Exclusive-Andreessen Horowitz seeks to raise $20 billion megafund amid global interest in US AI startups

Krystal Hu, Anna Tong and Kenrick Cai

Tue, Apr 8, 2025, 7:33 AM 4 min read

By Krystal Hu, Anna Tong and Kenrick Cai

SAN FRANCISCO - Venture superior steadfast Andreessen Horowitz is seeking to rise astir $20 cardinal successful what volition beryllium the largest money successful its history, to capitalize connected planetary investors' involvement successful backing U.S. artificial quality companies, sources told Reuters.

The tech concern firm, known informally arsenic a16z, has told constricted partners that the money volition beryllium dedicated to growth-stage investments successful AI companies and gully upon planetary investors keen connected investing successful American companies, the sources said. The grounds fundraising and the extremity of capitalizing connected overseas concern involvement successful the U.S. tech manufacture travel against the backdrop of a sweeping tariff program by President Donald Trump to impulse companies to manufacture goods successful the U.S.

To rise specified a ample magnitude of capital, a16z has been pitching it astir the world. International LPs spot the money arsenic a mode to put their wealth much easy into American AI companies without restrictions, 1 of the sources said.

Andreessen Horowitz did not reply to requests for comment.

A16z's founders, task capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, announced past twelvemonth they would enactment Trump, breaking with their accepted enactment for Democratic candidates, a sentiment shared by different salient Silicon Valley figures specified arsenic Elon Musk.

Even by the standards of a steadfast known for raising immoderate of Silicon Valley's largest concern vehicles, the caller money would correspond a colossal measurement up successful scale. It would trial LPs' involvement successful task superior amid planetary economical turmoil and proceed the statement implicit however scalable this plus people is portion maintaining appealing returns.

If successfully raised, the caller megafund would beryllium surpassed lone by SoftBank's 2 Vision funds, a monolithic experimentation by deploying unprecedented amounts of superior into the tech sector, which has yielded mixed results. SoftBank Vision Fund 1, launched successful 2017, was a record-breaking $100 cardinal fund, portion its successor, Vision Fund 2, manages astir $56 cardinal from SoftBank's equilibrium sheet. Another Silicon Valley task superior firm, Sequoia Capital, has implicit $56 cardinal successful assets nether absorption crossed aggregate funds, with its evergreen money increasing to $19.6 cardinal this year, according to filings.

A16z's largest money to day is simply a $5 cardinal growth-stage money it raised arsenic portion of a $9 cardinal fundraise it announced successful aboriginal 2022. It likewise asked LPs to perpetrate superior into a drawback container of funds, each focused connected a antithetic assemblage oregon signifier of startup maturity, to unafraid a $7.2 cardinal haul successful 2024, $3.75 cardinal for a maturation fund.