There are a couple of ways to look at Google’s decision to restructure its business with the Alphabet holding company. One take is that it is a clumsy attempt to rebrand itself following the success of Google. Another point of view is that companies at some point decide whether they are more successful at growing organically or by acquisition. Google has clearly chosen the latter, which makes sense given its priorities to move beyond its search engine and the products that revolve around it.
Alphabet’s future is unclear but an indication is its healthcare and biotech ambitions. Last year 36 percent of its funds were allocated investment focused on healthcare and that doesn’t show any signs of decreasing anytime soon. To get a sense of the variety of these businesses, all you need to do is look at Google’s healthcare and life science investments. It continues to do healthcare collaborations, most recently with DexCom. Google’s venture arm has made investments and acquisitions much earlier and more diverse than what many corporate venture tech companies have done.
It also has plenty of non healthcare investments and acquisitions such as GPS navigation business Waze, and connected home business Nest. Google’s Alphabet brand should make it easier to manage these business.
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