SPAC Archives - SHOPPE BLACK

Published on November 26, 2021November 26, 2021

3 mins read

Meet The Black Woman CEO and Veteran Who Has Built a Multimillion Dollar Cybersecurity Company

Phyllis Newhouse is the first Black woman to lead a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). She is also a serial entrepreneur and investor, retired military senior officer, and mentor.

While serving in the United States Army on various assignments she specialized in National Security and established the Cyber Espionage Task Force. After a 22 year military career, she decided to shift her focus to entrepreneurship.

In 2002 she founded Xtreme Solutions (XSI). XSI provides state-of-the-art information technology and cybersecurity services and solutions and has employees in 42 states, with 40% of its workforce made up of veterans. XSI revenues are reported to exceed $8 million.

In 2019 she founded ShoulderUp alongside Academy Award-winning actress Viola Davis, a nonprofit dedicated to connecting and supporting women on their entrepreneurial journeys.

ShoulderUp Ventures is the first women-founded and led influencer fund providing impact and exclusive access to a diverse portfolio of media, technology companies, and sports entertainment. In 2019 alone its members and affiliates invested over $10 million in companies like Lime, Rent the Runway, and Airbnb.

In 2020, Phyllis co-founded Athena Technology Acquisition Corp., to carry out mergers, capital stock exchanges, asset acquisitions, stock purchases, and reorganizations with one or more businesses in the technology, DTC, and fintech industries.

While Athena is joining over 500 other active SPACs, only 17 of those have a woman as chair or CEO, according to SPAC Track.

In March 2021, Athena closed a $250 million IPO, making it the only SPAC listed on the NYSE with a Black woman CEO. In November 2021,

She told Forbes, “I think about the impact and responsibility that you have to be successful at this. You could be the first Black woman to lead a SPAC, and it could flop, and it would be a disaster, or you could be responsible and own this. “So in my mind, from day one, I had to own this, because I know with the ownership comes a deep responsibility. Others are watching.”

According to a press release, the company currently intends to focus its efforts on identifying businesses in the technology and cybersecurity industries.

Tony O. Lawson

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Published on September 27, 2021

1 min read

$126.5 Million SPAC Formed to Acquire Black Owned Firms

Shawn Rochester is the CEO of Minority Equality Opportunities Acquisition Inc. (“MEOA”) the first minority-led special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) listed on the Nasdaq.

The company will focus its search and transactions on historically undercapitalized minority-owned/controlled businesses in various industry sectors across the country.

In this episode, Shawn discusses:

Being the only SPAC working with a Black owned bank
MEOA exceding its initial $100M goal and and raising $126M
How his company plans to help Black businesses grow through aquisition
What MBE’s need to have in place in order to qualify as an ideal investment
The need for more Black capital providers and Black led investment firms
The cultural disconnect that prevents some non Black firms from investing in Black companies.
The importance of building a well capitalized business infrastructure in the Black community
The inspiration behind his book “The Black Tax: The Cost of Being Black in America”

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