[S-8] Zhongchao Inc. Employee Benefit Plan Registration

Rhea-AI Filing Summary

Analyzing...

As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on August 22, 2025

Registration No. 333-                

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM S-8
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

Zhongchao Inc.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

Cayman Islands		Not applicable
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)

Room 2504, OOCL Tower

841 Yan’an Middle Road

Jing’An District, Shanghai, China 200040

Tel: 021-32205987
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)

Zhongchao Inc. 2025 Equity Incentive Plan

(Full title of the plan)

Puglisi & Associates
850 Library Avenue, Suite 204
Newark, Delaware 19711
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

Copies to:

Arila Zhou, Esq.
Robinson & Cole LLP
Chrysler East Building
666 Third Avenue, 20^th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Tel: 212-451-2908

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

	Large accelerated filer ☐		Accelerated filer ☐
	Non-accelerated filer ☒		Smaller reporting company ☐
			Emerging growth company ☒

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐

Part I

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS

Item 1. Plan Information.*

Item 2. Registrant Information and Employee Plan Annual Information.*

* The documents containing the information specified in Part I of Form S-8 will be sent or given to participants as specified by Rule 428(b)(1) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). In accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) and the instructions to Form S-8, such documents are not being filed with the Commission either as part of this Registration Statement or as prospectuses or prospectus supplements pursuant to Rule 424 under the Securities Act.

1

Part II

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

Item 3. Incorporation of Documents by Reference.

The following documents previously filed or furnished by the Registrant with the SEC are incorporated herein by reference in this Registration Statement:

(a) The Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the Commission on April 25, 2025;

(b) All other reports filed by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act; and

(c) The description of the Registrant’s Class A Ordinary Shares incorporated by reference in the Registrant’s registration statement on Form 8-A (File No. 001-39229) filed with the Commission on February 13, 2020, including any amendment and report subsequently filed for the purpose of updating that description; and

All documents filed by the Registrant pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act subsequent to the date hereof, prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered hereby have been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date of filing of such documents; provided, however, that, unless expressly incorporated into this registration statement, documents or information deemed to have been furnished and not filed in accordance with SEC rules shall not be deemed incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement. Any statement contained herein or in a document, all or a portion of which is incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein, shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a statement contained herein or in any other subsequently filed document which also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or amended, to constitute a part of this Registration Statement.

Item 4. Description of Securities.

Not applicable.

Item 5. Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.

Not applicable.

Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

The Companies Act (Revised) of the Cayman Islands does not limit the extent to which a company’s memorandum and articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the Cayman Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against civil fraud or the consequences of committing a crime. Our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association provide that every director, secretary, or other officer of the Company (including alternate directors, proxy directors and former directors and officers), any trustee for the time being acting in relation to the Company (including any nominee shareholder holding shares in the Company) and their heirs and personal representatives (each an (“Indemnified Person”) shall be entitled to be indemnified out of the assets of the Company against all actions, proceedings, costs, damages, expenses, claims, losses, or liabilities (“Indemnified Losses”) which they or any of them may sustain or incur by reason of any act done or omitted in or about the execution of the duties of their respective offices or trusts or otherwise in relation thereto, including any liability incurred by him in defending any proceedings, whether civil or criminal, in which judgement is given in their favor or in which he is acquitted except to the extent that any of the foregoing arise through his dishonesty.

II-1

Further pursuant to our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association, no Indemnified Person shall be liable (a) for any loss, damage or misfortune whatsoever which may happen to or be incurred by the Company in the execution of the duties, powers, authorities or discretions of his office or in relation thereto, (b) for the acts, receipts, neglects, defaults or omissions of any other such director or person, or (c) by reason of his having joined in any receipt for money not received by him personally, or (d) for any loss on account of defect of title to any property of the Company, or (e) on account of the insufficiency of any security in or upon which any money of the Company shall be invested, or (f) for any loss incurred through any bank, broker or other agent, or (g) for any loss occasioned by any negligence, default, breach of duty, breach of trust, error of judgement or oversight on his part, or (h) for any other loss or damage due to any such cause as aforesaid except to the extent that any of the foregoing arise through his dishonesty.

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors, officers or persons controlling us under the foregoing provisions, we have been informed that in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.

The Company’s offer letter with each director provides that the Company shall, to the maximum extent provided under applicable law, indemnify and hold harmless such director from and against any expenses, including reasonable attorney’s fees, judgments, fines, settlements and other legally permissible amounts (“Losses”), incurred in connection with any proceeding arising out of, or related to, such director’s performance of his or her duties, other than any such Losses incurred as a result of his or her negligence or willful misconduct. The Company shall advance to such director any expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs of settlement, incurred in defending any such proceeding to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law. Such costs and expenses incurred by such director in defense of any such proceeding shall be paid by the Company in advance of the final disposition of such proceeding promptly upon receipt by the Company of (a) written request for payment; (b) appropriate documentation evidencing the incurrence, amount and nature of the costs and expenses for which payment is being sought; and (c) an undertaking adequate under applicable law made by or on such director’s behalf to repay the amounts so advanced if it shall ultimately be determined pursuant to any non-appealable judgment or settlement that you are not entitled to be indemnified by the Company.

Item 7. Exemption from Registration Claimed.

Not applicable.

Item 8. Exhibits.

See Exhibit Index.

Item 9. Undertakings.

(a) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

(1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

(i) to include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;

(ii) to reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of this Registration Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in this Registration Statement; and

II-2

(iii) to include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in this Registration Statement or any material change to such information in this Registration Statement;

provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) above do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement;

(2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

(b) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(c) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that, in the opinion of the Commission, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

II-3

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in Shanghai, China, on 22nd day of August, 2025

	Zhongchao Inc.
	By:	/s/ Weiguang Yang
	Name:	Weiguang Yang
	Title:	Chief Executive Officer
		(Principal Executive Officer)

POWER OF ATTORNEY

KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS, that each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Weiguang Yang as his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact, with the power of substitution, for and in such person’s name, place, and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to this registration statement, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto each said attorney-in-fact full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done as fully to all intents and purposes as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that each said attorney-in-fact may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this registration statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated:

Signature		Title		Date
/s/ Weiguang Yang		Chief Executive Officer, Director and		August 22, 2025
Weiguang Yang		Chairman of the Board
		(Principal Executive Officer)
/s/ Pei Xu		Chief Financial Officer and Director		August 22, 2025
Pei Xu		(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer)
/s/ John C. General		Independent Director		August 22, 2025
John C. General
/s/ Kevin Dean Vassily		Independent Director		August 22, 2025
Kevin Dean Vassily
/s/ Dan Li		Independent Director		August 22, 2025
Dan Li

II-4

SIGNATURE OF AUTHORIZED U.S. REPRESENTATIVE OF THE REGISTRANT

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the undersigned, the duly authorized representative in the United States of the Company, has signed this registration statement on Form S-8 in the City of Newark, State of Delaware, on August 22, 2025.

	Authorized U.S. Representative
	By:	/s/ Donald J. Puglisi
		Name:	Donald J. Puglisi
		Title:	Managing Director of Puglisi & Associates

II-5

EXHIBIT INDEX

Exhibit No.		Description
3.1		Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association (incorporated by reference to the identically named exhibit filed with the Current Report on 6-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 29, 2024)
4.1		Form of Specimen Class A Ordinary Share Certificate (incorporated by reference to the identically named exhibit filed with the Registration Statement on Form F-1 (File No. 333-234807) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 27, 2019)
5.1*		Opinion of Ogier (Cayman) LLP, Cayman Islands counsel to the Registrant, regarding the legality of the ordinary shares being registered
10.1*		2025 Share Incentive Plan
23.1*		Consent of Ogier (Cayman) LLP (included in Exhibit 5.1)
23.2*		Consent of Prager Metis CPAs, LLC
24.1*		Power of Attorney (included on the signature page hereto)
107*		Filing Fee Table

* Filed herewith

II-6