Results of Operations
Comparison of the three months ended March 31, 2022 to the three months ended March 31, 2021
Grant Revenues. Grant revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021 were $125,008 and $242,061, respectively. The grant revenues relate primarily to a $1.2 million subcontract with Diversified Technologies, Inc. (“DTI”) to supply B-TRAN™ devices as part of a two-year contract awarded to DTI by the United States Naval Sea Systems Command (“NAVSEA”) for the development and demonstration of a B-TRAN™ enabled high efficiency direct current solid state circuit breaker (“SSCB”). The program started in late June 2020. In September 2021, we entered into and began work under a $50,000 subcontract with DTI under a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (“SBIR”) grant from the Department of Energy (“DOE”) to develop a B-TRAN™-driven low loss alternating current SSCB. We completed our work under this subcontract in February 2022. We expect the grant revenue related to the subcontract with DTI for the NAVSEA program to continue over the next quarter with minimal revenue recognized thereafter through completion of the NAVSEA demonstration. We also expect to pursue additional government funding that may result in additional grant revenues in the future.
We expect to introduce our initial product for commercial sale in late 2022.
Cost of Grant Revenues. Cost of grant revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021 was $125,008 and $242,061, respectively. The cost of grant revenues relates to the subcontracts with DTI discussed above and are equal to the associated grant revenues resulting in no gross profit. We expect no gross profit under the remaining subcontract with DTI or from other grants that we are pursuing or may pursue in the remainder of 2022.
Research and Development Expenses. Research and development expenses increased by $567,667, or 218%, to $828,547 in the three months ended March 31, 2022 from $260,880 in the three months ended March 31, 2021. The increase was due to higher semiconductor fabrication costs of $250,537, personnel costs of $99,917, stock-based compensation expense of $82,177, professional fees of $52,722, contract labor of $39,608, engineering services of $36,360 and other B-TRAN™ development spending of $6,346. In the three months ended March 31, 2021, all of our semiconductor fabrication costs were funded by government grants. In the three months ended March 31, 2022, a majority of our semiconductor fabrication costs were not funded by government grants. We expect higher research and development expenses in the remainder of 2022 as we continue to accelerate development of our B-TRAN™ technology and self-fund, at least in the short term, semiconductor fabrication costs and other development previously funded through government grants. Research and development expenses will be subject to quarterly variability due primarily to the number, size and timing of semiconductor fabrication runs and their associated cost.
General and Administrative Expenses. General and administrative expenses increased by $252,263, or 42%, to $852,949 in the three months ended March 31, 2022 from $600,686 in the three months ended March 31, 2021. The increase was due to higher investor relations spending, inclusive of services paid in stock, of $107,128, board of directors’ search and placement fees and expenses of $85,941, stock-based compensation expense of $55,301 and other general and administrative spending of $3,893. We expect relatively flat to slightly lower general and administrative expenses in the remainder of 2022.
Sales and Marketing Expenses. Sales and marketing expenses increased by $156,851, or 251%, to $219,429 in the three months ended March 31, 2022 from $62,578 in the three months ended March 31, 2021. The increase was due to higher personnel costs of $93,956 as we hired our first two sales and marketing employees in 2021, stock-based compensation expense of $32,355 and other spending as we work towards commercializing our B-TRAN™ technology of $30,540. We expect higher sales and marketing expenses in the remainder of 2022 as we engage more broadly with prospective customers and commercialize our B-TRAN™ technology.
Loss from Operations. Our loss from operations for the three months ended March 31, 2022 was $1,900,925, or 106% higher, as compared to the $924,144 loss from operations for the three months ended March 31, 2021, for the reasons discussed above.
Interest Expense, Net. Interest expense, net was $3,716 for the three months ended March 31, 2022 compared to $6 for the three months ended March 31, 2021.
Net Loss. Our net loss for the three months ended March 31, 2022 was $1,904,641, or 106% higher, as compared to a net loss of $924,150 for the three months ended March 31, 2021, for the reasons discussed above.