Tim Porter
Tim Porter is Managing Director at Madrona Venture Group and serves as Director at NewDays, Inc. He has previously held leadership roles in finance and corporate development at Eagle River Investments, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Teledesic, and Integris Software Inc.
Yifan Zhang announces AI House Demo Day: 25 teams pitched in Seattle with 42 investors attending
AI House held its first AI House Demo Day in Seattle where 25 teams (half portfolio companies) presented to an audience that included 42 investors; founders, investors, and organizers connected through pitches, meetings, and events around the day.
Jacob Colker announces Seattle startup gathering at Showbox Market thanking J.P. Morgan, Google, Fenwick & West and Pilot.com
Jacob Colker thanks sponsors, Seattle founders, and the AI House team after a gathering at the historic Showbox Market, expressing enthusiasm for the local startup community.
Impinj CEO Chris Diorio rings Nasdaq bell as RFID chipmaker marks 10th IPO anniversary after growing to $4.2B market cap
Impinj, maker of tiny battery-free RFID chips embedded in over 160 billion items, celebrated the 10th anniversary of its IPO as CEO Chris Diorio rang the Nasdaq bell; the Seattle company commands about two-thirds of its market, grew from a $250 million IPO valuation to a $4.2 billion market cap, but has reported only one profitable year and carries a $400 million accumulated deficit.
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.
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.
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.
Seattle’s AI2 Incubator Closes $80M Third Fund to Back 70 New AI Startups Over Four Years
AI2 Incubator, a Seattle-based startup incubator focused on AI and real-world applications, has closed an $80 million third fund to support about 70 new ventures over the next four years. The incubator has a successful track record with nearly 25% of its 50+ alumni acquired and 90% securing venture funding.
Madrona at 30 Years Interview Spotlight: Tim Porter
Madrona Managing Director Tim Porter talks with GeekWire’s John Cook about his 18 years of experience at Madrona, from investing in first-time founders in Seattle and Portland to witnessing the rise of cloud and now AI. He shares what defines a “Madrona founder,” the importance of trust-based relationships, and why lifelong learning is at the heart of venture. Tim also looks ahead to the future of the Pacific Northwest tech ecosystem and Madrona’s enduring commitment to community and innovation.
Seattle Startup Clarify Raises $15M to Challenge Salesforce with AI-Native Autonomous CRM
Seattle startup Clarify raised $15 million to grow its AI-native CRM platform that automates sales data entry by integrating email, calendar, and calls to help sales teams spend more time closing deals. Clarify targets early-stage startups and investors, competing with Salesforce and other CRM providers by building AI features at its core.
Seattle Has Fewer Than 20 Unicorn Startups Amid Top AI Talent and Tech Giants in 2025
Seattle hosts fewer than 20 unicorn startups, representing about 1.5% of global unicorns as of January 2025, despite having a dense tech talent pool and being a prime location for AI businesses. Industry leaders argue that the number of unicorns alone is a poor measure of regional tech success, pointing to Seattle's strengths in AI, cloud giants, and fast-growing startups.
Madrona Venture Group Marks 30 Years with $770M Raised for New Funds, Continuing Strong Seattle Investments
Madrona Venture Group, a Seattle-based venture capital firm celebrating its 30th anniversary, has invested in major startups like Amazon and recently raised $770 million for two new funds to support about 40 investments. While expanding beyond the Pacific Northwest with a Palo Alto office, Madrona continues to focus most of its investments locally.
Seattle Venture Capitalists Urge Founders to Prioritize Practical AI Over Pursuit of AGI
Seattle venture capitalists at a Plug and Play event encouraged tech founders to focus on building practical AI products for specific industries rather than chasing artificial general intelligence (AGI), which they believe is uncertain and not imminent.
Seattle’s Madrona Venture Firm Absorbs Madrona Venture Labs After 10 Years, Following $770M Fundraise
Seattle’s Madrona venture firm has absorbed its startup studio Madrona Venture Labs after over 10 years of independent operation and 30 incubated startups. This restructuring aligns with Madrona’s recent $770 million fundraise to consolidate efforts under one organization amid Seattle’s growing startup ecosystem.
Gaurav Oberoi’s Lexion Acquired by DocuSign for $165 Million, Marking Third Successful Exit for the Entrepreneur
Serial entrepreneur Gaurav Oberoi, co-founder of AI-based legal tech startup Lexion, will exit successfully as Lexion is acquired by DocuSign for $165 million. Oberoi, known for his customer-centric approach and expertise, has now had three startups acquired, earning strong respect in Seattle’s tech community.
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…
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…
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)…
Outbound AI raises $16M seed to expand AI virtual agents for healthcare revenue-cycle administration
Seattle-based Outbound AI raised $16 million in seed funding to expand its AI-powered virtual agents that handle healthcare revenue-cycle administrative tasks like eligibility verification, claims status, and prior authorization.
Numbers Station Founders on Applying Foundation Models to Data Wrangling
This week, Madrona Managing Director Tim Porter talks to Numbers Station Co-founders Chris Aberger and Ines Chami. We announced our investment in Numbers Station's $17.5M Series A in March and are very excited about the work they're doing with foundation models, which is very different than what has been making headlines this year. It isn't content or image generation – Numbers Station is bringing the transformational power of AI inside of those foundation models to the data-wrangling problems we've all felt! You can't analyze data if the data is not prepared and transformed, which in the past has been a…
Seattle Startup Groundlight Raises $10M Seed to Revolutionize Warehouse Monitoring with AI and Natural Language Computer Vision
Seattle startup Groundlight, co-founded by former Amazon and Picobrew execs Leo Dirac and Avi Geiger, emerged from stealth with a $10 million seed fund to simplify warehouse monitoring using AI-powered computer vision. Their platform enables businesses to query real-time video feeds through natural language prompts for instant, customizable insights.
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.
Wild times for tech startups
What the heck is going on in the economy, and how will the current market gyrations and geopolitical uncertainty impact startups and venture capital? To help answer these questions we invited Tim Porter to join us this week on the GeekWire Podcast. He's a Madrona Venture Group managing director who has invested in early-stage technology startups at the Seattle-based venture capital firm for the past 15 years, in areas including cloud, AI and enterprise software companies. Follow along with our extended notes from the discussion. With GeekWire co-founder John Cook. Edited by Curt Milton; Theme Music by Daniel L.K. Caldwell…
Scott Jacobson
Scott Jacobson is a Managing Director at Madrona Venture Group, where he has spent over 14 years helping early-stage technology entrepreneurs in the Pacific Northwest build and scale their companies. Scott is on the boards of companies like Rover, Flexe, and CommerceIQ, and focuses much of his energy on consumer businesses or business technologies that have a significant consumer component. Prior to joining Madrona, Scott worked at Amazon, where he did two tours of duty, leading product management for Amazon’s 3rd-party seller platform and working on the launch of the original Kindle. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Madrona Venture Group Raises $345M for 8th Fund and $161M for 2nd Later-Stage Fund in Largest Ever $500M Capital Raise
Madrona Venture Group raised over $500 million for its largest fundraise ever, including $345 million for an eighth early-stage fund targeting 35-40 Pacific Northwest startups and $161 million for a second later-stage Acceleration Fund. The firm continues to focus on supporting the Pacific Northwest tech ecosystem while also backing later-stage companies across North America.
Organizations
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Education
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Stanford University Graduate School of Business MBA · 2001–2003
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology BS, Mechanical Engineering, Minor in Economics · 1992–1996
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Racine Lutheran High School 1988–1992
