Event Recap: NEVCA Corporate VC Breakfast — SPACs
On April 14th, the New England Venture Capital Association hosted one of our Corporate Venture Capital Breakfasts, a gathering of a small curated group of corporate venture experts who discuss and explore an inno-economy topic du jour. The theme of this particular CVC Breakfast was more of a ‘topic of the year’ with a focus on the SPAC market.
NEVCA President Jody Rose kicked off the morning with a round of introductions, which was followed by a recap of our previous SPACs discussion — SPACs: New Vehicles, New Risks — from Al Browne, Partner at Cooley. Al joined the discussion and offered his expertise, insights and future predictions for the SPAC market.
Participants at the CVC Breakfast, many of whom have been working in the industry for decades and have hands-on experience in the SPACs market themselves, all provided valuable insights and intriguing questions as the conversation went on. The topics covered were varied and included, the increased attention the SPAC market will see from the SEC; the escalation in delays and regulatory scrutiny in the De-SPAC phase; the profile of companies that tend to have a successful SPAC process; and the continued growth of the SPAC market as the stigma around it fades, and its legitimacy as an exit option becomes ‘business as usual.’
After an engaged morning of exploring the advantages and drawbacks of the SPACs market, the discussion was closed by identifying three factors that will require vigilance in the space over the next six to twelve months:
- The regulatory environment will continue to remain very active, with the SEC ensuring that companies have internal controls around accounting.
- Returns remain positive in this asset class, but going forward, interest from the PIPE community is something that remains to be seen.
- The plaintiff litigation that we’re seeing won’t be going away any time soon.
In two weeks, the New England Venture Capital Association will be hosting another SPAC-themed webinar, but specially tailored to Life Science SPACs, with SVB Leerink and Atlas Venture. Stay tuned for more details and check out our events calendar for information on more events from us and from the community.
