SPACInsider

FiscalNote Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder Tim Hwang

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 Duddell Street.

Tim reflects on how FiscalNote was able to prioritize key conditions in getting the right SPAC deal and how it is already taking advantage of being a publicly company.

FiscalNote collects data on the regulatory processes in the US and abroad from federal institutions all the way down to local school boards. Tim also talks about the growing demand for data in these realms and how the pandemic increased the number of touch points governments at every level have on business operations.

 

Selina CEO/Co-Founder Rafael Museri and BOA President /CFO Ben Friedman

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 talk about why Selina has such a unique pitch to both customers and investors in this moment where the market is jumping from the pandemic to a risk-off climate. And, how its asset-light approach has put profitability squarely in its sights without sacrificing growth.

 

Gorilla Technology’s Jay Chandan & Raj Natarajan Discuss AI solutions in the Edge Computing Space

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 demand for new AI solutions in the edge computing space, and how its mix of public readiness and a willingness to make changes to the initial deal to meet the changing market have helped Gorilla to be successful post-close.

Gastón Paladini, Co-founder and CEO of Moolec Science

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 soy and pea-plant seeds to grow it themselves.

Paladini discusses how his background in the conventional foods industry gives Moolec the upper hand in proving its technology, and how its journey as a de-SPAC of a de-SPAC gives it unique opportunities to accelerate towards commercialization.

Len Liptak, CEO of ProSomnus, and Bill Chen, CEO & Chairman of Lakeshore Acquisition I Corp.

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 for sleep apnea treatments, and how this deal will help power its continued commercialization.

Lakeshore I CEO and Chairman Bill Chen joins to tell us why it was important that ProSomnus is already generating revenue and how SPACs can still compete for quality targets in the current market.

 

Appreciate & PropTech II (PTIC) Discuss the Single-Family Rental Market

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 give us the lowdown on what the single-family rental market looks like from inside the machine and how capital can best be put to work in the current climate.

PropTech II’s Co-CEO and CFO M. Joseph Beck also joins to walk us through how the SPACs’ prolific team has shifted criteria to match the times.

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Raj Suri, Founder & CEO of Presto

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 to automate quick-service ordering and it counts some of America’s biggest fast-food chains among its clients.

Raj talks about how Presto plans to expand within its clients' chains and what the future of automated restaurants looks like. He also speaks to how both Presto and Ventoux have ridden out the difficult market conditions and why Presto could serve as a hedge stock against inflation once the deal closes.

 

Stu Landesberg, Founder & CEO of Grove Collaborative

This week, we speak with Stu Landesberg, Founder and CEO of Grove Collaborative (NYSE:GROV). Grove produces a line of sustainable and plastic-free home and personal care goods and it closed a $1.5 billion combination with Virgin Group Acquisition Corp. II in June. 

Stu talks about how getting to cleaner home goods isn’t just about ingredients, but rethinking everything down to whether they are a liquid or a solid. He gets into how much of this innovation comes from the feedback loop Grove has with its DTC customers. 

He also reflects on Grove’s decision to go for a SPAC deal now that the company is on the other end of it, and what advice he has for fellow CEOs fielding SPAC calls today.

Nogin Co-Founder & CEO Jan-Christopher Nugent and Software Acq. Group III’s Jon Huberman

This week, we speak with Jan-Christopher Nugent, Co-Founder and CEO of Nogin and Jon Huberman, Chairman, CEO and CFO of Software Acquisition Group Inc. III. The two announced a $658 million combination agreement in February of 2022.

Nogin provides commerce-as-a-service for ecommerce clients – putting their marketing, payments and shipping process all under a single umbrella.

Jan talks about how the current market conditions have driven a greater demand for efficiencies among ecommerce players, while Jon describes how the Software SPAC team has shifted strategy with the changing market tides in its third combination since 2020.

Scott Ford, CEO and Co-founder of Westrock Coffee

This week we speak with Scott Ford, CEO and Co-founder of Westrock Coffee.

Westrock entered into a $1.1 billion combination agreement with Riverview Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: RVAC) in April of 2022, and has grown into the #1 wholesale provider of coffee and tea to US restaurants.  Westrock is now looking to use its SPAC deal to make a big move into cold brew, made in the United States.

Scott explains how the company has worked to insulate itself from supply chain and commodity disruptions and why a SPAC deal was preferable to an IPO or more trips to the private equity watering hole.