Banking software for businesses that actually run
Rho sits in an unglamorous but enormous part of the economy: the day-to-day money operations of companies that are past the startup phase but not yet giants. Founded in 2018 with Alex Wheldon, the platform pulls together business banking, corporate cards, payments, treasury, and expense management so a finance team can stop stitching those functions across a half-dozen vendors. Cook has framed the mission plainly - fix the fragmentation of commercial finance, and build a bank a modern operator would actually want to use.
When Rho launched, the pitch was hard to explain. Consumer fintech was booming, and here was a company insisting the real problem sat with operating businesses, not individuals. Cook leaned into that discomfort. The company has since raised more than $200 million across venture and debt rounds, backed by investors including Dragoneer Investment Group and DFJ Growth, and now serves thousands of customers from its base in New York.
The challenge in building something counterintuitive is that it's counterintuitive. Not everybody will get it. - Everett Cook
Raised on the trading floor
Cook grew up in New York City, in a family where finance was the family business. His mother was one of the first female traders on Wall Street, around 1972, and the second woman on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. The origin story that gets retold: she walked into Goldman Sachs on a lunch break, impressed Robert Rubin with sheer initiative, and got hired. His father built a small private equity fund and taught him how organizations actually get built.
That environment produced an early builder. At 14, Cook and a friend started a web hosting company charging $5 a month. At 18, working out of a dorm room, he produced the first hip-hop concert at Lincoln Center. The headline act came together after he pitched Jay-Z at a party, got turned down, and then got a call from the artist's publicist three days later. Jay-Z showed up as a surprise guest and played for free.
He never wanted a fee from Jay-Z. He wanted the thing to exist. Years later, Cook has said nothing on Wall Street ever felt as rewarding as making something from nothing.
A decade in global macro
After Vanderbilt, where he studied economics, Cook spent roughly ten years in investing. He worked across firms including Deutsche Bank, SAC Capital Advisors, Point72, and Taylor Woods Capital, leading research at two billion-dollar global macro funds and moving trades north of $100 million. He operated in the orbit of figures like Steve Cohen and Michael Bloomberg.
The lasting lesson was less about markets than about temperament. Managing large positions taught emotional discipline and a respect for risk that he now brings to running a company - a preference for durable, long-term value over the sprint to scale. When he decided to leave, he did it deliberately: he quit, then took 90 days with the single purpose of brainstorming what to build next. The answer was Rho.
I never forgot how it felt at 18 to make something from nothing. It never felt as rewarding as building something. - Everett Cook
From $5 a month to $200M
Starts a web hosting company with a friend, charging $5 a month. First taste of running a business.
Produces the first hip-hop concert at Lincoln Center and lands Jay-Z as a surprise performer.
Roughly a decade in banking and global macro at Deutsche Bank, SAC Capital, Point72, and Taylor Woods Capital.
Co-founds Rho with Alex Wheldon to build banking and spend management for operating businesses.
Raises a $15M Series A led by M13, then a $75M Series B led by Dragoneer and DFJ Growth.
Secures $100M in financing to expand lending and banking operations.
Closes a Series C; total funding surpasses $200 million.
How the money came together
Figures reflect publicly reported rounds. Bar widths are illustrative, scaled to total funding.
Discipline, service, the long game
Trader's discipline
Years of moving large positions left him with a hard respect for risk and emotional control - traits he carries into how Rho is run.
Service over scale
He describes himself as working for his team, customers, and investors, rather than the other way around - long-term value ahead of a fast sprint.
The Inner Game of Tennis
His favorite book, a classic on performance psychology, mirrors his interest in how people perform under pressure.
Frequently asked
Who is Everett Cook?
He is the co-founder and CEO of Rho, a New York-based financial operations platform that combines business banking, corporate cards, payments, and expense management for growing companies.
What did he do before founding Rho?
He spent roughly a decade in global macro investing and banking, working at firms including Deutsche Bank, SAC Capital Advisors, Point72, and Taylor Woods Capital, and led research at two billion-dollar funds.
When was Rho founded, and with whom?
Rho was founded in 2018 by Everett Cook and Alex Wheldon, a British-Canadian serial entrepreneur.
How much has Rho raised?
More than $200 million across venture and debt financing, including a $15M Series A, a $75M Series B, $100M in lending financing, and a 2024 Series C.
Where did he go to school?
He attended Vanderbilt University, where he studied economics.