Stealth Startup Spy #342

Stanford PhD shrinks navigation chips for GPS-denied operations, Dataiku & Datadog alum builds AI dispatch for restoration companies, & Ex-Navy pilot builds real-time aerial intel for defense

May 25, 2026

🚀 We just launched a new newsletter — Company Launch Tracker.

We’re tracking company launches as they happen and surfacing the most interesting new founders and startups (yes, all outside of this stealth activity too). If you want to stay ahead of the curve, this is where you’ll find them first.

Right now we’ve got 5 subscribers: my wife, my mom, and that high school buddy who won’t stop pitching me his app. Be smart like them and get in early 👇

Subscribe to Company Launch Tracker

We run a live feed inside Gravity that tracks founders entering stealth and companies quietly exiting it.

What you’re reading here is about 1% of the stealth activity we pick up. The full tracker updates in real time as things change and new activity emerges.

If you want earlier access to everything, book some time with us to stay ahead.

In this issue of the Stealth Startup Spy, here is what we will uncover:

Stanford PhD is shrinking lab-grade precision navigation instruments into matchbox-sized chips for GPS-denied environments
Google Travel Ads and AI product leader, repeat founder with exit, enters stealth
Dataiku and Datadog alum is building an AI dispatch and back-office automation platform for water, fire, and mold restoration companies
Harvard MBA, former xAI post-trainer, and Navy F/A-18 pilot is building real-time aerial intelligence for defense and public safety operators
Apple, Airbnb and TikTok tech lead enters 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

Jonas Knecht - Co-Founder & Co-CTO at Knit Health

FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Doctorate Degree, Masters Degree, Top 10 University

Prior Experience: PhD in computational health and econometrics at University of California Berkeley, Research Fellow at University of Chicago, Graduate Research Assistant at University of Cambridge

Connect on: LinkedIn or Email

Knit Health is a healthcare intelligence platform, spun out of UC Berkeley, that learns from hundreds of millions of clinical decisions to model how care is actually delivered and optimize patient-provider matching within existing workflows.

HQ: San Francisco Bay Area, United States

Industry: HealthTech, Clinical AI, Health Systems | Team Size: 13

Key Investors: Uncork Capital, Frist Cressey Ventures, Moxxie Ventures, and Coalition Operators

Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 3 Years

Behrad Habib Afshar - Founder at Mavericks Photonics

FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Doctorate Degree, Masters Degree, Top 10 University

Prior Experience: PhD in Electrical Engineering / Applied Physics at Stanford University, Precision Optical Sensing Consultant at Intelligent Fiber Optic Systems, MEng at Imperial College London

Connect on: LinkedIn

Mavericks Photonics is building photonic-integrated sensor chips that deliver lab-grade precision navigation and situational awareness for autonomous systems operating in GPS-denied environments, shrunk into matchbox-sized form factors.

HQ: San Francisco Bay Area, United States

Industry: Deep Tech, Photonics, Defense & Autonomous Systems

Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 2 Years 5 Months

Nick Clouse - Founder at Dispatcher

FounderDNA: Masters Degree, Former FAANG, Top 10 University

Prior Experience: MBA at Harvard Business School, Post-Training at xAI, Product Manager at Anduril Industries, Program Manager at Meta, F/A-18 Pilot at US Navy

Connect on: LinkedIn or Email

Dispatcher is a real-time aerial intelligence platform built for defense and public safety, delivering mission-ready situational awareness with no blind spots.

HQ: San Francisco, California, United States

Industry: Defense Tech, Aerial Intelligence, Public Safety | Team Size: 14

Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 1 Year 5 Months

Sam Jafari - Co-Founder at TelemetryLab

FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Masters Degree, Former FAANG, Top 10 University

Prior Experience: Senior Director, Data & AI at Archer, Executive Technology Advisor at Relativity Space, Director of Data Engineering & AI at Lucid Motors, Data Engineering Manager at Amazon Web Services, Data Engineering Manager at Twitter

Connect on: LinkedIn

TelemetryLab is an AI-native platform for vehicle telemetry, diagnostics, and root cause analysis, serving fleet operators, OEMs, and Tier 1 suppliers with a closed-loop system that turns raw sensor data into deterministic engineering answers.

HQ: Palo Alto, California, United States

Industry: Vehicle Intelligence, AI/ML, Data Infrastructure

Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 1 Year

Jacob Korniak - Co-Founder at Hank

FounderDNA: Masters Degree

Prior Experience: Enterprise Territory Manager at Dataiku, Account Executive at Datadog, GTM at Furhat Robotics, Founding AE at Hyper, Founding Board Member at Rocky Mountain AI Interest Group

Connect on: LinkedIn or Email

Hank is an AI dispatch platform built exclusively for water, fire, and mold restoration companies, handling inbound calls 24/7, dispatching emergencies, and automating back-office work including insurance documentation and CRM updates.

HQ: Austin, Texas, United States

Industry: AI Agents, Field Service Automation, InsurTech | Team Size: 3

Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 2 Months

🕵️‍♂️Key Talent Going Under Stealth

Illuminating clues left behind by world class talent and influential innovators who just went into stealth mode

Anurag Jain - CEO and Co-Founder at Stealth AI Startup

FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Masters Degree, Former FAANG, Prior Exit

Prior Experience: Head of Product - Travel Ads and AI Ads at Google, CEO & Co-founder at Voltix, CTO & Head of Product at Hitfix (acquired by Uproxx Media), CEO & co-founder at Gigzee, Product Manager at Microsoft

Connect on: LinkedIn

HQ: Palo Alto, California, United States