Madrona adds Singh to roster

Madrona, a Seattle venture firm that backs early-stage tech companies in the Pacific Northwest, announced today it appointed Steve Singh as managing director.

Singh co-founded the corporate travel and expense management platform Concur before SAP acquired the Seattle company in 2014 for $8.3 billion. Singh stayed on and left SAP in 2017.

Singh, who grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan, joins Madrona as the firm celebrates its 25th year of investing in seed and early-stage tech companies. In the past year, Madrona has raised a $101 million Acceleration Fund to invest in companies that have found product-market fit and are looking to grow. The firm raised $300 million for its seventh main early-stage fund in 2018.

Singh tells Venture Capital Journal he’s excited to join the team and help grow the local startup scene in the Pacific Northwest. “Over the last 10 plus years, the tech ecosystem here has exploded. There are so many great opportunities here,” he says.

The firm says Singh worked closely with Madrona on its recent investment in Clari and previously invested in and served on the board of Buuteeq, a Madrona portfolio company acquired by Priceline.

Singh also serves on the boards of public and private companies, including Docusign, Talend, WaFd Bank, as well as Clari.

As managing director at Madrona, Singh will focus on intelligent applications, looking for startups that add intelligence to regular software processes, such as Clari, which analyzes data to help forecast revenue and which has now raised more than $120 million in funding.

He is the third new managing director to join Madrona in recent years and becomes the ninth MD overall at the firm. The roster includes Singh, Tom Alberg, Paul Goodrich, Matt McIlwain, Len Jordan, S. Somasegar, Tim Porter, Scott Jacobson and Hope Cochran.