Braze (K43) Risk Analysis

Upon the retirement and automatic conversion of our Class B common stock into Class A common stock on January 30, 2026, our executive officers and early investors no longer hold super-voting stock. Consequently, our voting power is now more widely distributed among our public stockholders. This transition may make us more susceptible to stockholder activism, proxy contests, and unsolicited takeover proposals. Responding to activist campaigns can be costly and time-consuming, disrupt our operations, and divert the attention of management and our employees. Furthermore, perceived uncertainties as to our future strategic direction resulting from this change in voting control could result in the loss of potential business opportunities and cause volatility in our stock price.

Prior to the closing of our initial public offering, no public market for our Class A common stock existed. An active public trading market for our Class A common stock may not continue to develop or, if further developed, it may not be sustained. The lack of an active market may impair the ability of holders of our Class A common stock to sell their shares at the time they wish to sell them or at a price that the holders of our Class A common stock consider reasonable. The lack of an active market may also reduce the fair value of shares of our Class A common stock. An inactive market may also impair our ability to raise capital to continue to fund operations by selling shares and may impair our ability to acquire other companies or technologies by using our shares as consideration.

Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, each as currently in effect, may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control or changes in our management. Such amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws include provisions that: - authorize our board of directors to issue, without further action by the stockholders, shares of undesignated preferred stock with terms, rights and preferences determined by our board of directors that may be senior to our Class A common stock;- require that any action to be taken by our stockholders be effected at a duly called annual or special meeting and not by written consent;- specify that special meetings of our stockholders can be called only by our board of directors, the chairperson of our board of directors or our chief executive officer;- establish an advance notice procedure for stockholder proposals to be brought before an annual meeting, including proposed nominations of persons for election to our board of directors;- establish that our board of directors is divided into three classes, with each class serving three-year staggered terms;- prohibit cumulative voting in the election of directors;- provide that our directors may be removed for cause only upon the vote of at least 66 2/3% of our outstanding shares of voting stock;- provide that vacancies on our board of directors may be filled only by a majority of directors then in office, even though less than a quorum; and - require the approval of our board of directors or the holders of at least 66 2/3% of our outstanding shares of voting stock to amend our bylaws and certain provisions of our certificate of incorporation. These provisions may frustrate or prevent any attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our current management by making it more difficult for stockholders to replace members of our board of directors, which is responsible for appointing the members of our management. In addition, because we are incorporated in Delaware, we are governed by the provisions of Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, or DGCL, which generally, subject to certain exceptions, prohibits a Delaware corporation from engaging in any of a broad range of business combinations with any "interested" stockholder for a period of three years following the date on which the stockholder became an "interested" stockholder. Any of the foregoing provisions could limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our Class A common stock, and they could deter potential acquirers of our company, thereby reducing the likelihood that holders of our Class A common stock would receive a premium for their shares of our Class A common stock in an acquisition.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation as currently in effect provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware be the sole and exclusive forum for: - any derivative claim or cause of action brought on our behalf;- any claim or cause of action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty;- any claim or cause of action against us arising under the DGCL;- any claim or cause of action arising under or seeking to interpret our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws; and - any claim or cause of action against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation as currently in effect further provides that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the federal district courts of the United States of America shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, be the sole and exclusive forum for the resolutions of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, including all causes of action asserted against any defendant named in such complaint. The exclusive forum clauses described above shall not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or any other claim for which the federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. For the avoidance of doubt, this provision is intended to benefit and may be enforced by us, our officers and directors, the underwriters to any offering giving rise to such complaint, and any other professional entity whose profession gives authority to a statement made by that person or entity and who has prepared or certified any part of the documents underlying any offering. Although we believe these provisions benefit us by providing increased consistency in the application of applicable law in the types of lawsuits to which they apply, the provisions may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers. The enforceability of similar choice of forum provisions in other companies' certificates of incorporation has been challenged in legal proceedings, and there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such provisions. In addition, investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. It is possible that, in connection with any applicable action brought against us, a court could find the choice of forum provisions contained in our currently effective amended and restated certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in such action. If so, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Future sales of a substantial number of shares of our Class A common stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales might occur, could depress the market price of our Class A common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional equity securities. Some of our existing equity holders may have substantial unrecognized gains on the value of the equity they hold, and therefore they may take steps to sell their shares or otherwise secure the unrecognized gains on those shares. Additionally, we issued shares of Class A commons stock in our acquisition of OfferFit, and have registered the re-sale of these shares. We are unable to predict the effect that such sales may have on the prevailing market price of our Class A common stock. We have registered all of our common stock issuable upon the exercise or settlement of outstanding equity awards, pursuant to the terms of the purchase rights under our employee stock purchase plan or under any other equity incentives we may grant in the future, for public resale under the Securities Act. Such underlying shares of Class A common stock will become eligible for sale in the public market to the extent such shares are issued pursuant to the terms of the applicable equity incentive plan or award agreement, subject to compliance with applicable securities laws.

The market price of our Class A common stock may be highly volatile and may fluctuate substantially as a result of a variety of factors. Factors that may affect the market price of our Class A common stock include: - actual or anticipated fluctuations in our financial condition and results of operations;- variance in our financial performance from expectations of securities analysts;- changes in the prices of our products and services;- changes in our projected financial condition and results of operations;- changes in laws or regulations applicable to the provision of our products and services or changes that may cause us to incur, among other things, additional or unforeseen expenses associated with regulatory compliance;- announcements by us or our competitors of significant business developments, acquisitions or new offerings;- security breaches impacting us or similar companies;- our involvement in any material litigation;- future sales of our Class A common stock by us or our stockholders or our sales of other securities in the future;- changes in senior management or key personnel;- the trading volume of our Class A common stock;- changes in the anticipated future size and growth rate of our market;- general economic, regulatory and market conditions; and - technical factors in the public trading market for our Class A common stock that may produce price movements that may or may not comport with macro, industry, or company-specific fundamentals, including, without limitation, the sentiment of retail investors, the amount and status of short interest in our securities, access to margin debt, trading in options and other derivatives on our Class A common stock and other technical trading factors. Accordingly, we cannot assure you of the liquidity of an active trading market, your ability to sell your shares of our Class A common stock when desired, or the prices that you may obtain for your shares of our Class A common stock. The lack of an active market may impair your ability to sell your shares at the time you wish to sell them or at a price that you consider reasonable. The lack of an active market may also reduce the fair value of your shares. An inactive market may also impair our ability to raise capital to continue to fund operations by selling shares and may impair our ability to acquire other companies or technologies by using our shares as consideration. The stock markets have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many companies. These fluctuations have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. Additionally, the recent and acute volatility among certain financial institutions have raised questions regarding the stability of the banking sector and, while such volatility has not adversely affected our operations, it has had an adverse impact on the equity and credit markets. Broad market and industry fluctuations, as well as general economic, political, regulatory and market conditions, may negatively impact the market price of our Class A common stock. In the past, companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their securities have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future, which could result in substantial costs and divert our management's attention.

We expect to issue additional capital stock in the future that will result in dilution to all other stockholders. We expect to grant equity awards to employees, directors and consultants under our equity incentive plans and purchase rights to our employees under our employee stock purchase plan. We may also raise capital through equity financings in the future. As part of our business strategy, we may acquire or make investments in companies, products, services or technologies and issue equity securities to pay for any such acquisition or investment. For instance, we issued shares of Class A common stock as a portion of the consideration in our acquisition of OfferFit. Any such issuances of additional capital stock may cause stockholders to experience significant dilution of their ownership interests and the per share value of our Class A common stock to decline.