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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM

10-K

(Mark One)

☒	ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

☐	TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from

Commission file number:

001-40843

Berenson Acquisition Corp. I

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)


Delaware		87-1070217
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

667 Madison Avenue, 18 th Floor New York, NY		10065
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (212)

935-7676

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:


Title of each class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share	BACA	NYSE American LLC

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation

S-T

(§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a

non-accelerated

filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule

12b-2

of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to

§240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule

12b-2

of the Exchange Act). Yes ☒ No ☐

As of June 30, 2022 (the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter), the aggregate market value of the Class A ordinary shares of the registrant (based upon the closing price of the registrant’s Class A shares of common stock at that date as reported by the New York Stock Exchange), excluding outstanding shares of common stock beneficially owned by persons who may be deemed affiliates of the registrant, was $268,497,600.

As of March 27, 2023

, there were

34,387,500

shares of our common stock issued and outstanding, consisting

30,490,000

shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 3,897,500 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, issued and outstanding.

TABLE OF CONTENTS


PART I		6

Item 1.	Business	6
Item 1A.	Risk Factors	12
Item 1B.	Unresolved Staff Comments	41
Item 2.	Properties	41
Item 3.	Legal Proceedings	41
Item 4.	Mine Safety Disclosures	41

PART II		42

Item 5.	Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities	42
Item 6.	[Reserved]	43
Item 7.	Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations	43
Item 7A.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk	46
Item 8.	Financial Statements and Supplementary Data	46
Item 9.	Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure	46
Item 9A.	Controls and Procedures	47
Item 9B.	Other Information	48
Item 9C.	Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections	48

PART III		49

Item 10.	Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance	49
Item 11.	Executive Compensation	54
Item 12.	Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters	55
Item 13.	Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence	56
Item 14.	Principal Accountant Fees and Services	58

PART IV		59

Item 15.	Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules	59
Item 16.	Form 10-K Summary	61
Signatures

CERTAIN TERMS

Unless otherwise stated in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “report”) or unless the context otherwise requires:

•

references to “we,” “us,” “our,” “the company” or “our company” refer to Berenson Acquisition Corp. I, a Delaware corporation;

•

references to our “sponsor” refer to Berenson SPAC Holdings I, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company;

•

references to “common stock” refer to our Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and our Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, collectively;

•

references to “public shares” refer to shares of our Class A common stock sold as part of the units in our initial public offering (whether purchased in our initial public offering or thereafter in the open market);

•

references to “founder shares” refer to shares of our Class B common stock initially purchased by our sponsor in a private placement prior to our initial public offering, and the shares of our Class A common stock issuable upon the conversion thereof;

•

references to “public warrants” refer to our redeemable warrants sold as part of the units in our initial public offering (whether purchased in our initial public offering or thereafter in the open market), to the private placement warrants if held by third parties other than our sponsor (or permitted transferees), and to any private placement warrants issued upon conversion of working capital loans that are sold to third parties that are not initial purchasers or our executive officers or directors (or permitted transferees), in each case, following the consummation of our initial business combination;

•

references to “private placement warrants” refer to the warrants issued to our sponsor in a private placement simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering;

•

references to “warrants” refer to the public warrants and the private placement warrants;

•

references to “public stockholders” refer to the holders of our public shares, including our initial stockholders and management team to the extent our initial stockholders and/or members of our management team purchase public shares, provided that each initial stockholder’s and member of our management team’s status as a “public stockholder” shall only exist with respect to such public shares;

•

references to “management” or our “management team” refer to our officers and directors;

•

references to “initial stockholders” refer to holders of our founder shares prior to our initial public offering; and

•

references to “anchor investors” refer to the up to 11 qualified institutional buyers or institutional accredited investors which are not affiliated with us, our sponsor, our directors or any member of our management and that have purchased units in our initial public offering.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND RISK FACTOR

SUMMARY

Certain of the statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K constitute “forward-looking statements” for purposes of federal securities laws. Our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our or our management’s expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking.

The forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are based on our current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on us. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties (some of which are beyond our control) or other assumptions that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following risks, uncertainties and other factors:

•

we are a newly incorporated company with no operating history and no revenues;

•

public stockholders’ lack of opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination;

•

lack of protections normally afforded to investors of blank check companies;

•

our initial stockholders controlling a substantial interest in us;

•

deviation from acquisition criteria and guidelines;

•

our ability to complete our initial business combination;

•

our expectations around the performance of a prospective target business or businesses

•

completing a business combination with a company located in a foreign jurisdiction;

•

issuance of equity and/or debt securities to complete a business combination;

•

lack of working capital;

•

our ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination;

•

dependence on key personnel;

•

past performance by our management team is not indicative of future performance of an investment in us;

•

conflicts of interest of our sponsor, officers and directors;

•

the delisting of our securities by the NYSE American LLC (the “NYSE American”);

•

the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and related risks, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and resulting sanctions, and other events (such as terrorist attacks, geopolitical unrest, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases);

•

delay in receiving distributions from the trust account;

•

the exercise of registration rights by our security holders may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock;

•

warrant holders limited to exercising warrants only on a “cashless basis;”

•

ability to amend the terms of our warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants;

•

shares being redeemed and warrants becoming worthless;

•

adverse effect of warrants and founder shares on the market price of our Class A common stock;

•

changes in laws or regulations, or our failure to comply with any laws and regulations;

•

uncertain or adverse U.S. federal income tax consequence;

•

difficulties and limitations in protecting your interests, and your ability to protect your rights through the U.S. federal courts; and

•

the other risks and uncertainties discussed in “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of our assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary in material respects from those projected in these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

Summary Risk Factors

Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those highlighted in Item I, Part 1A. “Risk Factors,” that represent challenges that we face in connection with the successful implementation of our strategy. The occurrence of one or more of the events or circumstances described in the section titled “Risk Factors,” alone or in combination with other events or circumstances, may adversely affect our ability to effect a business combination, and may have an adverse effect on our business, cash flows, financial condition and results of operations. This summary only highlights the more detailed information appearing elsewhere in this report. You should read this entire report carefully, including the information under “Risk Factors” and our financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this report, before investing.

•

We are a blank check company with no operating history and, accordingly, you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.

•

If we are unable to consummate our initial business combination, our public stockholders may be forced to wait until March 30, 2023 before receiving distributions from the trust account.

•

Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the impact and uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and resulting sanctions and other events and risks (such as geopolitical unrest or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases) and the status of debt and equity markets.

•

Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed business combination.

•

Our public stockholders lack protections normally afforded to investors of blank check companies.

•

Our initial stockholders control a substantial interest in us and thus may influence certain actions requiring a stockholder vote.

•

Our deviation from acquisition criteria and guidelines.

•

Our ability to complete our initial business combination.

•

Our expectations around the performance of a prospective target business or businesses.

•

Completing a business combination with a company located in a foreign jurisdiction.

•

We may issue shares of our capital stock to complete our initial business combination, which would reduce the equity interest of our stockholders and likely cause a change in control of our ownership

•

We may issue notes or other debt securities, or otherwise incur substantial debt, to complete a business combination, which may adversely affect our leverage and financial condition and thus negatively impact the value of our stockholders’ investment in us.

•

We may not have sufficient working capital to cover our operating expenses.

•

Our ability to obtain additional financing to complete our initial business combination.

•

Our dependence on key personnel.

•

The past performance by our management team is not indicative of future performance of an investment in us.

•

The conflicts of interest of our sponsor, officers and directors.

•

The NYSE American may delist our securities from quotation on its exchange which could limit investors’ ability to make transactions in our securities and subject us to additional trading restrictions.

•

The exercise of registration rights by our security holders may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock.

•

Warrant holders may be limited to exercising warrants only on a “cashless basis.”

•

The ability to amend the terms of our warrants with the approval by the holders of at least 50% of the then outstanding public warrants;

•

Shares being redeemed and warrants becoming worthless.

•

The adverse effect of warrants on the market price of our Class A common stock.

•

Changes in laws or regulations, or our failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination.

•

A new 1% U.S. federal excise tax could be imposed on us in connection with redemptions.

•

If we are deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), we would be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities would be severely restricted and, as a result, we may abandon our efforts to consummate an initial business combination and liquidate.

•

If we instruct the trustee to liquidate the securities held in the trust account and instead to hold the funds in the trust account in cash in order to seek to mitigate the risk that we could be deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, we would likely receive minimal interest, if any, on the funds held in the trust account, which would reduce the dollar amount the public shareholders would receive upon any redemption or our liquidation.

PART I

Item 1. Business

Introduction

We are a blank check company incorporated on June 1, 2021 as a Delaware corporation and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses, which we refer to in this report as our initial business combination.

On June 25, 2021, we issued 7,187,500 founder shares to our sponsor for an aggregate purchase price of $25,000, or approximately $0.004 per share. On September 15, 2021, our sponsor transferred an aggregate of 25,000 founder shares to each of our independent directors and our special advisor (for a total of 125,000 founder shares) for their original purchase price. Subsequently, on September 30, 2021, our sponsor sold an aggregate of 1,872,159 founder shares to the anchor investors at their original purchase price. Following the expiration of the underwriter’s over-allotment option, on November 12, 2021 our sponsor forfeited 310,000 founder shares, so that our initial stockholders continue to own 20% of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock after our initial public offering, described below.

On September 27, 2021, the registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-259470) relating to our initial public offering was declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). On September 30, 2021, we consummated our initial public offering of 25,000,000 units, with each unit consisting of one share of Class A common stock and one-half of one redeemable warrant, each whole warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one share of Class A common stock at an exercise price of $11.50 per share, subject to adjustment. The units were sold at an offering price of $10.00 per unit, generating total gross proceeds of $250,000,000.

Simultaneously with the consummation of our initial public offering, we consummated the private placement of 7,000,000 private placement warrants to our sponsor at a price of $1.00 per private placement warrant, generating total proceeds of $7,000,000 (the “private placement”).

On October 22, 2021, the underwriters of the initial public offering partially exercised their over-allotment option and purchased 2,510,000 additional units at $10.00 per unit, generating additional gross proceeds of $25,100,000. In addition, on October 22, 2021, simultaneously with the partial exercise of the over-allotment option by the underwriters, the sponsor purchased an additional 502,000 private placement warrants at $1.00 per private placement warrant, generating additional gross proceeds of $502,000.

A total of $275,100,000 (or $10.00 per unit sold in our initial public offering) of the net proceeds from our initial public offering (including the partial exercise of the underwriter’s over-allotment option) and the private placement was placed in a trust account established for the benefit of our public stockholders (the “trust account”), with Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company acting as trustee, and has been invested only in U.S. “government securities” within the meaning of Section 2(a)(16) of the Investment Company Act, having a maturity of 185 days or less, or in money market funds meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act which invest only in direct U.S. government treasury obligations. Except with respect to interest earned on the funds held in the trust account that may be released to us to pay our tax obligations, the funds held in the trust account will not be released from the trust account until the earliest of: (i) the completion of our initial business combination, (ii) the redemption of any public shares properly tendered in connection with a stockholder vote to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation (a) to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemptions in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by March 30, 2023 or (b) with respect to any other provision relating to stockholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, and (iii) the redemption of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination by March 30, 2023, subject to applicable law.

Transaction costs amounted to $6,008,471, consisting of $5,502,000 in underwriting discounts and commissions and $506,471 for other costs and expenses related to our initial public offering. In addition, the underwriters of our initial public offering agreed to defer $9,628,500 in underwriting commissions, which amount will be payable upon consummation of our initial business combination, if consummated. As of December 31, 2022, we had $250,453 in our operating bank accounts, $278,782,399 in cash and marketable securities held in the trust account and a working capital deficit of $200,719.

Our units began trading on September 28, 2021 on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) under the symbol “BACA.U.” Commencing on November 18, 2021, the Class A common stock and warrants comprising the units began separate trading on the NYSE under the symbols “BACA” and “BACA WS,” respectively. We received approval to transfer the listing of our Class A common stock from the NYSE to the NYSE American on March 1, 2023 and on March 13, 2023, our Class A common stock began trading on the NYSE American under the

symbol “BACA.” Following the notice of delisting and suspension of trading of our warrants by the NYSE, effective February 3, 2023, our warrants are trading on the OTC Market under the symbol “BACA WS.” In addition, in connection with the transfer, effective March 13, 2023, any remaining units were mandatorily separated into its component parts and the units are no longer traded on the NYSE.

Our Management Team

Our sponsor is affiliated with Berenson Holdings LLC (“Berenson”), a merchant bank founded in 1990 with two principal lines of business: investment banking and private equity investing. In addition, an affiliate of Navigation Capital Partners LLC (“Navigation”) is an investor in our sponsor. Navigation Capital is an Atlanta-based private equity firm that partners and invests with successful CEOs to launch companies into the public market.

We are seeking to create an investment vehicle that will benefit from our long heritage of investment and advisory capability servicing corporations, entrepreneurs and private investors as they identify, evaluate and implement opportunities to realize and capitalize on their long-term strategic vision. We expect to rely on significant proprietary deal flow, and along with our board of directors, to identify and analyze businesses that we believe will benefit from Berenson’s experience and networks to accelerate and realize growth and shareholder value creation. Navigation will provide resources including a network of relationships, extensive SPAC knowledge base and a standardized SPAC operating system to streamline the business combination process.

Members of our management team are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time that any member of our management team will devote in any time period to our company will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.

The past performance of our management team or their affiliates is not a guarantee of either (i) success with respect to a business combination that may be consummated or (ii) the ability to successfully identify and execute a transaction. You should not rely on the historical record of management or their affiliates as indicative of future performance.

Business Strategy

We will seek to capitalize on the significant industry experience and contacts of our management team and board of directors to identify, evaluate and acquire a target business. Our objective is to acquire a high- quality business that can generate attractive, risk-adjusted returns for stockholders. Our selection process will leverage Berenson’s and Navigation’s extensive global network of relationships, deep industry knowledge across multiple geographies, transaction execution experience and deal sourcing capabilities that provide access to a broad spectrum of acquisition opportunities, which we believe will differentiate us as a partner of choice to potential business combination opportunities.

We believe that the following differentiated value propositions will allow us to bring to the public market a highly attractive business:

•

Proprietary Sourcing Capabilities: Our network of deep relationships with CEOs, founders, boards of directors and private equity sponsors provides us with a differentiated avenue for sourcing target businesses;

•

Proven Experience in Consummating Transactions: We believe that our extensive M&A experience, with a distinct reputation for navigating transaction complexities, is a significant advantage. Our team has demonstrated the ability to negotiate and structure transactions, evaluate corporate strategies, access growth capital, and develop appropriate capital structures;

•

Extensive Understanding of Capital Markets and Public Market Investors: We have significant experience in formulating a variety of structures for companies across a number of industries. Much of this structuring capability is based on familiarity with the key performance indicators and growth metrics of companies in our target industries;

•

Significant Software and Technology-enabled Services Investment Experience: We have extensive experience in analyzing attractive companies in our target sectors

If we elect to pursue an investment outside of those industries, our management’s expertise related to those industries may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation.

Business Combination Criteria

We seek to merge with a private company operating in the software and technology-enabled services sector with recurring/predictable revenue and the prospect for high free cash flow conversion at scale. We expect to focus on businesses with as many of the following characteristics as possible:

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Passionate Management: We are drawn to teams that “live and breathe” their end-markets and have a unique understanding for the current and future needs of their clients. We recognize that execution capability is critical and look for teams with demonstrable past success;

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Large and Growing End Markets: We seek to identify businesses that are solving problems in large and growing markets. We focus primarily on the products / services that the business currently offers and are careful to not be influenced by “blue-sky” opportunities (though we view their credible presence as upside);

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Resilient Barriers to Entry: We seek established and emerging market leaders with defensible and self-reinforcing competitive advantages such as high switching costs, network effects, proprietary data / integrations and learning effects;

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Mission-Critical Offerings: For us, an ideal business demonstrates low price elasticity, though we are careful to make sure that it is not over-earning / rent-seeking. We especially like products and services that provide high value at a low nominal cost; we believe this represents pricing power;

•

Organic Volume Growth: We prefer businesses that have historically driven growth through volume; we look to isolate pricing from overall revenue growth;

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Attractive Unit Economics: We analyze unit economics in order to identify businesses with long- term strong free cash flow generation potential at scale;

•

A Well-Defined Corporate Culture: We believe that companies are built by teams, not individuals; much of the value of exceptional leaders lies in their ability to cultivate a strong, defined and evolving corporate culture which can be used to attract and retain talent. Key attributes include accountability, ethics, empowerment, transparency and diversity of thought; and

•

Potential to Benefit from Our Expertise: We will rely on our advisory heritage to assist management in identifying, negotiating, financing and structuring transactions including acquisition and/or capital raises to support and accelerate long-term growth.

We believe we can enhance the value proposition of a business combination through, among other things:

•

Growth Strategies: We can assist the company in developing and executing organic and inorganic growth strategies, including operational and management enhancements, as well as identifying and executing on acquisitions;

•

Capital Formation: We can continually monitor capital markets and advise on opportunities to optimize capital structure and transition the company’s investor base to fundamental, long-term holders; and

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Public Company Readiness: We can assist a company in creating an appropriate public company accounting and reporting infrastructure and obtaining relevant analyst coverage.

These criteria are not intended to be exhaustive. Any evaluation relating to the merits of a particular initial business combination may be based, to the extent relevant, on these general guidelines as well as other considerations, factors and criteria that our management team may deem relevant. In the event that we decide to enter into our initial business combination with a target business that does not meet the above criteria and guidelines, we will disclose that the target business does not meet the above criteria in our stockholder communications related to our initial business combination, which would be in the form of proxy solicitation materials or tender offer documents that we would file with the SEC.

Sourcing of Potential Initial Business Combination Targets

Business combination targets that are developing core technologies and pursuing disruptive commercialization strategies often need access to stable capital but lack access to public markets. Our team has the necessary technical, operating and transactional expertise to identify attractive acquisition targets that would most benefit from the value we seek to deliver to our shareholders vis-à-vis our initial business combination. The primary sourcing activities of our team will emanate from its access to high quality deal flow that meets our acquisition criteria—the result of successfully investing in, scaling and operating innovative companies.

We are not prohibited from pursuing an initial business combination with a company that is affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers or directors, or completing the business combination through a joint venture or other form of shared ownership with our sponsor, executive officers or directors. In the event we seek to complete an initial business combination with a target that is affiliated with our sponsor, executive officers or directors, we, or a committee of independent directors, would obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), or an independent accounting firm stating that such an initial business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view. We are not required to obtain such an opinion in any other context.

Members of our management team directly or indirectly own founder shares and/or private placement warrants and, accordingly, may have a conflict of interest in determining whether a particular target business is an appropriate business with which to effectuate our initial business combination. Further, each of our officers and directors may have a conflict of interest with respect to evaluating a particular business combination if the retention or resignation of any such officers and directors was included by a target business as a condition to any agreement with respect to our initial business combination.

Each of our officers and directors presently has, and any of them in the future may have additional, fiduciary or contractual obligations to other entities pursuant to which such officer or director is or will be required to present a business combination opportunity. Accordingly, if any of our officers or directors becomes aware of a business combination opportunity which is suitable for an entity to which he or she has then-current fiduciary or contractual obligations, he or she will honor his or her fiduciary or contractual obligations to present such opportunity to such other entity. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we renounce our interest in any corporate opportunity offered to any director or officer unless such opportunity is expressly offered to such person solely in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and such opportunity is one we are legally and contractually permitted to undertake and would otherwise be reasonable for us to pursue, and to the extent the director or officer is permitted to refer that opportunity to us without violating another legal obligation. We do not believe, however, that the fiduciary duties or contractual obligations of our officers and directors will materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.

In addition, our sponsor, officers and directors may sponsor or form other special purpose acquisition companies similar to ours or may pursue other business or investment ventures during the period in which we are seeking an initial business combination. Any such companies, businesses or investments may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an initial business combination. Our officers and directors are not required to commit any specified amount of time to our affairs, and, accordingly, will have conflicts of interest in allocating management time among various business activities, including identifying potential business combinations and monitoring the related due diligence. However, we do not believe that any such potential conflicts would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.

Affiliates of our sponsor are not prohibited from sponsoring other special purpose acquisition companies and such affiliates, including Navigation and Berenson, expect to sponsor special purpose acquisition companies in the future. Any such companies may pursue similar targets and compete with us for business combination opportunities. Any such companies may present additional conflicts of interest in pursuing an acquisition target, particularly in the event there is overlap among investment mandates. However, we do not currently expect that any such other special purpose acquisition company would materially affect our ability to complete our initial business combination.

Initial Business Combination

The NYSE American listing rules require that our initial business combination must be with one or more target businesses that together have an aggregate fair market value equal to at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding any deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of our signing a definitive agreement in connection with our initial business combination. We refer to this as the 80% fair market value test. If our board of directors is not able to independently determine the fair market value of the target business or businesses, we will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA, or from an independent accounting firm, with respect to the satisfaction of such criteria. Additionally, pursuant to the NYSE American rules, any initial business combination must be approved by a majority of our independent directors. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if we are not listed on the NYSE American at the time of our initial business combination, these rules will not be applicable to us.

We anticipate structuring our initial business combination so that the post-transaction company in which our public stockholders own or acquire shares will own or acquire 100% of the outstanding equity interests or assets of the target business or businesses. We may, however, structure our initial business combination such that the post-transaction company owns or acquires less than 100% of such interests or assets of the target business in order to meet certain objectives of the target management team or stockholders or for other reasons, but we will only complete such business combination if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target or otherwise acquires a controlling interest in the target business sufficient for it not to be required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Even if the post-transaction company owns or acquires 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the target, our stockholders prior to our initial business combination may collectively own a minority interest in the post-transaction company, depending on valuations ascribed to the target and us in our initial business combination. For example, we could pursue a transaction in which we issue a substantial number of new shares in exchange for all of the outstanding capital stock of a target, or issue a substantial number of new shares to third-parties in connection with financing our initial business combination. In such cases, we would acquire a 100% controlling interest in the target. However, as a result of the issuance of a substantial number of new shares, our stockholders immediately prior to our initial business combination could own less than a majority of our

outstanding shares subsequent to our initial business combination. If less than 100% of the outstanding equity interests or assets of a target business or businesses are owned or acquired by the post-transaction company, the portion of such business or businesses that is owned or acquired is what will be taken into account for purposes of the 80% fair market value test. If our initial business combination involves more than one target business, the 80% fair market value test will be based on the aggregate value of all of the target businesses.

On March 2, 2023, we filed with the SEC a Current Report on Form 8-A with respect to the registration of our securities on the NYSE American. Commencing on March 13, 2023, our Class A common stock began trading on the NYSE American under the ticker symbol “BACA,” and effective February 3, 2023, our warrants are trading on the OTC Market under the symbol “BACA WS.”

Following the transfer of our listing from the NYSE to the NYSE American, we intend to continue to file the same periodic reports and other information we currently file with the SEC.

We will provide our public stockholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their shares Class A common stock upon the completion of our initial business combination either: (i) in connection with a stockholder meeting called to approve the business combination; or (ii) by means of a tender offer. The decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or conduct a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would require us to seek stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements. Asset acquisitions and stock purchases would not typically require stockholder approval while direct mergers with our company where we do not survive and any transactions where we issue more than 20% of our outstanding common stock or seek to amend our amended and restated certificate of incorporation would typically require stockholder approval. We intend to conduct redemptions without a stockholder vote pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC unless stockholder approval is required by applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements or we choose to seek stockholder approval for business or other reasons.

We have until March 30, 2023 to complete our initial business combination. If we do not complete our initial business combination within such time period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. There will be no redemption rights or liquidating distributions with respect to our warrants, which will expire worthless if we fail to complete our business combination by March 30, 2023.

Competition

Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do, and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there will be numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of the initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. Our sponsor or any of its affiliates may make additional investments in us, although our sponsor and its affiliates have no obligation or other duty to do so. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, our obligation to pay cash in connection with our public stockholders who exercise their redemption rights may reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination and our outstanding warrants, and the future dilution they potentially represent, may not be viewed favorably by target businesses. Any of these factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating and completing an initial business combination.

Employees

We currently have two officers. Members of our management team are not obligated to devote any specific number of hours to our matters but they intend to devote as much of their time as they deem necessary to our affairs until we have completed our initial business combination. The amount of time that any member of our management team will devote in any time period to our company will vary based on whether a target business has been selected for our initial business combination and the current stage of the business combination process.

Our Website

Our corporate website address is www.berensonacquisitioncorp.com. The information contained on or accessible through our corporate website or any other website that we may maintain is not incorporated by reference into this report.

Periodic Reporting and Audited Financial Statements

We have registered our units, Class A common stock and warrants under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and have reporting obligations, including the requirement that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with the SEC. Such reports and other information filed by the company with the SEC are available free of charge on our website and on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. The contents of this website are not incorporated into this report. In accordance with the requirements of the Exchange Act, our annual reports will contain financial statements audited and reported on by our independent registered public accountants.

We will provide stockholders with audited financial statements of a prospective target business as part of the tender offer materials or proxy solicitation materials sent to stockholders to assist them in assessing the target business. In all likelihood, these financial statements will need to be prepared in accordance with, or reconciled to, United States generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) or international financial reporting standards (“IFRS”), depending on the circumstances, and the historical financial statements may be required to be audited in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (the “PCAOB”). These financial statement requirements may limit the pool of potential targets we may conduct an initial business combination with because some targets may be unable to provide such statements in time for us to disclose such statements in accordance with federal proxy rules and complete our initial business combination within the prescribed time frame. We cannot assure you that any particular target business identified by us as a potential business combination candidate will have financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP or that the potential target business will be able to prepare its financial statements in accordance with the requirements outlined above. To the extent that these requirements cannot be met, we may not be able to acquire the proposed target business. While this may limit the pool of potential business combination candidates, we do not believe that this limitation will be material.

We are required to evaluate our internal control procedures for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022 as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”). Only in the event we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer or an accelerated filer, and no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, will we be required to have our internal control procedures audited. A target company may not be in compliance with the provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act regarding adequacy of their internal controls. The development of the internal controls of any such entity to achieve compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act may increase the time and costs necessary to complete any such business combination.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in Section 2(a) of the Securities Act, as amended (the “Securities Act”), as modified by the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (the “JOBS Act”). As such, we are eligible to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. If some investors find our securities less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our securities and the prices of our securities may be more volatile.

In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an “emerging growth company” can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an “emerging growth company” can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We intend to take advantage of the benefits of this extended transition period.

We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of: (i) the last day of the fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of our initial public offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.07 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the worldwide market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that fiscal year’s second fiscal quarter; and (ii) the date on which we have issued more than $1.00 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period. References herein to “emerging growth company” shall have the meaning associated with it in the JOBS Act.

Additionally, we are a “smaller reporting company” as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K. Smaller reporting companies may take advantage of certain reduced disclosure obligations, including, among other things, providing only two years of audited financial statements. We will remain a smaller reporting company until the last day of the fiscal year in which (i) the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $250 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter, or (ii) our annual revenues exceeded $100 million during such completed fiscal year and the market value of our common stock held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the end of that year’s second fiscal quarter.

Item 1A. Risk Factors

An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider all of the risks described below, together with the other information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. If any of the following events occur, our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially adversely affected. In that event, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

Risks Relating to Our Search for, and Consummation of or Inability to Consummate, a Business Combination

We are an early stage company with no operating history and, accordingly, you have no basis on which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective.

We are an early stage company with no operating results. Because we lack an operating history, you have no basis upon which to evaluate our ability to achieve our business objective of completing our initial business combination with one or more target businesses. We have no plans, arrangements or understandings with any prospective target business concerning a business combination and may be unable to complete our initial business combination. If we fail to complete our initial business combination, we will never generate any operating revenues.

Our public stockholders may not be afforded an opportunity to vote on our proposed initial business combination, which means we may complete our initial business combination even though a majority of our public stockholders do not support such a combination.

We may not hold a stockholder vote to approve our initial business combination unless the business combination would require stockholder approval under applicable law or stock exchange listing requirements or if we decide to hold a stockholder vote for business or other reasons. For instance, if we were seeking to acquire a target business where the consideration we were paying in the transaction was all cash, we would typically not be required to seek shareholder approval to complete such a transaction. However, except as required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, the decision as to whether we will seek stockholder approval of a proposed business combination or will allow stockholders to sell their shares to us in a tender offer will be made by us, solely in our discretion, and will be based on a variety of factors, such as the timing of the transaction and whether the terms of the transaction would otherwise require us to seek stockholder approval. Accordingly, we may consummate our initial business combination even if holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of our common stock do not approve of the business combination we consummate.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed to vote in favor of such initial business combination and the anchor investors have agreed to vote their founder shares in favor of such initial business combination, regardless of how our public stockholders vote.

Our sponsor, officers and directors have agreed (and their permitted transferees will agree), pursuant to the terms of a letter agreement entered into with us, to vote their founder shares and any public shares held by them in favor of our initial business combination. In addition, the anchor investors have agreed to vote their founder shares in favor of our initial business combination. As a result, in addition to our initial stockholders’ founder shares and the anchor investors’ founder shares, we would need 10,316,251, or 37.5%, of the 27,510,000 public shares sold in the initial public offering to be voted in favor of an initial business combination in order to have our initial business combination approved (assuming all outstanding shares are voted), or an additional 1,719,376, or 6.25% (assuming only the minimum number of shares representing a quorum are voted), of the 27,510,000 public shares sold in the initial public offering to be voted in favor of a transaction, in order to have such initial business combination approved. Accordingly, if we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, the agreement by our initial stockholders and management team and anchor investors to vote in favor of our initial business combination will increase the likelihood that we will receive the requisite stockholder approval for such initial business combination.

Your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination will be limited to the exercise of your right to redeem your shares from us for cash, unless we seek stockholder approval of such business combination.

At the time of your investment in us, you will not be provided with an opportunity to evaluate the specific merits or risks of our initial business combination. Additionally, since our board of directors may complete a business combination without seeking stockholder approval, public stockholders may not have the right or opportunity to vote on the business combination, unless we seek such stockholder vote. Accordingly, if we do not seek stockholder approval, your only opportunity to affect the investment decision regarding a potential business combination may be limited to exercising your redemption rights within the period of time (which will be at least 20 business days) set forth in our tender offer documents mailed to our public stockholders in which we describe our initial business combination.

The ability of our public stockholders to redeem their shares for cash may make our financial condition unattractive to potential target businesses, which may make it difficult for us to enter into a business combination with a target.

We may seek to enter into a business combination transaction agreement with a prospective target that requires as a closing condition that we have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash. If too many public stockholders exercise their redemption rights, we would not be able to meet such closing condition and, as a result, would not be able to proceed with the business combination. Furthermore, we will only redeem our public shares so long as (after such redemptions) our net tangible assets, after payment of the deferred underwriting commissions, will be at least $5,000,001 either prior to or upon consummation of an initial business combination, after payment of the deferred underwriting commission related to our initial public offering (so that we do not then become subject to the SEC’s “penny stock” rules), or any greater net tangible asset or cash requirement which may be contained in the agreement relating to our initial business combination. Consequently, if accepting all properly submitted redemption requests would cause our net tangible assets to not be at least $5,000,001 either prior to or upon consummation of an initial business combination, after payment of the deferred underwriting commission, or such greater amount necessary to satisfy a closing condition as described above, we would not proceed with such redemption and the related business combination and may instead search for an alternate business combination. Prospective targets will be aware of these risks and, thus, may be reluctant to enter into a business combination transaction with us.

The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares may not allow us to complete the most desirable business combination or optimize our capital structure.

At the time we enter into an agreement for our initial business combination, we will not know how many stockholders may exercise their redemption rights and, therefore, we will need to structure the transaction based on our expectations as to the number of shares that will be submitted for redemption. If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, we will need to reserve a portion of the cash in the trust account to meet such requirements or arrange for third-party financing. In addition, if a larger number of shares is submitted for redemption than we initially expected, we may need to restructure the transaction to reserve a greater portion of the cash in the trust account or arrange for third party financing. Raising additional third-party financing may involve dilutive equity issuances or the incurrence of indebtedness at higher than desirable levels. The above considerations may limit our ability to complete the most desirable business combination available to us or optimize our capital structure. The amount of the deferred underwriting commissions payable to the underwriters will not be adjusted for any shares that are redeemed in connection with an initial business combination. The per-share amount we will distribute to stockholders who properly exercise their redemption rights will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions and after such redemptions, the per-share value of shares held by non-redeeming stockholders will reflect our obligation to pay the deferred underwriting commissions.

The ability of our public stockholders to exercise redemption rights with respect to a large number of our shares could increase the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful and that you would have to wait for liquidation in order to redeem your stock.

If our initial business combination agreement requires us to use a portion of the cash in the trust account to pay the purchase price, or requires us to have a minimum amount of cash at closing, the probability that our initial business combination would be unsuccessful increases. If our initial business combination is unsuccessful, you would not receive your pro rata portion of the trust account until we liquidate the trust account. If you are in need of immediate liquidity, you could attempt to sell your stock in the open market; however, at such time our stock may trade at a discount to the pro rata amount per share in the trust account. In either situation, you may suffer a material loss on your investment or lose the benefit of funds expected in connection with our redemption until we liquidate or you are able to sell your stock in the open market.

If a stockholder fails to receive notice of our offer to redeem our public shares in connection with our initial business combination, or fails to comply with the procedures for tendering its shares, such shares may not be redeemed.

We will comply with the tender offer rules or proxy rules, as applicable, when conducting redemptions in connection with our initial business combination. Despite our compliance with these rules, if a stockholder fails to receive our tender offer or proxy materials, as applicable, such stockholder may not become aware of the opportunity to redeem its shares. In addition, the tender offer documents or proxy materials, as applicable, that we will furnish to holders of our public shares in connection with our initial business combination will describe the various procedures that must be complied with in order to validly tender or redeem public shares, which will include the requirement that a beneficial holder must identify itself in order to validly redeem its shares. For example, we may require our public stockholders seeking to exercise their redemption rights, whether they are record holders or hold their shares in “street name,” to either tender their certificates to our transfer agent prior to the date set forth in the tender offer documents or proxy materials mailed to such holders, or up to two business days prior to the scheduled vote on the proposal to approve the initial business combination in the event we distribute proxy materials, or to deliver their shares to the transfer agent electronically. In the event that a stockholder fails to comply with these or any other procedures, its shares may not be redeemed.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules, and if you or a “group” of stockholders are deemed to hold in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock, you will lose the ability to redeem all such shares in excess of 15% of our Class A common stock.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that a public stockholder, together with any affiliate of such stockholder or any other person with whom such stockholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Exchange Act), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an

aggregate of 15% of the shares sold in the initial public offering, which we refer to as the “Excess Shares,” without our prior consent. However, we would not be restricting our stockholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our initial business combination. Your inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce your influence over our ability to complete our initial business combination and you could suffer a material loss on your investment in us if you sell Excess Shares in open market transactions. Additionally, you will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete our initial business combination. As a result, you will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose of such shares, would be required to sell your stock in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates may elect to purchase shares or warrants from public stockholders, which may influence a vote on a proposed business combination and reduce the public “float” of our securities.

If we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our initial business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our sponsor, directors, officers, advisor or any of their affiliates may purchase public shares or public warrants or a combination thereof in privately negotiated transactions or in the open market either prior to or following the completion of our initial business combination. Additionally, at any time at or prior to our initial business combination, subject to applicable securities laws (including with respect to material nonpublic information), our sponsor, directors, officers, advisor or any of their affiliates may enter into transactions with investors and others to provide them with incentives to acquire public shares, vote their public shares in favor of our initial business combination or not redeem their public shares. However, they are under no obligation to do so.

Such a purchase may include a contractual acknowledgement that such public stockholder, although still the record holder of our shares is no longer the beneficial owner thereof and therefore agrees not to exercise its redemption rights. In the event that our sponsor, directors, officers, advisors or any of their affiliates purchase shares in privately negotiated transactions from public stockholders who have already elected to exercise their redemption rights or submitted a proxy to vote against our initial business combination, such selling public stockholders would be required to revoke their prior elections to redeem their shares and any proxy to vote against our initial business combination. The price per share paid in any such transaction may be different than the amount per share a public stockholder would receive if it elected to redeem its shares in connection with our initial business combination. The purpose of any such transaction could be to (i) vote such shares in favor of the initial business combination and thereby increase the likelihood of obtaining stockholder approval of the initial business combination, (ii) satisfy a closing condition in an agreement with a target that requires us to have a minimum net worth or a certain amount of cash at the closing of our initial business combination, where it appears that such requirement would otherwise not be met or (iii) reduce the number of public warrants outstanding or to vote such warrants on any matters submitted to the warrantholders for approval in connection with our initial business combination. Any such transaction may result in the completion of our initial business combination that may not otherwise have been possible.

In addition, if such purchases are made, the public “float” of our shares of Class A common stock or warrants may be reduced and the number of beneficial holders of our securities may be reduced, which may make it difficult to maintain or obtain the quotation, listing or trading of our securities on a national securities exchange.

Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and the status of debt and equity markets.

The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected, and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases) could adversely affect, the economies and financial markets worldwide, and the business of any potential target business with which we consummate an initial business combination could be materially and adversely affected. Furthermore, we may be unable to complete an initial business combination if concerns relating to COVID-19 continue to restrict travel, limit the ability to have meetings with potential investors or the target company’s personnel, vendors and services providers are unavailable to negotiate and consummate a transaction in a timely manner. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our search for an initial business combination will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of COVID-19 (including variant mutations of the virus) and the actions to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact, among others. If the disruptions posed by COVID-19 or other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases) continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate an initial business combination or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.

In addition, our ability to consummate a transaction may be dependent upon its ability to raise equity and debt financing which may be impacted by COVID-19 and other events (such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters or a significant outbreak of other infectious diseases), including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity in third-party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all.

Our search for a business combination, and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected by negative impacts on the global economy, capital markets or other geopolitical conditions resulting from the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and subsequent sanctions against Russia, Belarus and related individuals and entities.

The United States and global markets are experiencing volatility and disruption following the escalation of geopolitical tensions and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022. In response to such invasion, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (“NATO”) deployed additional military forces to eastern Europe. The United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and other

countries have announced various sanctions and restrictive actions against Russia, Belarus and related individuals and entities, including the removal of certain financial institutions from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) payment system. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the resulting measures that have been taken, and could be taken in the future, by NATO, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and other countries have created global security concerns that could have a lasting impact on regional and global economies. Although the length and impact of the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine is highly unpredictable, the conflict could lead to market disruptions, including significant volatility in commodity prices, credit and capital markets, as well as supply chain interruptions. Additionally, Russian military actions and the resulting sanctions could adversely affect the global economy and financial markets and lead to instability and lack of liquidity in capital markets.

Any of the above mentioned factors, or any other negative impact on the global economy, capital markets or other geopolitical conditions resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions, could adversely affect our search for a business combination and any target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination. The extent and duration of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, resulting sanctions and any related market disruptions are impossible to predict, but could be substantial, particularly if current or new sanctions continue for an extended period of time or if geopolitical tensions result in expanded military operations on a global scale. Any such disruptions may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in this “Risk Factors” section, such as those related to the market for our securities, cross-border transactions or our ability to raise equity or debt financing in connection with any particular business combination. If these disruptions or other matters of global concern continue for an extensive period of time, our ability to consummate a business combination, or the operations of a target business with which we ultimately consummate a business combination, may be materially adversely affected.

In addition, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and Belarus, and the impact of sanctions against Russia, Belarus, and related individuals and entities and the potential for retaliatory acts, could result in increased cyber-attacks against U.S. companies.

Inflation could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

While inflation in the United States and global markets has been relatively low in recent years, during 2021 and 2022, the economy in the United States and global markets encountered a material increase in the level of inflation. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical developments such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict and global supply chain disruptions continue to increase uncertainty in the outlook of near-term and long-term economic activity, including whether inflation will continue and how long, and at what rate. Increases in inflation raise our costs for commodities, labor, materials and services and other costs required to grow and operate our business, and failure to secure these on reasonable terms may adversely impact our financial condition. Additionally, increases in inflation, along with the uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical developments and global supply chain disruptions, have caused, and may in the future cause, global economic uncertainty and uncertainty about the interest rate environment, which may make it more difficult, costly or dilutive for us to secure additional financing. A failure to adequately respond to these risks could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

The requirement that the target business or businesses that we acquire must collectively have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance of the funds in the trust account (excluding any taxes payable) at the time of the execution of a definitive agreement for our initial business combination may limit the type and number of companies with which we may complete such a business combination.

The NYSE American listing rules and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation require that the target business or businesses that we acquire must collectively have a fair market value equal to at least 80% of the balance of the funds in the trust account (excluding any taxes payable) at the time of the execution of a definitive agreement for our initial business combination. This restriction may limit the type and number of companies that we may complete a business combination with. If we are unable to locate a target business or businesses that satisfy this fair market value test, we may be forced to liquidate and you will only be entitled to receive your pro rata portion of the funds in the trust account, which may be less than $10.00 per share.

The requirement that we complete our initial business combination within 18 months after our initial public offering may give potential target businesses leverage over us in negotiating a business combination and may limit the time we have in which to conduct due diligence on potential business combination target, in particular as we approach our dissolution deadline, which could undermine our ability to complete our initial business combination on terms that would produce value for our stockholders.

Any potential target business with which we enter into negotiations concerning a business combination will be aware that we must complete our initial business combination by March 30, 2023 (18 months from the closing of our initial public offering). Consequently, such target business may obtain leverage over us in negotiating a business combination, knowing that if we do not complete our initial business combination with that particular target business, we may be unable to complete our initial business combination with any target business. This risk will increase as we get closer to the end of the timeframe described above. In addition, we may have limited time to conduct due diligence and may enter into our initial business combination on terms that we would have rejected upon a more comprehensive investigation. On March 1, 2023, we filed a Preliminary Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A (the “Preliminary Schedule 14A”) relating to a special meeting of stockholders that is anticipated to be held on March 28, 2023 to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation which would, if implemented, allow us to extend the date by which we have to consummate an initial business combination from March 30, 2023 to September 30, 2023 or such earlier date as determined by our board of directors (such proposal, the “Charter Amendment Proposal”). We cannot guarantee that our stockholders will approve the Charter Amendment Proposal.

We may not be able to complete our initial business combination by March 30, 2023, in which case we would cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up and we would redeem our public shares and liquidate, in which case our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that we must complete our initial business combination by March 30, 2023 (18 months from the closing of our initial public offering). We may not be able to find a suitable target business and complete our initial business combination within such time period. Our ability to complete our initial business combination may be negatively impacted by general market conditions, volatility in the capital and debt markets and the other risks described herein. For example, while the extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on us will depend on future developments, it could limit our ability to complete our initial business combination, including as a result of increased market volatility, decreased market liquidity and third- party financing being unavailable on terms acceptable to us or at all. Additionally, the outbreak of COVID-19 may negatively impact businesses we may seek to acquire.

If we have not completed our initial business combination within such time period or during any extension period, we will: (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up; (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but not more than 10 business days thereafter, redeem 100% of the public shares, at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes (less up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public stockholders’ rights as stockholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any); and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining stockholders and our board of directors, dissolve and liquidate, subject in each case to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. In such case, our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or less than $10.00 per share, on the redemption of their shares, and our warrants will expire worthless. See “If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein. On March 1, 2023, we filed the Preliminary Schedule 14A relating to a special meeting of stockholders that is anticipated to be held on March 28, 2023 to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation which would, if implemented, allow us to extend the date by which we have to consummate an initial business combination from March 30, 2023 to September 30, 2023 or such earlier date as determined by our board of directors. We cannot guarantee that our stockholders will approve the Charter Amendment Proposal.

Because of our limited resources and the significant competition for business combination opportunities, it may be more difficult for us to complete our initial business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on our redemption of their stock, and our warrants will expire worthless.

We expect to encounter intense competition from other entities having a business objective similar to ours, including private investors (which may be individuals or investment partnerships), other blank check companies and other entities, domestic and international, competing for the types of businesses we intend to acquire. Many of these individuals and entities are well-established and have extensive experience in identifying and effecting, directly or indirectly, acquisitions of companies operating in or providing services to various industries. Many of these competitors possess greater technical, human and other resources or more local industry knowledge than we do, and our financial resources will be relatively limited when contrasted with those of many of these competitors. While we believe there will be numerous target businesses we could potentially acquire with the net proceeds of the initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, our ability to compete with respect to the acquisition of certain target businesses that are sizable will be limited by our available financial resources. This inherent competitive limitation gives others an advantage in pursuing the acquisition of certain target businesses. Furthermore, in the event we seek stockholder approval of our initial business combination and we are obligated to pay cash for shares of our Class A common stock, it will potentially reduce the resources available to us for our initial business combination. Any of these obligations may place us at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating a business combination. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless. See “If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein.

As the number of special purpose acquisition companies increases, there may be more competition to find an attractive target for an initial business combination. This could increase the costs associated with completing our initial business combination and may result in our inability to find a suitable target for our initial business combination.

Recently, the number of special purpose acquisition companies that have been formed has increased substantially. Many companies have entered into business combinations with special purpose acquisition companies, and there are still many special purpose acquisition companies seeking targets for their initial business combination, as well as many additional special purpose acquisition companies currently in registration. As a result, at times, fewer attractive targets may be available, and it may require more time, effort and resources to identify a suitable target for an initial business combination.

In addition, because there are more special purpose acquisition companies seeking to enter into an initial business combination with available targets, the competition for available targets with attractive fundamentals or business models may increase, which could cause target companies to demand improved financial terms. Attractive deals could also become scarcer for other reasons, such as economic or industry sector downturns, geopolitical tensions, including the recent invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the resulting sanctions, or increases in the cost of additional capital needed to close business combinations or operate targets post-business combination. This could increase the cost of, delay or otherwise complicate or frustrate our ability to find a suitable target for and/or complete our initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors altogether.

If the net proceeds of the initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants not being held in the trust account are insufficient to allow us to operate at least until March 30, 2023, it could limit the amount available to fund our search for a target business or businesses and complete our initial business combination and we will depend on loans from our sponsor or management team to fund our search, to pay our taxes and to complete our initial business combination.

Of the net proceeds of the initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants, only approximately $1,000,000 was made available to us initially outside the trust account to fund our working capital requirements. We believe that the funds available to us outside of the trust account will be sufficient to allow us to operate at least until March 30, 2023; however, we cannot assure you that our estimate is accurate. Of the funds available to us, we could use a portion of the funds available to us to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We could also use a portion of the funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent or merger agreements designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies or investors on terms more favorable to such target businesses) with respect to a particular proposed business combination, although we do not have any current intention to do so. If we entered into a letter of intent or merger agreement where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business and were subsequently required to forfeit such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise), we might not have sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conduct due diligence with respect to, a target business.

If we are required to seek additional capital, we would need to borrow funds from our sponsor, management team or other third parties to operate or may be forced to liquidate. Neither our sponsor, members of our management team nor any of their affiliates is under any obligation to loan funds to us in such circumstances. Any such loans may be repaid only from funds held outside the trust account or from funds released to us upon completion of our initial business combination. Up to $1,500,000 of such loans may be convertible into private placement warrants of the post-business combination entity at a price of $1.00 per warrant at the option of the lender. Such warrants would be identical to the private placement warrants. Prior to the completion of our initial business combination, we do not expect to seek loans from parties other than our sponsor or an affiliate of our sponsor as we do not believe third parties will be willing to loan such funds and provide a waiver against any and all rights to seek access to funds in our trust account.

If we have not completed our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe because we do not have sufficient funds available to us, we will be forced to cease operations and liquidate the trust account. In such case, our public stockholders may receive only $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, and our warrants will expire worthless. See “If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per-share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share” and other risk factors herein.

You will not be entitled to protections normally afforded to investors of many other blank check companies.

Since the net proceeds of the initial public offering and the sale of the private placement warrants are intended to be used to complete an initial business combination with a target business that has not been selected, we may be deemed to be a “blank check” company under the U.S. securities laws. However, because we will have net tangible assets in excess of $5,000,000 and have filed a Current Report on Form 8-K, including an audited balance sheet demonstrating this fact, we are exempt from rules promulgated by the SEC to protect investors in blank check companies, such as Rule 419. Accordingly, investors will not be afforded the benefits or protections of those rules. Among other things, this means we will have a longer period of time to complete our initial business combination than do companies subject to Rule 419. Moreover, if the initial public offering had been subject to Rule 419, that rule would prohibit the release of any interest earned on funds held in the trust account to us unless and until the funds in the trust account were released to us in connection with our completion of our initial business combination.

Changes in the market for directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial business combination.

Recently, the market for directors and officers liability insurance for special purpose acquisition companies has changed in ways adverse to us and our management team. Fewer insurance companies are offering quotes for directors and officers liability coverage, the premiums charged for such policies have generally increased and the terms of such policies have generally become less favorable. These trends may continue into the future.

The increased cost and decreased availability of directors and officers liability insurance could make it more difficult and more expensive for us to negotiate and complete an initial business combination. In order to obtain directors and officers liability insurance or modify its coverage as a result of becoming a public company, the post-business combination entity might need to incur greater expense and/or accept less favorable terms. Furthermore, any failure to obtain adequate directors and officers liability insurance could have an adverse impact on the post-business combination’s ability to attract and retain qualified officers and directors.

In addition, after completion of any initial business combination, our directors and officers could be subject to potential liability from claims arising from conduct alleged to have occurred prior to such initial business combination. As a result, in order to protect our directors and officers, the post-business combination entity may need to purchase additional insurance with respect to any such claims (“run-off insurance”). The need for run-off insurance would be an added expense for the post-business combination entity and could interfere with or frustrate our ability to consummate an initial business combination on terms favorable to our investors.

If third parties bring claims against us, the proceeds held in the trust account could be reduced and the per share redemption amount received by stockholders may be less than $10.00 per share.

Our placing of funds in the trust account may not protect those funds from third-party claims against us. Although we will seek to have all vendors, service providers (other than our independent registered public accounting firm), prospective target businesses and other entities with which we do business execute agreements with us waiving any right, title, interest or claim of any kind in or to any monies held in the trust account for the benefit of our public stockholders, such parties may not execute such agreements, or even if they execute such agreements they may not be prevented from bringing claims against the trust account, including, but not limited to, fraudulent inducement, breach of fiduciary responsibility or other similar claims, as well as claims challenging the enforceability of the waiver, in each case in order to gain an advantage with respect to a claim against our assets, including the funds held in the trust account. If any third party refuses to execute an agreement waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account, our management will perform an analysis of the alternatives available to it and will only enter into an agreement with a third party that has not executed a waiver if management believes that such third party’s engagement would be significantly more beneficial to us than any alternative. Making such a request of potential target businesses may make our acquisition proposal less attractive to them and, to the extent prospective target businesses refuse to execute such a waiver, it may limit the field of potential target businesses that we might pursue. The underwriters of the initial public offering will not execute agreements with us waiving such claims to the monies held in the trust account.

Examples of possible instances where we may engage a third party that refuses to execute a waiver include the engagement of a third party consultant whose particular expertise or skills are believed by management to be significantly superior to those of other consultants that would agree to execute a waiver or in cases where we are unable to find a service provider willing to execute a waiver. In addition, there is no guarantee that such entities will agree to waive any claims they may have in the future as a result of, or arising out of, any negotiations, contracts or agreements with us and will not seek recourse against the trust account for any reason. Upon redemption of our public shares, if we have not completed our initial business combination within the prescribed timeframe, or upon the exercise of a redemption right in connection with our initial business combination, we will be required to provide for payment of claims of creditors that were not waived that may be brought against us within the 10 years following redemption. Accordingly, the per share redemption amount received by public stockholders could be less than the $10.00 per share initially held in the trust account, due to claims of such creditors.

Our sponsor has agreed that it will be liable to us if and to the extent any claims by a third party (other than our independent registered public accounting firm) for services rendered or products sold to us, or a prospective target business with which we have discussed entering into a transaction agreement, reduce the amount of funds in the trust account to below (i) $10.00 per public share or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay our taxes, except as to any claims by a third party who executed a waiver of any and all rights to seek access to the trust account and except as to any claims under our indemnity of the underwriters of the initial public offering against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Moreover, in the event that an executed waiver is deemed to be unenforceable against a third party, our sponsor will not be responsible to the extent of any liability for such third-party claims. We have not independently verified whether our sponsor, which is a newly formed entity, has sufficient funds to satisfy its indemnity obligations and believe that our sponsor’s only assets are securities of our company and, therefore, our sponsor may not be able to satisfy those obligations. We have not asked our sponsor to reserve for such obligations. As a result, if any such claims were successfully made against the trust account, the funds available for our initial business combination and redemptions could be reduced to less than $10.00 per public share. In such event, we may not be able to complete our initial business combination, and you would receive such lesser amount per public share in connection with any redemption of your public shares. None of our officers or directors will indemnify us for claims by third parties including, without limitation, claims by vendors and prospective target businesses.

Our directors may decide not to enforce the indemnification obligations of our sponsor, resulting in a reduction in the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders.

In the event that the proceeds in the trust account are reduced below the lesser of: (i) $10.00 per public share; or (ii) such lesser amount per public share held in the trust account as of the date of the liquidation of the trust account due to reductions in the value of the trust assets, in each case net of the interest which may be withdrawn to pay our taxes, and our sponsor asserts that it is unable to satisfy its indemnification obligations or that it has no indemnification obligations related to a particular claim, our independent directors would determine whether to take legal action against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations. While we currently expect that our independent directors would take legal action on our behalf against our sponsor to enforce its indemnification obligations to us, it is possible that our independent directors in exercising their business judgment and subject to their fiduciary duties may choose not to do so in certain instances. If our independent directors choose not to enforce these indemnification obligations, the amount of funds in the trust account available for distribution to our public stockholders may be reduced below $10.00 per share.

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, a bankruptcy court may seek to recover such proceeds, and the members of our board of directors may be viewed as having breached their fiduciary duties to our creditors, thereby exposing the members of our board of directors and us to claims of punitive damages.

If, after we distribute the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, any distributions received by stockholders could be viewed under applicable debtor/creditor and/or bankruptcy laws as either a “preferential transfer” or a “fraudulent conveyance.” As a result, a bankruptcy court could seek to recover some or all amounts received by our stockholders. In addition, our board of directors may be viewed as having breached its fiduciary duty to our creditors and/or having acted in bad faith by paying public stockholders from the trust account prior to addressing the claims of creditors, thereby exposing itself and us to claims of punitive damages.

If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the claims of creditors in such proceeding may have priority over the claims of our stockholders and the per share amount that would otherwise be received by our stockholders in connection with our liquidation may be reduced.

If, before distributing the proceeds in the trust account to our public stockholders, we file a bankruptcy petition or an involuntary bankruptcy petition is filed against us that is not dismissed, the proceeds held in the trust account could be subject to applicable bankruptcy law, and may be included in our bankruptcy estate and subject to the claims of third parties with priority over the claims of our stockholders. To the extent any bankruptcy claims deplete the trust account, the per share amount that would otherwise be received by our public stockholders in connection with our liquidation would be reduced.

If we are deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the Investment Company Act, we would be required to institute burdensome compliance requirements and our activities would be severely restricted and, as a result, we may abandon our efforts to consummate an initial business combination and liquidate.

On March 30, 2022, the SEC issued proposed rules relating to certain activities of special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”) (the “SPAC Rule Proposals”), relating to, among other things, circumstances in which SPACs could potentially be subject to the Investment Company Act and the regulations thereunder. The SPAC Rule Proposals would provide a safe harbor for such companies from the definition of “investment company” under Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act, provided that a SPAC satisfies certain criteria, including a limited time period to announce and complete a de-SPAC transaction. Specifically, to comply with the safe harbor, the SPAC Rule Proposals would require a company to file a Current Report on Form 8-K announcing that it has entered into an agreement with a target company for an initial business combination no later than 18 months after the effective date of its registration statement for its initial public offering (the “IPO Registration Statement”). The company would then be required to complete its initial business combination no later than 24 months after the effective date of the IPO Registration Statement.

There is currently uncertainty concerning the applicability of the Investment Company Act to a SPAC. It is possible that a claim could be made that we have been operating as an unregistered investment company. This risk may be increased if we continue to hold the funds in the trust account in short-term U.S. government treasury obligations or in money market funds invested exclusively in such securities, rather than instructing the trustee to liquidate the securities in the trust account and hold the funds in the trust account in cash.

If we are deemed to be an investment company under the Investment Company Act, our activities would be severely restricted. In addition, we would be subject to burdensome compliance requirements. We do not believe that our principal activities will subject us to regulation as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. However, if we are deemed to be an investment company and subject to compliance with and regulation under the Investment Company Act, we would be subject to additional regulatory burdens and expenses for which we have not allotted funds. As a result, unless we are able to modify our activities so that we would not be deemed an investment company, we would expect to abandon our efforts to complete an initial business combination and instead to liquidate. If we are required to liquidate, our stockholders would not be able to realize the benefits of owning stock in a successor operating business, including the potential appreciation in the value of our stock and warrants following such a transaction, and our warrants would expire worthless.

The funds in the trust account have, since our initial public offering, been held only in U.S. government treasury obligations with a maturity of 185 days or less or in money market funds investing solely in U.S. government treasury obligations and meeting certain conditions under Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act. However, to mitigate the risk of us being deemed to be an unregistered investment company (including under the subjective test of Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act) and thus subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act, we may, at any time, instruct the trustee with respect to the trust account to liquidate the U.S. government treasury obligations or money market funds held in the trust account and thereafter to hold all funds in the trust account in cash until the earlier of consummation of an initial business combination or liquidation of the Company. Following such liquidation of the securities held in the trust account, we would likely receive minimal interest, if any, on the funds held in the trust account. However, interest previously earned on the funds held in the trust account still may be released to us to pay our taxes, if any, and certain other expenses as

permitted. As a result, any decision to liquidate the securities held in the trust account and thereafter to hold all funds in the trust account in cash would reduce the dollar amount the public shareholders would receive upon any redemption or liquidation of the Company.

The longer that the funds in the trust account are held in short-term U.S. government treasury obligations or in money market funds invested exclusively in such securities, the greater the risk that we may be considered an unregistered investment company, in which case we may be required to liquidate the Company. Accordingly, we may determine, in our discretion, to liquidate the securities held in the trust account at any time and instead hold all funds in the trust account in cash, which would further reduce the dollar amount the public shareholders would receive upon any redemption or liquidation of the Company.

Changes in laws or regulations, or a failure to comply with any laws and regulations, may adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.

We are subject to laws and regulations enacted by national, regional and local governments. In particular, we will be required to comply with certain SEC and other legal requirements. Compliance with, and monitoring of, applicable laws and regulations may be difficult, time consuming and costly. Those laws and regulations and their interpretation and application may also change from time to time and those changes could have a material adverse effect on our business, investments and results of operations. In addition, a failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations, as interpreted and applied, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination, and results of operations.

On March 30, 2022, the SEC issued the SPAC Rule Proposals that would, among other items, impose additional disclosure requirements in business combination transactions involving SPACs and private operating companies; amend the financial statement requirements applicable to business combination transactions involving such companies; update and expand guidance regarding the general use of projections in SEC filings, as well as when projections are disclosed in connection with proposed business combination transactions; increase the potential liability of certain participants in proposed business combination transactions; and impact the extent to which SPACs could become subject to regulation under the Investment Company Act. These rules, if adopted, whether in the form proposed or in revised form, may materially adversely affect our business, including our ability to negotiate and complete our initial business combination and may increase the costs and time related thereto.

Our stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against us to the extent of distributions received by them upon redemption of their shares.

Under the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”), stockholders may be held liable for claims by third parties against a corporation to the extent of distributions received by them in a dissolution. The pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period may be considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law. If a corporation complies with certain procedures set forth in Section 280 of the DGCL intended to ensure that it makes reasonable provision for all claims against it, including a 60-day notice period during which any third-party claims can be brought against the corporation, a 90-day period during which the corporation may reject any claims brought, and an additional 150-day waiting period before any liquidating distributions are made to stockholders, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. However, it is our intention to redeem our public shares as soon as reasonably possible following the 18^th month from the closing of our initial public offering (or the end of any extension period) in the event we do not complete our initial business combination and, therefore, we do not intend to comply with those procedures.

Because we do not intend to comply with Section 280, Section 281(b) of the DGCL requires us to adopt a plan, based on facts known to us at such time that provides for our payment of all existing and pending claims or claims that may be potentially brought against us within the 10 years following our dissolution. However, because we are a blank check company, rather than an operating company, and our operations will be limited to searching for prospective target businesses to acquire, the only likely claims to arise would be from our vendors (such as lawyers, investment bankers, consultants, etc.) or prospective target businesses. If our plan of distribution complies with Section 281(b) of the DGCL, any liability of stockholders with respect to a liquidating distribution is limited to the lesser of such stockholder’s pro rata share of the claim or the amount distributed to the stockholder, and any liability of the stockholder would likely be barred after the third anniversary of the dissolution. We cannot assure you that we will properly assess all claims that may be potentially brought against us. As such, our stockholders could potentially be liable for any claims to the extent of distributions received by them (but no more) and any liability of our stockholders may extend beyond the third anniversary of such date. Furthermore, if the pro rata portion of our trust account distributed to our public stockholders upon the redemption of our public shares in the event we do not complete our initial business combination within the required time period is not considered a liquidating distribution under Delaware law and such redemption distribution is deemed to be unlawful, then pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, the statute of limitations for claims of creditors could then be six years after the unlawful redemption distribution, instead of three years, as in the case of a liquidating distribution.

We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders until after the consummation of our initial business combination.

In accordance with the NYSE American corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting of stockholders until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on the NYSE American. Under Section 211(b) of the DGCL, we are, however, required to hold an annual meeting of stockholders for the purposes of electing directors in accordance with our bylaws unless such election is made by written consent in lieu of such a meeting. We may not hold an annual meeting of stockholders to elect new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination, and thus we may not be in compliance with Section 211(b) of the DGCL, which requires an annual meeting. Therefore, if our stockholders want us to hold an annual meeting prior to our consummation of our initial business combination, they may attempt to force us to hold one by submitting an application to the Delaware Court of Chancery in accordance with Section 211(c) of the DGCL.

The forward purchase investors have the ability to excuse themselves from their obligation to purchase forward purchase shares for any reason.

Pursuant to the forward purchase agreements, the forward purchase investors may purchase up to an aggregate of 5,000,000 forward purchase shares for total gross proceeds of up to $50,000,000. We have agreed with one of our forward purchase investors that it will have the right to acquire up to $25,000,000 of securities. At our option, the securities offered to the forward purchaser may be equity securities, convertible debt securities or non-convertible debt instruments. The form of securities offered are in our discretion, although the forward purchaser is not obligated to purchase any securities from us. Pursuant to the forward purchase agreements, if, upon notification of our intention to enter into an initial business combination, a forward purchase investor decides not to purchase such forward purchase shares for any reason, such forward purchase investor will be excused from its obligation to purchase such forward purchase shares. This excusal right could give the forward purchase investors significant influence over our decision of whether or not to proceed with an initial business combination with a particular target business. We may not be able to obtain any or enough additional funds to account for such shortfall, which may impact our ability to consummate an initial business combination. Any such shortfall would also reduce the amount of funds that we have available for working capital of the post- business combination company.

In evaluating a prospective target business for our initial business combination, our management may rely on the availability of all of the funds from the sale of the forward purchase shares to be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination. If the sale of some or all of the forward purchase shares fails to close, for any reason, we may lack sufficient funds to consummate our initial business combination.

In connection with our initial public offering, we entered into forward purchase agreements pursuant to which the forward purchase investors have committed to purchase the forward purchase shares for up to $50,000,000 in the aggregate, in a private placement to close immediately prior to the closing of our initial business combination. We have agreed with one of our forward purchase investors that it will have the right to acquire up to $25,000,000 of securities. At our option, the securities offered to the forward purchaser may be equity securities, convertible debt securities or non-convertible debt instruments. The form of securities offered are in our discretion, although the forward purchaser is not obligated to purchase any securities from us. The funds from the sale of the forward purchase shares may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in our initial business combination, expenses in connection with our initial business combination or for working capital in the post transaction company. Notwithstanding the foregoing, each forward purchase investor will have the right to be excused from its purchase obligation in connection with any specific business combination under certain circumstances.

If the sale of some or all of the forward purchase shares fails to close for any reason, including by reason of the forward purchase investors deciding not to purchase their forward purchase shares, we may lack sufficient funds to consummate our initial business combination. The forward purchase investors’ obligations to purchase forward purchase shares will be subject to fulfillment of customary closing conditions. In the event of any such failure to fund by the forward purchase investors, any obligation is so terminated or any such closing condition is not satisfied and not waived by the forward purchase investors, we may lack sufficient funds to consummate our initial business combination.

Our forward purchase investors have entered into contingent forward purchase agreements with us that provide for the purchase of an aggregate of up to 5,000,000 forward purchase shares, at a price of $10.00 per forward purchase share, in a private placement to close immediately prior to the closing of our initial business combination. We have agreed with one of our forward purchase investors that it will have the right to acquire up to $25,000,000 of securities. At our option, the securities offered to the forward purchaser may be equity securities, convertible debt securities or non-convertible debt instruments. The form of securities offered are in our discretion, although the forward purchaser is not obligated to purchase any securities from us. Each forward purchase investor will have the right to be excused from its purchase obligation in connection with any specific business combination if, within five days following written notice delivered by us of our intention to enter into a specific business combination, the forward purchase investor notifies us that it has decided not to proceed with the purchase for any reason. If either forward purchase investor exercises such right, or otherwise fails to purchase the forward purchase shares allocated to it, such forward purchase investor will forfeit a pro rata portion of its interest in our sponsor or its right to purchase founder shares from our sponsor, as applicable. Any funds from the sale of the forward purchase shares may be used as part of the consideration to the sellers in the initial business combination, for expenses in connection with the initial business combination or for the combined company’s working capital needs.

Pursuant to the forward purchase agreements, we have agreed that we will use our commercially reasonable efforts (i) to file within 30 days after the closing of the initial business combination a registration statement with the SEC registering the resale of the forward purchase shares and the private units (and underlying securities) held by the forward purchase investors, (ii) to cause such registration statement to be declared effective as soon as practicable thereafter and (iii) to maintain the effectiveness of such registration statement until the earliest of (a) such date as all of the securities covered thereby have been sold or otherwise transferred and (b) the date all of the securities covered thereby can be sold publicly without restriction or limitation under Rule 144 under the Securities Act, and without the requirement to be in compliance with Rule 144(c)(1) under the Securities Act. We will bear the costs and expenses of filing such registration statement.

The grant of registration rights to our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees and the anchor investors may make it more difficult to complete our initial business combination, and the future exercise of such rights may adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock.

Pursuant to a registration rights agreement entered into in connection with the initial public offering, at or after the time of our initial business combination, our initial stockholders and their permitted transferees and the anchor investors can demand that we register the resale of their founder shares after those shares convert to shares of our Class A common stock. In addition, our sponsor and its permitted transferees can demand that we register the resale of the private placement warrants and the shares of Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of the private placement warrants, and holders of warrants that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans may demand that we register the resale of such warrants or the Class A common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants. We will bear the cost of registering these securities. The registration and availability of such a significant number of securities for trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, the existence of the registration rights may make our initial business combination more costly or difficult to complete. This is because the stockholders of the target business may increase the equity stake they seek in the combined entity or ask for more cash consideration to offset the negative impact on the market price of our Class A common stock that is expected when the common stock owned by our initial stockholders or their permitted transferees, the private placement warrants owned by our sponsor or their permitted transferees, warrants issued in connection with working capital loans or Class A common stock issuable upon conversion of the founder shares held by the anchor investors are registered for resale.

Because we are neither limited to evaluating target businesses in a particular industry nor have we selected any specific target businesses with which to pursue our initial business combination, you will be unable to ascertain the merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations.

We may seek to complete a business combination with an operating company in any industry or sector, but we will not, under our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, be permitted to effectuate our initial business combination solely with another blank check company or similar company with nominal operations. Because we have not yet selected or approached any specific target business with respect to a business combination, there is no basis to evaluate the possible merits or risks of any particular target business’s operations, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity, financial condition or prospects. To the extent we complete our initial business combination, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the business operations with which we combine. For example, if we combine with a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by the risks inherent in the business and operations of a financially unstable or a development stage entity. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we cannot assure you that we will properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors or that we will have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business. We also cannot assure you that an investment in our securities will not ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors than a direct investment, if such opportunity were available, in a target business. Accordingly, any stockholders or warrant holders who choose to remain a stockholder or warrant holder following our initial business combination could suffer a reduction in the value of their securities. Such stockholders or warrant holders are unlikely to have a remedy for such reduction in value.

We may seek acquisition opportunities in industries outside of the software and technology-enabled services industry (which industries may or may not be outside of our management’s area of expertise).

Although we intend to focus on identifying business combination targets in the software and technology-enabled services industry, we will consider a business combination outside of the software and technology-enabled services industry (which industries may be outside our management’s area of expertise) if a business combination target is presented to us and we determine that such target offers an attractive acquisition opportunity for our company or we are unable to identify a suitable candidate in the software and technology- enabled services industry. Although our management will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in any particular business combination target, we may not adequately ascertain or assess all of the risks. An investment in our securities may ultimately prove to be less favorable to investors than a direct investment, if an opportunity were available, in a business combination target.

In the event we elect to pursue an acquisition outside of the software and technology-enabled services industry, our management’s expertise may not be directly applicable to its evaluation or operation.

Because we intend to seek a business combination with a target business in the software and technology- enabled services industry, we expect our future operations to be subject to risks associated with this industry.

Business combinations with businesses in the software and technology-enabled services industry entail special considerations and risks. If we are successful in completing a business combination with such a target business, we may be subject to, and possibly adversely affected by, the following risks:

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if we do not develop successful new products or improve existing ones, our business will suffer;

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we may invest in new lines of business that could fail to attract or retain users or generate revenue;

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we will face significant competition and if we are not able to maintain or improve our market share, our business could suffer;

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the loss of one or more members of our management team, or our failure to attract and retain other highly qualified personnel in the future, could seriously harm our business;

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if our security is compromised or if our platform is subjected to attacks that frustrate or thwart our users’ ability to access our products and services, our users, advertisers, and partners may cut back on or stop using our products and services altogether, which could seriously harm our business;

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malware, viruses, hacking and phishing attacks, spamming, and improper or illegal use of our products could seriously harm our business and reputation;

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if we are unable to successfully grow our user base and further monetize our products, our business will suffer;

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if we are unable to protect our intellectual property, the value of our brand and other intangible assets may be diminished, and our business may be seriously harmed;

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we may be subject to regulatory investigations and proceedings in the future, which could cause us to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices in a way that could seriously harm our business;

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components used in our products may fail as a result of a manufacturing, design, or other defect over which we have no control, and render our devices inoperable;

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an inability to manage rapid change, increasing consumer expectations and growth;

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an inability to build strong brand identity and improve subscriber or customer satisfaction and loyalty;

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an inability to deal with our subscribers’ or customers’ privacy concerns;

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an inability to license or enforce intellectual property rights on which our business may depend;

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an inability by us, or a refusal by third parties, to license content to us upon acceptable terms;

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potential liability for negligence, copyright, or trademark infringement or other claims based on the nature and content of materials that we may distribute;

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competition for the leisure and entertainment time and discretionary spending of subscribers or customers, which may intensify in part due to advances in technology and changes in consumer expectations and behavior; and

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disruption or failure of our networks, systems or technology as a result of computer viruses, “cyber- attacks,” misappropriation of data or other malfeasance, as well as outages, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, accidental releases of information or similar events.

Any of the foregoing could have an adverse impact on our operations following a business combination. However, our efforts in identifying prospective target businesses will not be limited to businesses in the software and technology-enabled services industry. Accordingly, if we acquire a target business in another industry, these risks we will be subject to risks attendant with the specific industry in which we operate or target business which we acquire, which may or may not be different than those risks listed above.

Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines that we believe are important in evaluating prospective target businesses, we may enter into our initial business combination with a target that does not meet such criteria and guidelines, and as a result, the target business with which we enter into our initial business combination may not have attributes entirely consistent with our general criteria and guidelines.

Although we have identified general criteria and guidelines for evaluating prospective target businesses, it is possible that a target business with which we enter into our initial business combination will not have all of these positive attributes. If we complete our initial business combination with a target that does not meet some or all of these criteria and guidelines, such combination may not be as successful as a combination with a business that does meet all of our general criteria and guidelines. In addition, if we announce a prospective business combination with a target that does not meet our general criteria and guidelines, a greater number of stockholders may exercise their redemption rights, which may make it difficult for us to meet any closing condition with a target business that requires us to have a minimum

net worth or a certain amount of cash. In addition, if stockholder approval of the transaction is required by applicable law or stock exchange rules, or we decide to obtain stockholder approval for business or other reasons, it may be more difficult for us to attain stockholder approval of our initial business combination if the target business does not meet our general criteria and guidelines. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

We may seek acquisition opportunities with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of revenue or earnings, which could subject us to volatile revenues or earnings, intense competition and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel.

To the extent we complete our initial business combination with an early stage company, a financially unstable business or an entity lacking an established record of sales or earnings, we may be affected by numerous risks inherent in the operations of the business with which we combine. These risks include investing in a business without a proven business model and with limited historical financial data, volatile revenues or earnings, intense competition and difficulties in obtaining and retaining key personnel. Although our officers and directors will endeavor to evaluate the risks inherent in a particular target business, we may not be able to properly ascertain or assess all of the significant risk factors and we may not have adequate time to complete due diligence. Furthermore, some of these risks may be outside of our control and leave us with no ability to control or reduce the chances that those risks will adversely impact a target business.

We are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm or from an independent accounting firm, and consequently, you may have no assurance from an independent source that the price we are paying for the business is fair to our company from a financial point of view.

Unless we complete our initial business combination with an affiliated entity, we are not required to obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm that is a member of FINRA or from an independent accounting firm that the price we are paying is fair to our company from a financial point of view. If no opinion is obtained, our stockholders will be relying on the judgment of our board of directors, who will determine fair market value based on standards generally accepted by the financial community. Such standards used will be disclosed in our tender offer documents or proxy solicitation materials, as applicable, related to our initial business combination.

We may issue additional shares of Class A common stock or preferred stock to complete our initial business combination or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon the conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions described herein. Any such issuances would dilute the interest of our stockholders and likely present other risks.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation will authorize the issuance of up to 200,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 20,000,000 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and 1,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share. As of March 24, 2023, there are 34,387,500 shares of our common stock outstanding, consisting of 30,490,000 shares of Class A common stock and 3,897,500 shares of Class B common stock. Shares of Class B common stock are automatically convertible into shares of our Class A common stock at the time of our initial business combination, initially at a one-for-one ratio but subject to adjustment.

We may issue a substantial number of additional shares of Class A common stock and may issue shares of preferred stock, in order to complete our initial business combination (including pursuant to a specified future issuance) or under an employee incentive plan after completion of our initial business combination. We may also issue shares of Class A common stock upon conversion of the Class B common stock at a ratio greater than one-to-one at the time of our initial business combination as a result of the anti-dilution provisions described herein. However, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides, among other things, that prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional shares of capital stock that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote as a class with our public shares (a) on any initial business combination or (b) to approve an amendment to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation to (1) extend the time we have to consummate a business combination beyond March 30, 2023 or (2) amend the foregoing provisions. The issuance of additional shares of common or preferred stock:

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may significantly dilute the equity interest of investors in the initial public offering, which dilution would increase if the anti-dilution provisions in the founder shares resulted in the issuance of shares of Class A common stock on a greater than one-to-one basis upon conversion of the founder shares;

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may subordinate the rights of holders of common stock if preferred stock is issued with rights senior to those afforded our common stock;

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could cause a change of control if a substantial number of common stock is issued, which may affect, among other things, our ability to use our net operating loss carry forwards, if any, and could result in the resignation or removal of our present officers and directors;

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may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change of control of us by diluting the stock ownership or voting rights of a person seeking to obtain control of us;

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may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our units, Class A common stock and/or warrants; and

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may not result in adjustment to the exercise price of our warrants.

Resources could be wasted in researching acquisitions that are not completed, which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less than such amount in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

We anticipate that the investigation of each specific target business and the negotiation, drafting and execution of relevant agreements, disclosure documents and other instruments will require substantial management time and attention and substantial costs for accountants, attorneys and others. If we decide not to complete a specific initial business combination, the costs incurred up to that point for the proposed transaction likely would not be recoverable. Furthermore, if we reach an agreement relating to a specific target business, we may fail to complete our initial business combination for any number of reasons including those beyond our control. Any such event will result in a loss to us of the related costs incurred which could materially adversely affect subsequent attempts to locate and acquire or merge with another business. If we are unable to complete our initial business combination, our public stockholders may receive only approximately $10.00 per share, or less in certain circumstances, on the liquidation of our trust account and our warrants will expire worthless.

We may engage one or more of our underwriters of the initial public offering or one of their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us, which may include acting as financial advisor in connection with an initial business combination or as placement agent in connection with a related financing transaction. Our underwriters are entitled to receive deferred commissions that will released from the trust only on a completion of an initial business combination. These financial incentives may cause them to have potential conflicts of interest in rendering any such additional services to us, including, for example, in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.

We may engage one or more of our underwriters or one of their respective affiliates to provide additional services to us, including, for example, identifying potential targets, providing financial advisory services, acting as a placement agent in a private offering or arranging debt financing. We may pay such underwriter or its affiliate fair and reasonable fees or other compensation that would be determined at that time in an arm’s length negotiation. The underwriters are also entitled to receive deferred commissions that are conditioned on the completion of an initial business combination. The underwriters’ or their respective affiliates’ financial interests tied to the consummation of a business combination transaction may give rise to potential conflicts of interest in providing any such additional services to us, including potential conflicts of interest in connection with the sourcing and consummation of an initial business combination.

We may engage in a business combination with one or more target businesses that have relationships with entities that may be affiliated with our sponsor, officers or directors which may raise potential conflicts of interest.

In light of the invol

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SEC Form 10-K filed by Berenson Acquisition Corp. I