Paradigm Raises $1.5B for AI, Robotics Push Beyond Crypto

Paradigm is raising up to $1.5 billion for a new fund targeting artificial intelligence and robotics. The firm, one of crypto's most influential venture backers, is making a strategic pivot beyond its original blockchain focus.

Founded in 2018 by Fred Ehrsam and Matt Huang, Paradigm wrote early checks into foundational projects: Uniswap and Coinbase, and later Optimism. By 2021, the firm had raised $2.5 billion for its first major fund. In 2024, it closed an $850 million vehicle. Assets under management now sit at roughly $12.7 billion.

Back in May 2023, Paradigm quietly adjusted its public branding to encompass broader technology research. The new fund makes that shift explicit. Paradigm now calls itself a "frontier technology investment firm."

The move comes as the lines between decentralized infrastructure and AI blur. The firm has been running internal experiments at that intersection. This fund gives Paradigm dedicated capital to back external teams building in the same space.

For institutional allocators, a firm with $12.7 billion in assets under management rebranding as a frontier technology investor lowers the hurdle for adding crypto exposure to a broader tech mandate. Paradigm sits alongside firms like a16z in straddling the crypto-AI divide. The firm has long prided itself on deep technical engagement, often contributing open-source tooling and research papers alongside capital.

The $1.5 billion target is a statement of intent. Paradigm is betting that its next generation of returns will come from robotics, AI infrastructure, and the hardware layers that support both – not just from blockchain networks. The firm declined to comment on the fund's specific timeline or first close.