Exclusive: Phyllis Newhouse And Isabelle Freidheim Are Busting Up The SPAC Boys’ Club By Bringing Athena To Market

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There are 528 active SPACs, but only 17 of those—or 3.2%—has a female chair or CEO. Phyllis Newhouse and Isabelle Freidheim spoke to Forbes exclusively about their plans to change these statistics.

Venture capitalist Isabelle Freidheim and cybersecurity founder Phyllis Newhouse intend to leverage their connections from the Women's Presidents Organization to find an acquisition target for their SPAC, Athena.uring Phyllis Newhouse’s 22-year career in the military, the cybersecurity expert took a two-week class in networking at the U.S. Army Senior Leadership Academy.

In my mind, from day one, I had to own this, because I know with the ownership comes a deep responsibility. Others are watching.And so, Freidheim and Newhouse founded Athena Technology Acquisition Corp, a $250 million blank-check company whose IPO on the New York Stock Exchange closes on Friday. While Athena is joining a fray of 528 active SPACs, only 17 of those—or 3.2%—has a female chair or CEO, according to SPAC Track.

“I think about the impact and responsibility that you have to be successful at this. You could be the first Black woman to lead a SPAC and it could flop, and it would be a disaster, or you could be responsible and own this,” Newhouse says, referring to herself. “So in my mind, from day one, I had to own this, because I know with the ownership comes a deep responsibility. Others are watching.”

They think they can steer Athena away from a post-IPO dip by focusing on the sectors where there is the most opportunity—which is where their interest in cybersecurity comes in. “We've had a more than 6,000% increase in cyber attacks and then some very complicated vulnerabilities globally” during the pandemic, which has fueled cyber companies’ growth, Newhouse notes.

 

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