SPACInsider

Michael Zacharski, CEO of BEN and Chris Gaertner, Co-CEO & CFO of DHC Acquisition Corp.

AI was one of the big themes for SPACs in 2023. Now in 2024, investor appetite and the market opportunity around AI is just as strong.

This week, we speak with Michael Zacharski, CEO of BEN and Chris Gaertner, Co-CEO and CFO of DHC Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: DHCA). The two announced a $358 million combination in September.

Michael explains how BEN has built an AI customer engagement tool focused on the auto sales and health care spaces and why those sectors were particularly ripe for disruption.   

Chris describes DHC’s process in pulling together a PIPE with strategic investment in a difficult market and how the SPAC is further supporting the transaction through to close.

Both also touch on why they welcome increased scrutiny towards how companies going public describe their AI technologies, or lack thereof.

 

Zapata AI's CEO & Co-Founder Christopher Savoie

Buzz around generative AI has been off to the races lately and that is exactly where Zapata AI has put many of its tools to work.

This week, we speak with Christopher Savoie, CEO and Co-founder of Zapata AI and Bill Sandbrook, Co-CEO and Chairman of Andretti Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: WNNR). The two announced a $283 million deal in September.

Bill explains how the Andretti team’s experience with Zapata AI on the competitive racetrack grew into the decision to take them public, while Christopher walks us through how Zapata’s number-based generative AI can create designs or scenarios for applications ranging from racing efficiency to financial portfolio optimization.

Chat GPT may be able to convincingly generate text and images, but could Zapata AI generate bridge blueprints, molecular formulas and new financial instruments?

 

Omeed Malik, Chairman & CEO of the Colombier SPACs

This week, in a special edition of the SPACInsider Podcast, SPACInsider founder Kristi Marvin speaks with Omeed Malik, Chairman and CEO of the Colombier SPACs.

She asks Omeed what brought him into the SPAC market and how his first SPAC, Colombier I, navigated the rapidly changing market as it closed in on its combination with PublicSquare (NYSE:PSQH).

He discusses the opportunity and risks at play in targeting companies in the "patriot economy" in a politically-charged environment. And, as a part of the new crop of serial SPAC sponsors that recently priced a second IPO with Colombier II (NYSE: CLBR.U), how does he see the product developing into 2024 and what changes could benefit sponsors, investors and targets alike?

iLearningEngine’s CEO Harish Chidambaran & Matt Safaii, Chairman/CEO of Arrowroot Acq. Corp.

This week, we speak with iLearningEngine’s CEO Harish Chidambaran and Matt Safaii, Chairman and CEO of Arrowroot Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: ARRW). The two announced a $1.4 billion deal in April.

AI may be the major buzzword of 2023, but iLearningEngines has been working on AI tools since 2010. Now, it hopes to use a SPAC transaction as its next step.

Harish explains how the company has developed a profitable AI platform with very little outside funding through the years, and how SPAC cash and public share capital can accelerate its growth through an M&A campaign.

Additionally, Matt tells us how Arrowroot’s long relationship with iLearningEngines gives it confidence in how the company will be valued in the public markets.

 

Royalty Management Holdings CFO Kirk Taylor

This week, we get into both sides of a SPAC transaction in the form of Kirk Taylor. He helped steer American Acquisition Opportunity and now serves as CFO of Royalty Management Holdings (Nasdaq: RMCO), with which the SPAC merged in early November.

Royalty Management has crafted a portfolio of royalty streams from mining operations as well as some industries like water treatment where such financings are novel.

Kirk discusses how the engagement with investors has gone as the teams advanced their transaction through the de-SPAC process and what new opportunities Royalty Management is seeking now that the deal is closed.

LatAm Logistics Properties CEO Esteban Saldarriaga, and two SPAC Chairman, Tom Hennessy

This week, we speak with Esteban Saldarriaga, CEO of LatAm Logistics Properties and Tom Hennessy, Chairman and CEO of the SPAC, two (NYSE: TWOA).

The pair announced a $578 million combination in August. Esteban explains why the timing is particularly attractive to do a SPAC deal to accelerate his company’s portfolio expansion in the current market climate and what opportunities and challenges lie in the industrial real estate space in the Latin American region.

Tom also explains how the deal came together for his team, which used a unique approach of taking over an existing SPAC to get the transaction done. 

X-Energy’s CEO, J. Clay Sell, Discusses Smaller-Reactor Nuclear Power

This week, we speak with J. Clay Sell, CEO of X-energy, which announced a $1.18 billion combination with Ares Acquisition Corporation in December 2022.

Wind and solar have each seen big booms in adoption in the 21^st century due to a mix of technology and incentives aligning at the same time. Could it once again be nuclear power’s turn?

Clay tells us how innovative smaller-reactor designs can carve out a new place in the energy mix for utilities and industrial clients alike. And, how X-energy’s focus on proprietary nuclear fuel has brought a new business model to the space.

Tim Moran of Avertix, and Ross Haghighat of BioPlus Acquisition Corp.

Biotech firms tend to come on to SPACs’ radar when they still have some clinical work to complete to get to an approved medicine or device, but Avertix is ahead of that particular curve.

This week, we speak with Tim Moran, President and CEO of Avertix, and Ross Haghighat, CEO and CFO of BioPlus Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: BIOS). The two announced a $195 million dollar combination in May of this year.

Tim tells us how Avertix’s Guardian heart monitoring implant has performed in its initial commercial rollout, having already been approved by the FDA and for insurance reimbursements. 

Ross meanwhile explains why being at that stage of the process was important for BioPlus’ criteria given the current market conditions and what further value streams could be unlocked by the Guardian device long term.

 

Brian Gordon of Verde Bioresins and Jin-Goon Kim of TLGY Acquisition Corp.

Sustainable materials are starting to take a bite out of the share of single-use plastics in circulation, but replacing the full $600 billion plastics market is going to take more innovation and much more capital.

This week, we speak Brian Gordon, President and COO of Verde Bioresins and Jin-Goon Kim, Chairman and CEO of TLGY Acquisition Corporation (Nasdaq: TLGY). The two announced a $433 million combination in June.

Brian explains why he believes Verde is closer to scaling up a viable plastic replacement than many of its competitors, while Jin-Goon explains how TLGY designed this transaction to be accountable to private equity-style benchmarks and also be attractive to SPAC investors through the de-SPAC process.

 

Vast CEO Craig Wood & Nabors Energy Transition (NETC) VP Guillermo Sierra

Renewable energy sources have long been pressed on the fact that most can only supply power for certain portions of the day. But, what if you could combine multiple renewable technologies into a refinery that had round-the-clock output?

This week we speak with Craig Wood, CEO of Vast, and Guillermo Sierra, VP of Strategic Initiatives at Nabors Energy Transition Corp. (NYSE: NETC). The pair announced a $250 million business combination in February.

Craig explains how Vast is fine-tuning its concentrated solar power platform to work in conjunction with traditional solar, batteries and hydrogen to put forward a new kind of renewable project.

Guillermo also tells us how Nabors Energy is leveraging its existing network to develop strategic benefits to Vast through this SPAC deal and beyond.