Planet VC

Venture capital (VC) is the business of financing the new—and making outsized profits. It grew up in Silicon Valley, backing the most influential companies known today, including Apple and Airbnb. It’s not the iPhone, but VC, that is Silicon Valley’s greatest export—it’s the key ingredient of innovation, and provides the toolkit for inventors and startup founders around the world to become powerful, multi-billion-dollar companies. Once other countries learned how to finance risky startups, they could unlock their own innovative energies. And where is VC placing its bets today? The answer is: everywhere. China. India. Israel. Brazil. Planet VC uncovers the story of how VC went global, transforming cities from Beijing to Bangalore into the techno-hubs of tomorrow. Authors Terrance Philips and Jame DiBiasio follow the money to understand how VC helped enable the rise of America’s global competitors, and where the world of innovation is headed next. What sectors or technologies are VCs backing in different parts of the world? How does VC work in countries as different as China and India? How do governments influence the funding of innovation? And how is technology, from blockchain to the metaverse, changing the nature of VC? By exploring these questions, through in-depth interviews with the people who pioneered venture investing around the world as well as with today’s industry leaders, Planet VC provides a unique and useful framework for understanding the future of global innovation.