Author: Richard Lee

In the early days of encryption development, capital and investors were a major focus of market attention.

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Jessica Chou / Source: Fortune Magazine

According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (hereinafter referred to as "SEC") documents, KRH Partners was established in early 2022 and has been temporarily named after the full name of Katie Haun (Kathryn Rose Haun). According to incomplete statistics of Chain Catcher, its team has at least 9 members.

Recently, Chris Lehane, the former policy director of Airbnb, and Sam Rosenblum, the former general partner (GP) of Polychain Capital, successively announced to join the team. andAccording to Fortune magazineWhen Haun left late last year, he was "approved" to take six of a16z's staff, including global head of policy Tomicah Tillemann and operating partner Rachael Horwitz.

According to Katie Haun to Fortune, as of January 26,secondary title

Personal resume and team lineup

Katie Haun is known for her decade-long tenure at the U.S. Department of Justice and her political background in fighting crypto crime.

According to CNBC reports, Katie Haun spent her early years abroad, studied at Boston University and Stanford Law School, and then started her career as a legal assistant in the US federal court. The Linkedin page shows that she has served as an assistant prosecutor and digital currency coordinator at the U.S. Department of Justice since 2006, during which she has specialized in cybercrime, dark web, financial technology (FinTech), cryptocurrency, blockchain, anti-money laundering, etc. investigation and prosecution.

In the well-known darknet "Silk Road" case in the United States, two federal agents were "corrupt" during undercover and stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in bitcoin. Katie Haun is one of the main force prosecuting the two.

Since then, Katie Haun has been "poached" by a16z. Since June 2018, she has been a general partner and founded a16z's first encryption investment fund with another partner Chris dixon. She has served as the co-chairman of all three encryption funds of a16z so far. During this period, her investment portfolio included Opensea, NFT music platform Royal, etc.

According to public reports, Katie Haun's contribution to a16z is also reflected in team recruitment and policy lobbying. Chris Dixon told Fortune in an email interview that a16z’s encryption investment team expanded from two people to about 50 people in four years.In which Katie Haun recruited a "majority" of members。

In terms of policy lobbying, a16z is famous for providing investment companies with a full range of services from marketing to regulatory compliance, which is also related to its talent pool. Relying on her government connections in Washington, in the summer of 2021, Katie Haun recruited Tomicah Tillemann, a former aide to President Biden, for a16z, and in the second half of the yearA lobbying campaign for crypto regulation launched in Washingtonimage description

Tomicah Tillemann, left, served as an aide to President Biden when he was a senator. Source: The New York Times

Katie Haun's ability to attract talent has also been applied to her own VC. The six employees she took away from the a16z encryption team were Rachael Horwitz, Tomicah Tillemann, Nick Pacilio, James Rathmell, Kindra Mason, and Stephanie Watkins. Among them, Rachael Horwitz will serve as the chief marketing officer of KRH, and Tomicah Tillemann will continue to be in charge of the policy field. Nick Pacilio is the communications director of the new company.

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chain catcher incomplete statistics

This is the division of labor of KRH Partners so far, and the team of 9 people has begun to take shape. According toThe Informationsecondary title

Funding Sources and Investment Strategy of KRH Partners

"One of the things I've learned at a16z over the past four years is that I'm actually an entrepreneur."In an interview with "Fortune", Katie Haun talked about the reasons for her "leaving".

Unlike a16z's sheer size, Haun wants to keep her team size small," says Haun. "We want to be flexible."

In terms of project selection, unlike a16z, which focuses more on local entrepreneurial teams in the United States, Haun said that KRH Partners plans to adopt a global strategy to find startups far away from typical entrepreneurial centers such as Silicon Valley. “I think you’ll find some of the best crypto founders around the world,” Haun said,"So I think one of the things that my company is going to do is become more and more global."

As for post-investment services, Haun said it will take a more targeted approach to determining what types of services to provide founders, rather than providing comprehensive coverage.

Financial TimesFinancial TimesAccording to the statement, Haun will set up two types of funds, one focusing on investing in early-stage encryption start-ups, and the other investing in large companies and tokens, which will raise $300 million and $600 million respectively.

Katie Haun declined to comment on the rumors in an interview. She said she could not comment for "legal and regulatory reasons". However, it is relatively certain that theThe BlockSeveral media outlets, includinga16z will also partner with KRH as its limited partner (LP), the Financial Times further revealed in early January that a16z had committed $50 million to Haun.

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Haun's Twitter page

At present, Katie Haun has not officially announced its new fund in public channels, and its Twitter page still uses "Something new" to describe its own career. Katie Haun also told Fortune magazine that "KRH Partners" is just a name for legal document registration, and she is not willing to name this company in her own name that may last for a long time. "I'm building a franchise and I believe that one day someone else will take over," she said.

The new name and more details on this new VC will likely be unveiled shortly. But what is certain is that the wheels are already turning in secret.