Former A16z GP Katie Haun Raises $1.5B To Invest In Crypto Startups With First Fund

Haun Ventures, a new firm led by former Andreessen Horowitz general partner Katie Haun, has raised $1.5 billion to invest in crypto-related startups for its first fund, according to multiple reports.

It’s a significant raise for a few reasons: It may be the largest fund ever raised by a solo general partner, as Axios noted, and by a woman. 

Haun is no stranger to the world of crypto, though. During her career as a federal prosecutor, she created the government’s first cryptocurrency task force. She later became a board member of Coinbase and invested in companies including OpenSea and Chain.

Her fund is among a growing number of new funds dedicated to investing in cryptocurrency. Andreessen Horowitz announced its $2.2 billion Crypto Fund III in June 2021, Coinbase has its own investment arm with Coinbase Ventures, and Paradigm last year announced a $2.5 billion crypto fund.

According to Axios, Haun raised $500 million for an early-stage fund and $1 billion for an “accelerator” fund. 

Venture investment into cryptocurrency hit a record high last year, with $26 billion going into crypto and blockchain companies in 2021, up 477 percent year over year. And with all the interest in Web3, or the idea of a decentralized web, and non-fungible tokens, investors have continued to double down on the space in 2022. 

Illustration: Dom Guzman