Founded in 2009, Google Ventures has already become a notable force in early-stage venture investing. With an annual fund allotment now bumped up to $300 million per year, the team invests in startups from a variety of sectors. Google recently made investments in music service TuneIn, recommendations site Luvocracy and aircraft technology provider Airware.
Karim Faris, general partner of Google Ventures, leads the firm’s investments in enterprise software, big data and security.
Faris recently sat down for a video interview with VCJ, in which he talked more about his investment strategies. Faris, who used to be on Google’s M&A team, is not focused on finding companies that could be bought someday. Instead, Faris says Google Ventures enters an investment with “the mindset that we’re building a self-sustaining standalone company that has prospects of being a public company one day.” Faris says that strategy increases the odds of providing better returns for the investors and entrepreneurs.
Going forward, Faris says he is enthusiastic about enterprise software, an industry which has seen many successful IPOs as of late. Faris says enterprise software is “making things more accessible more usable and cheaper,” adding that the sector is “ripe for disruption.”
A clip from the interview is below. VCJ subscribers can see the entire video by clicking here.
Photo of Karim Faris taken as a screenshot from interview.
