Andreessen Horowitz has converted itself from being a venture capital (VC) firm to a registered investment adviser (RIA).
The 10-year-old firm, founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, filed in March to become an RIA, as it seeks greater flexibility in its investments, particularly when it comes to cryptocurrencies, said Margit Wennmachers, an operating partner at the firm, reported CNBC, which cited Forbes as the first outlet to report on the change. In the United States, venture capital funds are not allowed to hold more than 20 percent of their money in liquid securities such as cryptocurrencies.
Last year, the firm launched a16z Crypto, a $350 million fund that exclusively invests in crypto companies and protocols. Together with venture capital firm Polychain Capital, Andreessen Horowitz’s cryptocurrency fund a16z Crypto have invested $25 million in cryptocurrency payments startup Celo. Celo announced that the two investors have purchased $15 million and $10 million in the project’s Celo Gold tokens. Celo is targeting emerging markets and is focusing its efforts on making it extremely simple to send and receive cryptocurrency with a mobile phone.
Andreessen Horowitz is considered one of the richest and most famous firms on Sand Hill Road, in Menlo Park, Calif. Between 2006 and 2010, Andreessen and Horowitz actively invested in technology companies. Separately, and together, they invested in 45 start-ups, including Twitter, Slack, Pinterest and Airbnb. During this time, the two became known as super angel investors, which are serial investors in early stage ventures in Silicon Valley, Calif.
