Michael Arrington, the founder of the technology-focused business website TechCrunch, has resigned as editor of the AOL-owned site in order to found his own venture capital (VC) fund, to be known as CrunchFund, in conjunction with Patrick Gallagher, a partner at VantagePoint Capital Partners.
Crunchfund closed its initial financing at $20m, with AOL Ventures as the largest single backer, investing $10m, according to the Guardian newspaper. Also making investments of $1m each are VC firms Accel Partners, Austin Ventures, Greylock Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Redpoint Ventures and Sequoia Capital.
Arrington’s parting of ways with his position at TechCrunch comes after many commentators had reacted to the CrunchFund, by saying his remaining as a editor of TechCrunch would create a conflict of interest between his position as head of a VC fund while editing a site which covers its dealings.
Arrington will continue to contribute to TechCrunch as an unpaid blogger, however, though AOL has denied he will have any editorial influence in TechCrunch’s coverage. Arrington officially remains an AOL employee, though he is officially employed by AOL Ventures rather than through AOL’s journalistic division.
Arrington’s access to deal flow news through TechCrunch was thought to be a significant pulling point for potential investors.
With a background in financial law, Arrington was an internet entrepreneur before founding TechCrunch, with involvement in start-ups including internet domain company Real Names and online payments company Achex.
In April, Arrington announced that, after a two year hiatus, he would resume investing privately, with full disclosure, and took up a position as limited partner in VC firms Benchmark Ventures and SoftTech.