Endeavor Catalyst, the venture arm of the global nonprofit Endeavor, has closed its fifth fund with $320 million in commitments, bringing total assets under management to more than $850 million. The fund is aimed at founders "elsewhere" — outside the Bay Area — at a time when much venture capital is concentrating on AI startups in San Francisco.
The firm invests only in companies led by entrepreneurs already accepted into Endeavor's network, which screened more than 10,000 candidates last year and selected 88. Endeavor Catalyst joins rounds of at least $5 million led by another institutional investor, typically writing checks of $1 million to $3 million and capping participation at 10% of the round. The team plans 40 to 50 investments annually, up to 150 companies from this fund.
Across all five funds, the firm says it has backed 437 companies in 44 markets, with 83 valued at $1 billion or more, 39 exits and 11 IPOs. Notable holdings include ElevenLabs, Bending Spoons, Reflection AI, Checkout.com, Flutterwave and Replit. About 90% of investments are outside the U.S., and Europe is the fastest-growing region.
The new fund has 400 limited partners, including Reid Hoffman, Bill Ackman and Prosus; roughly 30% of backers are Endeavor founders themselves. Because Endeavor is the general partner, half of the fund's profits go back to the nonprofit, according to co-founder Linda Rottenberg, supporting the next generation of founders building elsewhere. The source notes that repeat founders are also becoming a bigger share of the strategy, expected to reach 20% of this fund's deployment. There are no conflicting sources to compare.