First Round Capital, which is currently based in West Conshohocken, has announced it is moving to Philadelphia.  First Round’s Josh Kopelman made the announcement on his blog on August 15th.  What is curious about his reasoning to move is that he makes two points, which actually argue against moving.

In his blog he states:

First, I’ve seen capital get portable.  When I co-founded Infonautics back in the early 90’s there were several Silicon Valley venture capitalists who offered us term sheets on the condition that we move out west.  Yet today, capital is more geography agnostic.  With e-mail, instant messenger, skype, videoconferencing – and cloud-based reporting platforms that encourage transparency – distance doesn’t matter as much.  And like First Round Capital, more VCs are investing outside of their core geography.

So if technology has removed the communication gap, why is a move of such a short distance necessary?  The train comes right to Conshy from Philly and don’t forget, we are getting a helipad.

Secondly, it is curious because of one company he singles out and praises, which is Monetate.  Kopelman states:

And while it takes multiple generations of successful companies to create a true startup hub, I’m encouraged by the quantity and quality of the current generation of startups.  Monetate, for example, employs over 100 people in the Phialdelphia area (and is looking to hire another 25 people now).  Their team is incredible — and has the technical chops of a Silicon Valley company.  It isn’t random luck that the company’s founder and CEO, David Brussin, was the CTO and co-founder of Turntide – an earlier Philadelphia success story that sold to Symantec.  The best way to create a more vibrant startup ecosystem in Philadelphia is to help the current class of startups succeed – so that Monetate’s employees will be our next batch of upcoming entrepreneurs.  This doesn’t just create value today – but it also has a compounding effect as today’s successful companies create the next generation of entrepreneurs through their alumni.

Why is this curious?  Monetate is based on Hector Street in Conshohocken!

First Round’s new office is going to be a former fire house in University City.  I am sure it is going to be a very cool office space.  But guess what, Conshy has one of those too!

So if the lease isn’t signed yet, consider staying.  We would love to keep you.