Matt McIlwain
Matt McIlwain currently serves as a board member at several companies, including A-Alpha Bio, Amperity, Axiom Math, Booster, and EdgeRunner AI. He has previously held board roles at Accolade, Inc. (which went public in 2021), Apptio (which went public in 2016), Farecast, and Isilon Systems (which went public in 2006), as well as serving as Vice President of Business Process at Genuine Parts Company.
IBM to Acquire Apptio for $4.6 Billion, Expanding its Cloud and IT Management Capabilities
IBM agreed to acquire Seattle-area cloud and IT management company Apptio for $4.6 billion, marking a significant milestone after Apptio's prior IPO and private equity acquisition. Apptio's SaaS technology helps companies manage tech spending and has grown to over $400 million annual revenue and 1,500 corporate customers, including half the Fortune 100.
Ex-Apple Engineers Launch Seattle's XetHub with $7.5M Seed to Accelerate AI Application Development
Seattle-based startup XetHub, founded by three former Apple engineers, raised $7.5 million in seed funding to develop a data storage platform for AI and machine learning application developers. The company aims to streamline code writing and deployment for intelligent applications, targeting businesses adopting AI beyond major tech players.
Madrona’s Matt McIlwain: In-person interaction vital as firm raises $690M and opens Palo Alto office
Madrona Venture Group managing director Matt McIlwain says hybrid work hasn’t been solved and emphasizes that in-person interaction is essential for trust-based VC–founder relationships, prompting regular partner office days and a new Palo Alto office. Madrona recently closed a record $690 million across two funds, driven in part by prior wins like its 2020 Snowflake investment.
Madrona Venture Group Raises $690M Across Two Funds to Support Startups in Seattle and Nationwide
Madrona Venture Group has raised $690 million across two funds, marking its largest ever, to back startups primarily in the Pacific Northwest and nationwide. The firm plans about 40 venture investments with increased capital per company amid a strong U.S. venture market.
Amperity cuts 13 roles (3% of staff) amid reorganization while planning continued hires and investments
Seattle customer-intelligence startup Amperity laid off 13 employees (about 3% of its 375-person workforce), primarily from its talent acquisition team, while saying it will continue hiring and invest in growth. CEO Barry Padgett attributed the cuts to organizational alignment with strategic growth plans; the company became a unicorn in July 2021 after a $100 million raise and values at $1 billion.
Tom Alberg Remembered as Influential Mentor and Venture Capitalist Who Empowered Seattle Entrepreneurs
Tom Alberg was a deeply curious, humble, generous, and kind mentor who profoundly influenced the Seattle tech community and venture capital world. He empowered young entrepreneurs with trust and wisdom, helping build Madrona and Perkins Coie LLP into industry leaders while delighting in others' successes.
Matt McIlwain, Madrona Venture Group Managing Director, veteran investor in seed and Series A tech companies
Matt McIlwain is a Managing Director at Madrona Venture Group in Seattle with over 25 years investing in seed and Series A technology companies; Madrona manages over $2B and was an early investor in Amazon, Smartsheet, Isilon, Redfin, and Snowflake. He focuses on cloud computing, data-driven and intelligent applications, champions the 'Learning Loop' for entrepreneurs, and previously worked at Genuine Parts Company, McKinsey & Company, and Credit Suisse.
Madrona’s Matt McIlwain Interviews Starburst CEO Justin Borgman on Founding Starburst, Cloud Marketplaces, and Presto Renaming to Trino
Madrona’s Matt McIlwain interviews Starburst Data CEO and co-founder Justin Borgman about founding Starburst, lessons from his first startup Hadapt, the importance of cloud partnerships and marketplaces for startups, the renaming of Starburst’s query engine from Presto to Trino, and guidance on building future-proof architectures.
Qumulo CEO Bill Richter Discusses Microsoft Azure Partnership and Enterprise Collaboration on Madrona’s Founded and Funded
Madrona partners Matt McIlwain and Aseem Datar interview Qumulo CEO Bill Richter about building meaningful enterprise partnerships, including Qumulo’s recent launch of Qumulo on Azure as a Service with Microsoft. The episode explores why startups partner with large enterprises, how those partnerships create mutual value, and practical advice for making them work.
Andreessen Horowitz, Madrona and other tech VCs ramp up bets on AI-driven biotech startups as founders from software enter life sciences
Tech venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Seattle’s Madrona Venture Group are increasingly investing in life-science startups that use AI, machine learning and data science to speed drug discovery and development. Investors are following founders who transitioned from software to biotech—such as Sujal Patel of Nautilus and Terry Myerson of Truveta—seeing reduced perceived risk and new opportunity at this intersection.
Former Amperity CEO Kabir Shahani Resigned From CEO Role and Board Last Week, Says He Left Voluntarily
Kabir Shahani unexpectedly resigned as CEO of Seattle marketing tech startup Amperity last week and has also left the company’s board; he told GeekWire he left voluntarily for personal reasons while Amperity executives have not publicly commented.
Amperity CEO and co-founder Kabir Shahani steps down; Barry Padgett named CEO as company scales after $100M round
Amperity CEO and co-founder Kabir Shahani has relinquished the CEO title seven months after the company raised $100 million and reached unicorn status; president and COO Barry Padgett becomes CEO and Monica Pool Knox is named chief people officer. The company called 2021 a record year, offered no explanation for Shahani's departure, and said it will focus on scaling its customer-data software business.
Vulcan Capital renamed Cercano Management and spun off as independent firm managing Allen-era assets
Vulcan Capital, the investment arm created to manage late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s holdings, has been spun off and renamed Cercano Management, a privately held firm working with multiple investors and family foundations. Cercano, based in Bellevue, will remain connected to Allen’s estate, continues Vulcan’s low-profile approach, and was recently disclosed as an investor in a $5.9 million round for Seattle startup Pendulum.
Pack Ventures launches Seattle syndicate to back UW-linked startups, pledges 10% of future profits to University of Washington
Pack Ventures, a new early-stage Seattle VC, will invest $100K–$200K checks in startups tied to the University of Washington and has already backed five companies including Jeeva Wireless, Talus.bio and Monod Bio; the firm will return 10% of individual future profits to UW. The syndicate includes more than 35 founding investors from the Seattle VC and entrepreneur community and will target AI, robotics, computational biology, enterprise software and other high-growth areas.
Pack Ventures launches 506(c) pre-seed fund to back University of Washington founders, pledges 10% of returns to UW
Pack Ventures (Pack VC), a pre-seed and seed 506(c) fund, launched to invest in University of Washington-affiliated founders and broaden accredited investor access; leaders pledge 10% of personal fund returns to UW and will host an online introduction for accredited investors on Feb. 17.
Brian Goldfarb named Tenable CMO; Elizabeth Hamren becomes Discord COO; Kurt DelBene confirmed as VA CIO; Madrona adds three strategic directors
Several tech industry hires and appointments: Brian Goldfarb is CMO at Tenable; Elizabeth Hamren is COO at Discord; Kurt DelBene confirmed as VA CIO; Madrona Venture Group added three strategic directors; Christina Mautz joined Panopto.
Madrona Venture Group raises $120M Fund VII Extension to support 10–12 portfolio companies from its 2018 $300M fund
Madrona Venture Group has raised a $120 million Fund VII Extension Fund from prior investors to provide follow-on capital for 10–12 companies from its 2018 $300 million Fund VII, responding to larger, faster rounds in today’s frothy venture market.
Madrona and Goldman Sachs Publish Inaugural IA40 of Top 40 Private AI Business-App Startups; Four Seattle Firms Included
Madrona Venture Group and Goldman Sachs released the inaugural Intelligent Applications Top 40 (IA40) list of private companies building business AI applications, based on votes from 40 venture firms plus Amazon and Microsoft and narrowed by 50 judges from over 220 nominees. Four Seattle-area companies — Amperity, OctoML, SeekOut, and one unnamed here — made the list; Amperity recently raised $100 million to reach unicorn status and OctoML raised $85 million.
Yoodli unveils AI speech-coaching platform, opens beta waitlist and raises $1M pre-seed from AI2 and Madrona
Seattle startup Yoodli launched an AI-enabled platform that analyzes users' speech delivery and offers improvement tips, and is opening a beta waitlist while announcing a $1 million pre-seed round. The spinout from AI2 is founded by Ehsan Hoque, Esha Joshi and Varun Puri, who aim to help people communicate more effectively and access opportunities.
Read, founded by ex-Placed team members David Shim, Elliott Waldron and Rob Williams, raises $10M seed to analyze faces and voices on video calls
Seattle startup Read — founded by David Shim, Elliott Waldron, and Rob Williams — raised $10 million in seed funding for software that uses AI to analyze participants' facial expressions and voice during video calls to measure engagement and sentiment in real time.
A-Alpha Bio raises $20M Series A led by Madrona to expand Seattle lab and scale protein-discovery platform
University of Washington spinout A-Alpha Bio raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Madrona Venture Group to expand downtown Seattle lab space and grow its machine-learning team for its protein-discovery platform. The company combines computational tools and yeast-based experiments to generate large protein-interaction datasets used to predict therapeutic protein candidates for diseases including COVID-19.
Former Tech Leaders Join Biotech: Isilon Founder Sujal Patel, Ex-Microsoft Terry Myerson and Others Lead AI-Driven Life Sciences Startups
Several former software and tech executives are moving into biotech and life sciences startups, bringing AI, machine learning, and tech-style business models to companies that analyze proteins, microbes, and medical records. Their tech backgrounds are reshaping product development and funding approaches at firms such as Nautilus Biotechnology, Truveta, insitro and Viome.
Amperity raises $100M Series D, becomes Seattle’s newest unicorn with $187M total funding
Seattle-based marketing startup Amperity raised $100 million in a Series D round, valuing it above $1 billion and bringing its total funding to $187 million. The company’s customer data platform helps brands like Alaska Airlines, Kroger and Starbucks unify fragmented first-party customer data to improve targeted marketing amid cookie restrictions and rising digital adoption.
Nautilus Biotechnology (NAUT) goes public via SPAC, raises $345 million to commercialize proteome analysis
Nautilus Biotechnology, co-founded by Sujal Patel and Parag Mallick, is going public on Nasdaq as NAUT through a SPAC merger that raised $345 million to advance a new proteome analysis platform aimed at accelerating biomedical research and drug development. Institutional backers include Bezos Expeditions, Vulcan Capital and Madrona Venture Group, and the deal closes on the 25th anniversary of Patel’s arrival in Seattle.
Bain Capital and Crosspoint Capital to buy Seattle cybersecurity firm ExtraHop for $900 million; founders stay
Private equity firms Bain Capital and Crosspoint Capital will acquire Seattle cybersecurity startup ExtraHop for $900 million; the 14-year-old company, with about 1,000 customers and 500+ employees, reported $100 million ARR and expects 40% growth this year. Founders and current leaders will remain, the deal aims to accelerate growth and is expected to close this summer.
Organizations
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Thira Director 2026–present · current
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Exa Investor 2026–present · current
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Thira Board Member 2026–present · current
Education
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Harvard Business School Master of Business Administration (MBA) · 1990–1992
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Dartmouth College Bachelor's degree, Government with economics · 1983–1987
