Today.Az » SEO & E-Marketing » What would you invest in, if you were Google?
22 August 2011 [15:20] - Today.Az
Earlier this month, it was revealed that Google Ventures is investing
in coupon startup Whaleshark Media. Then reports came out about Google
Ventures investing in Rocket Lawyer.
Google has so many of its own projects going on at any given time,
but the company maintains that the majority of its resources are still
being put into the company’s core businesses – search and advertising.
“That’s our core focus,” CEO Larry Page recently told investors, saying that they’re not betting the farm on things like self-driving cars.
But Google Ventures, Google’s investment arm, is putting its eggs in
quite a few different baskets. “We look at companies in a wide variety
of sectors and stages. Many of our investments are in the areas you
might expect, such as consumer Internet, software, and mobile — but
we’re also backing companies in areas that might surprise you — from
human anti-body discovery to smart grid platforms,” Google Ventures
says. “We aim to invest about $100 million a year, with deal sizes
ranging from seed investments as small as a hundred thousand dollars to
late-stage investments of tens of millions of dollars.”
So just what is Google Ventures investing in?
Antibody Discovery
Google Ventures invests in Adimab, a platform for yeast-based antibody discovery.
Social Learning Games for Kids
The firm invests in Airy Labs, which creates learning games for kids between the ages of 5 and 13.
Fuel
Google Ventures invests in CoolPlanetBioFuels, which works to develop these kinds of fuels using plant photosynthesis.
Language Learning
Google Ventures invests in English Central, which uses web videos to
create language learning experiences. “Google Ventures has opened many
doors for us into the wider Google ecosystem,” says Founder/CEO Alan
Schwartz. “From YouTube through Android connections, we have benefited
from Google Ventures’ unique status as a financial investor, with deep
strategic tentacles. This has been much more than mere intros to
potential partners or potentially useful technology complements; it has
also included intros to experts on areas like user experience and
conversion.”
Offline Information Discovery
Google Ventures invests in Hipster, which is described as “a fun way
to help uncover the vast amount of information about real world
locations that isn’t yet available online.”
Therapeutics
Google Ventures invests in iPierian, which works in cellular reprogramming in creating therapeutics.
Legal Q&A
Google invests in LawPivot, a legal Q&A site that connects
companies with crowd-sourced legal answers from legal professionals.
Cars
Google Ventures invests in American car company Next Autoworks, which
it says will introduce a safe, high-quality fuel-efficient car for the
U.S. market.
Predicting the Future
Google invests in Recorded Future. It’s essentially a tool that predicts the future when you enter the what, the who/where and the when.
Car Sharing
Google invests in Relay Rides, which the company says, “enables car
owners to make money while providing those in need of a car with
affordable access to one.”
Retail Price Tracking
Google invests in Shopobot, which tracks price changes at popular stores.
Weather Insurance
The firm invests in WeatherBill, which provides weather insurance products that are described as “technologically advanced.”
That’s not everything that Google Ventures invests in, but are some
of the most outside the box companies and areas. You can see all of the
companies Google Ventures invests in here.
Fortune’s Dan Primack brings up interesting question, following Google’s proposed acquisition of Motorola Mobility: “Will Google and Motorola ‘venture’ together?”
/WebProNEws/
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