Google Ventures

About Google Ventures

Google Ventures is a radically different kind of venture-capital fund. The Google Ventures hands-on teams work with portfolio companies full-time on design, recruiting, marketing, and engineering. Google Ventures also offers Startup Lab, a dedicated facility and educational program where companies can meet, learn, work, and share.

Google Ventures will invest over $1B in the next five years. Founded in 2009, the firm has invested in over 100 companies, including Nest, Kabam, Homeaway, SCVNGR, ngmoco, and Whaleshark Media. Google Ventures is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., with offices in Seattle, New York, and Cambridge, Mass.

If you're a member of the press, contact us at gv-press@google.com.

News Highlights

Google Ventures Announces Its Newest General Partner, MG Siegler

TechCrunch, May 2013

“It looks like Google Ventures is building out a dream team of partners to attract the startups with the most potential, no matter what stage they’re in.”

Bill Maris, The Man behind Google Ventures, on The Present Challenges and Future Potential of Glass

Engadget, April 2013

“If even extremely jaded Manhattanites are excited enough about it to stop a stranger on the street, Project Glass clearly has the potential to be Google Ventures' next success story.”

A Venture Capital Partnership for Google Glass Apps

New York Times, April 2013

“[Glass Collective] is an efficient way for software and hardware developers to get their ideas in front of three prominent venture capital firms and to jump-start developers’ creativity.”

Silicon Valley Venture Backs Google Glass

Fortune, March 2013

“Three of the Bay Area's marquee investment firms want to capture the most interesting ideas before they're hatched.”

From Google Ventures: 4 Steps For Combining The Hacker Way With Design Thinking

Fast Co.Design, March 2013

“Google Ventures’ design team works as a resource for its 150 or so portfolio companies--doling out advice during office hours, weighing in on design hires, and teaching companies about design.”

The Wise Young Men of Google Ventures Visit SXSW

USA Today, March 2013

“The wise young men of Google Ventures, Kevin Rose and Wesley Chan, glided into and out of SXSW with stealth-like precision. Rose and Chan, general partners who help oversee the $300 million fund, go to events like this and seek out start-ups that will make a splash in the next year or two.”

Venturing Out

New York Post, February 2013

“The allure of Google Ventures is obvious: worldwide brand recognition and access to some of the brightest bulbs in Silicon Valley.”

Staying Competitive, The Google Ventures Way

WSJ Digits, February 2013

“Some of the things that make it unique, according to Krane, are the speed with which it invests, the number of startups in its portfolio, and its relationship to its parent Google Inc., which funds Google Ventures without regard to whether its investments will benefit Google.”

Kevin Rose Reigns As The Zen Master Of Silicon Valley Chatter

Fast Company, January 2013

“For entrepreneurs of his generation — and for people like me who made careers writing about them — Rose was the archetype of a new kind of entrepreneur.”

Exclusive: Google Ventures beefs up fund size to $300 million a year

Reuters, November 2012

“Google will increase the cash it allocates to its venture-capital arm to up to $300 million a year from $200 million, catapulting Google Ventures into the top echelon of corporate venture-capital funds.”

Where Google Ventures Is Searching Now

Wall Street Journal, October 2012

“When Google Ventures was set up some 3½ years ago, it faced skepticism about whether it could act independently of the Internet giant. But it has shown the capacity to do its own thing, having invested in or worked with companies that sold to Google Inc. competitors such as Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc.”

Charlie Rose, October 2012

“When I say disruption, what I'm thinking of is putting something in front of me, or an idea, that seems uncomfortably impossible. A healthy disregard for the impossible...that's kind of entrepreneur we're looking to fund.” - Bill Maris to Charlie Rose (18:19)