Innovation without End: How Sei Is Becoming the Chain of Choice for Science and Innovation

A Glance at the Evolving DeSci Landscape on Sei

Earlier this year, Sei launched Sapien Open Science Fund I (the “Sapien Fund”), a $65M venture vehicle dedicated to decentralised science (DeSci) on the Sei blockchain. Today, Sapien represents one of the industry’s largest commitments to science and innovation onchain. The launch of Sapien marked the beginning of the DeSci V2 thesis, and thus a nascent industry started its transition from an ideal to a tangible reality.

In the eleven months since, the Sei Development Foundation (SDF) has served as a key advocate in this transition, working to advance the broader science and innovation ecosystem on Sei. By collaborating with Sapien-affiliated teams, academic partners, and builders, the Foundation has strengthened the coordination layer that enables scientific innovation.

Today, the ecosystem has evolved significantly. What started as an investment in DeSci has grown into something far larger. The following outlines that evolution and introduces the startups, collaborators, and institutions shaping this area today.

From DeSci to Science and Innovation

To discuss science is to discuss the accelerating pace of technological change and the resulting societal advancements, impacting everything from local communities to national policy. The biggest breakthroughs in history never happen in silos: AlphaFold emerged from the collision of biotech and AI. Boston Dynamics' Spot robot lives at the intersection of robotics and medical research. IBM's quantum computer bridges theoretical physics and practical computing.

This raises the question: why should the discussion of onchain science remain siloed and restricted to the lab?

While DeSci laid the vital groundwork in biotech, the Sei ecosystem is naturally evolving to encompass a full suite of frontier technologies. To truly succeed, "DeSci" on Sei is expanding into "Science and Innovation"—a broader category encompassing biotechnology, longevity, neurotech, robotics, DePIN, and DeAI. This shift is essential for real-world impact; moving beyond niche Web3 buzzwords creates an accessible framework ready for global institutional adoption.

A New Approach

Critically, success for this ecosystem requires playing both ends of the innovation spectrum.

The SDF supports Sapien’s venture thesis through a dual approach: nurturing startups and early-stage innovation, while simultaneously partnering with enterprises, institutions, and nation-states to deploy these solutions at scale.

This creates a symbiotic relationship where startups innovate from the ground up, while large-scale projects with enterprises demonstrate the network's capability to handle real-world, enterprise-grade applications.

This is how a high-performance L1 proves its mettle. This is why the SDF is committed to backing the “Science and Innovation” thesis driven by Sapien, where the opportunity is so much bigger than DeSci. Sapien serves as an engine for social and economic progress, applied to systemic challenges like manufacturing’s circular economy, global sustainable development, and the diversification of sovereign wealth.

The true scale of Sapien’s ambition has evolved beyond niche applications in the lab, to the core frontier technology powering the global economy.

Building Tomorrow’s World – Today

Eleven months in, the results speak for themselves. What began as a DeSci fund has evolved into a comprehensive science and innovation ecosystem spanning continents, institutions, and sovereign nations.

Strategic Partnerships and Collaborations

Innovation cannot happen in a vacuum; it requires a foundation of rigorous science and collaboration. The SDF has established this by partnering with leading academic institutions to ensure ecosystem developments are grounded in scholarly insight. The next big scientific discoveries also require modern infrastructure to avoid the bottlenecking of potential. Sei has the compute, infrastructure, and community necessary for real innovation, serving as the bridge between theoretical physics and practical decentralised coordination.

Key Ecosystem Partners:

Academic: Cambridge Blockchain Society, Cambridge Frontier Technologies Laboratory, and Clemson University’s Quantum Research Department.
Infrastructure: Aethir (Sei’s dedicated GPU provider for decentralised AI compute).
Coordination: DeSci World and Bonfires (Joint research frameworks).
Longevity: Lifespan.io (Positioning Sei as the "de facto DeSci chain")

Validating the Thesis: From Lab to Market

The strongest validation of any thesis is real-world adoption. The Sapien Fund’s portfolio companies are no longer just in the experimental phase; they are deploying technology at government and enterprise levels. This move toward utility is guided by a "brain trust" of advisors who understand the requirements of global industry—ensuring Sei is not just building for crypto, but for the world.

Portfolio Highlights:

Waive Dx: Deployed at the U.S. federal government and enterprise level.
PurerAir: Advanced air purification addressing global health challenges.
CapturGo: Decentralised GPS app crowdsourcing live traffic data.
Amulet: AI agents democratising access to longevity tools (prev. DrPepe.ai).

Advisory Highlights:

Mike Baran (Pfizer Ventures): Pharmaceutical industry expertise.
Dr. Alex Cahana (UN Blockchain Advisor): Global policy frameworks.
David Stefanich (WAIVE Diagnostics): Healthcare technology innovation.

Setting the Global Standard

This ambition extends beyond the market to the level of sovereign nations and international policy. The Sei ecosystem is actively working alongside the United Nations to explore blockchain applications for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), collaborating directly with nations such as the validator node in the Kingdom of Bhutan. This work is further validated by engagement with the Mexican Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the 23andMe initiative, which sought to decentralise genomic data ownership.

Sovereign and Industry Milestones

United Nations: Exploring blockchain applications at the national level, featured at UNGA80 Science & Climate Summits.
Nation State: Bhutan validator node and emerging economy integration.
Industry: Mexican Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
Genomics: 23andMe-like infra (Decentralising genomic data ownership).

Thought Leadership

Throughout this journey, the Sei ecosystem has also shaped the global conversation around Science and Innovation onchain:

The trajectory from DeSci meetups in Denver, London, and New York to convening a results-oriented forum during the UN General Assembly's Science and Climate Summits signals a pivotal shift: what began as crypto conference sidebars has emerged as a focal point in the global innovation agenda. Expect to see more of this as we go into 2026.

Get connected:

eleanor@seifdn.org
Apply for funding: https://sei-forms.typeform.com/to/CUQS73z1

Authored by Eleanor Davies of the Sei Development Foundation, and reposted from the Sei Development Foundation Blog with permission

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