Even before General Electric ($GE) announced last week that it's relocating its headquarters from Connecticut to Boston, the technology and manufacturing giant already had a stake in the city's innovation scene. GE Ventures, the company's venture capital arm, has maintained a Boston office since 2013 and has invested in seven Boston-area companies so far."Having our company headquarters based in Boston will further advance our mission of leading the digital industrial transformation with access to dynamic startups and great talent."[/pullquote]
Kristin Schwarz, spokeswoman for GE Ventures, told BostInno that members of the firm's healthcare, advanced manufacturing and energy investment teams are based in Boston and "work closely with the startup community." Steve Taub and Trey Kellett are just two of the members of GE Ventures' Boston office at 1 Financial Center."Having our company headquarters based in Boston will further advance our mission of leading the digital industrial transformation with access to dynamic startups and great talent," Schwarz said.
(It's also important to note that GE plans to launch a startup accelerator of sorts called GE Digital Foundry in tandem with the opening of its new headquarters, but we're still waiting for more details on this.)
GE Ventures focuses on six investment areas—corporate, software and analytics, healthcare, energy, advanced manufacturing and new business creation—and the firm's seven Boston-area portfolio companies fall under five of those areas. Strangely enough, the only area where GE Ventures hasn't made an investment in Boston is the software and analytics field (outside of the formation of its own company), a field that our tech scene is very much known for.
With that, here are the seven investments GE Ventures has made in the Boston area so far.
HourlyNerd
HourlyNerd, the "Uber for consulting" startup, is located in the Seaport, where GE is also headed, and it's just one of GE Venture's two investments in the corporate area. GE Ventures was one of the investors in HourlyNerd's $7.8 million Series B round from last year that was led by Highland Capital Partners.
Rethink Robotics
Rethink Robotics is a Boston robotics startup that was founded by iRobot co-founder Rodney Brooks, and it aims to help manufacturers across the world with its easy-to-activate and affordable manufacturing robots. GE Ventures led the startup's $26.6 million round from the beginning of last year. It's no surprise that the venture arm of such a large manufacturing company like GE would make such a large investment in a company like Rethink.
Arctic Sand Technologies
Arctic Sand Technologies is a Cambridge-based MIT spinout that works on fabless semiconductors for a power-conversion platform that "has the potential to transform power management in electronic devices," according to a description on GE Ventures' website. GE Ventures invested in the company through Energy Technology Ventures—a joint venture between GE, ConocoPhillips and NRG Energy—which was one of the investors in Arctic Sand's $9.6 million Series A round from January 2013, according to a press release at the time.
1366 Technologies
1366 Technologies is a Bedford-based company that manufactures silicon wafers, which are considered the "basic building blocks of solar cells." The company has raised money from GE at least two times: once from GE Energy Financial Services and other investors for a $28.4 million round, and another time from Energy Technology Ventures, the joint firm involving GE, and other investors for a $15 million round.
Current
Current is the only Boston company in GE Ventures' portfolio that was created last fall as a new business unit for GE. The company is headquartered in Boston and also has an office in Silicon Valley, according to a press release announcing the company's launch, and it's "expected to create roughly 200 new jobs focused on software, outcomes selling and energy product management over the next few years." The company combines GE's LED, solar, energy storage and electric vehicle businesses with its Internet-of-Things Predix platform "to identify and deliver the most cost effective, efficient energy solutions required by customers today and in the future." The company reportedly started with $1 billion in revenue on day one.
Iora Health
Iora Health is a Cambridge-based startup that aims to change the face of primary care, with a network of primary care practices that use a model for payment and delivery of care that reduces cost and improves health outcomes. The startup has also developed its own "collaborative software" for these practices. GE Ventures was one of the investors in the startup's $28 million Series C round from the beginning of last year.
RainDance Technologies
RainDance Technologies is a Billerica-based genomics tool company that makes "molecular testing of complex diseases more standardized and readily available," according to a press release from March 2014. That's when the company announced that it had raised its $16.5 million Series E round from GE Ventures and other investors. The company had filed for an initial public offering last year to raise up to $60 million but later withdrew in August "due to market conditions."
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