v3.25.2
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
3 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2025
Dec. 31, 2024
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]    
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

NOTE 6. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Operating Lease

The Company leased approximately 27,900 square feet of office space in Centennial, Colorado under a noncancelable operating lease agreement. The original term of the lease was set to expire in December 2024, however, in November 2023, the Company elected to extend the lease through June 2025. In recognition of the ROU asset and the related lease liability as of March 31, 2025, any further options to extend the lease term have not been included as the Company was not reasonably certain to exercise any such option.

As further described in Note 1, the Company was in default under its lease, and the Landlord was in the process of pursuing available remedies in advance of the lease term that would otherwise expire in June 2025. In April 2025, the Landlord obtained a default judgment against the Company in the amount of $409,278. The Landlord may exercise rights under the lease agreement and applicable law with respect to a lessee in default and such lessee’s assets located on the premises, including the removal and disposal of inventories and property and equipment remaining on the property. As such, as of March 31, 2025, the Company determined that, based on the assumption that the Landlord would fully exercise its rights with respect to all assets remaining on the premises, (i) it no longer had control over the inventory and that recovery was not probable, therefore, inventory was written down to a net realizable value of zero, (ii) the carrying value of its property and equipment, all of which was at the leased location, was no longer recoverable, and the assets were written down to a net book value of zero, and (iii) the right-of-use asset associated with this lease was fully impaired, as the Company could no longer use the leased premises, each of which is recorded within loss on impairment of inventories, property and equipment and operating lease right-of-use asset on the condensed consolidated statement of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2025.

As of March 31, 2025, the Company's ROU lease liability was $119,720. As such, the Company accrued an additional $289,558 related primarily to unpaid future rent payments, interest and attorney's fees within accrued expenses on the condensed consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2025.

In connection with the default under the lease described above, the Company recorded an impairment to reduce the right-of-use asset to zero of $150,077, which is recorded within loss on impairment of inventories, property and equipment and operating lease right-of-use asset on the condensed consolidated statement of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2025.

Operating lease cost was $102,938 for each of the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024.

Liqueous Settlement Agreement

In January 2025 and April 2025, in connection with a settlement and mutual release agreement entered into between the Company and Liqueous LP (“Liqueous”) (the "Liqueous Settlement Agreement"), as amended, the parties provided an immediate mutual release of claims and obligations through payments from Liqueous to the Company in an aggregate $1,450,000, of which $1,000,000 was paid during the first quarter of 2025. Such payment was made in connection with the issuance of the remaining 9,186,581 shares issued to extinguish an aggregate $411,865 of principal and accrued interest under the Junior Notes and, accordingly, reduced the loss on extinguishment of debt recorded.

Legal Proceedings

In the normal course of business, the Company may become involved in legal proceedings. The Company will accrue a liability for legal proceedings when it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount can be reasonably estimated. Significant judgment is required to determine both probability and the estimated amount. When only a range of possible loss can be established, the most probable amount in

the range is accrued. If no amount within this range is a better estimate than any other amount within the range, the minimum amount in the range is accrued.

During the first quarter, the Company was subject to three separate actions seeking default judgments for the alleged failure to pay amounts when due. CFGI, LLC is seeking a total judgment in the amount of $86,826 through the Superior Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, FICTIV, Inc. obtained a default judgment through the Superior Court of California on January 30, 2025 in the amount $197,899, which was subsequently settled by the Company, and the Landlord sought a total judgment in the amount of $409,278 through the Arapahoe County Colorado District Court, which it obtained in April 2025. See additional detail regarding the Landlord default judgment in Inventory, Property and Equipment and Right-of-Use Asset Impairment in Note 1.

Purchase Commitments

As of March 31, 2025, the Company had $455,048 in outstanding firm purchase commitments to acquire inventory and research and development parts from suppliers for the Company's ongoing operations. The Company's purchase commitments do not reflect any liabilities that are included on our March 31, 2025 condensed consolidated balance sheet.

Related Party Transactions

Ron Nicol, who was the Executive Chairman of the Company’s board of directors through January 2025, paid director and officer insurance premiums of approximately $1.5 million on behalf of the Company because the Company did not have available cash to pay such amounts when due. The Company is obligated to repay such amount to Mr. Nicol, without interest or other charges. As of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, such amount is included in accrued expenses on our condensed consolidated balance sheet.

In January 2025, the Company issued the TAG Promissory Note to The AvantGarde Group ("TAG"), which is founded and owned by the Company's Executive Chairman, as a replacement of a previously recorded shareholder advance. For additional information, see Note 8, Notes and Convertible Notes Payable.

Trumar Capital LLC Acquisition Agreement

On February 19, 2025, the Company entered into a commitment letter with Trumar Capital LLC ("TCEI") to acquire: (i) a license of certain technology that would allow the Company to expand its existing business within the defense sector; (ii) a controlling interest in a defense-tech company that specializes in the design, production, and outfitting of a diverse range of vehicles, including industrial and military applications, as well as electronic devices for defense and security, advanced telecommunications, and tracking systems; and (iii) a controlling interest in a Software as a Service (SaaS) startup focused on operational resilience. The Company’s Executive Chairperson owns a controlling interest in the SaaS target entity, and as a result, the proposed investment will be negotiated by, and authorized only with approval from, the independent board members, and will be subject to stockholder approval.

The anticipated investments will occur in stages. The first stage, which has been completed, involved the purchase of a 20% ownership interest in TCEI for an aggregate price of $1.5 million in cash plus $23.5 million in a note payable. The note payable, which is cancellable if the second stage of the transaction discussed below is not completed, matures in five-years, bears a 10% annual interest rate, and includes monthly payments beginning after the second stage is completed. As the note is cancellable if the second stage is not completed, it has not been recorded in the condensed consolidated financial statements. Of the $1.5 million cash portion of the purchase price, $600,000 was paid and reflected as a deposit on acquisition on the condensed consolidated balance sheet, while $900,000 was retained by the Company. The $900,000 retained is payable to the Company's Executive Chairman as the controlling shareholder of the SaaS target entity, which has not been recorded in the condensed consolidated financial statements due to the related party nature of both the deposit and such related party payable.

The second stage, which will require both stockholder and regulatory approval, will involve the investment in additional ownership interests, resulting in Nuburu (i) having a controlling interest in the target entities and (ii) issuing Common Stock in excess of 19.9% of its outstanding Common Stock as part of the purchase price. Nuburu would also receive rights to appoint directors for each target entity, consistent with its percentage of ownership in each entity.

We also agreed to issue 6,086,957 shares of common stock to S.F.E. Equity Investments SARL (“SFE EI”) as consideration for SFE EI escrowing approximately $4.2 million in assets for purposes of guaranteeing our performance obligations in connection with the TCEI acquisition. Issuances to SFE EI may not exceed 19.9% of the outstanding Common Stock until approved by stockholders.

Consummation of the full TCEI acquisition is subject to continued due diligence, receipt of an acceptable valuation from a third-party valuation firm, regulatory approvals, and stockholder consent. The Company concluded that because of these contingencies, it has not assumed the risks and rewards consistent with equity ownership at the time of the initial investment. Consequently, the Company recorded the initial payment as a deposit on the anticipated acquisition of TCEI. Similarly, the Company will not record the contingent liability for the commitment, including the notes, until it is both probable and estimable that the liability has been incurred.

On March 31, 2025, the Company also entered into a Joint Pursuit Agreement with the defense-tech company to allow both parties to jointly develop and market certain defense-related vehicles and services in advance of closing the full TCEI acquisition.

NOTE 6. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Operating Lease

The Company leases and occupies approximately 27,900 square feet of office space in Centennial, Colorado under a noncancelable operating lease agreement. The original term of the lease was set to expire in December 2024, however, in November 2023, the Company elected to extend the lease through June 2025. In recognition of the ROU asset and the related lease liability as of December 31, 2024, any further options to extend the lease term have not been included as the Company was not reasonably certain to exercise any such option.

 

 

Year ended December 31,

 

 

 

2024

 

 

2023

 

Operating lease cost

 

$

411,751

 

 

$

352,080

 

As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the weighted-average remaining lease term was 0.5 years and 1.5 years, respectively, and the weighted-average discount rate used was 7.0% and 7.0%, respectively.

During the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, the Company recognized the following lease costs arising from the lease transaction:

 

 

Year ended December 31,

 

 

 

2024

 

 

2023

 

Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities

 

$

383,383

 

 

$

372,214

 

Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for new operating lease liabilities

 

 

 

 

 

263,939

 

As of December 31, 2024, the future payments and interest expense for the operating lease are as follows:

Year Ending December 31,

 

Future Payments

 

2025

 

$

240,834

 

Total undiscounted cash flows

 

 

240,834

 

Less: imputed interest

 

 

(3,465

)

Present value of lease liabilities

 

$

237,369

 

Legal Proceedings

In the normal course of business, the Company may become involved in legal proceedings. The Company will accrue a liability for legal proceedings when it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount can be reasonably estimated. Significant judgment is required to determine both probability and the estimated amount. When only a range of possible loss can be established, the most probable amount in the range is accrued. If no amount within this range is a better estimate than any other amount within the range, the minimum amount in the range is accrued.

The Company is currently subject to two separate actions seeking default judgments for the alleged failure to pay amounts when due. CFGI, LLC is seeking a total judgment in the amount of $86,826 through the Superior Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Centennial Tech Industrial Owner, LLC is seeking a total judgment in the amount of $409,278 through the Arapahoe County Colorado District Court.

As of December 31, 2023, the Company was not involved in any material legal proceedings.

Purchase Commitments

As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, the Company had $466,798 and $602,335, respectively, in outstanding firm purchase commitments to acquire inventory and research and development parts from suppliers for the Company's ongoing operations.

Related Party Transactions

Ron Nicol paid director and officer insurance premiums of approximately $1.5 million on behalf of the Company because the Company did not have available cash to pay such amounts when due. The Company is obligated to repay such amount to Mr. Nicol, without interest or other charges. As of December 31, 2024, such amount is included in accounts payable on our consolidated balance sheet.