PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct 02, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

Venrock, the premier venture capital firm originally established as the venture arm of the Rockefeller family, announced today that David Pakman has joined the firm as a partner and will focus on digital media investments in the New York area. Pakman joins an experienced team that has seen recent momentum with the Mail Room Fund, BlogHer and the acquisition of Adify by Cox Enterprises. The team includes general partners Brian Ascher and David Siminoff, who are based in Palo Alto, and Mike Tyrrell, who runs Venrock's Cambridge operations.
"David Pakman brings a wealth of relevant experience to support our ongoing work in the digital media sector," said David Siminoff, general partner, Venrock. "Media buying is central to New York and a natural catalyst for the digital media sector. With a truly bi-coastal team, Venrock offers a unique value proposition to entrepreneurs who have a vision for the future of digital media."
Most recently the CEO of eMusic, Pakman helped transform the business into the second largest digital music retailer in the world that has sold more music than all of its competitors combined (except iTunes). eMusic.com Inc. is wholly owned by Dimensional Associates, Inc., the private equity arm of JDS Capital Management, Inc., where Pakman has also helped to oversee a portfolio of private equity investments. Prior to joining eMusic and Dimensional, Pakman held leadership positions at Myplay, Inc., BeMusic, N2K Entertainment and Apple. Pakman currently serves on the Board of NARM (National Association of Recording Merchandisers) and was formerly a board member of DiMA (Digital Media Association) in Washington, D.C.
"Venrock has an impressive history of working with entrepreneurs and building companies -- something I have always been passionate about in my career," said David Pakman, partner, Venrock. "The digital evolution of media has just begun and there is an abundance of opportunities related to the creation, consumption, distribution and monetization of media. I look forward to working alongside the team to expand Venrock's reach within the New York community."
About Venrock
Venrock is a premier venture capital firm with offices in Palo Alto, New York, Cambridge, MA, and Israel. Originally established as the venture capital arm of the Rockefeller family, Venrock continues a seven-decade tradition of partnering with entrepreneurs to establish successful, enduring companies. Having invested $2.2 billion in 417 companies resulting in 124 IPOs over the past 39 years, Venrock's investment returns place it among the top tier venture capital firms that have achieved consistently superior performance. With a primary focus on technology, healthcare, and energy, portfolio companies have included Adify, Adnexus Therapeutics, Apple Computer, Centocor, Check Point Software, DoubleClick, Gilead Sciences, Idec Pharmaceuticals, Illumina, Intel, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Sirna Therapeutics, StrataCom, and Vontu. For more information, please visit Venrock's website at www.venrock.com.
SOURCE: Venrock