Hemant Taneja

Last updated
Hemant Taneja
BornFebruary 1975 (age 50)
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Occupation Venture capitalist
Known forCEO of General Catalyst

Hemant Taneja is an American venture capitalist who is the CEO and managing director of General Catalyst, a venture capital firm. He has been CEO since 2021. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Taneja moved from India to Boston, Massachusetts, during high school. [2] He earned three undergraduate and two graduate degrees from MIT. [3] [2]

Career

Taneja has led General Catalyst in investments in companies such as Stripe, Snap, and Grammarly. [3] In 2024, the firm raised $8 billion to invest in technology startups across sectors including healthcare, climate technology, and artificial intelligence. [4] General Catalyst also established the Health Assurance Transformation Corporation (HATCo) to explore new healthcare delivery models, including the acquisition of a hospital. [5]

Taneja co-founded Livongo, which merged with Teladoc Health in 2020, and Commure, which later merged with Athelas. [3] [6] In 2023, he co-founded Responsible Innovation Labs, a nonprofit focused on ethical AI development, which collaborated with the U.S. Commerce Department on the Responsible AI Initiative. [7]

Books

Taneja has authored the following books:

Philanthropy

Taneja and his wife are members of the Giving Pledge, committing to donate the majority of their wealth. [10] In 2018, he supported MIT.nano, creating the Shiv and Santosh Taneja Innovation Alcove, named for his parents. [2] He also contributed to the establishment of the Khan Lab School, a school applying MIT's systems thinking approach to elementary education. [2] Taneja serves on the Stanford School of Medicine Board of Fellows and the board of trustees for Northeastern University. [8] [11] He is the co-founder and chairman of Advanced Energy United. [12]

References

  1. Hammond, George (28 April 2024). "Silicon Valley's General Catalyst closes in on $6bn fund for tech start-ups". Financial Times. Retrieved 2024-09-13.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Education Meets Innovation". MIT for a Better World. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
  3. 1 2 3 "Hemant Taneja". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-09-13.
  4. Hammond, George (2024-10-24). "Silicon Valley's General Catalyst raises $8bn in global push". Financial Times. Retrieved 2024-11-18.
  5. Adams, Katie (2024-01-18). "Is General Catalyst Buying Summa Health a Good Idea? Only Time Will Tell". MedCity News. Retrieved 2024-09-23.
  6. "Sixteen Indian Americans among Business Insider's 'The Seed 100'". The Indian Panorama. 21 June 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  7. Confino, Paolo. "Commerce Department partners with major VC firms encourage startups to be "responsible" in AI use". Fortune. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
  8. 1 2 "View From The Top: Hemant Taneja". Stanford Graduate School of Business. Retrieved 2024-09-13.
  9. Taneja, Hemant (2018-03-27). Unscaled. New York: PublicAffairs. ISBN   978-1610398121.
  10. Olakoyenikan, Segun. "Open AI's Sam Altman Just Vowed To Donate Most Of His Wealth Through Giving Pledge". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
  11. Mello-Klein, Cody (2024-07-29). "Hemant Taneja, a venture capitalist and global thought leader, appointed to Northeastern University Board of Trustees". Northeastern Global News. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
  12. Kaufmann, K. (2023-01-06). "New Mission Means New Name for Advanced Energy Economy". RTO Insider. Retrieved 2024-09-19.