The Rise of Marissa Mayer’s New AI Startup, Dazzle
Marissa Mayer, the former Yahoo CEO, is not one to sit on the sidelines of the generative AI revolution. After a six-year stint running Sunshine, a photo-sharing and contact-management startup that saw little success, Mayer has decided to pivot and launch Dazzle, a new startup focused on building the next generation of AI personal assistants.
While the specifics of Dazzle’s functionality are still under wraps, Mayer has disclosed that the company has secured an $8 million seed round at a $35 million valuation. The funding round was led by Forerunner’s Kirsten Green, with contributions from notable investors such as Kleiner Perkins, Greycroft, Offline Ventures, Slow Ventures, and Bling Capital. Mayer has also invested her own capital in the startup, emphasizing Green’s role as the lead investor.
Green’s investment signals Dazzle’s readiness for the upcoming wave of AI-infused consumer businesses. As the founder of Forerunner Ventures, Green has a track record of identifying successful consumer brands, making her endorsement a significant vote of confidence for Dazzle.
Mayer has expressed her excitement about Dazzle, highlighting its potential for a much larger impact than Sunshine ever achieved. The team behind Dazzle began prototyping the new venture last summer, quickly realizing the project’s ambitious scope and opportunities for growth.
Originally known as Lumi Labs in 2018, Sunshine faced challenges with its subscription app for contact management, “Sunshine Contacts.” Despite Mayer’s reputation, the product failed to gain widespread adoption due to privacy concerns and design flaws. The addition of event management and an AI-powered photo-sharing tool, “Shine,” also fell short of expectations.
After raising $20 million from investors, Sunshine closed its doors, with investors receiving a stake in Dazzle. Mayer acknowledged Sunshine’s shortcomings, citing the company’s focus on mundane problems as a key factor in its demise.
Drawing from the lessons of Sunshine, Mayer is determined to make Dazzle a more resilient and impactful business. With a background that includes shaping Google’s search experience and overseeing the development of Google Maps and AdWords, Mayer is no stranger to innovation.
Dazzle is set to emerge from stealth mode in the coming year, with its website, dazzle.ai, currently accessible by password only. Mayer’s ambition is clear – to build a product that can once again change the way people interact with technology, much like Yahoo and Google did in their heydays.
