User:Erikashaffer/sandbox

Madrona Venture Group is an American venture capital firm founded in 1995 and based in Seattle, Washington. Madrona has made over 300 investments in 110 companies since its inception. It is one of the most active venture funds in the Pacific Northwest, and Madrona-backed companies represent about 40% of all dollars invested in the Seattle region.

History
Madrona was founded in 1995 in Seattle, Washington, by Tom Alberg, Paul Goodrich, Gerald Grinstein, and William Ruckelshaus. It has raised more than $1.6 billion in capital through seven different funds.

Madrona specializes in seed, startup, Series A, and early stage investments in the information technology sector. It has had four startups go public since 2016:


 * Redfin
 * Smartsheet
 * Apptio
 * Impinj

In 2014, Madrona launched a startup studio, Madrona Venture Labs, as an in-house startup incubator. Its most recent fund, Madrona Fund VII, raised $300 million. In 2018, Madrona opened Create33 in downtown Seattle as a 'founder center.'

Investments
Madrona has made more than 300 investments in 110 companies as of January 2019. Notable companies the firm has invested in include:
 * Amazon
 * Animoto
 * Booster Fuels
 * Context Relevant
 * ExtraHop Networks
 * Julep
 * Mixpo
 * Netbot
 * The Riveter
 * Rover.com
 * Seadragon Software
 * Skytap
 * TeachStreet
 * Z2Live

Notable employees
In addition to the four founders there are several other notable employees. S. Somasegar is a managing director while John W. Creighton Jr., John McAdam, and Sujal Patel are strategic directors. Oren Etzioni, Professor of Computer Science and Executive Director of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence, is a venture partner along with Dan Weld, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington.

Notable former employees
Kris Engskov, formerly Starbucks Director of Public Policy, now President at Aegis Living.