Tempo Automation, a US-based industrial software developer backed by aerospace technology producer Lockheed Martin, has agreed a reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company Ace Convergence Acquisition Corp.
Founded in 2013, Tempo has created an automation tool that helps printed circuit board (PCB) components accelerate their manufacturing process.
The deal gives the company an implied equity value of approximately $919m and the combined entity, Tempo Automation Holdings, will get the Nasdaq Stock Market listing taken by Ace in a $200m initial public offering in July 2020.
Point72 Ventures Investments and ACE Equity Partners are anchoring an $82m private investment in public equity financing supporting the transaction, investing alongside Firsthand Funds and Lux Capital.
The company will use $391m in gross proceeds to acquire PCB producer Advanced Circuits and electronics manufacturing services group Whizz Systems, inject money into its balance sheet and settle payments related to the transaction.
Point72 Ventures led a $45m series C round for Tempo Automation in mid-2019 that included Lockheed Martin, Lux Capital, Uncork Capital, Cendana and Golden Seeds.
The company had raised $20m in a series B round the previous year tha was led by Point72 Ventures and backed by Lux Capital, Uncork Capital, AME Cloud Ventures, Industry Ventures, Dolby Family Ventures and Cendana.
The series B round was followed by an $8m series A round in 2016 led by Lux that also featured Uncork Capital (then called SoftTech), Bolt and AME, while Draper Associates, OS Fund and Incite Ventures are among its earlier shareholders.
Tempo president and CEO Joy Weiss said: “We expect that this business combination will greatly broaden our capabilities and footprint in the market, provide substantial manufacturing data to fuel our platform and allow us to help more and more customers accelerate their innovations.”
