Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz has expanded its fifth growth fund to $8.5 billion, adding another $1.75 billion since the fund launched in January with $6.75 billion. The announcement comes days after a16z raised a fresh $1.1 billion for a new fund called the "Machine Age Fund," focusing on AI hardware startups developing chips, memory, networking, and storage.

The growth fund targets companies ramping up products, expanding geographies, and scaling operations. Over seven years, it has invested in more than 100 companies, according to David George, a general partner leading the growth investment team. In this AI-driven era, companies are reaching growth stages faster and requiring more capital at higher valuations.

With the new capital, a16z is pursuing enterprise and consumer AI, defense tech, robotics, infrastructure, and health tech. The firm is also spending heavily on politics and lobbying during the election year. These funds follow the $15 billion in new funding announced in January, bringing total assets under management to $90 billion.