Madrona Venture Group Closes $250 Million Madrona Venture Fund IV

Firm Will Continue Investing in Early-Stage Technology Companies in the Pacific Northwest

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Madrona Venture Group, which has been investing in early-stage technology companies in the Pacific Northwest since 1995, today announced the closing of Madrona Venture Fund IV. The Fund was oversubscribed at $250 million, exceeding the target of $225 million. All existing institutional investors, select new institutional investors, and several strategic individual investors participated in the Fund. The Fund will remain focused on Madrona’s long-standing investment strategy that has generated consistent top-quartile returns from successful investments such as ShareBuilder, Isilon Systems, World Wide Packets, and iConclude.

“Madrona is entrepreneur-focused. They are not afraid to get a little bit dirty and really roll up their sleeves to help build successful businesses”

“We have re-invested with Madrona because of its ability to consistently deliver top-quartile returns by building great companies,” said James Clarke, Director of Private Equity Investments at the Kauffman Foundation, a returning investor. “We think Madrona is not only one of the best early-stage investors in the Pacific Northwest, but one of the best globally.”

The firm was founded in 1995 and is led today by four Managing Directors: Tom Alberg, Paul Goodrich, Greg Gottesman, and Matt McIlwain. Madrona invests in early-stage companies in sectors such as consumer Internet, commercial software and services, digital media and advertising, networking and infrastructure, and wireless. University commercialization is another core strategy of Madrona. The firm has helped to spin out more than 10 companies from the University of Washington’s Computer Science and Engineering Department, including Farecast, Impinj, Netbot, Performant, Physware, and Skytap.

“Madrona is entrepreneur-focused. They are not afraid to get a little bit dirty and really roll up their sleeves to help build successful businesses,” said Sunny Gupta, CEO of Apptio, a Madrona portfolio company. “This is my third Madrona-backed company. They have a winning strategy that works well for entrepreneurs as well as their fund investors.”

Madrona’s Limited Partner base consists primarily of endowments and foundations, including returning investors University of Virginia Management Company, The Irvine Foundation, The Investment Fund for Foundations, Investure, and the University of Washington. Other returning investors include BlackRock Alternative Advisors and the Hillman Company. The Firm is also excited to add a select group of new investors such as University of North Carolina, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, YMCA Retirement Fund, and Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

“Madrona has always believed that early-stage venture capital is a local business,” said Matt McIlwain, a Managing Director at Madrona. “The Pacific Northwest is a leading center of technology-driven innovation, and we expect its influence to grow in the years ahead. We know the region and its entrepreneurs well and think something special is happening here.”

About Madrona Venture Group

Madrona (www.madrona.com) has been investing in early-stage technology companies in the Pacific Northwest since 1995 and has been privileged to play a role in some of the region's most successful technology ventures. The firm invests predominately in seed and Series A rounds across the information technology spectrum including consumer Internet, commercial software and services, digital media and advertising, networking and infrastructure, and wireless. Madrona currently manages over $650 million and was an early investor in companies such as Classmates.com, aQuantive, ShareBuilder, SingingFish, and iConclude.