Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) are some of the most interesting — and often misunderstood — organizations in the world of business and finance. You might know that an SPV isn’t the same as an ordinary operating company, but when asked “what is an example of a SPV company?” the answer must go beyond theory into real-world cases. An SPV, short for Special Purpose Vehicle, is a legally separate entity created to isolate risk, hold specific assets, facilitate financing, or pursue a uniquely defined project objective. While the term might sound abstract, SPVs are active everywhere: in tech innovation, public infrastructure, banking, securitization markets, real estate projects, and even government development initiatives.

At its essence, an SPV is formed to serve a single, clearly defined purpose that is distinct from the ongoing business operations of its sponsor or parent organization. This means the SPV has its own legal identity, assets, liabilities, and financial obligations. Businesses and investors value SPVs because they create a legal firewall: if the SPV faces financial trouble, risks and losses are usually limited to that entity, protecting the parent company and its other operations.

It is precisely this “single-purpose” nature that gives SPVs both strategic utility and real-world significance. To illustrate how SPVs work in practice, let’s explore tangible examples from corporate ventures, infrastructure projects, and investment pooling.

Sidewalk Labs by Alphabet: A Corporate Innovation SPV

A well-known example of a SPV company comes from one of the world’s biggest tech organizations. Alphabet, the parent company of Google, has used SPV structures to explore innovations outside its core search and advertising businesses. One of the most notable examples was Sidewalk Labs, which focused on smart city technologies.

Sidewalk Labs was set up as a separate unit with a distinct legal identity. Its mission was not to build search features or advertising tools, but to experiment with urban development technology — something quite different from Alphabet’s mainstream business. By placing this project within a SPV, Alphabet could pursue high-risk innovation, attract dedicated partners, and contain financial exposure in a way that would not unduly affect its core operations. Although Sidewalk Labs changed focus over time, the example helps clarify how modern corporations use SPVs to channel investment and experimentation into areas that may be far removed from their primary business lines.

This highlights why SPVs are attractive tools: they permit risk isolation and strategic exploration without tying those activities back to the parent’s broader corporate performance.

Infrastructure SPVs: Toll Roads and Airport Projects

Another strong example of SPV companies comes from infrastructure and public-private partnership (PPP) projects. Across the world, governments and private developers use SPVs to plan, finance, build, operate, and manage large infrastructure assets like highways, toll roads, airports, and bridges.

In India, one practical real-world example is found within infrastructure investment trusts like NHAI InvIT. This trust holds a portfolio of toll roads, and each individual toll road is managed through its own SPV set up under the trust’s umbrella. By structuring each road within a separate SPV, investors receive income from toll collections without being exposed to liabilities outside that specific road project.

These SPVs are typically owned by a consortium of investors, including government agencies and private financiers, and they secure project financing, enter contracts with construction and operating partners, and manage revenue streams independently. Such infrastructure SPVs are intentionally created to isolate risk: if one road experiences lower traffic or revenue fluctuations, the performance of that SPV does not directly damage the financial health of the sponsor or related projects.

This model is widely used in public-private partnerships globally, where long-term contracts — sometimes extending 25 to 30 years or more — govern operations and maintenance. In these cases, the SPV is the legal party to major construction agreements, financing arrangements, and service obligations.

Investment SPVs: Pooling Capital for Startup Investments

Beyond infrastructure and corporate innovation, another common type of SPV is the investment SPV, which is especially prevalent in venture capital and angel investing.

Imagine a scenario where several individual investors want to collectively invest in a promising startup. If each investor were to invest directly, the startup would have to add dozens of names to its shareholder list, creating a complex cap table and complicating governance. Instead, the investors agree to form a SPV as an investment vehicle. They each contribute capital to the SPV, which then becomes the single investor on the startup’s cap table.

A practical example of this model can be seen in how certain venture firms structure their deals. Some investment groups create a unique SPV, sometimes named after the target company, for each new investment. These SPVs are often organized as limited partnerships where accredited investors contribute funds, and the SPV makes a single investment in a startup.

This approach streamlines fundraising, consolidates investor rights, and limits risk: if the startup fails, losses are borne by the SPV rather than by direct investors individually. This kind of SPV activity is now a cornerstone of modern private markets, particularly where angels and micro-VCs collaborate on early-stage deals.

Securitization SPVs: Banks and Financial Asset Transfers

Financial institutions also rely heavily on SPVs, particularly in structured finance and securitization. In a securitization transaction, assets like mortgages, loans, or credit card receivables are pooled and sold into a SPV. The SPV then issues securities backed by the cash flows from those assets.

One widely used structure for this purpose is the Irish Section 110 Special Purpose Vehicle, which provides tax-neutral conditions for securitizing assets under Irish law. These SPVs are set up to hold qualifying assets and manage securitization programs without the SPV itself bearing Irish tax liabilities. While not a familiar consumer brand, such SPVs are critical players in global capital markets. They allow banks and institutional investors to package and distribute asset-backed securities while legally isolating those assets from the risk profile of the originating institution.

When SPV Companies Are Misused: Lessons from History

It’s worth noting that not all SPV examples are positive. Due to their legal separation and potential for off-balance-sheet accounting, SPVs have been misused in the past. The most infamous case is that of the collapsed energy giant Enron, which created SPVs to hide debt and obscure financial reality from investors. Although not a modern best practice, this historical example highlights the importance of transparency, governance, and proper regulation in SPV structuring.

Bringing It All Together

An SPV company is a legal entity created for a specific, narrow purpose. It is not intended to engage in general business operations across markets or product lines, but rather to hold specific assets, pursue defined investments, manage project risk, or enable structured financial transactions. The essence of the SPV is separation: financial, legal, and operational.

When asked “what is an example of a SPV company?” the answer spans multiple industries and use cases:

First, corporate innovation SPVs like Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs illustrate how major firms explore new technologies without risking core business assets. Second, infrastructure SPVs — such as those managing individual toll roads within a larger investment trust — show how long-term capital-intensive projects isolate risk and financing. Third, investment SPVs demonstrate how modern venture capital and angel syndicates pool investor capital into a single entity for streamlined investment. Finally, securitization SPVs highlight contributions to financial markets where assets are packaged and sold via specialized entities.

Understanding these examples helps demystify SPVs. They are not some abstract legal concept; they are functioning companies with real assets, real risks, real investors, and real roles within the global financial ecosystem. Whether you are an entrepreneur, investor, or student of finance, grasping how SPV companies operate in practice is key to understanding how modern business and capital markets really work.