SPAC

Agility Robotics’ planned ~$2.5B merger in June 2026 capped a renewed run of SPAC listings spanning robotics, quantum computing, crypto and autonomous trucking.

Who they are

SPACs are the merger-based route to public markets that links this coverage’s companies to listings, particularly on Nasdaq. The stories track them as financing and listing vehicles for businesses ranging from Grab, WeWork and Truth Social to newer deep-tech companies such as Agility Robotics, Einride and IQM.

The recent arc

Coverage first crested in early 2021 around blockbuster combinations, including Grab’s planned Nasdaq transaction, which was reported as raising more than $4 billion at an approximately $39.6 billion valuation, and WeWork’s proposed $9 billion deal. Later reporting documented the frictions behind that boom: Better.com delayed its SPAC process, Acorns scrapped its plan, and Circle’s attempted 2022 SPAC listing did not become the route reflected in its later public-market story. Truth Social’s completed path through DWAC in 2024 kept the structure visible beyond the initial wave.

Recent stories show a more sector-specific return rather than a reprise of the broad 2021 rush. Einride debuted on Nasdaq after its merger, CoinShares began Nasdaq trading following its Vine Hill deal, and IQM’s debut followed a roughly $1.9 billion SPAC valuation. Announced or planned transactions for Agility Robotics, EigenQ and Hailo extend the pattern into humanoid robotics, quantum-related cybersecurity and AI chips; Agility’s CEO also framed the choice of a SPAC directly in a July interview.

The tension

The central tension is between a SPAC’s ability to get ambitious companies public and the market’s scrutiny of valuation, execution and listing outcomes. The contrast is sharp between Grab’s large 2021 transaction and its weak Nasdaq debut, and between Hailo’s reported pursuit of a sub-$500 million SPAC valuation and its 2024 $1.2 billion valuation. Nasdaq is therefore not just a frequent co-entity but the venue where the merger narrative is tested in public trading; conventional IPOs remain the adjacent alternative invoked in the coverage.

Why it matters

If the current trajectory holds, SPACs may continue to function as a selective public-market channel for capital-intensive or hard-to-price technology sectors, rather than the universal growth-company mechanism seen in 2021. Agility, Einride, IQM and CoinShares suggest the route can still deliver listings, but the Hailo valuation contrast and earlier abandoned or delayed deals show that viability will depend on whether sponsors and companies can support credible pricing and post-merger market performance.

Related: Nasdaq · IPO · Quantum · Circle · Humanoid robot maker Agility plans to go public via a merger with Mich