Rally Ventures taps ex-Google CIO as it targets fifth fund

Rally Ventures, which is raising its fifth fund, has hired former Google chief information officer Ben Fried as a venture partner.

Fried served as CIO for Google from 2008 until 2022. He has worked with Rally Ventures for more than a decade as an advisor and investor, and he will now take on a full-time role with the firm.

“Ben has been a Rally Technology Partner since day one,” Rally co-founder and managing director Charles Beeler said in a statement. “We’ve known him for over a decade, and he’s provided meaningful guidance and support to many of our portfolio companies.”

Prior to serving as CIO for Google, Fried worked served as a managing director from 1994 to 2008 for Morgan Stanley, where he was the architect of the firm’s technology platform.

Founded in 1997, Rally is based in Menlo Park, California and Minneapolis. It is currently fundraising for its fifth fund, which is targeting $275 million, according to a regulatory filing. Fund V has held a first close on $183.2 million, according to Venture Capital Journal research.

Rally previously closed on $256.4 million for Rally Ventures Fund IV in December 2020. LPs in that fund included the Pohlad Family Foundation of Minneapolis.