SPACs just had a record-setting monster month

The SPAC attack won’t let up.

In recent weeks, SPACs have made up a massive chunk of IPO filings and deals. So it should come as no surprise that, according to data from Refinitiv out Monday, SPAC deals hit an all-time monthly high in February.

According to the Refinitiv Deals Intelligence report, “50 acquisitions by special purpose acquisition companies were announced globally during February 2021, the highest monthly tally of all time.” Those deals are also notching record valuations: Per the report, the “combined value of these deals was $108.6 billion, also an all-time record.”

Just take a look at Refinitiv’s chart: SPACs are going to the moon 🚀🚀🚀.

And the trend doesn’t seem to be showing signs of slowing down. SPACs could generate over $700 billion in “acquisition activity” in the next two years, Goldman Sachs strategists wrote Monday, noting that if “the current pace of issuance persists, 2021 will surpass the 2020 full-year total before the end of March.”

But amid that blistering pace, concerns fester over SPACs’ disclosure requirements (or, perhaps, lack thereof), share dilution, and target companies going public that may be years away from posting revenues. Not to mention some worry that the sheer volume of SPAC deals and cash flooding into the speculative space is looking bubbly.

So I, like many others, am wondering: Can SPACs really keep up this momentum, or are they poised to cool off?

For one, Mark Yusko, CEO and CIO of Morgan Creek Capital Management, is a staunch believer in the SPAC boom (his firm also recently launched a SPAC ETF). He tells me, “I don’t think we’re toppy, I don’t think it’s a bubble.”

That’s not to say there aren’t “individual companies … that reflect levels of ebullience and overvaluation,” Yusko says, but his rationale is that, with the overall markets trading at expensive levels, “if I’m going to pay a high price, I better hope that the future prospects are better. And I believe you have a higher likelihood of getting that combination in SPACs right now because the SPAC merger is so attractive to high growth, innovative companies where more wealth, and more upside, will come in the future.”

Others, like Matthew Kennedy, senior IPO market strategist at Renaissance Capital, aren’t so convinced.

“The number of new listings with multibillion dollar market caps and no revenue indicates to me that there is a bubble forming in the SPAC market,” he suggests, though he thinks it’s more likely the bubble would “deflate” rather than pop.

If post-merger SPAC returns were to really deteriorate (early studies suggest they often do, though it’s likely too soon to tell for 2020), and the mood in markets shifted towards a flight to safety, that could signal “when the party finally stops,” he argues.

But Kennedy isn’t ready to call the peak yet: “I thought that at the end of last year we were seeing a nearly unsustainable level of deal flow, but then that has already been surpassed with the monthly activity that we’re seeing now.”

We’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime, have fun decoding this Elon Musk SPAC tweet.

SEED 🌱 FUNDING ALERT:Airbyte, a San Francisco-based open-source data integration platform, raised $5.2 million in seed funding, Fortune has learned. Accel led the round, and was joined by investors including YCombinator, 8VC, and individual investors.

HOUSEKEEPING: Lucinda will be back on Wednesday. Until next time!

Anne Sraders
Twitter: @AnneSraders
Email: anne.sraders@fortune.com

VENTURE DEALS

-eGenesis, a Cambridge, Mass.-based gene-editing company developing human-compatible organs, raised $125 million in Series C funding from investors including Farallon Capital Management, Polaris Partners, HBM Healthcare Investments, Invus, Samsara BioCapital, LifeSci Venture Partners, Irving Investors, Catalio Capital Management, SymBiosis, Altium Capital, Monashee Investment Management, Osage University Partners, Leaps by Bayer, Fresenius Medical Care Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, Wellington Partners, Khosla Ventures, and Alta Partners.

-Artiva, a San Diego-based biopharma developing cell therapies using primary allogeneic natural killer cells to treat tumors, raised $120 million Series B funding. Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners led the round, and was joined by investors including Acuta Capital Partners, Cormorant Asset Management, EcoR1 Capital, Franklin Templeton, Janus Henderson Investors, Logos Capital, RTW Investments, LP, Surveyor Capital, Wellington Management Company, 5AM Ventures, RA Capital Management, and venBio Partners. 

-Fluid Truck, a Denver-based truck sharing platform, raised $63 million in Series A funding. Bison Capital led the round, and was joined by investors including Ingka Investments, Sumitomo Corporation of Americas and Fluid Vehicle Owners.

-Flink, a Berlin-based grocery delivery startup, raised $52 million in seed funding led by Target Global, Northzone, Cherry Ventures, and TriplePoint Capital. Read more. 

-Harvest Hosts, a Vail, Colo.-based tourism membership company that provides overnight stays for RV owners, raised $37 million from Stripes.

-Deposco, a Alpharetta, Ga.-based fulfillment software provider catering to small and midsize businesses, raised $35 million in funding. NewSpring led the round, and was joined by investors including Aspen Capital Group.

-Nuvolo, a Paramus, N.J.-based workplace management software company, raised $31 million in Series C funding. Insight Partners led the round. 

-Fuzzy, a San Francisco-based pet education and health membership platform, raised $18 million in Series B funding. Greycroft led the round, and was joined by investors including Crosscut Ventures, Matrix Partners, Gaingels and angel investors. 

-EG 427, a France-based biotech focused on gene therapy, raised €12 million ($14.4 million) in Series A funding. David Lamond led the round. 

-Therma, a San Francisco-based platform that manages and monitors temperature and eliminates energy waste, raised $10.2 million in a funding round led by Asia Alpha, Govtech Fund, Active Impact Investments, Collaborative Fund, and Fulmer & Company.

-Around, a Redwood City, Calif.-based video call platform, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Wing Venture Capital led the round, and was joined by investors including Forerunner Ventures, Slack Fund, Initialized Capital, Credo, Floodgate and investor Naval Ravikant.

-Looped, a New York-based virtual venue streaming platform, raised $7.7 million in seed funding. Will Ventures led the round, and was joined by investors including Rocketship VC, Alpaca VC, Forefront Venture Partners, HOF Capital, Toy Ventures, Intuition Capital, Predictive VC, Ketch Ventures, and over 90 angel investors.

-Cipher Skin, a Denver-based company making wearable technology to track and capture motion data, raised $5 million in Series A funding. Boyett Group led the round, and was joined by investors including Draper Capital, Tribe Capital and TKC Capital. 

-Humaans, a London-based employee onboarding and management software provider, raised $5 million in seed funding. Frontline Ventures led the round, and was joined by investors including Y Combinator, Moonfire, and individual investors.

-Ox, a Bentonville, Ark.-based ecommerce fulfillment platform to optimize supply chains, raised $3.5 million in seed funding. MaC Venture Capital and Cortado Ventures led the round, and were joined by investors including Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Vuzix, Florida Funders, KCRise Fund and Willow Growth Partners. 

-Fillogic, a New York-based retail logistics service provider, raised $2.5 million in seed funding. James McCann, chairman and CEO of Food Retail Ventures, led the round, and was joined by investors including Jamestown LP, GroundBreak Ventures, Revelry Ventures Partners, XRC Labs, Green Egg Ventures, and angel investors including Sandy Sigal. 

-Oats Overnight, a Tempe, Az.-based oats formula company, raised $2 million in seed funding from investors including FabFitFun’s CTO Danilo Stern-Sapad and Spacestation Investments.

-Moov, a San Francisco-based marketplace for used semiconductor manufacturing equipment, raised $2 million in extended seed funding from NFX, Mark Cuban, Nat Turner, and Zach Weinberg of Operator Partners.

PRIVATE EQUITY

-BC Partners is considering selling Pharmathen, a Holland-based generic pharmaceutical company, which reportedly could be valued at up to €1.5 billion ($1.8 billion), per Bloomberg. Read more.

-Francisco Partners acquired CDK Global International, a U.K.-based automotive retail software provider, that has been rebranded as Keyloop, for $1.5 billion.  

-Stir Foods, owned by Wind Point Partners, acquired Lancaster Fine Foods, a Lancaster, Pa.-based condiments and sauces contract manufacturer. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. 

-Tailwind Capital acquired International Sports Sciences Association, a Phoenix, Az.-based personal training certification platform. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. 

-Blue Wolf Capital Partners acquired Colson Group, an Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.-based manufacturer of caster and wheel products. Financial terms weren't disclosed. 

-Revelstoke Capital Partners made an investment in Vet’s Best Friend, a Waltham, Mass.-based veterinary clinic and hospital operator. Financial terms weren't disclosed. 

-GHK Capital Partners recapitalized Brown & Settle, a Bristow, Va.-based site development contractor, giving the company’s recapitalization a valuation that represents an over 10x gross return on investment for GHK and investors.

-e2p invested in Ya YA Foods, a Canada-based co-packing and contract manufacturing business, alongside the Abbas Al-Ali family. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

-U.S. Orthopaedic Partners, owned by FFL Partners, acquired Jackson Anesthesia Pain Center and Oxford Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, Mississippi-based orthopedic practices. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

-Duraco Specialty Tapes, owned by OpenGate Capital, acquired Filmquest Group, a Bolingbrook, Ill.-based provider of polyester and specialty films. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. 

BANKRUPTCIES

-MobiTV, an Emeryville, Calif.-based streaming TV platform, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Read more.

EXITS

-Columbus McKinnon (Nasdaq: CMCO) agreed to acquire Dorner, a Hartland, Wis.-based producer of sanitary conveyors used by industries including automation, packaging, and food, from EQT Private Equity for $485 million in enterprise value. 

OTHER

 -Agilent Technologies (NYSE: A) agreed to acquire Resolution Bioscience, a Kirkland, Wash.-based developer of next-generation sequencing-based cancer diagnostics, for $550 million in cash and up to $145 million tied to performance. 

-Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) acquired Eaton Vance, a Boston-based asset manager, in a stock and cash deal at $28.25 per share.

-Numan acquired Vi-Health, a Sweden-based health tech company. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. 

-GTreasury acquired Coprocess, a Switzerland-based intercompany netting software provider for corporate treasurers. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. 

IPO

-Coupang, a South Korea-based ecommerce company, plans to raise $3.4 billion. The company had $12 billion in revenues and $475 million in net losses for 2020. It plans to list on the NYSE as “CPNG”. Read more. 

-Compass, a New York-based real estate brokerage, filed to raise $500 million as a placeholder. The company had $3.7 billion in revenues and $270 million in net losses in 2020. The company is backed by investors including SoftBank Group and Dragoneer Investment Group. It plans to list on the NYSE as “COMP”. Read more. 

-Intermedia Cloud Communications, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based business communication platform, filed to raise $100 million. The company posted $252 million in revenues and $21.7 million in net losses for 2020. It plans to list on the Nasdaq as “INTM”. Read more. 

-SEMrush Holdings, a Boston-based digital marketing and SEO platform, filed to raise $100 million. The company had $125 million in revenues and $7 million in net losses in 2020. It plans to list on the NYSE as “SEMR”.Read more. 

-Instil Bio, a Dallas, Texas-based cell therapy biotech focused on treating cancer, filed to raise $100 million. The company had $38 million in net losses on $138,000 in revenues in 2020. Read more. 

-Finch Therapeutics, a Somerville, Mass.-based microbiome therapeutics developer, filed to raise $100 million. The company had $8 million in revenue and $39 million in net loss in 2020. Read more. 

-Achilles Therapeutics, a U.K.-based biotech working to develop cell therapies to treat tumors, filed to raise $100 million. The company has yet to post revenues. Read more.

-Connect Biopharma, a China-based clinical stage immunotherapies developer focusing on inflammatory diseases, filed to raise $100 million. The company has yet to post revenue. Read more. 

SPAC

-QOMPLX, a Tysons, Va.-based risk analytics firm, agreed to go public via a merger with Tailwind Acquisition Corp, a SPAC by Casper CEO Philip Krim, giving the business an equity value of $1.4 billion. Read more. 

-Corner Growth Acquisition 3, the third SPAC by Corner Ventures, filed to raise $450 million. Read more.

-Northern Star Investment Corp. III and Northern Star Investment Corp. IV, two SPACs from former Cosmopolitan editor-in-chief Joanna Coles and Ironbound Partners and co-owner of the New York Islanders’ Jonathan Ledecky, both raised $350 million in an IPO. Readmore.

-Cain International, a London-based investment firm, is considering raising $250 million for its first SPAC, Bloomberg reported citing sources. Read more. 

-Target Global Acquisition I, a SPAC from Target Global, filed to raise $250 million. Read more. 

-Magnum Opus Acquisition, a SPAC by L2 Capital focused on tech, media, and consumer businesses, filed to raise $200 million. Read more. 

-Corner Growth Acquisition 2, the second SPAC from Corner Ventures, filed to raise $175 million. Read more.  

-CENAQ Energy Corp, a SPAC by oil and gas executives focusing on a North American energy company, filed to raise $150 million. Read more.

F+FS

-Tribecca Venture Partners, a New York-based venture firm, is raising $150 million for its third fund, according to a filing with the SEC. 

PEOPLE

-Gemspring Capital, a Westport, Conn.-based private equity firm, promoted Alex Shakibnia to managing director.