Andreessen Horowitz unleashes $300m crypto venture fund
American venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz has unveiled “a16z crypto” – its $300 million cryptocurrency-focused fund.
“Many crypto applications still get dismissed as toys. We believe this will change quickly.”
Chris Dixon, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, says: “We are long-term, patient investors. We’ve been investing in crypto assets for five+ years. We’ve never sold any of those investments, and don’t plan to any time soon. We structured the a16z crypto fund to be able to hold investments for ten+ years.”
Dixon makes it clear what will happen and calls it an “all weather” fund. Meaning it plans to invest consistently over time, regardless of market conditions. If there is another “crypto winter” the firm will keep “investing aggressively”.
Andreessen Horowitz will provide operational support to entrepreneurs. Its crypto investments have access to the same 80+ person a16z operating teams as do its non-crypto investments.
The company is in an open-minded mood as it is flexible with respect to stage, asset type, and geography. It will invest at all stages, from seed stage pre-launch projects to fully developed later-stage networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
It will invest in traditional financial instruments like equity or convertible notes, and new instruments including the direct purchase of coins/tokens.
Dixon says: “Crypto is a global phenomenon, with great projects all around the world, and we’ll invest accordingly.”
He adds: “Although the Bitcoin whitepaper is now almost ten years old, we believe we are still early in the crypto movement. The infrastructure needs to be improved and the applications are difficult for non-early adopters to use. Many crypto applications still get dismissed as toys. We believe this will change quickly.”
