After leading Catalyst’s general seed strategy for a year, Niko Bonatsos has left for good. Known for backing a Discord is hoping for an IPO and on $10 billion startup MercorBonatsos told TechCrunch he plans to launch a new early-stage VC firm together with a “friend.”
Bonatsos is the latest investor to leave General Catalyst, a company that recently moved beyond traditional venture models. In the last few years, General Catalyst has opened a wealth management businessstrategy focused on PE-style AI roll-upand the Customer Value Fund (CVF), which provides the beginning of the final stage with non-dilutive financing secured by recurring revenue.
Other General Catalyst departures include Deep Nishar and Kyle Doherty, who 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 teammates, who refused to comment on his departure, Bonatsos described his exit as a mutual decision, saying that his time at GC was an “amazing experience” that provided him with a lot of “learning.”
Bonatsos said he has not yet chosen a name for the new company or started fundraising. He declined to specify the size of the team, only noting that the individuals considered include founders and investors “at the top of their game.”
Some of the themes Bonatsos wants to work on include supporting young founders, a trend he claims to have identified a few years ago, before it became popular in the industry. Indeed, many of the founders of the AI wave are the youngest and include school dropouts like Mercor founder Brendan Foody.
Bonatsos is also interested in investing in founders launching consumer businesses, a sector he considers “underappreciated” in a market saturated with enterprise-focused AI startups.
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Although General Catalyst has transitioned to what it calls ‘investment and transformation companiesit continues to make seed-level bets. Last year, GC hired Yuri Sagalov, a former YC partner who also founded Wayfinder Ventures, to lead its seed investment in the US.