• 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.”

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  • Morgan Chittum is a New York-based reporter covering markets, NFTs, the metaverse and digital assets. Before Blockworks she was a street reporter at New York Daily News, where she wrote about homicide, extremist groups, state politics and other critical topics in New York. She was a Media and Journalism Fellow at the Poynter Institute, where she dabbled in data and investigative journalism. She is published in American Banker, Yahoo News, Chicago Tribune and more.