Andreessen Horowitz Commits $500M for Indian Startups: Report

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), one of the dominant forces in the venture capital industry, is planning to invest $500 million in India's growing startup ecosystem, according to a report from TechCrunch citing people familiar with the matter.

• India, with its large, web-savvy population, has seen a surge in interest from investors in its startups.
• VCs invested $23.5 billion in Indian startups in 2021, according to PitchBook data, creating 17 unicorns (companies valued at $1 billion or more) in the process.
• Of this $23.5 billion, $587.16 million was allocated to crypto and Web 3 companies according to reports.
• Andreessen Horowitz's first investment in India was in local crypto exchange CoinSwitch Kuber, where it led a round that closed in October 2021 in which the exchange raise $260 million at a $1.9 billion valuation.
• A16z isn’t commenting on the report, but co-founder and general partner Marc Andreessen has in the past talked about how “tempting” India and other emerging markets are for investment opportunities.
• Chinese crypto venture capital firm Sino Global Capital, led by Matthew Graham, has also made a big push into India as part of its new $200 million fund, which it announced last October.

CORRECTION (May 3, 10:25 UTC): Corrects typo in the headline.