Quantum Software Company Zapata Computing Adds Rhonda Germany Ballintyn to Board
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Zapata Computing, a leading enterprise software company for quantum solutions, today announced the appointment of marketing veteran Rhonda Germany Ballintyn as a board member of the company. Most recently, Germany Ballintyn was the corporate vice president, chief strategy and marketing officer at Honeywell International until her retirement in 2017.
Zapata is developing a powerful software platform and quantum algorithms to enable the next generation of discoveries — for a wide range of industries including chemistry, pharmaceuticals, logistics, finance and materials — on quantum computers.
“In just over a year since its founding, Zapata has rapidly become an established player in quantum computing: generating incredible customer demand from Fortune 100 and Global 1000 companies, establishing collaborations with multinational business giants, and raising one of the largest software finance rounds in quantum computing,” said Rhonda Germany Ballintyn. “As Zapata continues introducing quantum computing to industries worldwide, I look forward to helping accelerate Zapata’s expansion plans through my decades of experience in developing and driving worldwide growth strategies.”
“We are delighted that Rhonda is joining Zapata’s board,” said Christopher Savoie, CEO and cofounder of Zapata Computing. “Rhonda has deep expertise building from the ground up and leading the implementation of growth strategies across key industries and markets that quantum computing is poised to transform. A global and established leader, Rhonda will be pivotal to Zapata’s next phase of growth as we accelerate our expansion plans into new markets and regions.”
“Rhonda brings over 35 years of experience in strategy, management and marketing across a wide range of industry sectors both in established as well as emerging and global markets,” added Gary Gauba, founder and managing director of The CXO Fund. “She is an invaluable addition to the board.” The CXO Fund is focused on investing in emerging startups in the deep tech, fintech and health tech verticals and curating companies by working closely with some of the top universities in the US. The CXO Fund investor base (80+), comprised of current and former senior executives of Fortune 500 companies, participated in Zapata’s Series A investment round.
In addition to serving on the Zapata board of directors, Germany Ballintyn is a board member of Hypertherm, a private manufacturer of industrial cutting solutions, as well as three public companies: Aegion, a $1.3 billion global water, gas and oil pipeline infrastructure provider; Integra Lifesciences, a $1.5 billion global life sciences manufacturer; and Univar, a $8 billion global distributor of chemistry and related products and services.
At Honeywell, Germany Ballintyn was responsible for developing and driving Honeywell’s growth strategies worldwide and leading the company’s annual strategic planning process. Prior to Honeywell, Germany Ballintyn was with Booz, Allen & Hamilton, where she served as vice president, partner, board member and member of the board’s personnel committee. At Honeywell, Germany Ballintyn was an integral part of the M&A team, involved with nearly 100 acquisitions, and during her time at Booz Allen & Hamilton, she led the integration of many major acquisitions.
Germany Ballintyn’s appointment comes on the heels of other significant developments for Zapata. In April 2019, Zapata raised $21 million in Series A financing from world-class investors including Comcast Ventures, Prelude Ventures, Pitango Ventures, BASF Venture Capital, Robert Bosch Venture Capital, The CXO Fund, Pillar VC, and The Engine. Zapata is developing powerful, hardware-agnostic solutions on the latest quantum hardware made by Google, IBM, Rigetti, Honeywell, IonQ and others. Zapata holds an exclusive license to a portfolio of quantum algorithms from Harvard University.