Google has set aside $100 million to invest in European startups

In a sign that Europe’s tech scene is coming into its own, Google announced that its venture capital unit had started a $100 million fund to invest in the region’s start-ups. Bill Maris, managing partner at Google Ventures, said the new fund was aimed at helping Europe’s entrepreneurs build their tech start-ups, which had sprouted in clusters from Ireland to Israel. “We believe Europe’s start-up scene has enormous potential,” Mr. Maris said Wednesday in a blog post. “We’ve seen compelling new companies emerge from places like London, Paris, Berlin, the Nordic region and beyond — SoundCloud, Spotify, Supercell and many others.” The three European tech companies mentioned in Mr. Maris’s blog post all now carry multibillion-dollar valuations. And the global expansion — and potential initial public offerings — of Europe’s high-flying tech start-ups have raised hopes across the region that local companies can now compete with the conveyor belt of new start-ups from Silicon Valley. As part of Google Ventures’ European fund, the company has tapped four partners to run the operation, which will be based in London. The partners include Eze Vidra, who created Google’s co-working space, called Campus, in London. Three European serial entrepreneurs — Peter Read, Avid Larizadeh and Tom Hulme — also will join the team.