University of Michigan to Raise Investment in Crypto Fund

The University of Michigan is considering to increase its investment stake in the Andreessen Horowitz-managed crypto fund a16z.

The university has already invested $3 million in the Horowitz-operated $300 million fund in last June and, according to the publically released board of regents meeting agenda, the university is considering to follow up on its investment.

The meeting agenda explained that “as opportunities related to crypto networks transition from being undefined to becoming more visible and sharply defined, the need for a separate thematic fund may recede.”

However, the agenda did not disclose any amount for the follow-up investment.

Invest When the Market is Bleeding

Andreessen Horowitz’s $300 million crypto fund attracted a lot of attention from US universities as, reportedly, Yale University also invested in the corpus. Launched last year, the fund has focused its investment in blockchain firms at various levels.

The crypto market has been going through a slump for the past year, however, the Menlo Park-based fund has already strategized for such market situations. At the launch of the fund, Andreessen Horowitz’s general partner Chris Dixon said: “[The fund] plans to invest consistently over time, regardless of market conditions. If there is another ‘crypto winter,’ we’ll keep investing aggressively.”

$12 Billion Endowment Fund

The university’s endowment fund is estimated to be around $12 billion. Last October, Erik Lundberg, chief investment officer of the university, said that the performance of the fund was “sufficient to sustain and grow the endowment in real terms, net of spending.”

Other than Andreessen Horowitz, a few notable funds in which the university has invested are Zell Equity International Fund VI, Kuramo Africa Opportunity Fund Ill, TCV X, Carmel Partners Fund VII, Mosaic Ventures, and KHP Fund V.

Although the value of Bitcoin has gone down by more than 80 percent from its peak, cryptocurrency funds did not stop backing sustainable Blockchain businesses. Yesterday, Finance Magnates reported that Pantera Capital has secured a large chunk of its $175 million funds to invest in cryptocurrency developments.