129 lines
14 KiB
Markdown
129 lines
14 KiB
Markdown
---
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category: "Private Organization"
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aliases:
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- "a16z"
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- "AH Capital Management"
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tags:
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- Organization
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- VentureCapital
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- SiliconValley
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- EffectiveAccelerationism
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- Defense
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summary: "Venture firm founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, a registered investment adviser from 2019, whose American Dynamism fund invests in defense and whose partner Scott Kupor was named to head OPM."
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start: 2009
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relations:
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- type: founded
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with: "[[Marc Andreessen]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 2009
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fn: 1
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- type: founded
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with: "[[Ben Horowitz]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 2009
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fn: 1
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- type: funded
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with: "[[Thinking Machines Lab]]"
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start: 2025-07
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role: "led the seed round"
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fn: 9
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- type: funded
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with: "[[Safe Superintelligence]]"
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start: 2024-09
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fn: 10
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- type: funded
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with: "[[Worldcoin]]"
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start: 2023-05
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role: "co-investor, Series C; co-lead, 2025 token sale"
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fn: 11
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- type: funded
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with: "[[Nash (company)]]"
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start: 2021-09
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role: "seed investor, fall 2021; co-founders Mahmoud Ghulman and Aziz Alghunaim"
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fn: 18
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- type: funded
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with: "[[Nash (company)]]"
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start: 2022-07
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role: "led Series A, announced July 26, 2022"
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fn: 18
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- type: funded
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with: "[[Sanabil Investments]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 2026-01
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role: "Sanabil, the venture arm of the Public Investment Fund, lists the firm among its holdings, per TechCrunch January 2026"
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fn: 15
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- type: funded
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with: "[[MGX]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 2026-03
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role: "co-lead, per Bloomberg, of a roughly 10 billion dollar OpenAI financing announced for close the following week; see OpenAI page"
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fn: 16
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- type: employed_by
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with: "[[Brian Quintenz]]"
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reverse: true
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start: 2021-09-09
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role: "advisory partner at a16z crypto; head of policy from December 5, 2022"
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fn: 4
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- type: funded
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with: "[[Kalshi]]"
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start: 2025-10-10
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role: "co-led the 300 million dollar Series D with Sequoia Capital"
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fn: 7
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created: 2026-09-22
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updated: 2026-10-13
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---
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Andreessen Horowitz, known as a16z, is a venture capital firm founded in 2009 by [[Marc Andreessen]], co-founder of [[Netscape]], and [[Ben Horowitz]]. It invests in consumer software, cryptocurrency, biotechnology and, through its "American Dynamism" practice, defense and national-security technology, the category that also anchors [[Founders Fund]] and [[Palantir Technologies]]. In March 2019 the firm gave up its venture-capital registration and registered with the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] as an investment adviser, freeing it from the rule that limits venture funds to about twenty percent of holdings in liquid securities and allowing it to buy crypto tokens, public stocks and secondary shares. In April 2024 it raised 7.2 billion dollars across five funds, including a 3.75 billion dollar growth fund and a 600 million dollar American Dynamism fund, and by January 2026 it had raised more than 15 billion dollars in a single round, taking its assets under management above 90 billion dollars.[^1][^2]
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### Government
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Andreessen and Horowitz endorsed [[Donald Trump]] in July 2024 on their podcast, presenting a "Little Tech" agenda. After the election Andreessen advised on personnel for the [[Department of Government Efficiency]], and the a16z partner Scott Kupor was named to lead the Office of Personnel Management.[^3]
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### Crypto Policy and Prediction Markets
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On September 9, 2021, nine days after his service as a [[Commodity Futures Trading Commission]] commissioner ended, [[Brian Quintenz]] joined [[a16z crypto]] as an advisory partner. On December 5, 2022 the unit announced that he had accepted the full-time position of head of policy.[^4] Quintenz had joined the board of [[Kalshi]] on November 16, 2021, and was still on it when Donald Trump named him in February 2025 to chair the CFTC. His ethics agreement of May 21, 2025 pledged resignation from AH Capital Management and from the Kalshi board, and recusal from matters involving Andreessen Horowitz for two years and Kalshi for one year; the White House withdrew the nomination on September 30, 2025.[^5] A company filing of January 2026 describes him as the former head of policy for a16z crypto.[^6]
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Kalshi's announcement of October 10, 2025 describes its 300 million dollar Series D at a 5 billion dollar valuation as "co-led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Sequoia Capital, with significant participation from Paradigm."[^7] Andreessen Horowitz is named among the participants in Kalshi's 1 billion dollar Series E at an 11 billion dollar valuation (announced December 2, 2025) and in the 1 billion dollar Series F at a 22 billion dollar valuation led by [[Coatue Management]], reported on May 7, 2026.[^8]
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### Artificial Intelligence
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The firm led the seed round of about 2 billion dollars, at a 12 billion dollar valuation, of [[Mira Murati]]'s [[Thinking Machines Lab]] in July 2025, alongside Nvidia, Accel, ServiceNow, Cisco, AMD and [[Jane Street Capital|Jane Street]].[^9] It invested in [[Ilya Sutskever]]'s [[Safe Superintelligence]] in its round of September 2024 at a 5 billion dollar valuation and in April 2025 at 32 billion.[^10] Its crypto fund joined the 115 million dollar Series C of [[Sam Altman]]'s [[Worldcoin]] in May 2023 and co-led its 135 million dollar token sale in May 2025.[^11] Andreessen's "Techno-Optimist Manifesto," published by the firm on October 16, 2023, listed "existential risk," "trust and safety" and "tech ethics" among its enemies and named the neoreactionary [[Nick Land]] among its "patron saints."[^12]
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### Saudi Arabia and the Gulf
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In 2016 the firm and Founders Fund sold shares in [[Lyft]] to Saudi Arabia's [[Alwaleed bin Talal]] and his [[Kingdom Holding]], according to TechCrunch.[^13] In 2017 Marc Andreessen agreed to join the advisory board of [[NEOM]], the project led by Crown Prince [[Mohammed bin Salman]].[^13]
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In October 2022 Ben Horowitz spoke at the "Davos in the Desert" investment conference in Saudi Arabia, and in 2023 the firm's 350 million dollar investment in [[Flow]] was discussed at a conference organized by a nonprofit backed by one of Saudi Arabia's largest sovereign funds.[^13] TechCrunch wrote in April 2023 that the firm "has never made public who its limited partners are," and that it had reached out to the firm with questions and had not received a reply.[^13]
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On March 20, 2024 CNBC reported that Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the [[Public Investment Fund]], was in talks with the firm. Two people with knowledge of the matter told CNBC that the talks would see "a partnership formed between Saudi Arabia's $925 billion Public Investment Fund and Andreessen Horowitz," and that "talks have not yet been finalized." The reported vehicle was an AI fund of about 40 billion dollars.[^14]
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TechCrunch reported on January 9, 2026 that a16z had raised "a little more than $15 billion" in new funding, bringing its assets under management to more than $90 billion. The article states that "Sanabil Investments, the venture arm of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, lists Andreessen Horowitz among its portfolio holdings," and that the firm "appears to be very friendly with actual sovereign wealth funds, including at least one from Saudi Arabia."[^15]
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In March 2026 the company told Bloomberg that the firm would co-lead a roughly 10 billion dollar financing for [[OpenAI]], alongside [[MGX]], [[D.E. Shaw Ventures]], [[TPG]] and T. Rowe Price.[^16]
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Dealroom's October 2026 item on the [[Echelon (company)]] round, which names Ben Horowitz among the early backers, describes the founder, [[Khalid bin Bader Al Saud]], as an adviser to Andreessen Horowitz.[^17]
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### Nash and Early Portfolio Ties
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In the fall of 2021 the firm made the seed investment in [[Nash (company)]], a company founded by [[Mahmoud Ghulman]] and [[Aziz Alghunaim]]. On July 26, 2022 the firm announced that it was leading Nash's Series A. The announcement reads: "We first partnered with Nash for their seed round in the fall of 2021," and "We're excited to announce that a16z is leading the Series A for Nash."[^18]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: Andreessen Horowitz, firm history. https://a16z.com/
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[^2]: "Andreessen Horowitz says it will no longer be a venture capital firm." *CNBC,* April 2, 2019, https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/02/andreessen-horowitz-goes-against-the-grain-and-becomes-financial-advisor.html ; "Andreessen Horowitz raises $7.2 billion across five funds." *CNBC,* April 16, 2024.
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[^3]: "Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz endorse Trump." *Axios* and *TechCrunch,* July 16-17, 2024; "Marc Andreessen advising the Trump transition and DOGE." *Fortune,* January 16, 2025.
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[^4]: "Fresh out of the CFTC, Brian Quintenz joins a16z Crypto's advisory team," The Block, September 9, 2021, https://www.theblock.co/amp/linked/117098/fresh-out-of-the-cftc-brian-quintenz-joins-a16z-cryptos-advisory-team ; "Brian Quintenz, a16z crypto's New Head of Policy," a16z crypto, December 5, 2022, https://a16zcrypto.com/brian-quintenz-new-head-of-policy/ ; CFTC, "Former Commissioners" (service to August 31, 2021). https://www.cftc.gov/About/Commissioners/FormerCommissioners/index.htm
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[^5]: "Brian Quintenz joins board of the first CFTC-regulated events market," The Block, November 16, 2021, https://www.theblock.co/post/124482/brian-quintenz-joins-board-of-the-first-cftc-regulated-events-market ; CasinoBeats, "Trump's CFTC Nomination Quintenz to Resign From Kalshi, Recuse Himself on Related Matters," May 29, 2025, reporting the ethics agreement submitted to the Office of Government Ethics on May 21, 2025, https://casinobeats.com/2025/05/29/trumps-cftc-nomination-quintenz-to-resign-from-kalshi-recuse-himself-on-related-matters/ ; "Trump admin withdraws Brian Quintenz as CFTC nominee," Cointelegraph, September 30, 2025. https://cointelegraph.com/news/white-house-pulls-brian-quintenz-cftc-nominee
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[^6]: SUI Group Holdings Ltd., Form 8-K filed January 9, 2026 (accession 0001654954-26-000203), Item 5.02. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1425355/000165495426000203/suig_8k.htm
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[^7]: Kalshi, "Kalshi hits $5 billion valuation amid international expansion," October 10, 2025. https://news.kalshi.com/p/kalshi-hits-5-billion-valuation-amid-international-expansion
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[^8]: Kalshi, "Kalshi Reaches $11 Billion Valuation as App Takes over America," December 2, 2025, https://news.kalshi.com/p/kalshi-11-billion-valuation-series-e ; Brian Danga, "Kalshi hits $22 billion valuation after $1 billion raise led by Coatue," The Block, May 7, 2026. https://www.theblock.co/post/400413/kalshi-hits-22-billion-valuation-after-1-billion-raise-led-by-coatue
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[^9]: "Mira Murati's Thinking Machines Lab is worth $12B in seed round." *TechCrunch,* July 15, 2025.
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[^10]: "AI's Big Day: Startup Safe Superintelligence Raises $1B At Reported $5B Valuation." *Crunchbase News,* September 4, 2024, https://news.crunchbase.com/ai/startup-safe-superintelligence-unicorn-raise/ ; "OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever's Safe Superintelligence reportedly valued at $32B." *TechCrunch,* April 12, 2025.
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[^11]: "Sam Altman's crypto project Worldcoin raises $115M led by Blockchain Capital." *CoinDesk,* May 25, 2023; "World raises $135M." World blog, May 21, 2025.
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[^12]: Andreessen, Marc. "The Techno-Optimist Manifesto." Andreessen Horowitz, October 16, 2023. https://a16z.com/the-techno-optimist-manifesto/
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[^13]: Loizos, Connie, "Andreessen Horowitz is now openly courting capital from Saudi Arabia, despite U.S. strains," *TechCrunch*, April 1, 2023: on the 2016 Lyft share sale to "Saudi Arabia's Prince al-Waleed bin Talal and his Kingdom Holding"; "In 2017, Andreessen also joined forces with the prince's first cousin, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ('MBS'), agreeing to join the advisory board of MBS' ambitious project, Neom"; "Though the 14-year-old outfit has never made public who its limited partners are"; and the "We reached out to Andreessen Horowitz with related questions this morning and have yet to hear back." https://techcrunch.com/2023/04/01/andreessen-horowitz-is-now-openly-courting-capital-from-saudi-arabia-despite-u-s-strains/
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[^14]: Turak, Natasha, "Saudi Arabia reportedly in talks with VC firms like Andreessen Horowitz to create mammoth $40 billion AI fund," *CNBC*, March 20, 2024: "would see a partnership formed between Saudi Arabia's $925 billion Public Investment Fund and Andreessen Horowitz"; "The people stressed that talks have not yet been finalized." https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/20/saudi-arabia-in-talks-with-andreessen-horowitz-to-create-ai-fund.html
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[^15]: Loizos, Connie, "The venture firm that ate Silicon Valley," *TechCrunch*, January 9, 2026: "a little more than $15 billion" in new funding and "more than $90 billion" in assets under management; "Sanabil Investments, the venture arm of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, lists Andreessen Horowitz among its portfolio holdings"; "a16z appears to be very friendly with actual sovereign wealth funds, including at least one from Saudi Arabia." https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/09/the-venture-firm-that-ate-silicon-valley
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[^16]: Bloomberg, "OpenAI Set to Raise $10 Billion From MGX, Coatue, Thrive," March 24, 2026, as reproduced by Bloomberg Government: "Andreessen Horowitz, Abu Dhabi's MGX, D.E. Shaw Ventures, TPG and T. Rowe Price will co-lead the financing, which is set to close next week, the company told Bloomberg Tuesday." https://news.bgov.com/california-brief/openai-set-to-raise-10-billion-from-mgx-coatue-thrive-2
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[^17]: Dealroom, news item on the Echelon launch, October 8, 2026: "Its early backers include East40, RAED Ventures, Avra, and Ben Horowitz"; the item lists the founder's roles as "a venture partner at RAED Ventures and an adviser to Andreessen Horowitz." https://dealroom.co/news/160932-saudi-ai-company-echelon-launches-with-backing-from-ben-horowitz-avra-an/
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[^18]: Andreessen Horowitz, "Investing in Nash," posted July 26, 2022: "We first partnered with Nash for their seed round in the fall of 2021"; "We're excited to announce that a16z is leading the Series A for Nash"; the post welcomes "Mahmoud, Aziz, and the Nash team." https://a16z.com/announcement/investing-in-nash/
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