New York venture capital firm RRE Ventures said Wednesday it has hired Steve Schlafman, previously with Lerer Ventures, as a principal. Schlafman made the move to focus more on Series A than seed stage deals, says Stuart Ellman, RRE’s co-managing partner.
Schlafman brings with him a history of work in the technology world. Prior to Lerer, he was vice-president of business development at Stickybits (which became Turntable.fm). He also held various roles at Massive and Microsoft.
The addition of Schlafman to the RRE investment team, Ellman says, made sense given the firm’s focus on Series A and later deals. Ellman says RRE makes about 75 percent of its investments in the New York area in companies such as desktop 3D printer developer MakerBot Industries (which was acquired recently by Stratasys).
“New York is flourishing,” he says. “$1 billion was invested in [venture capital] money in New York in the first half of this year. You see [incubator] AngelPad opening up in New York.” Ellman also cites a boom in hiring demand for local tech positions as signs of the city’s growing clout.
“There is infrastructure here; money through venture capital is available here, talent is available here,” he says. RRE may be bullish on New York but the firm has been busy in other markets such as Silicon Valley, Ellman says: “We have done deals in San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, and Austin.”
