Dr. Jeannette zu Fürstenberg is Managing Director of the global VC firm General Catalyst (GC) and in charge of its European business. Jeannette is also Founding Partner of La Famiglia VC, one of Europe’s most distinguished early-stage Venture Capital platforms connecting the established industry and the start-up ecosystem. La Famiglia’s merging with General Catalyst has expanded Jeannette’s seed investment activity to a global level.

Jeannette embodies the role of a passionate generalist with a founder-led approach. Her investments are driven by her vision of a resilient, more prosperous Europe, with technology as a key driver of transformation which is also reflected in her areas of expertise which include AI, climate, industrial transformation, defense and traditional software-centric opportunities. Jeannette’s early investment wins are companies such as Deel, Forto, Helsing, Mistral, and Personio. Having supported their journey since the earliest stages of ideation, she also serves on the board of the unicorn companies Helsing, Mistral, and Applied Intuition.

Beyond her investment activities, Jeannette is an active member of advisory boards for various companies and organizations, including serving on the Board of Governors of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (ifw). She is committed to strengthening the connections between the tech ecosystem and established industries, evidenced by her hosting of exclusive events aimed at creating a platform to facilitate these interactions. Her engagement extends to the political sphere through various lobbying efforts to foster a conducive environment for entrepreneurship in Europe, notably contributing to the debate on the EU AI Act and addressing several socio-economic issues related to European prosperity. 

She is a regular guest at distinguished events and conferences such as ITW, Resilience Conference or Berlin Global Dialogue emphasising topics such as European sovereignty and technology advancement. More recently, she moderated a roundtable discussion on aApplied AI hosted by the French President Emmanuel Macron and the German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier featuring AI experts from industry, academia and the public sector. 

In 2011 she initiated “Fürstenberg Zeitgenössisch”, a contemporary art foundation and artist grant program. Jeannette holds a PhD in Philosophy and Entrepreneurship from Freie Universität Berlin.