Andreessen Horowitz has expanded its fifth growth fund to $8.5 billion, adding $1.75 billion to the vehicle since it launched in January with $6.75 billion.
The move underlines the venture capital firm’s growing focus on financing companies as they move beyond the start-up phase and begin scaling products, operations and international expansion.
David George, the general partner who leads Andreessen Horowitz’s growth investment team, said in an announcement that the fund had invested in more than 100 companies over seven years.
He said companies were reaching the growth stage more quickly in the current technology cycle, particularly in artificial intelligence, while requiring larger sums of capital and attracting higher valuations.
The expanded Andreessen Horowitz growth fund will target enterprise and consumer artificial intelligence, defence technology, robotics, infrastructure hardware and software, and health technology.
The fundraising comes only days after the firm announced a separate $1.1 billion vehicle called the Machine Age Fund. That fund is focused on hardware businesses developing chips, memory, networking and storage for artificial intelligence systems.
The latest commitments also form part of a wider fundraising drive. Andreessen Horowitz announced $15 billion in new funding in January, when it said its assets under management had reached $90 billion.
The firm has also increased its spending on political activity and lobbying during the US election year, alongside its investments across the technology sector.
