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General Atlantic Service Company, L.P., also known as GA, is an American Growth capital firm providing capital and strategic support for global growth companies, headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1980 as the captive investment team for Atlantic Philanthropies, a philanthropic organization founded by Chuck Feeney, the billionaire co-founder of DFS Group.
As of September 2025, General Atlantic has over $118 billion in assets under management and focuses on investments across five sectors, including Technology, Consumer, Financial Services, Healthcare, and Life Sciences. The firm has more than 900 professionals in 20 countries across five regions.
In June 2025, General Atlantic ranked 13th in Private Equity International's PEI 300 ranking among the world's largest private equity firms, compared to 15th the previous year.
The firm was initially led by CEO Edwin Cohen, previously a partner of McKinsey & Company. Cohen was joined by Steven A. Denning, also from McKinsey & Company, as a founding member of the firm. Steven Denning served as General Atlantic's CEO from 1995 to 2006 and is now chairman emeritus. William (Bill) E. Ford, who joined the firm in 1991, is the current chairman and CEO of General Atlantic. In November 2019, General Atlantic announced the appointments of Gabriel Caillaux, MartÃn Escobari, and Anton Levy to Co-Presidents of the firm, expanding its senior leadership team with the newly created roles. In December 2019, General Atlantic's Global Co-Head of Financial Services Paul Stamas was selected as one of GrowthCap's Top 40 Under 40 Growth Investors of 2019.
General Atlantic focused initially on investments in computer software, oil and gas exploration, real estate and retailing. Among the firm's first major investments was United Health Services, which tripled in value in three years for the firm. By the late 1980s, General Atlantic began to expand its funding sources to include other family offices, as well as foundations and endowments.Conor O'Clery, The Billionaire Who Wasn't: How Chuck Feeney Made and Gave Away a Fortune Without Anyone Knowing ().
Coincident with General Atlantic's expansion of its funding source, the firm began exploring expanding its presence overseas. Starting in 1999, General Atlantic began to open offices in Europe and Asia and currently has 16 offices globally. In 2018 General Atlantic invested in UK investment start-up Greensill Capital in an attempt to challenge traditional lending systems. In 2019 the firm continued its investments in EMEA region by acquiring majority share in Kiwi.com.
In April 2022, General Atlantic set up its first Middle East office in Tel Aviv, Israel.
In October 2023, General Atlantic acquired a minority stake in India-based travel-tech platform TBO for an undisclosed amount. In November 2023, General Atlantic acquired a majority stake in Joe & The Juice for $641 million.
General Atlantic agreed to acquire British investment firm Actis Capital in January 2024. The acquisition finalized in October, after which Actis became General Atlantic's sustainable infrastructure arm.
In 2018, General Atlantic entered into a joint venture, Nucom ecommerce, with Germany mass media company ProSiebenSat.1 Media. Later that year, NuCom purchased U.S.-based online dating website eHarmony.
In October 2024, General Atlantic acquired Actis Capital, a leading global investor in sustainable infrastructure. The merger expanded the investment platform to approximately $97 billion in operating assets.
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