{"id":642,"date":"2014-07-22T10:03:18","date_gmt":"2014-07-22T08:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/startupxplore.com\/en\/blog\/?p=642"},"modified":"2014-10-06T18:12:53","modified_gmt":"2014-10-06T16:12:53","slug":"european-venture-capital-firms-google-ventures-seedcamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/startupxplore.com\/en\/blog\/european-venture-capital-firms-google-ventures-seedcamp\/","title":{"rendered":"European VC firms: Google Ventures crosses the pond, Seedcamp’s maturation and LVP’s gaming fund"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s been a great couple of weeks for the European startup ecosystem<\/strong>, as several big firms made some significant announcements that could have a heavy impact in Europe and across different sectors.<\/p>\n

We’ve talked in the past about the status of the VC<\/a> and accelerators scenes in Europe<\/a>, and the following announcements could be interpreted as a sign of the maturation of the entrepreneurial economy in the EU.<\/p>\n

Google Ventures has crossed the ocean<\/h2>\n

After weeks of rumors and speculation, Google finally announced the creation of a Google Ventures subsidiary in Europe. Led by partners Eze Vidra, Tom Hulme, Peter Read, Avid Larizadeh and, temporarily, MG Siegler, GVE will invest up to $100 million across the region.<\/p>\n

The fund will be headquartered in London -where else could it be?- and it’s the first time Google Ventures has stepped outside of the US. “We believe Europe’s startup scene has enormous potential. We’ve seen compelling new companies emerge from places like London, Paris, Berlin, the Nordic region and beyond”, claims Bill Maris, Managing Partner of Google Ventures, in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Google Ventures Europe will invest up to $100 million across the region<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Founded in 2009, Google Ventures has been raising eyebrows in the US as of late, especially after their investment in fast growing transportation startup Uber. In 2009 they had $100 million to invest, an amount that increased to $200 and $300 million in 2011 and 2012, respectively. If their European strategy follows the same pattern and the results are what Google is expecting, it wouldn’t be crazy to expect bigger funds in coming years.<\/p>\n

At this stage Europe doesn’t need much validation, but it’s always good to see that big investment firms -or subsidiaries of corporates in this case- consider the continent and its startups as important players in the future.<\/p>\n

How Google Ventures works and its impact on the European Venture Capital firms ecosystem<\/h3>\n

The best explanation out there about how Google Ventures works<\/a> was published by CB Insights. In essence, the firm invests most of its money in the Internet Software & Services<\/em> industry and has experienced a significant increase in activity in recent years: 65% YoY growth between Q2 2013 – Q1 2014 versus Q2 2012 – Q1 2013.<\/p>\n

\"google-ventures-investments\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Christian Hernandez, from White Star Capital, and Stephen Piron, from Bright*Sun, published an interesting analysis of the potential impact of Google Ventures on the European ecosystem<\/a> with the following conclusions:<\/p>\n