Andreessen Horowitz Launches Free Crypto Startup School

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is known for its investment in the crypto space with the likes of Coinbase, Ripple, and OpenBazaar. Now, it's stretching its footing in digital currencies and blockchain with a free crypto school.

The venture firm founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz announced on Friday that they are launching a16z Crypto Startup School to help entrepreneurs learn the fundamentals of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.

The crypto school is a seven-week program that will commence on February 2020, and lectures will be conducted in person at the firm's headquarters in Menlo Park, California. Interested participants don't have to pay anything for the program as its purely an educational initiative by a16z.

Andreessen Horowitz doesn't intend to take equity in the projects developed by the program participants but aims to be the first choice for entrepreneurs with crypto-related business ideas to work with.

"Our general view is if we build goodwill, people will want to come to work with us — so it's in that spirit," general partner Chris Dixon told CNBC.

"If they do go start a company, we hope we'll be one of their first phone calls but there's no requirement for that."

The venture firm is accepting up to 40 participants or 20-25 teams in the first batch, but those participants should have experience in building software or prior experience in crypto to be accepted.

When the program starts, the firm estimates that a total of 12-15 hours is the amount of time that program attendees will have to pour in. The participants will also have the opportunity to share their ideas and projects on a demo day hosted by a16z by the end of the program.

These are some of the topics that will be discussed: