- General
- September 15, 2020
- 4 minutes read
The Chainsmokers Close Debut VC Fund
The Chainsmokers (real names Alexander Pall (left) and Andrew Taggart (right). Photo credit: Walt Disney Television, under Creative Commons license…
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| The Chainsmokers (real names Alexander Pall (left) and Andrew Taggart (right).
Photo credit: Walt Disney Television, under Creative Commons license
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Popular electronic music duo The Chainsmokers, consisting of band members Alexander Pall and Andrew Taggart, have secured $35 million in capital commitments for their debut venture capital fund named Mantis. Among investors who committed to the new fund include luminary venture capitalists Ron Conway, Keith Rabois, and Mark Cuban as well as private equity billionaire James Coulter. The Chainsmokers share management of the venture capital fund with two day-to-day general partners by the name of Milan Koch, an investor who previously worked at seed-stage fund Base Ventures, and Jeffrey Evans, a record label founder and business acquaintance of The Chainsmokers. Not long ago, Mantis made one of its first investments ever in LoanSnap, a San Francisco-based lending startup which it chipped into a $10 million funding round for. Even before the formation of Mantis, The Chainsmokers had been individual angel investors, backing upstarts including Ember Technologies, a maker of temperature-controlled mugs.
Juggling a bustling music career along with startup investing will likely prove stressful, so it’s no surprise that Pall and Taggart have courted two more people to run day-to-day operations of Mantis. Even as they devote more time to music endeavors, the duo’s popularity and influence will likely serve as a key attraction to potential deals, particularly those in the consumer sector where The Chainsmokers brand will go a long way in marketing.
Mantis, the venture capital firm, will be based in Los Angeles. The Chainsmokers had earlier sought to raise up to $50 million for the firm, according to a report [paywall] from Bloomberg.
