Stealth Startup Spy #133
OpenAI’s co-founder & Chief Scientist left to go into stealth mode, Fintech unicorn Paddle's founder launches new stealth venture, & Engineer with $700M exit to F5 and Juniper unveils security startup
Stealth Startup Spy is a data-driven newsletter for investors, journalists and tech enthusiasts interested in uncovering the next big move for key talent, real-time stealth company launches and technology advancements not in plain sight. We leverage the technology built at Gravity to track billions of data points to help you identify tomorrow's opportunities that are currently hiding in the shadows. These signals include tracking the inflows and outflows of talent who work at “Stealth Startups”, bios and profile changes to “building something new” and monitoring press releases to shine a light on the hidden world of stealth startups.
In this issue of the Stealth Startup Spy, here is what we will uncover:
OpenAI’s co-founder and former Chief Scientist has left the company and is currently working in stealth mode
Serial entrepreneur with two successful exits: Volterra ($500M to F5) and Contrail Systems ($200M to Juniper Networks) unveils security startup backed by Khosla Ventures
The founder and former CEO of fintech unicorn Paddle leaves to start a new stealth venture
An alumnus of Y Combinator is building at the intersection of blockchain and AI
A manufacturing company founded by a former engineering director at Anduril Industries comes out of stealth
And more…
Now let’s shine the spotlight… 💡💡💡
🕵️♂️Founders Coming Out of Stealth
Real-time updates from founders who debut what they’ve been working on under stealth mode
Ankur Singla - Founder & CEO at Exaforce
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Masters Degree, Top 10 University, Prior Exit
Prior Experience: Ex-SVP/GM, Security Products Group at F5, ex-Founder/CEO at Volterra (acquired by F5 for $500M), ex-SVP/GM at Juniper Networks, ex-Founder/CEO at Contrail Systems (acquired by Juniper Networks for $200M)
Connect on: LinkedIn
Exaforce is solving tough engineering and operations problems faced by security, devops, and SRE teams.
HQ: New York, New York, United States
Industry: Technology, Information and Internet | Team Size: 15
Latest Funding: $27M Series A Round on 7/13/2023
Key Investors: Mayfield, Khosla Ventures, Thomvest, Touring Capital, and Singapore Govt [EDBi]
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 13 months
Zack Eakin - Co-Founder & CEO at Layup Parts
🔎Featured Founder under stealth mode in StealthStartSpy#110
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Masters Degree
Prior Experience: Ex-Director, Mechanical Engineering at Anduril Industries, ex-Director of Engineering at The Boring Company, ex-President and Chief Engineer at Miles Engineering
Connect on: LinkedIn
Layup is a manufacturing company that aims to make composite parts faster than anyone else.
HQ: Huntington Beach, California, United States
Industry: Manufacturing | Team Size: 4
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 5 months
Shahrukh Ghazali - Co-Founder at Aura
FounderDNA: Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Ex-Director - Growth & Marketing at Careem, ex-Growth Marketing Manager at invygo, ex-Head of Growth & User Experience at Rocket Internet SE
Connect on: LinkedIn
Aura lets SMEs get paid immediately on invoice date, while their B2B customers pay on trade credit terms.
HQ: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Industry: Financial Services | Team Size: 7
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 12 months
Awais Shafique - Co-Founder & CEO at Beyond Presence
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Masters Degree, Prior Exit
Prior Experience: Ex-Product Manager at Meta, ex-Co-Founder/ CPO at Presize.ai (acquired by Meta), ex-Deep Learning Engineer at Kaia Health
Connect on: LinkedIn
Beyond Presence is a stealth startup that is part of the Y Combinator Summer 2024 batch.
HQ: Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Industry: Software Development | Team Size: 2
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 7 months
Jon Levinson - Co-Founder & CEO at Clara
Prior Experience: Ex-Lead Product Manager at Uber, ex-Head of Product at Pillar App, ex-Product Manager at Blue Apron, ex-Product Manager at TripAdvisor
Connect on: LinkedIn
Clara is building an all-in-one, senior-care specific payroll & compliance solution for consumers.
HQ: New York, New York, United States
Industry: Technology, Information and Internet
Key Investors: Virtue
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 7 months
🕵️♂️Key Talent Going Under Stealth
Illuminating clues left behind by world class talent and influential innovators who just went into stealth mode
Taariq Lewis - Founder & CEO at Stealth AI Startup
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Top 10 University, Masters Degree, Y Combinator Alum
Prior Experience: Ex-CEO, DigitalTangibe, Ex CEO: Serica (YCS15)
Building at the intersection of blockchain and AI
HQ: Berkeley, California, United States | Team Size: 10
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 1 month
Jack Crawford - Co-Founder at Stealth Startup
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Masters Degree
Prior Experience: Ex-Senior Assistant Vice President at Wells Fargo, ex-Founder and CTO at Datalog, ex-Vice President, Artificial Intelligence and Enterprise Data Solutions at Saama, ex-Senior Director, Customer Experience Solutions at Cognizant, ex-Senior Director at Allergan, ex-Senior Manager at Gilead Sciences
Connect on: LinkedIn
Building an Agentic AI platform designed specifically for mid-market firms.
HQ: Irvine, California, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 1 month
Kimi Lu - Founder & CEO at Stealth Startup
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Masters Degree, Former FAANG
Prior Experience: Co-Founder & ex-CEO at Momen, Co-Founder & ex-CEO at Functor Z Technologies (backed by Sequoia, Linear Capital, YC China), ex-Software Engineer at Facebook, Groupon, and Google
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: California, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 8 months
Christian Owens - Founder at Stealth
FounderDNA: Serial Founder
Prior Experience: Founder and ex-CEO of Paddle ($293M raised), Thiel Fellow
Connect on: LinkedIn or Twitter
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 1 month
Ilya Sutskever - Founder at Stealth
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Former FAANG, Masters Degree, Doctorate Degree, Top10 University
Prior Experience: Co-Founder and ex-Chief Scientist at OpenAI, ex-Research Scientist at Google, Stanford alum
Connect on: LinkedIn or Twitter
HQ: San Francisco Bay Area, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 1 month
Stay Stealthy,
Drake
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