a16z bets another $4.5 billion on web3: 32 projects have been invested in 2022

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)'s $4.5 billion fourth cryptocurrency was finally launched five months after the plan was revealed at the beginning of the year. It was led by company partners Chris Dixon, Sriram Krishnan, Arianna Simpson and Ali Yahya.

This is a16z's largest cryptocurrency fund to date and the largest fund of its kind. After establishing its first cryptocurrency fund of $300 million in 2018, the funds established by a16z have become larger and larger. In 2020, Crypto Fund II raised $550 million, Crypto Fund III raised $2.2 billion in 2021, and Crypto Fund IV, which was launched this year, raised $4.5 billion, bringing the total size of cryptocurrency funds led by a16z to more than $7.6 billion.

a16z said it plans to use $3 billion of the funds for venture capital and another $1.5 billion for seed investment in Web3 startups, specifically including web3 games, Defi, decentralized social media, Layer1&Layer2 infrastructure, bridges, DAOs, NFTs, creator economy, renewable finance, ZK proofs, and more.

Arianna Simpson, partner at a16z, said: "Bear markets are often when the best opportunities emerge. People are more able to focus on building technology in bear markets without being disturbed by short-term price fluctuations. Although our investment pace has been fast, we continue to invest only in top founders."

Despite the turbulent crypto markets, a16z is increasingly looking to gain more exposure to promising Web3 startups.

To this end, Golden Finance has taken stock of the projects invested by a16z since 2022.

Golden Finance found that since the beginning of this year, a16z has invested in 32 projects, involving popular tracks such as web3 social media, NFT, blockchain games, and infrastructure. Among these projects, 26 were led by a16z.

Among these investments, a16z also participated in the ecosystem construction funds of Flow and Nym.

It is worth noting that a16z also co-led the following projects with other well-known investment institutions including FTX, Paradigm, and Softbank: for example, it co-led the investment in web3 interactive media Metatheory with FTX and Pantera, co-led the investment in Lightspark with Paradigm, co-led the investment in chain game M² with Softbank, co-led the investment in distributed wireless communication company Helium with Tiger GLobal, and co-led the investment in LayerZeroLabs with FTX and Sequoia Capital.

In addition, this year a16z made its first investment in Africa - web3 game developer Carry1st, and regarded it as an arena in Africa. a16z said, "We see a huge opportunity for the company to reflect the outstanding success we have seen in markets such as India and Southeast Asia."

Although the crypto market has shown a downward trend since the beginning of this year, the web3 field has still received a lot of human and financial investment. As a16z partner Chris Dixon said: "This is the golden age of web3", we also look forward to a16z continuing to support the development of the entire ecosystem.