Endeavor Catalyst Raises US$320M to Back Founders Building Outside Silicon Valley

Endeavor Catalyst, the venture arm of New York-based nonprofit Endeavor, closed its fifth fund on October 7, 2026, with US$320 million in commitments. The fund was oversubscribed and is the firm's largest so far, pushing assets under management above US$850 million. The firm is run by managing partner Allen Taylor, a 20-year Endeavor veteran, and managing director Jackie Carmel. Endeavor itself acts as general partner, and co-founder Linda Rottenberg, who helped launch Catalyst in 2012, says half of the fund's profits go back to the nonprofit.

Catalyst only backs founders who first get into Endeavor's network. Last year Endeavor screened more than 10,000 candidates and selected 88. The fund co-invests when one of those companies raises at least US$5 million in a round led by another institutional investor, on the same terms, with checks of US$1 million to US$3 million capped at 10% of the round. It plans 40 to 50 investments a year and up to 150 companies with this fund. About 90% of its investments are outside the U.S., and its 400 limited partners include Reid Hoffman, Bill Ackman and Prosus.

Market Context

Fund V is larger than Fund IV, which closed at US$292 million in 2022. Across its five funds, Catalyst has backed 437 companies in 44 markets, 83 of them now valued at US$1 billion or more, with 39 exits and 11 IPOs. Its portfolio includes ElevenLabs, founded in Poland; Italy's Bending Spoons, which went public in July; Checkout.com; African payments firm Flutterwave; and Replit, co-founded by Amjad Masad. Taylor declined to share cash-on-cash returns.

Latin America remains Catalyst's largest region, but Europe is growing fastest: 12 new European investments in the first half of 2026, against 14 in all of 2025 and 7 in 2024. The firm is also stepping up in Asia through a new Singapore hub, after investing US$46.8 million across 44 Asian companies. Fund V has already put US$55.7 million into 30 companies, including Replit, Preply, HappyRobot and Venezuela's Cashea. Because it invests 10% of each round, the firm says the new fund should bring in at least US$3.2 billion from other investors.

Key Signal

"Half of the fund's profits go back to Endeavor, so every investment helps the next generation of founders." Linda Rottenberg, Co-Founder, Endeavor

Regional Relevance

For the United States, the fund cuts against where most venture money is going right now: AI companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Catalyst is a reminder that some of the most valuable companies of the past decade were started by founders from outside U.S. hubs, even when they later set up in New York or California. Its LP base, full of U.S. investors and successful founders, shows there is still appetite for that thesis while capital crowds into a few large AI bets.

For Latin America, the fund matters both as capital and as a model. The region is still Catalyst's largest market, and Fund V's early bets include Venezuelan BNPL company Cashea. About 30% of the LPs are Endeavor founders, including the founders of Nubank, which means wealth created by Latin American startups is flowing back to the next generation in the region. The open question is how Europe's fast growth and the new Asia push will change Latin America's share of the new fund.

The Other Side

How good are the returns? The firm shares counts of unicorns, exits and IPOs, but Taylor declined to disclose cash-on-cash returns. Valuations like ElevenLabs' or Bending Spoons' do not show how much Catalyst actually earned from small stakes capped at 10% of each round.

What happens when lead investors disappear? Catalyst never leads. It needs another institutional investor to price and lead a round of at least US$5 million. In a downturn, or in markets where large funds pull back, that rule could limit where and how fast it can deploy.

Will Latin America keep its weight? The announcements give detailed figures for Europe and Asia, but none for Latin America beyond calling it the largest region. As the firm doubles down elsewhere, the region's share is worth watching.

Sources & Transparency

• While VCs crowd into San Francisco, Endeavor Catalyst raises $320M for founders 'elsewhere'
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