Tailwind Acquisition Corp. (TWND)

Tailwind Acquisition Corp. was a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by a group led by Philip Krim, a co-founder of the mattress company Casper Sleep. It was formed to merge with a technology or consumer-oriented business and take it public. The SPAC priced a $300 million initial public offering in September 2020 at $10 per unit, and its securities traded on the New York Stock Exchange, with the Class A shares under TWND.

Tailwind's first proposed target was QOMPLX, a cloud software and cybersecurity analytics company, in a deal announced in 2021. That agreement was terminated later in the year as market conditions for SPAC mergers worsened. In August 2022 Tailwind announced a new agreement to combine with Nuburu, a Colorado developer of industrial blue lasers, at a pre-money enterprise value of about $350 million. Tailwind shareholders approved the transaction in December 2022.

The business combination was completed at the end of January 2023, with very high redemptions from SPAC holders. Tailwind, the surviving public company, was renamed Nuburu, Inc., and its common stock and warrants began trading on February 1, 2023, under the tickers BURU and BURU WS. The TWND symbol was retired after January 31, 2023; the Nuburu shares now trade on NYSE American.

Nuburu, based in Centennial, Colorado, develops high-power blue laser systems that use its patented technology for precision manufacturing tasks such as welding copper and other reflective metals and metal 3D printing. Blue light is absorbed by these metals far better than infrared, which the company says allows faster, cleaner welds. Since listing, Nuburu has struggled with small revenue, losses and frequent capital raises, and in 2025 and 2026 it broadened its strategy toward defense and security applications while continuing to trade as BURU.