Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is on the verge of pouring hundreds of millions into start-ups in India, the world’s sixth-largest economy, and home to 94 unicorns, 13 of which were born just this year.
The U.S.-based venture capital firm is planning to invest $500 million into the growing landscape of Indian start-ups, as reported by TechCrunch, which cited anonymous sources familiar with the matter. A16z, a venture capital fund that invests in crypto and Web 3.0 startups, has issued no official comment on the topic as of this writing.
Reportedly, this is not the first time a Silicon Valley firm has entered the Indian market. Andreessen Horowitz made its first $260 million investment into cryptocurrency exchange ‘CoinSwitch Kuber’ last year. The four-year-old trading startup became India’s second crypto unicorn with a $1.9 billion valuation in October 2021.
India in Demand
Andressen Horowitz is not the only firm eyeing India for potential investment. Multiple other venture capital sharks are exploring possibilities and increasing their investments in the world’s second-largest population.
Just a week ago, VC firm Lightspeed India Venture Partners disclosed plans to raise $500 million for its Indian funds. Tiger Global Management, Sequoia Capital, Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) Ventures, FTX Ventures, South Korean Hashed, and China’s Sino Global Capital also reportedly have plans to increase tech hirings and investments in India, according to insiders familiar with the matter.
Venture capitalists cumulatively invested over $23.5 billion in India’s start-ups last year. The figure represents almost double the amounts of 2019 and 2020 combined. To put that number in perspective, venture capital firms invested $33 billion in total to crypto and blockchain-related start-ups during 2021.
A16Z’s Crypto Portfolio
Founded in 2009, Andreessen Horowitz, also known by A16Z, is one of the largest venture capital firms on the market, and the largest crypto VC investor worldwide. The firm runs crypto funds of over $2.2 billion, as per 2021’s data, and has funded at least 50 crypto-related start-ups.
The venture capital firm is one of Coinbase’s major investors, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges today. The crypto portfolio of A16Z currently includes prominent names like Anchorage Digital, Avalanche, Celo, MakerDAO, Nansen, NEAR, OpenSea, Optimism, Solana, Uniswap, and Yuga Labs.
