Cosmos Ventures Launches $77.6 Million Fund I to Back AI-Era Institutional Builders

Cosmos Ventures has launched with Brendan McCord and Matt Mandel introducing a $77.6 million Fund I to support founders building institutions for the AI era. According to ChainCatcher, the fund has already invested in AIUC, Prime Intellect, Workshop Labs, which has been acquired by Thinking Machines, and an undisclosed education company. McCord is the founder of Cosmos Institute and Cosmos Ventures, while Mandel previously worked at Union Square Ventures. The fund’s limited partners include Reid Hoffman, Joe Liemandt, Stand Together, Fred Wilson, Micky Malka, and Astera Institute. Cosmos Ventures said AI represents the largest window for institutional building since the founding of the United States. It argued that AI is breaking the historical link between intelligence and humanity, leaving many needed institutions unbuilt. The firm said founders in this era must answer normative questions that machines cannot answer and described them as “philosopher-builders.” It also introduced the slogan “Condere aude,” meaning “dare to found.”