Stealth Startup Spy #152
Google's Healthcare Director launches molecular simulation startup, Stanford PhD from BlackRock AI Labs goes stealth, & US Army vet & ex-US Bank SVP co-founds fintech-AI 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:
The Technical Director of Healthcare and Life Sciences at Google (16-year tenure) leaves his role to launch a next-generation molecular simulation platform for drug discovery
A Stanford PhD and former data scientist at BlackRock AI Labs is building a startup in stealth mode
A seasoned sales strategist previously from HubSpot, LinkedIn, and Bain unveils a platform that retains employee expertise even when key staff move on
A US Army veteran and former senior VP at US Bank co-founds a stealth startup at the intersection of financial services, technology, and AI
The Director of Engineering at Nordstrom leaves their role to co-found a stealth AI startup
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
Javier Tordable - Co-Founder & CEO at Pauling
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Master Degree, Doctorate Degree, Former FAANG
Prior Experience: Ex-Technical Director - Healthcare and Life Sciences at Google (16 year tenure), OnDeck Biotech Fellow, Software Engineer at Microsoft
Pauling - Pauling is a next-generation molecular simulation platform for drug discovery.
HQ: Seattle, Washington, United States
Industry: Biotechnology | Team Size: 6
Co-Founder: Oleksandr Savytskyi , PhD (Postdoctoral Research at Mayo Clinic, Ex-Researcher at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics)
Traction Under Stealth: Currently raising seed with one check secured and one commitment for SAFE. 3 customers with whom are co-developing new molecules. Assembling team of scientific pioneers and execs from top 5 pharma companies.
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 2 months
Rishi Sood - CEO at CTRLpanel
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Masters Degree
Prior Experience: Ex-Sr. Director Sales Strategy at HubSpot, ex-Vice President - Head of Revenue Operations at Axiom, ex-Global Lead - Sales Development Strategy & Operations at LinkedIn, ex-Bain
Connect on: LinkedIn
CTRLpanel helps companies benefit from the knowledge of their departed employees.
HQ: San Francisco, California, United States
Industry: Technology, Information and Internet | Team Size: 3
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: < 1 month
Oriol Martinez Pou - Co-Founder, CEO & CTO at lightenUp
🔎Featured Founder under stealth mode in StealthStartSpy#95
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Masters Degree
Prior Experience: Ex-Director Of Engineering at Electronic Arts (EA), ex-Product Owner, DevOps at Best Buy Canada
Connect on: LinkedIn
LightenUp transforms business operations into AI-driven automations.
HQ: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Industry: Technology, Information and Internet | Team Size: 6
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 8 months
Alex Pokras - Co-Founder at One Interface
FounderDNA: Technical Founder
Prior Experience: Ex-AI Researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ex-President at TUM.ai, ex-Generative AI Engineer at Rohde & Schwarz
Connect on: LinkedIn
One is an AI that lives on your Mac and knows everything you've seen on your screen. (YCS24)
HQ: San Francisco, California, United States
Industry: Technology, Information and Internet | Team Size: 2
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 4 months
Ariadna Font Llitjos - Co-Founder & CEO at Alinia
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Doctorate Degree, Masters Degree
Prior Experience: Ex-Senior Director Of Engineering at Twitter, ex-Director of Enginineering, Watson, Data & AI at IBM
Connect on: LinkedIn
Alinia enables enterprises to evaluate, control and optimize Gen AI applications.
HQ: New York, United States | Barcelona, Spain
Industry: Software Development | Team Size: 6
Co-Founder: Carlos Muñoz Ferrandis (ex-Hugging Face)
Latest Funding: $2.4M Pre-Seed round on 7/7/2024
Key Investors: Speedinvest, Precursor Ventures, KFund, Tom Preston-Werner
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 14 months
🕵️♂️Key Talent Going Under Stealth
Illuminating clues left behind by world class talent and influential innovators who just went into stealth mode
Nick Ficano - Co-Founder & CTO at Stealth Startup
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder
Prior Experience: Ex-Engineer at Twitter, ex-Founding Engineer at Simple Health ($26M raised), first hire at OneReceipt (acquired by Rakuten)
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: New York, New York, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 8 months
Avinash Anand - Co-Founder at Stealth AI Startup
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Masters Degree
Prior Experience: Ex-Director Of Engineering at Nordstrom, ex-VP Engineering at Zenefits, ex-Vice President at Goldman Sachs
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 3 months
Kunal Menda - Founder at Stealth Startup
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Doctorate Degree, Masters Degree, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Ex-Data Scientist at BlackRock AI Labs, Stanford PhD in Aeronautics & Astronautics
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: New York, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 4 months
Nate Knowlton - Founder at Stealth Startup
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Masters Degree
Prior Experience: Ex-Senior Vice President, Head of Process Re-Engineering at U.S. Bank, ex-Director, Technology Strategy at USAA, ex-McKinsey, US Army Veteran
Connect on: LinkedIn
Building at the intersection of financial services, technology, and AI.
HQ: San Antonio, Texas, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 12 months
Heber Uriegas - Co-Founder at Stealth Startup (YCS24)
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder
Prior Experience: Ex-Head of Engineering at Orchata (YCS20), ex-Chief Technology Officer at PRYSMEX
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: San Francisco, California, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 1 month
Stay Stealthy,
Drake
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