Antler in Australia launches 13th residency, opens in Brisbane, and closes its second fund at $77M

Antler has announced the successful close of their second Australian Fund at $77M, exceeding the original $60M target. This oversubscribed fund will enable Antler to support over 100 pre-seed startups in Australia, with over 40 companies already backed since May 2023, including Enaxiom, Altai, and Enrola. 

Supporting this is, Antler’s introduction of the novel Agreement for Rolling Capital (ARC) investment structure. ARC guarantees follow-on participation in a portfolio company’s next round if the founders secure at least $300,000 from sophisticated investors within the first 12 months. This is part of Antler’s commitment to backing the best founders from the beginning and throughout the lifecycle of the company: from pre-idea to Series C, and beyond. 

In further news, Antler will be fast-tracking the launch of its first Brisbane residency from 2026 to February 2025.

James McClure, General Partner at Antler, says, “The decision to fast-track our Brisbane residency reflects the vibrant entrepreneurial community here. We’ve seen significant demand from founders across industries, and our goal is to provide them with the capital and global backing needed to turn early-stage concepts into successful, scalable ventures.”

Backed by Antler’s new $77M fund - which includes support from the Queensland Venture Capital Development Fund, managed by QIC - the residency in Brisbane will be run alongside Sydney and Melbourne. Capital from the new fund has already been deployed into five QLD-based startups, including Monty Compost, Datalis, Braiv, Yesterday, and Pactify.

Applications for Antler’s next residency are now open! 

Antler is now accepting applications for its 13th residency, which will take place in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane in February 2025. The program is designed for serial founders, commercial leaders, technical builders and domain experts who demonstrate “Founder DNA”: the grit, drive and tenacity to succeed at all costs. 

Key Program Details:

• Antler welcomes pre-seed founders from solo entrepreneurs looking for co-founders and guidance to early-stage teams seeking initial VC funding and strategic support.
• The 10-week in-person residency, which runs twice a year in February and August, is designed to promote team formation, idea validation, testing and building. It culminates with an investment committee where teams pitch for Pre-Seed funding from Antler. 
• Antler’s residency includes expert-led masterclasses, 1:1 office hours, networking opportunities, and design sprints alongside dedicated coaching from early-stage experts and former founders.
• If successful in the residency, founders may secure an initial investment of $225,000 for a 12% equity stake. At this point, Antler receives a $68,000 platform fee and the Company receives $157,000 net at a post-money valuation of AU$1,875,000. Then, if the founders secure at least $300,000 from sophisticated investors within 12 months of that investment, Antler will invest again.

Antler has backed over 145 Australian startups in sectors, including deep-tech, B2B SaaS, climate-tech, fintech, consumer-tech, and more. Notable portfolio companies include ​​Pathzero, Xailient, Upcover, ReachAlts, GoFigr, Saypen, and Sync Technologies, with over $160M raised in external capital across the portfolio.

Antler is one of the world’s most active VC investors in startups, making over 1,300 investments globally into a diverse range of companies and founders who all aspire to drive progress within their given field. With a global network spanning 27 cities, Antler connects Australian founders to investors, advisors, and mentors worldwide.

Founders are encouraged to apply for Antler’s next residency kicking off February 3, 2025, across Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne here.

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Want to learn more? Sign up for one of our upcoming AMAs. 

Read more on our second Fund close and new investment structure in the AFR and Startup Daily.