To develop a noble metal-free heterogeneous catalyst for liquid phase hydrogenation of levulinic acid to γ-valerolactone under H₂, we tested a series of base-metal (Ni, Co, Cu, and Fe) and metal oxides (Mo, V, and W oxides) co-loaded carbon (C) and Ni-loaded metal oxides for the reaction. Ni–MoO_x/C pre-reduced at 500 °C showed the highest activity and showed more than 300 times higher turnover number (TON) than previously reported noble metal-free catalysts. A structure–activity relationship study showed that the co-presence of metallic Ni⁰ species and partially reduced MoO₂ could be responsible for the high activity.