Josh Kopelman joins board of Philly.com parent company

When he moved his offices from Conshohocken to University City, placing his high-profile venture capital firm firmly within city limits, First Round Capital’s Josh Kopelman said it was a move to help “the next generation of entrepreneurs grow.”
In the the three years since then, he’s also launched a student-run investment fund in Philadelphia, taken ownership of the city’s early-stage investment fund and committed his own dollars to local startups through a city angel fund.
He’s now joined the board of the Philadelphia Media Network, the parent company of Philly.com, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News, according to an Inquirer report. Other board members include lawyer Stephen J. Harmelin and philanthropist David Haas. It’s a paid position. Each board member will get a “modest” director’s fee, which has yet to be determined, the report said.
In the media space, Kopelman’s only investment appears to be his personal backing of PandoDaily. We’re not aware of any media companies First Round Capital has invested in.
Regardless of media experience, it’s less explicitly a tech move (though the Inquirer was hiring a tech reporter a few months ago, we noticed), pointing instead to Kopelman’s growing stature in the region’s business community. It also seems to suggest that the Philly tech scene is becoming more mainstream and no longer a niche community that only a small few recognize.