Dealogic: July 2022 was the first month in five years that no new SPACs raised money, after SPAC IPOs peaked in March 2021 with over $36B raised
Wall Street Journal : Tweets: @wsjgraphics Tweets: @wsjgraphics : SPAC activity reached the lowest level in five years in July https://www.wsj.com/... via @WSJ
Context & Ripple Effects
The SPAC pipeline that PitchBook counted at over 66 vehicles raised in 2020 has now run dry: Dealogic's July figure is the first zero-issuance month in five years, down from the March 2021 peak of more than $36B raised. The collapse was foreshadowed by performance data — most 2021 SPAC listings had already seen their stocks fall by late 2021, with Metromile, View, Owlet, and Clover Health among the worst, and nearly half of sub-$10M-revenue tech issuers missing their earnings or revenue targets.
First-order effects
- Sponsors and banks that built issuance pipelines around blank-check IPOs lose their primary product overnight; the underwriting and sponsor-fee revenue tied to new SPAC formation goes to zero for the first time since 2017.
Second-order effects
- The hundreds of already-listed de-SPAC companies are left without a fresh cohort to dilute attention or capital, intensifying scrutiny on the laggards — a pressure that later showed up as bankruptcies among at least eight former SPAC listings and roughly 100 firms burning cash unsustainably.
Third-order effects
- If zero-issuance months become the norm, the SPAC route reverts from a mainstream tech exit back to a niche instrument, forcing late-stage startups back toward traditional IPOs or private capital and repricing what public-market investors will pay for pre-profitability growth.
The trend: The SPAC boom is completing a full boom-bust cycle — from 66 raises in 2020 to a $36B peak to zero — as public markets reprice unproven tech listings.