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Mo Koyfman

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Mo Koyfman
Born
Moshe Koyfman
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Pennsylvania
OccupationBusiness executive
TitlePartner, Spark Capital
SpouseHillary Rosenman Koyfman

Moshe Koyfman is an American businessperson and investor.

Biography

Koyfman is a native of New Jersey.[1] He attended the University of Pennsylvania. He holds a B.S. in economics with a concentration in finance and a B.A. in English.[2]

Career

After graduating from college, Koyfman joined Bear Stearns as an investment banker, where he worked on mergers and acquisitions and raising financing for media, technology and entertainment companies.[2]

He next joined IAC, an internet holding company as vice president of mergers and acquisitions and vice president of programming,[2][3] helping to launch a new business unit focused on digital media.[1] He led the IAC acquisition of Connected Ventures, the parent of Vimeo, CollegeHumor and BustedTees. He eventually served as the chief operating officer of Connected Ventures.[1]

He was hired by Spark Capital, a Boston venture capital fund in the summer of 2008.[1][3] His work was focused on expanding into the New York media and entertainment sectors.[4] In 2011, he said that closed social networking communities were becoming more important[5] and in 2012 that he was focused on investing on social media, mobile and local services.[6]

Among the first investments led by Koyfman at Spark were stakes in online marketplaces Skillshare and Work Market.[2] Later investments include eyeglass retailer Warby Parker,[2] fraud prevention software company Sift Science,[7] financial service provider Plaid (company), Kitchensurfing, Aviary, DIY, FundersClub, Consumer United, gdgt and Svpply.[2] Koyfman's exits for Spark include EBay buying Svvply, AOL buying gdgt,[2] and Adobe Systems buying Aviary.[8] He became a member of the Board of directors for Skillshare, Work Market, Aviary, Plaid, DIY and Consumers United.[2]

After Spark invested in Kik Messenger, Koyfman said that closed social networks were gaining in popularity because the early social networks included so many loose acquaintances.[9]

Koyfman was promoted in 2012 to general partner, one of six at Spark,[1][6] at the age of 35.[10] In 2012 was named one of New York's top 100 angel investors by Business Insider.[11] As an angel investor, his investments include online razor retailer Harry's, the clothing brand Reformation, urban affairs digital publisher Curbed, and horror and digital entertainment producer Crypt TV.[12]

In 2013, Koyfman became an early backer and member of the board of directors of Sefaria, a free content library of Hebrew and English Jewish texts.[13]

He left Spark in 2016, [14][15] and founded and became the CEO of MOKO Brands, an investment company focused on consumer brands.[16]

Personal

Koyfman is married to Hillary Rosenman Koyfman, a designer.[17]

Philanthropic activities

He has been on the board of directors of ArtWorks, a non-profit that offers art therapy to hospitalized children.[2]

He also served as a member of the Whitney Museum of American Art Future Leadership Council, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Collections Council, and the New York Public Library Tech Advisory Group.[18]

He is on the board of directors of Sefaria, a non-profit online open source free content digital library of Jewish texts.[19][20]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Ante, Spencer (2012-01-27). "Twitter Investor Spark Promotes Mo Koyfman To General Partner". WSJ. Retrieved 2018-05-06.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "A New York VC Spotlight: Mo Koyfman of Spark Capital - AlleyWatch". AlleyWatch. 2013-12-10. Retrieved 2018-05-07.
  3. ^ a b "Former IAC Exec Koyfman Lands At Spark Capital". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
  4. ^ "Xconomy: Spark Capital Gains 'Mo,' as It Pushes Deeper Into NY Media and Entertainment Scene". Xconomy. 2008-09-15. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
  5. ^ CNBC.com, Jessica Naziri|Special to (2011-06-08). "The Next-Big Shift in Social Networking: 'Niche' Sites". CNBC. Retrieved 2018-05-10.
  6. ^ a b "Spark Capital's Mo Koyfman Promoted to General Partner". Observer. 2012-01-27. Retrieved 2018-05-06.
  7. ^ Kolodny, Lora (2014-05-14). "Sift Science Raises $18M to Stop Fraud Online — Even As Criminals Change Tactics". WSJ. Retrieved 2018-05-10.
  8. ^ "Adobe Acquires Photo-Editing Platform Aviary – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
  9. ^ CNBC.com, Jessica Naziri|Special to (2011-06-08). "The Next-Big Shift in Social Networking: 'Niche' Sites". CNBC. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
  10. ^ Little, Lyneka (2013-08-01). "A Young VC on How Young Entrepreneurs Can Land Cash for Their Young Companies". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
  11. ^ Shontell, Alyson (June 21, 2012). "The Angel 100: New York's Top Early Stage Investors". Business Insider. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
  12. ^ "Mo Koyfman | Crunchbase". Crunchbase. Retrieved 2018-05-14.
  13. ^ "'Sefaria' Text Site Could Expand Jewish Learning". Jewish Week. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
  14. ^ Garland, Russ (2016-03-09). "The Daily Startup: Mo Koyfman to Leave Spark Capital". WSJ. Retrieved 2018-05-07.
  15. ^ Chernova, Yuliya (2016-03-08). "Mo Koyfman to Leave Spark Capital". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2018-05-07.
  16. ^ "You Should Know: Mo Koyfman". Guest of a Guest. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
  17. ^ "Shop This New York Apartment - Our Storied Home". Our Storied Home. 2015-05-21. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
  18. ^ 33voices. "Mo Koyfman". www.33voices.com. Retrieved 2018-05-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ "About Sefaria". www.sefaria.org.
  20. ^ "The Sefaria Team". www.sefaria.org.
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