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Welcome again to Chain Reaction, a podcast that interviews newsmakers in crypto to higher perceive the tech behind the hype and the folks working to construct a decentralized future.
For this week’s episode, Jacquelyn interviewed Arianna Simpson, common accomplice at Andreessen Horowitz (generally often known as a16z).
Previous to becoming a member of a16z, Arianna based Autonomous Companions, an funding fund targeted on crypto. She additionally helped launch Crystal Towers Capital, an early-stage fund investing primarily in YC firms.
A16z has dug deep into the crypto area after launching 4 funds devoted to the business. The latest one closed at $4.5 billion in Might 2022, and Arianna thinks it’s acceptable, given the dimensions of the chance.
“I definitely suppose the ecosystem has grown to a measurement the place it completely helps a fund of this measurement and that’s why we raised a fund of this measurement,” Simpson mentioned. “We didn’t have to lift any quantity; we selected a quantity that we thought spoke to the dimensions of the chance. The ecosystem has clearly grown tremendously and is continuous to draw tons of early-stage entrepreneurs who’re constructing throughout the board.”
When requested if there could be a fifth crypto fund from a16z, Simpson mentioned, “I definitely hope so.” She added a16z will “proceed to tailor our fund sizes to alternatives we see available in the market.”
A few of the agency’s portfolio firms embody massive crypto gamers we’ve interviewed previously, like Alchemy, Avalanche and Aptos.
Through the years, there’s been an growth of funding alternatives “into a complete new world of shopper functions, experiences and merchandise that simply weren’t attainable as a result of they couldn’t run on blockchains a couple of years in the past, and now they’re,” Simpson mentioned. “To me, that’s what’s actually thrilling: there’s this entire world of functions that can be utilized by shoppers.”
We talked about Simpson’s background, how her technique has modified over time, what she appears to be like for in founders and whether or not she would launch one other VC agency sooner or later.
We additionally mentioned:
- The present investing local weather
- The web3 gaming area
- The place founders are constructing
- The regulatory panorama
- Recommendation for founders
Chain Response comes out each different Thursday at 12:00 p.m. PT, so make sure to subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favourite pod platform to maintain up with the newest in web3 and crypto.
