Joe Kraus, a general partner at corporate venturing unit GV since 2009, is leaving to become chief operating officer for US-based scooter and bicycle rental service Lime, Bloomberg reported yesterday.
GV, the corporate venturing subsidiary of internet and technology conglomerate Alphabet formerly known as Google Ventures, led the $335m round Lime closed in July this year which valued it at $1.1bn, and Kraus joined the startup’s board of directors as part of the deal.
Lime is looking to build an alternative urban transport network for smartphone users who would rather not use car rides. It has signed up some 5 million users across more than 80 cities and is currently entering about five cities each week, it told Bloomberg.
Kraus said: “What is driving them is this massive generational shift around the unbundling of the car. Today we live in a world of scooter scarcity, in 18 months we will live in a world of scooter abundance.”
Since taking his board seat, Kraus has helped the company hire a chief business officer, general counsel, head of engineering and head of operations and strategy. He will take over some of the day-to-day duties of Lime co-founder and CEO Toby Sun.
Kraus will retain a venture partner position at GV, according to the unit’s website. He co-founded search engine provider Excite.com in 1993 as well as enterprise directory software developer JotSpot, which was acquired by Google in 2006 and converted into Google Sites.
During his time at GV, Kraus has led investments in companies including mobile game studio Kabam, most of which was acquired by NetMarble in February 2017 for a reported $800m, game publisher NGmoco, which DeNA bought for $400m in 2010, and gym membership service ClassPass.
Photo of Joe Kraus courtesy of GV.
