The Indo Tekno podcast is hosted by Alan Hellawell, who is the founder of Gizmo Advisors and a venture partner at Alpha JWC Ventures. In this episode, Alan talks to Andy Tai, managing director at Goldman Sachs.
Andy Tai is back to the Indo Tekno studios in order to explore the SPAC (“Special Purpose Acquisition Company”) as a means of bringing promising Indonesian tech companies to the public markets. This also marks the second episode of the “From Warung to Wall Street” series.
A SPAC is a company which, at the outset, has no commercial operations. It is formed strictly to raise capital through an initial public offering (IPO) for the purpose of acquiring an existing company. Also known as “blank check companies,” SPACs have been around for decades.
However, it is only recently that discussions around the opportunity for SPACs to support the public listing of promising Indonesian and Southeast Asian tech companies have resurged, with the September 24 announcement of the Bridgetown SPAC. Backed by billionaire entrepreneur and VC Peter Thiel, Bridgetown seeks to raise USD 575 million, and intends to invest the proceeds in “new economy” startups in Southeast Asia.
Tai estimates that an astounding 125 SPACs have been created in 2020 year-to-date, representing over USD 40 billion in funds raised. Roughly half of them have a tech angle to their story. Tai discusses the opportunities and challenges that the SPAC represents for Indonesia’s startups and the investors that support them.
Listen to the full podcast here.
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