Katie Haun raises $1.5 billion for debut crypto funds
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Katie Haun has raised $1.5 billion for a pair of crypto-focused VC funds, just months after leaving Andreessen Horowitz to form her own firm.
Why it matters: This appears to be the largest fund ever raised by a solo venture capitalist, let alone by a solo female VC, and reflects surging investor interest in web3.
Details: Haun Ventures raised $500 million for its first early-stage fund and $1 billion for what it's calling an "accelerator" fund.
- The funds will invest both in startup equity and more liquid strategies like digital tokens.
- Haun tells Axios that the firm will seek to become a registered investment advisor (RIA), which would remove limits on the percentage of fund capital that can be used for token purchases.
- Investors include Haun's former firm, Andreessen Horowitz, and some of its individual partners. Plus a variety of more traditional VC limited partners, like university endowments, charitable foundations and family offices.
What they're saying: "We'll invest through all layers of the web3 stack," explains Haun, a former federal prosecutor who sits on the boards of crypto exchange Coinbase and NFT marketplace OpenSea. "I still think there's innovation potential at specialized layer one projects, but think layer two — which deals with scalability on the blockchain — might hold the key for how to solve some issues of the Web 2.0 era, like identity and security."
- She adds that the funds also will look at "picks and shovels" companies, including developer tools, end-to-end NFT services and crypto tax software.
Haun is the firm's only general partner, but she does plan to hire other investing partners.
