{"id":6371,"date":"2026-05-11T14:30:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T12:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.lineapelle-fair.it\/?p=6371"},"modified":"2026-05-26T14:19:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T12:19:29","slug":"we-wanted-to-be-supergreen-allbirds-becomes-a-tech-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.lineapelle-fair.it\/en\/green-corner-en\/we-wanted-to-be-supergreen-allbirds-becomes-a-tech-company\/","title":{"rendered":"We wanted to be supergreen: Allbirds becomes a tech company"},"content":{"rendered":"

Allbirds was founded in 2016 as a shoe manufacturer and it was explicitly based on a supergreen business plan. Ten years later, the brand states that it has reached an agreement to sell its intellectual property to American Exchange Group. So, basically: Allbirds is not a brand of sustainable sneakers anymore, and it has transformed itself into a tech company<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

by Massimiliano Viti<\/p>\n

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\u201cAllbirds<\/strong> was founded to help nature make a comeback. It\u2019s really that easy\u201d is the slogan that the official site of the shoewear brand attributes to its co-founder, Tim Brown<\/strong>. But, during April 2026, Allbirds has shifted its course by becoming a tech company<\/strong> and, as a consequence, making this statement truly meaningless. Evidently, it wasn\u2019t that easy, as Brown claimed.<\/p>\n

Allbirds becomes a tech company<\/strong><\/h3>\n

On March 30th 2026, Allbirds stated that it had reached an agreement to sell its intellectual property to American Exchange Group<\/strong> for 39 million dollars<\/strong> (less than 1% of its previous valuation of 4 billions<\/strong>). The conference call on the results for the fourth quarter of its fiscal year, scheduled for the following day, was cancelled. On April 7th, as if nothing happened, the company announced a collaboration with Pantone <\/strong>for the launch of a new shoe collection.<\/p>\n

Then, on April 15th, the shocking news: Allbirds is no longer the sustainable sneaker brand that was a hit among Silicon Valley\u2019s millennials. It has reinvented itself as a tech company looking to capitalize on the Artificial Intelligence recent boom. From now on, it will be called NewBird AI<\/strong>, becoming the first shoewear company ever to carry out this transformation. But, how did we end up here?<\/p>\n

We wanted to be supergreen<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Allbirds is a shoewear brand founded in 2016 by the New Zealand ex football player Tim Brown and the American industrial engineer Joey Zwillinger<\/strong>. The brand gains reputation and becomes known for its mission of producing sustainable shoes with environmentally friendly materials<\/strong>: merino wool, eucalyptus and sugarcane fiber. Its popularity grows rapidly and exponentially. The Allbirds become the trendiest shoes in Silicon Valley, ending up on the feet of many celebrities such as Barack Obama<\/strong>, back in 2020. During November 2021, Allbirds went public<\/strong>, its shares were priced at 15 dollars and its market capitalization reached approximately 4 billion dollars<\/strong>. In 2022, sales peaked at 297,8<\/strong> million dollars<\/strong>. Then, came the crash.<\/p>\n

The crash<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Too much investment <\/strong>had been directed towards opening new stores. The quality <\/strong>of the products perceived by consumers <\/strong>drastically declined, while competition <\/strong>rapidly grew. The stock price<\/strong> plummeted inexorably, hitting 2,49 dollars. Actually, Allbirds lost 99% of its market value<\/strong> before its sudden and deep change in direction. A profound shift that – while it may be justifiable from a financial and business standpoint as, by definition, the entrepreneur seeks profit – it raised criticism and concern <\/strong>within the environmental community, which had previously held Allbirds up as a sustainability model.<\/p>\n

In fact, the brand had attracted investors, raised capital and won over customers and markets thanks to the green idea which it was based on. All completely vanished: from April 15th, Allbirds has abandoned both the mission<\/strong> for which it was created and its environmental attention, which it appears to be completely conflicting with the one towards Artificial Intelligence.<\/p>\n

And now?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The FastCompany Portal highlights the situation Maveron <\/strong>has found itself in, as a venture capital company among the first financial backers of Allbirds. In fact, it remains one of its biggest investors, and has always praised the brand\u2019s environmental efforts. And now? Liza Moiseeva<\/strong>, marketing responsible for Commons (a fintech app that helps people to spend money in a more sustainable way), sees this change in direction of the ex-shoewear company as an integral part of the shift away from environmental issues triggered by the Trump administration<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the sociopolitical context that we live in, the word \u201csustainability\u201d is becoming sort of a negative word. Allbirds is not the first sustainability-driven company to go bankrupt<\/strong>\u201d. The portal refers to the underwear brand Parade<\/strong>, the shoewear brand Nisolo <\/strong>and the luggage brand Paravel<\/strong>. All B Corp<\/strong>-certificated companies.<\/p>\n

Goodbye, green mission<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Allbirds brand will remain on the market through American Exchange Group, but his environmental effort will not be followed up. As Jennifer Wilkins<\/strong>, a writer specialized in economics, pointed out on LinkedIn, \u201cAmerican Exchange Group is not a public utility company\u201d.Therefore, Allbirds\u2019 sustainability mission \u201cis no longer a regulatory requirement built into the company\u2019s structure<\/strong>\u201d. This marks the beginning of a new interesting chapter. While Allbirds has gone public, exposing itself to market fluctuation, the Patagonia <\/strong>brand, which has never received funding from any venture capital and has never gone public, has managed to safeguard and even strengthen its environmental mission.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Allbirds case – claims Wilkins – proves that business sustainability is not just about low-carbon emissions. It also concerns how the corporate leadership behaves in a changing economic landscape<\/strong>\u201d. Now, it remains to be seen whether NewBird AI will be able to successfully transition from selling sneakers to activities related to Artificial Intelligence, despite being a very small company in an industry dominated by giants. But, beyond that, Allbirds betrayed the trust of its own community, composed of investors and customers who are environmentally conscious.<\/p>\n

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