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
Kyndryl Acquires Seattle-Based Cloud Migration Company Skytap to Expand Hybrid Cloud Services
Kyndryl has acquired Seattle-based cloud migration software company Skytap, aiming to enhance its hybrid cloud services portfolio. Skytap, led by CEO Bradley Schick, supports traditional on-premise systems on Microsoft Azure and IBM Cloud, serving clients like Honeywell and Okta.
Acquired Podcast Founders Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal Launch Growth-Stage Tech Investment Fund
Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, founders and hosts of the Acquired podcast, are launching a new investment fund to invest in growth-stage tech companies, leveraging opportunities from their podcast network. Their fund formalizes their existing personal investments in startups like Vanta and Modern Treasury without turning into a traditional venture capital firm.
Concur Founder Steve Singh Leads Acquisition of Direct Travel to Enhance Corporate Travel Experience
Steve Singh, former CEO of Concur, led a group of investors in acquiring Direct Travel, a corporate travel management firm with over $300 million in revenue, aiming to create a seamless travel experience. Christal Bemont has been appointed as the new CEO of Direct Travel, with Singh serving as executive chairman.
TerraClear Raises $15M to Expand End-to-End Rock-Mapping and Picking Solutions for Farmers
TerraClear raised $15 million to expand its rock-mapping and picking technology, offering an end-to-end solution for farmers to efficiently remove rocks from fields using AI-driven hardware and software. The company plans to grow its sales team and partner with equipment manufacturers, providing services like drone field mapping and rock picking through service providers.
2024 GeekWire Awards CEO of the Year Finalists Include Leaders from Lexion, Common Room, Edge Delta, Statsig, and Mason
The 2024 GeekWire Awards CEO of the Year finalists are software veterans leading startups focused on enterprise solutions such as AI-powered contract management, data analysis, and A/B testing. These finalists include Gaurav Oberoi of Lexion, Linda Lian of Common Room, Ozan Unlu of Edge Delta, Vijaye Raji of Statsig, and Nancy Xiao of Mason.
Apptio Co-Founder Sunny Gupta Reflects on Building a $4.6 Billion Tech Business Following Key CIO Insight
Sunny Gupta, co-founder of Apptio, shared how a pivotal question from a CIO about managing technology costs inspired him to found the company, which pioneered Technology Business Management. Apptio went public in 2016, was acquired by Vista Equity Partners for nearly $2 billion in 2019, and then bought by IBM in a $4.6 billion deal in 2023.
Seattle Tech Leaders Including Satya Nadella Back Seattle Orcas, Boosting Major League Cricket's U.S. Growth in 2023
Sanjay Parthasarathy and prominent tech leaders including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella have backed the Seattle Orcas to advance Major League Cricket, successfully accelerating the sport's growth in the U.S. by several years after the league's inaugural 2023 season. Parthasarathy has transitioned from a tech executive to fully immersing himself in managing the cricket team and expanding the sport's presence nationally.
AI2 Incubator Secures $200M AI Compute Resources to Support Startups with Up to $1M Free Access
The AI2 Incubator in Seattle secured $200 million in AI compute resources from cloud providers to offer up to $1 million in free computing power to its portfolio startups, helping them scale AI models without high costs. This initiative aims to support AI founders lacking privileged compute access and strengthen AI2's position among incubators and investors.
How Writer CEO May Habib Is Making GenAI Work For the Enterprise
Madrona Partner Vivek Ramaswami hosts May Habib, co-founder and CEO of Writer, a 2023 IA40 winner. Writer is a full-stack generative AI platform for the enterprise. In this episode, May shares her perspective on founding a GenAI company before the ChatGPT craze, building an enterprise-grade product and go-to-market motion with 200% NRR, whether RAG and vector DBs even have a role in the enterprise, the essential attributes she looks for when hiring, and some valuable lessons she learned from past experiences. It's a must listen for anyone building in AI. Transcript: https://www.madrona.com/writer-ceo-may-habib-generative-ai-platform (00:00) Introduction (01:00) The founding story of Writer…
Former Microsoft Exec Yatharth Gupta’s Codified Raises $4M Seed to Advance AI-Powered Data Governance
Seattle startup Codified, founded by former Microsoft executive Yatharth Gupta, raised a $4 million seed round led by Madrona Venture Group to develop an AI-driven data governance platform. The company aims to simplify and improve internal data access management by enabling users to create data access rules in plain English, addressing industry challenges around data access complexity and security.
Pioneer Square Labs and Mayfield Partner to Co-Invest $1.5M Minimum in AI Startups
Seattle's Pioneer Square Labs and Silicon Valley venture capital firm Mayfield have formed a partnership to co-invest at least $1.5 million in AI-focused startups spun out from PSL. This collaboration combines PSL's startup incubation with Mayfield's venture funding strength to accelerate AI technology ventures.
Investor Spotlight: A Conversation with Madrona's Soma Somasegar
Hear from Madrona Managing Director Soma Somasegar as he discusses his path to venture capital by way of 27 years at Microsoft. He shares invaluable insights about what he looks for in a founder, the importance of passion in founders, the state of cloud technology, and the future of AI and Startups. Tim also shares Madrona's core principles, his favorite books for entrepreneurs, and his personal interests outside of work, including his passion for outdoor sports and the nonprofit Global Partnerships. This chat is a must-watch for aspiring entrepreneurs looking for insights into the venture capital world or strategies to…
Apptio Founder Sunny Gupta Steps Down as CEO Following IBM's $4.6B Acquisition, Transitions to Chairman Emeritus
Sunny Gupta, founder and CEO of Apptio for over 17 years, is stepping down and transitioning to chairman emeritus after IBM acquired the company in a $4.6 billion deal. Apptio COO Ajay Patel and President Larry Blasko will take over leadership as the company continues serving 1,800 customers including over 60% of the Fortune 500.
Dust Founders Bet Foundation Models Will Change How Companies Work
Madrona Partner Jon Turow hosts Gabriel Hubert and Stan Polu, the co-founders of a 2023 IA40 winner, Dust, which enables information workers to create LLM-based agents that help them do their own work more efficiently. They discuss the broader AI/LLM ecosystem, the merits and potential of horizontal vs vertical solutions, limitations of AI assistants, and the influence of Stripe on their business. The founders dive into the future use cases and adoption of AI in businesses and also touch on keeping humans in the loop of AI and software development. Transcript: https://www.madrona.com/dust-bets-foundation-models-change-how-companies-work/ (00:00) Introduction and Overview (01:31) The Trade-off Between…
Seattle Startup Statsig Debuts 200+ Billboard Campaign in San Francisco to Promote Advanced Product Experimentation Tools
Seattle-based startup Statsig launched a major advertising campaign with over 200 billboards in San Francisco to raise its profile in Silicon Valley, promoting its enhanced product experimentation tools. Founded by Vijaye Raji, the company aims to demonstrate Seattle startups’ influence beyond the Pacific Northwest with messages targeting product teams that value rigorous A/B testing.
2024 Annual Investment Outlook
Send us Fan Mail Listen to our 2024 Annual Investment Outlook Panel with four top VCs based in Seattle and the Bay area. Get their perspective on the investment climate in 2024 and their plans to invest specifically in AI/ML based startups. Tim Porter, Managing Director, Madrona Ventures Tim joined Madrona in 2006 and invests in B2B software companies in the Pacific Northwest. He is currently interested in intelligent applications and SaaS, cloud-native software infrastructure, the modern data stack, machine learning, DevOps, and cybersecurity. He is also a board member of numerous Madrona portfolio companies. Sudip Chakrabarti, Partner, Decibel VC…
From Creating Kubernetes to Founding Stacklok: Open-Source and Security with Craig McLuckie
In this episode of Founded & Funded, Madrona Managing Director Tim Porter talks to Craig McLuckie, who's most known as one of the creators of Kubernetes at Google. Madrona previously backed Craig's company, Heptio, and was excited to back his latest company — Stacklok. Stacklok is a software supply chain security company that helps developers and open-source communities build more secure software and keep that software safe. Tim and Craig discuss Stacklok's developer-centric approach to security, the role of open source in startups, the importance of open source and security, and they also hit on some important lessons in company…
Flexe Cuts 38% of Workforce, Laying Off 99 Employees Amid Market Challenges Despite $119M Series D Funding
Seattle-based warehousing and logistics startup Flexe cut 38% of its workforce, affecting 99 employees amid market challenges despite a $119 million Series D funding round. The layoffs reflect broader difficulties in the startup sector following pandemic-driven growth.
Lassen Peak Raises $6M from Madrona to Advance Handheld Terahertz Weapon Detection Device
Lassen Peak, a Bellevue-based startup developing a handheld terahertz radar device for concealed weapon detection, raised $6 million from Madrona Venture Group, bringing its total funding to $32 million. The device aims to improve public safety by enabling law enforcement and others to detect weapons at a distance without physical pat-downs.
Investor Spotlight: A Conversation with Madrona's Tim Porter
Hear from Madrona Managing Director Tim Porter as he discusses his path to venture capital by way of mechanical engineering and Microsoft. He shares invaluable insights about what he looks for in a founder, the importance of customer focus, and the high priority he places on integrity. Tim also shares Madrona's core principles, his favorite books for entrepreneurs, and his personal interests outside of work, including his passion for outdoor sports and the nonprofit Global Partnerships. This chat is a must-watch for aspiring entrepreneurs looking for insights into the venture capital world or strategies to capture an investor's eye. (00:00)…
#64 Matt McIlwain – MD Madrona Venture Group on all Things Venture Capital
Nataraj interviewed veteran VC Matt McIlwain of Madrona Venture Group on Startup Project podcast. Matt shared his insights into the state of venture capital and the impacts of AI, drawn from his 20+ years of experience. Some key takeaways: 1. Venture is a "tale of two cities" now - later stage startups are struggling, earlier stage companies embracing AI are thriving 2. Seattle has unmatched talent but lacks local capital - still over-reliant on Silicon Valley VCs 3. Incumbents have the edge currently in leveraging AI due to data, customers, ability to integrate via APIs - but long term, AI-native…
Karan Mehandru & Anna Baird on Go-To-Market Strategy, and Navigating Sales, Growth, and Leadership
This week, Madrona Managing Director Karan Mehandru hosts Madrona Operating Partner Anna Baird. The operating partner role is a new one for Madrona, and we're excited to have her on the team to advise our founders. Before transitioning to board positions in the last couple of years, Anna was most recently the CRO at Outreach. Before that, she was the COO at Outreach, and before that, she was the CFO at several companies. That trifecta of C-Suite experience gives Anna a unique perspective to help founders navigate any blind spots they may have. Anna and Karan, who is on the…
Ben Gilbert Transitions to Venture Partner at Pioneer Square Labs to Focus on Top-Ranking 'Acquired' Podcast
Ben Gilbert, co-founder of Pioneer Square Labs, is shifting from managing director and general partner to venture partner to focus on the popular 'Acquired' podcast, which now has over 450,000 monthly listeners and is the top tech podcast on Apple and Spotify. The podcast's in-depth episodes require extensive research and production time, leading Gilbert to prioritize it over his previous dual roles.
Tigera CEO Ratan Tipirneni On Commercializing Open Source
Madrona Partner Aseem Datar hosts Tigera CEO Ratan Tipirneni. Tigera is in the business of preventing and detecting security breaches in cloud-native applications, and its open-source offering Calico is one of the most widely adopted container networking and security solutions out there. Aseem and Ratan dive into whether or not you should open source, the three business models founders should evaluate when thinking about commercializing an open-source project, how to compete with free, how product-led growth can really kickstart your business compared to traditional go-to-market, and so much more. Words of wisdom from Ratan Tipirneni: You need to be thinking…
Seattle Startup Yoodli Launches AI VC Pitch Coach to Help Founders Practice Investor Presentations
Seattle startup Yoodli launched an AI-powered VC pitch coach that helps startup founders practice investor presentations by simulating various VC question personas and providing detailed feedback. The tool aims to reduce pitch preparation anxiety and lessen mentors' workload, offering five free practice sessions before subscription fees start.
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
