imported>Maxeto0910: Added short description.

2021-04-10T14:45:12Z

Added short description.

New page

{{short description|Indian-American technology business executive}}
{{Infobox person
| name = S. Somasegar
| image = S. Somasegar at reInvent.jpg|
caption=S. Somasegar at re:Invent (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop)
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1966|08}}
| birth_place = India
| occupation = Venture Capitalist
| title = Managing Director, Madrona Venture Group
| website = {{url|http://www.madrona.com/team-profiles/s-somasegar}}
}}
'''Soma Somasegar''' is an Indian-American technology business executive in the Greater [[Seattle]] Area. He is a Managing Director at [[Madrona Venture Group]], a venture capital firm based in Seattle.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://venturebeat.com/2017/01/12/madrona-venture-group-names-s-somasegar-managing-director/|title=Madrona Venture Group Names S. Somasegar Managing Director|date=January 12, 2017|website=VentureBeat}}</ref> Somasegar joined Madrona in November 2015 after a 27-year career at Microsoft, where he most recently was corporate vice president of the developer division and overseeing the global distributed R&D centers at Microsoft.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=https://venturebeat.com/2015/11/18/s-somasegar-joins-madrona-venture-group-as-venture-partner/|title=S. Somasegar Joins Madrona Venture Group as Venture Partner|date=November 18, 2015|website=VentureBeat}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Somasegar was born in August 1966 and grew up in [[Pondicherry]], India with his parents and a sibling.<ref name="SomaOnMint">{{cite web|url=http://www.livemint.com/2008/04/19000208/Sivaramakrishnan-Somasegar--B.html|title=S. Somasegar: Breathing easy in the fast lane|date=April 19, 2008|publisher=HT Media|author=Josey Puliyenthuruthel|work=LiveMint.com}}</ref>

Somasegar attended Petit Seminaire Higher Secondary School in Pondicherry. In 1986 he received a bachelor's degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Guindy Engineering College, [[Anna University, Chennai|Anna University]] in Chennai, India. Soma then moved to the US where he received a master's degree in Computer Engineering from [[Louisiana State University]] in 1988. He was working toward a PhD in Computer Engineering from the [[University at Buffalo|State University of New York at Buffalo]] when he joined Microsoft in January 1989.<ref name="SomaOnMint" /><ref name="SomaonDiversityCareers">{{cite web|url=http://www.diversitycareers.com/articles/pro/08-junjul/at_the_top_microsoft.htm|title=Dr. S. Somasegar is a technology guru at Microsoft|date=June–July 2008|work=Diversity/Careers}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/itslideshow/5219554.cms|title=S. Somasegar|work=The Times of India}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/money/2006/nov/09inter.htm|title=Interview with S Somasegar, Corporate VP, Microsoft Corp|date=November 9, 2006}}</ref>

== Career ==

=== Microsoft ===
Somasegar joined [[Microsoft|Microsoft Corporation]] in January 1989 as a software design engineer and had a career spanning almost 27 years as he rose through the ranks to be a senior vice president.<ref name="SomaBioAtMicrosoft">{{cite web|url=http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/exec/somasegar/|title=Microsoft Corporate Bio|date=June 8, 2010}}</ref>

Somasegar joined the Operating System group at Microsoft, working on OS/2, the early versions of NT and Windows – in all eight different releases of the Windows family of product.<ref name="SomaBioAtMicrosoft" />

As the leader of developer division, Somasegar was responsible for engineering, marketing and evangelizing developer tools and services, programming languages and runtimes designed for a broad base of software developers and development teams, including the [[Visual Studio]] family of products, [[.NET Framework]], and [[Team Foundation Server]]. His team was also responsible for [[MSDN]] and [[Microsoft TechNet|TechNet]] online properties to enable a deep connection with the developer and IT professional audiences.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Windows/The-Importance-of-Microsoft-Being-Transparent/|title=The Importance of Microsoft Being Transparent|date=2005-01-31|publisher=eWeek|author=Darryl K. Taft}}</ref> In addition, Somasegar was the founder of Microsoft's India R&D efforts, and the executive sponsor for Microsoft's global development centers including the R&D efforts in China, India and Israel.<ref name="SomaBioAtMicrosoft" />

Under Somasegar's leadership, the Microsoft Developer Division, which supports over six million .NET developers worldwide, expanded its mission to deliver developer tools and services for mobile development and cloud development across a variety of platforms and programming technologies through the Visual Studio and .NET family of products.<ref name="SomaBioAtMicrosoft" />

=== Madrona Venture Group ===
Somasegar joined [[Madrona Venture Group]] in November 2015, a venture capital firm based in Seattle, investing primarily in early-stage Pacific Northwest technology companies.<ref name=":6">{{cite news |last=Day |first=Matt |date=November 18, 2015 |title=Ex-Microsoft exec Soma Somasegar now at Madrona |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/ex-microsoft-exec-soma-somasegar-now-at-madrona/ |work=The Seattle Times }}</ref> As a managing director at Madrona,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/12/madrona-appoints-microsofts-former-developer-division-chief-as-managing-partner/|title=Madrona appoints Microsoft's former developer division chief as managing partner|website=TechCrunch|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-02}}</ref> Somasegar focuses on investment areas including machine learning/artificial intelligence, multi-sense user interfaces, next generation cloud infrastructure,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.geekwire.com/2018/pulumi-raises-15m-series-funding-round-launches-multicloud-app-deployment-service/|title=Pulumi raises $15M in Series A funding, launches its SaaS multicloud app deployment service|date=2018-10-22|website=GeekWire|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-04}}</ref> intelligent applications, and robotic process automation (RPA).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/newyork/businesswire/press_releases/New_York/2018/10/25/20181025005260|title=UiPath Announces the Addition of Carl Eschenbach and S. Somasegar to Its Board|website=www.bizjournals.com|access-date=2019-01-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.geekwire.com/2018/software-robot-startup-uipath-lands-funding-madrona-others-plans-seattle-area-expansion/|title=Software robot startup UiPath lands funding from Madrona and others, plans Seattle-area expansion|date=2018-11-14|website=GeekWire|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-04}}</ref> Somasegar has authored several articles outlining Madrona's perspective on how these technologies will evolve.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/29/every-company-is-a-technology-company-but-most-dont-behave-like-one/|title=Every company is a technology company, but most don't behave like one|date=November 29, 2016|website=TechCrunch}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/gallery/technology-trends-changing-the-world-as-we-look-ahead/|title=Technology trends changing the world as we look ahead (slideshow)|date=January 1, 2017|website=TechCrunch}}</ref>

Notable investments include Snowflake<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-09-16|title=Snowflake stock soars in largest software IPO ever; Madrona among earlier venture investors|url=https://www.geekwire.com/2020/snowflake-stock-soars-largest-software-ipo-ever-madrona-among-earlier-venture-investors/|access-date=2021-04-01|website=GeekWire|language=en-US}}</ref> and UiPath.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-11-14|title=UiPath Closes Series C Funding Extension with Investment from IVP, Madrona Venture Group and Meritech Capital|url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181114005221/en/UiPath-Closes-Series-C-Funding-Extension-with-Investment-from-IVP-Madrona-Venture-Group-and-Meritech-Capital|access-date=2021-04-01|website=www.businesswire.com|language=en}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Somasegar lives in the Seattle area with his wife Akila, and their two daughters.<ref name="SomaonInformIT">{{cite web|url=http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=474230|title=Interview with Microsoft's S. "Soma" Somasegar|date=June 9, 2006|publisher=InformIT|author=Stephen Ibaraki}}</ref>

In August 2019, Somasegar and Akila joined the ownership group of [[Seattle Sounders FC]], a [[Major League Soccer]] club.<ref>{{cite news |last=Evans |first=Jayda |date=August 13, 2019 |title=Russell Wilson, Ciara, Macklemore, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and more join Sounders ownership |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/sounders/russell-wilson-ciara-macklemore-microsoft-execs-and-more-join-sounders-ownership-group/ |work=The Seattle Times |accessdate=September 1, 2019}}</ref>

== Awards ==
Somasegar received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Anna University (November 2006).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thesmarttechie.com/magazine_articles/Honorary_Doctorate_Speechless_id_CUET588588133_2006.html|title=Honorary Doctorate Speechless!|date=December 2006|publisher=The Smart Techie}}</ref>

Somasegar was presented with the Asian American Engineer of the Year Award from the Chinese Institute of Engineers USA (CIE-USA) (February 2008).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cie-usa.org/2008AAEOYHonorees.html|title=2008 Engineers Week: Asian American Engineer of the Year Awards|date=January 7, 2008|publisher=Chinese Institute of Engineers – USA}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|S. Somasegar}}

{{Microsoft Executives}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Somasegar, S.}}
[[Category:American business executives]]
[[Category:Microsoft employees]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Pondicherry]]
[[Category:1966 births]]
[[Category:College of Engineering, Guindy alumni]]
[[Category:American businesspeople of Indian descent]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Puducherry]]

S. Somasegar - Revision history

imported>Maxeto0910: Added short description.