$ASTS: In response to the UK's Office of Communications' (OFCOM)🇬🇧 call for input "Improving Mobile Connectivity from the Sky and Space", various players in the wireless industry have welcomed the initiative but called for the governing body to stick with the FCC's SCS framework to avoid and minimize harmful interference from Direct-to-Device offerings.

All submissions here: ofcom.org.uk/spectrum/space…

Thread 🧵 BT Group (which owns EE): UK's biggest telco by market share 33%.

"BT is following the international regulatory discussions around satellite D2D services and would be supportive of Ofcom taking a position similar to that of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC)."

🧵 Thread: Why Starlink's direct-to-cell capabilities is falling behind, further strengthening AST SpaceMobile's $ASTS early mover advantage.

The market isn’t fully considering the possibility that Starlink’s direct-to-cell service might fall short or even fail entirely. Meanwhile, AST is the real leader in this space, and it will take years for others, including Starlink, to catch up.

I'm calling out Starlink’s bluff. Elon Musk has a history of overpromising moonshot tech.

Look at Tesla: the Roadster and Full Self-Driving (FSD) have been “coming soon” for years, and they still haven’t fully materialized.

This pattern extends to Starlink’s direct-to-cell offering—it could be another example of Musk over-promising without delivering.

https://x.com/kingtutcap/status/1815881716395040883

Why an @EximBankUS funding for $ASTS is only a matter of time 💰

EXIM plays a vital role in supporting U.S. exports by providing financial assistance to US-based companies and their international buyers.

Thread 🧵 Last January, @AbelAvellan published a letter after the AT&T, Verizon, Google deal.

He highlighted that the commercial revenue from those deals will enable $ASTS to attract long term, low-cost quasi-government funding.

$DGNS x @cvent - A calculated bet on the future of events in the metaverse.

- Leader in the virtual and hybrid event technology
- Proven track record of success over the past two decades
- On a hiring spree of 3D and "Unreal Engine" engineers
- Zoom $ZM part of PIPE

THREAD 🧵 In July 23, $DGNS announced their merger with Cvent, a leading enterprise event technology provider. The transaction values Cvent at an enterprise value of $5.3B.

🚨 $CCV/@thrasio: Money making monster dominating the Amazon marketplace!

- Fastest US company ever to reach PROFITABLE unicorn status - founded in 2018
- 2021 CNBC Disruptor 50
- $500 million in revenue (2020)
- Over 100 brands with 22,000 products

Time for a thread! 🧵⬇️ Amazon Marketplace sellers moved more than $300 billion of product in 2020. That would make Amazon Marketplace the 42nd-largest economy in the world ranked by GDP.

There's no such thing as the next Tesla. Most EV startups will fail. Why?

- Tesla had an early-mover advantage in the EV space when society thought it was a fad that won't come to fruition
- For a long time, legacy automakers didn't put EV as their main focus/priority

(1/9) - Tesla went and continues to go through production hell, burning millions of dollar in the process
- For Tesla to reach where they are today, they had a 15 year head-start
- Tesla does more than just electric vehicles (batteries, chargers, energy storage, etc.)

(2/9)

$IPOE/@SoFi: Putting the “Social” in Social Finance 🏦👬

So what exactly differentiates SoFi from other traditional & digital banks?

It's not their financial products, their tech prowess, or their top notch executive management.

The Power of Community!

Time for a thread ⬇️🧵 First off, what defines a community?

1) Membership
2) Influence
3) Meeting Needs
4) Shared Emotional Connections

With the $AVAN links, I've spent the last 24 hours doing a deep-dive on @babylonhealth.

From papers, videos, presentations, US growth projections, to asking people familiar with the sector.

Not going to do a full thread (yet) but here are my quick thoughts ⬇️🧵 - First things first, Babylon is nothing close to $CLOV
- Babylon is the leading tele-health player in Europe along with Swedish company Kry
- Babylon has ramped up presence in Africa and Asia
- Babylon launched in US market last year and is a serious competitor to $TDOC

- 50% of companies going public through a SPAC will fail or go bankrupt
- 25% will get acquired by a bigger player or merge/consolidate
- 25% will survive and potentially become key players of their respective industry

Play your cards accordingly. *All those % are made up but you get my point.

Top-level research on select SPACS for correlations between trust size, PIPE size, ownership %, rolled over equity, and valuation.

Some Findings:
- PIPE can be up 2x trust size
- SPACs got between 4-20% ownership
- Valuations more attractive in 2020 (+upside)

Thread 🧵⬇️ $IPOB/@Opendoor

Trust Size: $360mn
PIPE Size: $600mn
SPAC % Ownership: 6.6%
Valuation: $4.8bn

$AVAN & @Sportradar Connections 🕵️

- Sawiris family and sports investments
- Jeff Yakubi, ex-Fiserv and new Sportradar Global Chairman
- Wes Edens: Bucks & Aston Villa
- Bruin Sports Capital

Speculation Thread ⬇️🧵 $AVAN is looking for a European target with a strong US/International nexus.

There's probably a million reasons on why Clubhouse will not SPAC.

However, I'll list a couple on why it MIGHT just make sense with $VYGG.

It's [SPACULATION] Thread Time ⬇️🧵 I've covered Alexander Tamas from a previous $VYGG
thread.

He's the gold standard when it comes to social networks/internet and led some of the most major tech investments of that time, including Facebook, Airbnb, Spotify, Twitter, Alibaba, Zalando.

https://twitter.com/kingtutspacs/status/1360678359139840008?s=20

Love FinTwit to death but I beg enough with the "I called $CCIV at xx" tweets flooding the timeline.

Calling $CCIV at $11/12 after a Bloomberg report (when literally anyone with decent knowledge knows the only two legit Tesla competitors are Lucid and Rivian) is NOT a call. This is a call

https://twitter.com/SPACHawk/status/1338914100370419712?s=20

Friendly Reminder: Greg O'Hara is the CEO of $GOAC

https://twitter.com/lowrytom/status/1362079049523290112

The more I read, the more I like.

Greg O’Hara is one of the biggest heavy weights in the global travel industry. $GOAC

https://twitter.com/PaulByrne66/status/1329827376117800966

Fun find!

@traveloka announced SPAC plans yesterday.

Traveloka COO & CEO will be speaking tomorrow at Skift Travel Conference.

Who else is speaking? Greg O'Hara, CEO of $GOAC

The title of his session? Acquisitions and Investments: Predictions for 2021

live.skift.com/online-travel-… Ok maybe this catches your attention $GOAC

Why am I posting about startups/companies doing fundraising rounds?

It's sometimes an indicator that next step might be going public/SPAC.

Private fundraising pre-IPO is done to increase company valuation prior to going public.

Quick Thread ⬇️🧵 August 2020: Chargepoint raises $127m
September 2020: $SBE

forbes.com/sites/alanohns…

🚨 $VYGG/VY Global Growth: A star-studded SPAC with global focus and outreach in Europe & Asia.

- $500m raised
- Led by Alexander Tamas (VY Capital)
- Team of seasoned international Silicon Valley entrepreneurs
- Targeting tech/internet businesses

Time for a thread 🧵⬇️ VY Capital is a VC firm founded by Alexander Tamas.

Tamas was a partner at Digital Sky Tech (DST) Global, Yuri Milner's (Mail.Ru) Russian VC firm.

vccircle.com/all-you-wanted… $VYGG

$SNPR/@VoltaCharging investor presentation.

Very interesting business model; different than $SBE, $TPGY, $BLNK, $CLII.

Sitting in the threshold between data, EV charging, and media.

PDF: sec.gov/Archives/edgar… $SNPR/@VoltaCharging customers

$RTP/@hippo_insurance

In Nov 2020, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance led a $350m fundraising round in Hippo.

MSI is a Japanese insurance conglomerate with ~50% market share and ~$1bn in annual revenue.

Upon their investment, they published a two-pager thesis.

Breakdown below ⬇️🧵 MSI are aiming to promote digitalization that will contribute to improving customer experience.

Through $RTP/Hippo, MSI will provide relief and safety to its customers by enhancing how natural disasters our addressed, and providing advanced services for disaster prevention

🔎 $RTP/@hippo_insurance: SaaS harnessing AI to revolutionize the home insurance industry 🦛🏠

- Everything you need to know
- One-stop-shop for all things smart/connected home
- Higher growth & revenue than closest public competitor $LMND/@Lemonade_Inc

Time for a thread 🧵⬇️ Hippo was founded in 2015 by Assaf Wand, an ex-McKinsey consultant and Eyal Navon, serial entreprenuer and software engineer.

Wand's interest in insurance was inspired by his father's lengthy career in the "antiquated" insurance industry. $RTP

Heavily added $TBA/Thoma Bravo Advantage. This will be in the $13+ zone soon.

https://twitter.com/TradeWithAlerts/status/1357352983885922306?s=20