Google Fires Up Google Ventures For Start-Ups

Google is spreading its net wider by starting Google Ventures and wading into the deep lake of venture capitalism.

Got an exceptional start-up? If so, Google might be looking for you – or at least its new arm, Google Ventures, might be, ready to hand out some cash. Yes, Google has got into the venture capital business.

It’s going to be particularly interested in companies in the consumer internet, software, clean tech, bio tech, and healthcare fields, but will also look at "areas we haven’t thought of yet."

In a blog posting, Rich Minter and Bill Maris, managing partners of Google Ventures wrote:

"This is Google’s effort to take advantage of our resources to support innovation and encourage promising new technology companies… we think we can find young companies with truly awesome potential and encourage their development into successful businesses."

Although Google has yet to say how much money it will be putting in, reports in the Wall Street Journal place the figure at $100 million over the next year, and the company will work alongside entrepreneurs and investors, according to the BBC.

The middle of a bad recession might seem like an odd time to get into the venture capital business, but Google has it reasons.

"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," it said in its blog post.