Andreessen Horowitz Launched A $300 Million Venture Fund
In 2018 the market might be struggling but institutional investors are slowly jumping on the crypto train. Unlike last year, these days venture funds are pouring tons of cash on something they laughed on just 12 months ago. On Monday prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz started a $300 million investment fund along with Kathryn Haun. The partner is a former federal employee, specialized in anti-corruption prosecution. The new fund goes by the name a16z crypto and will fund various crypto assets and blockchain startups. According to Andreessen Horowitz, there will be eight people in charge of the fund with Chris Dixon being the co-lead manager. It is registered as an investment advisor and as Chris Dixon said in an interview, “There are some regulatory constraints we were running into that limit how many times we could do different investments in our main fund.” This classification is expected to give the partners more freedom when making deals. Notably, Haun states that the fund is not going to flip digital tokens in exchange like an ordinary hedge fund but it would rather plans to invest and hold crypto assets for the long term. Unlike other institutional investors, Andreessen Horowitz has always been keen on investing in crypto-related businesses. The firm was among the earliest investors in Coinbase, which ultimately became one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, crypto hedge fund Polychain Capital, and the blockchain-powered payment app Celo. “Having our LPs opt into a new thing having its own set of risks and rewards was important,” Dixon said. In addition, the upcoming investments made by Andreessen Horowitz will be under the control of a16z crypto. Nevertheless, investments made prior to the inception of the new fund will be still managed by the company’s original fund. Dixon and Kathryn Haun came up with the idea of establishing a venture capital when they first met in Coinbase last year, where they both served as board members. Back then, Haun invited Dixon to the Standford University where he was asked to deliver a speech on cryptocurrencies. When asked about the reasons that drove them to build a crypto fund Dixon’s response was: “Part of it is to focus and create a separate team, and another part is doubling down.” Read the full article
