Marissa Mayer Is Dissolving Her Sunshine Startup Lab

The small startup is shutting down and its assets are being sold to a new entity incorporated by Mayer, called Dazzle, according to an email viewed by WIRED. Mayer sent the email to Sunshine shareholders on September 17, informing them that Dazzle has officially incorporated and is ready to acquire Sunshine’s holdings.

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. As of Sunday afternoon, 99 percent of shareholders had signed, according to sources close to the situation. Mayer herself is the company's largest shareholder and investor.

The email did not elaborate on what Dazzle’s purpose will be, but sources tell WIRED that Mayer is eyeing a new kind of AI personal assistant. Sunshine’s roughly 15 employees are expecting to find new roles at Dazzle, sources ...