a16z raised $15 billion, claiming it would make America win.

Author: Curry, Deep Tide TechFlow

Last Friday, a16z announced the completion of a $15 billion fundraising round.

Note that this is fundraising, not investment. LPs entrust them with money so they can invest in others.

How staggering is this number?

In 2025, all VCs in the US raised a total of $66.1 billion, the lowest in eight years. a16z alone took nearly 20%.

The industry is going through a downturn, and they are stockpiling.

But why are LPs willing to entrust them with money during this harsh winter?

Perhaps because they have a track record of making money during downturns.

In 2009, they invested in Facebook, just after the financial crisis, and nobody dared to invest. In 2013, they invested in Coinbase, when most people thought Bitcoin was a geek toy. In May 2022, Bitcoin fell by 55%, Coinbase's stock price fell by 80%, and a16z was still raising a $4.5 billion crypto fund.

At the time, the comments section was full of laughter at them taking over the losses.

Last year, The Information reported that the fund's returns had soared. The reason was simple: their investment in Solana rose from $8 to $180 at that time.

"Be greedy when others are fearful" is often just motivational rhetoric. But if you're greedy every time you're fearful, and you always win, it becomes a kind of credit record. Returning to the $15 billion, how will a16z spend it? $6.75 billion will be invested in growth companies, reinforcing projects that have already succeeded and are poised for further expansion. $1.7 billion will be invested in application layers, $1.7 billion in underlying technologies, and $700 million in biopharmaceuticals. The remaining $1.176 billion will be invested in a theme called "American Dynamism." The direct translation is "American Vitality," which sounds like a slogan created by a high-end think tank. Looking at what they've already invested in under this theme reveals the true meaning: Enabling America to build again. Build what? Weapons. Companies in this portfolio, such as Anduril (autonomous weapon systems), Shield AI (military drones), Saronic (unmanned warships), and Castelion (hypersonic missiles), share a common thread: their largest customer is the Pentagon. a16z himself stated that if a war broke out with China in the Taiwan Strait, the US missile arsenal would be depleted in 8 days, and it would take 3 years to replenish it. In the eyes of the Americans, this isn't alarmist; it's business. The US military-industrial complex is aging; Lockheed Martin and similar companies are too slow and expensive, and the Pentagon needs new suppliers. a16z is betting on this gap, using VC money to incubate a batch of "software-defined weapons" companies, which will then be sold to the Department of Defense once they mature. $1.176 billion isn't a large sum, but it represents a bet on a judgment. The US is rebuilding its manufacturing industry, starting with the military. Betting on the military requires more than just money; it also requires connections. a16z has that. In late 2024, Marc Andreessen described himself as an "unpaid intern" at DOGE (Department for Government Efficiency), helping the department recruit, and reportedly spending half his time at Mar-a-Lago advising Trump. DOGE was disbanded early last November, but a16z's network remained. Their first employee, Scott Kupor, is now the Director of the Office of Personnel Management in the United States. Trump just said this week that the defense budget will be increased to $1.5 trillion next year. Many VCs invest in the defense industry, but very few can simultaneously invest in companies and influence policy. This may be one of a16z's true moats—not just investing, but also participating in rule-making. They invested in missile companies while simultaneously helping the government decide who gets contracts. It feels a bit like being both referee and player. You could call it a conflict of interest, or you could call it resource integration. Anyway, LPs don't care; they only care about returns. Many people know a16z because of Crypto. In this $15 billion deal, Crypto wasn't listed separately; it was crammed into the $3 billion "Others" category. Has crypto been abandoned? No. Ben Horowitz clearly stated in his blog, "AI and Crypto are the key architectures of the future." However, for a16z, Crypto no longer needs a separate fund. Their first Crypto fund in 2018 was $350 million. By 2022, it had grown to $4.5 billion. Now? They invest directly from their main fund, putting it in the same pool as AI, military, and energy. What does this signify? This shows that in their eyes, Crypto has transformed from a "new track" into infrastructure. Exchanges are infrastructure, public chains are infrastructure, and DeFi protocols are also infrastructure. Like AWS, Nvidia, and missiles, they are all underlying technologies. Previously, VCs invested in Crypto; now they invest in infrastructure. The landscape has broadened. For the Crypto industry, this is actually good news. Being categorized as "other" might seem like a downgrade, but it's more like graduation. It means this concept no longer needs separate explanation; limited partners (LPs) understand it, and Western regulators are beginning to accept it. Of course, this also means Crypto projects will have to compete with AI and military projects for the same funding pools. The competition is becoming more intense. Meanwhile, Ben also wrote a sentence on his blog that Sequoia might not be too happy to hear: "As a leader in US venture capital, the fate of new technologies rests partly on our shoulders." Sequoia has been in the industry for 50 years, while a16z has only been for 16. Yet both now manage around $90 billion, tied for first place globally. Why? In essence, VC sells two things: vision and resources. Vision is hard to prove. You might say you have a good eye, but you'll have to wait ten years to see. Resources are different; they can be accumulated. What a16z has been doing all these years is building up its resources. They have the strongest content team in the industry, producing podcasts, blogs, and newsletters with output comparable to media companies. Before entrepreneurs even receive funding, they've already been thoroughly influenced by a16z's worldview. They have connections in Washington. It's not just about knowing a few politicians; it's about directly placing people in the government. They also have the advantage of scale. Managing $90 billion in funds, you can write a $1 billion check to SpaceX—smaller funds simply can't do that. It's not just about making accurate investments; it's about making yourself irreplaceable. Entrepreneurs approach you not because you have a lot of money, but because you can help them secure government contracts. LPs approach you not because of high returns, but because others don't have your policy influence. This approach is difficult for other VCs to replicate. Of course, there are risks involved. a16z's current strategy is partly tied to the fate of the United States. If their predictions of AI success, military industry growth, and the revival of American manufacturing are wrong, a large portion of their $15 billion investment will be lost. a16z is betting not just on the technology cycle, but on the political cycle. This cycle is arguably even harder to predict than the technology cycle. However, the fact that LPs are willing to entrust them with $15 billion indicates that the market believes in this judgment. Or rather, in an uncertain world, a16z offers a kind of certainty: We know how to turn money into influence, and then influence into returns. We invest when others dare not, we bet when others don't understand. Then we wait for the cycle to turn around and reap the rewards of trust. Therefore, you can understand this $15 billion as a vote of confidence from LPs to a16z. Next, we'll see how a16z invests in the US.