Eos Energy Enterprises (EOSE) Risk Factors

Since our inception, we have sold a limited quantity of Eos Znyth™ DC battery systems to our customers. We began commercializing our products in mid-2018, and while our research and development activities successfully established the efficiency of our chemistry, we struggled to incorporate our proven technologies into an effective manufacturing design prior to 2018. We continue to invest in the design and development of the next generation product, the Z3™ battery which builds off the same electrochemistry that has not fundamentally changed for the better part of a decade. The Z3 battery is designed to reduce cost and weight and improve manufacturability and system performance. The Eos Z3 transition is fully underway, and the first semi-automated battery manufacturing line is installed and has started commercial production. The Company started delivery of its Z3 battery modules in the third quarter of 2023. Our success will depend on our ability to manufacture products at scale and low cost while timely meeting customers' demands and overcome any negative perception in the market related to our historical manufacturing challenges, and we may not be able to generate sufficient customer confidence in our latest designs and ongoing product improvements and lower the cost due to economies of scale. Our inability to predict the extent of customer adoption of our proprietary technologies in the already-established traditional energy storage market makes it difficult to evaluate our profitability and future prospects.

Our success depends to a significant degree on our ability to protect our intellectual property and other proprietary rights. We rely on a combination of patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret and unfair competition laws, as well as confidentiality and other contractual provisions with our customers, suppliers, employees, and others, to establish and protect our intellectual property and other proprietary rights. Our ability to enforce these rights is subject to general litigation risks, as well as uncertainty as to the enforceability of our intellectual property rights in various countries. When we seek to enforce our rights, we may be subject to claims that our intellectual property rights are invalid or not enforceable. Our assertion of intellectual property rights may result in another party seeking to assert claims against us, which could harm our business. Our inability to enforce intellectual property rights under any of these circumstances would likely harm our competitive position and business. We have been issued patents in, or have patent applications pending in the United States, North America, Europe, South America, Asia and Australia. We cannot guarantee that any of our pending applications will be approved or that our existing and future intellectual property rights will be sufficiently broad to protect our proprietary technology, and any failure to obtain such approvals or finding that our intellectual property rights are invalid or unenforceable could force us to, among other things, rebrand or redesign our affected products. In countries where we have not applied for patent protection or where effective intellectual property protection is not available to the same extent as in the United States, we may be at greater risk that our proprietary rights will be misappropriated, infringed, or otherwise violated. Our intellectual property may be stolen or infringed upon, misappropriated or otherwise violated. Despite our implementation of security measures, our IT systems and those of our service providers are vulnerable to circumstances beyond our reasonable control which may lead to the theft of our intellectual property or trade secrets or business disruption, including inappropriate retention or disclosure of trade secrets by current or former employees. To the extent that any disruption or security breach results in a loss or damage to our data or an inappropriate disclosure of confidential information, it could cause significant damage to our reputation, affect our relationships with our customers, suppliers and employees and lead to claims against the company. Any lawsuits that we may initiate to protect our significant investment in our intellectual property also may consume management and financial resources for long periods of time and may not result in favorable outcomes, which may adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.

From time to time, we may face attempts by others to gain unauthorized access to our network or IT systems through various forms of the Internet or try to introduce malicious software to our network or IT systems, including our BMS. We or our products may be a target of computer hackers, organizations or malicious attackers who attempt to: - gain access to our systems, network or data centers or those of our customers;- steal proprietary information related to our business, products, employees, and customers; or - interrupt our infrastructure or those of our customers. To date, no attempts have resulted in any material adverse impact to our business or operations; however, there can be no guarantee that such intrusions will not be material in the future. While we seek to detect and investigate all unauthorized attempts and attacks against our network and products, and to prevent their recurrence where practicable through changes to our internal processes and tools and/or changes to our products, we remain potentially vulnerable to additional known or unknown threats, such as, among other things, malware and computer virus attacks, ransomware attacks, social engineering attacks (including phishing attacks) or denial-of-service attacks. In addition to intentional third-party cybersecurity breaches, the integrity and confidentiality of Company and customer data may be compromised as a result of human error, fraud or malice on the part of our employees or third parties, product defects, software bugs, server malfunctions, software or hardware failure or other technological failures. Such threats are evolving, may be difficult for long periods of time, and may see their frequency increased and effectiveness enhanced by the use of artificial intelligence. Further, these risks may be heightened in connection with ongoing global conflicts such as the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the military conflict between Israel and Hamas. Cybersecurity breaches, whether successful or unsuccessful, and other IT system interruptions, including those resulting from human error and technological failures, could result in us incurring significant costs related to, for example, rebuilding internal systems, reduced inventory value, providing modifications to our products and services, defending against litigation, responding to regulatory inquiries or actions, paying damages, or taking other remedial steps with respect to third parties. Our IT infrastructure is currently managed by a third party Managed Services Provider ("MSP"). While we regularly review the cybersecurity tools and other security protection provided by this MSP, and this MSP regularly runs intrusion and other security tests on services provided to us, there can be no guarantee that a failure or breach of such systems will not occur. While we generally perform cybersecurity diligence on our other key service providers, we do not control our service providers and our ability to monitor their cybersecurity is limited. Some of our service providers may store or have access to our data and may not have effective controls, processes, or practices to protect our information from loss, unauthorized disclosure, unauthorized use or misappropriation or cybersecurity breaches. A vulnerability in our service providers' software or systems, a failure of our service providers' safeguards, policies or procedures, or a cybersecurity breach affecting any of these third parties could harm our business. We operate a few IT systems throughout our business that could fail for a variety of reasons, including the threats of unauthorized intrusions and attackers. If such failures were to occur, we may not be able to sufficiently recover to avoid the loss of data or any adverse impact on our operations that are dependent on such IT systems. This could result in lost sales as we may not be able to meet the demands for our product. Furthermore, because our IT systems are essential for the exchange of information both internally and in communicating with third parties, including our suppliers and manufacturers, cybersecurity breaches could potentially lead to the unauthorized release of sensitive, confidential or personal data or information, improper use of our systems, or, unauthorized access, use, disclosure, modification or destruction of information or defective products. If these cybersecurity breaches continue, our operations and ability to communicate both internally and with third parties may be negatively impacted. Additionally, if we try to remediate our cybersecurity problems, we could face significant unplanned costs or capital investments and any damage or interruption could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition, and results of operations. Additionally, we cannot be certain that our insurance coverage will be adequate for data security liabilities actually incurred, that insurance will continue to be available to us on economically reasonable terms, or at all, or that our insurer will not deny coverage as to any future claim.

While the energy density of the Eos Z3™ battery enclosure product is significantly improved compared to the Eos Gen 2.3 enclosure product, and we believe that for certain installation sites the Eos Z3 systems may now equal Li-ion energy density per acre of land, traditional Li-ion cells and modules continue to offer higher power density and a lower self-discharge rate than Eos cells and modules. The differences in power density and energy efficiency become lower when comparing full size Li-ion systems to Eos Z3 systems due to the differences in auxiliary loads required by Li-ion systems and safety spacing between enclosures required by Li-ion, however, if customers were to place greater value on power density and efficient power delivery on a cell and module basis, then we could have difficulty positioning our batteries as a viable or compelling alternative to traditional Li-ion batteries and our business would suffer.

We have limited experience in commercial manufacturing of the battery storage system. On August 21, 2019, we entered into a joint venture agreement with Holtec and formed Hi-Power, which was owned 51% by Holtec and 49% by us. We acquired the 51% equity interest owned by Holtec in April 2021. Because we have limited prior commercial manufacturing experience, we may incur manufacturing inefficiencies, delays or interruptions. Our current manufacturing and testing processes do not require significant technological or production process expertise. However, any change in our processes could cause one or more production errors, requiring a temporary suspension or delay in our production line until the errors can be researched, identified, and properly addressed and rectified. This may occur particularly as we introduce new products, modify our engineering and production techniques, and/or expand our capacity. In addition, our failure to maintain appropriate quality assurance processes could result in increased product failures, loss of customers, increased warranty reserve, decreased production, and logistical costs and delays. Any of these developments could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. To date, we have only manufactured batteries in limited quantities for commercial customers. The output achieved to date is a fraction of what the Company expects will be necessary for full commercialization and to meet the demand we see in the market for our product. The manufacturing process for commercial scale is being refined and improved. There are risks associated with scaling up manufacturing to commercial volumes including, among others, technical or other problems with process scale-up, process reproducibility, stability issues, quality consistency, timely availability of raw materials and cost overruns.  There is no assurance that we will be successful in establishing a larger-scale commercial manufacturing process that achieves our objectives for manufacturing capacity and cost per battery, in a timely manner or at all.  If we are unable to produce sufficient quantities of product for commercialization on a timely basis and in a cost-effective manner, the Company's commercialization efforts would be impaired which could materially affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and growth prospects.

We rely heavily on the services of our key executive officers. We are investing significant resources in developing new members of management as we complete our restructuring and strategic transformation, and the loss of services of any principal member of our management team could adversely affect our business. The competition for qualified personnel is intense in our industry, and we may not be successful in attracting and retaining enough qualified personnel to support our anticipated growth. We also cannot guarantee that any employee will remain employed with us for any definite period since all of our employees, including our key executive officers, serve at-will and may terminate their employment at any time for any reason. The Company's Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors is committed to working with the management to design compensation plans that attract, retain and motivate the Company's executives and support business objectives that create shareholder value. In addition, the Board of Directors has implemented procedures to plan for the effective succession of senior management and key personnel. However, we still depend on the experience of our senior management team, including our chief executive officer, chief financial officer and chief accounting officer, and other key personnel, each of whom would be difficult to replace in the event of an unforeseen departure from the Company. Despite successfully managing recent turnover, the loss of any such personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business and our ability to implement our business strategy. All of our employees, including our senior management, are free to terminate their employment relationships with us at any time. We do not maintain key-person insurance for any of our employees, including senior management. In addition, changes and replacement, as well as transition in senior executive leadership could adversely affect our relationships with clients, customers, and employees. We must successfully integrate new key personnel whom we hire within our organization in order to achieve our operating objectives. Additionally, our ability to attract qualified personnel, including senior management and key technical personnel, is critical to the execution of our growth strategy. Competition for qualified senior management personnel and highly skilled individuals with technical expertise is extremely intense. We face and are likely to continue to face challenges identifying, hiring, and retaining qualified personnel in all areas of our business. In addition, integrating new employees into our team could prove disruptive to our operations, require substantial resources and management attention, and ultimately prove unsuccessful. Our failure to attract and retain qualified senior management and other key technical personnel could limit or delay our strategic efforts, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.

Applicable laws and requirements address multiple aspects of our operations, such as worker safety, consumer rights, privacy, employee benefits and more, and can often have different requirements in different jurisdictions. Changes in these requirements, or any material failure to comply with them, could increase our costs, affect our reputation, limit our business, drain management's time and attention or otherwise, generally impact our operations in adverse ways.

Our properties, operations and the products we manufacture are subject to a number of environmental, health and safety laws and regulations in each of the jurisdictions in which we operate. These laws and regulations govern, among other things, air emissions, water discharges, handling and disposal of solid and hazardous substances and wastes, soil and groundwater contamination, employee health and safety and the content of products. Under certain of these laws and regulations, we may be subject to joint and several liability for environmental investigations and remediation, including sites at which waste we generated was disposed, even if the contamination was not caused by us or was lawful at the time it occurred. Our failure to comply with these environmental, health and safety laws and regulations, including failing to obtain any necessary permits, could cause us to incur substantial civil or criminal fines or penalties or enforcement actions, including regulatory or judicial orders enjoining or curtailing our operations or requiring us to conduct or fund remedial or corrective measures, install pollution control equipment or perform other actions. The future identification of presently unidentified environmental conditions, more vigorous enforcement by regulatory agencies, enactment of more stringent laws, regulations or permit requirements, including relating to climate change, or other unanticipated events may arise in the future and give rise to environmental liabilities, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We expect to incur additional costs and expenses in the future related to the continued development and expansion of our business, including in connection with expanding our manufacturing capabilities to significantly increase production capacity, developing our products, maintaining and enhancing our research and development operations, expanding our sales, marketing, and business development activities in the United States and internationally, and growing our project management, field services and overall operational capabilities for delivering projects. We do not know whether we will be able to reduce our manufacturing cost and grow our revenue rapidly enough to absorb these costs or the extent of these expenses or their impact on our results of operations. Disruptions in the global capital and credit markets as a result of an economic downturn, economic uncertainty, changing or increased regulation, or failures of significant financial institutions could adversely affect our customers' ability to access capital and could adversely affect our access to liquidity needed for business in the future. Our business could be hurt if we are unable to obtain additional capital as required, resulting in a decrease in our revenues and profitability.

Over the last few years in the U.S. and globally, market and economic conditions have been challenging. Any negative impact on economic conditions and international markets, continued volatility or deterioration in the debt and equity capital markets, inflation, deflation or other adverse economic conditions may adversely affect our liquidity and financial condition. It may limit our ability to access the capital markets to meet liquidity and/or capital needs, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Ongoing uncertain economic and financial market conditions may also adversely affect the financial condition of our customers, suppliers and other business partners. When our customers' financial conditions are adversely affected, it could materially and adversely affect our sales and financial results, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations and could cause the market value of our common shares to decline. Our global business may be negatively affected by local economic conditions, including inflation, increasing labor costs, potential recession, and currency exchange rate fluctuations, which could adversely affect our cost to manufacture and provide our products and services and revenues generated through sales of such products and services. There is no guarantee that we will be able to fully absorb any such additional costs or revenue declines in the prices for our products and services.

Currently, global lithium available supply exceeds demand. Decreases in the price of lithium, a key component of traditional Li-ion batteries, may increase the competitiveness of the traditional Li-ion batteries relative to the zinc-based energy storage solutions we provide. Mineral prices fluctuate widely and are affected by numerous factors beyond our control such as global and regional supply and demand, interest rates, exchange rates, inflation or deflation, fluctuation in the value of the United States dollar and foreign currencies, and the political and economic conditions of mineral-producing countries throughout the world. The exact effect of these factors cannot be accurately predicted, but the combination of these factors may result in a decrease in lithium prices, which may adversely affect our business and results of operations.