RallyPoint

{{Infobox company | name = RallyPoint | logo = RallyPoint logo (119x200).png | type = Private | foundation = 2012 | location = Boston, Massachusetts | key_people = David Gowel (CEO) Yinon Weiss (Co-Founder) Aaron Kletzing (Co-Founder) | industry = Professional Networking | homepage = [http://www.rallypoint.com www.RallyPoint.com] | footnotes = }}

'''RallyPoint''' is a privately held American company founded in 2012 by military veterans at Harvard Business School.<ref>{{cite news|last=McGregor|first=Jean|title=New social network aims to help military members plan their careers|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-leadership/new-social-network-aims-to-help-military-members-plan-their-careers/2012/11/12/bb82b198-2ce9-11e2-a99d-5c4203af7b7a_story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121207124944/http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-11-12/national/35503603_1_military-contacts-military-members-social-network|url-status=live|archive-date=7 December 2012|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=16 May 2013|date=12 Nov 2012}}</ref> The company is a professional network serving the US military and its veterans, and has been called "LinkedIn for the military,".<ref name="techcrunch">{{cite web|last=Empson|first=Rip|title=Iraq Veterans Launch RallyPoint: A LinkedIn For The Military (And Life After)|url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/11/13/iraq-veterans-launch-rallypoint-a-linkedin-for-the-military-and-life-after/|publisher=TechCrunch|accessdate=16 May 2013|date=13 Nov 2012}}</ref><ref name="bostinno.streetwise">{{cite web|last=Landry|first=Lauren|title=Two Harvard Business School Grads Create RallyPoint: LinkedIn for the Military|url=http://bostinno.streetwise.co/all-series/two-harvard-business-school-grads-create-rallypoint-linkedin-for-the-military/|publisher=StreetwiseMedia|accessdate=17 May 2013|date=16 Aug 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Cruz|first=Victor|title=Iraq War Vets Have the Right Stuff: LinkedIn for the Military|url=https://www.wired.com/insights/2012/11/linkedin-for-the-military/|publisher=Wired.com|accessdate=16 May 2013|date=12 Nov 2012}}</ref><ref name="forbes">{{cite web|last=Carlyle|first=Erin|title=Forbes Up And Comers: Joe Poulin, Cody Hopkins, Aaron Kletzing|website=Forbes |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2013/01/02/forbes-up-and-comers-joe-poulin-cody-hopkins-aaron-kletzing/|accessdate=18 May 2013|date=2 Jan 2013}}</ref> The community allows current military members and veterans to connect, explore career opportunities both inside and outside the military, and engage on topics important to the military.

The company evolved into a government contractor that supports research, outreach, and interventions to benefit the military, veteran, family, and caregiver community.

== History ==

The company's two co-founders, Yinon Weiss and Aaron Kletzing, first met in Iraq in a remote combat outpost northwest of Baghdad in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gallagher|first=Matt|title=Business Lessons from Iraq: Post-War Military Networking|url=https://nation.time.com/2012/10/02/business-lessons-from-iraq-post-war-military-networking/|publisher=Time Inc.|access-date=17 May 2013|date=2 October 2012}}</ref> Several years later, the two ran into each other again as students this time at Harvard Business School.<ref name="bostinno.streetwise" />

RallyPoint was launched out of the Harvard Innovation Lab at the Harvard Business School,<ref>{{cite web|title=Long Term Residents|url=http://ilab.harvard.edu/long-term-residents?title=&page=6|publisher=Harvard Student Agencies|accessdate=17 May 2013|year=2013}}</ref> and is currently headquartered in Harvard, Massachusetts.

In April 2012, RallyPoint won $10,000 for placing as runner-up in the Harvard Business School Business Plan Competition<ref>{{cite web|title=Harvard Business School Holds 16th Annual Business Plan Contest|url=http://www.hbs.edu/news/releases/Pages/businessplancontest2012.aspx|publisher=HBS, Inc.|accessdate=17 May 2013|date=25 April 2012}}</ref> and on October 23, 2012, RallyPoint won $100,000 from MassChallenge after competing against over 1,300 other ventures.<ref>{{cite web|title=2012 MassChallenge Winners|url=http://masschallenge.org/2012/winners|publisher=MassChallenge, Inc.|accessdate=17 May 2013|year=2013}}</ref> The company raised private funding after both of these events.<ref>{{cite web|last=Landry|first=Lauren|title=RallyPoint Raises an Additional $1 Million from Angel Investors|work=BostInno |url=http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2012/12/18/rallypoint-raises-1-million-in-funding/|publisher=StreetwiseMedia|accessdate=16 May 2013|date=18 Dec 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Wagner|first=Kurt|title=Meet 3 serious LinkedIn imitators|url=http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/08/01/meet-3-serious-linkedin-imitators/|publisher=CNN Money|accessdate=14 Aug 2013|date=1 Aug 2013}}</ref>

In 2016, Army Veteran, David Gowel (author of ''The Power in a Link''<ref>{{cite book|title=The Power in a Link|date=1 Jan 2011|isbn=978-1118134672 |last1=Gowel |first1=Dave |publisher=John Wiley & Sons }}</ref>) became the company's CEO and a member of the board of directors.

In November 2016, RallyPoint was named one of the top 5 Veteran-Founded Startups in America in Forbes.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Top 25 Veteran-Founded Startups in America|website=Forbes |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/marklrockefeller/2016/11/11/the-top-25-veteran-startups-in-america/|accessdate=11 July 2024|date=11 Nov 2016}}</ref>

In 2020, RallyPoint announced a partnership with Amazon Web Services to address military and veteran suicide risk.<ref>{{cite web|title=Enabling faster intervention of military community suicides|url=https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/innovation-at-amazon/enabling-faster-intervention-of-military-community-suicides|publisher=aboutamazon.com|accessdate=7 July 2024|date=12 August 2020}}</ref>

In 2023, The Department of Defense's (DOD's) Military OneSource Spouse Education & Career Opportunities program identified RallyPoint as an online network the military community can use to help create a positive experience when joining, serving, and transitioning out of military service to Veteran life. The DOD published a video explaining how military spouses can use RallyPoint to further their careers and quality of life.<ref>{{cite web|title=An Official Defense Department Website MilitaryOneSource|publisher=myseco.militaryonesource.mil|accessdate=11 July 2024|date=1 May 2023| url=https://myseco.militaryonesource.mil/portal/module/rallypoint }}</ref>

In October 2023, Harvard University's psychology chair, Dr. Matthew Nock <ref>{{cite web|title=Matthew K. Nock, Ph.D., Director|url=https://nocklab.fas.harvard.edu/people/matthew-k-nock-phd|publisher=nocklab.fas.harvard.edu|accessdate=11 July 2024|date=1 January 2017}}</ref> provided an interview to Federal News Network referring to his work with RallyPoint as a "promising new avenue to help prevent suicides among veterans."<ref>{{cite web|title=A promising new avenue to help prevent suicides among veterans|url=https://federalnewsnetwork.com/veterans-affairs/2023/10/a-promising-new-avenue-to-help-prevent-suicides-among-veterans/|publisher=federalnewsnetwork.com|accessdate=11 July 2024|date=30 October 2023}}</ref>

In January 2024, Dr. Nock released research <ref>{{cite web|title=Detecting suicide risk among U.S. Servicemembers and Veterans: A deep learning approach using social media data|url=https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/z2hvs|publisher=osf.io|accessdate=11 July 2024|date=3 January 2024}}</ref> with collaborators from MIT and Amazon about Dr. Nock's work with RallyPoint utilizing machine learning to predict and intervene with suicide risk for the military community on RallyPoint's platform. This work was performed under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Direct to Phase II <ref>{{cite web|title=AFWERX Open Topic|url=https://afwerx.com/divisions/afventures/open-topic/|publisher=afwerx.com|accessdate=11 July 2024|date=11 July 2024}}</ref> contract awarded by the U.S. Air Force AFWERX program with RallyPoint as the prime contractor.

In July 2024, Zeta Global (NYSE:ZETA) CEO, David A. Steinberg announced a partnership with RallyPoint to enhance experiences and increase support for the military community.<ref>{{cite web|title=Zeta Global Partners with RallyPoint to Enhance experiences and increase support for the military and veteran community|url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/zeta-global-partners-rallypoint-enhance-201500391.html|publisher=finance.yahoo.com|accessdate=11 July 2024|date=2 July 2024}}</ref>

In September 2024, ''Psychological Medicine'' published a peer-reviewed research paper, "Detecting suicide risk among U.S. servicemembers and veterans: a deep learning approach using social media data,"<ref>{{cite journal|title=Detecting suicide risk among U.S. servicemembers and veterans: a deep learning approach using social media data|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/psychological-medicine/article/detecting-suicide-risk-among-us-servicemembers-and-veterans-a-deep-learning-approach-using-social-media-data/CFBD5F293DD1C9CFF5DEBEBDBC3232E8|publisher=cambridge.org|accessdate=6 November 2024|date=6 November 2024|doi=10.1017/S0033291724001557 |last1=Zuromski |first1=Kelly L. |last2=Low |first2=Daniel M. |last3=Jones |first3=Noah C. |last4=Kuzma |first4=Richard |last5=Kessler |first5=Daniel |last6=Zhou |first6=Liutong |last7=Kastman |first7=Erik K. |last8=Epstein |first8=Jonathan |last9=Madden |first9=Carlos |last10=Ghosh |first10=Satrajit S. |last11=Gowel |first11=David |last12=Nock |first12=Matthew K. |journal=Psychological Medicine |volume=54 |issue=12 |pages=3379–3388 |url-access=subscription |pmc=12315600 }}</ref> featuring RallyPoint's artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI/ML) work with researchers from MIT and Harvard.

In November 2025, RallyPoint announced the charitable project, "RallyPoint Serves," launched under the fiscal sponsorship of the 501(c)(3) public charity, Veterans Collaborative. RallyPoint Serves received $250,000 in funding from Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sánchez Bezos, retired Navy Admiral William H. McRaven, retired Admiral John C. Harvey Jr., Continuing to Serve foundation (via RallyPoint board member, Frances Dawn Halfaker), Hunt Family Foundation, and others.<ref>{{cite web|title=RallyPoint Serves Receives $250,000 Bezos Courage and Civility Award from Admiral Bill McRaven|url=https://world.einnews.com/pr_news/870181643/rallypoint-serves-receives-250-000-bezos-courage-and-civility-award-from-admiral-bill-mcraven|publisher=world.einnews.com|accessdate=26 November 2025|date=26 November 2025}}</ref>

== Company ==

=== Website ===

RallyPoint is a professional network available to all US military members and veterans,<ref>{{cite web|last=Karol|first=Gabrielle|title=RallyPoint Aims to Connect Vets, Service Members with Jobs|url=http://smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com/entrepreneurs/2013/05/24/rallypoint-aims-to-connect-vets-service-members-with-jobs|publisher=Fox Business|accessdate=24 May 2013|date=24 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Twomey|first=Matt|title=Jobs for Vets: RallyPoint, Others Put Sights on Ex-Military|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2013/05/27/jobs-for-vets-rallypoint-others-put-sights-on-exmilitary.html|publisher=CNBC|access-date=27 May 2013|date=27 May 2013}}</ref> described by Forbes as "LinkedIn on steroids for members of the military."<ref>{{cite web|last=Adams|first=Susan|title=RallyPoint Wants To Be LinkedIn For The Military|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2013/05/31/rallypoint-wants-to-linkedin-for-the-military/|work=Forbes|accessdate=31 May 2013|date=31 May 2013}}</ref>

Information of users and connections is sorted based on the military structure, such as rank, specialty, duty position, and duty location.<ref>{{cite web|last=Burke|first=Adrienne|title=RallyPoint: Building a Social Network to get 2 million veterans back to work|url=http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/rallypoint--building-a-social-network-to-get-2-million-veterans-back-to-work--200601807.html|publisher=Yahoo Small Business|accessdate=1 July 2013|date=1 July 2013}}</ref>

According to the Huffington Post, RallyPoint is "solving two problems by creating both an easy-to-use professional network within the military, as well as the most technologically advanced employer-to-service member matching network in the country."<ref>{{cite web|title=The Harvard Business Plan Competition's Answer To Veteran Unemployment|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yinon-weiss/veteran-unemployment_b_1728417.html|publisher=TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.|accessdate=16 May 2013|date=1 August 2012}}</ref>

== References ==

== External links ==

* {{official website|http://www.rallypoint.com}}

Category:American companies established in 2012 Category:Professional networks Category:American social networking websites Category:Software companies based in Massachusetts Category:Privately held companies based in Massachusetts Category:Companies based in Boston Category:Software companies of the United States