The September roundup

Our CEO and Founder, Magnus Grimeland, presented his first keynote address for Antler on the topic of what makes a great founder. Presenting on a large stage to a crowd of around 100 industry members at Slush 2018, Magnus shared intimate and personal anecdotes on his life journey, his motivations and life experiences that have shaped the leader that he is today. His speech touched on the tried and tested attributes, grit, and thinking you need to survive through the multiple setbacks in building a startup. The talk centred around possessing the right psychological mindset and determination to never give up at tough times.

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It helps to base your business on solving a real world need that's close to your heart. The resonance and impact of building something with passion is key to motivating any founder. It helps you stay on track with your goals and to never lose sight of why you started your business in the first place

— MAGNUS GRIMELAND

Opportunities abound for early-stage startups

In a celebrated partnership with Enterprise SG, for SWITCH 2018, Antler dedicated an entire Saturday afternoon towards mentoring and coaching some young startup teams as they prepped for their pitch-off presentations at the Slingshot stage. 14 of our top mentors and advisors held 1-on-1 sessions with a roomful of startups across eight specific industry groups, to learn about their business models, help them validate their ideas, refine their pitches and go-to-market strategies.

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It is truly inspiring to see what these young startups have come up with. These select few have been handpicked from thousands of entries globally and  present the brightest ideas of their sector. We feel privileged to be trusted mentors in helping them navigate through the competition process. The startup market has never looked more promising.

— PRERNA SHARMA

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In addition, some of Antler's portfolio companies had the opportunity to exhibit alongside over 50 other startups during the week to showcase their ideas.

We received huge interest in our work and it is clear that there is room for investments in the early stage startup world - more so now than ever before. The landscape is exactly as diverse as it needs to be.

— MICHAEL S, FOUNDER AT ANTLER.

Shining the spotlight on Restorative Innovators

A long journey lies ahead toward empowering and enabling some of the world's key restorative innovators. Antler spent an engaging day at the inaugural World Restorative Innovation Forum with INSEAD, discussing the need for businesses to place emphasis on sustainable solutions and practice corporate social responsibility. Based on the UN Sustainable Development goals alone, there are countless areas where help and improvement is needed, and there's no time like the present to call on the world's foremost entrepreneurial business leaders to affect change and inspire the next generation of innovators to take on these issues.

The flagship event opened up discussions on pressing issues with a multitude of featured speakers including Mr. Lee Kwang Boon, Deputy President, United Nations Association of Singapore, Mr. Siddarth Das, Director of Digital Engagement of WWF, Dr. Juliana Chan, Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, Professor Virginia Cha of INSEAD, Magnus Grimeland and many more.

Championing gender equality in business

To wrap up the very exciting month, Antler partnered with both the General Assembly and the Ladies Investment Club (LIC) link for two very special gatherings aimed at building up a strong community of women in business. We networked with a roomful of high-achieving women who were keen on making their mark on the world by embarking on their own ventures. In that same week, we hosted a captivating panel on female entrepreneurship with a common intention to encourage and inspire female "wantrepreneurs" to take the plunge. The panel touched on leadership and accountability, self-awareness and adopting a strong growth mindset (that you can't do everything well), and discovering your catalyst towards entrepreneurship.

We hope to be involved in more thought-provoking events in the near future in an effort to foster an all-inclusive startup community - utilising the wide expertise and network Antler has to offer. For those who are keen on getting involved, keep updated via our newsletter or events page for more upcoming activities.