13. Commitments and Contingencies

 

Lease Agreement

 

The Company has a month-to-month lease for a suite at a cost of $530 per month. The Company incurred $7,743 and $7,830 of rent expense, including common tenant costs and cancellation costs, during the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.

  

Litigation

 

From time to time, the Company may become involved in legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business. Liabilities for loss contingencies arising from claims, assessments, litigation, fines, penalties, and other sources are recognized, if and when it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount can be reasonably estimated.

 

On November 6, 2025, ARC Group Limited and ARC Opportunity Fund Limited (together, “ARC”) filed a complaint against the Company and certain officers of the Company in the District Court of Minnesota, Fourth Judicial District (the “ARC Complaint”). The ARC Complaint alleges that the Company has breached certain contracts that the Company entered into with ARC before the closing of the Business Combination, including certain financial advisory contracts entered into by the Company at the direction of the sponsor of the Business Combination (the “sponsor”; the Company notes that the sponsor is an affiliate of ARC). Specifically, the ARC Complaint asserts that the Company breached these contracts by issuing certain shares of Common Stock to ARC contemporaneously with the closing of the Business Combination and improperly cancelling those shares after the Business Combination as well as by failing to pay ARC certain cash amounts when due. The ARC Complaint seeks an order of specific performance requiring the Company to reinstate the cancelled shares of Common Stock or, in the alternative, compensatory damages for such cancellation as well as payment of the other purported amounts due. The ARC Complaint also asserts tort claims arising out of the Company’s actions and seeks compensatory damages (plus prejudgment interest) and punitive damages in connection with such claims but does not specify an amount of damages.

 

The Company notes that no shares of Common Stock were actually issued to ARC prior to or contemporaneously with the closing of the Business Combination and that, as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, the Company has recorded a forward contract to issue 1,240,644 shares of its Common Stock to ARC for success fees earned in connection with the Business Combination (see Note 8). As of December 31, 2025 and 2024, the Company has recorded aggregate cash liabilities payable to ARC equal to $0.4 million. The Company intends to vigorously defend itself against the claims in the ARC Complaint in excess of these amounts. The Company is also assessing whether there are any counterclaims available to it arising out of self-dealing transactions between ARC and the sponsor. Accordingly, the Company has not recorded any additional liability arising out of the ARC Complaint as the Company does not believe any incremental loss is probable, and the Company cannot estimate any reasonably possible loss or range of possible loss. On March 19, 2026, ARC voluntarily dismissed the complaint without prejudice.

 

The Company was not subject to any other material legal proceedings during the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024.

 

Historical Timeline

Fiscal YearFiled
2025Mar 30, 2026Showing above
2024Apr 15, 2025
2023Apr 9, 2024
2022Mar 31, 2023
2021Apr 1, 2022

About Commitments Disclosures

Commitments and contingencies disclosures catalog a company's off-balance-sheet obligations and legal exposures — purchase commitments, guarantee arrangements, pending litigation, and regulatory proceedings. These items represent potential future cash outflows that may not appear as liabilities on the balance sheet until they become probable and estimable.

Key signals: litigation reserves and disclosed loss ranges quantify management's estimate of legal exposure, but unquantified "reasonably possible" losses often represent the larger risk. Watch for changes in language around pending cases — shifts from "remote" to "reasonably possible" or increases in estimated loss ranges signal deteriorating outcomes. Unconditional purchase obligations and take-or-pay contracts create fixed cost structures that reduce operational flexibility. Guarantee arrangements for subsidiaries or joint ventures can create cascading obligations. Compare the total commitment schedule against projected free cash flow to assess whether the company can meet its obligations without additional financing.