When Andreessen Horowitz opened an outpost in Miami Beach, the $43 billion venture capital giant bolstered the region’s ambitions of becoming a tropical tech mecca.

Two years and a crypto meltdown later, that office has been quietly shuttered.

Andreessen Horowitz exited the space in May because employees weren’t using it enough, said people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named citing private discussions. In 2022, the firm had signed a five-year lease for 8,300 square feet (770 square meters) in Barry Sternlicht’s Miami Beach office building at 2340 Collins Ave.

The departure underscores the potential weakness of Miami’s staying power after the city lured a rush of finance and tech companies in recent years. Shortly after Andreessen Horowitz said it was opening the office, Miami’s crypto dreams began to crumble with the implosion of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX.

A representative for Andreessen Horowitz confirmed that the firm no longer has a Miami office but declined to comment further.

Venture capital money flowing to Miami has flagged since 2022. Miami-based companies brought in $400 million in the second quarter, compared with $5.5 billion for 2022 as a whole, according to PitchBook data.

By contrast, the artificial intelligence boom has given San Francisco even more of an edge as a tech capital. In the second quarter, companies in the Bay Area got $18.7 billion in venture capital funding.

Andreessen Horowitz tried to keep the Miami offices going past the 2022 crypto rout, with partner Chris Lyons giving a tour of the facilities on Instagram in May 2023.

The Menlo Park, California-based firm manages $7.6 billion in crypto-related assets and employs a team of more than 100 to bankroll emerging startups and manage existing bets on dozens of crypto startups. The company expects to raise a new cryptocurrency-focused fund in 2025, Bloomberg reported in April.

The former Andreessen Horowitz office is now occupied by contact-lens maker Bausch + Lomb Corp., said Brandon Charnas of Current Real Estate Advisors. He facilitated the deal with the new tenant along with Kevin Gonzalez and Stephen Rutchik of Colliers.

“There was a lot of hype around promoting crypto in Miami, but crypto had a small office presence even at its peak,” Gonzalez said.

He estimated that crypto companies only ever occupied about 70,000 square feet of office space around the Miami area.

“We’re not seeing a ton of crypto companies saying they need an office space in Miami,” said Charnas, who worked with Andreessen Horowitz on its original lease. “We’re seeing more interest from family offices, investors and private equity.”

Florida tech and crypto boom flags as Andreessen Horowitz quietly shutters Miami outpost