General Catalyst merges with Venture Highway to sharpen India focus

Hemant Taneja, CEO and Managing Director, General Catalyst

US-based General Catalyst, one of the prominent investors in the region, has merged with Venture Highway, an early-stage venture capital firm in India, as the two look to deepen their reach in India, the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem.

Moneycontrol had reported in January that the two VC funds were in talks and were negotiating a deal. Venture Highway was founded by Neeraj Arora, former WhatsApp business head, and was an early backer in large startups such as Meesho, Cred, MPL and Sharechat.

As part of the deal, the Venture Highway brand will no longer exist and will be called General Catalyst India going forward, Priya Mohan, General Partner at Venture Highway told Moneycontrol.

The two firms, General Catalyst and Venture Highway, will together “seek to create one of the most powerful venture platforms to support the next generation of entrepreneurs in India,” the company said.

All of Venture Highway's portfolio companies will continue to be served in the same manner as earlier, just that it will be done through General Catalyst India. Nothing else changes, Mohan said.

Most of the capital from Venture Fund's third fund (VH Fund 3) has largely been deployed and all new investments will be made via the General Catalyst brand name. General Catalyst will also look at Venture Highway's existing portfolio for potential follow on investments, Mohan said.

General Catalyst will invest anywhere between $500 million and $1 billion in India over the coming years now that it will have a more nuanced understanding of the local ecosystem.

Arora and Mohan will lead General Catalyst's efforts in India.

Over the past months, General Catalyst has been increasing its focus on India. It most recently led a $2.75 million round in Jeh Aerospace.

Run by Hemant Taneja, General Catalyst backs Cred, Uni, Spinny, Orange Health, FarMart, and Loop Health in India. In April, Moneycontrol reported that Anand Chandrasekaran, who led India investments for General Catalyst, was stepping down at a time when the VC fund was in the midst of closing a new $6 billion fund for tech startups, as per a Financial Times report.

A portion of the fresh capital will be directed towards Indian startups, the report added.

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.