Allbirds sold its brand and IP to American Exchange Group for $39 million on June 17, simultaneously rebranding as Smartbird Inc. and naming former Amazon Web Services executive Nadia Carlsten as chief executive. Shares rose more than 30 percent on the day.
The company confirmed that shift on June 17, completing a rebrand to Smartbird Inc. and appointing Nadia Carlsten as president and chief executive officer. It was the final step in a pivot that had been underway since March, when the Allbirds brand and its intellectual property were sold to American Exchange Group for $39 million. Shares rose more than 30 percent on the day of the announcement.
The Nasdaq listed company named Carlsten to replace Joe Vernachio, who resigned from both the company and its board. Carlsten comes from DCAI, Denmark’s sovereign AI supercomputer project built on Nvidia technology, and previously held roles at Amazon Web Services’ quantum computing center and Alphabet spinoff SandboxAQ. Carlsten has also advised the World Economic Forum on computing and AI.
Annie Mitchell remains chief financial officer. Lily Yan Hughes, an independent director since October 2025, has been appointed board chair.
The name has changed twice in two months.
In April, the company announced its AI pivot under the name NewBird AI, a move that sent shares up more than fivefold at the time. The June 17 rebrand to Smartbird is the second iteration. Including both moves, the stock is up roughly 25 percent this year from its pre pivot baseline, though it remains down roughly 99 percent from its November 2021 Nasdaq high of $577.80.
The AI infrastructure model centers on managed services, leasing access to compute rather than requiring capital outlay on hardware. The company says early stage client conversations are underway, and it is developing initial GPU cluster builds.
The footwear company that no longer exists
The $39 million transaction, which transferred the Allbirds brand name, intellectual property and footwear assets, had already closed before June 17. American Exchange is partnering with WSG Brands (White Space Group), a brand management and licensing platform, on the acquisition.
The footwear operation Allbirds leaves behind was diminished by the time of the sale. Third quarter 2025 revenue had fallen 23.3 percent year over year to $33 million, according to company filings. The company had already closed most of its stores, retaining a minimal retail footprint.
Founded in 2015 by former professional soccer player Tim Brown and sustainability entrepreneur Joey Zwillinger, the brand built its identity around natural materials and went public on the Nasdaq in November 2021, before competition and slowing consumer interest eroded the business
