Andreessen Horowitz denies report of India office, calls it ‘fake news’

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has pushed back on local media reports suggesting it plans to open an office in India, with a general partner calling the coverage “entirely fake news.”

Earlier on Thursday, Indian media outlets reported that a16z was preparing to establish a physical presence in the country by setting up an office in Bengaluru. The reports, which cited unnamed sources, also said the firm was in the process of hiring a local partner.

However, Anish Acharya, a Bay Area-based general partner at a16z who has spent the last six years with the firm, dismissed the reports. “As much as I adore India and the many impressive founders+investors in the region, this is entirely fake news!” he wrote on X.

When contacted, an a16z spokesperson confirmed Acharya’s statement and referred to his post.

The denial comes as a16z appears to be scaling back some of its international ambitions. Earlier this year, the firm decided to shut down its London office — which opened in 2023 after the U.K. government reportedly spent five years trying to woo the powerhouse firm, according to the outlet Sifted. The closure came just 18 months after a16z set up shop, with the firm citing a shift in strategy and more favorable regulatory developments back home. The firm said, however, that it would continue to invest internationally through remote teams and local networks. Reports later indicated that several of its scouts were active across Europe.

So far, India has not been a major focus for a16z — unlike other U.S. venture firms such as Accel, General Catalyst, and Lightspeed Venture Partners, which have made deep inroads into the market. The firm’s only notable bet in India has been crypto exchange CoinSwitch, which it backed as part of the company’s $260 million funding round in 2021.

In the months that followed, a16z was reportedly seeking to invest about $500 million in Indian startups, though it has not made any major investments in the country since.

As TechCrunch has previously noted, a16z co-founder and general partner Marc Andreessen delivered a talk at Stanford Graduate School of Business many years ago, saying while it is “extremely tempting” to back startups in emerging markets, it is also challenging for a venture fund to expand to more countries. Venture capital is a “very hands-on process of understanding the people you’re working with for both evaluating the company and work[ing] with the company,” he said at the time.