Arianna Simpson is an American entrepreneur and investor who is currently a general partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. She graduated with dual degrees in international politics and spanish from the Schreyer Honors College of Pennsylvania State University. She started her career in technology early when she joined Facebook in 2013, working in global marketing solutions.
While at Facebook, Arianna became interested in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, especially after a trip to Zimbabwe opened her eyes to Western Union’s exorbitant fees when transferring money to and from the country in support of the family she was sponsoring. After reading the Bitcoin white paper thoroughly, she left her job at Facebook in 2014 to join BitGo, a multi-signature cryptocurrency wallet provider.
One year later, she left BitGo to start the next stage of her career as co-founder of venture capital firm Crystal Towers Capital, where she is still active as an angel investor and venture partner. Over the years, Arianna has been a prolific cryptocurrency contributor to specialized business and financial news websites like Business Insider, especially before Bitcoin gained more widespread adoption.
In 2017, she became a founder and managing partner of cryptocurrency and digital asset-focused hedge fund Autonomous Partners. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Union Square Ventures, Craft Ventures, and Cohen Private Ventures were all early investors of Autonomous Partners, with Arianna’s hedge fund backing projects such as Dapper Labs, Maker, and Celo.
Arianna’s ambitious and committed career within the cryptocurrency space captured the interest of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz in 2020, when she joined the company as a deal partner.
The company has heavily invested in the cryptocurrency space since 2013, and more recently has been one of the leading proponents of Web3, with significant funds put into NFT and metaverse projects, Arianna’s influence likely guiding the overall strategy.
In July 2021, Arianna became a general partner responsible for a $2.2 billion cryptocurrency fund, including a portfolio of investments in NFT companies like Dapper Labs and OpenSea. At the age of just 30, she’s running the most significant crypto fund in the world.
She has always believed in DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organization), which she regards as a model that can be adopted to streamline processes like governance coordination at a smaller scale.
For her work and achievements in the cryptocurrency space, she was included in the 2021 edition of Fortune’s annual “40 Under 40” list, which highlights the year’s most influential young business leaders.
Arianna identified gaming as the future of the cryptocurrency industry, where the burgeoning play-to-earn model could potentially provide an additional source of income for professional gamers.
She saw early the potential of Web3, NFTs, DeFi, and the metaverse, which will all play a major role in Arianna’s goals with Andreessen Horowitz. Earlier in January, she announced the firm’s latest investment is in decentralized credit platform Goldfinch, which operates as an open marketplace for loans without collateral, and decentralizes the loan underwriting process.
At the end of January, the company announced that they would raise $3.5 billion for its VC fund, which will be directed at crypto start-ups and projects, as well as another $1 billion to be employed in Web3 digital tokens and currencies. Detailed plans will be announced during the year.
Amanda is pushing the Web3 agenda within the firm, specifically in NFTs and metaverse. With all these exciting opportunities available in the cryptocurrency field, she is expected to perform exceptionally well in 2022.
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