Rally Ventures Announces New Chief People Officer

What to know about the new Chief People Officer of Rally Ventures:

• Rally Ventures, the Minneapolis-based venture capital firm focused on early-stage business technology, has announced Jessi Howard as the firm’s new Chief People Officer
• Howard has served in several previous roles in tech startups including SportsEngine, RedBrick Health, and Secure Computing
• In a release, Rally Ventures says Howard will, “provide Rally Ventures’ portfolio of emerging companies with access to an executive level head of talent in order to drive results and accelerate milestones.”
• Rally Ventures is currently investing from its latest fund, Rally Ventures IV ($250 million secured in late 2020)

The Quote: Justin Kaufenberg, Managing Director of Rally Ventures

“Human resources and recruitment are critical components in the success of early-stage companies, but the HR function is often overlooked, which is just fundamentally wrong. Jessi is a world-class HR executive with deep experience in early-stage technology. Her addition to the Rally team underscores our belief that people are at the absolute core of success in SaaS.”

For more information about Howard and Rally Ventures, read the release below.

MENLO PARK/MINNEAPOLIS | September 14, 2021 08:03 AM Eastern Daylight Time: Rally Ventures, a leading venture capital firm focused on early-stage business technology, today announced that Jessi Howard has joined the firm as Chief People Officer (CPO). She brings 20+ years of experience in tech HR to Rally Ventures.

Howard has helped grow and shape multiple tech start-ups, including SportsEngine, RedBrick Health and Secure Computing. In these roles, she provided strategic direction on talent acquisition and development, organizational health and employee experience. She also provided consultation on compensation, benefits and HR information systems.

Howard’s newly-designed role as Fractional CPO will provide Rally Ventures’ portfolio of emerging companies with access to an executive level head of talent in order to drive results and accelerate milestones. “Human resources and recruitment are critical components in the success of early-stage companies, but the HR function is often overlooked, which is just fundamentally wrong,” said Justin Kaufenberg, managing director, Rally Ventures. “Jessi is a world-class HR executive with deep experience in early-stage technology. Her addition to the Rally team underscores our belief that people are at the absolute core of success in SaaS.”

Rally Ventures is investing from its latest fund, Rally Ventures IV, a $250 million fund that brings their total committed capital raised since inception to over $600 million. The firm remains committed to its strategy of backing early-stage technology companies building innovative solutions for the fast-changing B2B landscape, focusing largely on Seed and Series A financing. Since its inception in 2012, Rally Ventures has invested in 59 companies and has had 15 successful exits, including 3 initial public offerings.

Howard will strengthen Rally’s team of three managing directors, five venture partners and six professionals. The firm also includes a network of 100+ technology partners — executives, technologists and luminaries — who act as an extension to the Rally Ventures team and provide operating leverage for portfolio companies to help broaden the firm’s capabilities.

“I look forward to supporting Rally Ventures’ ambitious future by designing foundational HR practices for the Rally portfolio, attracting best-in-class talent and being part of these exceptional teams building industry-altering companies,” said Howard.

About Rally Ventures

Rally Ventures invests exclusively in early-stage business technology companies, focusing on entrepreneurs creating major new markets or bringing transformative approaches to existing ones. Since 1997, Rally Ventures’ partners and venture capital industry veterans have invested in or run early stage enterprise business-to-business technology companies with a proven ability to deliver superior returns regardless of the overall market environment. For more information visit rallyventures.com.