Marc Andreessen (left) and Ben Horowitz (right) are the company's founders.
Between 2006 and 2010, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz actively invested in technology companies. Separately, and together, they invested $4 million in 45 start-ups including Twitter.[4] During this time, the two became known as "super angel" investors.[4]
On July 6, 2009, Andreessen and Horowitz launched their venture capital fund with an initial capitalization of $300 million.[5] In November 2010, at a time when the field of venture capitalism was contracting, the company raised another $650 million for a second venture fund.[5][6] In less than two years, the firm was managing a total of $1.2 billion under the two funds.[3]
In May 2011, Andreessen ranked number 10 on the 2011 ForbesMidas List of Tech's Top Investors[7] while he and Horowitz ranked number 6 on Vanity Fair's 2011 New Establishment List[8] and number 1 on CNET's 2011 most influential investors list.[9]
As of March 27, 2014, the firm managed $4 billion in assets after the closing of its fourth fund at $1.5 billion.[10]
In 2009, Andreessen Horowitz made its two first investments: one in business management SaaS developer Apptio[20] and the other in Skype stock.[21] According to Horowitz, the investment was seen as risky by other experts in the field who believed the company would be crippled by ongoing intellectual property litigation and direct competitive attacks from Google and Apple.[21] The company's founders viewed the investment as a success following Skype's sale to Microsoft in May 2011 for $8.5 billion.[21]
In 2010, Andreessen Horowitz invested $10 million in cloud company Okta while leading its Series A Round.[22]
In 2011, Andreessen Horowitz invested $80 million in Twitter,[5] becoming the first venture firm that held stock in all four of the highest-valued, privately held social media companies at the time: Facebook, Groupon, Twitter, and Zynga.[3] Andreessen Horowitz has also invested in Airbnb, Lytro, Jawbone, Belly, Foursquare, Stripe and other high-tech companies.[5][23][24]
In 2016, the firm led an $8.1 million Series A round in Everlaw, a legal technology company, and led a $3.5 million Series Seed round in RapidAPI, an API connection platform for developers.[52][53] Also in 2016, the firm invested $2 million in Cardiogram, a digital health company,[54] and Apeel Sciences, a food science business.[55]
In 2018, the firm raised $300 million for a dedicated cryptocurrency fund.[61] It has also invested in Imply, Smartcar, PeerStreet, CryptoKitties, Dfinity, Earnin, Pindrop, Tenfold, and Very Good Security.[62][63][64][65][66] In September 2018, Andreessen Horowitz participated in a Series A funding round in Applied Intuition, a software company specializing in products for autonomous vehicles (AVs), and Marc Andreessen joined the Applied Intuition board.[67][68]
In 2019 the firm provided $15.3 million in Series A funding to Substack, some of which went to bringing high-profile writers into that network.
[69] In June 2019 the firm also invested in a $9.2 million Series A round in AnyRoad, an experiential marketing platform, and David Ulevitch from Andreessen Horowitz joined the AnyRoad board.[70]
In 2020, the firm led a $150 million Series G round in Roblox, a social video game platform for children.[71][72]
In April 2020, the firm led a $50 million Series D round in Figma, a vector graphics editor and prototyping tool.[73]
Also in April 2020, the firm raised $515 million for a second cryptocurrency-focused fund.[74]
In May 2020, the firm made a $12 million Series A investment in Clubhouse ($10 million in primary capital plus $2 million toward purchasing shares), an audio-chat social networking app valued at nearly $100 million as of December 2020.[75][76]
In January 2021, the firm led a $100 million Series B for the audio-chat social networking app Clubhouse, reportedly valuing it at $1 billion.[77] In April 2021, it led a $220 million Series D for mobile banking and fintech company Current.[78][79]
In July 2021, the firm led a $100 million Series A for the NFT marketplace OpenSea, reportedly valuing it at $1.5 billion.[80]
In October 2021, A16z led the round to Raise $150M Series B at $3B Valuation in Vietnamese studio Sky Mavis, the developer of crypto-based online game Axie Infinity.[81][82]
In December 2021, crowdfunding platform Kickstarter received a $100 million investment from a16z's crypto fund with the expectation that it would pivot to blockchain technology. The decision to pivot backfired, alienated many of Kickstarter's users, and ended up damaging its reputation.[83][84]
In March 2022, Andreessen Horowitz led the round to raise $450 million at a $4B Valuation in Yuga Labs (known for Bored Apes).[85] In October 2022, it was reported that the US Securities and Exchange Commission were investigating Yuga Labs, due to concerns that sales of their digital assets violated US investment laws.[86]
In March 2022, the firm led $27 million Series A for the Rutter, a universal API for commerce data.[87]
In March 2022, a16z with Lux Capital co-led an $90 million round of Los Angeles–based machine-parts start-up Hadrian Automation.[88]
In April 2022, a16z led a $12 million Series A round for Bounce, a marketplace for consumers to access underutilized space in local businesses.[89]
In May 2022, the firm announced the launch of its largest fund to date at $4.5 billion. The fund is set to focus on cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies. The firm stated that $1.5 billion was allocated to seed investments while the remaining $3 billion would be earmarked for venture investments.[90]
In August 2022, the firm announced it would be investing about $350 million in Flow, the latest organization begun by WeWork founder Adam Neumann. The purported aim of Flow is to create a branded product in the housing market with consistent community features, reimagining how real estate works in the US. [91] The decision was met with some criticism due to Neumann's previous business issues in his time at WeWork. [92]
Andreessen Horowitz partners work on behalf of all its portfolio companies, an approach modeled after the Hollywood talent agency, Creative Artists Agency.[95] In 2010, the company hired Margit Wennmachers, a marketing executive at the partner level.[96]
As of 2011, the firm had maintained a database of designers, coders, and executives and used it to help fill positions at its start-ups.[97] Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers became a special advisor to Andreessen Horowitz in June 2011.[98]
In September 2012, former Washington D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty was appointed Andreessen Horowitz's second special advisor.[99] Fenty was hired to advise the firm's portfolio companies on working with local, state, and federal governments.[98]
In 2019, the firm applied to restructure as a registered investment adviser in order to have more freedom to take up riskier bets like cryptocurrency.[100][101]
In 2022, a16z announced GAMES FUND ONE, lead by partner Andrew Chen, its inaugural fund dedicated to building the future of the games industry.[102]
In 2023, the firm announced that it is establishing a cryptocurrency-investment entity in London, United Kingdom.[103]