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GV (company)

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GV
FormerlyGoogle Ventures (2009–2015)
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryPrivate equity
FoundedMarch 31, 2009; 15 years ago (2009-03-31) (as Google Ventures)[1]
FounderBill Maris (founding CEO)[2][3]
Headquarters
Key people
David Krane (CEO)
ProductsVenture capital
Total assets$2.4 billion
Parent
Websitewww.gv.com

GV, formerly Google Ventures, is the venture capital investment arm of Alphabet Inc. and provides seed, venture, and growth stage funding to technology companies. The firm operates independently from Google and makes financially driven investment decisions. GV seeks to invest in startup companies in a variety of fields ranging from the Internet, software, and hardware to life science, healthcare, artificial intelligence, transportation, cyber security and agriculture.[4] GV was founded as Google Ventures in 2009.[5] GV has offices in Mountain View, San Francisco, New York City, Cambridge, and London.

History

Logo when known as Google Ventures (2009-2015)

The group was founded on March 31, 2009 with a $100 million capital commitment,[1] by Bill Maris who also became GV's first CEO.[6][7][8] In 2012, that commitment was raised to $300 million annually, and the fund has $2 billion under management.[9] In 2014, the group announced $125 million to invest in promising European startups.[10][11] By 2014, it had invested in companies such as Shape Security.[12] In December 2015, the company was renamed GV and introduced a new logo.[13] As of 2016, GV has been less active as a seed investor, instead shifting its attention to more mature companies.[14][15]

Services model

GV was one of the first venture capital firms to employ the venture capital services model. It provides portfolio companies with access to operational help after making a financial investment.[16] Full-time partners at GV work with portfolio companies on design and product management, marketing, engineering, and recruiting.[17]

GV has developed an intensive, five-day design process, called a Design Sprint, which helps startups solve problems quickly.[18][19][better source needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Schonfeld, Erick (2009-04-04). "The Google Ventures Cheat Sheet". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
  2. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20160708150055/http://www.gv.com/team/
  3. ^ "Team | Google Ventures". web.archive.org. March 26, 2014.
  4. ^ "GV". gv.com. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  5. ^ "Press". GV. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  6. ^ "Google Ventures founder Bill Maris is back. Again". Axios.
  7. ^ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-09/google-ventures-bill-maris-investing-in-idea-of-living-to-500
  8. ^ "Bill Maris Steps Down as CEO of Google Ventures". Fortune.
  9. ^ "Exclusive: Google Ventures beefs up fund size to $300 million a year". Reuters.
  10. ^ Oscar Williams-Grut (28 October 2014). "Bill Maris interview: Google Ventures into Europe". The Independent.
  11. ^ "Google Ventures invests in Europe".
  12. ^ Primack, Dan. "Deals of the day: Shape Security raises $40 million". Fortune. Fortune. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  13. ^ "Google Ventures Launches Rebranding Initiative". PYMNTS.com. 2015-12-07. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  14. ^ Chernova, Yuliya (2015-12-06). "Google Ventures Dials Down Seed Deals, Urges Mature Startups to Go Public". WSJ. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  15. ^ Wong, Joon Ian. "Google's (GOOG) not investing in young startups anymore — Quartz". qz.com. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  16. ^ "Will Google disrupt venture capital?". Fortune.
  17. ^ Manjoo, Farhad. "Google's Creative Destruction". Fast Company.
  18. ^ "How Google Ventures does rapid prototyping 'design sprints' with its 170 startups". VentureBeat.
  19. ^ "Inside A Google Ventures Design Sprint". TechCrunch.