Klarna CEO & Sutter Hill Celebrate Jony Ive's OpenAI Deal

OpenAI's Acquisition of io and Subsequent Investor Revelations

Following the announcement on Wednesday that OpenAI was acquiring Jony Ive’s company, io, in a fully stock-based deal valued at $6.5 billion, Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski shared an unexpected update on X.

Siemiatkowski revealed that his family’s investment office, Flat Capital, had acquired shares in io just six months prior. Given the all-stock nature of the acquisition, these io shares will now be exchanged for shares in OpenAI’s for-profit entity.

Flat Capital's Investment in io

“@FlatCapital is pleased to have been an investor in io, and we anticipate receiving a substantial return on our investment made approximately six months ago, now in the form of OpenAI shares,” Siemiatkowski stated in a tweet.

This post sparked considerable attention, prompting Flat Capital to release an official statement. The statement confirmed that io was the previously unnamed company within their “mini-portfolio” of four U.S. AI companies they had invested in.

Flat Capital disclosed an investment of 34 million SEK in io, which equates to roughly $3.6 million.

Sutter Hill Ventures' Involvement

Further surprising information emerged from Luke Wroblewski, a former Google employee and current managing director at Sutter Hill Ventures, a prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm.

Wroblewski initially posted on X and LinkedIn, congratulating io on its $6.5 billion acquisition by OpenAI and expressing his firm’s satisfaction with being an investor. However, these posts were subsequently deleted.

Reports from individuals who viewed additional deleted tweets suggest that Sutter Hill Ventures may have been the second-largest investor in io. However, TechCrunch was unable to independently verify this claim.

Sutter Hill Ventures did not respond to requests for comment, and Wroblewski removed his posts after being contacted.

OpenAI's Prior Stake and Other Investors

Sources speaking with Bloomberg indicated that OpenAI already held a 23% stake in io, valued at approximately $1.5 billion. This implies that OpenAI paid around $5 billion in stock for the remaining shares of the company.

Other investors in io, as reported by Bloomberg, included Emerson Collective (Laurene Powell Jobs’ firm), Thrive Capital, Maverick Ventures, SV Angel, and the OpenAI Fund. It’s important to note that the OpenAI Fund is funded by external investors, not directly by OpenAI’s own capital.

Bloomberg also independently confirmed Sutter Hill Ventures’ investment, despite the deletion of Wroblewski’s initial posts.

Key Takeaway: The acquisition of io has revealed a network of prominent investors who recognized the company’s potential, with OpenAI itself being the largest stakeholder prior to the full acquisition.