The market for proptech SPACs is in the dumps. But some founders who managed to go public via the blank-check route have found themselves with serious cash to spend.
Francis Davidson, the founder and CEO of the hospitality startup Sonder, closed on a Hollywood Hills mansion owned by entertainer Pharrell just weeks after the company went public through a SPAC merger.
Davidson paid $9.2 million for the home, with the deal closing in mid-February, according to listing sites. Dirt earlier reported that Davidson was the buyer.
Sonder, which focuses on short-term rentals, went public Jan. 19 via a merger with a blank check firm sponsored by billionaires Alec Gores and Dean Metropoulos. The company listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker SOND, and its shares were trading below $6 on Wednesday, more than 30 percent below its IPO price. The SPAC deal had valued Sonder at $1.9 billion; ahead of the merger Sonder…