Professional summary
Matt Kraning is a partner at Menlo Ventures investing across AI, national defense, robotics, and cybersecurity. Before Menlo, he co-founded and served as CTO of Expanse, a data and cybersecurity company acquired by Palo Alto Networks for $1.25 billion. At Palo Alto Networks, Menlo says he oversaw generative AI development across the company and served as CTO of a product group with more than $1 billion in annual revenue. His earlier work included a DARPA role as Lead Data Scientist, and he holds a Ph.D. and master’s in electrical engineering plus a bachelor’s in physics from Stanford.
Stage, sector, and overall fit
Selected portfolio companies the partner has backed
Framing and angles for outreach
Lead with technical depth and why the company can create or dominate a category in AI, security, defense, robotics, or infrastructure. A founder should be ready to discuss product architecture, customer urgency, and credible go-to-market paths for demanding enterprise or government buyers.
What the partner has said or done recently
Menlo profile lists 2025 and 2026 partnerships including Axiom, Heaviside Industries, Peregrine, Phylo, RunSybil, and Wispr Flow.
Menlo announced him as a partner in 2025 to help drive AI investments.
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