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
Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson Joins Board of Seattle Customer-Data Startup Amperity
Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson is joining the board of Seattle customer-data startup Amperity, which provides software to connect disparate customer data for targeted marketing and counts clients like Alaska Airlines, Patagonia and Kroger; Starbucks was an early adopter of Amperity.
Secure, a Pioneer Square Labs spinout, launches employer software for emergency savings accounts, CEO Devin Miller says
Seattle startup Secure, spun out of Pioneer Square Labs and led by CEO Devin Miller, is launching software that lets employers offer employee emergency savings accounts (ESAs) via automatic post-tax payroll deferrals and employer matches. The product targets small businesses without 401(k)s and larger employers seeking additional savings benefits, positioning ESAs as a high-ROI, low-cost financial wellness benefit amid pandemic-driven financial strain.
Joon Care raises $3.5M to expand remote therapy for teens and young adults
Seattle startup Joon Care raised $3.5 million to expand its remote therapy service for teens and young adults, connecting clients with licensed youth-focused therapists through 16-week subscription plans. The year-old company, led by CEO Josh Herst and chief psychologist Amy Mezulis, launched from PSL’s studio and has expanded service to Washington, California, and Oregon.
Igneous lays off staff amid ‘difficult economic environment’; CEO role held by Dean Darwin
Seattle-based unstructured data management startup Igneous has conducted a reduction in force amid a difficult economic environment; the company declined to disclose the number of layoffs and lists 69 employees on LinkedIn. Founded in 2013, Igneous raised $25 million in a 2019 Series C (bringing total funding to $70M) and recently replaced co-founder Kiran Bhageshpur with Dean Darwin as CEO.
GeekWire Podcast: OthersideAI raises $2.6M to use GPT‑3 for drafting emails; Tom Alberg profile and Trivia Challenge return
The GeekWire Podcast covers OthersideAI, a startup using GPT-3 to draft emails that just raised a $2.6 million seed round, discusses Seattle tech investor Tom Alberg’s long career and current focus, and relaunches the GeekWire Trivia Challenge with a chance to win a limited-edition face mask.
AI that writes your emails; a Seattle tech visionary; and our trivia challenge returns
Here’s what we’re talking about on the GeekWire Podcast this week: OthersideAI thinks it can help you be more productive by using artificial intelligence to write your emails for you. But is that really a good idea? The months-old firm announced a $2.6 million seed round this week. It's one of several startups creating email products based on OpenAI's GPT3 language processing technology. We talk about the long-term implications for the industry and for humanity. Tom Alberg was an internet financial pioneer when he became one of the first investors in Amazon in 1995. He didn't stop there. He was…
Tom Alberg invested in Amazon’s 1995 seed round, joined its board and co-founded Madrona to build Seattle’s tech scene
Tom Alberg invested in Amazon’s 1995 seed round, joined its board, and later co-founded Madrona Investment Group to back Pacific Northwest internet startups, helping shape Seattle’s tech ecosystem. His early bets and leadership influenced regional tech growth and left a legacy noted by Jeff Bezos and others.
Madrona leads $2.6M seed round for OthersideAI to build GPT-3–powered automated email composer
OthersideAI, founded months ago by Matt Shumer, Miles Feldstein and Jason Kuperberg, raised a $2.6M seed round led by Madrona to build a GPT-3–powered tool that automatically composes email drafts; the company is testing a Chrome extension with ~100 early users and a ~10,000-person waitlist.
NEA leads $37.5M Series B in Seattle cloud startup Pulumi, bringing total funding to $57.5M
Seattle startup Pulumi raised $37.5 million in a Series B led by NEA, bringing its total funding to $57.5 million to expand R&D and sales/marketing. NEA partner Aaron Jacobson will join Pulumi’s board alongside existing investors Madrona Venture Group and Tola Capital.
Julie Sandler
Julie is a managing director at Pioneer Square Labs, and runs the firm's venture capital arm, PSL Ventures. Prior to PSL, Julie was a partner at Madrona Venture Group, where she led the firm’s investments in Integris, Poppy, and Julep. In 2013, Julie launched the Seattle Entrepreneurial Women’s Network, an informal forum for women entrepreneurs and startup executives to connect in the Greater Seattle area. She currently resides in Seattle with her husband, Alejandro, and their toddler son and newborn daughter. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
University of Washington taps Justin Dunnicliff as NSIN university program director; Meredith Han named VP of Product at FlyHomes
The University of Washington partnered with the Department of Defense’s National Security Innovation Network (NSIN) and named UW alumnus Justin Dunnicliff as university program director to run NSIN programs at UW, connecting students to DoD-related research and employment opportunities. The article also notes Meredith Han, an early Amazon employee and angel investor, has become VP of product at FlyHomes.
Terry Myerson launches Seattle health-data startup Truveta to develop patient-care innovations, pledges strict privacy
Terry Myerson, former head of Microsoft's Windows and Devices Group, launched Seattle-area health-data startup Truveta to use patient data for developing treatments and improving care while emphasizing strong privacy protections. The company has hired nearly 20 people, plans to grow, declined to disclose funding or ownership details, and signals collaborations with health systems such as Providence Health & Services.
Amazon names Anne Toth director of Alexa Trust; Zillow adds Claire Cormier Thielke to board; Lockstep exits stealth
Amazon hired Anne Toth as director of Alexa Trust to lead privacy, security, accessibility and ethics efforts for Alexa; Zillow added Claire Cormier Thielke to its board and Lockstep, a Seattle accounting-software startup founded in 2019, emerged from stealth with a founding team drawn from Avalara, Globys, e2b Teknologies and Winshuttle.
Temporal raises $20M Series A led by Sequoia to commercialize open-source microservices orchestration
Temporal, a Seattle startup founded by former Uber engineers and cloud veterans, raised $20 million in a Series A led by Sequoia to commercialize its open-source microservices orchestration platform that improves developer productivity and reliability. Major customers include Snap, Box, Checkr, HashiCorp, and Coinbase, and investors include Madrona, Addition, Amplify and Snowflake ex-CEO Bob Muglia.
PNW Startups Raised $1.1B in Q3 2020 Across 65 Deals as Investors Keep Funding Amid Pandemic
Pacific Northwest startups raised $1.1 billion across 65 deals in Q3 2020, with funding in July and August exceeding last year’s levels as investors continue backing tech despite the pandemic.
Madrona leads $3.9M seed for Strike Graph to automate SOC 2 compliance, promises 45-day certification
Seattle startup Strike Graph, spun out of Madrona Venture Labs, raised $3.9 million in a seed round led by Madrona Venture Group to help B2B companies automate and accelerate SOC 2 compliance. The five-person team, led by CEO Justin Beals and co-founder Brian Bero, says its platform can deliver SOC 2 Type 1 certification in 45 days and save customers roughly $50,000 in consultant fees.
Matt McIlwain (Madrona) on lessons from 20 years of VC investing, traits of top entrepreneurs, and building a bigger pie
20 years as a VC at Madrona. Headline IPOs like Accolade, Smartsheet, Apptio, Isilon. Invested in cloud before it was cool. 3x Midas list. 3x CB's top 100 VC list. Matt goes behind the scenes on his lessons (from the highs and lows), Madrona's philosophy, and how the best leaders work.
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, Madrona and a giant IPO; Bill Gates Sr.; Apple, UW and COVID
Here’s what we’re talking about on the GeekWire Podcast this week: Snowflake, the data warehousing company, came out with a bang this week in its public debut, raising $3.4 billion in the largest software IPO ever. It reignited a debate over the the IPO process and inequality in the allocation of shares when a company goes public. Snowflake's IPO was also a successful outcome for Seattle's Madrona Venture Group, resulting from a departure from its normal investing strategy. We'll explain what happened, and what it could mean for the future. When Bill Gates Sr. died this week at age 94…
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.
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
