Summary Box: Andreessen firm raises $1.5B

: Silicon Valley entrepreneur-turned-venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and his partners have raised another $1.5 billion to invest in technology startups.

THE TIMING: It comes as they prepare to profit from a previous bet on Internet social network Facebook. The social network is expected to file paperwork for an initial public offering of stock as early as Wednesday.

PAST TIES: Before co-founding his venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, in mid-2009, Andreessen also personally invested in Facebook and joined the company's board of directors in 2008.

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