Maria Hess

Maria Hess is a Partner at Madrona Venture Labs based in Seattle, Washington, where she leads investments and company-building initiatives for seed and early-stage technology ventures. Prior to her promotion to Partner in January 2024, she held senior product development and operations roles at prominent startups, including the biotechnology firm Zymergen and the real estate technology company Redfin. During her tenure at Madrona Venture Labs, Hess has facilitated the launch of more than 20 new companies and managed investments involving notable unicorns such as Outreach. In March 2025, she co-led a $15 million seed funding round for the artificial intelligence-driven climate technology startup known as ClimaTech. Equipped with an MBA from the University of Washington Foster School of Business, Hess currently focuses on accelerating early-stage enterprise software, biotechnology, and climate technology startups from formation to scale.