A Boston-area venture capital firm launched by four former CEOs and entrepreneurs said Monday it closed its fourth fund with $400 million in capital commitments.

General Catalyst Partners, which was founded in 2000, focuses on investing in early-stage technology companies, mainly in the software and applied-technology sectors.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based firm’s latest fundraising effort brought in $100 million more than its previous $300-million fund, which closed in 2003. The fourth fund also increases General Catalyst’s capital under management to $1 billion.

The firm’s entrepreneur-heavy management team is what gives General Catalyst its competitive edge in the venture capital arena, according to executives at portfolio companies.

“Because of their own legacy as entrepreneurs, General Catalyst was able to provide the support, enthusiasm, and resources for me to build my business and my team,” said Jeremy Allaire, the founder and CEO of Brightcove, an Internet television company that helps web producers syndicate and profit from their content.

Mr. Allaire, a former executive with web-development software maker Macromedia, founded Brightcove during a stint at General Catalyst. “They gave us the momentum we needed to get Brightcove launched in the marketplace,” he said.

General Catalyst’s portfolio companies include Taleo, a maker of workforce-management software that raised $94 million in an initial public offering last year; ProfitLogic, a manufacturer of profit-optimization software that was acquired by Oracle in 2005; and Venetica, a developer of content-management software that was acquired by IBM in 2004.

General Catalyst aims to back companies that have a clear roadmap to achieving profitability and “whose competitive advantages can be sustained through alliances with top distribution partners, innovative development efforts, and/or patents and intellectual property protection,” the firm said in a statement.