Launching two crypto funds totaling $1.5 billion is a thrilling accomplishment, especially for a woman in an industry that’s still male-dominated. It’s decidedly less thrilling when, just a few months later, the bottom of the fund’s target market doesn’t just drop, but also nearly disintegrates. How do you move forward?
We’re excited to learn the answer to that and many more questions when Katie Haun, founder and CEO of Haun Ventures, joins us at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, which runs September 19–21 in San Francisco.
Crypto VC firms raised more than $22 billion in 2022, compared with just $2 billion raised at this point in 2023. And yet — to paraphrase Monty Python — the crypto market is not dead yet. Last June, Haun Ventures led a $10 million seed round for Argus, a web3 gaming studio. The VC firm has led other investment rounds for Sovereign Labs, thirdweb, Euler, TaxBit, Highlight and Zora.
How has the crypto market crisis impacted Haun’s strategy — both in the types of investments she makes and in the timeframe for deploying all that dry powder? Given the industry’s volatility, and Haun’s background as a federal prosecutor on a cryptocurrency task force, we’re also interested to hear her take on regulating the crypto industry.
Don’t miss what’s sure to be a fascinating discussion about the current and future state of crypto and web3 investment.
Katie Haun: Haun Ventures founder and CEO
Katie Haun and her team raised a $500 million early-stage fund and a $1 billion acceleration fund to invest in the future of web3. Previously, Haun joined Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) in 2018 as its 11th general partner — and its first female general partner — where she co-led the firm’s three crypto funds.
Prior to a16z, Haun spent a decade as a federal prosecutor focusing on fraud and cyber and corporate crime alongside agencies such as the SEC, FBI and Treasury Department. She created the government’s first cryptocurrency task force and led investigations into the Mt. Gox hack and the corrupt agents on the Silk Road task force.
While with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Haun prosecuted RICO murders, organized crime, public corruption, gangs and money laundering. She also held senior policy positions at DOJ headquarters in both the National Security Division and the Attorney General’s office, where her portfolio included antitrust, tax and national security.
Since joining the private sector, Haun has testified before both the House and Senate on the intersection of technology and regulation. She has taught a course on crypto at Stanford Business School and on cybercrime at Stanford Law School.
Haun clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and is an honors graduate of Stanford Law School. She is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and she currently serves on the board of Coinbase.
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