The $100B venture firm picks South Korea for its talent and tech adoption, with crypto initiatives taking priority before expanding to AI and other sectors. The Seoul office will support portfolio companies entering Asian markets.
Andreessen Horowitz, the Silicon Valley venture firm known as a16z, has opened a Seoul office and designated South Korea as a strategic base for its Asia expansion. Crypto will be the firm's first area of focus, according to a Chosun report.
The new office will help portfolio companies enter South Korea and other Asian markets. The launch comes about six months after a16z revealed plans to expand its presence in the region. Managing roughly $100 billion in assets, the firm said it selected South Korea because of the country's talent pool and strong adoption of new technologies. Sectors cited include AI and manufacturing, along with crypto adoption and consumer products. The firm also noted South Korea's defense and content industries.
From its Seoul base, a16z plans to support portfolio companies with hiring, business development, policy engagement, media outreach and partner networks. Crypto-related initiatives will take priority in the early stages before activities expand into additional sectors.
Leading operations from the new office is Park Sung-mo, a16z Crypto's Asia-Pacific go-to-market lead. Park, appointed when the firm's Asia expansion plans were announced in December, previously worked at Naver and the Monad Foundation. He said the firm focuses on helping portfolio companies grow and enter new markets rather than providing capital alone. The Seoul office will actively support portfolio companies seeking opportunities in South Korea and across Asia, he added.
The opening adds another step to a16z's increasing activity in technology sectors across the region. In May, Bloomberg reported that a16z led a $250 million funding round for AI search startup Exa Labs, valuing the company at $2.2 billion. Exa develops search infrastructure designed for AI systems.
Interest in financial infrastructure has also remained a priority. Earlier this month, a16z Crypto invested $100 million as part of a $355 million funding round for Digital Asset Holdings, the company behind Canton Network. Other participants included Citadel Securities, Apollo, BNP Paribas, HSBC, CME Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Optiver and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. CME Ventures is the venture arm of CME Group (Alpha Score 54, Mixed). Digital Asset said the funding will support ecosystem growth, partnerships and acquisitions. The company has promoted Canton Network as a blockchain platform for tokenized assets and institutional finance, with reported support for more than $6 trillion in tokenized issuance.
For traders watching crypto adoption in Asia, a16z's move signals that institutional capital sees South Korea as a gateway. The firm's first focus on crypto means portfolio companies will likely target Korean exchanges and users. That could drive liquidity and regulatory engagement. A16z's investment in Digital Asset Holdings also reinforces its bet on tokenized finance, a sector that relies on institutional infrastructure like Canton Network.
What would confirm the strategy is working? More Korean crypto startups receiving a16z backing, clearer regulatory frameworks from Seoul, and portfolio companies successfully entering the market. What would weaken the thesis? A regulatory crackdown on crypto in South Korea, a lack of local talent for portfolio companies, or competition from other venture firms already established in the region.
a16z said it intends to contribute to South Korea's startup ecosystem by creating opportunities between its portfolio companies and local businesses, using Seoul as a gateway for expansion across Asia.
Prepared with AlphaScala research tooling and grounded in primary market data: live prices, fundamentals, SEC filings, hedge-fund holdings, and insider activity. Each story is checked against AlphaScala publishing rules before release. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.