Stealth Startup Spy #261
Tesla’s former AI/data/security head is now in stealth, Spotify & Priceline alum builds AI platform for personalized customer experiences, & Ex-WhatsApp and Uber insights lead goes stealth
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In this issue of the Stealth Startup Spy, here is what we will uncover:
Tesla’s former AI/data/security engineering head is now in stealth
Ex-Google PM is building a platform to monitor property risk, compliance, and climate exposure without onsite inspections or consultants.
Ex-Retool and AWS engineers launch YC-backed no-code builder
Former Spotify & Priceline PM builds AI personalization platform
Ex-WhatsApp and Uber insights lead goes 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
Hantz Fevry - Founder & CEO at Geolava
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Former FAANG, Top 10 University, Prior Exit
Prior Experience: Ex-Founder & CEO at Stoovo (acquired), ex-Product Manager at Google
Geolava is a spatial intelligence platform that can monitor property conditions, compliance, and climate exposure at scale, all without relying solely on consultants or on-site inspections.
HQ: San Francisco, California, United States
Industry: Space Research and Technology | Team Size: 9
Lastest Funding: $4.3M Seed Round on 7/29/2025
Key Investors: Luge Capital, Suffolk Technologies, E2MC
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 14 months
Michael Kaufman - Co-Founder & CEO at Arena
🔎Featured Founder under stealth mode 17 weeks ago
FounderDNA: Masters Degree, Prior Exit
Prior Experience: Ex-Head of Product, Say at Robinhood, ex-VP, Product and Operations at Say Technologies, ex-Product Manager at FINRA
Arena is a vendor evaluation platform to help prospective buyers select the right vendors for their business.
HQ: New York, New York, United States
Industry: Technology, Information and Internet
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 5 months
Sidd Motwani - Co-Founder & CEO at Malachyte
FounderDNA: Technical Founder
Prior Experience: Ex-Senior Product Manager, User Representation Platform at Spotify, ex-Lead Product Manager, Personalization at Priceline.com
Malachyte helps businesses use AI to unlock the full value of their data and deliver highly personalized customer experiences.
HQ: New York, New York, United States
Industry: Software Development | Team Size: 9
Co-Founder: Ian Anderson (Ex-Staff ML Engineer at Spotify) - Connect via email
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 27 months
Yujian Yao - Co-Founder at Floot
FounderDNA: Technical Founder
Prior Experience: Ex-Staff Software Engineer at Retool, ex-Program Lead - Content Experience at Asana, ex-Software Engineer intern at Dropbox
Connect on: LinkedIn
Floot (YC S25) is an easy-to-use, powerful platform for non-coders & entrepreneurs to build apps that actually work.
HQ: San Francisco, California, United States
Industry: Software Development | Team Size: 2
Co-Founder: Edward Look (Ex-AWS Software Engineer)
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 4 months
James Bayer - Co-Founder & CPO at FluidCloud
Prior Experience: Ex-Senior VP of Product Management at HashiCorp, ex-VP of Product, Cloud Foundry at Pivotal Software
FluidCloud is building a Cloud Cloning™ platform that lets users clone, migrate, restore, and optimize infrastructure across clouds in minutes.
HQ: United States
Industry: Software Development | Team Size: 15
Co-founders: Sharad Kumar (connect via email) - founding team at Accurics (acquired by Tenable for $160M)), Harshit Omar (connect via email) - Founding Engineer at Accurics
Latest Funding: $8.1M Seed Round on 7/28/2025
Key Investors: Unusual Ventures, U First Capital
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
Rob Bird - Co-Founder & CEO at Stealth Startup
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder
Prior Experience: Ex-Head, Global AI, Data & Security Platform Engineering at Tesla, ex-Chief Architect at Sandvine, ex-Principal Architect at Akamai Technologies
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: Orlando, Florida, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 2 months
Josh Panka - Founder at Stealth
FounderDNA: Technical Founder
Prior Experience: Ex-Director of Engineering, Data Platform at Klaviyo
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 6 months
Saswati Saha Mitra - Founder at Stealth
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Masters Degree, Former FAANG
Prior Experience: Ex-Director of Product Insights at WhatsApp, ex-Head of Driver and Money Research at Uber, ex-Google Assistant lead
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: London Area, United Kingdom
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 4 months
Edrin Osmani - Co-Founder & CPO at Stealth Startup
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Ex-Global Product Lead, AI, Data & Security Platforms at Tesla, ex-Security Analytics Manager at Uber
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: San Francisco Bay Area, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 1 month
Rob Truxler - Co-Founder & CTO at Stealth Startup
FounderDNA: Technical Founder
Prior Experience: Ex-Director of Engineering at Wayfair, ex-Director of Engineering at TripAdvisor
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 3 months
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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.