SPACInsider

This week, we speak with Andrew Clare, CEO of Elroy Air, which announced a $961 million business combination with Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. VII (NASDAQ:IPXG) in June. Drones are suddenly everywhere, but very few can handle jobs that require heavy lift along with vertical takeoff. Elroy Air not only aims to change that, but its drones are taking on those challenges now. Andrew explains how it has developed a modular heavy drone for both defense and commercial missions that is already taking on hard jobs in both sectors. And, how the company aims to put p...

This week, we speak with Megan O’Connor, CEO of Nth Cycle, and Justin Mirro, CEO of Kensington Capital Acquisition Corp. VI (NYSE:KCA.U). The two announced a $585 million business combination in July. A number of transactions have brought rare earth miners public at a time of acute need due to trade snares and growing awareness of their strategic importance. But, the biggest missing piece in the critical minerals space is arguably not in the exploitation of these resources, but rather on the refining side. Megan explains how the company has developed a modular re...

This week, we speak with Anindya Datta, CEO of Mobilewalla, and Bala Padmakumar, CEO and Chairman of SPACSphere Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:SSAC). The two announced a $250 million business combination in June. Agentic AI is here and already at work in a number of industries, but the question of which model can win is increasingly defined by who has the data to back it up. Anindya explains how Mobilewalla’s long tail of data forms the backbone of its own AI offerings, and how it has innovated internally to give it an edge. Bala gets into wh...

This week, we speak with Dr. José Rosas-Bustos, CEO of EigenQ, and Dan Nash, CEO and Chairman of Silicon Valley Acquisition Corp. The two announced a $2.93 billion business combination in June. As quantum computers advance the speed and complexity of computing, cybersecurity counter-measures will need to keep up. EigenQ is developing defensive quantum server hardware to do just that. Jose explains how EigenQ has positioned itself to take advantage of the acute short-term need to protect sensitive server infrastructure from potential quantum-powered hacking threats and how it has integrated its products with strategic partners to a...

This week, we speak with Gianfranco Imperato, CEO of Trasteel, and Jamie Karson, Vice Chairman of Sizzle Acquisition Corp. II (NASDAQ:SZZL). The two announced a $1.3 billion business combination in April. It has been an interesting year for steel as it has been the target of trade restrictions and supply chain snares. In the center of that all has been steel producing and trading platform Trasteel. Gianfranco explains how the company has been an active consolidator in the industry that has managed to avoid certain operational risks despite an ever-changing steel pricing situation. He also g...

For our first-ever video podcast episode, we headed to the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to speak with Allyson Satin, COO of the Ares SPACs, and Paul Wood, Co-Head of SPAC Investment Banking at BTIG.. 2026 has already been a breakout year for SPAC issuance, and deals are moving through the pipeline faster than they have in years. We discuss what's driving the rebound, why sponsor quality is rising to the top, and how SPACs are competing with a strong traditional IPO market. Plus, we look ahead to the fall and Q4 for any...

This week, we speak with Allyson Satin, COO of the Ares SPACs, and Paul Wood, Co-Head of SPAC Investment Banking at BTIG. 2026 has already been a breakout year for SPAC issuance, and deals are moving through the pipeline faster than they have in years. We discuss what's driving the rebound, why sponsor quality is rising to the top, and how SPACs are competing with a strong traditional IPO market. Plus, we look ahead to the fall and Q4 for any positive or negative catalysts that could affect the SPAC market. Give it a...

This week, we speak with Tod Higinbotham, CEO of battery maker ZincFive and Jim Rhee, Chairman and CEO of Spark I Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:SPKL). The two announced a $752 million combination in June. Lithium-ion batteries have dominated much of the conversation in cutting-edge technology. But, what if there was a battery chemistry based on more available materials that were more recyclable and that were an even better fit for certain data center energy needs? Tod explains how ZincFive’s nickel and zinc-based battery chemistry is uniquely suited to providing high-density backup power to data centers, and how...

This week, we speak with Paul Lichty, Co-Founder and CEO of Forge Nano. He explains how Forge Nano’s atomic layer deposition approach can build better batteries and semiconductors while maximizing the rarest materials these require. And, how its manufacturing plans and growing sales pipeline led the company into a $1.3 billion business combination with Archimedes Tech SPAC Partners II Co. (NASDAQ:ATII). Investment has poured into the companies making the chips and batteries needed for cutting age technology to work. Now, a company that has pioneered a new way of building those key components at the...

This week, on a SPACInsider Podcast Replay, we revisit a September 2024 discussion from the beginning of the current SPAC cycle. SPACInsider founder Kristi Marvin was joined by Ed Kovary, Head of SPAC Capital Markets at BTIG, Nick Skibo, Managing Partner at Gritstone Asset Management, and Dimitre Genov, Managing Director at Brookline Capital Markets. Together, the panel brought perspectives from the banking, investing and advisory sides of SPAC transactions. They discussed the resurgence of anchor investors, how market participants were adapting as the previous cycle wound down, and the early signs that a broader reset was...

This week, we speak with Dr. Wasiq Bokhari, CEO of quantum computing firm Pasqal, to discuss its $1.98 billion combination with Bleichroeder Acquisition Corp. II (NASDAQ:BBCQ). Quantum computers are plugged in and doing real commercial work, but, how can you get them to collaborate with CPUs and GPUs on a single problem? Pasqal believes it may have the answer. Wasiq explains how the company has worked to build a full-stack approach to commercializing quantum solutions and where it has already demonstrated quantum advantage. He also gets into how it is developing software to make...

This week, we speak with IQM CEO and Co-Founder Jan Goetz, and Peter Ort, CEO and Co-Chairman of Real Asset Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:RAAQ) about their $1.7 billion dollar combination, announced in February. As more quantum computing companies go public via SPACs, the industry is going global. Jan explains why IQM has based its own business model on selling quantum computing hardware and why he believes this enhances the company’s pipeline over time. Peter lays out the Real Asset’s team long engagement in the quantum computing space and why it chose IQM as t...

This week, we speak with Carlos Domingo, Founder and CEO of Securitize. Securitize is working to close a business combination with Cantor Equity Partners II (NASDAQ:CEPT). As the use of stablecoins spreads, the opportunity to create digital tokens of other assets is spreading as well. For public investors, there will soon also be an opportunity to invest in one of the companies making that process happen. Carlos discusses how Securitize has driven key partnerships with financial institutions into a profitable position within the tokenization space, and why Cantor Equity Partners II’s structure was a maj...

This week, on a special edition of the SPACInsider Podcast, we speak with Vik Mittal, managing member of Meteora Capital and Ivan Deryugin, head of research for the Americas at United First Partners. Together we discuss why the digital asset treasury strategy quickly turned from a SPAC-favorite play to falling out of favor over the past year. Ivan gets into the numbers on how some of these deals have become misaligned, particularly as crypto prices dropped. Vik shares his perspective as a both a PIPE investor in some of these transactions and as a SPAC sponsor searching...

This week, we speak with Richard Taylor, Co-founder, CEO and Chairman of ONE Nuclear and Dan Hennessy, Chairman of Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. VII (NASDAQ:HVII). The two announced a $1.1 billion combination in October.   Energy demand is ballooning and the clock is ticking to keep up. That has led ONE Nuclear to a multi-technology approach to get more capacity online as fast as possible.   Richard lays out why his company has designed its plants to use natural gas first before converting to nuclear and how its partnerships with third parties have accelerated that plan.   Dan explains why he believes ONE Nuc...

This week, we speak with Stuart Brazier, CEO of Advanced Inhalation Rituals, or AIR, to discuss his company’s $1.7 billion combination with Cantor Equity Partners III (Nasdaq: CAEP). SPACs often bring companies from emerging technology sectors into the public markets, but sometimes it is their role to list companies that have already established themselves, albeit in something of a niche.  Stuart explains how the AIR’s profitable position in the high-margin hookah-shisha market gave it options on how to come public, and why it chose the SPAC route for that journey. How is this lifestyle brand...

This week, we speak with Greg Twinney, CEO of General Fusion, and Chris Sorrells, CEO and Chairman of Spring Valley Acquisition Corp. III (NASDAQ:SVAC). The two announced a $724 million combination in January. Fusion technology may sound like the future, but it is set to come to the public markets very soon. Greg explains General Fusion’s path to expand its technology beyond its first plant into commercialization in the 2030s, and what advantages fusion power plants can provide over nuclear fission reactors. Chris lays out why now is the right time to bring General Fusion...

Titanium, copper and water. What do they have in common? All will be products of one of the latest companies to head to the public markets via a SPAC transaction. This week, we speak with Key Mining founders Cesar Lopez and John Ryan as well as Compass Digital Acquisition Corp. CEO Tom Hennessy to break down their $303 million business combination. Cesar and John discuss how they brought together a signature titanium mining project in Chile with a water desalination project that is set to support it. They lay out why they are combining these two...

The past year has seen a raft of crypto treasury companies go public via SPACs. Could the next entrant be the one to consolidate the field? This week, we speak with Adam Back, CEO of Bitcoin Standard Treasury and Sean Bill, who serves as the company’s Chief Investment Officer. The two discuss their company’s $4 billion combination with Cantor Equity Partners I (NASDAQ:CEPO), announced last July. They discuss why the Cantor team was a good fit for their goals of bringing innovative Bitcoin-based financing structures to the market, and why they believe Bitcoin Stan...

The work of maintaining and supplying the US armed forces is now front and center in the daily news, but Precision Aerospace & Defense has been long been carrying out a strategy to acquire critical manufacturers and suppliers in this area. Now, it is taking that platform to the public markets in a SPAC deal. This week, we speak with Brent Borden, CEO of Precision Aerospace & Defense Group and Adam Gishen, CEO of FACT II Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:FACT). The two announced a $310 million business combination last December. Brent explains how his company has selected with un...