HP announces new venture capital arm, HP Tech Ventures
Hewlett Packard announced Tuesday that it's officially launching HP Tech Ventures, a corporate venture arm that will make early stage investments in a range of technologies spanning 3D printing, the Internet of Things, immersive computing, artificial intelligence and robotics.
Based out of Palo Alto, California and Tel Aviv, the Tech Ventures team will be led by HP's "chief disrupter" Andrew Bolwell, who will report to HP CTO Shane Wall, the Wall Street Journal first reported. HP Tech Ventures will complement the company's in-house innovation produced by HP Labs, according to Wall.
"The next technology revolution is shifting towards strategic markets that speak to HP's strengths," Wall said in a statement. "With our global brand and broad reach into consumer and commercial markets worldwide, HP can help startups bring product to market, build their business and scale in the global marketplace as they grow."
HP new external investments will come off of its balance sheets, Wall said, rather than through a separate investment fund.
The announcement comes about six months after HP split into HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. HPE has its own venture capital arm called Hewlett Packard Ventures, which invests in enterprise startups focused on areas like data centers, cloud computing and security.