UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021

or

For the transition period from to .

Commission file number: 001-38407

RED VIOLET, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

2650 North Military Trail, Suite 300,

Boca Raton, Florida 33431

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (561) 757-4000

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

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

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

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) 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, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

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

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

On June 30, 2021, the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, the aggregate market value (based on the closing per share sales price of its common stock on that date) of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $191.7 million.

The number of shares outstanding of the registrant’s common stock, as of March 4, 2022, was 13,522,567.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

RED VIOLET, INC.

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR FORM 10-K

PART I

Item 1. Business.

This business description should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes thereto appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 (the “2021 Form 10-K”), which are incorporated herein by this reference.

Company Overview

Red Violet, Inc. (“we,” “us,” “our,” “red violet,” or the “Company”), a Delaware corporation, is dedicated to making the world a safer place and reducing the cost of doing business. We build proprietary technologies and apply analytical capabilities to deliver identity intelligence. Our technology powers critical solutions, which empower organizations to operate with confidence. Our solutions enable the real-time identification and location of people, businesses, assets and their interrelationships. These solutions are used for purposes including risk mitigation, due diligence, fraud detection and prevention, regulatory compliance, and customer acquisition. Our intelligent platform, CORETM, is purpose-built for the enterprise, yet flexible enough for organizations of all sizes, bringing clarity to massive datasets by transforming data into intelligence. We drive workflow efficiency and enable organizations to make better data-driven decisions.

Organizations are challenged by the structure, volume and disparity of data. Our platform and applications transform the way our customers interact with information, presenting connections and relevance of information otherwise unattainable, which drives actionable insights and better outcomes. Leveraging cloud-native proprietary technology and applying machine learning and advanced analytical capabilities, CORE provides essential solutions to public and private sector organizations through intuitive, easy-to-use analytical interfaces. With massive data assets consisting of public record, proprietary and publicly-available data, our differentiated information and innovative platform and solutions deliver identity intelligence – entities, relationships, affiliations, interactions, and events. Our solutions are used today to enable frictionless commerce, to ensure safety, and to reduce fraud and the concomitant expense borne by society.

While our platform powers many diverse solutions for our customers, we presently market our solutions primarily through two brands, IDI™ and FOREWARN®. IDI is a leading-edge, analytics and information solutions provider delivering actionable intelligence to the risk management industry in support of use cases such as the verification and authentication of consumer identities, due diligence, prevention of fraud and abuse, legislative compliance, and debt recovery. idiCORE™ is IDI's flagship product. idiCORE is a next-generation, investigative solution used to address a variety of organizational challenges including due diligence, risk mitigation, identity authentication and regulatory compliance, by financial services companies, insurance companies, healthcare companies, law enforcement and government, collections, law firms, retail, telecommunication companies, corporate security and investigative firms. FOREWARN is an app-based solution currently tailored for the real estate industry, providing instant knowledge prior to face-to-face engagement with a consumer, helping professionals identify and mitigate risk. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, IDI had 6,548 and 5,726 billable customers and FOREWARN had 82,419 and 48,377 users, respectively. The Company defines a billable customer of IDI as a single entity that generated revenue during the last three months of the period. Billable customers are typically corporate organizations. In most cases, corporate organizations will have multiple users and/or departments purchasing our solutions, however, the Company counts the entire organization as a discrete customer. The Company defines a user of FOREWARN as a unique person that has a subscription to use the FOREWARN service as of the last day of the period. A unique person can only have one user account.

We generate substantially all of our revenue from licensing our solutions. Customers access our solutions through a hosted environment using an online interface, batch processing, API and custom integrations. We recognize revenue from licensing fees (a) on a transactional basis determined by the customer’s usage, (b) via a monthly fee or (c) from a combination of both. Revenue pursuant to pricing contracts containing a monthly fee is recognized ratably over the contract period. Pricing contracts are generally annual contracts or longer, with auto renewal. For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, 80% and 73% of total revenue was attributable to customers with pricing contracts, respectively, versus 20% and 27% attributable to transactional customers, respectively.

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We endeavor to understand our customers’ needs at the moment of first engagement. We continuously engage with our customers and evaluate their usage of our solutions throughout their life cycle, to maximize utilization of our solutions and, hence, their productivity. Our go-to-market strategy leverages (a) an inside sales team that cultivates relationships, and ultimately closes business, with their end-user markets, (b) a strategic sales team that provides a more personal, face-to-face approach for major accounts within certain industries, and (c) distributors, resellers, and strategic partners that have a significant foothold in many of the industries that we have not historically served, as well as to further penetrate those industries that we do serve. We employ a “land and expand” approach. Our sales model generally begins with a free trial followed by an initial purchase on a transactional basis or minimum-committed monthly spend. As organizations derive benefits from our solutions, we are able to expand within organizations as additional use cases are presented across departments, divisions and geographic locations and customers become increasingly reliant on our solutions in their daily workflow.

For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we had revenue of $44.0 million and $34.6 million, net income of $0.7 million and a net loss of $6.8 million, and adjusted EBITDA of $10.9 million and $5.9 million, respectively. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure equal to net income (loss), the most directly comparable financial measure based on accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“US GAAP”), excluding interest expense (income), net, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation expense, gain on extinguishment of debt, litigation costs, and write-off of long-lived assets and others, as noted in the tables included in “Use and Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures” of Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

Our Markets

The target market for our solutions today consists of public and private sector organizations where cloud-driven identity intelligence is primary to their daily workflow.

The data and analytics sector continues to grow at an accelerated pace due to the proliferation of data generated over the past two decades from both traditional and emerging sources, including e-commerce, mobile and social media. International Data Corporation, a global provider of market intelligence and advisory services, estimates that worldwide revenue for data and business analytics services was $215.7 billion in the year 2021, and a compound annual growth rate (“CAGR”) from 2021 through 2025 will be 12.8%. Continued, rapid innovation and adoption of new technologies presents enormous challenges for organizations of all types to sort through this sea of data to glean actionable intelligence and address their mission-critical functions. These challenges serve as key drivers of the sector’s growth. Our industry-agnostic platform, solutions, and analytical capabilities are designed to solve the myriad of complex problems that organizations face on a daily basis.

Risk and fraud analytics has become increasingly important not only in the banking and financial services sectors but across multiple other industries and use cases. According to the market research company MarketsAndMarkets, the risk analytics market is projected to grow to $64.7 billion by 2026, representing CAGR of 14.7% from 2021 through 2026, with North America estimated to hold the largest market share in the risk analytics market. Risk and fraud analytics and the information derived therefrom is now the primary service product for risk management associated with key purchasers such as banking and financial services companies, insurance companies, healthcare companies, law enforcement and government, collection agencies, law firms, retail, telecommunications companies and investigative firms. Primary use cases include, but are not limited to, obtaining information on consumers, businesses and assets (and their interrelationships) to facilitate the location of individuals and assets, identity verification, legislative compliance and to support criminal, legal, financial, insurance, and corporate investigations, due diligence and the assessment and mitigation of counterparty risk.

Key Challenges Facing our Customers

We believe our solutions address the challenges that the industry faces today, which include:

Actionable Insights Through A Single, Cloud-Native Platform— As the velocity and volume of data continues to grow exponentially, organizations have become overwhelmed with data and their inability to glean actionable insights from such data to derive successful decisions in real-time. Customers demand full-suite, turn-key solutions that are agile, flexible, and available on-demand in order to gain the speed, scale and insight necessary to drive decisioning. As the breadth and depth of data increases, organizations will need to deploy new technologies that enable both the ingestion of data at massive scale in real-time, irrespective of structure or form, and the analytics applications necessary to function across multiple channels. The accelerating digitization of human interactions, and the corresponding generation of the data resulting therefrom, is driving demand for data capture, management and analysis software. As a result, customers are looking for flexible and efficient solutions to unify disparate and often siloed sets of not only transactional data but also demographic, ethnographic and behavioral data as well, in order to provide insights that are truly actionable.

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Cost and Performance Pressures—As customers face constant cost pressures, they are increasingly dependent upon extracting greater value from information solutions. Whether it is identity verification, managing risk, or regulatory compliance, customers are increasingly more sophisticated, requiring enhanced performance that provides fast, accurate, and cost-effective solutions to satisfy their business objectives. Improving performance can mean delivering the right information at the right time at greater scale, or providing the most intuitive information as rapidly as possible to capitalize on opportunities or reduce risk. Superior analytics combined with unified data assets delivers competitive advantages to our customers as they cope with these pressures.

Delivering Solutions for Complex Problems Using Scalable Analytics—The larger and more complex a data set, the more difficult it is to derive and provide sustained levels of performance and insight. The highly-fragmented nature of data across multiple mediums and often siloed within organizations, the historical proliferation of data augmented by the recent acceleration of the digital transformation, and lack of robust technology inhibits the ability to create a unified data asset. There is an inherent need for information solutions that allow organizations to leverage unified data assets for actionable intelligence in support of their operational workflows and in a more efficient manner.

Our Competitive Strengths

We believe our leading-edge technology platform, massive database, and dynamic and intuitive solutions deliver superior capabilities to our customers. Our solutions enable our customers to make more informed inquiries regarding their challenges and better decisions to solve their most complex problems. We believe the following competitive strengths will continue to deliver an unrivaled value proposition that further drives our differentiation:

Our Platform and Solutions

Leveraging cloud-native proprietary technology and applying machine learning and advanced analytical capabilities, CORE provides essential solutions to public and private sector organizations through intuitive, easy-to-use analytical interfaces. With massive data assets consisting of public-record, proprietary and publicly-available data, our differentiated information and innovative platform and solutions deliver intelligence relating to all things identity – entities, relationships, affiliations, interactions, and events. Our solutions are used today to enable frictionless commerce, to ensure safety, and to reduce fraud and the concomitant expense borne by society.

Our Sales, Distribution and Marketing

Inside Sales—Our inside sales team cultivates relationships, and ultimately closes business, with their end-user markets. These professionals are relationship-based sellers with experience in identifying customers’ needs and clearly explaining and defining products that provide solutions to those needs.

Strategic Sales—While the majority of our direct sales efforts are supported through professional inside sales staff, major accounts within certain industries require a more personal, face-to-face strategic sales approach. We continue to expand this team to meet the demand of the markets.

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Distributors, Resellers, and Strategic Partners—In conjunction with direct-to-customer sales efforts, we engage value-added distributors, resellers, and strategic partners that have a significant foothold in many of the industries that we have not historically served, as well as to further penetrate those industries that we do serve. This allows us to rapidly penetrate these markets while also significantly reducing overhead associated with direct sales and support efforts.

Marketing—We have implemented several methods to market our products, including participation in trade shows and seminars, advertising, public relations, distribution of sales literature and product specifications and ongoing communication with prospective customers, distributors, resellers, strategic partners and our installed base of current customers.

Our Strategy

We are committed to developing innovative technology and using our analytical capabilities to deliver solutions that transform the way organizations interact with information. We are advancing our business through the following strategic approach:

Our Competition

Competition in the data and analytics sector centers on innovation, product stability, pricing and customer service. The market for our products and services is highly competitive and is subject to constant change. We compete on the basis of innovative technology, differentiated solutions, analytical capabilities, integration with our customers’ technology, customer relationships, service stability, and price. We believe we are well-positioned to effectively compete on all fronts.

Our competitors vary widely in size and nature of the products and services they offer. There are a large number of competitors who offer products and services in specialized areas, such as fraud prevention, risk management and decisioning solutions. We believe our innovative technology, analytical capabilities, robust and unified database, and the intelligent design of our cloud-native infrastructure will allow us to differentiate ourselves from our competition in flexibility, capability, service and price.

Some of our competitors have substantially greater financial, technical, sales and marketing resources, better name recognition and a larger customer base. Even if we introduce advanced products that meet evolving customer requirements in a timely manner, there can be no assurance that our new products will gain market acceptance.

Certain companies in the data and analytics sector have expanded their product lines or technologies in recent years as a result of acquisitions. Further, more companies have developed products which conform to existing and emerging industry standards and have sought to compete on the basis of price. We anticipate increased competition from large data and analytics vendors. Increased competition in the data and analytics sector could result in significant price competition, reduced profit margins or loss of market share, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. There can be no assurance that we will be able to compete successfully in the future with current or new competitors.

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Concentration of Customers

We have established relationships with a number of customers, many of whom could unilaterally terminate their relationship with us or materially reduce the amount of business they conduct with us at any time. Market competition, customer requirements, customer financial condition and customer consolidation through mergers or acquisitions also could adversely affect our ability to continue or expand these relationships. There is no guarantee that we will be able to retain or renew existing agreements, maintain relationships with any of our customers on acceptable terms or at all or collect amounts owed to us from insolvent customers. The loss of one or more of our major customers could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

During the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, no individual customer accounted for more than 10% of total revenue.

As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, no individual customer accounted for more than 10% of the Company’s accounts receivable.

Concentration of Suppliers

Our products and services depend extensively upon continued access to and receipt of data from external sources, including data received from the major credit bureaus, including our largest data supplier. Our other data suppliers include strategic partners, as well as various government and public record databases. Our largest data supplier, with whom we have expanded our relationship while securing what we believe to be favorable business terms over the years, accounted for 49% of our total data acquisition costs for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to 46% for the year ended December 31, 2020. The amended and renewed term of the agreement with this supplier ends June 30, 2026. We may elect to extend the term for an additional twelve months upon written notice to this supplier at least 30 days prior to the end of the amended and renewed term. During the term of the agreement, either party has the right to terminate the agreement: (i) in the event of the other party’s failure to cure a material breach, and (ii) in the event of the other party’s insolvency. In addition, this supplier may terminate this agreement by providing not less than 12 months’ advance written notice to us and we may terminate this agreement by providing not less than 24 months’ advance written notice to this supplier. As of December 31, 2021, the remaining minimum purchase commitments through the end of the amended and renewed term is $23.8 million. If we are unable to maintain our relationship with our largest data supplier, our ability to provide products and services could be negatively impacted, as we would need to secure comparable data on similar terms, which would require significant time, expense, and resources, and may in the short-term adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations and, if we are unable to establish a similar relationship with other data suppliers over time, could have a long-term material impact on our business and financial condition.

Our Intellectual Property

We avail ourself of applicable trade secret and unfair competition laws to protect our proprietary technology, trademark law to protect our trademarks and domain names, and copyright laws to protect our content relating to, among other things, websites and marketing materials. Our intellectual property rights are embodied in confidential and proprietary technology and data, trademarked brands relating to our business units, products, services, and solutions, original content on our materials such as websites and marketing materials, and domain names. With respect to our trademarks, we maintain an extensive portfolio of perpetual common law and federally-registered trademark rights across several brands. We have also sought protection and registration of certain brands and trademarks internationally, such as in Europe and Canada. At present, we do not hold any issued patents.

We use data acquired through licensing rights from approximately 20 providers. The loss of any one of these providers could have an immediate near-term impact on our financial position, results of operations, and liquidity. Also see “Concentration of Suppliers” above.

Regulatory Matters

Our business is subject to various federal, state, and local laws, rules, and regulations, including, without limitation, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. §§ 6801- 6809) (“GLBA”), the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (18 U.S.C. §§ 2721- 2725) (“DPPA”) and the Federal Trade Commission Act (“FTC Act”). A change in any one of a number of the laws, rules, or regulations applicable to our business or the enactment of new or amended legislation or industry regulations pertaining to consumer or private sector privacy issues could have a material adverse impact on information services. Legislation or industry regulations regarding consumer or private sector privacy issues could place restrictions upon the collection, sharing and use of information that is currently legally available, which could materially increase our cost of collecting and maintaining some data. These types of legislation or industry regulations could also prohibit us from collecting or disseminating certain types of data, which could adversely affect our ability to meet our customers’ requirements and our profitability and cash flow targets.

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Seasonality

Our results are subject to seasonal fluctuation. Historically, certain products experience seasonal pressure during the fourth quarter.

Management Team

Our management team has a track record of strong performance and significant expertise in the markets we serve. We have built the leading companies in our industry, creating significant shareholder value. We continue to attract and retain experienced management talent for our business. Our team has deep knowledge of the data and analytics sector and expertise across the various industries that we serve. Our team has overseen the expansion of our proprietary technology platform while managing ongoing initiatives, including the transition from a development-focused company to a sales-driven company. As a result, we are well positioned to continue to successfully drive growth organically.

Our Employees

We employ a total of 139 employees, all full-time, as of December 31, 2021. None of our employees are represented by a labor organization, and none are party to any collective bargaining agreement. We have not experienced any work stoppages and consider our relations with our employees to be good. Competition in the recruiting of personnel in the data and analytics sector is intense. We believe that our future success will depend in part on our continued ability to hire, motivate and retain qualified sales and marketing, executive and administrative and technical personnel. To date, we have not experienced significant difficulties in attracting or retaining qualified employees.

Corporate Information

On March 26, 2018, Cogint, Inc. (“cogint”) (now known as Fluent, Inc.) spun off its risk management business by way of a distribution of all of the shares of common stock of its then wholly-owned subsidiary, red violet, to its stockholders as of the record date and certain warrant holders (the “Spin-off”).

Available Information

Our principal executive offices are located at 2650 North Military Trail, Suite 300, Boca Raton, Florida 33431 and our telephone number is (561) 757-4000. Our corporate website is www.redviolet.com. The website address provided in this 2021 Form 10-K is not intended to function as a hyperlink and information obtained on the website is not and should not be considered part of this 2021 Form 10-K and is not incorporated by reference in this 2021 Form 10-K or any filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to reports filed or furnished pursuant to Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), are available, free of charge, under the “Investors” section of our website at www.redviolet.com as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. The SEC maintains an internet website located at http://www.sec.gov that contains the information we file or furnish electronically with the SEC.

Information About Our Executive Officers

Our executive officers are as follows:

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Mr. Derek Dubner, 50, has served as the Chief Executive Officer and a director of the Company since its formation in August 2017 and continuing through the Spin-off from cogint on March 26, 2018. Mr. Dubner was appointed as Interim Chairman of our board of directors in September 2018 and as Chairman of our board of directors in April 2020. Mr. Dubner served as the Chief Executive Officer and a director of cogint, from March 2016 until the Spin-off. Mr. Dubner served as cogint’s Co-Chief Executive Officer from March 2015 until March 2016. Mr. Dubner has over 20 years of experience in the data and analytics industry. Mr. Dubner has served as the Chief Executive Officer of our subsidiary The Best One, Inc. (“TBO”), now known as the IDI Holdings, LLC (“IDI Holdings”), a holding company engaged in the acquisition of operating businesses and the acquisition and development of technology assets across various industries, and its subsidiary, Interactive Data, LLC (“Interactive Data”), since October 2014. Prior to TBO, Mr. Dubner served as General Counsel of TransUnion Risk and Alternative Data Solutions, Inc. (“TRADS”) from December 2013 to June 2014. Mr. Dubner served as General Counsel and Secretary of TLO, LLC (“TLO”), an information solutions provider, from inception in 2009 to December 2013.

Mr. James Reilly, 47, has served as President of the Company since its formation in August 2017 and continuing through its Spin-off from cogint. Mr. Reilly served as President of cogint from July 2017 until the Spin-off, and previously from June 2015 until June 2016 and as President and Chief Operating Officer of two of our subsidiaries, IDI Holdings and Interactive Data from October 2014 until June 2016. From July 2016 to June 2017, Mr. Reilly was enjoined from providing services for cogint or its subsidiaries. From January 2014 through September 2014, Mr. Reilly served as Vice President of Sales at TRADS. From August 2010 through its acquisition of substantially all of the assets by TRADS in December 2013, Mr. Reilly served as Senior Vice President of TLO.

Mr. Daniel MacLachlan, 43, has served as the Chief Financial Officer of the Company since its formation in August 2017 and continuing through its Spin-off from cogint. Mr. MacLachlan served as Chief Financial Officer of cogint from March 2016 until the Spin-off and brings over fifteen years of experience as the chief financial officer of data-driven technology companies. Mr. MacLachlan served as an Independent Director, Audit and Compensation Committee Chairman for Vapor Corp., a U.S.-based distributor and retailer of vaporizers, e-liquids and electronic cigarettes, from April 2015 through April 2016. From October 2014 until February 2015, Mr. MacLachlan served as the Chief Financial Officer of TBO. Prior to TBO, Mr. MacLachlan served in the roles of Director of Finance and Chief Financial Officer for TRADS, after it acquired substantially all of the assets of TLO, through a 363 sale process in December 2013. Mr. MacLachlan was the Chief Financial Officer of TLO from 2009 to December 2013. From 2005 to 2009, Mr. MacLachlan served as the Chief Financial Officer of JARI Research Corporation (“JARI”), a partnership with the Mayo Clinic advancing proprietary cancer therapeutic technology using targeted radioactive therapy. Prior to JARI, Mr. MacLachlan served as a Special Agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) specializing in the criminal investigation of public corruption and civil rights violations.

Mr. Jeff Dell, 50, has served as the Chief Information Officer of the Company since its formation in August 2017 and continuing through its Spin-off from cogint. Mr. Dell served as Chief Information Officer of cogint from September 2016 until the Spin-off and served as the Interim Chief Information Officer of cogint from June 2016 through September 2016. From July 2015 through May 2016, Mr. Dell served as the VP Information Security of cogint. From June 2012 to June 2015, Mr. Dell served as Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Endurance Tracker, Inc., a sports-based data analytics solution. From August 2009 to May 2012, Mr. Dell served as Lead Architect at Tripwire, Inc. From October 2008 to August 2009, Mr. Dell served as Chief Information Security Officer of TLO. From September 2003 to August 2009, Mr. Dell served as Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Activeworx, Inc., a leading information security data analytics company. From January 2001 to August 2003, Mr. Dell served as Chief Information Security Officer of Seisint, Inc., a leading provider in the data fusion industry.

Item 1A. Risk Factors.

Our business, financial condition, operating results, and cash flows may be impacted by a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, including those set forth below and elsewhere in this 2021 Form 10-K, the occurrence of any one of which could have a material adverse effect on our actual results.

Coronavirus Pandemic Risks

The ongoing and developing Covid-19 pandemic and the global response to it may adversely impact our business, our future results of operations and our overall financial performance.

The global spread of a novel strain of coronavirus, known as Covid-19, and the various responses to it have created significant volatility, uncertainty and economic disruption. Covid-19 caused us, as well as many of our customers and vendors, to change certain aspects of operations and curtail travel at times. Governmental responses to Covid-19 may alter financial outlooks.

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The Covid-19 pandemic and the various responses to it may continue to impact our business, operations and financial results, and the extent of any such impact will depend on numerous evolving factors that we may not be able to accurately predict, including: the duration and scope of the pandemic; the emergence and severity of new variants; governmental, business and individuals’ actions that have been and continue to be taken in response to the pandemic; vaccination rates and the effectiveness of vaccines against new variants; the availability and cost to access the capital markets; the effect on our customers and customer demand for and ability to pay for our services; and disruptions or restrictions on our employees’ ability to work and travel. If new variants cause severe illness or existing vaccines prove ineffective against new variants, resulting in renewed travel restrictions or stay-at-home orders, that may also interfere with the conduct of our business. Such results could have a material adverse effect on our operations, business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.

The Covid-19 pandemic or the perception of its effects could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. We are closely monitoring the ongoing and developing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, continually assessing its potential effects on our business. The extent to which our results are affected by Covid-19 will largely depend on future developments, including the emergence of new variants, and the development, availability, distribution and effectiveness of vaccines in response to new variants, which cannot be accurately predicted and are uncertain.

Cybersecurity and Technology Risks

Our products and services are highly technical and if they contain undetected errors, our business could be adversely affected and we may have to defend lawsuits or pay damages in connection with any alleged or actual failure of our products and services.

Our products and services are highly technical and complex. Our products and services have contained and may contain one or more undetected errors, defects or security vulnerabilities. Some errors in our products and services may only be discovered after a product or service has been used by end customers. Any errors or security vulnerabilities discovered in our products after commercial release could result in loss of revenue or delay in revenue recognition, or loss of customers, any of which could adversely affect our business and results of operations. In addition, we could face claims for product liability or breach of personal information. Defending a lawsuit, regardless of its merit, is costly and may divert management’s attention. In addition, if our business liability insurance coverage is inadequate or future coverage is unavailable on acceptable terms or at all, our financial condition could be harmed.

If we fail to respond to rapid technological changes in the data and analytics sector, we may lose customers and/or our products and/or services may become obsolete.

The data and analytics sector is characterized by rapidly changing technology, frequent product introductions, and continued evolution of new industry standards. As a result, our success depends upon our ability to develop and introduce in a timely manner new products and services and enhancements to existing products and services that meet changing customer requirements and evolving industry standards. The development of technologically advanced product solutions is a complex and uncertain process requiring high levels of innovation, rapid response and accurate anticipation of technological and market trends. We cannot assure you that we will be able to identify, develop, manufacture, market or support new or enhanced products and services successfully in a timely manner. Further, we or our competitors may introduce new products or services or product enhancements that shorten the life cycle of existing products or services or cause existing products or services to become obsolete.

Because our networks and information technology systems are critical to our success, if unauthorized persons access our systems or our systems otherwise cease to function properly, our operations could be adversely affected and we could lose revenue or proprietary information, all of which could materially adversely affect our business.

As our business is conducted largely online, it is dependent on our networks being accessible and secure. If an actual or perceived breach of network security occurs, regardless of whether the breach is attributable to our network security controls, the market perception of the effectiveness of our network security could be harmed resulting in loss of current and potential end user customers, data suppliers, or cause us to lose potential value-added resellers, distributors, or strategic partners. Our business is largely dependent on our customer-facing websites and our websites may be inaccessible because of service interruptions or subject to hacking or computer attacks. Because the techniques used by computer hackers to access or sabotage networks change frequently and generally are not recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques. If an actual or perceived breach were to occur, we cannot assure you that we would not lose revenue or not sustain operating losses as a result.

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We also rely heavily on large information technology databases and the ability to provide services using that information from those databases. A party who is able to breach the security measures on our networks or who otherwise is able to access our system through unauthorized means could misappropriate either our proprietary information or the personal information of consumers that we collect, or otherwise cause interruptions or malfunctions to our operations. Hacking of computer data systems is a growing problem. Hackers may especially target concerns that are known to maintain large repositories of proprietary information or personal information, which can then be exploited for the hacker's personal gain. If we grow and obtain more visibility, we may be more vulnerable to hacking or other attempts to gain unauthorized access to our system. Moreover, the increased use of mobile devices also increases the risk of theft or the intentional and unintentional disclosure of data including proprietary information or personal information. We may be unable to anticipate all of these vulnerabilities and implement adequate preventative measures and, in some cases, we may not be able to immediately detect a security incident. Any security incident could result in legal, regulatory, and financial liability, as well as harm to our reputation.

We may be required to expend significant capital and other resources to protect against such threats or to alleviate problems caused by breaches in security. Additionally, any server interruptions, break-downs or system failures, including failures which may be attributable to events within or outside our control, could increase our future operating costs and cause us to lose business. We maintain insurance policies covering losses relating to our network systems or other assets. However, these policies may not cover the entire cost of a claim. Any future disruptions in our information technology systems, whether caused by hacking or otherwise, may have a material adverse effect on our future results.

Privacy concerns relating to the collection, use, accuracy, correction and sharing of personal information and any perceived or actual unauthorized disclosure of personal information, whether through breach of our network by an unauthorized party, employee theft, misuse, or error could harm our reputation, impair our ability to attract website visitors and to attract and retain customers, result in a loss of confidence in the security of our products and services, or subject us to claims or litigation arising from damages suffered by consumers, and thereby harm our business and results of operations. In addition, we could incur significant costs which our insurance policies may not adequately cover and we may need to expend significant resources to protect against security breaches and comply with the multitude of state and federal laws regarding data privacy and data breach notification obligations.

Data security and integrity are critically important to our business, and breaches of security, unauthorized access to or disclosure of confidential information, disruption, including distributed denial of service (“DDoS”) attacks or the perception that confidential information is not secure, could result in a material loss of business, substantial legal liability or significant harm to our reputation.

We own and host a large amount of sensitive and confidential consumer information including financial information and personal information. This data is often accessed through secure transmissions over public and private networks, including the internet. Despite our physical security, implementation of technical controls and contractual precautions to identify, detect and prevent the unauthorized access to and alteration and disclosure of our data, we cannot assure you that systems that access our services and databases will not be compromised or disrupted, whether as a result of criminal conduct, DDoS attacks or other advanced persistent attacks by malicious actors, including hackers, nation states and criminals, breaches due to employee error or malfeasance, or other disruptions during the process of upgrading or replacing computer software or hardware, power outages, computer viruses, telecommunication or utility failures or natural disasters or other catastrophic events. We must continually monitor and develop our information technology networks and infrastructure to prevent, detect, address and mitigate the risk of unauthorized access, misuse, computer viruses and other events that could have a security impact. Several recent, highly-publicized data incidents and DDoS attacks have heightened consumer awareness of this issue and may embolden individuals or groups to target our systems. Unauthorized disclosure, loss or corruption of our data or inability of our customers to access our systems could disrupt our operations, subject us to substantial legal liability, result in a material loss of business and significantly harm our reputation.

As a nationwide provider of risk and information solutions, we collect, store and transmit files on millions of consumers. These files may contain personal information and other information, and we have implemented technical and physical security policies, procedures and systems we believe are reasonably designed to protect this information from unauthorized access. However, due to the sensitive nature of the information we collect, store and transmit, it is not unusual for efforts to occur (coordinated or otherwise) by unauthorized persons to attempt to obtain access to our systems or data, or to inhibit our ability to deliver products or services to a customer.

We may not be able to immediately address the consequences of a cybersecurity incident because a successful breach of our computer systems, software, networks or other technology assets could occur and persist for an extended period of time before being detected due to, among other things:

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The extent of a particular cybersecurity incident and the steps that we may need to take to investigate it may not be immediately clear, and it may take a significant amount of time before such an investigation can be completed and full and reliable information about the incident is known. While such an investigation is ongoing, we may not necessarily know the extent of the harm or how best to remediate it, and certain errors or actions could be repeated or compounded before they are discovered and remediated, any or all of which could further increase the costs and consequences of a cybersecurity incident.

A growing number of legislative and regulatory bodies have adopted consumer notification and other requirements in the event that a consumer's personal information is accessed by unauthorized persons. It is possible that additional laws pertaining to the use, access, accuracy, and security of personal information will be adopted in the future. In the United States, federal and state laws provide for more than 50 disparate data breach notification regimes, all of which we may be subject to. Complying with such numerous and complex regulations in the event of unauthorized access would be expensive and difficult, and failure to comply with these regulations could subject us to regulatory scrutiny and additional liability.

If we fail to maintain and improve our systems, our certifications, our technology, and our interfaces with data sources and customers, demand for our services could be adversely affected.

In our industry, there are continuous improvements in computer hardware, network operating systems, programming tools, programming languages, operating systems, data matching, data filtering and other database technologies and the use of the internet. These improvements, as well as changes in customer preferences or regulatory requirements, may require changes in the technology used to gather and process our data and deliver our services. Our future success will depend, in part, upon our ability to:

We cannot provide assurance that we will successfully implement new technologies, cause customers or data suppliers to implement compatible technologies or adapt our technology to evolving customer, regulatory and competitive requirements. If we fail to respond, or fail to cause our customers or data suppliers to respond, to changes in technology, regulatory requirements or customer preferences, the demand for our services, the delivery of our services or our market reputation could be adversely affected. Additionally, our failure to implement important updates could affect our ability to successfully meet the timeline for us to generate cost savings resulting from our investments in improved technology. Failure to achieve any of these objectives would impede our ability to deliver strong financial results.

Furthermore, we may be required to obtain various industry or technical certifications under our contracts or otherwise to keep pace with our competitors. If we fail to achieve and maintain these key industry or technical certifications, our customers may stop doing business with us and we may not be able to win new business, which would negatively affect our revenue.

Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Risks

Our business is subject to various governmental regulations, laws and orders, compliance with which may cause us to incur significant expenses or reduce the availability or effectiveness of our solutions, and the failure to comply with which could subject us to civil or criminal penalties or other liabilities.

Our business is subject to regulation under the GLBA, the DPPA, the FTC Act, and various other federal, state and local laws and regulations. These laws and regulations, which generally are designed to protect consumers and to prevent the misuse of personal information are complex, change frequently and have tended to become more stringent over time. We have already incurred significant expenses in our endeavors to comply with these laws.

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Currently, public concern is high with regard to the collection, use, accuracy, correction and sharing of personal information, including Social Security numbers, dates of birth, financial information, department of motor vehicle data and other data which is personally identifiable or may be considered sensitive. In addition, many advocacy groups as well as some legislatures and government regulators believe that existing laws and regulations do not adequately protect privacy, are outmoded due to technological changes, or are not keeping pace with laws passed internationally (including, but not limited to, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”)). As a result, several U.S. states have recently introduced and passed legislation to expand data security breach notification rules and to provide consumers with greater transparency and control over their personal data. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (the "CCPA"), which became effective on January 1, 2020, applies to certain businesses that collect personal information concerning California residents and establishes several consumer rights, including a right to know what personal information is being collected about them and whether and to whom it is sold, a right to access their personal information and have it deleted, a right to opt out of the sale of their personal information, and a right to equal service and price regardless of exercise of these rights. The CCPA contains certain exclusions for data otherwise regulated by the GLBA and/or DPPA, or which is publicly available, and therefore, the impact of the CCPA on our business is somewhat mitigated. On November 3, 2020, California adopted the California Privacy Rights Act (the “CPRA”), which amends and expands the CCPA. It is anticipated that most of the substantive provisions of the CPRA will go into effect in 2023. Two additional comprehensive state privacy laws, the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act and the Colorado Privacy Act have been adopted and will go into effect in 2023. These laws are similar to the CCPA, but create certain disparate requirements, such as the requirement for businesses to implement appeal procedures for denied requests. Other states are actively considering comprehensive privacy bills, and may pass comprehensive privacy laws similar to California’s, Virginia’s, or Colorado’s privacy laws in the future.

A number of data incidents announced recently by companies in various industries has resulted in significantly increased legislative and regulatory activity at the federal and state levels as lawmakers and regulators continue to propose a wide range of further restrictions on the collection, dissemination or commercial use of personal information, information security standards, and data security incident disclosure standards. This and additional legislative or regulatory efforts in the United States, or action by Executive Order of the President of the United States, could further regulate the collection, use, communication, access, accuracy, obsolescence, sharing, correction and security of this personal information. In addition, any perception that our practices or products are an invasion of privacy, whether or not consistent with current or future regulations and industry practices, may subject us to public criticism, class action lawsuits, reputational harm, or scrutiny by regulators, which could disrupt our business and expose us to increased liability.

These U.S. federal and state laws and regulations, which can be enforced by government entities or, in some cases, private parties, are constantly evolving and can be subject to significant change. Keeping our business in compliance with or bringing our business into compliance with new laws may be costly and may affect our revenue and/or harm our financial results. In addition, the application, interpretation, and enforcement of these laws and regulations are often uncertain, particularly in the new and rapidly evolving industry in which we operate, and may be interpreted and applied inconsistently from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and inconsistently with our current policies and practices. In addition, new laws or regulations or changes in enforcement of existing laws or regulations applicable to our customers could affect the activities or strategies of such customers and, therefore, lead to reductions in their level of business with us.

The following legal and regulatory developments also could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations:

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Changes in applicable legislation or regulations that restrict or dictate how we collect, maintain, combine and disseminate information could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. In the future, we may be subject to significant additional expense to ensure continued compliance with applicable laws and regulations and to investigate, defend or remedy actual or alleged violations. Any failure by us to comply with applicable laws or regulations could also result in significant liability to us, including liability to private plaintiffs as a result of individual or class action litigation, or may result in the cessation of our operations or portions of our operations or impositions of fines and restrictions on our ability to carry on or expand our operations. Moreover, our compliance with privacy laws and regulations and our reputation depend in part on our customers’ adherence to privacy laws and regulations and their use of our services in ways consistent with consumer expectations and regulatory requirements. Certain of the laws and regulations governing our business are subject to interpretation by judges, juries and administrative entities, creating substantial uncertainty for our business. We cannot predict what effect the interpretation of existing or new laws or regulations may have on our business.

The outcome of litigation, inquiries, investigations, examinations or other legal proceedings in which we are involved, in which we may become involved, or in which our customers or competitors are involved could subject us to significant monetary damages or restrictions on our ability to do business.

Legal proceedings arise as part of the normal course of our business. These may include actions between us and a current or former employee, actions between us and a current former customer, individual consumer cases, class action lawsuits and inquiries, investigations, examinations, regulatory proceedings or other actions brought by federal (e.g., the FTC) or state (e.g., state attorneys general) authorities. The scope and outcome of these proceedings is often difficult to assess or quantify. Plaintiffs in lawsuits may seek recovery of large amounts and the cost to defend such litigation may be significant. There may also be adverse publicity and uncertainty associated with investigations, litigation and orders (whether pertaining to us, our customers or our competitors) that could decrease customer acceptance of our services or result in material discovery expenses. In addition, a court-ordered injunction or an administrative cease-and-desist order or settlement may require us to modify our business practices or may prohibit conduct that would otherwise be legal and in which our competitors may engage. Many of the technical and complex statutes to which we are subject, including state and federal financial privacy requirements, may provide for civil and criminal penalties and may permit consumers to maintain individual or class action lawsuits against us and obtain statutorily prescribed damages. Additionally, our customers might face similar proceedings, actions or inquiries which could affect their business and, in turn, our ability to do business with those customers.

While we do not believe that the outcome of any pending or threatened legal proceeding, investigation, examination or supervisory activity will have a material adverse effect on our financial position, such events are inherently uncertain and adverse outcomes could result in significant monetary damages, penalties or injunctive relief against us. Furthermore, we review legal proceedings and claims on an ongoing basis and follow appropriate accounting guidance, including Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 450, “Contingencies,” when making accrual and disclosure decisions. We establish accruals for those contingencies where the incurrence of a loss is probable and can be reasonably estimated, and we disclose the amount accrued and the amount of a reasonably possible loss in excess of the amount accrued, if such disclosure is necessary for our financial statements to not be misleading. To estimate whether a loss contingency should be accrued by a charge to income, we evaluate, among other factors, the degree of probability of an unfavorable outcome and the ability to make a reasonable estimate of the amount of the loss. We do not record liabilities when the likelihood that the liability has been incurred is probable, but the amount cannot be reasonably estimated.

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Our bylaws designate the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the sole and exclusive forum for certain actions, including derivative actions, which could limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with the Company and its directors, officers, other employees, or the Company's stockholders and may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims.

Unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought against or on behalf of the Company, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a duty owed by any current or former director, officer, other employee or stockholder of the Company to the Company or the Company’s stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, (iv) any action as to which the Delaware General Corporation Law confers jurisdiction upon the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware, or (v) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine, shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware (or, only if the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware declines to accept jurisdiction over a particular matter, any state or federal court located within the State of Delaware). However, Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder, and as such, the exclusive jurisdiction clauses set forth above would not apply to such suits. Furthermore, Section 22 of the Securities Act provides for concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder, and as such, the exclusive jurisdiction clauses set forth above would not apply to such suits.

Although we believe the exclusive forum provision benefits us by providing increased consistency in the application of Delaware law for the specified types of actions and proceedings, this provision may limit a stockholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with the Company and its directors, officers, or other employees and may discourage lawsuits with respect to such claims.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock

Our stock price has been and may continue to be volatile, and the value of an investment in our common stock may decline.

The trading price of our common stock has been and is likely to continue to be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. These factors could include:

From time to time, we estimate the timing of the accomplishment of various commercial and other product development goals or milestones. Also, from time to time, we expect that we will publicly announce the anticipated timing of some of these milestones. All of these milestones are based on a variety of assumptions. The actual timing of these milestones can vary dramatically compared to our estimates, in some cases for reasons beyond our control. If we do not meet these milestones as publicly announced, our stock price may decline.

In addition, the stock market has experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of publicly traded companies. Broad market and industry factors may seriously affect the market price of companies’ stock, including ours, regardless of actual operating performance. These fluctuations may be even more pronounced in the trading market for our stock. In addition, in the past, following periods of volatility in the overall market and the market price of a particular company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against these companies. This litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management’s attention and resources.

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Future issuances of shares of our common stock in connection with acquisitions or pursuant to our stock incentive plans could have a dilutive effect on your investment.

Since the Spin-off and through December 31, 2021, we issued an aggregate of 2,356,167 shares of our common stock in connection with vesting of awards made under the Red Violet, Inc. 2018 Stock Incentive Plan, as amended (the “2018 Plan”), 368,155 shares of which were retired and cancelled. Also, as of December 31, 2021, 31,418 shares underlying awards made under the 2018 Plan have vested but have not been delivered, and an additional 1,306,953 shares underlying awards made under the 2018 Plan are scheduled to vest and be delivered through 2025. Pursuant to the 2018 Plan, our board of directors may grant stock options, restricted stock units (“RSUs”), or other equity awards to our directors and employees. Future stock incentive plans may also allow our board of directors to issue these equity awards to our directors and employees. When these awards vest or are exercised, the issuance of shares of common stock underlying these awards will have a dilutive effect on our common stock. Future acquisitions may involve the issuance of our common stock as payment, in part or in full, for the business or assets acquired. The benefits derived by us from an acquisition might not exceed the dilutive effect of the shares issued as part of the acquisition.

The concentration of our stock ownership may limit individual stockholder ability to influence corporate matters.

As of December 31, 2021, officers and directors of the Company owned approximately 9% of our common stock (approximately 12% on a fully diluted basis). In addition, two other significant stockholders of the Company owned in aggregate approximately 24% of our common stock (approximately 22% on a fully diluted basis). As a result, these stockholders may be in a position to exert significant influence over all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and determination of significant corporate actions. The interests of these stockholders may not always coincide with the interests of other stockholders, and these stockholders may act in a manner that advances their interests and not necessarily those of other stockholders, and might affect the prevailing market price for our securities.

We are an “emerging growth company,” and we cannot be certain if the reduced reporting requirements available to emerging growth companies will make our shares of common stock less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act. For as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies. We cannot predict if investors will find our shares of common stock to be less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our shares of common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our shares of common stock and our share price may be more volatile.

We expect that we may need additional capital in the future; however, such capital may not be available to us on reasonable terms, if at all, when or as we require additional funding. If we issue additional shares of our common stock or other securities that may be convertible into, or exercisable or exchangeable for, our common stock, our existing stockholders would experience further dilution.

Although we expect that we may need additional capital in the future, we cannot be certain that it will be available to us on acceptable terms when required, or at all. Disruptions in the global equity and credit markets may limit our ability to access capital. Since the Spin-off and through December 31, 2021, we issued an aggregate of 1,233,915 shares of our common stock in connection with registered direct offerings. To the extent that we raise additional funds by issuing equity securities, our shareholders would experience dilution, which may be significant and could cause the market price of our common stock to decline significantly. Any debt financing, if available, may restrict our operations. If we are unable to raise additional capital when required or on acceptable terms, we may have to significantly delay, scale back or discontinue certain operations. Any of these events could significantly harm our business and prospects and could cause our stock price to decline.

Business and Operations Risks

We have a history of losses which makes our future results uncertain.

Since inception, we have incurred operating losses. We need to generate greater revenue from the sale of our products and services if we are to achieve and sustain profitability. If we are unable to generate greater revenue, we may not be able to achieve profitability or continue to generate positive cash flow from operations in the future.

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We depend, in part, on strategic alliances, joint ventures and acquisitions to grow our business. If we are unable to make strategic acquisitions and develop and maintain these strategic alliances and joint ventures, our growth may be adversely affected.

An important focus of our business is to identify business partners who can enhance our services, enable us to develop solutions that differentiate us from our competitors, drive users to our websites and monetize our data. We have entered into several alliance agreements or license agreements with respect to certain of our datasets and services and may enter into similar agreements in the future. These arrangements may require us to restrict our use of certain of our technologies or datasets among certain customer industries, restrict content on our websites or grant licenses on terms that ultimately may prove to be unfavorable to us, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Relationships with our alliance agreement partners may include risks due to incomplete information regarding the marketplace and commercial strategies of our partners, and our alliance agreements or other licensing agreements may be the subject of contractual disputes. If we or our alliance agreements’ partners are not successful in maintaining or commercializing the alliance agreements’ services, such commercial failure could adversely affect our business.

If we consummate any future acquisitions, we will be subject to the risks inherent in identifying, acquiring and operating a newly acquired business.

We may, in the future, acquire additional businesses, which we believe could complement or expand our current business or offer growth opportunities. We may experience difficulties in identifying potential acquisition candidates that complement our current business at appropriate prices, or at all. We cannot assure you that our acquisition strategy will be successful. We may spend significant management time and resources in analyzing and negotiating acquisitions or investments that are not consummated. Furthermore, the ongoing process of integrating an acquired business is distracting, time consuming, expensive, and requires continuous optimization and allocation of resources. Additionally, if we use stock as consideration, this would dilute our existing shareholders and if we use cash, this would reduce our liquidity and impact our financial flexibility. We may seek debt financing for particular acquisitions, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. We face the risks associated with the business acquisition strategy, including:

If we cannot overcome these challenges, we may not realize actual benefits from past and future acquisitions, which will impair our overall business results. If we complete an investment or acquisition, we may not realize the anticipated benefits from the transaction.

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Our relationships with key customers may be materially diminished or terminated.

We have established relationships with a number of customers, many of whom could unilaterally terminate their relationship with us or materially reduce the amount of business they conduct with us at any time. Market competition, customer requirements, customer financial condition and customer consolidation through mergers or acquisitions also could adversely affect our ability to continue or expand these relationships. There is no guarantee that we will be able to retain or renew existing agreements, maintain relationships with any of our customers on acceptable terms or at all or collect amounts owed to us from insolvent customers. The loss of one or more of our major customers could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If we lose the services of key personnel, it could adversely affect our business.

Our future success depends, in part, on our ability to attract and retain key personnel. Our future also depends on the continued services of Derek Dubner, our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, James Reilly, our President, Daniel MacLachlan, our Chief Financial Officer and other key employees in all areas of our organization, each of whom is important to the management of certain aspects of our business and operations and the development of our strategic direction, and each of whom may be difficult to replace. The loss of the services of these key individuals and the process to replace these individuals would involve significant time and expense and could significantly delay or prevent the achievement of our business objectives.

Our revenue is concentrated in the U.S. market across a broad range of industries. When these industries or the broader financial markets experience a downturn, demand for our services and revenue may be adversely affected.

Our customers, and therefore our business and revenue, sometimes depend on favorable macroeconomic conditions and are impacted by the availability of credit, the level and volatility of interest rates, inflation, employment levels, consumer confidence and housing demand. In addition, a significant amount of our revenue is concentrated in the U.S. market across a broad range of industries. Our customer base suffers when financial markets experience volatility, illiquidity and disruption, which has occurred in the past and which could reoccur. Such market developments, and the potential for increased and continuing disruptions going forward, present considerable risks to our business and operations. Changes in the economy have resulted, and may continue to result, in fluctuations in volumes, pricing and operating margins for our services. For example, the banking and financial market downturn that began to affect U.S. businesses in 2008 caused a greater focus on expense reduction by customers of businesses similar to ours. If businesses in these industries experience economic hardship, we cannot assure you that we will be able to generate future revenue growth. These types of disruptions could lead to a decline in the volumes of services we provide our customers and could negatively impact our revenue and results of operations.

We could lose our access to data sources which could prevent us from providing our services.

Our products and services depend extensively upon continued access to and receipt of data from external sources, including data received from strategic partners and various government and public record databases. In some cases, we compete with our data providers. Our data providers could stop providing data, provide untimely data or increase the costs for their data for a variety of reasons, including a perception that our systems are insecure as a result of a data security breach, budgetary constraints, a desire to generate additional revenue or for regulatory or competitive reasons. We could also become subject to increased legislative, regulatory or judicial restrictions or mandates on the collection, disclosure or use of such data, in particular if such data is not collected by our providers in a way that allows us to legally use the data. If we were to lose access to this external data or if our access or use were restricted or were to become less economical or desirable, our ability to provide services could be negatively impacted, which would adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations. We cannot provide assurance that we will be successful in maintaining our relationships with these external data source providers or that we will be able to continue to obtain data from them on acceptable terms or at all. Furthermore, we cannot provide assurance that we will be able to obtain data from alternative sources if our current sources become unavailable.

The foregoing risks are heightened with respect to our largest data supplier, with whom we have expanded our relationship while securing favorable business terms over the years. If we are unable to maintain our current relationship with our largest data supplier, our ability to provide services could be negatively impacted, as we would need to secure comparable data on similar terms, which would require significant time, expense, and resources, and may in the short-term adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations and, if we are unable to establish a similar relationship with other data suppliers over time, could have a long-term material impact on our business and financial condition.

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We must adequately protect our intellectual property in order to prevent loss of valuable proprietary information.

We rely primarily upon a combination of patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws, as well as other intellectual property laws, and confidentiality procedures and contractual agreements, such as non-disclosure agreements, to protect our proprietary technology. However, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy or reverse engineer aspects of our products or services or to obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. Policing unauthorized use of our products or services is difficult, and we cannot be certain that the steps we have taken will prevent misappropriation of our intellectual property. If the protection of our intellectual property proves to be inadequate or unenforceable, others may be able to use our proprietary developments without compensation to us, resulting in potential cost advantages to our competitors.

Some of our systems and technologies are not covered by any copyright, patent or patent application. We cannot guarantee that: (i) our intellectual property rights will provide us with a competitive advantage; (ii) our ability to assert our intellectual property rights against potential competitors or to settle current or future disputes will be effective; (iii) our intellectual property rights will be enforced in jurisdictions where competition may be intense or where legal protection may be weak; (iv) any of the patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret or other intellectual property rights that we presently employ in our business will not lapse or be invalidated, circumvented, challenged, or abandoned; (v) competitors will not design around our protected systems and technology; or (vi) that we will not lose the ability to assert our intellectual property rights against others.

Policing unauthorized use of our proprietary rights can be difficult and costly. Litigation, while it may be necessary to enforce or protect our intellectual property rights, could result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention and could adversely affect our business, even if we are successful on the merits. In addition, others may independently discover trade secrets and proprietary information, and in such cases we could not assert any trade secret rights against such parties.

We face intense competition from both start-up and established companies that may have significant advantages over us and our products.

The market for our products and services is intensely competitive. There are numerous companies competing with us in various segments of the data and analytics sector, and their products and services may have advantages over our products and services in areas such as conformity to existing and emerging industry standards, performance, price, ease of use, scalability, reliability, flexibility, product features and technical support.

Our principal competitors in the data and analytics sector include Palantir, RELX Group (LexisNexis), TransUnion, and Thomson Reuters. Current and potential competitors may have one or more of the following significant advantages:

We cannot assure you that we will be able to compete successfully with our existing or new competitors. Some of our competitors may have, in relation to us, one or more of the following: longer operating histories, longer-standing relationships with end-user customers and greater customer service, public relations and other resources. As a result, these competitors may be able to more quickly develop or adapt to new or emerging technologies and changes in customer requirements, or devote greater resources to the development, promotion and sale of their products and services. Additionally, it is likely that new competitors or alliances among existing competitors could emerge and rapidly acquire significant market share.

There may be further consolidation in our end-customer markets, which may adversely affect our revenue.

There has been, and we expect there will continue to be, merger, acquisition and consolidation activity in our customer markets. If our customers merge with, or are acquired by, other entities that are not our customers, or that use fewer of our services, our revenue may be adversely impacted. In addition, industry consolidation could affect the base of recurring transaction-based revenue if consolidated customers combine their operations under one contract, since many of our contracts provide for volume discounts. In addition, our existing customers might leave certain geographic markets, which would no longer require them to purchase certain products from us and, consequently, we would generate less revenue than we currently expect.

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To the extent the availability of free or relatively inexpensive consumer and/or business information increases, the demand for some of our services may decrease.

Public and commercial sources of free or relatively inexpensive consumer and business information have become increasingly available and this trend is expected to continue. Public and commercial sources of free or relatively inexpensive consumer and/or business information may reduce demand for our services. To the extent that our customers choose not to obtain services from us and instead rely on information obtained at little or no cost from these public and commercial sources, our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.

If our newer products do not achieve market acceptance, revenue growth may suffer.

Our products have been in the market place for a limited period of time and may have longer sales cycles than competitive products. Accordingly, we may not achieve the meaningful revenue growth needed to sustain operations. We cannot provide any assurances that sales of our newer products will continue to grow or generate sufficient revenues to sustain our business. If we are unable to recognize revenues due to longer sales cycles or other problems, our results of operations could be adversely affected.

We have not yet received broad market acceptance for our newer products. We cannot assure you that our present or future products will achieve market acceptance on a sustained basis. In order to achieve market acceptance and achieve future revenue growth, we must introduce complementary products, incorporate new technologies into existing product lines, and design and develop and successfully commercialize higher performance products in a timely manner. We cannot assure you that we will be able to offer new or complementary products that gain market acceptance quickly enough to avoid decreased revenues during current or future product introductions or transitions.

Our products and services can have long sales and implementation cycles, which may result in substantial expenses before realizing any associated revenue.

The sale and implementation of our products and services to large companies and government entities typically involves a lengthy education process and a significant technical evaluation and commitment of capital and other resources. This process is also subject to the risk of delays associated with customers’ internal budgeting and other procedures for approving capital expenditures, and testing and accepting new technologies that affect key operations. As a result, sales and implementation cycles for our products and services can be lengthy, and we may expend significant time and resources before we receive any revenues from a customer or potential customer. Our quarterly and annual operating results could be adversely affected if orders forecast for a specific customer and for a particular period are not realized.

If our outside service providers and key vendors are not able to or do not fulfill their service obligations, our operations could be disrupted and our operating results could be harmed.

We depend on a number of service providers and key vendors such as telecommunication companies, software engineers, data processors, and software and hardware vendors, who are critical to our operations. These service providers and vendors are involved with our service offerings, communications and networking equipment, computer hardware and software and related support and maintenance. Although we have implemented service-level agreements and have established monitoring controls, our operations could be disrupted if we do not successfully manage relationships with our service providers, if they do not perform or are unable to perform agreed-upon service levels, or if they are unwilling to make their services available to us at reasonable prices. If our service providers and vendors do not perform their service obligations, it could adversely affect our reputation, business, financial condition and results of operations.

Consolidation in the data and analytics sector may limit market acceptance of our products and services.

Several of our competitors have acquired companies with complementary technologies in the past. We expect consolidation in the industries we serve to continue in the future. These acquisitions may permit our competitors to accelerate the development and commercialization of broader product lines and more comprehensive solutions than we currently offer. Acquisitions of vendors or other companies with whom we have a strategic relationship by our competitors may limit our access to commercially significant technologies. Further, business combinations are creating companies with larger market shares, customer bases, sales forces, product offerings and technology and marketing expertise, which may make it more difficult for us to compete.

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We may incur substantial expenses defending the Company against claims of infringement.

There are numerous patents held by many companies relating to the design and manufacture of data and analytics solutions. Third parties may claim that our products and/or services infringe on their intellectual property rights. Any claim, with or without merit, could consume management’s time, result in costly litigation, cause delays in sales or implementation of products or services or require entry into royalty or licensing agreements. In this respect, patent and other intellectual property litigation is becoming increasingly more expensive in terms of legal fees, expert fees and other expenses. Royalty and licensing agreements, if required and available, may be on terms unacceptable to us or detrimental to our business. Moreover, a successful claim of product infringement against us or our failure or inability to license the infringed or similar technology on commercially reasonable terms could seriously harm our business.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.

None.

Item 2. Properties.

Our headquarters are located at 2650 North Military Trail, Suite 300, Boca Raton, Florida 33431, where we lease 21,020 rentable square feet of office space in accordance with an 89-month lease agreement as amended and effective in January 2017. Our Seattle office is located at 1111 Third Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98101, where we lease 6,003 rentable square feet of office space in accordance with a 90-month lease agreement entered into in April 2017.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings.

The Company is not currently a party to any legal proceeding, investigation or claim which, in the opinion of management, is likely to have a material adverse effect on the business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. Legal fees associated with such legal proceedings are expensed as incurred. We review legal proceedings and claims on an ongoing basis and follow appropriate accounting guidance, including ASC 450, when making accrual and disclosure decisions. We establish accruals for those contingencies where the incurrence of a loss is probable and can be reasonably estimated, and we disclose the amount accrued and the amount of a reasonably possible loss in excess of the amount accrued, if such disclosure is necessary for our financial statements to not be misleading. To estimate whether a loss contingency should be accrued by a charge to income, we evaluate, among other factors, the degree of probability of an unfavorable outcome and the ability to make a reasonable estimate of the amount of the loss. We do not record liabilities when the likelihood that the liability has been incurred is probable, but the amount cannot be reasonably estimated.

In addition to the foregoing, we may be involved in litigation from time to time in the ordinary course of business. We do not believe that the ultimate resolution of any such matters will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. However, the results of such matters cannot be predicted with certainty and we cannot assure you that the ultimate resolution of any legal or administrative proceeding or dispute will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.

Not Applicable.

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PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.

Our common stock is listed on The NASDAQ Capital Market (“NASDAQ”) under the symbol “RDVT,” and began regular-way trading on March 27, 2018. We paid no dividends or made any other distributions in respect of our common stock since March 27, 2018, and we have no plans to pay any dividends or make any other distributions in the future.

As of March 4, 2022, there were 13,522,567 shares of our common stock issued and outstanding. As of March 4, 2022, there were 28 record holders of our common stock.

Recent Sale of Unregistered Securities

None.

Repurchases of Equity Securities

None.

Item 6. [Reserved].

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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

You should read the following discussion in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included in this 2021 Form 10-K. This 2021 Form 10-K contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (“PSLRA”), Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), about our expectations, beliefs, or intentions regarding our business, financial condition, results of operations, strategies, or prospects. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that these statements do not relate strictly to historical or current matters. Rather, forward-looking statements relate to anticipated or expected events, activities, trends, or results as of the date they are made. Because forward-looking statements relate to matters that have not yet occurred, these statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Many factors could cause our actual activities or results to differ materially from the activities and results anticipated in forward-looking statements. These factors include those contained in Part I, “Item 1A. Risk Factors” of this 2021 Form 10-K. We do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements, except as required by law. We intend that all forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbor provisions of the PSLRA. These forward-looking statements are only predictions and reflect our views as of the date they are made with respect to future events and financial performance.

Overview

Red Violet, Inc., a Delaware corporation, is dedicated to making the world a safer place and reducing the cost of doing business. We build proprietary technologies and apply analytical capabilities to deliver identity intelligence. Our technology powers critical solutions, which empower organizations to operate with confidence. Our solutions enable the real-time identification and location of people, businesses, assets and their interrelationships. These solutions are used for purposes including risk mitigation, due diligence, fraud detection and prevention, regulatory compliance, and customer acquisition. Our intelligent platform, CORETM, is purpose-built for the enterprise, yet flexible enough for organizations of all sizes, bringing clarity to massive datasets by transforming data into intelligence. We drive workflow efficiency and enable organizations to make better data-driven decisions.

Organizations are challenged by the structure, volume and disparity of data. Our platform and applications transform the way our customers interact with information, presenting connections and relevance of information otherwise unattainable, which drives actionable insights and better outcomes. Leveraging cloud-native proprietary technology and applying machine learning and advanced analytical capabilities, CORE provides essential solutions to public and private sector organizations through intuitive, easy-to-use analytical interfaces. With massive data assets consisting of public record, proprietary and publicly-available data, our differentiated information and innovative platform and solutions deliver identity intelligence – entities, relationships, affiliations, interactions, and events. Our solutions are used today to enable frictionless commerce, to ensure safety, and to reduce fraud and the concomitant expense borne by society.

While our platform powers many diverse solutions for our customers, we presently market our solutions primarily through two brands, IDI™ and FOREWARN®. IDI is a leading-edge, analytics and information solutions provider delivering actionable intelligence to the risk management industry in support of use cases such as the verification and authentication of consumer identities, due diligence, prevention of fraud and abuse, legislative compliance, and debt recovery. idiCORE™ is IDI's flagship product. idiCORE is a next-generation, investigative solution used to address a variety of organizational challenges including due diligence, risk mitigation, identity authentication and regulatory compliance, by financial services companies, insurance companies, healthcare companies, law enforcement and government, collections, law firms, retail, telecommunication companies, corporate security and investigative firms. FOREWARN is an app-based solution currently tailored for the real estate industry, providing instant knowledge prior to face-to-face engagement with a consumer, helping professionals identify and mitigate risk. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, IDI had 6,548 and 5,726 billable customers and FOREWARN had 82,419 and 48,377 users, respectively. The Company defines a billable customer of IDI as a single entity that generated revenue during the last three months of the period. Billable customers are typically corporate organizations. In most cases, corporate organizations will have multiple users and/or departments purchasing our solutions, however, the Company counts the entire organization as a discrete customer. The Company defines a user of FOREWARN as a unique person that has a subscription to use the FOREWARN service as of the last day of the period. A unique person can only have one user account.

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We generate substantially all of our revenue from licensing our solutions. Customers access our solutions through a hosted environment using an online interface, batch processing, API and custom integrations. We recognize revenue from licensing fees (a) on a transactional basis determined by the customer’s usage, (b) via a monthly fee or (c) from a combination of both. Revenue pursuant to pricing contracts containing a monthly fee is recognized ratably over the contract period. Pricing contracts are generally annual contracts or longer, with auto renewal. For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, 80% and 73% of total revenue was attributable to customers with pricing contracts, respectively, versus 20% and 27% attributable to transactional customers, respectively.

We endeavor to understand our customers’ needs at the moment of first engagement. We continuously engage with our customers and evaluate their usage of our solutions throughout their life cycle, to maximize utilization of our solutions and, hence, their productivity. Our go-to-market strategy leverages (a) an inside sales team that cultivates relationships, and ultimately closes business, with their end-user markets, (b) a strategic sales team that provides a more personal, face-to-face approach for major accounts within certain industries, and (c) distributors, resellers, and strategic partners that have a significant foothold in many of the industries that we have not historically served, as well as to further penetrate those industries that we do serve. We employ a “land and expand” approach. Our sales model generally begins with a free trial followed by an initial purchase on a transactional basis or minimum-committed monthly spend. As organizations derive benefits from our solutions, we are able to expand within organizations as additional use cases are presented across departments, divisions and geographic locations and customers become increasingly reliant on our solutions in their daily workflow.

In order for us to continue to develop new products, grow our existing business and expand into additional markets, we must generate and sustain sufficient operating profits and cash flow in future periods. This will require us to generate additional sales from current products and new products currently under development. We continue to build out our sales organization to drive current products and to introduce new products into the marketplace.

During 2020, we experienced significantly reduced commercial activity in numerous aspects of our business as a result of the preventative and protective actions taken by federal, state and local governments to combat Covid-19, including the implementation of stay-at-home orders, social distancing policies and certain temporary government-imposed moratoria on collection customers’ activities. During 2021, we saw ongoing improvement in our results of operations, with the exception of our idiVERIFIED service, which is an ancillary collections market offering that is purely transactional and of a lower margin profile. We expect our idiVERIFIED service volume to return to pre-Covid levels in the second half of 2022. We continue to take precautionary measures intended to minimize the risk of the Covid-19 pandemic to our employees, our customers, and the communities in which we operate. These measures may result in inefficiencies, delays and additional costs to our business. The Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on us and the economy has significantly limited our ability to forecast our future operating results, including our ability to predict revenue and expense levels, and plan for and model future operating results. Furthermore, the full impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on our ongoing business, results of operations and overall financial performance cannot be reasonably estimated at this time. We will continue to evaluate the nature and extent of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic to our business, including the emergence of new variants and the development, availability, distribution and effectiveness of vaccines.

To further support our liquidity, beginning April 1, 2020, we elected, under Section 2302 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), to defer payment of the employer portion of Social Security payroll tax. Under the CARES Act, employers could forgo timely payment of the employer portion of Social Security taxes that would otherwise be due from March 27, 2020 through December 31, 2020, without penalty or interest charges. Employers must pay 50% of the deferred amount by December 31, 2021, and the remainder by December 31, 2022. We paid 50% of the deferred amount in December 2021. On May 5, 2020, we received funding under a promissory note dated May 5, 2020 evidencing an unsecured non-recourse loan in the principal amount of $2.2 million under the CARES Act (the “Loan”), which was fully forgiven by Legacy Bank of Florida (the “Lender”) and the U.S. Small Business Administration in June 2021, resulting in a gain on extinguishment of debt of $2.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2021. We will continue to assess the CARES Act and other applicable government legislation aimed at assisting businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Industry Trends and Uncertainties

Operating results are affected by the following factors that impact the data and analytics sector in the United States:

Company Specific Trends and Uncertainties

Our operating results are also directly affected by company-specific factors, including the following:

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations are based upon our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with US GAAP. The preparation of these financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates, including those related to the allowance for doubtful accounts, useful lives of intangible assets, recoverability of the carrying amounts of goodwill and intangible assets, share-based compensation and income tax provision. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

We believe the following critical accounting policies govern our more significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements.

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Revenue recognition

We recognize revenue in accordance with ASC 606, “Revenue from Contracts with Customers” (“Topic 606”). Under this standard, revenue is recognized when control of goods or services is transferred to the Company’s customers, in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company expects to be entitled to in exchange for those goods or services. Our performance obligation is to provide on demand information and identity intelligence solutions to our customers by leveraging our proprietary technology and applying machine learning and advanced analytics to our massive data repository. The pricing for the customer contracts is based on usage, a monthly fee, or a combination of both.

Revenue is generally recognized on (a) a transactional basis determined by the customers’ usage, (b) a monthly fee or (c) a combination of both. Revenue pursuant to transactions determined by the customers’ usage is recognized when the transaction is complete, and either party may terminate the transactional agreement at any time. Revenue pursuant to contracts containing a monthly fee is considered to be a single performance obligation consisting of a series of distinct services, and is recognized ratably over the contract period, which is generally 12 months, and the contract shall automatically renew for additional, successive 12-month terms unless written notice of intent not to renew is provided by one party to the other at least 30 days or 60 days prior to the expiration of the then current term. Variable fees are allocated to each distinct month in the series for which they are earned. Our revenue is recorded net of applicable sales taxes billed to customers.

Available within Topic 606, we have applied the portfolio approach practical expedient in accounting for customer revenue as one collective group, rather than individual contracts. Based on our historical knowledge of the contracts contained in this portfolio and the similar nature and characteristics of the customers, we have concluded the financial statement effects are not materially different than if accounting for revenue on a contract by contract basis.

Revenue is recognized over a period of time. Our customers simultaneously receive and consume the benefits provided by our performance as and when provided. Furthermore, we have elected the “right to invoice” practical expedient, available within Topic 606, as our measure of progress, since we have a right to payment from a customer in an amount that corresponds directly with the value of our performance completed-to-date. Our revenue arrangements do not contain significant financing components.

For the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, 80% and 73% of total revenue was attributable to customers with pricing contracts, respectively, versus 20% and 27% attributable to transactional customers, respectively. Pricing contracts are generally annual contracts or longer, with auto renewal.

If a customer pays consideration before we transfer services to the customer, those amounts are classified as deferred revenue. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the balance of deferred revenue was $0.8 million and $0.5 million, respectively, all of which is expected to be realized in the next 12 months. In relation to the deferred revenue balance as of December 31, 2020, $0.5 million was recognized into revenue during the year ended December 31, 2021.

As of December 31, 2021, $7.7 million of revenue is expected to be recognized in the future for performance obligations that are unsatisfied or partially unsatisfied, related to pricing contracts that have a term of more than 12 months, of which $4.4 million of revenue will be recognized in 2022, $2.6 million in 2023, and $0.7 million in 2024. The actual timing of recognition may vary due to factors outside of our control. We exclude variable consideration related entirely to wholly unsatisfied performance obligations and contracts and recognizes such variable consideration based upon the right to invoice the customer.

Sales commissions are incurred and recorded on an ongoing basis over the term of the customer relationship. These costs are recorded in sales and marketing expenses.

In addition, we elected the practical expedient to not disclose the value of unsatisfied performance obligations for (i) contracts with an original expected length of one year or less and (ii) contracts for which we recognize revenue at the amount to which we have the right to invoice for services performed.

Allowances for doubtful accounts

We maintain allowance for doubtful accounts for estimated losses resulting from the inability of our customers to make required payments. Management determines whether an allowance needs to be provided for an amount due from a customer depending on the aging of the individual receivable balance, recent payment history, contractual terms and other qualitative factors such as status of business relationship with the customer. Historically, our estimates for doubtful accounts have not differed materially from actual results. The amount of the allowance for doubtful accounts was $0.03 million and $0.04 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

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Income taxes

We account for income taxes in accordance with ASC 740, “Income Taxes,” which requires the use of the asset and liability method of accounting for income taxes. Under the asset and liability method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are computed based upon the difference between the financial statement and income tax basis of assets and liabilities using the enacted tax rate applicable when the related asset or liability is expected to be realized or settled. Deferred income tax expenses or benefits are based on the changes in the asset or liability each period. If available evidence suggests that it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized, a valuation allowance is required to reduce the deferred tax assets to the amount that is more likely than not to be realized. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, we had a valuation allowance of $9.5 million and $7.6 million, respectively. Future changes in such valuation allowance are included in the provision for deferred income taxes in the period of change.

ASC 740 clarifies the accounting for uncertain tax positions. This interpretation requires that an entity recognizes in the consolidated financial statements the impact of a tax position, if that position is more likely than not of being sustained upon examination, based on the technical merits of the position. Recognized income tax positions are measured at the largest amount that is greater than 50% likely of being realized. Changes in recognition or measurement are reflected in the period in which the change in judgment occurs. The Company’s accounting policy is to accrue interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions, if and when required, as interest expense and a component of other expenses, respectively, in the consolidated statements of operations.

Intangible assets other than goodwill

Our intangible assets are initially recorded at the capitalized actual costs incurred, their acquisition cost, or fair value if acquired as part of a business combination, and amortized on a straight-line basis over their respective estimated useful lives, which are the periods over which the assets are expected to contribute directly or indirectly to the future cash flows of the Company. The Company’s intangible assets represent software developed for internal use. Intangible assets have estimated useful lives of 5-10 years.

In accordance with ASC 350-40, “Software — internal use software,” we capitalize eligible costs, including salaries and staff benefits, share-based compensation, travel expenses incurred by relevant employees, and other relevant costs of developing internal-use software that are incurred in the application development stage when developing or obtaining software for internal use. Once the software developed for internal use is ready for its intended use, it is amortized on a straight-line basis over its useful life.

Goodwill

In accordance with ASC 350, “Intangibles - Goodwill and Other,” goodwill is tested at least annually for impairment, or when events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of such assets may not be recoverable, by assessing qualitative factors or performing a quantitative analysis in determining whether it is more likely than not that its fair value exceeds the carrying value. A quantitative assessment involves determining the fair value of each reporting unit using market participant assumptions. An entity should recognize an impairment charge for the amount by which the carrying amount of a reporting unit exceeds its fair value up to the amount of goodwill allocated to that reporting unit.

On October 1, 2021 and 2020, we performed qualitative assessments on the reporting unit and, based on this assessment, no events have occurred to indicate that it is more likely than not that the fair value of the reporting unit is less than its carry amount. We concluded that goodwill was not impaired as of December 31, 2021 and 2020.

For purposes of reviewing impairment and the recoverability of goodwill, we must make various assumptions regarding estimated future cash flows and other factors in determining the fair value of the reporting unit, including market multiples, discount rates, etc.

Impairment of long-lived assets

Finite-lived intangible assets are amortized over their respective useful lives and, along with other long-lived assets, are evaluated for impairment periodically whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that their related carrying amounts may not be recoverable in accordance with ASC 360-10-15, “Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets.” In evaluating long-lived assets for recoverability, including finite-lived intangibles and property and equipment, the Company uses its best estimate of future cash flows expected to result from the use of the asset and eventual disposition in accordance with ASC 360-10-15. To the extent that estimated future undiscounted cash inflows attributable to the asset, less estimated future undiscounted cash outflows, are less than the carrying amount, an impairment loss is recognized in an amount equal to the difference between the carrying value of such asset and its fair value. Assets to be disposed of and for which there is a committed plan of disposal, whether through sale or abandonment, are reported at the lower of carrying value or fair value less costs to sell.

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Asset recoverability is an area involving management judgment, requiring assessment as to whether the carrying value of assets can be supported by the undiscounted future cash flows. In calculating the future cash flows, certain assumptions are required to be made in respect of highly uncertain matters such as revenue growth rates, gross margin percentages and terminal growth rates.

We concluded there was no impairment as of December 31, 2021 and 2020.

Share-based compensation

We account for share-based compensation to employees in accordance with ASC 718, “Compensation—Stock Compensation.” Under ASC 718, we measure the cost of employee services received in exchange for an award of equity instruments based on the grant-date fair value of the award and, for those awards subject only to service condition, recognizes the costs on a straight-line basis over the period the employee is required to provide service in exchange for the award, which generally is the vesting period. For awards with performance and service conditions, we begin recording share-based compensation when achieving the performance criteria is probable and we recognize the costs using the accelerated attribution method.

The fair value of RSUs is determined based on the number of shares granted and the quoted price of our common stock. The estimated number of stock awards that will ultimately vest requires judgment, and to the extent actual results or updated estimates differ from our current estimates, such amount will be recorded as a cumulative adjustment in the period estimates are revised. Changes in our estimates and assumptions may cause us to realize material changes in share-based compensation expense in the future.

We have issued share-based awards with performance-based vesting criteria. Achievement of the milestones must be probable before we begin recording share-based compensation expense. When the performance-based vesting criteria is considered probable, we begin to recognize compensation expense at that time. In the period that achievement of the performance-based criteria is deemed probable, US GAAP requires the immediate recognition of all previously unrecognized compensation since the original grant date. As a result, compensation expense recorded in the period that achievement is deemed probable could include a substantial amount of previously unrecorded compensation expense related to the prior periods. For any share-based awards where performance-based vesting criteria is no longer considered probable, previously recognized compensation cost would be reversed. As of December 31, 2021, we have deemed the achievement of the performance-based criteria to be probable for all share-based awards with performance-based vesting criteria, except for the Criteria Four award, as defined in Note 10, “Share-based compensation,” included in “Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.”

We apply ASU 2018-07, “Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting,” which generally expands the scope of ASC 718, Compensation – Stock Compensation, to include share-based payment transactions for acquiring goods and services from nonemployees and supersedes the guidance in ASC 505-50, Equity-Based Payments to Non-employees, which previously included the accounting for nonemployee awards.

Recently Issued Accounting Standards

See Item 8 of Part II, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Note 2. Summary of significant accounting policies - (s) Recently issued accounting standards.”

Fourth Quarter Financial Results

For the three months ended December 31, 2021 as compared to the three months ended December 31, 2020:

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Full Year Financial Results

For the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2020:

Platform revenue consists of both contractual and transactional revenue generated from our technology platform, CORE. It includes all revenue generated through our idiCORE and FOREWARN solutions. The cost of platform revenue, which consists primarily of data acquisition costs, remains relatively fixed irrespective of revenue generation. Services revenue consists of revenue generated from our idiVERIFIED service, which is an ancillary collections market offering that is purely transactional and of a lower margin profile. The cost of services revenue, which consists primarily of third-party servicer costs, is variable.

Use and Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Management evaluates the financial performance of our business on a variety of key indicators, including non-GAAP metrics of adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted gross profit and adjusted gross margin. Adjusted EBITDA is a financial measure equal to net (loss) income, the most directly comparable financial measure based on US GAAP, excluding interest (income) expense, net, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation expense, gain on extinguishment of debt, litigation costs, and write-off of long-lived assets and others, as noted in the tables below. We define adjusted EBITDA margin as adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenue. We define adjusted gross profit as revenue less cost of revenue (exclusive of depreciation and amortization), and adjusted gross margin as adjusted gross profit as a percentage of revenue.

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The following is a reconciliation of gross profit, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, to adjusted gross profit:

In order to assist readers of our consolidated financial statements in understanding the operating results that management uses to evaluate the business and for financial planning purposes, we present non-GAAP measures of adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted gross profit and adjusted gross margin as supplemental measures of our operating performance. We believe they provide useful information to our investors as they eliminate the impact of certain items that we do not consider indicative of our cash operations and ongoing operating performance. In addition, we use them as an integral part of our internal reporting to measure the performance and operating strength of our business.

We believe adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted gross profit and adjusted gross margin are relevant and provide useful information frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties in their evaluation of the operating performance of companies similar to ours and are indicators of the operational strength of our business. We believe adjusted EBITDA eliminates the uneven effect of considerable amounts of non-cash depreciation and amortization, share-based compensation expense and the impact of other non-recurring items, providing useful comparisons versus prior periods or forecasts. Adjusted EBITDA margin is calculated as adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenue. Our adjusted gross profit is a measure used by management in evaluating the business’s current operating performance by excluding the impact of prior historical costs of assets that are expensed systematically and allocated over the estimated useful lives of the assets, which may not be indicative of the current operating activity. Our adjusted gross profit is calculated by using revenue, less cost of revenue (exclusive of depreciation and amortization). We believe adjusted gross profit provides useful information to our investors by eliminating the impact of non-cash depreciation and amortization, and specifically the amortization of software developed for internal use, providing a baseline of our core operating results that allow for analyzing trends in our underlying business consistently over multiple periods. Adjusted gross margin is calculated as adjusted gross profit as a percentage of revenue.

Adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted gross profit and adjusted gross margin are not intended to be performance measures that should be regarded as an alternative to, or more meaningful than, financial measures presented in accordance with US GAAP. The way we measure adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted gross profit and adjusted gross margin may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies, and may not be identical to corresponding measures used in our various agreements.

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Quarterly Financial Data (unaudited)

The following tables set forth the Company's unaudited quarterly consolidated statements of operations data and reconciliations of certain directly comparable US GAAP financial measures to non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin, adjusted gross profit and adjusted gross margin, for each of the eight quarters in the two-year period ended December 31, 2021. The Company has prepared the quarterly unaudited consolidated statements of operations data on a basis consistent with the audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this 2021 Form 10-K. In the opinion of management, the financial information in these tables reflects all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, which management considers necessary for a fair presentation of this data. This information should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this 2021 Form 10-K. The results of historical periods are not necessarily indicative of the results for any future period.