Macauley Peterson

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                <li>a16z has earmarked $1.5B for seed investments in Web3 startups</li>
                <li>It’s time for the “golden era” of Web3, the firm said</li>
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<p>Venture capital behemoth Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has raised the largest-ever crypto venture fund: $4.5 billion.</p>



<p>The vehicle, the firm’s fourth, brings a16z’s total crypto and Web3 holdings to $7.6 billion.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The launch makes good on <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/andreessen-horowitz-looking-to-raise-4-5b-for-new-crypto-funds/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a plan unveiled in January</a>, when the company published a now-updated <a href="https://a16zcrypto.com/#vertical-landing-investment-thesis" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">investment thesis</a> predicated on the “power of software” as “the encoding of human thought, and as such has an almost unbounded design space.”</p>



<p>“We think we are now entering the golden era of Web3,” general partner Chris Dixon said in a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/a16zs-chris-dixon-crypto-growth-is-consistent-despite-downturn/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blog post</a> announcing the new fund. “Programmable blockchains are sufficiently advanced, and a diverse range of apps have reached tens of millions of users. More importantly, a massive wave of world-class talent has entered [Web3] over the last year.”</p>



<p>Talent flocks to the industry during a bull market, Dixon <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/a16zs-chris-dixon-crypto-growth-is-consistent-despite-downturn/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told the audience</a> at last week’s Permissionless conference in Palm Beach, adding that a bear market is the prime time for builders to focus on what comes next.</p>



<p>The fund will invest in Web3 startups that run the gamut from DeFi, to gaming, infrastructure, DAOs, NFTs, privacy, decentralized social media “and many other areas.”</p>



<p>The firm also plans to expand its in-house staff to meet the vetting needs of additional startup investments.&nbsp;</p>



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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We will also keep expanding the a16z crypto operating teams that provide world-class support to our founders, spanning research and engineering, security, talent &amp; people, legal &amp; regulatory, go-to-market, and a lot more.</p>&mdash; AriannaSimpson.eth (@AriannaSimpson) <a href="https://twitter.com/AriannaSimpson/status/1529419370534952960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 25, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p>The crypto portfolio of a16z consists of several dozen companies, including big names like Dapper Labs, dYdX, OpenSea, Near, Solana, Phantom and Uniswap. The <a href="https://a16z.com/2022/05/24/investing-in-flowcarbon/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">most recent addition</a> is Flowcarbon, which is building an on-chain carbon credit tokenization platform.</p>



<p>“Our frequent conversations with builders have given us the confidence to go big, and we’re grateful to be your partner,” Dixon wrote of the latest fund.</p>



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Arianna Simpson