I think you have it in one Happyhour!

Get some orders, then you will get market credibility and then you can go to the financial institutions, or shareholders and raise the cash to get on with the job.  Yes, we all acknowledge the global effects of the pandemic, and POET has not been alone in suffering those woes.  But, where others have bounced back, more or less, POET seems to still struggle for even a modicum of the global marketplace.  Why?  

When push has come to shove, and there's only beta samples after all these years (I stand to be corrected on this one), then the market credibility is on a backfoot.  Once your core investors lose faith, you can quietly kiss your backside goodbye.  I feel that the present sp is reflecting just that.

I hope I am wrong.