Svanika Balasubramanian is a visionary entrepreneur whose background and career are rooted in her commitment to creating impactful change. Born in India and raised in Oman, Svanika’s family has a rich history of activism. Despite their efforts, she observed limitations in achieving widespread impact through non-profit work alone. This realization propelled her to pursue studies … Continued

In the rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape, security teams are struggling to keep pace with attackers who exploit new vulnerabilities within mere minutes of their discovery. This contrasts with the weeks or months typically required for vulnerability remediation and patching, leaving organizations dangerously exposed during this critical window. Recent reports reveal that 60% of data … Continued

Compensation dominates the income statement. With headcount comprising up to 70% of a company’s total operating expense, a tremendous amount of scrutiny is put on compensation. Not only is compensation a huge expense for a business, but it’s also one of the most sensitive and hotly contested topics. The interesting thing about compensation is that … Continued

As 2023 comes to a close, we were fortunate to host many of our founders, investors, business partners, and friends at Penny Jar Capital’s holiday party in San Francisco. The gathering was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the year and bring together the people who’ve been with us every step along the way. The … Continued

At Penny Jar, we always seek opportunities to connect our innovative founders with executives at industry-leading enterprises. It’s gratifying when we can facilitate these connections in person. Given I (Rich) am in Milwaukee, we’ve been fortunate to develop relationships with some incredible corporations, including Northwestern Mutual, Molson Coors, and GE, all of which have been … Continued

Cloud-native technology has transformed the way businesses operate. It has enabled companies to build and deploy applications quickly and efficiently while providing significant cost savings. However, the rapid adoption of cloud-native technology brings new security challenges, as traditional solutions are unsuitable for constantly evolving cloud environments. That’s where Upwind comes in. Their platform offers dynamic, … Continued

Headcount can comprise up to 70% of a company’s total operating expense. For a cost of that magnitude, you would expect organizations big and small to have sophisticated tools and resources to accurately manage and forecast their greatest asset – people.  Despite the litany of financial planning and analysis (FP&A) software solutions available to today, … Continued

The world’s plastic problem is monstrous. Every minute the equivalent of one garbage truck of plastic is dumped into our ocean. Only a small fraction (~9%) of the world’s plastic is recycled. The rest? Well, most of that ends up in the environment, either in landfills, waterways, or other unintended places. It’s a problem so … Continued

We’re excited to announce our recent investment in Nue, a modern quote-to-revenue platform designed to help businesses drive revenue and retain customers in an increasingly dynamic economy. In today’s competitive marketplace, businesses must be able to support a broad range of pricing models. As companies look to meet the needs of their customers, one size … Continued

We are thrilled to announce the newest Penny Jar Capital team member, Vrinda Agarwal, joining us as an Investor. Based in the Bay Area, Vrinda will focus on identifying and supporting founders in building the category-leading companies of the future. Vrinda brings a strong foundation of investing experience from her time at Cota Capital and … Continued