The world has a long way to go to meet climate goals, especially airlines. There is currently no alternative to jet fuel-powered passenger planes on the horizon, which puts the focus on sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF. This week, we speak with Mihir Dange, CEO of XCF Global and Wray Thorn, co-CEO of Focus Impact BH3 Acquisition Company (NASDAQ:BH…

This week, in a special edition of the SPACInsider Podcast, we speak with David Cote, Executive Chairman of Vertiv, and Tom Knott, who was previously Head of Permanent Capital at Goldman Sachs, who joined forces in 2019 on GS Acquisition Holdings Corp. GS I combined with Vertiv (NYSE:VRT) in what has become the most successful SPAC deal of all time…

Providing dedicated power to industrial facilities is a task that has drawn in a variety of different energy technologies and, increasingly, a variety of SPAC transactions. This week I speak with Jereme Kent, founder and CEO of One Energy. One Energy provides dedicated clean power generation to industrial clients allowing them to lock in cheaper en…

SPACs have brought a number of sustainability companies to market, but the economics of carbon credits have always been on the edge of those specific opportunities. Focus Impact Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:FIAC) aims to change that with its $213 million combination with DevvStream, a Canadian company focused on generating carbon credits with propriet…

SPAC deals have provided a variety of ways to try and ride the growth in the private aviation space. One of the most successful so far has been to approach it not through the aircraft or sales of flights, but as an infrastructure play. This week, we speak with Francisco Gonzalez, CFO of private hangar operator Sky Harbour (NYSE:SKYH). Francisco exp…

Spot lithium prices may be down, but Stardust Power believes that makes now an even more important time to build new US-based lithium refineries. This week, we speak with Roshan Pujari, Co-founder and CEO of Stardust Power and Chandra Patel, CEO and Chairman of Global Partner Acquisition Corp. II (NASDAQ:GPAC). The two announced a $490 million busi…

Developing new medical treatments takes time and money, which is generally where investors come in. But, Abpro has managed to resolve many of those questions before SPAC investors will join the show. This week, we speak with Abpro Chairman and CEO Ian Chan and Shahraab Ahmad, Chairman and CEO of Atlantic Coastal Acquisition Corp II (Nasdaq: ACAB). …

Not all SPAC officers get involved in order to ride the process all the way to a seat as CEO of the combined company, but Jaymes Winters walks us through his journey of how he started Nubia Brand International Corp as a newcomer to the asset class and why he is now leading its target company, Solidion (Nasdaq: STI). This week we’ll speak with Jayme…

Should de-SPAC’d companies consider buying back their shares rather than making offers for their warrants? Abacus Life (NASDAQ:ABL) believes the answer is yes. This week, we catch up with with Abacus Life Chairman and CEO Jay Jackson. He tells us why he thinks his company’s stock has managed to perform well in the six months since closing its SPAC …

In this special edition of the SPACInsider podcast on the SEC’s new SPAC rules, Kristi Marvin, from SPACInsider, spoke with a panel of SPAC legal experts to help unpack the hefty 581 pages included in the release. This originally aired as a live webinar, which may be viewed on SPACInsider's website HERE. Joining Kristi is Derek Dostal, a partner at…

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 …

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 ex…

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:PSQ…

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 ste…

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 i…

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 …

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 21st 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 u…

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 …

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 Corporatio…

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 Ener…

As companies find new ways of automating business processes with AI, a new AI-driven approach to auto insurance is heading West from India with the help of a SPAC deal. This week, we speak Rohan Malhotra, CEO and co-founder of Roadzen and Steven Carlson from the sponsor of Vahanna Tech Edge Acquisition I Corp. (Nasdaq: VHNA) The two announced a $96…

This week, we get an update from Brandon Mintz, CEO of Bitcoin Depot, which recently closed its SPAC combination with GSR II Meteora Acquisition Corp. in June. Brandon shares what advice he has for other companies considering a SPAC merger in the current market and discusses how Bitcoin Depot is hitting the ground running with its acquisition pipel…

SPAC structures can provide unique opportunities to bring together many pieces to a new puzzle, which is very much the case with this week’s deal. This week, we speak with John Schaible, Chairman and CEO of Quantum Fintech Acquisition Corporation (NYSE: QFTA), and Craig Ridenhour, Chief Business Development Officer at AtlasClear. John and Craig exp…

The London Stock Exchange has seen several of its companies decamp for Wall Street and SPACs have become a new avenue for those companies to skip across the pond. This week, we speak with Hervé Tessler, CEO of Noventiq (LSE:NVNQ) and Jerry Letter, CFO and COO of Corner Growth Acquisition Corp. They explain why they think Noventiq will be better val…

Car enthusiasts have been bolting carbon fiber wheels onto high performance vehicles for years. But, the hitherto luxury add-on brings real benefits to vehicle weight and energy economy, both of which have a new importance in the age of EVs. This week, we speak with Carbon Revolution CEO Jake Dingle. Carbon Revolution is working to scale up its car…

With lithium supply for EVs and other batteries tight and much of it coming with geopolitical baggage, one new SPAC deal is looking to put forward a lithium stock with less baggage. Australia and Frankfurt-listed miner European Lithium (ASX:EUR) announced an $838 million deal in October to spin off its Wolfsberg lithium mine in Austria in a combina…

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 Goo…

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 Acquisit…

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 explai…

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 compa…

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 D…

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 $…

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 a…

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 he…

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 re…

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 crit…

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 c…

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 Acquisi…

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. …

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 h…

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: …

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…

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 & E…

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 foun…

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 th…

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 Mu…

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 …

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 t…

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 explai…

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,…