Who is behind RACD? RA Capital (Research Alliance)
The people who set Research Alliance Corp IV up, what they have done before, and what happened to the shareholders who backed their earlier vehicles — every outcome cited to an SEC filing.
Liquidation / termination drag: 1 liquidation and 0 terminations across 4 vehicles raised → 25% attrition (terminations 1.25×, stale shells 0.75×).
Mixed record · low confidence — the same inputs always produce the same score.
Track record
The fleet this sponsor runs today, and the SEC-verified fate of every prior vehicle we have traced.
- Therapeutics Acquisition Corp · 2020→ POINT Biopharma (acq. by Eli Lilly)Completed
- Research Alliance Corp II · 2021Liquidated
RA Capital (Research Alliance) — Peter Kolchinsky's platform. Prior-vehicle track record (SEC-verified via formerNames): (1) Therapeutics Acquisition Corp COMPLETED → POINT Biopharma (2020; acquired by Eli Lilly 2023, 25-NSE 2023-12 — a strong outcome). (2) Research Alliance Corp II LIQUIDATED (25-NSE 2022-12). Current vehicles RACC (in-deal) and RACD (searching). Net: 1 completed deSPAC (acquired by Lilly), 1 liquidation. Sources: SEC EDGAR submissions API (formerNames) + full-text search, efts.sec.gov. — research profile — RA Capital Management, L.P. is the sponsor behind the Research Alliance Corporation series of SPACs. Founded in 2002 by Peter Kolchinsky, PhD, who serves as Managing Partner alongside Rajeev Shah, RA Capital is a Boston-based, evidence-based, multi-stage healthcare and planetary health investment firm with over $15 billion in regulatory assets under management as of December 31, 2025, and a team of more than 200 professionals. The firm's proprietary knowledge engine, TechAtlas, maps competitive landscapes across 130-plus healthcare subsectors and 30-plus planetary health territories to develop investment conviction. The SPAC vehicles are led operationally by Matthew Hammond, PhD, MBA, a Partner on RA Capital's investment team, who serves as CEO and Director of the Research Alliance entities, joined by Henry Stusnick as Chief Business Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Earlier vehicles also featured Tess Cameron as a founding Principal serving as CFO and Director. The firm has been exclusively healthcare-focused since its launch and deploys capital across private and public companies, having deployed over $650 million into private financings in 2025 alone. RA Capital's SPAC track record spans four vehicles. Research Alliance Corporation I merged with POINT Biopharma in March 2021, providing the radiopharmaceutical company with approximately $300 million in capital; Eli Lilly subsequently acquired POINT Biopharma for $1.4 billion in 2023, representing a clear win for the sponsor and its investors. Research Alliance Corporation II (RACB), which raised $130 million in its March 2021 IPO, failed to identify and complete a business combination and ultimately liquidated, returning capital to trust holders but producing no value creation beyond that. Research Alliance Corporation III (RACC) raised $75 million in its May 2026 IPO and announced a definitive business combination agreement with Oak Hill Bio on July 27, 2026, a rare disease biotech developing rugonersen, an antisense oligonucleotide therapy for Angelman syndrome currently in a pivotal Phase 3 trial. The transaction is structured to provide approximately $175 million in gross proceeds, including $75 million from RACC's trust account fully backstopped by RA Capital and $100 million in committed private financing, with PIPE participants including Balyasny Asset Management, Janus Henderson Investors, BVF Partners, venBio, Cormorant Asset Management, Perceptive Advisors, and Foresite Capital. RACC shares rallied approximately 128 percent in the month following the announcement, reaching roughly $26 per share, reflecting strong investor enthusiasm for the target and deal structure. Research Alliance Corporation IV (RACD) filed with the SEC in June 2026 to raise up to $75 million, targeting healthcare, life sciences, and healthtech companies, and notably does not plan to offer units with warrants or rights attached. The firm's broader reputation in the life sciences investment community is strong. RA Capital's portfolio includes companies such as 89bio, which was acquired by Roche for $3.5 billion, and Aktis Oncology, which completed the first biotech IPO of its year with a $318 million raise. The firm is known for its hands-on, analytically rigorous approach, combining deep scientific training with operational…
Full sponsor record →Why the sponsor matters
The thirty-second version, for anyone who has never traded a SPAC.
A SPAC is an empty listed company; the sponsor is the only substance it has before a deal. They pick the target, negotiate the terms, and typically hold founder shares — equity they received nearly free — which pay off for them even in deals that lose public holders money. A sponsor’s prior vehicles are the closest thing to evidence about how this one ends.
How the founder-share incentive works is covered in our plain-English guide to the sponsor promote.
In plain English
Cash in trust / trust per sharethe cash the company is holding for each public share
Filed quarterly in the 10-Q's XBRL. It earns interest between filings, so the figure on a given day is slightly higher than the last filed one — where we show that we label it an estimate.
Dilutionhow much of the company new shares take from you
Sponsor promote, PIPE shares, warrants and rights all issue stock that did not pay $10 for it. The headline deal value is before that; the effective value is after.
De-SPACthe day the SPAC becomes the real company
The shares stop being a claim on a pot of cash and start being equity in an operating business. Roughly 80% of recent de-SPACs traded below $10 within a year.