Paradigm, the crypto venture firm co-founded by Coinbase's Fred Ehrsam and Matt Huang, has raised $1.2 billion for a new fund targeting artificial intelligence and robotics. The firm has already deployed capital into drone delivery company Zipline and space defense startup True Anomaly, according to a Bloomberg report Wednesday. Managing partner Alana Palmedo said the firm remains committed to crypto while expanding into adjacent technology sectors.
Paradigm raised $1.2 billion for a venture fund focused on artificial intelligence and robotics, broadening beyond the crypto sector that built its reputation.
"Crypto was the first frontier for us, and it continues to be a really exciting one, but there's so much else happening right now that's pretty hard to ignore," managing partner Alana Palmedo told Bloomberg.
The fund has already backed autonomous drone delivery company Zipline International, valued at $7.6 billion in January, and space defense startup True Anomaly, which reached a $2.2 billion valuation in April. Paradigm, founded in 2018, previously raised a $2.5 billion crypto fund in November 2021 — then the largest dedicated crypto vehicle — followed by an $850 million fund for early-stage blockchain startups in 2024. The firm manages $11.9 billion in assets.
The expansion shows that crypto-native venture capital is increasingly flowing into AI and defense technology, sectors that have drawn surging investment while crypto fundraising has remained subdued. Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang said in June 2023 that the firm did not view crypto and AI as "a zero-sum competition" and expected "plenty of overlap" between the technologies.
Paradigm's interest in AI predates the new fund. Huang wrote on X in June 2023 that the firm had "never been more dedicated to crypto" while acknowledging that advances in artificial intelligence were "too interesting to ignore." At the time, he said Paradigm would continue investing across all stages of the crypto market while exploring AI as part of its research-driven strategy.
The firm is also developing its own prediction-market platform, Bloomberg reported, and plans to eventually spin off that division into a separate company. Paradigm was an early investor in Kalshi, the prediction market platform that has faced legal challenges over the classification of its sports-related contracts.
The new fund comes as other crypto-native firms face headwinds. Adam Back's Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company this week scrapped its SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners, while stablecoin market cap fell to $312 billion in June — its largest monthly drop since the TerraUSD collapse.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.