Dazzle AI, a new company founded by entrepreneur, executive, and former Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, announced it has raised $8 million in seed funding at a $35 million post-money valuation. The round was led by Kirsten Green of Forerunner with participation from Kleiner Perkins, Greycroft, Offline Ventures, Slow Ventures, and Bling Capital.

Leveraging her experience at Google, Yahoo, and in user-centered technology, Marissa is dedicated to Dazzle AI’s mission of making technology more intuitive and genuinely useful in everyday life. The company aims to close the gap between what people want to do and what they can do with AI, developing tools that make technology simpler, smarter, and more approachable.

“Throughout my career, I’ve loved making complex technology more intuitive,” said Marissa Mayer, Founder and CEO of Dazzle AI. “With Dazzle, our goal is to make AI feel simple, helping people get more done and delighting them along the way. Now that foundational models have reached a level of consistent excellence, they’ve become a reliable infrastructure. The new frontier is applications—leveraging that power to create real, tangible value. I’m thrilled to be building something new alongside an incredible group of investors and partners.”

“The builders of tomorrow’s winning platforms are not thinking in terms of incremental improvements or previous playbooks – they are thinking in entirely new ecosystems, with the courage to imagine paradigms that do not yet exist. As a leader, Marissa embodies the ambition and bravery that’s essential to taking this kind of big swing,” said Kirsten Green, Founding Partner at Forerunner. “We have barely scratched the surface of having AI integrated into daily routines in a way that feels human, enriching, and transformatively useful.”

This funding allows Dazzle AI to expand its team and prepare for its first product launch in the coming months.

 

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Mayer launched Dazzle after shuttering her photo and contact management startup Sunshine. Green’s investment suggests Dazzle is poised for the coming wave of new AI-infused consumer businesses.