Singapore-based global early-stage venture capital firm Antler has announced that it has closed $36M (approx €29.66M) in their first Nordic fund. The fund is joined in by investors including Draper Esprit, Kistefos, the Danish state fund Vækstfonden, and the Norwegian state fund Investinor.
Anders Hammarbäck, Partner at Antler Nordics, says, “We’re thrilled and proud to have so many renowned investors join forces with us. Now, we are looking to collaborate with individuals, entrepreneurs, politicians and corporations that want to make the Nordics one of the best regions in the world to build new companies in, and support founders from an early stage to work with us.”
This development follows Antler’s entering Denmark in February 2021 to attract and support sustainable tech companies, as well as investing in seven UK-based startups earlier this year in April in sectors including proptech, cybersecurity, and construction.
How will the funds be utilised?
The raised funds will help Antler to invest in innovative startups in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.
To date, venture capital firms such as FJ Labs, Inventure, Luminar Ventures, London Venture Partners, J12, and Propel Capital, along with a number of angel investors, have invested together with Antler in their portfolio companies in the Nordics.
Oscar Westergård, Partner at Antler Nordics, says, “We’re experiencing rapid growth. Since the start, we’ve invested in over 60 companies across the Nordics and it feels truly inspiring to close an oversubscribed fund, allowing us to continue to invest in groundbreaking ventures.”
Investing in the world’s most exceptional people
Founded in Singapore in 2017 by Magnus Grimeland and a team of experienced entrepreneurs, investors, and company builders, Antler is a global early-stage venture capital firm with the vision to fundamentally improve the world. It aims to create thousands of companies globally that solve real problems.
To date, Antler has invested in and helped build over 300 companies in 30 different sectors. Of these companies, 40 per cent have at least one female co-founder, and the founders represent 70 nationalities. The firm has offices globally across most major entrepreneurial hubs, including in London, Berlin, Stockholm, New York, Singapore, and Sydney.
Anne Solhaug Tutar, Partner at Antler Nordics, says, “It’s wonderful to be able to continue supporting exceptional entrepreneurs through our model, regardless of factors such as background, gender and age. Still today, merely 7 per cent of venture capital in Nordics is invested in companies with at least one female co-founder. At Antler Nordics, this number is 43 per cent.”
Some of Antler’s portfolio startups that have continued to raise further funding include:
- Skyqraft – an AI system that automatically detects powerline equipment and powerline issues, raised a $2.2M in its Seed round
- TradeBay – a B2B marketplace for fruit trading that has raised $1.1M
- NAG Studios – a game development studio for competitive games raised $1M
- Teemyco – Future of Work- and SaaS platform for virtual offices raised a total of 1M
Some of Antler’s developments during the pandemic
In November 2020, Antler’s launched a new initiative – ‘Restart the Future’ with an aim to boost Sweden’s economy by creating 1000 startups by 2022 end. Prior to that, in the same month, Antler launched in Berlin as the COVID-19 crisis, and the lockdowns had slowed venture capital investment across Europe. The firm plans to invest in more than 160 startups over the next four years across Central Europe.
In October 2020, the early-stage venture capital firm invested in 7 startups during its second UK cohort, taking its global investment total to over $30M (approx €25.5M).
And, in August 2020, Antler supported the ecosystem during the pandemic by investing in 7 new Swedish tech companies through its Antler Sweden’s Demo Day. The companies included Buddywise, Respaces, Courate, Tradebay, Nhost, Traxlo, and NAG Studios.
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