The consumer’s guide to sunshine Former Yahoo CEO launches AI-based startup Marissa Mayer In 2018, there have been more brighter times.
A small business is closing down, and the assets of that company are sold to another entity. MayerAn email obtained by WIRED reveals that Dazzle has officially incorporated and is ready to acquire Sunshine’s holdings. Mayer sent Sunshine shareholders an email on 17 September informing that Dazzle had officially incorporated, and was ready to buy Sunshine’s stakes.
The deal requires approval from shareholders, including Sunshine cofounder Enrique Muñoz Torres, Norwest Venture Partners, Felicis Partners, Ron Conway’s SV Angel, the PR firm Archetype Agency, and others. According to sources familiar with the situation, as of Sunday morning, 99 percent shareholders had already signed. Mayer is Mayer’s company and the largest investor.
Sources tell WIRED, however, that Mayer has his eye on a different kind of AI assistant. Sunshine’s 15 employees expect to be offered new positions at Dazzle.
“After careful consideration, Sunshine’s management, and 99.99% of its shareholders, determined the strongest path forward for the company was to sell to Dazzle AI, a new company already incorporated and with committed funding,” Mayer told a reporter. “As Sunshine’s largest investor, shareholder, and CEO, Marissa is proud of what the team built and looks forward to carrying that momentum into new opportunities around Dazzle.”
Mayer launched Sunshine in 2018, originally Lumi Labs. This was after a five-year attempt to turn around Yahoo. Mayer was Google’s employee no. 20 when she became CEO of Yahoo. Mayer helped design the Google Maps interface and Google AdWords.
Sunshine’s initial product was an app to manage contacts. Mayer’s own experience tapping She was able to tap into the vast network of Silicon Valley luminaries when she launched her business. Sunshine Contacts launched its app in 2020. At that time, Mayer had personally contributed $20 million to the venture capital fund, and his startup company also raised 20 millions in funding.
Sunshine was accused of violating user privacy as early as the app’s launch. It was also criticized for using AI to merge contacts in the phone list. pulling in information from Whitepages Contacts can be automatically updated with home addresses.
Shine was the name of a new photo-sharing app launched by Sunshine in 2024. Shine also failed to impress, much like Sunshine Contacts.
