingly complex regulatory requirements. In recent years, regulatory bodies in major markets around the world have introduced various requirements to maintain information security mechanisms. Such requirements apply to various entities, mainly in the field of banking, insurance, credit card processing, medical institutions, energy, and government agencies. Other regulatory changes are designed to make it obligatory for entities to provide online services and make services more digitally accessible. Our solutions help our customers meet these regulatory compliance requirements.

Additional Market Trends

Cloud Storage Services.Cloud storage services such as Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and similar services are increasingly used for private and business purposes. The use of those services bypasses an organization’s information security policy and systems, since data, which enters an organization through cloud storage services, is not checked by the enterprise’s antivirus software, and data which is uploaded to the cloud by users bypasses an organizational data loss prevention system. Without additional protective software, an organization cannot control the information uploaded to the cloud and shared by users in breach of an organization’s policy, nor can it monitor and control this information. Furthermore, the transfer of the information to the cloud and its storage in the cloud is not always carried out in a secure and encrypted manner. Organizations are therefore required to provide a secure organizational solution that is compatible with an organization’s information security policy and systems and that allows employees to use cloud-based information storage services and to share information in a more convenient way.

Mobile Devices. In recent years there has been an increase in the use of mobile devices, which allow users within an organization to use business information accessed through mobile devices and store information in the cloud through those mobile devices. These trends increase the need to find secure connectivity solutions, both for an organization’s systems and for the cloud storage services.

Other Market Trends.Generally, in view of the increase in the number of internet users in the last decade, many organizations invest heavily in the launch of new digital services, the expansion of their network infrastructures and their existing business infrastructures and the upgrading of their information security systems.

Current Practices and Solutions

In recent years, an increasing number of public online services offered by organizations have experienced hacking and information theft. This trend is the result of old network architectures, which do not provide adequate information security solutions for accessing the organization’s data. The built-in weakness of these architectures is that the more services an organization wants to make publicly available, the more its networks are exposed.

Even though electronic mail is still the main tool for organizational information sharing, its limitations have increasingly led many organizations to use file sharing systems that enable their users to gain access to shared sets of files from various platforms and devices, including desktops, laptops, mobile devices and tablets. The use of data exchange solutions is becoming increasingly popular as a result of an increasing need of users to share information with employees, business partners, consultants and clients in ways that are not supported by electronic mail. Since the majority of data exchange solutions tools currently used are low cost cloud-based solutions, they pose serious risk to organizations’ information security. The increasing use of mobile platforms, cloud-based computing and social networks increases the vulnerability of various organizations.

Companies operating in this area of activity normally provide various types of information security products, each of which offers a solution in respect of a certain market or a certain aspect of information security. The organizational networks of most organizations are currently composed of layers of internal (secured) networks and external networks. In general, the following products are deployed between the internal and external networks:

Firewall. A firewall is a network security system that monitors and controls the incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules;
Front-end servers. A front-end server for each application enables an organization to monitor access to its applications; and
Reverse proxy solutions. These solutions block unauthorized access to applications and business services.

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The structure of networks as described above has proven to be ineffective in preventing cyberattacks and information theft in the current digital space. We believe that no company currently operatingthe key drivers of our business growth are based on:

Enterprise Customers Seek a Full End-to-End Solution: which includes providing a full data set collected through the full end-to-end process, from the IPPN Solution to the web data collection tools, to the data processing process.

Increasing Growth in Data-Backed Decision Making: The growing importance of accurate, and real time data requires tight control and monitoring of each element of the process.

Increasing Use of AI-based Data Optimization: Data collection and labeling is playing an increasingly important role in developing the accuracy, functionality and modeling of AI-based systems currently being developed to optimize the analysis of data.

Increasing Use of Complex Forms of Digital Marketing; Particularly through social media, requires better and more efficient use of automated real-time data collection and labeling.

The ADCL Market is an inherent evolution for the growth of our business where we look forward to:

Leveraging on our key strengths in the IPPN business (i.e. stable global network presence, pinpoint accuracy, at high-speed data throughput) to add and bundle together an overall ADCL Service Package, which will include a DCS, a Data Set Library, or DSL, and DSL Insight & Analysis service.

Growing our revenue base both outwards (i.e. cross-sale of ADCL Service Package to existing IPPN customers) as well as upwards (i.e. upsizing existing IPPN service packages required to meet the increasing demand of customers who migrate to our ADCL Service Package.

Improving overall margin growth, resulting from the sale of DSLs which (once created for one client) can be re-sold as an off-the-shelf product at diminishing marginal costs.


Below is the complete stack of solutions and service offering that we intend to provide in the ADCL Market, along with our segment withincurrent offering in the information security market has solutions that offer organizations comprehensive protection from breaching or damaging their information systemsIPPN market.

 

NetNut’s Unique Value Proposition in various ways.the ADCL Market

 

Our Solution

We offer a unique solution that is designed to address both expected and unexpected scenarios arising from the existing architecture of communications networks. We believe that once we have completed development of our ADCL Service Package (i.e., our DCS, our DSL and our DSL Insights & Analysis solutions are unique since they are designated to provide multiple aspectsand service offerings), we will be uniquely positioned as one of information securitythe only vendors offering a full end-to-end solution, combining IPPN and ADCL and grow into a market leader in the SDPADCL Market.

We plan to sell our ADCL solutions using the following models:

Data Collector based pricing – where the customer uses our Data Collector solution to collect data from the world wide web. The customer effectively requests to collect data from the world wide web using our solutions and only pays for the actual data that was collected from their request. The service is priced per each one-thousand requests.

Data Records based Service Packages – customer purchases from us a list of records that NetNut compiles according to search and data preference instructions received from the customer. Pricing is based on a per record basis.


We aim to be a leading global vendor of data collection and data exchange solutions sub-markets. These solutions offer our customersanalysis. We currently have a comprehensive solution covering both intra-organizational and inter-organizational data exchanges. We believe that no other company which currently operatesfootprint in almost every major geographical region in the information security market offers a productworld, including North, South and Central America, Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa. We continue to develop our plug and play Data Collection offering as we have witnessed that covers both the SDPrather than developing their own APIs, existing and data exchange solutions sub-markets.

Products

Our Software Defined Access solution is basednew customers prefer to rely on a unique and ground-breaking technology — Secure Reverse-Access, or SRA, which aims to enable secure access to communication networks and services by, among other things, protecting online business services from attacks, protecting the firewall from attacks, protecting the internal organizational networks from internal attacks and protecting the whole organization from external attacks.

We believe that our technology, is more unique than current data securityexperience and protection strategies dueknow how to its capabilities of unifying and streamlining all systems while consolidating data access, exchange and connectivity.direct them in their strategy for collecting data. Our solution is based on both our proprietary secure data access and secure data exchange products, as well as on a technology called Telepath that we recently acquired from Cykick Labs Ltd. (an Israeli cyber security company). The Telepath technology is a technology aimed to recognize hostile attacks on web-based services throughStrategy spans the identification of the users’ anomalous behavior. We intend to use the Telepath technology in order to strengthen the protection we already provide to our customers from such hostile attacks.following:

The combined solution has the following capabilities that aim to reduce cyber-attacks on organizations:

oControls the entire data and application access life cycle, including access, usage, reporting, monitoring and anomaly detection;Upsizing our IPPN Solutions packages to existing customers,

oUses a robust firewall with no open ports required for access;Cross-Selling our ADSL service package (including DCS, DSL and DSL Insight & Analysis) to existing customers,

oDefines new access rules on-demand and allows client-less access to data, services and application programming interface, or APIs;

Removes the need for Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs, and hides network components locatedAchieving rapid market traction in the external network, which can be hacked;ADSL Market with small and medium enterprises, and

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oControlsImproving margin growth through the entire data access lifecycle in order to protect it from cyberattacks, as illustrated inre-sale of “off the following diagram:shelf” DSL solutions

 

Step 1 - Adaptive Access to Services and Data– Our “On-Demand Software Defined Perimeter,” built on our SRA technology, protects access to data and services by separating the access layer from the authentication layer, and by segregating internal networks. Our adaptive access, utilizing zero-trust access architecture, transparently grants access only to authorized users from the inside out of the network. It authenticates the user prior to providing access.

Step 2 - Control Usage of Data – Once users have access to the customer’s applications and data, we then ensure they only use the data according to their respective usage and access policies. By controlling data usage, we detect risk, and prevent data exfiltration, leakage, malware, and ransomware. The data residing inside the customer’s organization or being transferred in and out of an organization is completely controlled and protected from the inside out of the network, on premises or in the cloud.

Step 3 - Report on Data Usage – Throughout the application access lifecycle, our Software Defined Access solution, monitors and audits all user actions for each access application or data repository. Granular real-time dashboards, historical reports and user behavior analysis on data usage, anomalies and risks, ensure compliance with regulations and the shortest time to breach discovery and remediation.

Our Core Technology

Our Integrated Data Security Platform, or IDSP, is our core technology,Customers and serves as the foundation for our solutions, providing it all the technology components required to create a true adaptive data access and exchange solution. Our underlying technology is designated to enable customers to benefit from advanced security architecture, policies and workflows, strong data encryption, high availability, roles management, reporting, and detailed audit trails.

Our IDSP is comprised of six modules:

Secure Reverse-Access
SecureStream Policy and Workflow Engine

Competition

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SmarTransferTM
Authentication Gateway
Connectors
Unified Protocol
User behavior analysis

Secure Reverse-Access

Secure Reverse-Access is our unique dual server patented technology, which designated to remove the need to open any ports within a firewall, while allowing secure application access between networks (through the firewall).

Access Gateway – installed in the external network.
Access Controller – installed in the internal secured segment.

Located in an organization’s external network (on-premises or in the cloud), the role of the Access Gateway is to act as a front-end to all services and applications published to the internet. It operates without the need to open any ports within the internal firewall and ensures that only legitimate session data can pass through into the internal network. The Access Gateway performs transmission control protocol, or TCP, offloading, allowing it to support any TCP based application without the need to perform secure sockets layer decryption.

As illustrated in the diagram below, the Access Controller pulls the session data into the internal network from the Access Gateway, and only if the session is legitimate, performs advanced user requests processing (for example decrypting the user’s request in order to scan it for potential attacks), and then pass it to the destination application server.

 

We believe our SRA technology allows us to provide our customers with unique capabilities which do not exist in the market today, such as:

Access to applications and networks without opening incoming ports in the firewall;
Support any TCP-based application;
Bi-directional traffic is handled on outbound connections from the local area network to the outside world;
Client-less and VPN-less application access; and
Logically segment networks.

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SecureStream Policy & Workflow Engine

Our SecureStream policy and workflow enforcement engine enables enterprises to easily enforce security policies on any data exchange and data access workflow. Each workflow is fully controlled and monitored, providing complete auditing and tracking who, what, where, when, how information. Administrators can create policies and workflows for secure data access and exchange that can be integrated intuitively into existing business workflows.

SecureStream enables system users to build multiple application tasks defined as a series of automated actions that can be triggered to occur based on specific events or behavior. System users can integrate virtually any task and application with any other task with minimal integration effort, regardless of the protocols and languages each one uses.

SmarTransferTM

SmarTransfer allows internal and external users to gain transparent access to secure storage. What appears as a standard mapped network drive is actually a secure, encrypted and access-controlled channel to interact with files – upload, download, copy, open, delete, etc. while not relying on vulnerable protocols such as Server Message Block, or SMB. All transactions are subject to our SecureStream policy and workflow engine, thereby ensuring secure and controlled access to any file type and content meeting governance and audit requirements.

Authentication Gateway

Our IDSP supports a robust built-in multi-factor and multi-tier authentication and authorization gateway. The gateway allows performing user authentication and authorization enforcement actions through multiple authentication engines as part of any data exchange or access workflow.

Our authentication engine supports a variety of built-in authentication mechanisms, including lightweight directory access protocol, open id/security assertion markup language, no-post login, push authentication, one-time-passwords, third party identity providers such as SecureAuth, and many more.

Connectors

We support out of the box connectors designed specifically for the enterprise. By utilizing our connectors, we believe that our Software Defined Access solution offers the industry’s most integrated data security platform, allowing it to integrate with the entire enterprise ecosystem, business applications, data storages, web sites and security solutions.

Our connector’s module exposes a multi-language standard API, allowing system users to easily develop new connectors, modify existing ones, and integrate with new enterprise solutions.

Unified Protocol

Our IDSP supports native and SDK-based support for all common enterprise file transfer and business applications’ protocols such as HTTP/S, SSH, FTP/S, SFTP, ICAP, SMB and REST.

Our IDSP’s unique architecture and design supports real-time application and protocol conversion within a single flow. For example, HTTP to SFTP or SQL to One Drive.

The Unified Protocol module exposes a standard API to the programmer and makes the data transfer process completely transparent, regardless of the protocol or application used, either as source or as destination. Furthermore, the API allows system users to easily integrate new RFC protocols or modifying existing ones.

User Behavior Analysis

Our IDSP supports a built-in user and web behavior analysis engine, which is designed to detect anomalies on actions performed by a user accessing, using, and exchanging data using our solutions. The module provides granular reports and alerts on any user behavior (file access, web access, file exchange, file usage, etc.) which is flagged as an anomaly.

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Customers

We have approximately 80 customers around the globe. On December 31, 2015 we had approximately 28 customers, on December 31, 2016 approximately 34 customers, on December 31, 2017 approximately 64 customers and as of December 31, 2018 approximately 80 customers. We initially started to address Israeli customers and in the past two years we have been operating globally. Therefore, the vast majority of our customers are large Israeli corporations that are industry leaders in their field of activity. In addition, we have several medium size and small customers in Europe and the United States, and several orders that were placed during 2018 by Southeast Asia and African customers. Our customers include banks and financial organizations, insurance companies, healthcare organizations, industrial and commercial companies, education institutions and government agencies. We are not dependent on any one of our customers.

Set forth below is a diagram illustrating the breakdown of our customers by areas of activity.

Our initial engagements with our customers either follow a license sale model, or a lease subscription model between one to three years, which are renewable upon expiration, at our customers’ discretion. In some cases, after our solutions are purchased, satisfied customers enter into further engagements in order to increase the number of users, in order to purchase updated and new versions of the products and in order to purchase ongoing maintenance and technical support services. 

Our renewal rate for subscriptions of maintenance and support contracts over 2017 and 2018 was approximately 85%, and we expect to maintain high renewal rates in the future due to the significant value we believe the products add to the customers’ information security. In addition to our efforts to ensure customer satisfaction to maintain current relationships, and in order to grow our business, we intend to also focus on generating revenue from new customers, ideally medium to large organizations.

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The solutions and services we offer are normally priced in accordance with the number of users, the nature of the supplied solutions, the number of solutions and services provided by us to our customers, the number of features that we sell to our customers, the sale of upgrades and the provision of ongoing maintenance and support services.

We have two models of engagement: (1) sale of a license for the use of our solutions, with no time limitation and limited to a certain number of users. The customer may renew the engagement for maintenance and support services every year or every few years (this model is called the sale model); and (2) engagement for a specific period of time. As part of this engagement, the customer receives a license to use our solutions for a year or a number of years. Under this type of engagement, the customer is entitled to use our products and to receive maintenance and support services and upgrades over the relevant engagement period (lease model). Today, our engagements are divided roughly equally between the two models. Moving forward, our tendency is to prefer the lease model.

White Label and Bundled Solutions

We offer our solution as a white label via OEM partners, as a bundled solution together with our channel partners’ complementary products, and as a bundled solution with companies which offer complementary anti-malware solutions. For example, we have integrated our secure data access solution as part of SecureAuth’s IdP solution. The integrated product was branded SecureAuth Access Gateway. Based on our secure Reverse-Access technology, SecureAuth Access Gateway overcomes the challenges of today’s DMZ networks and network segmentation, prevents criminal application access, and protects classified networks within the enterprise infrastructure. SecureAuth’s secure front-end solution eliminates the need to store sensitive data in the DMZ, thereby reducing exposure to data breaches. SecureAuth sells the SecureAuth Access Gateway as a module within their authentication solution. Sales are made on an annual subscription basis, and we receive a mid-to-high double-digit percentage of such proceeds, subject to a minimum end user price.

We have similarly integrated our solution with other OEM partners and intend to pursue similar partnerships in the future.

Competition

The IT security marketmarkets in which we operate isare characterized by intense competition, constant innovation and evolving security threats. We compete with companies that offer a broad array of IT security products. Our current and potential future competitors include Cyxtera Technologies, Inc., Luminate Security Ltd., Akamai Technologies, Inc. and Zscaler, Inc. in the software defined perimeter and application access market, and alsoweb data collection service segment include providers of secure data vaults and secure data exchange such as CyberArk Software Ltd., Accellion, Inc.Similarweb, Bright Data, Oxylabs Networks, and Varonis Systems Inc.

Furthermore, sinceothers; and in the consumer internet access, we compete with well-established companies, which have an existingproviders such as Kape Technologies, Nord VPN, McAfee, Norton LifeLock, Aura and others.

In the last several years, our customer base we invest significant efforts to obtain technological advantages in combination with the ability to offer more cost-effective solutions than the ones offered by our competitors, aiming to attract customers of established companies that operate in our industry.

We believe we have the industry’s widest range of pre-configured application and cloud connectors. Our Software Defined Access solution has a significant advantage compared to competing products since it is powered by an automated security enforcement engine. Another significant advantage is our belief that we are the only supplier in the Enterprise Internet Access business has steadily increased. As of December 31, 2023, we had approximately 700 customers, primarily small, medium and enterprise business segments. As mentioned above, since July 2023 we scaled down operations in the Consumer Internet Access segment by discontinuing further investment into acquisition of new customers, and we continue to maintain our products and the service only to approximately 5,000 current paying users.

Our enterprise customers span multiple different industries and include advertising and media companies, financial organizations, cyber security companies, industrial and commercial companies, online companies, education institutions, the AI recruitment market and more. They primarily use our platform when they are seeking to;

provide their own customers with comparative pricing for goods and services on the internet,

compare pricing of their own goods and services to those of their competitors,

verify the validity of third-party advertisements on the internet which advertise their goods and services to ensure that they are accurate and do not contain malware,

confirm and validate that the search engine optimization methods they use to attract traffic to their web site perform as they should,

extract data from other web sites which they can use as their own, and/or

monitor the internet to ensure proper use of their brand.

The Problems We Solve for Our Customers

Our customers use our IPPN Solutions and services to solve the various problems that they experience when trying to collect data from the internet, such as:

Need for Access to Web Sites - our customers often seek to collect accurate data from web sites that change their display information based on demographic attributes and contain restrictions on the number of times per day that their web site could be visited.

Need for Anonymity when Collecting Data from Web Sites - our customers seek to collect data from the internet anonymously.

Need for Automation during the Data Collection Process - our customers need a fast and automated solution without erroneous or delayed information.

Need to Uniform Data Across Different Geographies - the “silo effect” whereby the same product is offered by the same vendor but at different prices, depending on which country (i.e. IP address) that the end-user logs in from. Our customers need to “break through” this “silo effect” in order to offer their end-customers with unified comparative pricing across the globe.

Need to avoid loss of Data Bits - our customers use our IPPN Solution to avoid the type of tracking technologies that can “steal” bits of data from the overall data that they are collecting from web sites on the internet.


Our Solution & Services Offering

Our offered solutions and services are designed to enable our customers to fan out across millions of internet end-points within seconds in order to collect data across all business sectors while guaranteeing anonymity. The security, stability, and speed of our service is based on our;

Global IP network that we have built through the various different partnership agreements we have with IP and ISP providers around the globe;

Global IP network’s ability to “rotate” between different pools of IP addresses;

Global IP network’s use of different types of IP proxies (i.e. residential-based proxies, data center-based proxies, mobile-based proxies);

Global IP Network’s traffic “routing” software that we deploy at data centers across the globe; and

Our proprietary reflection technology, which was designed to enable asymmetric routing of internet traffic through client devices (e.g. desktop computers) to allow us to provide additional exit points around the globe to our customers.

IPPN Product Offering and Business Model

We offer a singleour IPPN Solution to our customers to either: (a) develop their own data collection tools and utilize our network for data collection purposed, or (b) use our “plug and play” data collection solution where our customers rely on our own experience (in data collection) to pre-define for them the parameters of the data they seek to collect. Based on our recent experience with our customers, we believe that in the coming years, the plug and play solution will be the solution that supports all expectedcustomers will prefer.

Most of the customers purchase our IPPN Solutions and unexpectedservices using periodic packages ranging between one month to one year or per actual consumption where the service is a package that is priced in terms of pre-defined data accesspackets, for example, where the customer purchases a 5TB (terabytes) package of IPPN + ADCL services and exchange scenariosis priced at units of an organization.gigabytes used within the terabyte package. The packages can be either renewed automatically or by election, based on the customers’ preferences. We offer various pricing tiers based on pre-set and customizable packages. We enter into longer-term engagement agreements with our larger enterprise customers as well as into engagements with resellers for the purpose of reselling our services to their customers.

We believe that the key to our patented Software Defined Access solution createshistorical and future business success is based on:

Our Fast, Secure and Automated IPPN Solutions - providing comprehensive, anonymously acquired and geographically diverse data collection services for the creation of robust datasets for our customers,

Our Extensive Global IP Network - based on many agreements with ISPs around the globe, enabling us to provide multiple and differing types of proxies in over 180 countries around the globe, providing tens of millions of exit points to our customers,

Our Strong Industry Recognition and First Mover Advantage - Our IPPN solution has been rigorously tested and validated by independent research firms such as Proxyway and Absolute Reports, and in-the-field experts such as G2 and Trustpilot.


Our Unique IP

Our intellectual property and our right to use and protect it are important to the most secure data accesssuccess of our business. We rely on a combination of copyright, trademark, trade secret and exchange integrated solution availablepatent laws in the market, since itUnited States and other jurisdictions, as well as license agreements, confidentiality procedures, non-disclosure agreements with third parties, and other contractual protections, to protect our intellectual property rights, including our proprietary technology, software, know-how and brand.

Intellectual property is at the core of our data collection platform and the basis of our solutions.

Our intellectual property is comprised of our proprietary reflection technology, carrier grade routing technology, and our reverse access technology.

Carrier grade routing technology

Our unique carrier grade routing technology system is based on software which is installed both on our global access servers’ network and on servers at the premises of ISPs that are part of our global network platform. This software allows the ISPs to share the existing IP addresses with external customers (our customers) without any effect on their current users and without the need to allocate these IPs specifically for our customers. The software can handle the connectivity between hundreds of our global access servers and the ISPs’ networks and is able to manage the routing on the transmission control protocol level of hundreds of thousands of concurrent connections without any degradation in the network performance.

Reflection technology

Our reflection technology is patent protected in the United States (patent number 11,818,104) titled “Anonymous Proxying”. The patent describes a revolutionary method, which brings a novel twist to traditional proxy services. Unlike conventional anonymous proxies, where proxy service client requests would be rerouted through an intermediate proxy device, thus potentially slowing down the connection and exposing a device’s local network to security risks, NetNut’s “reflector” method achieves the same end-result without such detour. It cleverly uses the IP address of an intermediate device to initiate the connection, and after this initial step, client requests are sent directly to the target server. This method retains the benefits of using a proxy, while masking the original IP address and avoiding the usual bottleneck of channeling all traffic through a third-party device. The result is a secured, faster, more efficient, and streamlined method of connecting to the internet, with all the advantages of a proxy but none of the traditional drawbacks.

Reverse access technology

Our reverse access technology is patent protected in the United States (patent number US9935958 (in re-issue) and US10110606 titled “Reverse Access Method for Securing Front-End Applications and Others”). The Reverse Access patent addresses a problem of securing access to external-facing computing resources or services, which are often subject to aggressive hacking efforts by malicious actors and other unauthorized persons. The Reverse Access patent solves this problem by providing a “reverse access” mechanism, whereby incoming requests addressed to the services provided from within the local network can be installedserviced over an outgoing connection initiated and controlled from within the local network, rather than allowing such requests to be initiated directly from outside. The solution provided by the Reverse Access patent thereby reduces the risks to the participants of deploying such services on large public networks, such as the Internet. As such, the Reverse Access patent provides a technical solution to a problem that is unique to computer network communications, and moreover does so by an inventive mechanism wherein the ordinary flow of communications in the intra-organizational network without opening portsis reversed, to shift control over the initiation of the connection to elements inside the protected local network.

“NetNut” is a registered trademark in the firewall.United States and in Israel and pending trademark in various additional jurisdictions. Our logo, and the logos of our subsidiaries are our and our subsidiaries’ unregistered trademarks. As we continue to expand, we may face challenges registering for or obtaining trademarks in other jurisdictions.


 

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TableWe have additional pending patent applications, relating to current and future elements of Contentsour products and technology.

Although we rely on intellectual property rights, including copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets, as well as contractual protections to establish and protect our proprietary rights, we believe that factors such as the technological and creative skills of our personnel, creation of new services, features and functionality, and frequent enhancements to our platform are more essential to establishing and maintaining our technology leadership position. We are constantly workingcommitted to improvefostering innovation and dedicated to pushing the boundaries of what is possible in our competitive status using the following measures:industry to continue and deliver exceptional value to our customers.

Entering into engagements with large

We control access to and use of our proprietary technology and other confidential information by implementing internal and external controls, including contractual protections with employees, contractors, customers and partners. We require our employees, consultants and other third parties to enter into confidentiality and proprietary rights agreements and leading customers, since such engagements establish our status and reputation in the field of information security and open up new opportunities to enter into engagements with other customers;

Entering into engagements with distributors, marketing entities and technological partners (for example by OEM contracts) in order to strengthen our position in existing markets and to penetrate new markets, in accordance with our business strategy;
Providing high level maintenance and support services to existing customers in order to retain and encourage them to consume other services offered by us, thereby increasing revenues and preventing customer attrition; and
Meeting with customers in order to maintain our relationships.

Moreover, we assume thatcontrol and monitor access to our penetration into the U.S. market will have a positive effectsoftware, documentation, proprietary digital insights data, proprietary technology, and other confidential information. Our policy is to require all employees and independent contractors to sign agreements assigning to us any inventions, trade secrets, works of authorship, developments, processes, and other intellectual property generated by them on our competitive status, since approximately 40% of global spending on information security is spent in the U.S. market. We also believe that penetration into the U.S. market will have an effect on European customers.behalf and under which they agree to protect our confidential information. In addition, since U.S. organizations are required by regulators to have in place information security solutions, many American financial institutions, healthcare organizationswe generally enter into confidentiality agreements with our customers and government agencies dedicate large budgets to information security.partners.

Competitive StrengthsSales and Marketing

We believe that our strengths include the following:

Our unique technology, which addresses the entire lifecycle of data and application access and usage, providing customers with a single solution which can consolidate into it both application and data access and usage technologies;
The scalability of our security solutions and the seamless integration of our solutions into the client’s data center with minimal disruption to an organization’s ongoing work;
Our solutions can integrate with other systems – a solution’s ability to interface with information security systems, databases, business systems and other systems in an organization is a highly important factor for the client when selecting a security solution;
Prior knowledge and experience of our personnel in the field of information access, sharing and security, as well as an experienced workforce that has the ability to develop our products in accordance with client requirements, as well as with variable market conditions and technological developments in the market;
Our ability to adapt to the frequent changes and developments in its area of activity as well as its ability to reply quickly to such changes and developments;
We are engaging with large and leading domestic and foreign customers. Engagements with large customers establish our status as a prominent player in the information security market and give us recognition and a reputation for reliability, which open up opportunities to engagements with other customers; and
We sign business and technological collaboration agreements – business distribution agreements or technology-based agreements that provide access to more markets and customers.

Marketing

Our internal marketing and sales staff consistconsists currently of 17 persons as of the date of this annual report, including employees, self-employed contractors and dedicated workers of labor services firms.approximately 25 people. We also work through marketing and distribution channels.

We maintain in-house marketing and sales personnel where we employ traditional and non-traditional internet-based marketing methods, tools, and techniques. We enter into engagements with distributors, resellers and channel partners for the purpose of distributing our products. The distributors, resellers and marketing entities are in charge, among other things, for identifying potential customers, integration of the products in an organization’s systems and providing support services to our customers. We have entered into engagements with distributors and resellers for the purpose of distributingreselling our productsservices to their customers. We maintain clear and defined key performance indicators regarding our marketing spent. We also participate from time to time in Israel, the United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada, Germany, Spain, Serbia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Turkey, Indonesiaweb data and the Philippines. internet exhibitions and conferences.

We have approximately 15 active distributors.also continue to build out and maintain third party marketing and distribution channels. We partner with marketing affiliates, all of which are performance driven and on a non-exclusive basis. The engagement with each distributor/partner or marketing entity is limited to a specific territory and/or specific customers and is not exclusive. Normally, the term of engagement with distributors/partners or marketing entities is one year and it is extended automatically, unless cancelled by one of the parties. The considerationConsideration in respect of those engagements is paid to us from time to time when sales are made by the distributors.

affiliates/partners.

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We use third party marketing contractors, for specific topics which we do not have also entered into consultancy agreements with several sales agentsexpertise in, such as SEO management for theour web sites, or companies specializing in marketing and promotion of our products in order to increase the scope of our sales. The term of those agreements is normally one to two years and they focus on the marketing and promotion of our sales in specific territories and to specific potential customers. countries, such as China. Our web site management and content writing is done in-house. In addition, we utilize local partners in certain countries such as China, where there is a language barrier as well as time zone differences.

We currently have eight active sales representatives, who operateparticipate from time to time in Israel, Europe, Asiaweb data and the United States. Some of the sales agents are entitled to receive commissions based on sales. Other sales agents are entitled to a fixed monthly payment or a single payment upon placement of a purchase order.

We also participate in information securityinternet exhibitions and conferences, such as Check Point CPX, CyberTech and the RSA Conference, regional events held by information security partners and integrators. conferences.

We market our products through our website http:https://www.safe-t.comnetnut.io and digital media.

Regulation

Regulation in the data collection market still stands as a pivotal point of discussion and contention. Governments and regulatory bodies worldwide are increasingly recognizing the importance of safeguarding user privacy and controlling the dissemination of sensitive information. Measures like the GDPR in the European Union or the CCPA in the United States signify a growing trend toward stricter guidelines governing data collection, storage, and usage. On October 30, 2023, President Biden issued an Executive Order establishing new standards for Artificial Intelligence (AI) to be implemented by federal agencies for the purpose of realizing AI’s benefits while mitigating its substantial risks issues, which are likely to affect public policy arising from AI use by companies in the private sector that use AI for business operations (such as for accounting, programming, coding and more). These regulations aim to instill transparency, accountability, and consent-based practices among entities involved in collecting and handling data, thereby fostering a more ethical and privacy-centric approach within the data collection market. However, the evolving nature of technology and the global scope of data make it an ongoing challenge to create comprehensive and adaptable regulatory frameworks that balance consumer protection with innovation and business needs.


 

Strategy

Our main goalWe believe that compliance with existing regulations is imperative for companies operating in the data collection market, necessitating robust data protection measures, clearer consent mechanisms, and increased accountability to become oneuphold consumer trust. Navigating the complex regulatory landscape of the leading vendors in the fields of cyber, data protection,collection market is a priority we take seriously. Our approach hinges on proactive measures that ensure transparency, consent, and information security. We began operationsmeticulously outline data collection practices, ensuring clarity in Israel, but we now operateour privacy policies and consent mechanisms. We maintain regular audits and assessments to keep us aligned with evolving regulatory standards, to ensure continuous compliance. We are committed to upholding the rights of individuals concerning their data, prioritizing their control and privacy while delivering top-tier data collection solutions in Israeladherence to the evolving regulatory landscape.

C. Organizational Structure

We have three wholly owned subsidiaries: NetNut Ltd., CyberKick Ltd. and globally in North America, Europe, Southeast Asia and Africa. We intend to continue our penetration efforts into the U.S. market. Among the steps that we have taken in order to penetrate the U.S. market was the recruitment of a U.S. based team that is being assisted by an advisory board consisting of industry professionals who serve in leading information security positions of big and medium size US companies. The main purpose of the team is the entering into engagements with distributors in the U.S. market and form collaborative engagements with other technology suppliers.

Safe-T Data A.R Ltd. In addition, we are taking steps to expandNetNut Ltd. has one wholly-owned subsidiary, NetNut Networks Inc. CyberKick Ltd. owns one wholly owned subsidiary - Spell Me Ltd. and one wholly owned subsidiary under voluntary dissolution – RoboVPN Technologies Ltd.

NetNut Ltd. is our activitieswholly owned subsidiary incorporated in Europe and Southeast Asia, and to enter into engagements with new business partners in those markets. We intend continue to invest significant resources in research and development in order to improve our existing products, develop new and cutting-edge products and technologies to maintain our innovative position in the market.

We also intend to continue to:

Engage with additional OEMs, resellers, distributors and system integrators;
Open new branches in key global locations since we believe that physical presence in certain regions/countries will push sales;
Increase marketing and sales activities; and
Establish partnerships with industry leaders.

Regulation

The trends describedIsrael. NetNut operates in the field of information securityinternet access and cyber protection areweb data collection services, which enables customers to collect data anonymously at any scale from any public sources over the underlying factorsweb using a unique hybrid network.

CyberKick Ltd. is our wholly owned subsidiary incorporated in Israel. CyberKick operates in the field of internet access for consumers and provides powerful, secured and encrypted connection, masking the regulatory developments globally, which affectcustomers’ online activity and keeping them safe from hackers.

Safe-T Data A.R Ltd. is our wholly owned subsidiary incorporated in Israel. Safe-T Data operated in the information securityfield of enterprise cybersecurity, specifically in the development and cyber protection requirements applicable to our customers. In many instances, regulation started with making information security obligatory for certain industries, such as critical infrastructures, and the health and finance sectors. In recent years, information security regulation has been expanded to many types of organizations that hold information or run infrastructures that have commercial or other value (including information of customers, employees and their internal systems). Regulations may impose on organizations various requirements regarding integration of corporate procedures, enforcement plans, reporting duties, office holders’ duties in connection with cyber security, etc. Regulation also requires organizations to integrate into their systems physical and technological security measures in order to protect their information assets and computer systems.

The United States has a numbermarketing of information security regulatory schemes,solutions for organizations that allow secure and controlled sharing of information. In July 2023, we completed the sale of our legacy cybersecurity solutions and therefore, currently, Safe-T Data is inactive.

NetNut Networks Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of NetNut Ltd. NetNut Networks is incorporated in the fieldsState of healthcare, finance, education,Delaware, and government, such as the PCI-DSS, HIPAA, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and GLBA, and the international banking regulations of the Basel Committee on Bank Supervision, which are applicable to the fields of credit cards, healthcare, securities, and banking. Furthermore, many statesis engaged in the United States have passed legislation regarding reporting duties on information security breaches. Moreover, therefield of internet access and web data collection services.

Spell Me Ltd. is a clear trendwholly owned subsidiary of increased enforcementCyberKick. Spell Me Ltd. is incorporated in organizationsSeychelles and companies in order to increase information security.

is currently inactive.

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A similar trend can be seen in Europe, where the European Banking Authority has issued directives regarding the security of online payments,D. Property, Plants and other information security requirements were put in place under the Data Protection Directive. In addition, in July 2016, the European Parliament approved the new cyber directive – The Directive on Security of Network and Information Systems – that is designed to set binding principles for tackling cyber threats in EU countries. This development in cyber regulation in the European Union constitutes another layer of regulation on top of the GDPR, which came into effect in May 2018. The directive makes it obligatory for EU countries to pass as laws certain cyber security requirements in connection with operators of essential services that rely heavily on cyber infrastructures, such as companies and organizations that provide essential services to the public and suppliers of energy, transport, water, banking, financial market infrastructures, healthcare and digital infrastructure. Also, over the course of the last year, the European Union has put into action significant legislative and regulatory measures that motivate companies to take steps that will enable them to be better prepared to face cyber threats. Those regulatory and legislative measures also motivate organizations to take active measures to increase their information security.

Many organizations in the United States and Europe are subject to information security standards set by industry sectors and other non-governmental entities. This applies, for instance, to healthcare organizations, and organizations operating in the finance sector. We believe that our products will assist organizations to comply with the information security requirements of the relevant laws, such as HIPAA (for healthcare organizations), GLBA (for the finance sector) and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (for publicly traded companies). Other countries around the world, including Israel, have similar stringent regulations relating to information security.

Further to our abovementioned efforts to penetrate the U.S. market, we have attained FIPS 140-2 certification for our secure data exchange product. We plan to also certify our secure data access product. FIPS 140-2 certification is a federal U.S. government security standard used to approve cryptographic modules for secure communication and encryption, and mandatory for any vendor selling in the federal sector. FIPS 140-2 certification enables us to penetrate the U.S. federal market and fully maximize our expansion potential in the United States.

Intellectual Property

We rely on various forms of intellectual property protection, including patents, copyrights, trade secrets and trademarks. We hold two issued patents in the United States, and one patent issued in Israel, Europe, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, France, Great Britain and Italy related to our “Reverse-Access” method for securing front-end applications. On November 29, 2018, the State Intellectual Property Office of the P.R.C (China) issued a Notice of Allowance of the patent in China. In addition, we have a patent application, pending a petition to revive response from the USPTO, which underlies the Telepath technology that was acquired from Cykick Labs Ltd. We also have several trademarks registered in the United States, Israel, the European Union and China.

Grants from the Israeli Innovation Authority

Our research and development efforts are financed in part through royalty-bearing grants from the IIA. As of the date of this annual report, we have received the aggregate amount of approximately $0.146 million from the IIA for the development of our technology. With respect to such grant we are committed to pay royalties from all of our income. Furthermore, pursuant to the technology purchase agreement between Safe-T Data and Cykick Labs Ltd., approved by the IIA in July 2018, we are committed to pay royalties on grants received from the IIA in connection with the technologies purchased under this agreement in the amount of approximately $0.4 million from our income generated from products incorporating such technology. Additionally, in July 2018, we received a notice from the IIA regarding an obligation at the approximate amount of $0.5 million, made by an incubator center, which Cykick Labs Ltd. was a part of. According to the IIA, in order to receive the IIA’s approval to export the technology purchased from Cykick Labs Ltd., we would be required to obtain a commitment from the incubator center, taking the obligation upon themselves. If we do not obtain such commitment, we would be required to take this obligation upon our self, otherwise, the IIA will not approve any future export of the technology purchased from Cykick Labs Ltd. We have recently sent a letter to the IIA, rejecting its claims. We cannot be sure that the IIA will accept our arguments, which, if not accepted, may result in the expenditure of financial resources or may impair our ability to transfer or sell our technology outside of Israel.

Equipment

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We are committed to pay royalties with respect to aforesaid grants until 100% of the U.S. dollar-linked grant plus LIBOR interest is repaid. Regardless of any royalty payments, we are further required to comply with the requirements of the Innovation Law, with respect to know-how which was developed with those past grants. When a company develops know-how, technology or products using IIA grants, the terms of these grants and the Innovation Law restrict the transfer of such know-how, and the transfer of manufacturing or manufacturing rights of such products, technologies or know-how outside of Israel, without the prior approval of the IIA. We do not believe that these requirements will materially restrict us in any way.

C.Organizational Structure

We have one wholly-owned subsidiary: Safe-T Data A.R Ltd., and our wholly-owned subsidiary has one wholly-owned subsidiary, Safe-T USA Inc. 

 

Safe-T Data A.R Ltd.is our wholly-owned subsidiary incorporated in Israel. Safe-T Data A.R Ltd. operates in the field in information security, specifically in the development and marketing of information security solutions for organizations that will allow secure and controlled sharing of information.

Safe-T USA Inc.is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Safe-T Data A.R. Safe-T USA Inc. is incorporated in the State of Delaware. Safe-T USA Inc. is engaged in selling and marketing our products in North America.

D.Property, Plant and Equipment

Our headquarters areis located at 8 Abba Eban Avenue, Herzliya, 4672526,30 Haarba’a St., Tel Aviv, 6473926, Israel, where we currently occupy approximately 6,3004,200 square feet. We lease our facilities and ourthrough NetNut. The lease ends on December 31, 2019.in October 2025, with an option to extend it for one additional year. Our monthly rent payment is approximately NIS 62,000110,000 (approximately $17,000)$31,000)WeCyberKick’s offices are located also rent a small space of 200 square feet in Short Hills, New Jersey, for our U.S. team’s needs. The monthly rent payment for this spacethe same offices.

NetNut Networks’ registered address is approximately $1,300, and the lease ends on April 2020.4607 Library Rd Ste 220 #1067, Bethel Park, PA 15102.

We believe that our current office space isspaces are sufficient to meet our anticipated needs for the foreseeable future and isare suitable for the conduct of our business.

ITEM 4A.UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

ITEM 4A. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

Not applicable.

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ITEM 5.OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW AND PROSPECTS

ITEM 5. OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW AND PROSPECTS


 

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF

FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this annual report on Form 20-F. This discussion and other parts of this annual report on Form 20-F contain forward-looking statements based upon current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results and the timing of selected events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of several factors, including those set forth under “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this annual report in Form 20-F. We report financial information under IFRS as issued by the IASB. Our discussion and analysis for the year ended December 31, 2022, can be found in our annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the SEC on March 31, 2023. 

OverviewOur Business Model

We develop and market software solutions that address multiple aspects of the data protection information security and cybersecurity markets. Our patented solutions are designated to secure our customers’ data, services and networks from internal and external threats, such as unauthorized access to data, services and networks, as well as data-related threats that include data exfiltration, leakage, malware, ransomware and fraud. We believe that our innovative products are the first solution that controls, in one integrated package, the entire data access lifecycle, allowing our customers to avoid the integration complexities of multiple products. In addition, we believe that our products create strong perimeter security as a result of our patented Reverse-Access technology.

Among ourgenerate SaaS revenues when customers are large financial institutions, large healthcare organizationssubscribing to our enterprise and companies, leading insurance companies, government agencies, industrialconsumer access platforms and commercial companiespaying for the packages they choose. The packages are usually for the earlier of one to twelve months or maximum bandwidth usage in the enterprise access segment, and educational institutions.for a month or a year in the consumers access segment. Our headquarters are located in Israel withrevenue is recognized on a straight-line basis over the package period.

Until July 2023, we generated revenues on the consumer access arena also from providing advertising services to enterprise customers, and sales operations in Israel, North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Africa.

Our Business Model

We generate revenue from sales of our Software Defined Access solution – perpetual or subscribed licenses of our products, and related services. Also, we generate revenues from product maintenance and customer support.

Our product license revenue consists primarily of revenue generated from the sale of our two products – secure data exchange and secure data access. We offer this portfolio as a complete solution to protect customers’ data, services and networks from internal and external threats, such as unauthorized access to data, services and networks, as well as data-related threats that include data exfiltration, leakage, malware, ransomware and fraud. Nevertheless, customers may choose to purchase only one of our products, to protect a certain aspect of their network.

License revenue can be generated through the sale of either perpetual licenses or subscribed licenses. In a perpetual license sale, the customer purchases our product, usually accompanied with 1 to 3 years of maintenance and support services. Thereafter, the customer is not obligated to continue the engagement with us, butusing marketing tools on various sites in order to maintain maintenance and support services, including receiving updates and upgrades forpersuade users to acquire our products,enterprise customers’ privacy products. Revenue was recognized at the point in time when a user purchased an application or software of a customer. On July 4, 2023, we announced our intention to scale down the Consumer Internet Access business operations (see “Item 4.B. Business Overview”). As a result, we ceased to generate these advertising revenues.

Also, in July 2023 we sold our legacy cybersecurity solutions, which are essentialis considered in order to monitor and successfully block any potential threats, they will usually purchase additional and continuous periods of maintenance and support services.

A subscribed license sale is generated when the customer elects to use our productthis annual report on Form 20-F as a service, usually for periods ranging from one to three years. This service also includes maintenance and support throughout the subscribed period, which after its expiration the customer is not entitled to use the products unless subscription is renewed for additional periods. The price of a one-year subscription is lower than the same license sold as a perpetual license, but the cash flow from renewals in later years is higher than the renewal of maintenance and support services in the perpetual licenses’ method.

Maintenance and support service renewals are usually 15%-25% of the perpetual license price, depending mainly on the supporting hours and response times, and are important, as they represent, like subscription renewals, steady and visible cash flow growth.

Our renewal rate for subscriptions of maintenance and support contracts was approximately 85% over the years 2017 and 2018, and we expect to maintain high renewal rates in the future due to the significant value we believe the products add to the customers’ information security.

We also generate revenues from other services such as implementation services or product development services requested by our customers to enhance the security of specific processes or applications. The services to the customer can be provided by either specific product developments or support/implementation services which are provided at the customer’s premises.

discontinued operation.

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Key Business MetricsMetric

We monitor the key business metrics set forth below to help us evaluate growth trends,and establish budgets, measure the effectiveness of our sales and marketing efforts, and assess operational efficiencies. Our non-IFRS key business metrics are:

Net Bookings. Net Bookings are a non-IFRS financial metric that we define as customers purchase orders over a defined period, that are expected to be fulfilled. We consider net bookings to be a useful metric for managementEBITDA, EBITDA loss, Adjusted EBITDA and investors, because net bookings are not affected by accounting standards, and can be the most important indicator of our business growth. However, it is important to note that other companies, including companies in our industry, may not use net bookings, may calculate net bookings differently,Adjusted EBITDA loss.

EBITDA or may use other financial measures to evaluate their performance, all of which could reduce the usefulness of net bookings as a comparative measure. Our net bookings for the year ended December 31, 2018 were $1,830,000 (including bookings which are still contingent as of the date of this annual report, at the amount of $423,000), compared to net bookings of $1,651,000 for the year ended on December 31, 2017.

Backlog Orders. Backlog orders is a non-IFRS financial metric that we define as an aggregate amount of net bookings that weren’t invoiced as of the day of measurement. This measure is different from the unfilled performance obligations reflected in the consolidated financial statements which are calculated on net bookings which were already invoiced. We consider backlog order to be a useful metric for management and investors, because it is not affected by accounting standards, and can be an important indicator of our expected recognized revenue for the periods following the measurement date. Our backlog order as of December 31, 2018 was $982,000, compared to backlog order of $565,000 as of December 31, 2017. All above mentioned figures include contingent bookings.

We believe that this non-IFRS financial measure is useful in evaluating our business as a way of assisting an investor in evaluating future cash flows of the business.

Annual Recurring Revenues. Annual recurring revenues is a non-IFRS financial metric measure that represents the estimated amount of sales a year ahead of a certain measurement date, taking into account renewal of current maintenance and support contracts, as well as renewals of subscribed licenses, all adjusted to reflect one year of operations. For example, in the case of a three-year contract, that may or may not be renewed during the 12 months period ahead of the measurement date, we take for this measurement a third of the expected renewal amount. As of December 31, 2018, our annual recurring revenues were approximately $910,000, approximately 52% of which is renewals for subscribed licenses and the rest is for maintenance and support renewals. As of December 31, 2017, our annual recurring revenues were approximately $740,000, approximately 65% of which are maintenance and support renewals and the rest are renewals for subscribed licenses.

We believe that this non-IFRS measure is useful in evaluating and estimating the amount of future sales from recurring revenues.

Non-IFRS netEBITDA loss. Non-IFRS net lossThis is a non-IFRS financial measure that we define as a net loss which excludes: (i) share-based compensation expenses; (ii)from continuing operations before depreciation, amortization and impairment of intangible assets, relatedinterest, and tax.

Adjusted EBITDA or Adjusted EBITDA loss. This is a non-IFRS financial measure that we define as EBITDA or EBITDA loss, as further adjusted to acquisitions; andremove the impact of (i) impairment of goodwill (if any); (ii) share-based compensation; (iii) financial expenses resulting from the valuation of warrants to purchase Ordinary Shares. Due tocontingent consideration measurement (if any).


In accordance with accounting standards, we are required to record non-cash expenses and non-core expenses, which have a material effect on our profitability.

We believe that thisthese non-IFRS financial measure ismeasures are useful in evaluating our business because of varying available valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions and the variety of equityfinancial instruments that can impact a company’s non-cash expenses, and because they exclude one-timenon-core cash expenditures such as the expenses mentioned above, that do not reflect the performance of our core business. By excluding non-cash items that have been expensed in accordance with IFRS, we believe that the Company’s non-IFRS results provide information to both management and investors that is useful in assessing the Company’s core operating performance and in evaluating and comparing the Company’s results of ongoing operations on a consistent basis from period to period. Our management also uses both IFRS and non-IFRS information in evaluating and operating our business internally. The following tables show the reconciled effect of the non-cash expenses/income on our net loss for the years ended December 31, 2018, 20172023, and 2016:

  December 31, 
U.S. dollars in thousands 2018  2017  2016 
Net loss for the year  11,753   5,313   8,922 
             
Amortization of intangible assets  276   251   251 
Share based compensation  381   1,318   1,818 
Issuance expenses  517   -   - 
Listing expenses  -   -   1,545 
Recognition of day-one deferred loss  -   -   1,056 
Finance liabilities at fair value  1,891   (1,981)  513 
Total adjustment  3,065   (412)  5,183 
             
Non-IFRS net loss  8,688   5,725   3,739 

2022:

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  December 31, 
U.S. dollars in millions 2023  2022 
Loss from continuing operations for the year  (5.6)  (12.4)
Adjustments:        
Assets depreciation, amortization and impairment  3.5   2.0 
Finance expense (income), net  0.6   * 
Tax benefit  (0.5)  (0.3)
EBITDA loss  (2.0)  (10.7)
Adjustments:        
Share-based compensation  0.9   1.6 
Impairment of goodwill  6.3   0.6 
Adjusted EBITDA (Adjusted EBITDA loss) for the year  5.2   (8.5)

We believe that the exclusion of these items from our statement of operations and the adjustment to a more cash-based statement will provide us with valuable information regarding our expenses and profitability. Share-based compensation expenses have been, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future, a significant recurring expense in our business and an important part of the compensation we provide to employees. Additionally, excluding financial expenses with respect to revaluations of warrants to purchase Ordinary Shares allows for more meaningful comparison between our net income from period to period.

*Less than $0.1 million.

Other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate non-IFRS net loss along with other financial performance measures, including operating loss and loss for the period, and our other financial results presented in accordance with IFRS.

Net cash used in operating activities. We monitor net cash used in operating activities as a measure of our overall business performance. Our net cash used in operating activities is driven in large part by sales of our products and from up-front payments for both subscriptions, support and maintenance services. Monitoring net cash used in operating activities enables us to analyze our financial performance without the non-cash effects of certain items such as depreciation, amortization, and share-based compensation costs, thereby allowing us to better understand and manage the cash needs of our business. Our net cash used in operating activities for year ended December 31, 2018, was $8,736,000 compared to $5,345,000 for the year ended December 31, 2017.

Factors Affecting our Performance

Market Adoption. We rely on market educationbusinesses requiring gathering data over the Internet using residential and Data Center IP addresses from various localities around the world. Also, our revenues from consumers access tools rely on consumers’ willingness to raise awareness of today’s next-generation cyber-attacks, articulatespend money in order to increase their safety and privacy while using the need for our Software Defined Access solution and, in particular, the reasons to purchase our products. internet.

Our prospective customers in the enterprise access segment often do not have a specific portion of their ITinformation technology budgets allocated for products that address the next generation of advanced cyber-attacks.privacy solutions. We invest heavily in sales and marketing efforts to increase market awareness, educate prospective customers, and drive the adoption of our solution. This market education is critical to creating new IT budget dollars or allocating IT budget dollars across enterprises and governments for next-generation threat protection solutions, and in particular, our platform. However, weWe believe that we will need to invest additional resources in targeted international markets to drive awareness and market adoption. The degree to which prospective customers recognize the mission critical need for next-generation threat protection solutions, and subsequently allocate budget dollars for our platform,collecting valuable information from internet sites will drive our ability to acquire new customers, and increase renewals and follow-on sales opportunities, which, in turn, will affect our future financial performance.

Lack of reliance on large customers

We work continuously to increase our customer base, in order to reduce reliance on large customers. During 2023, 46% of our enterprise internet access revenue derived from 34 customers who purchased services in amounts ranging between $100,000 and $1,000,000, and 22% of our revenue was generated from 131 customers who bought services at amounts range between $10,000 and $100,000. We had three customers that purchased services in amounts greater than $1,000,000, and they generated together approximately 27% of the total enterprise internet access business revenues.


 

Sales Productivity.

Expansion from existing customers

Our large base of customers represents a significant opportunity for further sales organization consistsexpansion. Once a customer has purchased a subscription from us, we have historically experienced significant expansion with them over time as they add additional features, geographic coverage, users, and digital intelligence solutions. We look at the increase in spending from our customers as an indication of the value we provide them over time.

An indication of our success to increase spending from existing customers in the internet access business is our net dollar-based retention rate, or NRR, which compares our Annual Recurring Revenue, or ARR, from the same set of customers as of a direct sales team, made up of field and inside sales personnel, and indirect channel sales teams to support our channel partner sales. We utilize a direct-touch sales model whereby we work with our channel partners to secure prospects, convert prospects to customers, and pursue follow-on sales opportunities. To date, we have primarily targeted mid and large enterprise and government customers, who typically have sales cycles from three to nine months.

Our growth strategy contemplates increased sales and marketing investments internationally. Newly hired sales and marketing resources will require several months to establish prospect relationships and drive overall sales productivity. In addition, sales teamscertain point in international regions will face local markets that have not had significant market education about advanced security threats that our solution addresses. All of these factors will influence the timing and overall levels of sales productivity, impacting the rate at which we will be able to convert prospects into sales and drive revenue growth.

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Renewal Rates. New or existing customers that purchase our products through the perpetual license, usually purchase a one or three-year maintenance and support package. New or existing customers that purchase our products through a subscribed license, usually subscribe to a period ranging between one to three years. Upon the expiration of maintenance or subscription contracts, the customers can choose whether or not to renew their contracts for additional periods. The number of renewing customers that were due for renewal in any rolling 12-month period, divided by the number of customers that were due for renewal in that rolling 12-month period, is the Renewal Rate.

We believe our renewal rate is an important metric by which to measure the long-term value of customer agreements and our ability to retain our customers. Our renewal rate for subscriptions and maintenance and support contracts during 2018 and 2017 was approximately 81% and 90% respectively, and we expect to maintain high renewal rates in the future duetime, relative to the significant value we believe the products add to the customers’ information security.

Follow-On Sales. After the initial sale to a new customer, we focus on expanding our relationship with such customer to sell additional products, subscriptions and services. Our revenue growth depends on our customers making additional purchases of our solution. Sales to our existing customer base can take the form of incremental sales of appliances, subscriptions and services, either to deploy our solution into additional parts of their network or to protect additional threat vectors. Our opportunity to expand our customer relationships through follow-on sales will increase as we add new customers, broaden our product portfolio to support more threat vectors, increase network performance and enhance functionality. Follow-on sales lead to increased revenue over the lifecycle of a customer relationship and can significantly increase the return on our sales and marketing investments.

5.AOperating Results

Components of Operating Results

Revenue

We generate revenue from the sales of our perpetual or subscribed licenses of products, and related services. Also, we generate revenues from product maintenance customer support. As discussed further in “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates—Revenue Recognition” below and according to the provisions of IFRS 15, which was early adopted on January 1, 2017, revenue is recognized at the time at which the license is granted to the customer, which is thesame point in time in which the customer obtainsprevious year ago period. We calculate our NRR as of a period end by starting with the rightARR from the cohort of all customers as of 12 months prior to use our software.

Our total revenue consistssuch period-end, or the Prior Period ARR. We then calculate the ARR from these same customers as of the following:

Perpetual license revenue. We recognize perpetual license revenue at the time of delivery, provided that all other revenue recognition criteria have been met.
Term license revenue.We recognize term license revenue at the time at which the license is granted to the customer, provided that all other revenue recognition criteria have been met. In 2016, we recognized revenues from term licenses over the subscription period, on a straight-line basis as prescribed by IAS 18.
Maintenance & Support revenue.We recognize revenue from maintenance and support services over the contract term.
Professional services revenue. We recognize revenue from professional services as they are rendered to the customer.

Quarterly Revenue Trend

Comparisonscurrent period-end, or the Current Period ARR. Current Period ARR includes any expansion and is net of our year-over-year total revenue are more meaningful than comparisons of our quarterly results due to seasonalitycontraction or attrition over the last 12 months but excludes ARR from new customers in the salecurrent period. We then divide the Current Period ARR by the Prior Period ARR to arrive at the point-in-time NRR. We then calculate the average of the trailing four quarter point-in-time NRR to arrive at the NRR. As of December 31, 2023, our products, subscriptionsNRR was 1.53, which means that the existing customers increased their ARR from 2022 by 53%, regardless of any increase in revenues generated from new customers.

Our ability to increase sales to existing customers will depend on a number of factors, including our customers’ satisfaction with our solutions, pricing and services. Our fourth quarter has historically beensupport, the competition and the overall changes in our strongest quarter forcustomers’ spending levels.

5.A Operating Results

Components of Operating Results

Revenue

We generate SaaS revenues as a result of large enterprises buying patterns. detailed under “Our Business Model” above.

We believe that theseour business is not sensitive to seasonal trends have affected and will continue to affect our quarterly results. Historicalbut still, historical patterns in our business may not be a reliable indicator of our future sales activity or performance.

performance due to the early stage of the businesses we operate and recent acquisitions.

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Cost of RevenueRevenues

Our total cost of revenue consists mainly of payments related to our enterprise access solutions with respect to publishers and ISPs for IP addresses, including servers’ costs required for the IP’s routing. We also have amortization of technology purchased in our acquisition of NetNut in June 2019, and personnel costs associated with our operations and global customer support, including salaries, benefits, bonuses, and share-based compensation. OverheadThe personnel consist of post-sales services on-site, such as support teams that provide our customers with on-line support.

Until July 2023, we had material traffic acquisition costs and clearing fees related to the consumer internet access segment, before it was scaled down. Other costs include mainly overhead costs which consist of certain facilities, depreciation, benefits and IT costs. The personnel consist of post-sales engineers who assist our customers with installations, implementation as well as other professional services on-site, such as support teams who provide our customers with on-line support according to the customer’s contract.

Cost of Revenue may also include the cost of third-party products that may be sold to our customers as a standalone product which integrates with our solution. Cost of revenue also includes amortization of intangible assets purchased by the Subsidiary in February 2013 and July 2018.

Gross Margin

Gross margin, or gross profit as a percentage of revenue, has been and will continue to be affected by a variety of factors, including the average sales price of our products and services, the mix of products sold, including third parties’ productsthe costs related to our enterprise access solutions, the amortization of acquired technologies and the personnel costs involved in the generation of the revenue. We expect our gross margins to increase over time as revenues continue to grow, subject to the factors described above.


 

Operating Expenses

Our operating expenses consist of research and development, sales and marketing, and general and administrative expenses. Personnel costs are the most significant component of our operating expenses and consist of salaries, benefits, bonuses, share-based compensation and, with regards to sales and marketing expenses, also sales commissions. Operating expenses also include contractors, consultants and other professional services costs, overhead costs for facilities, IT and depreciation.

Research and development. Research and development expenses consist primarily of personnel costs and allocated overhead,overheads, as well as the costs of subcontractors assisting our research and development team. We expect research and development expenses to continue to increase in absolute dollars as we continue to invest in our research and product development efforts to enhance our product capabilities, address new threat vectors and access new customer markets.

Sales and marketing. Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of personnel costs, incentive commission costs and allocated overhead. We expense commission costs as incurred. Sales and marketing expensesUntil the second quarter of 2023, we had material media costs, which were required for customer acquisitions in the consumer access segment – an activity we stopped in July 2023. We also includes costs forspend money on market development programs, promotions and other marketing activities, travel, and outside consulting costs.costs, and travel expense. We expect sales and marketing expenses to continue to increase in absolute dollars as we increase the size of our sales and marketing activities and expand our international sales and marketing operations.
General and administrative. General and administrative expenses consist mainly of personnel costs, professional services and allocated overhead. General and administrative personnel include our executive, finance, legal, human resources and administration. Professional services included in our general and administrative expenses consist primarily of legal, auditing, accounting and other consulting costs. We expectOur general and administrative expenses to continue to increasedecreased in absolute dollars andin 2023 due to the settlement of legal proceedings in May 2022. Nevertheless, we expect to continue to incur additional general and administrative expenses as we grow our operations and comply with public company regulations, including higher legal, corporate insurance, and accounting expenses.

Finance Expense/Income

Finance Expense/Incomeexpense/income consists primarily of the changesinterest payments derived from our strategic funding (for more information, see “Item 5.B - Liquidity and Capital Resources - Change in financial liabilities at fair value through profit or loss as well ascash and cash equivalents”). We also have exchange rate differences. Our financial liabilities at fair value through profit or loss indifferences, which can impact our consolidated statement of financial position consist of derivative financial instruments and liability in respect of anti-dilution feature which were re-measured to fair value with the corresponding change recorded as finance expense or finance expense/income. We report our financial results in dollars and most of our revenues are recorded in dollars, while substantially all of the research and development expenses, as well as a portion of our cost of revenues, sales and marketing and general and administrative expenses, are incurred in NIS. As a result, we are exposed to fluctuations in exchange rates which affect our finance expense or finance income.

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Comparison of the year ended December 31, 20182023, to the year ended December 31, 2017 to the year ended December 31, 20162022

Results of Operations from Continuing Operations

  Year ended
December 31,
 
U.S. dollars in millions 2023  2022 
Consolidated Statements of Profit or Loss      
Revenue  26.5   18.5 
Cost of revenue  7.7   8.4 
Gross profit  18.8   10.1 
Research and development expenses  3.6   3.8 
Selling and marketing expenses  10.0   11.8 
General and administrative expenses  4.4   6.6 
Impairment of goodwill 6.3  0.6 
Operating loss  (5.5)  (12.7)
Financial expense, net  (0.6)  (0.1)
Loss from continuing operations before income tax  (6.1)  (12.8)
Tax benefit  0.5   0.3 
Loss from continuing operations  (5.6)  (12.5)


 

  Year Ended
December 31,
 
U.S. dollars in thousands 2018  2017  2016 
Consolidated Statements of Profit or Loss         
Revenues  1,466   1,096   843 
Cost of revenues  791   583��  512 
Gross profit  675   513   331 
Research and development expenses  2,414   1,608   1,085 
Selling and marketing expenses  5,542   4,051   2,892 
General and administrative expenses  1,925   2,150   2,123 
Listing expenses  -   -   1,579 
Operating loss  (9,206)  (7,296)  (7,348)
Financial income (expenses), net  (2,541)  1,984   (1,572)
Loss before taxes on income  (11,747)  (5,312)  (8,920)
Taxes on income  (6)  (1)  (2)
Net loss for the year  (11,753)  (5,313)  (8,922)

Revenues

The following table summarizes our revenues throughby types for the periods presented. The period-to-period comparison of results is not necessarily indicative of results for future periods.

  Year Ended
December 31,
 
U.S. dollars in thousands 2018  2017  2016 
Revenues from License  794   486   453 
Revenues from provision of maintenance & support services  606   519   341 
Revenues from provision of other services revenues  66   91   49 
Total Revenues  1,466   1,096   843 
  Year ended
December 31,
 
U.S. dollars in millions 2023  2022 
Software as a Service  23.7   11.9 
Advertising services  2.8   6.7 
Total Revenues  26.5   18.6 

Revenues in 2018 increased by $370,000Our revenues for the year ended December 31, 2023, amounted to $26.5 million, representing a 34%an increase of $7.9 million, or 42%, compared to revenues achieved during 2017.$18.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase is primarily attributed to a 63%$12.8 million increase from $8.5 million to $21.3 million (151%) in licenses thatthe enterprise internet access segment revenues generated by NetNut compared to 2022. These increases were sold to new and current customers,partially offset by a 17% increase$4.8 million decrease (48%) in the consumer internet access segment revenues, from maintenance and support services, and a 27% decrease in revenues from services. Out$10.0 million to $5.2 million, due to the cessation of the total revenues, revenues generated from new customers were $738,000, representing approximately 50% out ofadvertising services in mid-2023 and the total revenues, while revenues generated from existing customers were $728,000, representing approximately 50% of the total revenues.

Revenues generated in Israel constituted 67% of the total revenues for 2018, while revenues generated in North America constituted 24% and revenues generatedscale down in the rest of the world constituted 9%, compared to 75%, 21%consumer product operations and 4%, respectively, during 2017.

Revenues in 2017 increased by $253,000 representing a 30% increase compared to revenues achieved during 2016. The increase is primarily attributed to a 7% increase in licenses that were sold to new and current customers, a 52% increase in revenues from maintenance and support services, and an 86% increase in revenues from services. Out of the total revenues, revenues generated from new customers were $414,000, representing 38% out of the total revenues, while revenues generated from existing customers were $682,000, representing 62% of the total revenues.

Revenues generated in Israel constituted 75% of the total revenues for 2017, while revenues generated in North America constituted 21% and revenues generated in the rest of the world constituted 4%, compared to 70%, 29% and 1%, respectively, during 2016.

48

Cost of Revenues

The following table summarizes our cost of revenues for the periods presented, as well as presenting the gross profit as a percentage of total revenues. The period-to-period comparison of results is not necessarily indicative of results for future periods.

  Year Ended
December 31,
 
U.S. dollars in thousands 2018  2017  2016 
Payroll, related expenses and share-based payment  422   254   216 
Expenses relating to amortization of intangible assets  270   245   245 
Other  99   84   51 
Total cost of revenues  791   583   512 
Gross profit  675   513   331 
Gross profit %  46%  47%  39%
  Year ended
December 31,
 
U.S. dollars in millions 2023  2022 
Internet protocols addresses costs  3.8   2.1 
Amortization and impairment of intangible assets and depreciation  0.9   1.1 
Traffic acquisition costs  1.1   3.1 
Payroll, related expenses and share-based payment  0.4   0.4 
Networks and servers  0.8   0.6 
Clearing fees  0.7   1.1 
Other  *   * 
Total cost of revenues  7.7   8.4 
Gross profit  18.8   10.1 
Gross profit out of revenues %  71%  55%

*Less than $0.1.

In 2018,

Our cost of revenues increased by $208,000for the year ended December 31, 2023, amounted to $7.7 million, representing a 36% increasedecrease of $0.7 million or 9%, compared to cost of revenues in 2017.$8.4 million, for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increasedecrease is primarily attributed to an increasea $2.6 million reduction in payroll and related expensesthe consumer internet access cost of revenues, mainly traffic acquisition costs which amounted to $1.1 million in 2023 compared to $3.1 million in 2022 as a result of anthe cessation of operation of the advertising services. The decrease is also attributed to a $0.6 million reduction in amortization and impairment of intangible assets due to the consumer internet access segment scale down. The decrease was offset by a $2.5 million increase in the Company’s workforce.enterprise internet access segment cost that supported the sharp increase in this segment’s revenues.

Gross Profit

As a result of a higher increase in revenues compared to cost of revenues, gross profit grew by $162,000$8.7 million to $18.8 million, representing a 32%an 86% increase during 2018,2023, compared to gross profit in 2017. 2022. 


 

In 2017, cost of revenues increased by $71,000 representing a 14% increase compared to cost of revenues in 2016. The increase is primarily attributed to an increase in payroll and related expenses as a result of an increase in the Company’s workforce.

As a result of a higher increase in revenues compared to cost of revenues, gross profit grew by $182,000 representing a 55% increase during 2017, compared to gross profit in 2016.

Research and Development Expenses net

The following table summarizes our research and development costs for the periods presented. The period-to-period comparison of results is not necessarily indicative of results for future periods.

  Year Ended
December 31,
 
U.S. dollars in thousands 2018  2017  2016 
Payroll, related expenses and share-based payment  1,645   1,022   715 
Subcontractors  421   377   249 
Other  348   209   121 
Total Research and development expenses  2,414   1,608   1,085 
  Year ended
December 31,
 
U.S. dollars in millions 2023  2022 
Payroll, related expenses and share-based payment  2.9   2.8 
Subcontractors  0.2   0.6 
Other  0.5   0.4 
Total Research and development expenses  3.6   3.8 

ResearchOur research and development costs increased by $806,000,for the year ended December 31, 2023, amounted to $3.6 million, representing a decrease of $0.2 million, or 50%5%, during 2018, compared to $3.8 million for the previous year’s costs. $623,000 of this increase is attributed to payroll and related expenses (after a reduction in share-based compensation), as a result of an increase in our workforce and salary raises. In addition, cost of subcontractors grew by $44,000 and otheryear ended December 31, 2022. The research and development expenses grewcosts of the consumer internet access segment decreased from $1.85 million in 2022 to $0.8 million in 2023 due to the scale down in this segment’s operations. The reduction was offset by $139,000.

Research anda $0.8 million increase (40%) in the development costs increased by $523,000, or 48%, during 2017, comparedof the enterprise internet access segment, mainly due to the previous year’shigher headcount and payroll costs. $307,000 of this increase is attributed to payroll, related expenses and share-based compensation expenses, as a result of an increase in our workforce and salary raises. In addition, cost of subcontractors grew by $128,000.

49

Sales and marketingMarketing Expenses

The following table summarizes our sales and marketing costs for the periods presented. The period-to-period comparison of results is not necessarily indicative of results for future periods.

  Year Ended
December 31,
 
U.S. dollars in thousands 2018  2017  2016 
Payroll, related expenses and share-based payment  2,924   2,140   1,466 
Professional fees  1,118   823   741 
Marketing  699   490   353 
Travel  214   214   113 
Office maintenance  270   219   141 
Other  317   165   78 
Total selling and marketing expenses  5,542   4,051   2,892 
  Year ended
December 31,
 
U.S. dollars in millions 2023  2022 
Payroll, related expenses and share-based payment  4.5   3.9 
Media costs  1.5   5.6 
Professional fees  0.1   0.1 
Marketing  0.7   0.8 
Amortization and impairment of intangible assets and depreciation  2.8   1.0 
Other  0.4   0.4 
Total Selling and marketing expenses  10.0   11.8 

SalesOur sales and marketing expenses increased by $1,491,000,totaled $10.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, a decrease of $1.8 million, or 37%15%, during 2018, compared to $11.8 million for the previous year. Payroll and related expenses increased by $1,234,000, and were offset by a $450,000 reduction in share-based compensation.year ended December 31, 2022. The increase is primarily attributed to an increase in sales and marketing personnel. Also, professional fees increasedcosts of the consumer segment decreased by $295,000 compared$5.6 million from $7.7 million in 2022 to 2017. As$2.1 million due to the scale down in this business’ operations. The decrease was offset by an increase of $1.6 million in the enterprise internet access segment (43%), as a result marketing expenses increased by $209,000.

Sales and marketing expenses increased by $1,159,000, or 40%, during 2017, compared toof the previous year. Payroll and related expenses (including share-based compensation), increased by $674,000. The increase is primarily attributed to an increase in salesrevenues which required higher resources and marketing personnel. As a result, marketing expenses and travel expenses increased by $137,000 and $101,000, respectively.incentive payments.

General and Administrative Expenses

The following table summarizes our general and administrative costs for the periods presented. The period-to-period comparison of results is not necessarily indicative of results for future periods.

  Year Ended
December 31,
 
U.S. dollars in thousands 2018  2017  2016 
Payroll, related expenses and share-based payment  857   1,237   1,284 
Professional fees  885   749   731 
Office expenses & Other  183   164   108 
Total general and administration expenses  1,925   2,150   2,123 
  Year ended
December 31,
 
U.S. dollars in millions 2023  2022 
Payroll, related expenses and share-based payment  2.0   2.1 
Professional fees  2.1   4.0 
Other  0.3   0.6 
Total General and administrative expenses  4.4   6.7 

GeneralOur general and administrative expenses decreased by $225,000,totaled $4.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, a decrease of $2.3, or 10%34%, during 2018, compared to $6.7 million for the previous year.year ended December 31, 2022. The reduction was mainly attributeddecrease is primarily due to a $386,000 decrease$2.4 million reduction in share-based payment, partially offsetlegal fees connected to intellectual property protection activities, with respect to patent related proceedings that were resolved by a $136,000 increasesettlement on May 17, 2022.


Impairment of Goodwill

We recorded impairment of goodwill of $6.3 million related to the CyberKick cash-generating-unit in professional services.

General and administrative expenses remained unchanged from 2016 to 2017. Larger office and operational costs and a minor increase in professional costs were offset by a reduction in payroll and related costs. The reduction in these costs is primarily attributed2023, compared to a $326,000 decreasegoodwill impairment of $0.6 million related to the NetNut Networks cash-generating-unit in share-based compensation that was partially offset with an increase of $279,000 in payroll and related costs.2022.

Operating Loss

As a result of the foregoing, our operating loss for the year ended December 31, 20182023, was $9,206,000,$5.5 million, compared to an operating loss of $7,296,000$12.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2022.

Financial Expenses, net

We had net financial expenses of $0.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to net financial expenses of $0.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase is mainly related to interest expenses related to the fully repaid bank short-term loan and the strategic funding loan, as well as finance expenses related to the September 2023 private placement.

Taxes on income

We had a tax benefit of $0.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to a tax benefit of $0.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase resulted primarily from a recognition of deferred tax assets in NetNut because it expects to utilize them against future taxable income, as well as reduction in deferred tax liabilities as a result of the previous year.intangible assets impairment.

Loss from continuing operations

As a result of the foregoing, our operating loss from continuing operations for the year ended December 31, 20172023, was $7,296,000,$5.6 million, compared to an operatinga loss of $7,348,000 in the previous year.

50

Financial Expense, net

We had net financial expense of $2,541,000$12.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to net financial income of $1,984,000 for the year ended December 31, 2017. The transition to financial expense from financial income is primarily due to a $2,411,000 costs related to revaluation of derivative instruments, resulting from warrants issuance2022.

5.B Liquidity and anti-dilution mechanisms, compared to a $1,737,000 income related to revaluation of derivative instruments, in 2017.Capital Resources

We had financial income of $1,984,000 during the year ended December 31, 2017. The income is primarily attributed to a decrease in the fair value of the financial liability of warrants which were granted to investors within several public and private issuances during 2017 and 2016. The reduction of the fair value is attributed to a decrease of the share price towards the end of 2017. The financial income was partially offset by a higher fair value of an anti-dilution rights granted to some investors which participated in some private issuances, as well as due to the reduction of our share price towards the year end.

In the year ended December 31, 2016, we had financial expenses of $1,572,000, which resulted mainly from an increase in the fair value of warrants as a result of a higher share price by the end of 2016.

Net loss for the year

As a result of the foregoing, our net loss for the year ended December 31, 2018 was $11,753,000, compared to a loss of $5,313,000 during the year ended December 31, 2017.

Our net loss for the year ended December 31, 2017 was $5,313,000, compared to a loss of $8,922,000 during the year ended December 31, 2016.

5.BLiquidity and Capital Resources

Overview

As of March 21, 2019,February 29, 2024, our cash and cash equivalents of $2approximately $14.0 million were held for working capital, capital expenditures, investment in technology and business acquisition purposes. We believe that our current cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to meet our anticipated cash needs until at least June 15, 2019.for the next twelve months. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including our growth rate, the timing and extent of spending to support development efforts, the expansion of sales and marketing activities, the introduction of new and enhanced product and service offerings, and the continuing market acceptance of our products. In the event that additional financing is required from outside sources, we mayproducts and our pursuit of strategic opportunities, including, but not be ablelimited to, raise such financing on terms acceptable to us or at all.strategic acquisitions. If we are unable to raise additional capital when desired or can’t generate profit from operating activities, our business, operating results, and financial condition would be adversely affected, and there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.affected. 

Results of cashflows from continuing operations

  December 31, 
U.S. dollars in millions 2023  2022 
Net cash provided by (used in) continuing operating activities  4.7   (7.1)
         
Net cash provided by continuing investing activities  0.6   5.1 
         
Net cash provided by continuing financing activities  2.2   2.6 
         
Change in cash and cash equivalents  7.5   0.5 


 

  Year Ended
December 31,
 
U.S. dollars in thousands 2018  2017  2016 
Net cash used in operating activities  (8,736)  (5,345)  (3,317)
             
Net cash used in investing activities  (369)  (153)  (52)
             
Net cash provided by financing activities  9,362   7,450   4,593 
             
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents  257   1,952   1,224 

51

Cash Flows Used inProvided by (Used in) continuing Operating Activities

During the year ended December 31, 2018,2023, net cash provided by continuing operating activities was $4.7 million, primarily attributed to cash flows from customers’ payments which exceeded the cost of revenues and the operational costs, primarily form the enterprise internet access segment. This positive figure represents a $11.8 improvement compared to the $7.1 million used in continuing operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2022. The improvement is attributed to the growth in the enterprise internet access segment, combined with material cost reduction in the consumer internet access segment due to this business being scaled down, mainly in operating costs. Also, the Company benefited from a reduction of $2.4 million of legal fees, due to patent related proceedings that were resolved by a settlement on May 17, 2022.

During the year ended December 31, 2022, net cash used in continuing operating activities was $8,736,000,$7.1 million, primarily attributed to operational costs which exceeded cash flows from customers’ payments. The increase of $3,391,000$2.2 million compared to $5,345,000$4.9 million used in continuing operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2017,2021, is primarily attributed to the increased loss from the consumer access segment, due to the full consolidation of CyberKick’s operations in 2022, compared to half a large increaseyear of consolidation in our operations as we grow, which was greater than the increase in customer’s payments.2021.

Cash Flows Provided by continuing Investing Activities

During the year ended December 31, 2017,2023, net cash used in operatingprovided by continuing investing activities was $5,345,000, primarily attributed to operational costs which exceeded cash flows from customers’ payments. The increase of $2,028,000$0.6 million, compared to $3,317,000 used in operating activities$5.1 million during the year ended December 31, 2016, is primarily attributed2022. The cash generated in 2023 resulted from a repayment of restricted deposits in the amount of $0.7 million compared to a large increasethe sale of short-term investments in our operations, which was greater than the increase in customer’s payments.amount of $5.7 million during 2022.

Cash Flows Used in Investing Activities

During the year ended December 31, 2018,2022, net cash used inprovided by continuing investing activities was $369,000,$5.0 million, due to the sale of the short-term investments, as stated above, compared to net cash used in continuing investing activities of $153,000$9.8 million during the year ended December 31, 2017. The increase is attributed mainly2021, which stemmed from the investment of $5.8 in short-term investments and $3.7 million that was paid with respect to the purchase of technology.CyberKick.

Cash Flows Provided by continuing Financing Activities

During the year ended December 31, 2017,2023, net cash used in investingprovided by continuing financing activities was $153,000, compared to net cash used in investing activities of $52,000 during 2016. The increase is$2.2 million, primarily attributed to the purchase of property, plantfunding from a private placement, our ATM (as defined below) and equipmentwarrants exercises in the aggregate net amount of $132,000.$4.7 million. The amount was offset by a repayment of short-term bank loans ($1.6 million) and net repayments related to the strategic long-term loan ($0.5 million), as well as by increased lease payments of $0.3 million.

Cash Flows Used in Financing Activities

During the year ended December 31, 2018,2022, net cash provided by continuing financing activities was $9,362,000,$2.6 million, primarily attributed to netshort-term bank loans ($1.6 million) and proceeds from public and private offerings, in the amount of $9,231,000.

During the year ended December 31, 2017,long term loan, net after repayments ($1.4 million). The cash provided by financing activitiesthe loans was $7,450,000, primarily attributed to the issuance of shares and warrants, net of issuance expenses, from several private offerings, in the amount of $5,582,000, and an exercise of the Company’s series 1 warrants in the amount of $2,018,000.

In the year ended December 31, 2016, net cash provided by financing activities was in the amount of $4,593,000, primarily attributed to the issuance of shares and warrants, net of issuance expenses, from a public offering, in the amount of $4,072,000, a private issuance in the amount of $1,527,000 and proceeds from financial liabilities and options to group of investors in the amount of $870,000,partially offset by increased lease payments of financial liabilities in the amount of $2,178,000.$0.4 million.

Change in cashCash and cash equivalentsCash Equivalents

As a result of the foregoing, our cash and cash equivalents decreasedfrom continuing operations increased in the amount of $257,000$7.5 million during the year ended December 31, 2018,2023, compared to an increase in the amount of $1,952,000$0.5 million during the year ended December 31, 2017.2022.


 

United Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank Credit Line

We drew a $1.6 million short-term bank loan from our $2 million one-year credit line which was secured from Mizrahi Bank on May 25, 2022. Amounts drawn under the credit line bore interest at the Secured Overnight Financing Rate plus 5.5% per annum and were payable quarterly for the actual withdrawn balance. The credit line offered three times multiple on eligible revenues, was secured against all the assets of CyberKick, was guaranteed by us and included a refundable deposit by us of $0.5 million. On April 13, 2023, the line of credit agreement was extended until March 31, 2024, under the same terms. On August 9, 2023, the entire loan balance was repaid.

Strategic Funding

On August 8, 2022, we signed a strategic funding agreement with O.R.B. Spring Ltd., or O.R.B., as further amended, of up to $4.0 million to support the growth of our consumer access solutions and its customer acquisition program. The repayment of the funding was based on a revenue share model in connection with sales generated from new customers acquired with each funding installment. On October 27, 2022, we amended the agreement with O.R.B. to provide for the cancellation of funding milestones as well as the removal of any discretion previously granted to O.R.B. in connection with the additional $2 million funding out of the $4 million facility. On September 7, 2023, in furtherance of our decision to scale down operations of our consumer internet access business to focus on revenue that yields high return on investment and profitability, the Company and O.R.B. agreed to further amend the O.R.B. agreement. Pursuant to the amendment, O.R.B. agreed to (i) cancel and waive all rights in connection with the warrants issued to O.R.B. as part of the O.R.B. agreement (a total of warrants to purchase 5,006,386 ordinary shares of the Company in aggregate), (ii) waive any entitlement to a percentage, portion, or share of revenue in connection with the principal facility amount withdrawn by the Company (which amounted to an aggregate total of $2.55 million), and (iii) extend the repayment schedule of the principal facility from 24 to 30 months, at the Company’s discretion. Following final repayment of the principal facility, the Company is entitled to all revenue resulting and generated from the consumer internet access business. In consideration for said amendments of the O.R.B. agreement, O.R.B. was entitled to a total of $0.5 million.

As of December 31, 2023, we received aggregate funding of $2.55 million and repaid to O.R.B. an amount of approximately $1.3 million from the revenues that were generated as a result of the foregoing,funding, and approximately $1.25 million is currently outstanding.

Private Placement

On September 14, 2023, we completed a private placement offering of an aggregate of 187,225 units, or the Units, at a purchase price of $22.70 per Unit. Each Unit consists of 10 ADSs and one non-tradeable warrant, or the PP Warrants, each exercisable into three ADSs. Net proceeds totaled to $3.82 million, after deducting offering costs of approximately $0.4 million.

The PP Warrants are exercisable at any time after the date of issuance for a period of thirty (30) months from the offering date upon payment of an exercise price of $2.72 per ADS. In addition, we issued an aggregate amount of 91,851 warrants to purchase 91,851 ADSs to placement agents, or the Agent Warrants, which can be exercised at an exercise price of $2.27 per ADS within 30 months from the offering date.

Mr. Chen Katz, our cashChairman of the Board of Directors, Mr. Shachar Daniel, our Chief Executive Officer, and cash equivalents increasedMr. Shai Avnit, our Chief Financial Officer, invested an aggregate of $1.05 million in the amountprivate placement offering. Mr. Katz and Daniel used, in part, $400 thousand each loaned to them in a non-recourse loan, by the rest of $1,952,000 during the year ended December 31, 2017, comparedinvestors in the private placement, other than Mr. Avnit. The loans bear an annual interest of 8% and should be repaid in three equal installments on September 14, 2024, March 14, 2025, and September 14, 2025. Mr. Katz’s and Daniel’s loans are secured by ADSs they already own and the ADSs they purchased in the private placement along with their PP Warrants.

As of March 10, 2024, 344,672 PP Warrants were exercised to an increase of $1,224,000 during the year ended December 31, 2016.344,672 ADSs in exchange for $938 thousand and 91,851 Agents Warrants were exercised to 91,851 ADSs in exchange to $209 thousand.


 

52At the Market Offering (“ATM”)

TableIn November 2022, we entered into an ATM Sales Agreement, or the Sales Agreement, with ThinkEquity LLC, or the Sales Agent, pursuant to which we could offer and sell, from time to time, through the Sales Agent ADSs, for an aggregate offering price of Contentsup to $5 million. The ADSs were to be offered and sold pursuant to our shelf Registration Statement on Form F-3 (File No. 333-253983), or the F-3, which became effective on March 15, 2021, and the prospectus supplement relating to the Sales Agreement, dated November 25, 2022. In that regard, we registered up to $100,000,000 of the ADSs on such registration statement. Upon termination of the Sales Agreement, any portion of the $5 million included in the Sales Agreement prospectus of the F-3 that is not sold pursuant to the Sales Agreement will be available for sale in other offerings pursuant to the F-3, and if no ADSs are sold under the Sales Agreement, the full $5 million of securities may be sold in other offerings pursuant to the F-3.

During 2023, the Company issued 2,393,740 ordinary shares through an ATM offering for total consideration of $768 thousand, before deducting issuance costs of $164 thousand. On August 30, 2023, the Company announced the termination of the ATM offering, effective immediately.

Current Outlook

We haveUntil December 31, 2022, we financed our operations to date primarily through proceeds from sales of our Ordinary Sharesequity securities, and prior to the Merger Transaction, preferred shares (which were subsequently converted to Ordinary Shares).recently also from long- and short-term loans. We have incurred losses and generated negative cash flows from operations since our Subsidiary’s inception in February 2013.inception. During 2023, we financed our operations mainly from cash generated from operating activities.

As of March 21, 2019,February 29, 2024, our cash and cash equivalents including short-term bank deposits, were $2approximately $14.0 million. We expect that our current resources will be sufficient to meet our anticipated cash needs for at least until June 15, 2019; however, we expect that we will require substantial additional capital to continue the development of, and to commercialize, our products. In addition, ournext twelve months. Our operating plans may change as a result of many factors that may currently be unknown to us, and wewhich may need to seek additional funds sooner than planned.impact our funding plans. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:

the progress and costs of our research and development activities;
the potential costs of contracting with third parties to provide marketing and distribution services for us or for building such capacities internally; and
the magnitudescope of our general and administrative expenses.expenses; and

potential future acquisitions.

5.C Research and development, patents and licenses, etc.

For a description of our research and development programs and the amounts that we have incurred over the last two years pursuant to those programs, please see “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects — A. Operating Results — Operating Expenses” and “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects — A. Operating Results — Comparison of the year ended December 31, 2033, to the year ended December 31, 2022 — Research and Development Expenses, net.”

5.D Trend Information

The trends impacting us are described elsewhere in this annual report on Form 20-F, including in Items 3.D., 4.B., 5.A. and B. and 10.C. 


 

Until we can generate

5.E Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

We describe our significant recurring revenues, we expectaccounting policies more fully in Note 2 to satisfy our future cash needs through equity financings. Currently, we cannot be certainconsolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023, included elsewhere in this annual report in Form 20-F. We believe that additional funding will be availablethe accounting policies below are critical to us on acceptable terms, if at all. If funds are not available, we may befully understand and evaluate our financial condition and results of operations.

We prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with IFRS, as issued by the IASB. At the time of the preparation of the consolidated financial statements, our management is required to delay,use estimates, evaluations, and assumptions which affect the application of the accounting policy and the amounts reported for assets, obligations, income, and expenses. Any estimates and assumptions are continually reviewed. The changes to the accounting estimates are credited during the period in which the change in the estimate is made.

Goodwill Impairment

Goodwill arising from a business combination represents the excess of the overall amount of the consideration transferred, the amount of any non-controlling interests in the acquired company over the net amount as of acquisition date of the identifiable assets acquired and the liabilities assumed. Impairment reviews of the cash-generating-unit, or CGU, to which goodwill was allocated are undertaken annually and whenever there is any indication of impairment of a CGU. The carrying amount of our assets, including goodwill, is compared to the recoverable amount, which is the higher of value in use and the fair value less costs to sell. Any impairment loss is allocated to reduce the carrying amount of the assets at the following order: first to reduce the carrying amount of any goodwill allocated to a CGU and subsequently to the remaining assets we have, which fall within the scope of the IAS 36, “Impairment of Assets,” on a proportionate basis based on the carrying amount of each of our assets. Any impairment loss is recognized immediately in profit or eliminate researchloss and is not subsequently reversed.

Goodwill is tested annually for impairment, or development plansmore frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that it may be impaired. For the 2023 and 2022 reporting periods, the recoverable amount of our CGUs was determined based on value-in-use calculations which require the use of assumptions. As a result, for or commercialization efforts with respect to our products. This raises substantial doubts about our ability to continue as a going concern. 

5.EOff-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We currently do not have any off-balance sheet arrangements.

5.ETabular Disclosure of Contractual Obligations

The following table summarizes our significant contractual obligations atthe years ended December 31, 2018:2023, and 2022, we recorded goodwill impairment loss of $6,311 thousand and $569 thousand, respectively.

Advertising revenues

We generate revenues from the distribution of security and privacy products of third-party developers in various digital properties. Advertising revenue is recognized at the point in time when a user purchases a product of a customer and is considered a single performance obligation. Commencing the second half of 2023, advertising revenue is immaterial.

Management evaluates whether its revenues should be presented on a gross basis, which is the amount that a customer pays for the service, or on a net basis, which is the amount of the customer payment less amounts the Company pays to digital property owners for placing the customers’ products on their digital property, also known as “traffic acquisition costs”. Traffic acquisition costs are based on a cost-per click or cost-per impression arrangements and are charged to cost of revenue as incurred. The evaluation to present revenue on a gross versus net basis requires significant judgment. Management has determined that it acts as the principal and recognizes revenue as it relates to these transactions on a gross basis as the Company controls the service to the customer and it is the primary obligor in the transaction.


 

  Total  Less than
1 year
  1-3 years  3-5 years  More than
5 years
 
  (in thousands of U.S. dollars) 
Operating leases:               
Facility  236   231   5   -   - 
Motor vehicles  148   89   59   -   - 

53

Table of Contents

ITEM 6. DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES

ITEM 6.A.DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES

A.Directors and Senior Management

The following table sets forth information regarding our executive officers, key employees and directorsoffice holders1 as of the date of this on annual report:report in Form 20-F:

NameAgePositionAudit
Committee
(2)
Member

Compensation
Committee

Member

Chen Katz4752Chairman of the Board of Directors
Shachar Daniel4146Chief Executive Officer, Director
Shai Avnit5458Chief Financial Officer
Amir MizharOmer Weiss4437President, Chief Software Architect, DirectorLegal Counsel
Eitan BremlerAvi Rubinstein4157Vice President, TechnologyDirector
Noam MarkfeldYehuda Halfon5345Vice President, Sales, IsraelDirector (3)XX
Micha BarRakefet Remigolski3552Vice President, Technical SalesDirector (3)XX
John ParmleyMoshe Tal6062Chief Executive Officer, Safe-T USA Inc.Director (3)XX

(1)“Office holder” as defined under the Israeli Companies Law: “general manager, chief business manager, deputy general manager, vice-general manager, any person filling any of these positions in the company even if he holds a different title, and a director or any other manager directly subordinate to the general manager”.
(2)The Audit Committee serves also as the Financial Statements Examination Committee pursuant to regulations under the Israeli Companies Law.
Dafna Lipowicz(3)45Vice President, Human Resources
Eyal Reissman49Vice President, Research & Development
Yehuda Halfon41Director (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)
Eylon Geda48Director
Vered Raz-Avayo49Director (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)
Lior Vider43Director (1)(2)(4)(5)
Noa Matzliach37Director

(1)Member of the Compensation Committee
(2)Member of the Audit Committee and Financial Statement Examination Committee
(3)External Director (as defined under Israeli law)
(4)Independent Director (as defined(pursuant to regulations under the Israeli law)
(5)Independent Director (as defined underCompanies Law and Nasdaq Stock Market rules).

Chen Katz, Chairman of the Board of Directors

Mr. Chen Katzhas served as our Chairman of theour board of directors since January 20, 2019. Since 2006, Mr. Katz has beenis also a director of Nanomedic Technologies Ltd., Coral Smart Pool Inc. and Nicast Ltd., where he serves as the chairman of the board, Aminach Furniture and Mattresses Industry Ltd., Coral Smart Pool Ltd., Nanomedic Technologies Inc. NCK Capital Ltd. and Tripod Investments. Mr. Katz is also a Co-Founder and director of Connexa Capital Ltd. since February 2022. Between 2006 and 2020, Mr. Katz served as the chief executive officer of TechnoPlus Ventures Ltd. (TASE: TNPV), an Israeli investment firm. From 2012 until 2021, Mr. Katz currently sitsserved on the board of Nanomed Technologiesdirectors of Compulab Ltd. (TASE: CLAB) and Nicast Ltd. where he serves as the chairman, Aminach Furniture and Mattresses Industry Ltd., CompuLap Ltd., and RapiDx Ltd. Fromfrom 2010 to 2018, Mr. Katzhe served on the board of directors of D-Led Illumination Technologies Ltd. Mr. Katz is a member of the Israel Bar Association. Mr. Katz holds a European Master in LawMaster-in-Law and Economics (EMLE) from the Complutense University of Madrid and an LL.B. from the University of Haifa

Haifa.

54

Shachar Daniel, Chief Executive Officer and Director

Mr. Shachar Daniel is one of our co-founders and has served as our Chief Executive Officer and director since June 2016. Mr. Daniel has also served as the Chief Executive Officer of our Subsidiary since May 2015. Prior to serving as the Chief Executive Officer of our Subsidiary,Safe-T Data, he served as the Subsidiary’sSafe-T Data’s Chief Operating Officer from November 2013. Mr. Daniel has more than 10 years of experience in various managerial roles in operations and project management. From 2012 to 2013, he served as head of program at PrimeSense Ltd., which was acquired by Apple Inc. for $360 million on November 24, 2013. Prior to that, and from 2009 to 2012, he was head of operations project managers at Logic Industries Ltd., and from 2004 to 2009, he was a project manager at Elbit Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq/TASE: ESLT). Mr. Daniel holds a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from the Holon Institute of Technology, Israel and an M.B.A. from the College of Management Academic Studies, Israel and an executive post M.B.A from the Hebrew University.

Shai Avnit, Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Shai Avnit has served as our Chief Financial Officer since June 2016, and as the Chief Financial Officer of our Subsidiary since May 2013.2016. Mr. Avnit has an extensive experience in managing financial, operational, administrative and legal affairs in companies within the software, medical device and consumer electronics, as well as vast experience in public and private fund raising, mergers and acquisitions and structural reorganization. Mr. Avnit served as the chief financial officer and other leading financial positions in several hi-tech companies, both public and private including as the chief financial officer during 2001-2002 in Valor Computerized Systems (then a public company traded on the German stock exchangeNeuer Markt)Markt), a controller during 1996-2000 in Card Guard Scientific Survival, (currently LifeWatch) a then public company then traded in the Six Swiss Exchange under the name LifeWatch (symbol LIFE), a part time chief financial officer during 2007-2017 in EnzySurge Ltd., a part time chief financial officer during 2011-2017 in BioProtect Ltd., a part time chief financial officer during 2008-2011 in BriefCam Ltd., a part time chief financial officer during 2006-2010 in Lumio Inc. and a part time Finance Director in Primavera-Prosight Ltd. (acquired by Oracle) during 2002-2011. Mr. Avnit holds a B.A. in Accounting & Economics as well as an M.B.A. with majors in Finance and Marketing, both from the Tel Aviv University. 


 

Amir Mizhar, President, Chief Software Architect, Director

 

Omer Weiss, Legal Counsel

Mr. Amir Mizhar is one of our co-founders andOmer Weiss has served as our Chief Software ArchitectLegal Counsel since February 2013,March 2024. Prior to joining us, he worked as a lawyer at the Capital Market Practice of the Tel Aviv law firm Raved, Magriso, Benkel & Co. from 2012 to 2017. Following this, he continued his legal career at the Capital Market Practice of the Tel Aviv law firm Shibolet & Co. from 2018 to 2024, where he earned a promotion to partner in 2022. With a robust background in commercial and capital market practices, Mr. Weiss has established a commendable track record representing a diverse array of public and private companies, both locally and globally. He holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) and a Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A) from Reichman University, as well as a Master of Laws (LL.M) from Tel Aviv University.

Avi Rubinstein, Director

Mr. Avi Rubinstein has served on our board of directors since June 2016 andOctober 2021. Mr. Rubinstein also serves as ourthe President since January 2019.of Ilanor Ltd. Prior to his appointment as a director, Mr. Mizhar hasRubinstein served as our Chairman of the board of directors from June 2016 to January 2019 and as the Chairman of the board of directors of our Subsidiary since January 2013, and of Safe-T USA Inc., since March 2015. From February 2013 until June 2015, Mr. Mizhar also served as the Chief ExecutiveBusiness Officer of our Subsidiary. In 2006,subsidiary, Safe-T Data A.R Ltd., from February 2020 until October 2021. Prior to joining Safe-T Data, from 2014 to 2015, Mr. Mizhar founded eTouchware 2005 Inc., andRubinstein served as its chief software architect until 2013.Vice President, Product Marketing and Business Development of Nice Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: NICE). Mr. Mizhar also founded M-Technologies in 2000,Rubinstein co-founded Inpedio BV, a provider of cyber solutions, and served as its chief executive officer from 2000 to 2006, where he led the vision and creation of online collaboration tools, and online merchandising systems for retail markets. Mr. Mizhar began developing commercial software programs at the age of 13, and is an expert ethical hacker. Mr. Mizhar holds multiple patents in the area of data transfer over communication networks. Mr. Mizhar leads our vision, research and development operations.

Eitan Bremler, Vice President, Technology

Mr. Eitan Bremleris one of our co-founders and has served as our Vice President, Product Management since Junebetween 2016 and in January 2019 was assigned2019. After serving as our Vice President, Technology, and as the Vice President, Product Managementco-founder of our subsidiary since 2014. Mr. Bremler has more than 15 years of experience in marketing, product marketing and product management roles. From 2001 to 2012, Mr. Bremler held multiple product management and product marketing positions at Radware Ltd. (Nasdaq: RDWR) and RadvisionEctel Ltd., an Avaya company. Prior to that, he served as an officerand general manager of Ectel US Inc. and was the co-founder of StorWiz in 2004, which was acquired by IBM in 2010. He also was the Israeli Intelligence Corps, Unit 8200. Mr. Bremler has diverse technological, field engineering, product managementco-founder and marketing experience including design, implementation and launching networking, collaboration, and security solutions. Mr. Bremler holds a B.A. in Business Administration from the Ono Academic College in Israel.

55

Noam Markfeld, Vice President, Sales, Israel

Mr. Noam Markfeld has served as our Vice President, Sales Israel, since June 2017 and in September 2018 was assigned as our Vice President, Sales Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. Mr. Markfeld leads our sales operation in Israel, both for direct customers and re-sellers network. Mr. Markfeld has over 20 years of experience in executive sales management roles, long terms costumer relations, presenting and selling new Cyber technologies to existing and new client. From 2014 to 2017, Mr. Markfeld served as Account Executive and Channel Manager for CyberArk Software Ltd. (Nasdaq: CYBR), a Cyber security company dealing with privileged users security. Between 2006 and 2014, Mr. Markfeld served as Vice President Sales at Securenet Ltd., an information security integration company. Mr. Markfeld is the founder, and from 1999 to 2001, served as the chief executive officer of DataSec Ltd., an information security consulting company from 1999 to 2001.VideoCodes in 2004, which was acquired by Thompson in 2008. Mr. Markfeld served in the Intelligence units of the Israeli Defense Force from 1984 to 1988. Mr. Markfeld holds a B.A. in Economics and Business Administration from the Bar Ilan University.

Micha Bar, Vice President, Technical Sales

Mr. Micha Barhas served as our Manager of Pre-Sale and Professional Services since 2016 and in July 2017 was assigned as our Vice President of Technical Sales. Mr. Bar has experience in management of global information security projects with government, financial, retail and industrial organizations and is responsible for managing the company’s sales engineering, professional services, DevOps and support teams. Prior to joining us, and from 2015 to 2016, Mr. BarRubinstein also served as a Senior Sales Engineermember of our advisory board between 2014 and 2019, and with CyberX Labs (cyber defense for Symantec Corporation, one of the leading international cybersecurity. From 2012critical infrastructure) since 2014 and also provided management and/or consulting services on an hourly basis to 2015, Mr. Bar served as a Solution Architect (network and security) for Hewlett Packard and from 2005different companies between 2008 to 2012 Mr. Bar served as an Information Security Consultant at Phoenix (Israel) insurance company. Mr. Bar holds the following certifications: MCSA, CCNA, CCSA and CCSE.2020.

 

John Parmley, Chief Executive Officer, Safe-T USA Inc.

Mr. John Parmleyhas served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Subsidiary’s wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, Safe-T USA Inc., since January 1, 2018. Mr. Parmley has expertise in acceleration of pipeline development and sales in early stage security start-up environments. Prior to joining us, and from 2012, Mr. Parmley served as Area Vice President US West and Canada at Tufin Technologies. From 2011 to 2012, Mr. Parmley served as a Field Sales Manager (Central US) for Core Security Technologies, a provider of computer and network security solutions. Mr. Parmley served as Director of Worldwide Channel Management and Enterprise Sales at Veriwave Inc. (acquired by Ixia) from 2010 to 2011 and as Senior Director Enterprise Sales for Airmagnet (acquired by Fluke Networks) from 2004 to 2010. Mr. Parmley holds a Bachelor of Science in Geology from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

Dafna Lipowicz, Vice President, Human Resources

Ms. Dafna Lipowiczhas served as our Vice President, Human Resources since October 2018. Prior to that Ms. Lipowicz has served as the director of Human Resources at Mantis Vision from 2014 to 2017. In addition, from 2009 to 2013, Ms. Lipowicz has served as the Human Resources business partner at Logic Industries Ltd. Ms. Lipowicz holds a L.L.B. from the Tel Aviv University and an M.A. from the Tel Aviv University in Human Resources.

Eyal Reissman, Vice President, Research & Development

Mr. Eyal Reissmanjoined us in May 2018 and was appointed Vice President of Research and Development in August 2018. In his role, Mr. Reissman leads the research, development, QA and DevOps teams, executing Safe-T’s vision of delivering the industry’s best enterprise security solutions. Mr. Reissman brings 20 years of hand-on experience with a proven track record in managing complex technical R&D projects, supervising the product life cycle from research and architecture to development, QA & DevOps. Prior to joining Safe-T, Mr. Reissman worked at leading global tech companies specializing in software development solutions for enterprise organizations, amongst them, Microsoft, Mobideo, and others. Mr. Reissman holds a Bachelors’ degree from Mercy College, NY.

Yehuda Halfon, External Director

 

Mr. Yehuda Halfonhas served on our board of directors since March 2016. SinceBetween 2009 and January 2022, Mr. Halfon has served as the chief executive officer at Cooperica propertyProperty Ltd., which owns and manages a large geriatric center and other real estate properties in Israel. In addition, between 2010 and since 2011,January 2022, Mr. Halfon has served as the chief financial officer of Local Developing Germany GmbH, which owns a large portfolio of residential assets in Germany. Since 2022, he has been an independent real estate entrepreneur. Mr. Halfon holds a B.A. in Accounting &and Economics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.Jerusalem and an M.B.A from the Open University of Israel. Mr. Halfon is a certified public accountant in Israel.

 

Rakefet Remigolski, Director

56

Eylon Geda, Director

 

Mr. Eylon Geda has served on our board of directors since June 2016. Mr. Geda is the founder of Beta Capital Management, a Tel-Aviv based consultancy catering for the financial needs of high net worth clients. Prior to founding Beta Capital Management in 2008, Mr. Geda held various positions as a Financial Analyst and Head of Security Research at Israel’s leading pension plan and asset management firms, including Ilanot Batucha Investment House from 1996 to 2001, Clal Finance Batucha Investment Management from 2001 to 2004 and Harel Insurance from 2004 to 2008. Mr. Geda holds a M.Sc. (cum laude) in Finance and Accounting and a B.A. (cum laude) in Economics and Management Studies from Tel-Aviv University.

Vered Raz-Avayo, External Director

Ms. Vered Raz-Avayo has served on our board of directors between March 2016 and March 2019 as an external director and chairman of the audit, compensation and financial review committees. Ms. Raz-Avayo has over 20 years’ of managerial and consulting experience in finance, encompassing a wide range of industries in Israel and overseas. Ms. Raz-Avayo served as the chief financial officer of the Leviev Group from 1999 to 2010, where she gained vast experience in various industries including real estate investment, finance, diamonds, jewelry and aviation. After that, and since 2011, Ms. Raz-Avayo has served on the board of directors of several public and private corporations. From 2011 to 2017, Ms. Raz-Avayo served as a director and member of the investment committee of Analyst I.M.S Mutual Funds Management (1986) Ltd., and from 2012 to 2017, as a director of Naaman Group (n.v) Ltd. Ms. Raz-Avayo has served as a director and the chairman of the audit committee of Africa Israel Residences Ltd. since 2012. Ms. Raz-Avayo has also served as a director and the chairman of the audit committee of TAMDA Ltd. since 2016. Since July 2017, Ms. Raz-Avayo has served as a director of Foresight Autonomous Holdings Ltd. (Nasdaq, TASE: FRSX). Ms. Raz-Avayo holds B.A. in Business Administration from the College of Management Academic Studies, Israel. Ms. Raz-Avayo is a certified C.P.A. in Israel. In addition, Ms. Raz-Avayo holds an M.F.A. in film and TV (screenwriting) from the faculty of Arts at the Tel-Aviv University, Israel.

Lior Vider, Director

Mr. Lior ViderRakefet Remigolski has served on our board of directors since March 2016. Mr. Vider has over 15 years’ of experience in managing financial portfolios and investments.September 2020. Since 2010, Mr. Vider2018, Ms. Remigolski has served as a senior investment portfolio manager at Epsilon Investment House Ltd. From 2007 to 2010, Mr. Vider served as the Chief Investment Manager at Impact Investment Management Ltd., a Union Bank company. From 2006 to 2007, Mr. Vider served as chairman of the board and member of the investment committee for Rakia Capital Markets, and from 2003 to 2006 as manager of financial desk and trader in trust funds for Ilanot Discount. Mr. Vider is also the founder of sponser.co.il, a financial portal specializing in services for investors. He is also an occasional contributor to various Israeli publications on topics regarding capital markets and other economic issues. Mr. Vider holds a B.A. (cum laude) in Industrial Engineering and Management from the Shenkar College in Israel and is also a certified Investment Portfolio Manager by the Israeli Securities Authority.

Noa Matzliach, Director

Ms. Noa Matzliachhas served on our board of directors since March 2019. Since August 2018, Ms. Matzliach serves as Director of Finance at Nextage Ltd., a leading financial services firm specializing in the high-tech business, providing financial services to several high-tech and start-up companies. From 2011 to 2018 Ms. Matzliach served as Controller and Chief Financial Officer at TechnoPlus VenturesArazim Investments Ltd., an Israeli Investmentreal-estate company publicly traded on the TASE (TNVP). From 2010 to 2011Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Since September 2021, Ms. MatzliachRemigolski has served as an external director at IDENTI Healthcare Ltd. Between 2015 and 2020, Ms. Remigolski served as a Controllerdirector and head of the audit committee at Automotive Equipmentthe Israeli National Sport Center, Tel Aviv. Since 2008, Ms. Remigolski has taught advanced courses in financial accounting at the Reichman University (IDC Herzliya) in Israel. Between 1995 and Vehicles (2004) Ltd. From 2005 to 20102019, Ms. Matzliach served as a ManagerRemigolski taught advanced courses in financial accounting at the Assurance Services Department, at Ernst & Young Israel (Kost Forer Gabbay and Kasierer).College of Management Academic Studies in Israel. Ms. MatzliachRemigolski holds a B.A. in Accounting, Economics and ManagementBusiness and an M.B.A. (Cum Laude) with a major in Financial Management,finance and accountancy, both from Tel Aviv University.the College of Management Academic Studies in Israel. Ms. MatzliachRemigolski is a certified public accountant and is a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Israel.

 

Moshe Tal, Director

Mr. Moshe Tal has served on our board of directors since May 2019. Since 2011, Mr. Tal serves as a partner with Shtainmetz Aminoach & Co. accounting, a CPA (Isr.) Israeli Certified Public Accountant, Investment and Consulting. Mr. Tal is also a lecturer at the Department of Accounting at the Reichman University (IDC Herzliya) in Israel. Mr. Tal served in the Israeli tax Authority for 13 years and has vast experience with tax regulations and laws, both in Israel and outside of Israel. Between 2011 and 2013, Mr. Tal served as a director of Dash Ipax Holdings Ltd. and from 2010 until 2018 as a director at Netz Group Ltd. Mr. Tal is a certified Israeli public accountant. 


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Table of Contents

Family Relationships

 

There are no family relationships between any members of our executive management and our directors.office holders.

 

Arrangements for Election of Directors and Members of Management

 

There are no arrangements or understandings with major shareholders, customers, suppliers, or others pursuant to which any of our executive management or our directors were selected. See “Related“Item 7.B. Related Party Transactions” for additional information.

 

B.Compensation

 

Compensation

 

The following table presents in the aggregate all compensation we paid to all of our directors and senior managementoffice holders as a group for the year ended December 31, 2018.2023. The table does not include any amounts we paid to reimburse any of such persons for costs incurred in providing usthe Company with services during this period.

 

All amounts reported in the tables below reflect the cost to the Company, in thousands of U.S. Dollars, for the year ended December 31, 2018.2023. Amounts paid in NIS are translated into U.S. dollars at the rate of NIS 3.5953.6898 = $1.00, based on the average representative rate of exchange between the NIS and the U.S. dollar as reported by the Bank of Israel in the year ended December 31, 2018.2023.

 

  

Salary, bonuses and

Related

Benefits

  

Pension,

Retirement

and Other

Similar

Benefits

  Share
Based
Compensation*
 
All directors and senior management as a group, consisting of 17 persons $1,627  $341  $219 
  Salary,
bonuses
and
Related
Benefits(1)
  Pension,
Retirement
and Other
Similar
Benefits
  Share
Based
Compensation*
 
All office holders as a group, consisting of 7 persons $925  $94  $319 

 

(1)*Represents the office holders’ gross salary plus payment of mandatory social benefits made by the company on behalf of such officer. Such benefits may include, to the extent applicable, payments, contributions and/or allocations for savings funds, education funds (referred to in Hebrew as “Keren Hishtalmut”), pension, severance, risk insurances (e.g., life or work disability insurance) and payments for social security.
*Resulting from options to purchase an aggregate of 2,408,1363,060,829 Ordinary Shares granted to all directors and senior managementoffice holders as a group, at exercise prices ranging between $0.40 to $1.29 (a weighted average of $0.91)NIS 1.27 (approximately $0.35) and NIS 6.04 (approximately $1.67) per share with expiration dates between May 13, 2024August 2, 2030, and June 20, 2028.November 28, 2032, and 900,000 restricted share units, or RSUs, vesting fully until January 19, 2027. The share-based compensation was calculated based on the binomial model.

 

In accordance with the Companies Law, the


The table below reflects the compensation granted to ourthe five most highly compensated senior officers5 during or with respect to the year ended December 31, 2018.2023.

 

Annual Compensation- in thousands of USD

 

Executive Officer Salary, Fees and
Related
Benefits
  Pension,
Retirement
and Other
Similar
Benefits
  Share
Based
Compensation
  Total 
Noam Markfeld $191  $36  $96(1) $323 
                 
John Parmley $230  $51  $8(2) $289 
                 
Shachar Daniel $164  $47  $74(3) $285 
                 
Micha Bar $153  $40  $59(4) $252 
                 
Eitan Bremler $149  $41  $50(5) $240 
Office holders Salary,
Fees and
Related
Benefits
  Pension,
Retirement
and Other
Similar
Benefits
  Share
Based
Compensation
  Total 
Shachar Daniel  405   49   106(1)  560 
                 
Jeffy Binhas  571   37   19(2)  627 
                 
Moshe Kremer  570   -   24(3)  594 
                 
Tomer Cohen  345   39   24(4)  408 
                 
Ezra Mualem  348   -   27(5)  375 

 

“Senior officer” as defined under the Israeli Securities Law 5728-1968, or the Securities Law, includes the definition of an officer, as defined in the Israeli Companies Law, and also the chairman of the board of directors, a substitute director, an individual who under section 236 of the Israeli Companies Law was appointed on behalf of a corporate and who serves as director, accountant, internal auditor, independent signatory and every person who holds a said position, even if the title of his position is different, and also a senior officer in a body corporate controlled by the body corporate, who has substantive influence over the body corporate, and every individual who is employed by the body corporate in a different position and holds 5% or more of the nominal value of the issued share capital or of the voting power, as the case may be; for this purpose. We are providing this disclosure as good practice although we are not required to report or provide such disclosure pursuant to the Israeli Securities Law.

(1)*For information regarding repricing of certain options to purchase Ordinary Shares approved by our board of directors on June 20, 2018 See, “Description of Share Capital.”

(1)

Resulting from options to purchase an aggregate of 200,0001,080,000 Ordinary Shares, at exercise prices ranging between $1.29NIS 1.51 (approximately $0.42) to $1.29 (weighted average of $1.29)NIS 6.04 (approximately $1.67) with expiration dates between July 23, 2027,September 15, 2030, and AugustNovember 28, 2027.2032, and 300,000 RSUs.

58

(2)Resulting from options to purchase an aggregate of 100,000100,002 Ordinary Shares, at exercise price of $0.85withprices ranging between NIS 0 and NIS 4.00 (approximately $1.10) with expiration date of June 19, 2028.dates between August 2, 2030, and August 25, 2031, and 200,004 RSUs.

 

(3)Resulting from options to purchase an aggregate of 643,678300,012 Ordinary Shares, at exercise prices ranging between $0.40NIS 0 to $1.29 (weighted average of $0.72)NIS 4.00 (approximately $1.10) with expiration dates between May 13, 2024,August 2, 2030, and August 7, 2027.November 28, 2033.

 

(4)Resulting from options to purchase an aggregate of 200,016189,444 Ordinary Shares, at exercise prices ranging between $1.23NIS 1.27 (approximately $0.35) to $1.29 (weighted average of $1.26)NIS 6.28 (approximately $1.73) with expiration dates between August 27, 2026,March 7, 2031, and MarchNovember 28, 2027.2032, and 110,556 RSUs.

 

(5)Resulting from options to purchase an aggregate of 299,989300,008 Ordinary Shares, at exercise prices ranging between $0.40NIS 0 to $1.29 (weighted average of $0.94)NIS 4.00 (approximately $1.10) with expiration dates between May 13, 2024,August 2, 2030, and March 28, 2027.November 27, 2030.

 

NIS figures under this Compensation chapter are based on calculations according to the NIS/USD exchange rate of December 31, 2023 of NIS 3.627 per $1.00

Employment and Services Agreements with Executive Officers

We have entered into written employment or services agreements with each of our executive officers. All of these agreements contain customary provisions regarding noncompetition, confidentiality of information and assignment of inventions. However, the enforceability of the noncompetition provisions may be limited under applicable law. In addition, we have entered into agreements with each executive officer and director pursuant to which we have agreed to indemnify each of them up to a certain amount and to the extent that these liabilities are not covered by directors and officers insurance.officer’s insurance, subject to certain exclusions. Members of our senior management may be eligible for bonuses. SuchGenerally, such bonuses are in accordance with our compensation policy and are payable upon meeting objectives and targets that are set by our Chief Executive Officer and approved annually by our board of directors that also set the bonus targets for our Chief Executive Officer.

 

For a description of the terms of our optionsequity awards and option plans,equity incentive plan, see “Item 6.E. Share Ownershipbelow.

 


Directors’ Service Contracts

 

Other than with respect to our directors that are also executive officers, we do not have written agreements with any director providing for benefits upon the termination of his directorship with our company.

 

C.Board Practices

 

Introduction

 

Our board of directors presently consists of eight members, includingsix members. Under the Israeli Companies Law, an Israeli company whose shares have been offered to the public or whose shares are listed for trading on a stock exchange in or outside of Israel is required to appoint at least two external directors to serve on its board of directors. However, pursuant to regulations under the Israeli Companies Law, a board of directors is not required to have external directors if: (i) the company does not have a controlling shareholder (as such term is defined in the Israeli Companies Law); (ii) a majority of the directors serving on the board of directors are “independent,” as defined under Nasdaq Rule 5605(a)(2); and (iii) the company follows Nasdaq Rule 5605(e)(1), which requires that the nomination of directors be appointed undermade, or recommended to the board of directors, by a nominating committee of the board of directors consisting solely of independent directors, or by a majority of independent directors. On July 22, 2021, our board of directors approved that the Company meets all of the above requirements and therefore has resolved to adopt the corporate governance exemption set forth above, and accordingly as of July 22, 2021, we are not required to appoint external directors as such are defined in the Israeli Companies Law. We believe that Ms. Vered Raz-Avayo,The directors, Mr. Yehuda Halfon and Mr. Lior ViderMoshe Tal, each of whom was previously appointed as external directors, and Ms. Rakefet Remigolski, are “independent” for purposes of the Nasdaq Stock Market rules. Our amended and restated articles of association provide that the number of board of directors’ members (including external directors) shall be set by the general meetingour board of the shareholdersdirectors, provided that it will consist of not less than twothree and not more than nine.twelve. Pursuant to the Israeli Companies Law, the management of our business is vested in our board of directors. Our board of directors may exercise all powers and may take all actions that are not specifically granted to our shareholders or to management. Our executive officers are responsible for our day-to-day management and have individual responsibilities established by our board of directors. Our Chief Executive Officer and all other executive officers are appointed by, and serve at the discretion of, our board of directors, subject to the employment or services agreement that we have entered into with them. Their terms of employment are subject to the approval of the board of directors’ compensation committee and of the board of directors and are subject to the terms of any applicable employment agreements that we may enter into with them.

them and are subject to the Company’s compensation policy.

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Each director, except external directors, will hold office until the next annual general meetingin accordance with our articles of our shareholders following his or her appointment,association, or until he or she resigns or unless he or she is removed by a 65% majority vote of our shareholders at aan annual general meeting of our shareholders, provided that such majority constitutes more than 50% of the our then issued and outstanding share capital, or upon the occurrence of certain events, in accordance with the Israeli Companies Law and our amended and restated articles of association. Our articles of association provide for a split of the board of directors into three classes with staggered three-year terms. At each annual general meeting of our shareholders, the election or re-election of directors following the expiration of the term of office of the directors of that class of directors will be for a term of office that expires on the third annual general meeting following such election or re-election, such that each year the term of office of only one class of directors will expire.

 

Our directors are divided among the three classes as follows:

(i)Class I directors are Ms. Rakefet Remigolski and Mr. Yehuda Halfon, whose current terms expire at the Company’s 2026 annual general meeting of shareholders and upon the election and qualification of their respective successors,

(ii)Class II directors are Mr. Shachar Daniel and Mr. Moshe Tal, whose current terms expire at the Company’s 2024 annual general meeting of shareholders and upon the election and qualification of their respective successors; and

(iii)Class III directors are Mr. Chen Katz and Mr. Avi Rubinstein, whose current terms expire at the Company’s 2025 annual general meeting of shareholders and upon the election and qualification of their respective successors.


In addition, under certain circumstances, our amended and restated articles of association allow our board of directors to appoint directors to fill vacancies on our board of directors or in addition to the acting directors (subject to the limitation on the number of directors), untilto serve for the next annual general meetingremaining period of time during which the director whose service has ended would have held office, or in whichcase of an addition to the board of directors, may bein accordance with the class assigned to such appointed or terminated. Externaldirector, as determined by the board of directors may be elected for up to two additional three-year terms after their initial three-year term underat the circumstances described below, with certain exceptions as described in “External Directors” below. External directors may be removed from office only under the limited circumstances set forth in the Companies Law. See “Management—Board Practices—External Directors” below.time of such appointment.

 

Under the Israeli Companies Law, any shareholder holding at least one percent of our outstanding voting power may nominate a director. However, any such shareholder may make such a nomination only if a written notice of such shareholder’s intent to make such nomination has been given to our board of directors. Any such notice must include certain information, including the consent of the proposed director nominee to serve as our director if elected, and a declaration that the nominee signed declaring that he or she possesses the requisite skills and has the availability to carry out his or her duties. Additionally, the nominee must provide details of such skills, and demonstrate an absence of any limitation under the Israeli Companies Law that may prevent his or her election, and affirm that all of the required election-information is provided to us, pursuant to the Israeli Companies Law.

 

Under the Israeli Companies Law, our board of directors must determine the minimum number of directors who are required to have accounting and financial expertise. In determining the number of directors required to have such expertise, our board of directors must consider, among other things, the type and size of the company and the scope and complexity of its operations. Our board of directors has determined that the minimum number of directors of our company who are required to have accounting and financial expertise is two.two – Mrs. Rakefet Remigolski, Mr. Moshe Tal and Mr. Yehuda Halfon qualify and declared their respective accounting and financial expertise to that effect.

 

The board of directors must elect one director to serve as the chairman of the board of directors to preside at the meetings of the board of directors, and may also remove that director as chairman. Pursuant to the Israeli Companies Law, neither the chief executive officer nor any of his or her relatives is permitted to serve as the chairman of the board of directors, and a company may not vest the chairman or any of his or her relatives with the chief executive officer’s authorities. In addition, a person who reports, directly or indirectly, to the chief executive officer may not serve as the chairman of the board of directors; the chairman may not be vested with authorities of a person who reports, directly or indirectly, to the chief executive officer; and the chairman may not serve in any other position in the company or a controlled company, but he or she may serve as a director or chairman of a controlled company. However, the Israeli Companies Law permits a company’s shareholders to determine, for a period not exceeding three years from each such determination, that the chairman or his or her relative may serve as chief executive officer or be vested with the chief executive officer’s authorities, and that the chief executive officer or his or her relative may serve as chairman or be vested with the chairman’s authorities. Such determination of a company’s shareholders requires either: (1) the approval of at least a majority of the shares of those shareholders present and voting on the matter (other than controlling shareholders and those having a personal interest in the determination) (shares held by abstaining shareholders shall not be considered); or (2) that the total number of shares opposing such determination does not exceed 2% of the total voting power in the company. Currently, we have a separate chairman and chief executive officer.

 

The board of directors may, subject to the provisions of the Israeli Companies Law, delegate any or all of its powers to committees of the board, and it may, from time to time, revoke such delegation or alter the composition of any such committees, subject to certain limitations. Unless otherwise expressly provided by the board of directors, the committees shall not be empowered to further delegate such powers. The composition and duties of our audit committee, financial statement examination committee and compensation committee are described below.

 

The board of directors oversees how management monitors compliance with our risk management policies and procedures, and reviews the adequacy of the risk management framework in relation to the risks faced by us. The board of directors is assisted in its oversight role by an internal auditor. The internal auditor undertakes both regular and ad hoc reviews of risk management controls and procedures, the results of which are reported to our audit committee.

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External Directors

 

Under the Israeli Companies Law, an Israeli company whose shares have been offered toexcept as provided below, companies incorporated under the public or whose shares are listed for trading on a stock exchange in or outsidelaws of the State of Israel isthat are publicly traded, including Israeli companies with shares listed on the Nasdaq, are required to appoint at least two external directors to serve on its boardwho meet the qualification requirements set forth in the Israeli Companies Law. The definitions of directors. External directors must meet stringent standards of independence. As of the date hereof, ouran external directors are Ms. Vered Raz-Avayo and Mr. Yehuda Halfon. The terms of service of both of our external directors will expire on March 26, 2019. Following the approval of our compensation committee, on March 24, 2019, our board of directors re-nominated Mr. Yehuda Halfon, and nominated Mr. Moshe Tal, to serve as external directors, subject to the approval of our shareholders. We intend to bring the appointment of Mr. Yehuda Halfon and Mr. Moshe Tal as external directors to the vote of our shareholders at our next shareholders meeting.

According to regulations promulgateddirector under the Israeli Companies law, at least one of the external directors is required to have “financialLaw and accounting expertise,” unless another member of the audit committee, who is an independent director under the Nasdaq Stock Market rules has “financial and accounting expertise,” andare similar such that it would generally be expected that the other external director or directors are required to have “professional expertise.” An external director may not be appointed unless: (1) such director has “accounting and financial expertise;” or (2) he or she has “professional expertise,” and on the date of appointment for another term there is another external director who has “accounting and financial expertise” and the number of “accounting and financial experts” on the board of directors is at least equal to the minimum number determined appropriate by the board of directors. We have determined that our currenttwo external directors (and external director nominees) have accounting and financial expertise.

A director with accounting and financial expertise is a director who, due to his or her education, experience and skills, possesses a high degree of proficiency in, and an understanding of, business – accounting matters and consolidated financial statements, such that he or she is able to understand the consolidated financial statements of the company in depth and initiate a discussion about the manner in which financial data is presented. A director is deemed to have “professional expertise” if he or she holds an academic degree in certain fields or has at least five years of experience in certain senior positions.

External directors are elected by a majority vote at a shareholders’ meeting, as long as either:

at least a majority of the shares held by shareholders who are not controlling shareholders and do not have personal interest in the appointment (excluding a personal interest that did not result from the shareholder’s relationship with the controlling shareholder) have voted in favor of the proposal (shares held by abstaining shareholders shall not be considered); or
the total number of shares voted by non-controlling shareholders and by shareholders who do not have a personal interest in the election of the external director, against the election of the external director, does not exceed 2% of the aggregate voting rights of the company.

The term “control” is defined in the Companies Law as the ability to direct the activities of the company, other than by virtue of being an office holder. A shareholder is presumed to be a controlling shareholder if the shareholder “holds” (within the meaning of the Companies Law) 50% or more of the voting rights in a company or has the right to appoint 50% or more of the directors of the company or its general manager. With respect to certain matters, a controlling shareholder is deemed to include a shareholder that holds 25% or more of the voting rights in a public company if no other shareholder holds more than 50% of the voting rights in the company, but excludes a shareholder whose power derives solely from his or her position as a director of the company or from any other positionwill also comply with the company.

The Companies Law provides for an initial three-year term for an external director. Thereafter, an external director may be reelected by shareholders to serve in that capacity for up to two additional three-year terms, provided that:

(1)his or her service for each such additional term is recommended by one or more shareholders holding at least one percent of the company’s voting rights and is approved at a shareholders meeting by a disinterested majority, where the total number of shares held by non-controlling, disinterested shareholders voting for such reelection exceeds two percent of the aggregate voting rights in the company and subject to additional restrictions set forth in the Companies Law with respect to the affiliation of the external director nominee as described below;

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(2)his or her service for each such additional term is recommended by the board of directors and is approved at a shareholders meeting by the same disinterested majority required for the initial election of an external director (as described above); or
(3)the external director offered his or her service for each such additional term and was approved in accordance with the provisions of section (1) above.

The term of office for external directors for Israeli companies traded on certain foreign stock exchanges, including theindependence requirement under Nasdaq Stock Market may be extended indefinitely in increments of additional three-year terms, in each case provided thatrules.

Pursuant to the audit committee andregulations under the Israeli Companies Law, the board of directors of a company such as ours is not required to have external directors if: (i) the company confirm that,does not have a controlling shareholder (as such term is defined in lightthe Israeli Companies Law); (ii) a majority of the external director’s expertise and special contribution to the work of the board of directors and its committees, the reelection for such additional period(s) is beneficial to the company, and provided that the external director is reelected subject to the same shareholder vote requirements as if elected for the first time (as described above). Prior to the approval of the reelection of the external director at a general shareholders meeting, the company’s shareholders must be informed of the term previously served by him or her and of the reasons why the board of directors and audit committee recommended the extension of his or her term.

Each committee of the board of directors that exercises the powers of the board of directors must include at least one external director, except that the audit committee and the compensation committee must include all external directors then serving on the board of directors are “independent,” as defined under Nasdaq Rule 5605(a)(2); and an external director must serve as the chair thereof. Under the Companies Law, external directors of a company are prohibited from receiving, directly or indirectly, any compensation from(iii) the company other than for their services as external directors pursuant tofollows Nasdaq Rule 5605(e)(1), which requires that the Companies Law and the regulations promulgated thereunder. Compensation of an external director is determined prior to his or her appointment and may not be changed during his or her term subject to certain exceptions.

The Companies Law provides that a person is not qualified to serve as an external director if (i) the person is a relative of a controlling shareholder of the company, or (ii) if that person or his or her relative, partner, employer, another person to whom he or she was directly or indirectly subordinate, or any entity under the person’s control, has or had, during the two years preceding the date of appointment as an external director: (a) any affiliation or other disqualifying relationship with the company, with any person or entity controlling the company or a relative of such person, or with any entity controlled by or under common control with the company; or (b) in the case of a company with no shareholder holding 25% or more of its voting rights, had at the date of appointment as an external director, any affiliation or other disqualifying relationship with a person then serving as chairman of the board or chief executive officer, with a holder of 5% or more of the issued share capital or voting power in the company or with the most senior financial officer.

The term “relative” is defined under the Companies Law as a spouse, sibling, parent, grandparent or descendant; spouse’s sibling, parent or descendant; and the spouse of each of the foregoing persons.

Under the Companies Law, the term “affiliation” and the similar types of disqualifying relationships include (subject to certain exceptions):

an employment relationship;
a business or professional relationship even if not maintained on a regular basis (excluding insignificant relationships);
control; and
service as an office holder, excluding service as a director in a private company prior to the initial public offering of its shares if such director was appointed as a director of the private company in order to serve as an external director following the initial public offering.

The term “office holder” is defined under the Companies Law as a general manager, chief business manager, deputy general manager, vice general manager, any other person assuming the responsibilities of any of these positions regardless of that person’s title, a director and any other manager directly subordinate to the general manager.

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In addition, no person may serve as an external director if that person’s position or professional or other activities create, or may create, a conflict of interest with that person’s responsibilities as a director or otherwise interfere with that person’s ability to serve as a director or if the person is an employee of the Israel Securities Authority or of an Israeli stock exchange. A person may furthermore not continue to serve as an external director if he or she received direct or indirect compensation from the company including amounts paid pursuant to indemnification and/or exculpation contracts or commitments and insurance coverage, other than for his or her service as an external director as permitted by the Companies Law and the regulations promulgated thereunder.

Following the termination of an external director’s service on a boardnomination of directors such former external director and hisbe made, or her spouse and children may not be provided a direct or indirect benefit by the company, its controlling shareholder or any entity under its controlling shareholder’s control. This includes engagement as an office holder or director of the company or a company controlled by its controlling shareholder or employment by, or provision of servicesrecommended to any such company for consideration, either directly or indirectly, including through a corporation controlled by the former external director. This restriction extends for a period of two years with regard to the former external director and his or her spouse or child and for one year with respect to other relatives of the former external director.

External directors may be removed only by a special general meeting of shareholders called by the board of directors, after the board has determined the occurrence of circumstances allow such dismissal, at the same special majority of shareholders required for their election or by a court, and in both cases only if the external directors cease to meet the statutory qualifications for their appointment or if they violate their duty of loyalty to our company. In the event of a vacancy created by an external director which causes the company to have fewer than two external directors, the board of directors is required under the Companies Law to call a shareholders meeting as soon as possible to appoint such number of new external directors in order that the company thereafter has two external directors.

 If at the time at which an external director is appointed all membersNominating Committee of the board of directors who are not controlling shareholders or relatives of controlling shareholders of the company are of the same gender, the external director to be appointed must be of the other gender. A director of a company may not be appointed as an external director of another company if at the same time a director of such other company is acting as an external director of the first company.

under regulations promulgated pursuant to the Companies Law, a company with no controlling shareholder whose shares are listed for trading on specified exchanges outside of Israel, including the Nasdaq Capital Market, may adopt exemptions from various corporate governance requirements of the Companies Law, so long as such company satisfies the requirements of applicable foreign country laws and regulations, including applicable stock exchange rules, that apply to companies organized in that country and relating to the appointmentconsisting solely of independent directors, or by a majority of independent directors. The Company meets all of these requirements. On July 22, 2021, our board of directors resolved to adopt the corporate governance exemption set forth above, and the composition of audit and compensation committees. Such exemptions include an exemption from the requirement to appointaccordingly we no longer have external directors and the requirement that an external director be a memberas members of certain committees, as well as exemption from limitations on directors’ compensation. We may use these exemptions in the future if we do not have a controlling shareholder.our board of directors.

 

Independent Directors Under the Israeli Companies Law

 

An “independent director” is either an external director or a director who meets the same non-affiliation criteria as an external director (except for (i) the requirement that the director be an Israeli resident (which does not apply to companies such as ours whose securities have been offered outside of Israel or are listed outside of Israel) and (ii) the requirement for accounting and financial expertise or professional qualifications), as determined by the audit committee, and who has not served as a director of the company for more than nine consecutive years. For these purposes, ceasing to serve as a director for a period of two years or less would not be deemed to sever the consecutive nature of such director’s service.

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Regulations promulgated pursuant to the Israeli Companies Law provide that a director in a public company whose shares are listed for trading on specified exchanges outside of Israel, including the Nasdaq Capital Market, who qualifies as an independent director under the relevant non-Israeli rules and who meets certain non-affiliation criteria, which are less stringent than those applicable to independent directors as set forth above, would be deemed an “independent” director pursuant to the Israeli Companies Law provided: (i) he or she has not served as a director of the company for more than nine consecutive years; (ii) he or she has been approved as such by the audit committee; and (iii) his or her remuneration shall be in accordance with the Israeli Companies Law and the regulations promulgated thereunder. For these purposes, ceasing to serve as a director for a period of two years or less would not be deemed to sever the consecutive nature of such director’s service.

 

Furthermore, pursuant to these regulations, such company may reappoint a person as an independent director for additional terms, beyond nine years, which do not exceed three years each, if each of the audit committee and the board of directors determine, in that order, that in light of the independent director’s expertise and special contribution to the board of directors and its committees, the reappointment for an additional term is in the company’s best interest.

Mr. Yehuda Halfon, Mr. Moshe Tal and Ms. Rakefet Remigolski, are deemed independent for purposes of the Israeli Companies Law as well as under Nasdaq Stock Market rules.

Alternate Directors

Our amended and restated articles of association provide, as allowed by the Israeli Companies Law, that any director may, subject to the conditions set thereto including approval of the nominee by our board of directors, appoint a person as an alternate to act in his place, to remove the alternate and appoint another in his place and to appoint an alternate in place of an alternate whose office is vacated for any reason whatsoever. Under the Israeli Companies Law, a person who is not qualified to be appointed as a director, a person who is already serving as a director or a person who is already serving as an alternate director for another director, may not be appointed as an alternate director. Nevertheless, a director who is already serving as a director may be appointed as an alternate director for a member of a committee of the board of directors so long as he or she is not already serving as a member of such committee, and if the alternate director is to replace an external director, he or she is required to be an external director and to have either “financial and accounting expertise” or “professional expertise,” depending on the qualifications of the external director he or she is replacing. A person who does not have the requisite “financial and accounting experience” or the “professional expertise,” depending on the qualifications of the external director he or she is replacing, may not be appointed as an alternate director for an external director. A person who is not qualified to be appointed as an independent director, pursuant to the Israeli Companies Law, may not be appointed as an alternate director of an independent director qualified as such under the Israeli Companies Law. Unless the appointing director limits the time or scope of the appointment, the appointment is effective for all purposes until the appointing director ceases to be a director or terminates the appointment. On October 26, 2021, our board of directors appointed Mr. Avi Rubinstein as a director and member of the board until the conclusion of the next annual general meeting of shareholders of the Company.

 


Committees of the Board of Directors

 

Our board of directors has established three standing committees, the audit committee, the compensation committee, and the Financial StatementStatements Examination Committee.

 

Audit Committee

Under the Israeli Companies Law, we are required to appoint an audit committee. The audit committee must be comprised of at least three directors, including all of the external directors (one of whom must serve as chair of the committee).directors. The audit committee may not include the chairman of the board; a controlling shareholder of the company or a relative of a controlling shareholder; a director employed by or providing services on a regular basis to the company, to a controlling shareholder or to an entity controlled by a controlling shareholder; or a director who derives most of his or her income from a controlling shareholder.

  

In addition, a majority of the members of the audit committee of a publicly traded company must be independent directors under the Israeli Companies Law. Our audit committee is comprised of Ms. Vered Raz-Avayo, Mr. Yehuda Halfon, Mr. Moshe Tal and Mr. Lior Vider.

Ms. Rakefet Remigolski.

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Under the Israeli Companies Law, our audit committee is responsible for:

 

(i)(i)determining whether there are deficiencies in the business management practices of our company, and making recommendations to the board of directors to improve such practices;
  
(ii)(ii)determining whether to approve certain related party transactions (including transactions in which an office holder has a personal interest and whether such transaction is extraordinary or material under Israeli Companies Law) and establishing the approval process for certain transactions with a controlling shareholder or in which a controlling shareholder has a personal interest (see “Management—Board Practices—“—Approval of Related Party Transactions under Israeli law”Law”);
  
(iii)(iii)determining the approval process for transactions that are “non-negligible” (i.e., transactions with a controlling shareholder that are classified by the audit committee as non-negligible, even though they are not deemed extraordinary transactions), as well as determining which types of transactions would require the approval of the audit committee, optionally based on criteria which may be determined annually in advance by the audit committee;
  
(iv)(iv)examining our internal controls and internal auditor’s performance, including whether the internal auditor has sufficient resources and tools to dispose of its responsibilities;
  
(v)(v)examining the scope of our auditor’s work and compensation and submitting a recommendation with respect thereto to our board of directors or shareholders, depending on which of them is considering the appointment of our auditor;


 
(vi)establishing procedures for the handling of employees’ complaints as to deficiencies in the management of our business and the protection to be provided to such employees; and
  
(vii)(vii)where the board of directors approves the working plan of the internal auditor, examining such working plan before its submission to the board of directors and proposing amendments thereto.

 

Our audit committee may not conduct any discussions or approve any actions requiring its approval (see “Management—Board Practices—“—Approval of Related Party Transactions under Israeli law”Law”), unless at the time of the approval a majority of the committee’s members are present, which majority consists of independent directors under the Israeli Companies Law, including at least one external director.

 

Our board of directors adopted an audit committee is acting pursuant to a written charter, which became effective upon the listing of the ADSs on the Nasdaq Capital Market settingsets forth, among others, the responsibilities of the audit committee consistent with the rules of the SEC and Nasdaq Listing Rules (in addition to the requirements for such committee under the Israeli Companies Law), including, among others, the following:

 

 oversight of our independent registered public accounting firm and recommending the engagement, compensation or termination of engagement of our independent registered public accounting firm to the board of directors in accordance with Israeli law;
   
 recommending the engagement or termination of the person filling the office of our internal auditor, reviewing the services provided by our internal auditor and reviewing effectiveness of our system of internal control over financial reporting;

 
recommending the terms of audit and non-audit services provided by the independent registered public accounting firm for pre-approval by our board of directors; and
   
 reviewing and monitoring, if applicable, legal matters with significant impact, finding of regulatory authorities’ findings, receive reports regarding irregularities and legal compliance, acting according to “whistleblower policy” and recommend to our board of directors if so required.

 

Nasdaq Stock Market Requirements for Audit Committee

Under the Nasdaq Stock Market rules, we are required to maintain an audit committee consisting of at least three members, all of whom are independent and are financially literate and one of whom has accounting or related financial management expertise.

 

As noted above, the members of our audit committee include Ms. Vered Raz-Avayo and Mr. Yehuda Halfon who are external directors,(the chairman), Mr. Moshe Tal and Mr. Lior Vider who is an independent director,Ms. Rakefet Remigolski, each of whom is “independent,” as such term is defined in under Nasdaq Stock Market rules. Ms. Vered Raz-Avayo serves as the chairman of our audit committee. All members of our audit committee meet the requirements for financial literacy under the Nasdaq Stock Market rules. Our board of directors has determined that each member of our audit committee is an audit committee financial expert as defined by the SEC rules and has the requisite financial experience as defined by the Nasdaq Stock Market rules. 

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Financial StatementStatements Examination Committee

 

Under the Israeli Companies Law, the board of directors of a public company in Israel must appoint a financial statementstatements examination committee, which consists of members with accounting and financial expertise or the ability to read and understand financial statements. OurAccording to a resolution of our board of directors, the audit committee has been assigned the responsibilities and duties of a financial statement examination committee, is comprisedas permitted under relevant regulations promulgated under the Israeli Companies Law. From time to time, as necessary and required to approve our financial statements, the audit committee holds separate meetings, prior to the scheduled meetings of Ms. Vered Raz-Avayo and Messrs.the entire board of directors regarding financial statement approval. As detailed above, the members of our audit committee are Mr. Yehuda Halfon, Mr. Moshe Tal and Lior Vider.Ms. Rakefet Remigolski. The function of a financial statements examination committee is to discuss and provide recommendations to its board of directors (including the report of any deficiency found) with respect to the following issues: (1) estimations and assessments made in connection with the preparation of financial statements; (2) internal controls related to the financial statements; (3) completeness and propriety of the disclosure in the financial statements; (4) the accounting policies adopted and the accounting treatments implemented in material matters of the company; and (5) value evaluations, including the assumptions and assessments on which evaluations are based and the supporting data in the financial statements. Our independent registered public accounting firm and our internal auditor are invited to attend all meetings of ourthe audit committee when it is acting in the role of the financial statements examination committee.

 


Compensation Committee

Under the Israeli Companies Law, the board of directors of any public company must establish a compensation committee. TheUnder the Nasdaq rules, we are required to maintain a compensation committee must be comprisedconsisting of at least three directors, including alltwo members, each of the external directors, who must constitute a majority of the members of the compensation committee. Each compensation committee member that is not an external directorwhom must be a director whose compensation does not exceed an amount that may be paid to an external director. The compensation committee is subject to the same Companies Law restrictions as the audit committee as to: (a) who may not be a member of the committee; and (b) who may not be present during committee deliberations as described above.independent directors.

 

Our compensation committee is acting pursuant to a written charter, and consists of Ms. Vered Raz-Avayo and Mr. Yehuda Halfon, Mr. Moshe Tal, and Mr. Lior Vider.Ms. Rakefet Remigolski, each of whom is “independent,” as such term is defined under Nasdaq Stock Market rules. Our compensation committee complies with the provisions of the Israeli Companies Law, the regulations promulgated thereunder, and our amended and restated articles of association, on all aspects referring to its independence, authorities and practice.association. Our compensation committee follows home country practice as opposed to complyingalso complies with the compensation committee membership and charter requirements prescribed under the Nasdaq Stock Market rules.

 

Our compensation committee reviews and recommends to our board of directors: with respect to our executive officers’ and directors’: (1) annual base compensation (2) annual incentive bonus, including the specific goals and amounts; (3) equity compensation; (4) employment agreements, severance arrangements, and change in control agreements and provisions; (5) retirement grants and/or retirement bonuses; and (6) any other benefits, compensation, compensation policies or arrangements.

 

The duties of the compensation committee include the recommendation to the company’s board of directors of a policy regarding the terms of engagement of office holders, to which we refer as a compensation policy. Such policy must be adopted by the company’s board of directors, after considering the recommendations of the compensation committee. The compensation policy is then brought for approval by our shareholders, which requires a special majoritySpecial Majority (see “Management—Board Practices—“—Approval of Related Party Transactions under Israeli law”Law”). Under the Israeli Companies Law, the board of directors may adopt the compensation policy if it is not approved by the shareholders, provided that after the shareholders oppose the approval of such policy, the compensation committee and then the board of directors revisit the matter and determine, by detailed resolutions, that adopting the compensation policy despite shareholders declining the policy, would be in the best interests of the company. Our compensation policy was approved by our shareholders on May 8, 2016, and an amendmentamendments thereto waswere approved by our shareholders on August 8, 2017.

2017, September 26, 2019, September 15, 2020, and November 2, 2023.

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The compensation policy must serve as the basis for decisions concerning the financial terms of employment or engagement of executive officers and directors, including exculpation, insurance, indemnification or any monetary payment or obligation of payment in respect of employment or engagement. The compensation policy must relate to certain factors, including advancement of the company’s objectives, the company’s business and its long-term strategy, and creation of appropriate incentives for executives. It must also consider, among other things, the company’s risk management, size, and the nature of its operations. The compensation policy must furthermore consider the following additional factors:

 

 the education,knowledge, skills, expertise and accomplishments of the relevant director or executive;

 

 the director’s or executive’s roles and responsibilities and prior compensation agreements with him or her;
   
 the relationship between the cost of the terms of service of an office holderoffered and the average and median compensation of the other employees of the company (including those employed through manpower companies), including the impact of disparities in salary upon work relationships in the company;
   
 the possibility of reducing variable compensation at the discretion of the board of directors; and the possibility of setting a limit on the exercise value of non-cash variable compensation; and


 
as to severance compensation, the period of service of the director or executive, the terms of his or her compensation during such service period, the company’s performance during that period of service, the person’s contribution towards the company’s achievement of its goals and the maximization of its profits, and the circumstances under which the person is leaving the company.

 

The compensation policy must also include the following principles:

 

 with the exception of office holders who report directly to the chief executive officer, the link between variable compensation and long-term performance and measurable criteria;
   
 the relationship between variable and fixed compensation, and the ceiling for the value of variable compensation at the time of its grant;
   
 the conditions under which a director or executive would be required to repay compensation paid to him or her if it was later showndetermined that the datainformation upon which such compensation was based was inaccurate and was required to be restated in the company’s consolidated financial statements;
   
 the minimum holding or vesting period for variable, equity-based compensation; and
   
 maximum limits for severance compensation.

 

The compensation policy must also consider appropriate incentives from a long-term perspective.perspective and maximum limits for severance compensation.

  

The compensation committee is responsible for: (1) recommending the compensation policy to a company’s board of directors for its approval (and subsequent approval by the shareholders); and (2) duties related to the compensation policy and to the compensation of a company’s office holders, including:

 

 recommending whether a compensation policy should continue in effect, if the then-current policy has a term of greater than three years (approval of either a new compensation policy or the continuation of an existing compensation policy must in any case occur every three years);
   
 recommending to the board of directorsdirectors’ periodic updates to the compensation policy;
   
 assessing implementation of the compensation policy;
   
 

determining whether the terms of compensation of certain office holders of the company need not be brought to approval of the shareholders; and

 
determining whether to approveexercising all rights, authority and functions of the terms of compensation of office holders that requireBoard under the committee’s approval.Company’s Clawback Policy.

Our compensation policy is designed to promote our long-term goals, work plan and policy, retain, motivate and incentivize our directors and executive officers, while considering the risks that our activities involve, our size, the nature and scope of our activities and the contribution of an officer to the achievement of our goals and maximization of profits, and align the interests of our directors and executive officers with our long-term performance. To that end, a portion of an executive officer compensation package is targeted to reflect our short and long-term goals, as well as the executive officer’s individual performance. On the other hand, our compensation policy includes measures designed to reduce the executive officer’s incentives to take excessive risks that may harm us in the long-term, such as limits on the value of cash bonuses and equity-based compensation, limitations on the ratio between the variable and the total compensation of an executive officer and minimum vesting periods for equity-based compensation.

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OurOn October 2, 2023, new Nasdaq rules took effect requiring listed companies to adopt a policy, by no later than December 1, 2023, providing for the recovery of erroneously awarded incentive-based compensation policy also addressesreceived by current or former executive officers. On November 23, 2023, and November 27, 2023, our executive officer’s individual characteristics (such as his or her respective position, education, scope of responsibilities and contribution to the attainment of our goals) as the basis for compensation variation among our executive officers, and considers the internal ratios between compensation of our executive officers and directors and other employees. Pursuant to our compensation policy, the compensation that may be granted to an executive officer may include: base salary, annual bonuses, equity-based compensation, benefits and retirement and termination of service arrangements. All cash bonuses are limited to a maximum amount linked to the executive officer’s base salary. In addition, our compensation policy provides for maximum permitted ratios between the total variable (cash bonuses and equity-based compensation) and non-variable (base salary) compensation components, in accordance with an officer’s respective position with the company.

An annual cash bonus may be awarded to executive officers upon the attainment of pre-set periodic objectives and individual targets. The annual cash bonus that may be granted to executive officers other than our chairman or Chief Executive Officer may be based entirely on a discretionary evaluation. Our Chief Executive Officer will be entitled to recommend performance objectives to such executive officers, and such performance objectives will be approved by our compensation committee (and, if required by law, by our board of directors).

The performance measurable objectives of our chairman and Chief Executive Officer will be determined annually by our compensation committee and board of directors. A less significant portion of the chairman’s and/or the Chief Executive Officer’s annual cash bonus may be based on a discretionary evaluation of the chairman’s or the Chief Executive Officer’s respective overall performance by the compensation committee and the board of directors, based on quantitativerespectively, approved a policy designed to comply with Section 10D of the Exchange Act, Rule 10D-1 promulgated under the Exchange Act, or Rule 10D-1, and qualitative criteria.

The equity-based compensationthe listing standards of Nasdaq under ourNasdaq Listing Rule 5608, or a Clawback Policy. In addition, the Clawback Policy is designed to comply with the requirements under the Israeli Companies Law with respect to clawback provisions to be included in the Company’s compensation policy, for our executive officers (including members of our board of directors) is designed in a manner consistent with the underlying objectives in determining the base salary and the annual cash bonus, with its main objectives being to enhance the alignment between the executive officers’ interests with our long-term interests and those of our shareholders and to strengthen the retention and the motivation of executive officers in the long term. Our compensation policy provides for executive officer compensation in the form of share options or other equity-based awards, such as restricted shares and phantom, options, in accordance with our share incentive plan then in place. Share options granted to executive officers shall be subject to vesting periods in order to promote long-term retention of the awarded executive officers. The equity-based compensation shall be granted from time to time and be individually determined and awarded according to the performance, educational background, prior business experience, qualifications, role and the personal responsibilities of the executive officer.

In addition, our compensation policy contains compensation recovery provisions which allows us under certain conditions to recover bonuses paid in excess, enables our Chief Executive Officer to approve an immaterial change in the terms of employment of an executive officer (provided that the changes of the terms of employment are in accordance our compensation policy) and allows us to exculpate, indemnify and insure our executive officers and directors subject to certain limitations set forth thereto.

Our compensation policy also provides for compensation to the members of our board of directors either: (i) in accordance with the amounts provided in the Companies Regulations (Rules Regarding the Compensation and Expenses of an External Director) of 2000, as amended by the Companies Regulations (Relief for Public Companies Traded in Stock Exchange Outside of Israel) of 2000, as such regulations may be amended from time to time; or (ii)time. On November 27, 2023, our board of directors also approved an amendment to the charter of the compensation committee, reflecting the addition of responsibility and authority of the compensation committee to exercise all rights, authority and functions of the board of directors under the Clawback Policy. In furtherance of Rule 10D-1, our Clawback Policy is attached as exhibit 97.1 to this annual report.


Nasdaq Stock Market Requirements for Compensation Committee

Under Nasdaq rules, we are required to maintain a compensation committee consisting of at least two members, all of whom are independent. In addition, in accordanceaffirmatively determining the independence of any director who will serve on the compensation committee of a board of directors, the board of directors must consider all factors specifically relevant to determining whether a director has a relationship to the company which is material to that director’s ability to be independent from management in connection with the amounts determined induties of a compensation committee member.

As noted above, the members of our compensation policy.committee include Mr. Yehuda Halfon, Mr. Moshe Tal and Ms. Rakefet Remigolski, each of whom is “independent,” as such term is defined under Nasdaq rules. Yehuda Halfon serves as the chairman of our compensation committee.

 

Internal Auditor

Under the Israeli Companies Law, the board of directors of an Israeli public company must appoint an internal auditor nominated by the audit committee. Our internal auditor is Ms. Dana Gottesman CPA, CIA, MA and partner of Risk Advisory Services Group, BDO Consulting Group. The role of the internal auditor is to examine, among other things, whether a company’s actions comply with the law and proper business procedure. The audit committee is required to oversee the activities, and to assess the performance of the internal auditor as well as to review the internal auditor’s work plan. An internal auditor may not be an interested party or office holder, or a relative of any interested party or office holder, and may not be a member of the company’s independent accounting firm or its representative. The Israeli Companies Law defines an interested party as a holder of 5% or more of the outstanding shares or voting rights of a company, any person or entity that has the right to appoint at least one director or the general manager of the company or any person who serves as a director or as the general manager of a company. Our internal auditor is not ouran employee of the company, but a partner of a firm which specializes in internal auditing.

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Remuneration of Directors

Under the Israeli Companies Law, remuneration of directors is subject to the approval of the compensation committee, thereafter by the board of directors and thereafter, unless exempted under the regulations promulgated under the Israeli Companies Law or under our compensation policy, by the general meeting of the shareholders. In case the remuneration of the directors is in accordance with regulations applicable to remuneration of the external directors then such remuneration shall be exempt from the approval of the general meeting. Where the director is also a controlling shareholder, the requirements for approval of transactions with controlling shareholders apply.

 

Fiduciary Duties of Office Holders

The Israeli Companies Law imposes a duty of care and a duty of loyalty on all office holders of a company.

 

The duty of care requires an office holder to act with the level of care with which a reasonable office holder in the same position would have acted under the same circumstances. The duty of care of an office holder includes a duty to use reasonable means to obtain:

 

 information on the advisability of a given action brought for his approval or performed by him by virtue of his position; and
   
 all other important information pertaining to these actions.

 

The duty of loyalty of an office holder requires an office holder to act in good faith and for the benefit of the company, and includes a duty to:

 

 refrain from any conflict of interest between the performance of his duties in the company and his performance of his other duties or personal affairs;
   
 refrain from any action that is competitive with the company’s business;


 
refrain from exploiting any business opportunity of the company to receive a personal gain for himself or others; and
   
 disclose to the company any information or documents relating to the company’s affairs which the office holder has received due to his position as an office holder.

Insurance

Under the Israeli Companies Law, a company may obtain insurance for any of its office holders against the following liabilities incurred due to acts he or she performed as an office holder, if and to the extent provided for in the company’s articles of association:

 

 breach of his or her duty of care to the company or to another person, to the extent such a breach arises out of the negligent conduct of the office holder;
   
 a breach of his or her duty of loyalty to the company, provided that the office holder acted in good faith and had reasonable cause to assume that his or her act would not prejudice the company’s interests; and
   
 a financial liability imposed upon him or her in favor of another person.

 

We currently have directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, providing total coverage of $10$15 million for the benefit of all of our directors and officers, in respect of which we paid a twelve-month premium of approximately $72,000, which expires on August 21, 2019January 15, 2025, as well as a Public Offering of Securities Insurance (POSI) providing a total coverage of $10 million for the benefit of all of our directors and officers, and covering a public offering of our securities on the Nasdaq Capital Market in August 2018, in respect of which we paid a seven-year premium of approximately $120,000, which expires on August 21, 2025.

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Indemnification

The Israeli Companies Law and the Israeli Securities Law, 5728-1968, or the Securities Law provide that a company may indemnify an office holder against the following liabilities and expenses incurred for acts performed by him or her as an office holder, either pursuant to an undertaking made in advance of an event or following an event, provided its articles of association include a provision authorizing such indemnification:

 

 a financial liability imposed on him or her in favor of another person by any judgment concerning an act performed in his or her capacity as an office holder, including a settlement or arbitrator’s award approved by a court;

 
reasonable litigation expenses, including attorneys’ fees, expended by the office holder (a) as a result of an investigation or proceeding instituted against him or her by an authority authorized to conduct such investigation or proceeding, provided that (1) no indictment (as defined in the Israeli Companies Law) was filed against such office holder as a result of such investigation or proceeding; and (2) no financial liability as a substitute for the criminal proceeding (as defined in the Israeli Companies Law) was imposed upon him or her as a result of such investigation or proceeding, or, if such financial liability was imposed, it was imposed with respect to an offense that does not require proof of criminal intent; or (b) in connection with a monetary sanction;
   
 reasonable litigation expenses, including attorneys’ fees, expended by the office holder or imposed on him or her by a court,:court: (1) in proceedings that the company institutes, or that another person institutes on the company’s behalf, against him or her; (2) in a criminal proceedingsproceeding of which he or she was acquitted; or (3) as a result of a conviction for a crime that does not require proof of criminal intent; and
   
 expenses incurred by an office holder in connection with an Administrative Procedure under the Securities Law, including reasonable litigation expenses and reasonable attorneys’ fees. An “Administrative Procedure” is defined as a procedure pursuant to chapters H3 (Monetary Sanction by the Israeli Securities Authority)ISA), H4 (Administrative Enforcement Procedures of the Administrative Enforcement Committee) or I1 (Arrangement to prevent Procedures or Interruption of procedures subject to conditions) to the Securities Law.

 


The Israeli Companies Law also permits a company to undertake in advance to indemnify an office holder, provided that if such indemnification relates to financial liability imposed on him or her, as described above, then the undertaking should be limited and shall detail the following foreseen events and amount or criterion:

 

 to events that in the opinion of the board of directors can be foreseen based on the company’s activities at the time that the undertaking to indemnify is made; and
   
 inan amount or criterion determined by the board of directors, at the time of the giving of such undertaking to indemnify, to be reasonable under the circumstances.

 

We have entered into indemnification agreements with all of our directors and with all members of our senior management. Each such indemnification agreement provides the office holder with indemnification permitted under applicable law and up to a certain amount, and to the extent that these liabilities are not covered by directors and officersofficer’s insurance.

 

Exculpation

Under the Israeli Companies Law, an Israeli company may not exculpate an office holder from liability for a breach of his or her duty of loyalty, but may exculpate in advance an office holder from his or her liability to the company, in whole or in part, for damages caused to the company as a result of a breach of his or her duty of care (other than in relation to distributions), but only if a provision authorizing such exculpation is included in its articles of association. Our amended and restated articles of association provide that we may exculpate, in whole or in part, any office holder from liability to us for damages caused to the company as a result of a breach of his or her duty of care, but prohibit an exculpation from liability arising from a company’s transaction in which our controlling shareholder or officer has a personal interest. Subject to the aforesaid limitations, under the indemnification agreements, we exculpate and release our office holders from any and all liability to us related to any breach by them of their duty of care to us to the fullest extent permitted by law.

 

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Limitations

The Israeli Companies Law provides that we may not exculpate or indemnify an office holder nor enter into an insurance contract that would provide coverage for any liability incurred as a result of any of the following: (1) a breach by the office holder of his or her duty of loyalty unless (in the case of indemnity or insurance only, but not exculpation) the office holder acted in good faith and had a reasonable basis to believe that the act would not prejudice us; (2) a breach by the office holder of his or her duty of care if the breach was carried out intentionally or recklessly (as opposed to merely negligently); (3) any act or omission committed with the intent to derive an illegal personal benefit; or (4) any fine, monetary sanction, penalty or forfeit levied against the office holder.

 

Under the Israeli Companies Law, exculpation, indemnification and insurance of office holders in a public company must be approved by the compensation committee and the board of directors and, with respect to certain office holders or under certain circumstances, also by the shareholders.

 

Our amended and restated articles of association permit us to exculpate (subject to the aforesaid limitation), indemnify and insure our office holders to the fullest extent permitted or to be permitted by the Israeli Companies Law.

 

The foregoing descriptions summarize the material aspects and practices of our board of directors. For additional details, we also refer you to the full text of the Israeli Companies Law, as well as of our amended and restated articles of association, which articles are exhibitsan exhibit to this annual report on Form 20-F, and are incorporated herein by reference.

 

There are no service contracts between us or our Subsidiary,the Company, on the one hand, and our directors in their capacity as directors, on the other hand, providing for benefits upon termination of service.

 


Approval of Related Party Transactions under Israeli Law

 

General

Under the Israeli Companies Law, we may approve an action by an office holder from which the office holder would otherwise have to refrain, as described above, if:

 

 the office holder acts in good faith and the act or its approval does not cause harm to the company; and
   
 the office holder disclosed the nature of his or her interest in the transaction (including any significant fact or document) to the company at a reasonable time before the company’s approval of such matter.

 

Disclosure of Personal Interests of an Office Holder

The Israeli Companies Law requires that an office holder disclose to the company, promptly, and, in any event, not later than the board meeting at which the transaction is first discussed, any direct or indirect personal interest that he or she may have, and all related material information known to him or her relating to any existing or proposed transaction by the company. If the transaction is an extraordinary transaction, the office holder must also disclose any personal interest held by:

 

 the office holder’s relatives; or
   
 any corporation in which the office holder or his or her relatives holds 5% or more of the shares or voting rights, serves as a director or general manager or has the right to appoint at least one director or the general manager.

 

An office holder is not, however, obliged to disclose a personal interest if it derives solely from the personal interest of his or her relative in a transaction that is not considered an extraordinary transaction. Under the Israeli Companies Law, an extraordinary transaction is a transaction:

 

 not in the ordinary course of business;
   
 not on market terms; or

 
that is likely to have a material effect on the company’s profitability, assets or liabilities.

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The Israeli Companies Law does not specify to whom within us noror the manner in which required disclosures are to be made. We require our office holders to make such disclosures to our board of directors.

 

Under the Israeli Companies Law, once an office holder complies with the above disclosure requirement, the board of directors may approve a transaction between the company and an office holder, or a third party in which an office holder has a personal interest, unless the articles of association provide otherwise and provided that the transaction is in the company’s interest. If the transaction is an extraordinary transaction in which an office holder has a personal interest, first the audit committee and then the board of directors, in that order, must approve the transaction. Under specific circumstances, shareholder approval may also be required. Generally, a person who has a personal interest in a matter which is considered at a meeting of the board of directors or the audit committee may not be present at such a meeting unless the chairman of the audit committee or board of directors (as applicable) determines that he or she should be present in order to present the transaction that is subject to approval. A director who has a personal interest in a transaction, which is considered at a meeting of the board of directors or the audit committee, may not be present at this meeting or vote on this matter, unless a majority of members of the board of directors or the audit committee, as the case may be, has a personal interest. If a majority of the board of directors has a personal interest, then shareholder approval is generally also required.

 


Disclosure of Personal Interests of a Controlling Shareholder

Under the Israeli Companies Law, the disclosure requirements that apply to an office holder also apply to a controlling shareholder of a public company. Extraordinary transactions with a controlling shareholder or in which a controlling shareholder has a personal interest, including a private placement in which a controlling shareholder has a personal interest, as well as transactions for the provision of services whether directly or indirectly by a controlling shareholder or his or her relative, or a company such controlling shareholder controls, and transactions concerning the terms of engagement and compensation of a controlling shareholder or a controlling shareholder’s relative, whether as an office holder or an employee, require the approval of the audit committee or the compensation committee, as the case may be, the board of directors and a majority of the shares voted by the shareholders of the company participating and voting on the matter in a shareholders’ meeting, in that order. In addition, the shareholder approval must fulfill one of the following requirements:

 

 at least a majority of the shares held by shareholders who have no personal interest in the transaction and are voting at the meeting must be voted in favor of approving the transaction, excluding abstentions; or
   
 the shares voted by shareholders who have no personal interest in the transaction who vote against the transaction represent no more than 2% of the voting rights in the company.

 

In addition, any extraordinary transaction with a controlling shareholder or in which a controlling shareholder has a personal interest with a term of more than three years requires the abovementioned approval every three years; however, such transactions not involving the receipt of services or compensation can be approved for a longer term, provided that the audit committee determines that such longer term is reasonable under the circumstances.

 

The Israeli Companies Law requires that every shareholder that participates, in person, by proxy or by voting instrument, in a vote regarding a transaction with a controlling shareholder, must indicate in advance or in the ballot whether or not that shareholder has a personal interest in the vote in question. Failure to so indicate will result in the invalidation of that shareholder’s vote.

 

The term “controlling shareholder” is defined in the Israeli Companies Law as a shareholder with the ability to direct the activities of the company, other than by virtue of being an office holder. A shareholder is presumed to be a controlling shareholder if the shareholder holds 50% or more of the voting rights in a company or has the right to appoint 50% or more of the directors of the company or its general manager. In the context of a transaction involving a related party, a controlling shareholder also includes a shareholder who holds 25% or more of the voting rights in the company if no other shareholder holds more than 50% of the voting rights in the company. For this purpose, the holdings of all shareholders who have a personal interest in the same transaction will be aggregated.

 

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Approval of the Compensation of Directors and Executive Officers

 

The compensation of, or an undertaking to indemnify, insure or exculpate, an office holder who is not a director requires the approval of the company’s compensation committee, followed by the approval of the company’s board of directors, and, if such compensation arrangement or an undertaking to indemnify, insure or exculpate is inconsistent with the company’s stated compensation policy, or if the said office holder is the chief executive officer of the company (subject to a number of specific exceptions), then such arrangement is subject to the approval of our shareholders, subject to a special majority requirement.Special Majority .

 

Directors. Under the Israeli Companies Law, the compensation of our directors requires the approval of our compensation committee, the subsequent approval of the board of directors and, unless exempted under the regulations promulgated under the Israeli Companies Law or under our compensation policy, the approval of the general meeting of our shareholders. If the compensation of our directors is inconsistent with our stated compensation policy, then, provided that those provisions that must be included in the compensation policy according to the Israeli Companies Law have been considered by the compensation committee and board of directors, shareholder approval by a special majoritySpecial Majority will be required.

 


Executive officers other than the chief executive officer. The Israeli Companies Law requires the approval of the compensation of a public company’s executive officers (other than the chief executive officer) in the following order: (i) the compensation committee, (ii) the company’s board of directors, and (iii) only if such compensation arrangement is inconsistent with the company’s stated compensation policy, the company’s shareholders by a special majority.Special Majority. However, if the shareholders of the company do not approve a compensation arrangement with an executive officer that is inconsistent with the company’s stated compensation policy, the compensation committee and board of directors may override the shareholders’ decision if each of the compensation committee and the board of directors provide detailed reasons for their decision.

 

Chief executive officer. Under the Israeli Companies Law, the compensation of a public company’s chief executive officer is required to be approved by: (i) the company’s compensation committee; (ii) the company’s board of directors, and (iii) the company’s shareholders by a special majority.Special Majority. However, if the shareholders of the company do not approve the compensation arrangement with the chief executive officer, the compensation committee and board of directors may, under special circumstances, override the shareholders’ decision if each of the compensation committee and the board of directors provide detailed reasons for their decision.decision, and after another review of the compensation arrangement, and reviewing in the aforementioned discussion, among other things, the shareholders’ objection. In addition, the compensation committee may exempt the engagement terms of a candidate to serve as the chief executive officer from shareholders’ approval, if the compensation committee determines that the compensation arrangement is consistent with the company’s stated compensation policy, that the chief executive officer did not have a prior business relationship with the company or a controlling shareholder of the company, and that subjecting the approval to a shareholder vote would impede the company’s ability to attain the candidate to serve as the company’s chief executive officer (and provide detailed reasons for the latter).

 

The approval of each of the compensation committee and the board of directors, with regard to the office holders and directors above, must be in accordance with the company’s stated compensation policy; however, under special circumstances, the compensation committee and the board of directors may approve compensation terms of a chief executive officer that are inconsistent with the company’s compensation policy provided that they have considered those provisions that must be included in the compensation policy according to the Israeli Companies Law and that shareholder approval was obtained by a special majoritySpecial Majority requirement.

Duties of Shareholders

Under the Israeli Companies Law, a shareholder has a duty to refrain from abusing his power in the company and to act in good faith and in an acceptable manner in exercising his rights and performing his obligations toward the company and other shareholders, including, among other things, in voting at general meetings of shareholders (and at shareholder class meetings) on the following matters:

 

 amendment of the articles of association;

increase in the company’s authorized share capital;
   
 increase in the company’s authorized share capital;merger; and
   
 merger; and
the approval of related party transactions and acts of office holders that require shareholder approval.

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A shareholder also has a general duty to refrain from oppressing other shareholders. The remedies generally available upon a breach of contract will also apply to a breach of the above-mentioned duties, and in the event of oppression of other shareholders, additional remedies are available to the injured shareholder.

 

In addition, any controlling shareholder, any shareholder that knows that its vote can determine the outcome of a shareholder vote and any shareholder that, under a company’s articles of association, has the power to appoint or prevent the appointment of an office holder, or has another power with respect to a company, is under a duty to act with fairness towards the company. The Israeli Companies Law does not describe the substance of this duty except to state that the remedies generally available upon a breach of contract will also apply in the event of a breach of the duty to act with fairness, taking the shareholder’s position in the company into account.

 


D.Employees.

 

On December 31, 2016, we had 21 full-time employees and 3 part-time employees. On December 31, 2017, we had 35 full-time employees and 6 part-time employees. As of December 31, 2018,2023, we had nine2 senior management positions eight of which are engaged on a full-time basis, and one on a partial time basis. All areboth engaged as employees with the exception of one consultant.employees. In addition to our senior management, we had world-wide 25 full-timeapproximately 50 employees, two part-time employees, two consultants, which are engaged on full time basis and two consultants which are engaged on part time basis. In total, we have world-wide 40sub-contractor’s employees and consultants, on full and part time basis.basis, almost all of whom are located in Israel.

 

In sales and development/support activities we employed approximately 20 employees/consultants in each activity, while 14 employees were occupied in general, administrative and corporate activities. None of our employees is represented by labor unions or covered by collective bargaining agreements.

As of December 31, 2018, the2022, we had 2 senior management positions on a full-time basis and one executive on part-time basis. All are engaged as employees. In addition to our senior management, we had approximately 50 employees, sub-contractor’s employees and consultants, on full and part time basis, almost all of whom are located in Israel.

As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately 60 employees, sub-contractor’s employees and dedicated consultants world-wide. The majority of our employees and consultants were located in Israel, while 15 employees, sub-contractor’s employees and three employeesconsultants were located in theUkraine, United States, engaged through Safe-T USA Inc.,Spain, Germany and an additional four employees and/or consultants located in Europe and Africa. NoneIndia.

E.Share Ownership.

The following table lists as of March 10, 2024, the number of our employees are representedshares beneficially owned by labor unions or covered by collective bargaining agreements.each of our office holders as a group:

  No. of Shares
Beneficially
Owned (1)
  

Percentage

Owned (2)

 
Chen Katz (3)  2,463,123   3.8%
Shachar Daniel (4)  2,877,470   4.4%
Shai Avnit (5)  947,635   1.5%
Avi Rubinstein (6)  372,705   * 
Rakefet Remigolski (7)  84,688   * 
Yehuda Halfon (8)  84,688   * 
Moshe Tal (9)  84,688   * 
All office holders as a group (7 persons)  6,914,995   10.6%

*Less than 1%.

(1)Beneficial ownership is determined in accordance with the rules of the SEC and generally includes voting or investment power with respect to securities. Ordinary Shares relating to options currently exercisable or exercisable within 60 days of the date of this table are deemed outstanding for computing the percentage of the person holding such securities but are not deemed outstanding for computing the percentage of any other person. Except as indicated by footnote, and subject to community property laws where applicable, the persons named in the table above have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares shown as beneficially owned by them.

(2)The percentages shown are based on 62,847,403 Ordinary Shares as issued and outstanding as of March 10, 2023.
(3)Includes 7,000 ADSs (70,000 Ordinary Shares) acquired through open market stock purchases, 135,286 ADSs (1,352,860 Ordinary Shares) and 63,568 ADS Warrants (635,680 Ordinary shares) acquired in a private placement, 33,333 Ordinary Shares issued from RSUs and stock options to purchase 371,250 Ordinary Shares at exercise prices range between NIS 1.51 and NIS 6.04 per share that are exercisable within 60 days. In addition, Mr. Katz holds 116,668 RSUs and options to purchase 168,750 Ordinary Shares at exercise prices ranging between NIS 1.51 to NIS 4.60 per share that are not exercisable within 60 days. Mr. Katz’s options have expiration dates ranging between September 15, 2030, to December 19, 2032.  See also Item 7.A., with respect to certain Ordinary Shares over which the Chairman of the Company or another designee may exercise a proxy with respect to limited items.  Such shares are not included in the table above, as they are based on the office of chairperson rather than Mr. Katz’s personal beneficial ownership.


(4)Includes 11,071 ADS’s (110,710 Ordinary Shares) acquired through open market stock purchases, 133,858 ADSs (1,338,580 Ordinary Shares) and 63,568 ADS Warrants (635,680 Ordinary shares) acquired in a private placement, 50,000 Ordinary Shares issued from RSUs and stock options to purchase 742,500 Ordinary Shares at an exercise price range between NIS 1.51 and NIS 6.04 per share that are exercisable within 60 days. In addition, Mr. Daniel holds 250,000 RSUs and options to purchase 337,500 Ordinary Shares at exercise prices ranging between NIS 1.51 to NIS 4.60 per share that are not exercisable within 60 days. Mr. Daniel’s options have expiration dates ranging from September 15, 2030, to December 19, 2032.
(5)Includes 13,000 Ordinary Shares acquired through open market stock purchases, 35,242 ADSs (352,420 Ordinary Shares) and 10,573 ADS Warrants (105,730 Ordinary shares) acquired in a private placement and stock options to purchase 476,665 Ordinary Shares at an exercise price range between NIS 1.27 and NIS 6.04 per share that are exercisable within 60 days. In addition, Mr. Avnit holds 150,000 RSUs and options to purchase 243,335 Ordinary Shares at exercise prices ranging between NIS 1.27 to NIS 4.00 per share that are not exercisable within 60 days. Mr. Avnit’s options have expiration dates ranging from August 2, 2030, to November 28, 2032.
(6)

Includes 750 ADSs (7,500 Ordinary Shares) acquired through open market stock purchases, 12,500 Ordinary Shares issued from RSUs and stock options to purchase 371,250 Ordinary Shares at an exercise price range between NIS 1.51 and NIS 6.04 per share that are exercisable within 60 days, held by Mr. Rubinstein’s wholly owned affiliate. In addition, Mr. Rubinstein holds, through his wholly owned affiliate, 62,500 RSUs and options to purchase 69,791 Ordinary Shares at exercise prices ranging between NIS 1.51 to NIS 4.60 per share that are not exercisable within 60 days. Mr. Rubinstein’s options have expiration dates ranging from August 2, 2030, to December 19, 2032.

 

(7)Includes 12,500 Ordinary Shares issued from RSUs, stock options to purchase 72,188 Ordinary Shares at an exercise price range between NIS 1.51 and NIS 6.04 per share that are exercisable within 60 days. In addition, Ms. Remigolski holds 62,500 RSUs and options to purchase 32,813 Ordinary Shares at exercise prices ranging between NIS 1.51 to NIS 4.60 per share that are not exercisable within 60 days. Ms. Remigolski’s options have expiration dates ranging between September 15, 2030, to December 19, 2032.

E.(8)Share Ownership.Includes 12,500 Ordinary Shares issued from RSUs, stock options to purchase 72,188 Ordinary Shares at an exercise price range between NIS 1.51 and NIS 6.04 per share that are exercisable within 60 days. In addition, Mr. Halfon holds 62,500 RSUs and options to purchase 32,813 Ordinary Shares at exercise prices ranging between NIS 1.51 to NIS 4.60 per share that are not exercisable within 60 days. Mr. Halfon’s options have expiration dates ranging between September 15, 2030, to December 19, 2032.

(9)

Includes 12,500 Ordinary Shares issued from RSUs, stock options to purchase 72,188 Ordinary Shares at an exercise price range between NIS 1.51 and NIS 6.04 per share that are exercisable within 60 days. In addition, Mr. Tal holds 62,500 RSUs and options to purchase 32,813 Ordinary Shares at exercise prices ranging between NIS 1.51 to NIS 4.60 per share that are not exercisable within 60 days. Mr. Tal’s options have expiration dates ranging between September 15, 2030, to December 19, 2032.

 

See “Item 7.A. Major Shareholders” below.

Stock Option Plans

Global Equity Incentive Plan

 

We maintain one equity incentive plan – the Safe-T GroupAmended and Restated Global EquityIncentive Plan, or the Global EquityIncentive Plan. As of March 24, 2019,10, 2024, the number of Ordinary Shares reserved for the exercise of outstanding options grantedor vesting of outstanding RSUs under the planGlobal Incentive Plan was 4,401,009. In addition,11,939,126. As of March 10, 2024, the total number of Ordinary Shares remaining available for issuance under the Global Incentive Plan is 8,578,688, of which 7,096,249 options to purchase 1,723,0547,096,249 Ordinary Shares were issued and outstanding, with an exercise price which rangesprices ranging between NIS 1.43 (approximately $0.3985)0.00 and NIS 6.9766.28 (approximately $1.94)$1.75) per share.share and 1,508,901 RSUs were granted, representing the right to receive 1,508,901 Ordinary Shares.

 


Our Global EquityIncentive Plan was first adopted by our board of directors in July 2016, and expires in July 2026. Our employees, directors, officers, and services providers, including those who are our controlling shareholders, as well as those of our affiliated companies, are eligible to participate in this plan.

 

Our Global EquityIncentive Plan is administered by our board of directors, regarding the granting of options, restricted shares or RSUs and the terms of optionsuch grants, including exercise price, method of payment, vesting schedule, acceleration of vesting and the other matters necessary in the administration of this plan. Eligible Israeli employees, officers and directors, would qualify for provisions of Section 102(b)(2) of the Israeli Income Tax Ordinance of 1961 (New Version), or the Tax Ordinance. Pursuant to such Section 102(b)(2), qualifying options and shares issued upon exercise of such options are held in trust and registered in the name of a trustee selected by the board of directors. The trustee may not release these options or shares to the holders thereof for two years from the date of the registration of the options in the name of the trustee. Under Section 102, any tax payable by an employee from the grant or exercise of the options is deferred until the transfer of the options or ordinary shares by the trustee to the employee or upon the sale of the options or ordinary shares, and gains may qualify to be taxed as capital gains at a rate equal to 25%, subject to compliance with specified conditions. Our Israeli non-employee service providers and controlling shareholders may only be granted options under Section 3(9) of the Tax Ordinance, which does not provide for similar tax benefits. The Global Equity Plan also permits granting options to Israeli grantees who do not qualify under Section 102(b)(2).

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As a default, our Global EquityIncentive Plan provides that upon termination of employment for any reason, other than in the event of death, retirement, disability or cause, all unvested options will expire and all vested options will generally be exercisable for 90 days following such termination, subject to the terms of the Global EquityIncentive Plan and the governing option agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event the employment is terminated for cause (including, inter alia, due to dishonesty toward the Company or its affiliate, substantial malfeasance or nonfeasance of duty, unauthorized disclosure of confidential information, and conduct substantially prejudicial to the business of the Company or affiliate; or any substantial breach by the optionee of his or her employment or service agreement) all options granted to such employee, whether vested or unvested, will not be exercisable and will terminate on the date of the termination of his employment.

 

Upon termination of employment due to death or disability, all the options vested at the time of termination and within 60 days after the date of such termination, will generally be exercisable for 12 months, or such other period as determined by the plan administrator, subject to the terms of the Global EquityIncentive Plan and the governing option agreement.

 

On January 20, 2019, our board of directors adopted an appendix to the Global EquityIncentive Plan for U.S. residents.residents, which was thereafter amended by the board of directors, with effect from September 22, 2022. Under this appendix, the Global EquityIncentive Plan will provideprovides for the granting of options to U.S. residents. The U.S. Global EquityIncentive Plan and appendix have not yet been approved by our shareholders on May 23, 2019. On September 22, 2022, our board of directors approved an amendment of the Global Incentive Plan, reflecting the addition of restricted shares and certain grantsRSUs as an available means of award to be granted to participants eligible to participate in the Global Incentive Plan.

On September 13, 2023, our board of directors approved an increase in the number of Ordinary Shares reserved for issuance under the appendix may not be made until such time that our shareholders approve the appendix. At our next shareholders meeting, we intendGlobal Incentive Plan by 5,000,000 Ordinary Shares, from 7,448,661 to bring the appendix to the vote of our shareholders.12,448,661.

 

F.Disclosure of a Registrant’s Action to Recover Erroneously Awarded Compensation

Not applicable.


ITEM 7.MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

ITEM 7. MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

 

A.Major Shareholders

A. Major Shareholders

 

The following table listspresents as of March 24, 2019,10, 2024 (unless otherwise noted below), the numberbeneficial ownership of our shares beneficially owned by:Ordinary Shares by each person who is known to us to be the beneficial owner of 5% or more of our outstanding Ordinary Shares (to whom we refer as our Major Shareholders).

 

each person, or group of affiliated persons, known to us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our outstanding Ordinary Shares;
each of our directors and executive officers; and
all of our directors and executive officers as a group.

Except aswhere otherwise indicated, in footnotesand except pursuant to this table,community property laws, we believe, based on information furnished by such owners, that the shareholder named in this table hasbeneficial owners of the shares listed below have sole votinginvestment and investmentvoting power with respect to, all shares shownand the sole right to be beneficially owned by it, based on information provided to us byreceive the economic benefit of ownership of, such shareholder.shares. The shareholdershareholders listed below doesdo not have any different voting rights from any of our other shareholders. We know of no arrangements that would, at a subsequent date, result in a change of control of our Company.

 

  No. of Shares
Beneficially
Owned(1)
  

Percentage

Owned(2)

 
Holders of more than 5% of our voting securities:      
Iroquois Capital Management L.L.C. (3)  6,312,360   6.0%
         
Directors and senior management who are not 5% holders:        
Chen Katz  -   - 
Amir Mizhar (4)  5,115,923   4.9%
Shachar Daniel  *   * 
Vered Raz-Avayo  -   - 
Yehuda Halfon  -   - 
Lior Vider  -   - 
Eylon Geda  -   - 
Noa Matzliach  -   - 
Shai Avnit  *   * 
Eitan Bremler  *   * 
Noam Markfeld  -   - 
Micha Bar  -   - 
John Parmley  -   - 
Eyal Reissman  *   * 
Dafna Lipowicz  -   - 
All directors and senior management as a group (15 persons)  5,765,566   5.5%
Name Number of
Ordinary
Shares
Beneficially
Owned (1)
  Percent
of
Class (2)
 
         
Yotam Benattia (3)  3,391,745   5.4%

 

*(1)Less than 1%.
(1)Beneficial ownership is determined in accordance with the rules of the SEC and generally includes voting or investment power with respect to securities. Ordinary Shares relating to options currently exercisable or exercisable within 60 days of the date of this table are deemed outstanding for computing the percentage of the person holding such securities but are not deemed outstanding for computing the percentage of any other person. Except as indicated by footnote, and subject to community property laws where applicable, the persons named in the table above have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares shown as beneficially owned by them.

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(2)The percentages shown are based on 104,818,253 Ordinary Shares as issued and outstanding as of March 24, 2019.
  
(3)(2)BasedThe percentage of outstanding ordinary shares is based on 62,847,403 Ordinary Shares outstanding as of March 10, 2024.
(3)The beneficial ownership is based on a Schedule 13G/A filed by Mr. Benattia with the SEC on February 14, 2019, and which reflects holdings as of December 31, 2018, the holder is the beneficial owner of 6,312,360 Ordinary Shares. In a recent public offering, we issued to the holder warrants to purchase an aggregate of 2,045,880 additional Ordinary Shares, which warrants contain a beneficial ownership limitation that prohibits the holder from exercising such securities if doing so would result in the holder beneficially owning more than 4.99% of our Ordinary Shares outstanding.
(4)Includes 1,882,259 Ordinary Shares held by eTouchware 2005 Inc., a company wholly owned by Amir Mizhar. Also includes 75,000 dormant shares which do not carry any rights.January 16, 2024. 

 

Changes in Percentage Ownership by Major Shareholders

 

In December 2015, while weOver the course of 2023 and through March 2024, there were a shell company (then known as Matarat Mizug Havarot Ltd.),decreases in the District Courtpercentage ownership of Tel-Aviv-Jaffa approved a creditors arrangement, orMessrs. Benattia (from 8.5% to 5.8%) and Lev (from 8.5% to 4.8%).

Over the Creditors Arrangement, under Section 350course of 2022 and until March 24, 2023, there were no decreases in the Companies Lawpercentage ownership of major shareholders. There were increases in order to effect the salepercentage ownership of 325,656some of our Ordinary Shares, representing 90%former major shareholders: (i) Mr. Lev (from 6.4% to 8.5%), and (ii) Mr. Benattia (from 6.4% to 8.5%).

Over the course of 2021, there were decreases in the percentage ownership of some of our issuedformer major shareholders: (i) the entities affiliated with Alpha Capital Anstalt (from 9.9% to 4.99%), and outstanding share capital,(ii) the entities affiliated with Anson Funds Management LP. (from 5.2% to a purchaser, against payment in cash which was then allocated to the company’s creditors as part of a court order to finally settle all of the creditors’ claims. The shares were issued in March 2016.

On June 15, 2016, we closed the Merger with the Subsidiary, whereby we acquired 100% of the share capital of the Subsidiary. As a result of the Merger, the four0%). In addition, Messrs. Roni Lev and Yotam Benattia became major shareholders of the Subsidiary (prior to the transaction) received an aggregate amount of approximately 63.3% of our issued and outstanding Ordinary Shares as of the date thereof.Company during 2021.

 

For a detailed description of the Merger, see “Item 7.B. Related Party Transactions – Merger.”

Record Holders

 

As of March 25, 2019, there was one shareholder of record of our Ordinary Shares, which was located in Israel. The number of record holders is not representative of the number of beneficial holders of our Ordinary Shares, as the shares of all shareholders for a publicly traded company such as ours which is listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange are recorded in the name of our Israeli share registrar, Bank Hapoalim RegistrationThe Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Nominee Company Ltd. Accordingly, as of March 10, 2024, there are two shareholders of record of our Ordinary Shares, one which is located in Israel and another which is located in the U.S. Based upon a review of the information provided to us by The Bank of New York Mellon, the depository of the ADSs, as of March 19, 2019,10, 2024, there were 4280 holders of record of the ADSs on record with the Depository Trust Company.

 

These numbers are not representative of the number of beneficial holders of our shares nor is it representative of where such beneficial holders reside, since many of these shares were held of record by brokers or other nominees.

 


The Company is not controlled by another corporation, by any foreign government or by any natural or legal persons except as set forth herein, and there are no arrangements known to the Company which would result in a change in control of the Company at a subsequent date.

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B.Related Party Transactions

B. Related Party Transactions

 

September 2023 Private Placement

Mr. Chen Katz, our Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Mr. Shachar Daniel, our Chief Executive Officer, each purchased 21,189 Units of ten ADSs and three warrants for an aggregate purchase price of $481,000 in the private placement we completed in September 2023. Mr. Shai Avnit, our Chief Financial Officer, purchased 3,524 Units of ten ADSs and three warrants for an aggregate purchase price of $80,000 in the private placement we completed in September 2023.

Mr. Katz and Mr. Daniel used, in part, $400 thousand each loaned to them in a non-recourse loan, by the rest of the investors in the private placement, other than Mr. Avnit. The loans bear an annual interest of 8% and should be repaid in three equal installments on September 14, 2024, March 14, 2025, and September 14, 2025. Mr. Katz’s and Daniel’s loans are secured by ADSs they already own and the ADSs they purchased in the private placement along with their PP Warrants.

See also “Item 5.B - Liquidity and Capital Resources -Private Placement.” 

Employment and Services Agreements

 

We have entered into written employment or services agreements with each of our executive officers. All of these agreements contain customary provisions regarding noncompetition, confidentiality of information and assignment of inventions. However, the enforceability of the noncompetition provisions may be limited under applicable law. In addition, we have entered into agreements with each executive officer and director pursuant to which we have agreed to indemnify each of them up to a certain amount and to the extent that these liabilities are not covered by directorsdirectors’ and officersofficers’ insurance. Members of our senior management are eligible for bonuses each year. The bonuses are payable upon meeting objectives and targets that are set by our Chief Executive Officer and approved annually by our board of directors that also set the bonus targets for our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.Officer, all in accordance with our compensation policy.

 

Options

Since our inception, we have granted options to purchase our Ordinary Shares and RSUs, or, collectively, equity incentive awards, to our officers and certain of our directors. Such optionequity incentive award agreements may contain acceleration provisions upon certain merger, acquisition, or change of control transactions. We describe our optionequity incentive plans under “Share Ownership—Stock Option Plans.” If the relationship between us and an executive officer or a director is terminated, except for cause (as defined in the various optionequity incentive plan agreements), and unless otherwise approved by our board of directors and shareholders, as applicable, options that are vested will generally remain exercisable for three months after such termination.

Services Agreement with Mr. Amir Mizhar

In September 2015, as amended on March 2, 2016, we entered into a management services agreement with our then controlling shareholder and Chairman, Mr. Amir Mizhar, whereby we receive management services from Mr. Mizhar. The agreement was approved by our shareholders on May 8, 2016. Pursuant to the agreement, Mr. Mizhar is entitled to a monthly payment of NIS 55,000 (approximately $15,000). Mr. Mizhar is entitled also to an annual bonus in accordance with the provisions of our compensation policy, and subject to the annual bonus cap set under such policy. Payments made to Mr. Mizhar under this agreement have been aggregated in the compensation table that reflects the aggregate amount that we paid to all of our directors and senior management as a group in 2018, included elsewhere in this annual report. On January 20, 2019, Mr. Mizhar stepped out of his positions as chairman of our board of directors and was appointed as our President. Mr. Mizhar continues to serve as the Chief Software Architect of our wholly owned subsidiary, Safe-T Data A.R Ltd. On March 12, 2019, our compensation committee, and on March 24, 2019, our board of directors re-approved the aforesaid terms of compensation of Mr. Mizhar, which are subject to the approval of our shareholders, to apply in his current positions as a director, president (being mainly of representative nature) and Chief Software Architect. At our next shareholders meeting, we intend to bring Mr. Mizhar’s terms of service as set forth herein to the vote of our shareholders.

Merger Agreement

On March 31, 2016, we, our Subsidiary and the shareholders of our Subsidiary signed a merger agreement as part of the Merger Transaction, in which we acquired all the issued and paid share capital of our Subsidiary in consideration of 8,626,761 of our Ordinary Shares. In addition, and pursuant to the Merger Transaction, outstanding warrants of the Subsidiary converted into warrants to purchase 1,496,725 of our Ordinary Shares. The transaction closed on June 15, 2016.

Prior to the Merger Transaction, the Subsidiary entered into an agreement with several investors, which was amended a number of times. Under these agreements, the Subsidiary and the investors were to make efforts to complete a merger with a public shell company, and the investors would provide certain advisory services to the company with respect to its operations as a public company. In addition, the investors provided bridge loans in the aggregate amount of approximately $2.2 million to the Subsidiary, which would be repaid to the investors in cash upon the completion of a merger. The agreements also stipulated that, upon the consummation of a merger, the shareholders of our Subsidiary will hold 67% of the merged company and the investors will hold 33%, subject to certain adjustments. Following the Merger Transaction, we repaid all loans which were granted pursuant to the agreement and the amendments. These agreements culminated with the completion of the Merger Transaction, and do not contain any material provisions that currently affect our operations and conduct.

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Credit Line Agreements with Subsidiary

On July 25, 2016, we signed a Credit Line Agreement with our Subsidiary, pursuant to which we agreed to extend a line of credit with a maximum loan balance of NIS 16.5 million (approximately $4.6 million) to fund the Subsidiary’s day-to-day affairs. The credit line bears interest Any unvested RSUs at the minimum statutory rate. All outstanding loans are totime of such termination shall be repaid, in one or more installments, within three years from the loan date. Since then, the credit line was extended based on the subsidiary’s financial needs. The aggregate facility amount, asautomatically cancelled.

C. Interests of March 24, 2019, is NIS 79.0 million (approximately $21.7 million).Experts and Counsel

Merger of Subsidiary with RSAccess

 

On December 31, 2016, our Subsidiary entered into a merger agreement with RSAccess Ltd., or RSAccess, a private company incorporated under the laws of the State of Israel, then controlled by our chairman, Mr. Amir Mizhar, to merge the two companies subject to certain tax requirements. Since as of the date of the agreement RSAccess was a wholly-owned subsidiary of our Subsidiary, it merged with and into our Subsidiary for no consideration. In September 2017, the Israeli Companies Registrar approved the merger.

Finders Agreement with Mr. Eylon Geda

In February 2017 we entered into a one-year services agreement with Mr. Eylon Geda, one of our directors, whereby we committed to pay Mr. Geda a finder fee of 5% (plus applicable VAT) of the cash amounts actually received by us under a transaction for investment in our securities consummated with parties introduced to us by Mr. Geda. To date, we have not consummated any investment transactions as a result of this agreement, and we have not paid Mr. Geda any amounts with respect thereto.

C.Interests of Experts and Counsel

Not applicable.

  

ITEM 8.FINANCIAL INFORMATION.

ITEM 8. FINANCIAL INFORMATION.

 

A.Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information.

A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information.

 

See “Item 18. Financial Statements.”

  

Legal Proceedings


 

We are not currently subject to any material legal proceedings.

 

Dividends

 

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our Ordinary Shares and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Payment of cash dividends, if any, in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on then-existing conditions, including our financial condition, operating results, contractual restrictions, capital requirements, business prospects and other factors our board of directors may deem relevant.

 

Payment of dividends may be subject to Israeli withholding taxes. See “Item 10.E. Taxation”, for additional information.

 

B.Significant Changes

B. Significant Changes

 

No significant change, other than as otherwise described in this annual report on Form 20-F, has occurred in our operations since the date of our consolidated financial statements included in this annual report on Form 20-F.

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ITEM 9.THE OFFER AND LISTING

ITEM 9. THE OFFER AND LISTING

   

A.Offer and Listing Details

A. Offer and Listing Details

 

Our Ordinary Shares have been trading on the TASE since January 2000. As of July 7, 2016, and following the change of our name in the course of the Merger Transaction, our symbol on the TASE has been “SAFE.” Our ADSs are traded on the OTCQB under the symbol “SFTTY” from June 27, 2017 until August 16, 2018. On August 17, 2018, our ADSs, each representing 40 of our Ordinary Shares, commenced trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market and TASE under the symbol “SFET.”“ALAR”.

 

B.Plan of Distribution

B. Plan of Distribution

 

Not applicable.

 

C.Markets

C. Markets

 

Our Ordinary Shares are listed on the TASE. Our ADSs are listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market.

 

D.Selling Shareholders

D. Selling Shareholders

 

Not applicable.

 

E.Dilution

E. Dilution

 

Not applicable.

 

F.Expenses of the Issue

F. Expenses of the Issue

 

Not applicable.

 

ITEM 10.ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

ITEM 10. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

 

A.Share Capital

A. Share Capital

 

Not applicable.

 

B.Memorandum and Articles of Association

B. Memorandum and Articles of Association

 

Our registration number with the Israeli Registrar of Companies is 51-141847-7.

Purposes and Objects of the Company

Our purpose is set forth in Article 4A copy of our amended and restated articles of association is attached as Exhibit 1.1 to this annual report on Form 20-F. The information called for by this Item is set forth in Exhibit 2(d) to this annual report on Form 20-F and includes every lawful purpose.is incorporated by reference into this annual report on Form 20-F. 

The Powers of the Directors

Our board of directors shall direct our policy and shall supervise the performance of our Chief Executive Officer and his actions. Our board of directors may exercise all powers that are not required under the Companies Law or under our amended and restated articles of association to be exercised or taken by our shareholders.

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Rights Attached to Shares


 

Our Ordinary Shares shall confer upon the holders thereof:

equal right to attend and to vote at all of our general meetings, whether regular or special, with each Ordinary Share entitling the holder thereof, which attend the meeting and participate at the voting, either in person or by a proxy or by a written ballot, to one vote;
equal right to participate in distribution of dividends, if any, whether payable in cash or in bonus shares, in distribution of assets or in any other distribution, on a per share pro rata basis; and
equal right to participate, upon our dissolution, in the distribution of our assets legally available for distribution, on a per share pro rata basis.

Election of Directors

Pursuant to our amended and restated articles of association, our directors are elected at an annual general meeting and/or a special meeting of our shareholders and serve on the board of directors until the next annual general meeting (except for external directors) or until they resign or until they cease to act as board members pursuant to the provisions of our amended and restated articles of association or any applicable law, upon the earlier. Pursuant to our amended and restated articles of association, other than the external directors, for whom special election requirements apply under the Companies Law, the vote required to appoint a director is a simple majority vote of holders of our voting shares, participating and voting at the relevant meeting. In addition, our amended and restated articles of association allow our board of directors to appoint directors to fill vacancies and/or as an addition to the board of directors (subject to the maximum number of nine directors) to serve until the next annual general meeting. External directors are elected for an initial term of three years, may be elected for additional terms of three years each under certain circumstances, and may be removed from office pursuant to the terms of the Companies Law. See “Item 6 C.—Board Practices—External Directors.” 

Annual and Special Meetings

Under the Israeli law, we are required to hold an annual general meeting of our shareholders once every calendar year, at such time and place which shall be determined by our board of directors, that must be no later than 15 months after the date of the previous annual general meeting. All meetings other than the annual general meeting of shareholders are referred to as special general meetings. Our board of directors may call special meetings whenever it sees fit and upon the request of: (a) any two of our directors or such number of directors equal to one quarter of the directors then at office; and/or (b) one or more shareholders holding, in the aggregate, (i) 5% or more of our outstanding issued shares and 1% of our outstanding voting power or (ii) 5% or more of our outstanding voting power. 

Subject to the provisions of the Companies Law and the regulations promulgated thereunder, shareholders entitled to participate and vote at general meetings are the shareholders of record on a date to be decided by the board of directors, which may be between four and forty days prior to the date of the meeting. Resolutions regarding the following matters must be passed at a general meeting of our shareholders:

amendments to our amended and restated articles of association;
the exercise of our board of director’s powers by a general meeting if our board of directors is unable to exercise its powers and the exercise of any of its powers is required for our proper management;
appointment or termination of our auditors;
appointment of directors, including external directors;
approval of acts and transactions requiring general meeting approval pursuant to the provisions of the Companies Law (mainly certain related party transactions) and any other applicable law;
increases or reductions of our authorized share capital; and
a merger (as such term is defined in the Companies Law). 

Notices

The Companies Law and our amended and restated articles of association require that a notice of any annual or special shareholders meeting be provided at least 21 days prior to the meeting, and if the agenda of the meeting includes the appointment or removal of directors, the approval of transactions with office holders or interested or related parties, approval of the company’s general manager to serve as the chairman of the board of directors or an approval of a merger, notice must be provided at least 35 days prior to the meeting.

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Table of Contents

 

Quorum

As permitted under the Companies Law, the quorum required for our general meetings consists of at least two shareholders present in person, by proxy, written ballot or voting by means of electronic voting system, who hold or represent between them at least 25% of the total outstanding voting rights. If within half an hour of the time set forth for the general meeting a quorum is not present, the general meeting shall stand adjourned the same day of the following week, at the same hour and in the same place, or to such other date, time and place as prescribed in the notice to the shareholders and in such adjourned meeting, if no quorum is present within half an hour of the time arranged, any number of shareholders participating in the meeting, shall constitute a quorum.

If a special general meeting was summoned following the request of a shareholder, and within half an hour a legal quorum shall not have been formed, the meeting shall be canceled.

Adoption of Resolutions

Our amended and restated articles of association provide that all resolutions of our shareholders require a simple majority vote, unless otherwise required under the Companies Law or our amended and restated articles of association. A shareholder may vote in a general meeting in person, by proxy, by a written ballot.

Changing Rights Attached to Shares

Unless otherwise provided by the terms of the shares and subject to any applicable law, any modification of rights attached to any class of shares must be adopted by the holders of a majority of the shares of that class present a general meeting of the affected class or by a written consent of all the shareholders of the affected class.

The enlargement of an existing class of shares or the issuance of additional shares thereof, shall not be deemed to modify the rights attached to the previously issued shares of such class or of any other class, unless otherwise provided by the terms of the shares.

Limitations on the Right to Own Securities in Our Company

There are no limitations on the right to own our securities.  

Provisions Restricting Change in Control of Our Company

There are no specific provisions of our amended and restated articles of association that would have an effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of the Company or that would operate only with respect to a merger, acquisition or corporate restructuring involving us (or our Subsidiary). However, as described below, certain provisions of the Companies Law may have such effect.

The Companies Law includes provisions that allow a merger transaction and requires that each company that is a party to the merger have the transaction approved by its board of directors and, unless certain requirements described under the Companies Law are met, a vote of the majority of shareholders, and, in the case of the target company, also a majority vote of each class of its shares. For purposes of the shareholder vote of each party, unless a court rules otherwise, the merger will not be deemed approved if shares representing a majority of the voting power present at the shareholders meeting and which are not held by the other party to the merger (or by any person or group of persons acting in concert who holds 25% or more of the voting power or the right to appoint 25% or more of the directors of the other party) vote against the merger. If, however, the merger involves a merger with a company’s own controlling shareholder or if the controlling shareholder has a personal interest in the merger, then the merger is instead subject to the same Special Majority approval that governs all extraordinary transactions with controlling shareholders. Upon the request of a creditor of either party to the proposed merger, the court may delay or prevent the merger if it concludes that there exists a reasonable concern that as a result of the merger the surviving company will be unable to satisfy the obligations of any of the parties to the merger, and may further give instructions to secure the rights of creditors. If the transaction would have been approved by the shareholders of a merging company but for the separate approval of each class or the exclusion of the votes of certain shareholders as provided above, a court may still approve the merger upon the petition of holders of at least 25% of the voting rights of a company. For such petition to be granted, the court must find that the merger is fair and reasonable, taking into account the value of the parties to the merger and the consideration offered to the shareholders. In addition, a merger may not be completed unless at least (1) 50 days have passed from the time that the requisite proposals for approval of the merger were filed with the Israeli Registrar of Companies by each merging company and (2) 30 days have passed since the merger was approved by the shareholders of each merging company.

C. Material Contracts

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The Companies Law also provides that, subject to certain exceptions, an acquisition of shares in an Israeli public company must be made by means of a “special” tender offer if as a result of the acquisition (1) the purchaser would become a holder of 25% or more of the voting rights in the company, unless there is already another holder of at least 25% or more of the voting rights in the company or (2) the purchaser would become a holder of 45% or more of the voting rights in the company, unless there is already a holder of more than 45% of the voting rights in the company. These requirements do not apply if, in general, the acquisition (1) was made in a private placement that received shareholders’ approval, subject to certain conditions, (2) was from a holder of 25% or more of the voting rights in the company which resulted in the acquirer becoming a holder of 25% or more of the voting rights in the company, or (3) was from a holder of more than 45% of the voting rights in the company which resulted in the acquirer becoming a holder of more than 45% of the voting rights in the company. A “special” tender offer must be extended to all shareholders. In general, a “special” tender offer may be consummated only if (1) at least 5% of the voting power attached to the company’s outstanding shares will be acquired by the offeror and (2) the offer is accepted by a majority of the offerees who notified the company of their position in connection with such offer (excluding the offeror, controlling shareholders, holders of 25% or more of the voting rights in the company or anyone on their behalf, or any person having a personal interest in the acceptance of the tender offer). If a special tender offer is accepted, then the purchaser or any person or entity controlling it or under common control with the purchaser or such controlling person or entity may not make a subsequent tender offer for the purchase of shares of the target company and may not enter into a merger with the target company for a period of one year from the date of the offer, unless the purchaser or such person or entity undertook to effect such an offer or merger in the initial special tender offer.

If, as a result of an acquisition of shares, the acquirer will hold more than 90% of an Israeli company’s outstanding shares or of certain class of shares, the acquisition must be made by means of a tender offer for all of the outstanding shares, or for all of the outstanding shares of such class, as applicable. In general, if less than 5% of the outstanding shares, or of applicable class, are not tendered in the tender offer and more than half of the offerees who have no personal interest in the offer tendered their shares, all the shares that the acquirer offered to purchase will be transferred to it by operation of law. However, a tender offer will also be accepted if the shareholders who do not accept the offer hold less than 2% of the issued and outstanding share capital of the company or of the applicable class of shares. Any shareholders that was an offeree in such tender offer, whether such shareholder accepted the tender offer or not, may request, by petition to an Israeli court, (i) appraisal rights in connection with a full tender offer, and (ii) that the fair value should be paid as determined by the court, for a period of six months following the acceptance thereof. However, the acquirer is entitled to stipulate, under certain conditions, that tendering shareholders will forfeit such appraisal rights.

Lastly, Israeli tax law treats some acquisitions, such as stock-for-stock exchanges between an Israeli company and a foreign company, less favorably than U.S. tax laws. For example, Israeli tax law may, under certain circumstances, subject a shareholder who exchanges his Ordinary Shares for shares in another corporation to taxation prior to the sale of the shares received in such stock-for-stock swap.

Changes in Our Capital

The general meeting may, by a simple majority vote of the shareholders attending the general meeting:

increase our registered share capital by the creation of new shares from the existing class or a new class, as determined by the general meeting;
cancel any registered share capital which have not been taken or agreed to be taken by any person;
consolidate and divide all or any of our share capital into shares of larger nominal value than our existing shares;
subdivide our existing shares or any of them, our share capital or any of it, into shares of smaller nominal value than is fixed; and
reduce our share capital and any fund reserved for capital redemption in any manner, and with and subject to any incident authorized, and consent required, by the Companies Law.

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C.Material Contracts

Except as set forth below, we have not entered into any material contract within the two years prior to the date of this annual report on Form 20-F, other than contracts entered into in the ordinary course of business, or as otherwise described herein in “Item 4.A. History and Development of the Company” above, “Item 4.B. Business Overview” above, see “Item 5.B Liquidity and Capital Resources - Change in cash and cash equivalents” above or “Item 7.A. Major Shareholders” above.

 

D.Exchange Controls

United Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank Credit Line

 

We had drawn a $1.6 million short-term bank loan from our $2 million one-year credit line which was secured from Mizrahi Bank on May 25, 2022. Amounts drawn under the credit line bore interest at the Secured Overnight Financing Rate plus 5.5% per annum, and were payable quarterly for the actual withdrawn balance. The credit line offered three times multiple on eligible revenues, was secured against all the assets of CyberKick, was guaranteed by us and included a refundable deposit by us of $0.5 million. On April 13, 2023, the line of credit agreement was extended until March 31, 2024, under the same terms. On August 9, 2023, the entire loan balance was repaid.

Strategic Funding

On August 8, 2022, we signed a strategic funding agreement with O.R.B., as further amended, of up to $4.0 million to support the growth of our consumer access solutions and its customer acquisition program. The repayment of the funding was based on a revenue share model in connection with sales generated from new customers acquired with each funding installment. On October 27, 2022, we amended the agreement with O.R.B. to provide for the cancellation of funding milestones as well as the removal of any discretion previously granted to O.R.B. in connection with the additional $2 million funding out of the $4 million facility. On September 7, 2023, in furtherance of our decision to scale down operations of our consumer internet access business in order to focus on revenue that yields high return on investment and profitability, the Company and O.R.B. agreed to further amend the O.R.B. agreement. Pursuant to the amendment, O.R.B. agreed to (i) cancel and waive all rights in connection with the warrants issued to O.R.B. as part of the O.R.B. agreement (a total of warrants to purchase 5,006,386 ordinary shares of the Company in aggregate), (ii) waive any entitlement to a percentage, portion, or share of revenue in connection with the principal facility amount withdrawn by the Company (which amounted to an aggregate total of $2.55 million), and (iii) extend the repayment schedule of the principal facility from 24 to 30 months, at the Company’s discretion. Following final repayment of the principal facility, the Company is entitled to all revenue resulting and generated from the consumer internet access business. In consideration of said amendments of the O.R.B. agreement, O.R.B. was entitled to a total of $0.5 million.

As of December 31, 2023, we received aggregate funding of $2.55 million and repaid to O.R.B. an amount of approximately $1.3 million from the revenues that were generated as a result of the funding, and approximately $1.25 million is currently outstanding.

Private Placement

On September 14, 2023, we completed a private placement offering of an aggregate of 187,225 Units, at a purchase price of $22.70 per Unit. Each Unit consists of 10 ADSs and one PP Warrant, each exercisable into three ADSs. Net proceeds totaled $3.82 million, after deducting offering costs of approximately $0.4 million.

The PP Warrants are exercisable at any time after the date of issuance for a period of 30 months from the offering date upon payment of an exercise price of $2.72 per ADS In addition, we issued an aggregate amount of 91,851 Agent Warrants, which can be exercised at an exercise price of $2.27 per ADS within 30 months from the offering date.

As of December 31, 2023, 95,225 PP Warrants were exercised to 95,225 ADSs in exchange for $259 thousand and 30,617 Agents Warrants were exercised to 30,617 ADSs in exchange to $70 thousand.


ATM

In November 2022, we entered into an ATM Sales Agreement with ThinkEquity LLC, pursuant to which we could offer and sell, from time to time, through the Sales Agent ADSs, for an aggregate offering price of up to $5 million. The ADSs were to be offered and sold pursuant to the F-3, and the prospectus supplement relating to the Sales Agreement, dated November 25, 2022. During 2023, the Company issued 2,393,740 ordinary shares through an ATM offering for total consideration of $768 thousand, before deducting issuance costs of $164 thousand. On August 30, 2023, the Company announced the termination of the ATM offering, effective immediately.

D. Exchange Controls

There are currently no Israeli currency control restrictions on payments of dividends or other distributions with respect to our Ordinary Shares or the proceeds from the sale of the shares, except for the obligation of Israeli residents to file reports with the Bank of Israel regarding certain transactions. However, legislation remains in effect pursuant to which currency controls can be imposed by administrative action at any time.

 

The ownership or voting of our Ordinary Shares by non-residents of Israel, except with respect to citizens of countries that are in a state of war with Israel, is not restricted in any way by our memorandum of association or amended and restated articles of association or by the laws of the State of Israel.

 

E.Taxation.

E. Taxation.

 

ISRAELI TAX CONSIDERATIONS AND GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS

 

The following is a brief summary of the material Israeli income tax consequences of the ownership of our Ordinary Shares. The followinglaws applicable to us. This section also contains a descriptiondiscussion of material relevant provisions of the current Israeli income tax aspects applicable to companies in Israel, with reference to its effect on us. To the extent that the discussion is based on new tax legislation, which has not been subject to judicial or administrative interpretation, there can be no assurance that the tax authorities will accept the views expressed in the discussion in question. This summary is based on laws and regulations in effect as of the date hereof, and should not be taken, as legal or professional tax advice and is not exhaustive of all possible tax considerations.

The following description is not intended to constitute a complete analysis of all tax consequences relating to the ownership or disposition of our Ordinary Shares and ADSs. Shareholders should consult their own tax advisors concerning the tax consequences of the purchase, ownership and disposition of Ordinary Shares, as well as any tax consequences that may arise under the laws of any state, local, foreign or other taxing jurisdiction.

General Corporate Tax Structure in Israel

Israeli resident companies are generally subject to corporate tax, currently at the rate of 23% (in 2017 the corporate tax rate was 24%). However, the effective tax rate payable by a company that derives income from a Preferred Enterprise (as discussed below) may be considerably less.

Capital gains derived by an “Israeli resident company” are subject to tax at the regular corporate tax rate. Under Israeli tax legislation, a corporation will be considered as an “Israeli resident company” if it meets one of the following: (i) it was incorporated in Israel; or (ii) the control and management of its business are exercised in Israel.

Tax Benefits under the Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investments, 1959

The Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investments, 1959, generally referred to as the Investment Law, provides certain incentives for capital investments in production facilities (or other eligible assets).

The Investment Law was significantly amended several times over the recent years, with the three most significant changes effective as of April 1, 2005, or the 2005 Amendment, as of January 1, 2011, or the 2011 Amendment, and as of January 1, 2017, or the 2017 Amendment. Pursuant to the 2005 Amendment, tax benefits granted in accordance with the provisions of the Investment Law prior to its revision by the 2005 Amendment remain in force but any benefits granted subsequently are subject to the provisions of the amended Investment Law. Similarly, the 2011 Amendment introduced new benefits to replace those granted in accordance with the provisions of the Investment Law in effect prior to the 2011 Amendment. However, companies entitled to benefits under the Investment Law as in effect prior to January 1, 2011 were entitled to choose to continue to enjoy such benefits, provided that certain conditions are met, or elect instead, irrevocably, to forego such benefits and have the benefits of the 2011 Amendment apply. The 2017 Amendment introduces a new tax incentives regime mainly for Technological Enterprises. According to a transitional provision stipulated by the Investment Law, the new tax incentives regime that will apply alongside the existing tax benefits under the 2011 Amendment for a transition period ending on June 30, 2021, after which the new tax regime shall apply exclusively.

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Tax Benefits under the 2011 Amendment

On December 29, 2010, the Israeli Parliament approved the 2011 Amendment. The 2011 Amendment significantly revised the tax incentive regime in Israel and commenced on January 1, 2011.

The 2011 Amendment canceled the availability of the tax benefits granted under the Investment Law prior to 2011 and, instead, introduced new tax benefits for income generated by a “Preferred Company” through its “Preferred Enterprise” (as such terms are defined in the Investment Law) as of January 1, 2011, or "the Preferred Enterprise Regime". The definition of a Preferred Company includes, inter alia, a company incorporated in Israel that (i) is not wholly owned by a governmental entity (ii) owns a Preferred Enterprise, and (iii) is controlled and managed from Israel.

A Preferred Company is entitled to a reduced corporate tax rate of 16% with respect to its income derived from its Preferred Enterprise, unless the Preferred Enterprise is located in development area A, in which case the rate will be 7.5% (our operations are currently not located in development area A).

Dividends paid out of income attributed to a Preferred Enterprise are generally subject to withholding tax at the source at the rate of 20%, or such lower rate as may be provided in an applicable tax treaty (subject to the receipt in advance of a valid certificate from the Israel Tax Authority, or the ITA, allowing for a reduced tax rate). However, if such dividends are paid to an Israeli company, no tax is required to be withheld (although, if the funds are subsequently distributed to individuals or to non-Israeli residents (individuals and corporations), the withholding tax would apply).

If in the future we generate taxable income, to the extent that we qualify as a “Preferred Company,” the benefits provided under the Investment Law could potentially reduce our corporate tax liabilities.

Tax Benefits under the 2017 Amendment

The 2017 Amendment was enacted as part of the Economic Efficiency Law that was published on December 29, 2016, and is effective as of January 1, 2017. The 2017 Amendment provides new tax benefit to Preferred companies for two types of “Technological Enterprises” – “Preferred Technological Enterprises,” or PTEs and “Special Preferred Technological Enterprises,” or SPTEs, as described below.

According to the new incentives regime, a company that complies with the terms under the PTE or SPTE regime may be entitled to certain tax benefits with respect to its preferred technological income, which is income that is generated during the company’s regular course of business and derived from a benefitted intangible asset (as determined in the Investments Law), excluding income derived from intangible assets used for marketing and income attributed to production activity.

In order to calculate the preferred technological income, the PTE or the SPTE is required to take into account the income and the research and development expenses that are attributed to each single preferred intangible asset, product or group of products (as defined in the Investment Law). Nevertheless, it should be noted that the transitional provisions allow companies to take into account the income and research and development expenses attributed to all of the benefitted intangible assets they have, until December 31, 2021.

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A PTE is a Preferred Technological Enterprise that meets certain conditions, including the following: (i) the company’s average research and development expenses in the three years prior to the current tax year must be greater than or equal to 7% of its total revenue or exceed NIS 75 million per year; and (ii) the company must also satisfy at least one of the following conditions: (a) at least 20% of the workforce (or at least 200 employees) are employed in research and development; (b) a venture capital investment of an amount equivalent to at least NIS 8 million (approximately $2.3 million) was previously made in the company and the company has not changed its field of business since this investment was made; (c) during the three years prior to the tax year, the number of employees or the company’s revenue grew on average by 25% in relation to the preceding year and the company had at least 50 employees in each tax year or the company’s revenue was equivalent to at least NIS 10 million (approximately $2.9 million) in each year, respectively; (d) conditions sets by the IIA; (e) the company is part of a group of companies having aggregate annual revenues of equivalent toless than NIS 10 billion (approximately$2.9 billion); and (f) the enterprise is a Competitive Enterprise according to the Investment Law.

An SPTE is an enterprise that meets the qualification terms of PTE (as stated above), except as provided in paragraph (e) of the above definition, i.e. is part of a group of companies having aggregate annual revenues equivalent toat least NIS 10 billion (approximately $ 2.9 billion).

Preferred Technological income of a PTE, which is the portion of technological income derived from the benefitted intangible asset developed in Israel, satisfying the required conditions, will be subject to a corporate tax rate of 12% unless the PTE is located in development zone A, in which case the rate will be 7.5%. Preferred Technological income of an SPTE, satisfying the required conditions, will be subject to a corporate tax rate of 6% with respect to the portion of technological income derived from benefitted intangible asset developed in Israel, regardless of the company’s geographical location within Israel.

In addition, a PTE will enjoy a reduced corporate tax rate of 12% on capital gain derived from the sale of certain benefitted intangible assets (as defined in the Investment Law) to a related foreign company if the benefitted intangible asset was acquired from a foreign company on or after January 1, 2017 for at least NIS 200 million, and the sale received prior approval from the IIA. An SPTE will enjoy a reduced corporate tax rate of 6% on capital gain derived from the sale of certain benefitted intangible asset (as defined in the Investment Law) to a related foreign company if the benefitted intangible asset was created by the SPTE or acquired from a foreign company on or after January 1, 2017, and the sale received prior approval from the IIA. An SPTE that acquires Benefited Intangible assets from a foreign company for more than NIS 500 million will be eligible for these benefits for at least ten years, subject to certain approvals as specified in the Investment Law.

The withholding tax on dividends distributed by PTE or SPTE will be 4% for dividends paid to a foreign parent company holding at least 90% of the shares of the distributing company and other conditions are met. For other dividend distributions, the withholding tax rate will be 20% (or a lower rate under a tax treaty, if applicable, subject to receiving an approval from the ITA). However, if such dividends are paid to an Israeli company, no tax is required to be withheld (although, if the funds are subsequently distributed to individuals or to non-Israeli residents – i.e. individuals and corporations, the withholding tax would apply).

The Regulations for the Encouragement of Capital Investments (Preferred Technology Income and Capital Profits for a Technological Enterprise), 5717 – 2017, or Regulations, describe, inter alia, the mechanism used to determine the calculation of the benefits under the PTE and under the SPTE Regime. According to the Regulations, a company that complies with the terms under the PTE/SPTE regime may be entitled to certain tax benefits with respect to income generated during the company’s regular course of business and derived from the preferred benefitted intangible asset (as determined in the Investments Law), excluding income derived from intangible assets used for marketing and income attributed to production activity.

In the event that intangible assets used for marketing purposes generate income, which exceeds 10% of the technological income from the benefitted intangible asset, the relevant portion, calculated using a transfer pricing study, would be subject to regular corporate income tax. If such income does not exceed 10%, the PTE or SPTE will not be required to attribute income to the marketing intangible asset.

The Regulations set a presumption of direct production expenses plus 10% with respect to income related to production, which can be countered by the results of a supporting transfer pricing study. Tax rates applicable to such production income expenses will be similar to the tax rates under the Preferred Enterprise regime, to the extent such income would be considered as eligible (as discussed above).

We are examining the impact of the 2017 Amendment and the degree to which we will qualify as a Preferred Technology Enterprise, and the amount of Preferred Technology Income that we may have, or other benefits that we may receive from the 2017 Amendment.

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Law for the Encouragement of Industry (Taxes), 1969

The Law for the Encouragement of Industry (Taxes), 1969, generally referred to as the Industry Encouragement Law, provides several tax benefits for “Industrial Companies.” The Industry Encouragement Law defines an “Industrial Company” as an Israeli resident-company that was incorporated in Israel, of which 90% or more of its income in any tax year, other than income from defense loans, is derived from an “Industrial Enterprise” that it owns and located in Israel or in the “Area”, in accordance with the definition under section 3A of the Ordinance. An “Industrial Enterprise” is defined as an enterprise whose principal activity in a given tax year is industrial production. The following corporate tax-related benefits, among others, are available to Industrial Companies:

amortization of the cost of purchased a patent, rights to use a patent, and know-how, which are used for the development or promotion of the Industrial Enterprise, over an eight-year period;
the right to elect, under limited conditions, to file consolidated tax returns with related Israeli Industrial Companies;
A straight-line deduction of expenses related to a public offering over a three year period commencing in the year of the offering; and
Accelerated depreciation rates on certain equipment and buildings.

Eligibility for benefits under the Industry Encouragement Law is not contingent upon approval of any governmental authority. There is no assurance that we qualify as an Industrial Company or that the benefits described above will be available in the future.

The Encouragement of Research, Development and Technological Innovations in the Industry Law, 5722-1984 

We have in the past received royalty-bearing grants from the IIA for research and development programs that meet specified criteria pursuant to the Innovation Law. We were eligible for grants of 50% of the project’s expenditure, as determined by the research committee, in exchange for the payment of royalties from the revenues generated from the sale of products and related services developed, in whole or in part pursuant to, or as a result of, a research and development program funded by the IIA. Due to the grant we are subject to certain conditions and limitations as set in the IIA’s approval and the Innovation Law, and among others, we are obligated to pay royalties to the IIA from the revenues generated from the sale of products and related services developed, in whole or in part, pursuant to, or as a result of, a research and development program funded by the IIA, until 100% of the U.S dollar-linked grants we received from the IIA plus annual LIBOR interest is repaid. Nonetheless, the sum of royalties that we may be required to pay, may be higher in certain circumstances, such as when the manufacturing activity/ know-how is transferred outside of Israel.

Nonetheless, the restrictions under the Innovation Law (as generally specified below) will continue to apply even after our company has repaid the grants, including accrued interest, in full.

The main obligations under the Innovation Law which are applicable to us as a grant recipient are:

Local manufacturing obligation: The terms of the Innovation Law require that the manufacture of products developed with IIA grants be performed in Israel correspondingly to the original manufacture percentage in Israel in the approved grant application. Manufacturing activity may not be transferred outside of Israel, unless the prior approval of the IIA is received. However, this does not restrict the export of products that incorporate the funded technology. Ordinarily, as a condition to obtaining approval to manufacture outside Israel, we would be required to pay royalties at an increased rate and increased royalties cap between 120% and 300% of the grants, depending on the manufacturing volume that is performed outside Israel. The transfer of no more than 10% of the manufacturing capacity in the aggregate outside of Israel requires submission of a notification to the IIA and is exempt under the Innovation Law from obtaining the prior approval of the IIA. A company requesting funds from the IIA also has the option of declaring in its IIA grant application its intention to perform part of its manufacturing outside Israel, thus avoiding the need to obtain additional approval.

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Transfer of know-how outside of Israel: The know-how developed with support of the IIA grants may not be transferred to third parties outside Israel without the prior approval of the IIA. The approval, however, is not required for the export of any products developed using grants received from the IIA. The IIA approval to transfer know-how created, in whole or in part, in connection with an IIA-funded project, to a third party outside Israel is subject to payment of a redemption fee to the IIA calculated according to a formula provided under the Innovation Law that is based, in general, on the ratio between the aggregate IIA grants received by the grant recipient (including the accrued interest) and the aggregate investments by the grant recipient in the project that was funded by these IIA grants, multiplied by the value of the funded know how (taking into account any depreciation in accordance with a formula set forth in the Innovation Law) less any royalties already paid to IIA. The regulations promulgated under the Innovation Law establish a cap of the redemption fee payable to the IIA under the above mentioned formulas and differentiate between two situations: (i) in the event that the funded company sells its IIA funded know-how, in whole or in part, or is sold as part of a merger and acquisition transaction, and subsequently ceases to conduct business in Israel, the maximum redemption fee under the above mentioned formulas will be no more than six times the total grants received from the IIA, plus accrued interest; and (ii) in the event that following the transactions described above the company undertakes to continue its research and development activity in Israel for at least three years following such transfer and maintain at least 75% of its research and development staff employees it had for the six months before the know-how was transferred, while keeping the same scope of employment for such research and development staff, then the company is eligible for a reduced cap of the redemption fee of no more than three times the amounts received (plus accrued interest) for the applicable know-how being transferred, or the entire amount received from the IIA, as applicable. Upon payment of such redemption fee, the know-how and the production rights for the products supported by such funding cease to be subject to the Innovation Law.

Transfer of such funded know-how to an Israeli entity is subject to the IIA approval and to an undertaking of the recipient Israeli entity to comply with the provisions of the Innovation Law and related regulations, including the restrictions on the transfer of know-how and the obligation to pay royalties, as further described in the Innovation Law and related regulations.

A recipient of grants under the Innovation Law is allowed to enter into licensing arrangements or grant other rights in know-how developed under IIA programs outside of Israel, subject to the prior consent of IIA and payment of license fees, calculated in accordance with the relevant rules, of not more than six times the amount of the grants received by the grants recipient (plus accrued interest) for the applicable know-how being transferred. In cases where the payment for the license to use the intellectual property is made in instalments, a portion of each instalment will be paid as a license fee in accordance with relevant rules. The payment of the license fees will not discharge the grant recipient from the obligations to pay royalties or other payments to the IIA.

Certain reporting obligations: A recipient of grants under the Innovation Law is required to notify to IIA of certain events enumerated in the Innovation Law. In addition, the IIA may from time to time audit sales of products by companies which received funding from the IIA and this may lead to additional royalties being payable on additional product candidates.

Tax Benefits for Research and Development under Income Tax Ordinance of 1961 (New Version)

The Tax Ordinance allows, under certain conditions, a tax deduction for expenditures, including capital expenditures, for the year in which they are incurred. Expenditures are deemed related to scientific research and development projects, if:

The research was approved by the relevant Israeli government ministry, determined by the field of research;
The research and development must be for the promotion of the company; and
The research and development is carried out by or on behalf of the company seeking such tax deduction.

The amount of such deductible expenses is reduced by the sum of any funds received through government grants for the finance of such scientific research and development projects. No deduction under these research and development deduction rules is allowed if such deduction is related to an expense invested in an asset depreciable under the general depreciation rules of the Ordinance. Expenditures not so approved are deductible in equal amounts over three years. 

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Taxation of our Shareholders

The following is a brief summary of the material Israeli tax consequencesconsiderations concerning the ownership and disposition of our Ordinary Shares by our shareholders.holders that purchase Ordinary Shares pursuant to the offering and hold such Ordinary Shares as capital assets. This summary does not discuss all the aspects of Israeli income tax law that may be relevant to a particular investor in light of his or her personal investment circumstances or to some types of investors subject to special treatment under Israeli law. Examples of such investorsthis kind of investor include residents of Israel or traders in securities who are subject to special tax regimes not covered in this discussion. Because parts of thisTo the extent that the discussion areis based on new tax legislation that has not yet been subject to judicial or administrative interpretation, we cannot assure you that the appropriate tax authorities or the courts will accept the views expressed in this discussion. The discussion belowThis summary is based on laws and regulations in effect as of the date of this annual report on Form 20-F and does not take into account possible future amendments which may be under consideration.

General Corporate Tax Structure in Israel

In 2024, Israeli resident companies like us are generally subject to change, including due to amendments under Israeli lawcorporate tax at the rate of 23.0%. However, the effective tax rate payable by a company that derives income from a Preferred Enterprise or changes to the applicable judicial or administrative interpretations of Israeli law, which change could affect the tax consequences described below. Preferred Technological Enterprise (as discussed below) may be considerably less.

Capital Gains

Capital gain tax is imposed on the disposal of capital assetsgains derived by an Israeli resident company are generally subject to tax at the same rate as the corporate tax rate. Under Israeli tax legislation, a corporation will be considered as an “Israeli resident” for tax purposes if it meets one of the following: (a) it was incorporated in Israel; or (b) the management and control of its business are exercised in Israel.

Taxation of our Israeli Individual Shareholders on Receipt of Dividends

Israeli residents who are individuals are generally subject to Israeli income tax for dividends paid on our Ordinary Shares (other than bonus shares or share dividends) at a rate of 25.0%, or 30.0% if the disposalrecipient of such assets bydividend is a non-Israeli resident if those assets are either (i) located in Israel; (ii) are shares“substantial shareholder” (as defined below) at the time of distribution or at any time during the preceding 12-month period.

As of January 1, 2017, an additional income tax at a right torate of 3.0% is imposed on high earners whose annual taxable income or gain exceeds certain thresholds (NIS 721,560 as of January 1, 2024).


A “substantial Shareholder” is generally a share in an Israeli resident corporation,person who alone, or (iii) represent, directlytogether with his or indirectly, rights to assets located in Israel. Theher relative, as defined under section 88 of the Israeli Income Tax Ordinance of[New Version], 1961, (New Version), or the "Ordinance"Israeli Tax Ordinance, or another person who collaborates with him based on an agreement on substantive matters of the company on a regular basis, holds, directly or indirectly, at least 10.0% of any of the “means of control” of the corporation. “Means of control” generally include the right to vote in a general meeting of shareholders or receive profits, nominate a director or an officer, receive assets upon liquidation, or instruct someone who holds any of the aforesaid rights regarding the manner in which he or she is to exercise such right(s), distinguishes between “Real Capital Gain”and whether by virtue of shares, rights to shares or other rights, or in any other manner, including by means of voting or trusteeship agreements.

The term “Israeli resident” for individuals is generally defined under the Israeli Tax Ordinance, as an individual whose center of life is in Israel. According to the Israeli Tax Ordinance, in order to determine the center of life of an individual, account will be taken of the individual’s family, economic and social connections, including, but not limited to: (a) the place of the individual’s permanent home; (b) the place of residence of the individual and the “Inflationary Surplus.”individual’s family; (c) the place of the individual’s regular or permanent place of business or the place of the individual’s permanent employment; (d) place of the individual’s active and substantial economic interests; (e) place of the individual’s activities in organizations, associations and other institutions. The center of life of an individual will be presumed to be in Israel if: (a) the individual was present in Israel for 183 days or more in the tax year; or (b) the individual was present in Israel for 30 days or more in the tax year, and the total period of the individual’s presence in Israel in that tax year and the two previous tax years is 425 days or more. The presumption in this paragraph may be rebutted either by the individual or by the assessing officer.

Taxation of Israeli Resident Corporations on Receipt of Dividends

Israeli resident corporations are generally exempt from Israeli corporate income tax with respect to dividends paid on our Ordinary Shares unless the distribution is from a Preferred Enterprise, as defined below.

Capital Gains Taxes Applicable to Israeli Resident Shareholders

The income tax rate applicable to Real Capital Gain, which is the excess of the total capital gain over Inflationary Surplusinflationary surplus computed generally on the basis of the increase in the Israeli CPI or the foreign exchange rate differences in certain cases,consumer price index between the date of purchase and the date of disposal. Inflationary Surplus generally is not subject to tax in Israel.

Capital Gains Taxes Applicable todisposal, derived by an Israeli Resident Shareholders

Real Capital Gain accrued by Israeli individuals onindividual from the sale of our Ordinary Shares will be taxed at the rate of 25%, unless the individualshares which had been purchased after January 1, 2012, whether listed on a stock exchange or not, is 25.0%. However, if such shareholder is considered a “Substantial Shareholder” (i.e., a person who holds, directly or indirectly, alone or together with such person’s relative or another person who collaborates with such person on a permanent basis, 10% or more of one of the Israeli resident company’s means of control (including, among other things, the right to receive profits of the company, voting rights, the right to receive the company’s liquidation proceeds and the right to appoint a director))(as defined above) at the time of sale or at any time during the preceding 12 months12-month period, such real capital gain will be taxed at the rate of 30%30.0%.

Furthermore, where As of January 1, 2017, an individual claimed real interest expenses and linkage differences on securities, the capital gain on the sale of the securities will be liable toadditional income tax at a rate of 30%, this, until the determination of provisions and conditions for the deduction of real interest expenses and linkage differences under section 101A(a)(9) and 101A(b) of the Ordinance.3% will be imposed on high earners whose annual taxable income or gain exceeds certain thresholds (NIS 721,560).

 

Real Capital GainMoreover, capital gains derived by corporations will be generally subjecta shareholder who is a dealer or trader in securities, or to the regular corporate tax rate (24% in 2017, and 23% in 2018 and thereafter).

Individual shareholders whosewhom such income from the sale of securities consideredis otherwise taxable as ordinary business income, are taxed in Israel at the marginal taxordinary income rates applicable to business income –(currently, up to 47% in 2018 (not including47.0% +3% for individuals and as of January 1, 2022, the Excess Tax).

Either the purchaser, the Israeli stockbrokers or financial institution through which the shares are held, is obliged to withhold tax in the amount of consideration paid upon the sale of securities (or the Real Capital Gain realized on the sale, if known) at the Israeli corporate tax rate (24%is 23.0%).

Taxation of Non-Israeli Shareholders on Receipt of Dividends

Non-Israeli residents (individuals or corporations) are generally subject to Israeli income tax on the receipt of dividends paid on our Ordinary Shares at the rate of 25.0% (or 30.0% if such person or entity is a “substantial shareholder” at the time receiving the dividend or on any date in 2017, 23% in 2018 and thereafter) or 25% in case the seller12 months preceding such date), which tax will be withheld at source, unless a tax certificate is an individual. The individual or the company may provide an approvalobtained from the Israeli Tax Authority, or ITA, forauthorizing withholding-exempt remittances or a reduced rate of tax withholding rate, accordingpursuant to thean applicable rate.tax treaty.

 

AtNotwithstanding the saleforegoing, a dividend paid by the Company arising from the profits of securities traded on a stock exchange,preferred enterprise and / or a detailed return, includingpreferred technological enterprise entitled to tax benefits under the Capital Investment Encouragement Law shall generally be taxable at 20% for individuals, unless subject to a computationlower rate under the relevant double taxation treaties. Corporations will generally be subject to a withholding tax rate of either 20% (Preferred Enterprise) or a reduced rate of 4% (Preferred Technological Enterprise), subject to fulfillment of certain conditions.


A non-Israeli resident who receives dividends from which tax was withheld is generally exempt from the duty to file tax due, must be filed and an advance payment must be made on January 31 and July 31 of every tax yearreturns in Israel in respect of salessuch income, provided such income was not derived from a business conducted in Israel by such taxpayer, and such taxpayer has no other taxable sources of securities made withinincome in Israel.

For example, under the previous six months. However, if all tax due was withheld at source according to applicable provisionsConvention Between the Government of the OrdinanceUnited States of America and regulations promulgated thereunder, the aforementioned return needGovernment of Israel with Respect to Taxes on Income, as amended, Israeli withholding tax on dividends paid to a U.S. resident for treaty purposes may not, be filedin general, exceed 25.0%, or 15.0% in the case of dividends paid out of the profits of an Approved Enterprise, subject to certain conditions. Where the recipient is a U.S. corporation owning 10.0% or more of the issued and no advanceoutstanding voting shares of the paying corporation during the part of the paying corporation’s taxable year which precedes the date of payment must be paid. Capital gainof the dividend and during the whole of its prior taxable year (if any) and not more than 25.0% of the gross income of the paying corporation for such prior taxable year (if any) consists of certain interest or dividends and the dividend is also reportable onnot paid from the annual incomeprofits of an Approved Enterprise, the Israeli tax return.

withheld may not exceed 12.5%, subject to certain conditions.

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Capital Gains Income Taxes Applicable to Non-Israeli Resident Shareholders.Shareholders

 

Non-IsraeliProvided certain conditions are met, non-Israeli resident shareholders are generally exempt from Israeli capital gains tax on any capital gains derived from the sale, exchange or disposition of our Ordinary Shares, provided that the following cumulative conditions are met: (i) the sharessuch gains were purchased upon or after the registration of the securities on the stock exchange in Israel, and (ii) the seller does not havederived from a permanent establishment or business activity of such shareholders in Israel to which the derived capital gain is attributed. .Israel. However, non-Israeli corporationscorporations’ shareholders will not be entitled to the foregoing exemptionexemptions if Israeli residents:residents (i) have directly or indirectly, along or together with another, a controlling interest of more than 25% of any of the means of control25.0% in such non-Israeli corporation or (ii) are the beneficiaries of or are entitled to 25%25.0% or more of the revenues or profits of such non-Israeli corporation, whether directly or indirectly.

 

In addition, such exemption would not be available to a person whose gains from selling or otherwise disposingRegardless of the securities are deemed to be business income.

Additionally, a sale of shares by a non-Israeli resident may be exempt from Israeli capital gains tax under the provisions of an applicable tax treaty (subject to the receipt in advance of a valid certificate from the ITA). For example, under Convention Between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the State of Israel with respect to Taxes on Income, as amended, or the United States-Israel Tax Treaty, the sale, exchange or other disposition of shares by a shareholder who is (i) a United States resident (for purposes of the treaty); (ii) holding the shares as a capital asset and (iii) is entitled to claim the benefits afforded to such a resident by the U.S.-Israel Tax Treaty, or a Treaty U.S. Resident, is generally exempt from Israeli capital gains tax unless either: (i) the capital gain arising from the such sale, exchange or disposition is attributed to a permanent establishment of the Treaty U.S. Resident maintained in Israel, under certain terms; (ii) such Treaty U.S. Resident holds, directly or indirectly, shares representing 10% or more of the voting capital during any part of the 12-month period preceding the sale, exchange or disposition, subject to certain conditions; (iii) such Treaty U.S. Resident is an individual and was present in Israel for 183 days or more during the relevant taxable year; or (iv) the capital gain arising from such sale, exchange or disposition is attributed to real estate located in Israel. In any of these cases, the sale, exchange or disposition of our Ordinary Shares would be subject to Israeli tax, to the extent applicable. However, under the U.S.-Israel Tax Treaty, such Treaty U.S. Resident would be permitted to claim a credit for the tax against the U.S. federal income tax imposed with respect to the sale, exchange or disposition, subject to the limitations in U.S. laws applicable to foreign tax credits.

In some instances where ourwhether shareholders may be liable for Israeli income tax on the sale of theirour Ordinary Shares, or ADSs, the payment of the consideration may be subject to the withholding of Israeli tax at the source. Specifically, in transactions involving a sale of all of the shares of an Israeli resident company, in the form of a merger or otherwise, the ITA may require fromAccordingly, shareholders who are not liable for Israeli tax to sign declarations in forms specified by this authority or obtain a specific exemption from the ITA to confirm their status as non-Israeli resident, and, in the absence of such declarations or exemptions, may require the purchaser of the shares to withhold taxes at source.

Shareholders may be required to demonstrate that they are exempt from tax on their capital gains in order to avoid withholding at source at the time of sale.

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DividendsLaw for the Encouragement of Capital Investments

 

A distributionThe Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investments, 5719-1959, or the Investment Law, provides certain incentives for capital investments in production facilities (or other eligible intangible assets) by “Industrial Enterprises” (as defined under the Investment Law). Generally, an investment program that is implemented in accordance with the provisions of the Investment Law, referred to as an Approved Enterprise, a Beneficiary Enterprise, a Preferred Enterprise, a Preferred Technological Enterprise, or a Special Preferred Technological Enterprise, is entitled to benefits as discussed below. These benefits may include cash grants from the Israeli government and tax benefits based upon, among other things, the geographic location in Israel of the facility in which the investment is made.

On January 1, 2011, new legislation amending the Investment Law came into effect, or the 2011 Amendment. The 2011 Amendment introduced a new status of Preferred Enterprise. Subject to certain conditions, a Preferred Enterprise entitles the company to reduced corporate tax rates, without limitations on dividends and other distributions, instead of full exemption from income,corporate tax. These preferred corporate tax rates vary from 7.5% for Preferred Enterprises residing in a “development zone,” or 16.0% for Preferred Enterprises residing in other zones in Israel. Dividend distributions are subject to 20% tax rate, subject to the provision of the relevant tax treaty.

In order to gain the status of Preferred Enterprise, a company must meet the conditions of competitive industrial company that contributes to the GDP or comparative industrial company in the field of renewable energy.

The Investment Law was significantly amended effective as of January 1, 2017, or the 2017 Amendment. The 2017 Amendment was enacted as part of the Economic Efficiency Law that was published on December 29, 2016, and is effective as of January 1, 2017. The 2017 Amendment provides new tax benefits for two types of “Technological Enterprises,” as described below, and is in addition to the other existing tax beneficial programs under the Investment Law.


The 2017 Amendment provides that a preferred company, which is defined as either (i) a company incorporated in Israel which is not attributedwholly owned by a governmental entity, or (ii) a limited partnership that: (a) was registered under the Israeli Partnerships Ordinance; and (b) all of its limited partners are companies incorporated in Israel, but not all of them are governmental entities; which has, among other things, Preferred Enterprise status and is controlled and managed from Israel, or a Preferred Company, satisfying certain conditions will qualify as having a “Preferred Technological Enterprise” and will thereby enjoy a reduced corporate tax rate of 12% on income that qualifies as “Preferred Technological Income,” as defined in the Investment Law. The corporate tax rate may be further reduced to 7.5% with respect to a Preferred Technological Enterprise located in development zone “A,” as defined under the Investment Law. In addition, a Preferred Technological Company will enjoy a reduced corporate tax rate of 12% on capital gain derived from the sale of certain “Benefitted Intangible Assets” (as defined in the Investment Law) to an Israeli resident individual, willa related foreign company if the Benefitted Intangible Assets were acquired from a foreign company on or after January 1, 2017 for at least NIS 200 million, and the sale receives prior approval from the Israel Innovation Authority.

Dividends distributed by a Preferred Technological Enterprise, paid out of Preferred Technological Income, are generally be subject to income tax at athe rate of 25%. However,20% or such lower rate as may be provided in an applicable tax treaty (subject to the receipt in advance of a 30%valid certificate from the ITA allowing for a reduced tax rate).

The withholding tax rate will applyapplicable to distribution of dividend from such income to non-Israeli residents is 25% (or 30% if the dividend recipient isdistributed to a “Substantial Shareholder” (as defined above)“substantial shareholder” at the time of the distribution or at any time during the preceding 12twelve months period. If the recipient of the dividend is an Israeli resident corporation, such dividend will be exempt from income tax provided the income from which such dividend is distributed was derived or accrued within Israel.

Non-Israeli residents are generally subject to Israeli income tax on the receipt of dividends paid on our Ordinary Shares or ADSs at the rate of 25%period), which tax willmay be withheld at source, unless reliefreduced by applying in advance for a withholding certificate from the ITA. A “substantial shareholder” is provided in a treaty between Israel and the shareholder’s country of residence.

With respect togenerally a person who, isalone or together with such person’s relative or another person who collaborates with such person on a Substantial Shareholderpermanent basis, holds, directly or indirectly, at least 10% of any of the time“Means of receivingControl” of the dividendcorporation. “Means of control” generally include the right to vote, receive profits, nominate a director or onan executive officer, receive assets upon liquidation or order someone who holds any time duringof the preceding 12 months,aforesaid rights how to act, regardless of the applicablesource of such right.

In addition, if such dividends are distributed to a foreign company that holds solely or together with other foreign companies 90% or more in the Israeli company and other conditions are met (including that less than 25% of the shareholder of the foreign company are Israeli residents), the withholding tax rate is 30%, unlesswill be 4% (subject to the receipt in advance of a valid certificate from the ITA allowing for a reduced tax rate is provided under an applicable tax treaty.

For example, under the United States-Israel Tax Treaty, the maximum rate of tax withheld at source in Israel onrate). However, if such dividends are paid to an Israeli company, no tax is required to be withheld.

We are currently in a holderloss position for tax purposes. Nevertheless, we believe that NetNut meets the conditions to qualify as a pass-through entity, and as a result, will be eligible for tax benefits derived from the 2017 Amendment in the future.

Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations to U.S. Holders

The following discussion describes the material U.S. federal income tax considerations relating to the ownership and disposition of our Ordinary Shares by U.S. Holders (as defined below). This discussion applies to U.S. Holders that hold such Ordinary Shares as capital assets within the meaning of Section 1221 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or ADSsthe Code. This discussion is based on the Code, U.S. Treasury regulations promulgated thereunder and administrative and judicial interpretations thereof, all as in effect on the date hereof and all of which are subject to change, possibly with retroactive effect. This discussion does not address all of the U.S. federal income tax consequences that may be relevant to specific U.S. Holders in light of their particular circumstances or to U.S. Holders subject to special treatment under U.S. federal income tax law (such as certain financial institutions, insurance companies, broker-dealers and traders in securities or other persons that generally mark their securities to market for U.S. federal income tax purposes, tax-exempt entities, retirement plans, regulated investment companies, real estate investment trusts, certain former citizens or residents of the United States, persons who ishold Ordinary Shares as part of a Treaty“straddle”, “hedge”, “conversion transaction”, “synthetic security” or integrated investment, persons who received their Ordinary Shares as compensatory payments, persons that have a “functional currency” other than the U.S. Resident is 25%. However, generally, the maximum rate of withholding tax on dividends, not generated by a Preferred Enterprise,dollar, persons that are paid to a U.S. corporation holdingown directly, indirectly or through attribution 10% or more of the outstanding voting capital throughout theour shares by vote or value, persons subject to special tax year in which the dividend is distributedaccounting rules as well as during the previous tax year, is 12.5%, provided that not more than 25%a result of theany item of gross income for such preceding year consists of certain types of dividends and interest and if a certificate for a reduced withholding tax rate is obtained in advance from the ITA. We cannot assure you that we will designate the profits that we may distribute in a way that will reduce shareholders’ tax liability.

A non-Israeli resident who receives dividend income derived from or accrued in Israel, from which the full amount of tax was withheld at source is generally exempt from the obligation to file tax returns in Israel with respect to the shares being taken into account in an applicable financial statement, corporations that accumulate earnings to avoid U.S. federal income tax, partnerships and other pass-through entities, and investors in such pass-through entities). This discussion does not address any U.S. state or local or non-U.S. tax consequences or any U.S. federal estate, gift or alternative minimum tax or Medicare tax consequences.


As used in this discussion, the term “U.S. Holder” means a beneficial owner of Ordinary Shares that is, for U.S. federal income provided that (i) suchtax purposes, (1) an individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States, (2) a corporation (or entity treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income was not generated from business conductedtax purposes) created or organized in Israel byor under the taxpayer, (ii)laws of the taxpayer has no other taxable sourcesUnited States, any state thereof, or the District of Columbia, (3) an estate the income in Israelof which is subject to U.S. federal income tax regardless of its source or (4) a trust (x) with respect to which a tax returncourt within the United States is requiredable to exercise primary supervision over its administration and one or more United States persons have the authority to control all of its substantial decisions or (y) that has elected under applicable U.S. Treasury regulations to be filed,treated as a domestic trust for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

If an entity or arrangement treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes holds Ordinary Shares, the U.S. federal income tax consequences relating to an investment in the ordinary shares will depend in part upon the status and (iii)activities of such entity or arrangement and the taxpayer is not obligedparticular partner. Any such entity or arrangement should consult its own tax advisor regarding the U.S. federal income tax consequences applicable to pay excess tax (as further explained below).

Payers of dividends on our common shares, including the Israeli stockbroker effectuating the transaction, or the financial institution through which the securities are held, are generally required, subject to anyit and its partners of the foregoing exemptions, reduced tax ratesownership and the demonstrationdisposition of a shareholder regarding his, her or its foreign residency, and subject to a certificate for a reduced withholding tax rate from the ITA, to withhold tax upon the distribution of dividend at the rate of 25%, so long as the shares are registered with a Nominee Company (for corporations and individuals).Ordinary Shares.

 

Excess Tax

Individuals who are subject to tax in Israel are also subject to an additional tax at a rate of 3% on annual income exceeding a certain threshold (NIS 649,560 for 2019) which amount is linked to the annual change in the Israeli CPI), including, but not limited to income derived from dividends, interest and capital gains.

Estate and Gift Tax

Israeli law presently does not impose estate or gift taxes.

U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSIDERATIONS

THE FOLLOWING SUMMARY IS INCLUDED HEREIN FOR GENERAL INFORMATION AND IS NOT INTENDED TO BE, AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED TO BE, LEGAL OR TAX ADVICE. EACH U.S. HOLDER SHOULD CONSULT WITH HIS OR HER OWN TAX ADVISOR AS TO THE PARTICULAR U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES OF THE PURCHASE, OWNERSHIP AND SALE OF ORDINARY SHARES AND AMERICAN DEPOSITARY SHARES, INCLUDING THE EFFECTS OF APPLICABLE STATE, LOCAL, FOREIGN OR OTHER TAX LAWS AND POSSIBLE CHANGES IN THE TAX LAWS.

 

Subject to the limitations described in the next paragraph, the following discussion summarizes the material U.S. federal income tax consequences toPassive Foreign Investment Company Consequences

In general, a “U.S. Holder” arising from the purchase, ownership and sale of the Ordinary Shares and ADSs. For this purpose, a “U.S. Holder” is a holder of Ordinary Shares or ADSs that is: (1) an individual citizen or resident ofcorporation organized outside the United States including an alien individual whowill be treated as PFIC for any taxable year in which either (1) at least 75% of its gross income is “passive income”, the PFIC income test, or (2) on average at least 50% of its assets, determined on a quarterly basis, are assets that produce passive income or are held for the production of passive income, the PFIC asset test. Passive income for this purpose generally includes, among other things, dividends, interest, royalties, rents, and gains from the sale or exchange of property that gives rise to passive income. Assets that produce or are held for the production of passive income generally include cash, even if held as working capital or raised in a public offering, marketable securities, and other assets that may produce passive income. Generally, in determining whether a non-U.S. corporation is a lawful permanent residentPFIC, a proportionate share of the United Statesincome and assets of each corporation in which it owns, directly or meets the substantial presence residency test under U.S. federal income tax laws; (2)indirectly, at least a corporation (or entity treated25% interest (by value) is taken into account.

Our status as a corporation for U.S. federalPFIC will depend on the nature and composition of our income tax purposes) or a partnership (other than a partnership that is not treatedand the nature, composition and value of our assets (which, generally may be determined based on the fair market value of each asset, with the value of goodwill and going concern value being determined in large part by reference to the market value of our Ordinary Shares, which may be volatile). Based upon the estimated value of our assets, including any goodwill, and the nature and estimated composition of our income and assets, we may be classified as a U.S. person underPFIC for the taxable year ended December 31, 2023 and in future taxable years In particular, so long as we do not generate revenue from operations for any applicable U.S. Treasury regulations) createdtaxable year and do not receive any research and development grants, or organized under the laws of the United States or the District of Columbia or any political subdivision thereof; (3) an estate, the income of which is includable ineven if we receive a research and development grant, if such grant does not constitute gross income for U.S. federal income tax purposes, regardless of source; (4) a trust if a court within the United States is able to exercise primary supervision over the administration of the trust and one or more U.S. persons have authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust; or (5) a trust that has a valid election in effect towe likely will be treatedclassified as a U.S. person to the extent provided in U.S. Treasury regulations.

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This summary isPFIC for general information purposes only and does not purport to be a comprehensive description of all of the U.S. federal income tax considerationssuch taxable year. Even if we determine that may be relevant to a decision to purchase our Ordinary Shares or ADSs. This summary generally considers only U.S. Holders that will own our Ordinary Shares or ADSs as capital assets. Except to the limited extent discussed below, this summary does not consider the U.S. federal tax consequences to a person that iswe are not a U.S. Holder, nor does it describe the rules applicable to determinePFIC for a taxpayer’s status as a U.S. Holder. This summary is based on the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, final, temporary and proposed U.S. Treasury regulations promulgated thereunder, administrative and judicial interpretations thereof, (including with respect to the TCJA, as defined below), and the U.S./Israel Income Tax Treaty, all as in effect as of the date hereof and all of which are subject to change, possibly on a retroactive basis, and all of which are open to differing interpretations. We will not seek a ruling from the IRS with regard to the U.S. federal income tax treatment of an investment in our Ordinary Shares or ADSs by U.S. Holders and, therefore,taxable year, there can providebe no assurancesassurance that the IRS will agree with our conclusion and that the conclusions set forth below.IRS would not successfully challenge our position. Our status as a PFIC is a fact-intensive determination made on an annual basis after the end of each taxable year. Accordingly, our U.S. counsel expresses no opinion with respect to our PFIC status for our taxable year ended December 31, 2023 and also expresses no opinion with regard to our expectations regarding our PFIC status in the future.

 

This discussion does not address all


If we are a PFIC in any taxable year during which a U.S. Holder owns Ordinary Shares, the U.S. Holder could be liable for additional taxes and interest charges under the “PFIC excess distribution regime” upon (1) a distribution paid during a taxable year that is greater than 125% of the aspectsaverage annual distributions paid in the three preceding taxable years, or, if shorter, the U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Ordinary Shares, and (2) any gain recognized on a sale, exchange or other disposition, including a pledge, of the Ordinary Shares, whether or not we continue to be a PFIC. Under the PFIC excess distribution regime, the tax on such distribution or gain would be determined by allocating the distribution or gain ratably over the U.S. Holder’s holding period for Ordinary Shares. The amount allocated to the current taxable year (i.e., the year in which the distribution occurs or the gain is recognized) and any year prior to the first taxable year in which we are a PFIC will be taxed as ordinary income earned in the current taxable year. The amount allocated to other taxable years will be taxed at the highest marginal rates in effect for individuals or corporations, as applicable, to ordinary income for each such taxable year, and an interest charge, generally applicable to underpayments of tax, will be added to the tax.

If we are a PFIC for any year during which a U.S. Holder holds Ordinary Shares, we must generally continue to be treated as a PFIC by that holder for all succeeding years during which the U.S. Holder holds the Ordinary Shares, unless we cease to meet the requirements for PFIC status and the U.S. Holder makes a “deemed sale” election with respect to the Ordinary Shares. If the election is made, the U.S. Holder will be deemed to sell the Ordinary Shares it holds at their fair market value on the last day of the last taxable year in which we qualified as a PFIC, and any gain recognized from such deemed sale would be taxed under the PFIC excess distribution regime. After the deemed sale election, the U.S. Holder’s Ordinary Shares would not be treated as shares of a PFIC unless we subsequently become a PFIC.

If we are a PFIC for any taxable year during which a U.S. Holder holds Ordinary Shares and one of our non-U.S. corporate subsidiaries is also a PFIC (i.e., a lower-tier PFIC), such U.S. Holder would be treated as owning a proportionate amount (by value) of the shares of the lower-tier PFIC and would be taxed under the PFIC excess distribution regime on distributions by the lower-tier PFIC and on gain from the disposition of shares of the lower-tier PFIC even though such U.S. Holder would not receive the proceeds of those distributions or dispositions. Each U.S. Holder is advised to consult its tax advisors regarding the application of the PFIC rules to our non-U.S. subsidiaries.

If we are a PFIC, a U.S. Holder will not be subject to tax under the PFIC excess distribution regime on distributions or gain recognized on Ordinary Shares if such U.S. Holder makes a valid “mark-to-market” election for our Ordinary Shares. A mark-to-market election is available to a U.S. Holder only for “marketable stock.” Our Ordinary Shares will be marketable stock as long as they remain listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market and are regularly traded, other than in de minimis quantities, on at least 15 days during each calendar quarter. If a mark-to-market election is in effect, a U.S. Holder generally would take into account, as ordinary income for each taxable year of the U.S. holder, the excess of the fair market value of Ordinary Shares held at the end of such taxable year over the adjusted tax basis of such Ordinary Shares. The U.S. Holder would also take into account, as an ordinary loss each year, the excess of the adjusted tax basis of such Ordinary Shares over their fair market value at the end of the taxable year, but only to the extent of the excess of amounts previously included in income over ordinary losses deducted as a result of the mark-to-market election. The U.S. Holder’s tax basis in Ordinary Shares would be adjusted to reflect any income or loss recognized as a result of the mark-to-market election. Any gain from a sale, exchange or other disposition of Ordinary Shares in any taxable year in which we are a PFIC would be treated as ordinary income and any loss from such sale, exchange or other disposition would be treated first as ordinary loss (to the extent of any net mark-to-market gains previously included in income) and thereafter as capital loss.

A mark-to-market election will not apply to Ordinary Shares for any taxable year during which we are not a PFIC, but will remain in effect with respect to any subsequent taxable year in which we become a PFIC. Such election will not apply to any non-U.S. subsidiaries that we may organize or acquire in the future. Accordingly, a U.S. Holder may continue to be subject to tax under the PFIC excess distribution regime with respect to any lower-tier PFICs that we may organize or acquire in the future notwithstanding the U.S. Holder’s mark-to-market election for the Ordinary Shares.

The tax consequences that would apply if we are a PFIC would also be different from those described above if a U.S. Holder were able to make a valid QEF election. At this time, we do not expect to provide U.S. Holders with the information necessary for a U.S. Holder to make a QEF election. Prospective investors should assume that a QEF election will not be available.


Each U.S. person that is an investor of a PFIC is generally required to file an annual information return on IRS Form 8621 containing such information as the U.S. Treasury Department may require. The failure to file IRS Form 8621 could result in the imposition of penalties and the extension of the statute of limitations with respect to U.S. federal income taxation that may be relevant to a particular U.S. holder based on such holder’s particular circumstances and in particular does not discuss any estate, gift, generation-skipping, transfer, state, local, excise or foreign tax considerations. In addition, this discussion does not address thetax.

The U.S. federal income tax treatmentrules relating to PFICs are very complex. U.S. Holders are strongly urged to consult their own tax advisors with respect to the impact of PFIC status on the ownership and disposition of Ordinary Shares, the consequences to them of an investment in a PFIC, any elections available with respect to the Ordinary Shares and the IRS information reporting obligations with respect to the ownership and disposition of Ordinary Shares of a U.S. Holder who is: (1)PFIC.

Distributions

We do not anticipate declaring or paying dividends to holders of our ordinary stock in the foreseeable future. However, if we make a bank, life insurance company, regulated investment company, or other financial institution or “financial services entity;distribution contrary to the expectation, subject to the discussion above under “—Passive Foreign Investment Company Consequences, (2) a broker or dealer in securities or foreign currency; (3) a person who acquired our Ordinary Shares or ADSs in connection with employment or other performance of services; (4) a U.S. Holder that is subjectreceives a distribution with respect to the U.S. alternative minimum tax; (5) a U.S. Holder that holds our Ordinary Shares or ADSs as a hedge or as part of a hedging, straddle, conversion or constructive sale transaction or other risk-reduction transaction for U.S. federal income tax purposes; (6) a tax-exempt entity; (7) real estate investment trusts or grantor trusts; (8) a U.S. Holder that expatriates out of the United States or a former long-term resident of the United States; or (9) a person having a functional currency other than the U.S. dollar. This discussion does not address the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a U.S. Holder that owns, directly or constructively, at any time, Ordinary Shares or ADSs representing 10% or more of our voting power. Additionally, the U.S. federal income tax treatment of partnerships (or other pass-through entities) or persons who hold Ordinary Shares or ADSs through a partnership or other pass-through entity are not addressed.

Each prospective investor is advised to consult his or her own tax adviser for the specific tax consequences to that investor of purchasing, holding or disposing of our Ordinary Shares or ADSs, including the effects of applicable state, local, foreign or other tax laws and possible changes in the tax laws.

Taxation of Dividends Paid on Ordinary Sharesor ADSs

We do not intend to pay dividends in the foreseeable future. In the event that we do pay dividends, and subject to the discussion under the heading “Passive Foreign Investment Companies” below and the discussion of “qualified dividend income” below, a U.S. Holder, other than certain U.S. Holder’s that are U.S. corporations,generally will be required to include the gross amount of such distribution in gross income as ordinary income the amount of any distribution paid on Ordinary Sharesa dividend when actually or ADSs (including the amount of any Israeli tax withheld on the date of the distribution),constructively received to the extent that suchof the U.S. Holder’s pro rata share of our current and/or accumulated earnings and profits (as determined under U.S. federal income tax principles). To the extent a distribution doesreceived by a U.S. Holder is not exceeda dividend because it exceeds the U.S. Holder’s pro rata share of our current and accumulated earnings and profits, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The amount of a distribution which exceeds our earnings and profitsit will be treated first as a non-taxabletax-free return of capital reducingand reduce (but not below zero) the adjusted tax basis of the U.S. Holder’s Ordinary Shares. To the extent the distribution exceeds the adjusted tax basis forof the U.S. Holder’s Ordinary Shares, to the extent thereof, and thenremainder will be taxed as capital gain. Corporate holders generally willBecause we may not be allowed a deductionaccount for dividends received, unless such corporate holders hold at least 10% of our shares and are eligible for a dividend received deduction, as described below. We do not expect to maintain calculations of our earnings and profits underin accordance with U.S. federal income tax principles, and, therefore, U.S. Holders should expect all distributions to be reported to them as dividends.

Distributions on Ordinary Shares that the entire amount of any distributionare treated as dividends generally will be reported as dividend income.

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On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed into law the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or the TCJA. The TCJA provides a 100% deduction for the foreign-source portion of dividends receivedconstitute income from “specified 10-percent owned foreign corporations” by U.S. corporate holders, subject to a one-year holding period. No foreign tax credit, including Israeli withholding tax (or deduction for foreign taxes paid with respect to qualifying dividends) would be permitted for foreign taxes paid or accrued with respect to a qualifying dividend. This deduction would be unavailable for “hybrid dividends.” The dividend received deduction enacted under the TCJA may not apply to dividends from a passive foreign investment company, as discussed below. 

In general, preferential tax rates for “qualified dividend income” and long-term capital gains are applicable for U.S. Holders that are individuals, estates or trusts. For this purpose, “qualified dividend income” means, inter alia, dividends received from a “qualified foreign corporation.” A “qualified foreign corporation” is a corporation that is entitled to the benefits of a comprehensive tax treaty withsources outside the United States which includes an exchange of information program. The IRS has stated that the Israel/U.S. Tax Treaty satisfies this requirement and we believe we are eligible for the benefits of that treaty.

In addition, our dividends will be qualified dividend income if our Ordinary Shares or ADSs are readily tradable on the Nasdaq Capital Market or another established securities market in the United States. Dividends will not qualify for the preferential rate if we are treated, in the year the dividend is paid or in the prior year, as a PFIC, as described below under “Passive Foreign Investment Companies.” A U.S. Holder will not be entitled to the preferential rate: (1) if the U.S. Holder has not held our Ordinary Shares or ADSs for at least 61 days of the 121 day period beginning on the date which is 60 days before the ex-dividend date, or (2) to the extent the U.S. Holder is under an obligation to make related payments on substantially similar property. Any days during which the U.S. Holder has diminished its risk of loss on our Ordinary Shares or ADSs are not counted towards meeting the 61-day holding period. Finally, U.S. Holders who elect to treat the dividend income as “investment income” pursuant to Code section 163(d)(4) will not be eligible for the preferential rate of taxation.

The amount of a distribution with respect to our Ordinary Shares or ADSs will be measured by the amount of the fair market value of any property distributed, and for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the amount of any Israeli taxes withheld therefrom. Cash distributions paid by us in NIS will be included in the income of U.S. Holders at a U.S. dollar amount based upon the spot rate of exchange in effect on the date the dividend is includible in the income of the U.S. Holder, and U.S. Holders will have a tax basis in such NIS for U.S. federal income tax purposes equal to such U.S. dollar value. If the U.S. Holder subsequently converts the NIS into U.S. dollars or otherwise disposes of it, any subsequent gain or loss in respect of such NIS arising from exchange rate fluctuations will be U.S. source ordinary exchange gain or loss.

Distributions paid by us will generally be foreign source income for U.S. foreign tax credit purposes and generally will generally be consideredconstitute passive category income for such purposes.income. Subject to thecertain complex conditions and limitations, set forth in the Code and the TCJA, U.S. HoldersIsraeli taxes withheld on any distributions on Ordinary Shares may elect to claim a foreign taxbe eligible for credit against theira U.S. Holder’s federal income tax liability for Israeli income tax withheld from distributions received in respect of the Ordinary Shares or ADSs.liability. The rules relating to the determination of the U.S. foreign tax credit are complex, and U.S. Holders should consult with their own tax advisors to determine whether, and to what extent, they are entitled to such credit. U.S. Holders that do not elect to claimregarding the availability of a foreign tax credit may instead claimin their particular circumstances and the possibility of claiming an itemized deduction (in lieu of the foreign tax credit) for any foreign taxes paid or withheld.

Dividends paid by a “qualified foreign corporation” are eligible for taxation to non-corporate U.S. holders at a reduced capital gains rate rather than the marginal tax rates generally applicable to ordinary income provided that certain requirements are met. Each U.S. Holder is advised to consult its tax advisors regarding the availability of the reduced tax rate on dividends with regard to its particular circumstances. Each U.S. Holder is advised to consult its tax advisors regarding the availability of the reduced tax rate on dividends with regard to its particular circumstances. Distributions on Ordinary Shares that are treated as dividends generally will not be eligible for the “dividends received” deduction generally allowed to corporate shareholders with respect to dividends received from U.S. corporations.

A non-United States corporation (other than a corporation that is classified as a PFIC for Israeli income taxes withheld, providedthe taxable year in which the dividend is paid or the preceding taxable year) generally will be considered to be a qualified foreign corporation (a) if it is eligible for the benefits of a comprehensive tax treaty with the United States which the Secretary of Treasury of the United States determines is satisfactory for purposes of this provision and which includes an exchange of information provision, or (b) with respect to any dividend it pays on Ordinary Shares that are readily tradable on an established securities market in the United States. We believe that we qualify as a resident of Israel for purposes of, and are eligible for the benefits of, the U.S.-Israel Treaty, although there can be no assurance in this regard. Further, the IRS has determined that the U.S.-Israel Treaty is satisfactory for purposes of the qualified dividend rules and that it includes an exchange of information provision. Our Ordinary Shares will also generally be considered to be readily tradable on an established securities market in the United States if they are listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market. Therefore, subject to the discussion above under “—Passive Foreign Investment Company Consequences,” if the U.S.-Israel Treaty is applicable, or if our Ordinary Shares are readily tradable on an established securities market in the United States, such dividends will generally be “qualified dividend income” in the hands of individual U.S. Holders, itemize their deductions.provided that certain conditions are met, including holding period and the absence of certain risk reduction transaction requirements. Each U.S. Holder is advised to consult its tax advisors regarding the availability of the reduced tax rate on dividends with regard to its particular circumstances.

 


Taxation of theSale, Exchange or Other Disposition of Ordinary Shares or ADSs

 

Except as providedSubject to the discussion above under the PFIC rules described below under “Passive“—Passive Foreign Investment Companies,Company Consequences, upon the sale, exchange or other disposition of our Ordinary Shares or ADSs, a U.S. Holder generally will recognize capital gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between suchfor U.S. Holder’sfederal income tax basis for the Ordinary Shares or ADSs in U.S. dollars and the amount realized on the disposition in U.S. dollar (or its U.S. dollar equivalent determined by reference to the spot rate of exchange on the date of disposition, if the amount realized is denominated in a foreign currency). The gain or loss realized onpurposes upon the sale, exchange or other disposition of Ordinary Shares or ADSs will be long-term capital gain or lossin an amount equal to the difference, if any, between the U.S. Holder has a holding periodamount realized (i.e., the amount of more than one year atcash plus the timefair market value of the disposition. Individuals who recognize long-term capital gains may be taxed on such gains at reduced rates of tax. The deduction of capital losses is subject to various limitations.

Gain realized by a U.S. Holder on a sale, exchange or other disposition of Ordinary Shares or ADSs will generally be treated as U.S. source income for U.S. foreign tax credit purposes. A loss realized by a U.S. Holderany property received) on the sale, exchange or other disposition of Ordinary Shares or ADSs is generally allocated to U.S. source income. The deductibility of a loss realized on the sale, exchange or other disposition of Ordinary Shares or ADSs is subject to limitations. An additional 3.8% net investment income tax (described below) may apply to gains recognized upon the sale, exchange or other taxable disposition of our Ordinary Shares or ADS by certain U.S. Holders who meet certain income thresholds.

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Passive Foreign Investment Companies

Special U.S. federal income tax laws apply to U.S. taxpayers who own shares of a corporation that is a PFIC. We will be treated as a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes for any taxable year that either:

75% or more of our gross income (including our pro rata share of gross income for any company, in which we are considered to own 25% or more of the shares by value), in a taxable year is passive; or
At least 50% of our assets, averaged over the year and generally determined based upon fair market value (including our pro rata share of the assets of any company in which we are considered to own 25% or more of the shares by value) are held for the production of, or produce, passive income.

For this purpose, passive income generally consists of dividends, interest, rents, royalties, annuities and income from certain commodities transactions and from notional principal contracts. Cash is treated as generating passive income.

We believe that we will not be a PFIC for the current taxable year and do not expect to become a PFIC in the foreseeable future. The tests for determining PFIC status are applied annually, and it is difficult to make accurate projections of future income and assets which are relevant to this determination. In addition, our PFIC status may depend in part on the market value of our Ordinary Shares. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that we currently are not or will not become a PFIC.

If we currently are or become a PFIC, each U.S. Holder who has not elected to mark the shares to market (as discussed below), would, upon receipt of certain distributions by us and upon disposition of our Ordinary Shares or ADSs at a gain: (1) have such distribution or gain allocated ratably over the U.S. Holder’s holding period for the Ordinary Shares or ADSs, as the case may be; (2) the amount allocated to the current taxable year and any period prior to the first day of the first taxable year in which we were a PFIC would be taxed as ordinary income; and (3) the amount allocated to each of the other taxable years would be subject to tax at the highest rate of tax in effect for the applicable class of taxpayer for that year, and an interest charge for the deemed deferral benefit would be imposed with respect to the resulting tax attributable to each such other taxable year. In addition, when shares of a PFIC are acquired by reason of death from a decedent that was a U.S. Holder, the tax basis of such shares would not receive a step-up to fair market value as of the date of the decedent’s death, but instead would be equal to the decedent’s basis if lower, unless all gain were recognized by the decedent. Indirect investments in a PFIC may also be subject to these special U.S. federal income tax rules.

The PFIC rules described above would not apply to a U.S. Holder who makes a QEF election for all taxable years that such U.S. Holder has held the Ordinary Shares or ADSs while we are a PFIC, provided that we comply with specified reporting requirements. Instead, each U.S. Holder who has made such a QEF election is required for each taxable year that we are a PFIC to include in income such U.S. Holder’s pro rata share of our ordinary earnings as ordinary income and such U.S. Holder’s pro rata share of our net capital gains as long-term capital gain, regardless of whether we make any distributions of such earnings or gain. In general, a QEF election is effective only if we make available certain required information. The QEF election is made on a shareholder-by-shareholder basis and generally may be revoked only with the consent of the IRS. We do not intend to notify U.S. Holders if we believe we will be treated as a PFIC for any tax year. In addition, we do not intend to furnish U.S. Holders annually with information needed in order to complete IRS Form 8621 and to make and maintain a valid QEF election for any year in which we or any of our Subsidiaries are a PFIC. Therefore, the QEF election will not be available with respect to our Ordinary Shares or ADSs.

In addition, the PFIC rules described above would not apply if we were a PFIC and a U.S. Holder made a mark-to-market election. A U.S. Holder of our Ordinary Shares or ADSs which are regularly traded on a qualifying exchange, including the Nasdaq Capital Market, can elect to mark the Ordinary Shares or ADSs to market annually, recognizing as ordinary income or loss each year an amount equal to the difference as of the close of the taxable year between the fair market value of the Ordinary Shares or ADSs and the U.S. Holder’s adjusted tax basis in the Ordinary Shares. Such capital gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain taxable at a reduced rate for non-corporate U.S. Holders or long-term capital loss if, on the date of sale, exchange or other disposition, the Ordinary Shares or ADSs. Losses are allowed only to the extent of net mark-to-market gain previously included incomewere held by the U.S. Holder under the election for prior taxable years.

more than one year. Any capital gain of a non-corporate U.S. Holders who hold our Ordinary Shares or ADSs during a period when we are a PFIC will beHolder that is not long-term capital gain is taxed at ordinary income rates. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to the foregoing rules, even if we cease to be a PFIC. U.S. Holders are strongly urged to consult their tax advisors about the PFIC rules.

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Tax on Net Investment Income

For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2013, U.S. Holders who are individuals, estateslimitations. Any gain or trusts will generally be required to pay a 3.8% Medicare tax on their net investment income (including dividends on and gainsloss recognized from the sale or other disposition of our Ordinary Shares will generally be gain or ADSs), or in the case of estates and trusts on their net investment income that is not distributed. In each case, the 3.8% Medicare tax applies only to the extent the U.S. Holder’s total adjusted income exceeds applicable thresholds.

Tax Consequences for Non-U.S. Holders of Ordinary Shares or ADSs

Except as provided below, an individual, corporation, estate or trust that is not a U.S. Holder referred to below as a non-U.S. Holder, generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income or withholding tax on the payment of dividends on, and the proceedsloss from the disposition of, our Ordinary Shares or ADSs.

A non-U.S. Holder may be subject to U.S. federal income tax on a dividend paid on our Ordinary Shares or ADSs or gain from the disposition of our Ordinary Shares or ADSs if: (1) such item is effectively connected with the conduct by the non-U.S. Holder of a trade or business in the United States and, if required by an applicable income tax treaty is attributable to a permanent establishment or fixed place of business in the United States; or (2) in the case of a disposition of our Ordinary Shares or ADSs, the individual non-U.S. Holder is present insources within the United States for 183 days or more in the taxable year of the disposition and other specified conditions are met.U.S. foreign tax credit purposes.

 

In general, non-U.S. Holders will not be subject to backup withholding with respect to the payment of dividends on our Ordinary Shares or ADSs if payment is made through a paying agent, or office of a foreign broker outside the United States. However, if payment is made in the United States or by a U.S. related person, non-U.S. Holders may be subject to backup withholding, unless the non-U.S. Holder provides an applicable IRS Form W-8 (or a substantially similar form) certifying its foreign status, or otherwise establishes an exemption.

The amount of any backup withholding from a payment to a non-U.S. Holder will be allowed as a credit against such holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability and may entitle such holder to a refund, provided that the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.

Information Reporting and Backup Withholding

 

A U.S. HolderHolders may be subjectrequired to backup withholding at a rate of 24%file certain U.S. information reporting returns with the IRS with respect to cash dividendsan investment in Ordinary Shares, including, among others, IRS Form 8938 (Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets). As described above under “Passive Foreign Investment Company Consequences”, each U.S. Holder who is a shareholder of a PFIC must file an annual report containing certain information. U.S. Holders paying more than US$100,000 for Ordinary Shares may be required to file IRS Form 926 (Return by a U.S. Transferor of Property to a Foreign Corporation) reporting this payment. Substantial penalties may be imposed upon a U.S. Holder that fails to comply with the required information reporting.

Dividends on and proceeds from athe sale or other disposition of Ordinary Shares may be reported to the IRS unless the U.S. Holder establishes a basis for exemption. Backup withholding may apply to amounts subject to reporting if the holder (1) fails to provide an accurate United States taxpayer identification number or ADSs. In general,otherwise establish a basis for exemption (usually on IRS Form W-9), or (2) is described in certain other categories of persons. However, U.S. Holders that are corporations generally are excluded from these information reporting and backup withholding will apply only if a U.S. Holder fails to comply with specified identification procedures. Backup withholding will not apply with respect to payments made to designated exempt recipients, such as corporations and tax-exempt organizations.tax rules. Backup withholding is not an additional tax and maytax. Any amounts withheld under the backup withholding rules generally will be claimedallowed as a refund or a credit against thea U.S. Holder’s U.S. federal income tax liability of a U.S. Holder, provided thatif the required information is furnished by the U.S. Holder on a timely furnishedbasis to the IRS.

 

Pursuant to recently enacted legislation, a U.S. Holder with interests in “specified foreign financial assets” (including, among other assets, our Ordinary Shares or ADSs, unless such Ordinary Shares or ADSs are held on such U.S. Holder’s behalf through a financial institution) may be required to file an information report with the IRS if the aggregate value of all such assets exceeds $50,000 on the last day of the taxable year or $75,000 at any time during the taxable year (or such higher dollar amount as may be prescribed by applicable IRS guidance); and may be required to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, or FBAR, if the aggregate value of the foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. YouHolders should consult yourtheir own tax advisor as toadvisors regarding the possible obligation to file suchbackup withholding tax and information report.

reporting rules.

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Tax CutsF. Dividends and Jobs ActPaying Agents

 

On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed into law the TCJA. Although this is the most extensive overhaul of the United States tax regime in over thirty years, other than for certain U.S. corporate holders, none of the provisions of the TCJA are expected to materially impact U.S. Holder’s with respect to such holder’s ownership of our Ordinary Shares or the ADSs. 

F.Dividends and Paying Agents

Not applicable.

 

G.Statement by Experts

G. Statement by Experts

 

Not applicable.

 

H.Documents on Display

H. Documents on Display

 

We are subject to certain information reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, applicable to foreign private issuers and under those requirements will file reports with the SEC. You may read and copy the annual report on Form 20-F, including the related exhibits and schedules, and any document we file with the SEC without charge at the SEC’s public reference room at 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, DC 20549. You may also obtain copies of the documents at prescribed rates by writing to the Public Reference Section of the SEC at 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, DC 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the public reference room. The SEC also maintains an Internet website that contains reports and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. Our filings with the SEC will also be available to the public through the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

 


As a foreign private issuer, we are exempt from the rules under the Exchange Act related to the furnishing and content of proxy statements, and our officers, directors and principal shareholders will be exempt from the reporting and short-swing profit recovery provisions contained in Section 16 of the Exchange Act. In addition, we are not required under the Exchange Act to file annual, quarterly and current reports and consolidated financial statements with the SEC as frequently or as promptly as U.S. domestic companies whose securities are registered under the Exchange Act. However, we will file with the SEC, within 120 days after the end of each fiscal year, or such applicable time as required by the SEC, an annual report on Form 20-F containing consolidated financial statements audited by an independent registered public accounting firm, and may submit to the SEC, on a Form 6-K, unaudited quarterly financial information.

 

In addition, since our Ordinary Shares are traded on the TASE, we have filed Hebrew language periodic and immediate reports with, and furnish information to, the TASE and the Israel Securities Authority, or the ISA, as required under Chapter Six of the Israel Securities Law, 1968.Law. Copies of our filings with the ISA can be retrieved electronically through the MAGNA distribution site of the ISA (www.magna.isa.gov.il) and the TASE website (www.maya.tase.co.il).

 

We maintain a corporate website http:https://www.safe-t.com.alarum.io/. Information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website and the other websites referenced above do not constitute a part of this annual report on Form 20-F. We have included these website addresses in this annual report on Form 20-F solely as inactive textual references.

 

I.Subsidiary Information.

I. Subsidiary Information.

 

Not applicable.

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J. Annual Report to Security Holders.

Not applicable.

ITEM 11.QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

ITEM 11. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

 

In the ordinary course of our operations, we are exposed to certain market risks, primarily changes in foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates.

 

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure About Market Risk

 

We are exposed to market risks in the ordinary course of our business. Market risk represents the risk of loss that may impact our financial position due to adverse changes in financial market prices and rates. Our current investment policy is to invest available cash in bank deposits with banks that have a credit rating of at least A-minus. Accordingly, a substantial majority of our cash is held in deposits that bear interest. Given the current low rates of interest we receive, we will not be adversely affected if such rates are reduced. Our market risk exposure is primarily a result of NIS/U.S. dollar exchange rates, which is discussed in detail in the following paragraph.

 

Foreign Currency Exchange Risk

 

Our sales contracts are primarily denominated in U.S. dollars. A material portion of our operating expenses is incurred outside the United States and can be denominated in foreign currencies and are subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates, particularly changes in the Israeli Shekel and Euro.NIS. Additionally, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates may cause us to recognize transaction gains and losses in our statement of operations. The effect of a hypothetical 10% adverse change in foreign exchange rates on monetary assets and liabilities aton December 31, 20182023, can be material to our financial condition or results of operations. To date, foreign currency transaction gains and losses and exchange rate fluctuations have not been material to our consolidated financial statements, , and we have not engaged in any foreign currency hedging transactions.

 

As our international operations grow, our risks associated with fluctuation in currency rates will become greater, and we will continue to reassess our approach to managing this risk. In addition, currency fluctuations or a weakening U.S. dollar can increase the costs of our non-USnon-U.S. expansion as well as the Israeli headquarters costs.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

We describe our significant accounting policies more fully in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018 included elsewhere in this annual report. We believe that the accounting policies below are critical in order to fully understand and evaluate our financial condition and results of operations.

We prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with IFRS, as issued by the IASB. At the time of the preparation of the consolidated financial statements, our management is required to use estimates, evaluations, and assumptions which affect the application of the accounting policy and the amounts reported for assets, obligations, income, and expenses. Any estimates and assumptions are continually reviewed. The changes to the accounting estimates are credited during the period in which the change in the estimate is made.

Revenue Recognition

We apply the provisions of IFRS 15 in respect of revenue recognition.

Accounting for perpetual and term licenses of software

Our promise to the customer in granting a license is to provide a right to use our intellectual property as intellectual property exists (in terms of form and functionality), at the point in time at which the license is granted to the customer. This means that the customer can direct the use of, and obtain substantially all of the remaining benefits from, the license at the point in time at which the license transfers. Therefore, revenue in respect of the license component in such transactions shall be recognized at the time at which the license granted to the customer.

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Presentation of revenue and revenue related balances

The determination of whether revenue should be reported on a gross or net basis is based on an assessment of whether the company controls the specified goods or services before the transfer to its customers. In determining this, the company follows the accounting guidance for principal-agent considerations. This determination involves judgment and is based on an evaluation of the terms of each arrangement, considering the party that is primarily responsible in the arrangement, whether it bears inventory risk and whether it determines the prices charged to the customers. When an entity that is a principal satisfies a performance obligation, the entity recognizes revenue in the gross amount of consideration to which it expects to be entitled in exchange for the goods or services transferred.


 

Sales to resellers are recognized on a net basis which means that the reseller is considered the ultimate customer in such arrangements.

The company recognized obligations in respect of sale contracts at the total amount equal to the total amount of transactions invoiced, net of transactions in respect of which revenues were recognized.

Allocation of revenue to multiple performance obligations

The company allocates revenue to licenses, post contract customer support and professional services on a relative stand-alone selling price basis, except in cases in which a stand-alone selling price of an individual performance obligation is highly uncertain or variable, in which case the residual method is used.

Share-Based Compensation

Our employees, directors, and other service providers are entitled to benefits by way of share-based compensation settled with company options and warrants to shares. The cost of transactions with employees settled with capital instruments is measured based on the fair value of the capital instruments on the date of grant. The fair value is determined using an accepted options pricing model. The model is based on share price, grant date and on assumptions regarding expected volatility, expected term of options, dividend yield, expected early exercise, expected forfeiture rate and risk-free interest rates.

The cost of the transactions settled with equity instruments is recognized in profit or loss together with a corresponding increase in the equity over the period in which the performance and/or service take place, and ending on the date on which the relevant employees are entitled to the benefits, or the Vesting Period. The aggregate expense recognized for transactions settled with capital instruments at the end of each reporting date and until the Vesting Period reflects the degree to which the Vesting Period has expired and our best estimate regarding the number of warrants that have ultimately vested. The expense or income in profit or loss reflects the change of the aggregate expense recognized as of the end of the reported period.

We have selected the Binomial Option Pricing Model as a fair value method for our options awards. The option-pricing model requires a number of assumptions:

Expected dividend yield – The expected dividend yield assumption is based on our historical experience and expectation of no future dividend payouts. We have historically not paid cash dividends and have no foreseeable plans to pay cash dividends in the future.

Volatility– The expected stock volatility is assumed to be equal to the historical one. Since we started to act in our current business sector in June 2016, the historical stock volatility was calculated based on historical stock data starting June 2016.

Risk free interest rate – The risk-free interest rate is based on the yield of governmental non-indexed bonds with equivalent terms.

Expected term – An option’s contractual term must at least include the Vesting Period and the employees’ historical exercise and post-vesting employment termination behavior for similar grants. If the amount of past exercise data is limited, that data may not represent a sufficiently large sample on which to base a robust conclusion on expected exercise behavior.

Share price – The share price is determined according to the last known closing price of our Ordinary Shares at the grant date.

Other Fair Value Valuations

We recorded liabilities at fair value resulted from issuance of warrants and anti-dilution rights to investors. In estimating the fair value of the anti-dilution mechanism, we used a binomial model of the share value for a period of 12 to 24 months that takes into account the probability of raising funds in that period. The standard deviation used in the model is the standard deviation of the historical stock data. As of December 31, 2018, we had liabilities of $729,000 for warrants (measured based on the ADS value) and no further liabilities for anti-dilution rights. These liabilities amounted to approximately 27% of our total liabilities as of December 31, 2018.

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Table of Contents

 

ITEM 12.DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES OTHER THAN EQUITY SECURITIES

ITEM 12. DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES OTHER THAN EQUITY SECURITIES

 

A.Debt Securities.

A. Debt Securities.

 

Not applicable.

 

B.Warrants and Rights.

B. Warrants and Rights.

 

Not applicable.

 

C.Other Securities.

C. Other Securities.

 

Not applicable.

 

D.American Depositary Shares

D. American Depositary Shares

 

Fees and Expenses

 

Persons depositing or withdrawing shares or ADS holders must pay: For:
   
$5.00 (or less) per 100 ADSs (or portion of 100 ADSs). 

Issuance of ADSs, including issuances resulting from a distribution of shares or rights or other property.

 

Cancellation of ADSs for the purpose of withdrawal, including if the deposit agreement terminates.

   
$.05 (or less) per ADS. Any cash distribution to ADS holders.
   
A fee equivalent to the fee that would be payable if securities distributed to you had been shares and the shares had been deposited for issuance of ADSs. Distribution of securities distributed to holders of deposited securities (including rights) that are distributed by the depositary to ADS holders.
   
$.05 (or less) per ADS per calendar year. Depositary services.
   
Registration or transfer fees. Transfer and registration of shares on our share register to or from the name of the depositary or its agent when you deposit or withdraw shares.
   
Expenses of the depositary. 

Cable and facsimile transmissions (when expressly provided in the deposit agreement).

 

Converting foreign currency to U.S. dollars.

   
Taxes and other governmental charges the depositary or the custodian has to pay on any ADSs or shares underlying ADSs, such as stock transfer taxes, stamp duty or withholding taxes. As necessary.
   
Any charges incurred by the depositary or its agents for servicing the deposited securities. As necessary.

 


The depositary collects its fees for delivery and surrender of ADSs directly from investors depositing shares or surrendering ADSs for the purpose of withdrawal or from intermediaries acting for them. The depositary collects fees for making distributions to investors by deducting those fees from the amounts distributed or by selling a portion of distributable property to pay the fees. The depositary may collect its annual fee for depositary services by deduction from cash distributions or by directly billing investors or by charging the book-entry system accounts of participants acting for them. The depositary may collect any of its fees by deduction from any cash distribution payable (or by selling a portion of securities or other property distributable) to ADS holders that are obligated to pay those fees. The depositary may generally refuse to provide fee-attracting services until its fees for those services are paid.

 

From time to time, the depositary may make payments to us to reimburse us for costs and expenses generally arising out of establishment and maintenance of the ADS program, waive fees and expenses for services provided to us by the depositary or share revenue from the fees collected from ADS holders. In performing its duties under the deposit agreement, the depositary may use brokers, dealers, foreign currency dealers or other service providers that are owned by or affiliated with the depositary and that may earn or share fees, spreads, or commissions.

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The depositary may convert currency itself or through any of its affiliates and, in those cases, acts as principal for its own account and not as agent, advisor, broker or fiduciary on behalf of any other person and earns revenue, including, without limitation, transaction spreads, that it will retain for its own account. The revenue is based on, among other things, the difference between the exchange rate assigned to the currency conversion made under the deposit agreement and the rate that the depositary or its affiliate receives when buying or selling foreign currency for its own account. The depositary makes no representation that the exchange rate used or obtained in any currency conversion under the deposit agreement will be the most favorable rate that could be obtained at the time or that the method by which that rate will be determined will be the most favorable to ADS holders, subject to the depositary’s obligations under the deposit agreement. The methodology used to determine exchange rates used in currency conversions is available upon request.

As an ADS holder, we will not treat you as one of our shareholders and you will not have shareholder rights. Israeli law governs shareholder rights. The Depositary is the holder of the shares underlying your ADSs. As a registered holder of ADSs, you will have ADS holder rights. A deposit agreement among us, the Depositary, ADS holders, and all other persons indirectly or beneficially holding ADSs sets out ADS holder rights as well as the rights and obligations of the Depositary. New York law governs the deposit agreement and the ADSs


PART II

 

ITEM 13.DEFAULTS, DIVIDEND ARREARAGES AND DELINQUENCIES

ITEM 13. DEFAULTS, DIVIDEND ARREARAGES AND DELINQUENCIES

 

None.

 

ITEM 14.MATERIAL MODIFICATIONS TO THE RIGHTS OF SECURITY HOLDERS AND USE OF PROCEEDS

ITEM 14. MATERIAL MODIFICATIONS TO THE RIGHTS OF SECURITY HOLDERS AND USE OF PROCEEDS

 

None.

 

ITEM 15. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

ITEM 15.(a)CONTROLS AND PROCEDURESDisclosure Controls and Procedures

 

(a) Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of December 31, 2018,2023, or the Evaluation Date. Based on the material weaknesses identified in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as described below,such evaluation, those officers have concluded that, as of the Evaluation Date, our disclosure controls and procedures were notare effective in recording, processing, summarizing and reporting, on a timely basis, information required to be included in periodic filings under the Exchange Act and that such information is accumulated and communicated to management, including our principal executive and financial officers, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

 

(b) Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

(b)Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

 

This annual report does not include a report of management’s assessment regardingOur management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, oras such term is defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act. Our management conducted an attestation reportassessment of the Company’s registered public accounting firm due to a transition period established by the ruleseffectiveness of the Securities and Exchange Commission for newly public companies.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, we have identified some material weaknesses in our internal controlcontrols over financial reporting as of December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016. As defined2023 based on the criteria set forth in Regulation 12b-2 underInternal Control—Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Securities Exchange Act, a “material weakness” is a deficiency, or combinationCommittee of deficiencies, inSponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework). Based on that assessment, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatementwas effective as of December 31, 2023.

As previously disclosed, as of December 31, 2022, our annual or interim consolidated financial statements will not be prevented, or detected on a timely basis. Specifically, we determined that currently we do not have sufficient qualified staff to provide for effectiveinternal control over financial reporting was ineffective due to ineffective controls over period-end financial reporting. In response to this material weakness, our management, with the oversight of the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors, initiated a numberremediation plan.

As part of aspectssuch remediation plan, during 2022, we recruited additional personnel with a requisite level of ourqualification and experience, including accounting and finance employees with the specific technical accounting and financial reporting process under IFRS. For more information see “Item 3.C. Risk Factors – Risks Relatedexperience necessary for a public company, including a corporate controller and a controller. Also, during 2023, we recruited additional finance personnel with a requisite level of qualification and experience. We have recruited these personnel after considering the appropriateness of each individual’s experience and believe that these personnel are qualified to Our Business and Industry.”serve in their current respective roles.

 

(c) Attestation ReportIn addition, during 2022, we implemented additional control activities related to the period-end financial reporting process, such as assigning clear roles and responsibilities for accounting and financial reporting staff, enhancing internal controls related to accounting and financial reporting and hiring a qualified consultant to assess compliance of the Registered Public Accounting FirmCompany’s financial reporting processes, as well as the design and implementation of effective internal control over period end financial reporting and in order to create adequate segregation of duties. During 2023, we validated and tested the design and operating effectiveness of internal controls over the entire period of financial reporting cycles.

 

Based on the actions taken, we concluded that the material weakness related to ineffective controls over period-end financial reporting previously identified was remediated as of December 31, 2023. Therefore, we concluded that as of December 31, 2023, our internal control over financial reporting was effective.


(c)Attestation Report of the Registered Public Accounting Firm

This annual report on Form 20-F does not include an attestation report of our independent registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting due tobecause we are neither an exemption for emerging growth companies providedaccelerated filer nor large accelerated filer as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the JOBSExchange Act.

 

(d) Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

(d)Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

 

During the year ended December 31, 2018,2023, we implemented measures to remediate the identified material weakness, as described above. Other than such measures, there were no changes into our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the year ended December 31, 2023, that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

 

ITEM 16. [Reserved].

ITEM 16A.AUDIT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL EXPERT

ITEM 16A. AUDIT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL EXPERT

 

Our board of directors has determined that each member of our audit committee is an audit committee financial expert, as defined under the rules under the Exchange Act, and is independent in accordance with applicable Exchange Act rules and Nasdaq Stock Market rules.

 

ITEM 16B.CODE OF ETHICS

ITEM 16B. CODE OF ETHICS

 

We have adopted a written code of ethics that applies to our directors, executive officers and employees, including our executive officer, financial officer, controller and persons performing similar functions as well as our directors.employees. Our Code of Business Ethics is posted on our website at https://www.safe-t.com/investors-relations/#governance.www.alarum.io. Information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website does not constitute a part of this annual report on Form 20-F and is not incorporated by reference herein. If we make any amendment to the Code of Business Ethics or grant any waivers, including any implicit waiver, from a provision of the code, we will disclose the nature of such amendment or waiver on our website to the extent required by the rules and regulations of the SEC including the instructions to Item 16B of Form 20-F. We have not granted any waivers under our Code of Business Ethics.

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ITEM 16C.PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES

ITEM 16C. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES

 

Kesselman & Kesselman, a member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, has served as our principal independent registered public accounting firm for each of the two years ended December 31, 20172023, and 2018.2022.

 

The following table provides information regarding fees paid by us to Kesselman & Kesselman, a member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited for all services, including audit services, for the years ended December 31, 20172023, and 2018:2022:

 

  Year Ended
December 31,
 
  2017  2018 
       
Audit fees(1) $52,500  $247,000 
Audit-related fees  -   - 
Tax fees  -   2,000 
All other fees  -   - 
         
Total $52,500  $249,000 
  Year Ended
December 31,
 
  2023  2022 
       
Audit fees(1) $276,500  $157,750 
Audit-related fees  -   - 
Tax fees(2)  11,750   5,000 
All other fees  -   - 
Total $288,250  $162,750 

 

(1)This category includes services such as consents and assistance with and review of documents filed with the SEC as well as fees related to our registration statements and public offerings.
(2)Includes professional services rendered in connection with the audit ofby our annual consolidated financial statements, review of our interim consolidated financial statements,independent registered public accounting firm for tax compliance and fees relating to our public offering of ADSs.tax advice on actual or contemplated transactions.

 


Pre-Approval of Auditors’ Compensation

 

Our audit committee has a pre-approval policy for the engagement of our independent registered public accounting firm to perform certain audit and non-audit services. Pursuant to this policy, which is designed to assure that such engagements do not impair the independence of our auditors, the audit committee pre-approves annually a catalog of specific audit and non-audit services in the categories of audit services, audit-related services and tax services that may be performed by our independent registered public accounting firm. If a type of service, that is to be provided by our auditors, has not received such general pre-approval, it will require specific pre-approval by our audit committee. The policy prohibits retention of the independent registered public accounting firm to perform the prohibited non-audit functions defined in applicable SEC rules.

 

ITEM 16D.EXEMPTIONS FROM THE LISTING STANDARDS FOR AUDIT COMMITTEES

ITEM 16D. EXEMPTIONS FROM THE LISTING STANDARDS FOR AUDIT COMMITTEES

 

Not applicable.

 

ITEM 16E.PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES BY THE ISSUER AND AFFILIATED PURCHASERS

ITEM 16E. PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES BY THE ISSUER AND AFFILIATED PURCHASERS

 

Not applicable.

 

ITEM 16F.CHANGE IN REGISTRANT’S CERTIFYING ACCOUNTANT

ITEM 16F. CHANGE IN REGISTRANT’S CERTIFYING ACCOUNTANT

 

Not applicable.

 

ITEM 16G.CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

ITEM 16G. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

 

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, as well as related rules subsequently implemented by the SEC, require foreign private issuers, such as us, to comply with various corporate governance practices. In addition, followingAs a result of the listing of the ADSs on the Nasdaq Capital Market will bewe are required to comply with the Nasdaq Stock Market rules. Under those rules, we may elect to follow certain corporate governance practices permitted under the Israeli Companies Law in lieu of compliance with corresponding corporate governance requirements otherwise imposed by the Nasdaq Stock Market rules for U.S. domestic issuers.

 

In accordance with Israeli law and practice and subject to the exemption set forth in Rule 5615 of the Nasdaq Stock Market rules, we have elected to follow the provisions of the Israeli Companies Law, rather than the Nasdaq Stock Market rules, with respect to the following requirements:

 

Distribution of periodic reports to shareholders; proxy solicitation. As opposed to the Nasdaq Stock Market rules, which require listed issuers to make such reports available to shareholders in one of a number of specific manners, Israeli law does not require us to distribute periodic reports directly to shareholders, and the generally accepted business practice in Israel is not to distribute such reports to shareholders but to make such reports available through a public website. In addition to making such reports available on a public website, we currently make our audited consolidated financial statements available to our shareholders at our offices and will only mail such reports to shareholders upon request. As a foreign private issuer, we are generally exempt from the SEC’s proxy solicitation rules.

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Quorum. While the Nasdaq Stock Market rules require that the quorum for purposes of any meeting of the holders of a listed company’s common voting stock, as specified in the company’s bylaws, be no less than 33 1/3% of the company’s outstanding common voting stock, under Israeli law, a company is entitled to determine in its articles of association the number of shareholders and percentage of holdings required for a quorum at a shareholders meeting. Our amended and restated articles of association provide that a quorum of two or more shareholders holding at least 25%15% of the voting rights in person or by proxy is required for commencement of business at a general meeting. However, the quorum set forth in our amended and restated articles of association with respect to an adjourned meeting consists of at least one shareholdersshareholder present in person or by proxy.

 


Compensation of officers.Israeli law and our amended and restated articles of association do not require that the independent members of our board of directors (or a compensation committee composed solely of independent members of our board of directors) determine an executive officer’s compensation, as is generally required under the Nasdaq Stock Market rules with respect to the chief executive officer and all other executive officers. Instead, compensation of executive officers is determined and approved by our compensation committee and our board of directors, and in certain circumstances by our shareholders, either in consistency with our office holder compensation policy or, in special circumstances in deviation therefrom, taking into account certain considerations stated in the Israeli Companies Law.

 

Shareholder approval is generally required for officer compensation in the event (i) approval by our board of directors and our compensation committee is not consistent with our office holder compensation policy, or (ii) compensation required to be approved is that of our chief executive officer or an executive officer who is also the controlling shareholder of our company (including an affiliate thereof). Such shareholder approval shall require a majority vote of the shares present and voting at a shareholders meeting, provided either (i) such majority includes a majority of the shares held by non-controlling shareholders who do not otherwise have a personal interest in the compensation arrangement that are voted at the meeting, excluding for such purpose any abstentions disinterested majority, or (ii) the total shares held by non-controlling and disinterested shareholders voted against the arrangement does not exceed 2% of the voting rights in our company.

 

Additionally, approval of the compensation of an executive officer who is also a director requires a simple majority vote of the shares present and voting at a shareholders meeting, if consistent with our office holder compensation policy. Our compensation committee and board of directors may, in special circumstances, approve the compensation of an executive officer (other than a director a chief executive officer or a controlling shareholder) or approve the compensation policy despite shareholders’ objection, based on specified arguments and taking shareholders’ objection into account. Our compensation committee may further exempt an engagement with a nominee for the position of chief executive officer, who meets the non-affiliation requirements set forth for an external director, from requiring shareholder approval, if such engagement is consistent with our office holder compensation policy and our compensation committee determines based on specified arguments that presentation of such engagement to shareholder approval is likely to prevent such engagement. To the extent that any such transaction with a controlling shareholder is for a period exceeding three years, approval is required once every three years.

 

A director or executive officer may not be present when the board of directors of a company discusses or votes upon a transaction in which he or she has a personal interest, except in case of ordinary transactions, unless the chairman of the board of directors determines that he or she should be present to present the transaction that is subject to approval.

101

 

Shareholder approval.We will seek shareholder approval for all corporate actions requiring such approval under the requirements of the Israeli Companies Law, rather than seeking approval for corporation actions in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635. In particular, under this Nasdaq Stock Market rule, shareholder approval is generally required for: (i) an acquisition of shares/assets of another company that involves the issuance of 20% or more of the acquirer’s shares or voting rights or if a director, officer or 5% shareholder has greater than a 5% interest in the target company or the consideration to be received; (ii) the issuance of shares leading to a change of control; (iii) adoption/amendment of equity compensation arrangements (although under the provisions of the Israeli Companies Law there is no requirement for shareholder approval for the adoption/amendment of the equity compensation plan); and (iv) issuances of 20% or more of the shares or voting rights (including securities convertible into, or exercisable for, equity) of a listed company via a private placement (and/or via sales by directors/officers/5% shareholders) if such equity is issued (or sold) at below the greater of the book or market value of shares.a specified minimum price. By contrast, under the Israeli Companies Law, shareholder approval is required for, among other things: (i) transactions with directors concerning the terms of their service or indemnification, exemption and insurance for their service (or for any other position that they may hold at a company), for which approvals of the compensation committee, board of directors and shareholders are all required, (ii) extraordinary transactions with controlling shareholders of publicly held companies, which require the special approval,Special Majority, and (iii) terms of employment or other engagement of the controlling shareholder of us or such controlling shareholder’s relative, which require special approval. In addition, under the Israeli Companies Law, a merger requires approval of the shareholders of each of the merging companies.

 


Approval of Related Party Transactions. All related party transactions are approved in accordance with the requirements and procedures for approval of interested party acts and transaction as set forth in the Israeli Companies Law, which requires the approval of the audit committee, or the compensation committee, as the case may be, the board of directors and shareholders, as may be applicable, for specified transactions, rather than approval by the audit committee or other independent body of our board of directors as required under the Nasdaq Stock Market rules.

 

Independent directors. Israeli law does not require that a majority of the directors serving on our board of directors be “independent,” as defined under Nasdaq Stock Market Rule 5605(a)(2), and rather requires we have at least two external directors who meet the requirements of the Israeli Companies Law, as described above under “Item 6.C. Board Practices—External Directors.” We are required, however, to ensure that all members of our audit committee are “independent” under the applicable Nasdaq and SEC criteria for independence (as we cannot exempt ourselves from compliance with that SEC independence requirement, despite our status as a foreign private issuer), and we must also ensure that a majority of the members of our audit committee are “unaffiliated directors” as defined in the Israeli Companies Law. Furthermore, Israeli law does not require, nor do our independent directors conduct, regularly scheduled meetings at which only they are present, which the Nasdaq Stock Market rules otherwise require.

Annual Shareholders Meeting.As opposed to the Nasdaq Stock Market Rule 5620(a), which mandates that a listed company hold its annual shareholders meeting within one year of the company’s fiscal year-end, we are required, under the Israeli Companies Law, to hold an annual shareholdersshareholders’ meeting each calendar year and within 15 months of the last annual shareholders meeting.

 

ITEM 16H.MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE

ITEM 16H. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE

 

Not applicable.

102

 

ITEM 16I. DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS

Not applicable.

Item 16J. INSIDER TRADING POLICIES  

Not applicable.

ITEM 16K. CYBERSECURITY

Our approach to risk management is a combination of proactive steps, accountability, and know-how, spearheaded by internal and external cyber specialists who keep a watchful eye in searching for cyber risks and defend our organization and business from the menace of cyberspace.

To design a consistent and responsive approach to protecting our assets and business against possible threats, we have embedded cyber security risk management into our general framework. We incorporated cyber security risk management processes into our overall risk management strategy and monitor cyber and business risks that potentially can impact our business continuity,  reputation, or business growth.  This integration leads to a whole treatment of risks by identifying, appraising, and mitigating them to link these cyber security considerations to our wider corporate enterprise risk management, or ERM, strategies.

As part of our commitment to robust cybersecurity risk management, we engage externally qualified assessors and consultants to enhance the effectiveness of our cybersecurity risk management processes. We employ third parties who undertake independent risk assessments, vulnerability scans penetration testing, and audits aimed at identifying potential vulnerabilities and weaknesses in the strength of the control measures taken for IT systems constituting potential business and other risks. Consequently, their expertise ensures that all aspects of our state of security are given due consideration. This strategic cooperation is necessary for us as it helps us stay informed on the latest trends regarding cyber threats as well as industry standards with best practices thus enabling us to develop current and effective cybersecurity measures.


We recognize that other organizations that provide us with services are of utmost importance to our operations. Accordingly, we have put in place specific measures for managing and identifying potential cyber threats associated with outsourcing some of our services. The aforementioned procedures encompass highly scrutinized evaluations during vendor selection processes, cyber compliance requirements in contracts (NDA, Security requirements, Privacy policy, Standards compliance, Auditing, and others), and monitoring activities to ascertain adherence to security standards. Engaging external consultants and monitoring providers of third-party services are vital elements in our approach toward improving the identification, evaluation, and management of significant cybersecurity risks.

We recognize that the nature of our activities is exposed to cybersecurity threats. Similar to any other connected and online service provider we are regularly challenged by cybersecurity threats and so-called “bad actors”, all of which to date we have been able to quickly identify and contain. Although these occurrences did not materially affect our business plans, overall performance, or financial state, we acknowledge that the nature of online threats keeps on changing. As such, any future attacks may have a significant impact on our three main concerns: (a) denial of service to customers, and our business continuity, (b) financial loss, and (c) impairment of our ability to meet legal and regulatory requirements.

We are constantly taking proactive measures to enhance our cybersecurity resilience in response to persistent cybersecurity breach attempts. These measures include investing in advanced threat detection and response capabilities, conducting regular cybersecurity training for employees, and continuously refining our incident response procedures. By incorporating lessons learned from other businesses’ previous incidents, we aim to strengthen our defenses and minimize the likelihood of material impacts on our business.

While we have not experienced material financial impacts from cybersecurity incidents to date, we acknowledge the potential for such impacts in the future. As part of our risk management strategy, we maintain comprehensive cybersecurity monitoring, detection and real-time response capabilities to identify and mitigate risks with potential attack or financial losses resulting from cyber incidents.

All cyber activities are regularly reported to our Chief Executive Officer, management, and board of directors, including cases of potential severe cyber risk. In addition, we established clear reporting mechanisms that facilitate timely communication of cybersecurity concerns or incidents to designated managers. To ensure effective oversight of potential cybersecurity incidents, we developed and maintain comprehensive incident response plans that delineate roles, responsibilities, and communication protocols.

Our board of directors receives periodic updates from our Chief Executive Officer or Chief Information Security Officer, or CISO, relating to cybersecurity risks and mitigations and prevention actions. Following our cybersecurity policy, in addition to periodic updates on cybersecurity risks and threats in general, cyber incidents are reported to the board of directors in case we suffer from a severe cyber-attack that (a) denies the Company’s services or major impacts on its business continuity, (b) has financial impact resulting in major loss of income or other damages with financial implications, (c) violates laws or regulations that require reporting to the board of directors.

Our CISO is the key managerial role who is responsible for assessing and managing our material risks from cybersecurity threats. The CISO reports directly to our Chief Executive Officer.

Our CISO is a veteran in the cyber field, technology, and governance, risk and compliance, with more than 25 years of experience in the field of cyber security working with multinational companies and governments, securing complex high availability systems and critical infrastructure in multiple countries and environments.   


PART III

 

ITEM 17.FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

ITEM 17. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

We have elected to provide consolidated financial statements and related information pursuant to Item 18.

 

ITEM 18.FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

ITEM 18. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

The consolidated financial statements and the related notes required by this Item are included in this annual report on Form 20-F beginning on page F-1.

 

ITEM 19. EXHIBITS.  -

ITEM 19.ExhibitEXHIBITS.

Exhibit Description
   
1.1 Amended and Restated Articles of Association of Safe-T GroupAlarum Technologies Ltd. (filed as Exhibit 3.199.1 to Form F-16-K (File No. 333-226074)001-38610) filed on July 5, 2018,August 29, 2023, and incorporated herein by reference).
   
2.1 Form of Amended and Restated Deposit Agreement (filed as Exhibit 1 to the Post-Effective Amendment No. 2 to Form F-6 (File No. 333-218251) filed on July 31, 2018, and incorporated herein by reference).
   
4.12.2 Description of Securities (filed herewith).
2.3Form of Warrant (filed as Exhibit 4.1 to Form 6- K (File No. 001-38610) filed on August 30, 2023, and incorporated herein by reference).
4.1Form of Indemnification Agreement (filed as Exhibit 10.199.1.B to Form F-16-K (File No. 333-226074)001-38610) filed on July 5, 2018,August 21, 2019, and incorporated herein by reference).
   
4.2 Safe-T GroupThe Alarum Technologies Ltd. Amended and Restated Global EquityIncentive Plan, as amended (filed as Exhibit 10.299.1 to Form F-16-K (File No. 333-226074)001-38610) filed on July 5, 2018,September 23, 2022, and incorporated herein by reference).
   
4.2.1 U.S. Sub-Plan to the Safe-T GroupAlarum Technologies Ltd. Amended and Restated Global EquityIncentive Plan (filed as Exhibit 99.2 to Form 6-K (File No. 001-38610) filed on September 23, 2023, and incorporated herein by reference).
   
4.3 Lease Agreement dated June 25, 2013, byThe Alarum Technologies Ltd. Amended and between Safe-T Data A.R Ltd. and Herzeliya Center Building and Investments (M.H.B.H) Ltd. and Shvartzbard Assets and Investments LtdRestated Compensation Policy (filed as Exhibit 10.3 to Form F-1/A (File No. 333-226074) filed on July 20, 2018, and incorporated herein by reference)herewith).
   
4.4 Summary of Supplements to Lease Agreement dated July 23, 2015 and September 10, 2017August 8, 2022, by and between Safe-T Data A.RGroup Ltd. and Herzeliya Center Building and Investments (M.H.B.H)O.R.B. Spring Ltd. and Shvartzbard Assets and Investments Ltd, as amended (filed as Exhibit 10.410.1 to Form F-1/A6-K (File No. 333-226074)001-38610) filed on July 20, 2018,August 10, 2022, Exhibits 4.1, 4.2 and10.1 to Form 6-K (File No. 001-38610) filed on October 28, 2022 and Exhibit 10.1 to Form 6-K (File No. 001-38610) filed on September 11, 2023, which are incorporated herein by reference).
   
4.5 Safe-T Group Compensation PolicyRegistration Rights Agreement dated August 30, 2019, by and among Alarum Technologies Ltd. and the Purchasers (filed as Exhibit 10.499.4 to Form F-16-K (File No. 333-226074)001-38610) filed on July 5, 2018,August 30, 2019, and incorporated herein by reference).


4.6Registration Rights Agreement dated October 31, 2019, by and among Alarum Technologies Ltd. and the Purchasers (filed as Exhibit 99.3 to Form 6-K (File No. 001-38610) filed on November 12, 2019, and incorporated herein by reference).
   
8.14.7 List of SubsidiariesRegistration Rights Agreement dated December 23, 2019, by and among Alarum Technologies Ltd. and the Purchasers (filed as Exhibit 21.110.2 to Form F-16-K (File No. 333-226074)001-38610) filed on July 5, 2018,December 30, 2019, and incorporated herein by reference).
   
12.18.1 List of Subsidiaries (filed herewith).
12.1Certification of the Chief Executive Officer pursuant to rule 13a-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.1934 (filed herewith).
   
12.2 Certification of the PrincipalChief Financial and Accounting Officer pursuant to rule 13a-14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.1934 (filed herewith).
   
13.1 Certification of the Chief Executive Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 1350 furnished herewith.(furnished herewith).
   
13.2 Certification of the PrincipalChief Financial and Accounting Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 1350 furnished herewith.(furnished herewith).
15.1Consent of Kesselman & Kesselman, a member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, with respect to the financial statements of Alarum Technologies Ltd. (filed herewith).
97.1Clawback Policy
101The following financial information from the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2023, formatted in iXBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language): (i) Consolidated Statements of Financial Position; (ii) Consolidated Statements of Profit or Loss; (iii) Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity; (iv) Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows; and (v) Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, tagged as blocks of text and in detail.
104Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline iXBRL document).

 

103


Table of Contents

 

SIGNATURES

 

The registrant hereby certifies that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form 20-F and that it has duly caused and authorized the undersigned to sign this annual report on Form 20-F filed on its behalf.

 

 SAFE-T GROUPALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.
   
 By:/s/ Shachar Daniel
  Shachar Daniel
  Chief Executive Officer

 

Date: March 26, 2019

14, 2024

104

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

 

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AS OF

DECEMBER 31, 20182023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SAFE-T GROUP

ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AS OF

DECEMBER 31, 20182023

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

  Page
 
REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM (PCAOB name: Kesselman & Kesselman C.P.A.s and PCAOB ID: 1309) F-2 – F-3
CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - U.S. DOLLARS IN THOUSANDS:   
CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS:
Consolidated Statements of Financial Position F-3F-4
Consolidated Statements of Profit or Loss F-4F-5
Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity F-5F-6
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows F-6 - F-7 – F-8
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements F-8 - F-40F-9 – F-36

F-1

 

 


 

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

 

To the Board of Directors and Shareholders of Safe-T GroupAlarum Technologies Ltd.

 

Opinion on the Financial Statements

 

We have audited the accompanying consolidated statements of financial position of Safe-T GroupAlarum Technologies Ltd. and its subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 20182023 and 2017,2022, and the related consolidated statements of profit or loss, of changes in equity and of cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2018,2023, including the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 20182023 and 2017,2022, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 20182023 in conformity with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board.

 

Substantial Doubt about the Company’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 1(c) to the consolidated financial statements, the Company has suffered recurring losses from operations that raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 1(c). The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Basis for Opinion

 

These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

 

We conducted our audits of these consolidated financial statements in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

 

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

 

Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.


Goodwill and Intangible Assets Impairment Assessment – CyberKick cash-generating unit

As described in Note 6 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company’s goodwill and intangible assets balances in respect of the CyberKick cash-generating unit were $0 and $247 thousand as of December 31, 2023, respectively, after recording an impairment loss of $8,991 thousand. Management conducts an impairment test in the fourth quarter of each year, or more frequently if events or circumstances indicate that the carrying value of goodwill and intangible assets may be impaired. During the second quarter of 2023, management identified triggering events for its CyberKick cash-generating unit, which included a pause in purchasing by CyberKick’s largest customer, as well as higher customer churn rates. As a result, the Company decided to scale down the operations of CyberKick, with material reductions of expenses and headcount, and to continue to maintain its operations only to current paying customers. The recoverable amount of the intangible assets was assessed by management based on the value-in-use calculation, which uses cash flow projections and an associated discount rate. As a result, the Company recorded an impairment loss of $2,190 thousand related to customer relations and an impairment loss of $305 thousand related to technologies. In addition, during the third quarter of 2023, the Company recorded an additional impairment loss of $185 thousand related to customer relations and the remaining balance was fully impaired. Following the intangible assets impairment test, the recoverable amount of the CyberKick cash-generating unit was assessed by management based on its fair value less costs of disposal. As a result, the entire goodwill balance with respect to the CyberKick cash-generating unit of $6,311 thousand was impaired.

The principal considerations for our determination that performing procedures relating to the goodwill and intangible assets impairment assessment for the CyberKick cash-generating unit is a critical audit matter are the high degree of auditor effort in performing procedures related to the Company’s impairment assessment and the use of professionals with specialized skill and knowledge.

Addressing the matter involved performing procedures and evaluating audit evidence in connection with forming our overall opinion on the consolidated financial statements. These procedures included, among others, testing management’s process for determining the fair value estimate, evaluating the appropriateness of the discounted cash flow model, testing the completeness, accuracy and relevance of underlying data used in the model, evaluating the reasonableness of the assumptions used by management and whether these assumptions were consistent with evidence obtained in other areas of the audit. Professionals with specialized skill and knowledge were used to assist in the evaluation of management’s discounted cash flow model and the discount rate assumption.

/s/ Kesselman & Kesselman

Certified Public Accountants (Isr.)

A member firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited

Tel-Aviv, Israel

March 24, 201914, 2024

 

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2013.

Kesselman & Kesselman, Trade Tower, 25 Hamered Street, Tel-Aviv 6812508, Israel,

P.O Box 50005 Tel-Aviv 6150001 Telephone: +972 -3- 7954555, Fax:+972 -3- 7954556, www.pwc.com/il

F-2

 


SAFE-T GROUP

ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION

    December 31 
  Note 2018  2017 
    U.S. dollars in thousands 
Assets        
CURRENT ASSETS:          
Cash and cash equivalents 4  3,717   3,514 
Restricted deposits    104   93 
Accounts receivable:          
Trade, net 5  854   644 
Other    231   163 
     4,906   4,414 
NON-CURRENT ASSETS:          
Property, plant and equipment, net    143   165 
Deferred issuance expenses    -   61 
Goodwill 6  523   523 
Intangible assets, net 6  796   764 
     1,462   1,513 
TOTAL ASSETS    6,368   5,927 
           
Liabilities and equity          
CURRENT LIABILITIES:          
Accounts payable and accruals:          
Trade    103   178 
Other 9  951   877 
Contract liabilities    495   424 
Liability in respect of the Israeli Innovation Authority    49   92 
     1,598   1,571 
NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES:          
Contract liabilities    249   286 
Derivative financial instruments 13, 3  729   237 
Liability in respect of anti-dilution feature 13, 3  -   692 
Liability in respect of the Israeli Innovation Authority    82   - 
     1,060   1,215 
TOTAL LIABILITIES    2,658   2,786 
           
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES 10        

 

EQUITY:

 13        
Ordinary shares    -   - 
Share premium    41,594   28,494 
Other equity reserves    11,805   12,583 
Accumulated deficit    (49,689)  (37,936)
TOTAL EQUITY    3,710   3,141 
TOTAL EQUITY AND LIABILITIES    6,368   5,927 

Date of approval of consolidated financial statements by Company’s Board of Directors: March 24, 2019.

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.

F-3

 

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF PROFIT OR LOSS

    Year ended December 31 
  Note 2018   2017  2016 
    U.S. dollars in thousands 
            
REVENUES 14  1,466   1,096   843 
COST OF REVENUES 14  791   583   512 
GROSS PROFIT    675   513   331 
               
OPERATING EXPENSES:              
Research and development expenses 15  2,414   1,608   1,085 
Selling and marketing expenses 16  5,542   4,051   2,892 
General and administrative expenses 17  1,925   2,150   2,123 
Listing expenses    -   -   1,579 
TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES    9,881   7,809   7,679 
               
OPERATING LOSS    (9,206)  (7,296)  (7,348)
               
FINANCE EXPENSES    (3,496)  (975)  (1,854)
FINANCE INCOME    955   2,959   282 
FINANCIAL INCOME (EXPENSES), net 18  (2,541)  1,984   (1,572)
               
LOSS BEFORE TAXES ON INCOME    (11,747)  (5,312)  (8,920)
TAXES ON INCOME 8  (6)  (1)  (2)
NET LOSS FOR THE YEAR    (11,753)  (5,313)  (8,922)
               
BASIC LOSS PER SHARE (IN DOLLARS) 19  (0.33)  (0.29)  (0.77)
DILUTED LOSS PER SHARE (IN DOLLARS)    (0.35)  (0.29)  (0.77)
               
WEIGHTED AVERAGE NUMBER OF SHARES OUTSTANDING USED TO COMPUTE (IN THOUSANDS):              
               
BASIC LOSS PER SHARE    35,302   18,433   11,527 
DILUTED LOSS PER SHARE    35,646   18,433   11,527 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.

F-4

     December 31 
     2023  2022 
  Note  U.S. dollars in thousands 
          
Assets         
Current assets:           
Cash and cash equivalents 4   10,872   3,290 
Accounts receivable:           
Trade, net 5   1,994   1,790 
Other     399   760 
Short-term restricted deposits 9   -   560 
      13,265   6,400 
Non-current assets:           
Long-term restricted deposits     3   127 
Long-term deposit     104   21 
Other non-current assets     142   228 
Property and equipment, net     88   92 
Right-of-use assets 11   779   190 
Deferred tax assets 7   181   - 
Intangible assets, net 6   1,386   4,884 
Goodwill 6   4,118   10,429 
      6,801   15,971 
Total assets     20,066   22,371 
            
Liabilities and equity           
Current liabilities:           
Accounts payable and accruals:           
Trade     369   2,167 
Other 8   2,439   2,350 
Short-term bank loans 9   -   1,606 
Current maturities of long-term loans 10   290   617 
Contract liabilities     1,983   1,170 
Derivative financial instruments     109   26 
Short-term lease liabilities 11   370   204 
      5,560   8,140 
Non-current liabilities:           
Long-term lease liabilities 11   523   13 
Long-term loans, net of current maturities 10   802   606 
Deferred tax liabilities 7   -   301 
      1,325   920 
Total liabilities     6,885   9,060 
            
Equity: 14         
Ordinary shares     -   - 
Share premium     100,576   95,077 
Other equity reserves     14,938   15,042 
Accumulated deficit     (102,333)  (96,808)
Total equity     13,181   13,311 
Total liabilities and equity     20,066   22,371 

Table of Contents

 

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

  Ordinary shares  Share premium  Other equity reserves  Accumulated deficit  Total 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
BALANCE AT JANUARY 1, 2016*  6   14,889   10,138   (23,750)  1,283 
CHANGES IN THE YEAR 2016:                    
Reverse acquisition  (6)  1,868   -   -   1,862 
Exercise of options  -   108   (106)  -   2 
Expiry of options  -   226   (226)  -   - 
Share-based payments  -   -   1,818   -   1,818 
Placement of shares, net of issuance costs of $286 thousand  -   5,129   -   -   5,129 
Net loss for the year  -   -   -   (8,922)  (8,922)
BALANCE AT DECEMBER 31, 2016  -   22,220   11,624   (32,672)  1,172 
ADJUSTMENTS DUE TO APPLICATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF IFRS 15**  -   -   -   49   49 
BALANCE AT JANUARY 1, 2017  -   22,220   11,624   (32,623)  1,221 
CHANGES IN THE YEAR 2017:                    
Exercise of options  -   543   (463)  -   80 
Expiry of options  -   29   (29)  -   - 
Share-based payments  -   -   1,318   -   1,318 
Exercise of warrants  -   2,286   -   -   2,286 
Placement of shares, net of issuance costs of $422 thousand  -   3,416   133   -   3,549 
Net loss for the year  -   -   -   (5,313)  (5,313)
BALANCE AT JANUARY 1, 2018  -   28,494   12,583   (37,936)  3,141 
CHANGES IN THE YEAR 2018:                    
Exercise of options  -   791   (689)  -   102 
Expiry of options  -   493   (493)  -   - 
Share-based payments  -   -   381   -   381 
Classification to equity of Series B warrants
(see Note 13(e))
  -   3,479   -   -   3,479 
Placement of shares, net of issuance costs of $187 thousand  -   2,200   23   -   2,223 
Exercise of anti-dilution feature  -   2,302   -   -   2,302 
Public offering, net of issuance costs of $840 thousand  -   3,835   -   -   3,835 
Net loss for the year      -   -   (11,753)  (11,753)
BALANCE AT DECEMBER 31, 2018  -   41,594   11,805   (49,689)  3,710 

*Retrospective application of reverse acquisition.
**Early application of IFRS 15, see Note 2(q).

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.

F-5

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

  Year ended December 31 
  2018  2017  2016 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:         
Net loss for the year  (11,753)  (5,313)  (8,922)
Adjustments required to reflect the cash flows from operating activities:            
Effect of exchange rate differences on cash and cash equivalents balances  54   (251)  (25)
Issuance expenses  517   242   - 
Depreciation and amortization  342   278   280 
Change in financial liabilities at fair value through profit or loss  1,891   (1,981)  513 
Share-based payments  381   1,318   1,818 
Exchange rate differences on restricted deposits balances  6   -   - 
Capital gain  -   (5)  - 
Gain from cancellation of options to a group of investors  -   -   (193)
Finance expenses in respect of financial liability to a group of investors  -   -   193 
Recognition of day-one deferred loss  -   -   1,056 
Listing expenses  -   -   1,545 
   3,191   (399)  5,187 
             
Changes in operating asset and liability items:            
Decrease (increase) in trade receivables  (210)  (138)  468 
Increase in other receivables  (68)  (56)  (83)
Increase (decrease) in trade payables  (75)  134   (46)
Increase (decrease) in other payables  84   236   (22)
Decrease in deferred issuance expenses  61   -   - 
Increase in deferred revenues and contract liabilities  34   191   101 
   (174)  367   418 
Net cash used in operating activities  (8,736)  (5,345)  (3,317)

CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES:

            
Restricted deposits  (17)  (36)  (13)
Purchase of technology  (308)  -   - 
Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment  -   15   - 
Purchase of property, plant and equipment  (44)  (132)  (39)
Net cash used in investing activities  (369)  (153)  (52)

CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:

            
Proceeds from public and private offerings, net of issuance expenses  9,231   5,582   5,599 
Israeli Innovation Authority, net  29   (26)  (17)
Payment of loans and other financial liabilities  -   (63)  (2,178)
Deferred issuance expenses  -   (61)  - 
Proceeds from exercise of options and warrants  102   2,018   2 
Cash acquired from reverse acquisition  -   -   317 
Proceeds from financial liabilities and options  -   -   870 
Net cash provided by financing activities  9,362   7,450   4,593 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of thethese consolidated financial statements.

F-6

 


SAFE-T GROUP

ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWSPROFIT OR LOSS

 

  Year ended December 31 
  2018  2017  2016 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
          
INCREASE IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS  257   1,952   1,224 
EFFECT OF EXCHANGE RATE DIFFERENCES ON CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS  (54)  251   25 
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT BEGINNING OF YEAR  3,514   1,311   62 
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT END OF YEAR  3,717   3,514   1,311 
             
SUPPLEMENTAL DISCLOSURE OF CASH FLOW INFORMATION:            
Classification to equity of series B warrants (see Note 13(e))  3,479   -   - 
Issuance of options to consultants (issuance costs)  (23)  (133)  - 
Classification to equity of liability in respect to anti-dilution feature  1,787   -   - 
Conversion of warrants into shares  -   348   - 
     Year ended December 31 
     2023  2022  2021 
  Note  U.S. dollars in thousands
(except per share amounts)
 
             
Continuing operations            
             
Revenue 16   26,521   18,550   9,654 
Cost of revenue 16   7,711   8,402   4,844 
Gross profit     18,810   10,148   4,810 
                
Operating expenses:               
Research and development 17   3,557   3,824   2,625 
Selling and marketing 18   10,035   11,823   5,742 
General and administrative 19   4,406   6,661   6,839 
Impairment of goodwill     6,311   569   700 
Contingent consideration income     -   -   (684)
Total operating expenses     24,309   22,877   15,222 
                
Operating loss     (5,499)  (12,729)  (10,412)
                
Financial expense     (786)  (531)  (121)
Financial income     196   477   1,063 
Financial income (expense), net 20   (590)  (54)  942 
                
Loss from continuing operations before income tax     (6,089)  (12,783)  (9,470)
Tax benefit 9   482   327   945 
Loss from continuing operations, net of tax     (5,607)  (12,456)  (8,525)
                
Discontinued operations               
                
Profit (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax     82   (695)  (4,600)
                
Net loss for the year     (5,525)  (13,151)  (13,125)
                
Basic and diluted profit (loss) per share: 21             
Continuing operations     (0.14)  (0.39)  (0.31)
Discontinued operations     0.00   (0.03)  (0.17)
Basic and diluted loss per share     (0.14)  (0.42)  (0.48)

 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of thethese consolidated financial statements.

F-7

 


SAFE-T GROUP

ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

  Ordinary shares     Other       
  Number of
shares
  Amount  Share
premium
  equity
reserves
  Accumulated
deficit
  Total 
  U.S. dollars in thousands (except share data) 
                   
Balance at January 1, 2021  18,152,590              -   71,492   15,256   (70,532)  16,216 
Changes in the year 2021:                       
Exercise of options  69,804   -   105   (105)  -   - 
Exercise of warrants  3,090,900   -   4,881   (1,172)       -   3,709 
Expiration of options  -   -   84   (84)  -   - 
Share-based payments  -   -   -   2,345   -   2,345 
Issuance of shares in a business combination  4,062,045   -   5,808   -   -   5,808 
Direct registered offerings, net of issuance costs of $527 thousand  4,615,000   -   8,731   492   -   9,223 
Issuance of shares for service provider  10,000   -   11   -   -   11 
Net loss for the year  -   -   -   -   (13,125)  (13,125)
Balance at January 1, 2022  30,000,339   -   91,112   16,732   (83,657)  24,187 
Changes in the year 2022:                        
Exercise of options  46,561   -   64   (64)  -   - 
Exercise of pre-funded warrants  260,000   -   492   (492)  -   - 
Expiration of options  -   -   2,255   (2,255)  -   - 
Share-based payments  -   -   -   2,171   -   2,171 
Issuance of shares for service provider  140,135   -   104   -   -   104 
Issuance of shares related to payment of earn-out consideration  2,181,009   -   1,050   (1,050)  -   - 
Net loss for the year  -   -   -   -   (13,151)  (13,151)
Balance at January 1, 2023  32,628,044   -   95,077   15,042   (96,808)  13,311 
Changes in the year 2023:                        
Exercise of options  224,463   -   188   (165)  -   23 
Exercise of warrants  1,258,420   -   561   (232)  -   329 
Expiration of options  -   -   259   (259)  -   - 
Repurchase of warrants related to the O.R.B. agreement  -   -   274   (640)  -   (366)
Share-based payments  -   -   -   975   -   975 
At-the-market offering, net of issuance costs of $164  2,393,740   -   604   -   -   604 
Private placement, net of issuance costs of $499 thousand  18,722,420   -   2,563   151   -   2,714 
Classification of warrants issued under private placement to equity  -   -   -   1,116   -   1,116 
Issuance of shares related to payment of earn-out consideration  4,454,545   -   1,050   (1,050)  -   - 
Net loss for the year  -   -   -   -   (5,525)  (5,525)
Balance at December 31, 2023  59,681,632   -   100,576   14,938   (102,333)  13,181 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.


ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

  Year ended December 31 
  2023  2022  2021 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
          
Cash flows from operating activities         
Net loss for the year  (5,525)  (13,151)  (13,125)
Adjustments for:            
Effect of exchange rate differences on cash and cash equivalents and restricted deposits balances  (41)  139   (80)
Issuance costs  123   -   - 
Change in financial liabilities at fair value through profit or loss  2   (462)  (1,644)
Change in financial assets at fair value through profit or loss  -   199   (43)
Change in Israel Innovation Authority liability  -   (182)  - 
Interest income related to financial assets at fair value through profit or loss  -   (16)  (37)
Interest and other finance expenses related to long-term loan  239   172   - 
Interest expenses related to short-term bank loans  102   39   - 
Interest portion of lease payments  88   11   102 
Depreciation and amortization  1,152   2,043   1,785 
Impairment of goodwill and intangible assets  8,991   1,022   700 
Gain from sale of discontinued operations  (82)  -   - 
Loss on disposal of property and equipment  8   -   2 
Share-based payments  933   1,679   2,356 
   11,515   4,644   3,141 
Changes in asset and liability items:            
Trade receivables  (204)  (294)  (851)
Other receivables  353   (3)  218 
Trade payables  (1,798)  948   944 
Other payables  55   (489)  1,523 
Deferred taxes  (482)  (344)  (973)
Contract liabilities  813   638   17 
   (1,263)  456   878 
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities  4,727   (8,051)  (9,106)
             
Cash flows from investing activities            
Business combination, net of cash acquired  -   -   (3,700)
Purchase of short-term investments  -   (19)  (5,844)
Sale of short-term investments  -   5,707   - 
Interest income related to short-term investments  -   16   37 
Investment in long-term deposits  (51)  (6)  (15)
Repayment of long-term deposits  18   -   - 
Investment in short-term restricted deposit  -   (560)  - 
Investment in long-term restricted deposits  (21)  (54)  - 
Repayment of short-term restricted deposits  560   -   - 
Repayment of long-term restricted deposits  136   2   - 
Purchase of intangible assets  -   -   (204)
Purchase of property and equipment  (55)  (49)  (73)
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment  5   -   3 
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities  592   5,037   (9,796)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.


ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

  Year ended December 31 
  2023  2022  2021 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
          
Cash flows from financing activities            
Proceeds from public and private offerings  4,256   -   9,750 
Issuance costs in connection with public and private offerings  (478)  -   (527)
Proceeds from at-the-market offering  768   -   - 
Issuance costs in connection with at-the-market offering  (164)  -   - 
Proceeds from exercise of options and warrants  352   -   3,709 
Short-term bank loans received  4,800   2,700   - 
Repayment of short-term bank loans  (6,400)  (1,100)  - 
Interest expenses related to short-term bank loans  (108)  (33)  - 
Long-term loans received  888   1,667   - 
Long-term loans interest payments  (276)  (172)  - 
Long-term loans principal payments  (639)  (75)  - 
Other payments related to long-term loans  (500)  -   - 
Payment of contingent consideration  -   -   (915)
Interest portion of lease payments  (88)  (11)  (102)
Principal portion of lease payments  (198)  (373)  (275)
Net cash provided by financing activities  2,213   2,603   11,640 
             
Changes in cash and cash equivalents  7,532   (411)  (7,262)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents  50   (127)  73 
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the year  3,290   3,828   11,017 
Cash and cash equivalents at end of the year  10,872   3,290   3,828 
             
Supplemental disclosure of non-cash investing and financing activities:            
Shares issued in a business combination  -   -   5,808 
Addition of right-of-use assets  903   40   198 
Proceed for sale of discontinued operations  82   -   - 

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.


ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

 

NOTE 1 - GENERAL:

 

a.Safe-T Group Ltd. (hereinafter - “Company”) is a holding company, which is engaged, as of this date, through its subsidiary Safe-T Data A.R Ltd. (hereinafter - “Safe-T”) and Safe-T’s subsidiary Safe-T USA Inc. (hereinafter - “Safe-T Inc.”) in the development, marketing and sales of solutions for secure and safe data transfer that allow organizations to benefit from improved productivity and effectivity, enhanced security and higher level of compliance with regulatory requirements relating to information security.

Background

 

b.The Company’s ordinary shares are listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (hereinafter - “TASE”) and as of August 17, 2018, the Company’s American Depository Shares (hereinafter - “ADSs”) are listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market (hereinafter - “Nasdaq”). For further details with regarded to the Company’s public offering on Nasdaq, see Note 13(e).

Alarum Technologies Ltd. (“Alarum”, and collectively referred to with its wholly-owned subsidiaries as the “Company”) is a global provider of internet access and web data collection solutions.

 

c.Going concern

The Company’s ordinary shares are listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (“TASE”) and as of August 17, 2018, the Company’s American Depositary Shares (“ADSs”) are listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”).

The Company currently operates in two segments. The segments include enterprise internet access solutions and consumer internet access solutions. For further information regarding the sale of the Company’s enterprise cybersecurity segment, which is presented in these consolidated financial statements as discontinued operations, see Note 15.

The Company’s enterprise internet access solutions are provided through the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary NetNut Ltd. (“NetNut”) and enable customers to collect data anonymously at any scale from any public sources over the web using a unique hybrid network. The Company’s consumer internet access solutions are provided through the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary CyberKick Ltd. (“CyberKick”), and provide a wide security blanket against ransomware, viruses, phishing, and other online threats as well as a powerful, secured and encrypted connection, masking the customers online activity and keeping them safe from hackers. For further information regarding the scale down of the Company’s consumer internet access segment, see Note 6.

 

The Company has an accumulated deficitsuffered recurring losses from operations as well as cash outflows from operating activities in recent years. However, since the beginning of 2023, the Company started to generate cash flows and is currently funding its operations primarily through cash generated from operating activities. Accordingly, cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2018, as well as negative2023 were $10,872 thousand and cash provided by operating activities was $4,727 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2023. Based on the Company’s cash flows in recent years. The Company expects to continue incurring lossesposition and negativethe improvement of its cash flows from operations, until its products reach commercial profitability. As a result of these expected losses and negative cash flows from operations, along with the Company’s current cash position, the Company believes that it has sufficient resources to fund its operations throughfor at least the end ofnext twelve months from the second quarter of 2019. Therefore, there is substantial doubt aboutdate on which the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. These consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming thatare authorized for issue.

War in Israel

In October 2023, Israel was attacked by the Hamas terrorist organization and entered a state of war. To date, there is no material adverse impact on Company’s operations and financial results as a result of this war. However, at this time, it is not possible to predict the intensity or duration of the war, nor can the Company predict how this war will continue as a going concernultimately affect Israel’s economy in general. The Company continues to monitor the situation closely and do not include any adjustmentsexamine the potential disruptions that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.could adversely affect its operations.

 

Management’s plans include the continued commercialization of the Company’s products and raising capital through the sale of additional equity securities, debt or capital inflows from strategic partnerships. There are no assurances however, that the Company will be successful in obtaining the level of financing needed for its operations. If the Company is unsuccessful in commercializing its products and raising capital, it may need to reduce activities, curtail or cease operations.

NOTE 2 - SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES:

 

a.Basis of presentation of financial statements:

Basis of presentation of financial statements

 

The consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 20182023 and 2017,2022, and for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2018,2023, are in compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards (hereinafter - “IFRS”(“IFRS”), and interpretations issued by the IFRS Interpretations Committee applicable to companies reporting under IFRS. The consolidated financial statements comply with IFRS as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board.

Board (“IASB”). In connection with the presentation of these consolidated financial statements, the following should be noted:

 

1)The significant accounting policies described below have been applied consistently to all the years presented, unless otherwise stated.

The significant accounting policies described below have been applied consistently to all the years presented, unless otherwise stated.

2)The consolidated financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, as modified by the revaluation of financial liabilities (including derivatives) at fair value through profit or loss, which are presented at fair value.

3)The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with IFRS requires the use of certain critical accounting estimates. It also requires the Company’s management to exercise its judgment in the process of applying the Company’s accounting policies. Actual results may differ materially from estimates and assumptions used by management.

 

The consolidated financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, as modified by the revaluation of financial liabilities (including derivatives) at fair value through profit or loss, which are presented at fair value.


F-8

Table of Contents

 

SAFE-T GROUPALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

 

NOTE 2 - SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES(continued):The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with IFRS requires the use of certain critical accounting estimates. It also requires the Company’s management to exercise its judgment in the process of applying the Company’s accounting policies. Actual results may differ materially from estimates and assumptions used by management. The Company’s critical accounting estimates and policies are impairment of goodwill and revenue recognition of advertising revenue (gross versus net basis). For further details see below.

b.Consolidated financial statements

SubsidiariesConsolidated financial statements

Subsidiaries are all entities over which the Company has control. The Company controls an entity when the Company is exposed to, or has rights to, variable returns from its involvement with the entity and has the ability to affect those returns through its power to direct the activities of the entity. Subsidiaries are fully consolidated from the date on which control is transferred to the Company. They are deconsolidated from the date that control ceases.

Intercompany balances and transactions, including income and expenses on transactions between Thethe Company’s subsidiaries, are eliminated.

The accounting policies applied by the subsidiaries are consistent with the accounting policies adopted by the Company.

c.Segment reporting

Operating segments are reported in a manner consistent with the internal reporting provided to the chief operating decision maker in the Company, who is responsible for allocating resourcesTranslation of foreign currency balances and assessing the performance of the operating segments. The Company has one operating segment. Entity wide disclosures are provided in Note 21.transactions

d.Translation of foreign currency balances and transactions:

Functional and presentation currency

1)Functional and presentation currency

 

Items included in the financial statements of each of the Company’s subsidiaries are measured using the currency of the primary economic environment in which the subsidiary operates (hereinafter - the(the “Functional Currency”). The consolidated financial statements of the Company are presented in U.S. dollars, which is the Company’s and the Company’s subsidiaries Functional Currency.

 

2)Transactions and balances

Transactions and balances

 

Transactions made in a currency which is different from the functional currency (hereinafter - “Foreign Currency”) are translated into the Functional Currency using the exchange rates prevailing at the dates of the transactions or valuations where the items are re-measured. Foreign exchange gains and losses resulting from the settlement of such transactions and from the translation at the end-of-year exchange rates of monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are recognized in profit or loss as finance income (expense).

 

e.Cash and cash equivalents

Trade receivables

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, short-term bank deposits and other short-term highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, which are subject to insignificant risk of changes in value.

F-9

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

NOTE 2 - SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES(continued):

f.Trade receivables

The trade receivablereceivables balance represents the unconditional right to consideration because only the passage of time is required before the payment is due from Company customers for licenses granted or services rendered in the ordinary course of business. If collection is expected within one year or less, trade receivables are classified as current assets. If not, trade receivables are presented as non-current assets.

Trade receivables are initially recognized based on their transaction price, and subsequently measured at amortized cost using the effective interest method, less a provision for doubtful accounts. For further details see Note 2(k).

g.Goodwill

Goodwill arising from a business combination represents the excess of the overall amount of the consideration transferred, the amount of any non-controlling interests in the acquired company over the net amount as of acquisition date of the identifiable assets acquired and the liabilities assumed.expected credit losses.

 

Impairment reviews ofThe Company measures the cash-generating-unit (hereinafter - “CGU”) to which goodwill was allocatedloss allowance for expected credit losses on trade receivables that are undertaken annually and whenever there is any indication of impairment of a CGU. The carrying amount of the Company’s assets (which constitutes a single CGU), including goodwill, is compared to its recoverable amount, which is the higher of value in use and the fair value less costs to sell. Any impairment loss is allocated to reduce the carrying amount of the Company’s assets at the following order: first to reduce the carrying amount of any goodwill allocated to a CGU and subsequently to the remaining assets of the Company, which fall within the scope of IAS 36, “Impairment of Assets”,IFRS 15, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” (“IFRS 15”) and on a proportionate basisfinancial assets for which the credit risk has increased significantly since initial recognition based on the carrying amount of each Company asset.

Any impairment loss is recognized immediately in profit or loss and is not subsequently reversed. As of December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016,lifetime expected credit losses. Otherwise, the Company did not record impairment of goodwill. For further details see Note 6.measures the loss allowance at an amount equal to 12-month expected credit losses at the current reporting date.

h.Intangible assets:

Intangible assets

1)Research and development

Research and development

 

Through December 31, 20182023 and 2017,2022, the Company has not met the criteria for capitalizing development expenses as intangible assets, and accordingly, no asset has so far been recognized in the consolidated financial statements in respect of capitalized development expenses. Consequently, the research and development expenses of the Company are fully recognized as incurred.

 

2)Technology

 

The Company’s technology was

ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

Technologies

Technologies which were acquired either separately or as part of a business combination are initially measured at fair value at the acquisition date and represents an innovative data security product, which is a supplementary product to various other products such as Firewall, applications, SharePoint, etc., and other related intellectual property. Technology is amortized over 8 and 6a period of 2-4 years using the straight-line method, with such amortization classified as cost of revenues.

F-10

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)Customer relations

 

NOTE 2 - SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES(continued):Customer relations which were acquired as part of a business combination are initially measured at fair value at the acquisition date and amortized over a period 5 years using the straight-line method, with such amortization classified as selling and marketing expenses.

 

i.Impairment of non-monetary assets

Goodwill

Goodwill arising from a business combination represents the excess of the overall amount of the consideration transferred, the amount of any non-controlling interests in the acquired company over the net amount as of acquisition date of the identifiable assets acquired and the liabilities assumed. Impairment reviews of the cash-generating-unit (“CGU”) to which goodwill was allocated are undertaken annually and whenever there is any indication of impairment of a CGU.

Goodwill is tested annually for impairment in the fourth quarter of each year, or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that it may be impaired. For the 2023, 2022 and 2021 reporting periods, the recoverable amount of the Company’s CGUs was determined based on value-in-use calculations which require the use of assumptions. For further details, see Note 6.

Impairment of non-monetary assets other than goodwill

 

An impairment loss is recognized for the amount by which the asset’s carrying amount exceeds its recoverable amount. The recoverable amount is the higher of an asset’s fair value, less selling costs and value in use. For the purposes of assessing impairment, assets are grouped at the lowest levels of identifiable cash flows (CGUs). As mentioned above, the Company constitutes a single CGU.flows. Non-monetary assets, other than goodwill, that were impaired are reviewed annually for possible reversal of the impairment recognized at each balance sheet date. The Company did not record any impairment charges during the three years ended December 31, 2018.

j.Government grants

Government grants received from the Israeli Innovation Authority (hereinafter - the “IIA”) as a participation in research and development performed by Safe-T (hereinafter - “IIA Grants”) fall into the scope of “forgivable loans” as defined in IAS 20, “Accounting for Government Grants and Disclosure of Government Assistance” (hereinafter - “IAS 20”).

IIA Grants are recognized in accordance with IFRS 9, “Financial Instruments” (hereinafter - “IFRS 9”). If on the date on which the right for the IIA Grants is established (hereinafter - “Entitlement Date”) the Company’s management concludes that there is no reasonable assurance that the IIA Grants to which entitlement has been established (hereinafter - the “Received Grant”), will not be repaid, the Company recognizes a financial liability on that date, which is accounted for under the provisions of IFRS 9 regarding financial liabilities measured at amortized cost.

k.Financial assets and liabilities:

Accounting policies applied from January 1, 2018, under IFRS 9:

1)Classification

The Company classifies its financial assets at amortized cost. The classification is determined, among other things, in accordance with the purpose for which the financial assets were acquired. The basis of classification depends on the Company’s business model and the contractual cash flow characteristics of the financial asset.

Financial assets at amortized cost are held within a business model whose objective is to hold financial assets in order to collect contractual cash flows, and their contractual terms give rise on specified dates to cash flows that are solely payments of principal and interest on the principal amount outstanding. These assets are classified as current assets, except for maturities of more than 12 months after the balance sheet date, which are classified as non-current assets. The Company’s financial assets at amortized cost are included “accounts receivable,” “restricted deposits” and “cash and cash equivalents” in the consolidated statements of financial position (see sections e and f above).

2)Recognition and measurement

Financial assets, which are initially measured at fair value, including any transaction costs, are measured in subsequent periods at amortized cost using the effective interest method, except of trade receivables (see section f above). For information on the method used to measure the fair value of the Company’s financial instruments, see Note 3.

F-11

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

NOTE 2 - SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES(continued):

3)Impairment of financial assets - financial assets measured at amortized cost

The Company recognizes a loss allowance for expected credit losses on financial assets at amortized cost. At each reporting date, the Company assesses whether the credit risk on a financial asset has increased significantly since initial recognition.

If the financial asset is determined to have low credit risk at the reporting date, the Company assumes that the credit risk on a financial asset has not increased significantly since initial recognition. The Company measures the loss allowance for expected credit losses on trade receivables that are within the scope of IFRS 15, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” (hereinafter - “IFRS 15”) and on financial assets for which the credit risk has increased significantly since initial recognition based on lifetime expected credit losses. Otherwise, the Company measures the loss allowance at an amount equal to 12-month expected credit losses at the current reporting date.

Accounting policies applied until December 31, 2017, under IAS 39, “Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement” (hereinafter - “IAS 39”):

1)Classification

The Company classifies its financial assets as loans and receivables. The classification is determined, among other things, in accordance with the purpose for which the financial assets were acquired. The Company management determines the classification of the financial assets upon initial recognition.

Loans and receivables are non-derivative financial assets with fixed or determinable payments that are not quoted in an active market. They are included in current assets, except for maturities longer than 12 months after the statement of financial position date. These are classified as non-current assets. The Company’s loansImpairment loss of technologies is recorded under cost of revenue, and receivables are presented among “accounts receivable,” “restricted deposits”of customer relations under selling and “cash and cash equivalents” in the statement of financial position (see sections e and f above).marketing expenses. For further details, see Note 6.

 

2)Recognition and measurement

Financial assets, which are initially measured at fair value, including any transaction costs, are measured in subsequent periodsliabilities at amortized cost using the effective interest method.

Financial assets, whichliabilities at amortized cost are measuredinitially recognized at their fair value through profit or loss are initially measured at fair value and theless transaction costs that are carrieddirectly attributable to the statement of operations. For information on the method used to measure the fair value of the Company’s financial instruments, see Note 3.

3)Impairment of financial assets - financial assets measured at amortized cost

The Company assesses at the end of each reporting period whether there is objective evidence that a financial asset or group of financial assets is impaired. A financial asset or a group of financial assets is impaired and impairment losses are incurred only if there is objective evidence of impairment as a result of one or more events that occurred after the initial recognition of the asset (hereafter - a “Loss Event”) and that Loss Event (or events) has an impact on the estimated future cash flowsissue of the financial asset or group of financial assets that can be reliably estimated.liability and are subsequently measured at amortized cost. For further information regarding the Company’s accounting policy related to long-term loans, see Note 10.

 

Where objective evidence for impairment exists, the amount of the loss is measured as the difference between the asset’s carrying amount and the present value of estimated future cash flows (excluding future credit losses that have not yet been incurred) discounted at the financial asset’s original effective interest rate (i.e., the effective interest rate computed for the asset upon initial recognition). The asset’s carrying amount is reduced and the amount of the loss is recognized in the statements of operations.Employee benefits

 

Vacation and recreation pay

F-12

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

NOTE 2 - SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES(continued):

If the amount of impairment loss in a subsequent period decreases, and this decrease may be attributed to an objective event that took place after the impairment was recognized (like improved credit rating of the borrower), reversal of the previously recognized impairment loss is recorded in the statements of operations.employment. The Company does not test impairment of groups of customerscharges liability and expense due to immateriality.

l.Derivatives

The Company accounts for warrants with an exercise price denominated in NIS, with price adjustmentsvacation and compensation and anti-dilution features as derivatives. The warrants are measured at fair value (level 1) in accordance with their quoted price. Changes are recorded to profit or lossrecreation pay, based on a periodic basis. The anti-dilution features are measured at fair value (level 3) as reflected in a valuation carried out as of the date of the transaction. Changes are recorded to profit or loss on a periodic basis.

m.Trade payables

Trade payables are the Company’s obligations to pay for goods or servicesbenefits that have been acquired in the ordinary course of business from suppliers. Trade payables are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities.accumulated for each employee.

 

Trade payables are recognized initially at fair value, and in subsequent periods at amortized cost using the effective interest method.

n.Current and deferred income taxes

The tax expenses for the reported years comprise current and deferred taxes. Taxes are recognized in the consolidated statements of profit or loss, except to the extent that they relate to items recognized directly in equity. In that case, the tax is also recognized in equity.

The current income tax charge is calculated on the basis of the tax laws enacted or substantively enacted at the balance sheet date in the countries where the Company operates and generates taxable income. The Company’s management periodically evaluates the tax aspects applicable to its taxable income based on the relevant tax laws and makes provisions in accordance with the amounts payable to the Israeli Tax Authorities.Income taxes

 

Deferred income tax is provided using the liability method, on temporary differences arising between the tax bases of assets and liabilities and their carrying amounts in the consolidated financial statements.

 

However, deferred income tax liabilities are not accounted for if they arise from initial recognition of goodwill. Also, deferred income tax is not accounted for if it arises from initial recognition of an asset or liability in a transaction other than a business combination that at the time of the transaction affects neither accounting nor taxable profit or loss. Deferred income tax is determined using tax rates (and laws) that have been enacted or substantially enacted by the balance sheetfinancial position date and are expected to apply when the related deferred income tax asset is realized, or the deferred income tax liability is settled.

Deferred tax assets are recognized only to the extent that it is probable that future taxable profit will be available against which the temporary differences can be utilized.

 

The Company does not provide deferred income tax on temporary differences arising from investments in subsidiaries, since the timing of the reversal of the temporary difference is controlled by the Company and it is probable that the temporary difference will not reverse in the foreseeable future.


 

F-13

 

SAFE-T GROUPALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

NOTE 2 - SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIESShare-based payments(continued):

o.Employee benefits:

1)Severance pay and pension obligations

A defined contribution plan is a post-employment benefits scheme under which group companies pay fixed contributions into a separate and independent entity. The Company has no legal or constructive obligation to pay further contributions if the fund does not hold sufficient assets to pay all employees the benefits relating to employee service in the current and prior periods.

The Company’s severance pay and pension obligations are generally funded through payments to insurance companies or trustee-administered funds. Under their terms, the said pension plans meet the criteria for defined contribution plan as above.

2)Vacation and recreation pay

Every employee is legally entitled to vacation and recreation benefits, which are computed on an annual basis. This entitlement is based on the term of employment. The Company charges a liability and expense due to vacation and recreation pay, based on the benefits that have been accumulated for each employee.

Since the Company expects that the benefit arising from vacation pay will be fully settled within 12 months of the end of the reporting period in which the employees provide the relating services, the liability in respect of this benefit is measured in accordance with the additional amount, which the Company expects to pay for unutilized vacation benefits accrued at the end of the reporting period.

3)Severance pay

Severance pay is paid when an employee is terminated by the Company before the normal retirement date, or when an employee had agreed to accept voluntary redundancy in exchange for these benefits. The Company recognizes severance pay liabilities at the earlier of:

When the entity can no longer withdraw the offer of those benefits; and

When the entity recognizes costs for a restructuring in the scope of IAS 37, “Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets”, that includes the payment of severance benefits.

p.Share-based payments

 

The Company operates a number of equity-settled, share-based compensation plans, under which the Company receives services from employees as consideration for equity instruments (options)(options and restricted share units or “RSUs”) of the Company. The fair value of the employee services received in exchange for the grant of the options is recognized as an expense. The total amount to be expensed is determined by reference to the fair value of the options granted excluding the impact of any service and non-market performance vesting conditions. The total expense is recognized over the vesting period, which is the period over which all of the specified vesting conditions are to be satisfied.

In addition, in some circumstances, employees may provide services in advance of the grant date and therefore the grant date fair value is estimated for the purposes of recognizing the expense during the period between service commencement period and grant date.

F-14

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

NOTE 2 - SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES(continued):

At the date of each balance sheet,financial position, the Company revises its estimates of the number of options that are expected to vest based on the non-market vesting conditions. It recognizes the impact of the revision to original estimates, if any, in the consolidated statements of profit or loss, with a corresponding adjustment to equity.

 

When the options are exercised, the Company issues new shares. The proceeds received net of any directly attributable transaction costs are credited toLoss per share capital (nominal value) and share premium.

For plans that include conditions that are not vesting conditions, any relating expenses are immediately recognized in the consolidated statements of profit or loss. When the Company revises the conditions of an equity-settled grant, the Company recognizes an additional expense, in excess of the original expense calculated for every such revision that increases the overall fair value of the granted benefit or benefits the other service provider, based on the fair value at the time of revision.

q.Revenue recognition:

1)General

The Company has decided to early adopt IFRS 15 from January 1, 2017 (hereinafter - the “date of initial application”). The early adoption of IFRS 15 by the Company was done pursuant to the transitional provision that enables the recognition of the accumulated impact of adoption as an adjustment of the opening balance of retained earnings as of January 1, 2017 (also known as the modified retrospective approach).

This standard replaces the guidelines that were in effect through January 1, 2017 regarding revenue recognition and presents a new single comprehensive model for entities to use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers. The standard provides two approaches to revenue recognition: one point in time or over time. The model framework consists of five steps for analyzing transactions to determine the timing and amount of revenue recognition.

a)Identify the contract with the customer.
b)Identify the separate performance obligations in the contract.
c)Determine the transaction price.
d)Allocate the transaction price to each of the performance obligations in the contract.
e)Recognize revenue as each performance obligation is satisfied, while making a distinction between satisfying an obligation on a certain date and satisfying an obligation over time.

In addition, the standard provides new and more extensive disclosure requirements to those that exist today, which are provided in Notes 14 and 21.

2)Accounting for perpetual and term licenses of software

The main impact which the standard had on the Company’s consolidated financial statements is the timing of recognition of revenue in respect of the license component in transactions for the sale of fixed-term license contracts. Pursuant to the standard, the Company’s promise to the customer in granting a license is to provide a right to use the entity’s intellectual property as intellectual property exists (in terms of form and functionality), at the point in time at which the license is granted to the customer. This means that the customer can direct the use of, and obtain substantially all of the remaining benefits from, the license at the point in time at which the license transfers. Therefore, revenue in respect of the license component in such transactions shall be recognized at the time at which the license granted to the customer.

F-15

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

NOTE 2 - SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES(continued):

The total accumulated impact of the early adoption of the standard as of the date of initial application is a $49 thousand decrease in the accumulated deficit balance, which related solely to term licenses for which revenue was recorded earlier when compared to the previous policy.

The timing for the remaining performance obligations remained unchanged - see below.

3)Presentation of revenue and revenue related balances

The determination of whether revenue should be reported on a gross or net basis is based on an assessment of whether the Company controls the specified goods or services before the transfer to its customers. In determining this, the Company follows the accounting guidance for principal-agent considerations. This determination involves judgment and is based on an evaluation of the terms of each arrangement, considering the party that is primarily responsible in the arrangement, whether it bears inventory risk and whether it determines the prices charged to the customers. When an entity that is a principal satisfies a performance obligation, the entity recognizes revenue in the gross amount of consideration to which it expects to be entitled in exchange for the goods or services transferred.

Sales to resellers are recognized on a net basis which means that the reseller are considered the ultimate customer in such arrangements.

Revenue is recognized net to Value Added Tax.

The Company recognized obligations in respect of sale contracts at the total amount equal to the total amount of transactions invoiced, net of transactions in respect of which revenues were recognized.

4)Allocation of revenue to multiple performance obligations

The Company allocates revenue to licenses, post contract customer support and professional services on a relative stand-alone selling price basis, except in cases in which a stand-alone selling price of an individual performance obligation is highly uncertain or variable, in which case the residual method is used.

5)Election of certain practical expedients

The Company has also elected to apply the following practical expedients in connection with the application of IFRS 15:

1)IFRS 15 was applied only to contracts that were not completed as of the date of the initial application.

2)Where the asset that would be recognized as a result of capitalizing the cost of obtaining a contract would be amortized over one year or less, the Company shall expense those costs when incurred.

3)For contracts in which, at inception, the period between the performance of the obligations (transfer of goods or service to the customer) and the associated payment is expected to be one year or less, the Company does not account for the effect of a significant financing component.

F-16

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

NOTE 2 - SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES(continued):

r.Loss per share

 

Basic loss per share is calculated by dividing net loss attributable to holders of ordinary Company sharesfor the year by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the period, excluding treasury shares.

(including pre-funded warrants). When calculating the diluted loss per share, the Company adjusts the loss attributable to holders of ordinary shares and the weighted average number of shares in issue, to reflect the effect of all potentially dilutive ordinary shares,shares.

Revenue recognition

The Company derives its revenues mainly from the following sources:

Software as follows:a Service

 

The Company addsgenerates revenue from the sale of subscriptions to customers who access the weighted average number of shares in issue that was used to calculate the basic loss per share the weighted average of the number of shares to be issued assuming the all shares that have a potentially dilutive effect would be converted into shares, and adjusts net loss attributable to holders of ordinary Company shares to exclude any profits or losses recorded during the year with respect to potentially dilutive shares.Company’s platforms.

 

The potential shares,Company’s subscription contracts are generally offered on a periodical basis, generally monthly, and include a fixed price. Customers do not have the ability to take possession of the software, and instead receive continuous access to the platform throughout the contract period. Therefore, these arrangements are accounted for as above, are only taken into account in cases where their effect is dilutive (reducing the earnings per share or increasing the loss per share).service contracts.

 

s.New international financial reporting standards, amendments and interpretations to existing standards:

The Company’s subscription contracts are primarily charged and paid upfront and are non-cancelable.

 

Standards, amendmentsThe Company considers the terms and interpretationsconditions of the contracts and the Company’s customary business practices in identifying its contracts under IFRS 15. The Company determines it has a contract with a customer when the contract has been approved by both parties, it can identify each party’s rights regarding the services to be transferred and the payment terms for the services, it has determined the customer to have the ability and intent to pay, and the contract has commercial substance. The Company applies judgment in determining the customer’s ability and intent to pay, which is based on a variety of factors, including the customer’s payment history or, in the case of a new standardscustomer, credit and financial information pertaining to the customer.

The Company’s performance obligations consist of access to its platform and related support services which are considered one performance obligation.

The transaction price is determined based on the consideration to which the Company expects to be entitled in exchange for transferring services to the customer. Payment terms are generally upfront at the time of the transaction, except for several customers which are generally net 30 days. The Company applied the practical expedient in IFRS 15 and did not evaluate payment terms of one year or less for the existence of a significant financing component.

Revenue is recognized ratably over the term of the subscription contract generally beginning on the date that the platform is made available to a customer. Amounts that have been invoiced are recorded in trade receivables and in contract liabilities or revenue, depending on whether transfer of control to customers has occurred.

The Company applies the practical expedient in IFRS 15 for incremental costs of obtaining contracts when the associated revenues are recognized over less than one year.


ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

Advertising

The Company generates revenues from the distribution of security and privacy products of third-party developers in various digital properties. Advertising revenue is recognized at the point in time when a user purchases a product of a customer and is considered a single performance obligation. Commencing the second half of 2023, advertising revenue is immaterial.

Management evaluates whether its revenues should be presented on a gross basis, which is the amount that a customer pays for the service, or on a net basis, which is the amount of the customer payment less amounts the Company pays to digital property owners for placing the customers’ products on their digital property, also known as “traffic acquisition costs”. Traffic acquisition costs are based on a cost-per click or cost-per impression arrangements and are charged to cost of revenue as incurred. The evaluation to present revenue on a gross versus net basis requires significant judgment. Management has determined that it acts as the principal and recognizes revenue as it relates to these transactions on a gross basis as the Company controls the service to the customer and it is the primary obligor in the transaction.

Leases

The Company’s leases include property and motor vehicle leases.

At the commencement date, the Company measures the lease liability at the present value of the lease payments that are not paid at that date, including, inter alia, the exercise price of a purchase option if the Company is reasonably certain to exercise that option. Simultaneously, the Company recognizes a right-of-use asset in the amount of the lease liability.

The discount rate applied by the Company is the rate of interest that the Company would have to pay to borrow over a similar term, and with a similar security, the funds necessary to obtain an asset of a similar value to the right-of-use asset in a similar economic environment.

The lease term is the non-cancellable period for which the Company has the right to use an underlying asset, together with both the periods covered by an option to extend the lease if the Company is reasonably certain to exercise that option and periods covered by an option to terminate the lease if the Company is reasonably certain not to exercise that option.

After the commencement date, the Company measures the right-of-use asset applying the cost model, less any accumulated depreciation and any accumulated impairment losses and adjusted for any remeasurement of the lease liability. Assets are depreciated by the straight-line method over the lease period, which is 3 years for vehicles and property.

Interest on the lease liability is recognized in profit or loss in each period during the lease term in an amount that produces a constant periodic rate of interest on the remaining balance of the lease liability.

Payments associated with short-term leases are not recognized as right-of-use assets or lease liabilities but are recognized on a straight-line basis as an expense in profit or loss. Short-term leases are leases with a lease term of 12 months or less.

New standards and amendments adopted

Disclosure of Accounting Policies – Amendment to IAS 1, “Presentation of Financial Statements”. The amendment requires entities to disclose their material rather than their significant accounting policies. The amendment defines what is material accounting policy information (being information that, when considered together with other information included in an entity’s financial statements, can reasonably be expected to influence decisions that the primary users of general purpose financial statements make on the basis of those financial statements) and explains how to identify when accounting policy information is material. It further clarifies that immaterial accounting policy information does not need to be disclosed. If it is disclosed, it should not obscure material accounting information. Accordingly, the amendment reduces the disclosure of immaterial accounting policies previously included in the Company’s consolidated financial statements.


ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

Deferred Tax related to Assets and Liabilities arising from a Single Transaction - Amendment to IAS 12, “Income Taxes”. The amendment requires companies to recognize deferred tax on transactions that, on initial recognition, give rise to equal amounts of taxable and deductible temporary differences, and will require the recognition of additional deferred tax assets and liabilities. The amendment should be applied to transactions that occur on or after the beginning of the earliest comparative period presented. In addition, entities should recognize deferred tax assets (to the extent that it is probable that they can be utilized) and deferred tax liabilities at the beginning of the earliest comparative period for all deductible and taxable temporary differences associated with right-of-use assets and lease liabilities, decommissioning, restoration and similar liabilities, and the corresponding amounts recognized as part of the cost of the related assets. The cumulative effect of recognizing these adjustments is recognized in the opening balance of retained earnings, or another component of equity, as appropriate. The amendment had no material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

New standards and amendments not yet effectiveadopted

Certain amendments to accounting standards have been published that are not mandatory for December 31, 2023 reporting period and have not been early adopted by the Company:

1)IFRS 16, “Leases” (hereinafter - “IFRS 16”)

IFRS 16 will replace upon first-time implementation the existing guidance in IAS 17 “Leases” (hereinafter - “IAS 17”). The standard sets out the principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of leases, and is expected to impact mainly the accounting treatment applied by the lessee in a lease transaction.

IFRS 16 changes the existing guidance in IAS 17 and requires lessees to recognize a lease liability that reflects future lease payments and a “right-of-use asset” in all lease contracts (except for the following), with no distinction between financing and capital leases. IFRS 16 exempts lessees in short-term leases or the when underlying asset has a low value.

IFRS 16 substantially carries forward the lessor accounting requirements in IAS 17. Accordingly, a lessor continues to classify its leases as operating leases or finance leases, and to account for those two types of leases differently.

IFRS 16 also changes the definition of a “lease” and the manner of assessing whether a contract contains a lease.

IFRS 16 will be effective retrospectively for annual periods beginning on or after January 1, 2019, taking into account the reliefs specified in the transitional provisions of IFRS 16.

In respect of agreements in which the Company is the lessee, the Company elected to apply the standard for the first time by recognizing lease liabilities, for leases that were previously classified as operating leases, based on the present value of the remaining lease payments, discounted at the incremental interest rate of the lessee as at the date of first-time application. At the same time, the Company will recognize a right-of-use asset at an amount equal to the amount of the lease liabilities, adjusted to reflect any prepaid or accrued lease payments in respect of those leases. As a result, the application of the standard isCompany. These amendments are not expected to have ana material effect on the retained earnings balance.Company’s consolidated financial statements.

 

F-17

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

NOTE 2 - SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES(continued):

As part of the first-time application of the standard, the Company has elected to apply the following practical expedients:

In respect of leases in which the Company is the lessee, to apply a single discount rate to a portfolio of leases with reasonably similar characteristics.

For leases in which the Company is the lessee, not to recognize a right-of-use asset and a lease liability in respect of leases whose lease period ends within 12 months of the date of initial application.

For leases in which the Company is the lessee, to exclude initial direct costs from the measurement of the right-of-use asset upon initial application.

For leases in which the Company is the lessee, to use hindsight in determining the lease term where the contract includes extension or termination options.

Furthermore, it should be noted that the Company elected to apply the exemption regarding the recognition of short-term leases and leases in which the value of the underlying asset is low.

Based on its assessment to date, upon application of IFRS 16 on January 1, 2019, right-of-use lease assets and lease liabilities totaling approximately $166 thousand will be recognized in the consolidated statement of financial position.

The main expected effects of the application of the standard on the consolidated statement of income or loss for the year 2019 are a decrease of app. $ 104 thousand in lease expenses (which are classified proportionately into the Company’s cost of sale and operating expenses), an increase of $87 thousand in depreciation costs and an increase of approximately $7 thousand in financing expenses. Overall, the expected effect of the standard’s application on the consolidated statement of income or loss for the year 2019 is an increase of app. $10 thousand in loss.

Furthermore, in the opinion of the Company’s management, the principal expected effects of the standard’s application on the consolidated statement of cash flow for the year 2019 will be an increase in cash flow from operating activities and a decrease in cash flow from financing activities totaling approximately $7 thousand.

2)IFRIC 23, “Uncertainty Over Income Tax Treatments” (hereinafter - “IFRIC 23”)

IFRIC 23 clarifies how to apply the recognition and measurement requirements of IAS 12 for uncertainties in income taxes. According to IFRIC 23, when determining the taxable profit (loss), tax bases, unused tax losses, unused tax credits and tax rates when there is uncertainty over income tax treatments, the entity should assess whether it is probable that the tax authority will accept its tax position. Insofar, as it is probable that the tax authority will accept the entity’s tax position, the entity will recognize the tax effects on the financial statements according to that tax position. On the other hand, if it is not probable that the tax authority will accept the entity’s tax position, the entity is required to reflect the uncertainty in its accounts by using one of the following methods: the most likely outcome or the expected value. IFRIC 23 clarifies that when the entity examines whether or not it is probable that the tax authority will accept the entity’s position, it is assumed that the tax authority with the right to examine any amounts reported to it will examine those amounts and that it has full knowledge of all relevant information when doing so. Furthermore, according to IFRIC 23 an entity has to consider changes in circumstances and new information that may change its assessment. IFRIC 23 also emphasizes the need to provide disclosures of the judgments and assumptions made by the entity regarding uncertain tax positions.

IFRIC 23 is effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2019. The application of this standard is expected to have negligible impact on the Company’s financial statements.

F-18

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

NOTE 3 - FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS AND FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT:

 

a.Financial risk management

Financial risk factorsmanagement

 

The Company’s activities expose it to a variety of financial risks: credit risk and liquidity risk.risks. The Company’s overall risk management program focuses on the unpredictability of financial markets and seeks to minimize potential adverse effects on the Company’s financial performance.

Risk management is carried out by the Company’s finance department in accordance with a policy approved by the Board of Directors. The Company’s finance department identifies, evaluates and hedges the financial risks. The Board of Directors provides written principles for the overall management of the risks.

 

1)Credit risks

Credit risk

 

Most of the Company’s credit risks ariseCredit risk arises mainly from short-termcash and cash equivalents, bank deposits, and trade receivables. The Company estimates that since the liquid instruments are mainly invested with highly rated institutions, the credit and interest risks associated with these balances are low. Credit risk of trade receivables is the risk that customers may fail to pay their debts. The Company mitigates the risk by ensuring it hasits customers have sufficient funds to meet itstheir needs and by selling to customers of high credit quality.

No credit limits were exceeded in 2018,2023 and 2022 and management does not expect any losses from non-performance by these counterparties beyond those that have already been recognized.

 

2)Foreign exchange risk

Foreign exchange risk

 

The Company operates internationally and is exposed to foreign exchange risk arising from foreign currency transactions, primarily with respect to the NIS.New Israeli Shekel (“NIS”). Foreign exchange risk arises from future commercial transactions, recognized assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currency. These foreign currency-denominated transactions consist primarily of personnel, leases and other overhead costs. For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, foreign currency exchange gains and losses were immaterial.

The Company hedges and minimizes the foreign exchangeLiquidity risk by ensuring that the amounts of net current assets at a specific point in time correspond to the amount of current liabilities at that point in time.

3)Liquidity risk

 

Prudent liquidity risk management requires maintaining sufficient cash and cash equivalents. The Company works to maintain sufficient cash and cash equivalents, taking into account forecasts as to the cash flows required to fund its activities, in order to minimize the liquidity risk to which it is exposed.

Cash flow forecasting is performed by the Company’s finance department on a consolidated basis. The Company monitors rolling forecasts of the Company’s liquidity requirements to ensure it has sufficient cash to meet operational needs. Surplus cash held by the operating entities of the Company over and above the balance required for working capital management areis invested in interest bearing current accounts and time deposits, choosing instruments with appropriate maturities or sufficient liquidity to provide sufficient headroom as determined by the abovementioned forecasts.

 


F-19

 

SAFE-T GROUPALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

 

NOTE 3 - FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS AND FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT(continued):

The table below analyzescategorizes non-derivative financial liabilities into relevant maturity groupings based on the remaining period at balance sheetfinancial position date to the contractual maturity date. Derivative financial liabilities are included in the analysis if their contractual maturities are essential for an understanding of the timing of the cash flows.

 

  Less than one year  Between one to two years 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
December 31, 2018:   
IIA liability  49   82 
Trade payables and other payables  1,054   - 
   1,103   82 
December 31, 2017:        
IIA liability  92   - 
Trade payables and other payables  1,055   - 
   1,147   - 

b.Fair value estimation
  Less than one year  Between one to two years  More than two
years
 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
December 31, 2023:         
Lease liabilities  370   303   220 
Long-term loans  290   782   20 
Accounts payable and accruals  2,808   -   - 
   3,468   1,085   240 
December 31, 2022:            
Lease liabilities  204   13   - 
Short-term bank loans  1,606   -   - 
Long-term loans  617   540   66 
Accounts payable and accruals  4,517   -   - 
   6,944   553   66 

 

The table belowFair value estimation

Below analyzes financial instruments carried at fair value, by valuation method. The different levels have been defined as follows:

 

Quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (level 1).
;

Inputs other than quoted prices included within level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly (that is, as prices) or indirectly (that is, derived from prices) (level 2).
; and

Inputs for the asset or liability that are not based on observable market data (that is, unobservable inputs) (level 3).

 

Level 13 financial instruments:instruments

 

The Company has a financial liability in respect of derivative financial instruments, which is measured at fair value through profit or loss. As of December 31, 20182023 and 2017,2022, the amounts of the liabilities are $729 thousand and $176 thousand, respectively.

The fair value of financial instruments traded in active markets is based on quoted market prices at the balance sheet date. A market is regarded as active if quoted prices are readily and regularly available from an exchange, dealer, broker, industry group, pricing service, or regulatory agency, and those prices represent actual and regularly occurring market transactions on an arm’s length basis.

Level 3 financial instruments:

The Company has several financial liabilities measured at fair value through profit or loss, which meetmet the level 3 criteria as of December 31, 2018 and 2017.

F-20

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

NOTE 3 - FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS AND FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT(continued):

(see below). The following table presents the changes in level 3 instrumentsfinancial liabilities for each of the three years in the period ended 2018:December 31, 2023:

  Anti-dilution feature  Derivative financial instruments  Total 
  U.S. dollar in thousands 
Balance as of January 1, 2018  692   61   753 
Initial recognition  497   2,678   3,175 
Finance expenses  598   1,641   2,239 
Classification to equity of Series B warrants  -   (3,479)  (3,479)
Classification to level 1 (see Note 13(e))  -   (901)  (901)
Exercise of anti-dilution feature  (1,787)  -   (1,787)
Balance as of December 31, 2018  -   -   - 
Total unrealized losses for the period included in profit or loss for liabilities held at December 31, 2018  598   1,641   2,239 

  Anti-dilution feature  Derivative financial instruments  Total 
  U.S. dollar in thousands 
Balance as of January 1, 2017  94   -   94 
Initial recognition  315   1,958   2,273 
Finance expenses (income)  283   (1,897)  (1,614)
Balance as of December 31, 2017  692   61   753 
Total unrealized losses (gains) for the period included in profit or loss for liabilities held at December 31, 2017  283   (1,897)  (1,614)
             
  Anti-dilution feature  Options to group of investors  Bridge loan  Financing of issuance expenses  Total 
  U.S. dollar in thousands 
Balance as of January 1, 2016 -  -  *  *  * 
Initial recognition  106   193   -   -   299 
Finance expenses (income)  (12)  -   800**  256**  1,044 
Settlement/cancellation  -   (193)  (800)  (256)  (1,249)
Balance as of December 31, 2016  94   -   -   -   94 
Total unrealized gains for the period included in profit or loss for liabilities held at December 31, 2016  (12)  -   -   -   (12)

*Represents an amount of less than $ 1 thousands.
**Recognition of deferred initial loss at an amount equal to the cash amount paid by the Company at the time of completion the Merger Transaction.

F-21

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

NOTE 3 - FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS AND FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT(continued):

c.Financial instruments

  Financial assets at amortized costDerivative financial
instruments
 
December 31, 2018U.S. dollars
in thousands
Assets:Balance as of January 1, 2023  26 
Cash and cash equivalentsInitial recognition of financial liability  3,7171,197 
Trade receivable and other receivables (excluding prepaid expenses)Classification of financial liability to equity  910(1,116)
Restricted depositsChanges within profit or loss  1042 
Balance as of December 31, 2023  4,731109 

 

  Loans and receivablesDerivative financial
instruments
 
December 31, 2017U.S. dollars
in thousands
Assets:Balance as of January 1, 2022  488 
Cash and cash equivalentsChanges within profit or loss  3,514(462)
Trade receivable and other receivables (excluding prepaid expenses)Balance as of December 31, 2022  740
Restricted deposits93
4,34726 

 

  Liabilities at fair value through profit or loss  

 

Financial liabilities at amortized cost

  Total 
December 31, 2018 U.S. dollars in thousands 
Liabilities:         
Trade payables and other payables  -   1,054   1,054 
IIA liability  -   131   131 
Derivative financial instruments  729   -   729 
   729   1,185   1,914 
December 31, 2017            
Liabilities:            
Trade payables and other payables  -   1,055   1,055 
IIA liability  -   92   92 
Derivative financial instruments  237   -   237 
Liability in respect of anti-dilution feature  692   -   692 
   929   1,147   2,076 

ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

  Contingent
consideration
  Derivative
financial
instruments
  Total 
Balance as of January 1, 2021  1,599   1,448   3,047 
Payment of contingent consideration  (915)  -   (915)
Changes within profit or loss  (684)  (960)  (1,644)
Balance as of December 31, 2021  -   488   488 

Financial instruments

Financial assets

  Financial
assets
measured at
fair value
  Financial
assets at
amortized
cost
  Total 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
December 31, 2023         
Cash and cash equivalents  -   10,872   10,872 
Accounts receivable (excluding prepaid expenses)  -   2,194   2,194 
Long-term restricted deposits  -   3   3 
Long-term deposits  -   104   104 
Equity securities  82   -   82 
   82   13,173   13,255 
December 31, 2022            
Cash and cash equivalents  -   3,290   3,290 
Accounts receivable (excluding prepaid expenses)  -   2,236   2,236 
Short-term restricted deposits  -   560   560 
Long-term restricted deposits  -   127   127 
Long-term deposits  -   21   21 
   -   6,234   6,234 

Financial liabilities

  Financial
liabilities
measured at
fair value
  Financial
liabilities at
amortized
cost
  Total 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
December 31, 2023         
Lease liabilities  -   893   893 
Accounts payable and accruals  -   2,808   2,808 
Long-term loans  -   1,092   1,092 
Derivative financial instruments  109   -   109 
   109   4,793   4,902 
December 31, 2022            
Lease liabilities  -   217   217 
Accounts payable and accruals  -   4,517   4,517 
Short-term bank loans  -   1,606   1,606 
Long-term loans  -   1,223   1,223 
Derivative financial instruments  26   -   26 
   26   7,563   7,589 

 

Assets and liabilities which are not measured on a recurring basis at fair value, are presented at their carrying amount, which approximates their fair value.

 

F-22


 

SAFE-T GROUPALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

Valuation processes of the Company

 

NOTE 3 - FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS AND FINANCIAL RISK MANAGEMENT(continued):The Company used the Binomial model to evaluate the fair value of derivative financial instruments related to warrants previously granted to investors as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, using the following principal assumptions:

 

d.Valuation processes of the Company
  Year ended December 31 
  2023  2022 
Risk-free interest rate  5.32%  4.59%
Expected term (in years)  0.43   1.43 
Expected volatility  91%  69.28%

 

Set forth below areThe Company also used the Black-Scholes model to evaluate the fair value of derivative financial instruments related to several warrants previously granted to investors as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, using the following principal assumptions:

   Year ended December 31 
   2023   2022 
Risk-free interest rate  4.01%-4.92%   4.11%-4.73% 
Expected term (in years)  0.86-2.99   0.92-3.99 
Expected volatility  81.07%-94.33%   69.93%-98.87% 

As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, derivative financial instruments totaled to $109 thousand and $26 thousand, respectively.

The Company issued warrants to investors under a private placement on September 14, 2023. See Note 14 for details regarding the valuation processes of the Company:Company with respect to these warrants through the year ended December 31, 2023.

 

1)Series 1 warrants and series 2 warrants - level 1 financial instruments measured at fair value through profit or loss. For details, see Note 13.

See Note 12 for details regarding the valuation processes of the Company with respect to options and RSUs granted through the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.

 

2)2017 Anti-dilution feature - the Company used the binomial share price model for a period of 12 months, using the following principal assumptions: expected volatility between 52.53% - 69.82%, risk-free interest between 0.01% - 0.11%, expected term between 0.11 - 0.45 years and a 75% probability of capital raise during February - April 2017 and between 10% - 100% probability of capital raise during April - June 2018. The liability amount is adjusted by each quarter end based on the then relevant assumptions, until full exercise or expiration, the earlier of them.

3)2018 Anti-dilution feature - the Company used the binomial share price model for a period of 24 months, using the following principal assumptions: expected volatility between 69.88 - 70.78%, risk-free interest between 0.37% - 0.47%, expected term between 1.9 - 2 years and 100% probability of capital raise until June, 2020. The liability amount is adjusted by each quarter end based on the then relevant assumptions, until full exercise or expiration, the earlier of them.

4)Series A warrants - the Company used the Black-Scholes model, using the following principal assumptions: expected volatility of 77.17%, risk-free interest of 2.77%, expected term of 6 years. The liability amount is adjusted by each quarter end based on the then relevant assumptions, until full exercise or expiration, the earlier of them. For details, see Note 13(e).

5)Series B warrants until December 19, 2019 - the Company used the binomial share price model for a period of 120 days, using the following principal assumptions: expected volatility between 89.17% - 104.11%, risk-free interest between 2.18% - 2.12%, expected term between 0.22 - 0.33 years.

6)Series B warrants as of December 19, 2018 - level 1 financial instruments measured at fair value through profit or loss. For details, see Note 13.

7)Options to employees and advisors - for details see Note 12.

NOTE 4 - CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTSEQUIVALENTS:

 

As of December 31, 20182023 and 2017,2022, the balance of cash and cash equivalents was comprised of cash at bank.banks and short-term bank deposits of up to 3 months.

 

NOTE 5 - ACCOUNT RECEIVABLES - TRADE netRECEIVABLES:

 

As of December 31, 20182023 and 2017,2022, the account receivables-trade balance comprisesof trade receivables consisted of open accounts.

Also, asaccounts, net of December 31, 2018, the Company did not record a provision for doubtful accountsexpected credit losses of $0 and as of December 31, 2017, the Company record a provision for doubtful accounts in an amount that is not material. The Company has no customers that exceed their customary credit terms.$8 thousand, respectively.

In addition, during 2018 the Company recorded a debt write-off in an amount of $74 thousand.

 


F-23

 

SAFE-T GROUPALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

 

NOTE 6 - GOODWILL & INTANGIBLE ASSETS:

 

a.Composition

Composition

 

  Cost  Accumulated amortization    
  Balance at  Additions  Retirements  Balance  Balance at  Additions  Retirements  Balance  Amortized balance 
  beginning  during  during the  at end  beginning  during  during the  at end  December 31, 
2018: of year  the year  year  of year  of year  the year  year  of year  2018 
  U.S. dollar in thousands 
Technology  1,955   308   -   2,263   1,199   270   -   1,469   794 
Contractual customer relations  38   -   -   38   30   6   -   36   2 
Goodwill  523   -   -   523   -   -   -   -   523 
   2,516   308   -   2,824   1,229   276   -   1,505   1,319 
  Cost  Accumulated amortization    
  Balance at  Additions  Impairment  Balance  Balance at  Additions  Impairment  Balance    
  beginning  during  during  at end  beginning  during  during  at end  Amortized 
  of year  the year  the year  of year  of year  the year  the year  of year  balance 
  U.S. dollar in thousands 
2023                           
Technologies  6,055   -   -   6,055   3,900   573   305   4,778   1,277 
Customer relations  4,002   -   -   4,002   1,273   245   2,375   3,893   109 
Goodwill  10,429   -   (6,311)  4,118   -   -   -   -   4,118 
   20,486   -   (6,311)  14,175   5,173   818   2,680   8,671   5,504 
2022                                    
Technologies  6,055   -   -   6,055   2,665   1,145   90   3,900   2,155 
Customer relations  4,002   -   -   4,002   379   531   363   1,273   2,729 
Goodwill  10,998   -   (569)  10,429   -   -   -   -   10,429 
   21,055   -   (569)  20,486   3,044   1,676   453   5,173   15,313 
2021                                    
Technologies  5,059   996   -   6,055   1,575   1,090   -   2,665   3,390 
Customer relations  774   3,228   -   4,002   57   322   -   379   3,623 
Goodwill  5,387   6,311   (700)  10,998   -   -   -   -   10,998 
   11,220   10,535   (700)  21,055   1,632   1,412   -   3,044   18,011 

 

  Cost  Accumulated amortization    
  Balance at  Additions  Retirements  Balance  Balance at  Additions  Retirements  Balance  Amortized balance 
  beginning  during  during the  at end  beginning  during  during the  at end  December 31, 
2017: of year  the year  year  of year  of year  the year  year  of year  2017 
  U.S. dollar in thousands 
Technology  1,955   -   -   1,955   954   245   -   1,199   756 
Contractual customer relations  38   -   -   38   24   6   -   30   8 
Goodwill  523   -   -   523   -   -   -   -   523 
   2,516   -   -   2,516   978   251   -   1,229   1,287 

Amortization expense for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 was $818 thousand, $1,676 thousand and $1,412 thousand, respectively.

 

  Cost  Accumulated amortization    
  Balance at  Additions  Retirements  Balance  Balance at  Additions  Retirements  Balance  Amortized balance 
  beginning  during  during the  at end  beginning  during  during the  at end  December 31, 
2016: of year  the year  year  of year  of year  the year  year  of year  2016 
  U.S. dollar in thousands 
Technology  1,955   -   -   1,955   709   245   -   954   1,001 
Contractual customer relations  38   -   -   38   18   6   -   24   14 
Goodwill  523   -   -   523   -   -   -   -   523 
   2,516   -   -   2,516   727   251   -   978   1,538 

Impairment loss of intangible assets (rather than goodwill) for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 was $2,680 thousand, $453 thousand and $0, respectively. For further information, see below.

Testing of goodwill impairment

For the year ended December 31, 2023

NetNut CGU

The Company performed the annual goodwill impairment test for its NetNut CGU at December 31, 2023. The recoverable amount was assessed by management based on value-in-use calculation which uses cash flow projections covering a 5-year period and terminal growth rate of 3% thereafter, and a discount rate of 25.5%. The terminal growth rate represents the long-term average growth prospects of the enterprise internet access market. Based on the impairment test performed, the estimated recoverable amount was determined to be substantially higher than its carrying amount. A hypothetical decrease in the terminal growth rate of 1% or an increase of 1% to the discount rate would reduce the value-in-use by $1,861 thousand and $3,699 thousand, respectively, and would not result in an impairment.

CyberKick CGU

During the second quarter of 2023, the Company identified triggering events for potential impairment in its CyberKick CGU. The triggering events include a purchase pause by CyberKick’s largest customer as well as higher customer churn rates, which resulted in a material decrease in forecasted operating results. As a result, the Company decided to scale down the operations of CyberKick, with material reductions of expenses and headcount, and to continue to maintain its operations only to current paying customers.

 

F-24


 

SAFE-T GROUPALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

Accordingly, the Company performed an impairment test for the intangible assets constituting its CyberKick CGU and thereafter for the entire CGU at June 30, 2023. The recoverable amount of the customer relations was assessed by management based on value-in-use calculation which uses cash flow projections covering a 3-year period, assuming probability of customers resuming purchases during next year of 50% and a discount rate of 22.0%. As a result, the Company recorded an impairment loss of $2,190 thousand within selling and marketing expenses. The recoverable amount of the technologies was assessed by management based on value-in-use calculation which uses cash flow projections covering a 3-year period and a discount rate of 22.0%. As a result, the Company recorded an impairment loss of $305 thousand within cost of revenue. In addition, during the third quarter of 2023, the remaining customer relations balance of $185 thousand was fully impaired.

 

NOTE 6 - INTANGIBLE ASSETS(continued):

b.Testing of goodwill impairment

As of December 31, 2018 and 2017,Following the above impairments, the recoverable amount of the Company, which constitutes a singleentire CGU is calculatedwas assessed by management based on the basis of its fair value less cost to sellcosts of Company’s share.disposal (level 3 measurement). As a result, the entire goodwill balance of $6,311 thousand was impaired. As of December 31, 2018 and 2017,2023, the remaining technology balance in respect of the CyberKick CGU was $247 thousand.

For the year ended December 31, 2022

NetNut CGU

The Company performed the annual goodwill impairment test for its NetNut CGU at December 31, 2022. The recoverable amount exceededwas assessed by management based on value-in-use calculation which uses cash flow projections covering a 7-year period and terminal growth rate of 3% thereafter, and a discount rate of 25.0%. The terminal growth rate represents the Company’s equity.

c.Intellectual property purchase

On July 2, 2018, Safe-T completed the purchaselong-term average growth prospects of the intellectual propertyenterprise internet access market. Based on the impairment test performed, the estimated recoverable amount was determined to be higher than its carrying amount. A hypothetical decrease in the terminal growth rate of CyKick Labs Ltd. (hereinafter “CyKick”) and the assumption1% or an increase of a royalty liability1% to the IIA,discount rate would reduce the value-in-use by $138 thousand and $475 thousand, respectively, and would not result in considerationan impairment.

CyberKick CGU

The Company performed the annual goodwill impairment test for its CyberKick CGU at December 31, 2022. The recoverable amount was assessed by management based on value-in-use calculation which uses cash flow projections covering a 7-year period and terminal growth rate of $236 thousand, allocated3% thereafter, and a discount rate of 25.0%. The terminal growth rate represents the long-term average growth prospects of the consumer internet access market. Based on a relative basisthe impairment test performed, the estimated recoverable amount was determined to be higher than its carrying amount. A hypothetical decrease in the terminal growth rate of 1% or an increase of 1% to the purchased technology ($308 thousand)discount rate would reduce the value-in-use by $627 thousand and IIA liability ($72 thousand). The purchased technology is aimed to recognize hostile attacks on online services through$946 thousand, respectively, and would not result in an impairment.

NetNut Networks Inc. (“NNNW”) CGU

During the identificationsecond quarter of 2022, the users’ anomalous behavior. The amortization is classified to costCompany identified triggering events for potential impairment in its NNNW CGU which include a decrease in forecasted operating results. Accordingly, the Company performed a goodwill impairment test at June 30, 2022. As a result, the entire goodwill balance of revenues and is calculated for 6 years using the straight-line method over the technology’s useful life. For further details see Note 10(b).$569 thousand was impaired.

 

NOTE 7 - INTERESTS IN OTHER ENTITIES

Subsidiaries:

Set forth below are details regardingThe following table presents the Company’s subsidiariescarrying amount of goodwill by CGUs as of December 31, 20182023 and 2017:2022:

  December 31 
  2023  2022 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
NetNut  4,118   4,118 
CyberKick  -   6,311 
NNNW  -   - 
   4,118   10,429 

 

Name of company Principal place of business Nature of business activities Percentage held directly by the Company  Rate of shares held by the Company 
       

%

 
Safe-T Data A.R Ltd. Israel Development of data security software  100   100 
Safe-T USA Inc. USA Business
development and sales in the USA
  -   100 
RSAccess Ltd.* Israel Development of data security software  Ceased operation 


 

*RSAccess Ltd. (hereinafter - “RSAccess”) completed its merger into Safe-T on September 2017. For further details see Note 20(b).

 

ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

NOTE 87 - TAXES ON INCOME:

 

a.Corporate taxation in Israel

Corporate taxation

 

The taxable income of Alarum, Safe-T Data A.R Ltd. (“Safe-T Data”) and CyberKick is subject to the Company and Safe-T is taxed at theIsraeli regular corporate tax rate which is 25% for 2016, 24% for 2017, andof 23%.

The taxable income of NetNut, based on management opinion, meets the criteria of a Preferred Technological Enterprise under the Law for the year 2018Encouragement of Capital Investments and thereafter.accordingly, is eligible for a reduced tax rate of 12%. However, as of December 31, 2023, NetNut has carryforward tax losses and therefore not yet utilized any benefits associated with the Preferred Technological Enterprise. Taxable income other than taxable income from the Preferred Technological Enterprise regime is subject to the Israeli regular corporate tax rate.

 

Safe-T Inc.The taxable income of NNNW is taxed atsubject to a regular USU.S. federal tax rate of 15% for the tax year 2016, 35% for the tax year 2017, and 21% as of the tax year of 2018..

 

b.Tax assessments

Tax assessments

Tax assessments filed by the Company and Safe-T by 2013Data through 2018 are considered final.

 

F-25

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)Tax assessments filed by NetNut through 2017 are considered final.

 

NOTE 8 - TAXES ON INCOME (continued):Tax assessments filed by NNNW through 2019 are considered final.

 

c.Carryforward tax losses

CyberKick has not been assessed since its incorporation.

Carryforward tax losses

 

Carryforward tax losses in Israel of the Company amounted to approximately $3.3$13.81 million and $1.1$8.9 million as of December 31, 20182023 and 2017,2022, respectively.

 

Carryforward tax losses in Israel of Safe-T Data amounted to approximately $20.4$37.4 million and $15.4$37.6 million as of December 31, 20182023 and 2017,2022, respectively.

 

The Company did not recognize deferred taxes for theseCarryforward tax losses since their utilization is not expected in the foreseeable future.Israel of NetNut amounted to $0.1 million and $7.2 million as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

 

d.Theoretical tax reconciliation

Carryforward tax losses in Israel of CyberKick amounted to $3.2 million and $3.3 million as of December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Carryforward tax losses in Israel have no expiration date. Deferred tax assets on losses for tax purposes carried forward to subsequent years are recognized if utilization of the related tax benefit against a future taxable income is expected.


ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

Deferred taxes

  Property and equipment, net  Intangible assets, net  Carryforward tax losses  Carryforward research and development expenses  Other  Total 
  U.S. dollar in thousands 
                   
Balance as of January 1, 2023  -   (852)  551   -   -   (301)
Changes during the year:                        
Charged to the statement of profit or loss  -   688   (509)  285   18   482 
Balance as of December 31, 2023  -   (164)  42   285   18   181 
                         
Balance as of January 1, 2022  -   (1,067)  422   -   -   (645)
Changes during the year:                        
Charged to the statement of profit or loss  -   215   129   -   -   344 
Balance as of December 31, 2022  -   (852)  551   -   -   (301)
                         
Balance as of January 1, 2021  (10)  (783)  -   -   -   (793)
Changes during the year:                        
Initial recognition due to business combination  -   (825)  -   -   -   (825)
Charged to the statement of profit or loss  10   541   422   -   -   973 
Balance as of December 31, 2021  -   (1,067)  422   -   -   (645)


ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

Theoretical tax reconciliation

 

Following is a reconciliation of the theoretical tax expense,taxes on income, assuming all income is taxed at the regular tax rates applicable to companies in Israel (see section a above) and the actual tax expense:

 

  Year ended December 31, 
  2018  2017  2016 
  %  U.S. dollars in thousands  %  U.S. dollars in thousands  %  U.S. dollars in thousands 
                   
Loss before taxes on income, as reported in the statement of operations  100   11,747   100   5,312   100   8,920 
Theoretical tax saving on this profit or loss  (23)  (2,702)  (24)  (1,275)  (25)  (2,230)
Increase in taxes resulting from permanent differences - non-deductible expenses  4.5   524   1.6   83   14.1   1,261 
Increase in taxes resulting from tax losses in the reported year for which deferred taxes were not recognized  18.6   2,184   22.5   1,193   10.9   971 
Tax expenses  0.05   6   0.02   1   0.02   2 
  Year ended December 31 
  2023  2022  2021 
  %  U.S. dollars
in thousands
  %  U.S. dollars
in thousands
  %  U.S. dollars
in thousands
 
Loss before taxes on income, as reported in the statement of profit or loss  23   6,089   23   12,783   23   9,470 
Theoretical tax benefit      (1,400)      (2,940)      (2,178)
Increase (decrease) in effective tax rate due to:                        
Tax benefits arising from reduced tax rate under Preferred Technological Enterprise      (590)      441       497 
Decrease in taxes resulting from utilization of losses in the reported year for which deferred taxes were not recognized in prior years      (843)      -       - 
Increase in taxes resulting from permanent differences - non-deductible expenses      2,206       261       214 
Increase in taxes resulting from losses in the reported year for which deferred taxes were not recognized      145       1,911       522 
Tax benefit      (482)      (327)      (945)

NOTE 8 - OTHER PAYABLES:

  December 31 
  2023  2022 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
Accrued expenses  356   571 
Employees and related institutions  2,083   1,779 
   2,439   2,350 

 

NOTE 9 - ACCOUNTS PAYABLE AND ACCRUALS:The carrying amounts of other payables, which are financial liabilities, is a reasonable approximation of their fair value since the effect of discounting is immaterial.

a.Accounts payable - other:

  December 31 
  2018  2017 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
       
Employees and related institutions  628   558 
Accrued expenses  323   319 
   951   877 

b.The carrying amount of accounts payables, which are financial liabilities, is a reasonable approximation of their fair value since the effect of discounting is immaterial.

 

F-26


 

SAFE-T GROUPALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

NOTE 9 - SHORT-TERM BANK LOANS:

 

On May 25, 2022, CyberKick entered into a revolving line of credit agreement with United Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank Ltd. (the “Bank”), in an amount of up to $2 million for a period of 12 months, at an interest rate of Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) plus 5.5% per annum, to be paid quarterly for the actual withdrawn balance. The line of credit was limited at a 3X multiple on the most updated monthly revenues of CyberKick, was secured against all of the assets of CyberKick, was guaranteed by Alarum and included a refundable deposit by the Company of $500 thousand. The line of credit could be consummated by revolving 3-month loans and was scheduled to expire on March 31, 2023.

On April 13, 2023, the line of credit agreement was extended until March 31, 2024, under the same terms. In July 2023, CyberKick reached an arrangement with the Bank, for early repayment of the short-term loan. On August 9, 2023, the entire loan balance was repaid and the deposit was released.

Interest expense related to the line of credit was $102 thousand and $39 thousand for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

NOTE 10 - COMMITMENTS:STRATEGIC FUNDING:

On August 8, 2022, the Company signed a strategic funding agreement with O.R.B. Spring Ltd. (“O.R.B.”) of up to $4 million to support the further growth of CyberKick and accelerate its customer acquisition program. Under the terms of the agreement, O.R.B. will provide the Company with a cash commitment of $2 million (Tranches 1-2) with an additional $2 million (Tranches 3-8) available subject to achievement of a certain financial milestone. The funding, made through a series of cash installments through July 2023, will be allocated specifically towards the Company’s customer acquisition program for its consumer internet access solution.

On October 27, 2022, the Company signed an amendment to the O.R.B. agreement which provides for a cancellation of the milestone, as defined in the O.R.B. agreement, as well as removed any discretion previously granted to O.R.B. in connection with the additional $2 million funding. As a result, the O.R.B. cash commitment increased to $4 million. Also, the parties agreed that Tranche 2 at the amount of $1 million which was planned to be funded in November 2022, will be divided to 3 sub-tranches of $333 thousand each, to be funded equally in November 2022, December 2022 and January 2023.

The Company will repay the funding using a revenue share model that is based on sales generated only from customers of the new consumer internet access solution acquired with each funding installment. Each such funding installment shall be repaid within 24 months and if the repayments does not cover 100% of the installments, then the Company will cover the remaining amounts, in cash or shares, at its sole discretion. Once the investment amount has been repaid in full, the Company and O.R.B. shall share the attributed revenue in equal parts (50:50) until the lapse of 5 years after the date on which each installment was received by the Company.

The Company recognized a financial liability for each tranche upon drawdown, at the amount drawn less transaction costs attributable to that tranche.

Upon initial recognition, the effective interest rate was calculated by estimating the future cash flows throughout the expected life of that tranche, taking into account the transaction costs allocated to that tranche. The weighted effective interest rate upon the initial recognition was approximately 34.92% per year.

In consideration for the cash commitment, the Company granted 5,006,386 warrants that were exercisable for periods of up to 3 years from the vesting dates of the warrants, as detailed below:

 

a.2,068,966 series A warrants with exercise price of $0.725 per share, of which, 1,034,483 (representing 50%) were fully vested, and the remaining 1,034,438 vested on December 1, 2022

Office lease agreements344,828 series B warrants with exercise price of $1.45 per share, of which, 172,414 (representing 50%) were fully vested, and the remaining 172,414 vested on December 1, 2022;


ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

2,222,222 series C warrants with exercise price of $0.675 per share, of which, 1,111,111 (representing 50%) vested on March 1, 2023, and the remaining 1,111,111 vested on September 1, 2023; and

370,370 series D warrants with exercise price of $1.35 per share, of which, 185,185 (representing 50%) vested on March 1, 2023, and the remaining 185,185 vested on September 1, 2023.

 

During 2013, Safe-T entered into an office lease agreementIn case that the Company will not exercise the funding or a portion of it, with respect to Tranches 3-8, until September 1, 2023, then up to 50% of each of the series C warrants and series D warrants will be cancelled, pro rata, to the amounts of funding not withdrawn. In addition, the Company shall have the right to require the exercise of all or any portion of the warrants if the closing price of the Company’s ordinary shares exceeds 150% of the respective exercise price of each series of warrants for three consecutive trading days.

The Company accounted for the premisesabove warrants, which represent the consideration for providing the cash commitment, in accordance with the provisions of IFRS 2 “Share-based payment” (“IFRS 2”). As such, the fair value of these warrants was accounted for as transaction costs. Total transaction costs recognized by the Company at the initial date totaled $596 thousand, representing the fair value of series A and B warrants, and 50% of the fair value of series C and D warrants, due to the fact that up to 50% of each of them are subject to cancellation in the case that the Company will not exercise the funding or a portion of it, uses, includedwith respect to Tranches 3-8.

These transaction costs were recorded under “other non-current assets” in the consolidated statement of financial position and are allocated to each tranche drawdown on a pro rata basis, while the remaining 50% of the fair value of series C and D warrants will be allocated to each tranche on a pro rata basis at the drawdown date. The fair value of these warrants was determined using the Monte-Carlo model using the following principal assumptions: risk-free interest rate 3.14%-4.30%, expected term (in years) 3.01-3.85, expected volatility 95.76%-99.96%.

On January 30, 2023, the Company signed a second amendment to the O.R.B. agreement., according to which, O.R.B. will fund the Company with 18 tranches of $111 thousand (an unchanged total amount of $2 million) from February 2023 through July 2024, instead of the 6 original tranches (Tranches 3-8) of $333 thousand each from February 2023 through July 2023.

On September 7, 2023, the Company signed a third amendment to the O.R.B. agreement., according to which O.R.B. agreed to waive all rights to future revenue share after 100% repayment of each tranche withdrawn, to extend the repayment duration of up to 100% of the original tranches to 30 months instead of 24 months and to cancel all outstanding warrants granted, in exchange for a total consideration of $500 thousand, out of which, $366 thousand was allocated for the cancellation all outstanding warrants granted based on their fair value. The fair value was determined using the Monte-Carlo model with the following principal assumptions: risk-free interest rate 4.66-4.99%, expected term (in years) 1.93-2.98, expected volatility 77.29-79.22%. As a result, the Company classified $274 thousand from other equity reserves to share premium. In addition, the Company accounted for this amendment as an extinguishment of the agreement. Accordingly, the difference in the amount of$349 thousand between the carrying amount of the original liability and the new liability (which was calculated using an effective interest rate of 18.7%) and the consideration paid, was recorded in profit or loss as finance expense.

Reconciliation of movements of long-term loan to cash flow from financing activities is as follows:

  December 31 
  2023  2022 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
Balance at the beginning of year  1,223   - 
Changes from financing cash flows:        
Long-term loans received  888   1,667 
Long-term loans payments (interest and principal)  (915)  (247)
Payments related to extinguishment of long-term loans  (134)  - 
Non-cash changes:        
Allocation of transaction costs to equity  (158)  (369)
Finance expenses, net  188   172 
Balance at the end of year  1,092   1,223 


ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

NOTE 11 - LEASES:

The Company’s leases include office and vehicle leases. The lease agreements are for periods of between 2 to 3 years and may include an option to extend the lease with a lease fee increase of 6%. During 2015, Safe-T extended the office lease agreement in similar terms until December 31, 2017.period.

 

On September 13, 2017 Safe-T signed an amendment to its office lease agreement, according to which Safe-T will lease its offices for a monthly fee of approximately $17 thousand. On November 12, 2018, Safe-T signed an amendment to lease additional space for approximately $1.5 thousand. The leases will expire on December 31, 2019.

During 2016, Safe-T Inc. hasIn June 2023, the Company entered into a new operating lease agreement which expired on November 30, 2017. On September 19, 2017, Safe-T Inc. signed an extension to its office lease agreement, according to which Safe-T Inc. will lease itsfor the offices for a monthly fee of approximately $1.3 thousand.it uses. The lease will expire on April 30, 2020.periods are for two years expiring in October 2025, with an option to extend the lease periods for an additional year. The Company is reasonably certain to exercise such option.

 

The minimal future lease fees (including management fees), which are payable under the saidExpenses relating to short-term leases agreements are:

For the year ended December 31: U.S. dollars in thousands 
2019  231 
2020  5 

b.Royalties payable to the IIA

1)Under the terms of a plan with IIA, Safe-T is committed to pay royalties to the IIA on proceeds from sales of products in the research and development of which the IIA participated by way of grants. Royalties are payable at the rate of 3% to 3.5% of the proceeds from such sales.

Safe-T completed the performance of the plan on October 31, 2015, and filed a final report to the IIA, who approved the report. Since 2015, Safe-T received a total of $146 thousand in grants. Forfor the years ended December 31, 20182023, 2022 and 2017 the company paid royalties in an amount of $432021 were $63 thousand, $111 thousand and $26 thousand, respectively, and presents liabilities to the IIA of $49 thousand and $92$58 thousand, respectively.

2)On July 2, 2018, Safe-T completed the purchase of the intellectual property of CyKick. As part of such purchase, Safe-T committed to take CyKick’s liability to pay royalties to the IIA on proceeds from sales of products in the research and development of which the IIA participated by way of grants. Royalties are payable at the rate of 3% to 3.5% of the proceeds from such sales.

As of December 31, 2018, the Company didn’t pay IIA any royalties and its liability to pay the IIA royalties for future sales of CyKick’s technology amounted to approximately $82 thousand.Right-of-use assets

 

c.Lease of vehicles
  Property  Vehicles  Total 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
Cost:         
Balance as of January 1, 2023  763   180   943 
Additions  879   24   903 
Disposals  -   (127)  (127)
Balance as of December 31, 2023  1,642   77   1,719 
             
Accumulated amortization:            
Balance as of January 1, 2023  (643)  (110)  (753)
Additions  (253)  (34)  (287)
Disposals  -   100   100 
Balance as of December 31, 2023  (896)  (44)  (940)
   746   33   779 
Cost:            
Balance as of January 1, 2022  763   156   919 
Additions  -   45   45 
Disposals  -   (21)  (21)
Balance as of December 31, 2022  763   180   943 
             
Accumulated amortization:            
Balance as of January 1, 2022  (413)  (55)  (468)
Additions  (230)  (61)  (291)
Disposals  -   6   6 
Balance as of December 31, 2022  (643)  (110)  (753)
   120   70   190 

 

The minimal future lease fees, which are payable under the Company’s vehicles lease agreements are:


 

For the year ended December 31: U.S. dollars in thousands 
2019  89 
2020  47 
2021 and thereafter  12 

F-27

 

SAFE-T GROUPALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

Lease liabilities

  Property  Vehicles  Total 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
Balance as of January 1, 2023  153   64   217 
Additions  880   21   901 
Disposals  -   (27)  (27)
Interest expense  87   1   88 
Payments  (249)  (37)  (286)
Balance as of December 31, 2023  871   22   893 
             
Short-term lease liabilities  358   12   370 
Long-term lease liabilities  513   10   523 
Balance as of December 31, 2023  871   22   893 
             
Balance as of January 1, 2022  459   103   562 
Additions  -   40   40 
Disposals  -   (12)  (12)
Interest expense  9   2   11 
Payments  (315)  (69)  (384)
Balance as of December 31, 2022  153   64   217 
             
Short-term lease liabilities  153   51   204 
Long-term lease liabilities  -   13   13 
Balance as of December 31, 2022  153   64   217 


ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

NOTE 12 - SHARE BASED PAYMENT:

 

NOTE 11 - RETIREMENT BENEFITS OBLIGATION:The Company maintains a share-based payment plan for employees, directors and consultants (the “Plan”). According to the Plan, the Company can grant options and RSUs. The options and the RSUs vest over a period of up to four years, and their term period is 7-10 years. Nevertheless, the Board of Directors is qualified to resolve on different vesting terms. Below is a summary of the Company’s share option and RSUs activity during the years 2023, 2022 and 2021:

Date of grant Amount  Exercise
price ($)
(*)
  Fair value at the date of grant (U.S. dollars in thousands)  Volatility  Risk-free interest rate  Contractual term (in years) 
2023                  
Options                  
April 20, 2023  100,000   0.20   10   79.84%  4.14%  2 
May 18, 2023  30,000   0.21   3   89.91%  3.94%  10 
November 27, 2023  1,343,748   0.00-0.43   414   91.46%  4.17%  7 
   1,473,748                     
RSUs                        
July 19, 2023  100,000   -   26   -   -     
September 13, 2023  650,000   -   209   -   -     
November 27, 2023  925,572   -   494   -   -     
   1,675,572                     
2022                        
Options                        
March 13, 2022  84,000   0.68   59   93.01%  2.08%  10 
May 30, 2022  323,000   0.00-0.59   125   92.55%  2.57%  10 
August 31, 2022  228,000   0.49   63   91.14%  2.97%  10 
November 28, 2022  1,673,060   0.35   295   91.09%  3.30%  10 
December 19, 2022  1,020,000   0.42   116   90.78%  3.37%  10 
December 21, 2022  20,000   0.30   2   90.78%  3.47%  10 
   3,348,060                     
2021                        
Options                        
March 7, 2021  298,755   1.73   267   97.59%  1.27%  10 
April 13, 2021  110,000   1.43   94   97.42%  0.50%-1.18%  5-10 
August 25, 2021  1,657,572   1.10   1,117   94.98%-106.19%  0.17%-1.14%  3-10 
September 19, 2021  483,750   1.27   291   94.56%  1.24%  10 
October 6, 2021  12,500   1.10   8   106.19%  0.17%  3 
October 17, 2021  12,500   1.10   8   106.19%  0.17%  3 
   2,575,077                     

(*)Translated from NIS based on the U.S. dollars/NIS exchange rate as of December 31, 2023.

The fair value of the options was determined using the Binomial model. Volatility is based on volatility data of the traded share price of the Company. The early exercise multiple used for the fair value calculations for grants during 2023, 2022 and 2021 is 2.5 for each offeree.

The fair value of RSUs was evaluated based on the share price on the grant date.


ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

Movement in the number of share options and RSUs outstanding and their related weighted average exercise prices are as follows:

Options

  2023  2022  2021 
  Number of options  Average exercise price ($)  Number of options  Average exercise price ($)  Number of options  Average exercise price ($) 
Outstanding at beginning of year:  7,001,800   0.88   4,235,525   1.52   2,206,321   2.00 
Granted  1,473,748   0.34   3,348,060   0.40   2,575,077   1.31 
Exercised  (224,463)  0.10   (46,561)  -   (69,807)  - 
Forfeited  (768,269)  0.56   (277,196)  1.51   (472,898)  1.23 
Expired  (346,096)  1.08   (258,028)  4.52   (3,168)  19.75 
Outstanding at end of year  7,136,720   0.67   7,001,800   0.88   4,235,525   1.52 
Exercisable at end of year  3,605,391   1.09   2,087,181   1.31   883,567   2.19 

RSUs

 

a.Liability for employee rights upon retirement2023
Number of RSUs
Outstanding at beginning of year:-
Granted1,675,572
Vested-
Forfeited-
Outstanding at end of year1,675,572
Exercisable at end of year-

 

The following table summarizes information about exercise price and the remaining contractual life of options outstanding at the end of 2023, 2022 and 2021:

  2023  2022  2021 
Exercise prices ($) Number outstanding at end of year  Remaining contractual life (in years)  Number outstanding at end of year  Remaining contractual life (in years)  Number outstanding at end of year  Remaining contractual life (in years) 
0.00-0.01  972,728   0.15-6.91   589,668   0.15-9.42   506,231   1.15-9.65 
0.21-1.07  3,783,920   6.91-9.39   3,118,060   9.20-9.97   -   - 
1.23-1.89  2,380,072   0.65-7.72   3,294,072   0.59-8.65   3,722,972   1.58-9.65 
46.62-1,554.54  -   -   -   -   6,322   0.08-6.47 
   7,136,720       7,001,800       4,235,525     

Warrants grant to service providers

On December 27, 2021, the Company issued 10,000 fully vested warrants to a certain service provider, which can be exercised into 10,000 ADSs (100,000 ordinary shares) within 5 years from the date of grant. 5,000 warrants can be exercised at a price of $12.5 per warrant, and an additional 5,000 warrants can be exercised at a price of $20.00 per warrant. The fair value of the warrants which was computed according to the Black-Scholes model, amounted to $53 thousand.

Shares issuance to service providers

During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company issued 140,135 ordinary shares to service providers for a total estimated fair value of $104 thousand.


ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

Expenses recognized in the financial statements

The costs which were recognized in the Company’s financial statements in respect of services received from its employees and consultants are presented in the table below:

  Year ended December 31 
  2023  2022  2021 
  U.S. dollar in thousands 
Share-based payment plans  933   1,679   2,356 

The plans are intended to be governed under rules set for that purpose in the Plan. The exercise prices of the options that are exercisable into shares as of December 31, 2023 range between $0.00 to $1.77.

NOTE 13 - RETIREMENT BENEFITS OBLIGATION:

Liability for employee rights upon retirement

Labor laws and agreements require the Company to pay severance pay and/or pensions to employees dismissed or retiring from their employ in other certain other circumstances. The amounts of benefits those employees are entitled to upon retirement are based on the number of years of service and the last monthly salary.

 

Also, under labor laws and labor agreements in effect, including the Expansion Order (Combined Version) for Obligatory Pension under the Collective Agreements Law of 1957 (hereinafter - the(the “Expansion Order”), Thethe Company is liable to make deposits with provident funds, pension funds or other such funds, (hereinafter - the “Funds”) so as to cover its employees’ pension insurance as well as some of its severance pay liabilities.

 

Under the terms of the Expansion Order, the Company deposits for severance pay as required under the Expansion Order as well as other deposits made by those companies “in lieu of severance pay” and which were announced as such as required under the Expansion Order, replace all payment of severance pay under Section 14 of the Israeli Severance Pay Law, 1963 (the “Severance Pay Law”) with respect to the wages, components, periods and rates for which the deposit alone was made (hereinafter - “Deposits under Section 14”).made.

 

b.Defined contribution plans

Defined contribution plans

 

The Company’s severance pay liability to Israeli employees for which the said liability is covered under section 14 of the Severance Pay Law is covered by regular deposits with defined contribution plans. The amounts funded as above are not reflected in the consolidated statements of financial position.

The amounts recognized as expense in respect of defined contribution plans in 2018, 20172023, 2022 and 2016,2021 are $234$314 thousand, $157$319 thousand and $95$276 thousand, respectively.

NOTE 12 - SHARE BASED PAYMENT:

a.The Company maintains a share-based payment plan to Employees, Directors and Consultants (the “Plan”). According to the Plan, the options vest over a period of up to 4 years, and their term period is ten years. Nevertheless, the board of director is qualified to resolve on different vesting terms. Below is a summary of the Company’s grants under the Plan during 2016, 2017 and 2018:

Date of grant Options amount  Exercise price  Fair value at the date of grant  Volatility  Risk free interest  Expected term 
     NIS / $  in thousand $        In years 
January 18, 2016  443,4601 2  0.3985 $   1,002   59.22%  3.08%  10 
August 28, 2016  779,296   5.137 NIS   607   59.22%  1.62%  10 
August 28, 2016  50,000   5.137 NIS   26   59.22%  0.96%  3 
September 15, 2016  171,4083  4.887 NIS   102   59.22%  1.99%  10 
March 29, 2017  747,8964  6.371-6.588 NIS   655   47.40%  2.31%  10 
July 24, 2017  641,744   6.976 NIS   784   68.07%  2.05%  10 
August 8, 2017  100,000   7.50 NIS   85   68.03%  1.95%  0.5 
August 29, 2017  500,000   5.655 NIS   473   68.17%  1.81%  10 
November 27, 2017  305,008   4.30 NIS   163   65.80%  1.98%  10 
June 20, 2018  670,048   1.49-2.97 NIS   130   75.50%  2.24%  10 
June 20, 2018  230,000   1.43 NIS   72   75.30%  2.24%  10 

* The early exercise multiple used in the valuations for grants during 2016, 2017 and 2018 is 2.5 for each offeree

** Volatility until March 29, 2017 grant is based on volatility data of share price of software companies for periods matching the expected term of the option until exercise. As of July 24, 2017 grant, Volatility is based on volatility data of the traded share price of the Company.

1Originally 1,178,000 were granted by Safe-T, and then were replaced with 443,460 options of the Company
2Outofwhich 143,322 options were granted to the CEO and 12,799 options to an employee, who is a relative of the Chairman of the Board of Directors
3Outofwhich131,840 options granted to the Company’s CEO, 28,240 options granted to a member of the Company’s Board of Directors and 11,328 options granted to an employee, who is a relative of the Chairman of the Board of Directors.
4Outofwhich 100,000 options were granted to the Company’s CEO at an exercise price of 6.588 NIS and approved by the Company’s shareholders on August 8, 2017.

 

F-28

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

NOTE 12 - SHARE BASED PAYMENT(continued):

On June 20, 2018, the Company’s Board of Directors approved the reduction of the exercise price of 1,733,504 options that were granted as of August 28, 2016, until August 29, 2017, to employees and consultants at exercise prices which ranged between NIS 4.887 to NIS 6.976. The new exercise price was set at NIS 4.50. The reduction was approved also by the tax authorities subject to renewed tax lock-up period of 24 months. The move was subject to the grantees approval - such approval was received only with respect to 1,381,152 options, while the rest of the options maintained their original terms.

The fair value of the options just prior to the date of the change, which was computed according to the binomial model, amounted to $228 thousand, and $249 thousand immediately after the date of the change, such that the incremental value resulted is $21 thousand. This value is based on the following assumptions: expected volatility of 75.48%, risk free interest ranges between 2.00% and 2.13%, expected term until exercise of 8.19-9.20 years and an early exercise multiple of 2.5 for each offeree. Volatility is based on volatility data of share price of software companies for periods matching the expected term of the option until exercise.

b.Movement in the number of share options outstanding and their related weighted average exercise prices are as follows:

  2018  2017  2016 
  Number  Average  Number  Average  Number  Average 
  of  exercise  of  Exercise  of  Exercise 
  options  price  options  Price  options  Price 
     $     $     $ 
Outstanding at beginning of year:  4,055,260   1.26   2,384,909   0.84   1,099,240   0.49 
Granted  900,048   0.46   2,194,648   1.70   1,444,164   1.07 
Exercised  (179,257)  0.57   (159,648)  0.51   (4,235)  0.40 
Forfeited  (955,356)  1.23   (351,810)  1.52   (78,734)  0.51 
Expired  (348,148)  1.13   (12,839)  1.12   (75,526)  0.46 
Outstanding at end of year  3,472,547   1.11   4,055,260   1.26   2,384,909   0.84 
Exercisable at end of year  1,879,377   0.89   1,552,660   0.74   1,061,645   0.55 

F-29

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

NOTE 12 - SHARE BASED PAYMENT(continued):

c.The following table summarizes information about exercise price and the remaining contractual life of options outstanding at the end of 2018, 2017 and 2016:

   

2018

  

2017

  2016 
      Weighted     Weighted     Weighted 
   Number  average  Number  average  Number  average 
   outstanding  remaining  outstanding  remaining  outstanding  remaining 
Exercise  at  contractual  at  contractual  at  contractual 
Prices  end of year  Life  end of year  Life  end of year  Life 
$     Years     Years     Years 
 0.40   295,392   5.39   336,802   6.32   382,475   7.23 
 0.40   322,783   6.25   341,606   7.25   351,606   8.26 
 0.40   261,634   7.05   372,310   8.05   407,698   9.05 
 0.41   370,016   9.48   -   -   -   - 
 0.41   200,000   9.48   -   -   -   - 
 0.61   18,823   6.01   162,694   7.01   248,458   8.01 
 0.82   100,000   9.48   -   -   -   - 
 1.22   270,000   8.91   305,008   9.91   -   - 
 1.24   431,408   7.66   -   -   -   - 
 1.24   155,561   7.71   -   -   -   - 
 1.24   322,896   8.24   -   -   -   - 
 1.24   230,016   8.56   -   -   -   - 
 1.24   100,000   8.32   -   -   -   - 
 1.24   150,000   8.66   -   -   -   - 
 1.28   -   -   162,912   8.71   171,408   9.71 
 1.37   3,393   7.66   614,288   8.66   773,264   9.66 
 1.58   50,000   8.66   450,000   9.67   -   - 
 1.73   50,000   0.66   50,000   1.66   50,000   2.66 
 1.76   28,125   8.25   547,896   9.25   -   - 
 1.83   -   -   100,000   9.32   -   - 
 1.94   112,500   8.56   611,744   9.57   -   - 
     3,472,547       4,055,260       2,384,909     

d.Expenses recognized in the financial statements

The costs, which were recognized in the Company’s financial statements in respect of services received from its employees and consultants are presented in the table below:

  Year ended December 31, 
  2018  2017  2016 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
Share-based payment plans  381   1,318   1,818 

The plans are intended to be governed under rules set for that purpose in the Company’s options plan. The exercise prices of the options that are exercisable into shares as of December 31, 2018 range between $0.4 to $1.94.

F-30

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

NOTE 1314 - SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY:

 

a.Share capital

Share capital

 

As of December 31, 20182023 and 2017,2022, the Company’s ordinary share capital (hereinafter - “ordinary shares”) is composed as follows:

 

  Number of shares 
  Authorized  Issued and paid 
  December 31,  December 31, 
   2018   2017   2018   2017 
                 
Ordinary shares of no  par value  1,000,000,000   1,000,000,000   81,355,693   20,198,583 
  Number of shares 
  Authorized  Issued and paid  Authorized  Issued and paid 
  December 31, 2023  December 31, 2022 
Ordinary shares of no-par value  150,000,000   59,681,632   75,000,000   32,628,044 

 

TheOn November 2, 2023, the Company’s shareholders approved to increase the Company’s authorized share capital to 150,000,000 ordinary shares are traded on the TASE, and, commencing August 21, 2018, the Company’s ADSs are traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol “SFET”. Each ADS represents 40 ordinary shares. of no-par value.

The last reported market price for the Company’s securities on December 31, 20182023 was $2.97$7.76 per ADS on the Nasdaq and $0.087ILS 2.73 per share on the TASE (based on the exchange rate reported by the Bank of Israel for that date).

 

b.Tradable warrants:

 

On June 8, 2016 the Company made a public offering by way of issuing units of securities. As part of the issuance, offers were received to purchase 32,307 units of 3,230,700 shares, 1,292,280 Series 1 warrants and 1,292,280 Series 2 warrants, in consideration for $4,173 thousand.

The terms of the warrants, which were issued are as follows: each Series 1 warrant is exercisable into one share in consideration for 6.25 NIS until February 9, 2017. Each Series 2 warrant is exercisable into one share in consideration for 7.50 NIS until December 9, 2017.

Series 1 warrants

On January 30, 2017, the Company’s general meeting decided to defer the exercise date of the Series 1 warrants from February 9, 2017 to April 30, 2017 and to reduce the exercise price of the warrants from 6.25 NIS to 5.50 NIS. As of April 30, 2017, 8,750 warrants were exercised before the reduction of the exercise price, for a total consideration of approximately 55 thousand NIS (approximately $14 thousand), and 1,281,529 warrants were exercised after the reduction of the exercise price, for a total consideration of approximately 7,048 thousand NIS (approximately $1,930 thousand) (99.85% of all series 1 warrants were exercised in consideration for approximately 7,103 thousand NIS (approximately $ 1,943 thousand). The remaining warrants expired on April 30, 2017.

Series 2 warrants

7,020 warrants were exercised in May 2017 for a total consideration of approximately 53 thousand NIS (approximately $15 thousand). On November 2017, the Company’s general meeting and board of directors decided to defer the exercise date of the Series 2 warrants from December 9, 2017 to February 9, 2018 and to reduce the exercise price of the warrants from 7.50 NIS to 6.50 NIS. On February 9, 2018 the Series 2 Warrants expired with no further exercises.

 

F-31ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

 

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

NOTE 13 - SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY(continued):

Movement in the number of the Series 1 and 2 warrants are as follows:

  2018  2017  2016 
  Series 2 warrants  Series 1 warrants  Series 2 warrants  Series 1 warrants  Series 2 warrants 
                
Outstanding at beginning of year:  1,285,260   1,292,280   1,292,280   -   - 
Issuance  -   -   -   1,292,280   1,292,280 
Exercised  -   (1,290,279)  (7,020)  -   - 
Expired  (1,285,260)  (2,001)  -   -   - 
Outstanding at end of year  -   -   1,285,260   1,292,280   1,292,280 

C.Private offerings

During the years 2018, 2017 and 2016, the Company raised approximately $11.4 million, before deducting issuance expenses, in a series of private offerings, as follows:

Date of offering  Number of shares  

Unit price

(in NIS)

  Gross proceeds (U.S. dollars in Thousands) 
December 14, 2016   1,492,670   4.25   1,662 
April 6, 2017   1,358,834   6   2,237 
May 11, 2017   441,483   6   727 
May 22, 2017   605,000   6   1,001 
June 13, 2017   1,174,286   7   2,280 
June 3, 2018   7,634,536   1.5-1.3   2,959 
June 3, 2018   416,456   0.3   34 
September 25, 2018   5,781,580   0.3   481 

Date of offering  Number of warrants  Warrant exercise price (in NIS)  Expiration date 
December 14, 2016   1,492,670   7.5  December 9, 2017 
April 6, 2017   1,358,834   8.75  November 30, 2018 
May 11, 2017   441,483   8.75  November 30, 2018 
May 22, 2017   605,000   8.75  November 30, 2018 
June 13, 2017   1,174,286   10  November 30, 2018 
June 3, 2018   4,378,693   2.32  November 30, 2019 

F-32

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

NOTE 13 - SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY(continued):

In connection with the private offerings, the Company used the services of brokers, who mediated between the investors and the Company. In consideration for the services renderedRights conferred by those brokers, the Company awarded them fully-vested non-traded warrants, as follows:

Date of award  Number of non-traded warrants awarded  

Exercise price
(in NIS)

  

 

Expiration Date

 
April 6, 2017   11,383   6  April 9, 2022 
April 6, 2017   56,558   6  April 9, 2020 
May 11, 2017   22,074   6  May 11, 2020 
May 22, 2017   45,375   6  June 21, 2020 
June 13, 2017   84,499   10  June 21, 2020 
June 3, 2018   414,042   2.3  November 30, 2019 
June 3, 2018   12,893   10  November 30, 2018 
August 21, 2018   14,900   2.4  November 30, 2019 

The Company accounted for the said awards in accordance with the provisions of IFRS 2. The value of the services that were rendered by the brokers was treated as issuance costs, by crediting equity and allocating on a pro rata basis between the premium and finance expenses according to the proportion of equity instruments and liability instruments included in each private issuance.

As part of the private offerings, the Company has undertaken that in case that it will decide to issue additional shares over the course of up to 12 or 24 months from the respective dates of the issuances, at a price per share that is lower than the price per share that was set as part of the private issuances, it will compensate the relevant investors by issuing additional shares in accordance with the difference between the price per share of the relevant private issuance and the price per share in that future issuance, up to a minimal price that ranges between 0.88-6 NIS per share, according to the terms of the relevant issuance. In addition, the Company also undertaken to compensate certain brokers by issuing additional warrants in case of anti-dilution trigger.

Following June 3, 2018, private offering, the Company issued 416,456 shares at an exercise price of NIS 0.30 per share, reflecting the exercise price pursuant to the anti-dilution rights held by the investors, for an approximate amount of $34 thousand, and granted additional 12,893 warrants, which were also triggered by an anti-dilution clause provided in prior private offerings.

Also, following the public offering as described below, the Company issued 5,781,580 shares in consideration for NIS 0.30 per share, reflecting the exercise price pursuant to the anti-dilution rights held by the investors, for an approximate amount of $481 thousand, and granted additional 14,900 warrants which were also triggered by an anti-dilution clause provided in prior private offerings.

For accounting purposes, the Company recognized financial liabilities in respect of warrants and in respect of anti-dilution features (see above). The warrants are measured at fair value (level 1) in accordance with their quoted price. Changes are recorded to profit or loss on a periodic basis. The anti-dilution features are measured at fair value (level 3) as reflected in a valuation carried out as of the date of the transaction. Changes are recorded to profit or loss on a periodic basis. The equity component is initially recognized by subtracting the fair value of the financial liabilities from consideration received. The equity component is not re-measured in subsequent periods. Issuance expenses of $1,545 thousand in 2018 and $663 thousand in 2017 were allocated on a pro-rata basis to the three components mentioned above.

F-33

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

NOTE 13 - SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY(continued):

d.OTC listing

On June 26, 2017, the Company obtained all approvals required for listing the Company’s shares as ADS that are tradable as part of the OTCQB Venture Market of the Over the Counter (OTC) market in the USA. In accordance with the approvals, the Company commenced trade as part of the ADR Level 1 program as from June 27, 2017 under the symbol SFTTY; each ADS represents 4 ordinary Company shares. In August 2018, following the Nasdaq public offering and the listing in Nasdaq, the Company’s ADSs ceased to trade on the OTC market.shares

e.Nasdaq Public Offering

On August 21, 2018, the Company completed an underwritten public offering on the Nasdaq of 510,438 units comprising of 510,438 American Depositary Shares (“ADSs”) at a price of $14.35 per ADS, 510,438 Series A warrants to purchase up to 765,657 ADSs with an exercise price of $14.35 per ADS, and 510,438 Series B warrants to purchase up to a maximum of 1,193,407 ADSs. Each ADS represents 40 of the Company’s Ordinary Shares. The Company received aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $7.335 million from the offering,

The Series A warrants has a term of six years, are exercisable immediately and have an exercise price of $14.35 per ADS. The Series B warrants will become exercisable, if at all, commencing 120 days after issuance, at the discretion of the holder thereof until exercised in full, if at the 120th day after issuance, 80% of the lowest volume weighted average price of the ADSs during the five trading days immediately prior to such date, or the Reset Price, is lower than $14.35. In such event, each Series B warrant holder will be entitled to additional ADSs at an exercise price of $0.001 per ADS with the number of ADSs exercisable equal to the aggregate investment by such holder in connection with the closing of this offering divided by the Reset Price, less any ADSs issued to such holder at the closing of this offering. In no event shall the Reset Price be less than $4.305, subject to customary adjustments for reverse and forward stock splits, stock dividends, stock combinations and other similar transactions. In the event the right to purchase additional ADSs is not triggered on the 120th day after issuance, the Series B warrants will expire immediately.

For accounting purposes, the Company’s obligation to issue a variable number of shares pursuant to the series B warrants, was classified as a financial liability measured at fair value (level 3) as reflected in a valuation carried out as of the date of the transaction. Changes in the fair value were recorded to profit and loss until the reset date (see below). The equity components are initially recognized by subtracting the fair value of the financial liability from consideration received, based on the proportion of each one of them. The equity components are not re-measured in subsequent periods. Issuance expenses of $1.3 million in 2018 were allocated on a pro-rata basis to the three components mentioned above.

In connection with the offering the Company granted the underwriter a 45-day option to purchase up to 76,565 additional ADSs and Series A warrants to purchase up to an additional 114,848 ADSs and Series B warrants to purchase up to an additional 178,653 ADS. The underwriter didn’t exercise the option.

The Company also granted the underwriter 25,521 warrants to purchase up to 25,521 ADSs at an exercise of $14.35 per and a term of 5 years from the issuance date.

On December 19, 2018, the Reset Price of the Series B Warrants was set at $4.305 per ADS. As a result, the Series B Warrants holders are entitled to additional 1,193,407 ADSs subject to payment of an exercise price of $0.001 per ADS. The exercise period is unlimited. As of December 31, 2018, 668,194 ADSs were exercised by the Series B warrants holders.

A total of 245,490 ADSs resulting from Series B Warrants Reset Date calculations weren’t registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result, on January 2019 those warrants were cancelled and replaced with substantially similar warrants that contain a mechanism for cashless exercise (see further in Note 22(b)).

F-34

SAFE-T GROUP LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

NOTE 13 - SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY(continued):

For accounting purposes, as of December 19, 2018, following the setting of the Reset Price, as described above, the fair value of the financial liability, as of such date, in the amount of $3,479 thousand, was reclassified to equity, other than the amount of ADSs not approved for registration, which is still classified as a financial liability in the statement of financial position based on fair value of the Company’s share price at December 31, 2018 (a level 1 measurement).

f.Rights conferred by shares

Ordinary shares

 

The ordinary shares confer upon their holders voting rights, the right to receive dividends, the right to a share in excess assets upon liquidation of the Company and other rights as set out in the Company’s articles of association (hereinafter – the “Articles of Association”).

NOTE 14 - REVENUES AND COST OF REVENUES:association.

 

  Year ended December 31 
  2018  2017  2016* 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
a.   Revenues**:            
Revenues from licenses  794   486   453 
  Revenues from provision of maintenance and support services  606   519   341 
  Revenue from provision of other services  66   91   49 
   1,466   1,096   843 

Private placement

 

*The Company has initially applied IFRS 15 using the modified retrospective approach, the comparative information is not restated, See Note 2(q).
**See Note 21 with respect to the disclosure of disaggregated revenue, which is identical to entity wide disclosures.

On September 14, 2023, the Company completed a private placement offering of an aggregate of 187,225 units (the “Units”), at a purchase price of $22.70 per Unit. Each Unit consists of 10 ADSs and 1 non-tradeable warrant (the “PP Warrants”), each are exercisable into 3 ADSs. Gross proceeds totaled to $4,256 thousand. Total issuance costs amounted to $681 thousand.

b.Revenue recognized in relation to contract liabilities

 

The following table includes revenue expected to be recognizedCompany’s Chairman of Board of Directors (“Chairman”), Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) and Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”), invested an aggregate of $1.05 million in the future relatedprivate placement. The Chairman and CEO used, in part, $400 thousand each loaned to performance obligations thatthem in a non-recourse loan, by the rest of the investors in the private placement, other than the CFO. The loans bear annual interest of 8% and should be repaid in three equal installments on September 14, 2024, March 14, 2025, and September 14, 2025. The Chairman’s and CEO’s loans are unsatisfied atsecured by ADSs they already own and the reporting date.ADSs they purchased in the private placement along with their PP Warrants. The Company accounted for this arrangement between the Chairman and CEO, and the rest of the investors, in accordance with the provisions of IFRS 2. As a result, the Company recorded share-based expenses of $19 thousand.

 

U.S. dollars in thousands 2019  2020 and thereafter  Total 
Contracts with customers  495   249   744 

The PP Warrants are exercisable at any time after the date of issuance for a period of 30 months from the offering date upon payment of an exercise price of $2.72 per ADS and may also be exercised, in whole or in part, by means of a “cashless exercise”, which will be available until a registration statement covering the resale of the ADSs issuable upon the exercise of the PP Warrants is declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

The Company recognized $286 thousand of revenue related to beginninginitially accounted for the PP Warrants as a financial liability measured at fair value (level 3) as reflected in a valuation carried out as of the period contractdate of the offering, due to the cashless exercise mechanism included within, while the equity component was recognized by subtracting the fair value of the PP Warrants from the consideration received. Issuance costs were allocated on a pro-rata basis between the components mentioned above. The fair value of the financial liability balances.was determined using the Black-Scholes model with the following principal assumptions: risk-free interest rate 4.84%, expected term (in years) 2.5, expected volatility 84.85%. On September 29, 2023, the registration statement covering the resale of the ADSs issuable upon the exercise of the PP Warrants was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the cashless exercise mechanism was terminated. As a result, the PP Warrants in the amount of $1,116 thousand were classified into equity based on their fair value on such date. The fair value was determined using the Black-Scholes model with the following principal assumptions: risk-free interest rate 4.92%, expected term (in years) 2.46, expected volatility 84.25%.

 

c.Cost of revenues:
  Year ended December 31 
  2018  2017  2016 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
          
Payroll and related expenses  367   203   158 
Share-based payment  55   51   58 
Amortization of intangible assets  270   245   245 
Cost relating to sales as an agent  18   47   10 
Other  81   37   41 
   791   583   512 

In addition, the Company issued an aggregate amount of 91,851 warrants to purchase 91,851 ADSs to placement agents (the “Agent Warrants”), which can be exercised at an exercise price of $2.27 per ADS within 30 months from the offering date. The Company accounted for the Agent Warrants in accordance with the provisions of IFRS 2.

 

The fair value of the services that were rendered by the agents amounted to $209 thousand was treated as issuance costs and was determined using the Black-Scholes model using the following principal assumptions: risk-free interest rate 4.84%, expected term (in years) 2.5, expected volatility 84.85%.

As of December 31, 2023, 95,225 PP Warrants were exercised into 95,225 ADSs (952,250 ordinary shares) for $259 thousand and 30,617 Agents Warrants were exercised into 30,617 ADSs (306,170 ordinary shares) for $70 thousand.

At the Market Offering (“ATM”)

In 2023, the Company issued 2,393,740 ordinary shares through an ATM offering for total consideration of $768 thousand, before deducting issuance costs of $164 thousand. On August 30, 2023, the Company announced the termination of the ATM offering, effective immediately.


F-35

 

SAFE-T GROUPALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

Earn-out Share issuance

In August 2023 and July 2022, the Company issued 4,454,545 and 2,181,009 ordinary shares to CyberKick’s founders following its acquisition in 2021, as consideration for achieving certain milestones, representing earn-out payments of $1,050 thousand and $1,050 thousand, respectively.

NOTE 15 - DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS:

On July 4, 2023, the Company signed an agreement with TerraZone Ltd. (“TerraZone”) for the sale of its enterprise cybersecurity segment in exchange for 7% of the outstanding shares of TerraZone, which represent an estimated fair value consideration of $82 thousand. The sale included all assets and liabilities of the enterprise cybersecurity business, excluding certain patents. The Company’s enterprise cybersecurity business was focused on information security solutions for organizations. The sale will enable the Company to benefit from a streamlined business model, simplified operating structure, and enhanced management focus. Financial information relating to the discontinued operation for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021 is set out below.

Financial performance

  Year ended December 31, 
  2023  2022  2021 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
Revenue  -   229   627 
Expenses  -   924   5,227 
Loss before taxes on income  -   (695)  (4,600)
Gain from sale of discontinued operations  82   -   - 
Taxes on income  -   -   - 
Profit (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax  82   (695)  (4,600)
             
Basic and diluted loss per share from discontinued operations (in U.S. dollars)  0.00   (0.03)  (0.17)

Cash flows

  Year ended December 31, 
  2023  2022  2021 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
Net cash used in operating activities  -   (935)  (4,216)
Net cash used in investing activities  -   -   - 
Net cash used in financing activities  -   (13)  (113)
Net cash outflow  -   (948)  (4,329)

NOTE 16 - REVENUES AND COST OF REVENUES:

 

Revenues

  Year ended December 31 
  2023  2022  2021 
  U.S. dollar in thousands 
Software as a Service  23,709   11,851   7,329 
Advertising services  2,812   6,699   2,325 
   26,521   18,550   9,654 

The Company recognized $1,170 thousand, $514 thousand and $441 thousand of revenue in 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively, related to contract liability balances at the beginning of the respective annual periods.


ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

Cost of revenues

  Year ended December 31 
  2023  2022  2021 
  U.S. dollar in thousands 
Payroll and related expenses  376   364   292 
Clearing fees  679   1,113   213 
Traffic acquisition costs  1,080   3,070   1,118 
Share-based payment  8   20   2 
Internet protocols addresses costs  3,848   2,135   1,747 
Networks and servers  758   570   341 
Amortization and impairment of intangible assets and depreciation  903   1,116   1,094 
Other  59   14   37 
   7,711   8,402   4,844 

NOTE 1517 - RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT EXPENSES:

 

 Year ended December 31 
 2018  2017  2016  Year ended December 31 
 U.S. dollars in thousands  2023 2022 2021 
        U.S. dollar in thousands 
Payroll and related expenses  1,632   919   627   2,700   2,305   1,405 
Share-based payment  13   103   88   220   524   704 
Subcontractors  421   377   249   155   619   340 
Depreciation  102   73   52 
Other  348   209   121   380   303   124 
  2,414   1,608   1,085   3,557   3,824   2,625 

 

NOTE 1618 - SELLING AND MARKETING EXPENSES:

 

 Year ended December 31  Year ended December 31 
 2018  2017  2016  2023 2022 2021 
 U.S. dollars in thousands  U.S. dollar in thousands 
Payroll and related expenses  2,801   1,567   695   4,293   3,403   1,542 
Media costs  1,506   5,572   2,067 
Share-based payment  123   573   771   244   556   642 
Professional fees  1,118   823   741   136   117   84 
Marketing  699   490   353   699   814   210 
Amortization and impairment of intangible assets and depreciation  2,765   992   389 
Other  801   598   332   392   369   808 
  5,542   4,051   2,892   10,035   11,823   5,742 

 

NOTE 1719 - GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES:

 

  Year ended December 31 
  2018  2017  2016 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
          
Payroll and related expenses  667   661   382 
Share-based payment  190   576   902 
Professional fees  885   749   731 
Other  183   164   108 
   1,925   2,150   2,123 

NOTE 18 - FINANCE EXPENSES, NET:

  Year ended December 31 
  2018  2017  2016 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
Finance expenses:            
Bank fees  (20)  (15)  (12)
Issuance expenses  (517)  (242)  - 
Changes financial liabilities at fair value through profit or loss  (2,839)  (718)  (1,842)
Exchange differences  (120)  -   - 
Total finance expenses  (3,496)  (975)  (1,854)
             
Financing income:            
Changes in financial liabilities at fair value through profit or loss  945   2,697   205 
Interest received from institutions  10   9   2 
Exchange differences  -   253   75 
Total financing income  955   2,959   282 
Financing income (expenses), net  (2,541)  1,984   (1,572)

  Year ended December 31 
  2023  2022  2021 
  U.S. dollar in thousands 
Payroll and related expenses  1,568   1,670   1,678 
Share-based payment  402   483   585 
Professional fees  2,100   3,978   4,247 
Other  336   530   329 
   4,406   6,661   6,839 

F-36

 

SAFE-T GROUP


ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

 

NOTE 1920 - FINANCIAL INCOME (EXPENSES), NET:

  Year ended December 31 
  2023  2022  2021 
  U.S. dollar in thousands 
Finance expenses:         
Bank fees and interest  (65)  (117)  (121)
Issuance expenses  (182)  -   - 
Interest expenses  (429)  (212)  - 
Changes in financial liabilities at fair value  (83)  -   - 
Changes in financial assets at fair  -   (167)  - 
Exchange rate differences  (27)  (35)  - 
Total finance expenses  (786)  (531)  (121)
             
Financing income:            
Changes in financial liabilities at fair value  81   462   960 
Changes in financial assets at fair value  -   -   80 
Interest income  115   15   8 
Exchange differences  -   -   15 
Total financing income  196   477   1,063 
Financing income (expenses), net  (590)  (54)  942 

NOTE 21 - LOSS PER SHARE:

a.Basic

Basic loss per share is calculated by dividing the loss attributable to the Company’s owners by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue.

  Year ended December 31 
  2018  2017  2016 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
          
Loss attributable to Company’s owners  11,753   5,313   8,922 
The weighted average of the number of ordinary shares in issue  35,302   18,433   11,527 
Basic loss per share (dollar)  0.33   0.29   0.77 

b.Diluted

The Company adjusts the loss attributable to holders of ordinary shares and the weighted average number of shares in issue, to reflect the effect of all potentially dilutive ordinary shares, as follows:

 

The Company adds to the weighted average number of shares in issue that was used to calculate the basic loss per share, the weighted average of the number of shares to be issued assuming that all shares that have a potentially dilutive effect would be converted into shares, and adjusts net loss attributable to holders of ordinary Company shares to exclude any profits or losses recorded during the year with respect to potentially dilutive shares.Basic

 

  Year ended December 31 
  2023  2022  2021 
Loss from continuing operations (U.S. dollars in thousands) (5,607)  (12,456)  (8,525)
The weighted average of the number of ordinary shares in issue (in thousands)  41,435   31,594   27,106 
Basic loss per share from continuing operations (U.S. dollar)  (0.14)  (0.39)  (0.31)

The potential shares, as mentioned above, are only taken into account in cases where their effect is dilutive (reducing the earnings per share or increasing the loss per share).

Diluted

 

  Year ended December 31 
  2018  2017  2016 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
          
Loss attributable to Company’s owners, used in computation of basic loss per share  11,753   5,313   8,922 
Adjustment in respect of the finance income relating to anti-dilution mechanism and compensation feature  710   -   - 
   12,463   5,313   8,922 
             
The weighted average of the number of ordinary shares in issue used in computation of basic loss per share (in thousands of shares)  35,302   18,433   11,527 
Adjustment in respect of incremental shares assuming the conversion of anti-dilution mechanism and compensation feature  344   -   - 
   35,646   18,433   11,527 
Diluted loss per share (dollar)  0.35   0.29   0.77 
  Year ended December 31 
  2023  2022  2021 
Loss from continuing operations, used in computation of basic loss per share (U.S. dollars in thousands)  (5,607)  (12,456)  (8,525)
Adjustments (U.S. dollars in thousands)  -   -   - 
   (5,607)  (12,456)  (8,525)
             
The weighted average of the number of ordinary shares in issue used in computation of basic loss per share from continuing operations (in thousands)  41,435   31,594   27,106 
Adjustments (in thousands)  -   -   - 
   41,435   31,594   27,106 
Diluted loss per share from continuing operations (U.S. dollar)  (0.14)  (0.39)  (0.31)

 

For 2017 and 2016, the Company did not take into account any dilutive instruments (the share options, options to employees and anti-dilution mechanism) since their effect, on a fully diluted basis, is anti-dilutive.


 

F-37

 

SAFE-T GROUPALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

The calculation of diluted loss per share for the year December 31, 2023 does not give effect to the potential issuance of ordinary shares upon the exercise of certain options to employees and service providers and warrants issued in connection with convertible debenture agreements and private placement, as their effect is anti-dilutive.

 

The calculation of diluted loss per share for the year December 31, 2022, does not give effect to the potential issuance of ordinary shares upon the exercise of options to employees and service providers and warrants issued in connection with convertible debenture agreements, as their effect was anti-dilutive.

The calculation of diluted loss per share for the year December 31, 2021, does not give effect to the potential issuance of ordinary shares upon the exercise of options to employees and service providers, convertible debentures and greenshoe option, as their effect was anti-dilutive.

NOTE 2022 - RELATED PARTIES TRANSACTIONS AND BALANCES:

 

“Related Parties” - As defined in IAS 24, “Related Party Disclosures” (hereinafter- “IAS(“IAS 24”).

Key management personnel - included together with other entities in the said definition of “related parties” in IAS 24, include the members of the Board of Directors and senior executives. See also Note 14 for further information.

 

a.Transactions with related parties:

Transactions with related parties

Compensation to related parties

 

1)Compensation to related parties:
  Year ended December 31 
  2023  2022  2021 
  U.S. dollar in thousands 
Compensation to directors employed by the Company  797   616   1,041 
Compensation to other key management personnel  362   487   444 
Compensation to directors who are not employed by the Company  179   200   88 

 

  Year ended December 31 
  2018  2017  2016 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
Payroll, bonuses, share based compensation and related expenses to interested parties employed by the Company  285   234   307 
Management fees, consulting fees and bonuses to interested parties hired by the Company  185   344   166 
Compensation to directors who are not employed by the Company  66   57   36 

Compensation to key management personnel, including employed directors

2)Compensation to key management personnel:

 

The compensation paid to key management personnel for work services they provide to the Company is as follows:

 

  Year ended December 31 
  2018  2017  2016 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
Payroll and other short-term benefits  1,573   1,073   703 
Bonuses and Commissions  146   178   - 
Advisory fees  -   73   246 
Management fees  185   222   166 
Share-based payments  219   665   1,291 
   2,123   2,211   2,406 

b.Other transactions with related parties:

1)As part of the ongoing running of its business, the Company receives management services from the then Chairman of the Board of Directors, in consideration for a monthly payment of $15 thousand. In the years 2018, 2017 and 2016, the total amounts in respect of these engagements amounted to $185, $222 and $166 thousand, respectively. As of December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017 the payable balance amounted to $15 thousand for each year.

2)During 2017 and 2016, the Company employed related parties of its shareholders. The total amounts relating to those commitments amounted to $121 and $114 thousand, respectively. As of December 31, 2017, the payable balance amounted to $12 thousand.

3)On February 4, 2015, the then Company’s controlling shareholder and Chairman of the Board of Directors transferred to RSAccess an amount of approximately $62 thousand (242 thousand NIS), which was to be used to partly repay its debt to the Safe-T. The funds were transferred as a loan, which does not bear interest, with the aim that RSAccess will repay the loan as soon as possible out of revenue proceeds or out of investment proceeds it will receive from Safe-T. In September 2017, following the completion of the merger of RSAccess into Safe-T, the loan was fully repaid with no interest.
  Year ended December 31 
  2023  2022  2021 
  U.S. dollar in thousands 
Payroll, management fees, and other short-term benefits  921   833   1,181 
Share-based payments  238   270   303 
   1,159   1,103   1,484 

 

Balances with related parties

  December 31 
  2023  2022 
  U.S. dollar in thousands 
Employees payable  376   324 
Accounts payable  29   40 
   405   364 

F-38

 


SAFE-T GROUP

ALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

 

NOTE 20 - RELATED PARTIES - TRANSACTIONS AND BALANCES(continued):

4)During 2018 and 2017, the Company paid certain amounts to a subsidiary of a related party, who is a shareholder. The amounts were paid in respect of participation in revenues from services provided to a customer, including maintenance and support services. The total amount paid in the 12 months ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, were $10 thousand for each year.

NOTE 2123 - ENTITY LEVEL DISCLOSURES:DISCLOSURES AND SEGMENT INFORMATION:

Segments

 

Management has determined the Company’s operating segmentsegments based on the information reviewed by the Company’s chief operating decision maker for the purposespurpose of allocating resources to the segments and assessing their performance. Accordingly,The chief operating decision maker, who is the Company’s CEO, examines the performance of the operating segments based on revenues and profit (loss) before depreciation, amortization and impairment of intangible assets, interest and tax, as further adjusted for management purposes,the effect of impairment of goodwill, contingent consideration adjustments, share-based payments and other adjustments, as applicable (“adjusted EBITDA”). As of December 31, 2023, and following the sale of the enterprise cybersecurity business, which was previously reported as a separate operating segment, the Company has onetwo operating segments, which are the enterprise internet access segment which is based on its revenues from licenses and services.the consumer internet access segment. Accordingly, the information below regarding the Company’s operating segments for prior periods was retrospectively adjusted.

 

As of the date of these consolidated financial statements, the Company’s activities are mainly focused on data security services and development and marketing of data security solutions. MostThe following tables present details of the Company’s customers are commercial Israeli and American companies. The remaining Company customers are European companies. Set forth below is a breakdown ofoperating segments for the Company’s revenues by geographic regions:three years in the period ended December 31, 2023:

 

  Israel  USA  Other  Total 
     U.S. dollars in thousands 
Company’s revenues:            
For the year 2018  988   353   125   1,466 
For the year 2017  823   227   46   1,096 
For the year 2016*  590   243   10   843 
  Enterprise internet
access
  Consumer
internet
access
  Consolidated  Adjustment to net loss for year 
  Year ended December 31, 2023 
  U.S. dollar in thousands 
             
Revenues  21,291   5,230   26,521     
                 
Adjusted operating loss  7,210   381   -   7,591 
Non-attributable corporate expenses              (2,358)
Share-based payments              (880)
Impairment of goodwill and intangible assets              (8,991)
Depreciation and amortization              (861)
Operating loss              (5,499)
Financial expenses, net              (590)
Tax benefit              482 
Net loss from continuing operations              (5,607)

  Enterprise internet
access
  Consumer
internet
access
  Consolidated  Adjustment to net loss for year 
  Year ended December 31, 2022 
  U.S. dollar in thousands 
             
Revenues  8,480   10,070   18,550     
                 
Adjusted operating loss  *(2,380)  (3,439)  -   (5,819)
Non-attributable corporate expenses              (2,445)
Share-based payments              (1,583)
Impairment of goodwill and intangible assets              (1,021)
Depreciation and amortization              (1,861)
Operating loss              (12,729)
Financial expenses, net              (54)
Tax benefit              327 
Net loss from continuing operations              (12,456)

 

*The Company has initially applied IFRS 15 using the modified retrospective approach, the comparative information is not restated, See Note 2(q).

Principal customers: Year ended December 31 
  2018  2017  2016* 
  U.S. dollars in thousands 
Revenue with principal customers  308   436   499 

  Percentage of total sales 
Customer A  8%  21%  23%
Customer B  2%  13%  - 
Customer C  11%  2%  - 
Customer D  10%  -   - 
Customer E  2%  3%  23%
Customer F  1%  3%  14%

*The Company has initially applied IFRS 15 using the modified retrospective approach, the comparative information is not restated, See Note 2(q).Including legal expenses of $2,439 thousand related to legal proceedings resolved by a settlement in May 2022.

 

F-39


 

SAFE-T GROUPALARUM TECHNOLOGIES LTD.

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (continued)

  Enterprise internet
access
  Consumer
internet
access
  Consolidated  Adjustment to net loss for year 
  Year ended December 31, 2021 
  U.S. dollar in thousands 
             
Revenues  6,265   3,389   9,654     
                 
Adjusted operating loss  *(2,987)  (1,319)  -   (4,306)
Non-attributable corporate expenses              (2,561)
Share-based payments              (1,936)
Contingent consideration measurement              684 
Impairment of goodwill and intangible assets              (700)
Depreciation and amortization              (1,593)
Operating loss              (10,412)
Financial expenses, net              942 
Tax benefit              945 
Net loss from continuing operations              (8,525)

*Including legal expenses of $2,704 thousand related to legal proceedings resolved by a settlement in May 2022.

 

Revenue by Geographic Area

  Year ended December 31 
  2023  2022  2021 
  U.S. dollar in thousands 
U.S.  5,534   4,110   3,518 
Europe  5,210   2,599   2,229 
APAC  7,181   1,253   529 
U.K. Virgin Island  3,109   7,009   - 
Hong-Kong  339   118   1,365 
MEA  2,166   471   - 
Israel  2,149   177   348 
Other  833   2,813   1,665 
   26,521   18,550   9,654 

Revenue in 2023 of $3,055 thousand resulted from one main customer (representing 12% of total revenues).

Revenue in 2022 of $6,948 thousand resulted from one main customer (representing 37% of total revenues).

Revenue in 2021 of $2,214 thousand resulted from one main customer (representing 23% of total revenues).

NOTE 2224 - SUBSEQUENT EVENTS:

 

a.Options cancellation

On February 20, 2019, 1,586,048 options out of some the options grants described under Note 12 were cancelled following a Board of Directors approval and the relevant employees and consultant’s approvals of the cancellation.

b.B Warrants replacement

On January 22, 2019 the Company signed agreements with several investors from the Nasdaq public offering (See Note 13(e)) to exchange the Series B warrants that entitled the investors to purchase 245,490 ADSs for nominal exercise price that weren’t registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, with fully vested warrants to purchase up to 306,863 ADSs that include a mechanism for cashless exerciser.

 

As ofDuring 2024, until the approval date of the approval of thethese financial statements, a total310,681 PP Warrants and Agent Warrants were exercised for 310,681 ADSs for an aggregate exercise price of 141,754 ADSs are issuable upon the exercise of 28,629 Series B warrants and 113,125 Series B exchange (cashless) warrants.

c.Share purchase agreement

In January 2019, the Company signed a non-binding letter of intent (LOI) for the acquisition of a fast-growing Israeli company in the business proxy network solution industry. Under the terms of the LOI, the Company will purchase all of the purchased company’s issued and outstanding shares. The expected payment for the transaction is $9.7 million, which will be paid in a combination of equity and cash. The consideration may include an additional earn-out payment in 2020, subject to the level of increase of the purchased company’s sales during 2019 compared to 2018.$817 thousand.

 

Pursuant to the LOI, the parties will enter into definitive agreements within 40 days,Options and the closing will take place no later than 45 days thereafter, subject to closing conditions. There is no assurance that definitive agreements will ever be entered into and that the transaction will ever be closed.RSUs grants

 

The closing of the shares and assets purchase is subject, among other conditions, toDuring 2024, until the approval date of these financial statements, the Company’s shareholdersCompany granted employees and signing definitive agreements.consultants an amount of 130,000 options and 255,056 RSUs.

 

 

F-40F-36

 

 

iso4217:INR xbrli:shares