(Reuters) - Iconiq Growth, the venture arm of investment firm Iconiq Capital, has hired cloud-based analytics firm Datadog's ( DDOG ) President Amit Agarwal as a general partner in the latest expansion of its leadership team, the company told Reuters.

Agarwal joins Iconiq after 12 years at Datadog ( DDOG ), a longtime Iconiq portfolio company for Iconiq Growth, whose parent Iconiq Capital manages assets for some of Silicon Valley's biggest names.

He plans to focus on software startups as artificial intelligence continues to shape the industry.

Agarwal said he had been working closely with Iconiq Growth since the firm first invested in Datadog ( DDOG ) in 2015, especially with Matthew Jacobson, the Iconiq partner who sits on the board of Datadog ( DDOG ).

"I want to join a multistage firm where I can invest in companies at different stages of their growth. I saw firsthand how impactful Iconiq is as a partner to its portfolio, given the connections it can make within its network," said Agarwal, who has been a limited partner in several venture funds, including Iconiq.

Iconiq says its network of high-net-worth backers, most of whom made their wealth in the tech world - including Meta's Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter co-founder and former chief executive Jack Dorsey - can open many doors for founders.

The hiring is the latest expansion of Iconiq Growth's investment leadership team, which added five partners last year to bring the total to 16. This follows the closing of a $5.75 billion fund in 2024, despite venture capital fundraising hitting a five-year low of $76 billion last year, according to PitchBook data.

With a larger fund size, Iconiq Growth has expanded further into early-stage investments. Half of the team's investments over the past five years have been in younger startups with less than $10 million in revenue.

The firm's recent hires have focused on former executives from major companies, so-called operators-rather than career investors, including Alex Gorsky, former CEO of Johnson & Johnson.

(Reporting by Krystal Hu in New York; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)