Astera Labs Inc

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our management, with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act), as of March 31, 2024, which was the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Based on such evaluation, as a result of the material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting described below, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that, as of such date, our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective at a reasonable assurance level.

Notwithstanding these identified material weaknesses, management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial and accounting officer, believes that the interim condensed financial statements contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q fairly present, in all material respects, the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Company for the periods presented in conformity with GAAP.

Previously Reported Material Weaknesses in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

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 financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. As previously disclosed in the Prospectus, we have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting as follows:

We did not adequately design and maintain an effective risk assessment process at a sufficient precision level to identify risks of material misstatement in our consolidated financial statements. Specifically, the implementation of controls was not sufficient to respond to risks of material misstatement to financial reporting, including a lack of effectively designed controls over segregation of duties, particularly over the preparation and review of journal entries and account reconciliations.

This material weakness could result in a misstatement of substantially all of the financial statement accounts and disclosures that would result in a material misstatement to our annual or interim consolidated financial statements that would not be prevented or detected.

We did not design and maintain effective information technology (“IT”) general controls for information systems that are relevant to the preparation of its financial statements. Specifically, we did not design and maintain: (i) program change management controls to ensure that program and data changes are identified, tested, authorized, and implemented appropriately; (ii) user access controls to ensure appropriate segregation of duties and to adequately restrict user and privileged access to appropriate personnel; (iii) computer operations controls to ensure that processing and transfer of data, and data backups and recovery are monitored; and (iv) program development controls to ensure that new software development is tested, authorized, and implemented appropriately.

These IT deficiencies did not result in a material misstatement to our consolidated financial statements, however, the deficiencies, when aggregated, could impact maintaining effective segregation of duties, as well as the effectiveness of IT-dependent controls (such as automated controls that address the risk of material misstatement to one or more assertions, along with the IT controls and underlying data that support the effectiveness of system-generated data and reports) that could result in misstatements potentially impacting all financial statement accounts and disclosures that would not be prevented or detected. Accordingly, we have determined these deficiencies in the aggregate constitute a material weakness.

Remediation Efforts to Address Previously Identified Material Weaknesses

We are taking steps to remediate these material weaknesses through the implementation of business processes and IT general controls. We plan to review business processes and IT processes and design and implement internal controls consistent with the principles of the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (“COSO”) framework to address the risks of material misstatement. Such activities may include designing and implementing new business processes, enhancing information and communication processes, assessing risk, improvements to control documentation, enhancements to segregation of duties and access rights, and deployment of new IT systems and system functionalities as necessary. We also plan to establish a monitoring function over internal control over financial reporting, including internal audit, to evaluate and enhance internal controls consistent with the COSO framework and the requirements of a public company. We further plan to implement and operate an appropriate set of IT general controls covering all financially significant systems, which includes controls covering security administration, segregation of duties, computer operations, system implementations, change management, complementary user controls for hosted systems, oversight activities for significant third-party vendors and others.

As of March 31, 2024, the remediation efforts, which have been or are in the process of being implemented, are intended to address the identified material weaknesses, and include:

•engagement with external consultants with extensive Sarbanes-Oxley Act experience;

•designing and implementing controls related to the formalization of our accounting policies and procedures and financial reporting;

•hiring additional staff and development of accounting processes to further segregate accounting responsibilities;

•designing and implementing controls related to significant accounts and disclosures to achieve complete, accurate and timely financial accounting, reporting and disclosures, including controls over account reconciliations, segregation of duties and the preparation and review of journal entries; and

•during the quarter ended March 31, 2024, formed a formal Disclosure Committee that has oversight responsibility for the accuracy and timeliness of disclosures made by us through controls and procedures and the monitoring of their integrity and effectiveness.

We have made progress towards designing and implementing the plan to remediate the material weaknesses and will continue to review, revise, and improve the design and implementation of our internal controls as appropriate. Although we have made enhancements to our control procedures, these material weaknesses will not be considered remediated until our controls are effectively designed and operational for a sufficient period of time, and management concludes, through testing, that these controls are operating effectively. Accordingly, the material weaknesses are not remediated as of March 31, 2024.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(d) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the quarter ended March 31, 2024 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect our internal control over financial reporting.

Limitations on Effectiveness of Controls and Procedures

A control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, have been detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty, and that breakdowns can occur because of a simple error or mistake. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people or by management override of the controls.