Kubient Inc (KBNT) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and welcome to Kubient's fourth quarter and full year 2022 earnings conference Call. Joining us for today's call are Kubient's Founder, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Strategy Officer and President, Mr. Paul Roberts; and Chief Financial Officer, Josh Weiss. Following their remarks, we will open the call for your questions.

下午好，歡迎來到 Kubient 的第四季度和 2022 年全年收益電話會議。與我們一起參加今天電話會議的有 Kubient 的創始人、董事長、首席執行官、首席戰略官兼總裁 Paul Roberts 先生；和首席財務官 Josh Weiss。在他們發言之後，我們將開始徵集您的問題。

Before we get started, I need to alert you to our safe harbor statements under the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. During this call, we will be making forward-looking statements, including statements related to future events or to our future financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, level activity performance or achievements expressed or implied by those forward-looking statements. Listeners should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which are, in some cases, beyond our control and which could and likely will materially affect actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects our current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or implied during the call.

在我們開始之前，我需要提醒您注意我們根據 1995 年證券訴訟改革法案做出的安全港聲明。在這次電話會議中，我們將做出前瞻性聲明，包括與未來事件或我們未來財務業績相關的聲明，涉及已知和未知的風險、不確定性和其他因素，這些因素可能導致我們的實際結果、活動水平、績效或成就與那些前瞻性陳述明示或暗示的任何未來結果、活動水平績效或成就存在重大差異。聽眾不應過分依賴前瞻性陳述，因為它們涉及已知和未知的風險、不確定性和其他因素，在某些情況下，這些因素超出我們的控制範圍，並且可能並且可能會對實際結果、活動水平、績效產生重大影響或成就。任何前瞻性陳述都反映了我們目前對未來事件的看法，並受到與我們的運營、運營結果、增長戰略和流動性相關的這些和其他風險、不確定性和假設的影響。這些陳述受已知和未知的風險、不確定性和假設的影響，這些風險、不確定性和假設可能導致實際結果與電話會議期間預測或暗示的結果大不相同。

Furthermore, listeners are referred to the documents filed by Kubient, Inc. with the SEC, including our annual report on Form 10-K, which will be filed with the SEC on March 30, 2023, with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect, which include these and certain other important risk factors. We qualify all our forward-looking statements by these cautionary statements. Also note, the forward-looking statements on this call are based on information available to us as of today's date. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Please refer to Kubient's SEC filings, specifically its registration statement on Form S-1 initially filed on December 12, 2020, for more detailed description of risk factors that may affect the company's results.

此外，請聽眾參考 Kubient, Inc. 向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件，包括我們將於 2023 年 3 月 30 日向美國證券交易委員會提交的 10-K 表格年度報告，並理解我們未來的實際結果可能與我們的預期存在重大差異，其中包括這些和某些其他重要的風險因素。我們通過這些警示性聲明來限定我們所有的前瞻性聲明。另請注意，本次電話會議的前瞻性陳述基於截至今天我們可獲得的信息。除非法律要求，否則我們沒有義務出於任何原因公開更新或修改這些前瞻性陳述，或更新實際結果可能與這些前瞻性陳述中預期的結果存在重大差異的原因，即使新信息可用於未來。請參閱 Kubient 向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件，特別是其最初於 2020 年 12 月 12 日提交的 S-1 表格註冊聲明，以更詳細地描述可能影響公司業績的風險因素。

During the call today, management will discuss adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP financial measure. In the company's press release and filings with the SEC, both of which are posted on the company's website, you will find additional disclosures regarding this non-GAAP measure, including a reconciliation of this measure with its comparable GAAP measure. Non-GAAP financial measures are not intended to be considered in isolation from, substitute for or superior to GAAP results. The company encourages you to consider all measures when analyzing its performance.

在今天的電話會議上，管理層將討論調整後的 EBITDA 和非 GAAP 財務指標。在公司網站上發布的公司新聞稿和提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件中，您會發現有關此非 GAAP 措施的額外披露，包括此措施與其可比的 GAAP 措施的對賬。非 GAAP 財務指標不應孤立於、替代或優於 GAAP 結果來考慮。公司鼓勵您在分析其業績時考慮所有措施。

Now I would like to turn the call over to Paul Roberts. Sir, please proceed.

現在我想把電話轉給 Paul Roberts。先生，請繼續。

Thanks, operator, and thanks to everyone who has joined us today. This past year, we transitioned Kubient from a hyper-growth, cash-burning company aimed at horizontal market capture to an efficient and well-balanced technology-focused organization. From an operational perspective, Kubient continues to provide catered solutions-based services to our customers, and I'm happy to report that despite macroeconomic headwinds, we've continued to successfully operate our business while making advancements to our technology, in particular, with KAI 2.0, which is the latest iteration of our proprietary ad fraud identification and prevention technology. The announcement of KAI 2.0 came on the heels of a landmark achievement by Kubient to receive a patent on our solution in the advertising ecosystem. Receiving this patent positions us strongly in the ad tech and media ecosystem to empower brands, advertisers and publishers to combat fraud and protect their media budget. As we previously noted, this is a rare milestone due to the nature of very few ad tech companies receiving any type of patent approval within this industry. As it relates to the improvements we made to the KAI platform with our 2.0 rollout, there are a multitude of benefits, which include expanded real-time artificial intelligence analysis with 25 algorithms running in under 10 milliseconds; full support of the much larger scale protocol; extensive supply path optimization to support with ad.txt and supply chain object verification, along with additional data mining capabilities; and last but not least, our enhanced support for new CTV and audio formats. The continued emphasis on KAI, both as a market differentiator and a tool for our clients, has shown our commitment to investing in Kubient's technology and focus on bringing AI to the forefront of advertising as a means to drive a cleaner and more transparent digital media ecosystem.

謝謝接線員，也感謝今天加入我們的每一個人。在過去的一年裡，我們將 Kubient 從一家以橫向市場佔領為目標的高速增長、燒錢的公司轉變為一個高效、平衡的以技術為中心的組織。從運營的角度來看，Kubient 繼續為我們的客戶提供基於解決方案的服務，我很高興地報告，儘管宏觀經濟逆風，但我們繼續成功運營我們的業務，同時不斷改進我們的技術，特別是， KAI 2.0，這是我們專有的廣告欺詐識別和預防技術的最新版本。 KAI 2.0 的發布是在 Kubient 取得里程碑式的成就之後發布的，該成就獲得了我們在廣告生態系統中的解決方案的專利。獲得這項專利使我們在廣告技術和媒體生態系統中處於強勢地位，使品牌、廣告商和出版商能夠打擊欺詐並保護他們的媒體預算。正如我們之前指出的那樣，這是一個罕見的里程碑，因為在這個行業中很少有廣告技術公司獲得任何類型的專利批准。由於它與我們在 2.0 推出時對 KAI 平台所做的改進相關，因此有很多好處，其中包括擴展的實時人工智能分析，25 種算法在 10 毫秒內運行；全面支持更大規模的協議；廣泛的供應路徑優化以支持 ad.txt 和供應鏈對象驗證，以及額外的數據挖掘功能；最後但同樣重要的是，我們增強了對新 CTV 和音頻格式的支持。對 KAI 的持續重視，既作為市場差異化因素，也是我們客戶的工具，表明我們致力於投資 Kubient 的技術，並專注於將 AI 帶到廣告的最前沿，作為推動更清潔、更透明的數字媒體生態系統的一種手段.

On brand with our remarks on the last earnings call, we want to continue betting on KAI as we are very confident this solution will play an integral part in the broader ad tech industry going forward and adds a prominent layer to our overall value proposition. The flexibility of our technologies has resulted in meeting our customers' ever-changing needs, which lately has had an emphasis within CTV. KAI 2.0 better helps publishers identify unmonetized advertising inventory in this growing space and allows for immediate and dynamic action to better take advantage of their efforts to reach end customers. As we've previously shared, our client-facing dashboard helps publishers by providing insights into inventory health, increasing the efficiency of ad monetization efforts for greater revenue acquisition. The 20-plus percent average increase in revenue from our customers using this new dashboard has remained consistent over the previous quarter. Kubient remains mindful and dedicated to providing efficient and quickly implemented high-quality solutions for customers as we recognize the impact of the macroeconomic environment playing a significant role on both the buyer and seller of digital advertisement. That said, quantities of spend on advertising initiatives continue to be a recurring topic of discussion internally for companies as we're seeing some Tier 2 and Tier 3 players in the space begin to slightly retract. We've kept our eye close to the market as liquidity and capital constraint concerns have temporarily affected certain market players. Our goal at this time is to focus on controlling the controllables by offering our robust offerings to better serve current and future customers throughout their ad spend and buying journey.

根據我們在上次財報電話會議上發表的評論，我們希望繼續押注 KAI，因為我們非常有信心該解決方案將在未來更廣泛的廣告技術行業中發揮不可或缺的作用，並為我們的整體價值主張增添一個突出的層次。我們技術的靈活性已使我們能夠滿足客戶不斷變化的需求，最近 CTV 也強調了這一點。 KAI 2.0 更好地幫助發布商在這個不斷增長的空間中識別未貨幣化的廣告庫存，並允許立即採取動態行動以更好地利用他們的努力來接觸最終客戶。正如我們之前分享的那樣，我們面向客戶的儀表板可以幫助發布商提供對庫存健康狀況的洞察，提高廣告貨幣化工作的效率，從而獲得更多收入。使用這個新儀表板的客戶的收入平均增長 20% 以上，與上一季度保持一致。 Kubient 始終專注並致力於為客戶提供高效、快速實施的高質量解決方案，因為我們認識到宏觀經濟環境的影響對數字廣告的買賣雙方都發揮著重要作用。也就是說，廣告計劃的支出數量仍然是公司內部反复討論的話題，因為我們看到該領域的一些第 2 層和第 3 層參與者開始略微縮減。我們一直密切關注市場，因為流動性和資本約束問題暫時影響了某些市場參與者。我們此時的目標是通過提供我們強大的產品來專注於控制可控因素，以便在整個廣告支出和購買過程中更好地服務當前和未來的客戶。

With these advancements and measures in mind, our continued focus on behalf of shareholders and the management team has been a strategic and aggressive initiative in the space of M&A. In parallel with executing our core business, we continue to search for ways to be opportunistic to ultimately gain scale. As we have shared on prior calls, we're actively deploying our inorganic growth strategy of exploring strategic and transformative ideas as well as commercial opportunities with companies in our space. With a multitude of macroeconomic variables, market timing for M&A is very arduous for most candidates at this time in this environment, especially those publicly listed. That said, while we have had some meaningful discussions, we're not at a point to share any definitive news at this time. Again, our comprehensive supply side platform with the direct publisher integrations coupled with our recently patented and upgraded KAI 2.0 has uniquely primed Kubient to be in a prominent position for M&A. Companies view us not only as a growth driver for existing opportunities, but as a differentiator and key transition piece as the advertising market evolves to the next stage of ad tech development. Our conversations at this time focus first on the portfolio of solutions and services, and second, on the standalone health of our business. With the optimization measures taken during the latter half of 2022, our team operates in an efficient state with low burn relative to the quality of our offering and capacity to serve the buyers and publishers in our marketplace. With a healthy balance sheet holding approximately $14.7 million in cash as of the end of Q4 2022, we are primed in this market filled with uncertainty to add immediate value to an enterprise within the ad tech space.

考慮到這些進步和措施，我們繼續關注股東和管理團隊的利益，這是併購領域的一項戰略性和積極主動性。在執行我們的核心業務的同時，我們繼續尋找機會主義的方法以最終擴大規模。正如我們在之前的電話會議上分享的那樣，我們正在積極部署我們的無機增長戰略，探索戰略和變革性理念以及與我們領域內公司的商業機會。在宏觀經濟變量眾多的情況下，在這種環境下，此時對於大多數候選人來說，併購的市場時機非常艱難，尤其是那些公開上市的公司。也就是說，雖然我們進行了一些有意義的討論，但我們目前還沒有到分享任何確定消息的時候。同樣，我們具有直接發布商集成的綜合供應方平台，加上我們最近獲得專利和升級的 KAI 2.0，使 Kubient 處於併購的顯著位置。公司不僅將我們視為現有機會的增長動力，而且將我們視為廣告市場發展到廣告技術發展下一階段的差異化因素和關鍵過渡因素。我們此時的對話首先關註解決方案和服務組合，其次關注我們業務的獨立健康狀況。通過在 2022 年下半年採取的優化措施，我們的團隊以高效的狀態運作，相對於我們的產品質量和服務市場中的買家和發行商的能力而言，消耗較低。截至 2022 年第四季度末，我們擁有健康的資產負債表，持有約 1,470 萬美元的現金，我們已準備好在這個充滿不確定性的市場中為廣告技術領域的企業增加直接價值。

With that, I'll hand this call over to Josh, who will provide additional color on the quarter from a financial perspective. Josh?

有了這個，我會把這個電話交給喬什，他將從財務角度為本季度提供額外的顏色。喬什？

Thanks, Paul, and good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for joining our call. Before jumping into our results, I wanted to make a note regarding our exposure at the Silicon Valley Bank. As I'm sure most of you on this call know, on March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank was closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was appointed as receiver. Though we had some initial exposure here, on March 17, 2023, we moved the majority of our funds on deposit at SVB to other banks with the intention to move the remainder of our funds on deposit at SVB once we have transitioned all accounting and payroll functions connected to our account at SVB to account at other banks, such as our depository account at Bulge Bracket bank like JPMorgan Chase. While we do not anticipate any losses, liquidity issues or capital resource constraints arising as a result of the winding down of our account at SVB, we are closely watching the overall impact this may have on our collaborators, employees, suppliers and/or vendors, and it could be negatively impacted by the closure of SVB and other macroeconomic and geopolitical events.

謝謝，保羅，大家下午好。感謝您加入我們的電話。在進入我們的結果之前，我想記下我們在矽谷銀行的風險敞口。我相信在座的大多數人都知道，2023 年 3 月 10 日，矽谷銀行被加州金融保護和創新部關閉，聯邦存款保險公司被指定為接管人。儘管我們最初在這裡有一些風險敞口，但在 2023 年 3 月 17 日，我們將大部分存入 SVB 的資金轉移到其他銀行，目的是在我們完成所有會計和工資單後將剩餘的存入 SVB 的資金轉移將與我們在 SVB 的賬戶相關聯的功能用於其他銀行的賬戶，例如我們在 Bulge Bracket 銀行（如摩根大通）的存款賬戶。雖然我們預計不會因我們在 SVB 賬戶的關閉而導致任何損失、流動性問題或資本資源限制，但我們正在密切關注這可能對我們的合作者、員工、供應商和/或供應商產生的總體影響，它可能會受到 SVB 關閉以及其他宏觀經濟和地緣政治事件的負面影響。

Now to our financial results for the full year ended December 31, 2022. Net revenues for the full year of 2022 were approximately $2.4 million compared to approximately $2.7 million in the same period last year. The decrease in net revenue was primarily associated with the decrease of net revenues associated with the major customer as compared to the 2021 period, partially offset by revenues generated in the 2022 period related to customer contracts acquired in connection with our acquisition of MediaCrossing in November 2021. Technology expenses increased to approximately $3.2 million from approximately $3.1 million in the same period last year. The increase was primarily attributable to initial increases in headcount costs in early 2022, stock-based compensation expenses, cloud hosting expenses, which were partially offset by decreases in technology, programming fees, amortization expenses, consulting fees, software subscription and travel and entertainment expenses. General and administrative expenses increased to approximately $6.6 million compared to approximately $6.1 million in the same period last year. The increase was primarily attributable to increases in legal and professional fees, stock-based compensation expense, rent expense, board fees, dues and membership fees, board income tax expenses, travel and entertainment expenses, software subscriptions, which were partially offset by decreases in recruiting fees, consulting fees, insurance expense, office-related expenses and headcount costs.

現在來看我們截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日的全年財務業績。2022 年全年淨收入約為 240 萬美元，而去年同期約為 270 萬美元。淨收入的減少主要是由於與主要客戶相關的淨收入與 2021 年期間相比有所減少，部分被 2022 年期間與我們在 2021 年 11 月收購 MediaCrossing 時獲得的客戶合同相關的收入所抵消. 技術費用從去年同期的約 310 萬美元增加到約 320 萬美元。增加的主要原因是 2022 年初員工成本、基於股票的補償費用、雲託管費用的初步增加，這些費用被技術、編程費用、攤銷費用、諮詢費、軟件訂閱以及差旅和娛樂費用的減少部分抵消.一般和行政費用增加至約 660 萬美元，而去年同期約為 610 萬美元。增加的主要原因是法律和專業費用、基於股票的補償費用、租金費用、董事會費用、會費和會員費、董事會所得稅費用、差旅和娛樂費用、軟件訂閱費用的增加，這些費用被減少部分抵消招聘費、諮詢費、保險費、辦公相關費用和人頭費。

GAAP net loss attributable to common shareholders was approximately $13.6 million or $0.95 loss per basic and diluted share compared to a net loss of approximately $10.3 million or $0.75 loss per basic and diluted share in the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA loss, a non-GAAP measure, was approximately $12.9 million or $0.90 per basic and diluted share for the full year ended December 31, 2022, compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of approximately $9.2 million or $0.67 per basic and diluted share in the same period last year. As of December 31, 2022, we continue to have a strong cash balance of approximately $14.7 million. Given the current economic situation we're in, cash is a valuable asset to have in this time of soaring interest rates. We intend to leverage our cash to continue executing our organic strategy while making ourselves that much more appealing to M&A candidates.

可歸屬於普通股股東的 GAAP 淨虧損約為 1360 萬美元，或每股基本股和稀釋股虧損 0.95 美元，而去年同期的淨虧損約為 1030 萬美元，或每股基本股和稀釋股虧損 0.75 美元。截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日的全年，調整後的 EBITDA 虧損（一項非公認會計原則衡量標準）約為 1290 萬美元或每股基本股和稀釋股 0.90 美元，而在去年同期。截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日，我們繼續擁有約 1,470 萬美元的強勁現金餘額。鑑於我們目前的經濟形勢，在這個利率飆升的時代，現金是一種寶貴的資產。我們打算利用我們的現金繼續執行我們的有機戰略，同時使我們自己對併購候選人更具吸引力。

That concludes my financial summary. For a more detailed analysis, please reference our Form 10-K, which we plan to file this week. I will now turn the call back over to Paul. Paul?

我的財務摘要到此結束。如需更詳細的分析，請參考我們計劃於本週提交的 10-K 表格。我現在將把電話轉回給保羅。保羅？

Thanks, Josh. We appreciate your continued support and investment in Kubient along with this journey. Stay tuned for updates on our latest endeavors as we continue optimizing our existing suite of services and aggressively pursue opportunities in the M&A market. Through the efforts of our team pulled together through 2022, Kubient is well positioned to take advantage of strategic partnerships on the organic and inorganic growth front.

謝謝，喬希。我們感謝您在這段旅程中對 Kubient 的持續支持和投資。隨著我們繼續優化現有的服務套件並積極尋求併購市場的機會，請繼續關注我們最新的努力。通過我們團隊在 2022 年齊心協力的努力，Kubient 已做好充分準備，可以在有機和無機增長方面利用戰略合作夥伴關係。

Now I'll turn it over to the operator for Q&A.

現在我將其轉交給運營商進行問答。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Our first question is coming from Jack Vander Aarde with Maxim Group.

我們的第一個問題來自 Maxim Group 的 Jack Vander Aarde。

Okay. Great. I appreciate the quarterly update, guys. Paul, let me start with one, maybe a congrats. It's been a long time in the making because we have been receiving the official KAI patent and then along with the recent development and release of the KAI 2.0. That's a big announcement. I know you touched on some of your -- some comments in your prepared remarks, but just how does this actually change the narrative in terms of the business momentum that we'll see in the financial statements, maybe on the top line? Are we at a place where you think you'll see some incremental growth in this in the near term that's meaningful and will show up in the income statement? Or are we -- are you still -- just I guess, where are you in the overall launch strategy and commercialization of it?

好的。偉大的。伙計們，我感謝季度更新。保羅，讓我從一個開始，也許是恭喜。我們已經獲得了官方的 KAI 專利，並且最近開發和發布了 KAI 2.0，因此我們已經準備了很長時間。這是一個重大的宣布。我知道你在準備好的發言中談到了你的一些 - 一些評論，但這實際上如何改變我們將在財務報表中看到的業務勢頭方面的敘述，也許是在頂行？我們是否處於您認為您會在短期內看到一些有意義的增量增長並將顯示在損益表中的地方？或者我們 - 你仍然 - 只是我猜，你在整體發布戰略和它的商業化中處於什麼位置？

No problem, and thanks for joining, Jack. And again, thanks for the congratulations. It's been very interesting, number one, receiving the patent, but number two, getting that news out there because what it's done is, number one, obviously, gotten us some interest from parties who want to use the KAI technology as a -- on a commercial aspect, but it's also gotten us a lot of attention from other companies in the ecosystem who start to bring up the M&A conversation because they think that this type of technology can really give them a key differentiator in the marketplace versus what's already out there. If you'll note, in our industry, it's very, very rare to actually be issued a patent, especially around fraud and identity. So the fact that we have that, we believe it's a very defensible patent. We think it really is going to change the way that brands and publishers view fraud and view optimization. So while we would love this to really impact the topline over the next few quarters, what it's done in the near term is really begin conversations that we probably wouldn't have been in when you start to talk about strategic -- our inorganic growth strategy around the M&A topic.

沒問題，感謝你的加入，傑克。再次感謝您的祝賀。這是非常有趣的，第一，獲得專利，但第二，把這個消息傳出去，因為它所做的是，第一，顯然，讓我們對想要使用 KAI 技術的各方產生了一些興趣——一個商業方面，但它也引起了生態系統中其他公司的很多關注，他們開始提出併購對話，因為他們認為這種類型的技術真的可以讓他們在市場上與現有產品形成關鍵差異化因素.如果你會注意到，在我們的行業中，實際獲得專利是非常非常罕見的，尤其是在欺詐和身份方面。因此，我們擁有這一事實，我們相信這是一項非常可靠的專利。我們認為它真的會改變品牌和出版商看待欺詐和優化的方式。因此，雖然我們希望這能真正影響未來幾個季度的收入，但它在近期所做的是真正開始對話，當你開始談論戰略時我們可能不會參與——我們的無機增長戰略圍繞併購主題。

Excellent. I appreciate the color, and that's actually a nice segue to my next question. So I appreciate your opening comments on the M&A environment. I understand there's -- you guys remain very active in exploring a wide array of opportunities. And as you point out as well, you have a very strong net cash position of over $14 million, very low cash burn rate. So just maybe outside of potential M&A, are there any other areas you're looking to deploy that cash or invest into to drive the organic business? Just anything you're thinking about.

出色的。我很欣賞這種顏色，這實際上是我下一個問題的一個很好的轉折點。因此，我感謝您對併購環境的開場評論。我知道有 - 你們仍然非常積極地探索各種機會。正如您也指出的那樣，您擁有超過 1400 萬美元的非常強勁的淨現金頭寸，非常低的現金消耗率。因此，也許除了潛在的併購之外，您是否正在尋求部署現金或投資以推動有機業務的其他領域？只是你在想什麼。

Yes. I think just with some of Josh's prepared remarks around the current environment, cash is very, very hard right now. We speak to a lot of people who are out there trying to actively raise both on the public and private side, and what we're hearing is pretty horrible, to be transparent. It's not good news. You are seeing some cash deployed in much later stage companies, but those Series A, Series B type companies, they're having a very hard time having some of the traditional partners invest. So we've taken a very, very strategic step to conserve capital, and we're looking at areas where we could actually continue to reduce our burn because we feel that the conversations we've had and some of the conversations we believe we will have on the M&A side, the cash will be such a critical part of the discussion because it's so hard out there right now to raise money.

是的。我認為，就喬希針對當前環境的一些準備好的言論而言，現金現在非常非常困難。我們與很多試圖在公共和私人方面積極籌集資金的人交談，我們聽到的是非常可怕的，是透明的。這不是好消息。你看到一些現金部署在後期階段的公司，但那些 A 系列、B 系列類型的公司，他們很難讓一些傳統合作夥伴投資。因此，我們採取了非常非常具有戰略意義的步驟來節約資本，我們正在尋找可以實際繼續減少燒錢的領域，因為我們覺得我們已經進行的對話以及我們相信我們會進行的一些對話在併購方面，現金將成為討論的關鍵部分，因為現在很難籌集資金。

Makes sense. Got you. Understood. Well, it's better to have cash now than to have to go out and get it. So that's an incremental positive in my view. So I appreciate that. And maybe just one more for me on -- in general. Obviously, we're a very -- you name it that we're in a tough macro environment for a multitude of reasons. Josh touched on the Silicon Valley Bank fallout as well. But just in terms of the advertising market overall in the first half of '23 and then kind of as you look into back half '23, 2024. Just what are your -- just some thoughts on that are directly applicable to what Kubient's going after? How is that market environment is playing out relative to where you were maybe a few months ago?

說得通。明白了明白了。好吧，現在有現金比必須出去取錢要好。因此，在我看來，這是一個漸進的積極因素。所以我很感激。也許對我來說還有一個——總的來說。顯然，由於多種原因，我們處於一個非常艱難的宏觀環境中。喬什也談到了矽谷銀行的後果。但就 23 年上半年的整體廣告市場而言，然後是 2024 年 23 後半年的回顧。你的想法是什麼——只是一些想法直接適用於 Kubient 的追求？與幾個月前相比，市場環境如何？

I think what you're seeing is a lot more sharpening of the pencil on the CMO side of the world where any money that they are deploying throughout the remainder of this year, they want to be able to stand up at the end of the year to their Board and their CEO and explain that they got a very strong return. So I think the days of let's test new environments, let's test new things might be little harder. I think where KAI really benefits is because we have a technology that can show with data, here's what we actually save you, here is if you went out and spend $10 million this quarter on media, we were able to get this money back into your budget by helping you not buy the fraud or by helping you optimize your campaign. So our conversations are typically lead with, yes, it is very important not to show at the box, but let's look at this more realistic application. Maybe you're spending $1 million a day on media, and we could put $100,000 of that back into your pocket. That's meaningful savings that you're going to be able to report at the end of the quarter or end of the year to your Board, let them know that you did take cost-cutting measures by using a technology partner like Kubient.

我認為你所看到的是世界 CMO 方面的鉛筆更加鋒利，他們在今年剩餘時間內部署的任何資金，他們都希望能夠在年底站起來向他們的董事會和首席執行官解釋他們獲得了非常豐厚的回報。所以我認為讓我們測試新環境，讓我們測試新事物的日子可能會更難一些。我認為 KAI 真正受益的地方是因為我們擁有一種可以用數據顯示的技術，這就是我們實際為您節省的東西，如果您本季度在媒體上花費 1000 萬美元，我們就能將這筆錢返還給您通過幫助您避免購買欺詐或幫助您優化廣告系列來減少預算。所以我們的談話通常是這樣的，是的，不要在盒子裡展示是非常重要的，但讓我們看看這個更現實的應用程序。也許您每天在媒體上花費 100 萬美元，我們可以將其中的 100,000 美元放回您的口袋。您將能夠在季度末或年底向董事會報告這些有意義的節省，讓他們知道您確實通過使用像 Kubient 這樣的技術合作夥伴來採取削減成本的措施。

Our next question is coming from Ben Jen with 1435 Capital.

我們的下一個問題來自 1435 Capital 的 Ben Jen。

Paul, thanks for the quarterly update. Thanks for the update in terms of -- congratulations on your patent for KAI. Just some questions regarding the M&A requirement for ad tech. Do you see more acquisitions happening in the near future? Is this something that Kubient can focus on or lean more towards throughout 2023?

保羅，感謝您的季度更新。感謝您的更新——祝賀您獲得了 KAI 的專利。只是關於廣告技術的併購要求的一些問題。您認為在不久的將來會發生更多的收購嗎？這是 Kubient 在整個 2023 年可以關注或更傾向於的事情嗎？

Ben, thanks for joining the call, and obviously, the question as well. So what we're really hearing out there is that there's going to be more consolidation this year. I've seen this happen once or twice in my career when you see a contraction of cash that's being invested. A lot of companies over the last few years have been spending money and raising capital purely for growth, not really paying attention to hitting that positive revenue number. So you're going to see some very large-scale companies that need some sort of support, whether that be a company like a Kubient with a public vehicle with KAI as a product differentiator. And also, as I mentioned earlier to Jack, having that cash on hand, it really helps a lot of companies somewhat weather the storm and get through the year through their strategy planning. So I think you have seen a big shift, and I like to believe that we're very well positioned with unique technology that can help a company differentiate. The public vehicle, obviously, you get the upside. I think we're trading at a very depressed level with cash on hand and also the ability to go out and raise more capital in the future to help scale up. So the world has changed and the old saying, Ben, if you wait around long enough, it will change again. But I think right now, we're very well positioned to help or be a part of a partnership with a much larger company on the M&A side.

本，感謝你加入電話會議，當然，還有這個問題。所以我們真正聽到的是今年會有更多的整合。當你看到投資的現金減少時，我在我的職業生涯中見過一兩次這種情況。在過去的幾年裡，許多公司一直在純粹為了增長而花錢和籌集資金，並沒有真正關注達到那個正的收入數字。所以你會看到一些需要某種支持的非常大規模的公司，無論是像 Kubient 這樣的公司，它的公共交通工具以 KAI 作為產品差異化因素。而且，正如我之前對傑克提到的那樣，手頭有現金，它確實幫助很多公司在一定程度上度過了難關，並通過戰略規劃度過了這一年。所以我認為你已經看到了一個巨大的轉變，我願意相信我們在獨特的技術方面處於非常有利的地位，可以幫助一家公司脫穎而出。公共交通工具，顯然，你有好處。我認為我們的交易處於非常低迷的水平，手頭有現金，也有能力在未來籌集更多資金以幫助擴大規模。所以世界已經改變了，老話說，本，如果你等得足夠久，它會再次改變。但我認為現在，我們非常有能力在併購方面幫助一家更大的公司或成為其合作夥伴關係的一部分。

At this time, this concludes the company's question-and-answer session. If your question was not taken, you may contact Kubient's Investor Relations team at kubient@gatewayir.com.

至此，公司問答環節到此結束。如果您的問題沒有被採納，您可以通過 kubient@gatewayir.com 聯繫 Kubient 的投資者關係團隊。

I'd now like to turn the call back over to Mr. Roberts for his closing remarks.

我現在想把電話轉回給羅伯茨先生，讓他發表結束語。

Thanks, operator, and I'd just like to thank everyone for joining us today on our Q4 and full year 2022 earnings call. I specially want to take a moment to just thank all of our employees, our partners, our investors and customers for their continued support. We appreciate everyone's interest in Kubient and look forward to updating you on our next call. Operator?

謝謝，運營商，我只想感謝大家今天加入我們的第四季度和 2022 年全年財報電話會議。我特別想花點時間感謝我們所有的員工、我們的合作夥伴、我們的投資者和客戶一直以來的支持。我們感謝每個人對 Kubient 的興趣，並期待在我們的下一次電話中為您更新。操作員？

Thank you for joining us today for Kubient's fourth quarter and 2022 earnings conference call. You may now disconnect.

感謝您今天加入我們參加 Kubient 第四季度和 2022 年收益電話會議。您現在可以斷開連接。