This Week’s Top Talent Pools

Kalshi, the largest predictions marketplace in the U.S., raised $1B at a $22B valuation led by Coatue, as reported by the WSJ and confirmed by Axios.

  1. Sumer Sao & Ben Rapport in SF (Stealth)

    1. Role: Founding Eng & Data @ Kalshi (3 yrs)

    2. Other Experience: Stanford MS / BS, CS

    3. Description: “Consumer AI”

    4. Twitter, [email protected]

  2. Dhruvik P. in SF (Co-Founder @ Stealth)

    1. Role: 1st FTE & Engineering + Product @ Kalshi (3 yrs)

    2. Other Experience: Founding Engineer @ Foundry/Mithril ($80M from Sequoia and LSVP), Stanford MS + BS CS, RSI Scholar

    3. Description: Stealth since 9/25

    4. Contact: Site

  3. Rhea S. in US (Potential Founder)

    1. Role: Chief of Staff @ Kalshi (<1 yr)

    2. Other Experience: Growth Lead @ Unify, SWE @ Mach Industries, Investment Engineer @ Bridgewater, UChicago BA/MS Math & CS

    3. Description: Left Unify on 11/25 with no updates.

  4. Justin Wei in SF (Potential Founder)

    1. Role: SWE Intern @ Kalshi (<1 yr)

    2. Other Experience: Co-Founder & CTO @ Phind (YC S22, $10M raised), SWE Intern @ Citadel, 8th Engineer @ Skiff (Sequoia-backed —> acquired by Notion), UT Austin CS (Turing Scholar)

    3. Description: Left Phind on 8/24 with no updates

Meta has hired the founders and team behind AI startup Dreamer (FKA /dev/agents) to work on AI agents within its Superintelligence Labs. (One of those founders is Hugo Barra, who previously worked at Meta.) The deal excludes Dreamer's technology, and the future of Dreamer, which raised $56M at a $500M valuation in 2024, is unclear.

  1. Ari Grant in SF (Potential Founder)

    1. Role: CTO @ /dev/agents (<1 yr)

    2. Other Experience: Senior PM & Engineering Director @ Facebook (built foundational iOS/Android/Web org), Graphics Quality Engineer @ Apple

    3. Description: Left /dev/agents on 8/25. “Exploring ideas with AI.”

    4. Contact: [email protected]

  2. Harrison Kessel in SF (Potential Founder)

    1. Role: MTS @ /dev/agents (<1 yr)

    2. Other Experience: Co-Founder @ Aviato ($2M from 8VC, Soma, SoftBank), Founding SWE & 3rd FTE @ Zeet ($4M from Sequoia)

    3. Description: Left /dev/agents on 8/25 with no updates

Cape, a four-year-old startup based in Arlington, VA, that operates a privacy-focused mobile network that does not track user data, raised a $100 million round at a $900 million post-money valuation. The deal was co-led by Bain Capital Ventures and IVP, with previous investors Andreessen Horowitz and A* Capital also stepping up. The company has raised a total of $190 million. Forbes has more here.

  1. Christopher S. in DC (Potential Founder)

    1. Role: Founding SWE @ Cape (2 yrs)

    2. Other Experience: Early Team & Technical Lead @ Palantir, Systems Engineer @ Anduril, Texas A&M BS

    3. Description: Career break since 10/24

Verily, a life sciences company formed by Google over a decade ago, raised $300M in a funding round that results in Alphabet no longer having a control stake.

  1. Fabien Beckers in San Diego (Potential Founder)

    1. Role: Director @ Google X (3 yrs), Head of Digital Pathology @ Verily (2 yrs)

    2. Other Experience: Founder & CEO @ Arterys ($70M raised → acquired by Tempus AI), Founder & CEO @ Kameleon Technologies, Cambridge PhD, Stanford GSB

    3. Description: Left Google X on 11/25 with no updates

  2. Scarlet Shore in Seattle (Stealth)

    1. Role: Founding Team & GM @ Verily (7 yrs)

    2. Other Experience: Co-Founder @ Screenable, Co-Founder @ Riverpark Farm, PM @ Button, Analyst @ JPMorgan

    3. Description: Stealth since 6/25

Shield AI, a San Diego-based developer of drone tech for the military, raised $2B at a $12.7B valuation led by Advent International.

  1. Vince Dutcavich in DC (Co-Founder & CTO @ Atropos Group)

    1. Role: Principal Engineer @ Shield AI (<1 yr)

    2. Other Experience: Chief Engineer @ Anduril, Chief Engineer @ Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, Lead Test Engineer @ NAVSEA, Flight Test Engineer @ NAWCAD, Munitions Systems Specialist @ US Air Force

    3. Description: “Atropos is building the future of autonomous flight as a vertically integrated, design-build-test-and-operate service.”

    4. Funding: $6M Pre-Seed on 8/25

  2. Andrew Dimitruk in Dallas (CEO @ Ironflow AI)

    1. Role: COO @ Shield AI (7 yrs)

    2. Other Experience: CEO @ Ironflow AI, Associate & Engagement Manager @ McKinsey, USMC Cobra Attack Helicopter Instructor Pilot (graduated "Marine Top Gun," top 3%), MIT Sloan MBA

    3. Description: "Rebuilding America's industrial strength through AI-native systems"

  3. Christian Mochen & Carlo Dela Rosa in LA (Stealth)

    1. Role: Staff Engineer & Senior Quality Manager @ Shield AI (5.5 yrs)

    2. Other Experience: Head of Build Engineering @ Mach Industries, Lead Cybertruck & Model Y Quality Engineer @ Tesla

    3. Description: "Redesigning component architecture and manufacturing capacity around national resilience"

    4. Contact: [email protected], [email protected]

  4. Rahul Kalakuntla in SF (Stealth)

    1. Role: Mechanical Design Engineer @ Shield AI (1 yr)

    2. Other Experience: Founding Robotics Engineer @ Theseus ($5M from First Round Capital), Co-Founder @ Apreneue

    3. Description: "Building generatively designed robots"

    4. Contact: [email protected]

  5. Jacob Zietek in SF (Potential Founder)

    1. Role: AI Intern @ Shield AI (<1 yr)

    2. Other Experience: Founding Team & ML Engineer @ Persona AI ($27M from Founders Fund & Index), Solo Founder @ Stealth (explored robot learning), 1st ML Hire & AI Engineer @ Armada, Purdue BS CS

    3. Description: "Investing in and working on robots" Engineering Fellow @ a16z American Dynamism

Spade, a five-year-old New York startup that runs a platform that cleans up and organizes transaction data so financial institutions can understand what each payment is for, raised a $40M Series B round led by Oak HC/FT, with Andreessen Horowitz, Flourish, Gradient, NAventures, National Bank of Canada, and Y Combinator also opting in.

  1. Cooper Hart in Canada (Potential Founder)

    1. Role: Co-Founder & CTO @ Spade (4.5 yrs)

    2. Description: Left on 9/25 with no updates

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