As managing partner of GV (formerly Google Ventures), Bill Maris has established search engine Google’s independent corporate venturing unit as a force in the industry, having invested $2.4bn since 2009.
Having originally been provided with $100m a year in 2009, Maris has been investing far more, although last year was notable for GV striking fewer, but larger deals.
In his annual review, Maris said: “It has been a great year, and we were fortunate to invest in 39 companies I am really enthusiastic about.”
These deals included large rounds for Jet and Udacity, with healthcare a focus through deals for Oscar, Editas Medicine, Denali Therapeutics, Collective Health, PatientPing, and Zephyr Health.
Maris continued: “Life science and health remain our most active areas of investment [31%]. They will continue to be a focus for us in 2016 and beyond. We will also look to make big investments in artificial intelligence, machine learning, security, and other deep technological innovations that we cannot anticipate [13% in 2015]. Part of the adventure in this business is not really knowing where great ideas will come from, and where curiosity and invention will lead us.
“I am very proud of our life science team here at GV, and this area will remain a key focus for us now and in the future. I can think of no more important mission than to improve human health and global quality of life. Everyone has a right to nutritious food, clean water, and the best medical care – and I believe our team can help by investing in the companies that will make that a reality.”
Maris previously worked at Duke University’s neurobiology department as a researcher and graduated top of class in neuroscience from Middlebury College, California.
Maris has kept his knowledge of life sciences strong as he has sat on the boards of companies such as US-based antibody discovery business Adimab and his other investments include personal genetics startup 23andMe, co-founded by Anne Wojcicki, the now former wife of Google’s co-founder, Sergey Brin.
However, the year has seen upheaval, with Brin and Google’s other co-founder, Larry Page – who prefers the term “uncomfortably exciting” – setting up a holding company parent, Alphabet, which took a stake in augmented reality startup Magic Leap, as well as the large capital deployment made by a separate investment team, Google Capital.
Maris also reversed a plan to set up a separate $125m European fund, with Europe head, Eze Vidra, posting his farewell blog on Christmas Day. Maris reportedly decided to keep control more firmly in his grasp and his past experience working at Sweden-listed investment fund Investor has given him insights into the European culture.
In a Bloomberg profile of Maris, Anne Wojcicki said: “I remember telling him about this new search engine my sister was working on, and he said, ‘Oh, Yahoo is good enough.’” Her sister, Susan, was one of Google’s earliest employees before becoming CEO of its YouTube subsidiary.
After leaving Investor, where he worked in the US, Maris founded web hosting company Burlee, reportedly when he was in his 20s, which was sold to Web.com in 2002 for an undisclosed sum. But with Anne Wojcicki calling him to go to the Valley and meet Brin and Page he was eventually asked to start a venture fund for them.
It has so far been a successful adventure for all of them.
Alphabet’s investment activity since the beginning of 2015
