Nikos Bonatsos, after leading General Catalyst’s seeding strategy for years, has left the company. Known for backing IPO hopeful Discord and $10 billion startup Mercor, Bonatsos told TechCrunch he plans to start a new early-stage VC firm with “friends.”
Bonatsos is the latest investor to exit General Catalyst, a company that recently expanded beyond the traditional venture model. In recent years, General Catalyst has unveiled one wealth management businessa strategy that focuses on PE-style AI collectionand a Customer Value Fund (CVF), which provides late-stage startups with non-residual funding secured by recurring revenue.
Other recent General Catalyst departures include Deep Nishar and Kyle Doherty, who co-led the late-stage Endurance strategy, and Adam Valkin, who led the early-stage fund alongside Bonatsos and Trevor Oelschig, TechCrunch reported last year.
Unlike his former colleagues, who declined to comment on their departures, Bonatsos described his departure as a mutual decision, saying his time at GC was an “amazing experience” that provided many “learnings”.
Bonatsos said he has not yet chosen a name for his new company or started fundraising. He declined to specify the size of his team, noting only that the people he is considering include founders and investors “at the top of their game.”
Some of the topics Bonatsos plans to pursue include supporting new founders, a trend he claims to have spotted several years ago, before it became popular in the industry. Indeed, many of the top founders of the AI wave are young and include college dropouts like Mercor founder Brendan Foody.
Bonatsos is also interested in investing in founders starting consumer businesses, a sector he sees as “undervalued” in a market saturated by business-focused AI startups.
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Although General Catalyst has moved to what it calls “investment and transformation company”, continues to place early stage bets. Last year, GC hired Yuri Sagalov, a former YC partner who also founded Wayfinder Ventures, to lead US startup investments.
