We expect to focus on a target in an industry where we believe the expertise of our management team and advisors will provide us with a competitive advantage. Our expertise lends itself well to pursuing companies operating in the FinTech, enterprise, deep tech and health-tech sectors. We also intend to look for businesses that create, produce, own, distribute and/or market content, products and services or facilitate the sharing economy. We believe that growth in these sectors has been driven by new technologies, the expansion of emerging markets and new consumption habits led by “Millennials” (ages 25 to 40) and “Gen Z” (ages 18-24) who tend to place value on experiences, well-being and preventative care, and transparency in the production of the goods and services they consume. Some may also reflect trends accelerated by the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

We are among the few blank check companies led by women in the C-Suite as well as by a board of directors — all women — and strategic advisors, who are all women.

Isabelle Freidheim has served as our CEO since August 2021 and as chairman of the Board of Directors since November 2021. Ms. Freidheim is the founder and chairman of Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: ATHN), one of the first all women SPACs. She is also the founder and chairman of Athena Consumer Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: ACAQ). She is a venture capitalist and entrepreneur; she was a co-founder of Magnifi, a FinTech company. She was a co-founder and managing partner of Castle VC (formerly Starwood VC), a venture investment firm, and a venture partner at MissionOG, a venture capital firm. Ms. Freidheim started her career in investment banking at Lehman Brothers and then joined one of Invesco’s private equity funds to invest in European assets. She holds a B.A. in Economics from Columbia University and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.

Anna Apostolova has served as our Chief Financial Officer since October 2021. Anna Apostolova brings over 13 years of investment banking and private equity experience. Since 2020, Ms. Apostolova is a private equity investor at 7RIDGE, sourcing and executing investments in the financial technology space, with a particular focus on early and late-stage growth companies within capital markets, market infrastructure, investment management and associated technologies.

Kirthiga Reddy has served as our President since August 2021 and as a Director since November 2021. Kirthiga Reddy brings over twenty years of experience leading technology-driven transformations. From December 2018 – October 2021, Ms. Reddy has served as the Investment Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, a private equity firm headquartered in London (SBIA), and served on the Investment Committee for the SoftBank Vision Fund Emerge program, a global accelerator for companies led by underrepresented founders.

(Note: Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. II priced its SPAC IPO on Dec. 9, 2021, in sync with the terms in its prospectus: 25 million units at $10 each to raise $250 million.)