OpenAI’s CRO position has been in flux for years.
The latest change came when Denise Dresser, Slack’s former CEO, unexpectedly resigned after less than a year on the job – or so she said on LinkedIn. My colleague Emily Forlini’s sources indicate that OpenAI has decided to let her go, marking the fifth C-suite shakeup in the past year, and is taking the position in a different direction as it pushes into public markets in 2027 (apparently lagging behind Anthropic).
We did not expect that OpenAI would hire Dali Rajic, the former president and COO of Wiz. Although he keeps a low profile in public, the 53-year-old Rajic has earned a reputation as one of the most disciplined and successful corporate sales executives in technology. He will play a key role in the IPO. This week, Assets published a profile about Rajic. This is how he is, as my colleague Emily Forlini writes:
“Rajic is disciplined, outspoken and intellectual, according to four people who have previously worked with him. Two of them requested anonymity to speak freely about the increasingly influential Silicon Valley figure. Rajic declined to comment for this article but confirmed the accuracy of the details contained herein.
Rajic was born in Yugoslavia, in what is now Croatia, and moved to Germany when he was one year old. Growing up, he always dreamed of coming to America and moved to the United States at the age of 16 for his final years of high school said in a 2022 episode of the Grit podcast. He then attended California State Polytechnic University in Pomona and then completed an MBA at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
“He is one of the most intense people you will ever meet,” says a former friend and colleague of Rajic Assets. “We called him the Croatian sensation. I remember we had breakfast, and his version of breakfast was grabbing two hard-boiled eggs on the way to a meeting.” Starbucksstuffs it into his mouth and says, “That’s breakfast.” Let’s go.'”
This good instinct will likely be crucial for Rajic (and OpenAI) in the coming months as he attempts a game-changing revolving door job. As Emily writes:
“It will be interesting to see whether Dali will be there in 12 or 18 months or whether he will burn out like so many other people at OpenAI,” says a source Assets. “That is the open question.”
And the answer: With public markets nearby, it’s more important than ever. Read more about Rajic here.
See you in the morning,
Allie Garfinkle
X: @agarfinks
E-mail: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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RISK CAPITAL
– Alicea New York City and Tel Aviv, Israel-based AI trust, security and protection platform, has raised $140 million in funding. Apax Digital Medium led the lap and followed suit Samsung, SentinelOne, Maj Invest, MoreTech, Phoenix Insuranceand existing investors.
– stability AIa Los Angeles, California-based developer of AI products for creators in music, gaming and entertainment, has raised $76 million in Series B funding Universal Music group, Sony Music group, AMD ventures, Pacific alliance venturesexisting investors and others.
– Linersa San Francisco-based AI search and research platform, has raised $36.1 million in Series C funding. L.B investment led the round and was supported by existing investors InterVest, Atinum investment, CJ investmentand other.
– Astutea San Francisco-based web search infrastructure for AI models and agents, has raised $26 million in seed funding. acceleration led the lap and followed suit conviction and angel investors.
– Corvus roboticsa San Francisco-based developer of physical AI robots for logistics and warehousing operations, has raised $20 million in funding. catalyst investors led the round and was supported by existing investors S2G Investments, Spero ventures, Q7 venturesand other.
– standard Metricsa San Francisco-based AI-powered portfolio management platform for venture capital and private equity, has raised $20 million in Series B funding. 8VC led the lap and followed suit Salesforce ventures, SparkCapital, January Capital city, First Trust Capital city partnerand other.
– Maraa San Francisco, California-based developer of drone defense hardware, raised $7 million in pre-seed funding. Khosla Ventures led the lap and followed suit a16z Speedrun, Night Capital city, Palm drive, protagonist, Freedom Fund, indicator Fundand other.
– Embeda London, UK-based developer of software infrastructure for physical AI, has raised £2.1 million ($2.7 million) in pre-funding. Seed storage led the lap and followed suit cocoa, Connect venturesand other.
– OmicsBanka San Francisco-based clinical data infrastructure company, has raised $2.3 million in funding Redesign Health.
– Hermetiqa San Francisco-based AI platform designed to automate the diagnosis and resolution of software build errors, has raised $2.2 million in seed funding. jet investment led the round.
PRIVATE EQUITY
– BVP Wrought acquired a majority stake Nevvona New York City-based home care compliance training company for caregivers. Financial details were not disclosed.
– exponent agreed to acquire a majority stake KTLa Kildare, Ireland-based provider of critical infrastructure services to the telecommunications and energy sectors. Financial details were not disclosed.
– NewBold Technologiesa portfolio company of Fort Point Capital cityacquired Spencer Technologiesa Medway, Massachusetts-based technology lifecycle partner for multi-location retail and hospitality brands. Financial details were not disclosed.
– Presidential Heating and Air Conditioninga portfolio company of Gripping investorsacquired Shipley Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioningan Ashton, Maryland-based HVAC service company. Financial details were not disclosed.
EXITS
– Navitas semiconductor agreed to the acquisition Clarosan AI data center power company based in Torrance, California and McLean, Virginia Red cell partner And Generally catalyst in a deal worth up to $232.8 million.