Crystal Hu
(Reuters) – Iconiq Growth, the venture capital arm of investment firm Iconiq Capital, has hired cloud analytics firm Datadog (NASDAQ:) President Amit Agarwal as general partner in the latest expansion of its leadership team, the company reported to Reuters.
Agarwal joined Iconiq after 12 years at Datadog, Iconiq’s longtime portfolio company for Iconiq Growth, whose parent company Iconiq Capital manages assets for some of Silicon Valley’s largest companies.
He plans to focus on software startups as artificial intelligence continues to shape the industry.
Agarwal said he has worked closely with Iconiq Growth since the company first invested in Datadog in 2015, particularly with Matthew Jacobson, an Iconiq partner who sits on Datadog’s board of directors.
“I want to join a multi-stage firm where I can invest in companies at different stages of their growth. I have seen first-hand how powerful Iconiq is as a portfolio partner given the connections it can make within its network,” said Agarwal, who has been a limited partner in several venture capital funds, including Iconiq.
Iconiq says its network of wealthy backers, most of whom made their fortunes in the tech world, including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey, could open many doors for founders.
The hire is the latest expansion of Iconiq Growth’s investment management team, which added five partners last year, bringing the total to 16. It follows the closing of a $5.75 billion fund in 2024, despite the fee venture capital hit a five-year low of $76. last year, according to PitchBook.
With the fund’s larger size, Iconiq Growth has expanded into early-stage investing. Half of the team’s investments over the past five years have been in young startups with revenues under $10 million.
The firm’s recent hires have focused on former big-company executives, so-called operators, rather than career investors, including Alex Gorsky, the former CEO of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:).