Josh Kopelman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1970 or 1971 (age 54–55) |
| Education | University of Pennsylvania (B.S.) |
| Alma mater | Wharton School at theUniversity of Pennsylvania |
| Occupations |
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| Known for | Founder ofHalf.com,Infonautics,TurnTide,First Round Capital |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | Carol and Dr.Richard Kopelman |
Joshua Kopelman (born 1970 or 1971)[1] is anAmericanentrepreneur,venture capitalist, andphilanthropist. Kopelman has consistently been ranked as one of the world's top 20 venture capitalists. He was the founder ofFirst Round Capital, and before that, a founder ofHalf.com, which he sold toeBay in 2000. He also foundedInfonautics andTurnTide. Kopelman was chairman of the board ofThe Philadelphia Inquirer from 2015 to 2024, when he was elected chair emeritus.
Kopelman grew up inGreat Neck, New York onLong Island, the son of Carol and Dr.Richard Kopelman.[1] His father was a professor atBaruch College and his mother a real estate broker.[1]
He attended theWharton School at theUniversity of Pennsylvania,[1] graduating in 1993[2] with a BS in Entrepreneurial Management and Marketing.[3] In 1992, during his sophomore year at the Wharton School, Kopelman co-foundedInfonautics, based inWayne, Pennsylvania.[1]
In 1996, his startupInfonautics went public on theNasdaq stock exchange. Three years later, in 1999, Kopelman left Infonautics to foundHalf.com, afixed price marketplace platform[4] for used books, music and videos.[5] He sold Half.com to eBay in 2000 for $300 million.[6]
After selling Half.com toeBay in 2000, Kopelman remained with eBay for three years.[3]
In 2004, Kopelman co-foundedTurnTide, an anti-spam technology company that was acquired bySymantec[7] within six months of its founding.[3]
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In 2004 Kopelman was the co-founder ofFirst Round Capital, a seed-stage venture fund.[3] In 2007, Kopelman helped to coin the phrase the "implicit web" to describe theSemantic Web.[8] Kopelman in 2013 was managing director of First Round Capital, and an investor, director, and advisor toOnDeck Capital, Flatiron Health,Aster Data Systems,Knewton,Gigya,AltSchool,The Black Tux,Five Below,Massdrop,Like.com,IronPort,Mint.com,Monetate,LinkedIn,ModCloth,AppNexus,BankSimple,Swipely,True & Co.,Wanelo,Warby Parker,Ring.com,Numerai,OpenX,LiveOps,Boxed.com, Clover Health,Upstart andDiscourse.[9] As of 2014, Kopelman was an inventor on 16 U.S. patents for his work in internet technology.[10] First Round by 2014 had invested in 300 technology startups.[3] In 2016, he remained with First Capital as a managing director.[11] After First Round Capital invested in "Uber-Cab" in 2010 for $510,000, the firm profited significantly in 2019 when Uber had its initial public offering.[12] In March 2020, he took part in a $4.2 million funding round for Coursedog.[13]
He joined the board of thePhiladelphia Media Network, laterThe Philadelphia Inquirer, in 2015.[14] In 2016, he was elected chairman of the board of directors ofThe Philadelphia Inquirer,[15] a position he continued to retain as of 2020.[16] He finished his term in June 2024 after reaching his term limit. Kopelman was elected by the board to a three-year term as chair emeritus.[14]
In 2008, Kopelman ranked 3rd on theNew York Times list of Top Venture Capitalists[17] and has ranked in the top 20 of theForbesMidas List of the top 100 tech investors, including 18th in 2011,[18] 6th in 2012,[19] 12th in 2013,[20] 11th in 2014,[21] 4th in 2015,[22] 6th in 2016,[23] 35th in 2017,[24] 19th in 2018,[25] 39th in 2019,[26] and 79th in 2020.[27]
In 2007, Kopelman was named one of "Tech's New Kingmakers" byBusiness 2.0 magazine,[28] as a "Rising VC Star" byFortune magazine in 2008,[29][30] and as one of the top ten angel investors in the United States byNewsweek in 2014.[30]
In 1995, Kopelman married Rena Cohen, an attorney, inGreat Neck, New York.[1] Kopelman and his wife as of 2021 lived in a suburb ofPhiladelphia with their two children.[31] In 2001, he and his wife created the Kopelman Foundation, a non-profit philanthropic organization to provide start-up grants to social entrepreneurs.[32] In 2002, the Kopelman Foundation funded a project to digitize and host the complete text of theJewish Encyclopedia online.
