Mantis VC is a United States-based early-stage venture fund best known for its founding connection to the music duo The Chainsmokers – Alex Pall and Andrew Taggart. The fund was established around 2019 alongside venture partner Jordan Soffer, who brings a more traditional investment background to the team. Rather than treating celebrity status as its primary credential, Mantis has positioned itself as a generalist tech fund with particular interest in consumer, gaming, music technology, and – increasingly – crypto and Web3 infrastructure.
Public disclosures on fund size and total AUM are limited. Mantis has not publicly announced a specific fund size for its vehicles, which is common among founder-led micro-funds of its vintage. With roughly 17 known portfolio companies and a single tracked lead investment, it operates at the seed and Series A stage, writing smaller checks and often co-investing alongside larger funds. Its United States base reflects a strong focus on North American deal flow, though the fund has shown openness to global crypto-native projects.
Notable investments
- Lyra Finance – a decentralized options and derivatives protocol built on Ethereum Layer 2, backed at an early stage when on-chain options infrastructure was still nascent.
- Consumer and gaming startups – Mantis has backed several consumer-facing companies in gaming and social, though many remain in stealth or have not publicly confirmed the investment.
- Music technology – given the founders' background, the fund has looked at companies at the intersection of music rights, streaming economics, and creator monetization, though specific names have not all been publicly confirmed.
Public information on the full portfolio breakdown is limited. A complete and confirmed list is not available through open sources as of early 2026.
Team
Alex Pall and Andrew Taggart serve as general partners alongside Jordan Soffer. Pall and Taggart bring direct experience as creators and consumers of the entertainment and tech industries rather than traditional finance backgrounds. Soffer provides operational investment expertise. The team structure is lean, which suits the fund's early-stage, conviction-driven approach. Beyond these three, detailed information on additional investment staff or advisors is not widely disclosed.
Recent activity
Mantis has maintained a lower public profile in 2025 and early 2026 compared to its more active announcement period around 2021–2022. No major new fund closes or flagship portfolio exits have been reported in the last 12–18 months through public channels. The fund has not announced a successor vehicle publicly. Its crypto-adjacent positions – particularly in DeFi infrastructure – remain subject to the broader market cycle that reshaped valuations across the sector through 2023 and 2024.
Mantis occupies a niche as a small, founder-led fund with genuine industry access through its music and entertainment network. That access can open doors for consumer and creator-economy deals that purely financial funds might miss. The trade-off is limited capital scale and thin public track record transparency. Investors and founders considering engagement with Mantis should weigh its network strengths against the modest portfolio depth and limited disclosure norms. Further research via Crunchbase is recommended for the most current portfolio data.