The concept will initially resemble those of other big international venture capital firms, such as Tiger Global.
In order to keep a close eye on businesses in the third-largest startup ecosystem globally, the storied venture capital company Andreessen Horowitz, or a16z as it is more popularly known, plans to create an office in India.
It comes at a time when venture capitalists are seeing India as a hedge against China and as a market with the potential to provide large returns on their investments.
In India, what will the A16Z do?
As part of the strategy, the international venture capital fund would consider hiring two to three investment specialists in India who will examine transaction flow and visit Indian firms before making an investment.
It will serve as more of an outpost indicating A16Z’s presence in India than a full-fledged office. An industry official said, “There would be two to three investment experts in India who will find transactions and forward them to their global investment committee (IC) for final approvals.”
The concept will initially resemble those of other big international venture capital firms, such as Tiger Global.
A tiny staff that keeps track of prospects and closes transactions that seem profitable.
In India, what investments has A16Z made?
A16z has been mostly missing in India. The only noteworthy deal it made that was open to the public was in the cryptocurrency platform CoinSwitch (formerly CoinSwitch Kuber). It spearheaded the business’s 2021 $260 million fundraising round.
A16Z said a few weeks after the investment that it is trying to negotiate new transactions in India but has not yet done so. Although it has not signed any contracts, the business said in 2022 that it will invest up to $500 million in Indian companies.
Mint was the first to report on the development, stating that Anish Acharya, the general partner of a16z, is personally seeking executives in India to work on SaaS and AI agreements.