Two months ago, in early August, Bill Maris stepped down after seven years as head of the GV, the Alphabet venture capital subsidiary formerly known as Google Ventures.
David Krane took over as managing partner and CEO and has retained consistency with the Maris-era in the half-a-dozen investments made since the transition.
This is perhaps to be expected as Krane had been a general partner at GV since 2010 before stepping up to a managing partner position in 2014. The two largest rounds of those featuring GV since 10 August have been in healthcare.
Cancer-focused biotechnology company Carrick Therapeutics emerged from stealth with $95m in funding after licensing one of its three drug candidates from Cambridge University, and hopes to secure more academic research in future to enhance its portfolio.
GV led a $70m round in August for US-based immuno-oncology startup Arcus Biosciences that included Taiho Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of Taiho, as well as Invus, Droia Oncology Ventures and Stanford University.
Additionally, the unit led a $32m funding round for US-based palliative care provider Aspire Health, which was also backed by Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
GV has been increasingly active in life sciences and health technology since 2014, with the sector making up 31% of its investments in 2015.
The majority of about 470 deals tracked by GCV Analytics during the Maris era at GV were in emerging enterprises from the IT, media, consumer and services sectors.
Some of the most notable deals in terms of total round size were led by Krane, including investments in ride hailing service Uber, smart thermostat maker Nest and crowdfunding platform CircleUp. Since he took over, GV has continued its interest in these areas.
GV led a $14m series A round for art buying platform Twyla, which has just come out of stealth; joined the $20m B round for last-minute ticketing app Gametime; and paid up for the $47.5m equity round closed by online lending platform developer LendUp.
Most of the Maris-era deals came from mid or late stage rounds beyond series B, as illustrated by the bubble chart, though it had started in 2009 with a heavy investment pace by volume in seed and early-stage deals.
Maris, who has reportedly since been raising new a fund, co-founded Google Ventures in 2009 with an initial budget of $100m per year which was soon increased. GV currently invests about $500m each year and had some $2.4bn under management as of December 2015.
GV was not mentioned in the recent post-Maris rounds for Cosy and EventBoard, having fetaured in both of their seed rounds.
Other portfolio companies, including cybersecurity software developers Pindrop Security, Anomali and Shape Security, and 3D printing technology developer Carbon have added to rounds in which GV had invested in the past year or so.
Krane is however celebrating an exit. Having previously acquired GV portfolio company Nest, Alphabet acquired Urban Engines for an undisclosed amount.
While GV has maintained its activity since the formal handover to Krane, other parts of Alphabet have retained their interest in private companies.
Another Alphabet subsidiary, Google Capital, participated in Airbnb’s recently closed $850m round and potentially the $55m in convertible note financing raised by FanDuel, a daily fantasy sports platform.
Google itself, now operating as Alphabet’s largest subsidiary, is also reportedly funding startups formed by ex-team members, including social network Hello, independently to Alphabet’s GV and Google Capital activities.
Two months into the new reign at GV and the group and its parent shows no signs of slowing down its activity and interest in backing innovative ideas.
