Andreessen Horowitz denies report of India workplace, calls it ‘pretend information’

Enterprise capital agency Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has pushed again on native media studies suggesting it plans to open an workplace in India, with a basic companion calling the protection “totally pretend information.”

Earlier on Thursday, Indian media shops reported that a16z was getting ready to ascertain a bodily presence within the nation by organising an workplace in Bengaluru. The studies, which cited unnamed sources, additionally stated the agency was within the technique of hiring an area companion.

Nonetheless, Anish Acharya, a Bay Space-based basic companion at a16z who has spent the final six years with the agency, dismissed the studies. “As a lot as I am keen on India and the numerous spectacular founders+traders within the area, that is totally pretend information!” he wrote on X.

When contacted, an a16z spokesperson confirmed Acharya’s assertion and referred to his submit.

The denial comes as a16z seems to be scaling again a few of its worldwide ambitions. Earlier this yr, the agency determined to shut down its London workplace — which opened in 2023 after the U.Okay. authorities reportedly spent 5 years making an attempt to woo the powerhouse agency, in keeping with the outlet Sifted. The closure got here simply 18 months after a16z arrange store, with the agency citing a shift in technique and extra favorable regulatory developments again residence. The agency stated, nevertheless, that it will proceed to speculate internationally via distant groups and native networks. Experiences later indicated that a number of of its scouts had been lively throughout Europe.

To this point, India has not been a significant focus for a16z — not like different U.S. enterprise corporations resembling Accel, Basic Catalyst, and Lightspeed Enterprise Companions, which have made deep inroads into the market. The agency’s solely notable guess in India has has been crypto alternate CoinSwitch, which it backed as a part of the corporate’s $260 million funding spherical in 2021.

Within the months that adopted, a16z was reportedly in search of to speculate about $500 million in Indian startups, although it has not made any main investments within the nation since.

As TechCrunch has beforehand famous, a16z co-founder and basic companion Marc Andreessen delivered a chat at Stanford Graduate Faculty of Enterprise a few years in the past, saying whereas it’s “extraordinarily tempting” to again startups in rising markets, it is usually difficult for a enterprise fund to broaden to extra nations. Enterprise capital is a “very hands-on technique of understanding the folks you’re working with for each evaluating the corporate and work with the corporate,” he stated on the time.