General Catalyst raises $845M for its eighth fund

The firm, which has invested in Airbnb and Snapchat, has now raised $3.75 million in capital

The last two years have been pretty great for venture firms. In 2014, over $30 million was raised, the most since 2007. The numbers were down a bit for 2015, with $28 billion raised, but they were still higher than they had been in years.

Will 2016 be able to keep up those same numbers? If today's new is any indication, then things are already looking pretty good, even if the meager back half of 2015, with only $4 million in the last two quarters, should raise some concerns. 

General Catalyst, a venture capital firm that makes early-stage and transformational investments, has closed its eighth fund, raising a total of $845 million, it was announced in a blog post on Thursday. The funding will be split between General Catalyst Group VIII, L.P. and General Catalyst Group VIII Supplemental, L.P. 

The firm last raised a new fund back in 2013, with its $675 million Fund VII. With the money raised for Fund VIII, General Catalyst has now raised $3.75 billion in total capital.

The $845 million that it has raised is pretty impressive, especially considering that there were only three funds raised in all of 2015 that were larger: New Enterprise Associates 15, L.P., which raised $2.8 billion; Tiger Global Private Investment Partners X, which raised $2.5 billion; and Bessemer Venture Partners, which raised $1.6 billion for its IX Fund.

Founded in 2000, General Catalyst Partner has offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Palo Alto, California. The firm has invested in companies such as Airbnb, Warby Parker, Stripe, Snapchat, Kayak, and The Honest Company. 

As to which areas the money be invested in, General Catalysts didn't say, but it has recently been putting its focus on three main areas: mobile, commerce and marketplaces. And the firm seems to indicate that it will continue with its current investing strategy.

"Our newest funds are an important milestone; they enable us to keep doing what we love — both as entrepreneurs and investors: identifying exceptional people and helping them achieve success through their brilliant, extraordinary ideas," the firm wrote. 

Some of the firm's recent investments include Gusto, the company that used to be ZenPayroll; The Happy Home Company,a home maintenance and improvement website;  Payable, a 1099 tax and contractor payments service; Freebird, a company that allows travelers to rebook following a flight cancellation; home repair subscription service Super; and on-demand home service provider Handy.

General Catalyst announced in September that it had hired Phil Libin as its newest Managing Director in its office in Palo Alto. Libin, of course, was the co-founder and CEO of Evernote, until he revealed in July of last year that he was stepping down from the position he had held since the company was founded in 2007.

VatorNews reached out to General Catalyst for more information about how the funding will be invested. We will update this story if we learn more. 

(Image source: shoemoney.com)