THREE EARLY-STAGE TEAMS TO KEEP AN EYE ON
Stealth launches don’t usually make noise. But in a city like New York, even quiet ideas can gain momentum fast. These newly emerged startups have spent the last year or more building in private, and now they’re starting to show their hand.
If you care about real product innovation, early bets with strong backers, or just want to know what the sharpest founders in New York are building, these three companies are worth a closer look.
WHY STEALTH IS STILL A STRATEGY IN 2025
For all the talk about transparency, many of the best companies still start in the shadows. Especially in AI-heavy spaces, stealth mode gives founders room to build defensible IP, hire key talent, and test without scrutiny. But eventually, the signal breaks through.
These three companies didn’t just drop a launch tweet. They came out with working products, real traction, and clear missions.
ACHILLES
HR isn’t what slows hiring. Admin is. Achilles is tackling that head-on with a 24/7 AI-powered hiring assistant that automates interviews, candidate follow-ups, and scheduling. The idea is simple: help companies reduce time-to-hire without burning out their people teams.
Led by Read Egger and based in New York, Achilles officially emerged from stealth in April 2025 and was recently spotlighted by Stealth Startup Spy.
Why it matters: AI for hiring isn’t new. What’s different here is the focus on automation that actually saves time — no “assistants” that still require manual check-ins. For lean teams trying to scale, this kind of infrastructure could change how talent gets managed.
FLEET AI
fleetai.io (currently in private beta)
Founded by Andrew Zhou (ex-Kona CTO), Fleet AI spent more than a year in stealth before emerging in March 2025. The premise? Turn your company’s internal expertise into custom AI tools. Their tech focuses on automating things like report writing by training on real org knowledge.
Why it matters: As AI tools flood the market, “off-the-shelf” models are hitting a wall inside companies. Fleet’s approach — bespoke models built on company-specific processes — might finally make enterprise AI feel less artificial and more valuable.
TOWN
No official website yet — coverage via Fintech Futures
Built by former Plaid CTO Jean-Denis Greze, Town just raised $18M to help small businesses handle taxes with real expertise, not endless paperwork. Every client gets paired with a human tax expert, while the platform automates the heavy lifting in the background.
Why it matters: Small business tax is notoriously painful and underserved. If Town can bring modern fintech design and human expertise into the space, it could redefine how small operators handle compliance — and reclaim thousands of hours in the process.
WHAT THESE STARTUPS HAVE IN COMMON
The companies emerging here didn’t rush to market. They spent time in stealth refining their products, testing assumptions, and making sure they had something that could deliver real value on day one. That discipline shows in what they’re building now.
- Achilles is streamlining hiring ops by handling the repetitive tasks that clog up recruiting pipelines — scheduling, follow-ups, and coordination — so teams can actually focus on hiring.
- Fleet AI helps companies turn their internal knowledge into smart, usable systems. Instead of losing what works to turnover or tribal memory, they’re capturing it and scaling it through automation.
- Town is simplifying taxes for small businesses, offering clear answers where most tools create more confusion. It’s compliance without the usual overhead or risk.
None of these are broad, flashy platforms. Each one is sharply focused, quietly useful, and built by teams who understand the problem because they’ve lived it.
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