about

We back founders making unlikely ideas inevitable.

Ideas that seem strange or far-fetched today will one day become indispensable and era-defining.

Advances in AI, biology, crypto, and hardware — including VR, wearables, and robotics — are bringing what once seemed impossible within reach, opening vast new frontiers. As these technologies evolve and reinforce one another, problems that have held back human progress for generations are giving way. 

The biggest risk now is not being ambitious enough. Founders are building products that could transform established industries and create entirely new ones. Autonomous machines are learning to reason and act in the physical world. Networks of intelligent agents are connecting, coordinating, and transacting. And we are gaining greater control over our bodies, pushing what they’re capable of. 

At a16z Frontier, we’re drawn to the outer planets, the outliers and edge cases that don’t fit neatly into preset categories. This has been our approach for years: backing founders building a future no one else sees yet, long before it becomes mainstream. Some projects start out looking absurd or unserious — more like toys, experiments, or weekend hobbies — but go on to change lives.

What seems inevitable in hindsight is rarely obvious at the outset. As always, we expect founders to surprise us. If you’re building on the frontier, please reach out.