How big will GC's fifth fund be?
Several Boston VCs tell me that General Catalyst's fifth fund is close to closing, and everyone I've spoken with expects it to be quite a bit bigger than the fourth fund, a $400 million war chest announced in January 2006.
One Boston VC says he's heard word from limited partners of a $450 million fund with a $250 million side fund. Another tells me he expects the total will be bigger -- in the $700 to $800 million range. A third says that one aspect of GC's story -- the founders have known each other since high school -- is reassuring to LPs, who want to be sure that a fund's partners will be able to work together smoothly over its ten-year life-span.
General Catalyst co-founder David Fialkow had no comment when I asked him about the new fund earlier today.
The firm dates back only to 2000; among Boston VC partnerships, it's among the most heavily-focused on video and the Net, with investments in Brightcove, Maven Networks, ViTrue, ScanScout, Visible Measures, Kayak.com, and Eons.
Update: An entrepreneur source e-mails to say "it's definitely north of $700." (One of his prior companies was backed by GC.)
One Boston VC says he's heard word from limited partners of a $450 million fund with a $250 million side fund. Another tells me he expects the total will be bigger -- in the $700 to $800 million range. A third says that one aspect of GC's story -- the founders have known each other since high school -- is reassuring to LPs, who want to be sure that a fund's partners will be able to work together smoothly over its ten-year life-span.
General Catalyst co-founder David Fialkow had no comment when I asked him about the new fund earlier today.
The firm dates back only to 2000; among Boston VC partnerships, it's among the most heavily-focused on video and the Net, with investments in Brightcove, Maven Networks, ViTrue, ScanScout, Visible Measures, Kayak.com, and Eons.
Update: An entrepreneur source e-mails to say "it's definitely north of $700." (One of his prior companies was backed by GC.)
Labels: David Fialkow, General Catalyst, venture capital
posted by Scott Kirsner at
3:01 PM
2 Comments:
It's not just the LPs that are comforted by the fact that the GC partners get along well.
Entrepreneurs are comforted too.
We talked to several top-tier firms during our recent Series A for HubSpot. One of the reasons we picked General Catalyst was the chemistry of the group.
the "since high school" angle hasnt been true for ages. now with all the partners added since the founding its ancient history.
but who cares? what "comfort" is that? is that really how intelligent people make investment decisions? doesn't track record matter? its a sign of the wacky times that no one seems to care (or report the story) that these guys continue to raise big funds (and collect big fees) when their previous funds are losers and laggards.
venture capital bubble? what venture capital bubble?
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