Venrock Associates

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Venrock Associates was formed in 1969 to build upon the successful investing activities of the Rockefeller family that began in the late 1930’s when Laurance Rockefeller pioneered early-stage venture financing.

Laurance S. Rockefeller (1910-2004) was the fourth of the six children of John D. Rockefeller. He became well known as an investor of risk capital in young enterprises whose future was based on scientific and technological developments. Over the years, his investment interests have included the fields of aviation, aerospace, electronics, high temperature physics, composite materials, optics, lasers, data processing, thermionics and nuclear power. Beginning in August 1969, his venture capital investments in these areas were made through a venture capital group, Venrock, formed by members of the Rockefeller family.

Since 1969, Venrock Associates has developed into one of this country’s premier venture capital firms with offices in New York, Menlo Park, and Cambridge, MA. Venrock continues the six-decade Rockefeller tradition of funding entrepreneurs and establishing successful, enduring companies. Having invested more than $1.8 billion in more than 400 companies resulting in 100 IPO’s over the past 37 years, Venrock’s investment returns place it among the top tier venture capital firms that have achieved consistently superior performance.

Venrock focuses its investments on early-stage companies in information technology, healthcare, and emerging technologies. These include: Intel, Apple, StrataCom, Check Point Software, and DoubleClick; Centocor, Sirna Therapeutics, Idec Pharmaceuticals, Sugen, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, and Illumina.