I received a responsefrom Eric this morning. His responses are in red.
1. NRE Payment - It has been communicatedpreviously that Weebit’s first expected revenue will come from non-recurringengineering which is an upfront payment that will be made to Weebit in order toadapt their memory array to a customers needs. When does management expect thefirst NRE payment to occur? Was an upfront NRE payment notpossible or the terms not suitable at this stage given work hasalready begun in adapting the memory array to the potential customersspecifications? Is it currently planned after the module iscomplete (planned for middle of the year 2020)?
In the semiconductorspace, like almost any other domain, showing your product works in productionmode is a key challenge. Before you can point to that first customer everyoneshies away and doesn’t want to be the “guinea pig”. When the South Koreanpotential customer agreed to engage with us it was a key step forward for WBT,as they were willing to invest engineering time and their internal data with usto help us move towards the first product release. While Weebit is notreceiving any direct money, the South Korean company is still investingsignificant time and resources. The first module we are developing, based ontheir specification, can be considered a proof-of-concept, after which we canengage with them on a real project and negotiate payment terms.
2. Partner agreement - Why is therecurrently no agreement in place (including an MOU) for the work beingperformed for the potential tier 2 company? Given one of the key allocations ofthe recent CR funds is for this purpose. What is the risk and potentialimpact on the business plan that prior to or after the work iscomplete, the tier 2 company decides to not go further with Weebit Nano?
As stated above, the workwith this potential customer is more of a proof-of-concept. While no agreement(except an NDA) was signed, we are working with them to develop this module.Having said that, this module can and will be used with other potentialcustomers so even in the worst case, where the Korean company doesn’t want toproceed, we will be able to use it with other companies and progress salesactivities with them, so this work is important in any case.
3. Part of the money raised is to hire staff andpurchase tools to develop and implement the customer module. Will there betax concessions for this like there was for the Leti work. Where is this workbeing done?
Weebit is checking thepossibility to hire part of the staff in France, so it can benefit from the taxincentives. Weebit has been very conscious to spend its money diligently (othercompanies who have reached a similar state have raised 10X the amount we have),and we will continue with this approach.
4. Why was the decision made to perform a creditraise now rather than after the AGM (26 September 2019) which is close toa week after the entitlement offer closes (17 September 2019). The AGM would bea good time for investors to raise any concerns that might stop them fromtaking part in the entitlement offer. My brother and I are planning onattending this year.
Firstly, I am very glad tohear you will be attending the AGM. Coby is always very happy to meetshareholders in person. Weebit wants to move forward as fast as it can towardsproductisation and needs the funds now. We actually were hoping to do the raiseearlier but it was delayed for technical reasons. Waiting another month wouldhave caused delays in the schedule and management decided against it.
5. The directors committed $226,900 in the offeringto sophisticated investors andsome pledged to participate in the rights issue later. How much are the directors intending to take up in theentitlement offer?
5 of the 7 directors arenot Australian residents, so therefore they are not eligible to participate inthe entitlement offer. Fred and Ashley have indicated they will participate inthe offer. Of the Australian investors, note that Fred Bart participated in theplacement and that Ashley Krongold is already the second largest singleshareholder in Weebit.
6. The tax rebate of around 1.5 million from theFrench government is currently expected in the September quarter. Is thereany risk that this will not occur or will only partially be paid?
We have been assured thismoney will be paid to Weebit. As this is a large amount there were additionalchecks in the bureaucratic system we needed to go through, and then we hit theFrench summer vacations.
7. What roles do Fred Bart, Yossi Keret andAshley Krongold currently perform for the company and what value do theyoffer Weebit Nano as Directors?
Yossi will be retiringfrom the Board at the AGM. While he has been a very important asset, with hisbackground as CFO and leading the IPO of the company, we realised he will haveto retire when we added Atiq. Yossi will remain a consultant to the CEO butwill not get a salary for this.
Australian law requiresthat we have 2 Australian directors, and Fred and Ashley fill this role. Bothof them are experienced business people who know the Australian market andregulation and are involved with other ASX listed companies, so they providethe “Australian” point of view to the board. In addition Ashley has a financialdegree and he provides counsel on the finances, while Fred has very significantexperience in building companies in Australia. Both of them have a very widenetwork of contacts, including close relationships with many investors andfunds, and are key assets to the company.
(20min delay)