• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, March 9, 2011

Rogers, AR-based digital agency Rockfish this morning unveiled a new venture capital division focused on nurturing new enterprises that develop digital technology in consumer Internet, mobile and retail sectors. The aptly named Rockfish Brand Ventures will provide startups with capital funding, as well as technology and marketing support. 

Kenny Tomlin, Rockfish founder-CEO, said the new unit hopes to incubate innovative ventures that benefit Rockfish's roster of digital advertising clients. Rockfish, which was named OMMA magazine's Web design and development agency of the year for 2010, handles Walmart, Sam's Club, Cisco, Procter & Gamble, Tyson Foods and others.

Rockfish joins an array of agencies launching venture divisions to help cultivate next-generation marketing technologies that can give them and their clients a potential competitive advantage, as well as returns on capital investments.

Among the most noteworthy are Publicis' Denuo and Interpublic's Mediabrand Velociter units. Several other major agency holding company divisions are expected to announce similar forays soon.

Like other agency organizations, a key component of Rockfish Brand Ventures isn't simply capital investment, but the ability to leverage the core agency's expertise to help startups grow.

Specifically, Rockfish said it would provide "domain-specific" support that would help the startups accelerate their product and distribution systems.

Rockfish said it initially plans to make about 10 investments over the next two years; it will partner with traditional venture capital firms and other investment groups to help with capital funding. The new unit would work closely with existing agency clients to give them "first access to emerging digital media firms for marketing and potential investment."

Marketers have also been investing capital resources directly into promising digital media startups. One of the more public examples was PepsiCo's "Pepsi 10" initiative, which invited ventures to pitch to be one of 10 startups to receive funding grants from PepsiCo to accelerate their businesses. Omnicom's OMD, a Pepsi shop, worked closely on that initiative.

Tomlin called the new unit a "natural evolution to our model," and said six senior Rockfish managers would comprise the agency's "investment committee," including Dave Knox, a former Procter & Gamble marketing executive who joined Rockfish as CMO and also runs The Brandery, a startup accelerator he launched in Cincinnati.

Rockfish said it is also organizing an outside advisory board that would be comprised of industry veterans with backgrounds in technology, venture and marketing. The first board member is Carl Everett, who most recently was a partner at venture-capital firm Accel Partners.