May 29th, 2025 – California, United States Blockchain Builders, a venture fund rooted in the Stanford blockchain ecosystem, has announced the successful closing of its oversubscribed $28 million Fund I. This pre-seed and seed-stage fund invests in Stanford’s innovative crypto community and outstanding founders from other leading institutions. Founded by Stanford graduate students Gil Rosen, Kun Peng, and Steven Willinger, the fund has deployed over $16 million across 40 blockchain ventures spanning sectors such as AI, Infrastructure, DeFi, DePIN, Payments, and RWAs. The eight-year Fund I is on pace to deploy its remaining capital by year-end, with multiple projects preparing for Token Generation Events (TGEs). Key portfolio companies include modular AI blockchain 0G (backed by Hack VC, Bankless, Delphi Digital), supercomputer firm Nexus Labs (supported by Lightspeed, Pantera, Dragonfly), AI cloud platform Hyperbolic (invested in by Variant, Polychain, Topology), and blockless Layer-1 blockchain Pod (a16z, 1kx among investors). “Blockchain Builders emerged from our direct experience scaling the Stanford blockchain ecosystem, ” states Co-founder Kun Peng. “We launched Stanford’s Blockchain Accelerator, teach MS&E 447 Blockchain Entrepreneurship, and produce the Blockchain Application Stanford Summit (BASS) conference series—initiatives that have supported over 200 founders, 400 students, and nearly 5, 000 cumulative attendees. These provide a rich network to inspire, support, and mentor new founders toward success. ” Babylon founder Professor David Tse added: “Stanford holds a distinguished legacy in blockchain research and innovation through initiatives like my Tse Lab, the Center for Blockchain Research, and courses such as my EE 374 blockchain infrastructure class. It also supports the BASS events and MS&E 447 entrepreneurship course, while the Stanford blockchain accelerator continues nurturing its founder ecosystem and launching numerous blockchain startups. ” The fund’s leadership team offers extensive experience spanning traditional finance and crypto sectors. Willinger previously led Coinbase Ventures, invested with Capital One Ventures, and held roles in product and partnerships at Blockstream and Google/Google X.

Rosen, a prolific angel investor, bootstrapped a 100-employee venture delivering distributed compute infrastructure to JPMorgan, London Stock Exchange, and the IRS, exiting to AI platform NGData. Peng brings broad founder experience in web3, covering crypto analytics and indexing, NFTs, DeFi, and infrastructure. “Our strong Stanford connections provide early access to high-potential founders who appreciate our hands-on approach, ” says Co-founder Gil Rosen. “We actively engage in strategy, go-to-market planning, and fundraising efforts—positioning them competitively for follow-on rounds led by tier-1 investors. ” Looking forward to Fund II, the team is broadening support to the new IC3-Cornell accelerator, which includes Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, Princeton, Yale, and UCL, and is collaborating on leading events with the Ethereum Foundation, Solana, Starkware, BASE (Coinbase), among others—advancing its mission to support founders nationwide. About Blockchain Builders Fund Blockchain Builders is a venture fund investing in pre-seed and seed-stage blockchain founders, primarily recruited from the Stanford ecosystem. Led by seasoned builders and operators passionate about early-stage ventures, the team complements its capital with hands-on support to ensure founder success. Its initiatives include Stanford’s Blockchain Accelerator, the BASS conference series, MS&E 447, and strategic partnerships with top academic institutions to cultivate the next generation of blockchain innovators. Contact