Jake Paul's Anti Fund moves into content
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Jake Paul (left) and Geoffrey Woo (right). Photo: Courtesy of Anti Fund.
YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul has been busy in his new venture capital job, getting to just over $23 million in assets under management, and deploying $20 million via various fund vehicles.
Driving the news: Anti Fund, the rolling VC fund Paul started with entrepreneur Goeffrey Woo last year, is debuting a content-focused hub.
- Using content to market a VC firm isn't novel, but Woo say it's "organic" to them in a way that might not be for others, given that Paul is a professional content creator.
What they're saying: "A lot of [traditional VCs] don't necessarily understand the brand building or marketing," Paul tells Axios. "So when I'm able to speak to these CEOs and offer them tons of help on the brand marketing side... that's invaluable to these founders."
Yes, but: Woo cautions that Anti Fund focuses on providing strategic marketing advice and consulting, not necessarily direct access to Paul's audience: "We're not here to do a Jake promo — Jake is not your brand ambassador."
- Paul adds that he's only posted about around 15% of Anti portfolio companies on his social media accounts.
- And what about Paul's past controversies? "It hasn't mattered — it's been the opposite actually," he says. "I think that goes with being older now and being more mature and boxing has changed who I am, and I think people see that."
By the numbers: As of May 31, 2022, the fund has returned about 50% of cash to initial investors (0.5x in DPI), and has a TVPI of 2x.
1 fave thing: The Anti Fund guys are clearly excited about crypto, Web3, and the metaverse — when asked about standout portfolio companies, Paul immediately pointed to Alchemy, a crypto infrastructure startup, and Wilder World, an NFT-meets-metaverse company.
- "I think our generation is gonna live in the digital landscape eventually," says Paul.
- Paul has personally been named in at least one lawsuit regarding a his promotion of SafeMoon tokens, as well as other allegations of undisclosed paid promotions of tokens, though he declined to comment on any of this through a representative.
The bottom line: The savviest social media stars know how to monetize as much of their life and skills as possible. Same goes for when they become venture capitalists.
- Go deeper: Social media's VC power
