Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Pulls $7.2B In New Funding: Will Crypto Benefit?

Top venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz popularly called a16z has completed a funding round and realized a total of $7.2 billion in the process.

a16z To Focus on American Dynamism and AI

Axios stated that the initial target for the fundraiser was $6.9 billion, indicating that a16z successfully surpassed its mark by about 4%. 

Drawing on this success, the VC plans to distribute fresh capital across seven different sectors within the firm including Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructures and American Dynamism, the arm that is concerned with firms that promote the national interests of the United States. 

While American Dynamism will receive $600 million for growth startups, or $3.75 billion for later-stage startups, and $600 million for gaming, AI is not a standalone fund. This is because it is involved in almost all emerging startups and their operations. In the long run, this fund will serve as a game changer for firms after the recent harsh season they just overcame. Even a16z co-founder Ben Horowitz described the round as a “milestone.” 

For this fund, no mention was made about its impact on crypto startups. However, there are speculations that the VC is on track to raise another fund focused on crypto and biotechnology. 

Andreessen Horowitz Celebrates Other Core Achievements

The $7.2 billion fund is only one of the few achievements that Andreessen Horowitz has recorded in the last couple of weeks. At the beginning of April, the investment giant, through its Games Fund One earmarked $30 million to inject into tech and gaming startups. 

The company’s General Partner Andrew Chen invested in the firm’s SPEEDRUN program, an “early-stage accelerator for startups at the intersection” of tech and games.

These startups qualify to get $750,000 each from the fund after they have joined the SPEEDRUN program. Registration for the program is still open until May 19, 2024, after which eligible entities will be selected and notified accordingly. 

Meanwhile, the investment giant’s crypto division recently launched Jolt, a Zero-Knowledge Virtual Machine (zkVM) using SNARKs for scalable ZK-rollups to enhance blockchain speed and security. This technology provides the implementation of a major part of computational work so blockchains can process and verify transactions faster and more securely.