Stealth Startup Spy #235
Apple and DreamWorks alums launch platform for next-gen animation, Typeform CRO launches AI interview assistant to automate hiring insights, & Former Google Health exec embarks on stealth venture
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In this issue of the Stealth Startup Spy, here is what we will uncover:
Former Google Health exec goes stealth with a new venture
Ex-Typeform and Atlassian exec launches AI interview assistant to automate hiring insights
Rideback Co-CEOs team up with Apple and DreamWorks alums to launch platform for next-gen animation, gaming, and interactive IPs
Former CPO of Meta-acquired Kustomer is back with a white-labeled CRM featuring AI-powered messaging, ads, and in-app-support
Cambridge-trained AI/ML expert and former Google DeepMind PM is building in 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
Michael LoFaso - Co-Founder & CEO at Cheehoo
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Masters Degree, Top 10 University, Prior Exit
Prior Experience: Co-CEO at Rideback, Co-Founder at Playbook Technologies, ex-VP at Creative Artists Agency, Co-Founder at Flighter TS (Acquired), Harvard MBA
Connect on: LinkedIn
Cheehoo empowers creators to build the next wave of global animation, gaming, and interactive franchises.
HQ: Los Angeles, California, United States
Industry: Software Development | Team Size: 20
Co-Founders:
Wei-Cheng Kuo (Ex-Sr Research Engineer, AIML at Apple)
Yao-Hung Hubert Tsai (Ex-Scientist and Engineer at Apple)
Chris deFaria (Former President of DreamWorks Animation)
Jonathan Eirich (Rideback Co-CEO)
Dan Lin (Founder of Rideback)
Latest Funding: $10M Seed Round on 4/28/2025
Key Investors: Greycroft, Point72 Ventures, Basis Set, Headline Asia, Powerhouse Capital, Playground Productions, Rideback
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 1 year 2 months
Kristen Habacht - CEO at Elly
Prior Experience: Ex-Chief Revenue Officer at Typeform, ex-President and COO at Shogun, ex-Global Head of EDR Sales at Atlassian, ex-VP of Sales at Trello
Connect on: LinkedIn
Elly is an AI assistant that attends interviews and automatically produces a candidate summary, as well as detailed notes about topics covered during the conversation.
HQ: New York, United States
Industry: Technology, Information and Internet | Team Size: 11
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 6 months
Peter Johnson - Co-Founder at Reach
🔎Featured Founder under stealth mode in 9 months ago
FounderDNA: Former FAANG, Top 10 University, Prior Exit
Prior Experience: Ex-Chief Product Officer at Kustomer (acquired by Meta in 2020 for roughly $1 billion)
Connect on: LinkedIn
Reach embeds a full-stack CRM into your SaaS product — AI-powered email & SMS marketing, ad management, customer reviews, and in-app support, all whitelabeled.
HQ: New York, New York, United States
Industry: Embedded Software Products | Team Size: 6
Co-Founder: Oren Bukspan (Ex-Engineering Manager at Meta, Kustomer)
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 11 months
David Valerio Gilmore - Co-Founder at Memex
🔎Featured Founder under stealth mode in 19 months ago
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Masters Degree, Top 10 University, Prior Exit
Prior Experience: Ex-Head of Product Strategy at LiveRamp, Cofounder and ex-CEO at DataFleets (acquired by LiveRamp (NYSE:RAMP) for >$100M), Stanford MBA
Connect on: LinkedIn
Memex lets anyone create technology insanely fast without writing a line of code.
HQ: New York, New York, United States
Industry: Software Development | Team Size: 6
Co-Founder: Eitan Rovero-Shein (Ex-LiveRamp, DataFleets, Google) - featured in SSS#129
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 12 months
Ben Ogren - Founder at Candor
FounderDNA: Technical Founder
Prior Experience: Ex-Director, Product Management at Workday, ex-Senior Product Manager at Ibotta, ex-Director of Product at Galvanize
Connect on: LinkedIn
Candor seamlessly collects, analyzes, and delivers actionable 360-degree feedback that empowers employees, equips managers, and gives insights to build high-performing teams.
HQ: United States
Industry: Technology, Information and Internet
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
Jelena Jovanovic - Founder at Stealth
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Doctorate Degree, Masters Degree, Former FAANG, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Ex-AI for Science - Head of Product Management at Google, ex-Head of Product and THINKLab Director at IBM, ex-COO & Co-Founder at Nixie Labs
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: Australia/United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 7 months
Nick Pezzotti - Founder at Stealth Startup
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Masters Degree, Former FAANG
Prior Experience: Ex-Product Manager at DeepMind, ex-Associate Product Manager at Google, AI/ML at Cambridge
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: San Francisco, California, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 2 months
Basem Al-Shayeb - Founder at Stealth Startup
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Doctorate Degree, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Ex-Co-Founder & CTO at Amber Bio, UC Berkeley PhD, ex-Research Associate, Space Life Sciences at NASA
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 5 months
Jerok Giauque - Founder at Stealth AI Startup
FounderDNA: Masters Degree, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Ex-Director, Data Science & Business Intelligence at The Walt Disney Company, ex-Finance Director, Global Business Planning at Nike, ex-Finance Associate, Investment Banking Control at Goldman Sachs
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: Seattle, Washington, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 3 months
Devan Solanki - Co-Founder at Stealth Startup
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Doctorate Degree, Masters Degree, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Ex-Staff Chemical Engineer at Uplift Geosystems, Chemical Engineering PHD from Yale University, Harvard Postdoc
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 5 months
🚨Here’s the deal🚨This email has gotten too big. Exciting, but with more people following it, the edge diminishes. I’ve thought long and hard about what to do to preserve the value in the signals. I’m not sure about the final direction yet, but in the meantime I’ve been sending an email 48 hours earlier to a select group of paid subscribers. The feedback has been pretty positive so I’m going to open up the list for another 100 spots. To get signals early, Apply here!
Stay Stealthy,
Drake
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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 shine a light on the hidden world of stealth startups.