Editor's note: This week we introducing Triad Inno's Startups to Watch, a new program that highlights early-stage companies primed for a big year. The feature is a key component of our new Triad Inno platform emphasizing entrepreneurship as a dynamo to move this region forward. Today's subject, Guerrilla RF, also made Triad Inno's Startups to Watch in 2022.
Guerrilla RF
Year founded: 2013
No. of employees: 54+
Top executive: Ryan Pratt, founder and CEO
Address: 1196 Pleasant Ridge Road, Greensboro 27409
Phone: 336-510-7840
How he delivered in 2021 and why watch him in 2022: When TBJ named Ryan Pratt a 10 to Watch a year ago, it was based largely around the company's rapid growth and need for more space. In early October, when Guerrilla RF made TBJ's Fast 50 again, Pratt hinted that he had even bigger growth plans. Those details emerged only weeks later: Guerrilla RF was going public, upgrading to a building five times the size of its current headquarters, investing over $5 million, creating 50 more jobs at an average salary of $100,000 and had raised over $11 million. But the biggest reason to watch Pratt and Guerrilla may well be what lies ahead in 2022 — getting listing on an exchange, making the big relocation and ramping up staffing to execute Pratt's ambitious growth plans.
You'd think Ryan Pratt might be ready to slow down after taking Guerrilla RF public with an alternative public offering in October and raising more than $11 million. But with a major relocation, a hiring blitz and getting the company listed, he may be busier than ever in 2022.
Guerrilla RF will in the coming year move 11 miles down the road from its current 12,000-square-foot headquarters at 1196 Pleasant Ridge Road into a four-story, 58,970-square-foot office building at 2000 Pisgah Church Road. Guerrilla has committed to a 10-year lease with landlord Koury Corp. Construction, being handled by Koury Construction Services, has already begun, with plans to move in by late summer.
“It’s really cool to see them doing demolition work on most of the building, and they’ve begun framing the walls on the fourth floor,” Pratt said. “There’s a lot to do and we need it as soon as we can get it.”
Guerrilla needs more space to handle growth it was already experiencing and expects to see now that it has gone public. As of October, the company employed about 44 people in total, with 39 in the Triad. Since going public, Guerrilla RF has added 10 more people and will hire throughout next year. Pratt does not anticipate stopping at the 50 jobs promised in return for incentive grants. He expects to create “far more” than that amount in the long run.
A look at the future home of Guerrilla RF - new building with Ryan Pratt
The next step to get the company’s stock traded is to file an S-1 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to have its securities registered. Guerrilla RF has also already filed the necessary forms with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), another stock trading regulatory agency.
Pratt hopes to have Guerrilla RF’s stock debut on the over-the-counter (OTC) market’s QB tier by the end of January. Guerrilla RF will go through a “seasoning” period of approximately 15 months before it is eligible to apply to uplist to a larger exchange, such as NASDAQ or NYSE. Pratt has confirmed his intent to apply for a bigger exchange in the future.
Q&A with Ryan Pratt
Last January you said that your office space was at 90% capacity. How is it now that Guerrilla RF is hiring more people?
It’s very tight, so we’ve had to reconfigure our office space to fit more people. We’ve had to downsize cubicles and offices a bit. Staying within reason and [Covid-19] safety precautions, we’re cramming as many people as we can. Probably somewhere in Q2, we’ll hit a limit. We may rent some off-site space and certainly will encourage some folks to work from home. We’ve long since given them the option of working from home but most prefer to be in the office. We may have to timeshare where some people are in two days a week, other people are in three days a week and share one office. We’re not exactly sure what we’re going to do, but we’re looking at two or three or four different options come Q2.
Do you foresee needing to raise additional capital in the next year?
I think, at this point, it’s unknown. Certainly, being public can make that process a little easier and quicker – and that’s one of the reasons we’ve gone public. The amount we raised easily gets us through next year. But if an opportunity arises – like if the stock price is pretty high or if we get in some interesting discussions with institutions that would like to put in more money – certainly we would always reserve the right to raise additional money, but it’s not a firm plan right now.
Guerrilla RF already has a lot planned for 2022. Anything else on the horizon?
Lord, I hope not. Just lots of growth. I think, for us, it’s really heads down, keep doing what we’re doing, get back to just cranking out new products. I think you’ll see a lot of new product announcements from us next year. And I think we’ll continue to deliver on our expectation and goal of good growth next year. So, now we just need to go out and execute it.
Coming this afternoon: Sneez
