Alphabet's CapitalG appoints insider Laela Sturdy as managing partner

By Krystal Hu and Anirban Chakroborti

(Reuters) -Alphabet Inc's venture capital arm CapitalG said on Wednesday it had appointed its star investor, Laela Sturdy, as managing partner, making her one of the very few female leaders in the sector.

Sturdy has headed some of the firm's most notable investments in companies such as Stripe, UiPath Inc and Duolingo Inc. She has been at Google since 2007 and had joined CapitalG shortly after its founding in 2013.

In an interview, Sturdy said she would continue to invest in both the consumer and enterprise spaces and would work with current portfolio companies, while managing the venture firm that has about $4 billion in assets under management.

The venture capital firm is independent of Alphabet in its investment decisions, with a focus on cyber security, data, automation and AI. Alphabet is the single limited partner of the fund.

"We have very long-term patient capital, so we can take a long-term view on investments and work with our companies through cycles," Sturdy said.

More companies were trying to balance between growth and profiblity this year as venture funding overall slowed down, she added.

David Lawee, who founded CapitalG after serving as Google’s first chief marketing offcier and VP of Corporate Development, will step down after 17 years at Alphabet.

Unlike Google’s other venture firm, GV, which backs early-stage private companies, CapitalG’s focuses on growth-stage investments ranging from $15 million to $200 million. It has funded major companies such as Airbnb Inc, Lyft Inc, Zscaler Inc and Robinhood Markets Inc over the past decade.

(Reporting by Krystal Hu in Los Angeles and Anirban Chakroborti in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Stephen Coates)