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Evolv CEO on SPAC deal: 'there’s never been a better time to come to market'

U.S. crowd-safety firm Evolv is set to go public in a 1.7 billion SPAC deal. Peter George, Evolv Technology CEO joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the outlook for the human security company as the business gears up to trade public this year.

Video Transcript

AKIKO FUJITA: Crowd safety firm Evolv is set to go public in a $1.7 billion SPAC deal. That deal with Newhold Investments expected to close in the second quarter. Evolv uses AI technology and sensors to screen people in public spaces. And we've got the CEO of Evolv joining us today, Peter George.

Peter, it's good to talk to you today. I want to get into the SPAC in just a bit. But given that you have so much visibility on how some of these places, like the Met, like Lincoln Center that you work with very closely, how they're thinking about the reopening process, what are you hearing from them, number one, on the reopening, and number two, on the types of capacity we're likely to see for at least the second half of the year?

PETER GEORGE: Thanks, Akiko. Thanks for the question. So at Evolv, we're the leader in human security company. And we've built a technology that combines advanced sensors in AI to help people open up again and provide safety in their venue. So we're thrilled about that. And everyone's been talking about reopening, and they've had a year now to think about how to reopen differently.

And we believe that there has been some secular tailwinds that are permanently changing how people think about opening. And digital transformation really is at the heart of that. So as people begin to reopen, the Lincoln Center, the Wynn hotel, LL Bean, all of these companies want to open up as soon as possible. They're talking about spring and summer, and we're talking to them about that.

They'll probably open up not at full capacity. Based on some states, they may start out at 25% or 50%. But then over the course of 2021, they believe and we believe that they'll open up at full capacity. And we feel thrilled that we're going to be in a position to help them do that.

ZACK GUZMAN: And you guys were kind of ahead of the curve, too, with temperature checks, right, and your checkpoints and crowd initiatives-- you know, maybe too much was given to the credence of temperature checks, at least in this pandemic. But when you think about the next step and vaccine check points-- making sure that people who are there, perhaps, have already been vaccinated-- I mean, how important does that become in reopening? And what's Evolv's role in maybe helping there?

PETER GEORGE: Sure. Well, look, just because there is a pandemic, it doesn't mean the old epidemic went away, right? We have a gun problem in North America. There are 400 million guns in North America. There were 611 mass shootings in 2020, and people weren't even gathering. So as people think about coming back, COVID-19 has weaponized people-- so they want to make sure that COVID-19 doesn't come in-- but also they want to make sure that every kind of threat doesn't come in as well.

And you know, now that we've all figured out how to work from home over Zoom, eat from home on Uber Eats, or watch our movies at Netflix, as people think about coming back, they want to come back in a safe way. And they're only going to come back if they know they can be safe from the pandemic, from all kinds of weapons. And we provide that capability.

AKIKO FUJITA: Yeah, Peter, two questions on the technology that you provide-- a lot of us are familiar with with going into a live event space, whether that's metal detectors, officers there checking things. What are the cracks that your specific technology catches? And I think with that comes the question of-- just the question of surveillance. What actually happens in terms of the data that's collected? And what do you say to those who are concerned about the privacy issue?

PETER GEORGE: Yeah, so great question. So when we sit in an entryway, we use advanced sensors that involve technology and artificial intelligence to identify for threats at the pace of life without people divesting. So people can walk into a venue and not break stride. And different than a metal detector that's looking for metal, we're looking for threats. And the truth is, we're not looking at people, we're looking at threats. And then if there is a threat, we take a picture of the person and combine the two.

So all of the systems are not connected to anyone's network. That data is for the venue that has it. And anytime we interact with that data, there's no PII information that's exchanged. There is no IP addresses. It's basically just metadata.

ZACK GUZMAN: And I wonder too, I mean, when we talk about timing on this-- obviously, we've seen a lot of companies come to market through SPACs. You guys are doing that with Newhold Investment Corp. That's the name of this particular SPAC here. But you're kind of unique in the way that we are now seeing reopening that whole side of the trade catch some steam right now-- whether you look at Live Nation or some of these other companies tied to events. I mean, talk to me about timing and what about this deal attracted you to pulling the trigger now to come out as a publicly traded company.

PETER GEORGE: Sure. Well, look, there's never been a more important time to be a human security company-- allowing people to come back and gather again in a safe and frictionless way. And that's what we do at Evolv Technology. And we think that there is a moment in time right now as people are reimagining how to open up in a completely different way-- how do we bring people back so they know they can be safe, they can have a frictionless experience, walk right into a stadium without breaking stride and into their seat?

That's transformative. And we provide capability to allow our customers and their fans that come back to enjoy that. So we think the timing right now to use the SPAC vehicle to get to market, and have the capital to help the world open up, and then create a new way for people to do crowd safety in a frictionless and personal way, there's never been a better time for a human security company like ours to come to market, which is why we thought the certainty of the SPAC, the timing of the SPAC, was so important.

AKIKO FUJITA: And finally, Peter, we started the conversation by talking about when we're likely to see this new normal return. You said there are sort of two key issues on the table for a lot of these events spaces-- arenas and stadiums. Number one, when do you reopen? But number two, when do you return to normal? You answered the first question-- on the return to normal, are we talking about next year or two years from now? How lengthy is the process to get there?

PETER GEORGE: Yeah. Akiko, I would leave that up to the data scientists, and the science, and the Dr. Faucis of the world to determine about what the new normal is like. What we know is we can put systems in entry ways for our customers and allow them to come back in a very safe and frictionless way. We think that is going to allow the market to open up quicker and for people to bring back fans, and employees, and visitors faster than they ever could, because they know when they come back to the venue, when they get in the other side, they're going to be safe from all kinds of weapons, safe from COVID-19, safe from bad people, and they can enjoy gathering together at sporting events, at performing art venues, and with other people, but do it in a safe way.

So we'll let Dr. Fauci determine the timing of that. We're providing technology and capability for that to happen faster than it's ever happened in hundreds of years.

ZACK GUZMAN: Peter George, the CEO of Evolv Technology, appreciate you coming on here to chat with us.

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