Chain Bridge I

Strengthening Security by Fueling Critical Technologies

About Us

Chain Bridge I is a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) incorporated as a Cayman Islands exempted company for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities. While we may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business, industry, sector or geography, we intend to leverage our expansive networks and unparalleled domain experience to identify a prospective target company possessing emerging, innovative and transformational technology that can fortify the national security capabilities of the U.S. and its allies.

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Our Team

Christopher Darby, Chairman

Christopher Darby has been serving as the Chairman of our board of directors since January 2021. Since 2006, Mr. Darby has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of IQT, an independent strategic investment firm that identifies innovative technologies to support the missions of the CIA and the broader U.S. intelligence community. Mr. Darby is also a member of IQT’s board of trustees. Prior to joining IQT, Mr. Darby was a Vice President and General Manager at Intel Corporation, starting in August 2005, where he oversaw the Middleware Products Division and was responsible for the corporation’s Infrastructure Software business, including open source and commercial products. From 2003 to 2005, Mr. Darby served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Sarvega, a venture-backed supplier of XML networking and security products. Prior to Sarvega, from 2000 to 2003, Mr. Darby was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of @stake, an internet security consulting firm which was ultimately acquired by Symantec (now NortonLifeLock Inc.), where he assembled the world’s leading collection of cyber security researchers and consultants. From 1997 to 2000, Mr. Darby served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Interpath Communications, which was later acquired by US Internetworking. Earlier in his career, Mr. Darby held several executive positions at Digital Equipment Corporation (now Hewlett-Packard) and Northern Telecom (now Nortel Networks), with responsibility for telecommunications industry sales initiatives, corporate strategy and alliances. Mr. Darby serves as a director on the boards of National Resilience, Inc. since 2020, the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation since 2020 and previously served as chairman of the board of Endgame, Inc. from 2012 to 2019. In January 2019, Mr. Darby was nominated as a Commissioner on the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence. Mr. Darby received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Western Ontario.

Michael Rolnick, Chief Executive Officer and Director

Michael Rolnick has served as our Chief Executive Officer and a director since January 2021. Mr. Rolnick currently serves as a Managing Member of Baileyana, a vehicle launched in 2009 that invests in private technology companies. Since 2013, Mr. Rolnick has been a Senior Advisor to Blockchain Capital. Additionally, he served as a Senior Advisor to the Michael Bloomberg 2020 presidential campaign. In 2015, Mr. Rolnick co-founded Cadence13 and served as Executive Chairman until it was acquired in 2020 by Entercom Communications (New York Stock Exchange: ETM). Prior to Cadence13, Mr. Rolnick held a number of senior operating roles, including Chief Executive Officer of UNIFI Labs and Chief Digital Officer at NewsCorp/Dow Jones. In 2011, Mr. Rolnick co-founded Playstudios, which announced its acquisition by Acies Acquisition Corporation (Nasdaq: ACAC) in February 2021. Previously, Mr. Rolnick was a Managing General Partner for more than a decade at ComVentures, a leading venture capital firm focused on investments in internet infrastructure and communications companies. Prior to ComVentures, Mr. Rolnick was Vice President of Corporate Development and New Ventures at E*Trade. Mr. Rolnick served on the board of directors of Ahura Scientific (acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific, New York Stock Exchange: TOM), IntruVert Networks (acquired by McAfee, Nasdaq: MCFE), Kagoor Networks (acquired by Juniper Networks, New York Stock Exchange: JNPR), P-Cube (acquired by Cisco Systems, Nasdaq: CSCO) and Vyatta (acquired by Brocade Communications Systems). Mr. Rolnick served as lead investor in Archipelago Holdings (New York Stock Exchange: AX), Critical Path (Nasdaq: CPTH) and Digital Island (Nasdaq: ISLD). Mr. Rolnick was named to Forbes Midas Touch list multiple times as a top dealmaker in technology. Mr. Rolnick received his Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Michigan, Master of Science degree in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Michigan.

Roger Lazarus, Chief Financial Officer

Roger Lazarus has served as our Chief Financial Officer since March 2021. From 1997 to 2013, Mr. Lazarus worked as a transactions partner at Ernst & Young advising on acquisitions and investments by private equity and corporate clients. He was the managing partner of Ernst & Young’s West Region Transactions service line before relocating from the San Francisco Bay Area to Ernst & Young Colombia, where he served as Chief Operating Officer from 2013 to 2019, as Chief Operating Officer from 2017 to 2019 and a board member of Ernst & Young’s Latam North region, which comprised 13 countries. In these roles, Mr. Lazarus managed internal operations and oversaw financial and operating reporting. Mr. Lazarus joined Ernst & Young in the Boston, Massachusetts office in 1997 as a partner. Prior to joining Ernst & Young , Mr. Lazarus served a three-year term as the Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Xenergy, Inc., a Massachusetts-based energy services, trading and software company. In 1986, Mr. Lazarus joined the Coopers & Lybrand investigations and transaction support team in Boston, Massachusetts and was promoted to partner in 1992. He is a Chartered Accountant (FCA: Fellow of the Institute of England and Wales) and started his career as an auditor with Arthur Andersen in London before moving to the United States. Mr. Lazarus is a director and the Chair of the audit committee of Latam Logistic Properties S.A., a logistics property company with operations in Costa Rica, Colombia and Peru. Mr. Lazarus is also a venture consultant to MVP and its portfolio companies. Mr. Lazarus received his Social Sciences degree in Economics from the University of York.

Michael Morell, Director

Portrait

Michael Morell will be one of our directors on the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Mr. Morell was an intelligence officer at the CIA for 33 years. From May 2010 until August 2013, Mr. Morell served as the Deputy Director of the CIA and was twice its Acting Director during that period. Prior to that, Mr. Morell served as the Director for Intelligence, CIA’s top analyst, and as the Associate Deputy Director, CIA’s top administrator. Since his retirement from the CIA in 2013, Mr. Morell has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Morell Consulting LLC and as the Senior Counselor and Global Chairman of the Geo-Political Risk Practice at Beacon Global Strategies. In addition, Mr. Morell has been a Senior National Security Contributor at CBS News since 2013 and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at George Mason University since 2019. Since 2018, Mr. Morell has served as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States-mandated security director, a director on the board of Fortress Investment Group and since 2019, as the Chairman of the board of directors of Orbis Operations, a private national security-related firm. In addition, from 2014 to 2019, he served as a director on the board of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. From 2013 to 2018, Mr. Morrell served as senior advisor and Chairman of the National Security Task Force at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Morell currently serves on the advisory boards of three private companies: iSquared Capital, a private equity firm, Dataminr, a technology-related company with national security applications and Improbable, also a technology-related company with national security applications. Mr. Morell also served on United States President Barak Obama’s 2013 Review Group on Intelligence and Telecommunications and on the 2018 National Defense Strategy Commission. Mr. Morell is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Economic Association. Mr. Morell received a Master of Arts degree in Economics from Georgetown University and Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Akron.

Letitia Long, Director

Letitia Long will be one of our directors on the effective date of the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. Ms. Long currently serves as a director on the boards of two public companies, Corporate Officers Property Trust since October 2020 and Parsons Corporation since April 2020, and four private companies, Applied Information Systems since September 2020, Octo since January 2020, Quadrint, Inc. since August 2019, and HyperSat LLC since September 2018. Ms. Long also serves as an independent trustee for Noblis Inc. since February 2015, as Vice Rector of the Board of Visitors of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University since July 2017 and as Chairman of the Board of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance since January 2016. Ms. Long previously served as a director on the boards of Raytheon Company (from 2015 to 2020), UrtheCast Corporation (from 2015 to 2018), and Sonatype (from 2017 to 2019). In addition, she has served as an Advisor and Portfolio Director for Blue Delta Capital Partners since 2019. Ms. Long was an intelligence officer for 33 years serving as the Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (from 2010 to 2014), the Deputy Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (from 2006 to 2010), the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence (from 2003 to 2006), the Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence (from 2000 to 2003) and the Executive Director for Intelligence Community Affairs (from 1998 to 2000). Ms. Long received her Master of Science degree in Engineering from the Catholic University of America and her Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

David G. Brown, Director

David G. Brown is an early-stage venture capital and private equity investor; he invests on behalf of the Brown Family Trust. From 1998 until 2013, he was the Managing Partner of Oak Hill Venture Partners. From 1993 until 2013, he served as a Vice President of Keystone, LP (formerly known as the Robert M. Bass Company), Mr. Bass’ family office. He is a Member of Headwater Partners I and II, intellectual property investment funds. He has invested in more than 80 companies and funds since 1993. Mr. Brown is a founding investor and currently serves on the board of directors of four private companies. Mr. Brown possesses broad experience in social media, SaaS, communications services, financial services, and clean technology markets.

Prior to joining Keystone, he worked at Salomon Brothers Inc where he was a Vice President in the Corporate Finance Department. Mr. Brown is also active in several charities and non-profit organizations. He currently serves on the board of Bowdoin College and Teton Science School. He is the past Chair of NatureBridge, a leading environmental science education program for youth.

Mr. Brown holds a B.A. degree from Bowdoin College and an M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration.

Stephen Bowsher, Chairman of Chain Bridge Sponsor Group

Stephen Bowsher has served as the Chairman of our sponsor since January 2021. Mr. Bowsher currently serves as President of IQT and previously served as Managing General Partner, leading the company’s investment strategy since 2006. Mr. Bowsher has personally managed IQT relationships with Palantir (Nasdaq: PLTR), MongoDB (Nasdaq: MDB), Initiate Systems (acquired by IBM, New York Stock Exchange: IBM), Cleversafe (acquired by IBM, New York Stock Exchange: IBM) and various other companies. Mr. Bowsher joined IQT from InterWest Partners, where he served as General Partner for eight years. At InterWest, Mr. Bowsher served on the board of directors of Sarvega (acquired by Intel, Nasdaq: INTC), Varolii (acquired by Nuance, Nasdaq: NUAN), Cape Clear Software (acquired by Workday, Nasdaq: WDAY) and various other companies. Previously, Mr. Bowsher worked at E*TRADE, where he helped launch Destination E*TRADE, the company’s award-winning website. Mr. Bowsher was also an early stage employee at two startup companies, where he was responsible for revenue and distribution targets.

Jeff Siegal , Advisor

Jeff Siegal is the Chair of our advisory board. Mr. Siegal is currently a Partner at MK Partners LLC. Previously, he was a Partner and founder of Metalmark Capital, a leading private equity investment firm that focuses on the energy, healthcare and industrial sectors. Prior to joining Metalmark Capital and its predecessor organizations in 2001, Mr. Siegal served as the Chief Financial Officer of @stake, a leading cybersecurity engineering firm, and as a Senior Managing Director at Castle Harlan, a private equity investment firm. Jeff received his Master of Arts degree in Business Administration from Harvard University and his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Mathematics, cum laude, from Clark University.

Arun Gupta, Advisor

Arun Gupta is a technology finance executive with experience in U.S. and international venture capital, emerging technologies, entrepreneurship and national security & technology policy. Mr. Gupta is currently an Adjunct Professor/Senior Advisor to the Provost at Georgetown University, a Lecturer at Stanford University and serves on the Stanford in Washington (“SIW”) advisory board, a Venture Partner at Columbia Capital and a member of Senator Mark Warner’s Tech and Cybersecurity Advisory Committee. As a Partner at Columbia Capital, Mr. Gupta’s investment career spanned eighteen years, with a focus on emerging tech-enabled services and infrastructure companies in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, government services, mobile and Software as a Service (“SaaS’’)/cloud infrastructure sectors. He is currently on the board and/or was previously involved with Columbia Capital portfolio companies, including Adjoined Consulting (acquired by Kanbay International, Inc.), Altamira (acquired by Clearsky), Daz3D, Millennial Media (New York Stock Exchange: MM), Endgame (acquired by Elastic), Riptech (acquired by Symantec Corporation), Softek Storage Holdings (acquired by IBM), Verato, Vubiquity (acquired by Amdocs) and Webs (acquired by Vistaprint). Prior to joining Columbia Capital in 2000, Mr. Gupta was at Carlyle Venture Partners where he focused on software investments. Prior to Carlyle, Mr. Gupta held positions in Arthur D. Little’s telecommunications and technology consulting practice and shared responsibility for establishing the management consulting operations in Mumbai from 1995 to 1998. As a technology angel investor, Mr. Gupta focuses on SaaS, GovTech, and sustainable food investments, and currently serves on the board and/or was actively involved with 1901 Group (acquired by Leidos), Vyve Broadband (acquired by Cable One), Binary Fountain (acquired by Press Ganey), FAST Acquisition Corp (New York Stock Exchange: FST), a restaurant and sustainable food special purpose company, Morning Consult, a leading SaaS global data intelligence company, Blacklynx, a leading provider of high-speed analytics solutions for the national security market, and InKind Capital, a SaaS alternative micro-financing platform. Mr. Gupta received his Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard University, Master of Science degree in Engineering from Stanford University and Bachelor of Science degree with distinction in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.

Sir Alex Younger, Advisor

Sir Alex Younger was a career intelligence officer in Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, for 30 years, and served in Europe, the Middle East and Afghanistan. Mr. Younger was appointed as Director of Counter Terrorism in 2009 and as Chief from 2014 to 2020. Prior to Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, Mr. Younger served in the British Army as an infantry officer.

Jeremy Bash, Advisor

Jeremy Bash is a Founder and Managing Director of Beacon Global Strategies, a strategic advisory firm specializing in International Policy, Defense, Cyber, Intelligence and Homeland Security. He is a recognized expert on national security affairs, serving as National Security Analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. Mr. Bash served as Chief of Staff in two national security department/agencies, first as Chief of Staff to the Director of the CIA from 2009 to 2011 and as Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Defense from 2011 to 2013. From 2004 to 2008, Mr. Bash served in a variety of roles on Capitol Hill, including Chief Counsel to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and as a senior national security advisor to Congresswoman Jane Harman. In 2008, Mr. Bash was a member of the Obama-Biden transition team and previously practiced law at O’Melveny & Myers LLP. In 2017, Mr. Bash served as a member of the Congressionally-directed panel on the Roles and Responsibilities of the National Intelligence University. Mr. Bash is a regular speaker and presenter at the CIA Director’s Leadership Seminar, the U.S. Army Senior Leadership Course for General Officers, and at various programs at Harvard Law School, Georgetown University, and the Panetta Institute for Public Policy. Mr. Bash graduated from Georgetown University, magna cum laude, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from Harvard University, where he graduated cum laude and was an editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Edward Sanderson, Jr., Advisor

Edward Sanderson, Jr. is the retired Chairman of Scientific Applications International Corporation and its predecessor companies where had been a director since 2002. Mr. Sanderson retired from Oracle Corporation (“Oracle”) in 2002 as an Executive Vice President after having served since 1995. At Oracle, Mr. Sanderson was responsible for Oracle Product Industries, Oracle Consulting and the Latin American division. Prior to Oracle, he was President of Unisys Worldwide Services and a partner at both McKinsey & Company and Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). He was previously a director of Leidos Holdings, Inc. from 2002 until September 2013, and a director of Quantum Corp. until September 2005. Mr. Sanderson has over 25 years of experience in senior management in the technology industry and consulting with major commercial and federal government clients on a broad array of issues.

James Cacioppo, Advisor

James Cacioppo is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of One East Partners. Previously, Mr. Cacioppo served as President and Co-Portfolio Manager of Sandell Asset Management and Head of Distressed Debt for Halcyon Management, a global investment firm. Mr. Cacioppo received his Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard University and his Bachelor of Arts degree from Colgate University.

Rick Gustafson, Advisor

Rick Gustafson has served as a Chief Financial Officer at various companies for over twenty years, focusing on guiding enterprise SaaS companies through key growth and transition stages. Most recently, Mr. Gustafson served as the Chief Financial Officer of ServiceMax, the industry’s leading field service management SaaS company, where he was a key contributor to the company’s strategy, rapid growth and approximately $1 billion acquisition by GE Digital (New York Stock Exchange: GE). Previously, he served in Chief Financial Officer roles at Genius.com, a marketing automation SaaS company (acquired by Callidus Software, Inc.), Coupa Software (Nasdaq: COUP), an eProcurement SaaS provider, and Ketera Technologies, a spend management SaaS company. Mr. Gustafson began his career as a consultant at Ernst & Young. Mr. Gustafson received his Master of Business Administration degree from Stanford University and his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Business from the University of California, Los Angeles.

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