Stealth Startup Spy #90
Former SpaceX, Anduril, and Palantir engineers unveil a next-gen US cyber defense company, Tech-driven pet care startup goes live, & Google/Coursera alum debuts AI platform with $3.8M seed funding
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 track billions of data points to help you identify tomorrow's opportunities that are currently hiding in the shadows. These signals include tracking the inflows and outflows of talent who work at “Stealth Startups”, bios and profile changes to “building something new” and monitoring press releases to shine a light on the hidden world of stealth startups.
In this issue of the Stealth Startup Spy, here is what we will uncover:
Former SpaceX, Anduril, and Palantir engineers partner up and launch US cyber defense company to counter AI-generated cyber threats
Former colleagues from Google and Coursera unveil a platform designed to effortlessly construct AI workflows
Ex-Product Lead for Google Pixel Watch is building a stealth cybersecurity startup
Pet-tech company building robots that help care for your pet comes out of stealth
Ex-Google engineer with prior exit to BrowserStack is developing a new venture under wraps
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
Jiquan Ngiam - Co-Founder & Co-CEO at Lutra
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Doctorate Degree, Former FAANG, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Ex-Senior Staff Engineer at Google Brain, ex-Director of Engineering at Coursera
Connect on: LinkedIn
Lutra allows users to easily build AI workflows that integrate with their existing tools to automate repetitive tasks.
HQ: San Francisco Bay Area, United States
Industry: Technology, Information and Internet | Team Size: 6
Latest Funding: $3.8M Seed Round on 12/7/2023
Key Investors: Coatue, Hustle Fund VC, Maven Ventures, WVV Capital
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 9 months
Tete Xiao - Co-Founder & CEO at Prompt AI
FounderDNA: Doctorate Degree, Former FAANG, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: University of California, Berkeley PhD in AI, ex-Visiting Researcher in AI at Facebook
Connect on: LinkedIn
Prompt AI is an AI startup democratizing access to computer vision by harnessing the power of large language models, helping people take control of their personal media
HQ: San Francisco, California, United States
Industry: Software Development | Team Size: 6
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 9 months
Nik Seetharaman - Founder & CEO at Wraithwatch
FounderDNA: Technical Founder
Prior Experience: Ex-CIO at Anduril Industries, ex-Head of Cybersecurity Operations at SpaceX, ex-Cybersecurity Lead, APAC / EMEA at Palantir Technologies
Connect on: LinkedIn
Wraithwatch is building the next generation of cyber defense for the United States and its allies.
HQ: Bozeman, Montana, United States
Industry: Computer and Network Security | Team Size: 3
Latest Funding: $8M Seed Round on 11/2/2023
Key Investors: Founders Fund, XYZ Capital, Human Capital
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 3 months
Ethan Zheng - Co-Founder at Jobright
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Doctorate Degree, Former FAANG
Prior Experience: Ex-Head of Local Feed at News Break, ex-Machine Learning Engineer at Twitter
Connect on: LinkedIn
Jobright is a personal AI job search co-pilot.
HQ: Santa Clara, California, United States
Industry: Software Development | Team Size: 7
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 11 months
Ashley Covington - Co-Founder at Petwave
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Serial Founder
Prior Experience: Ex-Chief Operations Officer at Solaria Systems, ex-Lead Software Test Engineer at ViacomCBS, ex-QA Analyst at Citymaps
Connect on: LinkedIn
Petwave™ is a pet technology company dedicated to enriching the lives of pets and solving problems for pet parents.
HQ: United States
Industry: Retail Appliances, Electrical, and Electronic Equipment | Team Size: 2
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 10 months
🕵️♂️Key Talent Going Under Stealth
Illuminating clues left behind by world class talent and influential innovators who just went into stealth mode
Mike Fotinakis - Founder at Stealth Startup
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Former FAANG, Prior Exit
Prior Experience: Ex-Principal Engineer at BrowserStack, Founder & ex-CEO at Percy (acquired by BrowserStack in 2020), ex-Software Engineer at Google
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 9 months
Rohit Kandulna - Founder at Stealth Startup
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Masters Degree, Former FAANG
Prior Experience: Ex-Software Development Manager at Amazon, ex-Senior Engineering Manager at Ola Electric, ex-Product Engineer at Google
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 7 months
Jonathan Edward - Co-Founder at Cybersecurity Startup
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Masters Degree, Former FAANG, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Ex-Head of Product, Hardware at Yohana, ex-Product Lead, Google Pixel Watch at Google
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: San Francisco Bay Area, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 17 months
Arkin Terli - Co-Founder & CTO at Stealth Startup
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Former FAANG
Prior Experience: Ex-Software Engineering Manager at Argo AI, ex-Software Architect at Apple, ex-Member of Technical Staff at AMD, ex-Software Engineer at Microsoft
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: Foster City, California, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 45 months
Brian Hoang - Co-Founder at Stealth Startup
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Prior Exit
Prior Experience: Ex-Vice President of Products at InVeris Training Solutions, ex-CEO & Co-founder at SURVIVR (Acquired by InVeris)
Connect on: LinkedIn
HQ: Dallas, Texas, United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 4 months
Stay Stealthy,
Drake
Thank you for reading. If you liked it, share it with your friends, colleagues and everyone interested in staying ahead of the hidden developments in tech. Subscribe below and follow us Twitter to never miss a company operating under stealth again.