Grom Social Enterprises, Inc. - Annual Report: 2022 (Form 10-K)

Table of Contents

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

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

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

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

For the transition period from ________ to _________

Commission File Number:  001-40409

Grom Social Enterprises, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (561) 287-5776

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

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: Common Stock, par value $0.001 per share

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” or “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 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

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

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

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐     No ☒

The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates computed by reference to the price at which the common equity was last sold, or the average bid and asked price of such common equity, as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter was $7,321,417.

As of April 14, 2023, there were 7,288,177 shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

None

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

When used in this Annual Report, including the documents that we have incorporated by reference, in future filings with the SEC or in press releases or other written or oral communications, statements which are not historical in nature, including those containing words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “plan,” “continue,” “intend,” “should,” “may” or the negative of these words and phrases or similar words or phrases which are predictions of or indicate future events or trends and which do not relate solely to historical matters, are intended to identify “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (set forth in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)). Discussions containing forward-looking statements may be found in the material set forth under "Business", "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations", and in other sections of this Annual Report.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily subjective, are based upon our current plans, intentions, objectives, goals, strategies, beliefs, projections and expectations, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors.

Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether, or the times by which, our performance or results may be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time those statements are made and management’s belief as of that time with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Any or all of our forward-looking statements in this report may turn out to be inaccurate. Important factors that may cause actual results, our performance or achievements, or industry results to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, those discussed under the caption “Risk Factors" in this Annual Report. All forward-looking statements in this report are made as of the date hereof, based on information available to us as of the date hereof, and we assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

Overview

We were incorporated in the State of Florida on April 14, 2014 under the name Illumination America, Inc.

On August 17, 2017, we acquired Grom Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Grom Holdings”), pursuant to a share exchange agreement (the “Share Exchange Agreement”) entered into on May 15, 2017 (the “Share Exchange”). In connection with the Share Exchange, the Company acquired 100% of the outstanding shares of capital stock of Grom Holdings from Grom Holdings’ stockholders in exchange for an aggregate of 115,473 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, of the Company. As a result of the Share Exchange, the stockholders of Grom Holdings acquired approximately 92% of the Company’s then-issued and outstanding shares of common stock and Grom Holdings became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. In connection with the Share Exchange, on August 17, 2017, we changed our name to Grom Social Enterprises, Inc.

We are a media, technology and entertainment company that focuses on (i) delivering content to children under the age of 13 years in a safe secure platform that is compliant with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) and can be monitored by parents or guardians, (ii) creating, acquiring, and developing the commercial potential of Kids & Family entertainment properties and associated business opportunities, (iii) providing world class animation services, and (iv) offering protective web filtering solutions to block unwanted or inappropriate content. We conduct our business through our following subsidiaries:

We own 100% of each of Grom Social, TD Holdings, GES and GNS, and 80% of Curiosity.

Grom Social, Inc.

Grom Social is a media, technology and entertainment company for kids focused on producing original content on Grom Social’s website, www.gromsocial.com and mobile application. Visitors to the Grom Social website may log on via mobile phone, desktop computer or tablet and chat with friends, view original content or play games created by us.

The name “Grom” is derived from Australian surfing slang and is defined by us to mean “a promising young individual who is quick to learn.” Grom Social was conceptualized and developed in 2012 by Zachary Marks, who was 12 years old at the time. He is the son of our Chief Executive Officer, Darren Marks.

Our business model is based upon providing children under the age of 13 with a safe environment on the Internet while promoting “fun,” “wholesomeness” and “family values.” We require that each child receive parental approval prior to gaining full access to the Grom Social platform. In certain jurisdictions and circumstances, we allow parents, teachers and guardians (collectively, “Guardians”) to sign up groups of children at one time. If a Guardian’s approval is not granted, a child’s account will not be opened. If a child does not follow the proper registration process, he or she will be considered a user with limited access. Limited access does not allow the child to chat with other children or visit certain sections of the platform.

Based on data provided by Google Data Analytics and Joomla Management Systems, in February 2021, our platforms have generated approximately 25.0 million users in over 200 countries and territories since our inception in 2012. We define a "user" as any child under the age of 13 who registers for a Grom Social account through the website or downloads the Grom Social app from a mobile app store, and any parent who registers for a Grom Social account and any student or faculty that uses our NetSpective web filtering platform.

Monthly active users (“MAUs”) is a usage metric which reveals the total number of users who visit our platforms within a 30-day period. As of March 1, 2022, there were approximately 1.8 million MAUs on all platforms.

Based upon statistics provided by the Joomla Management System and Google Analytics, the average online duration of users logged onto our Grom Social platforms is approximately 51 minutes.

Grom Social App

In May 2019, our Grom Social mobile application (or “app”) for Apple Store and Google Play Store was approved within each platform’s family designated section. The Apple Store markets iPhone operating system (“IOS”) applications for download solely on Apple devices. The Google Play Store markets applications for download on Android devices.

We communicate with the children through messaging on a child’s profile page and through seventeen unique Grom characters that engage with children with many additional “fun” and safety features.

We believe our mobile app is the only children’s app where kids can:

We have established the following safeguards and procedures which we believe will ensure our Grom Social platform is a safe place for children:

These safeguards and procedures are a critical component of our business model. We believe that children are increasingly accessing the Internet at younger ages and therefore the need for safe, age-appropriate platforms for younger children to browse and interact with other children is increasing. According to recent statistics on GuardChild.com:

GuardChild.com is a website providing software and applications to promote safe Internet browsing for children and statistics collected from various resources including: Social Media and Young Adults, Pew Internet & American Life Project, Global Insights Into Family Life Online, Norton/Symantec & StrategyOne, Teen/Mom Internet Safety Survey, McAfee & Harris Interactive, Pew Research Center, FOSI, Cable in the Classroom 2011, Journal of Adolescent Health, National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA)-McAfee Online Safety Study, American Osteopathic Association, Social Media and Young Adults, Pew Internet, American Life Project and Grunwald Associates.

Content

In addition to providing a safe, fun, social media platform for children to interact with their peers, we create our own content consisting of animated characters, interactive chats, videos, blogs, and games geared to provide wholesome family entertainment. We create our own short-form content consisting of animated characters, interactive chats, videos, blogs, games and two live action shows released weekly. We currently have over 1,450 hours of live action shows in our content library. This exclusive content is only available on our platforms.

Our Grom Social app features include direct messaging, video recordings with face filters and effects, notifications, profiles with custom colors, Gromatar cartoon avatars, over 1,450 hours of Grom TV exclusive videos on demand, a search and discovery section, hashtags and mentions in post descriptions, liking, commenting, sharing of content, including the ability to share photos, videos and doodle drawings in direct messages. With this feature set and the safety permissions in place, the app will provide children their own social platform similar to the popular adult platforms, but in a safe controlled environment. Kids can upload videos along with a variety of different music, similar to TikTok. Users also have a vast variety of face filters similar to Snapchat and Instagram. The Company produces up to two new short-form videos each week similar to Netflix to maintain user engagement.

According to a survey released on October 29, 2019 from Common Sense Media, a nonprofit that tracks young people’s tech habits reports, twice as many young people watch videos every day as they did four years ago, and the average time spent watching videos, mostly on You Tube has roughly doubled, to an hour a day. The survey also found that on average, American children from 8 to 12-years old spend 4 hours and 44 minutes on screen media each day and teens average 7 hours and 22 minutes, not including time spent using screens for school or homework. Based upon statistics provided by the Joomla Management System, the average online duration of users logged onto our Grom Social platform was approximately 51 minutes as of February 2, 2021. We believe the longer duration time is a result of our ability to better engage users through our original content.

Strategy

Publishing and Distribution

We believe that Grom Social offers a great way to get user feedback and see how kids respond to content. We believe offering book titles to be previewed and added to wish lists for parents to purchase is a good way to get titles out to the Grom Social kids demographic.

Comments could be used for reviews and a rating star system could be implemented. Badges could be awarded to users to complete different book titles, similar to an online e-book store.

Authors could schedule a live reading where users would be able to log on during the live time-period and listen to the author live read a chapter of their book to the kids, with Q&A with the author live in public forum.

Throughout our monetization efforts, we will maintain a free version of the app in an effort to not negatively impact our user base. The Grom Social website and mobile app have generated nominal revenues to date.

TD Holdings Limited and Subsidiaries

TD Holdings is a holding company that operates through its two wholly-owned subsidiaries (i) Top Draw Animation Hong Kong Ltd and (ii) Top Draw Animation, Inc. Based in Manila, Philippines, the group’s principal activities are the production of animated television series and movies. Top Draw Animation Hong Kong, which owns our animation studio in Manila, Philippines, contracts with third parties for the production of animated television series and movies. Through an intercompany agreement, Top Draw Animation then does the production work at our studio in Manila, Philippines.

Top Draw Animation is a full-service production and pre-production animation studio working with a diverse roster of global clients. It specializes in providing two-dimensional digital production services for animated television series and movies on a contract basis or under co-production arrangements.

Top Draw Philippines’ pre-production services include planning and creating storyboards, location design, model and props design, background color and color styling. Its production services focus on library creation, digital asset management, animation layout, background, library development, background layout scene assembly, posing, animation, composting and after-effects. Top Draw Philippines currently provides services to high-profile brands and properties, as well as all-new, original intellectual properties. Its studio produces over 200 half-hour segments of animated content annually which we believe makes it one of the top global producers of animation for television worldwide.

The following table depicts some of Top Draw Philippines’ recent notable projects: 

Grom Educational Services, Inc.

On January 2, 2017, we acquired certain assets including Internet content filtering software called “NetSpective Webfilter” from TeleMate.net. Since inception, we have sold hardware and/or subscriptions for web filtering software to thousands of schools with more than 4,000,000 children in attendance. Clients pay for hardware within 30 days of delivery and in advance for filtering service ranging between one to five years. We offer a proprietary digital citizenship program that assists K-12 schools in the United States to comply with The Children's Internet Protection Act (“CIPA”) requirements. CIPA requirements include the use Internet content filters and implementation of other protective measures to prevent children from exposure to harmful online content.

Grom Nutritional Services, Inc.

GNS was formed with the intention of developing, marketing and distributing nutritional supplement beverages to children to support the healthy development of neurological structure and intellectual development of cognitive skills. We initially intend to market and distribute nutritional based supplements to our user base of children and their parents, then subsequently expand our marketing efforts to the wholesale/retail grocery, convenience, and big box sectors. GNS had no operations since its inception, but the Company is exploring partnerships.

Curiosity Ink Media, LLC

On August 19, 2021, we acquired 80% of the outstanding membership interest of Curiosity Ink Media LLC. Curiosity is a kids and family original content and media company that focuses on building and managing entertainment brands and franchises. Specializing in revitalizing lapsed and underutilized properties, the Company reimagines beloved properties by strategically defining their strengths to ensure their continued growth and legacy. Curiosity leverages its creative talent, established media distribution networks, and industry connections to market proven media properties through strategic licensing agreements, partnerships, and original content creation.

Acquisition Strategy

Our acquisition strategy is to acquire synergistic companies, products or intellectual property that will help grow our Grom Social user base and operate profitably as both a stand-alone enterprise as well as enhance Grom’s overall monetization strategy.

Acquisition of TD Holdings Limited

On July 1, 2016, we entered into a share sale agreement (the “TDH Share Sale Agreement”) for the acquisition of 100% of the capital stock of TD Holdings for which we paid $4,000,000 in cash, issued a 5% secured promissory note in the principal amount of $4,000,000 which originally matured on July 1, 2018 (the “TDH Note”), and 7,367,001 shares of our common stock valued at $4,240,000, or approximately $0.58 per share, to the selling shareholders of TDH (“TDH Sellers”). The TDH Share Sale Agreement was subsequently amended and on August 18, 2021, the Company paid the holders of the TDH Notes an aggregate of $834,760, representing all remaining amounts due and payable under the TDH Note.

Acquisition of the NetSpective Webfilter Assets

On January 1, 2017, we acquired NetSpective webfilter assets from TeleMate.net Software, LLC, a Georgia limited liability company, (“TeleMate”) pursuant to an asset purchase agreement (the “NetSpective APA”). Under the terms of the NetSpective APA, we issued a three-year 0.68% $1,000,000 redeemable, convertible promissory note to TeleMate (the “TeleMate Note”). The TeleMate Note is convertible into our common stock at a conversion rate of $0.78 per share. If not converted by TeleMate by November 1, 2019, the note may be converted by the Company into shares of common stock at a conversion rate of $0.48 per share. In addition, we entered into a master services agreement (“MSA”) with TeleMate under which TeleMate provided engineering and sales support for twelve months and assumed all risks of NetSpective negative cash flow for one year.

In April 2019, TeleMate paid the TeleMate Note in full. On December 4, 2019, the Company converted the outstanding principal and interest of $1,013,200 under the TeleMate Note into 2,113,428 shares of its common stock.

Acquisition of Curiosity Ink Media LLC

On August 19, 2021, we acquired 80% of the outstanding membership interest of Curiosity Ink Media LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Curiosity”) pursuant to a membership interest purchase agreement (the “Curiosity MIPA”). Under the terms of the Curiosity MIPA, we issued an aggregate of 1,771,883 shares of the Company’s common stock to the Sellers, pro rata to their membership interests immediately prior to the closing of the Acquisition. The shares were valued at $2.82 per share which represents to the 20-day volume-weighted average price of the Company’s common stock on August 19, 2021.

Additionally, the Company also paid $400,000 and issued an 8% eighteen-month convertible promissory note in the principal amount $278,000 (the “Note”) to pay-down and refinance certain outstanding loans and advances previously made to Curiosity by Russell Hicks and Brett Watts, members of Curiosity.

Under the terms of the purchase agreement, the Note is convertible into shares of common stock of the Company at a conversion price of $98.40 per share but may not be converted if, after giving effect to such conversion, the noteholder and its affiliates would beneficially own in excess of 9.99% of the Company’s outstanding common stock. The Note may be prepaid at any time, in whole or in part. The Note is subordinate to the Company’s senior indebtedness.

The Sellers also have the ability to earn up to $17,500,000 (payable 50% in cash and 50% in stock) upon the achievement of certain performance milestones as of December 31, 2025.

Business Strategy

We hope to grow our business through a combination of marketing initiatives and synergistic acquisitions in an effort to increase our Grom Social user base to a large enough size to enable us to attract advertisers and paid users for our premium content. However, there can be no assurance that our strategy will be successful or that our revenues will increase as a result of our business strategies.

Our Growth Strategy

Our current growth strategy is as follows:

Competition

Grom Social, Inc.

The markets in which we compete are characterized by innovation and new and rapidly evolving technologies. We believe we will face significant and intense competition in every aspect of our intended business, including from Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Google, which offer a variety of Internet products, services, and content that will compete for our user's Internet time and spending dollars. In addition to facing general competition from these large, well-funded companies, we also face competition from smaller Internet companies that offer products and services that may compete directly with Grom Social for users, such as TikTok, SnapChat, Video Star and Zoomerang. Additionally, as we introduce new services and products, as our existing services and products evolve, or as other companies introduce new products and services, we may become subject to additional competition from:

Many of these companies have substantially greater resources than us.

We believe that the following features differentiate us from our competitors and provide us with a possible competitive advantage with respect to our target market:

We believe that Grom Social is one of the only social media platforms that offers games, chatrooms, educational services, social interaction, exclusive content, global connectivity, and group collaboration to develop new content and activities based on user behavior in one platform.

TD Holdings Limited and Subsidiaries

We have extensive competition in our animation business from production companies in Korea, Taiwan, Canada, India and, to a lesser degree, China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Businesses in these countries, such as Malaysia, may receive government subsidies which can increase competitive pressure.

Our intention is for Top Draw Philippines to remain competitive for the production of family-oriented, animated television series and movies and other family-oriented entertainment products produced by major movie studios, including Disney, DreamWorks Animation, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Netflix, Nickelodeon, and numerous other independent motion picture production companies.

The primary competitors of Top Draw Philippines in the Philippines are Toon City Animation, Snipple Animation Studio, and Synergy 88 Digital.

Growth in the television industry is being driven by larger streaming companies such as Netflix, Disney Plus, NBC, Amazon Prime, and Facebook. Competition is primarily based on the ability to reach an audience directly and deliver products that meet consumer demand. The success of these streaming companies is primarily related to the size and reach of their user or subscriber base.

Grom Educational Services, Inc.

We believe our primary competitors for web filtering products and services are iBoss, Lightspeed, Go Guardian and Securly. There are other large companies that offer web filtering products including Forcepoint (Websense), Bluecoat, Palo Alto Networks, Barracuda and Cisco. However, we believe these companies are enterprise focused whereby they sell numerous products with web filtering representing a minimal component of their portfolio.

Grom Nutritional Services, Inc.

We believe that consumer awareness regarding the benefits of dietary supplements and new product availability are the major drivers for the market worldwide. The global nutritional supplements market size was valued at $273.9 billion in 2018 and is anticipated to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 6.4% over the forecast period from 2019 to 2025, according to Grand View Research. The largest of our competitors are Axxess Pharma Inc., Celsius Holdings, Inc., GNC Holdings Inc., and Pfizer Inc.

Curiosity Ink Media, LLC

We have extensive competition in our publication and animated series and movies are Disney, DreamWorks Animation, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Netflix and Nickelodeon. Growth in the publication and animated series and movies are driven by the large streaming and production companies.

Government Regulation

We are subject to several U.S. federal and state and foreign laws and regulations that affect companies conducting business on the Internet. Many of these laws and regulations are still evolving and being tested in courts and could be interpreted in ways that could harm our business. These may involve user privacy and data protection, rights of publicity, content, intellectual property, advertising, marketing, distribution, data security, data retention and deletion, personal information, electronic contracts and other communications, competition, protection of minors, consumer protection, telecommunications, product liability, taxation, economic or other trade prohibitions or sanctions, securities law compliance, and online payment services. In particular, we are subject to federal, state, and foreign laws regarding privacy and protection of data. Foreign data protection, privacy, and other laws and regulations can be more restrictive than those in the United States. U.S. federal and state and foreign laws and regulations, which in some cases can be enforced by private parties in addition to government entities, are constantly evolving and can be subject to significant change. In addition, the application, interpretation, and enforcement of these laws and regulations are often uncertain, particularly in the new and rapidly evolving industry in which we operate and may be interpreted and applied inconsistently from country to country and inconsistently with our current policies and practices. There are also a number of legislative proposals pending before federal, state, and foreign legislative and regulatory bodies. including data protection regulation.

In addition, some countries are considering or have passed legislation implementing data protection requirements or requiring local storage and processing of data or similar requirements that could increase the cost and complexity of delivering our services.

Our platforms follow the guidelines of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998, 15 U.S.C. 6501–6505. COPPA imposes certain requirements on operators of websites or online services directed to children under 13 years of age, and on operators of other websites or online services that have actual knowledge that they are collecting personal information online from a child under 13 years of age.

Additionally, our K-12 NetSpective web filter clients are subject to CIPA, which was enacted by Congress in 2000 to address concerns about children's access to obscene or harmful content over the Internet. CIPA imposes certain requirements on schools or libraries that receive discounts for Internet access or internal connections through the E-rate program – a program that makes certain communications services and products more affordable for eligible schools and libraries. In early 2001, the FCC issued rules implementing CIPA and provided updates to those rules in 2011.

The nutritional supplements that we intend to market to children are governed by the US Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”). The FDA defines supplements as a product intended to increase its levels in the diet. These may include vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acids, or other plant-based substances. Over-the-counter supplements do not undergo the same formal approval process as prescription and over-the-counter drugs. The FDA does not require supplement manufacturers to submit their products to the FDA for review nor receive FDA approval, however, before marketing, companies must ensure they are not making false claims on the product label to mislead consumers. Like other food substances, dietary supplements are not subject to the safety and efficacy testing requirements imposed on drugs, and unlike drugs they do not require prior approval by the FDA; however, they are subject to the FDA regulations regarding adulteration and misbranding.

Intellectual Property

To establish and protect our proprietary rights we rely on a combination of trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, including know-how, license agreements, confidentiality procedures, non-disclosure agreements with third parties, employee non-disclosure and invention assignment agreements, and other contractual rights. We do not believe that our proprietary website is dependent on any single copyright or groups of related patents or copyrights.

Trademarks

We currently own nine trademarks as follows:

Copyrights

We currently own twelve copyrights as follows:

Employees

As of April 7, 2023, the Company had 22 full-time employees, 3 part-time employees and 2 independent contractors in the United States and 68 full-time employees and 37 part-time and 198 contracted employees in the Philippines.

Item 1A Risk Factors

Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. Before investing in our common stock, you should carefully consider the risks described below, as well as the other information in this Annual Report, including our consolidated financial statements and the related notes. In addition, we may face additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us, or which as of the date of this Annual Report we might not consider significant, which may adversely affect our business. If any of the following risks occur, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected. In such case the trading price of our common stock and warrants could decline due to any of these risks or uncertainties, and you may lose part or all of your investment.

Risks Related to Our Business

Our independent auditors concurred with our management’s assessment that raises concern as to our ability to continue as a going concern.

On a consolidated basis, we have incurred significant operating losses since inception. Our financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty. As of December 31, 2022, we have an accumulated deficit of $83.5 million.

Because we do not expect that existing operational cash flow will be sufficient to fund presently anticipated operations, this raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Therefore, we will need to raise additional funds and are currently exploring alternative sources of financing. Historically, we have raised capital through private placements of our equity securities and convertible notes and through officer loans as an interim measure to finance working capital needs and may continue to raise additional capital through the sale of common stock or other securities and by obtaining short-term loans. We will be required to continue to do so until our consolidated operations become profitable.

These factors, among others, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. If we are unable to obtain sufficient funding, our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations will be materially and adversely affected, and we may be unable to continue as a going concern.

Our future performance will depend on the continued engagement of key members of our management team.

Our future performance depends to a large extent on the continued services of members of our current management and other key personnel. While we have employment agreements with certain of our executive officers and key employees, the failure to secure the continued services of these or other key personnel for any reason, could have a material adverse effect on our business, operations, and prospects. We currently do not carry “key man insurance” on any of our executives.

Failure to manage our growth effectively could cause our business to suffer and have an adverse effect on our financial condition and operating results.

Failure to manage our growth effectively could cause our business to suffer and have an adverse effect on our financial condition and operating results. To manage our growth effectively, we must continually evaluate and evolve our business and manage our employees, operations, finances, technology and development, and capital investments efficiently. Our efficiency, productivity and the quality of our Grom Social platform, original content and intellectual properties, animation business and web filtering user services and content may be adversely impacted if we fail to appropriately coordinate across our business operations. Additionally, rapid growth may place a strain on our resources, infrastructure, and ability to maintain the quality of our Grom Social platform. If and when our structure becomes more complex as we add additional staff, we will need to improve our operational, financial and management controls as well as our reporting systems and procedures. Our failure to manage our growth could disrupt our operations and ultimately prevent us from generating revenues.

Future business acquisitions, strategic investments or alliances, if any, as well as business acquisition transactions, could disrupt our business and may not succeed in generating the intended benefits and may, therefore, adversely affect our business, revenue and results of operations.

We completed the acquisition of TD Holdings in 2016, and acquired 80% of Curiosity Ink Media, LLC in 2021. In the future, we may explore potential acquisitions of companies or technologies, strategic investments, or alliances to strengthen our business. Acquisitions involve numerous risks, any of which could harm our business, including:

Failure to appropriately mitigate these risks or other issues related to such strategic investments and acquisitions could result in reducing or completely eliminating any anticipated benefits of transactions and harm our business generally. Future acquisitions could also result in dilutive issuances of our equity securities, the incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities, amortization expenses or the impairment of goodwill, any of which could harm our business, financial condition, and operating results.

We face intense competition in all aspects of our business including competition in the animation and web filtering businesses. If we do not provide features and content that will engage and attract users, advertisers and developers we may not remain competitive, and our potential revenues and operating results could be adversely affected.

We face intense competition in almost every aspect of our business, including from companies such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Google, which offer a variety of Internet products, services, content, and online advertising offerings, as well as from mobile companies and smaller Internet companies that offer products and services that may compete directly with Grom Social for users, such as Yoursphere, Fanlala, Franktown Rocks and Sweety High. As we introduce new services and products, as our existing services and products evolve, or as other companies introduce new products and services, we may become subject to additional competition.

Some of our current and potential competitors have significantly greater resources and better competitive positions than we do. These factors may allow our competitors to respond more effectively than us to new or emerging technologies and changes in market requirements. Our competitors may develop products, features, or services that are similar to ours or that achieve greater market acceptance, may undertake more far-reaching and successful product development efforts or marketing campaigns, or may adopt more aggressive pricing policies. In addition, our users, content providers or application developers may use information shared by our users through Grom Social in order to develop products or features that compete with us. Certain competitors, including Facebook, could use strong or dominant positions in one or more markets to gain a competitive advantage against us in areas where we operate, including by creating a social networking experience similar to ours with similar content and features. As a result, our competitors may acquire and engage users at the expense of the growth or engagement of our user base, which may negatively affect our business and financial results.

We believe that our ability to compete effectively depends upon many factors, including:

If we are not able to effectively compete, our user base and level of user engagement may decrease, which could make us less attractive to developers and advertisers and materially and adversely affect our revenue and results of operations.

We are a holding company organized in Florida, with no operations of our own, and we depend on our subsidiaries, incorporated in Hong Kong, Manila and Florida for cash to fund our operations.

Our operations are conducted entirely through our subsidiaries and our ability to generate cash to fund operations or to meet debt service obligations is dependent on the earnings and the receipt of funds from our subsidiaries. Deterioration in the financial condition, earnings or cash flow of TD Holdings and its subsidiaries for any reason could limit or impair their ability to make payments to us. Additionally, to the extent that we need funds and our subsidiaries are restricted from making such distributions under applicable law or regulation or are otherwise unable to provide such funds, it could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects.

Our intellectual property rights are critical to our success, and the loss of such rights or the ability to obtain, maintain and protect our intellectual property rights could materially adversely affect our business.

We regard our trademarks, copyrights, and other intellectual property rights as critical to our success and attempt to obtain, maintain and protect such intellectual property with registered and common law trademarks and copyrights, restrictions on disclosure and other actions to prevent infringement. Our success will depend in part on our ability to obtain and maintain patent and other intellectual property protection in the United States and other countries with respect to our property and technology. We rely on a combination of copyright, trade secret and trademark laws, to protect our proprietary technology and prevent others from duplicating our products. However, there can be no assurance that other third parties will not infringe or misappropriate our trademarks and similar proprietary rights. If we lose some or all of our intellectual property rights, our business may be materially adversely affected.

If our trademarks and tradenames are not adequately protected, then we may not be able to build name recognition in our markets and our business may be adversely affected.

Our trademarks or trade names may be challenged, infringed, circumvented, declared generic or determined to be violating or infringing on other marks. We may not be able to protect our rights to these trademarks and trade names or may be forced to stop using these trademarks or trade names, which we need to build name recognition among potential partners and customers in our markets of interest. At times, competitors or other third parties may adopt trade names or trademarks similar to ours, thereby impeding our ability to build brand identity and possibly leading to market confusion. In addition, there could be potential trade name or trademark infringement, or dilution claims brought by owners of other trademarks. Over the long term, if we are unable to establish name recognition based on our trademarks and trade names, then we may not be able to compete effectively, and our business may be adversely affected. Our efforts to enforce or protect our rights related to trademarks, trade secrets, domain names or other intellectual property rights may be ineffective, could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may be subject to claims alleging the intellectual property subject to our licensing agreements is violating the intellectual property rights of others.

We may face significant expense and liability as a result of litigation or other proceedings relating to patents and intellectual property rights of others. We could be required to participate in interference proceedings involving issued patents and pending applications of another entity. The cost to us of any such proceeding could be substantial. An adverse outcome in an interference proceeding could require us to cease using the technology, to substantially modify it or to license rights from prevailing third parties. There is no guarantee that any prevailing patent owner would offer us a license so that we could continue to engage in activities claimed by the patent, or that such a license is made available to us or could be acquired on commercially acceptable terms. In addition, third parties may, in the future, assert other intellectual property infringement claims against us with respect to our services, technologies or other matters.

Risks Related to Grom Social

If we fail to retain existing users or add new users, or if our users decrease their level of engagement, our revenue, financial results, and business may be significantly harmed.

The size of our user base and our users’ level of engagement are critical to our success. We have over 28 million Grom Social users under the age of 13 and an almost equal number of parents in our database as of October 2022.. Our future financial performance will be significantly determined by our success in adding, retaining, and engaging users. We define a “user” as any child under the age of 13 who joins Grom Social through the website or downloads the Grom Social app from a mobile app store, and any parent who joins Grom Social and any student or faculty that uses our NetSpective web filtering platform. If people do not perceive our site and the content that we offer to be enjoyable, engaging, reliable, and trustworthy, we may not be able to attract or retain users or otherwise maintain or increase the frequency and duration of their interaction on our website. A number of other social networking companies that achieved early popularity have since seen their active user bases or levels of engagement decline, in some cases precipitously. There is no guarantee that we will not experience a similar erosion of our user base or engagement levels. A decrease in user retention, growth, or engagement could render us less attractive to developers and advertisers, which may have a material and adverse impact on our revenue, business, financial condition, and results of operations. Any number of factors could potentially negatively affect our ability to attract and retain user and to increase their engagement on the website, including, if:

If we are unable to maintain and increase our user base and user engagement, our revenue, financial results, and future growth potential may be adversely affected.

Our strategy at Grom Social to create new and original content, charge users for that content and attempt to secure advertisers to pay to advertise on our app, could fail to attract or retain users or generate revenue.

Our ability to retain, increase, and engage our user base and to increase our revenue will depend heavily on our ability to create successful new content, both independently and in conjunction with third parties. If new or enhanced content fails to engage users, developers, or advertisers, we may fail to attract or retain users or to generate sufficient revenue, operating margin, or other value to justify our investments, and our business may be adversely affected. In the future, we may invest in new products and initiatives to generate revenue, but there is no guarantee these approaches will be successful. If we are not successful with new approaches to monetization, we may not be able to maintain or grow our revenue as anticipated or recover any associated development costs, and our financial results could be adversely affected.

If we are not able to maintain and enhance our brand, or if events occur that damage our reputation and brand, our ability to expand our user base may be impaired, and our business and financial results may be harmed.

We believe that maintaining and enhancing the Grom Social brand is central to expanding our base of users and advertisers. Many of our new users are referred by existing users, and therefore we strive to ensure that our users remain favorably inclined towards our brand. Maintaining and enhancing our brand will depend largely on our ability to continue to provide age-appropriate, enjoyable, reliable, trustworthy, and innovative content and services, which we may not do successfully. We may introduce new content or terms of service that users do not like, which may negatively affect our brand. Additionally, the actions of third-party developers may affect our brand if users do not have a positive experience using third-party apps and websites integrated with our website. We also may fail to provide adequate customer service, which could erode confidence in our brand. Our brand may also be negatively affected by the actions of users that are deemed to be hostile or inappropriate to other users, or by users acting under false or inauthentic identities. Maintaining and enhancing our brand may require us to make substantial investments and these investments may not be successful. If we fail to successfully promote and maintain the Grom Social brand or if we incur excessive expenses in this effort, our business and financial results may be adversely affected.

Our Grom Social platform may be misused by users, despite the safeguards we have in place to protect against such behavior.

Users may be able to circumvent the controls we have in place to prevent abusive, illegal or dishonest activities and behavior on our website, and may engage in such activities and behavior despite these controls. For example, our Grom Social platform could be used to exploit children and to facilitate individuals seeking to engage in improper communications or contact with children. Such potential behavior of such users would injure our other users and would jeopardize the reputation and integrity of our Grom Social platform. Fraudulent users could also post fraudulent profiles or create false or unauthorized profiles on behalf of other, non-consenting parties. This behavior could expose us to liability or lead to negative publicity that could injure the reputation of our Grom Social platform and materially adversely affect our brand.

We could experience system failures or capacity constraints that could negatively impact our Grom Social platform and business.

Our ability to provide reliable service to our users largely depends on the efficient and uninterrupted operation of our Grom Social platform, relying on people, processes, and technology to function effectively. Any significant interruption to, failure of, or security breaches affecting, our Grom Social platform could result in significant expense, a loss of users, and harm to our business and reputation. Interruptions, system failures or security breaches could result from a wide variety of causes, including disruptions to the Internet, malicious attacks or cyber incidents such as unauthorized access, loss or destruction of data (including confidential and/or personal customer information), account takeovers, computer viruses or other malicious code, and the loss or failure of systems over which we have no control. The failure of our Grom Social platform, or the loss of data, could result in disruption to our operations, damage to our reputation and remediation costs, which could individually or in the aggregate adversely affect our business and brand.

Improper access to or disclosure of our users’ information, or violation of our terms of service or policies, could harm our reputation and adversely affect our business.

Our efforts to protect the information that our users have chosen to share using Grom Social may be unsuccessful due to the actions of third parties, software bugs or other technical malfunctions, employee error or malfeasance, or other factors. In addition, third parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees or users to disclose information in order to gain access to our data or our users’ data. If any of these events occur, our users’ information could be accessed or disclosed improperly. We have a privacy policy that governs the use of information that users have chosen to share using the Grom Social website and how that information may be used by us and third parties. Some third-party developers may store the information provided by our users through apps on the Grom Social platform or websites. If these third parties or developers fail to adopt or adhere to adequate data security practices or fail to comply with our terms and policies, or in the event of a breach of their networks, our users’ data may be improperly accessed or disclosed.

Any incidents involving unauthorized access to or improper use of the information of our users or incidents involving violation of our terms of service or policies, including our privacy policy, could damage our reputation and our brand and diminish our competitive position. In addition, the affected users or government authorities could initiate legal or regulatory action against us in connection with such incidents, which could cause us to incur significant expense and liability or result in orders or consent decrees forcing us to modify our business practices. Any of these events could have a material and adverse effect on our business, reputation, or financial results.

We collect, process, share, retain and use personal information and other data, which subjects us to governmental regulations and other legal obligations related to privacy, and our actual or perceived failure to comply with such obligations could harm our business.

A variety of federal, state and foreign laws and regulations govern privacy and the collection, use, retention, sharing and security of personal information. We collect, process, use, share and retain personal information and other user data, including information about our users as they interact with our platform, and we have a privacy policy concerning our use of data on our platform. We are subject to COPPA which regulates the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information from children under 13 years of age and CIPA, which addresses concerns about children’s access to obscene or harmful content over the Internet.

Any failure or perceived failure by us to comply with COPPA, CIPA, or other applicable privacy laws and regulations or with our privacy policy or any compromise of security that results in the unauthorized release or transfer of sensitive information, which may include personally identifiable information or other user data, may result in governmental enforcement actions or litigation, which could be costly to defend and may require us to pay significant fines or damages. Such failures or perceived failures could also result in public statements against us by consumer advocacy groups, our users or others, which could harm our brand and could cause our users, and parents to lose trust in us which in turn could have an adverse effect on our business. Additionally, if third parties we work with, such as advertisers, vendors, content or platform providers, violate applicable laws or our policies, such violations may also put the information of our users at risk and could, in turn, have an adverse effect on our business.

We also are or may become required to comply with varying and complex privacy laws and regulations in multiple jurisdictions, and laws and regulations in foreign jurisdictions are sometimes more restrictive than those in the United States. Complying with these laws as they evolve could cause us to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices in a manner adverse to our business.

As a result of our collection, retention, and use of personal data, we are or may become subject to diverse laws and regulations in the United States and foreign jurisdictions mandating notification to affected individuals in the event that personal data (as defined in the various governing laws) is accessed or acquired by unauthorized persons. Complying with such numerous and complex regulations in the event of unauthorized access would be expensive and difficult, and failure to comply with these regulations could subject us to regulatory scrutiny and additional liability.

User trust regarding privacy and data security is very important to our brand and the growth of our business, and privacy or data security concerns relating to our Grom Social platform could damage our reputation and brand and deter current and potential users from using our platform, even if we are in compliance with applicable privacy and data security laws and regulations.

Users may curtail or stop their use of our Grom Social platform if our security measures are compromised, if our platform is subject to attacks that degrade or deny the ability of users to access our platform or if our member data is compromised.

Our Grom Social platform collects, processes, stores, shares, discloses and uses the information of our users and their communications. We are vulnerable to computer viruses, break-ins, phishing attacks, and attempts to overload our servers with denial-of-service and other cyber-attacks and similar disruptions from unauthorized use of our computer systems. Our security measures may also be breached due to employee error, malfeasance or otherwise. Several recent, highly publicized data security breaches and denial of service attacks at other companies have heightened public awareness of this issue and may embolden individuals or groups to target our systems. Any of the foregoing could lead to interruptions, delays or platform shutdowns, causing loss of critical data or the unauthorized disclosure or use of personally identifiable or other confidential or sensitive information, such as credit card information or information about our members. If our security is compromised, we could experience platform performance or availability problems, the complete shutdown of our platform or the loss or unauthorized disclosure of confidential or sensitive information. We could be subject to liability and litigation and reputational harm, and our users may be harmed, lose confidence in us and decrease or terminate the use of our platform.

We also rely on certain third parties to provide critical services and to store sensitive customer information. For example, our platform is hosted using data centers operated by third parties. However, we have little or no control over the security measures implemented by these parties, and if these measures are compromised, we could be exposed to similar risks and liabilities to those described above.

Unauthorized parties may also fraudulently induce employees or members to disclose sensitive information in order to gain access to our information or the information of our members or access this information through other means. They might also abuse our systems in other ways, such as by sending spam, which could diminish or otherwise degrade the experience of our members or by compromising or gaining unauthorized access to member accounts. Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service or sabotage systems change frequently and are becoming increasingly sophisticated, they often are not recognized until launched against a target. Furthermore, such attacks may originate from less regulated and remote areas around the world, and we may be unable to proactively address these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. Any or all of these issues could negatively impact our ability to attract new members and increase engagement by existing members, cause existing members to stop using our platform or subject us to lawsuits, regulatory fines or other action or liability, thereby harming our business and operating results.

Moreover, if a high-profile security breach occurs with respect to another social media provider, our users and potential users may lose trust in the security of our platform generally, which could adversely impact our ability to retain existing users or attract new ones.

If any of our relationships with internet search websites terminate, if such websites’ methodologies are modified or if we are outbid by competitors, traffic to our websites could decline.

We depend in part on various internet search websites, such as Google.com, Bing.com, Yahoo.com, and other websites to direct a significant amount of traffic to our websites. Search websites typically provide two types of search results, algorithmic and purchased listings. Algorithmic listings generally are determined and displayed as a result of a set of unpublished formulas designed by search engine companies in their discretion. Purchased listings generally are displayed if particular word searches are performed on a search engine. We rely on both algorithmic and purchased search results, as well as advertising on other internet websites, to direct a substantial share of visitors to our websites and to direct traffic to the advertiser customers we serve. If these internet search websites modify or terminate their relationship with us or we are outbid by our competitors for purchased listings, meaning that our competitors pay a higher price to be listed above us in a list of search results, traffic to our websites could decline. Such a decline in traffic could affect our ability to generate advertising revenue and could reduce the desirability of advertising on our websites.

We may have difficulty scaling and adapting our existing network infrastructure to accommodate increased traffic and technology advances or changing business requirements, which could cause us to incur significant expenses and lead to the loss of users and advertisers.

To be successful, our network infrastructure has to perform well and be reliable. The greater the user traffic and the greater the complexity of our products and services, the more computer power we will need. We could incur substantial costs if we need to modify our websites or our infrastructure to adapt to technological changes. If we do not maintain our network infrastructure successfully, or if we experience inefficiencies and operational failures, the quality of our products and services and our users’ experience could decline. Maintaining an efficient and technologically advanced network infrastructure is particularly critical to our business because of the pictorial nature of the products and services provided on our websites. A decline in quality could damage our reputation and lead us to lose current and potential users and advertisers. Cost increases, loss of traffic or failure to accommodate new technologies or changing business requirements could harm our operating results and financial condition.

Risks Related to Top Draw Animation

Since Top Draw’s business operations are located in the Philippines, our results of operations or financial condition could be materially adversely affected by economic or political developments in the Philippines.

Top Draw’s business operations are located in the Philippines. As a result, we are subject to certain risks presented by the Philippine economy and regulatory environment. We believe that the Philippine government exercises substantial control over virtually every sector of the Philippine economy through regulations and, in some cases, state-ownership. Our ability to operate Top Draw’s business in the Philippines may be harmed by changes in the local laws and regulations, including those relating to employment, taxation, business regulation, intellectual property rights, property, and other matters.

In the event of adverse weather conditions, calamity or epidemic that may occur in the Philippines, the lack of a fully developed infrastructure could have a material adverse impact on Top Draw’s business.

The vast majority of Top Draw’s employees do not own an automobile and must commute to work using public transportation. Additionally, the power grid in the Philippines is considered substandard compared to developed countries. Any negative event that impacts public transportation or power generation could result in Top Draw’s employees not being able to go to the office to perform their work thus potentially delaying projects.

Operating Top Draw in the Philippines subjects us to challenges and risks unique to operating a business in the Philippines and if we are unable to manage those challenges and risks, the growth of our business could be limited, and our business could suffer.

Operating Top Draw in the Philippines subjects us to a number of risks and challenges that specifically relate to our Philippine operations. Our Philippine operations may not be successful if we are unable to meet and overcome these challenges, which could limit the growth of our business and may have an adverse effect on our revenue and operating results. These risks and challenges include:

Although we report our results of operations in U.S. dollars, approximately 88% of our revenue is currently denominated in foreign currencies. We do not hedge against currency fluctuations and unfavorable fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. Such fluctuations could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Because our consolidated financial statements are presented in U.S. dollars, we must translate our Top Draw’s revenues, expenses, and income, as well as assets and liabilities, into U.S. dollars at exchange rates in effect during or at the end of each reporting period. Therefore, changes in the value of the U.S. dollar against other currencies will affect our revenues, operating income and the value of balance-sheet items, including intercompany payables and receivables, originally denominated in other currencies. These changes cause our growth in consolidated earnings stated in U.S. dollars to be higher or lower than our growth in other currencies when compared against other periods.

An increase in the value of other currencies, against the U.S. dollar could increase costs for delivery of our digital animation services by increasing labor and other costs that are denominated in other currencies. Conversely, a decrease in the value of other currencies, against the U.S. dollar could place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to service providers that benefit to a greater degree from such a decrease and can, as a result, deliver services at a lower cost.

Historically, Top Draw’s business has been reliant and concentrated upon a limited number of key clients, the loss of any one of which could have a material adverse effect on Top Draw’s and our revenue and financial condition.

During the year ended December 31, 2022, Top Draw accounted for approximately 88.4% of our consolidated revenue. During the same period, four of Top Draw’s clients accounted for approximately 70.8% of our consolidated revenue. Although the relative percentages by client may change from quarter to quarter, the reliance upon a limited number of clients is not expected to change for the foreseeable future. As a result, a decrease in business or revenue from any one or more of these key clients could materially negatively impact Top Draw’s and our revenue, results of operation, and financial condition.

The success of Top Draw, and consequently our success, depends on certain key employees.

The success of Top Draw, and consequently our success depends to a significant extent on the performance of certain senior management personnel and other key employees. In particular, we are dependent upon the services of Russell Hicks or Jared Wolfson to operate and manage Top Draw. The loss of the services of Russell Hicks or Jared Wolfson could have a material adverse effect on our business, revenue, and results of operations.

In order for our digitally animated content and related products to be successful, we must develop appealing creative content.

The success of each digitally animated feature developed and produced by Top Draw depends in large part upon our ability to develop and produce compelling stories and characters that will appeal to our target audience. Traditionally, this process has been extremely difficult. While we believe Top Draw has enjoyed success with its digitally animated features, there can be no assurance that similar levels of success will be achieved by Top Draw’s subsequent features and our other future projects.

We expect to experience intense competition with respect to Top Draw’s digitally animated features and related content.

We expect that Top Draw’s digitally animated features will compete with family-oriented, animated and live-action feature films and other family-oriented entertainment products produced by major movie studios, including Disney, DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc., Warner Bros. Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Fox Entertainment Group Inc., Paramount Pictures, Lucasfilm Ltd., Universal Studios, Inc., MGM/UA, and Studio Ghibli as well as numerous other independent motion picture production companies.

We believe competition from animated feature films and family-oriented feature films will likely continue to intensify over the next several years. Some of the other movie studios with which we compete have significantly greater financial, marketing and other resources than we do. In addition to the box office and home video competition, other family-oriented features and films will compete with Top Draw Animation’s digital features.

If we are not able to produce digital features and content that can compete successfully with offerings from our competitors, it could have a material adverse impact on our business, revenue, and results of operations.

Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure and Ownership of Our Securities

If we are unable to maintain compliance with all applicable continued listing requirements and standards of Nasdaq, our common stock could be delisted from Nasdaq.

Our common stock is listed on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “GROM.” In order to maintain that listing, we must satisfy minimum financial and other continued listing requirements and standards, including those regarding director independence and independent committee requirements, minimum stockholders’ equity, minimum share price, and certain corporate governance requirements. There can be no assurances that we will be able to remain in compliance with Nasdaq’s listing standards or if we do later fail to comply and subsequently regain compliance with Nasdaq’s listing standards, that we will be able to continue to comply with the applicable listing standards. If we are unable to maintain compliance with these Nasdaq requirements, our common stock will be delisted from Nasdaq.

In the event that our common stock is delisted from Nasdaq due to our failure to continue to comply with any requirement for continued listing on Nasdaq, and is not eligible for quotation on another market or exchange, trading of our common stock could, again, be conducted in the over-the-counter market or on an electronic bulletin board established for unlisted securities such as the OTC Pink or the OTCQB tiers of the OTC marketplace. In such event, it could become more difficult to dispose of, or obtain accurate price quotations for, our common stock, and it would likely be more difficult to obtain coverage by securities analysts and the news media, which could cause the price of our common stock to decline further. Also, it may be difficult for us to raise additional capital if we are not listed on a national exchange.

Future capital raises may dilute our existing stockholders’ ownership and/or have other adverse effects on our operations.

If we raise additional capital by issuing equity securities, our existing stockholders’ percentage ownership may decrease, and these stockholders may experience substantial dilution. If we raise additional funds by issuing debt instruments, these debt instruments could impose significant restrictions on our operations, including liens on our assets. If we raise additional funds through collaborations and licensing arrangements, we may be required to relinquish some rights to our technologies or products, or to grant licenses on terms that are not favorable to us or could diminish the rights of our stockholders.

We do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future; therefore, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock, will be your sole source of gain for the foreseeable future.

We have never declared or paid cash dividends on our common stock. We do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings to fund the development and growth of our business. In addition, future loan arrangements, if any, may contain, terms prohibiting or limiting the amount of dividends that may be declared or paid on our common stock. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock, will be your sole source of gain for the foreseeable future.

Our board of directors may authorize and issue shares of new classes of stock that could be superior to or adversely affect you as a holder of our common stock.

Our Board has the power to authorize and issue shares of classes of stock, including preferred stock that have voting powers, designations, preferences, limitations and special rights, including preferred distribution rights, conversion rights, redemption rights and liquidation rights without further shareholder approval which could adversely affect the rights of the holders of our common stock. In addition, our board could authorize the issuance of a series of preferred stock that has greater voting power than our common stock or that is convertible into our common stock, which could decrease the relative voting power of our common stock or result in dilution to our existing shareholders.

Any of these actions could significantly adversely affect the investment made by holders of our common stock. Holders of our common stock could potentially not receive dividends that they might otherwise have received. In addition, holders of our common stock could receive less proceeds in connection with any future sale of the Company, whether in liquidation or on any other basis.

The voting and conversion rights of our issued and outstanding shares of Series C Stock will have the effect of diluting the voting power of existing common stockholders.

Our authorized capital stock includes 25,000,000 shares of preferred stock, of which 2,000,000 shares are designated as Series A Stock, 10,000,000 shares are designated as Series B Stock, and 10,000,000 shares are designated as Series C Stock. As of April 7, 2023, no shares of our Series A Stock or Series B Stock, and 9,281,809 shares of Series C Stock, are issued and outstanding. The holders of our outstanding shares of Series C Stock may at any time, after the 6-month anniversary of the issuance of their shares of Series C Stock, convert such shares into shares of our common stock at a conversion price equal to $57.60. In addition, the Company may, at any time, require conversion of all or any of the Series C Stock then outstanding at a conversion price equal to $57.60. The conversion of shares of our Series C Stock will dilute your interests. If all of the shares of our Series C Stock were converted, we would have 161,143 additional shares of common stock issued and outstanding, which, based on the 7,288,177 shares outstanding as of April 7, 2023, would represent approximately 2.2% of our shares of common stock outstanding, if all of the shares of our Series C Stock were converted.

In addition, the holders of shares of our Series C Stock vote together as a single class with the holders of shares of our common stock, with each share entitling the holder to 1.5625 votes per share. Therefore, as of April 7, 2023, the holders of our 9,281,809 shares of Series C Stock, have an aggregate of approximately 14,502,828 votes, representing approximately 56% of our voting power.

The effects of the voting and conversion rights tied to shares of our Series C Stock may affect the rights of our common stockholders by, among other things, restricting dividends on our common stock, diluting the voting power of our common stockholders, reducing the market price of our common stock, or impairing the liquidation rights of our common stock.

Substantial future sales of shares of our common stock could cause the market price of our common stock to decline.

The market price of shares of our common stock could decline as a result of substantial sales of our common stock, particularly sales by our directors, executive officers and significant stockholders, or a large number of shares of our common stock becoming available for sale or the perception in the market that holders of a large number of shares intend to sell their shares.

The market price of our shares of common stock is subject to fluctuation.

The market prices of our shares may fluctuate significantly in response to factors, some of which are beyond our control, including:

Recently, the stock market, in general, has experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations. Continued market fluctuations could result in extreme market volatility in the price of our shares of common stock which could cause a decline in the value of our shares.

In the event that our common stock is delisted from Nasdaq, U.S. broker-dealers may be discouraged from effecting transactions in shares of our common stock because they may be considered penny stocks and thus be subject to the penny stock rules.

The SEC has adopted a number of rules to regulate “penny stock” that restricts transactions involving stock which is deemed to be penny stock. These rules may have the effect of reducing the liquidity of penny stocks. “Penny stocks” generally are equity securities with a price of less than $5.00 per share (other than securities registered on certain national securities exchanges or quoted on Nasdaq if current price and volume information with respect to transactions in such securities is provided by the exchange or system). Our shares of common stock constitute, “penny stock” within the meaning of the rules. The additional sales practice and disclosure requirements imposed upon U.S. broker-dealers may discourage such broker-dealers from effecting transactions in shares of our common stock, which could severely limit the market liquidity of such shares of common stock and impede their sale in the secondary market.

A U.S. broker-dealer selling penny stock to anyone other than an established customer or “accredited investor” (generally, an individual with a net worth in excess of $1,000,000 or an annual income exceeding $200,000, or $300,000 together with his or her spouse) must make a special suitability determination for the purchaser and must receive the purchaser’s written consent to the transaction prior to sale, unless the broker-dealer or the transaction is otherwise exempt. In addition, the “penny stock” regulations require the U.S. broker-dealer to deliver, prior to any transaction involving a “penny stock,” a disclosure schedule prepared in accordance with SEC standards relating to the “penny stock” market, unless the broker-dealer or the transaction is otherwise exempt. A U.S. broker-dealer is also required to disclose commissions payable to the U.S. broker-dealer and the registered representative and current quotations for the securities. Finally, a U.S. broker-dealer is required to submit monthly statements disclosing recent price information with respect to the “penny stock” held in a customer’s account and information with respect to the limited market in “penny stocks”.

Stockholders should be aware that, according to the SEC, the market for “penny stocks” has suffered in recent years from patterns of fraud and abuse. Such patterns include (i) control of the market for the security by one or a few broker-dealers that are often related to the promoter or issuer; (ii) manipulation of prices through prearranged matching of purchases and sales and false and misleading press releases; (iii) “boiler room” practices involving high-pressure sales tactics and unrealistic price projections by inexperienced sales persons; (iv) excessive and undisclosed bid-ask differentials and markups by selling broker-dealers; and (v) the wholesale dumping of the same securities by promoters and broker-dealers after prices have been manipulated to a desired level, resulting in investor losses. Our management is aware of the abuses that have occurred historically in the penny stock market. Although we do not expect to be in a position to dictate the behavior of the market or of broker-dealers who participate in the market, management will strive within the confines of practical limitations to prevent the described patterns from being established with respect to our securities.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. Several analysts may cover our stock. If one or more of those analysts downgrade our stock or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our stock could decrease, which might cause our stock price and trading volume to decline.

The market price for our common stock is particularly volatile given our status as a relatively unknown company with a small and thinly traded public float, and lack of profits, which could lead to wide fluctuations in our share price.

The market for our common stock is characterized by significant price volatility when compared to the shares of larger, more established companies that have large public floats, and we expect that our share price will continue to be more volatile than the shares of such larger, more established companies for the indefinite future. The volatility in our share price is attributable to a number of factors. First, as noted above, our common stock is, compared to the shares of such larger, more established companies, sporadically and thinly traded. The price for our common stock could, for example, decline precipitously in the event that a large number of our common stock is sold on the market without commensurate demand. Secondly, we are a speculative or “risky” investment due to our lack of profits to date. As a consequence of this enhanced risk, more risk-adverse investors may, under the fear of losing all or most of their investment in the event of negative news or lack of progress, be more inclined to sell their shares of common stock on the market more quickly and at greater discounts than would be the case with the stock of a larger, more established company that has a large public float. Many of these factors are beyond our control and may decrease the market price of our common stock regardless of our operating performance.

If and when a larger trading market for our common stock develops, the market price of our common stock is still likely to be highly volatile and subject to wide fluctuations.

The market price of our common stock may be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to a number of factors that are beyond our control, including, but not limited to:

In addition, if the market for technology stocks or the stock market in general experiences loss of investor confidence, the trading price of our common stock could decline for reasons unrelated to our business, financial condition or operating results. The trading price of our common stock might also decline in reaction to events that affect other companies in our industry, even if these events do not directly affect us. Each of these factors, among others, could harm the value of your investment in our common stock. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market, securities class-action litigation has often been instituted against companies. Such litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could materially and adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

Being a public company is expensive and administratively burdensome.

As a public reporting company, we are subject to the information and reporting requirements of the Securities Act, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) and other federal securities laws, rules and regulations related thereto, including compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended (“Sarbanes-Oxley Act”). Complying with these laws and regulations requires the time and attention of our board of directors and management and increases our expenses. Among other things, we are required to:

The costs of preparing and filing annual and quarterly reports, proxy statements, when required, and other information with the SEC and furnishing audited reports to stockholders is expensive and much greater than that of a privately-held company, and compliance with these rules and regulations may require us to hire additional financial reporting, internal controls and other finance personnel, and will involve a material increase in regulatory, legal and accounting expenses and the attention of management. There can be no assurance that we will be able to comply with the applicable regulations in a timely manner, if at all. In addition, being a public company makes it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance. In the future, we may be required to accept reduced coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain this coverage.

We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. 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 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 and to disclose any changes and material weaknesses identified through such evaluation in those internal controls. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

As described elsewhere in this Annual Report, we identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to functional controls and segregation of duties. As a result of this material weakness, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2022.

Any failure to maintain such internal control could adversely impact our ability to report our financial position and results from operations on a timely and accurate basis, which could result in a material adverse effect on our business. 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 Nasdaq, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. In addition, we would likely incur additional accounting, legal and other costs in connection with any remediation steps. Ineffective internal controls could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, which could have a negative effect on the trading price of our stock.

To respond to this material weakness, we have devoted, and 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 our research and understanding of the nuances of the complex accounting standards that apply to our financial statements. Our plans at this time include providing enhanced access to accounting literature, research materials and documents and increased communication among our personnel and third-party professionals with whom we consult regarding complex accounting applications. Additionally, we have hired, and plan to continue to hire, as resources permit, qualified accounting personnel to better manage our functional controls and segregate responsibilities. The elements of our remediation plan can only be accomplished over time, and we can offer no assurance that these initiatives will ultimately have the intended effects.

We can give no assurance that the measures we have taken and plan to take in the future will remediate the material weakness identified or that any additional material weaknesses or restatements of financial results will not arise in the future due to a failure to implement and maintain adequate internal 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 presentation of our financial statements.

Failure to achieve and maintain effective internal controls in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act could prevent us from producing reliable financial reports or identifying fraud. In addition, current and potential stockholders could lose confidence in our financial reporting, which could have an adverse effect on our stock price.

We are subject to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and effectively prevent fraud, and a lack of effective controls could preclude us from accomplishing these critical functions. We are required to document and test our internal control procedures in order to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, in connection with, PCAOB Auditing Standard No. 5 which requires annual management assessments of the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. Our management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, and concluded that our internal controls and procedures were not effective.

Risks Related to COVID-19

The uncertainty and extent of the COVID-19 pandemic may continue to have an adverse effect on our operations and on the global capital markets.

The current outbreak of COVID-19 could continue to have a material and adverse effect on our business operations. These could include disruptions or restrictions on our ability to travel or to distribute our products, as well as temporary closures of production facilities. Any such disruption or delay would likely impact our sales and operating results. In addition, COVID-19 has resulted in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets of many other countries, resulting in an economic downturn that could affect demand for our products and significantly impact our operating results.

As the result of current restrictions put in place to address COVID-19, we have limited access to our corporate and Manila offices, cannot efficiently and fully access our data and records, and many of our corporate and administrative staff is required to work remotely, disrupting interactions among our staff, with our customers and suppliers, and with our accountants, consultants and advisors. The extent to which our results continue to be affected by COVID-19 will largely depend on future developments which cannot be accurately predicted, including the duration and scope of the pandemic, governmental and business responses to the pandemic and the impact on the global economy, demand for our products, and our ability to provide our products, particularly as result of our employees working remotely and/or the closure of certain offices and production facilities. While these factors are uncertain, the COVID-19 pandemic or the perception of its effects could continue to have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

We lease approximately 2,100 square feet of office space as our principal executive offices in Boca Raton, Florida for approximately $4,000 per month pursuant to a two-year lease expiring on March 31, 2024.

Our animation business leases an aggregate of approximately 26,600 square feet in the West Tower of the Philippine Stock Exchange Centre in Pasig City, Manila for administration and production purposes. We currently pay approximately $20,500 per month for such space (which increases by approximately 5% per year). These leases expire in December 2027.

Our web filtering business leases approximately 1,400 square feet in Norcross, Georgia, for approximately $2,250 per month pursuant to a five-year lease which expires in May 2023. The lease payments increase by approximately 3% annually.

Our original content business leases approximately 1,700 square feet in Los Angeles, California, for approximately $4,800 per month pursuant to a two-year lease which expires in October 2023. The lease payments increase by approximately 3.5% annually.

We believe our leased space for the present time is adequate and additional space at comparable prices is available at all locations.

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

There are no pending legal proceedings to which we are a party or in which any director, officer or affiliate of ours, any owner of record or beneficially of more than 5% of any class of our voting securities, or security holder is a party adverse to us or has a material interest adverse to us.

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

None

PART II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Our shares of our common stock are quoted on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “GROM.” Such quotations reflect inter-dealer prices, without retail mark-up, mark-down, or commission and do not necessarily represent actual transactions.

The last reported sales price of our common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market on April 14, 2023, was $0.63.

Holders

As of April 7, 2022, there were 444 shareholders of record of our common stock.

Dividends

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock. We intend to retain future earnings, if any, to finance the expansion of our business. As a result, the Company does not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future.

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plan

The following table provides information regarding our equity compensation plans as of December 31, 2022:

Equity Compensation Plan Information

______________ 

⁽¹⁾ Represents options to purchase an aggregate of 6,950 shares of common stock issued to officers and employees for services provided to the Company at an exercise price of $89.40.

⁽²⁾ Represents (i) options to purchase an aggregate of 5,622 shares of common stock issued to officers and employees for services provided to the Company at exercise prices between $230.40 and $748.80 and (ii) options to purchase an aggregate of 1,629 shares of common stock issued to consultants and contractors for services provided to the Company at an exercise price of $230.40.

Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities

Except as set forth below, there were no sales of equity securities during the period covered by this Annual Report that were not registered under the Securities Act and were not previously reported in a Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or a Current Report on Form 8-K filed by the Company.

On November 21, 2022, we sold 18,727 shares of common stock for gross proceeds of $100,000 to an accredited investor in a private offering.

On November 29, 2022, we sold an aggregate of 32,771 shares of common stock for aggregate gross proceeds of $175,000 to two accredited investors in a private offering.

The above issuances did not involve any underwriters, underwriting discounts or commissions, or any public offering and we believe are exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 by virtue of Section 4(2) thereof and/or Regulation D promulgated thereunder. The investors represented to us that they were accredited investor and were acquiring the shares for investment purposes only and not with a view to, or for sale in connection with, any distribution thereof and that they could bear the risks of the investment.

ITEM 6.  [Reserved]

ITEM 7.  MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Forward-Looking Statements

The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and the related notes thereto. The management's discussion and analysis contain forward-looking statements, such as statements of our plans, objectives, expectations, and intentions. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. When used, the words "believe," "plan," "intend," "anticipate," "target," "estimate," "expect" and the like, and/or future tense or conditional constructions ("will," "may," "could," "should," etc.), or similar expressions, identify certain of these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including those under "Risk Factors," which appear in elsewhere in this Annual Report, that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Our actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of several factors. We do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this Annual Report.

The share and per share information in the following discussion reflects a reverse stock split of our outstanding common stock at a 1-for-30 ratio, effective as of December 9, 2022.

Overview

We were incorporated in the State of Florida on April 14, 2014 under the name Illumination America, Inc.

On August 17, 2017, we acquired Grom Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Grom Holdings”), pursuant to a share exchange agreement (the “Share Exchange Agreement”) entered into on May 15, 2017 (the “Share Exchange”). In connection with the Share Exchange, the Company acquired 100% of the outstanding shares of capital stock of Grom Holdings from Grom Holdings’ stockholders in exchange for an aggregate of 115,473 shares of common stock, par value $0.001 per share, of the Company. As a result of the Share Exchange, the stockholders of Grom Holdings acquired approximately 92% of the Company’s then-issued and outstanding shares of common stock and Grom Holdings became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. In connection with the Share Exchange, on August 17, 2017, we changed our name to Grom Social Enterprises, Inc.

We are a media, technology and entertainment company that focuses on (i) delivering content to children under the age of 13 years in a safe secure platform that is compliant with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) and can be monitored by parents or guardians, (ii) creating, acquiring, and developing the commercial potential of Kids & Family entertainment properties and associated business opportunities, (iii) providing world class animation services, and (iv) offering protective web filtering solutions to block unwanted or inappropriate content. We conduct our business through our following subsidiaries:

We own 100% of each of Grom Social, TD Holdings, GES and GNS, and 80% of Curiosity.

Impact of COVID-19

On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization announced a global health emergency because of the spread of a new strain of the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”). On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19, a global pandemic. COVID-19 has and continues to affect the United States and global economies.

We experienced significant disruptions to our business and operations due to circumstances related to COVID-19, and delays caused government-imposed quarantines, office closings and travel restrictions, which affect both us and our service providers. We have significant operations in Manila, Philippines, which was locked down by the government on March 12, 2020 due to concerns related to the spread of COVID-19. As a result of the Philippines government’s call to contain COVID-19, our animation studio, located in Manila, Philippines, which accounts for approximately 88% of our total revenues on a consolidated basis, was forced to close its offices for significant periods of time from March 2020 through December 2021.

In response to the outbreak and business disruption, we instituted employee safety protocols to contain the spread, including domestic and international travel restrictions, work-from-home practices, extensive cleaning protocols, social distancing and various temporary closures of our administrative offices and production studio. We also implemented a range of actions aimed at temporarily reducing costs and preserving liquidity. In January 2022, we started to recall artist and employees to return to the studio which is currently operating at 50% seat capacity.

While restrictions have eased, the risk continues as new variants are being discovered. The full extent of potential impacts on our business, financing activities and the global economy will depend on future developments, which cannot be predicted due to the uncertain nature of the continued COVID-19 pandemic, government mandated shut downs, and its adverse effects, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. These effects could have a material adverse impact on our business, operations, financial condition and results of operations.

Recent Developments

PIPE Offering and Related Waiver

On January 25, 2023, we consummated a private investment in public equity financing (the “PIPE Offering”) pursuant to the terms of the Securities Purchase Agreement, dated January 25, 2023, as amended (the “2023 SPA”), by and between us and the purchaser named therein (the “2023 SPA Selling Stockholder”) and issued (i) 100,000 shares of common stock; (ii) 1,327,434 warrants (the “Purchase Warrants”) to purchase an aggregate of 2,323,010 shares of common stock; and (iii) 1,227,434 prefunded warrants (the “Pre-Funded Warrants,” and together with the Purchase Warrants, the “Warrants”) to purchase an aggregate of 1,227,434 shares of common stock. The purchase price of each share of common stock and associated Purchase Warrant was $2.26. The purchase of each Pre-Funded Warrant and associated Purchase Warrant was $2.25. The aggregate gross proceeds of the PIPE Offering was approximately $3 million, before deducting fees to the placement agent and other expenses payable by us. EF Hutton, division of Benchmark Investments, LLC, acted as the exclusive placement agent in connection with the PIPE Offering.

In connection with the PIPE Offering, we entered into a waiver agreement (the “Waiver”) with L1 Capital Global Opportunities Master Fund (“L1”) waiving certain provisions of the Securities Purchase Agreement, dated as of September 14, 2021 (the “2021 SPA”), by and between us and L1. Pursuant to the terms of the Waiver, L1 waived certain provisions of the 2021 SPA and in consideration thereof, we (i) issued 150,000 purchase warrants substantially similar to the Purchase Warrants issued in connection with the 2023 SPA; and (ii) paid a cash fee of $50,000 to L1.

The Purchase Warrants are immediately exercisable for $2.26 per share of common stock, subject to certain adjustments, including with respect to stock dividends, splits, subsequent rights offerings, pro rata distributions and a Fundamental Transaction (as defined in the purchase warrant agreement (the “Purchase Warrant Agreement”)), until the fifth anniversary of the original issuance date (the “Expiration Date”). The Prefunded Warrants are immediately exercisable for $0.01 per share of common stock, subject to certain adjustments, including with respect to stock dividends, splits, subsequent rights offerings, pro rata distributions and a Fundamental Transaction (as defined in the Prefunded Warrant), until all of the Prefunded Warrants are exercised in full. The exercise of the Warrants is subject to beneficial ownership limitations.

Pursuant to the 2023 SPA, the Company is obligated to hold a special stockholders’ meeting no later than 60 days following the date of the 2023 SPA to solicit the approval of the issuance of the shares of common stock, Warrants and the shares of common stock underlying the Warrants in compliance with the rules of the Nasdaq Stock Market (without regard to any limitations on exercise set forth in the Purchase Warrant Agreement or the prefunded warrant agreement (the “Prefunded Warrant Agreement”). On March 27, 2023, we held a virtual special meeting of stockholders, and at the meeting, the issuance of the securities in compliance with the rules of the Nasdaq Stock Market has been approved.

In connection with the PIPE Offering, we entered into a Registration Rights Agreement with the Purchasers, dated January 25, 2023 (the “Registration Rights Agreement”). The Registration Rights Agreement provides that we shall file a registration statement covering the resale of all of the Registrable Securities (as defined in the Registration Rights Agreement) with the SEC no later than the 7th calendar day following the date of the Registration Rights Agreement, and have the registration statement declared effective by the SEC as promptly as possible after the filing thereof, but in any event no later than the 30th calendar day following the date of the Registration Rights Agreement, or in the event of a “full review” by the SEC, the 45th day following the date of the Registration Rights Agreement. On February 2, 2023, we filed the registration statement, and on February 9, 2023, the registration statement was declared effective by the SEC.

Potential Strategic Partnerships in the Pipeline

We continue to evaluate strategic acquisition opportunities to help accelerate our growth and complement our existing business. We are currently in various levels of negotiations with three potential strategic partners.

Notice of Delisting of Failure to Satisfy a Continued Listing Rule or Standard

On May 24, 2022, we received a deficiency letter (the “Notice”) from the Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC notifying us that, based upon the closing bid price of our common stock for the last 30 consecutive business days, we were not in compliance with the requirement to maintain a minimum bid price of $1.00 per share for continued listing on Nasdaq, as set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) (the “Minimum Bid Requirement”). The Notice had no immediate effect on the continued listing status of our common stock on Nasdaq, and, therefore, our listing remained fully effective. We were provided initial and extended compliance periods of 360 calendar days from the date of the Notice, or until May 22, 2023, to regain compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2).

On December 23, 2022, we received a compliance letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC notifying us that the closing bid price of our common stock has been at $1.00 per share or greater for the last 10 consecutive business days and thus we have regained compliance with Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) and the matter is now closed.

On April 10, 2023, we received a second deficiency letter (the “Second Notice”) from the Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC notifying us that, based upon the closing bid price of our common stock for the last 30 consecutive business days, we were not in compliance with the requirement to maintain a minimum bid price of $1.00 per share for continued listing on Nasdaq, as set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) (the “Minimum Bid Requirement”). The Second Notice has no immediate effect on the continued listing status of our common stock on Nasdaq, and, therefore, our listing remains fully effective. We have been provided an initial compliance period of 180 calendar days from the date of the Second Notice, or until October 9, 2023, to regain compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2).

Reverse Stock Split

On October 4, 2022, the Board and shareholders approved the granting of authority to the Board to amend our articles of incorporation to effect a reverse stock split of the issued and outstanding shares of our common stock, by a ratio of no less than 1-for-2 and no more than 1-for-30, with the exact ratio to be determined by the Board in its sole discretion, and with such reverse stock split to be effective at such time and date, if at all, as determined by the Board in its sole discretion. On December 9, 2022, the Board effected a 1-for-30 reverse stock split in connection with our continued listing of our common stock on Nasdaq.

The reverse stock split did not have any impact on the number of authorized shares of common stock, which remains at 500,000,000 shares. All share and per share information in this Annual Report reflects the reverse stock split of our outstanding common stock at a ratio of 1-for-30.

Resignation and Appointment of Executive Officers and Directors

On April 22, 2022, we entered into an Executive Separation Agreement with Melvin Leiner (the “Separation Agreement”), pursuant to which Mr. Leiner retired from his positions as our Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Pursuant to the Separation Agreement, Mr. Leiner’s employment with us ended on April 22, 2022, and Mr. Leiner is to receive separation payments over a 9-month period equal to his base salary, as well as certain limited health benefits.

On the same day, Mr. Leiner resigned from our board of directors, effective immediately. Mr. Leiner did not resign as a result of any disagreement with us on any matter relating to our operations, policies or practices.

Results of Operations

For the years ended December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021

Revenue

Revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $5,426,501, compared to revenue of $6,297,922 during the year ended December 31, 2021, representing a decrease of $871,421 or 13.8%.

Animation revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $4,931,776, compared to animation revenue of $5,602,466 during the year ended December 31, 2021, representing a decrease of $670,690 or 12.0%. The decrease in animation revenue is primarily attributable to client delays in providing us with necessary productions materials and content and in the execution and commencement of previously negotiated contracts.

Web filtering revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $482,861, compared to web filtering revenue of $594,996 during the year ended December 31, 2021, representing a decrease of $112,135 or 18.8%. The decrease is primarily due to a decline in organic sales growth, and the timing or loss of multi-year contract renewals.

Produced and licensed content revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $0, compared to produced and licensed content revenue of $98,301 during the year ended December 31, 2021. The decrease in produced and licensed content revenue is attributable to revenue fluctuations in our original content business at Curiosity Ink Media LLC. Many of our properties are in the development stage, at various points, and approaching monetization. Revenue fluctuations will be anticipated until such time that we release multiple saleable properties into the marketplace.

Other revenue is generated from royalties received from our publishing activities, sales and commissions through our Santa.com e-commerce website, and subscription and advertising revenue from our Grom Social mobile application. Other revenue for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $11,864 compared to other revenue of $2,159 during the year ended December 31, 2021, representing an increase of $9,705 or 449.5%, primarily attributable to ecommerce sales and commissions.

Gross Profit

Our gross profits vary significantly by subsidiary. In recent years, our animation business has realized gross profits between 35% and 40%, while our web filtering business has realized gross profits between 91% and 94%. Our gross profits may vary from period to period due to the nature of the business of each subsidiary, and the timing and volume of customer contracts and projects. Current gross margins percentages may not be indicative of future gross margin performance.

Gross profit for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 were $1,761,735, or 32.5%, and $2,590,654, or 41.1%, respectively. The decrease in gross profit is primarily attributable lower contract margins realized in our animation business due to the absorption of fixed overhead expenses against reduced revenue levels and certain projects exceeding budgeted costs.

Operating Expenses

Operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2022 were $20,432,157, compared to operating expenses of $9,463,580 during the year ended December 31, 2021, representing an increase of $10,968,577 or 115.9%. The increase is primarily attributable to impairment charges of approximately $11.3 million against the goodwill of our animation and original content businesses. Additionally, we incurred higher selling, general and administrative costs, specifically in research and development; employee headcount, compensation and benefits from the acquisition of Curiosity; and stock-based compensation from the grant of stock option awards.

Selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses are comprised of selling, marketing and promotional expenses, compensation and benefits, insurance, rent and related facility costs, research and development, and other general expenses. SG&A expenses were $7,313,145 for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $5,811,792 for the year ended December 31, 2021, representing an increase of $1,501,353 or 25.8%.

Professional fees are comprised of accounting and compliance services, legal services, investor relations and other advisory fees. Professional fees were $1,467,323 for the year ended December 2022, compared to $2,773,510 for the year ended December 31, 2021, representing a decrease of $1,306,187 or 47.1%.

At December 31, 2022, we performed our annual impairment tests as prescribed by ASC 350 on the carrying value of our goodwill and recorded an aggregate impairment charge of $11,340,115; of which $6,202,888 was attributed to the carrying value of goodwill related to our TD Holdings Ltd animation business acquired in 2016, and $5,137,227 was attributed to the carrying value of goodwill related to our Curiosity Ink Media original content business acquired in 2021. The determination was made as the result of our qualitative assessment of each business unit, including the decline in our animation revenues and delay in monetization of our original content properties. Comparatively, at December 31, 2021, we performed our annual impairment tests on the carrying value of our goodwill and recorded an impairment charge totaling $382,798; of which $276,448 was attributed to the carrying value of goodwill and $106,350 of intangible assets related to the NetSpective webfiltering business acquired in 2017. The determination was made as the result of our qualitative assessment of our webfiltering business, including a multi-year decline in sales revenue and the unexpected loss of certain renewal customer accounts.

Other Income (Expense)

Net other income for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $2,349,862, compared to a net other expense of $3,329,015 for the year ended December 31, 2021, representing an increase of $5,678,877 or 170.6%. The increase in net other income is primarily attributable to a gain of $5,586,493 recorded for the change in fair value of our contingent purchase consideration, offset in part by increased interest expense of $1,052,350 related to the recognition of a derivative liability and a loss of $143,598 on the settlement of a substantial portion of the derivative liability recognized during the year ended December 31, 2022.

Interest expense is comprised of interest accrued and paid on our convertible notes and recorded from the amortization of note discounts. Interest expense was $3,348,867 for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $2,556,689 during the year ended December 31, 2021, representing an increase of $792,178 or 31.0%. The increase is attributable to both an increase in amortization expense associated with debt discounts and the derivative liability expense.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, we recorded a one-time extinguishment loss of $947,179 related to the exchange of $1,447,996 in principal and interest accrued under certain convertible notes for 2,395,175 shares of our Series B Stock and gain on loan forgiveness of the paycheck protection program loan of $228,912.

Net Loss Attributable to Common Stockholders

We realized a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $17,068,222, or $23.17 per share, for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $10,612,267, or $34.21 per share, during the year ended December 31, 2021 representing an increase in net loss attributable to common stockholders of $6,455,946 or 60.8%.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

At December 31, 2022, we had cash and cash equivalents of $3,871,176.

Net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $6,976,120, compared to net cash used in operating activities of $7,856,243 during the year ended December 31, 2021 representing a decrease in cash used of $880,123, primarily due to the increase in our loss from operations, offset by the recognition of a derivative liability, impairment to goodwill of our animation business, change in the fair value of our contingent purchase consideration, and change in our working capital assets and liabilities.

Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $91,297, compared to net cash used in investing activities of $417,096 during the year ended December 31, 2021 representing a decrease in cash used of $325,799. This decrease is directly attributable to $373,592 of net cash consideration paid for the acquisition of Curiosity Ink Media during the year ended December 31, 2021, offset in part by an increase of $61,211 in the amount of fixed assets purchased and/or leasehold improvements made primarily by our animation studio in Manilla, Philippines during the year ended December 31, 2022.

Net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $4,471,967, compared to net cash provided by financing activities of $14,673,567 for the year ended December 31, 2021 representing an increase in cash provided of $10,201,600. The primary reason for the decrease is attributable to the amount of proceeds received from of our public equity offering and issuance of convertible notes completed in 2021 as compared to proceeds received from our follow-on offering completed in 2022.

Our primary sources of cash from financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2022 were attributable to $4,360,330 in proceeds from the sale of our common stock and $1,444,000 in proceeds from the sale of senior secured convertible notes, as compared to $10,220,351 in proceeds from the sale of our common stock, $1,050,000 in proceeds from the sale of our preferred stock, and $4,516,700 in proceeds from the sale of senior secured convertible notes during the year ended December 31, 2021. These sources of cash were offset, in part, by the repayment of convertible notes and loans payable of $185,741 and cash settlement of a derivative liability of $1,146,901 in accordance with note conversions during the year ended December 31, 2022, as compared to repayments of convertible notes and loans for $1,146,485 during the year ended December 31, 2021.

Going Concern

On a consolidated basis, we have incurred significant operating losses since inception. Our financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty. As of December 31, 2022, we have an accumulated deficit of $83.5 million. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we used approximately $7.0 million in cash from operating activities.

Our consolidated financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis, which contemplates the realization of assets and the discharge of liabilities in the normal course of business. Based on current operating levels, we will need to raise additional funds by selling additional equity or incurring debt. To date, we have funded our operations primarily through sales of our common stock in public markets, proceeds from the exercise of warrants to purchase common stock, and the sale of convertible notes. Additionally, future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including the rate of revenue growth, the selling price of our products and services, the expansion of sales and marketing activities, the timing and extent of spending on content development efforts, and the continuing market acceptance of our products and services. These factors raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern for the next twelve months.

Our management intends to raise additional funds through the issuance of equity securities or debt. It is probable that our management will continue to obtain new sources of financing that will enable us to meet our obligations for the twelve-month period. There can be no assurance that, in the event we require additional financing, such financing will be available at terms acceptable to us, if at all. Failure to generate sufficient cash flows from operations, raise additional capital and reduce discretionary spending could have a material adverse effect on our ability to achieve our intended business objectives. As a result, the substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern has not been alleviated. Our consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might be necessary if we are unable to continue as a going concern.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We have no off-balance sheet arrangements.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES

Use of Estimates

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The most significant estimates relate to revenue recognition, valuation of accounts receivable and inventories, purchase price allocation of acquired businesses, impairment of long-lived assets and goodwill, valuation of financial instruments, income taxes, and contingencies. We base our estimates on historical experience, known or expected trends and various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable given the quality of information available as of the date of these financial statements. The results of these assumptions provide the basis for making estimates about the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Segment and Related Information

We operate as a single segment. Our chief operating decision maker is our Chief Executive Officer, who manages operations for purposes of allocating resources.

Business Combinations

We generally account for business combinations using the acquisition method of accounting. The method requires the acquirer to recognize the assets acquired, liabilities assumed, and any non-controlling interest in the acquiree at the acquisition date, measured at their fair values as of that date. Any transaction costs are expenses as incurred. The results of operations of businesses acquired by the Company have been included in the consolidated income statement since their respective date of acquisition. The Company may use independent valuation services to assist in determining the estimated fair values.

Revenue Recognition

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606) outlines a single comprehensive model for entities to use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers. The guidance provided in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 606 ("ASC 606") requires entities to use a five-step model to recognize revenue by allocating the consideration from contracts to performance obligations on a relative standalone selling price basis. Revenue is recognized when a customer obtains control of promised goods or services in an amount that reflects the consideration that the entity expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services. The standard also requires new disclosures regarding the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. ASC 606 also includes Subtopic 340-40, Other Assets and Deferred Costs – Contracts with Customers, which requires the deferral of incremental costs of obtaining a contract with a customer.

Animation Revenue

Animation revenue is primarily generated from contracts with customers for preproduction and production services related to the development of animated movies and television series. Preproduction activities include producing storyboards, location design, model and props design, background color and color styling. Production focuses on library creation, digital asset management, background layout scene assembly, posing, animation and after effects. We provide services under fixed-price contracts. Under fixed-price contracts, we agree to perform the specified work for a pre-determined price. To the extent actual costs vary from estimated costs, our profit may increase, decrease, or result in a loss.

We identify a contract under ASC 606 once (i) it is approved by all parties, (ii) the rights of the parties are identified, (iii) the payment terms are identified, (iv) the contract has commercial substance, and (v) collectability of consideration is probable.

We evaluate the services promised in each contract at inception to determine whether the contract should be accounted for as having one or more performance obligations. The services in our contracts are distinct from one another as the referring parties typically can direct all, limited, or single portions of the various preproduction and production activities required to create and design and entire episode to us and we therefore have a history of developing standalone selling prices for all of these distinct components. Accordingly, our contracts are typically accounted for as containing multiple performance obligations.

We determine the transaction price for each contract based on the consideration we expect to receive for the distinct services being provided under the contract.

We recognize revenue as performance obligations are satisfied and the customer obtains control of the services. In determining when performance obligations are satisfied, we consider factors such as contract terms, payment terms and whether there is an alternative future use of the product or service. Substantially all of our revenue is recognized over time as we perform under the contract due to the contractual terms present in each contract which irrevocably transfer control of the work product to the customer as the services are performed.

For performance obligations recognized over time, revenue is recognized based on the extent of progress made towards completion of the performance obligation. We use the percentage-of-completion cost-to-cost measure of progress because it best depicts the transfer of control to the customer as we incur costs against its contracts. Under the percentage-of-completion cost-to-cost measure of progress, the extent of progress towards completion is measured based on the ratio of costs incurred to date to the total estimated costs to complete the performance obligation. The percentage-of-completion cost-to-cost method requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of contract assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. The most significant estimates relate to the total estimated amount of costs that will be incurred for a project or job.

Web Filtering Revenue

Web filtering revenue from subscription sales is recognized on a pro-rata basis over the subscription period. Typically, a subscriber purchases computer hardware and a software and support service license for a period of use between one year to five years. The subscriber is billed in full at the time of the sale. We immediately recognize revenue attributable to the computer hardware as it is non-refundable and control passes to the customer. The advanced billing component for software and service is initially recorded as deferred revenue and subsequently recognized as revenue on a straight-line basis over the subscription period.

Produced and Licensed Content Revenue

Produced and licensed content revenues are generated from the licensing of internally-produced films and television programs.

Licensed internally-produced films and television programming, each individual film or episode delivered represents a separate performance obligation and revenues are recognized when the episode is made available to the licensee for exhibition. For license agreements containing multiple deliverables, revenues are allocated based on the relative standalone selling price of each film or episode of a television series, which is based on licenses for comparable films or series within the marketplace. Agreements to license programming are often long term, with collection terms ranging from one to five years.

The advanced billing component for licensed content is initially recorded as deferred revenue and subsequently recognized as revenue upon completion of the performance obligation in accordance with the terms of licensing agreement.

Publishing Revenue

Publishing revenues are recognized when merchandise is shipped or electronically delivered to the consumer. Consumer print books are generally sold with a right of return. The Company records a returns reserve and corresponding decrease in revenue at the time of sale based upon historical trends. For publishing revenues, payments are due shortly after shipment or electronic delivery.

Fair Value Measurements

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 820 “Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures” (“ASC 820”) defines fair value as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. ASC 820 also establishes a fair value hierarchy which requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. The standard describes three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value:

Level 1 - Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2 - Inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are either directly or indirectly observable.

Level 3 - Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity, therefore requiring an entity to develop its own assumptions about the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing.

Fair value estimates discussed herein are based upon certain market assumptions and pertinent information available to management as of December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021. We use the market approach to measure fair value for its Level 1 financial assets and liabilities. The market approach uses prices and other relevant information generated by market transactions involving identical or comparable assets or liabilities. The respective carrying value of certain balance sheet financial instruments approximates its fair value. These financial instruments include cash, trade receivables, related party payables, accounts payable, accrued liabilities and short-term borrowings. Fair values were estimated to approximate carrying values for these financial instruments since they are short term in nature, and they are receivable or payable on demand.

The estimated fair value of assets and liabilities acquired in business combinations and reporting units and long-lived assets used in the related asset impairment tests utilize inputs classified as Level 3 in the fair value hierarchy.

We determine the fair value of contingent consideration based on a probability-weighted discounted cash flow analysis. The fair value remeasurement is based on significant inputs not observable in the market and thus represents a Level 3 measurement as defined in the fair value hierarchy. In each period, we reassess our current estimates of performance relative to the stated targets and adjusts the liability to fair value. Any such adjustments are included as a component of Other Income (Expense) in the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss.

Prepublication Costs

Prepublication costs include costs incurred to create and develop the art, prepress, editorial, digital conversion and other content required for the creation of the master copy of a book or other media. Prepublication costs are amortized on a straight-line basis over a two- to five-year period based on expected future revenue. The Company regularly reviews the recoverability of the capitalized costs based on expected future revenues.

Produced and Licensed Content Costs

Produced and licensed content costs include capitalizable direct costs, production overhead, interest and development costs and are stated at the lower of cost, less accumulated amortization, or fair value. Marketing, distribution and general and administrative costs are expensed as incurred.

Film, television and direct to consumers through streaming services production and residual costs are expensed over the product life cycle based upon the ratio of the current period’s revenues to estimated remaining total revenues (Ultimate Revenues) for each production. For film productions and direct to consumer services, Ultimate Revenues include revenues from all sources that will be earned within ten years from the date of the initial release. For television series, Ultimate Revenues include revenues that will be earned within ten years from delivery of the first episode, or if still in production, five years from delivery of the most recent episode, if later. Costs of film, television and direct to consumer productions are subject to regular recoverability assessments, which compare the estimated fair values with the unamortized costs. The Company bases these fair value measurements on the Company’s assumptions about how market participants would price the assets at the balance sheet date, which may be different than the amounts ultimately realized in future periods. The amount by which the unamortized costs of film and television productions exceed their estimated fair values is written off. Costs for projects that have been abandoned are written off. Projects that have not been set for production within three years are also written off unless management has committed to a plan to proceed with the project and is actively working on and funding the project.

Capitalized Website Development Costs

The Company capitalizes certain costs associated with the development of its Santa.com website after the preliminary project stage is complete and until the website is ready for its intended use. Planning and operating costs are expensed as incurred. Capitalization begins when the preliminary project stage is complete, project plan is defined, functionalities are determined and internal and external resources are identified. Qualified costs incurred during the operating stage of our software applications relating to upgrades and enhancements are capitalized to the extent it is probable that they will result in added functionality, while costs that cannot be separated between maintenance of, and minor upgrades and enhancements to the websites are expensed as incurred.

Capitalized website costs are amortized on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful life of three years beginning with the time when it is ready for intended use. Amounts amortized are presented through cost of sales. Management evaluates the useful lives of these assets on an annual basis and tests for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances occur that could impact the recoverability of these assets.

Goodwill and Intangible Assets

Goodwill represents the future economic benefit arising from other assets acquired that could not be individually identified and separately recognized. The goodwill arising from the Company’s acquisitions is attributable to the value of the potential expanded market opportunity with new customers.

Intangible assets have either an identifiable or indefinite useful life. Intangible assets with identifiable useful lives are amortized on a straight-line basis over their economic or legal life, whichever is shorter. The Company’s amortizable intangible assets consist of customer relationships and non-compete agreements. Their useful lives range from 1.5 to 10 years. The Company’s indefinite-lived intangible assets consist of trade names.

Goodwill and indefinite-lived assets are not amortized but are subject to annual impairment testing unless circumstances dictate more frequent assessments. The Company performs an annual impairment assessment for goodwill during the fourth quarter of each year and more frequently whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the fair value of the asset may be less than the carrying amount. The evaluation begins with a qualitative assessment to determine whether a quantitative impairment test is necessary. If, after assessing qualitative factors, the Company determines it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than the carrying amount, then the quantitative goodwill impairment test is performed.

The quantitative goodwill impairment test used to identify potential impairment compares the fair value of a reporting unit with its carrying amount, including goodwill. The fair value of the reporting unit represents the price a market participant would be willing to pay in a potential sale of the reporting unit and is determined by considering both the income approach and market approaches. The fair values calculated under the income approach and market approaches are weighted based on circumstances surrounding the reporting unit. Under the income approach, the Company determines fair value based on estimated future cash flows of the reporting unit, which are discounted to the present value using discount factors that consider the timing and risk of cash flows. For the discount rate, the Company relies on the capital asset pricing model approach, which includes an assessment of the risk-free interest rate, the rate of return from publicly traded stocks, the Company’s risk relative to the overall market, the Company’s size and industry and other Company-specific risks. Other significant assumptions used in the income approach include the terminal value, growth rates, future capital expenditures and changes in future working capital requirements. The market approaches use key multiples from guideline businesses that are comparable and are traded on a public market.

If the fair value of the reporting unit is greater than its carrying amount, there is no impairment. If the reporting unit’s carrying amount exceeds its fair value, an impairment loss is recognized in an amount equal to that excess, limited to the total amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit. Any impairment identified is included within "goodwill impairment" in the consolidated statements of operations.

Determining the fair value of a reporting unit is judgmental in nature and requires the use of significant estimates and assumptions, including revenue growth rates, strategic plans, and future market conditions, among others. There can be no assurance that the Company’s estimates and assumptions made for purposes of the goodwill impairment testing will prove to be accurate predictions of the future. Changes in assumptions and estimates could cause the Company to perform an impairment test prior to scheduled annual impairment tests.

We performed our annual fair value assessment at December 31, 2022 on our subsidiaries with material goodwill and intangible asset amounts on their respective balance sheets and determined that an impairment charge of $11,340,115 was necessary.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

We evaluate the recoverability of our long-lived assets whenever events or changes in circumstances have indicated that an asset may not be recoverable. The long-lived asset is grouped with other assets at the lowest level for which identifiable cash flows are largely independent of the cash flows of other groups of assets and liabilities. If the sum of the projected undiscounted cash flows is less than the carrying value of the assets, the assets are written down to the estimated fair value.

We evaluated the recoverability of our long-lived assets at December 31, 2022, respectively on its subsidiaries with material amounts on their respective balance sheets and determined that no impairment exists.

RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS

The Company has implemented all new accounting pronouncements that are in effect and that may impact its financial statements and does not believe that there are any other new pronouncements that have been issued that might have a material impact on its financial position or results of operations except as noted below:

In June 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2016-13, Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments (Topic 326). ASU 2016-13 replaces the “incurred loss” credit losses framework with a new accounting standard that requires management's measurement of the allowance for credit losses to be based on a broader range of reasonable and supportable information for lifetime credit loss estimates. The new model, referred to as the current expected credit loss (“CECL”) model, will apply to: (1) financial assets subject to credit losses and measured at amortized cost, and (2) certain off-balance sheet credit exposures. This includes, but is not limited to, loans, leases, held-to-maturity securities, loan commitments, and financial guarantees. The CECL model does not apply to available-for-sale (“AFS”) debt securities. For AFS debt securities with unrealized losses, entities will measure credit losses in a manner similar to what they do today, except that the losses will be recognized as allowances rather than reductions in the amortized cost of the securities. The ASU also simplifies the accounting model for purchased credit-impaired debt securities and loans. ASU No. 2016-13 also expands the disclosure requirements regarding an entity’s assumptions, models, and methods for estimating the allowance for loan and lease losses. On October 16, 2019, the FASB approved a proposal to change the effective date of ASU No. 2016-13 for smaller reporting companies, such as the Company, delaying the effective date to fiscal years beginning after December 31, 2022, including interim periods within those fiscal periods. Early adoption is permitted for interim and annual reporting periods. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the adoption of ASU 2016-13 on its consolidated financial statements but does not expect that the adoption of this standard will have a material impact.

On November 15, 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-10, which (1) provides a framework to stagger effective dates for future major accounting standards and (2) amends the effective dates for certain major new accounting standards to give implementation relief to certain types of entities. Specifically, ASU 2019-10 amends the effective date for ASU 2017-04 to fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022, and interim periods therein.

Early adoption continues to be permitted for interim or annual goodwill impairment tests performed on testing dates after January 1, 2017. The Company does not anticipate the adoption of ASU 2017-04 will have a material impact on its financial statements for both annual and interim reporting periods.

In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740) which enhances and simplifies various aspects of the income tax accounting guidance, including requirements such as tax basis step-up in goodwill obtained in a transaction that is not a business combination, ownership changes in investments, and interim-period accounting for enacted changes in tax law. The amendment wase effective for public companies with fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020. The Company adopted this ASU on January 1, 2021, which did not result in a material impact to the consolidated financial statements and disclosures.

In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-06, Debt – Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging – Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815 – 40), (“ASU 2020-06”). ASU 2020-06 simplifies the accounting for certain financial instruments with characteristics of liabilities and equity, including convertible instruments and contracts on an entity’s own equity. The ASU2020-06 amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, and interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted, but no earlier than fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2020, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company is evaluating the impact of this guidance on its consolidated financial statements.

In May 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-04, Earnings Per Share (Topic 260), Debt—Modifications and Extinguishments (Subtopic 470-50), Compensation—Stock Compensation (Topic 718), and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Issuer’s Accounting for Certain Modification or Exchanges of Freestanding Equity-Classified Written Call Options (“ASU 2021-04”), which clarifies and reduces diversity in an issuer’s accounting for modifications or exchanges of freestanding equity-classified written call options due to a lack of explicit guidance in the FASB Codification. ASU 2021-04 provides guidance on modifications or exchanges of freestanding equity-classified written call options that are not within the scope of another Topic. Entities should treat a modification of the terms or conditions, or an exchange of a freestanding equity-classified written call option that remains equity-classified after modification or exchange, as an exchange of the original instrument for a new instrument. ASU 2021-04 provides further guidance on measuring the effect of such modifications or exchanges, and also provides guidance on the recognition of such modifications or exchanges on the basis of the substance of the transaction, in the same manner as if cash had been paid as consideration. Management is evaluating the effect of the adoption of ASU 2021-04 on the consolidated financial statements. ASU 2021-04 is effective for all entities for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2021, and early adoption is permitted. The Company adopted this ASU on January 1, 2022, which did not result in a material impact to the consolidated financial statements and disclosures.

ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

As a smaller reporting company, we are not required to provide this information.

ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

GROM SOCIAL ENTERPRISES, INC.

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Board of Directors and

Stockholders of Grom Social Enterprises, Inc.

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Grom Social Enterprises, Inc. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the related statements of operations and comprehensive loss, shareholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the two-year period ended December 31, 2022, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the financial statements). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the years in the two-year period ended December 31, 2022, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Substantial Doubt about the Company’s Ability to Continue as a Going Concern

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 2 to the financial statements, the Company’s significant operating losses and negative cash flows from operations raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current period audit of the financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.

Goodwill Impairment Evaluation

As discussed in Notes 2 and 9 to the financial statements, management conducts a goodwill impairment assessment annually at December 31, and when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value. The fair value of a reporting unit is determined through the use of the income approach using estimates of future cash flows attributable to the respective reporting units. As a result of the annual impairment assessment, the Company recognized $11.3 million of goodwill impairment related to the reporting unit.

We identified the impairment of goodwill as a critical audit matter because of significant judgments required by management to estimate the fair value of its reporting unit, including forecasted cash flows, revenue growth rates and discount rate. This required a high degree of auditor judgment and an increased extent of effort when performing audit procedures to evaluate the reasonableness of management’s assumptions used in the model.

How the Critical Audit Matter Was Addressed in the Audit

Our audit procedures related to the forecasts of management’s estimates of future cash flows, the selection of cash flow multiples for the Company’s reporting unit, and the evaluation of the discount rate included the following, among others:

/s/ Rosenberg Rich Baker Berman, P.A.

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2022.

Somerset, New Jersey

April 17, 2023

GROM SOCIAL ENTERPRISES, INC.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.

GROM SOCIAL ENTERPRISES, INC.

Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss

For the Years Ended December 31, 2022 and 2021

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.

GROM SOCIAL ENTERPRISES, INC.

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Shareholders’ Equity

For the Years Ended December 31, 2022 and 2021

(continued)

GROM SOCIAL ENTERPRISES, INC.

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Shareholders’ Equity (continued)

For the Years Ended December 31, 2022 and 2021

The accompanying notes are an integral part of the consolidated financial statements.

GROM SOCIAL ENTERPRISES, INC.

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

For the Years Ended December 31, 2022 and 2021