Google, will be increasing the amount of money it allocated to Google Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of Google, which makes financially driven investments in technology companies, Reuters reported Thursday.
While Google was previous putting $200 million into venture capital funds, it will be increasing that number to $300 million.
A large part of the reason for this is that the initial investments that Google Ventures have made in the past few years have now entered later stages, and may required larger amounts of money to continue to grow.
"It puts a lot more wood behind the arrow if we need it," said Bill Maris, managing partner of Google Ventures told Reuters.
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.
By being able to invest larger amounts of money, it will put Google Ventures into the same league as other, more established funds.
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.
Another benefit of the extra money will be that it may allow Google Ventures to attract higher-profile deals, as it has not yet invested in any companies that have made it really big.
Controversy
Despite being so young, Google Ventures has not been without its share of controversy.
In September, Y Combinator founder Paul Graham accused Google Ventures of low-balling on valuations. At the TC Disrupt conference the same month, Digg co-founder, and Google Ventures partner, Kevin Rose gave an interview where he discussed the comments, where he was adamant that it was not true, but where he also refused to take the bait into trashing Graham.
“We’re absolutely not going out there any trying to lowball these companies,” Rose said in the interview. Not all companies are the same, he said. Some may be worth $20 million, others might be worth $4 million.
“You can’t just automatically say that every company that graduates from Y Combinator is a $10 million company.”
Google Ventures has a $200 million fund every year, Rose said, so the little bit that would be saved doesn’t matter that much..
“I have nothing bad to say about Y Combinator. I think what they’re doing is great. They’re obviously producing great companies,” Rose said.
“Obviously this was an internal e-mail that was meant to stay internal and it just got leaked. Nobody’s mad at anyone.”
Google could not be reached for comment.
(Image source: https://www.businessinsider.com)
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Unlike the proprietary, single application products offered by most vendors, Silver Spring Networks' solution is an IP-based network built on open standards. This approach provides the greatest operational and economic value by supporting a broad range of utility applications that reach the entire delivery system. The result: the utility is in control of implementing the business changes necessary to improve efficiency, reliability and customer service while reducing costs.Startup/Business
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RelayRides is the world's first peer-to-peer carsharing service. Our revolutionary service provides the technology, infrastructure and marketplace for car owners to securely and conveniently rent out their vehicles when they are not using them personally. This provides people seeking convenient transportation with a new option, and makes it easier for urban dwellers to enjoy mobility without owning a car.
As the average US car is driven only 66 minutes a day, RelayRides represents the first opportunity for car owners to monetize this underused asset. By providing the infrastructure, technology and marketplace for car owners to rent out their vehicles, RelayRides gives current car owners the means to monetize a largely underused asset. By enrolling in RelayRides, owners turn a car from an expense into a cash machine, with average profit of approximately $3,550 annually (net of depreciation costs).
How RelayRides Works:
Car owners list their vehicle on the RelayRides website, designate availability, rental price, and who may rent the vehicle (via Facebook and other social networks). Car renters browse available vehicles on RelayRides.com, reserve a car by the hour or day, and swipe an issued card over a card reader sensor on the vehicle for access during rental.
To streamline the rental experience, gas and insurance are included.
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Digg is a user driven social content website. Everything on Digg is user-submitted. After you submit content, other people read your submission and “Digg” what they like best. If your story receives enough Diggs, it’s promoted to the front page for other visitors to see.
Digg has been a force ever since. Acquisition offers have been made, Rose was on the cover of BusinessWeek and according to Alexa, Digg is in the top 100 most trafficked sites on the internet. The success hasn’t come without its share of problems though. The site has had to face services aimed at gaming the way stories hit the front page, as well as a user revolt. Digg has however been able to get over these hurdles as it continues to be one of the social news leaders.
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Description
Kabam is an interactive entertainment company leading the next wave in social gaming, developing and publishing massively multiplayer social games (MMSG’s), including the popular and critically praised title Kingdoms of Camelot and Dragons of Atlantis. Our studios focus on combining the best elements of traditional and social gaming to appeal to a growing audience of players looking for deeper, more engaging social games. The first wave of Kabam’s new games for Facebook and leading media sites have been widely recognized for their depth of play and social interaction.
Kabam started out as Watercooler, whose aim was to make connecting with your friends, family, and other fans of your favorite TV shows or Sports teams more compelling than ever before. By bringing fan communities into the context of your social network, Watercooler enables more engaging sports and TV fan experiences. Fans are able to access Watercooler's FanSection and TVLoop communities no matter where they are on the web: Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Friendster, Hi5, MyYahoo, and TVLoop.com. Over 35 million sports and TV fans have joined Watercooler's fan applications making it the largest online fan community.
Company History
Kabam was founded by a team of social networking and community software professionals in Mountain View, CA, in 2006. The company has raised a Series A round of financing from Canaan Partners of Menlo Park, CA.
