Rally Ventures, an early-stage business technology venture capital firm, announced the addition of Luke Zaientz as an operating partner.
Zaientz, a former founder and business leader, will work with the firm’s portfolio companies, providing insight into go-to-market strategies, customer success, product prioritization, new market entry, mergers and acquisitions, and pricing/product marketing. Rally Ventures has locations in Minneapolis and Menlo Park, California. Zaientz will work largely remotely, according to a Rally Ventures spokeswoman.
Before joining Rally Ventures, Zaientz was chief strategy officer of IMG Academy, a preparatory boarding school with a focus on sports training in Bradenton, Florida, before it was acquired by Hong-Kong based Endeavor Group Holdings Inc. for $1.25 billion last year.
He was the chief operating officer, CEO and co-founder of Reigning Champs, a student-athlete recruiting platform with annual revenue of $200 million. Under his leadership, Reigning Champs completed 10 mergers and acquisitions. Reigning Champs was acquired by IMG Academy for nearly $200 million by Endeavor Group Holdings in 2021.
Prior to that, he worked as vice president of sales for Match.com and cofounded RMG Networks, a developer and aggregator of place-based video networks. RMG Networks was acquired by Brite Media in 2012.
Justin Kaufenberg, managing director of Rally Ventures and founder and former CEO of SportsEngine, said he has known Zaientz for more than a decade and spent a lot of time working with Reigning Champs when Kaufenberg was at SportsEngine.
"Luke’s extensive experience and strategic vision will be invaluable to our portfolio companies as they navigate critical growth phases," Kaufenberg said.
Rally Ventures’ team now includes three managing directors, four venture partners, and seven professionals. The firm is currently investing out of Rally Fund V, a $240 million fund focused on artificial intelligence and machine learning, cybersecurity, fintech and software-as-a-service companies. The VC firm hired former Google Chief Information Officer Ben Fried last year.
