First Round Capital will invest new $175M fund without cofounder Howard Morgan

There are two major pieces of news from First Round Capital this week.
First, the University City-based venture firm successfully closed its sixth fund. The war chest of $175 million is the same amount First Round raised last time around, back in 2014.
The other bit of news comes with a touch of shock value: cofounder Howard Morgan, after 12 years with the firm, is stepping down to go into angel investing.
“Howard has decided to step back from formal venture capital at the end of the year,” fellow cofounder Josh Kopelman wrote in a heartfelt Medium post. “He’ll be returning to angel investing — which, fittingly, is where he started his career and is how we originally met. He was my first angel investor and has backed every project I’ve worked on since.”

Proud of the way we do things @firstround “Partners” https://t.co/DUyNroMWI3

— Howard L Morgan (@HLMorgan) September 8, 2016

Morgan, who has decades worth of experience in startup investment, will remain a board member of the firm he helped build.
“I know I speak for everyone here at First Round when I say we’re deeply indebted to him — for his wisdom, humor, and helping build this special place we get to work at every day,” Kopelman wrote.

"My great skill in life has been picking great partners and then letting them use their superpowers" @HLMorgan #ACAAngelSummit

— Technical.ly (@Technical_ly) May 11, 2016

(The above is a line from Morgan on his true skill, not to be confused with his equally impressive ability to swing from wrecking balls.)
Morgan will be seceded in his role as partner by Brett Berson, who got his start at First Round as an intern from NYU and had previously helped put together the firm’s Platform program for entrepreneurial support.
“His insight into how startups get built and aptitude for spotting new opportunities is incredible,” Kopelman said of Bernson. “You couldn’t ask for better qualities in this line of work.”
And though he’s moving on from the company, it is confirmed that Morgan will be making a cameo in next year’s holiday video.