Andreessen Horowitz renames its a16z Crypto fund a16z Frontier and widens its scope

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is renaming its a16z Crypto unit a16z Frontier and expanding its new fund beyond crypto startups, Chris Dixon, who leads the unit, said in a blog post on Thursday 22 October.

Dixon wrote that the fund will invest in “frontier startups: companies building new technologies and creating markets that may take years to develop.” He said the change is “an expansion” and that the firm “will continue to invest in crypto and related ventures and advocate for sensible crypto regulation.”

In the post, Dixon said the firm is especially interested in new products enabled by AI, including autonomous machines, advances in biology and medicine, and networks connecting people and AI agents. He wrote that blockchains “will play a significant role,” citing stablecoins as “a standard tool for fintechs, established institutions, and others.”

Dixon said he will lead the fund with the firm’s founders, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, and general partners Eddy Lazzarin and Guy Wuollet.

The Information first reported the rebrand on Thursday and said partner Ali Yahya is leaving the firm, CoinDesk reported. Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto investments have included Coinbase, Solana and Uniswap, according to Dixon’s post.