Andreessen Horowitz has raised $1.1 billion for Machine Age, its first dedicated hardware-infrastructure fund. The firm announced the vehicle in a post on its website on August 28, 2026, according to Bloomberg, and general partners Raghu Raghuram and Martin Casado will lead the strategy, which targets both early- and growth-stage companies, according to TechCrunch. The total raised is $1.1 billion; sizes of the firm’s prior fund vintage vehicles were not disclosed in the sources reviewed. The San Francisco-based venture firm did not disclose limited partners, per-investor commitments, special financial terms or a post-money valuation, none of which apply to a closed-end fund raise. Confirmation status: confirmed by three outlets.
The Wall Street Journal reported the raise on August 28, 2026, describing Machine Age as the firm’s first dedicated hardware-infrastructure fund. There is no external lead investor or co-investor list: Andreessen Horowitz is the fund manager, and per-investor dollar amounts were not disclosed. The firm’s announcement post was authored by general partners Ben Horowitz, Martin Casado, Raghu Raghuram, David Ulevitch and David George, according to Unite.AI. Use of funds is explicit: AI processors, memory chips, networking equipment, data storage and robotics, plus data centers and home AI appliances. The firm’s prior funding history in hardware includes leading Skydio’s Series A in 2016, an investment in SpaceX, its first check into Anduril in 2019 and participation in Waymo’s 2020 raise; recently it backed Unconventional AI, Nexthop, Volta, Atoms, Heron Power and Mind Robotics, according to the announcement post.
The firm’s first dedicated hardware vehicle
Machine Age is a $1.1 billion hardware-infrastructure fund targeting the physical layer of AI: processors, memory, networking, storage, robotics, data centers and home AI appliances. The firm’s stated investment thesis is that AI workloads are creating bottlenecks across hardware and supply chains. The announcement said hardware startups represented more than 20% of the firm’s deal flow as of August 28, 2026, according to Unite.AI. Raghuram, a Netscape veteran who worked alongside Marc Andreessen there and later served as chief executive of VMware, joined Andreessen Horowitz as a general partner in 2025, according to The Wall Street Journal. Casado joined in 2016 after founding software startup Nicira and serving as a VMware executive following its acquisition of Nicira, and he also leads the firm’s software-infrastructure fund. “The simplistic way to think about it is things that are within the four walls of the data center, this fund would do,” Raghuram said.
Where the comparable deal math lands
Cap table math does not apply to a fund launch: no lead investor, no insider participation, no preferred equity terms and no post-money valuation were disclosed, because the $1.1 billion is committed capital raised by the manager. The nearest comparable deal in AI hardware is Etched, which on August 18, 2026 announced $700 million raised at a $21 billion valuation, led by Jane Street, after a $300 million Series C at a $10.3 billion valuation in July 2026 and a $5 billion valuation in December 2025, according to TechCrunch. That implies a step-up valuation of 21 ÷ 10.3 = 2.04× against the July 2026 round and 21 ÷ 5 = 4.2× against the December 2025 mark; Etched’s revenue multiple was not disclosed, so implied multiple unknown. The Wall Street Journal described Raghuram as a general partner, while Bloomberg’s August 4, 2026 article on Volta used the title managing partner.
AI supply bottlenecks as the market signal
The launch lands as AI infrastructure constraints dominate the sector. During an Nvidia earnings call in the week of August 24, 2026, chief executive Jensen Huang said demand for the company’s chips is growing beyond 70% in fiscal year 2028 but is constrained by supply, according to Bloomberg. That is the gap Machine Age is scoped to fill: processors, memory, networking, storage, robotics, data centers and home AI appliances. “Our primary focus has always been software,” Casado said in The Wall Street Journal, describing a shift driven by AI-infrastructure bottlenecks and an influx of founders. Volta, an AI cloud startup the firm backed, was reported at a $2.4 billion valuation on August 4, 2026, with Nvidia and Dell Technologies as partners, according to Bloomberg. No exit scenario or time to liquidity was stated.
Risks are structural rather than deal-specific. The firm disclosed no burn-rate guidance, no fund vintage comparison and no target time to liquidity for Machine Age, and its own announcement post acknowledged the cooling, materials, electrical and real estate build-out the mandate depends on. Andreessen Horowitz also carries a regulatory overhang: TechCrunch reported on August 18, 2026 that the Justice Department is probing the firm over partners serving on boards of competing companies, including Databricks and Fivetran, in an investigation it described as nearly year-long as of that date. Source caveat: The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and TechCrunch all reported the firm’s own August 28, 2026 disclosure; independent limited-partner confirmation was not available.
Questions investors are asking
What is the Machine Age fund? Andreessen Horowitz’s first dedicated hardware-infrastructure fund, raised at $1.1 billion and announced on August 28, 2026. It targets AI processors, memory chips, networking equipment, data storage and robotics. Who leads it? General partners Raghu Raghuram and Martin Casado, with the strategy spanning early- and growth-stage companies. Why the shift from software? The firm said AI workloads are creating bottlenecks across hardware and supply chains, and Raghuram scoped the mandate as “things that are within the four walls of the data center,” indicating a data-center-equipment thesis. Had the firm backed hardware before? Yes — SpaceX, Anduril (first check in 2019), Skydio’s Series A in 2016 and Waymo’s 2020 raise, according to the firm’s announcement post. Is a valuation disclosed? No; a post-money valuation and revenue multiple do not apply to a fund raise, and no limited-partner identities were published. Andreessen Horowitz closed a $1.1 billion hardware-infrastructure fund on August 28, 2026, its first dedicated vehicle for AI compute hardware. The verified gaps are limited-partner identities and fund vintage comparisons, and the firm faces a Justice Department probe over board seats reported on August 18, 2026. Machine Age is a confirmed fund launch, not a company financing.
Founded: 2009
HQ: San Francisco, California, United States
Company: Andreessen Horowitz
Industry: Venture Capital
Current Fund: Machine Age ($1.1B)
| Round | Date | Amount | Lead | Valuation | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No traditional venture rounds | August 28, 2026 | $1.1 billion | No external lead investor | Not disclosed | Not disclosed (Andreessen Horowitz is fund manager) |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Andreessen Horowitz do?
Andreessen Horowitz is a venture capital firm that invests in early- and growth-stage technology companies. It has raised $1.1 billion for Machine Age, its first dedicated hardware-infrastructure fund, which targets AI processors, memory chips, networking equipment, data storage, robotics, data centers, and home AI appliances. The firm also invests in software and AI startups.
What is the Machine Age fund?
Machine Age is Andreessen Horowitz’s first dedicated hardware-infrastructure fund, raised at $1.1 billion and announced on August 28, 2026. It targets AI processors, memory chips, networking equipment, data storage, robotics, and other physical layers of AI, including data centers and home AI appliances. The fund is led by general partners Raghu Raghuram and Martin Casado.
Who leads the Machine Age fund?
The Machine Age fund is led by general partners Raghu Raghuram and Martin Casado. Raghuram, a Netscape veteran and former VMware CEO, joined the firm in 2025. Casado joined in 2016 after founding Nicira. The strategy spans early- and growth-stage companies, covering the physical infrastructure layer of AI. The fund focuses on AI hardware.
Why did Andreessen Horowitz create a hardware fund?
Andreessen Horowitz created Machine Age because AI workloads are creating bottlenecks across hardware and supply chains. The firm noted that hardware startups represented more than 20% of its deal flow as of August 2026. The mandate covers data centers, processors, memory, networking, storage, robotics, and home AI appliances. This is a shift from its traditional software focus.
What is the valuation of the Machine Age fund?
There is no post-money valuation disclosed because Machine Age is a fund, not a company financing. The $1.1 billion is committed capital raised by Andreessen Horowitz as the fund manager. No limited partners, per-investor commitments, or special financial terms were released. The fund targets both early- and growth-stage companies. It was announced on August 28, 2026.