General Catalyst

General Catalyst
Company typePrivate
IndustryVenture capital
Founded2000; 25 years ago (2000)
Founders
Number of locations
Area served
Key people
ProductsInvestments
Number of employees
200
Websitegeneralcatalyst.com

General Catalyst is a global investment and transformation company that makes seed to growth stage investments and beyond.[1][2][3][4] The firm has invested in 700+ businesses, including global companies such as Airbnb, Anduril, Applied Intuition, Commure, Glean, Guild, HubSpot, Kayak, Datalogix, Datto, Livongo, Gusto, Zepto, Ramp, Sword, Deliveroo, Samsara, Stripe, Snap, Mistral, and Helsing.[5][3][6][7][8][9][10]

History

General Catalyst was founded in 2000 in Massachusetts by Joel Cutler and David Fialkow.[6][11][12][13][14]

In 2010, the company opened a Silicon Valley office.[11] In 2021, the firm managed more than $8 billion in assets.[15] In February 2022, it raised $4.6 billion for its 11th general fund. This brought the firm's total raised in its 20-year history to $14.75 billion.[16]

In 2021, the firm opened a London office.[17][18] By September 2022, General Catalyst had invested in 17 European startups.[19] By April 2023, the company had invested in 25 Indian startups, including CRED, Uni, Spinny, Orange Health, FarMart, and Loop Health with investments ranging in all stages.[20]

In March 2023, General Catalyst was a supporter of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), after U.S. regulators shut it down after a significant number of the bank's customers sought to withdraw funds after dropping stock prices.[21][22] General Catalyst, which was a SVB customer,[23] organized a joint statement of support signed by more than 110 venture capital firms.[21]

As of 2020, it was ranked as one of America's largest venture capital firms.[24]

In June 2024, General Catalyst acquired La Famiglia, a German venture capital firm.[25]

In October 2024, General Catalyst announced the raise of $8 billion in new funds, including $4.5 billion for their core venture funds, making it their largest fundraise yet.[26]

Investments

General Catalyst makes capital investments in seed-stage companies, early-stage businesses and later-stage companies.[27][28][29]

Healthcare fund

In 2021, General Catalyst raised $600 million for a new Health Assurance Fund.[30][31]

In July 2022, the firm raised an additional $670 million.[16] The money is invested in healthcare businesses.[30][32][33] General Catalyst has been the most active investor in healthcare since the beginning of 2020.[34][35]

In October 2023, the company announced plans to acquire a health system and "then use it as a proving ground for technology that its portfolio companies sell, including generative artificial intelligence-powered solutions applied to health care problems."[36]

General Catalyst spent $485 million to purchase Summa Health and convert a non-profit health network into for-profit. [37]

References

  1. ^ Jennings, Katie. "Defying Pullback In Investments, General Catalyst Launches $670 Million Healthcare Fund". Forbes. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  2. ^ Chernova, Yuliya (July 12, 2023). "Venture Firm General Catalyst Seeks Bigger Funds Despite Market Downturn". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "VC General Catalyst to boost India investments". The Times of India. April 25, 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  4. ^ Chernova, Yuliya. "Goldman Sachs to Buy $200 Million Stake in General Catalyst". WSJ. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  5. ^ Farrell, Maureen (November 8, 2021). "A former SoftBank executive will join the Silicon Valley venture firm General Catalyst". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  6. ^ a b Bertoni, Steven. "Venture Capital Firm General Catalyst Raises $2.3 Billion Amid Coronavirus Crisis". Forbes. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  7. ^ Alspach, Kyle (December 23, 2013). "General Catalyst raises $675M seventh fund, cites growing focus on Silicon Valley". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  8. ^ Jin, Berber; Schechner, Sam; Dotan, Tom (May 9, 2024). "AI Challenger Mistral Set to Nearly Triple Valuation to $6 Billion in Six Months". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
  9. ^ Butcher, Mike (July 11, 2024). "Defense AI startup Helsing raises $487M Series C, plans Baltic expansion to combat Russian threat". TechCrunch. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  10. ^ "Applied Intuition valued at $6 billion in new funding round". Bloomberg. November 11, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
  11. ^ a b "General Catalyst closes $675M fund to expand presence in Silicon Valley". VentureBeat. December 23, 2013. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  12. ^ Jennings, Katie. "Defying Pullback In Investments, General Catalyst Launches $670 Million Healthcare Fund". Forbes. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  13. ^ Maheshwari, Sapna (November 8, 2021). "Macy's plans to raise wages and offer tuition assistance in the race for hourly workers". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  14. ^ "Venture firm General Catalyst loses co-founder". Fortune. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  15. ^ Kruppa, Miles (September 29, 2021). "General Catalyst launches fund to buy future earnings of tech start-ups". Financial Times. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  16. ^ a b Jennings, Katie. "Defying Pullback In Investments, General Catalyst Launches $670 Million Healthcare Fund". Forbes. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  17. ^ Hammond, George (October 16, 2023). "General Catalyst in German VC tie-up as part of European tech push". Financial Times. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  18. ^ Butcher, Mike (February 4, 2021). "General Catalyst pushes farther into Europe/Israel, hiring Chris Bischoff for London office". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  19. ^ Lewin, Amy (December 14, 2021). "US VC giant General Catalyst has opened an office in Europe".
  20. ^ "General Catalyst expects to invest $100 million in Indian start-ups". www.thehindubusinessline.com. April 25, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  21. ^ a b Joyner, April. "More than 110 VC firms, led by General Catalyst, are banding together in support of Silicon Valley Bank". Business Insider. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  22. ^ "Top VCs in a huddle to discuss Silicon Valley Bank collapse, vow to be 'supportive'". The Economic Times. March 11, 2023. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  23. ^ "More than 1,000 VC, PE, and investment firms held capital at SVB in 2022". Fortune. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  24. ^ Chernova, Yuliya (July 12, 2023). "WSJ News Exclusive | Venture Firm General Catalyst Seeks Bigger Funds Despite Market Downturn". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  25. ^ Warnock, Eleanor (October 16, 2023). "German fund La Famiglia merges with General Catalyst". sifted. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  26. ^ Taneja, Hemant. "Announcing Fund XII: Let's Venture Beyond". Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  27. ^ "Top 10 venture capital firms: General Catalyst". fintechmagazine.com. June 25, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  28. ^ Loizos, Connie (March 18, 2019). "General Catalyst just carved out an aggressive new seed-stage program -- here's what to know". TechCrunch. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  29. ^ Bruce, Giles (August 29, 2022). "General Catalyst: Why the VC firm with an unassuming name should have healthcare's attention". www.beckershospitalreview.com. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
  30. ^ a b Konrad, Alex. "General Catalyst Doubles Down On Healthcare With $600 Million New Fund". Forbes. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  31. ^ Szkutak, Rebecca (October 14, 2023). "Why does General Catalyst want to buy a healthcare system?". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  32. ^ Chernova, Yuliya. "WSJ News Exclusive | Venture Firm General Catalyst Seeks Bigger Funds Despite Market Downturn". WSJ. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
  33. ^ "General Catalyst announces new healthcare company, intent to purchase health system". MobiHealthNews. October 10, 2023. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  34. ^ Szkutak, Rebecca (October 14, 2023). "Why does General Catalyst want to buy a healthcare system?". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  35. ^ Jennings, Katie. "Why VC Firm General Catalyst Wants To Spend Billions To Buy A Hospital System". Forbes. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  36. ^ Ravindranath, Mohana (November 1, 2023). "Venture capitalists want to own hospitals. Can they do better than private equity?". STAT. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  37. ^ Julie Washington, cleveland com (November 7, 2024). "Akron's SummaHealth moves closer to sale; deal to for-profit firm placed at $485 million". cleveland. Retrieved December 5, 2024.