a16z goes big on crypto, raises $4.5B in new fund to invest in Web3

In a blog post, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, also known as a16z, announced approximately $1.5B will be dedicated to seed investments, and $3B to venture investments.

a16z goes big on crypto, raises $4.5B in new fund to invest in Web3

Wednesday May 25, 2022,

2 min Read

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz's crypto unit a16z crypto on Wednesday announced that it has closed $4.5 billion in its fourth funding round. This brings the total funds raised to more than $7.6 billion.

Chris Dixon (who was featured in the Forbes “Midas List” as the world’s greatest venture capital investors), General Partner at a16z, confirmed the news of the funds raised.

The company intends to invest $1.5 billion in seed investments and $3 billion in traditional venture investments.

In a blog post, he wrote "We’ve been investing in crypto since 2013, and today we’re announcing our fourth crypto fund, totaling $4.5B. Of that, approximately $1.5B will be dedicated to seed investments, and $3B to venture investments. This brings our total crypto/web3 funds raised to over $7.6B."
Chris Dixon, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz

Chris Dixon, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, Image Source - TechCrunch

The firm intends to use the funds raised to invest in web3 startups. The firm plans to enhance developments in Web3 games, DeFi(decentralised finance) layer 1 and layer 2 solutions bridges, DAO's (decentralised autonomous organisations) governance, NFT, communities, privacy, creator monetisation, ZK proofs and others. Chris Dixon further wrote,

"We think we are now entering the golden era of Web3. Programmable blockchains are sufficiently advanced, and a diverse range of apps have reached tens of millions of users. More importantly, a massive wave of world-class talent has entered web3 over the last year. They are brilliant and passionate, and want to build a better internet.

Previously in April, the firm launched its crypto research team led by faculty from Columbia and Stanford universities to tackle the fundamental issues that are impeding mainstream crypto adoption.


Edited by Anju Narayanan