Andreessen Horowitz’s plan to push its agenda in Washington exhibits no signal of slowing down, with the agency reporting $1.49 million in federal lobbying thus far this yr, in accordance with lobbying information filed with Congress. a16z is even narrowly outspending its personal business commerce group, the Nationwide Enterprise Capital Affiliation.
The tempo of lobbying seems to be accelerating from final yr, in accordance with a TechCrunch evaluation of lobbying disclosures. a16z spent $1.8 million on lobbying in all of 2024 and $950,000 in 2023.
a16z’s lobbying technique stands out amongst main VC corporations, most of which nonetheless report little to no federal lobbying. Sequoia Capital has reported simply $120,000 year-to-date, whereas Basic Catalyst is at $500,000 for a similar interval. By comparability, a16z’s spend is simply forward of the NVCA’s $1.40 million.
In response to questions, an a16z individual referred TechCrunch to articles written by the agency’s co-founders on its views on coverage and the “Little Tech” agenda. In a single December 2023 article, co-founder Ben Horowitz mentioned the agency was non-partisan and one-issue voters: “If a candidate helps an optimistic technology-enabled future, we’re for them. In the event that they wish to choke off vital applied sciences, we’re in opposition to them.”
The agency’s in-house lobbying staff is tasked with influencing lawmakers on a variety of points, from digital-asset regulation, stablecoins, and AI. Whereas a16z’s strikes to form legal guidelines round crypto are properly documented, the lobbying disclosures present how the agency has set much more bold sights on shaping the nation’s protection priorities.
Protection makes its first specific look in a16z’s third quarter report from 2023, which added the Nationwide Protection Authorization Act as a particular lobbying challenge. The agency has continued to foyer on the annual protection coverage invoice in subsequent quarters.
The Nationwide Safety Council exhibits up for the primary time in a submitting overlaying the second quarter of 2024 and stays on the record this yr, a sign that the agency is framing questions on finance and tech alongside nationwide safety traces.
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Though agency co-founders Marc Andreessen and Horowitz staked their help on President Donald Trump within the final election, the in-house coverage staff is notably bipartisan, with authorities affairs leaders recruited from either side of the aisle.
The rise in spending comes as a16z makes a extra aggressive push into regulated industries, like protection and the commercial base, each of that are focus areas of the American Dynamism apply, and hot-button applied sciences like AI. The agency has paired this push with bringing on in-house coverage expertise; final week, former deputy nationwide safety advisor Anne Neuberger joined as a senior advisor targeted on “American Dynamism, AI, and cyber,” Horowitz mentioned on X.
Lobbying {dollars} don’t neatly correlate with affect, nonetheless.
Founders Fund, for instance, experiences little to no federal lobbying, but its community has outsized entry within the Pentagon and White Home. Companion Trae Stephens helped lead the 2016 DOD transition and was floated in 2024 for Deputy Secretary of Protection, whereas Michael Kratsios, a longtime Thiel Capital aide, served as Performing Beneath Secretary of Protection for Analysis and Engineering in 2020 and is now the science advisor to the President.
Enterprise funds can affect politics in different methods. In parallel to registered lobbying, the agency additionally channels cash by political motion committees (PACs). Most not too long ago, The Wall Avenue Journal reported that a16z helps again a brand new pro-AI community of PACs known as Main the Future.
