Today, the fastest-growing area of venture capital in Silicon Valley is no longer in software; it's in clean-energy technology.
The rapid growth of the country's high-tech sector has spawned a similar burst of activity in the area of venture capital.
As you might already know, this is not Orange's first moves in the area of venture funding, nor will it be the first time it has worked with startups.
Tanja has over 20 years experience in the areas of Venture Capital, Management Consulting, and Telecommunications.
For many years, investors believed in a golden rule that software was the key to minting returns, leaving hardware as one of the most underinvested areas of venture.
Read our profiles of all 10 venture capitalists; see our slide shows on the top 10 VCs, the top women VCs and the hottest areas of venture capital interest for stock pickers.
It is the first such out-of-area venture to defend its trade routes since the Ming dynasty beached its mighty, blue-water fleet in the 1420s, a time when the proverbial visiting Martian would rightly have judged China top nation and Mogul India No 2. I am writing this from an Asian hotel room, overlooking a newly-built parliament.
Agriculture tech has become a huge area of interest for venture capitalists in recent years with a number of new food and agriculture-focused funds launching in the past two years, and agtech deals racking up in the portfolios of larger, generalized tech funds, to improve food production.
Today, Austin is one of the top areas for venture capital investment in the country, garnering $621 million in 2012, according to the Austin Chamber of Commerce.
If BP left the joint venture, it would be free to join the race to explore for oil in Russia's area of the Arctic Ocean, a venture that could eventually be much more lucrative.
