The Chainsmokers are back in fundraising mode. The Grammy-winning duo’s venture firm, Mantis VC, is raising a new $100 million fund, according to The Information. It’s the clearest sign yet that Alex Pall and Drew Taggart aren’t dabbling in startups as a side gig. They’re building a real venture franchise.
Mantis isn’t new. Pall and Taggart launched it back in 2019, and the firm has quietly put money into names like Calm, NotCo, LanzaTech, and StockX. A $100 million target marks a serious step up in ambition. Early celebrity funds tend to be small, opportunistic checks. A nine-figure vehicle puts Mantis in the same conversation as established seed and early-stage shops.
Why this matters
Celebrity venture capital used to be a punchline. Athletes and musicians would write small angel checks, lend their name to a deal, and move on. That era is over. Investors like Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures, Serena Williams’ Serena Ventures, and Nas-backed QueensBridge have shown that famous founders can build durable firms with real returns.
Mantis fits that shift. The Chainsmokers bring three things most first-time VCs don’t have:
- Distribution. A massive social following and direct access to founders who want celebrity attention on their cap table.
- Brand reach. Consumer startups care about awareness, and the duo can move a product in front of millions.
- Network. Years of deals have built relationships with co-investors and later-stage funds.
The question has always been whether the access converts into picking winners. A $100 million fund suggests limited partners are betting it does.
The fundraising backdrop
Timing is the interesting part. Raising a new fund right now is hard. The Information and other outlets have tracked a brutal stretch for venture fundraising, with LPs pulling back, distributions drying up, and capital concentrating in a handful of mega-firms and AI bets. Smaller and newer managers have struggled to close.
So a celebrity-led firm targeting $100 million in this climate is notable. It tells you either Mantis has posted returns strong enough to keep LPs interested, or the brand premium still carries weight when capital is tight. Probably some of both.
What to watch
A few things will tell us how serious this fund really is:
- The close. Targets and actual closes are different animals. Hitting $100 million in this market would be a genuine signal of LP confidence.
- The thesis. Mantis has leaned consumer so far. Whether this fund tilts toward AI, where nearly all venture dollars are flowing right now, will say a lot about how the duo reads the market.
- The team. Nine-figure funds need infrastructure. Watch for hires beyond Pall and Taggart that signal a real institution rather than a founder’s hobby.
What stands out to me is the trajectory. Mantis started as a passion project and is now reaching for institutional scale. That’s a hard jump, and most celebrity funds never make it.
For founders, more capital chasing deals is good news, especially outside the AI gold rush where money has gotten scarce. For the rest of the venture world, Mantis is another data point that the line between entertainment and investing keeps blurring. The Chainsmokers aren’t just lending their name anymore. They’re asking to be taken seriously as investors.
Whether $100 million proves they belong is the next test. More details are available at the original report from The Information.