Promise
Promise is a next-generation entertainment studio leveraging generative AI to produce original films and series, founded in 2024 by George Strompolos, Jamie Byrne, and Dave Clark; the company secured an undisclosed seed round in late 2024 led by Andreessen Horowitz and Peter Chernin’s North Road Company, positioning the early-stage venture to develop proprietary AI tools that seamlessly integrate cutting-edge GenAI artistry with Hollywood storytelling.
Daniel Kofman
Daniel Kofman, founder of a defense tech startup in stealth mode, is building next-generation security systems following his tenure as Optivolt CTO (acquired by Lockheed Martin in 2024). The University of Illinois mechanical engineering graduate brings 10+ years of hardware expertise from developing rifle-resistant body armor to AI-powered surveillance drones at Kofman Technologies. His current venture, backed by a16z Speedrun resources, focuses on autonomous perimeter defense systems combining computer vision and edge AI processors. Kofman's proven track record includes 5 DARPA contracts and leadership in TechNexus' homeland security accelerator program, positioning this venture to modernize military infrastructure through human-AI teaming architectures.
Mastra
Mastra is an open-source TypeScript framework that empowers developers to rapidly prototype and productionize AI agents by providing robust primitives such as workflows, memory-enabled agents, and evaluation tools; launched in 2024 through Y Combinator with a $500K pre-seed deal, this early-stage venture is driven by a team of seasoned open-source experts including Sam Bhagwat (CEO and co-creator of Gatsby.js), Abhi Aiyer (CTO), and Shane Thomas (CPO), whose combined expertise is steering the evolution of a full-stack AI toolkit for modern web development.
notte
Notte is pioneering a transformative web browser for AI agents that converts websites into structured, navigable maps described in natural language—minimizing hallucinations, reducing token usage, and lowering latency for LLM-based interactions; founded by Lucas Giordano, an experienced ML researcher with a track record in developing AI solutions, and Andrea Pinto, a deep learning expert actively pushing the boundaries of LLM technology, Notte is bootstrapped and in early-stage private beta, poised to revolutionize web navigation and task automation for next-generation AI applications.
Serif
Serif is an AI-powered executive assistant that transforms email management by automatically organizing your inbox and drafting context-aware replies that reflect your unique voice—all seamlessly integrated with Gmail. Co-founded in mid-2023 by Kevin Yang, a Stanford alum and AI innovator focused on boosting digital productivity, and James Liu, an accomplished machine learning engineer passionate about automating workflows, Serif empowers busy professionals to reclaim their time and achieve true email freedom.
David Chie
ChipAgents
ChipAgents, from Alpha Design AI, is revolutionizing semiconductor design automation by harnessing generative AI to accelerate chip design and verification by up to 10x. Founded by William Yang Wang—the Duncan and Suzanne Mellichamp Endowed Chair Professor at UC Santa Barbara with a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University and over 200 published papers, along with multiple prestigious awards—ChipAgents boasts state-of-the-art results on NVIDIA’s VerilogEval benchmark and is trusted by leading semiconductor companies that have shipped over 14B chips worldwide. His extensive expertise in AI, natural language processing, and responsible machine learning drives the creation of an agentic environment that empowers engineers to streamline chip design workflows in their favorite code editors.
OrbStack
OrbStack is a blazing-fast, lightweight alternative to Docker Desktop on macOS, delivering near-native performance for running Linux containers and VMs by leveraging Apple’s hypervisor framework and Apple Silicon virtualization. Bootstrapped solely by its founder, Danny Lin, a Stanford CS alum and prolific indie hacker known for his innovative developer tools, OrbStack has rapidly gained traction through developer word-of-mouth and social media acclaim for dramatically improving dev workflows with instant startup, low CPU usage, and seamless networking.
FuseAI
FuseAI is an early-stage agentic sales platform that automates enterprise go-to-market workflows—acting as a virtual SDR to generate targeted lead lists, research prospects, manage pipelines, and engage customers with natural-language prompts. Emerging from Y Combinator in 2024 with a $500K seed round, FuseAI is set to redefine revenue operations by enabling one salesperson to achieve the work of five. The company is led by co-founders Saurav Bubber (CEO) and Imogen Low (CTO), who bring deep expertise from high-growth startups and advanced machine learning innovations to transform sales and marketing processes.
Pangram Labs
Pangram Labs is an AI content detection platform that safeguards digital authenticity by distinguishing human-written text from AI-generated content with over 99.98% accuracy across 20+ languages. Founded by Max Spero and Bradley Emi, who leverage their deep expertise in machine learning, natural language processing, and neural network research, the company has emerged as essential infrastructure for publishers and educators aiming to combat spam, fraud, and plagiarism in an era dominated by generative AI.
ALL3
ALL3, powered by FunkFlow Platforms, is revolutionizing architecture and construction by fusing AI-driven design with robotic assembly. The platform leverages generative AI to create optimized architectural plans and employs autonomous robots to fabricate modular building components, drastically reducing construction time and costs for housing and commercial interiors. Currently in private beta and bootstrapped by FunkFlow’s established operations, ALL3 is led by founder Rodion Shishkov, whose interdisciplinary expertise in engineering and technology is paving the way for mass production efficiency in the construction industry.
Doji
Doji is revolutionizing fashion e-commerce with AI-powered virtual try-ons, enabling users to generate lifelike avatars from selfies and "try" curated luxury items from partners like LVMH’s Loro Piana. Backed by Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six and Origins Fund, the startup is preparing a $20M Series A to scale its iOS-first platform, which reduces return rates by 40% through precise fit prediction. Co-founded in 2022 by Dorian Dargan (ex-Meta/Apple designer) and Jim Winkens (ex-Google DeepMind engineer), who met via a viral Twitter thread on AI x fashion, Doji combines technical rigor with luxury aesthetics. The duo’s beta has gained traction at Anthropic and Humane, with plans to white-label its tech for global luxury brands.
Jörg Doku
Jörg Doku is currently building a stealth AI/ML startup after scaling RunPod's machine learning deployment to $XX million ARR as Head of ML Deployment during its hypergrowth phase. The Cornell Mathematics and CS graduate (BS '17) brings deep technical expertise from Google Brain research roles and advising 20+ AI ventures backed by a16z and Paradigm. Previously demonstrated product prowess by single-handedly scaling a SaaS tool to $100K ARR with 70% margins and 20% weekly growth.
Jay Li
Jay Li, founder of Proception.ai (YC W25), is pioneering advanced dexterous robotic hands for humanoid robots, combining AI with human-inspired engineering. A Stanford EE graduate and former Tesla Optimus electronics lead, he designed critical sensors for Gen 2 humanoids before launching Proception in 2024. Backed by Y Combinator and undisclosed VCs, his team delivered a functional prototype in 4 months, targeting researchers and enterprises. Li brings 10+ years of hardware expertise from Apple, Aurora, and Aeva, with a track record scaling products from stealth to IPO. Hiring AI/EE engineers to expand into full humanoid systems.
Icon
Icon is disrupting digital marketing through its AI Admaker platform that generates viral-ready assets in seconds, leveraging generative AI to produce content with proven virality coefficients. The startup has secured $500K from Founders Fund and celebrity backers, with plans to raise a $20M Series A for global expansion. Co-founded by Max Altman (brother of OpenAI's Sam Altman) and a stealth technical co-founder, the team combines Silicon Valley pedigree with AI artistry - Altman previously founded YC-backed Saga and advised Pika and RunwayML. Early campaigns for Red Bull and Gymshark achieved 10M+ views through AI-generated meme-style ads, demonstrating their platform's edge in attention economics.
Profound
Profound is an AI brand reputation management platform that audits enterprise LLM outputs to prevent PR crises, securing $3.5M in seed funding at $18M valuation from Insight Partners. Co-founded by Dylan Babbs (Uber Maps design lead) and James Cadwallader (ex-Google Trust & Safety), the startup combines Babbs' expertise in geospatial data visualization with Cadwallader's AI policy background from South Park Commons. Babbs brings 7+ years of maps/product design experience from Uber and HERE Technologies, while Cadwallader advised 30+ Fortune 500 companies on AI ethics through his Stanford Policy Lab fellowship. Their platform already monitors 15M+ daily inferences for clients like LVMH and Johnson & Johnson, using multimodal analysis to flag brand risks in real-time.
Delian Alliance Industries
Delian Alliance Industries, a defense technology innovator, develops next-gen aerospace systems through AI-powered threat detection platforms. Founded in 2023 by Dimitrios Kottas (ex-Lockheed Martin Skunk Works engineer) and an undisclosed military strategist, the company recently closed $4.2M in pre-seed funding from 8VC and Shield Capital. Kottas brings 15+ years of classified program experience at Lockheed's Advanced Development Programs, having led teams on hypersonic glide vehicle countermeasure systems. The stealth startup is currently prototyping autonomous EWAR (Electronic Warfare) solutions for fifth-generation fighters under DARPA contracts.
Skiplabs
Skiplabs is building AI-powered tools to automate enterprise procurement workflows, leveraging large language models to analyze contracts and optimize vendor negotiations. Founded in 2024 by Alexandre Berriche, a serial entrepreneur who previously scaled SaaS startup Younium to €10M ARR before exit, the company is currently raising a $3.5M seed round led by Creandum. Berriche brings 12+ years of enterprise software experience from SAP and Oracle, where he led global procurement digital transformation projects for Fortune 500 clients. Skiplabs' early pilots with European manufacturing firms demonstrate 30% cost reduction through AI-driven supplier benchmarking.
Hud
Hud, a software engineering platform bridging the gap between code and production environments, was founded in 2020 by Roee Adler (CEO) and May Walter (CTO). Backed by Square Peg Capital's 2021 seed funding, their AI-powered system analyzes live production data to generate actionable insights for developers, protected by US Patent 11,941,378. Adler, former Global Head of Product at Wix, and Walter, an ex-Military R&D team leader, combined their expertise in enterprise SaaS and secure systems to create tools that reduce deployment risks through real-time environment monitoring.
Talal Alhammad
Talal A., a Stanford MBA and Harvard-trained operator, is building an undisclosed venture leveraging 15+ years of product leadership at Meta, Uber, and McKinsey. The former Spotify product lead (2022-2025) drove cross-platform integrations with Google ecosystems before launching his stealth startup in January 2025. Talal's expertise spans marketplace design (Wonder), partnership strategies (Meta Portal hardware), and scaling enterprise solutions (Boxed wholesale platform). His track record of bridging corporate innovation with startup agility - including advising 20+ Series A companies through Stanford networks - signals ambitious infrastructure plays in AI or creator economy verticals.
Will Ruben
Workmate Labs, founded in 2024 by Will Ruben (ex-Meta, Instagram, Coinbase, and Uniswap), is developing AI-powered executive assistants to democratize productivity tools historically reserved for C-suite leaders. Ruben’s 13+ years scaling consumer products for billions of users – including Instagram’s Feed/Reels algorithms and Coinbase’s Web3 Wallet – informs Workmate’s focus on replicating human EA strategic thinking via LLMs. The beta product already handles scheduling, calendar optimization, and conflict resolution, with plans to expand into email management and research. Backed by early partnerships with Google Cloud, Workmate aims to reduce the $50K+/year EA cost barrier while tackling "coordination debt" for professionals.
Michal Valko
Michal Valko, Chief Models Officer at a stealth AI startup, is pioneering next-generation language models that learn with minimal human supervision. The Inria tenured researcher and ENS Paris-Saclay lecturer brings 15+ years of foundational AI expertise, having co-created Google DeepMind Paris and led reinforcement learning for Meta's Llama 3/4. His breakthroughs include developing BYOL self-supervised learning at DeepMind and advancing Gemini's alignment algorithms. Valko's startup focuses on solving scalable fine-tuning and safety challenges for enterprise-scale LMMs (Large Multimodal Models), building on his PhD work in bandit algorithms and recent theoretical frameworks for autonomous learning systems.
Michal Valko
Austin Chen
Austin Chen, founder of an a16z Speedrun-backed stealth startup (SR004), is building AI employees to transform creator-brand collaborations in the digital economy. The UC Berkeley Haas graduate and South Park Commons member brings 8+ years of product leadership from Apple Music (where his startup Asaii was acquired) and TikTok's creator monetization team. Chen's expertise in music tech (powering features for 100M+ Apple Music users) and creator ecosystems (directing TikTok's $1B+ monetization programs) informs his vision for autonomous digital workers that streamline brand partnerships. Currently developing with a16z's accelerator resources, this venture marks his third founder journey following Asaii's successful exit.
Kùzu
Kuzu, an embeddable graph database management system, combines academic rigor with enterprise-grade performance through its columnar storage and vectorized query processing. Founded in 2023 by Semih Salihoğlu (University of Waterloo professor and ex-Google engineer) alongside his research team, the open-source project evolved into Kùzu Inc. after demonstrating 100x speed advantages in graph analytics benchmarks. Salihoğlu's decade of graph systems research at Stanford and Waterloo informs Kuzu's architecture, particularly its novel factorization techniques for efficient joins. The startup recently closed an undisclosed seed round to expand its Python/Rust integrations while maintaining MIT licensing, positioning itself as the "DuckDB for graphs" in the emerging embedded database market.
