General Catalyst merges India portfolio with Venture Highway
US-based early-stage venture capital firm General Catalyst has taken on Venture Highway’s portfolio in India to set up General Catalyst India. The team will now lead investments for General Catalyst in India from its ongoing fund, backing startups across early and growth stage.
US-based early-stage to growth capital investor will merge its India initiatives with early-stage technology-focused venture capital firm Venture Highway to create a new platform.
With this, , which will now be called General Catalyst India, will lead the new investments from the US-based venture capital firm.
Going ahead, General Catalyst will deploy between $500 million and $1 billion across early stage and growth capital from its latest fund. According to a recent report by the Financial Times, General Catalyst is in the process of stitching up a $6-billion fund.
Reports on General Catalyst’s acquisition of Venture Highway’s portfolio first came up earlier this year in January after the US-based firm had reached out to multiple people to lead its India investments.
With the merger, Venture Highway’s active portfolio will be a part of General Catalyst India, Priya Mohan, Managing Partner at Venture Highway, told YourStory.
“We have stopped deploying from the Venture Highway Fund III and our active portfolio companies from Fund I, II and III will now become a part of General Catalyst India’s portfolio,” said Mohan. She added that the team from Venture Highway will now run the operations for General Catalyst India.
Founded in 2014 by Neeraj Arora, former Chief Business Officer at WhatsApp, Venture Highway has been an early backer in companies like ecommerce platform , business-to-business commerce platform , workforce fulfillment and HR tech platform , and bus tracking app .
The merger comes after nearly two and half years of negotiations and scouting for the right-fit in the Indian ecosystem to take General Catalyst’s investments ahead in the geography, Hemant Taneja, CEO and Managing Director at General Catalyst, told YourStory.
“We have been investing in India for five years now and with the new leadership, we are excited about the India opportunity. We had the first conversation with Venture Highway around two and half years ago and India has since changed for the better,” added Taneja.
Founded in 1999, General Catalyst’s venture bets in India include fintech company , AP automation and supply chain financing company , and social commerce platform .
Globally, General Catalyst has invested in companies across sectors including , , , and .
“We will invest aggressively across early stage and growth funds, as well as from our Creation Fund for incubation and venture buyout,” said Taneja.
Set up in 2022, the $800 million Creation Fund works with entrepreneurs and executives to incubate ideas or transform companies in core areas of interest for General Catalyst.
While the investments from General Catalyst India will continue to be sector agnostic, the firm will look at deploying capital across AI-led use cases for healthcare, defence, manufacturing and other sectors, said Mohan.
Anand Chandrasekaran, who was leading General Catalyst's India investments from 2022, stepped down in April this year.
Over the last year, Venture Highway has seen the departure of Founder Samir Sood and SaaS and consumer investment lead Aviral Bhatnagar as part of the restructuring discussions. The current team will continue to work with General Catalyst India.
Edited by Megha Reddy