General Catalyst

Lack of liquidity has forced us to innovate. If we think about Customer Acquisition Cost as an Asset that can be financed, then technology companies become profitable on EBIT/CAC basis relatively quickly after finding product-market fit (as my partner Pranav Singhvi wrote in the piece CAC is the new CapEx). Traditional growth capital we believe is not enough to help founders build enduring companies at scale–what I dive into in this new piece "Financed to Endure". General Catalyst's Customer Value Strategy is focused on financing the CAC asset that minimizes a need for growth equity and maximizes the growth of a company’s balance sheet. Founders: if you want to endure, prioritize growing your balance sheet. Financing this asset can be way cheaper than selling additional equity in the business to fund CAC. And therefore, the responsible thing to do for your shareholders. My partner Pranav Singhvi and I discussed this last week on StrictlyVC’s podcast with Connie Loizos and Alex Gove: https://lnkd.in/ghvcCRHx Pranav’s piece, CAC is the new CapEx: https://lnkd.in/gUvVtBkf #CAC

Entrepreneurs should spend time on what matters most. That’s where Kick comes in with its “Done for You” accounting software that has served over 1,000 businesses to date. We’re proud to invest in Kick’s $9M round and welcome Conrad and the entire team to the GC family. "Traditional accounting software doesn't look at personal transactions, but there are all kinds of business transactions that typically happen on your personal [account]…The fact that this [accounting] is something I had to focus on felt like the wrong thing as a small business owner...and it felt like the right thing was just to be focused on your customers." -Conrad Wadowski, Kick’s Founder & CEO More from Conrad  → https://lnkd.in/g7e_pt5b

“How could technology really be a lever to industry transformation?" -Jeannette zu Fürstenberg GC’s Jeannette zu Fürstenberg sat down with Amy Lewin for Sifted’s latest Startup Europe podcast episode to explore the opportunities to scale European moonshot ideas, our Creation strategy, European Resilience, AI’s transformative potential, and more. Below are a few of Jeannette’s insights. 1. Embrace Creation  General Catalyst’s history of building successful companies like KAYAK, Demandware, and Livongo positions us well to introduce what we believe is our unique and impactful Creation approach to Europe. 2. Bolster European Resilience In our view, the loss of control over crucial resources, especially in intellectual property, has made industries and societies more vulnerable. Tackling this challenge requires embracing technological innovation and driving its integration across industries (e.g., defense, manufacturing, and energy) and ecosystems. 3. Harness Applied AI’s Transformative Potential Applied AI has the potential to play a crucial role in Europe, focusing on enhancing existing industry strengths. We think this shift promises to build on past successes and fundamentally change how individuals translate their ambition into real-world results. #GlobalResilience #AppliedAI Listen now → https://lnkd.in/gph_nBPQ

Eldercare in India is ripe for transformation. That's why we’re thrilled to announce our partnership with Adarsh Narahari by investing in Primus Senior Living, which reimagines eldercare with a full-stack platform. "Solving for elders and their needs is a deeply personal problem statement, as I am sure with many in our generation. As India grows older, we need to reimagine how we service our elders in a manner that preserves their agency and expands their quality of life. Primus aims to achieve this with 'Home' as an anchor, creating mini ‘Blue Zones’ for our elders with a tech & data-first solution that combines health, community, purpose, and lifestyle. We are thrilled to partner with Adarsh on this exciting journey to build what we believe will be India's most recognized full-stack platform for our elders, from the ground up." -GC’s Priya Mohan More from Priya, Reva, Siddhi, & Abishek → https://lnkd.in/gq5C-bRt

🚀 The Next Ignition Stage: President Macron Calls for a Follow-Up Roundtable on AI during BGD During the Berlin Global Dialogue, I had the privilege to participate in an inspiring roundtable discussion on AI initiated by President Emmanuel Macron moderated by Lars-Hendrik Röller. Macron’s closing remarks, particularly mentioning the EU AI Champions Initiative, send a clear and encouraging signal for Europe's commitment to becoming a global leader in AI. The way we see it, applied AI is at the heart of Europe's opportunity to bridge the productivity gap with other regions and to lead in transformative sectors such as manufacturing, defense, and supply chains. Europe’s strength lies in applying AI to traditional industries and creating symbiotic partnerships with these sectors to drive innovation and resilience. Key Takeaways: - AI as a Transformative Force: Rather than disrupting industries, AI in Europe has the potential to transform established sectors like manufacturing and engineering, enhancing their global competitiveness. - Building Europe's AI Champions: The foundation of Europe's AI leadership is already strong, with top talent and research coming from this region. By focusing on applied AI in industries where Europe already excels, we believe we can create champions that lead globally. - The Importance of Collaboration: Radical collaboration between governments, startups, and traditional industries is, in our view, essential to propel Europe forward in AI. Policies that ensure data sovereignty and talent retention will be critical to our success. I’m optimistic about Europe’s future in AI and look forward to continuing this dialogue with leaders across sectors to turn this vision into reality. 🚀 CC: Bernard Mensah, Hervé Ekué, Zhijian Liu, Tim Höttges, Ralf Wintergerst, Ola Kaellenius, Lindsay Du, Antoine Bordes, Gerd Chrzanowski, Jonas Andrulis, Axel Müller-Groeling, Sabine SCHEUNERT, Bruno Sportisse, Dr. Philipp Herzig, Arno Huhn, André Loesekrug-Pietri⚡️, Christian Sewing, Roland Busch, Emilie Sidiqian, Jon Selib, Nacim Rahal

WellSpan Health's deployment of Ana, an AI agent developed with Hippocratic AI's technology, to proactively call at-risk patients for colorectal cancer screening is a bright glimpse into the future of a system defined by health assurance. Early engagement is critical to improving care, quality of life, and taking costs out of our system, and WellSpan's leadership (Roxanna Gapstur and team) is at the forefront of modern technology deployment. We're proud to have them as a Health Assurance Partner. The Spanish-language abilities in particular are amazing to see—reaching populations typically underserved (Ana remarkably had a higher NPS in Spanish than in English). All while allowing human medical professionals to focus on the care they can deliver in-person. There are so many possibilities of this technology to improve access. Congratulations to the Hippocratic AI team (Munjal Shah)--it is heartening to see a General Catalyst Creation company reach real-world impact in just two years since creation. And our Health Assurance team (Daryl Tol) for creating the partnerships to make real-world deployment happen. https://lnkd.in/gshDE6cA Cc: Chris Bischoff Holly Maloney Alexandre Momeni #ai #aiagent #hippocraticai

If we want to innovate and win in #defensetech and #govtech, we need more than just better products. We need world-class builders and world-class go-to-market. This is why General Catalyst is so excited to announce Valinor with Julie Bush and Catherine McAnney, one of the most proven and experienced government sales teams in the market. Building for #globalresilience requires a new approach, it requires #radicalcollaboration between government and innovators, and a world-class team: Trae Stephens Grant Verstandig Teresa Carlson Veronica Daigle Matthew B. Alexa Liautaud. Let’s Build!

Extended Reality (XR) is more than entertainment—it’s an entire ecosystem evolving before our eyes, powered by advances in applied AI. From AR overlays to VR social spaces, the future is immersive. At General Catalyst, we’re excited to support founders bringing these experiences to life. Explore more from Niko and Jonny: https://lnkd.in/gTVBtCiS

“How can AI be a transformative force and bring resiliency in these core industries [healthcare, defense and intelligence, manufacturing, energy, and financial services]?” -Hemant Taneja At #Intersect24, GC’s Hemant Taneja and Jeannette zu Fürstenberg explored a variety of timely topics with Applied Intuition's Qasar Younis including: 1. Driving Transformation with Applied AI “The AI boom is about workforce transformation…everywhere we offshored because of globalization and labor arbitrage, we’re going to onshore that back with AI productivity.” -Hemant Taneja “We fundamentally have a lot of vertical strength that can be amplified with AI.” -Jeannette zu Fürstenberg 2. Building European Resilience “I feel passionate about really reactivating and reinvigorating [Europe’s] industrial base and making sure that we can find new ways to articulate that as a global ambition out of Europe.” -Jeannette zu Fürstenberg 3. Reimagining Venture Capital “[Venture capital] hasn’t innovated…it’s not an industry that can absorb a lot of capital, because frankly there’s not that many companies that have the size and potential as Applied Intuition. So your returns will degrade if you actually scale the capital that you’re managing. But if you think about how to bring innovation into society to *transform* it, and you reimagine capital stacks to do just that, then you can scale a company building and ecosystem building a lot more.” -Hemant Taneja #GlobalResilience #AppliedAI Watch the full conversation in the comments below ↓

The idea of stepping into virtual worlds has captivated imaginations for nearly a century, from Lawrence Manning’s 1933 dream programming to today’s cutting-edge extended reality (XR) experiences. Fast forward to 2024, the XR ecosystem has grown into a multi-billion-dollar industry, with Meta's Quest 3 and Apple's Vision Pro leading the charge. At General Catalyst, we have conviction that the XR ecosystem will continue to thrive, fueled by the demands of a digital-native generation, applied AI innovation, and the constant evolution of hardware and experiences. We’re always looking to connect with builders in this space. "We believe that the principal use case of XR, gaming, will continue to see strong adoption among consumers and will evolve as the users of this tech evolve too. As XR begins to break out of this niche, we also believe in emerging new use cases based on the lifestyle and needs of these users.”  -GC’s Niko and Jonny The future is immersive, and it’s only just beginning. Enter these new digital portals ↓