VC Giant Andreessen Horowitz Joins AI Hype with Gargantuan Fundraise

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According to the Financial Times, venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz has successfully raised an impressive $7.2 billion for their latest funding round, with a significant portion earmarked for investments in artificial intelligence startups.

Approximately 60% of the enormous amount ($3.75 billion) is earmarked for Andreessen Horowitz’s fourth “growth fund.” This particular fund specializes in investing in companies experiencing a significant growth phase, often referred to as their “inflection point.” To provide some context, Andreessen Horwitz previously raised $5.5 billion for its third growth fund.

Notably, more than $2 billion will be used for funding AI infrastructure and AI applications. 

In contrast to the excitement generated by AI, the first quarter of 2024 saw a notable decrease in venture capital deals, data from Pitchbook revealed. Venture capital firms invested approximately $36.6 billion into around 2,900 companies, representing a 30% decline compared to the same period in the previous year. The VC industry took a substantial blow due to increasing interest rates.

Andreasen Horowitz hasn’t added more funds to crypto investments at this time. In May 2022, the venture capital firm from Menlo Park, California, announced a large $4.5 billion fund dedicated to cryptocurrencies during the bear market. They intended to support the “Web3” movement. However, they have not yet deployed most of the funds due to significant declines in crypto prices that occurred in 2023.

Andresseen Horowitz backs several notable cryptocurrency businesses, among which are Coinbase, Uniswap, and OpenSea.

In February of this year, EigenLayer, a crypto startup focusing on restaking, received a $100 million investment from Andreessen Horowitz.

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2024-04-16 22:13