Andressen Horowitz, one of the largest venture capital firms in the world, is reportedly aiming to deploy $500 million in the Indian startup sector. The move comes three months after the company–commonly referred to as a16z–raised $9 billion for a trio of the new venture, growth, and bio funds.
Key takeaways:
- The news of Andreessen Horowitz expanding its presence in the Asia region was initially reported by TechCrunch which cited sources familiar with the matter.
- In recent years, India has become a hotbed for venture capital investments, with more than $23 billion pouring into the country’s growing tech and crypto sector in 2021 alone.
- Andreessen Horowitz launched a $2.2 billion cryptocurrency fund called a16z crypto last year, its third blockchain-oriented investment unit since 2018.
- Crypto exchange Coinbase–itself a benefactor of Andreessen Horowitz’s early investments–announced a significant expansion in India last month. The exchange has allocated $150 million to pursue investment in the local Web3 and crypto sector and intends to expand its India-based talent-seeking unit with over 1,000 new employees by the end of 2022.
- India is home to the largest population of crypto owners globally, with over 7% (i.e., 100 million people) owning digital assets. Per a Gemini report published earlier this year, 46% of all crypto owners in the country made their first purchase in 2021.
