Results of Operations
Comparison of the three months ended March 31, 2023 to the three months ended March 31, 2022
Grant Revenue. Grant revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022 was $664 and $125,008, respectively. The grant revenue in the three months ended March 31, 2023 relates 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 2022, NAVSEA approved two 6-month extensions to the program. No additional grant revenue was associated with these extensions.
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 to develop a B-TRAN™-driven low loss alternating current SSCB. We completed this work in the first quarter of 2022. The grant revenue in the three months ended March 31, 2022 relates to both the NAVSEA and SBIR programs.
We expect the remaining grant revenue of $36,724 related to the NAVSEA program to be recognized in the second quarter of 2023. We also expect to pursue additional government funding that may result in additional grant revenues in the future.
We entered into a development agreement in late 2022 and launched our first commercial product in January 2023. As a result, we expect to generate initial commercial revenue later in 2023.
Cost of Grant Revenue. Cost of grant revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022 was $664 and $125,008, respectively. The cost of grant revenues relates to the subcontracts with DTI discussed above and is equal to the associated grant revenue resulting in no gross profit. We expect no gross profit under the subcontract with DTI related to the NAVSEA program or from other grants that we are pursuing or may pursue in 2023.
Research and Development Expenses. Research and development expenses increased by $611,481, or 74%, to $1,440,028 in the three months ended March 31, 2023 from $828,547 in the three months ended March 31, 2022. The increase was due to higher stock-based compensation expense of $280,829, semiconductor fabrication costs of $214,971 and personnel costs of $121,203, partly offset by lower other B-TRAN™ development spending of $5,522. We expect higher research and development expenses in the remainder of 2023 as compared to 2022 as we continue development of our B-TRAN™ technology.
General and Administrative Expenses. General and administrative expenses increased by $41,984, or 5%, to $894,933 in the three months ended March 31, 2023 from $852,949 in the three months ended March 31, 2022. The increase was due to higher stock-based compensation expense of $84,143, personnel costs of $60,170 and professional fees of $47,914, partly offset by services paid in stock in the three months ended March 31, 2022 of $100,100, lower board of directors’ fees and expenses of $49,000 and other general and administrative spending of $1,143. We expect relatively flat general and administrative expenses, exclusive of stock-based compensation, in the remainder of 2023 as compared to 2022.
Sales and Marketing Expenses. Sales and marketing expenses increased by $84,897, or 39%, to $304,326 in the three months ended March 31, 2023 from $219,429 in the three months ended March 31, 2022. The increase was due to higher search and placement fees of $43,750, personnel costs of $21,730, stock-based compensation expense of $13,188 and other spending of $6,229. We expect higher sales and marketing expenses in the remainder of 2023 as compared to 2022 as we engage more broadly with prospective customers and launch our second commercial product in the second half of 2023.
Loss from Operations. Our loss from operations for the three months ended March 31, 2023 was $2,639,287, or 39% higher, as compared to the $1,900,925 loss from operations for the three months ended March 31, 2022, for the reasons discussed above.
Interest Income (Expense), Net. Net interest income was $111,302 for the three months ended March 31, 2023 compared to net interest expense of $3,716 for the three months ended March 31, 2022 as the result of the impact of higher interest rates on our money market account.
Net Loss. Our net loss for the three months ended March 31, 2023 was $2,527,985, or 33% higher, as compared to a net loss of $1,904,641 for the three months ended March 31, 2022, for the reasons discussed above.