Bainbridge Island-based marketing tech company Banzai International Inc. (Nasdaq: BNZI) has completed its merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
On Friday, Banzai started trading on the Nasdaq after completing its merger with 7GC & Co. Holdings Inc., which the companies first announced late last year. Banzai co-founder and CEO Joe Davy said the company wanted to go public so it could gain the capital to make acquisitions.
"The IPO process was a pretty long and arduous one," Davy said. "As a result we have a really deep pipeline of great companies that we think are attractively valued. We think right now is a perfect time to execute on this strategy."
According to Davy, the marketing tech field is fragmented, and the plethora of vendors can be frustrating for companies trying to improve their marketing. Banzai aims to add enough services through acquisitions to be a more full-service marketing platform. He added that there are many good marketing tech startups that are in a bind due to the difficult funding environment, which makes it an ideal time for Banzai to make acquisitions.
Davy said Banzai is targeting companies below the largest in the market, what he called "sub-scale," either in systems of record or systems of automation.
SPACs, or "blank-check companies," are formed without a specific business, but they start trading publicly with the goal of merging with a private company and taking that company public. SPACs became extremely popular in 2020 and 2021, but their popularity has dwindled during the current market downturn.
Davy said Banzai was too small to go public through a traditional initial public offering, and although the company considered other options, the SPAC merger ended up being the most appealing choice. He compared merging with 7GC to a musician making a first album with the backing of a record label rather than alone.
Banzai, founded in 2015, helps clients boost event registrations and host webinars. The company also offers analytics to guide decision making. Banzai in 2021 acquired the Tampa, Florida-based webinar platform Demio for an undisclosed amount. Banzai in 2020 acquired the Texas-based event management software company High Attendance.
Banzai's clients include Square and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. The company has just under 100 employees, according to Davy, who added that although Banzai is hiring, the company doesn't have a specific headcount target.
Before the pandemic, Banzai had office space downtown, but the company has since gone remote and subleased the office. Banzai now has employees in 16 time zones, Davy said, and hiring remote allows the company to hire strong talent.
Despite going remote, Banzai maintains a small office in Bainbridge Island that holds two people. The company doesn't have plans to grow its office space right now.
"We'll see how things grow, but we're going to stay on Bainbridge Island for sure," Davy said.
