The fastest-growing venture capitalist firm in Silicon Valley, Andreessen Horowitz, announced that former Washington mayor Adrian Fenty will join its team as a special advisor, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.
The Howard University Law School graduate made a name for himself fighting for radical education reform as DC's mayor from 2007 to 2011. Since then he has served as special counsel to the DC litigation firm Klores Perry Mitchell, as an advisor to education technology companies and a teacher at Oberlin College.
Fortune reported that according to Fenty the part-time position could be the start of a new career, quoting him as saying, "What I'm really interested in is big solutions to problems, whether it be in education of elsewhere. I think that's what firms like Andreessen Horowitz are also trying to address."
His new position, the same held by former Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers, will entail advising on business strategy and regulatory issues and analyzing potential investments.
Andreessen Horowitz was established in 2009 by Marc Andreesen, co-founder of Netscape, and Ben Horowitz. Focusing on consumer and enterprise technology businesses, as of January, the firm acknowledged that it had raised a total of $2.7 billion within the past three years. Its investments include Twitter, Groupon and Facebook.
Earlier in the year, USA Today said of Andreessen Horowitz, "At a time when the largest firms [in Silicon Valley] are getting larger, and the mid-size ones are shrinking, Andreessen Horowitz is claiming its spot in the winner's circle."
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