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Dharmash Mistry joins venture capital firm

Balderton Capital, the venture capital firm that has invested in companies including Bebo, Betfair and Setanta, has hired Emap's former head of digital operations, Dharmash Mistry.

Mistry, who left Bauer earlier this year in the wake of the £1.1bn acquisition of Emap's consumer magazine and radio businesses, had run the latter's digital operations across brands including FHM, Heat and Kiss FM. Mistry has been hired as a partner with a remit to "use his extensive experience building businesses in the media, retail and consumer goods sectors to assist the companies in Balderton's portfolio and seek out new investment opportunities".

"Dharmash has a broad yet deep experience in sectors which particularly complement Balderton's investments," said Barry Maloney, a partner at Balderton Capital.

"He has a great knowledge of developing online businesses and the opportunities in digital media.

He will be a great addition to our team as we continue to invest in the most innovative and fastest growing companies."

Mistry spent almost eight years at Emap in a range of roles, most recently responsible for all consumer-facing digital businesses such as the websites for magazines including Heat and FHM, radio stations including Kiss, and the joint TV venture with Channel 4, Box TV.

More recently he was behind the company's acquisition of Yospace, dubbed the "YouTube for mobile".

Since 2000 Balderton has invested in a range of companies in the UK and abroad. Investments include video games developer and publisher Codemasters, Setanta Sports and Bebo, which was recently sold to AOL for $850m.