Google seen considering venture capital arm

01/08/2008 19:15

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google is considering setting up its own venture capital investment arm, the Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday, citing several people briefed on the discussions.

David Drummond, the Internet search leader’s senior vice president of corporate development and chief legal officer, would lead the investment business, the Journal said. Google has hired William Maris, a former Web hosting entrepreneur, to help set up the unit, the paper said.

A Google spokesman confirmed that Maris has been hired but declined to comment further.

A source familiar with the company’s thinking told Reuters that any decision to move ahead with a venture capital unit was in very preliminary stages and that no firm decisions had been taken.

According to a 2005 posting on Global Envision, a humanitarian aid site, Maris worked as a partner with Anne Wojcicki in a health investment fund called Catalytic Health. Last year Wojcicki married Google co-founder Sergey Brin.