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    Cosmos Ventures launches $77.6 million debut fund for “philosopher-builders”

    Co-founder Matt Mandel describes the target founders as people who combine a philosophical vision for society with the technical ability to realize it.

    Séb KrierSK
    Danielle Fong 🔆DF
    Jason CrawfordJC
    9 Sources, ,

    TLDR

    Brendan McCord and Matt Mandel announced Cosmos Ventures on September 16, 2026. McCord said its $77.6 million first fund would back “philosopher-builders” founding institutions for the AI age.

    McCord said the firm had already invested in AIUC, Prime Intellect, Workshop Labs and a stealth education company.

    Cosmos Institute says the venture firm is a separate organization with its own funding and governance. The institute will continue its nonprofit work in research, education, grants and fellowships.

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    9 Sources, first seen 21d ago

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    9 Sources, first seen 21d ago

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    9 Sources

    Brendan McCord 🏛️ x 🤖@Brendan_McCordIntroducing Cosmos Ventures. @_MattMandel and I are launching Fund I with $77.6M to back philosopher-builders founding institutions for the AI age. We’ve invested in AIUC (@aiunderwriting), @PrimeIntellect, Workshop Labs (acquired by @ThinkyMachines), and a stealth education company. Our LPs include @reidhoffman, @jliemandt, @StandTogether, @fredwilson, @mickymalka, and @AsteraInstitute. AI is creating the biggest opening for institution-builders since the American founding. We are here to back the founders who take it. Our thesis: Dare to Found.21d
    Matt Mandel@_mattmandelToday @Brendan_McCord and I are launching Cosmos Ventures. AI is overturning assumptions society has organized itself around for centuries. The models keep getting better, but no level of capability can tell us what kind of society we should make with them. We need a new class of founders to build what comes next. Instead of only “building what people want” and iterating their way to product-market fit, these founders start from the question of how we should live together. They build new institutions that set the standards for how entire industries operate. They combine a philosophical vision of the society they’re building toward with the technical ability to realize it. We call them philosopher-builders. Immanuel Kant gave the Enlightenment its motto: Sapere aude. Dare to know. The AI age demands another. Condere aude. Dare to found. 🫡21d
    Cosmos Institute@cosmos_instToday, @Brendan_McCord, founder of Cosmos Institute, and @_MattMandel launched Cosmos Ventures, a venture firm backing philosopher-builders founding institutions for the AI age. Cosmos Institute explores what AI means for a free society through research, writing, grants, and a community of thinkers and builders. That work has taken different institutional forms. Among them, we helped create Oxford’s HAI Lab and incubate the nonprofit IDAI, and through the Cosmos Fellowship and Cosmos Grants, we support about a hundred people a year turning ideas into prototypes to advance truth-seeking and human autonomy. Some answers take the form of companies. Cosmos Ventures exists to back the founders who share this ambition. We’re excited to see more founders, operators, and investors engage with these ideas and put them into practice. Cosmos Ventures is a separate organization with its own funding and governance structure. At Cosmos Institute, we’ll continue to pursue our nonprofit work across research, education, grants, and fellowships. Condere aude. Dare to found. 🫡21d
    Séb Krier@sebkrierRT @_mattmandel: Today @Brendan_McCord and I are launching Cosmos Ventures. AI is overturning assumptions society has organized itself aro…21d
    Jason Crawford@jasoncrawfordRT @Brendan_McCord: Introducing Cosmos Ventures. @_MattMandel and I are launching Fund I with $77.6M to back philosopher-builders founding…21d
    Bhuwan Dhingra@bhuwandhingraRT @cosmos_inst: Today, @Brendan_McCord, founder of Cosmos Institute, and @_MattMandel launched Cosmos Ventures, a venture firm backing phi…21d
    Danielle Fong 🔆@DanielleFongRT @_mattmandel: Today @Brendan_McCord and I are launching Cosmos Ventures. AI is overturning assumptions society has organized itself aro…21d
    Seth Lazar@sethlazarThis is a very exciting initiative. Almost every time I see a cool new company working to build a safe, decentralised AI agent economy, where agents actually work in people's interests, I discover that they've been seeded by @Brendan_McCord and his buddies. There are so many exciting ideas for philosopher-builders to work on: get to it!20d

    Sentiment

    Positive98.1%1.9%Negative

    Summary

    Many accounts welcomed the Cosmos Ventures launch and $77.6M Fund I because they praised its crisp initial bets and the focus on philosopher-builders creating AI-era institutions.

    Based on 178 sentiment-bearing replies from 159 accounts across 2 conversations.

    Sentiment

    Positive98.1%1.9%Negative

    Summary

    Many accounts welcomed the Cosmos Ventures launch and $77.6M Fund I because they praised its crisp initial bets and the focus on philosopher-builders creating AI-era institutions.

    Based on 178 sentiment-bearing replies from 159 accounts across 2 conversations.

    9 Sources

    Brendan McCord 🏛️ x 🤖@Brendan_McCordIntroducing Cosmos Ventures. @_MattMandel and I are launching Fund I with $77.6M to back philosopher-builders founding institutions for the AI age. We’ve invested in AIUC (@aiunderwriting), @PrimeIntellect, Workshop Labs (acquired by @ThinkyMachines), and a stealth education company. Our LPs include @reidhoffman, @jliemandt, @StandTogether, @fredwilson, @mickymalka, and @AsteraInstitute. AI is creating the biggest opening for institution-builders since the American founding. We are here to back the founders who take it. Our thesis: Dare to Found.21d
    Matt Mandel@_mattmandelToday @Brendan_McCord and I are launching Cosmos Ventures. AI is overturning assumptions society has organized itself around for centuries. The models keep getting better, but no level of capability can tell us what kind of society we should make with them. We need a new class of founders to build what comes next. Instead of only “building what people want” and iterating their way to product-market fit, these founders start from the question of how we should live together. They build new institutions that set the standards for how entire industries operate. They combine a philosophical vision of the society they’re building toward with the technical ability to realize it. We call them philosopher-builders. Immanuel Kant gave the Enlightenment its motto: Sapere aude. Dare to know. The AI age demands another. Condere aude. Dare to found. 🫡21d
    Cosmos Institute@cosmos_instToday, @Brendan_McCord, founder of Cosmos Institute, and @_MattMandel launched Cosmos Ventures, a venture firm backing philosopher-builders founding institutions for the AI age. Cosmos Institute explores what AI means for a free society through research, writing, grants, and a community of thinkers and builders. That work has taken different institutional forms. Among them, we helped create Oxford’s HAI Lab and incubate the nonprofit IDAI, and through the Cosmos Fellowship and Cosmos Grants, we support about a hundred people a year turning ideas into prototypes to advance truth-seeking and human autonomy. Some answers take the form of companies. Cosmos Ventures exists to back the founders who share this ambition. We’re excited to see more founders, operators, and investors engage with these ideas and put them into practice. Cosmos Ventures is a separate organization with its own funding and governance structure. At Cosmos Institute, we’ll continue to pursue our nonprofit work across research, education, grants, and fellowships. Condere aude. Dare to found. 🫡21d
    Séb Krier@sebkrierRT @_mattmandel: Today @Brendan_McCord and I are launching Cosmos Ventures. AI is overturning assumptions society has organized itself aro…21d
    Jason Crawford@jasoncrawfordRT @Brendan_McCord: Introducing Cosmos Ventures. @_MattMandel and I are launching Fund I with $77.6M to back philosopher-builders founding…21d
    Bhuwan Dhingra@bhuwandhingraRT @cosmos_inst: Today, @Brendan_McCord, founder of Cosmos Institute, and @_MattMandel launched Cosmos Ventures, a venture firm backing phi…21d
    Danielle Fong 🔆@DanielleFongRT @_mattmandel: Today @Brendan_McCord and I are launching Cosmos Ventures. AI is overturning assumptions society has organized itself aro…21d
    Seth Lazar@sethlazarThis is a very exciting initiative. Almost every time I see a cool new company working to build a safe, decentralised AI agent economy, where agents actually work in people's interests, I discover that they've been seeded by @Brendan_McCord and his buddies. There are so many exciting ideas for philosopher-builders to work on: get to it!20d