VC David Pakman Leaves Venrock for Blockchain Investment Firm CoinFund

Pakman will continue to hold his seat on many Venrock boards including Dapper Labs, which is set to hit a $7.6 billion valuation following a funding announcement of $250 million on Wednesday.

article-image

David Pakman

share

key takeaways

  • Pakman has been investing in crypto since 2017 and was an early-investor in Coinbase prior to their IPO, according to a press release
  • At Venrock, Pakman helped to lead Series A funding rounds for non-fungible token projects like Rarible and Dapper Labs

Long-time venture capitalist David Pakman has reportedly left Venrock to be managing partner at blockchain investment firm CoinFund, Axios first reported on Wednesday.  

During his over a decade-long span at Venrock, Pakman led Series A and Series B funding rounds in Dollar Shave Club and sat on the board until the company was acquired for roughly $1 billion. 

His soon-to-be role as managing partner is not Pakman’s first step into crypto investing; CoinFund and Venrock have been collaborating on joint deals since 2018 with projects such as Flow, RARI and 3Box, according to a press release.

“David led Venrock’s efforts in crypto and had the insight to partner with CoinFund early on. Together they have built an impressive portfolio of high potential blockchain and crypto companies,” said Bryan Roberts, Partner at Venrock, in a statement.  

Although his early venture days were focused on more traditional tech investments, via Venrock the VC has led Series A rounds for non-fungible token (NFT) projects like Rarible and Dapper Labs.

Pakman will continue to hold his seat on many Venrock boards including Dapper Labs, which is set to hit a $7.6 billion valuation following a funding announcement of $250 million on Wednesday. 

In a blog post, Pakman detailed why he chose to shift full-time to focus on the asset class. He added the new job will give him “a chance to really build a firm, not just an investment portfolio.”

“Over its brief 13+ year lifespan, crypto has not only facilitated significant tech innovations but has proven to be the single best performing investment asset,” Pakman, who was an early investor in Coinbase, wrote. “If you are a professional investor tasked with finding the best returns in the market and you ignored crypto over the past decade, you missed the best asset class returns in eight of the last ten years and cumulatively overall.”


Are you a UK or EU reader that can’t get enough investor-focused content on digital assets?Join us in London on November 15th and 16th for the Digital Asset Summit (DAS) London. Use code ARTICLE for £75 off your ticket. Buy it now.


Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Unlocked by Template.png

Research

RTK networks are critical to enabling a world of ubiquitous autonomous drones, vehicles, and industrial robots. We believe the GEOD token enables both a cost and product advantage for the GEODNET RTK network, which will allow it to out-compete multi-billion dollar incumbents Trimble and Hexagon.

article-image

Hunter Horsley says Solana is one of this cycle’s breakout successes that he thinks clients will want to access

article-image

SOL has climbed more than 2,000% in the past two years

article-image

MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor alluded to Marathon’s CEO during a X Spaces on Tuesday

article-image

Crypto’s calls are equally as juiced as puts, creating a “smile” in the volatility surface

article-image

Turns out that owning the end-user via a crypto wallet is quite a prosperous business

article-image

The announcement followed growing speculation that Gensler would announce his exit before Trump takes office next year