Invest in women: fast-track progress

In a fundraising environment that has been challenging for startups of all stages, how can you set yourself apart from the pack when approaching investors? Antler partner Tyler Norwood, Antler venture partner Robbie Crabtree, and post-investment platform co-founder Mike Preuss discuss the best ways to become a top-decile startup with investors.

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Antler was founded on the belief that people innovating is the key to building a better future. For our latest founder spotlight, we sat down with Elena Bassiachvili, who is an engineer and a Jill of all trades. She is passionate about solving real-life problems with technology and having a positive impact on society by finding solutions in the Clean Tech space. She believes that this can be achieved by building her own venture. Today Elena shares her experiences, and how they shaped her and led her to Antler.

Discover Sahha's game-changing approach to mental health care using biosensors, insights, and AI algorithms. With a recent A$1.75M seed round led by Aura Ventures and participation from Antler, Sahha aims to redefine personalised healthcare.

This blog covers essential decision-making frameworks that can help founders design a successful ESOP plan.

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 Discover the vital steps of market validation and set yourself up for success with Antler in Australia’s comprehensive guide.

Antler was founded on the belief that people innovating is the key to building a better future. In our content series—” It All Starts with People”—we spotlight the exceptional founders we have the privilege of partnering with worldwide. Each story is a window into their passions, motivations, and vision—the reasons they build and the positive dent they aim to make in the world.

This time, we sat down with Tina Hashemnia, who decided to take on the founder journey with Antler, after years of experience as an operator in startups, scale-ups, and venture capital. Today, Tina shares her past experiences, and how they shaped her thinking, and helped her get ready to become a successful founder.

In a landscape where founders already face various uphill battles, the type of questions they get during VC fundraising can significantly influence the outcome. How does the gender gap manifest in the questions posed by investors, and what ripple effect does this have on the funding that female-led startups receive? This article delves into these pressing issues, leaning on insights from thought leaders Professor Laura Huang and Lauren Capelin from AWS, to guide both founders and investors on how to level the playing field.

Antler was founded on the belief that people innovating is the key to building a better future. In our latest founder spotlight, we sat down with Natalia Bakaeva, who is an architect and artist, and has over 15 years of experience in design and architecture. She is passionate about creating physical forms and believes architecture is a powerful tool for social change. With that, she strives to design solutions that are inclusive, accessible, and inspiring. Today Natalia shares her past experiences, how they shaped her and led her to Antler, and her plans for the future.

Are you an early-stage B2B SaaS startup? Avoid leaving money on the table, confusing your product roadmap, and other pitfalls that could hamper your growth. Discover actionable strategies for five of the most common mistakes and how to navigate these challenges effectively.

It all starts with people. The relationships underlying your company can make or break your startup's success. Finding co-founders with a complementary skill set is important—but it’s not the only thing founders need to look for to build a winning team.

New portfolio companies represent teams building in fast growth tech verticals such as fintech, femtech, healthtech and AI

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Latest investments come after Antler was recognised as the most active private early stage investor in Europe in H1 2023

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The businesses that go the distance are the ones that embed sustainable practices in their operations from day zero. But many founders lack the knowledge and resources to do that. That's why we created our online education platform, the Antler Sustainability Toolkit—exclusively for founders.

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Discover how Avertro, an AI-enabled cybersecurity startup, evolved from Antler's first Australian cohort into an up and coming global market leader in cybersecurity. Learn how the company is bridging the gap between business and cyber governance, while scaling rapidly in a world increasingly threatened by cyber risks.

Antler was founded on the belief that people innovating is the key to building a better future. In our content series—”It All Starts with People”—we spotlight the exceptional founders we have the privilege of partnering with around the world. Each story is a window into their passions, motivations, and vision—the reasons they are building and the positive dent they are aiming to make on the world.

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This time we sat down with Curtis Carmichael aka CC who is an entrepreneur, educator, programmer, athlete, Forbes 30u30 in Education, and author, just to name a few titles that describe him. Today he shares with us a little bit of his story and the key milestones that led him to Antler.

We work with founders starting from day zero, bringing them in-house to our Residency Programs in Austin, Boulder, and New York. After investment from Antler, our portfolio companies work with the Antler US team to unlock continued growth. As partners at the earliest stage, we’re proud to showcase some of our US companies who’ve matured and are ready to raise their next round of funding!  

Navigating the startup landscape can feel like a daunting expedition. With around 48% of new businesses failing within their first four years in Australia, the odds may seem stacked against you. However, there are strategies you can implement right from the get-go to future-proof your startup. From making evidence-based decisions to cultivating a culture of innovation, here are eight essential tactics to keep your ship sailing for the long-term.

The Antler team in the US is thrilled to introduce our inaugural class of Visiting Partners who will be coaching and supporting founders participating in our US Fall Residencies this October across Austin, Boulder, and NYC.

Alexis Aaron, co-founder of Sortd, recently shared her insights on gender bias within the industry, overcoming prevention questions, and how reframing the problem you’re solving for can win over different investors

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James McClure, a partner at Antler in Australia, compares angel investing and venture capital from his unique vantage point of being an active participant in both. Beyond obvious differences like the source of funds and cheque sizes, he outlines five lesser-known contrasts.

The Nordics have produced some of the most successful tech unicorns in Europe—and the world—with Spotify and Klarna securing some of the highest valuations ever achieved by European tech founders. As the tech flywheel spins faster and faster in the region, Antler is excited to publish the largest study of tech founders in the Nordics ever conducted.

Antler's expansion into Finland consolidates our position as the most active early-stage investor in the Nordics. 

A good investor needs to back a startup for its full journey—from day zero to greatness. Learn more about how Antler’s founder support goes beyond traditional investing.

Meet Manuel Schönfeld, founder and CEO of PowerX, who's helping businesses save energy and money while combatting "the largest threat to our planet since the meteor wiped out dinosaurs.”

Co-founder of Airwallex, Lucy Liu, joined Antler to discuss how and where the best ideas emerge, and how to capitalise on them to seize an opportunity to build the next wave of global tech companies.

As AI technologies evolve at a breathtaking speed, founders have an unprecedented opportunity to leverage those tools to solve complex, meaningful, and pervasive problems. Antler is looking for the next wave of visionary founders committed to using AI to disrupt industries and improve how we live, work, and thrive as individuals, organizations, and economies.

Meet the 75 founders kicking off Antler's tenth cohort in Australia

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Learn how to raise funding for your startup in Australia with this step-by-step guide. We cover everything from finding the right sources of funding to preparing your pitch deck

Guy Kawasaki, Chief Evangelist at Canva, speaks with Bede Moore, Chief Commercial Officer, of Antler, in a virtual fireside chat.

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Antler launches a $60m MENAP fund led by partners Dr. Jonathan Doerr and Romain Assunção with plans to invest in 100+ startups in the next four years. Antler is replicating its proven global track record from across six continents to boost early-stage investing in MENAP.

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Ryan Sommerville on his investment in Vero Technologies and the inventory finance landscape.

James McClure, a Partner at Antler in Australia, delves into seven ways startups can grow their D2C demand without needing to generate it through paid platforms like Google, Meta, or Amazon.

12 MINUTES with Antler founders gives a closer look into the journey of founders toward successfully building their ventures. Every first Wednesday of the month Alan Poensgen, Antler Partner in Germany, sits down with a founder of an Antler portfolio company and talks about their time at Antler, the team formation, the ideation process, and more.

Building a business, whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or a first-time founder, is hard work.

Embarking on the entrepreneurial path can be intimidating and riddled with uncertainty and potential risks. Challenges may arise for founders in identifying the perfect co-founder, affirming their concept's viability, or establishing a network and solid route to funding. Antler Australia's residency offers a well-organised framework, mitigating the hazards associated with startup creation.

Learn from technologists who founded their own businesses through Antler Australia and what insights they offer on entrepreneurship and autonomy, impact, and creative freedom.

Co-Founder of GoFIGR, Helena Turpin, dives into creating her business in Antler Australia's second cohort back in 2020 and embracing the advantage of building with a VC focussed on empowering women founders.

Founding a startup can be an incredibly tough process for any entrepreneur, no matter the experience level. To provide some insight into the entrepreneurship process, Bernie Li, General Partner at Antler Canada speaks with Brendan Herjavec of the Building Blocks Podcast on a recent episode, and sheds some light on his entrepreneurship path, the concept of the “power rule” in investing, the founder mentality, and what it means to truly be a “good” founder.

Growth is fantastic, but it needs to managed in such a manner whereby sustainability is not lost

Our Window into Progress digital event series continues with "Companies to Watch"—a conversation with and about standout founders building in the most exciting sectors on the planet.

From removing the barriers to entry to ensuring diversity in our interviewing and investment processes, as well as being a sector agnostic investor, Antler is on a mission to make entrepreneurship more accessible.

12 MINUTES with Antler founders gives a closer look into the journey of founders toward successfully building their ventures. Every first Wednesday of the month Alan Poensgen, Antler Partner in Germany, sits down with a founder of an Antler portfolio company and talks about their time at Antler, the team formation, the ideation process, and more.

Antler Ignite is a special online initiative for high school and university students to spark their entrepreneurial spirit. Get a taste of Antler’s residency programs and learn about the cornerstones of entrepreneurship from Antler’s partners.

Meet Abraham Burak, co-founder of Airalo, who ditched an inefficient legacy system to make connectivity accessible and affordable to millions of world travelers.

Antler is thrilled to announce our launch in Malaysia, headquartered in Kuala Lumpur and in partnership with Khazanah.

Our Window into Progress digital event series continues with "Under the Hood"—a deep dive into the rigor and scale that makes Antler unique as we source and assess tens of thousands of founders across six continents.

Tyler Norwood reflects on the past four years building Antler in the US and reveals updated investment terms.

Ben Billy, Co-Founder of StoryTiling, shares his experience working with Antler, including networking, finding the right Co-Founder with shared values, and team breakups

By scouting, investing in and supporting more women founders at the very earliest stage, Antler is on a mission to help shape a more gender-diverse top-of-funnel for later-stage VCs and, together, shift the gender mix across the Australian startup ecosystem.

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Finding a co-founder is no easy feat. Here are 5 ways in which Antler facilitates co-founder matching to help you find a complementary team.

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What a day! On Wednesday 28^th June all of Antler portfolio companies met up together with more than 150 investors, other founders, and executives. It was a day full of inspiration, insightful conversations, and a great opportunity to keep the spirits up when the times for start-ups are hard.

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After the panel discussion led by Christopher Klink, partner at Antler Germany, where Emilia Theye, co-founder of Clare&Me, Tore Myrholt, Chairman of the Board at Antler, and Emma Tracey, CEO at Scéal shared their insights and perspectives on the early-stage ecosystem in the region and beyond as well as gave advice to founders and investors. They also concluded that despite hard times, there is a lot of light and positive expectations for the years to come!