Acorns to go public via $2 billion SPAC deal Acorns is the latest wealthtech company to go public via blank-check merger, following competitors like SoFi. Launched at the end of 2014, the fintech is a subscription-based automated investing and banking app. May 27, 2021 2 MINS Acorns Grow Inc., a robo-adviser backed by celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and asset management giant BlackRock, announced plans Thursday to go public via a merger with a blank-check firm set to value the combined company at $2.2 billion. Acorns is slated to merge with publicly traded special purpose acquisition company Pioneer Merger Corp. The startup will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol “OAKS” after the deal closes, which is expected to happen in the second half of 2021.