Google plans to move forward with the Google Glass platform by forming an investment partnership called the Glass Collective.
According to a Google blog post, the “syndicate” includes venture capitalist firms Andreesen Horowitz, Klein Perkins Caulfield Byers (KPCB) and Google Ventures. Bill Maris, managing partner at Google ventures, says the job of the collective is to provide seed funding to startups developing products for Glass, especially those startups with creative and diverse ideas, leading to better implementations of Glass.
The Collective presents a unique opportunity for budding entrepreneurs to take advantage of a new platform with many unknown possibilities. On the official Glass Collective site, Maris compares the potential of Google Glass to the introduction and evolution of the cell phone, saying, “When entrepreneurs and engineers encounter a new computing platform, amazing things happen.”
According to the website, the main markets in which the Glass Collective intends to invest are the consumer market and enterprise market, especially startups that focus on sharing, search and navigation, to name a few. According to the website, the firms are looking for fresh concepts with potential; they are expecting entrepreneurs to show them visionary ideas for Google Glass by using the Glass API, and developing software meant to enrich the Glass experience.
Andreesen Horowitz admits that a lot of work is needed from third-party developers to realize the potential of Glass. According to KPCB, Twitter, Path, Evernote and The New York Times are already working on applications for Glass. John Doer, a venture capitalist at KPCB, says Google glass has its sight set on markets such as health care, education and even big data. The goal of Glass and the Glass Collective, he says in KPCB’s announcement, is to take the program in its infancy and utilize “outstanding entrepreneurs” to create a product that transforms the way we use technology, much like the introduction of the smartphone.
Google Ventures, KPCB and Andreesen Horowitz are all high-profile venture firms whose investments include Path, Nest, Spotify, Zynga, Airbnb, Foursqaure, Pocket and DocuSign. Using the expertise of all three investment firms, the Glass Collective intends to combine their resources to fund the most innovative startups.
Entrepreneurs can pitch the Glass Collective directly through any of the investors, and the partners will review pitches jointly. For now, the Glass Collective only accept pitches from the United States, but will expand into other countries as the program evolves.
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