Redmond-based surveillance tech company Airship AI Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: AISP) is officially a public company.
Airship AI and special purpose acquisition company BYTE Acquisition Corp. in December announced BYTE had completed its acquisition of Airship AI. BYTE shareholders approved the deal Dec. 19, and Airship AI began trading on the Nasdaq on Dec. 22.
The companies adopted the Airship AI name after the acquisition closed.BYTE acquired Airship AI for a pre-money equity value of about $225 million, and the Airship AI management team is staying in place.
“We believe that today’s milestone, combined with our visible and robust $163 million pipeline, will help accelerate the delivery of our AI-driven edge video, sensor and data management platform,” Paul Allen, president of Airship AI, said in a news release.
Airship AI was founded in 2006. The company uses artificial intelligence to help clients make decisions based on surveillance data through both software and hardware products. Airship AI says on its website it tries to let clients use as much of their existing IT and sensor technology as possible.
Airship AI works with law enforcement, military and commercial clients, including Home Depot, FedEx and the Department of Homeland Security.
During the first nine months of 2023, Airship AI generated $8.1 million in revenue, according to a December filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2022, two customers represented a combined 45% of Airship AI's total-year revenue, which was $14.5 million from 45 customers. Airship AI's stock closed at $1.60 Tuesday, down from $4.25 on Dec. 22.
Airship AI in December also began delivering on contracts worth $10.9 million for an agency within DHS. The government agency is using Airship AI's technology for intelligence along the U.S. borders.
Special purpose acquisition companies, sometimes called "blank-check companies," form without a specific business but start trading publicly with the goal of merging with an existing private company and taking that company public. Local companies Rover, Leafly and Porch have all gone public through SPAC deals, but Rover announced in November it plans to be acquired by a private equity firm and taken off the Nasdaq.
SPAC mergers soared in popularity in 2020 and 2021, but their popularity has dwindled during the current tech industry downturn.
