General Catalyst raises $675M for seventh fund

General Catalyst will invest the money to invest in mobile, commerce and marketplaces

General Catalyst has closed its seventh fund, to the tune of $675 million. The fund will be called General Catalyst VII, and it brings the firm's total capital raised to roughly $3 billion in its 13 year history.

The firm, which has been on the West Coast since 2010, will be using the new funding to shore up its relationship with start ups in Silicon Valley.

"Three years ago, several members of our team began a new life in Silicon Valley. We came with a singular mission — to grow General Catalyst into a unique bicoastal firm with a nationwide presence that founders could trust to be there at every stage of their journey," the firm wrote. "That focus remains resolute, despite blistering change."

The firm also announced that its, Silicon Valley team will soon be moving into a permanent location: a historical Victorian home on University Avenue in Palo Alto.

As to which areas the money be invested in, General Catalysts lists three: mobile, commerce and marketplaces. 

"There are tremendous changes coming to the world. Consumer behavior is relentlessly shifting to mobile, and consumers’ usage of software is increasingly around highly-engaged experiences," General Catalyst said.

"There has never been a better time to build a technology business, from next generation commerce, marketplaces, and mobile apps to software-defined infrastructure, security, and enterprise software-as-a-service."

Founded in 2000, General Catalyst Partner has offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Palo Alto, California. The firm has invested in company such as Airbnb, Big Fish Games, HubSpot, Warby Parker, BigCommerce, and Datalogix,

Some of the firm's other recent investments include: leading a $6.7 million Series A in CoachUp, which helps connect athletes with private coaches; participating in a $4.5 million Series A for organization app Mustbin; participation in a $25 million funding round for The Honest Company; participation in a $7 million round for CyPhy Works, a developer of advanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicles; and leading a $9 million round in digital currency company Circle Internet Financial.

Last December, General Catalyst launched a student-run fund in Boston called Rough Draft Venture.

Venture capital funds

Despite the overwhelming consensus that there is a Series A crunch going on, the state of venture capital is stronger than it has been in a while, it seems.

In the third quarter of 2013, 62 venture firms raised funds, the highest number of funds raised since the fourth quarter of 2008, when limited partners plunked down $7.1 billion across 69 funds.

Meanwhile, the amount of money invested in the third quarter was $8.1 billion, the highest since second quarter of 2012.

As for who was the most active VC firm, It was Google Ventures, with 23 total investments in the quarter. In all, Google Ventures recently announced that it invested in 75 new companies this year, and saw nine exits.

(Image source: https://www.generalcatalyst.com)