Venture capital behemoth Andreessen Horowitz has managed to rake in $7.2 billion as part of its new massive fundraise that is partially aimed at investing in startups focused on artificial intelligence (AI), the Financial Times reports.
More than half of that massive sum ($3.75 billion) will be allocated to the VC giant's fourth "growth fund," which focuses on late-stage investing in companies that are at an "inflection point" of their growth. For comparison, Andreessen Horowitz secured $5.5 billion for its third growth fund.
Notably, more than $2 billion will be used for funding AI infrastructure and AI applications.
Despite the hype surrounding AI, venture capital dealmaking experienced a significant decline in the first quarter of 2024, according to data provided by Pitchbook. VC firms invested $36.6 billion into nearly 2,900 companies. This marked a 30% drop compared to the same period in 2023, which was already a rather underwhelming year for VC funding. The VC industry has taken a major hit due to rapidly rising interest rates.
Andreessen Horowitz is not pouring more money into crypto for now. The Menlo Park, California-based VC giant launched a massive $4.5 billion cryptocurrency-focused fund in May 2022 amid the bear market in order to bet on the "Web3" movement. It is yet to invest the majority of the fund since cryptocurrency prices experienced a severe decline in 2023.
The list of prominent cryptocurrency companies supported by Andreessen Horowitz includes Coinbase, Uniswap, and OpenSea.
Earlier this February, Andreessen Horowitz announced a $100 investment into crypto restaking startup EigenLayer.
Yuri Molchan
Tomiwabold Olajide
