Stealth Startup Spy #345
MIT/Autodesk exit founder builds semi-autonomous wildfire robotics, Ex-Boston Dynamics CSO enters stealth, & Harvard MBA Uber Freight GM builds AI logistics OS for healthcare
💰 New: Featured Founders Fundraising
We’re launching a new section highlighting founders actively raising capital.
Every week I get flooded with messages from founders we’ve featured (and plenty we haven’t yet) wanting to share what they’re building, how fast they’re growing, what their revenue looks like, and who they’re raising from.
Some of those conversations are too interesting to keep behind closed doors.
With the founders’ permission, we’ll occasionally feature startups that are actively fundraising and give you a peek behind the curtain on what they’re building, where they’re at, and what their raise looks like.
Think of it as a curated founder-to-investor matchmaking section built right into the newsletter.
Back to the good stuff…
In this issue of the Stealth Startup Spy, here is what we will uncover:
MIT and Stanford-trained founder behind Topolabs (acquired by Autodesk) is building semi-autonomous robotics for wildfire prevention and precision forestry
Serial founder with exits to Intel, Check Point, and Proofpoint enters stealth
Former SVP at Cambr (acq. by NYSE: NBHC) is building an AI-powered treasury platform for local governments
Former Chief Strategy Officer at Boston Dynamics launches stealth robotics startup
Harvard MBA and former Uber Freight GM is building an AI-native logistics OS for healthcare and life sciences
And more…
Now let’s shine the spotlight… 💡💡💡
💰 Featured Founders Fundraising
Discover startups currently fundraising before they hit everyone’s radar.
Steven Shepard - Co-Founder & CEO at Vaxon Space
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Doctorate Degree, Masters Degree, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Ex-Senior Program Manager for Power and Propulsion, Lunar Fission Surface Power and Directed Energy at Lockheed Martin; ongoing Industry Advisor to NASA, US Space Force, and the Pentagon
Vaxon Space is developing satellite constellations in VLEO focused on missile defense and space-based interceptors, as well as AI / data center connectivity and enhanced ISR. They are a dual-use company supporting the DoW and commercial customers.
HQ: San Jose, California, United States
Traction and Highlights: Vaxon is currently fundraising through June 15 and filed provisional patents on inlet and pumping system with testing beginning in June. Anticipating approximately $3M in government funding wins across DARPA, NASA, AFRL and USSF.
🕵️♂️ Founders Coming Out of Stealth
Real-time updates from founders who debut what they’ve been working on under stealth mode
Olivier Causse - Co-Founder & CEO at ZoomLogi
🔎 Featured Founder under stealth mode in StealthStartSpy#199
FounderDNA: Masters Degree, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Multiple GM Roles at Uber Freight, MBA at Harvard Business School, MS at UC Berkeley, Investment Manager at Verdane, Investment Manager at Equinor Ventures, Advisor at Porterbuddy
ZoomLogi is an AI-native logistics operating system for healthcare and life sciences, unifying carrier data, sensor feeds, and workflows to predict and automate exception resolution for pharmaceutical manufacturers, specialty pharmacies, biotechs, and logistics service providers.
HQ: San Francisco, California, United States
Industry: HealthTech, Logistics AI, Supply Chain SaaS | Team Size: 7
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 1 Year 7 Months
Mcneil A. - Co-Founder at Nolro
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Masters Degree, Former FAANG, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Master of Public Policy at University of Chicago, Management Intern at Amazon, Associate Consultant at Altair Advisers, Commercial Strategy Intern at Gilead Sciences, Congressional Intern at U.S. House of Representatives
Connect on: LinkedIn
Nolro is an AI control plane that enables enterprises to approve releases, enforce guardrails, monitor drift and hallucinations, and generate audit-ready compliance evidence across AI systems, vendors, and workflows.
HQ: Chicago, Illinois, United States
Industry: AI Governance, Enterprise SaaS, Compliance Tech
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 3 Months
Jagadish Nomula - Founder at Metaworkers AI
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Masters Degree, Former FAANG, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Engineering Manager at Amazon, Tech Fellow at Microsoft, Stanford University GSB (Corporate Innovation & Leadership), Founder & CEO at Voicy.AI, Founder at Jobsmunk
Metaworkers.ai is building an enterprise agentic AI platform exploring LLMs, multimodal models, reasoning, and AI coworkers.
HQ: Sunnyvale, California, United States
Industry: Artificial Intelligence, Enterprise Software
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 6 Months
James Page - CEO at Forest3 AI
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Masters Degree, Prior Exit, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Founder & CEO at Topolabs (Acquired by Autodesk), VP Software & AI at Stratasys, Founder & CTO at Riven, Senior Engineer at Intuitive Surgical, MIT and Stanford alum
Forest3 AI deploys small, semi-autonomous equipment for forest management, targeting fire prevention and precision harvesting.
HQ: Oakland, California, United States
Industry: Robotics, AgriTech, Climate Tech | Team Size: 5
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 9 Months
Peter Rogers - Co-Founder & CEO at Edwin
FounderDNA: Top 10 University
Prior Experience: SVP, Head of Product and Operations at Cambr (acquired by National Bank Holdings Corporation, NYSE: NBHC), Strategic Initiatives and Operations at Keystone Industries
Edwin is the AI-powered treasury and financial platform built for local governments.
HQ: Santa Monica, California, United States
Industry: GovTech, FinTech, B2B SaaS | Team Size: 2
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 6 months
🕵️♂️ Key Talent Going Under Stealth
Illuminating clues left behind by world class talent and influential innovators who just went into stealth mode
Neeraj Pradhan - Founder at Stealth Startup
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Masters Degree, Former FAANG, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Founding AI Engineer at LlamaIndex, Machine Learning Engineer at Meta, Research Engineer at Uber, Tech Lead AI Applications at Tribe AI
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: Redwood City, California, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 4 Months
Etay Bogner - Co-Founder & CEO at Stealth AI Startup
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Former FAANG, Prior Exit
Prior Experience: VP and GM Zero Trust Products at Proofpoint, Founder & CEO at Meta Networks (Acquired by Proofpoint), Founder & CTO at Neocleus (Acquired by Intel), Founder & CTO at Stratoscale, Founder & Managing Director at SofaWare (Acquired by Check Point)
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: Israel
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 2 Months
Shilpa Dhar - Co-Founder at Stealth AI Startup
FounderDNA: Technical Founder
Prior Experience: Chief Product Officer at Self Financial, SVP/GM Commerce at HubSpot, Vice President of Product at Coinbase, Head of Product at Venmo, Staff Software Engineer at PayPal
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: San Jose, California, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 2 Months
Marc Theermann - Founder & CEO at Stealth Robotics Company
FounderDNA: Masters Degree, Former FAANG
Prior Experience: Chief Strategy Officer at Boston Dynamics, Director Global Partnerships at Google, EVP Strategy at Millennial Media (Sold to AOL/Verizon), Head of Mobile Platform Sales at Google
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 3 Months
Erik Reppel - Founder at Stealth
FounderDNA: Technical Founder
Prior Experience: Head of Engineering - CDP at Coinbase, Head of Engineering at ZORA, Staff ML Platform Engineer at Clubhouse, Member of Technical Steering Committee at x402 Foundation
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: San Francisco, California, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 2 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.