Andreessen Horowitz

Andreessen Horowitz (also known as a16z) is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm founded and managed by tech moguls Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. As of 2026, the firm reportedly managed over $100 billion across multiple funds. 1

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At-A-Glance

Type: For-profit
Issue Areas: Economic Policy, Tech Policy
Website: a16z.com/
Formation:

2009

Founder Partners:

Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz

Location: Menlo Park, CA View on map

Contents

    The firm has invested in companies pursuing artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, consumer technology, cryptocurrency, fintech, video games, and infrastructure. Its major investment wins include Instagram, Oculus VR, GitHub, and Coinbase. 1 2 3

    a16z has a history of contributing to political causes, such as Fairshake, a pro-cryptocurrency super PAC, which reportedly re-disbursed funds to Protect Progress, a group affiliated with the Democratic Party, and Defend American Jobs, a group affiliated with the Republican Party. 4 5 4 a16z also reportedly supplied support to Build American AI, a nonprofit advocacy group that promotes the rapid development of AI technology in the name of U.S. national security. Build American’s sister super PAC, Leading the Future, received funding from Andreessen and Horowitz in 2026. 6 6 6 7

    Background and History

    In 1998, Marc Andreessen and colleagues Ben Horowitz, Tim Howes, and In Sik Rhee founded Loudcloud, a software services company for e-commerce companies. In 2003, it changed its name to “Opsware” and Andreessen began as chairman. In 2007, the company was sold to Hewlett-Packard for $1.6 billion. 8 9

    Andreessen and Horowitz’s Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (also known as a16z) was founded in 2009 on the expectation that software would become the dominant industry in the investment market. As of 2026, the firm reportedly managed over $100 billion across multiple funds. 1

    In 2009, Andreessen and Horowitz decided they would create a venture capital investment firm following the “platform model,” which would lead them to hire the most operators across marketing, talent, legal, and policy departments of any firm in the industry, and dedicate their resources to “helping founders at every stage.” The firm has typically been involved in seed funding of technology startups, as well as supplemental funding to tech firms in their “growth” stages. 1

    Andreessen Horowitz has funded companies pursuing artificial intelligence, biotechnology, consumer tech, cryptocurrency, fintech, video games, and infrastructure. Its major investments include Instagram, Oculus VR, GitHub, and Coinbase. 1 2 3

    As of 2026, both co-founders continued to work as general partners of a16z. 10

    Associations

    Coinbase

    Andreessen Horowitz was an early investor in cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. a16z and its “family of funds” invested in Coinbase on eight separate occasions between 2013 and 2020. a16z’s staffers and leaders have a close relationship with Coinbase’s founders. 3

    As of July 2026, Coinbase and persons affiliated with the company had donated a total of $56.1 million to political causes ahead of the November midterm elections. The vast majority of its expenditure was directed to Fairshake, a pro-cryptocurrency super PAC, to which it gave roughly $52.5 million. Another media report noted that Fairshake was also receiving money from Andreessen Horowitz. 5 4 Another firm that donated money to Fairshake, Ripple Labs, had received investment money from Andreessen Horowitz. 4

    Fairshake reportedly re-disbursed funds to Protect Progress, a group affiliated with the Democratic Party, and Defend American Jobs, a group affiliated with the Republican Party. 4

    Build American AI

    As of 2026, Andreessen Horowitz was listed as a supporter of Build American AI, a nonprofit advocacy group that promotes the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology in the name of U.S. national security. The nonprofit group is linked to Leading the Future, a super PAC funded and managed by executives at OpenAI and Andreessen Horowitz. As of 2026, Build American AI was financing efforts to push pro-AI messaging and raise alarms about the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). 6 6 6

    According to FEC records, as of April 2026 Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz donated $25 million into Build American AI’s sister super PAC, Leading the Future, ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. 7

    Second Trump Administration

    Marc Andreessen volunteered to help with the early stages of the second Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which at the time was being led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. In January 2025, Andreessen jokingly referred to himself as an “unpaid intern” for DOGE, and during an interview with the right-of-center Hoover Institution said it was a priority of his to curb the number of federal employees working remotely. 11 12

    Leadership

    Andreessen Horowitz was founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. 1

    Andreessen is a technology entrepreneur and venture capitalist operating in Silicon Valley. In 1993, he co-created Mosaic, one of the first graphic web browsers in history, which greatly accelerated the process by which the general public became users of the World Wide Web: before Mosaic, there were about 50 websites in existence, and in the year following Mosaic’s launch, the number increased by roughly 10,000. 13

    Andreessen’s largest financial success came with his decision to become a seed investor of Facebook. As of 2026, he continued to sit on the board of Facebook’s parent company, Meta. 2 14

    As of 2026, Andreessen sat on the boards of Applied Intuition, Carta, Coinbase, Dialpad, Flow, Golden, Honor, OpenGov, Samsara, Simple Things, and TipTop Labs, all of which were in a16z’s investment portfolio. 15

    Andreessen is active on social media and often engages in political messaging. In the 2024 presidential election, he supported the second election of President Donald Trump, donating at least $2.5 million to pro-Trump super PAC Right for America in support of his campaign. During the second Trump administration, Andreessen advised the Department of Government Efficiency led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. 16 17

    Ben Horowitz is the son of David Horowitz, the late right-of-center activist and operative who founded the David Horowitz Freedom Center. Ben donated $2.5 million to Right for America, a pro-Trump super PAC, during the 2024 presidential election, but also gave to groups supporting Democratic candidate and then-Vice President Kamala Harris, which one observer referred to as a way to “hedge his bets.” After President Trump won election in November 2024, Ben said “Hallellujah!” in a video on the a16z YouTube channel. In the same video, the a16z founders contended that the Biden administration’s regulations on technology companies had been too strict and positively forecast that the second Trump administration would permit large growth in the technology industry. 18 17 19 A16z. “Trump is About to Change

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    References

    1. “Who We Are.” Andreessen Horowitz, April 8, 2026. https://a16z.com/about/.
    2. “Marc Andreessen.” Forbes, August 11, 2026. Accessed August 11, 2026. https://www.forbes.com/profile/marc-andreessen/.
    3. Haun, Katie. “Coinbase Direct Listing.” Andreessen Horowitz, April 14, 2021. Accessed July 10, 2026. https://a16z.com/coinbase-direct-listing/.
    4. Sledge, Matt. “Who’s Spending in Your Congressional Election? We Tracked the Front Groups Fueling the 2026 Midterms.” The Intercept, May 18, 2026. Accessed July 10, 2026. https://theintercept.com/2026/05/18/super-pac-election-spending-midterms-aipac-ai-crypto/.
    5. Morse, Clara Ence; Shapiro, Leslie; Somasundaram, Praveena; Lau, Eric. “Meet the megadonors pouring more than $1.3 billion into the 2026 election.” The Washington Post, June 25, 2026. Accessed July 9, 2026. https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/interactive/2026/06/25/these-are-biggest-individual-donors-2026-election-cycle/.
    6. Lorenz, Taylor. “A Dark-Money Campaign Is Paying Influencers to Frame Chinese AI as a Threat.” Wired, May 1, 2026. Accessed July 6, 2026. https://www.wired.com/story/super-pac-backed-by-openai-and-palantir-is-paying-tiktok-influencers-to-fear-monger-about-china/. Archive: https://archive.is/20260501203551/https://www.wired.com/story/super-pac-backed-by-openai-and-palantir-is-paying-tiktok-influencers-to-fear-monger-about-china/.
    7. Birnbaum, Emily; Allison, Bill. “Andreessen, Horowitz Boost AI Super PAC to Over $50 Million.” Bloomberg, April 15, 2026. Accessed July 6, 2026. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-15/andreessen-horowitz-boost-ai-super-pac-cash-to-over-50-million.
    8. Venkat, Girish. “Loudcloud: Early light on cloud computing.” CNET, March 23, 2009. Accessed August 11, 2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20130330034003/http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10202058-92.html.
    9. Martens, China. “HP Buying Opsware in $1.6 Billion Deal.” PC World, July 24, 2007. Accessed August 11, 2026. https://web.archive.org/web/20210308174420/https://www.pcworld.com/article/134946/article.html.
    10. “Marc Andreessen.” A16z. Accessed August 11, 2026. https://a16z.com/author/marc-andreessen/.
    11. Pearson, Jake. “Tech Billionaire Marc Andreessen Bet Big on Trump. It’s Paying Off for Silicon Valley.” ProPublica, November 5, 2025. Accessed August 17, 2026. https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-cfpb-marc-andreessen-silicon-valley.
    12. Redmond, Nora. “DOGE’s ‘unpaid intern’ Marc Andreessen says DC is a ghost town, and bringing government workers back is a top priority.” Business Insider, January 17, 2025. Accessed August 17, 2026. https://www.businessinsider.com/marc-andreessen-doge-rto-staff-office-ghost-town-washington-dc-2025-1.
    13. Keen, Andrew. The Internet Is Not the Answer. Open Road + Grove/Atlantic, 2015. Chapter 2. https://books.google.com/books?id=D3UkBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT17#v=onepage&q&f=false.
    14. “Leadership and Governance.” Meta. Accessed August 11, 2026. https://investor.atmeta.com/leadership-and-governance/.
    15. “Marc Andreessen.” A16z. Accessed August 19, 2026. https://a16z.com/author/marc-andreessen/.
    16. Tiku, Nitasha. “Tech billionaire Trump adviser Marc Andreessen says universities will ‘pay the price’ for DEI.” The Washington Post, July 12, 2025. Accessed August 11, 2026. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/07/12/marc-andreessen-private-chat-universities-diversity/.
    17. Oritz, Katherine. “Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz each donated $2.5 million to a pro-Donald Trump super PAC.” Business Insider, October 15, 2024. Accessed August 19, 2026. https://www.businessinsider.com/marc-andreessen-ben-horowitz-donated-millions-pro-trump-pac-2024-10.
    18. Klion, David. “I Thought David Horowitz Was a Joke—but He Foreshadowed the Trump Coalition.” The Nation, May 15, 2025. Accessed August 19, 2026. https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/david-horowitz-radical-son/.
    19.