Investing.com - Venture fund Blockchain Builders has successfully closed an oversubcribed $28 million fund designed to provide support to cryptocurrency start-ups, Investing.com has learned.
The fund has already deployed more than $16 million to pre-seed and seed-stage blockchain ventures with ties to the California school and other top institutions. Some of its portfolio companies include modual artificial intelligence firm 0G, supercomputer group Nexus Labs and open-access AI cloud provider Hyperbolic.
Nexus and 0G are Blockchain Builders’ biggest investments to date, with the fund placing a $1 million investment in each firm. It was early investors for both and then did a follow-on in "highly competitive rounds", the fund said.
Blockchain Builders is on track to deploy the remaining $12 million in capital by the end of the year, the fund said, adding that many of its funded projects are preparing for token generation events, a major fundraising mechanism for blockchain companies.
The capital will be particularly used to back projects focused on the intersection of AI and blockchain as well as the finance industry’s adoption of blockchain technologies, the fund said.
A second fund is currently being explored that would expand its scope beyond Stanford and into universities like Carnegie Mellon, Princeton, and Yale. Blockchain Builders did not specify the size of the fund, but said it would look to "extend our reach in supporting leading academic institutions launch accelerators and investing in their top talent.”
Established by finance and crypto veterans Gil Rosen, Kun Peng, and Steven Willinger, Blockchain Builders was born from scaling research at Stanford into the blockchain, a database shared across a network of computers that is often used to underpin cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin .
"Our deep Stanford ties give us early access to high potential founders who value our hands-on approach,” Rosen said. “We roll up our sleeves and dive into the details of strategy [...] and fundraising -- positioning them optimally for competitive follow-on rounds led by tier-1 investors.”