Magdalena “Mags” Kala, a self-described “degen for life,” is no stranger to beating the odds. Before becoming an investor, she co-founded an all-female blackjack team that sought to exploit gender bias to profit through the game, she told TechCrunch in an interview.

So it’s fitting that Kala was able to raise his first fund as a solo GP focused on early-stage consumer startups in the web3 space in just four months despite a broader downturn in the crypto market.

His Miami, Florida-based firm Double Down surpassed its initial fundraising goal of $20 million in one month and closed its first fund totaling ~$30 million this week, according to Kala. The fund has already made nine investments in web3 consumer startups, including Miami-based OnChain Studios, which makes Cryptoys, and Tally Labs, the company behind the Jenkins the Valet & Azurbala franchises.

Kala’s fundraising is no small feat, especially considering that women are sorely underrepresented in venture capital, not to mention the added challenges that come with raising capital as a first-time fund manager in the depressed venture market of today. Women make up less than 15% of decision-makers at VC firms, a number that is almost certainly lower in the crypto space, where less than 5% of entrepreneurs are women.

His success in creating this fund is also, in part, a result of his deep experience in the consumer space. He has been investing in consumer-facing companies for a decade on behalf of Bain Capital and the family office of his co-chairman Steve Pagliuca. Kala said she decided to raise this fund as a “reluctant entrepreneur” after conversations with investors and founders at web3 encouraged her to tap into the relatively specific intersection of her interests in consumer and crypto.

“I think the future of web3 is in the consumer, and I recognize that one of the things that I think is limiting is actually the lack of good stories and go-to-market strategies around that, and communicating the value to people who are outside of the crypto OG, crypto-native customer segments,” Kala said. “To me, it felt like a perfect fit between investor and market, so to speak… I thought no one else in crypto was doing it, so I decided to launch the fund.”

Double Down’s backers include crypto and venture heavyweights like a16z’s Chris Dixon and Marc Andreessen, Paradigm co-founders Matt Huang and Fred Ehrsam, Alexis Ohanian’s VC firm Seven Seven Six, and crypto-focused LPs. consumer like Paris Hilton and Sara Blakely. Kala says that her LP base is made up of ~30% female LP and ~30% BIPOC LP.

As a nod to web3 culture, Kala says he’s releasing the entire deck he used to raise this fund as an NFT series on OpenSea. She plans to add AirDrop pages to her LP in the order they committed to the fund, starting with Pagliuca, Dixon and Ohanian, she added. Double Down is also launching a newsletter that will provide marketing and branding advice to web3 startups, she added.

“Consumer culture is essential to driving the widespread adoption of web3, and Mags brings a unique perspective as an experienced consumer investor, strategist and marketer to invest in and support the next generation of top web3 startups on their journey to the massive impact and scale.” Ohanian told TechCrunch in an email.

Kala says he plans to collaborate with some of the crypto-focused investors who are LPs from his fund on individual deals. The small size of his fund, he explained, will allow him to focus on the specific strengths he brings to the table rather than competing with larger companies.

For his investors, Kala’s private equity experience is one such asset, especially in today’s market.

“I’m used to doing real due diligence and being disciplined, and I think with a lot of LPs that has resonated,” Kala said. “I’m not going to beat around the bush, especially given the market conditions.”