- Sam Altman’s SPAC recently slashed the amount of money it’s raising to $400 million from $1 billion.
- The 60% downsizing is another sign that the market for SPACs is cooling off.
- One VC told Insider that more SPACs may need to slim down their offerings to find success.
Sam Altman’s SPAC is shrinking its fundraising goal less than two months after its launch.
A revised SEC filing from AltC Acquisition Corp., the special purpose acquisition company sponsored by Altman, the former Y Combinator president, and Michael Klein, the former Citigroup executive, showed that the SPAC is now seeking to raise $400 million. In March, the SPAC launched with an intent to raise a $1 billion.
The 60% reduction is another sign that the market for SPACs is cooling off – so much so that even veterans in the space are feeling the pressure. Klein, AltC’s cosponsor, has launched eight SPACs, including one that announced a deal to acquire electric-vehicle maker Lucid Motors.
Altman and Klein did not respond to a request for comment from Insider.
Given the glut of new SPACs, with more than 300 having raised offerings so far this year, SPAC companies face stiff competition in acquiring startups ready for the public markets. David Blumberg, founder and managing partner at Blumberg Capital, told Insider that many of them have taken in too much money to be a good fit for many of the available startups on the market.
"A lot of SPACs were formed too large," he said.