The Sei Foundation has introduced a $65 million fund to help startups that are using blockchain to improve scientific research and healthcare. The fund, called Sapien Capital—Open Science Fund I, is focused on decentralized science (DeSci), which aims to make scientific research more open and community-driven.
Over the next three to four years, the foundation will invest between $100,000 and $2 million in promising DeSci projects. These investments will support startups working on innovations such as wearable health devices, user-owned medical data systems, and new ways to develop medicines through gaming technology.
The Sei Foundation also plans to partner with universities and biotech companies to ensure that blockchain-based research is accepted by the broader scientific community. The growing interest in DeSci is reflected in investments from major players like Binance Labs and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).
DeSci (Decentralized Science) uses blockchain to make scientific research more open, accessible, and transparent. It shifts control from traditional institutions to a wider community, enabling researchers and users to collaborate, secure funding, and share discoveries more efficiently.
Sei is a Layer 1 blockchain designed for fast, low-cost trading and DeFi. It processes high transaction volumes efficiently, using an on-chain order-matching system to reduce reliance on middlemen.
The Sei Foundation supports decentralized technologies, focusing on DeSci. It funds projects that enhance transparency, collaboration, and innovation in fields like healthcare, biotech, and wearables.
Blockchain technology can address major issues in science by making research more transparent, easier to fund, and more collaborative, said Justin Barlow, who leads business development at the Sei Foundation. Traditional scientific research often depends on large institutions for funding, which can limit who can participate and slow down progress.
Barlow believes DeSci (Decentralized Science) has great potential to grow quickly because it affects a wide range of people and industries, especially in healthcare, science, and biotech. The goal is to help creative founders who are building the systems, tools, and communities needed to make this new field successful.
The Sei Foundation began discussing the idea of creating a fund for DeSci in late 2024. For Barlow, one of the biggest opportunities in DeSci is creating applications that directly involve consumers, especially those that have the potential to reach millions of people.
The fund is especially interested in areas such as advanced wearable devices, user-controlled data sharing, and using games to help discover new drugs. These areas are supported by innovative ways of funding and ownership that cryptocurrency has made possible over the last decade.
Barlow believes that these advancements can help connect specialized scientific research to a larger audience, making it easier to address problems in traditional life sciences and biotech.
DeSCI as a sector has grown over the years to become a multibillion-dollar industry. Looking at the market cap, it has seen gains and stands at more than $800 million as of the last days of January 2025.