The special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, has seen a surge in popularity recently.

A SPAC is company without any operations that goes public for the purpose of acquiring another company, effectively enabling the acquired company to go public without the same scrutiny and processes it would have to navigate in an initial public offering.

Te number of SPACs to go public jumped to 248 last year from 59 in 2019, an increase of 320%, according to data from the website SPACInsider. This year's total has already eclipsed last year's mark, with more than 300 SPACs going public to date.

The latest episode of the Speaking Startup podcast explores the explosion of SPACs and the affect they are having on startups in Missouri.

Plus, a rise in anti-Asian hate incidents since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic has been felt acutely at businesses run by Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The most common site for these instances of discrimination has been places of business, according to the nonprofit organization Stop AAPI hate. We visited with Asian American entrepreneurs from across Missouri to hear about their experiences over the last year.

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