Today Madrona announced the largest fundraise in Madrona’s 27 year history, and for a Seattle based VC. We are excited to continue the work of building the Seattle ecosystem with the community here. And we are thankful for our investors, our incredible team and our family of founders and teams building exceptional companies.
– The Madrona Team
Largest Fundraise ever by a Seattle-Based VC Reinforces Strength of Early-stage Opportunities in the PNW and the Region’s Role in Building Disruptive Companies with Global Impact
Madrona, the largest Seattle-based venture firm, today announced it raised $690 million across two oversubscribed funds for technology startups based in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. With more than 25 years of experience building companies with founders from pre-seed onward, 100% of existing institutional investors supported the firm’s new funds —$430 million Madrona Fund 9 and $260 million Acceleration Fund 3. These funds represent an almost 40% increase from the $500 million Madrona raised in 2020, and the firm will continue to initially invest in technology startups at pre-seed through Series C stages.
“We are a team of full stack investors who invest from Day One and partner with founders across all dimensions of their business for the long run. Raising these funds during this challenging macro-economic environment speaks to the strength of our strategy and results,” said Madrona Managing Director Matt McIlwain. “We deeply believe in the massive opportunities for founders to build lasting companies over the next decade with roots in the Pacific Northwest. We are also committed to helping companies that have found product-market fit and are headquartered anywhere access and benefit from the Seattle ecosystem at the heart of modern technology disruption. We are especially grateful for the exceptional Madrona team, our broader community, and our investment partners who continue to help build a stronger flywheel for long-term success.”
Madrona Fund 9 will focus on its enduring strategy of supporting Pacific Northwest-based pre-seed, seed, and Series A founders to help them build and scale throughout their company journey. Historically, over 80% of Madrona’s core fund portfolio companies are based in the Pacific Northwest. This reflects the firm’s strong belief that, even in a hybrid world, early-stage companies benefit from easy access to experiential learning and trusted networks, such as those Madrona has built over many years. Current investment themes include modern data stack and DevOps, intelligent and generative applications (applied AI & ML), fintech, Web3, and the intersections of life and computer/data sciences.
Acceleration Fund 3 will focus on investing in teams that have found product-market fit — generally at the Series B or C stage — and are at a growth inflection point. About half of Madrona’s Acceleration Fund companies are in major tech centers across the country — Silicon Valley, New York City and Salt Lake City, to name a few. These companies are often leveraging AI and ML along with cloud computing to build the best intelligent applications and enabling technologies in the world.
This news follows the appointment of new Madrona Managing Director Karan Mehandru. Mehandru, an experienced VC with strong ties to Seattle, will be based in Madrona’s new Palo Alto office. He will help bring the Seattle mindset of collaborative and durable investing to outstanding companies around the country. Additionally, Madrona keeps expanding the team with new investment professionals, strategic directors, venture partners, and venture growth team members — all with a focus on helping founders build exceptional companies.
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