Google Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of Google, is getting a new partner: TechCrunch writer turned investor MG Siegler, it was announced Monday.
In addition to his work as a tech journalist, Siegler was most recently a general partner at CrunchFund, which he founded with TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington and Patrick Gallaghar. While at CrunchFund, Siegler helped build a portfolio which includes Airbnb, Betable, Crowdtilt, Ifttt, Karma, Mailbox, Path, Square, Uber, Vine, and Yammer.
In a blog post put up on Monday, Siegeler revealed that he had been talking to Google Ventures about joining “for a few months now.”
“After getting to know the partners and hearing the vision for the fund laid out by managing partner Bill Maris, it became clear that this would ultimately be a perfect fit,” Siegler wrote.
“Google Ventures sits in a truly unique space within the venture capital industry. They have the resources to make investments at any stage, but more importantly, they have the talent and knowledge required to do so. The partnership is brimming with experience when it comes to starting companies, building products, and scaling.”
At Google Ventures, Siegler will be putting his focus on seed and early stage investments, and will be working with Wesley Chan and Kevin Rose. He will also continue to work closely with CrunchFund “to help with the investments we’ve made.”
In additional, Siegler also says that he will continue to write columns for TechCrunch and on his blog “as time permits.”
Siegler, who is a self described “Apple fanatic,” also had a little fun with the fact that he is now working with one of Apple’s biggest rivals:
@google @googleventures I come in peace.
— MG Siegler (@parislemon) May 6, 2013
Founded in 2009, Google Ventures typically funds around 40 to 50 seed-stage deals every year. It invests $250,000 or less in a company, but it has invested to $10 million in around 15 companies. Google Ventures aims to complete one or two deals in the $20 to $50 million range every year.
Some of Google Venture’s investments so far include coupon and deal marketplace WhaleShark Media; online coupon site RetailMeNot; interactive entertainment company Kabam, where it participated in an $85 million round in May 2011; a $10 million round in ridesharing company SideCar; vacation rental home listings website HomeAway; cancer diagnostics company Foundation Medicine; smart-thermostat company Nest; carsharing service RelayRides; and smart-grid company Silver Spring Networks.
In November, the firm, which had previously been putting $200 million into venture capital funds, announced that t will be increasing that number to $300 million.
(Image source: http://thestartupkids.com)
