Andreessen Horowitz
VC Roundup: NFTs, crypto mortgages, 5G network and Web3 devs raise millions
The cryptocurrency market has failed to make significant headway in recent months, but that hasn’t stopped the industry’s builders from building. Nonfungible tokens (NFTs), crypto mortgages, blockchain-powered cellular networks and Web3 gaming have all piqued the interest of venture capitalists. These new and familiar investment themes headline the latest edition of VC Roundup, as venture funds continue to target blockchain’s most promising value plays. a16z execs back new NFT fund Andreessen Horowitz’s foray into the blockchain industry continued this month after a large segment of its investing team backed a new nonfungible token fund called Curated. The fund, which is worth $30 million, has the singular purpose of buying and holding NFT artwork. Among the a16z brass, Marc Andreess...
Diem team members raise $200M to launch blockchain derived from it
Former Meta employees and key players behind the firm’s defunc stablecoin project Diem have raised $200 million to expand a new project dubbed “Aptos.” Aptos was cofounded by former Novi — Meta’s crypto unit — strategic partnerships lead Mo Shaikh and tech lead Avery Ching. The duo arenow serving as the CEO and CTO for the new firm. Both left the company in December, prior to Diem being sold to Silvergate Capital in February this year. The team is building a decentralized Layer 1 blockchain that is partly based on Move, the coding language initially developed for Diem. The company is now in the process of growing its developer ecosystem and attracting projects to the blockchain, which it touts will be a cheap, secure and scalable network. According to a March 16 announcement, Aptos’ $200 m...
Crypto Biz: Goldman Sachs tip-toes into ETH, Mar. 4-10
Wall Street’s embrace of digital assets is showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, they don’t even need to tell us about it as the proof is in the fine print. This week, a United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing revealed that multinational investment bank Goldman Sachs has been quietly offering clients exposure to Ether (ETH) through Galaxy Digital, a crypto-focused financial services provider headed by billionaire Mike Novogratz. Of course, this isn’t the first time Goldman has worked with Galaxy Digital to offer clients a gateway to digital assets. In June 2021, the investment giant began trading a Bitcoin (BTC) futures project in collaboration with Galaxy Digital. Like other financial services giants, Goldman Sachs sees the writing on the wall and realizes...
Andreessen Horowitz invests $70M in Ethereum staking protocol Lido
Ethereum staking solution Lido Finance has raised $70 million from venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz, marking the protocol’s first funding round since May 2021. Andreessen Horowitz’s investment in Lido is intended to further support the adoption of decentralized staking solutions for Ethereum 2.0, a spokesperson for the venture capital firm said. Ethereum 2.0 marks a significant shift in the network’s consensus algorithm by ushering in the adoption of proof-of-stake (PoS) and other upgrades that could enhance scalability and reduce fees. The transition to Ethereum 2.0, which began in November 2020, is still ongoing. Excited to share that @a16z has invested $70M in @LidoFinance, one of the easiest ways to stake ETH and other PoS assets, and we used Lido to stake a portion of o...
Blockchain startups grow as global VC funding generated $25.2B in 2021
Last year was impressive for blockchain startups, as research from CB Insights found that venture capital funding reached new heights during every quarter of 2021. According to CB Insights’ “State Of Blockchain 2021” report, $25.2 billion worth of venture capital funding went to global blockchain startups last year, demonstrating a 713% increase from $3.1 billion in 2020. The report also found that the United States led the greatest amount of funding deals in Q4 of last year, generating $6.26 billion for 157 deals. The document notes that global growth was driven by increasing consumer and institutional demand for crypto-related products and services. VC funding focused on crypto adoption Chris Bendtsen, a senior analyst at CB Insights, told Cointelegraph that CB Insights’ report con...
Reports Bored Ape creator in talks with A16z: Potential valuation $5B
Silicon Valley tech VC Andreessen Horowitz (A16z) is reportedly eying an investment in Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs, with a reported valuation as high as $5 billion. Sources for the Financial Times revealed that Yuga Labs is seeking funding for a multi-million dollar piece of the company. If a deal is secured, it would mark the first institutional investment Yuga Labs has accepted as its popular nonfungible token (NFT) collection has become one of the biggest in the industry. The terms of the deal have not yet been set and negotiations may be canceled outright. Neither A16z nor Yuga Labs have confirmed the talks p Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is currently the second-most traded collection on the largest NFT marketplace OpenSea, with 380,821 ETH ($1 billion) in total traded volume....
a16z, Google lead $20M investment in Africa Web3 game publisher Carry1st
Web3 and social games publisher Carry1st has raised $20 million in Series A funding to further expand product development in Africa — a continent that could become the premier hub for the gaming industry over the next decade. The investment round was led by Silicon Valley venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, which has been highly active in the blockchain space, with additional participation from Avenir and Google-parent Alphabet. Carry1st’s existing backers, including Riot Games, Konvoy Ventures, Raine Ventures and TTV Capital, also participated in the investment round. The cash injection will be used by Carry1st to expand its content portfolio, grow its in-house development team and spearhead a new growth strategy to attract tens of millions of new users. A key pillar of its growth str...
KKR leads $350M raise for crypto custody bank Anchorage Digital
Major cryptocurrency custody bank Anchorage Digital has closed a fresh funding round, bringing its valuation to over $3 billion. Anchorage Digital announced on Wednesday that it had raised $350 million in a Series D funding round led by equity investment giant KKR. According to the announcement, this is the first time for KKR to directly invest in equity in a company in the crypto industry. The company invested through its Next Generation Technology Growth Fund II, which is dedicated to developing equity investment in the technology space. “As a pioneer in enabling institutional investors to access digital assets, Anchorage has built a best in class, institutional-grade digital asset platform that combines the best practices of both modern security and usability,” KKR senior leader of tech...
- 1
- 2
