Insights

Find out more into why we backed Novo, a Berlin-based company disrupting the energy renovation industry. NOVO automates analysis, planning, and financing of energy renovation for real estate, with the goal of decarbonizing homes and tackling climate change.

Exploring the link between entrepreneurship and emotional intelligence with Rafael Urdaneta, DACH Head of Finance at Antler.

In the second installment of our multi-part series we dive deeper into the different layers of AI value stack and how future founders can find their cutting edge in this rapidly evolving ecosystem.

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Note: This is part 2 of a multi-part AI series. If you are interested in understanding why AI will be an era-defining technology and the key terms associated with it, please read part 1 (click here) before you begin part 2.

Generative AI is opening up a world of opportunities and Hexo is building the underlying infrastructure to enable that. We are thrilled to partner with Vignesh Baskaran and Kunal Bhatia to help build and scale Hexo AI.

In this multi-part series, we explore everything from the origins and evolution of AI to the future AI landscape and how future founders can be a part of it.

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The 2nd installment of the series (click here) is also live for anyone interested in jumping right to how the AI landscape will pan out and what future founders need to know.

As everyone anticipates the next wave of ultra-successful companies in Benelux, what does it take to get there? What do the successful founders of Benelux unicorns look like? This report is an in-depth look at the Benelux startup ecosystem and its brightest stars. And above all, it is for anyone who is helping build the next 50 unicorns in Benelux.

The Angle is a new content series from Antler, featuring perspectives from our team members on the biggest events and trends impacting founders and early-stage investors today. Every article is that person's unique angle on a hot topic—what they see from their vantage point in one of our 25 offices around the globe—not Antler's stance. In our first edition, Jeff Becker draws lessons from the demise of FTX and turbulent tech moments in recent years. This article first appeared in Jeff's Monday Morning Meeting on Substack.

The Iberian ecosystem is attracting attention in the startup world with a staggering number of unicorns—startup companies with a value of more than $1 billion—and new funds in the past year. The combination of talent, capital, and startup-friendly governance has created a breeding ground for innovation.

At Antler, we believe every massively successful business begins with an exceptional founding team. In our experience, factors and traits that make founders stand apart vary widely—from excellence in education and a previous place of work to an extraordinary personal journey.

Antler has taken a systematic look at the exceptional founders whose companies crossed the legendary US$1 billion valuation mark in ecosystems around the world—DACH (Deutschland, Austria, and Switzerland) region (2022 and 2021), Africa, and Brazil—with the goal of identifying founder patterns that led to founding a unicorn.

This month, we explore Canada, delving into the backgrounds of local founders, the higher institutions they attended, their work experience before launching their ventures, and more. Globally, 2021 saw a record number of venture capital (VC) investments with more than $650 billion invested, minting close to 1,100 unicorns across the globe. Canada has followed suit.

For the second consecutive year, we took a systematic look at the founders behind unicorn and soonicorn companies in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland). Just like in our inaugural DACH Unicorn Founder Roadmap released last year, we focus on the founders of the most valuable startups to better understand what makes these entrepreneurs and the companies they built so successful.

Harvard Business School (HBS) recently published a case study about Antler’s fresh approach to early-stage venture capital. Antler Co-Founder Fridtjof Berge shares thoughts on how the case sparks discussion about the best ways to identify and support great people anywhere on earth.

It is always great to see more and more people willing to address mental health issues. Yet, as the conversation around mental health slowly expands, it also exposes the reality of crumbling support structures, lowered resilience levels, and the multiple failing points across our public and private healthcare systems. This is disheartening. The process of accepting that one needs help is difficult enough itself, the other steps needed in this journey should not add to the difficulty.

This article is part of an Antler Berlin content series called ‘Call for Founders’. In this series, we will outline several exciting spaces in the startup and VC ecosystem that we see as opportunities ripe for venture creation. For this article we focus on marketplaces. These opportunities may emerge from an industry need, a trend, or indeed a prediction that we have had. If you like this series and you, or someone you know, is ready to build their own startup, apply to Antler.

The past two years in crypto have been absolutely astounding. From “DeFi summer” (now $250bn+ of total value locked) to “NFT craze” ($3.4bn monthly GMV on Opensea alone in August 2021) to Solana’s epic rise and various memecoin’s ultimate downfalls – the sheer pace of adoption and activity across the crypto ecosystem has been an incredible force.

Every venture fund in the world is currently deepening or developing a crypto thesis. Talent from traditional industries is pouring into crypto. And we now have an overarching, epochal narrative to define the movement: web3.

Amongst all the areas to focus on, I have chosen to write about Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). The reason for this is as follows:

• Incentive Innovation Rules All. Bitcoin provided a practical solution to the Byzantine Generals Problem by introducing an incentive innovation. In fact, much of crypto is about remixing existing technology with new incentives to create powerful new paradigms. DAOs are the natural frontier of incentive design in web3.
  
• Capital Power. The DeFi ecosystem, with $250bn total value locked (TVL), is the current “super-app” of web3. While only ~$10bn of DeFi TVL (~4%) is currently held in DAOs, this number will likely increase exponentially as more and more DeFi protocols progressively decentralize governance. More money, more power – DeFi Treasury DAOs have the potential for massively influencing web3 in 2022 and beyond as capital power grows.
  
• Web3 Promise. If the promise of web3 (versus web2) is to reduce centralized power in private, opaque corporate structures, then functional, community-led DAOs are a key prerequisite for the web3 promise to be fulfilled.

Tune in to our Web3 Insights Call to learn about the new internet: Web3!

First appeared in The Economic Times. Head here for the story.

The future of mobility is at a critical point of inflection. Every time oil prices spike or climate change is debated and discussed, Electric Vehicles (EVs) are inevitably mentioned as a part of the solution. Yet, despite several new Indian companies entering various parts of the EV value chain, significant capital infused in the space, and large-scale execution efforts, EVs are not mainstream yet. It is 2021 and it seems we have hit the inflection point for EVs to take off, finally.

At Antler, we believe exceptional people are the key to building defining companies. But what makes a person exceptional, and how do personal characteristics or experiences increase the chances of building a successful tech company? Through this Unicorn founder mapping series, we aim to identify patterns that led up to founding a Unicorn. This month, we explore Brazil, taking a look at the local Unicorn founders, which higher institutions they went to, how many years of work experience they had before launching their ventures, and more.

At Antler, we believe exceptional people are the key to building defining companies. But what makes a person exceptional, and how do personal characteristics or experiences increase the chances of building a successful tech company? Last month, we took a systematic look at the most exceptional founders of the 21st century in the DACH region to identify patterns that led up to founding a Unicorn. This month, we are doing the same across the African continent. Our findings reveal who Africa’s Unicorn, Soonicorn, and growth-stage startup founders are, which higher institutions they went to, how many years of work experience they had before launching their ventures, and more. Additionally, we have taken a closer look at the future state of the local ecosystem and put together data-driven predictions to provide more insight and understanding into the African startup ecosystem and the opportunities that lie ahead.

To better understand the complexities of mental health for founders, Antler teamed up with Female Founders, the leading European Eco-System for Entrepreneurial Women, to discuss mental exhaustion and how to prevent it as part of a fireside chat.

From inventive ways to leverage your network, to forming strategic partnerships, and more.

Have you ever wondered who the most successful entrepreneurs are? What career paths they pursued, what network they tapped into, and whether these stereotypical rules still apply today if you want to build the next billion-dollar business?

Taking a systematic look at the most exceptional founders of the 21st century in the DACH region, we have observed similar patterns that led up to founding a unicorn.

This article is part of a new Antler Berlin content series called 'Call for Founders'. In this series, we will outline several exciting spaces in the local startup and VC ecosystem that we see as opportunities ripe for venture creation. These opportunities may emerge from an industry need, a trend, or indeed a prediction that we have had.

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Magnus met us with a friendly smile as if we had known each other for years. He immediately made us feel comfortable and transformed the conversation into a place where imagination and storytelling had no end. He created a perfect symbiosis between the two and painted a bright picture of a better world. It became clear that impact was his bread and butter. His electric energy was contagious, and at times we had to hold our horses as our question list kept on getting longer. An hour passed by in a split of a second. Delightful!

Tim Fung is the co-founder and CEO of Airtasker, Australia's number one marketplace for local services.

Since its inception in 2012, Airtasker has gone on to enable more than $1 billion in working opportunities and acquired more than 4.3 million registered users. On top of that, in March 2021, Airtasker made its debut on the ASX and is now valued at $255 million.

During a virtual fireside chat, Antler Managing Partner Bede Moore spoke to Tim about his entrepreneurial experience thus far, Airtasker's growth to date, and advice he has for others looking to pursue a similar path.

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, have quickly become all the rage and a talking point around the remote water cooler lately. An NFT is a blockchain-based way of proving ownership, validity, and scarcity in unique digital assets. Although NFTs have been around for a while, they have recently entered the consumer mainstream as artists, creators and platforms are auctioning off everything from digital art, music, and NBA highlights. This could be a generational shift from physical to digital ownership.

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I've been an active angel investor for about ten years now. Since we started Antler back in 2018 I've been part of many of our investment committees (IC) around the world. Every IC member and angel investor is different and will have different views on what makes a good investment. For me, there are three specific things I focus on when a team pitches to Antler for investment: The people, the product, and, of course, the potential.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking to a group of aspiring angel investors in Australia. The theme of the presentation was about evaluating products. During the discussion, we explored the different ways to assess a startup, ways to evaluate ideas and products, and some resources that can help you along the way.

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Welcome to Antler's circles series, where we bring industry leaders, founders, and experts working in the same  sector together to problem solve, share emerging trends and technologies. Through this series, Antler will provide unparalleled access to closed room discussions around the challenges and opportunities experienced by those innovating at the forefront of the industry.

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Welcome to Antler's circles series, where we bring industry leaders,  founders, and experts working in the same sector together to problem solve,  share emerging trends and technologies. Through this series, Antler will  provide unparalleled access to closed room discussions around the challenges  and opportunities experienced by those innovating at the forefront of the  industry.

Our team of venture capitalists, domain experts and entrepreneurs at Antler are always on the lookout for exceptional talent with the potential to build the defining companies of tomorrow. Read on to find out what we look for in a successful founder and how you can kickstart your entrepreneurial journey.

Working in venture capital offers insights into the problems, challenges, and new markets today’s entrepreneurs are addressing at the very earliest opportunity, a window on disruption and innovation. Business models are being redefined at an ever-quickening pace, and this is particularly visible in FinTech. We recently sat down with the founders of all of our FinTech investments with the following key learnings and insights.

Since 2017, Antler has created a distinct culture in the way it operates based on nine guiding principles. Women represent 42% of Antler's leadership team (including Partners, Associate Partners, and Directors), and we have over 30 nationalities represented in our 12 locations globally. Every Antler team member has a clear and easily identifiable strength --- the synergy of these diverse mindsets works really well together. Read about how we are striving to build this unique culture and how we apply it to thinking of diversity as a layered and multi-dimensional concept.

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Venture capital (VC) financing to startups founded by women exceeded $20 billion for the first time in 2019. This is up from $2 billion 10 years ago. Despite that, in Germany, just 16% of founders are female, while this number is steadily increasing, there is still much work to be done.

We invest in the defining companies of tomorrow. But we know it all starts with you. We help exceptional people build startups from the earliest stages. When you join Antler, you join a community of founders, get support from a global platform of experts, resources, and receive investments to scale your ideas.

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In this article, we discuss the things that you should not be doing while dealing with investors.

Starting a company is a big deal. At Antler, we believe in empowering entrepreneurial talent with the right tools to make an impact on the world. Here's a snapshot of what we look for in prospective founders.

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A typical pre-seed to seed fundraising process consists of the following steps: defining fundraising targets & timing, mapping target investors & fundraising materials, having first intros and coffee meetings, pitching to multiple investors, and finally, negotiating and signing.

After interviewing hundreds of founders and working with dozens of teams to build and grow their startups from scratch, Antler Partner Winnie Khoo shares some insights on her experiences and doles out some advice to aspiring founders.

Due to the growing interest in responsible investment and therefore from VCs, the industry will need to become familiar with the concept of ESG. ESG stands for environmental, social, and governance which are a set of criteria used to measure an investment’s sustainability and societal impact.

Here at Antler, we are on a mission to fundamentally improve the world by enabling the world's most exceptional people to build the sector-defining companies of tomorrow. Here is our take on ESG from the VC perspective.

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When it comes to choosing investors, it depends on the stage of growth you are in, and on how much you want to raise. Find out what are the key considerations and benefits of reaching out to each type of investor.

This article is a 4th part of the "Startup fundraising 101" series - a  resource that has been created in order to help all founders in their fundraising journey. To learn more, read our previous pieces which are linked at the end of this article.

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If you are an entrepreneur looking for investment for your early-stage startup, you may wonder “What is my company worth?”. The answer to this question can be quite difficult to formulate. Most valuations are a negotiation; a balance of setting a price that is acceptable to the founders but also agreeable to the investors. There is no general rule of putting a price on a startup, however, we have some tips that will make your valuation process easier.

Raising money is critical to fuel growth, build credibility, and stay afloat. Without external funding, the vast majority of startups won't survive or have very slow growth. The amount of money needed to take a startup to the next stage of growth is usually beyond the ability of founders and their friends and family to finance. Here is why, when, and how much to raise in order to succeed.

This article is a second part of the series "Startup fundraising 101" - a resource that has been created in order to help all founders in their fundraising journey. Read the first article "Fundraising: What to expect  from the journey? Stages of startup funding" here.

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In an unprecedented year filled with uncertainty, we take a look at what lies ahead for entrepreneurship and venture investing in one of the most exciting yet competitive markets today. Antler had the pleasure of hosting a fireside conversation featuring Yu Wang, angel investor and the founder of Tantan, the leading dating app in China with over 15 billion matches to date, and moderated by Robyn Tan, Managing Director of KRAsia, the international arm of Chinese digital media company 36Kr.

Also in the chat were Antler China's Partner, Guan Wang, founder of Mandarin and English language learning apps Amanda and Seed (backed by Dr Lee Kai-fu's Sinovation Ventures) and founder of SayABC, one of the largest business units of leading US$4+B-valued edtech company VIPKid; and Andrea Hajdu-Howe, Head of Capital for Antler Global and former Executive Director at Goldman Sachs with over 20 years of investment management experience.

Here are some key takeaways and insights from the session. Quotes have been edited for flow, length and clarity.

What does it take to start a business during a pandemic and how do you adapt? Some of the founders from our new companies in the fourth Singapore cohort share their experiences ahead of Antler Southeast Asia’s first virtual Demo Day on July 16 at 5pm SGT.

Fundraising is not an easy walk in the park, it will be challenging. It always  takes longer than you think and has more ups and downs than you'd expect. Go into the process with an attitude that "you'll be successful". You need to commit to this process, even though it can be unpredictable and messy.

This fireside chat with Rajesh Lingappa, former CTO and co-founder of RedMart was conducted by Bjorn Lindfors, Technology Partner of Antler Southeast Asia during the Antler Entrepreneurship Hour in June.

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We invited four experienced CTOs to discuss how to build a successful tech platform, the process behind establishing a startup and some of the key things to consider when you are just starting to build the tech behind your product/service. They discuss key questions such as why is speed important and what to prioritise between your product vision and customer validation.

Now that the majority of the companies have seen that there is a way to work remotely, it looks like remote working is here to stay for a while longer at least and that more and more companies are going down this path even after the pandemic. We have listed some tools and services that startups and VCs we know recommended.

Antler Sydney Venture Partner Christian Wanner explores what is Demo Day and why it is important for founders, investors and the wider community.

Launching your own business can be daunting. Launching your own business during a pandemic can seem downright impossible.

But with the help of Antler Australia, 26 entrepreneurs launched 12 startups spanning FinTech to Saas, HealthTech, DeepTech and more, and are flourishing in their early stages of growth.

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