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When fantasy sports company Underdog Fantasy raised $10 million last week, the list of high-profile investors included one rapper who has a knack for finding early-stage companies with a huge future.
Nas joined Kevin Durant’s Thirty Five Ventures, Mark Cuban, and Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff in Underdog’s funding round. He’s bought in early on a roster of tech companies that would inspire admiration from almost any venture capitalist.
Through QueensBridge Venture Partners, founded in 2014, Nas made early bets on:
- Dropbox
- Lyft
- Robinhood
- Coinbase
The firm has also made investments in in mattress company Casper, electric vehicle charger Volta Charging, home security system Ring, and streaming service Pluto TV, among others. Amazon bought Ring for $1 billion in 2018 and Viacom bought Pluto TV for $340 million the following year.
Nas’ latest victory came when Coinbase went public with a value of $86 billion. QueensBridge invested in the Series B round when the crypto exchange had a valuation of $143 million. The firm typically invests $100,000 to $500,000 in startups.
As for his latest move: Underdog is looking to make a splash in a fantasy industry dominated by big names like Yahoo, ESPN, DraftKings, and FanDuel. The startup also announced a best-ball-style fantasy football tournament with a $3.5 million prize pool.
