Antler is looking for outliers. Here’s what that means.

We back founders who are wired differently - the kind of people who must build, who don’t wait for permission, and who can turn nothing into something fast.

Some join with an MVP in motion. Others start from scratch and find a co-founder during the residency. Stage matters less than trajectory - how fast you move and how much you raise the bar.

Across backgrounds, we look for four things:

• Drive – A level of urgency and ownership most people simply don’t have
• Grit – Not the performative kind - the real kind, where you keep going long after it stops being fun
• Spike – You’re exceptional at something. Could be commercial instinct, storytelling, technical depth, leadership, or attracting top talent - but it’s visible, and it makes you dangerous
• Commitment – You’re all in. This isn’t a side project. No freelancing. No safety nets.

Our founders span a wide range. Many have 10+ years of experience and have built or led teams at scale. Some have started multiple companies before. Others are earlier in their careers but already moving like outliers - the kind of people who rally others, who ship fast, who learn faster.

On average, founders in our residencies have over a decade of professional experience - but variance is high. From Morris Changs to Mark Zuckerbergs, we care less about when you start, and more about whether you're truly exceptional.

We’re highly selective. Only ~2% of applicants are invited to join the residency. It’s not for everyone - but if you’re serious about building something massive, this is the place to start.

‍Expect to move further, faster.

You’ll keep building at full sprint - just with a level of intensity, structure, and a cohort of equally committed, exceptional founders around you that makes everything move faster and hit harder.

You’ll join a cohort of ~100 hand-picked founders (from a pool of ~10,000 applicants), from across the continent to join a single, highly selective residency - run from our main hub in Berlin, with launch pads in Amsterdam, Paris and Munich.

There are two tracks, depending on your setup:

• Founders with complete teams typically join for 6 weeks, focused on building, tightening execution, and accelerating progress. Teams that are based in Amsterdam or Munich typically join the community physically in Berlin for 2 weeks before then working alongside our teams in Amsterdam and Munich in our local launch pads.
• Solo founders or incomplete teams join for 10 weeks, using the early phase to shape direction and founder dynamics - while continuing to build hard. If teams once completed decide to build their company from Munich, Amsterdam or Paris we will then work together on the ground from our local launch pads.

The timings are directional and if it makes sense we can also invest earlier and proceed to the next stage of building together. No matter which track you join, the expectation is the same: you're here to build something serious. Fast.

Founders can expect:

• Free office space - Nothing moves you faster than being in-person with other highly driven builders
• Full focus on building - No distractions. Support is bespoke and 1:1. Optional content on key topics, only when useful. This is not a startup school
• Potential co-founders - For those looking to strengthen their team. You’ll meet a highly curated group of founders with diverse and complementary backgrounds
• Resources - Access to the worlds best package of perks alongside A16Z & YC with a total value of >4m EUR for services across: infrastructure, tools, ops, legal advice and more
• Community & network - At day zero, warm intros are everything: first hires, early customers, pivotal investors. You’ll tap into a network of exceptional peers and Antler’s own global access from day one
• And the residency is only the beginning of the journey and our commitment - the real work then only starts...

Some founders arrive with traction and a team. Others show up solo and pre-idea. What matters isn’t where you start - it’s how far and how fast you're willing to go. Not everyone makes it to investment. And that’s by design.

We commit €300K at Day Zero - and have the capital to back you all the way to Series C.

When you're accepted into the Antler residency, we enter into a binding agreement to invest up to €300K into your company. The terms are committed on Day Zero. The decision to invest is made at the end of the residency - if you're building something exceptional, we move fast.

Here's how it works:

• €100K for 10% equity, committed upfront and invested after the residency if you secure Antler’s backing
• €200K follow-on commitment through our Agreement for Rolling Capital (ARC) - invested in your next round within 9 months, on the same terms as your external investors
• Up to €4M in cloud, software, and AI credits via our global partner network - most founders redeem €200–400K depending on stack and use case

The ARC is fully uncapped. We match €0.50 for every €1 raised, regardless of valuation - giving you flexible, non-dilutive support at founder-friendly terms.

Example: You raise €1.5M at a €10M post-money valuation in you next round - Antler matches with €200K on the same terms. No renegotiation. No delay.

Why we designed the structure this way:

• Protect your ownership
  Most of the capital comes in at your next round's valuation - not Day Zero - so your dilution stays in check even as you raise more
• Boost your raise
  ARC acts as built-in investor validation - a pre-committed €200K that helps you close your round faster and with stronger leverage
• Increase your odds of success
  Startups that raise >€250K early are 3x more likely to raise a Series A. We help make that happen without wasting time on a fragmented angel round
• Back you for the long haul
  €300K is just the start - Antler can invest up to €30M per company, supporting you from Day Zero through Series C

We're not here to play portfolio math. We're here to back the companies that earn it - early, seriously, and for the long run.

We’re usually the first investor on the cap table - and that creates a different kind of relationship.

We don’t take board seats. We don’t interfere. What we offer is trust, sparring, and long-term alignment - the kind that often makes us the first person a founder calls when it really matters.

That might be:

• When co-founder dynamics get complicated
• When you’re preparing for a high-stakes board discussion
• When there's a term sheet on the table and you want a clear, founder-aligned perspective - not from someone further up the waterfall, but from someone who’s known you since day zero

Because we came in first, we often know the founder better than anyone else on the cap table. That creates a level of openness and support that's hard to replicate later on.

Here's how we support founders post-investment:

• Strategic sparring you can trust - thoughtful, fast, and often just a WhatsApp away
• Fundraising support that moves the needle - from round strategy and investor targeting to warm intros, portfolio showcases, and active guidance throughout the process
• A founder network with real utility - 1500+ companies around the world means first customers, hiring referrals, investor backchannels, and operator connections across markets
• Built-in global reach - whether it’s go-to-market support in Asia, intros to growth capital in the US, or a fellow deeptech founder in Australia - it’s all within the Antler network
• Capital that grows with you - we can invest up to €30M per company, from Day Zero through Series C
• Free office access post-investment - many founders choose to stay in our offices in Berlin, Amsterdam, Munich, or Paris for 3–9 months after the initial investment, working side by side with the team and other portfolio founders
• World-class perks and platforms - including hundreds of thousands in cloud credits and best-in-class deals with top AI and infrastructure providers. [See FAQ on perks ➝]

We also create high-leverage moments for our portfolio - not on a fixed schedule, but based on real founder needs:

• A week in San Francisco with curated Series A companies from around the world, preparing and meeting with top-tier Bay Area investors
• A multi-day retreat in Oxford with our top European portfolio founders, culminating in a partner-level investor summit with the majority of Europe's VC capital in the room

Our role evolves, but we stay in the picture - as sparring partners, co-investors, and long-term allies.

We invest at the end of the residency - after working closely with founders for 6–10 weeks. That gives us a rare vantage point: we make founder-first investment decisions, based on direct observation, not just pitch decks.

By that point, we’ve seen how you work, how you think, and how you lead. That’s what we base our conviction on - not one meeting, but the full experience of building alongside you.

What we look for in founders

Because we’ve worked with you day to day, we look for real, observable signals - not polish.

• Outlier behavior
  High energy, fast learning, sharp thinking, and a work ethic that sets the pace for everyone around you
• Trajectory
  It’s not about where you are now, but how fast you’re moving. Momentum - the slope of the curve - is the best predictor of long-term success
• Founder–idea fit
  You’re building the right company for you - based on your insight, credibility, and drive

There are hundreds of teams around the world working on similar problems, often with equally impressive backgrounds. We’re looking for indicators that this is the team that can win.

You don’t need perfection. You need pace.

What we look for in companies

We back companies with a credible path to billion-euro outcomes.

We’re truly sector-agnostic - from satellites measuring emissions from space to consumer apps used by millions. What matters is scale and ambition.

We look for:

• Scalability - can this become a category leader?
• Early signs of convergence - signals that the team is honing in on a real, valuable problem

How we decide

At the end of the residency, every team pitches to Antler’s investment committee.
The decision is made by the general partners - the same people who’ve worked with you throughout the process.
It’s fast, direct, and based on real conviction.

Antler provides the most comprehensive infrastructure packages for early-stage startups - benchmarked globally, and only matched by YC and A16Z with a total value of >$4M for services across: infrastructure, tools, ops, legal advice and more. On average, founders redeem:

• ~$200k in software credits
• ~$400k for compute-heavy or AI-first companies

Gain access to GPU, inference, and fine-tuning credits from leading providers:

• OpenAI API credits for model development
• NVIDIA GPU access for training
• Nebius computing resources
  

Cloud Computing

Scale your infrastructure with substantial credits from:

• Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Google Cloud Platform
• Additional leading providers
  

Development Tools

Access cutting-edge AI development tools and platforms:

• Model-serving platforms for deployment
• AI workflow optimization tools
• Data processing and annotation solutions

And hundreds of other co-operations and perks

From free legal advice with top lawfirms, to special deals for company bank accounts, productivity tools such as notion, and much more.

Please note, many of these perks only become effective fully if and when Antler decides to invest into a company.

French founders are an important part of Antler’s Continental Europe platform. Dozens have come through the residency, raised capital, and scaled companies as part of the core ecosystem.

You’ll apply through the same process and join one of our residencies in Berlin, Amsterdam, or Munich. Many founders from France relocate for the 6–10 weeks, then continue building from our Paris office post-investment - using it as a landing pad to hire, operate, and stay closely connected to the Antler team and network.

Post-investment, founders based in France get free office space in Paris for the first several months, along with direct access to our partners, team, and platform.

What you’ll tap into:

• A pan-European team of partners and operators who work with you daily
• Access to follow-on capital up to €30M per company
• A global network of 1,500+ portfolio founders, including a strong and growing French contingent
• Support on everything from co-founder hiring to US fundraising - with local context and global reach
• A trusted relationship with your first investor - the one who’s closest to you in the waterfall, and still on the WhatsApp years later