By Adam E. John
David Rosenblatt is joining 1stdibs, an online luxury marketplace, as chief executive officer. Rosenblatt was the CEO of DoubleClick in a previous avatar, where he spearheaded the company’s $3.1 billion acquisition by Google. He subsequently joined Google, and was Google’s president of Global Display Advertising until 2009. Rosenblatt will continue in his role as chairman of Group Commerce (he is also among the co-founders here), and as a board member of IAC and Twitter, after joining 1stdibs.
1stdibs has also received an undisclosed amount of investment from Benchmark Capital. Benchmark Capital general partner Matt Cohler led the investment, and both he and Rosenblatt will join the company’s board of directors. The new financial backing will fuel expansion both in products and geography, in the United States and internationally. The investment will also be used to make key hires.
Founded in 2001 by Michael Bruno after visiting Paris flea markets, 1stdibs is a platform for interior designers and consumers to find antiques, design, estate jewelry, vintage fashion and art. The gross merchandise volume of goods reported sold by 1stdibs dealers will exceed $500 million in 2011, says the company.
(Adam E. John is consulting editor with techtaffy.com. He can be reached at adam@techtaffy.com)