Google believes the current economic downturn is an ideal time to invest in the "next big thing."  And that's why its just launched Google Ventures, Google's new venture capital fund.

From the Google Blog post, "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."

Google will be investing a total of $100 million dollars in various amounts.  These funds will range from the seed financing level to tens of millions of dollars, depending on how Google views the stage of the opportunity. 

Google is also open to co-investing with other venture firms and plans on active involvement with its portfolio companies.  

In response to the question of Google Ventures simply being a strategy to make future acquisitions, Google explains, "Acquisitions by Google of portfolio companies are possible, but this is not the goal or focus of our investment activities. Our focus is building great companies and generating long term financial return."

If you're looking to pitch your 'big' idea to Google, you can contact them here.