Despite a wave of canceled SPAC deals in recent months, Chicago manufacturing startup Fast Radius has forged ahead with its planned merger to go public at a $1.4 billion valuation.
Fast Radius announced Friday that it had closed its deal with blank-check firm ECP Environmental Growth Opportunities Corp., and on Monday it began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “FSRD.”
Fast Radius, founded in 2017 and led by CEO Lou Rassey, has raised under $70 million in outside funding from a lineup of backers that includes logistics giant United Parcel Service Inc., Drive Capital, Jump Capital, Skydeck and Hyde Park Venture Partners. The startup helps companies with additive and on-demand manufacturing, using software and 3-D manufacturing techniques to make unique parts. Its customers include Rawlings Sporting Goods and Curtiss Motorcycles, which used Fast Radius to make parts for its all-electric motorcycle.
Fast Radius last month announced the opening of a new manufacturing technology center on Goose Island, at 1224 N. Hooker St.
The public listing for Fast Radius comes amid an uncertain market that's resulted in several canceled SPAC deals recently. According to Forbes, 17 such deals with special purpose acquisition companies were terminated in the last six months of 2021 compared to just four cancellations in the prior six months. Half of the firms that went public via SPAC deals in the last two years have seen shares fall 40% or more, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Last month, Kin Insurance, a Chicago home insurance startup, canceled its SPAC deal that would have valued the company at more than $1 billion. Kin CEO Sean Harper said at the time that "current market conditions are simply not conducive to Kin becoming a public company at this time," though he wouldn't rule out another attempt at a public offering "when the time is appropriate."
