Marissa Mayer is back in the tech spotlight, securing an $8 million seed round for her new AI personal assistant startup, Dazzle, led by Forerunner Ventures’ Kirsten Green. Additional investors include Kleiner Perkins, Greycroft, Offline Ventures, Slow Ventures, and Bling Capital. Mayer has also personally invested, and Dazzle’s seed valuation is reportedly $35 million. The startup aims to capture the emerging consumer-facing AI market, which experts say is finally ready for rapid growth.
Kirsten Green, known for backing iconic consumer brands like Warby Parker and Dollar Shave Club, brings significant credibility to the venture. “Even for a founder of Mayer’s fame, landing Green as a lead investor is a significant stamp of credibility,” TechCrunch reported.
The new venture comes after Mayer closed her previous startup, Sunshine. Originally founded as Lumi Labs in 2018, Sunshine offered subscription-based contact management through Sunshine Contacts, later expanding into AI photo-sharing with Shine and event management.
Despite Mayer’s profile, Sunshine faced privacy criticisms and struggled to gain traction. The company raised $20 million from investors including Felicis, Norwest Venture Partners, and Unusual Ventures, with those investors receiving 10% of Dazzle’s equity after Sunshine dissolved.
Reflecting on the experience, Mayer acknowledged, “I don’t think we got it to the state of overall polish and accessibility that I really wanted it to be.” She said the lessons from Sunshine are guiding Dazzle’s approach to build a more resilient and impactful business. The company is expected to emerge from stealth mode early next year.
Before her time at Yahoo, Mayer was the 20th employee at Google, where she contributed to Google Search’s design and oversaw the development of Google Maps and AdWords. “I have had the rare privilege of being at two companies that really changed how people do things,” she said. “Yahoo, for many, defined the internet. Google, in terms of Search and Maps, changed everything. I really aspire to build a product that has that kind of impact again.”
Mayer said the Sunshine team began prototyping Dazzle last summer, quickly recognizing the new project’s larger potential. “We realized that this was something that we were much more excited about,” she noted, highlighting Dazzle’s potential for broader impact compared to Sunshine.
Recent industry analysis highlights that AI assistants are evolving from simple reactive tools to proactive, context-aware helpers that can remember preferences, suggest actions, and integrate across devices. These advancements suggest the type of functionality startups like Dazzle might aim to build.
