Penny Jar Capital

With a wealth of experience from his time at Qualtrics and Divvy from BILL, Renato V. understands what it takes to build and scale a thriving business. At Parallel, he’s not just creating powerful tools but also cultivating a team driven by a relentless desire to win. His journey is a testament to what he calls a "spiritual experience" of building a company, filled with insights on leadership, teamwork, and the passion for empowering startups to make better financial decisions from day one. Learn more about Renato in our latest Founder Spotlight.

Few people execute to the standard that Jon Goldsmith and Andrew Munday, OPS set for themselves and the team at Local Kitchens. We're fortunate to have backed them over the last few years and have an inside look at what the bar for excellence looks like day in and day out. Excited for this next phase of the journey and more excellent food from beloved chefs. https://lnkd.in/gQ23WhzQ

🎵 Start spreading the news! 🎵 Zafran just made its Broadway debut and we couldn't be more proud to be on the big screen 🚀✨ From stealth mode to center stage, we're here to revolutionize risk mitigation and exposure management. Thank you Nasdaq for bringing the spice to Times Square! #CurtainUp #OpeningNight #ShowTime

The photo might be blurry, but their vision is not. Was fortunate to join Sanaz Yashar and the Zafran Security team for dinner last week with a group of CISOs. They are building an incredible risk & mitigation platform that enables security teams to better defuse threats by mobilizing existing security tools. Said more simply: they help you prioritize your highest-risk vulnerabilities and use the security tools you are already paying for to neutralize them. Thank you Anthony Lauderdale and Cyberstarts for hosting a great evening. It was a unique opportunity to hear first-hand the challenges facing the modern security team and clear that Zafran coming out of stealth could not have come at a better time. Looking forward to more from this great team! Snir Havdala Ben Seri Chad Arsich Hadas Bergman Sean Robinson

Several months ago we started highlighting founders from our Penny Jar Capital companies. We feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to partner with incredible entrepreneurs like Hongbo Tian, and it's been fun to publicly share some of the things that make them so unique and special. Hongbo has a wonderful balance of pragmatism and technical expertise, and it shows in the vision he and James have for Ducky!

With a deep background in computer science and a knack for turning complex problems into simple solutions, Hongbo Tian is on a mission to make AI accessible and useful for everyone. His journey from a tech enthusiast to a founder is inspiring and filled with challenges, breakthroughs, and much learning. At Ducky, he’s not just building smart tools but also fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration. Learn more about Hongbo in our latest Founder Spotlight.

Excited to finally share the news about Ducky! Much like bank tellers haven’t gone away in the age of ATMs (they’ve upscaled to more value-added customer needs), we believe AI will provide better human experiences at the enterprise level. Hongbo and James are changing how customer support is done…because support teams deserve support too!

With the explosion of data inside organizations and the proliferation of SaaS applications, employees are struggling to stay afloat at work. Knowledge workers spend about one day a week searching for data – this is disastrous when the customer experience hangs in the balance. Ducky is solving this data problem with machine learning and AI, freeing up time for support teams to create personalized customer experiences with lasting impact. We're thrilled to lead Ducky's pre-seed round and partner with co-founders Hongbo Tian and James O'Brien, as well as Bread and Butter Ventures, as they deliver on the productivity promise of modern business software.

More often than not, people talk about innovation starting on the coasts and eventually working towards the middle of the country. In Penny Jar Capital's experience, people and enterprises in the heart of America are hungry to bring the latest innovation and technology to life for their workforce and customers. The engagement at our event focused on Innovation in the Enterprise in Milwaukee this week was a testament to that, and we're excited about the strategic advantage and differentiation that comes with having boots on the ground in the Midwest.

Earlier this week Penny Jar Capital hosted an incredible event in Milwaukee. There were a lot of important takeaways, but one stood out: Midwestern humility is a double-edged sword, and we need to better balance championing our achievements against maintaining the humble determination that fuels much of our success. There's a lot happening here that deserves recognition, and by sharing our successes, we can inspire further innovation and collaboration. Read more about the event and some key insights in the link below. Big thank you to Riviera Partners, Quarles & Brady LLP, and Citizens Private Bank™ for helping bring this to life.