Matt Kraning
PartnerAI, SaaS, Cybersecurity
Matt Kraning is a partner at Menlo Ventures focused on AI, enterprise SaaS, national defense, and cybersecurity—areas where he has both built and sold.
Before joining Menlo, he co-founded and served as CTO of Expanse, a category-creating data and cybersecurity company that Palo Alto Networks acquired for $1.25 billion. At Palo Alto Networks, he oversaw generative AI development across the entire company and was CTO of a product group generating over $1 billion in annual revenue. His earlier career included work at DARPA (the Pentagon’s “mad science” division), where he deployed to Afghanistan as Lead Data Scientist. Matt holds a Ph.D. and Master’s in Electrical Engineering, plus a Bachelor’s in Physics from Stanford University.
His operational experience spans company building and creating multiple “0→1” technologies and products across distributed data collection, AI, and network security. Simultaneously, he helped develop and execute go-to-market strategies that convinced both Fortune 500 companies and every service branch of the U.S. military to write seven-to-nine-figure checks for products they hadn’t even budgeted for.
As a founder himself, Matt’s primary value to founders isn’t a check—it’s being an actual business partner who has navigated the full journey from startup and category creation to successful exit. Most investors claim to add value beyond capital, but he prefers to let founders judge for themselves. His proposition is simple: Meet with him once to discuss your business and decide if he is offering differentiated insight. Those who find his perspective valuable can seek additional confirmation from the other founders he has partnered with from early breakthroughs and go-to-market inception through growth and billion-plus-dollar valuations.
Matt looks to invest in the growth of everyone he partners with. His experiences have consistently shown him that superheroes are made, not born—and they come from all corners of the world, all walks of life, and frequently without advanced degrees or official credentials.
Supported by: Vanessa Lozano, vanessa@menlovc.com
Matt Kraning is a partner at Menlo Ventures focused on AI, enterprise SaaS, national defense, and cybersecurity—areas where he has both built and sold.
Before joining Menlo, he co-founded and served as CTO of Expanse, a category-creating data and cybersecurity company that Palo Alto Networks acquired for $1.25 billion. At Palo Alto Networks, he oversaw generative AI development across the entire company and was CTO of a product group generating over $1 billion in annual revenue. His earlier career included work at DARPA (the Pentagon’s “mad science” division), where he deployed to Afghanistan as Lead Data Scientist. Matt holds a Ph.D. and Master’s in Electrical Engineering, plus a Bachelor’s in Physics from Stanford University.
His operational experience spans company building and creating multiple “0→1” technologies and products across distributed data collection, AI, and network security. Simultaneously, he helped develop and execute go-to-market strategies that convinced both Fortune 500 companies and every service branch of the U.S. military to write seven-to-nine-figure checks for products they hadn’t even budgeted for.
As a founder himself, Matt’s primary value to founders isn’t a check—it’s being an actual business partner who has navigated the full journey from startup and category creation to successful exit. Most investors claim to add value beyond capital, but he prefers to let founders judge for themselves. His proposition is simple: Meet with him once to discuss your business and decide if he is offering differentiated insight. Those who find his perspective valuable can seek additional confirmation from the other founders he has partnered with from early breakthroughs and go-to-market inception through growth and billion-plus-dollar valuations.
Matt looks to invest in the growth of everyone he partners with. His experiences have consistently shown him that superheroes are made, not born—and they come from all corners of the world, all walks of life, and frequently without advanced degrees or official credentials.
Supported by: Vanessa Lozano, vanessa@menlovc.com
