Good afternoon and thank you for participating in today's conference call. Now I will turn the call over to Bob Chamness, Chief Legal Officer. Mr. Chamness, please proceed.

Thank you. Welcome to our Q1 conference call. Riley McCormack, our CEO; and Charles Beck, our CFO, are with me on the call. On the call today, we will discuss Q1 financial results and provide a business update. This will be followed by a question-and-answer forum. We have posted our prepared remarks in the Investor Relations section of our website and will archive this webcast there. Before we begin, let me remind everyone that today's discussion contains forward-looking statements that have risks and uncertainties. Please refer to our press release for more information on the specific risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially. Charles will now comment on our Q1 financial results.

Thank you, Bob, and hello, everyone. As a reminder, the acquisition of EVRYTHNG closed January 3, 2022. In order to provide transparency, I will reference the impact the acquisition had on both of our revenue and expenses in Q1 2022. We are also starting to report non-GAAP financial measures in our Form 10-Q and earnings release to improve comparability between periods. These non-GAAP financial measures include non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross profit margin, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP net loss and non-GAAP net loss per common share. We are introducing these non-GAAP measures given an increase in the number and magnitude of nonrecurring and noncash items that impact comparability between periods as well as level the underlying performance of our business. These non-GAAP measures exclude noncash expenses like depreciation expense, amortization expense, stock-based compensation expense and asset impairments. They also exclude nonrecurring items like transaction costs associated with business acquisitions and other nonrecurring items that may arise. I will reference these non-GAAP results in my prepared remarks as well as specifically highlight the relevant amounts. While we believe these non-GAAP results provide the truest measure of the underlying performance of our business, we want to provide the information necessary for every investor to do their own analysis. We've included a reconciliation of each non-GAAP financial measure to the mostly directly comparable GAAP financial figure within our earnings release, which is available in the Investor Relations section of our website. First year commercial bookings were $3.8 million during the quarter, up 50% from Q1 2021. EVRYTHNG contributed $600,000 in first year bookings during Q1 2022. We are breaking out EVRYTHNG bookings this quarter. But as we now sell combined products, it will not be practical to provide a full breakout in the future. As I mentioned on our last earnings call, we…

Thanks, Charles. First off, as we announced in December, Bob Chamness will be retiring at the end of this quarter. So Bob, I want to recognize that thank you for your years of service and wish you much happiness in your new journey. You're leaving behind a wonderful legacy, and we promised you we got it from here. All right, so now onto the quarter. from the beginning to the end, Q1 was an eventful quarter. The quarter began with the January 3 closing of our acquisition of EVRYTHNG. The quarter ended with the March 30 release of Holy Grail Phase 2 results. In between these two milestones, we posted organic first year commercial bookings growth of 28% versus the prior period a year ago, a number which jumps to 42%, backing out our Piracy Intelligence bookings for both periods. The quarter also saw us finishing up the foundational work of our transformation work that culminated with the early Q2 launch of our first two integrated products, Digimarc Recycle and Digimarc Brand Integrity. I want to use these prepared remarks to talk about where we stand with recycling in light of the Phase 2 results in part because I know this is an area of heavy investor focus and in part because of what I think these results will mean for our business as well as the planet. But before I get to that, I want to go back to our Q1 2021 call a year ago, my first as CEO, where we laid out the transformation upon which we were about to embark. We talked about the need to and the benefits of becoming a product-led company. We mentioned the gap we were looking to fill in data. We talked about having the discipline to say no or no…

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the line of Jim Ricchiuti with Needham & Company.

First question is just with respect to the test underway in Europe, what are the next phases of this? And how do we think about this further progressing there? And then I have a follow-up question.

Yes. So the -- if you go to the website, Jim, and we talked about this in the past, digital watermarks at EU, you can see the plan from Holy Grail. The original plan was it was a three-phase trial, we've completed Phase 2.

So the industrial scale pilots, are they now set to begin later this year? Is that...

The Holy Grail is not our trial. I know it's frustrating for a lot of people. I can only talk about what they've talked about and share what they've shared is not our story to tell. I can share results once are public? Like for example, I mentioned we were very excited when the Phase 2 results are able to be shared publicly. I can't talk about their plans, I can't talk about they're currently up to.

Okay. Can you elaborate on the comment you made about the potential for you to leverage this in other geographies and other geographic regions besides Europe as well as dealing with materials other than plastic, other types of substrates. Where are you with respect to that for Digimarc Recycle? Anything you can say?

Anything we could possibly say in a public way, trust me, we would say it. We are having conversations. There's the -- there's been awareness of Holy Grail. The Phase 2 results, I think, were so shockingly strong. Maybe -- we didn't think they were shockingly strong, we were expecting that level. But I think people were so -- they were eye-opening results is the best way to put it. And so conversations we've been having got more serious, more people have reached out. It was a wonderful, wonderful awareness event. And that was only, what, six weeks ago. This is a massive problem. This is a global problem. This is front of mind for governments, brands, consumers. And I think the validated Phase 2 results show this is a real solution. So there's a lot of people who are interested in exploring what that could mean for them as a geography or them as a substrate. And, I understand you're asking the right questions, right? Obviously, our goal is to deliver results. And so there are just times that we can talk about things and times we can't. I think everybody would agree they would rather us -- get what we need to get done and then tell you guys as opposed to talk about it ahead of time when we shouldn't be. I understand it's frustrating, trust me, which we could talk about.

Okay. And last question for me is just -- I'm not sure productizing is the right term, but what you've done with Digimarc Recycle? And as you start thinking about these other products that you're working on, have you -- do you feel like you've accelerated, you're in a position to accelerate this process with these other initiatives you have underway?

You mean other things besides Digimarc Recycle?

Right. Right. When you talk about...

Absolutely...

And that's what I'm getting to, whether you hear something and you could accelerate this process with these other products.

Yes. Well, Digimarc Recycle, we had to put the components together, right? A big part of that was the EVRYTHNG acquisition. And so that's benefited other products as well. Digimarc Recycle is a little bit unusual because every technology, every product has to go through normally the phases of proof of concept than a pilot than widespread adoption, right? Most of the time that's done prospect by prospect, customer by customer. They will never be a better proof of concept than 170 organizations running a very public trial, right? So we've -- again, in the 25 years that I've been following the tech industry, I can't think of a software POC that was ever done with so many stakeholders in such a public way, such a big way. So that also we're beholden to the timetable of that POC. But for the other products, I guess I'm not 100% certain on your question about -- are you saying is it -- could it take a longer time to launch...

No, no, you make a good point. I guess what I'm thinking about on -- with these other products that you're working toward, they already are commercialized. I'm just trying to get a sense as to how you're going to be -- what the time line is where we might see you going to market more aggressively with some of these other initiatives? I mean, you've got several -- you've got a bunch of things underway, Riley, we know that. But I'm trying to get a sense as to, okay, what are the next several projects, products, efforts you're making and how can we judge the progress you're going to -- you anticipate taking with these other...

Yes. Yes. I'll tell you bookings. I mean this is, as Charles mentioned in his part of the script, right, bookings is a leading indicator of revenue. Bookings is a metric that's important for everybody to watch, we believe, because bookings are a sign of new business, how those flow into revenue based on revenue recognition rules and other things. So we are reporting a first-year bookings number, right? And we give you -- that is a business that is going to be recognized in the first year. And that is what -- when I say we expect you guys to judge us on the results, it's that everything we're doing is trying to get to that. We're not in business to run interesting trials or to grow bookings and they have really big bookings. So the -- to answer your question maybe a little bit, I think I'm trying to answer your question maybe in a different way than you asked but let me know if this is what you're asking. We need to get to bookings growth. I mean we need to accelerate -- we have bookings 42%, but we expect more out of it. And that is a result, you should be monitoring. How we're going to get there is having products, having clearly defined products, clearly defined value propositions, traditional marketing material. This is why we're better for this than the competitors, right? These are the benefits you get from adopting this product and doing it on a one-on-one customer basis. The difference with the other products versus Digimarc Recycle. Digimarc Recycle, everybody gets a window into POC because the POC is done in a relatively publicly, I guess, maybe you guys don't get real-time view, you get views after things happen. But everything else, Digimarc brand integrity or having these conversations with customers, right? So we're in market with the products I talked about. We are having conversations with customers because at the end of the day, it's the customers who are going to deliver the revenue and that's going to show up in bookings.

And were the bulk of the bookings that you've seen related to Digimarc Recycle? Or are you seeing the bookings in some of these other areas? Because that's the next step? Is your going to be -- you're going to show hopefully growth in bookings? Are you going to be providing some granularity as to where it's coming from?

Yes. So if for Q1, what was the bulk of -- I mean, you realized, again, it was beginning to Q2 where we're in market with our first products, right? So Q1 was sort of a hodgepodge of different things. We could map them to -- they were the legacy EVRYTHNG, in the legacy Digimarc pipeline, right? And then going forward, absolutely, the expectations is that there will still be some of the legacy deals that were in the pipeline that will continue to advance for the tools. But what will really drive the inflection of bookings going forward is going to be selling clearly defined product.

[Operator Instructions] Your next question comes from the line of Robin Knipp with Janney Montgomery.

Riley, I guess when I talked to you a number of months ago, I asked you the question about the sales force that you all have in place now. And again, when you're trying to come to market with new products and you've completely retooled the sales force, can you give us a little bit more color on how you've done that geographically by design, by structurally, I'd just like to have a better understanding?

Yes, absolutely. So you're absolutely right. We have reordered the sales force or reorganize them. So they are organized by verticals with a geographic overlay. We are forming pod so that the sales team will have a dedicated SCR presales consultant. So we're focusing the sales team on verticals. They will sell all products, and then there is a geographic overlay to those verticals. And then there's -- and then in addition, there's a whole channel team that is focused on the channel. They're also global in that regard. We do have one dedicated SME salesperson in Recycling, who is a subject -- SME meaning subject matter expert as well for Digimarc Recycle.

Okay. So then are all of these, including the SME quota-carrying salespeople?

Yes.

Okay. And then, I guess, if you could quantify for me, going back to your 42% organic core first year commercial bookings, how does that equate to dollars?

Charles broke it out. Charles, do you have that on -- handy?

Yes, I do. So total bookings were $3.8 million, $600,000 of it was EVRYTHNG. And then there was about a $200,000 variance from the Piracy Intelligence business.

Okay. [indiscernible]?

Yes, the base was $2.5 million last year.

Your next question comes from the line of [Takuma Riordan] with Fernbank Capital.

Can you provide any color on the final acquisition cost for EVRYTHNG and if there will be a second payout tranche?

Charles, do you want to handle that?

Yes. So the transaction costs that we paid on behalf of the EVRYTHNG shareholders was $4 million. And we do not believe that there will be a second payout as the Product ARR minimum was not hit. I will point out, though, that there are shares that were held back for working capital adjustments and indemnification about $1.5 million. Those likely will be released in the future once the criteria are finalized.

Your next question comes from the line of Jeff Van Rhee with Craig-Hallum.

Aaron on for Jeff. Just a couple of questions for me. First, Riley, you talked about accelerating bookings. Just curious if you could give a little more color about kind of the target for those bookings or what you would like to see internally kind of from a longer-term road map in light of the cash burn that's going on right now?

Yes. Are you asking like for specific point guidance or directional?

Yes, directional. Yes, I mean, I know you probably won't give point guidance, so, yes, directional or any other color there?

So with the opportunity we have ahead of us with the uniqueness of our product set with the mind share that we have, we expect multiple years of very high enduring revenue growth -- bookings growth, right? So the -- 42%, I guess that is objectively strong number. It's still really small numbers, right? And so we believe we're at the beginning of the S-curve of our growth. So that is -- I guess, directionally, I would say at the beginning of our S-curve. And so you can probably -- we expect accelerating over time. We're not giving any point guidance here on a quarterly basis, but looking out longer term, we would expect higher bookings growth than 42%. And it's the speed, but it's also the duration of it, right? So what we're setting up here is a product-led company where we have our five initial products, we hope to have more soon. And then we become not just a land -- it's a land and expand, right? So we have a product, we get a customer that has -- adopts an existing product. There's a product -- there's a road map, a customer journey they can't travel. We're adopting a second or a third or a fourth or a fifth Digimarc product adds value from that adoption of that new product, but also adds additional value to the existing products they already take. So what we're looking to build here is a multiyear -- when I say during, I mean, multiple years, very high growth, very high margin.

Got you. That's helpful. And then next one, obviously, a lot of focus on the recycle product. Just curious how you're thinking about in terms of broad adoption and getting to a point where the solution is really meaningful and important from the standpoint of the recycler. Is there kind of a target or a level threshold you kind of have to hit on the amount of recycle or packaging that is tagged that can really drive that wider spread adoption?

Yes. It's a value of any network technology, right? I mean the value of the cell phone, there were 10 cell phones, was less than their ways when there was 1 billion, right? Same value of the Internet. So there will always be increasing value, the more products there are and the more facilities that are online. And that extends actually beyond just a geographic region like Europe, right? Because a lot of these brands are multinationals and so -- or multi-continent. So this is the journey we have to -- there will always be increasing value, Aaron, the more products that are watermarked and the more facilities that have scanners to both sides, the value of the network.

Got you. That's it for me.

At this time, this concludes our question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the call back over to Mr. McCormack. Sir, please proceed.

Well, thanks, everybody, for your time today. We look forward to connecting again. Thanks.

This concludes today's call. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for joining us today for our presentation. You may now disconnect.