some monday news :) - we're announcing SPEEDRUN 003! - yes, we're investing $750k. Targeted at preseed/seed startups working at the intersection of Tech x Gaming -- this means AI, VR/AR, sims, companions, 3d tooling/infra, game studios, etc. Wide reach. - LA is our next home, 12 week program starting July 29 to Oct 20th. Demo Day in SF. - Much of the program/events will be hosted in a16z's **NEW** Santa Monica office (please come visit!) - We'll have speakers from all the top companies in AI, VR, gaming, etc. In the last cycle we had the founders/CEOs of Zynga, Discord, Twitch, Riot, and many others - Applications open April -- get updates here: a16z.com/speedrun-la-2024/ Some longer notes: We've talked to hundreds of founders since kicking off the a16z Games Fund. The industry of tech + gaming is a tight network that's unique, and with that comes a desire for community, connections, know how, and of course -- capital. For the new generation of AI and infra startups that sell into the games industry, there's a need for relationships to plug into a relatively closed community. For tech founders building apps for gamers, there's a desire to connect with streamers, partner with studios, and learn from others. For game studios, it's a unique challenge for founders to get those off the ground -- from the tech stack to publishing deals to everything else. We build the SPEEDRUN program to hepl with all of this. This time around we decided to put the program in LA. It's a city that combines the best of tech with the best of entertainment. There's a thriving ecosystem with the gaming industry there. It's for a bunch of these reasons (and some personal ones) that I moved to LA and made it my home two years ago. We think that SPEEDRUN might be a catalyst for bringing startups together with the broader ecosystem of tech, entertainment, and gaming in Los Angeles. We'll be opening up the a16z Santa Monica office later this year, and plan to host many of our SPEEDRUN events there -- a very good use of the office! Come and join us. Importantly, this will be bringing 40-50 new startups to LA. Some may already be there, and some may decide to stay. We think this will help build the LA tech ecosystem in a big way, and for other investors in the region, we'd love to collab on SPEEDRUN (and everything else) For founders -- how do you know if this program is right for you? We are targeting mostly brand new companies that are just getting off the ground. This is where we can help most. Ideally you'll know your cofounding team, and a general sense of the idea, but besides that, you don't need to have a product built. We are taking an expansive view on what sits inside of "Tech x Games" -- from B2B to developer platforms to consumer apps and games. And Web3 and VR/AR, and many other big trends. Come pitch us! The next step of this program is that we'll be opening applications in April. So March is really for y'all to think about what you might want to build. But the application will ask for some details on your idea, your team, etc. In the meantime, you can follow along on updates by signing up here: a16z.com/speedrun-la-2024/