The firm, also known as a16z, is doubling down amidst the crypto bear market to pick lucrative opportunities.

Silicon Valley-based, storied, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) announced a new $4.5 billion fund to back startups in the crypto, or web3 space. Computing is now entering the golden era of web3, the firm feels, akin to the golden era of 2009-11, when companies like Uber, Venmo, Snap, and Instagram were started. “That’s why we decided to go big,” wrote Founder and Managing Partner Chris Dixon in the fund announcement. (CNBC)

Of the raised amount of $4.5 billion, a16z will invest $1.5 billion in seed stage startups, and $3 billion as venture finance.

Bear market pickings?

It may also be a very opportune time to raise and deploy money. The crypto market has been on the back foot since November 2021, when cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin touched lifetime highs. The landslide in tech stocks has had a rub-off effect on digital assets, while the recent implosion in Terra/LUNA has further roiled sentiments.

Unsurprisingly, a16z has doubled down on its previous fund – the $2.2 billion Crypto Fund III, launched in June 2021.

“Bear markets are often when the best opportunities come about, when people are actually able to focus on building technology rather than getting distracted by short-term price activity,” Arianna Simpson, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz told CNBC in a phone interview.

Growth in the digital assets space is also another factor.

“What the overall category encompasses is continuing to grow, and as a result, our fund is larger because we really want to be able to support that entire ecosystem,” Simpson clarified to Forbes.

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