Investing Profile

Cindy Padnos(1)

VCFormer CEOFounderMarketing Operator
Founder & Managing Partner at Illuminate Ventures
illuminate.comOakland, California
Photo of Cindy Padnos, Managing Partner at Illuminate Ventures
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Networks Cindy is a member of
NewCo Network
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NewCo Network
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NewCo Network
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Current Investing Position
Illuminate Ventures Managing Partner
Investment Range
$250K - $1.5M
Sweet Spot
$1M
Investments On Record
66
Current Fund Size
$27M

Cindy Padnos is on these Sector & Stage Rankings

Cindy Padnos's Investments On Record (33)

CompanyStageDateRound SizeTotal Raised
Intelo
Pre SeedOct 2025$2M
$2M
Provarity
SeedDec 2024$7M
SeedOct 2024
$7M
Brevity
SeedDec 2024
MPathic
SeedApr 2023$5.2M
$5.2M
Co-investors: Dan Ellis (Hustle Fund)
Contentstack
Series CNov 2022$80M
Series BJun 2021$58M
BMar 2021$56
SeedMar 2020$2
Series AOct 2019$32M
AFeb 2019$31
SeedNov 2018
$170M
Co-investors: Teddie Wardi (Insight Partners), Linnea Roberts (GingerBread Capital)
Arkestro
Series AJun 2022$26M
SeedDec 2021$3M
SeedMar 2019$2M
$67M
Co-investors: Jeff Immelt (New Enterprise Associates (NEA)), Scott Sandell (New Enterprise Associates (NEA)), Taylor Oliver (Tenacity Venture Capital)
Birdie
SeedFeb 2022$7M
$9.4M
Co-investors: Edson Rigonatti (Astella), Patrick Arippol (DGF Investimentos), Marco Camhaji (14B Venture Capital (f.k.a. Upload Early Stage))
Pex
Series AFeb 2021$57M
SeedOct 2017$7M
$64M
Co-investors: Leo Polovets (Susa Ventures), Patrick Murphy (Semble Ventures)

most interested in

"Further along" Seed Stage B2B/enterprise software teams that can demonstrate near instant, measurable ROI to their customers.

not interested in

I do not invest in B2C/consumer Internet companies, marketplaces, Cybersecurity, Climate Tech or Healthcare IT.

Cindy Padnos's Experience

President & CEO Outlook VenturesPresent
President & CEO Xtripe AngelsPresent
Founder & CEO Outlook VenturesPresent
Founder & CEO Xtripe AngelsPresent
Marketing Director BlueStone Capital Partners, L.P.Present
Vice President, Marketing BlueStone Capital Partners, L.P.Present
President & CEO BlueStone Capital Partners, L.P.Present
Founder & CEO BlueStone Capital Partners, L.P.Present
Director BlueStone Capital Partners, L.P.Present
Marketing Director University of Washington Applied Physics LaboratoryPresent
Vice President, Marketing University of Washington Applied Physics LaboratoryPresent
President & CEO University of Washington Applied Physics LaboratoryPresent
Founder & CEO University of Washington Applied Physics LaboratoryPresent
Director University of Washington Applied Physics LaboratoryPresent
Marketing Director NewCoPresent
Vice President, Marketing NewCoPresent
President & CEO NewCoPresent
Founder & CEO NewCoPresent
Managing Director Venture ConsultingPresent
Director NewCoPresent
Investor & Board Member Sim Ops StudiosPresent
Investor & Board Member (Taken Private) BrightedgePresent
Investor PerceptixPresent
Marketing Director Center for Rural Health LeadershipPresent
Vice President, Marketing Center for Rural Health LeadershipPresent
President & CEO Center for Rural Health LeadershipPresent
Founder & CEO Center for Rural Health LeadershipPresent
Director Center for Rural Health LeadershipPresent
Marketing Director Self-EmployedPresent
Vice President, Marketing Self-EmployedPresent
President & CEO Self-EmployedPresent
Founder & CEO Self-EmployedPresent
Director Self-EmployedPresent
Investor ClouderaPresent
Investor & Board Member (IPO NYSE then acquired by Vista) Xactly CorpPresent
Investor (acquired by Rubicon Technology Partners) UptempoPresent
Investor Bedrock AnalyticsPresent
Investor JacobiPresent
Investor & Board Member ArkestroPresent
Investor ContentstackPresent
Investor JetStream SoftwarePresent
Investor & Board Member Birdie AIPresent
Investor TAZI AI SystemsPresent
Investor ProvarityPresent
Investor BrevityPresent
Investor and Board Member LabraPresent
Investor & Board Member LabraPresent
Investor Intelo.aiPresent
Investor IP AuthorPresent
Investor and Board Observer OpsmaticPresent
Investor (IPO NYSE) CoupangPresent
Investor & Board Member BrightedgePresent
Investor Brevity - Your A.I. Sales CoachPresent
Investor Provarity.AIPresent
Investor and Board Observer Opsmatic (acquired by NEWR: New Relic)Present
Investor and Board Observer JetStream Software, IncPresent
Investor and Board Observer Bedrock AnalyticsPresent
Investor LabraPresent
Founder & CEO Vivant Corporation (acquired by EVLV/ORCL)Present
Investor & Board Member Sim Ops Studios (acquired by ADSK: Autodesk)Present
Investor Opsmatic (acquired by NEWR: New Relic)Present
Investor Sense Platform (acquired by Cloudera)Present
Investor (acquired by Rubicon Technology Partners) Allocadia, an Uptempo companyPresent
Investor CoupangPresent
Business Board of Advisors Carnegie Mellon University - Tepper School of BusinessPresent
Investor RaydiantPresent
Investor JetStream Software, IncPresent
Investor & Board Member PEXPresent
Investor & Board Member BirdiePresent
Business Board of Advisors Carnegie Mellon UniversityPresent
Director Outlook VenturesPresent
Founder & Managing Partner Illuminate VenturesPresent
Founder & CEO Vivant2001
VP Marketing Scopus Technology (Acquired by Siebel and, later, Oracle)1998

Cindy Padnos's Education

Carnegie Mellon University - Tepper School of Business MSIA/MBA
University of Michigan AB
Kingswood School Cranbrook