General Catalyst weighs Venture Highway acquisition to deepen India focus

The move to acquire a country-specific VC firm is not new for General Catalyst and its investing playbook. In October 2023, it brought Berlin-headquartered VC firm La Famiglia under its umbrella and expanded its reach in Europe.

US-based General Catalyst, one of the prominent investors in the region, is in talks to acquire Venture Highway, an early-stage venture capital (VC) firm in India, three people aware of the development told Moneycontrol. 

While the two VC firms have initiated conversations, talks are still in the initial stages, and the final details may change closer to the time. If not Venture Highway, it is also possible that General Catalyst looks at another VC firm in India, as the investor is keen on deepening its presence in the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, one of the people cited above said on the condition of anonymity.

These developments come months after Samir Sood, co-founder of Venture Highway, stepped down as a partner at the VC firm, which supports large startups such as Meesho, Cred, MPL, Sharechat, and several others, according to Tracxn, a private markets data provider.

After Sood stepped down, Priya Mohan, who has been with the investor for over five years, was promoted to be the new Managing Director. Venture Highway did not immediately respond to Moneycontrol’s queries.

DealStreetAsia, an online news publication, was the first to report on the potential acquisition.

To be sure, this will not be a traditional exit as is the case with other companies. If the talks go through, Venture Highway will operate as an investing arm of General Catalyst in India and continue to look at early-stage deals in India. Venture Highway typically invests no more than $3 million when it is backing companies during their early days.

Venture Highway recently diluted some stake in Meesho by selling its shares to WestBridge which gave the former bumper returns, Moneycontrol reported in September 2023.

The move to acquire a country-specific VC firm is not new for General Catalyst and its investing playbook. In October 2023, it brought Berlin-headquartered VC firm La Famiglia under its umbrella and expanded its reach in Europe.

Over the past months, General Catalyst has been increasing its focus on India. In a media interview last year, the US-based VC firm said it will invest $100 million into Indian startups.

In line with those plans, on January 18, it led a $2.75 million round in Jeh Aerospace. Apart from that, startups like Cred and Spinny are part of General Catalyst’s portfolio in India. Globally, it has backed Snap, Airbnb, Stripe, Venmo and several other high-profile new-age companies.