Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is on the verge of pouring hundreds of millions into start-ups in India, the world’s sixth-largest economy, and home to 94 unicorns, 13 of which were born just this year.

According to TechCrunch which reported anonymously from sources with knowledge of the matter, a U.S.-based venture capital company plans to invest $500,000,000 in the Indian startup ecosystem. The venture capital firm A16z invests in Web 3.0 startups and crypto.

According to reports, it isn’t the first time that a Silicon Valley company has entered India. Andreessen Horowitz made its first $260 million investment into cryptocurrency exchange ‘CoinSwitch Kuber’ last year. The four-year-old trading startup became India’s second crypto unicorn with a $1.9 billion valuation in October 2021.

India is in High Demand

Andressen Horowitz, however, isn’t the only company that has eyes on India as a potential investor. Multiple other venture capital sharks are exploring possibilities and increasing their investments in the world’s second-largest population.

Lightspeed India Venture Partners announced just a week ago plans to raise 500 million dollars for Indian funds. Tiger Global Management, Sequoia Capital, Coinbase (NASDAQ:) Ventures, FTX Ventures, South Korean Hashed, and China’s Sino Global Capital also reportedly have plans to increase tech hirings and investments in India, according to insiders familiar with the matter.

Venture capitalists cumulatively invested over $23.5 billion in India’s start-ups last year. This figure is almost twice the amount invested in India’s start-ups by venture capitalists during 2019 and 2020. This number is representative of the total investment made by venture capital funds to cryptocurrency and blockchain-related start ups in 2021.

A16Z’s Crypto Portfolio

Andreessen Horowitz (also known as A16Z) was established in 2009 and is the biggest crypto-VC investor globally. The firm runs crypto funds of over $2.2 billion, as per 2021’s data, and has funded at least 50 crypto-related start-ups.

The venture capital firm is one of Coinbase’s major investors, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges today. A16Z has prominent crypto names including Anchorage Digital,. Celo, MakerDAO and Nansen.

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