Google’s (NSDQ:GOOGL) Verily announced today that it received a $1 billion investment led by parent company Alphabet.
South San Francisco, California-based Verily plans to use the funds to expand its businesses focused on precision health. New capital will go toward a variety of its core initiatives.
Those include real-world evidence generation, healthcare data, research and care and the underlying technology, Verily said. The company will also consider further investment in strategic partnerships, global business development and potential acquisitions.
During a recent DeviceTalks Weekly podcast, investor and advisor Steve Oesterle, formerly of Medtronic, said he was still all in on Google and Verily. Technology is the only logical way to deliver healthcare to a massive, fast-growing population, he said. “Whoever has the most data and knows how to aggregate it and analyze it is going to win in healthcare.”
Leadership changes at Verily
In addition to the funds, Verily announced multiple leadership changes for its next phase of growth. Founder Andy Conrad will become executive chairman of the board. Meanwhile, the company promoted current president Stephen Gillett to CEO. Both changes are effective January 2023.
Verily said the new roles represent succession planning led by Conrad and the board. The changes recognize the “skills and experience required to lead Verily” as it focuses on its precision health strategy.
Gillett joined from Google in 2020 as an operational advisor. In November 2020, he was named COO. Before joining the company, Gillett served as co-founder and CEO of Chronicle, an Alphabet cybersecurity company. Chronicle is now part of Google Cloud.
In one more leadership change, CFO Deepak Ahuja left the company for another opportunity. He remains an advisor but will depart his current role at the end of September. Verily said it will begin a search for his replacement immediately.
