Blockchange Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Blockchange Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests exclusively in blockchain technology companies, protocols, and applications. Founded in 2017 by Ken Seiff, the firm's stated mission is "to invest in the early rounds of the largest blockchain outcomes," built on the conviction that blockchain is a generational technology shift that will unlock industries and business categories that do not yet exist. The firm markets itself with the tagline "We're not early adopters, we're first believers," signaling a strategy of conviction-driven, first-institutional-check investing rather than momentum investing. Unlike generalist funds that added a "crypto vertical," Blockchange has been blockchain-exclusive since inception, and its earliest bets (Solana, Filecoin, Polkadot/Parity, NEAR, Flow, Mina, Audius) place it among the longer-tenured funds in the space. More recently the firm has extended its lens from pure protocol infrastructure into blockchain-adjacent AI and real-world-asset tokenization, backing companies like webAI (on-device/sovereign AI), Spexi (decentralized drone imagery for physical-AI training data), Dinari (tokenized U.S. equities) and Zama (fully homomorphic encryption for confidential blockchains).
Stage Focus
Blockchange invests primarily at Pre-Seed, Seed, and Series A, most commonly as the first or among the first institutional checks into category-defining protocols and applications. Third-party trackers place roughly half of disclosed deals at Seed, with a meaningful share of Series A follow-through into existing portfolio companies (e.g., Dinari, Blockskye, Zama, Mawari, Andrena, Pact Labs all show Series A participation after an earlier check).
Check Size
Per-partner data is consistent across the team (Ken Seiff, Rob Schmults, Cailleach Dé Weingart-Ryan): a typical check "sweet spot" of roughly $1.5M, within a $100K–$5M range. The firm both leads and co-leads/participates depending on round dynamics; larger rounds (e.g., Zama's $57M Series B, Dinari's $12.7M Series A) show Blockchange co-leading or leading alongside other specialist crypto funds (Pantera Capital, Hack VC).
Lead Tendency
Mixed — Blockchange leads or co-leads a substantial share of its deals (Spexi, Raleon, CUBE3.AI, Collectibles.com, Blockskye, Kira, Unicity, Balcony, Afterparty) but also participates alongside other lead investors on larger or later rounds. One third-party profile put the firm's lead rate at roughly a third of tracked rounds (25 of 68).
Recent Activity
The firm remains active through 2025–2026. Recent disclosed rounds include: Pact Labs Series A (Jul 2026), Balcony Seed lead (May 2026), Unicity Seed lead (Feb 2026), Akave Seed (Jan 2026), Kira Seed lead ($6.7M, Aug 2025), Blockskye Series A lead ($15.8M, Jul 2025), Zama Series B co-lead ($57M, Jun 2025), Dinari Series A co-lead ($12.7M, Apr/May 2025), and Spexi Series A lead ($11.5M, Dec 2024). The firm continues to post actively about portfolio company milestones (Spexi's partnership with Niantic Spatial for physical-AI training data, webAI's benchmark results and press coverage), suggesting an actively-deploying, hands-on fund rather than one in wind-down.
Portfolio Highlights
Early/legacy positions include Solana, Filecoin, Polkadot (Parity), NEAR Protocol, Flow, Mina Protocol, Audius, Figure, and Skale — several of which became category-defining layer-1/infrastructure networks. More recent notable positions include webAI (sovereign/on-device AI, backed four times since a 2023 co-led seed), Spexi (decentralized drone imagery, now a preferred data provider for Niantic Spatial's physical-AI foundation models), Zama (FHE/confidential blockchain infrastructure, reached unicorn status at its Series B), Dinari (tokenized U.S. equities), and Akave, Mawari, Dentity, CUBE3.AI, Obligate (ex-FQX), and StoryCo among others. Third-party trackers cite a portfolio in the range of 55–100+ tracked investments depending on methodology and disclosure.
Team
- Ken Seiff, Managing Partner — Founded Blockchange Ventures in 2017; longtime operator and investor now focused full-time on early-stage blockchain investing.
- Rob Schmults, General Partner
- Cailleach Dé Weingart-Ryan, General Partner
- John Squire, General Partner
- Matthew Immerso, General Partner
Team is distributed across New York, Massachusetts, and the San Francisco Bay Area, in addition to the firm's Surfside/Miami, Florida headquarters presence.
Decision Process
Multiple general partners are active on deals (Seiff, Schmults, Weingart-Ryan, Squire, Immerso all show up as investors of record on different rounds), consistent with a partnership-style decision process rather than a solo-GP structure.
Founder Preferences
Blockchange's public testimonials (from Figure's Mike Cagney, Parity/Polkadot's Jutta Steiner, Audius's Roneil Rumberg, Solana's Raj Gokal, and Skale's Jack O'Holleran) emphasize hands-on support beyond capital: competitive positioning, go-to-market/marketing support, and strategic partnership-building. The firm appears to favor technical, protocol-native founders building category-defining infrastructure or applications, with a growing willingness to back blockchain-adjacent AI and real-world-asset tokenization founders as those categories mature.
Geographic Focus
Primarily United States-based portfolio and team (New York, Florida, Massachusetts, San Francisco Bay Area), with selective international exposure typical of the broader crypto/Web3 investing landscape (e.g., Zama is France/US dual-based).