ANTLER DOUBLES INVESTMENT FOR CONTINENTAL EUROPE’S BEST TECH FOUNDERS

Berlin, Germany: 15 July 2025 - Antler, the world’s most active early-stage VC firm, is launching Antler ONE, a new flagship product for outlier founders in Continental Europe. 

Launching in September, outlier founders will be invited to Berlin to build category-defining tech companies. After an initial phase, founders will either remain in Berlin to scale these businesses, or work with the Antler investment teams in our offices in Munich, Amsterdam and Paris. 

Founders that secure investment will receive €200k from Antler with a commitment to invest up to a further €300k in the company’s pre-seed round. 

Founders receive 1:1 mentoring from Antler Investment Partners, Venture Partners and other experienced founders and will also have access to Antler’s global talent network, perks for tech tools and services worth $4M, flagship investor events in San Francisco and London and beyond and up to €30M in follow-on investment. This is one of the most competitive early-stage investment opportunities in Europe. 

Antler has been making investments in Germany, the Netherlands, France and across Continental Europe for the last five years and has backed more than 180 startups. Many of these have become the fastest growing tech companies in the region, including the likes of Lovable, Peec AI, NeoCarbon and Klearly with backing from investors such as a16z, Coatue and Accel. 

Last year, Antler invested in the best 0.3% of all founders that applied to participate in residencies across Europe. The new flagship product will be even more selective, meaning only the very best founders in the region will be invited to secure investment. 

Christoph Klink, Partner at Antler, comments, “We’re doubling down on the best founders in Europe - with double the capital and a bigger commitment than ever. €500k at inception gives the best founders the best chance to raise pre-seed rounds in weeks, not months, and seed rounds in months, not years. We want to back true outlier founders who are ready to build category-defining tech companies and make sure the very best founders in Europe have the capital and support they need.”

The new flagship product from Antler is specifically designed to support the new generation of world-class founders emerging in Continental Europe in what is a generational moment for the region. 

The European flywheel is accelerating - there have been 12 companies founded since 2020 that are already unicorns, and three-quarters of them are in Germany, France and the Netherlands. Global capital is flowing in, and breakout companies are scaling faster than ever. 

Top technical talent is building here, and staying here - fewer founders are leaving for the US and more are coming back from Big Tech to build on home turf. 

The quality of early-stage founders has never been higher - technical founders now outnumber generalists. In Germany, AI-native builders have grown 10x in the last two years. 

The tempo has changed - teams launch and get to revenue 3x faster now. The best teams raise pre-seed in weeks, not months, and seed rounds in months, not years. 

Applications are now open to Antler’s new CE:ONE residency, which will start in September 2025 with a launch phase in Berlin before founders join landing pads in Berlin, Munich, Amsterdam and Paris. 

-ENDS-