The unit's general manager, a prominent figure in corporate venturing, is leaving Microsoft after four years to head up a start-up company.

Rahul Sood is set to leave his position as general manager at Microsoft Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of software producer Microsoft, to launch a new start-up, he announced yesterday.

Sood, ranked at #25 on Global Corporate Venturing’s Powerlist2014 last month, was one of the founders of luxury computer creator VoodooPC before it was acquired by computer manufacturer Hewlett Packard in 2006.

After working as chief technology officer for HP Global Gaming & Advanced Computing for four years, Sood…