The moment we had enough data. We opened it last year and, you know, the request, the demands, the interest, its amazing to see. And we start to see the famous wheel spin effect. The more
data we have, the more customers, the more customers we have, the OEMs want to give us more data. So, its great to see each side of the marketplace feeding the other. Very exciting times, a lot of growth. The future looks bright.
Michael Kesslering: Absolutely. I think the most interesting part of a two-sided marketplace is those network
effects, right? And so, moving a little bit to the capital markets side, where youre certainly doing some innovation on that side as well, choosing to go public through a SPAC, as you recently announced the initial business combination with
Software Acquisition II. And so, were always curious as we do follow the SPAC market very closely, and were always very curious about how these deals come about. So, can you provide a little bit of background on how this transaction came
about?
Ben Volkow: Definitely. I think in September, five months ago, things were looking good and we were considering a funding round and we
actually had a few offers from investors, investing in the company. And then we started getting some things regarding, from banks. Regarding SPAC and the general story was that when the banks came, they said, look. We see so much activity around
Otonomo cars, all the little companies, for example. And we see so much activity around electronification, all the EV companies, the risers of the world, but theres another very important pillar, which is part of the future of automotive,
which is data services and connectivity and new Otonomo seems to be one of the main pillars there. We think it could be very relevant, we receive a SPAC, and then going public. And we werent sure, and again, like everything, it has pros, it
has cons.
We evaluated it with a number of banks. We talked to number of the SPACs and we decided that its the right thing for us, that a lot of
very good things that this process is bringing us. I can tell you that, was it like three weeks after announcing the merger, the feedbacks for the market of very, very positive. Our OEM partners, our service providers ecosystem. They are all very,
very happy about this. It means Otonomo, we stay around, we want the closing down like a startup or being acquired tomorrow. And it gave us the ability to push forward on the business, give us the cash injection to run faster with the roadmap. So, a
lot of excitement internally, and also externally from our ecosystem around this move.
Michael Kesslering: When you mentioned that you were
looking at different alternatives, was one of those alternatives that you, I guess, spoke about with advisors and internally, did you look at say a traditional IPO or a direct listing. Did you look at those aspects as well?
Ben Volkow: So, we had a discussion about it and [Inaudible 00:14:11] was that we are less suited to this process today. Yes, we can say, okay,
thats where we aiming and get there in two, three years. But we saw that, it means raising money now from investors, get in motion, moving slower than we wanted, and then doing the IPO. And then we felt this SPAC is a very interesting
opportunity where we are being evaluated, not just on where we are now, but where well be in two, three and four years. And its very typical to the automotive industry because its so slow moving, from getting the traction, from
getting the contracts. To actual revenues, it can take two to three years. Its an industry for brave people, and we feel that with SPAC, theres understanding for our unique, I would call it business. And we felt its the right thing
for us. It enables us to move fast. We dont need to raise money and another part-time raise money, and then we do it all at once. We can move faster, you know, part of our business. Im sure, you know it. With marketplaces, theres a
big advantage for the first mover, usually theres one guy that takes the 80% and all the rest are left with 20. This is why we have one Airbnb and one Fiverr and one Amazon. He is in a very, very good position to be this guy that takes 80% of
the market and going in this route enabled us really to move faster, to get the right funding, to get the right exposure and even the right insight, operational processes to support the growth and, and where we aiming. And I can tell you that, as I
said, you know, things are looking good. And we are aiming to really, to be the guy that takes 80% of this market.