How Antler Invests at Inception with Jeff Becker | The Further, Faster Podcast

For those who don’t know it already, Antler is the world’s most active early-stage investor. From 30 locations worldwide, we’ve given 12,000 founders the financing and support to build category-defining startups. But what does it mean to invest at inception? How does Antler’s early-stage strategy work? What does Antler look for from its founders? And what does it mean to be a founder in 2026? 

All is answered in this episode of The Further, Faster Podcast, as Antler’s General Partner for New York, Jeff Becker, joins host Bede Moore to explain what ingredients make a killer inception-stage investment, and what founders can expect when they join Antler. 

The conversation kicks off with important insights on the current state of start ups and the challenges of fundraising. “The media wants you to believe that funding is happening all over the place. That it's easy,” says Jeff. The reality is more complicated. 

Jeff tells Bede that what he’s seeing is a bifurcation of the funding landscape, with megafunds on one side and more cautious investors on the other. “The result for founders is that it is exceptionally hard to raise capital unless you are a very fast growing AI company, or maybe a deeptech, that they can justify to their LPs,” says Jeff. “If you are somewhere in the middle, not a hypergrowth AI company or not a deep tech company that can consume a lot of money, you're really struggling right now to raise.” 

It is, Jeff points out, a “new era,” for startups. But Antler is always coming up with innovative solutions to help founders thrive. Jeff is the architect of the ARC – Agreement for Rolling Capital – a deal that commits funding to founders as they grow, catalysing early-stage capital by making it easier for founders to raise. 

“We're essentially saying for every dollar you raise, we're going to give you 50% more money over the first year, year and a half of the company's life,” says Jeff. Designed to reduce a startup’s exposure to risk, the ARC is a win-win for founders and LPs. “What we saw in the US is we went from about 40% of the founders raising within six months to about 84% raising in six months,” he says. 

To learn more about the ARC, what attributes Antler looks for in a founder and the psychology that leads to success, listen to the full conversation here.