Biolargo, Inc. 2020 Annual Report
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BIOLARGO, INC. 2020 ANNUAL REPORT (For the year ended December 31, 2019) 14921 Chestnut St. Westminster, CA 92683 Telephone: 888.400.2863 Facsimile: 949.625.9819 Table of Contents UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM 10-K (Mark One) ☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the Fiscal Year ended December 31, 2019 OR ☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the Transition Period from to Commission File Number: 000-19709 BIOLARGO, INC. (Exact Name of registrant as specified in its Charter) Delaware 65-0159115 (State or other jurisdiction (IRS Employer of incorporation or organization) Identification No.) 14921 Chestnut St., Westminster, CA 92683 (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code) Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (888) 400-2863 Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered Common Stock BLGO OTCQB Securities registered under Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act: none Indicate by check mark whether 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 ☐ [This Page Intentionally Left Blank] Table of Contents Given the team’s long team as project leaders in some of the most notable remediation projects around the world over the past 30 years, and the break through innovation of the AEC, management is rapidly becoming recognized as a leading innovator in the field of PFAS remediation and as such, is being invited to present on the AEC at a conferences around the world. During 2019 they presented at an event organized by prominent Southern California innovation association Sustain SoCal and The Technology Collaboration Center- Water Industry Workshop held in Houston Texas, and has also been asked to present its PFAS and other solutions at several other similar events by other organizations in 2019, including the BlueTech Week in San Diego in November of 2019 and the Confluence Tech Showcase in Westchester Ohio in December. They have been asked to be a key-note speaker at a number of events that have been delayed recently as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. They are scheduled to present at the European Water Tech Week conference to be held in the Netherlands in the fall of 2020. BLEST has applied for a Phase II EPA grant for funding to finish the product design and start a go-to-market campaign. BLEST and BioLargo management have also already been approached by potential partners and customers for the AEC, and company management will provide more information about these relationships as discussions progress. BioLargo Water and the Advanced Oxidation System - AOS BioLargo Water is our wholly owned subsidiary located on campus at the University of Alberta, Canada, that has been primarily engaged in the research and development of our Advanced Oxidation System (“AOS”). The AOS is our patented water treatment device that generates a series of highly oxidative species of iodine and other molecules that, because of its proprietary configuration and inner constituents, allow it to eliminate pathogenic organisms and organic contaminants as water passes through the device and it performs with extreme efficacy while consuming very little electricity. Its key application is rapid and highly efficient decontamination and disinfection of various types of waters. The AOS technology has received more than 75 research grants and been a feature of more than 20 collaborations with academia and industry. It has continued to be recognized for its scientific innovation and disruptive market potential. The AOS is now being prepared to be launched commercially. Recent scale-up designs have demonstrated its ability to achieve a scalable modular design on a skid mount, which can process 500 gallons per minute. This configuration can then be replicated to achieve very large-scale municipal treatment objectives opening up a host of commercial opportunities. BioLargo Water has recently launched a crowd funding initiative at www.WaterWorksFund.com which we believe will yield a number of valuable benefits, including industry wide exposure. The key value proposition of the AOS is its ability to eliminate a wide variety of contaminants with high performance while consuming extremely low levels of both input electricity and chemistry – a trait made possible by the complex set of highly oxidative iodine compounds generated within the AOS reactor. Our proof-of- concept studies and case studies have generated results that project the AOS will be more cost- and energy-efficient than commonly used advanced water treatment technologies such as UV, electro-chlorination, and ozonation. This value proposition sets the AOS technology above other water treatment options, as we believe the AOS may allow safe and reliable water treatment for significantly lower cost compared to its competitors and may even enable advanced water treatment in applications where it otherwise would have been prohibitively costly. The AOS has the potential to allow reliable and cost-effective water treatment in numerous industries and applications where high-level disinfection or elimination of hard-to-treat organic contaminants is required. We believe the total serviceable market for our AOS is $10.75 billion for the poultry processing, food & beverage, and storm water segments with a target beachhead market for poultry processing in North America at an estimated $240 million. AOS History Our AOS was the result of breakthroughs in both advanced iodine electrochemistry and advances in materials engineering, and its invention led to BioLargo’s co-founding of a multi-year industrial research chair whose goal was to solve the contaminated water issues associated with the Canadian Oil Sands at the University of Alberta Department of Engineering in conjunction with the top five oil companies in Canada, the regional water district, and various environmental agencies of the Canadian government. As an innovator, we had hoped to be able to offer a breakthrough solution into an emerging market to help shorten the adoption cycle. That did not happen. Given the fact that oil companies are now managing yet another price crisis and there has been no regulatory mandate for compliance and industry has taken a wait and see position with regards to such mandates, therefore we will continue to focus on energies on other markets until such time as proper resources are available. Our AOS is an award-winning invention that is supported by science and engineering financial support and highly competitive grants (over 75) from various federal and provincial funding agencies in Canada such as NSERC, NRC- IRAP, and Alberta Innovates and in the United States by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. 9 Table of Contents We need to outsource and rely on third parties for the manufacture of the chemicals, material components or delivery apparatus used in our technology, and part of our future success will be dependent on the timeliness and effectiveness of the efforts of these third parties. We do not have the required financial and human resources or capability to manufacture the chemicals necessary to make our odor control products. Our business model calls for the outsourcing of the manufacture of these chemicals in order to reduce our capital and infrastructure costs as a means of potentially improving our financial position and the profitability of our business. Accordingly, we must enter into agreements with other companies that can assist us and provide certain capabilities, including sourcing and manufacturing, which we do not possess. We may not be successful in entering into such alliances on favorable terms or at all. Even if we do succeed in securing such agreements, we may not be able to maintain them. Furthermore, any delay in entering into agreements could delay the development and commercialization of our technology or reduce its competitiveness even if it reaches the market. Any such delay related to such future agreements could adversely affect our business. While we have been able to secure materials and supplies like plastic containers through the COVID-19 crisis, we have not assurances that our ability to purchase in large quantities on a continual basis. If any party to which we have outsourced certain functions fails to perform its obligations under agreements with us, the commercialization of our technology could be delayed or curtailed. To the extent that we rely on other companies to manufacture the chemicals used in our technology, or sell or market products incorporating our technology, we will be dependent on the timeliness and effectiveness of their efforts. If any of these parties does not perform its obligations in a timely and effective manner, the commercialization of our technology could be delayed or curtailed because we may not have sufficient financial resources or capabilities to continue such efforts on our own. We rely on a small number of key supply ingredients in order to manufacture our products.