Vetri Vellore, a seasoned figure in the Seattle tech scene and the founder of Rhythms, has secured $26 million in a seed funding round for his new startup. The funding was co-led by Madrona Venture Group and Greenoaks, with participation from Founders’ Co-op, Accel, and Cercano (formerly Vulcan).
Rhythms, based in Seattle, emerged from stealth mode with a vision to enhance companies’ productivity. The platform it is developing connects to various internal systems within a company, utilizing advanced AI techniques, including large language models, to analyze the company’s “rhythms” or habits and patterns. This encompasses processes like monthly business reviews, quarterly retrospectives, and weekly cross-functional meetings.
The primary goal of Rhythms is to unravel the reasons behind varying performance levels among teams within the same organization. By examining both internal processes and best practices at other companies, the platform aims to provide recommendations to enhance output.
Vellore, the founder of Rhythms, previously led Ally, a startup acquired by Microsoft in 2021, which focused on helping companies monitor their Objectives and Key Results (OKR). He spent the last two years as a corporate vice president at Microsoft. Vellore also founded Chronus, a company specializing in digital tools for employee development programs, which was sold to a private equity firm in 2015.
Rhythms represents the culmination of Vellore’s three decades of experience in building technology to improve company efficiency and employee satisfaction. The platform is positioned to assist companies seeking sustained growth with constrained budgets and adapting to changing trends in collaboration practices due to hybrid work.
Addressing potential privacy concerns, Vellore noted that Rhythms analyzes team performance rather than individual employees. The company aims to complement existing platforms, highlighting an “amazing partnership” with Microsoft.
S. “Soma” Somasegar, managing director at Madrona Venture Group, expressed confidence in Rhythms, believing it has the potential to create a new category. With five employees across Seattle and India, Rhythms plans to use the funding to expand its team and launch a product preview later in the year. While it does not yet have paying customers, the company is targeting businesses of various sizes across different industries.
