Rajeev Madhavan

Rajeev Madhavan
Rajeev Madhavan
Alma mater	Queens University (MSEE 1987)
Occupation	General Partner, Clear Ventures
Known for	Founder of Magma
Website	Clear Ventures

Rajeev Madhavan is a serial entrepreneur and investor, and a founder and General Partner of Clear Ventures. He is perhaps best known as the founder of software company Magma Design Automation, where he served as chairman and chief executive officer from its founding in 1997 through its acquisition by Synopsys in 2012. He also co-founded software companies LogicVision (acquired by Mentor Graphics) and Ambit Design Systems (acquired by Cadence Design Systems).Red Herring magazine named Madhavan to its “Top Innovators” list in 2002.

Madhavan was born in India and founded his first company while a teenager when he created a comic book rental business, conducting transactions on the school bus. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communications from the National Institute of Technology in Karnataka, India, and later earned a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Queen’s University in Canada. After graduation Madhavan worked at Bell-Northern Research and later at Cadence Design Systems.

In the early 1990s Madhavan was involved in founding his first two software companies. In 1991 he left Cadence to co-found LogicVision, an Electronic Design Automation (EDA) company offering chip, board and system-level Design for Test (DFT) solutions and support to ASIC vendors. Madhavan also served as the company’s first Director of Engineering. LogicVision went public on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol LGVN in October 2001, raising $40.5 million. It was acquired by Mentor Graphics in 2009.

In 1994 Madhavan founded Ambit Design Systems, an EDA company which offered synthesis technology. He served as President, Chairman and CEO. Ambit was acquired for $260 million by Cadence in September 1998.

In 1997 Madhavan led a team which founded EDA company Magma Design Automation, where he served as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President from the company's inception. Magma initially competed with Cadence and Avanti Corporation in physical design, but it eventually broadened its product portfolio to compete with all three of the largest established EDA companies (Cadence, Mentor Graphics and Synopsys). Magma had a particularly strong presence in the convergence device segment through key customers such as Qualcomm, Broadcom and Texas Instruments.

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