After quitting Andreessen Horowitz, cryptocurrency investor Katie Haun has raised $1.5 billion for her new firm, Haun Ventures.
Haun Ventures is a crypto-focused investment firm that has raised $1.5 billion in two funds: a $500 million early-stage fund and a $1 billion “acceleration” fund.
The firm’s debut is one of the most anticipated in recent memory. Haun was one of Andreessen Horowitz’s most high-profile defectors in recent years, serving as the public face for the firm’s crypto efforts at a time when the firm’s founders were retreating from the spotlight.
Katie Haun: ‘Web3 is the new era of the internet’
According to Pitchbook, Haun Ventures’ launch represents the largest debut venture fund ever raised by a single female founding partner. Former investment banker Mary Meeker set the previous record with a $1.3 billion fund spun out from Kleiner Perkins.
“It feels, honestly, like a lot of pressure. But I think that motivates everyone on the team,” Haun told CNBC. “Web3 is the new era of the internet, and it deserves a new era of investors.”
Web3, or Web 3.0, is a broad term for general computing applications based on the blockchain, which is the same technology that underpins bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
NFTs, which are traceable ownership certificates attached to digital files such as art pieces or videos; and decentralized finance applications, which use self-executing “smart” contracts to replace middlemen such as lawyers and bankers in certain types of transactions, are two examples.
Katie Haun’s shock departure at Andreessen Horowitz
In 2018, Haun, a former federal prosecutor, joined Andreessen Horowitz as the firm’s first female general partner, co-leading its various cryptocurrency funds with Chris Dixon.
Many in Silicon Valley were taken aback by her departure. While it was a “dream job,” Haun explained that her decision to leave was about taking more risks and “stepping out of her comfort zone.”
With her new crypto fund, Haun Ventures will invest in both start-up equity and, in some cases, the cryptocurrencies generated by those start-ups, known as tokens.