Stealth Startup Spy #180
Gusto alums launch a YC-backed sales tax copilot, Former 2U Chief Revenue Officer ($20M ARR to IPO) embarks on a stealth venture
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:
Former 2U Chief Revenue Officer (10-year tenure, from $20M ARR to IPO) embarks on a stealth venture
Gusto alums launch a Y Combinator-backed sales tax copilot
Former sales enablement leader at Brex, Airtable, and AWS is creating an AI-powered Go-To-Market platform in stealth
Instacart alums unveil a solution for consumer brands to manage excess inventory
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
Juan Manuel Contreras - Co-Founder & CEO at Aymara
FounderDNA: Doctorate Degree, Prior Exit, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Ex-Applied Science Manager at Uber, ex-Head of Data Science at Even (acquired by Walmart), ex-Principal Data Scientist at Capital One, Harvard Alum
Connect on: LinkedIn
Aymara is used by developers to mitigate risk, ensure compliance, and accelerate deployment.
HQ: New York City, NY, United States
Industry: Technology, Information and Internet | Team Size: 2
Co-Founder: Caraline Pellatt (Ex-Head of Content & Creator Equity at Spotify, ex-Pinterest, ex-Twitter)
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 13 months
Benjamin Paik - Co-Founder at Afternoon
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Masters Degree
Prior Experience: Ex-Product Manager at Brex, ex-Product Manager at Gusto, ex-Risk Analyst at Square
Connect on: LinkedIn
Afternoon (YCF24) puts sales tax compliance on autopilot for e-commerce and software companies.
HQ: San Francisco, California, United States
Industry: Software Development | Team Size: 2
Co-Founder: Roman Zubenko (Ex-Product Manager at Notion, ex-Gusto)
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 4 months
Camille van Horne - Co-Founder & CEO at Highstock
FounderDNA: Masters Degree, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Ex-Director of Product Management at Instacart, ex-Director of Product Management / Portfolio Operations at Sears
Connect on: LinkedIn
Highstock is a technology platform offering surplus management solutions that give brands unique insights into their surplus while connecting them with verified buyers.
HQ: New York, NY, United States
Industry: Technology, Information and Internet | Team Size: 5
Co-Founder: Ashish Sinha (Ex-Director of Engineering at Instacart, ex-Lyft)
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 5 months
Ahmed Kamel - CEO & Co-Founder at Sinai.ai
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Co-Founder of adam.ai, Co-founder of YOUXEL Technology
Connect on: LinkedIn
Sinai.ai is a startup focused on revolutionizing how people read and interact with books through AI.
HQ: San Francisco, California, United States
Industry: Information Services | Team Size: 2
Co-founder: Mohamed Elshenawy (Ex-Head of AI/ML at adam.ai)
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 6 months
Jason Feng - Co-Founder & CTO at Shipflow
FounderDNA: Technical Founder
Prior Experience: On Deck Fellow, ex-Software Engineer at Flexport, ex-Founding Software Engineer at CrowdCore, ex-Software Developer at EQ Works
Connect on: LinkedIn
Shipflow automates logistics operations with an AI first platform powered by AI operators.
HQ: San Francisco, California, United States
Industry: Transportation, Logistics, Supply Chain and Storage | Team Size: 2
Co-Founder: Frank L. (Ex-Flexport, Facebook, Microsoft)
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 4 months
🕵️♂️Key Talent Going Under Stealth
Illuminating clues left behind by world class talent and influential innovators who just went into stealth mode
Harsha Mokkarala - Founder at Stealth Startup
Helping revenue teams find new pathways for growth using data and AI
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Masters Degree
Prior Experience: Chief Revenue Officer at 2U (10 year, 7 month tenure from $20M ARR to IPO), Ex-Senior Director, Online Marketing Strategy at Capital One
HQ: Bethesda, MD, United States
Industry: AI Data Infrastructure | Team Size: 3
Key Team Members: Abdel Alfahham (Ex-Software Engineer at Grata, Ex-Data Engineer at KoBold Metals, Researcher at UPenn), Jeffrey Partyka (Ex-Principal Data Science Engineer at Xactly Corp, Research and Development Manager at Infor, Ex-Data Scientist at Raytheon, PhD in Computer Science)
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 8 months
Karen Park - Co-Founder at Stealth Startup
FounderDNA: Former FAANG, Masters Degree
Prior Experience: Ex-Head of Developer Experience Design (formerly Tech Experience Design) at Capital One (8-year tenure), ex-Design Consultant at Apple and Google
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: New York, New York, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 4 months
Chirag Toprani - Founder at Stealth
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Former FAANG
Prior Experience: Ex-Senior Software Lead at Lyft, ex-Software Engineer at Facebook, ex-Software Engineer at Cisco
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: New York, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 3 months
Remy Khoung - Co-Founder & CEO at Stealth AI Startup
Building an AI-driven Go-To-Market (GTM) solution to transform revenue execution.
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Masters Degree, Former FAANG, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Ex-Director of Enterprise GTM Enablement at Brex, ex-Director of Sales Enablement at Airtable, ex-Sales Enablement Strategy Lead at Amazon Web Services (AWS), ex-Head of Global Sales Enablement at TripActions
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: San Francisco, California, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 4 months
Stay Stealthy,
Drake
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