Andreessen Horowitz has raised $4.5 billion for two crypto venture funds. They’re the industry’s largest ever and represent an outsized bet on the future of Web3 startups, even with the industry in the midst of a steep market downturn.
The pool of money is technically two separate funds: a $1.5 billion fund for seed deals and a $3 billion fund for broader venture deals. That’s more than other megafunds recently raised by competitors such as Paradigm and Haun Ventures.
“We're obviously continuing to see an incredible amount of talent and great entrepreneurs move into this space,” said Arianna Simpson, general partner at a16z Crypto. “And so the size of the fund is really a reflection of what we're seeing and how big we think the opportunity here is."
The firm has been one of the most active investors in Web3, backing the likes of OpenSea, Yuga Labs, Avalanche, Sky Mavis, Dapper Labs and Anchorage Digital. It’s looking across Web3 opportunities from NFTs to DAOs.
The firm has also invested heavily in engineering and academic-style research to support its startups.
Despite the precipitous drop in crypto prices in recent months, the firm is looking to stay active in the market, Simpson said, and isn’t worried about short-term price changes.
“We remain very steadfast in our conviction and focused on the long term,” she said. “One of the reasons why we've structured our funds, including this latest one, as venture funds, as opposed to hedge funds, is the fact that we're really focused on foundational technology.”
The firm’s longer-term time horizon gives it the opportunity to wait out market fluctuations, she added: “We want to make sure that we're long-term aligned with the entrepreneurs and that our structure is able to give them the time to build meaningful protocols and companies, which obviously doesn't happen overnight.”