California, United States, May 29, 2025
Blockchain Builders has closed its $28 million oversubscribed Fund I.
Stanford University’s crypto-community and other leading institutions are the focus of this pre-seed fund.
The fund was founded by Stanford students Gil Rosen Kun Peng and Steven Willinger. It has invested over 16 million dollars in blockchain projects spanning AI and Infrastructure, Defi and DePIN Payments and RWAs.
The fund is well on its way to deploying remaining capital before the end of this year. Several projects are preparing themselves for TGEs. Portfolio companies that are worth mentioning include the modular AI blockchain 0G, (Hack VC Bankless Delphi Digital), supercomputer venture Nexus Labs Lightspeed Pantera Dragonfly, open-access AI clouds Hyperbolic, (Variant Polychain Topology) and Blockless Layer-1 Pod.
Kun Peng, co-founder of Blockchain Builders says: “Blockchain Builders is a result of our experience in scaling up the Stanford blockchain ecosphere.” We started Stanford’s Blockchain Accelerator and teach MS&E 4447 Blockchain Entrepreneurship. And we produce the Blockchain Application Stanford Summit conference series. These initiatives have helped over 200 founders and 400 students. They also provide a network that inspires and supports new entrepreneurs for success.
David Tse, founder of Babylon, said that Stanford has a long history in blockchain innovation and research, including my Tse Lab, which I direct, as well as coursework such as the EE 374 on Blockchain Infrastructure. The BASS events, MS&E 4447 entrepreneurship courses and Stanford’s blockchain accelerator have all been a part of the Stanford ecosystem.
Leadership of the fund brings a wealth of experience in traditional finance as well as crypto. Willinger, a former Coinbase Ventures leader, has worked at Capital One Ventures and Blockstream, as well as in partnerships and product at Google / Google X. Rosen is a successful angel investor who bootstrapped a venture with 100 employees, creating distributed computing infrastructure for JPMorgan Chase, the London Stock Exchange and IRS, before exiting into AI platform NGData. Peng is a web3 veteran with extensive experience in crypto analytics, indexing, deFi and infrastructure.
Gil Rosen, co-founder of the company says: “Our Stanford connections give us an early advantage in attracting high-potential founders that value our hands on approach.” We dive deep into strategy, GTM and fundraising to position them for competitive follow-on round led by Tier-1 investors.
The team, as it prepares for Fund II, is expanding their support of the new IC3 Cornell accelerator, which also includes Berkeley, Carnegie Melon and Princeton. They are also collaborating with other thought leaders, such as the Ethereum Foundation and BASE (Coinbase), to create events that will inspire and educate.
About Blockchain Builders Fund
Blockchain Builders (BB) is a venture capital fund that invests in blockchain startups at the pre-seed or seed stage, with a focus on Stanford’s ecosystem. The team is led by builders and operators who are passionate about early ventures. They supplement their capital investment with hand-on support to ensure founder success. Stanford’s Blockchain Accelerator is one of the team’s many initiatives. Other projects include BASS Conference Series, MS&E 4447 and strategic partnerships with academic institutions.
You can Contact Us
Gil Rosen Connect@blockchainbuilders.fund
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