Stealth Startup Spy #329 - by Drake Dukes
Stealth Startup Spy #329
Ex-QuantumBlack PM builds the AI workspace for consulting firms, Former Techstars Pipeline Head enters stealth, & Ex-NASA JPL and Meta scientist ships 1-bit LLMs for edge devices
Apr 09, 2026
Invite early-stage founders in your network to the $100k buyer pitch in SF on 4/16. There’s a panel of 6-7 C-levels/VPs fromGong.io, Superhuman (Grammarly), Okta, and more. 10 startups will be selected to give 2-minute demos, and the winner will receive a $100k cash prize. No joke. Here’s the link to share: https://luma.com/beelieve
In this issue of the Stealth Startup Spy, here is what we will uncover:
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Ex-Head of Startup Pipeline at Techstars, co-founder at Favs, and founding team at Orai goes stealth
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Ex-Caltech, NASA JPL, and Meta researcher builds 1-bit LLMs for edge devices
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Former Google Jules engineering head and DeepMind senior AI researcher enters stealth
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Ex-QuantumBlack PM (AI by McKinsey) builds AI operating system for consulting firms
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Salk Institute bioinformatician uses hyperaccumulator plants to extract rare earth elements
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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
Tobias Haefele - Founder & CEO at Riplo
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Masters Degree, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Ex-Principal Product Manager at QuantumBlack (AI by McKinsey), ex-Expert Engagement Manager at McKinsey, CEO & Co-Founder at cFlow Technologies, ex-Research Consultant at DeepMind
Riplo is a single workspace for consulting firms to store data, run engagements, and build deliverables through human-to-agent collaboration.
HQ: United Kingdom
Industry: Technology, Information and Internet | Team Size: 3
Latest Funding: $2.875M Pre-Seed Round on 3/31/2026
Key Investors: Cherry, McKinsey & BCG Partners, the founders of QuantumBlack, BlueLion Capital, & angels from OpenAI, Apple, Goldman Sachs, Hg Capital
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 4 months
Marguerite Benoist - Co-Founder at AquaShield
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Masters Degree, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Ex-Robotics Researcher at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, ex-ML Software Engineer at AIR6 SYSTEMS | AIRBORNE ROBOTICS, ex-Team Leader Navigation Team at EPFL Xplore
AquaShield is the smoke detector for water leaks. AquaShield helps real estate portfolios eliminate losses from undetected water leaks.
HQ: United States
Industry: Real Estate Tech
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 1 month
Omead Pooladzandi - Co-Founder at Prism ML
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Doctorate Degree, Masters Degree, Former FAANG
Prior Experience: Sr Staff Algorithm Engineer at Neural Propulsion Systems, ex-Research Scientist at Meta, ex-Intern at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech Visiting Researcher
PrismML builds 1-bit large language models that run locally on edge devices. Their flagship Bonsai 8B model delivers a 14× smaller footprint, 8× faster inference, and 5× lower energy consumption than full-precision equivalents - enabling enterprise AI without datacenter dependency.
HQ: United States
Industry: Information Services | Team Size: 9
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 11 months
Helena Zeng - Co-Founder at Storyverse AI
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Technical Founder, Doctorate Degree, Masters Degree, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Ex-Head of AI in Entertainment at NextG Tech, ex-Private Equity at China Bridge Capital, ex-Technical Publications Writer, PhD Operations Research at MI, ex-Economics Research Assistant at The London School of Economics and Political Science
Connect on:LinkedIn
Storyverse AI is an AI-native entertainment studio partnering with Hollywood studios and creators to produce films with cinematic quality, consistent characters, and high-end visuals.
HQ: United States
Industry: Technology, Information and Internet
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 3 months
Anthony Aylward - Co-Founder at Rare Flora
FounderDNA: Doctorate Degree
Prior Experience: Ex-Eco Director at Nucleate, ex-Bioinformatics Analyst at Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Bioinformatics & Systems Biology at UC San Diego
Rare Flora uses hyperaccumulator plants to extract rare earth elements from land that is too mineral-rich for agriculture but too diffuse for conventional mining. The model requires no mining infrastructure and can begin production within months of planting.
HQ: United States
Industry: Biotechnology Research | Team Size: 3
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 21 months
🕵️♂️Key Talent Going Under Stealth
Illuminating clues left behind by world class talent and influential innovators who just went into stealth mode
Saba Karim - CEO & Co-Founder at Stealth Startup
Building at the intersection of personal superintelligence and physical AI
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Top 10 University, Prior Exit
Prior Experience: Co-founder at Favs, Ex-Head of Startup Pipeline at Techstars, Ex-Founding Team at Orai, Ex-CMO at Evolve App
Connect on : LinkedIn or Email
HQ: Los Angeles, California, United States
Industry: Hardware | Team Size: 6
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 9 months
Traction Under Stealth: Pre-launch with revenue, currently raising and cap table includes a16z and Kleiner Perkins scout funds, founders of WhatsApp, Hootsuite, CEO of Techstars and more.
Sarvesh Regmi - Co-Founder at Stealth AI Startup
FounderDNA: Serial Founder, Masters Degree, Former FAANG, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Ex-Director of Product Management at GetYourGuide, ex-Product Lead at Airbnb, ex-Sr. Product Manager, Prime Music at Amazon Music, Stanford MBA
Connect on:LinkedIn
HQ: United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 2 months
Maher A. Lahmar - Chief Executive Officer at Stealth AI Startup
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Doctorate Degree, Masters Degree, Former FAANG
Prior Experience: Chief Technology Officer at FACILIS.AI, ex-Head of Data Science at Google, ex-Head of Product, Watson Customer Engagement at IBM, ex-Director, Science Solutions, Global Tech at Walmart, ex-Sr. Manager, Data Science at Target
Connect on:LinkedIn
HQ: United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 2 months
Christine H. - Co-Founder & CEO at Stealth AI Startup
Building the verification layer for video <world> models.
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Masters Degree, Top 10 University
Prior Experience: Ex-Research Scientist, Tech Lead at Microsoft AI, ex-Fellow at Linear Capital, ex-Machine Learning Scientist Intern at PayPal, Stanford alum
Connect on:LinkedIn
HQ: United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 2 months
Shivani Poddar - Founder at Stealth AI Startup
FounderDNA: Technical Founder, Masters Degree, Former FAANG
Prior Experience: Ex-Head of Engineering, Jules at Google, ex-Sr. Engineering Lead | Senior Staff AI Researcher at Google DeepMind, ex-Uber Tech Lead (Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence) at Facebook
Connect on:LinkedIn
HQ: United States
Time Spent in Stealth Mode: 1 month
🚨Here’s the deal 🚨This email has gotten too big. Exciting, but with more people following it, the edge diminishes. I’ve thought long and hard about what to do to preserve the value in the signals. I’m not sure about the final direction yet, but in the meantime I’ve been sending an email 48 hours earlier to a select group of paid subscribers. The feedback has been pretty positive so I’m going to open up the list for another 100 spots. To get signals early, Apply here!
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.