Former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Google, Patrick Pichette has just announced plans of pouring his cash on European startups with the potential of building the next Facebook or top search engine.
According to Business Insider, Pichette wants to start the funding before American groups intervene and acquire Europe's most promising startups. "Let me argue that there are 25 Facebooks and Googles in the UK today. The fundamental issue is that they get taken out before they have a chance to become Facebook or Google," he said.
Generally speaking, Europe is lacking in firms that can compete against those in Silicon Valley. While Sweden has Spotify to be proud of, there are no companies like Microsoft or Amazon that has European roots.
Before Google acquired DeepMind, the London-based artificial intelligence (AI) company was considered as a technological gem in the British industry. Pichette noted that DeepMind could have been a "UK champion" if the firm wasn't acquired by Alphabet Inc.
DeepMind has repeatedly clarified that it is still a British company since it is still headquartered in Kings Cross, London. The AI giant also stressed that its founders are still in the United Kingdom. However, these statements contradicted Google's move of consolidating a part of the AI firm's business arm into the search engine's health department.
To help European startups from getting absorbed by U.S. companies, Pichette has joined hands with iNovia Capital, a Canadian venture capital fund that recently opened its first European base in London.
Pichette believes that startups in Europe have a chance to go toe-to-toe with Google and other international tech giants such as Baidu, Tencent, Apple, and more. With his iNovia Capital partnership, the former Google exec is looking to assist startups in the eurozone.
Despite tough competition early on, iNovia Capital has started forging its own path in the technological era as the company announced on Tuesday that it was able to raise two new funds in a bid to expand its innovative aspirations.
According to PR Newswire, the first early-stage fund amounted to $200 million while the other raised $400 million. These venture funds are expected to be used in various sects in the AI industry such as healthcare, travel, financial services, commerce, legacy sectors, transportation, and more.
So far, iNovia Capital has given a hand to over 80 startups. A combined $2.1 billion has been raised over the past years to help talents explore their ideas for high-quality innovation.
