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Andreessen: New Fund Focuses on Digital Media

Netscape founder Marc Andreessen has completed raising $300 million for a new venture capital fund with longtime investing partner Ben Horowitz. In an interview with Kara Swisher, Andreessen says the new firm, called Andreessen Horowitz, will invest in digital companies of any size and of any kind and at any stage in their lifecycle. He adds that the firm is also willing to take equity stakes in public companies. "We are unafraid of investing in 400 people instead of 40 people," Andreessen says. "And we could invest $50,000 to $50,000,000."

Andreessen tells Swisher that several major institutional investors-from universities, for example-have invested large chunks in the fund, while a spate of tech luminaries have put in smaller amounts. She notes that Andreessen was able to raise the money relatively quickly, thanks in large part to his reputation as a longtime entrepreneur. Andreessen co-founded Netscape and several other startups, while acting as a mentor to many Web 2.0 entrepreneurs. He is on Facebook's board, and he and Horowitz have also invested in companies like Twitter, Aliph, Digg and LinkedIn.

On becoming a VC, Andreessen says, "It's important to have more capital. Sometimes having a huge checkbook is a great thing."

Read the whole story at D: All Things Digital »

1 comment about "Andreessen: New Fund Focuses on Digital Media ".
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  1. karen petersen, July 6, 2009 at 3:46 p.m.

    FB:HUGELY overinflated site--I'm a reporter that with a little digging found loads of duplicate and fake accounts. Someone on this beat ought to really scrutinize the claims of FB's management as there are a lot less people on this site than they claim...

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