Endeavor Secures $292M to Invest in Endeavor Entrepreneurs Worldwide

Endeavor has closed Endeavor Catalyst Fund IV, a $292 million venture capital fund, and it still intends to invest in the businesses throughout the world that are run by Endeavor Entrepreneurs.

Endeavor Catalyst Fund IV was the company’s largest fund to date when it closed, exceeding its original $200 million to $250 million goal. Additionally, it raises the total funds managed by Endeavor Catalyst to $500M+.

Allen Taylor, Managing Partner, Endeavor Catalyst, stated that “the quality of entrepreneurial talent today across the 40+ locations where Endeavor operates is the highest we’ve ever seen, and we can’t wait to invest more in these places.”

In addition to more than 100 of Endeavor’s own entrepreneurs, the community of Limited Partners (“LPs”) supporting Endeavor Catalyst IV includes illustrious founders like Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn), Marcin Uskowski (Snowflake), and Kevin Ryan (DoubleClick, MongoDB).

Investing in Endeavor Catalyst is a “wonderful method to ‘pay-it-forward’ and invest in high-quality entrepreneurs in emerging regions,” according to Mudassir Sheikha, CEO of Careem (bought by Uber for $3.1B).

Endeavor Catalyst, which was founded in 2012, has proven over the last ten years that investing in entrepreneurs from emerging markets pays off. 49 Endeavor Catalyst fund investees have so far achieved a valuation of $1 billion or more, including a number of IPOs and acquisitions.

According to data from CB Insights, this indicates that almost one in five of the investees have achieved “unicorn” status, placing Endeavor Catalyst among the top five most prolific “unicorn” investors in the regions where Endeavor operates.

In addition to underserved regions in Europe and the United States, Endeavor Catalyst has made 260+ investments in 35+ distinct markets throughout Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Together, these businesses have produced more than $17 billion in revenue in 2021 and roughly 2 million new jobs.

The Endeavor Catalyst funds are intended to be rules-based co-investment funds that invest solely in businesses run by Endeavor Entrepreneurs that have raised priced equity rounds from venture capital and growth equity funds, often at Series A, B, and C. The Fintech (26 percent), Retail & Consumer Tech (23 percent), and Enterprise Software & Services (18 percent) sectors receive the most investments from its portfolio.

With the help of this fourth fund, Endeavor Catalyst will continue to co-invest in businesses chosen for the Endeavor network alongside experienced venture capital and growth equity firms. Endeavor Catalyst, together with a16z, General Atlantic, Insight Partners, Lightspeed, and Softbank, among others, have already made investments out of this fund following an initial closing earlier this year.

Taylor continued, “We’re off to a wonderful start with Fund IV. Nothing about the fund’s fundamental thesis changes as a result of the fundraising environment right now. “We are constructing this for the very long run because we think talent is everywhere. We are pleased about the chance to invest in new Endeavor markets like Pakistan as well as continuing to double down on the areas that have been the most profitable for us over the past few years, including as Brazil, Mexico, and Indonesia, with Fund IV.

Endeavor Catalyst is delighted to continue working with Endeavor Entrepreneurs across all of these regions as venture capital develops as an asset class in emerging markets throughout Latin America, Europe, and Southeast Asia, and more VC dollars are flowing to Africa and the Middle East than at any other time in history.