Stealth Startup Spy #349
McKinsey alum builds ROI accountability for enterprise AI agents, Berkeley & Penn Toyota scholar builds microbial dark matter discovery, & Green energy infra startup exits stealth with $27M seed
🚀 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 👇
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:
McKinsey alum is building the ROI accountability layer for enterprise AI agent workforces
Stanford AI researcher and former YC-backed founder enters stealth
Berkeley- and Penn-trained computer scientist (Toyota Riken scholar) is building a microbial dark matter discovery platform
Former Facebook and Roblox engineering leader enters stealth
Green energy infrastructure company building modular, plug-and-play power systems exits stealth with $27 million in seed funding
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
Alina Vrsaljko - CEO & Co-Founder at Botanu
FounderDNA: Masters Degree, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company, Venture Associate at Endless Frontier Labs, Enterprise Account Manager at Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Botanu is a business performance layer for enterprise AI agent workforces, connecting AI spend across model vendors, tools, and platforms to measurable business outcomes — giving finance and business leaders a single view of agent ROI within their own security boundary.
HQ: New York City & San Francisco
Industry: Enterprise AI, AI Governance, B2B SaaS | Team Size: 2
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 2 Months
Miyu Horiuchi - Founder at Replicater Labs
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Doctorate Degree, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: CPO at Capy, Co-Founder at Lainey, Research at Gulfstream Aerospace, Design Engineer at Sony, UPenn and UC Berkeley alum
Connect on: LinkedIn
Replicater Labs is a life sciences research company focused on discovering and characterizing microbial dark matter.
HQ: San Francisco, California, United States
Industry: Biotechnology, Life Sciences Research
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 9 Months
Leonhard Soenke - Co-Founder at TAR
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Masters Degree, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Co-Founder at Throne, Co-Founder at Meeter (acquired)
Connect on: LinkedIn
TAR is a green energy infrastructure company building modular, plug-and-play power systems — combining solar, wind, battery storage, and gas backup — to provide on-site 24/7 power for AI-era data centers, bypassing grid connection delays.
HQ: Austin & San Francisco
Industry: Energy Infrastructure, CleanTech, Data Center Infrastructure
Latest Funding: $27M Seed Round on 6/15/2026
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 6 Months
Thais Castello Branco - Founder & CEO at Taste Labs
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Masters Degree, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Co-Founder & CPO at Creio, Founding Head of Strategy & Marketing at Exa, VP of Growth and Marketing at Hubla, VP of Marketing & Creator Product at nate®, Brand Lead at The Kraft Heinz Company
Taste Labs is building the data and infrastructure layer for aesthetic intelligence in AI, working with frontier labs on post-training data, RL environments, and evals, and with agent-layer companies on context and verification tools for design.
HQ: San Francisco, California, United States
Industry: Artificial Intelligence, AI Infrastructure, Creative Tech
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 9 Months
Joshua O’Hanlon - Co-Founder & CEO at Sephra
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Former FAANG
Prior Experience: Founding Engineer at Corgi Insurance (YC S24), Founder at Strata, Full Stack Engineer at Amazon
Sephra is building operating infrastructure for next-generation maritime companies.
HQ: San Francisco, California, United States
Industry: Maritime Tech, B2B SaaS, Artificial Intelligence
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 8 Months
🕵️♂️Key Talent Going Under Stealth
Illuminating clues left behind by world class talent and influential innovators who just went into stealth mode
Jason Lin - Co-Founder & CEO at Stealth
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Masters Degree, Former FAANG, Top 10 University, Prior Exit
Prior Experience: Member of Technical Staff at Sanas, Research at Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL), Machine Learning at Apple, Co-Founder & CEO at Sidenote (YC S23), Co-Founder & CEO at Mida (acquired)
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: San Francisco, California, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 1 Month
Mitesh Shah - CTO & Co-Founder at Stealth AI Startup
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Masters Degree, Former FAANG, Prior Exit
Prior Experience: Computer Science at Texas A&M University, Engineering Leader at Facebook, Senior Director of Engineering at Roblox, Head of Compiler Teams at Synopsys
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: San Francisco, California, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 3 Months
Luke Jordan - Founder at Stealth Startup
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Masters Degree, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Director - FX at Starling, Head of Stablecoin at Taptap Send, Founder & CEO at Grassroot, Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Co
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: London, England, United Kingdom
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 1 Month
Andrew Feutrill - Co-Founder/CTO at Stealth AI Startup
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Doctorate Degree, Former FAANG
Prior Experience: Head of Science - Brand Shopping Experience at Amazon, Research Team Lead/Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO’s Data61, Director of Science at Darwinium
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 4 Months
Tim Schwartz - Founder/CEO at Stealth
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Prior Exit
Prior Experience: Founder & CEO at Sherlock, Co-Founder & CEO at Motion (acquired), Co-Founder & CEO at Centrana Health, Director of Product at Rippling
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: San Francisco, California, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 1 Month
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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.