Marissa Mayer’s new startup Dazzle raises $8M led by Forerruner’s Kirsten Green

Marissa Mayer, the former CEO of Yahoo, is making waves once again in the tech world by launching her new startup, Dazzle, which aims to revolutionize AI personal assistants. After a challenging six-year stint with Sunshine, a photo-sharing and contact-management venture that struggled to find its footing, Mayer has decided to pivot and focus her efforts on this promising new project. Dazzle has successfully secured an $8 million seed funding round at a valuation of $35 million, led by renowned venture capitalist Kirsten Green of Forerunner Ventures. This round also saw contributions from notable investors such as Kleiner Perkins, Greycroft, Offline Ventures, Slow Ventures, and Bling Capital. Mayer, who has also invested her own funds into Dazzle, acknowledges that having Green on board lends significant credibility to the new startup, especially in light of Sunshine's previous struggles. Kirsten Green has a strong track record of backing successful consumer brands like Warby Parker and Dollar Shave Club, and she believes consumer-facing AI is finally ready for its moment in the spotlight. Mayer echoed this sentiment, stating that her team began working on Dazzle last summer, quickly realizing it offered more exciting prospects than their previous endeavors. Initially founded as Lumi Labs in 2018, Sunshine aimed to innovate contact management with its app, Sunshine Contacts. However, the product faced criticism for privacy concerns and ultimately failed to gain traction. Despite attempts to expand its offerings, including an AI-powered photo-sharing tool, the company never achieved the success Mayer had envisioned. Reflecting on her past experience, Mayer candidly admitted that the challenges Sunshine tackled were too ordinary and lacked the impact she sought. Now, with Dazzle, Mayer is determined to leverage the lessons learned from her previous venture to create a more resilient and influential product. With her extensive background at Google, where she played a pivotal role in developing Google Search and Maps, Mayer is eager to return to creating technology that significantly impacts users' lives. Dazzle is expected to unveil more details in early 2024, with its website currently under wraps, hinting at the potential for groundbreaking innovation in the AI landscape.