Valo Health to go public via $2.8 bln SPAC deal (updated)

Khosla Ventures Acquisition Co

09/06/2021 13:38

(Adds details on the deal, background)
    June 9 (Reuters) - Boston-based Valo Health LLC said on
Wednesday it would go public through a merger with a blank-check
firm backed by prominent venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, in a
deal valuing the combined company at about $2.8 billion. 
    Founded in 2019, Valo Health is a biotech company that uses
data analysis and artificial intelligence to help in drug
discovery and development. Its founder, venture capital firm
Flagship Pioneering, also has stakes in several other biotech
companies, including Moderna Inc  MRNA.O .  
    Valo Health's platform Opal has a pipeline of candidates
across cardiovascular disease, oncology, and neurodegeneration. 
    Its deal with Khosla Ventures Acquisition Co  KVSA.O , a
special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), is expected to
deliver proceeds of $168.5 million from investors including
Khosla Ventures, NG MGG Strategic and Caz Investments. 
    SPACs are shell companies that raise money through an IPO to
take a private company public. They serve as an alternative for
companies looking to enter public markets as SPACs allow them to
sidestep a traditional IPO and the hassles attached to it.
    Khosla Ventures Acquisition went public in a $300 million
initial public offering (IPO) in March. 
    The SPAC is backed by Khosla Ventures, a venture capital
firm founded in 2004 by Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod
Khosla.
    Khosla Ventures has invested in numerous high-profile
companies such as DoorDash Inc  DASH.N , Opendoor Technologies
Inc  OPEN.O  and Affirm Holdings Inc  AFRM.O , all of which went
public last year.
    
    

 (Reporting by Dania Nadeem in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya
Soni)
 ((Dania.Nadeem@thomsonreuters.com;))