Allbirds, which gained popularity a decade ago with its Wool Runner shoes, failed to turn a profit after a $4 billion IPO in 2021. Between 2022 and 2025, its sales dropped by nearly 50 percent. Recently, Allbirds announced selling its name and assets for $39 million to American Exchange, closing its remaining stores. However, this shell listing still holds potential. CEO Joe Vernachio announced plans to raise $50 million from an unnamed investor to transform NewBird AI into a “fully integrated GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) and AI-native cloud solutions provider.”
NewBird AI plans to use the initial capital to acquire high-performance GPU assets for customers needing dedicated AI compute capacity. The company’s long-term vision is to expand its compute and service offerings, strengthen partnerships, and explore strategic mergers and acquisitions. The increasing demand for AI has created a shortage of high-performance compute resources. GPU procurement lead times for high-end hardware are rising, North American data centers have low vacancy rates, and existing compute capacity is nearing full commitment through mid-2026, making it difficult for enterprises and developers to secure resources. NewBird AI aims to close this gap by acquiring high-performance AI compute hardware and offering long-term lease arrangements, fulfilling demand the market cannot consistently meet.
This shift seems unrelated to Allbirds’ previous endeavors, raising questions about the viability of their $50 million funding compared to larger competitors. The transformation resembles the brand pivots seen during the SPAC surge of 2021, like Radio Shack’s move into cryptocurrency. Chardan Capital, acting as a placement agent, was also involved in a merger between Movano and AI cloud computing company Corvex. Post-merger, the combined company remains listed under the “MOVE” ticker without mentions of health tech or smart rings in its announcement.
Following the NewBird AI announcement, Allbirds’ stock price (BIRD) surged to a peak of $24.31, a 721 percent increase from the opening price of $6.82, stabilizing around $20 as of now.