SPACInsider

SPAC transactions have taken a variety of Electric Vehicle (EV) business models to the public markets. ZeroNox brings another new approach to the EV story with its focus on retrofitting fleets of off-highway vehicles for sustainability. This week, we speak with ZeroNox President and Co-Founder Robert Cruess and Yana Kakar, CEO of the Growth for Good Acquisition Corporation (Nasdaq: GFGD). The pair...

There are new things happening in brand security from the physical marks that track products through their supply chains to digital tools to prevent online piracy. This week we speak with with Selva Selvaratnam, CEO of OpSec Security . It provides a variety of these services and it announced a $426 million combination with Investcorp Europe Acquisition Corp. I (NASDAQ:IVCB) in April. Selva tells u...

This week, we speak with Joe Reece and Stephen Kadenacy, from the SilverBox team . Joe and Stephen led the Boxwood Merger Corp. and SilverBox Engaged Merger Corp. I transactions , as well as recently priced the SilverBox Corp. III IPO . We dig into their perspective, having priced SPACs in three very different market environments. Joe and Steve explain why and how they maintained their value prior...

SPACs have been searching hard for combination targets with lean balance sheets and strong cash flow. So, why not combine with a company that helps other companies develop lean balance sheets and strong cash flow? Aeries Technology does just that, working frequently in conjunction with private equity firms to find efficiencies in their target companies amid a turnaround. This week, we speak with S...

Between the various recent cases in the Delaware courts, such as Boxed, which involved the different SPAC voting classes, or the Multiplan case, or Arrival, all of which are in addition to the 1% excise tax on share buybacks, there has been a noticeable trend of SPACs moving to off-shore domiciles. We spoke with Derek Dostal, from the law firm of Davis Polk , and Christian Nagler, from Kirkland &...

Fighting for digital services market share in developed markets can be uphill sledding, but what if what you are offering has no legacy competitor to replace? This week, we speak with Greg Moran, Co-Founder and CEO of Zoomcar . Zoomcar runs a ride-sharing marketplace in India, where traditional short-term rental options are rare and it announced a $456 million combination with Innovative Internati...

For better or worse, fighting fires is big business. This week, we speak with Tim Sheehy, Founder and CEO of Bridger Aerospace (NASDAQ:BAER). Bridger operates a fleet of firefighting airplanes and support vehicles in the Western United States and it closed a combination with Jack Creek Investment Corporation on January 25th. Tim explains how this age-old business is built on steady government cont...

Whether you’re bullish on the North American EV car boom or not, there are exciting things happening on two wheels in Europe and Asia. This week, we speak with Swin Chatsuwan, Founder and CEO of Zapp . Zapp has developed a line of electric motorcycles manufactured in Thailand that have some unique features, like being able to plug in anywhere. To help fuel Zapp’s drive into European and Asian mark...

Visions of a self-sufficient energy future with solar panels on every household roof have been around for decades. But, it may take companies able to bring the full package of design, construction and financing to get more homeowners on board. This week, we speak with Complete Solaria CEO Will Anderson. Complete Solaria is the merger of two peer residential solar companies, Complete Solar and Sola...

The chip shortage has been a serious headwind to many tech companies, but what has it been like for the chip makers themselves? This week we speak with Eli Assoolin, Co-founder CEO and Chairman of Newsight Imaging . Newsight announced a $380 million dollar combination with Vision Sensing Acquisition Corp. in August of last year. It provides the critical semiconductor components for lidar sets as w...

Why stop at one SPAC deal when you can do two SPAC deals. This week we speak with Wejo (NASDAQ:WEJO) CEO Richard Barlow. Wejo announced a business combination with TKB Critical Technologies 1 (NASDAQ:USCT) in January, about 15 months after it closed an earlier combination with Virtuoso Acquisition Corp. Richard walks us through how Wejo weathered challenging market conditions 2022 and provides an...

Electronics manufacturing is a huge sector, but it's also fragmented, particularly at the early stages of a new product's lifecycle. With its SPAC deal, Tempo Automation (NASDAQ:TMPO) is hoping to change that. This week, we speak with Tempo Automation President and CEO Joy Weiss and Chairman Behrooz Abdi. Tempo combined with ACE Convergence Acquisition Corporation in November 2022, and Joy explain...

Carbon capture technology has long been talked about, and it is finally in operation with LanzaTech among the pioneers. Its plants are turning potential emissions into clothing, household goods and sustainable fuels. SPAC cash is now also an accelerant in this new process as the company announced a $1.7 billion combination with AMCI II last March. This week, we caught up with LanzaTech CEO Dr. Jen...

It has been a bumpy year for crypto, but what if there was a way to invest in the space while dodging the volatility? Bitcoin Depot hopes to be that stock and announced a $755 million dollar combination with GSR II Meteora Acquisition Corp. in August. This week, we speak with Brandon Mintz, CEO of Bitcoin Depot. Brandon tells us how Bitcoin Depot has managed to build a crypto business without hold...

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are hard to market to and are routinely under-banked, so how can financial services firms reach them? This week, we speak with Plastiq Founder and CEO Eliot Buchanan. Plastiq specializes in providing payments services to SMBs and it signed a $480 million combination with Colonnade Acquisition Corp II (NYSE: CLAA) in August. Eliot tells us how Plastiq has ma...

What is your life insurance policy worth while you’re still living? This week, we speak with Abacus Life President and CEO Jay Jackson who may just want to buy yours. Abacus Life has made a business of buying consumer life insurance policies for upfront payments and holding them until maturity. To help bring this particular kind of transaction more into the mainstream, Abacus Life announced a $618...

SPACs and the use of projections have gotten a fair amount of attention this year from both the media and the SEC. And, the pending SEC SPAC Rule could have an additional effect on how bankers and SPAC teams handle projections in the future. However, Jim Zukin , of Zukin Certification Services ("ZCS"), and Christian Nagler , a partner at Kirkland & Ellis , join us to break it all down and give us...

Is it possible to do to the car rental industry what Airbnb has done for travel accommodation? That is Getaround’s thesis as it runs a marketplace where people can rent out their personal cars for short trips, and it announced a $900 million combination agreement with Interprivate II Acquisition Corp. in May.  This week, we speak with Getaround founder and CEO Sam Zaid about how the pandemic accel...

The market is down, but so are valuations for private companies looking at their strategic options. There are now bargains to be had for recent de-SPACs looking to execute a post-listing roll-up strategy, according to FiscalNote Chairman, CEO and co-founder Tim Hwang. This week, we catch up with Tim to talk about how his company has kept busy in the two months since closing its combination with Du...

People are traveling again, but not many hotel chains focused on Millennial and Gen Z customers have achieved a global scale. Selina is hoping to be that company. It signed a $996 million combination agreement with BOA Acquisition Corp. in December 2021 and it is now approaching its close. This week we speak with Selina CEO and Co-Founder Rafael Museri and BOA President and CFO Ben Friedman. They...

This week we speak with Jay Chandan, Chairman and CEO of Gorilla Technology , and Raj Natarajan, its Chief Innovation Officer. Gorilla closed a $720 million combination with Global SPAC Partners in July and has since been a bright spot among recent de-SPACs, consistently trading in the $11 to $12 range. Jay and Raj explain how the 20-year-old video intelligence company is meeting the growing deman...

We all know you can make alternative meats out of plants, but what about growing meat from plants? This week, we speak with Gastón Paladini, Co-founder and CEO of Moolec Science , which announced a $504 million dollar combination with LightJump Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: LJAQ) in June. Moolec is pioneering a new way to achieve plant-based foods by taking dairy and meat proteins and programming the...

This week, we speak with Len Liptak, CEO of ProSomnus Sleep Technologies , which announced a $168 million combination with Lakeshore Acquisition I Corp. (Nasdaq: LAAA), in May. ProSomnus has developed a new device to treat obstructive sleep apnea that disrupts the need for its millions of sufferers to be connected to ventilators at night. Len explains how the COVID-19 pandemic increased the need f...

We spoke with real estate investment marketplace Appreciate , which announced a $416 million deal with PropTech Investment Corp II (Nasdaq: PTIC) in May. CEO Chris Laurence and President Kevin Ortner explain how they built a unique end-to-end platform for real estate investors looking to buy properties to rent out far afield from their local market, be they institutions or moms and pops. They also...

This week, we speak with Raj Suri, Founder and CEO of Presto . Presto entered into a $634 million combination agreement with Ventoux CCM Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:VTAQ) in November 2021. If you’ve ordered a fast-food meal using a smart touch screen or talking to a voice AI recently, there’s a good chance Presto made that order happen. The company has developed both hardware and software that serve...