Framework Ventures has closed a $400 million fourth fund, marking a shift in its investment strategy as it broadens its focus beyond blockchain and into artificial intelligence, robotics, and energy technologies. The venture capital firm announced the new fund on Friday, calling it a bet on “frontier technology.”
Co-founders Vance Spencer and Michael Anderson told Fortune that roughly half the money has already been committed to various startups. They declined to name the limited partners behind the fund but said they include sovereign wealth funds, funds of funds, an Ivy League endowment, and nonprofit organizations. A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in December 2025 showed Framework managed about $1.28 billion in total assets.
Why the pivot to AI now?
Anderson explained that the broader investment strategy was largely driven by changes in what founders in the firm’s network wanted to build. He said entrepreneurs increasingly sought to create businesses that sit at the intersection of crypto and artificial intelligence. In his view, the shift was not a reaction to the recent surge in AI investment but a natural evolution of the startups the firm was already working with.
Framework launched in 2019 with a heavy focus on decentralized finance. It was an early backer of Aave and Chainlink. The firm raised a $100 million second fund in 2021 and then a $400 million crypto-focused fund in 2022. This latest fund, however, is the first to explicitly include categories like robotics and energy. Already, Framework has invested in Mecka AI, a robotics data startup, and holds a stake in mortgage company Better.com.
Other crypto VCs are following a similar path
Framework is not alone in expanding its mandate. Several crypto-focused venture firms have recently diversified into AI and other tech sectors. Haun Ventures announced a $1 billion fund in May aimed at companies developing crypto financial infrastructure, tokenization, and AI agents. Paradigm, another major player in the space, is reportedly seeking up to $1.5 billion for a fund that will also target crypto, AI, and robotics.
The trend comes at a time when OpenAI, Anthropic, and similar AI developers have attracted enormous venture capital interest. But crypto-native firms appear to be adjusting their strategies too. Crypto exchange BitGo said this week it would cut nearly 15% of its workforce and redirect resources toward security, trading, stablecoins, and AI-powered infrastructure.
IP licensing shifts to data for AI
Meanwhile, Story Protocol has rebranded as the DATA Foundation. The project, which originally focused on intellectual property licensing, will now build infrastructure to source, verify, license, and compensate contributors for AI training data through blockchain-based systems. It’s another sign that the lines between crypto and AI investment are blurring fast, and firms like Framework are positioning themselves accordingly.
