As an innovator and entrepreneur given the choice of any company to invest in your startup, which one would it be?
Chances are Google would be at or near the top of the list. And for good reason: Google is not only the 800-lb. gorilla of the internet and one of the most prominent companies in the world, it has been fairly aggressive over the years in acquiring young startups, from hot consumer plays like YouTube to enterprise ventures like Postini.
Thanks to Google's newly-announced VC fund, some lucky entrepreneurs will find themselves on the receiving end of a Google investment.
Google Ventures officially launched late last night (Google/California time) and according to the Wall Street Journal, Google will commit $100m to it in its first year.
What is Google looking for? It is open-minded to say the least. While many investors create their funds with a relatively narrow focus, Google's fund is pretty much open to any company with a great idea. Google lists "consumer Internet, software, clean-tech, bio-tech, health care" as areas that it's interested in, but its announcement also makes it clear that the Mountain View-based company is willing to make investments in "other areas we haven't thought of yet". That's an open invitation for wacky business plans if I've ever seen one.
Google Ventures is managed by former entrepreneur and portfolio manager Bill Maris and Rich Miner, a former Vice President at Orange who joined Google when it acquired mobile platform company Android.
Google says that the entire community of Googlers will play an important role in directing the fund to interesting opportunities and reiterated its belief that "the current downturn is an ideal time to invest in nascent companies that have the chance to be the 'next big thing'".
Certainly Google has cash to invest despite the economic downturn and it will have no shortage of entrepreneurs beating down its doors. After all, Google offers much more than cash. The prestige of having Google Ventures as an investor will have a lot of value for startups and if Google Ventures takes an active role as an investor, it could leverage some of its resources and knowledge to assist its portfolio companies. And of course, many entrepreneurs will believe/hope that an investment by Google Ventures makes a Google acquisition more likely if they're successful.
From the Official Google Blog: Google's newest venture:
Google's newest venture
3/30/2009 09:15:00 PM
Today we're excited to announce Google Ventures, Google's new venture capital fund. This is Google's effort to take advantage of our resources to support innovation and encourage promising new technology companies. By borrowing the best practices of top-tier, financially focused venture capital firms and bringing to bear Google's unique technical expertise and brand, we think we can find young companies with truly awesome potential and encourage their development into successful businesses.
At its core, Google Ventures is charged with finding and helping to develop exceptional start-ups. We'll be focusing on early stage investments across a diverse range of industries, including consumer Internet, software, clean-tech, bio-tech, health care and, no doubt, other areas we haven't thought of yet. Central to our effort will be our fellow Googlers, whom we view as a critically important resource to help educate us about potential investments areas and evaluate specific companies.
Economically, times are tough, but great ideas come when they will. If anything, we think the current downturn is an ideal time to invest in nascent companies that have the chance to be the "next big thing," and we'll be working hard to find them. If you think you have the next big idea, or if you just want to to learn more, please see our website at www.google.com/ventures.
Posted by Rich Miner and Bill Maris, Managing Partners, Google Ventures
