UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

FORM 10-K

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

For the fiscal year ended December 31 2018, 2021

[  ]

For the transition period from __________ to __________

Commission file number 1-12471

THEMAVEN, INC.THE ARENA GROUP HOLDINGS, INC.

(formerly known as theMaven, Inc.)

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(775) 600-2765(212) 321-5002

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

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

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: CommonPreferred Stock $0.01 par valuePurchase Rights

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

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 [X] ☒

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 [X]☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted 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 and post such files). Yes [  ] ☒ No [X]☐

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 emerging growth company, indicated 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(b) 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 Exchange Act). Yes [  ]☐ or No [X] ☒

As of June 30, 2020,2021, which was the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter for fiscal 2021, the aggregate market value of the Common Stockcommon stock held by non-affiliates was $15,478,406.$59,889,207. This calculation is based upon the closing price of the Common Stockcommon stock of $0.65$17.16 per share on that date, as reported by the OTC Markets Group Inc.

As of December 31, 2020,March 21, 2022, the Registrant had 175,597,69517,417,490 shares of Common Stockcommon stock outstanding.

Form 10-K

Table of Contents

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Although TheMaven, Inc. (“TheMaven,” the “Company,” “us,” “we,” or “our”), has made certain filings through Current Reports on Form 8-K,All statements of shares and per-share information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Annual Report”) isreflect a one-for-twenty-two (1-for-22) reverse stock split of our outstanding common stock, par value $0.01 per share (our “common stock”), effective at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on February 8, 2022, and implemented at the Company’s first periodic filing withbeginning of trading on the Securities and Exchange CommissionNYSE American on February 9, 2022 (the “SEC”“Reverse Stock Split”) since the filing of its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2018. We intend to file a comprehensive Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and the interim periods during fiscal 2019 as soon as possible. Thereafter, we intend to file Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the first, second, and third quarters of 2020. Finally, we intend to timely file the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020..

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements and information in this Annual Report may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of 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(“Exchange Act”). Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and include, without limitation, statements concerning the Company’sour business strategy, future revenues, market growth, capital requirements, product introductions, and expansion plans and the adequacy of the Company’sour funding. Other statements contained in this Annual Report that are not historical facts are also forward-looking statements. The Company hasWe have tried, wherever possible, to identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “estimates”“estimates,” and other comparable terminology.

The Company cautionsWe caution investors that any forward-looking statements presented in this Annual Report, or that the Companywe may make orally or in writing from time to time, are based on the beliefs of, assumptions made by, and information currently available to, the Company.us. Such statements are based on assumptions, and the actual outcome will be affected by known and unknown risks, trends, uncertainties, and factors that are beyond the Company’sour control or ability to predict. Although the Company believeswe believe that itsour assumptions are reasonable, however, these assumptionsthey are not guarantees of future performance, and some will inevitably prove to be incorrect. As a result, the Company’sour actual future results can be expected to differ from itsour expectations, and those differences may be material. Accordingly, investors should use caution in relying on forward-looking statements, which are based only on known results and trends at the time they are made, to anticipate future results or trends. Certain risks are discussed in this Annual Report and also from time to time in the Company’sour other filings with the SEC.U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC” or “Commission”).

This Annual Report and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Companyus or any person acting on itsour behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. The Company doesWe do not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to itsour forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this Annual Report.

This Annual Report is being filed for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, as a late report to comply with the reporting obligations applicable to the Company under the Exchange Act. Unless specifically required to provide information for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, by the rules and regulations of the SEC, the discussion of the business of the Company reflects its current assets and current operations. Where the information relates to the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, the Company has made a reasonable effort herein to make that clear. Also, to be clear, the financial information in the consolidated financial statements and footnotes accompanying this Annual Report and the other financial information and management’s discussion about the consolidated financial statements relate to the historical periods for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017.

Part I

Item 1. Business

We operateThe Arena Group Holdings, Inc. (the “Company,” “Arena Group,” “we,” “our,” or “us”), is a data-driven media company that focuses on building deep content verticals powered by a best-in-class technologydigital media platform (the “Platform”) empowering premium publishers who impact, inform, educate, and entertain. Our strategy is to focus on key verticals where audiences are passionate about a topic category (e.g., sports and finance) and where we can leverage the strength of our core brands to grow our audience and increase monetization both within our core brands as well as our media publishers (each, a “Publisher Partner”). Our focus is on leveraging our Platform and iconic brands in targeted verticals to maximize audience reach, improve engagement and optimize monetization of digital publishing assets for the benefit of our users, our advertiser clients, and our 35 owned and operated properties as well as properties we run on behalf of independent Publisher Partners. We operate a significant portion of the media businesses for Sports Illustrated (as defined below) and(“Sports Illustrated”), own and operate TheStreet, Inc. (the “TheStreet”(“TheStreet”) and College Spun Media Incorporated (“The Spun”), and power more than 250200 independent brandsPublisher Partners, including Biography, History, Maxim, Ski Magazine, and Biography. The Maven technology platform (the “Maven Platform”) provides digital publishing, distribution and monetization capabilities for the Sports Illustrated and TheStreet businesses as well as a coalition of independent, professionally managed online media publishers (each a “Channel Partner” or a “Maven”).many sports team sites that comprise FanNation, among others. Each ChannelPublisher Partner joins the media-coalitionPlatform by invitation-only and is drawn from premium media brands professional journalists, subject matter experts, and social leaders. Mavens publishindependent publishing businesses with the objective of augmenting our position in key verticals and optimizing the performance of the Publisher Partner. Publisher Partners incur the costs in content and oversee an online community forcreation on their respective channels leveraging our proprietary technology platform to engage the collective audiences within a single network. Generally, Mavens are independently owned, strategic partners whoand receive a share of the revenue from the interactionassociated with their content. When they join, we believe Mavens will benefit from the proprietary technologyBecause of the Mavenstate-of-the-art technology and large scale of the Platform techniques, and relationships. Advertising revenue may improve due to the scale we have achieved by combining all Mavens onto a single platformour expertise in search engine optimization (SEO), social media, subscription marketing and the large and experienced sales organization. They may alsoad monetization, Publisher Partners continually benefit from our membership marketingongoing technological advances and management systems, which we believe will enhance their revenue.bespoke audience development expertise. Additionally, we believe the lead brand within each vertical creates a halo benefit for all MavensPublisher Partners in the vertical while each of them adds to the breadth and quality of content. While they benefit from these critical performance improvements they also may save substantially in costs of technology, infrastructure, advertising sales, and member marketing and management.

Please see “Our Future Business” and “Future Liquidity” for additional important information in Item 7.

Corporate History

We were originally incorporated in Delaware as Integrated Surgical Systems, Inc. (“Integrated”), in Delaware in 1990. On July 22, 2016 Amplify Media, Inc. was incorporated in Delaware and on July 27, 2016, it changed its name to Amplify Media Network, Inc. (“Amplify Media Network”). Amplify Media Network changed its name again on October 14, 2016 to TheMaven Network, Inc. (“TheMaven Network”).

On October 11, 2016, Integrated and TheMaven Network, Inc. (“Maven Network”) entered into a share exchange agreement (the “Share Exchange Agreement”), whereby the stockholders of TheMavenMaven Network agreed to exchange all of the then issuedthen-issued and outstanding shares of common stock for shares of common stock of Integrated. On November 4, 2016, the parties consummated a recapitalization pursuant to the Share Exchange Agreement and, as a result, TheMavenMaven Network became a wholly-ownedwholly owned subsidiary of Integrated. Integrated changed its name to TheMaven,theMaven, Inc. on December 2, 2016. On March 5,

In 2018, TheMaven Network changed its name to Maven Coalition, Inc. (“Maven Coalition 1”).

HubPages Merger

we acquired HubPages, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“HubPages”), became our wholly-owned subsidiary pursuant to that certain agreement and plan of merger, dated March 13, 2018 (“Agreement and Plan of Merger”), and as amended by the Amendment to Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated April 25, 2018 (“First Amendment”), the Second Amendment to Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated June 1, 2018 (“Second Amendment”), the Third Amendment to Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated May 31, 2019 (“Third Amendment”), and the Fourth Amendment to Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated December 15, 2020 (the “Fourth Amendment,” and collectively with the First Amendment, the Second Amendment, and the Third Amendment, the “HubPages Merger Agreement”) between us, HubPages, and HP Acquisition Co, Inc. (“HPAC”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of ours incorporated in Delaware on March 13, 2018 in order to facilitate the acquisition of HubPages by us. Pursuant to the HubPages Merger Agreement, HPAC merged with and into HubPages, with HubPages continuing as the surviving corporation in the merger and as a wholly-owned subsidiary of ours (the “HubPages Merger”). On August 23, 2018, we acquired all the outstanding shares of HubPages pursuant to the HubPages Merger.

Say Media Merger

Say Media, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Say Media”), became our wholly-owned subsidiary pursuant to that certain agreement and plan of merger, dated October 12, 2018 and as amended on October 17, 2018 (collectively, the “Say Media Merger Agreements”) between us,. Say Media SM Acquisition Co., Inc., a Delaware corporation (“SMAC”), which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ours incorporatedchanged its name on SeptemberJanuary 6, 20182020 to facilitate a merger, and Matt Sanchez, solely in his capacity as a representative of the Say Media security holders. Pursuant to the Say Media Merger Agreement, SMAC merged with and into Say Media, with Say Media continuing as the surviving corporation in the merger as a wholly-owned subsidiary of ours (the “Say Media Merger”). On December 12, 2018, we acquired all the outstanding shares of Say Media pursuant to the Say Media Merger Agreements.

Acquisition of TheStreet,Maven Coalition, Inc. and Relationship with Cramer Digital

TheStreet became our wholly-owned subsidiary pursuantthen again on February 18, 2022 to that certain agreement and plan of merger, dated June 11, 2019, as amended (the “TheStreet Merger Agreement”), between us, Say Media, and TST Acquisition Co.,The Arena Platform, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“TSTAC”), a newly-formed indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of ours formed in order to facilitate the acquisition of TheStreet by us. Pursuant to TheStreet Merger Agreement, TSTAC merged with and into TheStreet, with TheStreet continuing as the surviving corporation in the merger as a wholly-owned subsidiary of ours (the “TheStreet Merger”Arena Platform”). On August 7,In 2019, we acquired all the outstanding shares of TheStreet pursuant to the TheStreet Merger.

On August 7, 2019,TheStreet. Also, in connection with the TheStreet Merger, we entered into a letter agreement (the “Original Cramer Agreement”) with finance and stock market expert Jim Cramer, who co-founded TheStreet, which sets forth the terms of the Cramer Services to be provided by Mr. Cramer and Cramer Digital, Inc. (“Cramer Digital”), a production company owned and controlled by Mr. Cramer, featuring the digital rights and content created by Mr. Cramer and his team of financial experts. A second letter agreement providing additional terms was entered into on April 16, 2020 (the “Second Cramer Agreement,” and together with the Original Cramer Agreement, the “Cramer Agreement”).

The Cramer Agreement provides for Mr. Cramer and Cramer Digital to create content for Maven on each business day during the term of the Cramer Agreement, prepare special content for us, make certain personal appearances and provide other services as reasonably requested and mutually agreed to (collectively, the “Cramer Services”). In consideration for the Cramer Services, we pay Cramer Digital a commission on subscription revenues and net advertising revenues for certain content (the “Revenue Share”). In addition, we pay Cramer Digital approximately $3,000,000 as an annualized guarantee payment in equal monthly draws, recoupable against the Revenue Share. We also issued two options to Cramer Digital pursuant to our 2019 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2019 Plan”). The first option was to purchase up to two million shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $0.72, the closing stock price on August 7, 2019, the grant date. This option vests over 36 months. The second option was to purchase up to three million shares of our common stock at an exercise price of $0.54, the closing stock price on April 21, 2020, the grant date. In the event Cramer Digital and we agree to renew the term of the Cramer Agreement for a minimum of three years from the end of the second year of the current term, 900,000 shares will vest on the first day of the third year of the term as so extended (the “Trigger Date”). The remaining shares will vest equally on the 12-month anniversary of the Trigger Date, the 24-month anniversary of the Trigger Date and the 36-month anniversary of the Trigger Date.

In addition, we provide Cramer Digital with a marketing budget, access to personnel and support services, and production facilities. Finally, the Cramer Agreement provides that we will reimburse fifty percent of the cost of the rented office space by Cramer Digital, up to a maximum of $4,250 per month.

The Sports Illustrated Licensing Agreement

On June 14, 2019, we entered into a licensing agreement, (the “Initial Licensing Agreement”), as amended by Amendment No. 1 to Licensing Agreement, dated September 1, 2019, (the “First Amendment”), Amendment No. 2 to Licensing Agreement, dated April 1, 2020, (the “Second Amendment”), and Amendment No. 3 to Licensing Agreement, dated July 28, 2020, (the “Third Amendment”Amendment No. 4 dated June 4, 2021, and together with the Initial Licensing Agreement, First Amendment, and the Second Amendment,side letter dated June 4, 2021 (collectively, the “Sports Illustrated Licensing Agreement”) with ABG-SI LLC (“ABG”), a Delaware limited liability company and indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Authentic Brands Group, pursuant to which we have the exclusive right and license in the United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand to operate the Sports Illustrated (“Sports Illustrated”) media business (in the English and Spanish languages), including to (i) operate the digital and print editions of Sports Illustrated (including(including all special interest issues and the swimsuit issue) and Sports Illustrated for Kids,, (ii) develop new digital media channels under the Sports Illustrated brands, and (iii) operate certain related businesses, including without limitation, special interest publications, video channels, bookazines, and the licensing and/or syndication of certain products and content under the Sports Illustrated brand (collectively, the “Sports Illustrated Licensed Brands”).brand.

The initial term of the Sports Illustrated Licensing Agreement commenced on October 4, 2019 upon the termination of the Meredith License Agreement (as defined below) and continues through December 31, 2029. We have the option, subject to certain conditions, to renew the term of the Sports Illustrated Licensing Agreement for nine consecutive renewal terms of 10 years each (collectively with the initial term, the “Term”), for a total of 100 years. The Sports Illustrated Licensing Agreement provides that we will pay to ABG annual royalties in respect of each year of the Term based on gross revenues (“Royalties”) with guaranteed minimum annual amounts. On the execution of the Sports Illustrated Licensing Agreement, we prepaid ABG $45,000,000 against future royalties. ABG will pay to us a share of revenues relating to certain Sports Illustrated business lines not licensed to us, such as all gambling-related advertising and monetization, events, and commerce. The two companies are partnering in building the brand worldwide.

Pursuant to a publicly announced agreement, dated May 24, 2019, between ABG and Meredith Corporation (“Meredith”), an Iowa corporation, Meredith previously operated the Sports Illustrated Licensed Brands under license from ABG (the “Meredith License Agreement). On October 3, 2019, we, and Meredith entered into a Transition Services Agreement and an Outsourcing Agreement (collectively, the “Transition Agreement”), whereby the parties agreed to the terms and conditions under which Meredith continued to operate certain aspects of the business, and provided certain services during the fourth quarter of 2019 as all activities were transitioned over to us. Through these agreements, we took over operating control of the Sports Illustrated Licensed Brands, and the Transition Agreement was terminated.

Merger of Subsidiaries

On December 19, 2019, our wholly-owned subsidiaries, Maven Coalition 1 and HubPages, were merged into another of our wholly owned subsidiaries, Say Media. On January 6, 2020, Say Media changed its name to Maven Coalition, Inc. (the “Maven Coalition”).

Asset Acquisition of Petametrics Inc.

On March 9,In 2020, we entered into an asset purchase agreement withacquired substantially all the assets of Petametrics Inc., doing business as LiftIgniter, a Delaware corporation (“LiftIgniter”),. In 2021, we acquired all of the issued and Maven Coalition, whereby Maven Coalition purchased substantially all the assetsoutstanding shares of LiftIgniter’s machine learning platform, which personalizes content and product recommendations in real-time.capital stock of The purchased assets included LiftIgniter’s intellectual property and excluded certain accounts receivable. Maven Coalition also assumed certain of LiftIgniter’s liabilities. The purchase price consisted of: (i) a cash payment of $184,086Spun.

On September 20, 2021, we re-branded to “The Arena Group.” Effective at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time on February 19, 2020,8, 2022, we changed our formal corporate name to The Arena Group Holdings, Inc. in connectionconjunction with our filing a Certificate of Amendment and Certificate of Corrections with the repaymentState of certain of its outstanding indebtedness; (ii) a cash payment at closing of $131,202; (iii) collections of certain accounts receivable; (iv) onDelaware and obtaining approval from the first anniversary date of the closing issuance of restricted stock units for an aggregate of up to 312,500 shares of our common stock; and (v) on the second anniversary date of the closing issuance of restricted stock units for an aggregate of up to 312,500 shares of our common stock.

Corporate Offices

Our executive offices are located at 225 Liberty Street, 27^th Floor, New York, New York 10281. At our California and Seattle locations, we carry out the software development and other operational activities. Our current telephone number is (775) 600-2765.

Recapitalization Accounting

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”). On October 11, 2016, Integrated and TheMaven Network entered into the Share Exchange Agreement that provided for each outstanding share of common stock of TheMaven Network to be converted into 4.13607 shares ofFebruary 9, 2022, our common stock (the “Exchange Ratio”), and for each outstanding warrant and stock option to purchase shares of common stock of TheMaven Network be cancelled in exchange for a warrant or stock option to purchase shares of our common stock basedbegan trading on the Exchange Ratio (the “Recapitalization”).NYSE American.

On November 4, 2016,The Platform

We developed the consummation of the Recapitalization became effective and pursuant to the Recapitalization, we: (i) issued to the stockholders of TheMaven Network an aggregate of 12,517,152 shares of our common stock; and (ii) issued to MDB Capital Group, LLC (“MDB”), as an advisory fee, warrants to purchase 1,169,607 shares of our common stock. Existing stock options to purchase 175,000 shares of our common stock were assumed pursuant to the Recapitalization.

Business and Technology

We have developedPlatform, a proprietary online publishing platform that provides Channelour owned and operated media businesses, Publisher Partners, who are third parties producing and publishing content on their own domains, and individual creators contributing content to our owned and operated sites (“Expert Contributors”), the ability to produce and manage editorially focused content and community interaction through tools and services provided by us. We have also developed proprietary advertising technology, techniques and relationships that allow us, our ChannelPublisher Partners and Expert Contributors to monetize online, editorially focused content through various display and custom content advertising solutionsvideo advertisements and tools and services for driving a subscription or membership based business and other monetization services (the “Advertising“Monetization Solutions” and, together with the Maven Platform, the “Maven“Platform Services”). Our Platform Services”).offers audiences bespoke content with optimized design and page construction.

The Maven Platform launched in “preview” form in May 2017 when the firstcomprises state-of-the-art publishing tools, video platforms, social distribution channels, went live and has been substantially enhanced with ongoing development and the integration of three other platform acquisitions. We have incorporated state-of-the-art mobile, video, communications, social,newsletter technology, machine learning content recommendations, notifications, and other technology into the Maven Platform, including modern DevOps processes with continuous integration/continuous deployment andthat deliver a complete set of features to drive a digital media business in an entirely cloud-based back-end. Thesuite of services. Our software engineering and product development teams are experienced at delivering servicethese services at scale. We continue to develop the Maven Platform software by combining proprietary code with components from the open-source community, plus select commercial services as well as identifying, acquiring, and integrating other platform technologies, where we see unique long-term benefits to us.

The Maven Platform Services feature:include:

In connection with providing the Maven

Our Platform Services, we enter into contracts with advertising networks to serve display or video advertisements on the digital media pages associated with its various channels. We also enter into contracts with internet users that subscribe to premium content on the digital media channels. These contracts provide internet users with a membership subscription (each, a “Membership”) to access the premium content for a given period of time, which is generally one year.

Our Channel Partnerspartners use the Maven Platform Services to produce, manage, host and monetize their content in accordance with the terms and conditions betweenof partner agreements between each of our ChannelPublisher Partners and us (the “Partnership“Partner Agreements”). Our Publisher Partners incur the costs with respect to creating their content; thus, not requiring capital expenditures by us. Pursuant to the PartnershipPartner Agreements, we and our ChannelPublisher Partners split revenue generated from the Maven Platform Services used in connection with our Channelthe Publisher Partner’s content based on certain metrics such as whether the revenue was from direct sales, whether revenue was generated by our ChannelPublisher Partner or us, whether the revenue was generated in connection with a Membership, whethersubscription or a membership, was based on standalone or bundled subscriptions andor whether the revenue was derived from affiliate links.

Subject to the terms and conditions of each PartnershipPartner Agreement and in exchange for the Maven Platform Services, our ChannelPublisher Partners grant us, for so long as our ChannelPublisher Partner’s assets are hosted on the Maven Platform, (i) exclusive control of ads.txt with respect to our ChannelPublisher Partner’s domains and (ii) the exclusive right to include our ChannelPublisher Partner’s website domains and related URLs in our networkcoalition in a consolidated listing assembled by third party measurement companies such as comScore, Nielsen and/or other similar measuring services selected by us. As such, the Maven Platform serves as the primary digital media and social platform with respect to each of our ChannelPublisher Partners’ website domains during the applicable term of each PartnershipPartner Agreement.

Our Brands and Growth Strategy

Our business model is to grow our Platform audience while striving to diversify revenue and drive gross margin through traditional media brands as well as new digital-first brands. We believe our vertical model allows us and our partners to leverage audience growth, technological efficiencies and cost savings across all of our brands. Our vertical model consists of (i) acquiring or partnering with powerful brands that can offer our audience bespoke content and domain authority, (ii) forming key strategic partnerships with like-minded partners of high-quality content, (iii) partnering with entrepreneurial publishers to drive local content at variable cost tied to performance, and (iv) growing our Publisher Partners on our network to expand our content offerings and add scale to the ecosystem. In late 2021, both Sports Illustrated and TheStreet increased its focus on producing data-driven breaking and trending news packaged specifically for Facebook News.

Our growth strategy is to continue to expand the coalition by adding new MavensPublisher Partners in key verticals that management believes will expand the scale of unique users interacting on the Maven Platform. In each vertical, we seek to build around a leading brand, such as Sports Illustrated (for sports) and TheStreet (for finance), surround it with subcategory Maven specialists, and further enhance coverage with individual expert contributors.Expert Contributors. The primary means of expansion is adding independent Mavens and/Publisher Partners or acquiring publishers that have premium branded content and can broaden the reach and impact of the Maven Platform. As our digital revenue and gross margin grows, we believe we can further accelerate our growth. Specifically, our 2022 growth initiatives include: (i) increasing syndication of the content on our Platform through the re-publishing the content on third-party websites, (ii) offering of podcasts and e-commerce through our Platform, (iii) growing Sports Illustrated sportsbook (“SI Sportsbook”), (iv) acquiring or developing new verticals for our users, and (v) continuing to identify and partner with new Publisher Partners.

MavenThe Arena Group

We operate a best-in-class technologydigital media platform empowering premium publishers who impact, inform, educate, and entertain. We operate the media businesses for Sports Illustrated and TheStreet, and power more than 250200 independent brands, including Biography, History, Maxim, and Biography.the many team sports sites that comprise FanNation, among others. These brands range from individual thought-leadersniche media businesses to world-leading independent publishers, operating on the Maven Platform, a shared digital publishing, monetization, and distribution platform.

Sports Illustrated

We assumed management of thecertain Sports Illustrated media assets (pursuant to the Sports Illustrated License Agreement) on October 4, 2019. Sports Illustrated is owned by ABG, a brand development, marketing, and entertainment company that owns a global portfolio of media, entertainment, and lifestyle brands.company. Since assuming management of the Sports Illustrated media assets, we have implemented significant changes to rebuild the historic brand and beacon of sports journalism, to evolve and expand the business, and to position it for growth and continued success going forward.

SI Sportsbook was launched in 2021 in Colorado. We provide the content for SI Sportsbook and our partner, 888 Holdings PLC, one of the world’s leading online betting and gaming companies, provides the gambling engine. The SI Sportsbook covers the NFL, CFB, NCAAMB, MLB, NBA, NHA, PGA, Horse Racing, UCF, Boxing. The content we provide includes: (i) Sports Illustrated winners club newsletter, live NFL pre-game show and twitter spaces, (ii) NFL and CFB game betting previews and player props, (iii) five new betting articles series, and (iv) four new video on-demand betting series. SI Sportsbook intends to expand into additional markets by the end of 2023.

With respect to Sports Illustrated Swim (“SI Swim”), we have continued to transition it to a female-focused lifestyle brand, with the annual content release in July 2021. With respect to our fan-facing event to celebrate our annual content release and ongoing digital sponsorships, we partnered with Hard Rock, Diageo, and Vita Coco.

TheStreetIn addition, we partnered with iHeartMedia, Inc. to co-produce original podcasts. The iHeartPodcast Network will distribute the podcasts as well as distribute Sports Illustrated’s existing podcasts across iHeartRadio and Cramer Digitaleverywhere podcasts are heard.

TheStreet

TheStreet is a leading financial news and information provider to investors and institutions worldwide and has produced business news and market analysis for individual investors for more than 20 years.investors. TheStreet brings its editorial tradition, strong subscription platform, and valuable membership base to us, and benefits from our mobile-friendly CMS, social, video, and monetization technology.

Finance and stock market expert As we previously disclosed, our agreement with Jim Cramer who co-founded TheStreet,expired in September 2021 and his team of financial experts continue their influential work with the brand. As part of the closing of the TheStreet Merger, we entered into the Cramer Agreement with Mr. Cramer, pursuanthave refocused our efforts to which Mr. Cramer and Cramer Digital,broaden our targeted user base to a new production company, will provide the Cramer Services, including certain content offerings under Mr. Cramer’s editorial control.more diverse demographic profile.

HubPages

We acquired HubPages to enhance the user’s experience by increasing content.content, including from individual creators contributing content to our owned and operated sites. HubPages operates a network of 27 premium content channels that act as an open community for writers, explorers, knowledge seekers, and conversation starters to connect in an interactive and informative online space. HubPages operates in the United States.

Say MediaArena Platform

We acquired Say MediaArena Platform to enhance the user’s experience by increasing content. Say Media operatesNow fully integrated into the Platform, Arena Platform’s technology provides a comprehensive online media publishing platform and enables brand advertisers to engage today’s social media consumer through rich advertising experiences across its network of web properties. Say MediaArena Platform operates in the United States and has subsidiaries located in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.States.

LiftIgniter

LiftIgniter provides a distribution and recommendation engine for premium publishers. The LiftIgniter platform connects users efficiently to hundreds of professional content creators, with custom recommendations of content aligned with users’ personal passions. Aided by machine-learning technology, publishers can identify and target those interested in their content. LiftIgniter activates the value of hosting hundreds of premium journalists on a single platform by interconnecting them through unified content distribution.

The Spun

The Spun (thespun.com), founded in September 2012, is an online independent sports publication that brings readers the most interesting athletic stories of the day. The Spun focuses on the social media aspect of the industry. The former Chief Executive Officer of The Spun is now serving as our Vice President of Growth for Sports, a role we believe will continue to assist us in growing our sports vertical business.

Other Publisher Partners

We have multiple team specific and niche sports sites under the brand FanNation. Additionally, Fadeaway World which is a sports-oriented Publisher Partner, joined our Platform in May 2021, and is a fast-growing online basketball media brand focused on breaking news and commentary.

Intellectual Property

We have seven patent registrations in the United States in connection with our technology. The patents expire at various times through 2033. All of our patent registrations are owned by Maven Coalition, Inc.our wholly-owned subsidiary, Arena Platform.

Maven and Key Design

We currently have trademark registrations directed to our primary key design logo and the MAVEN name in the United States, Australia, China, the European Union (the “EU”), the United Kingdom, India, Japan, and New Zealand, as well as international Madrid Protocol registrations. We have a trademark applicationsapplication directed to our primary key design logo pending in Canada, and a trademark registration for the MAVEN name pending in Japan and Canada.

Moreover, we have a U.S.United States trademark registration for the word mark MAVEN COALITION, a European Union trademark registrationregistrations in the EU and the United Kingdom for the word mark THEMAVEN, and a U.S.United States trademark registration for the word mark A MAVEN CHANNEL. We have trademark registrations for the work mark A MAVEN CHANNEL in Australia, New Zealand, the EU, and the United Kingdom, and applications for the word mark A MAVEN CHANNEL pending in Australia, Canada the European Union, the United Kingdom,and Mexico, and New Zealand, as well as a pendingan international Madrid Protocol application.registration.

We have aThe above trademark registration for the word mark BULL MARKET FANTASY in the United States and a trademark application for BULL MARKET FANTASY pending in Canada. registrations are subject to renewals at various times through 2031.

Other Marks

We have trademark applicationsregistrations for the word marks SPORTSLIGHTNING and STREETLIGHTNING pending in the United States.

TheStreet

We have a trademark registration for the word marks THE STREET, THESTREET, THESTREET.COM and the related design in the United States. We have a trademark registration for the word marksACTION ALERTS PLUS, ALPHA RISING, BANKING MY WAY, BULL MARKET FANTASY, INCOME SEEKER, LIFTIGNITOR, MAIN ST. (logo), REAL MONEY, REALMONEY, STREETLIGHTNING, THE SPUN, TEMPEST, THESTREET, THESTREET.COM, and REALMONEYTHE STREET (logo) in the United States and a pending application for the word mark THESTREET SMARTS in the United States. We also have trademark applications for the marks ACTION ALERTS PLUS, BULL MARKET FANTASY, REAL MONEY, and THESTREET pending in Canada.

HubPages

We have trademark registrationsapplications for the marks THE ARENA, THE ARENA GROUP, and THE ARENA GROUP (logo) pending in the United States. We also have Madrid Protocol applications pending for the word mark THE ARENA GROUP and for THE ARENA GROUP logo mark, each seeking registration of the marks in Australia, Canada, China, EU, Mexico, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

We have a United States trademark registration for the word mark HUBPAGES, and trademark registrations for the HUBPAGES mark in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, the EU, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, South Africa, and the United States, Australia, China, the European Union, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, India, Peru, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Mexico and the Philippines,Kingdom, as well as an international Madrid Protocol registration.

We continue to file updated trademark applications to reflect our branding evolution and intend to continue strengthening our trademark portfolio as financial resources permit.

The above trademark registrations are subject to renewals at various times through 2032.

Our ChannelPublisher Partners and Licensing

In connection with our PartnershipPartner Agreements and any other applicable agreements between us and our ChannelPublisher Partners, (i) we and our affiliates own and retain (a) all right, title, and interest in and to the Maven Platform, Advertising Solutions,other monetization services (“Monetization Solutions”) and data collected by us, and (b) we and our licensors’ trademarks and branding and all software and technology we use to provide and operate the Maven Platform and AdvertisingMonetization Solutions, and (ii) each ChannelPublisher Partner owns and retains (a) all right, title, and interest in and to the ChannelPublisher Partner’s assets, content, and data collected by ChannelPublisher Partner and (b) each ChannelPublisher Partner’s trademarks and branding.

Seasonality

Seasonality

We expect to experience typical media company advertising and membership sales seasonality, which is strong in the fiscal fourth quarter and slower in the fiscal first quarter.

Competition

Currently, we believe that there are dozens ofmany competitors delivering niche media content on the web and on mobile devices and an even broader array of general media companies and major media brands. All those competitors use mobile alerts, invest heavily in video, and leverage social media. We believe that we have developed distribution, production, and technology tactics that are superior because our management team’s tactics in the past with prior companies have proven to be highly engaging and effective for our particular model, which organizes channels into interest groups, led by key brands, such as Sports Illustrated in the sports vertical and TheStreet.comTheStreet in the finance vertical.

The web provides unlimited access to the market by niche or general media companies, so there are a large number and variety of direct competitors of ours competing for audience and ad and membership dollars. The general business of online media, combined with some level or method of leveraging community attracts many potential entrants, and in the future, there may be strong competitors that will compete with us in general or in selected markets. These and other companies may be better financed and be able to develop their markets more quickly and penetrate those market more effectively. The following is a list of possible competitors and their respective categories:

In addition, even though do not compete in the same market, we view Nexstar Media Group, Inc. and Ziff Davis as peer companies for purposes of comparing our performance.

We believe that we compete on the basis of our technology, substantial scale in traffic, ease of use, recognized lead media brands, and platform evolution through a continuing development and acquisition program. We believe that our scale, methods, technology, and experience enable us to compete for a material amount of market share of media dollars and membership revenue.

Government Regulations

Our operations are subject to a number of U.S.United States federal and state laws and regulations that involve privacy, rights of publicity, data protection, content regulation, intellectual property, or other subjects. Many of these laws and regulations are still evolving and being tested in courts and could be interpreted in ways that could harm our business. In addition, the application and interpretation of these laws and regulations often are uncertain, particularly in the new and rapidly evolving industry in which we operate.

A number of

Several government authorities, both in the United States and abroad, and private parties are increasing their focus on privacy issues and the use of personal information. All states have enacted some form of data privacy legislation, including data security and breach notification laws in all 50 states, and some form of regulation regarding the collection, use and disclosure of personal information at the federal level and in several states. California has been the most active in the area of consumer privacy legislation, including passing a comprehensive law requiring transparency, access, and choice known as the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (the “CCPA”), which was amended in November 2020 by a ballot measure known as the California Privacy Rights Act (the “CPRA”).The. The CCPA went into effect January 1, 2020, with enforcement having begun in June 2020. The CPRA goes into effect over time, with enforcement to begin July 2023. Other states are also considering comprehensive consumer privacy legislation. Certain states have also enacted legislation requiring certain encryption technologies for the storage and transmission of personally identifiable information, including credit card information, and more states are considering laws for or have enacted laws about information security, which may require the adoption of written information security policies that are consistent with state laws if businesses have personal information of residents of those states. Data privacy and information security legislation is also being considered at the federal level, concerning the privacy of individuals and use of internet and marketing information. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and attorneys general in several states have oversight of business operations concerning the use of personal information and breaches of the privacy laws under existing consumer protection laws. In particular, an attorney general or the FTC may examine privacy policies to ensure that a company discloses all material practices and fully complies with representations in the policies regarding the manner in which the information provided by consumers and other visitors to a website is used and disclosed by it, and the failure to do so could give rise to a complaint under state or federal unfair competition or consumer protection laws. The California Attorney General has begun aggressively investigating companies, especially those with websites, with respect to CCPA compliance and these investigations reportedly include inquiries into issues for which there has not yet been clear guidance issued by the state, such as regarding third party cookies that collect personal information from users when they visit our and other websites.

We review our privacy policies and overall operations on a regular basis to ensure compliance with applicable U.S.United States federal and state laws, and to the extent applicable, any foreign laws. We launched a CCPA compliance program in January 2020 and at the end of 2020 reviewed the program and made adjustments toadjusted our privacy notice and compliance program practices to account for our evolving practices and the new CCPA regulations, which were promulgated in July 2020 and continue to be subject to ongoing rulemaking. We believe the position we take regarding various CCPA issues, including third party cookies, is based on sound and good faith interpretations of the law based on consultation with legal counsel. However, there are conflicting interpretations of the law that have been adopted by various parties in the digital media industry, and given the lack of guidance to date on many of these issues, our compliance posture on some issues might not be accepted by the State of California.

In addition to the laws of the United States, we may be subject to foreign laws regulating web sites and online services, and the laws in some jurisdictions outside of the United States are stricter than the laws in the United States. For instance, in May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”) went into effect in the European Union (the “EU”)EU and European Economic Area and Switzerland. The GDPR includes operational requirements for companies that receive or process personal data of residents of the European UnionEU that include significant penalties for non-compliance. In addition, some EU countries are considering or have passed legislation implementing additional data protection requirements or requiring local storage and processing of personal data or similar requirements that could increase the cost and complexity of delivering our services. How the GDPR will be fully applied to online services, including cookies and digital advertising, is still being determined through ongoing rulemaking and evolving interpretation by applicable authorities. We operate a GDPR compliance program that we believe, based on our good faith interpretation of the GDPR in consultation with counsel, is consistent with our obligations under that law. The highest court in the EU recently ruled that the US/United States/EU Privacy Shield was inadequate under GDPR and questioned the viability or legality of any EU to U.S.United States personal data transfer methods. We are working to address this issue, for instance, including standard contractual clauses as part of our Data Processing Agreements, and we continue to monitor the development of EU to U.S.United States personal data transfer methods and the law relating thereto.

Social networking websites are under increasing scrutiny. Legislation has been introduced on the state and federal level that could regulate social networking websites. Some rules call for more stringent age-verification techniques, attempt to mandate data retention or data destruction by Internet providers, and impose civil and/or criminal penalties on owners or operators of social networking websites.

The FTC regularly considers issues relating to online behavioral advertising (a/k/a interest-based advertising), which is a significant revenue source for us, and Congress and state legislatures are frequently asked to regulate this type of advertising, including requiring consumers to provide express consent for tracking purposes, so that advertisers may know their interests and are, therefore, able to serve them more relevant, targeted ads. Targeted ads generate higher per impression fees than non-targeted ads. New laws, or new interpretations of existing laws, could potentially place restrictions on our ability to utilize our database and other marketing data (e.g., from third parties) on our own behalf and on behalf of our advertising clients, which may adversely affect our business.

Legislation concerning the above describedabove-described online activities has either been enacted or is in various stages of development and implementation in other countries around the world and could affect our ability to make our websites available in those countries as future legislation is made effective. It is possible that state and foreign governments might also attempt to regulate our transmissions of content on our website or prosecute us for violations of their laws. U.S.United States law offers limited safe harbors and immunities to publishers for certain liability arising out of user-posted content, but other countries do not. Further, there are a number of legislative proposals in the United States and internationally, that could impose new obligations in areas affecting our business, such as liability for copyright infringement by third parties and liability for defamation or other claims arising out of user-posted content. Our business could be negatively impacted if applicable laws subject us to greater regulation or risk of liability.

Our business could also be adversely affected if regulatory enforcement authorities, such as the California Attorney General or EU/EEA data protection authorities, take issue with any of our approaches to compliance, or if new laws, regulations or decisions regarding the collection, storage, transmission, use and/or disclosure of personal information are implemented in such ways that impose new or additional technology requirements on us, limit our ability to collect, transmit, store and use or disclose the information, or if government authorities or private parties challenge our data privacy and/or security practices that result in liability to, or restrictions, on us, or we experience a significant data or information breach which would require public disclosure under existing notification laws and for which we may be liable for damages and/or penalties.

Furthermore, governments of applicable jurisdictions might attempt to regulate our transmissions or levy sales or other taxes relating to our activities even though we do not have a physical presence and/or operate in those jurisdictions. As our platforms, products and advertisement activities are available over the Internet anywhere in the world, multiple jurisdictions may claim that we are required to qualify to do business as a foreign corporation in each of those jurisdictions and pay various taxes in those jurisdictions. We address state and local jurisdictions where we believe we have nexus, however, there can be no assurance that we have complied with all jurisdictions that may assert that we owe taxes.

Concentration of Customer Risk

In fiscal 2021, we had sales to one customer that comprised approximately 11.3% of our total revenue. In fiscal 2020, we did not have any customers that comprised a significant portion of our revenue.

Available InformationEmployees

Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K,total number of employees as of December 31, 2021, was 364, of which 333 were full-time employees and amendments to reports filed21 were part-time employees. Roughly 26% of our workforce, or furnished96 employees, is represented by a union named The NewsGuild of New York, CWA Local 31003 (the “Guild”) pursuant to Section 13a binding Memorandum of Agreement executed by and between the Guild and The Arena Media Brands, LLC (“Arena Media”) on December 31, 2021 (the “MOA”), which covers Sports Illustrated editorial staff. The MOA is intended to be finalized in the form of a collective bargaining agreement in the second quarter of fiscal 2022. The MOA comprehensively addresses the terms of employment for covered employees and non-employees regarding, among other things, wages, raises, bonuses, severances, benefits, discipline and the like. We have incorporated the terms of the Exchange Act, are available free of charge after we electronically file or furnish them to the SEC. The SEC maintains a website at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically.MOA into our fiscal 2022 employment practices.

Item 1A. Risk Factors

There are numerous factors that affect our business and operating results, many of which are beyond our control. The following is a description of significant factors that might cause our future results to differ materially from those currently expected. The risks described below are not the only risks we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also affect our business operations. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, and/or our ability to pay our debts and other liabilities could suffer. As a result, the trading price and liquidity of our securities could decline, perhaps significantly, and you could lose all or part of your investment. The risks discussed below also include forward-looking statements and our actual results may differ substantially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. See the section entitled “Cautionary Note ConcerningStatement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”

RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS AND OUR FINANCIAL CONDITION

Our business operations have been and may continue to be materially and adversely affected by the outbreak of COVID-19. coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic.An outbreak of respiratory illness caused by The COVID-19 emerged in late 2019pandemic has had, and has spread globally. In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 as a pandemic based on the rapid increase in global exposure. COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the world. Many national governments and sports authoritieshave, a significant impact around the world, have made the decision to postpone/cancel high attendance sports events in an effort to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. In addition, manyprompting governments and businesses to take unprecedented measures in response. Such measures have limited non-essential workincluded restrictions on travel and business operations, temporary closures of businesses, quarantine and shelter-in-place orders, and postponement or cancellation of in-person events, including sporting events. The COVID-19 pandemic has, at times, significantly curtailed global economic activity furloughed and/or terminated many employees and closed some operations and/or locations, all of whichcaused significant volatility and disruption in global financial markets. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negativeless of an impact during fiscal year 2021 on our business and results of operations than the economic environment.

Beginning in March 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, our revenue and earnings began to decline largelyprior fiscal year due to the cancellation of high attendance sportssporting events and society generally being less restricted and impacted by the resulting decrease in traffic topandemic. That does not, however, provide assurance that future variants of COVID-19, or other diseases, will not emerge. If that happens, it is possible that the Maven Platform and advertising revenue. This initial decrease in revenue and earnings were partially offset by revenues generated by TheStreet, as well as some recovery of sporting events (including, in some cases, limited in-person attendance)will again be postponed or canceled. Given that have generatedSports Illustrated, which relies on sporting events to generate content for the Sports Illustrated Licensed Brands. Despite this perceived recovery,media business, comprises a material portion of our revenues, our cash flows and results of operations are susceptible to a widespread cancellation of sporting events or a general limitation of societal activity akin to what is widely known to have occurred in the future impact, or continued impact, fromUnites States and elsewhere during the COVID-19 pandemic remains uncertain.

The extent2020 calendar year. Future widespread shutdowns of thein-person economic activity could have a materially detrimental impact on our operationalbusiness. We continue to monitor the situation and financial performance will depend,take appropriate actions in part, on future developments, includingaccordance with the durationrecommendations and spreadrequirements of the COVID-19 pandemic, related group gathering and sports event advisories and restrictions, and the extent and effectiveness of containment actions taken, all of which remain uncertain at the time of issuance of our accompanying consolidated financial statements.relevant authorities.

These and other impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, or other pandemics or epidemics, could have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this Annual Report under the “Risk Factors” section.

Because of the effects of COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty about their persistence, we may need to raise more capital to continue operations. At December 31, 2018, we had cash of $2,406,596. From January 1, 2019 through the issuance date of our accompany consolidated financial statements, we raised aggregate net proceeds of approximately $150.7 million through various debt and preferred stock private placements. As of January 4, 2021 we had cash of approximately $9.4 million. Please refer to Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, under the section entitled “Future Liquidity,” for additional information. We have seen stabilization in our markets since the spring and believe that based on our current assessment of the impact of COVID-19 we have sufficient resources to fully fund our business operations through 12 months from the issuance date of our accompanying consolidated financial statements. However, due to the uncertainty regarding the duration of the impact of COVID-19 and its effect on our financial performance and the potential that our traffic and advertising revenue becomes destabilized again, we may require additional capital. We have not had difficulties accessing the capital markets during 2020, however, due to the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, we may experience difficulties in the future.

As market conditions present uncertainty as to our ability to secure additional capital, there can be no assurances that we will be able to secure additional financing on acceptable terms, or at all, as and when necessary to continue to conduct operations. Our future liquidity and capital requirements will depend upon numerous factors, including the success of our offerings and competing technological and market developments. We may need to raise funds through public or private financings, strategic relationships, or other arrangements. There can be no assurance that such funding, will be available on terms acceptable to us, or at all. Furthermore, any equity financing will be dilutive to existing stockholders, and debt financing, if available, may involve restrictive covenants that may limit our operating flexibility with respect to certain business matters. Strategic arrangements may require us to relinquish our rights or grant licenses to some or substantial parts of our intellectual property. If funds are raised through the issuance of equity securities, the percentage ownership of our stockholders will be reduced, stockholders may experience additional dilution in net book value per share, and such equity securities may have rights, preferences, or privileges senior to those of the holders of our existing capital stock. If adequate funds are not available on acceptable terms, we may not be able to continue operating, develop or enhance products, take advantage of future opportunities or respond to competitive pressures, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition.

We have incurred losses since our inception, have yeta history of losses.In fiscal 2021, we had net loss of approximately $89.9 million, compared to achieve profitable operations, and anticipate that we will continue to incur losses for the foreseeable future. We have had losses from inception, and as a result, have relied on capital funding or borrowings to fund our operations.approximately $89.2 million in fiscal 2020. Our accumulated deficit as of December 31, 20182021 was approximately $34.5$252.2 million. We may continue to incur losses in the future if we do not achieve sufficient revenue to achieve and maintain profitability. There is no assurance that our operations will generate sufficient cash flows to support our continued operations in the future without needing to seek additional capital funding or borrowings. We can provide no assurance that if we need to seek such additional outside capital that it will be available on favorable terms or at all. Any failure to achieve and maintain profitability could have not issued our financial statements for any periods during 2019 and 2020. While we anticipate generating profits in 2021, the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic yields some doubt as toa materially adverse effect on our ability to do so and could require us to raise additional capital. We cannot predict whether we will be able to continue to find capital to supportimplement our business plan, ifour results and operations, and our financial condition.

If we fail to comply with the negative effectsreporting obligations of the pandemic continue longer than anticipated.

We identifiedExchange Act and Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“Sarbanes”), or if we fail to maintain adequate internal control over financial reporting, our business, financial condition, and results of operations, and investors’ confidence in us, could be materially and adversely affected. As a public company, we are required to comply with the periodic reporting obligations of the Exchange Act, including preparing annual reports, quarterly reports, and current reports. Our failure to prepare and disclose this information in a timely manner and meet our reporting obligations in their entirety could subject us to penalties under federal securities laws and regulations of the NYSE American, expose us to lawsuits, and restrict our ability to access financing on favorable terms, or at all. In addition, pursuant to Section 404 of Sarbanes, we are required to evaluate and provide a management report of our systems of internal control over financial reporting. During the evaluation and testing process of our internal controls, if we identify one or more material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. Ifreporting, we dowill be unable to certify that our internal control over financial reporting is effective. We cannot assure you that there will not adequately address these material weaknesses or if otherbe material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting are discovered,in the future. Any failure to maintain internal control over financial reporting could severely inhibit our ability to accurately report our financial statements could containcondition or results of operations. If we are unable to conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm determines we have a material misstatements and our business, operations and stock price may be adversely affected. As disclosed under Item 9A, Controls and Procedures, of this Annual Report, our management has identified material weaknessesweakness or significant deficiency in our internal control over financial reporting, at December 31, 2018we could lose investor confidence in the accuracy and we expect to identify material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting for at December 31, 2019 and 2020. We expect to have remediated our material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting by March 31, 2021, of which there can be no assurance. Under standards established by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, a material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatementcompleteness of our financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Although no material misstatement of our historical financial statements was identified,reports, the existence of these material weaknesses or significant deficiencies could result in material misstatements in our financial statements and we could be required to restate our financial statements. Further, significant costs and resources may be needed to remediate the identified material weaknesses or any other material weaknesses or internal control deficiencies. If we are unable to remediate, evaluate, and test our internal controls on a timely basis in the future, management will be unable to conclude that our internal controls are effective and our independent registered public accounting firm will be unable to express an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of our internal controls. If we cannot produce reliable financial reports, investors may lose confidence in our financial reporting, themarket price of our common stock could be adversely impacteddecline, and we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the SEC or other regulatory authorities, which could negatively impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

As of the date of this filing, we currently lack certain internal controls over our financial reporting. While we have three independent directors serving on our board of directors (our “Board”), have addedauthorities. Failure to our accounting staff, and have hired a new Chief Technology Officer, we are implementing such controls at this time. The lack of such controls makes it difficult to ensure that information required to be disclosedremedy any material weakness in our reports filed and submitted under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized, and reported as and when required.

We cannot assure you that we will be able to develop and implement the necessary internal controlscontrol over financial reporting. The absencereporting, or to implement or maintain other effective control systems required of such internal controls may inhibit investors from purchasingpublic companies, could also restrict our shares and may make it more difficult for usfuture access to raise debt or equity financing.the capital markets.

If we fail to retain current users or add new users, or if our users decrease their level of engagement with the Maven Platform, our business would be seriously harmed. The success of our business heavily depends on the size of our user base and the level of engagement of our users. Thus, our business performance will also become increasingly dependent on our ability to increase levels of user engagement in existing and new markets. We are continuously subject to a highly competitive market in order to attract and retain our users’ attention. A number of factors could negatively affect user retention, growth, and engagement, including if:

Any decrease in user retention, growth, or engagement could render our products less attractive to users, advertisers, or our ChannelPublisher Partners, thereby reducing our revenues from them, which may have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. In addition, there can be no assurance that we will succeed in developing products and services that eventually become widely accepted, that we will be able to timely release products and services that are commercially viable, or that we will establish ourselves as a successful player in a new business area. Our inability to do so would have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The market in which we participate is intensely competitive, and if we do not compete effectively, our operating results could be harmed. The digital media industry is fragmented and highly competitive. There are many players in the digital media market, many with greater name recognition and financial resources, which may give them a competitive advantage. Some of our current and potential competitors have substantially greater financial, technical, marketing, distribution, and other resources than we do. Our competitors may be able to respond more quickly and effectively than we can to new or changing opportunities, technologies, standards, customer, and user requirements and trends. In addition, our customers and strategic partners may become competitors in the future. Certain of our competitors may be able to negotiate alliances with strategic partners on more favorable terms than we are able to negotiate. Pricing pressures and increased competition generally could result in reduced sales, reduced margins, losses, or the failure of the Maven Platform to achieve or maintain more widespread market acceptance, any of which could adversely affect our revenues and operating results. With the introduction of new technologies, the evolution of the Maven Platform, and new market entrants, we expect competition to intensify in the future.

We may have difficulty managing our growth. We have added, and expect to continue to add, channelpublisher partner and end-user support capabilities, to continue software development activities, and to expand our administrative operations. In the past two years, we have entered into multiple strategic transactions. These strategic transactions, which have significantly expanded our business, have and are expected to place a significant strain on our managerial, operational, and financial resources. To manage any further growth, we will be required to improve existing, and implement new, operational, customer service, and financial systems, procedures and controls and expand, train, and manage our growing employee base. We also will be required to expand our finance, administrative, technical, and operations staff. There can be no assurance that our current and planned personnel, systems, procedures, and controls will be adequate to support our anticipated growth, that management will be able to hire, train, retain, motivate, and manage required personnel or that our management will be able to successfully identify, manage and exploit existing and potential market opportunities. If we are unable to manage growth effectively, our business could be harmed.

The strategic relationships that we may be able to develop and on which we may come to rely may not be successful. We will seek to develop strategic relationships with advertising, media, technology, and other companies to enhance the efforts of our market penetration, business development, and advertising sales revenues. These relationships are expected to, but may not, succeed. There can be no assurance that these relationships will develop and mature, or that potential competitors will not develop more substantial relationships with attractive partners. Our inability to successfully implement our strategy of building valuable strategic relationships could harm our business.

We rely heavily on our ability to collect and disclose data and metrics in order to attract new advertisers and retain existing advertisers. Any restriction, whether by law, regulation, policy, or other reason, on our ability to collect and disclose data that our advertisers find useful would impede our ability to attract and retain advertisers. Our advertising revenue could be seriously harmed by many other factors, including:

The occurrence of any of these or other factors could result in a reduction in demand for advertisements, which may reduce the prices we receive for our advertisements or cause advertisers to stop advertising with us altogether, either of which would negatively affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

The sales and payment cycle for online advertising is long, and such sales which have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, may not occur when anticipated or at all. The decision process is typically lengthy for brand advertisers and sponsors to commit to online campaigns. Some of their budgets are planned a full year in advance. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the amount and pricing of advertising throughout the media industry and it is uncertain when and to what extent advertisers will return to more normal spending levels. The decision process for such purchases, even in normal business situations, is subject to delays and aspects that are beyond our control. In addition, some advertisers and sponsors take months after the campaign runs to pay, and some may not pay at all, or require partial “make-goods” based on performance.

We are dependent on the continued services and on the performance of our key executive officers, management team, and other key personnel, the loss of which could adversely affect our business. Our future success largely depends upon the continued services of our key executive officers, management team, and other key personnel. The loss of the services of any of such key personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition. We depend on the continued services of our key personnel as they work closely with both our employees and our ChannelPublisher Partners. Such key personnel are also responsible for our day-to-day operations. Although we have employment agreements with some of our key personnel, these are at-will employment agreements, albeit with non-competition and confidentiality provisions and other rights typically associated with employment agreements. We do not believe that any of our executive officers are planning to leave or retire in the near term; however, we cannot assure that our executive officers or members of our management team will remain with us. We also depend on our ability to identify, attract, hire, train, retain, and motivate other highly skilled technical, managerial, sales, operational, business development, and customer service personnel. Competition for such personnel is intense, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully attract, assimilate, or retain sufficiently qualified personnel. The loss or limitation of the services of any of our executive officers, members of our management team, or key personnel, including our regional and country managers, or the inability to attract and retain additional qualified key personnel, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.

We are dependent on the continued services and on the performance of key third party content contributors, the loss of which could adversely affect our business. We rely on content contributed by third party providers, which has in turn attracted users that drive advertising and subscription revenue. The loss of the services of any of such key contributors could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition. Although we have service agreements with some of our key contributors, many are short term in nature or have cancelation clauses in the agreements. We also depend on our ability to identify, attract, and retain, other highly skilled third-party content contributors. Competition for such contributors is intense, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully attract, assimilate, or retain them. The loss or limitation of the services of any of our key third party contributors, or the inability to attract and retain additional qualified key contributors, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.

Our revenues could decrease if the Maven Platform does not continue to operate as intended. The Maven Platform performs complex functions and is vulnerable to undetected errors or unforeseen defects that could result in a failure to operate or inefficiency. There can be no assurance that errors and defects will not be found in current or new products or, if discovered, that we will be able to successfully correct them in a timely manner or at all. The occurrence of errors and defects could result in loss of or delay in revenue, loss of market share, increased development costs, diversion of development resources and injury to our reputation or damage to our efforts to expand brand awareness.

Interruptions or performance problems associated with our technology and infrastructure may adversely affect our business and operating results. Our growth will depend in part on the ability of our users and ChannelPublisher Partners to access the Maven Platform at any time and within an acceptable amount of time. We believe that the Maven Platform is proprietary and we rely on the expertise of members of our engineering, operations, and software development teams for their continued performance. It is possible that the Maven Platform may experience performance problems due to a variety of factors, including infrastructure changes, introductions of new functionality, human or software errors, capacity constraints due to an overwhelming number of users accessing the Maven Platform software simultaneously, denial of service attacks, or other security related incidents. We may not be able to identify the cause or causes of any performance problems within an acceptable period of time. It may be that it will be difficult to maintain and/or improve our performance, especially during peak usage times and as the Maven Platform becomes more complex and our user traffic increases. If the Maven Platform software is unavailable or if our users are unable to access it within a reasonable amount of time or at all, our business would be negatively affected. Therefore, in the event of any of the factors described above, or certain other failures of our infrastructure, partner or user data may be permanently lost. Moreover, the PartnershipPartner Agreements with our ChannelPublisher Partners include service level standards that obligate us to provide credits or termination rights in the event of a significant disruption in the Maven Platform. To the extent that we do not effectively address capacity constraints, upgrade our systems as needed, and continually develop our technology and network architecture to accommodate actual and anticipated changes in technology, our business and operating results may be adversely affected.

We operate our exclusive coalition of professional-managed online media channels on third party cloud platforms and data center hosting facilities. We will rely on software and services licensed from, and cloud platforms provided by, third parties in order to offer our digital media services. Any errors or defects in third-party software or cloud platforms could result in errors in, or a failure of, our digital media services, which could harm our business. Any damage to, or failure of, these third-party systems generally could result in interruptions in the availability of our digital media services. As a result of this third-party reliance, we may experience the aforementioned issues, which could cause us to render credits or pay penalties, could cause our ChannelPublisher Partners to terminate their contractual arrangements with us, and could adversely affect our ability to grow our audience of unique visitors, all of which could reduce our ability to generate revenue. Our business would also be harmed if our users and potential users believe our product and services offerings are unreliable. In the event of damage to, or failure of, these third-party systems, we would need to identify alternative channels for the offering of our digital media services, which would consume substantial resources and may not be effective. We are also subject to certain standard terms and conditions with Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud related to data storage purposes. These providers have broad discretion to change their terms of service and other policies with respect to us, and those changes may be unfavorable to us. Therefore, we believe that maintaining successful partnerships with Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and other third-party suppliers is critical to our success.

Real or perceived errors, failures, or bugs in the Maven Platform could adversely affect our operating results and growth prospects. Because the Maven Platform is complex, undetected errors, failures, vulnerabilities, or bugs may occur, especially when updates are deployed. Despite testing by us, errors, failures, vulnerabilities, or bugs may not be found in the Maven Platform until after they are deployed to our customers. We expect from time to time to discover software errors, failures, vulnerabilities, and bugs in the Maven Platform and anticipate that certain of these errors, failures, vulnerabilities, and bugs will only be discovered and remediated after deployment to our ChannelPublisher Partners and used by subscribers. Real or perceived errors, failures, or bugs in our software could result in negative publicity, loss of or delay in market acceptance of the Maven Platform, loss of competitive position, or claims by our ChannelPublisher Partners or subscribers for losses sustained by them. In such an event, we may be required, or may choose, for customer relations or other reasons, to expend additional resources in order to help correct the problem.

Malware, viruses, hacking attacks, and improper or illegal use of the Maven Platform could harm our business and results of operations. Malware, viruses, and hacking attacks have become more prevalent in our industry and may occur on our systems in the future. Any security breach caused by hacking, which involves efforts to gain unauthorized access to information or systems, or to cause intentional malfunctions or loss or corruption of data, software, hardware, or other computer equipment, and the inadvertent transmission of computer viruses could harm our business, financial condition and operating results. Any failure to detect such attack and maintain performance, reliability, security and availability of products and technical infrastructure to the satisfaction of our users may also seriously harm our reputation and our ability to retain existing users and attract new users.

Our information technology systems are susceptible to a growing and evolving threat of cybersecurity risk. Any substantial compromise of our data security, whether externally or internally, or misuse of agent, customer, or employee data, could cause considerable damage to our reputation, cause the public disclosure of confidential information, and result in lost sales, significant costs, and litigation, which would negatively affect our financial position and results of operations. Although we maintain policies and processes surrounding the protection of sensitive data, which we believe to be adequate, there can be no assurances that we will not be subject to such claims in the future.

If we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights, our business could suffer. Our success significantly depends on our proprietary technology. We rely on a combination of copyright, trademark and trade secret laws, employee and third-party non-disclosure and invention assignment agreements and other methods to protect our proprietary technology. However, these only afford limited protection, and unauthorized parties may attempt to copy aspects of the Maven Platform’s features and functionality, or to use information that we consider proprietary or confidential. There can be no assurance that the Maven Platform will be protectable by patents, but if they are, any efforts to obtain patent protection that is not successful may harm our business in that others will be able to use our technologies. For example, previous disclosures or activities unknown at present may be uncovered in the future and adversely impact any patent rights that we may obtain. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States. There can be no assurance that the steps taken by us to protect our proprietary rights will be adequate or that third parties will not infringe or misappropriate our trademarks, copyrights, and similar proprietary rights. If we resort to legal proceedings to enforce our Intellectual Propertyintellectual property rights, those proceedings could be expensive and time-consuming and could distract our management from our business operations. Our business, profitability and growth prospects could be adversely affected if we fail to receive adequate protection of our proprietary rights.

If we are not able to maintain our “Maven” brand, or further develop widespread awareness of the Maven brand, our ability to expand our customer base may be impaired and our business may suffer. We believe that establishing and maintaining the “Maven” brand name and any related trade and service marks in a cost-effective manner will be important to our success and crucial in gaining new users and new Channel Partners and publishers. The importance of brand recognition may increase as a result of established and new competitors offering service and products similar to ours. To the extent we are able, we intend to increase our marketing and branding expenditures in an effort to increase awareness of the “Maven” brand. If our brand-building strategy is unsuccessful, these expenses may never be recovered, and our business could be harmed.

In addition, our brand can be harmed if our users, Channel Partners and publishers have a negative experience using the Maven Platform. Maintaining and enhancing our brand may require us to make substantial investments and these investments may not be successful. We may also fail to adequately support the needs of our users or customer, which could erode confidence in our brands. If we fail to successfully promote and maintain our Maven brand, or if we incurred excessive expenses in this effort, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be adversely affected and we may fail to achieve the widespread brand awareness that is critical for broad user adoption of our Maven community.

We could be required to cease certain activities and/or incur substantial costs as a result of any claim of infringement of another party’s intellectual property rights. Some of our competitors, and other third parties, may own technology patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and website content, which they may use to assert claims against us. We cannot assure you that we will not become subject to claims that we have misappropriated or misused other parties’ intellectual property rights. Any claim or litigation alleging that we have infringed or otherwise violated intellectual property or other rights of third parties, with or without merit, and whether or not settled out of court or determined in our favor, could be time-consuming and costly to address and resolve, and could divert the time and attention of our management and technical personnel.

The results of any intellectual property litigation to which we might become a party may require us to do one or more of the following:

If we are required to make substantial payments or undertake any of the other actions noted above as a result of any intellectual property infringement claims against us, such payments or costs could have a material adverse effect upon our business and financial results.

We are subject to a variety of laws and regulations in the United States and abroad that involve matters central to our business, including privacy, data protection, and personal information, rights of publicity, content, intellectual property, advertising, marketing, distribution, data security, data retention and deletion, personal information, electronic contracts and other communications, competition, protection of minors, consumer protection, telecommunications, employee classification, product liability, taxation, economic or other trade prohibitions or sanctions, securities law compliance, and online payment services. The introduction of new products, expansion of our activities in certain jurisdictions, or other actions that we may take may subject us to additional laws, regulations, monetary penalties or other government scrutiny. In addition, foreign data protection, privacy, competition, and other laws and regulations can impose different obligations or be more restrictive than those in the United States. Many of these laws and regulations are still evolving and could be interpreted or applied in ways that could limit or harm our business, require us to make certain fundamental and potentially detrimental changes to the products and services we offer, or subject us to claims. For example, laws relating to the liability of providers of online services for activities of their users and other third-parties are currently being tested by a number of claims, including actions based on invasion of privacy and other torts, unfair competition, copyright, and trademark infringement, and other theories based on the nature and content of the materials searched, the ads posted, or the content provided by users. In addition, there have been calls by members of Congress, from both parties, to limit the scope of the current immunities and safe harbors afforded online publishers with regard to user content and communications under the federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the federal Communications Decency Act. Any material reduction of those protections would make us more vulnerable to third party claims arising out of user content published by our online services.

These United States federal and state and foreign laws and regulations, which in some cases can be enforced by private parties in addition to government entities, are constantly evolving and can be subject to significant change, which could adversely affect our business. As a result, the application, interpretation, and enforcement of these laws and regulations are often uncertain, particularly in the new and rapidly evolving industry in which we operate and may be interpreted and applied inconsistently from country to country and inconsistently with our current policies and practices. Any change in legislation and regulations could affect our business. For example, regulatory or legislative actions affecting the manner in which we display content to our users or obtain consent to various practices could adversely affect user growth and engagement. Such actions could affect the manner in which we provide our services or adversely affect our financial results.

Furthermore, significant penalties could be imposed on us for failure to comply with various statutes or regulations. Violations may result from:

While we prioritize ensuring that our business and compensation model are compliant, and that any product or income related claims are truthful and non-deceptive, we cannot be certain that the FTC or similar regulatory body in another country will not modify or otherwise amend its guidance, laws, or regulations or interpret in a way that would render our current practices inconsistent with the same.

Our services involve the storage and transmission of digital information; therefore, cybersecurity incidents, including those caused by unintentional errors and those intentionally caused by third parties, may expose us to a risk of loss, unauthorized disclosure or other misuse of this information, litigation liability and regulatory exposure, reputational harm and increased security costs. We and our third-party service providers experience cyber-attacks of varying degrees on a regular basis. We expect to incur significant costs in ongoing efforts to detect and prevent cybersecurity-related incidents and these costs may increase in the event of an actual or perceived data breach or other cybersecurity incident. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased opportunities for cyber-criminals and the risk of potential cybersecurity incidents, as more companies and individuals work online. We cannot ensure that our efforts to prevent cybersecurity incidents will succeed. An actual or perceived breach of our cybersecurity could impact the market perception of the effectiveness of our cybersecurity controls. If our users or business partners, including our ChannelPublisher Partners, are harmed by such an incident, they could lose trust and confidence in us, decrease their use of our services or stop using them in entirely. We could also incur significant legal and financial exposure, including legal claims, higher transaction fees and regulatory fines and penalties, which in turn could have a material and adverse effect on our business, reputation and operating results. While our insurance policies include liability coverage for certain of these types of matters, a significant cybersecurity incident could subject us to liability or other damages that exceed our insurance coverage.

Prior employers of our employees may assert violations of past employment arrangements. Our employees are highly experienced, having worked in our industry for many years. Prior employers may try to assert that our employees are breaching restrictive covenants and other limitations imposed by past employment arrangements. We believe that all of our employees are free to work for us in their various capacities and have not breached past employment arrangements. Notwithstanding our care in our employment practices, a prior employer may assert a claim. Such claims will be costly to contest, highly disruptive to our work environment, and may be detrimental to our operations.

Our products may require availability of components or known technology from third parties and their non-availability can impede our growth.We license/buy certain technology integral to our products from third parties, including open-source and commercially available software. Our inability to acquire and maintain any third-party product licenses or integrate the related third-party products into our products in compliance with license arrangements, could result in delays in product development until equivalent products can be identified, licensed, and integrated. We also expect to require new licenses in the future as our business grows and technology evolves. We cannot provide assurance that these licenses will continue to be available to us on commercially reasonable terms, if at all.

Government regulations may increase our costs of doing business. The adoption or modification of laws or regulations relating to online media, communities, commerce, security and privacy could harm our business, operating results and financial condition by increasing our costs and administrative burdens. It may take years to determine whether and how existing laws such as those governing intellectual property, privacy, security, libel, consumer protection, and taxation apply. Laws and regulations directly applicable to Internet activities are becoming more diverse and prevalent in all global markets. We must comply with regulations in the United States, as well as any other regulations adopted by other countries where we may do business. The growth and development of Internet content, commerce and communities may prompt calls for more stringent consumer protection laws, privacy laws and data protection laws, both in the United States and abroad, as well as new laws governing the taxation of these activities. Compliance with any newly adopted laws may prove difficult for us and may harm our business, operating results, and financial condition.

We may face lawsuits or incur liabilities in the future in connection with our businesses.In the future, we may face lawsuits or incur liabilities in connection with our businesses. For example, we could face claims relating to information that is published or made available on the Maven Platform. In particular, the nature of our business exposes us to claims related to defamation, intellectual property rights and rights of publicity and privacy. We might not be able to monitor or edit a significant portion of the content that appears on the Maven Platform. This risk is enhanced in certain jurisdictions outside the United States where our protection from liability for third-party actions may be unclear and where we may be less protected under local laws than we are in the United States. We could also face fines or orders restricting or blocking our services in particular geographies as a result of content hosted on our services. If any of these events occur, our business could be seriously harmed.

Our ability to utilize our net operating loss carryforwards may be limited. As of December 31, 2021, we had federal net operating loss carryforwards, or NOLs, due to prior period losses of approximately $155.9 million, and the NOLs could expire before we generate sufficient taxable income to make use of our NOLs. Subject to certain limitations, NOLs can be used to offset taxable income for U.S. federal income tax purposes. However, Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, may limit the NOLs we may use in any year for U.S. federal income tax purposes in the event of certain changes in ownership of our Company. If an “ownership change” occurs, Section 382 would impose an annual limit on the amount of pre-ownership change NOLs and other tax attributes we can use to reduce our taxable income, potentially increasing and accelerating our liability for income taxes, and also potentially causing those tax attributes to expire unused. In addition, our ability to use our net operating losses is dependent on our ability to generate taxable income, and the net operating losses could expire before we generate sufficient taxable income to make use of our net operating losses.

A significant portion of our revenues are derived from a single customer. If we were to lose this customer, our revenues could decrease significantly.  In fiscal 2021, we had revenues from one customer that comprised approximately 11.3% of our annual revenue. Therefore, we are highly dependent on a single customer to generate a material percentage of our annual revenue. The loss of this customer, or a significant reduction in sales to such customer, could adversely affect our financial condition and operating results. We attempt to diversify our business in order to minimize any revenue concentration risk.

RISKS RELATED TO AN INVESTMENT IN OUR SECURITIES

ThereWe may have contingent liability arising out of a possible violation of the Securities Act, in connection with a PowerPoint we furnished as Exhibit 99.2 to our Current Report on Form 8-K, and the Current Report on Form 8-K/A, filed with the SEC on January 31, 2022, and February 1, 2022, respectively (the “Original PowerPoint”). On January 31, 2022, and February 1, 2022, we furnished, as Exhibit 99.2 to a Current Report on Form 8-K, and a Form 8-K/A, respectively, a copy of the Original PowerPoint. The furnishing of the Original PowerPoint publicly may have constituted the communication of an “offer to sell” as described in Section 5(b)(1) of the Securities Act and the Original PowerPoint may be no liquid marketdeemed to be a prospectus that does not meet the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act, resulting in a potential violation of Section 5(b)(1) of the Securities Act.

If the Original PowerPoint is proven to be a violation of Section 5 of the Securities Act because it is deemed to be a prospectus that does not meet the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act, we could have a contingent liability arising out of such violation. Any liability would depend upon the number of shares purchased by the “recipients” of the Original PowerPoint that may have constituted a violation of Section 5 of the Securities Act. If a claim were brought by any such recipients of the Original PowerPoint and a court were to conclude that the public dissemination of such Original PowerPoint constituted a violation of Section 5 of the Securities Act, we could be required to repurchase the shares sold to investors who reviewed such Original PowerPoint, at the original purchase price, plus statutory interest from the date of purchase, for claims brought during a period of one year from the date of their purchase of our common stock. We provide no assurancescould also incur considerable expense in contesting any such claims. Further, if our use of any kindthe Original PowerPoint is deemed to be a violation of Section 5 of the Securities Act, the Commission or nature whatsoever that an active marketrelevant state regulators could impose monetary fines or other sanctions under relevant federal and state securities laws. Such payments, expenses and fines, if required, could significantly reduce the amount of working capital we have available for our common stockoperations and business plan, delay or prevent us from completing our plan of operations, or force us to raise additional funding, which funding may not be available on favorable terms, if at all. Additionally, the value of our securities will ever develop. There has been no sustained activitylikely decline in value in the market for our common stock. Investors should understand that there may be no alternative exit strategy for themevent we are deemed to recoverhave liability, or liquidate their investmentsare required to make payments, pay expenses or face sanctions in our common stock. Accordingly, investors must be prepared to bearconnection with the entire economic risk of an investment in us for an indefinite period of time. Even if an active trading market develops over time, we cannot predict how liquid that market might become. Our common stock is quoted on the OTC Markets Group, Inc.’s (the “OTCM”) Pink Open Market (the “OTC Pink”). Trading in stock quoted on over-the-counter markets is often thin and characterized by wide fluctuations in trading prices, due to many factors that may have little to do with our operations or business prospects. The trading price of our common stock is likely to be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations in price in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. These factors include:potential claim described above.

We are subject to the reporting requirements of the United States securities laws, which will require expenditure of capital and other resources, and may divert management’s attention. We are a public reporting company subject to the information and reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“Sarbanes”),Sarbanes and other applicable securities rules and regulations. Complying with these rules and regulations have caused us and will continue to cause us to incur additional legal and financial compliance costs, make some activities more difficult, be time-consuming or costly, and continue to increase demand on our systems and resources. The Exchange Act requires, among other things, that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and operating results. We are not current on our SEC filings and the cost of completing historical filings in addition to maintaining current financial reporting has been, and will continue to be, a financial burden for us. If we fail to or are unable to comply with Sarbanes, we will not be able to obtain independent accountant certifications that Sarbanes requires publicly traded companies to obtain. Further, by complying with public disclosure requirements, our business and financial condition are more visible, which we believe may result in the likelihood of increased threatened or actual litigation, including by competitors and other third parties. Compliance with these additional requirements may also divert management’s attention from operating our business. Any of these may adversely affect our operating results.

We may not be able to attract the attention of major brokerage firms or securities analysts in our efforts to raise capital.There In due course, we plan to seek to have our common stock quoted on a national securities exchange in the United States. There can beis no assurance that we will be able to garner a quote formaintain compliance with the NYSE American’s continued listing standards. Our common stock is listed on NYSE American. There is no assurance that we will be able to maintain our listing. In order to maintain such listing, we must satisfy minimum financial and other continued listing standards, including those regarding director independence and independent committee requirements, minimum stockholders’ equity, minimum share price, and certain corporate governance requirements. There can be no assurances that we will be able to comply with such applicable continued listing standards. Failure to remain in compliance may occur due to our acts or omissions, as well as due to circumstances or events that are not within our control. Our failure to meet the NYSE American’s continue listing requirements may result in our common stock onbeing delisted from the NYSE American, or another national securities exchange.

The Reverse Stock Split may decrease the liquidity of the shares of our common stock. The liquidity of the shares of our common stock may be affected adversely by the Reverse Stock Split given the reduced number of shares that are outstanding following the Reverse Stock Split. In addition, the Reverse Stock Split may increase the number of stockholders who own odd lots (less than 100 shares) of our common stock, creating the potential for such stockholders to experience an exchange. Even ifincrease in the cost of selling their shares and greater difficulty effecting such sales.

Our Board is authorized to issue additional shares of our common stock that would dilute existing stockholders. Our Board has the power to issue any or all authorized but unissued shares of our common stock at any price and, in respect of our Preferred Stock (defined below), at any price and with any attributes our Board considers sufficient, without stockholder approval. The issuance of additional shares of our common stock in the future will reduce the proportionate ownership and voting power of current stockholders and may negatively impact the market price of our common stock. We are authorized to issue up to 1,000,000,000 shares of our common stock and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share (our “Preferred Stock”) of which 17,417,490 shares of our common stock and 15,234 shares of our Preferred Stock, consisting of 15,066 shares of Series H convertible preferred stock (“Series H Preferred Stock”) and approximately 168 shares of Series G convertible preferred stock (“Series G Preferred Stock”) are issued and outstanding as of March 21, 2022. The number of shares of our common stock issued and outstanding as of March 21, 2022 excludes 5,572,077 shares of our common stock issuable upon exercise of outstanding option awards, 1,870,868 shares of our common stock either (i) that are vested and to be issued or (ii) issuable upon vesting of restricted stock units, 1,148,251 shares of our common stock issuable upon exercise of outstanding warrants, 2,075,200 shares of our common stock issuable upon conversion of Series H Preferred Stock, 8,582 shares of our common stock issuable upon conversion of Series G Preferred Stock, 151,714 shares of our common stock reserved for issuance under the 2016 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2016 Plan”), 1,281,948 shares of our common stock reserved for issuance under the 2019 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2019 Plan”), and 49,134 shares of our common stock held in reserve to be issued pursuant to completion of documentation related to transactions from 2018. We expect to seek additional financing in order to provide working capital to our business in the future.

We may issue additional securities with rights superior to those of our common stock, which could materially limit the ownership rights of our stockholders. We may offer additional debt or equity securities in private or public offerings in order to raise working capital or to refinance our debt. Our Board has the right to determine the terms and rights of any debt securities and Preferred Stock without obtaining the approval of our stockholders. It is possible that any debt securities or Preferred Stock that we are successfulsell would have terms and rights superior to those of our common stock and may be convertible into shares of our common stock. Any sale of securities could adversely affect the interests or voting rights of the holders of our common stock, result in doing so, security analystssubstantial dilution to existing stockholders, or adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

The elimination of monetary liability against our directors, officers, and major brokerage housesemployees under Delaware law and the existence of indemnification rights for our obligations to our directors, officers, and employees may not provide coverageresult in substantial expenditures by us and may discourage lawsuits against our directors, officers, and employees. Our Amended and Restated Certificate of us.Incorporation, as amended (our “Certificate of Incorporation”), and our Second Amended and Restated Bylaws (our “Bylaws”) contain provisions permitting us to eliminate the personal liability of our directors and officers to us and our stockholders for damages for the breach of a fiduciary duty as a director or officer to the extent provided by Delaware law. We may also nothave contractual indemnification obligations under any future employment agreements with our officers. The foregoing indemnification obligations could result in us incurring substantial expenditures to cover the cost of settlement or damage awards against directors and officers, which we may be ableunable to attract any brokerage houses to conduct secondary offerings with respect torecoup. These provisions and the resulting costs may also discourage us from bringing a lawsuit against directors and officers for breaches of their fiduciary duties, and may similarly discourage the filing of derivative litigation by our securities.stockholders against our directors and officers even through such actions, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders.

Because we are subjecta “smaller reporting company,” we will not be required to comply with certain disclosure requirements that are applicable to other public companies and we cannot be certain if the “penny stock” rules and regulations,reduced disclosure requirements applicable to smaller reporting companies will make our common stock less attractive to investors. We are a “smaller reporting company,” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. As a smaller reporting company, we are eligible for exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies that are not smaller reporting companies, including, but not limited to:

We will remain a smaller reporting company until the levelend of trading activitythe fiscal year in our stockwhich (1) we have a public common equity float of more than $250 million, or (2) we have annual revenues for the most recently completed fiscal year of more than $100 million plus we have any public common equity float or public float of more than $700 million. We also would not be eligible for status as smaller reporting company if we become an investment company, an asset-backed issuer, or a majority-owned subsidiary of a parent company that is limited, andnot a smaller reporting company.

Sales by our stockholders may have difficulties selling their shares. SEC regulations define penny stocks to be any non-exchange equity security that hasof a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market could adversely affect the market price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exemptions. The regulationsour common stock. A substantial portion of the SEC promulgated under the Exchange Act require additional disclosure relating tototal outstanding shares of our common stock may be sold into the market for penny stocks in connection with trades inat any stock defined astime. Some of these shares are owned by our executive officers and directors, and we believe that such holders have no current intention to sell a pennysignificant number of shares of our stock. Unless an exception is available, those regulations require the broker-dealer to deliver, prior to any transaction involving a penny stock, a standardized risk disclosure schedule prepared by the SEC, to provide the customer with current bid and offer quotations for the penny stock, the compensationIf all of the broker-dealer and its salesperson in the transaction, monthly account statements showingmajor stockholders were to decide to sell large amounts of stock over a short period of time, such sales could cause the market valueprice of each pennyour common stock heldto drop significantly, even if our businesses were doing well.

Provisions in our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws and Delaware law may discourage a takeover attempt even if a takeover might be beneficial to our stockholders. Provisions contained in our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us. Provisions in our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws impose various procedural and other requirements, which could make it more difficult for stockholders to effect certain corporate actions. For example, our Certificate of Incorporation authorizes our Board to determine the purchaser’s account, to make a special written determinationrights, preferences, privileges, and restrictions of unissued series of our Preferred Stock without any vote or action by our stockholders. Thus, our Board can authorize and issue shares of our Preferred Stock with voting or conversion rights that could dilute the penny stock is a suitable investment for the purchaser and receive the purchaser’s written agreement to the transaction.voting power of holders of other series of our capital stock. These disclosure requirementsrights may have the effect of reducingdelaying or deterring a change of control of us. Additionally, our Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws establish limitations on the levelremoval of trading activity, if any,directors and include advance notice requirements for nominations for election to our Board and for proposing matters that can be acted upon at stockholder meetings.

Moreover, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”), which prohibits an “interested stockholder” owning in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock from merging or combining with us for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which such stockholder acquired in excess of 15% of our outstanding voting stock, unless the merger or combination is approved in a prescribed manner. These provisions could limit the price that certain investors might be willing to pay in the secondary marketfuture for a stock that becomes subject to the penny stock rules. Consequently, these penny stock rules may affect the ability of broker-dealers to trade our securities. We believe that the penny stock rules discourage market investor interest in and limit the marketabilityshares of our common stock. There can

The terms of our Rights Agreement, dated May 4, 2021 (the “Rights Agreement”) and Series L Junior Participating Preferred Stock may discourage a takeover attempt even if a takeover might be no assurance thatbeneficial to our stockholders. Features of our Rights Agreement will make it difficult for a party to acquire control of our Company in a transaction not approved by our Board. On May 4, 2021, we adopted a Rights Agreement, which provided for a dividend distribution of a right to purchase from us one-thousandth of a share of our Series L Junior Participating Preferred Stock for: (i) each outstanding share of our common stock will qualify for exemption from the penny stock rules. In any event, even ifand (ii) each share of our common stock were exempt fromissuable upon conversion of each share of our Series H Preferred Stock. The description of such rights is set forth in the penny stock rules, we would remainRights Agreement, between America Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC, as Rights Agent, and us. The Rights Agreement is set to expire on May 3, 2022; however, our Board elected to extend the termination date, which extension is subject to ratification by our stockholders. This Rights Agreement could limit the price that certain investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock.

Claims for indemnification by our directors and officers may reduce our available funds to satisfy successful third-party claims against us and may reduce the amount of money available to us. Our Certificate of Incorporation provides that we will indemnify our directors and officers, in each case to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law. In addition, Section 15(b)(6)145 of the Exchange Act, which gives the SEC the authority to restrict any person from participating in a distributionDGCL or our Certificate of penny stock, if the SEC finds that such a restriction would be in the public interest.Incorporation provides that:

In addition to the “penny stock” rules promulgated by the SEC, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) has adopted rules that require that in recommending an investment to a customer, a broker-dealer must have reasonable grounds for believing that the investment is suitable for that customer. Prior to recommending speculative low-priced securities to their non-institutional customers, broker-dealers must make reasonable efforts to obtain information about the customer’s financial status, tax status, investment objectives, and other information. Under interpretations of these rules, FINRA believes that there is a high probability that speculative low-priced securities will not be suitable for at least some customers. FINRA requirements make it more difficult for broker-dealers to recommend that their customers buy our common stock, which may limit your ability to buy and sell our stock.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

Not Applicable.

Item 2. Properties

On February 22, 2017,During fiscal 2021, we entered into an agreement (the “Western Sublease”)begun to sublease approximately 2,900 square feet forre-evaluate our executive offices and operational facilities, located at 2125 Western Avenue, Suite 502, Seattle, Washington 98101, at a rate of $6,180 per month through August 31, 2017. On August 30, 2017, we and the lessor amended the Western Sublease to extend the term through January 31, 2018property leases and, to provide us with an optionthe extent feasible and in our best interests, either surrendered leased properties to extend the termlandlord prior to the expiration of such leases, subleased the property, or decided to not renew certain leases. As of the Western Sublease through April 30, 2018. We exercised this option and, ultimately, occupied these offices through May 2018.

On April 25, 2018,end of fiscal 2021, we entered into an office sublease agreement (the “1500 Fourth Ave Sublease”) to sublease a portion of the “master premises” consisting of 7,457 rentable square feet of office space for our then-executive offices at 1500 Fourth Avenue, Suite 200, Seattle, Washington 98101. The 1500 Fourth Ave Sublease commenced on June 1, 2018 with an expiration date of October 31, 2021. The amount of monthly rent payable per square foot under the 1500 Fourth Ave Sublease was $25.95 for the first year, $35.00 for the second year, $36.00 for the third year, and $37.00 for the remainder of the term. On March 1, 2020, we assumed the entire lease for the remaining term of 20 months.

On September 19, 2018, we entered into a membership agreement with WeWork for office space located at 995 Market Street, San Francisco, California. The agreement commenced on October 1, 2018. We paid approximately $17,400 per month, which included certain conference room credits and printer credits. We also paid a service retainer in the amount of $26,100. We terminated our membership agreement effective October 31, 2020.

On December 12, 2018, as part of our acquisition of Say Media, we assumed the office lease (the “Portland Lease”) of 10,000 rentable square feet at 424 SW Fourth Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204. The Portland Lease began on July 1, 2015, and expired June 30, 2020. Monthly lease payments increased from $18,750 in July 2015 to $27,500 in June 2020.

On August 7, 2019, as part of its acquisition of TheStreet, we assumed the office lease of approximately 35,000 rentable square feet at 14 Wall Street, 15th Floor, New York, New York 10005. The lease had a remaining term of 16 months, expiring on December 31, 2020. Monthly lease payments from January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2020 were $150,396. On October 30, 2020, we entered into a surrender agreement (the “Surrender Agreement”)did not have any leases pursuant to which we effectively surrenderedoccupied a physical property. Instead, we intend to encourage our work force to work remotely, provided, that it continues to be feasible to do so in the property backfuture. To the extent we need to lease physical properties in the owner and landlord. Pursuant to the Surrender Agreement,future, we agreed to pay $68,868 per month from January 2020 through June 1, 2021 to satisfy the total outstanding balance of $1,239,626 owed to the lessor. The first $500,000 of payments will be drawn from a security deposit, which is held by the lessor. The lessor agreed not to charge any late fees, interest charges, or other penalties relating to the surrender of the property.

Effective October 1, 2019, we entered into an office lease (the “Santa Monica Lease”) of approximately 5,258 rentable square feet at 301 Arizona Avenue, 4th Floor, Santa Monica, California 90401. The Santa Monica Lease has a term of 5 years, expiring on September 30, 2024. The initial monthly rent was $36,806 and increased to $37,910 in October 2020.

Effective October 3, 2019, we entered into a condominium lease (the “Washington Square Lease”) of a multifamily townhome at 26 Washington Square North, New York, New York 10011. The Washington Square Lease had a term of one year, expiring on October 2, 2020, with monthly rent payments of $10,000. This property was used by our executive officers when they were in New York for matters related to our business. We terminated this lease in March 2020 when we entered into the 30 West Lease (as defined below).

On January 14, 2020, we entered into an office sublease agreement (the “Liberty Street Sublease”) of approximately 40,868 rentable square feet at 225 Liberty Street, 27th Floor, New York, New York 10281, with an effective date of February 1, 2020 with lease payments commencing November 1, 2020 and expiring on November 30, 2032. Monthly lease payments from November 1, 2020 through October 31, 2025 are $252,019.

Effective March 1, 2020, we entered into a corporate apartment lease (the “30 West Lease”) at 30 West Street, New York, New York 10004. The 30 West Lease has a term of 18 months, expiring on August 31, 2021, with monthly lease payments of $8,000 through February 2021 and $8,500 from March 2021 through the expiration of the lease.

We believe that the rates we are paying under our property leases are competitive in our various real estate markets, and we would be able to find comparable leasesuitable properties in the event we changed locations.at market rates.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

From time to time, we may be subject to claims and litigation arising in the ordinary course of business. We are not currently subject to any pending or threatened legal proceedings that we believe would reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosure

Not applicable.

Part II.

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

Market Information

As of December 1, 2016,

Our common stock began to be traded on the NYSE American on February 9, 2022 under the symbol “AREN.” Before then, from September 21, 2021 until February 8, 2022, our common stock iswas quoted on the OTCM’s OTC PinkOTCQX trading under the symbol “MVEN.”

The following table sets forth the high and low bid prices during the periods indicated, as reported by the OTCM. Such prices reflect inter-dealer prices, without retail mark-up, mark-down or commission and may not necessarily represent actual transactions. Prices in the table below have been presented to reflect the Reverse Stock Split of our outstanding shares of common stock.

Holders

Holders

As of December 31, 2020,March 21, 2022, there were approximately 200190 holders of record of our common stock. We believe that there are additional holders of our common stock who have their stock in “street name” with their brokers. Currently, we cannot determine the approximate number of those street name holders. As of such date, 175,651,68317,417,490 shares of our common stock were issued and outstanding.

Dividends

We have never paid cash dividends on our common stock, and our present policy is to retain any future earnings to support our operations and finance the growth and development of our business. We do not intend to pay cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future. Any future determination related to our dividend policy will be made at the discretion of our Board.

Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers

On December 15, 2020, we entered into the Fourth Amendment to the Agreement and Plan of Merger with HubPages (the “Fourth Amendment”), pursuant to which we agreed to repurchase from certain key personnel of HubPages, including Paul Edmondson, one of our officers, and his spouse, an aggregate of approximately 2,017 shares of our common stock at a price of $88.00 per share each month for a period of 24 months. The details of these repurchases are as follows:

None.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

Any

During fiscal 2021 (and the subsequent interim period) we have made sales of the unregistered securities described in this section.

Those sales of unregistered securities that were previously disclosed in either Current Reports on Form 8-K or Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q are not included.

Between January 1, 2021 and December 21, 2021, we sold thatgranted stock options exercisable for an aggregate of up to 2,330,818 shares of our common stock to participants under the 2019 Plan as payment for services. The exercise prices per share ranged from $7.92 to $21.34. The issuances were not registered underexempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act duringby virtue of Section 4(a)(2) thereof as a transaction not involving a public offering.

On January 11, 2021, we issued 14,205 shares to Whisper Advisors, LLC as payment for services provided pursuant to that certain Services Agreement dated December 22, 2020. The shares had an aggregate fair market value of approximately $125,000. The issuance was exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act by virtue of Section 4(a)(2) thereof as a transaction not involving a public offering.

Between February 18, 2021 and September 20, 2021, we granted restricted stock units representing 1,677,680 shares of our common stock to participants under the 2019 Plan as payment for services. The fair values per share ranged from $10.34 to $19.80. The issuances were exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act by virtue of Section 4(a)(2) thereof as a transaction not involving a public offering.

On August 17, 2021, we issued 6,888 shares of our common stock upon the conversion of Series H Preferred Stock. The issuance was exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act by virtue of Section 4(a)(2) thereof and Regulation D promulgated thereunder as transactions not involving a public offering.

On August 18, 2021, we issued 34,091 shares of our common stock in connection with a payment owed as additional consideration under an asset purchase agreement. The per share fair value on the issuance date was $14.74, and the aggregate fair value was approximately $500,000. The issuance was exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act by virtue of Section 4(a)(2) thereof as a transaction not involving a public offering.

On October 7, 2021, we issued 8,523 shares of our common stock as restricted stock awards to four directors subject to continued service with us. The one-third of the awards vests over a three-month period from the grant date. The per share fair value on the grant date was $8.80, and the aggregate value was approximately $75,000. The issuance was exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act by virtue of Section 4(a)(2) thereof as a transaction not involving a public offering.

Between November 22, 2021 and December 21, 2021, we issued 617,222 shares of our common stock upon the conversion of Series H Preferred Stock. The issuances were exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act by virtue of Section 4(a)(2) thereof and Regulation D promulgated thereunder as transactions not involving a public offering.

On January 24, 2022, we entered into several Stock Purchase Agreements, pursuant to which we agreed to issue an aggregate of 505,671 shares at a price equal to $13.86 per share, or the volume-weighted average price of our common stock at the close of trading on the sixty (60) previous three years havetrading days, to such stockholders in lieu of an aggregate of approximately $9.87 million owed in liquidated damages, which includes accrued but unpaid interest, for our failure to meet certain covenants in prior Registration Rights Agreements and related Securities Purchase Agreements with such stockholders. We also granted registration rights to these stockholders with respect to the shares of our common stock issued in lieu of these liquidated damages. The issuances were exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act by virtue of Section 4(a)(2) thereof as transactions not involving a public offering.

Between January 1, 2022 and January 26, 2022, we granted stock options exercisable for an aggregate of up to 79,760 shares of our common stock to participants under the 2019 Plan as payment for services. The exercise prices per share ranged from $14.08 to $14.96. The issuances were exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act by virtue of Section 4(a)(2) thereof as a transaction not involving a public offering.

On January 1, 2022, we granted restricted stock units representing 68,182 shares of our common stock to a participant under the 2019 Plan as payment for services. The fair value per share was $14.08, and the aggregate value was approximately $960,000. The issuances were exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act by virtue of Section 4(a)(2) thereof as a transaction not involving a public offering.

On January 12, 2022, we entered into a Stock Issuance Agreement with Borden Media Consulting, LLC, pursuant to which we agreed to issue an aggregate of 1,134 shares for services rendered. The issuance was exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act by virtue of Section 4(a)(2) thereof as transactions not involving a public offering.

On or about January 26, 2022, we agreed to issue 13,483 shares for services rendered pursuant to a Services Agreement with Whisper Advisors, LLC. The issuance was exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act by virtue of Section 4(a)(2) thereof as transactions not involving a public offering.

On March 4, 2022, we issued 155,211 shares of our common stock, upon vesting of previously been included ingranted restricted stock units to a Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or inparticipant under the 2019 Plan as payment for services. The fair value per share was $8.28, and the aggregate value was approximately $1.3 million. Of the shares issued, 67,023 shares were withheld by us to satisfy tax withholding obligations.  The issuance was exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act by virtue of Section 4(a)(2) thereof as a Current Report on Form 8-K.transaction not involving a public offering.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

None.

Item 6. Selected Financial Data[Reserved]

Not applicable to a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of SEC Regulation S-K.

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

The following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2018 should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the notes to those statements that are included elsewhere in this Annual Report. Our discussion includes forward-looking statements based upon current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties, such as our plans, objectives, expectations, and intentions. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors. We use words such as “anticipate”, “estimate”, “plan”, “project”, “continuing”, “ongoing”, “expect”, “believe”, “intend”, “may”, “will”, “should”, “could”,“anticipate,” “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “continuing,” “ongoing,” “expect,” “believe,” “intend,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements.

Please see “Our Future BusinessOverview” and “Future Liquidity” for additional important information.

Overview

We operate a best-in-class technology platform empowering premium publishers who impact, inform, educate, and entertain. We operate the media businesses for Sports Illustrated and TheStreet, and power more than 250 independent brands including History, Maxim, and Biography. The Maven Platform provides digital publishing, distribution, and monetization capabilities to our own Sports Illustrated and TheStreet media businesses as well as to the Channel Partners. Generally, the Channel Partners are independently owned strategic partners who receive a share of revenue from the interaction with their content. They also benefit from our membership marketing and management systems to further enhance their revenue.

Our growth strategy is to continue to expand by adding new premium publishers with high quality brands and content either as independent Channel Partners or by acquiring publishers as owned and operated entities. By adding premium content brands, we will further expand the scaleFor an overview of the Maven Platform, improve monetization effectiveness in both advertising and subscription revenues, and enhanceCompany, see the attractiveness to consumers and advertisers.information above presented under the section labeled “Item 1. Business,” which is a portion of this Annual Report’s “Part I.”

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Cash and Working Capital Facility

As of December 31, 2018,2021, our principal sources of liquidity consisted of cash of $2,406,596, approximately $2.5 million available for borrowing under our factoring facility with Sallyport Commercial Finance, LLC (“Sallyport”), and anticipated additional funding under the 12% senior secured subordinated convertible debenture (referred to herein as the “12% convertible debentures”) financing of approximately $2.1 million, which occurred in March and April 2019. The maximum amount available to us under the factoring facility with Sallyport was $3,500,000.

We continued to be focused on growing our existing operations and seeking accretive and complimentary strategic acquisitions as part of our growth strategy. We believed, that with additional sources of liquidity and the ability to raise additional capital or incur additional indebtedness to supplement our then internal projections, we would be able to execute our growth plan and finance our working capital requirements.

We have financed our working capital requirements since inception through issuances of equity securities and various debt financings. Our working capital$9.3 million. In addition, as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 was as follows:

2021, we had the use of additional proceeds from our working capital facility with FPP Finance LLC (“FastPay”) in the amount of approximately $13.0 million, subject to eligible accounts receivable. As of December 31, 2018, we had a2021, the outstanding balance of the FastPay working capital deficitfacility was approximately $12.0 million. We also had accounts receivable, net of $12,316,305, consistingour advances from FastPay of $9,533,342 in total current assets and $21,849,647 in total current liabilities. Included in current assetsapproximately $9.7 million as of December 31, 2017 was $3,000,000 of restricted cash. The $3,000,000 of restricted2021. Our cash was received prior to December 31, 2017 and was classifiedbalance as restricted cash in the December 31, 2017 balance sheet and then subsequently reclassified to cash in January 2018 upon completion of the private placement of 1.2 million sharesissuance date of our common stock. In addition, the investment was classified as an investor demand payable in the December 31, 2017 balance sheet and then subsequently reclassified to equity in January 2018 upon completion of this private placement.accompanying consolidated financial statements is approximately $23.0 million.

Our cash flows during the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 consisted of the following:

For the year ended December 31, 2018, net cash used in operating activities was $7,417,680, consisting primarily of approximately $7,080,000 for general and administrative expenses.

For the year ended December 31, 2018, net cash used in investing activities was $23,589,027, consisting primarily of $18,035,356 for business acquisitions (which included the acquisition of HubPages where we recognized $6,740,000 for developed technology and $268,000 for the trade name, and the acquisition of Say Media where we recognized $8,010,000 for developed technology, $480,000 for the trade name, and $480,000 for a noncompete agreement), $3,366,031 for promissory notes receivable, and $2,156,015 for our capitalized platform development.

For the year ended December 31, 2018, net cash provided by financing activities was $29,914,747, consisting of (i) $12,315,496 in net proceeds after payment of issuance costs from the issuance of shares of Series H convertible preferred stock (the “Series H Preferred Stock”) (for additional information see below), (ii) $1,250,000 in net proceeds from a private placement of 500,000 shares of our common stock (iii) $16,637,680 in aggregate proceeds, less repayments, from the issuance of 8% promissory notes, 10% convertible debentures, 10% original issue discount senior secured convertible debentures (referred to herein as the “10% OID convertible debentures), and 12% convertible debentures, and (iv) $667,825 in net proceeds from promissory notes issued in favor of certain of our officers, offset by $956,254 in repayments under our factoring facility with Sallyport.

On August 10, 2018, we entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain accredited investors, pursuant to which we issued an aggregate of 19,400 shares of our Series H Preferred Stock at a stated value of $1,000, initially convertible into 58,785,606 shares of our common stock, at the option of the holder subject to certain limitations, at a conversion rate equal to the stated value divided by the conversion price of $0.33 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $19,399,250. Of the shares of Series H Preferred Stock issued, Strome Mezzanine Fund LP (“Strome”) received 3,600 shares, James C. Heckman, our then-Chief Executive Officer, received 1,200 shares, and Joshua Jacobs, our then-President, received 30 shares upon conversion of the 10% OID convertible debentures.

Ouraccompanying consolidated financial statements have been presented on the basis that we are a going concern, which contemplates the realization of assets and satisfaction of liabilities in the normal course of business. We had revenues of $5,700,199approximately $189.1 million during 2018fiscal 2021 and have experienced recurring net losses from operations and negative operating cash flows. Consequently, we were dependent upon continued access to funding and capital resources from both new investors and related parties. If continued funding and capital resources are unavailable at reasonable terms, we may not be able to implement our growth plan and plan of operations. These financings may include terms that may be highly dilutive to existing stockholders.

Future Liquidity

From January 1, 2019We continue to the issuance datebe focused on growing our existing operations and seeking accretive and complementary strategic acquisitions as part of our accompanying consolidated financial statements forgrowth strategy. We believe, that with additional sources of liquidity and the year ended December 31, 2018,ability to raise additional capital or incur additional indebtedness to supplement our internal projections, we continuedwill be able to incur operating lossesexecute our growth plan and negative cash flow from operating and investing activities. We have raised $64.7 million in net proceeds pursuant to the sale and issuances of Series H Preferred Stock, Series I convertible preferred stock (the “Series I Preferred Stock”), Series J convertible preferred stock (the “Series J Preferred Stock”), and Series K convertible preferred stock (the “Series K Preferred Stock”) and $85.9 million in various debt financings. Our cash balance as of January 4, 2021 was approximately $9.4 million. Summarized below are the additional debt financings and/or issued equity securities through the issuance date offinance our consolidated financial statements.

Debt Financings

Includedworking capital requirements both in the $85.9 million of debt financings (see Note 24, Subsequent Events, in the accompanying consolidated financial statements for further details) are the following:short-term and long-term.

12% Convertible Debentures. On March 18, 2019, we entered into a securities purchase agreement with three accredited investors, Strome Mezzanine Fund II, LP (“Strome II”), B. Riley FBR, Inc. (“B. Riley FBR”), and John Fichthorn, our Chairman of our Board, pursuant to which we issued 12% convertible debentures in the aggregate principal amount of $1,696,000. We paid a placement agent fee of $96,000 to B. Riley FBR.

On March 27, 2019, we entered into a securities purchase agreement with two accredited investors, including B. Riley FBR, pursuant to which we issued 12% convertible debentures in the aggregate principal amount of $318,000. We paid a placement agent fee of $18,000 to B. Riley FBR.

On April 8, 2019, we entered into a securities purchase agreement with an accredited investor, Todd D. Sims, a member of our Board, pursuant to which we issued a 12% convertible debenture in the aggregate principal amount of $100,000.

The 12% convertible debentures issued on March 18, 2019, March 27, 2019, and April 8, 2019 are convertible into shares of our common stock at the option of the investor at any time prior to December 31, 2020, at a conversion price of $0.40 per share, subject to adjustment for stock splits, stock dividends, and similar transactions, and beneficial ownership blocker provisions. Until December 18, 2020, the date we filed a Certificate of Amendment to our Restated Certificate of Incorporation, as amended (the “Certificate of Amendment”), to increase the number of authorized shares of our common stock, the holders were unable to fully convert their respective 12% convertible debentures. We granted the holders a security interest pursuant to a security agreement, dated October 18, 2018, to secure the obligations under the 12% convertible debentures. We also entered into a registration rights agreement with the investors, pursuant to which we agreed to register for resale on behalf of the selling stockholders, the shares of our common stock issuable upon conversion of the 12% convertible debentures. On December 31, 2020, noteholders converted the 12% convertible debentures representing an aggregate of $18,104,949 of the then-outstanding principal and accrued but unpaid interest into 53,887,470 shares of our common stock at effective conversion per-share prices ranging from $0.33 to $0.40. Despite the terms of the 12% convertible debentures, the noteholders agreed to allow us to repay accrued but unpaid interest in shares of our common stock. The remaining 12% convertible debentures representing an aggregate of $1,130,903 of outstanding principal and accrued interest were not converted and, instead, such amounts were repaid in cash to the noteholders.

12% Senior Secured Note. On June 10, 2019, we entered into a note purchase agreement with one accredited investor, BRF Finance Co., LLC (“BRF Finance”), an affiliated entity of B. Riley Financial, Inc. (“B. Riley”), pursuant to which we issued to the investor a 12% senior secured note, due July 31, 2019, in the aggregate principal amount of $20,000,000, which after taking into account BRF Finance’s placement fee of $1,000,000 and its legal fees and expenses, resulted in the receipt by us of net proceeds of $18,865,000, of which $16,500,000 was used to fund TheStreet escrow account and the remainder for general corporate purposes. The balance outstanding under the 12% senior secured note was no longer outstanding as of June 14, 2019. Please see the section entitled “Amended and Restated 12% Senior Secured Notes” below.

Amended and Restated 12% Senior Secured Notes. On June 14, 2019, we entered into an amended and restated note purchase agreement with one accredited investor, BRF Finance, an affiliated entity of B. Riley, which amended and restated note purchase agreement, and the 12% senior secured note issued by us thereunder on June 10, 2019. Pursuant to the amended and restated note purchase agreement, we issued an amended and restated 12% senior secured note, due June 14, 2022, in the aggregate principal amount of $68,000,000, which amended, restated, and superseded the $20,000,000 12% senior secured note originally issued by us on June 10, 2019. We received additional gross proceeds of $48,000,000, which after taking into account the placement fee paid to BRF Finance, a registered broker-dealer affiliated with B. Riley, of $2,400,000 and legal fees and expenses of the investor, resulted in us receiving net proceeds of $45,550,000, of which $45,000,000 was used to prepay the Royalties and the remainder for general corporate purposes. We also paid a success fee to B. Riley FBR of $3,400,000.

On August 27, 2019, we entered into a first amendment to the amended and restated note purchase agreement with one accredited investor, BRF Finance, an affiliated entity of B. Riley, which amended the amended and restated 12% senior secured note due June 14, 2022. Pursuant to this first amendment, we received additional gross proceeds of $3,000,000, which after taking into account BRF Finance’s placement fee of $150,000 and its legal fees and expenses, resulted in us receiving net proceeds of $2,832,618.

On October 8, 2019, we issued the third amended and restated 12% senior secured note due June 14, 2022 in connection with a partial paydown of the second amended and restated 12% senior secured note due June 14, 2022. We also issued 5,000 shares of our Series J Preferred Stock to BRF Finance as a partial payment of approximately $4,800,000 of the outstanding balance.

On February 27, 2020, we entered into a second amendment to the amended and restated note purchase agreement dated as of June 14, 2019 with one accredited investor, BRF Finance, an affiliated entity of B. Riley, which further amended the amended and restated 12% senior secured note due June 14, 2022. Pursuant to the second amendment to the amended and restated note purchase agreement, we replaced our previous $3,500,000 working capital facility with Sallyport with a new $15,000,000 working capital facility with FPP Finance LLC (“FastPay”); and (ii) BRF Finance issued a letter of credit in the amount of approximately $3,000,000 to our landlord for our lease of the premises located at 225 Liberty Street, 27th Floor, New York, New York 10281.

The balance outstanding under our amended and restated 12% senior secured notes as of the issuance date of our consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2018 was $56,296,090, which included outstanding principal of $48,838,702, payment of in-kind interest of $7,457,388 that we were permitted to add to the aggregate outstanding principal balance. During October 2019, approximately $4,800,000 of the outstanding balance was converted to Series J Preferred Stock (for further details refer to Amendment 1 under the heading Delayed Draw Term Note).

FastPay Credit Facility. On February 6, 2020, we entered into a financing and security agreement with FastPay, pursuant to which FastPay extended a $15,000,000 line of credit for working capital purposes secured by a first lien on all of our cash and accounts receivable and a second lien on all other assets. Borrowings under the facility bear interest at the LIBOR Rate plus 8.50% and have a final maturity of February 6, 2022. This line of credit was amended by that certain first amendment to financing and security agreement dated March 24, 2020 to permit us to amend and restate the 12% senior secured notes. The aggregate principal amount outstanding, plus accrued and unpaid interest, as of December 31, 2020 was approximately $7,179,000.

Effective January 30, 2020, our factoring facility available with Sallyport was closed and funds were no longer available for advance. As of May 4, 2020, there was no balance outstanding under the facility.

Delayed Draw Term Note. On March 24, 2020, we entered into a second amended and restated note purchase agreement with BRF Finance, an affiliated entity of B. Riley, in its capacity as agent for the purchasers, which further amended and restated the amended and restated note purchase agreement dated June 14, 2019, as amended. Pursuant to the second amended and restated note purchase agreement, we issued a 15% delayed draw term note (the “Term Note”), in the aggregate principal amount of $12,000,000 to the investor. Up to $8,000,000 in principal amount under the Term Note is due on March 31, 2021, with the balance thereunder due on June 14, 2022. Interest on amounts outstanding under the Term Note are payable in kind in arrears on the last day of each fiscal quarter.

On March 25, 2020, we drew down $6,913,865 under the Term Note, and after payment of commitment and funding fees paid to BRF Finance in the amount of $793,109, and other of its legal fees and expenses that we paid, we received net proceeds of approximately $6,000,000. The net proceeds were used by us for working capital and general corporate purposes. Additional borrowings under the note requested by us may be made at the option of the purchasers.

Pursuant to the second amended and restated note purchase agreement, interest on amounts outstanding under the notes previously issued under the amended and restated note purchase agreement with respect to (i) interest payable on the notes previously issued under the amended and restated note purchase agreement on March 31, 2020 and June 30, 2020, and (ii) at our option, with the consent of requisite purchasers, interest payable on the notes previously issued under the amended and restated note purchase agreement on September 30, 2020, in lieu of the payment in cash of all or any portion of the interest due on such dates, will be payable in kind in arrears on the last day of such fiscal quarter.

In connection with entering into the second amended and restated note purchase agreement, we entered into an amendment to our $15 million FastPay working capital facility to permit the additional secured debt that may be incurred under the Term Note.

Pursuant to the second amended and restated note purchase agreement, dated October 23, 2020 (“Amendment 1”), interest payable on the notes on September 30, 2020, December 31, 2020, March 31, 2021, June 30, 2021, September 30, 2021, and December 31, 2021 will be payable in-kind in arrears on the last day of such fiscal quarter. Alternatively, at the option of the holder, such interest amounts can be converted into shares of our common stock at the price we last sold shares of our common stock. In addition, $3,367,090, including $3,295,506 of principal amount of the Term Note and $71,585 of accrued interest, was converted into shares of our Series K Preferred Stock and the maturity date of the Term Note was changed from March 31, 2021 to March 31, 2022. The aggregate principal amount outstanding as of December 31, 2020 was $4,294,228 (including payment of in-kind interest of $675,868, which was added to the outstanding note balance).

Payroll Protection Program Loan. On April 6, 2020, we issued a note in favor of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., pursuant to the recently enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”). We received total proceeds of approximately $5.7 million under the note. In accordance with the requirements of the CARES Act, we will use proceeds from the note primarily for payroll costs. The note is scheduled to mature on April 6, 2022 and has a 0.98% interest rate and is subject to the terms and conditions applicable to loans administered by the SBA under the CARES Act. The balance outstanding as of the issuance of our consolidated financial statements was $5,702,725.

The note may be eligible for forgiveness for the principal amounts that are used for the limited purposes that qualify for forgiveness under SBA requirements. In order to obtain forgiveness, we must request it and must provide documentation in accordance with the SBA requirements and certify that the amounts we are requesting to be forgiven qualify under those requirements. We will remain responsible under the note for any amounts not forgiven, and that interest payable under the note will not be forgiven but that the SBA may pay the note interest on forgiven amounts. Requirements for forgiveness, among other requirements, provide for eligible expenditures, necessary records/documentation, or possible reductions of the forgiven amount due to changes in number of employees or compensation. It is our expectation that 100% of the principal amount of the note will be forgiven.

Equity Securities

Included in the $64.7 million of equity raises (see Note 24, Subsequent Events, in the accompanying consolidated financial statements for further details) are the following:

Series H Preferred Stock. Between August 14, 2020 and August 20, 2020, we entered into several securities purchase agreements for the sale of Series H Preferred Stock with certain accredited investors, pursuant to which we issued an aggregate of 2,253 shares, at a stated value of $1,000 per share, initially convertible into 6,825,000 shares of our common stock at a conversion rate equal to the stated value divided by the conversion price of $0.33 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $2,730,000 for working capital and general corporate purposes. The number of shares issuable upon conversion of the Series H Preferred Stock will be adjusted in the event of stock splits, stock dividends, combinations of shares, and similar transactions. Each share of Series H Preferred Stock is entitled to vote on an as-if-converted to common stock basis, subject to beneficial ownership blocker provisions and other certain conditions. On October 28, 2020, we entered into a mutual rescission agreement with two of the investors, pursuant to which the stock purchase agreements associated with 2,146 shares of Series H Preferred Stock were rescinded and deemed null and void.

Series I Preferred Stock. On June 27, 2019, 25,800 authorized shares of our preferred stock were designated by our Board as Series I Preferred Stock. On June 28, 2019, we closed on a securities purchase agreement with certain accredited investors, pursuant to which we issued an aggregate of 23,100 shares of Series I Preferred Stock at a stated value of $1,000, initially convertible into 46,200,000 shares of our common stock at a conversion rate equal to the stated value divided by the conversion price of $0.50 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $23,100,000 for working capital and general corporate purposes. The number of shares issuable upon conversion of the Series I Preferred Stock will be adjusted in the event of stock splits, stock dividends, combinations of shares and similar transactions. Each share of Series I Preferred Stock is entitled to vote on an as-if-converted to common stock basis, subject to certain conditions.

In consideration for its services as placement agent, we paid B. Riley FBR a cash fee of $1,386,000 plus $52,500 in reimbursement of legal fees and other transaction costs. We used approximately $18,300,000 of the net proceeds from the financing to partially repay the amended and restated 12% senior secured note due June 14, 2022, and to pay deferred fees of approximately $3,400,000 related to that borrowing facility.

On December 18, 2020, in connection with the filing of a Certificate of Amendment to increase the number of authorized shares of our common stock, the then-outstanding shares of Series I Preferred Stock automatically converted into shares of our common stock. Accordingly, we do not have any shares of our Series I Preferred Stock currently outstanding.

Series J Preferred Stock. On October 4, 2019, 35,000 authorized shares of our preferred stock were designated by our Board as Series J Preferred Stock. On October 7, 2019, we closed on a securities purchase agreement with certain accredited investors, pursuant to which we issued an aggregate of 20,000 shares of Series J Preferred Stock at a stated value of $1,000, initially convertible into 28,571,428 shares of our common stock at a conversion rate equal to the stated value divided by the conversion price of $0.70 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $20,000,000 for working capital and general corporate purposes. The number of shares issuable upon conversion of the Series J Preferred Stock will be adjusted in the event of stock splits, stock dividends, combinations of shares, and similar transactions. Each share of Series J Preferred Stock is entitled to vote on an as-if-converted to common stock basis, subject to certain conditions.

On September 4, 2020, we closed on an additional Series J Preferred Stock issuance with two accredited investors, pursuant to which we issued an aggregate of 10,500 shares of Series J Preferred Stock at a stated value of $1,000 per share, initially convertible into 15,000,000 shares of our common stock at a conversion rate equal to the stated value divided by the conversion price of $0.70, for aggregate gross proceeds of $6,000,000 for working capital and general corporate purposes.

On December 18, 2020, in connection with the filing of the Certificate of Amendment to increase the number of authorized shares of our common stock, the then-outstanding shares of Series J Preferred Stock automatically converted into shares of our common stock. Accordingly, we do not have any shares of our Series J Preferred Stock currently outstanding.

Series K Preferred Stock. On October 22, 2020, 20,000 shares of our preferred stock were designated by our Board as Series K Preferred Stock. Between October 23, 2020 and November 11, 2020, we entered into several securities purchase agreements with accredited investors, pursuant to which we issued an aggregate of 18,042 shares of Series K Preferred Stock at a stated value of $1,000 per share, initially convertible into 45,105,000 shares of our common stock at a conversion rate equal to the stated value divided by the conversion price of $0.40 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $18,042,090. The number of shares issuable upon conversion of the Series K Preferred Stock will be adjusted in the event of stock splits, stock dividends, combinations of shares, and similar transactions. Each share of Series K Preferred Stock is entitled to vote on an as-if-converted to common stock basis, subject to other certain conditions.

In consideration for its services as placement agent, we paid B. Riley FBR a cash fee of $400,500. We used an approximately $3,400,000 of the net proceeds from the financing to partially repay the amended and restated 12% secured senior notes due June 14, 2022 and used approximately $2,600,00 for payment on a prior investment, with the remainder of approximately $12,000,000 for working capital and general corporate purposes.

On December 18, 2020, in connection with the filing of the Certificate of Amendment to increase the number of authorized shares of our common stock, the then-outstanding shares of Series K Preferred Stock automatically converted into shares of our common stock. Accordingly, we do not have any shares of our Series K Preferred Stock currently outstanding.

Going Concern

We

Management performed an annual reporting period going concern assessment. Management isWe are required to assess our ability to continue as a going concern. This Annual Report hasOur accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that we will continue as a going concern, which contemplates the realization of assets and the liquidation of liabilities in the normal course of business. Our accompanying consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might be necessary if we are unable to continue as a going concern.

WeHistorically, we have a history of recurring losses. Ourrecorded recurring losses from operations and have operated with a net capital deficiency have been evaluated by managementdeficiency. We considered these factors to determine if the significance of those conditions or events would limit our ability to meet our obligations when due. In part, theMost recently, operating losslosses realized in fiscal 2018 was primarily a result of investments in people, infrastructure forprior years had been impacted by the Maven PlatformCOVID-19 pandemic and the related shut down of most professional and collegiate sports, which reduced user traffic and advertising revenue. As we entered fiscal 2021, and the impact of COVID-19 on our operations rapidly expanding during fiscal 2018 withbegan to dissipate, we invested heavily in marketing, customer growth, and people and technology as we expanded our operations, specifically related to TheStreet and the acquisitions of HubPages and Say Media, along with continued costs based on the strategic growth plans in other verticals.Sports Illustrated media business.

As reflected in our accompanying consolidated financial statements, we hadrecorded revenues of $5,700,199 for the year ended December 31, 2018,approximately $189.1 million and have experienced recurring net losses from operations, negative working capital, and negative operating cash flows. During the year ended December 31, 2018, we incurred a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $44,113,379, utilized cash in operating activities of $7,417,680, and as ofapproximately $89.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2018, had an accumulated deficit of $34,539,954.2021. We have historically financed our working capital requirements since inception through the issuance of debt and equity securities.

In 2020, we have also been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many national governments and sports authorities around the world have made the decision to postpone/cancel high attendance sports events in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19. In addition, many governments and businesses have limited non-essential work activity, furloughed, and/or terminated many employees and closed some operations and/or locations, all of which has had a negative impact on the economic environment. As a result of these factors, we experienced a decline in traffic, advertising revenue, and earnings since early March 2020, due to the cancellation of high attendance sports events and the resulting decrease in traffic to the Maven Platform and advertising revenue. We have implemented cost reduction measures in an effort to offset our revenue and earnings declines, while experiencing increased cash flows by growth in digital subscriptions. The extent of the impact on our operational and financial performance will depend on future developments, including the duration and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, related group gathering and sports event advisories and restrictions, and the extent and effectiveness of containment actions taken, all of which remain uncertain at the time of issuance of our accompanying consolidated financial statements.

Management has evaluated whether relevant conditions or events, considered in the aggregate, raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. The factors considered include, but are not limited to, our financial condition, liquidity sources, obligations due within one year after the issuance date of our accompanying consolidated financial statements, and the funds necessary to maintain operations, including negative financial trends or other indicators of possible financial difficulty. Substantial doubt exists when conditions and events, considered in the aggregate, indicate it is probable that a company will not be able to meet its obligations as they become due within one year after the issuance date of its financial statements.

Management’s assessment is based on the relevant conditions that are known or reasonably knowable as of the date our accompanying consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020.2021 were issued. In particular, management evaluated our: (1) 2022 cash flow forecast, which considered the use of our working capital line with FastPay (as described below) to fund changes in working capital, under which we have available credit of approximately $17.7 million, subject to eligible account receivables, as of the issuance date of our accompanying consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2021, as well as the additional capital we raised in a firm commitment underwritten public offering of $31.5 million after fees and expenses, which was completed subsequent to December 31, 2021; and (2) our 2022 operating budget, which considers that (i) more than half of our total revenue is derived from recurring digital and print subscriptions, which are generally paid in advance, and (ii) overall digital revenue, representing 53.4% of our total revenue, grew approximately 49.1% in fiscal 2021, which we believe demonstrates the strength of our brands.

In addition, our firm commitment underwritten public offering, as described above, demonstrates our ability to access capital markets. Finally, management also considered our ability to implement additional measures, if required, related to potential revenue and earnings declines from continued COVID-19-related challenges.

Management’s assessment of our ability to meet our future obligations is inherently judgmental, subjective and susceptible to change. The factors that we considered important in our going concern analysis, include, but are not limited to, our fiscal 2021 cash flow forecastAs a result of these considerations and our fiscal 2021 operating budget. Management also considered our ability to repay our convertible debt through future equity and the implementation of cost reduction measures in effect to offset revenue and earnings declines from COVID-19. These factors consider information including, but not limited to, our financial condition, liquidity sources, obligations due within one year after the issuance date of our accompanying financial statements, the funds necessary to maintain operations and financial conditions, including negative financial trends or other indicators of possible financial difficulty.

In particular, our plan for the: (1) 2021 cash flow forecast, considered the use of our working capital line with FastPay (as described in Note 24, Subsequent Events, to our accompanying consolidated financial statements) to fund changes in working capital, where we have available credit of approximately $8 million as a part of the issuance date of the accompanying consolidated financial statements, and that we do not anticipate the need for any further borrowings that are subject to the holders approval, from our 12% amended senior secured notes (as described in Note 24, Subsequent Events, to our accompanying consolidated financial statements) where we may be permitted to borrow up to an additional $5 million; and (2) 2021 operating budget, considered that approximately sixty-five percent of our revenue is from recurring subscriptions, generally paid in advance, and that digital subscription revenue, that accounts for approximately thirty percent of subscription revenue, grew approximately thirty percent in 2020 demonstrating the strength of our premium brand, and the plan to continue to grow our subscription revenue from our 2019 acquisition of TheStreet (as described in Note 24, Subsequent Events, to our accompanying consolidated financial statements) and to launch premium digital subscriptions from our Sports Illustrated licensed brands (as described in Note 24, Subsequent Events, to our accompanying consolidated financial statements), in January 2021.

We have considered both quantitative and qualitative factors as part of the assessment that are known or reasonably knowable as of the date our accompanying consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020, and2021 were issued, we concluded that conditions and events considered in the aggregate, do not raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern for a one-year period following the financial statement issuance date.

Results

Equity Financings

In January 2022, we filed a registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-262111), which the SEC declared effective on February 10, 2022. In February 2022, we closed a firm commitment underwritten public offering of Operationsour common stock and received total net proceeds of approximately $31.5 million, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses, which includes the underwriter’s overallotment option that was partially exercised in March 2022.

Debt Financings and Obligations

Net proceeds from our debt financings (see Note 14, Line of Credit, and Note 19, Long-term Debt, in our accompanying consolidated financial statements for additional information) consisted of the following:

FastPay Credit Facility. We are party to a financing and security agreement with FastPay, pursuant to which FastPay extended a $15.0 million line of credit for working capital purposes secured by a first lien on all our cash and accounts receivable and a second lien on all other assets. The line of credit was increased to $25.0 million during fiscal 2021. Borrowings under the facility bear interest at the LIBOR Rate plus 6.00% and have a final maturity of February 28, 2024. The aggregate principal amount outstanding, plus accrued and unpaid interest, as of the issuance date of our accompanying consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2021 was approximately $7.3 million.

Senior Secured Note. We are party to a second amended and restated note purchase agreement, as subsequently amended by Amendment No. 1, Amendment No. 2, Amendment No. 3, and Amendment No. 4 (collectively, the “Second A&R NPA”), with one accredited investor, BRF Finance Co., LLC (“BRF Finance”), an affiliated entity of B. Riley Financial, Inc. (“B. Riley”). The senior secured note bears interest at a rate of 10% per annum. Interest payments are payable at BRF Finance’s discretion either in cash quarterly in arrears on the last day of each quarter or by adding the interest to the outstanding principal amount. The senior secured note has a final maturity date of December 31, 2023, at which time the outstanding principal and all accrued but unpaid interest will be due. The balance outstanding under our senior secured note as of the issuance date of our consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2021 was approximately $64.3 million, which included outstanding principal of approximately $48.8 million, payment of in-kind interest of approximately $13.9 million that we were permitted to add to the aggregate outstanding principal balance, and unpaid accrued interest of approximately $1.6 million.

Delayed Draw Term Note. Pursuant to the Second A&R NPA, we agreed to issue, at BRF Finance’s option, a delayed draw term note (the “Delayed Draw Term Note”), in the aggregate principal amount of $12.0 million to BRF Finance. On March 24, 2020, we drew down approximately $6.9 million under the Delayed Draw Term Note, and after payment of commitment and funding fees paid to BRF Finance in the amount of approximately $0.7 million, and other of its legal fees and expenses that we incurred, we received net proceeds of $6.0 million. The Delayed Draw Term Note bears interest at a rate of 10% per annum. Interest payments are payable, at BRF Finance’s discretion, either in cash quarterly in arrears on the last day of each fiscal quarter or in kind in arrears on the last day of each fiscal quarter. The Delayed Draw Term Note has a final maturity date of December 31, 2023, at which time the outstanding principal and accrued but unpaid interest will be due. There is approximately $5.4 million of principal payment due on the Delayed Draw Term Note on December 31, 2022, with the remaining principal balance due on December 31, 2023. The aggregate principal amount outstanding under the Delayed Draw Term Note as of the issuance date of our consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2021 was approximately $10.2 million, which included outstanding principal of approximately $8.7 million, and payment of in-kind interest of approximately $1.2 million that the Company was permitted to add to the aggregate outstanding principal balance, and unpaid accrued interest of approximately $0.3 million.

Proposed Acquisition

We entered into a non-binding letter of intent to acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding equity interests of Athlon Holdings, Inc. (“Athlon”) for an anticipated purchase price of $16.0 million, comprised of (i) a cash portion of $13.0 million, with $10.0 million to be paid at closing and $3.0 million to be paid post-closing and (ii) an equity portion of $3.0 million to be paid in shares of our common stock. The acquisition is subject to the preparation and negotiation of definitive documents, completion of due diligence, and the agreement of a certain number of key employees of Athlon to remain as employees post-closing, among other items.

Material Contractual Obligations

We have material contractual obligations that arise in the normal course of business primarily consisting of employment contracts, consulting agreements, leases, liquidated damages, debt and related interest payments. Purchase obligations consist of contracts primarily related to merchandise, equipment, and third-party services, the majority of which are due in the next 12 months. See Notes 7, 15 and 19 in our accompanying consolidated financial statements for amounts outstanding as of December 31, 2021, related to leases, liquidated damages and long-term debt.

With respect to leases, we subleased our office space in Santa Monica, California in November 2021 and remain responsible to the original lessor for approximately $1.3 million through September 2024. Pursuant to the sublease, the sublessee will pay us an aggregate of approximately $0.6 million through September 2024.

During 2021, we entered into a termination agreement of our sublease agreement for a property located in New York, New York and remain responsible for approximately $9.0 million in cash payments to the sublandlord through October 2024.

Contingent Liability

Finally, we may have a contingent liability arising out of possible violations of the Securities Act in connection with the Original PowerPoint, which we furnished as Exhibit 99.2 to our Current Report on Form 8-K and Current Report on Form 8-K/A filed on January 31, 2022 and February 1, 2022, respectively. Specifically, the furnishing of the Original PowerPoint publicly may have constituted an “offer to sell” as described in Section 5(b)(1) of the Securities Act and the Original PowerPoint may be deemed to be a prospectus that does not meet the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act, resulting in a potential violation of Section 5(b)(1) of the Securities Act. Any liability would depend upon the number of shares purchased by investors who reviewed and relied upon such Original PowerPoint that may have constituted a potential violation of Section 5 of the Securities Act. If a claim were brought by any such ‘recipients’ of such Original PowerPoint and a court were to conclude that the public disclosure of such PowerPoint constituted a violation of Section 5 of the Securities Act, we could be required to repurchase the shares sold to the investors who reviewed such Original PowerPoint at the original purchase price, plus statutory interest. We could also incur considerable expense in contesting any such claims. As of the date of this Annual Report, no legal proceedings or claims have been made or threatened by any investors in our offering. Such payments and expenses, if required, could significantly reduce the amount of working capital we have available for our operations and business plan, delay or prevent us from completing our plan of operations, or force us to raise additional funding, which funding may not be available on favorable terms, if at all. See also the “Risk Factor” entitled “We may have contingent liability arising out of a possible violation of the Securities Act, in connection with the Original PowerPoint which we furnished as Exhibit 99.2 to our Current Report on Form 8-K, and the Current Report on Form 8-K/A, filed with the SEC on January 31, 2022, and February 1, 2022, respectively” herein.

Working Capital Deficit

We have financed our working capital requirements since inception through issuances of equity securities and various debt financings. Our working capital deficit as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 was as follows:

As of December 31, 2021, we had a working capital deficit of approximately $38.7 million, as compared to approximately $33.7 million as of December 31, 2020, consisting of approximately $77.7 million in total current assets and approximately $116.4 million in total current liabilities. Included in current assets as of December 31, 2021, was approximately $0.5 million of restricted cash, leaving a working capital deficit that requires cash payments of approximately $39.2 million. As of December 31, 2020, our working capital deficit consisted of approximately $73.8 million in total current assets and approximately $107.6 million in total current liabilities.

Our cash flows during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 consisted of the following:

For the year ended December 31, 2018, the total2021, net losscash used in operating activities was $26,067,883. The total net loss increased by $19,783,570approximately $14.7 million, consisting primarily of approximately $172.6 million of cash received from $6,284,313customers (including payments received in 2017. The primary reasonsadvance of performance obligations) less (a) approximately $185.9 million of cash paid (i) to employees, Publisher Partners, Expert Contributors, suppliers, and vendors, and (ii) for the increase in the total net loss is that the operations rapidly expanded during 2018 (see below comparison). The basicrevenue share arrangements and diluted net loss per common shareprofessional services; and (b) approximately $1.4 million of cash paid for interest. For the year ended December 31, 20182020, net cash used in operating activities was $1.69, comparedapproximately $32.3 million, consisting primarily of: approximately $116.0 million of cash received from customers (including payments received in advance of performance obligations) less (a) approximately $148.3 million of cash paid (i) to $0.42employees, Publisher Partners, suppliers, and vendors, and (ii) for revenue share arrangements, advance of royalty fees and professional services; and (b) approximately $0.6 million of cash paid for interest.

For the year ended December 31, 2017. The primary reasons2021, net cash used in investing activities was approximately $13.1 million, consisting primarily of: (i) approximately $8.0 million used to acquire a business; (ii) approximately $0.4 million for property and equipment; and (iii) approximately $4.8 million for capitalized costs for our Platform. For the year ended December 31, 2020, net cash used in investing activities was approximately $4.9 million consisting primarily of: (i) approximately $0.3 million used for the increaseacquisition of a business; (ii) approximately $1.2 million for property and equipment; (iii) approximately $0.4 million from proceeds for the sale of intangible assets; and (iv) approximately $3.8 million for capitalized costs for our Platform.

For the year ended December 31, 2021, net cash used by financing activities was approximately $28.2 million, consisting primarily of: (i) approximately $19.8 million in net proceeds from the private placement issuance of common stock; (ii) approximately $5.1 million in net proceeds from the Delayed Draw Term Note; (iii) approximately $4.8 million from borrowing under our FastPay line of credit; less (iv) approximately $1.5 million in payments of restricted stock liabilities; and (v) approximately $0.1 million in payments for taxes relating to repurchase of restricted shares. For the year ended December 31, 2020, where net cash provided by financing activities was approximately $37.3 million, consisting primarily of: (i) approximately $20.8 million in net proceeds from the issuance of Series H Preferred Stock (the “Series H Preferred Stock”) and Series J Convertible Preferred Stock (the “Series J Preferred Stock”) and Series K Convertible Preferred Stock (“Series K Preferred Stock”); (ii) approximately $11.1 million in net proceeds from the Delayed Draw Term Note and the Payroll Protection Program Loan; and (iii) approximately $7.2 million in borrowings of our FastPay line of credit; less (iv) approximately $0.5 million in payments for taxes relating to the withholding of shares upon the repurchase of restricted shares of our common stock; and (v) approximately $1.1 million in repayments under the 12% senior secured subordinated convertible debentures (referred to herein as the “12% convertible debentures”).

Results of Operations

Comparison of Fiscal 2021 to Fiscal 2020

For the year ended December 31, 2021, the net loss attributable to common stockholders was approximately $89.9 million, as compared to $104.9 million in the prior year which represents an improvement of $14.9 million. The primary reason for the improvement in net loss attributable to common stockholders is the deemed dividend on Series H Preferred Stocka result of $18,045,496, the othera $61.1 million increase in revenue which was offset by a combined increase in cost of revenue and operating expenses of $12,145,644,$71.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2021. Operating expenses included a charge of $7.8 million related to a lease termination and the weighted average shares outstanding calculatedloss on a daily weighted average, basiclease impairment and diluted,an increase in stock-based compensation of approximately $15.9 million during the year ended December 31, 2021. The increase in revenues was attributable to 26,135,299 shares from 14,919,232 shares duemanagement’s decision to make a strategic shift to focus on premium content providers and reduced reliance on Partner Publisher guarantees in September 2020 as well as the issuanceaddition of our common stockthe results of The Spun, which was acquired in a private placement, partial vestingJune 2021.

Revenue

The following table sets forth revenue, cost of restricted stock, exercise of common stock warrants, issuance of restricted stock awards in connection with the acquisitions of HubPagesrevenue, and Say Media, and issuance of shares of our common stock in connection with the acquisition of Say Media.gross profit:

Our growth strategy is principally focused on adding new publisher partners to our technology platform. In addition, where the right opportunity exists, we will also acquire related online media, publishing and technology businesses by merger. This combined growth strategy has expanded the scale of unique users interacting on our technology platform with increased revenues during 2018. We expect revenues increases in subsequent years will come from organic growth in operations, addition of more publisher partners, and mergers and acquisitions.

Comparison of 2018 to 2017

Revenue

For the year ended December 31, 2018,2021, we had revenuegross profit of $5,700,199,approximately $78.2 million, as compared to gross profit of approximately $25.0 million for year ended December 31, 2020.

The following table sets forth revenue by category:

For the year ended December 31, 2021, the primary sources of revenue were as follows: (i) digital advertising of approximately $62.9 million; (ii) digital subscriptions of approximately $29.6 million; (iii) other digital revenue of $76,995approximately $8.5 million; (iv) print advertising of approximately $9.1 million and (iv) print subscriptions of approximately $79.1 million. Our digital advertising revenue increased by approximately $28.2 million, primarily due to additional revenue of approximately $14.1 million generated as a result of The Spun business, which was acquired during the second quarter of 2021, $9.9 million from Sports Illustrated due to an increase in advertising sponsorships, approximately $5.8 million generated from other business, all of which was partially offset by a $1.5 million decrease in revenue from TheStreet. Our digital subscriptions increased by approximately $1.1 million. Our other digital revenue, primarily consisting of licensing and e-commerce revenue, increased by approximately $3.9 million due to additional revenue for certain licensing agreements related to, SI Swim and other Sports Illustrated media businesses. Our print advertising decreased by approximately $0.7 million. Our print subscriptions increased by approximately $28.5 million reflecting a drive to increase subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2020 and the diminishing effect of acquisition accounting adjustments on the subscribers that existed when we began operating the Sports Illustrated media business.

Cost of Revenue

The following table sets forth cost of revenue by category:

For the year ended December 31, 2021, we recognized cost of revenue of approximately $111.0 million, which represented a 41.3% gross profit percentage, compared to approximately $103.1 million in the year ended December 31, 2020, representing a 19.5% gross profit percentage. The increase in the cost of revenue of approximately $7.9 million during the year ended December 31, 2021 is primarily from increases in: (i) stock-based compensation of approximately $3.1 million; (ii) content and editorial expense of approximately $2.9 million; (iii) our Publisher Partner revenue share payments of approximately $2.1 million; (iv) other costs of revenue related to SI Swim of approximately $1.3 million; less (v) printing, distribution, and fulfillment costs of approximately $1.5 million. The improvement in gross profit percentage was due to a decrease in Publisher Partner revenue shares from 56% of digital advertising revenue in fiscal 2020 to 34% in fiscal 2021 as a result of our strategic shift to eliminate most Publisher Partner guarantees near the end of fiscal 2020 and the high contribution margin of digital advertising.

For the year ended December 31, 2021, we capitalized costs related to our Platform of approximately $6.9 million, as compared to approximately $5.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. The primary source of revenue was from advertising and membership subscriptions of $5,614,953 and $85,246, respectively, in 2018 and $62,777 and $14,218, respectively, in 2017. During 2018, revenue was primarily from operations of on-line media channels from the Mavens generating advertising and membership subscriptions, and as a result of the acquisition of HubPages in August 2018 and Say Media in December 2018. During 2017, revenue was primarily from operations of on-line media channels, which went live in May 2017, generating advertising and memberships that began in the third quarter of 2017.

Cost of Revenue

2020. For the year ended December 31, 2018, we recognized cost of revenue of $7,641,684 from operating our online media channels primarily attributable to fixed monthly cost of providing our digital media network channels and advertising and membership services, as compared to $1,590,636 for2020, the year ended December 31, 2017. The increase of $6,051,048 in cost is primarily from our Channel Partners’ guarantee payments of $896,928, payroll and benefits of $450,366, amortizationcapitalization of our capitalized platform development of $1,324,373 (which resulted from spending for our capitalized platform development of during 2018 $4,006,399), amortization of acquired developed technology of $558,423 (which resulted from the acquisitions of HubPages and Say Media for the technology development during 2018 of $14,750,000), and revenue share payments of $2,247,453.

During the year ended December 31, 2018, since our technology operations were primarily in the application and development phase we capitalized platform development of $4,006,399, as compared to $2,605,162 in 2017, consisting of $2,086,963Platform consisted of: (i) approximately $4.8 million in payroll and related expenses, including taxes and benefits, as compared to $1,990,589benefits; and (ii) approximately $2.0 million in 2017, and $1,850,384 in stock basedstock-based compensation for related personnel, as compared to $614,573 in 2017, resulting in amortization of $1,836,625 reflected in cost of revenue for our capitalized platform development, as compared to $512,252 in 2017.personnel.

Operating Expenses

ResearchThe following table sets forth operating expenses:

Selling and DevelopmentMarketing. For the year ended December 31, 2018,2021, we incurred researchselling and development expensesmarketing costs of $1,179,944 from development of our platform in the preliminary project and post-implementation stages,approximately $82.7 million, as compared to $114,873approximately $43.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2017.2020. The increase in researchselling and development expensesmarketing costs of approximately $39.1 million is primarily from an increase in circulation costs of approximately $31.6 million; payroll of selling and marketing account management support teams, along with the related benefits of $640,760,and stock-based compensation of $196,867,approximately $4.8 million; an increase in advertising costs of approximately $2.4 million; an increase in professional and marketing service costs of approximately $2.0 million; less a decrease in office, travel, conferences and occupancy costs of approximately $0.5 million and other related researchselling and developmentmarketing related costs of $209,120.approximately $1.2 million.

General and Administrative. For the year ended December 31, 2018,2021, we incurred general and administrative expensescosts of $10,892,443approximately $54.4 million from payroll and related expenses, professional services, facilitiesoccupancy costs, stock-based compensation of related personnel, depreciation and amortization, and other corporate expense, as compared to $4,720,824approximately $36.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2017.2020. The increase in general and administrative expenses of $6,171,619approximately $18.4 million is primarily from ouran increase in headcount from 24 to 87, with three additional senior executives, the Chief Operating Officer, the Chief Strategy & Revenue Officer, and the Chief Product Officer, fourteen in technology development and forty-six in administration,our payroll, along with the related benefits and stock-compensation of $1,393,144. In addition to the payrollapproximately $15.8 million; an increase in professional services, including accounting, legal and related benefits, we incurred additional stock-based compensation of $2,588,785, travel of $80,305, conferences of $444,919, facilities costs of $230,835, consultants of $143,972, public relations of $91,338, insurance of $92,310,approximately $1.7 million; and professional feesan increase in other general corporate expenses of $997,358.approximately $0.9 million.

Other (Expenses) Income

For the year ended December 31, 2018, we had netThe following table sets forth other expenses(expenses) income:

Change in Valuation of $12,145,644, as compared to net other incomeWarrant Derivative Liabilities. The change in valuation of $65,025warrant derivative liabilities for the year ended December 31, 2017, which2021 was the result primarily from the items below.

Change in Valuation of Warrant Derivative Liabilities. For the year ended December 31, 2018, the decrease in the fair value of the warrant derivative liabilities resultedas of December 31, 2021, as compared to the change in a gainthe valuation for the year ended December 31, 2020. The change in the valuation is not impacted by our actual business operations but is instead strongly tied to the change in the market value of $964,124. We did not have any warrantour common stock.

Change in Valuation of Embedded Derivative Liabilities. The change in valuation of embedded derivative liabilities for the year ended December 31, 2017.

Change in Valuation2021 was the result of Embedded Derivative Liabilities. For the year ended December 31, 2018, the increasedecrease in the fair value of the embedded derivative liabilities resulted in a lossas of $2,971,694,December 31, 2021, as compared to the decreasechange in the fair value of $64,614valuation for the year ended December 31, 2017.2020.

True-Up Termination Fee

Loss on Conversion of Convertible Debentures. On June 15, 2018, we enteredWe recognized a loss on conversion of approximately $3.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2020 as the result of the conversion of accrued interest due and payable under the 12% convertible debentures into a securities purchase agreement with four investors to sell $4,775,000 principal amount of 10% senior convertible debentures. Strome purchased $3,000,000 of such principal amount and two of our senior executives and another investment fund purchased the remaining $1,775,000 of such amount. On June 15, 2018, we also modified two previous securities purchase agreements dated January 4, 2018 and March 30, 2018 with Strome to eliminate the true-up provision under which we were committed to issue up to 1,700,000 shares of our common stockstock.

Interest Expense. We incurred interest expense of approximately $10.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, as compared to approximately $16.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2020. The decrease in certain circumstances. As consideration for such modification, we issuedinterest expense of approximately $6.0 million is primarily due to an increase in cash paid interest of approximately $0.7 million offset by a warrant to Strome to purchase 1,500,000 shares$4.5 million decrease in amortization of our common stock, exercisable at an initial pricedebt discount on notes payable and a $2.3 million decrease in accrued interest.

Liquidated Damages. We recorded approximately $2.6 million of $1.19 per share for a five-year period. The estimated fair value of this warrant onliquidated damages, including the June 15, 2018 issuance date of $1,344,648, calculated pursuant to the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, was charged to operations as true-up termination feeaccrued interest thereon, during the year ended December 31, 2018. We did not have a true-up termination fee for the year ended December 31, 2017.

Settlement of Promissory Notes Receivable. On December 12, 2018, pursuant to the merger agreement with Say Media entered into on October 12, 2018, as amended on October 17, 2018, we settled the promissory notes receivable by effectively forgiving $3,366,031 of the balance due as of December 31, 2018. We did not have any settlement of promissory notes receivable for the year ended December 31, 2017.

Interest Expense. For the year ended December 31, 2018, we incurred interest expense of $2,508,874, primarily consisting of amortization of accretion of original issue discount and debt discount on notes payable of $671,436, extinguishment of debt of $2,620,253, accrued interest of $193,416, and other interest of $120,629, less gain on extinguishment of embedded derivatives liabilities upon extinguishment of host instrument of $1,096,860, as compared to no interest expense for the year ended December 31, 2017.

Liquidated Damages. For the year ended December 31, 2018, we recorded $2,940,654 of liquidated damages2021 primarily from the issuance of theour 12% convertible debentures, Series H Preferred Stock, Series I Convertible Preferred Stock (“Series I Preferred Stock”), Series J Convertible Preferred Stock (“Series J Preferred Stock”) and 12% convertible debenturesSeries K Convertible Preferred Stock (“Series K Preferred Stock”) in fiscal 2020 since we determined that: (i) athe registration statementstatements registering for resale the shares of our common stock issuable upon conversion of the 12% convertible debentures, Series HI Preferred Stock, Series J Preferred Stock and conversion of the 12% convertible debenturesSeries K Preferred Stock would not be declared effective by the SEC within the requisite time frame; and (ii) that we would not be able to maintain the timely filing ofbecome current in our periodic reportsfiling obligations with the SEC in order to satisfy the public information requirements under the applicable securities purchase agreements. We did not have anyrecorded liquidated damages, including the accrued interest thereon, of approximately $1.5 million in fiscal 2020 primarily from issuance of our 12% convertible debentures, Series H Preferred Stock, Series I Preferred Stock and Series J Preferred Stock, which liquidated damages were based upon the reasons set forth above.

Gain Upon Debt Extinguishment. We recorded a gain upon debt extinguishment (including accrued interest) of approximately $5.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2017.2021 pursuant to the forgiveness of the Payroll Protection Program Loan.

Deemed Dividend on Series H Preferred StockIncome Tax Benefit (Provision)

Income Tax Benefit (Provision). For the year ended December 31, 2018,2021, the Company recorded a deferred income tax benefit of approximately $1.7 million primarily related to its acquired deferred tax liabilities from the acquisition of The Spun and change in valuation allowance as of year- end that was, in part, offset by the book to tax basis differences related to goodwill from certain prior year acquisitions. For the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company recorded a deferred income tax provision of approximately $0.2 million to account for the book to tax basis differences related to goodwill from certain prior year acquisitions.

For further details refer to Note 24, Income Taxes, in our accompanying consolidated financial statements.

Deemed Dividend on Convertible Preferred Stock

Series H Preferred Stock. During fiscal 2020, in connection with the issuance of 19,400108 shares (issued on August 19, 2020) and 389 shares (issued on October 31, 2020) of our Series H Preferred Stock, we recorded a beneficial conversion feature in the amount of $18,045,496approximately $0.1 million and approximately $0.4 million, respectively (totaling approximately $0.7 million), for the underlying shares of our common stock since the nondetachable conversion feature was in-the-money (the per-share conversion price of $0.33 per share$7.26 was lower than the closingour per-share common stock trading price of our common stock of $0.86)$18.92 and $16.94 at the issuance date.dates of August 19, 2020 and October 31, 2020, respectively). The beneficial conversion feature was recognized as a deemed dividend. We did not have a deemed dividend for the year ended

Series I Preferred Stock. On December 31, 2017.

Recent Disruptions to Our Operations

Our normal business operations have recently been disrupted by a series of events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and related measures to control it. See “Item 1A, Risk Factors – Because18, 2020, all of the effects of COVID-19 pandemic and the uncertainty about their persistence, we may not be able to continue operations as a going concern.”

Seasonality

We expect to experience typical media company advertising and membership sales seasonality, which is strong in the fiscal fourth quarter and slower in the fiscal first quarter.

Effects of Inflation

To date inflation has not had a material impact on our business or operating results.