Allbirds has formally rebranded as Smartbird and appointed former Amazon Web Services executive Nadia Carlsten as chief executive, marking the latest step in the former footwear retailer’s transformation into an artificial intelligence infrastructure company and sending its shares sharply higher on Wednesday.
Smartbird’s shares rose more than 30 per cent after the announcement, extending gains since the company revealed plans in April to abandon its footwear focus and move into AI infrastructure and cloud computing services. CNBC reported that the stock was up nearly 50 per cent during Wednesday trading, reflecting renewed investor enthusiasm for companies linked to the AI sector.
The leadership change places Carlsten, formerly chief executive of the Danish Center for AI Innovation and a former executive in Amazon Web Services’ quantum computing division, at the helm of the business. She succeeds Joe Vernachio, who is stepping down, while Annie Mitchell remains chief financial officer and Lily Yan Hughes has been appointed chair of the board.
In a company statement, Carlsten said: “With a differentiated strategy, significant capital, and the opportunity to build an exceptional team, we are uniquely positioned to capitalize on one of the most significant infrastructure opportunities of the next decade.”
Under its new guise, Smartbird provides AI infrastructure as a managed service designed to help customers avoid large upfront equipment costs. The company said it is in discussions with potential clients and is developing its first computing cluster deployments.
The rebranding follows a dramatic restructuring of the business. The company sold its footwear brand and related assets to American Exchange Group for $39 million in March and closed most of its physical stores as it exited the retail market. Once known for its wool trainers popular with technology workers, Allbirds reached a valuation of about $4 billion following its 2021 public offering.
The company has strengthened its finances by expanding convertible funding facilities to $100 million from $50 million, with the proceeds expected to support the acquisition of graphics processing units and other resources needed for its AI infrastructure strategy.
The company’s shift reflects a broader trend of businesses repositioning themselves around artificial intelligence. CNBC noted that several companies have pursued similar strategic reinventions during previous technology investment booms, while AI infrastructure provider CoreWeave itself evolved from a cryptocurrency mining business before focusing on AI computing services.
