Quietly, a trio of JupiterOne veterans have started a new company.
Akash Ganapathi, former senior director of product management at JupiterOne, a Morrisville-based unicorn operating in the cybersecurity space, has teamed up with Charlie Duong and Austin Kelleher on a new endeavor.
But details are sparse other than that the firm is in the security space.
Duong was a founding engineer and principal architect at JupiterOne. Kelleher was a founding engineer and principal software engineer at the same company. All three left JupiterOne in August.
Their LinkedIn profiles refer to the new company as a “stealth startup,” and offer few hints about the endeavor – but a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shows it’s pursuing outside funding.
All three entrepreneurs are listed as directors and executives in a Sept. 29 filing for a Durham company called Opine Market. The firm has raised $50,000 through a mix of debt, options and securities. It’s part of what’s expected to be a $500,000 round, according to the filing.
Ganapathi announced plans to start a new company last month on LinkedIn, calling co-founders Duong and Kelleher “literally the best I have ever worked with in terms of skill, tenacity, customer commitment, and business focus.”
Ganapathi said the firm is “currently in stealth mode” and fundraising.
“Reach out if you’re in the security space and interested in being a design partner or you want to connect,” his LinkedIn post says.
Erkang Zheng, founder and CEO of JupiterOne, wished them well in his own post a month ago, saying that it is “truly rewarded to see my own people becoming entrepreneurs themselves.”
Opine Market registered to do business in North Carolina on Sept. 11, but incorporated in August in Delaware.
Ganapathi, Duong and Kelleher did not return requests to comment.
