Three key investors have left General Catalyst amidst a series of recent changes at the firm, which now describes itself as an “investment and transformation company,” according to sources familiar with the matter.
The departed managing directors include Deep Nishar and Kyle Doherty, who co-led General Catalyst’s late-stage strategy known as Endurance, and Adam Valkin, one of the three leads of the firm’s early-stage fund, as reported by several sources close to General Catalyst.
Nishar, Doherty, and Valkin did not respond to requests for comment. General Catalyst declined to provide any comments on the matter. While the reasons for the departures remain unclear, a General Catalyst limited partner mentioned several other changes among the firm’s leadership.
After merging with European early-stage firm La Famiglia in October 2023, General Catalyst appointed Jeannette zu Fürstenberg, La Famiglia’s founder, as one of its top senior partners. Neeraj Arora, the founder of Indian VC firm Venture Highway, was also placed among the top senior investors at General Catalyst following the acquisition six months later, according to sources.
Sources close to General Catalyst have also mentioned a strategic shift at the firm towards favoring cash bonuses over equity in the compensation structure for investors, influenced by the broader shift beyond venture investments.
Deep Nishar, formerly an executive at LinkedIn, joined General Catalyst from SoftBank’s Vision Fund in 2021. During his time at SoftBank, Nishar led deals into companies like Slack and 10x Genomics.
Kyle Doherty became part of General Catalyst in 2017 after serving as the head of private investments at Coatue for five years. Doherty’s investments included digital banking startup Step and insurance company Ethos. He left General Catalyst in July, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Valkin, who started at the firm in 2013, serves on the board of Rapyd, a fintech startup, and Shift Technology. He also backed ClassPass, acquired by MindBody in 2021.
The departures occur as General Catalyst, managing $32 billion in assets, transitions from a partnership-model firm to a company, incorporating non-venture strategies like wealth management and acquiring a hospital system in Ohio.
Rumors suggest that General Catalyst is considering going public, with reports indicating that the firm is in the early stages of contemplating an IPO.
