Owlet Baby Care, which offers a "connected nursery ecosystem," has announced its merger with Sandbridge Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company.
The deal will bring $325 million to the combined company, which will primarily fuel an expansion into the growing telehealth industry.
"Owlet's really sitting at the intersection of two massive trends: the consumerization of healthcare technology and the digitization of professional services," Kurt Workman, CEO of Owlet, told Cheddar.
Owlet's anchor product is the Smart Sock, which collects data such as heart rate, oxygen, skin temperature, and sleep quality from infants while they're sleeping. Parents can then see that information each morning in the form of sleep reports.
The growth potential of innovating in infant-care and health management is what attracted Sandbridge to the company.
"When we look at brands for Sandbridge, we always look at disruption," said Ken Suslow, chairman and CEO of Sandbridge Acquisition Corporation.
"In this case, it was really obvious that when we looked at Owlet that this was a high-growth brand that was disrupting the nursery, an area that's had no disruption for decades."
Suslow noted that the core business has also been growing at 50 percent a year.
The company's long-term goal is to employ products such as its BabySat, an infant pulse oximeter, for babies with health conditions, that has not yet received FDA approval, and an over-the-counter version of the Smart Sock in telehealth screenings.
Suslow added that the capital will help hire new engineering talent and pay for marketing.
Orangetheory Fitness is redefining the future of workouts with smarter tech, strength-based programming, and community-driven studios built for what’s next.
Spain's government has fined Airbnb 64 million euros or $75 million for advertising unlicensed tourist rentals. The consumer rights ministry announced the fine on Monday. The ministry stated that many listings lacked proper license numbers or included incorrect information. The move is part of Spain's ongoing efforts to regulate short-term rental companies amid a housing affordability crisis especially in popular urban areas. The ministry ordered Airbnb in May to remove around 65,000 listings for similar violations. The government's consumer rights minister emphasized the impact on families struggling with housing. Airbnb said it plans to challenge the fine in court.
Roomba maker iRobot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but says that it doesn’t expect any disruptions to devices as the more than 30-year-old company is taken private under a restructuring process. iRobot said that it is being acquired by Picea through a court-supervised process. Picea is the company's primary contract manufacturer. The Bedford, Massachusetts-based anticipates completing the prepackaged chapter 11 process by February.
Serbia’s prosecutor for organized crime has charged a government minister and three others with abuse of position and falsifying of documents related to a luxury real estate project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The charges came on Monday. The investigation centers on a controversy over a a bombed-out military complex in central Belgrade that was a protected cultural heritage zone but that is facing redevelopment as a luxury compound by a company linked to Kushner. The $500 million proposal to build a high-rise hotel, offices and shops at the site has met fierce opposition from experts at home and abroad. Selakovic and others allegedly illegally lifted the protection status for the site by falsifying documentation.
