[Update] a16z Rejects Report Of It Setting Up Office In India

a16z To Set Up Shop In India With Office In Bengaluru

SUMMARY

A day after it was reported that Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is looking to set up an office space in Bengaluru, the VC firm has denied the same

A source told Livemint that the investment firm began scouting for talent six months ago in April and is looking to back Indian-origin early-stage AI and SaaS startups

Founded in 2009, a16z is one of biggest VC funds globally, with $46 Bn in AUM, and has backed giants like Airbnb, Asana, Slack, Facebook, among others

Update | October 10, 14:29 IST

A day after it was reported that Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is looking to set up an office space in Bengaluru, the VC firm has denied the same. “As much as I adore India and the many impressive founders+investors in the region, this is entirely fake news!,” a16’s general partner Anish Acharya said in a post on X.

Original | October 10, 2:20 IST

US-based venture capital (VC) giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is reportedly setting up its shop in India with an office in Bengaluru.

A source told Livemint that the investment firm will focus on backing homegrown early-stage AI and SaaS startups, which cater to global clients. As per the report, the VC firm’s San Francisco-based general partner (GP) Anish Acharya is already helming hiring for India.

a16z, which is said to have begun scouting for talent six months ago in April, plans to likely begin with hiring two persons to help build the deal pipeline in the country.

“They are speaking to some of the GPs from local funds who are either in the process (of leaving) or have already left big VC firms. They are also keen on operators coming out of scaled-up startups and ecommerce companies who understand this market better,” a source reportedly added.

Founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, a16z is one of biggest VC funds globally with over $46 Bn in assets under management (AUM) across multiple funds. Andreessen Horowitz has so far made 250+ exits from companies including such as travel tech giant Airbnb, workflow management platforms Asana and Slack, Facebook, ride-hailing platform Lyft, among others.

While its rivals like Sequoia (through Peak XV Partners), Lightspeed and Accel have been operating in the country for a decade now, a16z has not had much of a presence in India nor launched India-focussed funds.

In 2022, the VC firm had reportedly set aside $500 Mn to invest in Indian startups. However, very few of those deals materialised. If reports are to be believed, a16z has only made only three investments in homegrown new-age tech ventures so far.

In 2022, it infused $260 Mn in Bengaluru-based crypto exchange Coinswitch Kuber, followed by an undisclosed seed investment in hyper-casual skill gaming platform Plutus Labs and Android emulator platform BlueStacks.

a16z’s India foray comes at a time when the Indian startup ecosystem is emerging from the throes of two year-long funding winter. The new-age tech landscape is maturing, with a renewed investor focus on profitability and sustainable growth, the rise of AI and a jump in funding.

As a result, Indian VC firms have been accumulating dry powder in droves. As per Inc42 data, investors launched funds worth over $9 Bn in the first nine of months of 2025, surpassing the $8.7 Bn number in the whole of 2024.

Just days ago, early stage VC firm Theia Ventures marked the first close of its maiden fund, with a total target corpus of $30 Mn. Prior to this last month, early-stage accelerator 888VC floated its maiden INR 175 Cr alternate investment fund to back AI and deeptech ventures.