# Venrock > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Venrock > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Venrock.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venrock > Source revision: 1342058462 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|American venture capital firm}} {{Infobox company | name = Venrock Management, LLC | logo = Venrock 2023 Logo.png | logo_caption = Venrock logo | type = [Limited liability company](/source/Limited_liability_company) | foundation = {{Start date and age|1969}} | founder = [Laurance Rockefeller](/source/Laurance_Rockefeller) | key_people = | location = [Palo Alto, California](/source/Palo_Alto%2C_California), [United States](/source/United_States) | industry = [Venture capital](/source/Venture_capital) | products = [Investments](/source/Investments) | assets = | homepage = {{URL|venrock.com}} | num_employees = }} '''Venrock''' ([portmanteau](/source/portmanteau) of Venture and Rockefeller) is an American [venture capital firm](/source/venture_capital_firm) formed in 1969 to build upon the successful investing activities of the [Rockefeller family](/source/Rockefeller_family){{Cite news |last=Reinhold |first=Robert |date=6 February 1984 |title=STARTING UP IN SILICON VALLEY: LONG HOURS, FORSAKEN LIVES |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/06/business/starting-up-in-silicon-valley-long-hours-forsaken-lives.html |access-date=16 December 2024 |work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)}} that began in the late 1930s. It has offices in [Palo Alto, California](/source/Palo_Alto%2C_California), and [New York City](/source/New_York_City). ==History== Beginning in 1934, [Laurance S. Rockefeller](/source/Laurance_Rockefeller) (1910–2004) the fourth of the six children of [John D. Rockefeller Jr.](/source/John_D._Rockefeller_Jr.) began investing in early-stage businesses.{{Cite news |last=Kaufman |first=Michael T. |date=2004-07-12 |title=Laurance S. Rockefeller, Passionate Conservationist And Investor, Is Dead at 94 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/12/business/laurance-s-rockefeller-passionate-conservationist-and-investor-is-dead-at-94.html |access-date=2026-03-06 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} The first was a store that sold Finnish furniture. The second, borne of his friendship with the pilot [Eddie Rickenbacker](/source/Eddie_Rickenbacker), led to the creation of [Eastern Airlines](/source/Eastern_Air_Lines). He continued investing portions of his family’s fortune and ultimately grew roughly $8.7 million into more than $28 million by the late 1950s. After identifying an early-stage opportunity, he would occasionally bring his brothers and sister in as partners. Using his wealth to seed start-up ventures was a relatively unknown practice at the time. In 1969, Rockefeller formalized these activities by establishing Venrock Associates as a limited partnership funded by family members{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2013/05/09/how-venrock-is-reinventing-itself/ |title=How Venrock Is Reinventing Itself|last=Dolan|first=Kerry A.|work=Forbes|access-date=2018-08-13|language=en}} and some of the institutions the family supported including the [Museum of Modern Art](/source/Museum_of_Modern_Art), [Rockefeller University](/source/Rockefeller_University) and [Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center](/source/Memorial_Sloan_Kettering_Cancer_Center). By 1996, Venrock had financed 221 early-stage companies across aviation, electronics, computers, and biotechnology. Some of its earliest investmens include [Intel](/source/Intel), [Apple](/source/Apple_Inc.), [3Com](/source/3Com) and [Gilead Sciences](/source/Gilead_Sciences). Venrock closed its seventh fund in July 2014 with 8 partners and its eighth fund in January 2017 with 15 partners, each fund totalling $450 million.{{cite news |last=Loizos |first=Connie |date=January 26, 2017 |title=Venrock has raised $450 million for its eighth fund — just like its seventh fund |url=https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/26/venrock-has-raised-450-million-for-its-eight-fund-just-like-its-seventh-fund/ | work=[TechCrunch](/source/TechCrunch) |access-date=June 20, 2017}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2013/05/09/how-venrock-is-reinventing-itself/#59e054781289|title=How Venrock Is Reinventing Itself|last=Dolan|first=Kerry A.|work=Forbes|access-date=2017-12-06|language=en}} ==Investments== Venrock invested more than $2.5 billion in more than 440 companies, resulting in 125 [initial public offering](/source/initial_public_offering)s.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} Venrock focuses its investments on early-stage and start-up companies in information technology, healthcare and emerging technologies. These include: [Intel](/source/Intel), [Apple](/source/Apple_Computer), [AppNexus](/source/AppNexus), [Astranis](/source/Astranis), [StrataCom](/source/StrataCom), [Check Point Software](/source/Check_Point), Dapper Labs, [DoubleClick](/source/DoubleClick), [3Com Corporation](/source/3Com_Corporation), [Mosaic](/source/Mosaic_(web_browser)), [PGP](/source/Pretty_Good_Privacy), [Itek](/source/Itek), [Digex](/source/Digex), Interos,{{Cite press release|last=Interos|date=2020-03-12|title=Interos Raises $17.5M from Venrock and Kleiner Perkins to Grow Third-Party Risk Management Platform|url=https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2020/03/12/1999289/0/en/Interos-Raises-17-5M-from-Venrock-and-Kleiner-Perkins-to-Grow-Third-Party-Risk-Management-Platform.html|access-date=2021-08-16 |publisher=GlobeNewswire News Room |language=en}} Shape Security, [Phoenix](/source/Phoenix_Technologies), [Second Rotation (gazelle)](/source/gazelle_(internet_company)), RedSeal, [CTERA Networks](/source/CTERA_Networks), and [Juno Therapeutics](/source/Juno_Therapeutics). It also has a significant venture in the nascent [nanotechnology](/source/nanotechnology) field, with early funding of [Nanosys](/source/Nanosys) and the nanotech division of [Du Pont](/source/DuPont_(1802%E2%80%932017)).{{cite news |last= Feder|first=Barnaby J. |date=March 15, 2004 |title=TECHNOLOGY; Bashful vs. Brash in the New Field of Nanotech |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/business/technology-bashful-vs-brash-in-the-new-field-of-nanotech.html | work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times) |access-date=May 2, 2017}} Others include [BioTime](/source/BioTime).{{cite web|title=SEC Schedule 13G, filed Feb. 17, 1999|url=http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/DisplayFiling.aspx?TabIndex=2&FilingID=1363847&companyid=11441&ppu=%252fDefault.aspx%253fcompanyid%253d11441%2526amp%253bformtypeID%253d346|access-date=2013-08-15|archive-date=2016-03-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306115227/http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/displayfiling.aspx?amp%3Bformtypeid=346&companyid=11441&filingid=1363847&ppu=%2Fdefault.aspx%3Fcompanyid%3D11441&tabindex=2|url-status=dead}}{{cite web |title= Bloomberg Link speaker profile |url= http://www.bloomberglink.com/people/michael-d-west-ph-d/ |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130803060041/http://www.bloomberglink.com/people/michael-d-west-ph-d/ |archive-date= 2013-08-03 }} In the healthcare sector with partners such as Bryan Roberts, Venrock has invested in [athenahealth](/source/athenahealth), Grand Rounds, [HealthSouth Corporation](/source/HealthSouth_Corporation), [MedPartners, Inc.](/source/MedPartners%2C_Inc.), [Castlight Health](/source/Castlight_Health), Caliper Technologies Corporation, [Centocor](/source/Centocor), [Geron](/source/Geron_Corporation),{{cite web |title=SEC Schedule 13G, filed Feb. 17, 1999 |url=http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/DisplayFiling.aspx?TabIndex=2&FilingID=1363847&companyid=11441&ppu=%252fDefault.aspx%253fcompanyid%253d11441%2526amp%253bformtypeID%253d346 |access-date=2013-08-15 |archive-date=2016-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306115227/http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/displayfiling.aspx?amp%3Bformtypeid=346&companyid=11441&filingid=1363847&ppu=%2Fdefault.aspx%3Fcompanyid%3D11441&tabindex=2 |url-status=dead }} [senolytic](/source/senolytic) startup [UNITY Biotechnology](/source/Unity_Biotechnology),{{cite news|last1=Timmerman|first1=Luke|title=Arch, Fidelity, Bezos Bet $116M On Startup To Fight Diseases Of Aging|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/luketimmerman/2016/10/27/drugs-for-diseases-of-aging-arch-fidelity-bezos-bet-116m-on-startup-unity-biotech/#1cc916ce7789|access-date=2 January 2017|work=[Forbes](/source/Forbes)|date=27 October 2016}} Genetics Institute, Idec Pharmaceuticals Corporation, [Illumina](/source/Illumina_(company)), [Millennium Pharmaceuticals](/source/Millennium_Pharmaceuticals), [Sirna Therapeutics](/source/Sirna_Therapeutics), and Sugen.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} ==See also== * [Nanotechnology](/source/Nanotechnology) * [List of venture capital firms](/source/List_of_venture_capital_firms) ==References== {{reflist}} == Further reading == * Harr, John Ensor, and Peter J. Johnson. ''The Rockefeller Century: Three Generations of America's Greatest Family''. New York: [Charles Scribner's Sons](/source/Charles_Scribner's_Sons), 1988. * Winks, Robin W. ''Laurance S. Rockefeller: Catalyst for Conservation''. New York: Island Press, 1997. == External links == * [http://www.venrock.com/ Company Website] {{Private equity and venture capital}} Category:Financial services companies established in 1969 Category:Companies based in Menlo Park, California Category:Rockefeller family Category:Venture capital firms of the United States --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Venrock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venrock) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venrock?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.