After Waymo, Verily is Alphabet’s next most promising ‘bet’ by focussing on how technology can revolutionize healthcare and medicine in the coming years. To fund “growth and innovation,” Verily today announced a $1 billion investment round.
Led by private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, the Alphabet division — formerly known as Google Life Sciences — raised $1 billion. Additional new investors include Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and “other global investment management firms.” The terms of the transaction were not disclosed, while Goldman Sachs served as a financial advisor to Verily.
This added capital will support growth in key strategic areas, including “investments in strategic partnerships, global business development opportunities, and potential acquisitions.” Verily CEO Andrew Conrad noted that this external funding will “increase flexibility and optionality as we expand on our core strategic focus areas.”
“Adding a well-rounded group of seasoned investors, led by Silver Lake, will further prepare us to execute as healthcare continues the shift towards evidence generation and value-based reimbursement models.”
As part of today’s announcement, Alphabet chief financial officer Ruth Porat is joining Verily’s operating board, along with Egon Durban, the managing partner and managing director of Silver Lake.
Last month, Verily announced a strategic partnership with Walgreens on managing chronic conditions and lowering healthcare costs. Other current deals include working with Dexcom on a miniaturized continuous glucose monitor as well as work on smart contact lenses with Alcon pivoted to vision correction and other uses.
The division is also partnering with Nikon and Google AI on retinal imaging where machine learning helps diagnose diabetes, as well as Johnson & Johnson division Ethicon on Verb Surgical robots.
Projects that are already live include Onduo with Sanofi to help manage diabetes, as well as a partnership with the UK’s National Health Service.
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