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GV (company)

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GV
FormerlyGoogle Ventures
(2009–2015)
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVenture Capital
FoundedMarch 31, 2009; 15 years ago (2009-03-31) (as Google Ventures)[1]
FounderBill Maris
HeadquartersMountain View, California
San Francisco, California
New York City, New York
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England, United Kingdom
Key people
David Krane (CEO)
Total assets$2.4 billion
ParentGoogle (2009–2015)
Alphabet Inc. (2015–present)
Websitewww.gv.com

GV, formerly Google Ventures, is the venture capital investment arm of Alphabet Inc. and provides seed, venture, and growth stage funding to technology companies. The firm operates independently from Google and makes financially driven investment decisions. GV seeks to invest in startup companies in a variety of fields ranging from the Internet, software, and hardware to life science, healthcare, artificial intelligence, transportation, cyber security and agriculture.[2]

The group was founded on March 31, 2009, with a $100 million capital commitment.[1] In 2012, that commitment was raised to $300 million annually, and the fund has $2 billion under management.[3] In 2014, the group announced $125 million to invest in promising European startups.[4][5]

GV has offices in Mountain View, San Francisco, New York City, Cambridge, and London.

History

Logo when known as Google Ventures (2009-2015)

GV was founded as Google Ventures in 2009.[6] In December 2015, the company was renamed GV and introduced a new logo.[7]

Services model

GV was one of the first venture capital firms to employ the venture capital services model. It provides portfolio companies with access to operational help after making a financial investment.[8] Full-time partners at GV work with portfolio companies on design and product management, marketing, engineering, and recruiting.[9]

GV has developed an intensive, five-day design process, called a Design Sprint, which helps startups solve problems quickly.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ a b Schonfeld, Erick (2009-04-04). "The Google Ventures Cheat Sheet". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
  2. ^ "GV". gv.com. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  3. ^ "Exclusive: Google Ventures beefs up fund size to $300 million a year". Reuters.
  4. ^ Oscar Williams-Grut (28 October 2014). "Bill Maris interview: Google Ventures into Europe". The Independent.
  5. ^ "Google Ventures invests in Europe".
  6. ^ "Press". GV. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  7. ^ "Google Ventures Launches Rebranding Initiative". PYMNTS.com. 2015-12-07. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  8. ^ "Will Google disrupt venture capital?". Fortune.
  9. ^ Manjoo, Farhad. "Google's Creative Destruction". Fast Company.
  10. ^ "How Google Ventures does rapid prototyping 'design sprints' with its 170 startups". VentureBeat.
  11. ^ "Inside A Google Ventures Design Sprint". TechCrunch.