10-K

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM

10-K

(Mark One)

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

For the fiscal year ended

December 31

, 2022

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

FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM

Commission File

Number: 001-40131

KHOSLA VENTURES ACQUISITION CO.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its Charter)


Delaware		85-1488707
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

2128 Sand Hill Road Menlo Park , California		94025
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (

650

)

376-8500

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


Title of each class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share	KVSA	The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

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

None

(Title of class)

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. ☐

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

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in

Rule 12b-2

of the Exchange Act). YES ☒ NO ☐

As of June 30, 2022 the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter, the closing prices of the registrant’s Class A common stock was $9.75. The aggregate market value of shares of the registrant’s Class A common stock outstanding, other than shares held by persons who may be deemed affiliates of the registrant, computed by reference to the closing price for the shares on June 30, 2022, as reported on the Nasdaq Capital Market was $346,027,500. There is not a public market for the registrant’s Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and Class K common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and therefore the aggregate market value of such shares cannot be calculated.

As of March 31, 2023,

35,490,000 shares of Class A common stock, 5,000,000 shares of Class B common stock and 5,000,000 shares of Class K common stock, par value $0.0001 per share were issued and outstanding, respectively.

TABLE OF CONTENTS


		Page

PART I
Item 1.	Business		4
Item 1A.	Risk Factors		23
Item 1B.	Unresolved Staff Comments		60
Item 2.	Properties		60
Item 3.	Legal Proceedings		60
Item 4.	Mine Safety Disclosures		60

PART II
Item 5.	Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities		61
Item 6.	[Reserved]		62
Item 7.	Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations		62
Item 7A.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk		64
Item 8.	Financial Statements and Supplementary Data		64
Item 9.	Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure		64
Item 9A.	Controls and Procedures		65
Item 9B.	Other Information		65
Item 9C.	Disclosures Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections		66

PART III
Item 10.	Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance		66
Item 11.	Executive Compensation		74
Item 12.	Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters		75
Item 13.	Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence		77
Item 14.	Principal Accountant Fees and Services		79

PART IV
Item 15.	Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules		80
Item 16.	Form 10-K Summary		83

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management team’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “shall,” “should,” “will,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may include, for example, statements about:

•

our ability to complete our initial business combination;

•

our success in retaining or recruiting, or changes required in, our officers, key employees or directors following our initial business combination;

•

our ability to consummate an initial business combination due to the uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine;

•

our officers and directors allocating their time to other businesses and potentially having conflicts of interest with our business or in approving our initial business combination;

•

our potential ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination;

•

our pool of prospective target businesses;

•

the ability of our officers and directors to generate a number of potential investment opportunities;

•

our public securities’ potential liquidity and trading;

•

the lack of a market for our securities;

•

the use of proceeds not held in the trust account or available to us from interest income on the trust account balance;

•

the trust account not being subject to claims of third parties; or

•

our future financial performance.

The forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are based on information available to us as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. While we believe such information forms a reasonable basis for such statements, there can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those factors in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. We qualify all of our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements.

As used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, unless otherwise stated herein or the context otherwise requires, references to:

•

“amended and restated certificate of incorporation” are to the amended and restated certificate of incorporation of the company;

•

“Class A common stock” are to our Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share;

•

“Class B founder shares” are to shares of our Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, initially issued to our sponsor in a private placement prior to our IPO and the shares of our Class A common stock that will be issued upon the automatic conversion of the shares of our Class B common stock at the time of our initial business combination (for the avoidance of doubt, such shares of our Class A common stock are not “public shares”);

•

“Class K founder shares” are to shares of our Class K common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, sold to our sponsor in a private placement prior to the closing of our IPO and the shares of Class A common stock that will be issued upon the automatic conversion of the shares of Class K common stock only to the extent certain triggering events occur prior to the 10th anniversary of our initial business combination, including specified strategic transactions and other triggering events based on our stock trading at $30.00 per share and additional stock trading thresholds up to $50.00 per share (for the avoidance of doubt, such shares of Class A common stock are not “public shares”);

•

“combination period” are to the period until March 8, 2023 (24 months from the closing of our IPO), or until June 8, 2023 (27 months from the closing of our IPO), if we have executed a letter of intent, agreement in principle or definitive agreement for an initial business combination by March 8, 2023;

•

“common stock” are to our Class A common stock, our Class B common stock and our Class K common stock, collectively;

•

“DGCL” are to the Delaware General Corporation Law as the same may be amended from time to time;

•

“equity-linked securities” are to any debt or equity securities that are convertible into, or exercisable or exchangeable for, shares of our Class A common stock issued in connection with our initial business combination including but not limited to a private placement of equity or debt;

•

“founders” are to Vinod Khosla, Samir Kaul and David Weiden;

•

“founder shares” are to our Class B founder shares and Class K founder shares, collectively;

•

“forward-purchase shares” are to shares of our Class A common stock to be issued to the Khosla Entities pursuant to the forward-purchase agreement;

•

“initial stockholders” are to our sponsor and any other holders of our founder shares prior to our IPO;

•

“IPO” is to our initial public offering of our Class A common stock which closed on March 8, 2021;

•

“Khosla” are to Khosla Ventures, a leading venture capital firm that invests in high technology companies;

•

“Khosla Entities” are to our sponsor and any successor or assigns of our sponsor, if any, under the forward-purchase agreement;

•

“management” or our “management team” are to our executive officers and directors;

•

“private placement shares” are the shares issued to our sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of our IPO (for the avoidance of doubt, such private placement shares are not “public shares”);

•

“public shares” are to shares of our Class A common stock sold in connection with our IPO;

•

“public stockholders” are to the holders of our public shares, including our sponsor and management team to the extent our sponsor and/or members of our management team purchase public shares, provided that our sponsor’s and each member of our management team’s status as a “public stockholder” will only exist with respect to such public shares;

•

“sponsor” are to Khosla Ventures SPAC Sponsor LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, in which certain of our officers and directors are beneficial owners;

•

“trust account” are to the trust account in the United States, with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC acting as trustee, into which we deposited certain proceeds from our IPO and the sale of the private placement shares; and

•

“we,” “us,” “our,” “company” or “our company” refer to Khosla Ventures Acquisition Corporation, a Delaware corporation.

PART I

Item 1.

Business.

General

We are a blank check company incorporated as a Delaware corporation for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities, which we refer to throughout this Annual Report on Form 10-K as our initial business combination. We have not commenced any operations selected any potential business combination target.

The address of our principal executive offices is 2128 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025 and our telephone number is (650) 376-8500. We maintain a corporate website at https://khoslaventuresacquisitionco.com/kvsa. The information contained on or accessible through any website that we may maintain is not deemed to be incorporated by reference in, and is not considered part of, this Annual Report on Form 10-K. You should not rely on any such information in making your decision whether to invest in our securities.

Our Sponsor and Company

Our sponsor is Khosla Ventures SPAC Sponsor LLC. Our sponsor is affiliated with Khosla Ventures, LLC. Khosla Ventures manages a series of venture capital funds (such venture capital funds, along with Khosla Ventures, LLC, the “firm” or “Khosla Ventures”) that make early stage venture capital investments and provides strategic advice to entrepreneurs building companies with lasting significance. The firm was founded in 2004 by Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems. With over $14.5 billion of assets under management, the firm focuses on a broad range of sectors including consumer, enterprise, financial services, health, artificial intelligence, agriculture/food, sustainable energy, space, 3D printing, VR/AR and robotics. The founding team of Vinod Khosla, Samir Kaul and David Weiden have been working together for over 15 years and recently raised a new family of funds at the end of 2020.

The mission of Khosla Ventures is to be “bold, early and impactful”. The Khosla Ventures team considers themselves to be technology optimists that believe with time and focus, what can be imagined technologically reasonably can be invented. Khosla Ventures believes that we are only at the beginning of a new era of technology enabled inventions that will shape the human world and disrupt the way we live and work, with innovation in the areas of food, digitization, robotics, artificial intelligence, as a few examples, having the potential to achieve food abundance, reshape cities, knit humanity, and enhance human capability exponentially. Khosla Ventures seeks to partner with exceptional entrepreneurs leveraging technology to reinvent these big societal needs, and they have created a significant amount of value for their investors over 15+ years by doing so.

We intend to pursue opportunities with private, high-quality growth companies addressing large market opportunities with highly differentiated, proprietary technology. We will use our management team’s decades of combined experience in sourcing transactions, understanding and conducting due diligence on new breakthrough technologies and developing management teams in order to seek to identify and negotiate a combination with an exceptional business. Our management team has deep expertise across the following industries: food/agriculture, artificial intelligence, consumer, enterprise software, financial services, health, materials, robotics, space, energy storage, and transportation. Our expectation is that our ultimate target will be a category defining company that is leveraging disruptive technology in large and established markets led by exceptional management teams.

We believe that now is a particularly attractive time to pursue a business combination. Khosla Ventures has always focused on highly disruptive technology companies that are committed to changing large markets through technology. We believe the traditional IPO and direct listing processes are not designed for these types of companies to execute on their ambitious strategies. Similarly, to the companies Khosla Ventures has invested in previously and the business combination opportunities that we intend to pursue, we believe using a SPAC structure is a disruptive alternative to, and creates more efficiencies than, the traditional IPO approach. We also believe that because the

industries in which we have particular expertise, and in which we will seek to identify a potential business combination target, are often overlooked by traditional venture capital, public equity and private equity investors, many high quality companies in these industries are not well suited to a traditional IPO, direct listing or private equity buyout transaction. Therefore, we believe our focus on these particular industries will provide unique access to the highest quality companies and management teams and a substantial number of proprietary business combination opportunities.

Our Founder Share Structure

We have structured our founder shares to provide better aligned incentives than a typical blank check company. The Class K founder shares will only provide our sponsor, officers and directors with significant value if our Class A common stock, following our initial business combination, experiences significant price appreciation, which we believe aligns our interests with the interests of both our public stockholders and continuing stockholders of any targets we may seek to acquire. Importantly, unlike most SPACs, our sponsor will receive a financial benefit that is directly coupled to the value that is created for the investors.

The number of founder shares issued was determined based on the expectation that the founder shares (excluding any private placement shares and forward-purchase shares) would represent 15% of our outstanding shares of common stock immediately following the completion of our IPO (excluding shares of Class K common stock and private placement shares), with the potential for the founder shares (excluding any private placement shares and forward-purchase shares) to represent in the aggregate up to 30% of the outstanding shares upon completion of our IPO and at the time of our initial business combination (excluding shares issued to any sellers in such business combination and any private placement shares) based on certain triggering events. The Class K founder shares are non-voting and will convert into shares of Class A common stock after our initial business combination only to the extent certain triggering events occur prior to the 10th anniversary of our initial business combination including three equal triggering events based on our stock trading at $30.00, $40.00 and $50.00 per share following the first anniversary of the closing of our initial business combination and also upon specified strategic transactions. We believe this better aligns the incentives of our sponsor with that of our investors.

Initial Public Offering

On March 8, 2021, we consummated our IPO of 30,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, excluding additional public shares sold pursuant to the full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional public shares to cover over-allotments. On March 8, 2021, concurrently with our IPO, the underwriters exercised in full their over-allotment option to purchase an additional 4,500,000 shares. The shares were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per share, generating net proceeds of $345,000,000.

Simultaneously with the closing of our IPO, we completed the private placement of 990,000 shares of Class A common stock at a purchase price of $10.00 per share to our sponsor, generating aggregate gross proceeds of $9,900,000.

Following the closing of our IPO and the full exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option, an amount of $345,000,000 ($10.00 per public share) of the proceeds from our IPO, including $12,075,000 of the underwriting fees payable was placed in a U.S.-based trust account at Goldman Sachs, maintained by Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC, acting as trustee. Except with respect to interest earned on the funds in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes and expenses relating to the administration of the trust account, the proceeds from the IPO, including proceeds from the sale of private placement shares and forward-purchase shares, which are held in the trust account will not be released until the earliest of (a) the completion of our initial business combination, (b) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (i) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within the period to consummate our initial business combination or (ii) with respect to any other provisions relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (c) the redemption of all of our public shares if we are unable to complete our initial business combination within the period to consummate our initial business combination, subject to applicable law.

Activities Since our IPO

On June 9, 2021, we entered into an agreement for a proposed business combination with Valo Health, a technology company using human-centric data and artificial intelligence (AI) powered computation to transform the drug discovery and development process. On November 15, 2021 we and Valo Health mutually agreed to terminate the proposed business combination based on market conditions, particularly in the biotechnology area. As such, we continue to search for a potential business combination target.

On February 10, 2023, we entered into a non-binding letter of intent for a potential initial business combination with another company. As discussed herein, we were required to complete a business combination (if at all) by March 8, 2023 (24 months from the closing of our IPO), or June 8, 2023 (27 months from the closing of our IPO) if we executed a letter of intent, agreement in principle or definitive agreement for an initial business combination on or before March 8, 2023, unless our stockholders agree to extend such period beyond such dates. As a result of the non-binding letter of intent, the date by which we must complete a business combination was extended to June 8, 2023. We expect to announce additional details regarding the potential initial business combination if and when a definitive agreement is executed. No assurances can be made that we will successfully negotiate and enter into a definitive agreement with respect to the potential initial business combination, or that it will be consummated on the terms or timeframe currently contemplated, or at all. Any transaction is subject to board and equity holder approval of both companies, regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.

Human Capital

As of December 31, 2022, we did not have any full-time employees, nor do we intend to have any full-time employees prior to the completion of our initial business combination.

Business Strategy

Our business strategy is to identify and complete a business combination that can create value for our stockholders over time. We believe our management team’s years of experience and our deep network of relationships should allow us to identify a wide range of attractive opportunities for the company. Our networks include, among others, entrepreneurs, universities, research institutions, Nobel Prize winners, public and private company management teams (from early stage venture to the Fortune 500), venture capital and private equity investors, investment bankers, attorneys, and management consultants.

Our acquisition philosophy is rooted in several core tenets, consistent with those that have been utilized by Khosla Ventures as they evaluate investment opportunities:

•

Large and Growing Addressable Market: Our management team will prioritize investing in large and growing industries that are poised for disruption by new technologies. We look for both large problems amenable to technology solutions as well as businesses able to scale to meet the market.

•

Proprietary Technology Advantage: We seek businesses protected by proprietary technology advantages, especially scientific breakthroughs and intellectual property. We believe that significant technology innovation creates a protected moat which provides for years of durable, compounding growth and expanding margins.

•

Scaling Business with Compelling Growth Opportunity: While we are primarily focused on the topline growth potential, we will seek to acquire a company which has achieved sufficient technology and business maturity while still maintaining significant runway to capture share in a large addressable market. We look for favorable secular trends and attractive unit economics which can be further enhanced as the business grows.

•

World Class Management Teams: We seek to partner with creative and ambitious management teams that have a track record of success to help them execute their vision.

This philosophy is combined with our management team’s historic approach to investing:

•

Be Bold Early and Impactful: We look for companies and founders pursuing significant technology innovation that have potential to have a significant positive impact on the world.

•

Short Innovation Cycles: We look for rapid innovation cycles so proof points and results are available quickly. Large, capital-intensive products heighten the technology risk.

•

Long Investment Horizon: When evaluating a business opportunity, we will seek to carefully analyze the extent to which a company’s “moat” will continue to deepen as it scales and what future product and financial implications that may have in the fullness of time. We seek businesses with long and clear runways for compound growth.

•

Opportunity to be Additive: We are active partners in the company-building business. We are seeking an acquisition where our involvement will unlock outsized returns.

Following the initial business combination, we expect to help the post-business combination entity continue its growth trajectory for many years to come. We expect to collaborate with management on a number of initiatives, including, but not limited to, navigating the public markets, mergers and acquisitions, capital allocation decisions, talent acquisition, and broadening their network of potential partners and customers. We believe our team’s track record of success and support of management teams will make us a partner of choice for a high-quality business.

Acquisition Criteria

Consistent with our investment philosophy and strategy, we intend to identify high-quality businesses run by exceptional teams pursuing large market opportunities that are amenable to disruption by technology. We expect to be guided by the criteria outlined above in evaluating opportunities, but we may decide to complete our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet some or all of these criteria.

The criteria set forth above are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management and our investment team may deem relevant.

Our Acquisition Process

In evaluating a potential target business, we expect to conduct a comprehensive due diligence review to seek to determine a company’s quality and its intrinsic value. That due diligence review may include, among other things, financial statement analysis, detailed document reviews, technology diligence, multiple meetings with management, consultations with relevant industry and academic experts, competitors, customers and suppliers, as well as a review of additional information that we will seek to obtain as part of our analysis of a target company. We expect to place significant emphasis on diligencing a business combination target’s technology and intellectual property as part of our acquisition evaluation process, consistent with the investment approach of Khosla Ventures and our management team. This due diligence may include the engagement of multiple technical experts across both industry and academia to review the technology, participation in joint due diligence meetings with these technical experts and management, as well as detailed intellectual property due diligence, to determine the nature and quality of a company’s technology innovation.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from either an independent investment banking firm that is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., or FINRA, or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. Furthermore, in the event that we seek such a business combination, we expect that the independent members of our board of directors would be involved in the process for considering, and approving the transaction.

Members of our and Khosla Ventures’ management teams, including our officers and directors, directly or indirectly own our securities and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target company is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Each of our officers and directors, as well as our and Khosla Ventures’ management teams, may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination, including if the retention or resignation of any such officers, directors, and management team members was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to such business combination.

Each of our directors and officers presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such entity. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers or directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company, and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation.

Our founders, sponsor, officers, and directors may sponsor, form or participate in other blank check companies similar to ours during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target, particularly in the event there is overlap among investment mandates. In particular, affiliates of our sponsor are currently sponsoring another blank check company, KV Acquisition III. KV Acquisition III may seek to complete a business combination in any location and is not focusing on any particular industry for business combinations. Further, Mr. Khosla, our Founder; Mr. Kaul, our, President, Chief Executive Officer and director; and Mr. Buckland, our Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary, serve in the same capacities for KV Acquisition III. Any such companies, including KV Acquisition III, may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target. However, we do not believe that any potential conflicts with KV Acquisition III would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination because our management team has significant experience in identifying and executing multiple acquisition opportunities simultaneously and we are not limited by industry or geography in terms of the acquisition opportunities we can pursue. In addition, our founders, sponsor, officers, and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. See Part I, Item IA. “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Conflicts of Interest of Our Officers, Directors and Others.”

Initial Business Combination

In accordance with Nasdaq listing rules, our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the amount of underwriting fees payable held in trust and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. We refer to this as the 80% of fair market value test. The fair market value of the target or targets will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community (such as actual and potential sales, earnings, cash flow and/or book value). Even though our board of directors will rely on generally accepted standards, our board of directors will have discretion to select the standards employed. In addition, the application of the standards generally involves a substantial degree of judgment. Accordingly, investors will be relying on the business judgment of the board of directors in evaluating the fair market value of the target or targets. The proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents used by us in connection with any proposed transaction will provide public stockholders with our analysis of our satisfaction of the 80% of fair market value test, as well as the basis for our determinations. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent valuation or appraisal firm with respect to satisfaction of such criteria. While we consider it unlikely that our board of directors will not be able to make an independent determination of the fair market value of a target business or businesses, it may be unable to do so if the board of directors is less familiar or experienced with the target company’s business, there is a significant amount of uncertainty as to the value of the target company’s assets or prospects, including if such company is at an early stage of development, operations or growth, or if the anticipated transaction involves a

complex financial analysis or other specialized skills and the board of directors determines that outside expertise would be helpful or necessary in conducting such analysis. Since any opinion, if obtained, would merely state that the fair market value of the target business meets the 80% of fair market value test, unless such opinion includes material information regarding the valuation of a target business or the consideration to be provided, it is not anticipated that copies of such opinion would be distributed to our stockholders. However, if required under applicable law, any proxy statement that we deliver to stockholders and file with the SEC in connection with a proposed transaction will include such opinion.

We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own shares will own or acquire 100% of the equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the prior owners of the target business, the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to the initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in the initial business combination transaction. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock, shares or other equity interests of a target. In this case, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our issued and outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be valued for purposes of the 80% of fair market value test. If the initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% of fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses and we will treat the target businesses together as the initial business combination for purposes of a tender offer or for seeking stockholder approval, as applicable. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA, or from an independent accounting firm, with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. We do not currently intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.

To the extent we effect our initial business combination with a company or business that may be financially unstable or in its early stages of development or growth, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in such company or business. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all significant risk factors.

In evaluating a prospective target business, we expect to conduct a thorough due diligence review, which will encompass, among other things, meetings with incumbent management and employees, document reviews, inspection of facilities, as well as a review of financial, operational, legal and other information which will be made available to us.

The time required to select and evaluate a target business and to structure and complete our initial business combination, and the costs associated with this process, are not currently ascertainable with any degree of certainty. Any costs incurred with respect to the identification and evaluation of a prospective target business with which our initial business combination is not ultimately completed will result in our incurring losses and will reduce the funds we can use to complete another business combination. For instance, during 2021, we incurred $3,986,443 in costs associated with our planned business combination with Valo Health that we determined not to complete.

Status as a Public Company

We believe our structure will make us an attractive business combination partner to target businesses. As an existing public company, we offer a target business an alternative to the traditional initial public offering through a merger or other business combination with us. In a business combination transaction with us, the owners of the target business may, for example, exchange their shares of stock, shares or other equity interests in the target business for our Class A common stock (or shares of a new holding company) or for a combination of our Class A common stock and cash, allowing us to tailor the consideration to the specific needs of the sellers. We believe target businesses will find this method a more expeditious and cost effective method to becoming a public company than the typical initial public offering. The typical initial public offering process takes a significantly longer period of time than the typical business combination transaction process, and there are significant expenses in the initial public offering process, including underwriting fees payable, that may not be present to the same extent in connection with a business combination with us.

Furthermore, once a proposed business combination is completed, the target business will have effectively become public, whereas an initial public offering is always subject to the underwriters’ ability to complete the offering, as well as general market conditions, which could delay or prevent the offering from occurring or could have negative valuation consequences. Once public, we believe the target business would then have greater access to capital, an additional means of providing management incentives consistent with stockholders’ interests and the ability to use its shares as currency for acquisitions. Being a public company can offer further benefits by augmenting a company’s profile among potential new customers and vendors and aid in attracting talented employees.

While we believe that our structure and our management team’s backgrounds will make us an attractive business partner, some potential target businesses may view our status as a blank check company, such as our lack of an operating history and our ability to seek stockholder approval of any proposed initial business combination, negatively.

Emerging Growth Company Status

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

In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our IPO, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion (as adjusted for inflation pursuant to SEC rules from time to time), or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our Class A common stock that is held by non-affiliates equals or exceeds $700.0 million as of the prior June 30th, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.

Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of any fiscal year for so long as either (1) the market value of our Class A common stock held by non-affiliates did not equal or exceed $250.0 million as of the prior June 30, or (2) our annual revenues did not exceed $100.0 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our Class A common stock held by non-affiliates did not equal or exceed $700.0 million as of the prior June 30.

Sources of Target Businesses

Our process of identifying acquisition targets will leverage our sponsor and our management team’s industry experiences, proven deal sourcing capabilities and broad and deep network of relationships in numerous industries, including executives and management teams, private equity groups and other institutional investors, large business enterprises, lenders, investment bankers and other investment market participants, restructuring advisers, consultants, attorneys and accountants, which we believe should provide us with a number of business combination opportunities. We expect that the collective experience, capability and network of our sponsor, directors and officers, combined with their individual and collective reputations in the investment community, will help to create prospective business combination opportunities.

In addition, we anticipate that target business candidates may be brought to our attention from various unaffiliated sources, including investment bankers and private investment funds. Target businesses may be brought to our attention by such unaffiliated sources as a result of being solicited by us through calls or mailings. These sources may also introduce us to target businesses in which they think we may be interested on an unsolicited basis, since many of these sources will know what types of businesses we are targeting. Our officers and directors, as well as their respective affiliates, may also bring to our attention target business candidates of which they become aware through their business contacts as a result of formal or informal inquiries or discussions they may have, as well as attending trade shows or conventions.

We also expect to receive a number of proprietary deal flow opportunities that would not otherwise necessarily be available to us as a result of the business relationships of our officers and directors. While we do not presently anticipate engaging the services of professional firms or other individuals that specialize in business acquisitions on any formal basis, we may engage these firms or other individuals in the future, in which event we may pay a finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation to be determined in an arm’s length negotiation based on the terms of the transaction. We will engage a finder only to the extent our management determines that the use of a finder may bring opportunities to us that may not otherwise be available to us or if finders approach us on an unsolicited basis with a potential transaction that our management determines is in our best interest to pursue. Payment of finder’s fees is customarily tied to completion of a transaction, in which case any such fee will be paid out of the funds held in the trust account. In no event, however, will our sponsor or any of our existing officers or directors, or any entity with which they are affiliated, be paid any finder’s fee, consulting fee or other compensation by the company prior to, or for any services they render in order to effectuate, the completion of our initial business combination (regardless of the type of transaction that it is). None of our sponsor, officers or directors, or any of their respective affiliates, will be allowed to receive any compensation, finder’s fees or consulting fees from a prospective business combination target in connection with a contemplated acquisition of such target by us.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a business that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete our initial business combination with a business that is affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, will obtain an opinion from either an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or an independent accounting firm that our initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. Furthermore, in the event that we seek such a business combination, we expect that the independent members of our board of directors would be involved in the process for considering, and approving the transaction.

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities, including entities that are affiliates of our sponsor, pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity to such entity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such business combination opportunity to such entity, subject to their fiduciary duties under Delaware law.

Evaluation of a Target Business and Structuring of our Initial Business Combination

Our initial business combination must occur with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of our assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting fees payable and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination. The fair market value of the target or targets will be determined by our board of directors based upon one or more standards generally accepted by the financial community, such as discounted cash flow valuation or value of comparable businesses. We do not currently intend to purchase multiple businesses in unrelated industries in conjunction with our initial business combination. Subject to this requirement, our management will have virtually unrestricted flexibility in identifying and selecting one or more prospective target businesses, although we will not be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.

In any case, we will only complete an initial business combination in which we own or acquire 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquire a controlling interest in the target suffic

Large accelerated filer

Accelerated filer

Non-accelerated
filer

Smaller reporting company

Emerging growth company

SEC Form 10-K filed by Khosla Ventures Acquisition Co.