Merged into Otonomo Technologies, ticker now OTMO
SAII

Completed

Otonomo Technologies

Software Acquisition Group Inc. II

Underwriter: B. Riley Securities
Raised
$150M
CIK
1816048
SPAC Ticker
SAII
Merger
Otonomo Technologies
Merged Ticker
OTMO
Focus
Technology, Software
External link: SEC Filings

SPAC Team

Leadership

Jonathan Huberman, our Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer since inception, has over 25 years of high-tech business leadership experience. From 2019 to the present he was an officer and director of Software Acquisition Group Inc. (NASDAQ:SAQN), a blank check company which in August 2020 announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement with respect to its initial business combination with CuriosityStream, a global streaming media service that provides factual content on demand, which is currently expected to close in the 4th quarter of 2020. From 2017 to 2019 Mr. Huberman was Chief Executive Officer of Ooyala, a provider of media workflow automation, delivery and monetization solutions, which he and Mike Nikzad, our Vice President of Acquisitions and Director, acquired from Telstra in 2018. Together with Mr. Nikzad, they turned around an underperforming company and sold Ooyala’s three core business units to Invidi Technologies, Brightcove (NASDA:BCOV) and Dalet (EPA: DLT), major players in the same sector. Previously, Mr. Huberman served as the Chief Executive Officer of Syncplicity, a SaaS enterprise data management company, which he sourced and acquired from EMC and engineered an exit to Axway (EPA: AXW). Prior to this, from 2013 to 2015, Mr. Huberman was the Chief Executive Officer of Tiburon, an enterprise software company serving the public safety sector which he sold to Tritech Systems, and before that he was the Chief Executive Officer at Iomega Corporation (NYSE: IOM), a consumer and distributed enterprise storage solutions provider. After Iomega was acquired by EMC Corporation in 2008, Mr. Huberman served as President of the Consumer and Small Business Division of EMC. In addition to his experience leading turnarounds and exits at five technology companies, Mr. Huberman spent nine years as an investor for the Bass Family interests where he led investments in private and public companies. He also had senior roles leading the operations of the technology investments of the Gores Group and Skyview Capital. In the last five years he has served as a director of Aculon, Inc., a privately held provider of easy-to-apply nanotech surface-modification technologies, as well as Venture Corporation Limited (SGX:V03) a high-tech design and manufacture firm based in Singapore. Mr. Huberman holds a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science from Princeton University and an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is well qualified to serve on our Board due to his extensive operational, management and investment experience in the software and technology industries.

Mike Nikzad, our Vice President of Acquisitions , who will also serve as one of our Directors upon the effective date of the registration statement of which this propectus forms part, has over two decades of business leadership experience in software, technology and consumer electronics companies, where he has worked on numerous corporate turnarounds and exits. From 2019 to the present he was an officer and director of Software Acquisition Group Inc. (NASDAQ:SAQN), a blank check company which in August 2020 announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement with respect to its initial business combination with CuriosityStream, a global streaming media service that provides factual content on demand, which is currently expected to close in the 4th quarter of 2020. Mr. Nikzad was President and Chief Operating Officer at Ooyala from 2017 until its sale in 2019. Prior to Ooyala, in the last five years Mr. Nikzad has held C-suite positions and led company operations at Syncplicity, a SaaS enterprise data management company and NewNet Communication Technologies, a telecommunications company, as well as serving as an Operating Partner at SilverStream Capital. Prior to this, he also held management and executive positions in EMC Corp’s (NYSE: EMC) Consumer and Small Business division and at Iomega Corporation, a consumer and distributed enterprise storage solutions provider. Mr. Nikzad has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Utah State University and has completed the Stanford GSB Strategic Marketing Management Program. He is well qualified to serve on our Board due to his extensive operational and management experience in the software and telecommunications industries.

Andrew K. Nikou, who will serve as one of our Directors upon the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms part, is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of OpenGate, a global private equity firm specializing in the acquisition and operation of businesses to create new value through operational improvements, innovation and growth. To date, OpenGate, through its legacy and fund investments, has executed more than 30 acquisitions including corporate carve-outs, management buy-outs, special situations and transactions with private sellers across North America and Europe. As of March 31, 2020, OpenGate Capital Management, LLC (the firm’s registered investment advisor) managed approximately $1.1 billion in client assets on a discretionary basis. Prior to this, from 2001 to 2004, Mr. Nikou worked in business development for Platinum Equity, where he established their European Business Development operations in Paris, France. Of the nearly 20 pre-fund investments made by affiliates of OpenGate, a few were in distressed entities that subsequently filed for bankruptcy. Mr. Nikou has been named as a defendant in certain adversarial proceedings related to such bankruptcy cases alleging various claims, which Mr. Nikou vigorously disputes, believes to be meritless, and is aggressively contesting. From 2019 to the present he was a director of Software Acquisition Group Inc. (NASDAQ:SAQN), a blank check company which in August 2020 announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement with respect to its initial business combination with CuriosityStream, a global streaming media service that provides factual content on demand, which is currently expected to close in the 4th quarter of 2020, as well as several private companies. He is also a member of the XPRIZE Foundation Innovation Board. Mr. Nikou holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. He is well qualified to serve on our Board due to his extensive private equity, investment and business development experience.

C. Matthew Olton, who will serve as one of our Directors upon the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms part, has been Senior Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Development at Tenable Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:TENB), a cyber exposure protection provider, since August 2019. Prior this, he was Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Ventures, at Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC). In this role, Mr. Olton oversaw Symantec’s global mergers and acquisitions activity and managed Symantec’s corporate venture investments. He also led Symantec’s integration management function. Prior to joining Symantec, he was Senior Vice President, Corporate Development at Dell Technologies Capital from 2016 to 2018, and was responsible for global mergers and acquisitions and related activity for the family of companies that comprise Dell Technologies including Dell, Dell EMC, Pivotal, RSA, Secureworks, Virtustream and Boomi. Prior to Dell Technologies Capital, Matt was Senior Vice President, Corporate Development at EMC Corporation from 1999 to 2016. Mr. Olton started his career as an M&A attorney at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. From 2019 to the present he was a director of Software Acquisition Group Inc. (NASDAQ:SAQN), a blank check company which in August 2020 announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement with respect to its initial business combination with CuriosityStream, a global streaming media service that provides factual content on demand, which is currently expected to close in the 4th quarter of 2020. He has a Bachelor of Arts from Wesleyan University, a J.D. from Boston University School of Law and an MBA from Northeastern University. He is well qualified to serve on our Board due to his extensive investment and management experience in the software industry.

Stephanie Davis, who will serve as one of our Directors upon the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms part, has since 2017 served as a Senior Client Partner at Korn Ferry where she leads the Private Equity/Technology practice in North America and is a member of the CEO & Board practices and the Global Technology Practice. She is an expert in executive talent and leadership and has spent over two decades working with Chief Executive Officers to build their leadership capabilities and teams. Ms. Davis works extensively with public and private company board of directors on succession and board recruitment. She is a frequent speaker on board governance and women in the boardroom. Since 2019, Ms. Davis has been a member of the board of directors of biopharmaceutical company, Athenex (NASDAQ:ATNX). Prior to joining Korn Ferry in 2017, Ms. Davis spent 17 years at Spencer Stuart where she was a member of the CEO & Board Practice. During her tenure, she co-founded the Business/ Technology Services practice, led the Software practice, and managed global private equity relationships. From 2019 to the present she was a director of Software Acquisition Group Inc. (NASDAQ:SAQN), a blank check company which in August 2020 announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement with respect to its initial business combination with CuriosityStream, a global streaming media service that provides factual content on demand, which is currently expected to close in the 4th quarter of 2020. Ms. Davis has a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Princeton University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She is well qualified to serve on our Board due to her extensive consulting and private and public company board experience.

Steven Guggenheimer, who will serve as one of our Directors upon the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms part, has since 2018 served as Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) responsible for its artificial intelligence business as well as Microsoft’s engagement with its independent software vendor partners. In addition Mr Guggenheimer is a non-executive board member of HSBC Holdings plc (OTC:HBCYF) since May 2020, Forrit Technology Ltd., a private cloud technology company, since 2019, an advisor to Tensility Venture Partners, a seed stage venture capital firm, since 2017 as well as an advisor to the 5G Open Innovation Lab since May 2020. Over his 26 years at Microsoft, Mr. Guggenheimer has held leadership roles in strategically important areas including close to a decade helping to build Microsoft’s hardware and software ecosystem as the head of Developer Evangelism (DX) and the OEM division from 2008 to 2018. He has also worked on the product teams for Microsoft’s Application Platform, Windows, IE, MSN, SQL Server, Visual Studio and more. From 2019 to the present he was a director of Software Acquisition Group Inc. (NASDAQ:SAQN), a blank check company which in August 2020 announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement with respect to its initial business combination with CuriosityStream, a global streaming media service that provides factual content on demand, which is currently expected to close in the 4th quarter of 2020. Mr. Guggenheimer received a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Physics from the University of California, Davis, and a Master’s Degree in Engineering Management from Stanford University. He is well qualified to serve on our Board due to his extensive operational and management experience in the software industry.

Peter H. Diamandis, MD, who will serve as one of our Directors upon the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms part, has been the Chief Executive Officer of PHD Ventures, Inc., which is his personal holding company for his writing, speaking, and consulting activities, since 1993. He is the Founder and Executive Chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation, a non-profit foundation which, since 1996, has designed and operated large-scale incentive competitions for the benefit of humanity. In 2014, Dr. Diamandis founded and served as Vice-Chairman of Human Longevity, Inc., an advanced health diagnostic company committed to delivering data driven health diagnostics; he resigned from the board of directors in 2018 and remains a shareholder. He is also the Executive Founder of Singularity University, a graduate-level Silicon Valley institution founded in 2008 that counsels the world’s leaders on exponentially growing technologies. He is the Vice Chairman and co-Founder of Celularity Inc., founded in 2017, a commercial-stage cell therapeutics company delivering allogenic cellular therapies engineered from the postpartum human placenta. Dr. Diamandis is also a founder and board member of Fountain Therapeutic Services Inc., which was formed in 2018 to increase lifespan and optimize healthspan by harnessing regenerative medicine technologies and integrating extensive wellness solutions. In March 2020 Dr. Diamandis co-Founded and is the Vice-Chairman of Covaxx, Inc., a pharmaceutical company that has developed a COVID-19 lgG antibody test and which has a vaccine candidate in clinical trials. As an entrepreneur, Dr. Diamandis has started over 20 companies in the areas of longevity, space, venture capital and education. Dr. Diamandis also co-founded BOLD Capital Partners, a venture fund investing in exponential technologies, in 2015, and is a New York Times Bestselling author. He earned degrees in Molecular Engineering and Aerospace Engineering from MIT and holds an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. From 2019 to the present he was a director of Software Acquisition Group Inc. (NASDAQ:SAQN), a blank check company which in August 2020 announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement with respect to its initial business combination with CuriosityStream, a global streaming media service that provides factual content on demand, which is currently expected to close in the 4th quarter of 2020. He is well qualified to serve on our Board due to his extensive operational and management experience in the technology industry.