The co-founders of HomeAway are leading a new SPAC (Special Purchase Acquisition Company) to invest in marketplace platforms in travel and other sectors.
Moose Pond is slated to list on the public markets on April 7 and hopes to raise $200 million through the issue of shares.
The SPAC is head by chairman Brian Sharples, who served as co-founder and CEO of HomeAway from its formation and IPO until 2016, alongside CEO Cotter Cunningham, previously founder, chairman and CEO of RetailMeNot.
The board of directors of the new entity includes Carl Shepherd, fellow HomeAway founder with Sharples and the private accommodation service's chief strategic and development officer until 2015.
Moose Pond's S1 filing, ahead of its April 7 listing, states the organization is targeting a consumer-facing private company or companies with the funds that will be made available.
In particular, Moose Pond has cited Airbnb, Uber, Vrbo and Upwork as examples of brands that became "significant disruptors" in their categories and built share quickly with an engaged user base.
Brands with a focus on Gen-Z and millennial consumers will be in the target group, Moose Pond says, as it says these categories of customers "will be the substantial drivers of consumption and growth over the next decade."
The prospectus reads: "We believe we have the opportunity to identify combinations of businesses that provide a platform for capturing significant market share, while leveraging the operating advantages provided by additional scale.
"These advantages include the ability to hire and retain world-class talent, enhanced negotiation with suppliers, marketing scale and investment in continued innovation and R&D, as well as the opportunity to leverage the public markets for growth capital, creating a significant advantage over smaller and less well-funded competitors.
"In these situations, our CEO-led management team can provide significant and meaningful value-add to founders we believe will welcome our expertise on integrating the companies and preparing them for a public listing."
Moose Pond believes there may be "several potential domestic/international combinations that will allow us to create a global leader, with a resulting listing on a U.S. stock exchange."
Sharples left a year after the HomeAway was acquired by Expedia Group for $3.9 billion in 2015.
Other members of the board of directors for Moose Pond, alongside Shephard, include Leah Sweet (ex-PayPal and American Express), Adam Rogers (ex-Ultimate Software), Andreas Wiele (ex-Axel Springer), Amar Lalvani (Standard Hotels) and Thomas Ball (Next Coast Ventures).