It's winter for VCs, but spring for KOL agencies.
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It's winter for VCs, but spring for KOL agencies.
The role boundaries between these top-tier VCs and leading Agencies are becoming increasingly blurred.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsWritten by: Jaleel, BUBBLE, BlockBeats
The author would like to thank all the agencies interviewed for this article: Evie (JE Labs); Miko (Hyperion); Er Gou (BLOCKFOCUS); Dov, Gary, Joyce (Mango Labs); Sam (WOK Labs); and anonymous contributors.
KOL Agencies are stepping into the role once held by Crypto VCs.
Last weekend, another once-prominent Chinese crypto VC ceased operations. Amid tightening global financial liquidity, the crypto industry has entered a prolonged "garbage time," with venture capital (VC) facing an unprecedented winter. Yet, KOL Agencies—a new player that emerged suddenly in this cycle—are enjoying their springtime.
In a conversation with BlockBeats, Dov, founder of Mango Labs, was walking home after dinner. His work schedule is now tighter than when he worked at a VC—overloaded with business and projects, constantly jumping between meetings or taking quick calls on the roadside. Since going full-time into Agency work, both his identity and rhythm have shifted.
Projects are hard to launch, VCs are struggling—but on the other side, over 20 KOL Agencies have sprung up in the past six months alone, making it one of the hottest and most profitable new business models this year. Dov, who was active in VC just a year ago, seems to have foreseen the industry shift.
"Many VCs are having a tough year and are now transitioning into Agencies," said Miko, founder of Hyperion. One of their core team members recently shut down his own VC fund to join the Agency race.
This appears to be a common trend—the majority of Agency founding teams come from investment backgrounds.
Agencies are becoming the next destination for former VCs. As VCs lose influence over retail investors, Agencies have become the new creators of market narratives. It’s winter for VCs, but spring for KOL Agencies.
The Next Stop for VCs
When a project prepares to launch, the most common move to generate buzz on Twitter is to get KOLs to retweet, write threads, pin bios, or host AMAs. But key questions remain: Who should post? What should they say? How do you contact KOLs? How do you measure ROI? For a new project, even the first step can be daunting.
Project teams need visibility but lack marketing expertise; KOLs produce content but struggle with coordination. This gap is precisely why KOL Agencies exist—they’re a business model born out of information asymmetry and trust needs.
"I was attending a conference in Denver, and many foreign project founders asked me directly if I could introduce them to Chinese KOLs," recalled Dov. "I casually helped connect one project with Chinese KOLs—and the results were surprisingly strong."
Initially, he had no intention of running an Agency full-time. But through repeated ad-hoc assistance, he敏锐ly sensed an industry shift: "KOLs are flipping VCs—this will be a crucial trend."
After returning to China, he didn’t go all-in immediately, instead testing the waters gradually. By the end of 2023, at an event in Hong Kong, he felt the potential of the Agency model more strongly than ever. That’s when his future partner Lolo approached him—they clicked instantly.
"She said my logic about 'KOLs flipping VCs' made perfect sense, and we should build something together. I felt the timing was right, so I started taking on a few projects. Back then, we weren’t doing much—just steady, unspectacular progress."
The turning point came in January 2025, when Mango Labs experienced explosive growth in traffic and collaborations. This period marked the rise of the KOL Agency model as a dominant force.
Er Gou, founder of BLOCKFOCUS, was among the earliest pioneers of Agency services in the Chinese-speaking community. After entering the space in 2018 working in software marketing and KOL outreach, he launched his own KOL account within a year—posting content, riding trends, engaging communities—gradually growing it into a success.
"Back when I started on Twitter, I only had 100 followers—but Yi Jie followed me right away," said Er Gou, who was still a sophomore at the time, one of the youngest in the scene. With a laugh, he added, "You could say I was the original 'En Heng'."
As his network and resources grew, Er Gou officially launched BLOCKFOCUS's Agency business in 2021, helping projects find suitable KOLs for marketing and promotion.
"We Are Not an MCN"
If you're familiar with traditional influencer economies, the term "MCN" (Multi-Channel Network) likely rings a bell. At its core, a KOL Agency plays a role very similar to Web2-era MCNs: acting as intermediaries between brands and influencers. Instead of contacting creators individually, brands work with an MCN that handles contracting, pricing, management, and coordinates content production and distribution schedules.
However, traditional MCNs operate like heavy industry. A friend in the traditional entertainment sector told LD Obito BlockBeats that at Wu You Media—one of Hangzhou’s top MCNs—KOLs typically sign exclusive contracts lasting 3–10 years, handing over full commercialization rights to the agency. Revenue sharing, brand deals, account management—even the pace of a KOL’s rise to fame—is meticulously planned by the company.
This model dominated the short-video era, but fails to translate well into Web3.
"In Web3, contracts aren’t enforceable. The KOLs you nurture can leave anytime, go wherever they want," said Er Gou, who initially considered signing KOLs until legal consultation revealed the futility of such efforts in Web3.
Hence the current reality across all KOL Agencies: “We don’t train KOLs, nor do we sign exclusives.”
Unlike Web2’s "buyout-and-manage" approach, Web3 KOLs act more like freelancers—they can work with Project A today, Project B tomorrow, or serve multiple Agencies simultaneously.
Miko, founder of Hyperion, shares this view.
Founded in 2019, Hyperion initially focused on integrated marketing across Web2 platforms—Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, Kuaishou, Video Accounts—developing full-scale communication strategies, coordinating KOL partnerships, ad placements, and conversion funnels to help brands rapidly scale. In 2023, Hyperion formally pivoted into Web3.
To adapt to Web3’s wilder, decentralized environment, Hyperion restructured its operations: no signing, no training—only flexible collaboration. "Web3 KOLs can't be managed. We don’t sign anyone, buy anyone out. We collaborate—we don’t control."
Social Circles and Barriers
While Web3 lacks contractual exclusivity, in this relationship-driven, trust-based industry, Agencies, KOLs, and projects form tight-knit "inner circles" with their own cultural barriers.
"Many KOLs give us their lowest rates—while quoting $5,000 or $8,000 externally, they tell us to pay whatever feels right," said Er Gou. "Every KOL we work with is a close friend."
These relationships extend beyond transactions into emotional bonds. Er Gou and his team send birthday cakes and greeting cards during holidays, play games with KOLs, dine together, and even rely on personal goodwill to resolve PR crises or request content takedowns.
"We understand how each KOL built their account, what type of content they excel at, their audience demographics—even their current emotional state," said Er Gou. "Only through deep understanding can we achieve true placement alignment."
This emotionally grounded partnership makes certain KOLs prefer long-term collaboration with specific Agencies, reducing repetitive screening and communication costs, allowing Agencies to build their own "exclusive resource pools."
This circle culture isn’t limited to ToC KOL networks—it also exists in ToB project sourcing.
Especially amid today’s shrinking primary market and worsening information asymmetry, access to quality projects and entry into core communities has become critical for any new Agency’s survival.
And this requires immense industry connections and credibility. This explains why most top Agency founders come from VC or CEX backgrounds—they better understand project fundamentals and gain early access to projects during inception.
Evie, founder of JE Labs, brings a hybrid background in consulting, crypto VC, and personal branding. After leaving OKX Web3 Wallet in June 2024, she launched JE Labs’ Agency business. She revealed that JE Labs has almost no dedicated BD staff—like most top Agencies, business development is led personally by the founder.
"The projects you access and choose to work with reflect your social circle—the credibility your network provides determines whether you land those first high-quality projects. These initial projects are the starting point of a reputation flywheel."
Advanced Agencies Are Becoming "Investment-Like"
As the industry matures and competition intensifies, Agencies without moats or deeper value creation risk getting trapped in fee-cutting wars, driving down overall profitability. Savvy operators from the VC world already see this coming. Hence, leading Agencies are evolving—not just intermediaries, but strategic partners with investment logic.
Take JE Labs as an example. Effective campaign execution requires not just operational skill, but deep industry insight. JE Labs’ team comprises professionals from consulting, VC, exchanges, and Web2 tech giants—equipped with both macro-level market understanding and hands-on experience. This cross-domain blend enables rapid grasp of different project narratives and adaptable response to diverse communication needs. Internally, Evie divides JE Labs’ offerings into four categories, each with distinct cooperation models:
1. **Pure KOL Promotion**: Based on client needs, the Agency handles KOL selection, scheduling, talking points design, charging a standard 20% service fee.
2. **Custom Consulting Services**: For complex needs—founder personal branding, community growth strategy, narrative design, or end-to-end AMA planning—JE Labs charges monthly, with a minimum 3-month commitment to ensure effectiveness and continuity.
3. **KOL Round / Community Round**: When projects seek funding via KOL or community rounds, JE Labs offers a "funding package" including narrative packaging, airdrop planning, distribution logic, and KOL mobilization, compensated with a percentage of raised tokens.
4. **Long-Term Advisory Role**: Acting as part-time CMO. For promising projects, JE serves as interim CMO or marketing advisor, involved in roadmap planning, strategy, and international rollout, paid via "monthly fee + token incentives"—available only to select few.
Evie calls this "resource-leveraged investing"—using knowledge, networks, and influence to deeply align with projects, earning tokens along with real strategic influence.
She stated bluntly: "There are many people who understand marketing, many who know crypto—but few who integrate both and offer truly effective strategic advice at the project level."
"How should the narrative be framed? How should the economic model align with market dynamics? How should KOL distribution sync with launch timing? We’re not serving KOLs—we’re serving business logic." This, according to Evie, is the real value of an Agency.
She believes pure KOL-placement Agencies have shallow moats. Only those transforming into "strategy advisors + resource partners" achieve deeper client stickiness and sustainable business models.
Today’s surviving top-tier Agencies have largely shifted focus from "execution" to "co-piloting," building stable cash flows and stronger industry barriers through the latter three service types—funding support, deep consulting, and strategic alignment.
Venture Capital Shedding Skin: Agencies Emerging from Winter
In fact, KOL Agencies aren’t entirely new to this cycle—their prototypes existed in previous ones.
During the NFT bull run, a wave of "MCN teams" briefly emerged, offering services to NFT projects: community setup, whitelist events, Discord and WeChat group management, and early AMA coordination. Many NFT teams, especially traditional IPs migrating from Web2, lacked understanding of Web3 operations—unfamiliar with KOL pricing, unsure where to promote, and lacking insider credibility.
Thus, these MCNs fulfilled the initial role of "content packaging + traffic delivery"—in essence, the prototype of today’s KOL Agency.
By 2021–2022, with global liquidity flooding markets, the primary market boomed. VCs wielded massive funds, backing flagship Layer 1 chains, ZK infrastructure, and Layer 2 protocols—with multi-million-dollar raises becoming routine.
When money ceased to be scarce, other resources became precious.
Too many projects, insufficient post-investment support. For founders, the scarcity wasn’t capital, but direct incubation resources. Thus, a new role emerged through market self-correction: incubators/accelerators.
These entities didn’t make investment decisions but acted as post-investment executors for VCs—providing practical support in team building, incentive design, media promotion, community management, and user growth—all compensated in tokens. This model brought them closer to today’s Agency positioning.
You could say MCNs were the "content precursor," while incubators were the "structural precursor." The modern Agency represents a reconfiguration of both models after their failure in Web3 contexts.
Now, with the primary market stalling and secondary cooling, VCs collectively falling silent, Agencies have found a new upward trajectory.
As Evie put it: "Today’s projects may not lack money, but they definitely lack resources, execution capability, and teams willing to grow alongside them."
Agencies fill this void—helping craft narratives with insight, opening community channels with networks, and shaping fundraising and listing paths with strategy.
The Vanishing VC Premium
If the last cycle belonged to VCs, this one sees them facing a crisis of collective irrelevance.
According to Dov, VCs have "fallen behind" in this cycle due to fundamental supply-demand misalignment and the end of an era’s tailwinds.
"Why do projects dump immediately at launch? Too many projects, too few retail investors. Everyone fights for attention and liquidity—the scarcest resources of all."
Dov elaborates from a macro perspective: During the last cycle, global monetary easing inflated asset prices worldwide—U.S. stocks hit records, real estate boomed in developing nations, and China’s private equity market overheated. Amid this search for new assets, crypto naturally became retail investors’ "new outlet." In that context, crypto VCs rode the wind: low entry costs, rapidly rising valuations, multiple funding rounds completed before launch, paper profits soaring.
"You can think of crypto as a spin-off of traditional finance—back then, excess capital flowed here," Dov recalled. "In the last cycle, VCs were the biggest beneficiaries of the era’s tailwinds."
But this time, the U.S. printing press has been turned off, retail investors have pulled back, and the market has cooled. Everything has changed.
Many VC-backed projects haven’t reached product-market fit—user traction is low, products undeveloped, some don’t even dare list their tokens. Even when they do launch, it’s often "open and dump." Some projects revise terms before unlocking: extending lockups, lowering valuations, or enforcing buybacks.
No exit in primary, no buyers in secondary. Once-mythologized VCs are now labeled "parasites" by retail. "It’s like playing memecoins—VCs pre-load the insider pool and wait for retail to buy in. Of course retail refuses."
Venture funds are drying up, but projects still need buyers—so they turn to KOLs. Hence, in 2024, the "KOL Round" gained popularity, later evolving into the "Community Round."
This was a long-overdue "run on the bank."
Dov draws parallels with his PE days: "Back then, consumer brand deals started at $100–200 million. Markets were so hot that companies with zero profit commanded 100x revenue valuations—completely irrational."
The same script played out in crypto. Over the past two years, crypto VCs deployed massive dollar funds into "concept projects." But upon launch, there were no users, no buyers, no believers. These projects became piles of "paper wealth" sitting on desks—unsellable.
"These shifts reflect broader global transformations—they’re unrelated to exchanges, VCs, projects, KOLs, or communities. A grain of sand in history becomes a mountain in our industry," Dov told LD Obito BlockBeats.
In his view, this isn’t just a crypto problem or a Chinese VC issue—it’s a global market undergoing comprehensive value reassessment: U.S. IPOs dumping at open, Chinese ADRs underperforming, Hong Kong listings sparse. VCs have lost their storytelling power, and retail no longer buys in.
"Look at the U.S. now—Ant Group hasn’t listed, ByteDance hasn’t gone public. Going public is like token listing—most companies dump at open. Look at NIO, MissFresh, Perfect Diary—their stock charts look no different from altcoins. Even traditional private markets are full of bubbles."
The past two crypto cycles mirror China’s consumer capital bubble: "Back then, every brand used the same factory, slapped on a new label and packaging to tell a fresh story. Today’s crypto projects are doing the exact same thing."
Now, success goes to those who can craft compelling stories, rally the most active communities, dominate discourse, and win Twitter’s attention war.
Thus, Agencies were chosen.
Blurred Boundaries
Er Gou observes this cycle’s evolution: "Almost every market cycle spawns a wave of marketing teams, incubators, or accelerators—but most vanish quickly. When the next cycle comes, new faces emerge."
He recalls the chaotic early days of 2021: "Everyone operated randomly—nothing systematic." But now, with rising competition, top Agencies are adopting dual "heavy-duty" advantages—organized structures and cognitive depth—operating increasingly like lightweight crypto VCs.
Currently, two dominant models exist among leading Agencies.
The first, represented by JE Labs, follows a "consulting firm" structure—each project assigned to a dedicated "project manager" responsible for everything from strategy to execution.
At JE Labs, project managers handle KOL selection, content review, scheduling, data tracking, and specialize by vertical (DeFi, AI, Infra, etc.), accumulating deep domain knowledge. Language zones are also strategically managed—the team maintains KOL and media networks in Chinese, English, and Russian regions, tailored to local communication habits and sentiment rhythms.
The second model, exemplified by BLOCKFOCUS and Hyperion, adopts a "division-of-labor" approach. Marketing workflows are broken into modules handled by specialized roles: BD reps secure clients and close deals; project leads manage timelines, feedback, and resource allocation; KOL ops maintain the KOL pool and coordinate rollouts; content and data teams draft materials, analyze performance, and optimize campaigns. This modular system scales efficiently across multiple concurrent projects and supports SOP development for service replication.
Whether project-manager-led or分工-coordinated, elite Agencies have evolved beyond mere "intermediaries" into lightweight VCs—requiring marketing savvy, technical understanding of projects, and even investment strategy literacy.
Top Agencies Do Only Three Things
With combined capabilities in "advisory + media + investment + strategy," these Agencies are morphing into leaner, more cash-flow-stable versions of VCs.
Their core competitive edge has shifted from "who knows more KOLs" to three critical functions: selecting better projects, crafting superior narratives, and designing effective exits.
Selecting Strong Projects
Evaluating the native strength of a project’s backing ecosystem; assessing founder background, track record, vision, and execution ability.
Top Agencies judge projects much like VCs evaluate portfolio candidates.
If every collaboration delivers results—if affiliated KOLs consistently profit and their followers earn returns—then the market’s regard, trust, and buying interest in the Agency fundamentally change.
Hence, Er Gou of BLOCKFOCUS turns down numerous project proposals: "Taking on more cases increases revenue, but also raises management and training overhead. Sacrificing brand integrity for volume isn’t worth it—trust is paramount."
When an Agency repeatedly delivers successful outcomes and earns strong client feedback, it enters a virtuous cycle: more high-quality projects seek collaboration, word-of-mouth strengthens brand loyalty, enabling stricter client filtering, leading to even better results. Existing clients may return for repeat engagements, forming lasting partnerships.
Selling Narrative, Throwing in Execution
If a16z epitomizes creating "VC-grade" influence through narrative-building, today’s top Agencies are replicating that power.
During cold starts, users often don’t even understand what a project does—what matters then isn’t technical whitepapers, but clear, compelling narratives.
The job of a top-tier Agency is to distill complex technologies and products into simple, exciting messages that retail investors instantly grasp, enjoy, and follow.
Gary, COO of Mango Labs, offered a vivid analogy: "An Agency is like architectural design and construction. Twenty years ago, you bought construction and got design thrown in. Now, you buy design—and get construction included."
"KOL services" are the construction; "narrative, timing, content control, crisis management" are the architectural design.
A great Agency does far more than "get a few KOLs to tweet." It actively participates in early-stage strategy—from narrative framing and budgeting to KOL selection, rollout pacing, and how the economic model is communicated—each step requiring deep customization.
Evie, founder of JE Labs, detailed her precise KOL segmentation framework, with clear positioning and evaluation criteria for each tier:
1. **Brand-tier KOLs**: Researchers, veteran journalists, or established content creators with strong reputations. They may not have the largest followings, but wield significant influence, ideal for building long-term narratives and credibility.
2. **Traffic-tier KOLs**: Represented by airdrop hunters. These KOLs possess powerful community mobilization skills, capable of rapidly gathering user participation. Their conversion impact is tracked via referral links, quantified with precision.
3. **Trading-tier KOLs**: Signal providers whose communities or trading groups directly influence token prices or on-chain volumes. Some KOLs partnered with JE Labs generate over $10M in monthly trading volume. These KOLs often use commission bots, enabling direct data-based value assessment.
One of Joyce’s responsibilities at Mango Labs is maintaining the KOL list. Reflecting on her early days: "Back then I was just a regular user—my feed consumption was purely preference-based. I didn’t understand influence at all."
But after diving into the work, she realized: "What kind of KOL actually shifts reader perception? What content counts as valuable to project teams? These are completely different standards."
Accounts with obvious bot activity might still have genuine engagement; niche abstract-content accounts may deeply influence core sector audiences. Some individuals build immense trust simply by sharing daily trade records. "So you can’t judge by follower count—you must assess fit."
Beyond positive marketing, some Agencies creatively orchestrate "scripted feuds" to precisely control public sentiment, using controversy to rapidly boost project visibility. Hyperion, for instance, excels at generating heat through "entertainment narratives."
Founder Miko explained: "At heart, we’re traditional marketers. To us, Web3 is just another content platform. We’re recreating what we did in Web2, inside Web3."
Their tactics carry classic "entertainment industry DNA": project crossovers, public disputes, drama plots, KOL rivalries, even FUD scripts—personalized campaigns designed to amplify reach.
"You can’t just send a checklist telling everyone to post at the same time," Miko explained. "You need to direct like a filmmaker—designing each person’s entrance, tone, and timing, like choreographing a multi-character dialogue. Communication needs drama to be memorable."
In his view, such creativity reflects superior execution and communicative tension. Their KOL selection extends beyond "influencers" to include developers, investors, DAO organizers—offering multidimensional promotional angles.
"This can even achieve crossover effects. Coming from traditional MCNs, we have media contacts and networks in entertainment, sports, fashion—industries beyond crypto," Miko added. Several core Hyperion team members come from internet giants like Tencent, with extensive ties to mainstream media.
"We’ve already set up an offline salon space in Hong Kong, and our Shenzhen location is under renovation. These venues will be freely available to Web3 founders and practitioners for meetups, salons, and industry talks," said Miko.
VCs and Agencies Become Resources
Beyond KOL selection, narrative crafting, and community alignment, most project teams face countless small yet critical resource-connecting needs. This is where top Agencies hold a decisive edge.
From crisis management and buyer introductions to connecting market makers and exchange listing opportunities, these seemingly fragmented services open vital "backdoor" pathways for project growth. As Er Gou of BLOCKFOCUS noted: "The value of this information far exceeds ordinary KOL placements."
He pointed out that Agencies often understand a project’s trajectory—and its true priorities—better than the team itself. Especially one goal above all: getting listed.
"For example, if a project wants to list on an exchange, we can provide key informational edges: explaining different exchanges’ listing preferences, current narrative focuses, or even unofficial insights into internal listing timelines," said Er Gou. "BLOCKFOCUS isn’t just a KOL Agency or KOL-incubating MCN—we’re essentially a crypto consultancy. Every crypto team needs a highly resourced, problem-solving senior broker—and our accumulated experience makes us exactly that."
Such "information asymmetries" may seem inaccessible from outside, but for top Agencies, they’re standard operational capabilities.
Dov, founder of Mango Labs, has repeatedly emphasized in public talks and interviews with BlockBeats: "This isn’t industry secrecy—it’s the result of long-term public thinking and accumulated experience."
He adds: From an exchange’s perspective, listing logic is actually quite clear—two KPIs: acquire new users and drive trading volume. So any project that brings users or capital is inherently "list-worthy."
Dov also identifies a category of projects naturally favored by exchanges: simple, emotionally resonant narratives; authentic, active communities with concentrated KOL presence and buzz; concepts retail can grasp, BD teams can approve, and media can cover. "Ultimately, you need to give the exchange a compelling reason to list you."
So when we revisit the article’s opening—ABCDE Capital announcing it will stop new investments and shift focus to incubation and secondary markets—it’s no longer surprising. Whether you’re a VC or a project builder, everyone realizes making money is harder now—so shifting to businesses with stable cash flows makes sense.
Without another rare monetary flood like 2021, traditional primary-market VCs may pivot sooner—either moving into secondary markets or transforming into resource-driven VCs resembling incubators or Agencies.
The line between top-tier VCs and leading Agencies is blurring.
Still, the Agency industry remains young—most teams haven’t survived a full market cycle. How long will this spring last? Can Agencies endure the next market shakeout? What new forms will emerge in the next cycle? Agencies are still searching for answers.
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