# Madrona Venture Group

Madrona Venture Group is a Venture Capital based in Seattle, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Venture Capital
- **Headquarters:** Seattle, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Seattle, WA, United States
- **Founded:** 1995
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** www.madrona.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/madrona-venture-group
- **Wikidata:** Q18636323

## Regulatory record

- **CRD number:** 160390
- **SEC file number:** 802-74367
- **Registration status:** ACTIVE
- **Latest Form ADV filing:** 2026-03-31T05:00:00.000Z
- **Reports private funds:** Yes
- **Private funds reported:** 0
- **IAPD record:** https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/160390

## About

Madrona is a full-stack venture partner that invests in founding teams at seed, early, and acceleration stages. Founded in Seattle in 1995, the firm has deep roots in early-stage investing and works alongside founders to build lasting companies. It expanded with a Silicon Valley office in Palo Alto in 2022 and invests selectively across the U.S. with a strong West Coast focus. The firm is particularly focused on intelligent applications, AI-driven agents and infrastructure, low-code/no-code platforms, AI-enabled biotech, and next-generation consumer applications.

## Sectors

- AI/ML
- Enterprise Software
- Cloud Infrastructure
- Digital Health
- Cybersecurity
- Consumer Tech

## People

- Matt McIlwain — Managing Director
- Tim Porter — Managing Director
- Hope Cochran — Managing Director

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at Madrona?

Madrona’s partnership is led by Managing Directors Matt McIlwain, Tim Porter, S. Somasegar, and Hope Cochran, who form the core investment committee. The group operates with a consensus-driven model, but individual managing directors source and lead deals within their domain expertise—McIlwain in applied AI and infrastructure, Porter in cloud and developer tools, and Somasegar, a former Microsoft SVP, in enterprise-platform shifts.

### How does Madrona source proprietary deal flow?

Madrona’s sourcing is structurally tied to the Microsoft, Amazon, and University of Washington talent ecosystems. Madrona Venture Labs, the firm’s startup studio, also generates in-house companies from scratch, giving the firm early ownership in ventures that never see an open market. This dual approach—traditional venture scouting and company creation—produces deal flow that is difficult for non-Seattle firms to replicate.

### Does Madrona operate more like a venture firm or a regional accelerator?

Madrona is a venture capital firm first, with traditional early-stage funds, but its Venture Labs studio and accelerator programs blur the line. The Launcher program offers pre-seed capital, office space, and mentorship to founders spun out of the region’s major tech companies, creating a bottom-of-funnel advantage that anchors formal Seed and Series A rounds inside the firm’s main funds.

### Which sectors does Madrona explicitly avoid or prioritize?

Madrona avoids hardware-intensive deep tech, biotech, and capital-intensive cleantech in favor of applied AI, enterprise SaaS, cloud infrastructure, and cybersecurity. The firm has publicly emphasized that its new fund structures target companies building “AI-first” applications across industries, with a deliberate tilt toward developer tools and intelligent automation rather than broad horizontal platform plays.

### What is Madrona’s known posture on follow-on investing?

Madrona is a high-conviction, concentrated early investor that reserves significant capital for follow-on rounds in portfolio companies. The firm’s September 2024 addition of a dedicated late-stage vehicle formalized a practice it had previously executed through special-purpose vehicles, allowing it to maintain ownership in category winners without syndicating dilution to outside later-stage funds.

### What is Madrona’s relationship with Microsoft and Amazon?

Madrona has deep historical ties to both companies. Tom Alberg, the firm’s late founder, was an early Amazon board member, and S. Somasegar spent nearly three decades at Microsoft including as SVP of the Developer Division. The firm does not have a formal exclusive arrangement with either company, but the alumni networks of both are the dominant source of Madrona-bred founders and Venture Labs recruits.

## Related profiles

- [MADRE Venture Partners](https://altss.com/profile/madre-venture-partners)
- [Madryn Asset Management](https://altss.com/profile/madryn-asset-management)

---

Last updated: 2026-08-11T15:07:19.634Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/madrona-venture-group

Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology