Investor profile
a16z Speedrun
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a16z Speedrun is Andreessen Horowitz's early-stage accelerator program that invests up to $1M in pre-seed and seed startups building in tech, entertainment, and AI. The program deploys $500K for 10% equity upfront via a SAFE, with another $500K reserved for the company's next round within 18 months, plus over $5M in cloud, AI, and software credits from partners such as AWS, GCP, OpenAI, Microsoft, and NVIDIA. Speedrun is designed as a long-term partnership: a16z retains pro-rata rights in subsequent rounds and has followed on with millions of additional dollars into breakout companies. Over a fast-paced 12-week in-person program in San Francisco, a team of expert investors and operators guides founders from idea to market launch—covering rapid product development, go-to-market strategy, fundraising, team building, and operational scaling—culminating in a Demo Day. The program is explicitly global, welcoming founders from anywhere in the world, and provides hands-on support for banking, visas, and relocation. Since launching in 2023, Speedrun has deployed more than $300M across over 250 startups across six cohorts.
Notable quotes
“I started working on Speedrun at a16z because there are a ton of very early stage startups out there that are building in and around our focus of tech, entertainment and AI. Many of these early [companies] wouldn't know what to do with a16z's usual check size of $10 or $20 million, but they would benefit from the a16z team (now numbering nearly 600 strong!) that provides hands-on support.”
“It's been a pleasure watching this talented team execute over the past year, and we're thrilled to continue supporting k-ID in their journey to define a new industry standard for digital youth safety.”
“Six cohorts in, a16z speedrun has backed over 250 companies with more than $300M invested. Companies like FLORA, Hedra, and Runware got their start here, and nearly 10,000 investors engaged with companies in our last batch.”
Team
Joshua Lu
Investment Partner
Kenan Saleh
Investment Partner
Lejla Johnsen
Investment Partner
Marcus Segal
Venture Partner
Recent investments
| Company | Round | Size | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hedra | Series A | — | 2025-05-15 |
| k-ID | Pre-seed / Series A follow-on | — | 2024-01-01 |
| Sekai | Pre-seed (Speedrun) + Series A | $26m | 2025-06-01 |
| Fundamental Research Labs | Pre-seed | — | 2024-01-01 |
| FLORA | Pre-seed | — | 2025-01-01 |
| Runware | Pre-seed | — | 2025-01-01 |
| Backflip | Pre-seed | — | 2024-01-01 |
| Believer | Pre-seed | — | 2023-01-01 |
| Voldex | Pre-seed | — | 2023-01-01 |
| Series AI | Pre-seed | — | 2024-01-01 |
Frequent co-investors
| VC firm | Deals together |
|---|---|
| Khosla Ventures | 2 |
| Gold House Ventures | 1 |
| Dorm Room Fund | 1 |
| Valia Ventures | 1 |
| Connect Ventures | 1 |
| Mayfield Fund | 1 |
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