Base Ecosystem Fund is an early-stage venture fund operated by Coinbase Ventures, focused on investing in pre-seed and seed-stage teams building on Base, Coinbase's Ethereum Layer 2 network. Announced in February 2023 alongside the Base testnet launch, the fund deploys equity and token-based investments into applications, infrastructure, and protocols that contribute to the growth of the Base ecosystem. Unlike grant programs, the Base Ecosystem Fund provides venture capital in exchange for ownership rather than non-dilutive funding. Individual investment amounts and total fund size have not been publicly disclosed.
The fund operates as a dedicated vehicle within Coinbase Ventures. Deal sourcing, evaluation, and portfolio support are managed by the Coinbase Ventures team, aligning portfolio companies with Coinbase's broader strategic and distribution capabilities. Since announcing its first cohort in September 2023, the fund has backed more than 40 projects across DeFi, consumer applications, developer tooling, gaming, social platforms, and onchain infrastructure. Notable portfolio companies include Aerodrome Finance, Morpho, Blackbird, Paragraph, Talent Protocol, and Towns Protocol. In March 2025, the fund expanded its capital formation model by becoming a group lead on Echo.xyz, enabling accredited investors to co-invest alongside Coinbase Ventures in selected Base ecosystem deals.
What This Fund Does
The Base Ecosystem Fund deploys venture capital into early-stage teams building on Base, accelerating ecosystem-native products and infrastructure.
In practice, it enables:
- Early-stage founders to secure funding for Base-native applications, with strategic guidance from Coinbase Ventures
- DeFi protocols to build core financial infrastructure – including DEXs, lending markets, and derivatives platforms – on Base
- Consumer application builders to develop user-facing products such as social platforms, gaming, payments, loyalty systems, and creator tools
- Infrastructure teams to fund wallets, identity systems, analytics, developer tooling, oracles, and other shared components
- Portfolio companies to leverage Coinbase's distribution network, partnerships, product integrations, and access to its global user base
The fund prioritizes projects building natively on Base or meaningfully expanding its economic and developer activity.
Features
The Base Ecosystem Fund functions as a focused investment arm within Coinbase Ventures, combining traditional venture capital practices with ecosystem-specific alignment and onchain capital formation infrastructure.
Core Components
- Venture investment: Capital is deployed at pre-seed and seed stage in exchange for equity or token positions, with terms negotiated individually.
- Strategic ecosystem support: Portfolio companies may receive introductions to partners, product integrations, and alignment with Base-native infrastructure such as Smart Wallet and Paymaster.
- Onchain co-investment via Echo: Since March 2025, the fund has acted as a group lead on Echo.xyz, allowing accredited investors to participate alongside Coinbase Ventures in select Base deals through onchain investment rails.
- Request for Builders: The fund periodically publishes targeted investment themes outlining priority areas and ecosystem gaps it is actively seeking to fund.
Fund Characteristics
- Ecosystem-native mandate: Investments are restricted to teams building on or deeply integrated with the Base network.
- Complement to non-dilutive programs: The fund operates alongside Base Builder Grants and Optimism RetroPGF, providing a venture pathway for teams seeking equity-style capital rather than retroactive or grant-based funding.
- Undisclosed fund size: Total capital allocation has not been publicly disclosed.
- Open application process: Teams may apply via the Coinbase Ventures website. The fund also sources deals through ecosystem activity and network referrals.
Use Cases
DeFi Teams Building Core Financial Infrastructure
DeFi protocols developing exchanges, lending markets, derivatives infrastructure, and liquidity systems on Base use the fund to secure early capital and strategic alignment. Aerodrome Finance (DEX and liquidity hub) and Morpho (decentralized lending infrastructure) illustrate the fund's role in anchoring Base's DeFi stack with foundational financial primitives.
Consumer Application Founders Targeting Onchain Adoption
Teams building user-facing products – including social platforms, gaming applications, loyalty systems, creator tools, and payments infrastructure – use the fund to combine early-stage capital with Coinbase ecosystem access. Blackbird (restaurant loyalty), Paragraph (onchain publishing), and Towns Protocol (decentralized social) represent consumer-grade applications designed to onboard users to Base through practical use cases.
Infrastructure and Developer Tooling Teams
Wallets, identity systems, analytics platforms, oracles, and developer tools receive early-stage capital to build critical ecosystem infrastructure. Strategic support and integration with Base-native components help these teams embed deeply within the Base developer experience.
Accredited Investors Participating in Base Ecosystem Deals
Through Echo.xyz, accredited investors can co-invest alongside Coinbase Ventures in selected Base Ecosystem Fund transactions. This model expands available capital for founders while enabling aligned investors to participate in Base ecosystem growth through onchain rails.