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

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

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

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

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

The denial comes as a16z seems to be scaling again a few of its worldwide ambitions. Earlier this 12 months, the agency determined to close down its London workplace — which opened in 2023 after the U.Ok. authorities reportedly spent five years making an attempt to woo the powerhouse agency, in accordance 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 might proceed to speculate internationally by means of distant groups and native networks. Experiences later indicated that a number of of its scouts have been lively throughout Europe.

To date, India has not been a serious focus for a16z — not like different U.S. enterprise corporations reminiscent of Accel, Basic Catalyst, and Lightspeed Enterprise Companions, which have made deep inroads into the market. The agency’s solely notable guess in India has been crypto trade 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 looking for 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 common companion Marc Andreessen delivered a chat at Stanford Graduate College of Enterprise a few years in the past, saying whereas it’s “extraordinarily tempting” to again startups in rising markets, additionally it is difficult for a enterprise fund to broaden to extra international locations. Enterprise capital is a “very hands-on technique of understanding the folks you’re working with for each evaluating the corporate and work[ing] with the corporate,” he stated on the time.