Google, the internet technology provider now part of holding company Alphabet, has quietly been funding startups founded by ex-employees, CNBC reported yesterday, citing multiple sources.
Alphabet was formed in August 2015 and involved Google being hived off to operate internet-central activities like Android, YouTube and the group’s search engine activities, separately from investment units Google Capital and GV.
However, Google has been investing in select startups founded by former team members over the past two years, providing sub-$10m sums through convertible notes, according to a source familiar with the deals.
The deals are being made by Google vice-president of corporate development Don Harrison and his team, and are distinct from Area 120, the initiative set up to support ventures launched by Google staff.
The companies in question include Hello, a US-based social network founded by Orkut Buyukkokten, which received an undisclosed amount of funding. Buyukkokten was the founder of Orkut, a social network owned by Google that picked up 300 million members, many in Brazil and India, before being shuttered in 2014.
Hello launched earlier this year and is available in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, France and Brazil. It aims to link members according to personal interests.
CNBC reports that two stealth-stage startups formed by ex-directors of product management – Keith Coleman and Noam Lovinsky – have also received funding. Lovinsky is founder and CEO of a startup called NoNameCo while Coleman has not revealed details concerning any new business venture.