Google’s corporate venturing unit has backed recently formed financing business Upstart, which is led by eight-year Google veteran Dave Girouard.
Upstart is also backed by Kleiner Perkins and New Enterprise Associates, according to its website.
Girouard, who managed Google’s cloud applications for consumers, schools, and businesses, including Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Docs, said on his Google Plus page: "It is true. After eight wonderful and life-altering years, I’ve decided to leave Google to pursue my own adventure. I owe a lifetime of gratitude to Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt and so many others at Google for giving me such an incredible opportunity. I don’t know if I’ll ever match the learning experience I’ve had here, but I’m going to give it one hell of a try!"
Girouard added: "In recent months, I’ve thought a lot about the younger generation; about the opportunities and challenges they face in navigating their careers and life choices. The result is www.upstart.com, which you’ll (hopefully) hear a lot more about in the coming months. Thanks to all of you who have made my Google experience so wonderful!"
The website said: "Upstart lets you raise capital in return for a small portion of your future income. So you can do what you were meant to do."