Google has launched its venture capital fund, insisting that the time is ripe to invest in hot new products that can turn a profit for the company down the line.
Although venture capital companies are nothing new, Google's arrival in the sector will be welcomed by a technology industry straining under the weight of the global recession.
Google Ventures will be looking across the globe for the brightest young ideas and giving the companies the capital needed to get things off the ground.
Power of entrepreneurs
"Google Ventures seeks to discover and grow great companies - we believe in the power of entrepreneurs to do amazing things," says the Google Venture site.
"We're studying a broad range of industries, including consumer internet, software, hardware, clean-tech, bio-tech and health care.
"We invest anywhere from seed to mezzanine stage and embrace the challenge of helping young companies grow from the garage to global relevance."
Valuable resource
The statement continues: "Our team includes entrepreneurs, investors and innovators, along with some 20,000+ exceptional Googlers whose breadth of knowledge, experience and creativity constitute perhaps our own most valuable resource.
"You don't have to be a potential Google acquisition for us to want to work with you; we're out to build great companies, period."
Google Ventures is headed up by Bill Maris and Rich Miner, with the latter arriving as part of the Android acquisition.
