Google Capital To Invest In Promising Startups By Staff Reporter | Feb 20, 2014 05:20 PM EST Google has announced a new project called Google Capital aimed at providing funding to promising startups across a range of industries. In addition to financial backing, Google says the new initiative will allow young companies to leverage the search giantâs technology, strategic expertise and talent.Google says the defining feature of Capital will be that portfolio companies can tap into Googleâs talent pool. Itâs unclear how that will play out exactly, but it might mean engineers getting sent to work on startup projects.âEver since our founders began working out of a garage in Menlo Park, weâve thought about what it takes for entrepreneurs to build the companies they dream of. Sometimes this means bringing great startups to Googleâbut other times, it means we go to them. Today, weâre launching Google Capital, a new growth equity fund backed by Google and led by partners David Lawee, Scott Tierney and Gene Frantz,â the company wrote in a Google Blog post. Google Capital isnât the companyâs first foray into venture funding. Founded in 2009, Google Ventures has backed more than two-dozen startups and currently holds around $1.5 billion in assets. But while Google Ventures invests primarily in companies that are still in their infancy, Google Capital will work with much more mature firms.âLike our colleagues at Google Ventures, our goal is to invest in the most promising companies of tomorrow, with one important difference. While Google Ventures focuses mainly on early-stage investments, weâll be looking to invest in companies solely as they hit their growth phase. That means finding companies that have already built a solid foundation and are really ready to expand their business in big ways. Weâll look across a range of industries for companies with new technologies and proven track records in their fields. Our investments to date include SurveyMonkey, Lending Club and Renaissance Learningâwith many more to come,â Google said.