In the real economy, somebody is always trying to build a better mousetrap. Or some new widget the world doesn’t know it needs yet.
Octopus Ventures has stockpiled a ÂŁ400 million war chest to invest in start-up ventures. The UK venture capital firm plans to invest ÂŁ75 million of that this year. It will look for promising new technology ideas in Europe.
The company has a track record of turning new ideas into a big sale price. For example, earlier this year Microsoft paid $250 million for a company Octopus backed. The company – located just down the road from my office – was called SwiftKey.
SwiftKey makes predictive text apps for smartphones. One of its recent apps, for example, lets you write like Shakespeare. That’s kind of clever. But on a serious note, you can see why Microsoft was interested. Hundreds of millions of people spend a huge amount of time typing away on their phone.
Any app that reduces the amount of time you spend typing on your phone should, in theory, increase productivity. At the very least, it makes it easier to show off your wit and wisdom with quick-fire texts sent to friends and family. It may not set the world on fire. But it made the founders and early-stage investors a nice little fortune.
Category: Investing in Technology