Google announces funding arm

Google has announced a new arm of its business, Google Ventures, a technology investment fund.

The firm said that it had started Ventures as a way of opening up its own resources to new technology development, and will seek out and help start-up firms operating across a diverse range of industries.

"This is Google's effort to take advantage of our resources to support innovation and encourage promising new technology companies," noted Rich Miner and Bill Maris, the managing partners at Google Ventures, in a blog post.

"By borrowing the best practices of top-tier, financially focused venture capital firms and bringing to bear Google's unique technical expertise and brand, we think we can find young companies with truly awesome potential and encourage their development into successful businesses."

Falling with ease into the vernacular of venture capitalists, the firm said that it would focus on "early stage investments" with firms operating in consumer internet services, green and clean technology, biotechnology, healthcare and many others.

Google will draw on its people resources, as well as its financial and technological ones, particularly for investment recommendations.

The managing partners explained, "Central to our effort will be our fellow Googlers, whom we view as a critically important resource to help educate us about potential investments areas and evaluate specific companies."

Interested participants are requested to apply via email through the Google Ventures web site, and the firm is expecting a lot of interest.

"Unfortunately, due to the large volume of email we receive, we can not promise a response to all inquires (sic)," it said.