US-based search engine Google’s corporate venturing unit has catapulted itself into the top ten of corporate venturing units by size, Global Corporate Venturing analysis reveals, after it increased its annual spend on venturing to $300m annually.
Last week, Google Ventures, which has only been formally operative since March 2009, was reported by news provider Reuters – subsequently confirmed to Global Corporate Venturing – to be increasing its presence in corporate venturing by upping its allocation to $300m a year from $200m a year.
This followed an allocation increase in 2011 from $100m to $200m. Assuming Google Ventures invested $100m in 2009 and 2010, $200m in 2011 and will do so in 2012, and that it invests $300m for the next five years, we estimate the size of Google Ventures’ programme would be $1.9bn.
This would make it the sixth biggest corporate venturing programme, according to Global Corporate Venturing analysis. The figure this research initially estimated was $1.6bn, and was updated to reflect Google Ventures’ tweet that it would invest $1.5bn over the next five years. This made no change to Google Ventures’ ranking.