Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz Start New Venture Capital Firm
By Anna Johnson on July 14th, 2009Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Netscape Communications – which created the original web browser, Netscape – and business partner Ben Horowitz, have raised $300 million to launch a new venture capital firm called Andreessen Horowitz.
Andreessen and Horowitz are backed by institutional investors, along with prominent Internet players. These include Reid Hoffman, founder of social networking site LinkedIn, and Peter Thiel, co-founder and former CEO of payment service PayPal and co-founder and managing partner of VC firm, The Founders Fund.
Andreessen Horowitz will mainly invest in tech firms offering corporate services and Internet-based consumer solutions.
The firm will adopt a ‘hands off super angel’ investment approach. It will make modest investments in some 70 or 80 companies, but provide minimal input in each. When ‘winners’ emerge, Andreessen Horowitz will then double or triple its investment in such companies.
Source: Spencer E. Ante, “Andreessen Readies a New Venture Capital Firm”, BusinessWeek, July 2, 2009
