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Madrona Venture Labs

Backing founding teams in seed, early, and acceleration stages in Seattle, Silicon Valley, and beyond.

Seattle, WA, USA

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Description

Madrona Venture Group is a premier venture capital firm headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1995, it is the most prominent venture firm in the Pacific Northwest, known for being an early backer of Amazon and Snowflake. The firm focuses on "full-lifecycle" investing in technology-driven companies. 
  • Seed & Series A: This remains Madrona's core focus, where they often act as the first institutional lead investor.
  • Expansion & Growth: Through their "Madrona Acceleration Fund," they provide follow-on capital and invest in Series B and later stages for high-growth technology companies. 
  • Network-Driven Sourcing: Madrona heavily prioritizes warm introductions through its vast network of Pacific Northwest founders, executives, and academic researchers.
  • Madrona Venture Labs (MVL): For founders at the "Day 0" stage, the firm operates a venture studio (MVL) that co-builds companies from scratch. Apply to Madrona Venture Labs.
  • Materials: A high-quality pitch deck and a clear articulation of technical defensibility (particularly in AI or Cloud infrastructure) are required.
  • Intelligent Apps Summit 2026: Related showcase opportunities typically occur during their flagship event in the Fall of 2026.
  • Rolling Basis: Madrona evaluates and invests in companies year-round.

Eligibility

  • Geography: While they invest nationally, their primary hub is the Pacific Northwest (Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia).
  • Sectors: Core focus areas for 2026 include Applied AI, Cloud & Infrastructure, Intelligent Applications, and the Intersection of Life Sciences and Data (Tech-Bio).
  • Founder Profile: Preference for technical founders or those with deep domain expertise in enterprise software. 

Process

  1. Direct Screening: The investment team reviews opportunities for technical depth and market scalability.
  2. Strategic Diligence: A thorough 4–8 week process that often involves technical deep-dives with their specialized "Madrona Technical Advisory Board."
  3. Active Partnership: Post-investment, partners typically take board seats and engage deeply in executive recruiting, product strategy, and future fundraising. 

What an Applicant can Obtain

  • High-Signal Capital: Funding from a firm that has helped take over 20 companies public.
  • Executive Recruiting: Direct access to a dedicated talent team that helps source C-suite and engineering talent.
  • Industry Access: Introductions to major regional tech giants (Microsoft, Amazon, Salesforce) for potential partnerships.
  • The "Madrona Mindset": Access to proprietary research and insights through their "Intelligent Applications" annual summits.