UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 20-F/A

Amendment No. 1

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

OR

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

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

OR

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

For the transition period from _________ to _____________.

OR

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

Date of event requiring this shell company report:

Commission file number: 001-40884

Arbe Robotics Ltd.

(Exact name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

Israel

(Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization)

107 HaHashmonaim St., Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

Kobi Marenko, Chief Executive Officer

107 HaHashmonaim St., Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel

Tel: +972-73-7969804, ext. 200

Email: kobi.m@arberobotics.com

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

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

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

None

(Title of Class)

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act:

None

(Title of Class)

The number of the issuer’s ordinary shares as of March 1, 2023 was 64,848,021 ordinary shares.

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

Yes ☐ No ☒

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

Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the 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 or an emerging growth company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

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

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

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

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

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

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

If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow: Item 17 ☐ Item 18 ☐

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

ARBE ROBOTICS LTD.

FORM 20-F ANNUAL REPORT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The registrant filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) an Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 (the “Original Form 20-F”) on March 22, 2023.

This Amendment No. 1 on Form 20-F/A is being filed solely for the purpose of including registrant’s management's report on internal control over financial reporting in Item 15 of this annual report and to update disclosure relating to Taxation in Item 10.E of this annual report, as well as revising specified industry information and executive compensation information.

Except as described above, no attempt has been made in this Amendment No.1 on Form 20-F/A to modify or update the other disclosures or exhibits presented in the Original Form 20-F. Except as presented in this Form 20-F/A, this Amendment No. 1 on Form 20-F/A does not reflect events occurring after the filing of the Original Form 20-F, or modify or update those disclosures. Accordingly, this Amendment No. 1 on Form 20-F/A should be read in conjunction with the Original Form 20-F and the registrant’s other filings with the SEC.

PART I

CERTAIN INFORMATION

Unless otherwise indicated or the context otherwise requires, all references in this annual report to the terms “Arbe,” the Company,” “us,” “we” and words of like import refer to Arbe Robotics Ltd., together with its subsidiaries.

Industry and Market Data

In this annual report, we present industry data, information and statistics regarding the markets in which we compete as well as publicly available information, industry and general publications and research and studies conducted by third parties. This information is supplemented where necessary with our own internal estimates, taking into account publicly available information about other industry participants and our management’s judgment where information is not publicly available. This information appears in “Summary of the Annual report,” “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” “Item 4. Information on the Company” and other sections of this annual report.

Industry publications, research, studies and forecasts generally state that the information they contain has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but that the accuracy and completeness of such information is not guaranteed. Forecasts and other forward-looking information obtained from these sources are subject to the same qualifications and uncertainties as the other forward-looking statements in this annual report. These forecasts and forward-looking information are subject to uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including those described under “Risk Factors.” These and other factors could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in any forecasts or estimates.

Trademarks, Trade Names and Service Marks

We own or have rights to trademarks, trade names and service marks that it uses in connection with the operation of its business. In addition, our names, logos and website names and addresses are their trademarks or service marks. Other trademarks, trade names and service marks appearing in this annual report are the property of their respective owners. Solely for convenience, in some cases, the trademarks, trade names and service marks referred to in this annual report are listed without the applicable “©,” “^SM” and “^TM” symbols, but they will assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, their rights to these trademarks, trade names and service marks.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This annual report contains “forward-looking statements” that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about us and the transactions contemplated by the Business Combination Agreement, and our perspectives and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding possible or anticipated future results of our business, financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, plans and objectives. The words “expect,” “believe,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “project,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “potential” and similar words or expressions indicate forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to various risks and uncertainties, assumptions (including assumptions about general economic, market, industry and operational factors), known or unknown, which could cause the actual results to vary materially from those indicated or anticipated.

The statements contained in this annual report regarding the following matters are forward-looking by their nature:

The preceding list is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all of our forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and expectations of future performance, taking into account the information currently available to us. These statements are only predictions based upon our current expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. In particular, you should consider the risks described under “Risk Factors” in Section D under Item 3 of this annual report.

You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that future results, levels of activity, performance and events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or will occur. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this annual report, to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in our expectations.

ITEM 1. IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND ADVISERS

Not Applicable.

ITEM 2. OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE

Not Applicable.

ITEM 3. KEY INFORMATION

An investment in our ordinary shares involves significant risks. You should carefully consider all of the information in this annual report, including the risks and uncertainties described below, before making an investment in our ordinary shares. Any of the following risks could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In any such case, the market price of our ordinary shares could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

The risks set out below are not exhaustive and do not comprise all of the risks associated with an investment in us. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or which we currently deem immaterial may also have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, prospects and/or our share price.

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

We are an early-stage company with a history of losses and we expect to incur significant expenses and losses as we continue the development of our radar technology.

We incurred a net loss of approximately $40.5 million on revenues of approximately $3.5 million for year ended December 31, 2022 and a net loss of approximately $58.1 million on revenues of approximately $2.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. No assurance can be made that we can or will become profitable. We are primarily a research and development company as we continue the development of our 4D imaging radar technology and plan the transition to production of our radar chip for sale to customers. Most of our revenue to date has been generated from sales of products for testing and evaluation. Until such time as we begin material commercial deliveries of our products, we will likely continue to generate losses. Even if we are able to begin making material commercial deliveries of our products, we can give no assurance that we will be successful in the commercial sale of our products.

We anticipate that our losses may increase as we:

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

Our limited operating history and evolving business model makes evaluating our business and future prospects difficult and may increase the risk of your investment.

We have focused primarily on developing our 4D imaging radar technology products since 2017 and did not generate any revenue until 2020. Our relatively limited operating history and modest level of revenue to date makes it difficult to evaluate our future prospects and the risks and challenges we may encounter. Further, because we have limited historical financial data and operate in a rapidly evolving market, any predictions about our future revenue and expenses may not be as accurate as they would be if we had a history of sales in commercial quantities or if we operated in a more predictable market rather than a market which is itself a developing market.

In addition, our management may make changes to our business model in response to shifts or perceived shifts in market sentiment or otherwise and we may incorrectly gauge the direction of the market. In late 2022 and early 2023 we broadened our focus to seek contracts with Tier 1 suppliers and OEMs for orders in commercial quantity in addition to sales of radars for testing purposes. If this strategy is not successful, and we do not generate orders for commercial quantities of our products, we may incur increased losses. In this connection, as both our business and the market for ADAS vehicles develops, our operations may undergo other changes that result is a material change in our business and the direction of our business. Any such modifications could result in increased losses (as pivoting the business may be costly) and future results may differ materially from those presented herein. Any change in our business model may make the results of our operations to date less useful in evaluating our business and prospects.

If we fail to address the risks and difficulties that we face, including those described elsewhere in this “Risk Factors” section, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be impaired. We have encountered in the past, and will encounter in the future, risks and uncertainties frequently experienced by growing companies with limited operating histories in rapidly changing industries. If our assumptions regarding these risks and uncertainties, which we use to plan and operate our business, are incorrect or change, or if we do not address these risks successfully, the results of our operations could differ materially from our expectations and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Because we are creating innovative technology by designing and developing unique components, the high price of these components or the low yield from these components may affect our ability to sell at competitive prices, and may lead to losses.

Part of our technological approach to providing cost-effective and high-performance products involves using a multi-disciplinary approach to design some of our components. Many of these components are complex and contain multiple sophisticated elements with various workstreams involved therein. Such elements may require extreme precision and present challenges to bring products to market in an efficient and profitable manner, which can lead to increased costs of production or a decrease in the production yield as compared to what we currently contemplate or project. Any such change could significantly increase our production costs and thereby decrease our margins and potentially increase our losses.

We expect to continue to invest substantially in research and development to develop and commercialize new products, and these investments could significantly increase our losses and may not generate significant revenue for us.

Our future growth depends on maintaining our technological leadership in order to introduce new products that achieve market acceptance and penetrate new markets. Our research and development expenses were approximately $36.7 million for 2022 and approximately $28.6 million for 2021. We expect that our research and development expenses are likely to grow in the future as we seek to expand our research and development effort to meet the anticipated market need. Because we expense our research and development activities, as we increase these expenses it will adversely affect the results of our operations. In addition, our research and development program may not produce successful results, and even if it does successfully produce new products, those products may not achieve market acceptance, create additional revenue or become profitable. Because the market for our products is both leading edge technology in an evolving industry, we can only be successful if we can offer leading edge technology. Our failure to offer leading edge technology can materially impair our ability to operate profitably.

Agreements with customers may not generate the anticipated revenue as we are subject to the risks of cancellation or postponement of contracts or unsuccessful implementation.

Prospective customers of our products generally must make significant commitments of resources to test and validate our products and confirm that they can integrate our products with other technologies before including our products in any particular system, product or model. The development cycles of our products with new customers varies widely depending on the application, market, customer and the complexity of the product. In the automotive market, for example, this development cycle can be over several years. As a result of these lengthy development cycles, we spend significant time and resources to have our products selected by potential customers for a particular use. If we fail to secure such relationships, we may not have an opportunity to supply our products within a sector with such a long lead time for a period of several years. Further, we are subject to the risk that customers that order products, which are subject to the customer’s ability to integrate the product with its other systems, may cancel or postpone orders if the customer is not satisfied that our product and service meet the customer’s requirements.

The development cycle of products using our technology as well as the market for our products that are under development can be impacted by various factors which cannot be predicted, including international conflicts, climate and weather conditions and the continued steps taken by governments to address the COVID 19 pandemic.

The development process for our products as well as the timing of our sales and the market for our products can be affected by various factors, many of which are unpredictable. These factors include such conditions as international conflicts, climate and weather conditions, and actions taken by governments to address the COVID 19 pandemic and other pandemics. In recent months the following conditions have affected or may affect various aspects of our business.

Any factors which affect the ability or willingness of customers and potential customers to test our products or purchase our products could materially impair our ability to develop our business, We cannot predict the extent that any of the foregoing will impact our business nor what other factors which we do not presently contemplate may impact our business; however, any of these factors, as well as other factors not presently contemplated, may have a material adverse effect upon our business.

We face risks related to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and any other conflicts that may arise on a global or regional scale which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation launched an invasion of Ukraine that has had an immediate impact on the global economy resulting in higher energy prices and higher prices for certain raw materials and goods and services which in turn is contributing to higher inflation in the United States and other countries across the globe with significant disruption to financial markets and supply and distribution chains for certain raw materials and goods and services on an unprecedented scale. The impact of the sanctions has also included disruptions to financial markets, an inability to complete financial or banking transactions, restrictions on travel and an inability to service existing or new customers in a timely manner in the affected areas of Europe. The Russian Federation could resort to cyberattacks and other action that impact businesses across the United States, the European Union, Israel and other nations across the globe including those without any direct business ties to the Russian Federation. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has continued to escalate without any resolution of the invasion foreseeable in the near future with the short and long-term impact on financial and business conditions in Europe remaining highly uncertain. Although we do not have any business in Russia or Ukraine, the effects of the invasion could affect the European economy, which may affect European automobile companies.

Although we do not have any agreements with any companies in Russia or Ukraine, the Russian invasion of Ukraine could have significant adverse effects upon our business, including, but not limited to, the following

We cannot predict the manner in which the Russian invasion of Ukraine will impact our business. However, the longer the invasion continues, the more likely the adverse effects will be material and, if our business declines as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, such decline may be material. Further, to the extent that the conflict widens and involves NATO forces, the negative effects on our business and automotive industry in general, may be substantially exacerbated.

To the extent that any of these factors affect our supplier, GlobalFoundries, including its ability to obtain the semiconductors necessary for our product, our ability to deliver any products that are ordered from us will be impaired, which may impact our ability to obtain orders for our products.

We will assess and respond where appropriate to any direct or indirect impact that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has on the availability or pricing of the raw materials for our products, manufacturing and supply and distribution chains for our products and on the pricing and demand for our products.

Other conflicts with a global impact that may arise from time to time, including conflicts in the Middle East, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and/or financial condition.

We may need to raise additional funds in the future in order to execute our business plan and these funds may not be available to us when it needs them. If we cannot raise additional funds when we need them, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be negatively affected.

Although our working capital at December 31, 2022 was approximately $48.3 million, we are presently primarily a research and development company, with the result that we will be spending significantly more in research and development than we will generate in revenue. Thus, we may require additional capital in order to fund our growth strategy and to respond to technological advancements, competitive dynamics or technologies, customer demands, business opportunities, challenges, acquisitions or unforeseen circumstances, and it may seek to raise such funding through equity or debt financing.

We may not be able to timely secure such debt or equity financing on favorable terms, or at all. If we raise additional funds through the issuance of equity or convertible debt or other equity-linked securities, our shareholders could experience significant dilution. In addition, any debt financing we may obtain in the future, whether in the form of a credit facility or otherwise, could involve restrictive covenants relating to our capital raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. If we are unable to obtain adequate financing or financing on terms satisfactory to us when we require it, our ability to continue to grow or support its business and to respond to business challenges could be significantly limited. In addition, because our decision to issue debt or equity in the future will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing, nature or success of our future capital raising efforts.

If market adoption of our products does not develop, or develops more slowly than we expect, our business will be adversely affected.

While our products can be applied for uses in different markets, many of our products are still relatively new in the market and it is possible that other technologies and devices, based on new or existing technology or a combination of technologies, will achieve acceptance or leadership as compared to our existing or future product lines. Even if our products are used, we cannot guarantee that our products will be designed into or included in subsequent generations of such commercialized technology. In addition, we expect that widescale use of our products may lag behind these initial applications significantly. The speed of market growth for our products is difficult if not impossible to predict. In addition, to the extent that a market for our products develops successfully, we expect that there will be increasing competition from alternative providers and other modalities. If we are not successful in commercializing our products in a timely manner, or not as successful as we expect, or if other modalities gain acceptance by our potential customers, regulators and safety organizations or other market participants, our business, results of operations and financial condition will be materially and adversely affected.

We may not be able to accurately estimate the supply and demand of our products, which could result in a variety of inefficiencies in our business and hinder our ability to generate revenue. If we fail to accurately predict our manufacturing requirements, we could incur additional costs or experience delays.

It is difficult to predict our future revenues and appropriately budget for our expenses, and we may have limited insight into trends that may emerge and affect our business. We expect that we will be required to provide forecasts of our demand to our potential suppliers several months prior to the scheduled delivery of products to our prospective customers. Currently, because it is a developing market, there is little historical basis for making judgments on the demand for our products or our ability to develop, produce, and deliver products, or our profitability in the future. If we overestimate our requirements, our potential suppliers may have excess inventory, which indirectly would increase our costs. If we underestimate our requirements, our potential suppliers may have inadequate inventory, which could interrupt the manufacturing of our products and result in delays in shipments, which is likely to affect revenue and customer relations. In addition, lead times for materials and components that our potential suppliers order may vary significantly and depend on factors such as the specific supplier, contract terms and demand for each component at a given time. If we fail to order sufficient quantities of product components in a timely manner, the delivery of products to our potential customer base could be delayed, which would harm our business, financial condition and operating results.

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

Many of our customers and potential customers are large, multinational companies with substantial negotiating power relative to us and, in some instances, may have internal solutions that are competitive to our products. These large, multinational companies also have significant resources, which may allow them to acquire or develop competitive technologies either independently or in partnership with others. Accordingly, even after investing significant resources to develop a product, we may not secure a design win or may not be able to commercialize a product on profitable terms. Because our products are a key aspect of the safety of vehicles that use our products and must comply with international standards, our products will be held to a stringent safety test before they are included in a vehicle. If our products are not selected by these large companies or if these companies develop or acquire competitive technology or negotiate terms that are disadvantageous to us, it will have an adverse effect on our business.

We continue to implement strategic initiatives designed to grow our business. These initiatives may prove more costly than we currently anticipate, and we may not succeed in increasing our revenue in an amount sufficient to offset the costs of these initiatives and to achieve and maintain profitability.

We continue to make investments and implement initiatives designed to grow our business, including:

These initiatives may prove more expensive than we currently anticipate, and we may not succeed in increasing our revenue, if at all, in an amount sufficient to offset these higher expenses and to achieve and maintain profitability. The market opportunities we are pursuing are at an early stage of development, and it may be many years before the end markets we expect to serve generate significant demand for our products at scale, if at all.

In addition, our revenue may be adversely affected for a number of reasons, including the development and/or market acceptance of new technology that competes with our products, changes by other market participants with respect to their acceptance or implementation of our technology, failure of our customers to commercialize autonomous systems that include our products, our inability to effectively manage our inventory or manufacture products at scale, our failure to enter new markets or to attract new customers or expand orders from existing customers or due to increasing competition. Furthermore, it is difficult to predict the size and growth rate of our target markets, customer demand for our products, commercialization timelines, developments in autonomous sensing and related technology, the entry of competitive products, or the success of existing competitive products and services. Accordingly, we do not expect to achieve profitability over the near term. If our revenue does not grow over the long term, our ability to achieve and maintain profitability may be adversely affected, and the value of our business may significantly decrease.

The markets in which we compete are characterized by rapid technological change, which requires us to continue to develop new products and product innovations and could adversely affect market adoption of our products.

While we intend to invest substantial amounts on research and development, continuing technological changes in our technology and competitive technologies could adversely affect adoption of our products. Our future success will depend upon our ability to develop and introduce a variety of new capabilities and innovations to our existing product offerings, as well as to introduce a variety of new product offerings to address the changing needs of the markets in which we offer our products. Delays in delivering new products that meet customer requirements could damage our relationships with customers and lead them to seek alternative sources of supply.

If we are unable to develop products or system configurations that meet customer requirements, including pricing, on a timely basis or that remain competitive with other technological alternatives, our products could lose market share, our revenue will decline, it may experience operating losses and our business and prospects will be adversely affected.

Certain of our strategic, development and supply arrangements could be terminated or may not materialize into long-term contracts.

We have arrangements with strategic, development and supply arrangements with other companies for the development of products or for the incorporation of our products in a customer’s products. Some of these arrangements are evidenced by memorandums of understandings and early-stage agreements that are used for design and development purposes but that will require renegotiation at later stages of development or replacement by production or master agreements that have yet to be implemented under separately negotiated statements of work, each of which could be terminated or may not materialize into next-stage contracts or long-term contract arrangements. If these arrangements are terminated or if we are unable to enter into next-stage contracts or long-term operational contracts, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected.

We will be subject to risks associated with strategic alliances.

If we are successful in entering into definitive agreements with potential suppliers or for potential strategic alliances the resulting arrangements will subject us to a number of risks, including risks associated with non-performance by the third party and sharing proprietary information, any of which may materially and adversely affect our business and prospects. Our limited ability to monitor or control the actions of these third parties and, to the extent any of these strategic third parties suffers negative publicity or harm to their reputation from events relating to their business, we may also suffer negative publicity or harm to our reputation by virtue of our association with any such third party. In addition, a third party may have different priorities than we have with the effect that the supplier may not give our products the priority which we consider important, which could impair our ability to generate revenue.

We may experience difficulties in managing our growth and expanding our operations.

We expect to experience significant growth in the scope and nature of our operations. Our ability to manage our operations and future growth will require us to continue to improve our operational, financial and management controls, compliance programs and reporting systems. We are currently in the process of strengthening our compliance programs, including our compliance programs related to export controls, privacy and cybersecurity and anti-corruption and financial controls. We may not be able to implement improvements in an efficient or timely manner and may discover deficiencies in existing controls, programs, systems and procedures, which could have an adverse effect on our business, reputation and financial results.

Continued pricing pressures may result in lower than anticipated margins or losses, which may adversely affect our business.

Cost-cutting initiatives adopted by our customers as well as the effects of competition may result in increased downward pressure on pricing. We expect that as our industry develops and competition grows, our agreements with existing customers may require step-downs in pricing over the term of the agreements or, if commercialized, over the periods of production, and we may not be able to negotiate price reductions from our suppliers. In addition, our existing or future customers may reserve the right to terminate their supply contracts for convenience, which enhances their ability to obtain price reductions. Certain large customers may possess significant leverage over their suppliers, including us, because the market is highly competitive. Accordingly, we expect to be subject to substantial continuing pressure from our existing and prospective customers to reduce the price of our products. It is possible that pricing pressures beyond our expectations could intensify as automotive OEMs pursue restructuring, consolidation and cost-cutting initiatives. If we are unable to generate sufficient production cost savings in the future to offset price reductions, our gross margin and profitability would be adversely affected.

Adverse conditions within our industry or the global economy more generally could have adverse effects on our results of operations.

Our business is directly affected by and significantly dependent on business cycles and other factors affecting the global automobile industry and global economy generally. Production and sales within our industry are cyclical and depend on general economic conditions and other factors, including consumer spending and preferences, changes in interest rates and credit availability, consumer confidence, fuel costs, fuel availability, environmental impact, governmental incentives and regulatory requirements and political volatility. In addition, production and sales can be affected by our customers’ ability to continue operating in response to challenging economic conditions and in response to regulatory requirements and other factors. Any significant adverse change in any of these factors may result in a reduction in automotive sales and production by our customers and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Use of our products for markets other than the automotive market may not develop or may develop much more slowly than we anticipate, which would adversely affect our business and prospects.

We are investing in and pursuing market opportunities in various new sectors and industries. We believe that our ability to increase our revenue will depend in part on our ability to identify potential new markets and develop products and implements a marketing plan aimed at these new markets as they emerge. Each new market presents distinct risks and, in many cases, requires us to address the particular requirements of that market.

Addressing these requirements can be time-consuming and costly. The market for our existing products and technology outside of our core customer base is relatively new, rapidly developing and unproven in many markets or industries. Many of the participants in the markets for our core technology outside of our existing target industries are still in testing and developing and may not succeed to commercialize certain of our products. We cannot be certain that our products will be sold into these markets, or any market outside of where we currently operate, at scale. Adoption of our products outside of the automotive industry will depend on numerous factors, including: whether the technological capabilities of similar products meet users’ current or anticipated needs, whether the benefits of designing products such as our products into larger systems outweigh the costs, complexity and time needed to deploy such technology or replace or modify existing systems that may have used other modalities, whether users in other applications can move beyond the testing and development phases and proceed to commercializing systems supported by our technology and whether developers of products such as our products can keep pace with rapid technological change in certain developing markets and the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the length of any associated work stoppages. If technology developed by us does not achieve commercial success outside of the automotive industry, or if the market develops at a pace slower than we expect, our business, results of operation and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected.

We may be subject to the effects of inflationary pressures, which may impair our gross margins and our ability to operate profitable.

Although we do not believe that our business was adversely affected by inflation prior to 2022, we did experience cost increases, including increased labor costs, as a result of the recent inflationary pressures, combined with supply line delays and recent shortages of semiconductors, and the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which exacerbated the already existing inflationary pressures and supply line delays and shortages, may impair our margin and our ability to operate profitable. To the extent that inflation, along with supply line delays and semiconductor shortages, we may incur increased costs in our components as well as from our contract manufacturers, and we may not be able to pass any costs we may incur to our customers. To the extent that we are unable to pass on costs, our gross margin may be significantly eroded which may result in increased losses during our developmental phase and may impair our ability to operate profitable when we are in full production mode. We cannot assure you that we these factors will not impair our ability to generate a profit from our operations.

If we seek to expand our business through acquisition, we may not be successful in identifying acquisition targets or integrating their businesses with our existing business.

From time to time, we may undertake acquisitions to add new products and technologies, acquire talent, gain new sales channels or enter into new markets or sales territories. To date, we have no experience with acquisitions and the integration of acquired technology and personnel.

There are significant risks associated with any acquisition program, including, but not limited to, the following:

If any of these risks occur, our business, financial condition and prospects may be impaired.

The complexity of our products could result in unforeseen delays or expenses from undetected defects, errors or bugs in hardware or software which could reduce the market adoption of our products, damage our reputation with current or prospective customers, expose us to product liability, recalls, warranty and other claims and adversely affect its operating costs.

Our products are being designed to be, among other things, compatible with autonomous control. Autonomous driving technologies are subject to risks and there have been accidents and fatalities associated with such technologies as well as breakdowns of the systems. The safety of such technologies depends in part on user interaction and users, as well as other drivers on the roadways, may not be accustomed to using or adapting to such technologies. To the extent accidents associated with our products that are used with autonomous controls occur, we could be subject to liability, negative publicity, government scrutiny and further regulation. Any of the foregoing could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and growth prospects.

Our products are technologically complex and require high standards to manufacture. We have experienced in the past and will likely also experience in the future defects, errors or bugs at various stages of development and manufacturing. We may be unable to timely release new products, manufacture existing products, correct problems that have arisen or correct such problems to our customers’ satisfaction. Additionally, undetected errors, defects, especially as new products are introduced or as new versions are released, could result in serious injury, including fatalities, to the end users of technology incorporating our products, or those in the surrounding area, our customers never being able to commercialize technology incorporating our products, litigation against us, negative publicity and other consequences. These risks are particularly prevalent in the highly competitive markets in which we operate. Some errors or defects in our products may only be discovered after they have been tested, commercialized and deployed by customers. In certain instances, we may provide our customer with a time-limited warranty to our products. If such errors or defects occur within the respective warranty period, we may incur significant additional development costs and product recall, repair or replacement costs. These problems may also result in claims against us by our customers or by third parties. Our reputation or brand may be damaged as a result of these problems and customers may be reluctant to buy our products, which could adversely affect our ability to retain existing customers and attract new customers, and could adversely affect our financial results.

In addition, we could face material legal claims for breach of contract, product liability, tort or breach of warranty as a result of these problems. Defending a lawsuit, regardless of its merit, could be costly and may divert management’s attention and adversely affect the market’s perception of us and our products. In addition, our business liability insurance coverage could prove inadequate with respect to a claim and future coverage may be unavailable on acceptable terms or at all. These product-related issues could result in claims against us and our business could be adversely affected.

We will be affected by these problems regardless of whether the defective product or component was manufactured or assembled by us or by a supplier or contract manufacturer, and we may not have adequate recourse against the supplier or contract manufacturer, and we may not be able to obtain sufficient product liability insurance to protect it against such loss or expense, including the cost of litigation.

Legislation or government regulations may be adopted which may affect our products and liability.

Autonomous driving technology is subject to considerable regulatory uncertainty as the law evolves to catch up with the rapidly evolving nature of the technology itself, all of which are beyond our control. Our products also may not achieve the requisite level of autonomous compatibility required for certification and rollout to consumers or satisfy changing regulatory requirements which could require us to redesign, modify or update our products. Further, accidents, particularly accidents that involve a large number of deaths, even if our products are not involved, may result in industry-wide reevaluation of technologies used, with the effect that there is a slowdown as automobile manufacturers cease making purchase during the reevaluation process, which may result in suppliers other than us becoming a preferred supplier.

The industry may become subject to increased legislation and regulation. Such legislation may be triggered by a perceived safety concern, or it may result from public reaction to accidents by automobiles, drones or other autonomous vehicles. The potential market for our products is international, and each country or region may impose different regulations. These regulations may relate the technical requirement and standards for end products or the components and may impose liability on the manufacturer or the seller of the product, which liability may be strict liability, for damage resulting from the autonomous vehicle. Further, the legislation or regulations in different countries may impose different standards, which may be conflicting. Any legislation or regulations which impose standards or which impose liability is likely to increase our manufacturing cost as well as the cost of compliance and product liability insurance.

We operate in a highly competitive market against a large number of both established competitors and new market entrants, and some market participants have substantially greater resources than we have.

The markets for sensing technology applicable to autonomous solutions across numerous industries are highly competitive. Our future success will depend on our ability to maintain our ability to develop and protect from in a timely manner and to stay ahead of existing and new competitors and satisfy the market that is technology is leading edge technology. A large number of companies, offer radar-based and LiDAR-based technologies in competition with us. Some of these companies are better capitalized and better known than we. Our competitors compete with us directly by offering similar products and indirectly by attempting to solve some of the same challenges with different technology. We face competition from other market participants, some of which have significantly greater resources than we have. Our competitors may commercialize new technology which may achieve market adoption or stronger brand recognition as compared to our products. Even in emerging markets, we face substantial competition from numerous competitors seeking to prove the value of their technology. Additionally, increased competition may result in pricing pressure and reduced margins and may impede our ability to increase the sales of our products or cause it to lose market share, any of which will adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Fluctuation of the results of our earnings on a quarterly and annual basis, could cause the share price of the our ordinary shares to fluctuate or decline.

We are an early-stage research and development company, and the results of our operations to date have primarily reflected our research and development expenses, and, commencing in 2020, we had modest revenue from sales of our product, primarily to customers making purchases for their own research and development and evaluation projects. In the future, sales in any given quarter can fluctuate based on the timing and success of our customers’ development projects and marketing program. Accordingly, the results of any one quarter should not be relied upon as an indication of future performance. Our quarterly financial results may fluctuate as a result of a variety of factors, many of which are outside of our control and may not fully reflect the underlying performance of our business. These fluctuations could adversely affect our ability to meet our expectations or those of securities analysts or investors. If we do not meet these expectations for any period, the value of our business and our securities could decline significantly. Factors that may cause these quarterly fluctuations include, without limitation, those listed below:

Changes in tax laws or exposure to additional income tax liabilities could affect our future profitability.

Factors that could materially affect our future effective tax rates include but are not limited to:

Changes in our product mix may impact our financial performance.

Our financial performance can be affected by the mix of products we sell during a given period. If our sales include more of the lower gross margin products than higher gross margin products, our results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected. There can be no guarantees that we will be able to successfully alter our product mix so that we are selling more of our high gross margin products. In addition, our earnings forecasts and guidance are expected to include assumptions about product sales mixes. If actual results vary from this projected product mix of sales, our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.

We are highly dependent on the services of our co-founders, who are our senior executive officers.

We are highly dependent on our co-founders, Kobi Marenko and Noam Arkind, who have acted as our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer, respectively, since inception, and as such, are deeply involved in all aspects of our business, including product development. The loss of either of them would adversely affect our business because it could be more difficult for us to, among other things, compete with other market participants, manage our research and development activities and retain existing customers or cultivate new ones. Negative public perception of, or negative news related to, Mr. Marenko or Mr. Arkind may adversely affect our brand, relationship with customers or standing in the industry.

Our business depends on our ability to attract and retain highly skilled personnel and senior management. Failure to effectively retain, attract and motivate key employees could impair our ability to operate profitably.

Competition for highly-skilled personnel is often intense, especially in Israel, where our principal office is located, and we may incur significant costs to attract them. We may face challenges in attracting or retaining qualified personnel to fulfill our current or future needs. The highly competitive environment for highly-skilled personnel can result in higher compensation packages to employees. We have, from time to time, experienced, and we expect to continue to experience, difficulty in hiring and retaining highly skilled employees with appropriate qualifications. In addition, job candidates and existing employees often consider the value of the equity awards they receive in connection with their employment. If the perceived value of our equity or equity awards declines, it may adversely affect our ability to retain highly skilled employees. Our stock price may affect their decision as to whether to accept an offer of employment from us. Our success will depend in part on the attraction, retention and motivation of executive personnel critical to our business and operations. If we fail to attract new personnel or fails to retain and motivate our current personnel, we could face disruptions in our operations, strategic relationships, key information, expertise or know-how and unanticipated recruitment and onboarding costs, and our business and future growth prospects could be adversely affected. we cannot give assurance that we will be able to hire all required personnel when we require them.

We face numerous risks associated with commercial production.

We do not have manufacturing facilities and we rely on third parties for the manufacture of our products. We cannot be sure that our manufacturer, GlobalFoundries, or other companies with which we may develop a strategic alliance will be able to develop efficient, automated, cost-efficient production capabilities and processes and reliable sources of component supply, that will enable us to meet the quality, price, engineering, design and production standards, as well as the production volumes, required to successfully mass market our products. GlobalFoundries is a major semiconductor manufacturer in the automotive industry, among other industries. Even if we and our supplier and strategic alliances are successful in developing our initial production and further high volume production capability and processes and reliably source our component supply, we do not know whether it will be able to do so in a manner that avoids significant delays and cost overruns, including as a result of factors beyond our control such as problems with potential suppliers and strategic partners, or force majeure events, or in time to meet our products commercialization schedules or to satisfy the requirements of our potential customer base. Any failure to develop such production processes and capabilities within our projected costs and timelines could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

We rely on third-party suppliers and, because key components in our products come from a limited or sole sources of supply, we are susceptible to supply shortages, long lead times for components and supply changes, any of which could disrupt our supply chain and could delay deliveries of our products to customers.

Components that go into the manufacture of our solutions are sourced from third-party suppliers. Some of the key components used to manufacture our products come from limited or single source suppliers. We are therefore subject to the risk of shortages and long lead times in the supply of these components and the risk that our suppliers discontinue or modify components used in our products. We purchase semiconductor chips that are an integral part of our products from GlobalFoundries. If GlobalFoundries fails to deliver or delays the delivery of the semiconductor products or is otherwise unable to meet our quality and delivery requirements, we may be required to seek an alternative source of supply. Although alternate chip manufacturers are available, any change in suppliers would necessitate a change in the design of the semiconductor, a process that could take up to two years, which would result in a loss of sales and a delay in the development and marketing of our products, which could materially and adversely affect our result of operation, financial position and prospects. Further, we, like other companies in the automotive industry, are affected by an industry-wide semiconductor shortage which results, in part, from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reliance on third-party manufacturers reduces our control over the manufacturing process, including our ability to finalize changes through validation, reduced control over quality, product costs and product supply and timing. We may experience delays in shipments or issues concerning product quality from our third-party manufacturers. If GlobalFoundries experiences interruptions, delays or disruptions in supplying our products, including by natural disasters, the global COVID-19 pandemic, other health epidemics and outbreaks, or work stoppages or capacity constraints or the effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine or other international conflicts, our ability to ship products to distributors and customers would be delayed. In addition, unfavorable economic conditions could result in financial distress among third-party manufacturers upon which we rely, thereby increasing the risk of disruption of supplies necessary to fulfill our production requirements and meet customer demands. These delays or product quality issues could have an immediate and material adverse effect on our ability to fulfill orders and could have a negative effect on our operating results. In addition, such delays or issues with product quality could adversely affect our reputation and our relationship with the Tier 1 suppliers and OEMs. If GlobalFoundries or any other third-party manufacturers experiences financial, operational, manufacturing capacity or other difficulties, or experience shortages in required components, or if they are otherwise unable or unwilling to continue to manufacture our products in required volumes or at all, our supply may be disrupted, we may be required to seek alternate manufacturers and we may be required to re-design our products. It would be time-consuming, and could be costly and impracticable, to begin to use new manufacturers and designs, and such changes could cause significant interruptions in supply and could have an adverse effect on our ability to meet our scheduled product deliveries and may subsequently lead to the loss of sales. While we take measures to protect our trade secrets, the use of a third-party manufacturer may also risk disclosure of our innovative and proprietary manufacturing methodologies, which could adversely affect our business. In addition, increased component costs could result in lower gross margins. Even where we are able to pass increased component costs along to our customers, there may be a lapse of time before we are able to do so such that we must absorb the increased cost. If we are unable to buy these components in quantities sufficient to meet our requirements on a timely basis, we will not be able to deliver products to our customers, which may result in such customers using competitive products instead of our products.

Our sales and operations in international markets expose us to operational, financial and regulatory risks.

Sales to international customers, i.e., customers located outside of Israel, accounted for most of our sales in 2022 and 2021. We did not generate any revenue prior to 2020. International operations are subject to a number of other risks, including:

The occurrence of any of these risks could negatively affect our international business and consequently our business, operating results and financial condition.

Our business is subject to the risks of earthquakes, fires, floods and other natural catastrophic events, global pandemics, and interruptions by man-made problems, such as network security breaches, computer viruses or terrorism. Material disruptions of our business or information systems resulting from these events could adversely affect our operating results.

A significant natural disaster, such as an earthquake, fire, flood or significant power outage or other similar events, such as infectious disease outbreaks or pandemic events, including the COVID-19 pandemic, could have an adverse effect on our business and operating results. The COVID-19 pandemic has produced meaningful operational challenges, and we may continue to experience some disruptions in our business during 2023, the extent to which cannot be presently determined.  The COVID-19 pandemic and the steps taken by Israel and other countries to address the pandemic affected our operations in 2021 as it was affected by lockdowns in Israel and elsewhere and by the effect of the pandemic and government actions on our potential customer base. Despite the implementation of network security measures, our networks and our products also may be vulnerable to computer viruses, break-ins and similar disruptions from unauthorized tampering with our solutions. In addition, natural disasters, acts of terrorism or war could cause disruptions in our remaining manufacturing operations, our or our customers’ businesses, our suppliers’ business or the economy as a whole. we also rely on information technology systems to communicate among our workforce and with third parties. Any disruption to our communications, whether caused by a natural disaster or by manmade problems, such as power disruptions, ransomware attacks or other cybersecurity breaches could adversely affect our business. To the extent that any such disruptions result in delays or cancellations of orders or impede our suppliers’ ability to timely deliver product components, or the deployment of our products, our business, operating results and financial condition would be adversely affected.

We have been, and may in the future be, adversely affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic, the duration and economic, governmental and social impact of which is difficult to predict, which may significantly harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

The COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other possible health epidemics and outbreaks could result in a material adverse impact on our or our customers’ business operations. Our engineering and manufacturing operations, among others, cannot all be conducted in a remote working structure and often require on-site access to materials and equipment. We have customers with international operations in varying industries. We also depend on suppliers and manufacturers worldwide. Although restrictions which had been imposed by governments to address the COVID-19 pandemic have generally been lifted, including China’s zero-COVID policy, we cannot predict the extent that any restrictions may be imposed in the future to address any hospitalizations or death resulting from COVID-19 or any other pandemic. Depending upon the extent and duration of any business interruptions, our customers, suppliers and manufacturers may suspend or delay their engagement with us, which could result in a material adverse effect on our financial condition. Our response to any such outbreak may prove to be inadequate and we may be unable to continue our operations in the manner we had prior to the outbreak, and our manufacturer may endure interruptions, reputational harm, delays in our product development and shipments, all of which could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition.

The extent of the impact of the pandemic on our operational and financial performance in 2023 and beyond will depend on various future developments, including the duration and spread of any future COVID-19 outbreaks which may impact our customers, suppliers, and employees. These factors beyond our knowledge and control and, as a result, we are unable to predict the ultimate impact, both in terms of severity and duration, that the COVID-19 pandemic or any other pandemic will have on our business, operating results, cash flows and financial condition in the future.

Our business is sensitive to conditions affecting the automotive industry, the duration and economic, governmental and social impact of which is difficult to predict which may significantly harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Adverse conditions affecting one or more automotive manufacturers or the automotive industry in general, could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. Our business may be negatively affected by challenges to the larger automotive ecosystem. In addition, factors, including the effects of climate change, government regulations, the ability of suppliers to obtain rare earth elements, as well as other conditions which cannot be presently identified, can continue to affect the automotive industry. To the extent that radar systems in vehicles are software based with manufacturers or software suppliers having the ability to modify or update software remotely, there is a risk of security breaches which may affect the safety of the vehicle.

Risks Related to our Intellectual Property

We may not be able to adequately protect or enforce our intellectual property rights or prevent unauthorized parties from copying or reverse engineering our solutions. Our efforts to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights and prevent third parties from violating our rights may be costly.

The success of our products and our business depends in part on our ability to obtain patents and other intellectual property rights and maintain adequate legal protection for our products in the United States, Europe and other international jurisdictions. We rely on a combination of patent, copyright, service mark, trademark and trade secret laws, as well as confidentiality procedures and contractual restrictions, to establish and protect our proprietary rights, all of which provide only limited protection. We cannot assure you that any patents will be issued with respect to our currently pending patent applications or that any trademarks will be registered with respect to our currently pending applications in a manner that gives us adequate defensive protection or competitive advantages, if at all, or that any patents issued to us or any trademarks registered by it will not be challenged, invalidated or circumvented. We have filed for patents and trademarks in Israel, the United States, Europe and China. Not all patent applications have resulted in patents and we cannot assure you that patents will be granted. Further, patent protection may not be available in all countries in which we operate or in which we seek to enforce our intellectual property rights, and it may be difficult to enforce our patent rights. our currently issued patents and trademarks and any patents and trademarks that may be issued or registered, as applicable, in the future with respect to pending or future applications may not provide sufficiently broad protection or may not prove to be enforceable in actions against alleged infringers. We cannot be certain that the steps we have taken will prevent unauthorized use of our technology or the reverse engineering of our technology. Moreover, others may independently develop technologies that are competitive to us or infringe our intellectual property.

Protecting against the unauthorized use of our intellectual property, products and other proprietary rights is expensive and difficult, particularly internationally. We intend to enforce the intellectual property portfolio we have developed. Unauthorized parties may attempt to copy or reverse engineer our solutions or certain aspects of our solutions that we consider proprietary. Litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce or defend our intellectual property rights, to prevent unauthorized parties from copying or reverse engineering our solutions, to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others or to block the importation of infringing products into countries where we have patent protection.

Effective patent, trademark, service mark, copyright and trade secret protection may not be available in every country in which our products are available and competitors based in other countries may sell infringing products in one or more markets. An inability to adequately protect and enforce our intellectual property and other proprietary rights or an inability to prevent authorized parties from copying or reverse engineering our smart vision solutions or certain aspects of our solutions that we consider proprietary could seriously adversely affect our business, operating results, financial condition and prospects.

In addition to patented technology, we rely on our unpatented proprietary technology, trade secrets, processes and know-how.

We rely on proprietary information (such as trade secrets, know-how and confidential information) to protect intellectual property that may not be patentable or subject to copyright, trademark, trade dress or service mark protection, or that we believe is best protected by means that do not require public disclosure.

We generally seek to protect our proprietary information by entering into confidentiality agreements, or consulting, services or employment agreements that contain non-disclosure and non-use provisions with our employees, consultants, contractors and third parties. However, we may fail to enter into the necessary agreements, and even if entered into, these agreements may be breached or may otherwise fail to prevent disclosure, third-party infringement or misappropriation of our proprietary information, may be limited as to their term and may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of unauthorized disclosure or use of proprietary information. We have limited control over the protection of trade secrets used by our current or future manufacturing partners and suppliers and could lose future trade secret protection if any unauthorized disclosure of such information occurs. In addition, our proprietary information may otherwise become known or be independently developed by our competitors or other third parties. To the extent that our employees, consultants, contractors, advisors and other third parties use intellectual property owned by others in their work for us, disputes may arise as to the rights in related or resulting know-how and inventions. Costly and time-consuming litigation could be necessary to enforce and determine the scope of our proprietary rights, and failure to obtain or maintain protection for our proprietary information could adversely affect our competitive business position. Furthermore, laws regarding trade secret rights in certain markets where we operate may afford little or no protection to our trade secrets.

We also rely on physical and electronic security measures to protect our proprietary information, but we cannot provide assurance that these security measures will not be breached or provide adequate protection for our property. There is a risk that third parties may obtain and improperly utilize our proprietary information to our competitive disadvantage. We may not be able to detect or prevent the unauthorized use of such information or take appropriate and timely steps to enforce our intellectual property rights.

Third-party claims that we are infringing intellectual property, whether successful or not, could subject it too costly and time-consuming litigation or expensive licenses, and our business could be adversely affected.

Although we hold patents related to our products, a number of companies, both within and outside of the industry in which we operate, hold other patents covering various aspects of our products. In addition to these patents, participants in this industry typically also protect their technology, especially embedded software, through copyrights and trade secrets. As a result, there is frequent litigation based on allegations of infringement, misappropriation or other violations of intellectual property rights. We may receive in the future inquiries from other intellectual property holders and may become subject to claims that it infringes their intellectual property rights, particularly as we expand our presence in the market. In addition, parties may claim that the names and branding of our products infringe their trademark rights in certain countries or territories. If such a claim were to prevail, we may have to change the names and branding of our products in the affected territories and we could incur other costs.

We currently have a number of agreements in effect pursuant to which we have agreed to defend, indemnify and hold harmless our customers, suppliers, and partners from damages and costs which may arise from the infringement by our products of third-party patents or other intellectual property rights. The scope of these indemnity obligations varies, but may, in some instances, include indemnification for damages and expenses, including attorneys’ fees. Our insurance may not cover all intellectual property infringement claims. A claim that our products infringe a third party’s intellectual property rights, even if untrue, could adversely affect our relationships with our customers, may deter future customers from purchasing our products and could expose us to costly litigation and settlement expenses. Even if we are not a party to any litigation between a customer and a third party relating to infringement by our products, an adverse outcome in any such litigation could make it more difficult for us to defend our products against intellectual property infringement claims in any subsequent litigation in which it is a named party. Any of these results could adversely affect our brand and operating results.

Our defense of intellectual property rights claims brought against us or our customers, suppliers and channel partners, with or without merit, could be time-consuming, expensive to litigate or settle, divert management resources and attention and force us to acquire intellectual property rights and licenses, which may involve substantial royalty or other payments and may not be available on acceptable terms or at all. Further, a party making such a claim, if successful, could secure a judgment that requires us to pay substantial damages or obtain an injunction. An adverse determination also could invalidate our intellectual property rights and adversely affect our ability to offer our products to our customers and may require that we procure or develop substitute products that do not infringe, which could require significant effort and expense. Any of these events could adversely affect our business, operating results, financial condition and prospects.

Legal and Regulatory Risks Related to our Business

We are subject to, and must remain in compliance with, numerous laws and governmental regulations concerning the manufacturing, use, distribution and sale of our products. Some of our customers also require that wet comply with their own unique requirements relating to these matters.

Our products contain electronic components, and such components may contain materials that are subject to government regulation in both the locations where we develop, manufacture and assemble our products, as well as the locations where we sell our products. Among other things, certain applicable laws and regulations require or may in the future require the submission of annual reports to the certain governmental agencies certifying that such products comply with applicable performance standards, the maintenance of manufacturing, testing, and distribution records, and the reporting of certain product defects to such regulatory agency or consumers. If our products fail to comply with applicable regulations, we and/or our products could be subjected to a variety of enforcement actions or sanctions, such as product recalls, repairs or replacements, warning letters, untitled letters, safety alerts, injunctions, import alerts, administrative product detentions or seizures, or civil penalties. The occurrence of any of the foregoing could harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

Since we operate on a global basis, we must continually monitor applicable laws and regulations, and engage in an ongoing compliance process to take such steps that we and our suppliers are in compliance with all existing laws and regulations. If there is an unanticipated or onerous new legislation or regulation that significantly impacts our use of various components or requires more expensive components, such legislation or regulation could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Since our products are used for autonomous driving applications, they are subject to complicated and rapidly evolving laws and regulatory schemes that vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction at the state, federal and international levels, including requirements related to safety, data privacy and security, and product liability, among other areas. These are rapidly evolving areas in which new or changed requirements could impose limitations on the use of our products. If we fail to adhere to these new laws and regulations or fails to continually monitor emerging developments, it may be subject to litigation, loss of customers or negative publicity and our business, results of operations and financial condition will be adversely affected. We are unable to predict how any future changes will impact it and if such impacts will be material to our business.

The evolution of the regulatory framework for autonomous vehicles and their related components is outside of our control.

There are currently no federal U.S. regulations pertaining to the safety of self-driving vehicles; however, the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration has established recommended guidelines. Certain states have legal restrictions on self-driving vehicles, and many other states are considering them. This patchwork increases the difficulty in maintaining legal compliance. In Europe, certain vehicle safety regulations apply to self-driving braking and steering systems, and certain treaties also restrict the legality of certain higher levels of self-driving vehicles. Self-driving laws and regulations are expected to continue to evolve in numerous jurisdictions in the U.S. and foreign countries and may restrict autonomous driving features that we may deploy.

Our business may be adversely affected by changes in automotive safety regulations or concerns that drive further regulation of the automobile safety market.

Government vehicle safety regulations are an important factor for our business. Historically, these regulations have imposed ever-more stringent safety regulations for vehicles. These safety regulations often require, or customers demand that, vehicles have more safety features per vehicle and more advanced safety products.

While we believe increasing automotive safety standards will present a market opportunity for our products, government safety regulations are subject to change based on a number of factors that are not within our control, including new scientific or technological data, adverse publicity regarding industry recalls and safety risks of autonomous driving, accidents involving our products, domestic and foreign political developments or considerations, and litigation relating to our products and our competitors’ products. Changes in government regulations, as well as changes or evolution in court doctrines in interpreting those regulations, especially in the autonomous driving industries could adversely affect our business. If government priorities shift and we are unable to adapt to changing regulations or to court interpretations of those regulations, our business may be materially and adversely affected.

Federal and local regulators impose more stringent compliance and reporting requirements in response to product recalls and safety issues in the automotive industry. As the vehicles that use our products go into production, we may become subject to stringent requirements, including a duty to report, subject to strict timing requirements, safety defects with our products. Such rules and regulations may impose potentially significant civil penalties for violations including the failure to comply with such reporting actions. If we cannot rapidly address any safety concerns or defects with our products, our business, results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has issued regulations that require manufacturers of certain autonomous vehicles to provide documentation covering specific topics to regulators, such as how automated systems detect objects on the road, how information is displayed to drivers, what cybersecurity measures are in place and the methods used to test the design and validation of autonomous driving systems. As cars that carry our sensors go into production, the obligations of complying with safety regulations could increase and it could require increased resources and adversely affect our business.

Failures, or perceived failures, to comply with privacy, data protection, and information security requirements in the variety of jurisdictions in which we operate may adversely impact our business, and such legal requirements are evolving, uncertain and may require improvements in, or changes to, our policies and operations.

Our current and potential future operations and sales subject it to laws and regulations addressing privacy and the collection, use, storage, disclosure, transfer and protection of a variety of types of data. For example, the European Commission has adopted the General Data Protection Regulation and California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, both of which provide for potentially material penalties for non-compliance. These regulations may, among other things, impose data security requirements, disclosure requirements, and restrictions on data collection, uses, and sharing that may impact our operations and the development of our business. While, generally, we do not have access to, collect, store, process, or share information collected by our products unless our customers choose to proactively provide such information to us, our products may evolve both to address potential customer requirements or to add new features and functionality. Therefore, the full impact of these privacy regimes on our business is rapidly evolving across jurisdictions and remains uncertain at this time.

We may also be affected by cyberattacks and other means of gaining unauthorized access to our products, systems, and data. For instance, cyber criminals or insiders may target us or third parties with which we have business relationships in an effort to harm them or their proper use, or the data stored in them, resulting in direct and indirect damages, including disruption, interruption or severance of operations, ransomware, leaks and data loss, theft of property, espionage, harm to reputation, harm to public trust and rehabilitation expenses. We work to prevent and reduce exposure to the risk of cyber-attacks, with strategies including use of information security systems, assimilation of a culture of data security (including training for managers and employees), refinement and adjustment of procedures, internal control programs, and auditing and support with the assistance of experts in the field.

Our operations are rich in technology and computing and may be exposed to risks related to the stability of the information systems, their compatibility with the scope of our operations, information security, technical failures, overload of system servers and the like. Impairment of the stability of computer systems and inability on the part of us to return its systems to normal operation within a reasonable timeframe, or the lack of technological ability to meet commitments or the expectations of potential customers and strategic partners, may damage our reputation and harm our business outcomes.

We are assessing the continually evolving privacy and data security regimes and measures that we believe are appropriate in response. Since these data security regimes are evolving, uncertain and complex, especially for a global business like our, we may need to update or enhance our compliance measures as our products, markets and customer demands further develop and these updates or enhancements may require implementation costs. The compliance measures we do adopt may prove ineffective. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with current and future regulatory or customer-driven privacy, data protection, and information security requirements, or to prevent or mitigate security breaches, cyberattacks, or improper access to, use of, or disclosure of data, or any security issues or cyberattacks affecting us, could result in significant liability, costs (including the costs of mitigation and recovery), and a material loss of revenue resulting from the adverse impact on our reputation and brand, loss of proprietary information and data, disruption to our business and relationships, and diminished ability to retain or attract customers and business partners. Such events may result in governmental enforcement actions and prosecutions, private litigation, fines and penalties or adverse publicity, and could cause customers and business partners to lose trust in us, which could have an adverse effect on our reputation and business.

We may be exposed to liabilities under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other U.S. and foreign anti-corruption anti-money laundering, export control, sanctions, and other trade laws and regulations, and any determination that we violated these laws could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We are subject to export control and import laws and regulations, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, U.S. Customs regulations, and various economic and trade sanctions regulations administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. We are also subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended (the “FCPA”), the U.S. domestic bribery statute contained in 18 U.S.C. § 201, the U.S. Travel Act, the USA PATRIOT Act, the United Kingdom Bribery Act 2010, the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, and possibly other anti-bribery and anti-money laundering laws in countries outside of the United States in which we conduct our activities. Compliance with these laws has been the subject of increasing focus and activity by regulatory authorities, both in the United States and elsewhere, in recent years. Anti-corruption laws are interpreted broadly and prohibit companies and their employees and third-party intermediaries from authorizing, promising, offering, providing, soliciting, or accepting, directly or indirectly, improper payments or benefits to or from any person whether in the public or private sector. Our activities outside the United States may create the risk of unauthorized payments or offers of payments by employees, consultants, sales agents or distributors, even though they may not always be subject to our control. It is our policy to implement safeguards to discourage these practices by our employees, consultants, sales agents and distributors. However, our existing safeguards and any future improvements may prove to be less than effective, and our employees, consultants, sales agents, or distributors may engage in conduct for which we might be held responsible, even if it does not explicitly authorize such activities. Should our export activity be subject to security oversight, this may have a material effect on our activity. Further, our business may be affected by sanctions which may be imposed on customers or suppliers who trade with Russian or Ukrainian companies in violation of United States or European restrictions imposed following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Noncompliance with anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, export control, sanctions, and other trade laws could subject us to whistleblower complaints, investigations, sanctions, settlements, prosecution, other enforcement actions, disgorgement of profits, significant fines, damages, other civil and criminal penalties or injunctions, suspension and/or debarment from contracting with certain persons, the loss of export privileges, reputational harm, adverse media coverage and other collateral consequences. If any subpoenas or investigations are launched, or governmental or other sanctions are imposed, or if we do not prevail in any possible civil or criminal litigation, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be materially harmed. Responding to any action will likely result in a materially significant diversion of management’s attention and resources and significant defense and compliance costs and other professional fees. In addition, the U.S. government may seek to hold us liable for successor liability for FCPA violations committed by companies in which we invest or that we may acquire. As a general matter, enforcement actions and sanctions could harm our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

Regulations related to conflict minerals may cause us to incur additional expenses and could limit the supply and increase the costs of certain metals used in the manufacturing of our products.

We are subject to the requirements under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, or the Dodd-Frank Act, that will require us to determine, disclose and report whether our products contain conflict minerals. The implementation of these requirements could adversely affect the sourcing, availability and pricing of the materials used in the manufacture of components used in our products. In addition, we will incur additional costs to comply with the disclosure requirements, including costs related to conducting diligence procedures to determine the sources of conflict minerals that may be used in or necessary to the production of our products and, if applicable, potential changes to products, processes or sources of supply as a consequence of such verification activities. It is also possible that our reputation may be adversely affected if we determine that certain of our products contain minerals not determined to be conflict minerals or if we are unable to alter our products, processes or sources of supply to avoid use of such materials.

We may become involved in legal and regulatory proceedings and commercial or contractual disputes, which could have an adverse effect on our profitability and consolidated financial position.

We may be, from time to time, involved in litigation, regulatory proceedings and commercial or contractual disputes that may be significant. These matters may include, without limitation, disputes with our potential suppliers and strategic partners and our potential customer base, intellectual property claims, stockholder litigation, government investigations, class action lawsuits, personal injury claims, environmental issues, customs and VAT disputes and employment and tax issues. In addition, we could face in the future a variety of labor and employment claims against us, which could include but is not limited to general discrimination, wage and hour, privacy, pension (including, for US employees, ERISA) or disability claims. In such matters, government agencies or private parties may seek to recover from us very large, indeterminate amounts in penalties or monetary damages (including, in some cases, treble or punitive damages) or seek to limit our operations in some way. These types of lawsuits could require significant management time and attention or could involve substantial legal liability, adverse regulatory outcomes, and/or substantial expenses to defend. Often these cases raise complex factual and legal issues and create risks and uncertainties. No assurances can be given that any proceedings and claims will not have a material adverse impact on our operating results and consolidated financial position or that our established reserves or our available insurance will mitigate this impact.

We are incurring increased costs as a result of operating as a public company, and our management will devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives.

Since our stock became publicly traded in October 2021, we have become subject to reporting requirements in the United States, and, as a result, we are incurring significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company, and these expenses may increase even more after we are no longer an emerging growth company, as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act. As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, as well as rules adopted, and to be adopted, by the SEC and Nasdaq to the extent that they relate to foreign private issuers. Our management and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives. Moreover, we expect these rules and regulations to substantially increase our legal and financial compliance costs and to make some activities more time-consuming and costly. The increased costs will increase our net loss. For example, we expect these rules and regulations to make it more difficult and more expensive for it to obtain director and officer liability insurance and we may be forced to accept reduced policy limits or incur substantially higher costs to maintain the same or similar coverage. We cannot predict or estimate the amount or timing of additional costs it may incur to respond to these requirements. The impact of these requirements could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors, our board committees or as executive officers.

The results of our operations may be affected by changes in currency exchange rates.

Our results of operations and cash flows are subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates. Currently most of our revenue is generated in U.S. Dollars while our expenses are generally denominated in the currencies of the jurisdictions in which we conduct our operations, primarily the Israeli Shekel, U.S. Dollar and, to some extent, the Euro. We have not generated significant revenue to date and we do not believe that foreign currency exchange rates have not had, or currently have, a material effect on our business, but we cannot give any assurance that changes in foreign currency exchange rates will not have a material impact on us.

Our cash and cash equivalents could be adversely affected if the financial institutions in which we hold our cash and cash equivalents fail.

We regularly maintain cash balances at third-party financial institutions in the United States and in Israel. Maintaining any significant portion of our cash in financial institution is subject to adverse conditions in the financial or credit markets, which could impact access to our invested cash or cash equivalents and could adversely impact our operating liquidity and financial performance. We are diversifying our investments for cash designated for our long-term activities into short-term deposits and money market funds and also considering spreading our cash and cash equivalents among several financial institution in order to reduce the risks associated with maintaining all of our cash and cash equivalents at one financial institution. Notwithstanding these efforts, the failure of one or more of the financial institutions in which our cash and cash equivalents are held could result in our inability to obtain or a significant delay in obtaining the return of our funds from any of those financial institutions, or any other adverse condition suffered by any of those financial institutions, could impact access to our invested cash or cash equivalents and could adversely impact our operating liquidity and financial performance. Part of our cash was held in Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”) and, following the closure of SVB, we transferred all the cash from SVB to other financial institutions.

Risks Related to our Ordinary Shares

Market conditions may adversely affect the liquidity and price of our securities.

The price of our securities may fluctuate significantly. An active trading market for our securities may not be sustained. In addition, the price of our securities can vary due to general economic conditions and forecasts, our general business condition and the release of our financial reports. Additionally, if our securities become delisted from Nasdaq and are quoted on the OTC Markets (an inter-dealer automated quotation system for equity securities that is not a national securities exchange) the liquidity and price of our securities may be more limited than if we were quoted or listed on the NYSE, Nasdaq or another national securities exchange in which event you may be unable to sell your securities unless a market can be established or sustained.

Our internal controls over financial reporting may not be effective and our independent registered public accounting firm may not be able to certify as to their effectiveness, which could have a significant and adverse effect on our business and reputation.

Prior to October 2021, when our ordinary shares became publicly traded, we were a privately-owned Israeli company, and we were not subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Act, the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the rules and regulations of Nasdaq. Upon the completion in October 2021 of the merger (the “Merger”) with Industrial Tech Acquisitions, Inc. (“ITAC”), pursuant to the business combination agreement dated as of March 18, 2021 by and among us, our wholly-owned subsidiary, Autobot MergerSub, Inc., (“Merger Sub”), and ITAC (as amended, the “Business Combination Agreement”) pursuant to which Merger Sub was merged with and into ITAC, and ITAC became our wholly-owned subsidiary, we became subject to these rules and regulations. The requirements of these rules and regulations has increased, and will continue to increase, our legal, accounting, insurance and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, time-consuming and costly, and place significant strain on our personnel, systems and resources.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. We are continuing to develop and refine our disclosure controls, internal control over financial reporting and other procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file with the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms, and that information required to be disclosed in reports under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to our principal executive and financial officers. If we are not able to protect our computer system, including our financial records and client and personnel information, against cybersecurity attacks including ransomware attacks, we may not be able to maintain effective disclosure controls or internal controls over financial reporting.

Our current controls and any new controls that we develop may become inadequate because of changes in conditions in our business. Further, weaknesses in our internal controls may be discovered in the future. Any failure to develop or maintain effective controls, or any difficulties encountered in their implementation or improvement, could adversely affect our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations and may result in a restatement of our financial statements for prior periods. Any failure to implement and maintain effective internal controls also could adversely affect the results of operations. Ineffective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting could also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial and other information.

In order to maintain and improve the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting, we have expended and we are continuing to expend significant resources, including accounting-related costs, and provide significant management oversight. Any failure to maintain the adequacy of our internal controls, or consequent inability to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis, could increase our operating costs and could materially and adversely affect our ability to operate our business. In the event that our internal controls are perceived as inadequate or that we are unable to produce timely or accurate financial statements, investors may lose confidence in our operating results and the stock price of our ordinary shares could decline. In addition, if we are unable to continue to meet these requirements, we may not be able to maintain listing on Nasdaq.

Our independent registered public accounting firm is not required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting until after we are no longer an emerging growth company and we cease to meet any of the other tests which exempt companies from auditor attestation. a non-accelerated filer. At such time, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our controls are documented, designed or operating. Any failure to maintain effective disclosure controls and internal control over financial reporting could have a material and adverse effect on our company’s business and operating results.

Risks Related to our Incorporation and Location in Israel

Conditions in Israel could materially and adversely affect our business.

We are incorporated under the laws of the State of Israel, and many of our employees, including certain management members, operate from our offices that are located in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. In addition, the majority of our officers and directors are residents of Israel. Accordingly, political, economic, and military conditions in Israel and the surrounding region may directly affect our business and operations. In recent years, Israel has been engaged in sporadic armed conflicts with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Islamist terrorist groups that controls the Gaza Strip, with Hezbollah, an Islamist terrorist group that controls large portions of Lebanon, and with Iranian-backed military forces in Syria.

In addition, Iran has threatened to attack Israel and is believed to be developing nuclear weapons. Some of these hostilities are frequently accompanied by missiles being fired from the Gaza Strip against civilian targets in various parts of Israel, including areas in which our employees are located, and negatively affected business conditions in Israel. Any hostilities involving Israel, including the recent hostilities between Hamas and Israel which has resulted large number of missiles being fired at Israel, including major cities, such interruptions or curtailments of trade between Israel and our trading partners could adversely affect our operations and results of operations. To the extent that key employees and potential employees are call up for active duty, our ability to operate may be impaired.

Our commercial insurance does not cover losses that may occur as a result of events associated with war and terrorism. Although the Israeli government currently covers the reinstatement value of direct damages that are caused by terrorist attacks or acts of war, we cannot assure you that this government coverage will be maintained or that it will sufficiently cover our potential damages. Any losses or damages incurred by us could have a material adverse effect on our business. Any armed conflicts or political instability in the region would likely negatively affect business conditions and could harm our results of operations.

Further, in the past, the State of Israel and Israeli companies have been subjected to economic boycotts. Several countries still restrict business with the State of Israel and with Israeli companies. These restrictive laws and policies may have an adverse impact on our results of operations, financial condition or the expansion of our business. A campaign of boycotts, divestment, and sanctions has been undertaken against Israel, which could also adversely affect our business. Actual or perceived political instability in Israel or any negative changes in the political environment, may individually or in the aggregate adversely affect the Israeli economy and, in turn, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.

In addition, the newly elected Israeli government is currently pursuing changes to Israel’s judicial system which in turn may affect the checks and balances between the authorities in Israel. In response to the foregoing developments, individuals, organizations and institutions, both within and outside of Israel, have voiced concerns that the proposed changes may negatively impact the business environment in Israel, including influence on the credit rating and other changes in macroeconomic conditions, all of which may affect our business.

We may become subject to claims for remuneration or royalties for assigned service invention rights by our employees, which could result in litigation and adversely affect our business.

A significant portion of our intellectual property has been developed by our employees in the course of their employment by us. Under the Israeli Patent Law, 5727-1967 or the “Patent Law”, inventions conceived by an employee in the course of and as a result of his or her employment with a company are regarded as “service inventions,” which belong to the employer, unless there is a specific agreement between the employee and employer giving the employee service invention rights. The Patents Law also provides that if there is no such agreement between an employer and an employee, the Israeli Compensation and Royalties Committee (the “Committee”), a body constituted under the Patent Law, will determine whether the employee is entitled to remuneration for his or her inventions. Case law clarifies that the right to receive consideration for “service inventions” can be waived by the employee and that in certain circumstances, such waiver does not necessarily have to be explicit. The Committee will examine, on a case-by-case basis, the general contractual framework between the parties, using interpretation rules of the general Israeli contract laws. Further, the Committee has not yet determined one specific formula for calculating this remuneration, but rather uses the criteria specified in the Patents Law.

Although we generally enter into assignment-of-invention agreements with our employees pursuant to which such individuals assign to it all rights to any inventions created in the scope of their employment or engagement with us, we may face claims demanding remuneration in consideration for assigned inventions. As a consequence of such claims, we could be required to pay additional remuneration or royalties to our current and/or former employees, or be forced to litigate such claims, which could negatively affect our business.

The potential tax benefits that may be available to us require us to meet various conditions and may not be available to us, which could increase our costs and taxes.

We may be eligible for certain tax benefits provided to “Preferred Technology Enterprises” under the Israeli Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investments, 5719-1959, referred to as the Investment Law. We have not yet applied for these benefits. In order to receive and remain eligible for the tax benefits for the Preferred Technology Enterprises tax benefits, we must continue to meet certain conditions stipulated in the Investment Law and its regulations, If these tax benefits are reduced, cancelled or discontinued, our Israeli taxable income from would be subject to regular Israeli corporate tax rates. The standard corporate tax rate for Israeli companies has been 23% since 2018. Additionally, if we increase our activities outside of Israel through acquisitions, for example, our expanded activities might not be eligible for inclusion in future Israeli tax benefit programs. See “Certain Material Israeli Tax Considerations.”

The terms of grants received from the Israeli government require us to satisfy specified conditions in order to transfer the manufacture of products based on know-how funded by the Israel Innovation Authority outside of Israel or to transfer outside of Israel the know-how itself.

Under the Israeli Encouragement of Research, Development and Technological Innovation in Industry Law, 5744-1984, or the Innovation Law, research and development programs which meet specified criteria and may be approved by a committee of the Israel Innovation Authority of the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry, or IIA, are eligible for grants from the IIA. The grant amounts are determined by the research committee and are typically a percentage of the project’s expenditures. Under most programs, the grantee is required to pay royalties to the State of Israel from the sale of products developed under the program.

Our research and development efforts in relation to our product have been partially financed through royalty-bearing and non-royalty bearing grants from the IIA in the total amount of approximately $3.7 million through December 31, 2022.

Under the terms and conditions of the IIA grants provided to us and pursuant to applicable laws, we are required to pay royalties from sales of products and services that incorporate know-how developed with the IIA-funded, royalty-bearing grants. Such royalties are due up to an amount equal to 100% of the IIA grants received, linked to the U.S. dollar plus interest on the unpaid amount received based on the 12-month LIBOR rate (from the year the grant was approved) applicable to U.S. dollar deposits. If we will manufacture IIA-funded products outside of Israel and generate sales, the ceiling may increase based on the percentage of production that is outside of Israel, up to a maximum of 300% of the IIA grants, linked to the dollar and bearing interest as detailed above.

Approval to manufacture products outside of Israel or consent to the transfer of IIA funded know-how, if requested, is within the discretion of the IIA. Furthermore, the IIA may impose certain conditions on any arrangement under which it permits us to transfer IIA funded know-how or manufacturing out of Israel.

The consideration available to our shareholders in a future transaction involving the transfer outside of Israel of know-how developed with IIA funding (such as a merger or similar transaction) may be reduced by any amounts that we are required to pay to the IIA.

Our Restated Articles contain a forum selection clause for substantially all disputes between us and our shareholders under the Israeli Companies Law and the Israeli Securities Law, which could limit our shareholders’ ability to bring claims and proceedings against us, our directors, officers and other employees. Enforcement of a U.S. judgment against us or our officers and directors in Israel or the United States, or assertion of a U.S. securities laws claim in Israel or serving process on our officers and directors, may also be difficult.

Under our Restated Articles, the competent courts of Tel Aviv, Israel will be the exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of fiduciary duty owed by any director, officer or other employee to us or our shareholders, or (iii) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Israeli Companies Law, or the Israeli Securities Law, 1968-5728 (the “Israeli Securities Law”). This exclusive forum provision is intended to apply to claims arising under Israeli law and would not apply to claims brought pursuant to the Securities Act or the Exchange Act. Our Restated Articles also provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Company consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act, including all causes of action asserted against any defendant to such complaint. This provision does not affect any other claim for which federal district courts in the United States would have exclusive jurisdiction, and expressly does not apply to causes of action arising under the Securities Exchange Act.. Such exclusive forum provision in the Restated Articles will not relieve us of our duties to comply with federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder, and our shareholders will not be deemed to have waived their compliance with these laws, rules and regulations. This exclusive forum provision may limit a shareholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum of its choosing for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees, which may discourage lawsuits against us, our directors, officers and employees. Investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder, including the provisions of the Securities Act that provide that state and federal courts in the United States both have jurisdiction over claims based on the Securities Act. A United States court may not enforce the provision in our Restated Articles that provide for exclusive jurisdiction of the federal district courts in actions under the Securities Act.

Another obstacle towards assertion of claims against us or our directors or officers is the fact that most of them are not residents of the United States and most of their and our assets are located outside the United States. Service of process upon us or our non-U.S. resident directors and officers and enforcement of judgments obtained in the United States against us or our non-U.S. directors and executive officers may therefore be difficult to effect within the United States. It may be difficult to assert claims under U.S. securities laws in original actions instituted in Israel or obtain a judgment based on the civil liability provisions of U.S. federal securities laws. Israeli courts may refuse to hear a claim based on a violation of U.S. securities laws against us or our non-U.S. officers and directors because Israel may not be the most appropriate forum to bring such a claim. In addition, even if an Israeli court agrees to hear a claim, it may determine that Israeli law and not U.S. law is applicable to the claim. If U.S. law is found to be applicable, the content of applicable U.S. law must be proven as a fact, which can be a time-consuming and costly process. Certain matters of procedure will also be governed by Israeli law. There is little binding case law in Israel addressing these matters.

Additionally, the acceptance of foreign judgment in Israel is mainly regulated in the Foreign Judgment Enforcement Law, 5718-1958 pursuant to which Israeli courts might not enforce judgments obtained in the United States against us or our non-U.S. directors and executive officers, which may make it difficult to collect on judgments rendered against us or our non-U.S. officers and directors. An Israeli court will not enforce a non-Israeli judgment if it was given in a state whose laws do not provide for the enforcement of judgments of Israeli courts (subject to exceptional cases), if our enforcement is likely to prejudice the sovereignty or security of the State of Israel, if it was obtained by fraud or in the absence of due process, if it is at variance with another valid judgment that was given in the same matter between the same parties, or if a suit in the same matter between the same parties was pending before a court or tribunal in Israel at the time the foreign action was brought.

The rights and responsibilities of our shareholders will be governed by Israeli law, which may differ in some respects from the rights and responsibilities of shareholders of U.S. corporations.

Because we are incorporated under Israeli law, the rights and responsibilities of our shareholders are governed by our Restated Articles and the Israeli Companies Law, with minor exceptions pertaining to U.S securities laws. These rights and responsibilities differ in some respects from the rights and responsibilities of shareholders in typical U.S. corporations. In particular, pursuant to the Israeli Companies Law, each shareholder of an Israeli company has to act in good faith in exercising such shareholder’s rights and fulfilling such shareholder’s obligations toward the company and other shareholders and to refrain from abusing such shareholder’s power in the company, including, among other things, in voting at the general meeting of shareholders and class meetings, on amendments to a company’s articles of association, increases in a company’s authorized share capital, mergers, and transactions requiring shareholders’ approval under the Israeli Companies Law. In addition, a controlling shareholder of an Israeli company or a shareholder who knows that it possesses the power to determine the outcome of a shareholder vote or who has the power to appoint or prevent the appointment of a director or officer in the company, or has other powers toward the company, has a duty to act in fairness towards a company. Moreover, a shareholder also has a general duty to refrain from discriminating against other shareholders. These provisions may be interpreted to impose additional obligations and liabilities on our shareholders that are not typically imposed on shareholders of U.S. corporations.

Provisions of Israeli law and our Restated Articles may delay, prevent, or make undesirable an acquisition of all or a significant portion of our shares or assets.

Certain provisions of Israeli law and our Restated Articles could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control and may make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us or our shareholders to elect different individuals to our board of directors, even if doing so would be beneficial to our shareholders, and may limit the price that investors may be willing to pay in the future for our ordinary shares. Among other things:

Further, Israeli tax considerations may make potential transactions undesirable to us or to some of our shareholders whose country of residence does not have a tax treaty with Israel granting tax relief to such shareholders from Israeli tax. For example, Israeli tax law does not recognize tax-free share exchanges to the same extent as U.S. tax law. With respect to mergers, Israeli tax law allows for tax deferral in certain circumstances but makes the deferral contingent on the fulfilment of numerous conditions, including a restrictive period of two years from the date of the transaction during which certain sales and dispositions of shares of the participating companies are restricted. Moreover, with respect to certain share swap transactions, the tax deferral is limited in time, and when such time expires, the tax becomes payable even if the shares have not been disposed. See the section titled “Material Israeli Tax Considerations — Taxation of our shareholders.”

Our board of directors has sole discretion whether to pay dividends. If our board of directors decides to pay dividends, the form, frequency, and amount will depend upon our future, operations and earnings, capital requirements and surplus, general financial condition, contractual restrictions and other factors that our directors may deem relevant. The Israeli Companies Law imposes restrictions on our ability to declare and pay dividends. See the section titled “Item 10.B Additional Information—Dividend and Liquidation rights” for additional information. Payment of dividends may also be subject to Israeli withholding taxes. See the section titled “Material Israeli Tax Considerations” for additional information.

We are subject to the Israeli Privacy Protection Law and its regulations

We are subject to the Israeli Privacy Protection Law, 5741-1981, and the regulations promulgated thereunder and guidelines issued by the Israeli Privacy Protection Authority, with respect to the manner personal data is processed, maintained, transferred, disclosed, accessed, and secured. In this respect, the privacy regulations governing information security may require us to adjust certain data protection and data security practices, information security measures, certain organizational procedures, applicable positions and other technical and organizational measures. Failure to comply with the Israeli privacy laws may expose us to administrative fines, civil claims (including class actions) and in certain cases criminal liability.

As a foreign private issuer, under Nasdaq rules, we are permitted to adopt certain home country practices in relation to corporate governance matters that differ significantly from Nasdaq corporate governance listing standards, which, if we follow such practices, may afford our shareholders less protection than they would enjoy if we complied with the Nasdaq corporate governance standards.

As a foreign private issuer, we are generally subject to the Nasdaq corporate governance listing standards. However, Nasdaq rules permit a foreign private issuer like us to follow the corporate governance practices of our home country, which is Israel, in lieu of Nasdaq corporate governance requirements relating to independent directors and the formation and composition of board committees, with respect to the disclosure of third-party director and nominee compensation and the requirement to distribute annual and interim reports. These corporate governance practices in Israel may differ significantly from Nasdaq corporate governance listing standards. Currently, we do not plan to rely on the home country practice exemption with respect to our corporate governance other than the quorum requirements. Our Restated Articles provide that two shareholders holding 25% of the voting shares constitutes a quorum, as contrasted with the Nasdaq requirement of a minimum of one-third of a company’s outstanding voting securities. If we choose to take advantage of other home country practice in the future, our shareholders may be afforded less protection than they otherwise would enjoy under Nasdaq corporate governance listing standards applicable to U.S. domestic issuers.

Risks Related to our ordinary shares.

We may issue additional ordinary shares or other securities without shareholder approval, which would dilute existing ownership interests and may depress the market price of our ordinary shares.

We may issue additional ordinary shares or other securities in the future in connection with, among other things, our equity incentive plan, without shareholder approval although we require shareholder approval for the creation of a class or series of preferred shares and for the adoption of a new equity incentive plan. The creation of a class or series of preferred shares required shareholder approval. Our issuance of additional ordinary shares would have the following effects:

Any such issuance may be dilutive to our shareholders or may cause the stock price to decrease.

Because our Executive Officers and directors and their affiliates beneficiary own or control approximately 46% of our ordinary shares, they may be able to control any action requiring shareholder approval of shareholders.

Our Executive Officers and directors and their affiliates beneficially own or control the voting rights with respect to approximately 46% of our ordinary shares, they will have the power to control any action for which shareholder approval is required or sought by us, particularly since our Restated Articles provide that a quorum for action by shareholders at a meeting called by the board of directors is two shareholders holding at least 25%.

Because we have a classified board of directors, it may be more difficult for a third party to obtain control of us.

Our Restated Articles provide for a classified board of directors with each class of directors being elected for a term of three years. As a result, the shareholders will vote for only one-third of the board each year. A classified board of directors may make it more difficult for a third party of gain control of us which may affect the opportunity of our shareholders to receive any potential benefit which could be available from a third party seeking to obtain control over us.

The private warrants that we issued in exchange for private warrants are accounted for as liabilities and the changes in value of these warrants could have a material effect on our financial results.

The warrants that we issued in the merger with ITAC in exchange for ITAC’s private warrants are treated as liabilities. As a result of the merger, the 3,112,080 private warrants issued to the holder of the ITAC private warrants, which are held by the members of the ITAC former sponsor, of which E. Scott Crist, one of our directors, is the managing member, are treated as liabilities. The Accounting Standards Codification 815, Derivatives and Hedging (“ASC 815”) provides for the remeasurement of the fair value of such derivatives at each balance sheet date, with a resulting non-cash gain or loss related to the change in the fair value being recognized in earnings in the statements of operations. As a result of the recurring fair value measurement, as long as the warrants are outstanding, our financial statements and results of operations may fluctuate quarterly based on factors which are outside of our control. Due to the recurring fair value measurement, we will recognize non-cash gains or losses on the private warrants each reporting period based on the change in the derivative liability and the amount of such gains or losses could be material. Further, the gain or loss on the derivative liability, which will not be related our operations, could result in our reporting a loss in a period in which our operations are profitable and net income in a period in which we have a significant loss from operations. Since the amount of the warrant liability reflects the market price of our ordinary shares, to the extent that the market price of our ordinary shares increases from period to period we are likely to recognize a financial expense and to the extent that the market price of our ordinary shares declines from period to period, we would recognize financial income.

Any projections, forecasts or guidance that we may issue may not be an indication of the actual results of the transaction or our future results.

From time to time, we issue guidance as to our estimated results. Any such guidance is prepared based on numerous variables and assumptions which are inherently uncertain and may be beyond our control. Furthermore, they may exclude, among other things, certain material items such as transaction-related expenses, and they make include a non-GAAP measure. Any such forecasts are subject to the risks including those described in these risk factors and should not be relied upon as an indicator of future results.

The sales by our legacy shareholders may adversely affect the market price of our ordinary shares

All of our shareholders who were shareholders prior to our merger with ITAC, who are our legacy shareholders, and who purchased 10,000,000 ordinary shares in a PIPE offering contemporaneously with the closing of our merger with ITAC may sell their ordinary shares either pursuant to Rule 144 or pursuant to a registration statement which covers shares held by affiliates, subject to certain limitations with respect to shares held by our officers, directors and other affiliates.

The market price of our securities may be volatile subject to wide fluctuations.

Fluctuations in the price of our securities could contribute to the loss of all or part of your investment. Because our ordinary shares are publicly traded, the trading price of our securities could be volatile and subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. Any of the factors listed below could have a material adverse effect on your investment in our securities and our securities may trade at prices significantly below the price you paid for them. In such circumstances, the trading price of our securities may not recover and may experience a further decline.

Factors affecting the trading price of our securities may include:

Broad market and industry factors may materially harm the market price of our securities irrespective of our operating performance. Global stock markets in general, and Nasdaq in particular, have experienced price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of the particular companies affected. The trading prices and valuations of these stocks, and of our securities, are not predictable. A loss of investor confidence in the market for retail stocks or the stocks of other companies which investors perceive to be similar to us could depress our share price regardless of our business, prospects, financial conditions or results of operations. A decline in the market price of our securities also could adversely affect our ability to issue additional securities and our ability to obtain additional financing in the future.

Our Articles and Israeli law could prevent a takeover that shareholders could consider favorable and could also reduce the market price of our ordinary shares.

Certain provisions of Israeli law and our Restated Articles could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control and may make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us or for our shareholders to elect different individuals to our board of directors, even if doing so would be beneficial to our shareholders, and may limit the price that investors may be willing to pay in the future for our ordinary shares. For example, Israeli corporate law regulates mergers, requires that a tender offer be effected when certain thresholds of percentage ownership of voting power in a company are exceeded (subject to certain conditions) and establishes a high ownership threshold to squeeze out minority shareholders in a full tender offer. Further, Israeli tax considerations may make potential transactions undesirable to us or to some of our shareholders whose country of residence does not have a tax treaty with Israel granting tax relief to such shareholders from Israeli tax. See the section titled “Material Israeli Tax Considerations — Taxation of our shareholders.”

We do not intend to pay dividends for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, you may not receive any return on investment unless you sell your ordinary shares for a price greater than the price you paid for your ordinary shares or, if you purchased ITAC common stock prior to our merger with ITAC, the price you paid for your ITAC common stock.

We currently intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings for use in the operation of our business and do not anticipate paying any dividends on our ordinary shares in the foreseeable future. Consequently, you may be unable to realize a gain on your investment only if you are able to sell such shares at a price which is greater than your purchase price, which may never occur.

Our board of directors has broad discretion whether to pay dividends. If our board of directors decides to pay dividends, the form, frequency, and amount will depend upon our future, operations and earnings, capital requirements and surplus, general financial condition, contractual restrictions and other factors that our directors may deem relevant. The Companies Law imposes restrictions on our ability to declare and pay dividends.

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

The trading market for our ordinary shares is influenced by the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about us or our business. We do not control these analysts, or the content and opinions included in their reports. As a new public company, we may be slow to attract research coverage and the analysts who publish information about our ordinary shares will have had relatively little experience with us, which could affect their ability to accurately forecast our results and make it more likely that we fail to meet their estimates. In the event we obtain industry or financial analyst coverage, if any of the analysts who cover us issues an inaccurate or unfavorable opinion regarding it, our share price would likely decline. In addition, the share prices of many companies in the technology industry have declined significantly after those companies have failed to meet, or significantly exceed, the financial guidance publicly announced by the companies or the expectations of analysts. If our financial results fail to meet, or significantly exceed, our announced guidance or the expectations of analysts or public investors, analysts could downgrade our ordinary shares or publish unfavorable research about it. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to publish reports on it regularly, our visibility in the financial markets could decrease, which in turn could cause our share price or trading volume to decline.

The IRS may not agree that we should be treated as a non-U.S. corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Although we are incorporated and tax resident in Israel, the IRS may assert that we should be treated as a U.S. corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes pursuant to Section 7874 of the Code. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, a corporation is generally considered a U.S. “domestic” corporation if it is created or organized in or under the laws of the U.S., any state thereof, or the District of Columbia. Because we are not so created or organized (but are instead incorporated only in Israel), we would generally be classified as a foreign corporation (that is, a corporation other than a U.S. “domestic” corporation) under these rules. Section 7874 of the Code provides an exception under which a corporation created or organized under foreign law may, in certain circumstances, be treated as a U.S. corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

As more fully described in the Item 10.E in the section titled “Certain Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations — U.S. Federal Income Tax Treatment— Tax Residence of Arbe for U.S. Federal Income Tax Purposes,” based on the terms of the Merger, the rules for determining share ownership under Code Section 7874 and the Treasury regulations promulgated under Code Section 7874 (the “Section 7874 Regulations”), and certain factual assumptions, we are not currently expected to be treated as a U.S. corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes under Code Section 7874. However, the application of Section 7874 of the Code is complex, is subject to detailed regulations (the application of which is uncertain in various respects and would be impacted by changes in such U.S. tax laws and regulations with possible retroactive effect) and is subject to certain factual uncertainties. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that the IRS will not challenge our status as a foreign corporation under Code Section 7874 or that such challenge would not be sustained by a court.

If the IRS were to successfully challenge under Code Section 7874 our status as a foreign corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we and certain of our shareholders could be subject to significant adverse tax consequences, including a higher effective corporate income tax rate on us and future withholding taxes on certain of our shareholders, depending on the application of any income tax treaty that might apply to reduce such withholding taxes. In particular, holders of our ordinary shares and/or warrants would be treated as holders of stock and warrants of a U.S. corporation.

See Item 10.E “Certain Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations — U.S. Federal Income Tax Treatment of Arbe — Tax Residence of Arbe for U.S. Federal Income Tax Purposes” for a more detailed discussion of the application of Code Section 7874 to the Merger. Investors should consult their own advisors regarding the application of Code Section 7874 to the Merger.

U.S. Holders of our ordinary shares and/or warrants may suffer adverse tax consequences if we are treated as a passive foreign investment company.

A non-U.S. corporation generally will be treated as a “passive foreign investment company,” or a PFIC, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, in any taxable year if either (1) at least 75% of its gross income for such year is passive income (such as interest, dividends, rents and royalties (other than rents or royalties derived from the active conduct of a trade or business) and gains from the disposition of assets giving rise to passive income) or (2) at least 50% of the value of its assets (based on an average of the quarterly values of the assets) during such year is attributable to assets that produce or are held for the production of passive income. Although based on the current and anticipated composition of the income, assets and operations of us and our subsidiaries, we do not believe we will be treated as a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes for its current taxable year, and do not expect to become one for U.S. federal income tax purposes in the near future, this is a factual determination that depends on, among other things, the composition of our income and assets, and the market value of its shares and assets, including the composition of income and assets and the market value of shares and assets of our subsidiaries, from time to time. Accordingly, a complete determination can only be made annually after the close of each taxable year. Thus, no assurance can be given as to whether we will be a PFIC in 2022 or for any future taxable year. In addition, our U.S. counsel does not express any opinion with respect to our PFIC status for 2022 or future taxable years.

If we are a PFIC for any taxable year, a U.S. Holder of our ordinary shares and/or warrants may be subject to adverse tax consequences and may incur certain information reporting obligations. Under the PFIC rules, unless such U.S. Holder makes an election available under the Code (which election could itself have adverse consequences for such U.S. Holder), such U.S. Holder may be subject to U.S. federal income tax at the then prevailing maximum rates on ordinary income and possibly an “interest” charge, in respect of “excess distributions” and upon any gain from the disposition of our ordinary shares and/or warrants, as if the excess distribution or gain had been recognized ratably over such U.S. Holder’s holding period of the our ordinary shares and/or warrants. Certain elections (including a qualified electing fund election (a QEF election or a mark-to-market election) that may be available to U.S. Holders of our ordinary shares to mitigate some of the adverse tax consequences resulting from PFIC treatment, however, are not available with respect to our warrants. Additionally, there can be no assurance that we will have timely knowledge of our status as a PFIC in the future or that we will timely provide information that would be required in order for a U.S. Holder to make a QEF election. For a further discussion, see Item 10.E “Certain Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations — U.S. Holders — U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences of the Ownership and Disposition of ordinary shares and Warrants to U.S. Holders — Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules.” U.S. Holders of our ordinary shares and/or warrants are strongly encouraged to consult their own advisors regarding the potential application of these rules to us and the ownership of our ordinary shares and/or warrants.

The rights and responsibilities of our shareholders will be governed by Israeli law, which may differ in some respects from the rights and responsibilities of shareholders of U.S. corporations.

Because we are incorporated under Israeli law, the rights and responsibilities of our shareholders are governed by our Restated Articles and the Israeli Companies Law, with minor exceptions pertaining to U.S securities laws. These rights and responsibilities differ in some respects from the rights and responsibilities of shareholders in typical U.S. corporations. In particular, pursuant to the Israeli Companies Law, each shareholder of an Israeli company has to act in good faith in exercising such shareholder’s rights and fulfilling such shareholder’s obligations toward the company and other shareholders and to refrain from abusing such shareholder’s power in the company, including, among other things, in voting at the general meeting of shareholders and class meetings, on amendments to a company’s articles of association, increases in a company’s authorized share capital, mergers, and transactions requiring shareholders’ approval under the Israeli Companies Law. In addition, a controlling shareholder of an Israeli company or a shareholder who knows that it possesses the power to determine the outcome of a shareholder vote or who has the power to appoint or prevent the appointment of a director or officer in the company, or has other powers toward the company, has a duty to act in fairness towards a company. Moreover, a shareholder also has a general duty to refrain from discriminating against other shareholders. These provisions may be interpreted to impose additional obligations and liabilities on our shareholders that are not typically imposed on shareholders of U.S. corporations.

Provisions of Israeli law and our Restated Articles may delay, prevent, or make undesirable an acquisition of all or a significant portion of our shares or assets.

Certain provisions of Israeli law and our Restated Articles could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control and may make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us or our shareholders to elect different individuals to our board of directors, even if doing so would be beneficial to our shareholders, and may limit the price that investors may be willing to pay in the future for our ordinary shares. Among other things:

Further, Israeli tax considerations may make potential transactions undesirable to us or to some of our shareholders whose country of residence does not have a tax treaty with Israel granting tax relief to such shareholders from Israeli tax. For example, Israeli tax law does not recognize tax-free share exchanges to the same extent as U.S. tax law. With respect to mergers, Israeli tax law allows for tax deferral in certain circumstances but makes the deferral contingent on the fulfilment of numerous conditions, including a restrictive period of two years from the date of the transaction during which certain sales and dispositions of shares of the participating companies are restricted. Moreover, with respect to certain share swap transactions, the tax deferral is limited in time, and when such time expires, the tax becomes payable even if the shares have not been disposed. See the section titled “Material Israeli Tax Considerations — Taxation of our shareholders.”

Our board of directors has sole discretion whether to pay dividends. If our board of directors decides to pay dividends, the form, frequency, and amount will depend upon our future, operations and earnings, capital requirements and surplus, general financial condition, contractual restrictions and other factors that our directors may deem relevant. The Israeli Companies Law imposes restrictions on our ability to declare and pay dividends. See the section titled “Description of ordinary shares — Dividend and Liquidation rights” for additional information. Payment of dividends may also be subject to Israeli withholding taxes. See the section titled “Material Israeli Tax Considerations” for additional information.

We are subject to the Israeli Privacy Protection Law and its regulations

We are subject to the Israeli Privacy Protection Law, 5741-1981, and the regulations promulgated thereunder and guidelines issued by the Israeli Privacy Protection Authority, with respect to the manner personal data is processed, maintained, transferred, disclosed, accessed, and secured. In this respect, the privacy regulations governing information security may require us to adjust certain data protection and data security practices, information security measures, certain organizational procedures, applicable positions and other technical and organizational measures. Failure to comply with the Israeli privacy laws may expose us to administrative fines, civil claims (including class actions) and in certain cases criminal liability.

Risks Related to our Ordinary Shares

We may issue additional ordinary shares or other securities without shareholder approval, which would dilute existing ownership interests and may depress the market price of our ordinary shares.

We may issue additional ordinary shares or other securities in the future in connection with, among other things, our equity incentive plan, without shareholder approval although we require shareholder approval for the creation of a class or series of preferred shares and for the adoption of a new equity incentive plan. The creation of a class or series of preferred shares required shareholder approval. Our issuance of additional ordinary shares would have the following effects:

Any such issuance may be dilutive to our shareholders or may cause the stock price to decrease.

The market price of our securities may be volatile subject to wide fluctuations.

Fluctuations in the price of our securities could contribute to the loss of all or part of your investment. Prior to the Business Combination, there has not been a public market for our ordinary shares. If an active market for our securities develops and continues, the trading price of our securities could be volatile and subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. Any of the factors listed below could have a material adverse effect on your investment in our securities and our securities may trade at prices significantly below the price you paid for them. In such circumstances, the trading price of our securities may not recover and may experience a further decline.

Factors affecting the trading price of our securities may include:

Broad market and industry factors may materially harm the market price of our securities irrespective of our operating performance. Particularly since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, global stock markets in general, and Nasdaq in particular, have experienced price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of the particular companies affected. The trading prices and valuations of these stocks, and of our securities, may not be predictable. A loss of investor confidence in the market for retail stocks or the stocks of other companies which investors perceive to be similar to us could depress our share price regardless of our business, prospects, financial conditions or results of operations. A decline in the market price of our securities also could adversely affect our ability to issue additional securities and our ability to obtain additional financing in the future.

Certain provisions of Israeli law and our Restated Articles could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control and may make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us or for our shareholders to elect different individuals to our board of directors, even if doing so would be beneficial to our shareholders, and may limit the price that investors may be willing to pay in the future for our ordinary shares. For example, Israeli corporate law regulates mergers, requires that a tender offer be effected when certain thresholds of percentage ownership of voting power in a company are exceeded (subject to certain conditions) and establishes a high ownership threshold to squeeze out minority shareholders in a full tender offer. Further, Israeli tax considerations may make potential transactions undesirable to us or to some of our shareholders whose country of residence does not have a tax treaty with Israel granting tax relief to such shareholders from Israeli tax. See the section titled “Material Israeli Tax Considerations — Taxation of our shareholders.”

ITEM 4. INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY

A. History and Development of the Company

Our Organization

Our corporate name is Arbe Robotics Ltd. We are an Israeli corporation founded on November 4, 2015. The mailing address for our principal executive office is 107 HaHashmonaim St. Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Our telephone number is +972-73-7969804, ext. 200.

As an Israeli corporation, we are organized pursuant to and subject to the provisions of the Israeli Companies Law, 5759-1999, as amended and the regulations promulgated thereunder (collectively the “Israeli Companies Law”).

We have two United States subsidiaries, Arbe Robotics US Inc. and Autobot HoldCo. Inc., both Delaware corporations.

Merger and PIPE Financing

On October 7, 2021, we consummated the Merger with ITAC pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, pursuant to which Merger Sub was merged with and into ITAC, and ITAC became our wholly-owned subsidiary. ITAC was formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. Prior to executing the Business Combination Agreement with us, ITAC’s efforts were limited to organizational activities, completion of its initial public offering and the evaluation of possible business combinations.

Pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement:

Contemporaneously with the execution of the Business Combination Agreement, ITAC and we entered into subscription agreements with investors who, at the closing of the Merger, purchased from us 10,000,000 ordinary shares at a purchase price of $10.00 per share, which generated gross proceeds of $100 million.

Recapitalization and Stock Split

In connection with the Merger and pursuant to the Business Combination Agreement, immediately prior to the closing of the Merger, we effected a recapitalization (the “Recapitalization”), pursuant to which (i) all then outstanding warrants (except for certain warrants which remained outstanding) were exercised, (ii) all outstanding preferred shares, including preferred shares issued upon exercise of warrants, were converted into ordinary shares, and (iii) the ordinary shares that were outstanding after the exercise and conversion pursuant to clauses (i) and (ii) became and were converted into a total of 48,268,611 ordinary shares. The Recapitalization resulted in a 46.25783-for-one stock split and a change in the par value of the ordinary shares from NIS 0.01 per share to NIS 0.000216 per share. All share and per share information in this annual report retroactively reflects the stock split and change in par value.

The descriptions of the Business Combination Agreement is intended to be a summary of the terms of the agreements described, does not purport to be complete and is qualified in their entirety by reference to the terms of the agreement, which is filed as an exhibit to this annual report.

Our Status as a Foreign Private Issuer under the Exchange Act

We are a “foreign private issuer” under SEC rules. Consequently, for so long as we continue to meet such qualification, we will be subject to the reporting requirements under the Exchange Act applicable to foreign private issuers. We were required to file, and we filed, our annual report for the year ending December 31, 2022 with the SEC by April 30, 2023. In addition, we will furnish reports on Form 6-K to the SEC regarding certain information that is distributed or required to be distributed by us to its shareholders.

Based on such foreign private issuer status, under existing rules and regulations, we will not be required to file periodic reports and financial statements with the SEC as frequently or as promptly as a U.S. company whose securities are registered under the Exchange Act. We will also not be required to comply with Regulation FD, which addresses certain restrictions on the selective disclosure of material information. In addition, among other matters, our officers, directors and principal shareholders will be exempt from the reporting and “short-swing” profit recovery provisions of Section 16 of the Exchange Act and the rules under the Exchange Act with respect to their purchases and sales of ordinary shares.

Despite our initial exemption due to our foreign private issuer status, we nevertheless currently expect to issue interim quarterly financial information publicly and to furnish it to the SEC on Form 6-K.

Our Status as an Emerging Growth Company

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as modified by the JOBS Act. As such, we will be eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in their periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We are a non-accelerated filer, which is a company that has either a public float of less the $75 million or a public float from $75 million to less than $700 million and annual revenues of less than $100 million. As long as we remain either an emerging growth company or a non-accelerated filer, we will be exempt from the auditor attestation requirement. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.

Further, Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies (that is, those that have not had a Securities Act registration statement declared effective or do not have a class of securities registered under the Exchange Act) are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can elect to opt out of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies but any such election to opt out is irrevocable. We have elected not to opt out of such extended transition period, which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an emerging growth company, can adopt the new or revised standard at the time private companies adopt the new or revised standard. This may make comparison of our financial statements with certain other public companies difficult or impossible because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of: (i) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the closing of our initial public offering, (b) in which our total annual gross revenue of at least $1.235 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our ordinary shares that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter; and (ii) the date on which we have issued more than $1.00 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References to “emerging growth company” in this proxy statement/annual report have the meaning associated with that term in the JOBS Act.

Functional and Reporting Currency

A substantial portion of our activity, including transactions with customers, as well as equity transactions and cash investments, are incurred in U.S. dollars. Our management believes that the U.S. dollar is the currency of the primary economic environment in which we operate. Thus, our functional and reporting currency is the U.S. dollar.

Where to get Additional Information

The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. We are subject to the information requirements of the Exchange Act and will file annual and other reports, including this annual report, and other information with the SEC. You can read our SEC filings, over the Internet at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. These documents, and other information concerning us, is available on our website at https://arberobotics.com/. Information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website or any other website is expressly not incorporated by reference into and is not a part of this annual report.

B. Business Overview

We are a provider of 4D imaging radar solutions, and are leading a radar revolution, enabling safe driver-assist systems today while paving the way for fully autonomous driving in the future. We are a Tier 2 supplier, empowering automakers, Tier-1 suppliers, which are companies that supply parts or systems directly to OEMs, autonomous ground vehicles, commercial and industrial vehicles, and a wide array of safety applications with next-generation sensing based on our proprietary chipset and perception algorithms. While the role of automotive radars in the traditional perception paradigm was limited to “legacy safety features”, such as Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB), the introduction of an imaging radar based on a high channel count thus achieving an order of magnitude better native resolution than competing solutions profoundly changes this paradigm, making the radar a key player in the overall driving solution. We believe that Our imaging radar offers an order of magnitude higher native resolution at lowest false alarm rate than any other competing radar solution in the market and, we believe our technology is essential for Level 2+ and higher levels of autonomy.

We provide long-range high resolution in 4D - the distance, the angular measurement of objects, both horizontally and vertically, and their relative speed. This is designed to enable the vehicle to determine the exact location and shape of objects. For example, it could determine whether a stationary object in front of a vehicle is a manhole cover you can drive over or a guardrail you need to avoid. Our 4D imaging radar is the world’s first radar to separate, track, and identify objects in any weather or lighting condition in 2K ultra-high density in both azimuth and elevation, delivering an image that we believe is 100 times more detailed than any commercial radar on the market. We achieve this capability with our proprietary radio frequency chipset with the highest channel count in the industry, and a groundbreaking radar processor chip, the first dedicated processor designed specifically for the performance and power saving requirements of the automotive industry, and AI-based post-processing.

Through an AI-based analysis of the vehicle’s surroundings, our 360° Perception is the first radar technology detailed enough to enhance perception algorithms, elevating L2+ and higher applications from nice-to-have comfort solutions to must-have safety features. The surround data captured by our perception radars, which leverage AI to identify, classify, and track objects in 360°, is processed in real-time to create a full free space map around the vehicle, as well as an analysis of the evolving hazards sensed by the radars.

Our Radar Systems

We are a semiconductor company developing advanced radar solutions, which are mainly intended to be used in Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (“ADAS”) and autonomous vehicles’ (“AV”) sensor suites as well as a wide array of safety applications with advanced sensing and paradigm changing perception.

The target market for our chipsets are automotive module manufacturers called Tier 1 automotive suppliers, and automotive manufacturers (OEMs) worldwide. Additionally, alongside these potential customers, there is a large target market for non-vehicle radar technology.

Our chipset solution includes three types of chips: transmitter (Tx), receiver (Rx) and processor, which together are referred to as our “radar chipset” or the “chipset.” We believe our radar chipset solution is a first of its kind, capable of high-resolution sensing “in four dimensions” generating tens of thousands of detections per frame with a point cloud density that is unparalleled by any other radar solution on the market. The chipset distinguishes itself through its improved ability to support multi-channel processing - up to 2,304 virtual channels, through a combination of up to two transmitters (24 channels each) and up to four receivers (12 channels each). By comparison, other current-generation radar systems presently utilize 12 virtual channels, while the newest, best in class systems announced by our competitors are utilizing 192 virtual channels at best.

Our solution addresses the core issues that have caused the recent autonomous vehicle and autopilot accidents such as detection of stationary objects, identifying vulnerable road users, operation at poor lighting conditions and eliminating false alarms at low latency with no range, Doppler, and angular ambiguities. Unlike the vast majority of the radars on the market, our radar technology is designed to address all driving scenarios and use cases, which we believe makes it a mandatory technology for any vehicles program targeting advanced ADAS features (L2), supervised autonomous driving features (L2+) and up to unsupervised autonomous driving (L3 & L4).

We are a fabless (i.e., we do not have our own manufacturing facilities), Tier-2 semiconductor company, developing advanced radar technology and solutions – multi-channel Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit (RF IC) for transmission and reception and a dedicated radar processing IC with specialized Radar Processing Unit (‘RPU’) and additional general-purpose processing/control cores.

Based on our advanced technology, our radar chipset solution is capable of sensing the vehicle environment, at long ranges and with a wide field of view, at a rate of 30 frames per second, allowing it to generate a reliable ultra-high definition image, under all weather and lighting conditions, with great precision, while minimizing the likelihood of false alarms. Information about the environment is ’sensed’ by the Tx & Rx elements of the chipset, at the 77 – 81 GHz RF band. The data is then processed at the Radar Processor, by an advanced proprietary algorithms into a 4D image — range, radial (on line-of-sight) velocity, azimuth and elevation — at ultra-high resolution, which is an input to the perception algorithm, sensor fusion and to the vehicle control, to allow emergency braking in any conditions, to enable safe adaptive cruise control, lane-change assist, and up to advanced automated & autonomous driving features, scaling up with the industry’s evolution toward full autonomous driving.

We designed two radar development platforms:

As of the date of this annual report, we are working with six Tier-1s who are building production radars based on our chipset, including Veoneer, Valeo, Weifu, Hirain, and Qamcom, we are currently developing nine different radar products. Our chips have been included in over 45 evaluation projects and currently 30 of which are active. Radars that are based on our chipset were submitted to nine RFIs/RFQs that are currently active with OEM, robotaxis, delivery robots, and autonomous trucks projects. Our imaging radar was selected by AutoX to enable its fully autonomous robotaxi fleet. We were selected for a development project with a Top 5 global OEM and three other OEMs. A Top 10 global OEM selected Arbe for an “imaging radar-based perception” project. BAIC Group has announced that it plans to install our technology on its mass-produced Level 2+ / Level 3 models. Our solution was also selected to provide perception radars for autonomous trucks and AGVs across ports in China. Our solution is constantly evaluated in field trials, including day and night performance, in variable weather and lighting conditions. The trials, thus far, have revealed what we believe is superior and promising performance: Our radar chipset solution senses its environment according to its spec, with the highest native resolution available in the market, and therefore enables an accurate and separate identification of all objects in the environment at their actual position distinguishing between vehicles, vulnerable road users (pedestrians, animals, cyclists, motorcyclists) and objects and obstacles along the way. Based on the sensing of the environment created by the chipset at any given moment, the radar system can alert the vehicle central computer unit, allowing the driver assistance system to take control of the car, and activate safety applications such as emergency braking and lane control assist, or to activate autonomous control functions to avoid the danger.

We are currently focusing, and primarily devoting our resources, to the use of our radar chip solution in the automotive industry. However, the technology is also integrated into other fields, and we are collaborating with other companies to generate business in non-automotive markets, such as autonomous ground vehicles and delivery robots, heavy machinery and intelligent traffic systems.

Our radar chipset solution is designed to integrate into the radar systems of next-generation ADAS in autonomous vehicles of all levels of autonomous driving, thanks in part to its ability to accurately scan an increased range of detection (of more than 300 meters) in a wide field of view, while optimizing costs and power-consumption, without its functionality being impaired by interference from other radar systems in the environment. The system maintains efficacy under conditions of low signal-to-noise ratio (“SNR”) and in multi-object scenarios (conditions under which alternative technologies struggle to provide effective solutions) — both in respect of false positives (error category I) and false negatives (error category II).

We believe that our chipset solves some of the challenges faced by current-generation radar systems, by providing a system that enables:

Our technology is the first to create a high-fidelity, high-resolution radar image, that facilitates tracking, and SLAM and real-time decision-making. Our radar chipset heralds a breakthrough in radar technology that will enable Tier 1 manufacturers and OEMs to replace the current radars with an advanced solution that meets the current safety requirements of Euro-NCAP and NHTSA for autonomous vehicles at all levels of autonomous driving.

The following chart¹ shows the number of radar sensors, cameras and LiDAR units in vehicles with different levels of autonomy. As the level of autonomy increases, the number of radar sensors and cameras increases. LiDAR units are not expected to be included in any vehicle with an autonomy level less than 3. The number of radar sensors is a function of the autonomy level of the vehicle. 

Recognizing the different levels of innovation and autonomy and the need to standardize the approaches across the spectrum of possibilities for the sake of safety, the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has developed and defined six levels of automation for autonomous vehicles: Level 0 through Level 5. These levels have been adopted by the U.S. Department of Transportation. These levels are:

Level 0 — No Automation: A vehicle that is fully controlled by a driver.

Level 1 — Driver Assistance: A vehicle controlled by the driver, featuring minimal autonomous control components, designed to assist the driver. For example: a button that when pressed, keeps the vehicle at a constant speed, parking assistance or staying inside a lane.

Level 2 — Partial Automation: A vehicle that includes integrated automation systems, where the driver is still required to control and monitor the environment at all times. For example: A system capable of detecting lanes and driving independently (cruise control) but alerts the driver to emergencies (driver involvement is required to operate the steering wheel and brakes). The industry refers to a level that was not originally recognized by the SAE, Level 2+, which adds in surround perception and AI to improve the safety and convenience of human-driven vehicles. While the driver is still responsible for the car, the platform can perform automated maneuvers for a more seamless driving experience — such as making highway entrances and exits, lane changes and merges.

Level 3 — Conditional Automation: Requires the presence of a driver behind the wheel, but the driver is not required to monitor the environment. The driver must be prepared to seize control of the vehicle at any given time upon receipt of an alert. For example: The driver can press the control button and be relieved of the need to monitor the route (and can attend to other matters during this time), but the driver’s presence and alertness are still essential. At this level, the vehicle can be used as an autonomous vehicle only when road and weather conditions allow it.

Level 4 — High Automation: The vehicle is capable of performing all driving functions under certain conditions. The driver has the option of taking over control of the vehicle.

Level 5 — Full Automation: The vehicle is capable of performing all driving functions under all conditions.

Pictured below is our Radar Development Platform (“A Sample” in automotive terminology), and below the picture is an infographic of the specifications.

The dimensions of radar systems based on our radar chipset, and the projected affordable price point are expected to facilitate its integration into mass production.

We estimate that we will be able to offer our radar chipset solution in commercial quantities in late 2023; however, such schedule is based on our completing the chipset development and making our product suitable as a commercial product. We can give no assurance that we will be able to sell the radar chipset solution in commercial quantities or that our manufacturer will have the facilities available to manufacture the chipsets in such quantities.

Market Outlook

The automotive industry is increasingly harnessing sophisticated technologies in its push to develop and enhance safety and introduce autonomous driving vehicles. Today, the leading technologies are based primarily on cameras, high resolution radar sensors, and in some cases Lidar sensors, combined with data processing based on complex algorithms. The various technologies differ from each other in their features and performance in different conditions and scenarios.

Significant investment and rapid growth in this industry are being driven by the need to increase road safety. Given the stakes involved in commercializing autonomous driving application, the technologies and products needed for truly safe driver assist solutions require long development and validation cycles and must ensure safety prior to commercial deployment.

The primary market for the chip-based imaging radar systems developed by us is the global automotive market. This market has enjoyed stable growth in recent years. In 2020, the automotive market experienced significant slowdown following the spread of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) and the steps taken by governments worldwide to address the pandemic. The industry has largely recovered, However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and actions taken by governments and businesses, the industry faced chip shortage. The semiconductor chip shortage is affecting both production and revenue of the global automotive industry. We anticipate that this shortage and its effects on production will continue into mid 2023 before supply catches up with demand towards end of 2023.

In the last decade, the world’s leading car manufacturers have begun to incorporate advanced automation systems in vehicles, aiming to assist the driver and even control certain driving functions. The vision for the future is that within several years, the technology would enable production of autonomous vehicles that support driverless vehicles, including development of unmanned shuttle services (robotaxis) that would complement traditional public transport services. The vision of a fully autonomous vehicle (driverless) is seen as a potential solution for reducing the number of traffic accidents (due to the elimination of the “human element” from the equation), and as an incentive to create innovative autonomous vehicle-sharing services that will lead to the public foregoing the purchase of private vehicles, to reduce the problem of traffic congestion, and to potentially significantly reduce fuel consumption and air pollution.

According to a forecast by YOLE², a decrease (to the point of a complete halt) in the sales of vehicles without automation (Level 0) is expected in the coming decade, and in subsequent decades, a decrease in sales vehicles of Level 1 and Level 2 automation is also expected. A growth trend is expected in the sales volumes of Level 2+, Level 3, Level 4 and Level 5 vehicles, along with growth in the sales volumes of robotic vehicles.

* Source: Yole, Driving Radar Resolution, February 2023.

Driver assistance systems include advanced automation functions (based on camera and radar) designed to reduce the risk of traffic accidents, alert the driver to obstacles on the road, and even take control of the vehicle under certain conditions. The ADAS category includes the following systems, among others:

In recent years, automakers have been installing ADAS such as those mentioned above as standard features in many vehicle models, and these systems have also been installed electively by vehicle owners. In many cases, automakers choose to integrate ADAS based on several technologies simultaneously (radar and cameras), and we believe that it is likely that this trend of integrating technologies into vehicles will continue in the coming years.

Alongside development and production of current-generation ADAS, there has been accelerated development of advanced technology of next-generation systems, designed to support autonomous driving, in preparation for manufacture of Level 2+ and higher autonomy. Radar technology holds a central position in the ADAS category. This type of technology is installed in adaptive cruise control (ACC) systems, blind spot detection (BSD) systems, forward collision warning (FCW) systems, and intelligent park assist systems, among others.

According to the IDTechEx Research³ forecast, total radar-system sales for Level 2 or higher autonomous vehicles is expected to grow from 55 million units in 2019 to 223 million units in 2030 and 400 million units in 2040. More specifically, by 2025, sales of Level 1 and Level 2 vehicle radar systems is expected to grow, whereas in the following years, Level 3, Level 4, and Level 5 vehicle radar systems are expected to grow and gradually take over most of the market.

Growth Strategies

Our growth strategies include the following:

Sales and Marketing

In light of the proven ability of technological systems to reduce the risk of traffic accidents, authorities, organizations and governments around the world have established regulations that require the installation of ADAS in certain vehicles. For instance, in 2018, the NHTSA required the installation of a rear-view system in private vehicles, and in 2015 the Israeli government approved incentives for vehicle owners to install life-saving safety systems (including a lane departure warning, frontal distance monitoring and pedestrian identification). According to a market study published in August 2019⁴, the global ADAS market was estimated at $39 billion in 2018 and is expected to grow to around $190 billion by 2026, at an annual growth rate of around 21%. Another market study, published by Markets and Markets⁵, estimates the global ADAS market in 2020 at $27 billion, projecting it to grow to around $65.1 billion by 2030, at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 12%. Despite discrepancies in the estimated scope of the market (due to varying research methodologies), it appears that there is unanimity among the research bodies that the ADAS market is expected to grow in the coming years, due in part to mandatory safety regulations, increased demand for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, and continued development of (partially or fully) autonomous vehicles.

The European New Car Assessment Program, otherwise referred to as NCAP, rates vehicles by safety features. The rating system has been successful at influencing consumers to make vehicle purchases based on how high the NCAP rating is, making safety a priority for consumers. The mission of NCAP is “Vision Zero” to eventually have zero accidents or fatalities on the road, with this vision, automotive technology companies and automakers are looking for technologies that will enable them to develop more safety features that can predict and prevent car accidents before they happen. Vision Zero will require that all vehicles shift from passively protecting individuals to actively protecting them — both in the vehicle as well as outside the car.

Our marketing strategy is primarily targeted at Tier 1 manufacturers, with the aim of fostering cooperation with the Tier 1 manufacturers to integrate our radar chipsets into the radar systems that Tier 1 manufacturers will sell to OEMs. Our sales and marketing team continues to focus on expanding its relationships with OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers and seeks to leverage its existing relationships to expand its market to other industries. We are considered a Tier-2 Automotive supplier because we sell our product to Tier-1 companies that then integrate our product into the overall system supplied to the OEMs. Our business model of being a Tier-2 supplier that subcontracts its manufacturing, together with its market leadership, results in an advantageous cost structure that requires minimal sales and marketing expenses with respect to OEMs. We are taking marketing steps intended to position us as a leading company in research and development of chip technology for next-generation imaging radar systems in autonomous vehicles. Marketing is directed by the chief marketing officer who works from our headquarters in Israel, and by the chief business officer who works in the United States, and the vice president of sales.

The marketing strategies employed include participation in industry conferences, public relations publications, issuing newsletters and proactive inquiries to potential customers. We leverage a variety of channels to reach prospects which include organic and paid social media activity, joint events, webinars and media and analyst relations.

As part of our marketing program, our radar solution is available on the open NVIDIA platform. NVIDIA is a scalable, software-defined, end-to-end AI platform for the transportation industry and companies around the world, including auto- and truck makers, Tier 1 automotive suppliers, robotaxis, sensor and mapping companies and autonomous vehicle startups are developing on NVIDIA.

Material Agreements

We are party to certain agreements that we believe are important to our business. Some of these agreements are memoranda of understanding, with a definitive agreement to be negotiated in the future. We can give no assurance that these memoranda of understanding will develop into agreement or will generate significant, if any, revenue for us. Further, our ability to generate revenue from any of these agreements is dependent upon our ability to develop and deliver products that meet the customer’s requirement, as to which no assurance can be given.

Strategic Agreements

Our business development strategy is based primarily on cooperation with Tier 1 automotive manufacturers to integrate our radar chipset into the radar systems manufactured by the Tier 1 manufacturers, which will ultimately be sold by the Tier 1 manufacturers to the OEMs. We are party to strategic agreements with Tier 1 automotive manufacturers, as follows:

Veoneer

As of October 2022, we were chosen by Veoneer (one of the top five automotive radar suppliers) as the radar chip set solution for their next generation radar (Gen 5). On October 6, 2022, Veoneer signed a memorandum of understanding with us establishing a technical collaboration and business alliance relating to its plans to co-develop radars for automotive-grade safety and advanced driver assistance systems based on our chipsets. The next generation radar is expected to be in pre-production by mid-2023. Veoneer selected our chipset solution for its next generation radars, including a long-range, high-resolution radar with 48x48 RF channels and a 360° surround radar with 24x12 RF channels. During 2022 multiple Request for Quotation (RFQ) or Request for Information (RFI) were submitted based on our chipsets in the United States, Europe and China. In December 2022, Magna International Inc. announced it entered into an agreement to acquired Veoneer business from SSW Partners. The transaction is expected to close near mid-year 2023 subject to closing conditions,

Valeo

On August 3, 2018, we entered into a memorandum of understanding with Valeo Schalter und Sensoren GmbH (“Valeo”), a Tier 1 manufacturer based in Europe, pursuant to which the parties will cooperate in the development of radar systems and jointly submit proposals for the provision of systems in RFQ or RFI procedures with potential customers. We and Valeo received a grant from the European Union for a radar demo project using our radar chipset in Ford’s truck fleet.

Valeo was awarded an RFQ from a global OEM for the development of next generation radar systems based on our radar chipset. According to the RFQ, Valeo received payment for non-recurring engineering expenses which was followed by a purchase order to us for our services.

Weifu

On January 8, 2020, we entered into an agreement with Weifu High-Technology Group Co., Ltd (hereinafter: “Weifu”), a Tier 1 automotive manufacturer in China pursuant to which Weifu agreed to develop and manufacture vehicle radar systems based on our radar chips. The agreement with Weifu included, inter alia, a commitment by Weifu to pay us for chipset costs, support in development, system design and documentation. On December 18, 2020, we and Weifu expanded the joint project and agreed to increase the scope of the project for an additional fee. The agreement also stipulated the price that Weifu will pay to buy the chips during the mass production phase. Weifu is in the process of developing radar systems based on our radar chips, and has begun performing demonstrations to OEMs in China, using a sample provided by us. On February 10, 2021, we and Weifu signed an agreement for the sale of 50 of our chipsets. Weifu announced it reached a road pilot phase of its our chipset based radar systems and is scheduled to be in full production by 2024.

Hirain

On March 1, 2020, we entered into a memorandum of understanding with Hirain Technologies, a Tier 1 automotive manufacturer in China, pursuant to which Hirain will develop and manufacture radar systems for vehicles based on our radar chips, backed by funding from a bi-national Israel-China research foundation (Beijing). On August 19, 2020, a distribution agreement was signed between the parties, granting Hirain the right to sell our demo systems to its customers in China. Effective March 1, 2021, we and Hirain entered into an agreement under which Hirain will develop and manufacture automotive radar systems based on our radar chipset. The agreement with Hirain included, inter alia, a commitment by Hirain to pay us for chipset costs, support in development, system design and documentation. During the fourth quarter of 2022, HiRain issued I preliminary order for 340,000 radar chipsets.

BAIC

On July 1, 2019, we entered into a memorandum of understanding with BAIC Group Industrial Investment Co. Ltd., an auto manufacturer based in China, pursuant to which the parties agreed to cooperate for achieving various aims and objectives relating to the design, development and commercialization of 4D imaging radar chipsets based for China automotive industry. BAIC Group’s Deputy General Manager announced that Arbe’s technology will be installed on its mass-produced models

Ordering samples (proof of concept) - OEMs

As of end of 2022, we have received orders from OEMs, Tier 1 manufacturers and other companies who seek to take advantage of the market opportunity to purchase from us A samples, which are systems for the purpose of testing capabilities and development. The agreements grant the right of use to the recipients of the samples while safeguarding our intellectual property and limiting our liability. The volume of revenue for selling samples is not significant. In October 2021, we were chosen by a European OEM to participate in its artificial intelligence-based technologies for environment perception (radar sensors) innovation project. The revenue from this project is not significant. This selection was further extended to participate in another project with the OEM toward development of production software. Being chosen to participate in the project does not guarantee that we will receive a production order, and, if the parties enter into a production agreement, such an agreement will not be signed in the near future. Although our primary focus is on seeking order for commercial production, we believe these agreements with OEMs and Tier 1 manufacturers is an important part of our marketing effort directed at the OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers.

Chips for non-retail automotive radar systems

Qamcom

On October 16, 2020, we entered into an agreement with Qamcom Research & Technology AB (“Qamcom”), which set out principles of cooperation between the parties for the development of radar systems based on our radar chips, for non-automotive target markets, such as delivery robots, agricultural tools, smart traffic lights, train junctions, and other markets.

On January 11, 2021, we entered into a strategic agreement with Qamcom under which Qamcom will develop and manufacture imaging radars based on our chipset to be used in the non-automotive market. The agreement with Qamcom included, inter alia, a commitment by Qamcom to pay us for the chipset cost and portion of the module hardware cost, for the receipt of support in development, system design and documentation. As of March 1, 2023, Qamcom has ordered more than 1,000 chipsets as part of this joint development activity.

Auto X

On April 7, 2021, we entered into a strategic agreement with Shenzhen Guodong Smart Driving Technologies Co. Ltd (“Auto X”) under which AutoX agreed to integrate 400,000 radars based on our chipset into L4 vehicles, over a period of five years provided that the product and support from us to develop the AutoX radar meet the requirement of AutoX.

We are under evaluation of other leading Tier-1s and engaged with OEMs that did not approve to release their names.

Manufacturing

On June 27, 2022, we entered into a manufacturing agreement with GlobalFoundries Singapore Pte. Ltd. (“GlobalFoundries”) for the manufacturing of our semiconductor products, as well as other services, including pre-production, quality assurance, assembly, testing and supply-chain management.

We depend on GlobalFoundries to manufacture our semiconductor products. This agreement helps us secure the production of our semiconductor products and GlobalFoundries is committed to supply our binding forecasts.

The initial term of the agreement is five (5) years. The agreement includes other customary terms for semiconductor manufacturing agreements, such as product recalls, warranty and business continuity.   

We believe that outsourcing provides us a more secure path in production for quality control and reliability for automotive requirements, although we will be dependent on the contract manufacturer to meet our capacity, delivery and quality requirements.

Research and Development

We were founded as a research and development company, developing microchips for miniature radar systems for companies operating drone fleets, with the aim of providing a technological solution that would enable the drone to detect at high speeds and improved resolution various obstacles, using little electrical power. Once the drone technology was developed, we decided to change the focus of its strategy and research and development to the field of chips for radar systems for autonomous vehicles.

Our research and development activities are conducted in Israel. We have received Israel Innovation Authority (“IIA”) grant approval for certain approved programs. We received grants from IIA and the European Community that, as of the March 1, 2023, amount to approximately $3.7 million, based on the exchange rate when the grants were received. We are obligated to pay royalties to the IIA, amounting to 4% of the sales of the products and other related revenues generated from such projects. The maximum aggregate royalties paid generally cannot exceed 100% of the grants received, plus annual interest generally equal to 12-months LIBOR applicable to dollar deposits, as published on the first business day of each calendar year. The obligation to pay these royalties is contingent on sales of the products.

Our principal operating expenses are research and development expenses, which were approximately $36.7 million, $28.6 million and $12.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Our research and development efforts are focused on enhancing and developing the 4D imaging radar chipset solution and the accompanying software. The increase in research and development expenses reflected the ramp up in our operations, including hiring and starting work toward its full production plan. The expenses for the year ended December 31, 2020 reflect the COVID-19 pandemic and steps taken by company including salary reduction, termination of employment of employees, hiring freeze, termination and renegotiation of agreements with subcontractors and delay in some research and development programs such as the postponement of production its chipsets. The pandemic delayed projects with Tier 1 automotive suppliers and OEMs by an estimated six months. By the end 2020, we saw that the automotive industry was starting to become normal, based on its indications from the Tier 1 automotive suppliers and OEMs with which we had been working before the pandemic. As of December 31, 2022, the automotive industry was back to normal.

Intellectual Property

Our intellectual property is a crucial part of our business. Our IP rights are protected by a combination of patents, trade secret protection, confidentiality agreements, and other contractual agreements with employees and third parties. We have applied for patent protection in several jurisdictions including Israel, United States, Europe, and China and have been granted patents in both Israel and the United States. Unpatented trade secrets as well are an important aspect of our business.

We filed patent applications for 18 unique patent families covering a wide range of fields related to our products features and aspects including radar signal processing, radar Tx/Rx integrated circuit design, radar coexistence and mutual interface mitigation techniques, package design, antenna design, post-processing methods and algorithms, and system design. We filed these applications, including utility and provisional applications, in jurisdictions that we believe are the main automotive markets and development centers around the world, principally the United States, the European Union and China. Ten patents, covering nine different inventions, have been granted in the United States and Israel, with patents generally having a term of 20 years from their filing date. Among the patents granted are patents covering methods for mitigation of mutual interference between automotive radars including frequency hopping multiband chirp techniques, a radome for automotive radar patch antennas, RFIC packaging techniques including low loss transmission lines, a radar-based system for real-time simultaneous localization and mapping, known as SLAM, a MIMO radar array antenna, and a method for separating targets and clutter from noise.

Competition

The market for competitive automotive sensing solutions that enable autonomous driving is an emerging market with many potential applications in the development stage. As a result, we face competition from a range of companies (from large corporations to start-ups) seeking to have their products incorporated into these developing applications and it may take a period of time for its primary competitors to emerge.

The ADAS market is formed of Tier 1 manufacturers which manufacture radar systems, as well as companies that develop and manufacture software and hardware such as chips and sensors for the radar systems, which are called Tier 2 supplier. We are a Tier 2 supplier, which has its products manufactured by a third-party manufacturer. As a Tier 2 supplier, we supply imaging radar chipset to Tier 1 manufacturers who are building imaging radar systems and to OEMs.

We believe that the following strengths differentiate us and will enable us to successfully compete and maintain our leadership position in our target markets.

Our chipset has the highest channel count in the industry, which provides the highest resolutions, true 4-dimensional view of the vehicle’s environment, including separation in high resolution in elevation, an industry first. In addition, our dedicated radar processor chip, which was designed specifically for the automotive industry sets it apart from competition, providing not only fast time to market, but more importantly the ability to reduce power consumption, and overall solution cost.

The following chart compares the performance of radar chipset, to our chipset:

While Texas Instruments, NXP and Infineon offer a low-resolution radar chip of 3Rx * 4Tx, without a dedicated processor for current generation radars, other companies are targeting the imaging radar space with high resolution radar chipsets.

Uhnder

Uhnder, a Texas-based radar company backed by Magna, develops digital radar-on-a-chip. It has designed a single-chip radar with 12Rx * 16Tx (vs. our 48Rx * 48Tx). The company expects to reach production in 2023. Their radar is based on phase modulated continuous wave (PMCW) modulation, not the standard frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW), which we believe complicates system design, increases cost, and damages the solution’s dynamic range and can suffer from interference coming from close objects. Since FMCW is now generally accepted in the automotive market, we believe that most of the recent activity by Uhnder being based on PMCW suggests to us that it may be focusing on non-automotive markets.

Echodyne

Echodyne powers high-performance metamaterials electronically scanned array radars, a concept that we believe does not fit the requirements of automotive industry, scanning by design create a tradeoff between Doppler resolution, azimuth resolution and update rate, which in our view is unacceptable in automotive, which requires all three in parallel. Due to the higher price of the metamaterial technology, Echodyne does not target the automotive industry, but defense force vehicles, security systems, and unmanned aerial and ground vehicles.

Mobileye

After previously announcing the development of a 2,304 virtual channels radar (48x48 Rx*Tx), Mobileye has announced that it updated its channel count to 1,728 virtual channels (36x48), which we believe gives up some image quality resolution and decreases the throughput and required processing power. We believe that on the one hand MobilEye’s decision to develop a 4D imaging radar is significant to the automotive market in acknowledging Mobileye’s view of the imaging radar’s key role in the overall perception solution, while on the other hand we believe that our excess channel count indicates that our solution has a higher angular native resolution with lower native false alarms and an efficient handling of high throughput and processing. Mobileye has stated that its radar system is planned to complete production in 2025, which we believe places Mobileye two years behind us. We believe that Mobileye plans to play some of the roles of the Tier 1 automotive supplier, and compete with our customers, who are leading automotive radar Tier 1s, with years of experience in this space. We believe, based on the specification Mobileye published, that our current chipset has better performance, price and power and that using our radar chipset solution would better meet the needs of the developing autonomous vehicle market.

We believe that our technology offers advanced radar performance at an affordable price. The illustration below provides a comparison of the leading radar systems channel count and prices. 

*Source: Arbe’s assessment of competitive landscape

Current Generation Radars

Traditional commercial radar systems have 5-degree (or worse) resolution. Due to their low azimuth resolution and lack of elevation resolution, traditional radars, that were originally designed for controlling emergency braking and adaptive cruise control, are limited to detecting moving vehicles and discarding all detections of the stationary environment and cannot address free space mapping that requires high elevation resolution. Traditional radars have a high level of false alarms that trigger reports of phantom objects and false positives. For this reason, the detection threshold, is raised which results in decreased radar sensitivity and may lead to accidents. We have revolutionized radar by addressing these core issues that have caused recent driverless vehicle and autopilot accidents by detecting stationary objects, identifying vulnerable road users, and eliminating false alarms without radar ambiguities.

Oculii for short range radar

Oculii, established in 2013, offers a software solution which is implemented on top of traditional 3Rx * 4Tx radar chips, with the aim to improve the elevation and azimuth resolution and to expand the field of view. This approach will also lead to a denser point cloud (hundreds of thousands of points per second) which in turn would allow more advanced signal processing. However, the software solution is not applicable to autonomy level beyond level 2, due to low performance and reliability.

Continental ARS 540

The Continental system is based on four Texas Instrument 3Rx * 4Tx chips, cascaded to achieve a 12*16 array, as well as the Xilinx FPGA (field-programmable gate array) board, and not a radar processor on a chip like our solution. FPGA is not designed for large scale automotive solutions, and therefore has many drawbacks — it is expensive, the continental system costs around $200 to $300 in high volumes, it requires high power consumption, has heat dissipation issues, and supports fewer frames per second and very low number of detections per frame. The platform may have ambiguity issues increasing the false alarm rate as well as filtering out real detection.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)

As an auto-tech company, we have developed what we believe is a revolutionary radar that will enable truly safe driver-assist systems that can save lives on the road. Our mission is to strengthen and enhance the safety of vehicle users and others in the industry who can apply the technology to their service.

Our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices are guided by our social mission of saving lives and securing people’s safety on the road. Notably, the social element in ESG is reflected in the essence of our product as we created a system that assists with the prevention of injuries and fatalities while driving. Additionally, as part of our community involvement, we donated options totaling over NIS 1,150,000 to the “Tmura” association, that supports and assists disadvantaged populations in Israeli society. We also encourage our employees to participate in volunteering initiatives in the local community. As part of our spirit, we strengthen diversity and equality through equal pay and affirmative action towards recruiting and advancing qualified women.

We conduct our business activities based on a firm commitment to ethical values and corporate governance best practices. Our policy is to follow leading ESG principles in relation to our supply chain, including, evaluating, and engaging responsible suppliers. Our suppliers must operate in compliance with all applicable national and international laws and regulations, as well as implement the principles of the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) Code of Conduct. We are working with GlobalFoundries, a company that we believe values, supports and leads best ESG practices.

A global trend across most industries has developed over the last few years, consisting of growing interest among institutions and investors in using ESG considerations in making investment decisions. Stakeholders demands for transparency and information regarding companies’ ESG performance has also become universal and common. Furthermore, ESG disclosures and regulations have advanced concurrently with countries implementing policies and disclosure standards, requiring entities to comply with ESG practices and reporting standards.

We believe in the importance of promoting and adopting practices that support ESG implementation within our activities. During 2022 we began analyzing and mapping an ESG strategy to work across all company activities. We will continue to advance our commitment to ESG practices across our operations, as well as monitor the development of regulatory requirements.

Regulations

The automotive industry is subject to high standards of safety and quality. The integration of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems may stem from binding regulatory directives or from initiative on part of the car manufacturers (driven, inter alia, by the wish to obtain a higher safety rating or to accommodate demand from vehicle consumers). Our products will need to meet quality and safety control standards, regional and international ISO standards and dedicated standards pertaining to ADAS.

Autonomous vehicles are subject to emerging regulatory frameworks at the federal and state levels that are in a rapid state of change. In general, at both the federal and state level, the U.S. has provided a positive and relatively permissive legal environment to allow the safe testing and development of autonomous functionality. We do not anticipate any near-term federal standards that would impede the foreseeable deployments of our radar technology. Some states, however, particularly California and New York, still enforce certain operational or registration requirements for certain autonomous functions. We believe such hurdles will be removed as state regulators gain better experience with the technology. U.S. federal regulations, however, remain largely permissive of deployments of higher levels of safe and responsible autonomous functionality.

In 2015, the NHTSA announced a plan to update the criteria for 5-star safety ratings, to encourage automakers to use technology to prevent traffic accidents. In 2016, the NHTSA added automated braking systems to the list of technologies required to achieve a 5-star safety ratings. The technologies currently recommended by the NHTSA include: forward collision warning, lane departure warning, rear view video system, and automatic emergency breaking.

Foreign markets such as the China and the EU also continue to develop their respective standards to define deployment requirements for higher levels of autonomy. In China, for example, the government has undertaken numerous efforts to promote autonomous vehicle development, including its February 2020 release of the Strategies for Innovation and Development of Autonomous Vehicles by China’s National Development and Reform Commission and ten other agencies. This initiative sets forth an ambitious plan to create a systematic framework for technical innovation, industrial ecology, infrastructure, regulations and standards, product regulation and network security in the autonomous vehicles market by 2025, and from 2035 to 2050, to fully establish an ecosystem for autonomous vehicles. Much of the emerging regulatory and legislative activity around autonomous vehicles in the EU has been focused on data privacy and security, given the volume and types of data collected, stored and transmitted by autonomous vehicles. A key part of Europe’s emerging autonomous vehicles strategy is the creation of a common European mobility data space, to be further developed in the EU’s “Smart and Sustainable Transport Strategy.” Given the intense work in these areas, we expect a workable path forward in the near-term in these markets.

The automotive industry in Japan puts all automotive and telecommunications technologies through a rigorous certification process prior to commercial evaluation in the region. In February 2022, we obtained the Japanese Telecommunication and Radio certification for radar samples based on our mass production RF chipset.

Like all companies operating in similar industries, we are subject to environmental regulation, including water use; air emissions; use of recycled materials; energy sources; the storage, handling, treatment, transportation and disposal of hazardous materials; and the remediation of environmental contamination. Compliance with these rules may include the need to obtain permits and licenses and to allow inspections of our facilities and products.

Overall, the autonomous vehicles regulatory landscape is still evolving rapidly. We may become subject to additional regulatory schemes and requirements as the development of federal, state and foreign legal frameworks around autonomous vehicles continue to develop and change.

In recent years, governments, authorities and organizations around the world have sought to tackle the problem of traffic accidents, through — among other methods — regulation and legislation that encourage, and even require, installation of ADAS in vehicles. Such trends are gaining momentum and are being promoted by the NHTSA and Euro-NCAP, among others, who institute standards for safety ratings for new vehicles, and provide the highest rating (5 stars) where advanced technology for the prevention of traffic accidents is installed. A similar trend applies to the Chinese car safety assessment program CNCAP which incorporates “Active Safety” criteria into its 5-star rating. In Israel, for instance, in 2015, the government approved the Ministry of Transport’s plan to provide a financial incentive for private vehicle owners to install lifesaving safety systems, and to establish that buses and trucks would be required to install a system for identifying pedestrians as a condition for renewing the vehicle’s license.

Source: Yole, Driving Radar Resolution, February 2023.

It should be noted that in addition to the regulatory trends, awareness among automakers and vehicle owners of the importance and benefits of installing ADAS (even in the absence of binding regulation) has increased, and it is likely that in the future, the vast majority of new vehicles will be equipped with such systems. This trend is expected to accelerate due to various factors, including improvements that have enabled price reduction.

Regulation or standardization may stipulate that automakers or vehicle-owners install ADAS in general, and radar systems in particular, which could facilitate our penetration into potential target markets.

Similarly, internal regulation adopted by OEMs voluntarily, or regulation by insurance companies requiring ADAS as a prerequisite for an insurance policy may also benefit our operations and business outcomes.

As an Israeli company, we are subject to laws and regulations applicable to all companies, including export controls, privacy, cybersecurity, anti-corruption, labor relations and workplace laws and regulations.

Legal Proceedings

We are not currently a party to any legal proceedings.

C. Organizational Structure

We have two subsidiaries, Arbe Robotics US, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and Autobot HoldCo, Inc., a Delaware corporation that was formerly known as Industrial Tech Acquisitions, Inc. and become a wholly owned subsidiary as a result of the Merger.

D. Property, plants and equipment.

We do not have any material tangible fixed assets. We do not own any real estate. We rent offices from third parties, extending over an area of approximately 900 square meters located in 107 HaHashmonaim Street in Tel Aviv. We pay monthly rent of approximately $30,800. The offices serve both for our R&D activities and our corporate headquarters.

ITEM 4A. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

Not Applicable

ITEM 5. OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW AND PROSPECTS

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our audited financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 and notes to those statements included elsewhere in this annual report. Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis or set forth elsewhere in this annual report, including information with respect to our plans and strategy for our business, includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. As a result of many factors, including those factors set forth in the “Cautionary Note Concerning Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” sections of this annual report, our actual results could differ materially from the results described in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in the following discussion and analysis.

Overview

Arbe is driving a radar revolution, paving the way for an autonomous future, utilizing an outstanding, truly safe, commercially viable, 4D Imaging solution. As a global leader in radar technology, Arbe enables safe roads today paving the way to full autonomy for passenger cars, autonomous trucks, delivery robots, robotaxies, commercial vehicles, and empowering a wide array of safety applications with advanced sensing and paradigm-changing perception.

Founded in 2015 by Chief Executive Officer Kobi Marenko, Chief Technology Officer Dr. Noam Arkind, and former Chief Operations Officer Oz Fixman, our breakthrough technology has transformed radar as a sensor for ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems) and autonomous vehicles from the chip-level up, with technological breakthroughs across all core components. As a result, we have created what we believe is the only imaging radar sensor that meets the demanding performance, safety, and cost requirements for Level 2+ through Level 5 autonomous vehicles, bypassing the traditional limitations of legacy radar technology- low resolution, inability to sense stationary objects, high false alarm rate, lack of resolution, to name a few. Integrating the advanced hardware with our custom AI stack enables support for advanced perception capabilities at mass market prices, with top performance in all environments, weather and lighting.

Our 4D imaging radar, delivering an image that we believe is 100 times more detailed than any commercial radar on the market, sets a new standard for safety in the industry, and is designed to enable accurate and reliable sensing in some of the most challenging use cases that autonomous vehicles can encounter on a regular basis – such as providing free space mapping in a tunnel, detecting a tire on the road ahead in heavy rain, tracking pedestrians in the dark. This is achieved by the development of a chipset with the highest channel count in the industry, proprietary radar processing algorithms, and our industry first radar-based perception applications.

Our advanced semiconductors technology has made us one of the leading providers for the world’s top OEMs. With 127 employees, as of March 1, 2023, we have scaled to over 30 evaluation projects and were have been advised that we are on the short list with 9 OEM, robotaxis, delivery robots, and autonomous trucks projects. Our imaging radar was selected by AutoX to enable its fully autonomous robotaxi fleet. We were selected for a production oriented development project with a Top 4 global OEM and three other OEMs, which are progressing towards selection in 2023. A Top 10 global OEM selected us for an “Imaging Radar - based perception” project. BAIC Group has announced that our technology will be installed on its mass-produced Level 2.5 / Level 3 models. Our solution was also selected for a smart mobility project.

The automotive radar industry is expected to have an estimated total addressable market opportunity of approximately $11 billion in 2025⁶. Our model to capture this opportunity is to work directly with top established Tier 1 automotive suppliers in order to power their next generation radars. Correspondingly, we have established relationships with six Tier-1 suppliers who are building production radars based on our chipset, including Veoneer, Valeo, Weifu, Hirain, and Qamcom. While there is a recognized chip shortage and supply chain challenges that will continue to impact global markets in 2023, GlobalFoundries, our chip manufacturer which is responsible for chip production and supply chain management, has advised us that it will have the capacity necessary to meet our commitments based on our forecasts for 2023 and 2024.

Business Combination and Public Company Costs

On October 7, 2021, we completed the merger with ITAC.  As a result of the merger, our ordinary shares are registered under the Exchange Act and listed on Nasdaq, and we were required to hire additional personnel and implement procedures and processes to address public company regulatory requirements and customary practices including the implementation and maintenance of internal controls over financial reporting and disclosure controls. We are incurring additional expenses as a public company for, among other things, directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, director fees and additional internal and external accounting and legal and administrative resources, including increased audit and legal fees.

Total gross proceeds from the business combination were approximately $118,288,000 with transaction costs of approximately $16,707,000. The total gross proceeds include gross proceeds of $100,000,000 from the sale of 10,000,000 ordinary shares to PIPE investors at $10.00 per share, and $18,288,000, representing the funds remaining in ITAC’s trust account after payment to the redeeming ITAC stockholders.

Recapitalization and Stock Split

All share and per share information uses has been retroactively restated to reflect the 46.25783-for-one stock split and the changes in par value of our ordinary shares from NIS 0.01 per share to NIS 0.000216 per share effected on October 7, 2021 as part of the Recapitalization and the issuance of ordinary shares as part of the Recapitalization, assuming the ordinary shares were outstanding at the beginning of the periods presented.

Key Factors Affecting our Operating Results

We believe that our future performance and success depends to a substantial extent on the following factors, each of which is in turn subject to significant risks and challenges, including those discussed below and in the section of this annual report in Item 3 under “Risk Factors.”

In a field in which we operate, the key to generating business is the ability to offer the latest technology at a competitive price. For us to be successful, we must offer the latest technological developments. Our research and development effort are oriented to maintaining what we believe is our leading-edge technology. Our success is substantially dependent on the global demand for ADAS.

Although we believe that widespread adoption of 4D imaging radar across applications for safety and autonomy is approaching and that we are well-positioned in both automotive and non-automotive markets to take advantage of this opportunity, mass production passenger vehicles OEMs are just beginning to commercialize level 2+ and autonomous systems that will rely on imaging radar technology. We therefore expect the rate of actual adoption and commercialization of radar-based solutions by automotive OEMs and their suppliers will impact our results of operations, including revenue and gross margins for the foreseeable future as well as government regulations relating to ADAS and autonomous driving solutions.

We also intend to target markets beyond mass production passenger vehicles, including vehicle applications like trucks, shuttles, automated ground delivery vehicles, and industrial verticals like industrial robots, security systems, ground protection, drones, traffic monitoring. Our solution has the potential to be a primary sensor candidate for many autonomous and semi-autonomous applications and next generation perception platforms. As a result, we believe that we could operate in some of those markets in parallel with the automotive market. 

As a Tier 2 supplier of advanced technology to Tier 1 automotive suppliers and OEMs, our results of operations will be impacted by the level of demand for our product from Tier 1 automotive suppliers and OEMs which base their radars based on our chipset solution.

The semiconductor market generally and the automotive industry in particular are experiencing shortages in the supply of chips due to increased demand in general, and specifically in the automotive industry. We have taken and will continue to take measures which are intended to place us in a position to be able to meet all the demand of our customers, including significant prepayment for our products, although our efforts may not be successful. We rely on our manufacturer, GlobalFoundries, to maintain the supply of chips, and we are dependent upon GlobalFoundries’ supply and manufacturing capacity.

We are competing for talent in a highly competitive environment, which results in higher compensation packages to employees. We cannot give assurance that we will be able to hire all required positions when they are required or to retain those that we hire.

Our radar system is being evaluated by 12 of the top-15 global automakers by sales, and most major autonomous trucking and robotaxi programs currently in development, reflecting the significant commercial interest in imaging radar. We anticipate that these programs will make their decisions with respect to their radar technology commencing in 2023. Currently, we have entered into a contract with autoX to integrate our chips in its production vehicle. We also have a preliminary order from HiRain, the leading Chinese ADAS Tier 1 supplier, for 2023 and 2024, moving Arbe into the mass production phase. The order consists of 340,000 radar chipsets that will be supplied to HiRain’s customers throughout China. Because of the preliminary nature of the order, it is not included in our backlog.

In order to achieve profitability, we need to generate orders and binding commitments from our current evaluation projects. Delays in the autonomy programs of the OEMs to which we provide our chipset, currently or in the future, could adversely affect our ability to meet our revenue targets and achieve profitability in the time frame we anticipate.

Since OEMs rely on Tier 1 automotive suppliers for components such as radar-based product, if a leading Tier1 supplier goes into production with an imaging radar that is based on our chips the chances of an OEM basing its radar on our technology is likely to increase. We believe that the fact that Tier-1 suppliers already have radar production lines that they need to upgrade for imaging radar, reduces dramatically the risk and the cost in taking our technology to the mainstream.

As with other companies engaged in ADAS, our business is dependent upon regulations relating to autonomous driving solutions. Although we believe that our systems comply with applicable regulations, any new regulations may have the effect of preferring one technology over other technologies, Since the nature and scope of future regulations may be affected by conditions and events, we cannot predict the nature of any future regulations and their effect on our business,. 

Market Trends and Uncertainties

We estimate the total addressable market for Advanced Drive Assistance Systems, known as ADAS, and autonomous driving technology, will grow to approximately $65.1 billion or more in 2030⁷ and we believe that this growth will result in a demand for our imaging radar chips. As automotive OEMs have shifted their focus from Level 4/5 autonomy to Level 2+, we believe Arbe has the opportunity, with its first to market 4D imaging radar, to capture a significant share of the lucrative market. We believe that we are positioned as the only company with deeply integrated hardware and software products that currently meet the OEM specification requirements for safe Level 2+ to Level 5 autonomy, which constitutes a significant portion of the market.

We believe that we have multiple levers for sustained growth and market opportunities in addition to the automotive industry, with a core strategy to focus on attractive markets with significant growth and profitability potential. Specifically, the markets of focus include passenger cars, commercial trucks, and robotaxi fleets. Each such market is potentially a significant global opportunity, and these markets have historically been underserved by inferior technology or not served at all.

Our most immediate market focus is on passenger and commercial vehicle safety on highways and ADAS applications. We believe there is significant room for improvement with regard to standard ADAS and crash avoidance. ADAS volumes are primarily driven by the Chinese, European and North American markets which have increasingly stringent safety regulations and consumer preference for safety. We are well positioned to capitalize on the increased ADAS demand in response to these increased safety regulations. Although increasing automotive performance requirements may generate higher demand, we may not be able to take advantage of demand if we are unable to anticipate regulatory and industry changes and adapt quickly enough to meet new regulatory standards or requirements. Market acceptance of active safety technology depends upon many factors.

COVID-19 Impact

During 2020, the spread of COVID-19 and the actions taken by governments have had an impact on the automotive industry, which at first estimated a reduced demand but then experienced a significant increase in demand for vehicle production and sales, which caused a chip shortage reality. As a result, some automotive factories were shut down at the beginning of this period, and some projects were placed on hold or cancelled. As of the date of this annual report, automakers around the world have resumed full development operations, and our business in not currently affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, except to the extent of a continuing chip shortage which resulted from closures as a result of actions taken by governments and industry to address the pandemic. We cannot predict the effect on our business or the automotive market in general in event that increased hospitalization and deaths result from the pandemic, including in China following the government’s change from its former zero-COVID policy. We believe that the long-term horizon of our business plans can mitigate the impact of the pandemic. We considered the impact of COVID-19 on the estimates and assumptions and determined that there were no material adverse impacts on us in 2022 from COVID-19 factors.

Global Demand

Our business is related to global automotive sales and automotive vehicle production by our Tier-1 customers and their OEM customers and engagements. Economic conditions in North America, Europe and Asia can have a large impact on the production volume of new vehicles, and, accordingly, have an impact on our revenue. OEM customers’ production can vary from period to period due to global demand, market conditions and competitive conditions. We expect to continue to seek to capitalize on our strong and collaborative relationships with OEMs and Tier 1s to expand our presence in key markets and capture the long-term growth opportunities in those markets. 

ADAS and Autonomous Driving Regulation  

Demand for our solutions is influenced by the impact of regulation and the ratings systems deployed by the various NCAPs, particularly the Euro NCAP and the U.S. NCAP, administered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. As these NCAPs demand more ADAS applications such as automatic emergency braking, we believe that OEMs will increasingly include ADAS as a standard feature in their models to maintain or to achieve the highest safety ratings. In many countries, these safety assessments have created a “market for safety” as car manufacturers seek to demonstrate that their models satisfy the NCAPs’ highest ratings. We expect national NCAPs to continue to add specific ADAS applications to their evaluation items over the next several years, led by the Euro NCAP. In recent years, as regulatory requirements and NCAP ratings have increased, OEMs have also begun to highlight their safety features as a competitive advantage. As additional regulations are implemented around the world, we expect this to lead to increased global adoption of ADAS, and we believe that we are well positioned to benefit from such increasing safety regulations globally, particularly due to the verifiable nature of our current and future solutions. 

Fully autonomous vehicles are still nascent, and regulation of autonomous driving is evolving globally on both a local and national level. We believe that regulatory bodies will demand that AV undergo certain validation and audit requirements before autonomous driving is permitted. The potential impact of regulatory requirements and initiatives on the timing for widespread adoption of fully or even partially autonomous driving and on the cost of developing and introducing autonomous driving solutions is uncertain. Notwithstanding the uncertainties, we see a clear trend of adopting partial autonomous driving features, operated in specific scenarios, under specific conditions and in different level of supervision. Radars that are based on our chipset can help develop such features and make them available on private vehicle and in high level of safety at a very affordable cost.

We cannot provide any assurance how any such regulations will impact us and the extent of such impact, particularly if autonomous driving is prohibited in certain areas. 

Effect of the Russian Invasion in Ukraine

On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation launched an invasion of Ukraine that has had an immediate impact on the global economy resulting in higher energy prices and higher prices for certain raw materials and goods and services which in turn is contributing to higher inflation in the United States and other countries across the globe with significant disruption to financial markets and supply and distribution chains for certain raw materials and goods and services on an unprecedented scale. The Russian Federation could resort to cyberattacks and other action that impact businesses across the United States, the European Union, Israel and other nations across the globe including those without any direct business ties to the Russian Federation. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has continued to escalate without any resolution of the invasion foreseeable in the near future with the short and long-term impact on financial and business conditions in Europe remaining highly uncertain. Although we do not have any business in Russia or Ukraine, the effects of the invasion could affect the European economy, which may affect European automobile companies.

Although we do not have any agreements with any companies in Russia or Ukraine, the Russian invasion of Ukraine could have significant adverse effects upon our business, including, but not limited to, the following

We cannot predict the manner in which the Russian invasion of Ukraine will impact our business. However, the longer the invasion continues, the more likely the adverse effects will be material and, if our business declines as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, will be material. Further, to the extent that the conflict widens and involves NATO forces, the negative effects on our business and automotive industry in general, may be substantially exacerbated.

To the extent that any of these factors affect our supplier, GlobalFoundries, including its ability to obtain the semiconductors necessary for our product, our ability to deliver any products that are ordered from us will be impaired, which may impact our ability to obtain orders for our products.

We will assess and respond where appropriate to any direct or indirect impact that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has on the availability or pricing of the raw materials for our products, manufacturing and supply and distribution chains for our products and on the pricing and demand for our products.

Adverse economic conditions may also result in a higher rate of losses on accounts receivables that we accrue in the future due to credit defaults. As a result, a downturn in the worldwide economy resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and other conflicts with a global impact that may arise from time to time could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and/or financial condition.

Public company expenses

As a public company, we will be implementing additional procedures and processes for the purpose of addressing the standards and requirements applicable to public companies. Specifically, we expect our accounting, legal and personnel-related expenses to increase as we establish more comprehensive compliance and governance functions and hire additional personnel to support such functions, maintain and review internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and prepare and distribute periodic reports in accordance with SEC rules.

Results of Operations

Years Ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020

Revenue

The following table sets forth our revenue for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 by geographic region (dollars in thousands):

The increase in revenue in 2022 compared to 2021 was primarily driven by in sales from chipsets. The increase in revenue in 2021 compared to 2020 was primarily driven by additional revenue from chipsets and samples and to a lesser extent from professional services as we expanded our business compared to 2020, when we first recognized revenue, which was mainly derived from samples.

Cost of Revenue

Cost of revenue includes the manufacturing cost of radar sensors and chipsets, which primarily consists of components cost, assembly costs and personnel-related costs directly associated with our customer support personnel and an allocated portion of facility, IT costs and depreciation. We expect cost of revenue to increase in absolute dollars in future periods as we increase our revenue, however, we expect the cost per unit to decrease over time as we shift from the manufacturing of prototype full radar system to production of chipsets sales in response to orders for commercial quantities. The fixed cost components (most notably labor cost) will also drive margin improvement upon revenue increase due to leveraging economy of scale notwithstanding increased labor costs. Cost of revenue for 2022 was approximately $1.3 million, resulting in a gross profit of approximately $2.2 million. Cost of revenue for 2021 was approximately $1.4 million, resulting in a gross profit of $0.8 million. Cost of revenue for 2020 was approximately $0.3 million, resulting in a negative gross profit of $8,000. Improvement in gross profit was attributed mainly to revenue increase and product mix that included more higher margin sales.

Gross Margin

Gross margin for 2022 was 63.5% compared to 36.0% in 2021 and a negative gross margin in 2020. The increase in gross margin in 2022 compared to 2021 was primarily related to economy of scale, revenue mix and lower cost per unit as we progress toward commercial production. As we shift from prototype full radar system sales to production of chipsets in response to orders for commercial quantities, we expect higher margin in the long run, still, as we enter into production (during our launch period), we expect lower margin.

Improvement in gross margin from in 2021 compared to 2020 was attributed mainly to revenue increase and product mix that included more higher margin sales. Cost of revenue for 2020 was approximately $0.3 million, resulting in a negative gross margin of $8,000.

Operating Expenses

Research and Development Expenses

Our research and development efforts are focused on enhancing and developing the 4D imaging radar chipset solution and the accompanying software.

Research and development expenses include

Our principal operating expenses is research and development, which was approximately $36.7 million in 2022, $28.6 million in 2021 and $12.8 million in 2020. The increase was primarily as a result of a $8.3 million increase in labor costs including share-based compensation costs, driven mainly by increased headcount and higher value of equity awards offset by foreign exchange impact, as our expenses are incurred in NIS and our financial statements are in US dollars.

Our research and development expense in 2020 was approximately $12.8 million. The increase from 2020 to 2021 was primarily as a result of a $6 million increase in labor costs including share-based compensation costs, driven mainly by increased headcount, a higher value of equity awards and foreign exchange impact. Additional increases of $3.1 million from subcontractors cost such as backend development work, $3.0 million costs relating to the finalization of the design process prior to manufacturing, reflecting three new chip versions, $1.7 million of material, tools and third-party software licenses and a $1.4 million increase due to less government grants.

Research and development expenses have streamlined toward the beginning of 2023, as we change our focus towards obtaining production items and we will need to devote less research and development expenses relating to the production of our systems, which are the responsibility of our manufacturer, GlobalFoundries. We will continue our research and development activities as they relate to product enhancement and new products as well as to develop the next generation radar system.

Sales and Marketing Expenses

Sales and marketing expenses were approximately $4.6 million in 2022 compared to approximately $1.8 million in 2021 and $1.1 million in 2020. The increase of $2.8 million in 2022 was primarily attributed to labor cost, which included share-based compensation, and to a lesser extent an increase in travel and conferences cost. The increase of approximately $0.8 million in 2021 was primarily attributed to labor cost and share-based compensation cost and to a lesser extent, general overhead costs resulting from our status as a public company. Labor cost related expenses consist of salaries and benefits. Marketing expenses include the cost of sales commissions, marketing programs, trade shows, consulting services, promotional materials, demonstration equipment and an allocated portion of facility, IT costs and depreciation. We expect that our sales and marketing expenses will increase in absolute dollars over time as we hire additional sales and marketing personnel to support our customers, Tier-1 supplier relationships, and OEM relationships, as we will also increase our marketing activities and penetration and grow our domestic and international footprint.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses, which were approximately $8.6 million in 2022, approximately $3.7 million in 2021 and approximately $1.1 million in 2020, consist of personnel-related expenses for corporate, executive, finance, and other administrative functions, expenses for outside professional services, including legal, audit, accounting services and other costs related to our status as a public company as well as expenses for facilities, depreciation, and travel. Personnel related expenses consist of salaries, benefits, foreign exchange rate impact and share-based compensation. The increase of approximately $4.9 million in 2022 was primarily caused by an increase in labor cost and share-based compensation costs of approximately $2 million and $2.3 million which was attributed to additional legal, accounting, and general overhead costs resulting from our status as a public company, most notably directors and officers (D&O) insurance. The increase of approximately $2.6 million in 2021 was primarily caused by an increase in personnel related costs of approximately $1.3 million. Approximately $0.7 million was attributed to additional legal, accounting, and general overhead costs resulting from our status as a public company, most notably directors and officers (D&O) insurance.

We are seeking to implement efficiencies in our general and administrative expenses, which we anticipate will result in an overall decline in general and administrative expenses. We expect reductions in the cost of director and officer liability insurance and in labor costs. These reductions are partially offset by an increase in public company expenses, including compliance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, legal, audit, additional insurance expenses, investor relations activities and other administrative and professional services.

Financial Expenses, Net

Financial income, net of $7.2 million in 2022, was primarily related to revaluations of warrants issued to shareholders partially offset by loan interest and exchange rate impact. Financial expenses, net of $24.8 million in 2021, were primarily related to $6.3 million revaluations of warrants issued to shareholders and $17.9 million revaluation of convertible loan. Financial expenses were $0.7 million in 2020. To the extent that our financial expenses is based on a change in warrant liability, as our stock price increases the warrant liability increases with a result that we incur a financing charge as a result of an increased liability, and as our stock price decreases, we incur financing income which has a positive effect in the results of our operations.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Prior to the merger with ITAC, we have historically funded our operations primarily from private placements of our equity securities as well as loans, including convertible loans. As a result of the merger, we received total gross proceeds of approximately $118.3 million out of which transaction costs were approximately $16.7 million. The total gross proceeds include the $100 million from the sale of 10,000,000 ordinary shares to PIPE investors at $10.00 per share and $18.3 million, representing the funds remaining in ITAC’s trust account after payment to the redeeming ITAC stockholders. As of December 31, 2022, we had cash and cash equivalents totaling $54.2 million. Cash equivalents are invested in accordance with our investment policy. Prior to the merger, our principal sources of liquidity was approximately $70 million of net proceeds received through private placements, invested as an advance on account of issuance of convertible preferred shares (which share were converted into ordinary shares immediately prior to the merger) or exercise of warrants.

In 2019, we received a $5.0 million loan from Kreos Capital. On August 16, 2021, we and our wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, Arbe Robotics US, Inc., entered into a debenture agreement with Scintilla Fund L.P. (“Scintilla”) pursuant to which, we can withdraw a term loan up to a total of $10.0 million. In August 2021, we borrowed the first tranche of $5.0 million, part of which was used to prepay all outstanding loans to Kreos. We did not borrow any additional funds pursuant to the Scintilla agreement. The loan from Scintilla was repaid in June 30, 2022.

Selected Balance Sheet Information (dollars in thousands).

As of December 31, 2022, we had cash and cash equivalents totaling $54.2 million. We use our funds primarily for our operating activities. Cash and cash equivalents are invested in accordance with our investment policy. As of December 31, 2022, we had no debt.

Cash Flow Summary

The following table summarizes our cash flows for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 (in thousands):

Operating Activities

During the year ended December 31, 2022, operating activities used approximately $40.4 million in cash. The primary factors affecting operating cash flows during this period were net loss of approximately $40.5 million, impacted by non-cash charges of approximately $1.5 million consisting of $8.1 million revaluations of warrants, share-based compensation of approximately $9.1 million as well as depreciation of approximately $0.5 million. Additionally, our working capital has decreased by approximately $1.4 million.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, operating activities used approximately $26.4 million in cash. The primary factors affecting operating cash flows during this period were net loss of approximately $58.1 million, impacted by non-cash charges of approximately $27.1 million consisting of $24.5 million revaluations of warrants and convertible loan, share-based compensation of approximately $2.3 million as well as depreciation of approximately $0.3 million. Additionally, our working capital has increased by approximately $4.5 million.

During the year ended December 31, 2020, operating activities used approximately $15.3 million in cash. The primary factors affecting operating cash flows during this period were net loss of approximately $15.6 million, impacted by non-cash charges of approximately $1.8 million consisting of revaluation of warrants and share-based compensation of approximately $1.6 million as well as depreciation of approximately $0.2 million. This was partially off-set by an increase in working capital of approximately $1.5 million.

Investing Activities

During the year ended December 31, 2022, cash used in investing activities was approximately $1.3 million, which was primarily from cash used to purchase equipment and leasehold improvements of approximately $0.9 million and a short-term deposit of approximately $0.4 million.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, cash used in investing activities was approximately $0.7 million, which was primarily from cash used to purchase equipment and leasehold improvements of approximately $0.8 million, partially offset by the withdrawals from short term deposit of approximately $0.1 million.

During the year ended December 31, 2020, cash provided by investing activities was approximately $9.7 million, which was primarily from withdrawals of short-term deposit of approximately $9.9 million, partially offset by cash used to purchase equipment and leasehold improvements of approximately $0.2 million.

Financing Activities

During the year ended December 31, 2022, cash used in financing activities was approximately $4.9 million, consisting primarily of repayment of short-term loan of approximately $5.2 million, partially offset by issuance and exercise of options of approximately $0.3 million.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, cash provided by financing activities was approximately $125.1 million, consisting primarily of net proceeds from merger with ITAC, which is accounted for as a recapitalization, and net proceeds from the PIPE financing of approximately $98.6 million, proceeds from exercise of warrants of approximately $12.9 million, proceeds from a convertible loan of approximately $11.3 million and proceeds from short term loan of approximately $4.7 million as well as from issuance and exercise of options of approximately $0.2 million, partially offset by repayment of long-term loan of approximately $2.6 million.

During the year ended December 31, 2020, cash provided by financing activities was approximately $1.5 million, consisting primarily of proceeds from a convertible loan of approximately $1.6 million and proceeds from issuance of convertible preferred shares of approximately $1.2 million as well as from issuance and exercise of warrants and options of approximately $0.3 million, partially offset by repayment of long-term loan of approximately $1.6 million.

Funding Requirements

We expect our expenses to decrease in 2023, our production build-up efforts have stabilized and progressed toward productization, alongside with our efforts to streamline our expenses and to emphasize resources to support our next step target from proof-of-concept phase to the production and commercialization stage. We continue to expand our research and development activities, and we expect to incur commercialization expenses related to product sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution. Furthermore, we expect to incur additional costs associated with our operation as a public company. Our costs and our revenue can be impacted by the conditions described in the ‘Overview under Market Trends and Uncertainties’ as well as the factors described in Risk Factors, which would affect our requirement for additional funding.

We also expect to incur additional losses before we receive incremental revenues to offset them. We plan a shift toward profit in coming years. We anticipate the current cash balance together with our revenues will enable us to continue until we are cash flow positive.

Our losses will be driven by:

In addition, we may find that these efforts are more expensive than we currently anticipate or that these efforts may not result in revenues, which would further increase our losses.

Debt with Warrants

On February 21, 2019, we entered into an agreement with Kreos Capital VI (Expert Fund) L.P, (“Kreos”) pursuant to we took down a term loan of $5.0 million in February 2019 and $2.0 million in November 2019. Pursuant to the loan agreement, we issued to Kreos warrants for the purchase warrants which, in connection with the Recapitalization immediately prior to the closing of the Merger with ITAC became warrants to purchase 227,959 ordinary shares for an aggregate exercise price of $550,000. We consider the loan as a credit facility and since the warrants are transferable separately from the loan, the warrants were classified as freestanding and treated as liability pursuant to ASC 480. As of December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, the warrants liability amounted to $0.42 million and $1.62 million respectively. The loan was repaid to Kreos in August 2021.

See Item 11 with respect to Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

Critical Accounting Estimates

We prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates, assumptions and judgments that can significantly impact the amounts we report as assets, liabilities, revenue, costs and expenses and the related disclosures. We base our estimates on historical experience and other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances. Our actual results could differ significantly from these estimates under different assumptions and conditions. We believe that the accounting policies discussed below are critical to understanding our historical and future performance as these policies involve a greater degree of judgment and complexity.

Share-Based Compensation

We recognize the cost of share-based awards granted to employees and directors based on the estimated grant-date fair value of the awards. We elected to recognize share-based compensation costs on a straight-line method for awards. Forfeitures are accounted for as they occur.

The fair value of each option award is estimated on the grant date using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. The application of the Black-Scholes model utilizes significant assumptions, including volatility. Significant judgment is required in determining the expected volatility of our ordinary share. Due to the limited history of trading of our Ordinary Shares, we determined expected volatility based on a peer group of publicly traded companies. Increases (decreases) in the assumptions result in a directionally similar impact to the fair value of the option award.

Warrant liabilities

Warrants recorded as liabilities are recorded at their fair value and remeasured on each reporting date with changes in estimated fair value of ordinary share warrant liability in the consolidated statement of operations.

In evaluating warrants liabilities, we, with the assistance of third-party valuations, utilize the Black-Scholes valuation model to estimate the fair value of these warrants at each reporting date. The application of the Black-Scholes model utilizes significant assumptions, including volatility. Significant judgment is required in determining the expected volatility of our ordinary share. Due to the limited history of trading of our Ordinary Shares, we determined expected volatility based on a peer group of publicly traded companies. Increases (decreases) in the assumptions result in a directionally similar impact to the fair value of the ordinary share warrant liability.

Emerging Growth Company Status

Section 102(b)(1) of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (“JOBS Act”) exempts emerging growth companies from being required to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards until private companies are required to comply with the new or revised financial accounting standards. The JOBS Act provides that a company can choose not to take advantage of the extended transition period and comply with the requirements that apply to non-emerging growth companies, and any such election to not take advantage of the extended transition period is irrevocable.

We are an “emerging growth company” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, and have elected to take advantage of the benefits of the extended transition period for new or revised financial accounting standards. Following the consummation of the Business Combination, our Post-Combination Company will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of (i) the last day of the fiscal year in which the market value of our ordinary shares that held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, (ii) the last day of the fiscal year in which we achieve total annual gross revenue of $1.07 billion or more during such fiscal year (as indexed for inflation), (iii) the date on which we issue more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt in the prior three-year period or (iv) December 31, 2025. We expect to continue to take advantage of the benefits of the extended transition period, although we may decide to early adopt such new or revised accounting standards to the extent permitted by such standards. This may make it difficult or impossible to compare our financial results with the financial results of another public company that is either not an emerging growth company or is an emerging growth company that has chosen not to take advantage of the extended transition period exemptions because of the potential differences in accounting standards used.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

See Note 2 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for information related to recent accounting pronouncements.

ITEM 6. DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES

A. Directors and Senior Management

The following table provides information about our directors and our senior management. Our senior management consists of our chief executive officer and those current executive officers who have responsibility for a major segment of our business (“Senior Management”).

Directors

Yair Shamir, Chairman of the Board

Mr. Shamir was appointed as a director on December 9, 2019, and he has served as Chairman of the Board since December 16, 2021. Mr. Shamir is co-founding and managing partner of Catalyst Investments. Mr. Shamir was elected as a member of the 19^th Knesset (Israeli Parliament) and served as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development for the Government of Israel from 2013 until 2015. Mr. Shamir serves as chairman of the Shalem College, a research and educational institute in Jerusalem. Mr. Shamir has formerly served as chairman of the National Road Safety Authority and of four government companies: Metropolitan Mass Transit System (NTA), Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), EL-AL Israel Airways and the National Roads Company.  Mr. Shamir has served as a member of numerous company boards within Catalyst’s investment portfolio. From 2003 to-2007, Mr. Shamir was the Chairman of Shamir Optical Industry Ltd (NASDAQ: SHMR). From 1997-2006, Mr. Shamir served as the CEO and Chairman of VCON Telecommunications Ltd. From 2005-2013, he served as a board member of DSP Group Corporation (NASDAQ: DSPG). Mr. Shamir was the CEO of Elite Food Industries, Ltd between the years of 1994 and 1995. From 1995 to 1997, Mr. Shamir served as Executive Vice President of the Challenge Fund L.P. Prior to this he was Executive VP of Scitex Corporation and General Manager of Scitex Israel from 1988 until 1993. Mr. Shamir was the Chairman of Gvahim from 2006 to 2013. He was also a Board Member of Mikveh Israel from 2010 until 2013. Mr. Shamir was also a member of the Board of Governors of the Technion University and sat on the executive committee of the Beer Sheva University from 1990 until 2013. Mr. Shamir served in the Israeli Air Force as a pilot and engineer from 1965-1988. During his term in the Air Force, Mr. Shamir attained the rank of colonel and served as head of the electronics department, the highest professional electronics position within the Israeli Air Force. Mr. Shamir holds a B.Sc. in Electronics Engineering from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology.

Ehud Levy, Director

Mr. Levy was appointed as a director on March 29, 2016. Mr. Levy is the Managing General Partner of Canaan Partners Israel, and a Venture Partner with Lenovo Capital heading its investment opportunities in Israel. Mr. Levy is also an active private investor in tech companies operating as a partner with a leading investment team, Kaedan Capital. Prior to these activities, Mr. Levy was a Managing Partner at Vertex VC for seven years. Among other successful investments, Mr. Levy identified Waze as a bright star from the start, leading the first investment round in the company and serving on its board of directors until its acquisition by Google for over $1 billion. Previously, Mr. Levy co-founded and served as Chairman and CEO of Ki-Bi Mobile Technologies, a mass-market device specialist for mobile content distribution and led the business from concept to commercial success, an IPO in London and eventual acquisition. Earlier, Mr. Levy served as COO and CFO of Telegate, a telecommunications company, where he was responsible for a restructuring plan leading to the successful acquisition of the company for over US$400 million. Prior to Telegate, Mr. Levy was an investment banker in New York and Tel Aviv, served on the board of directors of several technology companies. Mr. Levy holds a BSc in Computer Engineering (with honors) from the Technion in Israel, and an MBA from Columbia Business School, New York.

Mor Assia, Director

Ms. Assia, was appointed as a director on October 7, 2021, upon closing of the Merger. Ms. Assia is founding partner and Co-CEO of iAngels, and General Partner in the iNgenuity Fund. An Israeli high-tech insider, a graduate of the IDF’s elite intelligence unit 8200, Ms. Assia leads iAngels’ investment committee, deal screening, due diligence and portfolio management activities. Ms. Assia’s tech background with SAP, IBM and Amdocs has proven invaluable in assessing new technologies and her ability to deep dive with entrepreneurs into their business strategy and solution has created a strong foundation for relationship building. Ms. Assia has been instrumental in structuring and pricing investment rounds and consistently brings value add partnerships to help portfolio companies. Ms. Assia is a recognized investment expert in the areas of Fintech, AI and Automotive. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the Technion, Israel’s Institute of Technology, and an MBA from Columbia University in NY. Ms. Assia mentors on several accelerator programs and serves as a board member for iAngels portfolio companies.

Boaz Schwartz PhD, Director

Dr. Schwartz was appointed as a director on October 7, 2021, upon closing of the Merger. Dr. Schwartz is a seasoned finance professional and a tech investor. Dr. Schwartz has founded and managed Deutsche Bank Israel for 24 years and until December 2020. Following his retirement from Deutsche Bank, Dr. Schwartz became an active tech investor in both early and late-stage companies. He has a wide portfolio of investments in Fintech, Autotech and other technology related ventures. Dr. Schwartz is an active investor and works closely with his investee companies helping on both strategy and finance related matters. Dr. Schwartz has developed Deutsche Bank Israel to become one of the leading global investment banks operating in Israel with very strong corporate finance advisory franchise, the leading project finance bank in Israel, the top foreign bank on TASE, and a leading trader in the Israeli fixed income and forex. Dr. Schwartz is a board member and chairman of the finance committee of IDC Herzliya — the only private university in Israel ;board member of iArgento Ltd — a traded venture capital fund; Covercy Ltd — a real estate investment management SaaS platform and Foretellix Ltd. - a verification and validation automation tool for autonomous vehicles; a board observer of Addionics Ltd. - an enabling battery technology for automotive industry and Blyp Ltd. - an AI-driver data analytics for on-line shops; and the vice-Chairman of Zabar Solar Ltd. — a leading green energy developer and operator. Dr. Schwartz is also a long time member of the Israeli chapter of the YPO. Dr. Schwartz earned a PhD in Finance from the University of Chicago; MBA with Distinction from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania; MSc and BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tel Aviv. 

E. Scott Crist, Director

Mr. Crist was appointed as a director on October 7, 2021, upon closing of the Merger. Mr. Crist is managing partner for Texas Ventures as well as CEO of Osperity, a leader in AI-driven computer vision for the industrial sector. Mr. Crist is also the CEO of Industrial Tech Acquisitions II, Inc., special purpose acquisitions company.  Mr. Crist has an extensive background as an entrepreneur and venture capitalist and was the former CEO of Infrastructure Networks and founder/CEO of Telscape International (NASDAQ), a telecommunications company focused on certain emerging markets around the world. Prior to that, he served as President and CEO for Matrix Telecom, which Inc. Magazine once ranked 7^th on its list of the 500 fastest growing private companies in the US. Previously, Mr. Crist worked for Trammell Crow Group, IBM and Booz-Allen Hamilton. Mr. Crist has a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from NC State University. Mr. Crist is also an Entrepreneur of the Year recipient from NASDAQ/Ernst & Young. In addition, Mr. Crist is chairman of the VA-Gov Housing fund, the nation’s largest lender for the Veteran Administration’s Homeless Shelter Program. 

Thilo Koslowski, Director

Mr. Koslowski was appointed as a director on February 21, 2022. Mr. Koslowski is a board advisor and an executive strategic consultant to various companies and startups in the technology, automotive and digital business markets and to venture capital firms. Mr. Koslowski has an extensive background in the fields of autonomous cars, smart-mobility and digital customer experience. From 2016 to 2020, Mr. Koslowski was the founder and CEO of Porsche Digital, a wholly owned subsidiary of Porsche AG, serving as the technology and digital unit of Porsche AG. From 1999-2016, Mr. Koslowski was VP and practice leader at Gartner, Inc, a leading technological research and advisory firm, where he established Gartner’s global automotive advisory-services. Mr. Koslowski has substantial experience as a limited partner investor in VCs across the globe such as Headline, Magma Ventures, Grove Ventures, NIO Capital, in addition to an extensive background as board member, observer and investor in international startups. In addition, as part of Mr. Koslowski’s years at Porsche Digital, he was the co-founder and board member of APX, Europe’s leading early-stage joint venture capital, backed by both Axel Springer and Porsche. Mr. Koslowski is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and the Automotive Chair of the German American Business Association (GABA). Mr. Koslowski graduated as Diplom-Kaufmann in business from the RWTH Aachen University. 

Alexander Hitzinger, Director

Mr. Hitzinger led the self- driving development, was a member of the management board of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles from January 2019 to June 2020 and from June 2020 to February 2022 served as chief executive officer of Artemis GmbH, where he was the chief architect of the revolutionary vehicle concept for next generation autonomous mobility for their flagship-product Audi Landjet. Prior to his role at VW Group, from April 2016 to January 2019, Mr. Hitzinger held the position of head of product design for autonomous transportation at Apple, where he was responsible for building and leading the automotive team at the company. He was also the technical director and chief engineer for the Porsche 919, which was the winner of 24 hours of Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship for three consecutive years. Mr. Hitzinger also serves as a Board Member and Advisor to multiple technology companies in the United States and Israel, such as Arbe Robotics, AEVA, Electra Vehicles, Tau Motors and Foretellix. Mr. Hitzinger holds a Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration.

Senior Management

Kobi Marenko, Chief Executive Officer, Co-Founder and Director

Mr. Marenko has served a director and our Chief Executive Officer since inception on November 4, 2015. Jacob Marinka, who is also known as Kobi Marenko, is an entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in leading technology and media startups from seed stage to acquisition. Prior to founding ARBE, from 2012 to 2014, Mr. Marenko was the founder and President of Taptica, a mobile DSP listed on the London Stock Exchange (LON: TRMR). Prior to this experience, from 2004-2012, Mr. Marenko was the founder and CEO of Logia, a mobile content platform acquired by Digital Turbine (NASDAQ: APPS). For over 20 years, Mr. Marenko was leading tech and media startups from seed to acquisition. Mr. Marenko holds a BA in Philosophy from Tel Aviv University.

Noam Arkind PhD, Chief Technology Officer, Co-Founder and Director

Dr. Arkind has served as a director and our Chief Technology Officer since inception on November 4, 2015. Dr. Arkind has over 10 years of experience in R&D and holds a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from the Robotics Lab at Weizmann Institute of Science. Prior to founding ARBE, from 2013 to 2015, Dr. Arkind led the algorithm development at Taptica and the Space IL control system. Dr. Arkind holds a B.Sc. in Applied Mathematics from Bar Ilan University, a M.Sc. and PhD in Mathematics and Computer Science from the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Karine Pinto-Flomenboim, Chief Financial Officer

Ms. Pinto-Flomenboim has served as our Chief Financial Officer since November 8, 2021. Ms. Pinto-Flomenboim has more than 20 years of financial experience, having worked with multinational publicly traded companies. Prior to joining us, from 2019 to 2021, Ms. Pinto-Flomenboim served as the Chief Financial Officer of TIBA, a leading manufacturer of parking access and revenue control systems, where she led the company’s exit for $135M and navigated the company through a reorganization, M&A and COVID-19. Prior to this experience, from 2011 to 2018, Ms. Pinto-Flomenboim held the position of director of business controlling and head of corporate FP&A at Caesarstone Ltd. (Nasdaq: CSTE), a global publicly traded company that invented and pioneered quartz surfaces. From 2003 to 2011, Ms. Pinto-Flomenboim held the position of head of FP&A at the process diagnostic and control (PDC) division of Applied Materials, Inc. (Nasdaq: AMAT). From 2000 to 2003 Ms. Pinto-Flomenboim served at various financial positions at Intel Fab 8 (Nasdaq: INTC). Ms. Pinto-Flomenboim holds a master’s in economics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, graduated from The National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI), and is an active member of the Israeli CFO Forum.

Ram Machness, Chief Business Officer

Mr. Machness has served as our Chief Business Officer since April 30, 2018. Mr. Machness has over 30 years of experience in embedded systems and the semiconductor industry. Prior to joining us from 2007 to 2018, Mr. Machness managed the business development, customer engagement and product marketing at TI (Nasdaq: TXN), a Global American based technology company that designs and manufactures semiconductors. Prior to this experience, from 2003-2007, Mr. Machness served in various consulting position in companies such DSP Group (Nasdaq: DSPG), a global leader in wireless communications and voice processing chipsets and algorithms for a wide range of smart-enabled devices, and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), A multinational technology corporation which produces computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services. His professional experience also includes roles in system engineering and R&D management. Mr. Machness holds a B.A in Computer Science from The Open University and an MBA Tel Aviv University.

Shlomit Hacohen, Chief Marketing Officer

Ms. Hacohen has served as our Chief Marketing Officer since November 27, 2017. Ms. Hacohen is a seasoned marketer with over 20 years of experience in developing marketing strategies, launching products, and building brand awareness. Prior to joining us, from 2015 to 2017, Ms. Hacohen was CMO and executive marketer in organizations such as DEEP, Collabrium, Viaccess Orca, Comverse (Nasdaq: CMVT), and Check Point (Nasdaq: CHKP). Ms. Hacohen holds a BA in Management and Sociology from Tel Aviv University and an MBA from the Technion.

Gonen Barkan, Chief Radar Officer

Mr. Barkan has joined us as Chief Radar Officer on March 18, 2022. Mr. Barkan has more than 23 years of experience in communication, IoT, radar, chip design and the automotive industry. Prior to joining us, from 2016 to 2022, Mr. Barkan led the radar technology and development for General Motors (NYSE: GM), one of the largest automotive OEMs in the world, focusing on future retail-autonomy programs (future SuperCruise, UltraCruise) and in-house development of imaging radars for Cruise LLC autonomous RoboTaxi (TaaS). Prior to joining GM, from 1999 to 2013, Mr. Barkan led architecture, HW, SW and ASIC development at start-up companies (Yitran, Silantrix) in the fields of communication, power-line communication, Internet of Things, cellular and automotive radar. Mr. Barkan graduated summa cum laude from Ben Gurion University of the Negev with a BSc in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Communication & Signal Processing.

Shay Naeh, Vice President Operations

Mr. Naeh has served as our Vice President Operations since December 6, 2020. Mr. Naeh has over 23 years of experience in semiconductors design, program management, quality, and operations with automotive Tier 1s and OEMs. Prior to joining us, from 1998 to 2020, Mr. Naeh worked with Texas Instruments (Nasdaq: TXN) and Valens (NYSE: VLN). Mr. Naeh holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and an MBA both from the Tel Aviv University.

Director Independence

As an Israeli company, we are subject to various corporate governance requirements under the Israeli Companies Law. Pursuant to regulations promulgated under the Israeli Companies Law, companies with shares traded on certain U.S. stock exchanges, including Nasdaq, may, subject to certain conditions, opt out from the Israeli Companies Law requirements to appoint external directors and related Israeli Companies Law rules concerning the composition of the audit committee, compensation committee and nominating committee of the board of directors (other than the gender diversification rule under the Israeli Companies Law, which requires the appointment of a director from the other gender if at the time a director is appointed all members of the board of directors are of the same gender). In accordance with these regulations, we have elected to opt out of those requirements of the Israeli Companies Law. These exemptions will continue to be available to us so long as: (i) we do not have a “controlling shareholder” as defined under the Israeli Companies Law, (ii) our shares are traded on certain U.S. stock exchanges, including Nasdaq, and (iii) we comply with the director independence requirements and the audit committee, compensation committee and nominating committee composition requirements under U.S. laws (including applicable Nasdaq rules) applicable to U.S. domestic issuers.

With respect to certain matters (including various related party transactions), a controlling shareholder is deemed to include a shareholder that holds 25% or more of the voting rights in a public company if no other shareholder holds more than 50% of the voting rights in the company, but excludes a shareholder whose power derives solely from his or her position as a director of the company or from any other position with the company.

We comply with Nasdaq rule 5605(b)(1), which requires that the board of directors be comprised of a majority of independent directors, although as long as we are a foreign private issuer, we may elect to follow Israeli law in lieu of certain Nasdaq requirements, including the independent director requirement. A majority of our board of directors composed of directors who are “independent” as defined by the rules of Nasdaq, and all of the non-executive directors qualify as “independent” under these standards. The board of directors established categorical standards to assist it in making its determination of director independence. We use the definition of “independence” of Nasdaq to make this determination. Nasdaq Listing Rule 5605(a)(2) provides that an “independent director” is a person other than an officer or employee or any other individual having a relationship which, in the opinion of the Board, would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director, and includes specific relationships that would disqualify a director from being independent, including being an employee during the past three years.

The board of directors will assess on a regular basis, at least annually, which members are independent, and the Nomination and Corporate Governance Committee will assess the independence of each nominee for director as part of its duties in designating nominations for the board of director’s nominees for director.

As a foreign private issuer, we are permitted to comply with Israeli corporate governance practices instead of the Nasdaq corporate governance rules, provided that, we disclose which requirements we are not following and the equivalent Israeli requirement. We rely on this “home country practice exemption” solely with respect to the quorum requirement for shareholder meetings. As permitted under the Israeli Companies Law, pursuant to our Restated Articles, the quorum required for an ordinary meeting of shareholders consist of at least two shareholders present in person, by proxy or by other voting instrument in accordance with the Israeli Companies Law, who hold at least 25% of the voting power of its shares (and in an adjourned meeting, with some exceptions, any number of shareholders). Although we comply with the rules generally applicable to U.S. domestic companies listed on Nasdaq, we may in the future decide to use the foreign private issuer exemption with respect to some or all of the other corporate governance rules. To the extent that we elect to take advantage of the exceptions permitted to foreign private issuers, it must disclose those exceptions and describe the relevant Israeli law provisions.

6. B. Compensation 

Required Approvals under the Israeli Companies Law

Under the Israeli Companies Law, terms of office and employment of office holders, are generally subject to the approval of the compensation committee (rather than the audit committee) and the board of directors, and must generally be consistent with the Company’s directors and executive officers’ compensation policy, mandated by the Israeli Companies Law (a “Compensation Policy”).

Directors

Under the Israeli Companies Law, the compensation of a public company’s directors requires the approval of its compensation committee, the subsequent approval of its board of directors and, unless exempted under regulations promulgated under the Companies Law, the approval of its shareholders at a general meeting. If the compensation is inconsistent with the Company’s compensation policy, and the shareholder approval will require the Compensation Majority.

Executive Officers (Other than the Chief Executive Officer)

The Israeli Companies Law requires that the compensation of a public company’s executive officers (other than the chief executive officer) shall be approved by the compensation committee, and the subsequent approval of its board of directors. If such compensation arrangement is inconsistent with the company’s stated compensation policy, then a shareholder approval is also required, in a Compensation Majority. However, if the shareholders of the company do not approve a compensation arrangement with an executive officer that is inconsistent with the company’s stated compensation policy, the compensation committee and board of directors may override the shareholders’ decision if each of the compensation committee and the board of directors provide detailed reasons for their decision. 

Chief Executive Officer

Under the Israeli Companies Law, the compensation of a public company’s chief executive officer is required to be approved by the compensation committee, the subsequent approval of its board of directors and, unless exempted under regulations promulgated under the Israeli Companies Law, the approval of its shareholders at a general meeting, with a Compensation Majority, whether or not consistent with the Compensation Policy.

However, if the shareholders do not approve the compensation arrangement with the chief executive officer, then the compensation committee and board of directors may override the shareholders’ decision, based on detailed reasons for their decision.

Shareholder approval may not be required for the compensation terms of a candidate for the chief executive officer position (or a director nominee) for the period commencing on the appointment and until the upcoming shareholders meeting, if the board of directors and the compensation committee have approved such terms and have determined that the compensation arrangement is consistent with our Compensation Policy, and that the proposed compensation terms are generally under the same circumstances and are not materially different than the predecessor of such candidate.

In addition, in certain circumstances, the compensation committee may waive the need in shareholder approval requirement with regard to the approval of the engagement terms of a candidate for the chief executive officer position (or a director nominee who is not an executive director) if they determine that the compensation arrangement is consistent with the company’s Compensation Policy, that the chief executive officer (or the director nominee) did not have any affiliation or prior business relationship with the company or a controlling shareholder of the company, and that such engagement terms would be detrimental to the company’s ability to engage the chief executive officer candidate

Aggregate Compensation of Executive Officers and Directors

For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, we paid an aggregate of $4.53 million and $2.36 million, respectively, in cash and benefits in-kind, including equity compensation, to or accrued on behalf of all of our directors and members of Senior Management for their services in all capacities during 2022 and 2021. These amounts include set aside or accruals for pension, severance, retirement or similar benefits or expenses, in the amounts of approximately $411,000 and $557,000, for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, but does not include reimbursement of business travel, relocation, professional and business association dues and expenses, and other benefit costs commonly reimbursed or paid by companies in Israel which are not treated as compensation. In addition, we incurred $2,244,000 and $387,000 of share-based compensation expense related to equity awards made by us to our Senior Management and directors for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The aggregate compensation for all or our directors and Senior Management includes $ 1,052 and $1,063 for individuals who served in such capacities during those years but are no longer employed by us.

As of December 31, 2022, (i) options to purchase 2,314,127 ordinary shares, and (ii) 204,907 restricted stock units granted to our current Senior Management and directors were outstanding under our equity incentive plans at a weighted-average exercise price of $5.66 per share.

Equity-based compensation granted to Senior Management generally vests over a period of four years, commencing one year after the date of grant, with quarterly vesting thereafter. For directors, equity-based compensation generally vests over a period of three years with a quarterly vesting.

Individual Compensation of Covered Executives

The table below sets forth the compensation paid to our five most highly compensated senior ‘office holders’ (as defined by the Israeli Companies Law) during or with respect to the year ended December 31, 2022, and as recorded in the financial statements for such period. We refer to those five individuals for whom disclosure is provided herein as our “Covered Executives.”

The term “compensation” for purposes of this section regarding the Covered Executives refers to the term “Terms of Office and Employment” as defined under the Israeli Companies Law, which includes amounts accrued or paid in connection with salary cost, consultancy fees, bonuses, equity-based compensation, retirement or termination payments, benefits and perquisites such as car, phone and social benefits and any undertaking to provide such compensation. Each of the Covered Executives was covered by our D&O liability insurance policy and was entitled to indemnification and exculpation in accordance with applicable law and our articles of association.

Summary Compensation Table:

Non-Employee Director Remuneration

Consistent with our Compensation Policy for directors and officers, our Compensation Committee, Board and, when required, the shareholders, have approved an annual compensation of $100,000 plus applicable value added tax for three of our non-employee directors who were appointed as industry experts for their service as board members.

In addition, we have also granted to those non-employee directors equity-based compensation that vest over a period of three years with a quarterly vesting, with a term of ten years (subject to early expiration in the event of termination of services and as further described in our 2021 Plan) as follows: (i) Dr. Boaz Schwartz was granted options to purchase 81,589 ordinary shares, at an exercise price of $8.00 per share which will be fully vested on October 2024; Mr. Thilo Koslowski was granted options to purchase 80,000 ordinary shares, at an exercise price of $8.00 per share which will be fully vested on March 2025; and (iii) Alexander Hitzinger, was granted options to purchase 80,000 ordinary shares, at an exercise price of $6.04 per share which will be fully vested on May 2025.

We also reimburse our non-Israeli directors for expenses arising from travels in cases they will be required to attend to meetings in Israel.