OpenAI’s CRO position has been in flux for, well, years.
The most recent change came as Denise Dresser, former CEO of Slack, unexpectedly stepped away after less than a year on the job—or so she said on LinkedIn. My colleague Emily Forlini’s sources suggest OpenAI decided to let her go, its fifth C-suite shakeup in the past year, and take the position in a different direction as it races to the public markets in 2027 (apparently lagging behind Anthropic).
We didn’t expect OpenAI to hire Dali Rajic, previously president and COO at Wiz. Though he keeps a low public profile, Rajic, 53, has earned a reputation as one of the most disciplined, successful enterprise sales leaders in tech. He will play a key part in the IPO. This week, Fortune published a profile on Rajic. Here’s what he’s like, as my colleague Emily Forlini writes:
“Rajic is disciplined, blunt, and intellectual, according to four people who have worked with him previously, two of whom requested anonymity to speak freely about the increasingly influential Silicon Valley figure. Rajic declined to comment for this piece, but confirmed the accuracy of the details included here.
Rajic was born in Yugoslavia, in an area which 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 U.S. at age 16 for his last years of high school, he said on a 2022 episode of the Grit podcast. He then attended California State Polytechnic University, Pomona for undergrad, followed by an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
“He is one of the most intense people you will ever meet,” one former friend and colleague of Rajic’s tells Fortune. “We would call him the Croatian Sensation. I remember we would get breakfast, and his version of breakfast was on our way to a meeting would grab two hard-boiled eggs at Starbucks, stuff them in his mouth, and be like, ‘That’s breakfast. Let’s go.’”
That good-to-go instinct will likely be vital for Rajic (and OpenAI) in the coming months, as he tries his hand at a seminal, revolving-door job. As Emily writes:
“It’ll be interesting to see if Dali is there in 12 or 18 months, or if he will burn out like so many other people do at OpenAI,” one source tells Fortune. “That’s the open question.”
And the answer, with the public markets near, matters more than ever. Read more about Rajic here.
See you tomorrow,
Allie Garfinkle
X: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
Submit a deal for the Term Sheet newsletter here.
Joey Abrams curated the deals section of today’s newsletter. Subscribe here.
VENTURE CAPITAL
– Alice, a New York City and Tel Aviv, Israel-based AI trust, safety, and security platform, raised $140 million in funding. ApaxDigitalFunds led the round and was joined by Samsung, SentinelOne, MajInvest, MoreTech, PhoenixInsurance, and existing investors.
– StabilityAI, a Los Angeles, Calif.-based developer of AI products designed for creatives across music, gaming, and entertainment, raised $76 million in Series B funding from UniversalMusic Group, SonyMusicGroup, AMDVentures, PacificAllianceVentures, existing investors, and others.
– Liner, a San Francisco-based AI search and research platform, raised $36.1 million in Series C funding. LBInvestment led the round and was joined by existing investors InterVest, AtinumInvestment, CJInvestment, and others.
– Keenable, a San Francisco-based web-search infrastructure for AI models and agents, raised $26 million in seed funding. Accel led the round and was joined by Conviction and angel investors.
– CorvusRobotics, a San Francisco-based developer of physical AI robots for logistics and warehousing operations, raised $20 million in funding. CatalystInvestors led the round and was joined by existing investors S2GInvestments, SperoVentures, F7Ventures, and others.
– StandardMetrics, a San Francisco-based AI-powered portfolio management platform for venture capital and private equity, raised $20 million in Series B funding. 8VC led the round and was joined by SalesforceVentures, Spark Capital, JanuaryCapital, FirstTrustCapitalPartners, and others.
– Mara, a San Francisco, Calif.-based counter-drone hardware developer, raised $7 million in pre-seed funding. Khosla Ventures led the round and was joined by a16zSpeedrun, NightCapital, Palmdrive, Protagonist, FreedomFund, IndicatorFund, and others.
– Embedd, a London, U.K.-based developer of software infrastructure for physical AI, raised £2.1 million ($2.7 million) in pre-seed funding. Seedcamp led the round and was joined by Cocoa, ConnectVentures, and others.
– OmicsBank, a San Francisco-based clinical data infrastructure company, raised $2.3 million in funding from RedesignHealth.
– Hermetiq, a San Francisco-based AI platform designed to automate the diagnosis and resolution of software build errors, raised $2.2 million in seed funding. JetInvestment led the round.
PRIVATE EQUITY
– BVPForge acquired a majority stake in Nevvon, a New York City-based home care compliance training company for caregivers. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– Exponent agreed to acquire a majority stake in KTL, a Kildare, Ireland-based provider of critical infrastructure services to the telecommunications and power sectors. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– NewBoldTechnologies, a portfolio company of Fort PointCapital, acquired SpencerTechnologies, a Medway, Mass.-based technology lifecycle partner for multi-site retail and hospitality brands. Financial terms were not disclosed.
– Presidential Heating & Air Conditioning, a portfolio company of GryphonInvestors, acquired Shipley Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning, an Ashton, Md.-based HVAC services company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
EXITS
– NavitasSemiconductor agreed to acquire Claros, a Torrance, Calif. and McLean, Va.-based AI data center power delivery company, from RedCellPartners and GeneralCatalyst in a deal valued up to $232.8 million.