Google's parent company Alphabet Inc. has shared a result from its years of sizeable startup investing for the first time on Monday: The holdings are worth about $11 billion, according to the company estimates.

A new accounting rule prompted Alphabet Inc. to disclose the fair value for its private stock holdings in earnings reports starting this year. The figure includes the company’s stake in some of Silicon Valley’s most highly valued startups, such as Uber Technologies Inc., Airbnb Inc. and Stripe Inc.

Previously, Alphabet reported private stock holdings based on the price it paid for the shares. Last quarter, the company said those holdings were worth $7.81 billion. After the accounting change this quarter, Alphabet valued them at $11 billion. That contributed $3.40 to the company’s earnings per share.

Alphabet’s largest stake on paper is likely Uber. GV (formerly Google Ventures), the company’s venture capital arm, led a $258 million investment investment in the ride-hailing startup in 2013 when it was valued at less than $4 billion. A recent deal led by SoftBank Group Corp. pegged Uber’s valuation at about $54 billion. Alphabet sold some shares in that offering, and then added some more in a legal settlement in February over self-driving cars, a transaction that valued Uber at $72 billion.

Alphabet has three main investment arms through which it keep investing in startups built beyond the Googleplex, including GV, CapitalG (formerly Google Capital) and Gradient Ventures, a VC fund focused on artificial intelligence, as well as strategic investments made out of its corporate arm and individual business units.

Taken together, Alphabet is one of the most prolific corporate investors in startups. In 2017, Crunchbase data shows that these three main investing arms of Alphabet along with Google itself has invested in 103 deals.

Alphabet invests in privately held companies through a variety of entities, including GV and Google, as well as CapitalG, a private equity fund, and Gradient Ventures, a VC fund focused on artificial intelligence, as well as strategic investments made out of its corporate arm and individual business units.

Taken together, Alphabet is one of the most prolific corporate investors in startups. In 2017, Crunchbase data shows that these three main investing arms of Alphabet along with Google itself has invested in 103 deals.

In India, Google made its first direct investment in an Indian startup, picking up a minority stake in Bengaluru-based hyper-local concierge and delivery startup Dunzo. CapitalG, when it was Google Capital, has had invested in India's health-tech startup Practo.

In 2016, Google launched Project Sand Hill to track hottest startups in 30 Countries including India, Israel and China.

Source - Bloomberg
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