After sale of its shoe business, Allbirds pivots to AI
Allbirds has sold its shoe business and is rebranding as NewBird AI, a GPU-as-a-Service provider, with a $50 million investment.Summary
Allbirds has sold its shoe business and assets for $39 million and is pivoting to become NewBird AI, a "fully integrated GPU-as-a-Service and AI-native cloud solutions provider." The company, which will retain its public company shell and NASDAQ ticker "BIRD," announced a $50 million investment from an undisclosed institutional investor in the form of a convertible financing facility. This move is a significant and risky pivot from its origins as a footwear brand. The company is seeking stockholder approval for the sale and financing, with a meeting scheduled for May 18. If approved, stockholders will receive a dividend, and the new owner, American Exchange Group, will continue producing Allbirds products. NewBird AI intends to use the new financing to acquire GPU assets for AI compute capacity and plans to expand its services through partnerships and potential acquisitions.
(Source：TechCrunch)