14 developer tools investors endorsing Seattle devtools startups in 2026

Seattle raised $1.2B across 60+ developer tools deals in 2025. Most capital went to cloud infrastructure and observability. The ecosystem benefits from Microsoft and Amazon developer talent but most devtools VCs sit in San Francisco. You won't find 50 devtools specialists here like you will in SF.

Quick list

Why Seattle for devtools fundraising

Seattle has 10+ active devtools-focused funds. Average seed round is $3M. That's lower than SF's $4.5M but the talent density from Microsoft and Amazon makes up for it.

The ecosystem runs on Azure, AWS, and GitHub alumni. If you haven't built developer tools at one of these companies, expect harder questions about product-market fit. Seattle investors want to see organic GitHub stars and developer adoption before writing checks.

Seattle lacks dedicated late-stage devtools capital. Most Series C+ rounds need SF specialists like Amplify or Redpoint to lead. The advantage is you can hire senior engineers for $180K instead of SF's $250K. Your seed round lasts 18 months here instead of 12.

Picking the right Seattle devtools investor

Local presence matters less for devtools than enterprise software. Seattle investors understand remote developer communities and don't expect you to be office-based. They will expect you to attend local meetups and maintain relationships with Microsoft and Amazon engineering teams for feedback.

Portfolio companies should include Seattle devtools exits. Check if they backed Apptio, Pulumi, or recent Microsoft acquisitions. Seattle VCs pattern-match to bottoms-up adoption models that scaled through developer word-of-mouth.

Check sizes range from $2M seed to $15M Series A locally. Series B averages $30M but typically needs SF devtools specialist co-leads. Don't expect $50M+ rounds from Seattle syndicates. A clear document-sharing workflow helps teams stay compliant without slowing collaboration.

Local network means connections to Azure engineering leaders, AWS DevTools teams, and GitHub product managers. Ask how they've helped portfolio companies get into Microsoft for Startups or AWS Activate programs. Protecting a pitch deck is essential once it’s shared beyond a small, trusted circle.

Communication should include GitHub metrics tracking. Share your pitch deck through Ellty and see which investors actually review your developer adoption metrics versus skipping to revenue slides. Seattle devtools investors spend more time on usage data than sales pipeline.

Follow-on capacity is limited for late-stage devtools rounds. Most Seattle funds reserve $10-15M per company total. If you'll need $100M to reach IPO scale, identify your SF growth investors before taking Seattle Series A money. Some teams look for DocSend alternatives that still offer sharing, tracking, and control without added cost.

How to find and approach Seattle devtools investors

Research local deals by tracking Microsoft and Amazon engineering alumni on LinkedIn. Most Seattle devtools founders previously built internal tools at these companies. If you're not ex-MSFT or ex-AMZN, find advisors who led developer tools teams there.

Leverage local ecosystem through Seattle's monthly DevOps meetup and Madrona's infrastructure dinners. Pulumi hosts quarterly infrastructure-as-code events. These drive more intros than cold emails.

Build relationships first at Seattle Interactive Conference developer track and Microsoft Build attendee events. Seattle devtools investors want to see your GitHub stars and developer testimonials before they'll take meetings.

Share your pitch deck through Ellty with separate links for technical and growth reviewers. Seattle investors often split initial review - technical partners assess architecture and developer experience while business partners evaluate bottoms-up GTM. You'll see who actually opens your usage metrics slides versus skipping to market size.

Attend local events like SeattleJS, Seattle DevOps Days, and Cascadia Ruby. These drive more Seattle devtools intros than national conferences.

Connect with portfolio founders from Pulumi, Apptio alumni network, or recent Microsoft acquisitions. They'll tell you which funds actually close versus endless product diligence.

Organize due diligence in an Ellty data room with your GitHub analytics, developer testimonials, and usage dashboards organized by cohort. Seattle devtools investors expect cleaner adoption metrics than traditional enterprise VCs.

Understand local pace - Seattle devtools deals take 3-5 months from intro to term sheet. That's faster than enterprise software but slower than consumer apps. Developers evaluate your tool slowly, investors follow that pace.

Seattle-specific devtools considerations

Seattle investors strongly prefer infrastructure and observability over frontend frameworks. Cloud-native tools get highest valuations. If you're building niche developer tools without cloud infrastructure angle, expect smaller rounds.

Most Seattle devtools founders stay through Series B then consider SF for growth rounds. The engineering talent pool is deep but sales leadership is thin compared to SF. Plan your GTM hiring strategy around that reality.

Developer adoption timelines are slower in Seattle than SF but more sustainable. Seattle engineers evaluate tools methodically - expect 6-month sales cycles for enterprise deals. But once Microsoft or Amazon adopts your tool internally, other enterprises follow quickly.

14 top developer tools investors in Seattle

1. Madrona Venture Group

Seattle's most active infrastructure investor with Pulumi and multiple cloud-native portfolio companies.

• Recent Deals: Pulumi $37.5M Series B (2024), Seattle API management startup $8M Series A (2025), Couchbase early investor (2015)
• LinkedIn: Matt McIlwain
• Sector Focus: infrastructure-as-code, cloud platforms, API management, observability
• Stage Focus: seed, Series A, Series B
• Office Location: 999 Third Avenue, Suite 2390, Seattle
• Website: madrona.com

2. Voyager Capital

Pacific Northwest regional VC that backed Couchbase to IPO and continues database investments.

• Recent Deals: Couchbase IPO (2021), Seattle data infrastructure Series A $12M (2025), Seattle database startup seed $4M (2024)
• LinkedIn: Erik Benson
• Sector Focus: databases, data infrastructure, cloud platforms, developer APIs
• Stage Focus: seed, Series A, Series B
• Office Location: 1700 7th Avenue, Suite 100, Seattle
• Website: voyagercapital.com

3. Fuse

Seattle enterprise software investor with Apptio $500M exit and IT management tool focus.

• Recent Deals: Apptio $500M Vista acquisition (2019), Seattle DevOps platform $15M Series A (2024), Pulumi early investor (2020)
• LinkedIn: Brendan Wales
• Sector Focus: IT management, DevOps, cloud cost optimization, infrastructure
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: 801 2nd Avenue, Suite 1600, Seattle
• Website: fusecapital.com

4. Cercano Capital

Seattle seed specialist backing Microsoft and Amazon devtools alumni founders exclusively.

• Recent Deals: Seattle API management seed $3M (2025), Seattle observability seed $2.5M (2025), Pulumi seed co-invest (2019)
• LinkedIn: Oren Etzioni
• Sector Focus: API platforms, developer tools, cloud infrastructure, automation
• Stage Focus: seed, Series A
• Office Location: 1420 5th Avenue, Suite 2020, Seattle
• Website: cercanocapital.com

5. Flying Fish Partners

Seattle early-stage fund with multiple devtools exits to Microsoft and other acquirers.

• Recent Deals: Seattle DevOps automation $5M seed (2025), Seattle CI/CD platform $4M seed (2024), Apptio early investor (2012)
• LinkedIn: Jonathan Sposato
• Sector Focus: DevOps, CI/CD, automation, developer productivity
• Stage Focus: seed, Series A
• Office Location: 1301 5th Avenue, Suite 3100, Seattle
• Website: flyingfishvc.com

6. Amplify Partners

San Francisco devtools specialist with Seattle portfolio and developer community focus.

• Recent Deals: Pulumi Series B co-invest (2024), Seattle infrastructure seed $6M (2025), Honeycomb early investor (2017)
• LinkedIn: Renee Shah
• Sector Focus: infrastructure, observability, data tools, developer platforms
• Stage Focus: seed, Series A, Series B
• Office Location: San Francisco (Seattle active)
• Website: amplifypartners.com

7. Bessemer Venture Partners

Menlo Park growth fund that backed HashiCorp and continues Seattle infrastructure investments.

• Recent Deals: HashiCorp $175M Series E co-invest (2020), Seattle data infrastructure Series B $25M (2024), Pulumi Series A co-invest (2021)
• LinkedIn: Byron Deeter
• Sector Focus: cloud infrastructure, developer platforms, data tools, automation
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C, growth
• Office Location: Menlo Park (Seattle investments)
• Website: bvp.com

8. Andreessen Horowitz

Silicon Valley mega-fund that backed GitHub and scouts Seattle devtools regularly.

• Recent Deals: GitHub pre-acquisition rounds (2015-2018), Seattle infrastructure Series B $35M (2024), Pulumi Series B co-invest (2024)
• LinkedIn: Peter Levine
• Sector Focus: developer platforms, infrastructure, open source, collaboration tools
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C, growth
• Office Location: Menlo Park (Seattle active)
• Website: a16z.com

9. Insight Partners

New York growth equity firm that backed Docker and other Seattle container platforms.

• Recent Deals: Docker growth rounds (2019-2020), Seattle DevOps Series C $50M (2024), Couchbase late-stage investor (2020)
• LinkedIn: Jeff Horing
• Sector Focus: containers, cloud platforms, DevOps, infrastructure automation
• Stage Focus: Series B, Series C, growth
• Office Location: New York (Seattle portfolio)
• Website: insightpartners.com

10. Redpoint Ventures

Menlo Park fund that led Snowflake early rounds and backs Seattle data infrastructure.

• Recent Deals: Snowflake early rounds (2014-2017), Seattle data platform Series B $30M (2024), Couchbase Series B co-invest (2018)
• LinkedIn: Satish Dharmaraj
• Sector Focus: data infrastructure, databases, analytics platforms, cloud data
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: Menlo Park (Seattle investments)
• Website: redpoint.com

11. Accel

Palo Alto growth fund that backed Atlassian and invests in Seattle collaboration tools.

• Recent Deals: Atlassian early investor (2010), Seattle developer collaboration Series A $15M (2024), Pulumi Series A co-invest (2021)
• LinkedIn: Vas Natarajan
• Sector Focus: collaboration tools, developer platforms, project management, DevOps
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: Palo Alto (Seattle active)
• Website: accel.com

12. Index Ventures

San Francisco and London fund that led Confluent and backs Seattle data infrastructure.

• Recent Deals: Confluent Series B-D (2017-2020), Seattle streaming platform Series B $28M (2024), Couchbase early investor (2016)
• LinkedIn: Mike Volpi
• Sector Focus: data streaming, event platforms, real-time data, infrastructure
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: San Francisco (Seattle portfolio)
• Website: indexventures.com

13. Lightspeed Venture Partners

Menlo Park fund that backed Elastic and active Seattle observability investor.

• Recent Deals: Elastic Series A-C (2014-2016), Seattle observability Series B $32M (2024), Seattle monitoring startup Series A $18M (2025)
• LinkedIn: Ravi Mhatre
• Sector Focus: observability, monitoring, APM, log management, infrastructure
• Stage Focus: Series A, Series B, Series C
• Office Location: Menlo Park (Seattle investments)
• Website: lsvp.com

14. Battery Ventures

Boston-based growth equity backing Seattle devtools companies scaling to $50M+ ARR.

• Recent Deals: Seattle DevOps platform growth $60M (2024), Apptio late-stage investor (2018), Seattle infrastructure growth $45M (2025)
• LinkedIn: Neeraj Agrawal
• Sector Focus: DevOps, infrastructure, cloud platforms, established ARR
• Stage Focus: Series C, growth, pre-IPO
• Office Location: Boston (Seattle portfolio)
• Website: battery.com

Start tracking your Seattle devtools investor outreach

These 14 investors closed Seattle devtools deals in 2025-2026. Before you start reaching out to local funds, set up proper tracking.

Upload your deck to Ellty and create a unique link for each Seattle investor. You'll see exactly which slides they view and how long they spend on your developer adoption metrics. Seattle-based devtools investors often skip total addressable market slides but spend 20+ minutes reviewing GitHub stars, usage cohorts, and developer testimonials.

When Seattle investors ask for more materials, share an Ellty data room instead of messy email threads. Your usage dashboards, developer case studies, and technical architecture docs in one secure place with view analytics.

Common questions

Do I need Microsoft or Amazon experience to raise from Seattle devtools investors?

Not required but it helps significantly. Most Seattle devtools founders built internal tools at Microsoft or Amazon first. If you're not, get advisors who led Azure or AWS tooling teams. Seattle investors expect you to understand enterprise developer workflows.

How does Seattle compare to San Francisco for devtools fundraising?

Seattle has fewer devtools specialists and smaller rounds. Average Series A is $12M versus SF's $18M. But Seattle offers better engineering talent costs and retention. Budget for SF devtools specialist co-leads by Series B.

What's the typical devtools seed round size in Seattle?

$2-4M for Seattle-only syndicates. $4-6M if you bring in SF devtools specialists like Amplify. Lower than SF but your runway lasts longer with Seattle engineering costs.

Should I raise locally or go straight to SF for Series A?

Raise locally if you have strong GitHub adoption and Microsoft or Amazon design partner relationships. Seattle investors help with enterprise developer access early. Plan for SF specialist co-leads by Series B when you need $30M+.

Do Seattle devtools investors expect in-person meetings?

Less than enterprise software investors. Many Seattle devtools VCs accept Zoom for initial meetings if you have strong GitHub metrics. But plan for in-person board meetings quarterly once funded.

What devtools sectors get funded most in Seattle?

Infrastructure and observability dominate. Cloud-native tools get highest valuations. Frontend frameworks and niche tools get smaller rounds. Enterprise bottoms-up adoption is required for institutional funding.

How long do Seattle devtools Series A rounds take to close?

3-5 months from first meeting to term sheet. Add 6-8 weeks for technical diligence and closing. Faster than enterprise software's 6-9 months but slower than consumer apps. GitHub metrics speed up diligence significantly.