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
Echodyne Opens $40M Woodinville Factory to Produce 2,500+ Radars Monthly for Drone Detection
Echodyne opened a $40 million, 86,350-square-foot radar manufacturing facility in Woodinville, Washington, to scale production of drone-detection and airspace-monitoring radars to more than 2,500 units per month, supporting 100–200 new jobs amid rising global demand.
WTIA Selects 21 Startups for 14th Founder Cohort Accelerator Program to Boost Washington Tech Growth
The Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA) announced 21 startups selected for its 14th Founder Cohort Accelerator Program, aimed at supporting early-stage technology companies in Washington through mentorship and structured growth curriculum. The four-month program focuses on building leadership skills, connections, and accelerating startup growth in the state.
Former GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke’s Entire launches distributed Git network preview after $60M seed
Former GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke’s startup Entire launched a preview of a distributed Git network that mirrors repositories across active regions in the U.S., Europe, and Australia to reduce latency, rate limits, and outages from AI coding agents. Entire raised a $60 million seed round in February and lets developers mirror GitHub repos in one step while keeping code on the original platform.
Zoom Acquires Common Room to Integrate AI-Driven Buyer Intelligence into Revenue Accelerator Platform
Zoom Communications is acquiring Common Room, an AI platform that consolidates buyer signals and customer data to enhance revenue teams' targeting and messaging. The deal, announced on July 2, 2026, aims to integrate Common Room's AI capabilities with Zoom's conversation data to improve sales efficiency and outcomes, with terms undisclosed and closing expected soon.
Zoom Acquires Seattle AI Startup Common Room to Enhance Sales Signal Tracking in Zoom Revenue Accelerator
Zoom has acquired Seattle-based startup Common Room, which developed an AI-powered platform for sales and marketing teams to track buyer signals, in a move to enhance its Zoom Revenue Accelerator platform with deeper buyer intelligence. Common Room, founded in 2020, had raised $52 million in funding and was named Startup of the Year at the 2022 GeekWire Awards.
Amperity Undertakes Layoffs Amid AI-Driven Operational Shift Under New Co-CEOs Shahani and Slager
Seattle-based customer data startup Amperity conducted unspecified layoffs as it shifts its operations toward increased artificial intelligence integration under new co-CEOs Kabir Shahani and Derek Slager. The company, with over 200 employees globally, aims to build a stronger AI-driven future following leadership changes including the CEO transition earlier in 2024.
Gradial Raises $65M Series C Led by Insight Partners at $675M Valuation to Expand AI Marketing Platform
Gradial, a Seattle-based AI startup founded in 2023, raised $65 million in a Series C round led by Insight Partners to expand its AI platform for automating enterprise marketing workflows. The funding will support growing its 100-person team, focusing on engineering, sales, and marketing.
Gradial Raises $65M Series C Led by Insight Partners to Scale AI Marketing Platform with $675M Valuation
Seattle-based startup Gradial raised $65 million in a Series C funding round led by Insight Partners, bringing total funds raised to over $110 million in 16 months. The company builds an AI orchestration platform for enterprise marketing that integrates with tools like Adobe and Salesforce, and plans to use the funds to scale engineering, sales, and cloud infrastructure.
Indian-American Tech Executive Soma Somasegar Honored by U.S. Congress for Contributions to Innovation and Community
Indian-American tech leader Soma Somasegar was honored by the U.S. House of Representatives for his leadership at Microsoft and contributions to entrepreneurship and community service. Currently a managing director at Madrona Venture Group, he has significantly influenced technology innovation and startup growth.
Golden Analytics Raises $14M Seed Extension Led by Insight Partners and Launches AI Analytics Platform in Public Beta
Golden Analytics, founded by former Tableau product chief Francois Ajenstat, secured a $14 million seed extension led by Insight Partners, raising total seed funding to $21 million. The company launched its AI-powered analytics platform in public beta, attracting early interest from around 1,000 companies, including Fortune 500 firms.
Golden Analytics Raises $14 Million Seed Extension; Insight Partners Joins NEA and Madrona as Company Launches Public Beta
Golden Analytics announced a $14 million seed extension on June 9, 2026, led by Insight Partners joining NEA and Madrona as the company launches a public beta after strong early demand.
Oren Etzioni Outlines 10 Key Commandments for AI Startups Following 10 Classic Startup Rules
Oren Etzioni shares ten foundational commandments for AI startups focused on business models, distribution, costs, and model dependency, preceded by ten general startup principles from industry veterans. These guidelines draw on his extensive experience as an AI entrepreneur and investor to help founders navigate unique challenges in AI ventures.
WTIA Selects 21 Startups for 14th Founder Cohort Accelerator to Boost Washington State Innovation
The Washington Technology Industry Association selected 21 early-stage startups across Washington state for its 14th Founder Cohort Accelerator Program, focusing on fields like AI, cybersecurity, and healthcare. The four-month program offers mentorship, peer learning, and investor connections to support entrepreneurial growth.
SpaceX IPO Filing Details Starlink Factory; Jeff Bezos Discusses Wealth and AI on CNBC; John Uses ChatGPT and Gemini for FIFA Ticketing Support
SpaceX's IPO filing reveals new details about the Starlink satellite factory in Redmond. Jeff Bezos discusses wealth and AI on CNBC, while John seeks help from ChatGPT and Gemini after FIFA’s ticketing support fails.
SpaceX IPO filing reveals Starlink's impact, Bezos sounds off on CNBC, and Gemini owes John a beer
This week on a supersized Memorial Day Weekend edition of the GeekWire Podcast: A massive IPO filing from SpaceX includes new details about Elon Musk's Starlink business and its satellite factory in Redmond. Jeff Bezos talks about wealth, inequality and eventually tech in an hour-long CNBC appearance. John goes to World Cup ticketing hell and turns to ChatGPT and Gemini when FIFA's support falls short. And a special Sam Altman/Seattle startup edition of GeekWire Trivia. With GeekWire co-founders Todd Bishop and John Cook. Related Links: SpaceX is churning out 70 Starlink satellites a week in Redmond, and other tidbits from…
Tech Community Mourns S. 'Soma' Somasegar, Microsoft Veteran and Madrona VC, at Age 59
S. 'Soma' Somasegar, a respected Microsoft veteran and Madrona Ventures investor, passed away at age 59, prompting widespread tributes highlighting his kindness, mentorship, and lasting impact on the tech community. Colleagues remembered him as a humble servant leader and champion of developers whose legacy went beyond his business contributions.
S. Somasegar, Microsoft Veteran and Venture Capital Leader, Passes Away Leaving Lasting Tech Legacy
S. Somasegar, a respected Microsoft leader and venture capitalist known for his technical brilliance and kindness, passed away recently. He made significant contributions to Microsoft’s developer ecosystem and supported many startups, leaving a lasting impact on the technology community.
AGI Needs Formal Reasoning. Carina Hong is Building it at Axiom.
There's a theorem being tested about how AI reaches general intelligence. Carina Hong's answer: through mathematics. Carina is the founder of Axiom, and in less than a year of building, her team's AI has scored a perfect 120/120 on the Putnam mathematical competition — a test where more than 50% of brilliant undergraduates score zero. More concretely, Axiom Prover has reached 98.93% on a Lean software verification benchmark that leading alternatives solve at 11–12%. In this conversation with Matt McIlwain, Carina explains her central thesis: that math and code are the two pillars of the digital world, and that any…
Seattle-Area Tech Veterans Acquire New England Eagles Minor League Cricket Team to Develop USA Talent Pipeline
Five Seattle-area tech veterans with leadership experience from major companies have acquired the New England Eagles Minor League Cricket franchise in Boston to support the sport's talent pipeline. They prioritize developing pathways for local players to reach Team USA, despite the team being located 3,000 miles away.
Anoop Gupta Steps Down as SeekOut CEO, Sean Thompson Named Successor to Drive AI Recruiting Growth
Anoop Gupta is stepping down as CEO of SeekOut on May 4 to become executive chairman, passing leadership to Sean Thompson, who will focus on scaling SeekOut's AI recruiting service and pursuing acquisitions for growth. Thompson, an enterprise tech veteran, previously led NAVEX and has experience with SAP, Microsoft, and AI startups.
Former Tableau Chief Product Officer Francois Ajenstat Launches Golden Analytics with $7M Seed to Create AI-Native BI Platform
Francois Ajenstat, former Tableau chief product officer, has launched Golden Analytics with $7 million in seed funding to build an AI-native business intelligence platform that emphasizes automated insights and user control. The Seattle-based startup aims to advance BI by integrating AI at its core rather than as an add-on.
Ridge AI Raises $2.6M Pre-Seed to Accelerate Dashboards and AI Data Agents for B2B Software
Ridge AI, a Seattle-based company that provides a platform for B2B software firms to deploy interactive dashboards and AI data agents quickly, raised $2.6 million in pre-seed funding. The round will support the company’s efforts to enable customers to ship dashboards and AI agents in hours.
Data Visualization Veterans Ellie Fields and Jeffrey Heer Launch Ridge AI with $2.6M Led by Madrona to Enhance SaaS Analytics
Data visualization experts Ellie Fields and Jeffrey Heer launched Ridge AI with $2.6M in pre-seed funding from Madrona and prominent angels to help SaaS companies embed interactive analytics and AI data agents quickly into their products. Ridge AI aims to fix persistent issues in web-based data presentation by enabling rapid creation of interactive dashboards and data agents sharing the same dataset.
Zapier Has More AI Agents Than Employees. Here's How That Happened
Zapier is doing hundreds of millions in ARR, has 800 employees, and has more AI agents than people. That ratio isn't an accident. Wade Foster, CEO and co-founder of Zapier, built one of the most capital-efficient software companies in history on less than $1 million in venture funding. When GPT-4 launched in March 2023, he called a company-wide "code red" (a term he'd never used before) and stopped the entire company for a week-long hackathon. What happened next reshaped how Zapier hires, operates, prices its product, and thinks about the future of software. In this episode of Founded & Funded…
Rec Room, Seattle Social Gaming Platform Valued at $3.5B, Shuts Down June 1 Amid Profitability Challenges
Seattle-based social gaming platform Rec Room, once valued at $3.5 billion, will shut down on June 1 after a decade in operation due to difficulties in achieving profitability. This ends the run of one of Seattle's most notable startup unicorns.
Fund History
People
See all 16-
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
