Facts
- HQ
- Madrona
- Sectors
- Financial Services
- Founded
- 1995
- Employees
- 135
- Stage
- Seed
- Last fund
- MADRONA VENTURE FUND X, L.P. · $489.6M · 2025 SEC Form D
- Funds raised
- 10 funds SEC Form D filings
- Total capital
- $1.7B SEC Form D filings
WhyLabs, AI2 Spinout Led by Ex-Amazon Engineers, Raises $4M from Madrona, Bezos Expeditions and Others
WhyLabs, an AI monitoring startup spun out of the Allen Institute for AI, emerged from stealth after raising $4 million from investors including Madrona, Defy Partners, Bezos Expeditions and Ascend VC to commercialize a platform for monitoring ML data and models. The company is led by CEO Alessya Visnjic, joined by former Amazon ML engineers Andy Dang and Sam Gracie plus ex-Madrona principal Maria Karaivanova.
Lighter Capital appoints Melissa Widner as CEO after layoffs; firm has invested $200M+ using revenue-based financing
Seattle alternative VC firm Lighter Capital named Melissa Widner as CEO; she succeeds Thor Culverhouse and joins a company that has deployed $200M+ via revenue-based financing and recently cut staff from ~80 to 23 before rising to 25 employees. Widner, a Sydney-based board member and former NAB venture managing partner, plans remote hiring as the firm seeks global growth.
Snowflake raises $3.4B in largest software IPO, opens at $245 and closes at $253.93 valuing company over $60B; Madrona an early investor
Snowflake raised $3.4 billion in the largest-ever software IPO, pricing at $120 and opening at $245 before closing at $253.93 to value the company above $60 billion; early investor Madrona Venture Group, which invested in 2017, benefited though it holds under 5% and did not disclose stake value.
Flexe sees surge in demand as pandemic-driven e-commerce growth pushes retailers to buy on-demand warehouse space
E-commerce share of U.S. retail surged during the pandemic, accelerating years of digital adoption in months and boosting demand for Flexe’s on-demand warehousing marketplace. Flexe matches retailers with excess warehouse capacity so companies can scale fulfillment regionally without owning fixed real estate, serving clients like Ralph Lauren, Staples, Ace Hardware and Walmart.
Madrona Venture Group leads $9M round in Trade Coffee, a marketplace linking home brewers to 56 roasters and 400+ blends
Madrona Venture Group led a $9 million financing round in New York-based Trade Coffee, a two-year-old marketplace connecting home brewers with over 400 blends from 56 small roasters and offering single orders or subscriptions; Trade has nearly 75,000 subscribers after tripling since January.
Former AWS, Dropbox, Facebook, Convoy Leaders — Linda Lian, Tom Kleinpeter, Francis Luu, Viraj Mody — Launch Stealth Seattle Startup to Build Digital Community Tools
Four former Seattle tech leaders — Linda Lian, Tom Kleinpeter, Francis Luu, and Viraj Mody — have quietly formed a new startup building tools to help users create digital communities, according to a recent tweet by Lian. The team brings experience from Amazon Web Services, Dropbox, Facebook, Convoy and Madrona Venture Group; Lian declined to provide further details.
Anu Sharma leaves AWS to join Madrona Venture Group as investor after eight years at Amazon
Anu Sharma left an eight-year product management role at Amazon/AWS to join Madrona Venture Group’s investment team, turning a long-standing personal interest in investing into a full-time career where she plans to apply engineering rigor to evaluating and growing startups.
Panda AI, spun out of AI2, raises $3.3M with AI2 as first investor from its new pre-seed fund
Panda AI, a stealth startup spun out of the Allen Institute for AI (AI2), raised $3.3 million in a round led by PSL Ventures with participation from AI2 and others; it is the first company to receive funding from AI2’s new pre-seed fund.
GeekWire: Pacific NW startups raise big rounds — Vacasa $108M, Remitly $85M, Auth0 $120M, OfferUp $120M, Outreach $50M; Qumulo hits $1B
Pacific Northwest privately-held tech startups raised large funding rounds and increased valuations during the 2020 economic crisis, with several firms hitting or exceeding $1 billion valuations and total H1 2020 investment of $2.3 billion across 135 deals.
Routable raises $12M Series A to automate business payments; total funding $16M
Routable, a 2-year-old fintech founded in Seattle and now based in San Francisco, announced a $12 million Series A to automate accounts payable and receivable and streamline business payments. The company, led by CEO Omri Mor and CTO Tom Harel, integrates with Xero and QuickBooks and has raised $16 million total from investors including Y Combinator and Founders’ Co-Op.
Coda raises $80M Series C led by Kleiner Perkins; Madrona and others join to scale document-as-app platform
Coda, a Bay Area startup led by ex-Microsoft and Google director Shishir Mehrotra, raised an $80 million Series C led by Kleiner Perkins with participation from Madrona Venture Group and others to expand its document-as-app collaboration platform used by companies like Spotify and Uber. Madrona said the investment aligns with its focus on Future of Work and low-code/no-code tools as remote work increases demand for collaboration software.
Ignition Partners investors spin out Fuse Venture Partners led by Kellan Carter, Cameron Borumand and Seahawks star Bobby Wagner
A group of investors from Seattle VC firm Ignition Partners, including managing partner John Connors, have launched a spinoff called Fuse Venture Partners led by general partners Kellan Carter and Cameron Borumand and featuring Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner as a venture partner. Ignite will sunset its brand while Fuse focuses on doubling down in Seattle and managing new investments, with Wagner committing to active involvement.
Create33 and Microsoft launch six-month Startup Success Program for 27 founders of color in Seattle
Create33 and Microsoft launched a six-month Startup Success Program in Seattle to support 27 founders of color with coaching, peer networks and workshops, culminating in a demo day. Participants like Golden Sherpa (which has raised $95,000) report new, diverse connections and meaningful early impact.
Qumulo raises $125M, valued at more than $1.2B to join Seattle’s unicorns
Qumulo raised $125 million in funding, pushing its valuation to over $1.2 billion and making it a Seattle-area unicorn; the data-storage company serves customers across healthcare, media, research and the public sector and has seen increased demand during the pandemic.
UiPath raises $225M Series E led by Alkeon, valued at $10.2B as RPA demand rises
UiPath raised $225 million in a Series E round led by Alkeon Capital, valuing the robotic process automation company at $10.2 billion; the firm reports over $400 million in annual recurring revenue and says COVID-19 increased demand for automation.
Seattle tech CFO survey: 37 respondents say three-quarters expect full COVID-19 recovery; nearly half raise 2020 spending forecasts
A survey of 37 Seattle-based tech CFOs finds the local tech industry remains resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic, with three-quarters expecting full recovery and nearly half raising 2020 spending forecasts versus early March. Many CFOs report higher Q2 bookings expectations and over 40% say their companies are increasing headcount despite widespread industry layoffs elsewhere.
Accolade prices IPO at $22, raises $220M and debuts on Nasdaq at $1.2B valuation as shares jump 40%
Health benefits platform Accolade priced its IPO at $22 per share, raising $220 million and debuting on Nasdaq with a $1.2 billion valuation; shares rose over 40% to $30.90 in early trading. The Seattle- and Philadelphia-based company, led by CEO Raj Singh, serves employers with a subscription model and reported $132.5 million revenue for fiscal 2020, with four customers contributing 59% of that revenue.
Madrona leads $27M round in Fauna; Bob Muglia named executive chairman, Eric Berg becomes CEO
Madrona Venture Group led a $27 million investment in Fauna, the San Francisco-based database startup founded by two former Twitter engineers, bringing total funding to $57 million and appointing Bob Muglia as executive chairman and Eric Berg as CEO. Fauna focuses on cloud-native, serverless-accessible databases (FaunaDB) and will add Madrona’s S. Somasegar to its board.
OneTrust acquires Seattle AI-focused privacy startup Integris, folds tech into OneTrust DataDiscovery and keeps 20-person Seattle team
Atlanta-based privacy software firm OneTrust has acquired Seattle startup Integris Software and integrated its AI-based discovery technology into OneTrust DataDiscovery while retaining Integris’s 20-person Seattle team. Integris, founded in 2016 and a $16 million VC-backed company, will support tasks like compliance monitoring during cloud migrations and data governance.
Voodle launches short-form workplace video app after Pixvana shutdown; Pixvana had raised $20M
Seattle startup Voodle launched a short-form, selfie-style workplace video app—spun out of Pixvana after that company closed—to replace lengthy calls and text updates with searchable, transcribed clips that integrate with apps like Salesforce and HubSpot. Pixvana had raised $20 million before shuttering in late 2019 when CEO Forest Key concluded AR/VR wasn’t yet ready for mainstream business scale.
Accolade files IPO to sell 8.75M shares at $19–$21, seeks up to $211M and ~$1B valuation; will trade as ACCD
Accolade priced 8.75 million IPO shares at $19–$21 to raise up to $211 million, aiming for a ~ $1 billion valuation and Nasdaq ticker ACCD, positioning itself as Seattle's first public company of 2020. The health benefits platform reported $132.5 million revenue and a $51.3 million net loss for the fiscal year ending Feb. 29, serves 1.6 million members across 58 corporate customers, and estimates a $24 billion total addressable market.
Madrona hires ex-AWS product manager Anu Sharma as principal; Saykara and DomainTools add senior marketing and leadership hires
Madrona Venture Group hired Anu Sharma as a principal from AWS; Seattle startups and tech companies also announced hires and promotions, including Saykara naming Joy Efron VP of marketing and DomainTools adding four executives (CTO James Reynolds, CCO Jeff Day, VP of product Jackie Abrams, and VP of people Jill Boon).
Panda AI launches inside AI2 in Seattle, led by CEO Aaron Goldfeder and CTO Yue Ning in stealth mode
Panda AI is a stealth B2B startup launched inside the Allen Institute for AI (AI2) in Seattle, led by CEO Aaron Goldfeder and CTO Yue Ning, both former AI2 entrepreneurs-in-residence. The company — currently two employees with early access interest and Smartsheet co-founder Eric Browne as product advisor — aims to build next-generation tools for knowledge workers using recent AI breakthroughs.
Madrona-led $4.5M seed funds Zeitworks, a Seattle ML startup co-founded by Ben Elowitz and CEO Ryan Windham
Seattle startup Zeitworks raised a $4.5 million seed round led by Madrona Venture Group with participation from JAZZ Venture Partners and Zillow co-founder Spencer Rascoff; the company uses machine learning to analyze and recommend improvements to repetitive business processes without back-end integrations. Zeitworks spun out of Madrona Venture Labs, is led by CEO Ryan Windham with co-founder Ben Elowitz, and plans to hire for several roles.
Uplevel launches remote-work analytics to track engineers' 'always on' hours, isolation, and throughput
Seattle startup Uplevel, which emerged from stealth earlier this year, added new analytics features to measure developer productivity and wellbeing in remote work settings, tracking metrics like messaging hours, meeting attendance, and engineering throughput. The tools aim to help managers detect overwork, isolation, and workflow bottlenecks caused by increased digital interruptions and home distractions.
Fund History
People
See all 15-
Bill Ruckelshaus Founder, Founder and Strategic Director
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Paul Goodrich Founder
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Steve Singh Founder, Co-founder of Concur and Managing Director
