Another Proptech Company Said to Be Close to Going Public via a SPAC

Another PropTech company has reportedly joined the SPAC gold rush stateside according to Bloomberg. Luxury short term rentals operator Sonder is reportedly in talks to go public via a strategic merger with blank-check company Gores Metropoulos II Inc, a so-called 'special purpose acquisition company' led by CEO Alec Gores and billionaire investor Dean Metropoulos which raised $450 million via a January IPO.

Sonder, which was founded back in 2012 as 'Flatbook', leases properties in metropolitan areas of the US before decorating them and renting them out for timelines spanning from 2 weeks to 2 years. Guests enjoy fully equipped apartments in prime urban locations with customer service reachable 24 hours a day.

Despite having to lay off or furlough some 400 employees at the beginning of the pandemic, the San Francisco based company was able to stay afloat and take advantage of the failures of some of its competitors by snagging 100s of properties for its inventory during some of the worst of the pandemic as well as raising a crucial Series E round. The company has recently been on something of a c-level hiring spree and will be hoping to continue its momentum into a public debut if reports from Bloomberg sources are accurate.

Special purpose acquisition companies are becoming increasingly popular as a route to public markets in the United States, especially among PropTech businesses. Home renovation platform Porch went public just before Christmas via a SPAC while in the iBuyer space OpenDoor went public through a SPAC in December and OfferPad is set to do likewise when it merges with former Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff's SPAC later this year.