Google Launches $100 M. VC Fund in Europe While Under EU Investigation
The only way Google could be in worse trouble with European regulators right now is if Larry Page signed the order to wiretap Angela Merkel's phone himself. NSA revelations have hurt Google's European contracts and antitrust investigations are multiplying like Gremlins.
The EU's antitrust chief recently told his fellow commissioners to take a weak settlement offer from Google because an entire cast of anticompetitive allegations are waiting in the wings. So what better time for a peace offering?
Yesterday, Google Ventures announced that it would launch a new fund to support European entrepreneurs starting with an "initial funding" of $100 million targeting "London, Paris, Berlin, the Nordic region and beyond." In the announcement, Google harkened back to European innovations of yore like steam locomotives and penicillin.
These marvels from the past still influence our lives today, and are tangible examples of how fearless exploration and entrepreneurship can literally change the world.
To help support the next generation of European entrepreneurs, today Google Ventures is launching a new venture fund, with initial funding of $100 million. Our goal is simple: we want to invest in the best ideas from the best European entrepreneurs, and help them bring those ideas to life.
The fund was announced immediately after Yelp, an American company, criticized the settlement the EU's antitrust chief is trying to push through. Along with the $100 million investment, the search behemoth announced four general partners for Google Ventures Europe, even lending blogging-capitalist MG Siegler as a liaison.
European startups may warrant the attention, but quelle coïncidence!
