Andreessen Horowitz today announced that it has raised a $1.1 billion fund to back artificial intelligence infrastructure startups.
The Machine Age Fund will invest in companies that make data center equipment such as chips, memory and networking gear. Andreessen Horowitz also plans to prioritize providers of edge AI hardware. The venture capital firm listed smart home appliances and robots among its focus areas.
The Machine Age Fund will expand Andreessen Horowitz’s existing AI investment program. Over the past two years, the firm has invested in more than a half-dozen AI infrastructure startups across a range of market subsegments.
In 2025, Andreessen Horowitz backed a company called Heron Power Inc. that develops transformers for data centers. A transformer lowers the voltage of the electricity that comes out of power plants to a level suitable for distribution.
Standard transformers use a metal coil submerged in an insulating liquid to perform voltage adjustments. Heron’s systems, in contrast, are based on a solid-state design. That means they replace the metal coil with power management chips. The company makes its chips from silicon carbide, the second toughest material after diamond.
Heron’s transformers also serve other purposes beyond changing voltage levels. They include a battery that activates during power outages to prevent data center disruptions. According to Heron, its transformer’s battery and chips ship in a container-size chassis that is smaller than standard transformers. The company also promises higher cost-efficiency and faster lead times.
Andreessen Horowitz’s other AI infrastructure bets include Volta Infrastructure Holdings Ltd., a data center builder, and multiple robotics startups. Chipmaker Unconventional Inc. is also a portfolio company.
“The hardware industry supply side is used to growing 20% to 30% per year at most; not the triple-digit growth that’s needed to catch up with demand,” a group of Andreessen Horowitz general partners wrote in a blog post. “This will change, quickly.”
The venture capital firm’s investors are no stranger to the infrastructure market. Martin Casado and Raghu Raghuram, two of the post’s authors, previously held senior roles at VMware, a major provider of data center management software. Andreessen Horowitz partner Guido Appenzeller is the former chief technology officer of Intel Corp.’s data center business.
Andreessen Horowitz is not the only venture capital firm that has raised funding recently to ramp up its AI investments. In March, Kleiner Perkins raised $3.5 billion across two new funds. One of those investment vehicles will focus on early-stage AI startups. A month earlier, OpenAI Group PBC backer Thrive Capital reeled in $10 billion.
