Anna Chen
Investor
Madrona
Madrona investor focused on acceleration-stage intelligent apps, enterprise software, and consumer tech.
Bio
Professional summary
Karan Mehandru is a Managing Director at Madrona, based in Palo Alto. He joined the firm in 2022 and focuses on investments across all stages in SaaS, data infrastructure, security, cloud computing, and intelligent applications powering the future of work. Before Madrona, he was Managing Director and Head of Venture Capital at Steadfast Capital, where he built and led venture and private equity investing. Earlier, he was a General Partner at Trinity Ventures and worked at Scale Venture Partners. His investment history includes companies such as Zapier, Klaviyo, Lucid, Forethought, Sendbird, JumpCloud, Algolia, Wealthsimple, Auth0, Cohesity, Outreach, Pipefy, CommerceIQ, and others. He earned an engineering degree from Carleton University and a Master of Management Science from Stanford University.
Investment focus
Stage, sector, and overall fit
Stage
all stages
Sector
SaaSdata infrastructuresecuritycloud computingintelligent applicationsfuture of work
Thesis
SaaSData infrastructureSecurityCloud computingIntelligent applications powering the future of work
Notable companies
Selected portfolio companies the partner has backed
ClerkCohesityDeepgramShapedUnstructuredAnagramTrek HealthWisdomAIGrowthXImpart SecurityCharta HealthFyxer AIZapierKlaviyoAuth0OutreachForethoughtSendbirdCommerceIQ
How to approach
Framing and angles for outreach
Pitch framing
Frame around AI-native enterprise workflows, data infrastructure, security, or future-of-work software with clear founder velocity and go-to-market ambition.
Personalization hooks
- 1Reference his founder-development and CEO-coaching orientation described on the Madrona profile.
- 2Mention relevant overlap with Madrona themes such as intelligent applications, data infrastructure, or agentic security.
Recent signals
What the partner has said or done recently
Madrona profile lists 2025 and 2026 insights authored by Karan on AI building, service-as-software, Fyxer AI, Charta Health, and agentic security.
Background
Career, education, and skills
Career history
- MadronaManaging Director2022 - Present
- Steadfast CapitalManaging Director & Head of Venture CapitalPrior
- Trinity VenturesGeneral Partner~10 years prior to Steadfast
- Scale Venture PartnersInvestorPrior
Education
- Carleton University, Ottawa, CanadaB.Eng., Engineering
- Stanford UniversityMaster of Management Science
Skills
SaaS investingenterprise softwaredata infrastructuresecuritygrowth-stage investing
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