Rachel Chalmers

Rachel Chalmers is a part-time partner at Heavybit. Her extensive experience in software began with her early work as a technology journalist, documenting new case studies for Australia’s rapidly-developing IT sector and eventually providing extensive editorial coverage of developing standards in Web development for leading publication Computerwire.

Her natural curiosity and fascination with emerging tech soon led her to industry analysis. As the VP of 451 Research’s infrastructure practice, she unearthed a growing sector of tooling for developers and data experts and discovered technology titans-in-waiting Splunk, VMWare, and Cloudera in the process. She grew the practice to a multi-million dollar business eventually sold to Standard & Poors Global.

Rachel has held leadership and advisory positions with a variety of software companies, including Honeycomb, Autodesk, and Compaas, focusing on key areas such as honing marketing messaging, product positioning, and overall go-to-market strategy.

A venture capital expert, Rachel has also spent more than a decade discovering, investing in, and mentoring successful startups. Her tours of duty include working as principal at IGNITION PARTNERS, then as venture partner at Merian Ventures. She also served as managing director at Alchemist Accelerator, where she assisted a new generation of startups in finding their audiences and their voices while zeroing in on product-market fit.

Rachel is also an outspoken advocate for diversity, inclusion, and taking a human-centered approach to tech, having advised The Ada Initiative, a not-for-profit organization built to support women in technology. She has also launched Generationship, a podcast that discusses the potential impact of AI on society.