Rigetti Computing Inc

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our management, with the participation of our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of December 31, 2023. Based on the evaluation of our disclosure controls and procedures, our management concluded that, as of December 31, 2023, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective due to the material weaknesses described below.

We have implemented additional controls over review of complex financial instrument valuations as described in our remediation plan below. The material weakness related to review of complex financial instrument valuations will not be considered remediated until such time as the additional controls operate for a sufficient period of time and management has concluded, through testing, that the controls are effective.

We have added and continue to add additional controls over our year-end and quarter-end close processes, which are still being implemented. We have hired and intend to hire additional accounting resources. The material weakness related to our year-end and quarter-end close processes will not be considered remediated until such time as management designs and implements effective controls that operate for a sufficient period of time and has concluded, through testing, that these controls are effective.

A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of a company’s annual or interim consolidated financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

After giving full consideration to the material weaknesses and the additional procedures that we performed, management has concluded that the consolidated financial statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K fairly present, in all material respects, our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows for the periods presented in conformity with GAAP; however, the material weaknesses could have resulted in a misstatement of account balances or disclosures that would be considered material to the annual or interim consolidated financial statements and certain of the material weaknesses did result in errors in the financial statements and related disclosures as described below for the quarters ended March 31, 2022 and June 30, 2022, which we restated in 2022.

Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act, for Rigetti Computing, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, the Company). Our internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).

Our internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (i) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the Company; (ii) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with GAAP, and that receipts and expenditures of the Company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the Company; and (iii) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements, and even when determined to be effective, can only provide reasonable assurance with respect to financial statement preparation and presentation. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, evaluated the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023. In making this evaluation, our management used the criteria for effective internal control over financial reporting described in the “Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013)” published by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on this assessment, management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2023 due to the material weaknesses described below.

Material Weaknesses

As previously disclosed, in connection with the preparation of our unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements for the nine months ended October 31, 2021, we identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to the lack of effective review controls over the accounting for complex financial instruments. Specifically, the controls failed to identify an error in the accounting for complex warrant instruments. The error related to the Company not properly accounting for the liability associated with the warrants to purchase common stock issued to Trinity Capital Inc. that were subsequently cancelled and reissued as new warrants in connection with an amendment to the Loan Agreement.

In addition, in connection with the preparation of the financial statements for the second quarter of 2022, we identified and corrected an immaterial error related to the revaluation of the liability associated with the same warrants issued to Trinity Capital.

In connection with the preparation of the financial statements for the third quarter of 2022, we discovered that the previously identified material weakness led to additional material errors related to the valuation of the Earn-out liabilities and the Private Warrant liability that affected the previously issued unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements as of and for the periods ended March 31, 2022 and June 30, 2022. These errors were corrected in the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements as of and for the periods ended March 31, 2022 and June 30, 2022 through a restatement of previously filed financial statements for such periods.

Our management concluded that the previously identified material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to complex financial instruments was due to the fact that at the time we initially identified the material weakness, we did not have sufficient accounting resources and did not have the necessary business processes and related internal controls formally designed and implemented to address the accounting and financial reporting requirements related to complex financial instruments. This material weakness continued to exist as of December 31, 2023 because the controls that were implemented as part of our plan to remediate this material weakness have not been operating for a sufficient period of time to allow management to conclude through testing that the controls are effective.

Additionally, as previously disclosed, in connection with the preparation of the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2022, we identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting related to the design and operation of our overall closing and financial reporting processes, including the timely preparation of account reconciliations, effective segregation of duties, particularly with respect to change management and logical access over IT systems, and a lack of timely review over the financial statement close process. We have concluded that this material weakness is due to the fact that, between the date the Company went public pursuant to the Business Combination and December 31, 2022, the Company had limited resources and did not have the necessary business processes and related internal controls formally designed and implemented coupled with the appropriate resources with the appropriate level of experience and technical expertise to oversee our closing and financial reporting processes. This material weakness continued to exist as of December 31, 2023 due to the reasons described above, including the period of time required to hire and train new employees with the appropriate level of experience and technical expertise, and because the necessary controls to remediate the material weakness have only been partially implemented and have not yet been sufficiently tested.

Remediation Plan

Our remediation plan related to the material weakness over the accounting for complex financial instruments includes:

Our remediation plan related to the material weakness over our overall closing and financial reporting processes includes:

The elements of our remediation plans can only be accomplished over time, and we can offer no assurance that these initiatives will ultimately have the intended effects. As management continues to evaluate and work to improve our internal control over financial reporting, management may determine it is necessary to take additional measures to address the material weaknesses. These material weaknesses will not be considered remediated unless and until such time as management designs and implements effective controls that operate for a sufficient period of time and concludes, through testing, that these controls are effective. Until the controls have been operating for a sufficient period of time and management has concluded, through testing, that these controls are operating effectively, the material weaknesses described above will continue to exist.

Management is monitoring the progress of the remediation plan and reporting regularly to the audit committee of the board of directors on the progress and results of the remediation plan, including the identification, status and resolution of internal control deficiencies. We can provide no assurance that the measures we have taken and plan to take in the future will remediate the material weaknesses identified or that any additional material weakness or restatements of financial results will not arise in the future due to a failure to implement and maintain adequate internal control over financial reporting or circumvention of these controls. In addition, even if we are successful in strengthening our controls and procedures, in the future these controls and procedures may not be adequate to prevent or identify irregularities or errors or to facilitate the fair presentation of our financial statements.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Other than the remediation efforts described above, there have been no other changes in our internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) promulgated under the Exchange Act, during the quarter ended December 31, 2023, that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Attestation Report of the Registered Public Accounting Firm

This Annual Report on Form 10-K does not include an attestation report of our registered public accounting firm due to an exemption for “emerging growth companies.”