BOOM! Andreessen Horowitz opening office in Miami Beach

By Nancy Dahlberg

Andreessen Horowitz, the Silicon Valley venture capital giant, is putting down stakes in the Miami area. The firm also known as a16z signed a five-year lease for a new office in Miami Beach and will likely be moving in by the end of the year..

Andreessen is leasing a floor at the new Starwood Capital Group headquarters building at 2340 Collins Ave., taking in total 8,000 square feet at the Class A property, according to a news release Thursday. The deal includes a private terrace for Andreessen and access to an additional communal terrace for other tenants, including Starwood Capital Group and BTIG, Bloomberg reported today.

Andreessen also announced on Thursday it will be opening new offices in New York and Santa Monica, in addition to Miami Beach, and will keep its offices in San Francisco and Menlo Park, as part of its “move to the cloud.”

 “In our firm’s new operating model, we work primarily virtually, but will use our physical presence to develop our culture, help entrepreneurs, and build relationships. As a result, we have configured the firm to be able to physically assemble anywhere in the world very quickly,” said a16z co-founder and General Partner Ben Horowitz, in a blog post.  “Our headquarters will be in the cloud and we will continue to create physical offices globally where needed to support our teams and partners.”

a16z, one of the nation’s largest venture capital firms with about $33.3 billion of assets under management, has been no stranger to #MiamiTech. General Partners Katherine Boyle and Christopher Lyons are active in Miami’s ecosystem, and a16z has invested in several locally based startups and funds, including toy metaverse builder OnChain Studios, blockchain-based gaming startup Faraway, NFT investment fund Meta4, and of course the mega-round of Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs (Lyons is on the board). In the past two years, hundreds of venture capitalists and founders have relocated to the Miami area, and a16z’s office news follows other prominent VC firms that have opened offices here now, including SoftBank and Founders Fund. Along with tech companies, the Miami area also has seen an influx of financial firms moving in, including most recently Citadel, which announced it would relocate its headquarters to Miami from Chicago.

“Planting their flag in Miami, and especially in this building, is hugely important and a massive signal to founders, engineers, other investment firms that Miami is here to stay,” said Brandon Charnas, co-founder of Current Real Estate Advisors,  in the Bloomberg report. Current’s Senior Managing Director Alec Kirschner brokered the deal.

Led by Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, Miami is becoming known as a crypto capital, and this latest move to a neighboring city bolsters those efforts. Andreessen Horowitz raised $4.5 billion for a cryptocurrency fund earlier this year, and its local startup investments have been in that space.

“Establishing a long-term presence in Miami Beach helps us expand our work in the area to collaborate with founders in new ways, build lasting relationships, and support the area’s already thriving tech community,” said Phil Hathaway, a16z’s COO, in a statement. “We’re thrilled to call Miami Beach a new home for a16z and we can’t wait to welcome entrepreneurs, investors, and business and community leaders into our space.”

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Nancy Dahlberg