News Release

Hunch Mobility, a leading provider of urban air mobility in the Indian subcontinent, enters into business combination agreement with Direct Selling Acquisition Corp.

FlyBlade (India) Private Limited (Hunch Mobility), a leading provider of urban air mobility in the Indian subcontinent, has entered into a definitive business combination agreement with Direct Selling Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, and certain other parties thereto. Upon the closing of the transaction, the newly combined company is expected to be called Hunch Technologies Limited, and its common shares are expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “HNCH.”

Hunch Mobility is an urban air mobility (UAM) platform dedicated to providing “by-the-seat” short distance air mobility services in India. The company has operated more than 1,626 flights with an approximately 43% repeat flying rate and has launched its services in two states in India: Maharashtra and Karnataka.

The company aspires to lead the transition to electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles in the Indian subcontinent in the near future, benefiting from strong support from India's Ministry of Civil Aviation in liberalising UAM and paving the roadmap for the introduction of electric vertical aircraft (EVAs).

Hunch Mobility investment highlights include:

- Significant opportunity for disruptive transportation service in India: Urban congestion costs in India are approximately USD $22 billion per year, and continuous congestion issues present a growing addressable and serviceable market. The International Monetary Fund predicts that India will become the third largest economy as measured by GDP by 2027-2028, and Hunch Mobility expects to tap into the country's growing middle-class demographic. Hunch Mobility believes there will be an addressable market of at least 20 million flyers in 2027 based on current ticket fares and demographic trends.

- Expanding global UAM market: UAM is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of approximately 25% between 2018 and 2025 and continue to grow to an anticipated market size of USD $74 billion by 2035. Countries around the world, including Germany and France, are working in collaboration with airline manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus to invest heavily in the development and procurement of advanced EVA systems.

- Differentiated, asset-light and low-capital operations model: Hunch Mobility leverages the scalable technology platform of Blade Urban Air Mobility, Inc. (Blade US) through a licensing agreement and strategic partnerships with transportation service providers to provide efficient booking and concierge services to the Indian market. The firm's captive strategic infrastructure and sophisticated technology platform are designed to be customised and deployed for Indian operations.

- Tenured management team and early market entrants: Hunch Mobility's management team has over 100 combined years of experience across companies in the mobility, aviation and lifestyle verticals. Hunch Mobility's leadership believes that its early entry into the market provides a meaningful first-mover advantage while the barriers to entry remain high for potential competitors.

- Robust future growth plans: Hunch Mobility is seeking to generate revenue through a diverse set of complementary business segments, including a UAM platform for business, leisure, religious and air ambulance needs, and a lifestyle concierge platform that includes a rewards and privileges platform designed to drive customer retention and monetisation.

- Strategic partnerships in EVA market expected to propel growth: Hunch Mobility has signed a memorandum of understanding with Eve Air Mobility, Beta Technologies, Skyports and Jaunt Air Mobility to develop the company's EVA capabilities. Hunch Mobility believes that these partnerships are poised to unlock growth opportunities in existing and new markets. Hunch Mobility expects the launch of EVAs with lower costs to drive market penetration to 5% of the addressable market of 50 million flyers.

Amit Dutta, managing director of Hunch Mobility, said: “India's rapid economic growth is shackled by severe road congestion, a crippling bottleneck requiring innovative solutions. To address this opportunity, Hunch Mobility is pioneering a short-haul air mobility platform with helicopters today and a transition to EVAs in the near future. We expect that this business combination will enable us to fully leverage the gains of our first-mover advantage and aggressively expand our footprint in the Indian subcontinent.”

“We are excited to partner with Hunch Mobility on this business combination,” said Dave Wentz, chairman and chief executive officer of DSAQ. “Hunch is providing a solution for a serious problem in India, which is one of the most congested traffic markets in the world. The company's ability to provide consumers with the option of avoiding this congestion, at a reasonable price point, has the potential to move by-the-seat helicopter transportation out of the luxury category and into a ubiquitous part of everyday life. We believe that Hunch has the team in place to execute on this tremendous opportunity, and we are pleased to play a role in bringing the company to the public markets.”

The combined company is expected to have an estimated post-transaction enterprise value of $223 million, assuming no redemptions by DSAQ's public stockholders. Proceeds from the transaction, before the payment of certain transaction expenses, will comprise up to $63 million of cash held in DSAQ's trust account before redemptions, with approximately $48 million in net cash on the balance sheet to fund growth, assuming no redemptions by DSAQ's public stockholders. The transaction does not include a minimum cash condition, but does include capital commitments of $20 million from Investor. Investor's $20 million investment includes $10 million of equity purchases in DSAQ previously made in the open market subject to non-redemption, $3 million in the form of promissory notes convertible into convertible preferred shares to be funded in three equal monthly installments, with the first $1 million promissory note being issued at signing, and $7 million of convertible preferred shares that will be funded at the closing of the transaction. Hunch Ventures has committed to investing $3 million in the form of convertible preferred shares of PubCo. Hunch Ventures' investment and Investor's investments other than convertible notes are subject to certain waivable conditions.

DSAQ and Hunch Mobility's respective boards of directors have unanimously approved the transaction, which is expected to close in 2024, subject to regulatory and stockholder approvals. In connection with the transaction, Hunch Mobility's shareholders are rolling 100% of their existing equity in Hunch Mobility into the combined company and are expected to own approximately 52.0% of the combined company on a non-fully diluted basis immediately following the closing of the transaction, assuming no redemptions by DSAQ's public stockholders.

All references to cash on the balance sheet, available cash from the trust account and retained transaction proceeds are subject to any redemptions by DSAQ's public stockholders and current estimates of transaction expenses.