A16z, also known as Andreessen Horowitz, the venture capital (VC) company that has invested millions in crypto-related projects, has announced the launch of its own crypto research lab. This new initiative seeks to marry academic research with producing ideas and putting them into practice in startups and organizations in which the company is heavily invested.
A16z Announces It Will Conduct Academic Research Related To Blockchain
Andreessen Horowitz, an organization that invests heavily in crypto and Web3 startups, announced the launch of the a16z crypto research lab, an initiative that will enable the company to address the challenges presented by the industry. The company considers that the cryptography and Web3 sector “has emerged as a new technological frontier, and has become an independent field of knowledge that brings together elements of computer science, economics, finance and of the humanities”.
This potential the VC firm sees in the blockchain environment is what is fueling its dedication to trying to solve all the new problems that the crypto environment faces, combined with the ability to put these resolutions to the test. On this, a16z stated:
There is an opportunity for an industrial research lab to help bridge the worlds of academic theory with industry practice, and help shape crypto and web3 as a formal field of study by bringing together the best research talents from the different disciplines that are relevant to the space.
The lab will be headed by Tim Roughgarden, a researcher and computer science professor at Stanford and Columbia, and Dan Boneh, professor of computer science and electrical engineering at Standford, where he also leads the Center for Blockchain Research.
Practical focus in mind
A16z created this initiative with a practical goal in mind, applying the solutions designed and found through a survey to a portion of the companies in which a16z has significant investments.
Be it DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations), decentralized finance, or NFT Gamefi projects, the a16z crypto lab will have four teams directed to make companies in the a16z portfolio generate ideas for solving hard open problems, implement these solutions in code, make sure these solutions comply with regulations, and share these findings with the crypto community.
The company was aiming to raise $4.5 billion for two different crypto-related funds in January, with $1 billion going towards funding new startups in the space.
