General Catalyst commits $5B to India over five years

General Catalyst said it plans to invest $5 billion in India over the next five years. The Silicon Valley-based venture firm manages more than $43 billion in assets under management. It unveiled the commitment at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on Friday, less than two years after merging with local venture firm Venture Highway. The funds will target startups across artificial intelligence, healthcare, defense technology, fintech, and consumer technology. The pledge marks a significant increase from the $500 million to $1 billion the firm had previously earmarked for India. Chief Executive Hemant Taneja said India will build the next generation of global platform companies. He added that the firm sees Indian founders as uniquely positioned to develop technology for markets serving enormous populations. General Catalyst sees India's biggest AI opportunity in large-scale real-world deployment rather than in building frontier models. The firm cited the country's government-built digital infrastructure, vast domestic market, and deep services talent pool as reasons for that view. The firm has built its India portfolio with investments including Zepto, PB Health, Raphe, Jeh Aerospace, Pronto, and Ayr Energy. Neeraj Arora, General Catalyst's CEO for India, the Middle East, and North Africa, said this investment allows the firm to operate at a different scale. General Catalyst aims to support companies from early stage through to the public markets. It is developing a framework to accelerate large-scale AI adoption across priority sectors in India. The General Catalyst Institute has been working to build government-industry partnerships in the country.