General Catalyst backs exceptional people early: "We don't just invest in companies; we first and foremost invest in founders" who "see the future in novel ways and aren't afraid to build it." Seed and early stage is the firm's core, anchored in "relationships, not transactions." Across its Fund XII (~$8B, 2024) the firm channels capital toward "applied AI and global resilience" in AI, Defense & Intelligence, Climate & Energy, Industrials, Healthcare and Fintech, often co-creating companies and pairing equity with non-dilutive Customer Value capital.
A real, deeply understood problem in a strategically important industry, articulated by founders who see what others miss. GC favors problems where applied AI delivers a genuine step-change, often in 'global resilience' sectors (defense, energy, healthcare, industrials).
“Where others see what is, these founders see what could be.” — Seed at General Catalyst
“The most insightful people in the world are forming their first convictions, often in defiance of conventional wisdom.” — Seed at General Catalyst
“Locating people with relevant expertise is challenging. It underlies critical problems, from investors conducting due diligence, to companies hiring top talent.” — Jeannette zu Fürstenberg
A from-the-ground-up reimagining (not an incremental tweak) that uses applied AI as a step-change, pairing automation with human expertise and showing strong technical execution.
“Spiral answers this question by entirely reimagining the modern data stack from the ground up. That's why we're leading their Series A.” — Our Investment in Spiral
“The applied AI evolution of legal operations will radically change how legal services are delivered.” — Marc Bhargava
“Ethos proves that AI offers a step-change in assessing the credibility and relevance of expertise.” — Jeannette zu Fürstenberg
Large, structurally expanding markets — ideally ones being reshaped by applied AI or a macro shift — sized with concrete, defensible numbers rather than headline TAM.
“wider AI adoption in US healthcare could lead to 5 to 10% in savings, translating into $200 billion to $360 billion annually” — Our Co-creation of Hippocratic AI
“unlocking the much larger [$1T legal services market]” — Marc Bhargava
“We believe that defense spending on software will grow from single digit percentages to double digits over the next decade.” — Paul Kwan
Evidence the team can iterate fast and show value early — design-partner pilots, marquee customers, and rapid scaling — over vanity metrics. At seed, founder conviction can outweigh traction, but early customer proof strengthens the case.
“Ethos is already working with over 25 private equity firms, hedge funds and consultancies, and more than 17,000 experts have signed up” — Our Investment in Ethos AI
“In just two years, Saronic has iterated quickly and scaled their business” — Paul Kwan
“Eudia is already trusted by Chief Legal Officers (CLOs) at Fortune 500 companies like Cargill, DHL, Duracell, Coherent, and many more.” — Marc Bhargava
Founders first: insightful people forming first convictions, with diverse-yet-complementary backgrounds, deep domain plus technical depth, and the ability to build product and go-to-market in parallel. GC backs the person before the company.
“We don't just invest in companies; we first and foremost invest in founders.” — Seed at General Catalyst
“Their diverse yet complementary backgrounds are another factor in their success and the culture of Helsing, bringing together user experience, product development velocity, technology company scaling, AI/ML and depth of understanding of the defense industry.” — Paul Kwan
“they are three of the sharpest technical minds in data infrastructure” — Quentin Clark / Max Rimpel
“The best founders might not always succeed, we believe they will not fail.” — Seed at General Catalyst
Models where AI-driven automation is combined with human expertise, with creative monetization aligned to value created; for defense/industrials, software-defined products that compound. GC also brings non-dilutive Customer Value capital to fund scaling.
“combining AI-driven automation with human expertise” — Our Investment in Eudia
“in addition to call fees, Ethos rewards experts with royalties for citations of their knowledge” — Jeannette zu Fürstenberg
“software-defined, high-efficiency, non-combustion linear generator” — Our Investment in Mainspring
A differentiated, often category-defining position against incumbents — GC favors companies that offer a transparent, flexible, accessible alternative to monolithic incumbents and that reframe the category rather than compete feature-for-feature.
“The world needs an alternative to monolithic AI infrastructure—one that is transparent, flexible, and accessible.” — Our Investment in Together AI
“We think Helsing is a category-defining software company building the future of European Resilience in defense and artificial intelligence.” — Paul Kwan
“traditional AI cloud providers, which often require deep technical expertise and heavy investment” — Our Investment in Together AI
A clear inflection — a technological, geopolitical or behavioral shift that makes the company inevitable now. GC's theses center on the AI inflection and 'global resilience' driven by great-power competition and aging infrastructure.
“We are returning to an era of great power competition, with the rise of China and the return of Russia.” — Building Globally Resilient Systems for a New World Order
“As ChatGPT made its way into the hands of patients and care teams, the industry crossed the Rubicon and embraced the irreversible path of AI-enabled life” — Hemant Taneja / Alexandre Momeni
“Peak U.S. electricity demand is expected to increase 5x from 2022 levels through 2029” — Our Investment in Mainspring
GC frames the 'ask' as the start of a long-term partnership, not a transaction — offering multiple forms of capital (seed through growth, plus non-dilutive Customer Value capital) and leaning in over the long haul. Founders should come for a durable partner, not just a check.
“relationships, not transactions, are the core of our business” — Seed at General Catalyst
“We don't believe in fair-weather partnerships. When others step back, we step forward.” — Seed at General Catalyst
“GC is eager to serve founders at the earliest stages as our core business and serve them as they grow” — Hemant Taneja
“My work centers on applied AI as the engine for abundance and resilience—modernizing the systems that matter most to society.”
“We are returning to an era of great power competition, with the rise of China and the return of Russia.”
“The applied AI evolution of legal operations will radically change how legal services are delivered.”
“a compelling combination of expertise in applied AI and industry, and an authentic social mission”