Andreessen Horowitz said on the 12th that Raghu Raghuram, managing partner and general partner, will visit South Korea with the firm's infrastructure investment team. The trip follows the U.S. venture capital firm's launch last month of the Machine Age Fund, a $1.1 billion vehicle dedicated to artificial intelligence hardware and infrastructure technology. The aim is to deepen ties with Korea's technology ecosystem and explore cooperation between domestic AI hardware and infrastructure companies and a16z portfolio firms.
Raghuram oversees investments across the AI infrastructure stack at a16z, from software to hardware, and leads global strategy for the firm's growth-stage portfolio companies. Before joining a16z, he spent about two decades at VMware, the global cloud infrastructure company, holding senior product and management roles.
a16z hired Park Sung-mo as head of Asia-Pacific go-to-market in late 2025, its first staffer based in Korea, and has since pursued cooperation with the country's crypto ecosystem. More recently it has widened its exchanges and partnerships across Korea's technology industry, including AI. During the visit, Raghuram plans to meet executives and officials at major domestic AI hardware and infrastructure companies to discuss technology development and commercialization opportunities, and to explore potential partnerships with a16z portfolio companies. The talks will also cover ways to create new AI-based businesses and support the growth of Korean companies.
Semiconductors and robotics are seen as the main areas for cooperation. Korea's strengths in chips, memory and advanced manufacturing point to a range of opportunities in AI hardware and computing infrastructure.
"The advance of AI is rapidly transforming not only software but technology infrastructure as a whole," Raghuram said. "Korea has world-class technology and a solid industrial base in core areas such as semiconductors and robotics, and I look forward to meeting Korean companies and industry leaders in person during this visit for wide-ranging discussions on new technologies and business opportunities."