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Magdalena “Mags” Kala, a lifelong degenerate, knows all about beating the odds. Before she became an investor, she cofounded an all-female blackjack team to take advantage of gender bias in gambling, She was successful in raising her first fund as a solo GP that focused on early-stage web3 consumer startups in just four months, despite a broader downturn in the crypto market, Kala was able to raise $20 million in just one month for her Miami, FL-based Double Down firm.
According to Kala, the firm has already made nine investments in web3 consumer companies, including Miami-based OnChain Studios, which develops Cryptos and Tally Labs, the company behind the Jenkins the Valet & Azurbala franchises.
Magdalena “Mags” Kala, a lifelong degener, knows all about beating the odds. Prior to founding an all-female blackjack team that sought to exploit gender bias in gambling, she invested in a variety of startups, she co-founded an all-female blackjack team that sought to exploit gender bias in order to make a profit, After raising her first fund as a solo GP focusing on early-stage consumer web3 ventures in just four months despite a downturn in the crypto market, Kala’s Miami, FL-based Double Down firm invested ~$30 million this week, according to Kala.
Kala said the firm has already invested in nine web3 consumer businesses, including Miami-based OnChain Studios, which produces Cryptos, as well as Tally Labs, the company behind the Jenkins the Valet & Azurbala franchises. It might seem improbable, but Magdalena Kala, a lifelong degenerate, has beaten the odds before.
She co-founded a team of women blackjack players who sought to exploit gender bias in gambling in order to make a profit, after which she became an investor. Despite a broader crypto market downturn, Kala was able to raise her first fund as a solo GP in the web3 space in just four months as a result of her poker skills.
Double Down raised a total of ~$30 million in its first fund this week, exceeding its original target of $20 million by one month. According to Kala, her firm has already made nine investments in web3 consumer startups, including Miami-based OnChain Studios, which makes Cryptos, and Tally Labs, which produces the Jenkins the Valet & Azurbala franchises.
Chris Dixon and Marc Andreessen of a16z are among Double Down’s crypto and venture heavyweights, The venture capital firm Seven Seven Six, led by Alexis Ohanian, co-funded this project with Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang and Fred Ehrsam.
It was funded by Alexis Ohanian’s VC firm Seven Seven Six and by consumer-focused LPs such as Paris Hilton and Sara Blakeley. According to Kala, 30% of her LP base is female LPs and 30% of her LPs are BIPOCs. She will distribute the deck of NFTs she used to raise the fund to her LPs via OpenSea as a nod to web3 culture.
Pagliuca, Dixon, and Ohanian will be the first to receive airdrops of pages, in the order in which they committed to the fund, she said. Kala also said Double Down will provide web3 startups with marketing and branding advice in addition to her own.
Mags, who is a veteran consumer investor, marketer, and strategist, is particularly poised to invest in and support the next generation of web3 startups as they journey to mass impact and scale, Ohanian said. According to Kala, she will work with some of her fund’s crypto-focused investors on individual deals.
Because her fund is small, Kala emphasises her unique skills rather than competing with larger companies. In the current market, her investors see her private equity experience as a significant advantage.
“There are a lot of LPs who are resonating with my approach,” Kala says. “I’m not going to rush around without conducting proper investigations, especially in the current market.”