Three top firms come together to fund Google Glass apps

Glass Collective formed by Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

I know we all can't wait for Google Glass, the hands-free computer that everyone has been buzzing about for months. But, honestly, I'm not sure anyone knows yet what it can really do. Once it's here, then developers are going to want to build new apps and hardware for the new technology. But does anyone really to want to wait for weeks or months for them to get it up and running?

To solve that potential problem, Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers have joined together to form a new program called Glass Collective, an investment syndicate that will provide financing and support to entrepreneurs that want to develop apps on Google Glass, it was announced Wednesday. 

Glass Collective is not a new fund, but is rather a program where developers will be able to pitch their ideas to all three firms, which will then share the seed investments in those apps.

"Glass is a potentially transformative technology. It’s a window into the world’s information, and a new way to share experiences with those you care about," Bill Maris, Vice President of Google Ventures, wrote in a blogpost.

"Here at Google Ventures, my partners and I thought the potential for Glass was significant enough to invite our friends at Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers to join us in exploring this big opportunity. We’ve formed the Glass Collective, an investment syndicate between our three firms, to provide seed funding to entrepreneurs in the Glass ecosystem to help jumpstart their ideas."

To submit an idea to Glass Collective, all a developer has to do is contact investors at one of the three firms, and they will jointly review the pitches. 

"We don’t publish independent contact information for the Glass Collective because we’ve learned that it’s difficult to sort through the noise that comes through an open email alias. Good opportunities get buried and we miss them. We have a better chance of understanding your vision If we hear about your business directly, or through our friends and associates," it says on the Glass Collecitve site.

Glass Collective says it is looking for both service and hardware "that define new paradigms for how technology fits into people’s lives," especially innovations in consumer and enterprise in areas such as messaging, sharing, search, and navigation.

“The thesis of Glass is profoundly transformational. And as with the Internet and smartphones, a huge amount of work will be done by third-party developers to fully realize the Glass vision. Glass brings developers a new springboard for creativity and an amazing new platform to build the defining applications of the future," said Marc Andreessen on the Glass Collective website,

Google has set up Google Mirror API, which is what developers will use to build services for Glass. Check out the video below for a sneak peek:

(Image source: https://googleblog.blogspot.com)