SEC Form 10-K filed by 374Water Inc.

UNITED STATES 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES

EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2024

Commission File No. 000-27866

374WATER INC.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

100 Southcenter Court, Suite 200

Morrisville, North Carolina         27560

(Address of principal executive offices)      (Zip Code)

440-601-9677

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

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

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

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Ex- change Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

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

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

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

State the aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates computed by reference to the price at which the stock was sold, or the average bid and ask prices of such stock equity, as of June 30, 2024, the last business day of the issuer’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter: $77.9 million.

As of March 26, 2025, the number of outstanding shares of common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, of the registrant was 144,576,713.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement relating to its 2025 annual meeting of stockholders (the “2025 Proxy Statement”) are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K where indicated. The 2025 Proxy Statement will be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the year to which this report relates.

374WATER INC.

Annual Report on Form 10-K

Year Ended December 31, 2024

INDEX

PART I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS.

Overview

374Water Inc. (the “Company”, “374Water”, “We”, or “Our”) is a global industrial technology and services company providing innovative solutions addressing global organic waste destruction/treatment and waste management issues within the municipal, federal, and industrial markets.  374Water offers our proprietary AirSCWO system, which is designed to efficiently destroy and mineralize a broad spectrum of non-hazardous and hazardous organic wastes producing safe dischargeable water streams, safe mineral effluent, safe vent gas, and recoverable heat energy.  Importantly, our AirSCWO system is designed to eliminate recalcitrant organic wastes without creating waste byproducts, as well as to simplify existing, complex waste processing and disposal practices utilized throughout our target markets. Our AirSCWO system is designed to effectively convert solid and liquid wastes such as sewage sludge, biosolids, food waste, hazardous and non-hazardous waste, and forever chemicals (e.g., “per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances” or “PFAS”) into recoverable resources including water, minerals, and heat energy, by focusing on waste as a valuable resource.

In fiscal year 2024, 374Water outlined a new strategic plan and tactical roadmap. Throughout the year, we executed our plan reaching critical milestones we believe position the Company’s business outlook well for fiscal year 2025. 2024 achievements include ruggedizing and optimizing our AirSCWO system to effectively process a variety of organic waste streams; deploying our first commercial scale AirSCWO system to the City of Orlando’s Iron Bridge Water Reclamation Facility; completing federal and industrial waste destruction demonstrations; growing our backlog and demand in the municipal, federal and industrial markets; relocating our laboratory facility to a significantly larger state-of-the-art Biosafety Level 1 Laboratory to meet increasing lab-scale waste destruction demand and expedite the advancement of our AirSCWO technology “AS”); pursuing Waste Destruction Services (“WDS”) operations with potential partner Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facility (“TSDF”) operators; relocating our manufacturing operations; and strengthening our leadership team and organization.

As we begin 2025, we believe 374Water is well positioned with a robust plan to scale revenue, operations, and capitalize our business. During 2025, we expect to complete our commercial-scale demonstration under our contract with the City of Orlando;  deploy a permanent AirSCWO system to The Orange County Sanitation District (“OC San”) in Fountain Valley, CA; deploy an AS system to Detroit, MI in partnership with the Defense Innovation Unit  for a demonstration of AirSCWO’s waste destruction effectiveness for specific Department of Defense applications;; deploy an AirSCWO system to St. Cloud, MN, as part of a Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) initiative to demonstrate its effectiveness destroying Minnesota waste; further scale our manufacturing capacity to meet client demand for AirSCWO systems of various sizes; continue to improve our AirSCWO technology and develop larger size AirSCWO systems; negotiate waste destruction service agreements with one or more TSDFs; and begin accepting Third-party waste streams for our initial TSDF WDS hub(s).

Our Technology

374Water has developed AirSCWO, a proprietary waste destruction/treatment system which harnesses the power of supercritical water oxidation (“SCWO”).  AirSCWO leverages the unique properties of water in its supercritical phase (above 374^oC and above a barometric pressure of 221 Bar). The supercritical phase of water has unique properties, which when combined with air, destroys “waste” by oxidizing organic matter and yielding recoverable energy, minerals, and water.  Our AirSCWO technology platform sits at the heart of our waste destruction solutions.  The effectiveness of AirSCWO has been demonstrated on a wide variety of organic waste streams at commercial and lab bench scale with waste destruction results at or above 99.99%.

Our AirSCWO technology has treated a wide variety of non-hazardous and hazardous solid and liquid organic wastes. Our technology can effectively process solid wastes, which can be pre-processed into slurries for treatment, including wastewater sludges and biosolids, spent granular activated carbon (“GAC”), spent ion exchange resins (“IX”), and hard-to-degrade plastics, to name a few.  In addition, our technology can process liquid wastes such as aqueous film forming foam (“AFFF”) used in firefighting, landfill leachate, light-non-aqueous phase liquid (“L-NAPL”), military wastes, industrial solvents, oily sludges, pharmaceuticals, foamate streams, pesticides, and other industrial wastes, to name a few. AirSCWO has been shown to treat (destroy) wastes to levels at or below regulatory standards, reduce or eliminate disposal costs, remove operational bottlenecks, and reduce liabilities and other risks associated with waste management.

Our AirSCWO system is designed to be a continuous flow waste destruction process with a unique system design that includes highly efficient energy recapture technology, to minimize overall energy demand and maximize reusable energy.  Our AirSCWO system testing so far has demonstrated that our system can run continuously at commercial scale with periodic stops for routine maintenance and checkups.  We continue to shorten the duration and lessen the frequency of such maintenance downtime, to increase process efficiency in our AirSCWO systems for our clients.  Our technology addresses multiple applications in diverse market verticals on a global scale. The technology we continue to refine and innovate is designed to address business operations and environmental challenges, that we believe have been inadequately addressed and poorly resourced until now. While we are still developing the technology, we believe 374Water’s AirSCWO technology is a paradigm-shift across sectors of waste management.

Products and Services

AirSCWO Solutions

374Water’s ability to provide scaled waste destruction solutions is a significant differentiator across waste treatment and destruction providers. We intend to offer four (4) commercial-scale AirSCWO system models and corresponding pre- and post-treatment technologies to fully support end customers' organic waste destruction needs. These AirSCWO models include the AirSCWO1 (“AS1”), AirSCWO6 (“AS6”), AirSCWO30 (“AS30”) and AirSCWO 100+.

The highly mobile AS1 system is designed to process over 700 kg per day of wet waste and is ideal for onsite demonstrations, event cleanups, and down-scaled WDS deployments.  We are currently finalizing the design and construction of our first AS1 system, which will then be deployed following for various demonstrations.

The mobile AS6 system is designed to process up to six (6) metric tons per day of wet waste, and is well-suited for smaller municipal, federal, and industrial sites and may be utilized for both permanent onsite destruction and mobile WDS customer needs.  We currently have two of the AS6 systems, oneis already operating in Orlando, FL and the second is scheduled for delivery to OC San in 2025.

The AS30 system is currently still in the design phase. We intend for the AS30 system to be able to process up to 30 metric tons per day of wet waste.  We believe that, once developed, manufactured and ready for deployment, this unit will be ideal for mid-sized municipal, federal, and industrial sites, as well as regional TSDF and landfill WDS facilities. We hope to begin manufacturing one or more AS30s in 2025, depending on the level of customer demand and having sufficient capital.

Finally, our largest bespoke AirSCWO100+ systems will be designed to process up to 100 or more metric tons of wet waste per day and will be permanent installations. We have currently not begun the process of designing and building the AirSCWO 100+ system, and we expect such work to begin in the coming years. As these are bespoke systems, we expect our timeframe for building these will be impacted by the level of customer demand. We believe these systems will be well suited for large municipal wastewater treatment, industrial, and TSDF facilities.

All AirSCWO systems are designed to be flexible solutions to meet the specific needs of municipal, federal, and industrial customers. Our AirSCWO systems are designed to augment or replace conventional waste management infrastructure or be the sole waste destruction solution.  In addition, our AirSCWO systems are designed to operate in parallel, thereby allowing customers to easily and efficiently expand or contract waste destruction capacity needs, as necessary.

Pre- and Post-Treatment Solutions

We offer, as part of a broader solution package, ancillary equipment to pre-treat the inlet waste stream and post-treat the byproduct stream, depending on the application. Such solutions may be developed by the Company, or by its strategic partners, to provide a complete solution and integrated treatment train.

Our pre-treatment packaged systems are designed to condition waste streams to meet the AirSCWO inlet requirements (e.g., water percentage, total dissolved solids, particulate size, calorific content, etc.). Our pre-treatment systems are installed upstream of our AirSCWO system to ensure system waste destruction processing performance. 

Our post-treatment packaged systems are designed to enhance the system outputs value (e.g., carbon dioxide utilization or sequestration, minerals recovery and upgrade, water purification, and energy recovery/recycling, etc.). Our post-treatment systems are installed downstream of our AirSCWO system to improve performance and byproduct valorization.

Waste Destruction Services

During 2024, we announced the launch of our WDS business.  Along with capital sales and service contracts, we intend for WDS to provide our customers with a fit-to-need waste destruction service without significant capital investment. Our WDS business is based on a partner model with: (1) Wastewater facilities, (2) Federal facilities, (3) Industrial facilities, and (4) RCRA Part B permitted TSDFs. These partnerships may take the form of operational joint ventures and/or service provider models.  

We intend to establish our first WDS operations in 2025.  These WDS facilities will utilize our AS6 system initially.  In 2026, we intend to upgrade WDS facilities to our much larger capacity AS30 systems, subject to our successful development and manufacturing of our AS30 systems.  We believe our initial AS6 WDS installation has the potential to generate between $3.0 million and $5.0 million in annual revenue, and we believe our AS30 system has the potential to generate $15.0 million to $25.0 million in annual revenue.

We also provide waste destruction demonstration services to existing and new clients.  For these demonstration services we will utilize our AS1 and AS6 units.

We have begun establishing our transportation and logistics operations to accept and transport waste streams for destruction at WDS sites. We plan to eventually have a network of transportation and logistics partners to assist us as we grow our WDS operations nationally. 

Laboratory & Testing Services

374Water provides extensive AirSCWO waste destruction laboratory and testing services to municipal, federal, and industrial clients.  Our laboratory also serves an integral part of our R&D efforts.

Our lab conducts AirSCWO waste destruction treatability evaluations for prospective clients on a wide range of waste streams. These waste destruction evaluations demonstrate the destruction efficacy of our AirSCWO solution to support operations and solution designs.  Our lab services are often the first experience our clients have in learning the power of AirSCWO to destroy organic wastes.

Our lab also provides us with rapid analysis, characterization, and treatment parameters to support full-scale waste destruction services.  We use our bench-scale system for continuous optimization of our AirSCWO process for improved performance and customized reactor setups for unique client wastes.

Field Operations & Maintenance Services

Along with our capital sale, lease, and WDS solutions, we offer comprehensive professional services ranging from full system operation to on-demand support to maintenance.  We have fully equipped and skilled field teams capable of installing, integrating, and operating our AirSCWO systems in a vast range of settings and for different applications.

The Company offers sales agreements which include the supply of spare and replacement parts, and maintenance and repair service contracts.

Markets and Industries

Waste Processing Technology Conversion

The municipal, federal, and industrial market verticals seek alternatives to existing waste treatment, processing, and disposal processes which are considered inadequate as they primarily transport, transform, concentrate, and/or partially destroy organic wastes instead of completely destroying these wastes.

Primary demand drivers for waste destruction include excessive cost of current disposal practices, the desire for waste destruction at the source of waste generation, aging, outdated and/or inadequate waste disposal infrastructure, poor waste disposal processes or options, population growth and urbanization, increasing quantity/complexity of waste streams, public health, underlying business economics, existing State and Federal regulations, the threat of additional regulations, threat from contaminant of emerging concern (“CECs”), resource scarcity, corporate sustainability targets, commodity prices, climate change, and energy security.

We believe our AirSCWO solutions provide unique value propositions that support rapid market acceptance across various verticals and applications. These differentiators include:

Municipal Market Vertical

The global municipal water and wastewater treatment market was estimated to be more than $347 billion annually in 2024, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR”) of approximately 7.5%. The U.S. water and municipal wastewater management market, which is our near-term focus, includes approximately 152,000 water utilities, 16,000 wastewater treatment facilities, 3,000 capped and uncapped landfills, and more than 52,000 state and local firefighting units.  All these facilities have waste streams which must be managed, disposed of, and/or destroyed. We believe our AirSCWO technology is well positioned to provide a compelling waste destruction solution to these markets.

Water Utilities: Water utilities are increasingly impacted by contaminants like PFAS, microplastics, and pharmaceuticals, leading to widespread adoption of treatment methods like GAC and IX to filter these contaminants. As these materials become saturated with PFAS and other pollutants, we believe technologies like AirSCWO are essential for safely disposing of and destroying the spent GAC and spent IX, offering a more complete solution for PFAS management.

Wastewater Treatment Facilities: Wastewater facilities treat sludge wastes. Sludge is a semi-solid by-product obtained from the treatment of residential and commercial (i.e., municipal) or industrial wastewater.  Municipal sludge is typically treated in large biological treatment processes that allow for the wastewater to reside for extended periods in an air or oxygen rich environment (aerobic digestion) or in an oxygen deficit environment (anaerobic digestion) that promotes biological breakdown of organic solids. This process generates a final residue known as biosolids, as it mainly consists of biological bacteria. Sludge and biosolids management are a key part of any wastewater treatment process. Those high strength streams are ideal for our AirSCWO technology since they contain significant calorific content that facilitates the oxidation or destruction process.

Landfills: Landfill Leachate is a liquid that forms when water percolates through waste material in a landfill, picking up various dissolved and suspended substances. This contaminated liquid is a result of rainfall, surface runoff, and decomposing waste within the landfill, which can include organic material, chemicals, heavy metals, pathogens, and biosolids.

State and Local Fire Departments: Full-scale removal and disposal of PFAS-AFFF firefighting foam, is now underway at the State and Municipal government levels.  Sixteen U.S. states currently operate AFFF take-back programs to enable fire departments to safely dispose of firefighting foam. These programs enable fire departments and agencies to return obsolete, used or unused AFFF stocks, which are then safely stored and processed for disposal.  

Federal Market Vertical

The U.S. federal waste management market is estimated at $15 billion. The federal market includes 722 Department of Defense (“DoD”) sites, 53 Department of Energy (“DoE”) sites, and 150 airports under the oversight of the Federal Aviation Agency (“FAA”).  Federal agencies have stockpiles of contaminated waste streams such as AFFF (firefighting foam), chemicals, narcotics, biosolids, filtration media, hydrocarbons and other wastes which must be stored, treated, destroyed and disposed. Federal agencies are actively seeking solutions to eliminate these contaminated waste streams.  We believe our AirSCWO technology is well positioned to provide a compelling waste destruction solution to these markets.

Department of Defense: The DoD has identified 722 military installations that will require PFAS-focused environmental remediation. Recent site clean-up estimates exceed $29 billion for PFAS contamination and other organic wastes in the aggregate.  The Army Corp of Engineers has begun to award task order contracts to remove and dispose of PFAS-contaminated fire-fighting equipment foam at US military facilities. We also see growing demand for the destruction of PFAS-contaminated filtration media, such as GAC and IX, waste streams that are used in the filtration of wastewater and soil washing at DoD facilities. We are working directly with U.S. military services to demonstrate the efficacy of destruction and performance scale of the AirSCWO system.  Additional destruction demonstrations and projects are contracted into 2026. We expect Bipartisan Congressional support for funding the remediation of PFAS-contaminated military facilities will continue; although there is no short-term certainty whether the funds will be cut or increased.

Department of Energy: The DoE spends approximately $8 billion annually to treat hazardous waste.  In 2024 the DOE spent $455M on PFAS-contaminated wastes including the treatment of radioactive, PFAS-contaminated biosolids. Landfills, fire departments, water treatment plants, Cold War-era liquid waste discharges, and fire training facilities are the top five PFAS-contaminated sites.  DOE has identified 53 contaminated facilities that require further investigation and remediation.

Federal Aviation Agency: Like the DoD, the use of AFFF to extinguish fires at civil airports is coming to an end with the FAA directing airports to migrate to the new Military Standard Fluorine Free Foam (“F3”).  To facilitate this process the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 included $350 million for the PFAS Replacement Program for Airports to support the transition to F3. While the focus of this five-year program is for equipment replacement, funds from this grant can also be spent on AFFF clean up and disposal.  We are following FAA and airport interest in environmental remediation closely, working with partners and ready for AAAF destruction opportunities.

Industrial Market Vertical

The global industrial organic waste market is estimated at $128 billion as of 2024, growing at a CAGR of 6.15%, driven by key sectors such as battery recycling, pharmaceuticals, and oil & gas, all of which generate significant organic waste. The rapid growth in battery recycling is largely fueled by the rise in electric vehicle demand, while the oil & gas and pharmaceutical industries continue to contribute substantial amounts of organic waste. Additionally, numerous lawsuits and stringent regulations related to PFAS contamination, along with ongoing cleanup efforts, further drive the need for innovative waste destruction solutions, creating a compelling opportunity for AirSCWO to address these challenges effectively. We believe our AirSCWO technology is well positioned to provide a compelling waste destruction solution to these markets.

Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facility Market Vertical

The United States Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (the “RCRA”) Part B permitted TSDF market includes more than 860 sites in the U.S.  As part of our growth strategy, we are engaging with TSDF market participates to establish one or more waste destruction sites to service customers within our three core markets, municipal, federal, and industrial, and provide a WDS offering which we believe will enable us to generate recurring service revenues.  We seek to partner with TSDFs who are known to our customers, have experience in non-hazardous and hazardous waste treatment, and have appropriate local, state and federal operating permits. We believe our AirSCWO technology is well positioned to provide a compelling waste destruction solution to TSDF market participants.

374Water is targeting high value markets that we expect will contribute to the Company’s revenue and thereby help fuel our growth plans. Table 1 below shows near-term target markets, their subsegments, and the relevant applications associated with those markets. 

Table1: Representative target markets, their subsegments and applications

__________

Sales and Marketing

Our business development and sales team offer our products through capital sale, lease, and waste destruction services to municipal, federal, and industrial customer throughout North America. Our municipal efforts focus on building trust and strong working relationships with state and local municipal water and wastewater leaders directly responsible for waste handling and processing operations. Our federal efforts focus on establishing credibility and strong relationships with Government experts, Congressional leaders, and Civilian and Military officials directly responsible for addressing PFAS waste streams in the DoD, DoE, and FAA. Government officials have personally visited our facilities and observed firsthand the destruction of multiple PFAS-contaminated waste streams. Our industrial efforts are focused on outreach, lab and full-scale waste destruction demonstrations across multiple industrial sub-verticals. 

During 2025, we intend to begin generating revenue from our backlog and pipeline as we believe we are now well positioned to begin delivering our commercial-scale AirSCWO solutions. Municipal officials remain eager to begin waste destruction operations and have expressed interest in capital purchase and WDS models. Federal government officials have plans to remove and destroy PFAS and other wastes from numerous military and civilian facilities and have appropriated hundreds of millions of dollars to perform waste destruction work. We believe we are well positioned to secure government work. We have increased our focus on pursuing industrial waste destruction opportunities. We have received feedback from various stakeholders in the industrial sector that there may be strong interest in our AirSCWO technology and systems, and as such, we believe there is a significant opportunity to generate material industrial revenue in the future. Finally, we are actively pursuing strategic partnerships with TSDFs to establish WDS operations. We expect to finalize one or more of these TSDF agreements and begin operations in 2025.

Our product marketing approach includes maintaining a strategic presence at water, wastewater, federal, and industrial industry events.  Our marketing approach is multi-pronged with three areas of focus: (1) development of information, (2) education of end users, and (3) thought leadership. We believe this approach is appropriate because business purchase decisions are based on bottom-line revenue impact and, increasingly, the environmental impact of those decisions.

We are actively exploring partnerships and other strategic transactions to further support and advance our growth. These initiatives are aimed at unlocking new opportunities, strengthening our market position, and accelerating the adoption of our groundbreaking solutions. We believe that combining our technology and expertise with that of complementary partners will allow us to expand our reach and drive the advancement and adoption of our waste destruction technology.

In the future, we intend to further expand our sales and marketing teams to more fully service the municipal, federal and industrial markets across North America.  In addition, we plan to further expand these efforts into international markets in 2026.

Manufacturing

As of December 31, 2024, our products, including our AirSCWO, pre-treatment, and post-treatment systems are designed, manufactured, assembled, and tested in our state-of-the-art facility located in at the Iron Bridge Regional Water Reclamation Facility in Oviedo, Florida.  By mid 2025, our manufacturing capabilities are expected to include: CNC Plasma cutting of pipe and sheet stock, 5 axis milling, pipe bending, CAD/CAM, sheet metal forming, MIG, TIG, Stick welding, electrical design and panel build, as well as full system integration and testing. 

We obtain raw materials, as well as processed, and pre-assembled components from various suppliers to support our manufacturing operations.  A limited number of these suppliers are single source to maintain consistent quality and support product development.  We have qualified redundant source(s) to ensure consistent supply for many critical materials and manufactured components.   

In the future, we intend to further expand our manufacturing operations to meet our growing customer demand.

Research, Development & Engineering

We focus our research, development and engineering (“RD&E”) activities on improving the performance of and expanding the use cases of our AirSCWO technology. Our investments in RD&E are mainly focused on (1) enhancing the throughput, durability, and operability of our AirSCWO technology; (2) developing pre- and post-treatment systems; (3) applying our technology to new markets; and (4) fundamental research into new applications of our technology in existing and new markets.

We believe our focus on throughput, durability and operability will allow us to provide solutions that can scale to meet the demands of customers.  In addition to throughput, we also dedicate our RD&E effort to expanding the markets and use cases our AirSCWO system can support, for example applying our AirSCWO technology to new markets such as oil and gas, battery recycling and pharmaceuticals. Our goal is to provide customers with the flexibility to manage and destroy a broader spectrum of waste materials.

We recognize the importance of carefully stewarding resources to support our ongoing R&D program. We maintain advanced analytical and testing capabilities to evaluate our solutions at all company and deployment sites. We have developed complex analytical tools which allow us to be less reliant on full-scale testing that is costly and often uses considerable amounts of water and consumable energy. Our advanced numerical modeling and analytical tools allow for three-dimensional, multi-phase, multi-physics, and multi-scale, computational fluid dynamics, fluid structure interactions, thermodynamics, and system analysis. Leading-edge modeling and analytical techniques coupled with extensive state-of-the-art experimental capabilities allow us to further refine our existing AirSCWO, pre-treatment, and post-treatment technologies, as well as develop new derivatives of our technology for new complex systems and applications.

Our engineering team, many of whom carry accreditation from world-recognized engineering organizations, specialize in a range of technical fields critical to support our current product lines and advance our incubation initiatives, including core engineering competencies of supercritical water oxidation, fluid mechanics, solid mechanics with expertise in computational fluid dynamics and finite element analysis,  multi-phase flow, dynamics and controls,  material science and coatings, pumps and rotating equipment, etc.

Through our RD&E investment, we are aiming to make it more economical for our customers to handle waste disposal on a larger scale, driving down costs and contributing to more sustainable waste management practices. We aim to be a leading waste destruction solution through this combination of higher throughput, versatility and cost-efficiency.

Intellectual Property

We seek patent protection for new technologies, inventions, and improvements that are likely to be incorporated into our AirSCWO, pre-treatment, and post-treatment solutions.  We rely on patents, trade secret laws, and contractual safeguards to protect our proprietary technology, processing techniques, and other know-how used in the production and functioning of our solutions.

We have a robust, and growing, intellectual property (“IP”) portfolio consisting of U.S. and international patents and trademarks. We have designed an intellectual property strategy to advance our competitive edge and disruptive position in the market. As of December 31, 2024, we have three (3) pending U.S. non-provisional applications, five (5) provisional patents, and three (3) pending Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications.  Additionally, we have filed and intend to file additional patent applications in 2025.

Duke University License Agreement

On April 16, 2021, we entered into a License Agreement (the “License Agreement”) with Duke, pursuant to which Duke has granted us a license (with the right to grant sublicenses) to make, have made, import, use, market, offer for sale and sell certain licensed products and to sell, use and/or provide certain licensed processes, for water and waste treatment. Under the terms of the License Agreement, the Company is required to make royalty payments based on a percentage of licensed product sales, as defined in the License Agreement which is triggered by the sale of licensed products. The Company is also required to pay royalties on a percentage of sublicensing fees.

Competition

The markets for our products and services are highly competitive, with companies offering a variety of competitive products and services. We expect competition in our markets to intensify in the future as new and existing competitors introduce additional and enhanced products and services. Our AirSCWO systems have proven capable of successfully processing a wide variety of challenging organic non-hazardous and hazardous solid and liquid wastes.  While we believe technology will continue to prove more efficient and economical with higher treatment volumes, and lower operating costs than our competition, we expect competition to increase.  We compete with other SCWO technology providers, other emerging technology providers (e.g., plasma and electrochemical oxidation), as well as anaerobic digestion, landfilling, drying and incineration, lagoon and spray-fields, lime stabilization, and others.

We compete primarily based on our product offering, quality of service and price. From time-to-time, our competitors may reduce the price of their services in an effort to win a competitively bid contract. Our ability to maintain and increase prices in certain markets may be impacted by our competitors’ pricing policies. This may have an effect on our future revenue and profitability.

Government Regulations

Our operations and AirSCWO system may be subject to various United States federal, state and local laws and regulations and requirements governing the protection of the environment, public health and safety, and other matters.

For example, the construction and operation of our AirSCWO systems may require obtaining air permits from various states or, alternatively, obtaining a formal determination from a state that a permit is not required. The federal Clean Air Act, as amended (“CAA”), and comparable state laws and regulations, regulate emissions of various air pollutants through the issuance of permits and the imposition of other requirements. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has developed, and continues to develop, stringent regulations governing emissions of air pollutants at specified sources. We may be required to obtain permits for our facilities before we can operate our facilities, and we may incur capital and recurring costs to achieve or maintain compliance with any EPA regulations and similar laws. These laws and regulations may increase our compliance costs, and federal and state regulatory agencies can impose administrative, civil and criminal penalties for non-compliance with air permits or other requirements of the federal CAA and associated state laws and regulations. Obtaining or renewing permits has the potential to delay the development, production, and deployment of our products, including our AirSCWO systems.

We may also be required to obtain state and local treatment works approval to install our AirSCWO systems if a unit is connected to a system, which is permitted pursuant to the United States National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Systems Act (“NPDES”), which governs the discharge of pollutants into navigable waters of the U.S.

In the event our AirSCWO systems are used to treat metals, the resulting mineral stream may constitute heavy metals under the RCRA. These regulations impose detailed requirements for the handling, storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous waste. If the mineral stream resulting from treatment of metals with our AirSCWO systems were deemed to be hazardous waste under the RCRA, such waste would be subject to the requirements of the RCRA. If the operators of our AirSCWO units are treating hazardous waste, such operators may be required to obtain special hazardous waste technician training. We may incur training costs, monitoring costs, and remediation costs in relation to such regulations.

Additionally, we are currently evaluating whether our AirSCWO systems may be regulated pursuant to the United States Occupational Safety and Health Act (“OSHA”) and thereby be subject to inspections thereunder. For instance, OSHA's hazard communication standard requires that information be maintained about hazardous materials used or produced in operations and that this information be provided to employees, state and local government authorities and citizens, which could result in increased compliance costs. We intend that our operations and AirSCWO systems will be in material compliance with, and in many cases surpass, minimum standards required by applicable laws and regulations.

Human Capital and Culture

As of December 31, 2024, we employed 27 full-time employees and 10 contractors. Our current plans are to increase our workforce to approximately 60 full-time resources in 2025.

We have made a significant investment to build out the company’s leadership team, and recognize and value our people as our most important asset in achieving our strategic goals. We are working towards a human resources strategy that will help drive the right culture, leadership, talent management, performance, reward and recognition, personal development, and ways of working to ensure the Company achieves its objectives and our people benefit from an exceptional experience.

Our focus areas in creating a working environment that draws out the best in our employees and support the Company objectives are as follows:

Our goal is to ensure we have the right talent in the right seat to enable the organization to execute on our strategic objectives. Our recruitment strategy is based on identifying top talent, predominantly via existing networks and referrals, and offering competitive remuneration packages that combine salary, benefits and equity. As we move forward our recruitment strategy will include partnerships with recruitment firms for technical positions and we will expand our sourcing strategy to include new platforms. We intend to apply a wide range of retention initiatives that include rewarding high-performance and opening opportunities for progression and career development. Identification of high-performing talent will be linked to succession planning and development of the future-workforce will be embedded in employee professional development schemes.

We are setting clear standards with respect to generating an open and transparent working environment in which everyone has a voice. This will include effective personal development discussions, and provide the opportunity to conduct performance reviews supported by clear performance objectives, transparent data, and open conversation.

Moving forward we will engage with a compensation partner to deliver a total reward strategy, which appropriately supports achievement of organizational priorities, and will help position us as an employer of choice, and which employees value and understand. The total rewards strategy will undergo periodic review to ensure we are able to attract and retain top talent in a financially sustainable way.

All of our human resource initiatives will be supported by key performance indicators, to monitor their effectiveness, gain insight into gaps that can be addressed quickly, and ensure our overall human resource strategy is adapted as required and maintained to a high degree.

Corporate Information

374Water Inc. is a Delaware corporation which was formed in September 2005 as PowerVerde, Inc. At that time, the Company was focused on developing, commercializing and marketing a series of unique electric generating power systems designed to produce electrical power with zero emissions or waste byproducts, based on a pressure-driven expander motor and related organic rankine cycle technology.

On April 16, 2021, the Company entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger”) with 374Water Inc., a privately held company based in Durham, North Carolina, (“374Water Private Company”) and 374Water Acquisition Corp., a newly-formed wholly-owned subsidiary of PowerVerde.

Following the Merger, 374Water offers a disruptive technology that transforms all wet wastes such as sewage sludge, biosolids, food waste, hazardous and non-hazardous waste, and forever chemicals (e.g., PFAS, PFOS and AFFF) into recoverable resources by focusing on waste as a valuable resource for water, energy, and minerals. We are pioneers in a new era of waste management that supports a circular economy and enables organizations to achieve their environment, social, and governance (ESG) goals. Our vision is a world without waste and our mission is to help create and preserve a clean and healthy environment that sustains life.

Our principal executive offices are located at 100 Southcenter Court, Suite 200, Morrisville, North Carolina, 27560, telephone number (440601-9677. Our website address is www.374water.com. References to our website and any information contained therein or connected thereto is not intended to be incorporated by reference into this report and should not be considered a part of this report, and the referenced websites are not intended to act as active hyperlinks.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Prospective investors are cautioned that the statements in this annual report on Form 10-K (the “Report”) that are not descriptions of historical facts may be forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. This Report contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of our management as well as on assumptions made by and information currently available to us as of the date of this Report. When used in this Report, the words “plan,” “will,” “may,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “project” and similar expressions, as they relate to 374Water, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Although 374Water believes these statements are reasonable, actual actions, operations and results could differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of the risk factors included in this Report or other factors. We must caution, however, that this list of factors may not be exhaustive and that these or other factors, many of which are outside of our control, could have a material adverse effect on 374Water and our ability to achieve our objectives. All forward-looking statements attributable to 374Water or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements set forth above.

INDUSTRY AND MARKET DATA

Certain industry data and market data included in this Annual Report were obtained from independent third-party surveys, market research, publicly available information, reports of governmental agencies, and industry publications and surveys. Third-party industry publications, research, surveys and studies generally indicate that their information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, although they do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of such information. All of the industry data, market data and related estimates used in this Annual Report involve a number of assumptions and limitations, and you are cautioned not to give undue weight to such data and estimates.

We are responsible for all of the disclosure in this Annual Report, and while we believe that each of the publications, research, surveys and studies included in this Annual Report are prepared by reputable sources, we have not independently verified market and industry data from third-party sources. In addition, while we believe our internal company research and estimates are reliable, such research and estimates have not been verified by independent sources. You should carefully consider the inherent risks and uncertainties associated with the market and other industry data contained in this Annual Report. Assumptions and estimates of our and our industry’s future performance are necessarily subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including those described in the section titled “Risk Factors.” These and other factors could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the estimates made by independent parties and by us.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS.

You should carefully consider the following risks. These risks could materially affect our business, results of operations or financial condition, cause the trading price of our common stock to decline materially or cause our actual results to differ materially from those expected or those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by us or on our behalf. These risks are not exclusive, and additional risks to which we are subject include, but are not limited to, the factors mentioned under “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and the risks of our businesses described elsewhere in this Report for the year ended December 31, 2024.

SUMMARY RISK FACTORS

Risks Related to Our Business and General Economic Conditions

Risks Related to Our Financial Position and Capital Requirements

Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property

Risks Related to our Reliance on Third Parties

Risks Related to our Common Stock and Capital Structure

RISK FACTORS

Risks Related to Our Business and General Economic Conditions

A sustainable market for our products may never develop.

A sustainable market for our products may never develop or may take longer to develop than we anticipate which would adversely affect our results of operations. Our products represent an emerging market, and we do not know whether our targeted customers will accept our technology or will purchase our products in sufficient quantities to allow our business to grow. To succeed, demand for our products must increase significantly in existing markets, and there must be strong demand for products that we introduce in the future.

Our ability to treat hazardous wastes on a commercially viable basis is unproven, which could have a detrimental effect on our ability to generate or sustain revenues.

The technologies we use to treat sludge, biosolids and wastewater, have never been utilized on a full-scale commercial basis. Our AirSCWO technology and systems remain in a research and development status. All of the tests conducted to date by us with respect to the technology have been performed in a limited scale or small commercial scale environment and the same or similar results may not be obtainable at competitive costs on a large-scale commercial basis. We have never employed our technology under the conditions or in the volumes that will be required for us to be profitable and we cannot predict all of the difficulties that may arise. Accordingly, our technology may not perform successfully on a commercial basis and we may never generate any revenues or be profitable. Even if we are able to fully commercialize our products, we may not be able to grow our business at scale. Due to the uncertainties and potential difficulties to level up our technology to be deployed on a large-scale commercial basis, there is no guarantee that the costs of operating commercial-scale products will not exceed the revenues we earn. If we cannot grow our business at scale, then our business, results of operations, financial condition and stock price could be significantly impacted. Our revenues to date are primarily from the sale of one AirSCWO system. If we are unable to sell additional AirSCWO systems or are unable to deliver on existing or future contracts, such failure could adversely affect our results of operations.

We have a limited operating history with no material revenues.

Our limited operating history makes evaluating the business and future prospects difficult and may increase the risk of your investment. We have yet to generate material revenues from our business and we have so far deployed our AirSCWO technology only in the City of Orlando, Florida. Therefore, the commercial value of our systems is uncertain. There can be no assurance that we will ever generate significant revenues or become profitable. Further, we are subject to all the risks inherent in a new business, including, but not limited to: intense competition; lack of sufficient capital; loss of protection of proprietary technology and trade secrets; difficulties in commercializing our products, managing growth and hiring and retaining key employees; adverse changes in costs and general business and economic conditions; and the need to achieve product acceptance, to enter and develop new markets and to develop and maintain successful relationships with customers, third party suppliers and contractors.

Our business and results of operations may be adversely affected if we are unable to recruit and retain qualified management.

Our success depends, in large part, on our ability to hire and retain highly qualified people and if we are unable to do so, our business and operations may be impaired or disrupted. Competition for highly qualified people is intense and there is no assurance that we will be successful in attracting or retaining replacements to fill vacant positions, successors to fill retirements or employees moving to new positions, or other highly qualified personnel.

Our products may have defects, which could damage our reputation, decrease market acceptance of our products, cause us to lose customers and revenue and result in costly litigation or liability.

Our products may contain defects for many reasons, including defective design or manufacture, defective material or software interoperability issues. Products as complex as those we offer, frequently develop or contain undetected defects or errors. Defects or errors may arise in our existing or new products, which could result in loss of revenue, market share, failure to achieve market acceptance, diversion of development resources, injury to our reputation, and increased service and maintenance costs. Such defects or errors in our products and solutions might discourage customers from purchasing future products. Often, these defects are not detected until after the products have been installed. If any of our products contain defects or perceived defects or have reliability, quality or compatibility problems or perceived problems, our reputation might be damaged significantly, we could lose or experience a delay in market acceptance of the affected product or products and might be unable to retain existing customers or attract new customers. In addition, these defects could interrupt or delay sales. In the event of an actual or perceived defect or other problem, we may need to invest significant capital, technical, managerial and other resources to investigate and correct the potential defect or problem and potentially divert these resources from other development efforts. If we are unable to provide a solution to the potential defect or problem that is acceptable to our customers, we may be required to incur substantial product recall, repair and replacement and even litigation costs. These costs could have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results.

Furthermore, if there are defects in the design, production or testing of our products and systems, we could face substantial repair, replacement or service costs, potential liability and damage to our reputation. Defects or malfunctioning of our products, if they were to occur, would likely result in significant damage and loss of life. These events could also lead to product recalls, safety or security alerts, or result in the removal of a product from the market, warranty or liability claims or contractual damages against us. We may not be able to obtain product liability or other insurance to fully cover such risks, and our efforts to implement appropriate design, testing and manufacturing processes for our products or systems may not be sufficient to prevent such occurrences, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our management team may not be able to successfully implement our business strategies.

If our management team is unable to execute on its business strategies, then our development, including the establishment of revenues and our sales and marketing activities would be materially and adversely affected. As described in “Item 1. Business” above, our management team has a number of business strategies intended to grow our operations, increase our customer base and footprint across various markets, and develop a full-scale commercialization of our AirSCWO systems. However, we currently have no demonstrated operating history of such full-scale commercialization, and our ability to execute on such strategies successfully and on the timelines we expect (or at all) is subject to significant uncertainties and risks. As our management team moves forward with its business strategies, unexpected setbacks, obstacles and challenges may occur, resulting in delays, changes in strategy, abandonment of certain projects and plans, and the creation of new strategies and plans that may look very different from our current business strategies. Even if we do not change or reverse our current business strategies, there is no guarantee that we will be able to scale our business on the timelines we expect or at all, or that we will be able to successfully compete with other providers in the market to capitalize on the demand that we have identified to exist. There is also no guarantee that we will be able to effectively manage the costs of maintaining the AirSCWO systems we provide to customers in a way that would allow us to turn a profit at some point in the future. Additionally, all of our management team’s business strategies require significant financing to execute, and there is no guarantee that we will have sufficient capital at any given time to do so.

In addition, even if we manage to grow our business in the ways we plan, we may encounter difficulties in effectively managing the budgeting, forecasting and other process control issues presented by any future growth. Our historical financial information may not be reflective of our future financial performance, and the costs and expenses that we have incurred in the past is likely not indicative of the volume of costs and expenses that we will incur in the future as we try to scale and fully commercialize our business. We expect there to be a period of time, during which we need to increase our costs and expenses to invest in our future commercialization success as a company. However, we may be stuck in such a period of time indefinitely if we cannot recognize revenue quickly enough and we cannot manage our costs efficiently during the time it takes us to ramp up production and development, negotiate and win new contracts and streamline the maintenance and continued work required on our AirSCWO systems.

Since our business is still in its nascent stages, there is no historical basis upon which to evaluate our ability to successfully execute on our business strategies, achieve our business goals and objectives, and recognize revenue and turn a profit over time. If we are not able to deliver the results we expect, or if our business strategies do not result in the successes we intend, our business, operations and financial condition will be materially and adversely impacted.

Furthermore, we may seek to augment or replace members of our management team. For example, we have recently hired a new Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer and have made other key senior management hires. In addition, we may lose key members of our management team, and we may not be able to attract new management talent with sufficient skill and experience.

Our ability to generate revenue will depend in part on government contracts which expose us to the uncertainties of governmental budgetary and funding constraints and local, national and international political conditions and events.

We expect to derive a significant portion of our future revenues directly or indirectly from government agencies. The funding of government programs could be reduced or eliminated due to numerous factors, including changes in administration, governmental budget constraints, changes in funding priorities and policies, and developments in geopolitical events and macroeconomic conditions that are beyond our control. Reduction or elimination of government spending under our contracts would imperil the sales of our products and may cause a negative effect on our revenues, results of operations, cash flow and financial condition.

We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, which may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition for future periods.

Effective internal controls over financial reporting are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and to effectively prevent fraud. Any inability to provide reliable financial reports or to prevent fraud could harm our business. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires management to evaluate and assess the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. In order to comply with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, we are required to continuously evaluate and, where appropriate, enhance our policies, procedures and internal controls.

Ensuring that we have adequate internal financial and accounting controls and procedures in place so that we can produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis is a costly and time-consuming effort that needs to be re-evaluated frequently. While we continue the process of reviewing and improving our internal controls and procedures for compliance with applicable law, implementing any appropriate changes to our internal controls requires significant attention from our officers and employees, entail substantial costs to modify our existing processes and take significant time to complete. However, our efforts do not always result in maintaining effective internal controls, and any failure to maintain that adequacy, or consequent inability to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis, could increase our operating costs and harm our business. In addition, investors’ perceptions that our internal controls are inadequate or that we are unable to produce accurate and complete financial statements on a timely basis may harm the trading price of our ordinary shares and make it more difficult for us to effectively market and sell our service to new and existing customers.

Give the early-stage of our Company, we have limited full-time accounting and financial reporting personnel and other resources with which to address our internal controls and related procedures. We just recently hired a full-time Chief Financial Officer. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, we and our independent registered public accounting firm have identified material weaknesses in our internal controls over financial reporting related due to our ongoing personnel limitations. 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 misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. While we are still working to further expand our financial reporting and related personal to support our Chief Financial Officer and internal controls processes, there is no assurance that the actions we are taking or plan to take will give us the results we expect, that our remediation plan will be effective, or that our remediation plan will be completed on the timelines that we expect. See “Item 9A. Controls and Procedures” for further discussion about the material weakness and our remediation activities.

If we are unable to remedy our material weaknesses in a timely manner, we may be unable to produce timely and accurate financial statements, and we may again discover additional material weaknesses and conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is not effective in future periods, which could adversely impact our investors’ confidence and our stock price. If we continue to fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal controls over financial reporting, we could be subject to litigation or regulatory scrutiny.

Significant disruptions of our information technology systems or breaches of our data security could adversely affect our business.

A significant invasion, interruption, destruction or breakdown of our information technology systems and/or infrastructure by persons with authorized or unauthorized access could negatively impact our business and operations. We could also experience business interruption, information theft and/or reputational damage from cyberattacks, which may compromise our systems and lead to data leakage either internally or at our third-party providers. Our systems have been, and are expected to continue to be, the target of malware and other cyberattacks. The measures we have undertaken to reduce these risks may not be successful in preventing compromise and/or disruption of our information technology systems and related data. As a technology company, our business depends on our ability to protect our propriety intellectual property. We also maintain records of sensitive and/or confidential information about our customers, including various governmental agencies. If we are not able to prevent access to our systems and a bad actor gains access to such proprietary, sensitive or confidential information, then our business, financial condition and reputation could be significantly impacted.

We may be unable to obtain required licenses from third parties for product development.

We may be required to obtain licenses to patents or other proprietary rights from third parties. If we do not obtain required licenses, we could encounter delays in product development or find that the development, manufacture or sale of products requiring these licenses could be prevented in the U.S. or abroad.

If we fail to manage growth or to prepare for product scalability effectively, it could have an adverse effect on our employee efficiency, product quality, working capital levels and results of operations.

Any significant growth in the market for our products or our entry into new markets may require an expansion of our employee base for managerial, operational, financial, and other purposes. During any period of growth, we may face problems related to our operational and financial systems and controls, including quality control and delivery and service capacities. We would also need to continue to expand, train and manage our employee base. Continued future growth will impose significant added responsibilities upon the members of management to identify, recruit, maintain, integrate, and motivate new employees. Aside from increased difficulties in the management of human resources, we may also encounter working capital issues, as we will need increased liquidity to finance the development of new products and the hiring of additional employees. For effective growth management, we will be required to continue improving our operations, management, and financial systems and controls. Our failure to manage growth effectively may lead to operational and financial inefficiencies that will have a negative effect on our profitability.

We may be adversely affected by the effects of inflation.

Inflation has the potential to adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial position and liquidity by increasing our overall cost structure, particularly if we are unable to achieve commensurate increases in the prices we expect to charge our customers. The existence of inflation in the economy has the potential to result in higher interest rates and capital costs, supply shortages, increased costs of labor and other similar effects. As a result of inflation, we have experienced and may continue to experience, increases in our costs associated with operating our business including labor, equipment and other inputs. If we are unable to take measures to mitigate the impact of inflation through pricing actions upon commercialization of our product and efficiency gains, then our business, results of operations, financial position and liquidity could be materially adversely affected. Even if such measures are effective, there could be a difference between the timing of when these beneficial actions impact our results of operations and when the cost inflation is incurred.

We face competition in our industry, and we may be unable to attract customers and maintain a viable business.

The markets for our products and services are highly competitive, with companies offering a variety of competitive products and services. We expect competition in our markets to intensify in the future as new and existing competitors introduce new or enhanced products and services that are potentially more competitive than our products and services.  We compete with direct competitors in the SCWO Field.  Additionally, several other technologies are in competition with SCWO, depending on the market sector, including but not limited to: anaerobic digestion, landfilling, drying and incineration, lagoon and spray-fields, and lime stabilization.

We believe many of our competitors and potential competitors have significant competitive advantages, including longer operating histories, greater ability to leverage their sales efforts and marketing expenditures across a broader portfolio of products and services, larger and broader customer bases, more established relationships with a larger number of suppliers, contract manufacturers, and channel partners, greater brand recognition, and greater financial, research and development, marketing, distribution, and other resources than we do and the ability to offer financing for projects. Our competitors and potential competitors may also be able to develop products or services that are equal or superior to ours, achieve greater market acceptance of their products and services, and increase sales by utilizing different distribution channels than we do. Some of our competitors may aggressively discount their products and services in order to gain market share, which could result in pricing pressures, reduced profit margins, lost market share, or a failure to grow market share for us once we attain commercialization. If we are not able to compete effectively against our current or potential competitors, our prospects, operating results, and financial condition could be adversely affected.

Our ability to commercialize our systems and grow and achieve profitability in accordance with our business plan will depend on our ability to satisfy our customers and withstand increasing competition by providing superior waste treatment at reasonable cost. There can be no assurance that we will be able to achieve or maintain a successful competitive position.

We are required to obtain permits in different areas of the world in order to utilize our products in such regions. Our need to apply for and receive permits could substantially limit our ability to operate and grow our business.

Our ability to continue with our current scope of operations and expand our operations and business across the globe is subject, in certain cases, to our receiving a permit for different purposes, including the use of land. It may be difficult to receive the required permits, which may require our management team to divert its attention from other aspects of our business, or it may be more capital intensive or a more time-consuming process than expected to receive permits, either of which could increase costs and delay the launch of our products.

We have in the past and may in the future be involved in litigation matters or other legal proceedings that are expensive and time consuming.

We have in the past and may in the future become involved in litigation matters, including class action lawsuits and lawsuits relating to intellectual property and product liability. Any lawsuit to which we are a party, with or without merit, may result in an unfavorable judgment. Any such negative outcome could result in payments of substantial damages or fines, damage to our reputation, loss of rights, or adverse changes to our offerings or business practices. Any of these results could adversely affect our business. In addition, defending claims is costly and can impose a significant burden on our management.

If any of our current or future products and services that we make or sell (including items that we source from third parties) are defectively designed or manufactured, contain defective components, are misused, have safety or quality issues, have inadequate operating guidelines, malfunctions or if someone claims any of the foregoing, whether or not meritorious, we may become subject to substantial and costly litigation. Misuse of our products by us or other operating parties or services or failing to adhere to the operating guidelines could cause significant harm to the public and the environment. The foregoing events could lead to recalls or safety alerts, result in the removal of a product or service from the market and result in product liability or similar claims being brought against us.

Any product liability claims brought against us could divert management’s attention from our core business, be expensive to defend and result in sizable damage awards against us. We may not have sufficient product insurance coverage for all future claims. Any product liability claims brought against us, with or without merit, could increase our product liability insurance rates or prevent us from securing continuing coverage, could harm our reputation in the industry and could reduce revenue, if any. Product and services liability claims in excess of our insurance coverage would be paid out of cash reserves, harming our financial condition and adversely affecting our results of operations.

In addition, if we expand into additional geographic markets, we may then be exposed to different and changing regulations regarding, for example, environmental impact and damages, which entail risks for compensation obligation, which may mean that we would need to update our existing insurance policy or obtain additional policies for specific geographical markets. If we do not have sufficient insurance coverage or the cost of obtaining the appropriate insurance coverage is costly, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial position.

Moreover, in the past companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their securities have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future. Litigation of this type could result in substantial costs and diversion of management’s attention and resources, which could seriously hurt our business. Any adverse determination in litigation could also subject us to significant liabilities. For further information on our legal proceedings, see Part II, Item 3. “Legal Proceedings.”

Developments in, and compliance with, current and future environmental and climate change laws and regulations could impact our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Our business, operations, and product and service offerings are subject to and affected by many federal, state, local and foreign environmental laws and regulations, including those enacted in response to climate change concerns.

Increasing public and governmental awareness and concern regarding the effects of climate change has led to significant legislative and regulatory efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions and will likely result in further environmental and climate change laws and regulations. Compliance with existing laws and regulations currently requires, and compliance with future laws is expected to continue to require, increasing operating and capital expenditures, including with respect to the design or re-design of our products in order to conform to changing environmental standards and regulations, which could impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, environmental laws and regulations may authorize substantial fines and criminal sanctions as well as facility shutdowns to address violations, and may require the installation of costly pollution control equipment or operational changes to limit emissions or discharges. We also incur, and expect to continue to incur, costs to comply with current environmental laws and regulations. Developments such as the adoption of new environmental laws and regulations, stricter enforcement of existing laws and regulations, violations by us of such laws and regulations, discovery of previously unknown or more extensive contamination, litigation involving environmental impacts, our inability to recover costs associated with any such developments, or financial insolvency of other responsible parties could in the future have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

If we become subject to claims relating to handling, storage, release or disposal of hazardous materials, we could incur significant cost and time to comply.

Our business activities, including our manufacturing processes and waste recycling and treatment processes, currently involve the use, treatment, storage, transfer, handling and/or disposal of hazardous materials, chemicals and wastes. These activities create a risk of significant environmental liabilities and reputational damage. Under applicable environmental laws and regulations, we could be strictly, jointly and severally liable for releases of regulated substances by us at our current or former properties or the properties of others or by other businesses that previously owned or used our current or former properties, including if such releases result in contamination of air, water or soil, or cause harm to individuals. We could also be liable or incur reputational damage if we merely generate hazardous materials or wastes, or arrange for their transportation, disposal or treatment, or we transport such materials, and they are subsequently released or cause harm.

Our business activities also create a risk of contamination or injury to our employees, customers or third parties, from the use, treatment, storage, transfer, handling and/or disposal of these materials.

In the event that our business activities result in environmental liabilities, such as those described above, we could incur significant costs or reputational damage in connection with the investigation and remediation of environmental contamination, and we could be liable for any resulting damages including natural resource damages. Such liabilities could exceed our available cash or any applicable insurance coverage we may have. Additionally, we are subject to, on an ongoing basis, federal, state and local laws and regulations governing the use, storage, handling and disposal of these materials and specified waste products. The cost of compliance with these laws and regulations may become significant and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects.

Further, we may incur costs to defend our position even if we are not liable for consequences arising out of a release of or exposure to a hazardous substance or waste, or other environmental damage. Our insurance policies may not be sufficient to cover the costs of such claims.

Failure to effectively treat emerging contaminants could result in material liabilities.

A number of emerging contaminants might be found in water that we treat, including PFAS, 1,4-dioxane, dinitrotoluene, perchlorate, in addition to other pathogens and hazardous substances that have the potential to cause any number of illnesses, including cholera, typhoid fever, cancer, giardiasis, cryptosporidiosis, amoebiasis and free-living amoebic infections. There is a risk that workers may be exposed to these contaminants and pathogens before material is treated, the unit may not be operated properly and waste not fully treated during the process, or there is a malfunction and waste is not properly treated, creating a risk of third-party exposure to contaminants in byproducts that are generated. The potential impact of a failure to adequately treat is difficult to predict and could lead to an increased risk of exposure to property damage, natural resource damage, personal injury or even product liability claims, increased scrutiny by federal and state regulatory agencies and negative publicity.

Wastewater operations entail significant risks that may impose significant costs.

Wastewater treatment involves various unique risks. If our treatment systems fail or do not operate properly, or if there is a spill, untreated or partially treated wastewater could discharge onto property or into nearby streams and rivers, causing various damages and injuries, including environmental damage. Liabilities resulting from such damages and injuries could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects.

These risks could be increased by the potential physical impacts of climate change on our operations. The physical impacts of climate change are highly uncertain and vary depending on geographical location, but could include changing temperatures, water shortages, changes in weather and rainfall patterns and changing storm patterns and intensities. Many climate change predictions, if true, present several potential challenges to water and wastewater service providers, such as increased precipitation and flooding, potential degradation of water quality and changes in demand for water services.

We may incur liabilities to customers as a result of warranty claims or failure to meet performance guarantees, which could reduce our profitability.

We anticipate that our customers may require product warranties as to the proper operation and conformance to specifications of the products we manufacture or install and performance guarantees as to any effluent produced by our equipment and services. Failure of our products to operate properly or to meet specifications of our customers or our failure to meet our performance guarantees may increase costs by requiring additional engineering resources and services, replacement of parts and equipment and frequent replacement of consumables or monetary reimbursement to a customer or could otherwise result in liability to our customers. There are significant uncertainties and judgments involved in estimating warranty and performance guarantee obligations, including changing product designs, differences in customer installation processes and failure to identify or disclaim certain variables in a customer’s influent. To the extent that we incur substantial warranty or performance guarantee claims in any period, our reputation, earnings and ability to obtain future business could be materially adversely affected.

We enter into various contracts in the normal course of our business, some or all of which may require us to indemnify the other party to the contract. In the event we have to perform under these indemnification provisions, it could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In the normal course of business, we may enter into agreements that contain indemnification provisions which require us to indemnify the other parties against adverse events occurring as a result of our operations. Should our obligation under an indemnification provision exceed applicable insurance coverage or if we were denied insurance coverage, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. Similarly, if we are relying on a third party to indemnify us and the party is denied insurance coverage, or the indemnification obligation exceeds the applicable insurance coverage and does not have other assets available to indemnify us, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Natural disasters and other catastrophic events beyond our control could adversely affect our business operations and financial performance.

The occurrence of one or more natural disasters, such as fires, hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis, floods and earthquakes; geo-political events, such as civil unrest in a country in which our suppliers are located or terrorist or military activities disrupting transportation, communication or utility systems; or other highly disruptive events, such as nuclear accidents, pandemics, unusual weather conditions or cyber-attacks, could adversely affect our operations and financial performance. Such events could result, among other things, in operational disruptions, physical damage to or destruction or disruption of one or more of our properties or properties used by third parties in connection with the supply of products or services to us, the lack of an adequate workforce in parts or all of our operations and communications and transportation disruptions. These factors could also cause consumer confidence and spending to decrease or result in increased volatility in the United States and global financial markets and economy. Such occurrences could have a material adverse effect on us and could also have indirect consequences such as increases in the costs of insurance if they result in significant loss of property or other insurable damage.

United States trade policies and other factors beyond the Company’s control, including the imposition of tariffs and retaliatory tariffs, may adversely impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

In February 2025, President Trump issued executive orders announcing sweeping tariffs on products originating from Canada, Mexico and China. Effective February 4, 2025, all products of Chinese origin became subject to an additional 10% tariff pursuant to these executive orders, and effective March 4, all products of Chinese origin were subject to an additional 10% tariff, raising the tariff rate to 20%. While most of the tariffs on Mexican- and Canadian-origin products have been delayed until April 2, 2025, certain tariffs are already effective and there is no guarantee that the tariffs will be further delayed or negated. Additionally, these tariffs are in addition to existing duties and other tariffs, including the existing and upcoming additional tariffs on steel and aluminum. Our products contain materials and parts purchased globally from hundreds of suppliers, including single-source direct suppliers, which exposes us to potential component shortages or delays.

In addition to the impacts to our business stemming from the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, we may also be materially impacted by retaliatory tariffs and other penalties that may be imposed by such countries against the United States. For example, Canada has already retaliated, imposing 25% tariffs on $30 billion worth of U.S.-origin products immediately, and there are plans to expand these tariffs with additional retaliatory tariffs, pending the current delay in the effectiveness of the tariffs against Canadian-origin products. China has also retaliated with tariffs on U.S.-origin farm products and trade and investment restrictions on certain U.S. companies.  

There continues to be significant uncertainties regarding these recent changes in U.S. trade policies, legislation, treaties, and tariffs, and potential future developments. If maintained, the newly announced tariffs and the potential escalation of trade disputes, a trade war or other governmental action related to tariffs or international trade agreements or policies, have the potential to negatively impact our and/or our clients’ costs, demand for our clients’ products, and/or the U.S. economy or certain sectors thereof and, thus, adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. These tariffs and changes in trade policies may result in significant increases in our cost of doing business, including increases in costs to our R&D and increases in costs of materials in our supply chain. If we are not able to find cheaper alternative sources, or if we are unable to obtain supplies at all, we could experience material harm to our business, results of operations and financial condition.

See “Risks Related to our Reliance on Third Parties—Our suppliers may fail to deliver materials and parts according to schedules, prices, quality and volumes that are acceptable to us, or we may be unable to manage these materials and parts effectively.” for more information about risks related to our ability to source materials and parts from our suppliers

Risks Related to Our Financial Position and Capital Requirements

We will require and may have difficulty or be unsuccessful in raising needed capital in the future to continue to operate as a going concern.

Our business currently does not generate sufficient revenues to meet our capital requirements and we do not expect that it will do so in the near future.

Presently, we do not have sufficient cash resources to meet our plans for the next twelve months from the issuance of the financial statements included herein. Our recurring losses from operations, negative cash flows and need for additional capital raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. We will require additional financing to fund our operations or we will have to significantly curtail or discontinue our operations to conserve our capital resources. Additional funds may not be available on acceptable terms, if at all, and such availability will depend on a number of factors, some of which are outside of our control, including general capital markets conditions and investors’ view of our prospects and valuation. In addition, our ability to raise capital in the public capital markets, including through our at-the-market equity offerings, may in the future be limited by, among other things, SEC rules and regulations impacting the eligibility of smaller companies to use Form S-3 for primary offerings of securities. In general, under the “baby shelf” rules if our public float is less than $75 million at the time we file our annual report of Form 10-K to update our Form S-3 and our public float remains less than $75 million, we may not sell more than the equivalent of one-third of our public float during any 12 consecutive months pursuant to the baby shelf rules. Alternative public and private transaction structures may require additional time and cost, may impose operational restrictions on us, and may not be available on attractive terms. Further, investors’ perception of our ability to continue as a going concern may make it more difficult for us to obtain financing, or necessitate that we obtain financing on terms that are more favorable to investors, and could result in the loss of confidence by investors, suppliers and employees. Our continued operations are contingent on our ability to raise additional capital or deploy or otherwise monetize our technology. If we do not acquire sufficient additional funding or alternative sources of capital to meet our working capital needs, we will have to substantially curtail or discontinue our operations, resulting in delays in the development and deployment of our technology and in generating revenue.

Our actual capital requirements will depend on many factors, including:

Our financial results depend on successful project execution and may be adversely affected by cost overruns, failure to meet customer schedules or other execution issues.

A significant portion of our revenue will be derived from large projects that are technically complex and may occur over multiple years. These projects are subject to a number of significant risks, including project delays, cost overruns, changes in scope, unanticipated site conditions, design and engineering issues, incorrect cost assumptions, increases in the cost of materials and labor, safety hazards, third party performance issues, weather issues and changes in laws or permitting requirements. If we are unable to manage these risks, we may incur higher costs, liquidated damages and other liabilities to our customers, which may decrease our profitability and harm our reputation. Our continued growth will depend in part on executing a higher volume of large projects, which will require us to expand and retain our project management and execution personnel and resources.

We have inadequate capital and need for additional financing to accomplish our business and strategic plans. Terms of subsequent financing, if any, may adversely impact your investment in our securities.

We will need to raise substantial additional funds in order to execute our business plan. Our ability to secure additional financing depends on a variety of different factors, including but not limited to our ability to meet major milestones in our technology R&D pursuits, our ability to attract new customers and grow our business, our ability to attract new investors who believe in our business strategy and our potential for future growth, our ability to successfully convert financing into tangible business successes, our stock price and the marketability (or perceived marketability) of our securities, among others. There is no guarantee that we will be able to secure financing on terms that are favorable to us, or at all. If the cost of securing financing is too high, or if the obligations to which we are subject pursuant to the terms of the financing we secure are too burdensome, we may not be able to realize the full benefits of the financing we receive. If we cannot secure financing at all, we may have to cease operations or scale back our activities. Our ultimate success may depend on our ability to raise additional capital. In the absence of additional financing or significant revenues and profits, we will have to approach our business plan from a much different and much more restricted direction, attempting to secure additional funding sources to fund our growth, borrowing money from lenders or elsewhere or to take other actions to attempt to provide funding.

We may have to engage in common equity, debt, or preferred stock financings in the future. Your rights and the value of your investment in the common stock could be reduced by the dilution caused by future equity issuances. Interest on debt securities could increase costs and negatively impact operating results and debt issuances may subject us to restrictive covenants which may limit our flexibility. In the event we issue preferred stock pursuant to the terms of our certificate of incorporation, preferred stock could be issued in series from time to time with such designation, rights, preferences, and limitations as needed to raise capital. The terms of preferred stock would be more advantageous to those investors than to the holders of common stock. In addition, if we need to raise more equity capital from the sale of common stock, institutional or other investors may negotiate terms possibly less favorable to us, and thereby cause our stock price to fall.

Our research and development expenses may increase in the future.

Our research and development expenses primarily relate to our efforts to increase the output, durability and commercial viability of our technology. The results of such research and development can be unforeseen and undesirable and therefore our forecasted costs related to such research and development are associated with great uncertainty. We expect that our research and development expenses will increase in the future. Unforeseen research and development results could require us to undertake supplementary research and development at significant costs or cause us to pause or stop research and development efforts. A delay or non-existent launch of our technology or an insufficient investment (or overspend on such expenditure) could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial position.

Risks Related to Our Intellectual Property

We may have difficulty in protecting our intellectual property and may incur substantial costs to defend ourselves in patent infringement litigation.

At this time, we rely primarily on a combination of patents, trade secrets, copyright and trademark laws, and confidentiality procedures to protect our proprietary technology, which is our principal asset.

Our ability to compete effectively will depend to a large extent on our success in protecting our proprietary technology, both in the United States and abroad. There can be no assurance that (i) any patents that we apply for will be issued, (ii) we will ever obtain the rights to any patents covering the technology on which our current systems are based, (iii) any patents issued will not be challenged, invalidated, or circumvented, (iv) we will have the financial resources to enforce any such patents, (v) our confidentiality and invention agreements will be honored or that we will be able to protect our rights to our non-patented trade secrets and know-how effectively, (vi) our competitors will not independently develop equivalent or superior proprietary information and techniques or otherwise gain access to our trade secrets and know-how, and (vi) any patent rights granted will provide any competitive advantage. We could incur substantial costs in obtaining patent coverage and defending any patent infringement suits or in asserting our patent rights, including those granted by third parties, and we might not be able to afford such expenditures.

We do not know whether any of our current or future patent applications, if any, will result in the issuance of any patents. Even issued patents may be challenged, invalidated or circumvented. Patents may not provide a competitive advantage or afford protection against competitors with similar technology. Competitors or potential competitors may have filed applications for, or may have received patents and may obtain additional and proprietary rights to, compounds or processes used by or competitive with ours. Both the patent application process and the process of managing patent disputes can be time-consuming and expensive. Competitors may be able to design around our patents or develop products which provide outcomes which are comparable or may even be superior to ours.

In the event a competitor infringes upon our intellectual property rights, enforcing those rights may be costly, uncertain, difficult and time consuming. Even if successful, litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights or to defend our patents against challenge could be expensive and time consuming and could divert our management’s attention. We may not have sufficient resources to enforce our intellectual property rights or to defend our patent rights against a challenge. The failure to obtain patents and/or protect our intellectual property rights could have a material and adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

In addition, we have taken steps to protect our intellectual property and proprietary technology, including entering into confidentiality agreements and intellectual property assignment agreements with our executive officers, employees, consultants and advisors; however, such agreements may not provide meaningful protection for our trade secrets or other proprietary information in the event of unauthorized use or disclosure or other breaches of the agreements. Furthermore, the laws of foreign countries may not protect our intellectual property rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States. Moreover, the following can limit our ability to protect our intellectual property and technology:

In addition, various parties may assert infringement claims against us. The cost of defending against infringement claims could be significant, regardless of whether the claims are valid. If we are not successful in defending such claims, we may be prevented from the use or sale of certain of our products, or liable for damages and required to obtain licenses, which may not be available on reasonable terms, any of which may have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operation or financial condition.

We may become subject to claims of infringement or misappropriation of the intellectual property rights of others, which could prohibit us from developing our products, require us to obtain licenses from third parties or to develop non-infringing alternatives and subject us to substantial monetary damages.

Third parties could, in the future, assert infringement or misappropriation claims against us with respect to products we develop. Whether a product infringes a patent or misappropriates other intellectual property involves complex legal and factual issues, the determination of which is often uncertain. Therefore, we cannot be certain that we have not infringed the intellectual property rights of others. Our potential competitors may assert that some aspect of our product infringes their patents. Because patent applications may take years to issue, there also may be applications now pending of which we are unaware that may later result in issued patents upon which our products could infringe. There also may be existing patents or pending patent applications of which we are unaware upon which our products may inadvertently infringe.

Any infringement or misappropriation claim could cause us to incur significant costs, place significant strain on our financial resources, divert management’s attention from our business and harm our reputation. If the relevant patents in such a claim were upheld as valid and enforceable and we were found to infringe them, we could be prohibited from selling any product that is found to infringe unless we could obtain licenses to use the technology covered by the patent or are able to design around the patent. We may be unable to obtain such a license on terms acceptable to us, if at all, and we may not be able to redesign our products to avoid infringement. A court could also order us to pay compensatory damages for such infringement, plus prejudgment interest and could, in addition, treble the compensatory damages and award attorney fees. These damages could be substantial and could harm our reputation, business, financial condition and operating results. A court also could enter orders that temporarily, preliminarily or permanently enjoin us and our customers from making, using, or selling products, and could enter an order mandating that we undertake certain remedial activities. Depending on the nature of the relief ordered by the court, we could become liable for additional damages to third parties.

We also employ individuals who were previously employed at other companies in our industry, including our competitors or potential competitors. We may be subject to claims that we or our employees, consultants or independent contractors have inadvertently or otherwise used or disclosed intellectual property, including trade secrets or other proprietary information, of any of our employee’s former employer or other third parties. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these claims. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights or personnel, which could adversely impact our business. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees.

We may be subject to claims challenging the inventorship or ownership of our patents and other intellectual property.

We may be subject to claims that former employees, collaborators or other third parties have an interest in our patents or other intellectual property as an inventor or co-inventor. For example, we may have inventorship disputes arise from conflicting obligations of consultants or others who are involved in developing our products. Litigation may be necessary to defend against these and other claims challenging inventorship. If we fail in defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights, such as exclusive ownership of, or right to use, valuable intellectual property. Such an outcome could have a material adverse effect on our business. Even if we are successful in defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to management and other employees.

We employ individuals or hire consultants who are employed by or otherwise affiliated with universities and have commitments or obligations under employment agreements, policies, and other contracts with those universities. Failure by these employees and consultants to comply with their commitments or obligations to any university may result in disputes over our intellectual property or technology. The resolution of any dispute that may arise could narrow what we believe to be the scope of our rights to the relevant intellectual property or technology, which could adversely impact our business.

We may need to depend on certain technologies that are licensed to us. We would not control these technologies and any loss of our rights to them could prevent us from selling our products.

We have entered into license agreements with third parties for certain licensed technologies that are not currently utilized in the systems we market but may be in the future. In addition, we may in the future elect to license third-party intellectual property to further our business objectives and/or as needed for freedom to operate our systems. We do not and will not own the patents or patent applications that are a subject of these licenses. Our rights to use these technologies and employ the inventions claimed in the licensed patents and patent applications are or will be subject to the continuation of and compliance with the terms of those licenses.

In some cases, we do not or may not control the prosecution, maintenance, or filing of the patents or patent applications to which we hold licenses, or the enforcement of these patents against third parties. As a result, we cannot be certain that drafting or prosecution of the licensed patents and patent applications by the licensors have been or will be conducted in compliance with applicable laws and regulations or will result in valid and enforceable patents and other intellectual property rights.

Moreover, disputes may arise regarding intellectual property subject to a licensing agreement, including:

In addition, the agreements under which we currently license intellectual property or technology from third parties are complex, and certain provisions in such agreements may be susceptible to multiple interpretations. The resolution of any contract interpretation disagreement that may arise could narrow what we believe to be the scope of our rights to the relevant intellectual property or technology, or increase what we believe to be our financial or other obligations under the relevant agreement, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects. Moreover, if disputes over intellectual property that we have licensed prevent or impair our ability to maintain our current licensing arrangements on commercially acceptable terms, we may be unable to successfully develop and commercialize the affected products, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial conditions, results of operations, and prospects.

Risks Related to our Reliance on Third Parties

Our suppliers may fail to deliver materials and parts according to schedules, prices, quality and volumes that are acceptable to us, or we may be unable to manage these materials and parts effectively.

Our products contain materials and parts purchased globally from numerous  suppliers, including single-source direct suppliers, which exposes us to potential component shortages or delays. Unexpected changes in business conditions, materials pricing, labor issues, natural disasters, health epidemics, trade and shipping disruptions, port congestions and other factors beyond our or our suppliers’ control could also affect these suppliers’ ability to deliver components to us or to remain solvent and operational. Additionally, if our suppliers do not accurately forecast and effectively allocate production or if they are not willing to allocate sufficient production to us, it may reduce our access to components and require us to search for new suppliers. The unavailability of any component or supplier could result in production delays, idle manufacturing facilities, product design changes and loss of access to important technology and tools for producing and supporting our products, as well as impact the capacity of our AirSCWO systems. Product design changes by us may also require us to procure additional components in a short amount of time. Our suppliers may not be willing or able to sustainably meet our timelines or our cost, quality and volume needs, or to do so may cost us more, which may require us to replace them with other sources. There is no assurance that we will be able to secure additional or alternate sources for our components quickly or at all.

As we scale production of our AirSCWO systems, we will also need to accurately forecast, purchase, warehouse and transport components at high volumes to our manufacturing facilities. If we are unable to accurately match the timing and quantities of component purchases to our actual needs or successfully implement automation, inventory management and other systems to accommodate the increased complexity in our supply chain and parts management, we may incur unexpected production disruption, storage, transportation and write- off costs, which may harm our business and operating results.

Failure by third parties to supply or manufacture components of our products or to deploy our systems timely or properly could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We have been and expect to continue to be dependent on third parties to supply and manufacture components of our technology. If, for any reason, our third-party manufacturers or vendors are not willing or able to provide us with components or supplies in a timely fashion, or at all, our ability to manufacture and sell many of our products could be impaired, which, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial position.

We do not have long-term contracts with all of our third-party suppliers and manufacturers or vendors. Therefore, if we do not develop ongoing relationships with those vendors located in different regions, we may not be successful at controlling unit costs as our manufacturing volume increases. We may not be able to negotiate new arrangements with these third parties on acceptable terms, or at all. In addition, we rely on third parties, under our oversight, for the deployment and installation of our AirSCWO systems. For example, the manufacture, assembly and installation of the hydraulic, control and automation and electrical sub-systems of our AirSCWO systems are performed by third-party suppliers. The mechanical sub-system is installed (moored) at the relevant project site by third-party engineering service providers. If these third parties do not properly manufacture, assemble, and install our AirSCWO technology and systems, or otherwise do not perform adequately, or if we fail to recruit and retain third parties to deploy our systems in particular geographic areas, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Risks Related to our Common Stock and Capital Structure

The market price of our common stock historically has been highly volatile and is likely to continue to be volatile, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

The market price of our common stock has been volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. In addition to the factors discussed in this “Risk Factors” section and elsewhere in this Annual Report, these factors include:

In addition, companies trading in the stock market in general, and on the Nasdaq Capital Market, have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations, and we have in the past experienced volatility that has been unrelated or disproportionate to our operating performance. Broad market and industry factors may negatively affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance.

Further, on some occasions, our share price may be, or may be purported to be, subject to “short squeeze” activity. A “short squeeze” is a technical market condition that occurs when the price of a stock increases substantially, forcing market participants who had taken a position that its price would fall (i.e., who had sold the stock “short”), to buy it, which in turn may create a significant, short-term demand for the stock not for fundamental reasons, but rather due to the need for such market participants to acquire the stock in order to forestall the risk of even greater losses. A “short squeeze” condition in the market for a stock can lead to short-term conditions involving very high volatility and trading that may or may not track fundamental valuation models.

In addition, in the past, class action litigation has often been instituted against companies whose securities experienced periods of volatility in market price. Securities litigation brought against us following volatility in the price of our common stock, regardless of the merit or ultimate results of such litigation, could result in substantial costs, which would hurt our financial condition and operating results and divert management’s attention and resources from our business.

The interests of our principal stockholders, officers and directors, who collectively beneficially own a significant amount of our common stock, may not coincide with yours and such stockholders will have the ability to control decisions with which you may disagree.

At December 31, 2024, our principal stockholders, officers and directors beneficially owned approximately 43.5% of our common stock. As a result, our principal stockholders, officers and directors will have the ability to control matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions. In addition, this concentration of ownership may delay or prevent a change in control of the Company and make some future transactions more difficult or impossible without the support of our controlling stockholders. The interests of such stockholders may not coincide with your interests or the interests of other stockholders.

Because we are a “smaller reporting company,” we may take advantage of certain scaled disclosures available to us, resulting in holders of our securities receiving less Company information than they would receive from a public company that is not a smaller reporting company.

We are a “smaller reporting company” as defined under Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. As a smaller reporting company, we may take advantage of certain of the scaled disclosures available to smaller reporting companies and will be able to take advantage of these scaled disclosures for so long as (i) our Common Stock held by non-affiliates is less than $250 million measured on the last business day of our second fiscal quarter, or (ii) our annual revenue is less than $100 million during the most recently completed fiscal year and our Common Stock held by non-affiliates is less than $700 million measured on the last business day of our second fiscal quarter. Based on the closing price of our common stock on June 30, 2024, we will remain a smaller reporting company through at least the end of fiscal year 2025.  To the extent we take advantage of any reduced disclosure obligations, it may make it harder for investors to analyze the Company’s results of operations and financial prospectus in comparison with other public companies.

As a smaller reporting company, we are permitted to comply with scaled-back disclosure obligations in our SEC filings compared to other issuers, including with respect to disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements. We have elected to adopt the accommodations available to smaller reporting companies. Until we cease to be a smaller reporting company, the scaled-back disclosure in our SEC filings will result in less information about our company being available than for other public companies.

If investors consider our Common Stock less attractive as a result of our election to use the scaled-back disclosure permitted for smaller reporting companies, there may be a less active trading market for our Common Stock and our share price may be more volatile.

We do not intend to pay dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future.

We currently intend to retain our future earnings to finance the development and expansion of our business and, therefore, do not intend to pay cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future. The timing, declaration, amount and payment of future dividends to stockholders will fall within the discretion of our Board of Directors. Our Board of Directors’ decisions regarding the payment of future dividends will depend on many factors, including our financial condition, earnings, capital requirements of our business and covenants associated with debt obligations, as well as legal requirements, regulatory constraints, industry practice and other factors that our Board of Directors deem relevant. There can be no assurance that we will pay a dividend in the future or continue to pay any dividend if we do commence paying dividends.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research about our business, or publish negative reports about our business, our share price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock may, depend on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about our business. We do not have any control over these analysts. If one or more of the analysts elect to cover us and downgrade our shares or lower their opinion of our shares, our share price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts elect to cover us and subsequently cease coverage of the Company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause our share price or trading volume to decline.

Additionally, there may be risks associated with us becoming public through a merger. Securities analysts of major brokerage firms and securities institutions may not provide coverage of us because there were no broker-dealers who sold our stock in a public offering that would be incentivized to follow or recommend the purchase of our common stock. The absence of such research coverage could limit investor interest in our common stock, resulting in decreased liquidity. No assurance can be given that established brokerage firms will, in the future, want to cover our securities or conduct any secondary offerings or other financings on our behalf.

Future sales or potential sales of our common stock in the public market could cause our share price to decline.

If the existing holders of our common stock, particularly our directors and officers, sell a large number of shares, they could adversely affect the market price for our common stock. We have an at-the-market equity offering pursuant to which, we can issue up to an aggregate of $100 million of common stock, subject to applicable law and our previous at-the-market equity offering sales. Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales could occur, could cause the market price of our common stock to decline.

The market price of our common stock has been, and may continue to be, particularly volatile, and our shareholders may be unable to resell their shares at a profit. The market price of our common shares has significantly declined over the past twelve months, and may continue to fluctuate or decline in the future. Between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2024, the closing price per share of our common shares has ranged from a high of $4.94 (on April 3, 2023) to a low of $0.67 (on December 30, 2024). We believe that one of the reasons for the continual decline in our common stock market price is due to the significant supply that far exceeds demand, as a result of the large volume of sales of our common stock by a single significant stockholder of the Company. Sales by such significant stockholder are out of our control, and there is no assurance that such stockholder will not continue to engage in such sales.

If we cannot find ways to successfully manage our stock price, our business and financial condition may be negatively impacted. We may not be able to attract new investors and other stakeholders, and we may not be able to secure financing or otherwise acquire capital in the market (either on favorable terms or at all). If our share price is volatile, we may also become the target of securities litigation, which could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention and resources from our business. Since our stock price has been trading below $1.00 per share, we are also subject to delisting from the Nasdaq stock exchange if we cannot improve our stock price and regain full compliance with the Nasdaq listing standards.

We incur costs as a result of operating as a public company, and our management will be required to devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives.

As a public reporting company, we incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and rules subsequently implemented by the SEC, have imposed various requirements on public companies, including establishment and maintenance of effective disclosure and financial controls and corporate governance practices. Our management and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives. Moreover, these rules and regulations will entail significant legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly. For example, we expect that these rules and regulations may make it difficult and expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept low policy limits and coverage.

Provisions in our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws and of Delaware law may prevent or delay an acquisition of the Company, which could decrease the trading price of our common stock.

Several provisions of our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, Bylaws and Delaware law may discourage, delay or prevent a merger or acquisition that stockholders may consider favorable. These include, but are not limited to, provisions that:

These and other provisions of our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, Bylaws and Delaware law may discourage, delay or prevent certain types of transactions involving an actual or a threatened acquisition or change in control of us, including unsolicited takeover attempts, even though the transaction may offer our stockholders the opportunity to sell their shares of our common stock at a price above the prevailing market price.

We may not regain compliance with the continued listing requirements of The Nasdaq Capital Market.

As previously reported on our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on January 15, 2025, the Company received a deficiency letter from the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Department (the “Staff”) of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) notifying the Company that, for the last 30 consecutive business days, the closing bid price for the Company’s common stock has been below the minimum $1.00 per share required for continued listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) (the “Minimum Bid Price Requirement”).

In accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A), the Company has been given 180 calendar days, or until July 14, 2025, to regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement. If at any time before July 14, 2025, the bid price of the Company’s common stock closes at $1.00 per share or more for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days, the Staff will provide written confirmation that the Company has achieved compliance.

The Company intends to monitor the closing bid price of its common stock and may, if appropriate, consider available options to regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement, including initiating a reverse stock split. However, there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to regain compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement or will otherwise be in compliance with other Nasdaq Listing Rules.

Further,  as previously reported on our Current Report on Form 8-K filed on March 13, 2025, the Company notified the Staff of Nasdaq that the Company no longer complies with Nasdaq’s independent director requirement (“Independent Director Requirement”) as set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5605(b)(1), which requires a majority of the Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”) to be comprised of Independent Directors as defined in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5605(a)(2). On that same date, the Company received a letter from Nasdaq confirming the foregoing (the “Letter”).

Consistent with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5605(b)(1)(A), the Letter provides that the Company is eligible for a cure period in which to regain compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5605(b)(1). This cure period will expire at the earlier of the Company’s next annual meeting of stockholders or March 9, 2026; or if the Company’s next annual meeting is held before September 8, 2025, then the Company must evidence compliance no later than September 8, 2025.

The Company intends to elect an additional Independent Director to the Board as soon as practicable and prior to the expiration of this cure period. However, there can be no assurance that the Company will successfully regain compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5605(b)(1) within the applicable cure period.

The Minimum Bid Price Requirement and Independent Director Requirement deficiencies have no immediate effect on the listing or trading of the Company’s common stock, which will continue to be listed and traded on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “SCWO,” subject to the Company’s compliance with the other Nasdaq listing requirements.

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS.

None.

ITEM 1C. CYBERSECURITY

Cybersecurity Risk Management and Strategy

Our cybersecurity risk management program includes the following:

There can be no assurance that our cybersecurity risk management program and processes, including our policies, controls or procedures, will be fully implemented, complied with or effective in protecting our systems and information.

Cybersecurity Governance

Our Chief Administrative Officer (“CAO”) is primarily responsible for assessing and managing our material risks from cybersecurity threats. Our CAO leads our security team and coordinates with our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Information Technology Manager to fully integrate our cybersecurity risk management programs with our overall enterprise risk management program. Our Information Technology Manager CAO  is responsible for overseeing and managing all potential and actual incidents that are identified by our security team. Our security team regularly updates our systems with updates, anti-virus signatures, policies and security best practices. At least annually, our CAO  reports to the Audit Committee of the Board updates to the Company’s cybersecurity risk management program and any material cyber incidents. Our Sr Information Technology Manager has extensive expertise and experience on cybersecurity matters, including identification, remediation, and management..

Our Board considers cybersecurity risks as part of its risk oversight function and has delegated to the Audit Committee oversight of cybersecurity and other information technology risks.

The Audit Committee oversees management’s implementation of our cybersecurity risk management program and receives updates on the cybersecurity risk management program from management at least annually.  In addition, management updates the Audit Committee regarding any material or significant cybersecurity incidents, as well as incidents with lesser impact potential as necessary.

The Audit Committee reports to the full Board annually regarding cybersecurity.

Ongoing Risks

We have not experienced any material cybersecurity incidents. We have not identified risks from known cybersecurity threats, including as a result of any prior cybersecurity incidents, that have materially affected us, including our operations, business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition.

Incident Response and Assessment Policies and Procedures

We align with industry-standard cybersecurity frameworks designed to protect the company and customer data from unintentional disclosure, cybersecurity events, and other threats of all severity levels. As part of our alignment with these frameworks we are in the process of implementing a Cybersecurity Incident Response Plan that outlines actions to be taken after identifying a suspected information security breach and the people responsible for managing those actions. Additionally, this plan will outline communication responsibilities during incidents of all severity levels.

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES.

On October 15, 2024, the Company executed an operating lease for 3,317 square feet of laboratory space located in North Carolina.   The lease began September 1, 2024 and ends October 1, 2029 with one five-year extension period. Monthly rental payments required under the lease are subject to annual increases and range from $14,235 to $16,503 over the initial term of the lease.

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.

See Note 9, Commitments and Contingencies to our consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2024 contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES.

Not applicable.

PART II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES. 

Our common stock is traded on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “SCWO”.  As of March 27, 2025, there were 368 holders of record of our common stock. The following table sets forth the range of high and low sales prices for the Company stock for the periods indicated.

Dividends

We have never declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock, nor do we intend to declare or pay any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. Subject to the limitations described below, the holders of our common stock are entitled to receive only such dividends (cash or otherwise) as may (or may not) be declared by our Board of Directors.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

All of 374Water’s sales of unregistered securities since inception have been made pursuant to private offerings to accredited investors. The sales set forth below were made pursuant to an exemption from registration requirements under Regulation D and/or Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Except as otherwise noted below, no placement agent fees or commissions were paid on these offerings, and net proceeds were used for working capital.

In connection with the Merger with PowerVerde in April 2021, 374Water closed on a private placement of 436,783 shares of Series D Convertible Preferred Stock (the “Preferred Stock”) with a par value of $0.0001, yielding gross proceeds of $6,551,745 (the “Private Placement”) and the settlement of a $50,000 liability for Preferred Stock shares. The Private Placement proceeds were used for working capital, primarily for development, manufacture and commercialization of 374Water Inc.’s AirSCWO Nix systems. The Preferred Stock has a stated value of $15 per share, is convertible into common stock at $0.30 per share and has voting rights based on the underlying shares of common stock. Upon liquidation of the Company, the Preferred Stockholders have liquidation preference before any assets can be distributed to common stockholders. All of the Preferred Stock was sold pursuant to an exemption from registration requirements under Regulation D and/or Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

In December 2021, 374Water closed on a private placement of 2,500,000 shares of Common Stock (the “Common Shares”) with a par value of $0.0001 and at an exercise price of $2.00 yielding $5,000,000. The private placement proceeds were raised to assist in the Company’s efforts towards meeting Nasdaq uplisting requirements.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

As of December 31, 2024, the Company did not have any purchases of equity securities from stockholders.

ITEM 6. [RESERVED]

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS. 

The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes thereto appearing elsewhere herein.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

The consolidated financial statements of 374Water Inc., (“374Water Inc.,” “we,” “us,” “our,” or the “Company”) are prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires our management to make estimates and assumptions about future events that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and related notes. Future events and their effects cannot be determined with absolute certainty. Therefore, the determination of estimates requires the exercise of judgment. We believe the following critical accounting policies affect its more significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements.

Long-Lived Assets

The Company reviews long-lived assets, including property and equipment and intangible assets with finite lives, for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. The Company uses an estimate of the undiscounted cash flows over the remaining life of its long-lived assets, or related group of assets where applicable, in measuring whether the assets to be held and used will be realizable. Recoverability of assets held and used is measured by a comparison of the carrying amount to the future undiscounted expected net cash flows to be generated by the asset. As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, there were no impairments.

Inventory

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Cost is determined on a first-in, first-out basis. The majority of our inventory is raw materials and work in progress. Net realizable value is the value of an asset that can be realized upon the sale of the asset, less a reasonable estimate of the costs associated with either the eventual sale or the disposal of the asset in question. Costs associated with fabrication, and other costs associated with the manufacturing of products, are recorded as inventory. We periodically evaluate the carrying value of our inventories in relation to estimated forecasts of product demand, which takes into consideration the life cycle of product releases. When quantities on hand exceed estimated sales or usage forecasts, we perform an analysis to determine if a write-down for such excess inventories is required. Once inventory has been written down, it creates a new cost basis for inventory. Inventories are classified as current assets in accordance with recognized industry practice. Based on our evaluation, we estimated an inventory allowance of $50,000 and $0 at December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively.

Revenue Recognition

The Company follows the revenue standards of Codification (ASC) Topic 606: “Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606).” The core principle of this Topic is that an entity recognizes revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services. Revenue is recognized in accordance with that core principle by applying the following five steps: 1) identify the contracts with a customer; 2) identify the performance obligations in the contract; 3) determine the transaction price; 4) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations; and 5) recognize revenue when (or as) we satisfy a performance obligation using the input method.

The Company generates revenue from the sale of equipment (AirSCWO systems) and services, specifically the completion of treatability studies and demonstration services of various types of waste streams. In the case of revenues from AirSCWO systems, the Company’s performance obligations are satisfied over time over the life of the contract, which is currently a long-term fixed price contract. Revenue is recognized over time by measuring the progress toward complete satisfaction of the performance obligation using specific milestones. These milestones within the contract are assigned revenue recognition percentages, based on overall expected cost-plus margin estimates of those milestones compared to the total cost of the contract. Equipment sale related contract revenues are recognized in proportion to the contract costs incurred compared to the total estimated costs to complete. This method is used because management considers the input method to be the best available measure of progress on these contracts.

Changes in our overall expected cost estimates are recognized as a cumulative adjustment for the inception-to-date effective of such change. If these changes in estimates result in a possible loss being incurred on the contract, we accrue for such a loss in the period such an outcome becomes probable.

Services revenues, from treatability studies, are recognized when all five revenue recognition criteria have been completed which is generally when the Company has delivered a completed treatability study report to the customer.

During 2024, we deployed our Demo System to the City of Orlando’s Iron Bridge Regional Water Reclamation Facility pursuant to a contract executed in March 2024 as part of a full-scale demonstration (the “Demo Contract”). Pursuant to the Demo Contract, the Company is responsible for system design, installation, commissioning and the start-up of the AirSCWO system at the facility. Further, the Company will operate and maintain the AirSCWO system for a period of approximately three months and is required to treat no less than 193 metric tons of waste water during the three-month period. Lastly, the Company will decommission, disassemble and demobilize the AirSCWO system after the contract period. The Company will receive $812,000 as consideration, of which $574,000 is subject to achieving the 193 metric ton performance requirement over the three-month period of operations and maintenance.

In accordance with ASC 606-10-25-21, we have concluded that the Demo Contract includes one performance obligation as the various services required to be performed by the Company are interdependent and highly interrelated. Therefore, the various services are not separate and distinct. We will recognize revenue on this Demo Contract over the three-month period of operations and maintenance which is the point in time that the City of Orlando receives the benefit simultaneous to Company’s performance.

We will invoice the City of Orlando in accordance with the contract terms. Invoices are due within thirty days of receipt. The City of Orlando has the right to cancel the Demo Contract for convenience with a twenty-day written notice but is responsible for paying the Company all amounts owed and outstanding for work performed prior to the effective termination date and costs and expenses incurred by the Company to uninstall, remove, relocate and deliver the AirSCWO system up to a limit of $68,000.

Contract costs include all direct material, labor and subcontractor costs and those indirect costs related to contract performance, such as indirect labor, supplies, tools, repairs, and depreciation. As of December 31, 2024, we have capitalized $136,651 of costs incurred to date to fulfill the Demo contract which are presented as contract assets. We will expense these costs over the three-month demonstration period. General, selling, and administrative costs are charged to expenses as incurred.

Onerous Contracts

Onerous contracts are those where the costs to fulfill a contract exceed the consideration expected to be received under the contract. The revenue standard does not provide guidance on the accounting for onerous contracts or onerous performance obligations. GAAP contains other applicable guidance on the accounting for onerous contracts, and those requirements should be used to identify and measure onerous contracts.

The Company’s outstanding equipment manufacturing contract on our sold unit is a fixed price contract (“Equipment Sale Contract”). Due to the nature of the contract, including customer specific equipment design, we applied ASC 605-35, Revenue Recognition—Provision for Losses on Construction-Type and Production-Type Contract (ASC 605-35). ASC 605-35 requires the recognition of a liability for anticipated losses on contracts prior to those losses being incurred when a loss is probable and can be estimated.

At December 31, 2024 and 2023, the Company evaluated the total costs incurred on this Equipment Sale Contract to date and the estimated costs it anticipates incurring to complete the contract. Based on this analysis, we accrued a total accrued loss provision of $1,000,000 and $500,000 at December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, which has been presented on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets and is recorded within cost of revenues on the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company accounts for stock-based compensation under the provisions of ASC Topic 718 – “Stock Compensation” which requires the use of the fair-value based method to determine compensation for all arrangements under which employees and others receive shares of stock or equity instruments (stock options and common stock purchase warrants). The fair value of each stock option award is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes valuation model that uses assumptions for expected volatility, expected dividends, expected term, and the risk-free interest rate. Expected volatilities are based on historical volatility of peer companies and other factors estimated over the expected term of the stock options. The expected term of options granted is derived using the “simplified method” which computes expected term as the average of the sum of the vesting term plus the contract term. The risk-free rate is based on the U.S. Treasury yield curve in effect at the time of grant for the period of the expected term.

Prior to January 1, 2024, the Company had elected to estimate options granted for which the requisite service period would not be rendered, due to the option being forfeited or expiring. The forfeiture rate estimate was based on the percentage of cumulative forfeitures to the total award grants. During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company compared its actual forfeiture rate to its estimated forfeiture rate and made a cumulative adjustment of approximately $55,000 in the year ended December 31, 2023 to reduce its forfeiture rate estimate to approximately 5% of the total stock-based compensation recognized during the year.

Effective January 1, 2024, the Company made a change in its accounting policy to recognize forfeitures on service-based stock award instruments as they occur. Due to the lack of history available to adequately estimate its forfeiture rate and the fact that the majority of its serviced based options include a one-year cliff vesting and monthly vesting after, the Company believes recognizing forfeitures as they occur will result in more accurate financial reporting. The change in this accounting policy did not have a significant impact on the current or prior period financial statements.

Overview

374Water Inc. is a global industrial technology and services company providing innovative solutions addressing global organic waste destruction/treatment and waste management issues within the Municipal, Federal, and Industrial markets.  374Water offers our proprietary AirSCWO system, which is designed to efficiently destroy and mineralize a broad spectrum of non-hazardous and hazardous organic wastes producing safe dischargeable water streams, safe mineral effluent, safe vent gas, and recoverable heat energy.  Importantly, our AirSCWO system eliminates recalcitrant organic wastes without creating waste byproducts. Our AirSCWO system effectively converts solid and liquid wastes such as sewage sludge, biosolids, food waste, hazardous and non-hazardous waste, and forever chemicals (e.g., “per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances” or “PFAS”) into recoverable resources including water, minerals, and heat energy, by focusing on waste as a valuable resource.

In fiscal year 2024, 374Water outlined a new strategic plan and tactical roadmap. Throughout the year, we executed our plan reaching critical milestones which we believe position the Company’s business outlook well for fiscal year 2025. 2024 achievements include (i) ruggedizing and optimizing our AirSCWO system to effectively and continuously process a variety of organic waste streams; (ii) deploying our first commercial scale AirSCWO system to the City of Orlando’s Iron Bridge Water Reclamation Facility; (iii) completing various federal and industrial waste destruction demonstrations; (iv) growing our backlog and pipeline in the municipal, federal and industrial markets; (v) relocating our laboratory facility to a significantly larger state-of-the-art Biosafety Level 1 Laboratory to meet increasing lab-scale waste destruction demand and expedite the advancement of our AirSCWO technology; (vi) relocating our manufacturing operations; and strengthening our leadership team and organization.

374Water has a robust plan to scale revenue, operations, and capitalize our business. During 2025, we expect  to complete our commercial-scale demonstration under our contract with the City of Orlando; mobilize an AS system to Detroit, MI in partnership with the Defense Innovation Unit to demonstrate AirSCWO’s waste destruction effectiveness for specific U.S. Department of Defense applications; deploy an AirSCWO system to the Orange County Sanitation District in Fountain Valley, CA; mobilize an AirSCWO system to St. Cloud, MN, as part of a Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) initiative to demonstrate its effectiveness destroying Minnesota waste; further scale our manufacturing capacity to meet client demand for AirSCWO systems of various sizes; continue to improve our AirSCWO technology; and begin accepting third-party waste streams for our initial WDS hub(s) at partner a TSDF.

Results of Operations

The following table sets forth, for the periods presented, the consolidated statements of operations data, which is derived from the accompanying consolidated financial statements: 

Year Ended December 31, 2024, as Compared to the Year Ended December 31, 2023

Our business has been focused on the development and commercialization of 374Water’s supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) systems. We generated $445,445 and $743,952 in revenue from manufacturing assembly services and from treatability study services during the years ended December 31, 2024, and 2023, respectively. During 2024, we reached fewer milestones and thus incurred less direct contract costs. Costs associated with our sold unit have started to decline as we reach the end of our fabrication and testing, which have had a direct correlation to the reduced revenue recognized this year under our percentage of completion revenue recognition method. The Company has gained momentum on many promising leads which have been produced through early treatability studies but has not resulted in the sale of any additional AirSCWO units to this point. This has had a direct impact on our change in revenue year-over-year.

Our research and development expenses increased to $2,143,471 during the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to $1,496,129 in the same period of 2023, primarily due to the increase in engineering expenses and expenses stemming from our continued efforts to commercialize our systems.

Our compensation and related expenses increased to $3,685,007 during the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to $2,854,494 in the same period of 2023. The increase is primarily due to increased hiring as we build our executive team with four new executive hires, salary increases to certain key employees in 2024, and an accrual of bonuses for the executive team.

Our professional fees increased to $2,231,005 during the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to $508,795 in the same period of 2023, primarily attributed to an increase in legal fees related to a legal settlement, a legal complaint filed by our former chief executive officer for which we have accrued an estimated legal settlement of $335,000, and general legal expenses incurred in 2024 related to our previously disclosed change in executive leadership.   Further, we incurred additional professional fees for executive search services related to the finding and hiring of certain executives we have hired in 2024.

Our general and administrative expenses increased to $3,831,068 during the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to $2,675,202 in the same period of 2023. The increase is primarily because of an increase stock-based compensation, travel, and other general and administrative expenses as we continue to build out our executive team. We also incurred relocation related expenses as we moved to our short-term leased manufacturing facility in Florida.

Our other income decreased to $369,144 during the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to $539,354 in the same period of 2023, which is a result of the interest income we earned on our interest-bearing cash accounts that we opened in June 2023. We had previously held any excess funds in an investment account. The amount of interest we earn is directly related to the amount of interest-bearing cash held in the accounts which decreased in 2024.

Our net loss increased to $12,434,114 during the year ended December 31, 2024, as compared to $8,103,522 in the same period of 2023. This is primarily due to increased expenses for the reasons described above. Substantial net losses are expected until we are able to generate sufficient cash flows from the sale of our AirSCWO systems, treatability studies and Waste Destruction Services, as to which there can be no assurance.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

We have an at-the-market (ATM) equity offering under which we may issue up to $100 million of common stock, which is currently effective and under which we commenced selling shares at the end of January 2023, and which will remain available to us in the future. During the years end December 31, 2024 and 2023, we raised approximately $0 and $13,441,000 million of net proceeds through this ATM. During the year ended December 31, 2024, the costs of the ATM of approximately $65,500 exceeded the proceeds of approximately $62,400 resulting in net issuance costs of approximately $3,100.

In November 2024, we completed a registered direct offering of 9,783,496 shares of our common stock and warrants to purchase 14,675,244 shares of our common stock. The warrants have an exercise price of $1.125 per share and were sold at the rate of one- and one-half warrant for every share of common stock purchased in the public offering. The purchase price for one share of common stock and accompanying 1.5 warrants was $1.25. The offering resulted in gross proceeds of $12.2 million, which includes $0.8 million of placement agent’s fees and other expenses connected with the financing round, and resulted in net proceeds of $11.4 million.

We have financed our operations since inception principally through the sale of debt and equity securities and revenues.  As of December 31, 2024, we had working capital of $11,760,131 compared to working capital of $13,528,176 as of December 31, 2023. This decrease in working capital is due primarily to the at-the-market offering and the direct offering resulting in less proceeds than the at-the-market common stock offering completed in 2023.

Our primary need for liquidity is to fund working capital requirements of our business, capital expenditures, parts and materials to continue developing our AirSCWO systems and for general corporate purposes. Our primary source of liquidity is funds generated by financing activities and from private placements. Our ability to fund our operations, to make planned capital expenditures, and continuing developing our AirSCWO systems at a commercial scale depends on our future operating performance and cash flows, which are subject to prevailing economic conditions and financial, business and other factors, some of which are beyond our control.

We do not believe that these funds will satisfy our working capital needs for the next 12 months from the report date and we will need to raise additional capital to implement our business plan. There can be no assurance that any additional funds raised will be sufficient to finance our plan of operations and commercialize our systems or that we will be able to raise any necessary additional funds on a commercially reasonable basis or at all. 

If the Company is unable to generate significant sales growth in the near term and raise additional capital, there is a risk that the Company could be required to discontinue or significantly reduce the scope of its operations if no other means of financing operations are available. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments relating to the recoverability and classification of recorded asset amounts or the amount and classification of liabilities or any other adjustment that might be necessary should the Company be unable to continue as a going concern. The Company is evaluating strategies to obtain the required additional funding necessary for future operations and growth.

Cash Flows

The following table presents our cash flows for the periods presented:

As of December 31, 2024, cash on hand was $10,651,644, an increase of $206,240, or 2%, as compared to $10,445,404 as of December 31, 2023. During the year ended December 31, 2024, cash used in operations was $10,589,735, an increase of $1,554,748 as compared to $9,034,987 during the year ended December 31, 2023. The increase in cash used in operating activities was primarily due to the decrease in cash used in operating assets and liabilities of $1,969,352 and increase in non-cash expenses of $806,492, offset by the increase in our net loss of $4,330,592  The cash used in operations was primarily to fund operations as well as our working capital requirements.

During the year ended December 31, 2024, cash used by investing activities was $653,544, an increase of $2,505,261, as compared to cash provided by investing activities of $1,851,717 during the year ended December 31, 2023. The increase in cash used by investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared with the corresponding period in 2023 was primarily due to a $448,952 increase in purchases of property and equipment as we continue making progress towards commercializing our AirSCWO systems and deploying our owned unit for full-scale demonstrations as well as a $92,877 increase in intangible assets from increased patent activity. In 2023, we received $1,963,432 in proceeds from the sale of investments, which were not received in 2024.

During the year ended December 31, 2024, cash provided by financing activities was $11,449,519, a decrease of $2,129,419 compared to the same period in 2023. The decrease in cash provided by financing activities was due to more capital being raised in 2023 via our ATM compared to the cash raised in 2024 through our ATM and director offering completed in November 2024.  

ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK. 

Not required for smaller reporting companies.

ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA. 

The consolidated financial statements of the Company and other information required by this Item are set forth herein in a separate section beginning with the Index to the Financial Statements on page F-1.

ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE. 

None.

ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES. 

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

The Company, under the supervision and with the participation of the Company’s management, have evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of the Company’s “disclosure controls and procedures” (as defined in Rule 13a-15I under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based on that evaluation, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were not effective due to the identified material weakness in the Company’s internal controls over financial reporting.

Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act). Our management, with the participation of our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, evaluated the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024. Our management’s evaluation of our internal control over financial reporting was based on the framework in Internal Control-Integrated Framework (2013), issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on this evaluation, our management concluded that as of December 31, 2024, our internal control over financial reporting was not effective due to the lack of full-time resources in our finance and accounting department resulting in material weaknesses over our control environment and financial reporting. As a result of the identified material weaknesses, we are working to establish a remediation plan which includes recently hiring a full-time chief financial officer and actively searching for full-time personnel with the necessary skills and expertise to enhance the Company’s financial and accounting resources and control environment.

Because of its inherent limitations, a system of internal control over financial reporting can provide only reasonable assurance of such reliability and may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projection of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods is subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

No Attestation Report

Because the Company is a smaller reporting company, this annual report does not include an attestation report of the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. Management’s report was not subject to attestation by the Company’s registered public accounting firm pursuant to rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission that permit the Company to provide only management’s report in this annual report.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Other than as described above, there have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting in connection with the evaluation required by Rule 13a-15(d) of the Exchange Act that occurred during 2024 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION. 

None.

PART III

ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE.

The information required by this Item is set forth under the headings “Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance” and “Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance” in the Company’s 2025 Proxy Statement to be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) within 120 days after December 31, 2024 in connection with the solicitation of proxies for the Company’s 2024 annual meeting of shareholders and is incorporated herein by reference.

The Company has adopted an insider trading policy that governs the purchase, sale, and/or other transactions of our securities by our directors, officers and employees. In addition, with regard to the Company’s trading in its own securities, it is the Company’s policy to comply with the federal securities laws and the applicable exchange listing requirement.

ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION.

The information required by this Item is set forth under the heading “Executive Compensation” and under the subheadings “Board Oversight of Risk Management,” “Compensation of Directors,” “Director Compensation-2023 ” and “Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation” under the heading “Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance” in the Company’s 2025 Proxy Statement to be filed with the SEC within 120 days after December 31, 2024 and is incorporated herein by reference.

ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS.

The information required by this Item is set forth under the headings “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management” and “Equity Compensation Plan Information” in the Company’s 2025 Proxy Statement to be filed with the SEC within 120 days after December 31, 2024, and is incorporated herein by reference.

ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE.

The information required by this Item is set forth under the heading “Review, Approval or Ratification of Transactions with Related Persons” and under the subheading “Board Committees” under the heading “Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance” in the Company’s 2025 Proxy Statement to be filed with the SEC within 120 days after December 31, 2024 and is incorporated herein by reference.

ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES.

The information required by this Item is set forth under the subheadings “Fees Paid to Auditors” and “Policy on Audit Committee Pre-Approval of Audit and Non-Audit Services Performed by the Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm” under the proposal “Ratification of Appointment of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm” in the Company’s 2025 Proxy Statement to be filed with the SEC within 120 days after December 31, 2024 and is incorporated herein by reference.

PART IV

ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES. 

See Exhibit Index and Financial Statements Index, below.

374Water Inc. and Subsidiaries 

Annual Report on Form 10-K

Year Ended December 31, 2024

INDEX TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Board of Directors and Stockholders

374Water Inc. and subsidiaries

Durham, North Carolina

Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of 374Water, Inc. and subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”) as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, and the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the two-year period ended December 31, 2024, and the related notes (collectively, the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the years in the two‑year period ended December 31, 2024, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Explanatory Paragraph – Going Concern

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 3 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company has recurring losses and negative cash flows from operations that raise substantial doubt about their ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s evaluations of the events and conditions and management’s plans regarding those matters are also described in Note 3. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Basis for Opinion

These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matters

Critical audit matters are matters arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgements. We determined that there were no critical audit matters.  

374 Water Inc. and Subsidiaries

Consolidated Balance Sheets

As of December 31, 2024 and, 2023

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

374 Water Inc. and Subsidiaries

Consolidated Statements of Operations

For the Years Ended December 31, 2024 and 2023

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

374 Water Inc. and Subsidiaries

Consolidated Changes in Stockholders’ Equity

For the Years Ended December 31, 2024 and 2023