Allbirds Appoints New CEO, Changes Name Again Amid Shift to AI

After pivoting to become an AI company in April, former shoe brand Allbirds on June 17 announced another name change to become “Smartbird” and appointed a new president and CEO, Nadia Carlsten.
The company also said it increased the size of its convertible financing facility from $50 million to $100 million and appointed its independent director Lily Yan Hughes as board chair.
The company’s stock popped on Wednesday following these announcements, rising over 39 percent from $3.94 to $5.48 as over 47 million shares were exchanged.
“[Carlsten’s] groundbreaking work and visionary mindset will be instrumental in establishing a foothold in the market and building a scalable long-term solution for enterprise customers,” said Hughes. “The board selected Nadia because of the breadth of her experience and demonstrated success delivering breakthrough ideas and initiatives at scale.”…