Google is considering setting up its own venture capital investment arm, the Wall Street Journal said, quoting several people briefed on the discussions related to the matter.

David Drummond, Google’s senior vice president of corporate development, would lead the VC investment business.

Google has hired William Maris, a former Web hosting entrepreneur, to help set up the unit. A Google spokesman confirmed that Maris has been hired but declined to comment further. According to a 2005 posting on Global Envision, a humanitarian aid site, Maris worked as a partner with Anne Wojcicki in a health investment fund called Catalytic Health. Last year Wojcicki married Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

Maris created his own Web hosting company called Burlee.com, which is now part of Atlanta-based Web.com. He also made investments in technology companies for Sweden’s wealthy Wallenberg family, according to the Global Envision site.

[ News Source : Indiatimes Infotech ~ Image Courtesy : http://www.aialex.com/ ]