Blender Foundation
Blender Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded by Ton RoosendaalTon RoosendaalTon Roosendaal is a Dutch art director and self-taught software developer and the creator of the free and open-source 3D creation software Blender. He began writing Blender in late 1993 at NeoGeo, the animation studio he founded, and in 2002 founded the non-profit Blender Foundation, which used crowdfunding to release Blender as open source under the GNU GPL; he then served for many years as the foundation’s chairman and as Blender CEO, and from January 1, 2026, became chairman of the foundation’s Supervisory Board.Open the full entry in May 2002 to make the 3D creation software Blender open source and to support its ongoing development. In 2002, it regained the rights to Blender through the Free Blender crowdfunding campaign, and on October 13 of that year released Blender under the GNU GPL. Since January 1, 2026, Francesco Siddi has succeeded Roosendaal as chairman and CEO.
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Key facts
May 2002Founding
In early 2002, NaN, the company developing Blender, closed, and Blender’s development ceased. In May of that year, Ton Roosendaal founded the nonprofit Blender Foundation with the intention of making Blender open source.[1]
July 2002Launch of the Free Blender Crowdfunding Campaign
In July 2002, Blender Foundation launched the crowdfunding campaign Free Blender, raising €110,000 in seven weeks, enough to regain Blender from its investors.[1]
October 13, 2002Open-Sourced Under the GPL
On October 13, 2002, Blender was released under the GNU General Public License version 2 (GPL v2), becoming free and open-source software.[1]
2007Establishment of the Blender Institute
In the summer of 2007, following the open movie project Elephants Dream, the Blender Institute was established, with a permanent office and studio for carrying out Open Projects such as open movies.[1]
September 17, 2025Leadership Transition Announced
On September 17, 2025, Blender Foundation announced that Ton Roosendaal would step down as chairman and CEO effective January 1, 2026, to be succeeded by Francesco Siddi, then COO; Roosendaal would move to a newly created supervisory board position. The board was also expanded to include Sergey Sharybin, Dalai Felinto, and Fiona Cohen.[2]
April 28, 2026Anthropic Joins the Development Fund
On April 28, 2026, Blender Foundation announced that AnthropicAnthropicAnthropic is an artificial intelligence research and product company founded in 2021 that develops the Claude models, assistant, and tools such as Claude Code, and operates as a public benefit corporation. Dario Amodei and Daniela Amodei are its co-founders, and its research covers model safety, interpretability, and steerability.Open the full entry was joining the Blender Development Fund as Corporate Patron, with the support dedicated to Blender core development, including maintaining and continuously improving foundational features such as the Blender Python API. The standard annual fee for Patron-level corporate membership in the Development Fund is €240,000.[3][4]
The foundation said its mission remains to empower artists with free and open-source technology and tools, while it also maintains APIs for individuals and corporations to extend Blender, including for uses beyond the scope of Blender’s mission, which it considers part of the software freedom embodied in the GNU GPL license.[3][3]
After the news was announced, the Blender community was divided; some users who dislike generative artificial intelligence opposed the funding, and reactions on social media ranged from support to statements that they would no longer donate, although not all of the feedback was negative.[5]
May 1, 2026Change in How Anthropic’s Funding Is Received
On May 1, 2026, Blender Foundation announced that it would receive Anthropic’s funds as a one-time donation rather than as a Blender Development Fund membership, and acknowledged that it had not sufficiently sought contributors’ input before making the decision. The funds are used for Blender’s core activities and for human-driven development, art, and creativity; as of the announcement, Blender had no generative AI functionality and none was planned to be integrated.[6]
Sources
- Blender’s History - Blender 5.2 LTS Manual (opens in a new window)
- Blender Foundation announces new board and executive director (opens in a new window)
- Anthropic joins the Blender Development Fund as Corporate Patron (opens in a new window)
- Corporate Memberships — Blender Development Fund (opens in a new window)
- Anthropic's patronage of Blender downgraded to one-off donation (opens in a new window)
- Upcoming Blender Development Fund and AI Policies (opens in a new window)