On the heels of Brooklyn getting it's first Shake Shack comes more tech-friendly news. Charlie O'Donnell, previously of standout New York venture firms First Round Capital and Union Square Ventures, announced the creation of Brooklyn Bridge Ventures-the first venture capital fund to be based out of Brooklyn.

As part of the announcement, the fund sponsored the creation of "Made in Brooklyn", a trailer on starting up in Brooklyn:
Josh Kopelman of First Round Capital added a note of congratulations:

"…I can't wait to see the impact his firm makes on the Brooklyn tech community…During his time at First Round, Charlie made a real impact - helping us expand our New York presence…Ever since Charlie joined First Round Capital he and I have talked about his goal of starting his own firm - and I'm excited to see him take the plunge."

The news was also welcomed by Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures:

"Charlie is pure Brooklyn hustle. It's fantastic to see him focusing on the growing Brooklyn tech community. Startups are sprouting up in Greenpoint, Bushwick, Williamsburg, Fort Greene, Dumbo, Downtown Brooklyn, and Red Hook and probably in other neighborhoods too. Nobody is better suited to catalyze the Brooklyn tech community and seed it with startup capital than Charlie O'Donnell."

Brooklyn Bridge Ventures seeks to make investments in early and seed stage technology companies in the "Greater Brooklyn Area" (which includes Manhattan and other boroughs) across a variety of information technology sectors. It will also have the capability to lead or co-lead seed rounds.

Building a firm in his home borough brings a particularly exciting element to Charlie's new venture:

"As a Brooklyn native and resident, I couldn't be more excited to launch the fund here. The Brooklyn startup scene reminds me of how Manhattan was in 2005-with a few key companies in place and a growing interest in technology. Yet, the resources are disconnected from each other, representing a major opportunity to build a powerful community. In a lot of ways, things in Brooklyn are better now-we have more of a head start because of the talent here and the better social platforms. We can connect the critical elements faster and cheaper than ever before to grow an ecosystem."

Charlie is a visible leader in the NYC startup community. His blog, This is Going to Be BIG! is ranked #6 among the top VC bloggers and his weekly innovation community newsletter is read by over 5,000 people in the NYC-area. His plan is to use this platform and reach to bring greater visibility to the Brooklyn innovation ecosystem.

Among investors that he has worked with, Charlie has a strong reputation for adding value. Ann Miura-Ko of Floodgate Capital offered that he "hustles for the companies we've worked on together and has served as a great resource to many entrepreneurs I know."

Charlie worked as an institutional investor evaluating venture capital funds before joining Union Square Ventures in 2005 as the firm's first analyst. In 2006, he founded nextNY, which has run over 50 events on entrepreneurship and startup education and networking. He served on the original board of the New York Tech Meetup, and is one of the meetup's first 100 members. He has been named three times to the Alley Insider 100 Most Influential People in NY Tech. After a stint as a product manager, Charlie co-founded Path 101, a Business Insider Startup 2009 Conference Finalist.

Charlie joined First Round Capital in October of 2009. He sourced First Round's Investment in GroupMe, which sold to Skype in 2011. Other deals he sourced include Refinery29, chloe + isabel, Backupify, SinglePlatform, Salescrunch and Docracy.