Andreessen Horowitz Crypto Investor Katie Haun to Leave Firm

(Bloomberg) -- Katie Haun, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz and crypto investing leader, is leaving the firm to start her own crypto- and web3-focused fund.

Haun will keep her board seats at Andreessen Horowitz-backed companies, including Coinbase Global Inc. and OpenSea, she said on Twitter.

Haun has been a driving force for crypto investing in Silicon Valley, helping make Andreessen Horowitz a major player in the space. This summer, the firm announced its latest crypto fund, totaling $2.2 billion. The firm’s crypto investing team will continue to be led by Chris Dixon, Ali Yahya, Arianna Simpson, Dixon said in a tweet, and Anthony Albanese will continue leading the operations team. Albanese, along with Miles Jennings, Jai Ramaswamy, Bill Hinman and Brian Quintenz, will lead regulatory and legal efforts, Dixon said.

Andreessen Horowitz will invest in Haun’s new fund, Dixon said, meaning Haun will likely stay close to the firm’s network. “We are deeply grateful to Katie and all she contributed to a16z,” Dixon tweeted. “We’ll be anchor LPs in her new fund and expect to closely collaborate on policy initiatives.”

Haun, a graduate of Stanford Law School who clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, spent a decade as a federal prosecutor with the Justice Department. She is credited with creating the government’s first cryptocurrency task force and leading investigations into the Mt. Gox hack and corruption within the U.S. government’s investigation of Silk Road transactions.

After joining Andreessen Horowitz in 2018, Haun became the firm’s first female general partner. She has backed and advised a range of crypto companies, from early stage upstarts to public behemoths like Coinbase. Bloomberg LP, which owns Bloomberg News, has invested in Andreessen Horowitz.

Haun did not give details on her new fund except to call it an “exciting new chapter,” and to say she would share more next year.

Investor funding for crypto and blockchain startups has boomed this year. Globally, the value of venture investments in the industry surged from $3.1 billion in 2020 to $21.3 billion through Nov. 30—a more than sixfold increase, according to data compiled by research firm CB Insights.

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