Sei Foundation, which supports the growth of the Layer 1 blockchain Sei, has launched a $65 million venture fund focused on decentralized science (DeSci) as the sector picks up momentum.
Dubbed “Sapien Capital — Open Science Fund I,” the venture fund will exclusively invest in DeSci startups building natively on the Sei blockchain, Justin Barlow, head of business development and investments at Sei Foundation and a former investor at Solana Ventures, told The Block. The Sei Foundation has fully committed the $65 million capital for the fund, but it may work with external investors or limited partners in the future, Barlow said.
Sei Foundation’s foray into DeSci comes as interest in the sector grows. DeSci, or blockchain-powered science, is viewed as a way to expand access to scientific research funding, enable open data sharing and ensure fair compensation for scientists. Unlike traditional research institutions, where centralized entities control funding distribution, DeSci shifts power to decentralized communities. Using mechanisms like decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), funding decisions are made transparently on-chain and research data is openly shared.
“DeSci has the potential to scale massively due to its universal impact and the vast number of stakeholders across healthcare, science and biotech,” said Barlow. “Our goal is to empower visionary founders who are building the infrastructure, applications and communities needed to support and scale this emerging vertical.”
Notably, the fund is not an ecosystem fund and will not offer grants; instead, it will make venture investments in both tokens and equity of DeSci startups, with check sizes ranging from $100,000 to $2 million, Barlow said. The fund plans to deploy its full capital over the next three to four years, he added.
Sei Foundation’s DeSci bet
Barlow noted that the Sei Foundation began discussing launching the fund in the fall of 2024. He highlighted consumer-facing applications as some of the biggest opportunities in DeSci, particularly those with the potential to reach hundreds of millions of users.
“Key areas of interest for the fund include more sophisticated wearables, user-owned data collectives, and gamified drug discovery, all underpinned by the innovative funding and ownership models crypto has developed over the last decade,” Barlow said. “These advancements have the potential to bridge the gap between niche scientific communities and mainstream adoption, addressing numerous systemic challenges affecting traditional life sciences and biotech today.”
While DeSci as a concept has been around since 2021, its traction has grown notably in recent months. Last November, Binance Labs — now rebranded as YZi Labs — made its first move into the DeSci sector with an investment in BIO Protocol. The BIO token is currently trading at $0.23, with a market capitalization of over $370 million, according to CoinGecko data. In September, a16z made its first DeSci investment in the decentralized biobank platform AminoChain.
Barlow attributes DeSci’s growing popularity to the cyclical nature of crypto narratives, noting that it often takes multiple market cycles for a new vertical to mature. “Not only is the narrative more clear now than it was in 2021, but the tech behind protocols like Sei is finally able to support DeSci activity at scale,” he said.
Still, mainstream adoption won’t be without challenges — particularly gaining acceptance from the broader scientific community.
To address such challenges, Barlow said the Sei Foundation plans to collaborate with “highly reputable members of the academic community, leading universities and established life science companies” to enhance the legitimacy of the nascent DeSci sector and encourage long-term investment.
The fund will also work with the Sei Foundation to support portfolio companies in areas like go-to-market strategies and user education, he added.
The SEI token is currently trading at $0.30, with a market capitalization of $1.3 billion, according to The Block’s SEI price page.
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