Andreessen Horowitz has expanded its fifth Growth fund to $8.5 billion, adding $1.75 billion on August 31 after the vehicle launched in January with $6.75 billion. The extension came days after the firm closed its separate $1.1 billion Machine Age Fund for the physical AI stack, including semiconductors, memory, networking, storage, data centers and robotics. Growth capital is aimed at late-stage startups scaling products, teams, sales and geographic reach; David George, who leads a16z Growth, said the team has backed more than 100 companies over seven-plus years, citing Databricks and SpaceX. Beyond larger checks, the firm is pitching deeper operating support—sales and marketing leadership, AI-native go-to-market, pricing, revenue operations and the shift from founder-led sales—staffed by operators from companies such as Atlassian, Samsara, Workday and others. Strategy spans enterprise and consumer AI, defense and industrial technology, robotics, health and infrastructure. The raises sit within a broader January package of more than $15 billion in new funds and roughly $90 billion in assets under management, aligning with industry estimates of about $1 trillion in worldwide AI-related investment in 2026.