As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on August 4, 2023

Registration No.  333-       

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM S-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT 
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

NAUTICUS ROBOTICS, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

17146 Feathercraft Lane, Suite 450
Webster, TX 77598
(281) 942-9069
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

Nicolaus Radford
Director and Chief Executive Officer
Nauticus Robotics, Inc.
17146 Feathercraft Lane, Suite 450
Webster, TX 77598
(281) 942-9069
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

Copies to:

Michael Blankenship
Winston & Strawn LLP
800 Capitol Street, Suite 2400
Houston, TX 77002-2925
Telephone: (713) 651-2600

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to public:
From time to time after the effective date hereof.

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box. ☒

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ☐

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

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐

The information contained in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. These securities may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

NAUTICUS ROBOTICS, INC.

Up to 1,890,066 Shares of Common Stock

This prospectus relates to the resale or other disposition from time to time by the selling securityholders named in this prospectus or their permitted transferees (the “Selling Securityholders”) of up to an aggregate 1,890,066 shares (“Resale Shares”) of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (“Common Stock”), of Nauticus Robotics, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company” and, together with the Selling Securityholders, the “RRA Parties”). The Resale Shares were issued to the Selling Securityholders pursuant to and in consideration of the Parties’ agreements set forth in the RRA Amendment (defined below), including with respect to and in full satisfaction of certain liquidated damages provided for under the RRA (defined below).

We will bear all costs, expenses and fees in connection with the registration of the Resale Shares and will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the Resale Shares. The Selling Securityholders will bear all commissions and discounts, if any, attributable to their respective sales (if any) of the Resale Shares.

Our Common Stock and Public Warrants (defined below) are currently listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market (“Nasdaq”) under the symbols “KITT” and “KITTW,” respectively. The closing price of our Common Stock on August 4, 2023 was $1.93 per share.

We are an “emerging growth company” as defined under the federal securities laws and, as such, have elected to comply with certain reduced public company reporting requirements.

Investing in our securities is highly speculative and involves a high degree of risk. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 6.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

The date of this prospectus is        , 2023

Table of Contents

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus. We have not authorized any other person to provide you with information different from or in addition to that contained in this prospectus. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. We are not making an offer to sell these securities in any jurisdiction where an offer or sale is not permitted. You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date on the front cover of this prospectus. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since that date.

In this prospectus, we rely on and refer to information and statistics regarding our industry. We obtained this statistical, market and other industry data and forecasts from publicly available information. While we believe that the statistical data, market data and other industry data and forecasts are reliable, we have not independently verified the data.

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

This prospectus is part of a registration statement that we filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) using a “shelf” registration process. By using a shelf registration statement, the Selling Securityholders may, from time to time, sell the securities offered by them described in this prospectus (the “Resale Shares”) in one or more offerings as described in this prospectus. We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of Resale Shares by the Selling Securityholders.

We may also file a prospectus supplement or post-effective amendment to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part that may contain material information relating to any such offering. The prospectus supplement or post-effective amendment, as the case may be, may add, update or change information contained in this prospectus with respect to such offering. If there is any inconsistency between the information in this prospectus and the applicable prospectus supplement or post-effective amendment, you should rely on the prospectus supplement or post-effective amendment, as applicable. Before purchasing any of the Resale Shares, you should carefully read this prospectus and any prospectus supplement and/or post-effective amendment, as applicable, together with the additional information described under “Where You Can Find More Information.”

Neither we, nor the Selling Securityholders, have authorized anyone to provide you with any information or to make any representations other than those contained in this prospectus and any prospectus supplement and/or post-effective amendment, as applicable, prepared by or on behalf of us or to which we have referred you. We and the Selling Securityholders take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. We and the Selling Securityholders will not make an offer to sell Resale Shares in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus and any prospectus supplement and/or post-effective amendment, as applicable, is accurate only as of the date on the applicable cover. Our business, prospects, financial condition or results of operations may have changed since those dates. This prospectus contains, and any prospectus supplement or post-effective amendment may contain, market data and industry statistics and forecasts that are based on independent industry publications and other publicly available information. Although we believe these sources are reliable, we do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of this information and we have not independently verified this information. In addition, the market and industry data and forecasts that may be included in this prospectus and any prospectus supplement and/or post-effective amendment, as applicable, may involve estimates, assumptions and other risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based on various factors, including those discussed under “Risk Factors” in this prospectus and any prospectus supplement and/or post-effective amendment, as applicable. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on this information.

FREQUENTLY USED TERMS

Unless otherwise stated in this prospectus or context otherwise requires the terms, “we,” “us,” “our,” “Nauticus,” or the “Company” refer to Nauticus Robotics, Inc., a Delaware corporation. Further, in this prospectus:

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act, with respect to our financial condition, results of operations and business, plans, objectives and strategies. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and include this statement for purposes of complying with these safe harbor provisions.

These forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate only to historical or current facts. Forward-looking statements often use words such as “estimate,” “project,” “predict,” “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “may,” “might,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “intend,” “believe,” “expect,” “aim,” “goal,” “target,” “objective,” “commit,” “advance,” “likely” or similar expressions that convey the prospective nature of events or outcomes. There are several factors which could cause actual plans and results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements. Such factors include, without limitation, those risks, uncertainties and other factors described in “Risk Factors,” those discussed and identified in the Company’s public filings made with the SEC and the following:

These and other factors could cause actual results to differ from those implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance and speak only as of the date hereof. The forward-looking statements are based on the current and reasonable expectations of our management but are inherently subject to uncertainties and changes in circumstances and their potential effects and speak only as of the date of such statements. There can be no assurance that future developments will be those that have been anticipated or that we will achieve or realize these plans, intentions or expectations.

All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

In addition, statements of belief and similar statements reflect our beliefs and opinions on the relevant subject. These statements are based upon information available to us as of the date of this filing, and while we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, such information may be limited or incomplete, and statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These statements are inherently uncertain and investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements. 

RISK FACTORS

You should carefully review and consider the following risk factors and the other information contained in this prospectus, including the consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes and matters addressed in the section titled “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” in evaluating an investment in our Common Stock. The following risk factors apply to our business and operations. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in these risk factors, alone or in combination with other events or circumstances, may have an adverse effect on our business, cash flows, financial condition and results of operations. We may face additional risks and uncertainties that are not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial, which may also impair our business, cash flows, financial condition and results of operations.

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

We are an early-stage company with a history of losses, and we expect to incur significant expenses for the foreseeable future.

We incurred a net loss of $28.3 million and $15.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. We believe that we will continue to incur operating and net losses each quarter until at least the fourth quarter of 2023. Even though we have commercial traction for platform sales, we may not attract customers for our RaaS offering, and our potential profitability is dependent upon the successful adoption on a larger scale of our robotics systems, which may not occur. There can be no assurance that we will be financially successful.

We expect the rate at which we will incur losses will be significantly higher in future periods as we:

Because we will incur costs and expenses from these efforts before we receive any incremental revenues with respect thereto, our losses in future periods will be significant. In addition, we may find that these efforts are more expensive than we currently anticipate or that these efforts may not result in revenues, which would further increase our losses.

We have restated our prior unaudited consolidated financial statements, which may lead to additional risks and uncertainties, including loss of investor confidence and negative impacts on our stock price. (As Restated)

We have restated our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements as of and for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2022 (the “Restated Period”). Our Audit Committee, in consultation with and based on the recommendation of management, made the determination to restate these financial statements following the identification of errors related to the classification of certain warrants that were previously recorded as equity. Due to the errors, the Audit Committee concluded that the Company’s previously issued financial statements for the Restated Period should no longer be relied upon. In addition, we performed a re-evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting. Based on the re-evaluation, management concluded that, as a result of the identified of material weakness, our internal control over financial reporting were ineffective for the Restated Period. Our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2022 has been amended by an Amendment No. 1 on Form 10-Q/A to, among other things, reflect the restatement of our financial statements for the Restated Period.

As a result of these events, we have become subject to a number of additional costs and risks, including unanticipated costs for accounting and legal fees in connection with or related to the restatement and the remediation of our ineffective disclosure controls and procedures and material weakness in internal control over financial reporting. In addition, the attention of our management team has been diverted by these efforts. We could be subject to additional stockholder, governmental, or other actions in connection with the restatement or other matters. Any such proceedings will, regardless of the outcome, consume management’s time and attention and may result in additional legal, accounting, insurance and other costs. If we do not prevail in any such proceedings, we could be required to pay substantial damages or settlement costs. In addition, the restatement and related matters could impair our reputation or could cause our counterparties to lose confidence in us. Each of these occurrences could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We previously identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting that has since been remediated and downgraded to a significant deficiency. We have identified a new material weakness surrounding the classification of the SPA Warrants, which were previously recorded as equity. This material weakness could continue to adversely affect our ability to report our results of operations and financial condition accurately and in a timely manner.

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of consolidated financial statements for external purposes in accordance with GAAP. Our management is likewise required, on a quarterly basis, to evaluate the effectiveness of our internal controls.

In 2021, we identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, such that there was a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. To address this material weakness, we engaged a technical accounting and financial reporting consulting firm to assist the company with (i) our financial accounting close, (ii) the application of technical accounting literature, (iii) the preparation of our financial statements, and (iv) the independent audit of our financial statements. We hired additional personnel in the third and fourth quarters of 2022 to supplement our accounting and financial reporting staff to remediate this weakness in our internal controls. We are also strengthening internal control over financial reporting by implementing an enterprise resource planning system (“ERP”), a software used to automate business processes, containing workflows and business rules that ensure process is followed by approved policies, roles, and procedures. We expect to complete the final phases of the ERP implementation by the end of the fourth quarter of 2023. The resulting fully integrated ERP system will enhance financial reporting and transactional interfaces.

As a result of the Company’s efforts, the previously identified material weakness, described above, has since been remediated and downgraded to a significant deficiency. In addition to the steps already taken, we plan to continue to devote significant effort and resources to the remediation and improvement of our internal control over financial reporting. While we have processes to identify and appropriately apply applicable accounting requirements, we plan to enhance these processes to better evaluate, research and understand the complexities of proposed accounting standards that apply to our consolidated financial statements. These include providing enhanced access to accounting literature, research materials and documents, increasing communication among our personnel, hiring additional technical accounting resources, and engaging third-party professionals with whom we will consult regarding complex accounting standards. The elements of our continued remediation plan can only be accomplished over time, and we can offer no assurances that these initiatives will ultimately have all or some of the intended effects.

Any failure to maintain such internal control could adversely impact our ability to report our financial position and results of operations on a timely and accurate basis. If our financial statements are not accurate, investors may not have a complete understanding of our operations. Likewise, if our financial statements are not filed on a timely basis, we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the stock exchange on which our Common Stock is listed, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. In either case, that could result in a material adverse effect on our business. Ineffective internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the trading of our Common Stock.

As identified in our amended quarterly report on form 10-Q/A for the period ended September 30, 2022, we identified a material weakness surrounding the classification of the SPA Warrants, which were previously recorded as equity. See Item 9A. Controls and Procedures — Identified Material Weakness as of September 2022 and Item 9A. Controls and Procedures — Remediation Plan. As a result of this material weakness, Nauticus’ management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2022.

We expect to incur ongoing significant costs to meet the corporate governance provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, related regulations of the SEC, and the requirements of NASDAQ, with which we were not required to comply as a private company. Complying with these statutes, regulations, and requirements will occupy a significant amount of our Board’s and management’s time and will significantly increase costs and expenses.

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

For more information, please see the risk factor entitled “If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable regulations could be adversely affected.”

Almost all of our revenues in 2020, 2021, and 2022 were derived from three customers. A substantial portion of our current revenue is generated by sales to government entities, which are subject to a number of uncertainties, challenges, and risks.

We currently have a limited number of customers. For the year ended December 31, 2022, sales to two customers accounted for 95% of total revenue, and the total balance due from these customers made up 82% of accounts receivable as of December 31, 2022. For the year ended December 31, 2021, sales to one customer accounted for 89% of total revenue, and the total balance due from this customer made up 82% of accounts receivable as of December 31, 2021. Due to our limited number of customers, the breach, cancellation, or amendment of any sales agreement with our current or future customers may have an outsized effect on our revenue, cash on hand, and profitability. In addition, we may have an increased interest in accepting less favorable terms of any amendment as a result.

The total balances due from these customers as of December 31, 2020 made up 100% of accounts receivable. 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 and expense without any assurance that these efforts will generate a sale. In the event that we are successful in being awarded further government contracts, such awards may be subject to appeals, disputes, or litigation, including, but not limited to, bid protests by unsuccessful bidders. Government demand and payment for our solutions may be impacted by public sector budgetary cycles and funding authorizations, with funding reductions or delays adversely affecting public sector demand for our solutions. Government entities may have statutory, contractual, or other legal rights to terminate our contracts for convenience or default. For purchases by the U.S. federal government, the government may require certain products to be manufactured in the United States and other high-cost manufacturing locations, and we or any third-party manufacturers may not manufacture all products in locations that meet government requirements, and as a result, our business and results of operations may suffer.

As a government contractor or subcontractor, we must comply with laws, regulations, and contractual provisions relating to the formation, administration, and performance of government contracts and inclusion on government contract vehicles, which affect how we and our partners do business with government agencies. As a result of actual or perceived noncompliance with government contracting laws, regulations, or contractual provisions, we may be subject to non-ordinary course audits and internal investigations which may prove costly to our business financially, divert management time, or limit our ability to continue selling our products to our government customers. These laws and regulations may impose other added costs on our business, and failure to comply with these or other applicable regulations and requirements, including non-compliance in the past, could lead to claims for damages, downward contract price adjustments or refund obligations, civil or criminal penalties, and termination of contracts and suspension or debarment from government contracting or subcontracting for a period of time or indefinitely. Any such damages, penalties, disruption, or limitation in our ability to do business with a government would adversely impact, and could have a material adverse effect on, our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

If we fail to effectively manage our growth, we may not be able to design, develop, manufacture, market, and launch new generations of our robotic systems successfully.

We intend to invest significantly in order to expand our business. Any failure to manage our growth effectively could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results. We intend to expand our operations significantly. We expect our expansion to include:

Should achieved market penetration warrant, we intend to continue to hire a significant number of additional personnel, including engineers, design and production personnel and service technicians for our ocean robotic systems and services. Because of the innovative nature of our technology, individuals with the necessary experience may not be available to hire, and as a result, we will need to expend significant time and expense to recruit and retain experienced employees and appropriately train any newly hired employees. Competition for individuals with experience designing, producing, and servicing dexterous ocean robots and their software is intense, and we may not be able to attract, integrate, train, motivate or retain additional highly qualified personnel. The failure to attract, integrate, train, motivate and retain these additional employees could seriously harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Our operating and financial projections rely on management assumptions and analyses. If these assumptions or analyses prove to be incorrect, our actual operating results may be materially different from our forecasted results.

We are an ocean robotics and services company, with limited experience commercializing our products and services. The projected financial and operating information appearing elsewhere in this prospectus reflects estimates of future performance and is based on multiple financial, technical, and operational assumptions, including the hiring of additional skilled personnel in a timely manner to support continued development and commercialization of the core products; the timing of commercial launch of our ocean robotic systems; the level of demand for our ocean robotic systems; the performance of our ocean robotic systems; the utilization of the ocean robot fleet; the commercial interest in the RaaS subscription model; the useable life of the ocean robotic systems; the cost of manufacturing; the cost and availability of adequate supply of components; the nature and length of the sales cycle; and the costs of maintenance and servicing and refurbishing of our ocean robotic systems. However, given our limited commercial experience, it is likely that many of these assumptions will prove incorrect. The projections are forward-looking statements that are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control. See “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.” Whether actual operating and financial results and business developments will be consistent with our expectations and assumptions as reflected in our forecast depends on a number of other factors, many of which are outside our control, including, but not limited to:

Unfavorable changes in any of these or other factors, most of which are beyond our control, could cause us to fail to meet our operating and financial projections and could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

We rely on third-party manufacturers/suppliers and expect to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. This reliance on third parties increases the risk that we will not have sufficient quantities of our products or such quantities at an acceptable cost, which could delay, prevent or impair our development or commercialization efforts.

We rely, and expect to continue to rely, on third-party manufacturers/suppliers. This reliance on third-party manufacturers/suppliers increases the risk that we will not have sufficient quantities of our products or such quantities at an acceptable cost, which could delay, prevent or impair our development or commercialization efforts. Additionally, we may be unable to establish or continue any agreements with third-party manufacturers/suppliers, on acceptable terms or at all. Even if we are able to establish agreements with third-party manufacturers/suppliers, reliance on third-party manufacturers/suppliers entails additional risks, including:

If our current or future third-party manufacturers/suppliers cannot perform as agreed, we may be required to replace such manufacturers/suppliers and we may be unable to replace them on a timely basis or at all. Our current and anticipated future dependence upon third-party manufacturers/suppliers may adversely affect our future profit margins and our ability to commercialize any products that receive marketing approval on a timely and competitive basis.

The wide-scale commercial RaaS launch of our fleet, Aquanaut and Hydronaut, may be delayed beyond the end of 2023.

We expect to commercially launch our RaaS business model to the public at large in late 2023 or beyond. A delay in the delivery and readiness of our core product, Aquanaut, due to the factors mentioned below would also delay the generation of revenue through the RaaS business model. Both Aquanaut and the subsequent RaaS revenue stream may be delayed if the risks mentioned herein are not mitigated. Among the significant current challenges that could delay the commercial launch are as follows:

We have limited experience commercializing our products at a large scale and may not be able to do so efficiently or effectively.

Although we have sold products to a limited number of individual customers in the past, we have limited experience commercializing ocean robotic systems at a large scale and may not be able to do so efficiently or effectively. A key element of our long-term business strategy is the continued growth in sales, marketing, training, customer service and maintenance and servicing operations, including hiring personnel with the necessary experience. Managing and maintaining these operations is expensive and time-consuming, and an inability to leverage such an organization effectively or at all could inhibit potential sales or subscriptions and the penetration and adoption of our products into new markets. In addition, certain decisions we make regarding staffing in these areas in our efforts to maintain an adequate spending levels could have unintended negative effects on our revenues, such as the weakening of our sales, marketing and maintenance and servicing infrastructures or lowering the quality of our customer service.

Our business plans require a significant amount of capital. Our future capital needs may require us to sell additional equity or debt securities that may dilute our stockholders or introduce covenants that may restrict our operations or our ability to pay dividends.

We will require significant capital to operate our business and fund our capital expenditures for the next several years. While we expect that we will have sufficient capital to fund our currently planned operations, it is possible that we will need to raise additional capital to fund our business, including to finance ongoing research and development costs, manufacturing, any significant unplanned or accelerated expenses, and new strategic alliances or acquisitions. The fact that we have limited experience commercializing our ocean robotic systems on a large scale, coupled with the fact that our products represent a new product category in the commercial and industrial ocean robotic market, means we have limited historical data on the demand for our robotic systems. In addition, we expect our capital expenditures to continue to be significant in the foreseeable future as we continue generational improvements for our commercial products, and that our level of capital expenditures will be significantly affected by customer demand for our ocean robotic systems. As a result, our future capital requirements may be uncertain and actual capital requirements may be different from those we currently anticipate. We may need to seek equity or debt financing to finance a portion of our capital expenditures. Such financing might not be available to us in a timely manner or on terms that are acceptable, or at all.

Our ability to obtain the necessary financing to carry out our business plan is subject to a number of factors, including general market conditions and investor acceptance of our business model. These factors may make the timing, amount, terms, and conditions of such financing unattractive or unavailable to us. If we are unable to raise sufficient funds, we will have to significantly reduce our spending, delay or cancel our planned activities or substantially change our corporate structure. We might not be able to obtain any funding, and we might not have sufficient resources to conduct business as projected, both of which could mean that we would be forced to curtail or discontinue our operations.

In addition, our future capital needs and other business reasons could require us to sell additional equity or debt securities or obtain a credit facility. The sale of additional equity or equity-linked securities could dilute our stockholders. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased debt service obligations and could result in operating and financing covenants that would restrict our operations and/or our ability to pay dividends.

If we cannot raise additional funds when we need or want them, our operations and prospects could be negatively affected.

We may be unable to raise additional capital needed to fund and grow our business.

We may not be able to increase our capital resources by engaging in additional debt or equity financings. Even if we complete such financings, they may not be on favorable terms. These circumstances could materially and adversely affect our financial results and impair our ability to achieve our business objectives. Additionally, we may be required to accept terms that restrict our ability to incur additional indebtedness or take other actions (including terms that require us to maintain specified liquidity or other ratios) that would otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders.

Adverse developments affecting the financial services industry, such as actual events or concerns involving liquidity, defaults, or non-performance by domestic and international financial institutions or transactional counterparties, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Actual events involving reduced or limited liquidity, defaults, non-performance or other adverse developments that affect domestic and international financial institutions or other companies in the financial services industry or the financial services industry generally, or concerns or rumors about any events of these kinds, have in the past and may in the future lead to market-wide liquidity problems. For example, on March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank was closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as receiver. Although we did not have any cash or cash equivalent balances on deposit with Silicon Valley Bank, investor concerns regarding the U.S. or international financial systems could result in less favorable commercial financing terms, including higher interest rates or costs and tighter financial and operating covenants, or systemic limitations on access to credit and liquidity sources, thereby making it more difficult for us to acquire financing on acceptable terms or at all. Any decline in available funding or access to our cash and liquidity resources could, among other risks, adversely impact our ability to meet our operating expenses or fulfill our financial or other obligations, or result in breaches of our financial and/or contractual obligations. Any of these impacts, or any other impacts resulting from the factors described above or other related or similar factors not described above, could have material adverse effects on our liquidity and our current and/or projected business operations, financial condition and results of operations.

Our products and services are disruptive to the ocean services industries, and important assumptions about the market demand, pricing, adoption rates and sales cycles with respect to our current and future products and services may be inaccurate.

Our core offering, a surface vessel and tetherless subsea robot pair, presents a new service paradigm in the ocean services markets, which are currently dominated by conventional, tethered devices with large surface vessels. The market demand for and adoption of our offering is unproven, and important assumptions about the characteristics of targeted markets, pricing, and sales cycles may be inaccurate. Although we have engaged in ongoing dialogue with potential customers, we have few binding commitments to purchase products and services and no hard commitments to enter into RaaS subscriptions. Existing or new regulatory or safety standards, or resistance by customer employees and labor unions, all of which are outside of our control, could cause delays or otherwise impair adoption of these new technologies, which will adversely affect our growth, financial position, and prospects. Given the evolving nature of the markets in which we operate, it is difficult to predict customer demand or adoption rates for our products or the future growth of the markets we expect to target. If one or more of the targeted markets experience a shift in customer or prospective customer demand, our products may not compete as effectively, if at all, and they may not be fully developed into commercial products. As a result, the financial projections in this prospectus necessarily reflect various estimates and assumptions that may not prove accurate and these projections could differ materially from actual results because of the risks included in this “Risk Factors” section, among others. If demand does not develop as expected or if we cannot accurately forecast pricing, adoption rates and sales cycles of our products, our business, results of operations and financial condition will be adversely affected.

With our service offering still being commercialized on a large scale, we have limited current customers and no hard contracts for the RaaS offering, and there is no assurance that expected customer demand will result in binding orders or subscriptions.

We expect to launch our core RaaS offering in late 2023 or beyond. This evaluation is based on the time to complete production of the initial commercial RaaS fleet. With the initial fleet still under production, we have no binding commitments for our RaaS offering. At present, we have contracts for delivery of pre-production units with U.S. government customers, and we also have had, and currently have, revenue-generating contracts with both commercial and U.S. government customers. Pre-production means that the unit that has not gone through a subsequent design evolution for mass production (defined as tens of units per year). Although we have engaged in dialogue (i.e., MOUs) with potential customers about their interest in our offering, there is no assurance that expected customer trials and discussions will result in binding commitments. There may be variability in the customer testing time that will be required to adopt our RaaS offering. As such, customer testing may last longer than anticipated, and we may not be able to provide such testing to the satisfaction of prospective customers, which could result in longer sales cycles and lower subscription revenue than anticipated. In addition, in order to build and maintain our business, we must maintain confidence among customers, suppliers, analysts, ratings agencies and other parties in our ocean robotic systems, long-term financial viability and business prospects. Maintaining such confidence may be particularly complicated by certain factors, including those that are largely outside of our control, such as our limited commercial experience, customer unfamiliarity with our products, any delays in scaling production, inability of delivery and service operations to meet demand, competition and uncertainty regarding the future of ocean robotics. If we do not receive a sufficient number of binding orders for our products or RaaS subscriptions, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be materially and adversely affected.

The benefits of our products to customers and projected return on investment have not been substantiated through long-term trials or use.

Our core products’ benefits to customers and projected return on investment have not been substantiated through long-term trials or use. We currently have a limited frame of reference for evaluating the performance of our ocean robotic systems upon which our business prospects depend. There can be no assurance that such units will provide the expected benefit to customers. Our ocean robotic systems may not perform consistently with customers’ expectations or consistently with other robotics products that may become available. Any failure of our robotic systems and software to perform as expected could harm our reputation and result in adverse publicity, lost revenue, delivery delays, product recalls, product liability claims and significant warranty and other expenses and could have a material adverse impact on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. Additionally, problems and defects experienced by competitors or others in the ocean robotics market could, by association, have a negative impact on perception and customer demand for our ocean robotic systems.

We may fail to attract or retain customers for our RaaS business model at sufficient rates or at all.

We have limited experience commercializing our RaaS business model and may not be able to do so efficiently or effectively. Although we have engaged in ongoing dialogue with potential future customers, there are currently no binding commitments with commercial customers to enter into RaaS agreements with respect to our ocean services. To grow our customer base, we must achieve binding commitments from expected customers and add new customers, which we may not be able to do in sufficient numbers or at all. Even if we are able to attract customers, these customers may not maintain a high level of commitment to our products and services. In addition, we will incur marketing, sales or other expenses, including referral fees, to attract new customers, which will offset revenues from such customers. For these and other reasons, we could fail to achieve revenue growth, which could adversely affect our results of operations, prospects and financial condition.

If customers or their employees do not perceive our product and service offerings to be of value, we may not be able to attract and retain customers and customers may fail to purchase additional units or renew their RaaS subscriptions. If our efforts to satisfy and retain our existing customers are not successful, we may not be able to attract customers, and as a result, our ability to maintain and/or grow our business will be adversely affected. Customers may fail to purchase additional units or cancel their subscriptions/contracts with us for many reasons, including inadequate customer service or maintenance and servicing issues that are not satisfactorily resolved. Customer retention will also be largely dependent on the quality and effectiveness of our customer service and maintenance and servicing operations, which may be handled internally by our personnel and also by third-party service providers. Outsourcing of certain customer service and claims administration or maintenance and servicing functions may reduce our ability to ensure consistency in our overall customer service processes. If we are unable to successfully retain existing customers and attract new customers, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results will be adversely affected.

Even if we successfully market our products and services, the purchase or subscription, adoption and use of the products and services may be materially and negatively impacted if our customers resist the use and adoption of the products and services.

We have designed and developed our robotic systems with the goal of reducing operating costs and greenhouse gases via smaller surface vessels and all-electric robot subsystems. Even if we successfully market our products and services to customers, the purchase or subscription, adoption and use of the products and services may be materially and negatively impacted if our customers resist or delay their use and adoption our novel technology products and service offerings. Customers may resist or delay the adoption of our products and services for several reasons, including lack of confidence in autonomous and semi-autonomous ocean vehicles. We will spend significant time and resources on beta units of our Aquanaut for customer testing. If our customers resist or delay adoption of our ocean robotic platforms, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results will be materially and adversely affected.

Our RaaS subscription model (planned for future commercial services but yet to be implemented) has yet to be tested and may fail to gain commercial acceptance.

Our ability to derive revenue from our products depends on our ability to successfully market our products and develop a network of ongoing customers for our new RaaS revenue model. Investors should be aware of the difficulties normally encountered by a new business model, many of which are beyond our control, including substantial risks and expenses while establishing or entering new markets, setting up operations and undertaking marketing activities. There can be no assurance that customers will perceive benefits to the RaaS subscription model.

Because we will continue to own units while they are used by the customers, we will be subject to risks associated with ongoing ownership of the units, including the risks of deterioration, damage or theft and higher maintenance and servicing costs. All of these could result in higher costs to us and could lead to customer dissatisfaction. The likelihood of our success must be considered in light of these risks, expenses, complications, delays, and the competitive environment in which we operate. There is, therefore, nothing at this time upon which to base an assumption that our RaaS business model will prove successful.

If we are successful in commercializing our products and services, our revenue will be concentrated in a limited number of models for the foreseeable future.

If we are successful in commercializing our products and services, our revenue will be concentrated in a limited number of models for the foreseeable future. We launched the Aquanaut platform in 2021 and expect to launch the commercial production versions of the Aquanaut robotic system under the RaaS business model in late 2023 or 2024. Such timeline may be delayed, including due to challenges in recruiting skilled employees, difficulties in securing components and materials, development delays, difficulties relating to manufacturing of the units and other factors. Such challenges may result in the delay of the anticipated commercial launch of one or more of the products and services, which would adversely affect our financial and operating results. To the extent our products and services do not meet customer expectations, or cannot be completed or manufactured or delivered on their projected timelines and in line with cost and volume targets, our future sales and operating results may be adversely affected. Given that for the foreseeable future our business will depend on a limited number of product models, to the extent a particular product model is not well-received by the market, our revenue could be materially and adversely affected. This could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

We may not be able to complete or enhance our product and service offerings through our research and development efforts.

To commercially launch the RaaS business model, we will need to continue to advance and evolve our products in response to the evolving demands of our customers in the various industries we expect to serve. We expect to launch a newer version of the Aquanaut, a mobile subsea robotic system, in 2023, which will require significant additional expenses, and we may not be successful in commercializing or marketing the associated products and services at all or within the currently expected timeline.

In addition, notwithstanding our market research efforts, our future products and services may not be accepted by customers or their employees. The success of any proposed product and service offerings will depend on numerous factors, including our ability to:

We have managed and expect to continue to manage our product development efforts through the development of alpha units, beta units, and commercial units. If we fail to adequately communicate to customers the improvements that are expected from one development stage to the next, or if customer feedback from one development stage is not adequately reflected in the next, customers may not be persuaded of the value of our products and services. If we fail to generate demand by developing products that incorporate features desired by customers, we may fail to generate RaaS subscriptions sufficient to achieve or maintain profitability. We have in the past experienced, and may in the future experience, delays in various phases of product development, including during research and development, manufacturing, limited release testing, marketing and customer education efforts. Further, delays in product development would postpone demonstrations and customer testing, which are important opportunities for customer engagement, and cause us to miss expected timelines. Such delays could cause customers to delay or forgo purchases of or subscriptions to our products and services, or to purchase or subscribe for competitors’ products and services. Even if we can successfully develop proposed products when anticipated, these products and their related services may not produce revenue in excess of the costs of development and service, and they may be quickly rendered obsolete by changing customer preferences or the introduction by competitors of products and services embodying new technologies or features. If we are unable to successfully manage our product development and communications with customers, customers may choose to not adopt, to cancel or to not renew RaaS subscriptions, which would adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

Defects, glitches, or malfunctions in our products or the software that operates them, failure of our products to perform as expected, connectivity issues or operator errors could result in product recalls, lower than expected return on investment for customers, and could cause harm to operators and significant safety concerns, each of which could adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and our reputation.

The design, manufacture, and marketing of our products involve certain inherent risks. Manufacturing or design defects, glitches, malfunctions, connectivity issues between the central processing unit and peripheral vehicle subsystems, unanticipated use of our robotic systems, operator errors or inadequate disclosure of risks relating to the use of ocean robotic systems, among other things, can lead to injury, property damage or other adverse events. We conduct extensive testing of our units, in some instances in collaboration with our customers, to ensure that any such issues can be identified and addressed in advance of commercial launch of the products. However, there can be no assurance that we will be able to identify all such issues or that, if identified, efforts to address them will be effective in all cases.

In addition, if the manufacturing of our products is outsourced, we may not be aware of manufacturing defects that could occur. Such adverse events could lead to unexpected failures in our products and could result, in certain cases, in the removal of our products from the market. A product recall could result in significant costs. To the extent any manufacturing defect occurs, our agreement with the third-party manufacturer may contain a limitation on the third-party manufacturer’s liability, and therefore we could be required to incur the majority of related costs. Product defects or recalls could also result in negative publicity, damage to our reputation or, in the event of regulatory developments, delays in new product acceptance.

Our products incorporate sophisticated computer software. Complex software frequently contains errors, especially when first introduced. Our software may experience errors or performance problems in the future. If any part of our products’ hardware or software were to fail, the service mission could be compromised. Additionally, users may not use our products in accordance with safety protocols and training, which could amplify the risk of failure. Customers or other users also may fail to install updates and fixes to the software for several reasons, including poor connectivity or inattention. Any such occurrence could cause delays in the market acceptance of our products, damage to our reputation, or result in product recalls, increased service and warranty costs, product liability claims and loss of revenue relating to such hardware or software defects.

We anticipate that, as part of our ordinary course of business, we may be subject to product liability claims alleging defects in the design or manufacture of our products. A product liability claim, regardless of our merit or eventual outcome, could result in significant legal defense costs and high punitive damage payments. Although we maintain product liability insurance, the coverage is subject to deductibles and limitations, and may not be adequate to cover future claims. Additionally, we may be unable to maintain our existing product liability insurance in the future at satisfactory rates or adequate amounts.

Even if our products perform properly and are used as intended, if operators sustain any injuries while using our products, we could be exposed to liability and our results of operations, financial condition, and reputation may be adversely affected.

Our products contain complex technology and must be used as designed and intended in order to operate safely and effectively. While we expect to develop a training, customer service and maintenance and servicing infrastructure to ensure users are equipped to operate our products in a safe manner, we cannot be sure that the products will ultimately be used as designed and intended. In addition, we cannot be sure that we will be able to predict all the ways in which use or misuse of the products can lead to injury or damage to property, and our training resources may not be successful at preventing all incidents. If operators were to sustain any injuries or cause any damage to property while using our products, in a manner consistent with our training and instructions or otherwise, we could be exposed to liability and our results of operations, financial condition and reputation may be adversely affected.

We have no experience maintaining or servicing our products at a large scale.

Under the RaaS subscription (planned for future commercial services but yet to be implemented) or conventional service contract model, we will be responsible for maintenance and servicing of our products. However, we have no experience providing maintenance and servicing on a global scale. We may elect to partner with one or more third parties to perform some or all of the servicing and maintenance on our products, but there can be no assurance that we will be able to enter into an acceptable arrangement with any such third-party provider. Although such servicing partners may have experience in servicing complex machinery, they will initially have limited experience in servicing our ocean vehicles. If we are unable or elect not to enter into a partnership with third parties to perform maintenance and servicing, we would be required to provide such services directly, which would significantly increase our capital expenditures and personnel costs. We would also be required to recruit and train employees to provide these services and we may not be able to attract persons with the necessary knowledge or experience to provide these services. Delays in implementing a maintenance and servicing infrastructure may significantly delay new RaaS subscriptions due to less than expected maintenance and servicing capacity.

In addition, there can be no assurance that our service and maintenance arrangements will adequately address the service and maintenance requirements of our customers to their satisfaction, or that we and our servicing partners will have sufficient resources, experience or inventory to meet these service requirements in a timely manner as the volume of robotic systems we deliver increases. Even if we and our servicing partners have the sufficient resources and experience needed, we or they still may not adequately service or maintain the units. If we are unable to, directly or through third-party partners, roll out and establish a widespread service network, including on-site services, customer satisfaction could be adversely affected, which in turn could materially and adversely affect our reputation and thus our sales, results of operations and prospects.

Our customers will also depend on our customer support team to resolve technical and operational issues relating to the integrated software underlying our ocean robotic systems. In addition, the RaaS subscription model will require us to cover costs relating to servicing and maintenance of the robotic systems. Customer behavior and usage may result in higher than expected maintenance and repair costs. Moreover, if RaaS customers do not pay the subscription fee while the units are out of service, there could be an adverse impact on our financial condition and operating results.

As we continue to grow, additional pressure may be placed on our customer support team or partners, and we may be unable to respond quickly enough to accommodate short-term increases in customer demand for technical support. We also may be unable to modify the future scope and delivery of our technical support to compete with changes in the technical support provided by our competitors. Increased customer demand for support, without corresponding revenue, could increase costs and negatively affect our operating results. If we are unable to successfully address the service requirements of our customers or if there is a market perception that we do not maintain high-quality support, we may be subject to claims from our customers, including loss of revenue or damages, and our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results may be materially and adversely affected.

Our ability to manufacture products of sufficient quality on schedule is unproven, and delays in the design, production and launch of our products could harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Our future business depends in large part on our ability to execute our plans to design, develop, manufacture, market, deploy and service our products. We intend to increasingly outsource the manufacturing of our ocean robotic systems to one or more third-party manufacturing partners. While this arrangement may lower operating costs, it also reduces our direct control over production and manufacturing. Such diminished control may have an adverse effect on the quality or quantity of our units, or our flexibility to respond to changing conditions.

Further, we plan to continue to retain third-party vendors and service providers to engineer, design and test some of the critical systems and components of our units. While this allows us to draw from such third parties’ industry knowledge and expertise, there can be no assurance such systems and components will be successfully developed to our specifications or delivered in a timely manner to meet our program timing requirements.

Our continued development and manufacturing of our commercially available robotic system, Aquanaut, and of future models of our products, including Argonaut, are and will be subject to risks, including with respect to:

We are or may be subject to risks associated with strategic alliances or acquisitions and may not be able to identify adequate strategic relationship opportunities, or form strategic relationships, in the future.

We may seek to enter into strategic alliances, joint ventures, minority equity investments, acquisitions, collaborations and in-license arrangements. There is no guarantee that any of these partnerships or acquisitions would lead to any binding agreements or lasting or successful business relationships with third parties. If any of these relationships are established, they may subject us to a number of risks, including risks associated with sharing proprietary information, non-performance by the third party and increased expenses in establishing new relationships, any of which may materially and adversely affect our business. We may have limited ability to monitor or control the actions of these third parties and, to the extent any of these strategic third parties suffers negative publicity or harm to their reputation from events relating to their business, we may also suffer negative publicity or harm to our reputation by virtue of our association with any such third party.

Strategic business relationships will be an important factor in the growth and success of our business. However, there are no assurances that we will be able to identify or secure suitable business relationship opportunities in the future or that our competitors will not capitalize on such opportunities before we do. Moreover, identifying such opportunities could require substantial management time and resources, and negotiating and financing relationships involves significant costs and uncertainties. If we are unable to successfully source and execute on strategic relationship opportunities in the future, our overall growth could be impaired, and our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be materially adversely affected.

When appropriate opportunities arise, we have in the past, and may in the future, acquire additional assets, products, technologies or businesses that are complementary to our existing business. From time to time, the sellers of these assets, products and technologies or businesses may retain limited rights to the technology that they sell to us, which in some circumstances could allow the sellers to compete with us in a limited fashion. In addition to possible stockholder approval, we may need to obtain approvals and licenses from relevant government authorities and will be required to comply with any applicable laws and regulations in connection with consummating proposed acquisitions, which could result in increased delay and costs, and may disrupt our business strategy if we fail to do so. Furthermore, acquisitions and the subsequent integration of new assets and businesses into our own require significant attention from our management and could result in a diversion of resources from our existing business, which in turn could have an adverse effect on our operations and financial results. Acquired assets or businesses may not generate the financial results we expect. Acquisitions could result in the use of substantial amounts of cash, potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities, the occurrence of significant goodwill impairment charges, amortization expenses for other intangible assets and exposure to potential unknown liabilities of the acquired business. Moreover, the costs of identifying and consummating acquisitions may be significant.

We are highly dependent on the services of our senior management and other key employees and if we are unable to attract and retain a sufficient number of qualified employees, our ability to design, manufacture and launch our products, operate our business and compete could be harmed.

Our success depends, in part, on our ability to retain our key personnel. We expect that we will be required to increase compensation levels of senior management and key employees to remain competitive with our peers. The unexpected loss of or failure to retain one or more of our senior managers or other key employees could delay product development and require outsourcing to third parties, each of which in turn could adversely affect our business. Our success also depends, in part, on our continuing ability to identify, hire, attract, train and develop other highly qualified personnel. Experienced and highly skilled employees are in high demand and competition for these employees can be intense, and our ability to hire, attract and retain them depends on our ability to provide competitive compensation. We may not be able to attract, assimilate, develop or retain qualified personnel in the future, and our failure to do so could adversely affect our business, including the execution of our business strategy. Any failure by our management team and our employees to perform as expected may have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Our management as a group has limited experience in operating a public company.

Our management team may not successfully or effectively manage our ongoing transition to a public company, which is subject to significant regulatory oversight and reporting obligations under federal securities laws. Our executive officers as a group have limited experience in the management of a publicly traded company. Management’s limited experience in dealing with the increasingly complex laws pertaining to public companies could be a significant disadvantage in that an increasing amount of our management’s time may be devoted to these activities, thereby resulting in less time being devoted to the management and growth of the Company. We will need to recruit additional persons to join our management team in order to handle the increased demands of running a public company, but our efforts may not be successful. We may not have adequate personnel with the appropriate level of knowledge, experience and training in the accounting policies, practices or internal control over financial reporting required of public companies. Any failure by our management team to perform as expected may have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

We will continue to incur significant expenses and administrative burdens as a public company.

We will continue to incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that Legacy Nauticus did not incur as a private company, and these expenses may increase even more after we are no longer an emerging growth company, as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act. As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, as well as rules adopted, and to be adopted, by the SEC and Nasdaq. Our management and other personnel will need to continue devoting a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives. We may need to hire additional personnel to support our operations as a public company, which will increase our operating costs in future periods. Moreover, our compliance with these rules and regulations has to date, and may in the future, involve substantially increased legal and financial costs in addition to certain activities being more time-consuming and costly. The increased costs have and may further increase our net loss. We cannot accurately predict or estimate the amount or timing of additional costs we may incur in connection with being a public company. The impact of being a public company could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our Board or on committees of our Board or as executive officers. Such increased expenses and administrative burdens involved in operating as a public company could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

Residual or further effects of the COVID-19 pandemic or the effects of another pandemic, epidemic or outbreak of an infectious disease may materially and adversely impact our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

The global spread of COVID-19 and its variants such as the omicron variant created significant market volatility and economic uncertainty and disruption during 2021 and continuing into 2022. We were adversely affected by the deterioration and increased uncertainty in the macroeconomic outlook as a result of the impact of COVID-19. We have experienced and may continue to experience disruptions in our supply chain, due in part to the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Depending upon the duration and extent of the residual or any further effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including any additional associated business interruptions, our customers, suppliers, manufacturers and partners may suspend or delay their engagements with us, which could result in a material adverse effect on our financial condition and ability to meet current timelines. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected and may continue to affect our ability to recruit skilled employees to join our team. The conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have adversely affected and may continue to adversely affect, among other things, demand for our products and the ability to test and assess our robotic systems with potential customers, any of which, in turn, has adversely affected and may in the future adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. Any further or future impacts of COVID-19 or of another pandemic, epidemic or outbreak of an infectious disease cannot be accurately predicted at this time, and the ultimate direct and indirect impacts on our business, results of operations and financial condition will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain.

The ongoing military action between Russia and Ukraine could adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

On February 24, 2022, Russian military forces launched a military action in Ukraine, and sustained conflict and disruption in the region are likely. Although the length, impact and outcome of the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine is highly unpredictable, this conflict could lead to significant market and other disruptions, including significant volatility in commodity prices and supply of energy resources, instability in financial markets, supply chain interruptions, political and social instability, changes in consumer or purchaser preferences as well as increases in cyberattacks and espionage.

Russia’s recognition of two separatist republics in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine and subsequent military action against Ukraine have led to an unprecedented expansion of sanction programs imposed by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland, Japan and other countries against Russia, Belarus, the Crimea Region of Ukraine, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, including, among others:

While we do not currently have operations in Ukraine, Russia or Belarus, we are nevertheless actively monitoring the situation in Ukraine and assessing its impact on our business, including our business partners and customers. To date we have not experienced any material interruptions in our infrastructure, supplies, technology systems or networks needed to support our operations. We have no way to predict the progress or outcome of the conflict in Ukraine or its impacts, Russia or Belarus as the conflict, and any resulting government reactions, are rapidly developing and beyond our control. The extent and duration of the military action, sanctions and resulting market disruptions could be significant and could potentially have substantial impact on the global economy and our business for an unknown period of time. Any of the abovementioned factors could affect our business, financial condition and operating results. Any such disruptions may also magnify the impact of other risks described herein.

We may become subject to new or changing governmental regulations relating to the design, manufacturing, marketing, distribution, servicing, or use of our products, including as a result of climate change, and a failure to comply with such regulations could lead to withdrawal or recall of our products from the market, delay our projected revenues, increase costs, or make our business unviable if we are unable to modify our products to comply.

We may become subject to new or changing international, federal, state and local regulations, including laws relating to the design, manufacturing, marketing, distribution, servicing or use of our products. Such laws and regulations may require us to pause sales and modify our products, which could result in a material adverse effect on our revenues and financial condition. Such laws and regulations can also give rise to liability such as fines and penalties, property damage, bodily injury and cleanup costs. Capital and operating expenses needed to comply with laws and regulations can be significant, and violations may result in substantial fines and penalties, third-party damages, suspension of production or a cessation of our operations. Any failure to comply with such laws or regulations could lead to withdrawal or recall of our products from the market.

Climate change laws and environmental regulations could result in increased operating costs and reduced demand for our products and services.

Concerns over environmental pollution and climate change have produced significant legislative and regulatory efforts on a global basis, and we believe this will continue both in scope and in the number of countries participating. These changes could directly increase the cost of energy, which may have an effect on the way we manufacture products or utilize energy to produce our products. In addition, any new regulations or laws in the environmental area might increase the cost of raw materials or key components we use in our products. Environmental regulations may require us to reduce product energy usage, monitor and exclude an expanding list of restricted substances and participate in recovery and recycling of our products or components. We are unable to predict how any future changes will impact us and if such impacts will be material to our business.

Further, climate change laws, environmental regulations, and other similar measures may have an effect on the operating activities of our customers, which may, in turn, reduce the demand for our products and services. To the extent increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere may produce climate changes that have significant physical effects, such as increased frequency and severity of storms, droughts, floods and other climatic events, such events could have a material adverse effect on the Company and potentially subject the Company to further regulation.

We may experience significant delays in the design, development, production and launch of our ocean robotic systems, which could harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Our core products, including the Argonaut, Aquanaut, Olympic Arm and ToolKITT, are currently offered through direct sales and will be offered for lease through RaaS when available, we expect that the nature of these products will require continuous improvements and further testing throughout their product and generational lifecycles in order to innovate and develop these products fully. Deliveries of the Aquanaut for commercial customer use are not expected to begin until the third quarter of 2023, and may occur later or not at all. Such timeline may be delayed, including due to challenges in recruiting skilled employees, difficulties in securing components and materials, development delays, difficulties relating to manufacturing of the units and other factors. Any delay in the design, development, production and release of our products could materially damage our brand, business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. We may experience delays in the design, development, production and release of new products, including due to integration, safety and performance issues. To the extent we delay the commercial launch of our ocean robotic systems, our growth prospects and operating results will likely be adversely affected.

We have no experience to date in high volume manufacturing of our products, nor do we have the facility, employees, or equipment needed to manufacture our products in high volume.

We intend to continue under existing agreements and/or enter into new contracts with one or more third-party manufacturers to produce our ocean vehicles. We do not know whether our future third-party manufacturers will be able to develop efficient, automated, low-cost production capabilities and processes and reliable sources of component supply, which will enable us to meet applicable quality, price, engineering, design and production standards, as well as the production volumes required to successfully market our robotic systems. Even if we and our third-party manufacturers are successful in developing our production capability and processes and reliably sourcing our components, we do not know whether we will be able to do so in a manner that avoids significant delays and cost overruns, including as a result of factors beyond our control such as problems with suppliers and vendors or force majeure events, or in time to meet our unit commercialization schedules or in satisfaction of the requirements of existing and potential customers.

If we are unable to enter into agreements with third-party manufacturers on acceptable terms, we will need to develop our own manufacturing and production capabilities, which would significantly increase our capital expenditures and possibly delay production of our ocean robotic systems. If this were to occur, we would need raise or borrow additional money, which may not be successful, and possibly change the anticipated pricing of our RaaS subscription model, which would adversely affect our margins and cash flows.

Any failure to develop production processes and capabilities within our projected costs and timelines could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

The period of time from initial design of our products to obtaining binding purchase commitments from customers is long and we are subject to the risk that customers who initially expressed an interest in our products during the design phase will not enter into binding commitments.

Our products contain complex technology that requires multiple years of engineering and design. Therefore, the period of time from initial design of our products to obtaining binding purchase commitments from customers is long and we are subject to the risk that customers who initially expressed an interest in our products during the design phase will not enter into binding commitments. The design of our products is significantly influenced by feedback from potential customers and reflects the needs expressed by them. As a result, adapting our products to other industries or customers may require additional design, development, testing, work and expenses. We cannot be sure that we will be able to adapt our products to reflect such feedback successfully or at all. If customers who initially expressed an interest in our proposed products, and in turn influenced the design of our products, ultimately decide to not enter into binding commitments or to adopt a competitor’s technology, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results would be adversely affected.

Our ability to control costs and liabilities is dependent on developing sufficient screening criteria for our RaaS customers.

Our ability to realize revenue and reduce liability related to our RaaS subscription model (planned for future commercial services but yet to be implemented) is heavily dependent on our ability to effectively screen customers for high risk activities or environments that could result in higher costs for us. We have limited experience with our RaaS subscription model and may not be able to develop effective customer screening criteria. We may need to rely on third-party service providers to develop effective screening criteria, which will result in additional cost to us. Our screening criteria may also need to be adjusted over time to satisfy requirements under applicable law, from our insurers, lenders or from other third-party service providers. We must balance the need to develop effective screening criteria with our need to attract new customers or market to different industry segments.

Our business and prospects depend significantly on our ability to build the Nauticus brand. We may not succeed in continuing to establish, maintain and strengthen the Nauticus brand, and our brand and reputation could be harmed by negative publicity regarding us or our products.

Our business and prospects are heavily dependent on our ability to develop, maintain and strengthen the Nauticus brand. If we do not continue to establish, maintain and strengthen our brand, we may lose the opportunity to build a critical mass of customers. Promoting and positioning our brand will depend significantly on our ability to provide high quality products and engage with our customers as intended. In addition, our ability to develop, maintain and strengthen the Nauticus brand may depend on the acceptance of our products by employees of our customers. To promote our brand, we may be required to change our customer development and branding practices, which could result in substantially increased expenses, including the need to use traditional media including print media. If we do not develop and maintain a strong brand, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results will be materially and adversely impacted.

In addition, if negative incidents occur or are perceived to have occurred, whether or not such incidents are our fault, we could be subject to adverse publicity. In particular, given the popularity of social media, any negative publicity, whether true or not, could quickly proliferate and harm perceptions and confidence in the Nauticus brand. Furthermore, there is the risk of potential adverse publicity related to our manufacturing or other partners whether or not such publicity is related to their collaboration with us. Our ability to successfully position our brand could also be adversely affected by perceptions about the quality of our competitors’ products.

We are dependent on our suppliers, some of which are currently single or limited source suppliers, and the inability of these suppliers to deliver necessary components of our products at prices and volumes and with specifications and performance characteristics acceptable to us, could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. We have not yet identified all of the suppliers that we are likely to rely on to support future commercialization of our core products.

We rely on third-party suppliers for the provision and development of many of the key components and materials used in our products. We have not yet identified all of the suppliers, contractors and other third parties that we are likely to rely on to support future commercialization of our core products. While we plan to obtain components from multiple sources whenever possible, some of the components used in our products may have to be purchased by us from a single source. If our third-party suppliers are unable to supply key components and materials at the required volume, our sales, revenues and profitability will likely be adversely affected. Our third-party suppliers may also not be able to meet the specifications and performance characteristics required by us, which would impact our ability to achieve our product specifications and performance characteristics as well. Additionally, our third-party suppliers may be unable to obtain or maintain required certifications relating to their products that we currently or may in the future use, or unable to provide warranties that are necessary for our solutions. If we are unable to obtain components and materials used in our products from our suppliers, our business would be adversely affected.

We have less negotiating leverage with suppliers than larger and more established companies and may not be able to obtain favorable pricing and other terms. For example, agreements with suppliers may include terms that are unfavorable to us, such as requirements that we order components or manufactured units in excess of our demand due to batch number requirements or price thresholds. While we believe that we may be able to establish alternate supply relationships and can obtain or engineer replacement components for our single source components, we may be unable to do so in the short-term, or at all, at prices or quality levels that are favorable to us, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Moreover, we and our suppliers are currently experiencing increases in the cost of, and an interruption in, the supply or shortage of materials. It is unclear how long these challenges will remain. Due to the complexity of our products, each unit is expected to contain several thousand components. Difficulty securing any components and materials could result in delays in the development of these core products, which delays could be compounded if components or units require redesign or reengineering. Any sustained or further supply interruptions or shortages could therefore prevent or delay the commercialization of our products and materially and negatively impact our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. We and our suppliers use various materials in our respective businesses and products, including, for example, semiconductor chips, energy storage materials, commodity materials and specialty metal alloys, and the prices for these materials fluctuate. The available supply of some of these materials and components is currently and may continue to be unstable, depending on market conditions and global demand, and could adversely affect our business and operating results. Risks relating to our supply chain include:

Our business is also dependent on the continued supply of lithium-ion battery cells. While we believe several sources of lithium-ion cells are available, we have to date sourced from only one supplier for our commercial production and we may have limited flexibility in changing cell suppliers once contracted. Any disruption in the supply of battery cells from such suppliers could disrupt production of our products. Furthermore, fluctuations or shortages in raw materials or components and other economic conditions may cause us to experience significant increases in freight charges and material costs. Substantial increases in the prices of materials, including prices charged to us, such as those charged by battery cell suppliers, would increase our operating costs, and could reduce our margins if the increased costs cannot be recouped through increased RaaS subscription offering or unit sales prices. Any attempts to increase product prices in response to increased material costs could result in cancellations of orders and reservations and therefore materially and adversely affect our brand, image, business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Our robotic systems use bespoke lithium-ion battery cells, which, if not appropriately handled, controlled or stored, could catch fire or vent smoke and flame.

The battery packs within our robotic systems use bespoke lithium-ion cells. If not properly handled or subjected to environmental stresses, lithium-ion cells can rapidly release the energy they contain by venting smoke and flames in a manner that can ignite nearby materials as well as other lithium-ion cells. While these battery packs are designed to contain any single cell’s release of energy without spreading to neighboring cells, a field or testing failure of battery packs in our robotic systems could occur, which could result in bodily injury or death and could subject us to lawsuits, field actions (including product recalls), or redesign efforts, all of which would be time-consuming and expensive and could harm our brand image. Also, negative public perceptions regarding the suitability of lithium-ion cells for littoral or deep sea applications, the social and environmental impacts of mineral mining or procurement associated with the constituents of lithium-ion cells, or any future incident involving lithium-ion cells, such as a vehicle or other fire, could materially and adversely affect our reputation and business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

In addition, we store lithium-ion batteries at our facilities. While we store only a limited number of such batteries at our facilities commensurate with our inventory and testing of robotic systems, any mishandling of battery cells, or any fire or other safety issue related to the cells, could disrupt our operations, and any prolonged or significant disruption would materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations and/or cash flows. Such damage or injury could also lead to adverse publicity, regulatory action, or a safety recall. In addition, the transportation and effective storage of lithium-ion batteries is also tightly regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation and other regulatory bodies, and any failure to comply with such regulation could result in fines, loss of permits and licenses or other regulatory consequences, which could limit our ability to manufacture and deliver our robotic systems and negatively affect our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

Laws, regulations, and other legislative efforts related to climate change, environmental concerns, and health and safety could result in increased operating costs, reduced demand for our products and services, or the loss of future business.

Concerns over environmental pollution and climate change have produced significant legislative and regulatory efforts on a global basis, and we believe this will continue both in scope and in the number of countries participating. These changes could directly increase the cost of energy, which may have an effect on the way we manufacture products or utilize energy to produce our products. In addition, any new regulations or laws in the environmental area might increase the cost of raw materials or key components we use in our products. Environmental regulations may require us to reduce product energy usage, monitor and exclude an expanding list of restricted substances and participate in recovery and recycling of our products or components. We are unable to predict how any future changes will impact us and if such impacts will be material to our business.

Further, climate change laws, environmental regulations, and other similar measures may have an effect on the operating activities of our customers, which may, in turn, reduce the demand for our products and services. To the extent increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere may produce climate changes that have significant physical effects, such as increased frequency and severity of storms, droughts, floods and other climatic events, such events could have a material adverse effect on the Company and potentially subject the Company to further regulation.

We must also comply with extensive government laws and regulations related to, among other things, health, safety and the environment, which govern the offshore and other areas where our robotic systems operate, including vessel and port security laws. Since we have no prior history of offshore operations, we may experience difficulties meeting the compliance standards of such laws and regulations, and our inability to do so may cause us to lose prospective business and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations. Further, environmental, health and safety and vessel and port security laws change frequently, and we may not be able to anticipate such changes or the impact of such changes. There is no assurance that we can avoid significant costs, liabilities and penalties imposed as a result of governmental regulation in the future. Changes in laws or regulations concerning our offshore activities, the cost or availability of insurance, and decisions by clients, governmental agencies or other industry participants could reduce demand for our services or increase our costs of operations, which could have a negative impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows, but we cannot reasonably or reliably estimate that such changes will occur, when they will occur or if they will impact us.

Our transition to an outsourced manufacturing business model for our commercial products may not be successful, which could harm our ability to deliver products and recognize revenue.

We transitioned from our historical manufacturing model, in which we have primarily manufactured and assembled our products on a smaller scale at our existing Webster, Texas location, to one where we rely on one or more third-party manufacturers. We have negotiated and in the future expect to negotiate from time to time with third parties to provide contract manufacturing of our products. Moreover, we may not be able to contract with potential counterparties on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. We believe the use of third-party manufacturers will have benefits, but in the near-term, while we rely on one or more existing or new manufacturing partners, we may lose revenue and incur increased costs if they are unable to deliver our commercial units on schedule or otherwise in satisfaction of acceptable standards.

Reliance on third-party manufacturers reduces our control over the manufacturing process, including reduced control over quality, product costs and product supply and timing. We may experience delays in shipments or issues concerning product quality, including as a result of actions (or lack thereof) taken by our third-party manufacturers. If any of our third-party manufacturers experience interruptions, delays or disruptions in supplying our products, including by reason of natural disasters, the global COVID-19 pandemic, other health epidemics and outbreaks, work stoppages or capacity constraints, our ability to ship products to distributors and customers would be delayed. In addition, unfavorable economic conditions could result in financial distress among third-party manufacturers upon which we rely, thereby increasing the risk of disruption of the procurement of supplies necessary to fulfill our production requirements and meet customer demands. While we take measures to protect our trade secrets, the use of third-party manufacturers may also risk unauthorized disclosure of our innovative and proprietary technologies, which could adversely affect our business.

Additionally, if any of our future third-party manufacturers experience quality control problems in their manufacturing operations and our products do not meet customer requirements, we could be required to recall the units or cover the cost of repair or replacement of any defective products. Any such delays or product quality issues could have an immediate and material adverse effect on our ability to fulfill orders and could have a negative effect on our operating results. In addition, such delays or issues with product quality could adversely affect our reputation and our relationship with our customers.

If any third-party manufacturers experience financial, operational, manufacturing capacity or other difficulties, or experience shortages in required components, or if they are otherwise unable or unwilling to continue manufacturing our products in required volumes or at all, our supply may be disrupted, we may be required to seek alternate manufacturers and we may be required to redesign our products. It would be time-consuming, and could be costly and impracticable, to begin to use new manufacturers and designs, and such changes could cause significant supply chain interruptions and adversely affect our ability to meet scheduled product deliveries, which may subsequently lead to the loss of sales.

If we are unable to continue contracting with third-party manufacturing partners on terms acceptable to us, we would need to develop our own manufacturing facilities, which may not be feasible and, if feasible, would significantly increase our capital expenditures and operating expenditures, and would significantly delay or inhibit production of our robotic systems.

If we need to develop our own manufacturing and production capabilities, which may not be feasible, it would significantly increase our capital and operating expenditures and would significantly delay production of our robotic systems. This may require us to attempt to raise or borrow additional money, which may not be successful. Also, it may require us to change the anticipated pricing of our RaaS subscription offering, which would adversely affect our margins and cash flows. Any of the foregoing could adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on our statements about our production plans or their feasibility in the timeframe anticipated, or at all. We may not be able to implement our business strategy in the timeframe anticipated, or at all.

We may be unable to adequately control the costs associated with our operations.

We will require significant capital to develop and grow our business, including developing and producing our commercial robotic systems and other products, establishing or expanding design, research and development, production, sales and maintenance and service facilities and building our brand. We have incurred and expect to continue incurring significant expenses which will impact our profitability, including research and development expenses, procurement costs, sales, marketing and distribution expenses as we build our brand and market our robotic systems, and general and administrative expenses as we scale our operations, identify and commit resources to investigate new areas of demand and incur costs as a public company. In addition, we may incur significant costs servicing, maintaining and refurbishing our robotic ocean vehicles, and we expect that the cost to repair and service our robotic systems will increase over time as our vehicles age. Our ability to become profitable in the future will not only depend on our ability to complete the design and development of our robotic vehicles to meet projected performance metrics, identify and investigate new areas of demand and successfully market our robotic systems and RaaS subscription model, but also to sell, whether outright or through subscriptions, our ocean systems at prices needed to achieve our expected margins and control our costs, including the risks and costs associated with operating, maintaining and financing our robotic systems. If we are unable to efficiently design, develop, manufacture, market, deploy, distribute and service our robotic systems in a cost-effective manner, our margins, profitability and prospects would be materially and adversely affected.

We, and any third-party manufacturing partners and suppliers of ours, may rely on complex machinery for production, which involves a significant degree of risk and uncertainty in terms of operational performance and costs.

We, and any third-party manufacturing partners and suppliers of ours, may rely on complex machinery for the production and assembly of our robotic systems, which will involve a significant degree of uncertainty and risk in terms of operational performance and costs. Our facilities, and those of any third-party manufacturing partners and suppliers, consist or are expected to consist of large-scale machinery combining many components. These components may suffer unexpected malfunctions from time to time and will depend on repairs and spare parts to resume operations, which may not be available when needed. Unexpected malfunctions of these components may significantly affect intended operational efficiency. Operational performance and costs can be difficult to predict and are often influenced by factors outside of our or third-party manufacturing partners’ and suppliers’ control, such as, without limitation, scarcity of natural resources, environmental hazards and remediation, costs associated with decommissioning of machines, labor disputes and strikes, difficulty or delays in obtaining governmental permits, damages or defects in electronic systems, industrial accidents, fire, seismic activity and natural disasters. Should operational risks materialize, they may result in the personal injury to or death of workers, the loss of production equipment, damage to production facilities, monetary losses, delays and unanticipated fluctuations in production, environmental damage, administrative fines, increased insurance costs and potential legal liabilities, all which could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

We face risks related to natural disasters, health epidemics and other outbreaks, which could significantly disrupt our operations.

Our facilities or operations or those of any third-party manufacturers or suppliers could be adversely affected by events outside of our or their control, such as natural disasters, wars, health epidemics, and other calamities. Although we have servers that are hosted both onsite and at an offsite location, our backup system runs nightly, but does not capture data on a real-time basis and we may be unable to recover certain data in the event of a server failure. We cannot assure you that any backup systems will be adequate to protect us from the effects of fire, floods, typhoons, earthquakes, power loss, telecommunications failures, break-ins, war, riots, terrorist attacks or similar events. Any of the foregoing events may give rise to interruptions, breakdowns, system failures, technology platform failures or internet failures, which could cause the loss or corruption of data or malfunctions of software or hardware as well as adversely affect our ability to provide services.

We currently target many customers that are large corporations with substantial negotiating power, exacting product standards and potentially competitive internal solutions. If we are unable to sell our products to these customers, our prospects and results of operations will be adversely affected.

We expect that many of our potential customers will be large, multinational corporations with substantial negotiating power relative to us and, in some instances, may have internal solutions that are competitive to our products. These large, multinational corporations also have significant developmental resources, which may allow them to acquire or develop independently, or in partnership with others, competitive technologies. Meeting the technical requirements and securing binding commitments from any of these companies will require a substantial investment of our time and resources. We cannot assure you that our products will secure binding commitments from these or other companies or that we will generate meaningful revenue from the sales of our products to these key potential customers. If our products are not selected by these large corporations or if these corporations develop or acquire competitive technology, there will be an adverse effect on our business.

We operate in a competitive industry that is subject to rapid technological change, and we expect competition to increase.

Our product offerings compete in a broad competitive landscape that includes incumbent actors and emerging players in the blue technology markets, particularly companies focused on deploying ocean services with large vessels, tethered hydraulic and hybrid-electric ROVs, survey and hovering AUVs, electric platforms, remote monitoring, and other autonomy and perception technologies applied to adjacent ocean markets including autonomous shipping and subsea mining.

A breakdown of the competitive landscape by Nauticus product area is as follows:

Our competitor base may change or expand as we continue to develop and commercialize our robotic systems in the future. The abovementioned or other competitors may develop new technologies or products that provide superior results to customers or that are less expensive than our products. Such developments could weaken the competitiveness of our technologies and products.

Our competitors may respond more quickly to new or emerging technologies, undertake more extensive marketing campaigns, have greater financial, marketing, manufacturing and other resources than we do, or may be more successful in attracting potential customers, employees and strategic partners. In addition, potential customers could have long-standing or contractual relationships with competitors. Potential customers may be reluctant to adopt our products, particularly if they compete with or have the potential to compete with, or diminish the need/utilization of, products or technologies supported through these existing relationships. If we are not able to compete effectively, our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results will be negatively impacted.

In addition, because we operate in a new market, the actions of our competitors could adversely affect our business. Adverse events such as product defects or legal claims with respect to competing or similar products could cause reputational harm to the ocean robotics market on the whole and, accordingly, to our business.

Our financial results may vary significantly from period to period due to fluctuations in our operating costs, product demand and other factors.

We expect our period-to-period financial results to vary based on our operating costs and product demand, which we anticipate will fluctuate as the pace at which we continue to design, develop and manufacture new robotic systems, increase production capacity and establish or expand design, research and development, production, sales and service facilities. Additionally, our revenues from period to period may fluctuate as we identify and investigate areas of demand, adjust volumes and add new product derivatives based on market demand and margin opportunities, develop and introduce new robotic systems or introduce existing robotic systems to new markets for the first time, as well as following the introduction of our RaaS subscription model (a business model planned for future commercial services that has yet to be implemented). As a result of these factors, we believe that quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our financial results, especially in the short-term, are not necessarily meaningful and that these comparisons cannot be relied upon as indicators of future performance. Moreover, our financial results may not meet expectations of equity research analysts, ratings agencies or investors, who may be focused only on quarterly financial results. If any of this occurs, the trading price of our securities could fall substantially, either suddenly or over time.

If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements or comply with applicable regulations could be adversely affected.

We expect that the requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the rules and listing standards of Nasdaq will continue to increase our legal, accounting and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming and costly, and place significant strain on personnel, systems and resources.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. We are continuing to develop and refine our disclosure controls, internal control over financial reporting and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we will file with the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the requisite timeframes, and that information required to be disclosed in reports under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our principal executive and financial officers. We are in the process of upgrading our finance and accounting systems to an enterprise system suitable for a public company, which if delayed could impact our ability or prevent us from timely reporting our operating results, timely filing required reports with the SEC and complying with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The development and implementation of the standards and controls necessary for us to achieve the level of accounting standards required of a public company may require costs greater than expected.

Our current controls and any new controls that we develop may be inadequate because of changes in conditions of our business. Further, weaknesses in our internal controls have been identified in connection with the preparation of financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 and may be discovered in the future. During 2022, we filled positions of Senior Accountant and Accounts Receivable to remediate this weakness in our internal controls. In addition, we added a Chief Financial Officer and transitioned one contract employee to Vice President of Accounting to strengthen our internal controls and financial reporting. We are also strengthening internal control over financial reporting by implementing an ERP system, a software used to automate business processes, containing workflows and business rules that ensure process is followed by approved policies, roles, and procedures. The Company expects to complete the ERP implementation including the implementation of fixed assets and other automation considerations by second quarter 2023.

The resulting fully integrated system will enhance financial reporting and transactional interfaces. We will also add RaaS operations personnel as required following the commercial rollout of the first tranche of Aquanauts, or thereafter. Our management will make an assessment of these remediation steps and add additional staff, if necessary to remediate the weakness.

Any failure to develop or maintain effective controls, or any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement, could adversely affect our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and may result in a restatement of our financial statements for prior periods. Any failure to implement and maintain effective internal controls also could adversely affect the results of periodic management evaluations and annual independent registered public accounting firm attestation reports regarding the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting which, if and when we are no longer an emerging growth company, we will be required under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to include in our annual periodic reports filed with the SEC. Ineffective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial and other information.

In order to maintain and improve the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting, we have expended and anticipate that we will continue to expend significant resources, including accounting-related costs, and significant management oversight. Any failure to maintain the adequacy of our internal controls, or consequent inability to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis, could increase operating costs and could materially and adversely affect our ability to operate our business. If our internal controls are perceived as inadequate or if we are perceived to be unable to produce timely or accurate financial statements, investors may lose confidence in our operating results and our stock price could decline.

Our independent registered public accounting firm currently is not and will not be required to formally attest to the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting until after we are no longer an emerging growth company. If and once attestation reports are required by reason of us not longer being an emerging growth company, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our controls are documented, designed or operating. Any failure to maintain effective disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting could have a material and adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

We have yet to achieve positive operating cash flow and, given our projected funding needs, our ability to generate positive cash flow is uncertain.

We had negative cash flow from operating activities of $37.3 million and $7.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. We expect to continue to have negative cash flow from operating and investing activities for the remainder of 2023. We expect to incur research and development, sales and marketing, and general and administrative expenses and make capital expenditures in our efforts to increase sales, engage in development work and ramp up operations. Our business also will at times require significant amounts of working capital to build inventory and support the growth of additional products. An inability to generate positive cash flow for the near-term may adversely affect our ability to raise needed capital for our business on reasonable terms, diminish supplier or customer willingness to enter into transactions with us, and have other adverse effects that may decrease our long-term viability. There can be no assurance that we will achieve positive cash flow in the near future or at all.

Our ability to use net operating loss carryforwards to offset future taxable income is subject to limitation and risk that could further limit our ability to utilize our net operating losses.

As of December 31, 2022, we had federal net operating losses (“NOLs”) of approximately $46.3 million, of which about $646,000 begin to expire in 2035 and the remainder have no expiration. Under current law, federal NOLs generated in taxable years ending after December 31, 2017, may be carried forward indefinitely, but the deductibility of such federal NOLs may be limited to 80% of our taxable income annually for tax years beginning after December 31, 2020. NOLs generated prior to December 31, 2017, however, have a 20-year carryforward period, but are not subject to the 80% limitation.

In addition, NOLs are subject to review and possible adjustment by the Internal Revenue Service and state tax authorities. Under Sections 382 and 383 of the Code, these federal NOLs and other tax attributes may become subject to an annual limitation in the event of certain cumulative changes in our ownership. An “ownership change” pursuant to Section 382 of the Code generally occurs if one or more stockholders or groups of stockholders who own at least 5% of a company’s stock increase their ownership by more than 50 percentage points over their lowest ownership percentage within a rolling three-year period. Our ability to utilize NOLs and other tax attributes to offset future taxable income or tax liabilities may be limited as a result of ownership changes, including changes in connection with the Business Combination or other transactions. Similar rules may apply under state tax laws. We have not yet determined the amount of the cumulative change in our ownership resulting from the Business Combination or other transactions, or any resulting limitations on our ability to utilize our NOLs and other tax attributes. If we earn taxable income, such limitations could result in increased future income tax liability to us and our future cash flows could be adversely affected. We have recorded a full valuation allowance related to our NOLs and other deferred tax assets due to the uncertainty of the ultimate realization of the future benefits of those assets.

We expect to incur substantial R&D costs and devote significant resources to identifying and commercializing new products, which could significantly reduce our profitability and may never result in revenue to us.

Our future growth depends on penetrating new markets, adapting existing products to new applications and customer requirements, and introducing new products that achieve market acceptance. We plan to incur substantial, and potentially increasing, R&D costs as part of our efforts to design, develop, manufacture, and commercialize new products and enhance existing products. Our R&D expenses were $2.4 million and $3.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and are likely to grow in the future. Because we account for R&D as an operating expense, these expenditures will adversely affect our results of operations in the future. Further, our R&D program may not produce successful results, and our new products may not achieve market acceptance, create additional revenue or become profitable.

Litigation or legal proceedings could expose us to significant liabilities and have a negative impact on our reputation or business.

We may become subject to claims, litigation, disputes and other legal proceedings from time to time. We evaluate these claims, litigation, disputes and other legal proceedings to assess the likelihood of unfavorable outcomes and to estimate, if possible, the amount of potential losses. These assessments and estimates are based on the information available to management at the time and involve a significant amount of management judgment. Actual outcomes or losses may differ materially from our assessments and estimates.

Under the terms of the engagement letter between CLAQ and Cowen and Company, LLC (“Cowen”), notwithstanding Cowen’s resignation and the termination of such agreement in August 2022, we are obligated indemnify and hold harmless Cowen and its officers, directors, employees and agents from and against any losses and claims arising in any manner out of or in connection with the services that Cowen provided to us thereunder. Accordingly, if any claims, litigation, disputes or other legal proceedings are brought by third parties against Cowen in relation to the services it provided to us, we will be liable to pay for or reimburse Cowen for the losses and costs it incurs unless the losses and costs are finally judicially determined to have resulted from the gross negligence or willful misconduct of Cowen or its officers, directors, employees and agents.

The defense of any such lawsuits, even if they are unmerited and whether or not we ultimately prevail, may divert management’s attention, and we may incur significant expenses in defending these lawsuits. The results of litigation and other legal proceedings are inherently uncertain, and adverse judgments or settlements in some of these legal disputes may result in adverse monetary damages, penalties or injunctive relief against us, which could negatively impact our financial position, cash flows or results of operations.

We are subject to evolving laws, regulations, standards, and policies and well as contractual obligations related to data privacy and security, and our actual or perceived failure to comply with such obligations could harm our reputation, subject us to significant fines and liability, or otherwise adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

We are subject to or affected by a number of U.S. federal, state and local and non-U.S. laws and regulations, as well as contractual obligations and industry standards, that impose certain obligations and restrictions with respect to data privacy and security, and govern our collection, storage, retention, protection, use, processing, transmission, sharing and disclosure of personal information, including that of our employees, customers and others. Most jurisdictions have enacted laws requiring companies to notify individuals, regulatory authorities and others of security breaches involving certain types of data. Such laws may be inconsistent or may change, and new laws may be adopted. In addition, our agreements with certain customers may require us to notify them in the event of a security breach. Mandatory disclosures relating to security breaches are costly, could lead to negative publicity, result in penalties, fines, or litigation, cause our customers to lose confidence in the effectiveness of our security measures and require us to expend significant capital and other resources to respond to and/or alleviate problems caused by the actual or perceived security breach.

The global data protection landscape is rapidly evolving, and implementation standards and enforcement practices are likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. We may not be able to monitor and react to all developments in a timely manner. For example, California adopted the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), which became effective in January 2020. The CCPA establishes a privacy framework for covered businesses, including an expansive definition of personal information and data privacy rights for California residents. The CCPA includes a framework with potentially severe statutory damages and private rights of action. The CCPA requires covered businesses to provide California residents with new disclosures and new ways to opt-out of certain disclosures of personal information, and allows for a new cause of action for data breaches. Additionally, a new privacy law, the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”), was approved by California voters in the November 3, 2020 election. The CPRA created obligations relating to consumer data beginning on January 1, 2022, with implementing regulations adopted on May 29, 2023, and enforcement beginning May 29, 2024. The CPRA significantly modifies the CCPA, potentially resulting in further uncertainty. Some observers have noted that the CCPA could mark the beginning of a trend toward more stringent privacy legislation in the United States. Other states have begun to propose and enact similar laws. For example, Virginia has enacted the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, which provides for obligations similar to the CCPA, and which went into effect January 1, 2023. As we expand our operations, the CCPA, CPRA, and other laws and regulations relating to privacy and data security may increase our compliance costs and potential liability exposure. Compliance with any applicable privacy and data security laws and regulations is a rigorous and time-intensive process, and we may be required to put in place additional mechanisms to comply with such laws and regulations.

Additionally, as our international presence expands, we may become subject to new or additional obligations under laws and regulations in countries outside the United States, many of which, such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and national laws supplementing the GDPR, as well as legislation substantially implementing the GDPR in the United Kingdom, are significantly more stringent than those currently enforced in the United States. The GDPR requires companies to meet stringent requirements regarding the handling of personal data of individuals located in the European Economic Area (“EEA”). The GDPR also includes significant penalties for noncompliance, which may result in monetary penalties of up to the higher of €20 million or 4% of a group’s worldwide turnover for the preceding financial year for the most serious violations. The United Kingdom’s version of the GDPR, the UK GDPR, which it maintains along with its Data Protection Act (collectively, the “UK GDPR”), also provides for substantial penalties that, for the most serious violations, can go up to the greater of £17.5 million or 4% of a group’s worldwide turnover for the preceding financial year. Many other jurisdictions globally are considering or have enacted legislation providing for local storage of data or otherwise imposing privacy, data protection and data security obligations in connection with the collection, use and other processing of personal data.

Our privacy policy regarding our collection, processing, use and disclosure of personal information and/or other confidential information is published on our website. Although we endeavor to comply with our published policies, we may at times fail to do so or may be perceived to have failed to do so. Moreover, despite our efforts, we may not be successful in achieving compliance, including if our employees, contractors, service providers or vendors fail to comply with our policies and other requirements. Such failures can subject us to potential action by governmental or regulatory authorities if they are found to be deceptive, unfair, or misrepresentative of our actual practices. Any actual or perceived inability of the Company to adequately address privacy and security concerns or comply with applicable laws, rules and regulations relating to privacy, data protection or data security, or applicable privacy notices, could lead to investigations, claims, and proceedings by governmental entities and private parties, damages for contract breach, and other significant costs, penalties, and other liabilities. Any such claims or other proceedings could be expensive and time-consuming to defend and could result in adverse publicity. Any of the foregoing may have an adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, and financial condition.

We are subject to cybersecurity risks to our operational systems, security systems, infrastructure, integrated software in our products and data processed by us or third-party vendors.

Our business and operations involve the collection, storage, processing, and transmission of personal data and certain other sensitive and proprietary data of collaborators, customers, and others. Additionally, we maintain sensitive and proprietary information relating to our business, such as our own proprietary information and personal data relating to our employees. An increasing number of organizations have disclosed breaches of their information security systems and other information security incidents, some of which have involved sophisticated and highly targeted attacks. We may be a target for attacks by state-sponsored actors and others designed to disrupt our operations or to attempt to gain access to our systems or to data that is processed or maintained in our business. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have included have increased security risks due to personnel working remotely.

We are at risk for interruptions, outages and/or breaches, as applicable, of: our operational systems, including business, financial, accounting, product development, data processing or production processes, and those of our third-party vendors or suppliers; our facility security systems, and those of our third-party vendors or suppliers; our transmission control modules or other in-product technology, and those of our third-party vendors or suppliers; the integrated software in our units; and the customer data that we process or that our third-party vendors or suppliers process on our behalf. Because techniques used to obtain unauthorized access to or to sabotage information systems change frequently and may not be known until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate or prevent these attacks, react in a timely manner, or implement adequate preventive measures, and may face delays in our detection or remediation of, or other responses to, security breaches and other privacy- and security-related incidents. Such incidents could, among other things: materially disrupt our operational systems; result in loss of intellectual property, trade secrets or other proprietary or competitively sensitive information; compromise certain information of customers, employees, suppliers, or others; jeopardize the security of our facilities; or affect the performance of in-product technology and the integrated software in our units. Certain efforts may be state-sponsored or supported by significant financial and technological resources, making them even more difficult to detect, remediate, and otherwise respond to.

We plan to include product services and functionality that utilize data connectivity to monitor performance and timely capture opportunities to enhance performance, as well as for safety and cost-saving preventative maintenance. The availability and effectiveness of our services depend on the continued operation of information technology and communications systems. Such systems will be vulnerable to damage or interruption from, among others, physical theft, fire, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, power loss, war, telecommunications failures, viruses, denial or degradation of service attacks, ransomware, social engineering schemes, insider theft or misuse or other attempts to harm our systems. We intend to use our product services and functionality to log information about each unit’s use in order to aid us in diagnostics and servicing. Our customers may object to the use of this data, which may require us to implement new or modified data handling policies and mechanisms, increase our unit maintenance costs and costs associated with data processing and handling, and harm our business prospects.

Although we are in the process of implementing certain systems and processes that are designed to protect our data and systems, to the extent same are within our control, and to prevent data loss and other security breaches and security incidents, these security measures cannot guarantee security. The IT and infrastructure used in our business may be vulnerable to cyberattacks or security breaches, and third parties may be able to access data, including our personal data and other sensitive and proprietary data, as well as that of our customers, collaborators and partners, our employees’ personal data, or other sensitive and proprietary data, accessible through those systems. Employee error, malfeasance, or other errors in the storage, use, or transmission of any of these types of data could result in an actual or perceived privacy or security breach or other security incident.

Moreover, there are inherent risks associated with developing, improving, expanding and updating our current systems, such as the disruption of our data management, procurement, production, execution, finance, supply chain and sales and service processes. These risks may affect our ability to manage our data and inventory, procure parts or supplies, manufacture, deploy, deliver and service our units, adequately protect our intellectual property or achieve and maintain compliance with, or realize available benefits under, applicable laws, regulations and contracts. We cannot be sure that these systems upon which we rely, including those of our third-party vendors and suppliers, will be effectively implemented, maintained or expanded as planned. If we do not successfully implement, maintain or expand these systems as planned, our operations may be disrupted, our ability to accurately and timely report our financial results could be impaired, and deficiencies may arise in our internal control over financial reporting, which may impact our ability to certify our financial results. Moreover, our proprietary information or intellectual property could be compromised or misappropriated and our reputation may be adversely affected. If these systems do not operate as we expect them to, we may be required to expend significant resources to make corrections or find alternative sources for performing these functions.

Any actual or perceived security breach or security incident, or any systems outages or other disruption to systems used in our business, could interrupt our operations, result in loss or improper access to, or acquisition or disclosure of, data or a loss of intellectual property protection, harm our reputation and competitive position, reduce demand for our products, damage our relationships with customers, partners, collaborators, or others, or result in claims, regulatory investigations, and proceedings and significant legal, regulatory, and financial exposure, and any such incidents or any perception that our security measures are inadequate could lead to loss of confidence in us and harm to our reputation, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Any actual or perceived breach of privacy or security, or other security incident, impacting any entities with which we share or disclose data (including, for example, our third-party technology providers) could have similar effects. We expect to incur significant costs in connection with our efforts to detect and prevent privacy and security breaches and other privacy- and security-related incidents, and may face increased costs and be required to expend substantial resources in the event of an actual or perceived privacy or security breach or other security incident.

We are subject to U.S. and foreign anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws and regulations. We could face criminal liability and other serious consequences for violations of such laws and regulations, which would harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

We are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended (the “FCPA”), the U.S. domestic bribery statute contained in 18 U.S.C. § 201, the U.S. Travel Act, and other anti-corruption, anti-bribery and anti-money laundering laws in countries in which we conduct activities. Anti-corruption laws are interpreted broadly and prohibit companies and their employees, business partners, third-party intermediaries, representatives, and agents from authorizing, promising, offering or providing, directly or indirectly, improper payments or anything else of value to government officials, political candidates, political parties, or commercial partners for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business or securing an improper business advantage.

From time to time we have direct and indirect interactions with foreign officials, including in furtherance of sales to governmental entities in non-U.S. countries. We sometimes leverage third parties to conduct our business abroad, and our third-party business partners, representatives, and agents may have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or state-owned or affiliated entities. We can be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of our employees or these third parties, even if we do not explicitly authorize or have actual knowledge of such activities. The FCPA and other applicable laws and regulations also require that we keep accurate books and records and maintain internal controls and compliance procedures designed to prevent any such actions. While we have policies and procedures to address compliance with such laws, there can be no assurance that all of our employees, business partners, third-party intermediaries, representatives, and agents will not take actions in violation of our policies and/or applicable laws and regulations, and we may be ultimately held responsible for any such violations. Our liability exposure relating to potential violations of these and laws and regulations increases as our international presence expands and as we increase sales and operations in foreign jurisdictions.

Any violations of the laws and regulations described above may result in whistleblower complaints, adverse media coverage, investigations, substantial civil and criminal fines and penalties, damages, settlements, prosecution, enforcement actions, imprisonment, the loss of export or import privileges, suspension or debarment from government contracts, tax reassessments, breach of contract and fraud litigation, reputational harm and other consequences, any of which could adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. In addition, responding to any investigation or other proceeding would likely involve a significant diversion of management’s attention and resources and significant defense costs and other professional fees.

We are subject to governmental export and import controls and other laws and regulations that could subject us to liability in the event of noncompliance

Our products are subject to export/import control and economic sanctions laws and regulations, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”), U.S. Customs and Boarder Protection regulations and various economic and trade sanctions regulations administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. Exports of our robotic systems and technology must be in compliance with these laws and regulations. If we fail to comply with these laws and regulations, we and certain of our employees could be subject to substantial civil or criminal penalties, including the possible loss of export or import privileges; fines, which may be imposed on us and responsible managers/employees; and, in extreme cases, the incarceration of responsible employees or managers.

Moreover, international sales of certain of our products are subject to U.S. laws, regulations and policies like the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”) and other export laws and regulations and may be subject to first obtaining licenses, clearances or authorizations from various regulatory entities. If we are not allowed to export our products or if the clearance process is burdensome or costly, our ability to generate revenue would be adversely affected.

In addition, changes to our ocean robotic systems, or changes in applicable export/import control or economic sanctions laws and regulations, may delay the introduction and sale of our robotic systems and solutions or, in some cases, prevent the export or import of our robotic systems to certain countries, governments, or persons altogether. Compliance with such laws and regulations may be costly and require time and attention from our management. Any change in export/import controls or economic sanctions laws and regulations, or shift in the scope or enforcement of existing laws and regulations, or change in the countries, governments, persons, or technologies covered by such laws and regulations, could also result in decreased use of our robotic systems, as well as our decreased ability to export or market our robotic systems to potential customers. Any decreased use of our robotic systems, and any limitation on our ability to export or market our robotic systems, would likely adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Our management team has and will continue to have broad discretion in making strategic decisions to execute our growth plans, and there can be no assurance that our management’s decisions will result in successful achievement of our business objectives or will not have unintended consequences that negatively impact our growth prospects.

Our management has and will continue to have broad discretion in making strategic decisions to execute our growth plans and may devote time and company resources to new or expanded solution offerings, potential acquisitions, prospective customers or other initiatives that do not necessarily improve our operating results or contribute to our growth. Management’s failure to make strategic decisions that are ultimately accretive to our growth may result in unfavorable returns and uncertainty about our prospects, each of which could cause the price of the Common Stock to decline.

As part of growing our business, we have made and may undertake acquisitions from time to time. If we fail to successfully select, execute, or integrate our acquisitions, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected, and our stock price could decline.

Failure to successfully identify, complete, manage and integrate acquisitions could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and could cause our stock price to decline.

From time to time, we may undertake acquisitions to add new products and technologies, acquire talent, gain new sales channels, or enter into new markets or sales territories. In addition to possible stockholder approval, we may need to obtain approvals and licenses from relevant government authorities and will be required to comply with any applicable laws and regulations in connection with consummating proposed acquisitions, and a failure to obtain such approvals and licenses could result in delays and increased costs and may disrupt our business strategy. Furthermore, acquisitions and the subsequent integration of new assets, businesses, key personnel, customers, vendors, and suppliers require significant attention from our management and could result in a diversion of resources from our existing business, which, in turn, could have an adverse effect on our operations. Acquired assets or businesses may not generate the financial results we expect. Acquisitions could result in the use of substantial amounts of cash, potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities and exposure to potential unknown liabilities of an acquired business. Moreover, the costs of identifying and consummating acquisitions may be significant.

Any acquisitions, partnerships, or joint ventures that we enter into could disrupt our operations and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

From time to time, we may evaluate potential strategic acquisitions of businesses and other transactions, including partnerships or joint ventures, with third parties. We may not be successful in identifying acquisition, partnership, and joint venture candidates. In addition, we may not be able to continue the operational success of acquired businesses or successfully integrate and/or finance any businesses that we acquire or with which we form a partnership or joint venture. We may have potential write-offs of acquired assets and/or impairments of any goodwill recorded as a result of acquisitions. Furthermore, the integration of any acquisition may divert management’s time and resources from our core business and disrupt our operations or may result in business conflicts. Any such acquisition, partnership or joint venture may not be successful, may reduce our cash reserves, may negatively affect our earnings and financial performance and, to the extent financed with debt proceeds, may increase our indebtedness. Further, depending on market conditions, investor perceptions of the Company and other factors, we might not be able to obtain financing, on acceptable terms or at all, to implement any such transaction. We cannot ensure that any such acquisition, partnership, or joint venture will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

If we are unable to adapt to and satisfy customer demands in a timely and cost-effective manner, our ability to grow our business may suffer.

The success of our business depends in part on effectively engineering and implementing technologies related to subsea and surface vessels (including ROVs), subsea robotic manipulators, and AI-based, full-stack vehicle control and manipulation software. These technologies are packaged for commercial and defense customers in products that provide innovative solutions to challenges in a large majority of maritime markets including subsea energy, offshore wind, and defense applications. If for any reason we are unable to continue to design, develop and manufacture our products as planned or provide the services and products that our customers expect from us, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. If our current or future product and service offerings do not meet expected performance or quality standards, including with respect to customer satisfaction, this could cause operational delays. In addition, any delay in manufacturing new products as planned could increase costs and cause our products and services to be less attractive to potential new customers. Further, certain governmental bodies may have priority with respect to the use of our products and services for national defense reasons, which may impact our cadence of producing and selling products and offering services to other customers. Any production, operational or manufacturing delays or other unplanned changes to our ability to design, develop and manufacture our products or offer our services could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

If we fail to respond to commercial industry cycles in terms of our cost structure, manufacturing capacity, and/or personnel needs, our business could be seriously harmed.

The timing, length, and severity of the up-and-down cycles in the commercial subsea, ocean surface, and defense industries are difficult to predict. The cyclical nature of the industries in which we operate affects our ability to accurately predict future revenue, and in some cases, future expenses. During down cycles in such industries, the financial results of our customers may be negatively impacted, which could result not only in a decrease in demand for our products and services, but also a weakening of our customers’ financial condition that could impair our ability to recognize revenue or to collect on outstanding receivables. When cyclical fluctuations result in lower-than-expected revenue levels, operating results may be adversely affected, and cost reduction measures may be necessary in order for us to remain competitive and financially sound. We must be in a position to adjust our cost and expense structure to reflect prevailing market conditions and to continue to motivate and retain our key employees, and if we fail to do so, then our business could be seriously harmed. In addition, during periods of rapid growth, we must be able to increase engineering and manufacturing capacity and personnel to meet customer demand. We can provide no assurance we will be able to satisfactorily respond in a timely manner to industry cycles. Each of the foregoing factors could adversely impact our operating results and financial condition.

Our systems, products, and related equipment may have shorter useful lives than we anticipate.

Our growth strategy depends in part on developing systems and products. These systems, products, and related equipment will have a limited useful life. While we intend to design our systems and products to have a certain lifespan corresponding to a number of cycles, there can be no assurance as to the actual operational life of a system, product, or related equipment, or that the operational life of individual components thereof, will be consistent with its design life. A number of factors will impact the useful lives of our products and systems, including, among other things, the quality of their design and construction, the durability of their component parts and availability of any replacement components, and the occurrence of any anomaly or series of anomalies or other risks associated with their planned use. In addition, any improvements in technology may make our existing systems, products, designs, or any component of our systems and products obsolete prior to their intended useful lives. If our systems, products, and/or related equipment have shorter useful lives than we currently anticipate, this may lead to delays in increasing the rate of our follow-on work and in obtaining new business, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, we are continually learning, and as our engineering and manufacturing expertise and efficiency increases, we aim to leverage this learning to be able to manufacture our products and related equipment using less of our currently installed equipment, which could render our existing inventory obsolete.

Risks Related to Government Contracts

Many of our contracts contain performance obligations that require innovative design capabilities, are technologically complex, require state-of-the-art manufacturing expertise, or are dependent upon factors not wholly within our control. Failure to meet these obligations and requirements could adversely affect our profitability and future prospects. Early termination of customer contracts or contract penalties could adversely affect our results of operations.

We design, develop, and manufacture technologically advanced and innovative products and services, which are applied by our customers in a variety of environments. Problems and delays in development or delivery as a result of issues with respect to design, technology, licensing and intellectual property rights, labor, an inability to achieve learning curve assumptions, or the manufacturing of materials or components could prevent us from meeting our contractual requirements. Either we or the customer may generally terminate a contract as a result of a material uncured breach by the other. If we breach a contract or fail to perform in accordance with contractual service levels, delivery schedules, performance specifications, or other contractual requirements set forth in a given contract, the other party thereto may terminate such contract by reason of our default, and we may be required to refund money previously paid to us by the customer or to pay penalties or other damages. Even if we have not breached our contractual obligations, we may face with various situations from time to time that require or otherwise result in the amendment or termination of a contract. Any such amendment or termination could result in significant current period charges and/or reductions in current or future revenue, and/or delays in collection of outstanding receivables and costs incurred under the contract. Other factors that may affect revenue and profitability include inaccurate cost estimates, design issues, unforeseen costs and expenses not covered by insurance or indemnification from the customer, diversion of management’s focus in responding to unforeseen problems, and loss of follow-on work.

We rely on a limited number of suppliers for certain raw materials and supplied components, which has caused and may continue to cause supply chain disruptions. We may not be able to obtain sufficient raw materials or supplied components to meet our manufacturing, design, and operating needs, on favorable terms or at all, which could impair our ability to fulfill our orders in a timely manner or increase our costs of design and production.

Our ability to produce, develop and offer our current and future systems and products, technologies and services and other components needed in our operations is dependent upon sufficient availability of raw materials and supplied components, which we secure from a limited number of suppliers. As disclosed herein, this has caused and may continue to cause supply chain disruptions. Global supply chains have recently experienced disruption as a result of industry capacity constraints, material availability and global logistics delays arising from transportation capacity of ocean shipping containers and a prolonged delay in resumption of operations by one or more key suppliers as a result of COVID-19. Our reliance on suppliers to secure raw materials and supplied components has exposed us and may continue to expose us to volatility in the prices and availability of these materials. We may not be able to obtain sufficient supplies of raw materials or supplied components on favorable terms or at all, which could result in increased costs and/or delays in the manufacturing of our systems and products, development of our technologies and offering of our services.

In addition, we may in the future experience delays in manufacturing or disruptions to our operations as we go through the requalification process with any replacement third-party supplier, as well as by reason of the requirements and limitations imposed by the ITAR, the EAR, or other restrictions on transfers of sensitive technologies. Moreover, the imposition of tariffs on raw materials or supplied components could have a material adverse effect on our operations. Prolonged disruptions in the supply of any of our key raw materials or components, difficulty qualifying new sources of supply, challenges associated with any necessary use of replacement materials or new sources of supply or any volatility in prices could have a material adverse effect on our ability to operate in a cost-efficient, timely manner and could cause us to experience cancellations or delays of scheduled missions, customer cancellations or reductions in our prices and margins, any of which could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

To date, we have experienced supply chain impacts, particularly in electronic components, that have delayed ongoing projects. In response, we have made efforts to expand our supplier base to locate and source project materials to mitigate procurement delays. In light of recent world events, we anticipate continued challenges in this area over the near-term as we work to minimize impacts on projects and deliverable timelines.

We use estimates when accounting for certain contracts and changes in these estimates may have a significant impact on our financial results.

Our quarterly and annual sales are affected by a variety of factors that may lead to significant variability in our operating results. We evaluate the contract value and cost estimates for performance obligations at least quarterly, and more frequently when circumstances change significantly. Changes in estimates and assumptions related to the status of certain long-term contracts could have a material adverse effect on our operating results, financial condition, and/or cash flows.

The U.S. government’s budget deficit and the national debt, as well as any inability of the U.S. government to complete its budget process for any government fiscal year and consequently having to shut down or operate on funding levels equivalent to its prior fiscal year pursuant to a “continuing resolution,” could have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Considerable uncertainty exists regarding how future budget and program decisions will unfold, including the defense spending priorities of the U.S. government, what challenges budget reductions will present for the defense industry and whether annual appropriations bills for all agencies will be enacted for each upcoming U.S. government fiscal year and thereafter due to many factors, including, but not limited to, changes in the political environment, including before or after a change to the leadership within the government administration, and any resulting uncertainty or changes in policy or priorities and resultant funding. The U.S. government’s budget deficit and the national debt could have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows in a number of ways, including the following:

Furthermore, we believe continued budget pressures could have serious negative consequences for the security of the United States, the defense industrial base and the customers, employees, suppliers, investors and communities that rely on companies in the defense industrial base. Budget and program decisions made in this environment would have long-term implications for us and the entire defense industry.

We depend significantly on U.S. government contracts, which often are only partially funded, subject to immediate termination, and heavily regulated and audited. The termination or failure to fund, or negative audit findings for, one or more of these contracts could have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Over its lifetime, a U.S. government program may be implemented by the award of many different individual contracts and subcontracts. The funding of U.S. government programs is subject to U.S. Congressional appropriations. In recent years, U.S. government appropriations have been affected by larger U.S. government budgetary issues and related legislation. Although multi-year contracts may be authorized and appropriated in connection with major procurements, the U.S. Congress generally appropriates funds on a government fiscal year basis. Procurement funds are typically made available for obligation over the course of one to three years. Consequently, programs often initially receive only partial funding, and additional funds are obligated only as the U.S. Congress authorizes further appropriations. We cannot predict the extent to which total funding and/or funding for individual programs will be included, increased, or reduced as part of the annual appropriations process ultimately approved by the U.S. Congress and the President of the United States or in separate supplemental appropriations or continuing resolutions, as applicable. The termination of funding for a U.S. government program would result in a loss of anticipated future revenue attributable to that program, which could have an adverse impact on our operations. In addition, the termination of a program or the failure to commit additional funds to a program that already has been started could result in lost revenue and increase our overall costs of doing business.

Generally, U.S. government contracts are subject to oversight audits by U.S. government representatives. Such audits could result in adjustments to our contract costs. Any costs found to be improperly allocated to a specific contract will not be reimbursed, and any such costs already reimbursed must be refunded. We have recorded contract revenue based on costs we expect to realize upon final audit. However, we cannot predict the outcome of any future audits and adjustments, and we may be required to materially reduce our recorded revenue or profits upon completion and final negotiation of audits. Negative audit findings could also result in termination of a contract, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments, fines or suspension or debarment from U.S. government contracting or subcontracting for a period of time or indefinitely.

In addition, U.S. government contracts generally contain provisions permitting termination, in whole or in part, without prior notice at the U.S. government’s convenience upon payment only for work done and commitments made at the time of termination. For some contracts, we are a subcontractor and not the prime contractor, and in those arrangements, the U.S. government could terminate the prime contractor for convenience without regard for our performance as a subcontractor. We can give no assurance that one or more of our U.S. government contracts will not be terminated under those circumstances. Also, we can give no assurance that we would be able to procure new contracts to offset the revenue or backlog lost as a result of any termination of our U.S. government contracts. Because a significant portion of our revenue is dependent on our performance and payment under our U.S. government contracts, the loss of one or more large contracts could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Our U.S. government business also is subject to specific procurement regulations and a variety of socioeconomic and other requirements. These requirements, although customary in U.S. government contracts, increase our performance and compliance costs. These costs might increase in the future, thereby reducing our margins, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. In addition, the U.S. government has and may continue to implement initiatives focused on efficiencies, affordability and cost growth and other changes to its procurement practices. These initiatives and changes to procurement practices may change the way U.S. government contracts are solicited, negotiated, and managed, which may affect whether and how we pursue opportunities to provide our products and services to the U.S. government, including the terms and conditions under which we do so, which may have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. For example, contracts awarded under the Department of Defense’s Other Transaction Authority for research and prototypes generally require cost-sharing and may not follow, or may follow only in part, standard U.S. government contracting practices and terms, such as the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”) and Cost Accounting Standards.

Failure to comply with applicable regulations and requirements could lead to fines, penalties, repayments, or compensatory or treble damages, or suspension or debarment from U.S. government contracting or subcontracting for a period of time or indefinitely. Among the causes for debarment are violations of various laws and regulations, including those related to procurement integrity, export control (including the ITAR), U.S. government security, employment practices, protection of the environment, accuracy of records, proper recording of costs and foreign corruption. The termination of a U.S. government contract or relationship as a result of any of these violations would have an adverse impact on our operations and could have an adverse effect on our standing and eligibility for future U.S. government contracts.

The terms of certain of our current and likely future contracts are highly sensitive and we are limited in our ability to disclose such terms.

Our success, in large part, depends on our ability to maintain protection over the terms of certain of our current and likely future contracts and agreements, each of which is or will be highly negotiated and contain sensitive information that, if publicly disclosed, would benefit our and our partners’ competitors and harm our and our partners’ commercial interests. We are limited in our ability to disclose the terms of these agreements, including terms that may affect our expected cash flows or the value of any collateral, and have taken precautions to protect the disclosure of the sensitive information in such agreements. If the terms of these agreements were to be disclosed, our ability to compete could be hindered and our relationships with our partners could be damaged, both of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Furthermore, our relationships with our partners could also be damaged, and they may take legal action against us, if they believe that we have disclosed any terms of these agreements without their prior consent.

For the reasons discussed above, the nature of current and future contracts with the U.S. government will limit our ability to disclose sensitive terms such as contract scope, schedules, and budgets, and, in some cases, the specific end user.

We are committed to complying with our disclosure obligations under federal securities laws. Any future material contracts that are of national security concern will be disclosed in redacted form (redacting only the information that is both not material and is of the type that we treat as private or confidential), and unredacted versions made available to the SEC’s staff for confidential, non-disclosable review, in accordance with SEC regulations.

Disputes with our subcontractors or the inability of our subcontractors to perform, or our key suppliers to timely deliver our components, parts or services, has caused and could continue to cause our products, systems or services to be produced or delivered in an untimely or unsatisfactory manner.

We engage subcontractors on many of our contracts. We may have disputes with our subcontractors, including regarding the quality and timeliness of work performed by the subcontractor, customer concerns about the subcontract or subcontractor, our failure to extend existing task orders or issue new task orders under a subcontract, our hiring of the personnel of a subcontractor or vice versa or the subcontractor’s failure to comply with applicable law. In addition, there are certain parts, components, and services for many of our products, systems, technologies, and services that we source from other manufacturers or vendors. Some of our suppliers, from time to time, have experienced and may continue to experience financial and operational difficulties, which may impact their ability to supply the materials, components, subsystems, and services that we require. Tariffs recently imposed on certain materials and other trade issues may create or exacerbate existing materials shortages and may result in further supplier business closures. Our supply chain could also be disrupted by external events, such as natural disasters or other significant disruptions (including extreme weather conditions, medical epidemics, acts of terrorism, cyber-attacks and labor disputes), governmental actions and legislative or regulatory changes, including product certification or stewardship requirements, sourcing restrictions, product authenticity and climate change or greenhouse gas emission standards, or availability constraints from increased demand from customers. In addition, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in increased travel restrictions and extended shutdown of certain businesses across the globe. These or any further political or governmental developments or health concerns could result in social, economic, and labor instability. Any inability to develop alternative sources of supply on a cost-effective and timely basis could materially impair our ability to manufacture and deliver products, systems, and services to our customers. We can give no assurances that we will be free from disputes with our subcontractors; material supply constraints or problems; or component, subsystems, or services problems in the future. Also, our subcontractors and other suppliers may not be able to acquire or maintain the quality of the materials, components, subsystems, and services they supply, which may result in greater product returns, service problems and warranty claims and could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. In addition, in connection with our government contracts, we are required to procure certain materials, components and parts from supply sources approved by the U.S. government and we rely on our subcontractors and suppliers to comply with applicable laws, regulations and other requirements regarding procurement of counterfeit, unauthorized or otherwise non-compliant parts or materials, including parts or materials they supply to us, and in some circumstances, we rely on their certifications as to their compliance. From time to time, there are components for which there may be only one supplier, which may be unable to meet our needs. Each of these subcontractor and supplier risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

To date, we have encountered some supply chain disruptions stemming from limited availability of certain raw materials. Two such raw materials are aluminum and microchips. Significant quantities of aluminum is required for the vessel hull of the Hydronaut and the frame of the Aquanaut. Recently supply chain disruptions have caused procurement delays of aluminum which has subsequently delayed our manufacturing of the Aquanaut and Hydronaut. While these supply chain disruptions have to date not resulted in contract modifications to adjust cost, as we work with our suppliers, we anticipate that some cost adjustments may be necessary.

Another crucial material we utilize, which remains in short supply, is microchip electronics. Microchips play a key role in the electronic subsystems of the Aquanaut and Argonaut. Due to the challenges we have encountered in sourcing this material/component, we have redesigned components of our subsystems in order to incorporate microchips that are more easily obtained.

These supply chain issues have affected some, but not all, of our subcontractors and their ability to procure raw materials in a cost effective and timely manner. This has been evidenced by schedule extensions in the expected delivery of the Aquanauts that are under contract for fabrication with International Submarine Engineering, Ltd. as well as the Hydronauts under contract for construction with Diverse Marine. Nauticus continues to monitor these contractor issues and works closely with the supply chain providers to adjust other elements of the project to minimize schedule impacts and ensure minimal to no disruption to our daily operations.

We have government customers, which subjects us to risks including early termination, audits, investigations, sanctions and penalties.

We derive a substantial portion of our revenue from contracts with U.S. Department of Defense agencies and may enter into additional contracts with the U.S. or foreign governments in the future. This subjects us to statutes and regulations applicable to companies doing business with the government, including the FAR. These government contracts customarily contain provisions that give the government substantial rights and remedies, many of which are not typically found in commercial contracts and which are unfavorable to contractors. For instance, most U.S. government agencies include provisions that allow the government to unilaterally terminate or modify contracts for convenience, and in that event, the counterparty to the contract may generally recover only its incurred or committed costs and settlement expenses and profit on work completed prior to the termination. If the government terminates a contract for default, the defaulting party may be liable for any extra costs incurred by the government in procuring undelivered items from another source.

Some of our federal government contracts are subject to the approval of appropriations being made by the U.S. Congress to fund the expenditures under these contracts. In addition, government contracts normally contain additional requirements that may increase our costs of doing business, reduce our profits, and expose us to liability for failure to comply with these terms and conditions. These requirements include, for example:

Government contracts are also generally subject to greater scrutiny by the government, which can initiate reviews, audits, and investigations regarding our compliance with government contract requirements. In addition, if we fail to comply with government contracting laws, regulations and contract requirements, our contracts may be subject to termination, and we may be subject to financial and/or other liability under our contracts, the Federal Civil False Claims Act (including treble damages and other penalties), or criminal law. In particular, the False Claims Act’s “whistleblower” provisions also allow private individuals, including present and former employees, to sue on behalf of the U.S. government. Any penalties, damages, fines, suspension, or damages could adversely affect our ability to operate our business and our financial results.

Our reputation and ability to do business may be impacted by the improper conduct of our employees, agents, or business partners.

We have implemented compliance controls, training, policies and procedures designed to prevent and detect reckless or criminal acts from being committed by our employees, agents or business partners that would violate the laws of the jurisdictions in which we operate, including laws governing payments to government officials, such as the FCPA, the protection of export controlled or classified information, such as ITAR, false claims, procurement integrity, cost accounting and billing, competition, information security and data privacy and the terms of our contracts. This risk of improper conduct may increase as we continue to grow and expand our operations. We cannot ensure, however, that our controls, training, policies and procedures will prevent or detect all such reckless or criminal acts, and we have been adversely impacted by such acts in the past, which have been immaterial in nature. If not prevented, such reckless or criminal acts could subject us to civil or criminal investigations, monetary and non-monetary penalties and suspension and debarment by the U.S. government and could have a material adverse effect on our ability to conduct business, our results of operations and our reputation. In addition, misconduct involving data security lapses resulting in the compromise of personal information or the improper use of our customer’s sensitive or classified information could result in remediation costs, regulatory sanctions against us and serious harm our reputation and could adversely impact our ability to continue to contract with the U.S. government.

Risks Related to Our Securities

We may issue a significant number of shares or equity-linked securities in the future in connection with investments or acquisitions.

We may issue securities in the future in connection with investments or acquisitions or otherwise. The amount of shares of common stock issued in connection with an investment or acquisition could constitute a material portion of our then-outstanding shares of common stock. Any issuance of additional securities in connection with investments or acquisitions may result in additional dilution to our stockholders.

Because we became a public reporting company by means other than a traditional underwritten initial public offering, our stockholders may face additional risks and uncertainties.

Because we became a public reporting company by means of consummating the Business Combination rather than by means of a traditional underwritten initial public offering, there was no independent third-party underwriter was involved in the going public process of the combined company, and, accordingly, our stockholders did not have the benefit of an independent review and investigation of the type normally performed by an unaffiliated, independent underwriter in an initial public securities offering. Due diligence reviews typically include an independent investigation of the background of the company, any advisors of the company and their respective affiliates, review of the offering documents and independent analysis of the plan of business and any underlying financial assumptions. Because there was no independent third-party underwriter involved in the Business Combination, you must rely on the information included in this prospectus and other documents filed by us from time to time with the SEC. Although CLAQ performed a due diligence review and investigation of Legacy Nauticus in connection with the Business Combination, the lack of an independent due diligence review and investigation may involved an increased the risk of an investment in us because CLAQ’s due diligence review and investigation may not have uncovered facts that would be important to a potential investor.

In addition, because we did not become a public reporting company by means of a traditional underwritten initial public offering, security or industry analysts may not provide, or may be less likely to provide, coverage of the Company. Investment banks may also be less likely to agree to underwrite primary or secondary public offerings on behalf of us than they otherwise might have been had we become a public reporting company by means of a traditional underwritten initial public offering, including in the event they are less familiar with the Company as a result of more limited coverage by analysts and the media. The failure to receive research coverage or support in the market for our Common Stock could have an adverse effect on our ability to develop a liquid market for our Common Stock. See “—Risks Related to Our Securities—If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about us, or publish negative reports, our stock price and trading volume could decline.”

If certain holders of Common Stock sell a significant portion of their securities, it may negatively impact the market price of the shares of our Common Stock and such holders still may receive significant proceeds.

As of the date of this prospectus, the market price of our Common Stock is below $10.00 per share, which was the price per share of Common Stock sold in the IPO and the per-share price of the shares of Common Stock sold to certain investors in the Equity Financing.

While the number of Resale Shares that the Selling Securityholders will be able to sell into the public market pursuant to this prospectus represents only approximately 4% of the total number of shares of Common Stock outstanding as of August 4, 2023, the resale of shares of our Common Stock (including, but not limited to, the Resale Shares) by our stockholders could have a negative impact on the trading price of our Common Stock. See “—Currently, outstanding Public Warrants, Private Warrants, SPA Warrants and New SPA Warrants are exercisable for shares of Common Stock. Additionally, the Debentures are currently convertible. Any future exercise of such warrants or conversion of the Debentures would increase the number of shares of Common Stock eligible for future resale in the public market and result in dilution to our shareholders.” This potential negative impact may be heighted by the fact that certain of our stockholders, including the Selling Securityholders, purchased, have been issued, or may acquire shares of our Common Stock at prices below the current trading price of our Common Stock. In particular, the Founder Shares were purchased at an effective price of $0.006 per share.

Sales of shares of our Common Stock may depress our stock price.

Sales of a substantial number of shares of Common Stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our Common Stock and 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 on the prevailing market price of our Common Stock.

In connection with the Closing of our Business Combination, we entered into Company Lock-up Agreements with certain Legacy Nauticus stockholders then holding 29,379,584 shares of our Common Stock (excluding PIPE Shares which may be held by such stockholders), pursuant to which each stockholder agreed during the Lock-up Period, and subject to certain customary exceptions, not to offer, sell, contract to sell, pledge or otherwise dispose of, directly or indirectly, any shares of our Common Stock, or enter into a transaction that would have the same effect, among other customary restrictions. The Company Lock-up Agreements expired on March 8, 2023, and the shares held by the parties to the Company Lock-up Agreements are no longer under these contractual restrictions. Consequently, we may experience selling pressure from the stockholders party to the Company Lock-up Agreement as they might push to quickly sell their previously restricted shares of Common Stock, regardless of the sale’s effect on the market price of our Common Stock.

The market price of our Common Stock is volatile, and you may lose some or all of your investment.

The market price of our Common Stock has been and is likely to continue to be volatile and may be subject to wide fluctuations in response to a variety of factors, including the following:

In addition, the stock markets have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many companies. These fluctuations have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. Wide-ranging market and industry factors, as well as general economic, political, regulatory and market conditions, may negatively affect the market price of our Common Stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. In addition, price volatility may be greater if the public float and trading volume of our Common Stock is low.

Volatility in our share price could subject us to securities class action litigation.

In the past, securities class action litigation has often been brought against a company following a decline in the market price of its securities, or following periods of market volatility generally. If we were involved in securities litigation, it could result in substantial costs and divert management’s attention and resources, which, regardless of the outcome of any such litigation, could harm our business.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about us, or publish negative reports, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our Common Stock depends, in part, on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us. We do not have any control over these analysts. If our financial performance fails to meet analyst estimates or one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our Common Stock or change their opinion, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

Because we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future, capital appreciation, if any, would be your sole source of gain.

We currently anticipate that we will retain future earnings for the development, operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate declaring or paying any cash dividends for the foreseeable future. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of shares of Common Stock owned by you would be your sole source of gain on an investment in such shares for the foreseeable future.

We are an emerging growth company, and we cannot be certain if the reduced reporting requirements applicable to emerging growth companies will make our shares less attractive to investors.

We are an emerging growth company, as defined in the JOBS Act. For as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies,” including exemption from compliance with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (i) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the IPO, which occurred on July 19, 2021, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common equity that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter, and (ii) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.

Even after we no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, we may still qualify as a “smaller reporting company,” which would allow us to take advantage of many of the same exemptions from disclosure requirements including exemption from compliance with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 and reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in this prospectus and our periodic reports and proxy statements.

We cannot predict if investors will find our Common Stock less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our Common Stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for the Common Stock and our market price may be more volatile.

We may redeem unexpired warrants prior to their exercise at a time that is disadvantageous to investors, thereby making Public Warrants worthless.

We have the ability to redeem outstanding Public Warrants at any time after they become exercisable and prior to their expiration, at $0.01 per warrant, provided that the last reported sales price (or the closing bid price of our Common Stock in the event the shares of our Common Stock are not traded on any specific trading day) of the Common Stock equals or exceeds $16.50 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations and the like) on each of 20 trading days within the 30 trading-day period ending on the third business day prior to the date on which we send proper notice of such redemption, provided that on the date we give notice of redemption and during the entire period thereafter until the time we redeem the warrants, we have an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available. If and when the Public Warrants become redeemable by us, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying securities for sale under all applicable state securities laws. Redemption of the outstanding Public Warrants could force a warrant holder: (i) to exercise its warrants and pay the exercise price therefor at a time when it may be disadvantageous for it to do so, (ii) to sell its warrants at the then-current market price when it might otherwise wish to hold its Public Warrants or (iii) to accept the nominal redemption price which, at the time the outstanding Public Warrants are called for redemption, will be substantially less than the market value of its Public Warrants.

Our warrants may never be in the money, and they may expire worthless.

The exercise price of the Public Warrants and Private Warrants is $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. Pursuant to the Letter Agreements, the exercise price of the SPA Warrants was lowered to a weighted average of $3.28 per share, with multiple tranches priced between $2.04 and $4.64 per share, subject to adjustment. In addition, the exercise price of the New SPA Warrants is $20.00 per share, subject to adjustment. There can be no assurance that our outstanding warrants, in particular the Public Warrants, Private Warrants, and New SPA Warrants, will ever be in the money prior to their expiration and, as such, such warrants may expire worthless.

The Warrant Agreement designates the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York as the sole and exclusive forum for certain types of actions and proceedings that may be initiated by holders of our Public Warrants and Private Warrants, which could limit the ability of warrant holders to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us.

The Warrant Agreement provides that, subject to applicable law, (i) any action, proceeding or claim against us arising out of or relating in any way to the Warrant Agreement including under the Securities Act, will be brought and enforced in the courts of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and (ii) that we irrevocably submit to such jurisdiction, which jurisdiction shall be the exclusive forum for any such action, proceeding or claim. We will waive any objection to such exclusive jurisdiction and that such courts represent an inconvenient forum.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, these provisions of the Warrant Agreement will not apply to suits brought to enforce any liability or duty created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal district courts of the United States of America are the sole and exclusive forum. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in any of our warrants shall be deemed to have notice of and to have consented to the forum provisions in the Warrant Agreement. If any action, the subject matter of which is within the scope the forum provisions of the Warrant Agreement is filed in a court other than a court of the State of New York or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (for purposes of this subsection, a “foreign action”) in the name of any holder of our Public Warrants or Private Warrants such holder shall be deemed to have consented to: (x) the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in the State of New York in connection with any action brought in any such court to enforce the forum provisions (for purposes of this subsection, an “enforcement action”), and (y) having service of process made upon such warrant holder in any such enforcement action by service upon such warrant holder’s counsel, as applicable, in the foreign action as agent for such warrant holder.

This choice-of-forum provision may limit the ability of warrant holders to bring a claim in a judicial forum that they find favorable for disputes with the Company, which may discourage such lawsuits. Alternatively, if a court were to find this provision of the Warrant Agreement inapplicable or unenforceable with respect to one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and result in a diversion of the time and resources of our management and Board. These limitations do not apply to the SPA Warrants or New SPA Warrants.

Currently, outstanding Public Warrants, Private Warrants, SPA Warrants and New SPA Warrants are exercisable for shares of Common Stock. Additionally, the Debentures are currently convertible. Any future exercise of such warrants or conversion of the Debentures would increase the number of shares of Common Stock eligible for future resale in the public market and result in dilution to our shareholders.

Outstanding Public Warrants and Private Warrants to purchase an aggregate 15,799,991 shares of Common Stock (8,624,991 Public Warrant Shares and 7,175,000 Private Warrant Shares) are currently exercisable. Each Public Warrant and Private Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one share of Common Stock at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment.

The Debentures are convertible, at the election of each holder thereof, for an aggregate 2,922,425 shares of Common Stock. Upon issuance, the SPA Warrants became exercisable, at an exercise price of $20.00 per share, for an aggregate 2,922,425 shares of Common Stock. Pursuant to the Letter Agreements, the exercise price of the SPA Warrants was lowered to a weighted average of $3.28 per share, with multiple tranches priced between $2.04 and $4.64 per share, subject to adjustment. As of the date of this prospectus, 165,713 SPA Warrants have been exercised; and we have issued 165,713 New SPA Warrants, which became exercisable upon issuance at an exercise price of $20.00 per share.

In connection with the Closing, each outstanding option to purchase shares of Legacy Nauticus Common Stock (a “Legacy Nauticus Option”), whether or not then-vested and exercisable, was assumed by CLAQ and converted automatically (and without any required action on the part of the holder) into an option to purchase shares of Common Stock (each, a “Nauticus Option”) equal to the number of shares determined by multiplying the number of shares of Legacy Nauticus Common Stock subject to such Legacy Nauticus Option immediately prior to the Effective Time by the Exchange Ratio, which product was rounded down to the nearest whole number of shares, at a per-share exercise price determined by dividing the per-share exercise price of such option immediately prior to the Effective Time by the Exchange Ratio. As a result of the Business Combination, an aggregate 3,970,266 shares of Common Stock (the “Nauticus Option Shares”) became issuable upon exercise of the Nauticus Options, subject to their respective original vesting dates. As of the date of this prospectus, 215,837 Nauticus Option Shares have been issued.

Further in connection with the Closing, and subject to certain Triggering Events (defined below), former holders of Legacy Nauticus Common Stock became entitled to receive their pro rata portion of up to an aggregate 7,499,993 Earnout Shares (defined below).

The Public Warrants, Private Warrants, SPA Warrants and New SPA Warrants may be exercised for, and the Debentures may be converted into, only a whole number of shares of Common Stock. To the extent any (i) outstanding Public Warrants, Private Warrants, SPA Warrants or New SPA Warrants are exercised; (ii) Debentures are converted; (iii) outstanding Nauticus Options are exercised; or (iv) Earnout Shares are released, additional shares of Common Stock will be issued, which will result in dilution to the then-existing holders of our Common Stock and increase the number of shares of Common Stock eligible for resale in the public market. Sales of substantial numbers of shares of Common Stock in the public market could adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock.

USE OF PROCEEDS

All of the securities offered by the Selling Securityholders pursuant to this prospectus will be offered and sold by the Selling Securityholders for their respective accounts. We will not receive any of the proceeds from any sale of securities by Selling Securityholders under this prospectus.

With respect to the registration of the securities being offered by the Selling Securityholders, the Selling Securityholder will pay any underwriting discounts and commissions incurred by them in disposing of such Common Stock, and fees and expenses of legal counsel representing the Selling Securityholders. We have borne all other costs, fees and expenses incurred in effecting the registration of the Common Stock covered by this prospectus, including all registration and filing fees, Nasdaq additional listing fees, and fees of our counsel and our independent registered public accountants.

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED AND
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

The following unaudited pro forma condensed combined and consolidated statement of operations presents the combination of the financial information of CLAQ and Nauticus adjusted to give effect to the Business Combination and related transactions completed on September 9, 2022. The following unaudited pro forma condensed combined and consolidated statement of operations has been prepared in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation S-X as amended by the final rule, Release No. 33-10786 “Amendments to Financial Disclosures about Acquired and Disposed Businesses.” Defined terms included below have the same meaning as terms defined and included elsewhere in this prospectus.

The historical financial information of CLAQ was derived from the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of CLAQ for the period from January 1, 2022, to September 9, 2022 (the closing date of the Business Combination). Such unaudited pro forma financial information has been prepared on a basis consistent with the audited financial statements of CLAQ and should be read in conjunction with the audited historical financial statements and related notes, included elsewhere in this prospectus. The historical financial information of Nauticus was derived from the audited consolidated financial statements of Nauticus as of December 31, 2022, included elsewhere in this prospectus. This information should be read together with CLAQ’s and Nauticus’ audited financial statements and related notes and the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and other financial information included elsewhere in this prospectus.

The Business Combination was accounted for as a reverse recapitalization, with no goodwill or other intangible assets recorded, in accordance with GAAP. Under this method of accounting, CLAQ was treated as the “acquired” company for financial reporting purposes. Nauticus was determined to be the accounting acquirer because Nauticus, as a group, retained a majority of the outstanding shares of the combined company as of the closing of the Business Combination, they nominated eight of the nine members of the board of directors as of the closing of the Business Combination, Nauticus’ management continued to manage the combined company and Nauticus’ business comprises the ongoing operations of the combined company.

An unaudited pro forma condensed combined balance sheet is not presented because the Business Combination is already fully reflected in Nauticus’ consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2022, and March 31, 2023. An unaudited pro forma condensed combined and consolidated statement of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2023, is not presented because the Business Combination has already been fully reflected in Nauticus’ consolidated statement of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2023. Therefore no pro forma adjustments would be made to Nauticus’ consolidated statement of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2023, for the Business Combination and related transactions.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined and consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2022, presented herein gives pro forma effect to the Business Combination and related transactions as if they had occurred on January 1, 2022. CLAQ and Nauticus had no historical relationship prior to the Business Combination. Accordingly, no pro forma adjustments were required to eliminate activities between the companies.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined and consolidated statement of operations is for informational purposes only. It does not purport to indicate the results that would have been obtained had the Business Combination and related transactions actually been completed on the assumed date or for the periods presented, or which may be realized in the future. The pro forma adjustments are based on the information currently available and the assumptions and estimates underlying the pro forma adjustments are described in the accompanying notes. Actual results may differ materially from the assumptions within the accompanying unaudited pro forma condensed combined and consolidated statement of operations.

Description of the Business Combination

On September 9, 2022, Nauticus Robotics, Inc. consummated the Business Combination with Merger Sub, and Legacy Nauticus. Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, a business combination between CLAQ and Legacy Nauticus was affected through the merger of Merger Sub with and into Legacy Nauticus, with Legacy Nauticus surviving the merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of CLAQ. On the Closing Date, CLAQ was renamed “Nauticus Robotics, Inc.” and Legacy Nauticus was renamed “Nauticus Robotics Holdings, Inc.”

At the closing, among other things, (a) each share of Legacy Nauticus preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share, that was issued and outstanding immediately prior to the closing converted into shares of Nauticus Common stock, par value $0.01 per share; (b) each of Legacy Nauticus’ unsecured convertible note obligations outstanding was converted into shares of Legacy Nauticus Common Stock in accordance with the terms of each such Nauticus Convertible Note; and (c) each share of Legacy Nauticus Common Stock (including shares of Legacy Nauticus Common Stock outstanding as a result of the Preferred Stock Conversion and Amended Convertible Note Conversion) was converted into the right to receive (i) the per share merger consideration and (ii) Earnout Shares.

Shares issued at closing is summarized as follows (i) an aggregate of 36,650,778 shares of Common Stock were issued to holders of Legacy Nauticus Common Stock in the Business Combination (ii) the right to receive 7,499,993 additional shares of Common Stock held in escrow pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement and as further described below (such additional escrowed shares, the “Earnout Shares”) and (iii) the issuance of 3,100,000 shares of Common Stock for the Equity Financing (as described below). An aggregate of 47,250,771 shares of Common Stock (inclusive of the Earnout Shares) was issued after the Business Combination.

Former holders of Legacy Nauticus Common Stock are entitled to receive their pro rata shares of up to 7,499,993 Earnout Shares held in escrow. The Earnout Shares will be released upon occurrence of a Triggering Event (defined below):

At closing, we received proceeds from the PIPE Investment consisting of:

On September 9, 2022, the Company received from the Business Combination with CLAQ net cash of $14,947,875. The Company also assumed $30,157 in prepaids, $14,796,942 in accounts payable and accrued liabilities, $850,333 in notes payable and net equity of $(669,243).

CLAQ’s net cash at the Closing Date totaled $14,947,875. This amount, together with proceeds of the PIPE Investment, were available to repay certain indebtedness, transaction costs and for general corporate purposes.

The Company incurred $12,582,000 in direct and incremental costs associated with the Equity Financing, which primarily consisted of investment banking, legal, accounting, and other professional fees.

The pro forma adjustments giving effect to the Business Combination and related transactions are discussed in the footnotes to these unaudited pro forma condensed combined and consolidated statement of operations.

UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED AND
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2022

NOTES TO UNAUDITED PRO FORMA CONDENSED COMBINED AND
CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Note 1. Basis of Presentation

The Business Combination was accounted for as a reverse recapitalization, with no goodwill or other intangible assets recorded, in accordance with GAAP. Under this method of accounting, CLAQ was treated as the “accounting acquiree” and Nauticus as the “accounting acquirer” for financial reporting purposes. Accordingly, for accounting purposes, the Business Combination was treated as the equivalent of Nauticus issuing shares for the net assets of CLAQ, followed by a recapitalization. The net assets of CLAQ were stated at historical cost. Operations prior to the Business Combination are those of Nauticus.

An unaudited pro forma condensed combined balance sheet is not presented because the Business Combination is already reflected in Nauticus’ consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2022 and March 31, 2023. An unaudited pro forma condensed combined and consolidated statement of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2023 is not presented because the Business Combination is already reflected in Nauticus’ consolidated statement of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2023.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined and consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2022, presented herein gives effect to the Business Combination and related transactions as if they occurred January 1, 2022, the beginning of the earliest period presented.

The pro forma adjustments reflecting the consummation of the Business Combination and the related transaction are based on certain currently available information and certain assumptions and methodologies that management believes are reasonable under the circumstances. Management believes that its assumptions and methodologies provide a reasonable basis for presenting all of the significant effects of the Business Combination and the related transactions and that the pro forma adjustments give appropriate effect to those assumptions and are properly applied in the unaudited pro forma condensed combined and consolidated statement of operations.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined and consolidated statement of operations does not give effect to any anticipated synergies, operating efficiencies, tax savings, or cost savings that may be associated with the Business Combination. The unaudited pro forma condensed combined and consolidated statement of operations is not necessarily indicative of what the actual results of operations would have been had the Business Combination and related transactions taken place on the dates indicated, nor are they indicative of the future consolidated results of operations of the post-combination company. They should be read in conjunction with the historical financial statements and notes thereto of CLAQ and Nauticus.

Note 2. Accounting Policies and Reclassifications

After consummation of the Business Combination, management performed a comprehensive review of the two entities’ accounting policies. Based on its initial analysis, management did not identify any differences that would have a material impact on the unaudited pro forma condensed combined and consolidated statement of operations. As a result, the unaudited pro forma condensed combined and consolidated statement of operations does not assume any differences in accounting policies.

As part of the preparation of the unaudited pro forma condensed combined and consolidated statement of operations, certain reclassifications were made to align CLAQ’s financial statement presentation with that of Nauticus.

Note 3. Adjustments to Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined and Consolidated Statement of Operations

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined and consolidated statement of operations has been prepared to illustrate the effect of the Business Combination and related transactions and has been prepared for informational purposes only.

The unaudited pro forma condensed combined and consolidated statement of operations has been prepared in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation S-X as amended by the final rule, Release No. 33-10786 “Amendments to Financial Disclosures about Acquired and Disposed Businesses.” Release No. 33-10786 replaces the existing pro forma adjustment criteria with simplified requirements to depict the accounting for the transaction (“Transaction Accounting Adjustments”) and present the reasonably estimable synergies and other transaction effects that have occurred or are reasonably expected to occur (“Management’s Adjustments”). CLAQ has elected not to present Management’s Adjustments and is only presenting Transaction Accounting Adjustments in the unaudited pro forma condensed combined and consolidated statement of operations. CLAQ and Nauticus had no historical relationship prior to the Business Combination. Accordingly, no pro forma adjustments were required to eliminate activities between the companies.

The pro forma basic and diluted earnings per share amounts presented in the unaudited pro forma condensed combined and consolidated statement of operations are based upon the number of Nauticus’ ordinary shares outstanding, assuming the Business Combination and related transactions occurred on January 1, 2022.

Adjustments to Unaudited Pro Forma Condensed Combined and Consolidated Statements of Operations

The pro forma adjustments included in the unaudited pro forma condensed combined and consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2022 are as follows:

Note 4.  Net Income (Loss) per Share

Net income (loss) per share was calculated using the historical weighted average shares outstanding, and the issuance of additional shares in connection with the Business Combination and the related transactions, assuming the shares were outstanding since January 1, 2022. As the Business Combination and the related transactions are being reflected as if they had occurred at the beginning of the period presented, the calculation of weighted average shares outstanding for basic and diluted net income (loss) per share assumes that the shares issuable relating to the Business Combination and related transactions have been outstanding for the entirety of the year.

MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations should be read in conjunction with the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto for the three months ended March 31, 2023.

Explanatory Note

On the Closing Date, we consummated the Business Combination with Merger Sub, and Legacy Nauticus. Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, a business combination between CLAQ and Legacy Nauticus was effected through the merger of Merger Sub with and into Legacy Nauticus, with Legacy Nauticus surviving the merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of CLAQ. On the Closing Date, CLAQ was renamed “Nauticus Robotics, Inc.” and Legacy Nauticus was renamed “Nauticus Robotics Holdings, Inc.”

The Business Combination was accounted for as a reverse recapitalization under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”). Legacy Nauticus was determined to be the accounting acquirer and CLAQ was treated as the acquired company for financial reporting purposes. Accordingly, the financial statements of Nauticus represent a continuation of the financial statements of Legacy Nauticus.

Overview

Nauticus Robotics, Inc. (the “Company,” “our,” “us,” or “we”) is a developer of ocean robots, cloud software, and services delivered to the ocean industry. We were initially incorporated as CleanTech Acquisition Corp. (“CLAQ” or “CleanTech”) under the laws of the State of Delaware on June 18, 2020. The Company’s principal corporate offices are located in Webster, Texas. Our services provide customers with the necessary data collection, analytics, and subsea manipulation capabilities to support and maintain assets while reducing their operational footprint, operating cost, and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as to improve offshore health, safety, and environmental exposure.

Our subsea robotic product, Aquanaut, is a vehicle that begins its mission in a hydrodynamically efficient configuration which enables efficient transit to the worksite (i.e., operating as an autonomous underwater vehicle, or “AUV”). During transit (operating in survey mode), Aquanaut’s sensor suite provides capability to observe and inspect subsea assets or other subsea features. Once it arrives at the worksite, Aquanaut transforms its hull configuration to expose two work-class-capable, electric manipulators that can perform dexterous tasks with (supervised), or without (autonomous), direct human involvement. In this intervention mode, the vehicle has capabilities similar to a conventional ROV. The ability to operate in both AUV and ROV modes is a quality unique to our subsea robot and is protected under a U.S. patent. To take advantage of these special configuration qualities, we have developed underwater acoustic communication technology, called Wavelink, our over-the-horizon remote connectivity solution, which removes the need for long umbilicals to connect the robot with topside vessels. Eliminating these umbilicals and communicating with the robot through acoustic or other latent, laser, or RF methods reduces much of the system infrastructure that is currently required for ROV servicing operations and is core to our value proposition.

The component technologies that comprise the Aquanaut are also marketable to the existing worldwide ROV fleet. Aquanaut’s perception and machine-learning software technologies combined with its perception and electric manipulators can be retrofitted on existing ROV platforms to improve their ability to perform subsea maintenance activities. The Argonaut, a derivative product of the Aquanaut, is aligned to non-industrial, government applications. This vehicle embodies nearly all of the Aquanaut’s core technologies but varies in form and function necessary to perform specialized missions.

Our key technologies are autonomous platforms, acoustic communications networks, electric manipulators, AI-based perception and control software, and high-definition workspace sensors. Implementation of these technologies enables operators to reduce costs relative to conventional methods.

Basis of Presentation – The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared by Nauticus Robotics Inc. without audit pursuant to the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and, in the opinion of management, include all adjustments (consisting of normal, recurring adjustments, unless otherwise disclosed) necessary for a fair statement of the condensed consolidated results of operations, financial position, cash flows, and changes in stockholders’ equity (deficit) for each period presented. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in preparation of these condensed consolidated financial statements. The consolidated results for the interim periods are not necessarily indicative of results to be expected for the full year. The 2022 year-end Consolidated Balance Sheet was derived from audited financial statements but does not include all disclosures required by GAAP. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with Nauticus Robotics Inc. Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Business – The global spread of COVID-19 created significant market volatility and economic uncertainty and disruption during 2021 and 2022. The Company was adversely affected by the deterioration and increased uncertainty in the macroeconomic outlook as a result of the impact of COVID-19. We have experienced and may continue to experience disruptions in our supply chain, due in part to the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Depending upon the duration of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic-related business interruptions, our customers, suppliers, manufacturers, and partners may suspend or delay their engagements with us, which could result in a material adverse effect on our financial condition and ability to meet current timelines. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected and may continue to affect our ability to recruit skilled employees to join our team. The conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have adversely affected and may continue to adversely affect, among other things, demand for our products and the ability to test and assess our robotic systems with potential customers, any of which adversely affects our business, results of operations, and financial condition. The duration and extent of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts cannot be accurately predicted at this time, and the ultimate direct and indirect impacts on our business, results of operations, and financial condition will depend on future developments that are highly uncertain.

Liquidity – The Company has had recurring losses and negative cash flows since its inception. The Company continues to develop its principal products and conduct research and development activities. Supply chain disruptions instigated production delays and have continued to impact the Company’s ability to deploy its products and realize material RaaS and product sale revenues. Currently, the Company does not generate sufficient revenue to cover operating expenses, working capital, and capital expenditures. We do not have any commitments for equity or debt funding at this time, and additional funding may not be available to us on favorable terms, if at all. We are considering reducing discretionary spending and other cost-cutting measures, which may be implemented in the near-term to the extent additional financing is not raised. The Company has not yet implemented material cost-cutting measures but will assess as needed to meet capital requirements for our business operations. There are no assurances that we can raise sufficient additional capital from external sources or implement material cost-cutting measures. The inability to successfully effectuate either measure could force us to curtail or discontinue our operations. However, utilizing cost control measures, cash on hand, revenue from operations, and potential future equity and debt funding, the Company anticipates having sufficient funds to meet its obligations for at least one year from the date of this prospectus.

Results of Operations

Three Months Ended March 31, 2023 Compared to Three Months Ended March 31, 2022

The following table sets forth summarized condensed consolidated financial information:

Revenue. For the three months ended March 31, 2023, net revenue increased by $0.6 million, or 26%, to $2.8 million for 2023, as compared to $2.2 million for 2022. The increase in revenue is primarily attributable to one new contract and the continuation and increased performance on existing service contracts from the prior year.

Cost of revenue. For the three months ended March 31, 2023, cost of revenue increased by $1.0 million, or 54%, to $2.9 million for 2023, as compared to $1.9 million for 2022. The increase in cost of revenue is primarily attributable to cost escalation of several service contracts and increased operational headcount compared to the prior year. Also included in cost of revenue are retention bonuses of approximately $0.3 million for our continued successful development of our core product program.

Depreciation. For the three months ended March 31, 2023, depreciation increased by $162 thousand, or 145%, to $273 thousand for 2023, as compared to $111 thousand for 2022 primarily due to increased investment in operational assets.

Research and development. For the three months ended March 31, 2023, total research and development expenses decreased by $1.0 million, or 82%, to $0.2 million for 2023, as compared to $1.3 million for 2022. The decrease was due primarily to the Company achieving technological feasibility on both hardware and software developments and focusing on bringing its products to market.

General and administrative. For the three months ended March 31, 2023, total general and administrative expenses increased by $3.6 million, or 217%, to $5.2 million for 2023, as compared to $1.6 million for 2022. General and administrative expenses increased primarily due to an increase in company headcount, sales and marketing expense, professional fees, and other costs due to the continued growth of the Company.

Other expense, net. For the three months ended March 31, 2023, other income, net increased by $1.1 million to $1.2 million for 2023 as compared to $0 of other expense, net in 2022. The increase was due primarily from a state sales tax assessment of $1.2 million that the Company plans to vigorously mitigate, by contesting the preliminary estimate from the governmental entity, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.

Change in fair value of warrant liabilities. For the three months ended March 31, 2023, change in fair value of warrant liabilities increased by $2.2 million to $2.2 million of other (income) expense in 2023 as compared to $0 in 2022. This increase was due to the change in mark-to-market value of the SPA warrants and public and private warrants incurred and assumed by the Company in the Business Combination.

Interest expense, net. For the three months ended March 31, 2023, interest expense, net increased by $0.2 million to $1.0 million for 2023 as compared to $0.8 million in 2022. Interest expense, net increased due to amortization of debt discount of $0.9 million associated with the Debenture note.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

As of March 31, 2023, we had $12,478,433 of cash and cash equivalents. The cash equivalents consist of money market funds.

Significant sources and uses of cash during the first three months of 2023.

Sources of cash:

Uses of cash:

Future sources and uses of cash. Our capital requirements will depend on many factors, including sales volumes, the timing and extent of spending to support R&D efforts, investments in technology, the expansion of sales and marketing activities, and market adoption of new and enhanced products and features. To date, our principal sources of liquidity have been proceeds received from the issuance of debt and equity funding and cash flows from our operations.

We anticipate needing additional capital to continue expanding our business operations, which may include acquisitions and capital expenditures. Currently, the Company does not generate sufficient revenue to cover operating expenses, working capital, and capital expenditures. We have historically financed our operations through equity and debt financing. We do not have any commitments for equity or debt funding at this time, and additional funding may not be available to us on favorable terms, if at all. We are considering reducing discretionary spending and other cost-cutting measures, which may be implemented in the near-term to the extent additional financing is not raised. The Company has not yet implemented material cost-cutting measures but will assess as needed to meet capital requirements for our business operations. There are no assurances that we can raise sufficient additional capital from external sources or implement material cost-cutting measures. The inability to successfully effectuate either measure could force us to curtail or discontinue our operations. However, utilizing cost control measures, cash on hand, revenue from operations, and potential future equity and debt funding, the Company anticipates having sufficient funds to meet its obligations for at least one year from the date of this prospectus.

Indebtedness. The Company’s indebtedness at March 31, 2023 is presented in the companies unaudited financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2023, “Note 7 – Notes Payable” and our lease obligations are presented in “Note 8 – Leases.”

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

As of March 31, 2023, we had no material off-balance sheet arrangements.

INFORMATION ABOUT NAUTICUS

The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the information about Nauticus contained elsewhere in this prospectus, including the information set forth in Nauticus’ consolidated financial statements and the related notes. Some of the information contained in this section or set forth elsewhere in this prospectus, including information with respect to Nauticus’ plans and strategy for its business, includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. You should read the sections titled “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” for a discussion of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results described in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in the following discussion. Unless the context otherwise requires, all references in this subsection to the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our” refer to the business of Nauticus Robotics, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

Overview

Nauticus is a developer of ocean robots, autonomy software, and services delivered to the marine industries. Legacy Nauticus was initially incorporated as Houston Mechatronics, Inc. on March 27, 2014, in the State of Texas. Nauticus is transforming from a business where revenue was primarily generated through engineering service contracts, with both government and commercial customers, to a company that performs subsea robotic services through various technology-based products. Nauticus’ products and services will be primarily delivered to commercial and government-facing customers through a RaaS business model and direct product sales for both hardware platforms and software licenses. Besides a standalone service offering and forward-facing products, Nauticus’ approach to ocean robotics has also resulted in the development of a range of technology products for retrofit/upgrading legacy systems and other third-party vehicle platforms. Nauticus’ services provide customers with the necessary data collection, analytics, and subsea manipulation capabilities to support and maintain assets while reducing their operational footprint, operating cost, and greenhouse gas emissions, to improve offshore health, safety, and environmental exposure.

The RaaS revenue model emulates SaaS revenue model, which is commonly used for consumer and business software licensing, but extends the model to include robots. In the SaaS model, the end user pays a fixed fee for a set period of time in order to use of the software. In the case of Nauticus’ RaaS model, clients will be charged a flat fee for performing the service over a period of time as required to complete the task. This fixed fee supports full use of Aquanaut, Hydronaut, ToolKITT (defined below), the communication infrastructure, and the personnel required to support the servicing mission. The RaaS fee approach encompasses the complete technology stack that is required to complete the contracted work. This can be contrasted with the industry’s current commercial approach, which bills clients based on the individual elements for performing the servicing mission (e.g., an itemized invoice for deployment of the equipment, tooling, crew, boat fuel, vessel, etc.). With the RaaS model, a flat rate, currently estimated to be $30,000–$50,000/day, will be billed to cover all equipment and personnel required to perform the service, irrespective of exactly which tasks are being performed. In Nauticus’ RaaS model, the subscriber pays for the service and not the rolled-up costs individually, as is frequently done today via an a la carte menu fashion. All other costs are covered in the subscription fee, including the long-term maintenance and servicing of the robots. At this stage, Nauticus proposes the use of a RaaS business model for delivering services to commercial clients only.

In contrast to the other robotics systems, Argonaut is handled differently and does not currently fall under the RaaS business model. The client base for Argonaut purchases the platform outright. There is longer-term service revenue associated with each platform around maintenance and add-on enhancements and payloads.

Nauticus’ near-term objective is to disrupt the current ocean services paradigm through the introduction and integration of advanced robotic technologies. These key technologies are supervised autonomy control software, novel robotic platforms capable of implementing autonomous behaviors, acoustic communications networking protocols, force/torque controllable electric manipulation, perception, artificial intelligence and machine learning software, and multimodal 3-D workspace sensors. Implementation of these technologies enables substantially improved operations at significantly reduced costs and greenhouse gas emissions over conventional methods based on the size of legacy surface support vessels, their crew, and required communications and power links. Legacy surface support vessels are typically 75-meter vessels, requiring a large crew and substantial equipment. Further, using a tethered ROV, the surface support vessel must support large spools of communication and power cable that can link the surface to the ROV, for example, down to 3,000m. This outfit can cost upwards of $100,000 per day, based on the size of the crew and the cost of the surface support vessel and equipment. In comparison, Nauticus’ cost estimates, which it validated through testing of the Hydronaut and Aquanaut, show that these costs can be reduced significantly when the full complement of Nauticus technologies are deployed. This is because the cost to outfit and hire the vessel are reduced, as Hydronaut is an 18-meter vessel, requiring fewer crew and resources. And the reduced crew and vessel size lead to large reductions in greenhouse gases emitted during these operations. Further, because the Aquanaut is an untethered ROV, it does not require the amounts of communication and power cables that a tethered ROV requires, reducing the cost of operations. Nauticus’ business is not seasonal.

Products, Services and Revenue:

Nauticus is in an industry that operates on a service-based daily rate model, often with very lengthy master service agreements (“MSAs”). These MSAs can span from two to four years, or more, for each device dedicated to one customer, resulting in low utilization per asset. Nauticus differentiates itself by employing a more opportunistic view which expands across different customers for shorter periods of time, thus facilitating higher utilization rates.

However, similar to the current service model, our RaaS business model (planned for future commercial services but yet to be implemented) is characterized by a recurring revenue stream granted in exchange for services provided, in this case through usage of our Nauticus robotic vehicles. The RaaS model should be considered within a range of revenue models that have this recurring characteristic. The RaaS model, as described in this prospectus, covers a range of conventional service contracts through an ongoing contract to provide services in a local area. As Nauticus deploys its initial service fleet, we anticipate that the initial services will be paid through conventional contracting methods, directly with the customer or in regional partnerships with an in-country service entity.

These conventional contracting methods typically revolve around a long-term MSA with an end client and service company. As a go-to-market strategy, Nauticus aligned interests with regional partners (e.g., Stinger Technology AS in Norway) to offer this conventional method within already awarded frame agreements. This allows Nauticus to shorten the adoption time of the service technology solution to an end client without having the end client fully adopt the entire RaaS model. There is, however, nothing that would prevent the end client from contracting directly with Nauticus under the RaaS offering. This use of the conventional contracting method does not exclude the providing of such services through the RaaS business model. Nonetheless, this conventional contracting method provides a quicker alternative if the RaaS business model is initially undesirable — a prominent reason being that the current contract is not up for rebid until much later. This allows Nauticus to provide its technology and enables the client to access it sooner. This in turn also allows Nauticus to rapidly expand into new regions, since it will use the in-country facilities and business resources of the regional partner.

Nauticus’ RaaS business model accommodates this type of contracting mechanism. However, as the new service paradigm matures and this technology is utilized by more customers, increased fleet assets will create a network effect in specific market regions (e.g., the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico, etc.). These assets will provide a continuous virtual residency of vehicles that serve the customer base. This ‘residency’ of available assets will enable a new approach to services at a further reduced cost, as customers share the operational overhead of supporting this new type of service infrastructure through ongoing subscription-based contracting.

The RaaS business model will be applied to the commercial fleet services aspect of our business. These services will be deployed through various RaaS contracting mechanisms as the market requires. The ToolKITT software platform is intended to be licensed on a SaaS basis or, in some cases, sold to end customers through a perpetual license. In the latter case, end users will be contracted for software support and maintenance. New versions and upgrades will be sold to customers set to retain the recurring revenue nature of the SaaS/RaaS model.

Although the sale of Nauticus’ products may occur on either point sales or RaaS/SaaS models, the ToolKITT software platform is targeted for this type of recurring revenue sales. Other products such as Argonaut (US Defense) and Olympic Arms (for existing ROVs) are anticipated to be sold through conventional sales contracts with accompanying software licenses. Aquanaut, the commercial subsea vehicle, may also be sold to selective customers, when those sales are not expected to cannibalize or compete with other Nauticus fleet services.

To date, Nauticus has generated revenue through U.S. defense contracts utilizing Aquanaut, Hydronaut, Argonaut, ToolKITT and commercial contracts for engineering services and vehicle leasing. The Argonaut has completed final assembly in our facility and underwent initial commissioning in the Pacific Ocean, leading to its expected acceptance by the customer, a large confidential government contractor (a “Large Confidential Government Contractor”), for further use in US government applications. Nauticus intends to continue to support the U.S. Department of Defense as a contract performer, both on its own and with a Large Confidential Government Contractor. These contracts support further technology development for Nauticus and further opportunities to migrate aspects of this work to the commercial sector. Both Nauticus and our partner, a Large Confidential Government Contractor, plan to actively pursue sales and services in the U.S. defense and intelligence communities through the Argonaut vehicle.

Currently, Nauticus has not completed any material product sales, and many of its core products are still under development. Nauticus provided service and support for HaloGuard products, a red zone monitoring solution. As of June 2022, Legacy Nauticus and Transocean negotiated an end to Legacy Nauticus’ support on the product line in order to focus more on the mainline revenue generating items for Legacy Nauticus.

The RaaS model is anticipated to commence in late 2023 or 2024 with the Hydronaut and Aquanaut units currently under construction at the expected market rate of $30,000-$50,000 per day. Since the vehicles will have limited calendar space to generate revenue in 2023, the RaaS service model is expected to account for just a small portion of 2023 revenues.

On May 23, 2022, our wholly owned subsidiary, Nauticus Robotics Brazil Ltda., a Brazilian limited liability company (“Nauticus Brazil”), entered into an agreement with Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., a Brazilian limited liability corporation (“Petrobras”), pursuant to which, among other things and upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth therein, Nauticus Brazil will provide Petrobras with underwater inspection services through the use of Aquanaut. We expect to generate approximately $4.3 million in revenue for this work by the end of 2024, pursuant to the terms of the agreement.

Evolution of Aquatic Robotics

The modern ocean robotic vehicles known as unmanned underwater vehicles (“UUVs”) can be traced to work performed by the U.S. Navy in the 1960’s. As this technology developed through the 1970’s and 1980’s, the oil and gas industry began to utilize this technology to support exploration projects in water depths that exceeded the capability of human divers. Since these beginnings, remotely operated vehicles and AUVs have expanded their reach into many fields beyond the ocean energy marketplace. These robotic vehicles have played a key role in exploration and discovery as well as ocean rescue missions. Today, these vehicles are routinely used to perform a wide variety of tasks in support of many fields of use, including offshore wind energy and aquaculture.

UUVs generally have two missions: data gathering or manipulation. They are operated in two distinct classifications — remotely operated or autonomous. The current vehicle designs are optimized and limited to performing one mission or the other. The long-range observation and data gathering missions are often oceanographic data, communication cable inspections, or subsea topographical surveys. These vehicles are usually AUVs and are non-hovering, tetherless, ’submarine shaped’ hulls optimized for long range cruising. Not only do these platforms neglect any manipulation, they are also less than ideally suited for tasks requiring high maneuverability. There are some hovering AUVs and even some that offer limited manipulation. However, these hydraulic arms are very rudimentary add-on features incapable of complex coordination or more advanced concepts like goal directed, impedance-force control.

On the other hand, most manipulation missions are performed by ROV designs. These tethered robots, which are specifically aimed at subsea manipulation, are attached to topside support vessels for power and communication. As such, they take advantage of high data rates and the power-rich environment afforded by the tether. Although operator fatigue is a notorious problem, most ROV operators are paid by the hour, and that has unfortunately held down advancing the state of the art in operational efficiency, control, and manipulation sophistication. And it is these exact technological advancements that are required in a communication-poor, power-limited environment.

There is an emerging need for the hybrid operation: a highly maneuverable platform that can perform manipulation work and also travel efficiently for tens of kilometers. This might include deployment from shore or from some other vehicle and then traveling large distances to then perform manipulation or observation work or both.

Market Opportunity

Although AUV and ROV technology have progressed over the years, the fundamental solution architecture has not changed from its beginning. Servicing missions at depth requires a large surface ship and for intervention tasks, tether spooling systems to be mounted and controlled from the vessel. Beyond the obvious mobilization/demobilization and operating costs of the ship, the tether system introduces its own set of operational challenges and constraints to account for entanglement and sea current-induced disturbances. The size and complexity of the tether system contribute to the size requirements of the vessel. The current paradigm typically includes onboard crew to operate the ROV, further increasing the vessel requirements. The current architecture drives the high cost of this service through the large size of the surface vessel combined with the encumbrance of the connecting cable between the surface vessel and the ROV.

The Nauticus solution addresses the primary factors that drive the cost of the current servicing paradigm. Eliminating the need for the several thousand meters of cable and therefore the onsite vessel and people using acoustic communications substantially reduces the cost of operations. In addition to removing the cost and maintenance of the cable, the surface vessel does not need to accommodate the size and complexity of this system, reducing its size and associated cost. Reducing the size of the surface vessel yields cost savings through reduced crew and vessel operating cost. Importantly, reducing the size of the surface vessel also substantially reduces the carbon expression during servicing operations.

Removing the cable, which provides high-bandwidth communications between the surface and the ROV, while still performing dexterous manipulation tasks has been a central technical achievement of Nauticus. Increasing the autonomy of the ROV through artificial intelligence enables the full set of capabilities required by the market but achieved through low-bandwidth data links. In this new control paradigm, high-bandwidth teleoperation gives way to low-bandwidth supervised autonomy. Taking the responsibility for robotic interventions from a real-time operator and placing it with the robot itself also improves performance of the system by reducing task completion times. This benefit results when the robot, not the operator, compensates for local disturbances while completing tasks in the workspace.

Another key benefit provided by Nauticus’ Aquanaut is its unique ability to transform its hull to optimize performance during different phases of the mission. The AUV-style, hydrodynamically efficient hull configuration enables the robot to traverse long distances when performing subsea pipe or cable inspections. After this transit, the vehicle can transform its shape to expose workclass-capable manipulators to interact with its environment. This ability to transit long distances and then perform manipulation tasks is enabled by both the vehicle design as well as the freedom from a cabled surface connection. This unique capability of the Aquanaut brings new capacity to subsea robotic interventions and further disrupts the status quo.

Nauticus believes that these new technical advances will redefine how ocean intervention services are performed. However, it is possible that these beliefs will prove incorrect. For additional discussion of risks relating to operational and financial projections, please see “Risk Factors — Our operating and financial projections rely on management assumptions and analyses. If these assumptions or analyses prove to be incorrect, our actual operating results may be materially different from our forecasted results.”

The new and unique capabilities of the Aquanaut represent a significant market opportunity for Nauticus to disrupt the ocean services marketplace, especially given the lack of comparable systems.

The market for this technology is vast and covers several independent market segments including offshore renewables, oil & gas, telecommunications, aquaculture, mining, defense, ports, and shipping, just to name a few. The worldwide energy (O&G & Wind) IMR services market is projected to grow based on aging assets with O&G, and asset growth with Offshore Windfarms.¹ Over the next 4 years, there will be tremendous growth of wind farm infrastructure installed into the global offshore market.² Currently, 25GW of offshore renewables are installed off the coast of Europe with expectations to double by 2030. The Biden administration announced the installation of 30GW of offshore renewables to be installed off American shores by 2030. In total, this would imply around 15,000 more wind turbines to be installed in just the United States and Europe. Today, these markets are served by service companies offering Vessel-based services with the cost of these services being split substantially on the cost to operate the vessel over the ROV.

Overall, the Defense market is expected to perform strongly in the next 5 years as geopolitical tensions continue to indicate that peer competitor and near-peer competitor engagements are likely in the ocean domain. Unmanned systems, especially in the maritime domain, will be front and center and see heavy investment. Due to the inherent stealth that the undersea domain presents, we believe this area will see a sharp increase in development spending and acquisitions. In general, geopolitical tension drives defense spending for reconnaissance and covert littoral battlefield and deepwater assets such as Argonaut, and agencies that sponsor these developments have affirmed this belief. COVID-19 has had a minimal effect on defense spending on our products. We have seen some increase in discretionary spending even while COVID-19 has caused a decrease in government spending in other areas. We do not expect a reduction in spending from supporting agencies.

The use of technology like Aquanaut is a significant topic in port security and management but is difficult to properly assess through industry reports alone. Our findings through target customer interactions indicate that the size of the port and security market and expected adoption of such technology in the next three to five years will be substantial. As a point of reference, there are over 100 major ports worldwide and where Aquanaut can address the work required to assess port seabed conditions, vessel hull anomalies, sensor placements and retrievals, change detection monitoring and unauthorized vessel detection. We plan to have multiple service offerings for the port and harbor security market through vehicle sales and leases to the customer, including all equipment necessary to conduct Aquanaut missions. This will lead to Autonomy- as- a- Service, using the ToolKITT and behavior development license agreements for our customer base. Aquanaut is an excellent multi-tool, but many of the ‘tools’ required for the vehicle are software based. Due to the specific nature of security requests, we believe that custom development will be a requirement. We plan to provide over-the-air updates from our Houston-based engineering team to ensure that vehicles are equipped and qualified with the latest algorithms in our autonomy framework. We believe we will have a residual revenue opportunity through a long-term license for the autonomy updates.

A longer-term market where Nauticus could expand is Aquaculture, and that segment is expected to increase significantly. With the world’s population on course to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, the global demand for protein is expected to grow by 40%.³ One way to meet our protein needs is to sustainably maintain both wild fish reserves and farmed fish. Furthermore, the rising trend of smart fishing and the increase in seafood trade is also propelling the demand for aquaculture products. Major factors driving the growth of the market include rising demand for protein-rich aqua food across the world, rapid adoption of advanced technologies — IoT, artificial intelligence (“AI”), feeding robots, and underwater remotely operated vehicles on aquaculture farms; increasing investment and rising R&D expenditure in aquaculture technology worldwide; and the growing popularity of land-based recirculating aquaculture systems.

The most addressable portion of this market today is associated with salmon farming in both Norway and Chile. Regular net cleaning is important to maintaining the health of the fish and the current man in the loop semi-automated cleaners damage the netting over time and nets break. When the nets break, the fish are lost, but the farmers are also fined for allowing farm fish to escape into the wild population of fish. Aquanaut-type vehicles and Aquanaut technologies could reside within the farm and clean the nets more regularly. The robot could also use its machine vision technology to measure and classify the net wear characteristics over time, which would trigger preventative maintenance in order to avoid net breaks, and by doing so, avoid the fine.

The Nauticus Solution

We are developing a portfolio of ocean robotic vehicles and manipulators controlled by our multi-layered software suite. This software provides sensed perception of the environment combined with guidance, navigation, and control of the vehicle. Additionally, the software suite provides cutting-edge intelligence to control the dual arm manipulators to perform dexterous tasks. Complex task execution without a high-bandwidth tether to the robot necessitates a command-and-control architecture that permits local command authority as well as a level of self-sufficiency to execute high-level, human-directed tasks. Many studies have demonstrated that naive implementation of autonomy can result in opaque systems — meaning that it is difficult to explain their outcomes — unless a focus of the system architecture is the interdependence between human and robotic systems. Besides basing our success metrics on operator mental burden, advances in three key areas will differentiate this architecture. Those areas are automatic task planning, probabilistic-based perception, and novel data compression.

Our technological innovations also include:

We believe the primary drivers towards the adoption of Nauticus’ products include:

We believe the benefits of our robotic systems will have clear implications across many industries, including offshore wind, port security, aquaculture, traditional energy, subsea mining, and telecommunications.

Strategic Collaborators

We collaborate with market leaders in complementary technologies such as energy storage and sensors while nurturing market relationships with key customers. Our collaborations with high-profile industry leaders provide valuable feedback that we believe will enhance our early mover advantage. We also expect that these relationships will provide us enhanced credibility and better lead generation and conversion of additional potential customers.

Growth Strategy

The key elements of our growth strategy include:

Accelerate the Development of our Robotic Systems

Nauticus is committed to the development of a complete ocean eco-system of robotic technologies. Each product is developed from an advanced automation perspective with focus on increased performance, lower cost, and environmentally friendly operations. The Nauticus product portfolio includes a new archetype of subsea vehicle, the AURV we call Aquanaut, that can change its configuration to optimize performance during various transit and manipulation phases of the mission. Our expertise in dexterous manipulation supports the deployment of electric, subsea manipulators that will be used by Nauticus for its own vehicles, but may also address a market need to retrofit existing ROV’s with manipulators that have both workclass strength and reach envelopes. ToolKITT integrates total robot and vehicle functions that simplify operational control through ‘mouse clicks’, not joysticks. This superior approach to operational control of robots reduces both task times and mission cost. The Nauticus acoustic communication technology serves as a many-to-many data connection between multiple mobile assets in the marine environment. This technology enables multiple robotic actors to participate in complex servicing activities with over-the-horizon control by remote operators. These products combine to minimize mission execution cost, enhance safety, and enable the application of state-of-the-art robotic technologies to the needs of the ocean customer.

Continued Investment in Innovation

We will continue to invest significant resources in developing proprietary technologies across hardware, firmware, software, and controls to commercialize our robotic systems. We expect our research and development activities to focus on various sizes of vehicles and manipulators to meet different market needs. Improving network data communication to include both acoustic and optical modalities that optimize bandwidth over the near and far range is also a part of the development roadmap.

Our Product Platforms

We expect to offer a range of robotic systems that draw on our intellectual property, years of expertise, and innovative core technologies.

Aquanaut

The Aquanaut represents a new type of subsea vehicle that takes advantage of new subsystem technologies to bring best-in-class performance to the ocean realm.

We believe the following to be the key capabilities of the Aquanaut:

Argonaut

Argonaut is a derivative of the Aquanaut vehicle Argonaut, which has enhanced capabilities for transit and autonomous operations. This vehicle has been orchestrated to provide Nauticus’ government-facing customers with the capabilities to perform their specialized mission scenarios. The Argonaut has completed final assembly in our facility and underwent initial commissioning in the Pacific Ocean, leading to its acceptance by the customer, a large confidential government contractor (a “Large Confidential Government Contractor”), for further use in U.S. government applications. Specifically, this vehicle will be used by a Large Confidential Government Contractor, in conjunction with Nauticus, to perform under a current contract. This product and other variants are currently available for direct sales to U.S. Department of Defense entities or contractors and will be available in the future for commercial services through a RaaS contract for ongoing services.

Hydronaut

An 18m-long, optionally crewed vessel that will support the real-time operations of Aquanaut in commercial applications. Hydronaut will ferry Aquanaut to and from the worksite and support battery recharging and the over-the-horizon communication link to shore.

ToolKITT

ToolKITT is a cloud software platform consisting of interrelated products for ocean sensing, manipulation, autonomous behaviors, survey, search & recovery, and manual intervention. This functionality encompasses robotic controls, user interfaces, sensor integration, simulation, data analysis, and communication frameworks purposely built to enable work subsea. This software unifies all of Nauticus’ products into a single control architecture. This system includes a communications middleware that orchestrates vehicle activities, performs updates, and enables multi-agent interaction and mission planning. However, the software platform can also be used across other robotic platforms in the ocean space and, theoretically, outside of the ocean domain as well.

This product embodies a complete command and control suite of software components that provide the intelligence necessary to transit and perform work with minimal interventions. Although the entire suite is comprised of the following components, each one is capable of existing independently, being seamlessly integrated into existing customer platforms and systems:

Competition

Current Solutions:

Ocean Services utilizing AUVs/ROVs are based on vessel companies contracting two ways with clients — Long Term Annual Contracts and Spot Market Contracts. For ROV Vessels, the price can range from $40K/day to $100K/day depending upon specification of vessel with ROVs at $8K/day to $10K/day. These vessel companies either own their own fleet of AUV/ROVs or they subcontract with an AUV/ROV services providers. The mobilization and demobilization costs of the equipment are an additional service fee the majority of the time. AUVs are utilized within the market differently than ROVs with smaller survey vessels used that do not have crane systems or DP2 position control classification. These types of vessels will cost up to $60K/day with the AUV related costs being between $10–$20K/day.

Sample of Traditional Energy Market Service Providers:

(*build their own ROVs and some buy Hugin AUVs from Kongsberg).

Sample of Platform Manufacturers (Product Sales):

(Products are sold to service providers with a margin rate ranging from 30 – 50%.)

Sample of Autonomous Surface Vessel coupled to Subsea Platform Assets:

Drawbacks to the current business model:

Contracting is based on discrete services being rendered, and value gets converted into a day rate. There is an emphasis on how the job is done and not what job is done, and it is billable accordingly. For example, the entire work process is broken down into steps and phases and the service contactor bills for each step. There are mobilization costs, trip costs, stand by costs, actual onsite costs, costs for tooling, demobilization costs, etc.

Customers and Partners

Nauticus is actively engaged in the development of specialized ocean vehicles for U.S. government interests. In this work, we are teaming with a Large Confidential Government Contractor to deliver ocean vehicles that meet the challenging objectives of the U.S. Services. In the past we have been funded directly by DARPA to develop our advanced ocean capabilities, and currently, we are partnered with a major defense prime to deliver a classified system that leverages that technology.

For the go-to-market strategy in commercial ocean services, Nauticus has teamed with local service providers in the North Sea to leverage their relationships with customers operating in this active region for ocean energy services. Through our investment relationships with both Transocean and Schlumberger, we have in place a global footprint of opportunities to pursue and an infrastructure that can be leveraged to expedite service deployments.

Customers

Nauticus currently has developed two models of subsea robots — Aquanaut and Argonaut. The vehicles both exhibit the ability to traverse long distances, transform their hull to expose dual robotic manipulators, perform robotic tasks, and then return to the launch site or other predetermined location. The Aquanaut is designed to meet commercial requirements related to performing inspection, maintenance, and repair work in subsea oil & gas and offshore wind energy applications. Its capabilities could also satisfy the needs for port security and maintenance, aquaculture, telecommunications, and subsea mining markets. In this setting, the vehicle performs a variety of tasks, including inspection, maintenance, and repair of customer assets. The Argonaut is designed for a different mission set that is driven by the needs of the U.S. Department of Defense. The Argonaut is distinguished from the Aquanaut in several ways, but most importantly, this vehicle is capable of extended range during transit. Other distinguishing features include a different sensor complement and improved autonomous behaviors. Nauticus has created two separate vehicles for two important markets in order to allow each vehicle to evolve to meet the requirements of its respective market. But more importantly, the Argonaut contains technology that makes it International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”) restricted whereas the Aquanaut does not contain such technology. The initial Aquanaut commercial unit is planned to be delivered in the second quarter of 2023. The two remaining Aquanauts are to be delivered in the second and third quarters of 2023. Nauticus has executed nonexclusive Memorandums of Understanding (“MOU”) with Norwegian operators, Ramfjord Technologies and Stinger Technology, to pursue opportunities in the region. The company also plans to pursue direct contracting opportunities in the North Sea.

In addition, Transocean, Inc., the world leader in offshore drilling for oil exploration and production, has been an invested partner with Nauticus since 2018. Opportunities to deploy Aquanauts off Transocean drilling rigs have already been extensively discussed between Nauticus and Transocean.

The first Argonaut is in testing for potential full acceptance in 2023 by a Large Confidential Government Contractor. The Argonaut is outfitted with special sensors and equipment to support its deployment on specialized missions for various U.S. agencies.

Nauticus has also developed a full-featured software stack, called ToolKITT, that provides autonomous and semi-autonomous control modes covering all aspects of subsea vehicle missions. This software, although indigenous to Nauticus’ own subsea vehicles, can also be deployed in existing ROV’s to enhance and expand their operational capabilities. This software is currently showcased in the Defense Innovative Unit contract as the intelligent machine driving a VideoRay Defender ROV (a “Defender ROV”). At the conclusion of this contract, if Nauticus meets all the program objectives, it is envisioned that Nauticus will have the opportunity to deploy this software system under license to the U.S. Navy for use on their existing Defender ROVs.

Manufacturing and Suppliers

As part of the original development of engineering prototypes, Nauticus has established supplier relationships with key commercial-off-the-shelf (“COTS”) and custom part manufacturers. Consideration is given within our international supply chain for redundancy, where possible. In cases of limited supplier options, Nauticus initiates procurement early in the manufacturing schedule to mitigate risk of supply interruption.

Currently, Nauticus manages a supply chain with many suppliers that specialize in parts aimed toward subsea vehicles. A shared and key component of Aquanaut and Argonaut subsea vehicles is the energy storage system — a Li-ion battery. There are a variety of suppliers available to provide this battery subsystem. One battery, in particular, that Nauticus uses is from SubCTech, a German company. The batteries are a long-lead-time item and are ordered well in advance of the time they are required to be integrated into the vehicle. A copy of the most recent SubCTech battery contract is included as Exhibit 10.20. However, there are alternative batteries (although not direct replacement and would require integration work e.g., Kracken), and Nauticus is not necessarily dependent on SubCTech. In the most extreme event that battery suppliers are unable to produce battery packs for Nauticus, Nauticus could resort to pulling that subsystem vertical and producing batteries for the subsea vehicles in house. Nauticus has tremendous battery design, manufacturing, and assembly expertise, and former National Aeronautics and Space Administration (“NASA”) energy systems division experts are on staff.

For parts and fabricated components, Nauticus is using an outsourced manufacturing strategy to fabricate Aquanauts (subsea vehicle) and Hydronauts (optionally crewed surface vessel). This strategy reduces in-house manufacturing and allows Nauticus to perform the final integration and functional acceptance test of the Aquanaut prior to shipping. Two (2) Hydronauts are under construction with Diverse Marine in the United Kingdom, and three (3) Aquanauts are being fabricated by with International Submarine Engineering in Canada. Copies of the contracts are included here as Exhibits 10.21 and 10.22, respectively.

Nauticus also has a purchase contract with iXBlue (France) to purchase a Drix unmanned surface vessel. This vessel also pairs with the subsea Aquanaut as a communications node in place of the Hydronaut. A copy of the contract is included here as Exhibit 10.23.

As we progress toward more production of our ocean vehicles, trade studies will be conducted to identify subassembly outsourcing options that will reduce the number of parts required in-house for final assembly at our facility. We recognize that the outsourcing trades may have advantages in limiting required lease space, tooling, and personnel requirements, but these benefits may be offset by quality control or other issues leading to full in-house assembly of the vehicles. Nauticus is committed to exploring the options that will lead to the most capital-efficient manufacturing process and support our sales-driven build schedule.

Government Regulation

In addition to our compliance regarding federal regulations affecting businesses of this type, Nauticus also maintains compliance with the ITAR and Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) governing the sale of our technology products. In addition to these commercial regulations, compliance with the U.S. Department of Defense requirements for safeguarding data and other sensitive information is a main focus of the organization.

Intellectual Property

The ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection through patent and trademark filings is important to our business. Nauticus utilizes a combination of the protections afforded to the owners of patents, copyrights, trade secrets, and trademarks to secure its intellectual property. In addition, Nauticus requires employment agreements which stipulate IP protections for the company. For external relationships, non-disclosure agreements and other contractual restrictions are used to establish and protect our intellectual property.

Nauticus will file for patent protection if the invention is believed to be patentable and the resulting patent will be beneficial in protecting the invention in the marketplaces. Consideration is also given, particularly with respect to software, as to the benefits of seeking a patent against the associated market risks of providing public exposure of the invention. In many cases with our software, Nauticus holds this code and algorithms as trade secrets.

Nauticus has patented its reconfigurable hull design for subsea vehicles. This approach protects the Company’s vehicle configuration that enables it to transit long distances and then transform into a working robot once at the worksite. This capability is key to exploiting the vehicle architecture and its tetherless operational modes. Similarly, Nauticus has applied for patent protection for its all-electric, workclass robotic manipulators. These manipulators are the first in their market class and utilize specialized actuation systems to achieve the strength performance necessary for workclass systems. This patent was granted on January 24, 2023 under USPTO Number 11559905.

Nauticus has also filed for protection of our Company name and brand under trademark registration in the United States.

Legal Proceedings

Nauticus is not engaged in any legal proceedings and there is no legal action anticipated by the company.

Market Information

Shares of our Common Stock and the Public Warrants currently trade on the Nasdaq under the symbols “KITT” and “KITTW,” respectively. As of August 4, 2023, there were 49,820,918 shares of Common Stock issued and outstanding held of record by approximately 50 holders, and 8,624,991 Public Warrants outstanding held of record by one holder. We believe a substantially greater number of beneficial owners hold shares of Common Stock and/or Public Warrants through brokers, banks or other nominees.

Dividends

We have not declared or paid any cash dividends on our Common Stock. To date we have used all available cash to finance our operations. Payment of cash dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our Board and will depend upon our earnings levels, capital requirements, any restrictive debt covenants and other factors the Board considers relevant.

Employees

We had 93 employees as of December 31, 2022, including our named executive officers. None of our employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements, and we have not experienced any strikes or work stoppages related to labor relations issues. We believe we have good relations with our employees.

Merger Agreement

On the Closing Date, Nauticus consummated its previously announced Business Combination pursuant to the Merger Agreement, by and among CleanTech, Merger Sub and Legacy Nauticus. Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, the Business Combination was effected through the merger of Merger Sub with and into Legacy Nauticus, with Legacy Nauticus surviving the merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of CleanTech. On the Closing Date, CleanTech was renamed “Nauticus Robotics, Inc.,” and Legacy Nauticus was renamed “Nauticus Robotics Holdings, Inc.”

As a result of the Closing, among other things, (a) each share of Legacy Nauticus preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share, that was issued and outstanding immediately prior to the Closing converted into Legacy Nauticus Common Stock, in accordance with the certificate of incorporation of Legacy Nauticus (the “Preferred Stock Conversion”); (b) each of the Amended Convertible Notes (defined below) was converted into shares of Legacy Nauticus Common Stock in accordance with the terms of each such note (the “Amended Convertible Note Conversion”); and (c) each share of Legacy Nauticus Common Stock (including shares of Legacy Nauticus Common Stock outstanding as a result of the Preferred Stock Conversion and Amended Convertible Note Conversion, but excluding shares of the holders who perfected rights of appraisal under Delaware law) was converted into the right to receive (i) the Per Share Merger Consideration and (ii) Earnout Shares.

In connection with the Closing, each outstanding option to purchase shares of Legacy Nauticus Common Stock (a “Legacy Nauticus Option”), whether or not then-vested and exercisable, was assumed by CLAQ and converted automatically (and without any required action on the part of the holders of then-outstanding Legacy Nauticus Options) into an option to purchase shares of Common Stock (each, a “Nauticus Option”) equal to the number of shares determined by multiplying the number of shares of Legacy Nauticus Common Stock subject to such Legacy Nauticus Option immediately prior to the Effective Time by the Exchange Ratio, which product was rounded down to the nearest whole number of shares, at a per-share exercise price determined by dividing the per-share exercise price of such option immediately prior to the Effective Time by the Exchange Ratio. As a result of the Business Combination, an aggregate 3,970,266 shares of Common Stock were reserved for issuance upon exercise of the Nauticus Options. As of the date of this prospectus, 215,837 Nauticus Option Shares have been issued.

Earnout Shares.

Following the closing of the Business Combination, former holders of shares of Legacy Nauticus Common Stock (including shares received as a result of the Preferred Stock Conversion and the Amended Convertible Note Conversion, the “Stockholder Earnout Group”) shall be entitled to receive their pro rata share of up to 7,499,993 additional shares of Common Stock (the “Earnout Shares”). The Earnout Shares will be released and delivered to the Stockholder Earnout Group upon occurrence of the following (each, a “Triggering Event”):

Subscription Agreements.    In connection with the execution of the Merger Agreement, CleanTech entered into subscription agreements (collectively, the “Subscription Agreements”) with certain parties subscribing for shares of Common Stock (the “Subscribers”) pursuant to which the Subscribers purchased, and CleanTech agreed to sell to the Subscribers, an aggregate of 3,100,000 shares of Common Stock, for a purchase price of $10.00 per share and an aggregate purchase price of $31 million (the “Equity Financing”). Of the Subscribers, Transocean Inc. and Material Impact Fund II, L.P. respectively purchased 750,000 and 250,000 shares of Common Stock in the Equity Financing at a price of $10.00 per share and at aggregate respective purchase prices of $7,500,000 and $2,500,000.

Amended and Restated Registration Rights Agreement.    In connection with the Closing, Legacy Nauticus, CleanTech and certain stockholders of each of Legacy Nauticus and CleanTech who received shares of Common Stock pursuant to the Merger Agreement, entered into an amended and restated registration rights agreement.

Lock-up Agreement and Arrangements.    In connection with the Closing, the Sponsors and certain Legacy Nauticus stockholders entered into a lock-up agreement (the “Sponsor Lock-Up Agreement” and “Company Stockholder Lock-up Agreement”) with Legacy Nauticus and CleanTech, pursuant to which each has agreed, subject to certain customary exceptions, not to:

Under the Sponsor Lock-up Agreement, the Lock-Up Period means the period commencing on the Closing Date and ending on the earlier of (x) the one year anniversary of the Closing Date; (y) the date on which the volume weighted average price of shares of Common Stock equals or exceeds $13.00 per share for twenty (20) of any thirty (30) consecutive trading days commencing after the Closing on Nasdaq, and (z) the date specified in a written waiver duly executed by Legacy Nauticus; provided that the restrictions set forth in the Sponsor Lock-up Agreement do not apply to (1) transfers or distributions to such stockholder’s current or former general or limited partners, managers or members, stockholders, other equity holders or direct or indirect affiliates (within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Securities Act , as amended) or to the estates of any of the foregoing; (2) transfers by bona fide gift to a member of the stockholder’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is the stockholder or a member of the stockholder’s immediate family for estate planning purposes; (3) by virtue of the laws of descent and distribution upon death of the stockholder; or (4) pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order, in each case where such transferee agrees to be bound by the terms of the Sponsor Lock-up Agreement. At the latest, the Sponsor Lock-up Agreement will expire on September 9, 2023.

Under the Company Lock-up Agreement, the Lock-Up period means the period commencing on the Closing Date and ending on the earlier of (x) the date that is 180 calendar days after the consummation of the Business Combination, (y) the date on which the volume weighted average price of shares of Common Stock equals or exceeds $13.00 per share for twenty (20) of any thirty (30) consecutive trading days commencing after the Closing on Nasdaq, and (z) the date specified in a written waiver duly executed by the Sponsors and CleanTech; provided that the restrictions set forth in the Company Lock-up Agreement do not apply to (1) transfers or distributions to such stockholders, current or former general or limited partners, managers or members, other equity holders or other direct or indirect affiliates (within the meaning of Rule 405 under the Securities Act, as amended) or to the estates of any of the foregoing; (2) transfers by bona fide gift to a member of the stockholder’s immediate family or to a trust, the beneficiary of which is the stockholder or a member of the stockholder’s immediate family for estate planning purposes; (3) by virtue of the laws of descent and distribution upon death of the stockholder; (4) pursuant to a qualified domestic relations order, in each case where such transferee agrees to be bound by the terms of this Agreement; (5) transfers or distributions of, or other transactions involving, securities other than the Lock-up Shares (including, without limitation, securities acquired in the PIPE Investment or in open market transactions); or (6) in the case of Angela Berka (or Reginald Berka with respect to any community, marital or similar interest he may have in the following shares), the transfer of up to 1,000,000 shares of Lock-up Shares in a privately negotiated sale to another company stockholder, who shall enter into a Lock-Up Agreement (or amend an existing Lock-Up Agreement) containing the same terms and conditions as this Agreement with respect to such shares, or the entry into any agreement with respect to such a sale entered into before, at or after the Effective Time. The Company Lock-up Agreement expired on March 8, 2023.

Securities Purchase Agreement 

In connection with the execution of the Merger Agreement, CLAQ, Legacy Nauticus and the Selling Securityholders entered into the Securities Purchase Agreement, pursuant to which the Selling Securityholders subscribed for (i) the Debentures in an aggregate principal amount of $36,530,320, which Debentures are convertible into an aggregate 2,922,425 shares of Common Stock and (ii) the associated SPA Warrants, which are exercisable for an aggregate 2,756,712 shares of Common Stock, after taking into account the exercise of 165,713 SPA Warrants by ATW in June 2023. The exercise price of each SPA Warrant is subject to (i) customary anti-dilution adjustments; and (ii) in the case of a subsequent equity sale at a per-share price below the exercise price, the exercise price of each SPA Warrant will be adjusted to such lower price, and the number of shares underlying the SPA Warrant will increase proportionately. In the event of a rights offering or dividend, the SPA Warrantholders will be treated as though the shares underlying the SPA Warrant held by them were outstanding. The SPA Warrants can be exercised on a cashless basis. There is an original issue discount of 2% from the issued amount, $40.0 million, of the Debentures. Interest accrues on the total outstanding principal amount of the Debentures at 5% per annum, payable quarterly. The Debentures are secured by first priority interests, and liens on, all present and after-acquired assets of the Company and will mature on the fourth anniversary of the date of issuance. ATW is managed by ATW Partners Opportunities Management, LLC, which is an affiliate of Chardan, and our former director, Mr. Jonas Grossman, is the Managing Partner and President of Chardan. In addition, our director, Adam Sharkawy, is the managing partner of Material Impact Fund II, L.P.

Amended RRA. In connection with the Securities Purchase Agreement, the Company and the Selling Securityholders entered into the RRA, pursuant to which the Company and the Selling Securityholders agreed to certain requirements and conditions covering the resale by the Selling Securityholders of the shares of Common Stock into which the Debentures and SPA Warrants are convertible or exercisable.

Under the terms of the RRA, the Company was required to (i) file a registration statement (the “Initial Registration Statement”) within 15 business days of the Closing and (ii) use its best efforts to cause the Initial Registration Statement to be declared effective as promptly as possible after the filing thereof, but in any event no later than the applicable Effectiveness Date (as defined in the RRA) (the “Registration Requirements”). The RRA additionally provided for liquidated damages if the Registration Requirements were not met.

On June 22, 2023, the Company and the Selling Securityholders entered into the RRA Amendment, pursuant to which the Company agreed to deliver to the Selling Securityholders an aggregate 1,890,066 Resale Shares, in exchange for the waiver and release by the Selling Securityholders of any and all claims, remedies, causes of action and any other Initial Effectiveness Date Claims (as defined in the RRA Amendment) under any of the Transaction Documents (as defined in the RRA), including all past and future claims for liquidated damages under the RRA with respect to, and any other amounts that may be payable by reason of or otherwise relating to, the Effectiveness Date of the Initial Registration Statement.

Letter Agreements. On June 22, 2023, we entered into the Letter Agreements with the Selling Securityholders, pursuant to which the Selling Securityholders (also being the SPA Warrantholders) agreed to amend the exercise price of the existing SPA Warrants, which, at such time, were exercisable to purchase an aggregate 2,922,425 shares of Common Stock, in exchange for the Company’s agreement to (i) lower the exercise price of the SPA Warrants to a weighted average of $3.28 per share, with multiple tranches priced between $2.04 and $4.64 per share, and (ii) upon the SPA Warrantholders’ exercise of the SPA Warrants, issue the New SPA Warrants to the SPA Warrantholders to purchase, in the aggregate, up to 2,922,425 shares of Common Stock.

On June 23, 2023, pursuant to its Letter Agreement, an SPA Warrantholder exercised 165,713 SPA Warrants, pursuant to which 165,713 shares of Common Stock and 165,713 New SPA Warrants were issued to such SPA Warrantholder.

MANAGEMENT

Information about Directors and Executive Officers

The following persons are the executive officers and directors of the Company:

Nicolaus A. Radford.    Mr. Radford serves as our Chief Executive Officer and as a director on our Board. Previously, Mr. Radford served as the Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Radford founded Legacy Nauticus in 2014 and has been continuously employed at Legacy Nauticus since its inception, continuing to serve as a director of Legacy Nauticus. Prior to that, Mr. Radford led NASA’s humanoid robotics efforts for both Space Station and future Mars missions, including both Valkyrie and Robonaut. Additionally, he was also the principal investigator (“PI”) for NASA in DARPA’s advanced electric machine research for robotics. Mr. Radford led NASA’s efforts in exoskeleton research for the International Space Station (“ISS”) crew exercise and mobility assistance and initially served as Co-PI for NASA on DARPA’s Warrior Web program, which focused on wearable robotics for military applications. He has extensive experience leading multidisciplinary teams in challenging development timeline environments. During Mr. Radford’s tenure at NASA, he was the recipient of numerous patents, design awards, and commendations for his expertise and leadership that ultimately culminated in him receiving NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal. He has been published several times on a multitude of topics relating to spaceflight robotics and contributed to Springer’s Humanoid Robotics Handbook. Mr. Radford earned his B.S. and M.S. from Purdue University in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Rangan Padmanabhan.    Mr. Padmanabhan serves as Nauticus’ Chief Financial Officer. Previously, Mr. Padmanabhan served as the Chief Financial Officer of Legacy Nauticus from May 2022 until the closing of the Business Combination. Prior to his role at Legacy Nauticus, Mr. Padmanabhan served as the co-founder and as the Chief Financial Officer of Rad Capital Ventures LLC, the management company of a hedge fund involved in the trading of fixed transmission rights in North American electricity markets, from May 2020 to May 2022. During his time at Rad Capital Ventures LLC, Mr. Padmanabhan oversaw the accounting, regulatory, and audit functions of the fund while maintaining investor relations and communications with dozens of the fund’s accredited investors, corporate investors, and family offices.

Beginning in December 2020, Mr. Padmanabhan served as a consultant at Veritas Total Solutions, where he was a risk management subject expert for the implementation of the Quant Portal at Shell Oil Company. From October 2021 to December 2021, Mr. Padmanabhan served as a consultant at Houston Mechatronics, Inc., where he built and validated forecasting models and financial statement summaries. From January 2014 to December 2019, Mr. Padmanabhan served as Managing Partner at Solaris Asset Management, Inc., where he managed a multi-strategy hedge fund.

In addition, Mr. Padmanabhan has vast public company experience through his various previously held roles at, including but not limited to, (i) Shell, (ii) Merrill Lynch, (iii) Duke Energy, (iv) Sonat Inc. (subsequently acquired by El Paso Corporation and Kinder Morgan, Inc.), (v) FPL Group, Inc. (rebranded as NextEra Energy Inc.), and (vi) CMS Energy Corporation.

Mr. Padmanabhan graduated Magna Cum Laude from Rice University with a degree in Economics and Management. He attained the Financial Risk Manager (“FRM”) certification in 1998 and received the Chartered Financial Analyst (“CFA”) charter in 2001. Mr. Padmanabhan is a frequent guest lecturer for graduate classes at Rice University on various topics pertaining to capital markets. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Center for Computational Finance and Economic Systems (“CoFES”) at Rice University.

Donnelly A. Bohan.    Ms. Bohan serves as Nauticus’ Chief Operating Officer. Previously, Ms. Bohan served as the Chief Operating Officer of Legacy Nauticus, joining in April 2022. Prior to joining Legacy Nauticus, Ms. Bohan served as Vice President, Division Manager for the Mission Operations and Infrastructure Protection Division at Leidos, Inc. (“Leidos”), where she oversaw the day-to-day operations of a $340 million and 850 plus person line organization providing electronic and integrated security systems for base defense, access control, and counter-small unmanned aerial systems. From December 2016 to February 2021, Ms. Bohan served as Vice President, Division Manager for the Maritime Systems Division at Leidos, where she oversaw day-to-day operations of a $185 million and 500 person team focused on autonomous surface and subsurface solutions; advanced system architecture; sensor design; integration, and other capabilities that help global customers meet mission imperatives. From June 2016 to December 2016, Ms. Bohan worked directly with the Executive Vice President of Business Development and Strategy, focused on the corporate strategic vision for Leidos with an emphasis on our global presence, products, and M&A. From 2015 to June 2016, Ms. Bohan served as Vice President, Deputy Operations Manager for the Missions Systems Integration Operation (MSIO) at Leidos.

Ms. Bohan earned a Bachelor of Science in Community Health, Health Planning and Administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1995. She also earned an MBA from R.H. Smith School of Business from the University of Maryland at College Park in 2009.

John D. Yamokoski.    Dr. Yamokoski serves as Nauticus’ Chief Technology Officer. Previously, Dr. Yamokoski served as Legacy Nauticus’ Chief Technology Officer since August 2022. Before his current role, Dr. Yamokoski served in several other positions at Legacy Nauticus. From 2020-2022, Dr. Yamokoski was Vice President of Defense Technology and Sponsored Research, where he served as Principal Investigator on Nauticus’ defense projects and also organized capture teams for new research opportunities. From 2015-2020, he was a Principal Robotics Engineer. In that role, he was project manager for several robotics technology programs as well as the Director of Software for the company from 2018-2020.

Before joining Nauticus, Dr. Yamokoski was a robotics researcher at NASA’s Software, Robotics and Simulation Systems Division at the Johnson Space Center from 2010 to 2015. While at NASA, he led engineering and research teams for control system development of NASA’s Robonaut 2 project and the software architecture and development of NASA’s Valkyrie program.

Dr. Yamokoski earned a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University in 1999 and M.S. and PhD. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from University of Florida in 2005 and 2009 respectively.

M. Dilshad Kasmani.    Mr. Kasmani serves as Nauticus’ Chief Legal and Administrative Officer and Corporate Secretary since September 2022. Previously, Mr. Kasmani served as Legacy Nauticus’ General Counsel and Corporate Secretary since April 2022. Before joining Legacy Nauticus, Mr. Kasmani served as President of ManifestSeven Holdings Corporation from June 2020 to April 2022 and its Chief Legal Officer from September 2019 to April 2022. Mr. Kasmani served as Associate General Counsel and Assistant Secretary of the general partner of American Midstream Partners, LP from November 2018 to September 2019. Mr. Kasmani served as Associate General Counsel and Company Secretary of Cardtronics plc from May 2016 to February 2018, and Associate General Counsel and Assistant Secretary of its predecessor, Cardtronics, Inc., from January 2014 to May 2016. Mr. Kasmani began his legal career as an attorney for Andrews Kurth LLP and then Paul Hastings LLP, representing clients on various corporate, capital markets, private equity, and other transactional matters.

Before his legal career, Mr. Kasmani held various local and state government positions between August 1997 and October 2006, ending as the Chief Economist and Deputy Tax Assessor-Collector of Harris County, Texas. Mr. Kasmani has served in the U.S. Navy Reserves since October 2003 and currently holds the rank of Commander. Mr. Kasmani earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science in 1999 and a Master of Arts in Economics in 2003 from the University of Houston. He also earned a Doctor in Jurisprudence from the South Texas College of Law in 2007.

Mark L. Mey. Mr. Mey currently serves as a director on our Board and is the Chief Financial Officer of Transocean Inc., which he joined in May 2015. He previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Atwood Oceanics (“Atwood”) from August 2010 to May 2015. Including his almost five years at Atwood, he has over 28 years of experience in the energy and financial services industries in both the United States and South Africa. Prior to Atwood, from August 2005 to July 2010 Mr. Mey was Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and a Director of Scorpion Offshore Ltd. He also held positions of increasing responsibility from February 1994 to August 2005 during his 12 years with offshore driller Noble Corporation, including Vice President and Treasurer. He served on the Board of Directors of Transocean Partners LLC from June 2015 to December 2016.

Mr. Mey earned an Advanced Diploma in Accounting and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. He is a Chartered Accountant and attended the Harvard Business School Executive Advanced Management Program.

Lisa J. Porter.    Dr. Porter serves as a director on our Board and is the Co-Founder and Co-President of LogiQ, Inc., a company providing high-end management, scientific, and technical consulting services, which she co-founded in July 2020. She was previously the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering from October 2018 to July 2020, and in that role, she shared responsibility with the Under Secretary for the research, development, and prototyping activities across the Department of Defense.

In prior roles Dr. Porter served as Executive Vice President of In-Q-Tel (“IQT”) and Director of IQT Labs, the President of Teledyne Scientific & Imaging, the founding director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (“IARPA”) in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (“ODNI”), the Associate Administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate at NASA, and as a program manager and senior scientist at DARPA. Dr. Porter holds a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a doctorate in applied physics from Stanford University. She received the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, the Presidential Meritorious Rank Award, and the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service.

Jim Bellingham.    Dr. Bellingham serves as a director on our Board and concurrently serves as a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor with joint appointments in the Whiting School’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Applied Physics Laboratory. Dr. Bellingham is the Executive Director of the Institute for Assured Autonomy. Previously he was the founding Director of the Center of Marine Robotics at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, founded the Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Laboratory at MIT, and co-founded Bluefin Robotics. He was Director of Engineering and Chief Technologist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. Dr. Bellingham is a pioneer in the development, operation, and commercialization of autonomous marine robots. He has led and participated in research expeditions around the world from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Dr. Bellingham’s research activities span from fundamental research on marine autonomy to optimization of observation systems for prediction of ocean processes. He spearheaded the development of small, high performance AUVs, resulting in a class of systems which are now widely used within the military, industry, and scientific communities.

Dr. Bellingham serves on a number of institutional boards and advisory boards including Science Robotics, American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Institute of Marine Research, Norway, ThayerMahan Inc. and Innovasea Systems Inc. He served on the Naval Research Advisory Committee including as Chair, on the Secretary of the Navy Advisory Panel, the Naval Studies Board and many National Academies studies.

Dr. Bellingham’s honors include election to the National Academy of Engineering, the Navy Superior Public Service Award, and the Lockheed Martin Award for Ocean Science and Engineering. Dr. Bellingham has authored dozens of scholarly papers. He received a B.S., an M.S., and a Ph.D., in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Adam Sharkawy.    Dr. Sharkawy serves as a director on our Board and has been a Founder and Managing Partner at Material Impact, a unique venture fund that focuses on investing in and building successful companies with novel products based on innovations in the underlying material, hardware, and manufactured goods technologies, since January 2016. He additionally serves as member of the Board of Directors for 11 companies including Soft Robotics, Inc, Orbion Space Technologies, 6K, LynQ, NextGen Jane, BloomerTech, Nohbo and JumpAero.

Dr. Sharkawy has held a series of executive operating roles in publicly traded healthcare companies. These include Sr. Vice President of the Medicines Company and Head of their Surgery and Perioperative Care Global Business Unit, where he led the integration of four acquisitions along with a legacy fifth business into a global unit with products spanning the spectrum of acute surgical care.

Prior to his large corporate roles, Dr. Sharkawy was an entrepreneur. He helped start Ventrica, Inc., a privately held medical device company until the acquisition of its technology by Medtronic. While at Ventrica, he also spun off a new venture in collaboration with the German government, Ventrigraft, GMBH. Prior to that, Dr. Sharkawy served in several technology development roles for Heartport (acquired by Johnson and Johnson) and Advanced Cardiovascular Systems (acquired by Eli Lilly) and then spun out as publicly traded Guidant. Dr. Sharkawy has also been a consultant to or on the Advisory Board of companies spanning industries such as aerospace, oil & gas, battery, and medical device.

Dr. Sharkawy received his Ph.D. from Duke University in Biomaterials/Biomedical Engineering. He also holds a M.S. from Texas A&M University from the Institute of Innovation and Design in Engineering. Adam received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the American University, Cairo and before that, studied pre-medicine and Biology at the Honors Program at the University of Delaware. He is a scientific inventor and holds 23 issued U.S. patents and numerous international patents.

John W. Gibson, Jr. Mr. Gibson serves as a director on our Board and served as Chairman of the Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer, and President of Flotek Industries from January 2020 to January 2023. Mr. Gibson is a recognized leader with more than 35 years of global experience in the energy technology, oil and gas services and exploration and production sectors of the energy industry. Mr. Gibson also previously served as a Director of Bluware Inc.

Prior to Flotek, Mr. Gibson served as Chairman of Energy Technology, from May 2017 to December 2019, at Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Company (“TPH”), an energy-focused investment bank headquartered in Houston. In this role, he led a team focused on opportunities in emerging oil and gas technologies. Prior to TPH, Mr. Gibson served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Tervita Corporation (“Tervita”), a major Canadian-based environmental and oilfield services company. Prior to Tervita, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Paradigm Geophysical and Landmark Graphics Corporation, as well as President of Halliburton Company’s Energy Services Group. Mr. Gibson also served as the former head of subsurface research at Chevron Corporation.

Mr. Gibson also served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Tervita Corporation from July 2010 to May 2015, where he successfully executed a $2.6 billion debt restructuring, coincident with an aggressive growth and diversification strategy.

Mr. Gibson is currently a member of University of Texas at Austin’s Bureau of Economic Geology Visiting Committee, a member of the Advisory Board of Montrose Lane and a director of the National Board of KickStart for Kids. Mr. Gibson also serves as the Honorary Consulate for Kazakhstan for the State of Texas.

Mr. Gibson holds a Bachelor of Science in Geology from Auburn University and Master of Science in Geology from the University of Houston.

Joseph W. Dyer.    Mr. Dyer serves as a director on our Board and has served a consultant in the technology, aerospace, and defense markets since 2013. Mr. Dyer operates at the intersection of technology, finance, and risk management. He participated in the Congressionally directed “Space Force” study and the NDAA Section 809 Commission on Acquisition Streamlining. Prior to his consultant roles, John chaired NASA’s Aerospace Safety and Advisory Panel for almost 13 years. At the NASA’s Aerospace Safety and Advisory Panel, he was significantly engaged in the development of commercial space companies.

From 2003 through 2013, Mr. Dyer was President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Strategy Officer of the Business Unit at iRobot Corp. He transitioned to iRobot from a career in the U.S. Navy where his last assignment was as the three-star Commander of the Naval Air Systems Command (“NAVAIR”). At NAVAIR, he was responsible for contracting, researching, developing, testing and evaluating, engineering and overseeing logistics for naval aircraft, unmanned systems, air launched weapons, electronic warfare, as well as tactical and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (“ISR”) sensors. He was the U.S. Navy’s senior, uniformed acquisition/procurement official. His naval career also included positions as naval aviation’s chief engineer, Commander of the Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division, and F/A-18 program manager.

As recognition for his outstanding engineering achievement in aerospace, Mr. Dyer received the James H. Doolittle award. Mr. Dyer is also an elected fellow in the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and the National Academy of Public Administration. Mr. Dyer holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from North Carolina State University and a master’s degree in finance from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

Eli Spiro. Mr. Spiro serves as a director on our Board. Mr. Spiro has over 23 years of capital markets experience. Since 2010, Mr. Spiro has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Axxcess Capital Partners, a boutique investment banking firm he co-founded. At Axxcess, Mr. Spiro has closed over $1.5 billion of transactions since inception. He was involved in a number of transactions in the clean energy space including his role as President of Axxcess Energy Group, investing in a business applying proprietary technology to reduce energy expenses. Mr. Spiro was also involved in the development of an organic, hydroponic greenhouse business producing leafy greens. He worked with clients on several multi-stage waste-to-energy projects that focus on transforming waste to energy to end products and services, as well as carbon credit mitigation and monetization. Notable public transactions that Mr. Spiro led include Facebank — buyside advisor in conjunction with acquisition of FUBOTV (NYSE:FUBO) and Service Finance — sellside advisor in connection with its sale to Element Capital (TSX:ECN). Prior to Axxcess, Mr. Spiro was an investment banker at Goldman Sachs where he was a Vice President in the Financial Institutions Group advising multiple clients on sellside and buyside M&A transactions. Prior to Goldman Sachs, Mr. Spiro was Managing Director & National Sales Manager at GE Commercial Finance. He was responsible for over $4.2 billion of high-profile acquisitions across a number of GE Capital business units. From January 2020 through October 2020, Mr. Spiro served on the Board of Directors of JourneyPure, LLC, a healthcare provider focused on addiction treatment. Mr. Spiro received his B.AS. in Business Administration from York University in Toronto and received his joint LLB/MBA from Osgoode Hall Law School and the Schulich School of Business in Toronto.

Board of Directors

Director Independence

Nasdaq listing rules require that a majority of the board of directors of a company listed on Nasdaq be composed of “independent directors,” which is defined generally as a person other than an officer or employee of the company or its subsidiaries or any other individual having a relationship, which, in the opinion of the company’s board of directors, would interfere with the director’s exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director. Our Board has determined that, each of Lisa J. Porter, Jim Bellingham, Adam Sharkawy, John W. Gibson, Jr., Joseph W. Dyer, and Eli Spiro is an independent director under the Nasdaq listing rules and Rule 10A-3 of the Exchange Act. In making these determinations, our Board considered the current and prior relationships that each non-employee director has with the Company and all other facts and circumstances our Board deemed relevant in determining independence, including the beneficial ownership of our Common Stock by each non-employee director, and the transactions involving them described in the section entitled “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions.”

Committees of the Board

The standing committees of our Board consists of an Audit Committee, a Compensation Committee, and a Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee.

Audit Committee

Our Audit Committee has been established in accordance with Section 3(a)(58)(A) of the Exchange Act and consists of John W. Gibson, Jr., Joseph W. Dyer, and Eli Spiro, each of whom are independent directors and are “financially literate” as defined under the Nasdaq listing standards. John W. Gibson Jr. serves as chairman of the Audit Committee. Our Board has determined that John W. Gibson Jr. qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert,” as defined under rules and regulations of the SEC.

The audit committee’s duties are specified in our Audit Committee Charter.

Compensation Committee

Our Compensation Committee consists of Eli Spiro, Jim Bellingham, and Adam Sharkawy, each of whom is an independent director. Eli Spiro serves as chairman of the Compensation Committee. The functions of the Compensation Committee are set forth in a Compensation Committee Charter.

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

Our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee consists of John W. Gibson, Jr., Joseph W. Dyer, and Adam Sharkawy, each of whom is an independent director under Nasdaq’s listing standards. Joseph W. Dyer serves as the chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is responsible for overseeing the selection of persons to be nominated to serve on our Board. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee considers persons identified by its members, management, shareholders, investment bankers and others.

The guidelines for selecting nominees, are specified in the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter.

EXECUTIVE AND DIRECTOR COMPENSATION

The following disclosure describes the material components of the compensation for the Company’s three most highly compensated executive officers, who are referred to in this section as “Named Executive Officers,” for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022. The Company is an “emerging growth company” and a “smaller reporting company” under the federal securities laws. As such, the Company meets the compensation disclosure requirements of Item 402 of Regulation S-K by providing the reduced disclosures required of a “smaller reporting company.”

Named Executive Officers

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, our named executive officers (“NEOs”) are as follows:

Summary Compensation Table

The following table presents summary information regarding total compensation paid to, earned by and awarded to each of the NEOs during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.