AI & Intelligent Apps
Why we invest
Artificial intelligence has captured the imagination of consumers and businesses alike as they reimagine how life and work will change. While Madrona has been investing in AI since 2012, the recent acceleration has highlighted opportunities in the combination of unstructured data, natural user interactions, and generative capabilities. Our experience in applied AI from a technology and business model perspective has built a comprehensive understanding of AI’s strengths and vulnerabilities and an understanding of the expertise needed to navigate a rapidly evolving landscape. Madrona believes the next generation of tech leaders will emerge from key areas, including application orchestration, intelligent applications, AI infrastructure, and AI agents at the edge.
OctoAI’s
Luis Ceze
on bringing ML to all platforms 
Common Room’s
Linda Lian
on integrating community into your company 
Runway’s
Cristóbal Valenzuela
on AI-driven art and lifelong learning 
Deepgram’s
Scott Stephenson
on revolutionizing voice AI and building a developer tool 
Highspot’s
Robert Wahbe
on customers, AI, and building relationships that last 
Unstructured’s
Brian Raymond
on tackling engineering bottlenecks AI & Intelligent Apps
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Algorithmia’s AI Layer managed the machine learning lifecycle and automates the deployment of machine learning models at scale.Initial Investment2014Algorithmia’s AI Layer managed the machine learning lifecycle and automates the deployment of machine learning models at scale.FoundersKenny Daniel
Diego OppenheimerInvestment JourneyAcquired by Datarobot 2021Initial Investment2014 -
Chatitive provided intelligent messaging experiences for businesses. The company was incubated with Madrona Venture Labs.Initial Investment2016Chatitive provided intelligent messaging experiences for businesses. The company was incubated with Madrona Venture Labs.FoundersAndy Hollenbeck
Daniel PironeInvestment JourneyAcquired by Mailchimp 2021Initial Investment2016 -
Kitt.ai’s was an early spin out from the Allen Institute of Artificial Intelligence focused on conversational intelligence.Initial Investment2016Kitt.ai’s was an early spin out from the Allen Institute of Artificial Intelligence focused on conversational intelligence.FoundersXuchen Yao
Kenji Sagae
Guoguo ChenInvestment JourneyAcquired by Baidu 2017Initial Investment2016 -
Lexion is a SaaS application of AI and NLP applied to managing the information buried in corporate contracts.Initial Investment2019 -
Saykara provides an AI-powered, voice activated virtual scribe for physicians.Initial Investment2017Saykara provides an AI-powered, voice activated virtual scribe for physicians.FounderHarjinder SanduInvestment JourneyAcquired by Nuance 2021Initial Investment2017 -
Suplari applied AI-automated analytics and insights for procurement and finance teams.Initial Investment2017Suplari applied AI-automated analytics and insights for procurement and finance teams.FoundersNikesh Parekh
Jeff Gerber
Brian WhiteInvestment JourneyAcquired by Microsoft 2021Initial Investment2017 -
XetHub brings data and code together so that hybrid and remote teams can collaborate seamlessly in a git-enabled environment at scale and speed. XetHub was acquired by Hugging Face in 2024.Initial Investment2022XetHub brings data and code together so that hybrid and remote teams can collaborate seamlessly in a git-enabled environment at scale and speed. XetHub was acquired by Hugging Face in 2024. -
Xnor.ai pioneered a lightweight AI framework that enabled deep learning, machine vision, and speech recognition to be done directly on resource constrained devices such as phones, embedded systems and Raspberry Pi Zero.Initial Investment2017Xnor.ai pioneered a lightweight AI framework that enabled deep learning, machine vision, and speech recognition to be done directly on resource constrained devices such as phones, embedded systems and Raspberry Pi Zero.FoundersAli Farhadi
Mohammad RastegariInvestment JourneyAcquired by Apple 2020Initial Investment2017