DraftKings Founder Jason Robins Teams With FirstMark On New SPAC

DraftKings Inc DKNG was acquired by a SPAC and became a publicly-traded company earlier in 2020. Founder and CEO Jason Robins will now be on the other side of the deal-making with a new SPAC.

The Management Team: FirstMark Horizon Acquisition Corp FMAC is a new SPAC from the team behind FirstMark Capital.

FirstMark Capital is a technology venture capital firm launched in 2008 with over $2.2 billion invested in commitments. Names backed by FirstMark include Shopify Inc. SHOP, Pinterest Inc PINS, DraftKings, Airbnb, Discord and Tencent's TCEHY Riot Games.

FirstMark served as the lead investor in Pinterest’s first round of seed financing and invested in each round after. FirstMark was also led the first institutional financing of Riot Games. FirstMark Founder and CEO Richard Heitzmann served on the Board of Directors at Riot Games. Heitzmann is a member of Forbes' “Midas List” of the world’s top venture capitalists.

Robins will serve as a director for the SPAC.

“We believe Mr. Robin’s entrepreneurial and senior leadership experience makes him well qualified to serve on our Board of Directors,” the filing said. Robins will receive 30,000 founder shares in the SPAC for his work on the board.

“I think there are a lot of SPACs now. Some will do well and some won’t. It’s not a fit for everybody. It’s not a fit for every company,” Robins told CNBC in an interview discussing the SPAC market.

Shares of DraftKings have had a nice run in 2020, with the company now valued at nearly $20 billion. DraftKings was valued at $3 billion back in April.

The Offering: FirstMark Horizon Acquisition will sell 30 million shares at $10 each, raising $300 million. Each unit will include a one-third warrant to buy a share at $11.50. After units split into common shares and warrants, the shares will trade on the NYSE under the symbol FMAC.

Credit Suisse is serving as the underwriter. FirstMark Horizon is the sponsor for the SPAC.

About Firstmark Horizon Acquisition Corp: This SPAC is seeking a technology company. In June, there were over 300 private tech companies in the U.S. valued at more than $1 billion.

Potential target areas from the filing are consumer media, artificial intelligence, blockchain, high speed wireless internet, and cloud computing. Trends in the technology sector this SPAC may tackle are enterprise software, technology infrastructure, collaboration and workflow software, direct to consumer commerce, digital marketplace, digitization of healthcare, financial technology, and gaming entertainment.

The management team plans on being active with the acquired company.

“Out extensive personal relationships and broad network created by a long history in technology investing provide us with a competitive advantage for sourcing exceptional opportunities,” the filing reads.

The SPAC is seeking a target that has an exceptional management team, is an industry disruptor, has a large market opportunity, has best in class growth metrics, competitive differentiation, and is expected to well-received by public investors.