Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Facebook co-founder Hughes joins General Catalyst

By Galen Moore

General Catalyst Partners has hired Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes as an entrepreneur-in-residence.

Hughes, who left Facebook Inc. two years ago to lead My.BarackObama.com, one of President Barack Obama’s campaign websites, will work in New York and at the firm’s Cambridge  headquarters. 

General Catalyst raised its fifth fund in the Fall of 2007 at $714 million. The firm was founded in 2000 and lists 65 companies in its portfolio, with Internet and new media software startups the most populous category among them.

Recent exits for General Catalyst include Cambridge-based video software company Maven Networks Inc., bought by Yahoo Inc. in early 2008 for $150 million, and Watertown-based m-Qube Inc., bought by VeriSign Inc. in early 2006 for $250 million. In 2008, General Catalyst had to put up for auction the assets of one portfolio company, e-commerce software maker n2N Commerce Inc., after co-investor Victoria’s Secret Direct, a division of Limited Brands Inc., pulled out of the startup.